Well, here is the first chapter of the series. The Plumber is supposed to make a cover for this, but he’s obviously abandoned it. Anyone else willing to undertake it?

---

Issue I: The Curse of Kitty Catrina
An age-old conflict revived anew! Cats VS. Dogs!

Ankh stood on the roof of Pizzachi’s Pizza, as she often did. She had, in fact, almost become the mascot of the pizza parlor. The white wolf of Pizzachi’s Pizza. She had to admit that she did, to some degree, enjoy the attention. Nobody knew why she stood on the roof because nobody ever asked. The reason, however, was that it had a beautiful view of the ocean and the sunset, as well as, when she chose to view it, the street that the building was on. It was sometimes just as relaxing to watch the cars pass below as it was to watch the waves crashing in the scene ahead.
Today, the afternoon sky was cloudy, getting ready to rain. The wind was fairly strong, offering a pleasant breeze on the warm and humid afternoon. It was good weather for the moment, though she knew that she would have to go in soon to avoid getting her fur wet. But for now, she had much to reflect on.

“Amy, how can you degrade yourself so much for table scraps?” Shadow exclaimed, watching Amy begging a small family for food. A young man at the table finally broke down and gave her a slice of pepperoni, which she devoured gratefully. “It works!” she answered with her mouth full.
Shadow sighed. His stomach growled, but he did not dare resort to such means of obtaining food. “Do you have no pride, Amy?”
“Come on, you know you want some food, too,” Amy said.
“Not that badly,” Shadow stated flatly.
“Suit yourself,” Amy said, smiling. She then went over to beg at another table.

