Chapter Text
Ah, new beginnings. Aren’t they just beautiful? They bring about a fresh start; a chance to make something more of yourself and finally live the life you want to live. No matter how and why these new beginnings come into our lives, we all accept these opportunities with open arms.
Or, well, most of us do.
For some, however, new beginnings can be scary. They may feel regret for taking the chance rather than just dealing with life as it is. And that’s exactly how Petey feels. He’s regretting his choice to live with Dog Man after sentient sippy cups destroyed his lab while he was having an interview with Sarah Hatoff, AKA “The World’s Greatest Reporter.” Once he and his son, Li’l Petey, discovered this, the tiny kitten brought his papa to Dog Man’s house to ask if they could stay with him for a little while.
And Dog Man was more than happy to allow this. The hybrid is stupidly nice, a little too nice in Petey’s eyes, but in the heat of the moment, he agreed to this arrangement. Now that a new day has broken, and the tabby has had the time to mull over what happened yesterday, he wishes he hadn’t. He wishes he’d just left Li’l Petey with Dog Man for the night while he found a hotel or rented a place for a while.
But the decision has been made, and it would be stupid of Petey to back down now. Besides, he doubts Dog Man or Li’l Petey would even let him back down even if he had the willpower to. Which means he just has to deal with living with Dog Man for an undisclosed amount of time. Something that terrifies Petey to the core.
You see, Petey has developed a small crush on the Supa Cop. No, small isn’t the right adjective; immense is the adjective. An immense crush on… no, no, crush isn’t the right word either.
Fondness? No.
Appreciation? Close, but no.
Devotion! That’s the right word! Petey is immensely devoted to Dog Man. An intense, smoldering, and doting endearment that burns with the passion of a thousand suns. A passionate craving for intimacy and tenderness. A desperate desire to worship every little thing the hybrid does every single day.
The gnawing ache to-
“WILL YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH?!” Petey yells out in frustration, his face flushed in a delicate cherry red and the fur on his body bristled in anger.
“Who are you talking to, Papa?” Li’l Petey asks in a chipper tone, a curious smile beaming like the fiery sun above them. Petey stiffens, realizing he just yelled that out loud with absolutely no context. He quickly clears his throat and looks away.
“N-no one, hun. Just… just eat your breakfast, okay?” He mumbles softly as he sets a plate stacked with blueberry pancakes in front of his son. The kitten’s attention is immediately turned to the delicious food in front of him.
“Okay, Papa!” Li’l Petey chirps before digging into his breakfast. Okay, look, the long and short of it is Petey likes Dog Man. When he was living in his lab and only doing weekend drop-offs with Li’l Petey, it was easy for him to suppress his feelings for his ex-rival. But now that he’s living under the same roof as Dog Man?
How is Petey supposed to handle his feelings now?
I mean, he could just confess his love and get it over with, but we all know he’s not doing that anytime soon. Okay, Petey’s glaring at me like he’s going to kill me, so I guess I should just get to the main event.
Enter Dog Man!
The hybrid is getting ready for another day of work. As Ohkay City’s Supa Cop, he has a lot of responsibilities that the other cops simply don’t have. So, it’s important for him to be on time for work. Although he manages to be late most of the time. But Petey refused for him to be late. The tabby had woken Dog Man up at seven o’clock sharp so he’d have plenty of time to get ready for work and have a plate of breakfast.
The gesture made Dog Man’s heart swell with pure happiness. He loves seeing do-gooder Petey in action! Do-gooder Petey is so nice, and considerate, and attentive, and generous, and just supa awesome to be around! Sure, do-gooder Petey is still Petey with his grumpy demeanor and snarky wit, but those aren’t so bad to deal with.
In fact, Dog Man finds those parts of Petey to be cute and endearing!
