The Secret Life of Pets 2 Junior Novelization (The Secret Life of Pets 2)

by David Lewman

  But before Snowball could finish, Little Sergei the monkey hopped up onto the roof. “Aaaah!” Snowball yelled, thinking the wolves had arrived. “Oh, it’s just this weird little guy,” he said, relieved. He faced Little Sergei. “Why don’t you just go back to wherever you belong, Bonzo, because I don’t want to have to—”

  Little Sergei grabbed Snowball by the ears. “Ow,” Snowball said. The monkey flipped Snowball back and forth, slamming him against the ground. “OW-OW-OW-OW-OW-OW!” Snowball yelled. Finally, Little Sergei tossed the rabbit into a vent.

  At that same moment, the wolves reached the roof. “Run, Hu!” Daisy gasped. She tried to block the wolves from reaching the young tiger, but the beasts just swatted her aside. They cornered Hu just as Sergei arrived with a tranquilizer gun. THWOCK! The tranquilizer dart stuck in Hu’s side.

  Sergei felt something and looked down. Daisy had latched onto his leg, biting his pants and pulling. “Oh, pretty little dog,” Sergei said, grinning evilly. “I like you. You will join my circus. As a cannonball!” He reached down and grabbed Daisy. She barked like crazy, but it was no use. The little dog couldn’t escape Sergei’s grip.

  * * *

  Max finally managed to scramble out of the basement window just in time to see Sergei hand Daisy to a clown, who was standing next to the van in the alley. “Mongrel doesn’t learn,” Sergei said.

  He turned to Hu, caged in the van, as Max watched from behind a garbage can. “Stupid tiger!” Sergei shouted.

  Hu, dazed from the tranquilizer and scared at being locked up again, gave Max a look that said, “Please help me” just before Sergei slammed the van’s back doors closed.

  “Pathetic,” he said. “Let’s go! We have a train to catch!”

  As Sergei climbed in the front and the van took off, Snowball fell out of a vent onto the sidewalk. He ran after the van, yelling, “Daisy! Hu!” But the van was too fast. It left him in the dust. He stopped, out of breath, and turned to Max. “What are we gonna do, T.D.?” he panted.

  Max had an idea. He smiled.

  * * *

  Moments later, Max and Snowball were rocketing down the street, holding tight to Norman’s remote-control car. Max was on the back of the little car, and Snowball was on the front. “WOO-HOO!” Snowball whooped, enjoying the speed. “WHOOAAA! HA HA!”

  As they zoomed by a guy on a motorcycle, Snowball tapped a button on Norman’s walkie-talkie. “ATTENTION! This is Captain Snowball!”

  In the apartment full of cats, Gidget heard Snowball’s voice over the walkie-talkie saying, “Me and Tiny Dog need backup!”

  “We read you loud and clear!” Gidget said into her walkie-talkie. “Over!”

  “…to the circus,” Snowball’s staticky voice explained through the little speaker. “…is urgent! Over!”

  “Copy that!” Gidget confirmed into her walkie-talkie. She turned to Busy Bee. “Busy Bee,” she said, “Mommy’s gotta go save Daddy, again.” She faced her loyal army of cats. “Cats! Let’s do this!”

  The cats knew just what to do. They dumped their food in the garbage. Then they took their empty bowls to the sweet, little old lady and showed them to her with big, longing eyes, meowing.

  “Are my babies hungry?” the lady asked. With some effort, she got up out of her chair and went to the kitchen. When she opened the cabinets, they were empty. “Ooooh, dear,” she sighed. Realizing a trip to the store was in order, the old lady popped in her hearing aids and dentures and grabbed her purse and keys.

  Moments later, she was barreling down the street in her great big old car with Gidget and all the cats. “Buckle up, everyone!” she called.

  “Hang on, Max!” Gidget said into her walkie-talkie. “We’re coming!” She told the cats, “Floor it!” They pressed down on the gas pedal and took control of the steering wheel.

  “Oooooh!” the old lady cooed.

  The car raced through the brightly lit streets of New York City.

  At a railyard near Coney Island, clowns were packing up Sergei’s circus and loading it onto train cars. Yanking Hu behind him on a chain, Sergei barked, “Hurry up, you clowns!”

  Hu tried to pull free, but Sergei kept a firm grasp on the chain. “Let’s go!” he snarled. “Let’s go!” Sergei pulled the tiger into the engine car at the front of the train. He attached the chain to a metal bar, declaring, “You will not escape from Sergei!”

  The engineer was ready to drive the train. “All right,” Sergei told him, “let’s get this show on the tracks!” The engineer pulled a lever, and the train started chugging away from the station.

  Norman, Snowball, and Max raced into the railyard on the turbo-charged remote-control car. “WHOAAA! HA HA HA HA!” Snowball whooped.

  They jumped the tracks. Max and Snowball leapt off the car and flew through the air toward the train. WHAM! Norman landed hard. He was okay, but the car fell apart.