Ankh’s mind was troubled. She had heard several people speaking of a rumor going around concerning vampire attacks. Ever since the defeat of Sardor, vampires had gone into hiding. The rumors might be a result of some college prank that spun out of control – she had seen it before – but if the rumors were true, what reason would the vampires have for coming out now? Why would they be so daring? What goal did they hope to achieve.
She felt a raindrop fall onto her snout. It was time to go inside.
She created several flat sheets of psionic energy, each one lower to the ground and farther from the building, and descended the staircase she made with her own mind. She then removed the squares and went inside the building. She went over to one person at a table and said, “Excuse me, sir. Might I have some of your steak?”
“Ankh, not you, too!” Shadow exclaimed.
Ankh looked over to the shocked Shadow, confused. “What? I am merely requesting food.”
“You’re begging!”
“I am requesting,” Ankh clarified. The man handed her a fairly large part of his steak, then went back to eating. “You may have some, if you like,” she offered.
Shadow was about to refuse, but his stomach growled again. With a reluctant grumbling, his nodded, walked over to the steak, tore off a piece, walked back to where he was, and began feasting on the meat. He made sure to eat slowly, though it took tremendous willpower. He did not wish to look too desperate, but he was so hungry…
The door to the restaurant opened and through it came a young woman dressed in a stylish red coat, long, red boots, and even red pants. She had long, curly, brown hair.
She looked around the restaurant as those in the restaurant stared at her, then her gaze fell on Ankh, Shadow, and Amy. “Ugh. Dogs in a restaurant.”
“Hey! Call us dogs again and I’ll scratch your face off! We’re wolves, not dogs!” Shadow said.
“Settle down, Shadow. This is no reason to fight,” Ankh said.
“Besides, I am too beautiful for you to hurt,” the woman said.
“Let me hurt her, Ankh. Please let me hurt her,” Shadow said. He felt a wave of anger well up inside of him. How dare she be so… so full of herself?
The woman waved her hand at Shadow as if to shoo him off, then sat down at a table, looking bored at the cup of water already on the table. “Service, please. I grow famished.”
“I’ll give you service!” Shadow yells. Without any further warning, he lunged at the table that the woman was sitting in and yanked the tablecloth off, intentionally spilling the glass of water all over the woman’s coat. “Eek! You dirty mongrel! How dare you!?” the woman shrieked.
“Shadow, that was not necessary,” Ankh scolded.
“Funny, though,” Shadow snickered.
“Funny or not, it was rude,” Ankh said, not wanting to admit that she herself had considered doing the same, only held back by her various anger management techniques. Inside, she was thanking Shadow, even though she knew that his conduct was not appropriate.
“You little dirty little fleabag scoundrel!” the woman yelled. She caught Shadow off-guard by striking him square in the face with her red handbag, then headed toward the door. Shadow’s laughter turned to growling. “You got a problem with me being a wolf!? Well, you’re nothing but a hairless ape, you wicked old hag!” This gained nothing but a disdainful “Humph!” from the woman. She then walked through the door, which she slammed loudly behind her.
“Shadow, stop. It is not worth fighting over,” Ankh consoled.
“Yeah, but at least I got her outfit wet. I got one on her,” Shadow said. He was about to mention that his nose still stung, but he decided to hold it in. He did not seek sympathy from others. He did not need it.
“Lass, you just walked into the broom closet,” the manager of the restaurant called after her. Shadow snickered. “I wonder how it feels to be dumber than a ‘filthy little flea-bitten mongrel’.”
“Actually, she used the term ‘dirty little fleabag scoundrel’,” the manager corrected in a matter-of-fact tone. “Whatever,’ was Shadow’s apathetic reply. The woman walked out of the broom closet, positively enraged, and walked out the real exit without another word, into the sprinkling rain.
Ankh looked around. “Where did Amy go? She was here a moment ago.” She paused for a moment, but Amy did not appear. This unnerved Ankh, for lately, pets have been disappearing and even if Amy was technically nobody’s pet, she was still probably subject to he same risk of capture.
Shadow leaped up onto the front counter to get a better view. He did not have to look far, for Amy was right behind the corner, attempting to hide. “You found me!” she said, laughing.
“Do not try to become stealthy. That is my job,” Shadow says, not smiling. Ankh breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, she thought Amy had been kidnapped… or wolfnapped.
KRACK-KABOOM! As if cued by the lightning, the rain then picked up speed and became almost torrential within the span of half a second. One thing constant about the town of Adther was that the weather changed quickly. Krack-Kaboom! Though this bolt of lightning was not as loud, it was enough to disable all the lights in the restaurant, engulfing it in darkness.
“Lovely. Just perfect. No more stoves, no more lights. I can’t see a thing, much less can my chefs cook,” the manager complained. The wolves had no problem seeing in this type of darkness, for their eyes were built for this type of darkness. In fact, Shadow loved the darkness far more than he enjoyed being out in the bright daylight. Ankh, however, decided to help the manager with the problem of sight. “I can remedy the problem of light,” Ankh offered. Without waiting for a response, she summoned a large sheet of psionic energy in midair, which glowed with a very faint, yet nonetheless valuable white light, which was joined by the occasional bright flash of a lightning strike.
Shadow looked at where Amy had been to find that she was no longer there. He sighed. “Now is no time for hide and seek, Amy,” Shadow said. He looked around the room, turning 360, and found nothing. “I’m serious, Amy.”
“Amy, this is quite enough. Come out,” Ankh said. And yet, Amy did not appear. Ankh then knew that it must have been serious. Amy would sometimes hide from them in an attempt to be playful, but if she was within hearing range, she would always come out of hiding when Ankh called her out. Ankh usually didn’t call her out, after all, unless the situation called for it.
“Get your tail out here before I…!” Shadow began.
“She is not here,” Ankh said calmly, not allowing her fear to show in her voice, “That or she is somehow unable to respond. Either she left the room and we failed to notice or she is missing. I do hope that she is not missing.”
“Do you really think somebody just up and took her?” Shadow asked in disbelief.
“Like I said, she may also have merely walked away. I know not,” Ankh said, finding it hard to maintain a calm voice and mind under such frightening circumstances. She did not want to think of Amy, one of the two people who could definitely be regarded as her best friends in the entire world, as abducted and in great danger.
“Yeah, well, whichever it is, we need to go look for her,” Shadow said, a bit of reluctance in his voice. He was still very hungry and did not want to go traveling on an empty stomach. However, he knew that now was no time to dine, especially considering what would need to be done if he were to try to obtain food, which was, in his view, undignified and degrading, not to mention hypocrisy, as he had told Amy earlier not to do the same thing. She would never let him live it down.
“We need to think. Where would she have gone?” Ankh says.
“A fire hydrant?” the manager guesses.
With that, Ankh and Shadow both blushed, though it was not at all visible under their fur. “How many times do I have to tell you humans that we’re not dogs? We don’t use fire hydrants as toilets. We use…” Shadow paused, not liking where this discussion was going. “Well, the point is, we don’t use fire hydrants. Never have, never will.”
“The three of us have all gone to the bathroom fairly recently and Amy has not consumed many liquids lately. She will not be found in the proverbial ‘bathroom’. We need to look elsewhere,” Ankh said. “She was probably taken outside this building, at any rate. If she went outside on her own, we would have heard it, as the doggie door…”
“Wolf entrance,” Shadow corrected, already rather fed up with being regarded as a dog.
“The wolf entrance, then, is rather creaky and loud. Not even Shadow would be able to leave that way unnoticed. Therefore, she must have left either through the normal exit or through the window. None of the windows are open, so whoever took Amy must have been a master of discreet exit and silent subdual.
“We must investigate this at once. The rain will make this harder, as it will wash away the scent.” Ankh begins to sniff the air.
“You’re not suggesting we go outside, are you?” Shadow said, looking out the front windows at the raging thunderstorm… and the accompanying wetness.
“It is a small price for the safety of our friend,” Ankh said. She then approached the door. “Her scent leads out here, through the door. We must hurry.”
Shadow let out a small, reluctant grumble and gave a nod. With that, the two of them proceeded out the doggy d… er, ‘wolf entrance’ and into the pouring rain. Because she could no longer be bothered to focus on it, she released the square of psionic energy and darkness engulfed the restaurant once more.
“One thing’s for sure. If she isn’t in mortal danger, I am so going to kill her,” Shadow commented.
Ankh sniffed the air. “I was afraid of this. I cannot find her scent.”
“Think it was the woman in red?” Shadow asked. “She certainly had a thing against us, especially me.” Shadow snickered again at the thought of what he had done to the woman.
“I doubt it greatly. We had our eyes on her the entire time. She went nowhere near Amy,” Ankh explained. In the middle of her sentence, they saw the lights turn back on in the restaurant, though neither of them cared. They were both stumped. Ankh herself questioned the wisdom of having gone outside before thinking of a plan, but then she reminded herself that she had expected to at least find some trace of Amy’s scent. Now, however, they had no real reason to remain outside. “Let us return inside to strategize.”
“Thank god,” Shadow said, rushing back inside. Ankh followed, but at a slower pace, not that she or, for that matter, just about anybody else could outrun Shadow. Once back inside, Ankh found that Shadow’s fur was a bit more puffed out. He must have shaken himself dry, as the people of the restaurant were looking generally displeased and there were scattered drops of water on the floor and walls. The manager, holding a towel and looking mildly surprised, stared at Shadow. Shadow had never liked to depend on others, so when the manager, upon his entry, tried to dry him off, he instead shook himself dry, trying to look more self-sufficient.
Ankh, on the other hand, did not mind gaining assistance from others. “Sir, can you please dry me off?” she asked politely. The manager gave a nod and began drying her off with the towel. Shadow just rolled his eyes. Ankh felt that Shadow would someday have to learn to accept the help of others, but she would not worry about it for now. In her mind, Shadow would learn this lesson with time. Now was not the time to pursue that sort of thing, at any rate. They had more important matters to discuss.
“This is a large problem. This time, there are no clues and no logical means of disappearance. That is, unless the culprit was either a magical creature or someone else that might have magical power. In either case, they would probably not leave any traces behind,” Ankh said, getting more worried with each sentence.
“In short, Amy’s pretty much done for,” Shadow said.
Ankh sighed. “I… I don’t know. I don’t know what to expect. I don’t know what to do.” For the first time, her voice began to crack. “I-I don’t want to think that she might be dead.”
This confused Shadow and caught him completely off-guard. He had never seen Ankh lose her cool before. Granted, having been created in a lab, they were actually only eight months old, despite how they looked full-grown, but this still astounded him greatly. Ankh had always been calm and serene, even when they had first been created. This had been the first time that Ankh seemed to be… human. Well, human as a wolf gets, that is.
“Well, maybe we’ll get a ransom note,” Shadow says.
“We have no money,” Ankh points out, her voice still shaking.
“Yeah, nobody in their right mind would ask something from us. But what could it be, then?” Shadow asked.

