The Griffin's Champion

[trekkie]

I wonder if it the fact that Bino is more responsible now could be because he took Grape's place and wanted to make sure his brother and then bestie weren't snake food.

That would be pretty cool. Or maybe Max and Fox teaming up and becoming pals. It’s your story,though, Haugus, and I’m sure whatever you decide will be awesome.

Nice to see Bino and Max being good brothers and laughing about Duchess. Hope Grape feels better and gets someone to be her pal like Fox with King.

[Amazee Dayzee]

They might not be pet-siblings because she wasn't adopted by the Sandwiches in this storyline but maybe Peanut can be her friend.

[Hagus]

Chapter 14: Home Sweet Home
Grape is sitting on a couch, slowly eating a meal that the human that adopted her had prepared. She had to admit, it was way better than what she had been eating for the past 2 or so years. She expected chicken to taste a little more like that one bird she ate when it flew into her cage, but maybe all birds weren’t created equal...with flavor. Behind her, a door swings open, and she turns to look at it. “Gaspar” steps through it, hat off. His yellow eyes still glow, but by now Grape had gotten used to it. She sets her plate down, watching him walk past her, sitting on a chair in the same room. After a moment of awkward silence, she asks the same question she’s asked all day.
“So are you gonna tell me who you are, or are we just gonna sit here and act like the other isn’t here?”
He grins, and nods, leaning back in the chair. “Of course. I wanted to make sure you were a little more calmed down before I started telling you anything.”
“Calm? I was calm the minute I stopped being sick!” she argues.
“I didn’t know sprinting around the house and exploring everything, while singing about having a home counted as ‘calm’,” he responds, raising an eyebrow.
Grape turns a bit red, rubbing the back of her neck. “Look, I had to get my inner Disney princess out. I’m good now.”
“If you say so. You may ask your-”
Grape sits up straight and blurts out her first question before he can finish. “ARE YOU PETE?!?”

“Gaspar” laughs, Grape staring at him intently. “I should’ve put a bet on you asking that first. Could’ve made a lot of money. To answer your question though…”
He snaps his fingers, and there’s a small poof. A cloud of smoke appears around his head. When it vanishes, Pete’s familiar griffin head is where the human head had been. Grape stares for a moment, before jumping off the couch and pointing excitedly.
“I KNEW IT! I knew it I knew it I knew it!” she repeats.
“I take it you’re a bit excited?” he asks, amused by the enthusiasm from Grape.
Grape nods. “I started to think that dream with the Grove, and the feather was all just my imagination! But here you are!”
“Grape, breathe,” Pete says, motioning for her to calm down.
Grape nods and breathes deeply, and then sighs. “Sorry. Today has been something else, y’know?”
Pete nods. “Last night and today for me. I honestly would’ve thought you would be grumpy about this. Nice to see you have a happy side.”
Grape flops back onto the couch, and points at him, smiling still. “Don’t get used to it. I’ll be back to normal before you know it.”
“Noted.”
“So am I allowed to ask another question, or are you like some sort of being that can only answer one question and there’s 15 different rules on what I can ask?”
“I told you in the Grove, ask whatever you want!” Pete exclaims.
“So you’re a griffin. Does that mean other mythical creatures exist too, like dragons and centaurs and cyclops?”
“Yeah...except for centaurs. I have no idea why the humans came up with those. Can you imagine 2 completely different animals being crammed together to make one thing?”
“....well-”
“Don’t answer that,” Pete says, waving his hand back and forth. “Next question.”
“Ok. Are you gonna stay as a human with a griffin head? It’s kinda weird.”
Pete shrugs. “When we’re in public I will be a human. I can have a more natural form if you want.”
Grape nods, and Pete stands up. “Okie dokie, been a while since I’ve done this form.”
A poof sounds, and Pete emerges from the smoke in his anthro form (yknow when he stands like a person but is still a griffin). Pete looks down at himself and flexes, his muscles bulging outwards. Grape’s mouth drops open and her collar pops off. Her face turns a bright red as well.
“This better?” Pete asks, looking up at her.
“.......”
Grape is staring, frozen. Pete waves his hand in front of Grape’s face, and looks concerned. He steps back and raises an eyebrow.
“If you don’t like it I can change ba-”
“NO!”

135 questions later…
The light from the sunset is shining through the window, and Pete is eating some popcorn that he summoned. Grape has finished her meal, and was feeling a bit sleepy.
“Anything else? You’ve asked a lot already.” Pete asks Grape.
Grape thinks for a moment. She really only had one left for the time being. “So what was the purpose of adopting me? Were you bored of living the high life and wanted a pet? Or are you a malicious being with evil intentions you aren’t telling me?”
Pete puts his hands up. “Curses! You figured me out! Now you’ll have to defeat me in an epic battle to save the universe!”
Grape’s eyes go wide and she scrambles to her feet. “Wait what?!”
Pete remains with his hands up for a moment, before a snrk escapes his beak. Before long it turns into full on laughter, and Pete is bent over, clutching his stomach. Grape glares at him and sits back down on the couch, arms crossed.
“Not funny.” she grumbles.
Pete wipes a tear from his eye, and slowly stops laughing. “Sorry, I just wanted to see your reaction. I’m not evil or malicious. I noticed your uh...predicament in the shelter and I thought the least I could do was get you out of there.”
“Oh.” Grape says, slightly disappointed that she didn’t get to fight a buff celestial being.
Pete stands up and stretches. He snaps, and the dishes from Grape’s food vanish, and a pet bed appears on the couch.
“I’m gonna sleep, and you should too. You have an entire town to explore tomorrow if you wish to do so.”
Grape looks at him, then at the bed. She climbs into it, and Pete flicks the lights off. He opens the door to his room and starts to step inside.
“Pete?” Grape calls in the dark.
Pete stops and looks at Grape. “Yeah?”
“...thanks.”
“No need for that. Welcome home Grape,” Pete says softly, and shuts the door behind him.
Grape closes her eyes, and drifts off to sleep, for the first time in a while, with a smile on her face.

[Crazy_Simone]

HHHHOOOOMMMMEEEE!
I take it Pete will treat Grape nicely, because she’s an ideal avatar and she’s not king? But he’s still hiding things.

[trekkie]

Great Chapter! Grape has a nice home. The interaction between Pete and Grape is interesting and I’m interested to see her get to know the gang in Babylon Gardens.

[Hagus]

I know I just posted yesterday, but I had time today in class so I’m posting this now
Chapter 15: Co-ed
Peanut walks into the back room of the GODC, holding a clipboard. In the room, Bino, Fox, Devo, Griswold, and Fido are sitting around a table, talking. They all look at Peanut when he enters, then turn back to discussing. Peanut walks up to Bino and hands him the clipboard. Bino looks at it for a second, before giving Peanut an expression of doubt.
“Are you sure these numbers are right? We’ve never even come close to having that many pets show up to our events.”
“I thought we were allowing any species in. Did we change that plan?” Peanut responds, confused.
Fox leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “Peanut, we’re the Good ‘Ol DOGS Club. We don’t allow cats, or rabbits, or any other animal in.”
“You guys always complain about lack of attendees. Think of how many we could get if we allowed even just cats in!” Peanut exclaims, smiling.
Fido nods and puts down the coffee he was drinking. “He’s got a point guys. A lot of members disagree with our discrimination against other species, it would do us some good to allow more pets in.”
Bino rolls his eyes. “Maybe it would do the cat-lovers some good, right Peanut?” he says, smirking.
The other dogs chuckle, and Peanut turns red.
“Ha ha. That joke is how many years old now?” he says, raising an eyebrow at the group.
Bino shrugs. “I dunno, it’s still funny though, you have to admit.”

