Not All Heroes Wear Capes

Special thanks to my friend, User: Rebecca200613 for adding the page.

Written by User: PAWPatrolFam.

Also, this is my first ever story in this wiki. If you wanna check out my stories in the other wiki, the PAW Patrol Fanon Wiki, feel free to do so.

## Overview:

**This is the story of a young boy who made it his mission to stop the continuous cases of animal abuse in his town together with a friend of his. It's not easy; it never is, but despite all the possible hardships and challenges they'll face, will they prevail?**

***Let's find out as we read the story...***

And sidenote: this story is from that boy's point of view, which in term, is me!

This is a work of fiction. Please leave your review after reading. I appreciate the constructive criticism :)

## Chapter 1: The Mission.

I was just a lowly teenage boy living in a house in a decent neighborhood. The people there were very hospitable and welcomes visitors and guests with warm welcomes.

But the best part about this neighborhood was that almost every household had a decent pet or two.

At my house, I had two dogs, one of them, named Fiona, was a Pitbull, all mocha brown with a white underside and one white front paw. And the other, named Tommy, was a cross-breed or something, but it had the ears of a Labrador and was way younger than Fiona. He is all black with his front paws and his underside white.

Me and my family always tended to our dogs with love and care. I was happy with them, even though Tommy had too much energy in him, and I often think that he secretly drank coffee.

And with Fiona, she was a strong dog, but would most of the time, tug forward while I walk her. In fact, she tugs so hard that it mostly felt like my arm was about to be pulled off me if Fiona kept this up.

Even with all this, I loved both my dogs and would do anything to ensure their safety and comfort.

**But then one night, something changed our lives forever...**

I was upstairs in my room, studying. I was getting into this unique topic in science when....

*I heard a scream coming from my mother.*

"Mom?" I exclaimed to myself as I rushed downstairs and to the backyard, where the scream was heard.

My heart sank to my foot as I saw what I wasn't supposed to see;

I found my precious Tommy all beaten up and bloody. I calmed down a little, thankful that he's still alive, but he won't be for long.

"D-D-Dad! DAD, HELP!" I cried out, but dad was already there.

"What the?! Tommy!" Dad exclaimed as he picked up the pup subtly and rushed to his pickup truck.

He set Tommy in the front seat and went inside the driver's seat. He started the truck and floored the gas, sending the vehicle screeching out the garage and out towards a nearby vet clinic.

Meanwhile, I was on my knees in tears thinking, "Who in their right fricking mind would torment my beloved pup?!"

Mom knelt beside me and put her arm around me.

"I know this is a cruel world sweetie, but I'm asking the same thing as you are. Who would do such a thing?" She whispered in my ear.

I then hugged mom and cried like there's no tomorrow while the rain started pouring down. Mom the gestured that we should go inside, and that's what we did.

*2 HOURS LATER....*

2 hours... 2 hours of anxious waiting and pacing did dad finally pull over in front of the house. He went inside with Tommy covered in bandages with blood stains in it.

I went up to my pup and was surprised to see him panting happily. I smiled as dad set him down and he went to Fiona, who was sleeping nearby and lay down with her.

"How is he dad?"

"Well, the vet said Tommy has a broken paw and some bruises and deep cuts. But nothing too serious."

"Thanks dad, I needed that good news!" I said as I hugged him.

Dad whispered a 'you're welcome' in response.

I said nothing else as I picked Tommy up and went upstairs. I heard dad sigh.

\*\*\*\*

As I set Tommy down beside my bed, I fixed my stuff in my desk, said my prayers, and went to bed. I was lying on the edge, stroking my pup gently.

Suddenly, I felt something inside me like a fire was started in my soul. It felt like, I wanted to find whoever did this to Tommy, and bring him to justice.

"I will find whoever did this to you my sweet Tommy. And make him regret it!" I whispered calmly before drifting off to dreamland.

## Chapter 2: The Investigation.

The next day, I received a strange news from my mom. She said that the school that I went to had to be renovated, which would take a whole month, so school was suspended for a while.

At first, I was a little frustrated that I don't get to go to school, but I was glad that I had a whole month of free time to investigate the scene of the crime.

