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Post by Flowgli on Oct 18, 2008 16:30:59 GMT -5
Introduction:
This story takes place after the end of 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure. After the new episode of The Thunderbolt Adventure Hour with Patch and his siblings as guest stars was recorded, the producer was impressed by Patch's performance that he decided to hire him as Thunderbolt's new sidekick on the show and rename the show The Thunderbolt And Patch Adventure Hour. Patch liked the producer's idea, and so did his family. The producer instructed Roger and Anita to bring Patch to the studio in Kent every weekday before nine o'clock in the morning for work, and that Patch would be working until five o'clock in the evening each day. Patch's family and best friend, Thunderbolt, were all happy that he got the job. And with Patch and his family being taken home to their Dalmatian Plantation in Devon, that is where the story begins.
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Chapter One: Back In The Family
***
The story begins with the entire Dalmatian family, including Patch, being driven home to Cherry Tree Farm, Little Tichfield, Devon. On the way, Patch explained to his family about how he missed the move to the country, how he got to London to meet Thunderbolt at the auditions, and how he spent the whole day with Thunderbolt there. Patch's family found his story very interesting.
"Welcome home, everyone!" Roger said to the entire Dalmatian family as he opened the door to let them out of the car, now that they were all back home.
While all the Dalmatians are running around in the wide open space of the countryside, Roger eyed Patch carefully.
"Especially you, Patch," said Roger. "You've been in enough trouble, spending moving day in London, but we're all happy that you saved the rest of the family from that wicked Cruella DeVil, and that we have you back. And you've got that job with Thunderbolt, so you'll make us very proud. Won't you, boy?"
Patch let out a few barks in excitement.
"Good boy!" Roger chuckled as he patted Patch's head. "Now, run along. But stay on this farm! This place is your home, now."
As Roger went inside the house, Patch heard Rolly calling him.
"Hey, Patch, come here! You gotta see this place!"
Patch rushed to the other side of the farm to meet his brothers and sisters and have a good look around his new home.
"Do you like this place?" Rolly asked Patch.
"Yeah, it's wonderful," Patch answered in awe, but then showed an expression of regret. "If only I had seen it on moving day rather than gone to the auditions in London to meet Thunderbolt."
"Why?" Lucky asked curiously. "You're a big fan of Thunderbolt, and you really wanted to meet him, right?"
"I did, but it got you all in danger. After the photographers took pictures of Thunderbolt at the auditions for the papers, Cruella managed to find out where we now live in. That's because I was in those pictures, and the tag on my collar has our address on it. So, if I hadn't gone to see Thunderbolt in London and had the pictures taken with him, Cruella wouldn't have read the address from the paper and kidnapped you guys."
"But Patch, if none of that had ever happened, you wouldn't have rescued us."
"And if you hadn't rescued us," said Rolly, "you wouldn't have become a one-of-a-kind wonderdog."
"And you wouldn't have gotten the part on Thunderbolt's show as his new sidekick," added Penny.
Patch nodded his head in agreement.
"Yeah," Patch said softly. "I guess you're right."
"Well, Patch," said Rolly, patting Patch gently on the back, "all that matters, now, is that we're all safe. This farm is a great place for all ninety-nine of us pups to run and play."
Patch gasped in shock at what Rolly just said. He remembered having to put up with his eighty-four new brothers and sisters while still living in the small flat in London; it was not easy for him to live in a small space with a total of ninety-eight brothers and sisters. After going through having an identity crisis before moving day, he did not like the idea of having to go through that again.
"All ninety-nine of us pups?" Patch said, terrified. "No! I don't want to go through putting up with them again."
All the other pups looked at Patch, confused, while he looked down to the ground in sadness.
"Patch, what's wrong?" Rolly asked curiously. "What do you mean you don't want to go through putting up with them again?"
"I mean our new brothers and sisters," Patch responded sadly.
After what Patch just said, all eighty-four of the adopted pups in the family felt hurt.
"He doesn't like us," one of the pups gasped.
"Patch, you don't really hate us, do you?" another pup asked with concern.
"Oh, no, you guys," Patch said with sorrow in his tone. "It's not that. I like all of you. It's just that--"
Patch stopped, took a deep sigh, and looked down to the ground again, wondering how he was going to explain how difficult it was to live with so many siblings without hurting their feelings.
"What, Patch?" Lucky asked, sounding worried. "Come on, you can tell us."
Patch took a deep breath and began to explain everything to his siblings.
"All right," Patch began. "Ever since we had new brothers and sisters, none of you noticed that I exist anymore. You ate up all the food, stole my spot at the television, and ran around without seeing that I was in your path. And while we were watching Thunderbolt, I have been spoiling episodes just to get your attention. When that didn't work, I tried barking like Thunderbolt on our last night in the flat."
All the other pups were surprised at what Patch just told them. They thought it all over, and remembered their last night in the flat very well. They remembered running around the flat without knowing if anyone was in their direction. They remembered eating their dinner without knowing who already ate and who had not eaten. They even remembered telling Patch to be quiet while watching The Thunderbolt Adventure Hour. But most importantly, they remembered laughing at Patch after he did Thunderbolt's heroic bark.
"So, that's why you did all that," said Rolly, surprised. "Patch, why didn't you just tell us about your problems before you did those things to get our attention?"
"I dunno," said Patch. "There's just so many of us that I don't think any of you will have any time to listen to me."
"You're right, Patch," said Penny. "There is so many of us, and that's why it's so hard to notice everyone. But you gotta know that no matter how hard it is for us to notice everyone, we all love each other very much as a family. We even love you."
"I love you guys, too," said Patch quietly.
"We never thought that living with so many siblings would really be much harder for you than we thought it would be," said Lucky. "We're sorry, Patch. It was all our fault. If we all had just taken the time to notice everyone here before we do anything, we wouldn't have anyone having such a hard time."
All the other pups agreed with Lucky and apologized to Patch.
"But you've had those problems when we were living in a very small flat where there's just not enough room for all of us," said Freckles. "We now live in a big place in the country, so everything will change."
"Yeah, Patch," said Pepper. "Don't worry. You'll never have to put up with not being noticed again, now that we are living in a farm with wide open space where we can run around freely. We promise."
All of Patch's brothers and sisters gathered around Patch to hug him.
"And Patch," said Rolly, "when it's dinnertime, I'll save a full bowl for you. And when you're finished with that, you're welcome to eat from mine."
All the other pups looked at Rolly in surprise. Rolly, usually gluttonous, never shared his food with anyone before.
"Rolly, this isn't like you," said Lucky. "You'll share your dinner?"
"Sure, I will," said Rolly.
All the pups then heard Nanny ring the bell.
"Dinnertime!" Nanny called, and all the pups ran to the back of the house, each one to a bowl of Kanine Krunchies.
"Here you go, Patch," said Rolly, pushing a bowl toward Patch.
Patch ate up all the food from his bowl as fast as he could to make sure that no one else would come over to eat from there first. He then took a big mouthful of food from Rolly's bowl.
"Thank you, Rolly," Patch said with his mouth full, which causes some of the kibble in his mouth to fly at Rolly.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, mister," Rolly said in a playful stern tone.
After swallowing all the food in his mouth, Patch was now able to talk.
"Sorry," Patch said, laughing nervously for talking with his mouth full.
"It's okay, Patch," Rolly chuckled. "You're welcome."
"I'll let you eat the rest so you won't feel hungry like you always do," Patch said as he pats Rolly's large stomach, and he and Rolly both laughed together about it. "Well, I gotta go! Thunderbolt is about to start, and I gotta make sure nobody steals my spot at the telly!"
Patch pounced on each of his siblings' heads as he makes his way to the house to reach the television first. Patch's pouncing caused his siblings to say, "Ouch!" "Hey!" "Watch it!" and "Be careful!"
"Excuse me! Pardon me! Coming through! Sorry about that!" Patch said to his siblings as he continued pouncing from one of his siblings' heads to another and made it into the house.
As Patch continued his way to the television, he saw a big hole on the floor in front of him, screeched to a stop to avoid falling into that hole, and made a turn to the living room to meet Roger and Anita there.
"There you are, Patch!" said Roger. "We were wondering when you'd find the television in your new home before your favorite show starts!"
"Patch also seemed to notice that hole to your music room, Roger," said Anita.
"Well, Patch," Roger laughed, "now that you've found that hole there, remember to watch your step while you're in the house."
Patch let out a couple of barks in response, and Roger and Anita laughed. They all then saw the rest of the Dalmatian family come into the living room.
"Oh, look!" Anita said as she saw the Dalmatian family sitting at the television. "The whole family's here to see the episode of Thunderbolt that they did today!"
"Well, then, shall we get on with the show?" said Roger, and he turned the television on to The Thunderbolt Adventure Hour.
