"Dixie, Dixie are you okay?!" Dixon tried to rush up to the deputies and get by them, just to see if his sister was okay. However, each time, the deputy closest to him, Rook, would push him back. "Get back, give her space!" Rook exclaimed. The deputies crowded around, trying to contain the blood they were making a small, tiny river along the floor.
They all stood by in utter shock that something so tragic had happened so fast. Such a sudden change that happened in the blink of an eye. All stood still, except for Dash. The nearest one to the Ridgeback was Brax. "Dash, don't do anything you're going to-" Brax couldn't even finish his silent plea before the Ridgeback bolted forward. Lunging at Rook, not grabbing him by his vest like last time, but for his neck. Once he felt the feline's neck in his grasp.
He briefly clamped tight, shocking his head viciously like the deputy was a chew toy, then simultaneously giving one last throw with his mouth, sending Rook's body flying into the nearest window to the front of the house, which had shattered. Dash reared his head up, his muzzle bloody and crimson red, the other deputy looked on in horror. Most of them separating and backing away with their paws outstretched to show they were no threat to this hulking canine.
With most of them clearly from around Dixie's body, Dash was able to see her in her full self. She laid on her side, her eyes with open but it didn't seem like she knew what was going on. Too his slight relief, she was alive still, her breathing was a bit rapid, but still nevertheless breathing in general. The side of her head was stained red and her right ear looked mangled and disfigured.
"Leave...now" Dash said slowly to the other deputies, they all took the warning and slowly etched around the Ridgeback over to the front door. All squirmed around away from the other dogs too, in a flash they were out the door. The others looked outside to see them scrambling to pick up Rook, who laid twitching outside, carrying his body to the back of the van that was meant to cage in the dogs.
Now leaving empty handed with multiple injured. "Dixie, Dixie!" Dash raced over to her side, pawing at her side to see for any kind of reaction. To his relief, she did react, out stretching one of her paws, however not to grasp the Ridgeback. It looked like she was pawing at nothing, she looked dazed, as if she herself didn't fully grasp what had happened.
Her eyes were looking at him, her mouth slightly open but she didn't speak, only muttering sounds and parts of words that didn't make sense. Almost immediately, the others came in just as Dash did. Out of nowhere, Down the hall, Klaus and Ryder came out of another room. I suppose they were never found by the deputies. "What happened, We heard a gunshot earlier" Ryder asked.
"Its Dixie, One of the deputies shot her" Dixon relayed. Just as the others did, Klaus and Ryder just had to see for themselves, it did it was bad when they laid eyes on the female feline laying on her side. "Oh my Gosh, Is she going to be okay?" Klaus asked.
"Hold on, Let me look" Marshall offered, gently pushing himself further toward Dixie, however Dash snapped at him, just a few inches away from his muzzle. His teeth bearing and his snarl vicious. "Let him help Dash, Marshall is a firefighter, he knows first aid" Rocky vouched for his Dalmatian friend. Dash glanced at the mixed breed, for slowly and reluctantly backing off and letting Marshall do his thing.
Marshall dipped his head in respect and stepped forward to Dixie, placing a paw gently on the side of her head and looking deep at her wound, noticing a small trail of broken tissue that tore along it.
"The bullet grazed her skull" Marshall stated.
"But she still needs better medical treatment for sure, I suppose getting her to a hospital is off the table" Lily thought. "Why not?" Marshall asked.
"If we take her to a hospital, The Sheriff's Department will eventually find out and we'll be ripe for the picking" Chase cleared.
"What about Alto?" The Dalmatian mentioned.
"Who?" Rubble asked.
"A cat doctor that healed me up when I was hurt, I'm sure he can help Dixie too" Marshall stated, looking over at Klaus to see him slowly nod to the idea. "Good idea Marshall, but he's all the way back in the village by the river"
"Then I guess we'll have to bring him here, quicker he gets here, the quicker Dixie gets better" Ryder said.
"Fine, Take a small group and go back to the village and tell Alto to come here, Let him know its an Emergency of course" Klaus replied. Standing by Marshall, letting himself get a look at how Dixie was doing as well. One dog left her side however, it was Dash.
"Where are you going?" Klaus asked, Dash didn't look back, His head was done, and his tail was the same. Not even acknowledging anyone as he paced out the backdoor. "Why is he leaving?" Chase asked, almost ready to race after him and drag him back.
