Mina's Folly
By KittyNakajimaX
Prologue
5 years have elapsed since Susan and Bullet were married. Susan had made a bold choice & decided to keep her maiden name, which she hoped, she would be able to pass on to her children. Missions have come & gone, & an addition to the family, a little girl named Mina, came into existence. Bearing a resemblance to her grandmother, excluding the fact that she had inherited her great grandfather's white fur, her name suited her well. But at the current moment, the young mouse couple found themselves making preparations for another addition, much to the disliking of 4-year-old Mina McConnor.
Chapter 1
A week had passed since Susan went to the hospital. Everyone was busy preparing for the arrival of the latest addition to the family, (fixing the selected room, clothes, etc.) and were quite busy as to almost forgetting their main propriety & charge, which was to keep a watchful eye on the mischievous little Mina.
'When is Mommie coming home?', inquired Mina, who had just come into the finished room, where both her great-grandparents were putting the finishing touches the crib & rocking chair.
'That's should do it', sighed DM, who had been fussing over the exact location of the chair.
'Your mommy should be home in a little while', replied Ruby, who was wiping blue paint off her white fur. 'You'll have a baby brother to play with in a bit.'
'A baby?', gasped the little mouse. 'I thought I was the baby.'
'But you are', started the elder mouse. 'We just have another in our family.'
Just then, the sound of the front door could be heard opening. In stepped Bullet & Susan, who seemed to be holding a bundle of blankets in her arms. 'Mommy's home!', yelled Mina. 'Now we can play!'
She was interrupted by a harsh hush from her father. 'Mina, love', he started sleepily, 'your mother & brother have been through a bit in the past few days. You shouldn't be so loud; you might..' He was interrupted by a loud cry; she had succeeded in waking him up.
'Just perfect', he groaned. 'He's been cranky ever since we stepped out of the hospital. Susan had finally gotten him to settle down & now this!'
Susan, who was very tired from the whole experience, was now trying to subside the crying. A few moments later, it stopped & a loud burp was heard throughout the room. 'Mina, sweetie', she started, ' until your brother becomes familiar with the flat, we need you to try & be quieter.'
'Ok, mommie', she sighed. All three mice turned to look at the newly furnished room. 'There's my sweeties!', exclaimed Ruby, who had run towards the trio. 'Aww…he's just the smashing image of his great grandfather!'
'He'll take after me', started the white mouse, who was beaming with pride. 'What's his name? We'd never got a chance to ask.'
'Hmm', began the gray mouse. 'I sort of figured that Bullet would choke on the phone after the delivery. To be frank, his name is Sebastian.'
'A splendid name indeed! Sebastian McConnor!'
Ruby then suddenly noticed how tired Susan was, & how much difficulty she was having in standing up. 'Su, love', she started worryingly, 'I think it'd be best if you went to rest off a bit for a while. We'll take care of both. Go and rest. You deserve it.'
'Thank you', she sighed. She started off towards her room when she stopped and turned to Mina, saying, 'As soon as I'm feeling better, we'll play. So cheer up.'
'Is mommie going to be okay?', inquired the now worried little mouse. 'She will be', replied the hound. 'Go off to your room & make something. It might cheer her up.'
Mina dashed off. As soon as she was out of sight, Bullet fell straight into the rocking chair. 'The doctor said that Susan got an infection during the delivery', he started. 'Adding that up with the long labor, it took most of her strength.'
'No wonder she was so tired', said Ruby. 'Will she be alright?'
'In a couple of days, yes', replied Bullet, who was now feeling a bit better. 'That is, if she's willing to take the antibiotics that were prescribed for her.'
'That's a relief', said DM. 'You were beginning to get me worried.'
Meanwhile, Mina was in her room drawing. She had drawn a picture of the family. 'Baby this and baby that', she thought while drawing a big mouse in diapers that took up most of the paper. 'I don't see what's the big deal about him. All he does is sleep & cry. He even got mommie very tired.' She drew a big X over a figure. 'Now, they won't have time for me.'
Chapter 2
Then next few days left everyone, except for Susan, in a jumpy state. One minute they might be trying to feed Sebastian, the next burping, or trying to get him to fall back to sleep.
'Grandma!', exclaimed Mina one morning. 'Lookie what I made for mommie!' She had made a lovely little card with the words 'Get Well Soon' in her childish handwriting. 'Umm.That's nice sweetie', replied Ruby, who was trying to open a container of baby formula. 'I'm rather busy right now. Be a good girl & go play.'