"Hey, Patch!" Lucky whispered. "Come and sit over here with me!"
Patch sat next to Lucky in front of the television. Before the pups were first kidnapped, Lucky would usually climb up too close to the television, and all the other pups would get annoyed and tell him to get down so they can see. The whole family watched the show together. When it was over, all the pups were in the barn, laughing and playing with each other before bedtime. Patch started to feel more comfortable with his new brothers and sisters as he tackled a few of them to the ground and tugged on their ears with his teeth in the process.
"So, Patch," said Rolly, "are you feeling better, now that you're back in the family?"
"I sure am!" Patch answered proudly.
"Patch, you should be really proud of yourself!" said Lucky. "After saving us from Cruella and guest-starring in The Thunderbolt Adventure Hour, you got the part on the show as Thunderbolt's new sidekick!"
"That means you'll be seen on every episode from now on," said Penny, "because the show was just renamed The Thunderbolt And Patch Adventure Hour."
"Yeah!" said Patch enthusiastically. "I'm really happy that I'm Thunderbolt's new sidekick on the show! I'm gonna be with Thunderbolt all day, everyday, attacking bad guys and saving lives from danger on the show!"
Patch walked up the tallest hay bale in the barn and majestically stood tall on top of it.
"The villains will all cringe in fear," said Patch proudly. "Thunderbolt and Patch are here!"
Patch then started to do Thunderbolt's heroic bark.
"PATCH, NO! STOP!" Rolly shouted before Patch could finish the bark. "Remember your past mistake back in the flat?"
"What past mistake?" asked Patch.
"Barking like Thunderbolt, of course," said Lucky. "We laughed at you for that because you didn't have the voice to do it right, and you still don't, okay? So, don't make us have to laugh at you again."
After what Lucky just said, Patch turned angry.
"You guys are pathetic!" Patch snapped as he walked down the hay bale. "After becoming a real hero and getting the job on the show with Thunderbolt, you're still gonna laugh at me when I do that bark? You can't do that to me anymore! Thunderbolt's gonna start helping me improve my voice to do that bark tomorrow on my first day at work! You guys are supposed to show me some support!"
"We can't," said Rolly apologetically.
"Rolly!" said Patch, his anger increasing a bit.
"We're sorry! Look, the reason why we can't support you on improving your voice to do Thunderbolt's bark is because we're all pups. Pups will get laughed at for doing that bark because they don't have the voice for it, not even you, Patch. If you do that bark again while you're still a pup, you'll still sound as if--"
"--somebody sat on a squeaky toy!" Patch finished angrily. "I know! But I'm not going to sound like that for too long. My voice can change soon if I keep working on it."
But Rolly shook his head to show that it was still not right for Patch to have his brothers and sisters support him on improving his voice to do Thunderbolt's heroic bark.
"Now, Patch," said Rolly sharply, "if you do that bark in front of anyone, you'll be laughed at for it, even by us. That's not what you want, now, is it? If you want to work on improving your voice to do that bark, then you gotta promise us that you'll only do it at work with Thunderbolt."
"I don't know, Rolly," said Patch sadly. "I mean, I really need my family to--"
"Promise us, Patch," said Rolly, sounding more serious.
Patch's spirits became low. He knew that at this point, there was nothing he could say or do to get his siblings to support him on improving his voice to do Thunderbolt's heroic bark. So, he hung his head miserably and gave in.
"Okay, I promise," Patch said glumly.
All the other pups looked at Patch sadly. Lucky went closer to Patch and hugged him.
"Cheer up, Patch," said Lucky. "Just because we can't support you on improving your voice to do that bark doesn't mean we don't believe in you. But it's going to take time for your voice for that bark to be just as good as Thunderbolt's, so don't worry about it. Just focus more on attacking villains and saving lives on the show, and you'll be as successful as Thunderbolt before you know it."
"Thank you, Lucky," said Patch, trying to force a smile back on his face.
All the pups then saw their father, Pongo, walk into the barn.
"All right, children," Pongo said to the pups. "It's time for bed."
All the pups groaned.
"But Dad, we're not a bit sleepy," Penny yawned.
"Come on, now," Pongo responded. "All of you need to get to bed."
He turned to face Patch.
"That includes you, Patch," he said. "Even heroes need to get their rest so they can have enough energy to save the day. You do have a big day tomorrow with Thunderbolt, don't you?"
"Definitely, Dad!" said Patch, his spirits now back high again. "I got a new job with Thunderbolt! I got the role of his new sidekick on the show, and I can't wait to see how I do on my first day tomorrow!"
"Well, I think you're going to do great on your first day. Just do what you are told there, and you'll be able to get through it with no problem. And, of course, Thunderbolt is going to be there to help you all the way. There's going to be a lot of hard work ahead of you. But right now, it's time for you to get some sleep."
"Okay, Dad," said Patch, laying himself down on a hay bale after he climbed onto it. "Good night."
"Good night, my little one-of-a-kind wonderdog."
And with that, everyone in the Dalmatian Plantation fell asleep.
***
End of chapter one.
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Post by Two-Tone on Oct 18, 2008 17:23:32 GMT -5
Interesting start to the fic
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Post by Tic-Tac on Oct 18, 2008 21:37:14 GMT -5
a very....interesting story...
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Post by Flowgli on Oct 19, 2008 18:49:13 GMT -5
Glad you like it. I'm working on the second chapter right now.
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Post by Two-Tone on Oct 19, 2008 21:18:34 GMT -5
cool
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Post by dalmatianlover on Oct 21, 2008 6:55:09 GMT -5
sounds Good
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Post by Belchic on Oct 21, 2008 13:31:02 GMT -5
Cute story so far. Keep it up.
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Post by Flowgli on Oct 21, 2008 17:11:24 GMT -5
Chapter Two: Patch's New Career
***
Patch was a nervous wreck the next morning. He was sitting in the living room in front of the television, with sweat running down his forehead. Perdita saw Patch there as she entered to talk to him.
"Good morning, Patch," said Perdita gently.
"Good morning, Mother," said Patch, not looking up.
Perdita saw that there was something wrong.
"Are you nervous about your first day of work with Thunderbolt?" Perdita asked Patch.
Patch then looked up and made eye contact with his mother after he heard what she asked him.
"Nervous?" said Patch, pretending to sound as if everything was going all right for him. "Me? Of course, I'm not nervous. I feel fine, really."
Perdita shook her head, not believing that Patch was not nervous about the whole thing.
"Now, Patch," said Perdita, "I can tell that you really are nervous. Look at you. You're sweating."
Patch wiped the sweat from his forehead with one of his paws.
"Look, Patch," said Perdita. "It's okay to be nervous on your first day of work. It's common to feel nervous on the first time of trying something new. Like your father told you last night, you'll be able to get through your career with no problem as long as you do as you're instructed. Now, go and meet Roger at the car; he'll be taking you to work in a minute."
Patch went outside the house to see Roger at the car.
"Hello, Patch!" said Roger. "Are you excited about your first day of your new career?"
Patch let out a few excited barks.
"That's what I like to hear!" said Roger, taking Patch into the car with him. "You should be happy that you're going to be on the show, saving the day with your favorite hero!"
Roger drove Patch from the Dalmatian Plantation in Devon to the studio in Kent. They made it to the studio five minutes before Patch had to start work.
"Well, here we are, boy!" Roger said as he took Patch out of the car and into the studio. "I know you're gonna have a good day here today. You're gonna do well on your new career."
When Roger entered the studio with Patch, he let Patch down on the floor.
"I'm gonna go talk to the producer before I leave you here," Roger said to Patch, and he went across the studio to meet the producer, while Patch heard Thunderbolt, his idol and best friend, calling him.
"Hey, there, little buddy!"
Patch turned around to see Thunderbolt behind him. Thunderbolt greeted Patch by showing his shining white smile.
"Good morning, Thunderbolt," said Patch.
"Good morning, Patch," said Thunderbolt. "You're gonna love it here. We got great people here in this studio to help you do your best. And I'm gonna be here to help you all the way through into becoming a big star like me. Are you excited about all this?"
"Am I ever!" said Patch excitedly, but he started to feel his excitement level starting to decrease when the thought of trying to improve his voice for Thunderbolt's heroic bark came to him. "But I'm feeling troubled about trying to get my voice as good as yours to do your bark right."
Thunderbolt looked at Patch in shock, his ears pointing straight up.
"Really?" Thunderbolt said with concern.
"Yeah," said Patch sadly. "Last night, when I tried doing that bark, my brothers and sisters stopped me and made me promise not to do it anywhere except here at work. They'll laugh at me if they hear me do that bark. I tried to get them to show me some support, but they said they can't, just because pups don't have the voice for that bark. I really want to sound like you when I do that bark. But I want my family to support me while I learn it, not laugh at me for it. Now, I can't count on my family."
