[fan-fic] Housepets: SYMBOLIC POWER

[The-J-Man]

Well that is certainly not gonna give me nightmares at all! Nice job on this chapter though!

i know, im so excited that i finally revealed Venn's spiritual form. Im working on a picture to go along with this part too.

[Amazee Dayzee]

So he's an actual dog, but his spirit form is a centipede? I thought he was a centipede disguised as a dog. I'm stupid.

[The-J-Man]

So he's an actual dog, but his spirit form is a centipede? I thought he was a centipede disguised as a dog. I'm stupid.

let me explain:
Venn is a giant centipede that changes into the form of a Dog and a normally sized Centipede. That's why his Dog form has the pattern of a centipede on it's fur, it's a mark of his true form

[The-J-Man]

i finally got that picture of Venn on the fan art gallery

[Amazee Dayzee]

So is Venn a Celestial being or something?

[The-J-Man]

So is Venn a Celestial being or something?

EXACTLY! there is also a deeper meaning for me choosing to feature a Centipede as well:
I used to actually own a 7 inch long Pet Centipede that i named "Venn" because he liked to crawl in the air vents when he escaped from his jar, and that happened a lot because he chewed holes in the cloth that acted as a lid so that he could get air and be contained at the same time. He always freaked out our visitors when i showed him to them as a surprise. he lived for four years and passed in 2013.
So in a way, this story is in memory of my pet centipede, Venn.

[Amazee Dayzee]

That is a very beautiful story. Isn't it hard to keep one as a pet though?

[The-J-Man]

That is a very beautiful story. Isn't it hard to keep one as a pet though?

not at all, but there was the issue of him escaping all the time and getting into the vents
Funny story:
one day i noticed that venn had escaped into the air vent and i had to open up all the covers so that i could try and find him. but i forgot to check the vent over my parents bed. My parents were always scared of Venn, they screamed and would have squashed him if he hadn't retreated back into the vent. I managed to lure him back into his jar with a few crickets afterward.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Yeah that would be a problem. Maybe you should have gotten a regular lid with air holes in it?

[The-J-Man]

Chapter 2 Part 4 : The Hunter has become the Hunted

Deep in the forest area outside of Babylon gardens:

(Listen to enhance the experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4vR8NH ... rS89AvHGi3

Venn encircles Pete in the clearing while he is still stunned from fear. He hisses threateningly as he thrashes his head forward a few times at Pete, ready to lunge at him. Venn's whole body moves in a perfect circle around Pete as his head goes around and around following Venn's red eyes that are subconsciously telling him to 'run for his life.'

“Venn, is that really you?” Pete asks as his pupils shrink to the size of dots

"PREPARE TO BECOME NOTHING MORE THAN A STAIN ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH!" Venn says in a menacing voice

Venn dashes forward and collides with Pete, the whole scene happens so fast that it looks like Pete got hit by a freight train.

Venn opens his fangs and grabs onto Pete’s torso, gripping it tightly. Venn’s legs then start to move rapidly and he barrels forward through the thick forest with Pete in his mouth at nearly one hundred miles per hour. Venn’s legs move so fast that their images are blurred into a pattern that shows how each leg moves to take the place of the last step of the previous leg.

“Venn, Please listen to me. You need to stop!” Pete yells as he is thrashed about by Venn’s jerking movements and evasive actions in the dense forest. Pete tries his best to free himself from Venn’s mandibles, but the fangs will not budge

Venn answers by increasing his speed while dodging trees at the same time, his head moves side to side as he avoids obstacles and the rest of his body follows in its tracks like a freight train. Soon enough, Venn comes across another clearing. Venn stops moving his legs and angles them all back so that the tips of his legs dig into the ground, acting like brakes. He then opens his jaws and the forward momentum causes Pete to fly into the tree-line on the other side of the clearing.

Pete shakes himself off and picks up one of the trees he uprooted when he collided with it. “I’m warning you Venn, Don’t make me hurt you!” Pete says wielding the tree trunk like a giant club

Venn slowly approaches Pete, hissing threateningly. Venn arches his long and thin body, lifting the back half of his body up into the air to reveal a large spike attached to the tail-end of his body. Pete sees a leaf fall from the tree he is holding and it floats toward the spike’s sharp edge. The leaf hits the blade of the spike and it is split in half. Pete watches as the two halves of the leaf float to the ground

“OK I WARNED YOU!" Pete swings the tree his holding at Venn’s head as hard as he could

A loud metallic clang sounds when the tree hits Venn. The wood log splinters into a million pieces when it collides with Venn’s armored suit of an Exoskeleton. Unfortunately, Venn hasn't moved an inch from the impact of the tree, but the splinters of wood are blocking his view

Pete sees his chance and files up into the air, out of Venn’s reach. Pete flies off towards Tarot’s house so that he can tell everyone what just happened to him

==============================================

Back at Tarot's house:

Dragon has been crying on the living room couch for the last ten minutes while Sabrina and Tarot try to comfort her, although Dragon does not seem to be listening to them.

“Come on Dragon, I’m sure that Pete will fix this now that his life is on the line. I’d bet my mortal soul on it.” Tarot says, trying to cheer Dragon up

Just as she says this, the front door bursts open and Pete rushes inside the house. He slams the door closed and blocks it with his body as he hyperventilates from fear. Tarot, Sabrina, and even Dragon look at Pete in confusion. Dragon finally stops crying, gets up from the couch, and walks over to Pete.

“Pete, did you find Venn?” Dragon asks as she wipes the remaining tears from her eyes

It takes Pete a few moments to stop hyperventilating and answer Dragon without losing his breath

“Its Madness! MAADNEEESSS!…” Pete says with a very scared expression on his face

“What do you mean?” asks Tarot

“What I just witnessed… was the SCARIEST thing I have ever seen in my eternal life. Venn figured out how to assume his spiritual form and he clearly stated that he wanted no part of me or my excuses and then he disappeared.” Pete says as he tries to calm himself down

All of a sudden, Peanut and Grape walk in through the front door, pushing past Pete while he was distracted

Peanut shouts out “Venn, good news. We found a good owner for you…”

Peanut and grape then see that something bad has just happened considering Dragon was crying and Pete was scared out of his mind. They walk over to Sabrina and Tarot for an explanation and they both tell them the whole story in less than a few minutes.

Peanut is the first to speak up out of the silence “well what are we doing just sitting here? We gotta go find him before it’s too late and he does something rash.”

Just then a loud bang was heard at the front door. The force of the impact was so great that it launches Pete; who was propped up against the door, into the middle of the living room. The banging persists as the cracks in the door grow larger and larger, but they suddenly stop when a loud and Soul-deadening voice booms from the other side.

“YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!”

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! He’s here!” Pete screams like a girl

Pete tries to run for the back door of the house, but he is stopped by Dragon when she grabs onto one of his wings

“Let go dragon, I don’t want to end up a grease stain on the street!” Pete pleads with Dragon

“NO, you are going to tell Venn, and there is nothing that you can say to change my mind. Now either you clean up the mess
you made, or Venn will make a mess out of you.” Dragon says to Pete with a threatening tone

Venn crashes through the door and it splinters into thousands of tiny fragments revealing the head of a Black centipede with red stripes decorating it body. It enters the house and reels back on its hind legs, sending its head through the second story floor.

“THE TIME HAS COME FOR YOU TO PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES, PETE!”

“Venn Stop! What happened was not what you think!” Dragon yells up at the tall Centipede trying to get Venn’s attention long enough to get a message through his rage.

Venn lifts his head slightly higher and his mandibles unfold from his mouth, venom leaking out of the tips of the fangs. He lunges his massive head toward Pete, but Pete manages to grab ahold of the fangs before they sink into him. However, Venn has Pete pinned down on the floor underneath his fangs and all he has to do is lower his head far enough to scratch Pete and inject the venom.

Pete tries his hardest to push Venn’s fangs away from himself but he is not strong enough to resist. He and dragon both open their mouths and shout at the same time:

“She’s my sister”
“He’s my brother”

Venn’s eyes widen and he stops pushing his fangs down towards Pete. He pulls his fangs out of Pete’s hands and starts shrinking down to the size of three Body Pillows placed end-to-end. His exoskeleton turns from black to red and the stripes turn from red to black, making Venn’s spiritual form look less threatening and more colorful. Venn staggers as all of his legs quiver from the sudden drain of Mana.

“Venn are you OK?” Peanut asks as he sees Venn struggling to stand.

Venn finally collapses and his body curls up, he has passed out from the lack of Mana. Unfortunately, his body is still in the form of a monster-sized insect that is very hard to move and/or hide from prying eyes

“Dragon, what happened to him? Grape asks

“It’s ok; he just fell asleep because he was not ready for the sudden drain of Magic energy that comes with changing into a spiritual form. The only think that kept Venn going was his anger, that’s never been done before” Dragon tells Grape

“Um, excuse me…who’s gonna clean up this mess? We’re lucky that no-one is awake at this hour, but we don’t want the house looking like a tornado blew through overnight” Tarot demands from Pete and Dragon.

“Don’t worry Tarot, the cleanup is always the easy part for a Magic being” Pete says with a sly smile, he lifts his hand and prepares to snap his fingers when Dragon interferes.

