Disclaimer: Garfield and all related characters are the intellectual property of Paws Inc. and Paramount Global/Nickelodeon at the time this story was written.
Garfield In: The Invisible Feline
"Ahahahahahaha! I've done it! I've finally done it!" A crazy sounding voice shouts triumphantly.
"What is it, dear?" A not as crazy voice asks, entering the room.
"I've successfully tested my most marvelous creation yet: Invisible Paint!" He exclaims, holding a can of paint up high for his wife to see.
"Are you sure it's actually invisible?" The woman asks, examining what appears to be an empty can. "Because it looks like just an empty can to me." She adds, theorizing that her husband was simply off his medication again.
"Exactly!" The male scientist shouts, picking up a paintbrush and carelessly loading its bristles with seemingly nothing. "One stroke of invisible paint, and anything it touches will become invisible to the naked eye! Watch."
The scientist then swipes the paintbrush directly onto his pet hawk that he conveniently has for some reason. Upon making contact with the bird, the paint makes it as if a portion of its body has completely disappeared.
*SQUACK* The hawk screeches, freaking out that almost half of its body is gone.
"Fascinating!" The female scientist exclaims, impressed by her husband's creation, and that he's not just off his meds after all. "This'll make us famous!"
"Yes indeed, Julie, but we must be very careful on how it is used." The male scientist warns, placing the can down next to the hawk. "For if it were to ever fall into the wrong hands, the results would be more than catastrophic!"
"Then we better keep this to ourselves for the time being, Thom." Julie advises, attempting to calm their pet hawk down by handing it food. "Who knows how the public would react should this ever be leaked onto the internet."
"Yes, and we must tighten up security all throughout the building!" Thom suggests. "We need more security cameras at once!"
*SQUAAAAACK* The hawk, still flipping out over missing a portion of its body, suddenly grabs the handle of the paint can and flies out the window.
"Uhhhh…We have a problem." Julie said, as the two stare out the window in disbelief.
"If we don't get that invisible paint back now, the world is doomed!" Thom frantically shouts, the scientists bolting out the door to chase down the bird before something really bad happens.
Meanwhile, in a quiet suburban neighborhood not too far away, an orange cat rests peacefully in the comfort of his bed, his teddy bear Pooky laying right next to him.
"Oh, Garfield!" A voice shouts, interrupting the cat from his peaceful slumber. "Guess whaaaat?"
"Is it international wake up cats while they're trying to sleep day?" Garfield asks sarcastically.
"Nope! It's something even better!" Jon exclaims. "Mom and dad are going on vacation for a week, and they want me to babysit their kitten Nermal while they're away."
"WHAT!?" Garfield suddenly shouts.
"That's right!" Jon said with excitement. "He's gonna stay with us for a whole week! Isn't this exciting!?"
"NERMAL!? HERE!?" Garfield panics. "Nope, nope, nope, and nope. You guys have fun. I'm gonna go stay somewhere that's as far away from here as possible until he's gone." He said, waving goodbye to his owner as he approaches the door. "Hopefully there's a nice, Italian restaurant on the other side of town."
Upon opening the door, he's happily greeted by Jon's parents, alongside their kitten Nermal.
"Hi, Garfield!" Nermal greets.
"AAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Garfield screams to the heavens before losing consciousness.
"Oh, dear." Anna said.
"Damn, that's the second loudest scream I've ever heard in my life." James said.
"Mom! Dad!" Jon happily greets his parents. "How's it going?"
"Is Garfield okay, dear?" Mrs. Arbuckle asks, concerned.
"Eh, he'll be fine. Come on in." Jon replies, dragging his cat back into the house as they all head inside.
"Ugh, what happened?" Garfield slowly opens his eyes as he regains consciousness, his friends Odie and Arlene staring down at him.
"Garfield, are you okay?" Arlene asks, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Garfield replies, getting himself back up. "You wouldn't believe the nightmare I just had. Jon came up to me and told me that Nermal was gonna stay here for a whole week. I mean, what a crazy idea, am I right?"
"Hey, Garfield!" A youthful sounding voice greets him. Slowly turning around, Garfield spots a gray kitten standing right behind him.
"Wait, so this isn't a dream!?" The orange cat frantically asks. "NERMAL'S ACTUALLY HERE!?"
