Chapter 3: The Big Protest

"Hey, guys!" Danny exclaimed as he, Hobbes, and Susie entered the Pickles' home. "Have you seen-," He paused when he saw his playmate's tired face. "Tommy, are you okay? You look sleepy."

Hobbes's eyes widened. "It isn't just him, Danny! Chuckie, Phil, and Lil all look a bit tired too!"

Danny was now concerned as he glanced at the other babies faces. "What's going on, you guys?" He leaned down by them. "You know, you guys were acting strange a few days ago, and now I think it's gone on way too far. Start talking."

Tommy glanced at all of his friends worriedly. The babies shrugged. After all, Tommy was the leader of the babies. Therefore, he made the decisions of the group. He sighed. When Danny started talking in that tone, he knew he meant serious business. Besides, Tommy wasn't sure he could take the pressure of hiding about what he was feeling and all of those elephant nightmares anymore.

He sighed, and started, "Well, Danny, you see-,"

But he was suddenly cut off by Mrs. Pickles shrieking in fright. "Oh, my goodness! Stu! Call Mr. and Mrs. Manson! Quickly!"

Danny's heart lurched. Was Sam in trouble? He, Susie, Hobbes, and the babies all rushed into the kitchen where Didi Pickles was taking deep breaths.

"What's going on?" he exclaimed. "Is Sam in trouble?"

Didi, being the caring mom she was, said, "There's nothing to worry about, Danny."

"Mrs. Pickles, I'm five! I know when something's wrong! What's going on?" Danny wasn't trying to be rude, but he had to make sure Sam was all right.

Soon, after some persuading, Didi finally moved out of the way of the television so Danny could see what was going on. He gasped at what he saw.

Calvin and Sam were sitting on top of the tigers' cage, their feet dangling off of the edge!


"So, that's why Calvin wasn't wanting us around!" Hobbes exclaimed. "He was trying to save the tigers, and didn't want to get in trouble for it!"

Danny, who was entering the zoo along with the camera crews from the local news and his friends' frantic parents and kids, nodded slowly. "And Sam being all for the environment, Calvin convinced her to help. It makes perfect sense!"

"You're just saying that because you're glad Calvin and Sam aren't falling all over each other!"

"Says the tiger who was afraid of losing his best friend!"

"Okay. I deserved that." But Hobbes was smiling at him.


The babies weren't happy that they were going back to the zoo where those awful elephants were. In fact, they were extremely scared. Especially since they were going to have to pass them when they exited the zoo later.

But, Tommy thought about this differently. "We're here to help Calvin and Sam, you guys!" he exclaimed, as his parents were quickly pushing him and the rest of the babies in their four-person stroller. "And that's what we're gonna do!" He quickly suppressed a yawn as he said it.

Chuckie nodded. "I guess you're right, Tommy."

"Let's do it!" Phil and Lil exclaimed eagerly.

Tommy grinned boldly at his friends. "Okay, then babies! Hang on to your diapies! We're going in!"


"What do we want?" Calvin shouted.

"Tigers!" Sam yelled.

"Where do we want them?"

"Here!"

The removal of the tigers was supposed to take place two hours ago. But, thanks to Calvin and Sam, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. After all, these tigers had belonged to this zoo for as long as they could remember. No way were they going to give up on them now! Not for the angry adults who were going to tear the cage down!

"Come on, kids!" a fat man yelled up to them. "I've got to go demolish a building a few blocks from here in an hour!"

Sam, who was holding a megaphone in her left hand asked, "If you do, will you promise not to take the tigers away from here?"

The man sighed. "Sorry kids. I've got strict orders from my boss."

"Then nothing doing."

The two friends continued their chant. A few people joined in at some points. Not very many though. After all, most of them were adults, and were wondering why two young kids were sitting up on top of the tigers' cage in the first place.

"SAMANTHA!"