A lot of things about Petey are cute and endearing in Dog Man’s eyes. His gorgeous striped yellowish-grey fur (stupid colorblindness), his shimmering blue-grey eyes (again, stupid colorblindness), the way his fur bristles up when his angry or startled, the noises he makes when he thinks no one’s looking, and of course, his personality. Even through his journey of becoming a do-gooder, Dog Man would never expect or dare to ask Petey to change his personality.
It’s perfect just the way it is! It just shines brighter with the kind gestures he’s been displaying. And that’s all Dog Man could ever ask for from Petey.
“Dog Man! Get over here and eat these pancakes before they get cold!” Petey calls to him from the kitchen. Yips of happiness ring through the air as Dog Man rushes to the table and sits down, wasting no time in eating his food as sloppily as possible. “Dumb mutt…” The tabby sighs as he finishes cleaning up, sitting down to eat once he’s finished. “Can you ever just eat normally for once?” Dog Man pauses his eating to look at Petey, a dollop of whipped cream falling from the corner of his mouth.
He pounders this for a second before simply barking:
“Nope!” and goes back to eating. Li’l Petey giggles at the exchange. Petey blushes and mumbles to himself as he cuts his food, wishing he didn’t find the hybrid stupidly cute right now.
“So, you're fine with teaching the kid bad manners? I thought you'd act better, Mr. Supa Cop.”
“I know how to eat properly, Papa! You taught me, remember?” Li’l Petey chimes in before taking a bite of his food.
“Yes, but Dog Man’s style of eating could rub off on you! Especially now that we're staying here for a little while. And he shouldn't be eating like he's never eaten a day in his life, anyway. It's uncouth.” Petey explains matter-of-factly.
“Food is food. As long as it gets into your stomach, who cares about the rest of it?” Dog Man woofs in rebuttal.
“Ooh! I like that! That should become a quote!” Li’l Petey exclaims with glee.
“It most certainly should not!”
“Yes, it should!”
“No, it shouldn't!”
“Yes, it should!” Petey groans in frustrated defeat.
“Okay, everyone just be quiet and finish your breakfast!” he yells out before finally eating his pancakes. The rest of breakfast somehow goes smoothly, and before you know it, Dog Man is at the front door putting on his hat to leave for work, after Petey made him wash his face, of course.
The two tabbies stand behind him, ready to send him off to work.
“Bye, Dog Man! Have a good day at work!” Li’l Petey says, beaming at the hybrid with bright, warm eyes. Dog Man barks out a goodbye before kissing the kitten on the forehead gently.
“Y-yeah, have a nice day at work and stuff.” Petey says before clearing his throat. “Don't forget to pick up groceries on your way home. I texted you the list.” Dog Man nods in understanding as he plants a wet, slobbery doggy kiss on the older tabby’s cheek. Petey simply huffs at this. “Yeah, yeah. Now get to work before you're late.”
“See you two tonight!” And with that, Dog Man leaves the house, closing the door behind him gently. A soft sigh escapes from Petey as he wipes his cheek of the dog slobber. How can that mutt create so much saliva? It doesn't make any sense to Petey.
“Okay, well, we have the house to ourselves now, hun. So, what's on the itinerary?” Petey asks, looking down at his tiny son.
“I need to get started on fixing 80-HD! He took quite a beating yesterday from those sippy cups.” Ah, right. Petey forgot about that. The robot in question certainly took a beating yesterday, now being completely out of commission as he’s in pieces.
He’ll have to remember to make it up to 80-HD once the robot is all fixed up.
“Yeah, that's a good idea. I guess I'll just clean up around here. That stupid dog lives in such a cluttered mess, it's a miracle he can find anything.”
“Papa, be nice to Dog Man. He's doing us such a huge favor, and he's awesome! Maybe he doesn't live the way you do, but that doesn't mean he's wrong to live that way!” Li’l Petey explains, trying to educate his papa. He doesn't really understand why Petey can be so snippy about Dog Man.
He knows they were rivals, but that's in the past now! Surely they can get along now, right?