"Yep!" Nermal replies. "The world's cutest kitten is here to stay for a whole week! Isn't this exciting, Garfield? That means we'll get to play and spend time together all week long!"
"Seven days with Nermal!? I-I can't fully process this." Garfield said, feeling lightheaded as he collapses onto the floor again.
*MMM MMM MMM* Odie whimpers, gently shaking his unconscious body out of genuine concern for his friend.
"Why does he keep fainting like that?" The kitten asks.
"Oh, don't mind him." Arlene said, rolling her eyes. "He's just being melodramatic, like he always does."
"Wait, who are you?" Nermal asks the pink cat.
"Oh, that's right, we've never met before." She realizes, approaching the kitten and offering a handshake. "I'm Arlene. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, Arlene. I'm Nermal, the cutest kitty cat in the whole, wide world!" He proudly declares, shaking her hand. The pink cat can't help but laugh at his adorable, little self-proclaimed title.
"You are rather cute, Nermal." Arlene said.
"Thanks, you're looking rather pretty yourself." Nermal compliments her. "Say, what's a good-looking girl like you doing hanging out with someone like Garfield?" He asks.
"Well…I…Uhhhh…" Arlene stammers, having no desire to blurt out her entire background to just anyone she talks to, especially to a kitten she's just met. Sure, she did so with Penelope when they first met*, but after the incident between them**, she decided it was for the best to not make the same mistake ever again, should such information wind up being taken advantage of.
(*Garfield Quickies - Season 1 - Chapter 9 - When Girls Collide*)
(**Garfield Quickies - Season 1 - Chapter 11 - A Tale of Two Infatuated Kitties**)
"I-It's a long story." She nervously replies.
"It's alright, I've got all week." Nermal insists, taking a seat on the living room couch. "Besides, it might be a minute before Garfield wakes up."
"Well…Alright." After a moment of hesitation, Arlene finally decides to tell him, sitting next to him. Since he's most likely going to visit Jon's house rather frequently, and the fact that he's technically part of the family, she might as well let him in on her secret.
"Don't worry, mom. I'll make sure Nermal is well taken care of while you're away." Jon said as he and his parents head out of the kitchen.
"Oh, thank you very much, sweetie." Anna said. "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to my precious, little Nermal."
"He'll be just fine." Jon insists. "I promise."
"He'd better be." James said sternly. "Cause your mother would flip if anything happened to her "cutest kitty cat in the whole, wild world"." He adds in a mocking tone.
"Okay, got it." Jon said, checking the time on his cell phone. "Uh oh, it's almost three! You guys better get going before you miss your plane!"
"He's right, hon! We'd better skedaddle on out of here!" James said as he rushes out the door, wanting to get away from that annoying little kitten as fast as possible.
"See ya in a week, Jon." Anna said, giving her son a kiss on the cheek. "Now, make sure Nermal gets his good night's rest, and make sure to give him plenty of food, and-"
"Hurry up, woman!" Mr. Arbuckle shouts from their tractor. "We're gonna be late!"
"Oh, right. Bye sweetie!" Anna quickly waves goodbye as she runs out the door.
"Bye, guys! Have fun!" Jon shouts before closing the door.
Not too long after the couple leave the house, Garfield once again regains consciousness, getting himself back up, he rubs his head in pain as he spots his two friends and Nermal sitting next to each other on the sofa.
"Bout time you woke up, sleepyhead." Nermal said.
"Oh, please tell me this is just another dream sequence, and that I'm sound asleep in the comfort of my bed without him in the house!" Garfield said loudly to himself.
"Nope." The kitten replies. "This is as real as my adorable, little face."
"Well, if that's the case, I'm outta here then." The orange cat declares, heading towards the door.
"Garfield, where are you going?" Arlene asks.
"Anywhere that's not here with him." Garfield replies, pointing to Nermal. "I'll be back later, maybe in about a week or so." *SLAM*
And with that, Garfield heads out into the streets, leaving the other three pets to ponder about his harsh behavior towards the kitten.
"*SIGH* Why doesn't Garfield like me?" Nermal asks, depressed. "Am I just not cute enough for him?"
"Oh, don't worry about it." Arlene assures him, placing a paw on his shoulder. "He just has a hard time socializing with others, that's all. Well, at least, I hope that's the case."
"Spending a whole week with that spoiled, little brat? Fat chance!" Garfield said to himself as he wanders aimlessly through the suburban neighborhood. "I oughta mail him somewhere as far away from here as possible, maybe to somewhere like, I don't know, Abu Dhabi or something."
