"The Realization"
So, now the Greyhound bus was beginning the longest leg of the journey; a several-hundred mile, nonstop trek from Townsville to New York City and then straight to Boston. After hearing the word "nonstop", the dogs worried that they wouldn't stop, even for food. But the driver, Danny, made it clear that they would be making stops for food along the way (much to Scooby's delight.) However, since it was beginning to get dark, they wouldn't be stopping until breakfast tomorrow morning.
Runt, Gir, Goddard, CatDog, Courage, Astro, Scooby, and the Talking Dog (henceforth known as T.D.) remained in the rear of the bus for about thirty minutes. Eventually, the dogs got bored as the sky began darkening outside. They decided to walk around and get a closer look at the two human passengers on the bus.
As they slowly made their way down the aisle, the dogs realized that only a few of them could talk to the humans comfortably. T.D. and CatDog had perfect pronunciation in their speech, but Scooby and Astro had rather poor talking skills. Gir could talk, but he often said things that didn't make any sense, and Goddard could only type things on his viewscreen. (Goddard wished Jimmy Neutron would get to work on that voice chip he said he was going to work on.) As for Runt and Courage, they could talk, but humans couldn't understand them. They would only hear barking, or babbling in Courage's case.
The dogs didn't want everyone crowding around the passengers, so they voted for T.D. to find out who the passengers were while everyone else listened.
Reluctantly, T.D. walked over to the middle-aged man and said "Hello." Naturally, the man was rather surprised to see a dog talking to him.
"Uh…hello there," the man said. "Can I, um, help you?"
T.D. looked at the man. He was about forty years old and had black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing jeans, a blue long-sleeved shirt, and tennis shoes. T.D. also noticed that the man looked slightly overweight and had small wrinkles in his face.
T.D. cleared his throat. "Me and my friends," he said, motioning to the dogs behind him. "We were curious as to why you told the driver that we had clearance to travel on this bus."
"Oh, I just said that so you all wouldn't get kicked out. I hate it when dogs like you are left on the side of the road like a pile of garbage…not that you are or anything."
"Oh, no, no," said T.D. "We thank you for that. Really, that was very generous of you."
"You're welcome," answered the man.
"So, what's your name?" asked T.D.
"My name's Tom. I'm an electrician from Pasadena, California; a really good one too."
"I'm sure," replied T.D. "Where are you heading to?"
"I'm heading to some little town in Cape Cod. I have to go help a friend who's in trouble. His name's Daniel."
When T.D. heard the words "Cape Cod", his eyes widened. Tom was going to be in the same location! Maybe Tom could help him save the dogs that were dognapped!
"Well, said T.D. "I'm on my way to Cape Cod as well. Coincidentally, I'm going to help out some friends too. You can come with me, if you're not too busy."
Tom sat back in the seat. "Well, I'd be much obliged. I don't know if I'll be much help, but I'll do what I can."
"Thank you," said T.D.
T.D. walked down the aisle and approached the woman. She was talking on a cell phone and didn't notice T.D. observing her. She was about ten years younger than Tom, and had red, curly hair, bony cheeks, and thin-framed glasses. She was wearing a cardigan, a knee-length skirt, and high heels. She looked like a stereotypical businesswoman.
She noticed the dog looking at her and spoke into the phone. "Look, boss, I'll have to call you back." She abruptly hung up and looked at T.D. "And how are you, little doggie?"
"Fine, thank you," said T.D. politely.
The woman's response to the Talking Dog was more alarming than Tom's had been. It took a moment for her to calm down.
"I didn't realize you could talk!" she said exasperatedly.
"Well, we all can," said T.D. pointing to the other dogs. "More or less," he added, eyeing Scooby and Astro.
The woman identified herself as Wanda. She was an accountant from Santa Monica, California who was going to meet a business associate.
"He lives in a house in Cape Cod. Really nice guy too." She said.
T.D. couldn't believe it. "Cape Cod? That where I'm going! And him too," said T.D. who pointed to Tom.
