Disclaimer: Garfield and all related characters are the property of Paws Inc. and Paramount Global/Nickelodeon at the time of this story's creation.
Garfield In: When Girls Collide
Jon Arbuckle eyes the road very closely as his car exits the highway. Sitting in the back seat are his dog Odie, who hasn't uttered a single word ever since he picked him up from the farm, his cat Garfield, who's being overly dramatic about not having any food in his stomach for the past three hours, and his new cat Arlene, formerly known as Mai-Tai, whom he had decided to take in after witnessing the death of her former owner.
"Food…I…need…FOOOOOOOOD!" Garfield shouts, melodramatically gasping for air.
"Oh relax, Garfield. It's only been three hours." Arlene said.
"But I've never gone without food for more than one hour, LET ALONE THREE!" The orange cat screams as if he was being bloody murdered, to which the pink cat responds by rolling her eyes. "The light…I see the light! This is the end! GOODBYE, CRUEL WORLD!"
"Hang on, Garfield." Jon assures him. "We're almost at Vito's."
"VITO'S!?" Garfield immediately gets back up upon hearing such a wonderful name. To a normal person, it was the name of an average pizzeria, but to Garfield, it was the name to heaven. "Did you hear that, Odie!? WE'RE GOING TO VITO'S!"
His exciting news appears to have fallen onto deaf ears, for the dog just briefly glances at the cat before returning to his own thoughts.
"Is your friend okay?" Arlene asks, concerned.
"I don't know." Garfield gives her an honest answer. "He's been like that ever since we picked him up from the farm." He said, also becoming concerned. This behavior was highly unusual, especially from someone as happy and excitable as Odie. Normally, he would share his friend's excitement whenever he was told they were going to Vito's. He's not jealous of Arlene, is he?
Before he could further ponder that question, the sweet aroma of a freshly-baked pizza finds its way into his nose, for the car has just parked right in front of the pizzeria. As soon as Jon opens the door, the hungry cat leaps out of the vehicle and runs straight to the entrance.
"Odie? Are you coming, boy?" Jon asks, noticing that his dog hasn't budged an inch from his seat, not even to take his seat belt off. "Odie? Are you okay?"
*GRRRRR* Odie growls, indicating to his owner that he wanted to be left alone.
"Whoa, okay." Jon said, slowly backing away from his car. "I'll…uh…save you some leftovers, okay?" Once again, the dog doesn't respond.
"Hurry up, will ya!?" Garfield angrily shouts from the entrance, growing more and more impatient by the second.
"Shouldn't we wait for Odie to come inside with us?" Arlene asks, thinking of someone other than herself, unlike her fellow orange feline.
"Forget it! If tweedle dee the mopey dummy doesn't want to eat, that means more food for me." Garfield said as they enter the restaurant.
"Ah, mister Arbuckle-a. My favorite customer-a!" An Italian voice happily greets the trio.
"Vito! Long time no see!" Jon greets back, shaking his hand.
"Indeed-a, it has-a been a long time-a." Vito said, thankful that his biggest money maker has returned after a prolonged period of absence. "So-a, how are-a things with you-a?"
"Pretty good." Jon replies. "I just got back from vacation and-"
"Hurry up and order the food already, Arbuckle!" Garfield shouts, grabbing onto his owner's leg to get his attention. "I'm literally dying here!"
"Garfield, get off of me!" Jon shouts, shaking his cat off of him before returning his attention back to Vito. "Sorry, he hasn't eaten anything for hours, and it's making him go nuts.
"Don't worry-a, mister Arbuckle-a. I'll-a have his-a usual order-a ready in a jiffy-a!" Vito assures him. "That'll be ten-a pepperoni pizzas, correct-a?"
*GROWL* Garfield's stomach rumbles, nearly causing an earthquake inside the restaurant.
"Better make that twenty pizzas. Just to be safe." Jon said, wanting to make sure that there'll be plenty of slices left over for everyone else. Just then, a woman comes through the kitchen door.
"What was that-a noise, honey?" She asks. "I thought I heard-a someone's stomach rumbling-a."
"Never mind that-a, Momma! We've got a huge-a order to fill-a! Twenty pizzas, on the double-a!" Vito shouts as he and his wife rush back to the kitchen.
"Well, we might as well take our seats." Jon said as he and his two cats find a table.
