Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Petey was in his workshop trying to finish up on the latest invention he was working on. The fur on his face was damp with sweat from concentration and his goggles gleamed from the room's light.

The machine in question was supposed to accurately share past events and record ongoing occurrences in its database.

It was meant to track all of Li'l Petey’s milestones so that they could all look back on them fondly in future.

The machine was a big rectangular box (filled with parts that could keep up with the amount of power and memory storage it needed to function) with a camera projector attached to display all of the precious memories it stored.

Petey was getting giddy at the thought of what this latest invention would be able to do, especially considering it was almost complete!

However, just when he was preparing to finish, Greg and Li'l Petey ended up rushing in to remind him about something important today and the dog-hybrid excitedly pounced at him.

“Woof Woof WOOF!”

Petey turned around after hearing Greg’s barking and was startled to see the canine flying towards him. “Greg, NO! You'll-”

Greg landed smack on top of Petey, causing the machine to start teetering over until it fell on its side. A massive surge of electricity coursed through it and a bolt of lightning zapped towards the pair.

On impact, smoke erupted everywhere, filling the entire room. Everyone was coughing and waved away the smog from their faces.

Petey ripped off his goggles and glared at Greg. “Greg, how many times do I have to tell you to STOP jumping on me like that while I'm working?!” He growled at the dog-hybrid who proceeded to get off of him and started sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as he smiled nervously.

The tabby sighed and stood before helping Greg up as well. He was all too familiar with his husband's shenanigans at this point. “Seriously, you have got to stop doing that, I don't want you to end up getting hurt-”

“Uh, Papa… you should look behind you…” Li'l Petey interjected as he pointed towards something that was behind his dads.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, the machine's broken isn't it-” Petey grumbled as he and Greg turned around, only to freeze in shock at what they saw.

As the rest of the smoke cleared, accompanied by a few crackles of electricity, revealed a group of people on the ground. It was… a puppy, a kitten, and… two lookalikes of them?!

The pair moved closer apprehensively and took a closer look and the puppy and kitten looked like them but as kids and their lookalikes were them but as old men..?

What was going on…?!

The puppy and kitten were examining their surroundings and appeared to be confused, whereas the old men just looked at each other before standing up and painfully stretching.

“Well, looks like it finally happened.” Old man Petey muttered while tapping his back with his fist as he and the elderly dog-hybrid walked over.

“What's going on? Why am I here?” The kitten inquired as he and the puppy walked over as well.

“I'm sorry, who are you all??” Petey questioned as he pointed towards them as he and Greg were becoming increasingly puzzled about what was happening right now.

“Now don't tell me two can't recognize yourselves.” The aged tabby chuckled as he tilted his head sideways and put his hands on his hips.

What.

Greg and Petey proceeded to go slack-jawed at what they just heard.

They looked up and down at their supposed future selves in disbelief.

Elderly Petey had rectangular glasses, a blue tie with a white collar, his missing whisker had grown back, and despite his age, his fur color was bright and lively. Elderly Greg had on a police hat that said “Chief” on it, the fur on his face was graying, and there were no longer any stitches around his neck, just a very visible scar. Both of them had heavy eyebags from age and the fur on their faces was scruffy and beard-like, but well kept.

The aged dog-hybrid was composed and appeared to look serious whereas the senior tabby had a kind and warm demeanor with a smile on his face to match.

They then turned their line of sight down towards the kid versions of themselves. Kitten Petey had a bandage wrapped around the end of his tail and a neutral but slightly gloomy look on his face while Puppy Greg had a red dog collar and a look of playful curiosity as his tiny tail wagged.

Greg and Petey looked pale as they looked back up. “How did this happen…?” The feline mumbled as he put a palm to his forehead, completely baffled by the situation.

“Well, the surge of electricity from that machine intended to record events in time generated a bolt of lightning that upon hitting you two, opened rifts in time that transported your past and future selves, i.e., the four of us, to the present.” Elderly Petey explained.

“So this is the future?” Kitten Petey questioned.

“For you two, yes. But for me and Greg here, it's the past.” The senior tabby elaborated as he pointed at his canine partner, who nodded in confirmation.

Puppy Greg’s tail was wagging as he panted excitedly. This was awesome! He was in the future with two of his older selves and judging from how they were dressed, he was able to achieve his dream of becoming a police dog! But… why do they look so… strange…?

Meanwhile, Kitten Petey looked further ahead and took notice of Li'l Petey.

“Who's that and why does he look like me?” The younger Petey asked as he pointed towards the other kitten.

“Oh, I'm Li'l Petey, your son! I was cloned from you!” Li'l Petey explained eagerly as he ran up to the young and bewildered version of his papa, who stepped back from his advance.

“Kid, no! You can’t tell him that!” Petey shouted as he hurriedly picked up the kitten.

“Why?”

“If you tell him about certain things he does in the future, they might not happen anymore.” Petey explained as he pulled the kitten close to him.

Li'l Petey’s face went pale as he realized what that meant. “Does that mean I might not exist anymore?!” He cried out fearfully.

“Don't worry, everything will turn out okay.” Elderly Petey asserted calmly as he looked at the kitten in his younger self's arms.

Li'l Petey stared back at the senior cat looking at him fondly before deciding to point something out. “Wow, you look even older than you are now in the future, Papa!” 

Petey furrowed his brows in irritation at the kitten while the elderly tabby just laughed in response.

“Oh it’s been so long since I've seen you this little! You're all grown up where we're from.” Elderly Petey grinned as he pulled on Li'l Petey’s cheek.

Elderly Greg couldn't help but to pet the kitten’s head and smile as well. Seeing Li'l Petey be this small again brought on a wave of nostalgia…

"Even though you used to drive me up a wall, I sorta miss the times when you were young. Except for your teenage years, that was a NIGHTMARE.” The senior feline remarked as he finished pinching the little tabby's cheek.

“Why? What happened?” Li'l Petey asked, curious about what occurred then.

“Let's just say that anger issues run in the family. You even made your Dad cry one time!” Elderly Petey elaborated as he chuckled.

“I DID THAT?!” Li'l Petey exclaimed in disbelief over what he was hearing, why would he do something like that ?!

Elderly Greg quickly became red in the face with embarrassment and elbowed his feline partner to make him stop talking.

Greg and Petey meanwhile cringed at the newfound information. They definitely weren't looking forward to that in the future…

“You two made up in the end, so everything turned out dandy!” The aged tabby affirmed casually as he patted his flustered canine partner's back who crossed his arms and huffed in response.

Well, that's reassuring. Sorta.

Greg glanced towards his older self and noticed his chief hat. The senior canine then took notice of his younger self staring at him.

“Hmm…? (What…?)” Elderly Greg questioned half-heartedly, catching Greg off guard and causing him to jolt back in surprise.

“A-arf… arf? (Oh, uh- your hat… we- I became head of the police force in future?)” Greg questioned hesitantly, intimidated by his future self's demeanor.

The aged dog-hybrid suddenly became attentive and straightened up. “Ruff ruff ruff… (Yes, it's a lot of responsibility that required years of discipline and…)

The Peteys looked on as Elderly Greg started to explain to Greg in great detail about how much work it took to get the position and the importance it holds.

“Here we go again .” The aged tabby snickered while rolling his eyes as Petey and Li'l Petey looked baffled, Greg was a lot more… serious in the future it seemed…

Greg however started to zone out at his older self's lecture, it was really BORING…

Kitten Petey and Puppy Greg meanwhile had stopped paying attention to the conversation for a while now because the puppy was trying to lick the kitten’s face as he constantly pushed him away.

The door of the workshop suddenly creaked open even more before 80-HD walked in to check out the commotion.

Everybody stopped what they were doing and turned towards the robot. “What the heck is that thing?!” Kitten Petey exclaimed as he and Puppy Greg looked stunned by the robot's unexpected appearance.

“That's 80-HD, you created him for me!” Li'l Petey clarified.

“Kid, I told you to not tell him- oh whatever. 80-HD, these are the past and future versions of me and Greg.” Petey said exasperatedly as he motioned his paw towards the four.

Elderly Greg and Petey looked as if they saw a ghost and they slowly walked over to the robot.

The two “It's been a long time, old friend.” The elderly tabby stated as he and the old canine hugged the robot.

80-HD was confused, but hugged them back anyways. Everyone was confused by the elderly pair’s behavior, but it HAD been a long time since they saw the robot.

After his sacrifice all those years ago…

…

They missed him a lot…

“Uhhhh, you guys alright?” Petey asked as he and everyone else were confused and a little concerned by the way the senior duo was acting.

“Yeah we're fine. Just a little nostalgic, that's all.” Elderly Petey replied as they finished their hug and wiped away a couple of tears from their eyes.

Okay… weird?

“We should probably try and help them get back to their time periods.” Greg signed towards Petey.

“Yeah, we should. Let's start fixing this thing.” Petey replied as he pointed towards the smoldering machine.

“Wait, what about my comic club's charity event today?” Li'l Petey questioned.

Greg froze as he realized that he had forgotten about that!

Crude, the entire reason he and Li'l Petey came in here in the first place was to remind Petey about it so that they could get going! Now, they're stuck dealing with this mess…

“I forgot that was today… Look, I don't think we'll be able to go anymore, Li'l Petey…” Petey groaned as he facepalmed his forehead.

“But everyone is counting on us to be there!” Li'l Petey exclaimed as he pouted.

“Well, what do you want us to do? Show up anyways with the machine and these four?” Petey asked rhetorically.

_________

Greg and Petey were walking on the grassy fields as they held Li'l Petey's paws. 80-HD was pushing a wheelbarrow with the machine in it and Elderly Greg was carrying Kitten Petey while Elderly Petey held Puppy Greg.

“I can't believe you managed to convince us to do this…” Petey grumbled irritably.

“Look on the brightside, Papa! Maybe everyone else can help us.”

“Yeah, maybe…” The older tabby sighed.

Meanwhile, Sarah was doing a news report with Zuzu in her purse about the ongoing charity event in the fields.

“Sarah Hatoff here at the Cat Kid Comic Club charity event!. All of the club members here are selling their comics to raise money for kids who got kicked out of class and drew comics instead.” She spoke into her microphone eagerly as she looked at the camera.

The camera then panned to several stands run by the baby frogs where they were selling copies of the comics they made to several people who approached their stands.

Chief, Nurse Lady, Yolay, Flippy, and Big Jim were all there to help set up the stands and sponsor the event.

“Normally, I would be interviewing the club president, Li'l Petey, but he and his dads haven't arrived yet…” Sarah continued as the camera turn back to her.

“Where are those three anyways?” Chief questioned as everyone else grouped up near the news reporter.

“Yeah, they're taking FOREVER!” Molly whined.

“I'm sure they'll be here any moment.” Flippy replied as he patted his daughter's head with his claw.

“Look, there they are now!” Big Jim exclaimed as he pointed towards the group walking up towards them.

“And there's the one we've been waiting… for…” Sarah was announcing excitedly before trailing off in astonishment at what she saw.

In fact, EVERYONE who turned towards their direction to greet them froze out of shock when they took notice of the elderly and kid versions of Dog Man and Petey with them.

“Roscoe, cut the feed NOW.” Sarah whispered hurriedly and the cameraman turned off the camera and walked away, not wanting to deal with whatever was going on.

“I… what… how…?” Chief stammered as he and everyone else were in disbelief about what they were seeing once the group finished walking up to them.

“To make a long story short, there was an accident with one of my machines and it ended up transporting me and Greg’s past and future selves to the present.” Petey explained reluctantly as the elderly duo waved towards the confused group before setting the puppy and kitten on the ground.

“How do you two always manage to get yourselves in situations like this?” Sarah questioned in an exasperated tone as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Hey, do you think that we like stuff like this happening to us all the time?” The tabby responded as his tail flicked in annoyance.

“Well… this can't be any worse than the things we dealt with before…” Nurse Lady pointed out.

This WAS relatively tame in nature compared to a majority of the crises they faced in the past.

Greg The Puppy went up to Chief and barked, recognizing that he was an older Clarence Bailey and the officer knelt to pick him up. “Aww, I forgot how small you used to be!” He grinned as the puppy licked his face happily.

Kitten Petey also hesitantly walked up and Molly flew up in his face.

“Wow, kid Wally looks just like Lil Petey!” She exclaimed loudly, causing the kitten to make a face.

“My name is Petey.” Kitten Petey corrected.

“I know, I just like calling you Wally.” Molly answered proudly, which didn't amuse the little tabby in the slightest.

“You're annoying, go away.” The kitten replied as he pushed the tadpole away, who frowned at his response.

“Hey now, that isn't very nice.” Elderly Petey told his child self and Molly took notice of him.

“Wow, you look even older than Wally already is.” The tadpole remarked, causing a look of irritation to grow on Petey’s face as his future self chuckled lightly.

“Pfft- it's been a long time since I've heard you call me that.” The aged feline said as he looked at Molly.

“How come? Wait, am I dead?!” The tadpole shouted out worriedly.

Elderly Petey’s laughter grew even louder hearing something so absurd. “No, no, of course not! You just grew out of calling me that.”

Chief placed the puppy back on the ground and noticed the chief hat on elderly Dog Man's head as he was standing back up.

“Whoa, you're the chief in the future, big guy?” Chief remarked in a surprised tone as he stood upright (He was also hoping he wasn't DEAD either-).

“Yeah, you passed the position down to me when you retired, it was an honor sir!” The senior canine signed before giving a salute as he smiled.

“I'm sure you're doing a great job as head honcho, boy!” Chief praised proudly and Elderly Dog Man blushed as his phantom tail wagged.

Li'l Petey walked up next to Kitten Petey and smiled at him but he just looked bothered before turning away in response, causing Li'l Petey to become confused. Did he do something wrong?

“Aww, you and Li'l Petey really are splitting images of each other. Così carino!** (**So cute!)” Yolay stated as she looked down at the kitties.

The two were nearly identical in appearance, except Li'l Petey had dark orange fur whereas Kitten Petey had pale orange fur and a bandaged wrapped tail.

“Yeah, we do, don't we!” Li'l Petey declared as he wrapped his arm around the kitten version of his Papa.

The little tabby looked visibly uncomfortable by this and pushed Li'l Petey's arm away, perplexing and disappointing the other kitten even more.

Does the kid version of his Papa not like him…?

