Back through the crime scene, and all through the park, not a creature was stirring, not even a lark.
Okay, there was one little rodent up and running. Our old friend, Todd! Being stuffed in a bag and tossed around like a fish at a sea market isn't a pleasant experience for a hamster at all, but Todd survived it, though it did knock him unconscious at the moment. Now, he was scurrying about in what he approximated was the general direction of home.
Over hills, into creeks, and across large bridges Todd went. Finally, he saw the edge of the vast forest he was in (vast to him because, well, he's a hamster) and was almost jumping in glee when... AN OWL ATTACKED! Out of nowhere, an Owl spotting his late night dinner swooped down and made a lunge at poor Todd. Luckily, the Owl missed Todd by only an inch (blame the Stormtrooper Syndrome), but that was enough to put the fear of death into our diminutive hero. Quickly, he ran for the hollow log nearby. The Owl swerved around to make another dive. He quickly approached our panicking Todd. He extended his talons forth.
A satisfying thud greeted Todd as he entered the chamber within the log. The Owl lay outside, dazed. At the speed it was going, Todd guessed he was safe now. He continued on his adventure.
Coming to an all too familiar house of his, Todd pushed his way through the basement window, fell inside, and bounced off with a little squeak on the stack of linens lying below. He scurried as fast as his little paws could take him to the Deus Ex Machina machine he was building before this whole debacle. Still in its prototype stage, he knew he had to take the risk of using it to get back to normal.
He scurried inside and waited for the device to activate. The doors closed as his little rodent body got inside, and the device began to work. In went a little hamster, out came a young man. He looked over himself as he stepped out, and right as he did, the Deus Ex Machina machine collapsed until it was an unworkable piece of scrap metal. 'Who cares? It was a one-shot machine anyway' Thought our former hamster Todd.
***
Now restored, Todd spent the rest of his night working, sweating, forging a new remote with the spare materials in his basement (including remnants of the DXM machine) to form a new, more secure remote than before. Todd laughed. He laughed his evil genius laugh. The laugh that trumps all other laughs with its mightiness and power. Such laughs were carried by the winds, stopping at the windows of our other three protagonists. Todd was back, and the world wouldn't be the same again.