This is the sixteenth entry in a series created by brave kid and me, more of which he and I will be working on together in the future(Pictures of this story's characters are also now available on my blog, the Keeper of the Fun blog!). The storyline and title are based on those of a Tom and Jerry cartoon entitled, "The Vanishing Duck." Please enjoy!(BTW brave kid, thank you very much for all of the story suggestions you've given me. I've had a lot of fun working on these stories with you, and I very much appreciate it. I look forward to writing future stories with you.) :)
It's a peaceable day in New York City. Inside Dot's Puppy Pound, the Pound Puppies and Kennel Kittens are hard at work, loking for the perfect people for the new puppies and purries at the pound. Just then, the Pup Alarm sounds, "Red Alert! Red Alert! Incoming kitten!"
The dogs and cats turn to see a small kitten sliding down the winding chute at high speed. Squirt holds his paws out to catch her. "I got her! I got her!" As she reaches the end of the chute, the kitten goes flying off and crashes on top of the Chihuahua. "Oogh..." he groans. "Guess I don't got her."
As the Puppies and Kittens gently help Squirt to his feet, the kitten strolls up to them. She's a small orange Tabby kitten with a cream-colored snout, wearing a pink dress and a pink bow in her hair(1). "Good morning to you, Good morning to you, Good morning, dear doggies and kitties, Good morning to you.(2)" she merrily sings. "Hi, my name's Zoe."
"Howdy, Zoe," Niblet politely greets her. "What brings you to our Puppy Pound?"
"Well, I've been looking for a home." Zoe replies.
"Well, we'll be more than happy to help you, Sweetie," Cookie replies. "We Pound Puppies and Kennel Kittens always look out for animals in need." The little kitten's eyes light up. "You mean you'll help me find my perfect person?"
"Absolutely." Lucky replies kindly.
"Oh boy!" Zoe hops up excitedly and claps her paws.
Observing several small puppies and purries playing outside, Zoe turns to the group and inquires, "Say, may I go play outside, please?"
"Certainly, Dearie," Cookie replies kindly. "Please take care and do have a good time."
"Thanks!" The little orange kitten traipses outside to the yard and joins two small pups in a game of catch. Unfortunately, little did she know that things weren't to remain smooth sailing for long, because at that very moment, Catchum the nasty dogcatcher was coming down the road. As he passes by the yard, he observes Zoe and the pups playing; a sly grin spreads across his face. "Well, well, well, looks like there's a new kitten at the pound! Looks to be a pretty rare one, too. Won't the boss be happy to see her!"
The dogcatcher hides in the bushes and waits for the right moment. As the ball they're playing with rolls toward the bushes, Zoe scurries over to retrieve it; no sooner has she picked it up, however, when Catchum pops out of the bushes with his net poised. Not noticing who's there at first, Zoe then begins to sing, "Good morning to you, Good morning to you, Good morning, dear dogcatcher-" She then looks up and sees Catchum about to drop his net over her. "Dogcatcher? Oh no!"
The little orange kitten then takes to her heels and scurries back into the pound via a doggie door. This doggie door turned out to lead to the Super Secret Pup Club's clubhouse, and Zoe soon comes face to face with the pups. Slowly looking up, Zoe quickly climbs to her feet and begins to sing, "Good morning to you, Good morning to you, Good morning, dear puppies, Good morning to you. Hi, my name's Zoe!"
"Hi, Zoe, pleased to meet you" Rebound greets her. "My name's Rebound, and these are my friends Cupcake and Patches."
"We're the Super Secret Pup Club." Cupcake adds. Zoe politely shakes paws with each of them. "Pleased to meet you all."
"Is all well?" inquires a concerned Patches. "We noticed you running away from something."
"Ooh," Zoe replies fearfully. "There's a big ol' dogcatcher out there! He almost caught me!" A determined look crosses Cupcake's face. "Sounds like Catchum's been about again."
"Don't worry, Zoe," Rebound says consolingly. "We've got your back."
"Yeah," Patches adds. "He won't do anything on our watch."
A relieved look crosses the little kitten's face. "Oh, thanks, you guys! You're real pals!"