“Of course you do, you were cloned from me, remember?” Petey reminded, interrupting the frowning kitten’s train of thought.

“Wait, you said that Li'l Petey is an exact copy of you, right? How come the kid version of you has a different fur color?” Flippy asked curiously.

“My fur color used to be like his but it changed. The doctors said it was because of stress.” Kitten Petey explained flatly.

The atmosphere became a bit sour after the kitten’s clarification.

“Err… sorry…” Flippy replied awkwardly.

“Don't worry, I think that your fur color still looks nice!” Big Jim said as he knelt down, causing the kitty and the puppy to turn towards him.

“Little Jim?” Kitten Petey questioned as he and Greg The Puppy took notice of the adult version of the friend they knew.

“Oh, I'm Big Jim now! It's because I'm all grown-up.” He clarified happily as he started petting the heads of the younger versions of his friends.

“I guess that makes sense… you are really BIG now…” The kitten replied as the purple cat continued petting the top of his and the eager puppy's heads.

“Uh, maybe we should cut back on divulging information to the kid versions of you guys, we might end up messing up the time-stream…” Flippy pointed out nervously as Big Jim stood back up.

Petey growled in frustration and his fur started puffed up as his tail flicked.

Oh, so NOW they were concerned about that?!

“As if that matters anymore!” Petey shouted as he raised his arms in the air, catching everyone off guard. “Thanks to this mess, the timeline is probably messed up God knows how much-”

“Okay, okay, calm down.” Elderly Petey interjected, interrupting his younger self's angry rant. “Things are going to turn out okay in the end. We've solved this problem when we were in your shoes and you will too.” He affirmed calmly as he put a hand on the younger tabby's shoulder.

Petey took a deep breath and let it out as he regained his composure. His future self had definitely developed a much better handle on his emotions…

But he also knew what they would end up doing in this situation…?

“...If you guys experienced this before and remember, then how come me and Greg don't remember all of this from when we were kids?” Petey questioned and Dog Man nodded in agreement.

“You'll figure that out on your own later on, we can't tell you.” Elderly Dog Man signed.

“Hmmph… (Of course you can't…)” Dog Man grumbled indignantly, why do all of these situations they end up in always have to be so complicated.

Even during their honeymoon, they ended up having to use their kung-fu and ninja skills to stop a massive crime boss from stealing a rare and precious jewel with alleged mystical properties!

(It only took one day though, so they were able to enjoy the rest of their vacation with zero issues on the brightside.)

“In the meantime I'll help you fix the machine and everyone else can help us get any more parts we need.” The senior tabby stated.

“What about us?” Li'l Petey asked as he pointed to himself and Molly.

“The kid versions of us should just hang out with you and Molly for the time being. DON’T tell them anymore information about their futures.” Petey advised his son.

“We can go to mine and Li'l Petey’s stand, it's already been set up!” Molly suggested.

“Oh great idea! C'mon guys!” Li'l Petey as he motioned his paw for Kitten Petey and Greg The Puppy to follow them as he and Molly ran off.

The puppy obliged and ran after them and the kitty was doing the same but stopped upon suddenly realizing something and turned back around to the adults who were talking.

“Alright, first things first we have to-”

Petey paused as he suddenly felt tapping on his leg and he looked down and saw that it was kid him.

“What is it, mini-me?”

“Where's Mom?” Kitten Petey asked.

Everyone paused.

“...What…?” Petey mumbled, unsure if he heard that question right.

“The future version of Mom. If Little Jim is here, then where is she?” The kitten inquired eagerly.

Oh no.

Oh NO...

Everybody's hearts sunk, what were they supposed to tell him…?

Petey looked at his younger self's eyes that were filled with the hope of being able to see his mom.

He couldn't- wouldn't tell him the truth.

“She… she's… AWAY ON VACATION!!! She won't be back for a few more days.” Petey blurted out nervously as he knelt down at the kitty.

“...Oh…” Kitten Petey whispered as he put his head down dejectedly.

“Hey, don't worry, once we fix the machine we'll be able to take you guys home and you'll be reunited with her. In the meantime why don't you meet up with the other kids.” Petey affirmed softly as he patted his younger self's head.

“Okay…” The kitten sighed.

And with that he reluctantly walked to where Li'l Petey, Molly, and Puppy Greg were.

“...Are you sure he really believed that?” Sarah asked once the kitten was out of earshot.

“I don't know, but what else was I supposed to tell him? That his mom, the person that  cared for and loved him the most, is dead?” Petey replied bitterly as he stood up and turned around.

“You okay?” Dog Man signed tentatively, growing concerned with how his husband was dealing with all of this .

“I'm fine, let's just start fixing the machine already.” The tabby sighed as he walked over to the wheelbarrow.

He was right, the sooner they fix this mess the better.

That should be simple enough, right?

However, Elderly Greg and Elderly Petey both knew that wouldn't be the case as they both gave each other a brief look of dread.

This was just the beginning.

Chapter Text

Things were going relatively smoothly.

Both of the Peteys were hard at work and were reconstructing the machine into a portal generator while Chief and the Dog Men were off getting more machine parts and Big Jim was with 80-HD getting more tools.

Flippy and Nurse Lady were still helping the other baby frogs with the charity event in the meantime.

Sarah, Yolay, and Zuzu were sitting nearby watching the Peteys working on the machine and occasionally explaining why there were two Peteys to curious passers-by attending the event.

Currently, the machine was now being reconfigured to create portals that can transport people to any point in time instead of its initial purpose of displaying recorded events.

Both of the tabbies were wearing goggles as they toiled away at the device that would solve this temporal dilemma.

Elderly Petey was cheerfully whistling an upbeat tune as he screwed on bolts with a wrench while Petey crouched down to an open panel at the side of the machine and fiddled with the wires inside, slightly annoyed by his older self's whistling.

The girls meanwhile, were getting bored of just sitting around in silence while watching the ginger cats work and listening to the attendees laughing and enjoying themselves as they headed from one stand to the next, purchasing comics.

“Soooo…. What are we like in the future?” Sarah asked out of the blue as she petted Zuzu.

“Sarah.” Petey said sharply as he stopped adjusting the wires and glared at the news reporter.

“Hey, you can't blame a lady for being curious!” The news reporter replied as she outstretched her arms.

“And what's the harm of knowing a little bit about our futures?” Yolay replied nonchalantly as she waved off Petey and Zuzu yipped in agreement.

Petey rolled his eyes at that and muttered something about messing up the time-stream while the aged tabby just chuckled and paused his wrenching.

Initially, Elderly Petey was going to answer the question honestly but in a vague manner to prevent altering the past, but then… an absolutely HILARIOUS idea popped into his head!

The senior tabby smirked mischievously for a moment before turning towards the ladies and putting on a woeful facade.

“Ah… you three….. We really miss you guys… After that terrible accident that killed you all…” Elderly Petey stated in an overdramatically somber tone as he lowered his face.

Everyone else went slack-jawed from shock after hearing that.

“WHAT?!?!” Sarah and Yolay cried out as they stood up hurriedly and Zuzu looked like she was on the verge of passing out as she fell off of Sarah's lap.

Elderly Petey proceeded to look back up and grinned before bursting into hysterical laughter at their reactions.

“BWAA HAW HAW HAW!!! I'm just pulling your leg, you three are fine in the future! Just a lot more busy.” He snickered as he lifted up his goggles and wiped away a tear.

Busy was an understatement, Sarah's news coverage was now global and Yolay's acting career reached new heights so it led to the two of them traveling a lot with Zuzu.

But despite that, they still made time to hang out with all of their friends!

Petey was stifling his laughter from his older self’s stunt while the ladies and poodle sighed, relieved but also annoyed by the senior feline's practical “joke”.

He certainly was the same old Petey alright…

“Not funny!” Yolay shouted sharply as she put her hands on her hips and Zuzu huffed.

“You are SO lucky that you're a elderly cat, otherwise…” Sarah threatened as she crossed her arms.

“Oh please sister, I may be old but I can still pack a punch, even without my superhero gear!” Elderly Petey responded playfully.

Petey suddenly stopped snickering, stood up, and lifted his goggles up in surprise at his older self's mention of “superhero gear”.

“Wait, superhero gear? Does that mean-”

“Yep! Li'l Petey eventually wore me- or well us down into joining the Supa Buddies. Though the process was a bit more complicated than just that…” The elderly tabby explained as he rested an elbow on the machine.

Petey groaned as he facepalmed, this couldn't be happening! Sure, he was fine with helping to save the day, but dressing up in a ridiculous hero get-up?!

“Great…” He muttered as his paw slid down his face.

“Chin up, being a superhero is pretty fun! Besides, our outfit is way cooler than the rest of those chumps!” Elderly Petey affirmed merrily as he spun the wrench in between his fingers.

“Well, aren't you The World's Greatest Cat?” Petey replied sarcastically as his tail flicked, irritated by his older self's peppy demeanor.

The senior feline gave a cheeky grin at that. “Actually, I am!”

Petey let out a sigh of defeat as he slouched, of course that guy actually HAD that title…

“Woah, really?!” Big Jim exclaimed excitedly as he and 80-HD were just coming back with some additional toolboxes and overhead that last bit of the conversation.

“How did that happen?” Yolay questioned as she, Sarah, and Zuzu went up to him.

“Oh you know, invented a bunch of different machines that solved several worldwide problems, advocated for reform for ex convicts to reintegrate them as functioning members of society which decreased reimprisonment rates, and a couple of other things.” Elderly Petey elaborated casually as he tossed the wrench between both of his paws.

Everyone else (except Petey) ooo'd after hearing that.

“That's amazing, you do a bunch of great things in the future!” Big Jim said cheerfully as he clapped his hands together.

“You're doing pretty well yourself, Big Jim.” The senior tabby replied merrily.

In his time, Big Jim had opened a successful bakery that specializes in cupcakes!

“Yeah, yeah, but you're still sooo amazing and better than everyone else…” Petey grumbled sarcastically as he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

Elderly Petey raised an eyebrow at that before shaking his head and chuckling as he set the wrench down and walked over to his past self.

“I'm you, remember? One day you're going to become me, in due time. Just be patient!” The aged feline affirmed confidently as he patted Petey on the back.

Petey slouched a bit after hearing that. It was pretty silly of him to be jealous of himself…

But still… His future self was so… different.

More cheery, super calm, less… burdened…?

…

“...Let's just get back to work…” Petey sighed as he covered his eyes back up with the goggles.

_________

While all of that was going on, the Dog Men and Chief were hauling back the machine parts along a sidewalk.

Chief and Dog Man were each carrying a box full of stuff and Elderly Dog Man was pushing a wheelbarrow full of even more stuff.

It was going relatively normally, until Chief's phone started ringing. He started holding the box to his side with one arm so that he could answer the call.

“Hello? Yeah? What?! Seriously??? Wait no tell me what-”

The call then abruptly ended and Chief sighed in frustration as he put his phone back in his pocket before turning back to the Dog Men.

“Alright, apparently there's some chaos happening downtown. I'm not entirely sure what's going on but I'm gonna go check it. Are you two okay bringing all these parts back yourselves?”

Both of the Dog Men nodded and gave salutes as confirmation.

“Alright, I'll meet back up with you guys later!”

And with that Chief placed the box he was carrying on top of the one Dog Man was holding and ran off to check out whatever was going on downtown.

The Dog Men proceeded to continue on with their journey to deliver the parts to the Peteys.

Suddenly, something passing by caught Dog Man's eye in the grass next to them.

It was an Eastern gray squirrel! Staring right at him, mocking him…

He couldn't miss this opportunity!

Dog Man immediately dropped the boxes he was carrying and started running on all fours while barking as he gave chase to the little critter.

Wasting no time, Elderly Dog Man rushed forward and hurriedly grabbed the back of his younger self's uniform, stopping him dead in his tracks before yanking him upright and spinning him around to face him.

“Grrr… Ruff ruff RUFF! (Focus! We have to get these parts back! And you shouldn't be getting distracted and chasing squirrels, you're a grown ass man, ACT LIKE IT, YOU BUFFOON!)” The aged dog-hybrid barked out in annoyance as he pointed at a finger in the younger canine's face.

Dog Man did not take kindly to his older self insulting him.

“Hmmph… Ruff ruff! (“You don't have to be such a buzzkill… and if we're talking about being ‘grown’, you've grown a few pounds! ”) Dog Man replied indignantly as he shoved the finger away from his face before huffing and crossing his arms.

The senior canine grew red with anger at that remark and growled as his snout scrunched up before slapping his younger self in the back of the head, who yelped from the sudden sensation of pain.

“RUFF RUFF RUFF- (WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, YOU IMMATURE-”)

Elderly Dog Man proceeded to verbally berate Dog Man about his behavior and the younger dog-hybrid was rubbing the back of his head because that slap earlier as his older self was tearing him apart with words.

Why was his future self so… uptight?

_____

Finally, after a silent and tense walk, the Dog Men made their way back to the event and made their way back to the group.

“There you guys are- wait, where's Chief and why do you two look so… mad?” Petey said as the two canines went up to them.

Both of the Dog Men had darkened and bitter expressions on their faces, due to the altercation between the two of them moments prior.

“Did something happen?” Yolay questioned.

Dog Man put the boxes down and started to sign to the group. “Chief had to take care of something. As for us, we're fine. It's just that ONE of us is particularly grouchy. ” He gestured as he glared at his older self.

“And the other is an insolent nitwit.” Elderly Dog Man signed in addition as he glared back at the younger dog-hybrid.

The two proceeded to start growling and baring their teeth at each other, shocking everyone else with how hostile they were behaving currently.

“Grrr… (“I know you're not talking, tubby.)” Dog Man remarked as he pointed at the senior canine, who started clenching his fists as his temper boiled over.

“Grrr… Arf! (That's it! I've had it with you!)” Elderly Dog Man declared angrily as he started rolling up his sleeve.

Now snarling, the two dog-hybrids started moving towards each other, preparing to fight, but thankfully they were quickly kept apart before that could happen.

Sarah and Yolay held Dog Man back while 80-HD and Big Jim held Elderly Dog Man in place.

Unable to reach the other physically, the two resorted to aggressively barking obscenities at each other.

“That's enough! What's wrong with you two?!” Sarah yelled over them.

“You're the same person! You shouldn't be so angry with each other!” Big Jim pointed out worriedly.

The Dog Men ignored them and their barks grew louder and louder.

