Calvin glanced at Hobbes. Hobbes glanced at Bob. Bob glanced at Andy. Andy glanced at Nebular. Nebular glanced at Sherman. Sherman glanced at Galaxoid. Galaxoid glanced at Socrates. Socrates glanced at Calvin.

"What do we do now, genius?" Socrates demanded.

Calvin thought for a moment.

"I'm not sure. Rupert, Retro and Earl are too powerful now. And plus, we still have Earth to worry about. Man oh man, what a to-do."

Hobbes sighed at Calvin's sad expression. He didn't like that his best friend was being pressured like this.

"You know…," he said.

Everyone looked at him.

"…I might be able to come up with an idea."

Everyone continued to stare at him.

Sherman snorted insultingly at Hobbes, but Andy hushed him.

"You could?" asked Calvin. "Well don't let us stop you! Think away!"

Hobbes did so. He thought over this entire adventure. He thought all the way past where they'd caught up with Rupert and Retro. He thought past Galaxoid and Nebular telling him of Calvin's disappearance. He made it all the way to the part where he and Calvin had decided to use the Time Pauser to make their summer longer.

Wait! That one seemed interesting.

Hobbes mentally replayed that scene in his head.

Calvin got a devious look on his face, but before he pushed the button, Hobbes placed his tail on Calvin's head, and they both felt time stop.

BOOM!

"Nice touch," commented Hobbes.

"You always have to ruin everything," Calvin muttered.

"Hey, just out of curiosity, what happens when you touch the button again, but I'm not touching you? Do I stay here in the point where time doesn't exist?"

"I'd guess so, but we're wasting precious non-moving time. Let's go."

Hobbes thought about those lines again and again.

"…what happens when you touch the button again, but I'm not touching you? Do I stay here in the point where time doesn't exist?"

Hobbes' eyes grew wide with excitement.

A grin spread across his face.

Bob looked at him.

"Do you have an idea?" he asked eagerly.

"I'm getting one."

"Well hurry up!" said Sherman.

"Yeah, they're probably somewhere around here," added Nebular.

Hobbes held up a paw to silence everyone.

They all looked at him anxiously.

"I've…GOT IT!" he shouted.

"What? What!" demanded Calvin.

"The Time Pauser!"

Everyone stared at him.

Calvin sighed.

"Hobbes, while I admit the Time Pauser would be good for escaping, it might be best if we vanquished Rupert, Retro and Earl once and for all, and the Time Pauser won't do that."

"Or can it?" Hobbes said eagerly.

Calvin glanced at everyone else.

Andy and Sherman shrugged.

Bob and Socrates scratched their heads.

Galaxoid and Nebular exchanged glances.

Calvin looked back at Hobbes.

"This had better be good, Hobbes," he said.

"Well, remember when I asked you what would happen if you and I paused time and then if you were to unpause time without me touching you? What would happen to me?"

"Eh…"

Calvin thought for a moment.

"Well, I guess you'd be trapped in the dimension where time doesn't exist," he said at last.

There was a pause.

"Give him a minute," said Hobbes.

The gears were spinning like mad in Calvin's mind as he frantically tried to figure out Hobbes' plan.

Finally the little Calvin's in his mind put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Oh… Oh! OH!" Calvin finally said. "That's brilliant, Hobbes! Genius! If we can get Retro, Earl and Rupert into paused time, then we can leave them there!"

"Right," said Hobbes. "But we're all going to have to be in paused time to keep things safe."

"What for?" asked Socrates.

"Because if we unpause time too soon, then there's a chance they could get us. For example, if we're still on the ground, then they could just grab us and kill us while we're frozen. And we'd have to be out of shooting range for the planet we leave them on so that they can't shoot the ships down. That means we'll have to get both of your ships into paused time as well," said Hobbes.

"Hobbes," said Bob. "That is a looooonnng plan."

"I know. But we'll have to do it if we want to get rid of those guys. All we need is the Time Pauser."

"Oh, I've got it," said Andy. He reached into his pocket.

Then his expression to confusion.

"At least I thought I did."

Sherman crawled into Andy's pockets.

"Strange," he said. "He had it earlier. He used it to sneak us past some aliens."

"Did you put it back into your pocket?" asked Calvin.

"Yeah, I distinctly remember it."

"Maybe he dropped it?" suggested Galaxoid. "Maybe it was during the battle on Zok."

"But what could have happened to it?" wondered Socrates.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise.

BOOM!

Everyone whirled around as they saw Rupert, Retro, and Earl standing there, each looking diabolical.

"Looking for this?" sneered Retro. He held up the Time Pauser.

"Hey, that's mine, ya poofy-haired freak!" shouted Calvin.

Even Rupert and Earl thought that was amusing, and they chuckled while Retro glared at Calvin.

"Where's the rest of your crew?" asked Sherman.