"Really," said Wanda who narrowed her eyes at Tom. T.D. thought she was just trying to get a better look at him. Maybe it was his imagination, but T.D. thought he heard a bit of suspicion in Wanda's voice. Suddenly, Wanda said, "Well, since we're all going to the same place, we should stick together on this trip. Now, I'd love to sit and chat, but I need to call my boss again." She picked up her phone and began dialing the number. "Lots of boring businesswork to discuss. You wouldn't be interested."
"I'm sure," mumbled T.D. as he let Wanda talk. He kind of wished he could talk to her some more, but she was already talking softly into her phone, so he turned back to his friends. T.D. told the other dogs about Wanda. "She seems really busy, though, so try not to bother her too often."
The dogs considered talking to Danny, but not only was he driving the bus, he also didn't like the dogs breaking the rules by being on the bus in the first place. So, the dogs returned to the back of the bus and sat there. No one felt like talking, except for Gir, who kept singing some song (he didn't know the words; he just kept singing "doo-doo-doo-doo") until Cat told him to shut up.
At this point, it might've been a good idea for one of the dogs to mention that he was on his way to Cape Cod, because, believe it or not, each dog thought they were going to Cape Cod alone and that the other dogs were going to New York or Boston. Some of the dogs had maybe mentioned that they were going to Cape Cod, but they never had time to say why.
After a while, the dogs got bored sitting there on the uncomfortable floor, so they decided to sit in the seats. Danny objected to the idea at first, but he eventually gave in.
Outside, night had arrived. The little lights inside the bus blinked on. Each seat had a light and an A/C vent over it like an airplane. The dogs divided up into three groups and sat in the back half of the bus. Every dog felt a little uncomfortable about sitting on their tails and had to shift their weight. The groups of dogs had just begun talking to each other when, suddenly, raindrops began falling on the windows and splattering on the windshield. Danny's voice came over the loudspeaker.
"Attention passengers, we are approaching a large storm system. Weather reports predict heavy rain, hail, and lightning. Hopefully, we'll get through the storm in time to arrive in New York…if we make it one piece, that is. Heh heh," chuckled Danny.
Runt, Goddard, and T.D. made up one of the three groups of dogs. Runt clumsily sat in the seat next to the window. Next to him sat T.D. Across the aisle, Goddard retracted his legs into his body and "sat" down.
"Gosh, that rain sure is pretty," said Runt, staring out the window.
"Yeah, during the day," said T.D. "But you can barely even see it at night." T.D. wasn't too crazy about thunderstorms. He could tolerate them; he just didn't want to be caught in the middle of one. T.D. turned to Goddard. "I bet you don't like rain, do you?"
Goddard, via his screen, told T.D. and Runt about how he had a leak-proof, metal exoskeleton that didn't allow water to enter his internal circuitry. Runt, however, got bored with the long, elaborate words Goddard kept using and blurted out, "This bus ride sure is fun."
"Yeah, I guess," muttered T.D. "I mean, I've never really ridden on a bus before. In fact, I don't think any of us have."
No one said anything for a moment until Runt sighed. "I miss Rita."
"Who's Rita?" asked T.D.
"She's my friend back in Hollywood," said Runt. Runt told T.D. and Goddard all about Rita's singing voice and attitude and pretty much everything else about her…except Runt forgot to mention that she was a cat.
"Wow, she sounds like a really nice girl," said T.D., who winked at Goddard. "Don't let this one get away."
"Yeah, well I miss her anyway."
T.D. (who apparently thought Rita was a girl dog) started a speech about "love knows no boundaries" and things like that. Runt, of course, didn't know what the heck he was talking about, so when T.D. was through, Runt changed the subject.
"Hey, doggie," said Runt to Goddard. "Who made that pretty thing on your head?" Runt was referring to the electrical dome on Goddard's head that kept creating little multi-colored bolts of electricity, like a Van de Graaff generator.
