odd how some days can turn out.

No new characters introduced this chapter
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Crossing Over: When heroes unite
A Fanfiction written by TheAnnonymousKat on Furaffinity
The following fanfiction is a nonprofit project for fun, all aspects of copyrighted series including characters depicted in this fanfiction are owned by their respective creators and I encourage you to support the official release of those series. Also special thanks to my friend Ben Bandicoot for helping me with the writing on occasion and allowing me to use his character.

Chapter 2: Forget me not-
Kat sighed in content as he felt the vibrations beneath him, it had been a hectic week what with getting his hero license with the rest of his new team and everyone learning more about each other so they can cooperate better, Now the Anthros were taking some time to relax in their recently acquired base. Panthro walked into the laundry room with a basket of dirty clothes as he hummed to himself, though jumped and dropped his basket before looking away from Kat,
“K-Kat!! For Pete’s sake why are you naked?!” Panthro asked in surprise as he refused to look at Kat. Indeed Kat was in his birthday suit as he sat atop the washer while it rumbled,
“Oh, hey Panthro. I’m just washing some clothes and enjoying the vibrations of the machine,” Kat explained,
“You didn’t answer my question, why are you naked??” Panthro asked once more,
“Oh, I also always wash the clothes I have on too, it’s more efficient,” Kat explained. Panthro sighed as he started gathering his clothes off the ground,
“Geez, you could’ve at least locked the door to the laundry room or something, what if someone else walked in?” Panthro asked,
“I’m sure they’d get over their jealousy,” said Kat jokingly, though Panthro rolled his eyes,
“And what if I just walked around the base in the buff?” Panthro asked,
“I wouldn’t care,” Kat replied,
“You’d probably stare at me…” said Panthro with a blush,
“Probably, even with clothes on you’re a pretty handsome guy,” said Kat,
“Thanks.. I guess” Panthro replied timidly.

Panthro was about to walk out of the laundry room to take care of his laundry at a later time, though he suddenly heard someone approaching so he quickly dropped his clothes basket and fished out one of his t-shirts that he recently acquired before stretching his arms over to Kat and quickly putting the shirt on him before scrambling over to Kat. Doggie then entered the laundry room humming to himself and paused when he saw Panthro grinning nervously at Doggie as he had an arm around Kat, who was wearing a shirt that was so big on him that it might as well have been a night gown. Doggie and Panthro stared at each other for a while until Doggie broke the silence,
“Do I want to know?” Doggie asked casually,
“Heh, just doing some laundry with my new buddy. If you want to get some laundry done you’ll have to come back a little later, I’m next after Kat,” Panthro explained nervously. Doggie and Panthro once again stared at each other before Doggie just walked away,
“Whatever,” said Doggie casually as he left the two. Panthro let out a long exhale after Doggie was out of earshot (even though Doggie is almost never out of earshot because of his extra perceptive ears),
“New buddy huh?” said Kat teasingly,
“Shut it, you should be grateful that I helped you avoid an awkward confrontation ya shameless weirdo,” Panthro replied in annoyance,
“I mean, like I implied earlier- I don’t mind being seen naked, though thanks for the nice gesture big guy,” Kat replied. Panthro nodded, then backed away from Kat when he realized he still had an arm around him, even though Kat didn’t seem to mind. Kat sighed once more as he continued feeling the vibrations beneath him,
“It feels nice to be able to wash clothes within the comfort of somewhere I live, I used to have to go to a laundromat to do this,” Kat explained,
“You mean you did laundry naked at a laundromat too??” Panthro asked in surprise,
“Is there any other way to do it?” Kat asked with a charming smile,
“As surprising as this might be to hear- yes! Normal people usually have some clothes on when they do this, and they don’t usually sit right on top of the machine. Seriously, what are you doing??” Panthro asked,
“The vibrations feel nice,” Kat replied. Panthro sighed as he leaned against the nearby dryer with his arms crossed,
“How could you even afford to go to the laundromat though? Did you steal money to do that?” Panthro asked,
“Nah, I just happened upon some quarters, usually my luck allowed me to find money when I wasn’t stealing it,” Kat explained. Kat and Panthro went silent for a bit, allowing the sound of the noisy washing machine to fill the room, before Panthro spoke up,
“Hey so, do you remember when you suggested that I think of a location when I use my astral punch and that worked?” Panthro asked,
“Yeah?” Kat replied,
“How did you know that would work?” Panthro asked,
“Just a lucky guess,” Kat replied,
“Ah well… do you think you could help me some more?” Panthro asked,
“How?” Kat asked. Panthro looked at his palm thoughtfully,
“I’m still not used to my new abilities, and if we want to stand a chance against some villains or helping people, I think I could use your help in that regard,” Panthro explained,
“Huh, well if it means that much to you I guess I could,” Kat replied,
“Great, let’s take this outside,” said Panthro excitedly as he got off the dryer and walked out of the laundry room,
“Wait! My clothes are still washing, and I doubt you want me to go outside naked,” Kat explained. One of Panthro’s arms then stretched into the room and dug through his laundry basket before he pulled out some boxer briefs and offered them to Kat, who looked at how big they were compared to his waist and sighed,
“I’m going to need a belt for those things…” Kat commented.

