Jay ran to us and shouted, "Run!" We all ran to the main room, but metal doors closed the window and the front door, waking up the guard. The man shouted, "You're not getting away!" His voice was like a lion's roar. Loud, and powerful. I arched my back in fear, and I hissed loudly. Echo, Quinn, and Smoke hissed as well, but Rooster and Jay were going up against the guard.
Jay jumped at him, but the guard knocked him down. Rooster leaped up and bit his arm, and Jay came back to scratch the hell out of him. The boss came up to us, and reached out to us. Before I attacked, Smoke ran up and bit his hand shouting, "Stay back!" He was looking directly at me when he said that. "Damn it all." I said while unshething my claws.
Echo said, "There must be a switch or something to cancel the lockdown!" Quinn said, "I'll go look for it!" He quickly ran to the left hall. He caught the attention of the boss for a second, but Jay ran over and hit his face. Right after that, the lockdown was lifted, and a group of dogs bursted in. Someone shouted, "Scar Man! Wait!"
We all stopped moving. The guard's jaw dropped like it broke, and the boss said, "What do you want?" Jay seemed to react violently to the name, "Scar Man". He was shaking, and he kept his claws sheathed. The dog pet we saw earlier was at the doorway panting. She said, "I need to talk you about the cat named Rudy." The boss glared at her and said, "Go on."
She said, "These cats and I want to tell you that Rudy is well and alive in the forest. That means Ace lied to you!" The boss just stared at her, then he said, "I'm going to end that cat's whole career." He grabbed something and shouted, "All units come back to home base! There has been a drastic change of plans." He then looked at us and said, "You must have some beef with Ace."
Then an idea sparked in my head. I hopped onto Cleo's shoulder and whispered my plan in her ear. She looked sad about it for a couple of seconds, but then she said, "It's for the best for all of the things he has done." She said, "Scar Man! Ace is a direct son of Rudy! Since Rudy is getting old, how about you take Ace instead?"
The boss's eyes went from angry to happy and evil. He said, "Thank you, little cats. I won't bother your forest after all of this goes down." Jay looked up at me and smiled. I started to doubt myself because Cleo looked so sad. Would Rudy look the same way? I stopped thinking about it and I hopped down from Cleo's shoulder.
Jay said, "Mission complete! Let's go back!" Quinn said, "Finally!" And Storm said, "That took forever..." I was ready to go back to the group too, but Rooster said, "I smell smoke." I sniffed the air, and there was a faint smell of smoke. Jay ran outside, and he shouted, "The forest is on fire!" We all ran outside to see the forest ablaze.
Quinn said, "We have to get back to the others!" Echo said, "But how? We can get there fast enough." Cleo said, "I'll take ya'll to the alley!" She picked Jay, Echo, and I up, and the dogs that were with her put Rooster, Storm, and Quinn on there backs. Quinn said, "Uh... can I trade spots with one of you?" Before any of us replied, she howled, and started running.
The dogs followed her, and Quinn was screaming. Echo and Storm were screaming too, but I shouted, "Woo-hoo!" It felt like I was flying. It was the best sensation I've ever felt. Jay and Rooster didn't yell, but Rooster had a smirk on his face. Jay didn't show any emotion, but he had pure determination written all over his face.
When we got to the alleyway, Cleo and the dogs put us down, and Lu shouted, "Thank god, you're alive!" We all walked into the alley, but something was wrong. Birch, Moe, Smoke, Hero, and Bell were missing. Yuna said, "Birch ran to the forest because he smelled smoke coming from it. The others chased after him because Lu said in a few days he's going to give birth."
Jay said, "We have to hurry!" Cleo ordered a dog to get a large basket for the kits, and everyone had to prepare to go. The cats of the forest and Birch were in danger.