Lightning flashed across the dark skies, followed by thunder. Instead of rain, snow fell. It was a blizzard in the middle of a thunderstorm. One would be considered crazy if they went out in this weather. Everyone was too busy finding shelter. Well, all but one. There was one little critter wandering around. He had a mission.

Shivering as a gust of wind blasted him in the face, Norman wiped his nose before bundling himself more with the blanket he had brought with him. He had returned to the city, or at least what was left of it. Due to all of Max's handiwork, the civil war and then a monstrous Buddy back from the dead, the city that was once Manhattan had become a frozen wasteland. There were barely any man made landmarks left. But Norman wasn't looking for a man made one, he was looking for a landmark created by nature. And he found it, a giant frozen lake.

Carefully making his way across the ice, Norman cautiously approached a pile of debri. It was the same pile of debri that almost crushed him a year ago. The metal bars and twisted steel was now frozen into the lake, forever stuck now or at least until the sun came back to thaw the ice. But Norman couldn't wait for that. Taking a small hammer he had brought with him, he began pounding away, chipping the ice a little bit at a time. After hours of work, the guinea pig finally made a big enough hole. Setting aside the hammer, he pulled out a small totem he managed to steal from Pops' hut a week prior. Hugging it, he whispered, "Please work." Then he tossed it into the dark waters of the lake.

Minutes ticked by. The storm above grew fiercer as time went on. Yet Norman stayed by the hole, waiting for a sign. But none came. Struggling not to cry, the guinea pig backed away from the hole, feeling miserable. He was about to walk away when he was suddenly cast in a green glow. Turning around, he discovered that the glow was coming from something down in the deep. The water began to bubble violently before a red tailed hawk broke through the surface. His eyes lighting up, Norman squeaked, "Tiberius!"

"Norman!" Tiberius cried, struggling to drag himself up onto the ice. Grabbing his friend's wing, Norman pulled with all his might until, at last, the hawk was out of the water. Curling up into a tight ball, Tiberius shivered tremendously. Draping the blanket over both of them, the guinea pig hugged the hawk's neck as he whimpered, "I thought I lost you." Shaking still, Tiberius nuzzled Norman gently as he stuttered, "It's okay, I'm here now."

Suddenly, there was a loud yelp. It took Norman a moment to realize that it had been Tiberius. The red tailed hawk had his wing over the left side of his face. "My eye... it just popped out of my socket!" he stammered, pointing with one talon. Sure enough, the eyeball was slowly rolling away. Springing into action, Norman dashed after it. Rolling it back, he asked, "Side effect?"

"Probably..." Tiberius rasped sadly, laying his head down so Norman could access his eye socket. Pushing the eye back in, the guinea pig noticed a terrible scar running down the left side of his friend's face, probably caused by a sharp piece of metal. Gently touching the scar, Norman chirped, "Are you okay?" Slowly shaking his head, Tiberius mumbled, "No... I'm not okay." Looking up at the rodent, the hawk asked, "What happened?"

"Well, we were trying to get across the lake with Gidget when the debri fell on you. I wanted to get you out but Gidget carried me away. I'm sorry," Norman answered softly, bowing his head. His eyes widening in shock, Tiberius rasped, "She what?" Meeting the hawk's gaze, the guinea pig repeated his earlier statement, "She carried me away from here."

"She left me... to die!" Tiberius hissed, slamming his talons on the ice. Cracks, thankfully small, appeared. Shaking not from the cold but from rage now, the red tailed hawk turned to Norman and stated, "Come, we need to get off this blasted lake." Scampering up onto his friend's shoulders, the rodent squeaked, "Then what are we doing?"

"Then we're gathering followers for our cause. And I know where to get some. Gidget wasn't the only one to learn dark magic," Tiberius declared, spreading his wings. Taking to the air, he couldn't but think to himself how at least the Pomeranian didn't dive too far into the dark magic. He, on the other talon, had. Flying quite a ways away, he alighted down at the docks. Setting Norman down on torn up fishing nets, he turned to the water. His eyes glowing green, the old hawk hissed with a wave of his wing, "I summon you all to rise once again!"

At first, nothing happened. But then a green glow emitted from the water, followed by the violent bubbling. Then the pirate turned Flushed Pets and other animals unlucky enough to escape from the siege of Manhattan slowly emerged from the depths. Norman shuddered when he saw the reanimated corpses creeping forward. Tiberius, however, remained unmoved as he gazed upon the army of the undead he had raised. Clearing his throat, he called out, "Find Gidget and bring her to me, alive!" Receiving their orders, the zombies shuffled away. Climbing back up onto the hawk's back, Norman asked, "What are you gonna do to her?"

"I'm gonna kill her," Tiberius answered coldly, staring at nothing in particular. Glancing back at Norman, he gently nuzzled the guinea pig as he murmured, "Don't worry, I won't let you watch little guy." The rodent nodded his head quietly in understanding. Without another word, the red tailed hawk took flight once more with his little friend to aid in the search, unaware of an old enemy he had unknowingly brought back from the dead...