"Don't bother with him right, let him cool off until later" Brax insisted, no one wanted to butt heads with the Ridgeback, even though he was having a slight change of heart these past few moments. It was still a gamble with his mood most of the time, Chase sighed as he went back over to Dixie. Seeing Marshall and Dixon carefully hoist up Dixie and place her on the couch.
"Need any- "Chase was about to step in, willing to offer himself to help until his front paw had stepped on something. It was thin and paper, Chase looked down and picked it up, it looked like some kind of document. On the front was a stamped seal of the Sheriff's Office, and multiple paragraphs of details that talked about Dixie and Dixon's property, and at the bottom were different signatures.
"What's this?" Chase asked, Dixon looked over for a short moment, only glancing for a second at the document to recognize what it was. "That's the Search Warrant those deputies showed us" He replied.
Chase, having police experience, took a closer look at what he was holding. "Search Warrant huh?" Lily muttered, coming up close to Chase as she looked over him to glance at the readings. "I bet its fake, Theres no real reason the Sheriff's Office should suspect that-"
"Its real"
"What?"
"So far what I'm reading, how its worded, the signatures and formats, I've seen warrants before. This looks real to me" Chase said.
"Regardless" Lily spoke, grabbing the warrant with her paws and folding it up. "Its something we'll have to look at later, but for now, It's not top priority" She stated. "As poorly timed as this sounds, we still need to stick to the original plan, grabbing Tyran" She walked over to the couch, leaning down to grab her evidence board that had been slid under to avoid police notice.
However, she was quickly thrown off by a quick scarping of her side, Lily yowled in sudden paid, backing away to see it was Dixon. "My sister got shot and almost died, and your immediate response is to think about bagging a celebrity" Dixon was furious, at his wits end on the verge of pouncing on Lily.
"I'm sorry, but I cant fold to pressure or loss. I have a job to do, I know that might sound cold, but it's the reality of the situation. The more I have the rest of Griffin's circle, the sooner I can call in the Bureau and get this done for"
"Fine, If you feel like that's more important. Susanna's wake is tonight, He'll probably show up" Dixon muttered, not feeling so fond of Lily seeing her take more priority over her mission than his sister.
"Makes sense, I don't see why he wouldn't be there. I'll see if I can cook up a plan for us to get close enough to him at the wake. Rest of you can…I dunno chill or something" Lily shrugged before looking over at Dixon, torn with frustration and anger, almost ready to scratch Lily's ears off.
"Sorry, I-I mean help Dixie in anyway you can, Sorry Dixon" She padded toward the feline, However Dixon just turned his head and refused to look at her back.
"The inside of this collar is irritating my neck" Lou spoke, constantly moving his neck around to try and find the sweet spot where the shirt was decently comfortable. Lou was dressed in a more business casual type of outfit, he had black slacks and formal black jacket, underneath with his white button up shirt that gave him the most trouble.
He stood in the lobby of the skyscraper like building, the usual building where Griffin, his adoptive cat father, did most of his work. Griffin stood behind him, a bowtie around his neck with a tiny rose pinched in between to give that elegant and formal look.
Around them were workers of the mayor, all cats dressed in similar attire for the occasion, all doing some sort of menial duty, like taking stock notes and moving around trays of food to the elevator. As well as that, there were deputies everywhere. Standing around with coffee for a late-night shift and walking around, taking mental notes of everything. This was an event for the mayor of course, no stone was to be unturned in terms of security, not with Paw Patrol running around after all.
"Griffin" One cat walked up to the two, judging by his looks of being striking to a deputy, It was surprise that this was the Sheriff of Katt County, Reno himself. He was dressed formally, but in the police type of formal. He still wore his campaign hat, but his outfit was more formal than the usual type, more golden coloured stripes that edges parts of his uniform for one. Of course, still an officer of the law, he wore his badge on the side of his feline body.
"The business reps and investors are pulling into the front now" he said. "Great, and security?"
"This building is locked up tighter than Fort Knox, Paw Patrol would be seen a mile away if they tried to come into this building" Reno boasted, not at all nervous if he'd eat those words or not.
