Heroic Heartbreak
is a CatDog one-shot fanfic by CanzetYote.
Dog, for all cluelessness, has always loved being a hero and saving lives, which makes it all the more depressing when one of his young fans is taken by disease. Can Cat help his forlorn brother regain his faith in himself?
Heroic Heartbreak contains the following examples:
- An Aesop:
- No matter how heroic you may be, there are some things that you can’t save other people from, like the approach of death
- Being a hero doesn’t mean you have to be perfect.
- Cooldown Hug: Cat is so shocked by Dog’s despair that he hugs the poor guy.
- Heroic BSoD: Dog is so broken by the death of a terminally ill fan that he angrily throws away his mask and thinks of himself as a failure who can’t do anything right.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Cat is a self-centered grump, but when Dog is broken up over the death of a terminally ill young fan, Cat hugs the poor dog and assures him that he did make a difference in Kyle’s life.
- Pet the Dog: Cat is usually greatly annoyed having to be a sidekick when his brother works under his superhero identity, Dog the Mighty, and joins on Dog Aventures, mainly because they’re messy and Cat gets hurt and humiliated. Cat made an exception when Dog was called by a mother whose child had cancer and wanted Dog to meet him. Cat was genuinely proud of his brother and thought his behavior with the child was cute and endearing. Unfortunately, Dog really thought that he could help the child with cancer because of his child-like innocence, but when Cat gave his brother the news that the child passed, Cat did everything he could to tell Dog that there was nothing he could do and he did help the child by being there for him.
- Samaritan Syndrome: Dog is broken up by the death of Kyle, thinking that he should’ve been able to save him from a terminal illness. Cat spells out to him that Kyle was suffering from terminal cancer and that nothing he could do would defeat the cancer.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Cat assures a despondent Dog that despite being unable to save a fan from dying, he still made his last days joyful, which alone makes him a hero.
