Royal laughed at Bluey "Oh that is hilarious, I knew he'd hurt you!" Bluey sighed "I'm not hurt, I'm just disappointed in him" Royal giggled "Doesn't sound too different if you ask me" Bluey swatted her away "Why are you even here Midnight?" Royal groaned "That's not my name anymore" Bluey nodded "It is, you are Midnight, I created you so I name you" She rolled her eyes "Since I am a part of you, that means mum and dad made me, not you" Bluey smiled "Yes, but you're not named Bluey either, and you are just a fragment of my conscience. Royal sighed as her colors became Midnight Blue again, seemingly frustrating the imaginary dog. "Whatever, he still hurt your feelings" Bluey nodded slowly "You killed and he was fine with it, you almost killed him and he was fine with it, what difference does it make if he kills someone?" Bluey's eyes widened as she faced the fake version of herself "I killed animals for food, not another dog just to get revenge and protect someone else" Midnight shook her head "If Aunt Brandy didn't stop you, he would be dead" "That was because of you Midnight, you said you would get rid of whatever caused me pain" Midnight smiled "You know what, I kinda like the sound of Midnight Royal" she said ignoring Bluey. Bluey looked at her confused "That's not a name for a shade of blue though…" Midnight nodded "Exactly, it's Out of the Blue and that's why I like it" Blue sighed "Even so, I'm calling you Midnight for short" Bluey could feel herself waking up "Whatever, but when it truly matters, I will come back to help you, even if you don't want me to. By the way, when are you going to-" her voice was fading quickly

Bluey woke up in her room, she was upset by Mackenzie's actions and had slept in her bed in her childhood home. Bluey got up and walked in the kitchen where she was greeted by her father, who was chewing on some bacon "Morning Bluey" Bandit said. "Morning dad" she replied as she grabbed her favorite bone-shaped cereal. "Have you spoken with Mackenzie since yesterday?" he asked she sighed "No, I'm giving him time to think" Bandit nodded "Well I guess, but you will have to talk to him eventually" Bluey looked at her father "Dad, he was going to kill someone" Bandit nodded "I know, and it's not hard to see why it upsets you, but you know the best thing to do is talk things out with him when you have calmed down" Bluey raised an eyebrow while pouring milk on the cereal "Has mum ever been mad at you before" Bandit nodded "Oh plenty of times, and your Grandad Mort caused me a bit of grief for upsetting her even after we got married" he smiled. "But things turned out okay every time?" Bandit nodded "Of course they did, otherwise you wouldn't exist, well that or your mum and I still wouldn't be married." He said while remembering how Mort had been in the past whenever his daughter was upset "Look Bluey, as long as he hasn't killed the other dog, I feel like you really should talk things out, for the most part Mackenzie is easy to be reasoned with" Bluey sighed and nodded "You're right dad, I'll give it some thought" she said as she chewed on her cereal "That's my girl" he said with a smile

Afterwards, Bluey would take a shower, brush her teeth then sit on her bed for a few minutes until she would receive a call from Winnie "Hello?" she asked. "Hey Bluey" Winnie responded. "Hi Winnie, how's it going?" Bluey asked. "It's going good…for the most part" she said. "Chloe isn't mad at you is she?" Winnie laughed a little "Oh no, me and Chloe are fine, in fact she's sleeping right now…but that's not why I called you" Bluey looked a bit confused "Oh, well then is something wrong?" Winnie thought about it "Have you seen or heard from the terriers lately?" Bluey thought about it only to realize that she hadn't "Um…no, why?" Winnie let out a long sigh "I was afraid you'd say that, nobody has heard from any of them for days. Winton said their mum doesn't know where they are either. Snickers said he noticed they were missing ever since he finished doing a paint-job on one of them" Bluey raised an eyebrow, it was certainly odd for a single person to vanish without saying something to anyone, it was downright stranger and even creepy that it happened to three dogs at once "Well if I see them, I'll let everyone know…because that is pretty odd" "Okay Bluey, I'll let you know if they are found, anyway see you later" Bluey nodded "Yeah, see you" Once the call ended Bluey laid back on her bed and tried to collect her thoughts "So Midnight is back to being…midnight, dad says I should talk things out with Mackenzie, and Winnie says that the terriers are missing. It's not even noon yet and today has already been…something"