"I don't know what they would have interest in here, but it doesn't matter, I want this event to go by the numbers and nothing but, If Katt County doesn't at least let some investors in soon, businesses will decline and that's all going to go crashing down on me" Griffin stated.
"Although now that new comers are coming into Katt County with these investors, We're going to have to change policy a bit"
"Not just a bit, a lot. New companies, New Workers, A lot more dogs, It's a lot more doggy friendly outside those county lines. I can't stress this enough, but just for tonight, no down talking dogs around these fat cats, we need to make a good impression for them to sign on" Griffin silently explained, just as he did, two of his worker cats rushed past him.
Rushing over to the front doors, In the middle of the large polished wooden doors were stained glass windows, behind them he could see blurry figures of cats. The cat workers opened the doors in sync and the fat cat felines walked in. There were three in total, One was orange with his fur, his eyes yellow, but it didn't take long to notice what he was coming to invest in. He wore a Stetson proudly, and on it the outline of a very recognizable American state solidified with an outline of gold. The Lone Star State.
The second cat was a female, her fur very fluffed, grey and black mixed together like a mesh of artwork. Nothing stood out much about this cat, then again not everyone wore their personality like a flashy coat. Although what did matter, is that she had wealth, and he could see it on her collar, rubies and diamonds galore.
The last cat was all black with his fur, and there was a lot of fur. He was certainly bigger than the rest of the cats he walked alongside, Griffin was no strong cat on assumptions, but something told him this cat was sent by a food company.
Griffin was the first to separate himself from Lou and Reno to greet the felines with the deep pockets. "Welcome Welcome, I hope the ride wasn't too much trouble"
"The roads were terrible, and the directions were difficult" The female cat spoke, from her voice, she had a decent British accent, she must been a foreign investor, it didn't matter to Griffin either way if she was signing on in dollars or pounds, money was money.
"Speak for yourself, These country roads remind me back of home. I do agree with the lassie on one thing, the directions were a mighty pain" The western cat spoke, his accent was just as Griffin would have predicted.
"I wouldn't know, I slept the whole way, stopped for a few snacks to eat on the way though" The last cat mentioned, licking his lips and rubbing one paw up and down his round belly, as if bliss fully remembering his time with the foods. "I cant image what a snack would be like to him" The orange feline muttered under his breath.
"Ah yes, Our county is very secluded. We keep to ourselves as our way of life, however certain uhm…. circumstances, in the past few days have really pushed my paw. I'm looking for investors, entrepreneurs, and business cats such as yourselves to step in" Griffin explained.
Seeing all three cats nodded to his points, they were indeed here to grow their own business, it was all music to their ears, and that's what Griffin wanted. All he had to do was keep singing that sweet song of promise until they put their agreement on paper.
"You've probably already guessed by now, but my name is Griffin, The Mayor of Katt County" He honoured himself.
"A Pleasure, and I must ask, who are these gentlemen behind you as well?" Stetson wearing tom asked.
"Ah yes, This here is my son, Lou" Griffin stepped aside, letting his son step up. All the cats looked up at him, astonished to her, of course they all knew that he wasn't son by blood, which made them gain respect for Griffin even more. "You must be one wise cat to father a human, Mr. Griffin, God truly must favour you" The female English cat spoke, flicking her paw with a playful manner.
"And this… is Reno, The Sheriff of Katt County" Griffin stepped aside once more, letting the Law cat step up to the others. "Howdy" Reno greeted, tipping his hat. "Finally, a cat that speaks my language" The orange stated with a smirk.
"I'd suppose its our time for introductions, my name is Tony, I'm here representing a big oil company over in Texas" He introduced with the tip of his hat. "Miss Candelona from Britain, I'm here representing a building company, Honoured to meet you Mr. Griffin" She spoke.
"Hello, The name's Oscar, Im here representing a few food brands based in New York" The black cat said, just as he finished speaking, there was a low rumble in his stomach. "Heh, speaking of food…"
"I can assure you we've got plenty of fine cuisine waiting upstairs, We can all talk about bigger details over the table where its best. My workers will show you upstairs, I think you will all admire the view on this fine night" Griffin suggested.
"Most certainly we will" Candelona spoke, stepped aside from the other cats to follow a worker, dressed with a red bowtie, sitting at attention for the investors to follow him. "I'll see ya upstairs. There's lot of deals we can make here" Tony said.