Dragon takes ahold of one of Pete’s ears and drags him over to the front of the house. She scolds as she leads Pete by the ear towards the pile of rubble that was once the roof and the front door:

“OOOOH NO YOU DON’T.” Dragon then hands Pete a broom and dustpan “You are going to clean this up WITHOUT magic! Consider it a part of your punishment.”

===========================================

The next day:

Venn slowly opens his eyes and holds his right hand out in front of his face. Fortunately, someone had changed him back into his Dog form. Unfortunately, he then notices that he has a splitting headache. Venn rubs his temples, trying to relieve the pain in his head as he slowly comes to realize that his whole body is very sore.

Venn lies back down in the angled bed, that’s when he notices where he was. Venn was lying in a bed at the local hospital, in a private room that has the curtains closed over the glass windows. Venn looks under his blankets and sees that he has a lot of bandages wrapped around his torso, his left arm and shoulder, and both his legs. The bandages are wrapped around his body tightly, yet there is no blood on them.

Venn then hears a knock at the door and a doctor pushes the door open as silently as he could, not knowing if Venn was awake or not. He pokes his head in and sees that Venn’s eyes are open. Seeing that Venn was awake, he pulls his whole body in through the door and smiles brightly.

“Hello Venn, my name is Dr. Estrada. Do you remember what happened to you before you came to the hospital?” the doctor asks as he flips through Venn’s chart

“No, it’s all a blur. I don’t even remember being brought to the hospital…” Venn answers, though he knows exactly what happened.

“Well Venn, when you were brought in, almost all of your major muscle groups were pulled and overworked. The cause is still a mystery to me, but I guess that’s none of my business.” The doctor says with a smile, obviously having seen stranger things before.

The doctor places Venn’s chart back on the end of his bed and goes back toward the door

“Oh yes, you sir have a lot of guests waiting.” The doctor says as he opens the door all the way to reveal ten pets waiting across the hall in a row of chairs.

The pets all try to enter the room at once, among the group are: Peanut, Grape, Tarot, Sabrina, Fido, Kevin, Ralph, Fox, Dragon
in the form of a giant lizard, and Pete in the form of a large blue Macaw that stands on Dragon’s shoulder.

Pete is pretty banged up too with one of his wings wrapped in a bandage and a Band-Aid over his chest. However; Pete does not look mad, He looks Nervous.

[Amazee Dayzee]

People can consider that part of Pete's punishment for the crud he put Kingley through.

[The-J-Man]

Chapter 2 Part 5 : Sheep's Clothing

It’s obvious that the K-9 unit knows about Venn's relationship with Dragon because they all give Venn a funny look when they enter, but they seem accepting of it so far.

Dragon walks toward the head of Venn’s bed and outstretches her arm for Pete to get closer to Venn so he could speak to him.

“Venn, I have seen some scary things in this universe, but your spiritual form takes the cake for the SCARIEST thing I have ever seen…” Pete says as he looks off the left nervously. “…No hard feelings?”

Venn reaches over with his un-bandaged arm and plucks one of Pete’s feathers from his tail

“Ouch!” Pete exclaims

Venn holds up the feather for Pete to see “No hard feelings. I should be thanking you actually…you helped me to finally unlock my Spiritual form. That was not an easy feat, I imagine… However, your punishment will be given soon enough”

An awkward silence falls on the whole room for a few seconds when Venn and Pete finish talking, but everyone wants to ask Venn a question that no one is willing to ask.

Peanut then asks the pressing question: “Venn, I thought you spirits healed a lot faster than us?”

“We do peanut, but I’m low on energy right now, so I won’t be healing as fast as I should be until I replenish my supply of Mana.”

“How do you replenish you Mana?” Peanut asks

“The same way you replenish your energy… I eat.” Venn answers with a friendly smile

Venn then turns his attention to Kevin, Fido, and Ralph “so…how much did they tell you guys?”

Ralph answers “We know everything; Dragon had to tell us in order to explain all the noise complaints. Don’t worry, the rest of the department doesn't know.”

“Alright then.” Venn says as he looks over to Peanut and Grape when they approach the head of his bed

“Guess what Venn…” Peanut says with a giddy smile

“What?”

“We found you an owner!” grape says, sharing the same smile as Peanut

“Really…? Who?” Venn asks before hearing a voice from the other side of door to his room

“Venn is in that room right there” a nurse on the other side of the door says before holding the door open for someone.

A small Ferret wearing a pair of sunglasses walks in along with an older man wearing a tuxedo and bow-tie. Everyone else then leaves the room so they could talk in privacy. Once everyone leaves, the ferret speaks in a slightly squeaky voice

“Hello Venn, my name is ‘Keene Milton’.” The ferret says

“The Milton’s? The name seems familiar…” Venn says, knowing the promise that Pete had made many years ago to a man with the name ‘Milton’.

“Well Venn; while you were out, I had Jeeves here-” The ferret motions to the older man “-fill out all the paperwork for your adoption into the Milton family.”

“Wait…I’m being adopted by a ferret?” Venn asks Keene

“Technically, yes…legally, no.”

“Okay, now I’m really confused. Run me through that again, please?” Venn asks with a raised eyebrow

“OK, so I created a program called ‘equal chance’ that was meant to take a pack of feral wolves and try and give them a chance in society as actual people, due to a loophole in the meaning of the word. They are currently living in a house in Babylon gardens, and it is now your current home.” Keene explains to Venn

“Wait…I’m going to be living with a pack of Feral Wolves?” Venn asks with a distressed look

“Don’t worry; I wouldn't have started this program with them if they weren't model citizens. By the time you’re out of this hospital, they will have a room ready for you in the house.” Keene says as he turns around and heads towards the door.

Before Keene leaves, he tells Venn one more thing about the wolves: “Oh yeah, and I had to tell them about your true form being a centipede.”

"Cant anyone keep a secret around here!" Venn yells

================================

A few days later at the Wolf house:

Venn walks with Keene towards the front door of the Wolf house. Venn’s right arm is still in a sling from the incident, but he does not look any less excited to meet new people. Although he is very nervous about how the wolves will react when they learn an insect is going to be moving into the house with him

“So Keene, How many wolves are living in this house?” Venn asks the small Ferret

“Many…and there are more cubs coming as well”

“Joyous day.” Venn says sarcastically

“Oh cheer up, it’s not like this is a house full of wild animals, just remember to ask for Miles when someone answers the door.” Keene says as he turns around and gets into the back seat of his limousine

“Wait, I thought you were going to introduce me to them!?” Venn calls out from the front porch of the large house

“Don’t worry, they’re expecting you. Just knock on the door and when it opens, introduce yourself to whoever answers.” Keene yells in reply

Keene closes the door to the vehicle and it drives quickly towards the nearby mansion at the end of the street.

“Okay Venn, you can do this. Just knock on the door…” Venn says to himself before hesitantly knocking on the large wooden door.

After a few seconds of waiting nervously, the doorknob moves with a slight ‘click’. The door slowly opens to a small Corgi with a King chess piece for an ID tag.

Venn raises an eyebrow when he recognizes the small dog who answered the door “King?”

The corgi also recognizes the tall black dog from the centipede pattern in his fur “Venn?”

“Venn, you’re the new addition to the Equal chance program?” King asks Venn

Venn hesitates for a second before responding “Yeah…”

“Well from the looks of all the stuff the movers were putting into the new room, I thought a snake or lizard was going to be moving in with us.” King says, looking behind him at the room in question.

A male voice is then heard from somewhere inside the house. “King, who’s at the door?”

“It’s the new guy!” King yells in reply towards the kitchen area

“Oh good, let him in please!” the male voice asks

King opens the door all the way and leads Venn towards the living room, introducing him to all the wolves that pass by them on the way. They finally make it to the living room where a very tall and muscular wolf sits on the couch. He stands up and walks over to Venn, holding out one of his hands for a handshake. Venn puts his hand in the wolf’s hand and shakes briefly, they then sit down and talk.

“Hello Venn, my name is Miles. I’m in charge of the house here, and I would personally like to welcome you to the family, despite your true form being a…insect, But I do have one question.” Miles says with a smile that slowly turns to a curious expression

“What’s that?” Venn responds

“Why did the Milton’s arrange for a new room to be built just for you, while the rest of us have to share rooms?” Miles asks Venn.

“That’s because I have unfortunately developed a habit of attacking intruders from my days as a guard”

“That’s ironic, almost everyone in this house works as private security for the Milton’s in return for them funding the ‘Equal Chance’ program, but Keene tells me that you are with the K-9 unit already” Miles says with a smile

Miles then leads Venn towards his room, inspecting him along the way and trying to figure out how he got injured.

“So this is your room…” Miles says with a presenting motion through the door

The room looked no different from the others, except for Venn’s belongings and his heat lamp up on a wooden shelf. But then a noise sounds from the closet, a wolf with one arm falls through the door holding one of Venn's possessions in his hand.

"Miles there's some pretty cool stuff in here..." the one armed wolf says before Venn takes action.

Miles can only watch as Venn changes into the form of a 12 inch long centipede and pounces onto Jack’s face.

“GAH! I'M HIT! GET IT OFF! MILES! SOMEONE, GET IT OFF…! Jack yells for everyone in the house to hear and come watch the
show; which includes Jack running around the house like a madman, trying to get Venn off of his face.