It wasn’t long before both Kat and Panthro were outside, Panthro in normal clothes and Kat in Panthro’s borrowed clothes that were hilariously big on him,
“Alright so remind me what abilities you need help with again?” Kat asked,
“Well the first one is called- “Sight beyond sight”, it’s an ability one of my friends had when he used this special sword. Then there’s my stretchy arms, and of course the astral punch,” Panthro explained,
“Ok well explain the sight beyond sight one a bit more, I don’t think I’ve seen that one yet,” Kat explained,
“Basically it’s an ability that enchants your vision and allows you to see things you couldn’t normally see,” Panthro explained,
“Oh I have an ability like that,” Kat explained,
“You do?” Panthro inquired,
“Yeah, it’s a thief skill called- Eyes of a Thief, and it allows me to enchant my vision to see through walls and even see solutions to puzzles or hidden traps,” Kat explained,
“Oh, that sounds really helpful,” Panthro commented,
“Yeah, though as a trade off to using the eyes, I have trouble seeing through simple disguises,” Kat explained. Panthro looked at Kat with a dumbfounded expression,
“You’re kidding, right?” Panthro asked,
“Nope, being perfectly honest. Though that’s neither here nor there, for now we should help you get used to your abilities” Kat explained,
“Alright, and how do you plan to help me do that?” Panthro asked,

A little later Panthro was sitting down in the grass as he looked around before his walkie talkie made some noise and he answered it,
“Let’s do this again, where am I hiding now? Over,” Kat asked over the walkie talkie. Panthro took a deep breath and focused his thoughts on finding Kat, causing images of Kat in his current location to appear in Panthro’s mind,
“You’re on the roof,” Panthro replied into his walkie talkie,
“I’m on the roof what?” Kat replied, causing Panthro to sigh,
“You’re on the roof… over,” said Panthro in annoyance. Kat then revealed he was indeed on top of the roof before jumping down and landing next to Panthro,
“Nice job big guy, that’s the tenth location in a row you managed to find me in using your special sight powers,” Kat explained happily,
“Heh, thanks,” Panthro replied modestly happy,
“I think we have sight beyond sight down, now let’s move onto the arm abilities,” Kat suggested,
“Alright, how should we train those abilities?” Panthro asked.

Not long after asking Panthro found himself grunting and keeping his feet planted on the ground and his walkie talkie balanced on his neck as Kat continued walking away from him with his arms,
“Kat.. urgh, are you sure this is a good idea?... over,” said Panthro into his walkie talkie as he continued sweating,
“Of course, a nice advantage your arms have is they’re stretchy now, right? So it would be within our best interest to see see exactly how far they can stretch, over,” Kat explained as he continued walking while holding onto Panthro’s arms,
“Ok, but how far are we at right now?” Panthro asked, then added-
“...over,” to make sure he covered all his bases,
“Oh I didn’t think this through… Over,” said Kat admittedly over the walkie talkie. Panthro’s eyes widened as he yelled into his walkie talkie,
“I thought you knew! That’s the whole reason I agreed to this unusual training!” Panthro explained,
“What was I supposed to do?? I don’t have an f-ing measuring tape, and even if I did I’m pretty sure they don’t make any as long as we’ve currently stretched your arms. No joke we must’ve stretched them the length of about three football fields, you and the base look like ants from this distance,” Kat explained,
“Whatever, can you just come back?? This actually hurts!” said Panthro into his walkie talkie, clearly both of them had given up saying “over” at the end. Kat sighed and complied with Panthro’s request, starting to make his way back to Panthro with his arms.