Thunderbolt did not know what to do. He did not know Patch's family as well as he knew Patch himself. After getting to know Patch on the day they first met, Thunderbolt was thinking over how good of a supporter he would be to Patch when it comes to helping him get his voice right for that heroic bark. He then gave Patch a comforting smile.
"Oh, don't worry, Patch," said Thunderbolt. "I'll show you a lot of support when you work on trying to get your voice right for my bark, and so will everybody else in this studio. While you're here, we'll be like a family to you. Everyday, when you come here for work, we're all gonna do the best we can to help you get that bark done just right."
"You promise you won't laugh at me when I learn to bark like you?" Patch asked Thunderbolt warningly.
"I promise, Patch. I'm your friend, now. You can trust me. Even though I messed up on the day we first met, I'm gonna do all I can to show how good of a friend I can be to you. Soon, you'll become as successful as I am, and you'll get to show the whole world that you really are one of a kind."
Patch knew very well the last time he trusted Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt was at first a fame-loving canine with a big ego who neglected his previous sidekick on the show, Lightning; because of that, Lightning tried scamming Thunderbolt out of the show by telling him that the auditions were held to replace him with another dog, which caused Thunderbolt to use Patch's knowledge of The Thunderbolt Adventure Hour to do something heroic in the real world and get himself on newspapers to save his career. While trying to keep himself from getting written off the show, Thunderbolt had lied to Patch that he can be his junior deputy, and that he would help him rescue his brothers and sisters from Cruella DeVil. After realizing what he had done to hurt Lightning and Patch, Thunderbolt went through a big change of heart and helped Patch rescue his brothers and sisters from Cruella DeVil in the end. After the rescue, Thunderbolt had become a real hero, even though he was too modest to admit that. Of course, if Thunderbolt had not been so egotistic to Lightning and used Patch to keep his job after he got tricked that he was going to lose it, he and Patch would never have become close to each other as best friends.
It was almost time for Patch to get to work, along with Thunderbolt and the rest of the crew. Roger had finished talking to the producer, and is about to exit the studio.
"Patch, I'm leaving, now," said Roger. "I'll be back at five o'clock to pick you up, okay?"
Patch let out a few barks in response.
"That's my boy!" Roger chuckled, patting Patch's head.
"Okay, everybody!" the producer called everyone in the studio after Roger left. "Let's all get to work!"
The producer looked down at Patch and happily carried him in his arms.
"Right after we show our new star around," said the producer, his eyes fixed at Patch in excitement.
Throughout the entire day, Patch spent it well by getting to know the cast of the show a bit better, being shown the way around the studio, and learning how the sets are designed and props are used for the show. Everyone in the studio was nice to Patch, especially the man who played Dirty Dawson, the villain on the show, and they all made him feel right at home in the studio. After Patch got used to everyone and everything around him in the studio, he and everyone else in the crew rehearsed for the first episode of the newly-titled The Thunderbolt And Patch Adventure Hour. While rehearsing throughout Patch's entire first week on the job, everyone in the studio helped Patch learn how to do Thunderbolt's heroic bark without even laughing at him or chastising him for his voice still resulting in a squeak. And during their break everyday, Patch and Thunderbolt were taken for walks in London to get their exercise and some fresh air.
Patch managed to keep up with his work everyday from nine to five. At the end of Patch's first week at the studio, Patch and the rest of the crew completely remembered all their lines for the premiere episode of The Thunderbolt And Patch Adventure Hour, and they got ready to get it filmed. Thanks to Thunderbolt and the rest of the crew helping Patch all through the week, Patch had no trouble remembering his lines during the filming of the first episode of his show. After the first episode of The Thunderbolt And Patch Adventure Hour has been filmed, Patch told his family about how well his career went when he got back home.
It was a couple of minutes before the new episode of Patch's show, and all ninety-nine of the pups ate their dinner as quickly as possible. Patch was the first to finish his dinner, and he challenged all his siblings to a race to the television before the show started.
"Last one to the telly is a Dirty Dawson!" Patch called to his brothers and sisters as he quickly makes his way to the living room.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Lucky shouted. "You got a head start!"
All of Patch's siblings finished their dinner as fast as they could and rushed to catch up with Patch to the living room. To their annoyance, Patch had his paw on the television first, and he pointed and laughed at them.
"I win!" Patch gloated. "You were all so slow!"
"Patch, you cheated!" Lucky complained.
Patch began to lose his temper with Lucky after being accused for cheating.
"Did not!" said Patch angrily.
"Did, too!" Lucky snapped back.
"Did not!"
"Did, too!"
"Did not!"
Patch stuck his tongue out at Lucky.
"All right, children, all right," Pongo said to the pups as he and Perdita entered the living room. "Settle down. Look, we should all be proud of Patch for working hard in making tonight's episode of his show with Thunderbolt. Now, let's all get together and enjoy the show."
The entire Dalmatian family sat quietly in front of the television, looking excited as Roger turned it on to The Thunderbolt And Patch Adventure Hour. The whole family watched the show together, and bursted out cheering at the end of it.
"Yes!" Patch boomed with enthusiasm. "Yes, yes!"
He did a backflip.
"Yes!" he shouted enthusiastically.
The show ended with Thunderbolt doing his heroic bark, and Patch standing majestically next to Thunderbolt, shining his white smile like Thunderbolt did sometimes.
"Patch, that episode was brilliant!" Rolly said as the Kanine Krunchies jingle began to play on the television.
"Yes!" Pepper agreed. "You were fantastic!"
"All right, children," Pongo said to the pups as he stepped in front of the television to face them. "I have something to tell you all. Now that Patch has the job with Thunderbolt, our pets will be taking all of us out on a walk in London to meet Thunderbolt every weekend."
All the pups looked at each other happily.
"Really, Dad?" said Patch excitedly. "We all get to go on a walk in London and meet Thunderbolt there tomorrow?"
"Of course, son," said Pongo. "Roger and your producer had planned it over the phone today. So, we all need to get some sleep, right now, if we're going to meet Thunderbolt in London tomorrow."
"Okay."
All the pups went into the barn to get some sleep, Pongo and Perdita right behind them to make sure that every pup was there. Everyone in the farm fell asleep, Patch still feeling excited about meeting Thunderbolt in London every Saturday and Sunday.
***
End of chapter two.
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Post by Flowgli on Oct 25, 2008 20:17:32 GMT -5
The third chapter of this fic may take longer for me to work on than how long it took for me to work on the first two chapters. So, until I post the third chapter, enjoy the second one.
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Post by dalmatianlover on Oct 26, 2008 12:56:08 GMT -5
the second one is even better ^_^ Can´t wait to see the third chapter
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Post by puffypup on Oct 26, 2008 16:10:24 GMT -5
Great story so far Flo^^can't wait to read the next chapter.
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Post by Flowgli on Oct 31, 2008 18:48:30 GMT -5
Chapter Three: A Dognapper And A Big Fan
***
Saturday came, and the Dalmatian family was taken to the park in London to meet Thunderbolt there. While the producer of The Thunderbolt And Patch Adventure Hour discussed with Roger and Anita about paying them Patch's weekly checks, Thunderbolt and the Dalmatian family discussed Patch and Thunderbolt's success on the previous night's episode of their show.
"It was brilliant!" Patch said to Thunderbolt excitedly. "The way we rescued the trapped miners, and stopped Dirty Dawson from getting away with all that gold!"
"Yeah!" said Lucky. "It was excellent to see you throw the dynamite out of the mine like that, Thunderbolt!"
"And we were all amazed when we saw you and Patch use the rope to tangle Dirty Dawson's feet to make him trip and fall!" said Rolly. "That was a great way to stop him from escaping after he robbed the mine!"
The pups cheerfully continued to tell Thunderbolt about how amazing the first episode of The Thunderbolt And Patch Adventure Hour was.
"Yes, it sure was a great episode, wasn't it?" Thunderbolt agreed with the pups. "It was also great that your brother, Patch, was there the whole show to help save the day. And that's what we're gonna do in every episode of our show, save the day together as best buddies."
He looked down at Patch.
"Because that's what we are, right, Patch?" he asked.
"Right!" Patch answered proudly.
A few seconds later, Thunderbolt and the Dalmatian family saw a man rush towards a police officer.
"Officer, my dog is missing!" the man panicked. "He's a Great Dane with a blue collar."
As the man continued describing his missing dog, a woman reached the police officer, looking as worried as the man.
"My dog is missing, too, officer!" said the woman. "She's a poodle, and she wears a pink collar with a diamond tag."
Now, almost all of London was crowding the police officer, describing their missing dogs to him.
"Officer, my Labrador retriever is missing!"
"I just saw my Doberman being stolen away!"
"My pug has been stolen away, too, officer! I just saw a large woman carrying him off!"
"That's the same person who dognapped my two terriers!"
