Disclaimer: Garfield and all related characters are the property of Paws Inc. and ViacomCBS/Nickelodeon at the time of this story's creation.
Garfield In: Of Cats and Memories
As the sun begins to set with its distinctive orange glow, Jon Arbuckle drives all across the city of Muncie, Indiana, desperate to find his missing cat, Garfield, who has recently developed amnesia and believes himself to be a heroic figure known as "The Caped Avenger".
"Any sign of him, Odie?" Jon asks.
*MMM MMM* Odie sadly shakes his head, desperately staring out the car window for any sign of his missing friend.
"Well, keep looking then." Jon insisted. "We won't rest until Garfield is safely back home!" He declares, trying to refrain himself from thinking about all the horrible things that could potentially happen to his beloved cat, especially with his current physical and mental condition leaving him at his most vulnerable state.
*GROWL* Both of their stomachs began to grumble.
"Hungry, Odie?" Jon asks his dog, receiving a nodding head in response. "Me too. I guess we could make a quick stop for some dinner." He sighs as he pulls up to a drive thru.
"Welcome to Binky Burger!" A voice greets from the speaker. "May I take your order?"
"Two Happy Burgers and two fries." Jon said rudely.
"Well, you sure don't sound happy." The voice rudely responded back.
"Look pal, I'm in a hurry, so will you just take my order!?" Jon grumbles, clearly not in the mood to waste time arguing with some random drive thru waiter.
"Sure, you said you wanted two Grumpy Burgers, right?" The voice asks sarcastically.
"NO! I SAID TWO HAPPY BURGERS! HAPPY! BURGERS!" Jon furiously shouts right into the speaker.
"And would you like some rude fries with that?" The voice asks, once again in a rather sarcastic tone.
"You know what, screw this! I'm outta here!" Jon puts his car in reverse and attempts to pull out the drive thru…
*BAM!*
…only to crash into another car right behind him.
"HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA, ASSHOLE!?" The driver shouts.
"Why me?" Jon mutters to himself, slamming his head into the steering wheel.
Meanwhile, in a different part of town, a white female cat and a bigger brown male cat are taking a stroll through a filthy alleyway, the latter scarfing down a sandwich.
"Uh...Brick, dear?" The female cat nervously calls out.
"WHAT!?" The male cat angrily shouts.
"Uh...c-could I please have a bite of your sandwich?" She asks.
"Goddamn it, Penelope!" Brick said in a very irritated tone. "You women are all the freaking same! I wanna eat too! I wanna eat too! Well, guess what? I ONLY HAVE ONE SANDWICH! ASK ME THAT AGAIN, AND I'LL SERVE YOU A KNUCKLE SANDWICH, UNDERSTOOD!?" He threatens his girlfriend.
"Y-Yes, honey. *Sniff* I'm sorry." Penelope said, not wanting ANOTHER black eye.
"Oh, I'm sorry, baby." Brick apologizes, noticing the tears welling from his girlfriend's eyes. "Tell you what, I'll go look around and see if I can find a nice, juicy mouse for ya. How does that sound?" He offers.
"Gee, you're all heart." Penelope said bluntly.
"Yeah. *BURP* I know." Brick responds bluntly, finishing his sandwich.
The female cat lets out a depressed sigh, pondering to herself as to how she ended up with such an abusive boyfriend. "Why can't I ever meet a nice guy?"
Elsewhere, not too far away from the alley, Garfield, and his new mouse companion Floyd, wander aimlessly all throughout town in the vain hopes of finding anything that can help jog the cat's memories back.
"Recognize any of these signs?" Floyd asks, turning his direction to the neon lights from the many restaurants that are now dimming across the night sky.
"Nope. None of these are ringing any bells." The amnesiac cat said, gazing particularly at a sign of an Italian restaurant.
"C'mon, there's gotta be something you remember!" Floyd insists, growing more and more frustrated by the lack of progress towards getting his friend's memories back.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think looking at restaurant signs is gonna help me remember who I am or where I even came from!" Garfield argues back. "My mind is a completely blank slate!"
"Then what's the first thing you do remember?" The mouse asks.
"Well, I remember waking up at the vet, and there was this nice gentleman who let me stay at his house. Oh, and he oddly kept calling me Garfield." The cat explains.
"Maybe that is your real name. And that nice gentleman you mentioned might be your owner." Floyd pieced together. "Man, you housecats got it very lucky to even have a place to call home."
"Wait, you don't have a home?" Garfield asked.
"Of course not!" Floyd responds. "If you already couldn't tell, I'm a mouse! It's a freaking miracle if I even find a small piece of cheese out here! You cats have it good! You have human owners who love you, feed you, and provide you with a nice comfy bed and shelter to sleep in during the night, while us mice have to scavenge every trash can we can find for any leftovers just to survive!"
