"But I would walk FIVE HUNDRED MILES and I would walk FIVE HUNDRED MORE just to be the man who walked A THOUSAND MIL-"

"Okay! We get it! We've been walking a really long TIME! Would you shut UP, already!"

Calvin put on the smarmiest smirk he could muster and leaned in uncomfortably close to Susie. "I thought you liked that song?" he said.

"I did. Until I heard it nonstop for half a day." Susie grumbled in response.

It was true the past few days had mainly consisted of lethargically trudging ahead. And with no plan aside from keep walking until you find civilization, it all got rather tedious quickly. So one day, out of the blue, Calvin suddenly burst into song. As they had been doing so much walking, he naturally chose a song which reflected that. Once he had finished, Susie offhandedly remarked that it was one of her favorite songs. That had prompted him to sing it again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

As though he were making some sort of commentary on their current situation.

Needless to say, the song quickly fell out of favor with Susie.

She turned to face the boy, spreading her arms wide. "Look, we've got all this natural beauty surrounding us! Tall, green trees, sweeping plains, clear blue sky; why don't you sing something reflecting that, like… oh! Do you know 'What a Wonderful World'?"

"Wonderful world…" Calvin repeated, tapping his chin in thought. "S'at the one that has skies of blue and clouds of white, bright blessed days -"

"And dark, sacred nights!" Susie chirped, hopefully. "You know it?!"

"Nope."

Susie made a sound that was partly a sigh and partly a groan. As they started walking again, she said. "Look, I don't care what you sing! Really. Just make sure it isn't something you've already sung a million times already!"

After hearing this, Calvin's mouth spread into a large, toothy smile and he started singing "IIIIIIIT'S A SMALL WORL-" before Susie slapped the back of his head.


Susie lay on her back, breathing deeply. She stretched out, letting her thoughts wander like the clouds drifting carelessly through the sky.

Her thoughts turned to the ground beneath her. Now that she was an earthbender she felt… well, the same. She had thought that being an earthbender would make her feel different somehow. Like maybe she would be able to sense things through the earth. But no, all she felt was the grass directly beneath her. Was she somehow a faulty earthbender? Or were her expectations just unrealistic?

before she could contemplate the conundrum further, Calvin's voice called to her. "Hey Susie! C'mere, check this out!"

The girl pulled herself to her feet and trotted in the direction of Calvin's voice where she found the boy and tiger looking at

"A cart?"

Indeed, there was a wooden wagon, overturned, battered and partially concealed in the dense foliage.

"Pretty sweet, huh?" Calvin looked at her with a satisfied grin.

"Riveting." she answered, dryly.

"C'mon, help me get it out!" Calvin started pulling branches out of the way, trying to get the wagon upright.

"Why?" Susie asked.

"So we won't have to walk so much, of course!"

Susie blinked at him incredulously. "Sorry, what?"

"Yeah, this ol' wagon's gonna be carrying us from now on!"

"... Sorry, what?!"

Calvin grunted in annoyance. "Look. Just help me get this thing turned over, then I'll explain!"

Susie was wary of whatever Calvin's plan was. But, seeing as he was fully invested in it, she figured she might as well go along. So after a fair amount of pushing, grunting, sweating and cursing, the three of them managed to tip the cart over, getting it out of it's confines and into the open.

While it had been out in the wild for a time, the cart still seemed to be in serviceable condition. There were nicks and scratches in the sides and a decent sized chunk taken out of the back. Still, it hadn't been out long enough to get all moldy and gross and the wheels still turned perfectly. Making it perfect for Calvin's plan.

"So, mind explaining what you intend to do with this hunk of junk?" Susie demanded.

"It's simple, really. You are gonna push us around in -" Calvin cut off when he found an irate Susie glaring him down with her fist clenched.

"BUDDY, if you think for one SECOND that I'm gonna carry your lazy keister -"

Calvin put his hands up in a placating gesture, cutting off her angry tirade. "Allow me to elucidate." Susie still looked angry, but stayed quiet. With a grateful nod, Calvin pointed to the cart's wheels, saying. "Now look; what I want you to do is earthbend some rocks onto the wheels, right around the hub. Then once that's done, you'll be able to use your earthbending to make the wheels turn. And then we can just ride around! No need for walking anymore!"