"They're still on the ship," said Earl. "We decided it was too risky for them, so they're staying on the moon called Bomb."

"Smart," muttered Andy.

"Think you can defeat us, do you?" Retro growled. "Well, I'll teach you!"

Retro made a grab for Calvin, but he missed.

Calvin, Hobbes, Socrates, Andy, Sherman, Galaxoid, Nebular and Bob ran for the two ships.

This time, Sherman, Socrates and Nebular boarded Sherman's ship, and Galaxoid, Andy and Bob boarded Galaxoid and Nebular's ship.

Only Calvin and Hobbes couldn't get into the ships in time because at that moment, Earl appeared out of nowhere, holding the Time Pauser and a giant net.

Calvin and Hobbes were immediately tangled in the net and dangling from the ship, ready to be blasted.

"HELP!" shouted Calvin.

"GET US DOWN, YOU IDIOTS!" Hobbes added.

Andy, Galaxoid, Bob, Socrates, Nebular and Sherman looked out the windows and saw what was about to happen.

"Okay, here's the plan!" shouted Sherman. "Socrates, you take down Retro! Andy and Bob, you take on Rupert and Earl. Galaxoid and Nebular, get the Time Pauser! I'll try and free Calvin and Hobbes."

Everyone scrambled to their positions.

Andy jumped Earl and took him out just as the blast was fired from the ray gun.

The blast shot past Calvin's head.

"Help. Cry for help," muttered Hobbes.

Andy karate kicked Earl, knocking him to the ground.

"Oof!" Earl shouted. "How're you doing that!"

"Black belt; third degree!" shouted Andy. "Chopkicky!"

And he punched Earl square in the spot where his nose should've been.

Earl's gun slid out of his tentacles, as well as the Time Pauser.

Galaxoid and Nebular reached for it, but they couldn't get it.

Instead, Retro caught it.

"Ha, HA!" Retro cackled.

Galaxoid and Nebular stepped aside.

Suddenly, there was a loud roar, and then Socrates landed on Retro!

"Take this, Larry!" he growled. "I'll teach you to attack my favorite suckers!"

"Yeah!" shouted Hobbes.

Then he realized what had just been said.

"Hey!"

Socrates ripped at Retro's lab coat and scratched his face. He bit his black shoes. He kicked his butt.

Retro finally shoved the red-tailed tiger off and stood up.

His sideburns were bent.

"Why I oughta—!"

But Socrates kicked him right in the back, and that caused the Time Pauser to come loose.

Galaxoid and Nebular ran after it again, but missed and slammed into Rupert Chill.

And the alien king held the Time Pauser in his grasp.

Meanwhile, Sherman was scurrying along the top of his ship, and he hurried over to the net.

"Hang on, boys!" he shouted. "I'll get ya out of there!"

Calvin and Hobbes stared at him.

"Are you being nice to us?" asked Hobbes.

"Earth is at stake, Stripes. I can't help it," Sherman said simply.

And with that, Sherman proceeded in trying to chew through the ropes with his sharp teeth.

But Rupert was in a mood to fight.

And Bob stood to the right of him, trying to be brave.

"You betrayed us all, Bob," Rupert growled. "Don't think that I'll go easy on you."

Bob gulped nervously and tried to hold up his fists.

"Any chance I could get some help over here?" he shouted.

But Andy and Socrates were still beating up Earl and Retro.

And Galaxoid and Nebular would've helped, but they weren't very good fighters without arms.

So Bob was on his own.

Huh boy.

"Come on, wimp! Make your move!" Rupert roared.

Galaxoid and Nebular were standing nearby, waiting to take the Time Pauser.

"Let's hope Bob's stronger than he looks," whispered Galaxoid.

In a desperate attempt to fight, Bob stomped down hard on of Rupert's tentacles.

"YEOWCH!" he shouted.

His tentacles holding the Time Pauser flailed, and it was hurled on top of Sherman's ship.

Galaxoid and Nebular ran after it.

Rupert glared at Bob, and then he flailed after it.

Bob ran after him.

Retro and Earl managed to follow, and Andy and Socrates managed to follow them.

Sherman was ignored as he was still chewing through the net.

"Hurry up!" Calvin shouted.

Galaxoid and Nebular climbed on top of the ship.

Rupert, Retro and Earl followed.

And Bob, Socrates and Andy followed them.

Nebular grabbed the Time Pauser.

And with everyone touching the ship he was touching, and with his own ship touching the other, Nebular pushed the button.

BOOM!

Time was paused.

And just at that moment, Sherman finished chewing through the net.

Calvin and Hobbes tumbled to the ground.

"Thanks, Ver—," Hobbes quickly corrected himself, "—I mean, Sherman."

"No prob," Sherman chuckled.

"Okay, part one is complete," said Calvin. "Now we just have to get off of this moon and leave those three here somehow."