Peanut rolls his eyes and points at the clipboard in Bino’s hands, trying to change the subject. “Look, I’m just saying we have a chance to break records with attendance. If things don’t work out, then we go back to dogs only.”
“More people means more chance of someone going missing or getting hurt. Not to mention what happened with those crazy ferals the other day. They could snag anyone and just claim they’re a deity,” Bino says, laying the clipboard down.
Devo raises a paw, and Bino nods to him.
“What if we make the cats bring food to get in?” he asks, his mouth already watering at the prospect of more food.
Fox makes a disgusted face. “What, are they gonna bring, kitty kibble and catnip?”
Peanut frowns. “Now that’s not very fair. Bino, you’re friends with Max. You can’t say that all cats are bad right?”

Bino goes to respond, but the door swings open again, and Sasha enters. She skips over to Bino, and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Hey Bino!”
Bino smiles. “Hey Sasha. Did you post those flyers I gave you?”
“I was gonna, but then I saw Peanut’s flyers and thought they looked way prettier!” she exclaims, holding up one of the flyers Peanut made.
Bino takes the flyer from Sasha’s hand and looks at it. The poster invited cats and dogs to meet at the GODC. His smile fades and he glances at Peanut. Peanut gives a guilty smile and starts inching towards the door.
“Sasha….how many of these did you hang up?” Bino asks slowly, setting the flyer down for the other dogs to see.
“347! I was gonna hang up that last one but it was too cute to not take for myself!”
Bino slowly bonks his head against the table a few times. Fox facepalms, and Fido tries to contain his laughter.
“So...snrk...guess we're having a co-ed party after all huh?” Fido chokes out, before covering his smile.

Bino and Fox look at each other, then Bino stands up. “Ok. We gotta tear down these things or we’re gonna be in cat trouble. All in favor of going around Babylon Gardens and removing the flyers raise your paw.”
Devo, Griswold, Fox, and Bino put their paws up. Fido crosses his arms, while Peanut and Sasha stand there awkwardly. Fido thinks for a moment, then looks at the dogs with their hands up.
“Keep in mind they’re probably scattered alllll ooooover Babylon. And there’s 347 flyers. AND it’s probably gonna take all night, considering Sasha probably didn’t put them all in normal places,” he says.
These words sink in with the group. Devo and Griswold slowly put their paws down. Bino looks at them, annoyed, before giving Fido a mean look.
Fido nods. “Cool. Now all in favor of just rolling with it and letting the cats come?”

Five paws shoot up, outnumbering the two paws of Fox and Bino. Fox throws his hands up in frustration, and Bino sighs.
“Fine, we’ll do it the cat lover way. Everyone be here an hour early for setup. Meeting adjourned.” Bino mutters grumpily, and everyone gets up to leave.
Everyone files out, except for Fido, who stays behind. Bino looks at him, before standing up and pretending to look at the clipboard Peanut gave him. Fido waits a moment, before standing up as well.
“Don’t think about it too much Bino. Everyone is still gonna have a good time at the party. I promise!” Bino’s brother says, before walking out.
Bino grumbles and sits down at his desk. He turns on the TV, and starts watching some random show.
“Just ride it out Bino. Just ride it out,” he says to himself.

(Yes Bino still doesn’t like most cats. Some things never change even in an AU )

[Amazee Dayzee]

Really glad that these two chapters have been posted as they really were entertaining! Please keep it up!

[Hagus]

Chapter 16: Pete’s Spectacular Cooking Show!
Grape walks into the kitchen of her new home, the morning sun shining through the window. She looks over at Pete, who is still in his anthropomorphic griffin form. He’s wearing a chef’s hat, and is holding a spatula. Grape gives him a doubtful look.
“...whatcha doing there Pete?” she asks, sitting down at the counter.
“I figured I should make something special for breakfast, since it’s your first official full day of being adopted and all!”

Grape watches him walk over to a griddle, seeing pancakes on it. He goes to flip the first pancake, but the spatula gets stuck under the pancake, which is stuck to the griddle. Pete makes an annoyed face, and grabs the handle of the spatula, tugging on it. After a few tries, he yanks the spatula hard, a loud SNAP rings out. Pete looks at the now freed spatula, which seems to be missing it’s head. Across the room, Grape covers her laughter with a cough.
“What, can the all powerful celestial not make pancakes? I’m shocked!” Grape teases.
Pete looks at her, and points back at the griddle. “These pancakes are just to warm up the griddle. I got this.”

He snaps his fingers, and the griddle’s pancakes poof away. He begins putting more pancakes on to cook, while Grape’s stomach growls. She looks at the griddle, and then Pete. Pete has his face buried in a cooking book, while grabbing some bacon. Grape’s stomach growls again, louder, and Pete hears it.
“Sorry, the book says to cook it at medium temp. I can speed it up though!” Pete says, cranking the dial to “En Fuego”.
Grape’s eyes widen, as the pancakes go from cooking slowly and evenly to turning black before her eyes. Pete however, doesn’t notice this. He slaps down some bacon in a pan, and cranks the stove up to “high”. He smiles, facing Grape.
“You’re gonna love it, trust me,” he reassures her.
“Mhm...so how black should the pancakes be before they’re ready?” Grape asks.
“What. Oh nonono, pancakes are supposed to be a much lighter color.”
Grape raises an eyebrow and points the griddle. The pancakes are a pitch black color, and Pete gasps, shutting it off. He looks at Grape, then quickly back at the pancakes. He places them on a plate, and pulls out a can of whipped cream. He completely covers them in whipped cream to conceal their burnt nature. He carries them to Grape, who is leaning back in her chair.
“Here you are, one plate of Pete’s Perfect Pancakes!” Pete says happily.
“Thanks….” Grape sniffs the air. “Do I smell something burning?”

Pete turns to see the bacon pan smoking heavily. He scrambles over to the pan, and begins fanning it furiously with his wings. While he’s distracted, Grape takes one of the pancakes off her plate and taps it against the counter. The counter cracks slightly from the impact. She sets it back down and pushes the plate away.
“Perfect for destruction maybe,” she thinks to herself.
Across the kitchen, Pete has managed to control the smoke, and is carrying the bacon over. He sets it on her plate, then smiles, admiring his cooking. The griffin and cat stare at the burnt mess for a few seconds, before Pete slouches, pulling his chef’s hat over his eyes.
“Who am I kidding, I have no idea how to cook,” he says dejectedly.
Grape smirks, and pats the griffin on the head. “Well, we can’t all be good at everything. Even celestials!”
Pete takes his chef hat off and smiles back at Grape. “Well I did make something else, just in case. Apparently it’s the easiest thing to make for mortals.”
“What’s that?” Grape asks.
“A bowl of cereal,” Pete says, opening the fridge. “I put it in here to keep the milk-”
He falls silent, staring into the fridge.
“What’s wrong?” Grape asks, leaning across the counter to see inside.
Pete slowly pulls out the bowl of cereal from the fridge. It’s on fire.
“HOW!?” Pete cries, throwing his free hand into the air.
“Pffffffft!”
Grape begins laughing long and hard. Pete turns red and puts the cereal back and shuts it. Grape has tears of joy streaming down her face, and she pounds the counter. Pete slowly starts to smile, and then starts to laugh with her. Soon, their laughter echoes through the house, and rings out to anyone passing by in the street.

