WG: Well, there's no use denying the inevitable. Here's a new chapter!

Puggsy: Hurry up and read. The sooner this gets over with, the better.

WG: Agreed.

Disclaimer: Puggsy is owned by Ruby-Spears, and WG owns herself.

Additional Note: These stories can take place during any written storyline, alternate-universe, or random shot; and will most likely include fluffs about fears, injuries, stress, nightmares, or anything random like that. *no blood or romance though- sorry!*

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Setting: After "Family Traits".

Life was crap.

At least, that's what Puggsy thought. Anyone would, really, after being harassed by werewolves, a vampire-wizard, three crazy authors, and your relatives. It didn't help that your wife would often burst out laughing whenever one of the werewolves ate you, either. Heck, the only one who didn't give him any grief was his only son, Kiff, and his own werewolf-half, Hardy (who was more occupied brawling with Stalker, werewolf-half of one of those psycho-authors).

Nope, pretty much every day seemed to be the same: He would get up, go down to the studio-lobby on his way to work, get ambushed by one or few of the werewolves- Fangface being the primary one- then eventually Edwin would have a new prank to pull (yesterday he turned him into a ferret- eventually he had to change him back before WG squeezed the breath out of him), and of course the authors always had some new scheme to throw him in.

Wherever Girl was the second main-antagonist for the short teen (Fangface being the first). She didn't exactly have a reason for it- he never tormented her, never insulted her... heck, he didn't even know her until she showed up with FF2 and started having everyone switch bodies! The only thing he could think that would make her want to harass him was how, after fusing with his wife Brielle (in which a cartoonbrid and their cartoon-counterpart become one) she became pregnant with Kiff for a week... but she didn't really hold a grudge against it, especially when her sister got involved.

Which brings us to another stressful situation in the teen's life: the villains. The regular villains from the original show no longer hung around since the authors moved in, afraid that they would end up in another wacky situation... let alone were all taking 'anger management'. The only time they gave any of the heroes trouble was when Marlow, Skeith, Jennifer, and a few other original-enemies recruited them with a few Disney villains in order to cause trouble. Turns out they had all been under some sort of mind-control, however- though Puggsy doubted anyone had to really force them into vengeance against the heroes. But even though the situation was handled, a new villain would always turn up, aiming to go after anyone and their loved ones.

Puggsy was bracing himself for when the next attack would be... and when he wasn't expecting some villain to ambush them, he was expecting the werewolves to attack, a prank from Edwin, or some plot of WG's.

Though, he didn't really worry too much about the latter. Sure, the girl was insane and had her ideas of torment, but after the events of their latest mishap (involving the Disney villains), he noticed she wasn't too bad. She had her own share of troubles: her sister, an evil-ego of hers that tried to kill them, having to watch loved ones suffer, nearly getting killed by Silver (FF2's werewolf half), and struggling with the responsibilities of an author. It was also shown that, because of the fusion-incident, Kiff inherited some of her powers, so that put a little extra responsibility on her shoulders (though Puggsy found it unnerving that his son referred to the authoress as his 'second mom').

But it was mostly her sister who gave her trouble- Puggsy could tell the night WG had lead him to a secret hideaway so he could get some peace and quiet (after a week of fighting villains, believing his wife to be dead, and a truck-load of other unfortunate events), and the authoress broke down venting how much her sister had hurt her from pushing her around- giving her so much grief that she wouldn't even let the girl have some peace in her own dreamworld. The girl actually cried in front of him, leading him to comfort her.

...Though we're getting off the subject. Right now, Puggsy's life was getting to be a pain in the neck.

He walked to the woods. It was Sunday, so the toons had a day off. Edwin took FF2 to his shop, the young author wanting to work there part-time; Fangs, Kassy, Timothy, and Lilly decided to head to the park, so that the long-lost son could catch up with his family; Eric, Astrid, Alan, William and Alyx were possibly off doing extreme stunts somewhere; Tracker was hanging out with Wolfsbane, who wanted to know every detail of how the authoress came up with an OC for Fangs (being a huge fan and all); Hardy wanted to hang out with Lamone, who preferred to keep to himself- and kept throwing the werewolf out of his apartment every time he burst in; Biff and Gin were on a double-date with Kite and Kim; Brielle was inside taking a nap with Kiff, the infant glad to have his biological-mother back; and WG had wandered off somewhere- possibly to ask for autographs from the villains who hadn't moved out of the apartment complex (yet).

