Well, I'm back, I had a lot to do the past few weeks but I'm back and ready to continue the story. In that time, I was able to come up with new concepts and ideas that I will be happy to write. Also while during the week, I noticed that there are few to none stories that involve Arrby, even though he's so adorable (or because I have a few dachshunds myself), but I'm also currently thinking about a plot line for Arrby and hopefully other writers will too if they're reading this. Anyways, onto chapter 9.
Gray scanned the scene. His new friends were hurt and unconscious and the K-9 officers were advancing fast. Gray needed to do something to help, but not get his friends more hurt than they already were. Gray rushed up to the trio and dragged Tiger and Cheetah towards the back of the alley.
"Hey you in the back, who are you?" a German Shepard police pup shouted at Gray.
"My name is Gray, who are you?" Gray growled back, still carrying Tiger.
"If you must know, my name is officer Roger. Are you working with the Feline Fiends? If you are, then I would have to take you in as well" Roger growled back.
"I'd like to see you try" Gray shouted back as he got into a fighting stance.
"Be careful everyone, we don't know what he can do if he was accepted into the Feline Fiends" Roger warned the other officers.
Gray and the other officers circled each other, no one daring to make the first attack. Gray noticed that Lion had also moved back with his brothers, trying to move them further from danger. After a few minutes of constant circling, Gray also noticed one officer started to get antsy and the officer charged at Gray with his taser out and ready. Gray smirked at the ignorant officer and froze him right in his tracks with his power.
"Now now now, you didn't think a simple charge was going to do anything, did you?" Gray asked.
"I told you to be careful! Get out of there now!" Roger shouted, annoyed.
"I can't move! He's doing something to me!" the frozen officer cried.
"Now, you will leave my friends alone, or I'll escort you out myself, you got that?" Gray threatened.
The other officers except Roger did not believe Gray was actually telling the truth and like the first officer, they all charged at Gray. Gray smiled and froze every single police pup and pushed them back hard. Roger growled, but was clearly terrified. The officers got up and backed away from Gray. The first frozen officer immediately darted away the first chance he got, ran to his vehicle and drove away, abandoning the other officers at the site. The other police pups got into their own respective vehicles and started their engines. Right before they left, Roger threatened Gray.
"This isn't over Gray, we will catch you one day!" Roger shouted at Gray and drove away.
Gray watched the police group drive away, then looked around for Lion. Lion, in the flurry of events, moved his unconscious brothers away to the very back of the alley, propped them up on the wall and started to tend to their wounds. Gray walked over and help Lion bandage up Cheetah and Tiger. Soon after Gray and Lion bandaged them up, the two pups regained consciousness.
"Where are we?" Cheetah questioned.
"We're still here in the alley. Gray drove the police away. He saved us." Lion responded.
"Ugh, I hate the police, but I hate those pups from yesterday more. Those raiders from last night probably ratted us out, those stupid mutts" Tiger growled.
"We need to move to another alley to prevent the officers from finding us. Thankfully we have a few backup places we can stay" Cheetah planned.
"You guys have more than one alley?" Gray questioned, intrigued.
"Yea, once you finish a raid, you can also force out the current alley pups that are living there. Of course, having more than one alley means more you need to take care of, which also means that there is a higher chance of them getting occupied by other alley dogs, but we can take that risk. We have two other alleys so we can go to those" Tiger explained.
Gray nodded and helped Tiger up on his paws while Lion helped Cheetah. Gray supported Tiger as he guided Gray where to go. They took the darkest and shadowy areas to get to the alleys. Cheetah told Gray that they were going to take a few detours so that they would be seen as less as possible so other alley pups and dogs wouldn't see them hurt as it would damage their reputation. Gray nodded and continued to follow Tiger's directions. Finally after a long walk of turn after turn, the four pups entered a deserted alley. Gray set Tiger down who was tired out and Tiger almost immediately fell asleep. Cheetah lied right beside him, equally as tired.
"Lion, why don't you show Gray where the club is. He needs a charm anyways. Go find a club authority and get a charm, we'll go tomorrow after we heal up a bit" Cheetah yawned.
Lion nodded, grabbed his charm and took Gray out to find the club. Gray followed Lion to another alleyway that looked abandoned with nothing in it. Gray was confused, What was so special about this alley?
"What are we doing here? Aren't we going to a club or something?" Gray asked suspiciously.