"You're quite welcome." Rebound replies. Zoe then slowly tiptoes toward the doggie door and takes a peek outside. "Hmm," she muses, stepping outside. "Looks like the coast is clear-" Unfortunately, she's barely said these words when a net falls over her head. The pups gasp in horror, "Oh no!"
"Hah! Gotcha, ya slippery little flea farm!" Catchum sneers. "You won't get away from me this time!"
Thinking quickly, Patches hops up, snatches Zoe out of the net, and gently sets her back down on the ground, upon which she takes to her heels again. "Hey! Come back here, ya goofy little kitten!" Catchum growls as he gives her chase; fortunately, Catchum hadn't seen Cupcake and Rebound holding a length of rope out in his path like a tripwire, and promptly trips over it, dropping his net. "Oof!"
Zoe scurries through another doggie door which ends up leading to Strudel's lab. As she sharply rounds a corner, she accidentally jostles over a large canister reading, "VANISHING CREAM" and spills it all over her feet. "Oh dear," she says worriedly. "I'd better find something to clean this up with." She begins walking over to look for a mop, then stops abruptly when she notices that her feet have vanished. "Huh?"
Zoe walks casually over to the jar and reads the label. "Vanishing cream?" Thinking quickly, she picks up a pawful of the spilled cream and rubs it on her legs, which promptly disappear as well. "Well, how about that?" Nothing daunted, she then hops into the spilled cream and comes out completely invisible.
Just then, Zoe hears footsteps coming from outside and looks out in horror to see Catchum chasing after the Pup Club, wielding his net. "Oh no, my friends!" she gasps. "Well, I'll put a stop to this!"
As Catchum corners the three trembling puppies against a wall, he snickers nastily, holding his net high over his head. "Ha, now I'll catch ya, and I'll catch ya good!" Suddenly, the pups and dogcatcher see a tennis racket floating alongside them, causing them all to freeze in place and stare in shock. As the racket floats behind Catchum, it quickly whacks him in the bum, causing him to drop the net over his head. "W-wh-w-w-w-wha happened?!" the dogcatcher the pups stare wide-eyed, a voice suddenly calls, "Quick, follow me!" The pups then begin to shudder. "Please don't be afraid," Zoe wipes the cream off of her face and paws. "It's only me, the invisible cat!"
"Zoe?" Cupcake replies in amazement.
"But, how did you turn invisible?" Patches inquires.
"I'll show you. Follow me, please." Zoe leads the pups into Strudel's lab and shows them the spilled vanishing cream jar. "It was all thanks to this vanishing cream."
"Wow, cool!" exclaims a very impressed Patches.
"I'm very sorry for scaring you guys earlier, but would you like to join me in having some fun with that ol' dogcatcher?" Zoe inquires.
"Oh boy!" "We'd love to!" the pups reply.
"Okay, let's vanish!" Zoe says as she and the pups grab pawfulls of the cream and cover themselves with it.
Back outside, a much perplexed Catchum holds and stares at the tennis racket. "I...just can't understand how it was able to move all by itself. There aren't even any strings attached or anything!" He then gives a shrug and sets the racket back down. "Ah well. Might as well stop for lunch."
Catchum takes out his lunchbox, opens it up, and takes out a largish slice of watermelon; upon this, Zoe and the pups each take bites out of the watermelon. As the dogcatcher stares in shock, the pups and kitten then spit seeds at him, rapid-fire. Feeling more than a little weirded out by this, Catchum takes a hand mirror out of his pocket and stares at his tongue. "I musta' been workin' too hard." No sooner has he done this, however, when Rebound takes a small bottle of hot sauce out of Catchum's lunch box and pours it on his tongue. As smoke begins pouring out of his ears, the dogcatcher screams, "WATER! WATER!" and runs over to a nearby water cooler and glugs the whole thing down.
Catchum's teeth then begin to chatter and his knees begin to shake. "S-s-s-somethin' weird's goin' on! I-I'm gettin' outta here!" The dogcatcher quickly takes to his heels; he hasn't gotten too far, however, when Zoe quickly nabs his hat and runs off with it. Catchum stands and stares as the hat skitters across the ground and hops into a nearby cardboard box; he then hurries over to the box and watches in perplexity as the hat then pops out of the box and sings, "Good morning, dear dogcatcher, Good morning to you!"
