Disclaimer: I'm sorry guys, I'm sorry, sorry, SORRY. I thought this would be the last chapter to the story but I didn't know how long the chapter would be. I checked and it was originally long enough to be TWO chapters so I'm still going for one more, I promise and I'm sorry again. This wasn't planned until I reached the end and saw how far I went so the story continues for one more chapter after this one. Enjoy chapter 25.

Chapter 25

"Yes Babs, we'll let you and Buster know everything," Hamton spoke over the phone, "I promise I won't let anything bad happen to her…can we please not talk about that? I'm already guilty enough can I at least try to redeem myself?"

The pink rabbit and new mother hung up on the pig while he in turn sighed in disbelief. Him, May, Concord and Sweetie were in the car following the Coyotes to the abandoned warehouse hoping to see that their friends were alright. The only way to calm everyone down was to see it up close so Calamity eventually agreed to bring everyone there despite the fact that he did not want to interfere in Furrball's bout. But since Fifi was already on her way there then there was no point in staying put if that rule was already broken.

Calamity was now on the road and since he already had everyone with him, he stepped on the gas pedal to get there as soon as possible.

…

Furrball's vision started to blur and his chest stung with pain. Fifi screamed as she saw the lifeless corpse fall before her, her lower lip trembled by what she was witnessing. Lious smirked in bittersweet triumph, his aim was good but his target wasn't hit, at least not the one he was intentionally aiming at. All three saw the crow Eric fall to the ground with his last caw echoing in their ears. Fifi's eyes started to stream tears, she grew fond of the bird, having him go like that saddened her greatly. Lious' face started to lighten up.

"I did it…I did it!" he laughed, "I got da' bird! An' now…"

Furrball held his chest, "Fifi, get out of here!" he yelled but he met Lious' foot paw as he kicked him in the face, knocking him on his back. This blow to the face hurt this time, he actually felt the pain flowing through his body which told him that his immunity was now gone with Eric. Worse, he almost fainted when he saw Lious' blade still pierced through his paw. Even his willingness to put up with pain as a Toon wasn't doing him right, without his crow and not being alive, he was neither Toon or invincible. The cat felt weak, his strength slowly started fading and once he caught a glimpse at his paws he swore that he saw that they were starting to decompose little by little.

Lious turned back around and slowly stalked Fifi but the skunkette wouldn't run off.

"Yer' mine now, skunk!" the big orange cat came closer and unsheathed his claws, raising his paw up, "from da' moment ya' chased me an' Nicus, to ya' showin' up at dat' looney goof Elmyra's house t' ya' tryin'a hold me back, enough is enough…an' I'ma' make sure Furrball watches!"

He pounced and grabbed Fifi by the tail and reeled her close to him. She tried hitting her way out of his grasp but due to his strength she was stuck. Crying out and begging to let her go she managed to get a few strikes in but this only provoked Lious and he restrained her from hitting him. The orange cat shoved Fifi to a wall and pinned her there just enough for Furrball to see them clearly. With a big paw restraining the purple skunkette, Lious used the other to get Furrball's attention and started feeling up on her. The memories of him and Nicus from the previous night were starting to resurface and it made Fifi cringe even more. So much so that her night with Hamton started to fade away from comparison.

Furrball could only watch as everything occurred, there was nothing else he could do. His immunity to pretty much anything whether he was undead or a Toon was gone now, seeing Eric's lifeless corpse lying in front of him made him start to sob. Mourning the loss of his guide, his partner, his friend, was too much for him to take.

"I-I can't do anything," he sniffled to himself, Fifi's screams echoing in the background, "I can't save Fifi, I can't even save myself!"

Looking at Eric's corpse he started sobbing more and bowed his head in shame, "I couldn't even save you! Why did you do it?! You should've left me gone, I was better off and they were better off without me, now my bad luck has plagued everyone!"