After mom and dad left for work, I was left with my little sister and two of our loyal housekeepers. They agreed to watch my sister while I went to the backyard and to the spot where Tommy was found.

Luckily, the storm only lasted for an hour and didn't wash away that much evidence.

When I was just about to bend down to take a look at the ground, I heard a thud from behind me.

I jumped as I grabbed the bat I had with me and turned around, only to find my neighborhood friend, Annie. She climbed up the fence and flopped down on the grass.

Annie was a good friend to me ever since I met her. She proved to be a kind and helpful friend. She was the same age as I am, and was currently wearing jeans and a white T shirt, which was the same thing I was wearing, only with jogger pants.

"Gosh Annie, stop scaring me like that!" I exclaimed as I went up to her and helped her up.

"C'mon Paul, how else can I get over here with that fence dividing the yards?"

"Hehe, good point."

"I heard about the incident with Tommy. Sorry about it though!"

"It ain't your fault Annie, but right now, I'm trying to find out who did this, and bring him to hard justice!"

"Ooh, a crime scene!" Annie exclaimed ecstatically as she joined me in the investigation.

"Mm, sorta like that. Wait!" I exclaimed as I saw a strange shoeprint on the ground.

"It looks like someone *was* here!" Said Annie.

"Hold up, something else." I look closer and see a paw print in the middle of the larger shoeprint.

"Guess this explains the broken paw." I said.

"If the bad guy sneaked over the fence, there could be more clues on the other side of the fence itself!" Annie suggested.

"Great idea, c'mon!" I exclaimed as I climbed over the fence, with Annie following suit.

\*\*\*\*

We landed on the other side. We were now in an alleyway with two fences between a narrow road littered with garbage.

"Sheesh, don't people clean up in here?" Annie exclaimed, trying to shake off a candy wrapper stuck on her shoe.

The end of the alleyway leads to a not-so-dense forest where the trail of muddy shoeprints continue.

"The trail goes to the forest. Let's go!" I exclaimed, but Annie was hesitant.

"You sure Paul?"

I held out the baseball bat from earlier.

"Don't worry, you get to hold this." I said as I handed Annie the bat.

"Sweet swinger!" She exclaimed, swinging the bat slightly.

And with that, both of us went into the forest, following the trail.

But then....

"Strange, the trail ends here!" I said.

Annie went next to me and looked as well. Just then, I heard the snap of a rope and when I looked up, a net dropped on top of us.

"Ahh, what the?!" I exclaimed.

"What gives?!" Annie exclaimed too.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" A voice called out.

Annie stayed close to me as two men approached us.

"What gives dudes?" I asked them.

"Oh sorry." One of them exclaimed as he let us out. "We were....uh, testing new hunting traps, yeah!"

"In the middle of this neighborhood forest?" Annie asked skeptically, crossing her arms.

"Well, where else can we test these traps safely?" The other asked.

"Hmm, good point." I said. "Well, sorry for the trouble, we were just wanted to find out who decided to torment our dog."

The man's voice went noticably shaky when he said, "Sure, good luck out there kid!" Then both folded the net and went their way.

"C'mon Annie, let's go back now that the tracks end." I said.

Then we followed the tracks back to the alleyway. Annie groaned a bit, a little frustrated with the encounter earlier, but I managed to calm her down. We went to the front yard and to the main road.

"Hello there Paul, Annie!" Our other neighbor Mr. James called out while watering his plants.

Mr. James proved to be a happy and cheerful chap.

"Heyo Mr. James!" Annie called back.

"How're you two going this fine Monday?" Mr. James asked with a smile.

"Well, we're finding out who hurt Paul's dog, Tommy." Said Annie.

"Oh, that sucks!" Mr. James exclaimed as he turned off the hose and headed to the door.

"Well, good luck you two. As a matter of fact, if that would happen to my precious-- AAAAAGHH!!"

"What the-- Mr. James?!" Me and Annie exclaimed as we rushed to him.

"Mr. James, what happened?!" Annie asked, panicked.

"M-My dog, is.... GONE!!!" Mr. James yelled.

"What? How'd you know?" I asked him.

"Well, when I'm outside, he's always in this here doggie bed." Mr. James said pointing to the empty bed near the fireplace.