After the botched length determining test, Kat proceeded to have Panthro stand still while Kat went to various places near them and had Panthro stretch out his arms to meet Kat at those locations with a handshake, Kat’s locations ranged from on top of the roof, to behind the base, to up in a tree, to everything in between. After about thirty test runs Kat returned to Panthro,
“Alright, you seem to be able to control their path pretty easily,” Kat commented,
“They aren’t all that different from my robot arms, so it comes to me pretty naturally,” Panthro explained,
“Alright, finally we should test out your astral punch,” said Kat,
“How do you want to do that?” Panthro asked. Kat then heard a buzzer go off inside,
“Do you think you could use it to move my clothes over?” Kat requested. Panthro then pictured the laundry room in his mind before throwing a punch, which opened a small wormhole that led into the laundry room. Panthro then stretched his arms into the wormhole and took the opportunity to move Kat’s clothes from the washer to the dryer and his own clothes from his basket to the washer,
“Oh do you want me to take off these clothes so you can wash them?” Kat asked,
“Nah, you keep those on for now, they can go a little longer without a wash,” Panthro replied. After finishing up with laundry Panthro retracted his arms from the wormhole, which caused it to collapse,
“It seems like you’re a natural at using the astral punch, are you sure you need me for this training thing?” Kat asked,
“Better safe than sorry, help me test it out a few more times,” Panthro requested.

After about fifty more tests with the astral punch involving traveling to a specific location, going elsewhere, and punching open a wormhole to that location, Panthro and Kat rested atop a grassy hill near the base. Kat noticed that large clouds were in the distance and smelled the air,
“It’s going to rain later,” Kat commented,
“Then we should enjoy this sun while we can,” Panthro suggested. Panthro and Kat then sat in silence for a while until Panthro broke the silence,
“Hey Kat? I think we should really get to the bottom of why we both feel like we know each other,” Panthro suggested,
“Ok, but how do we go about doing that?” Kat asked,
“Just think about it, have you ever seen me before?” Panthro asked,
“I think I’d remember seeing a big guy like you, though what about me? Have you ever seen me before?” Kat asked,
“I did travel with a group of people for a while, including this kid named WilyKat, who we called ‘Kat’ for short, though I definitely never saw any humans until recently,” Panthro explained,
“I’m only mostly human though, officially I’m a hybrid,” Kat explained,
“Right, though I never saw any of those either,” Panthro explained. Kat and Panthro then sat in silence for a while until Kat suddenly had a realization,
“Oh you know what? When I was younger I did talk to this little panther boy,” Kat explained, causing Panthro to raise his eyebrows,
“Oh?” Panthro inquired,
“Yeah, though it happened when I was very young,” Kat explained.

