Garfield and The War on Lasagna

Chapter 6 - Lyman

Now Garfield had a party of 5. There was only one person they needed now, Lyman.

"Say, G-ma." Garfield interrupted. "Did Jon ever tell you where Lyman wandered off to?"

She gasped. "Lyman? Oh goodness.. I haven't heard that name in years. We're really going to bring Lyman along?"

"That's what Liz told us to do" Arlene replied. "I'm sure Jon will be.. surprised."

"Well.." Mrs. Arbuckle continued. "After Lyman left, Jon did tell me his new address. 154 Davis Way. I don't know if he likes visitors, does it have to be Lyman?"

"Yes." Arlene answered, surprised an elderly woman could have such sharp memory. "Lyman is the only one strong enough to hold back those robots. Now, we need to go pick him up. I think we've lollygagged long enough."

The quintet warely made their way closer to Lyman's house, as well as Kitty HQ. They spotted some catbots, one had pulled a man over for driving too fast. Another zoomed through the sky like a blimp, carrying a hideous banner of the mecha cat president: Almren. Garfield rolled his eyes.

Now the friends approached Lyman's street. Odie and Squeak appeared nervous. Garfield was more curious than anything. When they got to 154 Davis Way, they saw a small white house. All of the windows were boarded up, the yard a mess and plants growing like a jungle. Not a sign of life was there.

"Wow, he really lives like this?" Arlene joked, but also fully meant it.

"Maybe this isn't it. We did only rely on Grandma's memory." Garfield replied. "I'll do the honor and knock."

Garfield knocked the door three times, and waited. They waited, and waited. After a minute or two, he knocked again. And they waited again.
"Who is it?" A disgruntled and muffled voice replied.
"An old friend. A few old friends, actually."

Nothing back, more waiting. Then they heard it, locks being opened, boards being broken down. More and more locks, Lyman really didn't want anything to get in. This was the longest wait of all, the anticipation was nearly killing the team. Garfield wondered if Jon had picked up his lock methods from Lyman, or maybe it was the other way around. After about 10 minutes of fiddling, the final lock was removed. The door slowly creaked open, so an eye was seek peaking out the crack i the door.

"Hello Lyman. It's been a while, huh." Garfield greeted.

No answer.

"How long have you been shut in here?" Arlene broke the silence. "All those locks, I can't imagine you've been leaving.

"Since Almren was elected.." He responded

"What!" Mrs. Arbuckle blurted out. "What have you been doing? Are you alright?"

"I'm.. just fine. Just haven't talked in a while.."

This was awkward for everyone involved. Especially Arlene, who had never met Lyman.

"Odie, sorry I left you with the Arbuckles. I couldn't bring you into hiding with me, I know you needed proper socialization. A dog would have no fun cooped up in this house with me."

"Bark woof!" Odie yipped, and ran through the door tackling Lyman. He licked his face, and woofed more.
"Gahh! No!" Lyman protested.

Garf and the gang could now clearly see Lyman. He had grown a long beard out, his clothes were filthy, and you could hardly see his eyes through his long hair. He really had been in that house for years.

"Good heavens Lyman, I can hardly recognise you!" Said Mrs. Arbuckle. "Why have you been hiding away for so long?"

"Because.." Lyman answered "I want my freedom, even if I need to be cut off from the outside world for it. I've been eating the same things I used to in my house, sure I can't share them with anyone. But I'd never part with my food."

"So you were cooking Italian cuisine.. I never saw you as a rule breaker, Lyman!" Squeak said

"Shhhhh!!!!" Lyman hushed. "They'll hear you."

"That reminds me," Garfield eased his way into the real topic at hand. "The reason we came to visit you, they caught Jon. We need you to beat up some robots for us. Maybe Almren too while you're at it."

"Jon? Oh no I.. haven't talked with him in so long. Do I really need to?"

"Of course you do!" Snapped Arlene. "You're trained in hands-on combat. If you don't join us, the bots will get us too. Then all of us will fall victim to whatever fate they have planned for Jon. You could even lose your only remaining friends, including your dog. Then you'll be a real loner."

"Ok, ok. I'll come with you. But I can't guarantee this will work out. My fighting skills have gone unused for a long time."