The orange cat stares at the mouse with a very sympathetic look, feeling sorry for his friend's poor living condition. Then, an idea came to his amnesiac head.
"Maybe you could stay at my house." Garfield happily offers.
"Oh, no. I couldn't." Floyd said. "I don't think your owner would want me there."
"No, I insist. You're helping me regain my memories, so now I'm gonna help you out, for a real hero never turns his back on his friends." The Caped Avenger strikes a pose.
"*Sniffs* Thanks, pal. I really appreciate it." Floyd said, tears welling in his eyes.
"Anytime." The cat said, gently picking the mouse up and putting him on his shoulder. "We better get going. It's starting to get late."
"Yeah, and with all the dogcatchers and stray cats lurking around this joint, who knows what could happen." Floyd said. As if he were tempting fate, a big brown cat spots the two making their way across the neighborhood.
"Perfect." Brick smirked, his attention primarily focusing at the delicious mouse on top of the smaller cat's shoulder.
"Don't worry about a thing, Floyd." The Caped Avenger said, unaware of the bigger cat sneaking up behind him. "For as long as you're with me, you've got nothing to-"
"LOOK OUT!" Floyd suddenly shouts.
"Huh!?" Garfield was only able to quickly turn around and catch a brief glimpse of someone behind him…
*POW*
...before being delivered a nearly fatal blow to his head.
"NO!" The mouse shouts as his friend falls headfirst to the hard concrete ground.
"GARFIELD?! GARFIELD! WAKE UP!" Floyd desperately shouts before being grabbed by the big brown cat.
"You're coming with me, you little runt." Brick said, gripping his prey tightly.
"LET ME GO!" Floyd struggles to escape his grasp. "GARFIELD! HELP ME! GARFIELD!"
His cries for help have fallen on deaf ears, as the orange cat remained unconscious, his body not moving an inch from where it remained on the ground.
"Ugh, my head." Garfield rubs his head in pain as his eyes slowly begin to open. Upon getting back up on his feet, he finds himself in a completely black void.
"Hello?" His voice echoed across the void.
There was no response.
"HELLO!?" He shouts even louder. "ANYONE HERE!?"
Still no response, only hearing the fainting echo from his voice.
"What is this place?" The cat quietly asked himself.
He carefully starts stepping forward, hoping to find something, or someone, that can tell him where he is.
He continued walking for what seemed like an eternity, turning his head left and right only to see nothing but the black void that continued to taunt his vision.
G̴̡̻͇̤̬̹̞̼̯̬̱̓́̎̔̅́͆͆̆͂̊Ȁ̵͔͙̩̘͉̟̺͎͉̞͇̆̎̐̒̃̚̚R̴̛͓̘̺͐͗F̵̙̻̙̲̝̠̰̪̪̿̿̈́̔̋̽̎̍̂̋̍̂̎̕Ǐ̶̧̼͓̉̈̍͒͝E̷̡̨̧͍̞̩̺͇͉̫̭̞̞̽͂̋̅̽̒͘L̵̡̙̦̯̬͓̻̓̇̃͆͌͆̂̆̃̎̈́͘͝ͅͅͅͅḐ̶̧̡̩̞̖̜̗̪͉̪̹͓̈́̀̊̓̈́̋́̚͝͝
The cat suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.
"Who said that?" He quickly turns his head back and forth.
G̶̨͎̗͚̪̞̖͕̘̕A̶͈̓̇̍̔R̸̨̛̪̜͈͓͉͉͠F̸̳̞̺̖̜́͛̽I̸̙̓̿̿̀̏̏̌̄̒̋̈̑̊̐͂Ě̴͔̫̲̂͐̑̎͆͐͑͛̚̚L̶̨̗͎͈̹̹͕̇͘Ḑ̶͉͔̣̫̀̄͆́̔
He placed a hand to his ear, carefully following the direction to where he believed he heard the voice from.
Eventually, he comes across what appears to be another fat orange cat…
...only much brighter…
...and with his head lowered down.
He slowly approaches the oddly glowing figure, only stopping when he is face to face with it.
"Uh...h-hello?" Garfield nervously raises his hand. "C-Can you tell me where I am?"
