True Colors

True Colors

By Kitty NakajimaX

Chapter 1

There was a light shower of rain that morning as Susan awoke from her troubled slumber. 'No mission assigned for today I hope,' she mumbled as she tried to go back to sleep. Her attempt soon proved useless as the intercom began to beep loudly.

'Hallo, Susan!', said the Colonel in an uncharacteristically chipper mood. 'I've some good news for both you & Bullet. The both of you will be going undercover to protect the Queen Regina's betrothed as he journeys to rendezvous with her a few days before their wedding.'

'What's so unusual about that?', inquired Susan. 'Protecting him is nothing out of the usual.'

'But it is.', replied the Colonel. 'The both of you will be watching him while he is on a private cruise ship with all his friends & family that will be attending the wedding.'

'Is this your idea of giving us work while on vacation?', scoffed Susan. 'It's a pretty lame one at that if it is. Besides, I don't think Bullet will like the idea of going on a cruise. He can't swim very well & told me he gets sea sick when ever the words 'Ocean Blue' are mentioned.'

'Don't come to my defense, love,' started Bullet, who had just walked in to give her a cup of morning tea. 'A cruise is a lovely idea, sir. But there is one thing bothering me about all this: Will you take this away as vacation time?'

'Of course not', he laughed. 'You both are on assignment, so just think of it as a gift from me.'

'But…', started Susan. Her question was silenced as the intercom shut itself off. 'Drat!', she grumbled. 'I was trying to tell him that I wasn't interested.

'What so wrong with having a little fun while on assignment?', inquired Bullet. 'There's nothing wrong with having a laugh or joke now & then.'

'I enjoy a joke as well as the next mouse, but there's a time & place for everything', she retorted angrily. 'There's no fooling around in our line of business. One mistake could screw you for life…or death.'

'Well, here's your tea. All this talking has made it stone cold', he replied as he handed her the cold cup. 'It's too late to decline, so just bare with it.'

'Besides', he continued, 'I wanted to use this as an opportunity to spend some time with you without worrying whether our ears were going to be boxed. I'm going to start packing. I'd advise that you do the same.'

Susan began to frown as he stormed out angrily to his own room. 'Maybe I'm not giving this a chance,' she sighed while trying to mentally warm up her cup. 'But the idea of having to baby sit a rich & sneaky little weasel is highly unappealing to me.'

Chapter 2

'Business has been rough & dull for awhile', started Lady Crimson as she walked through her patio. 'No gems to steal, no men to flirt with…no DM messing up my plans for domination…how incredibly dull.'

'I need some excitement, action, drama in my life! But where should I start?' she questioned as she blazed through the morning newspaper. 'Hmm…this looks promising…Lord Reginald on bachelor cruise preceding his wedding to Queen Regina. Excitement at last!'

Rushing to get ready, the female fox placed a sly grin on her face while thinking of how much she could steal. 'Why didn't I think of it before? It's the perfect plan to get some fast money…& love… All that money & jewelry…those men on board…the perfect excuse to place a little vacation into work! Pure Genius!'

Meanwhile, at a hotel on a seaside resort, Reginald was preparing for departure on his privately rented cruise liner. Hasn't anyone gotten my cup of tea ready?", He hollered. " I have a sore throat & I want to get rid of it before the wedding!"

"Sorry, sir', started one of the dumbwaiters. "I've just been awfully busy getting the boat ready that..."

'That what?', scoffed the tan mouse. 'Just another excuse to waste time. Get out of my sight!'

The frightened mole closed the door to Reginald's chamber behind him as he left in a panic. "It's so hard to get good help these days," he sighed while readjusting his bowtie. "My plan will never amount to anything with these morons forgetting their places. At this rate I'll miss the checkpoint."

Chapter 3

It had been two whole days since both mice had let a word elapse between them. But they were in more pleasant surroundings now, & both hoped that the fresh sea breeze & warm summer air would do them a world of good.