Not too far from where Garfield is, the hawk continues soaring through the sky, the can of invisible paint still gripped in its claws.
*SCREEEEECH* The bird shouts, landing on top of a tree where the orange cat just happens to be sitting by.
"Boy, all that walking made me really exhausted." Garfield said, already feeling tired after walking for only five or so minutes. *GRUMBLE* And I'm hungry, too. Eh, maybe a hot dog vendor will swing by here after I take a nap."
The cat closes his eyes and falls asleep on the tree's butt, unaware of the hawk staring down at him, ready to fly down and consume the unsuspecting feline for dinner. However, the tired bird starts to lose its balance on the tree branch, for its feet grew tired from carrying the heavy paint can for minutes on end. Soon enough, it lets go of the can, sending it and its contents falling straight down towards the sleeping cat.
*BAM* The paint can directly hits him.
"OWWWWW!" Garfield shouts in pain, suddenly jolting up from his catnap. "What the hell was that!?"
*SQUAAAK* The hawk shouts from the top of the tree, wondering where the cat has suddenly gone after dropping the paint can.
"Looks like I got myself a big bird to fry." Garfield said, completely unaware of the invisible paint spilt all over his fur. "Serves it right for interrupting my beauty sleep."
While the invisible cat climbs up the tree, the hawk returns to its branch after failing to find its prey anywhere in the surrounding area. Exhausted, it sits comfortably and closes its eyes for a nice, long rest.
"Heh heh, I got you now, my pretty little bird." Garfield whispers, making it to the top of the tree as the bird drifts itself to sleep. "Hmm, though I wonder why a part of him is missing." Before he can ponder this question any further, he suddenly hears a cracking sound, and…
*SNAP*
…the branch breaks apart from the tree, sending the invisible cat falling all the way back down to the ground.
"Oh, that's right. These branches weren't designed with balancing overweight cats in mind." Garfield said, wiping both the dirt and grass from his chest. However, upon looking down to see his belly, he notices that something looks off about it…
…or rather, it looks like it's not even there at all!
"Huh? Where did my belly go?" Garfield asks himself, confused. "And where are my hands for that matter!?"
Flabbergasted by his body's sudden disappearance, the cat rushes to find anything that has a reflection to convince himself he's not losing his sanity. Finding a nearby pond, he takes a good look at it…
*GASP*
…only to find nothing reflecting out of it, other than the clouds soaring above from the big, blue sky.
"What the hell's going on!?" Garfield panics. "Am I…invisible!?"
Upon fully comprehending that his body is no longer visible to the naked eye, a diabolical plan begins to form inside Garfield's brain.
"Yeeeeesssss." The cat said with an invisible, evil smirk on his face.
Back in Jon's house, Nermal casually flips through the TV channels, trying to find something that's, at the very least, somewhat watchable as Odie and Arlene sit next to him on the couch.
"Hey, you guys seen Garfield anywhere?" Jon approaches the couch to ask, having scoured the entire house looking for him.
"Yeah, he hates my guts, so he took off." Nermal replies, having felt dejected by the older cat's rather harsh remarks earlier.
"Oh. Well, if any of you see him when he comes back, tell him that I'm gonna start baking cookies for all of us in a few hours." Jon said as he returns to his bedroom, believing that his eldest cat just left to blow off some steam for a while, and will eventually come back, as he always does.
"That's if he's ever coming back." The kitten said bitterly, having been trying to watch TV to clear his mind from him.
Little does he know however, that the orange cat has, indeed, decided to come back to the house. Sneaking inside via the back door, he quietly tippy toes his way into the living room, making sure to make as little noise, and movement, from the kitchen door as possible.
"Nermal, are you feeling okay?" Arlene asks, becoming very concerned for the kitten's well-being.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Nermal bluntly replies, not even bothering to turn around to look at her. "Why do you ask?"
"It's just…you seemed very excited to be here when you arrived…but now, you're just…" Arlene said, having a hard time figuring out what to say to him without offending him.
"I just don't get why Garfield hates me so much." Nermal said, finally turning his head to her. "I haven't done anything wrong to him! I was really excited to come over here so that I can spend some time with him, *SNIFF* but he's nothing but a jerk! He's just as bad as my…*SNIFF*...as my-"
Despite trying to hide the tears forming in his eyes from plain view, both the dog and female cat can clearly see them falling onto the couch as he breaks down into tears. Fraught with concern, the older pets crawl closer towards the sobbing kitten.
