Disclaimer: Garfield and all related characters are the intellectual property of Paws Inc. and Paramount Global/Nickelodeon at the time this story was written.

Chapter 2: Man's Best Friend

Jon Arbuckle slumps on his chair as his eyes remain glued to the television set, his smoke pipe resting comfortably in his hand. He had hoped that the fictitious stories being presented in front of him on the screen would help his mind escape its sudden, newfound addiction to recent memories…

…memories in which he so badly wishes to forget…

…for they weren't pleasant memories in the slightest…

…but to no avail, much to his intensely aggravated dismay.

About six days ago, his best friend and fellow veterinarian, Liz Wilson, informed the cartoonist of his cat's increasing obesity during his usual checkup, and should his usual eating habits continue on without any interference, he can, and will, die!

After some hesitation, Jon eventually agreed with the veterinarian that there's no other choice but to put him on a very strict diet, and to start forcing him to exercise to lose the excessive weight he's recently gained, like what happened last Thanksgiving*.

*Garfield Goes on a Diet on Thanksgiving!*

Garfield, naturally, did not take this very well, for it severely restrained him of what little freedom he had left, for he already couldn't go outside anymore without his supervision. The cartoonist, at this point, has grown fed up with having to chase down his pets and bringing them back home over and over again, for it became increasingly harder for him to sustain a proper financial limit on gas, what with its already increasing prices and such.

Being cooped up in the house all day and night the entire week began driving Garfield completely mad, both angrily and psychologically, for he is already going through enough stress as it is with the Claws hunting him down and wanting his head served on a plate. And now, to top it all off, the only things he can ever eat for each meal during his house arrest are nothing but fresh greens from now on. Odie, the loyal canine that he is, did all he could to try to calm his best friend down, whether it be playing board games to help pass the time, or sneaking food for him behind Jon's back. However, the enormous thundercloud of the cat's negative emotions remains roaring above his head, for it eventually became a severe hurricane inside the house just a couple hours prior.

After being served a plate of celery, carrots, and green peas for the hundredth time this week, Garfield suddenly snapped at his owner, blaming both him and Liz for his worsening predicament. Jon, naturally, did not take his cat's verbal abuse just sitting down, and proceeds to scream at him as well, stating that all of this was for his own good. Eventually, the yelling turned into a full-blown violent confrontation between the once-loving cat and human duo, which resulted with Garfield clawing his owner right in the face, and putting a severe strain in their formerly impeccable relationship…

…a strain that may never be fully healed for as long as they live.

*SIGH* Jon lets out a loud, exhausted sigh, the claw marks on his cheek still visible, and painful. Placing the pipe down on the stand next to the chair, he lowers his head in shame, about to suffer a complete mental breakdown the more these recent, painful memories keep making him think about Garfield.

"Garfield, I'm so sorry."

He covers his face, his eyes on the verge of pouring down all the tears stored up inside of them. While a small grudge towards Garfield still bears within the forefront of his mind, deep down, he's no longer truly angry with him. Hell, he didn't even care about making him stick to the stupid diet anymore, for the only thing he wants now is for Garfield to come back home safe and sound…

…for without Garfield…

…life means nothing to him.

Jon had already spent the past hour looking for him all over town, but his search was in vain, as the cat currently remains missing from his sight, no doubt hiding somewhere in this big, open city. Which is, assuming he hasn't already snuck onto an airplane by now. His only hope now is for Odie to somehow convince the stubborn feline to come back home with him, given how the dog immediately went after Garfield when he ran away.

"*SNIFF* Odie, please look out for Garfield…

…and please…

*SNIFF*

…please bring him home."

*BUUUURP*

"Damn, that was the best meal I've had all week." Garfield said while walking amongst the general public, his stomach already craving more junk food. "Not bad for our first run, wouldn't you say, Odie?"

*MMM HMM* Odie nods his head in agreement, keeping both of his eyes and ears out for any Claw sightings during their walk.

"Alright buddy, I know exactly where we're gonna steal from next since we're now both strays out surviving on the town." The cat said, a foolproof plan already cooking in his head.

*HUH?* The dog looks at him in a confused manner.

"That's right, pal. Tonight, we're robbing Vito's." Garfield reveals. "There's this new chocolate chip pizza that I've been wanting to try since the last time I was there**. Oh, I can't wait to get my hands on it!" He exclaims, the sheer excitement of putting such a treat in his watery mouth causing him to rapidly shake like an excitable little kid during a sugar rush.

**Garfield Quickies - Season 1 - Chapter 9: When Girls Collide**

*UUHHH…ARF ARF* Odie simply shrugs in response, for he knows full-well what they're doing is morally wrong on so many levels. But then again, this is Garfield we're talking about. That fat bastard will do anything for a quick meal, even if he thinks his stomach is more important than the law.

However, the dog simply decides to go along with his plans, regardless of his stance on obeying the law, for he'd much rather not risk straining his relationship with Garfield as what had happened with Jon. Also, it's much more preferable than letting his best friend starve to death, for without Garfield…

…he has nothing else to live for.

Both their differing inner thoughts were interrupted, however, when they notice a man running on all fours runs directly towards them.

*ARF ARF ARF* The man barks, growling at the two actual animals as they, and all of the other people watching all this unfold, look at him as if he was completely stoned out.

"What…the…hell!?" Garfield asks, completely weirded out from this random dude's extremely odd behavior. This guy has to be from Jon's family, Garfield thought, as only he would impersonate an animal without feeling either embarrassed or guilty about it immediately afterwards.

