Chapter Text
From a young age, Petey had known he had a bit of a temper.
Something that he would soon come to know was a trait he had inherited from his father.
And as he slowly aged, what was once a manageable ember of anger would completely bloom into an unrestrained flame of fury that even he had difficulty putting out before it ensnared him in its hold.
As far as he could remember, he couldn’t seem to help himself when he got like this– taking his anger out on his surroundings, throwing tantrums, and breaking stuff in his frustration…Making things worse for his Mom…
He had tried for such a long time to swallow his anger, to smother the fire within. To stay calm, turn the other cheek, be good, etcetera, etcetera…To try to be the man his Mom thought he could be.
That was until he realized he didn’t have to do any of that stuff. That he could just not care about what others thought of him, and that he could just let the world burn.
Even if that meant he burned along with it.
Once he had cast aside trying to be something that he was never meant to be– some wannabe do-gooder– and embraced the title that the world gave to him – “ The World's Most Evilest Cat” – everything just became…easier.
He did what he wanted, when he wanted, anywhere he wanted – there were no limitations; nothing could stop him from dousing the world in gasoline and lighting everything in sight a blaze.
Well. Nothing except the constant thorn in his side–
Dogman.
It always circled back to that damn mutt.
Every defeat he faced was due to that damn dog, and he would become consumed with anger that fueled him more than anything else could ever hope to. His rage burned so brightly in his veins that it could override everything– anxiety, sorrow, even joy itself could be put in the backseat if that meant anger could power him through everything. It made him unstoppable, like a superpower that you see in a comic book. There wasn’t a thing in the world that could deter him.
Until the cloning incident.
When Petey had first set his eyes upon the kitten in front of him, a spitting image of him as a child, he panicked. This wasn’t what he wanted, what he had in mind, what he had planned. He was sure keeping the kitten near would ruin everything he worked so hard for.
Though as much as Petey tried to push the kitten away, going as far as to abandon him in a city he didn’t know, there was something about the small orange tabby that Petey couldn’t let go of.
Petey couldn’t help but notice that the kitten, as annoying and clingy as he could be, was also sweet…and patient…It didn’t make sense. He wasn’t like this as a kitten. He was sure of it.
And as the small kitten began attaching himself to Petey, he seemed to calm down the usual twinges of Petey's wild emotions into something more malleable. Stable.
As time went by, Petey realized how much he had cared about the kitten and in the end embraced Li'l Petey as his son. The kitten had changed everything for him, and Petey wanted, for the first time in a long time, to be a better cat.
Which probably is what led him to this point– living a somewhat, ugh, normal life with his former enemy, Dogman.
It was supposed to be temporary, but as time goes on, Petey starts to question how long he’s going to be in this house.
He didn’t want to be here. Not under the same roof with the hybrid that he indirectly created, who, Petey is sure, has to hate him for what he did, or at the very least, feel uncomfortable around him in his own home.
Petey wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for his stupid ass Dad. And as much as Petey would like to say that the man took everything that wasn’t bolted down, he can’t! The fucking deadbeat unbolted everything. His tools, his books, his bed – gone.
All except Li'l Petey's comics.
Which is somehow even worse.
The sight upon the kitten’s face– It had made him so angry. The heartbreak and the cynical words that spilled out of the kitten's mouth, repeating what Petey had told him– “You were right, Papa… The world. It's nothing but mud puddles, and pollution, and weeds.”
Looking at him in that moment, Petey could finally see himself from how he was young.
And he hated it. Li'l Petey hadn’t done anything wrong; he didn’t deserve to be hurt like that.
It made him want to find his old man and claw his face apart. Take his revenge on the man for himself and his son. To show that heartless cat what pain meant and how it was about time he paid the prince for all the pain he had caused.
Except Petey couldn’t bring himself to do that.
Not when Li'l Petey needed him the most. Not when he could pull the kitten into his arms and assure him that while the world has problems, it can’t be a horrible place– not when he's in it.
When he said that, and Li'l Petey smiled back up at him, a new feeling occurred.
For the first time in years, Petey found himself putting his rage aside.
It starts with the little things.
