
| Trouble Shooters episode 7
Author: JerRocks2day In this new episode, the gang has to help a little girl find her lost cat, which leads them to a revelation on the city's cats and reason behind some mysterious lightning strikes.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Mystery/Crime - Words: 14,708 - Favs: 1 - Published: 03-07-10 - id: 5799177
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Trouble Shooters
Episode 7—A Giant Cat-trastophe
Author's note: This next episode introduces one of the Trouble Shooters' main villains. Of course, there was the Dalton gang, Dick Dastardly and Muttley, and Randall J. Swiper. But this is supposed to be a more serious villain, kinda like what Vladin RasKilmer was. Also, the episode kind of borrows the plot from the Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers episode: 'Catteries Not Included.' As well as introduces a guitar playing Christopher Peeper. It was a response to the new Superbook that includes a Chris playing guitar because I just didn't like the direction they were going with it.
Personal list of voice cast:
Christopher, Gizmo, Justin [possibly]—Billie Lou Watt
Joy—Kath Soucie
Uri—Helena Van Cort
Angela—Tress MacNeille Corky—Russi TaylorPollyTech 2500[PT] —Mark Hamill
Zacky M—Alfonso Riberio
Professor Bumble—Hal Studer
Dr. Animalector/Harold Quinn—Quinton Flynn
Sgt. O'Hare, robotic Cyberden dogs—Jim Cummings
Henry Hackentire—Rob Paulson
Jessie—Janna Michaels
Once again, we find ourselves in the city of Ecto Valley. Like any other major metropolis, it has problems dealing with the criminal element. But like any other major metropolis, it has its detectives on the job, combating that element. Who else am I talking about? The Trouble Shooters, of course.
Yup. As a matter of fact, we find four of our favorite Trouble Shooters: Uriah, Corky, Gizmo and the PollyTech 2500, as they were patrolling the city for any suspicious criminal activity.
"Faster than a speeding bullet, it's Super-Gizmo! Faster Gizmo! Faster!" Uri called out as he rode the valiant Crusader robot's back. Gizmo was running as Corky and PT followed them closely.
"Wait for Corky!" Corky called out as he ran as fast as he could.
"Don't forget the bloody parrot!" PT shouted.
It was a beautiful weekday afternoon, and our four Trouble Shooters were off and running through the municipal district of Ecto Valley. And up above them was none other than, Councilman Henry Hackentire. He was in his office as he was looking down at Uri, Corky, Gizmo and PT running through the city. Just like last time, he still has much disdain for them and the rest of the Trouble Shooters.
"Mr. Hackentire! Mr. Hackentire!" The secretary, Ms. Douframe called out to him, as she ran down towards him, carrying important papers. "There was a mysterious lightning strike at the power plant last night."
Henry gave her his full attention as he looked at the reports carefully. "Interesting. How much property damage are we facing?"
"The lightning took out the main transformer. But nobody was seriously injured. Witnesses and key experts are saying that it was no accident."
"That's crazy talk. If it wasn't an accident, it should've struck twice by now."
"I know it sounds crazy, Mr. Hackentire. And the weird thing is that the police are taking credit for the lightning strikes, before they hit."
Henry was becoming concerned. "Hmm. That is a problem."
"We better inform the Trouble Shooters right away."
Henry was displeased. "The Trouble Shooters? Ha. What good can those kids do?"
Ms. Douframe was displeased with his attitude. "Mr. Hackentire. I'm surprised of you."
"I'm more surprised of you." He said as he looked out the window showing the view of the city. "I've spent years cleaning up this city and putting street thugs and criminals behind bars right where they belong…" He picked up a small coin as he continued on with his speech, "and I've discovered that the only true morality in this world is chance. Unbiased, unprejudiced and fair."
She wasn't the least bit intimidated. "Point?"
"Point is, the odds of them truly being heroes, are against them. That's why I don't trust them. But enough chatter, what say we flip for it?"
"Flip for it?"
"Heads: they're lucky. Tails: not so lucky." And without hesitation, Henry flipped the coin and it landed right on his hand revealing heads.
Ms. Douframe chuckled. "Looks like you're luck is slipping, Henry."
Henry was very annoyed. "Just call up those kids."
"That's the spirit, Mr. Hackentire." She said with a smile.
As Ms. Douframe left the room, Henry just stood there thinking to himself. "This doesn't change anything. Not yet." He said.
Looks like the Trouble Shooters are going to be expecting a challenge with this new lightning strike report. Speaking of our heroes again, let's check up on what Uri, Corky, Gizmo and PT were up to.
As they were patrolling through the city, in their minds, they stopped by the police headquarters to see if they were going to be lucky on any new reports, when Gizmo slowed down and stop for Corky and PT to finally catch up with him and Uri.
"That's more like it. I can't keep up at that speed, you speed racer." PT said.
"What say we talk a rest, Uri? I'm tired." Corky asked.
"Okay Corky. Let's sit over by that bench." Uri said.
"Keep your eyes peeled men. A case could pop up anywhere." Gizmo said.
And so, Uri and Corky sat on the city bench nearby the police station. They were just chilling on a gorgeous day, with PT joining them.
As PT lay on the bench, he noticed something strange. But it wasn't new it to him in anyway of course. As he moved his feathery hands closer to each other, he noticed a small bolt of static electricity form. A plan was forming immediately. He tip-toed over to Corky and gave him a shock.
Corky was immediately shocked. "Whoa!"
PT laughed. "Shocking, isn't it?"
Corky was quickly interested in his trick. "Gee. Cool trick, PT. How did you do that?" He asked.
"Its called 'static electricity' Cork. First you rub on something to build up your charge, and then you pick your victim. Wanna give it a try?"
"Yes please."
PT looked around to see if he could find anything conductive worthy. That's when he spotted two men unrolling a carpet. "Over there. Two men and a carpet. Do your stuff kid."
"Sure thing, PT." Corky said. Quickly Corky ran over to the carpet while the two workers weren't paying attention. He quickly rolled over the carpet and then ran back to give Uri a shocking revelation, if you know what I mean.
"Hey Uri. Wanna play a game?" Corky asked.
"Sure Corky. What do you wanna play?" He asked.
"Let's play 'tag.'" As Corky said the word 'tag', he poked Uri with his finger and Uri was immediately shocked.
"Yipe!" Uri said.
Corky rolled over with laughter. "I sure fooled you."
"Very funny." Uri remarked.
"Hey. You gotta learn to lighten up kid. Have a little charge to your life." PT said.
"I guess your right." Uri said
"Attention. Attention! Challenge detected nearby." Gizmo called out to the boys.
"Where?!" Uri and Corky asked.
"Inside. Come quickly."
"You here that, Corky? We, Trouble Shooters got a case." Uri said.
"Hooray!" Corky cheered.
As Gizmo led Uri, Corky and PT inside the police headquarters, they looked around to see what Gizmo was talking about. "Over there." Gizmo said pointing to the little girl who was talking about her lost kitten to Sergeant O'Hare. She was holding a picture and telling the sergeant all about her lost kitten.
"You see? This is what Dill looks like." She told him, as she showed him the picture of her kitten.
"Oh. I'm sorry little girl. But kitten runaways aren't in our jurisdiction." The sergeant said.
"But Dill would never run away. Somebody must've taken him." She said with sorrow.
"Oh don't cry now." He assured her. "I'll tell you what. I'll tell my men to keep an eye out for her."
She left with the benefit of a doubt it her mind. "Thank you sir."
As she walked right out the door right passed our heroes, they couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Why, even poor Uri knew what it was like when he couldn't his lost dog.
"Poor little girl." Gizmo said frowning.
"Why kind of cruel, heartless person would break up such a nurtured relationship?" PT said with exaggerated grief.
"Why do you think we should do, Uri?" Corky asked.
"I think we should help her." Uri said.
Everybody nodded in agreement. "Good idea. Trouble Shooters, away!" Gizmo said.
Quickly, our four heroes ran over to that poor little girl to help her. "Hey! Hey wait up!" Uri called out. "We wanna help you!"
"Who are you guys?" She asked.
"We are the Trouble Shooters." Gizmo said.
"We can do anything." Corky said.
"We want to help you find your kitty." Uri said.
"You really want to?" She asked.
"Exactly. Helping others is what we do best." Gizmo said.
"So hit us the facts, sweetheart. Whoever took your kitty is gonna get it; nice and easy." PT remarked
The girl giggled. "Your parrot is funny."
PT was surprised. "Now what makes you think I'm the Joker?" He remarked again.
"Anyway, we know how you feel about your lost cat. I lost my dog too." Uri said.
"Really? Did you ever find your dog?" She asked.
"We did. And we will help you find your lost kitten, Dill." Gizmo said.
"You really will?" She asked. "Oh, you guys are great and all. But he could be anywhere in this big city. I should've been there for him."
"Don't worry, gal. It wasn't your fault." PT said. "We'll just take you to our headquarters and our members will help you out, okay?"
"Okay."
"That's the spirit." Uri said. "Say, what's your name again?"