The two tabbies watched the ongoing spectacle before giving each other a look as if to say that they both had enough of this pointless bickering.

And they were going to put a stop to it.

“GREGORY BERNARD KNIGHT!!!” Both of the Peteys shouted out simultaneously.

The Dog Men abruptly stopped barking after hearing the call of their full names and turned toward their feline partners who had lifted up their goggles and were now looking at them irritably.

“Behave yourself! You know better than to act like this!” Petey yelled while pointing at Dog Man.

“As for you, be nicer to your past self! You were literally him at some point!” Elderly Petey scolded the senior dog-hybrid in disappointment.

Both of the Dog Men huffed in response before freeing themselves from the others’ grasps and looking away as they pouted and crossed their arms.

The Peteys groaned and walked up to their respective canine partners that were sulking. They loved them, but they could be so damn whiny sometimes.

“C'mon, we just need to finish this machine and this situation will be fixed. Can you stick it out just a little longer, for me?” Petey requested gently as he put a paw to the canine's face.

Dog Man whined and nodded reluctantly before nuzzling into the tabby's paw that was against his face as his phantom tail wagged. Fine, he could deal with this for a while longer…

At the same time, Elderly Petey was scratching Elderly Dog Man's chin, who's nonexistent tail was also wagging. “I'd appreciate it if you didn't make things any harder than they are now, ya goof.” The senior tabby stated softly as he scritched his husband's chin.

The aged dog-hybrid sighed before nodding as well. Soon, the hardest part of this time travel situation would occur and the LAST thing he wanted to do was to put more stress on his husband.

Now that the Dog Men were calm, the Peteys snapped their goggles back on and started picking up parts from the boxes and wheelbarrow.

“This is it people! After this, we'll be able to fix this mess once and for all!” Petey announced as he held up a bunch of parts in his arms and started walking back over to the machine.

Elderly Petey did the same, but sighed as he felt an overwhelming sense of dread in the pit in his stomach at what was to come.

Elderly Dog Man felt the same feeling as he and the others sat down.

Unfortunately, this problem wouldn't be fixed here and there was another that was rapidly approaching.

But of course, both of the seniors knew from the very start that things wouldn't be this easy…

_________

Meanwhile, over with the kids…

Li'l Petey and Molly were sitting at their stand and Kitten Petey and Greg The Puppy were there as well.

Li'l Petey and Molly were selling their comics and explaining why there were “two Li'l Peteys” to any attendees that approached their stand. Kitten Petey was also sitting at the table, however he had put a lot of distance between him and the other two. He was currently drawing on a piece of paper with some crayons while puppy Greg was on the ground gnawing on the table leg.

After handing over another comic to a satisfied patron, Li'l Petey turned towards the kid version of his Papa sitting quietly and decided to make some small talk to include him.

“Hey, do you want to read one of our comics? It's really cool!” Li'l Petey asked as he waved a comic in his paw around.

“Uh, no thanks.” Kitten Petey mumbled before turning his attention back to the drawing he was working on.

Li'l Petey put the comic back down and sighed, maybe he could try something else…?

While he was busy thinking about ways to possibly win over the kid version of his Papa, Molly flew over to the pale orange kitty out of curiosity.

“Whatchu drawing, Kid Wally?” Molly asked as she tried to take a peek.

Kitten Petey quickly flipped over his paper before she could get a look at it. “Petey. And it's none of your business.”

“Aww, why?” The tadpole pouted.

“Because you're annoying and I don't like you.” The kitty replied as he tried to shoo her away.

“Hey!” Molly shouted as she avoided his paw.

“She's my best friend, Past Papa! Can't you try and get along with her?” Li'l Petey said as he scooched closer to the other kitty.

“Well, maybe you should get a less annoying best friend!” Kitten Petey snapped back harshly, more and more frustrated by the second as the grip on the crayon he was holding tightened.

“You know, you're being really mean right now!” Molly stated as she frowned.

“I wouldn't be so mean if you two stopped bothering me- OW!!!”

After suddenly crying out in pain, the pale orange kitten promptly dropped the crayon in his paw and started holding onto his tail.

“Oh no! Are you okay?” Li'l Petey questioned worriedly as he and the other two kids were growing concerned about the pale orange kitten that was in pain.

“Does it look like I'm okay?!” Kitten Petey replied sarcastically through gritted teeth.

After the end of his tail was amputated, Petey would sometimes experience flare-ups of pain in the amputated area, especially when it was past time for the bandaging to be changed.

In an instant, Nurse Lady and Flippy rushed over from one of the other stands after hearing the cry of pain. “What's wrong? What happened?” Nurse Lady asked hurriedly.

“Kid Wally is hurt!” Molly explained as she, Li'l Petey, and Puppy Greg went over to the two adults while the other kitten was still sitting on his chair and holding his tail.

“It's Petey, stupid!” He yelled loudly.

“Hey, be nice!” Flippy responded.

Kitten Petey proceeded to stick his tongue out and blew a raspberry at the psychokinetic fish, who was offended by the kitty's rude gesture.

Nurse Lady took notice of how he was clutching his tail and figured that was what was causing him pain.

“Is your tail hurting you?” She asked the kitten softly as she bent down to talk to him face-to-face.

He slowly nodded in response.

Taking a better look at his tail, Nurse Lady noticed that the bandages looked a little worn. They definitely needed to be changed since they were causing him discomfort.

“Okay, so your bandages need to be changed. Luckily…”

Nurse Lady then pulled out a first aid kit seemingly out of nowhere and opened it.

“I can change the bandaging and you'll feel much better.” She explained.

Kitten Petey’s ears flattened as he scooted back a bit and shook his head.

“It's okay, Past Papa. Nurse Lady’s great at making people feel better!” Li'l Petey affirmed in an attempt to reassure the other kitten.

Nurse Lady started to reach her hand out. “Don't worry, it'll only take a few-”

Out of nowhere, the kitty suddenly hissed and swatted a paw at Nurse Lady’s hand. Luckily, she managed to jerk her hand back in time and stood upright.

Kitten Petey turned his back at the others who were stunned by his violent reaction, still clutching his tail all the while.

It still needed to be treated, but he wasn't letting them get close…

“Me and Molly could use our powers to hold him still if you want.” Flippy whispered quietly to Nurse Lady.

“What? No! That would scare him even more! Just let me talk to him.” Nurse Lady whispered back.

She crouched down to try and talk to him once more.

“Listen, I know you're in pain and afraid, but if you let me help, I promise you'll feel much better.” Nurse Lady explained warmly.

Kitten Petey slowly turned around to look at her and his ears perked back up. “...Promise?” He whispered hesitantly.

Nurse Lady smiled and nodded before offering her hand towards him.

Fully turning around at this point, Kitten Petey gulped and slowly placed his paw into her hand.

Taking that as confirmation, Nurse Lady picked up the pale orange kitty off the chair and sat him on the ground. She gently unwrapped the bandages on the tail.

Once they were off fully, Nurse Lady proceeded to clean the wound, which caused the kitten to wince a bit. Afterwards, she dabbled some ointment on it before finally putting on some fresh bandages.

“And… there! All done!” Nurse Lady announced once she finished wrapping up the bandages.

Kitten Petey then stood up and looked at the fresh bandaging on his tail, it didn't hurt anymore.

“How do you feel?” Nurse Lady asked

“...Better… Thank you. Sorry for trying to scratch you…” He mumbled meekly.

“It's okay, I know that you were scared. I'm just glad that you're feeling better!” She responded happily as she smiled and patted the kitten’s head.

Li'l Petey then walked up to the pale orange kitty. “See, that wasn't so bad, was it-”

“RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, THERE'S A MONSTER!!!” Someone shrieked, interrupting Li'l Petey mid-sentence.

A crowd of people ran past the bewildered group, screaming about some monster.

“What the…?” Kitten Petey muttered.

They then heard a loud crash, followed by a heavy thud.

“What was that?!” Molly exclaimed.

“I'm not sure, but it sounds like it came from where everyone else was at!” Flippy replied worriedly.

“Let's go check it out, they could be in trouble!” Li'l Petey suggested.

With that, the group started sprinting over to where the others were. However, kitten Petey stopped to grab his drawing off the table before continuing to follow after them.

_________

Why?

Why did something like this have to happen NOW of all times?

Elderly Dog Man and Petey saw it coming of course, but for everyone else it was so sudden and completely out of nowhere.

The Peteys were putting the finishing touches on the machine, both using wrenches to screw on the last few bolts.

Once they finished, the little kids from the past and the elderly men from the future could be returned to their respective time periods.

At least, that was what was supposed to happen.

Suddenly, Chief ran up to them and yelled for everyone to run.

The regular attendees obliged and started screaming as they ran to safety, and just when the others were about to ask him what the heck was happening, a familiar-looking gigantic orange monster with several arms and wearing a helmet came barreling towards them!

They all quickly jumped out it's path and the creature proceeded to trip into the machine, knocking it over and damaging it greatly to the point that it broke into two, before falling onto the ground itself.

The Peteys ripped off their goggles and tossed them to the side before making their way over to the monster and everyone followed behind them.

They all knew who it was, considering they faced a situation similar to this in the past.

Dog Man snatched the helmet off the ghastly creature and it shrank, eventually revealing itself to be none other than Petey’s father of course.

Grampa groaned and slowly started to stand up. “Ugh… hey! Give that back!”

“Of course you'd do something like this now of all times.” Petey remarked bitterly as his grip on his wrench tightened, his tail flicking behind him all the while.

Elderly Petey meanwhile had an apathetic and cold look on his face at the sight of seeing his father again after so long. It was a stark contrast to his jolly demeanor moments earlier.

Dog Man was growling and baring his teeth at the wicked old tabby. Elderly Dog Man was also growling lowly but kept his composure.

Flippy and Nurse Lady then arrived with the kids in tow and all the baby frogs left their stands to check out the commotion as well.

“What's going on?” Nurse Lady questioned as she went up to her husband.

“This bozo was causing chaos in the city with his Motor Thingamajig!” Chief exclaimed angrily as he pointed at Grampa.

“Motor Brain, you imbecile! Now give it back!” He replied crassly as he made a motioning gesture with his hands.

Still growling, Dog Man proceeded to drop the helmet and stomped on it, smashing it to pieces.

Grampa became infuriated after witnessing his invention being destroyed right in front of him. “You tree-humping mutt! I'll make sure you'll regret-”

“Dad?”

Kitten Petey came into view with his paper in his paw and tilted his head curiously at the sight of the elderly version of his father. Puppy Greg was right beside him as well.

Grampa was stunned at the sight of the kid version of his son with the puppy and finally took notice of the elderly versions of Dog Man and Petey as well.

“...Let me guess, there was another cloning accident?” He asked sarcastically as he put hands on his hips.

“Time travel, actually. And thanks to YOU, the machine we needed to fix this mess is broken, AGAIN! ” Petey responded irritably through gritted teeth as he pointed to the shattered halves of the crackling machine, his hold on his wrench becoming even tighter all the while.

“Oh, wah wah, AS IF I CARE!!!” Grampa said mockingly as he made a fake crying gesture.

“Real mature, Peter.” Elderly Petey responded coldly.

Everyone (except elderly Dog Man) was a bit surprised by the senior tabby referring to his father on a first name basis.

Grampa especially was taken aback, and was about to go off at the old man version of his son when someone suddenly asked him a question.

“Why are you still so mean?”

Grampa then turned his attention to the one who asked that question, the little kitty with the bandaged wrapped tail that was furrowing his brows as he glared at him.

“Maybe because you're still a crybaby loser in the future!” The wicked old tabby replied scornfully as he bent down and pointed at the kitty.

Kitten Petey felt a brief pang of hurt at that insult, but it was quickly replaced by rage born from a place of growing resentment.

“Don't talk to him that way!” Nurse Lady yelled.

“I'm not a crybaby or a loser! And becoming old has made you even uglier!” Kitten Petey shouted back angrily at the old cat, who became red in the face in response.

“You little…!”

A crowd of people started forming around them, murmuring to themselves about the ongoing spectacle they were witnessing.

Petey quickly took note of the crowd forming and tried to get his kid self to hush before things became too personal. “Mini-me, don't-”

“You're ugly inside and out! Why did I ever think that YOU could change?! Especially since you hurt me and Mom all the time and what you did to my tail before you LEFT us!” Kitten Petey announced furiously as he pointed at the old tabby.

Almost everyone gasped in shock over what the kitten just said, horrified by the implications of what that meant, all the while Petey looked mortified as he gripped his wrench even more, causing it to start bending.

Dog Man however, was FURIOUS and started shaking and snarling as he clenched his fists.

He knew that Grampa was no-good lowlife SCUM and always had a feeling that the mangy cat was responsible for what happened to Petey's tail, but getting confirmation that his hunch was correct as well as that insinuation that Grampa hurt Petey AND his mother in a similar manner several times before was a new low.

“I'll show you REAL hurt, brat!” Grampa threatened as he took a step forward towards the little tabby.

Kitten Petey flinched and instinctively shielded himself with his tiny paws, but before anyone else could react, Elderly Petey pushed Grampa back with a great amount of force, knocking him over as he stumbled back.

“Why don't you pick on someone your own age?” Elderly Petey hissed harshly as he stood over the other senior tabby.

Puppy Greg moved in front of the frightened kitten protectively, growling at the mean old tabby that wanted to hurt him.

Seeing Grampa attempt to hurt the kid version of Petey right in front of them all infuriated everybody, ESPECIALLY Dog Man and the only thing on his mind at that moment was ripping that bastard's throat out.

He tried to rush forward, but was quickly held back by his future self.

“Ruff ruff! (What are you doing?! Let me go!)” Dog Man barked out, trying to force himself out of his older self's restraint.

“Arf! (I'm angry too, but he can handle this on his own.)” Elderly Dog Man responded confidently as he motioned his head towards his feline partner, having complete faith in his ability to deal with this situation.

Grampa stood up and pushed the other senior tabby back, who stumbled briefly before catching his footing. “Oh you think that so you're so tough, huh?!”

“Says the one who tried going after a child!” Yolay shouted back.

At this point the rest of the kids were beginning to get scared and the crowd's murmurs were growing.

Petey started to hiss angrily and the wrench bent even further under his intense grip. “You've got a lot of nerve! After everything you've done to me, my friends, my family-”

“Yeah, yeah, nothing I've already heard before. What's next, you're gonna bring up how I abandoned you and your mother getting sick and dying?” Grampa said flippantly as he cut off Petey’s angry rant.