Amy woke up from unconsciousness. She felt cold and wet. The air around her was damp, still, and carried an eerie chill within it. She did not even have to open her eyes to know that wherever she was, it was not a place that she would particularly enjoy. Her splitting headache was a sure sign that something must have knocked her out by force… and hard.
[You’re finally awake,] Amy heard a dog bark. It sounded like it came from a female dog and a small one at that. She decided to answer in bark, so the dog would understand her. She was thankful now that wolves and dogs were so related; otherwise, she would never have been able to do this. [Splitting headache… where am I?]
[Don’t worry. The headache will soon pass,] the dog consoled, [It always does.]
With this, Amy began to suspect that many had come here before she had and that this had been going on for quite some time now. This was a good explanation for why pets had been disappearing lately, when she thought about it. The kidnappings had started over a month ago. Have some of these pets been here for a month?
[But… where are we?] Amy asked.
This time, a deeper, male voice spoke out. [You’re in a prison, that’s what! We’re all trapped inside a statue for all time!]
Amy’s heart skipped a beat. All time? Was she truly to be trapped in a statue for the rest of her life? She shuddered at the thought of it, but was greatly saddened, as well. If she was really trapped with no way out, she did not know how she would cope. However, there was one key difference between dogs and wolves: their attitude about capture. Dogs tend to think ‘What did I do wrong to get in here?’ Wolves, on the other hand, have a different mindset.
Amy opened her eyes to behold exactly thirty dogs of various breeds. The space was wide; it looked more like a large, smooth cave than the inside of a hollow statue. However, there were two key revealing details. The walls were too smooth to be a cave. Not only that, but the copper coloring was not normal for a cave. In addition, the only way out was a couple fairly small holes at the top – the statue’s eyes.
The place she was in was not perfectly round. It seemed to be in the same shape as the statue itself. She could tell that the statue was of a two-legged, fat cat, a bit of a cartoon-like style. The stance, in fact, almost looked like a begging stance. The light through the two holes was enough to dimly light the inside of the statue, creating a somewhat eerie ambiance.
And this is where dogs are generally different than wolves. What wolves tend to think is what Amy said in this situation. [Alright, guys. Let’s find a way out of here.]