Susie's face now looked more doubtful than outright angry. She mulled the plan over for a time. She moved her jaw around as she thought, like she was literally chewing on the idea. "... So,... your idea is to basically turn the wagon into some sort of pseudo car?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it." Calvin answered with a grin.

Susie folded her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes shrewdly. "Of course, you still want to have me do all the work!"

Calvin's grin dropped into a tiny, thin line, his eyes shifted around, frantically. "Well,... yes but come ON, how much effort would it really take to keep four wheels moving?!" he pleaded.

Susie just kept glaring at him with that irked expression.

"C'mon, do you want to keep walking everywhere?" Calvin prodded.

Still she leered at him.

"If you do it, I promise I won't ever sing 'It's a Small World' again."

Her expression softened for a second, but quickly went back to her harsh stare.

"... On the other hand, I could keep singing it until you do it!"

"Alright FINE!" Susie finally huffed in an aggravated fluster. She tromped over to stand directly in front of the first wheel. "One set of rock hubcaps commin' right up!" She stretched her arms out, ready to bend, when Calvin interrupted her.

"And don't just stick the rocks into the wheels haphazardly. Try 'n see if you can sorta mold them onto the spokes, like -" He cut off when she turned to glare at him once again. "Uh… right you got this. Take it away!"

With an indignant huff, Susie limbered up, Stretching her arms out. Then, with feet firmly planted, she clenched her hands into fists and focusing all her will and concentration into what she wanted, she thrust her arms out and -

Nothing.

The three earthlings looked confounded at the utter lack of spectacle before them.

Calvin obtusely pointed to the wheel that had a conspicuous lack of earth on it and started. "Um… shouldn't there be -"

"Shut up!" Susie barked, in no mood for his condescension. Then, taking a deep, calming breath, she rolled her shoulders and tried again. Still, nothing happened. She swung again and again, trying to get the earth to respond to her - but it stubbornly refused to yield.

With a moan of frustration, Susie sat herself on the ground, rubbing her temples wearily.

She heard the soft pad of footsteps step over to her. She tilted her head to see Calvin looking down at her with his arms crossed. "So what went wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know!" she viciously snapped.

"Well, how'd you do it the first time?!" Calvin demanded.

"I don't KNOW!" Susie snarled. "There was a freakin' bear attacking us! I was reacting more than thinking!"

Calvin hummed with his hand on his chin as he thought about that. Then he lashed out and slapped Susie.

Susie rubbed her cheek, looking up at Calvin in shock and outrage. "What was THAT for?!" she demanded.

"Absolutely no reason!" he answered before kicking her on the hip.

"HEY! That hurt!" she shouted.

"Good. That's what I was goin' for!" he said in his infuriatingly condescending tone. He then proceeded to dash all around her, striking hard at her various body parts as he went.

"Knock it OFF, Calvin!" Susie was really getting steamed, now.

"Or you'll WHAT?" Calvin answered in a smarmy voice coupled with a broad, toothy grin.

"I'm serious Calvin! You stop this right NOW!"

Calvin slapped his palm down on top of her head before saying "Yeah? make me!"

She didn't need to be told twice.

Susie pounced, attempting to tackle Calvin to the ground. Only for him to skirt out of the way by a hair's breadth.

"You'll have to do better than that!" he taunted in a sing-song voice.

Susie made a sharp turn and took a swing at him. Again he dodged just in the nick of time. "Ooh, close one!" he crowed before tripping Susie. "But y'know what they say; close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades!"

And so it went. Calvin led Susie on a merry chase around the field. Always staying just close enough for Susie to strike at him, but far enough for him to duck out of the way when she did. He would skip and jump and dance away from Susie's attempts to pummel him, all while cackling like a monkey interspersed with his smarmy taunts and taking every opportunity to land a blow on her.

