Soon enough, they were on the road again and off to the next spot.

"And then, Dumbo pelted all of them with peanuts!" Atticus told the kids about the story about his and Cherry's adventure with Dumbo before they all laughed at the end with the ringmaster and Mrs. Jumbo's so-called friends before they went back home with Atlas.

"I bet they deserved it." Akito said.

"The circus life is pretty much an adventure on its own," Atticus replied. "Of course, I also got to meet Atlas... Like I said, he was like a big brother and father for me at the same time before I reunited with my parents sometime after I had met your mother."

"I loved the circus with Jirachi," Estelle smiled. "That was a lot of fun too."

"It sure was." Akito smiled back.

"You know, I used to read your Uncle JJ a story called Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse." Mo told her kids.

"Ooh." The kids smiled.

"I'll have to find my copy of it," Mo smiled. "There was Marvin of course on Fast-Talking Jack's carnival with Diamonds the Elephant, Elizabeth the Emotional Pig, Stripes the Tiger, and Edna the fortune teller."

"What about Afro Circus?" Jenny giggled from a movie that she liked to watch.

"Oh, yes," Mo smiled. "That movie was funny."

The kids laughed again as they shared circus stories together.


They seemed to travel all around America together as they were becoming more and more successful, and where more and more Akito started to hang out with Clifford to keep him from being lonely. Clifford missed Emily Elizabeth a lot, but he felt great to have Akito's company.

"Hey, Akito, let's play!" Scruffy muffled as he carried an iron ball in his mouth. He soon saw that his owner was already playing with someone else.

"You like that, huh, Clifford?" Akito chuckled as he played with the Labrador.

The two of them were playing 'Fetch' with a tree.

"Akito...?" Scruffy pouted, even dropping his ball on the ground. He soon saw that they were having so much fun together and just decided to go to sleep.

Estelle decided to practice her ballet skills to pass the time while Dot was watching. During that time, the white puppy saw that her brother was not playing with Akito. Estelle soon finished her solo version of Swan Lake.

"That was great, Estelle," Dot smiled before looking to her brother. "Scruffy, why don't you do something with Akito?"

"He's busy." Scruffy muttered.

"Busy?" Dot asked. "Busy with what?"

"Not what, who." Scruffy said.

"Okay...?" Dot blinked. "Busy with who?"

"Clifford." Scruffy told her.

"Aw, that was nice of him to keep Clifford Company." Dot smiled.

"I guess..." Scruffy pouted.

"Don't worry, Scruffy," Dot soothed her brother. "I'm sure Akito will play with you again soon."

"Yeah, maybe." Scruffy smiled.

Dot smiled back and then looked to Estelle. "What ballet will you do now, Estelle?" she then asked.

"Hmm... I did The Nutcracker, just did Swan Lake..." Estelle paused to think. "Is Phantom of the Opera a ballet?"

"Not sure." Dot shrugged.

"I'll take a little break for right now." Estelle said as she sat while crossing her legs.

Dot smiled up to her and came toward her.

"Aw, aren't you a good doggy?" Estelle cooed as she pet her puppy.

Scruffy sighed to that and soon walked off and passing Vincent as he was reading a book on Winnie the Pooh with Snow White. The more he saw anyone with their pet or owner, it made him feel even worse.


"Scruffy!" Akito's voice called out.

"Akito?" Scruffy's ears went up slightly in excitement and his tail wagged.

"Do you have your rope toy?" Akito asked his dog. "I wanna make it bigger so I can play with it with Clifford."

"I think it's in your bag." Scruffy groaned.

"Thanks." Akito smiled before going off.

Scruffy sighed and fell flat on the ground. "He forgot all about me."

Akito soon used his magic to make the rope bigger for Clifford.

"Oh, boy, I used to love playing Rope with Emily Elizabeth's cousin Laura's dog." Clifford smiled in excitement.

"Wanna play it with me?" Akito smiled up at the big red Labrador.

"Sure!" Clifford smiled back down.

