Author's Note: We're back with another chapter of the Black Panther of Amphibia. Before we begin, I'd like to make a couple of announcements.

First of all, I'd like to address a guest commentor who asked about Kipo Underground. I'll have you know that I am working on it. It'll probably be ready either next week or the week after. Just be patient a bit and I promise, it'll be worth it.

Secondly, as I told you all before, I'll be skipping some of the filler episodes of season 1 of Amphibia. In order to ease your minds, I'll list out all the episodes I plan to cover here, including this one. We have...

The Domino Effect
Taking Charge
Anne Theft Auto
Dating Season
Anne vs Wild
Family Shrub
Toad Tax
Prison Break
Hop Pop and Lock
Trip to the Archives
Wally and Anne
Bizarre Bazaar
Cursed
Combat Camp
Children of the Spore
Anne of the Year
Reunion

That's just the episodes I'll cover from Season 1. We'll see about Season 2 when we get there. If I missed anything that could be plot-related, let me know if you have any ideas.

All right then. Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.

Nothing means having fun outside more than playing a modified version of baseball. Anne was at the batter mount using a praying mantis claw as a bat while Sprig was readying himself to throw a small watermelon gourd like a baseball. T'Challa watched from the side.

"You playing, T'Challa?" Anne asked.

"I am. I'm the umpire." T'Challa answered.

"Umpires are supposed to be behind the batter." Anne said.

"Not when the batter is playing with what might as well be a scythe." T'Challa responded.

"Oh, it'll be fine. Watch." Anne said preparing to swing. "Throw it, Sprig!"

"Got it!" Sprig responded as he threw the gourd.

Once it got close, Anne swung her mantis claw, but she missed and the claw flew out of her hands. Sprig gasped and ducked letting the claw fly over his him and into the forest behind him. When he stood back up straight, his hat was split into two and his small, orange hair was shown.

"I don't want to say I told you so, Anne." T'Challa said.

"Oh, like you could do any better." Anne said. "Also, Sprig, you have hair?"

"Let's just get it back." Sprig said before hopping into the forest. Anne and T'Challa followed.

After a couple of minutes, they found the scythe wedged into a tree. Anne was about to pull it out when a distant cry stopped her. She turned to the direction of the sound.

"What is it, Anne?" T'Challa asked.

"I don't know. It sounds like meows of distress." Anne said. She and the boys headed to where the sound was coming from.

The trio made it to a clearing with a tragic event happening at the center. Giant wasps hovered over a mud puddle where a small critter was stuck in. The critter was meowing frantically while the wasps were trying to attack it.

"Oh, my gosh! We have to save her!" Anne gasped.

"Right behind ya!" Sprig assured.

"Sprig and I will handle the wasps while you go and save whatever that is." T'Challa said before forming his Black Panther suit around him.

The Black Panther rushed to the wasps and jumped toward them. He landed a dropkick at one of them while Sprig launched rocks at the others with his slingshot.

"Take that, buzz brains!" Sprig taunted. "Go sting someone your own size!"

While the boys handled the bugs, Anne ran to the mud puddle and yanked out the furry critter inside. "I've got her! Let's go!" She ran back into the forest with T'Challa and Sprig behind her.

"Sprig out! Peace!" Sprig cried out.

Anne stopped running when she made it back to where she and the others left the scythe. "Whew. You're safe now, little fella." Anne took a look at what she had saved before gasping and screaming.

"What's wrong?" Sprig asked catching up to her with T'Challa. "Are you stung? We'll have to amputate!" He pulled out the scythe and prepared to slice at her, but Anne stopped him.

"No. This caterpillar looks exactly like my cat, Domino, from back home." Anne pulled out her phone to show a picture of a black and white cat with green eyes. Interestingly, the caterpillar she had saved had a remarkable resemblance. The only difference was that it had small caterpillar legs instead of four cat legs.

T'Challa retracted his suit to get a look at the Domino picture with his own eyes. "The resemblance is uncanny."

"I love my cat more than anything in the world." Anne went on. "She was irreplaceable. But now, I found a replacement. Let's take her home with us."

"Eh, I don't know, Anne." Sprig said. "That's a wild animal. I'm not sure bringing it home is a good idea."

"I'm with Sprig on this." T'Challa said. "What if this thing is dangerous?"