After making a particularly daring maneuver, Calvin felt something whiz past his ear. He turned around to see Susie whip her arms forward, which caused a small pebble to come rocketing towards him. He turned himself just in time for the missile to pass him by before looking at Susie with an ecstatic smile.

"SUSIE! you did it! You're earthbending!" Calvin crowed.

In response, another rock flew by, just barely missing his head.

"Um, Susie, you can calm down, now." Calvin murmured, no longer Smarmy and condescending, but quite fearful.

But Susie didn't calm down. Rather, she charged at him, snarling like a wolf.

Calvin scampered out of the way, fearing for his life. Anxiously, he tried to plead with her, but the rocks and dirt kept flying.

"Seriously, Susie!" he cried, using the wagon as cover. He kept banking from side to side, always staying in motion. "I was just trying to rile you up! To get you earthbending again! Can't we talk civilly about this?!"

"HOLD STILL, YOU WEASEL!" came her response, accompanied by another barrage dirt.

With a yelp, Calvin dove out of the way and stumbled over to Hobbes. "Hobbes, you plead with her! She'll listen to you!" he begged his best friend in frantic tones.

But the tiger just fixed him with a look that said 'you got yourself into this, you can get yourself out of it.'

Calvin felt a pounding on the ground behind him. Looking around, he saw Susie storming toward him with another battery of rock ready to fire.

With a very unmanly squeal, Calvin bolted, running away like a chicken with it's head cut off.

The two humans kept this up for a good long while. Susie was not about to let Calvin get away what he had done and Calvin had no desire to let Susie give what was coming to him. And so they kept running. Even when their bodies implored them to slow down, they kept running. Even when the sun started sinking into the horizon, they kept running. Until at last, they ran themselves to exhaustion.

Hobbes overlooked the aftermath of the event. The two teenagers were sprawled out on the ground. Their breathing was slow and ragged. Neither of them could move a muscle.

Humans. The tiger thought. He then turned to dig through the bag of supplies. After pulling two sleeping bags out of it's confines, he strode back to where his companions had collapsed, gingerly draping one over each prone figure. With a satisfied nod, he pawed the ground beneath him before plopping himself down for a good night's sleep.


The sun rose cheerfully the next morning - as though it hadn't a clue about what had transpired the previous evening. And the two combatants awoke groggy and weary. And though the conflict between them wasn't even sort of forgotten, they were too stiff and sore to even consider continuing where they left off.

"So care to explain what you did last night?" Susie growled at Calvin over their meager breakfast.

Calvin took a moment to compose his thoughts before answering. "You remember when you first started earthbending, there was a bear attacking us?"

"Kinda hard to forget." Susie grumbled.

"And the next time you earthbended, it was to escape from the guards." Calvin continued.

"Yeah. So what's the point?" Susie demanded.

"Well, what do those two instances have in common?" Calvin gestured to her in a prodding manner.

Susie's brow furled, her eyes dashed back and forth as she considered what those two instances had in common. What connection was there between a platypus-bear and two Fire Nation soldiers?

"The only thing I can think of is that in both instances, there was present danger." She finally answered.

"You are correct, sir!" Calvin crowed.

"SIR?!"

"When you mentioned the bear, I figured the threat of imminent danger might've had something to do with you suddenly being able to bend. That got me thinking of how we could replicate the feeling without bringing in actual danger. So what does the body do in the presence of a threat? It produces adrenaline, that's what! And how else is adrenaline produced? Through vigorous activity, of course! And the most vigorous activity I've ever seen you do is fighting with me!" Calvin finished his explanation with a satisfied grin and crossed arms.

Susie thought about that for a moment, then she said. "What about when I made fishing hooks? There wasn't any danger then."

Calvin opened his mouth to reply before realizing he didn't have an answer. He sat for a time with his face scrunched up in thought, until an idea occurred to him. "Okay, maybe there wasn't any real danger, but you were hungry, right?" She replied in the affirmative. "Well, extreme hunger could be a form of duress. That might've been enough to enable your bending."

Susie leered at him. "And you couldn't tell me this beforehand, because?..."

