Nothing really to comment about, so on to chapter 10!
Gray woke up with someone poking his side. Gray snapped open his eyes and immediately jumped up to attack. Gray looked at the attacker and realized that it was Lion poking at his side.
"Oh, thank the heavens that you aren't dead. Why were you sleeping out here where you could literally be killed?" Lion questioned.
"This alley is pretty empty, there's nowhere else to sleep" Gray argued.
"Uh, actually there is. We forgot to tell you yesterday, but this was actually our first alley we ever lived in. It was just as empty as before, so we carved out a hidden room in the bricks in the back. We checked it yesterday and no one has even touched it. Unfortunately, all the food we stashed away in there had all rotted away, so we need to get more tomorrow" Cheetah explained. "Anyways, let's not sleep out here and get inside where we can sleep safe and sound."
Gray followed the trio to the back and they pushed up on the wall. Gray watched in amazement as the wall revealed an opening and a spacious room behind it. Gray walked in behind Cheetah and looked around. The walls were made of dirt and no light could get into the room. Gray saw a pile of blackened fruits and meats in the back corner of the room, probably a few months old Gray deduced. Gray noticed the three pups had moved to the other back corner to sleep, and Gray joined them. Since he had already slept for a while, Gray wasn't as tired as before, and couldn't fall asleep.
"Still awake?" Tiger asked suddenly.
"Yea, how'd you know?" Gray replied.
"Easy, you snore when you sleep. You should really get that checked" Tiger joked.
"Heh, did I keep you guys awake then?" Gray questioned.
"Well, for the first few hours, yea, but we all fell asleep eventually" Tiger responded. "Anyways, when did you leave?"
"I left after the announcement was made about the ratters and the new members" Gray replied.
"Really? You left right at the wrong moment. After the announcement, there was a big tournament" Tiger said.
"Tournament? What's that for?" Gray questioned again.
"The tournament is a event that is held once every month and it's just a way to see how your paw to paw combat holds up against others. It's really fun, even got to fight Cheetah, of course I won, but it was close" Tiger explained. "You probably would've gotten first."
"Maybe, but paw to paw isn't my best skill. I rely on my powers a lot. Without them, I would be weak" Gray confessed.
"Well, you should try anyways. It's fun, everyone enjoys it, even if you get knocked out in the first round. Maybe next month" Tiger said hopefully.
"Well, don't bet on it" Gray replied.
After Gray's little conversation with Tiger, both of them fell asleep, thankfully Tiger fell asleep before Gray started snoring. In the morning, Lion woke Gray up and told him that they were going to get some supplies, mostly food, but also whatever they find useful.
"Wanna join us for the raid?" Lion asked.
"Uh, sure I guess, is it hard?" Gray asked back.
"Not really if we find an empty alley, but we might have to fight if they come back" Lion answered.
"Well, what's the worst that can happen, let's go!" Gray responded.
Tiger and Cheetah took the lead, keeping themselves hidden as much as possible so they wouldn't encounter any additional tussles they did not want to fight. Lion and Gray followed them in the back, going to the same spots Tiger and Cheetah hop to. Finally, Tiger raised a paw, telling them to stop. He had found an empty alley with a scent of fresh bread.
"They, must've raided a bakery or something recently. Let's go get some for ourselves" Tiger informed.
They made their way into the alley and looked around for the bread they smelled. They checked every single nook and cranny, under every trash can, inside every dumpster until Lion had found the bread hidden away in a crevice in the brick wall. They each took a chunk of bread to eat and after they were done eating, took the rest of the bread to keep. Gray felt bad for taking all the bread that these alley pups went through the trouble of getting, so he left half a loaf behind.
"Dude, you know they stole this too, right? We're just stealing stolen goods" Lion told Gray.
"I know, but I feel bad for taking all of their bread when they probably need it as well" Gray explained.
"You're still too soft. Whatever, but it's coming from your rations, so if you're hungry, you have no one to blame but yourself" Lion responded.