Years ago in a foreign world, a young panther boy strays from his home and eventually finds a river, at this river he sees some cats like him surrounding a small boy wearing a black cloak and mask. The young cat kids (save for the panther boy) pick on and antagonize the cloaked boy,
“Nice mask freak,” said one of the kids,
“What does your face look like under it? I bet you’re ugly!” said another,
“Either take that stupid mask off or crawl back to whatever hole you crawled out of!” said another,
“L-Leave me alone…” said the cloaked boy timidly,
“Or what? You gonna cry wimp?” said one of the kids, causing the other two to start laughing. It was at this point that the panther boy spoke up,
“Hey! Knock that off!” said the panther boy forcefully. The trio of kids turned their attention towards the panther boy,
“Go away, this is none of your business!” said one of the kids,
“I’m making it my business, now back off,” the Panther boy demanded. The trio and the panther boy had a stare down until the trio reluctantly walked away, mostly out of annoyance than fear. The panther boy walked over to the cloaked boy and offered him a hand,
“Are you ok?” the panther boy asked. The cloaked boy hesitated for a bit before taking the panther boy’s hand and being helped up to his feet,
“Th-thank you,” said the cloaked boy graciously,
“What kind of feline are you?” the panther boy asked,
“A pixie-bob,” the cloaked boy explained,
“A pixie-bob? I’m guessing that’s a more tame cat compared to something like a lion or a panther,” the panther boy commented,
“Yeah,” the cloaked boy replied,
“Ah well that’s still pretty cool, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around my village,” the panther boy commented,
“Hey, I hate to be rude. But I should really get going, I think the rest of my team is waiting for me,” the cloaked boy explained,
“Ah ok, well it was nice to meet you I guess,” the panther boy commented,
“You too, thanks for being nice to me,” said the cloaked boy,
“Of course, it’s in my nature to protect people,” said the panther boy.

That was the last thing the panther boy and cloaked boy said to each other that day, but it would be far from the last time they interacted with one another, and it was the following day that cemented their bond. The cloaked boy returned to the river to find that the panther boy was now the one being harassed by the children,
“Not so tough now, are ya??” said one of the kids as they kicked the panther boy while he was still down, causing him to grunt in pain,
“This outta teach you to mind your own business!” said another child as they continued their assault,
“Hey I have an idea! Let’s throw him into the lake!” said another child with sadistic glee, the panther boy’s eyes widened at that idea,
“N-No! Please, I can’t swim!!” the panther boy pleaded, though the other kids weren’t listening and picked up the struggling panther boy before throwing him into the river without a second thought, laughing as the panther boy clearly started drowning. As the kids kept laughing though, the cloaked boy snuck up behind them and pulled out a knife before grabbing one of the kids and holding the knife close to their throat, causing all three kids to stop laughing and become genuinely distressed,
“H-hey, what do you think you’re doing??” one of the kids asked,
“Shut up and listen,” the cloaked boy demanded. The kids then fell quiet before the cloaked boy continued,
“Now here’s what’s going to happen- you’re going to leave me and that boy alone, or I will find where you guys live, and I will murder all of you in your sleep, do I make myself clear?” said the cloaked boy with a serious tone. The kids were beyond scared at this point, with the kid the cloaked boy held at knifepoint pissing themself, though they did manage to nod nervously,
“Good, now beat it,” said the cloaked boy before they released the kid they were threatening, causing all three of the bullies to run away crying. The cloaked boy then turned his attention to the panther boy, and quickly jumped into the water to save him, leading him back to the riverbank and keeping his head above the water. When both boys were back on land the panther boy was a gasping and coughing mess for a while until he properly got everything out of his system and began speaking to the cloaked boy,
“Thank you…” said the panther boy,
“You’re welcome, now we’re even,” said the cloaked boy,
“Even? I didn’t save your life just so you’d owe me a favor though, I did it because it was the right thing to do,” the panther boy explained,
“Either way," said the cloaked boy. The panther boy then noticeably shivered,
“Are you ok?” the cloaked boy asked,
“The water was cold…” said the panther boy as their teeth chattered a bit. The cloaked boy then hugged the panther boy, who timidly hugged back and wrapped his long grey tail around the both of them,
“Let’s be friends,” the panther boy suggested with a smile,
“You.. want to be my friend?” the cloaked boy asked,
“Sure, you seem like a nice and reliable guy,” the panther boy explained,
“Well ok… I can’t tell you everything about me since I’m supposed to be anonymous, but you can call me Kat,” the cloaked boy explained.