"I'm Jessie. What are your names?"
"I'm Uri."
"Corky."
"Gizmo the crusader robot."
"And I'm the Pollytech2500. All that and more, on another special edition of Sixty Minutes." PT wisecracked. "Oh, I never get tired of that."
"Come on. We'll introduce you to Christopher, Joy, Justin and my sister. They really get along with each other like we do." Corky said.
Ah yes. The Trouble Shooters are on another exciting mission. They're going to help the little girl, Jessie find her lost kitten. So as Uri, Corky, Gizmo, and PT were accompanying Jessie to the Trouble Shooters headquarters, it seems there was something chaotic going there. Christopher was practicing his electric guitar in his room, with Justin watching his amazing talent. And Angie was really having a huge problem with the racket that was going on upstairs, while she was taking a phone call.
"Hello?!" She shouted trying to hear what was being said. "I'm sorry. I can't hear you. The volume in here is way too loud in here." Angie took a broom stick and tapped on the ceiling to tell Chris and Justin about the noise level. "Can you keep it down up there? I'm trying to take a call!"
In the meantime, Christopher didn't hear Angie at all. He was too busy showing off and rocking out on his new electric guitar. He was really living on the edge with his Guns N Roses/Metallica/Iron Maiden riffs as he was showing off his moves. And had some really cool shades on. Justin was happily eating popcorn while relaxing on the couch, listening in on Chris' music.
"Alright!" Justin cheered. "Chris, you're really good at that."
"Thank you! Thank you! I'm calling this one, 'Ode to Joy.'" Chris boasted. "How do you like the entrance, Justin? I'm trying to do a slide in, and the pull off the Axl Rose dance on the down beat."
"Sounds good, but are you sure Joy's gonna like that?"
"Like it? She'll love it. Do you even know what music she likes?"
"I don't know, Chris. I always had a feeling she likes ballads. You know, softer stuff."
"Excuse me. 'Soft stuff' may be okay, but it's 'pedal to the metal' that's the music of the future."
"Alright. All right. I was just saying it, you know. Mind if you show more guitar playing?"
"Sure thing, Justin. This one's gonna be a real treat. This time I'm doing an oldtime favorite: hardcore punk.
"Alright!" Justin cheered.
And so, Christopher continued to play his guitar as if nobody was even watching him. Of course, Angie was still trying to take a call and it was very distracted by the loud volume. So, she hid under the desk so she can have better reception.
"Hello?! What's that you said?" She asked. "You mean, a case? That's wonderful! And don't worry. We won't let the town down. Thank you again." Angie immediately hung up the phone and decided to go upstairs to confront Christopher about the loud volume. "Oh, I'm gonna strangle that kid." She said in frustration. As Christopher continued playing at extraordinary volume levels, Angie went upstairs to Chris' room and saw what they were doing. She saw the plug to Chris' amp and effects pedal, and immediately pulled the plug on his music.
"Hey! What did you do that for?!" Chris asked.
"You ding-dong! Do you know what kind of noise you were making?!" Angie shouted.
"Take it easy, Angie. All I was doing was practicing my chords, for Joy."
"Chords? That wasn't the least bit of music you were making! Music is supposed to be soft and calming, not some oversized 'noise maker.'"
Chris was intimidated. "'Noise-maker?' How dare you!"
"Don't worry Angie. He's just trying to experiment with different types of music." Justin said.
Angie sighed in frustration. "Experiment my foot. He's just like you, Justin. Reckless and stupid." She said as he took Justin's popcorn bowl and shoved it on Justin's head.
"Hey!" Justin said.
"After all, I was taking a call from the Councilman's secretary about a new case for us. And I could barely hear her at all because of your quote and quote, 'music.'"
Just then, Joy returned home from an after school course she was taking, in psychology. "Hi everybody! I'm home!" She didn't see anybody in the main Trouble Shooter lobby, but she did hear the argument that was going upstairs between Chris and Angie. She immediately went upstairs to see what was going on. "What's going on here?"
Angie saw Joy coming upstairs and felt relieved. "It's about time, Joy. I don't know what you see in this kid, but I couldn't hear anything with his noise-maker." She said as he yanked Chris' guitar away from him.
"You can't blame me for this!" Chris said.
"I'm not blaming you! I'm simply going to put this noise-maker out of its misery." Angie was about to seriously throw Christopher's guitar right out the window.
"You wouldn't!" Chris said.
"Watch me!"
But before Angie could put his guitar out of its misery, Joy grabbed it back right before she threw it out and gave it back to Chris. "Angie! You know better than that." Joy scolded her
"That maybe. But these two stooges don't know any better. I was taking an important call from Councilman Hackentire's secretary about a case and he had his amp on full blast."
"Wait a minute. A case? That's great news." Joy said.
"That may be great news, but what about your boyfriends' loud noise?" She asked.
"We'll deal with that later. Right now we should look into this case you mentioned. Do you remember what she told you?"
"She said something about lightning strikes at the city's power plant. It happened last night."
Justin took off the popcorn bowl on his head and immediately grabbed his fedora hat. "Looks like another job for the Trouble Shooters." He said.
Speaking of Trouble Shooters, the rest of the gang had returned to headquarters with the little girl, Jessie.
"Angie! We're home!" PT called out through Chris' window. "Angie! We got some explaining to do!"
Justin opened up the window to let PT inside. "Hi PT. What's going on?" He asked.
"I got some good news, and I got some bad news. The good news is we found a case." PT answered.
"We know, PT. We just heard a phone call from Councilman Hackentire's secretary about it. What's the bad news?" Joy said.
"The bad news is, it involves a cat. I hate cats."
"A cat? But we heard something about lightning strikes." Justin said.
"No. No. No. We have to help a little girl find her lost cat." PT said.
"So the phone call I got wasn't about the lightning strikes?" Angie asked.
PT was annoyed. "Phone call? Oh forget it. Just follow me." And so, Chris, Joy, Justin and Angie slid down the pole following PT back in the main lobby of headquarters. That's where Uri, Corky, Gizmo and Jessie were waiting. "This little girl is our mission." He said pointing to her.
"Hi there." Joy greeted. "Did you lose a cat?"
"Yes." Jessie said as sniffled. "And I can't find him anywhere."
"That's okay. We know what it's like to lose something too." Chris said.
"You guys do too?"
"Certainly. But it's a long story. Anyway, I'm Christopher Peeper. The leader of the team."
"And the bonehead of the team." Angie remarked.
Chris was annoyed, but he didn't let it get to him. "As I was saying; Uri, Corky, Gizmo and PT you've already met. This is Angie over there."
"And I'm Joy."
"Justin Casey at your service." Justin greeted.
"You guys are gonna help me?" Jessie asked.
"We will and we can. We're the Trouble Shooters." Chris said.
"Wait a minute." Angie said. "We still haven't decided if this case is about the cat or some mysterious lightning strike. Oh, this is a catastrophe."
"Don't worry Angie. While I and Chris help this little girl out, you try checking out the power plant, just in case something did happen." Joy said.
"What about me?" Jessie asked.
"We'll come with you to your house to and see if you could retrace your steps where you last saw him." Joy said as she and Chris walked with the little girl.
Angie just sat down on a chair trying to regain focus. "Well, what are you guys doing?" She asked everybody else.
"I'll check out that power plant with you, Angie." Justin said.
"Great idea." Uri said. "Me, Corky, Gizmo and PT are going to look around town for that missing cat."
"Alright. But make sure you stay with Gizmo and PT. You too Corky." Angie said.
"Don't worry Angie. We'll not just stay with Gizmo, but we'll ask Chris' friend, Zacky." Corky said.
PT was hesitant about going with the boys. I don't blame him. After all, he is a robotic parrot. "Are you sure you want to take me along?" He asked.
"Sure I'm sure." Uri said.
"Wait a minute. You aren't scared of cats, are you?" Corky asked.
"Me? Why of course not. I'm all for helping that little 'Madeline' find the cat. I'm just concerned if we run into—'more cats.' You know. I'm just concerned if we find a mix up of cats." He said.
"It is obvious, you must be scared of cats." Gizmo commented.
PT felt insulted. "I am not scared of cats." He shouted.
"Are to."
"Are not."
"Are to."
"Are not!"
"Are to."
"Are to."
"Are not."
"Okay, Daffy duck. I'm not scared of cats."
"Wait a second. You're a robot. You have no reason to be afraid of cats." Angie said.
"Alright. All right. I'll go along with them. But I still hate cats." PT said.
"Hooray!" Corky cheered.
"Take us downtown, Gizmo." Uri said.
"Trouble Shooters, away!" Gizmo said as he pressed the teleportation button on his stomach. Before you knew it, the four young and aspiring heroes were off, leaving Justin and Angie behind to figure out whether or not there was a lightning strike at the power plant or not.
In the meantime, as everything was going according to plan, Chris and Joy were walking in the neighborhood with the little girl, Jessica trying to investigate further into the mystery of her lost kitten. However, Christopher was still fixated on that feud with Angie earlier.
"Can you believe her, Joy? She had some nerve telling me my music is noise." Chris said.