"We are, and we're here" Lion replied in a monotone voice.
Lion put on his charm and touched the wall with his charm. As soon as Lion touched the wall, the brick wall started to change. A gray color was spreading from Lion's paw where he touched it and soon enough, the wall morphed into a massive steel door. Gray gawked at the magic involved in the door and turned to Lion who was now gone. In his place was a gray pup with amber eyes and a messy coat of fur.
"Who are you" Gray growled.
"I'm Lion, remember, we all have a secret identity here." Lion hissed, "Stay out here and out of sight. I will go in and find you someone who can get you a charm."
Gray stared and nodded. Lion glanced at him one last time and went into the steel door. The door immediately changed back into a brick wall after Lion entered.
"Guess security must be tight here" Gray murmured.
Gray looked around and tried to find a good hiding spot. Since the alley was so barren, there was nowhere to hide. Gray ended up wandering up and down the street to seem like he was going somewhere. He saw many pups and dogs enter the alley and all of them had a charm. Some gave Gray a quick look, then looked away after they noticed he did not have a charm. After a few rounds, Gray got tired and decided to wait out on the sidewalk. After a few minutes, a pitch black pup walked right into Gray.
"Hey, watch it!" Gray growled.
"Hmf, your fault for standing in my way mutt!" the black pup retorted.
"Are you trying to look for a fight? I'll tear you limb from limb if that's the case" Gray growled.
"Hah, you're not worth my time and I don't want to get my paws dirty. What are you doing here anyways? You have no charm, you don't belong here" the black pup scoffed and walked into the alley.
Gray growled and watched as the black pup walked into the club. At that moment, he saw Lion come back with another dog with a pure white coat of fur.
"Well, I found you someone who can give you a charm, just didn't think it would be one of the owners" Lion told Gray.
"Well who the one who wanted a charm, is it you little pup?" the white dog asked.
"Yes it is, sir. I would love to get a charm" Gray replied.
The white pup glanced at Gray and froze. He looked at Gray, then at Lion, then back at Gray. He stood there for a second until he smiled and replied.
"I see, well your friend here most likely knows how you can set up your charm, so I'll give you one and I'll be on my way" the white dog smiled.
The white pup came up to Gray and handed him a charm. It glowed brightly in Gray's paw. Gray was about to pull his paw back when the white pup pulled him in instead.
"And meet me tomorrow in the club. I need to ask you a few questions" the white dog whispered.
"O-Ok" Gray stuttered.
The white dog set Gray down and went back into the club. Lion walked up to Gray and beckoned him to follow him to get back to the alley. Along the way, Lion asked Gray a few questions.
"Man, he was so nice to you, he wasn't that kind when I walked up to him, and what was the deal when he pulled you in, did he threaten you? What did he tell you?" Lion questioned.
"Nothing important, he just told me if I had any trouble, I could go ask him how to fix the issue" Gray lied.
"Huh, well we better get back to set up the charm" Lion dismissed.
Gray and Lion got back to the alley and found Cheetah and Tiger in a deep sleep on the floor. Lion smiled at his sleeping brothers and started to help Gray set up his charm.
"Ok, first, you need to put on the charm. When you do, imagine the fur color and design in your head. The charm will sense it and turn you into that picture. If you want to change it, then just keep imagining what you want to look like. Once you take it off, it will confirm your new look and you won't be able to change it" Lion explained.
Gray gulped and nodded. He closed his eyes and imagined what he wanted to look like. He imagined a pup with a crimson fur color with a cream belly and chest fur. This new pup also had a faint swirl design that was a slight lighter than the crimson. On the head, there were three lines on a darker crimson down the muzzle and the top of the head, fading out to the lighter crimson on the neck. Lastly, he imagined a bright blue eye color to pair with the red. Gray opened his eyes and looked down. He saw exactly what he thought of and was satisfied and took off his charm.
"That was so good, I didn't you know you had that kind of imagination" Lion complimented, clearly impressed.
"I guess, It was just what I wanted to be instead of a gray for my own reasons" Gray replied sheepishly.
"Well what are you going to name him?" Lion asked.
"How about Blaze?" Gray suggested
"Blaze is taken already by like six other pups" Lion said.
"Wow, well then, how about Inferno?" Gray tried again.
"Inferno is fine, that's pretty good actually. Hey, why don't we surprise Cheetah and Tiger when they wake up. Sleep with your charm on and see how they react when they wake up." Lion smiled deviously.
