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"So…how did you two get here?"
The dogs were huddled around Tom, Daniel, Pam, and Danny behind an ambulance. All around, people were beginning to drive away from the scene. Pam and Danny learned about Tom and Wanda's real identities, as well as who was Hank.
Talking Dog had just asked the two bus drivers how they knew where the dogs were being held.
Pam and Danny looked at each other. "Well, we wouldn't have gotten here without Tom's help," admitted Danny.
The dogs looked at Tom with surprise.
"Well," admitted Tom. "I didn't think about calling for reinforcements until after we stopped in Boston. You see, up until that point, I had been calling my fellow officers via cell phone about my situation. However, they wanted to wait until I had clear evidence before arresting anyone." He paused for a moment. "Then, back in Boston, I had the idea of calling the bus driver that brought us here. I needed another person to help identify Wanda besides myself."
"Ah," said Talking Dog. "I knew you weren't really calling your family on that phone."
"Yeah," said Tom. "It's one of my more popular excuses…although I do call them from time to time."
The dogs turned their attention to Danny. "So, you came?"
"Well," Danny said turning to T.D. "I thought about what you told me, about thinking of others, and I decided that, right after you left, I went and called the company about a driver named Pam who recently stopped in Townsville. The head office said that she had to take an emergency trip to Providence, Rhode Island, and they gave me her number."
"Mm-hmm," nodded Pam. "My brother was ill, so I had to rush over to see if he was alright. Turned out, he was recovering by the time I got there. As soon as I knew he was fine, I got a call from this Danny guy saying that those dogs were in trouble somewhere in Boston." Pam smiled at Danny. "I didn't know who the heck you were, but when you said these dogs were in trouble, I knew I had to come."
"So," said Danny. "She told me where she was, and I drove the bus down to pick her up. Then we drove back to Boston. Round trip was about an hour. We went inside to ask where Tom and Wanda went, but no one knew. And that's when a call came through and the man behind the desk said it was for us. It was Tom."
"Yep," said Tom. "As soon as I arrived at the warehouse, I ran inside and picked up the first telephone I came to. First, I called my partner, Toby. I told him exactly where I was and to bring reinforcements…oh, and to watch for a Greyhound bus that would be heading there too. Then, I called the bus station in Boston and talked to Danny and Pam. I told them where I was right before I got hit by Wanda."
"Yeah," said Danny. "We heard a 'thump' and then we got hung up. We were worried that something happened, so we drove over here as fast as we could. We barely even noticed the police cars behind us."
All was silent for a second. Then, Cat said, "Was it really necessary to ram into the building like that?"
"Hey," said Pam. "I wasn't the one driving!"
"Alright," admitted Danny. "So, I've seen too many action movies. I couldn't help myself."
"Mm-hmm," muttered Pam as she quirked an eyebrow. "Well, you better be lucky they towed that bus out in time, 'cause if it had gone over the cliff, it would've been coming out of our salaries."
"Say, one more thing," said Spike, turning to Daniel. "How were you able to get out of your cage? We tried everything but we couldn't open the electronic locks."
"I can answer that," said Tom. He gave everyone a closer look at his canine companion's partner. "Before I was a cop, I was a well-educated electrician. I helped install this electromagnetic device into Daniel's collar to turn on his self-feeding food bowl. I assume it must've messed up the instruments inside the electronic lock."
Daniel smiled sheepishly.
"So, what now?" asked Courage softly.
Tom sighed. "I guess we're gonna have to get you all back to your homes."
"How?" inquired the dogs.
Tom smiled. "Don't know. But trust me, you'll get home. Somehow."
After that, everyone more or less left the scene.
Tom and Daniel returned to Boston and received special honors for solving their case. Both of them stayed partners with Toby for many more years. Danny and Pam would've certainly lost their jobs had Tom not vouched for them. They both got to keep their bus driving jobs and continued to meet many interesting people on their travels. Wanda was convicted on charges including animal mistreatment and assaulting an officer. Her sentence was apparently reduced to twenty-five years in the state penitentiary. And as for Hank, well, he never bothered another dog again.
As for the dogs, they all eventually returned to their masters.
First, they were transported to Boston's Logan Airport via animal control vehicles. Some were more willing to travel in those trucks than others, but all of them made it to the airport. Once there, everyone went on the aircraft that would take them to the airport closest to their hometown.
Well, everyone except Astro. Astro quickly fled the scene after the building collapsed. He ran for quite a while, until he stopped on a beach on the other side of the cape. He collapsed on the sand as the waves crashed nearby and the stars twinkled overhead. He felt worried and confused. Until now, he knew what to do and where to go. But now that his current adventure in this world of the past was over, Astro had no clue what to do next.
Astro felt so distraught, that he didn't noticed a faint white light shining behind him. It grew brighter and brighter, until suddenly, it went ZAP!!! and disappeared He turned and saw a bewildered Elroy staring at him and saying, "Astro! There you are!"