An echoing caw was heard. Then, as if time was slowing down, Furrball felt something, something was near him, he could feel it. He opened his eyes and saw Lious and Fifi almost still from their struggle, he moved himself and noticed that he moved the same as always. The now-vulnerable cat heard that caw echoing again, he looked all over his surroundings but all he saw was the darkness of the warehouse. Then he started hearing flapping, getting closer and closer. Now he was getting scared. Furrball, who came back from the afterlife was now afraid for the first time since his revival, he felt even more ashamed. Fear was all he had now since he could no longer take on anything like he did the previous nights, so how was he going to get out of this one? He turned around and saw it right in front of him!

There was a crow, an even bigger one than Eric, flapping its wings before the blue cat and staring at him directly in the eyes. He cawed those echoing caws and didn't seem to be flying away anytime soon.

"I can't do it," Furrball softly said to the crow, he almost jumped just from the sight of it but that fear had him stiff, "I'm no use without my powers."

The crow cawed in response.

"I know that I can't rest until Lious goes down with me but how can I take him on when I'm not even a Toon to take his punishment?"

The crow cawed once again, but this time, it looked over to the still bodies of Fifi and Lious where Furrball followed its gaze. Within a minute, seeing them started to take its toll on him as memories started flooding his mind, from the time the skunkette chased him, prolonging their friendship, setting up their meeting at the carnival years ago, reuniting that one night to their previous night together. The painted cat has saved her time and time again since his revival, the crow just didn't want him to give up now just because of a disadvantage that indeed had a solution. Realizing this as he allowed this very image to stay in his mind made him come to terms, if he stays down now then it'll only make it worse for everyone else. Furrball knew the crow was right, should he give up now then Calamity would lose his friend again without saying goodbye, Sylvester could lose his faith in life after getting his family back, and Fifi would end up as the worst.

Imagine the impact this whole occurrence would have on her, she would be so messed up that she might live out the rest of her days alone without anyone to love her. Carrying that sadness with her everywhere she goes and preventing her from finding someone else. He didn't want that for her, even if it was too late for him.

And Lious. If he wasn't stopped right thenand there then who knows what else he'll do. He'll get a new crew, he'll have them do worse things than just stealing food scraps from houses, they might even take claiming the souls of forgotten pets to run with him or worse, cease their lives the same way he lost his life. Knowing Lious, anyone could lose a life with him around.

This was the reason why Eric took the hit for Fifi, the cat had a job to do and he wasn't going to rest until it was done. Furrball wasn't going to let his crow's sacrifice go down in vain. The crow looked back at him and faded away, bringing Furrball back to his fight for him to finish.

…

Lious now had Fifi pinned on the ground ready to leave his mark and have Furrball watch the whole thing.

"I gave you's da chance," he told Fifi, caressing her thigh, "I offe'd you's to run wit' me in the night, claimin' alleys an' takin' names but ya' didn't wanna'."

He snarled at her face as he leaned closer while she moaned in protest, "you's still coulda' been toge'dah' an' I wouldn't have a problem wit' dat', you's don't act all lovey-dovey, beat-aroun'-da'-bush-y like Lid an' Mestic, how stupid can ya' be?!"

Fifi tried one more time to push Lious off but it only provoked him even more.

"Ya' brought dis' on y'self, skunk, you an' Furrball did dis' an' now ya' can die wit' it too!-AAHHHH!"

Fifi saw the big orange cat collapse before her and looked to see what made him fall. A switchblade stuck out from his left hind leg as he felt around it. The skunkette looked up to see Furrball loudly wincing in pain and holding his paw.

"Furrball!" Fifi yelled out to him, "is vous okay?!"

"My paw's hurt!" the blue cat responded, "it hurts when I move it!"

Now it was Lious' turn to moan in pain, the blade was still in his leg and he tried his best to carefully remove it.

"Fifi! Get out while he's still down!"

Lious wasn't giving up just yet, as soon as Furrball gave that order for Fifi to once again not follow, he reached for his side and pulled out the gun.

"Look out!"