They made their way to their alley, put away the bread inside the hidden room and went out once more to gather more supplies. They had only gathered 3 and a half loaves of bread, which would last at most 4 days. Tiger and Gray led this time, trying to find another alley with food, preferably with some kind of meat. They went around town sniffing at all the entrances of the alleys, trying to find some more food, but all the alleys were either completely empty or had other pups chowing down of their food. The gang was starting to get discouraged at their chances of getting more food until they reached an empty alley with a strong scent of beef.
"Jackpot" Tiger said smiling.
They rushed right into the alley and it wasn't as hard to find the meat as it was to find the bread. The meat was just laying on the dumpster lid, obviously the alley dog who stole it thought that no pup would be able to jump on top to get it, but for the trio, it was as easy as jumping up stairs.
"Now, we got a meal!" Lion said happily.
"With these, we could last the entire month if we split them up wisely" Cheetah thought.
"Well, let's focus on getting back. We still aren't safe yet. The alley pups could still come back" Tiger warned.
The other three pups nodded and started to rush back to their alley. They ignored hiding from other pups as it would take too much time and made a mad dash to their alley. When they got back, however, they were greeted by a giant black dog and what seemed to be his son in the back. They slid to a stop and quickly dove into the alley next to them which thankfully was empty. Gray recognized the pup in the back was Shadow, but the identity of the giant dog up front was a complete mystery. The four pups sat and listened in.
"They're not here, probably out raiding" Shadow cursed.
"No matter," the black dog dismissed, "They'll be back eventually. Wait, there's a scent of bread around here. It's behind this wall."
"No! They're gonna take our bread!" Lion panicked.
"The bread is the least of our worries, they found our secret room!" Tiger hissed.
"Wait, there's a scent of meat here as well, around the corner" the black dog told Shadow.
They went up and around the corner into the alley that the four pups were camping in. Shadow peeked around the corner and saw the four pups staring right back at him.
"Dad! Dad! They're here!" Shadow called.
"Our cover's been blown, let's fight!" Tiger commanded.
"Well well well, look who it is, The Feline Fiends and Gray. Nice to meet you" the giant black dog greeted.
Gray growled and yanked on the necklace around his neck. His power started to flow back into him and scanned the black dog.
"Pups, this dog is too strong for you three. Deal with Shadow, I'll fight the big one" Gray commanded.
The trio nodded and dove right at Shadow. Shadow smiled and jumped right into the shadows of the unsuspecting pups. Tiger was startled and swiped at the air where Shadow once stood. Shadow suddenly jump right under Tiger and knocked him into the air. Tiger flinched and fell on his side, hard. Cheetah, however, was ready. He ran up to Shadow and bashed at him with full force, just like how Gray did it to him on multiple occasions. Shadow flew back a few feet and coughed. It was obvious to the trio that he had no stamina, and relied on a fast and easy fight. He dove into the shadows of the alley and the trio braced for impact. This time, he reappeared next to Lion and swiped at him, leaving a giant claw mark in his side. Lion yelped in pain as he tried to swipe back at Shadow, but missed as he was already back into the shadows.
Meanwhile, Gray scanned the black dog and tried to copy his powers. Unlike every other time he tried, however, he could not copy his powers. His powers were too strong, and even Gray couldn't precisely identify what it was. Gray, for the first time in his life, had to fight blind. Gray tried to control the black pup, but every time, he could not get him to move and even started to hurt himself.
"Trying to control me? Well, I know all about your power. It's will based, and I have a stronger will than you, so you can't control me, even with your heavenly powers" the black dog sneered.
"You know? How?" Gray growled back.
"I know more than you think" The black dog replied. "Now it's my turn."