Kitten Petey went wide-eyed and his mouth went agape from shock from the unbelievable statement he just heard. “...What? Mom's… dead…?” He squeaked out.

Oh crap.

All of the adults started panicking and tried to do damage control..

“No no, don't listen to him!” Chief said hurriedly.

“S-she's on vacation, remember!” Sarah added nervously.

“Why are you all telling him all that malarkey, it's the truth!” Grampa shouted over them.

Elderly Petey stepped back in front of his father. “I believe that it's in your best interest to back down, or else.” He asserted sternly with his wrench still in his paw.

“Oh yeah? What's gonna happen if I don't?! ” Grampa replied as he got up in the other tabby's face.

The two were now staring at each other face-to-face, with neither planning on backing down.

Despite their similarities in age, they looked vastly different. Grampa's dull fur and the unkempt stubble on his face paled in comparison to Petey's still vibrant fur and his well-groomed beard.

The hate-filled amber eyes covered by worn circular glasses glared into the composed emerald eyes veiled by pristine rectangular glasses.

“You think that you're soooo wise and enlightened just because you're a old guy now? You're still the same lame-o loser!” Grampa yelled, slightly spitting in the other tabby's face who was still somehow unperturbed.

“I'm giving you one last chance, Peter...” Elderly Petey warned as he prepared to use the wrench in his paw.

Taking that as a challenge, Grampa decided to say something that would cross the line. “No matter what you do, no matter how much you change, you'll never be like HER. ” He whispered smugly as a malicious grin formed on his face.

The mention of his mother was Elderly Petey’s breaking point and his face darkened as he tightened his grasp on the tool he was holding.

He was going to put an end to his “father's” nonsensical farce, here and NOW.

“Don't say I didn't warn you.”

In an instant, Elderly Petey proceeded to swiftly hit Grampa on top of the head with the wrench.

The senior tabby then stumbled for a bit before falling face first on the ground a couple of seconds later, completely knocked out cold.

Practically everyone was stunned by what they just witnessed.

Elderly Dog Man however, was relieved that the mangy cat was finally shut up and sighed before letting go of his younger self.

Elderly Petey looked down at his father, the man who caused him so much pain throughout his life and created so many problems for everyone until the day he died.

He felt a twinge of pity as he continued staring at the pathetic sight of the other senior tabby sprawled out on the ground unconscious.

Elderly Petey sighed and knelt down at him. “You know, I still forgive you, but I didn't and still don't miss you.” He remarked flatly.

Around two years from now, when their boys were still very young, Grampa would finally pass away. By then Petey hadn't seen him in ages ever since they permanently cut him off after the scumbag tried to recreate a certain incident that happened to Petey when he was a kitten with Li'l Petey.

Luckily, Greg and Petey were there to prevent it from going through and threatened the surly old tabby to never come near them or their family ever again otherwise they'd bury him ALIVE.

Petey also officially disowned Grampa right there on the spot and started referring to him by his actual name, "Peter".

They also refused to hear anything new about him from their friends until the news of his death was broken to Petey. Apparently, Grampa ended dying due to his piss-poor habits and long running alcoholism that caused his health to decline and eventually led to kidney failure.

No one mourned and the only person who was even remotely sad was Big Jim and even that didn't last long.

There wasn't a funeral service either, he was just cremated and the ashes were given to Petey since he was next of kin.

Petey and Greg then went to a nearby river, dumped out the ashes there, before continuing on with their day as normal.

They weren't happy per say, but they DEFINITELY weren't sad either. Same with their boys.

You could say that they were indifferent to the entire ordeal.

...Deciding that he dwelled on that moment long enough, Elderly Petey stood upright and walked back over to the group to check on them. “Are you all okay?”

A few people in the group mumbled a range of half-hearted answers, the others stayed silent.

Petey however, was breathing heavily as he felt a whirlwind of emotions consisting of anger, embarrassment, and shame.

He's spent YEARS trying to forget all of those awful moments of his past, only for them to be dug up and put on display in front of EVERYONE he knew and a bunch of strangers as well, which rubbed even more salt in the wound.

And on top of that, his kid self ended up learning the truth of what happened to his mom too…

…

The storm of emotions Petey was experiencing intensified as he felt the piercing stares of everyone around him and their murmurs rang through his ears.

Reaching his breaking point, the wrench in the tabby's grasp loudly snapped in two and the pieces fell to the ground as he turned to the crowd angrily.

“WELL?! What are you all standing around for?! Show's over, now BEAT IT!!!” Petey bellowed at the top of his lungs towards the unwelcome audience, fur sticking up and all.

And so, the crowd of people grumbled as they slowly dispersed and left to go home, eventually leaving the group all by themselves.

Safe to say, the charity event was a complete bust.

“...So much for helping all those kids who were kicked out of class…” One of the baby frogs sighed.

Still fuming, Petey stomped over to the broken machine and kicked it a couple of times before standing in place furiously.

Chief hesitantly started to say something to the distressed tabby. “Petey are you oka-”

“Don't. Just… don't... I…”

Petey sighed and put his face in his paws.

Dog Man slowly went over to the tabby while whining and put a hand on his back.

Petey looked back up and glanced at his husband looking at him before placing a paw on his shoulder, feeling a little comforted by the canine's touch.

Kitten Petey meanwhile, was staring at the drawing he made before balling it up and tossing it to the side as he put his head down and started sniffling.

Greg The Puppy whimpered and tried to lick the kitten’s face to try and cheer him up but he was just pushed away in response.

Li'l Petey put his paw on the other kitty's shoulder and started to say something in an attempt to comfort him.

“It's okay, Past Papa. We can-”

“I'M NOT YOUR PAPA AND YOU'RE NOT MY SON!!!” Kitten Petey shouted loudly as he turned to face the other kitten, causing everyone to jolt back in surprise.

“All you are is a copy of ME! A copy of me that acts like how I used to act before my life was RUINED!” He continued as he pointed at a shocked Li'l Petey before putting both paws on his chest.

Dog Man and Petey began moving towards the two to intervene. “MINI-ME! KNOCK IT-”

“How is it fair that a clone of me got to have a better life when I'm the original?! Why did future me ever think it was a good idea to create some… THING like you?! ” Kitten Petey shrieked as he got up in Li'l Petey’s face.

The hurtful words from the other kitten shattered Li'l Petey's heart and his ears flattened as he shrunk back. His bottom lip started quivering and he was now on the verge of tears.

"ENOUGH!" Petey shouted as he separated the two kittens and restrained his younger self to prevent him from going any further.

Dog Man knelt down to Li'l Petey who was sniveling to see if he was okay and Kitten Petey bit his older self's hand, causing the tabby to hiss in pain and let his kid self go.

"YEOWCH!!!" Petey cried out as he stood upright while clutching his paw and Dog Man quickly stood up as well to see if he was alright.

“Petey, that wasn't nice!” Big Jim told the pale orange kitty.

“Not nice? I'll tell you what's not nice: LYING TO ME ABOUT MY MOM!!!” Kitten Petey snapped back in response as he turned back around.

Everyone fell silent at that…

“...We were just trying to protect you…” Sarah said quietly.

“S-she promised me that she would get better! And I believed her, b-but now…!” Kitten Petey stated as his voice started to crack.

Everybody’s hearts started to break from the overwhelming guilt they felt.

“She's the only one who cares about me… who LOVES me…!” The little kitty continued as tears began running down his face and his tiny body started trembling.

“Mini-me…” Were the only words Petey could utter as he felt even more old wounds open back up. 

“Without h-her I…I… WAAAHHH!!!!”

Overcome with despair, the poor little kitten began to wail loudly and uncontrollably.

All of the adults felt awful, they hid the truth in the first place to prevent this exact outcome but it ended up happening anyways…

The seniors knew that all of this would happen, but that didn't make it any easier to experience all of this again.

Petey knelt down and tried moving his unbitten paw towards his younger self in an attempt to comfort him. “Listen, everything is going to be-”

“GET AWAY FROM ME!!!” Kitten Petey screamed as he slapped his older self's paw away and proceeded to run away from the group, still sobbing all the while.

“Wait, mini-me!” Petey shouted as he stood up and reached out for the bawling kitten who was fleeing.

Greg The Puppy barked and dashed after the kitty and before they knew it, the two were starting to disappear into the distance.

This was NOT good.

First, the time machine was destroyed and now the two kiddos were running to God knows where…!

“Oh crap, we have to go after them-”

“Don't worry, we'll handle this.” Elderly Petey interjected over his younger self as he dropped his wrench before straightening his tie. “C'mon, Greg!”

The senior canine went up next to him and with that, the two elders ran off to catch their kid selves.

Eventually, they disappeared into the distance as well. But even then, everyone just kept standing around in silence for a bit, unsure of what to say after all of that.

Petey then quietly went over to the ball of paper his past self crumpled up earlier and knelt down. He picked it up and opened it and his heart ached at the sight of what was on it.

It was a drawing of him with his mom, his tail wasn't flat or bandaged and the two of them were smiling.

The gut wrenching pain Petey was already feeling intensified at the sight of the drawing and he was about to choke back a sob when he felt a tiny paw tap him.

He turned to see Li'l Petey looking at him, tears welled up in the kitten’s eyes as he stared at his father.

“Papa, why does the kid version of you hate me so much?” Li'l Petey asked tearfully as a tear ran down his face.

The ginger feline's already broken heart shattered even more upon hearing that.

Petey sighed sadly and picked up the kitten with one arm while still holding onto the drawing in his other hand and he stood up. “Oh, Li'l Petey… He doesn't hate you, it's just that… being around you is probably… difficult for him…” He explained softly.

“Difficult?” The kitten inquired as he wiped away his tears.

“Technically speaking, you're a version of him that never experienced all of the bad things he experienced… so being around you is a reminder of how he used to be and that must be… really painful for him…” Petey elaborated gently, trying to soften the blow about the reality of the situation.

“You stopped behaving like how I behaved because of all of the bad things that happened to you when you were a kid?” Li'l Petey asked as he tilted his tiny head.

Petey paused for a moment before continuing. “...Yes… The only person I still acted remotely like that around was my Mom, but she's not here with me- him right now…” He clarified quietly as his ears flattened.

Li'l Petey started to feel even worse. If the kid version of his Papa felt so much distress by his mere presence, then what about his ACTUAL Papa…?

“...Was it painful for you to be around me when you first created me?” Li'l Petey questioned as he looked up at the older tabby sadly.

Was that why his Papa left him in that cardboard box in the first place…?

Petey froze in shock for a moment at that question as he started to tear up. He sniffled and looked away as tears silently fell from his face.

Despite the tabby's lack of words, everyone knew what the answer to that question was based on his reaction…

Li'l Petey then proceeded to hug Petey in response, feeling guilty that his question- and his entire existence caused his Papa so much pain.

Greg went up to his husband and hugged him as well while whining. Petey wrapped his other arm around the canine, still holding onto the drawing as he put his head down and squeezed his eyes shut as he continued to cry silently.

Greg thought to himself silently as he felt the ginger tabby's fur run through his fingers as he gently rubbed his back.

The dog-hybrid lamented the fact that Petey went through all of this all alone for so long and wished that Petey was more open with him so that he could help him more.

Greg was able to share practically everything with Petey. His entire life story up until now, his fears, his struggles, and even… his grief about losing Knight…

But Petey… had always been reserved about certain things…

Sure, he was always straightforward about his life with his mom post his dad abandoning them and some bits afterwards following her death, but that really was about all he knew.

Greg respected his privacy, of course… but for God's sake they're MARRIED!

He should be someone that Petey could rely on and confide in instead of hiding all of his issues! Unless…

…He wasn't good enough to be that sort of someone for Petey…

…

Greg hoped that their future selves knew what they were doing…

He ESPECIALLY hoped they were right about everything somehow turning out alright in the end…

Chapter Text

Greg The Puppy ran as fast as he could after the crying kitten, doing everything in his power to keep up.

It was pretty difficult since the kitty was running so fast...

He eventually ran into a nearby wooded area and Greg followed in close pursuit.

Once he entered, he couldn't see the kitten anywhere! He lost track of him!

Greg looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings and whimpered a little before shaking himself off and regaining his composure.

He wouldn't give up now, not when there was someone in distress!

…

…From the moment they got here, the kitten seemed to be so unhappy, and that incident with that mean old cat made him feel even worse…

But whenever one of his friends were upset, Greg would always try his hardest to cheer them up!

And since he seemed to be to be really close with the kitten- Petey was his name, in the future then maybe he could cheer him up as well!

Of course, he has to find him first…

With newfound determination, Greg started sniffing around, trying to find a lead until his ears suddenly perked up once a certain scent hit his nose.

It was the smell of Petey!

Greg quickly rushed forward in the direction of the tear-ridden scent that was getting stronger and stronger, passing by several trees and going through even more bushes.

He finally screeched to a halt once he heard the faint sounds of crying. He followed noises until he saw Petey sitting on the ground, face buried in his paws sobbing.

Greg quietly went up next to the ginger kitty and nudged his snout into him.

Startled, Petey's crying halted as he lifted his face from his paws and turned to see the puppy looking at him happily before he started licking the tears away from his face.

“What- I don't want to play, GO AWAY!” He yelled as he pushed the puppy away and turned his back at him.

Greg whined and started thinking of a different approach.

The puppy looked to see if there was anything that could help and spotted some pretty pink flowers growing near a tree.

It was perfect! And since they were out in nature, he wouldn't get in trouble for picking it this time!

Greg rushed over to them and picked one of them with his mouth and went in front of Petey, who was sniveling and wiping the tears that were still streaming down his face.

“I already told you, I don't want to-”

Greg dropped the flower in the kitten’s lap, causing him to pause.

It was a carnation, his favorite flower.

Petey slowly picked it up while staring at it. “...A carnation? Wait… you're giving this to me…?” He asked as he looked at the pup.

“Arf!” Greg barked eagerly in response.

Petey perked up a bit and gave a slight smile. “...That's really nice, thank you.”

The puppy panted happily in response, overjoyed that his peace offering worked.

“Carnations are my favorite type of flower… because they're… also my Mom's favorite…” Petey elaborated quietly as he placed the flower down next to him, his ears flattening as his mood quickly became sullen once more.

