A Tale of a Terrier

Chapter four: Family or Being Free

Tramp and the rest of Scamp's family were in the park getting ready for a picnic right as Annette caught sight of one of the dishes. She laughed a bit upon seeing it, as it was something that brought back fond memories of Scamp. "Remember the last time we came here and Scamp came up with this crazy scheme to get the chicken for lunch?"

Collette and Danielle perked up when they heard that with Collette bringing up something else about what happened. "What's most surprising is the fact that it actually worked."

Annette, Collette, and Danielle flashed back to when Scamp was planning to get the chicken, sending Aunt Sarah's cats off and making everyone else go wild. He then got the chicken from the picnic basket and took it, leaving Annette to give a sly grin. "Well, until I ratted him out as soon as the drama ended." Scamp was hidden behind the shrub and eating the chicken with a few seconds passing by as Annette spoke up to Lady. "Hey mom, if you're wondering where the chicken is, Scamp made the cats go crazy so he could eat the whole thing."

Lady looked to the shrub Annette was pointing to, leaving Scamp to come out, burping and farting simultaneously as he let out a green chicken cloud (PFFFFFT). Lady giggled a bit upon seeing this, knowing where Scamp got his sneakiness from. "So he did."

Annette, Collette, and Danielle were all laughing at that memory with Danielle bringing something up about it. "I don't get it though. How do you fart and burp at the same time?" Annette and Collette shrugged, not sure of how to answer that question.

Scamp and the Junkyard dogs were at the park with Buster spying on Scamp's family as Scamp was shown to be checking out Devil as he was shaking his butt to some rock music. He was swaying to the same beat as Devil's butt with Angel speaking up and startling him. "Find something you like?" Scamp flinched and looked at Angel, who snickered a bit upon seeing his reaction. "Relax dude. We're not an item, at least not yet, so you can gawk over Devil as much as you want."

Scamp sighed with relief as he then looked over at his family before looking back over at Angel. "I wish I could ask him, ya know? What does being straight and gay at the same time mean? Should I go back?"

Angel could tell that Scamp was struggling with a lot so she decided to give him the most honest advice she could. "I would prefer it if you went back to him Scamp, but I think you'll make the choice you think is right when it comes." Angel kissed Scamp's right cheek with Scamp blushing a bit as Angel then spoke up again. "And if you make the wrong choice, you'll eventually see you're an idiot." Scamp started laughing at what Angel just said with Devil catching on, smiling as he saw Scamp and Angel having a good time while continuing to sway his butt to the music.

Buster looked at Scamp and then back at Tramp, noticing them as the same breed and then seeing Tramp scratch himself, and then Scamp scratched himself in the same way. This led to Buster realizing that Scamp was the son of Tramp, leading to him getting an idea for Scamp's next test that'd really mess with him. "Hey Scampy! Come over here!" Scamp and Angel nodded to each other with Devil giving Scamp a thumbs up, leaving Scamp to walk up to Buster, who directed him towards the family he was looking at. "You see that family over there with the chicken?"

Scamp flinched when he saw the family Buster was pointing him to, knowing exactly what Buster wanted him to do. "The one with the Terrier and the four Cocker spaniels?"

"That's right." Buster confirmed, and then he directed him right for the chicken, leaving Scamp to know exactly what was going on. "That chicken over there looks nice and juicy. If you can get it from them, you'll be an official Junkyard Dog, and you'll be free to party with us for as long as you please."

Scamp tried to find a loophole in the situation with Angel and Devil both noticing the discomfort he was feeling right there. "Not to sound whiny, but does it have to be THIS family? I think I could find a family with a pot roast or something."

"I'll let you know when I'm in the mood for pot roast." Buster assured Scamp, although Scamp knew he was obviously lying about being in the mood for chicken, or at least that being the only reason he wanted Scamp to go after this family in particular. "Now go ahead and get the chicken from them, it'll be fine. From what I hear, your past is full of this sort of thing."