A high-pitched shriek pierced the air, followed shortly by another loud rumble of thunder.
“Did you hear that?” Shadow asked.
“It come from outside, to the north,” Ankh said, “We must make haste. It might be related to Amy’s disappearance.”
Without a further word, the two dashed out of the restaurant and into the pouring rain. After they traveled about a block, a howl pierced the air. However, it was not one that belonged to a normal dog, nor to Amy.
Ankh was in pain. A cat had bitten her. One look in its eyes and Shadow could tell that the cat was either evil or possessed, for its eyes were far too bright and without soul. Either way, this cat was attacking Ankh. He could not let that happen. He quickly leapt up to the sky, his body becoming a silhouette against the light of the waxing moon, then he came back down to earth, slashing at the cat on his way down and creating a gash on its back. The cat let go of Ankh and set its sights on Shadow.
Shadow did not waste a moment. He quickly leapt backwards into a building. But instead of just bumping into the building, like he would have had he not known it was there, he kicked off the wall of the building and straight at the cat, biting the cat’s neck. He heard a soft snapping noise and the cat went limp. The moment was punctuated by another crack of thunder. The cat’s eyes looked just as soulless, but they lost their eerie glow. Still, Shadow kept in a combat stance for a few seconds until he was sure that the cat was no longer able to attack.
Ankh looked at the cat sorrowfully. She saw the tag around the cat’s neck. “This cat belonged to someone, somewhere.”
“Well, what was I supposed to do?” Shadow asked.
“You did nothing wrong. It is just sad that it has to be like this,” Ankh said.
“Well, let’s stop it before it gets worse, then,” Shadow suggested. Ankh nodded. With that, the two of them headed off further to the north.

[There’s no way out. We’ve tried everywhere,] said a pug, the deep, male voice from earlier.
[I would be able to get us out… but my magic isn’t working,] the cocker spaniel who had spoken earlier said.
[Magic?] Amy echoed.
The cocker spaniel nodded. [Yes. I wield the magic of Crystal Fire, an art passed down to me from my ancestors.]
[Crystal fire… That sounds powerful.]
[It is a very powerful art, indeed. However, it can also be dangerous in the paws of the unpracticed. I am one of the less experienced.]
[So, that’s why it won’t work?]
The cocker spaniel lowered her head. [No. Crystal Fire works for anyone of any skill, though with less control behind it.]
[So, why wouldn’t it work? Is something blocking it?]
[I suspect so. It appears that it is an enchantment within this very statue that is causing it.]
[If that’s the case, who knows what other magic is in this statue?]
[Bad magic, that’s what,] an old, male dog declared. The dog had a wild look in its eyes, as if it had gone mad years ago. He had a decrepit appearance and seemed to be much older than he probably really was. Amy unintentionally winced when she saw the dog, but soon corrected her expression.
[That’s Edgar. He’s the only one who’s offered a theory about what’s going on. It doesn’t really make sense how he would know and the others say he’s mad, but I’m almost beginning to think that he’s right in his theory. After all, it’s the most sound thing any of us has thought of,] the cocker spaniel explained.
[That’s right, young snapwhipper,] Edgar said. Amy knew that he meant “whippersnapper”, but she did not think it wise to correct him. She began to wonder where the term came from. Perhaps it had something to do with ginger snaps? No, that didn’t make sense. It did sound pretty good, though. Ginger snaps sounded so good right about now…
[Hey, hey! Pay attention when people are a-talking to you, kid!] Edgar snapped. Amy was woken from her thoughts and found that she was drooling slightly. Her stomach growled.
[You are not alone. All the poor souls trapped here have not eaten since they got here. Some have even not eaten for a month,] the cocker spaniel commented, almost as if reading her mind.
[But that’s impossible! How did you guys survive?] Amy exclaimed.
[We don’t know. That’s another thing that puzzles us all. We’re always hungry and thirsty, but never to an extreme,] the cocker spaniel answered. Amy wondered why most of the other dogs were so silent. The cocker spaniel was the one dog who was the most talkative. She looked more closely at the expressions of the others and found her answer. Other than Edgar, whose expression was too full of madness, and the cocker spaniel, everyone seemed to bear a common feature.
Despair.

