Flying over Bedlam on Robodog’s back, the gang arrived at Fuzz Manor in no time.
“ROBODOG!” exclaimed the chief and the professor at seeing him light up the night sky. They were still tied to the seats of the truck that was swinging up and down on the edge of the cliff like a see-saw.
Robodog hovered level with the truck. Without thinking, Ratty leaped off the robot dog’s back and on to the bonnet of the truck.
CLINK!
“I will save you!” he called out heroically, longing for a piece of the action.
Ratty was only light, but he was heavy enough to send the truck plummeting to the rocks below.
“NOOOOOO!” screamed the two ladies.
“AROOOOOO!”howled the dogs.
“SORRY!” screamed Ratty.
WHOOSH! went the truck as it fell through the air.
Ratty slipped off the bonnet and screamed as he plummeted too.
“ARGH!”
“HOLD ON TIGHT!” ordered Robodog. “BOOSTER ROCKET: FIRE!”
BLAST!
With the Lost Patrol clinging on, Robodog swooped down at the speed of sound. “ELECTRO-
MAGNET: ENGAGE!”
It popped out of his tummy and caught the front of the truck.
CLONK!
That still left Ratty falling to his death.
Gristle opened his mouth and chomped on the rat’s tail as he hurtled past…
CHOMP!
…only just saving him from becoming rat juice on the rocks below.
“PHEW!” said Ratty. “Thanks! I really wanted to be in a sequel to this story if there is one!”
Then Robodog flew up the side of the cliff and deposited the truck safely in the garden of the country house.
The Lost Patrol leaped off Robodog and set about liberating their fellow dogs from the truck. They howled with delight at being free at last.
“AROO!”
Many charged straight to a tree for a much-needed pee after all that time locked up.
PSSSSSSSS!
With all those dogs sniffing around, Ratty thought it best to keep out of sight. So he scaled a birdbath and watched with pride as the happy scene unfolded.
“AH!” he cooed.
After Robodog zapped their ropes with his laser eye…
ZAP! ZAP!
…the chief and the professor leaped out of the truck and embraced Robodog. It didn’t matter that he was made of metal – they hugged him as tightly as they could.
“Thank goodness you came back,” spluttered the chief.
“You would not believe what happened!” added the professor.
“Oh! I know,” said Robodog. “But there is no time to lose. Velma let all of Bedlam’s biggest baddies out of jail!”
“That cat did what?!” exclaimed the chief.
Suddenly, all the dogs gathered round to listen.
“So, we need to work together to find them, arrest them and put them back in jail where they belong!” proclaimed Robodog. “At the moment, they’re distracted by fighting each other, but that may not last forever.”
There were howls of agreement from the dogs.
“AROO!”
“Especially Velma!” piped up Ratty from the birdbath. “She needs to be put in jail forever!”
All eyes turned to the rodent. There was a brief moment of calm before all the dogs charged towards him.
“WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!”
They leaped up on their back legs to try to reach him.
“WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!”
“PLEASE! STOP!” shouted Robodog over the din.
Eventually, the dogs fell silent, save for a few whimpers.
“This is my friend Ratty. He’s a mouse.”
“A what?” came a voice from the back.
“You heard me, a mouse. And you are all to leave him be.”
“Can’t we just play football with him?” came another voice.
“NO! We wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for Ratty. He is a hero!”
There were murmurs of disappointment from the dogs.
“NOW WHO WANTS TO CATCH SOME BADDIES?” heralded Robodog.
Barks of approval rang out.
“THEN FOLLOW ME!”
Spurred on by the thrill of adventure, the dogs made it to Bedlam in no time. The fight between the baddies was finally coming to an end. All the villains, bar one, were collapsed on the ground, exhausted. This corner of Bedlam had been destroyed in the epic fight. As it turned out, there was just one baddie still standing. The Two-headed Ogre, of course. It was still punching itself in the faces.
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!
The ogre wobbled.
There was one more punch.
WHACK!
Before it too fell to the ground.
THUD!
It was easy pickings for the police dogs. In teams of three, they dragged the baddies one by one back to Bedlam City Jail.
“GRRR!”
Robodog took great pleasure in being entrusted to heave Velma all the way to the jail! Just as they reached the front door, the professor tried to open the super-suit to take Velma out of it so she would fit through. But as soon as she did the cat’s eyes opened wide.
“HISS!” she hissed.
“VELMA!” exclaimed the professor.
“I was only pretending to be knocked out!” said the cat. “Now I am going to blast you all to oblivion!”
With that, Velma started aiming her last rocket right at the group.
“What should we do, Professor?” asked Robodog as all the dogs put their paws up in surrender.
“I don’t know!” cried the professor. “I mostly design washing machines, not supervillain suits!”
However, the two did look similar.
“That’s it!” exclaimed Robodog. “Let’s put it on a spin cycle!”
“YES!” agreed Ratty.
He leaped off the robot’s back and pressed a button on Velma’s super-suit.
Immediately, the cat began to spin inside the suit. Slowly at first, then faster and faster and faster.
WHIZZZZ!
“AAAARRRRGH!” she cried.
But nobody could help her now.
She spun and she spun and she spun.
WHIZZZ!
She spun so fast she took off.
WHOOSH!
She spun up through the air. She spun above the clouds. She spun into outer space. She only stopped spunning – oh, I mean spinning – when she hit the moon, landing right on top of Codger.
KLUNK!
Down on Planet Earth, the dogs let out a massive cheer.
“WOOF!”
With all the baddies back in Bedlam City Jail, the chief turned to address the dogs. “Well done, dogs!” she began. “Tonight, each and every one of you has proved that you are a hero!”
“WOOF!”
“I have decided that first thing tomorrow morning will be your passing-out parade!”
The dogs couldn’t believe it.
“Tonight, all of you have passed your tests with flying colours, especially the Lost Patrol, who will be awarded special medals for their bravery!”
“WOOF!”
“But the biggest thanks has to go to…ROBODOG!”
“WOOF!” agreed all the other dogs.
The chief, the professor and Robodog embraced.
A little drop of oil welled in the robot’s eye.
“I am not sad. I don’t know why I am crying,” he said.
“I do,” said the professor, wiping away her own tears. “It’s because you are happy.”
“Oh no!” said Ratty, bursting into tears. “Now you’ve got me going! BOO! HOO! HOO!”