“Ever since that fateful day me and the panther boy became close friends, I couldn’t see him as often as I’d like to because of thief training, but we did see each other practically every day near the riverbank for an hour or so… and that continued for years,” Kat explained. Kat then looked at his feet before continuing with a blush,
“As years went by with him, I realized that he helped me through tough times in my life, and as a result I eventually developed feelings for that boy... which is a shame because I never worked up the courage to tell him how I really feel..” Kat explained with a melancholy tone. Kat then stared at his feet in silence before realizing that Panthro was being awfully quiet, Kat looked back at Panthro to see his eyes wide open in surprise,
“...what?” Kat asked casually,
“Kat.. I was that panther boy! I remember all that!” said Panthro, causing Kat’s eyes to widen,
“Wait what?!” said Kat in surprise.

It was then that the memory of the panther boy’s response returned to Kat,
“I’m Panthro, and I’ll do a better job at keeping you safe,” the young Panthro explained with a smile.

“No way!!” said Kat in disbelief,
“I know! I don’t believe it either!” said Panthro,
“But the panther boy I knew had a tail..” Kat explained,
“I used to have a tail too Kat, I just got rid of it because it got in the way when I fought. Though I remember you wore a different mask than the one I saw you in during the whole gemstone fiasco, not to mention you didn’t use your voice changer” Panthro commented,
“So we really did know each other, and for years too, that’s crazy,” Kat commented,
“It’s especially crazy to think that I was in direct contact with a hybrid for years and never knew it. I didn’t even know that the world ripples existed until a little over a month ago,” Panthro explained,
“How did we forget about these interactions?” Kat asked,
“Well they were years ago, we’ve likely done much more important things since then and those memories got forced to the back of our minds,” Panthro speculated. The two were quiet for a while until Panthro realized something,
“Wait… you said you had feelings for me?” Panthro asked, causing Kat to blush,
“Y-yeah?” Kat replied timidly,
“I mean… do you still have those feelings?” Panthro asked,
“...yeah..” said Kat admittedly,
“Wow Kat, I never knew that about you,” Panthro commented in a perplexed yet casual tone. Kat stared off into the distance as he continued,
“How could I not though? You were always so kind to me, you’re charming, handsome, strong, protective… I felt genuinely happy during those occasions where we hung out, it helped me get through the grueling thief training I was forced to take part in, heh and you know the longer I look at you, the more I realize that you are basically a bigger and tougher version of that boy I grew to love,” Kat explained,
“That’s sweet of you to say, though I’m not a boy anymore Kat. I’m a grown man,” Panthro explained,
“You know what I mean,” said Kat,
“Yeah, I do. It’s crazy to think that we grew close over so many years before disappearing from each other's lives for more years, then suddenly reuniting…” Panthro commented.

Kat timidly scooted closer to Panthro and wrapped his tail around his back as best he could,
“What about you though?” Kat asked,
“Me?” Panthro inquired,
“I told you how I really felt, though I still need a response from you,” Kat explained. Panthro was silent for a while until he gently picked Kat up an moved him to his lap,
“Well what do you think my response is?” Panthro asked,
“I-I dunno, even when we were kids you were always hard to read. I mean sure I got the feeling that you liked me, but I was never sure if it was.. In that way, which was why I was scared to tell you for the longest time. Hell, I only told you moments ago because I didn’t even realize you were the boy I was remembering,” Kat explained,
“Well then allow me to make myself a little easier to read by putting everything out there. Growing up in my village I didn’t have many friends, nobody liked how justice-minded or unlucky I was, but then I met you and you didn’t care about that. I never really thought highly of myself, though you made me feel like a superhero with your compliments and praise. You were a strange boy who never took off his cloak, and yet I felt immensely happy whenever you were around.. I guess what I’m trying to say in a very roundabout way is- I feel the same about you Kat,” Panthro admitted. Kat looked up at Panthro to see that he was blushing. Kat adjusted his and Panthro’s positions so that he was standing tall enough to where he and Panthro were at identical heights,
“Panthro, does.. That mean you’d be willing to be my boyfriend?” Kat asked timidly, Panthro shyly nodded. Kat then smiled and brought his face closer to Panthro’s and shared a tender kiss with him. The kiss wasn’t terribly long or passionate, though when Kat and Panthro’s lips parted Panthro panted a bit and put a hand over his chest,
“What’s wrong?” Kat asked in concern, putting a hand over Panthro’s chest as well to feel his heart beating like mad,
“S-sorry, I’m not used to this kind of romantic attention. There was no time for it while I was fighting a war, I just feel like my emotions are going nuts right now…” Panthro explained. Kat smiled a bit before giving Panthro a kiss on the cheek,
“It’s ok, we’ll take things slow. I’ll allow you to feel these emotions as extensively as you need to until you’re ready to move further,” Kat explained,
“Thanks…” said Panthro as he looked away in an attempt to hide his blushing face.