Ankh and Shadow kept traveling northward. They had found nothing thus far and were beginning to think that they were going in the wrong direction, which was likely. Or worse, though less likely, they may have passed the trouble by entirely.
However, a few more yards of travel and their suspicions were dispelled. In the distance, they smelled an unmistakable smell, the odor of the deceased. The stench seemed fairly recent, so it seemed that whoever it was had died recently.
They rushed down the block to find that it was not just one person who had died. Piled upon the one human there were seven dogs of various breeds. Fortunately, not one of them was a wolf.
To their surprise, one of the dogs, a scottish terrier, stirred a bit, then spoke weakly to them. [Pain… bleeding… make it stop…]
Ankh felt almost sick to her stomach. She felt sad for the scottish terrier, who she knew had done no wrong to deserve such a fate. She felt guilty because she could do nothing to help, especially because he was too wounded to be saved. And she was also frustrated. Who would do such a thing? Upon closer inspection, she saw something very disturbing, not just on the scottish terrier, but on the whole of the group.
There were numerous claw marks. Most of them were small, though a few of them were alarmingly large. The scottish terrier had been hit by none of these larger claws, but was still bleeding badly because of the smaller claws.
[Who did this to you?] Shadow asked.
[Evil woman in black… cats with glowing eyes…] the scottish terrier answered.
They both recalled quite clearly their last encounter with a cat with glowing eyes. They knew that this had to be related. And what of the woman in black? Was this the woman who was controlling the cats? She probably was, as she was working with the cats to cause this damage. That also served as a good reason for why the cats’ eyes were glowing so much more than usual. Now, all they needed was a motive.
[Why did they do this to you?] Shadow asked.
[They just did…] the scottish terrier responded.
Shadow sighed. [Just great. Do you know where they are now?]
[No.]
[Well, that’s just perfect,] Shadow complained. He then began sniffing the air, but it was no use. The smell of the blood and death around him was just too great. However, on the ground nearby, he spotted a ball of yarn, which fades colors as it went on, from red, to blue, to green. He began sniffing it and soon caught a familiar scent, the scent of the woman who had come into the restaurant earlier that day.
[Everything’s beginning to fade… I’m scared,] the scottish terrier said.
[Do not be afraid. There is nothing to fear. You will soon be reunited with your owner, in a place far better than this world,] Ankh consoled. Shadow sighed with impatience. Though he knew inside that this was the right thing to do, he was also fairly certain that Amy’s life was in danger as they spoke. That is, if she was not already dead.
[Really?] the scottish terrier asked, the fear fading from his eyes.
Ankh nodded. [Yes.]
The scottish terrier seemed reassured by these words. Ankh found it difficult to watch the life slowly fade away from the scottish terrier’s eyes.
“Not to sound heartless, but unless you plan on staying here until the funeral starts, let’s move,” Shadow said, switching back to English. With that, he kicked away the ball of yarn, but it began to unravel, for the end of the yarn had caught on Shadow’s claw. “Oh lovely.”
Shadow tried biting the string off, but that’s when the string came to life. “What’s th…?” Shadow began, but he was quickly interrupted when the loose string began tying itself tightly around his mouth, disabling his speech. He could feel it at that moment; the string was draining his speed and power.
Ankh wasted no time. She wasn’t very good at this, but now was the best time to try it out. She began focusing. Soon enough, she had a time, yet sharp, square of psionic energy.
Shadow tried pulling the string off with his claws, but that ended badly. The string started wrapping around not only his mouth, but his forepaws, as well. Fortunately for him, Ankh released the square at the point, severing the string at the point that was about to wrap around him, thus preventing further damage. Shadow could hardly see through the string and his entire head and forepaws were now wrapped too tightly for him to break free, but he could feel the string’s draining effects fade away.
Unfortunately, the string was not done yet. Sensing a new energy signature, it launched itself at Ankh. She summoned a square of psionic energy as a barrier, but the string noticed it and went around it, to Ankh’s shock. She tried to run, but the string quickly caught one of her hind paws, then started wrapping around that paw, along with the other hind paw, tying them both together. Ankh could feel the string draining her strength, her speed… and her psi.
Shadow tried to get up, but such was an impossible task without his forepaws. He had no way to free himself, no way to free Ankh. He could only watch helplessly as Ankh was quickly wrapped into a cocoon of string.
It was over in a moment. Try as she might, she could not summon any of her psi to help her out. She could not see, she could not move, except for a slight wiggle, and the string was restricting her breathing.
Then spoke a malicious, female voice, unfamiliar to them, that neither of them could see in their position. “Oh, look what the cat dragged in.” They heard the sound of cats meowing to accompany it.
It was turning out to be a very bad day.