Furrball leaped on top of the big orange cat and the blast was heard. Fifi was okay but it all came down to which cat was hit. There she witnessed Furrball being pushed off and Lious reach over to the blade and quickly and carelessly tugged it out. He got up slowly and limped his way to the purple skunkette. Fifi knew that now was the time to run out of there and turned around, she wanted to stay and check on Furrball's condition but didn't have time. She didn't get very far once she heard Lious cry out in pain once more. Turning around again, Fifi saw Lious hit the ground once again by Furrball's good paw digging in the other leg, causing him to collapse.

Cursing and holding his wound, Lious dropped his gun and rolled on the floor. Furrball on the other hand was still alive but still hurt, his paw still had a hole in it and couldn't heal up easily and now his chest had a new whole in it. This pain wasn't going anywhere, his body was stuck in-between Earth and the afterlife. Fueled up with so much rage he finally had enough, he looked over to see the gun Lious dropped and picked it up. He got up as well and pointed it at the wounded orange cat.

"Familiar…isn't it?" Furrball painfully mocked, his eyes were feral and he panted with every word he spoke, "you're unable to move while face-to-face with a gun."

Lious shook his head, "c'mon Furrball, c'mon," he pleaded, "I jus' needed t' get ya' worked up an' angry, it worked!"

He wasn't falling for his lies anymore, Furrball cocked the gun and prepared to exact his revenge.

"I did the exact same thing as you are, pleading for my life, begging to be let go, why should I do that for you?!"

"C'mon! Ya' wouldn't hurt an already injured cat, would ya?!"

"You and your gang shot an innocent cat with a future, how does that justify it?"

"Yur' Furrball, ya' don't have it in ya'!"

"Tell that to the rest of your crew…you'll even tell them sooner than you think."

Without hearing a response, Furrball pulled the trigger and counted seven lives minus one. In the same manner as himself, Lious didn't revive after a life was taken, it was just gone with each passing bullet.

"Each shot is for a life, a life in which you stole from me!"

The gun went off again and the blue cat got it ready for the next one.

"Lid and Mestic could've had a better life had they not found you or Nicus, he could've been the one to save Lid from Elmyra's abusive love."

He pulled the trigger again, Lious was had more wounds to hold but he didn't have enough paws for it.

"Nine lives had to pay…for all the lives that you've destroyed…"

Another shot was fired.

Furrball patiently waited for Lious to open his eyes again, by this point, the orange cat had seemed to have given up, "Calamity…Buster…Plucky…Hamton…all of them couldn't find me…"

One more to the shoulder, he was down to two lives now.

"Babs…Shirley…even they couldn't help Fifi enough, my disappearance left that big gaping hole in her heart…"

Once Furrball fired again, the leader of the Alley Cat gang was now down to his one final life, yet he wasn't pleading for forgiveness. Fifi was looking from the corner, terrified at what Furrball was doing. She knew the big orange cat deserved to be punished but this was going a bit too far in her opinion.

"Sylvester wouldn't have been a drinker and lost his family…him, Calamity, Fifi, you ruined their lives…and now I will reclaim them and avenge my own!"

"Go…ahead!" Lious finally yelled out, much to Fifi and Furrball's surprise, "finish me! Jus' like I did wit' you!"

Lious started to chuckle with pain as he tried to sit up, "ya' shoot…an' ya will be jus' like me, a killa', a hea'den, a psycho! Every'ting I did will be justa'fied once ya' pull da' trigger makin ya' jus' like, if not, exactly like me!"

Furrball shook his head, "no, no I'm nothing like you…I'm not."

Lious just mocked him, he had nothing else to say but laugh at the blue cat for he knew he was telling the truth.

"I tried showin' ya' da' way of da' alley but ya' chose da' way Sylvester taught'ya', jus' so you could fail."

"I was in school, I didn't even go to prom, didn't even graduate!"

"Waste'a'time! Ya' woulda' been Elmyra's fur coat dat' time, Grabmore woulda' distributed yer' ass!"

"Shut…up…I'm nothing like you! I was just doing what was right, you all needed to pay!"

"Then shoot me! Shoot me right in da' heart da' same way I finished ya' all dose' years ago!"