Inside the kitchen, Penelope wakes up from her bed to see her owners cooking and stacking up more than a dozen plates of pizzas as fast as they can.
"Must be rush hour." Penelope said to herself, stretching out her paws as she walks out of bed.
"Hurry up-a with those-a pizzas!" Vito frantically shouts.
"I'm-a working as fast-a as I can-a!" Momma shouts back as she flips the pizza dough at a record pace.
"Well-a, make it faster-a! We-a don't want to keep-a Garfield waiting-a!" Vito shouts, placing the pizzas in the oven.
"Garfield? He's here!?" Penelope said, recognizing her friend's name. "Maybe he's finally gonna ask me to be his girlfriend!" She shouts in excitement, sighing affectionately as she fantasizes herself on a romantic date with her orange fat lover.
"I love you, Penelope." Garfield said, leaning closer as he prepares to kiss her.
"I love you too, Garfield." Penelope said, her lips about to connect with his…
"Vito! Hurry up-a!"
"I'm-a trying, woman-a!"
…only to have her fantasy interrupted by her owners' constant shouting at one another.
"Right. I better go say hi to him before it's too late." Penelope said, adjusting her forelock hair before following the chefs through the kitchen door.
"Here you are-a, mister Arbuckle-a! Twenty-a pizzas fresh-a from the oven-a!" Vito said, placing a ginormous stack of pizzas on Jon's table along with a two liter bottle of soda.
"Now that's what I call lunch!" Garfield said, letting his nose enjoy the sweet, fresh scent of the pizza for only a few seconds...
"COME TO PAPA!"
…before leaping straight onto the table, devouring pizza slice after pizza slice faster than the eye can see.
"Quick! Grab a slice before it's too late!" Jon shouts as he and Arlene gather as many slices as they can onto their plates.
*BUUUUUURRRRRRP* The stuffed cat lets out a huge belch, causing everyone else to fall over their seats.
"I love Vito's." Garfield said to the reader, grabbing the two liter soda and proceeding to chug it.
"Hi, Garfield!"
The orange cat suddenly spits out his drink upon hearing a familiar voice. Turning around, he spots a white female cat waving directly at him.
"Penelope? What are you doing here?" Garfield asks, shocked.
"Oh, didn't I ever tell you this is where I live? Vito's my owner." Penelope said.
"You're lying! I've been here hundreds of times, and I've never seen you in here before!" The orange cat points out, stuffing another slice into his mouth.
"Well, Brick wouldn't let me see any other guy back when I dated him, and he would often hide me in those trashy alleys that no one ever wants to go to just so he could have me all to himself." She explains, remembering the awful stench that plagued her during all her dates.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that." Garfield said, realizing that he did her a huge favor by killing him.
"It's okay. I'm just glad that that's all in the past now…" Penelope said, placing her paws on top of his. "...and that I have you now." She leans her head closer to his, ready to kiss him…
*AHEM*
…until she notices the pink cat climbing back to the seat right next to him.
"And who are you, exactly?" Arlene sternly asks.
"Oh, crap. I almost forgot." Garfield chuckles nervously, only now realizing the mess he's gotten himself into. "Penelope, this is my friend Arlene, and Arlene, this is my friend Penelope." He introduces the two girls to each other with a sheepish grin, hoping that this meeting wouldn't lead to a massive brawl that would most likely get him banned from his favorite pizzeria.
"Nice to meet you, Penelope." Arlene said with a huge grin on her face, much to the male cat's surprise.
"Likewise." Penelope said, also grinning. "So…Arlene…uhh… you visit here often?"
"Not really." Arlene replies. "This is actually the first time I've been away from the island, and-"
"Wait, you're from an island?" Penelope interrupts.
"Yep, I'm from Paradise World." The pink cat explains, taking a bite from one of her slices.
"Oh yeah, I've heard about that place. I always wanted to go there, because I hear that there's a lot of cute, muscular guys out there, and I'm hoping that one of them will beg for my hand in marriage." The white cat said, trying to make it sound like she has no romantic interest in Garfield.
"Oh, trust me, honey, you wouldn't want to go out with any of those guys." Arlene said, having dealt with several abusive marriages before. "Besides, Garfield's far more of a man compared to those losers."