[Well, if the Crystal Fire won’t work, then let’s try a good old-fashioned doggy pyramid,] Amy suggested.
[‘Doggy pyramid’? That just might be crazy enough to work,] the pug said.
[Yeah, or crazy enough to fail miserably and get us badly hurt,] Edgar said.
[Oh, don’t be such a cynic. Alright, we need the strongest on the bottom and the single lightest dog on the top,] Amy said.
[The lightest dog? Well, that’d be Trixy,] the pug said.
[That’s me,] the cocker spaniel clarified, [And what is your name?]
[I’m Amy. I’m pretty strong, so I’ll be at the bottom.]
[I’m a-telling ya, you’re just gonna get yourselves killed. This statue has certain magic to prevent us from getting out. The cat goddess wants her sacrifices and she’s gonna have them, she’ll make sure of that. There’s nothing we can do except wait for the end,] Edgar said.
[I don’t know what this theory of yours is, but if there’s any chance of us getting out, we’ve got to go for it,] Amy argued.
[My ‘theory’ is that we’re all gonna be sacrificed to the cat goddess. She won’t let us escape and you all know it,] Edgar explained.
[We’ve got to try,] Amy repeated.
Edgar let out a sigh. [Durn snapwhippers and their foolish ambition.]

The woman leapt up and in front of Shadow and Ankh, shortly followed in this action by her cats. The woman was dressed in a black cat suit. Her hair was reminiscent of the woman they had met in the diner. However, that was the only part of her identity that stood out, for the rest of her was too covered by her suit. “Looks like we have more victims,” she said, smiling maliciously.
The cats stepped a bit close to the bound victims. For a moment, Shadow could see the glow of their eyes reflecting off a piece of broken glass. This gave him an idea. Shadow leapt forward. He pretended to be aiming for a cat, but intentionally fell short. Instead, he landed so the part of him that was captured by the string rested on the shard of broken glass. The glass broke through the yarn, puncturing his right paw.
“Ha! You cannot hope to escape. You cannot hope to defeat me. The age of dog and wolf has ended. Now is a new era. Now is the reign the feline. New is the reign of Kitty Catrina!” the woman exclaimed. Her name was accompanied by a loud thunder strike, an odd, yet ominous coincidence.
Shadow pretended to be struggling. However, he was actually using the broken glass, now underneath him and concealed from view, to his advantage. One by one, he snipped at places of the yarn, cutting away at it slowly, yet surely. However, the yarn was not the only thing he was cutting, as the glass was also cutting into the bottoms of his face and paws. Ankh, too, was trying her best to break free. She did not use her body to struggle, for that would just distract her psi, which was the only thing that could get her out now.
“I honestly grow bored of you two. So pathetic. Then again, so is the rest of your kind. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to put you down… in the slowest, most painful way,” Catrina said.
She snapped her fingers. Shadow and Ankh suddenly felt the yarn start to constrict. It was uncomfortable, but not enough to be dangerous to them… yet. However, most of the yarn on Shadow, having been already cut, did not constrict. All that was left was the yarn around his throat, the last place he wanted the yarn (or anything, for that matter) to constrict around.
Catrina smiled. Shadow smiled, as well. At last, he felt the final string being cut loose. Not wasting a moment of time, he got up on his legs, trying to push the throbbing pain of his forepaws and the bottom of his face to the back of his mind.
“What? No! This cannot be! No canine can break out of my yarn!” Catrina exclaimed.
“I am not just a normal canine,” Shadow pointed out, “I am Shadow.”
“You are dead!” Catrina yelled, “My feline army, attack!”
Shadow merely smirked and stood there, waiting for them to come to him.