*GRRRRRRR*

Odie stands right in front of Garfield and growls at the man, ready to maul him to death if he even dares lay a hand on his best friend…

*GRRRRRRRRRRR*

…but this only made the crazy man even angrier, for he lunges directly at them! Odie pushes Garfield out of the way, just barely saving his bones from being crushed by the human's rather large stomach.

"Thanks, Odie." Garfield gives his doggy pal the thumbs up. "That's definitely not a tamed dog."

*ARF ARF ARF* The man furiously charges at them on all fours, desiring nothing more than to shake the cat around as if he were a chew toy.

"Giddyup, my faithful steed!" The cat quickly climbs onto the dog's back and smacks him in the rear.

*AROOOOOOO* Odie howls, briefly standing on his hind legs like a horse before swiftly taking off in the opposite direction of the crazy man-dog chasing after them.

"What the hell's up with this guy!?" A male bystander asks, completely bewildered by the farcical events that've just occurred in front of his very eyes.

"That poor kitty!" A young, female bystander said. "Somebody please help him!"

"Quick, after 'em!" Another bystander insists as the crowd proceeds to chase after them, their phones having already began recording the unfolding, bewildering event minutes ago for the rest of the world to witness for themselves.

Not too far away from the frantic scene, the scientist has just finished pumping gas into his vehicle, his mouth enjoying every last bit of the taste of his scrumptious Kit Kat bar while his eyes focus on the various stories currently being showcased on his phone.

"*SIGH* These insane prices are going to be the end of me." The man grumbles, not exactly fond of the town's inflating costs, especially for gas, forcing him to further cut back on his remaining budget for his experiments after being exiled from the scientific community for his questionable methods. While scrolling down through various videos to help clear his mind of his financial predicament, he stumbles across a very peculiar video having just gone live throughout all the various social media platforms. Upon taking a view of the video for himself, his eyes were greeted by a rather odd sighting of a cat riding on a dog as he dashes across the city to escape a man who thinks he's a dog, the latter of which nearly causing him to spit out his chocolate bar in surprise.

"JOSH!?" The scientist exclaims, instantly recognizing the man chasing after the duo, for he has just escaped from his custody only a few days ago. "*SIGH* This only further complicates things." He then said to himself as the secrecy of his project becomes more and more compromised as the video's viewer count steadily increases.

Yet, despite this major setback, what piques his curiosity the most in the video actually happens to be the dog carrying the cat on his back…

…for this particular dog could just be the very one he needs.

"Faster, Odie! Faster!" Garfield urges as he smacks Odie's rear again and again. Regardless of the continuous pain being inflicted by him, the loyal dog does as he's told without question as paws reach the peak of their physical limitations in order to gain a small boost of speed. His efforts ultimately grow futile, however, for the man only slightly needed to exert himself in order to catch up with them. Needing a way to get both of them out of his sight, Odie uses the remaining milliseconds he has left to make a sharp left turn into an alley…

*SLAM*

…and causing them to slam directly into a brick wall, knocking the cat directly off his back.

"OOOOHHHHHH!" Garfield moans in immense pain, rubbing his arm. "You alright…Odie?"

*MMM HMM* Odie nods his head, thankful that none of his bones were broken just from that collision alone.

*GRRRRRRRRR* The crazy man enters the alley, grinding his teeth as he slowly approaches the cornered pets.

"C-Can't…move." Garfield struggles to stand back up as the man comes closer, ready to chew off every single bone in his body.

No…

…it can't end like this…

…Odie will not allow it…

…he failed to save Lyman…

…but he's sure as hell not going to lose Garfield too…

…not without a fight!

*GRRRRRRRRR* Standing right between the man and his best friend, the dog growls at the man to not make another step towards them.

*ARF ARF ARF* The man viciously barks, not going to bow in fear of a much smaller dog.

"There they are! In the alley!" A voice shouts from a distance, the crowd swarming into the alley and grabbing hold of the psychotic human before he could do any harm towards the pets.

"WE GOT HIM! WE GOT HIM!" A boy shouts.

*ARF ARF ARF* The man continuously barks, struggling to escape their grip as he's being hauled away to the proper authorities.

"What a brave, little dog you are." A woman compliments Odie by patting him on the head.

*AWWW, HEH HEH* Odie chuckles.

"Wait, isn't that Arbuckle's cat?" A man asks, recognizing Garfield upon giving himself a closer look at him.

"Yeah, and they both look badly hurt." Another voice chimes in.

"Don't worry, I'll take 'em to the vet, and then I'll drop 'em home." A truck driver offers.

"W-WHAT!?" Garfield exclaims with what very little energy he has left, not wanting to be returned to the Cartoonist that practically ruined his life, but because of his injuries significantly hindering both his and Odie's physical mobility, there's nothing that can be done to help them escape their current predicament.

"You sure, Randy?" The other man asks his best friend. "I mean, that Arbuckle guy could be looking for them as we speak."

"Yeah, I'll get these two back to him in no time." Randy replies, picking up the two pets before heading back to his truck.

The scientist continues watching the live feed on his phone as his experiment, aka his former best friend, is being shoved into the truck of a nearby mental institution, closely eyeing the viewer count as it remains steady at the hundred thousand mark on Chatter.

"*SIGH* Fantastic." He sarcastically said to himself, for this particular incident significantly increases the probability of his entire operation being exposed to the general public…

…and the police right on his tail afterwards.

Despite this severe setback, he remains focused on his primary goal, for the brave, little dog currently garnering all the attention from the remaining viewers is exactly what he needs to finish the project that he started long ago. The fact that this small canine didn't even think of leaving his feline friend behind when his experiment cornered them in the alley to save his own skin was enough for him to reach his decision.

"Hmm mmm mmm mmmmmmm." The man chuckles to himself, knowing exactly what he needs to do next.

"Now that's loyalty."