This mostly adheres to the continuity of the first season (Holly owns the pound, Brighteyes is an adult dog rather than a puppy et al.), and, as in my previous fan fictions, Violet, Barkerville, Scrounger, Flack and Tubbs and Dabney Nabbit, the latter of whom now working for Katrina Stoneheart, are part of the cast. One of the Pound Purries, from the book "Kitten Companions" makes a brief appearance in this story as well. This story also has a few elements of the second season as well. The storyline is based off of an episode of the 2010 Pound Puppies series entitled, "Taboo" (The names Waggster and Mittens were also borrowed from the newer series). Please enjoy!(BTW, I have pictures of Jinx, Waggster, Mittens, and Stacey at my blog, the Keeper of the Fun blog!)
It's a pleasant afternoon in New York City. The Pound Puppies are standing outside the front door of a house, with a small, plump, brown puppy with a white belly, white snout, and a very waggly tail, wearing a blue collar, and a small grey kitten with a white snout, white belly, and little white paws, wearing a pale pink collar with a heart-shaped tag and a pink ribbon on her tail, standing in front of them. "Waggster, Mittens, welcome to your new hap-hap-happy home!" Cooler tells the pair.
"Oh boy!" Waggster says joyfully.
"This is wonderful!" Mittens says elatedly.
Cooler knocks on the door; the Pound Puppies all dash into some nearby bushes. Moments later, a little boy and girl answer the door, followed closely behind by their mother. "Hello, who's th-oh my!" the mother says.
"A puppy!" the boy cries happily.
"A kitty!" his sister cries joyfully.
Waggster and Mittens scramble into the kids' arms, happily yipping and mewing and gleefully licking the kids' faces. "Oh, they're so sweet! Mommy, can we keep them, please?"
"Well, certainly, dears!"
Cooler smiles contentedly as he and the other Pound Puppies watch this happy scene from their leafy hiding place. "Honestly, folks, it sure does my heart good to see dogs and cats finding loving homes."
"It's always good to be able to do our bit for our fellow animals." Violet agrees, as the dogs disembark the bush and begin strolling back toward the pound. Suddenly, they hear, "MMEEEEOOOOOWWW!" "BARK! ROOF! GRRR!"
"Sounds like another opportunity just turned up!" says a concerned Scrounger.
The Pound Puppies observe three large mean-looking dogs chasing a small cat in the road ahead of them. "Oh no! How will we save that poor li'l ol' kitty?" despairs Nose Marie. "Don't worry, I've got a plan. Follow me!" Cooler says. He and the other Pound Puppies quickly dash behind a stack of empty boxes next to a nearby alleyway. Cooler sticks his head out. "Psst! Over here!" he whispers, waving his paw. The cat looks over at him, then dashes over behind the boxes with them. The mean dogs stop, look around for all of a minute, then traipse off.
Inside the Pound Puppies' hiding place, the cat stands on her hind legs with her back against the wall, gasping for breath. She's a small grayish-black cat with a white belly, white paws, and green eyes. She has a wavy lock of hair on top of her head and wears a dark pink collar. "Thank you so much for saving me."
"Think nothin' of it, Ma'am." Scrounger says, politely tipping his hat. "We're the Pound Puppies, and we're all about helpin' out dogs 'n cats in need."
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name's Jinx, and I'm all about bad luck."
"Bad luck?" Whopper echoes incredulously.
"Yeah. Bad things just seem to follow me wherever I go. For example, those dogs were chasing me because I was climbing over a garbage can and it fell on top of them. It's not such a big deal, really! It's like having fleas: it's the kind of thing you learn to live with."
"Oh, there's no such thing as bad luck." says Cooler. No sooner has he said this, however, when a bucket falls off of one of the boxes and beans him on the head. *BONK.* "See? Bad luck." Jinx says. "Oh no, these kind of things just happen." the white dog rubs his head.
"Yeah," Whopper says. "Cooler has buckets fall on him all the time. Like, there was this one time he had so many buckets fall on him he looked like the Michelin bucket man-if they sold buckets that is, yeah. And there was this other time that-mmmph!" Whopper's fabrication is cut short by Nose Marie quickly covering his mouth with her paw. "Y'all gonna have t'excuse Whopper, Hon. He's a bit of a bucket-mouth." Jinx just stares oddly.
"Don't worry about it, Jinxy." Brighteyes says. "Bad luck isn't real." No sooner has she said this, when she takes a step to the right, slips on a banana peel and falls SMACK on her nose. "See? More bad luck." Jinx says. "Oh, there's nothing to it, these alleys are full of garbage." The yellow lab rubs her nose as she slowly climbs to her feet.
"There's really no point in denying it, it is what it is. I've never even had a home of my own, because every time someone thinks they might like me, my bad luck ruins everything." a sad look crosses the black cat's face.
"Well, there'll certainly be plenty of good luck in store for you, Dear. Please come along with us to Holly's Puppy Pound; Holly will help us find you a wonderful home in no time." Violet says consolingly.
"Mmn. I sure hope so." a hesitant Jinx replies.
As the group sets off back in the direction of the pound, someone pours a bucket of water from a window above, which drenches Cooler. SPLASH! "Ahh, not to worry," Cooler says. "I was planning to wash this jacket anyway." Shortly thereafter, a garbage truck drives by, hits a bump, and dumps garbage all over Cooler. Cooler then walks back beneath the window.
"Uhm, Cooler, what might you be doing?" Barkerville asks.
"Hoping someone dumps another bucket of water."