Disclaimer: "The Fox and the Hound" is property of Daniel P. Mannix and Walt Disney Company, not mine...unfortunately.

Anonymous but Impressed: Yep, pretty actiony! Keep reading to get find out what all happens!

JUST ONE MORE CHAPPIE TO GO!

The Fox and the Hound 2: Friends in Need

Chapter Fifteen: Fight to the Finish, Part Two

Tod was still unclear on his vision, and completely helpless against a lion, and very useless in helping Copper out. Calvin Slade was still unconscious, therefore useless as well. Buster was still waiting for the lion to beat Copper to a pulp, then he would come out and finish off the dog, then kill the lion—who would be weak from fighting.

Copper was lying on his side, staring up worriedly at the enraged feline's heavy paw as it lifted up to slap the dog once closed his eyes, not wanting to see his own blood splashed on the ground when the cat made its move, but suddenly he heard the sound of...barking? Then a flash of grey appeared and the devil cat found himself being assaulted from behind.

The golden-furred fury yowled as a dog he'd never seen before started clawing his back and tried yanking his short ears off with a set of sharp teeth. Copper looked up dazedly, still affected by the gash in his side, and saw...

"Chief?"

The older dog had gone into fighting mode as he kept the mountain lion off Copper's back, being careful to dodge the deadly claws. He may have been several years older than the other members, but one must remember that Trigg hounds happen to be one of the faster, more agile members of the hound family. It didn't take to much attempt to jump when the devil cat slashed out his paws, or prance out of the way when he made an advance move.

Barking loudly and deeply, he kept the cat distracted from the wounded Copper. Right now, that was all he cared about. When he saw that youngster being rampaged on by the lion, all he could see was an innocent pint-sized runt of a puppy needing life-or-death help...just like the good old days.

Tod finally shook the vapors from his head and managed to stand back up again. He was momentarily surprised to see Chief there, but he figured if he was going to risk his neck saving Copper, then surely a young fox could do the same! Besides, this was his way of thanking his old friend for helping him move his family out of harm's way.

Buster realized that things were not going his way. Chief had gotten in the way and ruined his perfect plan, and now the Rhodesian was fuming mad. He gave a slight roar as he jumped from his hiding place towards the old dog. Luckily for Chief, Tod happened to be there, and the fox knocked the angry Buster backwards and kept him occupied.

And unfortunately for Chief, Buster had distracted enough attention from him to turn his head for a slight moment, giving the devil cat a good time to unsheathe his claws and slap the old dog into a huge rock, knocking him out.

Copper managed to stand himself up, ignoring the terrible pain in his side, but he saw his father-figure in danger, and had to do something about it. Obviously, the old dog wasn't mad at him anymore, since he came rushing to his rescue, and Copper was going to do the same thing for him.

He buried his teeth into the lion's neck and clamped down hard, making the cat release Chief from the dirt. The huge animal tried clawing Copper away, but the dog somehow was able to keep pushing the claws away from him with his front legs. Meanwhile, Tod and Buster were still going at it, and both of them were still in good shape, not having too much damage to each other. That is until Buster caught the fox off guard and backslapped him hard enough to knock him out.

Just when Copper thought he was going to die from exhaustion, he heard a loud noise ring through the air and the cat made a yowl of pain and jumped into the air, before landing on its side and groveling in agony. Confused, Copper looked up to see Calvin Slade, finally having awoken from his spell, holding his rifle in firing position, grinning at the screaming cat.

"I've got you now, you sick kitty," he muttered, aiming once more for the cat.

Just when he was about to shoot again, a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around...then got punched in the mouth. It was Amos, having finally arrived at the scene after trying to find the escaped Chief, and he believed he had arrived just in time.

"Calvin Jeremiah Slade, what do you think you're doing with that mountain lion?" he asked him angrily. "You could get arrested for shooting that animal!"

"Do I look like I care?" Calvin shouted, pushing his brother aside, but another voice stopped him from taking another shot at the cat. It was his friend Wally Jones, the manager of the Regional Hunt. He had followed Amos out there when he saw that something was up.

"Put the gun down, Calvin," the mustachioed man said firmly. "Just because you're my friend, doesn't mean I'm going to let you shoot that endangered animal. In fact, I happen to be a government official, and I have every intention of turning you in. You're going to be in a lot of trouble."

Calvin looked shock. "But-but-That cat almost killed my dog, then attacked me, and–"

"Well...you are in his territory," Wally shrugged, watching the injured beast take advantage of the interruption and take off through the rocks. "Let's go, Slade."

Calvin was reluctantly dragged away by his "friend" to get prosecuted for endangering the life of a protected species. Amos waved good-bye from where he was, and said,

"I'll take real good care of your dogs for you!" Looks like I win the bet, little brother.

Down on the ground, Copper was trying to nudge Chief awake, who was still lying unconscious. "Chief? Chief, wake up, I'm sorry about everything, just please wake up!"

Finally the old dog cracked his eyes open, slowly waking up, and looked up into Copper's worried face. "Hey there, half-pint."

The young dog grinned at the old nickname. "Hey, old-timer. Geez, you had me scared for a minute. I, uh, thought you were mad at me."

"I was, got over it. You didn't honestly think I was gonna let you have all the fun, did you?" he lightly joked, standing up on all fours. "Seriously, when I heard you screaming, I forgot all about being mad and nearly had a fit when I saw that crazy cat about to have you for breakfast." Pause. "Besides, I always thought of you as a son, so I guess paternal instinct must've kicked in or something."

Copper grinned ear to ear at that last sentence, and pulled Chief into a hug. A little shocked at this sudden display of affection, the old dog glanced around a little to make sure nobody was watching before giving a hug himself.

"Aw, isn't this sweet?" an evil voice said in a sickeningly sweet voice. The two dogs had completely forgotten about Buster, and the dog had a killer look in his eyes. "Everybody's so happy. You guys are friends again, the cat didn't kill you, and Belle has a crush on the pup. Nice. So, shall I be the first to say—Prepare to die!"

But before Buster could make a move, Tod (who had finally gotten over his unconsciousness), slammed into Buster from where he was. The Rhodesian was taken aback and startled. He backed up a few feet, before losing his footing on the side of the cliff and...slipped, plummeting into the bottom of the ravine, never to be seen again.

The two dogs blinked before either of them said anything. "So," Chief said. "This guy's your friend, huh?"

Woo-hoo, what a fun chappie to write! Chief and Copper are friends again, Buster is bye-bye, Calvin is jailed, the mountain lion wasn't harmed to bad, and Tod's family is safe! But that's not the end of the story, there's one more chapter to go!