Chapter 10

During the first week of their summer vacation, James and Vixy went on their second date. They decided to go to the restaurant where they first met. Meanwhile, Maverick went out and got a job at a local fast-food restaurant. While James was getting ready for his date, Maverick knocked on his door. "Come in" James replied. Maverick walked in, wearing his work uniform. "Hey, Mav what's up?"

"Just seeing how you were feeling preparing for the date" he replied.

"Oh, I'm good" James smiled, "for some reason I'm more nervous about this date than the first."

"You'll be fine" Maverick said, reassuring his friend "it's totally normal to be nervous about the second date. It can set the tone of the relationship."

"Oh, great" James smirked, "you ready for your first day on the job?"

"Not really" the lupine answered, looking at his uniform "I can't believe I have to do this awful job just so I can marry the she-wolf I love."

"I know it sucks, but it'll only be for a short time" James stated, "when does you shift end?"

"It should be around 8:00" Maverick said, "what time is the date?"

"I'm meeting Vixy at 7:00" James replied.

"You'll have to tell me how it went" Maverick said, turning to leave.

"Mav, wait" James said, grabbing the wolf's wrist "I hope today isn't too bad of a first day."

"Thanks, James, good luck with your date" Maverick said, giving the fox a huge hug.

When Maverick came home from work, Lana saw him walking in, looking exhausted. "So, how was the first day?" she asked.

"I miss the Academy already" Maverick chuckled.

"That bad, huh?" she cringed, walking over to him.

"Good thing I'm only doing this for the summer" he said, trying to hug her.

"Phew, you smell" she said, putting her paw up.

"I guess I should go clean up before James comes home" Maverick chuckled.

Grandma Marian and Grandpa Robin had gone to bed before Uncle James got home from his date. Lana and Maverick were relaxing in the living room when he walked in and sat next to Maverick. "So, how did it go?" Maverick asked.

"It was a blast!" James stated, "After dinner, we went to go see a movie."

"Dinner and a show, eh?" Lana questioned, "Very nice."

"I'm glad you had fun on your date" Maverick smiled.

"How was the first day at the new job?" James asked.

"It pretty much sucked, but I'm sure it'll get me what I want to get" Maverick said, glancing at Lana.

"Next time you're off from work, the four of us should go on a double date" Lana suggested.

"Oh yeah?" Maverick wondered, "What do you think we should do for this double date?"

"Well, I was thinking we could either go bowling or roller blading" Lana smiled.

"I love bowling" James said.

"Bowling is a great double date idea" Maverick agreed, "especially since the three of us are crazy competitive."

"Okay, great" Lana exclaimed, "just let me know when you have a day off and I'll get the reservations setup."

The rest of the month went by and had my dad working every day. One night, when my dad got home from work, mom said "Hun, I know you're working really hard, but is there any chance that you'll be able to take a day off here soon?"

"I don't know, Lana" he replied, "I never expected that I'd be scheduled to work this much in the first place."

"But if you keep working like this, you're going to burn yourself out" Lana stated, worried.

"I know" Maverick yawned, "which is why I requested for two days off next week."

"Oh, good!" she exclaimed, "That means we can finally go on that bowling double date with James and Vixy."

"Speaking of which, where is James?" Maverick asked.

"He's on his nightly five-mile run" she replied.

Maverick looked concerned, "What time did he leave for his run?"

"He left at 6:30, like he always does" she stated.

"Lana, it's 8 o'clock" Maverick pointed out, looking at his watch "he should've been back long ago."

"Well, maybe he wanted to take it easy tonight" she suggested.

"James isn't the type of animal to take it easy, even when he's running" Maverick disagreed.

"Okay, what if he wanted to do some extra miles?" she stuttered.

"I'm gunna go look for him" Maverick determined, heading toward the door.

"Maverick O'Donnell, I know James is important to you, but you're exhausted from work, and we can't afford for you to be going missing too" Lana stated, grabbing him by his arm.

"I know, but there's no chance that I'll be able to sleep tonight knowing that he might be out there hurt somewhere" Maverick replied.

"If you really must go out and look for him, then I'm coming with you" Lana insisted.

"No, you have to stay here with Wolf" Maverick rejected, "you can't just leave him here alone since Robin and Marian are off visiting his relatives today."

"Fine" she sighed, "just promise me you'll be smart out there and call me as soon as you find him."