Scamp gulped with fear coursing through his veins, feeling htat he didn't have any way out of this mess. "Fine. (Looks back) Angel; Devil." Scamp signaled Angel and Devil to come over to him, looking at where his family was as he spoke to them. "Buster wants me to get that chicken. You guys up for the challenge?" Angel was hesitant but nodded her head yes, knowing what would happen to Scamp if he failed. Devil gave a thumbs up to Scamp, making him proud of both of them as he spoke up. "Alright then. Here's the plan. Trust me; I've done this before."

About a minute later, Devil was sneaking up to the family's picnic spot as he saw the siamese cats nearby. Angel joined him and threw one of the berries at the siamese cats, making them curious as they went over to the bush to see what it was. Just as they did, Devil jumped out and started barking, scaring them off and giving Scamp enough time to snatch the chicken with Junior noticing him. "Hey, it's Scamp!" Junior then became confused when he saw Scamp running off. "Where's he going?"

Scamp ran as fast as he could and managed to make it to an alley, setting the chicken down as soon as he jumped onto a box. "Just like old times." Scamp looked at the chicken and thought about returning to his family. "Let's hope this doesn't cause TOO much drama."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too worried about the chicken." Scamp looked and saw Tramp walking up to him, much to his concern as Tramp then showed worry for his son. "Scamp, where have you been for the past two days? The rest of us have been worried sick about you. And the only time we see you is when you steal our lunch?"

Scamp looked at the chicken and then back at his father, not wanting him to think of him as a rouge or anything like that. "It's not like that dad. I just got sick of all of these rules being blasted in my face and I needed to get away from it." Scamp then thought about Buster, fearing what would happen if he bailed on him. "Plus, the leader of the group I joined kinda...has a grudge against you."

Tramp caught onto what Scamp was saying and instantly warned him about what Buster, while also making sure he knew it was him. "You mean Buster?" Scamp nodded his head yes with Tramp getting to the warning part. "You can't trust him Scamp. He's bad news."

"I DON'T trust him." Scamp insisted, and then he explained why he was staying there. "It's just...I made these friends that are in his group, and they're super cool; I might even have feelings for them."

Tramp was starting to catch onto what Scamp was saying, but not getting quite the entire story. "Ah, met a couple lady friends son?"

"Well..." Scamp decided to ask his father a hypothetical question about his situation. "Let's say one of those friends I'm into is a boy, just hypothetically. What would that make me if I liked both genders?"

Tramp got a hint as to what Scamp was talking about and smiled as he told him. "Those who like both genders are bisexual, or BI for short. I think I had a friend who was BI once."

Scamp was glad to see that there was a chance his family would accept him, deciding he had no problem coming out to his father. "In that case, dad, I think-"

"Nice work Scampy!" Scamp looked and saw Buster walking up to him and Tramp with the rest of the Junkyard Dogs behind him. "You even managed to have me reunite with an old friend. Too bad it had to be under such rotten circumstances, since this scumbag walked out on me."

Scamp didn't know what to do in this scenario and asked his dad what Buster was talking about. "Dad, what's Buster talking about?"

"After I met your mother, I guess Buster just got jealous." Tramp explained, leaving Buster infuriated by this.

"You ditched me!"

"I fell, in love!"

"With a prissy little sk-"

Tramp instantly slapped Buster as soon as he made his retort. "Don't you DARE talk about my wife that way!" Angel and Devil could tell that Scamp was getting frustrated with this as Tramp spoke up. "I don't care what you're offering my boy. He's coming home, where he's safe."

"Why? Because you know what's best for him?" Buster asked mockingly, laughing as he then made his reply. "No Tramp. You know what's best for YOU. That's why you left. That's why you chose her over me. That's why you made all that sh-"

"Could you guys stop for one minute!?" Scamp shouted, making them both stop as he then turned to his father. "Dad, why didn't you tell me about your past, or what you did before we met? I wouldn't have thought any less of you for having been a street dog before. Heck, I would've loved to have heard those stories!"

Tramp felt bad for hiding his past from Scamp, knowing that he was disappointed in him for hiding it. "I just wanted to protect you Scamp. I didn't want that life for you."