[96N64player]

Sweet chapter Hagus. It is refreshing to see Grape having a good time.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I like that this Pete isn't a total tool and isn't mean to Grape. Glad that Grape is enjoying herself also since she deserves it!

[NHWestoN]

Enter Rex in his chef's garb......

[Amazee Dayzee]

Pretty sure Pete would need him to cook since everything else would end up spontaneously bursting into flames.

[trekkie]

Great chapter, Haugus, very heartwarming. Also, Pete might want to look into take out and/or delivery.

[Amazee Dayzee]

This does make me wonder a lot if Pete is the type that could somehow set WATER on fire.

[Hagus]

Chapter 17: Heaven Has a Terrible Channel Selection
Tarot and Sabrina are lounging on their couch, as Tarot flips through the countless channels that Heaven offers. Sabrina looks up from her phone, and raises an eyebrow.
“I’m still super confused on how you managed to get channels from Heaven. I thought they were exclusively for the people up there,” she says, pointing up towards the ceiling.
“I worked out a deal with Dragon. You’d be surprised how easy it is to bargain with her.”
Sabrina nods, and goes back to scrolling through things on her phone. A short time later, both pets simultaneously point at the door.
“Aaaaand now,” they say in unison, as Max ceremoniously crashes through it.
Max stumbles a few steps, before waving to the two avatars. Sabrina barely even looks up from her phone, and waves back. Max shuts the door, and walks over to the couch. Sabrina and Tarot have their legs stretched across the couch, leaving no room for Max.
“Mind if I sit?” he asks, looking at Sabrina.
“I dunno, are you gonna keep crashing through our door like the world is about to end?”
“I promise to not not not never not not not NOT not crash through your door like the world is about to end,” he responds, smirking.
Tarot and Sabrina stare at him. Tarot begins counting the amount of “nots” on her fingers, and Sabrina blinks a few times. Max spreads his arms out, and smiles.
“Whatever. Make room Tarot,” Sabrina says, moving her legs.
Max flops onto the couch, and scoots closer to his girlfriend. He puts an arm around Sabrina, who leans against Max in return. The two continue to snuggle up closer to each other.
On the TV, Tarot stops flipping channels and stops on one of the most popular shows in Heaven. The main hit of the show was that the audience got to vote live on what decisions the characters in the show made. Right now, they were voting on whether or not the main character should go to school or stay at the water park. It’s literally a unanimous decision to stay at the water park, and the main character throws their bathing suit on, and runs to the nearest water slide. Tarot, Max, and Sabrina watch the show for a bit before Max pipes up.
“The heck are we watching? What kind of trash channel is this?” he complains, throwing his free arm up in the air.
“That’s what we’ve wondered for the past few days,” Tarot says, flipping the channel to a Heavenly game of soccer. “You would think they would have a better selection for being….yknow...perfect and everything.”
“Well when I lose my other 6 lives, I’ll go make the best show anyone has ever seen!” Max exclaims, shaking his head.
Sabrina pats him on the head. “Sure you will.”
Tarot’s phone buzzes. She checks the number, sighing, before walking out of the room with phone in hand. Max watches her go, then turns back to Sabrina, smirking.
“Oh would you look at that, we’re all alone~” he says teasingly.
Sabrina sticks her tongue out at him playfully, and wraps her arms and tail around him, pulling her boyfriend closer. Max leans in slowly, pulling Sabrina against him. Neither hears Tarot’s footsteps behind the couch, as Max pulls Sabrina into a soft kiss. Sabrina returns the kiss as Tarot walks by the couch. She glances at the couple, then stops.
“Sabrina,” she starts, but Sabrina’s tail baps her in the face as a nonverbal “shush”. Tarot crosses her arms, and gives Sabrina a look.
“Sabriiiinaaaaa,” she says again, getting more annoyed.
The two cats still ignore her, Max pushing Sabrina down onto the couch. Tarot growls softly, then holds up her phone.
“Got a call from Dragon. Grape got adopted,” she says bluntly.
Sabrina stiffens, and Max does shortly after. Tarot looks at them for a second, then gives Max a questioning look.
“Are you ok…?” Tarot asks slowly.
Max looks at Tarot, then at Sabrina. “Sabrina, please remove your claws from my back please,” he says painfully.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Really awesome job as usually Hagus! This story keeps on getting better and better!

[trekkie]

Loved Max and Sabrina snuggling, and Max's banter with Tarot and Sabrina. Wonder what'll happen with Grape and Dragon's avatar now that the purple cat has been adopted.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I am sort of wondering also on that who will be Dragon's avatar? I can't really see Dragon being the one to transform Joel against his will like Pete.

[trekkie]

I think that Sabrina and/or Tarot are still her avatar(s).

[Amazee Dayzee]

Oh I totally forgot about that actually. I thought that since Pete's avatar changed, so would Dragon's.

[Hagus]

Chapter 18: The First Pet You Meet In Babylon (And Odds Are Some People Have Forgotten About Him By This Point In the Comic)
“Cya Pete! Thanks for breakfast, or at least trying,” Grape calls, walking out of their front door.
“Don’t mention it. I was just being a good friend... seriously, don’t mention it to anyone though,” he responds, watching her go. His chef’s hat is on fire, but he doesn’t seem to mind.
Grape nods, and closes the door behind her. She bounds down the steps to her home, and begins to walk down the street. She honestly didn’t know what to expect from this town. She had seen a couple pets out and about during her first day in the house, but had no clue who they were, or what they were like. However, she did not feel like finding out today. Maybe another day though. She stops at an intersection, and looks down each street. After a moment though, she decides to head towards a park that seemed fairly empty.
“Better than a busy downtown,” she thinks to herself, sitting down on a bench.
Before she can even get comfortable, another pet comes down the path her bench is on. She watches the pet warily.
“Please just keep walking, keep walking keep-” she murmurs to herself, averting her gaze to the ground.
“Hi!” the pet calls.
“Gosh dang it,” she thinks, glancing up at the pet.
Grape can see now that the pet is in fact another cat. He’s quite skinny, with orange and white fur, and a purple M tag. He approaches the bench, and gestures to the space next to her, smiling.
“This seat taken?” he asks.

Grape moves her tail out of the way so he can sit, not saying a word. The cat sits down, and Grape scoots a bit further down the bench. The two sit for a few minutes in silence, before he gives Grape a small smile.
“I’m Marvin,” he says, extending a paw.
Grape looks at it for a moment, and then shakes his paw. “I’m Grape.”
Marvin nods. “It fits you pretty well,” he says, gesturing to Grape’s fur.
Grape looks at herself for a second, then back at the ground. In her mind, she was praying this cat would leave her alone. Marvin tilts his head.
“So I take it you’re new here? I haven’t seen you around before,” he says, trying to make conversation.
Grape nods. “Yeah. Got adopted yesterday.”
“Oh, congrats! You live around here?”
“Down the street. Not sure what the road is called,” she responds, pointing in the general direction of her house. She scoots a bit further down the bench, and Marvin takes note of this.
“I get you. I moved here a few years ago. I got lost every time I went out for a week! But I usually have a terrible sense of direction, so you’ll probably be fine.”