Gray agreed and slept next to Cheetah with his charm on. The next morning, Gray woke up by a sharp pain in his side. Gray jolted awake and growled at the attacker.
"Who the heck are you" Tiger growled.
Gray saw Cheetah ready to run and Tiger ready to fight. Gray decided to mess around with the two confused pups for a few more minutes.
"The name's Inferno. This is a nice alley, I think I'm gonna take it!" Gray joked.
"Oh I don't think so, Cheetah, get him! Plan A!" Tiger shouted.
Cheetah started to circle around Gray. Gray smirked and bashed right into Cheetah. Cheetah banged right into the wall and cursed.
"Where's Gray when you need him" Cheetah grimaced.
"Gray, huh? Well I ki-"Gray started.
"Ok Gray, that's too much" Lion interrupted.
"You think so?" Gray replied.
"Wait, what's going on he- oh wait the charm last night, right" Cheetah said after facepalming (Facepalming? Facepawing? I don't know).
"Oh, so this is Gray? Nice disguise, I like it!" Tiger smiled.
"Yup! I'm ready to go to the club now!" Gray said happily.
"Well, let's go then!" the trio replied.
The four pups walked back to the same alley that Lion took Gray to the previous night. This time, Gray tried his charm and touched the wall. The wall, just like when Lion touched it, started to morph and the steel door appeared. Gray was still amazed at the steel door and the trio led him into the club. The door shut behind them and the brick wall once again reformed. Gray's newly acquired charm, once entering, activated and turned into his new identity Inferno. Like him, Tiger, Cheetah and Lion turned into their respective identities.
"Ok Inferno, we can't have you enter without anyone knowing because it would be too obvious who you are if others found out a new pup had just joined a gang, so we are going to act out a scenario. Follow me and pretend to be shy, yet seem like you know me and have been here for a long time. I'll introduce you to my friends and you don't need to say a single word" Tiger told Gray.
Gray nodded and entered. He looked back at Cheetah and Lion who were already running to their pals at the club and started to chat. Gray looked back at Tiger who was looking around for his buddies too. Gray followed Tiger's instructions and pretended to avoid eye contact, occasionally talking to Tiger so it seemed they were friends. Gray took a few glances at the surrounding area they were in. There were many groups of dogs and pups together, all smiling and laughing together. The walls were wooden with signs of slight molding on them. There were many doors leading to rooms that groups could enter and chat about private topics that they didn't want other to hear about, but the most noticeable thing in the club was the giant screen at the front of the club with rankings of gangs and pups or dogs. Gray noticed that the Feline Fiends were on the list at number six, while Tiger was on the pup rankings at number 10. Tiger finally entered a group of dogs and all the dogs greeted him with "hello" and "how ya doing". Then they noticed Gray in the back who shrunk himself down.
"Hey, who's the pup in the back with the wild fur color?" a massive husky asked.
"He's my long time friend Inferno. He's a bit shy to meet other dogs. Heck, when he walked up to me a few months back, he couldn't even speak right. He stumbled on every word!" Tiger joked.
The other dogs laughed and greeted Gray with the same greetings they said to Tiger.
"So, you've been here for a few, eh? Why don't you tell us about yourself" another dog asked.
"Well, as you know, my name's Inferno, and um, I don't really like to talk to other pups very much" Gray tried.
"Well, since you're part of us now, we're going to change that. By the end of the week, you won't be as shy as you are now" the husky said smiling. "The name's Frostbite by the way. That dog over there is Fury and the red furred dog right over there is Blaze. Now, why don't we find some other pups to talk to. We could go visit Vortex, or we could see if Silver is willing to talk. Anyone you prefer Inferno?" Frostbite asked.
"Actually, do you know where that white furred owner is? I kinda want to uh, thank him for the charm" Gray replied.
"Crash? Are you sure? He's really hard to find, especially out in the open here where everyone can see him. He doesn't usually come out very often. I'm surprised that you were able to get a charm from him. We could try, but I don't know if we can find him" Frostbite answered.
The group took off and looked for Crash. Gray scanned the scene but couldn't find Crash anywhere here. They walked around for a bit until Gray saw a white pup enter the club through a back door next to the screen. Gray was overjoyed and immediately ran over, but it was no easy task. Gray kept of bumping into other dogs and pups and stepped on multiple paws, but no one seemed to care. Finally, Gray reached Crash and stood right in front of him.