"Chris, you shouldn't let Angie's opinions get to you so much. She might not fully understand you yet, but that doesn't mean you fully understand her." She said.
"But did you see the way she tried to throw my guitar out the window? She doesn't even know how to show an instrument with respect."
Joy sighed. "Look. I know how you feel. It was wrong for her to do that, but you gotta keep focused on what we're doing now. That happened, and this is happening now. Please try to forget about it, Chris." She then held his hand and used her cute girly charm to get him to concentrate. "Do it for me?"
Chris blushed a little and let out a sigh, knowing he couldn't refuse. "Oh, alright. I'll forget about it for now. But when this case is done, I'm going to make sure she doesn't touch any of my amps, effects pedals or guitar."
Joy just rolled her eyes, but decided to deal with it later so that they could help Jessie find her lost cat.
"There's my home. Right over there." Jessie pointed to the house nearby.
The two Trouble Shooters and Jessie and made it to her home in the suburbs of Ecto Valley. Of course, this isn't really 'down the street and around the corner' deal. Certainly, it was not too far away from the Professor's house. But it was in the other side of the suburbs. And this house was the kind that any other middle class suburban would own. Anyway, after they went inside, Chris checked the whole house to make sure if Dill was really lost.
"Where was the last time you saw her?" Joy asked Jessie.
"I left him in my room when I was at school. When I returned home, he was gone." She said.
Chris returned baring no new news on the whereabouts on Dill. "No sign of any cats around here."
"I shouldn't have left him alone." She said as she looked at a picture of her beloved kitty she was holding.
"Oh, don't worry. We'll keep trying, if it makes you feel better." Joy said to comfort her.
Just then, Christopher noticed some claw marks near her window sill. "Hey Joy! Look at that. They look like animal claw marks."
"That's strange. It would be impossible for an animal around here to be that strong to dig deep into that surface." She pondered as she examined the marks.
It wasn't before long when Chris saw footprints right outside Jessie's window sill. "Look again! Those tracks must've had the kind of claws that ripped this window sill."
"Oh my!" Joy said with much awe. "That is bad."
"Somebody did take Dill. This is all my fault." Jessie said as she started crying.
Joy kneeled down to assure Jessie it'd be all right. "Don't worry, Jessie. We're going to get to the bottom of this. We promise."
"Promise?" She asked.
"Promises are the first thing a Trouble Shooter keeps." Chris said. "We'll find Dill, or we're going to die trying."
"Don't you think that's taking a bit far, Chris?" Joy asked.
"Maybe, put the point still remains." He said confidently.
"Thank you, you guys." Jessie said.
Once Chris and Joy finished investigating Jessie's house, they left so they could figure out what to do from there on. After all, what kind of animal that big would cat-nap from that poor, sweet little girl? Like I said before. Cities like Ecto Valley have problems dealing with the criminal element.
"What kind of animal do you think that was, Joy?" Chris asked her.
"I wish I knew. Something tells me we're going to need help understanding what we're going up against." She said.
"What do you mean?"
"We should try looking up an Animal psychologist. People like that would know what happened to that poor kitty and what kind of animal we're dealing with."
"Gosh Joy. You sure know a lot." Chris complimented.
Joy chuckled. "It's what makes me who I am."
So, Chris and Joy made it back to the city, to find a telephone booth and contact the best animal psychologist that Joy could find. Joy looked up the phone book inside to see whom she could find.
"You sure about this Joy?" Chris asked.
"Trust me. It's the only way. Who knows what kind of animal kidnapped that poor incident girl's cat?" Joy said.
"You have a point there. I just get anxious when we go around asking other people smarter than us for help. Oh well, I guess that's what it takes being a Trouble Shooter and all."
Joy had found the number and address for one of the listings in animal psychologists. "Here it is, Chris. This is the person we can go to. Dr. Harold Quinn—animal psychologist. It says that he's been around for 6 months now. We might be able to find that girl's cat yet." She said.
"Ok. Let's go." Chris said as he and Joy searched the city to find the address.
In the meantime, Justin and Angie had made it to the city's power plant to clarify on the phone call that they supposively heard. It was a pretty big place to power electricity. There were some lightning strikes abound the area, especially the transformer that was taken out by one of the strikes.
"So this case was on the lightning strikes at the power plant after all?" Angie asked as she used a personal lightning detector to detect the area.
"We don't know what the exact cause of this originated. But we thought you kids might have an idea of what caused it?" The electrician asked.
"Gee sir. We don't too much on lightning strikes." Justin said as he looked at the damage that was done. "Angie, do you think you know?"
After Angie used her personal lightning detector to search the area, someone came to mind when it came to lightning strikes. Professor Bumble, no doubt. "I don't know much either. But I think I have a pretty good idea who does know much about lightning strikes and who is behind all this." She said.
"You mean, Professor Bumble?" Justin asked.
"That's right. He must've caused all this. And to think, he helped us when we started out as Trouble Shooters."
"Gosh Angie. When you put it that way, Professor Bumble must've gone mad."
"So, what are you Trouble Shooters gonna do?" the electrician asked.
"It's time we paid Professor Bumble a little visit. Come on, Justin. It's Trouble Time." Angie said.
"I'm always at your side, Angie." Justin complimented. "Trouble Shooters, away!"
And so, Justin and Angie left the scene of the crime that they thought was caused by our good friend, Professor Bumble. Could it be that our beloved Professor has really gone the way of the criminal element? Looks like Justin and Angie were about to find out for themselves.
But in the meantime, let's go check back on Uri, Corky, Gizmo and PT. When we last left off with them, they teleported to downtown Ecto Valley to see if they could try searching for the lost cat. And the first person they were going to go for help, was none other than Christopher's best friend, Zacky M. PT, on the other hand was still hesitant to go cat searching.
"So why are a scaredy cat with cats, PT? You're just a robot." Uri asked.
"Compared to regular cats, I'd rather be facing the SWAT Kats, kid. At least they're not real."
"You liar! The SWAT Kats are real!" Corky commented.
"As I was saying, do you guys have any idea what cats eat?"
"What do they eat?" Uri asked.
"Simple. They eat mice and birds. All kinds of birds." PT said.
"Illogical. You are a metallic android. You cannot be eaten. I told you that you were scared." Gizmo said.
"Well you got me there, C-3PO. But it's part of my nature. I'm a parrot, for crying out loud. And do you guys also know what cats have?"
"Tails?" Corky asked.
"That and claws. Razor sharp claws. The kind that tare through metal and make Wolverine's claws look harmless." PT said.
"Illogical. You are too strong to be scratched. You are afraid." Gizmo said.
"Oh. Will you just shut up?" PT remarked.
Suddenly, Uri spotted Zacky and his gang near the sidewalk down the street. They were busy breakdancing and rapping. "Hey look. It's Zacky and his friends!" He said. Quickly they ran down to say hi and to ask about the missing cat. "Hey Zacky!"
"Greetings, Zacky and acquaintances." Gizmo said.
Zacky was happy to see his favorite group of Trouble Shooters. "Yo, my brothers. What's good in the hood?"
"We are!" Uri and Corky cheered.
"Hahaha. Hi U-bone. How's the my main Peeper?"
"You mean, Christopher? Oh, he's good. A little fixated on Joy too much, but he's good."
"What can I say? He is the man. And the man, shoots for first base. And then after that, he shoots for—" Before Zacky could go on, PT covered his mouth to prevent him from saying anymore.
"Easy, kiddo. This isn't Monty Python's Meaning of Life." He said.
"Anyway, we're on a mission and we were wondering if you could help us?" Uri asked.
"Sure. You name it and we'll claim it." Zacky said.
"Have you seen a kitten?" Corky asked.
"Yeah. He's about this big and…uh.." Uri had forgotten the description on the photograph that Jessie showed him, but luckily Gizmo remembered it.
"Wait. I'll show you." Gizmo said as he opened up his computer gut, which displayed the picture of Dill. "He looks like this. We are looking for him."
Zacky looked at Gizmo's monitor to see if he had seen the lost kitten. "Hmm. Haven't seen any cool cat like that near my crib. But I do know a place where all lost cats go when they can't find their owners."
"Really? Where?" Uri asked.
"It's an alleyway filled with cats. Tons of them. The only problem is I forgot where it's found. But don't worry, my brothers. I know who does." Zacky then looked up to the top apartment building to call his mom. "Yo momma!" He called out.
"What's up, honey?" She asked as she opened her window.
"You remember the alleyway where all the lost cats go?" He asked.
"Yes. It's just down that street passed Venkman boulevard. Then you make a left on Venkman."
"That is what we needed to hear." Gizmo said.
"Thanks momma." Zacky said.
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go find that alleyway!" Uri said.
"I'll go along with you guys." Zacky said.
And so, the four Trouble Shooters and Zacky embarked for the mysterious alleyway where all missing cats go. Of course, PT was still hesitant, as usual. But that didn't stop him from completing this Trouble Shooter mission.
