Chapter 1: Conveniently-Placed Dogs Are a Great Icebreaker

There is no gentle way to say this, dear reader: the world is in danger because of a lawyer trying to summon an ancient evil, and the only hope for everyone is a nervous overachiever, a whole plethora of cartoon characters, and myself.

I'm know that there are some people that'll pull out the "evil lawyer" joke-I mean, I'd do it if I were the one reading this-but this is a very serious matter that should be treated as such. This potential apocalypse is just as serious as one caused by global warming, nuclear war, or a rampant AI who wants to destroy humanity to save them from themselves because it doesn't understand the complexities of the human experience and has to be taught how by a human woman and-

-and I just realized the "cartoon characters are gonna help save the world" part might have raised a few more questions than the part about the lawyer. Probably should have lead with that.

Remember those old Hanna-Barbera cartoons? You know, Wacky Races, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, all that good stuff? Well, turns out William Hanna and Joseph Barbera fleshed out their characters a bit more than most creators do.

For those of you that are still confused, think Percy Jackson but with cartoon animals. And the whole "magical parentage" bit; I don't think that's biologically possible.

Anyways, the only way for you to help us (which you don't have to do, but I feel like you should at least be somewhat concerned about the incoming apocalypse) is for you to take this completely seriously. I'm aware that this might be hard; this is, after all, a story about the world being saved by two teenagers and a bunch of Hanna-Barbera characters. If you're having problems with taking our story seriously, imagine it as something being said by a bunch of stuffy old men.

In my experience, stuffy old men make things much more serious-sounding.

Be warned, though: there are no stuffy old men present in this story. There is adventure, magic, and more than a hint of romance. There are epic battles, wild chase scenes, and an overflow of heart, emotion, and the power of friendship. However, there is a significant lack of stuffy old men. I am very sorry about this, potential stuffy old men fans.

Are you ready now, dear reader?

...I'm just gonna have to assume you are because I have no way to tell otherwise.

This story, like many involving alternate worlds, begins with a kidnapping.

Ah, taverns! The ultimate combination of awesome quests and rocking food! These places have been the beginning of many a great quest. Gatherings of heroes are common here, with each having their own stories. Walking in to the jaunty music and fascinating local people, you can really tell you're in for an adventure. As I walked in and saw Miss Tay, I knew that day would be unlike any other.

...Okay fine, we met at a cafe that was basically a Starbucks wannabe. Same principle, though.

Walking up to the counter, I noticed a girl sitting at a nearby table. She was drawing something on her tablet, occasionally pausing to tuck her black hair behind her ear. As I grabbed my cake pop, I watched as she quietly shook her head and began erasing whatever she'd been working on. I walked over to a seat behind her, sat down so that I was leaning over the back of the chair, and tried to figure out what she was drawing. That was kinda hard, though; her screen just looked like a bunch of lines with little to no color.

"Whatcha drawing?" I asked her. She jumped a little and whipped around to face me, seeming kinda nervous. At the time, I couldn't figure out why she was so nervous; sure I'm super tall and buff, but it's not like I was towering over her and grumbling vague threats!

It took me a few minutes to realize I was super close to her face.

"It's a sketch of a comic. For school," she replied, slightly craning her neck to look me in the eye. Now that I was up close, I could see that she had dark bags under her eyes. I grinned, leaning forward a bit more to try and make out more details.

"Neat! Mind if I watch?" I asked enthusiastically. She blinked, glancing between me and her tablet.

"Uh, sure. Just...pull up a chair, I guess," the girl told me, gesturing to an empty spot next to her. Grinning, I pulled out my chair and sat down next to her. "What's your name, anyways?"

"Bethany Thompson, nice to meet ya! You?" I replied, smiling and sticking out my hand.

"...Tay," she told me, looking at my hand somewhat skeptically. After a moment, she finally took it and shook my hand. I grinned.

