Author's Note:
I know this is a little outside my usual niche (and, from a technical point, not my strongest work), but I've been really into Humongous Entertainment games recently, especially Putt-Putt. I used to play lots of different HE games as a kid and I've had a lot of fun revisiting some of them, even playing some that I've never played before. Since HE fanwork seems to be so sparse, I've decided to start writing some of my own. Putt-Putt Travels Through Time is the game that I've gotten the most action out of so far thanks to it's enjoyable premise, fun characters, and multiple different paths that make it so replayable, so I decided to start with a quick little story based on that game.
My main concern with this story was just trying to work in everything that I like most about the game, namely my favorite characters and story elements. It's my hope that at least a couple of my followers can get something out of this so I can have someone to talk to about HE games.
Anyways, enjoy!
Putt-Putt had gone back in time again and returned to the castle of King Chariot to pay a visit to all of his friends from the Medieval Time. When he arrived, he went straight to the tower of Merlin. There, he found the magician as well as his old friends Princess Chassis and Woodward, who were all too delighted to see him. "Hi, everybody," said the young purple car.
"Putt-Putt! "How wonderful to see you again, my young apprentice," Merlin exclaimed. "What brings you back to our time?"
"I just wanted to come back for a visit and see everyone again."
"How delightful! But I'm afraid you've come at a rather troubling time," said Merlin. "You see, it seems that Sir Poundalot's dragon, Sir Blaze, has gone missing."
"Sir Blaze is missing?"
"Yes. Sir Poundalot and I went into the shop this morning and he was gone. Sir Poundalot is worried sick," Woodward explained.
"Father has ordered everyone in the castle to search for him," said Princess Chassis.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" asked Putt-Putt.
"Actually, there just may be," said Merlin. "I have been working on a spell that could help us locate Sir Blaze and I need some green slate to complete it, but I'm all out. If you could find some for me, then I can complete my spell in no time."
"Sure thing, Merlin. I'll keep an eye out for some green slate," Putt-Putt assured. "And I think I know just where to get some."
"Thank you, Putt-Putt," said Woodward. "With your help, I just know we'll find Sir Blaze."
With his goal in mind, Putt-Putt headed back through the time portal from wince he had come and, after passing through the nexus, made his way through the portal that led to the old west town of Tire Flats. From there, he drove straight to the train station, where me met up with his old buddy Toby Train. "Well, if it isn't my junior conductor. Great to see you again, Putt-Putt," he said.
"It's great to see you, too, Toby. How have you been?"
"I've been just dandy. Lurlene's been keeping me well-oiled and full of firewood. So what can old Toby do for you, little buddy?"
"Could you give me a ride to the old rock mine? I need to find some green slate."
"You got it, partner. Just hop on and I'll get you there in no time flat."
So, Putt-Putt mounted Toby's flat car and the old locomotive took off like a bullet. In no time at all, they had arrived at the old rock mine. Putt-Putt looked around at all the different colored stones. He could see blue lapis, white quartz, pink marble, and finally green slate. Just the mineral he was looking for. He grabbed as much as he could and stored it in his compartment. Then, after Toby drove him back into town, Putt-Putt bid him goodbye and jumped through the portal back to the castle.
Putt-Putt arrived back in Merlin's laboratory and delivered the green slate to the wizard. "Ah, thank you, my young friend," said Merlin. "With this, I can complete my spell and we can locate Sir Blaze."
With a wave of his wand, Merlin cast his spell on the slate. Suddenly, before everyone's eyes, a cloud of magic smoke emerged from the stones and hovered in midair. An image began to appear in the smoke, almost like a TV screen. An image of Sir Blaze the dragon in the middle of what looked like a dense jungle area surrounded by thick bushes with a volcano in the background. He seemed to be chewing on large green leaves.
"Look! It's Sir Blaze!" Princess Chassis exclaimed. "You did it, Merlin."
"Yes, but where is he?" asked Woodward. "And why is he eating leaves? I've never seen him do that before."
"Hey! I think I know where that is," said Putt-Putt as he noticed a familiar-looking thick, scaly blue tail next to the dragon. "He must be in the dinosaur age."
"Of course," said Merlin. "He must've wandered through the time portal late last night and made his way there. You must bring him back as soon as possible."
"Don't worry, Merlin. We'll go bring him back right away," said Putt-Putt.
"Lead the way, Putt-Putt," said Princess Chassis.
And so, the little purple car led the princess and the wood cart back through the time portal and into the land of the dinosaurs. There, they encountered the enormous, but friendly Ms. Brachiosaurus relaxing in her usual spot. Princess Chassis and Woodward could hardly believe their eyes, as they had never seen a real live dinosaur before. Putt-Putt greeted his large friend with a smile.
"Hi, Ms. Brachiosaurus," he said.
"Putt-Putt. How nice to see you again," Ms. B replied. "And who are these two with you?"
"These are my friends Princess Chassis and Woodward."
"So tell me, what brings you three back to the dinosaur age?"
"Have you, by any chance, seen a dragon around here?"
"You mean that hungry fellow who breathes fire? He's not far from here," said Ms. B. "Just cross the bridge over the tar river, take a left at Wheel's cave and you'll find him grazing with the triceratops."
"A thousand and one thanks, madame," said the princess.