Bluey thought about the previous day when she had left Mackenzie's home to go talk with her parents about a few would chat for a few hours, share some laughs, Bluey and Chilli would reminisce about the games that Bluey and Bingo would play that mostly resulting in some kind of pain for Bandit, and Bluey would eventually head back to Mackenzie's home. "I'm home!" she yelled but got no response. She would look around his home for him for a few minutes, after seeing he was gone she figured that he went out to run a few errands. Soon an hour would pass, then two hours, before she would get up and notice a paper that she failed to see the first time. She read it's contents and became unsettled about what it said and what the sender was allowing Mackenzie to have a chance to do. Bluey then flipped the paper over and skimmed through until she saw Mackenzie's handwriting at the bottom "Bluey, I do this because I love you, I can't bear the thought of anyone hurting you" Bluey's eyes widened as she realized that he was saying that he was going to find and kill Gruber, she knew that he wanted to keep her safe, but she did not like the idea of murder, something he was willing to do. "This is a joke right? He is not actually going to try to kill Gruber? Please…" Bluey tried to doubt it and try to keep herself calm, that is until she walked outside and saw a familiar dog driving through the neighborhood. Pretzel stopped his car when he saw Bluey and rolled his window down "Bluey! Thank God I found you" "Pretzel? What's the matter?" she asked.

"I happened to see Mackenzie about an hour or two ago, and he had this weird look on his face, I wouldn't think much of it but…there was a knife in his car" Bluey became worried "Mackenzie…please don't tell me" she sighed and grabbed the paper then showed the directions to Pretzel "Do you know how to get here?" she asked him. After a few minutes of reading the directions he nodded "Yeah, lets just hope that we can get there before he can do anything to whoever he's looking for" Bluey got into his car and the two had set off to stop the border collie. Pretzel was an impressive driver, driving fast yet safe at the same time and still following all the traffic laws. "Pretzel, do you remember someone who was in Calypso's class with us-" Pretzel nodded before she could finish "I remember everyone that was in Calypso's class, I have hyperthymesia" he said. She looked at him confused. "Hyper what?" He smiled "Hyperthymesia, it means I basically remember every event of my life, even when I was practically a newborn pup" he grinned. "Then do you remember someone named Gruber?" Pretzel's eyes widened "Yeah, he is a german shepherd…he played a game with me and Honey, we were fighting against the terriers" Bluey never knew of this, since she was too busy trying to make Rusty be her baby at the time. "W-well, turns out that he's the one that Mackenzie wants to kill, he killed Mackenzie's parents and…I think deep down he is still hurting" Pretzel looked over to Bluey for a quick second before looking back at the road "Why stop him?" Bluey tilted her head "Huh?" Pretzel repeated himself "Why stop him?" Bluey groaned "Because murder is illegal? And it is a horrible thing to do, no matter who it is" Pretzel chuckled "He wrote that he's doing it for you" Bluey shook her head "I do not care why he is doing it, I want him to not do it at all" Pretzel gave her a side glance "You know…your answers are a bit vague but I guess I can understand, I wouldn't want someone I cared about to get arrested either"

In the present Bluey sighed she didn't know if Mackenzie made it back home and she did not check. She felt like the only way to make him listen to reason was to avoid him, something that would make her sad but she did it to hopefully keep him from hurting anyone physically. Chilli noticed her daughter feeling sad and sat next to her "What's wrong sweetie?" Chilli asked. Bluey sighed "Did you and Mackenzie have a fight?" Bluey looked at her mum "How did you know?" Chilli smiled "Because I fell for your dad" she said while looking at Bandit, who was fighting with the lawn mower once again. Bluey looked at her phone "I…he wanted to hurt someone for my sake, and I feel like it's a good thing that he loves me that much but I don't want him to go that far. Also the other person was begging for their life…and they didn't seem right" Chilli raised an eyebrow "What do you mean?" "You could tell that he had been abused before, and he wasn't even trying to fight. He was begging for his life" Chilli looked saddened "Did he…hurt the other dog?" Bluey shook her head "The dog escaped, and he seemed a little mad at me but he didn't do much after I threatened him" "Threatened him?" Chilli asked. Bluey nodded "I told him that if he did that, he would be betraying my trust and that I wouldn't want to be around him, then that's when I came over here last night" Chilli nodded "I understand, all I can really tell you is to stick to your gut Bluey, but don't forget to let him say his piece, when you choose to love someone you need to remember that you are equals" Bluey was a bit confused "Why do you say that?" Chilli patted her head "Because not everyone is willing to hear their partners out, and that can be very damaging" Bluey smiled softly "Okay mum, I'll talk to him and listen to what he has to say" Chilli smiled while watching her stand up "I'll be back later" she said as she walked out the door.