"That's ridiculous." Anne said. "My cat back home was a stray before I adopted her. All it takes is love and patience and… love."

"You said love twice." Sprig said.

Anne then held the caterpillar near Sprig. It gave him a cute little lick.

"Sold."

T'Challa sighed. "Sure. Why start being sensible now?"

"Then it's settled." Anne said. She used the scythe for a knighting gesture to the caterpillar. "I hereby dub thee 'Domino 2'. Come on, girl. Let's go home."

The three started to walk home, but Domino 2 didn't follow. It just laid on the ground.

"Is it broken?" Sprig asked.

"Hold up. I got an idea." Anne said. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a jingling toy mouse. "This worked on Domino 1 without fail."

Anne rattled the mouse and got Domino 2's attention. She purred with her eyes locked onto it. Sprig was also mesmerized by it and followed alongside Domino 2.

"Well, this should be interesting." T'Challa said.

After returning home, Anne and T'Challa found Hop Pop chopping a bug for cooking. Anne strolled over to him casually.

"Hey, Hop Pop. Old buddy. Old pal."

"What do you want Anne?" Hop Pop asked.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking. Doesn't this house feel empty to you?"

Hop Pop turned to a mountain of dishes in the sink. "Not especially."

"Anne was wanting to have a pet in the house." T'Challa said.

"A pet?" Hop Pop gasped. "No pets!"

"What? Why not?" Anne asked.

"Every time we get one, Sprig and Polly swear they're gonna take care of it! Like this one spider we had: Charlie Bigbottom. I mean, sure, they were there for all the cuddlin' and the snugglin', but who gets stuck doin' all the work? Good ol' Hop Pop, that's who! I swear to Frog, whoever brings a fuzzy critter into this house will be on dung duty for a month!"

While Hop Pop continued ranting about the old pet spider, Anne and T'Challa returned outside to meet up with Sprig and Domino 2.

"Well, I suppose that's the end of the pet adventure." T'Challa said.

"No way." Anne replied. "We'll just have to go with Plan B: sneaking Domino 2 inside."

"Should we be concerned about this?" Sprig asked as he lifted his leg. Domino 2 was nibbling on it.

"That is called play biting." Anne said. "Isn't it cute?"

"I don't know about that, Anne." T'Challa said. "Looks more like she's tasting him to me."

"That's ridiculous. Trust me, I know cats."

"More than the guy who dresses as a cat? Who worships a cat goddess?"

"Look, it'll be fine." Anne said. "Why do you doubt me?"

"Anne, a pet is a lot of responsibility. And no offense, but you're not exactly the most responsible person I know."

"What? Pfft. Name one thing I've done that was irresponsible."

"The day before we got zapped here, you, Sasha, and Marcy released dogs in the school while playing K-Pop music."

"…Apart from that. Look, let's just give it a chance."

While Sprig kept Hop Pop distracted by making him rant about Charlie Bigbottom, Anne and T'Challa proceeded to sneak Domino 2 into the basement where they stayed for the rest of the day.

The following morning, Sprig opened the basement door to greet his favorite humans good morning. But before he could say anything, he was cut off by the sound of an argument.

"I'm telling you, Anne, we need to get rid of her!"

"No way! How could you say that?"

"Are you blind? Look at everything!"

Sprig carefully headed down the stairs to find Anne caressing Domino 2 in her arms and keeping her away from T'Challa. He noticed that the both of them had claw marks on their bodies. He looked around the room and saw more scratch marks along with web silk covering many spots.

"Whoa. What happened here?" Sprig asked.

"Domino 2 just had a bit of a rough first night indoors. That's all." Anne said.

"A rough first night?" T'Challa asked. Sprig just noticed that he had tired bags under his eyes. "Anne, a rough first night is relentless meowing. A rough first night is jumping up and down everywhere. This, right here, is a wild animal attack."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Anne argued.

"Anne, that thing kept me up all night." T'Challa said. "Even though I have the powers of the Black Panther, I've only been able to fight that thing to a stalemate."

"It does seem like Hop Pop is going to notice something." Sprig said.

"Look, all we need to do is keep an eye on her while she's adjusting." Anne said. "T'Challa, come on. Just let her stay one more night, and we'll see how we feel tomorrow morning. Please?"

