PA 3.5: End of a Tail

Chapter XV Part III

When they entered the living room, Mitt took stock of the situation: Brownie was being grappled by a single cat demon, Sparky was reeling in surprise, and the unfamiliar golden retriever was hiding in the corner of the room.

"Did- I- I'm alive?" The retriever asked with a slight accent, bending down to pick his reading glasses off of the floor.

"Agh! Seriously?! Why me!?" Brownie shouted, pressing her paws against the cat demon's distorted face, trying to keep its jaws away from her head.

Without hesitation, Sparky slammed his body into the demon with a grunt, pushing it away from Brownie and instead getting himself tangled up in it.

"Sparky!" Brownie barked at the dog, rushing for the kitchen.

"S-Shit! Someone get this thing off of me!" Sparky yelled, the jaw of the creature nearly wrapping around the immobilized dog's head.

With a bright pink flash, Mitt's wand lit up, sending a bright bolt into the cat demon's head with such force that the creature became a featureless blob recoiling back from the blow. It slammed into the large wooden table, scattering the dishes atop it, melting onto it like a deflated marshmallow before it started to reconstitute itself. The ghost began forming into what it was before with the addition of two spindly limbs clutching at the wooden surface.

Before the thing could pounce on Sparky, Mitt let loose a slower, more devastating spell directly at the demon, then prepared another, faster attack. Meanwhile, Sparky and Rover picked up a fire poker and dust shovel, readying them for the fight.

As the demon dodged the devastating projectile, another, lighter bolt slammed into its chest, dazing it and sending it flying backward from its airborne position. The larger bolt slammed harmlessly into the table, doing nothing against a non-living target. The demon was forced back onto the floor as its body coiled up again, its face contorted into wicked smiles and furious eyes.

Suddenly, the gang heard rapid footsteps descending from the stairs; it was Coco in her witch outfit with a beaker of water in one hand and her wand in the other. She looked incredulous as she saw the other dogs. "Sparky?!" Her face contorted, mouth wide open as she stared.

"Counterspell it!" Mitt shouted, letting a combo of small attacks fly from their wand to keep the demon stunned. Most hit their mark, but a portion of the wild projectiles slammed into the floor or wall, incredibly close to both Coco and the golden retriever. The demon lept out of the way of one of the light attacks, eyes resting firmly on the first dog it saw- Rover.

At the same time, Brownie burst from the kitchen with a pot full of water. "Watch out!" she yelled to no one in particular before wildly chucking the kitchen implement at the demon, sending fluid rocketing all throughout the room. Only a shred managed to hit the monster, causing its form to sizzle as the whole thing recoiled in some alien form of pain.

Coco looked at Brownie in shock at first, but as the dog splattered the pot all across the room, Coco's brow furrowed, and she appeared intensely mad. Breaking from her fright, the cat splashed the beaker's contents all across the demon, causing it to melt and sizzle. It let loose some form of cackling murmur as it melted into the hardwood floor, the few features it had dissipating into a slurry of colour.

"Coco?" Brownie asked aloud, worry painted across her face.

"Great, now I have another mess to clean," the black cat grumbled to herself, holding back on chastising the corgi.

Sparky spoke up as Olive peered into the room meekly. "Coco? What's wrong, why was there a ghost?" He looked over to the monster, hearing its last gurgling whisper before evaporating into nothing but a small puddle of water.