When Petey had first moved into Dogman's house, he adamantly refused to sit around like some deadbeat and let the police dog be the only one bringing in any money. He had to set a good example for Li'l Petey after all– never fully depend on someone, or make someone clean up after you.
He wasn’t delusional enough to believe that he would be immediately accepted into just any job– but still! He was more than just the world's most evilest cat! He was STILL a genius! He could build machines of destruction from scraps of metal and tethered wires– he was sure someone in this dumb city would be willing to look past all of his crimes.
…
Right?
However, after weeks of looking through ads online, in the newspaper, on the community bulletin board in town, and even advertisements in the sky. No one would have anything to do with him; they all either turned him down immediately or brushed him off as if he were nothing more than an annoying pest.
At first, he wasn’t all that surprised. So a bunch of idiots want to hold his past against him, big deal. It was easy enough to shake off the feeling of failure, especially with Li'l Petey there to encourage him.
That didn’t stop the bitterness filling his senses, though. Every hung-up phone call, rejection letter, doors slammed in his face– it was so frustrating, and Petey was constantly resisting the urge to give them all something that could show him just how thankful he was for their time and understanding–
“It’s okay, Papa! There are plenty of things you can do!” Li'l Petey exclaimed as he wrapped his paws around Petey’s leg in an attempt to comfort him. His voice and hug brought Petey out of his thoughts.“We just gotta keep looking, something sure to come up!”
Petey looked down at the table, a newspaper classification laid out in front of him. On it were dozens of red circles that got crossed out. A notepad beside it was littered with numbers that were also all scratched out to the point of being illegible.
It was a pathetic-looking sight.
Glancing over to Li’l Petey, with the look of encouragement on his face and the pure belief that something good would happen for Petey–
Petey can’t help himself when it comes to his son.
He reaches down, putting the kitten into his lap, tightly hugging him. The feelings of anger and rejection faded bit by bit, only being replaced with a warm feeling of affection in his heart.
“Thanks, kiddo. I needed that.” The moment was nice.
In fact, so nice that Petey completely forgot that Dogman was in the same room as them. The realization made Petey want to look at anything besides the mutt. It was bad enough that he was living here– it was even worse that he had his long-time rival here gawking at him while he was at his lowest.
“Arwooo…Ruff!” A whine came from the dog. Petey decided to spare a glance at Dogman. He was relieved to see there wasn’t a hint of mockery on his face. Petey was surprised that the dog was looking up at him with a concerned look. It felt too sincere and overwhelming to him that it made Petey want to flinch away.
“That's right! Dogman’s right– things will be okay! Things will look up before you know it! And If you can’t find one, it's still okay! We like having you around the house.” Li'l Petey smiled as Dogman nodded along with the statement.
“You got all that from a whine…” Petey muttered, although his input went unnoticed by the kitten and dog.
“Well, I guess…I’ll keep trying…” Petey shot Dogman a softer look. “Thanks, Dogman…I appreciate it. I’ll, uh, try not to burden you too much.” He attempted to laugh lightly, but even to his own ears it sounded empty.
While his tone wasn’t as light as he would’ve liked it to be, Dogman rushed over to him eagerly. Two strong ( stronger than expected) arms were throwing themselves around the two felines, nearly crushing them in an embrace.
“Arooo!” With that howl nearly blowing out Petey’s eardrums, Dogman proceeded to try to lick both cats across the face in his excitement.
“Not the mouth! Not the mouth!” Petey yelped out, trying to move his face away from the excited dog as Li'l Petey giggled away.
After rejection after rejection, Petey had to reluctantly accept that finding a job wasn’t going to be the easiest task for him. He would still apply when and where he can, but he decided that he wasn’t going to let it bother him, and if he needed cash, he could make use of his free time and draw up some inventions for some dumb schmuck to buy off of him. Better some cash than none at all. And since he was going to be at Dogman's house longer than he originally anticipated, he decided to make the most of it and make up for his unemployment in other ways.
Living in Dogman's house, while Petey would never admit out loud, wasn’t the worst place in the world to be stuck in. Petey didn’t feel comfortable telling Dogman how grateful he was to the dog for letting him stay here, so he tried to show it through his actions instead. The cat made improvements here and there, spending hours working across the whole house– from rewiring fried and broken cables to even installing a generator in the basement in case they ever lost power during an emergency.