The black dog charged right up to Gray and hit him with a punch in his chest. This blew Gray off his feet and fell on his back. Gray quickly got back up to face the black dog. Without any power to copy and his own not working, he was helpless. Gray tried once more with his manipulation and the black dog smiled and stood there. This time, Gray focused and tried as hard as he could. His chain started to glow a brighter blue and the black pup was slowly lifted up into the air. The black dog, surprised, struggled to get out of Gray's grip. After a few seconds of helpless struggling, he conjured up a black ball of energy and shot it right at Gray. Gray lost focus and jumped out of the way. The impact of the ball was strong and left a huge crater in the ground.
"Ok, this is enough. Shadow, let's switch. I have something to say to the Feline Fiends" the black dog told his son.
Gray tried to stop the black dog reach his friends, but was immediately greeted by Shadow right up in his face and a punch on the side of his head. Gray had to deal with Shadow before he could reach his friends.
"So, it looks like my son did a number on you two" the black dog commented.
In the time Gray fought with him, Shadow had dealt a number of blows to the trio and the only one left standing was Lion once again.
"Seems you're the only one left standing Lion. I know you've been hanging out with Shadow a lot for the past few months in the club, always complaining how you have no power while your brothers do, and how you wish that you could receive powers from the heavens, but when my son asked you if you wanted powers, you declined. So I'll offer you this. Join me and my son, and I, in return, will grant you powers beyond your wildest imagination, enough to take down your brothers without even batting an eye" the black dog proposed.
Cheetah and Lion were eyeing Lion. They were surprised that he would complain about his current state, how he was jealous that they had powers, but he did not. They never thought that Lion felt left out, no power, helpless and weak as Tiger and Cheetah did all the fighting.
"What if I don't accept?" Lion questioned.
"Then it's you and your brothers' life" the black dog grinned demonically.
Lion looked at Tiger and Cheetah, then at Gray who was still fighting Shadow, and then finally back at the black dog and responded.
"I know I complained a lot, most of it was to vent out the anger I felt and the helplessness of me watching my brothers fight, but I never actually thought there was actually a way to get powers. I thought my friend was lying, but he isn't, is he? You could give me powers, I could be as powerful as my brothers, but I would have to leave them" Lion contemplated.
"To kill them is your choice, but they do not have to leave you. They can also join us with newfound abilities as well" the black dog bargained.
"You see, having powers would be nice, but it seems wrong. Our family, our mom and dad named us by recognizing our strengths that we would one day achieve. Our dad was the smartest, our mom was the sliest, Cheetah, the fastest, and Tiger, the strongest. They knew they would be what they are today, but then there was me, Lion. Mom and dad realized that I could not achieve the high standards as my brothers, so they gave me the name of Lion, one that does not need any special power to accomplish and still be able to live up to my name. They hoped I would one day be the proudest and the bravest. It would be wrong of me to accept your offer, so I will decline your offer" Lion finished.
"Very well. Then it's you and your brother's life. Any last words?" the black dog growled.
"If I will die, then I will die protecting my brothers. I will not hesitate and in doing so, will have achieved the right of my name. Do your worst!" Lion countered.
The black dog sneered and charged right at Lion. Lion closed his eyes and braced for impact. He felt a touch on his chest, but no more. He opened his eyes and saw the black dog frozen right in front of him. He looked at Gray, whose eyes were glowing brightly and took a few steps back. The black dog growled and looked at Gray, seeing that his son was lying on the ground, bleeding out.
"You are stronger than I anticipated. It doesn't matter. I will kill you and your friends, and all your power will be mine!" the black dog howled.
Gray used all his might and moved the dog back against the wall. Gray immediately jumped in front of Lion and unfroze the dog as it was very energy consuming. The black dog attempted to charge at Gray, but Gray was able to force him back again. The black dog growled, stood there and thought. He then started to charge at Cheetah and Tiger. Gray growled and jumped in front of Tiger and Cheetah, anticipating attack, but anticipation was exactly what the black dog needed and was Gray's mistake. The black dog had stopped mid charge and at that moment Gray realized what he had done. He had left Lion out in the open. Gray tried to push the dog back, but was unable to conjure up enough energy. The black dog charged at Lion and bashed into him with full force. Lion flew across the alley and hit a wall with such a hard impact that it left a massive indent in the wall. Lion coughed up blood and his eyes were closed. It was obvious that his spine was broken and had multiple broken cursed at his stupidity and rushed over to Lion who was barely breathing.