Now, let's check back up on Justin and Angie. They were headed to Professor Bumble's lab and home. You probably remember it from before, when they were introduced to the Time Plane. This time, Justin and Angie were going to get to the bottom of this lightning strike, they believed that our beloved Professor was responsible. And Justin was carrying a piece of rope with him. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
"Are you sure this is necessary, Angie? Don't you think this is taking it a bit too far?" Justin asked.
"It's for the best, Justin. The Professor is the only person in the world smart enough to have the knowledge about Benjamin Franklin's lightning theories."
"You got me there, but shouldn't we let the others know first? After all, we did figure out this case isn't about the cat."
"Let them know first? Think about it Justin. Once we get the heat from Professor Bumble, the rest of the team will be proud of us."
Justin rolled his eyes. "Oh boy. And she thinks me and Chris are the ones who are reckless and stupid." He said to himself.
So, they made their way to Professor Bumble's home. Once they got there, Angie was the first one to knock on the door. This time she knocked as hard as she could. "Open up in there! Open up in the name of the Trouble Shooters!" She said.
Professor Bumble immediately heard the knock and walked over and opened the door. "Why hello Justin and Angie." He greeted with a smile. Justin and Angie however didn't seem the least bit amused. They both glared at him as they walked towards him slowly with Justin locking the door behind him. The Professor was very concerned about what was going on. "Uh, why did you lock the door? Why do you have that rope? Who's monitoring SIR?" He was really worried about what they were gonna do to him. "What happened to the Trouble Shooters?!" He shouted in fear. But before they could explain, Justin and Angie immediately held him down and tied him up to a chair. Looks like Professor Bumble, was all bumbled up. Do you really think he had the brains behind all this lightning? Let's find out.
"Alright buster. What's the deal with the lightning strikes?" Angie demanded.
"Lightning strikes?" He asked.
"Yeah. The ones that struck the power plant last night. That's bad." Justin said.
"Oh my. That is bad."
"Don't give me that 'that is bad' business. We know you're behind all this." Angie said.
"Behind what?"
"Why did you do it?!" Justin demanded.
"Did what?"
"The lightning strikes." Angie said.
"What?! You think I caused those lightning strikes?!" He shouted.
"We don't think. We know."
"That is the most absurd hypothesis I've ever heard. I have no idea what caused the lightning strikes!"
"Shut up you scum!" Justin said as he slapped Professor Bumble right across the face.
"Justin Casey! You know better than that."
"You heard me, I said 'shut up!" Justin said as he slapped him again.
"You better tell us, if you know what's good for you." Angie demanded.
"Yeah. We can do this all night if we have to." Justin said.
Well, it looks like Professor Bumble is in denial of the lightning strikes. Still, who would've thought that Professor Bumble joined in on the criminal element? Who knows what might develop next.
Speaking of development, let's check back on Christopher and Joy. When we left off with them, they learned of the animal psychologist named, Harold Quinn. Will he really benefit their investigation of the missing cat? Well, let's find out.
4:48 PM
Anyway, Chris and Joy made it to the address where Harold Quinn was found. Unlike most famous animal psychologist buildings, which are found in more accountable office buildings, this one was located in the lower level [basement] of someone's apartment building. And the whole building looked shabby and dark.
"So this is the place?" Chris asked.
"It must be. Maybe he's so busy, he can't leave his home." Joy suggested.
Chris was uncertain and suspicious. "Hmm. I don't know."
"Come on Chris. We'll be fine." She assured him.
"Alright. But don't blame if it's a vampire who stalks you in the night." Chris said imitating a transylvanian accent.
Joy was amused and giggled. "Oh stop it, you."
"Right. Well, let's go in." He said as he accompanied Joy inside.
When they walked down the stairs outside, the noticed that the door was a crack open. Chris slowly opened the door and walked right inside quietly. When they walked inside the waiting room, they noticed that there was nobody in sight. And there was classical music being played through a record player.
"Now I'm scared. They're playing my most hated music." Chris remarked sarcastically.
"Looks pretty empty." Joy commented as she looked around with her eyes.
"Do you think its outta business?" Chris asked.
Joy looked around with her eyes again and found an open door that lead to an office. "We should check the office, just to make sure." She said.
So Chris and Joy made their way inside the office. It was pretty creepy looking. It had a skeleton of a bird hanging on the ceiling and a diagram of an animal's brain on the wall. And it had a replicated dog's heart on the desk. And the chair was turned facing backwards. It looked like nobody was around.
"This place is dead." Chris said.
"What else does this place have?" Joy remarked.
Just then, the chair turned around. Both Chris and Joy were shocked with fear, when they saw the chair turn around on its own. Luckily, there was somebody sitting there. It was a man who appeared to be a doctor who was in his late 40s/early 50s and wore spectacles. He had a scruffy looking goatee hanging from his chin and his hair had a spiky /dangly edge to it. "Hello." He said.
"Who…are you?" Chris asked.
"You look surprised young man. But don't worry now. I'm not gonna bite." The man said.
"You…gave us quite a shock." Joy said.
"Please have a seat." He said.
"Who are you again?" Chris asked as he and Joy sat down.
"Who am I? Oh, my name's Dr. Quinn. Harold Quinn. Says it hear on my name card. Got it memorized?" He said.
Chris was confused. "Uh, sure."
The doctor let out a chuckle. "Very good now. And you both are?"
"I'm Joy. And this is my best friend, Christopher Peeper. We're part of group of detectives called 'The Trouble Shooters.'"
"Like our motto, 'there's nothing too big or too small for us to solve.' But, we were wondering, Mr. Quinn, if you could, how do I say this, help us?" Chris asked.
"Well well now. No need to threat. Helping others is what I live for." He remarked.
"That's great. We need help finding a little girl's lost kitten." Joy said as she showed him the photograph of Dill.
Dr. Quinn looked at the photograph carefully, savoring every detail about the kitten. And I mean every little bit of that kitten he couldn't help but savor. It was kinda creepy why he was doing that in the first place.
Chris was confused on what Dr. Quinn was doing. "What are doing?" He asked.
"Very quite simple. I'm looking into the kitten's detail, like I'm looking into its soul." Dr. Quinn said.
"That's…uh, kinda creepy." Chris said.
"Anyway, we also find huge claw marks and huge footprints outside that little girl's window sill. We thought you might have a clue." Joy said.
"Did he scream?" Dr. Quinn asked.
"Scream? What are you talking about?" Joy asked.
"Did he scream for his dear life before he was taken away, knowing that he would never see his beloved master again? Knowing that everyday that girl will be blaming herself for what she did to him?"
"This has nothing to do with what we're talking about." Joy said.
"Excuse me." He remarked. "I'm simply interested in knowing. After all, the city is like a jungle, missy. That cat is about good as gone if he doesn't do something, in this great game of 'survival of the fittest.' And only the strongest can survive."
"What?" Chris asked.
"That's right. Deep within the animal mind is a voice. A voice calling out to be heard by somebody. But I'm sure you, Trouble Shooters will hear that voice."
"A voice?"
Dr. Quinn chuckled. "Would you like me to give you a hint of where it's calling?" He remarked.
Joy wasn't the bit amused. "Look, we just wanted your help on finding a lost kitten. Not play one your little mind games."
"Then I guess I'm wasting my time with you guys. After all, I'm just a doctor studying the predator. And you're the prey."
Chris and Joy couldn't believe what they were hearing. They were pretty insulted. "Prey? That does it. I can't believe what I'm hearing. I don't care if you are the smartest doctor on the planet; you're extremely rude. Come on Chris." Joy said.
"Coming Joy." Chris said as he and Joy left.
"Oh Trouble Shooters." Dr. Quinn called out as he waved the photograph. "Don't forget this."
Chris reached for the photograph back and slowly; Dr. Quinn released his grip of the photo. His behavior didn't even matter to Chris. "Whatever." Chris said.
"Be forewarned Trouble Shooters. The city is like a jungle. Only the strongest can survive." Dr. Quinn reminded them as they both left. After they left, he turned his chair around, thinking to himself. "Don't you go off and die on me now." He said to himself.
Looks like this Harold Quinn character was a real jerk and pretty suspicious to begin with. Why was he asking such an extreme question, such as 'did he scream?' And what are his real intentions? Do you think he might know something about Dill that they don't know? And what about Uri and company? They're looking for Dill after all. Speaking of which, let's go back and check up on them.
5:28 PM Alleyway
When we last left off with Uri, Corky, Gizmo, PT and Zacky, they were looking for the alleyway where all lost cats go. When they got there, they noticed one small 'pesky' problem. 'Pesky' being the keyword. All the cats were gone, and all they could find were mice.
"Zacky, are you sure this is the alley?" Uri asked.
"Of course this is the alleyway. Every cat in the city should be here." Zacky said.
"'Every cat' being the key terms. I do not see a single feline anywhere." Gizmo said.
"Neither do I see a Garfield or a Sylvester. Maybe a Jerry, but no Tom." PT remarked.
"What do you think happened to all the cats?" Corky asked.
"I don't know. But I'm glad they're all gone." PT said.
