After about two hours of driving with no food, water, or rest, the gang finally made their way to Vermont. There was only destruction from a previous flood on the outskirts, which seemed to be dragged in roughly from Massachusetts or New Hampshire.
A few minutes into Vermont, Alex pulled the bus over in a gas station to refill the gas tank. Luckily, the owners didn't charge them anything when they learned they had come from New York and were in the middle of the Downtown City meteor shower and Burghington Village tornado circle. Apparently, Alex and Violet were also from Downtown City, but from the other side of town in a different elementary and high school. Afterwards, they left Vermont just as a wicked sandstorm kicked in.
Now they were in Ottawa, Canada. Alex stopped the bus after he pulled into a hotel. After talking to the employees, managers, and owners about the catastrophes they witnessed, and after getting proof that their story was true when Alex showed them his driver's license, the gang was granted free and forever stay at the hotel. Even the pets were allowed to live in the hotel.
"This really is the worst day ever..." Sue sighed as she, Youngmee, Jasper, and Blythe sat on the large bed, the pets laying in their laps and on the sections of the bed they weren't on.
"Tell me about it..." Blythe replied sadly.
"Blythe... I know that losing both your mother and your father is very hard..." Youngmee began, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "But we'll all get through this together..."
"I still can't believe we have to live in this, like, dusty old building without our daddy... with Blythe," Brittany muttered, sitting on a different bed with her sister.
"Enough already!" Jasper snapped. "Look, I know you two don't like Blythe, or any of us for that matter, but that doesn't mean you have to keep acting all snobby!"
"You'd feel differently if Blythe was always mean to you!"
"I'm not mean to you two; you're the ones who are mean to me," Blythe countered, trying to make herself sound as friendly and reasonable as possible.
"You're the one who kept saying 'no' to us!"
"Well, maybe I like my clothes and my friends!"
"Brit, they're right, enough is enough," Whittany finally spoke up. The four friends gasped when they saw one of the Biskit twins actually going out of her way to defend them from her twin sister. "Besides, we have, like, bigger problems that doesn't concern you disliking them."
"What do you mean, me disliking them?" Brittany raised her voice angrily. "You dislike them, too, FYI!"
"Only because you do."
Brittany blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I only dislike Blythe and the others because you do, and, well... you're, like, my twin sister, so I don't want you to be all left out and stuff."
"You mean to tell me that you, like, like them?"
"I hope that's not a crime or anything!"
"To the Biskits, ya! It is!"
"I actually feel kind of sorry for Whittany..." Sue admitted quietly as the twins argued.
"Well, feeling sorry for her can be postponed to a later date," Blythe rejected, then hesitantly added, "If there is a later date..."
"Don't worry, Blythe," Russell said, looking up at his human friend. "I'm sure everything will blow over soon. ...No pun intended."
"I hope so..." the teenager sighed.
"Why are you talking to yourself again, Blythe?" Violet asked curiously. Blythe saw the others were looking at her once again. "Every time one of your pets barks or chitters or squeaks, you talk."
"Well, uh... um..." Blythe stammered. She didn't have a good excuse this time. She looked down at the pets desperately, but they just looked up at her with a look in their eyes that said, 'We don't know what to tell you...'
Finally, the teenager sighed. Maybe it is time she confessed her special ability to communicate with animals. She inhaled, ready to speak, but Alex burst in.
"Everyone get in the bus," he ordered strictly.
"What's going on, Alex?" Violet asked nervously.
"An earthquake is about to hit! And it's a strong one, too! We gotta go!"
"But if Canada isn't safe," Whittany fretted. "what is?"
"Never mind that! Our only concern is outrunning this earthquake! Let's go!" Alex's sharp tone warned everyone not to argue with him, so they all got up and ran downstairs towards the bus.
A large quake shook the earth and caused Brittany's legs to buckle out from underneath. Blythe saw this and grabbed her by the shirt before tumbling down the stairs.
"Let go of my shirt!" Brittany yelled. "This was good money!"
"How about you pay a little less attention to your clothing and a little more attention to your life?" Blythe retorted sharply.
Everyone bolted out of the hotel and made their way to the bus. Much to everyone's dismay, Alex wasn't able to start up the bus again.