Kat and Panthro planned on continuing their romantic banter, though they were interrupted by a drop of rain falling on Kat’s nose, causing them to realize that the rain clouds had caught up to them, though Panthro didn’t seem worried,
“Ah hang on, I’ll take care of this,” said Panthro assuringly. Panthro then threw an astral punch that went into his own bedroom, then gingerly picked Kat up and carried him through the wormhole like a bridegroom carrying his bride through the threshold. Panthro then gently laid Kat on the bed as the wormhole closed behind them before kissing Kat on the forehead and walking out of the room,
“I’ll be right back,” Panthro explained as he walked. Kat then waited in silence for Panthro to return, coming to terms with the happy reality that his childhood crush liked him back. Panthro shortly returned with a pair of boxer briefs that were more Kat’s size,
“Your clothes are done drying, though you can put them up a little later, for now put these on,” Panthro requested. Kat complied and gingerly accepted his boxer briefs from Panthro, and as he was stripping down he realized that Panthro averted his eyes from his direction,
“Do you not want to see me naked? LIke I said I’m not uncomfortable with it,” Kat explained,
“One step at a time Kat…” Panthro explained. Kat then changed into his own boxer briefs, though kept Panthro’s shirt on. After Kat was done changing Panthro looked back at him and laid next to him on the bed,
“Hey so uh…” said Panthro timidly,
“Yeah?” Kat inquired,
“M-may I cuddle you?” Panthro requested meekly,
“Sure,” Kat replied.

Panthro then adjusted his and Kat’s positions so he was spooning Kat and holding him close as he let out some deep rumbling sounds Kat could only imagine was his purring. Both Panthro and Kat were incredibly relaxed given that they were both on top of a large bed, Kat found it comforting to be held while Panthro found it comforting to hold someone dear to him, and the sound of the rain outside was peaceful to listen to. Panthro noticed Kat sniffing his shirt and got embarrassed,
“Is it smelly? I’m sorry, I should’ve figured as much since it was in my dirty clothes,” Panthro explained,
“Nah, it’s ok. I like it,” Kat explained,
“Is it not dirty?” Panthro asked,
“No it is, though I kind of like the smell of your musk,” Kat explained, causing Panthro to blush,
“Huh, never expected to hear that,” Panthro admitted,
“Maybe I could convince you to let me keep the shirt so I can use it as a pillowcase?” Kat asked hopefully,
“Maybe, though let’s talk about that later,” Panthro requested. Panthro and Kat then went silent for a while, and Kat found it challenging to keep himself awake, which Panthro noticed,
“Kat, if you’re tired you can fall asleep,” Panthro suggested,
“Are you sure?” Kat asked,
“Yeah, I’ve got ya…” said Panthro with a smile. Kat then nuzzled his head against Panthro’s pecs as he made himself more comfortable, Kat and Panthro’s legs tangled together and Kat continued using one of Panthro’s biceps as a pillow. Panthro felt content as he held Kat close and the hybrid fell asleep in his arms. As Panthro felt himself becoming more drowsy he gave Kat a quick yet loving kiss on the forehead,
“Hope you’re ready for me, because now that I’ve found you again, I’m not letting go,” said Panthro to the unconscious Kat before falling asleep himself.

And so what started as a slow day full of laundry and training, quickly turned into a day where two separated childhood friends reunite and express their feelings for one another, causing their relationship to evolve into much more than friends. Though hardships undoubtedly await Kat and Panthro, they should be able to brave whatever challenges life brings their way since they have each other.

End of Chapter 2