"Maybe this has to do with that same person who beat Tommy up. Look!" I said, pointing to some muddy shoeprints.

*The ones that match the shoeprints from the earlier crime scene in my house.*

"Mr. James, I promise you we'll find your puppy and bring that bad guy to justice!" I said.

"You keep saying that." Said Annie.

"I know, I just love saying it." I exclaimed happily.

"Did you see any suspicious activity around lately Mr. James?" I asked.

"Well, the only thing I saw was a black van in the driveway with a giant X scratched on its side. I saw two men carry a folded net to it's back, but while i saw them do so, I heard clamoring in the back. And, it just screeched out to town."

"Anything else?" Asked Annie.

"Well, one of them was just carrying a hiking knapsack......" Mr. James paused a while before realizing what could be in there.

We also realized the same thing.

"Well, where's the van heading?" Annie asked ecstatically.

"Um, I just told you; it screeched towards town, and that's the last time I saw it."

"Well, what're we waiting for Paul, let's go to town and ask questions!" Annie exclaimed as he grabbed my hand and rushed out the door. I exclaimed at this.

"Bye Mr. James, we'll get your puppy back soon, I promise!!" I said before we headed out.

"I hope so." Mr. James said before he sat down his recliner and took a little nap.

## Chapter 3: The Search.

Me and Annie took our bikes and rode to town. Once there, we asked the store owners and passers by about a black van with a giant X scratched on its side. Almost of them said the same answer:

"No, I haven't."

"I haven't, sorry!"

"Didn't see one."

"Nope!"

After an entire afternoon of searching and asking questions, we took a break inside a smoothie bar.

"Ugh, I don't get it!" Annie exclaimed, frustrated. "Mr . James said the van headed to town, but no one saw it!"

"Don't fret about it Annie, I'm sure someone saw a van with an X *somewhere.*" I replied.

Annie was sipping her smoothie very slowly and tiredly. I wrapped my arm around her neck, and she seemed to be calm at this point.

\*\*\*\*

I've known Annie for a while now. She's the coolest friend I could ever have!

She's always looking for adventure and action, and always energetic like.... Tommy.

\*\*\*\*

As I pondered about this for a while, my grip on my smoothie glass tightened slightly. I wanted to find that crook so bad, that I was being set off the edge about it. I've never been this determined my entire life, and I'm proud of that.

Me and Annie just continued to slurp our drinks until Annie spoke up.

"Hey, we didn't ask the person in this store yet!"

Just as she said that, the store owner, Jack, came to us.

Jack was just as decent as everyone else, but he makes smoothies that are very well known in the town, and for a cheap nickel.

"Ask me what you two?" He asked.

"Oh, what's up Jack!" I said. "I was wondering if you saw a black van with a giant X scratched on its side."

"Oh, let's see... Van with a giant X on its side... Ah, I just saw one pass by a couple hours before you two came here!"

"Wait what?!" Annie exclaimed, jumping out of her seat.

"Yeah, and it turned, right, towards that alleyway." Jack added, pointing to an alleyway on the other side, not far from his store.

"Right, thanks Jack, gotta go!" I said as I gave him some money.

"Keep em. Drinks are on the house!" Jack said.

"Thanks a lot!" Both of us said as we headed out.

## Chapter 4: The Abduction.

As both of us rode our bikes to the alleyway, we stopped at the entrance and parked our bikes near the store next to it. We slowly crept inside the alleyway, bat in Annie's hand, until we were a few feet from a dead end. We stopped there, because we found another lane that turned to the right.

We peered into the lane from the wall and to our surprise, we saw the black van ahead, with two men at the rear of it.

The van was parked front first, so we saw the open cargo doors. I squinted my eyes to find Mr. James' Shi Tzu puppy in a cage on the far corner of the van's cargo bay.

"Ya got the dog?" One asked.

"It's already here, airhead!" The other shot back.

"Right, the boss will be pleased that we found this little puppy in that house!"

As me and Annie listened to the convo, we felt a precense behind us. We turned around to find a strong muscular thug giving both of us a death stare.