"Something obviously chased the cats away." Zacky suggested.
"That is possible, Fresh Prince. While I think this suggestion I'm about to suggest is crazy, but the trick to solving a case like this is to think like a cat."
"Correction. Not think like a cat. Be the cat." Gizmo suggested.
"Whose gonna be the cat?" Corky asked.
"I know who." Gizmo suggested as he pointed to Uri.
Little Uri was all but amused at the idea of being a cat. "What?! Why me? I don't wanna be the cat."
"Please Master Uriah. It's the only way to solving the mystery. Do you want Jessie to find her cat?"
"Think of it this way, lad. You'll be considered in the cast of the musical 'Cats.' Heck, you'd be a smash if you sang 'memory.'" PT remarked.
"Oh alright. I'll do it." Uri said. Before long, Uri had been donned a cat costume to scare the mice away. It was a pretty cute suit especially for a little kid. He had little gray ears, a fake little whisker nose, and a gray suit to make him look like a real cat, at least to the mice. Uri wasn't too thrilled that he had to wear such a ridiculous outfit.
"Don't worry, Uri. It won't be long before we attract any cats." Corky said.
"I still don't this idea. I look ridiculous." Uri said as he fixed his nose.
"Yo U, you'll knock 'em dead man. Trust me." Zacky said.
"Release the mouse trap." Gizmo commanded.
And so, Uri approached the alleyway, as he wore that cat costume. He made numerous meow sounds, which scared all the mice in the alleyway away. Uri felt proud. "Hey. That wasn't so bad." He thought to himself. He looked around to see if he attracted any cats. Unfortunately, he didn't.
However, something was creeping down the alleyway. Right down the corner, flashing lights was seen on the walls. Approaching the corner were two mechanical and robotic dogs. Looks like they were only coming out at night, which is exactly what they were doing. As they turned the corner, they spotted Uri in his cat costume. It looked like they were detecting the area and examining Uri using their computer scanner technology. "Subject found. Matches description. Must retrieve specimen, cat, back to Dr. Animalector's secret laboratory." One of the robotic dog's said. And all of a sudden, the robotic dogs became vicious and changed into an offensive pose to catch Uri.
Poor Uri was scared. "Ah! Get away!"
Gizmo, Corky, PT and Zacky were coming down the alley to see if Uri was getting any luck. When they saw him being chased by the robotic dogs, Gizmo immediately came to his rescue. "Master! Master! I shall help you." Gizmo said as he rushed to Uri's aid to save him from the mechanical monstrosity. "Gizmo the crusader robot to the rescue!" Gizmo ran over to encounter one of the dogs. He used his extendable arm and Uri caught on, just as Gizmo's arm shrunk to normal. Uri was riding Gizmo's back as Gizmo tried running away from the dogs that were chasing them. "Hold on. I shall teleport us out of this mess." He said as he opened up his monitor. But as he opened it up, he started slowing down again, which meant his spring was warned out. "Oh no. Power shutting down….down…again…" Once again, Gizmo was experiencing his old-fashioned spring attacks.
"Oh no. Gizmo!" Uri said. But before Uri could escape, one of the dogs jumped out and opened its mouth wide and swallowed Uri whole. It seems Uri was a goner, but his voice was heard inside. "Hey! Lemme out of here! Somebody please help!" He shouted inside the robotic dog's belly. The other dog kicked the lifeless Gizmo to the side and was about to make their escape.
"Uri! Gizmo!" Corky shouted as Zacky held him tightly.
PT flew in to the rescue. "Hold on chums! You can't keep a good bot down." He said as he swooped down to the dogs. "Eat lasers, you son of a dog biscuits." PT fired his laser eyes at the two dogs, hoping that Uri would break free. Unfortunately, his lasers had no effect on the dogs. "That's strange." Soon, one of the dogs came out and tried to attack PT, but PT flew away from being attacked. "Bad dog. Down boy!"
"Take subject to Dr. Animalector's laboratory. I'll deal with robotic pesk." The robotic dog commanded. Soon, the other dog ran away with Uri inside.
PT immediately flew down to where Gizmo was tossed aside to wind him up again. He used his feet to wind him up good. Gizmo was back to his normal self. "Thank you! Thank you!" Gizmo said.
"Now that we got that settled, why don't you make like NASA and blow this puppy to smithereens?" PT said.
"Will do." Gizmo said as he aimed his head at the robotic dog. "Rockets away!" And without warning, Gizmo launched his rockets and the dog was taken away by the force of the rocket and was blown down right against a wall. The robotic dog was no more. Actually, there was what's left of him. Sad to say, the other robotic dog wasn't found. Zacky, Gizmo, PT and Corky looked at what was left carefully.
"That's even more strange. You don't see robots like these hanging around the city." PT said.
"Does this mean all the cats were eaten?" Zacky asked.
"No. Somebody is using robots to capture cats." Gizmo said.
"What are we going to do? That mean robot took Uri." Corky said.
"Christopher isn't gonna like this." PT said.
"We better warn the others. I'll teleport us home with the robot intact." Gizmo said as he activated his computer gut to teleport him, Corky, PT and the broken down robot dog back to headquarters.
"Good luck, gang. You're gonna need it." Zacky said.
And so the three Trouble Shooters teleported back to the headquarters with the robot in tact. It was up to them to save Cousin Uri. Where was he being taken? And why were robots being used to capture cats? And where did those robots come from? We're just gonna have to read and find out. Anyway, let's check back on the rest of the team.
6:15 PM McBeagles
Time moves fast, doesn't it? Last time we left off with Chris and Joy, they left the office of the ever so obnoxious Dr. Harold Quinn after being insulted by his rude comment. Joy was the one who felt insulted the most. They were at McBeagle's getting a drink thinking about the missing cat as well as Dr. Quinn's rude remarks.
"I can't how rude he acted towards us, Chris. I should've gave him a piece of my mind." She said.
"Gosh Joy. Maybe you should let it go." Chris said.
"Let it go? He insulted both you and me, and didn't help us at all."
Chris was a bit surprised. "Whoa Joy. Slow down. After all, didn't you tell me that you shouldn't let people's opinions get to you so much?"
Joy sighed in realization of what Chris suggested. Well, when you're best friend is right, he's right. "You're right. I just don't wanna that little girl down." She said.
"I don't wanna let her down too, Joy. After all, I'm willing to give it all week to find her cat." He assured her.
"But are we going to do now? That Animal Psychologist was of no help to us and we still didn't find a clue." Joy asked
"Don't worry, Joy. I know we'll find something. And when that happens, you'll come up with a great plan."
"You really think so?"
"You have my complete trust."
Suddenly, Chris' Trouble Shooter wrist communicator was being alerted by Corky. "Corky calling Chris and Joy! Can you hear Corky?" He said.
"See Joy? I think we found something." Chris said right before he responded back to Corky's message. "What's up Corky?"
"We got good news and bad news. The good news is we found out what kidnapped that little girl's cat, as well as the rest of the city's cats." PT said.
"The bad news is that they kidnapped Master Uriah." Gizmo said.
Chris was surprised at the news he heard. "What?! Who kidnapped him?" He asked anxiously.
"A robot dog. We tried to stop him, but we were unable to save poor Uri." Gizmo said.
Immediately, Chris felt it was his burden to bare that he wasn't there to save Uri. After all, he was his cousin. "Oh, this is all my fault. If only I was there to save him, none of this would've happened."
"It's alright Chris." Joy said as she hugged him to comfort him. "Right now we need to do something, and we're the only ones who can save him."
"Right." Chris nodded. "Let's go."
Chris and Joy immediately left the McBeagles joint and headed back to Headquarters. "I'll let Justin and Angie know of what happened." Joy said as she activated her wrist communicator. Speaking of Justin and Angie, let's check back on their situation.
6:16 PM Professor Bumble's lab; outskirts of Ecto Valley
Justin and Angie were getting nowhere in their interrogation with Professor Humphrey Bumble. He was just one cookie you just couldn't crack.
"You better tell us now!" Angie demanded.
"How many times must I tell you? I didn't cause any lightning strikes!" Humphrey shouted.
"Lying will get you nowhere." Justin said.
As Justin and Angie were interrogating the Professor, Joy had contacted them through their wrist communicator. "Come in Trouble Shooters. This is Joy contacting. Come in." She said.
"This is Angie. We just found our lightning striker. Professor Humphrey Bumble."
"Really?" Joy asked.
"Yeah. He's the only person who knows anything about Lightning strikes. So he must be the one who caused the strikes." Justin said.
"Did you guys find any evidence he caused them?" Joy asked
At that moment, both Justin and Angie were completely flabbergasted and embarrassed that they didn't bother to look for evidence whether or not Professor Bumble caused the strikes. They then looked at Professor Bumble, who was very upset.
"Anyway," Joy said. "We found out what could've caused the disappearance on that little girl's missing cat. Meet us back at the headquarters ASAP."
Justin and Angie looked at each not knowing what to do. They looked at the angry Professor, and decided it was time to leave.
"Uh. Oh look at the time. Come on Angie. It's Trouble Time." Justin said.