[Almost there…] Amy said.
[I can’t believe it. It seems like we’ve been in this statue for years. We’re finally getting out,] the pug said, finally showing some optimism in his voice.
[Yeah, yeah. We’re not getting out, though. The cat goddess will make sure of that one,] Edgar argued.
[Edgar?] the pug called out.
[Hm?]
[Shut up.]
[That’s not how you talk to your elders, young snapwhipper!]
[Please, stop it. Both of you. Let’s focus on what’s important,] Trixy said.
[I am focusing on what’s important. I’m teaching this little snapwhipper how to respect his elders,] Edgar argued.
Amy rolled her eyes. Trixy sighed and decided to just drop it for now. She had something more important to tend to. She started climbing up the pyramid of canines. It was difficult work, not because of the act of climbing itself, but because one false move could cause not only herself, but the entire pyramid to fall. Fortunately, she was able to avoid falling and finally reached the top of the pyramid. It was a bit below the eyes. She would need to do a very good jump and she would only have one chance to do it. If she failed, everyone would have to start over.
Trixy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. After taking the time to gather her courage, she leapt up and climbed out of the statue’s eyes, much to the dogs’ cheering. Edgar was completely dumfounded. [But… the goddess…]
[Save your sermons! Trixy’s out and she’ll find a way to get us out, too,] the pug said, his words accompanied by further cheering.
[They did it… The snapwhippers really did it…] Edgar muttered, awestruck.
Trixy, now on the ground outside the statue, could hear their jubilant cries. They saddened her. She did not want to break it to them that there was no button to press or switch within the cave that the statue they were in. But then she remembered that she may not have to. There may still be a way. She just had to think of some way to use her Crystal Fire to free the others.

Shadow stood ready as the cats slowly approached, meowing and hissing angrily, all except for a black cat by Catrina, whose eyes shone most brightly and ominously of all. Shadow was now faced with a dilemma. These cats all had tags, meaning they all had owners. Killing one of them would mean killing an innocent. But would he be given a choice in the matter?
Ankh, meanwhile, was in big trouble. The yarn was getting tighter by moment and it was now so tight that she found it hard to breathe. She was beginning to get a bit of headway on her psi, but it was not enough and was hard to maintain. All she had the ability to summon was a non-sharp, inert square of psionic energy, and only for a second, which could serve no purpose in freeing her. If she did not get out in time, she did not know which would cause her to pass out first – the lack of oxygen or the pain of constriction. She did not wish to find out.
Catrina snapped her fingers and all at once, the cats lunged at Shadow at such a fast speed that not even he, with all his agility, would be able to dodge. Fortunately, Ankh had the solution prepared all along. Using the last of her accessible psi, she summoned a square of psionic energy as a barrier. It was large enough to block all of the cats at once.
The cats smacked into the barrier at immense force. Ankh heard a sickening *snap* from one of the cats, which fell to the ground lifeless. Another one was badly bleeding. The rest of the cats, however, were unharmed. The damages were great, but not as great as the damages Shadow would have been forced to inflict.

Finally, the strain became too much and the pyramid of dogs toppled over, causing the statue to rock back and forth a bit. Trixy saw an opportunity and acted quickly. When the statue rocked backwards, she inhaled deeply, then blew out blue flames, which solidified into crystal under the statue, keeping it tilted a bit backwards.
[Why isn’t it going forward again?] Amy asked.
[Don’t you guys get it? It’s ‘cause the cat goddess stopped it! I told you we were all doomed,] Edgar stated.
[Edgar?] the pug said.
[What?]
[You’re an idiot. Shut up.]
Edgar was obviously appalled by this, but did not snap at him. Instead, he merely muttered, [Lousy snapwhippers…]
[It wasn’t the cat goddess. That was me. I breathed some crystal fire to hold it in place. Now, I need you to keep doing whatever you just did, okay?] Trixy said.
[What? You can’t be serious! We could barely do a pyramid with an even ground. How do we do it now?] the pug exclaimed.
[Wait. I have a better idea. I’ll just kick against the wall of the statue,] Amy said.
[Listen, kid. Most of the snapwhippers here tried it before. If they can’t move it an inch, what makes you think you can move it significantly enough?] Edgar asked.
Amy ignored Edgar’s cynical remark and charged right at the wall. When she was close, she leapt up and delivered a hard kick to the wall. To the surprise of most of the dogs present, the statue actually started leaning a bit farther. Trixy blew her crystal fire once again to keep it tilted.
[Well I’ll be!] a collie exclaimed, [You aren’t just some ordinary wolf, are you? That’s super strength, from where I’m standing.]
[Yeah. Perry gave it to me when he created me and my siblings,] Amy responded.
[Perry? A father, perhaps?]
[Well, sorta,] Amy said, not wishing to explain the concept of artificial birth, one that she herself didn’t really understand much. She then launched herself against the wall of the statue again. Despite the dogs’ attempt to keep their footing, they found themselves knocked into what was once the wall, but was now the floor of the statue, which had been successfully tipped on its back.
There was an immense uproar of jubilation from everyone in the statue, even the once-cynical Edgar, the one who had long since lost hope, but was now rediscovering the concept.
[Alright, guys! Let’s get out of here!] Amy cheered. She was the first to jump up and out through the statue’s eyes.

