Directed by: Lane Lueras
Written by: Doug Langdale
It is night in San Lorenzo and thieves are trying to break into the vault, but are stopped by the combined efforts of the orphans. Puss couldn't be prouder of how quickly they are learning from him. The following day he decides to reward them by baking them turrón, an almond candy that he loved growing up, but first he needs sugar, Puss goes to the bar to borrow some from Pajuna, but she is not there so he simply helps himself to a jar of Sugar he finds on the shelf.
Puss' turrón turns out well and is enjoyed by all the orphans, although Senora Zapata is upset that sugary treats will make the children hyperactive, Puss assures her that a little sugar never hurt anyone, and then the orphans immediately start running wild. A little too wild. Dulcinea thinks there is something wrong with the sugar, so they take it to Pajuna, who is horrified to discover that he has feed the orphans her Special Unfiltered Ground Arima Root, an energy herb so potent that one is only supposed to take a single grain once a year. The amount Puss has fed to the children is such a high overdose that they will become more and more energetic until they explode!
Puss demands to know if there is a cure, and there is; the sands of the Hourglass of Eurythion can cure the chidlren, but it is guarded by the Sphinx far away from San Lorenzo, through the Desert of Pain, the Forest of Mystery, and the Kingdom of Darkness. The journey will be dangerous, but as the children become more energetic and more chaotic, staying in San Lorenzo would be just as dangerous. Puss and Babieca set out, leaving Dulcinea to try and keep the children under control.
Puss eventually reaches the Sphinx, who despite seeming less than interested in her job of guarding the hourglass, still insists on defending it and won't give it to Puss unless he answers a riddle. She will give him five attempts and if he fails all of those, she'll eat him. Puss accepts these terms, eager to show just how good he is at riddles.
Puss: ....Yellow!
The Sphinx is completely stunned to hear the wrongest answer to the riddle that she's ever gotten and promptly banishes him (and Babieca) back to San Lorenzo, where the orphans have become so energetic they have started vibrating. Puss refuses to give up and quickly makes the journey back to the Sphinx for his second riddle. And again for his third. And his fourth.
By this point the orphans are in the last stages of their Arima Root poisoning, they are beginning to slow down and glow. Puss makes one last trip to the Sphinx as fast as he can... and gets that riddle wrong too. Puss decides to simply try fighting the Sphinx instead, but finds himself overpowered. At the last second he uses his big eye trick to convince her not to eat him. Although she still won't give up the hourglass, so Puss makes a deal with her. If she can tell a riddle so easy that even he can answer it, he'll go home. She agrees to this, but Puss's complete inability to answer a riddle frustrates her so much she lets him have the hourglass.
A defeated Sphinx laments on how her job never felt worthwhile or fulfilling to begin with and wishes she had a job where she gets to help people. Puss points out she can do something to help some people right now, and she helps Puss deliver the sand to the orphans just in time. The Sphinx, excited to be somewhere new for a change, enjoys San Lorenzo so much that Puss offers her a job guarding the entrance to San Lorenzo which she happily accepts.
Tropes:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Puss is so bad at riddles that the Sphinx eventually just gives up and lets him have the hourglass.
- Creepy Child: Esme invokes this to distract a thief, standing still and staring at him with her eyes rolled in the back of her head.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: The Sphinx has been guarding the Hourglass of Eurythion for so long, she doesn't even know why she does it or what purpose it serves. While her angst about this isn't so strong that she'll simply give the hourglass away, it does eventually lead to Puss offering her a more fulfilling job as town defender.
- Deus ex 'Scuse Me: Pajuna is conveniently not in her bar to stop Puss from borrowing her Arima Root.
- Didn't Think This Through: Puss tries to just distract the Sphinx and run off with the hourglass, but it is too big and too heavy for him to carry.
- Epic Fail: Puss is so bad at riddles that he still needed a hint after the Sphinx told him the answer.
- Everybody Knew Already: Pajuna thinks everyone knew that SUGAR was an Acronym, after Puss tells her nobody knew that she is a bit surprised.
- Fun with Acronyms: Puss accidentally puts lethal amounts of Special Unfiltered Ground Arima Root in his turrón because it was in a jar labeled "SUGAR".
- Furry Confusion: The Sphinx points out that it'll be weird if she has to eat Puss, because they're both cats.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Dulcinea insists on staying by the Orphans' side until the end, regardless of the fact that they will die in an explosion powerful enough to kill her as well.
- Lethal Chef: Dulcinea notes that Puss caused a fire trying to make toast. Poison aside, his turrón turns out quite well.
- Mythology Gag: Puss's trick (convincing the Sphinx to invent an easy riddle as a test) is very similar to the way he killed the ogre in his fairy tale. This time it doesn't work entirely as intended, though.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Puss accidentally puts the children's lives in danger.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: When Puss fails his five riddles, he uses these to successfully convince the Sphinx not to eat him.
- Riddling Sphinx
- Running Gag: Puss getting hurt after each warp back to San Lorenzo. When he catches on to avoid getting hit by Babieca being warped in behind him, he starts getting tackled by the hyperactive orphans instead. The only time he doesn't get hurt is because the situation is becoming dire.
- Travelling at the Speed of Plot: Every time Puss gets a riddle wrong the Sphinx sends him back to San Lorenzo. As the orphans continue to get worse and worse, what was once an extremely long trip back to the Sphinx becomes shorter and shorter.
- Valley Girl: Sphinx.
- Vocal Dissonance: The Sphinx has a loud echoing voice one might expect of a legendary beast, but then her normal speaking voice is more of a valley girl accent.
