Blitz and Haywire stood side by side. They both stared at the track laid out in front of them. “Are you read?” Blitz asked.

“Tch...I was ready before you even challenged me, lap dog!”

Blitz shrugged. “Okay...one...two...three –“

Haywire quickly jumped forward and took off, running like a rabid dog chasing a rabbit. He ran a good one hundred yards when he realized Blitz hadn’t passed him. Hey, he thought to himself. I’m winning! He smiled to himself...then, his grin suddenly shattered. ...Or maybe... He smashed his paws in the ground, and he came screeching to a halt. Haywire then looked at the starting line. Blitz was still standing there. Haywire rolled his eyes and walked up to him. “Wh-What’re you doing?” he asked, panting.

Blitz looked at him. “You were supposed to start on ‘Go’”

Haywire was puzzled. “I never heard you say ‘go’”

“Of course not. That’s because ‘Go’ comes right after ‘Three’.”

“I thought you were supposed to go on ‘Three’?”

“No, you’re supposed to go on ‘Go.’”

“...Huh?”

Blitz rolled his eyes and sighed. “Never mind. Let’s start again.”

“No way! I’ve already used up half my breath!”

“You mean, you’ve already ‘wasted’.”

“There’s no way I’m gonna race you when I’m already half dead! No way!”

Blitz growled. “You’re right...I’d beat you so bad, you’d whimper. Where’s Ambyr? I’ll race her instead.”

Haywire looked around. “She said she’d be at the post office. She’s probably sucking up to Mr. Drago again.”

“Do you wanna go bother her?”

Haywire’s ears perked up, and he smiled. “Do I ever!!”

The two dogs left the track field, and headed back into town. They passed many shops on their way, and Blitz’s mouth watered as they passed by the butcher shop. It was loaded with all sorts of pleasant smells, but suddenly brang back memories. He shook them away, nervously. As his head twisted from side to side, something caught in the corner of his eye. He looked up at an alley, and saw something he thought he’d never see in his entire life.

Blitz suddenly stopped and snapped at Haywire’s tail, pulling him back. Haywire yelped. “Hey, what gives –“

Blitz shut his muzzle with his paws, and forced his head in the direction he was looking in. Haywire’s pupils went tiny.

Ambyr was sitting in the alley...but she wasn’t alone. Drifter sat in front of her – the two were nuzzling each other affectionately. Blitz squinted. He wanted so much for his eyes to be deceiving him, but the more he looked, the more Ambyr and Drifter’s features became clearer and clearer.

“Whoa,” Haywire said, still staring straight ahead. “When I said ‘sucking up,” I didn’t mean like this.”

“Come on,” said Blitz. He stared walking towards them.

“Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?” Haywire said, getting in his way. “If Ambyr finds out, she’ll murder us!”

“Oh, gimmie a break,” Blitz replied. “It’s not like we’ve never seen the two nuzzle each other.”

“We’ve never seen the two nuzzle each other alone.” Haywire corrected.

Blitz walked around him. “Just a peek,” he said. “Then we’re gone, okay?”

Haywire narrowed his eyes. “I don’t like the way you just said that.”

“Man, you are a pup. I promise, alright?”

Haywire lowered his ears and slowly followed. “Okay...I have your word. Just a peek, then we’re gone.”

The two silently crept into the ally, and sneaked behind some trashcans. They were about two feet away from them, relying entirely on their trashcans to save them from utter destruction. Blitz and Haywire put up their ears.

The two finally stopped nuzzling, and after a moment of silence, Ambyr finally spoke. Her voice was unnaturally calm. She never talked with either Haywire or Blitz in this tone.

“...And that time when Tonrar almost killed you...I was so scared.” More silence followed, so Ambyr continued. “Sometimes...I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what I would’ve done to him if he hurt you even more.”

“...You did have that fire in your eyes,” replied Drifter. There was a tone to his voice neither dogs thought he had.

Haywire nudged Blitz. “...You promised,” he said, and gestured to leave.

“I said a ‘peek’,” whispered Blitz. “Not a ‘glimpse’.”