"No, no, no! I'm so stupid! Lion! Don't die!" Gray pleaded.
"I'm done for. Even if I survived, my spine is broken, I can't go on. Take care of my brothers, ok? Protect them for me" Lion told Gray.
"I, I can't. I won't let you die!" Gray cried.
"I don't have much time left. Do me a favor, return my charm to the club. They will know what happened" Lion told Gray.
"I, I, will, I promise, and I will protect your brothers" Gray answered finally.
Lion smiled and died smiling, knowing his brothers will be safe. Gray cried and Cheetah and Tiger were watching, also crying. Gray lied next to Lion's body for a few seconds and his chain turned from a blue to a dark crimson red. Gray stood up and turned around to face the black dog. Gray felt something he never felt before, Gray felt rage. His eyes were a deep shade of red and growled at the black dog. He scanned the dog once more and was able to determine his power. The dog's power was just darkness, straight up darkness. Gray copied the power and fired an energy ball at the dog. The black dog was surprised at the sudden burst of energy and countered it by trying to knock it back. The energy ball did not bounce back, instead it hit the dog right in the chest and was knocked back a few inches. He was breathing hard because of the attack and his own attacks.
"How did you copy my power, it's impossible!" the black dog growled.
"It's none of your business, all I care about is killing you!" Gray responded in a harsh tone.
"Hmf, then wait until next time. I won't be staying" the black dog told Gray and took Shadow with him.
"Coward!" Gray shouted, then walked back to Cheetah and Tiger.
They were huddled against Lion, crying on his fur. Their eyes were red from crying and Tiger was praying that is was just a dream. Gray saw them and sat down right beside them, crying at Lion's death. Gray's necklace turned back into a chain and after a few minutes of crying, Tiger and Cheetah carried their dead brother out to a park just around the corner. Tiger dug a small hole for Lion and they placed him into the hole. Before burying him, Cheetah had a few more remarks.
"Tiger, if your up there, I hope you are resting in peace with Gray's friends. You were a great brother, and even though you had no power, you were still the strongest out of all of us, and your death will never be forgotten. With a death of a member, a brother, we send you off with the blessings of all the noble alley dogs" Cheetah lamented.
With that, Tiger buried Lion and patted the earth down, making sure that it was well hidden. The Feline Fiends, now down to three members, walked back to their alley and sat around, no one talking to each other.
"We need to go to the club, notify them on what happened" Cheetah suggested finally.
"Yes we do, Gray, take Lion's charm and give it back to them" Tiger told Gray.
Gray nodded and grabbed Lion's charm. They went straight to the club and the tree pups put on their own charm. After they entered, Gray went to the front of the club near the giant screen and conveniently found Crash standing next to the screen.
"Hey, what's up?" Crash asked.
Gray said nothing and gave Crash the charm.
"Oh no, what happened? The Feline Fiends are a strong bunch, how did one of you die?" Crash asked, concerned.
"There was an attack, to be more specific, it was from a devil. We were able to fend him off, but we got off lucky. Lion wasn't, however" Gray explained.
"A devil, huh? Well, what did he look like?" Crash pushed.
"He was a giant dog with pitch black fur and red eyes" Gray described.
"That doesn't help much" Crash said.
"He had a son named…" Gray started.
"Wait, a son? No devil have sons, unless," Crash started until his eyes widened. "No, it can't be, The Devil is here? That's not good. We can't fight him alone, but no one stands a chance. Not even the king could defeat him. He must be after your mother's charm. Gray, here's what I want you to do. If you ever get cornered by him, I want you to crush the centerpiece of the necklace. The necklace loses its power once it's crushed and the power will go to you. Then, you can fight back."
