Disclaimer: Garfield and all related characters are the property of Paws Inc. and Paramount Global/Nickelodeon at the time of this story's creation.
Warning!
The following chapter contains graphic content not necessarily suitable for certain readers.
Viewer discretion is advised.
What if Jon Was Killed?
The panther slowly approaches its prey. Its glowing yellow eyes locked onto the two humans as they slowly back away.
"I thought they said this lake was safe from wild animals!" Jon said, panicking.
"Run, Jon, run! Find the boys and get out of here!" Lyman urges.
"And just leave you here to die!? Like hell I am!" Jon shouts.
"There's no time to argue! Get the rangers while I keep it busy!"
*RARRRGH* The panther lunges towards them, just barely missing its targets.
"GO!" Lyman shouts, but his friend still refuses to leave his side.
"NO!" Jon shouts back. "I'm not leaving without you!"
"Will you just listen to me!?" Lyman argues. "Get the boys and run!"
"I won't lose you!" Jon insists. "I'll distract the panther, while you find the rangers!"
After a brief moment of hesitation, Lyman realizes what he must do…
…for Odie's sake.
"Alright, Jon. You keep the panther busy while I find the boys."
And with that, Lyman runs out of the campsite, desperately searching for the park rangers and the pets…
…while his friend remains behind…
…standing face-to-face with the vicious animal.
As the panther continuously stares down the remaining human standing in front of it to make sure he can't escape its sight, Garfield and Odie quickly make it back to the campsite, and are horrified with the situation laying before their eyes.
"HOLY SHIT! A PANTHER!" Garfield panically shouts.
*BARK BARK BARK* Odie yelps in rapid succession, wondering where Lyman is.
"JON! GET OUT OF THERE!" The orange cat then shouts, which ends up catching the panther's attention.
*GRRRRR* The black furred feline growls, eyeing the two other animals staring directly at it…
…and starts running directly towards them!
"NOOOOOOO!" Jon runs as fast as he can and lunges himself onto the panther's back, stopping it dead in its tracks and thus giving the pets a chance to escape.
*ROWARRR* The panther roars at the top of its lungs, furiously kicking its attacker off with its hind legs.
"OOF!" Jon's body slams onto the ground, leaving him unable to get himself back up as the feline's yellow eyes glow directly at him…
…Menacingly.
"JON! GET UP!" Garfield shouts from afar, only just barely resisting the urge to run back down there and making him move.
However, the cartoonist remains powerless, for his body refused to move even an inch.
Jon…
…knowing that at least their pets will be safe…
…closes his eyes…
…preparing himself for the inevitable…
…before the panther LUNGES ITSELF DIRECTLY AT HIM!
One by one…
…its claws slice right into his ribcage…
…blood spilling all over his body…
…carving through his skin…
…the monster shows no mercy…
…as it bites his head almost completely off…
…gnawing his body…
…his kitten could only watch…
…as it rips open his skin…
…and bites his head off!
*ZIP*
Before the panther could satisfyingly finish its meal, it suddenly felt something directly hitting its neck. It was a tranquilizer dart, slowly sedating the creature as it drops the head and loses consciousness before falling to the ground.
Lyman and the park rangers, one of which carrying a tranquilizer gun, arrive at the campsite…
"JON!"
…but realize that they were too late to save everyone, as they find the mangled body lying next to the unconscious panther.
Lyman could hardly contain himself…
…his knees dropping to the ground…
…before breaking down in tears.
Odie clings onto Lyman as tightly as possible, tears pouring out of his eyes as he lays next to his sobbing owner.
Garfield…
…
…
…believes this all to be a dream…
…no…
…a nightmare…
…yes…
…a nightmare from eating too much pizza…
…while watching a horror movie right before bed…
…that's gotta be it…
…but yet…
…he can't seem to wake up from it…
…as he can't stop looking at him…
…at his body…
…at the blood staining the ground next to it…
…his skin peeled right off of it…
…his head completely torn off…
…and rotting away on the ground next to him.
The cat cradled his owner's head, completely shutting down as he refuses to let him go, no matter how hard they tried to pull it away from him.
"JON!" Garfield screams at the top of his lungs, his eyes snapping wide open. Breathing heavily, he gazes at his surroundings and realizes that he's inside Lyman's black car, his best friend Odie sitting right next to him.
"Oh, it's just you." Garfield said bluntly, crossing his arms while refusing to look directly at him. He's clearly not in the mood to have a pleasant conversation with the pup.
In fact, he's never in a pleasant mood these days…
…not ever since that fateful night.
About two years have passed since tragedy struck at Lake Woebegone…
…and the lives of the survivors were never the same ever since…
…especially Garfield.
While he'll never admit it, his expressions make it very clear to everyone that he's taken Jon's death the hardest out of all of them. He was his cat after all, and contrary to popular belief, cats do indeed love and care for their owners, even if they don't tend to show it most of the time.