"Oh, great." Sam whispered to herself as she saw her parents storming up to the tiger pits along with Calvin's parents, her friends, and their parents as well.

"YOU GET DOWN HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT YOUNG LADY!" her mom yelled up to her.

"YOU TOO CALVIN!" his mom glared.

Calvin quickly took the megaphone from Sam, and said, "Not until we've reached an agreement."

"What agreement?" another construction man called.

"The tigers stay, we go."

"Sorry, kid."

"Alright, then! We stay!"

The adults groaned. Well, all of them except for the film crews of course, who had started recording ever since they got to the zoo.

Susie, who was watching her friends anxiously, turned to Danny. "What are we going to do?" she exclaimed. "Our friends are up there!"

Danny shook his head. "I have no idea."

Tommy, who was quietly watching the commotion, turned to his playmate. "Shouldn't we do something?"

"I don't think there's anything we can do, Tommy."

Chuckie's eyes suddenly widened as he glanced over to his left. "Well, they'd better save the tigers soon. There's a fireman over there!"

Danny glanced over to see that Chuckie was right. A fireman was rushing toward the scene, with two others carrying a ladder.

"Oh, no!" Danny exclaimed, running toward the tigers' cage. If the firemen took Calvin and Sam down, they were never going to save the tigers! "Sam! Calvin!"

Sam stopped chanting for a moment, and glanced downward. "Danny?"

"Yeah!" he called. "There are firemen coming to get you down!"

"Firemen?" Calvin groaned. "Oh, no!"

Sam glanced down at Danny. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know!" he replied. "But you'd better think of something quick! They're getting closer!"

Calvin was thinking frantically. There had to be something he could-, Suddenly, a light bulb went on in his head. "Make Susie see!"

"What?"

"Make Susie see!"

It took Danny a few seconds before he finally got what Calvin was trying to say. "I'll be right back!" he exclaimed.


"Well?" Susie asked, when Danny came running back. "What did they say?"

Danny took a deep breath, then replied, "Calvin knows a way to save the tigers before the firemen get here. But, I'm gonna need your help!"

Susie raised an eyebrow. "Me?" she asked, smiling. "Calvin's never asked for my help before!"

"Well, now he needs it more than ever." Danny turned to the babies. "Do you guys want to help me help Susie?"

"We're ready for anything, Danny!" Tommy exclaimed eagerly.

"That's the spirit! Now," Danny continued, "babies, you guys try to make Susie see Hobbes for who he really is. She can't see him like we can. So, you guys need to show her how to communicate with him."

"What are you gonna do, Danny?" Phil asked.

"I'm going to try and prevent the firemen from getting to Calvin and Sam as much as I possibly can."

"How?" Chuckie questioned.

"I don't know." He dashed toward the tiger pits once more. "But, hopefully I'll figure out something." he mumbled to himself.


Danny walked determinedly toward the firemen, hoping his parents weren't watching him. He knew he was going to get in huge trouble for getting in the adults' way, but he had to do this. He wanted to. His friends needed his help, and he was willing to risk anything to do so.

Danny took a deep breath before beginning his now carefully thought out plan. "Hi, Mr. Fireman, sir!"

"I'm sorry, kid." the clean-shaven, uniformed firefighter said. "I can't talk now. Those kids up there are in danger!"

'Yeah.' Danny thought. 'Sitting up in the same spot for two hours. Some danger.' But instead, he said, "But, I'm such a huge fan! You guys get to put out all of those fires all of the time! You guys are heroes!"

"Well," the man said modestly, "I wouldn't say heroes, but-,"

"Well, I do!" Danny pulled a pencil and notepad from his pocket. "Can I have your autograph?"


"C'mon, Susie!" Tommy exclaimed. "Just start talking to Hobbes!"

"But-," Susie started.

"What's wrong?" Chuckie asked.

"Hobbes is just a…tiger."

"Well, what else is he apposed to be?" Phil questioned.