"O-ok, I will. Wait, d-does that mean he's my father?" Gray stuttered.
"Unfortunately, yes it does" Crash responded. "We need to notify the club about Lion's death, come on up" Crash told Gray.
They walked up a set of stairs to a booth where announcements were made. Crash made his way up into the booth and started the announcement.
"Attention everyone, I'm here to announce a death of an alley pup. The pup that was killed was Lion from the Feline Fiends" Crash started.
Everyone down in the club had gone silent. The last time a high tier pup that got killed was almost 4 years ago and it was because he got food poisoning, so this was big news.
"Like tradition, we will announce who they were as a member of the club so the ones who were there beside him and shared laughs with him can also remember the times you had. This pup's identity was Gray" Crash announced. "In other news, there is a dangerous dog out there. Please be careful while raiding, this is a giant dog with a pitch black fur coat. Avoid him at all costs. Do not engage with him. If you ever find him, please tell us the whereabouts. This is Crash with the end of the announcements, Thank you."
Gray followed Crash out and went off to find Tiger. Tiger was still in pain, and his face showed it off. The usual activeness in the club was no longer there, it gave of a worried vibe and there were hardly any laughs heard at all. Frostbite was also feeling sorrow as he knew Lion when he was Gray.
"Man, I never thought that Gray was my friend. He was always to nice and caring, not like the Lion I thought he was" was Frostbite's remark.
Gray couldn't stand the tension in the club any longer, so he left. Gray was almost back to the alley until he realized that The Devil was not only a threat for the alley dogs, but also a threat to the police force. He needed to warn Roger about what was happening. Gray went to the police department and put on his charm to be Inferno. As he entered, he saw an attendant at a desk typing away at his computer.
"Hello there, how may I help you?" the attendant asked Inferno.
"Uh, hi, I would like to speak to Roger, I have something I would like to say to him" Inferno asked back.
"Roger, huh? Well, he's in the back, but I'm not sure if he will answer. He's still busy planning on how to catch Gray" the attendant responded.
"You have to try, it's very important" Inferno pleaded.
"Well, if it's that big, then I'll try" the attendant replied.
The attendant called Roger and a familiar voice responded. The attendant notified that Inferno was there and had something important to tell him. Roger growled slightly and told him that he would be there in a bit. After a while, Roger walked up to the entrance and saw Inferno.
"What do you have to tell me that's so important?" Roger asked impatiently.
"Can we talk somewhere else? I don't like how open it is" Inferno replied.
"Fine, we can go to one of the back rooms. Come on, let's go" Roger growled.
After arriving into the back room, Inferno took off his identity charm and revealed himself.
"Gray? What are you doing here? You are a criminal, you can't just walk in here!" Roger hissed.
"I need to tell you something, there's a dog out on the loose and he is powerful, a black dog with red eyes. He can do insane amounts of damage and I wanted to notify you about him" Gray explained.
"I see, I will, thanks" Roger said.
Gray smiled and put back on his charm.
"Wait, before you go, I wanted to say that my, um, my son is going to be born in a few days and I was hoping you would be there for the party. I trust you, so I hope you will" Roger asked.
"I will consider it, thanks for inviting me" Inferno responded.