More people in London made reports to the police officer about their dogs being dognapped by the same large woman mentioned. The police officer had been writing down descriptions of the missing dogs like mad since the commotion started, and it was starting to wear his writing hand out as it continued.
"All right, everyone, calm down!" the police officer shouted, and the whole crowd fell silent. "Now, look. I'm getting some more officers to help me find all your dogs and this person who dognapped them. We'll find your dogs, and they'll be okay."
After hearing the commotion about the missing dogs, Patch and Thunderbolt smirked at each other, getting the thought of what to do by then.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, little buddy?" Thunderbolt asked Patch.
"I think I am," said Patch. "It's time for another rescue in the real world, and you and I will be doing this together."
"Patch, maybe you and Thunderbolt should let your mother and me take care of this," said Pongo, cutting in.
"No, Dad," said Patch. "This is a job for me and Thunderbolt. You and Mum should've seen how I rescued my brothers and sisters from Cruella DeVil."
Pongo and Perdita stared at each other for a few seconds, thinking hard about the time they arrived in London after the rescue from Cruella DeVil, and then looked at Patch and Thunderbolt.
"Well, you and Thunderbolt did prove yourselves," said Pongo, "and yet we didn't get to see you two in action. All right, son."
"Great!" said Patch excitedly. "Let's go, Thunderbolt!"
As Patch and Thunderbolt took off to begin their search for the missing dogs, Patch's family lied down on the grass so they could comfortably watch Patch and Thunderbolt do their heroic deed. Patch and Thunderbolt separately searched all over London for about ten minutes, but they have not found a single missing dog so far. After their search, they both met each other in the alley.
"Thunder, have you found any of the missing dogs?" asked Patch.
"I've searched everywhere," Thunderbolt told Patch, "but I haven't seen a single missing dog. How about you? Were you able to have found any?"
"No."
"Well, let's keep looking."
Thunderbolt and Patch continued their search for the missing dogs. Their luck in finding them started to change when they heard some dogs howling.
"Thunderbolt, over there!" Patch called, jerking his head at a small house that was badly whitewashed. "That house must be where all the missing dogs are kept."
Thunderbolt and Patch quietly sneaked to the window at the front of the house, where all the captured dogs could be heard howling. Thunderbolt took a peek over the window to see the stolen dogs each locked up in a cage in a room, with Patch on top of his head so that he could also see what was going on. In that room with the caged dogs was a large woman holding a cane on her left hand and a white cat on her right.
"That must be the dognapper," Patch whispered to Thunderbolt.
"She certainly is," Thunderbolt whispered back. "Shh."
The caged dogs continued to howl and whine, much to the dognapper's annoyance.
"Oh, shut up, you mangy mutts!" the dognapper snapped as she banged the cage doors with her cane to silence the captured dogs, and she calmed herself down once all the dogs fell silent. "Ah, that's better. I don't know why dogs exist in the first place. They are filthy beasts that can't keep themselves civilized, and they always howl and whine at their masters to get their own way! And they are loud, messy, and disgusting! I can't stand them barking so much! And using the bathroom all over the house and drinking out of toilets? That's disgusting! And I can't stand it when they they jump on other people, lick them, bite them, and sniff them! But do you know what annoys me the most about dogs? They always chase cats around! Yes, cats make perfect pets for people. They are very civilized. They are always clean, quiet, and kept under control. And cats are even smarter than dogs, and they always have the ability to escape from dogs chasing them."
She looked down at her cat.
"Isn't that right, Josephine?" she asked.
The white cat on the dognapper's right arm purred in response.
"Yes, that's right," the dognapper chuckled. "And you are gonna be safe from all these dogs, because they are all locked up in cages, so they can't chase you around."
Josephine hissed at the caged dogs evilly.
"And I have an idea on how to get rid of all these dogs," the dognapper continued cheerily. "Rather than making a fur coat out of them like Cruella tried to do with a large litter of Dalmatian pups, I'm gonna ship all these dogs and send them all to Antarctica, where they can all freeze to death!"
Josephine grinned evilly at the dognapper and let out a sinister hissing laugh.
"Yes, all those people can say 'goodbye' to all these dogs," said the dognapper, "because once they're all sent to Antarctica, their masters might forget about them and replace them with cats!"
After hearing what was going on in the room, Thunderbolt and Patch ducked out of sight so they could come up with a plan to rescue the dogs.
"Okay, Patch," Thunderbolt whispered. "Here's the plan. I'm gonna go in there and lure the dognapper out. And then, you go in and free all the dogs. Got it?"
"Got it, Thunder," Patch whispered back.
"Good. Now, I'm gonna raise you to the window, but don't go in until I say so."
Thunderbolt raised Patch to the window. Patch carefully stepped on to the windowsill and sat on a corner of it outside to wait for Thunderbolt's signal to get inside the house. Back in the room, the dognapper was teasing the caged dogs with her cane to amuse Josephine. One of the dogs ran to its cage door and banged on it, trying to bite the dognapper.
"Yeah, let's see you try to get out of there to bite off my fingers!" the dognapper shouted to the dog.
As the dognapper continued teasing the dogs with her cane, Josephine joined her by rubbing herself on the cage doors to get the dogs to try chasing after her. One of the dogs made an attempt to chase after Josephine, but ended up hitting its head on its cage door, causing pain and Josephine to stick her tongue out at the dog. The dognapper and Josephine were interrupted by a dog doing a familiar heroic bark. They turned around to see that it was Thunderbolt, who was now in the room with them and ready to do his part of the rescue.
"Well, well, well," said the dognapper, looking at Thunderbolt in surprise. "If it isn't the famous Thunderbolt! You would make a perfect addition to this group of dogs that I'm going to send away. Come here, you!"
As the dognapper made a grab for Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt ran past between her legs to exit the room. The dognapper started to chase after Thunderbolt when she saw him run out of the house. Now that Thunderbolt managed to lure the dognapper out of the house, Patch was about to have his chance to help the dogs out of their cages.
"Now, Patch!" Thunderbolt shouted across the house to Patch as he continued running around the backyard to keep the dognapper busy, and Patch jumped off the windowsill to enter the room where the caged dogs were.
Patch saw a set of buttons on a desk that controlled the cages the moment he entered the room. However, before he could reach the controls, he was confronted by Josephine.
"You're not about to touch any of those buttons up there, are you, pup?" Josephine said to Patch.
Patch was now coming up with a plan on how to get to the controls without Josephine in the way. He then came up with one after he spotted the shining jewels on the collar that Josephine was wearing around her neck.
"That is a very beautiful collar you have on!" said Patch, pretending to sound amazed as he pointed at Josephine's collar. "I've never seen so many jewels on a collar before. How did you get something like that?"
"What, this thing?" said Josephine, looking down at her collar. "It's kind of old. It's worth thousands of pounds sterling. My pet bought it for me on the day she adopted me."
As Josephine continued talking about her collar, Patch quietly climbed up to the desk and pushed all the buttons on the controls, causing the alarms to sound and all the cage doors to open automatically. Josephine looked around the room as she heard the alarms go off and realized that she was tricked when she saw all the cage doors open and Patch at the controls.
"You tricked me, pup!" said Josephine angrily.
"Hurry!" Patch called to the other dogs. "Get out of here before the dognapper gets back!"
While all the other dogs got out of their cages and left the house through the window that Patch and Thunderbolt went through to get in, Josephine began to lose her temper with Patch and started chasing him all around the house. The chase in the house continued until Patch got trapped behind the grandfather clock in the living room.
"Looks like you're trapped in there, little doggy," said Josephine slyly. "There's no way you can escape from me, now. The only way you can come out of there is the same way you went in."
She stepped in front of the grandfather clock, waiting for Patch to come out from behind there.
"I'll be waiting right here," she said. "And when you come out, I'll scratch you up into little pieces."
The wait was not even five seconds long when a mouse appeared in front of Josephine. Josephine caught the mouse by its tail and hung it in front of her.
"Gotcha, little mousey," said Josephine, dangling the mouse even closer to her.
Patch saw and heard Josephine being busy with the mouse, which lead him to a plan to stop her from trying to attack him. He pushed the grandfather clock as hard as he could with his hind paws, and he kept pushing it until it tilted forward, causing it to fall towards Josephine. Halfway through the clock's fall, Josephine and the mouse turned around in shock after they heard the clock creak. As the mouse freed itself from Josephine's clutches, the clock collapsed on Josephine.
Patch and the mouse went closer to the fallen grandfather clock, seeing nothing but Josephine's front left leg sticking out from under it and lying spread-eagled on the floor. Josephine was dead.
"Whew!" the mouse sighed in relief. "That was a close one! Thanks for saving me from that cat, little puppy."
"Don't mention it," Patch said to the mouse. "Now, I gotta get to Thunderbolt before the dognapper hurts him!"