Furrball's paws gripped on the gun, fighting with himself should he pull the trigger. Quivering, he was losing his focus, memories would come back but all they did was fuel him more.

"Do it," Lious taunted again, "do it, cuz' once ya' do den' it'll never end, I'll be gone but you'll still take my place regardless, you'll live forever wit' dis' on yer' conscience."

Furrball came to his conclusion, he shuddered and pointed the gun, "no one will miss you," he coldly said, "and no one will know you're gone except your enemies."

The big orange cat deviously smirked.

He cocked the gun, "goodbye Lious, I'm sending you to a new home…and this time, your stay will be permanent!"

"Non!"

Furrball almost pulled the trigger with Fifi right in front of him! She stood in between the two cats with her paws stretched out in defense for Lious.

"Get out of the way," the gun-wielding cat warned her, "I'm going to end this!"

"Non! Je von't let vous do zhis'!" she protested, "vous doe'znt' 'ave to do zhis', it's over!"

"It won't be over til' he's gone!"

"An' vous vill' go wi'zh' 'im!"

That stopped him, Furrball brought the gun down a few inches and looked over to Fifi, "…what?"

Fifi, frightened, gently walked over to him, "If vous' shoots 'im'…zhen' vous vill' be gone too."

"Fifi, what-what are you saying?"

"If 'e goes zhen' vous goes too, and I am not go'eeng to let you go, not after je's got you back!"

Furrball looked at Lious and then back at the skunkette, not only was he unfocused but he was at a loss for words, now he couldn't decide what to do.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?!" Furrball put his full attention on the skunkette, "if I let him live then he'll never stop terrorizing Acme Acres, have you not noticed how big his actions have gotten since I was alive?!"

"Vhat' more does vous want?!" Fifi shot back, "vous came back, ve' know vhat' 'appened to you, zhere' are no more Alley Cats, an besides, look at 'im! 'E can't even stand up an' walk on all fours, 'ow could 'e make a new empire wizh'out 'is legs?!"

Fifi brought up good points but it wasn't enough to convince him to put the gun fully down.

"Wiz' zhe' way 'e iz' someone vill' take zhat' life avay' from 'im, 'e can do nozhing!"

Furrball took one more glance at Lious, "I'm…connected to him?"

Fif nodded.

"So if I…then, I'll go too?"

She looked at his paws that held the gun and reached for it, placing hers on his. Slowly bringing the gun down, Furrball still had his feral eyes on his old tormentor. He looked pathetic, more than he ever was, beaten up, bloody, crippled, it was easy just to end it right then and there but to make up for everyone's suffering, Lious had to suffer more. And if his last life was taken from someone else then maybe he wouldn't go back to rest, maybe he'd stay here, back with the living. Seeing enough, he let his guard down along with his gun.

Fifi grabbed his paw and held it, "let's go 'ome, vous iz' done 'ere."

The two started to walk with Furrball giving Lious one more glare before turning around.

Lious knew that this was the time to make his final move, he quickly reached for his other side and pulled out the second gun he had there. He carefully aimed it at them behind their backs and cocked it.

Miraculously, as if on cue, Eric's corpse twitched and his eyes blinked. Seeing this, he cawed his last caw one more time as loud as he could and in that split second allowed Furrball to see from his point of view. Before Lious could pull the trigger, it was the painted cat who was quicker on the draw, thus claiming the final life of the big orange cat and leader of the old Alley Cat gang.

Three beings lost their lives that night, Eric, Lious, and possibly, Furrball.

To be concluded…(for real this time.)

A/N: Thanks for reading everyone, and I'm sorry again, I know this isn't helping me with my bad reputation in ending stories but I WILL make up for it in the last chapter, I guarantee it, especially for those who are hoping for Fifi and Furrball's happy ending. All I can say regarding the ending is that it might not come in the way you'd expect it to. Please review as well as check out the final chapter of this story that I've worked so hard on that it surpassed in chapters than any other story I've done. Until next time!