Grape doesn’t respond, and Marvin sighs. Clearly he’s not gonna get through to her, it was like talking to a brick wall. He stands up and stretches, glancing at her.
“Well, if you want, I can show you around sometime. It helps to have a couple friends show you the way instead of just walking aimlessly for a few hours.”
“If you’re trying to get something from me you can forget it. I’ll learn my way around,” Grape says grumpily, looking up at him.
Marvin holds his paws up. “Not at all. Just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood. Cya around!”
He heads down the path again, and Grape rolls her eyes. She stands up and starts down a path as well, before stopping.
“...did I come from this way?” she asks herself hesitantly.
She turns a couple times. Every path looked the same. Great. She was lost on her first outing. From behind her, footsteps sound, and she turns to face them. Marvin reappears, but stops when he sees her.
“Are you-” he starts.
“What do you want now?” she says, annoyed with the orange cat.
Marvin points to the bench. “I forgot my phone.”
“Oh.”

Grape stands there and watches him grab his phone off the bench. He nods to her, and starts to head off. Grape looks down each path again, trying to remember where she had come from. Marvin stops just before he’s out of sight, a slightly amused look on his face as he turns around.
“You’re lost aren’t you?” he says teasingly.
“No! I’m just taking in the beauty of the...trees,” Grape says, gesturing to an oak tree.
“Uh-huh. Well just in case you forget, you told me you live that way,” Marvin says, pointing down the path that Grape was standing across from.
Grape looks down the path, then back at Marvin.
“I knew that. Goodbye Melvin.”
“It’s Marvin.”
“Marvin. Right. Cya around maybe,” Grape says, turning around and walking down the path Marvin had pointed out to her.
Marvin watches her leave, and smiles, shaking his head. If he was still his past self, Grape would be like looking in a mirror for him. Grumpy, secluded, unsure of if she liked where she was. All she needs is someone like Max, who helped him when he was new to town. Once Grape disappears from his vision, he starts his walk home, whistling a tune.
“She’ll come around eventually,” he thinks to himself.

[Harry Johnathan]

I have a feeling that Grape isn't going to be "coming around" anytime soon...

Also, wonder if she'll ever meet Peanut. Maybe Sabrina and Tarot are coming after her...

[Harry Johnathan]

I have a feeling that Grape isn't going to be "coming around" anytime soon, especially if Pete has his way.

Also, wonder if she'll ever meet Peanut. Maybe Sabrina and Tarot are coming after her...

[Amazee Dayzee]

Great work as usual on all of this! You really do have a gift for writing Hagus!

[Hagus]

Chapter 21: Party Preppers Part 1 (Alliteration Is Fun!)
Fox stands at the door to the Sandwich house, a wad of cash in his paw. He rings the doorbell, then steps back, awaiting an answer. After a few seconds, the door swings open, Peanut’s always-energetic face smiling at Fox.
“Hi Fox!” Peanut exclaims. “What brings you here?”
Fox nods a greeting to Peanut, and then gestures to the inside of Peanut’s house. “Mind if I come in for a sec?”
“Sure!” the energetic dog says, stepping to the side to let Fox in.
Fox enters, and Peanut shuts the door behind him. Inside, Fox is surprised to see the house almost immaculate. Peanut walks across the hallway, and into the living room, where a Wii was set up. Mario Kart was on the screen of the tv, and Peanut sits down on the couch, waiting for Fox. Fox wanders into the room, and sits down on a chair across from Peanut. Peanut’s tail wags excitedly.
“So uh...nice place you got here Peanut,” Fox says, slightly concerned about Peanut’s enthusiasm.
“Thanks! My dad bought it himself.”
“Uh huh...so lemme just do what I came here to do and I’ll get out of your fur,” he says, setting the wad of cash down in the middle of the table.
Peanut looks at it confused, and then back at Fox. “What’s this?”
“It’s money Peanut.”
“Well I know that, but why did you just set money down on the table?” Peanut responds, pointing to the cash.
“Well, I was talking with some of the GODC members about you and-” he starts.
“Aww! You guys were talking about me? That’s cool!” Peanut interrupts.

Fox blinks, and tilts his head. “...anyway, we wanted to compensate you for all the food that Bino assigned for you to make for the party. Hence the money.”
Peanut nods, and smiles. “Oh right! The cake and the cupcakes and the cookies and fire hydrant shaped snacks and-”
“Yeah, all of-”
“-the pretzel poppers and mini-pizzas and orange soda punch and-”
“Ok Peanut I get your point,” Fox says, interrupting Peanut.
Peanut stops, and looks down at the cash again. “Well you don’t have to pay me for it. I like cooking! It entertains me and my parents said it helps unload my ‘manic energy’ on something that isn’t them!”
“Ah. Well I just stopped by to deliver it. Don’t mention it to Bino though, he doesn’t think anyone should be paid for it.”
“I won’t! My lips are sealed,” Peanut says, pretending to zip his lips.

Fox nods and stands up, heading for the door. Peanut watches him for a moment, before calling after him.
“Hey Fox?”
Fox turns around. “Yeah Peanut?”
“I was gonna play some more Mario Kart. Wanna join me?” he asks, holding up a second controller.
It was a Toad Wii remote with Wii Motion Plus inside. Peanut’s tail is still wagging. Fox makes a face, and inches towards the door.
“I dunno, I have some stuff I gotta go do. Y’know, other club business.”
Peanut’s tail slows, and he nods setting the remote down. It still looks brand new, while the one Peanut is holding in his other paw looks like it’s had years of wear and tear.
“Alright. If maybe another time then?” he asks hopefully.
Fox hesitates, and then nods, opening the door. “Maybe another time. Just a bit busy is all. Cya later Peanut.”
“Bye,” Peanut says, watching Fox close the door behind him.
Peanut sits for a second, then looks at his old controller, compared to the new one. He considers the idea of using it, then shakes his head, placing it back on top of the Wii. He unpauses the game, and he begins another cup. The Toad remote seems to just watch him, possibly wishing it would be used.

(Bonus points if anyone can tell me what the Toad Wii remote is a reference to xD)

[Crazy_Simone]

OMG, that could have been Grape’s control!
This Peanut never got to have a sibling.
Grape, please be best friend with him.

[NHWestoN]

Marvelous saga, Hag!! Different but beguiling. Pete makes an interesting sort of antehero.

[Amazee Dayzee]

This is a really great chapter that you have written Hagus! I hope you can continue to write more soon!

[Hagus]

Party Preppers Part 2: Possibly a Preposterous Plan
Bino is sitting in the back room of the GODC, checking over a few things that he needed to make sure were correct for the party. It was difficult for him to focus however, because his mind was still on the fact that cats were going to be in the GODC tomorrow. If he could, he would stop all the cats at the door, but...well they have claws and frankly he doesn’t want to deal with that.
“Stupid Peanut, that cat lover is gonna ruin the whole party. I don’t see any good that could come from cats coming. They could be planning a sinister takeover of the whole-”

Before he can finish his rant, the door swings open. Max is standing in the doorway with 2 other cats that Bino didn’t recognize.
“Bino! My dog!” Max calls, stepping into the room. The other two cats follow suit, and Bino stands up, and gives Max a “what do you want” look.
“Hey Max. Whatcha doing here?” Bino responds, resisting the urge to kick his brother out. He didn’t mind Max, he was one of the few cats he actually liked, but this was not the right time.
“I just wanted to thank you! I didn’t think that you’d ever open the club to cats, but I guess something must’ve changed your mind eh?”
“Wh-no! I didn’t-”
“Was it a pretty cat girl who changed your mind~?” Max teases, smiling widely at Bino. Bino tries to sputter out answer, but fails.
“Aw don’t try and deny it. Don’t worry though, I won’t tell anyone you allowed it. Your secret is safe with us!” Max says, gesturing to the two other cats with him. One is a purple-ish-blue-ish, with a J collar tag. The other took a moment of looking at for Bino to realize it was Tiger’s brother. Marlin he was pretty sure was his name…?
“Look Max, I didn’t allow it. Peanut put up those flyers without my permission, and we didn’t have time to replace them. And I don’t trust your friends as far as I can throw them.”
Marvin raises an eyebrow. “Can you even lift us up?”
Bino does fingerguns at him. “Probably not, so that just helps illustrate my point.