And Patch left the house through the same window that he and Thunderbolt went through to get in. Meanwhile, the dognapper continued chasing Thunderbolt all around London.
"Come back here!" the dognapper shouted to Thunderbolt as she kept chasing him.
As the chase continued, Thunderbolt made a turn to the alley. When the dognapper tried to corner Thunderbolt after entering the alley, Thunderbolt was nowhere to be seen.
"Huh?" said the dognapper, confused as she looked around the alley. "All right, Thunderbolt. Come on out and show yourself. You can't hide from me."
The dognapper waited about ten seconds for Thunderbolt to reappear. After the wait, the dognapper felt a dog jump right onto her face. But it was not Thunderbolt. It was Patch.
"Hey, what are you doing, you mangy little mongrel?!" the dognapper shouted as Patch tried his best to keep his front paws over her eyes so she could not see the dogs escape to reunite with their owners. "Get off me! Get off!"
After all the dogs went past the alley and returned safely to their owners, Patch jumped off the dognapper's face and hid behind a crate.
"All right, you little mutt," said the dognapper grumpily. "Where did you go?"
Patch's family was getting excited as they continued watching the action from the park.
"Go get her, Patch!" Penny whispered excitedly.
While peeking out from behind the crate, Patch was able to spot his target; the dognapper was bending down, searching behind the trash cans. Patch quietly took a few steps back, got a running start, and took a huge leap to take a large bite on the dognapper's behind.
"Ouch!" the dognapper screeched, jumping up in pain, and she looked behind her to see Patch hold on tightly to her skirt with his teeth. "You get away from there, you little beast!"
The dognapper ran around in circles to try getting Patch off her, but this caused Patch to grip harder on the dognapper's skirt with his teeth and pull it down to the ground, revealing her undergarments in front of the crowd. Patch's family erupted with laughter at this.
"Oh, you little--" said the dognapper angrily, humiliated as she pulled her skirt back up and chased after Patch.
During the chase, the dognapper was lured to the police station; Thunderbolt was already there, and he was holding the door open for Patch to get the dognapper inside.
"When I get my hands on you, I'll pack you up along with all the others and send you all away!" said the dognapper angrily. "I can't stand dogs at all!"
After the dognapper stepped inside the police station, she stopped in front of two police officers. She felt uncomfortable when she looked up at the police officers.
"So, it was you!" said the first police officer. "You were the one who stole everyone's dogs and tried to send them away!"
"No, it wasn't me, officers!" the dognapper cried. "I'd never do something like that!"
"Don't lie to us! We've been hearing from everyone in London that a large woman has stolen all their dogs! Now, we've caught that woman, which is you!"
"You don't like dogs?" the second police officer said to the dognapper. "Well, we know a place where you won't even have to put up with dogs! You are under arrest!"
As the police officers arrested the dognapper, Patch ran out of the police station and rejoined his family, with Thunderbolt right behind him.
"All right, Patch and Thunderbolt!" Lucky yelled excitedly as the rest of the Dalmatian family and all the rescued dogs cheered Patch and Thunderbolt for their heroic performance.
Patch's family and all the rescued dogs crowded Patch and Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt did his heroic bark in front of everyone, and then signaled Patch to do the same. Patch did not do the bark after Thunderbolt, though. All the rescued dogs in the crowd waited for Patch to do Thunderbolt's heroic bark. Patch did not even let a pin drop escape from his mouth.
"Come on, little buddy," Thunderbolt said to Patch. "Go ahead."
Patch stared at the crowd in fear. With the dogs in the crowd waiting to hear Patch do Thunderbolt's heroic bark, Patch started to feel that it was the auditions all over again.
"No," Patch said to Thunderbolt, shaking. "I can't."
"Come on, Patch, do it," said Thunderbolt impatiently. "I know you got laughed at on the day of the auditions, but maybe you won't, this time. I sure won't laugh at you for it. I'm your friend."
Patch shook his head.
"But I promised my brothers and sisters that I won't do it anywhere except at work, remember?" Patch argued back.
"I know," said Thunderbolt calmly. "You told me all about it on your first day at work. But maybe your family will make an exception."
Patch and Thunderbolt turned to look at Patch's siblings. Not liking the idea of Patch going against his word, his siblings all looked at each other questioningly. Then, they all nodded and looked back at Patch.
"Oh, all right," Rolly sighed. "We'll let this one go. But after that, don't do it in front of anyone but Thunderbolt again unless you really need to."
Patch nodded. He and Thunderbolt turned back to face the crowd again. Patch, now feeling more nervous than ever, took a deep breath and did Thunderbolt's bark as best as he could. His voice still resulted in a squeak, and that caused the all the dogs in the crowd to burst out laughing at him.
"What was that supposed to be?" said a Labrador retriever.
"That was the most pitiful bark I ever heard yet!" said a pug.
"Yeah!" one of the terriers said to the other. "It sounds like somebody sat on a squeaky toy!"
Patch's family looked at him sadly and sorrily as the crowd continued laughing at him, while Thunderbolt hung his head in shame, thinking about the mistake he just made that hurt his little friend. Tears were starting to come out of Patch's eyes. Patch then dropped himself down on the ground and started crying, with his front legs over his face. While the crowd was laughing and Patch was crying, an Irish setter mix jumped in front of Patch and faced the crowd angrily.
"All right, knock it off, all of you!" the Irish setter mix yelled at the crowd in a Southern accent, and the whole crowd stopped laughing. "This kid just saved us from being shipped to Antarctica by that woman who dognapped us, and laughing at his voice after he did Thunderbolt's bark is what he gets in return? He may not do that bark as well as Thunderbolt, but he has shown a lot more action as his sidekick on the show than Lightning did! Maybe he shouldn't have rescued y'all. Maybe he should've just left y'all locked up in those cages so that the dognapper can send y'all away to have y'all freeze to death, and your pets can forget about y'all and replace y'all with cats!"
The whole crowd stared at the Irish setter mix in shock.
"Hmph!" the Irish setter mix scoffed. "Just as I thought. Now, git outta here, or I'll rip y'all up into shreds! Go! Now!"
Annoyed, all the dogs in the crowd broke up and returned to their owners. Patch's family and Thunderbolt were all very happy about what the Irish setter mix did for Patch.
"That was amazing!" Thunderbolt said to the Irish setter mix. "The way you stood up for Patch. I like how you told those other dogs off."
Thunderbolt smiled at the Irish setter mix, his teeth shining as they usually did when he smiled like that. Surprised at the sound of Thunderbolt's compliment and the sight of his dazzling smile, the Irish setter mix became attracted to him.
"Um, thank you, Thunderbolt," said the Irish setter mix sheepishly.
"Oh, no, ma'am," said Thunderbolt. "Thank you. Thanks for standing up for him."
He then stared to feel bad about himself, thinking over the time he had Lightning as a friend but never treated him like one.
"Of course, I've never really done it for anyone," he said. "I just didn't know what to do."
"Oh, it's not so hard," said the Irish setter mix. "All you gotta do is be tough and show all those dogs who's boss. Don't be afraid to stand up for your friend here."
The Irish setter mix jerked her head at Patch, who was still on the ground and crying with his front legs over his face. She felt very sorry for Patch. She then approached him slowly.
"Aw, you poor thing," said the Irish setter mix gently, and she reached out a front paw to Patch and began to stroke his back with it. "Come on, now, little fella. Shh. Stop crying. It's okay."
As Patch felt one of the Irish setter mix's paws stroking his back, he stopped crying and looked up to see the Irish setter mix smile at him. Afraid that the Irish setter mix could be one of the dogs who had laughed at him for the way he did Thunderbolt's bark, Patch gasped in horror at the sight of her and, shaking, took a few steps back to hide among his siblings behind him.
"No, Patch," the Irish setter mix said as she started to approach Patch again. "Wait--"
"Hold on," said Thunderbolt, blocking the Irish setter mix with his front left leg. "Let me try."
He approached Patch and stroked the back of his head.
"Come on, little buddy," he said. "Go ahead and meet this lady."
After looking at the Irish setter mix again, Patch shook in fear as he took a few more steps back.
"No," said Thunderbolt gently. "Don't worry. She's not going to hurt you. She's a really nice lady. Come on. Go ahead and thank her. She's the one who saved you from those dogs who laughed at you."
Feeling nervous, Patch walked closer to the Irish setter mix with caution.
"Go ahead, Patch," said Thunderbolt. "Touch her paw."
Patch carefully reached out a paw and touched one of the Irish setter mix's paws with it. After a few seconds, nothing happened; the Irish setter mix did not move a muscle, so Patch did not feel anything bad coming from her. Relieved to see that the Irish setter mix was not going to hurt him, Patch sighed in relief and dropped his paw on the Irish setter mix's paw.