T'Challa was still against the idea. He crossed his arms and tried to keep her head away. But one glance was all it took. His eyes slipped over toward both Anne and Domino 2, both of whom gave him the biggest, most pleading eyes. T'Challa tried to fight it, but he eventually gave in.

"Fine. But just for one more night. And if she's still a hazard by tomorrow morning, then we send her back out into the wild. Deal?"

"Deal." Anne agreed. "Don't worry, Domino 2. We'll have you a model house cat in just one day."

Throughout the day, Anne focused entirely on keeping Domino 2 happy and out of trouble. First, she built her a little playpen for the critter. Then, when Domino 2 ate Hop Pop's sandwich, she took her back to the basement before he noticed. After that, Domino 2 left a dead bug on Anne's bed which she was thankful for. Later on, Domino 2 attempted to eat Polly without her knowing, but Anne snatched her away before she could sink her teeth in her. Domino 2 then left a whole bunch of dead bugs on Anne's bed before they both spun around together.

At the end of the day, Anne, T'Challa, and Sprig laid on the ground tired and exhausted while Domino 2 tucked herself in Anne's bed.

"Whew! Hope there isn't a Domino 3." Sprig commented.

"I'm all worn out from trying to keep it from eating the Planters." T'Challa said.

"You call it eating. I call it play biting with the others." Anne said.

"I call that delusional." T'Challa retorted.

Domino 2 meowed before shooting a silk cocoon around herself.

"Should we be worried about that?" T'Challa asked.

"No. She's just tucking herself in." Anne said. "It's all worth it when you get to watch your adorable little boo take a nap."

"Well, it is pretty cute." Sprig said.

"Welcome, brother, to the church of cute." Anne said.

"Is this a cult thing?"

Just then, all three of them heard their own stomachs growling.

"Sounds like Domino 2 isn't the only one purring." Anne said. "Come on. Let's go get some grub."

"Finally. I've been starving." T'Challa said.

Once they headed up to the kitchen, Anne, T'Challa, and Sprig helped themselves to an entire mountain of food. Hop Pop walked in behind them seeing them force it all into their mouths.

"Whoa there. Hungry much?" He commented.

"We've been running around all day. We're starving." Sprig said.

"Running around?" Hop Pop asked. "Doing what?"

The three stopped eating finding themselves speechless without a good excuse. They stammered nervously until a loud crashing sound caught them by surprise. The sound came from the basement.

"What was that?" Hop Pop asked.

"Uh… Basement ghost?" Anne asked.

"Don't be ridiculous." Hop Pop said. "Basement ghosts don't sound anything like that."

The family rushed into the basement and found it to be an even bigger mess than before. And worse than that, Domino 2's silk cocoon was cracked open and empty.

"What the heck is this?" Anne asked.

"I have a feeling this has to do with Domino 2." T'Challa said.

"Wait. Who's Domino 2?" Hop Pop asked.

"Uh… Well…" Sprig said nervously.

"Oh, to heck with it!" T'Challa said. "Hop Pop, Anne, Sprig, and I snuck in a strange caterpillar that Anne wanted to keep for a pet."

"Dude!" Anne shouted.

"What did I tell you about pets?" Hop Pop asked in an upset tone.

"I'm sorry." Sprig said. "It's just that the caterpillar looked like Anne's pet from back home. It was small, hute. It was black with white spots and it…"

"Wait! A black caterpillar with white spots?" Hop Pop asked with fear beginning to fill his face.

"Yes. Sensing something is wrong." Sprig said.

"That's a Coastal Kill-a-pillar! They're dangerous amphibivores!" Hop Pop shouted. "And they only get white spots right before they're about to…"

A green liquid dripped from above. Everyone looked up at the ceiling to see Domino 2 as she looks right now. She kept her cat-like head and paws, but she grew in size, gained bug eyes, grew giant wings, and had several legs. She screeched out green saliva stunning the four.

"Domino 2? Is that you?" Anne asked.

"Shh. These monsters respond to sound." Hop Pop whispered softly. "Let's back away slowly and quietly."

All of a sudden, the basement door slammed open and Polly jumped in from the outside. "HEY, FAMILY! WHAT'S HAPPENING IN HERE?!"

Noticing Polly's sudden entrance, Domino 2 roared. The Planter family threw caution to the wind and ran upstairs. T'Challa ran with them. Anne, however, stayed behind. She was confused, but she was still willing to try a peaceful approach. She approached Domino 2 carefully.