Eventually, Venn releases Jack from his grip and changes back into the form of a dog. But he looks totally exhausted from worrying all day and playing ‘Bull-rider’ on Jack’s face for about three minutes.

Venn retires to his room before he causes any more trouble and everyone else goes about their business

[Amazee Dayzee]

I really love how this chapter came out! Nice job on how everything came out!

[The-J-Man]

Chapter 2 Part 6 : The Rage of THREE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS!

2 days after moving into the Wolf house:

Venn awakens to the sound of shattering pottery and furniture being thrown about the house. He rises from his sleep and crawls out of the heated glass box that he calls his bed. For the last few days, Venn has gotten little sleep thanks to the Wolf’s constant hijinks and loud noise at the early hours of sunrise, thankfully King has helped him to get by the last two days with his sympathy.

Venn changes into his Dog form and heads towards the door to his room; but as soon as he opens the door, a potted plant flies toward his head. The pot shatters against Venn’s forehead, but it has little effect on him thanks to his fur changing into a stiff structure and acting like a suit of armor when struck with force. Venn wipes the soil from his face and enters the room to see all of the wolves searching around the house, overturning furniture like it has no value.

“What’s going on here?” Venn asks as he catches a whiff of a familiar scent

Miles stops his search and answers Venn’s question “Venn we got a major problem… or ‘Problems’.”

“Miles please; it is too early for this. This is my one day off from work and I intend to spend it SLEEPING.” Venn says while barely keeping his eyes open at the same time.

“Yes, but Venn we may need your help--”

“--No, I’m tired, I’m cranky, and I’m going back to sleep.” Venn bluntly interrupts as he walks back to his room
Venn opens the door and slams it closed, but after a few seconds, Venn screams in both horror and anger.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Venn screams from inside his room while Miles waits outside for the inevitable Rage of the benevolent spirit

Venn kicks open his door and a large group of mice pour out from the threshold like a wave. Venn gives a very agitated expression as he walks out to reveal his room has been trashed by the mice while he was talking.

He stomps over to Miles with a red glow in his eyes and showing his teeth with a low growl. He stops once he reaches Miles in the next room followed by the large group of mice that scurry into one of the open air vents nearby.

“Miles… You best start explaining before I go BALLISTIC!” Venn yells up at Miles’s face in a scary voice.

“Well you see… Daryl had been stashing food in the air ducts so no one else would eat it, but we soon noticed a bad smell from the food rotting and the smell was traveling throughout the whole house. Unfortunately, it also attracted the attention of a large group of hungry Mice. The mice have been going through the air ducts and leading us on a wild goose chase all morning… I tried to tell you” Miles explains with a nervous look

“Alright Miles, I will get rid of the mice for you…” Venn says after he calms down.

“Thanks Venn, we app--”

“--IF… you agree to leave me in silence for the rest of the day so that I can sleep” Venn interrupts again

“I guess that’s fair.” Miles says as he helps Venn move the living room couch so he can get to an air vent that the mice retreated into.

Venn gets down on his knees and uses a screwdriver to unbolt the air vent from the wall. Once Venn discards the grate, he tucks his head inside the air duct and is faced with a massive crowd of angry mice. Venn can see that the mice are not happy about being disturbed, but he is no different at this moment from his lack of sleep. The mice just stare into Venn’s red eyes and mimic his cranky look.

“Either you all leave right now, or I will EAT you all.”

The mice just laugh and the crowd shifts out of the way of their leader, a dark grey mouse with a missing tail and a gold ring on his head like a crown. The dark grey mouse is no taller than the others, but he looks slightly older than the rest.

“Nice try dog, but we know that your species doesn't eat rats! Too bad there are no cats around to thwart our plans this time.” They dark grey mouse says with a stuffy tone in his voice.

“I’m not a Dog…I’m something far worse to you mice than a cat” Venn says with a slightly deeper tone to his voice that echoes through the endless maze of vents and fans.

“What could possibly be worse to a mouse than a CAT!?” the mouse asks as he leans on Venn’s nose

The mouse laughs and drowns out the sound of Venn snapping his fingers. The mice behind the dark grey mouse look in horror at what their leader is now leaning on. All the dark grey mouse hears is a soft hiss and he turns to see that he is leaning on the head of a 12 inch centipede.

“Oh yeah…That’s a thousand times worse than a cat…” the mouse leader says as he back up a few steps.

Venn slowly approaches the crowd of mice as they back up at the same pace as he does. Eventually Venn increases his pace to a slow pursuit and all of the Mice turn tail and start running. Venn follows at a frightening pace behind the mouse leader, snaking his body around corners and down several long shafts the mice were using as slides.

Soon enough, the mouse leader is cornered in a dead end between a very cranky centipede and a metal wall. The mouse hyperventilates and presses himself against the cold metal as Venn slowly approaches with glowing red eyes. Before Venn takes the opportunity to eat the mouse, he speaks to him in a frightening tone.

“Now either you leave, or suffer a fate worse than you can imagine.” Venn threatens

The mouse leader removes the gold ring from his head and yells at Venn in response:

“You may be higher up in the food chain, but I am not afraid of you, and you can’t make me leave! Ha!”

Venn produces a snapping sound with one of his clawed legs and both he and the dark grey mouse disappear in a cloud of white smoke. The mouse reappears on a giant dinner plate on a table in the middle of a dark room. Venn stands over the mouse in his dog form with a fork and knife in his hands.

“Huh… What is this…? The mouse says with a frightened tone as he looks around the darkened dining room

Venn slams his hands down on either side of the plate in a loud thud that rattles the whole table underneath the mouse. Venn speaks in a soul-deadening voice that sends chills down the Mouse’s spine:

“IT’S LUNCH!” He says with a smile and a hungry look in his eyes

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! DON’T EAT ME!” the mouse pleads

Venn stops and speaks to the mouse again “You are incredibly stubborn and that is historically the sign of a bad leader. Its time you ‘WOKE UP’!”

=============================================

“AAAHH!” The dark grey mouse awakens in a washcloth that is folded into a makeshift bed. The mouse takes a few minutes to compose himself before going over to the large group of mice that are busy eating from the food supply in the air vent.

“Attention all of my followers…We need to leave.

All of the mice groan and complain, but eventually they leave when the leader explains that a horrible monster is coming for them. All of the wolves watch the mice leave from the air ducts and return to the forest where they belong.

=============================================

The next day at Tarot’s house:

Pete is very busy sweeping up the last of the rubble from his tangle with Venn as part of his punishment. He sweeps up the last pile of dust and pours it into the trash, feeling an intense sense of relief and accomplishment.

“Oh Dragon, I have finished with your demeaning task!” Pete calls out sarcastically to Dragon

Dragon descends from the stairs and sees the room as it was before Venn trashed it. She admires his work and checks under furniture to make sure that Pete did not hide any of the wreckage underneath it, but she finds none.

“Well Pete, I’m impressed… But there is still the matter of the remainder of your punishment.” Dragon says with a serious voice.

“Aww, come on. I think I learned my lesson…”

A snapping sound emanates from behind Pete followed by a soft hissing sound and a large shadow looming over his head. Pete turns around to see Venn in his spiritual form and the giant insect speaks in a malevolent voice:

“But you are still ungrateful for your sister’s happiness, AND FOR THAT YOU MUST PAY!”

Venn snaps again and Pete is instantly enveloped in a cloud of white smoke. Soon enough, the smoke dissipates and reveals the next part of Pete’s punishment.

Pete opens his eyes and looks around the room for a few seconds. Nothing seems to be different about him until he looks at himself in the hallway mirror. Pete’s blue feathers have been changed from blue to a light shade of Pink

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Pete screams in horror.

Venn speaks as soon as Pete finishes freaking out and trying to snap his fingers in a useless attempt to change his feathers back to their original blue color.

“The spell is temporary, but it cannot be broken in the meantime. You will be returned to your original self in a matter of…two months perhaps.”

“Two months!? I can’t endure two months of being PINK!” Pete yells

“I know...Welcome to your Nightmare.” Venn says before disappearing in another cloud of smoke.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

[Amazee Dayzee]

I think Venn needs some therapy. How many people has he attacked now?

[The-J-Man]

I think Venn needs some therapy. How many people has he attacked now?

this is actually a very important part in the story, lets just say that something really bad is about to happen

[Amazee Dayzee]

Does it involve him killing someone because I'm not sure I wanna see death.

[The-J-Man]

Chapter 2 Part 7 : Letting off steam

Outside the Wolf house:

After a full night’s rest, Venn awakens refreshed and lively. He decides to take a trip to Tarot’s house and see Dragon before he has to leave for his shift at the Police station. He takes his time to walk over, but he notices that there are no people walking around the neighborhood like they normally do. The whole town seems to be empty.

Before long, Venn arrives at Tarots house to see a strange light emanating from behind the door, it has a weird yellow color. Venn opens the door to a portal leading to an empty astral plane filled with nothing but stars. Venn hesitates for a moment before stepping in and floating further into the room.

“Hello?” Venn’s voice echo’s throughout the endless realm

“Welcome Venn.” Another voice says in reply.

Venn turns around to see the figure of a large Purple dragon wearing what looks like a helmet on his head.

“Bahamut? To what do I owe the honor of your visit?” Venn asks, knowing that his visit does not bode well.

