Anti looked around wildly. His fur stood on end and his tail bushed out.

It was dark and cold out, starting to snow. Even though he still had the mouse by him, he no longer cared.

He tried to listen for Jackie's voice but he couldn't hear anything.

Did he really care that he escaped? He said in the beginning he didn't like him!

His ears drooped sadly.

He started to shiver.

Looking around, he had NO idea where he was.

'Maybe I could look for a landmark? I usually glitch everywhere but I can't do that as a cat . . . .. I have no idea where to go from here'

The pads of his paws were starting to get too cold, 'I should start walking, though. Maybe Marvin would look for me?'

But he doubted it. If he were gone, why would Marvin waste his time looking for him to reverse the potion at all? It'd be one less thing off his plate. . .

Currently, he was in an alley and he walked out to the sidewalk.

Cars with the headlights on raced by on the streets. It was scary to see as a tiny cat.

'Actually. . . maybe I should just hunker down for the night and try and look in the morning?'

Anti licked his lips and snuck back into the alley where he had killed the mouse. It was still there, its body still warm. He decided to use that to his advantage and grabbed it in his mouth again.

He discovered the the corner of the dumpster by him had the least amount of wind and he curled up next to it in a tight little ball on top of the dead mouse, soaking in the last of its warmth.

He could have just ate it but he really didn't want to. He didn't feel up to it.

It took a while, but he finally fell asleep.

When he woke up in the morning, it was louder and even colder.

And he was really hungry now.

Looking down at the dead mouse he still had, his stomach growling was starting to change his mind even though it had gone cold and was starting to smell.

Anti was about to tear into it when he heard a noise in the same alley he was in.

Perking his ears up, he listened closely.

Growling.

Smelling the air, he didn't recognize the scent but something told him he needed to be afraid.

A muzzle appeared from the corner of the dumpster and Anti felt himself hiss out of instinct.

A large dog quickly made himself completely visible to him and hovered over him in the corner, baring his teeth.

Anti's eyes went wide in terror.

The dog snapped his jaws at him but Anti dodged and quickly ducked under the dumpster. The dog barked and tried to claw its way under after him but it was too big. It ignored the dead mouse, wanting Anti instead, it seemed.

Anti's little heart raced, he had no idea what to do!

He never had to be afraid like this before!

But he couldn't just stay there. The dog was bound to wait for him to come out.

Instead, Anti looked in the opposite direction, ignoring the barking.

'I could run for the street and go up the road. Maybe I'll see Jackie or one of the others walking around? I don't care if they don't want me! I'll cling onto them and never let go!'

Anti made the split decision and raced out from under the dumpster out of the alley. The dog wasn't dumb, though, and ran after him.

As soon as he got onto the sidewalk, he underestimated how busy the morning would be.People were walking fast up and down the sidewalk and even more cars than last night were flying by on the street. People saw Anti running out of the alley and yelled at him, trying to kick him out of the way.

Anti was afraid for his life but kept running no matter what. He couldn't stop or else face the snapping strong jaws of the dog hot on his heels.

Some of the cars were stopping and Anti realized that the stop light down the road turned red. Anti took his chance and ran into the street and on top of some cars to try and get away from the rabid dog.

But the dog wasn't giving up and was just strong and limber enough to jump onto the hood of cars, too.

'Shit, I'm gonna fucking die!'

Anti leaped down onto the street and under some trucks as things started to get moving again.

People were yelling and honking their horns at them and the dog was starting to get confused on how to follow him since the light turned green.

Anti landed on the other side of the street on the sidewalk and into skidded into a small mound of snow.

Yanking himself out and shaking the cold snow off his fur, Anti twirled around in search of the dog but it appeared that maybe it had gotten scared of the cars since they were now moving.

His heart wasn't slowing down, though. Anti was still shaking and his emotions were overwhelming him.

'I wanna go back home. . . . where are they? Are they even looking? Marvin . . . . . . Chase?' he mewed sadly. If he could cry as a cat, he would.

He didn't even notice someone walking up to him until he saw the shadow bearing down over him.

"Well well . . . . You're certainly out of your element, aren't you?"

Meanwhile back at the Septic house earlier the previous evening

Everyone ran down after Jackie had gotten home, hearing him shouting.

Marvin had ran down first and was horrified at what he discovered.

Jackie was still shouting for Anti. He didn't even know which way he had ran, "ANTI! ANTI, COME BACK! ANTI!"

"Oh no" Marvin gasped, "Tell me he's not.. . . Jackie?"

Jackie whirled around, hearing Marvin, "Marv. . . Fuck, I'm so sorry! I just walked in and he ran out chasing after a fucking mouse! I don't even know where went!" he started to cry, "I'm so sorry!"

Marvin didn't even really hear him. All he knew was that Anti was in trouble.

"Shit"

Chase came down next hearing the commotion and soon, the others did as well.

"Clearly, you should have chipped him" Henrik blamed Marvin, "But you didn't listen"

"Can we not argue about that right now!?" Marvin shouted at him, "Anti needs our help! We need to find him!"

"Hey, it's alright, man" Chase tried to calm him down, "Cats always have a way of finding their way home. All we gotta do is maybe leave out some tuna and he could be back in the morning safe and sound"

"Are you crazy!?" Marvin shouted at him, "Anti has ZERO survival instincts! We need to go looking for him NOW!"

'We know you're worried about him' Jameson signed, 'We all are. But Chase is right.'

"No, he's NOT!" Marvin argued, "You guys don't understand!"

"Then MAKE us understand" Jackie sniffled, "I hate what happened, too, but-"

"But NOTHING, Jackie! All you're fucking concerned about lately is finding Anti so you can finally lock him away or kill him! You hated Anti. . . the CAT from the very START!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Jackie shouted back, "You have no fucking idea what I'm feeling! I MISS Anti, alright?!. . . BOTH OF THEM!"

Marvin froze and tensed, ". . .what? . . but you've been searching for him for weeks"

"Yeah. . . because I was worried. Fuck, I KNOW he's not really a threat, Marv. I just . . . missed him coming around is all. . . I was worried something happened to him"

Everyone's mood turned sour. Marvin didn't know what to think or say. Could he trust the others not to judge him too hard with this?

He swallowed.

His pride didn't mean anything right now.

What mattered most was finding Anti.

"Jackie. . .. you never had to look for Anti. He was always here"

Jackie rolled his eyes, "This isn't the time for jokes, Marv. It's funny that you named the cat after him but-"

"I didn't. . . . ." Marvin sighed, " . . . . . several weeks ago . . . I was working on a potion . . . a shapeshifting potion that was kinda. . . illegal"

Henrik closed his eyes and sighed, "Oh for fucks sake. . . you didn't"

Marvin swallowed, "It was done . . . . no known cure . . . . Anti glitched in my room and the potion kinda fell on him. . . turning him into. .. . a cat"

Chase looked like he was having an existential crisis.

Hell, all of them did.

Jackie blinked and looked like he forgot to breathe, "I . . . no. . .. wait. . . really? No . . . . . . . WHAT THE FUCK!!?"

Henrik groaned, " . . . . . I rubbed his belly. . . . ."