Annie was the first to make a move as she swung the bat, but the thug caught it before it hit him. Then, while Annie had her grip on the bat, the thug threw her towards the two men.

"Annie!" I exclaimed. Then, the thug grabbed the back of my shirt and threw me as well, landing right next to her.

"Hey guys, look who I found eavesdropping on us!" The thug, we later found out his name's Jeff, called out.

"What's up Jeff?" The other, named Samson asked, then looked down at us. "Well, it seems like we meet again you two."

"What do you want from us?!" I asked, trying to get up.

But as I was about to, Jeff pinned me down with his foot.

"I want nothing from you kids, but it seems like *you* want something from *us*!" The one, named Josh said as Jeff tied my hands behind my back. He did the same to Annie.

"Hey, let us go you creeps!" Annie exclaimed.

"Don't think so little girl." Josh replied, then turned to me. "You wanted to know who hurt your dog so bad huh?!"

I nodded, staring at Josh angrily.

"Very well, well take you and your friend *to* him!" Samson said as Jeff threw us inside the van's cargo bay.

"No, this is not what I meant!" I exclaimed.

"Help, somebody!" Annie cried out as the van doors were slammed shut.

The three men then hopped onto the cabin of the van, started it, and backed out of the alleyway.

\*\*\*\*

Meanwhile, Jack saw the van back out of the alleyway and towards somewhere.

"Hmm, Paul and Annie should be outa there by now." Jack thought to himself out loud while wiping the counter.

But he just brushed it off as another customer ordered his special smoothie. *for the tenth time today!*

\*\*\*\*

Me and Annie struggled to escape, but the rope on our wrists were deemed too tight. We kept squirming at the back, which in term, made lots of metallic thuding.

"Will you keep it down you two?!" Samson called out.

"Not until you let us go!" Annie yelled.

"Gah, too loud! I'm driving here!" Josh exclaimed, slightly swerving.

"Should I gag her?" Jeff asked.

"Not now, don't wanna upset the boss for being late. Every second counts!" Jeff said, going faster.

"What do we do now Paul?!" Annie asked as quiet as possible.

"I dunno, I've never been in a situation like *this* before!" I exclaimed, slightly panicking.

Then, I saw Mr. James' puppy, still in that cage in the far corner. Luckily, my feet weren't secured, so it was easy for me to squirm to him.

"Come on pup!" I whispered as I held out my tied hands.

The puppy sniffed the rope, then began nibbling on it.

"It's working!" I thought to myself.

That is, until the van jerked to a stop, sending both me and Annie sliding to the front and banging our heads on the metallic wall.

Annie began to groan while she flailed her tied arms, trying to rub her head. I was doing the same. We stopped when we saw the doors open and Jeff grabbed our legs before pulling us to the doors.

Jeff sat us up while we still fought for freedom.

"Just let us go already!" Annie pleaded. "We don't want any-- Hmm, MMPH!" But before she could say another word, Josh stuck a strip of tape on her mouth to keep her from speaking.

"Tht oughta shut her up!" Josh exclaimed, with Annie still shouting.

"Annie, no!" I cried out in my head, cuz I don't really wanna risk getting gagged myself.

Though at this point, I'd rather be the one who's gagged than Annie.

"C'mon, you wanna see the boss?" Jeff asked darkly, tightening his grip on my shirt.

I gulped a little, then nodded. Annie whimpered slightly.

The three then connected our bindings with a lone strip of rope, the two of us on both ends of it, and we started to go inside an abandoned building.

"Why does it *always* have to be an abandoned building?!" I thought to myself, looking at Annie, who was nervous.

\*\*\*\*

We were led through a hallway littered with rubble, construction materials, and all the stuff you typically find in an abandoned building. We took a turn to the left and came across a lone door.

Jeff opened the door and to our surprise, the room behind it was outrageously tidy. Even the unused materials were arranged.

"Hey boss, look who we found eavesdropping on us!" Jeff cried out to their boss, Mr. Big, who was in a far corner of the room.

Mr. Big was larger than Jeff by a few inches, hence the nickname he was given. But unlike Jeff, he was wearing a formal work attire.

Mr. Big turned around to face us, while Annie was trying to squirm out of Samson's grip.