"Right behind you, Justin." Angie said as they both ran away.
"Come back here and untie me this instant!" Humphrey shouted.
6:34 PM Trouble Shooters agencies
Everybody had regroup and was in the workshop in the headquarters examining the remains of that robotic dog. Everybody was quite perplexed by the type of technology that they seen.
"What can you make of it, Chris?" Joy asked.
"It's absolutely confusing. It is a real robot, but its technology is something I haven't seen before." Chris said.
"It certainly isn't Professor Bumble's technology." Angie said.
"Think you can try to rebuild it Chris?" Justin asked.
"I'd hate to bother my uncle on how to fix robots. Especially if he hears Uri was kidnapped. That's why I'm going to try it myself. He's shown some neat info on technology after that 'Ruffles' incident."
"But what if it comes back to life and tries to eat us?" Corky asked.
Chris chuckled. "Don't worry, Corky. All we have to do is tie him down while I fix him. Then he's gonna answer to me on what he did to Uri."
6:35 PM; sewers of Ecto Valley
As Christopher made his first attempt at rebuilding the robot dog, the other robot dog that we saw before had taken Uri through the sewers of Ecto Valley. But for what? And where in the sewer?
"Where are you taking me?" Uri asked as he was being carried inside the robot's stomach.
The robot didn't respond. He was just walking down the sewer lines as if he were following orders; which he was.
After he walked down the sewer line, he approached an elevator. When he was inside it, he was being lowered down to a lower level in the sewers. Once he was taken to his destination, he walked down a hallway where other robotic dogs were lined up.
When they stepped inside, inside revealed a dark lab with hundreds or possibly thousands of cats were inside trapped cages. In the center revealed cranes and brushes. What were they going to be used for? If only we knew the type of criminal activity that was being developed. And poor Uri didn't know what was in store for him.
6:45 PM; Trouble Shooters agencies: workshop
Chris had put the finishing touches on the robot dog. Afterward, it immediately came back to life. Only this time, it found itself helpless and tied down to the workshop table.
"Error. Error. Cannot move." It said to itself.
Everybody surrounded the robot demanding for answers. "Alright you. Where did you're friend take Uri?" Chris demanded.
"Request denied. Cannot answer."
"Why won't?"
"Master shall be displeased."
"We are going to be ones displeased if you do not relay us information on Master Uriah." Gizmo said.
"Access Denied."
"That's it. No more Mr. Nice Trouble Shooter. Gizmo, ready your rocket launcher." PT commanded.
"We shall make him sing." Gizmo remarked as he prepared his head rocket launcher.
The robotic dog was afraid of what might happen to him. So he decided to tell his story. "I'm a robotic unit working for Dr. Animalector."
"Hold your fire." Joy commanded Gizmo before asking the robot. "Whose Animalector?"
"Dr. Animalector is world's greatest animal psychologist. He is my master. He is the one responsible behind cat disappearance."
"And you're the one responsible for catching the cats, and my friend." Corky remarked.
"Tell us more." Joy demanded the robot.
"He is responsible for buying us robotic dogs from Cyberden. We are all bootlegs."
"That's all we needed to here." Joy said. "Chris, deactivate him."
Chris then opened up the dog's side to deactivate the robot. "Wait a minute. Have mercy." The dog demanded.
"Sorry. But we don't deal with scum." Chris remarked. After he took out his life force, the dog died down. It was no more.
Joy was impressed. "Wow. Chris. Nice last words." She complimented.
"Let's just say he was getting what was coming to him."
"Now that we got that settled. Whose Dr. Animalector?" Justin asked.
"Gizmo. Try searching up Dr. Animalector." Joy requested.
"Will do." Gizmo said as he opened up his computer gut and keyed in the name.
Angie read the inscription. "Dr. Animalector: world's greatest animal psychologist and criminal mind. He is known to be a psychotic most of the time and performs evil experiments on animals. He's usually a master of disguise." She was surprised and didn't know what to do. "This is terrible. Who knows what he could do to Uri and all those cats."
"What are we going to do, Joy?" Corky asked.
"As much as I hate to do this, first we go to Dr. Harold Quinn. He might know about Dr. Animalector."
"You sure Joy?" Chris asked.
"It's worth a shot. It's not the best, but it's what we can do for now. Justin and PT, You guys come with Chris and me to Dr. Quinn's office. Gizmo, Angie and Corky, you stay here and look up Uri's location."
And so, while our four Trouble Shooters left for Dr. Quinn's office, three Trouble Shooters stayed behind. Anyway, in the meantime, Chris, Joy, Justin and PT had returned back to Dr. Harold Quinn's office building. It looked like no one was around. And it looked like it was recently abandoned.
"Are you sure this is the place?" Justin asked.
Joy was confused. "It has to be. We were just here."
"Maybe business was so bad, that he decided to abandon ship." PT commented.
"He could be inside. Let's check it out." Chris said.
They quickly checked inside his office to see if he really was around. But when they got inside, they noticed that nobody was around. The whole place was ransacked, including his office. What do you suppose could've happened?
"He's gone." Chris said.
"Where do you suppose he could've gone?" Justin asked.
PT shined some light with his eyes to see if he could find anything in any of the rooms. "I tought I taw an empty desk. I did. I did taw an empty desk." He remarked.
They looked inside to see if they could find anything. That's when Chris found an ID card inside a drawer. "Look at this. It's his ID. PT, shine some light over here, will you?"
As PT shined his eye lights on the ID, Joy noticed something was wrong with it. It was missing the important necessities any ID would have. "Wait a second. This ID is fake." She said.
"A fake? But how?" Justin asked.
"I don't know, but something tells me our Doctor isn't all world greatest, as the phone number said."
Just then, Gizmo contacted the group about Uri's whereabouts. "This is Gizmo the crusader robot. Please come in." He said.
Chris picked up his signal on his watch. "What's up?" He asked.
"We found out where they took Master Uriah." Gizmo said.
"He's in the sewer system deep within the city." Angie said.
"It's a good thing you contacted us, Gizmo. We just found out that Dr. Quinn's ID is a fake." Joy said.
"Fake?" Gizmo asked.
"Yes. But we don't have time to go back and forth. Just search up Dr. Quinn; Harold Quinn, Gizmo."
Gizmo activated his built in computer gut. "Will do." He said as he searched Dr. Quinn's name on his monitor. After that, nothing came up on him. "There is no Harold Quinn."
"I knew something was strange about that guy." Joy said.
"What do you think Joy? Is Harold Quinn affiliated with this Dr. Animalector?" Chris asked.
"No, Chris. Harold Quinn is Dr. Animalector. Only someone like him could have the knowledge about animals and the element of disguise."
"What are we going to do?" Justin asked.
"First let's meet where Gizmo picked up Uri's location. Then we'll grab Uri and get out of there." She said.
Justin was shaking. "Are you sure you wanna just go right into his lair?" Justin asked.
"Hey. That's what she said." PT remarked.
Ecto Valley; Corner of Hudson and Egon Drive. 7:02 PM
It was a dark night in the city of Ecto Valley. Chris, Joy, Justin and PT rejoined with Angie, Corky and Gizmo near the city streets, where they located Uri's signal near the sewers.
"Is this it?" Chris asked.
"This is where his signal lead us to." Gizmo said.
"And he's down there somewhere in that sewer." Angie added.
"Angie, I'm scared." Corky said as he hugged her by her legs for comfort.
Chris bent down to comfort him. "Don't worry Corky. We're going to get my cousin, and your best friend out of this. If it makes you feel better, you can hold on to me while we travel through." He said.
Corky was nervous but decided to be brave. "Okay." He said.
Quickly, Chris opened up the sewer plate to reveal the way down. Justin looked down and was hesitant about going downstairs. "Are you sure we should do this?" Justin asked.
"Don't be such a baby. Now get down there." Angie remarked.
Slowly, our heroes climbed down the sewer ladder. It was a cold and dark place and everywhere on the floor had rats.
That's when Corky noticed something unusual about this sewer. "Hey. Where are the turtles?" He asked.
Joy was curious of what he was inferring. "What?"
"You know. Those Turtles that are ninjas and fight off the bad guys and eat pizza?"
"Sorry kiddo. Wrong TV show." PT remarked.
And so our heroes bravely journey through the sewer system, trying to find Dr. Animalector's headquarters and retrieve Uri. Gizmo and PT lead the way, with the others following close behind. They traveled what seem to be an interminable 30 minutes. Before you knew it, they found a strange light at the end of a tunnel.
"Attention. Attention. Light at the end of the tunnel." Gizmo said.
"That must be where Uri is." Joy said.
PT and Gizmo stopped short after they detected something unusual. "Uh. Houston, we have a problem." PT remarked.
"What's that?" Justin asked.
"Dogs are guarding the front entrance up ahead." Gizmo said.
"How are we gonna get through?" Corky asked.