"Sorry, do I know you?" Crash asked.
"I'm the pup you gave the charm to yesterday, remember? You wanted me to see you" Gray responded.
Crash immediately pulled Gray into the back and took off Gray's charm. Gray turned back into his regular look and Crash smiled at him.
"So it is you. I have a few things I would like to ask you. By any chance did you bring your necklace?" Crash asked.
"Yea, I did, why?" Gray asked curiously.
"I could sense that you aren't any normal pup. You have a celestial vibe radiating off of you, but you don't look like an angel. The necklace I recognize as one of the queen's prized possessions and was curious on why you have it" Crash explained.
"Wait, you're from the heavens too?" Gray asked.
"Yes I am, I was the queen's most loyal general and she granted me the ability to come down to earth to face evil wherever it may lurk" Crash replied.
" Huh, well, I'm the queen's son and I came down from up there because, well, because of my fur color. I recently found out that I'm cursed with good and evil and mother gave me her necklace to overpower the darkness inside me" Gray answered.
"So you are a deviled god. I've never seen or met one, but the myths are true. So does that mean your father is the devil?" Crash asked again.
"Unfortunately yes" Gray responded.
"I knew the king shouldn't have fought with the devil. On top of that, I should have helped him" Crash cursed. "Well, be careful. There are many pups and dogs who are loyal to the devil and would love to get their paws on that necklace of yours. Keep an eye out for those pups and I'll deal with them. Just let me know who they are."
Gray nodded and Crash dismissed him from the back room. Gray put back on his necklace and tried to find Tiger again. He couldn't find Tiger, but he did spot Cheetah. Gray was just about to head over until an announcement was made.
"Attention all dogs and pups, I would like to make a few announcements. First of all, it has been brought to our attention that the Feline Fiends had been found by the police. We have reasons to believe that a gang had ratted them out and they are no longer welcome to the club. If we find out that you are responsible, then you will be kicked out and banned permanently. Secondly, there are 3 new alley dogs and pups that have join a gang. Two of the three dogs have given us their name which are Spike and Connor, both of them have joined the Mean Dogs gang while the third pup is still unknown. All we know about him is that he has a coat of gray fur and is now apart of the Feline Fiends. This will surely increase the reputation of the Feline Fiends and will rise up higher than before" The announcer announced.
Everyone was murmuring about the new pup and who it could be and Gray didn't feel like staying any longer, so he made his way over to the door. Gray touched the wall and the door morphed again and left. Gray started to walk back to the alley when he heard two familiar voices. He quickly dove behind a trash can and listened.
"Aww, is the poor police pup defenseless without backup and his gear? Well let me tell you this, us alley pups don't need equipment. We have everything right at our claw tips. Now, since you're a police pup, I'm gonna have to kill ya" the voice spoke mockingly.
"No you're not. Just because I don't have any of my gear, it doesn't mean I can't fight!" the second voice spoke.
Gray took a peak at what was going on. He saw Roger facing off against the black pup that bumped into him last night. Gray growled, but decided to wait to see what would happen. Gray watched as Roger charged at the black pup and the black pup took it like it was nothing. Surprised, Roger back away, rubbing the part that made contact with the black pup.
"That was weak. I could snap you in half if I wanted to. Any last words before I kill you?" the black pup asked deviously.
"I'll never let you kill me!" Roger responded and dashed in the other direction.
Gray thought that Roger would get away, but suddenly, the black pup disappeared right into the ground and reappeared in front of Roger. Gray watched in amazement and quickly yanked on his necklace chain to scan the black pup. He scanned the black pup and found out that he had the power to control shadows, so anywhere that was dark and shadowy, he was able to use it to his advantage.
"Did you really think you could get away? In the night, you can never run away from me!" the black pup stated.
The black pup readied an attack and was just about to claw at Roger when Gray couldn't take it any longer and jumped out to bash the black pup into the wall. The black pup was taken by surprise and was blown back a few feet. He panted and looked up at his attacker with an enraged look.
"Hah, it's you, you little, pathetic mutt. Are you helping an officer now? You know it's against the code of alley dogs to help an officer" the black pup said in between pants.
"I know it is, but, it isn't against the code to fight another alley pup" Gray responded.
"True, but even so, you can't beat me! What's your name little mutt?" the black pup asked.
"It's Gray, what about you?" Gray growled back.