She ran over to her father, who was rocking Sebastian to sleep. 'Daddy!' she screamed. 'Lookie what I made..' 'Mina, please', he said, interrupting her. 'Your brother is finally getting to sleep again. Go off & play for awhile.'
Now more than discouraged, she thought it might be worth a try to cheer up her mom all by herself. She ran in to find both her mother & great grandfather in the room talking. 'Mommie, lookie what I…' She was again interrupted, this time by DM. 'Mina, could you try to be a bit more quiet?', he asked in an irritated tone. She looked over to her mother, whom seemed to be feeling better. 'Mina, I know that this is new to you.', the gray mouse started. 'But you'll have to get used to it. I know that you want me to play, & I will. I'll be up and about tomorrow. So until then, could you try & be a good girl and help out?'
Mina's green eyes suddenly brightened up. 'Yes, Mommie.' She ran over to kiss her on the cheek. 'That's a good girl', said Susan. Mina ran over to kiss her great grandfather. 'Stay out of mischief', he replied sternly as she ran out.
Now having been promised that her mom would play, Mina was determined to keep her promise. She ran in again to Sebastian's room, this time finding her dad trying to change diapers. 'Daddy, can I help?', she in her politest voice. Bullet, now relieved that Mina was now trying to behave, replied, 'Get me the bottle of baby powder on that counter & a clean diaper.' She immediately dashed over & got both the requested items. 'Can I pour the powder on him?', she asked.
'I dunno', replied Bullet. 'You might get some of it in his eyes. Just hand me the bottle and don't shake it.' 'No I won't', she protested. 'Lookie.' She grasped the bottle tightly & shook it with all her might. Powder went flying in every direction imaginable. 'Mina', growled Bullet, 'I told you not to shake the bottle. Now there's powder everywhere. Go to your room and think about what you've done.'
Tears began to well up in her eyes as she turned to leave, but she stopped short when she realized that Sebastian has gotten hold of some of her hair. 'Let go!', she yelled. He still hung onto her hair. She finally had enough & slapped him straight on his nose, causing him to shriek & cry loudly. 'Serves you right', she yelled at her brother. It was then her turn to scream when Bullet boxed both her ears, something he had never done to her before. 'I'm very disappointed in you, young lady', he said sadly. At that moment, Ruby, DM & Susan ran into the room to find out the source of the noise. 'What's going on?', they all asked simultaneously. Then they noticed the powder mess & both children crying.
'I'll tell you what's going on', started Bullet. 'Mina made a mess of baby powder & then attacked Sebastian when he was only trying to play with her.'
'That's not true!', shouted Mina. 'I was only trying to help & he started up by grabbing my hair, and..'
'That's enough out of you, young lady!', Bullet shouted back. 'You should know better than to hit your brother. He's a very young baby and…'
'Enough about him!', she screamed, tears coming down her cheeks. 'Ever since you brought him home, that's all any of you could think about. Baby, baby, BABY!' She then noticed the other faces that were looking at her with shocked faces, stunned at her sudden outburst. She then turned to her mother and said, 'I'm really sorry mommie, but…'
'Mina, I have to say that I am disappointed with your behavior', started Susan, interrupting her. 'I asked you to try & behave. I can understand the powder mess since accidents do happen, but hitting your brother is unacceptable. He's only been around for a few weeks & he can't take care of himself. He needs you to take care of him.'
'He's all you ever care about!', cried Mina. 'You only love him and not me!' She ran out in tears. 'And stay in your room until I say so!', yelled Bullet. Susan ran over towards Sebastian & quieted him down before saying, 'There was no need to yell after her like that.', she said scoldingly to Bullet. 'But it's not your fault. You've been kind enough to take care of Sebastian with next to no sleep. Go and rest now. I'm feeling a bit better, so I'll watch him now.' He was about to protest when she added, 'I don't want to hear another word about it.' Seeing she wouldn't say no, he went reluctantly to their room.
'Seems like Mina is a bit jealous', started Ruby. 'I'd have to agree with you on that, Grandma.', replied Susan, who had succeeded in rocking Sebastian into a sound slumber. 'But I think she deserves a time out. She needs to accept the fact that Sebastian is here to stay, whether she likes it or not.' She placed the baby in his crib. 'I think I'll exercise a bit after I get dressed', she said while walking out.
'She can't fool me', started Max, who had noticed that she was still trembling. 'She's still not well. She's being quite brave about the whole situation.'
Chapter 3Hours had passed since the powder incident. Everyone, excepted Mina, who was still mad, had had their supper & went off to bed, this being the first night of good sleep since Sebastian came home. Mina was the only person in the flat who was still awake.