"It won't start!" Alex roared, dread fueling his fury. He began to bang on the steering wheel, but that didn't even come close to helping.
"That's because the wires aren't hooked up correctly," Blythe heard Russell mutter. She saw the hedgehog run over to the cords and hook them up correctly, which resulted in a major shock that made his fur and quills stand on end. He was flung back by the force with a surprised squeak.
Taking this opportunity without hesitation, the oldest teenager buckled up and drove off, just as the streets from behind began to move.
"It's the earthquake! It's following us!" Violet cried out, hugging Sugar Sprinkles tightly.
"I have an idea," Alex shouted to the younger people and pets in back. "We'll drive to the airport and fly out of here."
"You're a pilot, too?" Jasper gasped.
"I went to flight school in the summer."
The thought of flight school brought back memories of Blythe's father. She began to silently cry, but she tried to force herself to stop when Shivers placed a tiny paw on her lap.
"It's getting closer, Alex!" Violet shrieked.
"Hold on, everybody!" The bus began racing faster and faster, and everyone hung on to the seats for dear life whenever it turned sharply around a corner to avoid crashing into buildings.
The humans were too focused on hanging on to the seats, but the pets looked outside, hanging on themselves, and watched as the earthquake neared, causing buildings, cars, and even people and pets to fall into the never-ending pit.
"Good God Almighty..." Buttercream whimpered, her eyes wide and her ears down against the back of her head when they were usually perking up.
A strong quake shook the earth, making everyone bounce in their seats and cry out, and a giant crack in the earth was made in front of them, causing the part of the earth to tilt backwards, sending the bus sliding down towards the magma that boiled underneath. Alex tried to steer the bus away from the magma, but the loose earth plate was too steep.
"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Penny Ling screamed.
"Everyone get out!" Alex commanded. "We'll have to wing the rest of the way by foot!"
Everyone climbed out the bus as quickly as they could and ran up the plate. Once they reached the top, Alex helped the humans and pets leap over the gap.
On the way up, however, the plate made a sudden jerk which flew off Blythe's balance, causing her to slide down the plate on her back.
"Blythe's falling!" Youngmee cried out after Alex helped her over the gap.
"Oh, no!" Blythe screamed as she struggled to recover her balance and run away from the edge. She was about to practically fly over the edge when a hand grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back up to her feet. The teenager looked and saw it was Brittany!
"What are you doing here?" Blythe shouted over the noise of the plate crumbling. "You might get yourself killed! Whittany needs you!"
"Right now, you need me more!" the Biskit twin retorted. She used all her energy to pull Blythe back up until she was standing again and the two girls ran towards the top of the plate. Alex had already leaped over.
"Hurry!" Violet cried as she tightly hugged Alex.
"Ready?" Blythe asked as she took Brittany's hand.
"No..." she responded nervously.
"Me, neither."
Taking a deep breath, the two ran to the cliff as fast as they could, then leaped as far as they could, screaming. Alex reached out and grabbed Blythe's hand, then pulled her up and helped Brittany up as well. Seconds after, the plate slid off the earth and fell into the magma.
"That was way too close!" Blythe gasped.
"Like, tell me about it!" Brittany agreed. "Um... thanks for everything you did for me..."
"Thank you, too..."
"Blythe, hurry up!" Shivers squeaked. The humans and pets were already running to the airport. Blythe quickly stood up and helped Brittany up, then ran after them. Blythe scooped up the orange squirrel as she passed him.
As soon as they got to the airport, Alex approached the closest plane, making sure it had the capacity to carry everyone, and helped everyone climb in. Once they were in, he leaped in and started it, and once it was functioning, he began to roll the plane down the runway.
Unfortunately, he didn't think to stop for Brittany and Blythe.
"Wait for us!" Blythe wailed, running as fast as she could with Brittany hot on her heels.
"We forgot Brittany and Blythe!" Whittany exclaimed.
"You gotta stop!" Jasper shouted to Alex.
"If I stop, we'll get caught by the earthquake," the oldest teenager shouted back. I'll slow down, but no more than that. And they'd better hurry because we're running out of runway." He slowed the plane down a little, which gave Brittany and Blythe the opportunity to catch up.
