"This is really starting to push my buttons!" Russell snarled. Vinnie and Sunil backed away when they saw their friend's quills begin to quiver in anger.
"C-Calm down, Rusty," Vinnie muttered, holding out his hands. "We'll think of something."
Sunil suddenly groaned. "Now I see." He walked towards the safe and pulled out a mirror from the top, revealing a note from behind. "Magicians use these mirrors in shows all the time to make a box appear it's empty when they make a rabbit 'disappear'. Cheaters..."
"Nice job, Sunil," Russell said, sounding rather impressed. He reached in and pulled out the note, then unfolded it and read aloud:
"'Frustrating, isn't it? Well, since you managed to figure out the first puzzle, allow me to give you the second: there are two locks on the closet in this room.' What closet?"
"Look and you'll see," Vinnie said as he pointed to a closet next to the bed. There were two padlocks on it, locking the door shut: a gray one and a pink one. "Uh, there's where we can use the gray key. But... we don't have a pink one."
Russell turned his attention back to the note and continued reading. "'The gray key you already have, so all you need is the pink key, which you can find at the Downtown City Dump.'"
"No, not that place again!" Vinnie groaned.
"What do you mean 'again'?" Sunil asked.
"Uhh... I'll explain later. Continue."
After blinking at the gecko, Russell continued. "'In order to find this key, you must wait until nightfall to search'" Astonished, the hedgehog looked up to see his two friends wearing the same expression of surprise and disbelief. "Exploring the city dump at nightfall?"
"Well, it's official," Sunil whimpered. "We're dead."
"Don't worry, Sunny, we can do it," Vinnie tried to assure his best friend. "Besides, as I said, I've been there before."
"When?"
"Uhh... Well, hehe..." The gecko started twiddling with his thumbs and looked away from the mongoose and hedgehog. "I mighta lost track of things while chasing around breakfast one time... And I sorta got taken to the dump by a garbage truck... And I maaaybe got swiped by a girl who dress me up as Princess Precious..." He looked up at the sound of a snort and a snicker. "Russell! It's not funny!"
The hedgehog quickly slapped his paws over his mouth, obviously trying to choke back giggles. "I-I'm not laughing...!"
"Now who's being immature? Come on, let's just go!" The dancer whirled around and stomped towards the dumbwaiter, followed by Sunil and a still giggly Russell.
"That was a little immature, especially on your level," the mongoose stated with an amused smile.
"I know, but it's still funny," the hedgehog snickered.
About half an hour later of riding in the garbage truck after climbing into the dumpster at the back of the pet shop, the three pets were finally unloaded, along with the rest of the garbage, in the dump.
Vinnie was the first to climb out of the trash and shake off the grease and slime. He leaped on a cardboard box and grinned. "All right! We made it to the city dump! Everybody say 'ey!"
"Ohh..." Sunil groaned, halting the gecko in the middle of his cabbage-patch dance. He looked and saw the mongoose, along with Russell, laying underneath a pile of rubbish.
"That could've gone along smoother..." Russell grunted as he pulled himself to his feet and began removing small particles of trash from his quills.
"So... this is the city dump..." Sunil confirmed after pulling a piece of gum out from behind his ear. "It's really... smelly."
"Yeah. C'mon, let's find a good place to camp." Vinnie leaped off the box and landed on solid ground.
"I smell tourists!"
Vinnie looked up and saw a silhouette behind the setting sun standing on a large pile of trash. He lifted up his hand over his eyes to see better past the bright sun. "Pete? Is that you?"
The figure - appearing to be a rat - crawled down the pile and landed in front of the gecko. "Hey, Vinnie. Why are you back here? I thought we agreed to never go through that whole apocalypse event again."
"Yeah, don't worry, we won't. Anyway, we're here on a missing, and we could use your help actually."
"Sure." The rat turned his attention to Russell and Sunil, who were still picking trash out of their fur and quills. "Who are these two? Friends of yours?"
"Oh, yeah! Guys, get down here!" The gecko waited until the mongoose and hedgehog climbed down before turning back to Pete. "Okay, these are my two LPS bros, Russell and Sunil." He turned to his other two friends and gestured with his hand to his dump friend. "Guys, this is Pete. He helped me back home when I got taken off to the dump."
"Nice to meet you two," Pete smiled at the blue and orange pets.
"The feeling's neutral, Pete," Russell responded.
"Likewise," Sunil added, sounding slightly uncomfortable.
"So, what's this mission you mentioned?" the rat asked when he turned back to his green pet friend.