“I have need of your skills and expertise.” Bahamut says in a surprisingly gentle voice

“Bahamut, you know that I am retired from guard duty. Just get Cerberus to do whatever this job is.” Venn says dismissively

“Venn, this matter involves you, and you alone. It is the whole reason that I sent you to the mortal plane to learn how to use your abilities.” Bahamut says in reply, getting Venn’s attention back.

“What do you mean?” Venn asks

“Something bad has happened recently. One of the evil spirits that we imprisoned on earth long ago has escaped. We have been trying to locate and trap him, to no avail. We need you to find him and bring him back so that I can imprison him again.” Bahamut explains as he floats through the endless plane with Venn

“Why do you refrain from telling me who this evil spirit is?” Venn asks curiously

“This spirit is none other than…your brother.”

“……run that by me again, please…”

========================================================

Meanwhile:

Bino walks down the sidewalk, kicking a stone as he walks to distract himself from his own thoughts. The more he kicks the stone around, the madder he gets. Eventually, he loses track of the stone and sits down on the curb. He sulks as he sorts through his options for revenge, but he eventually gives up when he realizes that he doesn’t have the support of his friends anymore.

“Aww. What troubles you?” A voice says behind Bino

Bino snaps his head around to see who is talking, but he sees nothing. He dismisses it as his imagination and returns to his thoughts. Bino then feels something crawling on his shoulder. Bino slowly turns his head and sees a spider on his shoulder. He immediately brushes it off and scurries back a few steps. The spider is brown with a dark brown mark on its head and white stripes on its eight legs…The markings of a Brazilian Wandering Spider. The spider has two pincers as a mouth, much like Venn's appearance.

“Ah…! Were you just talking to me?” Bino asks the spider, who has landed on all eight legs with cat-like reflexes.

“Indeed. I could not help but notice that something is troubling you, care to tell?” The spider says in a deep voice, slightly similar to Venn’s

“What’s it to you?” Bino says as he returns to sulking on the curb with a low-hung head that he supports with his arms crossed across his knees

“What if I said that I have the ability to give you whatever you desire?” the Brown spider says as it slowly crawls towards where Bino is sitting.

Bino stares at the spider for a few moments before extending his hand and placing it on the ground for the spider to crawl on. The spider obliges and crawls into his hand. Bino holds the spider in front of his face, inspecting it for a few moments before speaking again

“How?” Bino asks, skipping straight to the point.

“Im sure that you have seen stranger things.” The spider says in reply, avoiding the question.

“What’s your name, bug?” Bino asks with a slight grin, liking the manipulative nature of the Spider’s personality.

“My name is ‘Egar.’” The spider says

Bino stares down with the spider for a few seconds. Bino notices one strange feature about the spider: instead of the usual eight eyes, this spider has two purple eyes on either side of an abnormally streamlined body.

“You know what I want? I want to be stronger than Venn.” Bino says with an ordering tone to the large spider in his hand.

The spider’s eyes widen and narrow; if it could, it would have cracked an evil smile across its face. It obviously recognizes Venn’s name, but Bino is unfortunately oblivious in his pride.

“I can do that, but I will need something from you in return.” Egar says

“What?” Bino asks in reply

“First, your signature...” The spider produces a snapping sound and a scroll appears in a cloud of white smoke, it unrolls and presents Bino with a signature line and a quill placed in a well of ink for him to use. Bino grabs the quill and signs the bottom of the scroll without hesitation or delay. The scroll rolls itself up and disappears into a cloud of white smoke.

“Congratulations, you have officially become my avatar in this realm. Now all that is left is to bestow you with power.” Egar says from the sidewalk.

“Alright, bring on the power” Bino says. He poses for a few seconds, but nothing happens

“Hey, what gives?!” Bino yells at the spider

“Not yet, now we just need to wait for Venn to start playing the game.” The spider says in reply

“What game?”

“since we are immortal beings, we do not settle differences with our own fists, we get mortals to do that for us. The game cannot start until he chooses an avatar.” Egar explains

“So I’m going to have to fight someone of Venn’s choosing? I guess that’s the next best thing to what I had in mind.”

“Sorry, we spirit have rules too.” The spider says

Bino widens his eyes at the mention of the word ‘spirit’. “Wait…you’re…?” he asks hesitantly

“That’s right.” The spider says before snapping again and teleporting Bino and Himself to parts unknown.

=============================================

Back in the astral plane:

“So, your saying that on top of my daily responsibilities, I will have to choose an avatar to battle with my brother Egar?” Venn asks from an inverted position in front of Bahamut as they float aimlessly

“Exactly, this method of battle has been used since time immemorial and it prevents us from meddling with mortal fates. I just hope that he has not found an avatar yet; but even if he has, he will have to wait until you challenge him with an avatar of your choosing. I suggest you choose a candidate with the most positive energy.” Bahamut suggests to Venn.

“Noted, but I must be on my way. I’m going to be late if I don’t leave for the station now.” Venn says before being enveloped in a cloud of white smoke and appearing behind the police station.

Venn sighs and circles the building to enter through the front door and rummages through the many papers and reports on the billboard. On top of all the papers, he finds a warrant notice for two men who recently went on a string of robberies and have been reported being seen hiding in the woods.

"I dont understand the mortals concept of 'money', it only seems to cause problems and get people hurt. There always seems to be someone who wants it more than another, and they are not afraid to take it from them." Venn says under his breath.

[Mickey]

Egar chose Bino. To be evenly matched, Venn should choose Tiger.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I totally think Tiger would go for it. He's the type of person that wants to stick it to Bino and is a bit insane.

[The-J-Man]

tiger would be a reasonable choice, but i actually had another character in mind.

also, try spelling Egar's name backwards to see his purpose in the mortal world. this will also explain why he chose Bino as his avatar.

[Mickey]

Egar = Rage

....

You sneaky, sneaky, son of a charming young woman.

[Amazee Dayzee]

You should watch those censors. They are really funny.

I wonder who Venn's avatar will be.

[The-J-Man]

Chapter 2 part 8 : Cops and Robbers

Venn walks through the park, looking at all of the pets who pass by to see if he can find a worthy candidate for his avatar. He soon eyes a group of dogs teasing an orange-colored dog about his name ‘Tiger’, but he wasn't having any of it.

“Hmm… maybe if he was less insane”

Venn then looks around again and sees a black dog with an ID tag in the shape of a flower; the black dog follows another random dog as she keeps saying the same thing over and over again: “Hi, I’m Daisy”

“No…just…no.”

Venn looks around again and sees Tiger yelling at the dogs who were teasing him. They back off and let him fume for a few seconds before officer Kevin comes over to diffuse the common situation.

“Of course; how could I have been so blind as to not consider the people I work with. Surely a member of the K-9 unit would have a strong heart to defy…”

Venn looks back and sees kevin tackling one of the dogs for an unknown reason

“Maybe Sergeant Ralph would be a better option…”

Venn runs over to the police gym to find Ralph using a punching bag, exercising his knowledge of self-defense. He wears a pair of fabric straps wrapped around his hands, protecting them as he strikes the sand-bag with very quick strikes as Venn admires his prior knowledge of combat.

Venn dons a pair of the fabric straps that were available in a large gym bag hung on the back of the entrance doorway. He wraps them around his hands and joins in Ralph’s training session, surprising him with his company on his day off from work.

“Hello sergeant Ralph, I noticed that you are quite experienced in Hand-to-hand combat.” Venn says with a friendly smile.

“A few self-defense classes can go a long way, especially when you have to deal with belligerent criminals all day.” Ralph says as he rolls his eyes.

Venn takes a fighting stance on the other side of the padded gym floor that prevents both injuries to sparring partners and damage from falling weights. Ralph gives him a confused look, but he eventually understands Venn’s intentions and takes a fighting stance on the other end of the mat.

Venn and Ralph slowly walk in a circle around the mat in an attempt to find an opening that either one of them can exploit. Soon, Venn flips forward unexpectedly and tackles Ralph to the floor, being careful not to hurt him in the process.

“Okay-okay, you got me. Now get off me.” Ralph says with an unimpressed tone, but deep down he was thoroughly impressed with Venn’s quick thinking

“Ralph…I need your help. Not as an Officer, but as a friend.” Venn says with his hand on Ralph’s shoulder

Ralph responds as he removes the fabric straps from his hands. “What is it you need Venn?”

“I’m sure that you know of Bino’s constant shenanigans?” Venn asks

“What did he do this time?!” Ralph asks with an annoyed tone

“It’s not that he did something wrong, but he is still in mortal danger.” Venn answers

“From who?” Ralph asks

“From himself…he has inadvertently gotten mixed up in a feud between me and my brother ‘Egar’. He recruited him as an avatar to fight for him on the mortal plane as part of a game that we spirits use to combat each other, so as not to disturb the lives of mortals with the inevitable destruction that comes with two spirits battling each other.” Venn explains in detail

“I think I can see where this is going” Ralph says with a raised eyebrow.

Venn grabs onto Ralph’s shoulders and looks him straight in the eye. “Ralph, you are the greatest example of justice that I have ever seen in a pet, it makes you the perfect candidate for a role as my avatar.”

“Well I was going to ask why you picked me out, but I guess you answered that already.”

“Is that a ‘yes’?” Venn asks

“Indeed, why would I pass up the chance to fight for a heavenly spirit?” Ralph says with a look of happiness with his eyes closed.