He gently moves his hand towards the glowing cat, and upon touching it…
Ǵ̵̩̦̱̖͓̩̠̦̮͙̠̩͎̀̇͛̎̓Á̷̡̩̟͎̜̬͈͚̤͛̏̈͊̓̒̇͠ͅȒ̴̹̘̯̟̠͉̣͍̔̿́͑͊͊̈́͗̀͝͠F̸͓͈̜̟̦̺͍̑̌̾̓͆̑̿̆̉̾̆̇̇̌͝I̶̦͕̭̊̍͋̔͊͑͗̈́̄̈́̅̾͘͝Ę̶̜̭̫̘̦͇̜̤͓̳͇̠̖̓́̽̈̀̄̿̇̆͋̾̑̑͝͝L̵̢̡̡̛͎̤̠̜̥͈̜͚̔̀̋̑̄͊͌͊͜͝͠D̷͇̟́̆̋̎̓́͛̀̇͌͂̕̕͝
"ARRGH!" The frightened cat suddenly screams as he falls to the floor, his brightly lit counterpart raising his head, staring directly into Garfield's eyes.
D̸̡̡̡̢̙̝̼͂̾͜Ơ̶̡̢̲͖̰̤̪͉̗̏̓̀̏Y̴̛̲̏͒͋͂͆̍̾̆͗̚͝Ō̶̡̭̗͓̦͚̱̩̫̯͔̥̱͒̌̉̀̓̿̌͛́͆̚͘Ų̵̛̝̦̄̈́͊͂͂̉͒̌̚R̷̰̮̼͛̒̀̊́̆̍̎̿̓̿̐̽̃͜Ȩ̶̢̨̘̘͔͈̬̱̬̈̆͆̋̽̐̓͘͝͝ͅM̴̳̯̳̰͉͂̑͋̍̈́́́͋͋̚͝Ȩ̵͔͙̳̣̼͓̻̿͆́͐̕ͅM̶̧̨̜̺̫̳͖͈̭͉̩̥̉̿́̆͘B̴̛̲͔̰̂̋̚Ȩ̸͇͈̞͍̙̼̳͉͙͗̿̅̎̋̋̈́͝R̵̢͍̥̖̠̥̙͖̟̬͔̗͎̹̱̄̅̈́̀̈́́̎̿͗̇̇͘
"Huh?" Garfield asked, not understanding a single word from its distorted voice.
D̵̨̞̬͎͔͙͈̲̺͔͆̓̌͑̀͘͜ͅO̵̯̗̟̫͕͙̦̠͓̊̑̾͂̾͊̄̿̌̎̊͘̚͜͝ͅY̴̡̱̘̲̜͚̠̘͋̋̔͐̈́̽͛̈́Ỏ̷̩̗͔̪̥͔̰̖̲̲̖̔̃̄͗̓̉̒͝Ų̷̛͓̹͇͚͍̙͖̈́̈̅̌̓̇̊̈̄̚Ṛ̷̨̻͈͙̙̪̥̹̯͚̟̾̈́̄̊̅̒̋̐̈͝Ȅ̷̯͔͓̩͔̲͖͎̈́̀̾̓̅̇͂̑̈́̅̇͑̇M̶̨̢̗̘̺͙̘͚͍͚͍͕̜̄͆͛̉̏̅͋̒͊̿̓̉̀͌E̷͚̭̼̗͒͗͆M̸̘̹̪̙̞̞͕̫̙̓̍̇̐̕͜B̷̢̬̹̲̺͙͎̣̫̱̥͚̅̑̿̋͒̽̕͝Ë̷̞̤̱͓́̈̂̉̑͗̌͐Ŗ̵̲̠͔̲̝̫̪̰̍̓̿̃͐̀͂̈́͌̔̌̍̐͊A̴̮̮̼̰͉̠̭̩͓̳͖̭̱̙̬̅͌̊Ṉ̴͙̖͖̱̣̞̼̭̝̠̘̅̇̌̅̈́̌͜Ỵ̵̡̲͇͔̗̗͗T̶̡̢͓̘͇͚͔̼͇̞̒̏͊̔H̸͎̥̜̙͇̆̾̈͋I̶̢̡̹̻͕͍̝͒͌̓Ń̷̢̠̮̣̩̱̣̖̲͗́̉͂͌̒̚͝Ģ̶̰̙̳͚͇̬̣̣̘̞͖͖̗̾͐̈́͋̌͊͜
"I can't understand what you're saying!" The cat complains.
Suddenly, the glowing cat rises up from the ground, and starts to levitate away backwards.