"See?" Thunderbolt said to Patch. "What did I tell you?"
The Irish setter mix giggled when she saw Patch rubbing his head against her paw.
"You're such a cute little puppy, now, aren't you?" the Irish setter mix said to Patch. "I guess you're feeling much better, now that you know I'm harmless."
"Yeah," Patch responded. "I feel loads better. You saved me from those dogs after they laughed at me for the way I did Thunderbolt's bark. I never had anyone stand up for me like that. Thank you."
"No problem, kiddo," said the Irish setter mix. "I was just happy that I was there to help you. My name is Amber, by the way. Thank you for rescuing me from that dognapper."
"You're welcome, Amber. Of course, I wouldn't be able to do it without help from Thunderbolt."
"That's right. And Thunderbolt will probably help you face anyone who gives you a hard time. He's your friend, and he'll stand up for you if those dogs laugh at you for the way you do his bark again."
"Well, I hope they won't laugh at me for that again. I've been working really hard on improving my voice for that bark everyday while working with Thunderbolt on our show."
"Oh, yes, your show. I saw it yesterday, and you and Thunderbolt were excellent! I was amazed by how much talent you have for a kid. After seeing how well you did on that show with Thunderbolt, I am proud to say to you that I'm a big fan of yours!"
Amber nuzzled Patch, which caused him to blush pink.
"Gee, thanks, Amber," said Patch sheepishly.
Amber giggled.
"You know, Patch," said Amber, "I'm sure that someday, you're gonna sound as great as Thunderbolt when you do that heroic bark."
"Really?" said Patch.
"Yes, really. You're gonna do just fine."
"Okay, children," Perdita said to the pups. "We have about five minutes before Anita and Roger get ready to take us home."
"It's been nice meeting you, Amber," said Thunderbolt. "I'm sure your pet is very worried about you."
Amber's eyes grew wide in shock after what Thunderbolt just said. She then closed her eyes painfully, hung her head sadly, and took a deep sigh.
"I don't have any pets," said Amber sadly.
"Really?" said Thunderbolt, sounding concerned.
"I don't have a family or a home. I've been longing for those things my whole life."
"Wait a minute," said Patch, stepping in. "If you don't have a home, then how were you able to watch Thunderbolt and me on our show?"
Amber could tell that Patch was starting to become very fond of her, even though it had been only a few minutes since they both first met. She was thinking about trying not to answer anyone's questions without getting them to know her first. So, now was her chance to tell Thunderbolt and the entire Dalmatian family how her life started.
"Patch, how about I tell you, Thunderbolt, and your family about my life?" said Amber, and everyone gathered around to hear the story of her life. "As far as I can remember, I was born in a dog pound in Tennessee. I didn't like how I was treated when I spent my entire life as a pup there; I was picked on a lot by all the other dogs there, because they were all bigger than me. So, when I grew older, I dug my way out of the pound and ran away. I went all around America to find myself a home and a family, but I never had any luck. No one wanted me. Then, I stowed away into a cargo ship, which was making its way here to England. When I got here, I was hoping that I would have some luck on finding a home and a family, but I still had no luck on that. So, I made the junkyard here in London my home."
After hearing all this, Patch was now starting to feel very concerned about Amber.
"Oh, no," said Patch, sounding worried. "Amber."
"I know," said Amber. "It's really hard when you're a street dog. But I managed to survive. Everyday, I've been stealing food from markets. Of course, I have to make sure I don't get caught, so that nobody can accuse me of being a thief and beat the living daylights out of me. And I've been peeking through windows of other dogs' homes every night to watch the show while looking at those dogs and their pets watching it together as a family."
Patch and Thunderbolt stared at Amber tearfully after she finished.
"Amber, I'm sorry," said Patch softly. "If it makes you feel any better, I'd be more than happy to help you find a suitable home and a family who will take proper care of you. In fact, we'll all be happy to help."
He turned to face his family and Thunderbolt.
"Right, guys?" he asked.
Patch's family and Thunderbolt nodded happily and agreeably.
"Oh, you're all so kind," said Amber, smiling weakly. "Thank y'all. I'd be forever grateful. But my luck on finding a home and family will soon change. You don't have to worry about me."
Thunderbolt and the Dalmatian family then heard their owners calling them.
"Thunderbolt!" the producer called. "Come on, boy, it's time to go home!"
"Perdy, Pongo, get the pups ready!" Anita called. "We're going home!"
"Well, we gotta go!" Thunderbolt said to Amber. "We all hope to see you here again."
"I hope to see y'all again, too," said Amber, and she lowered herself to Patch's height. "Especially you, Patch."
Amber and Patch nuzzled noses. Amber giggled afterwards.
"Bye, everybody!" Amber said to Thunderbolt and the Dalmatian family, and she left them to return home to the junkyard.
Patch could be seen by his family and Thunderbolt having a lovestruck look on his face as he watched Amber leave.
"Well, that look on your face explains it all," Lucky said to Patch.
Patch finally snapped out of it after he heard what Lucky just said to him.
"Huh?" said Patch, trying hard to hide his true feelings. "Explain what?"
"That you really like Amber a lot. In fact, it looks like you actually love her."
"What? No, I don't."
"Come on, Patch. You can't hide it. The way you're blushing really shows how you truly feel about Amber."
Lucky was right; Patch could be seen blushing red.
"Well, um, I--I, uh--" Patch stammered, and he let out an uncomfortable laugh as he blushed even more.
"That's all right, Patch," Lucky chuckled. "No need to feel embarrassed. I love Amber, too."
"I think we all do," said Thunderbolt, and the rest of the Dalmatians happily agreed with him.
Thunderbolt then showed some sadness when the thought of what Amber said earlier came to him.
"Amber is right," Thunderbolt sighed. "I shouldn't be afraid to stand up for you, Patch. You're my friend. I had Lightning as my only friend before I first met you, but I never treated him like a friend. I never really knew what to do to help a friend back then. But now that I have you as my friend, and as long as I remember what Amber just said, I'm sure you're gonna be all right. You'll soon show everyone that you really are a one-of-a-kind wonderdog, and nobody will mess with you ever again."
Roger, Anita, and the producer approached their dogs when they found that they did not hear their calls for them.
"Let's go, now!" Roger yelled at the Dalmatians. "We didn't call for you so that you can stay out here longer, you know!"
Thunderbolt and all the Dalmatians were then taken home by their owners.
***
End of chapter three.
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Post by Two-Tone on Oct 31, 2008 20:45:39 GMT -5
oooh nice adventure foiling a dognapper who loves cats, maybe for punishment they should ship her and her cat to Antartica (sp?)
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Post by Flowgli on Nov 2, 2008 7:08:27 GMT -5
It won't be long until the next chapter comes up.
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Post by Flowgli on Nov 6, 2008 8:06:25 GMT -5
Chapter Four: A Sinking Ship And A Falling Bridge
***
Things have gotten worse for Patch at the start of his second week into his career. Patch had Amber on his mind everyday since the day the two first met, and all the dogs who were rescued from the dognapper that day laughed at him for the way he did Thunderbolt's bark after that rescue everytime he and Thunderbolt were brought to London for their walk breaks; all this caused him to start having trouble working on the next episode of his and Thunderbolt's show throughout the entire week. He had been forgetting what was written for him in scripts, tripping over the props used on the set, and sounding worse while trying to improve his voice for Thunderbolt's heroic bark. After seeing Patch having such a hard time at work, Thunderbolt had become more ashamed of himself; he had not been standing up for Patch when the crowd of dogs laughed at him everytime the two friends were seen by them, but he tried getting him to ignore them and walk away from them as fast as he could without being held back by one of the leashes that the producer was holding on to. Because of all the pressure that Patch had been under, he and the rest of the crew for The Thunderbolt And Patch Adventure Hour were not able to get another episode finished after the premiere. Everyone in the studio was worried about Patch. His family was even more worried about him when Roger received a call from the producer about the pup's failure at work.
After a few more weeks of bad luck at work, Patch was taken to London with his family for a walk before afternoon came. Patch's family was discussing how poorly he had been doing at work lately, much to his dismay.
"Patch, I don't understand what made you fail at work," said Pongo. "What has been on your mind lately?"
Patch miserably turned his head away without answering his father.
"I think I know," said Lucky. "It's Amber, isn't it?"
Patch now sadly hung his head, still not giving an answer.
"Come on, Patch," said Lucky. "We know it well. We know that you have been thinking about Amber ever since we first met her."
Patch took a deep sigh and looked up.
"Okay," Patch said to his family. "You're right. I have been thinking a lot about Amber. I'm just bothered that Amber has been living her life without a family and a real home. I don't know how much longer she'll live if she continues to live in that junkyard."
"She's been a street dog almost her whole life," said Rolly. "She's doing all she can to survive."
