Humans pretend to love. Luring with affection; corruption, torture, and eventually annihilation is their true goal.
"We are very lucky to have found you!" Said Strudel. "It's no problem, really." Replied Ty. Mel couldn't believe it. She walked straight up to him and talked to him face-to-face.
"Wait, hold on. Blake? You're his brother?" She asked. "Yep! Hasn't he told you about me?" He wondered. She sat down and looked away, thinking. "I guess not." She said calmly. She thought it was strange that she never knew about him before. "Are you sure we're talking about the same dog?" He asked her. "Well, you could describe him." She suggested. "Did he have golden fur, a constant positive attitude, and the purest heart on earth?" He asked her. Mel began to tear up from happiness hearing those reminders. "That's him." She said happily.
"Well, I hope you don't mind, but I would really like to see him again." He said excitedly. Mel was immediately struck with that sentence. She didn't want to tell him, but she had to. The Pound Puppies were listening, too. They all heard and came forward to Mel's side. "Is he with you? Where is he, anyway?" He said filled with hope. Squirt blurted his answer out. "Oh, he's at the bottom of the San Francisco Bay!" He said extremely nonchalantly. After, Cookie punched him so hard, he fell over. Ty suddenly grew worried. "What does he mean by that, Mel?" He asked her. Her eyes started to water. "Ty, he was struck by a car when we were on the Golden Gate Bridge. He fell over the edge. He's gone. I'm sorry." She explained. She couldn't bear to look at him anymore. She turned around and cried. She was too overwhelmed of the explicit reminders of how he died. Ty began to, as well. "Is this true?" He asked, devastated. The Pound Puppies sadly nodded. They all felt really bad for the both of them.
Even though Mel was just as hurt as him, she went over to him to see if she could help them again. She came close to him again, right by his side. She was close enough to talk in his ear. "You know, if he were here, he would be really happy to see you." She said happily. "You think so?" He said as he looked at her. Mel nodded. "Thank you for taking such good care of him." He replied. He stood up and hugged her. Mel suddenly felt much better.
Ty sat back down next to Mel. "You know, it really is a pleasure to meet you." Said Ty. "But why? How do you even know who I am?" She asked. She's been wondering the same question since he met him. Ty decided to tell her their story.
"You see, Blake and I were as close as two brothers could get. We'd play together every single day, and we never had a single fight. Then, I started noticing he was disappearing. He'd come back and still spend time with me, though it was gradually getting less and less. One day, I asked him about where he goes. He told me, that he met a girl. He said she was the sweetest, most caring, and the best girl he'd ever met. Her name, was Mel. He eventually began spending all of every day away from home, and he'd only come back for brief moments during the night. I figured that whoever this girl was, she'd have to be the luckiest girl in the whole world. Then, one day, he said he was taking her somewhere far away, and that he wanted to say goodbye. We did, and he went off, and never came back. I'll admit; I was a little hurt by his decision and I missed him, but I supported him all the way through. So, I wished him the best of luck, and I never saw him again." Ty happily explained the story for her. Mel felt so happy, she looked at him with an extremely grateful expression.
The Pound Puppies had begun to grow anxious, as they still wanted to find information on the kidnapping. "Yeah, whatever. But, we still have a missing kid to track down. So, enough of the storytime, and start telling us important things!" Shouted Squirt. Mel and Ty stuck together, but backed away from Squirt. They had gotten their feelings slightly hurt from Squirt. Mel always knew there was something edgy about Squirt, but she never thought he'd have this little sympathy.
Both Ty and Mel were silent, as a result of Squirt. Squirt looked at the two pups, seeing their hurt expressions and realizing what he had done. He walked up to them. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it like that." He explained. "It's fine, but you're right. I'm ready to tell you what I know now." Replied Ty, coming forward to everyone, making sure everyone could hear him. "Excellent. We're all looking forward to what you have to say!" Said Strudel. Ty took a deep breath before he revealed his knowledge.
"I know who took him. It was the ACHRA." He explained. "Oh, no!" Shouted Niblet. There was a brief pause before the predictable question followed. "What's the ACHRA?" He finally asked. Ty began explaining again. "They're the Anti Canine-Human Relationship Association; the cold-hearted, black-spirited dogs with a burning hatred of all human life. These are dogs that are not meant to be anywhere near, and they're extremely violent." He said very seriously. "So some dogs took Xavier? This should be alright. We've dealt with people-hating dogs before." Explained Cookie. "Perhaps, but not like these. These are dogs that are not afraid to take lives. I'm afraid Xavier could potentially be in great danger." He continued. He didn't like telling everyone what he knew, because he knew it was too much for them to handle at once; his intentions were never to scare anyone.
His words sucked the bravery out of everyone; especially Mel. Ty looked around and saw Mel lying on the ground. Whenever she stared into empty space, he could tell she was worrying about Xavier, and he didn't blame her at all. He walked over to her and sat down next to her, hoping to lift her spirits. "I know this must be hard information for you to hear, and I'm sorry you have to go through this. You don't deserve to feel this way." He said with his most comforting tone. Mel stood up and hugged him tightly, seeking relief from her distress. "I just hope he's okay." She cried softly. She spoke with choppy breaths due to her side effects of feeling sad and worried.
Lucky was behind, still in the alley. He took one look at his team, and could tell that they were not ready for such a rescue. They seemed scared to him; and even he admittedly felt discomforted. Even if they were putting themselves in danger, he knew they had to rescue him. Lucky decided to share his thoughts to get them motivated again.
"Hey, team. I just want to say that no matter what happens, we're Pound Puppies. We specialize in rescuing anyone in need. This may be a huge burden, but we need to at least try. If we succeed, we will have saved a life and have had another big job completed. Yes, this job seems scary, and it sounds horrible, but the Pound Puppies thrive in danger. So, let's rescue Xavier." He shouted. Everyone else agreed, to Lucky's surprise, and stood up with him, despite their secret lingering fear of the mission they were about to embark on. Empowered by Lucky's testimony, the others finally felt confident enough to try, though they were still aware if the danger they were going to put themselves in.
Squirt never completely believed Ty; he doubted he was telling the truth. "So, kid. Tell me exactly how you know so much about this ACHRA. How can we be sure you're not just making this up to scare us off?" He asked as he shoved Mel aside and took her place in front of him. Ty sighed and told him how. He hoped he never had to tell the story again.