You know, some of us are trying to sleep.

Cherry, if you had wanted to remain inconspicuous and undetected, perhaps you shouldn't have lit that torch.  (Though, I must applaud your skills at being able to recreate the Angry Villager Torch with just a piece of wood and no cloth to wrap around it.)  You probably would have gone unnoticed if you hadn't lit it up and if the cub didn't have to use the Little Lion's Room.  Alas, 'twas not to be and here you are, trapped between a mountain lion and a hard place.  

Boy, does she look mad.  Momma Mountain Lion probably wasn't too happy about being woken up by her cub and the presence of Cherry and Kelly really isn't helping the situation.  They had better be careful.  Otherwise, the cubs will be having a snack later.  (Now would be a good time for Mark and the others to show up with a backhoe or some blasting equipment.)  I do applaud the mountain lion for trying to tell them what to do though.  It tells me that she really doesn't want to have to get her claws dirty or mess up the nice, clean cave floor.

Wait a minute...

I thought there were only two cubs.  Where did this third one come from?  I would suggest that Kelly and Cherry refrain from all of the shouting.  Momma Mountain Lion is trying to sleep and if they're not careful, they'll wake her up on the wrong side of the cave.

Mighty Magic Mountain Goats Are Go!

Okay, so it's really a Big Horn Sheep, but you've got to believe that there's a mountain goat around there somewhere (and frankly, if  I hadn't said anything, I bet a lot of people would have just accepted that it was a mountain goat.  Darn that little voice in my head that makes me tell the truth.).  That, and I just liked the title, so I'm going to stick with it.

It would appear that Cherry's plan is beginning to come together.  If she had known that all it would take for Kelly to crack was to get her trapped in one little rock slide, I'm sure she would have arranged it to have happened a lot sooner.  It would have saved them all a lot of trouble.  (Ah well, hindsight is 20/20.)  It would also appear that the forest animals are indeed keeping a close eye on our travelers and that the sturdy mountain scout is now flying off to tell the leader, whoever it may be, about the newest developments.
Or not.  Looks like the animals want to be sure that Cherry really is on their side and isn't just about to ruin things yet again, so it seems that they're going to hold off on the rescue for the moment (or perhaps our Big Horn Sheep friend has decided that the animals don't need to know about this just yet.  Could he be a double agent, working for the Avians, or is he just an animal gone rogue?).

As Kelly sinks deeper into depression, Cherry tries to lift her spirits by telling her that there's still hope: Moss and Brawny are still out there, so the day might yet be saved.  (Great.  They have to depend on being rescued by the guy who was bucked off of a horse  and the guy who was almost run over by a moose.)  On second thought, it might be better if they just started trying to dig themselves out instead.

Whoopsie daisy.

Apparently, gravity means nothing in Lost Forest (that, or the Earth suddenly lost all of its gravitational pull, but since I haven't noticed anything around me floating in the air, I'll stick with the Lost Forest angle).  It looks like Cherry may be trying to get back into the good graces of the forest animals by leading Kelly into a cave whose entrance will soon be covered by rocks and debris.  Smart, Cherry.  Let's hope it's not too late and that the animals haven't already turned on you.  You can bet that they're watching closely, so you can't afford to make another mistake.

Well, I’ll be.

If it isn't a lioness and her cubs.  Guess Moss was right.  (Although, if they're not careful, there's going to be a lioness and one cub since the one looks like it's perilously close to being swept away.  Poor little guy.)

Not to let this momentous occasion go unrecorded, Kelly loses all sense of self-preservation (not that she's shown any) and wants to make sure that the world knows that lionesses with cubs actually exist and no longer belong with the legends and lore of Big Foot.  Cherry, on the other hand, seems to be more concerned with getting them back down the mountain alive.  (Makes sense.  You can't bask in the attention of others if you're dead.)

What I learned from the Olympics.