Catrina was now positively infuriated. “I have had quite enough of…” Suddenly, her fury vanished, as did her malice, both replaced with confused terror. “What’s going on?” she shouted. Her voice sounded entirely different now, exactly like that of the women they had met earlier that day in Pizzachi’s Pizza.
The cats’ eyes then returned to normal, all except the eyes of the cat right next to her, whose face seemed gained the expression that Catrina once lost. The cat opened his mouth and bellowed in the voice that Catrina had recently lost, “No! This cannot be. My plan was foolproof.”
“Catrina? You were the one who…” Catrina started to ask the cat. However, it was beginning to look as if Catrina was not her name, after all.
“Yes, Valerie. I am the one who took you over. I am the one who possessed you and the cats in order to take my revenge on that race of filthy mutts,” the cat, apparently named Catrina, stated.
“But how? How did you do it? And why would you do that to me after all I did for you?” Valerie asked, appalled by the very idea of it.
“Well, quite simply, I don’t care what you do for me. I never liked you. You were just an asset to me. As for how I did it, that is my little secret,” Catrina said. The rain was beginning to let up. Thunder could be heard in the distance.
Valerie was now growing quite angry. “You used me… you faked being my friend all this time…”
“Yeah? And?” Catrina asked, following her words by licking a paw.
Valerie had reached her boiling point. She rushed up to Catrina and punted her right into a small tree.
“You will regret that. You will all regret this. You’ll see,” Catrina threatened. He then turned around and simply faded away from sight, seemingly by magic.
Valerie sat down on the spot, ignoring how wet the ground was from the rain. “I don’t believe this… This is all so… so…”
“Perhaps it is best if you lie down for a bit,” Ankh advised. Valerie nodded, then got up and walked away without saying another word. She was too speechless.

The dogs were all out of the cave by now. Most of them were in awe at the look at the high view from the hilltop, from which the town could be seen. They all longed to return to that town from which they had been separated, some for longer than others.
[So beautiful…] the pug said, looking around.
[So wet,] Edgar said. He smiled. [Better than in that rusty old place, though.]
[I thought I’d never see it again,] the collie said.
[This is why you should never give up hope,] Trixy said.
The group of them proceeded to the town. It was not until they reached the town that they split up, each headed toward their own destination.

“Now we have one thing left to worry about,” Shadow said.
Ankh nodded. “We need to find Amy.”
“Shadow! Ankh!” Amy called out, rushing toward them.
The two turned around. “Well, that’s pretty convenient,” Shadow said.
“We were so worried about you,” Ankh said.
“Well, I’m not entirely out of the woods yet. I might starve to death if I don’t eat soon,” Amy said, only half-humorously.
Ankh nodded. “Yes. Let’s go, then.”

The next morning…
The day was sunny and cloudless, a great contrast to last night, a night that the trio wanted to push out of their minds for the time being. They had discussed it for quite some time last night and had come to the conclusion that Catrina would be back someday for revenge. The only question was how… and when.
A bit of walking and they arrived at Pizzachi’s Pizza. Ankh decided to go with the Shadow and Amy inside the restaurant, instead of relaxing on the roof. It was good to relax sometimes, but it was also good to spend time with a group of people, as well.
One of the people present was Valerie, dressed in her red garb. The manager commented on her when the trio entered. “Hey. You guys are in for a treat. It looks almost as if she took some sort of kindness medication this morning. Weird.”
It was then that Valerie noticed them. Instead of the scorn of her last visit, she gave them a simple smile. This was starting to creep shadow out a bit. Amy walked over to her, mentally asking for a petting, and got her wish. She could tell that the petting she was getting from Valerie was one of kindness. Ankh, too, walked over and was scratched behind the ear by Valerie’s other hand.
Shadow sighed. “Alright. Give it up. Why are you so nice to us all the sudden?”
Valerie responded quickly. “Well, there are two types of people in this world. There are cat people and there are dog people – and I’m obviously not a cat person, as of recently.”