Ralph opens his eyes to see that he has been transported to an astral plane that is filled with nothing but distant stars. In front of Ralph is Venn in the form of a massive centipede that rivals the size of a jumbo-jet fuselage and double the length. Ralph looks completely dumbfounded as he has never seen Venn in his spiritual form before, so he just floats there with a shocked look on his face.

“Sergeant Ralph, do you consider yourself worthy as a heavenly warrior?" Venn asks in a very frightening and booming voice

It takes Ralph a few moments to process an answer for Venn. “Yes. I am…” a scroll appears in front of Ralph along with a feather in a well of ink. He takes the quill and signs the bottom signature line. The scroll rolls itself up and disappears in a cloud of white smoke.

“IT IS DONE.” Venn says as soon as the smoke dissipates “Ralph, the power of Vengeance is yours to command and it will be awakened when you meet the opposing player. The knowledge of how to use this power will come to you when it is time to confront him.” The same silhouette pattern of a centipede featured in Venn’s dog form appears in Ralph’s fur, but it quickly dissipates and his fur returns to its original look.

Immediately after the centipede pattern disappears into his fur, Ralph’s eyes turn red for a split second, but they too return to normal.

Ralph feels no different as he checks all around his body to make sure that there are no strange bug-like features on his body. He is satisfied after a quick look that makes it look like he was chasing his own tail.

“So…what happens now?” Ralph nervously asks the massive centipede

“Now… you wake up”

====================================================

Back at the gym

Ralph awakens from his nap on one of the chairs in the weight room, wondering if what he had just seen was real or not, but his suspicions are confirmed when he finds an empty well of ink in his hand with the words ‘Or was it” printed on the label

“I knew Bino would come back to bite me in the butt from the first day I saw him in the academy.” Ralph says to himself in the empty gym. He packs up his bag and heads home for the day, with a lot of questions still buzzing in his head. He decides to handle this how he usually does as a police officer: ‘Do what you are told and ask questions later’.

==============================================

Meanwhile:

Bino awakens screaming in his bed, having gone through the same process with Egar, only he went through a slightly scarier version than Ralph did. He takes a few minutes to gather his will back up and wipe the sweat off of his forehead from the whole experience of being faced with the purple eyes of Rage itself in the form of a monstrous spider.

“Well that was terrifying…but it was worth it.” Bino whispers as he looks at a white business card in his hand with the words ‘or was it’ printed in bold purple letters. He gives an evil smile and goes back to sleep for the time being, planning a decent course of action for his revenge on Venn.

“Sleep well Venn, I’ll be waiting for you to make the first move…for now” Bino says, his expression more evil than usual. Thanks to Egar sharing his power with Bino, he is already becoming more hostile and evil than he previously was.

=================================================

Elsewhere in the surrounding forest:

The two thieves who had gone into hiding with a large duffle-bag full of bank notes marked with ten’s, twenties, and even hundreds. The two robbers look very different from each other; the first robber is very short and thin and he talks with a scratchy voice that suggests he smokes too many cigarettes in his spare time. The second robber is a hulking brute who stands a full two feet over the first robber; but he does not seem to be very smart at all. The large robber talks in a deep voice that suggests his low IQ level

The short robber is the brains of the operation while the large one is the muscle who carries out most of the dirty work in their robberies. The short robber looks out the window and sees all of the homes in Babylon Gardens, ready for the reaping.

“Hey bud, what do you say…? Wanna make some extra bucks while the fuzz blows over?” the short robber asks the brute, who was rummaging through the duffle bag to find something

“Duh, sounds good to me boss…what we robbin’ this time? The large robber asks the small one

“These secluded neighborhoods are always filled with rich people. We will start with the homes and move our way up to the mansion at the end of the street over there” the short robber says as he points to the large mansion.

“Whatever ya’ say boss” he replies as he pulls out a crumpled news article of the Milton ferrets.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I like how you are writing this so far! I think Ralph will make a really good avatar!

[The-J-Man]

(updates will now be posted on Tuesdays and Fridays so it will not conflict with my schedule)

Chapter 2 Part 9 final part : A Call to Arms (or “Arm” for Jack)

Venn runs as fast as he can towards Tarot’s house from the wolf house. He had heard a loud commotion that woke him up and he looked out his window to see at least seven police vehicles outside of her house with their lights flashing and caution tape strung around them to form a barrier for the gathering crowd.

Venn puts on his police vest and ducks under the police tape to see Tarot, Sabrina, and the person most important to him: dragon in the form of a giant lizard. Tarot was talking with a police officer and telling him about the incident while Sabrina talks with Fido. Venn runs over to Fido and asks what happened.

“The house was broken into last night. The suspects fled and left no trace of entry or exit” Fido explains to Venn

Venn runs over and embraces Dragon from behind, surprising her. “Oh Venn, I don’t know how this could have happened to us. I never foresaw this at all…none of us did.”

“Ugh it’s Egar! The longer he stays in this Realm, the more things will fall into chaos! I should have seen this coming.” Venn yells at himself

“Who’s ‘Egar’? An evil spirit?” Dragon asks

“I should have told you this long ago: Egar is another Symbolic spirit like me, he is living embodiment of Rage itself. Egar is not like me though, he only symbolizes negative things like anger, disorder, and clouded judgment.........and he’s also my First Brother.”

“Keeping your relatives a secret huh?” Dragon says sarcastically with her arms folded and a raised eyebrow.

“This is different from you and Pete. I needed to keep my brother a secret so that no one would ever go looking for him…Dragon there is a reason we all exist, even us spirits. Egar denied his purpose of lessening anger and strife, and he instead chose to increase and spread it for his own amusement. He did this for many years under the radar, but eventually I found out. He broke the law…and I’m the one who turned him in for judgment. He never forgave me for what happened next; he was taken to a sacred tree in the mortal plane and entombed in its sap, sentenced to an eternity in his prison.”

“But how did Egar escape?” dragon asks with a very concerned look, and forgetting that Tarot’s house was just ransacked by thieves.

“That, I still don’t know. The only way Egar could have escaped from the tree is with the help of a Third party, and they had to have the ability to use magic. The spell they used to contain my brother is commonly used to contain other evil spirits, so it would only take one point of Mana to break and/or cast the spell...”

Venn and dragon ponder for a few moments before they both widen their eyes and look at each other at the same time. “You don’t think…” they both say at the same time. Venn snaps his fingers and both him and Dragon are teleported into Pete’s room in a cloud of white smoke.

Pete’s room is a total mess. Discarded clothes and trash are all over the floor and Pete is nowhere to be seen.

“Come on out Pete, we need to talk to you!” Dragon yells at her brother.

A loud groan is heard from Pete’s bed where a large lump bulges underneath the blanket. Venn promptly pulls the blanket off of the mattress to reveal Pete, who was still sulking about being turned Pink. He turns away from Dragon and Venn, facing the wall by the bed.

“Pete, listen to me. Didn’t you mention that you gave a Mana point to a mortal when you were bragging?” Dragon asks.

“Yeah, what of it?” Pete asks groggily, sounding like he is still half-asleep.

Venn grabs the top end of the mattress and lifts it up, causing Pete to slide out of the bed and awakening him fully. “WHAAA!” Pete exclaims as he tumbles to the floor in a heap of pink feathers and a cranky expression

“Listen Bird-Brain, this is a matter of life and death… Who did you give that Mana point to?!” Venn asks with a very angry look.

“I gave it to the mortal Ferret that agreed to be my minion after he found his way into my Temple.” Pete replies as he rubs the back of his head with an un-concerned look.

Dragon and Venn trade stares with Pete for a few moments before Dragon approaches Pete and slaps the back of his head, hard. “OW! What was that for?!” Pete exclaims

“You trusted a Mana Point to one of the Milton FERRETS!? How stupid are you, Pete?!” Dragon yells

Venn snaps his fingers again and both he and Dragon disappear from the room in a cloud of smoke.

========================================

at the Milton's mansion:

Both Dragon and Venn reappear at the front door of the Ferret’s mansion. Venn knocks on the door frantically and it is answered by none other than Miles, who was wearing a green vest with the word “security” stitched in large letters over his name-tag.

“Miles, we need to talk with Keene…Now!” Venn asks the tall wolf frantically.

“Sorry Venn, due to the recent break-ins in the neighborhood, the Milton's have upped the security detail. You need to call them in advance to your arrival; Now’s a good time to go call though, I heard that the wait time for visitors passes has gone down to four hours.” Miles says to Venn as he blocks the doorway with his body

“NNGGH! Miles we don’t have time for this! This is a matter of Life and Death, now let me in!” Venn orders as he tries to push his way Past Miles’ legs

“Sorry Venn, no can do. I can’t let you in unless you have a visitors pass. We’re not allowed trust anyone while we’re working as security, It’s in the fine print of my contract.” Miles says apologetically.

“Sorry about this Miles, but I need to get in there now.” Venn says as he takes a few steps back from Miles’ legs

“Sorry for whHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!” Venn takes ahold of Miles’s ankles and tosses him high into the air and over the roof of the entire Mansion.

Miles flies into the Milton’s Olympic-sized swimming pool that looks to be filled with fresh water, but when Miles hits the pool, he becomes trapped in a large batch of Jell-O that fills the whole pool and is colored a transparent blue to look like pool water and not attract the attention of any feral animals. Only Miles’ head remains out of the gelatin and he is soon approached by Jeeves, who is holding a small hand-saw from his daily yard work.