"I'll answer that," Russell piped in just as Vinnie opened his mouth to respond. "Our friends have been kidnapped and we need to unlock many puzzles to find who the kidnapper is. We've been told via note that a needed pink key was located here at the dump, but we must search for it at nightfall."
"Wow, that is quite the mission," Pete gasped. "And you have to search at nightfall for it?"
"Yeah, stupid, I know," Vinnie grunted as he crossed his arms.
"It's not just stupid; it's downright dangerous!"
"Uh, care to explain why?" Sunil asked.
"Because... every night in the dump... the Alley Cats lurk out in search of lost or wandering rats... They never make it once these three nasty felines catch them..."
"Pfft! Please. We can deal with a few kitty cats," Vinnie chuckled smugly.
"Yeah, maybe, if they weren't-"
"Yo, Pete! Where are ya?" The four boys looked up and saw two more rats standing on a pile of trash. "It's too dark to be out here any longer. Git ova here!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be right there," Pete grunted, gesturing with his paw for them to leave. "We gotta come back out here later, anyway."
"Uh, have you been sniffin' too much cheese again? The Alley Cats'll be out here soon!"
"'Ey! That was a one-time thing! And I need to; my buds here are on a mission."
"Suit yourself. But don't come cryin' to us when- oh, that's right. You'll already be taken by then." And with that, the rats leaped away.
"Buncha lemon-sniffers..." Pete growled.
"Must be a rat thing." Sunil shrugged.
"Pete, you don't have to come with us to help, you know," Vinnie started.
"Yeah, but I'm gonna anyway. It's really dangerous at night." Silently, he added, "Let's just pray that the Alley Cats don't find us..."
Once the sun fell an hour later, Pete led the pets out of his den and into the open. It was really chilly, for everyone was shivering fiercely.
"C-C-Curse your f-fur...!" Vinnie trembled as he rubbed his arms, desperate for warmth.
"Where do you suggest we start searching?" Russell asked, hugging his own self in attempt to protect his short fur from the chilly wind.
"No place is a good one to start at this time," Pete grunted in response. "But I suppose we could start here." He stopped in front of a large mountain of rubbish.
"Yeah... This may take a while," Sunil sighed. He helplessly shrugged and began walking towards the pile.
...And stopped dead when a deep growl was heard.
"Oh, no...!" Pete whimpered, backing away and looking to and fro wildly. "It's them! They're here!"
"Who's here?" Vinnie asked. "They alley Cats?"
"No, the Tooth Fairy..."
"Don't worry, Pete! We have your back!" Sunil snarled before he stepped into a fighting stance.
Everyone's hair stood on end when they heard a loud stomp rather than a soft step.
"Uhh... What was that?" Russell asked.
"Oh, cheese crackers, I forgot to tell you!" the rat panicked. "They only call themselves the Alley Cats, but they're actually-"
Another deep growl interrupted him, and they watched in horror as three giant four-legged animals stalked into the moonlight. Their amber eyes glistened like fire, their blunt black claws shone dark silver in the moonlight, and their short pale fur riffled like a field of grass when the wind blew over them. By their slim and silky body textures, they boys could tell they were all females.
"M-M... M-M-M..." Sunil stammered in fear as his eyes widened ad his ears flattened on the back of his head. "M-Mo-Mount..."
"Mountain lions?" Russell squealed, fur and quills standing on end. "How are there mountain lions in the Downtown City Dump?"
"You tell me!" Pete countered, sharing the same fear.
"Looks like a little rat and his three little friends wandered a little too far from home..." the largest lion - obviously the alpha - snarled as she grinned, baring her monstrously sharp teeth.
"You should know by now of what happens when the Alley Cats find you..." The smallest, sleekest, and youngest one purred with a devious smile.
"Let's kill 'em! Shred 'em! Eat 'em! the middle-aged one, appearing in appearance, actions, and tone of voice, to be mentally crazy.
"Eat us?" Sunil echoed loudly, fur puffing out.
"Uh, Rusty..." Vinnie whimpered when the mongoose hid behind him. "Now would probably be a good time for some reasoning..."
Russell gulped hard, constantly repeated, "For the girls... For the girls..." silently, and walked forward, trying with all his might to resist balling up.
"Someone's eager to die," the alpha growled in crude amusement.
Choking back a terrified whimper and swallowing down another lump in his throat, the hedgehog began in a small, shaky voice. "L-Listen... We-We're just try-trying to find something that can he-help us rescue our kidnapped friends... We ask of you three... t-to please spare us so we might rescue them..."
"We don't tolerate reasoning," the alpha growled. "We do, however, take begging and pleading for mercy."