Max rolls his eyes. Bino goes and sits back down in his chair, sighing.
“Look, I know I can’t stop you from coming. Just don’t ruin it for the dogs ok? We’ve been looking forward to it.”
“Okie dokie, I’ll make sure that every single cat behaves themselves and does not do anything at all that you or any other dog would not like,” Max says sarcastically.
“You know what I mean.”
Max gives an ‘ok’ sign, and turns to leave. Marvin and Jasper leave the room together. Before Max exits, he looks over his shoulder.
“Bino?”
“Yeah?”
“What’s your policy on catnip?”
Bino blinks, amazed Max even considered asking.
“Are you...” Bino starts, before thinking for a moment. A small smirk tugs on the corners of his mouth.
“....suuuure! If we’re gonna have cats might as well go all out right?”
Now it was Max’s turn to be amazed. He was mainly asking as a joke but...he wasn’t about to lose this chance.
“Oh sweet! Thanks bro! See you at home!” Max calls, shutting the door behind him.
Bino watches the door swing shut, then picks up the phone he has on his desk. He punches in a few numbers, and waits for it to be picked up on the other end.

[Amazee Dayzee]

You keep on surpassing my expectations with this story! Great job on this chapter!

[Hagus]

Party Preppers Part 3: Potentially a Police Pertinent Problem
At the Babylon Gardens Police Department…
Fido is typing up a report on the recent arrest of Joel Robinson. He finishes up the last few lines and hits “print”. He takes a sip of coffee, and spins in his swivel chair while he waits for it to finish coming out of the printer. A beep sounds from the machine, and Fido takes the report. He steps out of his little desk area, and starts down the hallway. On his way, he passes by Officer Young, who nods to him points at the papers.
“Hey Fido, whatcha got?” he asks.
“Hey Cobalt. Just the report on Joel. Heard his trial was underway, figured I should deliver this to Ralph before it’s over.”
Cobalt nods. “Yeah. Don’t forget we’re assigned to help transport him to prison assuming they find him guilty. There’s no chance of him wiggling his way out of this one though. Too much evidence.”
Fido leans against a small table that is in the hallway. “I hate transportation duty. Never in the history of Babylon Gardens has a criminal escaped or has tried to escape during transit.”
The other K9 shrugs, and begins to walk back down to his office. Fido rounds the corner to Ralph’s office to find the door closed and the lights off. Fido places the report in the mail slot in the door, then turns around and heads back to his desk.

Before his rear even touches the seat, his cellphone rings. He grabs it, checking that no senior officer is around before answering it.
“Fido here,” he says quietly. Cobalt peeks out from his office, watching Fido.
“Hey Fido,” Bino says from the other end.
Fido sighs and bonks his head against the desk a few times. “Ok, before you even say anything, is what you’re about to ask me illegal or something that will result in property damage?”
“Wow Fido, way to assume wrong. Can’t believe you think that’s the only reason I call.”
Fido rolls his eyes, and starts spinning around again in his chair. “So what is this about then?”
There’s a pause on the other end, then Bino speaks. “Is uh...are the cats allowed to bring catnip to the party?”
“Bino, you know the policy on ‘nip. Home consumption is something we can’t enforce, but doing it in public is illegal. Why?” Fido responds flatly, stopping his chair from spinning.
“I just wanted to make sure the cats don’t try to bring any is all. Don’t want the party broken up by you guys. I’ll tell Max to let them know. Thanks Fido!”
“No problem Bino, talk to ya later.”

Fido hangs up, and senses a presence behind him. He turns to see Cobalt standing there with his arms crossed. He points to Fido’s phone.
“Was that your brother again?” he asks, smirking.
“Yes. For once it was an actual question and not a scheme or a favor he wanted from me.”
“Bean-o is his name right? He was at the brawl with the ferals. I gotta admit, he could throw down pretty well for being a civilian. Did he take self defense courses? Or has he just played a bunch of video games and copies what he sees?”
Fido shakes his head, putting his phone in his vest pocket. “He was a K9 recruit with me actually. He got the boot because of self discipline issues. He performed pretty well otherwise.”
Cobalt raises an eyebrow. “So did he like, forget everything he learned about law enforcement or does he just ignore it when he tries his schemes?”
“Oh no, he actually knows the laws better than me! Which is a problem, since he manages to find a loophole whenever he comes close to violating a law. In fact, I don’t know why he would call about catnip, that was his favorite...law…” Fido trails off, looking at the ground for a moment.
Cobalt looks at Fido, confused.
Fido looks up suddenly. “That sneaky son of a charming young lady!” he exclaims, surprising Cobalt.

Fido grabs his bag, and packs up to leave. Cobalt steps back as Fido hastily leaves his office, walking towards the exit. He slips on his K9 vest and puts on his sunglasses. Cobalt follows, tapping Fido on the shoulder.
“Uh...care to explain?” he asks, struggling to keep up with Fido’s walking pace.
“I have to take care of something. The scooter has the keys in it right?” Fido responds, opening the door to the station.
Cobalt stops, holding up a finger. “You aren’t allowed to drive it, remember? The donut incident?”
Fido stops and turns a bit red. “Oh….right.”
Cobalt smirks again, holding up his set of keys. He raises his eyebrows, and Fido stares at him for a second, before sighing.
“Fine. Come on, ” he says grumpily.
Cobalt chuckles and leaves with him, hopping on the scooter and letting Fido climb on behind him. Cobalt starts the scooter up, and looks back at Fido.
“Where to?”
“GODC. I have to have a little talk with my little brother.”
Cobalt nods, zipping out of the parking lot, and towards the clubhouse.

[Amazee Dayzee]

This is just a marvelous fanfiction you are writing! Keep it up!

[Hagus]

Chapter 20: Hagus Attempts To Write a Chapter While Stressed and Simultaneously On Vacation Because He’s Bored
“Dinner is served!” Pete calls, setting a large cardboard box on the table. Grape, who is sitting at the table, gives him a skeptical look.
“Pete,” she says, poking the box. “This is a cardboard box.”
He nods and sits across from her, handing her a glass plate, and a napkin. Grape looks at him, tilting her head. She noticed that once again he had changed his form. He was still a griffin, but he was much skinnier, and his t-shirt seemed to have a small graphic of a smug looking emoji. She blinks, and the emoji seems to change to be raising an eyebrow at her. Pete looks at his shirt, then at Grape.
“Are you gonna try the food or am I gonna eat it all by myself?” he asks, opening the box and revealing the contents, which is pizza.
Grape sits there for a moment, before the smell hits her nose. She wasn’t quite sure what she was smelling, but it was just so…..GOOD! She quickly reaches for the pizza, grabbing a chunk from the middle, and tearing it from the rest of the pizza instead of taking a slice. Pete goes to say something, but shrugs and takes a slice like a normal sane person. Grape watches Pete take a slice, before realizing she was supposed to take a triangle. She turns red, setting the chunk on her plate and taking a slice instead.
“Almost thought I was gonna have to explain pizza to you,” Pete says, smirking.
“I-” Grape starts, but is interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