“Would you like me to cut you out of Rock’s weekly prank, sir?” Jeeves asks Miles as he drops the small saw and grabs a chainsaw from the shed.

“NONONO, that won’t be necessary! I think I’ll just wait for everyone else to join in with me.” Miles says in reply

“What do you mean ‘everyone else’ sir?” Jeeves asks with a raised eyebrow

“You’ll see…” miles says with a blank expression, and staring at the roof of the mansion

Venn runs down the main hall with dragon and they are soon confronted by Poncho and Jack in heroic poses. They both try to stop Venn from running past them by grabbing onto him, but they both find themselves flying through the ceiling and then encased in gelatin next to Miles. “You too, huh?” they both say with blank expressions.

Venn tries to find his way in the maze of hallways, but he takes a wrong turn and finds himself faced with Rodney.

“I’m warning you Venn, I play football with Daryl every weekend.” Rodney taunts

The large wolf charges forward and Venn does the same. They both run at equal speed, but Venn has the advantage of his small size and his massive strength. Venn slides underneath Rodney at the precise moment that both his feet are off the ground and he takes the opportunity to grab onto Rodney’s ankles and throw him through the roof and into the pool.

“CANNONBAAAAAAAAAAL” Rodney cries as he brings his knees in and forms a ball with his body and becomes trapped in the stale and rubbery gelatin.

Three of the other Milton ferrets sit on the pool-side chairs with Jeeves. They hold up their score-cards at the same time, judging Rodney’s landing. Jeeves holds up a “10”, Lana holds up a “10” with a smiley-face drawn over it, Duke holds up a hand-drawn “10”, and Pit holds up a “01” that he soon rotates with an embarrassed look to make a “10”.

“HAH. Perfect score!” Rodney cheers to himself.

Venn and Dragon decide on which hallway to take and they run down the first one that they can agree on. They turn a corner and find themselves faced with Daryl and the other Daryl.

“Oh come on, how hard is it to find an office in this place!?” Venn yells when he realizes that he is making little progress

“The office is down that way, you can’t miss it” the other Daryl answers to the rhetorical question that Venn had yelled, pointing down the hall behind them. “DARYL! Don’ tell ‘em that!” the Yellow-hatted wolf scolds.

Daryl reaches over and grabs his fat sibling by the elbows. He struggles, but eventually he succeeds in hoisting the heavy wolf over his head “Lets see how you handle a…DARYL DIVE BOOOMB!” Daryl yells as he jumps up into the air towards Venn and Dragon, threatening to crush them both underneath the other Daryl’s belly.

Venn flips onto his back and brings his knees towards his chest like a wound spring. Venn waits until the perfect moment and he extends his legs in a precise kick to Daryl’s fat belly, so that he would not hurt either one of the two Daryl’s.

Both Daryl’s find themselves trapped in Jell-O next to Poncho and Jack. Daryl’s signature yellow hat floats down and lands conveniently on his head. The other Daryl sniffs and takes a lick of the Blue-Raspberry flavored snack that fills the entire pool.

“MMMMM, Jell-O…”

“Daryl don’ eat that! It’s been out since last week!”

“But its blue-raspberry!”

“Guy’s calm down and don’t eat the Jell-O” Miles says as he relaxes in the gelatin, but he soon finds that something is amiss. He looks around at all of the heads poking out of the Jell-O and notices that someone is still missing. “Hey…Where’s Uncle Dead-eye?”

Venn and dragon run down the hall and make a final turn down a long corridor that leads to the Office, but in the middle of the hall stands the blind wolf named "Dead-eye". He already knows that Venn and Dragon are there, yet he does nothing. He holds his walking stick with both hands as he stands there patiently waiting for Venn to make the first move.

[Amazee Dayzee]

And so the plot now thickens. I love how this part came out!

[The-J-Man]

Chapter 3 Part 1: Crime doesn’t pay

Meanwhile back in Babylon Gardens:

Ralph rides in the backseat of a police cruiser heading to a report of a break-in at a house near where the last robbery occurred, in the middle of the night. Soon, both he and the police officer driving the car see a black SUV with tinted windows parked outside of a house. Ralph goes over and puts his hand over the hood of the SUV, finding the engine was still very warm, meaning that the robbers were still inside.

The police officer draws his firearm and Ralph arms himself with a baton that he kept in the trunk of the old Crown Victoria. The officer radios for backup as silently as he could as both he and Ralph approach the front door. Ralph signals the officer, telling him that he can still hear movement inside the home.

The officer kicks down the door and points his standard-issue Glock into the dark doorway. The officer refrains from turning on the lights, considering that he can still hear movement near the back of the house. Ralph moves ahead, leading the officer through the darkness with his keen senses of smell and hearing.

Ralph and the officer stop near a wall that divides the living room and the kitchen, where the sound of the robber’s movement and a one-sided conversation are coming from.

“Boss, are you sure dat we need da flat-screen?” the robber whispers, but the officer cannot hear a reply of any kind.

“I think he’s talking to an accomplice on a radio.” Ralph whispers to the officer

The officer nods and signals for Ralph to prepare for confrontation. “Ok, on three. One, two, three”

Both Ralph and the officer charge through the doorway with weapons drawn, they both shout at the same time: “Police, Get on the ground!”

Ralph ears drop and the Officers pupils shrink as their eyes venture upwards a full two feet to meet the eyes of a masked brute that was standing near the doorway with a small television in his hands. They stand in a locked stare for a few moments before the robber reaches up to his ear and appears to talk into an ear-piece hidden underneath his ski-mask.

“Boss, the cops are here! What do I do now?!” he whispers loudly and reveals his low IQ level at the same time.

Ralph is the only one to hear a reply through the ear-piece from the accomplice “Run for it! And leave everything your carrying!”

Ralph takes the opportunity to try and tackle the massive brute from his upper body, but he has absolutely no affect as he tugs and pulls on his shoulders. “I’m warning you, don’t resist!” Ralph cries as he tries to move the 180 pound mass of muscle and brawn.

The robber shakes Ralph off and runs for the doorway, knocking the officer down like a bowling-pin in the process. “Ok Boss, im coming!” He cries into his communicator and smashes his way through the heavy front door. The robber jumps into the SUV where a second man in a ski-mask pops up behind the steering wheel and ignites the powerful engine. He had been using his small size to hide underneath the driver’s seat

Ralph and the officer run after them, but the getaway driver slams the four-wheeled vehicle in reverse, leaving Ralph and the Officer coughing in a cloud of burnt rubber and smoke. “Unit 44 requesting units for immediate pursuit of a black SUV with no license plates and tinted windows. Suspects considered unarmed.” The officer says into his brick-sized radio.

=====================================

Meanwhile back in the Milton’s mansion:

Venn stands in front of Dragon with Dead-eye standing between him and his goal. The blind wolf stands in the exact center of the hall with no other paths to go through. He holds his walking stick with both hands and awaits Venn to make the first move.

“Dragon, stay right behind me.” Venn says in an action pose, ready to charge down the long hall to confront Keene.

Venn charges forward with intent to perform the same action he had previously performed on the other Wolves, but he is only met by the butt-end of Dead-eye’s staff hitting him in the gut and throwing him backward into Dragon. They both land beside each other with very surprised looks. He lies on the floor with widened eyes for a few seconds before lifting his upper body up off the ground

“How’d he do that?” Venn asks rhetorically as he stares down the hallway and into the grey eyes of the blind wolf, trying to determine if he was truly blind.

Venn rolls back and uses his hands to stop himself, he kicks his legs up and uses the momentum of his movement to flip onto his feet. “Dragon I think it’s time for a different approach.” Venn says after a few seconds of playing the situation out in his head. Dragon does as she is told and stays at the end of the hall while Venn walks up to Dead-eye so he can speak with him.

Dragon cannot make out the conversation, but soon enough Dead-eye stands aside and outstretches his arm, welcoming both Venn and Dragon to pass. Venn runs back and grabs ahold of Dragon’s hand. He leads her through the large wooden doors to see Keene playing a video game on a small TV. The ferret jumps up and shoves the TV off of his desk, returning to a more respectable pose in his chair with his hands laced together on the desk in front of him, he also sports a bored look.

“Keene listen to me and do not lie: did you use that Mana point that you received from Pete?!” Venn demands from Keene.

Keene hesitates for a moment and a bead of sweat falls from his forehead to his desk. “I lost it.”

Suddenly, everyone in the office is interrupted by a voice coming from the doorway. The voice is coming from another one of the Milton Ferrets named “Rock”; he accompanies a cameraman who has the lens pointed at Venn. “Yes, this will be the best action movie of the year!” The grey Ferret shouts with an excited expression

Keene, Venn, and Dragon stare at rock for a few minutes before Venn asks him about the Mana point.

“Rock, did you ever find a small glowing rock in the house?” Venn asks

“Yeah, I thought it was a shooting star that Keene was keeping for himself. I made a wish with it and it disappeared from my hands without granting it” Rock replies with a frustrated look

“Rock this is a matter of life and death. What in the name of Heaven did you wish for!?” Venn asks with a very concerned look

“Well I was planning on making a superhero movie a few months ago, but I couldn’t find any original ideas. Then I thought about the fact that Hero’s only exist when a villain is created…so I wished for ‘The worst Villain that ever existed to appear in Babylon Gardens’, but the wish never came true.”