1. You can win a very, very close race that you had to actually come back to win at the last second and the announcers will still give most of the credit to the guy who swam a different leg of the relay.
2. Scoring systems can be a little screwy.
3. I will miss baseball.  
4. It's hard to stay in the white box on the floor even when you've spent years training and competing in one to prepare for this moment.
5. It can also be hard to run between the lines.
6. I will root for the Ethiopians in the long distance running events.
7. After running for about twenty minutes, the Ethiopian runner with find another gear and sprint the last lap.
8. Batons can be hard to hold on to.
9. I should have been more serious about badminton.
10. Political ads don't belong on Olympic broadcasts.
11. You can watch endless hours of Olympic coverage and still fail the quiz and be told that you need to watch more.
12. Sometimes the broadcasters will just leave you to assume who won.
13. When the broadcast is supposed to end at 12:30 a.m. it might just end at 12:45 a.m. instead.
14. No score is worth falling down dead over.
15. Sometimes, when the broadcast is scheduled to end at 5:00 p.m., it ends at 5:00 p.m., even if the game isn't over yet.
16. It'll break your heart, but you just can't keep from watching it.
17. You can fall and still win a medal.
18. The more the announcers say how great someone is, the more likely I am to find reasons not to like them (especially when said announcers won't shut up about them and push their teammates to the side while they do it.)
19. Fake smiles are creepy.
20. I will latch on to a sport that I have no way of ever seeing again until the next Olympics.

Smile.

They’re still out there somewhere, I just know it.

I like to believe that the Easterlings thought better of the whole "Help Sauron conquer Middle Earth thing" and just went home.

(It could have happened.  After they marched through the black gates they were never heard from again.)
I also like to believe that Boga the varactyl survived the fall after those pre-storm troopers shot at her and knocked her off of the cliff.

(If Obi-Wan could survive, why not Boga?  We never do see what happens to her, so she could have landed safely in the water too.)

Wasted (and maybe a little queasy).

Hooray for Animal Control!  (Though, I still think that AC Man and SWAT Man are the same guy.  I mean, think about it, have you ever seen them in the same panel?  This is that whole Superman, Clark Kent thing all other again.)  The dogs have been taken care of, and now only require being loaded into a truck (and perhaps cleaned up after when the one in front finally barfs) and taken away to wherever it is that you take Demon Dogs.

Baskerville, on the other hand, may or may not be dead.  (I'd lean towards not, but he was the villain, after all, so he might just have gotten what was coming to him.  Look at the bad guy from the previous arc...)  

Bankerman has finally coming out of hiding as he was unable to defeat the dogs with the awesome power of dance.  Perhaps now he will give the police a reward for saving the day, or take credit for bringing down the dogs, you never can tell.

Now all that's left is to deal with Shirl.  Hopefully, she'll be punished for her nefarious deeds (unless, of course, she's a double agent.  Then she'll be congratulated.).

The Other, Other White Meat

Things have taken a turn (for the worse, or for the better, I'm just not sure).  Old Baskerville there had his whistle taken away and his cute little demon doggies (with today's special guest, Scooby Doo) are going to tear him limb from limb.  (That will teach him to withhold treats and only feed them the cheap food.)  Shirl has taken this opportunity to state the obvious (because somebody has to): they still need to stop the dogs, preferably before Baskerville is not but a chewed up pile of human, what with the innocent young readers and all.

Oh look, Animal Control has finally arrived with their shotguns loaded with tranquilizers.  (Though one could make the case that SWAT Man just put on another hat, but I'm going to believe that there are two different hatted men in the bank, one who wants to put the dogs down temporarily and another who wants to put the dogs down permanently and send them to Demon Dog Heaven.)

Everybody limbo!

Shirl, Shirl, Shirl, Shirl, Shirl.  Now is not the time for party games.  It's time to run for your life against the numerous demon dogs running rampant at the bank (even though we haven't really seen a lot of them together now, have we?).

Witnessing the possible carnage are our good friends, SWAT Man and Tracy.  At the moment, I'd say that SWAT Man is pretty useless as he's still recovering from that little incident involving the handgun in the previous post.  All he can do is hold on to that whistle for dear life and keep blowing.  I would also suggest that he keep an eye on Tracy, who, it would appear is about to bite his whistle in half and will then inevitably need another one (and look who just happens to be standing next to him with a perfectly good, intact whistle.  SWAT Man may come to regret threatening to open fire on those dogs.).

While those two are trying to determine how Shirl's going to get a whistle (I think that it will come down to a sinister game of Rock Paper Scissors where the loser is forced to give up his whistle and be torn apart while the others look on just so that Shirl, who we've established to be no longer on the side of truth, decency, and justice (i.e., the good guys), can live.  And as for that "They'll tear her to pieces!" comment, they're already doing that, dear (and doing a mighty find job, too), though it would seem that the one dog is choking on her arm (he's learning an important lesson: chew before you swallow, for you are not a duck).