'They don't care about me', she sniffed, trying to hide back her tears. 'I'll show them. I'll do something to make them ever regret having that baby. I'll run way with a stick & handkerchief like in the cartoons.' She then ran around her room looking for both items, gave up, & decided to substitute them with a backpack instead. 'I'll show them all', she murmured while stuffing her favorite stuffed animal in, stopping halfway when she realized she hadn't eaten since tea time. 'If I'm running away, I'll need some food.' She tiptoed to the kitchen & climbed the counter to look in the cabinets for something. 'Biscuits!', she whispered excitedly. 'She took the whole box & ran back to her room, stuffing them in her backpack along with the stuffed animal. 'And last but not least', she whispered triumphantly, 'My going away note.' It wasn't really a note since she couldn't write well yet, but a picture that she had drawn which she thought got the point across.
'Goodbye mommie', she whispered when passing her room. It was nearly midnight when she left.
It was around 4 in the morning when Susan woke up. 'I hope Mina's still not mad', she said sleepily. 'I need to wake her up to go to the bathroom.' She walked over to her room, & found that she wasn't there. 'Maybe she remembered by herself', she thought. As she turned to leave, something caught her eye. She automatically assumed what had happened & quickly got dressed. 'I better write a note explaining what happened for the others', she thought while opening a drawer. 'If Mina is wearing her necklace or backpack, I can track her with this. I hope it's not too late.'
It would be late morning when everybody else realized what had happened. Max and Ruby frowned when reading the note, which read:
To Everyone,
Mina apparently is still angry & has run off. I have gone after her. If you would like to help, take the spare tracking device & follow my signal, so that you might catch up to me.
'Bullet won't like this', sighed Max, who was very upset about it himself. 'He sure won't', agreed Ruby. 'Mina should know better. Now Susan's out looking for her when we all know she's still a bit weak.'
'Where's Susan?', inquired a slightly sleepy Bullet. The older animals showed him Susan's note. He dropped it & got dressed very quickly and was about to run out when he said, 'Stay here & watch after Sebastian. There's a chance that Mina might just be hiding around here, but I need to go after Susan. She's not at full strength.'
Chapter 4Mina had only wondered a mile or two before stopping to rest. 'Running away is sure hard work, right Pookie?', she had picked up the bear from her backpack. 'I think we deserve a little nap.' She hugged the little bear as she laid her head down on the bench. Just then, a familiar looking figure was passing by. 'Hmm…', thought the vixen, 'what's a young girl like that doing in a place like this at this time of night? It's dangerous. I better take her in.' She glided over towards the now sleeping figure & noticed the nametag on the backpack. 'Property of Mina McConnor…DM.. I think I've just run into DM's daughter! What a splendid turn of events!'
The stranger's voice woke Mina out of her sleep. 'Who are you?', she inquired. 'I'm a friend of the family', was the reply, 'come with me.' The figure took off the cloak that covered her face, to reveal that of a lovely red vixen. 'Wait a minute!', shouted Mina, who had finally realized who it was. 'You're that naughty lady that mommie keeps on sending to jail. Stay away from me!'
'You're coming with Auntie Crimson, whether you like it or not!', yelled the vixen. She grabbed the protesting mouse & ran to her car. 'You've just given you're auntie an idea', she thought as she drove off.
About ten minutes later, Susan arrived on the spot. 'This was where her signal was before it stopped', she said while gasping for breath. She bent down & found the teddy bear, which had been dropped during the struggle. 'I'm too late.', she shouted. She then noticed something wet on the teddy's fur. 'Blood', she thought. 'She's been hurt. I need to find her and fast!' She decided to use her nose to pick up the Mina's scent. As she ran off, a trail of blood lagged behind her. Little did she know that it had been her own blood.
Chapter 5
Bullet had decided to organize a search party, which he believed would help him cover as much ground as Susan would if she were at full strength. 'When you find either my daughter or Susan, report back through intercom & stay at the location until I arrive.', he instructed 5 more agents. 'Now let us all be on our way.'
Meanwhile, Mina was waking up to find herself in a room full of all sorts of interesting toys & games. 'I'm in my dream!', she yelled excitedly. 'No you're not.', replied a voice. 'This is for real. And it's all yours.' The vixen stepped out from behind one of the many playhouses.
'Mommie must have lied about you', started Mina. 'You're really nice. My name is Mina. What's yours?' She extended her hand out for a handshake.
'If you really must know', started the sly vixen, 'My name is Rita.' They shook hands. 'How about some breakfast. I would assume that you're very hungry.'
'I am', replied the little mouse, who remembered that she still hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. 'Do you have any chocolate chip biscuits?'
