Preface: Hello, again! If you felt that last two chapters had a significant lack of Bluey-ness last chapter, then don't worry - the cast will start to get more involved here!

The Boy, The Tiger, and The Heelers

A Calvin and Hobbes/Bluey Story by Alfred von Any

Previously...while testing out some new technology, Calvin and Hobbes traveled to a world inhabited by anthropomorphic dogs. Once there, they discovered that their adversary Retro has returned and kidnapped two young inhabitants of the dimension.

Now...Retro begins to experiment as Calvin and Hobbes decide to make contact.

Roll Call

Calvin - Pamela Segal: Imagination powerhouse. Boy of Destiny.

Hobbes - Tom Hanks: Tiger companion. Possibly just a stuffed animal.

Retro Griffin - Kurtwood Smith: Mad scientist. Previously trapped in time.

Bandit Heeler - Dave McCormack: 2019 Canine FOTY. Currently in panic.

Chilli Heeler - Melanie Zanetti: Just-as-competent mum. Currently worried sick.

Chapter 2:
Operation: Imagination Invasion Interruptation

[Character Selected: Retro]
[Current World: Bonegea]
[Current Location: Underground Lab, Imaginator Room]

Retro eagerly waited for the puppies to fall into the room. After having his entire life ruined by a seven-year-old boy, the feeling of ruining his life back seemed so delicious.

After what seemed like an eternity, two trapdoors in the ceiling opened up, and the puppies fell into the waiting chairs. To the mad doctor's confusion, their eyes were closed. "Hey, why aren't they awake?" he said.

"Apologies for that," Retro heard the Antity say through his ears. "Unlike the boy, their imagination is less vulnerable when they are awake. Therefore, putting them to sleep will allow the Imaginator to more easily absorb their minds."

Retro shrugged. "Well, as long as it works," he said. He smiled maniacally as he turned to the control panel and pressed the 'activate' button. Two helmets appeared from the trapdoors and placed themselves onto the puppies' delicate heads. Right away, the helmets began to scour their brains for terrible things to bring to life. The only thing numbing the excruciating pain was the puppies' sleep.

"Why do you sit on a big green ball?"

No, that didn't seem dangerous.

"Here come the grannies!"

Hmm, a little destructive, but probably not good enough.

"It's a magic asparagus. It can turn you into any animal you want."

Wait. This seemed useful. Right before Retro's eyes, a measly stalk of asparagus appeared in the room. Somehow knowing what to do, the scientist walked up to the small, orange dog, pointed the asparagus at her, and shouted "Tiger!" In her sleep, the puppy began to growl and snarl before returning to normal when Retro shouted "Dog!"

Feeling proud of himself, Retro returned to the control panel. "If that silly vegetable can cause mayhem," he thought aloud, "imagine what the rest of this stuff can do."

He laughed a little bit after that. It wasn't an evil laugh - he just found the unintentional pun funny.

[Character Selected: Bandit]
[Current World: Bonegea]
[Current Location: Brisbane, Australia]

[BGM: Asu01 - Cursed Souvineer]

It had only been a minute or two since Bluey and Bingo vanished from the backyard, but as soon as the doorbell rang, Bandit and Chilli ran to it to answer. "Who do you think it is?" Chilli asked.

"Maybe Pat saw who took them," Bandit suggested, "or maybe Wendy called the police."

"That does sound like her," said Chilli. Even though Wendy didn't always approve of their antics, she would show concern if her neighbours' kids suddenly vanished.

The two gave a quick nod at each other, turned the doorknob, and opened the door to see...a young boy with yellow, impossible spiky hair, a red shirt with black stripes, black pants, and purple and white shoes, who could not have been older than seven.

They weren't freaked out that the boy was a human. They were mildly concerned about the fact that this boy was on his own without adult supervision. The thing that freaked the both of them out, however, was the fact that standing right next to him was a tiger!

"Ahhhhh!" Bandit and Chilli screamed. "Young boy, are you aware that there is a tiger next to you?" asked Bandit.

"Who, Hobbes?" said the boy. "He's my best bud! You really don't see him as a stuffed tiger?"

"No, we do not!" said Chilli.

"Well, that's good to hear!" said the tiger. He and the boy began to walk into the house. "Alright, let's get down to business," the tiger continued, "are you the parents of those puppies we saw get sucked up?"

"'We'?" said the boy. "I saw them! You were asleep!"

"You saw what happened to Bluey and Bingo?" asked Chilli.

"If those are their names, then yes!" said the boy. "These weird holes appeared underneath them and they got sucked up by this mad scientist named Dr. Retro Griffin!"