"Except did you ever consider that if I knew about what you did I wouldn't have done any of this?" Scamp asked, bringing up all that's happened as of late. "Yeah I met the two I told you about, but now the entire family was at risk because Buster met me. If you told me about him then I would've known to avoid him and get out of there as soon as I knew how dangerous he was. And maybe me and my friends could've survived, and then things could've worked out for the better with us making sure we were all safe, trusting each other and protecting one another. I have common sense dad."

Tramp felt even worse now with Scamp taking off his collar as he finished his words, needing some alone time so he could think. "Tell the others I'm fine and...(Tosses the collar to Tramp)maybe I'll come back soon." Tramp looked down at the collar with Angel looking heartbroken and Devil showing empathy for Scamp.

Tramp picked up the collar after saying his last word "Okay." and left the choice up to Scamp to make.

Scamp walked off in the other direction after his father unlocked the gate for him, leaving Angel and Devil to run up to him with Angel speaking up. "Scamp."

"I'll be fine Angel. I just need...some space." Scamp stated, and then he walked on ahead with Angel and Devil stopping, both of them feeling bad for what just happened, and hoping Scamp would make the right decision. Buster on the other hand, had a look of vengeance in his eyes that anyone could predict the reason for.

Scamp was at the bridge where he kissed Devil as he looked into the water, reflecting on the spiral of conflicting and confusing thoughts he had inside of him. He didn't understand why Tramp thought he would be in danger after hearing about his past with Buster, and he also didn't understand why Buster was taking his father falling in love so seriously. All he could see in the water was a confused mess spiraling out of control as if it could break out of its cycle. Scamp wanted to know what was going on, but couldn't put together what was happening.

Just then, the dog catcher spoke up from behind Scamp, instantly alerting him. "Well, well, well." Scamp turned around and saw the dog catcher, who looked very determined to turn Scamp in. "No collar I see. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to take you in." Scamp tried to run only to be caught, causing him to bite the dog catchers hand and run off as fast as he could. "Ow! Get back here!" Scamp continued to run as fast as he could, making sure he lost the dog catcher and not looking back.

Scamp continued to run, spotting the junkyard nearby and speaking to himself as he made a break for it. "Get to safety, get to safety, get to safety." Scamp made it to the junkyard and sighed of relief as he saw Angel and Devil by the hole he came out of and clarified what happened. "This isn't what it looks like guys. I was gonna come back to help you, but I only came here now because of the dog catcher. He spotted me and I had to run."

Angel spoke up first with immense concern for Scamp, knowing he had to get out of here quick. "We believe you Scamp, but you're in grave danger here. As soon as Buster finds you he's gonna do everything in his power to-"

"Kill you?" Buster asked, and then he knocked Angel and Devil to the side as he rushed over to them with Devil making a swift recovery, and then he pinned Scamp down as he glared into his eyes. "I let you off in that alley because I felt you'd get yourself killed out there. But it looks like I'll have to take care of you myself!"

Scamp was looking at Buster with immense fear in his eyes as Devil jumped right onto Buster and started choking him with his front paws. "Run, quick, Scamp!"

"No! I'm not leaving you behind!" Scamp lunged at Buster and sent him back as soon as Devil jumped off of him, leaving Angel to knock over a trash can and kick all of the garbage onto him. Buster quickly arose from it though and walked over to Scamp, who tried to persuade him to let him leave. "Now I know what you're thinking. Should I kill him? And the answer, may surprise you."

Buster pinned Scamp against the wall and then threw him to the side, speaking furiously as he glared at him as he was then shown to have a damaged paw from the impact. "I actually thought you would've fit here Scamp. But I'm not letting anyone in if they're friends with that house dog Tramp."

Scamp got up, refusing to let Buster do anything to him, let alone Angel and Devil. "Back off Buster! I never said I wanted to be a house dog, I just don't wanna live with a murderous psychopath! Besides, Angel's the one who-"

Scamp quickly covered his mouth when he realized what he was saying, leaving Angel and Devil stunned as Buster looked at them. "What's he talking about baby? The one who what?"