  Max reached the train’s caboose and climbed onboard. “Snowball!” he shouted back. “Come on! Jump!”

  As the train sped up, Snowball leapt toward it. He fell just short of the caboose, but Max caught his ears and hauled him in.

  Inside the old lady’s car, Gidget spoke into her walkie-talkie. “Guys, what’s your location?”

  Still holding his tiny steering wheel, Norman pressed the button on his walkie-talkie and answered, “They’re on a train headed north. Over!”

  “Roger that, Norman!” Gidget responded. “We’re on it!” She lowered her walkie-talkie and told the cats on the steering wheel, “Turn right here!”

  SCREECH! As the cats yanked the wheel, the car made a sharp turn to the right and exited the highway.

  * * *

  As the circus train sped through the night, Max and Snowball ran along the top of the train cars. Snowball burst ahead, doing his best superhero rolls and somersaults.

  “You hang back, T.D.!” he called. “Captain Snowball is on the caaaaa­aaaaa­se!” As he said case, Snowball fell through a skylight into one of the cars.

  “Snowball!” Max cried.

  “I’m fine!” Snowball reassured him from the train car.

  Max peered down through the skylight. “Can you find a way to get back up here?”

  Before Snowball answered, Max heard growling. He turned around and found himself face to face with four circus wolves!

  “AAAAAHHHH!” he screamed as he ran away. Tiny Max zipped under a pole that hung over the passing train. Three of the wolves saw the move and ducked. The fourth wolf was not so lucky—WHACK! Unconcerned about their companion falling from the train, the remaining wolves continued to chase Max.

  From below, Snowball saw the wolves leap over the open skylight. “Tiny Dog!” he yelled. But Max was gone. Snowball looked around the train car he’d fallen into. “Hello?” he called when he heard a noise in the shadows. “HELLO?”

  He passed by a stack of boxes, and then he saw Daisy! She was loaded into a cannon that was aimed into the air!

  “Daisy!” Snowball cried, thrilled to see her.

  “Oh, thank goodness!” she said, equally thrilled to see Captain Snowball.

  Suddenly, the train car flooded with light. Little Sergei wheeled into the room on a unicycle. He juggled a few bowling pins menacingly. He threw one at Captain Snowball, but the bunny ducked.

  Fury welled up in the rabbit as he leapt into action. He and Little Sergei bounced around the room as the rabbit unleashed a flurry of martial arts moves against the bad monkey.

  “This ends NOW, monkey!” Snowball said, blocking another pin. Then something occurred to Snowball that delighted him. “Oh! You’re a supervillain! You are my ARCHENEMY!”

  BAM! A bowling pin hit Captain Snowball and knocked him out cold.

  * * *

  Up on top of the train cars, the growling wolves were still chasing Max. Once again, Max slid to th
e side of the train to avoid an upcoming sign. The wolf right behind Max attempted the same move, but his greater weight sent him sliding off the edge.

  “Two down. Two to go,” Max thought as he scrambled to stay ahead of his pursuers.

  The next train car carried a full load of pipes stacked high. Max’s back leg kicked a tie loose, causing some of the pipes to slide free. Getting an idea, Max poured on the speed and reached the other side of the train car. He bit through the other tie, releasing the pipes completely.

  The pipes rolled from under the paws of the wolves. Before the wolves could reach their prey, they tumbled off the train and into the night.

  Max breathed a sigh of relief. Then he raced off to find his friends.

  As Captain Snowball opened his blurry eyes, he saw Little Sergei coming toward him. The monkey had lit the bowling pins on fire and was juggling the flaming weapons. He chased Snowball around the cannon. Smiling wickedly as he rode by the fuse, the monkey backed up and lit it with one of the pins.

  Daisy’s eyes went wide at the sight of the sparkling fuse. “Um, Captain Snowball…,” she said, trying to alert him.

  “Oh no!” Snowball ran up to the cannon, looking for a way to put the sparkling fuse out. Little Sergei charged at Snowball from behind and slammed into the fuzzy hero. The force knocked Snowball into the side of the cannon, causing it to tip over. As the two adversaries continued to fight, the cannon slowly settled into a position level with the ground. Now that it wasn’t pointed upward, Daisy was able to crawl out.

  Seeing that his friend was free, Snowball turned to concentrate on Little Sergei. The mean little monkey was going to get it now. Little Sergei spun around to take on Snowball, but Daisy rotated the cannon, separating the two quarreling creatures. The cannon forced Little Sergei her way, and when he got to Daisy, she was waiting. She pushed the monkey right into his own trap.

  Little Sergei shrieked when he realized the fuse was still lit.

  * * *

  BOOOOOM!

  Running across the top of the train, Max looked up to see Little Sergei soaring through the air like a shooting star. His mouth dropped open in disbelief—that shooting star was shooting straight at him!

  WHAM!

  Max was sent flying off the train.

  Max scrambled to his feet and scanned the landscape. The engine was pretty far away, but it was down a hill and rounding a curve. Max realized that he just might be able to catch up with it before it reached the tunnel in the distance.