Zoe then runs off at a clip and tosses the hat in the air, upon which it's caught by Catchum. The dogcatcher stares in perplexity at the hat and waves it around a little bit. "Still...can't understand what makes it move..." He hasn't had long to contemplate this, however, when he sees four bumps moving around beneath a large beach blanket lying on the ground. "So, this was all a trick! Well, I'll get the better of you, just see if I don't!"
Catchum picks up his net again and waits at the edge of the blanket as the bumps draw close; as soon as they reach the end, they exit the rug, revealing...no one! "GHEE-HEE-HEE-HEE!" Catchum squeals in fright as he leaps into the air and drops his net. Seeing an opportunity, Cupcake quickly drops the net over Catchum's head again and Patches picks up a nearby plastic mini-golf club and whacks him in the bum. "YIPE!"
The dogcatcher races off at a clip with the net and golf club floating after him. "N-no, no! Go back! Stay away! Don't come any closer!" He then races out the gate and down the sidewalk at top speed. "Auughh, this place is crazy!" As Zoe and the pups look on, they share a giggle with each other.
Returning to Strudel's lab, Zoe and the pups wipe the vanishing cream off. "And that was the end of the mean ol' dogcatcher!" Zoe says triumphantly. "And it was all thanks to the vanishing cream."
"Thanks so much for helping us, Zoe," Patches says gratefully. "We couldn't have run off Catchum with out you." The little orage kitten blushes modestly. "Aww, you're quite welcome, guys. Thank you very much for helping me, too."
"You're quite welcome." Cupcake replies politely.
Just then, Strudel enters the room and approaches the pups and kitten. "Zoe Dear, thank goodness I've found you! We've just managed to find your perfect person via the F.K.D." Zoe gives a delighted gasp, "My very own perfect person? Oh boy!"
"Please follow me, little ones, and we'll go find Lucky and the others." the dachshund notes, upon which the pups and kitten follow her out the door.
Moments later, the Puppies and Kittens are gathered outside a large blue and yellow house with Zoe standing on the doorstep. Rebound rings the doorbell, upon which the dogs and cats quickly hide in the bushes; shortly thereafter, a small girl with long brown hair, by the name of Kim(3), answers the door, followed closely behind by her parents. Upon glancing down, Kim gasps with delight, "A kitty!"
Zoe then begins to happily sing, "Good morning to you, Good morning to you, Good morning, dear Kim-my, Good morning to you!" The little girl quickly picks up the kitten and gently cuddles her. "Oh, she's such a little darling! And she sings, too! Can we please keep her, Mommy and Daddy?"
"Absolutely, dear." her parents reply warmly.
Zoe mews happily and begins to gently lick her young owner's face; Kim giggles happily as the familiar glow of Puppy Power sparkles around them both. From their hiding place, the Puppies and Kittens smile and sigh contentedly. "Awww, ain't that sweet?" Squirt notes. "It sure does da heart good ta see pets find their happy homes."
"Quite indeed." Fluffy replies wistfully.
Lucky then turns casually to the Pup Club. "So, has all been going well?" he inquires. "I hope there hasn't been any trouble." a concerned Cookie adds.
"Please don't worry, guys, all's been quite well." Rebound replies reassuringly.
"Yeah," Cupcake adds. "There hasn't been any trouble at all."
"In fact," Patches adds. "It's almost as though we weren't even there!" He punctuates his sentence with a giggle.
The end.
Voice Cast
Lucky-Eric McCormac
Cookie/Fluffy-Yvette Nicole Brown
Niblet-John DiMaggio
Strudel/Kim-Alanna Ubach
Squirt-Michael Rapaport
Rebound-Brooke Goldner
Cupcake-Cree Summer
Patches-Jessica DiCicco
Zoe-Tara Strong
Catchum-Frank Welker
Kim's Mom-Nayo Wallace
Kim's Dad-Phil LaMarr
(1)She's the kitten the Kennel Kittens had been trying to place in the episode, "Once a Ralph, Always a Ralph"; I added her name.
(2)A nod to the duck in the original Tom and Jerry episode, who would always greet people this way.
(3)She first appeared in the episode, "Pound Preemies."