"Because," Calvin answered with irascibly smarmy smirk in place again. "if I'd told you about it, your foreknowledge might have tainted the result!"

"... really?" Susie said in a voice of dry doubt.

"Also, messing with you is fun!"

Once they had finished eating, Calvin pulled Susie back over to the wagon, anxious to put his theory to the test.

"Alright Susie, ready to earthbend?!"

"I guess…" Susie answered in a glum tone.

"C'mon, let's hear some enthusiasm!" Calvin chided.

"Weeee." Susie called in a dry voice, twirling her finger in the air for emphasis.

"That's the spirit." Calvin sardonically replied. "Now" Let's get you into the proper mindset. Picture this," he said, gesturing pointedly. "This wagon is a Fire Nation soldier who just ransacked your house, smashed all your furniture and took your dolls! You -"

"I haven't played with dolls since I was ten, Calvin." Susie interrupted.

"Really? Even Mr. Bun?" Asked a perplexed Calvin.

"Even Mr. Bun." Susie confirmed.

"Huh. I kinda figured you would've… Well never mind! Picture this, then! The Fire Nation has killed your dog-"

"I don't have a dog!"

"Imagine you have a dog! Then imagine the Fire Nation killed it-"

"I don't even like dogs all that much."

"What're you talkin' about?! Everybody loves dogs!"

"Do YOU?"

Calvin once again opened his mouth to reply, but found he didn't have a satisfactory answer. "Okay, new tactic! Imagine that this wagon has offered to buy you a pony-"

"A pony? Seriously?!" Susie steamed.

"What?! I thought all girls were into ponies!"

"Wow! Way to sexually stereotype, Calvin!" Susie jeered, throwing in an ironic thumbs up for good measure.

"ALRIGHT!" A thoroughly flustered Calvin roared. "Try this! Pretend that this wagon is me!" He said, gesturing first to the wagon then to himself. He then tromped away from the scene, looking ruefully at Susie. "Take it away!" He said to her as he passed.

Susie gawked as Calvin left. She watched him for a bit before turning her attention back to the battered old cart. Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath, spread her arms and concentrated - she brought to mind all the times Calvin had ever antagonized her. From slush ball in winter to water balloons in summer, all the times he would pretend his lunch was something gross, all the names he called her, the times he hurt her feelings, the times he had gotten her sent to the principal's office. She let all that anger boil up inside of her and she thrust out her fist.

There was a sudden… something beneath her, like the ground had trembled.

The feeling was accompanied by a smacking sound, followed by a loud "OW!"

Susie gasped as she wheeled around. There she saw Calvin stooped over, rubbing his hip and glaring at her contemptuously with a large rock on the ground beside him that hadn't been there before.

Susie made a guilty, nervous sounding chuckle.

"That was good." Calvin seethed. "Now we just need to work on your aim!"

So after taking a second to loosen up, Susie took another stab at it. Focusing all her will, she thrust out her fists again.

When she did, another rock went flying straight up in the air. Calvin, who had been right beside said rock, skittered to the side with a startled yelp. Then after seeing the rock's trajectory, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Hah, she missed!" He said.

Then gravity took hold of the rock once more and brought it right onto Calvin's head with a thud. "Professher Prumm - in de kitshin - wiff Dinah!" He warbled out before falling on his face.


Calvin groaned as his weary eyes slogged their way open. Then shut them again as the sun mercilessly bombarded them with it's fiendish rays.

What had just happened?

He pulled himself into a sitting position and gingerly rubbed a hand against his throbbing head - only to pull it away with a hiss when he found a highly sensitive welt.

Mustering all his strength, he tentatively pulled himself to his feet. And with great care, stepped off into the direction his companions were hopefully in.

He found Susie and Hobbes seated around the fire pit. They looked up when he shambled onto the scene.

"Calvin!" Susie called in a voice swelled with relief. "Um,... How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit with a brick." He grumbled in return as he sat himself beside her.

"... Actually, it was a rock." She said with a bashful expression.

Calvin couldn't gather enough energy to make a response. He had to settle for staring at her blankly.

