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The atmosphere of battle was intense and Dogman could feel the blood rushing through his head as he looked at the scene in the middle of the city. Petey was on top of a giant robot. Okay, that’s happened, what? Like seven times before? Still an issue nonetheless. Petey seems to have…uhm… a
gun??
Wait, no. Dogman looked closer. It was some sort of ray-blaster, which wasn’t much better. The hero tilted his head in confusion as he squinted to look closer. There was a heart on the gun, and everyone was running after him, and they looked…
okay.
Dogman sighed. Why would Petey even… is he that lonely? Really?
“Hey, Dogman!” Chief snapped, whistling to get Dogmans attention. He snapped his head around, thoughts diverging from his observations. “Let’s go stop him, Dogman!” Chief smiled an open grin, which Dogman mirrored, chasing after him as he ran towards Petey’s giant robot.
As they approached, Chief’s face contorted into confusion, mouth hanging agape for a few moments. “What is he…What the hell?!” The police officer's expression almost shifted into amusement, but still confused. Suddenly, Petey pointed to the hybrid cop, and called out from the top of his machine. “Dogman! I was
waiting
for you!” He keeps one hand on the red steering lever, the other pointing an accusing claw to Dogman in the crowd. The orange cat raised his voice again. “Here to stop me? What, like all the other times?” Petey seems more ashamed than annoyed, but he continues. “Well it won't work!
I won't go back to that godforsaken concrete prison!” His eyebrows furrow, and with the power of his rage and hurt he steers the machine towards his enemy.
Instead of being scared, Dogman rushed towards Petey's vehicle. Before getting hit, he swerved off the side until he was near the hubcap of the two-wheeled robot. With Petey confused as to where he had gone, The cop started to crawl up the robot, hoping up on the massive fender that was taller than Dogman himself. Petey Swivelled his head around, looking for the dog in blue. Petey let out a hiss under his breath when he spotted Dogman crawling up the side of his robot to where he was steering. Petey then let the hiss drag out until it was barely a whisper, smiling as he came up with a plan. The cat turned a blind eye to Dogman, Continuing to zap unaffected people from the crowd gathered around him without any thought. The dog in question raised his eyebrow at how seamlessly clueless Petey was, but continued to climb, taking advantage of the fact that Petey apparently didn't know he was there.
The villain's ear twitched as he tried to keep still, as to not alert Dogman that he, in fact,
did
know he was there. He continued to drive the machine, zapping people with his device in one paw, and the steering lever in the other. Dogman cringed as he heard how loud he was when he planted his shoe on the metal. Petey jumped out of his seat, surprising Dogman with how sudden and sharp he was with his movements. The cat nearly stomped towards him, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him further into the center of the top platform. Dogman winced as he got forced towards Petey, the orange cat not letting go of his uniform. Petey grinned as he spun out the device, holding it, pointed just above Dogman situated lazily in his paw. Dogman scratched at Petey's grip, trying to pry him off so he could attack– or at least get away. He had a loose idea of what the gun did, and didn’t wanna be subjected to it. Or..? No, definitely not. As the tension grew between them, Dogmans head was racing. Mostly with fear of the unknown, But also fear of humiliation if the gun worked… a good portion of it, that he wouldn't admit, was wondering if he even wanted to escape. Maybe the effects would be a good excuse to confess..? Woah, okay, nobody said that. Dogman wouldn’t admit that even if there was a gun to his head. Oh wait, now there was.
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Dogman felt the cold metal of the gun press against his fur. He looked up at Petey, who he was surprised to see almost unsure. Dogman could feel his face grow hotter as he looked at the orange cat. He was glad to have fur to hide it, but his wide eyes said it all.
Petey hesitated for what felt like years. Why was he doubting pulling the trigger? It was no problem for the other crowd of people he had affected with it. Was it because Dogman was his enemy? No, that didn't make sense either.
If he really hated him, he would've done it by now. He would've won. But at the end of each battle there was always something holding him back.
Feelings.