"Domino 2, it's me, Anne. We bonded. I gave you treats. You gave me dead things. Don't you remember?"

Anne carefully reached out her hand and managed to gently place it on Domino 2's furry head. At first, she purred upon contact reaffirming Anne's faith. But suddenly, Domino 2 roared and flew over her chasing the Planter family upstairs.

"No, wait! Come back!" Anne pleaded to no avail.

T'Challa tried to get the Planters outside, but Domino 2 cut them off right before they reached the door. T'Challa slipped on his Black Panther suit and leaped toward her. However, Domino 2 raised an arm to stop him and pushed him far to the end of the room where Anne was. She then proceeded to pick up the Planters and bat them around.

T'Challa tried to get back up, but he was going at a slow pace.

"Are you okay?" Anne asked.

"No, Anne. I'm tired" T'Challa answered. "I didn't get any sleep last night and I spent the whole day keeping that creature at bay, and it was just a caterpillar."

"Oh, this is all my fault!" Anne blamed herself. "Because of me, Domino 2 is going to bite our friends' heads off as soon as she's done toying with them." She then gasped. "Toying with them. Wait a second."

Finally, Domino 2 was done playing around with the frogs. She was about to eat them when Anne called out to her.

"Hey, Domino 2! Over here!" Anne pulled out the jingling toy mouse.

Domino 2's attention was turned away from the Planters. She was distracted by the toy mouse that was in Anne's hand. She then screeched as she flew towards her.

"Oh, crud." Anne said before running out of the house. Domino 2 gave chase out the same door.

"Anne!" T'Challa shouted before finally getting up and following Domino 2. He extracted his claws from his fingers, but stopped when Anne reached a cliff. She turned to Domino 2 with sad eyes.

"Oh, Domino 2. I thought I could change you. But I guess I was wrong" Anne said full of regret. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it work. It's time to go!"

With all her strength, Anne threw the toy mouse as far as she could into the forest below. Domino 2 gave flight towards it and never returned. Once she was gone, T'Challa joined Anne as she lamented over the cliff.

"Sayonara, Domino 2."

"And look who's cleaning up after the pet! Hop Pop, that's who!" Hop Pop said disappointingly as Anne and T'Challa returned to the house.

"Guys, you're okay!" Sprig said happily.

"Tell me that thing is gone." Polly said.

"Yeah. It's gone." T'Challa assured. "Anne, is there something you'd like to say?"

"Yeah." Anne said with her head hung low. "I'm so sorry. I had no right to put you all in danger, no matter how much I miss my cat. I hope you understand.

"Understand? Understand?!" Hop Pop yelled before breaking out into tears. "I MISS CHARLIE BIGBOTTOM WITH ALL MY HEART AND SO!" He continued bawling while Sprig and Polly comforted him.

"Well, this took things to a weird place." T'Challa said.

A short while later, T'Challa and Sprig both headed down to the basement where Anne waited and removed all of Domino 2's belongings.

"Well, that just goes to show ya. You can't take some wild animal you found in the woods, have it live in your basement, and think everything's gonna be okay." Anne said.

"I don't know." Sprig said. "Sometimes, it works out."

Anne looked at her own stuff and figured what he meant by that. "Ohhh. You're talking about me and T'Challa, right?"

"Obviously." T'Challa said.

"Right. Well, sorry about not listening to you, T'Challa. If you want, you can gloat about it."

"Gloat about it?" T'Challa asked. "Anne, I didn't care whether or not I was right. I was just concerned. Look, clearly, this world isn't anything like Earth. Frogs talk. Tomato plants are carnivorous. And now, we learn that even cat-like creatures can monsters. If we're not careful, we'll never return home alive."

"I get it." Anne said. "Again, sorry."

"Actually, Sprig and I made something together that could help if you're feeling homesick." T'Challa said.

"It was actually T'Challa's idea." Sprig said before presenting a messy, sewn up cat duplicates made of sheets and googly eyes. "Ta-da! I used Domino 2's hairbals as the fur. Here you go."

Anne accepted the gift with a blank look on her face.

"What do you think, Anne?" T'Challa asked. "You like it?"

Anne's expression hadn't changed concerning the boys.

"You hate it, don't you?" Sprig asked. "You know what, give it back to…"

"I LOVE IT!"