Brittany leaped into the plane and hugged Whittany, but as Blythe reached out, the earth quivered suddenly, making her lose her balance and fall behind.
"We're almost out of runway!" Sue cried.
"Hurry, Blythe!" Youngmee screamed.
"We have to do something to save Blythe!" Russell shouted at the pets, his leadership nature kicking in.
"We're tiny animals; how can we do anything?" Minka wailed.
"I have an idea!" Sunil exclaimed suddenly. He stood up straight and had a horrified yet determined look on his face, and he was shaking. "Sunil... Sunil... Suniliphai!"
With a poof of purple dust, Sunil disappeared and Blythe took his place.
"What happened...?" Blythe groaned, rubbing her head.
"Yay! Blythe is safe!" Minka cheered.
"Hold on..." Vinnie cut the energetic monkey off. "If Blythe is here in Sunil's place... that means Sunil is out there taking Blythe's place in running after the plane!" He ran to the door and his heart skipped a few beats when he saw the blue mongoose running as fast as he could towards the plane, but falling horribly behind.
"Why didn't I listen to Russell about that kibble?" he wailed, his running slowing down as his face cringes in pain.
"Alex!" Violet cried. "That cute mongoose is out there! We can't leave him!"
"You have exactly ten seconds to reach that mongoose or else we'll have no choice but to leave it behind!" he responded.
"Did you hear that?" Blythe gasped, her panicked eyes falling across each of the pets'. "We have to save Sunil or else he'll-" She stopped and made a choking-like noise in her throat.
"I say we make a pet chain!" Vinnie exclaimed quickly.
"I'd object and come up with a more reasonable plan, but we don't have the time," Russell said. "Let's do it! And fast!"
Blythe and Violet held on to Penny Ling as she lowered down Vinnie, who held on to Zoe's tail, who's paws were clapsed in Pepper's, who's tail was wrapped firmly around Buttercream, who lowered Russell down with her ears, who fastened his grip on Minka's tail. The monkey reached out as far as she could, but Sunil was still out of reach.
"Sunil, you have to run faster!" Minka hollered.
"I can't! I have no cardio whatsoever!" the mongoose wailed.
"It's do or die, Sunil! It's run as fast as you can and more, or be left for dead!"
Tears leaking out of his eyes, Sunil shut his eyes closed, cringing his face as if he were in extreme pain, and propelled himself forward.
That was when the plane began flying upwards.
"Sunil, hurry!" all the pets in unison cried. Sunil dropped down on all fours and ran as fast as he could, then, when he was close enough, he jumped as high as he could, reaching out for Minka's paws.
But he couldn't reach far enough.
With an ear-splitting wail, Sunil fell back down to the earth, just as the plate underneath gave way and fell into an endless hole. The pets screeched in despair, every one of them shedding countless tears.
"What are you doing?" Alex shouted at Blythe and Violet. "Pull the pets in now!"
"No! Sunil!" Pepper wailed as Blythe tried to pull her back into the plane. The skunk struggled and thrashed, but the teenager's strength was superior compared to hers. Finally, she gave up and hugged Blythe tightly, sobbing a million tears.
"I... ca-an't bel-lieve Sunil is... g-go-one..." Zoe sobbed, finding it difficult to express her thoughts into words through her hiccups of sorrow.
"Do not worry, everyone. I am just fine."
Everyone's heads shot up and gasped when they saw a familiar blue mammal with amber eyes, a pink nose, and dark blue stripes running down his back.
"Sunil!" Pepper howled. She leaped and tackled her friend to the ground, crying tears of joy and rubbing her muzzle madly on Sunil's cheek.
"P-Pepper, stop it! That tickles!" the mongoose laughed.
"I don't understand!" Blythe exclaimed. "How did you make it back?"
"It was a new - and by new, I mean just made up as soon as I made it back into the plane - trick that I made," Sunil replied after Pepper climbed off. "I call it: The Death and Return of Sunil the Great! With my temporary assistant-"
"Esteban Banderas, the legendary Colombian parrot!" A majestic male white, red, blue, and green parrot flew overhead, then landed next to Sunil.