“Yeah, yeah, I know. But still, you’d think he'd clean up every once in a while. Now, go on. Get started on 80-HD.” Petey says gently, gesturing for his son to go to the Grand Ballroom, which is a room full of balls and where the kitten works on his invention projects.
“Okay, Papa! I love you!” Li’l Petey says as he runs off.
“I love you too, hun,” Petey responds, watching his son leave with a warm smile tugging at his lips. He really does love his son with all his heart. It’s been a tough journey, navigating through the world of fatherhood, but Petey wouldn't change it for the world. He's happy to have his son in his life.
It’s just hard to explain to the kid why he acts the way he does. Li’l Petey is wicked smart and extremely bright and optimistic, something Petey deeply admires about him. But he is still a child. He doesn't always grasp that not everyone can be redeemed like Petey has been or that even when you're redeemed, that people will just accept you and move on.
And most of all, he doesn't always understand that just because Petey wants to reform, doesn't mean his thoughts and beliefs are going to change in an instant.
Because it's true. Petey does want to change for the better! He wants a life of freedom and happiness that's his without having to grovel or fight for through villainy. But he can't just turn off his brain from the pain he's suffered from. He can't just forget his father's abandonment and his mother's death. He can't just forget about how one little mistake got him thrown in jail.
And he certainly can't forget about how that mistake led him to lose his agency and broke the little goodwill he had left.
Petey just doesn't know how to explain that to Li’l Petey in a way he'll fully understand and grasp. How do you tell what is basically a younger version of yourself that you've been through things that you can't simply move on from?
‘I’ll… I’ll figure it out soon, I hope. Let's just get this place tidied up.’ Petey tells himself as he walks over to a pile of stuff on the floor near the couch. Yes, cleaning will help clear his mind and get this place more organized. Killing two birds with one stone.
Leave it up to Petey to ignore his problems rather than deal with them head-on. This totally won't cause any issues in the future. Nope, not at all.
The day rolls along quite nicely. There are no big threats, no danger or damage to worry about, and it was just a great day overall. The day continues this streak as it begins its end, the sun slowly descending in the west as people get off work and go home for the day. However, on the corner of one of the nicer parts of the city, nestled between apartments, company buildings, and cafes and shops, is a group gathered around the alley nearest the corner. People are even sitting on the balconies of their apartments just to see the spectacle going on.
Breathtaking and powerful high notes followed by jaw-dropping and stunning low notes flow through the streets, luring people in like a siren’s song. People all around are dropping money into a decently sized black bag, and they get sucked into the trance. This new routine is something a lot of them are used to by now, with some even bringing extra money just to give to the performer.
It's become the perfect way to end a long day at work or to break up a day filled with boredom.
Who's in front of this crowd of people, you may ask? Why, it's a tallish calico cat named Cherrie. Cherrie is a stray, has been her whole life, and traveled to Ohkay City a few months ago hoping to find a place to call home. It, admittedly, hasn’t been the easiest task in the world; she wasn’t expecting the utter chaos that this city can be in from time to time, but she’s confident that this is the place for her.
That this time, she’ll pull herself out of homelessness and live the life she wants to live.
As stated before, Cherrie is a tallish calico, standing at five foot eight. Her fur is a gorgeous shade of white and patterned with a smoky black and a warm, bright tangerine orange. Shining in the evening sun are her gold eyes, which draw her a lot of attention. Around her left eye and spreading to her right ear is a black patch, almost looking like a pirate’s eyepatch. A small sliver of her right ear is white. In opposition, her left ear has only the tiniest slice of orange while the rest remains white.
Along her neck is a wavy orange spot that reaches from the bottom of the right side to just before her jawline on the left side. Her arms are mismatched, her right arm being black while the left is orange, and both follow the same pattern as the colors drape from her shoulders to the back of her paws. The pattern ends in a round curve before it can reach her fingers. Both legs sport a single long wavy pattern: on her right is an orange vertical pattern and on her left is a black diagonal pattern.