Bluey slowly walked out of her home and looked over at Mackenzie's, his car was outside his garage so she knew that he had made it back. She slowly approached the door and turned the knob "Did he forget to lock it?" she wondered. Once she began to push the door open, something stopped it from going further "Huh?" she said as she moved the door back then tried opening it again but with more force. There was an audible grunt this time "What the-?" She pushed on the door a bit harder and soon enough it pushed onto something black and white, Mackenzie had fallen asleep in front of his door. Once she was inside, she was able to see the sadness that was on his face, she closed the door and stepped over him, then she gently shook him to wake him. It took a few seconds but it didn't take long before he would sit up, groggily rub his eyes then look around. His eyes lit up once he saw Bluey in front of him, then his guilt quickly settled in "Look, I know I said I wasn't going to, then I almost did but I want you to know I'll do anything to make it up to you" Bluey sighed and sat next to him "I'm sorry" Mackenzie looked at her confused "Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who lied to you" Bluey shook her head "No, not that. I'm sorry I didn't think about how you were feeling" Mackenzie grabbed her hand "But, it's wrong to repay violence with more violence" Bluey nodded "I don't want you to kill anyone, but I get it, he took your parents away, he threatened one of your best friends, and he threatened me. It would be hard to not see where you were coming from" Mackenzie looked at the floor "A part of me was screaming at me about how wrong it was, even before Pretzel stopped me, yet I just…wanted to stop him" he teared up "I miss them, Bluey…and it hurts knowing some things they wanted could never happen now" Bluey leaned against him "I know, that pain you're feeling? That I wished you would have told me about? That's exactly what I felt when I lost Bingo" Mackenzie sighed and kissed her hand "I'm so grateful to have you, I don't think I could bear it if you avoided me" "I don't think I'd be able to bear it either" Bluey said with a smile

Mackenzie thought about it for a second "I'm not saying I hope I get a reason, but if I absolutely had to, for your sake or for my own, would you be upset with me for killing someone?" Bluey had to think about it "Well if you had no other choice, then I don't think I'd be upset with you, I'd just be mad if you did it out of malice, let's just hope that things will never ever come to that scenario" "Agreed" Mackenzie said. "So, what happened with Gruber anyway?" Bluey asked. Mackenzie shrugged "I don't know, I didn't see him after he ran out, I just started driving home immediately, because I couldn't get your words out my head" he said. Bluey smiled, she was glad that she was able to get through to him when he was enraged. Mackenzie sighed "I know I should have told you about how I was feeling, but I didn't want to be a bother" Bluey looked at him "It wouldn't be a bother, wee should tell each other things like this"

Bluey looked up to the sky "By the way, I think I should tell you-" "HEY YOU TWO" Pretzel yelled as he drove over in front of them "Pretzel? Something wrong?" Pretzel nodded "You bet something is, nobody has seen the terriers, they are missing!" Bluey's widened "Winnie was saying the same thing, has nobody really not seen them?" Pretzel shook his head "What's worse is…I saw her yesterday and I even spoke with her, but now Calypso has gone missing too!" Mackenzie and Bluey looked at each other surprised "C-Calypso too? This is getting a little scary…" Bluey said. Pretzel nodded and got out of his car "We should discuss this inside that house, whoever is doing this could be near for all we know" Mackenzie nodded in agreement "Should I call the others to join up?" Pretzel shook his head "I don't know if we should just yet, call me paranoid but we don't know who is doing this, and if the others are headed this way there's a chance they might get kidnapped" Bluey felt uncomfortable thinking about it, she remembered when she was kidnapped and tossed in the desert by Lila. How she struggled to get out for an entire nine days, how she killed innocent animals and became covered in dirt and blood. She would not wish that on any of her friends, especially not Calypso, who was probably the nicest dog she knew. "I need to talk to Lila" Bluey said. "You don't think she's responsible for this do you?" Mackenzie asked. Bluey shook her head "No, she was only after me and she had a reason, I doubt she would be after any of my friends" Bluey responded "Then, why do you need to talk to her?" Pretzel asked. "She might know someone, or anyone who may be responsible. Might have connections to some people." The other two nodded. Mackenzie walked back out the door "I'll go see if Lila is over at Chucky's, I will be quick" he said as he ran out over to the neighboring home.