"Esteban?" Vinnie gasped. "B-But the radio sai you were-"
"That was my third-removed cousin's brother's A Capella partner, Esteban Louise Banderas. It said nothing about an Esteban Marion Banderas." He smiled when his gecko friend burst out laughing.
"Well, it's great to know that both of you are safe," Blythe said.
"You recovered the mongoose?" Alex asked from the pilot's chair. "How?"
"A friend rescued him."
Alex was about to respond, his eyebrows raised in confusion, but shook it off and continued concentrating on flying the plane.
"Blythe?" Violet asked shyly. "If you don't mind me asking... why do you seem like you're really talking to the pets? As in understanding them?"
This question took Blythe by surprise; her heart thumped when she saw everyone else looking at her, waiting for an answer. Even the pets were watching closely to see how she would react.
Blythe waited for a few seconds for any kind of natural disaster to kick in and interrupt her, like with the earthquake in Canada.
But nothing happened.
Feeling defeated, Blythe finally sighed. "I guess not all secrets are kept forever, huh?"
"Are you saying you really can understand them?" Sue asked with surprise in her voice.
After a moment's hesitation, she took a breath. "...Yes, I am able to communicate with and understand the pets." She expected gasps of shock, and she got what she expected, as well as gasps of awe.
"Like, how can you understand them?" Whittany asked, no form of hostility in her voice.
"When..." The teenager choked on her words. "When Dad... and I moved to Downtown City, I discovered a dumbwaiter in my apartment."
"Oh, yeah. I remember you telling me and Sue how you were trapped in it," Youngmee spoke up.
Bluthe nodded and continued. "I freaked out when I saw a spider, so I let go of the rope and plummeted down to the first floor. I fell out and hit my head really hard - it still hurts sometimes - and next thing I know, I hear multiple voices coming from inside the room I was in, which was the Littlest Pet Shop daycare center. I learned soon that I could understand the daycare pets - all pets in fact - and... yeah."
"Does that mean you can also understand Buttercream?" Youngmee asked, picking up her aunt's pet rabbit.
"Yes. She is a very fast talker and always makes up her own random words. If someone doesn't understand her they'll say 'What?' and then she'll start tapping her foot and intertwining her ears, and finally finish with a sigh and an 'Anyhoo...'"
"That's so adorable!" The foreign girl brought Buttercream closer to her chest.
"I'm really sorry to interrupt your conversation," Sugar Sprinkles meowed in her typical laid-back tone. "and don't take this the wrong way, but I think you should maybe check out the thunderclouds surrounding the plane."
"What the what?" Blythe asked. She got up and walked to the nearest window.
"What did Candy Kitty say, Blythe?" Violet asked, worried.
"So cute. My name is Sugar Sprinkles, but you can call me Candy Kitty if you really want to." The snowshoe cat began to purr and rub her sprinkled head against the young girl.
"She said thunderclouds are surrounding the plane," Blythe responded, looking out the window. "And she's right."
"Hold on to something, anything but metal!' Alex commanded. "The chairs are made out of rubber, so grab on to them and don't let go!"
Right on cue, a gigantic lightning bolt zapped the plane, taking out all engines and controls, as well as any electricity. Thankfully, no one was electrocuted.
Then the plane started plummeting down towards the ground.
"It's a good day to die!" Jasper exclaimed.
"Nobody's gonna die, Jasper!" Pepper hissed.
"How do you know?" Russell yelped.
"Just wait! The plane will run out of gas and we won't crash! Just like in the cartoons!" The sound of everyone screaming drowned out the hedgehog's exasperated groan.
Everyone shut the eyes as the ground came into view after the clouds parted, waiting to crash down into the earth.
A/N: Thanks to you all for the reviews, likes, follows, and favorites for this story. I appreciate it very much!
I decided to add a little comic relief around the end, as well as a little Sepper (SunilXPepper) for the fans. And yes, I made up Esteban Louise Banderas; there is no such thing! I just wanted everyone to believe that, with the only flying pet around [dead], there would be no hope for Sunil when he fell [to his death]. Gotcha, didn't I?
This story will no longer be continued on my DeviantART account, only on my FanFiction account. Just wanted to put that out there for anyone who is from DA.
Please like, favorite, follow, review, and do whatever it is you want to do. I always appreciate any feedback and reviews for this story. ^^