Fortune in friends!
The pre-winter zephyr that rippled through the alleys and streets of Acme City did Chaos no favors other then wish he'd not missed the bus home that day. Still, his jaunt from school to home was almost over; his house was only a few blocks due east from his current position. He pulled his backpack tightly around his arms and took a deep breath, before his senses kicked in and he shot a glance behind him.
Nothing there.
He trembled a moment and shook his head, fighting the sensation that he was being followed, and carried on his way home. The sooner he was warm inside and stuffed with something delicious the better. With renewed resolve, the puppy doubled his pace, marching quickly down the streets towards his home with a gusto.
Six blocks and a wrong turn down an alley later, Chaos found himself glumly staring at a bus schedule, trying to figure out how exactly he kept ending up in these situations. That was when he heard it- the caterwaul of endless frustration and a sharp cry of someone reaching the absolute end of their rope. The scientific mind that plagued him won out, and curiosity, as always got the final say to common sense. With his inquisitive nature leading him, Chaos poked his head around the corner of a dark alley where he'd heard the sound, and grinned ever so slightly.
A dark blue feline was standing there, ragged and beaten by the harsh mistress of misfortune; he'd managed to get his hands on what looked like a large can of tuna. Only...he didn't have a can opener. That much was obvious, as he wildly slammed the can against the side of a dumpster. The can didn't open. The cat, whom Chaos was sure he recognized from somewhere, gave an angry growl, and glanced around left and right, before finally tossing the can to the side and leaning back against the dumpster with a helpless sniffle. There was no way to open it, and it had driven him right into tears. He was going to starve to death, with food only inches away- could things get any worse?! Of course it could! Things always got worse, and Furrball stiffened nervously when a shadow suddenly cast itself over him, wrapping around his light.
The unfortunate feline gave a glum sigh, squeezing his eyes shut. He knew who it was. Elmyra had found him again, surely, and was about to reign down hugs that would sever his spine. The kitten's ears folded back and he gave one last, quiet sniffle. What did he do to deserve being fate's punching bag?
"Hold this, please." A new voice quipped, forcing Furball's head to snap up in shock. Standing beside him was a coyote wearing a pair of goggles and holding a backpack out for him to grasp in his paws. The new kid at school. Dumbly, Furball took the backpack, while the coyote puppy slid his goggles over his eyes, bent down, wiggled his rump, and then hopped surprisingly into the dumpster Furball was leaning against.
Now he was just confused. He had no idea what was going on, who this coyote was, or why he was holding this strange backpack, but after the dumpster rumbled and shook, the coyote reappeared, holding a variety of damaged electronics in his hands.
"Oooookay! I ain't my brother, but I CAN put together something in a pinch! Here..." The coyote exclaimed, reaching out to grab his backpack again. Tucking an arm inside, he produced a set of shiny, silver tools- and in a blur of motions and genius, he crafted...a.....something from the debris scattered around.
Furrball just stared. He had no idea what was going on, or what this strange coyote was doing, but soon there was a contraption sitting in front of the two of them, and the coyote grinned a wide, snaggle toothed grin.
"Okie Dokey! Lets give this a shot. Can please!" The coyote barked, holding out his paw while his free hand adjusted the goggles over his eyes. Furball gave a meek sigh and handed the can to the coyote. He couldn't get it open, no matter how hard he tried- what did he have to lose? The coyote placed the can in the device, took a step back, motioning for Furrball to do the same, and turned it on. It bleeped, whirled, whirred, and promptly exploded, forcing the coyote to burst into a squeal of giggles.
"Hahahaha, BOOM! Oh, man, that was awesome! Wow...look at that, pieces went everywhere! HA! Whelp, here ya go!" He grinned, holding up the badly burned but cleanly opened can. Furball just gawked.
"What? This is what you wanted, right? Here take it!" The coyote explained with a bubbly smile. Furball just stared. Somebody...did something...nice for him? Without asking for anything in return? Overwhelmed with a sudden surge of emotion, the feline wrapped his arms wildly around the canine and squeezed tightly, before he snatched the can from his grasp and began to greedily scoop handfuls of tuna into his mouth.
The coyote laughed quietly and shrugged his shoulders, taking a step back while Furrball messily devoured the tuna- but kept his wits enough to offer thecoyote half the can. He grinned and shook his head, holding up both paws.
"Oh...uh...no no. I couldn't. Trying to cut back, really." The coyote replied sheepishly, before glancing around and hopping up onto an old cracked crate. "So, I gotta ask...you go to my school, right? Furrball?" The coyote quipped. Furrball nodded his head, licking remains of tuna from his fingertips.
"Mmhmm." The feline murmured, before pointing a finger at the coyote in turn. He smiled softly and nodded his head.
"Oh, Sorry! I'm Chaos. Yeah, you're in my French class with professor Le' Pew. Heh...so...what are ya doin' out here? Why aren't you at home?" He asked softly. Furrball looked up at him, as if he'd just lost his mind and rolled his eyes, shaking his ' ears drooped and the canine gave a groan. Open mouth, insert foot...