Do I even know you anymore?

SWAT Man finally cracked.  He threw the shotgun down and has taken up his handgun once more.  The situation just got to be too much for the poor guy and he thought he could solve his problems with gunfire from a smaller source, much to the shock and horror of Tracy there, who appears to be questioning his friendship with the man as I type this.

Meanwhile, amidst all of this drama, Shirl is going to get her hand bitten off by the now rabid demon dogs.  At least, I'm pretty sure that's Shirl's hand.  If it isn't, I think that Tracy (or SWAT Man, for that matter) needs to invest in a pair of fingernail clippers. (Although, I must say that his nails do look well kept.)

Playing catch-up.

Wouldn't you know it, when things finally get really interesting, so does real life.  

Ah well, such is the life of an elf...

So I take it that you’re quitting the force?

See Shirl, if you didn't want to blow your cover, you shouldn't have gone to bank, and if you insisted on going to bank, you shouldn't have announced to everyone there that you're somehow involved in the heist (even though it was already suspected).  You should have just stayed away as there appears to be quite the epidemic sweeping through the bank and everyone is running rather high temperatures as evidenced by the heat radiating from their thermometers.  If you get sick, who will serve them chicken soup and orange juice?  (It won't be Tess.  I mean, she's probably still in bed and in no condition to care for others, much less herself.)  

I am a little worried that Tracy is so surprised to see Shirl and hope that it is merely the excitement of the current action and not that he still thinks she's on his side.

They’re not robots. They’re demons.

Yes, stop them, Tracy!  Who knows how long the banker's invisible box will hold that dog at bay.  (Hey, I don't know every last thing about demon dogs.  It's possible that they are susceptible to mime.)  Tracy also needs to remember that they are in fact demon dogs and that such dogs do not have little switches that can be used to turn them on and off, nor are they like robots that can be controlled via remotes or micro-chips.  They're dogs.  They're demons.  They attack.  They shred.  You had it right when you saw that you needed to get the whistle.  You should focus on that (and perhaps on getting the other members of your team whistles, and the banker too.  It's just the right thing to do, and he might be more willing to give the department a loan, or a reward, if you save him from the slobbery jaws of death.)

Meanwhile, Shirl appears to have been hit by a shrink ray (that, or she's having a little trouble with her hula hoop).  Perhaps it's time to consider another car.  One that will fit better.  One that she can actually see over the dashboard of without a booster seat.  It's just a suggestion.  

Always thinking of ourselves, aren’t we?

So Tracy has determined that he needs to get his hands on one of those whistles.  Judging by the dog in the previous strip, he has a few milliseconds to get it before he's demon dog chow (and that's only if the dog stops for a moment to consider what he might taste like instead of just lunging forward and tearing Tracy to shreds like the remorseless killing machine we've been led to believe that he is).  At least it looks like Tracy is ready for a fight since he remembered to put his mouth guard in before the heist was due to commence.  (Gotta protect those pearly whites after all.)

I guess the demon dog did stop to consider his next meal since Tracy was able to punch out a random thug, obtain a whistle, and blow it before he was bitten.  Well, sort of.  It looks like the dog might have taken a chunk out of his knee and is now pondering its next move after getting a taste of detective, which doesn't seem to have gone down very well.  (And look everyone, it's today's guest star:  Marmaduke!)  Things continue to get worse for SWAT Man, who has abandoned his pistol for a shot gun as he inches ever closer to traumatizing the young readers of this strip.  Let's hope that Tracy can stop him before it's too late.

This isn’t a job for a sparrow.

Nope.  It's time to bring in the air forces who know how to get the job done.  Looks like Moss is standing firm in his alliance with the forest animals, but Cherry might be having second thoughts (again).
Ah, now I see.  If Cherry is going to interfere, then she might just have to have a little accident too.  The forest animals are getting more and more serious about this the closer they come to achieving their goal.  If Cherry doesn't show her loyalty to the cause soon, she might not make it back down alive.  (I suggest using that log to win back their favor.)  The animals are also trying not to get their paws (or wings or hooves or whatever) dirty by letting nature do most of the dirty work.  (It's just easier this way.  The moose can't make it up a narrow trail with its antlers, the bear might be afraid of heights, and we haven't seen that mountain lion for a while, so who knows where it is.  Perhaps it really is a lioness with cubs...)