Astro was so shocked and happy to see a familiar face, that he yelled, "Erlroy!" and bounded over to Elroy and began licking his face madly.
Elroy pulled him off and said, "Boy, Astro, it's a good thing I found you. You walked by my time machine one moment, and the next minute you were gone!" Elroy pointed to a funny collar around his neck. "I had to compress the time machine's components into this collar and then try and track your biological signal to the correct year and…well, I'm just glad to see you." Elroy gave Astro a hug. "Here," said Elroy as he placed a similar collar around Astro's neck. "If we hurry, we'll return to our time right at the moment we left."
"Rin rime or rinner?"
"Yes, Astro, in time for dinner," laughed Elroy. He held his dog close. "I'd sure like to explore this place, though."
"Rust re," said Astro. "Ris prace is rinda reird." Then, in a zap, they were back in their own time, just in time for dinner.
Most of the non-talking dogs were given a hero's welcome, since their masters had watched the drama unfold on the news. Enrique Jr, Porkchop, and Spike were greeted with adoration and applause upon their return. Hector Con Carne's entire fleet welcomed Enrique Jr. back as Porkchop and Spike had less impressive but equally emotional celebrations. Doug treated Porkchop to a trip to the ice cream parlor while Tommy's parents let Spike sleep near Tommy's crib.
Buttons and Blue came back to their homes to masters who were completely oblivious as what had happened to them. Mindy held onto Buttons for hours as Blue's master, Joe, thought he had just come back from a treasure hunt or something that involved clues. It didn't take long for Blue to get back into the swing of things.
Finally, Santa's Little Helper was delivered back to the Simpsons. Homer wondered where he had been.
Lisa said, "Dad, don't you remember the kidnapped dogs on the news? Didn't you know Santa's Little Helper was one of them?"
"Oh," said Homer. "I thought he was playing hide-and-go-seek."
"For four days?"
"Hey, there have been some pretty long hide-and-seek games in history, little lady. Like the Indians hiding from the Europeans, for example."
Lisa merely sighed as she and Bart fed their dog a decent meal.
As for the talking dogs, most of them managed to get to their destinations okay. Scooby, Courage, and Goddard managed to contact their masters by phone, or in Goddard's case, by video transmission. Courage took a plane and ended up at his home without any mishaps…except for the fact that the plane landed on the road in front of his house and took off the moment he exited. Scooby found out where Shaggy and his friends were staying (a creepy house, of course), so he took a plane there and reunited with his friends just in time to solve the mystery. And, although Goddard could fly home on his own power, he thought it would be easier to take a plane. Plus, he didn't have his rocket boosters (see chap. 2.) Once at the airport, Goddard flew back to Jimmy's house using his ears as helicopter propellers. Jimmy was more than glad to see him. Goddard's replacement (see chap. 4) was intolerable and was deactivated several hours after it had been built. Since then, Jimmy patiently waited for Goddard to return. When he did, he reinstalled his rocket boosters and, in return, Goddard licked his face and barked happily.
Gir arrived on Zim's doorstep via plane as well (although he had to be contained in the baggage hold because he kept upsetting the passengers.) Zim responded to a knock on his door only to find Gir in his now-dirty and worn-out dog costume.
"Gir!" replied Zim. "Thank the Irken Armada you're here! Everything's gone mad over here! These things called 'electric bills' have arrived at my house, and this odd thing called 'Oprah' just won't go away!"
"Is the funny monkey show still on?" asked Gir.
"Well, yes, but…"
"Yee-ha!!" Gir threw off his dog suit and planted himself on the couch. "Hey, buddy! Wash that thing for me will ya?"
"But…rrrr," growled Zim as he took up Gir's filthy dog costume and headed down the basement towards the laundry room. However, he tripped on the stairs and crashed on the bottom step far below.
"Ouch."
Meanwhile, T.D. caught a plane to Townsville and eventually crashed in his apartment. What with everything that happened to him over the past five days, he needed a much needed rest. "It sure feels good to be back home," he said to himself as the Powerpuff Girls fought yet another monster outside.
Finally, Runt had a difficult time telling people he was from Hollywood because he was a stray. So, he had to "accidentally" sneak aboard a Hollywood-bound airplane. Once there, he managed to somehow locate the alley he commonly stayed at. Rita the feline was waiting there.
"I knew it," she said. "Didn't I tell you?"
"Yep, definitely," agreed Runt. "Definitely did, yep…….uh, tell me what?"
"I knew that you'd be coming back within five days, and look at that! Five days!"
"Oh."
"So…how was Cape Cod?" asked Rita.
"Oh, it was great and everything, but…"
"Did you save the canines that were captured there?"
"Oh yeah, but…"
"But what?"
"It's really feels good to be back."
"I'm sure it does," Rita smiled at her big furry friend. "I'm sure it does."
The End…or as Mindy would say, "OK, I love you, bye-bye."