"Hmm, two puny kids. Well, what brings you here?" Mr. Big asked darkly. Annie whimpered a little at this.

"This boy here wants to know who hurt his puppy." Josh said. "You know, that black, hyperactive one?"

"Well is that so? Then I guess I'm the one you're looking for." Mr. Big whispered loudly.

"And what about the girl?" Mr. Big asked, staring at Annie.

"She must be the boy's friend." Said Samson, while still maintaining his grip on Annie's shirt. Annie kept squirming around and shouting.

"If that's the case, then okay." Mr. Big replied, slowly peeling off the tape, allowing her to speak again.

"Please, let us go already, we don't want any trouble!" Annie pleaded.

"Is eavesdropping trouble little girl?" Mr. Big asked. Annie was forced to be honest and she nodded and stopped squirming.

"Hm, figures!"

But just as Mr. Big turned around, Annie managed to get out of Samson's grip and charged at him. But Mr. Big was quick to react, and he grabbed her shoulder and pushed her to the ground, pinning her down.

"Ya really think you can charge at me like that?! Well, ya got another thing coming!" Mr. Big boomed.

"Gah, that hurt you-- HMM, GRMMPH!" Annie cried out, but Mr. Big stuffed a large piece of fabric into her mouth and resealed it, muffling her shouts even more.

"Ugh, I've had enough of her racket! Lock em away boys!" Mr. Big boomed again before we were about to be taken out from his room.

"You won't get away with this!!" I exclaimed.

"Well, what can ya do about it boy?" Mr. Big asked darkly before gesturing his men to stop.

"You may see me as a lowly boy, but my dad always said, 'Not all heroes wear capes, it's your actions that shows wether you're a hero, *or a villain like you.'*" I said, spatting out the last few words.

"Strong words kid, but not enough to get ya outa here!" Mr. Big replied in an even darker tone as we were led out the door.

\*\*\*\*

We were now led inside a larger, but messier room where we got shoved into. Jeff tied my feet and knees together, so getting around was harder. He did the same to Annie, only Jeff connected the bindings on her feet to her wrists with a very short length left of the rope.

"This'll keep you from squirming around!" Jeff said as he tightened the last knot.

"Mmh, grmmph!" Annie exclaimed, showing tell tale signs of discomfort from her bindings.

"What're ya gonna do to us next?" I asked.

"I dunno, it's up to the boss to decide." Said Josh.

"Later kids!" Samson said as they went out.

"Wait, no! Don't leave us here!"

"Hmmmph!!!"

But they didn't listen. They just slowly closed the door in front of us.

\*\*\*\*

"Gah, darn!" I exclaimed, feeling frustrated.

"Nmmh, grmmph!" Annie kept shouting out of desperation to be let out.

It felt uncomfortable, and somewhat awkward for her to get hogtied like this. I mean, not that this happened before. Still, her position was way worse than mine.

"What do we do now?!" I asked.

"Mmph, hmmmh!" Annie cried out, still unable to say anything with her gag.

"Nmmh...." Annie's voice began to crack slightly as tears started forming in her eyes.

It somewhat felt like she'd given up on escaping....

I've never seen her give up before. Not even once! But in a situation she's never been before, it felt somewhat scary for her. I mean, not that she's afraid or anything. It could be because the way she was bound and such.

I wanted to get both of us out as soon as possible. I pondered for a bit. Then, I remembered when I got Mr. James' puppy to nibble the rope on my wrists.

## Chapter 5: The Escape.

I then tried to squirm over to a pile of bent metal support beams,but with my legs also secured,it was harder. I eventually managed to reach the beams after several minutes of squirming.

"Gah, man that took a while!" I exclaimed as I try to sit up.

"Hmm, mmph!" Annie kept exclaiming, not being able to do or move much.

I positioned myself in front of one metal beam. And facing away from it, I tried to saw the rope in my wrists with the beam.

"Come on...."

"Mmph, grmmh!" Annie exclaimed again, getting more uncomfortable with her bindings and the cloth in her mouth starting to taste bad.

I suddenly felt the rope loosen a bit with every minute of continuous sawing of the beam on the rope.

"Yes, it's working!" I exclaimed with triumph.