Scruffy pouted as he watched Akito play with Clifford and a sad song seemed to enter his mind as he thought back to the times he played with Akito since he was able to play after being born similar to a way Jessie remembered her times with Emily when Woody wanted to go back to Andy, and where Akito didn't seem to stop playing with Clifford in just one town.

"When somebody loved me, Everything was beautiful, Every hour spent together, Lives within my heart~" Scruffy began to sadly sing as he felt like Akito forgot all about him and was more interested in Clifford. "And when he was sad, I was there to dry his tears, And when he was happy so was I, When he loved me~"

Akito was now riding on Clifford's back like a horse.


Scruffy blinked with tears in his eyes as he felt like Akito didn't need him anymore.

"You're the best, Clifford," Akito smiled as he hugged the big red dog. "Emily Elizabeth is so lucky."

"And I'm lucky to have her." Clifford smiled back before he licked Akito.

Akito laughed as he enjoyed Clifford.

"Stupid big red dog..." Scruffy growled in hurt jealousy, and where his jealousy started to get worse and worse as Clifford's popularity started to get bigger.

Shackleford felt the same jealousy, though for more of the spotlight reasons than Akito bonding with Clifford.

They were soon in the middle of nowhere and where this caused Akito to have a bad feeling.

"Where are we now?" Vincent asked as he held Snow White in his arms while petting her soft fur while Jenny did the same with Oliver.

"I'm not sure." Akito said.

"It looks like The Wild West." Atticus commented.

"It sure does." Mo said.

"Hey, kid, you like to paint?" Larry asked Vincent.

"More than anything!" Vincent beamed before blushing and shuffling his foot while glancing toward Jenny. "Except maybe the love of my life..."

"How'd you like to paint the next billboard for a show?" Larry offered.

"I'd love to." Vincent smiled.

"Here you go, kid," Larry smiled back as he handed him the paints. "Be sure to get Big Red in there."

"You got it." Vincent said before starting to paint the new billboard.

"Nice kids." Larry smiled in admiration.

"Shh," Vincent told him. "I must concentrate."

"Oh, sorry." Larry replied before giving him some space.


After some time had passed, the young artist was finished. "Viola!" Vincent smiled. "Okay, you guys can look now."

Everyone soon came to see the new billboard. All of the animals were on the billboard, but Clifford was in the center as the star of the show instead of Shackleford, and where that made Shackleford's jealousy even worse. Beyond worse. The ferret seemed almost enraged.

"One of my best works since lots of folks will see it." Vincent smiled, feeling proud of himself.

"It's lovely." Jenny smiled to him.

Vincent blushed to her compliment. Everyone seemed to love the billboard, except of course for Shackleford.

"Thanks to all of you, this show has become better than I ever imagined." Larry smiled to the animals.

"Could this get any better?" Estelle smiled.

"I dunno how it possibly could." Akito smiled to his twin sister.

A car soon pulled up beside the tent, and the driver soon came out to meet Larry.

"Mr. Gobblegable?" The man asked Larry.

"That's Gablegobble," Larry replied. "Gable like park, and gobble like turkey."

'I think it might have just gotten better.' Dot thought to herself.

"Congratulations," The man smiled to Larry and shook his head. "I'm a Representative of the John C. Wolfspot, I'm the CEO of the Tummy Yummies Corporation, and you've been chosen to compete in our National Animal Talent Contest."

"Wahoo!" Estelle smiled.

The animals were of course very excited to hear all about that.

"W-W-W-W-Where?" Larry asked. "When is it?"

"Tomorrow night, Shangra Lodge." The man smirked as he tipped his hat to them before taking his exit.

"This is amazing!" Mo smiled.

"I better go tell Shackleford." Scruffy said.

Larry was so excited with the others while Scruffy walked off to find the ferret.

"Hey, Shackleford, guess what?" Scruffy smiled. "We're in! And a good thing too."

"Yeah, I suppose so," Shackleford crossed his arms. "Always with the big news."

"Now once we win the Tummy Yummies, things can finally go back to normal." Scruffy smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Shackleford replied.

"What's the matter?" Scruffy asked. "Aren't you happy?"