But that's not all that was lost. Beforehand, Garfield was able to eat anything he ever wanted, and Lyman had a roof to sleep under even after losing his job, and all of it was provided for by Jon and his job as a cartoonist. Now that he's gone, so did their primary source of income, meaning no money, no house. And Lyman just couldn't keep a job, even if his life depended on it, so it wasn't long before they were evicted from the place they could once call home.
With Jon no longer there to financially support them, they've been forced to make themselves comfortable in Lyman's car, and make do with what very little they have left.
*MMM MMM MMM* Odie whimpers, concerned for his friend's well-being, like he always has since the lake.
"Yes, Odie. I'm fine." Garfield grumbles, for this is the millionth time the dog felt the need to ask his friend if he is alright…
…when it's very clear that he isn't…
…and hasn't been for the past two years.
But it's not like Odie can understand what he's going through.
Hell, he remains doubtful that the dumb mutt will ever understand what it's like to lose an owner…
…especially one like Jon.
*GRUMBLE* The cat's stomach growls.
"UGH! Where's Lyman with the food!? It's been like twenty minutes!" Garfield groans, growing more impatient by the minute. "Pretty soon, we'll have to start eating the cigarettes if this keeps up." He adds, eyeing the opened cigarette box lying in front of them.
But before the cat can entertain the thought even further, Lyman opens the car's front door and enters the driver's seat with something rather small in his hand.
"Hey guys." Lyman greets his pets. "You hungry?"
"You're asking me if I'm hungry!?" Garfield angrily shouts, taken aback that anyone would have the gall to ask him such a question.
"Well, good news boys, I was able to find these small cracker packs for a very reasonable price." Lyman hands them both a pack with at least three crackers inside of it.
"That's it!? I've been waiting over twenty minutes just for this!?" Garfield's face begins to fume red in anger, discontent with only being provided such a small amount of food.
"I'm sorry Garfield, but that's all I can afford right now." Lyman said sympathetically.
"NO! I WON'T STAND FOR THIS!" Garfield snaps, tossing his packet of crackers onto the floor. "I DEMAND REAL FOOD! NOW!"
"Garfield, please calm down!" Lyman tries to reason with him. "Look, I know it's been really hard for you. Trust me, it's been hard for all of us, but if I manage to bag this new job, we'll be able to get any kind of food you want."
"That's exactly what you said a few weeks ago, word for word! And guess what's also been said, word for word!? You didn't get the job!" The cat furiously points out. "You know what, you guys are on your own, cause I'm outta here!"
"Garfield! Come back!" Lyman shouts as Garfield opens the window and jumps out of the car, making his way into the streets. "Odie! Go get him back!"
Worried for his friend more than ever, the dog leaps out of the window and runs after him, hoping that he can find him before it's too late.
"To hell with those two!" Garfield said to himself. "Guess I'll just have to find some good food myself."
As he makes his way throughout the city in search of any nearby restaurants, his ears pick up a familiar barking sound from a distance. Turning around, he spots Odie chasing after him, no doubt sent by Lyman to try and bring him back.
"What do you want now, mutt!?" The cat asks, immediately demanding an answer as the dog finally catches up to him.
*MMM MMM MMM* Odie whimpers, begging for him to come back with him.
"No Odie! There's absolutely nothing that you can do to convince me to come back with you!" Garfield said, turning his back around and crossing his arms.
*BARK BARK BARK* Odie barks, still trying to persuade the feline to reconsider coming back to him and Lyman.
"I said no!" Garfield shouts. "I've made up my mind and that's final!"
Realizing that his friend truly meant everything he said, Odie's eyes begin to well up in tears, saddened by the prospect that they may never see each other again. Garfield, realizing this as well, places a comforting paw on his back, hugging him close.
"I guess this is goodbye, huh?" Garfield asks.
*SNIFF* *MMM HMM* Odie nods, wiping a tear from his eye.
"Well, I'll see you, Odie. Sometime…somewhere…*SNIFF*...hopefully." Garfield lets go of the hug; his eyes also filled with tears.
Wishing his friend the best of luck, Odie sympathetically gives Garfield one last lick before turning around and proceeding to head back to his owner.
"So long…old friend."
As they go their separate ways, they both ponder if their paths would ever cross each other again…
…however, fate would sadly have this idea be proven false…
…for this would be the last time they would ever see each other.
Garfield continued his search for food when he stumbles across a dark alley where a gang of cats, known as the Claws, claimed it as their territory. After a little scuffle with their leader, Garfield was then pursued by the entire gang as they intend to rip him to shreds. Eventually, Garfield was able to safely hide away from them in an abandoned Italian restaurant where his family just so happens to reside. After explaining his situation to them, Garfield was welcomed into the family as a fellow mouser. Not caring about how disgusting it was to eat mice anymore, Garfield happily accepted his new life as a mouser with his family, especially now that he was reunited with Sonja, his long-lost mother, who was more than happy that she had her son back.