Goddard explained what it was and eventually started telling his friends all about his genius master, Jimmy Neutron, which took about thirty minutes, until Goddard could see he was boring his friends. So he asked T.D. about his hometown, Townsville. T.D. took about fifteen minutes to talk about "the city of Townsville", and who the Powerpuff Girls were, and about his life (which was, for the most part, dull and not very exciting. That's why he is such a minor character on the show.)
Goddard, Gir, and T.D. didn't know too much about Boston, so they began talking about what they'd do in New York.
Several rows back, as that was going on, Courage was getting a headache trying to understand the conversation he was involved in at the moment. Courage sat by the window while Scooby sat next to him. The two dogs had become friends as soon as they knew about how many things they were afraid of. Scooby was also making friends with Astro, since they both talked the same way. Courage, on the other hand, was trying his hardest to understand what Scooby and Astro were saying. At the same time, he was also concerned about the storm.
"Oooooh, I hope this storm goes by soon. I don't like storms," Courage whined.
"Ryeah," agreed Scooby. "Ri ron't rike strorms reither. Reir creeby."
"Re dron't gret roo rany strorms rhere ri rome from," said Astro.
"Y-you're from the future. That's what you said before, right?" asked Courage.
Astro said yes. He then explained all about how his master, Elroy, had built the time machine that transported him here. Astro also told Scooby and Courage as much as he could about his futuristic world…everything from flying cars and robot maids to push-button breakfasts and REALLY high-rise apartments. Scooby listened with wide eyes as Courage only understood portions of what Astro was describing.
When Astro appeared to be done, Scooby was amazed by Astro's world. "Row," he said. "Rat's arazing!"
"Y'know," said Courage. "It's funny how you're from the future and yet you two sound so similar."
Scooby and Astro looked at each other. "Ryeah, rat's rearry reato!" said Scooby.
Astro shrugged. "Rost rogs ralk rike re rack rhere rime rome."
Courage scratched his head. "So, most dogs talk like you back where you're from?"
"Ruh-huh," said Astro.
"Wow. That IS neato!"
At that point, a bolt of lightning flashed outside, which startled Courage and Scooby.
"Roo two reem rared of rots of rings," said Astro.
Courage looked at him oddly. "I'm not scared of rings."
"Ro, rings! RINGS!" Astro began pointing all over the place. It took Courage a moment to realize that Astro meant "things."
Courage whined. He always felt a little embarrassed about his fears. Fortunately, Scooby began talking about all the things that he was scared of. Courage noticed that he was scared of a lot of the same things that Scooby was scared of, like haunted houses and ghosts and monsters. So, Courage told them about things that he was scared of, which took a while. The only thing Astro was afraid of was "rooking rown" from his apartment. The ground was quite a distance away, but at that time period, people got used to being up high.
The group paused for a moment as the rain continued to fall outside. Finally, Scooby said, "Ri riss Raggy."
"Who?" asked Courage and Astro.
So, Scooby told them all about Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma. Afterwards, Courage told them about his masters, Eustace and Muriel, and some of his other friends and enemies. Then, Astro told them about his family and some of his dog friends.
By then, hail was beginning to rattle against the windshield of the bus.
"I hope we get to Boston soon," muttered Courage. Fortunately, the hail ended as quickly as it began. Courage asked his two friends what they were going to do once they got to New York.
Meanwhile, near the front of the bus, Gir was driving CatDog crazy…or at least the feline half. Dog was actually getting a real kick out of Gir. They weren't having any meaningful conversation at all. Basically, Dog laughed at almost everything Gir said. Cat, on other hand, was to Gir as an old, grumpy man is to a five-year-old. Cat hated the fact that Gir would always change the subject or say something weird. Cat tried to tell Dog to get rid of Gir, but Gir would always cut in.
Eventually, Gir began telling CatDog all about Zim and the Irken invasion, but by then, Dog was asleep and Cat was banging his head against the window trying to figure out what combination of medications could cause a dog to act like that.
Finally, when Gir began singing "One Million Bottles of Phlegm on the Wall", Cat had reached the breaking point. Waking up Dog in the process, Cat grabbed Gir by the shoulders and brought him up to his enraged face.