Chris looked around to see if he could find something resourceful. That's when he spotted an old pipe. "I got an idea." He said as he grabbed the pipe. He ran over to the dogs to get their attention. "Come on boys. Look what I got." He shouted as he waved the piped towards them. The dogs were immediately grabbed by Chris' attention. After all, it was in their instincts to get the stick. "Here boys! Want the stick?" He lead them away from the team, and right towards a small drainage gate. There, he threw the pipe inside and they went after it like it was fresh meat. Quickly, Chris slammed the gate right on the dogs, trapping them.
"Wow. I guess they are stupid enough to grab a stick." Corky commented.
"That's 2 Stupid Dogs for you." PT remarked.
After that stunt, they were able to proceed towards the gate and down the hallway, quietly.
In the meantime, let's check up on our little friend, Uriah. He was last seen inside the robot dog inside Dr. Animalector's underground lab. Want to know what happened next? After the robot took Uri too the main room where all the cats were located, that's when Dr. Animalector appeared before the dogs. This time, he had no beard and a different hairstyle from before. And he wore different glasses, and had a scare on the right side of his face.
"So sorry I'm late boys. Had to abandon ship before checking up on my shipment of cats." Dr. Animalector said. The dogs immediately bowed before him in respect of his presence. "Alright boys. Line up." The dogs immediately lined up forming a single filed line. The dog, carrying Uri inside was first. "Well boys. Tonight's the big night. This city's going to be in for a big surprise, right? So that means we won't have time for a Q & A. Start releasing all the cats you've found."
The dog immediately opened up his mouth for Dr. Animalector to look inside around a cat. Unfortunately, he didn't find a cat. Just little Uri, dressed like a cat. "Hey! Let me outta here!" Uri shouted.
"What's that?" Dr. Animalector asked himself as he took a look inside. "Hey. Wait a minute. This isn't a cat. This is a kid." He said as he grabbed Uri out. "I thought I told you boys to get me all the cats you could find in the city." The dogs were immediately speechless and looked at each other. They thought they were doing as told, after all. "Talk about blank with a capital B." He said to himself.
Uri was surprised when he looked around the environment around him, as well as to find all the cats that were missing. "What is this place?" Uri asked.
Dr. Animalector sighed. "So sorry you got mixed in all of this." He said. "Besides, Isn't it a little early for Halloween, little boy?"
Uri didn't pay attention to what he said. He was just surprised to find out what he's doing with the cats. "So you're the Meany who's taking all the cats away." He said.
"'Meany?' I have no idea what you could be possible be referring to." He remarked.
"You can't get away with this. Wait till you here from my friends. You're going to go to jail for taking all the cats away, especially that poor girl's kitten."
Dr. Animalector chuckled. "Oh right. That big plan. Well, since you're so interested in knowing about my big plan, why don't you have a seat and unwind yourself. On second thought, I take that back, have a seat and have yourself wound up." He remarked as he plopped Uri on a chair that automatically tied him up. He then gave Uri a closer look. Not just any look, he practically looked into his eyes.
Uri was immediately frightened. "What are you gonna do to me?"
"Oh, I'm not going to do anything. Not yet. But why don't you and I chat for a while?" Uri was in a state of shock. And he couldn't help but noticed his scar. "What's wrong? You look nervous. Is it the scar? You wanna know how I got them?" Uri tried being brave and looked away from his face, but Dr. Animalector used force to grab his attention. "Hey. Look at me!" He then continued on with his story. "My father was a hunter and cruel. And one day, when he took me hunting and acted crazier than usual, he shot a dear. But that's not all. After it died, he took out his blade, stuck it right into it's eye socket, and jammed it like it was a marshmallow. From that point on, he became bloodlust. Then he puts the blade right on near my eyebrow. Then he just stands there laughing. And says, 'Let's get dangerous.' And…oh nevermind. It's much too gruesome. After all, I don't wanna spoil the surprise. But never fear, I'll be back." After that, he started attending back to his controls in his other room as his dogs released all the cats into the empty cages.
Poor Uri was scared and wanted to get out of this mess immediately. What was he to do? Luckily, our Trouble Shooter friends had found the secret lab. But they kept hidden so they weren't seen.
Chris led the way first and silently warned the others to keep quiet. "Shhh!"
Joy peeked right behind him to get a glance at the fate of the poor kittens. "What kind of horrible place is this?"
"Probably Dr. Seuss' worse nightmare." PT remarked.
"How are we going to find one little cat in that?" Justin asked.
"I don't know, but we gotta find a way to get all the cats outta here." Angie suggested.
"Are you crazy? How are we gonna get all those cats outta here?" Corky asked.
"Corky Roberts. You know better than to doubt your own sister. Besides, we're the Trouble Shooters. Don't you remember the motto?"
"Nevermind that. You guys try to create a distraction while I go in and save Uri. PT, you try to find Dill." Chris said. As Chris crept away slowly away from the dogs, PT flew around the cages to see if he could find Dill, even though he was afraid of cats.
In the meantime, Gizmo created a distraction for the robotic dogs. His gut opened up and out revealed some hot juicy steaks for them to eat. The dogs didn't know any better, so they quickly went for the steaks. "All you can eat." Gizmo remarked as he passed out the steaks around to all the dogs.
As the dogs were distracted, Chris had untied Uri and saved him. "Thanks Christopher. Looks like they're having an 'all you can eat' buffet." Uri said.
"Let's bust out of here." Chris said.
Just then, PT had flown down to the others with Dill in his grasp. "Man. How much does this little cat possible weigh? It's like carrying two Garfields." He remarked.
"Now. How are we going to all the cats out?" Gizmo asked.
"That's right. How are you gonna get the cats out?" A voice called out. Who would've thought it? It was Dr. Animalector as his presence entered the lab where he encountered our heroes, with more robotic dogs at his side. "Down boys." He commanded them. "Simply amazing, Trouble Shooters. You came all the way here and avoided being preyed upon." He said as he walked slowly towards them.
"Get real." Chris remarked.
Justin was hesitant. After all, he was creeped out by his persona. "P-p-please surrender or we'll have to take the matter…in our own hands." He said.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Dr. Animalector remarked.
"You can't fool us, mister." Angie said.
"Exactly. It looks like our case was on both the lightning strikes and the cats, the whole time. You must be using the cats to conduct static electricity to create those lightning strikes." Joy said.
Dr. Animalector suddenly stopped short in his path. "So, Trouble Shooters. You actually solved the mystery, and figured out who the bad guy was. I'm so FLATTERED!" He said as he pressed a remote control button. The ground underneath him started moving, and transformed into a huge robotic dog, that could conduct electricity. He was inside the control room of the robot, as it surrounded our heroes. "But you're too late." He said as he pressed the buttons inside. The buttons immediately activated the other machine, with the cranes and brushes. They immediately grabbed all the cats inside their cages took them out of their cages and plopped them inside a huge generator down below the floor level. "Once the cats charge my generator, it'll throw a lightning bolt that'll set this town ablaze." He said as he activated his generator. "And don't think you're going to get away that easy now." He rode in and dived to attack our heroes and they ran away trying to avoid getting caught in his grasp.
"Gizmo. Do something." Angie said as she ran away.
"Rockets away." Gizmo said as he fired his rockets at Dr. Animalector and his robot dog, but the rockets had no affect on him. "Oh no."
"Try shooting water at him." Joy said.
"Water away. He said as he squirted water at the mechanical beast. Normally, water would have a negative effect on electricity, but Dr. Animalector was prepared. The water had no affect.
"Sorry bud. Water's not gonna save you this time. This is waterproof. Here. Why don't I 'shock' you?!" He said as he zapped electricity at Gizmo.
Gizmo was immediately startled and ran away, avoiding to get shocked. "Help! Help! Save me from the lightning!"
"Dang it, Gizmo." PT remarked.
Animalector's machine chased Gizmo around and around the lab. When all of a sudden, Justin surprised the robot by coming out by surprise and stretched out a rope to trip the robot. "Not so fast!" Justin shouted. But that didn't work when his rope caught hold of the mechanical monstrosity and was being carried away by Dr. A's robot.
The robot came running down the rest of the heroes' direction and Justin was thrown off. He and the others ran for it as Animalector's machine threw lightning bolts at them. They hid somewhere to keep their distance away from the machine.
"Why did you do it, Animalector?!" Joy shouted.
"Why? I told you before. Helping others is what I live for."
"But torturing cats by using them to conduct electricity? Why?"
"You should be ashamed of yourself." Angie added.
"Don't you guys get it? I love animals. I love all the experiments that you can create with them. My father didn't give them that kind of respect. All he cared about was hunting. But after I give this city a shock, he'll be the one shocked as well." Animalector said as he laughed menacingly.
As Animalector looked around for them, the gang was trying to come up with a plan to destroy his machine and generator.
"What do we do?" Corky asked. "I don't want our home to become zapped, Angie."
"We must figure out a way to destroy the machine and free the cats?"
"Wait a minute. Where's PT?" Justin asked.
As they glanced around to see where they could find PT, they were too late. PT was flying as hard as he could, with Dill in his hands as Dr. Animalector was chasing him.
"Somebody please save the bloody parrot!" PT shouted.