Angel sighed, walking up to Scamp, who tried to apologize before Angel spoke up. "It's fine. I was planning on leaving this group anyway." Devil walked over to Scamp and Angel, standing with the two of them as Angel spoke up. "I'm the one of this trio who wants to be a house dog Buster. And seeing Scamp being hurt by you now is proof that it's time for me to go."

Buster was about to lunge at Angel, only for Devil to do the same and knock Buster back with Scamp limping as he tried to do the same. "Guys, run!" Devil ducked under Buster's swipe with Scamp and Angel making a break for it, only for the dog catcher to be shown waiting nearby.

Scamp knew he and Angel couldn't both escape, so Scamp looked at Angel and spoke up. "Listen Angel. We won't be able to escape if we got together; my paw will slow us down. Here's what I want you to do." Scamp whispered something to Angel, who understood what he wanted and smiled as he stopped her from retorting. "I'll be okay. Trust me." Angel started crying and hugged Scamp, who wrapped his undamaged front paw around her, making her run off to do as Scamp said with Scamp calling over to her. "You got this girl!"

Scamp looked back and went over to the dog catcher, who got a better look at him as he recognized him. "You again. Actually, now that I got a better look, at ya..." The dog catcher remembered Tramp and heard about what recently happened to him, picking Scamp up as he spoke to him. "You Tramp's son?" Scamp nodded his head yes with the dog catcher speaking up. "Well I'll be! (Walks over to his truck) Don't worry. I'll call your folks as soon as we get to the pound. I recently found out about Tramp's predicament and his owner gave me their number in case I found one of you." Scamp smiled, glad to see that his family was looking out for him after all.

Scamp was in the back of the dog catcher's car, pacing around as he hoped Angel would be able to fulfill the task he gave her before they separated. He then thought about his family and remembered what happened just before he left, as well as how his mother said he would always support him. He realized who he was truly meant to be with now and spoke in a somewhat melancholic tone when he did. "Far from, here is, where I want to be. (Walks up to the bars and looks up at the moon with hope) With those, who will, always be loving."

"Nobody trying to kill me. Nobody out to abuse me." Scamp continued to sing as he thought about Angel and Devil, confident that both of them would be okay. "A world without fences. A world I got to see." Scamp stood up and smiled, knowing he could count on his friends to succeed. "Maybe sometimes walls are needed, alongside freedom, balance is the life for meeee!" Scamp looked up at the moon, smiling as he thought about how Angel and Devil would be able to get out of their predicament.

Devil was barely able to escape Buster's grasp as he saw Angel talking to Tramp and Lady on their home porch, making him curious as he ran over to where they were. He heard Angel telling them about the plan, getting concerned for Scamp after hearing it. "And now he expects us to go and save him, since he knows about how good you were at this sort of thing. I think he's also decided to come home, if him asking for your help is any indication."

"Room for one more?" Angel, Lady, and Tramp looked to see Devil walking up to them as he assured them he could be of use. "I was able to trap Buster back at the junkyard, but there's still the chance he could come for Scamp at the pound during our rescue. If you let me come with you, I could hold him back, maybe rough him up a little more. Nothin you guys wouldn't like to see happen now, am I right?"

Tramp figured he would need all the help he could get as he looked at Lady with compassion. "Stay here with the girls."

"No way. I'm coming with you." Lady insisted, surprising Tramp with her sudden burst of bravery. "I know I'm not as skilled as you Tramp, but I'm not just going to sit back and watch while someone else is after our son."

"Fair enough I guess." Tramp responded, knowing he couldn't stop Lady that easily. "Trusty makes for a good babysitter anyway."

Devil gave Lady a nod of approval before rushing ahead of everyone to the dog pound. "Come everyone! The time is dire and Scamp won't save himself!" Angel ran after Devil with Tramp and Lady joining him. After Lady stoppded by Trusty's for a bit that is.

"Trusty, we're in a rush. You're in charge of the girls." Trusty nodded with Lady running off with Tramp to catch up with Angel and Devi and save Scamp.

Scamp had arrived at the pound with the dog catcher putting him in his cell, making sure no dangerous dogs were in there when he did so. He then assured Scamp that he would keep him safe from harm. "Don't worry. I'll make sure to find your owners somehow. And these bars should keep you safe from harm."

