Disclaimer: Garfield and all related characters are the intellectual property of Paws Inc. and Paramount Global/Nickelodeon at the time this story was written.
WARNING!
The following chapter contains graphic content not necessarily suitable for certain readers.
Viewer discretion is advised!
Chapter 4: The Escape
Odie regains consciousness as his eyes slowly start to arise. While waiting for his vision to be fully restored, he hopes that what he'll see is the familiar blue wallpaper of Jon's house, confirming all of what has just transpired to be nothing more but a dream sequence…
…but alas, this was not the case…
…for when he's able to get a clear view of his surroundings, he finds himself in some kind of laboratory, filled with crazy experiments that he would exclusively see in various movies and TV shows. The trapped specimens shoot the dog with ferocious glares…
…all of them looking really hungry.
*HRRRRRRRRRR* Odie finds himself struggling to escape the metallic cuffs magnetically impeding the movement of his frontal paws as they're, once again, bound above his head just like when the Claws chained him onto a pole when they captured him*.
*Garfield Quickies - Season 2 - Chapter 7: A Shooting's Aftermath*
However, now his back paws are locked into position by the cuffs also, making it virtually impossible for him to escape his current predicament…
…or feel any of his paws at all, for that matter, as the sheer grip of these cuffs prohibits his blood from flowing into their respective vessels, causing them to remain motionless no matter how hard he attempts to move them.
Whilst the struggle, his eyes eventually notice the lack of green sleeves under his hands. Peering down at his belly, he realizes that he's no longer wearing his precious, green coat…
…in fact, it's nowhere to be found.
"Ahh, I see that you're finally awake, my fellow canine compadre." A voice said from across the room, holding what appears to be a hypodermic needle.
*HUH!?* Odie stares at the mysterious man approaching him, his scent completely unrecognizable to him…
…and evil.
"There's no need to be afraid of me, little one. I am Professor Smith." The scientist introduces himself. "I'm a major in genetic research, as you can tell by looking at some of my…previous experiments."
He briefly ganders at the cage containing his human subjects, all of whom furiously barking at him, before turning his attention back to Odie.
"You see, I've been tiring my sweat glands for many years in an attempt to create a serum that'll significantly alter the hypothalamus of a human being, that's the small organ in the brain's center in layman's terms, causing all of one's anger to become fully suppressed, and become as acceded towards me as a common dog." Professor Smith explains. "However, every test done so far has resulted in complete and utter failure, for every human specimen I've used, as in, my former best friends, eventually exhibits the aggression of a dog. Thus, I realized that I couldn't use a happy canine subject to complete the project…
…Instead, I needed a loyal canine…
…a dog like you.
*GASP* Odie gasps, horrified by the words being spewed into his ears by this madman. How could someone even think of doing such a thing to his own friends!?
"Now that I'll soon have your behavioral DNA inside this very needle, Project K-9 will finally be complete!" The scientist exclaims, excited by the prospect that his dream is finally becoming a reality.
*GRRRRRRRRRRRR* Odie viciously growls at the mad professor, not wanting anything to do with this heinous project of his.
"Ohhhh, A little feisty, aren't we?" Professor Smith smirks, prepping the needle for insertion. "You want nothing more than to find your little feline friend and go back home together, is that it?"
*UH HUH* The dog replies, shooting a vicious glare at his captor.
"Heh heh heh, that only further proves my hypothesis regarding your devotion to him." The professor said as he steadily approaches the dog, now ready to initiate the final phase in bringing his experiment towards completion.
*HRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR* Odie, once again, wrestles with the metallic cuffs magnetically binding him to the dissection table…
…but his efforts remain fruitless, for the cuffs are made of a much stronger material than he previously thought. No doubt they're handmade by the professor himself.
Closing his eyes, the dog waits for the inevitable pain that comes with getting a shot. While waiting for the inevitable pain to occur any second, a tremendous sense of guilt looms throughout his entire body, for he has unwillingly doomed all of humanity to be enslaved by this monster…
…and it was all his fault! If only he hadn't let Garfield run away from home…
…if only he'd put his foot down when he scratched Jon…
…then none of this will have ever happened…
…for they'd still be home…
…together.
"Now, hold still, little one, for this may sting a bit." Professor Smith said, firmly holding Odie's head in place whilst pointing the needle directly at him. "Or, this may sting a lot, I really don't care."
However, right as the syringe's sharp needle is about to enter the dog's head…
*SLUUUUURRRRRP*
…he slams his tongue directly at his captor's face, giving him a nice, big slurp.
"Euuuuuugh! Gross!" The professor shouts in disgust, wiping the dog's drool off his face with both his hands. "Wait, where's the syringe?"
*HMM MMM MMM* Odie chuckles to himself as Professor Smith desperately searches for the needle under the table.