"I know. But still, I don't think that junkyard is the right place for her to live. She could get sick. Or worse, she could die."
"Calm down, Patch. We all are worried about how Amber has been living her life, and like you, we really want to help her find a real home and a family. But she's right; you don't have to worry about her. She might have some luck finding those things. Anyway, you've got to get her off your mind and concentrate more on your career."
"Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't let the thought of Amber make me fail on my career. You guys and Thunderbolt have been worried about me after what happened at work for the past few weeks. But even if I don't have Amber on my mind, I'd still have trouble at work, because those dogs that I rescued still have been laughing at me for the way I did Thunderbolt's bark everyday when Thunderbolt and I come here for our walk breaks. I can't believe that Thunderbolt and I have wasted our heroic efforts on those dogs. We shouldn't have rescued them from being sent to Antarctica where they could have frozen to death."
"But Patch, if you hadn't rescued those dogs from the dognapper, you wouldn't have met Amber. And Amber was one of the dogs you've rescued, wasn't she?"
Patch lowered his head, now realizing what Rolly just said to him.
"Yes," said Patch sadly. "Of course."
"Cheer up, Patch," said Rolly, jumping into a cheerful mood. "Nothing bad is going to happen today. It's a happy day. I can see it all. I can hear it all. And I can feel it all, yes. Blue skies, green grass, bright sun, healthy breeze, birds singing, children playing, people on a sinking ship screaming for help--"
Patch's eyes widened in shock after hearing what Rolly just said.
"What?!" Patch gasped. "People on a sinking ship screaming for help?!"
"Yeah," said Rolly happily. "There's a ship that just collided with Tower Bridge. Now, Tower Bridge is damaged, the ship is sinking, and the people on the ship are screaming for help. Come and take a look."
The rest of the Dalmatian family followed Rolly to Tower Bridge to see it falling apart and find people on a sinking ship screaming for help.
"See?" said Rolly excitedly. "I told you. Isn't this great?"
"Rolly, how could you say that?" said Patch, disappointed in what Rolly just said. "Those people's lives are in danger! This is a bad thing!"
"No, Patch, this is a good thing. I'm just saying that because this is your chance to prove yourself a hero to everyone in London yet again."
Patch looked back and forth to see if Thunderbolt had arrived in London yet, but Thunderbolt was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Thunderbolt?" asked Patch, starting to feel worried. "I can't do this without him."
"Patch, Thunderbolt doesn't usually come to London this early when we meet him on the weekends," said Lucky.
"I know, but he and I always do heroic stuff together. I need him here, right now."
"Patch, those people's lives are in danger, and they'll get sunk to the bottom with that ship and the collapsing bridge if you don't do something. We know you need Thunderbolt to help you save those people, but there's no time to wait for him. Those people need help, right now."
Patch did not know what to do. He needed Thunderbolt's help to rescue the people on the ship, but he did not want to let the people on the ship go down to the bottom of the water. He continued to stare at the people on the ship in fear. There was no alternative.
"All right," said Patch, now knowing that he did not have any other choice. "I'll try to rescue those people myself, and quick."
"You won't have to do it alone, Patch," said Pongo. "We'll be here to help until Thunderbolt gets here."
"Right. I'll call for you when I need your help. I'm going in."
Patch took a few steps back from the bridge to get a good running start, ran forward until he reached the end of the bridge, and took a huge leap from the edge of the bridge to the ship. He ran between the people on the ship to search it in order to find something that could help them out of there. His search came to an end when he found a long piece of rope. He picked up the rope with his teeth, took it to the captain of the ship, and dropped it in front of the captain's feet so that he could bark at him to get his attention. The captain looked down at Patch after he heard him barking.
"What is it, boy?" said the captain, kneeling down to face Patch.
Patch pushed the rope closer to the captain with his nose and barked his plan to him, while jerking his head at the end of the bridge where his family could be seen. The captain picked up the rope in front of him, looked down at it, and looked up to see Patch's family at the end of the bridge.
"Yes," said the captain, nodding his head, confirming that he understood Patch's plan really well. "I see."
Patch ran up to the top of the ship to face his family, while the captain got the rope ready.
"Hey, you guys!" Patch shouted across the distance between the ship and the end of the bridge where he could see his family. "I'm going to signal the captain of this ship to throw one end of the rope to you! It'll be up to you to catch it and tie it to a post on land as tight as you can, and then signal the passengers to climb up the rope so that they can safely get back on land!"
Patch's family nodded at each other.
"All right, you heard what Patch said," Pongo said to Patch's siblings and Perdita. "Let's get ready to help save those people."
"Wait, Patch!" Rolly shouted to Patch as best as he could. "What are you gonna do to signal the captain to throw the rope to us?"
Patch had been thinking really hard about what to use as a signal, now that Rolly had mentioned it. Patch was thinking about doing Thunderbolt's heroic bark, even though he knew that pups do not have the voice to do that. But Patch had no choice, and Rolly told him on their first family walk in London with Thunderbolt not to do that bark unless he really needed to.
"I can't believe I'm about to do this," Patch called back regretfully, "but I have no choice but to use Thunderbolt's bark as my signal!"
"Go ahead, Patch!" Rolly called back. "We won't laugh at you for it again, right now, since you're about to do that bark because you really need to! And I told you before to only do that bark if you really need to!"
"Go on, Patch!" Lucky called to Patch as best as he could. "We're all ready!"
There was no more thinking about it. Patch did Thunderbolt's heroic bark as loud as he could, with his voice having gotten weaker ever since he started having trouble at work after the premiere episode of his and Thunderbolt's show. After the bark, the captain of the ship threw one end of the rope to the end of the bridge, where Pongo caught the end of the rope in midair with his teeth. Perdita and Patch's siblings grabbed the rope with their teeth and helped Pongo pull it to the nearest lamp post on land.
"All right, children," Perdita said to the pups. "Tie the rope around this post very tightly."
Pongo, Perdita, and the pups tied the rope around the post securely.
"That should be tight enough," said Pongo, and he went over to the edge of the damaged bridge to signal the people on the sinking ship to climb up the rope by barking at them.
The captain of the ship grabbed on to the rope, ready to climb back up on land.
"Get ready, all of you!" the captain called to all the passengers on the ship. "Grab on to the rope and climb!"
All the passengers on the ship followed the captain's orders. While everyone on the sinking ship climbed up the rope to get back on land, Patch ran down the ship and searched everywhere on it to check if there were still any people on it.
"That's about everyone, isn't it?" Pongo said as all the people safely got back on land from being sunk with the ship.
"Yes, that's everyone, all right," said Perdita, staring at the sinking ship tearfully. "Except Patch."
"He'll be all right, Perdita. He's now checking if there are any more people still on the ship."
After searching all over the ship, Patch found that there were no more people still on it, so he ran to the rope, tightly grabbed on to it with his teeth and paws, and started climbing. He shook in fear as he climbed up the rope, for he looked up to see that more of Tower Bridge was falling apart on his way back up on land.
"Oh, no!" Patch cried as more parts of Tower Bridge fell into his direction.
Afraid that he would get knocked off the rope by one of the falling parts of the bridge that were bigger than him, Patch shakingly clutched the rope close to him and tightly shut his eyes, which felt to him as if the entire bridge was about to collapse on him. His family and all the rescued passengers became worried about him, and they were all waiting to see if he could make it back alive. His family became a bit relieved when they heard Thunderbolt arrive in London on schedule.
"Hey, you guys!" Thunderbolt called to Patch's family. "What made you come here to London so early?"
"Never mind that, now," said Pongo, looking worried. "Patch needs you."
Thunderbolt's ears pointed up, looking shocked.
"He does?" he asked. "What happened?"
"Patch just saved these people from a ship that is being sunk by Tower Bridge," said Pongo, looking even more worried as he jerked his head at the collapsing bridge. "He's still down there, and he needs your help."
Shocked by this news, Thunderbolt hurried over to the edge of the damaged bridge to see Patch still clinging on to the rope and shaking with fear.
"Patch, look up!" Thunderbolt shouted to Patch.
Patch opened his eyes and looked up the bridge when he heard Thunderbolt calling him.
"Thunderbolt!" Patch cried, sounding more frightened than ever. "Help me!"
"Hang in there, little buddy!" Thunderbolt called back as he saw more parts of the bridge falling towards Patch. "I'll pull you back up!"
Thunderbolt grabbed the rope with his teeth to pull Patch back up. More parts of Tower Bridge were falling into Patch's direction as Thunderbolt pulled the rope; one of the parts that were about twice as big as Patch knocked Patch unconscious, causing him to completely let go of the rope and fall really hard into the water, where the ship was already halfway sunk. Thunderbolt let go of the rope after seeing this happen and gasped in fear.
"Patch!" Thunderbolt panicked, and he dived into the water to save Patch.
