In half a second, Robodog shot out his wings while tipping himself upright.
TWING!
Bravely, he shielded The General as best he could from the explosion.
WHOOMPH!
But they were both blasted backwards.
“ARGH!”
The General hit the road with a BUMP!
Robodog landed on top of him.
THUD!
“Get this stupid lump off me!” yelled The General.
The explosion rocked Bedlam like an earthquake. The chief and the professor stumbled towards the pair.
“ROBODOG!” shouted the chief.
“NOOOO!” cried the professor.
“DON’T WORRY ABOUT THIS WALKING TRASH CAN!” boomed The General. “YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT ME!”
The ladies went to work, rolling Robodog off the irritating man.
“THIS THING MUST BE DESTROYED!” shouted The General.
“This thing,” began the professor, “just saved your life!”
“And now, with any luck,” continued the chief, “it will save your one billion dollars! Are you all right, Robodog?”
“Yes, Chief!” he chirped, even though he was covered in soot from the blast.
“Excellent! Now after those baddies and those one billion dollars!”
Robodog sped back towards the smouldering hole in the road.
WHIRR!
Without a thought for his own safety, Robodog tumbled into the hole.
SPLURGE!
The force of the blow was so strong that it sent Robodog speeding back down the sewer.
WHOOSH!
For the first time in his life, he felt fear.
“HELP!” he cried as he spun through the gunge.
His voice echoed along the sewers.
“H-E-L-P!”
Of course, no one could hear him so deep underground in the city’s sewer system.
Except…
Ratty!
As it was for all the rats of Bedlam, the sewer was his home. When Ratty heard Robodog’s cry, he was floating in a little cardboard box on top of the gunge, gobbling a piece of cheese. Well, he hoped it was cheese.
“H-E-L-P!”
Ratty knew that robotic voice anywhere. It was his new best friend, Robodog! Instantly, he stood up and leaped on to the nearest thing floating on the gunge that would take his weight, and then the next, and then the next:
a tin can, a glass bottle, a tennis ball.
“R-O-B-O-D-O-G!” he called out in the darkness.
“R-A-T-T-Y?”
“I AM COMING FOR YOU!”
The sewers were a maze, but Ratty knew them like the back of his paw.
After quite a few hops, skips and jumps, Ratty found Robodog. The once gleaming robot was now a crumpled mess, bobbing upside down in the gunge.
PLOP!
PLOP!
PLOP!
His metal armour was battered, his propeller was all bent and his fins on one side had snapped off.
“Oh dear,” said Ratty. “Oh dear! Oh dear!”
“Thank you!” gurgled Robodog, his head below the gunge. He just managed to right himself, so his face was now visible.
“What on earth happened to you?” asked Ratty.
“An old lady with hammers for hands sent me flying.”
Ratty shrugged. “Not the answer I was expecting, but pray continue…”
“And there was a man barking orders to her from inside their submarine!”
“Mighty Mind!” exclaimed Ratty.
“You know him?”
“Know him! He is one of the greatest criminal masterminds ever to walk, or rather roll, the streets of this wretched city!”
“Roll?”
“Mighty Mind is just a brain.”
“Just a brain?”
“Well, a great big brain floating around in a fish bowl on wheels!”
“This great big brain has just stolen one billion dollars! And, right now, he and his henchperson are escaping!”
Ratty thought for a moment. “There is only one way out of this city if you are underground. All the sewerage tunnels lead out into the river. That must be where they are heading. Let’s GO!”
With that, Ratty leaped on to Robodog’s head. But, instead of surging forward, the robot just bobbed about in the gunge. The propeller made a sad gurgling sound. Being bent, the propeller was unable to do any propelling.
SWURGLE!
“MALFUNCTION! MALFUNCTION!” cried Robodog in exasperation before he gave up. The propeller gurgled to a stop.
“Let me help!” said Ratty. “Rats, I mean mice, are stronger than they look!”
The creature jumped off his friend’s head and landed in the gunge.
PLOP!
Ratty kicked his little legs as hard as he could, trying to push his metal friend forward, but it was impossible.
“I can’t do it!”
“It’s not your fault, Ratty. It’s me! I am useless!” said Robodog.
“Don’t be daft!”
“I am not being daft! Real dogs have legs so they can swim. Not a bent propeller and some snapped-off fins!”
“You’re special, remember?”
“I don’t feel it!”
“Well, you are, and when you are special you just need to come up with an idea that’s special too.”
Ratty clambered up on to Robodog’s head, placed a couple of his toes in his mouth and let out the loudest whistle.
“WEEE!”
The sound echoed along the sewers. Then there was silence for a moment.
“What are we waiting for?” asked Robodog.
“Shush!” shushed Ratty.
At first there was a low rumble, then it grew louder and louder and louder until the rumble was deafening. Floating along the gunge came a huddle of rats in an ice-cream container. They were powering themselves along with an electric whisk.
WHIRR!
It was like an outboard motor on a boat.
“Who are they?” asked Robodog.
“Fellow rats, I mean mice.”
“You wot?” said a particularly big one.
“Just go with it,” hissed Ratty. “I will explain later. Friends! This dog here needs a tow!”
“That ain’t a dog!” boomed a little one with a deep voice.
“There’s no time for all that!” shushed Ratty. “One billion dollars has gone missing!”
“That’s a lot of cheese!” remarked the little one.
“Mighty Mind and Hammerhands are making off with it now!” added Robodog.
“Throw me your line!” ordered Ratty. “We need a tow! To get after them!”
Some rope was thrown from the ship and Ratty secured it round Robodog’s head.
“Done!”
“Which way now?” asked the big one.
“This way!” exclaimed Ratty, pointing down a little side tunnel. “If we go fast enough, we could head the baddies off where the sewer meets the river!” he added.
“Whisk to super-speed!” ordered the little one.
WHIRR!