Grape hops off her chair, and walks to the door, swinging it open. She looks at the person who knocked, who is an orange- ok I don’t have to explain what Marvin looks like again.
“Hey Gra-” he starts.
Grape slams the door without skipping a beat, and turns to walk back to the kitchen. Knocking starts, and she turns 180 degrees, opening the door again. Marvin is still there, looking slightly amused. Grape’s ears flatten to the back of her head, and she spits out a single word.
“What.” she says.
Marvin hesitates, reading her body language, but goes to speak anyway knowing he is probably in imminent danger.
“I wanted to ask if you wanted to come to a little event happening-”
“Not interested, thanks,” she says, and tries to shut the door.
She finds it won’t shut however, and she turns to see Pete standing behind her in human form. He looks at Marvin and nods.
“Hello. How can I help you?” he says.
Marvin looks at Grape, then at the strange looking human. “I uh...was gonna ask if Grape wanted to come to a party tomorrow. It’s at the Good ‘Ol Dogs Club. Figured it would be a good way for her to...uh…” he trails off, seeing Grape giving him a death glare.
Pete thinks for a moment, and then shrugs. “I don’t see why not! I have some very important company coming over tomorrow anyway, and I need peace and quiet for it. Grape would be happy to come!”

Grape’s mouth drops, and she turns to Pete to protest. Pete chuckles, and walks back to the kitchen before she can say anything. This was just great. Now she had to go out and actually interact with other pets. Not only that, but that annoying orange cat was the one inviting her. He probably wanted to make a move on her or something. She didn’t really know how relationships worked, or how male cats acted...except for Steve but he really shouldn’t count. Maybe she could just show up, and then leave after 5 minutes. After all, she was one of the toughest cats she knew, she could force her way out if...oh Melvin or whatever his name is is still talking.

“...and that’s about it. Sound good?” Marvin says as Grape tunes back in.
She gives him a blank stare, and Marvin stares back.
“....do you need me to repeat that?” he asks.
“Nono! I got it. Cya tomorrow thanks for forcing me to go to a party I didn’t want to go to have a nice night byeeeeeeee!” she says quickly, shoving Marvin away from the door, and shutting it.
Grape sighs, hearing Marvin step off the porch and leave. She storms back to the kitchen where Pete is eating another slice of pizza. The purple cat stares at Pete, who takes his sweet old time acknowledging her.
“Yeeeeeees?” he asks in a sing-song voice.
“Why. Just why?” Grape asks, exasperated. She throws her arms up, and Pete smiles, stepping off his chair.
“Grape, I get it. You would rather stay home. However, you are a pet now! You need to go out, enjoy yourself. Staying inside all day isn’t good for you. I want you to try and make some friends. Celestials are very busy after all, I won’t always be around to entertain you. That little Melville friend of yours is cute, he’s a good cat to introduce you to people. Just try to relax a little, open up. Can you do that?”
Grape sighs, ears folding back slightly again. “I guess.”
Pete smiles and rubs her head. “Excellent! Thanks for listening, Grape. I promise you you’ll have a good time.”
He leaves the kitchen, and Grape stands there, thinking. She slowly nods, and leaves the kitchen herself. Maybe Pete was right. He was a celestial after all, he always knows best.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Nice to see you got this chapter up! Whether or not you like it, I think it came out really awesome!

[Hagus]

Chapter 21: GODC Summer Spectacular! (now featuring cats) Part 1
“Hit it Joey!” Fox calls from across the stage.
Joey nods, and flips a lever. The stage suddenly becomes illuminated in bright lights, and the rest of the lights in the building dim down from the amount of power the stage lights were drawing. Overall it had the desired effect Bino was hoping for. Fox gives a thumbs up toward Bino, who was standing on the floor in front of the stage. Joey hops off the stage and walks over to his brother. Bino rubs his head teasingly, ruffling Joey’s hair. Joey gives him a look of annoyance, fixing his hair.
“Good job Joey. I meant to figure out how to work the lights, but I got busy with trying to handle everything else and kinda forgot about it,” Bino says.
Joey gives a short nod. “Don’t mention it. Just glad to be helping.”

Across the large room, Peanut is standing next to several large tables, filling them with snacks. Cupcakes, cookies, popcorn, dog-safe chocolate, and other crowd favorites were scattered across the tables. He has been working for two or three days preparing everything, so he hoped everyone would enjoy it. If not, it meant he would at least be able to eat all the leftovers himself! He starts humming a tune to himself, but is interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.
He turns, seeing Sasha holding a tray of...something? Peanut gives her tray a look, then raises an eyebrow.
“Whatcha got there Sasha?” Peanut asks, trying to make sure he doesn’t offend her.
“Oh silly, don’t you know brownies when you see them?” she says, smiling and putting the tray of “brownies” right in the middle of the table. They were a weird gray-ish color, some spots appeared rock hard, and chunks of a mysterious substance were poking out of the surface of the brownies.
Peanut stares at the tray, forcing a smile on his face.
“They definitely look...different. What recipe did you use?”
“What’s a recipe?” Sasha responds happily, tail wagging.
Peanut’s eyes grow a bit wider and he looks back at Bino, who is talking with Fox. He points behind him, and starts backing up.
“I gotta go talk to Bino, gimme a sec ok?”
“Okay! When you get back I want you to try one!”

Peanut turns and quickly walks over to Bino and Fox. The two seemed to be in a very heated debate, but they grow quiet when Peanut walks over. Fox looks between Bino and Peanut, then walks away without a word. Peanut watches him go, then turns to Bino.
“What’re you talking about?” he asks curiously.
“Oh, nothing you need to be concerned about. What do you need?” Bino says, glancing around innocently.
“Listen uh...Sasha made these “brownies” and I don’t know if we should uh...allow them to be served.”
Bino sighs and scratches his head. “Yeah, I saw, but I promised her she could make a dish. Just try to hide them under the other-”
“Hey Biney! Guess what I made!” Sasha exclaims, skipping up to him holding a plate with a brownie on it.
Peanut and Bino look at each other, then at the brownie, and back at each other.
“...well good luck,” Peanut says quickly, walking away.
“Wh-hey! Don’t leave me!” Bino cries. Sasha steps closer to him and holds the brownie in his face.
“C’mon! I made them myself!”

Max’s House
Max and Sabrina are sitting by the door, waiting patiently. Well, Sabrina is, Max is bouncing his foot up and down. Sabrina’s tail reaches out and lightly hits Max’s foot.
“Calm down, we’re not gonna be late to the party. It doesn’t start for another ten minutes,” she says, trying to calm Max down.
Max sits still for 15 seconds, and then his foot starts bouncing again. Sabrina rolls her eyes and peers into the living room. They are waiting on Tarot, but she was taking her sweet old time. Tarot wasn’t usually one to go to social events, and neither was Sabrina. Especially when dogs were around. However, according to Tarot, Grape was going to be there, and they had to see her in person. Tarot was going to use an artifact and find out what class of avatar she was, her power level, and other things to give them an edge. They may be overreacting, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Tarot! I swear to dog I will take Sabrina and go without you!” Max calls.
Tarot opens the door and steps into the living room, with an annoyed expression. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Next time I’ll make sure to prepare ancient magic(k)al artifacts faster.”
“Thank you. Now, let’s go and celebrate our victory over the dogs by celebrating at their own clubhouse!”
Tarot follows the couple outside, shutting the door behind them. Before they even get to the sidewalk, Max stops.
“Shoot! I said I was gonna swing by and walk with Marvin. You guys don’t mind a short detour do you?”
Sabrina smirks. “Come on Max, we want to get to the party! We’re gonna be laaaaate!”
Max shoots her a look and walks in the opposite direction of the GODC.