"Speaking of which, how exactly did you two meet each other in the first place?" Penelope asks, wanting to know every detail between their relationship, whether it be in a platonic or romantic way.
"Long story short, me and my owner Jon went to the island for a vacation, and while he was busy checking out that one girl with the funny teeth, I was busy checking out all the delicious food the locals had lying around when Arlene here rudely interrupted me." Garfield replies, providing the shortest and simplest explanation he could think of.
"Typical Garfield." Both girls roll their eyes simultaneously, albeit with smiles.
"You got that right, ladies." The orange cat said, jokingly pointing finger guns at both of them. "Hmm, come to think of it, where is Jon?"
"Ohhhh. My head." Jon groans in pain, getting back up to his seat after falling unconscious from Garfield's burp.
"Bout time you woke up, sleepyhead." Garfield said. "Don't even think about taking a nap while we're out in public! That's my job! And another thing-"
Before the cat could continue berating his owner, a sudden thought hits him upon noticing a couple of plates of uneaten pizza slices lying right next to him on the table.
"You know, on second thought…heh heh heh" Garfield snickers. "You can go ahead and nap as long as you need to, Jonny boy. After all, that means more pizza for me."
*SMACK* Arlene smacks his grubby little paw before he could swipe the remaining slices for himself.
"OW!" The orange cat shouts in pain.
"I think you've had enough pizza to last you for one day, let alone three hours!" The pink cat angrily shouts, scolding him for making her listen to his melodramatic whining for the entire ride.
"Yeah, save some for the rest of us, Garfield!" Jon said, joining in on the scolding. "Speaking of which, we better get going."
"You're leaving-a so soon-a, mister Arbuckle-a?" Vito asks. "But your-a pussycat hasn't even tried-a my new-a chocolate chip-a pizza yet."
"Sorry, Vito, but I don't want to leave my dog all alone in the car for too long." Jon explains, getting up from his seat. "Besides, I think Garfield's too full for dessert right now."
"No, I'm not!" Garfield shouts before letting out another loud burp, further emphasizing his owner's point and much to the girls' disgust.
"See what I mean?" Jon asks rhetorically.
"I understand-a." Vito said, albeit a little disappointed. "Hopefully, your-a next visit will be-a very soon-a. You're my-a number one-a money maker, after all-a." He said, sharing a laugh with the cartoonist. "Speaking of which-a, here's your bill-a."
Upon being handed the check and gazing at the price, Jon nearly manages to stop himself from falling unconscious yet again. Conceding, He pulls out his wallet and finds that he has no cash left, as he spent it all back in Paradise World.
"Will this do?" Jon asks, pulling out his credit card, as that was the only way he could pay for all the food his cat had eaten without having to wash all the dishes in the kitchen again!
"Certainly-a, mister Arbuckle-a." Vito said, swiping the card on the register before handing it back to Jon. "You-a have a nice day-a!"
"You too, Vito." Jon said before heading out the door with the leftovers in a takeout container. "C'mon you two, let's go."
"Right behind ya, Arbuckle." Garfield said as he and Arlene get up from their seats.
"It was nice seeing you, Garfield." Penelope said.
"Huh? Oh yeah, it was nice seeing you too." The orange cat said, nearly forgetting that she was there.
"Will we see each other again really soon?" The white cat asks.
"Sure, I definitely need to try out that new chocolate chip pizza." Garfield replies. "Oh, and maybe I'll bring Arlene so that she can have the crumbs on the tray once I'm done eating it."
"Ha ha, very funny." Arlene said, rolling her eyes. "It was nice meeting you, Penelope."
"Yes…it sure was…" Penelope said, grinding her teeth as she lets out a suspicious smile.
"You okay there, buddy?" Garfield asks, noticing her odd smile.
"Of course…w-why wouldn't I be okay?" She replies, her teeth grinding back and forth.
"Alright then…" The orange cat said, weirded out by her behavior. "Well, see ya!" He shouts as he and Arlene head out the door.
"It was-a so nice to have-a Arbuckle back-a." Momma said.
"Indeed it was-a, honey." Vito said. "Now-a, business will be-a booming again-a!"
As the two chefs head back into the kitchen, Momma notices that the bed that her pet cat would normally occupy was empty, and that she's nowhere to be found.
"Hmm, I wonder where my-a precious Penelope has run off to-a." She ponders to herself.