“Will you give it a rest?” Haywire urgently whispered back. “This is none of our business!!”

“...It is now.”

Haywire stared at him, then stuck out his tongue at him and frowned. “You? She’s like, five years older than you!”

Blitz suddenly turned to him, puzzled. It took him two seconds to realize what he just said, and when he did, he also stuck his tongue out and frowned.

“Who the heck raised you?! Yeagh!! Me and her? Not a chance. ...Besides, she’s not my type.”

Haywire blinked. “Not your type? Oh yeah, I forgot – you were staring at Drifter.”

Blitz’s eyes widened. “Why you little – “ He raised a paw to smack Haywire with...big mistake. His paw banged loudly on the trashcan in front of him, sending it toppling down. It clattered on top of Drifter, showering him with smelly garbage and crud.

They were exposed. Oh, great trashcans...WHY hath thou betrayed us?

Ambyr had an extremely horrified expression super-glued to her face. He gaped with her mouth wide open, staring at both the trash-covered dog, and the two Huskies she thought she knew.

Drifter hadn’t moved a muscle, even after the garbage rained down on him. He still had his back to Blitz and Haywire, but he growled loudly for everyone to hear. “...Friends of yours...?”

Ambyr looked at him, her expression still unchanged. “Oh, no...not MY friends. Never seen ‘em before in my life!” She chuckled nervously. “Nope, not ever!!”

Drifter growled again...louder this time. He got up and shook himself off, sending all sorts of who-knows-what all over the place. He didn’t seem to care where, or who, it landed. He turned to Blitz and Haywire. He didn’t say anything, he just stared.

Drifter’s gonna turn us to stone!! Oh, god, I really wish he’d shout at us instead of just staring like that.

Drifter growled again, at everyone, as he slowly turned to leave. Ambyr jumped beside him.

“You...you’re not leaving! I-I-I’m so sorry! Please don’t go! Wait, stop!” She sounded real desperate, but Drifter continued to say nothing as he slowly and quietly took no heed of her, and left the alley.

Rivers ran dry. Mountains crumbled, and cities fell as Ambyr cringed her neck towards the two dogs.

Haywire looked at Blitz. “...Now?”

Blitz blinked. “...Now.”

The dogs whimpered and whined, with their tails between their legs, as they bolted off running. Ambyr snarled at them. She seemed to be floating right over the ground as she quickly gained on them.

“I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die,” repeated Haywire to himself as he ran. He whimpered again and again.

With another furious snarl, Ambyr leapt up in the air, and pounced right on top of them. The two fell to the ground with a grunt, and looked up at Ambyr...or was that still Ambyr? None of them could tell anymore. It certainly didn’t look like any dog they knew.

“I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to –“

“SHUT UP!!!!”

Haywire shut up.

“What...,” she snarled every word with a very painful tone. “did you think...you two were DOING?!”

Blitz whimpered. “...Umm....we were just...”

“SHUT UP!!!!”

Blitz shut up.

“I’ll tell you what you what you were doing...you thought it’d be okay to just peek in on us...DIDN’T YOU?!”

Haywire turned his head to Blitz. “Yeah...just a peek.”

Ambyr growled in their faces. “How long were you there? WHAT DID YOU HEAR?!”

“N-Nothing,” Blitz stuttered.

Ambyr snarled.

“O-Okay, maybe we were there a couple of minutes...and you said something about Tonrar.”

Haywire perked. “...And also something about how scared you were when Drifter almost got killed.”

Blitz elbowed him, hard, on the ribs.

Ambyr snarled again, louder, in his face. “I could just...EAT YOU TWO ALIVE!!!”

Blitz raised an eyebrow.

Haywire shielded his face with his paws. “Oh, go ahead – kill us...see if I care!”

Blitz raised the other eyebrow.

Ambyr growled. She lowered her head to theirs, and spoke in a very dangerous whisper. “...Do you two know how much I hate you right now?”

Haywire lowered his paws. “...I can ballpark it.”

“The next time you two decide to blunder in on MY private affairs, I will – so help me – slap you both so hard, you’ll forget the meaning of the word, ‘mush’!!”

Ambyr snarled on