Greg whined and went up next to the kitten before placing his head in his lap in an attempt to comfort him.

Petey rested his head and arms on top of the puppy's head in response and closed his eyes.

“I miss her… I just want to go home and be with my Mom again…” He muffled sadly as he buried his face into Greg’s fur.

Greg whimpered slightly at that as he also closed his eyes, he could relate to the feeling of being homesick and missing people he cared about right now too…

Not exactly his parents though… He already knew that kittens stayed with their parents until adulthood, but for dogs who didn't walk or talk, it would be common for parents to let human kids adopt their puppies to be lifelong companions.

And Greg missed his kid companion, Knight…

Ever since the day Knight adopted him from the ranch, they had been inseparable. They were two halves of a whole!

This was the puppy’s first time being apart from the boy for so long and he couldn't help but worry, since Knight had a tendency to be accident-prone and wasn't the brightest crayon in the box…

And Greg missed playing with him, licking his face, being petted by him…

The worst part, the part that made the puppy the saddest, is that Knight doesn't seem to be around anywhere in the future, sorta like Petey's mother…

…So that must mean, like Petey's mother, he's also…

…

…But… at least Greg wasn't alone in dealing with this…

He was with someone that could relate to how he was feeling… Someone he'd eventually become friends with in the future!

That was at least one positive to all of this.

The two continued to stay in place for a while, taking in the comfort from each other's presence…

Finally, Petey sat up and wiped away the last of his tears.

“Your name is Greg, right?” He asked quietly.

Greg sat up and nodded to confirm that the kitten was indeed correct.

“I'm Petey. Do you also have someone that you miss too?”

The puppy nodded once again, but more slowly and sadly this around as he whimpered.

“Well… I guess we both have that in common… Maybe stuff like that is why we're friends in the future!” Petey said as he placed a paw atop of Greg’s head and started petting him.

Greg’s mood perked up at the reminder of that and his tail started to wag as he moved forward and began licking the kitty's face happily.

“Hey, watch it! That tickles!” Petey giggled but this time he didn't try avoiding the puppy's kisses.

Despite the fact it would allegedly take them many years to become friends, they were getting along just fine right now!

And that was pretty cool!

However, the joyful moment between the two kids was interrupted when they suddenly heard rustling in the bushes behind them.

Shocked, the pair jolted upwards and turned around to see what was going to come out from it.

It turned out to be their old man selves, completely out of breath as they emerged from the thicket.

“...Phew… that was… a lot… give us a moment…” Elderly Petey wheezed out as he put a finger up while he was hunched over as he and Elderly Greg panted heavily in order to catch their breaths.

After a minute or two, the old men regained their composure and stretched before standing upright.

“Alrighty then… you two sure are fast, but it's time to head back to the others.” Elderly Petey stated as he straightened his tie and fixed his collar.

“Oh… GREAT. ” Kitten Petey replied sarcastically as he put his head down.

The two elders sighed and were at a loss. The little tabby still wasn't very keen on returning to the rest of the group, which wasn't surprising considering everything that happened earlier…

And this was the part of this journey where they were going in blind…

Elderly Petey stroked his beard, the gears in his brain turning as he was coming up with a way to solve this… but then it dawned on him that the solution was so simple!

If he was able to put an end to world hunger, then getting through to his kid self would be a piece of cake!

They just needed to have a heart-to-heart.

“Uh… Greg? Why don't you occupy your kid self for a little while I talk to my kid self?” The senior tabby suggested as he turned towards his canine partner.

“How am I supposed to do that??” Elderly Greg signed curiously. 

Elderly Petey groaned and facepalmed. Seriously??? Stuff like this used to be second nature for his husband!

“For God's sake- PLAY WITH HIM!!! Here, I'll help you get started!”

The feline then went up to a nearby tree and broke off two sticks before heading back to the other three.

“Hey there little puppy, wanna play fetch?” Elderly Petey cooed as he waved a stick in front of the pup.

Puppy Greg panted and crouched in excitement as his tail wagged at the sight of the stick.

“Okay… FETCH!”

The senior tabby then threw the stick up further ahead into the thicket and the puppy chased after it as he barked.

“Your turn! FETCH!” Elderly Petey shouted out at the senior canine as he threw the other stick.

Elderly Greg turned towards his husband with an unamused look on his face.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Fetch it!” The aged feline teased playfully as he made a shooing motion with his paw.

The aged dog-hybrid rolled his eyes and huffed but obliged and went into the thicket after the puppy.

It was just the cats now.

Elderly Petey adjusted his glasses before slowly sitting down next to his kid self. “Sorry you had to see all of that stuff with Peter- Dad earlier.” He said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.

...Calling that man "Dad" after so long left a bitter taste in the senior's mouth...

“It's whatever…” Kitten Petey mumbled in reply half-heartedly.

The old cat scooted closer to his younger self in response. “What's wrong mini-me?” He asked softly as he looked at the little tabby.

Kitten Petey looked down into his lap and sighed. “...Everything… The future stinks. Mom's gone, Dad's still a jerk who doesn't love me, and I just want to go home but now I'm afraid because of how things will eventually turn out…” He whispered as his bandaged wrapped tail curled up behind him.

The senior tabby frowned at that. “That's not true. Sure some things are bad… but there's a lot more good!”

The little kitty then looked back up at his older self curiously. “Really?”

“Yep! You'll invent a ton of revolutionary machines, learn ninjutsu and wield swords, meet so many amazing friends, and go on a bunch of spectacular adventures!” Elderly Petey replied as he outstretched his arm in a dazzling motion.

“But… that doesn't change the fact that Mom's still sick and that I'll eventually lose her…” Kitten Petey pointed out as he became downtrodden once again.

“...I know… But you still have so much time left with her, it's important to make the most of it.” The senior tabby sighed as he put a paw on top of the kitten’s head.

“But how will I be happy without her…?”

“Because she'll never truly leave you, she'll always be with you in there.” Elderly Petey affirmed as he pointed at the little tabby's chest.

The aged feline then picked up the kitten and sat him in his lap.

“It'll be a difficult journey with a lot of heartache and you will make mistakes along the way, but you'll eventually meet people that'll genuinely care about and LOVE you, while still holding onto the love from Mom.” The senior tabby asserted warmly as he gently patted the kitten’s head.

“And love lasts forever, right?” Kitten Petey added, remembering those fond words of advice his mother told him.

“Yep! Forever and ever!” Elderly Petey replied happily as he grinned and playfully bopped the kitty's nose, causing him to giggle.

“Hehe, you're just like Mom!”

The senior tabby went wide-eyed as he was taken aback by the sudden comparison. “Really?” He inquired curiously as he tilted his head.

“Yeah! The way the fur on your face is stylized, being kind and gentle, and giving wise words of advice that always makes someone feel better; Just like her!” Kitten Petey exclaimed happily.

Elderly Petey was slightly dumbfounded as he stared at his kid self looking at him sincerely before smiling back at him as he teared up a little.

Despite how far he had come and grown as a person, he was never a hundred percent sure if he could truly live up to his mother's memory…

But… maybe he just needed some reassurance in the end… From himself of all people, ironically…

“...Heh… I guess I am, aren't I?” The aged feline remarked as he chuckled and pulled Kitten Petey into a hug.

The little tabby then hugged Elderly Petey back, feeling a million times better now that he knew that there were a bunch of wonderful things in store for him in the future.

_________

Meanwhile, further ahead, Puppy Greg was running around his old man self in circles. Begging the senior canine to play with him.

Finally having enough, Elderly Greg caught the pup and picked him up.

“Ruff ruff…! (Enough! Settle down…!)” The aged dog-hybrid barked out as he sighed and plopped his butt onto the grass with a loud thump, exhausted by how hyperactive the puppy was.

He was too old and tired for this… he had almost forgotten how energetic he was when he was younger…

…And more whimsical and carefree too…

“Arf! (That was fun, let's play some more!)” Puppy Greg yipped eagerly as his tail wagged.

“Woof… (Let's just sit and talk for a bit instead… Why did you run off too anyways?)” Elderly Greg questioned as he put the pup in his lap.

“Ruff… Awoo! (Petey was so sad… So I went after him to cheer him up and it worked! So now we're already friends!)” Puppy Greg howled happily.

The senior canine chuckled, of course he'd get along with Petey so well at a young age!

“Arf… arf…(And I'd bet Knight would really… like him too…)”

The puppy suddenly became sullen as he remembered the absence of his companion in this era he was in.

“Awoo? (What's wrong?)” Elderly Greg questioned as he was quickly becoming concerned about how sad the pup had become.

“...*Whine*…? (...Knight's gone in the future too, isn't he…?)” Puppy Greg asked quietly.

The senior canine froze in shock, how did his puppy self figure that out?!

Wait… he must've put two and two together since Knight wasn't anywhere to be found like Petey’s mother who was…

…

…Elderly Greg silently cursed his husband's “father” for putting them all in this position…

Considering how lying to the kid version of Petey about his mom went, the best option right now was to be honest…

…Even though the truth would be so painful…

“...Hmmph… (...Yes… he is…)” Elderly Greg grunted solemnly.

The puppy's lip started quivering as he teared up. Despite his gut instinct telling him otherwise, he had really hoped Knight was still around somewhere, but now…

“...*Whine*... (...Why… we were supposed to become police officers together… we're two halves of one whole…”) Puppy Greg whimpered as he covered his eyes with his paws.

The aged dog-hybrid’s heart ached at the pup's despair, especially at the “two halves of one whole” line…

It used to be his and Knight's signature catchphrase back when they were kids, signifying how they'd always be together…

Elderly Greg put a hand on his neck, his fingers tracing over the smooth scar. The stitches had fallen out several years ago but he could still remember what they felt.

…It was a cruel irony that the lighthearted catchphrase would end up becoming reality for the two of them…

…

The senior canine shook his head and snapped out of it. This wasn't the time to reminisce, right now there was someone that needed comfort.

Elderly Greg then started gently petting his puppy self in an attempt to console him.

“Woof woof… (Hey there, you two do end up achieving your goal of becoming cops together and do so many great things as a team before his time comes…”) He barked softly to reassure the distraught pup.

“*Whine*... (But how will I be happy without him…?)”

“Ruff! (Someone close to me once said that love is so strong, that it survives even after someone you care about is gone.)” The aged dog-hybrid explained fondly, remembering those words from when his husband first opened up about part of his tragic past with his mother all those years ago.

Puppy Greg stopped covering his eyes and perked up. “Ruh-roo? (Really?)”

“Arf! (Yep! And love lasts forever! He'll always be with you in here.)” Elderly Greg barked out cheerfully as he pointed at the puppy's chest.

He proceeded to pick the pup up and held him up as he looked him directly in the eyes.

“Ruff ruff ruff! (Always remember to cherish and love the people that you care about till the very end. Always fight for what's right so that you can make the world a better place for them.)” Elderly Greg barked out tenderly.

“Arf arf! (I will! I'll do my best!)” He yipped happily before beginning to lick the senior canine's face happily.

Elderly Greg chuckled from the licking, this was pretty fun!

Puppy Greg continued to lick away without a care in the world, until he got a better look of the scar on the senior canine's neck and finally took notice of the lack of his tail too.

“Awoo? (By the way, what's with the scar? And what happened to your tail?)” The puppy questioned as he put his tongue attack on pause and tilted his head curiously.

The pup knew that sometimes, dogs who weren't born with the ability to walk on twos or talk normally would occasionally gain one or both of those traits later on in life.

Normally, Puppy Greg would've just figured that he must've gained the walking on twos trait and left it at that, but the scar, the lack of a tail and how his body looked different…

…And there were stitches on his younger adult self's neck…

Elderly Greg meanwhile, was internally panicking.

He already told his kid self that Knight was gone, he was NOT going to divulge the fact that his head was surgically attached to his human companion's body in order to save his life!

“Ruuuuhh…. RUFF! (Uhhhh…. THAT'S A SECRET YOU LITTLE STINKER!)” Elderly Greg blurted out before licking the pup's face rapidly.

“Arf arf! (Hey! That tickles!)” Puppy Greg yipped as he pushed the dog-hybrid’s face away, quickly forgetting the question that was on his mind a few moments ago.

Elderly Greg breathed a sigh of relief as he finished licking, that was a close call…

Suddenly, the two canines heard rustling behind them and they turned to see the cats emerging from the thicket and walking up to them.

“Hey there you two, we finished up with our talk. You guys ready to head back now?” Elderly Petey said as he set the kitten down from his arms.

Elderly Greg nodded and placed the puppy on the ground before standing up and stretching.

Puppy Greg then hopped over to Kitten Petey eagerly and the little tabby happily started petting the top of his tail wagging friend's head.

“How did it go?” Elderly Greg signed inquisitively.

“Pretty well. Did the two of you have fun?” Elderly Petey asked in reply.

“You could call it that. Better than just throwing a stick and expecting that to be the greatest form of entertainment in the world.” The aged dog-hybrid signed sassily before crossing his arms and huffing.

“Oh, don't be like that! I know you still enjoy playing fetch because you're a good boy.” The senior tabby teased.

Elderly Greg blushed a little at that before continuing to sign slowly. “...Don't patronize me, Petey.”

Taking notice of how flustered his partner was, a mischievous smirk grew on Elderly Petey's face as an idea popped into his head. “C'mon… who's a good boy?” He reiterated as he held his paws up and stepped closer to the dog-hybrid.

Elderly Greg instantly knew what the feline was planning to do and stepped back. “Petey Tobias Knight, if you even lay a FINGER on me, so help me…” He hastily gestured as he tried and failed to make an angry face.

Ignoring his husband's empty threat, the senior tabby moved forward and started petting the canine's stomach.

Elderly Greg grew even redder and whined as he pushed the ginger cat's paws away as his phantom tail was wagging.

Puppy Greg and Kitten Petey meanwhile, were beginning to snicker at what was going on.

The elder dog-hybrid was unbelievably embarrassed, why did Petey have to do this here and NOW in front of their kid selves, this was so humiliating-

“C'mon Greg~...” Elderly Petey sang in a sing-song voice.

Elderly Greg ignored how his non-existent tail was wagging even faster now. He was a well disciplined police chief who had mastered self control, he was above this-

“...Who's my good boy~”

…OH, TO HELL WITH IT!!!

Elderly Greg flopped to the ground on his back and Elderly Petey immediately knelt down and started rubbing the canine's belly.