Susie sighed. "You guys aren't getting it! I'm scared to death! Calvin and Sam are going to get into so much trouble, and all because of them trying to save something they care about!"

She glanced over at the tiger pits where the tigers were roaming happily. Roaming, playing, eating, cleaning themselves…

Susie growled. "WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY?!" She sat down on the ground, and burst into tears.

The babies glanced at each other, then back at Susie sadly as she continued to cry. They noticed she was hugging Hobbes tightly, and Hobbes was hugging her back, trying to calm her down.

"There, there." he murmured. "Everything is going to be alright, Susie. Don't cry." Hobbes knew that she couldn't hear him, but he still had to try.

Susie sniffed. "I know, Hobbes. It's just so unfair! Calvin and Sam are just trying to do what's right! I just don't know what to do."

Lil grinned. "Susie!" she exclaimed. "You can see Hobbes!"

Susie glanced up at the smiling tiger who was staring down at her. "You're right!" She hugged Hobbes tightly. "Now, I can see why Calvin is always carrying you around! You are real! You really, really are!"

The six friends smiled, glad that their two friends were finally talking to each other.


"Alright, kid!" the clean-shaven fireman said, annoyed. "You got autographs from all the men in the fire department! Now, you've got to get out of the way!"

Danny gulped in panic. What was he going to do, now? "B-But sir, I wanted to get some autographs for my friends too, and my-,"

"Sorry kid. But we can't waste anymore time. We need to get those kids down from that cage now." With that, the fireman lightly pushed Danny to his right, and he and the other two firemen with the ladder followed.

Now Danny was really in trouble. And when he was really in trouble he went to his last resort. "SAM! CALVIN! RUN!"


Sam, who had heard Danny yelling her name, glanced over to her right. "Oh, man." she said, tapping on Calvin's left shoulder and pointing at the firemen heading in their direction.

Calvin's eyes widened. "We've got to get out of here."

"How?" Sam asked.

"The same way we came up." Calvin answered. "We'll slide down one of the posts."

Sam nodded. "Okay. Then what?"

"I don't know. We'll figure that out once we get down. But, we've got to run. Fast."

"Okay."

"I'll take the document I told you to hold on to."

"But, Calvin, you'll get in trouble then! Not me!"

"Exactly. I need to distract the adults while you go and get some help."

"And what kind of help would that be?"

"I don't know!" Calvin exclaimed. "Zoo workers, the police, anybody! Just go and do this!"

"But, Calvin, what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. The firemen will get me down by the time you get back here with somebody."

"But, what if I don't get back in time?"

"That's why I'm giving the document to you! You've got the proof we need to save the tigers!"

"But-,"

"Sam, you can do this!"

"But, I just don't want to leave you like this!"

"Forget about me!"

"But-,"

"Go, Sam!"

"But-,"

"Go!"

Sam sighed, finally giving in. She quietly snuck toward the back of the cage, and slid down the post. She ran toward the fence, climbed it, and ran down the street toward the police station. She really hoped she could do this.


"Hey, buddy!" Calvin yelled, cupping his hands over his mouth. "Remember me?"

A balding, brown haired, slightly overweight man with a slight comb over glanced up at Calvin in horror. The six-year-old was holding up a rolled up piece of paper in his left hand. The man glared at him. "Get down here right this instant, young man!"

"Calvin!" his dad cried. "Do what the nice man says!"

Calvin rolled his eyes, and without warning, slid down one of the poles around the cage. The adults gasped while the tigers stared at him wonderingly. "You want me?" he asked. "Come and get me!" He then ran deeper into the zoo.


"What's going on with Calvin?" Lil asked, worriedly, after the big scene.

"Since when isn't there anything going on with Calvin?" Susie asked.

"She's gotta point." Phil pointed out to his twin sister.

But, Hobbes wasn't in the mood for any conversation. "Come on, you guys! We've got to follow the crowd! My best friend is in trouble!"