"Shhhhhh. It's okay, Nermal." Arlene whispers to his ear, gently pulling him into a hug. "Everything's gonna be alright."
Garfield, who was secretly watching everything unfolding without them knowing, suddenly began to feel mixed emotions. He found his crying to be rather annoying, since he's likely just doing it to gain sympathy from the other two pets…
…and yet…
…he also can't help but feel a bit sorry for the little kitten…
…as if his conscience was telling him to stop everything…
…and maybe…
…he should start being nicer to him.
Immediately after pondering that thought, he very quickly shook his head in anger.
NO! This little brat invaded his home, his territory, and now that he's invisible, fate has given him the perfect opportunity to scare the kitten away for good and make him never want to come back here ever again!
Now fully committed to the plan, he grabs his trusty blue blanket and wraps it around him.
*HUH?* Odie turns his head all around the room, having just heard a strange noise.
"Odie? *SNIFF* What is it?" Nermal asks, wiping a tear from his face.
All three of them look around, hearing more unusual sounds coming from the same room, despite them being the only occupants at the moment.
"Eh, it's probably nothing." Arlene shrugs.
Meanwhile, professors Thom and Julie race through the neighborhood in their car as they continue tracking down the missing hawk and the invisible paint.
"The bird must be resting somewhere." Julie said, paying attention to their invisible paint tracking device that her husband conveniently made just in case of such situations. "The trail stops at this suburban neighborhood."
"How many times must I tell you, Julie, it's a hawk, not a bird!" Thom angrily exclaims, briefly taking his eyes off the road. "Two completely different things!"
"Hawks are technically birds, Thom!" Julie argues. "They're part of the Accipitridae family, which is a family of birds!"
"I'm not gonna argue with you about this!" Thom shouts. "Let's just get the hawk and the paint before something terrible happens!"
"You're the one who brought it up!" Julie argues back. "*SIGH* I swear, there's just no getting through that stubborn, crazy mind of yours." She mutters to herself.
*SCREEEEEEECH*
The car comes to a sudden stop as Thom slams on the breaks.
"There it is!" Thom shouts, pointing at the partially invisible hawk resting peacefully at the top of a tree.
"But where's the paint?" Julie asks, she and her husband getting out of their vehicle.
"Heh, heh, heh. I got you now, my pretty!" Thom idiotically shouts, startling the bird wide awake.
*SQUAAAAACK* The hawk flips out upon seeing its owners. Not wanting to be a test subject for yet another crazy experiment, the bird lifts open its wings and hightails it out of there.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Thom shouts to the sky. "Come back here, you stupid hawk!"
"Uh…I think we've got a bigger problem here." Julie said, pointing to the spilled paint can laying beside the tree.
"Oh, this is not good!" Thom said, picking up the can. "You have any idea how long it'll take to clean this all up!?"
"That's not all, I'm afraid." The female scientist points to a small moving dot on the paint tracking device. "Something else has been in contact with the paint. Something small."
"In that case, we'd better find it before it causes any harm!" The male scientist shouts as he and his wife head back to their car.
Garfield waits patiently beside the couch, fully wrapped under the blanket. His friends and Nermal had already fallen asleep, with the kitten snuggling on top of Arlene, her arm wrapped around him. Now that they're snoozing away, and the living room completely quiet, the invisible feline initiates the next phase of his plan.
*ooooooooooooooooo*
"H-Huh?" Nermal wakes up, having just heard what sounded like a ghost. After a moment of silence, he slowly closes his eyes, falling back to sleep.
*OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
The kitten startles back up, frightened by the much louder sound.
"Psst, Arlene?" Nermal whispers, nudging for her to wake up.
"N-Nermal?" Arlene awakens from her slumber. "What is it?"
"I t-think there's a g-ghost in here." Nermal replies, shaking with fear.
"Don't be ridiculous." Arlene laughs, gently rubbing his back. "There's no such thing as ghosts."
*OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
Odie jolts awake upon hearing the sound of the "ghost". Trembling in fear, all three pairs of eyes anxiously gaze all around the living room, eventually spotting a blue blanket slowly climbing up the couch.