"What are we going to do?" Uri asked.
Joy looked around to see if she could find something resourceful. That's when she found a little small hole on his machine. Small enough to fit a cable plug. But what can it be used for? "I wonder." Joy thought to herself. She realized that there was only something small enough that could fit that small, and that was Christopher's guitar cable. But why his guitar cable? "I got it. Gizmo, teleprompt Christopher back to the headquarters. Chris, get your electric guitar and cable."
Chris was confused. "You want me to perform for the guy, who wants to kill us?" Chris remarked.
"Trust me. When you come back, plug it into that outlet in his machine. It could be his weak spot."
"You heard her Gizmo. Let's get outta here."
"Roger." Gizmo said as he activated his teleprompter. Before you knew it, Chris and Gizmo were outta here.
Uri was worried "What are we gonna do now?" He asked
"Let's just stay hidden. And don't worry, Chris and Gizmo are coming back." Joy said.
"For your sake, I hope you know what you're doing." Angie said.
Soon, Dr. Animalector, inside his robot, was coming closer and closer to PT. And the poor parrot was struggling to carry Dill outta here.
"End of the line, bird brains. You can't hide from me." Dr. Animlector said. "Now come on, the kitten or your life."
PT thought for a moment and didn't respond.
"Look you. I said the kitten or your life."
"I'm thinking it over." PT remarked.
Justin knew that if PT let Dill go, they wouldn't succeed in their mission. He had to act quick. He took out a slingshot and threw slung a rock at the robot, so that PT would escape.
"Very funny, Trouble Shooters. After I found you, I'll be back for the parrot." Dr. Animalector remarked. He crept closer to see where the rest of the gang was hiding. "Here kiddy kiddy kiddies. Come on now, I won't bite. I'm gonna make it all stop." He then used his robotic lightning bolt to tare through their hideout and surrounded them. "I have you now."
All seemed hopeless for the Trouble Shooters, when familiar faces appeared right before the machine, via teleportation. Who could it be? Why it was, Christopher Peeper, with shades on, a Metallica 'ride the lightning' T-shirt, and his electric guitar in hand. With Gizmo at his side.
"Come on Doc. You gotta unwind yourself." Chris remarked.
"And what do you think you're doing my Rock Star?" Dr. Animalector remarked.
Chris didn't answer. All he did was plug in his cable in Dr. Animalector's outlet in his robot and turned up the volume.
"Rock and Roll." Gizmo said as he hid with the rest of the Trouble Shooters. PT was amused by Chris' method of beating the bad guy that he joined in on the fun, as the singer. He grabbed what looked like a Mic stand somewhere and joined in the fun.
Animalector was surprised at what Chris was doing because only he knew what could happen if enormous amounts of energy, opposed to his lightning energy would do. "What are you doing? Do you have any idea of what'll happen if you do that?" He said.
"Don't tell us the statistics, bud." PT remarked.
And before you knew it, Chris began playing a special medley on his guitar. He started out with 'Paranoid' by Black Sabbath with PT singing the lyrics with his Ozzy-like voice. The amount of electricity was already taking control of Animalector's machine by slowing it down. After that, he switched to 'Welcome to the Jungle' by Guns N Roses [his favorite band]. The machine was already starting to short out.
"Too..much…power." Dr. Animalector said as he struggled keeping the machine in balance.
"I'm just warming up." Chris remarked as he changed the tune quickly. Next up on the medley was 'Master of Puppets' by Metallica. With the power of the amplified guitar, the machine started malfunctioning, and the generator was starting to short out as well. And the static of the cats worn out, unaffecting them of course.
"My machine!" Dr. Animalector shouted.
"We're your source of self-destruction!" PT belted.
"Obey your master!" PT and Chris said.
"Nooooo!" Dr. Animalector shouted in agony.
"Now for the grand finale. Hope you enjoy it, Doc." Chris said. The final tune of the medley that Christopher finished up with was 'Higher Ground' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The started with the grand finale of the song, which would ultimately destroy the machine. Shortly before it was destroyed, he took the Mic stand, combined it with the guitar and formed a shape of a cross. Once shaped, he took the cross and took a whack at the robotic monstrosity. The machine was ultimately destroyed as well as the generator. And all the cats were wondering what was going on.
Everybody emerged from hiding and saw what happened. Everybody was surprised at what they saw, and how Chris and PT beat the bad guy. They were both victorious.
Joy came running down and gave Chris a big hug. "Is there anything you can't do, Chris?" She said.
"Now all we have to do is free all these cats." Justin said. He quickly grabbed a ladder and lowered it down to the generator where the cats came climbing up. "Here you go kitties." Before you knew it, the cats were escaped and made their way back to Ecto Valley.
Gizmo spotted the beaten, Dr. Animalector. "Attention. Attention. Life form found nearby."
The doctor seemed done for. "You're tougher than I thought. You really do have what it takes to survive the jungle."
"And you're going to jail." Angie said.
"Sorry. I hate to kill the suspense." He said as he pressed a button on his remote control. And before you knew it, he was teleported right before their eyes.
"He's gone." Uri said.
"For sure. I hope we never see him again." Justin said.
"Uriah, are you okay?" Joy asked.
"Yeah. Did he do anything to you?" Chris asked.
"He was scary. He told me a story on how he got his scar."
"I'm glad he didn't hurt you, Uri." Corky said as he hugged him.
"Let's go home." Gizmo said as he activated his teleportating gut.
"Beam us up, Scotty. I feel like a Rock Star." PT said.
And before you knew it, our Trouble Shooter friends were gone. Leaving the destroyed lab a mess.
But what do you think could've happened to Dr. Animalector?
11:48 PM—cabby.
It was a dark night in the city of Ecto Valley. And a cab driver (not to be confused with Easy Ernie) was driving a mysterious man with a top hat and a moustache. Who do you think it was?
"Going somewhere buddy?" He asked.
"Oh, I'm just going out of town for a few weeks." The mysterious man said.
"Sounds like you had a bad day."
The man chuckled. "You don't know the half of it."
After a long ride, the cabby took the mysterious man to his destination away from Ecto Valley. He left and paid the cabby his fare. After the cabby drove away, he removed his disguise. Who would've thought it? It was Dr. Animalector.
"Don't you think I'm giving up that easily, Trouble Shooters. I'm already enjoying the fun." He said as he walked down slowly away from town. "After all, this could be the beginning of a brand new friendship."
The next day; 10:01 am. Suburban neighborhood.
It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. And the Trouble Shooters had made it to the little girl's front door with Dill. Justin rang the doorbell and waited for a response.
"Are you sure she's gonna remember her?" Justin asked.
"Is the sky blue? Is it doomsday? Is there going to be new Star Wars movie?" PT remarked.
"She will recognize her." Gizmo said.
Just then, the door opened and Jessie was surprised to see Dill had returned home, with help from the Trouble Shooters. "Dill. You came back. Oh thank you everybody."
"Don't mention it. There really is nothing too hard we can't handle." Uri said.
"You guys are the best. Thank you Trouble Shooters. And thank you, Uri." She said as she kissed him on the cheek. The gang bid her farewell and walked down the street back to headquarters in the city.
Uri was blushing with delight.
But Corky was jealous. "Hey. I thought you don't like kisses." Corky said.
"What? Corky I was just…uh.."
"Oh yeah? I'll show you." And before you knew it, Corky chased Uri around the team and then down the street.
Speaking of Peeper/Robert relations, Angie spoke with Chris about something. "Uh, Christopher. About your music…"
"I know. I know. You think it's noise." He remarked.
"Well, not just that but..uh…you're music saved us all. Now I know what Joy sees in you." She said as she hugged him.
Chris was surprised. "Uh, thanks."
After she hugged him, she resumed with her speech. "But that doesn't mean you're noise isn't music." She scolded him.
Chris rolled his eyes. "Here we go again."
"And another thing, you gotta learn volume control. When I make phone calls, I can barely hear anything. Do you understand?"
Chris then got out his skateboard and skated away from her. "That's it. I'm outta here."
Angie ran after him, akin to Corky chasing Uriah. "Come back here, Christopher Peeper! Christopher Peeper!"
And the 4 continued their chase back to the city. And they all lived happily ever after.
Tune in next time for another exciting episode of the Trouble Shooters
The part where Christopher combines the Mic stand and guitar into a cross shape was a stage move that Chris Cornell did near the end of Soundgarden's set on 'Jesus Christ Pose.' This was on the GNR Use your Illusions Tour in 1992. Videos of the performance can be found on Youtube.
Dr. Animalector's personality is similar to Axel from Kingdom Hearts, as well as his lines. He was influenced by both Axel and Hannibal Lector.
Animalector's scar story was influenced from the Joker's scar story in the Dark Knight. The line where he says 'Let's Get Dangerous' Darkwing Duck's catchphrase.
As said before, the episode bares some similarities to the Chip N Dale Rescue Ranger episode 'Catteries Not included.'
Henry Hackentire's speech about chance was borrowed from Harvey Dent's speech in Dark Knight. The coin flip is going to bare significance in the future.
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