And on another note, I'm not sure just what Kelly is filming exactly.  I thought it was the eagle/hawk, but she's too far away from it for it to appear as anything but a dark, misshapen blob (that, and she would have to actually be looking at it).  It looks like she's just standing on the edge of a cliff, filming another mountain.  (It also looks like the perfect place to accidentally slip and fall, too...)

I didn’t know fish could do that.

I've heard of fish flying, but floating?  (Shouldn't it have some sort of balloon, jet pack, glider, or levitation device?)  It's either floating through the forest, or Cherry and Moss have been magically transported to the aquarium for one panel (and since they don't allow horses at the aquarium, I think you'll agree that the floating fish is much more believable).

And yes, the camping trip is over.  Time to head back home and see what the trouble is (even though it might make more sense to go to where the people who could be in trouble actually are, but that's just me and I am not an experienced woodsman like Mark).

Look! On the trail!

Yes, Mark, a horse.  Remember, you've seen them before.  You've ridden them before.  They're not your enemy.  There's no reason to take up a defensive stance, and there's no reason to throw hot stew at the poor thing either.  (Hasn't it already been through enough, what with its bum leg and all?)  Mark should also be careful since it looks like whatever he's cooking is about to eat through that pan and probably fall on his foot.  (Maybe he and Rusty should think about eating something else.)  Looks like the camping trip might be cut short.  (And it was going so well too.  I guess.  We never really saw much of it.)

Could it be?

Is it possible that the reclusive ruler of the Avians has finally been revealed?  Can it be that the Empire is ruled by a lunatic?  Could it be that the rumors of a maniacal ruler are in fact true?  He does have the determined look of one set to the rule the world.  Ladies, gentlemen, and assorted others, I give you the King of the Avians.  Sure, we've never seen him before.  Sure,we may never see him again, but really, doesn't that make sense?  I mean, why get your hands (or in this case, wings) dirty when you can have others do it for you?  (Did you really think a sparrow was capable of doing what has been accomplished so far?  Sure, a lot of signs pointed in that direction, but wouldn't a ruler who could potentially be the target of an assassination plot want to deceive his enemies so that he could formulate and carry out his plans in peace?)  It remains to be seen whether this is indeed the true ruler of the Avians, or simply another impostor, put in place to prevent us from learning the truth.

And a one, and a two...

When will the police learn that you don't go cheap on the steaks, especially when you intend to use them to save your life?  It's just not the same as the good stuff and those demon dogs know it.  They've probably been raised on the best cuts, and something that was picked out of a giant display of prepackaged, shrink wrapped meat just isn't going to cut it.  And now that that plan has fallen through (as we had a feeling it inevitably would), it's time to get creative.

Taking a cue from Tracy, SWAT Man has decided to try fighting off the demon dogs with karate.  It's not working too well though, as it has only resulted in getting the dog to chomp down on his leg that much faster.  Now he's apparently considering turning his gun on the dog, but we all know that he won't, what with the impressionable youngsters who may be reading this.  Of course, being demon dogs, it would probably take a silver bullet, covered in symbols, blessed by the ancient Oracle of Canis Destructus, forged in fires found deep within the Earth (and we all know that the police department just doesn't have the funds for that sort of thing.  Curse those useless high-tech gadgets!).  Maybe he has something in his utility belt that can help, but until he thinks to actually look in there, he'll be hopping around on one leg while the other is tenderized.

Taking an altogether different approach, our heroic banker has decided that now is the perfect time to dance.  Sure, he knows he doesn't have what it takes to be a lead, but he's content to be a member of the chorus because without the chorus, the lead would have to do a lot more work to tell the story, and the audience would get tired of continuously looking at the same two people for a couple of hours (assuming there are two leads of course).  While the banker's technique may not be up to snuff, and some would argue that it's downright embarrassing, his enthusiasm more than makes up for his lack of talent.  That boy's got heart, I tell you.  Of course, he could also be trying to implement the first ever bank wave.  (It's not just for sporting events and arenas anymore!)