"G-G-G-G-GHOOOOOOOOOST!" Nermal screams, frantically leaping off the couch and hiding beside it.
*oooooooooooooooooooooo*
"Garfield." Arlene said, not amused in the slightest. "This has got to be the dumbest prank I've ever seen in my life."
*MMM HMM* Odie nods his head in agreement.
"Besides, you're scaring Nermal!" The female cat sternly points out, approaching the blanket. "I think it's time you and I have a little talk and-"
Pulling away the blanket, her eyes widen in fear upon finding out that there's LITERALLY NOTHING underneath it!
"AAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHH!" The three animals scream at the top of their lungs and make a run for it.
"Heh heh heh heh." Garfield snickers, trying his best not to burst out laughing.
"What's with all that…OOF!" Jon falls to the ground after accidentally bumping into the three frightened pets.
"JONTHEREISAGHOSTINTHEHOUSEWEGOTTARUNFORIT!" Arlene frantically shouts.
"Guys-" Jon tries to speak.
*ARF ARF ARF ARF* Odie frantically barks.
"Guys-"
"PLEASEPROTECTUSIAMTOOYOUNGANDCUTETODIE!" Nermal frantically shouts.
"GUYS!" Jon angrily shouts, which causes them all to stop panicking. "Now, calmly, someone tell me what's going on."
"G-G-G-Ghost…in the living room." Nermal said, pointing toward the blanket.
Jon walks over to the couch and grabs the blanket, to which he sees nothing out of the ordinary.
"Really? A ghost?" Jon asks, unimpressed.
"But…but it was right there! Right under Garfield's blanket!" The frightened kitten insists.
"Guys, there's nothing to be afraid of!" Jon said, holding up the blanket. "There's nothing here!"
*BAM*
"Oh, yes there is!" Professor Thom shouts, kicking down the front door.
"What the hell!?" Jon asks, startled by the two scientists suddenly barging into his house.
"We're terribly sorry for suddenly barging in like this, sir, but we've detected traces of invisible paint in this house." Julie explains, showing him the tracking device.
"Invisible paint!?" Jon asks, realizing what may have truly caused the pets to suddenly start panicking.
"Yes, and we must find this small creature and wash off the paint before more chaos ensues!" Thom urges, following the signal as the scientists let themselves into the kitchen.
"So, it was that paint that made me invisible." Garfield said, realizing that the paint must've spilt onto him when the can fell right on top of him. "I can't let those wackos take away my powers just yet, I still gotta scare away Nermal from this place for good." He then said to the reader, trying to sneak out the back door.
"There it is!" Julie exclaims, pointing at seemingly nothing.
"Oh, crap!" Garfield makes a run for it through the pet door.
"Quick, after it!" Thom shouts, running after him through the back.
Jon and the other pets watch as the two scientists chase the invisible feline all over the backyard. This is an unusual sighting, as without the proper context, it would look as if it was just two psychotic people just randomly running around in some stranger's backyard.
"Gotcha!" Thom exclaims, successfully catching him. "Julie, get the tub ready! Hurry!"
"On it!" Julie said, running back inside and turning on the water in the bathtub, not even bothering to ask the cartoonist for permission to use it first.
As the cat struggles to get free, Thom races back to the house and drops him into the tub, scrubbing all the invisible paint off of him, making him visible to the naked eye once more.
"Get me out of here!" Garfield shouts, leaping out of the tub and shaking the water off his fur. Looking down, he can now see his own belly once again. "Oh, man." He said, disappointed.
"I'm terribly sorry about all this, sir." Thom apologizes.
"It's all good, professor." Jon assures him. "You guys did what you had to do, and I'm just glad we got this whole situation cleared up."
"Yeah, and things could've been much worse if we hadn't acted in time, or if the can had dropped somewhere else." Julie said.
"Indeed, Julie." Thom said. "Now come, we must continue our search for the hawk. If it thinks it can escape the brilliant professor Thom Huge, it's got another thing coming!"
"*SIGH* We'll send the bill for your door." Julie assures the cartoonist as she and her husband exit the house.
"Phew, I'm glad that's over with." Jon sighs in relief.
Meanwhile, a mysterious figure spots the partially invisible hawk flying over the city. Loading his sniper rifle, he carefully aims at his target…
*BAM*
…and opens fire, sending it falling to the ground.
With a malicious grin on his face, the small figure approaches the now dead bird.
"We got it."