Patch's family and all the rescued passengers became more worried than ever. They waited in complete silence to see if Thunderbolt could make it back alive with Patch. Perdita tearfully laid her head down on Pongo's shoulder, now believing that Patch and Thunderbolt might not make it back on land alive. Finally, after a few more seconds of waiting in silence, Patch's family and all the rescued passengers gasped in relief when they saw Thunderbolt reach out a paw and pull himself back on land while carrying Patch by the collar with his teeth. Thunderbolt gently laid Patch down on the ground and shook himself dry, while Patch's family came closer to see how Patch was doing.
"Don't come too close," Thunderbolt said to Patch's family. "He needs some air."
Shaking, Patch slowly took some deep breaths and opened his eyes.
"Thunderbolt?" said Patch, his voice sounding weak as he shivered from being in the water.
Thunderbolt sighed in relief after seeing Patch still alive.
"Oh, Patch," said Thunderbolt softly. "Thank goodness you're all right."
"Yeah, Patch," said Penny. "We were all worried about you."
"You did it, though," said Lucky. "You saved all those people from being sunk with that ship."
Patch sat up and started to feel disappointed in himself.
"I did it again, did I?" said Patch. "I did Thunderbolt's bark. I can't believe I did that."
"It's okay, Patch," said Rolly gently. "We're not going to laugh at you for it, because you only did that to signal the captain to throw the rope to us so that we can help you save those people. And that's doing the bark only when you really need to, like I said. And those dogs that kept laughing at you are not here, so there's no one around to laugh at you for the way you did Thunderbolt's bark, right now."
"Guess again!" said a voice in singsong tone behind Thunderbolt and the Dalmatian family.
They all turned around to see that it was a sheepdog among a large group of other dogs, who were the same dogs that Patch had rescued from being sent to Antarctica. They all began to laugh and point at Patch. Patch dropped himself down on the ground, feeling downhearted.
"What's the matter?" said a poodle, mocking a tone of concern. "Not happy to see your fans?"
"Your bark sounds even worse than as if someone sat on a squeaky toy, you little runt!" said a black Labrador.
"Yeah, we heard it very well!" said a collie. "You call yourself a hero?"
"Why don't you just give up and let a big dog do the hero stuff, kid?" said a Scottish terrier.
All the dogs in the crowd continued laughing at Patch.
"Wait, you guys, I got an idea!" the sheepdog said to the crowd. "How about we celebrate this pup's heroic moment after he showed how much of a really big coward he is to even save himself!"
He took a fistful of grass, and the rest of the crowd followed his move.
"Everybody got the confetti ready?" he asked the rest of the crowd. "Here we go, on the count to three! One, two, three!"
All the dogs blew the grass at Patch and continued to laugh at him as all the blown grass stuck to his wet body. Just seeing all this happen was starting to get on Thunderbolt's nerves. Thunderbolt remembered what Amber told him about not being afraid to stand up for Patch or any of his friends, so he became very angry and jumped in front Patch to face the crowd just like Amber did after the rescue from the dognapper.
"OH, THAT DOES IT!" Thunderbolt yelled at the crowd, his temper rising by the second. "I'VE JUST ABOUT HAD IT WITH ALL OF YOU RIDICULING MY FRIEND, WHO IS JUST TRYING HIS BEST TO LEARN EVERYTHING HE COULD TO BE LIKE ME! AMBER WAS RIGHT! PATCH AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE RESCUED YOU FROM THAT DOGNAPPER IN THE FIRST PLACE! INSTEAD, WE SHOULD'VE ONLY RESCUED AMBER AND LEFT THE REST OF YOU LOCKED UP IN YOUR CAGES SO YOU CAN BE SENT TO ANTARCTICA, WHERE YOU CAN ALL FREEZE TO DEATH! BUT NO! WE HAD TO RESCUE YOU! AND YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN GRATEFUL THAT MY FRIEND HERE HAD SAVED YOUR LIVES, BUT YOU HAD TO BE STUPID AND LAUGH AT HIM JUST BECAUSE HE CAN'T DO MY BARK RIGHT! YOU IDIOTS CALL YOURSELVES FANS OF HIS?! A TRUE FAN WOULD NEVER EVEN BE SEEN DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS!"
Thunderbolt charged at the crowd to attack them. First, he took huge bites on them. Then, he used his teeth to pull on their ears and tails very hard, making it look as if he is actually going to rip them off. Finally, he grabbed one of those dogs' tails with his teeth, swung that dog around, and had let go to make that dog fly at the rest of the dogs, causing it to knock them all down to the ground. Thunderbolt now confronts the crowd, who are now piled up on top of each other and seriously suffering from the pain that he caused them.
"Get out, all of you!" Thunderbolt growled furiously at the crowd. "Don't ever mess with my friend again!"
Afraid that Thunderbolt will cause them even more pain, the crowd ran away from him in fear. Thunderbolt breathed heavily as he watched the crowd leave. The entire Dalmatian family were shocked to see Thunderbolt so angry.
"Thunderbolt!" Patch gasped. "I've never seen you this angry."
Thunderbolt started to calm down as he wondered if he scared Patch with his anger that he used to stand up for him.
"I know," said Thunderbolt sadly, his ears flopping down. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just trying to remember what Amber told me; I had to show that I have enough courage to stand up for you. You're my friend, and I don't want to see anything bad happen to you. I--I was just trying to do whatever it takes to help you."
Shaking, Patch looked up at Thunderbolt tearfully.
"Thank you," said Patch, his spirits now becoming low, "but I have a terrible feeling that those dogs are still going to laugh at me when I show up again, no matter how much you'd stand up for me. I'm tired of taking walks here in London during weekends and breaks from work just to be laughed at by those dogs."
He took a sigh of regret for what he was about to say next.
"Thunder, I hate to do this, but I'm gonna have to quit working with you," he said.
Patch's family and Thunderbolt became shocked at this news.
"What?!" Thunderbolt shouted in fear.
Patch's siblings then started to make protests on Patch's decision.
"Patch, no! You can't quit!"
"Thunderbolt's your best friend, Patch, and he needs you as much as you need him!"
"You're giving up your dreams, Patch! Don't do this!"
"You're not gonna let what those other dogs say get to you, are you, Patch?"
After hearing the last thing said to him by one of his siblings, Patch looked down at the ground miserably.
"There's nothing that any of you can say or do to change my mind," said Patch sadly. "Those dogs are right. I couldn't save myself from the falling bridge. I can't even do Thunderbolt's bark right. Ever since we met Amber, my voice started to get worse when I tried to get it right for Thunderbolt's bark. Maybe I should give up."
"No, Patch, please!" Thunderbolt pleaded. "You'll always have me help you. And if you quit, you might get replaced by another dog. Or worse, our show might get cancelled after only one episode. And I don't want any of that to happen. We're friends, and friends always do things together. Please, don't leave me."
Patch still remembered the fact that pups do not have the voice to do Thunderbolt's heroic bark, so he began to take it very seriously and came up with another shocking piece of news for his family and Thunderbolt.
"I won't leave you for good, Thunder," said Patch. "I'll come back to work with you again when I become a big dog. That way, I'll have a voice that's just as good as yours, and no one will laugh at me when I do your bark by then."
Thunderbolt shook his head, not accepting to wait until Patch would become an adult dog for their careers to continue.
"Waiting until you become a big dog is not a good idea, Patch," said Thunderbolt. "We need each other, now. We need to do our show together. Our show is very important to us. It's very important to you. It helps you a lot in becoming a better hero in real life."
Patch did not want to hurt Thunderbolt's feelings, but he did not want to be ridiculed by all the dogs in London again. He had been thinking about what was best for himself and not both him and Thunderbolt, and thinking about his friendship with him was not easy for him to do while he was under so much pressure.
"I know how important our show is," said Patch, his voice getting even weaker. "But I am fed up with all those dogs laughing at me when I try my hardest to succeed. I have to avoid them. I don't ever want to face them again. I know how much you need me, and I know how much I need you, but I'm afraid I have no choice."
Thunderbolt felt hurt. Patch's family looked very upset with Patch for what he just did to Thunderbolt. There was nothing else Patch could do, though. He wanted to avoid the dogs that have been laughing at him since the rescue from the dognapper; so his mind was made up, and there was nothing that his family or Thunderbolt could do to change it.
"Pongo, Perdy, get the pups ready!" Roger called. "We're going home!"
The Dalmatian family gloomily walked back to their owners, with Patch right behind his entire family. Patch stopped for a moment and turned his head to look back at Thunderbolt one more time.
"Goodbye, Thunderbolt," said Patch, feeling more guilty and downhearted at the same time. "I guess you won't be seeing me again for a long time."
Thunderbolt shedded a tear, showing emotional pain as he watched Patch leave London with his family.
***
End of chapter four.
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