Well, it's the first chapter of the sequel to 'Pepper Piper: Weasel Sleuth' and I am proud of it! I have to admit it, I never thought I would make a sequel to the last story, but I got seriously inspired. By the way, sorry if the first chapter is so short, but I guess it'll be enough to set the tone for the story.

Anyway, I don't own WFRR or its characters. I only own my OCs. I hope you enjoy it!

"It was real nice of ya to bring us to this place to celebrate my performance, Pepper," Ziggy said, fixing the red tie on his formal tan suit.

Pepper, who was dressed in her light violet dress, smiled and put a paw over his hoof, "Aw, Ziggy! It was nothing! You were great tonight and we wanted to do this for ya."

She had arranged to have a big dinner as a celebration after his debut as Romeo and had invited friends along for the performance and the dinner. This group of friends included Roger, Jessica, Alicia, Eddie, and Dolores.

A restaurant was built in New Toontown that was suitable for both human and toon alike. It went by the name of Reality Bites, though it was much harder to get into than the name implied. Still, with having two toon celebrities (Jessica and Roger Rabbit, that is) and two of Toontown's saviors (Pepper and Eddie, of course), it was fairly easy.

"Yeah. It's finally nice ta get a steak that doesn't attract the lions," Eddie joked, cutting into his meal.

"Hehe. And ta think, none of us would be sittin' here three months ago," Pepper thought aloud. "Now, we're sittin' around here, close as can be."

That's right. It had only been three months since the incident with Judge Doom and the near Dipping of Toontown. Now, there was peace among the humans and toons, not to mention fair justice for all toons.

"You know what I can't believe? I can't believe that we're all don't have bags under our eyes!" Roger said, pulling his eyelids up high. "After the Acme incident, I had them for weeks with all the nightmares I had!"

"I don't know about that, since I wasn't there for it, but being threatened by those Toon Patrol weasels nearly sent me into a panic attack," Alicia trembled at the very memory.

"Well, let's forget about that," Pepper said, trying to change the subject as far away from the Toon Patrol as possible. She still felt so heartbroken after what happened with Smart Ass. "Let's talk about something else."

"Erm, excuse me, Ms. Piper?" A vulture waiter tapped the light gray she-weasel on the shoulder. "There's someone outside who wishes to speak with you."

"Okay, thank you," Pepper nodded and turned to the rest of the group, "Will you all excuse me for just a moment?"

With that, Pepper made her way to the doors of the restaurant and peered around for the certain someone that wanted to speak to her. At first, she couldn't see any toon that looked interested in speaking to her. That was, of course, until she heard a most familiar voice call to her.

"Well, as I live and breathe. My dear little violet, it really is you!"

Pepper turned with a startled gasp before letting a large smile cross her face.

"Uncle Peter!"

She rushed into the black and white weasel's arms, hugging him tightly around his waist. He chuckled, patting her back and saying in his comforting, Louisianan drawl,

"Pepper Petra Piper, you've simply blossomed since ya left. How've ya been?"

Pulling away, Pepper smiled fondly at her godfather and uncle, "It's been rough these past few months. I'll tell ya about it later. What brings you here to New Toontown?"

Peter suddenly let go of her, his face going from warm to dead serious. He said to her, "I've come lookin' for ya, Pepper. It's Dr. Loxus. He's broken outta the Olde Toontown Asylum."

A look of horror had etched itself across the she-weasel's face. Her ears perked down and she involuntarily hugged herself, grasping her forearms as if a gold chill just ran up her spine. But at the name of Dr. Loxus, there might as well have been.

"Wh-what?" she whispered out. "How? I thought they had him put in their most secure cell!"

"We thought so, too," Peter shook his head, pulling at his vest as he continued, "But you know that old fox. He's one clever son of a vixen. Anyway, I've come lookin' for ya because we need your help. There's nobody more qualified and skilled to handle the catch'im than you are."

Pepper looked down at the sidewalk, thinking for a moment. After a moment, she lifted her head, "Okay. I'll do it."

