Now the heroes and the villains were all flying through the super-sewer, skimming the top of the gunge.
Robodog could see through the porthole of the mini-submarine. There was an expression of panic painted on Hammerhands’s face. Even Mighty Mind’s brain was swimming in circles round its bowl. Well, that was hardly surprising, given the circumstances: they were flying backwards through a sewer at one hundred miles an hour!
What the evil duo couldn’t see, but our heroes could, was that at any moment now they were going to crash into the army tank that had been carrying the one billion dollars.
KERBANG!
The stern of the mini-submarine struck the tank’s gun.
CRUNCH!
Instantly, the mini-submarine was half the length it had been.
“We’re going to hit them!” shouted Ratty.
But Robodog was one step ahead.
“Parachute! FIRE!” he chirped.
The parachute shot out of his back.
WHOOMPH!
Robodog, Ratty and all the other rats slowed to a gentle stop.
“Thanks, Robodog!” cried the rats.
“And thank you, mice!” he replied. “And well done!”
“HELP! WE’RE TRAPPED!” shouted Mighty Mind from inside the mini-submarine.
Using his power-drill nose, Robodog cut through the hull.
WHIRR!
Then he plucked the evil duo out with his grabbers. With Ratty still perched on his head, he engaged his booster rocket.
BLAST!
They flew out through the tank-sized hole in the road, and above the city of Bedlam.
The huge crowd of citizens who had all been peering down into the hole looked up at the sky. They whooped and cheered.
“HOORAY!”
No one cheered louder than the professor.
“GO, ROBODOG! GO! GO! GO!”
The genius inventor did her cheerleader dance along the line of the crowd. This time nobody stopped her.
“GO, ROBODOG! GO! GO! GO!”
In fact, the crowd joined in with the chant!
“GO, ROBODOG! GO! GO! GO!”
The General looked up at Robodog zooming through the sky, his mouth slack and wide with AMAZEMENT. The chief sidled up to him.
“That one robot dog has done more than your entire army!” teased the chief.
“I’m Robodog. Welcome to the future of crime fighting,” said Robodog, much to everyone’s delight.
“HOORAY!”
Cameras caught the magic moment.
CLICK!
A legend was born!
Like a true superhero, Robodog planted the criminals safely down on the ground.
PLONK!
Instantly, the Chief of Police arrested the pair, though it was unclear how to put handcuffs on a brain floating around in a bowl.
“Excellent work, Robodog,” exclaimed the chief.
“Are you hurt?” asked the professor.
“No. No,” replied the robot, lying.
Then The General marched up to the group. “DOGROBOT!” he thundered.
“Not my actual name, but close enough,” replied Robodog.
“Where is the one billion dollars?”
Robodog’s head swivelled round like an owl’s.
The bag of cash was nowhere to be seen.
“Rats!” exclaimed Ratty.
“I will just be one moment, General!” said Robodog, and he flew back down into the sewer with Ratty still on his head.
As it happened, the rats hadn’t got far. Not least because they were tugging the heaviest sack of money in the world.
“STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!” said the robot dog.
“Oh! Hello, Robodog!” replied the little one. “We were just returning the one billion dollars to you, weren’t we?”
There was a half-hearted hurrah from the other rats.
“HURRAH!”
“You were going in the wrong direction!” said Ratty.
“Were we? Oh! Silly us! Please don’t blast us, Robodog! And do make sure this tonne of money is placed safely in the bank and is definitely not all spent on cheese.”
In moments, the sack of cash was laid at The General’s feet.
“One billion dollars, General,” chirped Robodog.
“Finally!” exclaimed the man.
He went to pick up the bag.
“Forgive me, General,” butted in the chief, “but I have to say the army were just not up to the job!”
“HOW DARE YOU!” he thundered.
“I do dare! I do! This is now a task for the police. Or, rather, one very special police dog! Robodog, ensure the one billion dollars is delivered safely to the city bank!”
“Yes, Chief!” chirped Robodog, holding on tightly to the sack with his grabbers.
“Right away, Chief!” added Ratty, giving a little salute.
BLAST!
Before The General could protest, the pair were soaring over Bedlam, the sack of money bouncing off the top of the skyscrapers.
BOING!
BOING!
BOING!