"Like wise" Oscar said, also passing by. All three waved the investors goodbye as they stepped into the elevator, letting the metallic doors close as it went up to the very top within moments.
Griffin turned his head back to the front door, he sighed just before grunting a bit, feeling a bit frustrated. "What's wrong?" Lou asked.
"An oil company, a building company, and a few food chains brands, All good and well flushed with possibilities for capital, but there's one more I'm waiting on, and they should be here any second now" Griffin spoke, just as he did, he saw a deputy running up to Reno.
"Sheriff Reno, Another vehicle just pulled up to the front, another investor" The deputy relayed.
"Okay, why are you telling me this?" Reno was puzzled, of course at an event where investors were guests, there would be investors arriving at the front, why did that think to concern him as a police matter.
"Sir, It's a-" The deputy tried to explain, that is until the whole room went silent. In came walking in from the front door, was a dog. A canaan breed, It's size itself almost demanded respect and everyone's attention.
For sure attention is the one thing he seemed to get, All eyes were on him as he came walking in up to Griffin. "Evening" was all her spoke.
"H-Hello, Welcome to Katt County, You must be from-"
"ShineStone International, It took me a while to get here, Sorry for being a bit late"
"Direction troubles?"
"No, My limousine was pulled over and searched….twice" He stated, Griffin had a frog in his throat. Certainly that wasn't a good impression on the investor, It was clear the Sheriff's Office was highly suspicious of any dog, and tonight was going to help them one bit.
"Hehe, Well, Tell you what, I've got the Sheriff right here with me, Maybe we can talk about it over food" Griffin tried to hide it with a smile, tugging at Reno to get involved in the conversation. Reno was already way to focused, have a dog so close to him after everything.
"Its not an issue I wish to get the Sheriff roped into, Im here strictly on business on behalf of my father" He stated, brushing off his chest with his paw.
"You're father?" Reno asked.
"Yes, My name is Kero, Kero ShineStone, My father is the Owner and Founder, He sent me to Katt County to look into an investment proposal"
"Oh yes yes yes, We have other investors waiting upstairs as well, I'll be looking forward to doing business with your father once we get a deal going"
"If we get a deal going you mean, I'll be waiting on your proposals Mr. Griffin, Have a good evening" Kero stated, walking past the three as he paced to the elevator. The cat worker in charge of escorting him looked intimidated and frightened for sure. "Something wrong?" He asked to the feline.
"Y-Yes sir, F-Follow me" He replied, pacing to the elevator as both went upward. "Sheriff Reno, Is there anything you would like us to about him?" The same deputy stepped in.
"Get on all channels and tell every single deputy in this building to not instigate with that dog, Treat him with the most utmost respect, better than you would treat your own grandmother, and tell them its Sheriff's orders too" Reno stated, the sternness in his voice was deadly, on verge of shouting but with every cat around him in such an environment, trying to keep his voice down and calm.
"Yes sir" The deputy replied, walking away from his superior all whilst talking over the radio, most likely following through with his orders.
"A dog, Really?" Lou muttered under his breath, but just loud enough for Griffin to hear.
"Keep that tongue on a tight leash, If he hears any of that kind of talk, We'll lose his investment for sure" Griffin almost hissed.
"Why does he matter so much, We already have three others?" Lou asked once again.
"ShineStone International is one big fish compared to those companies that those three came from. Jack ShineStone, his father, He owns shares in some many companies that I cant even count. Its about the connections too, if we can be on his good side, can convince a whole lot of others to come in too"
Lou shrugged with a grouch. "Fine" he muttered, not wanting to argue.
"Although, I didn't expect him to send his son to make the deal, I thought it was going to be some random representative. Oh well, But this can be better for us if I play my cards right, If I make a good enough deal to his son, he'll surely put in the good word"
"If it all works according to plan, then It'll be a big win. I suppose we should go and mingle with the guests soon." Reno stated, already heading in the direction of the elevator, with Lou and Griffin following alongside.
"Where is Tyran?" Griffin asked.
"Not here, He's at Susanna's wake. Im almost surprised you aren't attending actually" Reno mentioned.
"Its tough for me to say this, but she got what she deserved. You play with fire, and you get burned, I'll still send flowers and give some kind words, but that's it." Griffin sighed; it was tough to not only do it but say it too.