  “I can head them off!” he said determinedly. Running as fast as he could, Max bounded down the hill and through the woods, heading toward the train tracks.

  Max ran as fast as his four legs could carry him. He got to the top of the tunnel just as the train was about to enter it. Without even thinking about the consequences, Max took a deep breath and leapt into the air…

  CRASH!

  Max shattered a window as he smashed into the train. He landed on his feet in front of Sergei. The man still held Hu on a chain. Max looked up and growled at the evil circus owner.

  “All right, doggy. Bring it o— YEE-OWW!” Sergei didn’t finish his sentence because Max had just bit him on the butt!

  At that moment, Daisy and Snowball arrived and joined the fight. Sergei had little room to move as he was attacked by the creatures from all sides. Inspired by his friends’ bravery, Hu pounced. The tiger tackled Sergei to the ground.

  With that, the train engineer pulled the brake. SCREEECH!

  Everyone went flying out of the train engine.

  Outside on the ground, the animals and Sergei struggled to their feet. The animals quickly took the opportunity to get away, but just as they started to leave, Hu was jerked back on his chain.

  Sergei glared at them. He was covered in dirt and his clothes were ripped, but he held the chain tightly.

  “STOP! You are going NOWHERE!” the cruel man said. “I’ve had enough!” He laughed, thinking he finally had the animals where he wanted them. Sergei pulled out a gun. The animals froze. Sergei cocked the gun, ready to shoot. “This ends HERE and N—”

  WHAM! The cat lady’s big car slammed right into Sergei, sending him tumbling through the air! “WAAAAAH!” he screamed.

  Loud music poured out of the car as it spun around, kicking dust and dirt into the air. Stunned, Sergei struggled to rise through the cloud of dust.

  The other animals cheered! Max, Hu, Snowball, and Daisy jumped through the car window.

  “Max!” Gidget called.

  “Gidget!” he answered.

  The cat lady smiled as she adjusted her glasses and turned up the volume on the radio. She put the car in reverse with a solid pull on the gear shift. Sergei staggered as he tried to run, but she slammed into him again as she backed the car up.

  The cat lady shifted gears and pushed the gas pedal to the floor. The car’s back wheels spun, spewing rocks and dirt into the defeated Sergei’s face. Then it sped off into the night.

  As the sun came up over New York City the next morning, pets woke up and started their days. When Chloe tried to wake her owner up, her new friend Hu helped out. First he jumped onto the bed. Then he tried softly patting the owner’s face with his big paw. But she just kept sleeping.

  Hu looked at Chloe. She nodded.

  “ROWWWRRRR!” Hu roared. The owner leapt up onto the bed’s headboard.

  By her owner’s reaction, Chloe knew that Hu wouldn’t be able to stay with her. She wondered for a long time where a large, friendly jungle cat could go live happily ever after. She smiled as the answer came to her.

  When Hu and Chloe cautiously entered the cat lady’s apartment, they were ready to hear a scream. But when the cat lady set her bespectacled eyes on Hu, it was love at first sight. She beckoned him over to her with glee, and Hu leapt into her arms, causing the old lady to fall over laughing.

  * * *

  In Snowball’s apartment, Molly woke up her pet bunny. He was exhausted from his adventures saving Hu. Molly set Snowball in front of a mirror and took off his superhero outfit. Then she dressed him in a new costume. He sleepily opened his eyes and looked in the mirror. “AAAAH!” he screamed.

  He was dressed as a pretty princess.

  “Hey, man, what is going on?” he asked. Then he turned to one side and the other, checking himself out. “This is…AWESOME! Wow!”

  * * *

  Later that morning, Max walked out of his apartment building with Katie, Chuck, Liam, and Duke. “Come on, buddy!” Katie said.

  “This is gonna be fun!” Chuck added.

  “Woo-hoo!” Liam cheered.

  As they walked down the sidewalk, Max thought, “Everything changes. Nothing stays the same for long. The minute you’re used to something—the minute you think, ‘Oh, this is how life is’—life finds a way of surprising you. You never know what life is going to throw at you, and you have two choices. Run from it, or run at it.”

  They arrived at Liam’s new preschool. “It’s a big day,” Max thought. “From this point on, nothing is going to be the same.”

  Liam looked up at the school with big eyes. “Wow.”

  “But I’m gonna be brave,” Max told himself. “And I’m gonna help Liam be brave.” He gave Liam a little lick and gently nudged him forward, into the preschool’s playground. “Because Liam’s my kid,” Max thought, “and I want him to see the world. The big, scary, INCREDIBLE world.”

  Liam ran into the playground to join the other kids.

  Duke turned to Max. “Are you okay?”

  Max thought about it. “Yeah, I’m good.”

  As they turned to go home, they heard Liam call, “Wait!”

  They turned back, and Liam ran up to them. Hugging Max and Duke, he said, “My doggies.”

  “Always,” Max thought with a smile.

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