Tommy nodded determinedly. "Hobbes is right you guys! C'mon!"

"R-Right." Chuckie said nervously.

Susie grinned, running to the other side of the four-baby stroller with Hobbes. "Now I can see why Calvin loves going on adventures! This is exciting!"

With that, the six of them were following Calvin along with the adults.


Calvin was now hiding behind the elephant cages, breathing hard. Calvin didn't mind running. After all, he was outdoors all of the time. It was the thrill of excitement that was getting to him.

He suddenly went silent as he heard the crowd of people running past the elephants. Should he take a peek? He decided to wait until the crowd died down. Better safe than sorry.

A few minutes passed before Calvin decided it was safe to have a quick peek. His heart pounding, he glanced past the right side of the cage. Nobody was there. He sighed with relief. Sure he had to lie to Sam about what he was going to be doing, but once she got there everything would be set straight.

Calvin turned back around, and gasped. His heart pounded hard against his chest again.

"I knew you'd be hiding here. It's kind of hard to hide anyplace else. Trust me. I know." The man with the comb over stepped out of the shadows.

Calvin was caught so much by surprise that he landed on his bottom and started backing away slowly. "W-What do you want with me?"

"Oh, you know exactly what I want." The man held out his left hand. "The document. Give it to me."

Calvin glanced down at the piece of paper in his left hand. He had forgotten he had had it. But he couldn't give it to this man! He was evil! He didn't deserve it!

"I said to hand it over, Calvin!" the man growled. "If that is your real name!"

Calvin wanted no more than to run out from behind the elephant cages. But if he did, the adults would find him. Not to mention he wouldn't be able to save the tigers because he'd probably be grounded for life. But, maybe it was too late to save the tigers anyway. He turned his head away, shut his eyes, and held the document out toward the man.

The man smirked as he snatched the piece of paper out of his hand. "Yes!" he exclaimed. "Finally! I caught you red handed you little brat! And now," he laughed, "I finally, finally have my document back!" He chuckled as he unrolled the piece of paper. "Now, I can finally get my-," He cut off, a horrified look on his face.

"It-It's nothing but a blank piece of paper!" he gasped. "B-But, h-how-," He stopped stuttering, and glared at the six-year-old still staring worriedly up at him.

"YOU!" the man snarled. "WHERE IS MY DOCUMENT?"

"Um," Calvin stuttered, a sheepish smile sliding across his face, "April Fools?"

Unfortunately, the man wasn't buying it. "WHERE IS IT?"

"Technically," Calvin stated nervously, "I know where it is being kept, but I don't know where it is right now."

"LISTEN KID!" the man yelled, stepping toward him. "IF YOU DON'T TELL ME WHERE THAT DOCUMENT IS, I'LL-,"

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Calvin whipped his head around to see Susie glaring at the man who was about to come after him. Hobbes and the babies were behind her, with terrified expressions on their faces.

The man sneered at Susie. "Aww, how cute!" He glanced back at Calvin. "Your little girlfriend's come to rescue you!" He laughed. "Well, I'm not going to let that happen!"

Calvin and Susie normally would've made a retort saying that they weren't together, but they were too frightened to say anything.

Calvin sneered at the man. "Spaceman Spiff refuses to listen to anything you say, Zortnog!"


Spacewoman Clara stood frozen in fear in the depths of space, on an inhabited planet. Or so that was what she thought. Spaceman Spiff was staring up at the evil alien Zortnog in fear. He was talking in some weird language that she couldn't decipher.

All of the planet's creatures were staring at the commotion in their cages. They didn't seem like they thought anything was wrong. But, behind her, Spacetiger Hoover and the Spacebabies Tarry, Kevin, Jerry, and Mary were staring up in fear.

Spiff's, Clara's, and Hoover's space blasters were useless on this planet. And luckily, Zortnog hadn't even thought of pulling out his yet. What were they going to do?