“Who's a good boy? You are! Yes you are!” The senior tabby praised as he continued rubbing his husband's stomach.

Elderly Greg was panting as his tongue was hanging out the side of his mouth and kicking his foot in the air, relishing in the petting and praise he was receiving.

At this point, both of the kids were in hysterics over the senior canine's shameless display but he didn't care in the slightest, he was enjoying himself!

Finally, after a couple of minutes of this, Elderly Petey finished with the belly rubs and Elderly Greg was still on the ground panting, catching his breath from all the excitement he just experienced.

“Hehe, looks you're still really silly in the future!” Kitten Petey said to his pup friend as they both giggled.

“He sure is! Even when he tries his hardest to pretend that he's not.” Elderly Petey snickered as he looked down at the flustered senior canine.

Elderly Greg proceeded to sit upright and lovingly gave the senior tabby a big lick on his face as payback.

Elderly Petey was stunned by the unexpected tongue attack and blankly stared at the smugly grinning canine as slobber dripped from his face before they both burst into hearty laughter.

“Okay, I guess I deserved that.” The aged feline chuckled as he wiped his face clean.

He stood up and helped the aged dog-hybrid up as well.

“We goofed around for long enough, we should really get to the others now. They're probably worried out of their minds.” Elderly Petey stated as he stretched his back.

Kitten Petey was suddenly hit with a wave of remorse as he remembered how he had acted towards all of them before running all the way here.

“Oh, but… I was so mean to them! They definitely hate me now…” He mumbled dejectedly as he put his head down.

The senior tabby chuckled at the absurdity of that. “They don't hate you, silly! Besides, if you sincerely apologize they'll forgive you and things will be just fine.” He reassured as he put his paws on his knees and knelt at the kitty.

The ginger tabby perked up a little and looked up at his future self. “They will?”

“Of course! They always do.” Elderly Petey reaffirmed warmly as he looked at Elderly Greg fondly and the senior canine grinned affectionately in return, proud of how far his husband had come.

Puppy Greg nudged his head into the little tabby and gave him a smile as if to say “It'll be okay.” to his future friend.

In response, Kitten Petey smiled back at him and gently hugged the pup's head.

“Okay, let's go.” He whispered softly before finishing up the hug.

The little kitty then grabbed onto his old man self's paw and all four of them began making their way out of the forest.

_________

After a long walk back, the four could finally start to see the others, talking to each other in an uneasy manner as they waited for their return.

“We're back!” Elderly Petey announced enthusiastically as the four of them finished making their way up to the group who turned towards them in surprise.

“You found them!” Chief exclaimed as he and everyone else were relieved that the two kids were okay.

“Yep! But first things first, one of us has something he wants to tell you all.” The senior tabby replied as he looked down at Kitten Petey.

The little tabby looked back at his old man self nervously, but the aged tabby smiled softly to reassure him before gently nudging the kitty forward.

“Uh… I'm sorry that I was really mean to you all and for running off like that…” Kitten Petey mumbled as he twiddled his stubby paws.

“Aw… it's okay we forgive you!” Sarah replied and everyone else clamored out similar responses.

“And we're sorry for everything about your Mom…” Chief added as he shamefully rubbed the back of his head.

“It's fine… I don't really want to think about that right now…” The kitty sighed, the truth still stinging a little and the officer mumbled yet another sorry.

Kitten Petey then turned his gaze to his adult self. “I'm also sorry that I bit you…”

“Don't sweat it, it'll take more than a measly bite to hurt a tough cat like us!” Petey declared as he winked at the tiny pale orange tabby.

Kitten Petey gave a slight smile at that before turning his attention towards the person he wanted to apologize to the most.

He proceeded to go up to Li'l Petey in order to make things right between him and his future son.

“I'm super duper sorry I said all those hurtful things to you… Sometimes when I'm upset I say things I don't actually mean…” Kitten Petey whispered as he rubbed his arm nervously.

“Oh… it's okay! Sometimes you do that in the future too, haha…” Li'l Petey blurted out anxiously in response as he rubbed the back of his head.

Despite the apology, things were still pretty awkward between the two kitties…

…

“...Y'know, now that I think about it, having a clone son is actually pretty cool.” Kitten Petey admitted in an attempt to ease things.

Li'l Petey perked up curiously at that. “Really?”

“Yeah! We'd get along so well and have a lot of fun together since we're basically the same!” The pale orange tabby pointed out eagerly.

Li'l Petey smiled at that, happy that his Past Papa actually liked him and Kitten Petey smiled back in return.

In fact, everyone was beaming with joy! Things really were working out after all!

Now they just had one last problem to solve…

“By the way, where's Dad?” Kitten Petey inquired curiously as he just now noticed that he wasn't here anymore.

“Oh him. He was still unconscious when some guards took him away to be sent back to Cat Jail, which is where he escaped from. He might have a concussion.” Chief explained with a scowl on his face at the mere mention of that cat.

“Yeah, him being in prison sounds about right. Took longer than I thought though.” The kitty remarked nonchalantly.

Everyone stifled their laughter after that remark. He certainly wasn’t wrong about that!

“Welp, we should start getting a move on with fixing the machine.” Elderly Petey suggested. 

“Yeah, but now it's going to take us even LONGER to fix considering its current condition...” Petey groaned as he pointed towards the destroyed invention that was broken in two.

Kitten Petey stared at the demolished machine, a paw on his chin as he was deep in thought… Until an idea suddenly hit him!

“Does it have to be that big? Why not make it more portable?” He questioned.

The two older tabbies then looked down at their younger self curiously. “Oh? What do you have in mind?” Elderly Petey inquired as he knelt at the kitty's level.

“How about… a remote! You can enter coordinates into it and it'll create a portal that can take you to any era!” Kitten Petey suggested eagerly.

“Yeah… That's a great idea, mini-me! We can also give it the ability to scan anyone who was displaced from their original time period and it'll automatically set the correct coordinates!” Petey added as he pointed a finger up.

“Now we're talking!” The senior tabby exclaimed as he stood up and clapped his paws together.

“Can I help you two create it?” Kitten Petey asked enthusiastically.

“Of course! The more, the merrier!” Petey exclaimed boldly as he picked up the little kitty.

“Alrighty, you two… LET'S BUILD US A TIME TRAVELLING REMOTE!” Elderly Petey announced confidently.

Everyone cheered in response and the three Peteys headed over the broken machine so they could get started on building that remote.

A brand new and improved time machine was on the way. And this time, this WOULD be simple enough!

Chapter Text

Construction of the time travel remote was going according to plan!

The three Peteys were busy working on the machinery on top of a table. Chief and Flippy were clearing up the stands.

Nurse Lady was helping the baby frogs pack up their belongings from the failed charity event.

Everyone else was sitting on the grass watching the Peteys do their thing, with the exception of Elderly Dog Man, who was still near the group but he was curled up on the grass and taking a nap (Elderly Petey advised them to not disturb the senior canine as to not make him angry).

Currently, Kitten Petey was on top the table, wearing a welding mask as he was using a blowtorch on the base of the remote.The adults in the group watching them were obviously concerned about a child using a tool like that, but the two older tabbies waved them off and said it would be fine.

Li'l Petey also pointed out that he's used a blowtorch several times, all by himself too. (Greg decided that he would have a chat with Petey and Li'l Petey about following proper safety procedures when they're inventing after all of this.)

The older Peteys meanwhile, were wearing goggles as they worked on some smaller machinery for the inside of the remote.

“A little more and… done!” Kitten Petey exclaimed as he turned off the blowtorch and lifted up his welding mask as he turned to his future selves.

“I've finished the titanium base of the remote and it's sturdy enough to handle the atomic chronometer, fusion core, and the other parts! I also left notes in the blueprint detailing where each part goes.” He elaborated as he took off the mask and set it down with the blowtorch.

“Great job, mini-me!” Petey praised as he high-fived the kitten.

“We'll take it here, why don't you take a break with everyone else?” Elderly Petey suggested.

“Okay!”

And with that, the little tabby hopped off the table and went over to the group sitting on the grass.

“The construction of the remote is going smoothly! It should be finished soon.” Kitten Petey explained as he walked up to the lot.

“That's great, Past Papa!” Li'l Petey cheered and everyone else clamored in agreement.

“Arf! (Wow, Petey's really smart! I bet he invents a bunch of cool stuff all the time!)” Puppy Greg barked to his future self.

“Woof! (He sure does!)” Greg replied. Since Petey had stopped being a villain a long time ago, his inventions were now more helpful and wacky in nature rather than machines of mass destruction.

“Hey, Kid Wally! Wanna hear a joke about diarrhea?” Molly asked Kitten Petey who made a disgusted face in response.

“Seriously, why do the two of you hang out in the first place?” He questioned as he turned towards Li'l Petey.

“I already told you, we're best friends!”

“Why?”

“Because we enjoy the same things and get along.”

“Why?”

“Because I reached out to her instead of destroying her during the battle against The Fair Fairy!” Li'l Petey continued, now getting really annoyed by the repeated questioning.

“Why?”

“BECAUSE IT WOULD'VE BEEN WRONG!! SHE'S A KID JUST LIKE YOU AND ME THAT WAS MISGUIDED AND JUST NEEDED TO BE LED BACK TO THE RIGHT PATH!!!!” Li'l Petey shouted as he raised his arms in the air in vexation.

He then put his arms down and was breathing heavily as the other kitty was staring at him blankly. 

“What kind of person calls themselves ‘The Fair Fairy’, anyway?” Kitten Petey wondered out loud, completely disregarding everything else that was said.

“Were you even listening to me?” Li'l Petey asked reluctantly.

“Nope!” Kitten Petey replied smugly as he grinned.

Li'l Petey groaned and facepalmed, this was how his Papa felt whenever he acted like this with him, wasn't it?

Dog Man however, was snickering over the irony of the situation. The saying “Like father, like son” was definitely true in this case!

“Anyways, I think I know the real reason why you guys are friends: She's your Little Jim!”

“Huh??” Big Jim and Molly said simultaneously.

“What do you mean?” Li'l Petey inquired curiously.

“Both of them have a weird obsession with diarrhea, they're both really dumb and annoying-”

“HEY!!!” Big Jim and Molly shouted as they were deeply offended.

“-But they're sweet and care about us, even though they get on people's nerves.” Kitten Petey continued, which flattered the previously insulted pair.

“Aww, you're sweet too! And you still are in the future!” Big Jim said as he picked up the little kitty and hugged him.

“You're way nicer now, Kid Wally!” Molly remarked which caused Kitten Petey to roll his eyes.

“Actually, you're definitely dumber than Little Jim.” He replied flatly.

“RUDE!!!” The psychokinetic tadpole pouted.

____

“Alright, I'm done!” Petey exclaimed as he took off his goggles. He had just finished the parts he was working on.

“Great job! I'll wrap things up here.”

“Oh… alright…” Petey responded as he stretched and went over to the others.

Chief and Flippy were still busy but the kids were now bothering a now awake and grumpy Elderly Dog Man and Big Jim, 80-HD, Nurse Lady, Sarah, Yolay and Zuzu were trying to help him out.

Kitten Petey and Puppy Greg however, were currently engrossed in one of Li'l Petey’s and Molly's comics. Dog Man was near them snickering as he watched his future self struggle further ahead.

“These are actually pretty good! Reminds me of the ones I used to make.” Kitten Petey remarked as he flipped to the next page.

Puppy Greg yipped in agreement, they were cool and future him was a superhero in some of them!

Petey finished walking over and sat next to Greg who turned to him.

“Old man me is wrapping up the construction of the remote, shouldn't be long now.” Petey explained as he cracked his knuckles.

“That's good!” Greg signed in reply.

“...How's past me doing…?” The tabby whispered as he leaned towards the canine, he was still a bit worried about him after everything that happened…

“It looks like he's bounced back from earlier, him and my past self really hit it off.” Greg gestured gently before pointing at the two kids who were reading comics near them.

Petey smiled at that, it made sense that Greg and him would get along so well at a young age!

…But still, he wanted to check up on his past self…

The ginger tabby then scooted over to the kids and his husband followed suit.

“...Uh, mini-me? I'm really sorry for lying to you about mom again…” Petey said quietly as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

“It's fine, I had a feeling you were lying anyway but I ignored it…” Kitten Petey replied as he and Puppy Greg sat up from the comic they were reading.

What.

“Wait, really??” Petey questioned as he and Greg both entered states of shock.

“Yeah. I could tell because you act like Mom whenever she lies: You both pause for really long times and have super guilty looks on your faces.” The kitten explained casually.

“...Oh…” Petey mumbled quietly, his voice cracking in the process.

“Don't worry, I know that you lied because you wanted to protect me. Like how Mom lied to me about how Dad might come to see me in the hospital after my tail was hurt or about the reason the two of us got evicted from our house or… about how sick she actually is…” Kitten Petey stated in a manner that was uncomfortably nonchalant given what he was saying and his young age.

Petey wasn't sure what to say and looked away shamefully. Puppy Greg whined a little, saddened that his friend had to go through that.

Greg however, was absolutely heartbroken. Petey’s past self was the same age as Li'l Petey, and yet he had already experienced so many awful things…

The worst part was that he seemed to be USED to it…

…No child deserves to go through that…

Petey sighed and turned his head back to face his kid self once more. “Well… I'm still sorry anyway… and I wanted to give this back to you…” Petey said as he pulled out his past self's drawing with him and his mom and handed it to the little tabby.

“It's fine, I want you to have it!” Kitten Petey replied as he pushed his older self's paw back to him.

Petey was dumbfounded. “Really?” He asked curiously as he tilted his head.

“Yeah! You definitely need it more than I do!” Kitten Petey stated before hugging his future self.

Petey was stunned by his kid self’s gesture as he teared a bit before smiling and hugging the kitten back.

The Gregs were smiling ear to ear at this touching moment, it was so cute!

As the Peteys were finishing up their hug, Kitten Petey finally noticed a ring on his future self's left paw…

...Huh...?

...Now that he thought about it, Greg's future self was wearing a ring too… and so were their old man selves!

That meant…!

“Wait… you guys are wearing wedding rings… So are our older future selves…! WHO DO WE GET MARRIED TO?!” Kitten Petey exclaimed eagerly and Puppy Greg immediately started getting excited as well.

“ARF ARF!!! (TELL US, TELL US!!!)” The pup barked out eagerly.