"Happy?" Shackleford glared at him. "Oh, sure, I'm happy, isn't this what it's all about? Clifford and his Tummy Yummies?"

"What's your problem?" Scruffy asked with a glare back.

"Haven't you noticed that everybody's been paying more attention to Clifford?" Shackleford replied. "I mean, come on, that human you hang around with even plays with him more than with you anymore!"

"Yeah, I know and where I can tell you're sick of him saying 'Tummy Yummies'," Scruffy said before glaring. "But listen, Shackleford, this... We didn't even want to come with you for the prize! I mean, seriously, if Clifford was just an ordinary sized dog, then we wouldn't have had come all this way just for you to get jealous of him! I mean, I can relate, ever since we joined, Akito's been spending all his time with him and never playing with me like we used to!"

"So, you're sick of Clifford too?" Shackleford seemed to smirk.

"Yes, I am!" Scruffy glared. "Ever since we joined you guys, Akito's been spending more and more time with him and less time with me!"

"Why don't you tell him that?" Shackleford asked.

"Yeah?" Scruffy huffed. "Don't think I won't!" He soon saw a familiar giant shadow overshadowing him, telling him one thing. "He was behind me the whole time, wasn't he?" Scruffy asked Shackleford, unimpressed for not telling him.

"Yep." Shackleford replied.

"Clifford... Buddy..." Scruffy smiled nervously as he looked behind to the big red dog.

"You don't like me, Scruffy?" Clifford asked with a frown

"I didn't mean it like that... Clifford, that didn't come out right," Scruffy frowned back. "Well, you had been stealing Akito from me."

Akito soon overheard what was going on.


"Scruffy, we were just playing." Clifford replied.

"Yeah... Playing with my boy... With my toys... And taking away my attention!" Scruffy glared. "All because you're like some big giant Godzilla dog!"

Akito now realized that he caused this to happen.

"It's not like that." Clifford told Scruffy.

"Yes, it is!" Scruffy glared. "This never would've happened if you were a normal sized dog!"

Clifford soon gasped before glaring back and decided to leave.

"Wow, kid, that was pretty deep." Shackleford said to Scruffy.

"Well, he made me mad," Scruffy defended. "Besides, you would have just kept on complaining about him going on about wanting Tummy Yummies."

"That's a good point," Shackleford replied. "We don't need that big red mess. I don't know what's bigger, him or his stomach."

"I mean this wouldn't have happened if he was a normal sized dog or if his neighbor didn't make fun of how much he eats." Scruffy said.

"It's okay, let it all out," Shackleford soothed. "Besides, he stole your boy away from you."

"Actually, this is partially my fault." Akito frowned as he came out from a corner.

Scruffy and Shackleford turned to the boy. Scruffy looked to Akito, but huffed and turned the other way in anger.

"Scruffy, I'm so, so, so sorry for making you feel like I forgot about you, but try to imagine you being Clifford without his owner to be with him to play with him or to help him with nightmares while with a group that don't have owners." Akito said.

Scruffy still looked angry until he thought long and hard about what Akito said to him, and where he now felt awful about how he behaved towards Clifford.

"You okay, Scruff?" Akito asked.

Scruffy soon cried and ran toward Akito, tackling him on the ground with him on top as he bawled. "I'M SO SORRY!"

"It's okay, it's okay." Akito comforted.

Scruffy sniffled as he nuzzled up against his boy.

"Scruffy, I'm sorry too," Akito told his dog. "I was just trying to make Clifford feel less homesick about Emily Elizabeth. I would never forget about you."

Scruffy soon smiled as his worries of him being forgotten were relieved, but then frowned as he realized that Clifford went off on his own. "I guess I better go apologize to Clifford." The brown spotted puppy frowned.

"But first, we have to find him." Akito said.

"Can't be too hard to find him." Scruffy replied as he began to walk.

They began to follow Clifford's paw prints. Akito took out a magnifying glass to look like a Junior detective.

"Do you really need that?" Scruffy chuckled.

"Eh, probably not." Akito shrugged.