Spacewoman Clara whispered into Spacetiger Hoover's ear.

"What?!" he whispered when he heard what Clara had said.

"I have to, Hoover." she whispered back. "It's the only way we can save Spiff!"

"But, what about the adults?"

"At this point, I think Spiff would be grateful if the adults butted in for once."

Hoover nodded. "I guess so."

"Good. Wish me luck." The next thing you know, Zortnog was tackled to the ground.


The man growled under the weight of Susie. Who knew a little girl could have so much strength? "GET OFF OF ME!" he yelled.

"I don't think so, Zortnog!" Susie exclaimed. "You're not going anywhere!"

Calvin grinned. Finally, Susie had some imagination in her!

"I don't think so either."

Susie glanced over to see Danny and Sam along with all of the adults and a couple of police officers standing behind them.

"Boy, are we glad to see you!" Calvin exclaimed as Danny helped him up.

"Yeah." Danny replied. "It looks like we made it here just in time. I'm glad to see you guys are all in one piece."

"Excuse me." a black officer said to Danny. "Could you please tell me what's going on here?"

"Well, I can't exactly tell you the whole story." Danny explained. "But, I'm sure my friends Sam and Calvin here can explain the whole thing."

"Gladly." Sam smiled at all of the adults. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, may I present to you, Mr. Alan Martin. Also known as, the boss of the whole zoo." She pointed to the man Susie was still sitting on.

"Yes." Mr. Martin said politely. "That would be me. Now, might I ask what is going on? Why is this little girl sitting on top of me?"

"Like you don't know!" Calvin exclaimed. "We came into your office yesterday to ask why you were shutting down the tiger pits and if you could reconsider. As we figured, you said people weren't looking at the tigers much anymore and no, you couldn't reconsider since they were already going to be moved to a new location."

"Your phone rang," Sam continued, "and you left the office to answer it. That's when we noticed the papers on your desk Mr. Martin. One of them was the document that I happen to have right here! It says the tigers here were being watched here a bunch, but you weren't feeding them enough food or giving them enough water because you wanted to save all of your money. So, your people said if you didn't get the tigers more food and water, they would be kicked out of the zoo."

"Being the greedy man you are," Calvin added, "you couldn't risk that. So, you told your people you would give the tigers away to a new location. They gave you ten thousand dollars to do it. Then you called up a bunch of your goony friends to have them move the tigers for you today. But, you don't care about the tigers at all!"

"This is ridiculous!" Mr. Martin exclaimed. "Officers, tell young Calvin and Sam here that they're telling a bunch of lies!"

"No, no." a white officer said. "Go on kids. I kind of like to hear this story."

Sam smiled. "Thank you, officer. Now, where were we? Oh yes, the tigers were planned to be taken to a place where they would have no food, hardly any water, no shelter, and the perfect place to be hit by oncoming traffic! Then you were going to double cross your friends and keep all of the money for yourself!"

The adults and the babies gasped.

"Lies!" Mr. Martin yelled. "All lies!"

"Oh, really?" Calvin chuckled, taking the document from Sam's hand. "Then how come when I compared this signature on the document with this one of the letters you wrote to your goony friends, the handwriting looks exactly the same? Your signature is at the bottom of the letter!"

"Uh…I…er…"

"I think we've heard enough kids." the black officer grinned. "Cuff him, Larry!"

Larry pulled out his handcuffs, and placed them on Mr. Martin's wrists. While he told the man of his rights, Danny turned to Calvin and Sam. "So, I can see why you guys were sneaking off all of the time yesterday."

Calvin and Sam nodded.

"What did you think we were doing?" Calvin asked. "Making out or something?"

"Yeah!" Sam laughed. "As if!"

Danny chuckled nervously. "Of- Of course not! W-Why would you think I would've thought that?" He laughed some more while Calvin and Sam stared at him in puzzlement. "L-Look, I'm going to go and see how Hobbes and the babies are doing for a minute."