"Hm mmh, hmmph!"

I kept the steady pace for a few more minutes, and in no time, the rope finally snapped off my wrists.

"Haha, yes!" I exclaimed with more triumph as I undid the knots on my legs and ankles.

"Grmmh!!!" Annie cried out, signaling me to be let out. "MMPH!"

"Right, I got ya Annie!" I said while peeling off the tape and precariously taking the cloth out of her mouth.

And as I expected, it was drenched with her saliva, and I gagged slightly at this.

Annie spat a little. "Thanks Paul! Had that cloth been in my mouth for longer, I'm gonna lose it!" She exclaimed as I undid the knot connecting her bindings before untying the rest.

"No problem Annie." I said calmly as I hugged her with relief, and she hugged back.

"Now let's get Mr. James' puppy back and bring that no-good crook to justice!" Annie cried out as she broke the hug subtly.

"Right, but we gotta get outa--" I was cut off when I saw the doorknob turn.

Annie immediately grabbed a small, but long metal beam and got into a swinging stance beside the door.

Then the door opens and Jeff comes in.

"What's with the noise, I thought I gagged that--" Jeff was cut off by Annie's battle cry and her swinging the beam at full force towards his head, knocking him out cold. I exclaimed at this.

"Now to give him a taste of his own medicine." Said Annie as she looked at me with a smirk, and I knew exactly what she was thinking.

Later, we quietly left the room with Jeff, now hogtied himself, and knocked out.

"Man, that felt good!" Annie said, happy that she got back at Jeff. I nodded in agreement as I closed the door.

## Chapter 6: The Rescue.

We both carefully snuck through the hallway, while dodging from Josh and Samson's view.

\*\*\*\*

"What did the boss want with the two kids again?" Josh asked.

"The boss said to get rid of them, right?" Samson replied.

"Right." Said Josh before opening the door to the room where Jeff was.

To their surprise, they saw Jeff. He was now awake.

"What the what happened?!" Josh exclaimed as he untied Jeff.

"Those kids happened!" Jeff boomed.

"Boss, the kids escaped. Initiate Code: Boom!" Samson radioed.

\*\*\*\*

We kept quiet as we walked. I started to notice bombs placed on some support pillars on the way towards Mr. Big's office.

"Paul, I'm scared." Annie whispered as she cling to my arm.

"It's okay. The sooner we find Mr. James' puppy, the sooner we can get out of here." I whispered back.

Just then, I heard footsteps.

I immediately pulled Annie inside an open room and silently closed the door as Mr. Big ran the opposite direction.

As the footsteps disappeared, we went out and straight towards Mr. Big's office.

We went inside and checked every nook and cranny until we eventually found the cage with Mr. James' puppy in it.

"Found it. Now what? How do we got it out?" I asked hesitantly.

Annie responded by taking out a hairpin off from her hair, bending it into a certain shape and inserted it into the lock's keyhole. After fumbling with the lock for a few seconds, it popped open.

"Wow. You're good!" I exclaimed as I opened the cage door and gently took the pup out.

"What can I say, I'm always prepared." Said Annie before winking.

Afterwards, I cocked my head around, having heard... *a ticking sound.*

"What is that ticking sound?" I asked myself while looking for the source of the sound.

After looking inside the desk drawer, I felt all the colors drain out from me as I saw a,

"Bomb!"

"What?! A bomb?!" Annie asked in shock.

"We gotta get out of here!" I yelled before Annie grabbed Mr. James'puppy and I grabbed Annie's hand before we bolted through the hallways and towards the front doorway.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6,"

"Almost there!" I cried out.

"5, 4, 3, 2,"

By the time the timer reached "one," we were already outside.

And then, a ***Kaboom*** echoed through the building as it was being exploded to bits. We were thrown off slightly from the force of the explosion.

Annie and I didn't have the time to take cover, and so we were pelted with bits of shrapnel, stones and dried concrete for a solid 10 seconds. When the last bit of rubble hit my forehead, we were both out of breath and the pup was whining. I turned around and saw the building almost unrecognizable.

"Oh man, that was close!" I cried out in relief.

"Tell me about it." Annie replied with a grin.