Mackenzie knocked on the door to the brother's home, after a few seconds Chucky would open the door "Hey Mackenzie, what brings you here?" Mackenzie was quick to get to the point "Hey, is Lila here? Bluey needs to ask her something and we feel like it's very important" Chucky nodded "Yeah she's here, just a second" he said as he walked away. Judo walked out her house and stopped next to Mackenzie "Everything okay?" Mackenzie turned and looked at her "Uh…Bluey can fill you in, she's over at my house" Judo nodded "Oh, alright then" she would walk towards Mackenzie's house and Chucky would return with Lila. Once Mackenzie explained Lila would walk over then Mackenzie would stop Chucky for a quick second "What?" Chucky asked. Mackenzie looked at him with a smug grin "Well, isn't that hilarious?" Chucky tilted his head "W-what?" Mackenzie leaned forward "You think I don't smell her scent on you?" Chucky blushed "I have no idea what you are talking about" Mackenzie smirked "Oh? I'm going to take a wild guess and assume your mum isn't home" Chucky's blush darkened "I know what you are doing" Mackenzie shrugged "Me? Oh I'm not doing anything" Chucky sighed while blushing "Hey look, I'm sorry I said the same thing when you and Bluey had…you know…" Mackenzie was containing his laughter "So you admit it?" Chucky hid his blush "Look can we talk about anything else?" Mackenzie nodded "Alright, alright I'll let it go"

Once everyone had walked back into Mackenzie's house Bluey had approached Lila "Is…there something you wanted to ask?" Lila asked. Bluey nodded "Yeah, I know you said you don't know who sent the knives, but do you know anyone who would also kidnap other dogs for their own reasons? Anyone at all?" Lila shook her head "I'm sorry but I really don't, why do you ask?" She said a little worried. Bluey sighed "Because, some old friends of mine, and even one of my old teachers have gone missing" "If we knew anyone who would have a reason for doing this, we could find a way to stop them" Pretzel said. "And, if we are fast enough, we could stop our friends from getting hurt, especially if they are in some serious danger." Mackenzie added. "But, we need to figure out why they are being taken in the first place, it's not like the person doesn't have a reason." Chucky said. "I know this will only make things worse but I need to throw in this possibility, what if they were kidnapped by different people who aren't affiliated with each other" Judo said. "I…that…that would only complicate things further, and it would be odd for them to get kidnapped by different people around the same time" Mackenzie said. "There's also the possibility that they could be dead already" Pretzel said. All of the other dogs turned and faced Pretzel in silence, not appreciating his comment "Hey, I know nobody wants to hear it, but it is possible. You think Bluey is the only dog to cause someone else to hold a deep-seated grudge against her?" They looked around awkwardly as they couldn't deny that he was right.

Chucky sighed "Well, what do you suppose we do? Go to the police with this and tell them 4 dogs have been kidnapped?" Pretzel shook his head "Some of the officers have not been helpful lately" "I'll say" Mackenzie agreed, but then he remembered Lulu's kindness "Only some of them are useful and doing their best for others" Judo then had an idea "I have a theory and an idea…the idea isn't really good…or smart but it's something" "What are you thinking?" Bluey asked her. Judo sighed "Well, What if we are dealing with something bigger here? Something on a much larger scale than any of us would have expected?" "Where are you going with this?" Lila asked. "I think…someone is after one of the dogs present here, someone we are not aware of" The other dogs looked at her surprised "Then, why kidnap our friends?" Bluey asked "I have no idea, but I'm sure it might be some kind of warning" Judo said. "And, what was your idea?" Pretzel asked. Judo rubbed her neck "Someone has to let themselves get caught, if it's another friend, then I think that I might be right in my theory"