He walked off toward Hobbes, a blush creeping up his face. He placed his face into Hobbes's soft tummy. "That was awkward." he mumbled.

Hobbes just laughed. "There, there Danny! It's all over now! Besides, I think Calvin's into someone else at the moment."

Danny lifted his head up in surprise. "Really? Who?"

"Well, don't tell him I told you this, but-," he turned Danny around to see Calvin and Susie having a funny conversation. Or at least it was from what Danny could see.

"How come you didn't tell me this earlier?"

"I tried, but Calvin and Sam interrupted our conversation."

"Oh."

Hobbes chuckled. "And don't worry. I won't tell anybody."

"Tell anybody what?"

Hobbes rolled his eyes. "Never mind."

Danny suddenly grinned. "Hey, babies! I've got an idea! Why don't we go and see the elephants for a bit?"

The babies' eyes suddenly widened. "NO!" they screamed.

"Why not?"

Tommy hesitated, then said, "We didn't want you to do the same thing that happened to Bob."

"Bob?" Danny raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Who's Bob?"

"We know you don't likes to talk about him much," Chuckie said nervously, "because he wouldn't goes with you to the playground one time."

"What are you guys talking about?" Danny asked.

"Angelica said the elephants would squish us!" Lil exclaimed.

"And we didn't want you to get upset with us if we didn't goes to the zoo with you." Phil added.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Angelica told you this?"

The babies nodded.

Danny sighed. "I'm gonna have a long talk with her the next time I see her." he mumbled. "Babies, the elephants won't hurt you! Angelica lied about all of that stuff!"

"Even about Bob?" Tommy asked.

Danny nodded. "Even about Bob."

The babies sighed with relief.

"Next time you guys have a problem," Danny continued, "come and talk to me. I promise I won't get mad at you."

The babies nodded.

"We promless, Danny!" Tommy exclaimed.

Danny grinned at his playmate. "Now, come on! Let's go see some elephants!"

The babies cheered as Danny pushed them along in their four-person stroller.


Awhile later, Calvin and Hobbes were lying on Calvin's bed, bored to death. Calvin was grounded for a month for what happened earlier, along with Sam. Danny was grounded for two weeks for helping Calvin and Sam escape earlier. Susie was also grounded for two weeks for tackling a man to the ground.

"I'm bored." Calvin stated.

"What else is new?" Hobbes asked, grinning.

"Sorry." Calvin sighed. "No going outside for a full four weeks." He smiled at his friend. "At least I've got you old buddy."

Hobbes looked sad for a moment. "Yeah."

Calvin glanced at him. "What's wrong? I thought you were happy. I saved the tigers for your third anniversary present, Susie is now number nineteen in the ghost group, not to mention that we're semi good friends now too. So, what's going through your head?"

Hobbes sighed once more. Then he said, "I'm happy about all of that stuff. It's just that…" he hesitated, then said, "…I'm just wondering how long this is going to last."

"How long what is going to last?"

"All of this." Hobbes spread his arms out for emphasis. "You know, you and me. Us going on adventures, talking, all of it. I just don't want to lose you, Calvin. When you and Sam were sneaking off to help save the tigers, I thought you guys were going to be like this everyday. I thought you were growing up without me."

Calvin thought about this for a moment, then chuckled. "You know, Hobbes, you really shouldn't worry about that."

"How come?"

"Because," Calvin stated, "no matter what happens in my life, no matter if I'm six, ten, or even fifteen, no matter what struggles I have, or how much life gets to me, I know one thing for sure."

"And what's that?" Hobbes asked.

Calvin grinned. "I'll always be looking for you. My best friend in the whole wide world."

Hobbes thought about that for a moment, and grinned. After all, he liked the sound of that.


Author's Note: THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY YOU GUYS! :D There's still one more chapter to go! It will be a heart warmer! :)