Krypto meets Underdog

Chapter 4

Kali ended up explaining to Jack that Krypto was Superdog and everything else that had led up to this, which left the teenage boy shocked and astounded. But he did promise to keep it a secret. 

After that heroic save with Molly and Polly, Krypto had gone home to the Harpercops' house to change out of his superdog disguise and back to his normal, regular dog self. But when he came back, he couldn't find Shoeshine anywhere. 

That night, they all came home to Jack's house looking for Shoeshine.

"Shoeshine? Shoeshine" Jack, Kali and Krypto all called out, looking around the house for the beagle. 

"Shoeshine, are you here?" Kali called out gently to the beagle. 

The gang soon looked under Jack's bed to find the poor beagle hiding there, looking sad and whimpered. 

"Sorry, Jack" Shoeshine apologized sadly. "I didn't mean to break those cars, or those garbage cans, or that building" 

"Shoeshine, you're a hero" Jack said.  

"He's right" Kali added. 

"No, I don't want to be a hero" Shoeshine told them. "I'll screw it up. Trust me on this one"

"Shoeshine, let me tell you something" Krypto started explaining his backstory. "I had trouble learning how to control my powers too for the first time..." 

"But luckily, I always had my friends around to help cheer me on and say I could do anything" The superdog turned to Kali who smiled back and petted him. 

"Really?" Shoeshine asked. 

"Yep" Krypto nodded. 

"But you're a real super hero" Shoeshine said to the white lab. "Hero's never screw up"

"But we do" Krypto told Shoeshine. "Even superheroes mess up sometimes. Having super powers is a super responsibility. But we always learn from our mistakes"

Shoeshine then came out from under Jack's bed and up to the gang. 

"I just wanted a home" The beagle told his friends. "A place where I belonged" 

"You do belong here" Kali told Shoeshine warmly, truly meaning it. "And like it or not, these powers are a part of who you are now. Kinda makes me wish I had my own superpowers"

"Wait, you don't have superpowers?" Jack asked the adventure girl, considering after all she told him about herself already. 

"Not that I know of" Kali replied, shrugging her shoulders. 

"Look, just because I have these powers doesn't make me a hero" Shoeshine told the gang.  

"Shoeshine, it depends on what you do with them" Krypto told the beagle in a serious manner. "You gotta put your new powers to good use. You gotta use them to help others"

"He's right" Jack added in agreement.  

"Don't worry..." Krypto assured the nervous beagle. "I'll help you" 

Shoeshine smiled up a little at Krypto, who was willing to take him on as his student to teach him how to use his new powers properly.

The beagle hung his head and sighed. "Maybe..." 

Shoeshine then turned to Jack. "But promise me, no one can find out about this. Not even your dad"

"Oh, my dad" Jack and the others realized that Dan would be home soon and the house was still a wreck from earlier. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Easy. Easy" Shoeshine told the others as they were moving the couch. 

"Don't hit the lamp" Krypto warned them.  

"Hey, have you guys seen a tennis ball anywhere?" Shoeshine asked. 

The gang then heard a car pull up from outside and the door close, Jack went up to the window to see who it was. 

"Just put it in the corner" Jack told the others before leaving the room, referring to the couch. 

"You know, traditionally, the dog makes the mess and the human cleans it up" Shoeshine stated.  

"Don't rub it in" Kali groaned at the beagle. 

Shoeshine then attempted to move the couch on his own, when the couch's footrest popped out and threw him back crashing against a bookshelf. That made Kali wince but also giggle just a little. 

"You okay?" Krypto asked the beagle. 

"Yeah, I'm fine" Shoeshine shook himself off. 

Jack came back, looking a little panicked. "It's my dad!" 

"We're dead" Kali deadpanned.

"Okay. I'm going to go out there and stall him, you guys try and make things look as normal as possible in here" Jack told the others. 

"Check" Kali and Krypto nodded.  

"Talking dogs and teenage girl will try to make things normal" Shoeshine added.  

Thanks to Krypto's super speed he was quickly able to arrange the living room and move the couch back into place, but there was still a bit of a mess on the floor. Shoeshine grabbed the rug in his mouth and dragged it over, covering a pile of broken glass.  

"All clean" He said. 

Just then, the three heard voices and the front door open as Jack and Dan came in. 

"Dad, wait" Jack said. 

"No, Jack" Dan told his son. 

Kali and the dogs were still cleaning when Dan walked straight into the living room to see the huge mess. 

"Oh... Uh, hi Mr Unger" Kali smiled nervously. "We just thought we'd rearranging the furniture" she quickly came up with a terrible lie. 

Jack came back over to Shoeshine and the others while Dan had stepped on something and lifted up the rug to find the broken glass. 

Dan looked up and glared to his son. "Yeah, hang out"

"Dad, look, I can explain" Jack started. 

"Yeah, well don't tell me the dog did it" Dan glared at his son, which made Shoeshine and the others all hang their heads in shame. 

"We'll talk about it later" Dan told Jack. "Right now, I'm going to take that dog to the pound"

"No! Mr Unger, please don't!" Kali begged.  

"Dad, please" Jack said, holding Shoeshine. "I want to keep him"

"You told me you didn't want the dog" Dan replied. 

"Me? No way" Jack told his father. "I told you I've wanted a dog since I was like eight"

"Please, Mr Unger" Kali begged. "This dog needs him"

Dan sighed and thought for a moment while looking at Shoeshine who whimpered with his puppy dog eyes. As well as Krypto, since he didn't want his new friend to be taken away.

"All right, but it's your responsibility" Dan told his son. "You got to feed him, brush him, walk him. You got to train him, Jack"

"Trust me, Dad. This dog will do things that will blow your mind" Jack smiled up at his father. 

"Thanks, Mr Unger" Kali thanked Jack's dad.

Krypto was also grateful as he barked to Dan in gratitude that he was going to let Jack keep Shoeshine. 

Dan soon left with the groceries and into the kitchen while the two teens and Krypto quietly celebrated in victory that Shoeshine was going to stay with them. Nothing could ruin the moment...

"This better be chili" Dan called out from the kitchen. 

The gang looked to each other and remembered they forgot to clean the mess in the kitchen.  

Kali and Krypto soon went back home to tell their family what had happened.