Hobbes quietly padded over to his friend's side and rested his head on Calvin's lap, humming consolingly. Calvin reciprocated by scratching the tiger between his ears.

The group sat like that for a time; no one saying anything, just letting the air hang dry around them.

Eventually, Susie decided the silence needed to be broken. "So,... I did a bit more practice while you were… indisposed."

"Oh yeah?" Calvin grunted.

Susie nodded, rising to her feet. "Let me show you." She said. She closed her hands into fists and swung back. But before she could go through with the motion there was a sudden scuffling sound. She looked to see that Calvin was laying flat on the ground - directly beneath Hobbes. (Much to the tiger's chagrin.)

She gave him a look, tsking loudly. "I promise nothing bad's gonna happen!" She practically shouted. "I've gotten a lot better, honest!"

"It never hurts to take precautions." Calvin retorted.

Rolling her eyes, Susie swung her fist at a sharp angle.

There was a faint squeaking sound. As it got louder, it sounded like rusted metal rubbing together.

And then the wagon rolled onto the scene, driving a large circle around the group before coming to a stop directly in front of Calvin.

The blonde boy crawled to his feet, gaping at the cart with a baffled expression. He looked to Susie who looked back at him with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Well, look at that." Calvin breathed as he stared at the wagon's wheels, which each now had large rocks placed between and around the spokes. Turning to her, he said "Nice work, Susie!"

Susie's smile widened at the complement. She looked down; hearing Calvin genuinely compliment her had given her a surprisingly warm feeling.

"Well, what're we waintin' for?!" Calvin barked. "We've got our ride! Let's load up an' hit the road!"


Using earthbending to make the wagon move was a good idea.

In theory.

In practice, it had a few kinks to work out.

It was a small matter to roll an empty wagon around. But when you included two teenagers, a tiger and all their supplies, the weight added up.

Susie strained to keep the wagon moving. She didn't complain - she didn't want her companions to perceive her as a whiner - but the stress was starting to wear on her. It had been at least an hour since the left and they hadn't covered as much distance as they - especially Calvin - would have liked.

Despite Susie's efforts to seem resilient, Calvin had noticed her ragged breathing and saw the perspiration accumulating on her brow. "Getting tired?" He asked. It surprised her that the question sounded sincere, rather than mocking.

"A… little bit." She managed to grunt out.

"Well,... just hold out a little longer. It'll get easier." Calvin replied, turning his attention forward again.

"What are you talking aboooOOOUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The world suddenly dropped out from beneath them. And suddenly they were racing, speeding, careening down a steep hill.

Susie found herself wrapping her arms around Calvin. Her eyes were wide as the landscape blew past them in an indiscernible blur. Many times objects would rush past, uncomfortably close to them. Susie flinched and let loose a terrified wail.

Calvin, too, was screaming. But the way it sounded, Susie could swear he was actually enjoying himself.

"Man, this brings back memories! Right, Hobbes?!" The boy called to the tiger - who seemed to be doing his best not to hurl.

"I take it you're feeling better!" Susie scathed at him, eyes narrowed.

The wagon continued it's breakneck descent, teetering and clattering all the way. Calvin grinned like a madman. There was nothing like a hearty rush of adrenaline to make one feel alive. He hadn't done anything like this since he had gotten too big for his little red wagon back on Earth. Man, he'd missed those little outings. Exploring the grandeur of nature, feeling the sweeping wind, making daring leaps over ravines, contemplating philosophical conundrums…

He was so caught up in nostalgia, that he missed a very crucial something until it was too late. "Oh no! Brake! SUSIE, BRAKE!"

Susie looked up and gasped at what she saw. She tried to get the wheels to stop, but it was too little, too late.

The poor old wagon broadsided into a huge outcropping of rock. The collision catapulted the passengers and supplies into the air. Fortunately, they had reached a point where the hill petered out. So when they hit the ground again, they rolled out to a stop, relatively unharmed. And there they watched as the decrepit wagon tumbled sideways down the remainder of the hill, falling to pieces in the process.

Calvin pulled himself to his feet and dusted himself off, making a little chuckle as he did.