The group walks up to Marvin’s house, the orange cat already outside. The two greet each other with an elaborate handshake, with Tarot and Sabrina just watching in a mix of confusion and disappointment. Max and Marvin fist bump to finish the handshake, and the orange cat nods toward the clubhouse. The group sets off yet again, but stops after a block or two as Marvin hops up the stairs to Grape’s house. Marvin gives the door a quick knock, and steps back. Sabrina looks at Max, and points to the house.
“Who else are we picking up?”
Max shrugs. “Marvin said he had someone who was trying to get out more and wanted to come to the party. Don’t remember her name though.”
“So Marvin finally got himself a date? Good for him!” Sabrina says happily.
“Nah, he says they’re just friends. She’s new, only been here like a few days.”
Sabrina looks back at the house, the door swinging open. She tries to see who the cat is, but her view is blocked by Marvin. On the porch, Marvin nods to Grape, who is looking past him to the cats and dog standing by the sidewalk.
“Who are they….?” she asks suspiciously.
“Oh, that is Tarot, Max, and his girlfriend Sabrina. They’re gonna walk with us. You ok with that?”
“Oh carp, girlfriend? It IS an attempt at a date! A double date at that, and for some reason a dog is here too? Why is she so short, I thought all dogs were...ok that’s not important. I should go back inside right now. He lied to me! I’ll show him for trying to trick me into a date!” Grape thinks in her head.
“Sure, I don’t mind.”
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” her mind yells at her as she steps outside and shuts the door.
Her and Marvin walk down the steps and up to the group. Sabrina looks up from her phone, and stiffens.
“Pssssst, Tarot!” she hisses. Tarot looks up as well, and her eyes go wide. The two watch Grape walk up with Marvin to Max.
“Hi! I’m Max. Nice to meet ya,” Max says, shaking Grape’s hand.
“Grape,” the purple says curtly, not making eye contact.
She looks past Max, and at the black cat with a weird charm on her collar. She seemed to be scared of something. Grape nods to Sabrina, and Sabrina half waves back. She glances at Tarot as well, but the dog seemed to be distracted with a toy she was holding.
“Well, let’s get going! We’re definitely going to be late now!” Max exclaims, taking Sabrina’s hand and pulling her down the road. Tarot and Marvin follow closely, and Grape trails behind the group.

[Hagus]

Chapter 22: GODC Summer Spectacular! (now featuring cats) Part 2
They eventually arrive at the GODC, a line of pets are waiting to get inside. At the entrance, two dogs are letting them in one by one. Grape stands in line behind Marvin, who is talking with Max. She tunes out their conversation, and tries to just be with her own thoughts. She fails to do this however, noticing the short little fluffy dog that they walked with keeps looking back at her. Every time she did it, Grape got more and more unsettled. Eventually they get to the front of the line, and are admitted into the clubhouse. Inside, music is playing from speakers, and dogs and cats are spread across the floor, eating and dancing. Max and Sabrina run off to a group of cats who are waving to them, and the fluffy dog quickly vanishes into the masses, still fiddling with her toy. Marvin starts to go to the snack table, and turns back to Grape.
“I’m starving, want some snacks?” he asks, almost inaudible from the music playing.

“I’m not really hungry,” she responds, trying to find a place that wasn’t crowded with cats and dogs.
She spots a spot by the wall, and makes her way over. She senses Marvin watching her go, and plops herself down on the floor. A few pets give her looks as they walk by, but luckily for Grape, everyone seems to just leave her alone. Twenty minutes go by, and she debates just leaving, but she notices some of the cats from the party coming in and out of the room by the stage. Curiosity gets the best of her, and she starts maneuvering toward the door. She’s stopped however, by a loud voice ringing out over the mic. She looks up at the stage, and a dog with floppy ears is standing by the mic. Another dog, one with a yellow bandana and pointy ears accompanies him. Most of the partygoers stop their conversations and look up at the stage.

“Thank you to everyone so far who has come tonight! This turnout is way bigger than we could’ve anticipated! Is everyone enjoying themselves so far?” the floppy eared dog says excitedly into the microphone. A few cheers ring up from the crowd, and applause echoes in the building.
“Excellent! Now remember, please don’t start lighting the tablecloths on fire until after the food is cleared off of them. We don’t want a repeat of last year…”
Most of the cats look confused, but the dogs all nod, and a couple look at another floppy eared dog, who is standing there with a lighter in his hands.
“Look, if you’re gonna have tablecloths with crappy Star Wars designs, I’m going to burn them,” he calls from the crowd. A dalmatian tries to take the lighter from his hands, the two tugging back and forth with it.
Grape shakes her head in disappointment. “Stupid dogs.”

The dog on the stage turns off the mic, and exits the stage, followed by the pointy eared one. Grape watches them leave, before turning and heading back towards the door she was originally aiming for. A couple cats exit the room, and a smell hits Grape’s nose that she hasn’t smelled before. It made her feel relaxed though…
She reaches for the door handle, but she suddenly feels herself pulled to the left. She lets out a surprised shout as two pairs of paws drag her into a large closet. Before she can call out to anyone, her mouth has a gag placed in it, and the door slams, leaving her in darkness. After a moment, a green light glows, and she whirls around. Two other pets are in the room, looking at her intensely. Grape can barely see the taller one at first, until she steps into the light. Sabrina’s eyes are narrowed at Grape as she sits down on a box in the closet. Grape tries to pull the gag out of her mouth, growling. Sabrina raises her paw up as it starts to glow a green color, and Grape’s arms snap back down to her sides.

The other pet looks at her with a more calm expression. It was that shorter dog from before. Tarot pulls out that toy Grape had seen her playing with earlier, and points it at Grape. Grape struggles to break free from her invisible bonds.
“Hold her still Sabrina, it’s scanning her now. Gotta have as little movement as possible” Tarot says.
The short dog’s eyes glow a bright green, and the artifact emits a beak that engulfs Grape. Grape stares at it with fascination and horror, then the light blinds her. She stands there, rigid and tense, as the light washes over her. After what seems like an eternity, the light fades, and Tarot’s eyes return to normal. She looks at it closely for a few moments, her face going from calm, to confused, to concerned.

“Well, what’s the deal?” Sabrina says, still keeping Grape in place.
Tarot shakes her head, furrowing her brow. “It says that she has...no power whatsoever...”
“What?! How could she have no power? She’s Pete’s avatar for...for Pete’s sake!”
Tarot puts the artifact down, and walks up to Grape. Although she has to look almost 90 degrees upward to look at Grape’s face, Grape still felt intimidated by her. Maybe it was because of the very obvious presence of supernatural forces that surrounded her, maybe it was just instinct.
“Ungag her Sabrina. I wanna ask her something.”