"It's Shadow. Well Gray, are you ready to die?" Shadow smirked.
"I'd like to see you try!" Gray retorted back.
After the two finished insulting each other, the two pups started to fight. Shadow was fast and nimble, but Gray could predict all the attacks Shadow threw at him. Gray pretended to yawn at Shadow, showing him that his attack were weak. Shadow saw this and started to use his power. He dove into the shadows and landed a few solid hits on Gray. Gray knew that his power allowed him to vanish and reappear anywhere he pleased at night, so Gray got into a defensive stance. All gray needed was Shadow to appear in his line of sight. Finally after a few jabs and punches, Shadow reappeared in front of Gray. Gray smiled and froze Shadow right where he stood.
"What the? Why can't I move!" Shadow questioned.
"Did you think it would be enough to use your power to defeat me? Well let me tell you this. I can be just as annoying as you" Gray replied.
Gray dove into the shadows just like Shadow did and appeared behind Shadow. Shadow, who was unable to look back, had a surprised expression and felt massive pain in his side. He yelped in pain and took another few hits from Gray. Shadow started to breathe heavily again and Gray continued for a few more jabs until Shadow couldn't take anymore.
"Ok, ok! You win! I surrender. You can do whatever you want to that stupid officer" Shadow said.
"Good, now leave" Gray said plainly.
Gray unfroze Shadow and he dove immediately into the shadows where Gray assumed that he was gone. After a little while, Gray walked up to Roger.
Gray offered a paw to help Roger up while Roger ducked for cover. After seeing Gray wasn't going to kill him, he got up with Gray's help.
"Are you ok?" Gray asked Roger.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you. Are you going to kill me like Shadow was?" Roger asked as he eyed Gray suspiciously.
"No, I wouldn't kill you, not even if I was threatened to, I don't kill pups just for the heck of it" Gray responded.
Roger eyed Gray for a few more seconds until he lightened up a bit.
"You're not like the alley pups, are you. You don't have the killer instinct like the others have" Roger questioned.
"To be honest, I don't know what I should do. I can't go back to where I was, not like I wanted to, but I don't know what to do here" Gray admitted.
"Why don't you join the police force? Do some good instead of breaking the law" Roger suggested
"I don't know, The Feline Fiends need me. I can't just leave them to join the police" Gray responded.
"Well, that's too bad. We could've used someone like you. Heh, then there's me who can't fight for himself even if I tried. I'm such a bad future father and a horrible role model" Roger sighed.
"Future father? You have a pup?" Gray questioned, intrigued.
"Yea, well, my wife is expecting puppies soon. I would be with her, but my job requires me to be at work at all times" Roger replied. "Anyways, that's my life story. You better run along now. I'll let you off with a warning because you helped me. Next time I'll catch you!"
"Yea, see ya old timer!" Gray joked as he left for the alley.
Roger smiled and waved goodbye. After a few more minutes of walking, Gray reached the alley. Gray was tired after the club experience and the fight with Shadow, so Gray decided to sleep. He hoped that the trio would come back soon since he was sleeping out in the open and would be easily murdered in his sleep. Soon enough though, Gray fell into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, in a alley somewhere on the other side of town, Shadow was hiding behind a dumpster tending his wounds. After dealing with his wounds, he pulled out his own necklace made out of a dark crystal and, after a few incantations, a black figure hologram appeared in front of Shadow.
"You've called, my dearest child?" the black figure asked.
"Yes I have father, and I have news for you. I finally found it, the necklace" Shadow told the figure.
"Really, I'm pleased to hear. Did you take it from the user? You have more than enough power to steal it" the figure questioned, getting excited.
"That's the thing, I couldn't beat him. He was too strong" Shadow spoke.
"What?! You were defeated? Who is this pup that possesses this necklace?" the shadowy figure asked, enraged.
"It was a gray pup with light blue eyes" Shadow responded.
The shadowy figure paused for a few seconds to think about what his son just told him.
"Ah, well then, that's no surprise. I'll come and visit tomorrow night. Meet me in the alley that we always meet at. That night, we are going to meet my other, oh how do I say it, ah right, my other 'special' son" the shadowy figure said maliciously.
Well, that's the end of the chapter. The next chapter should be pretty active. There are a few hidden foreshadowing I have done in the story, some are more obvious than others, but congratulations to you if you can find them and know what they mean in the future. Anyways, like always, spelling, grammar, thanks for reading!