Bandit was bewildered by how much this boy knew so much. "How did you find out about this?" he asked.

"Let's just say I've dealt with Retro before," said the boy. "Well, stuff like this in general, really. The name's Calvin."

"Bandit," the blue heeler introduced himself. "And this is my wife, Chilli."

"Charmed," said Hobbes, shaking the dogs' hands. "Don't worry, we'll have your kids back before you know it!"

"We're coming with you," said Chilli before having another thought.

That caused Calvin to freeze. "You're what?" he said. "Listen, I appreciate the concern for your kids, but Retro is crazy dangerous! They're best dealt with a professional like me!"

Bandit wanted to interject with Chilli, but after thinking it over, he saw where she was coming from. "Well, as Bluey and Bingo's parents, it's our job to look out for them! So I'm sorry, but we're coming."

Calvin raised his finger to argue further, but he saw that there was no changing these two dogs' minds. "Alright, you can come," he said, "but stay with me and Hobbes." He took out a small red CD player. "MTM, scan for where Retro's new lab is."

"Well, it should be obvious where it is," came a robotic voice in an English accent, "but okay!" A red laser came out of the CD players and began to scan the area around the household.

"I refuse to believe that this is really happening," Chilli whispered into her husband's ear. Or, rather, where his ear would be if they were humans.

The laser vanished within seconds. "It's right underneath the house, and there's a lot of traps waiting for you," said the CD player's voice. "There seems to be some kind of outside source interfering with my teleportation system, but I'll try to get you as close to where the puppies are as possible."

"Thanks, MTM," said Calvin. "Alright, hold on tight, you two," he told Bandit and Chilli. "This may be a bumpy ride."

Suddenly, both Bandit and Chilli felt the sensation of their bodies being broken apart like building blocks and then traveling through the atmosphere, going to a new location.

[Location Change: Underground Lab, Hallway to Imaginator Room]

[BGM: Asu01 - The Great Chase]

When they felt that they were being put back together, they were in a strange place. It was damp, dark, and spooky. "Alright, this is really happening," Chilli muttered under her breath.

"Huh. Guess Retro decided not to go all-out decorating this time," said Calvin. "MTM, mind getting my lighter from the Hypercube?"

"Ah, a little bit of manners for once," said the MTM as a yellow lighter suddenly appeared in Calvin's hand. The boy opened it up and allowed the small fire to light the hallway.

"Huh, whaddya know," said Hobbes. "It's just a clear straight away to the door!"

"It can't be that easy," said Bandit as the unlikely quartet walked towards the door. Actually, now that I mention that, it did seem a little suspicious that there were no monsters or anything. Almost like they were hiding somewhere.

Chilli began to shiver a little. "Does anyone else feel a chill?" she asked. Yep, that was exactly what I meant.

"That can't be good," said Calvin, getting into a defensive position. Suddenly, he heard a very familiar roar. Holding up his lighter, he was met with the familiar faces of mutated snowmen, sporting evil looks and coming the four's way.

"Deranged mutant killer monster snow goons!" shouted Hobbes. "Back up, you two!"

Bandit and Chilli obliged by backing up across the hallway. "What are those things?" Chilli asked. "Living snowmen?"

"If they were mutants and killers!" answered Calvin. He took a small toy drill from his pocket. "Let's see if I can use this as a weapon!" He pointed the drill in front of him and pressed a button that caused it to spin. Miraculously, a green portal seemed to appear right in front of Calvin, with another near the snow goons. "Get them, Hobbes!"

Hobbes swallowed every ounce of fear in him, got on all fours, and leapt through the portal in front of Calvin. Appearing through the other one, he pounced on the snow goons, sending them crashing to the ground, but they remained put. "Alright, they're down!" the tiger said. "Now what should I do?"

"I think I saw a hose on the side of the house!" answered Calvin, creating another portal out of thin air and jumping through.

"I still can't believe that this is hap-" Bandit was suddenly cut off by the feeling of his tail being grabbed by a snowy arm. He and Chilli were brought up to the face of a giant, deformed snowman head, who roared in their faces.

Instinctively, Hobbes jumped off of the snow goons he was keeping down and tackled the gigantic snow goon, causing it to collapse onto the ground as a small layer of it was broken. The two dogs fell to the ground and were trapped underneath the head of the goon. "Oops! Guess that's not better!" said the tiger.

At that moment, Calvin reappeared from the portal, brandishing a hose that was already shooting water. "Eat water, snow goons!" he shouted, aiming the hose at the two normal snow goons. Before long, they were reduced to small piles of snow. "Say, Hobbes, why weren't you…" Calvin began, before turning around and seeing the ruins of the giant snow goon that kidnapped Bandit and Chilli.