Pepper had cleared her leaving with the rest of her party, who wished her luck on her newest case as she left. Now, she was with her uncle in his car on their way back to Olde Toontown. Back to the place of her birth and raising.

She had to admit it, she was so nervous about going back. She wondered how much it's changed, if it did at all. She was nervous about confronting the friends and others she had left behind without any notice nearly eight years earlier. Frankly, she never thought she would ever return. Especially in the case of Dr. Loxus' escape.

A bit of background is in need of explaining by now, no doubt. Dr. Foxus Loxus, formerly known as Foxy Loxy, was a researcher in the field of cloning. The project was meant to create stunt doubles for toons since, even though they're toons, they could only take so much damage when performing for television and movies and what not.

Anyway, nobody knew how or why, but Dr. Loxus snapped. He used his research to try to create the perfect doppelganger. The perfect evil doppelganger, that is. He went into hiding not too long after he was fired for his misuse of research and technology. What was worse was that not too long after that, toons started disappearing. Some of them were even being killed due to the failure of his cloning experiments.

Dr. Loxus was also the most dastardly criminals that Pepper and Smart Ass had put away when they still worked together. What Peter had said wasn't an exaggeration, either. Dr. Loxus was as strong and fast as he was clever. And being a fox, that was saying something. It was Wild and Witty Weasel's greatest triumph, especially since they caught him at the ages of twenty two and twenty three did in two weeks that the rest of the police force couldn't do for ten years. In fact, it's what put them down in Olde Toontown history.

"Uncle Peter?" Pepper asked, turning to her godfather. "Are ya sure I can do this by myself? I mean, Dr. Loxus is a clever toon. Even I had a hard time doin' it the first time-"

Peter interrupted with a chuckle, "Not to worry, my dear little violet. I have complete faith in you. Besides, you won't be alone."

"I won't? But, I thought-"

"Don't ya worry now. You won't be workin' alone. We've got a crack team ta work with you. It's a surprise," Peter explained.

Well, Pepper couldn't say that her home had changed much. It was still the black and white version of New Toontown, but it had its own personality that just made it home for Pepper.

"Well, we're here," Peter said, stopping in front of the very familiar police station.

Taking in a deep breath, Pepper opened her door, stepping outside and taking in the Olde Toontown air. It was just as clean and clear as she remembered it to be. Peter came beside her and set a comforting hand on her shoulder.

The double glass doors at the entrance opened up, making Pepper smile a bit. Chief Smart Mouth had not aged a day since she left and she couldn't help but notice how much he and Smart Ass looked alike. She would tell her deceased fiancé all the time how every day he would look more and more like his father.

"Pepper," he smiled, opening his arms, "C'mere, ya little kit!"

"I ain't a kit anymore, Chief!" Pepper laughed, but hugged him anyway. "I'm a fully grown weasel, thank you very much."

"My mistake," Smart Mouth chuckled, pulling away and looking her over. "You've certainly changed since ya left, Pepper."

"Thank you, Chief," Pepper blushed a bit. "So, about Dr. Loxus-"

"There'll be time for that later, Pepper," Smart Mouth became dead serious as well, much like Peter had when she had brought him up. She couldn't blame them, though. He was one of the biggest threats in all of Olde Toontown and was never talked about lightly among the citizens.

"Fer right now, I want ya ta meet someone," the weasel chief took her by the paw and lead her into the police station, Peter following closely behind. The three walked to the near back of the station, where they stopped right at the door of Smart Mouth's office.

Smart Mouth and Peter looked at Pepper, then shared a glance at each other before nodding. The chief weasel opened his door and nudged Pepper inside. At first, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, but she stopped dead in her tracks. Her lavender eyes were locked onto one of the chairs in the office. On a pair of golden eyes.

"Geez, Pepper! I know ya love me, but did ya really have ta dress up fer me?"

The light gray she-weasel swallowed the large lump in her throat as she whispered out,

"Smarty? Is…is that really you?"

Smart Ass, who was leaning back in a chair, smoking on a cigar, smirked as he waved a paw to himself, "In the fur and flesh, doll."