'That's not a healthy breakfast for a girl your age. I have something better.'
'What would that be?', inquired the mouse.
'Would you like chocolate chip pancakes or muffins? They're both really quite good, and healthy as well.'
'I want both!'
'Ok then, I'll have the chef make them right now.'
'You're the greatest auntie I've ever had!', yelled Mina, who ran to hug the red fox. 'You're the only one who's been nice to me ever since that annoying baby came to live with my family.'
'What baby?', inquired the now curious vixen. Mina then went on to explain how her little brother had been ruining her life since day one, how she had gotten her ears boxed when it was his fault, & how tired & sick her mother was.
'That's really quite a shame', started Lady Crimson, after hearing everything Mina had to say. 'Since the baby's around, they're going to forget all about you.'
'I guess you're right, auntie', sighed the mouse.
'Cheer up now', replied the vixen. 'You have all these nice toys and games to play with & from now on, I'm going to take care of you. So let's get you into some new clothes & we'll dash off to breakfast.'
'Ok, auntie!', cried the overjoyed mouse. 'Do you mind if I call you auntie?'
'It's fine by me. Now go off & change those clothes of yours.'
Mina ran off as she was told, leaving the vixen behind, who was now sitting on an enormous play block. 'Kids don't seem to be all that bad', she thought. 'Maybe I should consider having one of my own.'
Chapter 6Mina's scent had gone cold on Susan when it got to the street. 'Great', she sighed. 'The scent stops at this street. I need to go about this another way.' She then remembered that she could lock onto a person's energy & teleport. 'Why wasn't I thinking about doing this earlier?', she thought. 'It would have saved me time!'
She telepathically lifted herself up into a tree. 'I'll be able to get a good reading from here.' She concentrated as hard as she could before picking up Mina's energy. 'She's traveled in that direction, southwest. I'll be able to get to her now! And when I do, she'll be one sorry little mouse.'
Chapter 7Mina had grown bored of playing with all the toys in the playroom. 'I'm bored', she sighed while lying in one of the playhouses. 'I want somebody to play with.' She thought back to what her mother had said a while before she had left for the hospital & returned with that…thing.
'Now Mina', said Susan, holding her tight in her arms. 'You'll soon have someone to play with & keep you company whenever your father & I are away on business.'
'That sounds great mommie', she replied. 'Now I won't be bored anymore.'
'You certainly won't', laughed Susan. 'But it won't be fun & games at first. It's going to be a lot of work taking care of a baby. But it'll be worth it. As soon as it's old enough, the two of you can play, and they could learn from you. You'll be an older sister.'
'Me? Old', inquired the little mouse. 'I'm only 4. I'm just a bit away from 5. Now that's old.'
Susan laughed at that remark. 'Silly', she laughed while giving her a big hug.
'Maybe I shouldn't have been so mean to Sebastian', she thought. 'I guess he wanted to play. And I shouldn't have hit him like that, even though it wasn't that hard a smack.'
'I'm glad you're sorry for that', came a voice.
'Who's there?', inquired the mouse, who was now trying to hide.
'You should know better than to run out in the middle of the night just because you get a scolding from your father. I'm very disappointed in you Mina.' Susan walked out of her hiding spot. 'Now let's get you home. Everybody's probably wondering where we are.'
'I'm not going', yelled Mina. 'All you care about is that evil baby of yours. He's made you sick & weak.'
Susan was about to respond when a voice added, 'She's staying with me. I've given her everything she has wanted, unlike you. Mina, sweetie, come & be close towards your Auntie Crimson.'
Mina ran over to the vixen, who scooped her up in her arms and said, 'Now Mina, I think it's time you took a little nap. Your mommie and I have a few matters to discuss.' 'But I'm not..', she dozed off to sleep, having breathed in the chloroform that was behind the fox's back. 'Now that's she's out of the way', started the fox. She threw Mina into a glass cylinder & locked it. 'Move & your precious Mina will be inhaling a combination of deadly gases that I created myself', she threatened.
'To hell you won…', screamed Susan. She fell to the ground. 'I see that you're still weak', chuckled Crimson. 'I have an advantage. I usually don't fight, but…' She had ran over towards the fallen mouse & started a relentless beating. 'And this is for ruining my oil plan!', screamed the vixen. 'This one for killing Reginald…this one for…'
'STOP HURTING MY MOMMIE!!!'
The scream had started the vixen enough to get her to stop & turn around just in time to see that Mina was very much awake & glowing with a strange blue light.
'I THOUGHT YOU WERE NICE!', screamed the little mouse. 'BUT MOMMIE WAS RIGHT! GET AWAY FROM MY MOMMIE!