"Yeah, I accidentally trapped them in there," Hobbes said, sheepishly.

Calvin rolled his eyes as he began to hose down the head to free the two heelers. "Well, at least you were trying to help," he said as the dogs walked out of their snowy prison.

"As soon as we find the kids," said Bandit, "I am forgetting this day ever happened." He saw Calvin enter the portal one last time to return the hose before jumping back out and pressing a button on his toy drill to make all three of the portals vanish. "Listen, kid, how did your toy drill make those portals appear?" Bandit asked.

"Oh, I call it the Wormhole Digger!" explained Calvin. "I've got all sorts of inventions like it in my Hypercube!" The boy began to take out a small Rubik's cube with a hole in the top when he and Hobbes were suddenly picked up by two new creatures. The creatures looked like the most hideously-deformed humans ever, with pink hair all over their bodies, elephant trunk-like noses that twitched like a tail, lab coats and sensible slacks, and hands with twelve fingers.

"Ahhhhh!" Bandit and Chilli screamed once more once they saw the figures. "W-what are those things?" they simultaneously shouted.

"Some of Retro's goons," said Hobbes, trying to hide his fear. "Grab something from the Hypercube and help us!"

Bandit looked down at the Rubik's cube on the ground. Quickly, he reached his hand inside the open hole and pulled out a small, ordinary clothespin. "Is this an invention or something, mate?" he asked.

"The Atomic Freezer!" Calvin shouted. "Clip it on him bef-" The twelve-fingered hand was slapped over Calvin's mouth as the creature began to take him to the door.

There was no time to waste. Bandit made a battle cry and ran towards the creature before sticking the clothespin right onto the creature's lab coat. Instantly, it got covered in a string coat of ice, and Calvin dropped to the ground. "Wow! That was impressive!" said the blue heeler.

Chilli reached inside the Hypercube herself and pulled out a small water pistol. "What does this doohickey do?" she asked.

"Think of something and shoot it at the guy who's got Hobbes!" answered Calvin. Confused at first, Chilli got a determined look on her face as she thought about a harmless bilby, aimed it at the remaining monstrosity, and fired. Right away, the creature turned into the tiny, nocturnal marsupial as the tiger fell to the ground.

"Thanks for that!" said Hobbes. "Y'know, you guys are pretty fast learners!"

Bandit and Chilli looked at each other and smiled. "Yeah, I guess we are!" said Chilli, pretty proud of herself. Suddenly, large footsteps came from behind the two. Turning around, they all saw a third hideous creature! It was about six feet tall and dressed in ragged clothes and worn-out boots. Its scaly green hands ended in long, sharp, claws. Its face barely even looked human.

"So, we meet again, Teacher Creature!" said Calvin, brandishing the Wormhole Digger. "Let's get this guy together!" The Teacher Creature slashed its claws out at Calvin, and the boy ducked away before thinking of the ceiling of the hallway and activating the drill.

Thinking quickly, Chilli ran in front of the portal that appeared as the Teacher Creature ambled towards her. "Oh, come and get me, you hideous creature," she said in a sarcastically shrill voice. "I'm just a weak, old mum who can't handle herself!" At the last minute, Chilli jumped away from the portal and the creature ambled in. Good one, Chilli! she thought to herself.

The Teacher Creature teleported to the ceiling of the hallway and started falling to the ground. "Okay, it's now or never!" Hobbes said to himself to psyche himself up. He imagined Calvin walking through the door and announcing that he was home, and then pounced just before the creature hit the ground. The two rolled across the ground before stopping right in front of Bandit.

"One freeze coming right up!" said the blue heeler as he clipped the Atomic Freezer onto the long finger of the Teacher Creature. Hobbes jumped away just as the creature was covered in ice. Chilli finished it off by using the water pistol to turn it into a small budgie.

"Yes! Good teamwork!" said Calvin, pumping his fist. "I've been waiting to do that since 2005 when we first met it!"

"What happened to the rewritten version of our first encounter, anyway?" Hobbes questioned.

Calvin shrugged. "Guess the writer forgot." He turned towards the door and noticed that there wasn't a single doorknob. "Well, that's one way to keep us out."

"I've got this!" said Bandit, taking the water pistol from his wife's hands. He thought of a tiny pebble and shot the door with the water pistol. The door instantly became the tiny indigenous stone. Through the doorway, he saw Bluey and Bingo, unconscious, with helmets stuck to their heads.

Right away, Calvin charged through the open doorway and came face-to-face with the wily scientist who Calvin thought he had defeated. "Alright, Retro! The jig is up!"