He felt his grip loosen from Dogmans shirt as his thoughts grew deeper. Dammit, why was he frozen in place? Petey felt like his legs were turning into gelatin. He pressed the gun farther into Dogmans fur and looked away. Why was he being so…soft? It wouldn't kill him, It was his own invention, a love ray. Like something out of a cheesy romance book. Petey quickly was getting annoyed with himself.
Dogman looked into Petey’s eyes. As he felt the gun rustle against his head, Petey shifting his grip, he saw him pull the trigger. A vibration went through him. It didn’t even hurt, it just felt like pure energy. Petey quickly realized the consequences of his actions, backing up as he felt Dogman leaning on him, his hands on his chest. Petey tried to push Dogman’s face away from his own. “Agh–no, wait!” Petey sighed as he felt Dogman licking his face, realizing that there was no going back, unless he took him to his lab to undo the effects of the love ray. He obviously didn't want Dogman licking his face forever, but a large chunk of him didn’t want to go back to enemies.
“Okay, C’mon.” Petey pinched the bridge of his nose (that totally existed), feeling how hot his face was. He slowly set off to his lab with Dogman.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Petey pushed open the large metal door to his robot, now arriving at his “secret laboratory”. Before the cop could jump into his arms, Petey picked him up first. Petey refused to look at the man he was carrying bridal-style for his own sake. He huffed with annoyance at the feeling of Dogman licking his face again, but with both paws occupied, he couldn’t push him away, even if he wanted to. He kicked open the door to his house, walking inside with the same annoyed expression, a blush setting on his face while he closed the door. Suddenly, his eyes panned down to Dogman, realizing how inanimate he was being by holding him like this. Petey was so embarrassed that he nearly dropped him, and he almost choked on his own spit. He shifted his grip on Dogman, holding the hybrid by his hip with one arm. Petey didn’t know why he insisted on carrying the cop, but it was his first instinct for… some reason. He was surprisingly light, or maybe that made sense because he was so much shorter than him. Dogman whined as Petey put him on the floor. Petey shifted his gaze away from his big round eyes. “Uhm…Do you want me to pick y-” Dogman barked enthusiastically, cutting his sentence off. If Dogman still had a tail, it would be wagging. Petey looked to the side, refusing to acknowledge the blush creeping on his face. “Fine.” Petey picks up Dogman again, feeling awkward was an understatement. “Lets, uhm…lets get you fixed.” Dogman squirms, panicking for a moment. Petey realizes what Dogman
thought
he meant, and made a small nervous chuckle as he rushed to explain further. “No, wait-” Petey tries to hold back his laughter. “I meant, the…” He sighs, his laughter coming to a halt, but a small smile still appears on his face. “Dogman, I'm not, uh, a vet, okay?” Dogman seems to calm down, relaxing in Petey's arms again. Petey stared at him, and he sighed sweetly. God, he was so cute… Nope! Not ever thinking that again. Before Petey could escape his smitten thoughts, Dogman pulled his head up and kissed him, a hand on the back of Petey's head to support it. Petey’s eyes widened, but he didn’t protest. feeling his heart leap as their lips met. Dogman lowered his head and sloped back down into his arms. Petey continued to stare off into the distance, his face growing redder. How was he supposed to feel? Disgust? That was his literary rival! If that was how he should’ve felt, then why did his heart beat faster, and why did he feel so awkward instead of mad? The orange cat looked over to the cop who had just kissed him. What was he supposed to do? Kiss him back? No, scratch that. Why did he even think of that? He knew what to do, and he just needed to get Dogman back to normal. He set off to his lab, almost forgetting where to go with how dazed the interaction had left him. The cat walked down the stairs into his lab with Dogman still in his arms.