Greg and Petey were bright red and extremely flustered, they were NOT going to these kids that they would end up marrying EACH OTHER!

“Uhh… THAT'S A SECRET!!! You'll find out eventually!” Petey blurted out as he patted the little tabby's head.

“Oh… well, I hope we end up with a nice lady!” Kitten Petey responded.

“Pfft- Yeah… a lady, sure… ” The tabby mumbled as he snickered over how his past self thought he was married to a woman despite the fact he was very GAY (the kitten would figure that out in his teen years) plus the fact that said “nice lady” was right next to him, giggling alongside him.

“Awoo? (Is the person we marry pretty?)” Puppy Greg asked his older self curiously.

“Ruff! (Yep! The most beautiful person in the world!)” Greg replied happily before turning his loving gaze back at Petey.

____

The sky had turned orange as the sun was now setting.

Elderly Petey was putting the finishing touches on the remote. His face was dripping with sweat as he was deep in concentration…

Meanwhile, Chief and Flippy had finished up what they were doing and 80-HD had brought out papers and crayons to occupy to the kids with so that they would stop terrorizing the poor old dog.

Now all of the kids were busy drawing while the adults were talking (both of the Dog Men were warned to be civil and not squabble in front of the kids).

Kitten Petey and Puppy Greg were next to each other of course and the little tabby was hard at work drawing on two papers while the pup was eating a couple of the crayons.

“And… done! Hey Greg, look at what I drew!” Kitten Petey exclaimed as he held up one of the papers to his friend's face.

It was a drawing of the two of them smiling and with a rainbow in the background with “Friends!” written on it!

“Do you like it?” Kitten Petey questioned eagerly.

Puppy Greg barked happily before panting as his tail wagged. He loved it!

“I made another for you to keep!” The little tabby added as he pointed to the an identical drawing next to him.

The pup was overjoyed and started licking the kitty's face as a way to show his gratitude!

“Pfft- Quit it! You just ate a bunch of crayons, silly!” Kitten Petey giggled as he pushed Puppy Greg’s face away and the pup obliged.

The two looked at each other and smiled, they couldn't wait to become friends in the future!

Or maybe… they didn't have to wait that long!

“Y'know… I don't see why we have to wait years to become friends… Let’s start right now!” Kitten Petey remarked as he hugged the pup.

Puppy Greg nodded in agreement as he leaned into the hug. What's there to stop them!

Their friendship is going to be great-

“Done! IT'S FINALLY COMPLETE!!!” Elderly Petey shouted suddenly as he threw off his goggles and lifted the remote air.

Everyone rushed over to the senior tabby upon hearing that. Kitten Petey and Puppy Greg picked up their drawings before doing the same.

The Peteys went up next to their future self to help him explain their invention.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Time-Control 5000! This remote can transport anyone to any time period!” Elderly Petey explained proudly as he showed off the remote in his paws.

“You just enter coordinates into it and it'll create a portal to the corresponding moment in time!” Petey elaborated.

“It also has the ability to scan anyone who was displaced from their original time period and it'll automatically set the correct coordinates!” Kitten Petey continued eagerly.

Everyone oooo'd and started to a round of applause for their creation.

“That's great, you three!” Sarah praised.

“Is it safe though?” Flippy questioned.

“Yep! Bona-fide guaranteed to get the job done!” Elderly Petey stated confidently.

“There are some side effects, but it should be fine!” Kitten Petey added nonchalantly.

The mention of side effects deeply concerned everyone. Especially the Gregs, who also had to partake in this time traveling expedition.

But it's not like they had the option to do test runs right now…

“Mini-me and Mini-Greg, could you two come here please?” Elderly Petey called out.

Puppy Greg and Kitten Petey went up to the senior tabby who then activated the scan feature of the remote and used it on the kids.

“Hey, that tickles!” The little tabby said as he and the puppy were giggling from the scanner's light.

“Hold still, ya little rugrats!” Elderly Petey chuckled.

Once the scanning process was completed, he turned around and zapped open a portal with the remote.

It was glowing and swirling with different hues of blues as it hummed with energy...

“Okay, here's the plan: We go in and get our kid selves back home before returning to this time period. We also have to be extremely careful to make sure we aren't spotted and risk altering something. Got it?” Elderly Petey directed to his fellow time-travelling companions.

They all nodded in confirmation to convey that they understood. Greg and Petey then proceeded to pick up their kid selves.

“Alright everyone, we're going to return our kid selves! We'll be back soon.” Petey said as he and Greg looked back at their friends.

“Bye everyone! See you all when we grow up!” Kitten Petey said as he and Puppy Greg waved farewell to the friends they would eventually meet in the future.

And with that everyone wished the six adventurers luck and safety for their journey as they headed into the portal.

The portal then closed behind them, leaving everyone else standing in place silently.

“...I hope that they'll be okay…” Li'l Petey whispered quietly and Chief knelt down to pat his head in order to comfort him.

_________

…Saying that traveling through time feels strange is an understatement.

It feels as every molecule in your body is being pulled in one direction, struggling to hold together as your very being is warped through time.

The dizziness, nausea, an indescribable feeling tingling all over your body that disorients you.

It's overwhelming.

However, all of this occurs in under a second.

Then, it's over.

Greg and Petey stumbled out the portal, still clutching onto their kid selves and their future selves followed suit behind them as the portal closed.

“Ugh… my head…” Petey groaned as he rubbed his head with one of his paws and Greg was doing the same while whining from the discomfort the trip caused.

“Creating the ability to time travel is a marvelous feat, but experiencing it in real-time is a different story…” Elderly Petey remarked as he and Elderly Greg shook off their dizziness and regained their composure.

“You two alright?” The senior tabby asked as he finished adjusting his tie and tucked the remote away.

“Yeah, we're fine. How about you guys-”

Petey paused as he and Greg looked down in their arms to check on their past selves but froze at the sight of both of them unconscious?!

WHAT THE-

“Oh God! Are they-”

“They're fine, don't worry. The trip just caused them to pass out.” Elderly Greg signed hastily to reassure the panicking pair.

The two let out sighs of relief, that was good…

“They'll wake up eventually, but when they do… they won't remember any of this…” Elderly Petey continued quietly.

Greg and Petey simultaneously entered states of shock, THIS was the reason they didn't remember this entire event from when they were kids!?

“...Really…?” Petey squeaked out, as he and his canine husband were still in disbelief from what they just heard.

“The warp through time was too disorienting for them to handle and it caused them to pass out while also inducing memory loss. Once they wake up, everything that happened will be nothing more than a hazy dream…” The senior tabby explained with a hint of melancholy in his tone.

Greg and Petey slowly looked down at the kids in their arms once again, the two little ones breathing softly as they slumbered, still holding on to their respective drawings all the while.

The pair knew that this was for the best, so that the time-stream could stay intact and on course…

…But they would be lying if they said that this didn't hurt…

…

“...We should get a move on returning those two back to where they belong…” Elderly Petey suggested, breaking through the silence.

“...Right…” Petey replied.

And with that the Peteys and the Gregs split up to return their past selves back to where they belong.

They also had to make sure that they wouldn't be spotted, to prevent altering past events…

____

The Dog Men went to the park and spotted The Junior Detective Club cardboard clubhouse and wagon on the grass after searching for a bit.

They then placed the sleeping puppy in the wagon before hiding in a nearby bush to wait and see what would occur…

~~~

Two disappointed little kids were making their way back to their makeshift clubhouse in the park.

They were Clarence Bailey and Craig Knight, lead members of The Junior Dective Club. (They referred to each other by their last names because it was more “professional”).

Earlier, they were working on a case with Greg The Puppy when there was suddenly a flash of blinding light and Greg was gone.

The two little kids understandably freaked out after watching the puppy disappear right in front of them...

They then ran all over town to search for him… they questioned people, looked for clues… but the only thing they could dig up was some talk about a kitten that was also missing…

“We looked all day but we got nowhere!” Knight grumbled in frustration as he kicked a rock.

“And now it's getting late…” Bailey added.

The sun was setting, which meant it was almost time for them to head home. But they STILL hadn't found Greg…

Knight's frustration was now turning into sadness as he started sniffling and was now on the verge of tears…

“Hey, don't worry… I'm sure he'll turn up soon!” Bailey said as he put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

“What if something bad happened to him? What if I never see him again…? He's my other half…” Knight whispered as tears fell from his eyes.

This was the first time ever where Knight and Greg were apart for this long…

The two first met when Bailey's mom brought her son and Knight to the ranch so that she could buy wool.

They then wandered off to the back and saw that there was a puppy adoption going on! The shepherd dogs’ puppies were up for adoption and the kids there were being evaluated by the parents AND the pups themselves to see if you're worthy to take one of them home.

…And that was the moment Knight and Greg first met each other.

It was friendship at first sight and they formed a brotherly bond then and there! Greg's parents determined that Knight was a good match for their son and after getting permission from Bailey's mom (and a call to Knight's parents) the adoption was certified and they've been together ever since!

And Greg was the smartest and greatest puppy ever!

He's helped them solve a bunch of cases, saved Knight from getting hurt in bizarre ways (it was a miracle that the boy survived without the puppy's assistance for so long), and even helped him do well in class (Greg was allowed to go to school and learn with them)!

Not to mention he was the sweetest boy who loved playing and helping all of his friends!

Sure, he did do some pretty gross things from time to time and he also chewed up their belongings occasionally… But his heart was always in the right place!

…Knight really missed him…

Bailey sighed and dropped his arm. “Maybe we can ask our parents to help us find him- RIGHT HERE?!” He blurted out suddenly as he and Knight were shocked to see Greg in the detective wagon once they finished making their way up to the makeshift clubhouse.

“GREG!!!” Knight cried out as he rushed forward and picked up the puppy before pulling him into a tight hug. “I missed you so much! Where were you, bud… dy…?”

He took notice of how the puppy was fast asleep…

…And there was a piece of paper in his mouth…

“Is Greg okay?” Bailey questioned as went to them.

“I think so… but he's asleep…” Knight replied as he pulled out the paper out of the firm clasp of the puppy's mouth and looked at it.

It was a drawing of Greg next to a kitten that said “Friends!”

…Huh…?

“What do you think he was up to this entire time?” Bailey wondered as he put a hand on his chin.

“I dunno, he must've been on his own little adventure and got tired afterwards. I'll ask him once he wakes up!” Knight responded cheerfully as he smiled at the sleeping puppy in his arms.

They'll definitely be together forever…

Both of the older Gregs watched this unfold within their hiding spot in the bush.

Elderly Greg looked on fondly as he smiled, remembering the happy memories he shared with Knight…

But for Greg… seeing him and Knight like that again… it was too much…

Tears silently fell from the dog-headed cop's eyes as he started shaking and whimpering a little.

Taking notice of his younger self's anguish, Elderly Greg reached over and put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him, and Greg calmed down a bit…

Finally, Bailey and Knight started leaving with the sleeping pup in tow, heading home after the frantic day.

After they were gone, Greg wiped away his remaining tears as he and his future self got out of the bush and they started the trek to meet back up with the Peteys.

It was silent the entire time, as expected given what happened between them earlier.

But Greg decided to muster up the courage to say something.

“Woof woof… (Listen, I know you don't like me but can I atleast ask you a question…?)” Greg barked out quietly as he halted.

Elderly Greg stopped as well before sighing and turning to face his past self. “Ruff… (Look, I don't hate you, I just got frustrated with how you weren't taking things seriously. Though I shouldn't have been so hard on you…)” He explained.

“Awoo? (What's do you mean?)” Greg inquired as he tilted his head.

“Arf arf! (When you get as old as I am with this sort of position… the things you experience change you… I know I can be an uptight grouch but there's nothing wrong with being silly from time to time!)” The senior canine elaborated as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

“Ruff… (You have a point about me needing to be more serious though…)” Greg replied and the two started snickering.

“Ruff! (Now what is it that you wanted to ask me?)” Elderly Greg barked as he stroked his beard once their laughter calmed down.

“Arf… (Well… it's about Petey… I'm worried…)” Greg said quietly.

“Roo? (Worried about what?)” The aged dog-hybrid questioned.

“Woof woof… (Despite how long we've been together AND that we're married, it feels like Petey's still hiding all of his problems… How do I get him to know that he can rely on me and to open up more…?)” The dog-hybrid barked dejectedly before whining and putting his head down.

The moments of Petey crying after the fiasco of his past self learning the truth about what happened to his mom and the sadness on Petey's past self's face were still fresh in his mind…

…Greg wanted to be more dependable for his husband, but he wasn't sure how…

Elderly Greg put a hand on his younger self's shoulder. “Arf arf arf! (Some people are more reserved than others and it's harder for them to open up, including Petey. Give it time and let him go at his own pace, he'll open up more when he feels ready. In the meantime, just keep being there for him and supporting him, he'll definitely appreciate the gesture!)” He advised.

“Aroo…? (Really…?)” Greg asked as he lifted his head back up.

“Ruff! (Of course! It's nothing a Supa Cop like you can't handle!)” The senior canine barked as he winked and gave a thumbs-up.

Greg smiled at that, they may have gotten off on the wrong foot but his future self was actually a pretty cool guy!

“Arf arf arf arf- (Also, try not to piss Petey off so much anymore, and stop eating random junk and drinking from the toilet, do more to improve your hygiene, and-)”

“Woof woof! (Okay okay, SHEESH! )” Greg barked out, interrupting his future self's lecture. “Arf… (Geez, your lectures are almost as big as you…)” He remarked jokingly.

Elderly Greg wasn't amused by his past self's quip and became red-faced as he grabbed the younger canine's shirt and got up in his face, snout scrunched up and snarling all the while.

“Grrr… Ruff! (One more mention of my weight and I'll strangle you, got it?!)” The senior canine warned angrily.

“Arf arf! (Kidding, I was just kidding! You're still very fit for a man of your age!)” Greg clarified nervously as he put his hands up.

Elderly Greg huffed and let him go. “Woof… (You're lucky that you got on my good side…)” He muttered as he crossed his arms.

“Ruff! (I'll do my best to stay on it!)” Greg replied as he patted his future self's back while snickering.

____

Meanwhile, over with the cats…

The Peteys had finally made it to the Happy Home Shelter and placed the sleeping kitten on the front steps before running and hiding in a bush away from the building but still close enough to where they could see what was about to unfold…

~~~

Three figures then started coming into view, Mrs. Pierce, Little Jim, and Grace.