"I suppose you enJOYED that?!" Susie growled, coming to her feet as well.

"Well ya know what they say," Calvin retorted. "Any crash you can walk away from…"

She responded by giving him a shrewd leer, then turned and walked off.

"C'mon Susie, it wasn't that bad!" Calvin called after her. "Hobbes an' I had worse crashes than that! Isn't that right, Hobbes?!"

Hobbes gave the blond boy a disapproving look before wobbling after Susie on trembling legs.

Calvin cast one last glance at the remains of the wagon and sniffed disparagingly.

It looked like they were back to walking.


The group sat around their campfire, eating their dinner of fish and berries in silence.

As the unnerving quiet lingered on, Susie turned to Calvin. "I'm sorry your idea didn't work out." She said.

He nodded, appreciatively. "Thanks." He murmured.

They lapsed into silence again, each pondering on their own thoughts.

Then Susie spoke up again. "It wasn't a bad idea. It just… needed to be refined… a bit."

"Yeah." Calvin grunted. Then after a second, his face lifted, a grin spreading across his face. "Hey, yeah! Y'know, if we find the right people, we could make some serious dough off this idea!" A wicked gleam lit up in his eye. Susie could practically hear his cogs turning. He then took to muttering to himself. Susie could occasionally catch words like 'financial backer' and 'place to experiment' and 'horsepower'.

Susie smiled, wryly. "Take it easy, Henry Ford. Remember, the odds of us finding someone both wealthy and crazy enough to help out on this endeavor are drastically slim!"

"Oh, I'm sure there's someone out there!" Calvin rebutted. "It's just a matter of findin' 'em.

"We'll start out small - simple earth powered cars. Then once those have enough of a presence, we can upgrade to internal combustion engines. Then we can branch out into all sorts of makes and models; luxury cars, race cars, muscle cars, economy cars…"

Susie rolled her eyes and breathed a sardonic sigh "Oh, boys and their cars." She quipped.

"HAH! Now who's sexually stereotyping?!" Calvin crowed.

Susie turned to object. But when she thought back on what had been said, all that came out was an embarrassed "Oooooooooh."


As Calvin dreamed that night, he found himself wandering through a tangled wood. He was dressed in full safari garb, hacking through the dense foliage with a machete. He pressed onward, mowing through the plants relentlessly. He knew what he sought had to be near. He only needed to get through the forest. So he hacked on, persevering through the heat and brambles biting bugs and warbling birds. Until he finally made his way through to a clearing.

And found himself on the moon.

"Well,... this can't be right." He grumbled. He made to go back the way he had come, only to see that his machete had turned into a penguin - which then flew away.

So, with nothing better to do, he went onward. He strode along the barren rocky landscape with the cosmos looking down on him. He walked on past an inverted Eiffel Tower, past a herd of tap dancing cows and past a rock shaped like Tim Curry before he saw something that made him pause.

There in the distance was a maple tree. And sleeping against it's trunk were himself, Hobbes and Susie - wearing the same clothes they had worn on Earth.

He indignantly tromped over to the three figures and demanded. "Hey! You know how to get outta here?!"

Susie's eyes snapped open and she looked at him. "It is hidden." She said.

"Yeah, I know it's hidden! But what is IT?!" Calvin barked in reply.

Then the other him looked up and said "Never mind, keep it."

"KEEP WHAT?!" Calvin demanded. "You keep making it out like 'it' is so important! But that doesn't help me when I don't know what I'm supposed to be keeping!"

Just then, Hobbes awoke and opened his mouth. And all of existence was sundered by the sound of his thunderous roar.


Calvin jolted awake. A startled yelp from the side told him Susie had done the same.

Hobbes really had roared. His tail was twitching anxiously, he was crouched low to the ground - his muscles coiled, ready to spring at a moment's notice. His teeth were bared and a snarl was seeping from his throat.

Calvin and Susie turned their gazes to where Hobbes was facing. And in the early morning light they saw two men standing just at the edge of the forest, looking at them in shock - as if Hobbes' outburst had startled them as well.

The shorter of the men narrowed his gaze at them. "Well, so much for the element of surprise." He groaned.