While Cherrie is a short-haired cat, her tail is fluffy, and unlike most calicos, her tail is completely white. Well, except for the pink scar that lies at the base of her tail. Yes, being a stray has meant Cherrie has sustained a few scars over the years. The one on her tail is the smallest of her scars, only wrapping around the top of the base in a small sliver. Along her face and neck is a long sliver of a scar that reaches from the base of her left ear to the bottom left side of her neck. But, her most prominent scars are the scar on her stomach and the twin scars on her back.
The scar on her stomach reaches from the bottom of her chest to the top of her hip, wrapping around her stomach from left to right. It’s not extremely wide, but it’s clear the scar came from stitches. And while not always the most visible depending on the angle, the twin scars cut right through the waves and swirls of black and orange that pattern her back. They’re the longest scars, stretching from her shoulder blades to the base of her back.
But despite all of that, Cherrie never hides her scars and always keeps a graceful appearance. Her fur is clean and well-groomed, her wavy whiskers are combed, and to really hone in the classy look, a gorgeous feather boa is always adorning her.
While its main purpose is warmth, the thick, two-toned boa gives her a small boost in the eyes of people. That she’s more than just a mangy stray. The white and black boa wraps around the mid-section of her back, draping delicately over her arms. White over black and black over orange. Each side stretches to her mid-thigh when her arms are down. Stylish yet functional.
Yep, that’s Cherrie. Elegant but practical.
As she’s wrapping up her song, she grabs her bag and saunters off into the darkness of the alley as she always does, the sound of cheering and clapping filling her ears as she makes her way away from the crowd. Once she’s far away, a deep sigh escapes her throat.
“You made it another day, girl. You made it another day.” Cherrie whispers to herself, her silky, strong and sassy voice echoing into the air. Singing is the only way she can make money, and it’s just not enough to live on. It’s not even enough to buy food with without completely running out of money.
So she saves it. Every time she goes out to sing, she’ll bring the money to her dwelling place and hides it, saving it to finally get her own home.
Although she’s been saying that for years now. After a few minutes of walking through alleys, Cherrie closes the bag, grips it in her mouth, and climbs onto the rooftop of the nearest building. Once at the top, she wraps her boa around her neck and gets on all fours before sprinting and jumping across the rooftops.
Cherrie is a cat who likes to use her animal tendencies and instincts to her advantage.
Anthro animals tend to act a lot like humans. Which she totally understands why! If they didn’t, they’d be ridiculed and hurt worse than they already are. But Cherrie believe that it’s important to keep these instincts alive. They’ve allowed her to survive for this long, and she’s made incredible progress with them too.
And she won’t be bullied into hiding those parts of her, especially when they aid in her survival.
After five minutes or so of running, Cherrie lands on the ground and walks into a forest part of the city. The outskirts of Ohkay City are filled with forest areas like this, which surprised Cherrie when she discovered her dwelling place. But she’s also extremely grateful for this fact. Being able to hide away while she figures things out makes her feel more secure and safe.
Besides, it’s nice to be surrounded by greenery again. Soon enough, Cherrie spots it: an abandoned Victorian house that sits in a pocket of this forest area. The front part of the house is sunken in, with holes and rotting wood really selling the old and withered look. The burgundy paint has long since faded and chipped away, leaving only the dark brown from the wood that makes it up. However, the back of the house, especially the second floor and attic, is standing better.
Sure, there’s definitely damage to be seen, but it seems like the previous owners made sure to keep the back of the house extra protected.
Cherrie walks over to the back of the house and slips through the back door, re-enforcing it once she’s inside. She then unwraps her boa from her neck, wrapping it around her back and over her arms before letting the bag in her mouth drop into her paws. Another deep sigh escapes Cherrie as she makes her way up the stairs to the second floor, AKA the main area of her dwelling.
This area is spacious, having its own kitchen on the right side of the room. Cluttering the area are old dusty piles of fabric, a couple of antique mirrors with cracks and breaks, and other items that were left behind by whoever lived here last.