When Petey got to the bottom of the stairs he shuddered. “It’s really cold down here.” Despite his orange fur, Petey felt strangely cold in the basement. He looked at Dogman before deciding to set him down again. Petey felt like he was being oddly quiet, despite the fact that Dogman wouldn't respond anyway. Was he being weird? He should probably say more, right? Wait, what? What was he thinking? This wasn’t like him at all. Gosh, what was up with him today? Petey shook his head as if he could shake the thoughts off, trying to focus on getting Dogman back to normal. He sat Dogman in a chair, ignoring his pleads to pick him back up. Petey walks over to a set of drawers he had by his desk, the wooden surface being cluttered with scraps of metal and various other junk. His paw grabbed the handle of the top drawer labeled “backup.” He pulled it open, the drawer being filled with inventions of mostly buttons or weapons, except they were all labeled “something undo-er” based on what the original invention was. Petey had learned that it was always better to stay safe than sorry, even if he wouldn’t use the backup, it was a comforting thought to have it. He could always just go back and fix it, undo the mistake.
Petey shuffled through the drawers until he found the genius-ly named “love gun undo-er”. He hesitantly grabbed it, slamming the drawer shut so hard that the compartment bounced back out and made Dogman jump. Petey’s ears flattened as he realized how harsh his actions were, but he quickly shook the guilt away, walking over to his desk and pulling another chair up across from Dogman, sitting on it. The hole in the back of the chair made space for his tail to go through, swaying as he contemplated what to do. Well, it was obvious, right? Just blast Dogman with the remedy to his love-gun. Simple. Everything would go back to normal. His whiskers twitched as he remembered what “normal” was for them. Enemies. Rivals. Did he really wanna go back to that? Fighting with him? Petey didn’t want to deal with his doubts anymore. This needed to be done. It was just the way things were.
Without further thought, Petey zapped Dogman with it. He soon realized that he probably should’ve tied him down or something, because he might attack once he remembered what happened. Dogman, after being shot again, drew a blank expression, as if he was trying to ‘reboot’ himself. The cop, now unaffected, panned his head up to look at Petey, who seemed to have a worried expression– or was it regret? No, that would be strange, why would he
regret
making him normal again? That would be—
“Dogman?” Petey’s ears were slanted forward, and his whiskers drooped. Dogman couldn’t tell if he was fearful or sad. The recently recovered cop cocked his head to the side with confusion. Petey continued to look at him, waiting for confrontation, or at least some moment of realization. The cop looked down, feeling Petey’s green eyes burn into him. He stared at the cold concrete floor of the basement. Petey’s lab. Wait, Petey’s? Dogman flipped his head up again and looked around the room, trying to get a clear sense of where he was. Robot parts, unfinished projects, Dirty dishes stacked next to computer monitors. Unfinished papers and diagrams of inventions. His eyes widened a bit, now realizing where he was. But a new conundrum revealed itself.
Why
was he in Petey’s lab? The last thing he remembered was being on top of a robot with Petey, and he had that gun and… oh. OH.
Dogman felt… embarrassed to say the least. What did he do while he was under the effects of the gun? Wait, fuck, he still had to arrest Petey. He
really
didn’t wanna deal with that. He didn’t like, do anything bold while he was affected, right? No, Petey probably would’ve stopped him. At Least he had hoped. Why would Petey not? It’s not like he liked him!
Well— of course, Dogman didn’t like him either, obviously. How long was he out? Petey’s admittedly timid voice forced him to pay attention to the real world. “Dogman? You okay? Your face is pretty red…” Shit, he was blushing? Dogman’s face flushed even more, not helping his case by a mile. A slight nervous whine escaped him, which made Petey feel even more awkward than he already was. “Do you…” Petey paused, his gaze shifting to the ground, which he wished could swallow him whole right then. “Remember anything?” Petey would rather be sentenced to death row than have to utter another sentence about this situation. With focus, the entirety of his actions fled back to his mind. Being literally carried by Petey up until now, and…
Oh no. Dogman immediately put his head in his hands with immense embarrassment. Petey, who had practically witnessed his train of thought, also felt mortified with the reminder of the recent memory. As Dogman shook his head in his hands with flat out denial, Petey squinted at him. Shit, he did remember. What would they do about this? Just…Forget it? God, that would be weird. Imagine trying to be enemies after…that?! But then again, really, did either of them want to fight each other again?