"That's cold even for you" Reno replied.
"Think what you want, she should have never gone behind my back and made a dog fighting ring. Sooner we get this all sorted, the better" Griffin stated, the humming and light buzz of the elevator gave a small tranquil feeling to the night, about to get ready to mingle with the cats of wealth.
Under the pads of a dog that stalked around a dirt path, It was a strain of terrible silence. It's coat of fur was sleek and short, A tall breed but not as big as a dane. It was Dash, his face held no emotion, his muzzle was illuminated by the rays of the moon, he looked beyond the hills of where he was heading and saw the town that the county was centered around. As if he could miss it, he saw the large standing tower, it's lights were on and especially at its peak.
There must be some kind of party going on there, but he didn't care much. He knew the cats loved to flaunt their power in any way they can, thumbing their nose at the rest of dog kind. Dash spat in its direction, it wasn't going to make much of a difference, but it was just how he felt. He turned his head back and continued walking, ahead of him was a large opening, an enormous stretch of land, guarded off by a high chain link fence that stretched up to ten feet high. On the front was a big rusted wooden sign, the words were hard to read with the lack maintenance but Dash knew this place already, he knew what the words said, or at least what they were supposed to say.
It was the Katt County Junkyard, Beside it was an additional sign that instructed no trespassing, but it didn't both Dash. He walked right in, and it was just as he knew it. Dead cars and thrown away scrap left to rot. It was like a maze with rusted cars with no wheels acting like the walls. The ridgeback kept walking around the relatively open area, before he heard the scratching a metal.
"Well look who it is, I must be dreaming" A voice muttered, it's voice low and ready for an altercation. It sounded male, but also sounding hurt and rasp. Any other dog would look frightened at the sudden voice, except for Dash, however. He wasn't taken back at all; in fact, he anticipated it.
Dash looked to his side, there was a pile of crushed cars stacked up high, and on the top was the figure that had spoken. He could see its outline clear in the moonlight, without morning it came down from the cars, straight toward Dash, but not in a menacing way.
"If I'm not dreaming, I must be dead. I don't believe it; It's really you Dash" The dog spoke, now at ground level with his apparent lost friend. It was a Great dane, although it's sleek grey fur was less grey, and more brownish and matted from lack of care.
"Hey everyone, Look what came back!" He shouted, Dash looked around and saw from each dark part of the junkyard, Dog after dog came crawling out, some old and some young enough to be out of puppyhood. It seemed like it never ended, all crowding around.
"Who is this?"
"Its Dash, The one from the Prison"
"Dash, Is it really him?"
"The one that got away?"
"Where has he been?"
"He looks well fed"
"He came back, He must be brave"
All the whispers came into Dash's ear, some giving sudden praise and some shocked that their own friend, once thought to be gone, was back in the flesh. "Im not here on visit a Larch, although it is good to you, all of you" He directed his voice to all the dogs.
"Im here on a call, a call for blood, tonight is going to be the night Larch, The night every dog's frustration pours out onto the streets"
"Save me the fancy poetic lingo Dash, you want us dogs to?" The great Dane leaned closer, he could pick up what Dash was telling him, but he just wanted to be hearing it clearer.
"Riot, This is it Larch, No more waiting on those peace loving dogs down by the river to make a stand, they're already too cowardice to make a change" Dash mentioned, obviously talking about Klaus and high little village of dogs that wanted change, but by non-violent means.
"No more talking, no more protests, and no more peaceful demonstrations. It's time for dogs to shout out proudly, We don't back down tonight, and we wont bow to any cat with a badge no longer. It's time for this county to go down in flames, and from the ashes, Dogs will be superior!" Dash roared out to the night sky, one after another, Dogs from all around howled out their approval.
Larch, The large dane, looked around, he could lie, he felt like joining in too, but he was concerned. "Dash, you come in here like some Messiah, give a speech for blood, and expect us all to follow you into turning his county upside down"
"You cant lie to me Larch, you want this too, I know you're tired of seeing dogs being abused as well, You're either in or out"
"You must take me for a fool if you think I'll pass up an opportunity like this. Well then Dash, the ball is in your court, Lead the way" The dane growled, but with no hostility, more of sadistic grin that held a dark despair for anarchy.
"Tonight, Katt County will burn"