"Beg, man!" Vinnie hissed from behind. "We gotta find that key, not to mention stay alive!"
"No, I don't beg," Russell retorted, looking back to glare at the gecko.
"Then allow us to fix that," the alpha offered. As if on cue, the youngest widened her jaws and, before the hedgehog could move a muscle, clamped them together on his sides, steering clear of his quills and penetrating her razor-sharp fangs into his soft flesh.
Russell let out an ear-splitting scream and fruitlessly squirmed as the lion began vigorously shaking him like a dog shaking its squeaky toy.
"HEEELP!" the others heard him wail as the lion continued shaking him, sending small portions of dark red blood splattering in all directions.
"She's gonna kill him!" Pete cried, backing away to avoid being hit by a small splash of blood.
"Not if I have a say in this!" Sunil roared, all traces of fear replaced with fury and avenge. With a vicious war cry, he launched himself at the lion's muzzle and began biting and scratching.
The young lion roared in agony, dropping Russell, and stumbled back as the mongoose continued his merciless assault.
With a furious roar, the alpla yanked him off by the tail and flung him into the garbage pile. She pounced, but he quickly hopped out of the way.
The crazy lion laughed madly and lashed out a large paw at Sunil, but he easily dodged and gave the paw a good nip. She snarled, lifting away her paw, and snapped her jaws at him, in which he also evaded.
"Yeah, you get 'em, Sunil!" Vinnie cheered for his best friend as he and Pete helped Russell away from the battlefield. The young lion spotted this and ran towards them, but Vinnie kept her back as the rat finished dragging the hedgehog away by pelting her with garbage.
Suddenly, as he was limping away, Russell let out an agonized yell and fell on his belly, gritting his teeth to keep in any further shouts and cries.
"What's wrong?" Pete asked as he tried helping the pet back up, who began swatting his paws away, blinded by pain.
"I can't feel my leg!" he shouted, a whiny tint of pain and fear in his voice. "I think it's broken!"
"I'll take a look at it once we get out of harm's way. We have to go!"
A shriek filled the air, and everyone turned to see Sunil thrashing around in the alpha lion's jaws. Blood trickled from his wound, and it only worsened with every wiggle and jerk the mongoose made.
"Let go of my bro!" Vinnie roared, subsiding his throwing of rubbish at the youngest lion and launching himself at the alpha. However, he was easily knocked away by a swing of the crazy one's brute paw.
Finding this to be an open opportunity, Pete quickly struggled to lift Russell back up, but stopped dead when the youngest stalked up to them, licking her lips.
"Don't worry..." she snarled. "This will be long and painful... The Alley Cats have won this battle..." She pounced at the rat and hedgehog with a triumphed roar.
As Pete squealed in fear, Russell thought up the only thing he could do. As if by a magic spell, he immediately swallowed all his fear, rose up on all fours, and let out a furious hedgehog scream.
The lion blinked in surprise and stopped her attack, looking at the injured pet with wide eyes. Even the other two lions stopped attacking Vinnie and Sunil to see what happened.
Out of curiosity, Russell let out another scream, and was dead surprised to see the lion back away quickly, fury and triumph replaced with confusion and fear.
"I-I don't believe it!" Pete gasped. "They're scared! No one's ever stood up to those three before, let alone fight them, and they have no idea how to react!" Figuring the three pets now had everything under control, he ran off in the direction of his burrow.
The crazy lion began to back away quickly once Vinnie started growling at her, and the alpha dropped Sunil when he snarled. The two pets ran to Russell's side and all three boys stood as tall as their woulds would allow them, balling up fists, rising fur, and sticking out quills in intimidation, in which the three lions were surely scared of.
"Wh-What do we do, sis?" the youngest whimpered.
"They won't fear us!" the crazy one panicked.
"They are nothing but helpless prey," the alpha snarled as she stepped forward. "And they will die!" She inhaled and roared loudly at the three pets, exposing her glistening white razor-sharp fangs.
...And she blinked in surprise to see she hadn't even shaken them in the slightest.
"Looks like the overconfident predators just became petrified prey," Vinnie grinned.
"We no longer have reason to fear you three, for we now see we were all along stronger than you," Russell growled.
"You have every right to fear us, and you should," Sunil finished.
"This is impossible!" the aplha roared. "How could a frog, rat, and weasel ever challenge us?"
"Simple: because we gecko, hedgehog, and mongoose have something that you three cocky felines don't!" Vinnie declared.
"Please don't say the magic of friendship..." Sunil grunted with a facepaw.
"Dude! You just ruined my super-awesome moment! I was gonna say the devotion, integrity, and courage that pushes on our will to rescue our friends no matter what challenges we face!"