Petey also decided to take up cleaning around the house, which was a daily chore in itself since he couldn’t deny that all of them tended to wreak havoc in their own ways.
Petey didn’t mind too much, though. It made sense for him to keep the house in a livable condition since Dogman went to work and Li'l Petey had class to attend. Even 80-HD seemed to keep himself busy throughout the day. So it was mostly just him at the house, which was also nice because that meant Petey had some time to work on his blueprints without interruption.
The other chores weren’t so difficult, just more tedious than anything. He did the laundry weekly, although at first he had to fight Dogman about it since the dog felt guilty for Petey cleaning up after him to begin with. With some stern conceiving and some maybe or maybe not promises of dog treats, the hybrid eventually gave in as Petey explained that it just made sense for him to wash everything altogether since he was already washing everything else. It was just more efficient that way.
Cleaning up around the house and doing laundry didn’t really require a lot of effort or was something that Petey found mentally straining, so it only made sense that he should also take on the cooking.
Which really was in the best interest for everyone since takeout was too expensive in the long run, and anytime Dogman cooked…Well.
Let's just say if it didn’t come out of a can and was covered in gravy, Dogman couldn’t tell his foot from his ass when it came to cooking.
It made Petey laugh, seeing the ‘oh-so-perfect-supa-cop’ fumble at something. A little diabolical treat that pleased his internal villain. And as amusing as it was to watch the mutt burn water, Dogman was still letting Petey and his son stay at his house out of the kindness of his heart, so…
Petey supposed that would be enough payment for him to cook their meals.
There was also something interesting about watching Dogman get so excited about his cooking every single time. Even though Petey was sure his food wasn’t as good as the dog made it out to be, he never failed to clean his plate as he inhaled every meal the feline made…It made him feel weird. Not bad.
Just weird.
And really, who was Petey to deny the mutt a homemade meal? At least the dog was grateful for what he could offer.
It wasn’t the worst schedule to be on– With excess time on his paws, Petey could handle the housework and errands with ease.
Except there was one thing.
The only thing Petey came to dread was, ugh –
Grocery shopping.
Petey missed the days when he would have everything delivered to his building– from clone machines to ordering groceries to the occasional impulsive midnight online shopping that he would regret the following morning. It was simple, and he could avoid having to go out into the public eye.
He couldn’t do that while living at Dogmans. Not just the lack of funds, but also every time someone rang the doorbell, it was like a tornado ripped through the house with Dogman, Li'l Petey, and 80-HD leaving chaos and ruin in their wake.
So unfortunately, it was more practical for Petey to just bite the bullet and go to the grocery store in person.
Although it was still chaotic in its own way, as two-thirds of the rest of the household insisted on joining him on his errands.
Still, he would rather the store handle the mess rather than him.
The store they went to wasn’t the biggest, but it was the closest to the house, and that was the only thing Petey liked about it.
Everything else– the bright, eye-straining fluorescent lights, the sticky yet somehow clean-looking ground, and the subpar food that always seemed ready to expire the next day– was absolute garbage.
Going through one aisle to the next, Petey lazily steered the cart around with Dogman in tow, with Li'l Petey in the child's seat, asking for colorful and sugary this and that.
“No, we cannot get that cereal, you haven’t even finished the last one you begged for-” Petey came to a halt, the car stalling on something. He looks up from Li'l Petey to the obstacle in front of the cart.
“Hey, you!” An older woman, with blond hair and poorly done highlights styled in a symmetrical bob, was pointing her grubby finger at him. Looking down, Petey could see her foot holding the cart still.
“Me?” Petey pointed to himself, confused why this woman was bothering him.
“Yeah, you! Aren’t you that one evil cat who used to cause damage to the city? Peter Duckhat?”
“It's Petey The Cat, but no, you got the wrong guy.” Petey attempted to dislodge the cart and try to steer past the woman. “Now if you would excuse us–”
It seemed fate had other plans.
Pressing her foot against the cart firmly, the cart squeaked loudly against the laminated floor in its friction.