The two Earth teens jumped to their feet, dropping into fighting stances. "Alright! Who are you guys and what are you doin' sneakin' around?!"

The taller and broader of the men scoffed. "He wants to know who we are. Isn't that cute?"

Calvin was feeling confused. "Um, seriously. Who are you?"

The shorter man was incensed. "WHAT? You don't even recognize us?!"

"... Should we?..." Calvin asked.

"Unbelievable!" The man cried. "After everything you've done, everything you've put us through, you have the gall to not even recognize us?!"

Calvin was about to reply. But Susie spoke up. "It's you!" She gasped. "You're those soldiers! The ones the colonel had guard us!"

"Not anymore." The broader man grumbled.

"We were dishonorably discharged after you brats flew the coop!" The shorter one snarled.

Susie blanched at the news. "I'm... sorry to hear that." She said.

"Sorry?! SORRY?!" The short man huffed, his mustache quivering with fury. "You think a simple 'sorry' can fix the damage you've done?! I was kicked out of my house because of you! My family disowned me, my girlfriend left me! My entire village thinks I'm a failure and a disgrace!"

"Yeah!" The broad man boomed. "And I lost a tooth when you hit me with that rock!"

Everyone, including his companion, gaped at him after he said that.

"I was very fond of that tooth!" He defended.

"Okay…" Susie held up her hands, trying to be diplomatic. "We really are sorry for the trouble you've been through. But really, if you'd been in our position, wouldn't you have done the same thing?!"

"What we might've done isn't important!" The short man growled. "All that matters is that you miserable twerps pay for what you did!"

"Please reconsider." Susie pleaded. "Revenge is an unhealthy obsession. If you insist on it, it'll ultimately ruin you!"

"Hmmm, If we let it carry on too long, perhaps." The short man countered. "But that doesn't really matter, since we're going to finish this right here, right now!"

"Yeah? Well in case you haven't noticed, there's three of us and only two of you!" Calvin bellowed.

The short man scoffed. "Oh yeah? Two trained soldiers against a couple of lanky teenagers and an overgrown pussycat? I think we can - oof!"

Without warning, Hobbes rocketed into the man, plunging them both into the foliage behind them. The three remaining humans watched in horrified fascination as the branches began rocking and shaking violently. The air was pierced with the man's anguished screams and grunts of pain along with furious growls and snarls from Hobbes.

The broad man turned his aghast expression from the flailing trees to the two stunned teens.

Calvin shrugged his shoulders. "Tigers hate being called pussies." He said.

The man looked back to the foliage where his partner was still grappling with the beast. Then with renewed vigor, he charged the teens with a murderous roar.

Susie stamped her foot to the earth.


The short man came to, groggy and disoriented. Where were those kids? How much time had passed? The last thing he recalled was that oversized cat sinking it's claws into his shoulders and slamming his head into a tree.

It was still pretty dim out, so it couldn't have been too long.

He tried to get up, but found he couldn't. When he looked down, he discovered that everything from his chest down was buried in the ground. Looking to the side, he saw his partner was in a similar state.

How did this…

Then he saw them. The boy, the girl and the animal all gathered close together with some sort of… blue light shining above them.

The boy noticed him, saying "So, you've finally come to, huh?"

"What have you done?! What is this?!" He demanded, gesturing to the soil that ensnared him and his partner.

"Well, we couldn't have you following us, now could we?" The boy replied, condescendingly.

The man fumed. "You really think this dirt is enough to hold us?!" He roared. He sunk his fingers into the soil, bringing a large chunk of it up. "We'll just dig our way out of here!"

"I'm sure you will." The boy replied, looking at him coldly. "But by that time, we'll be long gone!"

When he said that, lightning encircled the three of them. They huddled close together, squeezing close to the center of the crackling cage. Soon, the snapping rods of energy grew to a brilliant, dazzling light.

"This isn't over!" The man yelled in an infuriated voice. "We'll hunt you to the ENDS OF THE EARTH!"

The crackling dome of lightning then exploded in a blinding flash. And then they were gone.