New friend acquired, I thought to myself. Turning back to her tablet, I pointed to the sketches. "What are you drawing?" Tay, relaxing a little, gave me a grin.

"This is for an art class I'm taking, actually! You see, we're supposed to create a comic..." she began, gesturing with her pen. She talked all about how what effects she had to recreate using her tablet, using a bunch of art terms I didn't get (I'm sorry Tay, but I stand by what I said: no matter how many times you use it, sfumato just doesn't sound like a real word). Still, Tay seemed really enthusiastic about this project of hers, so I tried to keep track of what she was saying.

While trying to see if the comic looked clearer now that I knew what it was supposed to be, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I glanced over at the window and tried to figure out what I had seen. After a few minutes, I saw what had been moving outside. It was a small tan dog with black ears, darting around frantically. I tapped Tay's shoulder to get her attention.

"-and the shading in this panel is supposed to put emphasis on his-huh? What're you looking at?" she asked, finally looking up from her comic. I looked between her and the dog outside.

"There's a dog outside; it seems pretty freaked out. We should go check on it," I explained. Tay blinked and looked over my shoulder at the dog.

"Huh, it seems kind of...familiar. Can't quite place it though..." she muttered, squinting a little. She almost immediately shook her head and blinked afterwards. "I don't know. Shouldn't we call animal control first? Could be sick with something."

"Come on! What if nobody else does something for the poor thing? Besides, it's probably just freaked out," I shot back, already grabbing my hoodie. After a moment, Tay sighed.

"I can't convince you not to do this, can I?" she asked, looking somewhat resigned. I grinned as I pulled on my hoodie.

"Nope!" Tay sighed again at my reaction.

"Well, might as well make sure you don't get rabies," she reasoned, casually grabbing her tablet and trying to put it in her bag while walking out the door. At my confused look, she simply shrugged. "What? You think I'm gonna leave my drawing tablet unattended in a busy coffee shop?"

"...Fair point," I replied casually. And with that, we were out the door.

"Hey, here boy! Come here sweetie, come on!"

Across the street from the cafe, Tay and I were attempting to find the dog, who I decided was a boy, and lure it near us. I walked around the alley I'd seen him near, occasionally crouching on the ground in an attempt to make myself more approachable, and Tay was standing next to me, looking around awkwardly.

"Bethany, come on. He's not here; let's just call someone qualified to deal with this," she said to me. I glanced over my shoulder, still in a crouch.

"He couldn't have gotten far; besides, we would have seen him f he left. And I've told you, call me Beth," I replied. I immediately went back to clicking my tongue and calling out to the dog. Tay simply went back to looking around, hands in her pockets. When her head turned to the right, she stopped and gasped.

"Hey, there he is!" she exclaimed, pointing towards the wall of the alley. I followed her finger and squinted, not seeing anything at first. After a moment, I saw it though.

The dog I saw had buried itself into a pile of newspapers, as though hiding from something.

"There you are! Here buddy, come here! I'm not gonna hurt ya!" I sing-sang, crouching lower to look it in the eye. The dog cautiously poked its head out of the newspaper pile. Seeing Tay and I, the dog shook off the newspapers. "See?"

"Wow, his fur's messier than I thought it was," Tay noted. I noticed that his fur, indeed, was very messy. Taking note of this, I pulled out a dog treat I managed to snag from outside the cafe (they're complimentary) and held it out.

"Hey, you want a snack buddy?" I asked cheerfully. At the word snack, the dog perked up and noticed what was in my hand. He almost immediately grabbed it and ran off down the street. Stunned, I got up from my crouch and tried to call him back. "Hey, come back! I need to call your owner!"

"Wow, that dog is fast," Tay stated casually. Nodding absentmindedly, I began running after him.

"Slow down! I'm not gonna hurt you!" I shouted. Behind me, I faintly heard Tay yelling at me to slow down. That wasn't my main focus, though; I just wanted to catch up to that strange dog.

This, dear readers, is where the kidnapping comes in.