Venn’s eye twitches for a few seconds before silently lashing out and throwing punches into the air, trying to relieve his anger.

“Your wish came true, but at the greatest cost you can imagine. Rock, you have single-handedly put the entire world in jeopardy.” Venn grabs Dragon again and runs out the door

“Well at least we got good footage” Rock says as he takes the camera from the man next to him and checks the film on the display screen, unfortunately the camera’s memory is filled with nothing but two hours of static. “Darn it.”

=======================================

Back in the streets of Babylon Gardens:

Ralph rides in the backseat of a Police cruiser with Kevin in the seat beside him. They both dig their claws into the fabric of their seats as the car swerves from side to side in pursuit of the Black SUV that is surprisingly fast for its massive size

“Ralph I think I’m gonna be sick.” Kevin says as his face turns a slight shade of green. He dares not open the window with the fear of flying out.

“Just try not to think about it Kevin.” Ralph says in a reassuring tone, but it is contradicted by the panicked expression on his face

“Sir, maybe you shouldn’t push this vehicle so hard, it’s been here longer than either of us have.” Kevin shouts to the officer behind the wheel of the cruiser

The officer laughs in response and pats the dashboard with a smile on his face. “Nah, she’s still got some life left in her. Just hold on until backup arrives” The officer looks back at the nauseous Kevin and hands him a plastic shopping bag from a tissue box he kept in the glove compartment. “Here, use this if you need to.”

Kevin takes the bag, but he never gets the chance to use it when his seat-belt buckle breaks loose and he tumbles around the back of the car with all of the jerking movements of the officer’s erratic driving. Eventually the officer pursues the SUV down a straight path that gives Kevin a chance to recover from his tumble.

“Darn it, this car should have been auctioned off last year” The Doberman yells as he sits in the middle seat of the Bench-style backseats. He buckles his seat-belt and forgets about his nausea for the time being.

Unfortunately, Kevin is correct about the police car being too old. A loud bang is heard from the engine compartment and smoke pours through the air-conditioning vents. The officer slams on the brakes and the car chugs to a stop in a cloud of smoke that soon dissipates after the engine gives out.

The officer stands still for a few moments before banging his fore-head down onto the steering wheel and watches as the SUV disappears from his sight.

“What did I tell you?” Kevin says with an unimpressed look

The officer tries the radio, but it does not work because the external battery was damaged when the engine broke itself in half.

All three officers exit the car and go around the back; they reluctantly take positions on the back of the car and start pushing. The car offers little resistance to the pushes and easily rolls back toward the police department. They don’t have to travel far as the car attracts the attention of fellow officers with the smoke signal coming from underneath its hood.

[Amazee Dayzee]

And here I thought that Kevin would have loved riding in a fast car. Oh well, I guess not. Great job on this chapter!

[The-J-Man]

Chapter 3 part 2 : Lie down with me Watson

In the middle of Babylon Gardens:

Venn drops Dragon off at home with a quick kiss goodbye and runs all the way back to the police station where he sees everyone in a buzz again. All of the patrol officers were putting on SWAT gear and one of the officers opens up a metal case to get at a key that was marked with a red tag.

Venn joins Kevin, Ralph, and Fido in the locker room and dons his protective gear while the Lieutenant explained the situation.

All of the officers had gotten word of the two thieves robbing the local bank in a last-ditch attempt to get some money before they flee to a new location. If the thieves are not stopped here, they might never be found again.

Venn and Ralph join the officers in SWAT gear in the back of the building where they use the red key to open the doors of a large storage unit where a covered object rests underneath a tarp. The officers help each other to remove the canvas tarp and reveal a large armored truck with the words “S.W.A.T Response unit” printed in bold white letters on the side of the vehicle. The officers open the heavy back doors and take their places on the benches placed on either side of the vehicles interior. Venn and Ralph take their seats on opposite sides so that they face each other, but they end up getting squished between the other Officers.

“Ralph, are these thieves armed?” Venn asks as he tries to calmly push some of the officers protruding equipment out of his face.

“they are reported to be using small Handguns for the robbery, don’t worry, this truck is built to handle way more firepower than a Nine Millimeter” Ralph says with a grin and an anticipated expression.

Eventually, the truck jerks to a sudden stop and the other officers squish Venn and Ralph between them. Venn almost pushes the other officers away, but they got out of their seats before Venn could get a handle on the situation. Venn could see through the glass doors of the bank, a tall and a short thief with their guns pointed at the two bank tellers. The officers draw their weapons and exit the armored truck in two lines with Venn and Ralph following them at the rear.

The thieves soon notice the police approaching the entrance and they do something unexpected. The small thief signals the taller one and he pulls out an Assault rifle from his back, he opens fire and shatters the glass windows of the building, forcing all the officers to retreat behind parked cars in front of the bank.

“Hostages confirmed” One of the officers says into his radio

The robbers open fire again and pelt the parked cars with lead, some of them barely missing the officers and prompting them to retreat further away, but Venn notices the other police vehicles approaching. Kevin and Fido jump out of the back seats and run ahead of the other officers before the SWAT team can signal them to back away, leaving them no choice but to join Venn and Ralph behind cover.

The officers soon move back to a stone wall on the other side of the street while they order the K-9 unit to wait in the armored truck. Venn leads them in a line as they run for the open doors and jump into the truck, where they find Venn lying down on the Diamond-Plated aluminum floor. He lays there with his hands laced across his stomach and staring at the lit roof

“Lie down with me.” Venn says with a blank expression

Ralph, Fido, and Kevin trade confused looks before they all ask him the same question in unison: “Why?”

Venn sits up and grabs onto Kevin and Ralph. “I insist” Venn pulls them both down as they grab onto Fido, pulling him down with them. They all move around until they find their own space to fit in on the cold metal floor. “What are we doing down here, Venn?” Ralph demands with an agitated tone in his voice.

“waiting.”

“For what?” Kevin asks

“For a safe opportunity.” Venn says in reply

“What do you mean ‘safe’? This truck is probably the safest place for us, otherwise the officers would have told us to go somewhere else.” Fido says

“Just trust me.”

The thieves exit the building with the tall one holding a large duffle-bag full of stolen money and they retreat to their black SUV that was parked on the sidewalk in front of the building. The smaller thief tries to ignite the engine, but it had been damaged in the crossfire. He glares at the tall thief with an accusing glare though his Ski-mask and the tall thief shrugs, putting the assault rifle down on the floor while trying to avoid eye contact.

“OK bud… it’s time to use Big Betty.”

“You sure Boss?”

“Do it!”

The thief shifts to the back of the SUV while the officers see him assembling something in the back compartment of the SUV and then mounting the device to the roof. The thief pushes up and a hatch opens up on the top of the SUV and unveils a Loaded Mini-gun with the large thief at the trigger. All of the SWAT team retreat into the nearby trees in response to the massive turn of events

Kevin, Ralph, and Fido still remain on the floor of the armored truck, growing impatient while Venn is still patiently waiting for something.

The thief pulls the trigger and the six barrels quickly get to speed. A stream of lead starts spilling out of the receiving end of the weapon that was aimed at the armored vehicle.

The tracer bullets then rip through the side of the Armored truck, easily penetrating its tough armor. Had any of the dogs inside been standing up, they would have been cut in half. All of the dogs inside roll over on their sides and cover their ears as the sharp sound of metal-on-metal impacts are too much for any of them to bear.

Venn hands a shard of metal to Ralph and he takes it for the purpose of shielding his face from the falling metal bits as the bullets continue to cut the truck in half. “When the time comes, throw it!” Venn yells so that Ralph can hear over the destruction around them. Ralph nods his head, seeing no reason to disagree

Eventually, the Mini-gun jams when a bullet gets stuck in the ejection mechanism, Ralph sees his opportunity and throws the piece of metal like a Frisbee at the Gun, slicing it in half and hitting the hatch doors, closing it and trapping the large thief in the small space. The small thief sees this and bolts from the vehicle, heading as fast as he can down an alley.

Ralph jumps through the hole formed in the side of the truck by the Mini-bun and chases after the thief, he notices that he is running at nearly double his usual speed and when he puts in some effort, he runs even faster. He jumps up and tackles the thief “Police! Your under arrest!” the thief makes a last ditch effort and pulls out his gun, pointing it right between Ralph's eyes before he even has time to react

===========================================

Back at Tarot’s house:

Tarot and Dragon sit on the couch, engaged in a conversation about Venn and his brother “Egar”

“So Tarot, I did some research at the library about this ‘Egar’, and I found out some important things about him.” Dragon says with a nervous look

“Like what?” tarot asks in response

"Well some of the records were missing, but it said that Venn, Egar, and some other spirits were created for the sole purpose of protecting Heaven from evil spirits and monsters, they were called ‘The knights of the Gate’ and named after the specific emotions that they symbolize in the mortal plane. Venn represents ‘Vengeance’, and Egar represents ‘Rage’. both Venn and Egar took these harmful emotions from those who entered Heaven’s Gates, and used them to fight Evil spirits.”

"Wait… there were others? Venn has more than one sibling?” Tarot asks as she gives a more concerned look

“I guess so, but most of their records were burned by someone” Dragon says

“Who do you think would do something like that without alerting someone?”