"Yes, thank you very much. You've been most helpful," said Woodward.
"See you around, Ms. B," said Putt-Putt as he and the others set off to find their lost dragon.
"Take care, honey," the large dino called out to them.
The three friends followed Ms. B's directions across the tar river and around the cave of Putt-Putt's prehistoric friend Wheel. At last, they came to the clearing where they found not just the triceratops grazing in his usual spot, but also the very dragon they had been searching for grazing right alongside him. Also there at the scene was Wheel watching the whole thing from the sidelines. "Sir Blaze! We've found you at last!" exclaimed Woodward.
"Well, whaddya know! It's old Putt!" said Wheel when he noticed his old friend from the future. "How's it going, pal?"
"Hi there, Wheel," Putt-Putt greeted him back. "We just came to take Sir Blaze here back home with us."
"This guy's with you? He's been giving Triceratops here a run for his money for Biggest Eater. If they both keep going like this, they might just gobble up every last bit of vegetation in the jungle."
"Don't worry. We'll take care of him," Princess Chassis assured. "Come along, Sir Blaze. Time to go home."
But the dragon merely shook his head and continued eating. "It looks like he won't leave until he's finished eating," said Woodward. "If only we had some dragon food to tempt him with. I'm sure he'd come with us for that."
"I think I know where to get some dragon food," said Putt-Putt. "Just wait right here and I'll be back in a flash."
Once again, Putt-Putt raced back through the time portal and went straight to the Cartown in the far off future. After riding the conveyer belt into town, he drove right into the pet food store, where much to his surprise, he ran into Darian the librarian.
"Darian! Nice to see you again," he greeted the floating sphere.
"Well, well. My favorite little time traveler," said Darian. "Hello, Putt-Putt."
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm just picking up some food for my pet monkey. He just loves the stuff they make here."
"That's great. I'm here to get some dragon food to help my friends lead their pet dragon back home."
"How very nice of you. Well, I've already picked up my food, so by all means, have at it."
"Thanks." Putt-Putt pushed the buttons on the machine until all the screens lined up to form a perfect picture of a dragon. Then he pushed the big red button and the machine quickly generated a bag of dragon food, which he placed in his storage compartment. "Well, it was great seeing you, Darian, but now I have to get back to my friends."
"Alright then. Best of luck getting that dragon of yours home," said Darian. "And if you ever want to make another book, please feel free to stop by the library any time."
"I sure will. See you later."
After bidding farewell to the librarian, Putt-Putt hurried back to the dinosaur era and met up with his friends once again. He pulled out the bag of dragon food and dangled it in front of Sir Blaze, hoping that it would get him to follow them. "Oh, Sir Blaze. Look what I have," he said. "A nice big bag of fresh dragon food."
The still hungry dragon smelled the bag and smiled excitedly. He snapped his jaws at it, but Putt-Putt pulled it away at the last second as he, Princess Chassis and Woodward headed slowly back toward the time portal with Sir Blaze following close behind. Thanks to that bag of pet food, the dragon followed the three friends all the way back out of the dinosaur portal and into the one that led to the medieval age. They led the dragon straight back to the castle, where Merlin, King Chariot and Sir Poundalot were waiting for them. They all cheered at the return of the lost dragon, who finally got to devour the entire bag full of food.
"Ah, Sir Blaze. I've been looking all over for ya," said Sir Poundalot, who was thrilled to see his beloved pet returned safe and sound. "Thank you all so much for finding him and bringing him home," he said to the three children.
"You're welcome, but it was Putt-Putt who really saved the day," said Woodward.
"Yes, thank you, Putt-Putt," said Princess Chassis. "You're the cleverest car I have ever met." She then thanked him with a kiss on the cheek, much to his surprise. Putt-Putt smiled and blushed from the princess's token of thanks.
"Aw shucks. It was the least I could do to help," he said humbly.
Just then, King Chariot approached the young car and made a royal proclamation. "My boy. For your outstanding good deed, commendable selflessness, and phenomenal cleverness, it is my great pleasure to officially dub you Sir Putt-Putt the Chivalrous! You are henceforth and forever more an honorary knight!"
Everybody in the castle cheered. Even Sir Blaze breathed a fiery burst of excitement as Putt-Putt felt an overwhelming sense of honor wash over him. "Wowie zowie! Thanks, your highness. I don't know what to say," he confessed.
"That's quite alright, Sir Putt-Putt. Your heroic actions have spoken for themselves," said the king.
"And what is a knight without a suit of armor?" Sir Poundalot said as he gave Putt-Putt his very own suit of armor. "My finest work. Wear it with pride."
"I certainly will, Sir Poundalot."
"Congratulations, my young apprentice," said Merlin.
"Thank you, Merlin," said Putt-Putt. "Thank you, everyone. This is such an amazing honor. I was just happy to help my friends."
From that day on, Sir Putt-Putt the Chivalrous became one of the most celebrated knights in all the kingdom. And he was able to return to Cartown as a hero in his own right.
"By the way, Sir Putt-Putt," said Sir Poundalot, "if it wouldn't be too much trouble, do you think you could bring back some of those prehistoric plants? I can never get Sir Blaze to eat his greens that well."
Putt-Putt laughed. "No problem at all. Sir Putt-Putt is always ready to help."