Seeing how all eyes were up on him now, Snowball motioned for Max to take the stand. His legs shaking underneath him and threatening to crumble at any second, the Jack Russell terrier glanced over at Gidget. Meeting her boyfriend's gaze, the fluffy white Pomeranian reassuringly gave him a gentle nuzzle. Feeling a little relieved, Max padded over to where Snowball was and sat down next to the rabbit while facing the rest of the gang. Clearing his throat, he began, "I know that the last month has been quite chaotic for all of us-"

"Cuz someone here can't control their instincts!" Chloe shouted, her fur bristling. Perched upon the windowsill, Sweetpea chirped and whistled in agreement with the gray tabby cat. Ozone had his teeth bared, back arched and was hissing up a storm. Duke and Leonard barked their opinions, drowning each other out to the point where the others were either struggling to figure out what the heck they said or covering their ears. Even Pepe was being vocal as he howled and howled. Grabbing the blowhorn he had brought with him, Snowball blew it several times, trying to reestablish order amongst them. When that didn't do the trick, he flung the blowhorn at Duke, hitting him right in the nose before bouncing off and knocking Leonard in the forehead and then spinning in the air back to the white rabbit boomerang style.

That got everyone to shut up really quick.

Sighing heavily as he rubbed his forehead, Max dipped his head gratefully to Snowball before looking over at the pets who hadn't been arguing. Gidget seemed to be torn between horror and sadness about what the group by the window had said. Mel and Buddy couldn't take their eyes off Sweetpea, their faces showing their utter shock. Pops shook his head in disbelief about what was going on. Norman was hugging Tiberius while his eyes watered and his little body trembled. It was very clear to anyone in the room that the old hawk didn't want to be at the meeting anymore. Max couldn't blame him. If their positions were switched, the terrier would be terrified too. Glaring at the group by the window, he snarled, "You six should be ashamed of yourselves."

"You should be ashamed of yourself Max if you're going to trust that murderer over there," Duke snapped. Turning his gaze towards the other half of the gang, the Newfoundland mix went on, "That goes for the rest of you as well." Shocked by what his own brother was saying, Max seemed to go under a transformation. His hackles raised threateningly and his fur bristled. His lips pulled back to reveal his sharp teeth while an ominous growl emitted from within his throat, astonishing everyone. Walking stiff legged, he approached the larger dog. Worry flashing over his face, Snowball grabbed Max's tail but only succeeded in plucking out a few hairs.

Keeping up the intimidating act, Max backed Duke up against the wall while everyone backed away from the two brothers. Getting right up into the mutt's face, the terrier growled, "Do you even hear yourself? Do you even know who you're talking about here?" Gesturing over to where Tiberius and Norman were being shielded by Mel and Buddy, the smaller dog went on, "You're talking about one of our friends. One of our family. And you're treating him like he's nothing more than a scum! How can you talk like that about him? Any of you, for that matter!" He addressed the others by the window with that last part. Facing Duke again, Max concluded, "I don't care if anyone in this room helps me or not but I'm gonna get down to the bottom of this if it's the last thing I'll do. At least I can say that I died standing up for a friend." Leaving his words to hang in the air while the group nearest to the kitchen voiced their agreement with the terrier, Max padded back over to Gidget.

"Man..." Snowball mumbled, "I wish I was that great at speeches like you Tiny Dog..."