Just then, slow knocking was heard on the door, Mackenzie would walk over and open it, then all of the present dogs would gasp. Gruber was standing before them all "G-Gruber?!" Mackenzie asked. Gruber had smiled, his eyes looked heavy and he seemed exhausted, he was slouching before he stood up straight "H-heeey Mackenzie…" Gruber said. Pretzel quickly stood between the two and Bluey would put her hand over Mackenzie's shoulder. "What are you doing here?" Pretzel asked in an annoyed tone. "Funny you should ask Pretzel, I came to ask Mackenzie something very important actually" Mackenzie gave him a side glance "And what would that be?" Gruber laughed a little and pulled out the knife that Mackenzie had left at Gruber's home. The other dogs were surprised but Pretzel got in a stance to fight and disarm him "Woah…woah..easy now, I did not come all this way to hurt anyone" Pretzel scoffed "Yeah, sure Gruber, you mean to tell me that you came all the way from your home, with that knife and you do not intend to hurt someone? Especially someone who was extremely close to killing you?"Gruber nodded "I am speaking the honest truth Pretzel" he tossed the knife at Mackenzie's feet. "You see, I know this is contradictory to what I was saying yesterday, but I came here to ask Mackenzie to kill me" Mackenzie's eyes widened "W-what? You want me to kill you?" Gruber nodded "Please…end my life" "He will not! He won't kill you!" Bluey yelled at Gruber "If you really want to die then go do it somewhere else!" Pretzel said. Mackenzie picked up the knife and walked slowly over to Gruber. Bluey watched him with a concerned expression while Gruber smiled "Remember, i killed your parents" Mackenzie sighed and placed the knife down at Gruber's feet "I know what you did, but I won't kill you" Gruber's eyes widened "WHAT? WHY NOT?!" Mackenzie hugged Bluey "Because if I did, you'd ruin something else for me, and I can not nor will not let you win"

Gruber's breathing sped up as he grabbed the knife "It's her isn't it?!" he began to run towards Bluey, however Pretzel would quickly grab his arm and flip him over, slamming him onto his face "He said, he won't kill you" Pretzel said as he pinned Gruber's arm behind his back "You need to get over it" Gruber groaned "Pretzel, get off!" Pretzel shook his head "You've always been stubborn, even when we were with Calypso" Gruber gasped and turned his head a bit "Y-you remember?" Pretzel nodded "Of course I do! You only showed up to Calypso's class a few times, but I remember you really well" Gruber began to laugh "Piece of shit dad…dumbass son" Pretzel raised an eyebrow "The hell are you blubbering about?" Gruber laughed harder "My dad…he…he always said nobody would ever remember me" Mackenzie looked at them "What happened to your dad?" Gruber calmed down "He died, he was the first person I ever killed" "Why? He was your flesh and blood!" Judo said "Because his father hated him, abused him, and never showed him any love"Mackenzie replied. "How do you know that?" Chucky asked. "When I…was going to kill him he started acting extremely scared, like if he saw a ghost. He begged his father to not kill him, begged him to forgive him for killing his mother" Mackenzie said "But…he said his father was his first victim?" Lila said. "She died giving birth" Gruber said "Because she died, dad hated me, he blamed me for everything" he laughed softer as tears formed in his eyes "All I wanted was someone to love me" he sobbed "And that bastard said that nobody would ever remember me!" he slammed his fist into the ground "It hurt when people would always ask who I was, even after we've met! It's like I was just…cursed!" Chucky approached him "Why did you want Mackenzie to kill you?" Gruber laughed more while his tears hit the ground. "Even though he is dead…he still haunts me…still torments me…I just want to be free, one day he got drunk…he couldn't even recognize me and I couldn't resist or fight back…then he…he…" Pretzel got off of him "You don't need to finish that statement, we get the idea"