Dogman, after his face was less red, and after he had calmed his thoughts, lifted his head, but still wouldn’t look at Petey. His face rested in the palm of his hand, staring at the floor. Well, what to do now? Obviously his job was to arrest Petety, mostly for the giant robot thing, then there was him escaping from jail. God, he didn’t want to fill out all that paperwork… Petey awkwardly shifted in his seat, waiting for…Something to happen. He was half expecting Dogman to arrest him, or maybe the other half was hope. Actually, he knew that it was going to happen. Not hope then, just denial.
Dogman sat there in the chair, mind still foggy from the love-gun recovery. He huffed a bit, before pulling out the handcuffs from behind his back. Petey groaned in annoyance, but got up and tucked his hands behind his back without being asked. He had gone through this too many times before, it was better to just get it over with. Dogman gently placed the cold metal against Petey’s wrists, smiling a bit in amusement at how the striped tabby already knew what to do. He didn’t even really wanna take him away this time. Dogman paused at the thought that had appeared, then shook his head, clasping the handcuffs loosely around the cat, making sure not to lock them too tight in fear he would cause discomfort. Must’ve still been a little affected by the love ray, with the thoughts that had been recently appearing in his mind. Petey spun around to look at Dogman after he heard the handcuffs snap closed. His expression seemed more just tired of everything than particularly angry or upset– but the cop could tell that there was still a light dusting of pink across his face. Probably just from embarrassment of being caught, right? That was probably normal.
Dogman stopped himself from getting lost in his own thoughts, and placed a hand on Petey's shoulder to guide him out of the house, and into a cop car that he didn’t actually have at this location yet, but should probably call in now. Petey usually would jerk the cops hand away and curse him under his breath whenever he placed a finger on him, but today he wasn’t being… Nearly as mean. Dogman, still with his hand resting on Petey's shoulder, he reached for his walkie-talkie that was clipped to his belt, picking it up and switching it to the correct station before waiting until a beep came from the other end. He barked three times in a row, which Petey breathed an amused laugh at. A muffled voice emitted from the speaker of the walkie-talkie, and Dogman barked once more. After he put his device back onto his belt, Petey snickered. Dogman shot him a slightly offended glare, taking his hand off of Petey's shoulder to sign out words. “It's a code system we made up for me.” Dogman motioned, eyes not shifting from Petey as he crossed his arms. The orange tabby looked like he regretted his words, and chuckled a bit. “Sorry, jeez. Wasn’t trying to offend you, man.” Petey looked up the stairs, ears perked as he listened for any possible cars pulling up in front of his house. “So, we’re just gonna wait for a car to get here?” Petey sighed before thinking about continuing, but he couldn’t find any words. He let his wrists sink into the cold metal of the handcuffs, shoulders sagging.
Dogman seemed to be zoning out and was absently staring at a wall. Petey felt his fur flatten out, the silence in the room comforting him from the awkward tension a few minutes before. He chuckled, but his whiskers still drooped. “I really don’t wanna go back there.” His voice not much more than a whisper, not actually caring if Dogman heard or not. Petey assumed that he didn’t, because he was still blankly staring into nothing. Even if the cop did hear him, it’s not like it would change anything. Petey’s feeling of neutrality switched into annoyance. Not at the person who was arresting him, surprisingly, but himself. He attempted to hold off on the gross, emotional monologue until he was safe inside his jail cell. God, this was boring. A buzz sounded from Dogman’s walkie-talkie, and the dog’s ears perked as he reached for the device. A bark disrupted the silence of Petey’s basement, and Dogman pointed to the starwell, tugging on Petey’s shoulder a tad to notify him. The cat in question rolled his eyes and waited for Dogman to walk up first. Of course, he would much rather just walk there himself, in front of Dogman, preferably with a rude shove to get him out of the way, but he knew that wasn’t gonna work. Dogman walked up the stairs with a few glances down to Petey, who was walking behind him. They reached the top of the stairs, and Petey groaned at the thought of going back to jail. It was whatever, though, he could always just get out again once he had a plan.