It may be old and rotting and have no water or electricity, but for Cherrie’s needs, it’s the best option she has. It’s better than sleeping in the alleys or on rooftops. Walking into the kitchen, Cherrie goes to the back wall and opens the secret compartment that lies there. Inside is all the money she’s been saving.
“Another bust today. I barely broke a hundred dollars.” Cherrie mumbles to herself as she counts the money and puts it away before closing the compartment. “There’s got to be a better way to do this.” She groans softly, walking out of the kitchen. But she doesn’t have time for that now.
She needs to venture out and get food for the night. Hopefully, there’s some good pickings tonight.
“Ugh, seriously? This is the best this city can do?” Cherrie asks herself as she rummages through a dumpster, pulling out a half-eaten fish from the pile of garbage. “You’d think a city like this would provide better pickings.” She throws the half-eaten fish in her bag before going back to rummaging.
So far she’s already been to three other dumpsters, and all she can find is useless junk and food so far gone it’s not even funny. This city needs some serious management changes if this is how things are going.
But Cherrie persists, and after venturing to two other dumpsters, she snags up enough food for the night. Maybe more than she needs. As she makes her way back to her dwelling, the sound of children laughing brings her attention to the street next to her.
Playing in the middle of the road is a small group of orphan kittens. Five, to be exact. They’re kicking around a ball, laughing and joking the whole time. Cherrie rolls her eyes a bit at this as a small smile tugs at her lips.
“You kids know it’s not safe to be playing out in the street, right?” Cherrie asks, walking out of the alley she’s in and going towards the kittens. The group stops their playing and rushes to Cherrie, calling her name and smiling.
“Relax, Cherrie, we’re being careful!” One kitten says, smirking confidently.
“Yeah! We just wanted to play a little before it gets too dark!” Another responds, with the rest of the group nodding and humming in agreement.
“You can do that without playing in the road, geniuses.” The group giggles at Cherrie’s remark. “Have you guys had dinner yet?”
“Nah, there aren’t very good pickings out tonight.”
“Yeah, this city is screwing us over big time!” Cherrie takes a deep breath and kneels in front of them, opening her bag filled with food.
“Here. Take what you need,” Cherrie says softly, holding out the open bag to the kittens. The group perks up and immediately takes some food from the bag. Once they’re done, they step away and beam at Cherrie.
“Thank you, Cherrie!” The group says in unison.
“You’re welcome, little ones. Now get out of the road and go eat. And I better not catch you in the middle of the road again.” And with that, the group runs away while saying their goodbyes, one of them grabbing the ball they were playing with on the way.
Once they’re gone, Cherrie stands up and looks into her bag. There’s still enough to make it through tonight. With a soft chuckle, she goes back into the alley, ready to get back to her dwelling and eat.
Yep! Just another beautiful day in Ohkay City! Until it isn’t. And trust me, that’s often how that goes.
“HAW! Those fools have no idea what’s coming!” A voice exclaims, sitting in front of a giant computer. Oh, right, we need a big bad for the plot. Fine. Okay, so the big bad is sitting in front of this giant computer, the screen showing off the radio frequencies to the whole city.
Somehow, the big bad has hacked into these radio frequencies and is about to do something evil. What is this evil plan? Well, I’ll just let the big bad explain that for you. Take it away, big bad!
“I’ll start off small! Messing with the frequencies here and there to put the city on edge. Then, once they're properly confused, I'll take away their means of communication! And once I’ve got them shaking in their boots, I'll send in a bunch of robots and put the whole city on lockdown! Then I'll finally have control of Ohkay City once and for all!” The big bad explains, laughing evilly once they're done. “And nobody will be able to stop me! NOBODY! HAW HAW HAW!”
Oh dear, that’s not good. That’s not good at all. And just when things were settling down too! Well, all good things must come to an end, as they say. And for Dog Man and company, that means more chaos is beyond the horizon, ready to jump out and grip onto them hard.
But they’ll get through it! They always do.