"Look!" Cat shouted in a high-pitched voice. His eyes were dilated and red veins were visible. "Will you stop with the blabbering??!! I can't take it anymore! Why are you on this bus? Huh? Why didn't you stay home with that Zim guy? Tell me! Why, why why??!!"
"That's easy, silly kittie," said Gir with a smile. "To save the doggies in the cape of cod!"
CatDog froze. This enabled Gir to wiggle out of Cat's hands. "Excuse me," he screeched. "I'm gonna go play with the toilet paper. Bye now!" Gir quickly ran down the aisle and locked himself in the bathroom again.
CatDog stared at each other. "To save the doggies in Cape Cod." That was the exact reason why CatDog was on the bus!
"Cat? Aren't we going to Cape Cod?" asked Dog.
"Yeah. And so was he," said Cat.
Before he could jump to any conclusions, however, a huge bolt of lightning struck right next to the bus! The thunderclap sounded like a giant whip cracking. All of the dogs reacted. The most extreme reactions came from Courage, Scooby, and Cat. All three of them screamed at the same time as everyone else either covered their ears or howled.
"Cat! Cat!" cried Dog, trying to calm his other half down. He could feel Cat's adrenaline flowing through his body. "Cat, calm down!"
But Cat couldn't calm down. The fur on his body was on end and he grabbed a hold of Dog. Cat's claws made Dog yelp out in pain as he shouted:
"CALM DOWN??!! WE ALMOST GOT STRUCK BY LIGHTNING AND YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN??!!"
Dog pried his brother's claws out of his skin. "We didn't get hit, and besides, you'd rather be struck by lightning out there than in here?"
"No!" argued Cat. "It's no more wet out there than it is in here! Look!" Cat pointed to the metal siding along the bottom of the window. The air conditioning had created condensation on it.
"But Cat, it's just…"
"Water! I'm a cat! I hate water! I could be at home now in my nice, warm, dry bed, but no, you drag me here instead, and you know where that is?" Before Dog could answer, Cat threw his fists into the air and shrieked: "ON A BUS SURROUNDED BY DOGS TRAVELING TO SOME CITY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY ALL BECAUSE OF SOME SIXTH SENSE DREAM FROM CAPE COD TELLING US TO SAVE A BUNCH OF KIDNAPPED DOGS!!!"
A flash of lightning illuminated Cat's muscle-strained face. He was breathing heavily as he waited for the thunder to arrive.
"Uh…Cat?" asked Dog.
Cat turned and saw Dog looking back over the seat. Cat turned towards the back of the bus just as the thunder became audible.
Nine pairs of eyes were staring at him. Tom and Wanda had been awaken by the screaming and thought nothing more about the pesky cat. On the other hand, Runt, Goddard, Astro, Scooby, Courage, and T.D. were staring at Cat with big, wide eyes. Even Gir, wrapped up in toilet paper like a mummy, stumbled out of the bathroom and looked at Cat with his buggy eyes.
This was the first time the dogs knew that they were all going to the same place on the same mission. (As I said before, each dog forgot to mention where they were going when they were first introducing each other. Somehow, it had slipped their minds, but not anymore.) This was also the first time the dogs knew that they all had the same SOS dream.
The first voice that spoke up next was Danny, the driver. "I'm gonna have to ask the cat to calm down for the remainder of this trip, please."
For a while afterwards, no one moved. Then, one by one, each dog got out of his seat and walked to the back of the bus where Gir was at already.
When all the dogs were back there, they spent over two hours talking about how they had arrived on the bus. Each dog described a different account about how they had reacted from the SOS dream and how they had gotten on the bus. When every dog was done elaborating his account, a brief discussion began about what to do next. In the end, the talking canines made an official pact to work together on saving the dogs in Cape Cod.
By the time the dogs, now officially united towards a common goal, fell asleep in the bus seats, it was one A.M., and the storm outside had finally passed.