While I've started my rewrite of Looney Tunes: Back In Action, I thought I would share a sneak peek of another fic in my list of projects where the typical WB cat is more than a scapegoat or butt-monkey.

Now people consider Tom & Jerry the Movie the worst animated film in history just because Tom and Jerry speak after five decades of more actions than words, and because it is a blatant rip-off of The Rescuers that focused more on the human girl than the cat and mouse. I couldn't blame them for the latter, but I personally think Tom and Jerry talking is something refreshing from the style of humor that grabs millions but doesn't grab me. Sorry, guys, but I didn't really find the shorts funny, not even as a kid. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy some slapstick here and there, but I'm more into other characters.

Also, there were very few instances when Tom and Jerry actually DID speak in old shorts.

That's why I will do an alternate version of the movie that no one on the Internet or the animation industry bothers to do. This version would be more like Homeward Bound and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: a cat on a long journey to his owner's new home having to deal with the bane of his existence, the mouse he's been dealing with his entire life. This take of mine would serve as my idea of a conclusion to the original shorts, and instead of being the sidekick he usually is, who's reprimanded for every action he does around a human, I'm portraying him as the grouchy main character who wants to be alone, like Shrek and Manny from Ice Age, with a little bit of Neil Page from Planes, Trains & Automobiles.I couldn't start the first chapter, so for now, I'm giving a sneak peek of a scene I wanted to unleash.

This takes place after the scene with Tom's run-in with the greaser cats. I do not own the characters used.

An unimportant note, but Tom and Jerry have different voices in this. Imagine Tom with Hank Azaria's voice (a mix between Moe Syzlak and Frank Grimes), and Jerry with Jason Marsden's voice (Max Goof or Nermal).

Jerry discovered that the cat muggers were chasing Tom and even though he placed a pot over him, he thought he should do something about the matter. So he quickly found a discarded shoelace and stick, and set them up at a nearby manhole cover. He tied the string and stick next to a pole, and when he saw Tom running, he waited. After Tom ran over the manhole, the mouse pulled the stick, lifting up the cover, resulting in the cat greasers to fall into the manhole, one by one.

Tom looked behind him to see Jerry close the manhole cover, realizing he helped get those greasers off his tail. Once that's done, Jerry stood there, innocently, asking, "You okay, pal?"

The gray cat responded with a smile at first, "Yeah, I'm okay," Then he scowled, "But don't call me 'pal'. And just for the record, I could have taken those bums myself."

"If it wasn't for me, you could have been dead meat!"

"Yes, and I've spared YOU from becoming dead meat inside of me, so now we're even, and are no longer of use to one another." The cat then began to leave down a road.

The mouse then asked, "Where are YOU going?"

Tom turned around, saying, "Where else? Home!"

"Uh, that house is nothing but debris now, remember?"

"Not THAT house, the new one my owner had driven to!" Yes, Tom may be just the typical house cat who doesn't pay attention to what people do in their spare time around the house, but he's actually heard his owner mention the address to the new home. "Ciao, mouse."

Jerry just stood there, dumbfounded. He just saved the cat's life and now he's deserting him? But then he shrugged, responding, "Okay, I'll just take it from here then."

He was about to head the other direction, but then he heard the voice of the greaser cat leader shouting from the sewer, "Hey, you crummy little rodent! Wait until we get out of here and back up there!"

Jerry decided to tag along with Tom again and as he caught up with the cat, "You know, the city's a dangerous place, you'd better have someone to stick by your side."

"I can take care of myself," the cat said stubbornly, dismissing how the mouse just saved his life.

"Yeah, like how you took care of yourself with those greaser cats."

"A guy can make a few mistakes, can't he? I've made a number of mistakes dealing with you."

"I'm just saying..."

The cat then stopped and said plainly to the mouse, "Look, there's freedom and space around you. Plus, a mouse like you has tons of friends. So why don't you go celebrate your new life with them, huh? Maybe with that little diapered mouse you're always having to look after?"

Tom continued on his way while Jerry asked, "You mean 'Tuffy' or 'Nibbles'? Well, I haven't seen him for who-knows-how-long, and I don't really know who to hook up with at this moment. By 'hook up with', I mean 'come in contact with'. Look, how about I just stick with you?"

"Yeah, the answer is a big fat N-O."

"But Puggsy and Frankie said..."

The cat interrupted, "You think I care what the dog and the Squiggy flea said? They obviously don't know us enough to know we cannot be chums. And another thing!"

But before he could continue his sentence, they heard footsteps. They turned around, and saw a figure's shadow. Could it be a mugger? The cat and mouse panicked a bit, but as the figure got closer, it revealed to be not a mugger but a little girl in a raincoat. She asked in confusion, "A cat and a mouse? Both standing on two legs? That's unusual."

"Oh good grief," Tom groaned for some reason.

"And you talk too?"

Jerry admitted, "Well, ordinarily we don't, but today we've been speaking more."

The cat then grabbed Jerry in his fist and said, "Uh, mouse, private conference now." The cat and unwilling mouse went over to a corner to have a private conversation. "Look, we all know how this goes. We've been doing the same routine, owner after owner, house after house. The humans love me, they discover you and assign me to get rid of you, I fail to do so because you outwit me, I'm put through so much pain and humiliation, the humans decide they like you more. So how about we just move things along so I can get back to my current owner?"

"You're just gonna hand me over to some stranger?"

"She's a kid. Kids like mice. You're good with kids. Problem solved for both of us." The cat headed back over to the girl, saying, "Say, kid what's your name?"

The girl responded, "Uh, Robyn? Robyn Starling?"

"Well, Robyn, I've got a lucky deal for you. Just today, you can have this new complimentary mouse companion. He's silly, entertains, and is the most trusted pet a person could have." He placed the mouse in the girl's hand and shook her other hand, "Well, hope you two enjoy each other's company. Love to stay and chat, but I must be off."

So Tom continued walking on the road to find his owner, glad to relieve the burden of Jerry from him.

Robyn then called out to the departing cat, "Wait, aren't you remotely curious about what a little girl like me is doing out here by herself at night?"

Tom, still walking, replied cynically, "Well I'd like to discuss my feline problems but I can't imagine how a human girl would be interested."

Well, that's what I've got prepared so far for the upcoming alternate version. This is mostly because I'm still trying to get the story and backing for it that doesn't involve something Rescuers-related, and I still have yet to figure out the conflict of the story.

As you can see, in this version of the film, Tom's personality is more like Shrek's and Manny's. In my opinion, that's what the writers should have done with him in the first place instead of Tom just saying "Come on, mouse" and going with the sidekick plot from there, especially considering the fact that is how they're portrayed in the recent direct-to-DVD films.So what do you think so far? If you have any suggestions for events to happen when I get to the actual story, please suggest some. I'm open to suggestions, as long as you don't give me anything inappropriate like F-bombs. I know what I've got so far is not impressive, so that's why I'm calling on anyone interested for help.

If anyone wants any slapstick, I could fit it in, but it depends on when to have them.

Tip for the story: not ALL of the Tom and Jerry shorts will have the same continuity as this version of the movie. In fact, the ones that had Tom dying would only take place in dreams he's had.