The Piano
                                                                ~Part 7



      "Zaro! Look out!" Tom called out, as Slerge lunged for Zaro, unleashing a battleaxe from a holder on his back. Zaro dodged and rolled to one side. Slerge attacked Zaro time after time, each time Zaro dodged them just barely. Tom did his best to stay out of the way. Frantically, he looked for a weapon to help Zaro. He spotted the guitar leaning against the piano. He grabbed it and swung it at Slerge, whacking him in the back. Slerge flew across the room and slammed into the wall, sliding to the ground with a sickening crunch. Zaro looked from the still form of Slerge and then to Tom. He nodded gratefully and quickly ran to his fallen foe.
      "Do you have any rope?" Zaro asked Tom.
      "Rope? Oh, uh, yeah," Tom answered, a little surprised by his action. He ran to get the rope from his closet. Running back, he announced,
      "Here's the rope." Tom tossed the rope to Zaro. In a matter of seconds, Slerge was bound to a piano leg.
      "Now. Let's go find that portal." Zaro stood up, dusting off his paws.
      "Wait...what? Where just going to leave him here? Aren't we going to send him back to his world?" Tom asked, confused.
      "Of course we're going to leave him here. We can't take him with us and we can't send him back to his world. You forget, his world is mine too. If we send him back, he'd just cause more trouble for us. Now, come on," Zaro replied, heading towards the door.
      "But, Zaro! We can't just leave him here. What if my mom finds him. Then she'd---" Tom was caught off as he ran towards Zaro.
      "Ughhh." Tom turned back to see Slerge slowly gain consciousness. He inspected his surroundings and then began franctically trying to escape.
      "You can't leave me here, Zaro. I'll escape and find---" As Slerge tried to escape, he turned and suddenly disappeared.

                                                              The Piano
                                                                  ~Part 6


      "As I was saying, before I was so rudely and heartlessly interrupted, my arch nemesis returned. If you remember, earlier in the story I said that I was blamed by a fox. His name is Slerge. He returned with five other foxes to annihilate me. They chased to a enormous lake. I tried to hide in some bushes but he found me. He tried to get me to come out, but his mistake was saying that it was my fault and that he was right. I kept backing up until I suddenly felt myself fly backwards. I shot backwards, realising that it must have been a portal because I never could have have fallen that far across the lake. Then I met you and its now," Zaro finished.
      "Wow. That's... incredible. So what do we do now? Are you going back?" Tom asked.
      "I can't go back that way. They're probably waiting for me there. If I want to go back, I'll have to find another way. But I'm not sure there is another," Zaro replied.
      "Then let's go find out!" Tom exclaimed, jumping up excitedly. He ran to the door and then turned to see if Zaro had followed him. Tom had just turned the doorknob when a voice caused him to jump and turn in surprise.
      "Running again, Zaro? I thought you were braver than that." Tom turned to see another black fox.
      "Slerge! What are you doing here?" Zaro spat out the name.
      "Slerge? Your nemesis?" Tom asked Zaro, wonderingly.
      "Yes, his nemesis. I bet he already told you how I blamed him wrongly. But, I won't argue right now. Right now I have other work to do," Slerge replied, advancing, menacingly.