Mackenzie then kneeled in front of Gruber "I need you to be honest, some friends of mine have gone missing, any idea what could have happened?" Gruber looked up at him "Who is missing?" Mackenzie groaned "From what I heard, Calypso and the terriers" Gruber's eyes widened "I don't know what happened, what are the circumstances?" "We don't know but we suspect it was kidnapping" Judo said. Gruber thought about it for a few seconds "It could have been my boss" "Who is your boss?" Pretzel asked "I don't know" "Bullshit you don't know" Pretzel said with an annoyed tone. "N-no really! I've never met them! They mailed me some weird phone and gave me some instructions, they are the one who is responsible for me burning this guy's house and killing his parents!" "Did they blackmail you?" Lila asked. Gruber shook his head "They said they don't blackmail. I did it because they said that they…remembered…me" Gruber turned and looked at Pretzel who said the same thing a few minutes prior. Pretzel knew what he was thinking. "I know it's odd, but I'm not the one who set you up to these things" Gruber walked closer to him "How could I be so sure about that?" "I believe Pretzel" Mackenzie said. The other dogs turned towards him "I am sure that it is just a coincidence but I don't think Pretzel would kill his own cousin, it's also unlikely that he would be the only one to remember you from so long ago" Gruber shook his head "What if he is? He could just be trying to confuse everyone?" "If I was your boss, how would trying to confuse you be to my benefit?" Pretzel asked, feeling agitated. "Knock it off! Leave Pretzel alone!" Bluey said.

Just then Gruber heard a familiar sound, his phone was ringing, the other dogs grew silent as he pulled it out. "H-hello?...wait-" Gruber turned and looked at Pretzel "B-boss?!" The other dogs were now surprised. "How do I know that this isn't a recording? Buddy is looking for me? Why? I…I see…right well, no I have nothing else to say" he hung up. "Hah! Cabrón! Now you know that it couldn't have been me!" Pretzel said feeling a bit relieved. "Y-yeah…sorry" Gruber said. "Wait, by Buddy, do you mean?" Lila asked "Buddy Pug, he's been my partner in all of this. My only friend" Lila was familiar with him but was surprised to learn that he had gotten involved with dangerous and illegal activities, she had known him to be quiet and respectful of others.

Not much longer, a black truck could be seen outside of the labrador retriever's home. A few masked dogs would go in and within a few seconds they could be seen carrying Lucky out, Lucky was struggling "The fuck are you doing?!" he asked. Chucky quickly got up "HEY! LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!" Chucky yelled as he sprinted towards them. Lila and Judo followed trying to help Lucky. "RUN AWAY, THEY ARE AFTER YOU AS WELL" Lucky yelled. Chucky stopped for a bit "What?" he asked before one of the other dogs would grab Chucky. "Let go!" he yelled as he tried to throw the other dog off him. Mackenzie would try going over to help before one of the other dogs would knock him to the ground "This doesn't involve you!" "Like hell if I'm going to let you grab my fri-" Mackenzie stopped talking the monet the dog had a gun pointed in his face "Like I said…Does Not. Involve. You" Mackenzie growled as he backed away to the other dogs. Pretzel grabbed a knife and pointed it at Gruber "Call them off. Now." Gruber however seemed as stunned as the others "I…I don't know them!" "DAMMIT JUDO RUN! LILA YOU TOO!" Lucky yelled at both of the girls while they were also getting targeted by the masked dogs. "W-what the hell is going on?!" Gruber asked "They work with the boss but…I was never told of any of this!" Pretzel brought the knife to Gruber's stomach "You would be surprised how many ways I could keep you alive and still let you suffer"

Soon afterwards all four dogs were dragged into the car "Oh, i wouldn't do that" another voice said. Soon afterwards Buddy stepped out of the truck from the passenger seat "After all he really didn't know" Pretzel set the knife on the ground. Bluey and Mackenzie both recognized the dog before them, they had seen him a few times but they never interacted with him. "Buddy? Why didn't the boss tell me? What is happening?" Buddy smiled once the four dogs were no longer able to escape, he then approached the confused german shepherd.

Lucky, Judo, Chucky, and Lila have been captured, why were they targeted and who is the boss that Gruber keeps mentioning? Why has Buddy suddenly appeared and what will happen to all of the missing dogs?

Only one way to find out…