Puggsy would have stayed with Brielle and Kiff, but three months after he and his wife renewed their wedding-vows, she wasn't exactly the most 'supportive' wife. Sure, she helped him relax after a long day, was always there to talk to if something bothered him, and would most likely kick anyone's ass if they so much as harmed him in any way. But when it came to the shenanigans of the werewolves and such, it was like she switched sides and took part in the harassment, as if she had forgotten she came close to dying months before. So, he decided to leave her with Kiff for the day- they hardly got to spend much quality time together, and he'd make it up to her later by watching him so she could take a breather for a couple hours.

He just needed to clear his head, and followed a long, tricky path WG had showed him that lead to a small pond. It was a beautiful scene with a weeping-willow arching over the edge of the water, cat-tail weeds sprouting here and there along the bank, sunlight sparkling on the water, and the calming sounds of birds chirping, wind gently blowing every so often, an occasional croak of a frog, and water lapping against land.

It was a peaceful place for anyone to come and relax after a hard day. Or week. Or month. Or year. Or life.

"Why WG showed this place to me, I'll never know." Puggsy said quietly to himself as he sat on a boulder to take in the silence.

"Because I'm a nice person, for one thing."

"GAH!" Puggsy gave a jolt, looking over his shoulder, seeing WG walking over. "When did you get here?!"

"About twenty seconds ago. I was just taking a walk when I noticed you coming this way."

"Alright, well you shouldn't sneakify up on me like that. Sheesh!"

"Why? Do you have a reflex that causes you to deck someone senseless if they sneak up on you?"

Puggsy arched an eyebrow. "No."

"...I must be the only one, then."

He let out a heavy sigh. "WG, if you don't mind, I came out here to relax."

"I figured as much." WG sat down on the ground, looking out at the pond. "That's pretty much why I showed you this place, remember?"

"Right..." He looked away from her, concentrating on the peace and quiet that he hoped he could get.

And get it he did. For the next ten minutes, WG didn't say a single word- actually it seemed she had spaced off in her own little world, daydreaming... perhaps thinking about how Silver had kissed her a few months back, maybe praying that her troubles with her sister were finally over, or coming up with 50 new ways to harass Puggsy. It was hard to tell what went on in her mind.

But, he didn't mind her being so quiet. He knew she probably had a few things on her mind as well, or probably just liked the solitude. As long as she wasn't hurling insults at him, pulling pranks, writing crazy plots, or coming after him with a machete, Puggsy couldn't complain.

Though in the back of his mind he still felt a little unnerved by her stillness, as if this was all a joke she set up with the other authors, and any minute now they would jump out with some insane trick. Sure, he doubted WG would let anyone destroy this little sanctuary, as she was one for beautiful scenery, but he couldn't keep himself from feeling suspicious as she was being a bit too quiet.

"Why did you show me this place?" he asked after a couple more minutes.

"So you could relax." WG answered.

"Yeah, but... why do you want me to relax? You're more likely to harrassify me,"

WG adjusted her position so that her legs were folded, and she propped her elbow on one knee and rested her chin in her palm. "Well, yeah... but after that incident months ago, with my sister going psychotic and making the villains even MORE psychotic, and all the grief that we were all feeling... I started to rethink things about how I treated you."

He, again, arched an eyebrow. "Go on...?"

"Well, for one thing, your wife died- or so we thought. Your son ended up going to a different universe. You were stuck in a contract that made you a key-blade master and kept you from home. And it turns out your kid inherited powers from me during the pregnancy-incident. Oh, and you separated from your werewolf-half... from all that happened, I realized that we were all going through some pressure, but you seemed to be getting a worse deal. So... I decided to let you have a break."

"Oh. Um, thanks. ...Does anyone else know about this place?"

"Just Silver..." she paused after that, a small blush coming to her face.

Puggsy didn't dare ask. For one thing, it was bad enough that Fangpuss videotaped their kiss-scene and posted it on the internet (ending up in the hospital quickly after), and he could tell the authoress was still trying to deal with the situation. He knew she and Silver liked each other- heck everyone knew it- but the problem was WG didn't exactly know how to handle the matter, still quite shy when it came to romance, and just wanted to stay friends until they were ready to move up. He could understand- he and Brielle had been the same way, new to being a couple yet didn't want to rush anything.

He just gave a nod, deciding not to press the matter, and they sat in silence a little more.

"So... want to talk about what's on your mind?" WG asked.

"Nah, it's just the usual stuff- werewolves, pranksters, and so on." he answered with a shrug. "Don't see why you need to ask,"

She shrugged next. "Hey, I know how to listen when someone feels like venting. After all, you listened to me but never breathed a word of it,"

"What's there to share? Your sister was a pain- I think everyone knows it... Even the villains think she's sadistical."

