The Secret Life of Pets: Reborn

Chapter 7 - A Braver Max

((Max's POV))

Months before...

      After I met Rooster and let myself loose after having the new kid, Liam... Gidget became even more of a sexy badass and I became the "Handsome Cowboy Hero" as she says. Mike's great with Liam. He's been teaching him how a phone as well as computers and networks work... at least, parts that are easy enough for him to understand. He was planning to teach him coding too, but he wasn't so sure about it. He didn't want Liam to end up like he was, risking his life just to help others and kill people in the process. I respect that about Mike. He doesn't want people getting hurt or pulled into his own life. Gidget keeps uh... well... she's been getting preeeeetty extra flirty lately... and it's flattering and flustering me. I'm not sure if it's just because of how obsessed she is with me... or if it's because she's in heat or something. Everyone keeps laughing at us, mostly me for it. Katie and Chuck still take good care of us all. And Rooster? We've gone to visit him more often whenever we can. I've gotta say, he's the main reason I even got as brave and better of a protector for my boy and for the rest of the pets as I am now. And I thank him for that. I still HATE that turkey that kept following me around in the barn... and Cotton hasn't gone near cliffs as much. Thank God for that. I still wear that red bandana he gave me and bring it with me wherever I go.

      But I'm mostly concerned about Mike. Tilly hasn't been around him or us as much as before. He hasn't been the same after Snowball. He's gotten... angry at himself and at the world. He keeps blaming himself for it. And it's burning his heart away slowly yet painfully. I can't say I blame him... but it's never a pretty sight to watch when your own brother is slowly becoming more and more hateful of himself and even worse to the criminals and nastiness of the world. He's not going in stealth missions against crimes anymore. He's doing open and loud attacks on them that sometimes traps people in the crossfire, even though he still gets them out safely and untouched. It's been getting the law enforcements angry at his much more dangerous acts. But at the same time... they still thank him for helping them protect the citizens. I guess they're just as worried as I am for him.

      You see, after we took down the Deddogz, Mike was the one holding Snowball up the best he could from falling off the edge of a cliff and into the fiery pit of what seemed like hell while their building was on the verge of collapse... and Snowball had to let go because he knew what would be at stake if he hadn't. Mike hasn't ever stopped blaming and hating himself ever since and it's only going to get worse. I just hope it doesn't get so bad that Liam and Gidget, or anybody else in the pet crew would get hurt. It can't happen, and it won't... Will it? Christ... what will I do if it happens? Find the inner wolf and fight against my own brother? No... I can't. It can't be that way. It can never be that way. Mike would never do that... would he?

      Word has been spreading around that a new threat is heading toward this city, tied to that wicked and abusive circus leader. There was more out there, but we had no idea where they were or what they were. It had only been rumors, at least by so far. We asked Rooster if he had heard about these rumors but he never gave us an answer. He didn't seem to know much about it... at least, that's what I believe, as so do the others. How can something so bad exist yet... not be any trace of it be left even be possible? Mike and I have been asking ourselves the same question for some time. Hopefully in time we can find an answer... and make Snowball proud.