I suddenly winced in pain and screamed.

"You okay buddy?" Annie asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, it's just the debris." I said, noticing some shrapnel pierced my arm, making me scream louder.

Annie tried to get up, but she also winced and fell back down. A while later, we heard a bunch of sirens from a distance.

"It looks like help had arrived. Uhh, unexpectedly..." I pointed out as the police cars, ambulances and firetrucks swarmed the scene.

## Chapter 7: Help from the authorities.

Soon, Annie and I were then laid on stretches and checked for any serious injuries.

"You just have several cuts from the shrapnel and other debris, but you two will be just fine." One medic told us as they finished patching up my cuts.

"We still can't believe you two managed to save yourselves and the puppy from that explosion." The other medic commented.

"Us too, though we also got kidnapped along with the puppy." Annie replied.

"I'm just glad you two are fine." They both said.

"But unfortunately, the people who kidnapped you two managed to escape." One officer said as he walked up.

"Dammit... What now?" I asked him.

"Don't worry kid, the crew will track 'em, take 'em down and put them crooks behind bars."

"Thanks officer."

Just then, my parents' sedan pulled over outside the scene and Mr. James and Jack were with them. They got out and rushed to us.

"My goodness, are you two alright?" Mom asked me, panicked.

"I'm fine mom." I replied reassuringly. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Well, that's good news." Dad added.

"When I didn't see you guys walk out of the alleyway after the black van drove off, I was got worried and called the cops. They didn't find you or Annie in the alleyway, so we tracked down the van until we got here." Jack explained.

"Okay, that explains things." Annie pointed out.

We were treated on the spot and after they patched up Annie's last injury, they let us go home as the cops were investigating the scene.

"We might call you two to the station at some point, since you two are our most critical witnesses." Another officer told me.

"S-sounds okay to me." I said, stuttering.

\*\*\*\*

After arriving home, dad, mom, Mr. James and Jack helped Annie and I out of the car and inside the house. They sat us on the living room sofa.

After both of us explained the whole thing to them, they were left speechless.

"Wow, you two had quite an adventure just to get my pup back." Mr. James said as he pet his Shi Tzu beside him.

"It was nothing Mr. James." Annie said. When all of us gave the 'Oh really?' stare at her, she corrected herself. "W-well, it was a few things actually... But we're happy to help."

"Yeah. We weren't able to serve those criminals the just desserts they deserve, but least we saved Mr. James' pup." I said.

"I'm just glad you two are safe." Dad said with relief.

"Yeah." My little sister added.

We continued chatting that night and later, we said our goodbyes to Mr. James and Jack as they left. And Annie had to leave as well.

I was still able to walk properly despite my cuts and bruises, so it wasn't a problem for me to hike up the flight of stairs to my bedroom where Tommy was waiting for me on the bed, who had a fresh change of bandages.

"Guess we're both the same now, huh Tommy?" I asked him rhetorically as I looked down on myself, who was also full of bandages wrapped around my limbs. Tommy just responded with a bark as I laid on my bed next to him.

I wasn't really relieved, knowing that Mr. Big and his goons are still out there waiting and planning their next move -be it against me and Annie or someone else-, but I was satisfied about the fact that I at least tried, along with Annie's help, and rescued Mr. James' dog. And I went to sleep with a happy smile that very moment Tommy calmly snuggled next to me.

## Epilogue

Midnight;

Mr. Big was now inside a secret underground bunker talking with someone on the phone.

"Those kids ruined our plan. Now we have to start from scratch." Mr. Big said over the phone.

The only thing we can hear is indistinct chatted on the phone.

"..... Yeah, two of them. A boy and his friend...."

\*indistinct chatter\*

"Yes his friend was female....." He explained to the man on the phone.

The voice on the phone was now yelling at him.

"..... Okay okay, I'm sorry if we let them escape. What do you want me to do now?!" Mr. Big yelled back.

\*more indistinct chatter\*

"What? You mean--" He was cut off as the man on the phone said yes.

".... Hmm. And then we demand the money from her friend in exchange." He pointed out.

The voice agreed with him.

"A classic move, I like that. But we have to play it smart. ...... Yes sir." He hung up before he sat on his desk.