"Good grief..." Russell sighed as he rolled his eyes.
The alpha snarledat them, and jumped when they snarled back. Without drawing her gaze away from the three boys, she ordered, "Sunset. Midnight. Back to the den."
"But, Moonrise, what about the-" Sunset - the youngest - began.
"Den! Now!"
Yowling in surprise, Sunset and Midnight turned tail and ran off. Moonrise, however, turned back to the pets.
"You three haven't seen the last of the Alley Cats... We will get our revenge, and by then you'll be sorry..."
"Just run along home, kitty cat, to lick your wounds and complain already," Sunil huffed as he crossed his arms, obviously now fed up with the lion's violent words and empty threats.
With one last snarl, Moonrise turned and ran off in the direction her sisters ran.
"Oh, yeah!" Vinnie shouted with a jump and a fist pump once the lion disappeared altogether. "We are the champions of Downtown City!"
"But wait! What about the key?" Sunil gasped.
"Oh, yeah, I actually found it in the trash as I threw things at one of those lions." The gecko ran over to a pile of rubbish and pulled out a pink key."
"Great job, Vinnie," Russell smiled weakly. "You both did great today."
"Hey, Rusty, you feelin' all right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Let's get back to the pet shop now." The hedgehog struggled to stand on his hind legs, but fell back on all fours with a yell of pain.
"Hey, guys," Pete's voice suddenly sounded from atop a pile of trash. "Sorry, I went off to set up materials to tend to your wounds. Come on back to my burrow; with injuries like those, you are most definitely not leaving tonight."
"Ugh... This is gonna suck..." Russell moaned as Vinnie and Sunil gripped each arm and Pete lifted his injured leg up.
"So you said it isn't broken?" Sunil asked.
"No, just disjointed. It happened while one of those lions swung him around. Vinnie, the spoon." He watched as the gecko picked up a wooden spoon and gave it to Russell for him to bite down on. "Now, I'm gonna pop your leg back in place. I'm not gonna lie; it will hurt, but it'll feel much better after it's healed. Ready?"
"Mm-hmm..." the hedgehog replied with a nod before biting down harder on the spoon and shutting his eyes closed. Vinnie and sunil tightened their grip on his arms before nodding to the rat.
"I'll count you down. One, two, three." Immediately he shoved the leg forward and everyone heard a loud pop.
"HOLY SHIP-DUCK!" Russell screamed. He crunched down on the spoon, nearly splitting it in half, and let out a gritted shriek.
"That sounded so painful..." Vinnie shuddered as he winced.
"Yeah, no flippin' dip, Sherlock!"
"Leave him alone," Sunil warned the gecko before he had the chance to snap back. "It's natural to get snippy when one is in pain." Now turning uneasy, he turned to Pete, who was fixing an herbal poultice. "Do we really have to stay here overnight?"
"Well, you can't really go anywhere considering the condition you three are in," he replied after he spat out a poultice of green leaves, brown roots, and yellow flowers. "Come here, Sunil. I want you to apply this poultice of marigold, comfrey, goldenrod on your and Russell's wounds. Then give Russell two juniper berries and three poppy seeds."
"Whoa, that's awesome, Pete!" Vinnie gasped when he saw all the leaves, berries, roots, and seeds. "You're like... an herbal medic!"
"Well, with all these sharp and pointy objects here at the dump, rats tend to get cut and even infected, so I found use to these plants outside of the dump and use them as medicines."
"Hey, you think you could teach me?"
"How to be an herbal medic, you mean?"
"Yeah. With all these fights we're getting into, we're totally gonna need someone to do it." He paused and looked back at Sunil, who was applying the medicine to Russell's gashes, and turned back to his rat friend. "I know either Russell or Sunil would be best fitting to do this, but I wanna have my own unique and helpful way to push this team onward..."
Pete stayed silent for a few seconds, then smiled. "You know, you actually remind me of myself when I was younger, always wanting to find creative yet useful ways to help those in need. Of course I'll teach ya."
"Really? Wow, thanks, man! I can't thank you enough!"
"You can start by not hugging me," the rat grunted as the gecko held out his arms. "Just gimme a sec." He walked over to Sunil. "You finished?"
"Well, I finished with Russell; I still have yet to do myself," the mongoose replied. "Um, if I may ask, what are the herbs for? Like, what roles do they play?"
"Marigold prevents infection, comfrey roots soothe pain, as well as goldenrod, juniper berries give strength and poppy seeds are to help him sleep. They'll wear off in a couple hours, which is all the time you have to rest before sunrise. Apply that leftover poultice on your wounds, then rest. You're not in much pain as Russell, so you should have an easier time falling asleep; poppy seeds won't be necessary."