They both think for a minute before they slowly face each other again with very concerned looks

“There is just no way, it can’t be possible!”

Dragon snaps her fingers and both she and Tarot disappear in a cloud of white smoke and reappearing at the gates of Heaven where they are met by Cerberus. Dragon goes over and explains something to her and she lets them both inside with an urgent manner in her actions. They walk over to another staircase with a golden door at the end of it, they both enter the door to see a massive whale floating in the astral plane the door led to.

“Greetings Dragon and mortal, for what purpose do you visit?” Bahamut says in a booming, yet friendly voice.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I really hope nothing bad happens to Ralph! I like him!

[The-J-Man]

I really hope nothing bad happens to Ralph! I like him!

That's what cliffhangers are for...

[Mickey]

You're not the only one how knows how to do them. *chuckles until you get it*

Mickey! No need to try and be the best! Everyone is equal!

[Amazee Dayzee]

As long as Ralph makes it out and not is dead by the next part, I will be fine.

[The-J-Man]

well mickey, i can assure you that i do not get it... *raises eyebrow*
and Amazing Daisy, all i can tell you is that the next part of the story will be the most unexpected thing to occur in this fanfic

[Mickey]

*has trapped Mickey under a plastic cup*

She was just running that little black muzzle of hers. She was just talking about the end of part one of one of her stories. She needs to know not to advertise her stories.

It wasn't advertising!

[The-J-Man]

SORRY GUYS NO UPDATE TODAY DUE TO FINAL EXAMS...

[Amazee Dayzee]

Well then that is OK! Focus on your exams! We can wait for the next chapter!

[The-J-Man]

Chapter 3 part 3 : The break

Ralph had no time to react to the gun barrel in his face and all he could do at that point was watch the thief pull the trigger down and then watch the hammer fall, igniting the gunpowder with a loud “BANG!”, and he watched the chunk of lead spiral through the dark barrel. The bullet hits Ralph square in between his eyes. Miraculously, the fur in the area the bullet was going to hit Ralph’s forehead turns from brown to grey, assuming a much more solid structure and deflecting the bullet.
Ralph reels back and covers the area of his head where the bullet had hit, giving an extremely pained expression as he falls on his back.

“OW OW OW! OH MY DOG, THAT HURT!”

Ralph rubs the grey patch of his fur until it reverts back to its original brown color, and the pain quickly subsides. Unfortunately, the thief is on the run again. He turns into a tight corner of the alley and runs as fast as his slender body can carry him down the narrow passageway towards the growing sliver of light that would be his freedom. He exits the alley, only to be faced with Venn once his eyes adjust to the sudden brightness, but he then notices that he is all alone, Although Ralph was not far behind.
The Thief pulled out his weapon again, aiming for Venn’s chest and pulling the trigger with his mysteriously Fast reflexes. The bullet strikes Venn’s chest, but bounces off of his fur without discoloring like Ralph’s fur had done before. The thief keeps pulling the trigger, sending seven more bullets into Venn’s body with no effect on him whatsoever. The lead just bounces off of his body and clatters on the cement ground as he steps over them, getting closer to the thief as he tries to find Venn’s weakness.

Venn finally reaches out and grabs the small handgun from the small thief, crushing the plastic casing and warping the metal parts in his hand.

“Im giving you to the count of “Five” to get down on the ground with your hands on the back of your head…”

“Oh come on, after all thi--”

“One…”

“You cann--”

“FOUR…!”

Ralph takes the opportunity Venn presented him to jump onto the Thief’s back, tackling him to the ground with a few choice words: “You are under arrest!”

“Five…”

Venn pulls out his pair of handcuffs and binds them to the man’s wrists. They then take his mask off and compare it to a folded-up wanted poster that Ralph had in his collar pocket for just this occasion.

“Its him alright.”

Ralph and Venn take the man over to the waiting police officers and they place him in the back of a police van along with his tall accomplice.

==========================================

Later, at the Nearby Bookstore:

Venn takes his well-deserved break and indulges in reading books on ancient symbolic symbols of animals and he stops when he turns to a page with the image of a spider on it, he reads the text below:

“The symbol of the spider, it is found on many ancient weapons and shields because of the belief that It would bring strength to their soldiers in the anger of battle. Although most of these artifacts have been lost to time, there has been evidence of this symbol being used as a curse by witches and magicians. It was intended to doom a person to a life of endless rage and therefore loss of all he or she holds dear because of their constant fits of anger…”

Venn is interrupted when Ralph grabs the top of the book and pulls it down so that he can see Venn’s face.

“Okay Venn, start explaining. I should be dead right now from a bullet to my forehead, but it just bounced off my fur, I ran faster than I ever have in my entire life, and my strength was highly improved when I threw that piece of metal. Does this have something to do with me being your avatar?”

“In fact it does. Ralph, being my avatar means that you have a share of my abilities. Your fur will change into an armored structure that, with training, will deflect the most powerful of attacks. There is a reason I wanted you to chase after the thief first; I wanted to see if you were prepared to use your powers against the people who have been effected by Egar.”

“yeah” Ralph says as he rubs the spot where the bullet hit his head “it still stings”

“With some training, you won’t be able to feel anything at all.”

It takes Ralph a few moments to process what Venn had just said; and even longer to put two and two together.

“Wait a minute…Venn, are you saying that you don’t feel anything?”

“That’s beside the point. Right now I want to discuss your other abilities.”

“Other abilities?”

Venn grabs a book from a stack that he had made beside him. The book was as big as a dictionary and had strange symbols imprinted on the red cover with the translation below an imprinted line: “Almanac of mythical creatures and Deities.”

Venn flips to a page with a highly detailed illustration of an Amazonian centipede on the top half of the page. “I borrowed this book from a library.” Venn says as he places one of his hands over the section title that was his name. He places a finger on the small lines of text below the image and starts reading.

“The centipede is one of the few creatures on earth that feels an instinctual need to protect its mate and will seek vengeance upon anything that brings harm to its young. It has been the symbol of Vengeance for many years.”

“Interesting story” Ralph interrupts “but what does that have to do with these abilities you gave me?”

“I was getting to that. Along with your armored fur, strength, and speed; you will also notice an increase in your vision.”

“What do you mean my vision?”

“When you are in a dark environment, the ability will allow you to see in the dark, similar to night-vision. The next ability is probably the most important, Your bite is now venomous.”

Ralph widens his eyes and his jaw opens so that he can feel one of his Canines. The tooth feels no different than it did before.

“You mean that when I bite someone, I inject venom into them?”

“Not exactly; your spit has the venom mixed into it so you will need to break the surface of the skin of whoever you are biting in order for the venom to work. The venom does not kill, but it is enough to paralyze whoever you bite.”

“OK, anything else?” Ralph says with a very worried look on his face

“Ralph, your stressing yourself out. Go home and get a good night’s rest. I will explain everything at work tomorrow.”

Ralph hesitates, but he eventually musters up the faith to leave and head back to the Police station to finish his shift.

=====================================================

Later at Tarot’s house:

Venn holds a bouquet of roses behind his back as a surprise for Dragon. He grabs the doorknob and opens the door with a very excited look on his face, while keeping the flowers hidden.

“Surprise Dragon, I think a celebration is in order for tonight.” Venn says as he sees dragon sitting at the coffee table, reading a few papers.

“Venn” dragon says after a few seconds of reading “you have got some explaining to do”

Dragon gets up from the pillow she was sitting on and shows Venn the papers depicting Egar, and his other siblings. She shows Venn a sheet of paper that depicts his family tree. Venn widens his eyes, changes one of his paws into a claw and slashes at the small stack of papers, cutting each of them into four strips and watching them float to the floor in a jumbled pile of words and pictures.

“What did you do that for? I haven’t read those yet!” dragon yells with an angry look

“Dragon, please understand that there is a reason I keep my family a secret from you”

"You better start explaining or else there will be consequences.” Dragon says with a green glow in her eyes

“…I can’t”

Dragon reels back and punches Venn in the face, but the only thing she succeeds in doing is breaking her knuckles against his armor-like fur with a metallic ring, like she just struck a piece of metal. She clutches her hand and screams, but she does not give up, she tackles Venn to the floor and he has to hold her back with his legs as she continues to swing at him.

“WHY ARE YOU KEEPING YOUR FAMILY A SECRET FROM ME?…......EXPLAIN!” She yells as she continues to struggle against Venn’s strength.

“I’M NOT KEEPING ‘THEM’ A SECRET FROM ‘YOU’. I’M KEEPING ‘YOU’ A SECRET FROM ‘THEM’” Venn yells in response and causes Dragon to finally calm down from her induced rage.

Dragon gets up and clutches her broken hand. “What just happened? Why did I get so angry all of a sudden?”

“It’s one of the effects Egar has on the mortal plane, he effect spirits as well as mortals. I’ll explain more later; but right now, I’m taking you to the Vet.”

Dragon changes to the form of a Komodo dragon and follows Venn to the Vet where he puts her hand in a cast; she looks at the injury curiously and sees that it is not healing at all.

“Venn what’s going on? Why am I not healing?”

“You have Egar to blame for that; don’t worry, I will find him and put an end to all of this soon enough”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Venn needs to become vulnerable because I wanna see him get hurt sometimes also. But great job!