They continued to follow the giant paw prints. Akito hummed to himself as they looked everywhere for Clifford.

"So close to getting that runt on my side." Shackleford huffed about Scruffy.

Dorothy had heard everything and couldn't believe how Shackleford acted.


Clifford was soon sitting far away and all by himself as he stared out into the sky, wondering what he should do. He soon thought of Emily Elizabeth calling for him. The voice then changed into Cleo's calling for him herself.

"There you are!" Cleo smiled as she came with Kiki beside her.

"Where were you?" T-Bone asked. "You missed a great rehearsal!"

"Yeah, T-Bone and Cleo have a great routine." Dot smiled as she came over.

"Check out this new trick, Uncle Clifford." Kiki added.

T-Bone and Cleo soon came together and did a back flip together.

"Mm-hmm..." Clifford hummed softly.

"Okay, what's up?" Dot asked before she saw Scruffy and Akito coming.

"Clifford, there you are." Scruffy smiled.

Clifford glared to him and turned away from him. Scruffy sighed as he knew why Clifford turned away from him.

"Okay, spit it out." Cleo smirked to her best friend.

"I'm going home." Clifford told her.

"We're all going when we win the contest tomorrow," T-Bone reminded him. "Right? Weenie says he really misses Room Service... Whatever that is."

"That's kind of like ordering food for your room." Patch told him as he came over.

"Weenie must live in a paradise." T-Bone chuckled.

"Well, he does live in a hotel." Patch pointed out.

"No, I'm going home now." Clifford told them all.

"Why?" Kiki asked.

"Clifford, what about the contest and the lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies?" Cleo reminded the big red dog. "And helping Emily Elizabeth?"

"I miss Emily Elizabeth, and I'm going home." Clifford replied.

"Then we're going with you." Dot said.

"But Clifford, Larry and the animals need you!" T-Bone pouted.

"They'd be better off without me, and this way I won't steal Akito from Scruffy." Clifford huffed.

"Um, actually, that's what I came to talk to you about." Scruffy frowned as he walked up to the big red Labrador.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Clifford told him. "Are you guys coming with me?"

"Uh, of course," Cleo smiled wearily. "We're a team, right?"

"All of us are." Dot said as the rest of the group besides Larry's animals arrived.


Clifford decided to lay down to let them ride on his back so they could leave the desert. Atticus decided to text Cherry to let her know that they were coming back to Birdwell Island. Scruffy was about to get on before Akito reminded him what he needed to do.

"You know what you have to do, boy." Akito reminded Scruffy.

"I do?" Scruffy asked at first.

"Yes..." Akito told him.

"Oh, right." Scruffy frowned before walking to face Clifford.

Akito nodded and soon joined the others.

"Uh, Clifford?" Scruffy called.

"What is it now, Scruffy?" Clifford sighed to the tiny puppy.

"Clifford, I wanted to say that I'm sorry," Scruffy frowned. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that or said those things; I forgot that since Emily Elizabeth wasn't here with you, that would mean you wouldn't have anyone to play with or go to when you would have bad dreams."

"You're sorry?" Clifford asked.

"Truly and sincerely," Scruffy promised. "I'm sorry, I was just mad and jealous that you and Akito were playing together."

"Well, I guess I should have asked if you wanted to play with us." Clifford sighed.

"Maybe..." Scruffy replied. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"I forgive you." Clifford smiled.

Scruffy smiled back. "Pals?" He then asked hopefully.

"Pals." Clifford accepted as he then allowed Scruffy to ride on his back with the others.

Scruffy soon got on Clifford's back.

"To Birdwell Island!" Clifford called out as they soon left the desert to go back home.

"Goodbye, fame," Cleo said. "Goodbye, glamor."

"You should be in dog shows like me if you want fame and glamor." Georgette smirked to her sister.

"Mama's right." Kiki added.

"On second thought, I'm happy with my life." Cleo muttered.

"Thought so." Georgette smirked.

"Goodbye, Amazing Animals." T-Bone said as they left.

"And good luck with winning." Dot added.