D̷̢̛͍̬̯̤̭̜̘͈͖̖̎̾͆̾͜ͅȎ̵̤͕͇͓̝̃̃̎̆̀̀͑̄͛͘͘͜͜͝͝Y̸͚̏̔̊̓͆̓͊͋̇͛̀͆̉Ơ̴̧̹̭̻͔͎͌́͆̐̿̔̒̑͗͊̕͜͝͠Ų̴̨̻̣̬̬̺̳̳̱̺̩̬̠͋̍̔̉̽͛͂̓͋̕͜R̸̰̭̿̂͂̅̎͝͝Ę̵̧̨̡͍̗͈̗͖̈́̎͐́̓̂͗̈͘͝͝͝M̴͇͑̋̈́̈Ë̶̢̛̥̗̟̝͖̥̪́̐̐͛̔̆̀̓̐̓̍̕̕͠M̵̡͙̪͉̪͍̯̤̟̯͖̤̩̱̘̆̆̎Ḇ̸̦̘̬̋͑͒͗̉͌̕͝͠Ę̷̆̈̿̍̉̓̀̓̕R̷̯͉̂̉̂̂͐͋̍̓͒̈͝A̸̬̣̩̙̮͇̻͇̽̐̅͐͛̈́̏͋̉̿͘̚͝͝͝N̷̟̞̝͛̌͝Ý̶̠̮͛̈̋́͋́̉̾̂̌̕͘Ţ̵̼͉̘̺̰̝͌͌̓̈́̽̾͑͝H̷̱̣̮̳͗̐͊̍̂̀̀͛̈́͐̓͋͝Į̴̗̪͚̱̤̪̝̣̗̘̼̱̼̐̈́̈́̓̇̉̇̾͂̾Ñ̷̟͎̌̍̊̈̄̈̐̓̀̓̚̕͠͠Ğ̸̨̧͎̣̭͔͙̬̣͒͐̈̃̄͗͗̅͠͝G̵̪̝̰̳̥̮̤̤̘͖̽͐̇̀̐̽͐́̚Ḁ̵̡͚̞̳̐̅͒̿͑ͅͅŖ̴̢̰̟̗͉̹͕͖̠̝͋F̶͔̟͔͎̹̯̬̻̹͉̪͇̫̀ͅÍ̸̧̨̜̘̦̼̜̙̰̫̥̜Ẽ̴͕̹̠̟̻̾͒̈́͗́ͅL̶̪̫̝̜̱͙̪̻̯̋̈́͜D̷̨̢̻̺̻͎̥̪͉͋͜
"Wait! Come back!" Garfield runs after the strange glowing cat, but it has proven itself to be too fast for the feline to catch up with.
"Please, come back." The cat begs, exhausted beyond belief.
Then, he suddenly finds himself in what appears to be inside of a cell in a pound.
"Brrr, it's cold in here!" Garfield shivers as the cold wind from the cell window behind him strikes him like a fan turned on at full power.
"NO! You can't take Odie away!"
While wrapping his arms around his body to shield himself from the unforgiving weather, he spots what appears to be himself pulling on the cell bars as hard as he could.
"Is that...me?" Garfield asks himself, slowly approaching the other cat who's just given up from breaking free from his cell.
"Well, I'll see you Odie. Sometime...somewhere...hopefully." The other Garfield sniffed. His eyes filled with water.
Showing sympathy, Odie gives Garfield one last lick.
"So long...old friend." Garfield watches as the other Garfield grabs Odie's paw.
The two cats watch helplessly as the dogcatcher drags Odie away from them, one noticing a tear dropping out from the other's eyes.
"I...I remember this." Garfield said, slowly recognizing this predicament he was once in.
As Odie was being dragged further away from the cat's vision, everything around him starts to fade into darkness, leaving only a black void once more.
"It's...it's all starting to come back to me." Garfield said.
Then, like watching a movie sped up, the cat's entire life suddenly flashes before his eyes. Piece by piece, memories from his past begin flooding back into his brain...
His birth in the Italian restaurant
His first taste of lasagna
Him being adopted by Jon
Lyman and Odie moving in
Lyman's death
Finding Pooky in the attic
Rescuing Odie from the pound
Finding his long lost mother
Being captured by pirate ghosts on Halloween
Almost ruining Thanksgiving
Meeting that pest Nermal on Christmas
Ruining the New Year's Eve party
Knocking his head while attempting to steal a pie
...as it all came back to him.
Suddenly jolting from his slumber, Garfield gasps for air as his head springs up from the ground.
"Oh, man. What a dream sequence." The cat rubs his forehead, gazing upon his surroundings to make sure he was back in the real world.
That's when he remembers something, or rather everything.
"Hey! I can remember now! It's me! Garfield the cat!" He exclaims in joy.
However, his celebration was short-lived when he suddenly realized something.
"OH, NO! FLOYD!" Garfield panics. Upon remembering what has happened to his new friend, he leaps from the ground and runs after the cat that ambushed them.
"Hang on, Floyd. I'm coming for you, and maybe I'll grab some dinner on the way too." The cat ponders to himself while running.