Grape’s gag falls away from her mouth, and gives way to a torrent of spitting, hissing, and threats.
“Who the CARP are you and why in DOGS NAME are you keeping me tied up in a closet? Are you like, hecking witches that want to eat me or something?! I WANT ANSWERS!”
Tarot’s expression doesn’t change, and Grape glares at her angrily. They stare at each other for a moment, then Tarot speaks quietly.
“You know Pete, correct?”
Grape blinks, then rolls her eyes. “So what if I do?”
“Did he say anything about avatars or magic(k)al power? Or a game of some sort?”
“Wh-...no! We’ve just been living in a house for a couple days now. Are you two delusional or something?! And how do you know Pete?”
Tarot facepaws, and looks at Sabrina, waving her hand. “Let her go, we’re too early. My vision was wrong.”
Sabrina’s glowing hand fades, and Grape’s arms and body are released.
“...big mistake mutt” Grape mutters as she lunges at Tarot. She comes within inches of Tarot, but finds herself stuck in midair again. Sabrina’s eyes and hands glow yet again, holding Grape in place. Tarot turns and walks back to her seat, then faces Grape.
“Pete isn’t who you think he is. He’s not benevolent, or generous, nor does he care about you. He’s going to offer you things that are irresistible. He will lie, cheat, and make empty promises to keep you happy. Eventually, he’s going to offer you unfathomable power in exchange for becoming something called an avatar. If you take his offer, you’ll be stuck in endless servitude. Do not listen to him under any circumstances. Do I make myself clear?”
Grape doesn’t say anything. Tarot and Sabrina exchange a look, and Tarot points to the door. “Get her out of here. She doesn’t want to listen to us, then so be it.”

Sabrina pushes Grape towards the door. The door to the closet swings open on its own, and Grape is plopped down onto the floor. She turns back to the closet as the door shuts.
“Hey! I’m not done with you! Face me like a-”
She opens the door furiously, to find the closet is significantly smaller than before, and has a lack of pets inside.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Glad that you have gotten back to writing this! I was really looking forward to the next installment!

[Hagus]

Chapter 23: THE GODC Summer Spectacular! (Now featuring cats) Part 3

Grape backs away from the door in confusion and fear. She had no idea how those two knew about Pete, but she didn’t feel safe sticking around here any longer. She should have just stayed at home like she had planned to earlier. As the purple cat turns to walk out the door, someone grabs her paw. She turns to see Marvin.
“You’re leaving already? You’ve barely been here for half an hour!” he says, munching on a couple pretzels from the snack table.

Grape pulls her paw out of his grasp. “Yeah. This party sucks. I just got tied down by two pets and interrogated like I was some sort of criminal. Unless I am just not caught up with the current trends, I don’t think that’s normal.”
Marvin looks at her confused, then slowly smirks. “Someone’s been nipping haven’t they?”
Grape rolls her eyes and pushes him. “No. Now leave me alone before I lose my mind.”
Marvin puts his paws up and backs away. “Fine. I was just trying to make you feel welcome. Lemme know if you wanna come out of your cave to interact with anyone.”

He turns and leaves, leaving Grape standing by herself. She once again makes a move for the door, but that floppy eared dog from earlier grabs the mic again.
“Attention! We’re gonna begin the dance contest in the middle of the dance floor! Winner gets…”
He looks around for a prize. The yellow bandana dog runs into the stage and whispers into his ear, shaking head. They argue for a moment, and then the bandana dog runs back off the stage. The first dog sighs and faces the crowd again.
“The winner gets...uh...a special thing!”
Spurred on by the incentive of a special thing, the pets surge towards the dance floor. Grape, unfortunately for her, is caught up in the crowd and can’t break out of it, ending up near the center of the dance floor. At the center, several cats and dogs are pulling out their best moves, whether they were actually good or not is up to personal preference. The crowd cheers them on, and Grape realizes there’s no point trying to get out of the crowd, and watches the other pets dance. Occasionally, someone gets shoved into the circle, and they try to fight their way back out of the circle of pets to avoid embarrassment. Grape chuckles at a couple of these pets, who end up trying to dance to satisfy the crowd, only to prove why they hadn’t jumped to the center of the circle on their own. Some of them were dog awful.

She then feels to paws on her back, and before she can react, she is shoved into the circle with enough force that it almost sends her face planting into the floor. She turns furiously to see who shoved her, but the gap had already closed. Whoever had shoved her was already hiding back in the crowd. She straightens herself, and looks at the few other pets in the circle with her. None of them were good, which made her feel a little better. From the far end of the crowd, she spots Marvin and Max. She mouths “help me” to them, but she only gets two thumbs up from both cats. She had a funny feeling they were responsible for her current situation. Feeling eyes watching her, she starts to slowly dance to the rhythm of the music. As the music speeds up, Grape starts dancing faster and more complexly. The crowd and other dancers start to fade from her mind, and she gets lost in her own little world of dance. She smiles and spins around, then does the splits. This gets a cheer from the crowd, bringing her back into reality. She stands back up, bowing and turning to leave, slightly red from embarrassment.
More cheers erupts however, from the other side of the circle. Grape glances over her shoulder. A dog was dancing, and dancing quite well. The dog’s face was obstructed due to the lighting, with shadows seeming to always be on his face. She faces the dog, eyebrows raised. She didn’t know any dog could actually dance. Grace and smoothness was supposed to be a cat’s domain. The dog finishes with the splits as well, and points at Grape as if to challenge her. The crowd emits “ooooooo”s and “aaaaaah”s, looking back at Grape.

Marvin grins and calls from the circle. “Kick his butt Grape!”
Grape shrugs, and walks back to the center circle. She begins to move her feet, until they become a blur to anyone watching. She swings her legs in front of her, then behind, using her arms to keep her up (yknow like that one breakdance move?). She swings her legs fast enough to have enough momentum to get up onto a one armed handstand, and spins on that hand. The crowd cheers, and she lowers herself down, and looks at the dog expectedly. The dog stretches his arms, then begins moving his feet as well spinning around quickly. The more he spins, the lower he gets, until he’s almost on his knees. He then swiftly transitions to spinning on his head. He slowly stops spinning, and points at Grape. Grape can see his smirking. The crowd is cheering louder, and the circle has tightened a bit. Sabrina squeezes through the crowd, next to Max. She sees Grape dancing, and taps Max.
“What’s going on?” she asks.
“Grape’s kicking butt in a dance contest!” he exclaims, shoving a cat out of the way so he can get a better view.
“Is she really that good?”
“Yeah, it’s kinda hooooooooooo…..” he trails off, Sabrina glaring at him.
“I mean uh, it’s impressive. Very impressive. Hehe…”

The dog gets onto his feet, and Grape nods to him, backing up to give him enough room to dance. The two competitors begin dancing at the same time. Their moves are different at first, but they sync up, pulling out the same moves. This throws the crowd into a frenzy, and Grape can’t help but smile widely. The two dance for another 20 seconds or so, until the music ends. They both end the dance with different poses, and the crowd cheers for them. Grape pants, tired from the dancing, and stands up. The dog waves to the crowd, and turns back to Grape. The floppy eared dog steps into the center circle, clapping. He puts the mic up to his mouth and turns it on.

“Hot dog, that was some great dancing! Give it up for Peanut and whoever this purple cat is!”
The crowd once again cheers, and Grape sticks her paw out to shake her competitor's hand.
“Peanut…?” she thinks. The name sounded familiar.
The dog steps into the light, and Grape blinks, staring at the dog’s face. His red collar reflects the light well, and his bone charm swings back and forth in front of her face. The dog shakes her paw, and smiles widely.
“I’m Peanut! Nice to meet you!”

[Amazee Dayzee]

This chapter is so powerfully done! Hats off to you sir!

[Crazy_Simone]

Ah, what a coincidance! I wish all mushy friendship for you two.