"I'll do my best" Maverick stated, as he resumed walking towards the door. "Did James bring his phone with him?"

"Yes, he always brings it with him when he goes running" she pointed out.

"Okay, I know the route he takes when he goes running" he stated, "nothing and no one will stand in my way from getting him back."

Maverick decided instead of getting in his car and tracking James down that way, he was going to go on foot. While he was going along the route he and James had ran before, Maverick pulled out his phone trying to call James'. To his surprise, instead of going to voicemail, somebody answered, "James?" Maverick questioned, with panic in his voice.

"Nope, he's a little too unconscious to come to the phone, Wolfie" came a familiar voice.

"Who is this?" Maverick asked, through bared teeth.

"Oh, you know just your favorite animal from the Academy" said the animal, sarcastically.

"Andross!" Maverick gasped, "What have you done with James?"

"We've been monitoring the two of you all year and finally grabbed one of you while you were separated from each other" Andross explained.

Maverick clenched his free paw, in anger, as he was processing what Andross was saying, "I swear if you so much as lay a paw on James, I will make it my life's mission to track you down and kill you!"

"Tsk, silly young Maverick, none of that will be necessary" Andross stated, "we want both of you."

As soon as Andross said that Maverick was surrounded by a race of alien he had never seen before, which had an insect-like look to them, even though they were bipedal. They were holding some kind of gun towards him, taking his phone from his paw. Suddenly, he was caught in a tractor beam and appeared on a ship, with the unconscious body of James McCloud lying in a cage close by. "James!" Maverick gasped being held in place by the insectoid aliens.

"Welcome to my new ship" Andross stated, striding toward the wolf, arms open wide "You like what you see?"

"Looks like a floating pile of scrap metal to me" Maverick mocked.

Andross nodded at one of the insectoid henchmen, who struck Maverick in the face. "You better watch yourself, Wolfie, I could make your life here hell" Andross spoke calmly, holding Maverick under his muzzle.

"Do your worst, ape!" Maverick said, spitting in Andross' face.

Andross was about to hit Maverick again, when a loud yet calm voice echoed throughout the ship "Enough, Andross!" the purple giant, Thanos commanded, walking up behind the young ape. "We want the wolf and fox kept alive. They're going to be huge assets to have in our mission" Thanos continued.

"Yes, father" Andross stated, backing away from Maverick.

Thanos walked up to the young wolf, taking his head in his giant, purple hand. "My child, do you not know how lucky you and your fox friend are?" Thanos questioned, "You have been chosen to become part of my army."

"I'm pretty sure I speak for both James and myself when I say that we want nothing to do with you or your band of freaks here" Maverick stated, looking at the mysterious, creepy alien army surrounding him.

"I'm sorry, I don't think you understand" Thanos sighed, "you and your friend aren't being given a choice."

Thanos let go of Maverick, walking away, and the wolf thought he saw an opening to attack the giant being. When he moved toward Thanos, Andross tackled the wolf. "Let go of me, ape!" Maverick shouted, trying to break free of Andross' grip "I will not abandon my girlfriend or my son!"

Thanos turned around, facing the wolf and his son tangled up on the ground. "You're a strong one" he stated, "throw him in the cage with his friend."

Andross looked at Thanos, shocked, "Father, are you sure you want them locked up together?"

"Absolutely!" Thanos declared, "They're locked up, they're not going anywhere."

"Yes, Father" Andross obeyed, picking up the struggling wolf off the ground.

"We're going to the Garden" Thanos stated, "also I want you to go check on your baby sister, Nebula, after you're done here."

"Yes, Father" Andross said, moving the wolf toward the cage as Thanos was leaving.

The cage was opened by one of the minions and Maverick was still trying to fight back against the ape pushing him forward. "You can't do this!" the wolf shouted, as he was being thrown into the cage "You're betraying Corneria!"

"I don't care about Corneria" Andross scoffed, "all I care about is helping my father's goal be fulfilled.

After Andross and the creepy insect-like alien minions secured the cage door shut, they left Maverick alone with the still unconscious James McCloud. The wolf grabbed the fox and sat down leaning against the cage laying James in his lap. "I know you can't hear me right now" Maverick whispered, as he was starting to drift off to sleep "I promise you, I will find a way out of this and back to our families. For now, I'm going to go to sleep, please be conscious when I wake up."