"Where is it!?" The scientist shouts, growing more and more frustrated by the prolonged delay in obtaining the final ingredient for the serum right within his fingertips. "What'd you do with it, dog!?"
*TAA DAAAAAAAAA* Odie sticks out his tongue revealing the syringe to be inside his mouth.
"Give it!" Professor Smith reaches his hand for the needle…
*SWOOOSH*
…right as Odie's tongue hurls it across the room, its sharp end landing a direct bullseye on a metal cylinder hanging on the wall, leaking its chemical contents all around the lab.
"Shit!" The scientist immediately rushes over to contain the gas before it can…
*BOOOOOOOM*
…cause an explosion, sending both him and the dissection table flying across the room.
*OOOOOOHHHHHH* Odie moans in immense pain, the table having landed on its front side, the sheer impact causing one of the magnetic cuffs to malfunction and lose its connection to the table. Realizing this may be his only chance of escape, the dog uses his freed-up paw and pulls the other cuffs off of him. Crawling out of the table, Odie makes a run for the door while the professor remains unconscious from the explosion.
*URRRR URRRR URRRR URRRR* The alarm goes off while Odie desperately tries to open the metallic door keeping him trapped inside the burning lab.
*GRRRRRRRR* He hears a growl coming from the opposite end of the room. Looking behind him, the dog spots the professor's human subjects approaching him, ready to maul him into mincemeat.
The cornered dog wastes no time as he backflips onto the table right next to the door, and would've pushed the button that opens the metallic door hadn't been for one of the growling humans biting his tail and dragging him away from the key to his freedom. The human shakes him with his teeth like a chew toy right before hurling him across the inflamed laboratory.
*BAM* Odie's back slams directly into the dissection table, causing a bone or two to be dislocated inside his body, and the professor's body to become even more injured than it already has.
*OOOOOOOHHHHHH* The dog moans, once again finding himself unable to move as the human subjects slowly crawl towards him, ready to bite his body wide open. He had to think of something if he's to get out of this horrible place alive…
…and FAST!
However, thinking was never one of his strongest points, for he's used to just letting Garfield do all the thinking for him, and the more time he thinks, the less time he has before being killed by either the humans or the flames.
Hmmm…
…maybe he doesn't need to think of a way out…
…maybe…
…he just needs to act!
With not a single thought in his head, Odie quickly rolls out of the way right as the humans lunge directly at the table, giving all of them a concussion as they all dogpile amongst each other, the smoke being too much for their lungs to handle.
*BAM* Odie accidentally hits himself in the head onto a cabinet. Rubbing his head, the dog still resists the urge to think as he leaps onto the counter and quickly makes his way to the button.
*HISSSSSSSSS*
Smoke comes out of the lab as the door slowly opens itself. Feeling proud of himself, the dog gives himself a moment for his nose to inhale the fresh smell of freedom in front of him…
*COUGH COUGH*
…which would've been a fresh scent if it hadn't smelled like burning ash. Noticing the fire getting closer, Odie makes a hasty exit from the lab…
*GRRRRRRRRRRR*
…only to be confronted with another dog seemingly awaiting his arrival.
*OOOOHHHHHH* Odie moans, having already dealt with enough as is.
The other dog lowers its upper torso, ready to lunge at him. The two canines stare at each other as the smoke leaks out into the room.
*GASP* Realizing his owner is trapped inside the burning lab, the other dog shoves Odie out of the way as he rushes to the professor's aid.
Relieved that he doesn't have to deal with him, Odie proceeds to locate an exit from the building, his injured state making it rather difficult for him to even walk, let alone run.
The blue dog drags his unconscious owner by the collar as they exit their home. Normally, he wouldn't give a rat's ass that the professor was injured by his own hubris, but since he provides him with the food and shelter that he once lacked in his life, he felt obliged to rescue him.
What the canine didn't anticipate this time, however, was having to look at his burned face. He's definitely not getting a girlfriend anytime soon…
…or even at all, if his lungs have succumbed to the carbon monoxide in his body.
*COUGH COUGH COUGH* Professor Smith wakes up with a coughing fit, his lungs desperately exhaling all the smoke within his body. The fire nearly blinds his eyes as they watch his house slowly burn to the ground.
However, he isn't at all surprised by this…
…for this wasn't the first time a fire broke out in his lab…
…and he knew it certainly wouldn't be the last.
"A minor setback." Professor Smith said to himself while his drones pour water all throughout the building. "*COUGH COUGH* No matter. Once I perfect the K-9 serum, I'll just have everyone else fix up the lab for me."
Luckily for him, he still possesses all the ingredients for the serum tucked away in the pockets of his lab coat, for many accidents were bound to happen in the laboratory…
…all except for one vital ingredient…
…sealed away from his grasp by one dog…
…one dog that he'll stop at nothing to find, and extract from him…
…even if it means slicing his head wide open!