“No, no, I'm sure it's you.” The woman sneered. Her voice dripped with disdain as she spoke. “What are you even doing here? Don’t you know your kind isn’t allowed here?” Her foot stomped against the cart, making it rattle.
The air felt heavier, a tenseness that Petey hadn’t felt in a long time seemed to fill the space.
He hardly registered Li'l Petey, worriedly glancing back and forth between Petey and the woman, and while Petey couldn’t see Dogman's expression, he could hear the faintest of growls behind him.
And while Petey would have been more than willing to throw claws at this woman and go along with his day, he felt his heart freeze seeing Li'l Petey flinch in the cart from the woman's actions.
A familiar flame sparked up.
“... My kind?” Petey seethed out, pulling the cart away from the woman and then stepping away from the cart as if to approach her, only vaguely registering someone's hand around his wrist. “Are you fucking ser– ” Before Petey could give the woman a piece of his mind, a rounded man popped up between the two.
“Ma’am, is this guy bothering you?” Said the newcomer, his brightly colored red vest giving away that he was an employee of the store. He gave the woman a concerned look.
“Bothering her?” Petey exclaimed, gaining the man's attention, only to be stared at coldly. “She’s the one that–” A hand was thrown up in front of Petey’s face.
“Sir, I will get to you in a moment. Don’t raise your voice at me.”
“I didn’t even raise my voice–” Petey could feel his throat getting tighter.
“Sir, if you keep yelling, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.”
“But I’m not–”
“Sir, please leave quietly or else I’ll have to get security involved.”
Petey swallowed hard. The lump in his throat made it difficult to breathe. The situation had gotten out of hand. He could feel so many eyes on him, looking down on him, judging him– for something he didn’t even do!
He hated it.
He wanted nothing more than to lash out against the man and woman, show them exactly what he is capable of– show these simpletons what type of villain he really is. Show them exactly what type of cat he is when you mess with his family–
The grip on his wrist became firmer, fully gaining Petey's attention. Looking down, he sees Dogman holding his wrist, with both Li'l Petey and Dogman staring at him worriedly. A soft whine escaped the dog's throat.
It brings Petey back down to earth.
Petey lets out a shaky breath that he didn’t realize he was holding, calmly removing himself from Dogman's grasp, before looking back at the worker and the woman.
“Fine, we’ll leave.” As composed as he was able, Petey picked up Li'l Petey from his seat, holding him tightly against him. A brief moment of silence passed before Petey extended his paw towards Dogman. “Let's go home.”
Before Petey could inwardly cringe at himself for reaching out and pull his paw back to his side, he never got the chance. Dogman quickly grasped his hand within his own, smiling goofily at him. It calmed Petey down, the air becoming more breathable.
“D-Dogman?! I didn’t notice you there.” The clerk who had looked at Petey with harshness suddenly seemed to play a different tune, with panic and a fake kind customer service look upon his face. “You don’t have to leave! The city's best cop shouldn’t have to deal with–” The man was cut off growling, sending a clear message to everyone looking at them.
Do. Not. Touch. Them.
As the growl died down, Dogman shot one more glare down at the man before slightly baring his teeth at him and the woman.
“Why I never –” Petey didn’t get to listen to what the woman was saying as he and Li'l Petey were quickly dragged away by Dogman, heading for the exit.
Once they were outside, the trio walked in silence as they trekked their way back to the house. Petey held Li'l Petey close to his side with one arm and his other paw still clasped with Dogman's.
…Petey wasn’t exactly sure how to take his paw back.
“Papa?” Li'l Petey's voice came through, gaining Petey’s attention.
“Yeah, kid?”
“What are we gonna do for dinner tonight?” The question broke the tension, and it brought a smile to Petey's face. A puff of a laugh escaped him before he gained a thoughtful look on his face.
“Well…I’m thinking, what if we ordered a pizza?”
While it wasn’t something that Petey enjoyed eating too often, it was worth it to see Li'l Petey and Dogman's faces light up at the mention of the food. Petey was sure, if he was reading Dogman's body language correctly, if the dog had a tail, it would be wagging intensely.
“A PIZZA?” Li'l Petey yelled as he smiled widely, catching the passerby's attention. The kitten's excitement is contagious, making Petey smile along with him.
“Yeah, sure, what kind do you want?”