"O-Okay," Sunil stammered, blinking in surprise. He began to gently tap and smear the medicine on his wounds.
"Okay, Vinnie," Pete squeaked as he turned and walked into another room. "Let's teach ya all you need to know about medicines and herbs."
"Awesome!
The dancer fist pumped the air before running after him.
"So, Vinnie's gonna learn how to heal, huh?" Russell commented as he lifted his head up and watched the rat and gecko disappear.
"I suppose so. How are you feeling?" Sunil asked, walking over to the hedgehog and sitting down next to him.
"I've felt a heck of a lot better, I'll give ya that." Russell let out a sigh. "Some leader I am..."
"What, just because you're injured? You're still a great leader, Russell. But... I do understand completely at where you're going with this."
"Oh, yeah? How so?"
The mongoose took a pause, debating on whether to tell his secret, and finally spoke. "Just... get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow." Without another word, he stood up and walked off.
Left in confusion and curiosity, Russell just shrugged and rested his head on his paws. Now feeling the poppy seeds taking effect, he slowly closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.
"Rusty. Yoo-hoo! Russell! ... RUSSELL, HEY, RUSSELL, WAKE UP!"
"No, I didn't anoint your banana!" Russell shouted, eyes shooting wide open and jumping to his four paws, swinging his head around wildly.
"What's anoint mean?"
Panting, the hedgehog blinked and calmed down, then glared at the pet who was holding an old and rusty megaphone. "Vinnie!"
"Yeah, how's that for a wake-up call?" the gecko laughed. He ducked when a torn shoe was thrown at him. "You loco, man!"
"In that case, you're the pot and I'm the kettle," Russell snorted, rolling his eyes at sight of Vinnie's confused look.
"Is everything okay in here?" Sunil asked when he ran in. "I heard screaming."
"Everything's fine, Sunil," Vinnie snickered. "Rusty's just a little jumpy, that's all."
Choosing to ignore this comment, Russell asked, "So, Vinnie, how did your medicine lessons go?"
"Oh! It went awesomely! Believe it or not, Pete said I was a natural!"
"A natural disaster, that is," Pete joked as he walked in. Vinnie scowled at his pet friends when they began to laugh. "Just messin' with ya, Vin. You were great."
"Thanks," the gecko replied flatly. "Well, it's time we got back to the pet shop. After another dose of poultice for you guys."
Once the herbal medicines were applied on Russell's and Sunil's wounds, Pete led the three pets through the dangerous streets, avoiding falcons and cars on the way, and approached Littlest Pet Shop, located on the other side of the street they were on.
"Well, here we are," Pete said. "I wish you three the best of luck in finding the girls."
"Thanks for everything, Pete," Vinnie thanked with a sincere smile. "And we're most definitely gonna need all the luck we can get."
"We'll never forget you or all the things you have done to help us," Russell added.
"And may the ancient Tribal warriors guide you to victory," Sunil finished.
"What tribal warriors?" Russell and Vinnie looked at the mongoose in confusion and curiosity.
"Uhh... Never mind..."
After waving farewell to Pete, the three pets walked over to the pet door at the front of the shop.
"Okay, Vinnie," Russell said. "You have the key?"
"I thought you had it," he replied.
"What? No, you had it!"
"I never had the key!"
"Uh-oh!" the gecko and hedgehog gasped in unison.
"Uh, I have the key," Sunil sighed, pulling out the pink key. "I'm not a shadow, you know."
"Oh. Heh, right," Vinnie chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"All right, we don't know how much time we have," Russell began. "but we'll just assume there's not much left. We have to unlock that closet and-"
"If we don't have much time, then why are you spending a lot of it lecturing us on things we already know?" Vinnie interrupted matter-of-factly.
Rolling his eyes, the hedgehog pushed past the gecko and in through the pet door, his other two friends following closely.
"All right. Let's get that-" Russell started.
"Heavenly dazed! Where on earth have you three sweeties been?"
The three boys stopped dead at the familar voice of Mrs. Twombly. They turned and saw the woman's expression was a mix of relief, surprise, and even anger.
"Your owners almost had me sued! You three are in deep trouble, and not just with your owners, but with me, also! It will be a miracle if you're ever allowed back here again after they threatened to close the shop!"
"What?!"
A/N: This is a LONG-ASS chapter! There was just SO MANY things I wanted to get done in one go. But at least it's good for the readers. ^^ ((By the way, yes, the herbs are a reference to Warrior Cats.))