Before the vixen even had a chance of moving to safety, the blue glow around Mina had gotten stronger & brighter until it broke the glass cylinder, sending pieces flying at increased speeds in every direction, like bullets racing into a condemned prisoner. Lady Crimson was struck by many pieces & had fallen to the ground, now struggling to breathe.
'Ha, serves you right', whispered Susan. 'See how you like it.'
'Mommie!', yelled Mina. She ran to her mother's side. 'I'm sorry, mommie, I didn't want to cause you to get hurt…Mommie!!'
'It's alright, all in a day's wor…' She said no more. She had blacked out.
Chapter 8
Susan woke up to find her grandparents, Bullet, Sebastian & Mina all surrounding her. 'You gave us quite a scare there', said Max, who was now relieved that his granddaughter was now all right. 'You have some nerve going out like that', he scolded softly.
'I did what I had to in order to find Mina', she said softly. 'I didn't mean to get you worried.'
'I know, but you need to be more careful. You were really in some serious danger back there.'
'What can I say? Danger's my middle name, remember?'
Both mice chuckled. Just then, a tall & slender orange female cat walked in. 'Hallo Susan.', she exclaimed happily. 'I see that I got to you in time.'
'Razor was the first of the search party that got to you.', started Bullet. 'And she teleported the both of you here. You both got beaten up pretty bad.' Susan then realized that Mina had gotten a few stitches. 'Don't worry mommie', she said 'It doesn't hurt much anymore.'
'It's been awhile since I've seen you, Sara', replied Susan. 'I owe you my life.'
'Can I speak to you in private, Susan?', inquired the cat. Everyone exited the room except for Sebastian, since Susan hadn't gotten to hold him in a while.
'You don't owe me your life', began Sara. 'You should be thanking your daughter. She has a gift.'
'If you're talking about be a telepsychic', replied Susan. 'Then I guess you're right. I saw her beat Crimson so badly that she was gasping for air. What ever happened to her?'
'She's in intensive care', said Sara. 'Her lungs were punctured, & she's broken a few ribs. With power like that, Mina will need training. Training that she could get from me.'
'You want me to send my daughter away?', asked Susan, who was very shocked at being asked such a question. ' I know that she hasn't adjusted to having Sebastian around, but I don't know if sending her away, especially at her age is such a good idea.'
'Think about this, Susan', said Sara. 'Mina will have her space & peace while your taking care of this little sweetie.' She leaned over to tickle Sebastian. 'And I only want to try it, at least for a couple of months. I'm not asking to ship her off to military school until she's 18.'
'I guess it would do some good for her if she learned some self-discipline', sighed Susan. 'But I'll have to discuss this with Bullet & the others.'
'Alright then. I'll be on my way. I think I'll ask Mina to come back in, if that's alright with you.', replied the cat.
'It is', she replied. 'I've been meaning to talk to her for quite some time.'
A moment later, Mina bounced right in, alongside with Ruby. 'You wanted to see me, mommie?', she asked shyly. She was a bit ashamed to look straight into her face, after what had happened. 'What's he doing here?', she murmured.
'I know that you haven't taken a liking to your brother', started Susan. 'But that gives you no right to just run off just because things aren't going the way you want them to. Life can't always go the way you want it to. You'll have to accept the fact that Sebastian is here to stay whether you like it or not.'
'I know mommie but…', started Mina, who had begun to cry.
'Don't cry now, Mina', she continued. 'What's done is done. When you ran off like that, you but yourself in grave danger. You could have been kidnapped or hurt or even…' Susan stopped to recollect her breath. 'By doing that, you caused me to go out looking for you & I put myself in danger to save you.'
'Mina', started Ruby, 'Your father & grandfather have been discussing your matter with Ms. Sara & they both think it best that you go & train with her. It'll give you time to cool off from Sebastian & teach you to be disciplined, like your mother & I.'
'I always wanted to be like you and mommie', started Mina, who was wiping her eyes. 'But I didn't know how to. Maybe this'll help me.'
Chapter 9Weeks had passed. Susan was up & about, stronger than ever. Sebastian could crawl about, making it more important that he be watched carefully. The day had finally come for Mina to start her training with Sara.
'Now be a good girl for you Auntie Sara', reminded Susan, who was stuffing Mina's favorite toy into her backpack.
'I'll try to', she said solemnly.
'Time to leave, little one', said Sara.
Mina ran to hug her mother before leaving. 'I'm sorry I didn't give Sebastian a chance', she said sadly. 'But I'll try must best.'
'Good girl.'