"Oh....s, sorry...I didn't kn...I uh...AHEM. I gotta go. Yup. I'll see ya in school. Enjoy your tuna." He explained softly, before sheepishly sliding off the crate and walking to the mouth of the alley. And Furrball watched as the canine suddenly went flying and crashed into the ground- two angry looking wolves had tackled him from out of nowhere. Furrball took a curious step forward, watching the puppy struggling with the wolves, wondering what he was looking at. Friends, maybe? The larger wolf stood up, holding Chaos firmly in his arms, while the smaller one held a ready fist to slam into the boy's muzzle. Nope. Not friends. Not at all. To his amazement, however,Chaos ducked just as the swing came, and the smaller wolf punched the larger one right in the snozz. With the larger one stunned by the blow,Chaos broke free and went sprinting down the street. It didn't take long for the two wolves to pick themselves up off the ground- and were joined by a much larger third wearing a jock jacket. Furball frowned. He didn't like the way this was looking...
Chaos panted helplessly, throwing himself down the street as far and fast as his little geek legs would take him, but soon his lungs burned and his tongue lapped the air for breath. He finally had to stop, leaning against a wall near an alley, suckling in lungfuls of breath. So far, he managed to elude Johnny and his gang but they were going to find him soon. They always did. Johnny had a habit for asking Chaos to help him with his homework by using his fists until Chaos promised to do it. And then he'd punch him just for fun.
"HEY! THERE HE IS!" Called a voice from down the street. Stamp. One of Johnny's friends. Chaos squeaked and glanced behind him and there they were- Stamp and Turbo racing down the block towards him with Johnny strolling quietly behind, hands in his pockets, taking his sweet time.
"Noooo..."Chaos groaned, but he didn't have the energy to run anymore. That's when a white set of fingers wrapped around his muzzle and yanked him into the darkness of the alley, and behind an dumpster.
"SHhhhhh!!" Whispered a familiar voice into his ear. Furrball... Chaos felt his lips twist into a delicate grin, but it vanished the moment Stamp and Turbo poked their heads around the corner and into the alley.
"Heymanwheredhego!?Hewasrighthereandnowhesgone!" Turbo growled quietly while Stamp walked up, glancing left and right.
"Well...Maybe we scared him so bad he died." The wolf mused. Turbo frowned quietly.
"...Youthinkso? OhmanIhopenot! Whatifheturnsintoaghost?!" The wolf squeaked. Stamp whimpered.
"What if he haunts us?!" The large wolf yelped nervously.
"LETSGETOUTTAHERE!" Turbo squealed, and the two of them went racing off down the street. Chaos and Furrball looked at each other in confusion.
"Did that just happen?" He asked, but Furrball quickly slapped a paw over his muzzle again as Johnny walked into the alley, watching his lackeys go racing off.
"...Did that just happen?"The large wolf snarled before glancing towards the dumpster Chaos and Furball were hiding behind. Chaos frowned quietly. This was going to be harder then he thought. Johnny wasn't so stupid as Stamp or Turbo. In fact, he was really quite intelligent for being such a jerk. What was worse, he was heading right towards them!!
Chaos gave a nerve racked whimper, but Furrball quickly pointed towards a fire escape hanging from the side of one of the nearest buildings. Chaos shook his head. The ladder was raised up and there was no way for him to reach it...Furrball rolled his eyes. To Chaos' amazement Furrball dashed from the hiding spot behind the dumpster and leapt into the air, bounding off the side of an alley wall, and onto another, back and forth until he reached the fire escape, and kicked the ladder down.
"What on earth..." Johnny yelped in surprised, watching Furballs acrobatics, before he gave a sharp snarl when he spotted Chaos quickly climbing the ladder towards the cat.
"HEY! GET BACK HERE PIPSQUEAK! I GOT MATH HOMEWORK TONIGHT!!" Johnny howled violently, racing towards the ladder to climb up behind them.
"Furball, not that I wanna harsh on your brilliantly thought out plan here, but there ain't no where to go from a roof top!" The coyote explained as the two of them reached the buildings peak, and raced madly across the gravel towards the far ledge. Chaos stopped with a nervous squeak when he glanced off the side of the building, but Furrball didn't even pause when he reached the ledge. He simply positioned himself behind Chaos and pushed the puppy off the side, before leaping off himself.
The two of them landed in a heap in a large opened dumpster, cushioned by large, ebony bags of garbage. It only took a moment, but Chaos suddenly understood the plan. He wondered if Johnny was on his way back down the fire escape, or if...
The large wolf appeared atop the building where Chaos and Furrball were moments before, and leapt off the side of the building, just like they did- just as the two pushed the dumpster one foot to the left, and Johnny slammed into the concrete leaving a perfectly shaped hole of himself in the ground.
"...Ouch." Chaos winced and glanced at the feline standing next to him, leaning over the crater Johnny left.
"Ha...Thanks Furrball! I owe ya one!" Chaos beamed happily, but Furrball shook his head and held up a single hand and with his other, pat at his full belly.
"Oh! Right! HA! Well, it's pretty late, I gotta get home." Chaos explained, jerking a thumb behind him, and Furrball nodded his head, and the two separated, before Chaos stopped and gave a shrill whistle. Furball turned around curiously.
"Ya know, I bet my mom would let you spend the night, if ya wanted ta sleep over? I got video games and stuff? You...uh...wanna hang out?" He asked sheepishly. Furrball pondered the invitation for a moment before he let his face twist into a warm grin and nodded his head.