Chapter 4: Captives

"Where are we?"

When the team of dogs woke up in this unfamiliar place, that was the question on all of their minds. The only sound any of them could hear was the 'clang, clang, clang' of tools striking against metal.

Everyone looked around the room. The walls were a dull grey, and the only thing in there that gave them any idea of where they could be, was a large LED screen on the wall in front of them. The dogs tried to move, but they couldn't - they were sat down in leather seats, with their paws and feet held down by hoops of black steel.

Meanwhile, outside their mysterious prison, a pair of shady characters were making the final preparations on a gigantic behemoth of fabric and aluminium - an airship.

"Boooooys...?" came a voice from inside. "Are we ready for take-off yet?"

"Yes, Big Bawss," came the reply.

After that, the rear entry hatch of the huge aircraft opened with a loud buzzing sound. Once it was fully lowered, the shady ones walked in silently, and the hatch buzzed back up behind them.

A minute later, the engines of the grand dirigible roared into life. The vehicle had been contained inside a large hangar which was located a few yards from the castle. The roof of the hangar slowly opened wide, and heavy ballast was jettisoned from the hull of the airship, allowing it to rise into the sky.

"Woah, what the..." said Sasha, as the room rumbled with the roar of the engines. "We're moving!"

Before long, the airship had begun to progress forward, and the powerful noise continued to echo around the room.

"Come on," said Charlie, "there has to be some way out of these chairs."

However, before anyone could answer him, a door opened in the side of the room, flooding it with natural light. The dogs were almost blinded by the sudden change in light levels, as another dog walked in through the doorway.

"Heh, heh, heh!" he chortled. "Looks like we've hit the jackpot, eh, Killer?"

"Yes, bawss..."

The villain then stepped towards Sasha.

"Sasha La Fleur..." he sighed. "We finally meet again."

He then placed his paw under her chin, and stroked gently. Sasha said nothing; she just glared at him with her bright green eyes.

"Keep off," said Charlie, who was sat in the seat directly behind her. "Only I should be able to do that."

"Do what? This?" the overweight bulldog replied, before gripping Sasha's chin more tightly, causing her to snarl at him.

"Seriously, Carface," Charlie continued. "Don't tick me off, man."

But Carface didn't listen. He gripped Sasha's dress tightly with both paws, and planted a kiss on her lips.

"You... douchebag!" she said, once he had broken away.

"Heh, heh! I've wanted to that for a long time."

"If you do that one more time," said Charlie, "then you are dead meat, Carruthers."

"Nope," said Killer, who had now entered as well. He pulled out a deadly flamethrower from behind his back, and said, "If you try to do things that way, you're going to be burnt meat!"

He then turned his attention towards Itchy, who was to Charlie's right.

"Hey, looky looky," he said, as he took Itchy's swords from the rail on the back wall. "These blades are real quality. Wakizashi, I believe?"

"Yes," the Dachshund replied. "Those swords are mine, Kill. Give 'em here!"

"Heh. Fat chance, shorty."

"I said, GIVE... THEM... HERE!"

Then, using his angelic power, Itchy snatched the swords clean out of Killer's paws, and, while they were still levitating in the air, used them to slice through the metal hoops around his wrists and ankles, before catching the swords' handles in his own paws.

Killer tried to torch him with the flamethrower, but Itchy rolled to the side, and strafed around to behind him.

"Hey, Itch!" Charlie called. "Help me out, man!"

Itchy rushed over to his friend, and tried to free him, but once he had cut through three out of four hoops, he suddenly felt something gripping his neck from behind.

"Not so fast, weenie-boy," said a very sinister voice. Yet another dog had entered the fray, and now she had Itchy under restraint. She punched him in the back, causing him to drop the swords.

"Get back in your chair, you twerp," she continued, as she slammed him into the seat. Itchy tried to keep his paws away from the dreaded hoops, but this dog was too strong - while she gripped his neck tightly with one paw to keep him immobile, she used her other paw and her feet to force his limbs back into the hoop slots, before closing them on him.

Charlie was now up on his hind legs. He tried to reach for the swords, but he couldn't; one of his feet was still trapped. Once Carface was next to him, he put Charlie's limbs back in the hoops.

"Belladonna..." said Charlie contemptuously. "So it was you who was behind this."

"Of course," the demon-dog snarled back. "I knew you and your friends would fall for my trap."

She then turned towards the other villains.

"At ease, boys. Now, get back to flying the airship!"

"Yes, Your Darkness."

"Yes-sirree, Big Bawss."

Once Carface and Killer had left the room, and closed the door behind them, Belladonna switched on the ceiling light, and cleared her throat.