The dog catcher walked off with Scamp nodding as his plan was all going accordingly. He then heard a voice from behind him that startled him a bit. "You here for somethin now?" Scamp looked and saw Reggie, who was speaking in a much more calm and polite manner. "I figured we'd meet again. The look on your face says you got captured on purpose though."

Scamp nodded his head yes, confirming Reggie's statement to be true as he then explained what he was doing, still limping a bit as he walked over to the bars separating them. "I got hurt during a battle with Buster, a frenemy of my dad's. I knew Angel and I couldn't get out of there together, so I sent her off to find my dad in the hopes that he'd come and save me. I just hope I wasn't too hard on him about earlier." Scamp sat against the bars and leaned on them with Reggie doing the same. "I guess you could say I got along with my mom a lot more easily."

Reggie knew Scamp had a lot on his mind and felt that he should allow him to keep talking. "And I recently found out the reason for these weird thoughts I've had lately. Like, both genders have a romantic appeal to me. I didn't know what it was at first, but right before I ditched my collar, my dad told me what it was. Except he still doesn't know."

Reggie felt it would be okay to comment now, since he knew what Scamp's problems were. "That you're bisexual." Scamp was surprised by Reggie stating that as the big dog then confirmed that it was a normal feeling. "Don't worry about it kid. It's nothing to be ashamed of or anything to grandstand. It's just a normal feeling that some people have." Scamp was relieved to hear that, and he still had confidence that his friends would save him. "You seem confident in your friends, seemingly knowing that your plan will succeed. I admire that in kids your age."

Scamp smiled upon hearing that and then had one question for Reggie as he got up and turned around to face him that he hoped he would be able to answer. "You seem to know a lot of stuff Reggie. Do you know any methods I can use for...coming out to my parents?"

"Well as an asexual dog myself, I'm probably not the best to give advice on this sort of thing." Scamp was a bit confused as to what asexual meant with Reggie clarifying the meaning. "It means I don't have romantic feelings inside of me." Scamp nodded in understanding, allowing Reggie to continue. "I do know one thing though. If your parents really do love you, then they won't judge you for which gender you're attracted to. So if you tell them, and they don't care, and still love you, that's a good sign."

Scamp was glad to hear that and felt that he still had one more thing to say to Reggie. "Thanks Reggie. And, I'm sorry I got you sent here."

"And I'm sorry I tried to kill you." Reggie said with a smile as he turned around, leading to Scamp and Reggie laughing over how well things turned out, and how well they were going to go later tonight.

Buster was closing in with the others at the dog pound with Ruby trying to convince Buster not to go through with this. "Buster, I'm not so sure this is a good idea. This is murder."

"Shut it Ruby! Any family member of Tramp's gets the boot, no questions or objections!" Buster demanded, being furious with the fact that Tramp is living this happy life with his family and feeling the need to do something about it. "If I kill that kid, it'll be a warning sign to Tramp that I'm coming for him next. And then, I'll kill him, and then I'll take care of his other family members!" Buster and the gang saw Angel and the others heading for the dog pound, leaving Buster to smile evilly as he chuckled. "Perfect."

Scamp was whistling casually in the dog pound with Angel and the others arriving, making Scamp overjoyed as he ran over to them. "You made it!" Scamp instantly looked at Angel with proudness, knowing he was right to trust her. "I knew you'd do it Angel."

Angel smiled with Devil leaning against the bars and putting his paws up to them. "You're a bold soul Scamp. If you hadn't earned my respect before, you sure as heck did now."

Scamp smiled in response right before he noticed someone behind Tramp, instantly warning him when he saw. "Dad, look out!"

Tramp looked behind him and saw Buster, who lunged at him, leading to the two of them rolling across the ground with Lady calling out to her husband. "Tramp, no!"

Tramp and Buster ended up standing across from one another as Buster taunted Tramp with bloodlust in his eyes. "Not what I had planned, but this is even better. Now I get to kill four traiters and one thief for the price of one!"

To be continued.