"Yeah, hard to believe Snake found her attractive,"

Puggsy gave a mock-gag. Snake was an old enemy of his. "God forbid they reproduce..."

WG burst out laughing. "Tell me about it- it would be like a horror-film. 'The Seed of Jennifer'." Puggsy laughed a bit too, once he was done WG continued. "But, nah, Snake decided to break up with her- thought she was too psycho and had too many 'sister issues'."

"So you both have issues with each other, huh?"

"Yeah- but I'm trying to avoid bringing them up, everyone already knows the whole song and dance... Now tell me what's bothering you."

Puggsy sighed. He knew WG wouldn't quiet down until he vented a bit himself. "It's the usual things, like I said, but... well it's also Brielle."

WG gave a concerned look. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Not much... it's just... Well, you're the one who came up with her, right?"

WG blinked. "Seriously? Who else would have come up with her?"

Puggsy rolled his eyes. "Right. ...Well, there's something confusing about her. She says she loves me, always stands up for me... but isn't really supportive when it comes to pranks from the others and the werewolves' attacks. Think you can explain that?"

WG let out a long, heavy sigh. "Yeah... that's my fault. You see, when I first wrote up Brielle's character, I based her personality off of mine- not knowing one day I would be visiting the tooniverse- and, actually, was planning on making her a member of the gang who was more of a friend that tended to pick on you. ...But, as I wrote the story, I noticed you didn't have a girlfriend, so I thought 'meh, I'll give Pugs a girlfriend'- having a 'nice' streak for once- and figured it would be a relationship where you loved each other, but tended to pick on each other. ...I guess, since we're so much alike, I tend to forget she's supposed to love you more and harass you less."

Puggsy gave her a look. "You just wanted to give me a girlfriend?"

WG nodded. "Yeah... I had to rewrite the story, though, since the romance was too rushed... Maybe I'll rewrite it again, make it to where she goes easier on you- and I'LL just stick to harassing you."

Puggsy shook his head. "Joy. ...Speaking of how you created her, why did you make her look like yourself?"

WG blushed. "Um... someone hacked my computer and changed her appearance as a joke. I originally wanted to make her a redhead."

"Wherever Girl..."

"Alright, alright, I had a crush on you- I thought we were done with that joke in 'Body Switch'."

"So... you were a fan-girl of me, huh?" He had to smirk at that idea.

WG gave him a glare. "NO. Fan-girls go nuts and drool over their cartoon-crushes and have weird fantasies about them- any guy from Disney could tell you that!"

"Then why'd you base my girlfriend off yourself?"

WG sighed once again. "I actually came up with her AFTER I had a crush on you. I knew it would never work between us, not even in an alternate universe... and in order to just let it out, I created Brielle, basing her off my feelings thereby casting them out once and for all. ...People already tease me enough about it as it is, so don't you dare laugh."

Puggsy gave her a look. "Why would I laugh at someone who liked me enough to give me someone who loved me? I think it's pretty nice that you did it... though, I wish she'd lighten up on me."

"I can tweak her character. Make it to where you both only pick on each other on mutual grounds, but still adore each other. ...But I'm not writing anything TOO romantic, my stomach can only handle so much mush."

Puggsy shrugged. "Fair enough."

They sat in silence a while longer after that. A few minutes later they started walking back to the studio, though before they reached the clearing Puggsy lightly grabbed WG's shoulder, making her turn towards him.

"Thank you."

She smiled. "Um... anytime."

They entered the studio, the short teen feeling a bit more relaxed.

Maybe his life didn't really suck that much after all.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

WG: *has face in hands* Dear Lord, people are going to be laughing at me for weeks...

Puggsy: Well, it's good that you got it off your chest.

Fangs: Besides, they're already laughing now.

Puggsy: *gives Fangs a glare* You're not helping.

Brielle: Relax, guys, if anyone laughs at either of you, I'll handle them.

FF2: Ditto.

WG: Thank you guys... now if you excuse me, I'm going to go outside and reflect on my life...

Fangs: Doesn't she get depressed when she does that?

FF2: I'll go with her.

Puggsy: *shrug* Well, only 98 to go... Readers, review but don't flame- and one chuckle out of you, and Brielle will impale you with her knives.

Brielle: You really think I'm that cruel?

Puggsy: Yes.

Brielle: ...You know me well. *kisses him on cheek*

You heard the man. Review, don't flame, and one laugh and FF2 will use his keyblade and send you to meet your maker!

[Guess we both have an odd taste in romance]

That we do, Pugs, that we do.