Roger nodded and Inferno left the police building to go back to the alley. In the next few days, there have been multiple deaths by The Devil, clearly they didn't listen to Crash's warning. Some of them were high tiers that thought they could take on The Devil alone and ended up losing. This pushed Tiger up to number five, but Tiger felt bad for getting so high because it felt wrong. The club soon was put under high security and the owners had casted a strong force to prevent all use of violence and magic in the club. Then one day, a very, very grave announcement was made. One of the owners had encountered The Devil and had tried to fight. The Devil was too strong for him and ended up killing him. This news was even bigger than Lion's death because the owners were the highest tier, the strongest and if The Devil was strong enough to kill one of them, it frightened everyone. Eventually, pups stopped coming to the club, too afraid to leave their alleys. There were no raids, no tussles, no fighting. The only ones who dared go to the club were the high tiers. At the club, many of the high tiers ended up revealing who they were and decided to team up to fight The Devil. They created a gang of the first ranking, second ranking, fourth ranking, sixth ranking and eighth ranking pups on the leader boards and their gangs and plotted every day in one of the back rooms on how to kill The Devil. Eventually, they had executed their plan and tried to take down the devil. That day was the same day that Tiger reached number two. Every pup was scared out of their wits. Even the police saw a lower rate of crime and were also starting to get concerned. They had their own casualties by The Devil, but he tended to stray away from the police.
Tiger, Cheetah and Gray sat around their alley, most of the time hiding inside the secret room. Thankfully they had the meat they took and was able to ration it out. It also helped that there was one less mouth to feed, Cheetah admitted, but the pain of losing a brother was still there.
"We need to kill The Devil, he's been terrorizing the whole community" Tiger proposed.
"Tiger, if five of the top pups and their gangs were defeated, then I don't think we have a chance, heck, I'm now currently number five" Cheetah responded.
"But we have Gray, he almost defeated him, we need to team up with someone and we can defeat him!" Tiger pushed.
"I don't know, none of us are feeling ready to battle after Lion died, and if we try now, we will most certainly die" Cheetah responded again.
"I would much rather die and join Lion than to stay here and hide like a coward. We need to go fight!" Lion tried again.
"Well, if you can find someone to fight with, be my guest. We will stay back until then" Cheetah said, depressed.
At this moment, they heard paw steps entering their alley. They stopped talking and listened. They assumed it was The Devil coming back to finish them off until the stranger spoke.
"Hello? Anyone here still?" A familiar voice asked.
"Yes! Yes there is Crash!" Tiger responded.
"Oh, thank the queen, I've been looking for you pups. We can't have The Devil rule over us, and he's clearly looking for the necklace and all the pups that have sacrificed themselves are just mere obstacles for him. We need to end this. Gray, Cheetah, Tiger, will you join me in taking him down?" Crash asked.
"Of course we will!" Tiger answered.
Cheetah thought about it, then smiled and agreed and Gray agreed as well. They left the alley and started to find The Devil. They had discussed a plan beforehand in the alley and were hoping that the plan will be successful. It was a fool proof plan where few situations would cause the plan to go off course. First, they needed to find The Devil. After aimlessly wandering around, they ran into Roger in his vehicle scouting the area.
"Hey, you, paws up- oh what's the point. There's been a huge drop in crime and sightings, where is everyone?" Roger asked.
"They've been killed police dog" Crash growled back.
"Is it the same pup Gray warned me about?" Roger questioned.
The four pups glared at Gray with a cold stare.
"Probably was. Gray, why did you warn the police? They can deal with their own problems" Tiger asked Gray.
"The Devil is a dangerous dog, the police deserved to be warned, they are pups with lives like us" Gray countered.
"Well, thanks to Gray, we've survived longer than we should've and saved many more lives of innocent citizens if Gray never warned us" Roger added.
"Wait, you've survived his attacks? How?" Crash asked, intrigued.
"We have a giant force, we could outnumber him, but we could never actually hurt him" Roger explained.
"Well, we can hurt to him, but we don't have the numbers to overpower him though. Do you think we could team up?" Crash suggested.
"If it's to protect the city, then yes, we will" Roger agreed.
"Well, well, well, I finally found you Gray," a demonic voice spoke "It's time to give me the necklace, or I'm taking it from you!"
So, after writing this, I realized that I may have planned too much, so I will need to split it off into 2 parts. Since I'm on a roll, I will most likely type up the next one right after this one. The action I said last chapter will come next chapter. Anyways, Like always, comment, grammar, thanks for reading!