The three had been searching for Petey all day to no avail.

Earlier in the day, he and Little Jim were outside. The purple kitten was trying to convince him to play catch with him when there was suddenly a flash of blinding light and Petey disappeared.

When Little Jim ran to tell Mrs. Pierce and Grace what happened, they thought that he was exaggerating due to an overactive imagination.

Nonetheless, they went out to look for Petey, but despite how extensive their search was, there were no results…

…And despite asking around, the only information they got was some details about a puppy that was also missing…

The sun was now setting and it was about to get dark pretty soon, yet they STILL hadn't found Petey…

Grace was understandably distraught, her son was missing and was probably all alone and scared…

“We looked everywhere… Where could Petey be…?” Little Jim questioned quietly.

“I don't know, we might have to call the police and file a missing person report…” Mrs. Pierce replied as Grace clutched her paws to her chest and started to shake.

“What if he's hurt? What if someone took him?! This my fault, I should've been outside watching him and now he might be-” 

“Don't worry, Grace. We'll find him eventually…” Mrs. Pierce interrupted as she put a hand on the calico cat's back.

Grace was already sick enough as it is, the last thing she needed was additional stress…

…And yet despite that, she always put her son first and pushed her needs to the side…

Petey was a sweet boy who had already been through so much at such a young age…

And even though he had fits of anger and lashed out at everyone… Grace knew that it was because of how challenging things were for him and never held it against him, besides Petey would always try his best to make things right afterwards!

…He deserved so much better…

...Much better than what she could give him...

Grace's emerald eyes started welling up with tears. “...Where could he possibly be-”

“Wait, look! There he is!” Little Jim shouted as he pointed to Petey sleeping on the steps of the building to the shock of the women.

“PETEY!!!” Grace cried out as she rushed and picked up the slumbering kitten before pulling him into a hug.

“Where on earth were you?! I was worried… sick…?” She trailed off in confusion as she noticed that the little tabby was fast asleep.

“Is he alright?” Mrs. Pierce asked as she and Little Jim went up to Grace.

“Yes, but he's asleep…” She answered as she gazed at Petey slumbering peacefully in her arms.

On closer inspection, the bandaging on his tail was brand new and he was holding a paper in his paw.

The calico cat gently pulled the paper out of her snoozing son's tight grip and took a look at it.

It was a drawing of Petey next to a puppy that said “Friends!”

…Just what has he been up to this entire time…?

“I guess Petey must've been on an adventure and it made him sleepy!” Little Jim suggested.

“Sure, let's go with that, sweetie.” Mrs. Pierce giggled as she knelt down and patted the purple kitten’s head.

“Well, whatever the reason may be, the important thing is that he's safe.” Grace said as she smiled warmly at her wonderful son, who was now safe and sound in her arms.

He was her greatest gift, after all…

Both of the older Peteys watched all of this from the security of the bush.

Elderly Petey was looking at all of them warmly and was recalling all the fond memories he had with his mom, despite all the hardships he faced back then.

But for Petey… the sight of seeing his Mom again was… overwhelming…

Tears started streaming down the ginger tabby's face as he quietly started to sniffle.

The senior tabby noticed what was happening with his younger self and he started gently patting his back to comfort him, and seemed to work as Petey calmed down a little.

Finally, Grace and the others headed inside, presumably to put the sleeping kitten to bed.

After that, Petey wiped away his tears as he and his future self got out of the bush and they started the trek to meet back up with the Gregs.

The walk was uncomfortably silent, with neither of the tabbies saying to each other.

It was like this until Petey finally spoke up to ask something that was on his mind since the beginning of all of this.

“How do you do it?”

Elderly Petey stopped in his tracks and turned towards his younger self who had also halted.

“Do what?” The senior tabby inquired curiously, slightly confused by his past counterpart's question.

“Just… how are you able to be so upbeat and positive all the time…? …Even after becoming a good guy, I'm not exactly the most pleasant person to be around… I still feel so GUILTY and it's still hard for me talk my feelings with the guy I'm MARRIED to and-”

Elderly Petey proceeded to gently put a paw on his younger self's shoulder, putting a pin in his emotionally driven ramble.

“*Sigh*... Look, I'm not perfect. There's days where I'm angry or sad... And I STILL lose my temper every now and then... But I'm genuinely happy with who I am now and it can be the same for you too.” He said gently.

“How… How am I supposed to do that…?” Petey questioned as his voice cracked a little.

“Keep doing what you're doing, keep making an effort to be better. The pain and guilt may never truly disappear, but it becomes manageable with time.” Elderly Petey affirmed confidently.

He then put his other paw on Petey’s other shoulder and looked him directly in the eyes.

“You've already grown and changed so much, and you'll continue to do so. That's something you should be proud of.” The senior tabby asserted warmly as a big smile grew on his face.

Petey perked up and gave a slight smile back in response. “How long is it gonna take until I become as great as you?”

“...Quite some time. Just take things one step at a time and with the help of your friends, family, and a LOT of therapy, you'll get to become a better version of yourself. A version of yourself you're truly happy with.”

“...You really think so…?”

“I know so. After all, I'm living proof that it'll happen! Have faith in yourself. ” Elderly Petey beamed as he pointed at himself.

“Haha, I see what you did there…” Petey snickered as he rolled his eyes and pushed away his future self's other arm away.

“Did I also mention that you'll get your missing whisker back?” The aged feline grinned as he pointed to where his whisker had regrown.

“Better happen soon!” Petey responded before the two burst into laughter.

As they laughed, Petey thought to himself and realized that his future self reminded him of someone very special…

The sincere look on the senior tabby's face… The tufts of fur on his cheeks, the warm gaze in his eyes, that smile full of kindness…

It was almost as if he were speaking to his mother through himself…

“Heh, you know… You're a lot like Mom…” Petey said as he wiped away a tear once their laughter died down.

The senior tabby was a bit surprised by hearing the comparison for the SECOND time and chuckled a bit more in response.

“Pfft- that's the second time today I've heard that from myself… ” Elderly Petey remarked as he hugged his younger self.

“Then that must mean it's true.” Petey replied as he hugged the senior tabby back, grateful for the wisdom he provided.

____

It was now nightfall as the four finally met back up in the area where the first arrived.

“We were able to return our past self back home safely, how about you guys?” Petey asked.

Greg nodded and gave a thumbs-up in response.

“Good, let's head back to your two's time.” Elderly Petey stated as he pulled out the remote.

The senior tabby used it to scan the younger pair and before zapping open a portal that would take them back to the present.

After bracing themselves for the bumpy trip, the four entered it.

_________

Back in the present…

Everyone was waiting anxiously for the four to return.

They've been through crazy stuff before and always got through it, so they should be fine in this instance as well…

…Right…?

The sun had fully set at this point, it was now dark outside and twinkling stars had appeared in the night sky.

Everyone was starting to get really worried when thankfully, a portal opened in front of all of them and the Dog Men and Peteys stepped out from it.

“Oof… still not used to that…” Petey grumbled as he and Greg were rubbing their heads due the disorienting nature of their trip, the portal closing behind them as soon as the straightened up.

“THEY'RE BACK!!!” Everyone cheered as they headed over to the four time travelers.

“Papa! Dad!” Li'l Petey called out as he ran up to the younger pair and jumped into their arms to hug them.

“Glad to see you too, kid!” The tabby remarked happily as he and his husband hugged their son back.

“How did it go? Did you guys get your kid selves back home safely?”

Petey sighed as he put Li'l Petey down. “Yeah, but…”

The four then explained everything to their friends about what happened, including how their past selves had forgotten everything…

“...And that was how it happened…” Petey said quietly as he finished his explanation to the stunned crowd.

“I remember that now! I thought that I imagined it all!” Big Jim exclaimed.

“Me too! When me and Knight told our parents about everything after we found you, they just thought that we watched one too many movies…” Chief stated in addition as he recalled that moment.

“It also explains why neither of you remembered all of this from when you were kids…” Sarah pointed out.

“And you guys didn't meet again until you were adults…” Nurse Lady added.

That's right. When Petey woke up the next day, his Mom, Little Jim, and Mrs. Pierce questioned him about his whereabouts the day prior, only to find out he had no recollection of what happened.

They showed him the drawing to see if it would jog his memory, but it didn't work.

But still… The sight of the puppy on the drawing gave the kitty a great sense of familiarity…

It was the same case for Greg, Knight asked him where he had been, but the puppy couldn't remember. So the drawing was shown to him as well, with no results either.

Normally, Greg would've eaten it, but the kitten in the picture… it felt like he was looking at an old friend he once knew and he just stared at it for ages…

…

…As grown-ups, they would cross paths again as bitter enemies and it would remain that way until their relationship evolved to where they eventually became friends, and then lovers.

That was how the rest of the story went.

…Right…?

Dog Man and Petey were silently thinking to themselves for a moment before turning towards each other with looks of realization.

“Actually… Now that we think about it, there was one moment where we did see each other again when we were still young after all of that.” Petey stated.

__________________

Petey was in a couple of bushes at the park picking some flowers for his mom.

It was almost time for them to go but he wanted to surprise her.

At the same time Knight and Greg were playing catch.

Knight accidentally threw the ball a little to far this time and it went into the bushes, so Greg chased after it.

Petey was startled by the ball hitting the back of his head and turned around just in time to see Greg enter the bushes.

The two locked eyes and froze.

They both felt an uncanny sense of familiarity as they stared at each other…

…Did they meet each other before…?

Petey stood up and started to move closer to Greg. “...Do I know you-”

“Petey! It's time for us to go!” Grace suddenly called out.

“Greg! Where are you buddy?” Knight shouted as he started looking for the puppy.

“Oh- Coming!” Petey replied as he turned and picked up the flowers before dashing out the bush to head home with his mom.

“Ruff!” Greg barked out before picking up the ball and running in the opposite direction to return it to Knight.

…And that was the last time they ever saw each other until they grew up…

Greg and Petey never gave the brief interaction much thought and the memory of it would disappear from their minds…

Until now.

__________________

Everybody proceeded to aw once the two finished their story.

“Che dolce!” Yolay exclaimed.

“It's the most touching thing ever…” Chief stated as he wiped away tears that were welling up in his eyes.

“...Please don't cry, Clarence…” Nurse Lady said as she patted her husband's back.

“Even though we lost our memories, our hearts still remembered deep down.” Dog Man signed tenderly before pulling his feline partner into a hug.

“That's a cheesy way of putting it, but I agree.” Petey remarked as he hugged him back.

Seems like they always were together, one way or another…

“Welp… we stuck around for long enough. It's for us to head back as well.” Elderly Petey stated as he adjusted his glasses and Elderly Dog Man nodded in agreement.

“Oh… right!” Petey said as he finished up the hug with his husband.

After taking the remote from Elderly Petey, he then used the remote to scan the old men and zapped open another portal that would take them home.

“Here you go, we won't be needing this anymore.” Petey said as he handed the remote back to his future self.

“Thanks, but we're probably going to destroy this thing once we get back. Wouldn't want it to fall in the wrong hands.” The senior tabby replied as he took the remote and tucked it away.

The elderly pair then stepped in front of the swirling blue portal and turned towards the gang to say farewell.

“Goodbye everyone! It was nice seeing you all like this again!” Elderly Petey said as he waved.

“Take care and know the future has great things in store for all of you!” Elderly Dog Man signed happily before waving as well.

Everyone else started waving farewell and saying their goodbyes too.

“Bye, Future Papa! Bye, Future Dad!” Li'l Petey called out.

“Tell our future selves we said hi!” Big Jim exclaimed.

“Thank you for all of your help!” Petey said as he and Greg waved farewell.

Once everyone had finished waving, the senior duo turned around and were about to head into the portal but they suddenly realized they almost forgot to tell their past selves a piece of crucial information!

They quickly turned to them to let them know.

“Oh, one last thing! You two should make space in the house for another person! Their arrival should come in about two weeks, I believe!” Elderly Petey suggested to the younger duo and Elderly Greg nodded in agreement.

Greg and Petey tilted their heads in confusion at that. “Another person? What does that-”

“Adios everyone!” The senior tabby shouted as he and his canine partner headed into the portal.

And with that, it closed behind the old men, leaving everyone else bewildered by their parting words.

“...What did they mean by ‘another person’?” Dog Man signed curiously as he turned towards Petey.

“I dunno, but we'll deal with that when it happens in two weeks.” Petey responded as he shrugged.

That was true… and maybe it wasn't that important anyway, for now at least…

“Well, this was something all right… but I think it's time to call it a night…” Chief muttered in exhaustion as he took off his hat.

Everyone agreed with that sentiment, they were TIRED…

“Grampa's probably gonna complain about his concussion all night… but that's okay, I'll just sing to drown it out!” Big Jim remarked as he stretched.

“Wait, your sentence ended ages ago, Big Jim... Why are you still at Cat Jail, you're a free cat!” Petey pointed out curiously.

“I actually like living at Cat Jail, everyone there is really nice to me and I also have a job helping out there! The pay is pretty good.” The purple feline explained.

“Well… that makes sense, I guess…” Petey replied, not wanting to go into yet another deep dive into his friend's strange mentality.

And with that everyone said their goodbyes and started heading their separate ways.

“So how do you guys feel about ordering pizza for dinner? I don't think I have the strength to cook after today's shenanigans…” Petey suggested as he, Greg, Li'l Petey, and 80-HD started their walk back home.

“YAYYY!!!” Li'l Petey cheered and Greg howled with excitement alongside him.

“Alright alright, settle down you goofballs!” Petey chuckled.

The family continued on their way home laughing and smiling all the while.

It was time for some much needed rest.

___________________________

SHOUTOUT:

_Blueberry00_ made some awesome fanart of this fic! Take a look, I loved how they drew these guys!

They also made a comic rendition of the talk between Elderly Petey and Kitten Petey in Chapter 3! They really captured the essence of the moment and it made me tear up a bit!

I STRONGLY encourage you to follow them on their Twitter or TikTok! They're an amazing artist who deserves a ton of praise!

Links to where they posted the art in the first place:

https://www.tiktok.com/@blueberry0___/photo/7482836209987898629?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7488078741174765102

https://x.com/_Blueberry00_/status/1900588868971139577

https://x.com/_Blueberry00_/status/1901692955032715603