"Bu-bu-! Yo-!" Retro was at a loss for words. "You weren't supposed to find me, you little brat!"

"Well, guess what?" said Hobbes, having snuck in while the scientist wasn't looking. "We did." The tiger pressed a big red button on the control deck that he assumed was an off button, but instead it caused some kind of beeping to begin. Right away, Retro ran towards the doors that were in the back of the room and entered them.

"Come out here and fight, you sissy!" shouted Calvin as Retro was suddenly blasted away in the chamber he was in. "Well, he's gone."

[BGM: Asu01 - Reunited Again]

At that moment, Bandit and Chilli finally ran into the room. "What's going on here?" Chilli shouted.

"Hold on…" said Hobbes, looking for the right button to turn off the machine. "A-ha!" He pressed another big red button on the wall, and suddenly, the helmets that were on Bluey and Bingo's heads lifted themselves up into the trapdoors they came from.

Bandit ran up to his eldest daughter and began to slap her face to wake her up. "C'mon, Bluey wake up!" he shouted.

"Whoa, be easy on her," said Calvin. "From the looks of things, Retro was causing things in her imagination to come to life. It's pretty painful."

At that moment, the puppy began to wake up. "Dad?" she groaned. "What's happening?"

Bandit gave his daughter a big hug. "You're alright now," he said, choking up a little.

As Calvin saw the puppy hug her dad back, he noticed how young she was. She couldn't have been any older than six, the age he was when he first met Retro.

Suddenly, he was filled with anger. He thought of what he did to Susie Derkins right before second grade, standing up to that bully Moe when she was being bullied. That seemed so innocent compared to what this dog...this poor little girl...was put through.

He didn't care if he was breaking G.R.O.S.S. protocol again. He had to make sure Retro did not get away with this.

[Character Selected: Retro]
[Current World: Bonegea]
[Current Location: Floating Fortress, Imagination Arsenal]

The escape pod stopped at the fortress that the Antity created in midair and Retro walked out into the room where he set the rest of the Imaginator's results to appear. "Why did you take the escape pod?" said the Antity.

"I was taking advantage of the situation," said Retro. "Thankfully, it seems like we still have a good amount of things to use here." Looking around the room, he saw feathers, xylophones, asparagus, the inanimate clones of the puppies, and even balloons. He smiled at what he saw. This could definitely be used to destroy the boy once and for all...

To be concluded...and next time: the post-finale final battle!

Next chapter: "Battle of the Living Mind" This is it! The Heeler family is back together again, and Calvin and Hobbes are ready to defeat their foe once more! But like the first time around, Retro's prepared: he's got all sorts of creatures and gizmos from Bluey and Bingo's minds at the ready! And that Antity thing he's been talking with? It's got a backup plan...

Postface: Chapter complete! Unlike the prologue and last chapter, this chapter was completely rewritten from scratch, like most of my work, and quite frankly, I think it's an improvement!

Trivia time! Right off the bat, Retro's already messing with Bluey and Bingo's head! I'm sure you can recognize the episodes the memories are from, but maybe you won't be prepared for how they're used... And also, Bandit and Chilli get a time to shine! I'll be honest - I'm not a parent myself, so getting them in-character was a little...trifficult, I think. I feel like I did a good job, especially with them worrying for Bluey and Bingo, but I'm still looking for feedback! In the meantime, plenty of Calvin and Hobbes and Calvinverse stuff show up here! I'm sure you recognize the deranged mutant killer monster snow goons - they were from a story arc from around the 1990s where Calvin tries to bring a snowman to life and it goes very, very badly! And I'm sure you know that the water pistol Chilli uses in the climax of this chapter is the Transmogrifier Gun. It's a miniaturized version of the cardboard box's Transmogrifier mode, and it looks like it was used pretty often in the Calvinverse. But what about the other stuff? Those goons of Retro's stem from garfieldodie's first Calvin and Hobbes story, Can You Imagine That?. while the Teach Creature stems from his second one, Attack of the Teacher Creature, which was actually copied from a Garfield book! He was gonna rewrite it sometime, but that never happened, which I acknowedged that here!

That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you all next time for the finale! Stay diamond, everyone!

-Alfred

~Calvin and Hobbes and everything related to them from the original comic strip are properties of Bill Watterson. Bluey and everything related to her are properties of Ludo Studio PTY., LTD., the Australian Broadcasting Corp., and BBC Studios Dist., LTD. No copyright infringement with Mr. Watterson or any of these companies nor financial gain was intended in the making of this story. Any resemblance to real-world people or events are either coincidental or done fictitiously.~