'I'm really sorry about yelling at you…', started Susan. 'I didn't mean to upset you, but I really don't like where this is going.'

'You don't want to go to a wedding?', chuckled Bullet. 'It's hardly like you to pass on an assignment, including one like this.'

'Now I remember. That wreck we're supposed to look after is a cousin of yours, right? You of all mice should know how I hate hating the rich type. They're snotty & rude, & when you're the one in trouble, they just walk away as if nothing happened. I rather not hand out my assistance to Reginald or anybody else in his family.'

'Not all mice are like that love. I, for one, started out as one of them, & turned out just right.'

'You only came out right because I whipped you into shape. Other than that, you would have become nothing more than a whimpering little wreck of a brat.'

'Ok. You've made your point. But why not loosen up & have a little fun? I've never seen you crack a smile, with the exception of laughing at me.''

Susan gently smiled after that. 'Ok then. I'll give your idea of fun a try. But just this once though, I don't want people to think that you're in charge here.'

Meanwhile, on some other part of the boat, Crimson was trying to figure out what prepared plan she should use. "Hmm…Plan A, B, F? What to choose…take the money, take the jewels, take the prince…What if I just did all three?'

'Brilliant!! Pure Genius!', she exclaimed while sketching the plan out. 'I'll just gather the goodies on the final night of the cruise…but the prince I need to get started on now…but that can wait another hour or two. I deserve a smoothie!'

As she walked out, her keen eyes couldn't help but notice two mice out on the deck. 'It couldn't be…but just in case…' She quickly covered her face with one of her expensive cloaks. As she passed, Susan looked up.

'What's wrong? I told you to give peace a try!', started Bullet.

'No, love, it's not that', replied Susan. 'There's someone here. Someone up to no good.'

'I hope you don't mean Reginald.'

'Besides him. Someone else.'

Chapter 4

It was the fifth & last night that the cruise would spend on the ocean. To celebrate, Reginald requested that a bachelor party be thrown in his honor to proudly display all his life achievements as a single mouse, & what he hoped to accomplish as a married one.

'Are you going?', inquired Bullet. 'You've been awfully quiet today; not one insult has come out of your mouth.'

'Very funny. I have the strangest feeling that we're not alone.'

'You're absolutely correct!', said a loud voice.

'Show yourself this instant before I…', started Susan.

'There's no need for hostile threats, Susan', replied Reginald, who had finally decided to come out of his hiding space.

'You still have no life of your own since your eavesdropping on mine!', shouted Susan. 'I have a bloody good mind to throw you against the wall for my amusement!'

'Now, now…I apologize for any inconvenience that my eavesdropping has caused. I just wanted to check up on my favorite cousin…'

'I'm your only cousin, Reg', replied Bullet. 'Susan has a right to be upset. Why eavesdrop when you could just ask to be let in? You are the celebrated guest on this cruise, are you not?'

'Still shows no respect even after being kicked out of training..', murmured Susan. 'I wonder what Regina even sees in a mouse like you.'

'She sees class, style, money…someone to amuse her foolish whims..', he replied. 'I suppose that you haven't seen anyone suspicious on board lately?'

'Nothing to be heard. Everything has been as quiet as the day we arrived.'

'I expect to see you at the party tonight. It wouldn't be much of a bachelor party if I didn't have my friends there.'

'What friends? I see no one here', scoffed Susan.

'That hurt, DM', replied Reginald. 'You could at least try to be nice to me this once.'

'I just did', she said triumphantly.

She smiled as he stormed out of their chambers. 'See that, Bullet? That's what sets the two of you apart. You had enough sense to stay the whole two years of training rather than run out in the first two months!'

'You shouldn't have been so rude though.'

'I think I'll go to that party after all, love', she said. 'I'm going to keep a sharper eye on him. He's up to something.'

On the other side of the boat, Reginald had finally reached his chambers. As soon as he had closed both doors & made sure that no one saw him come in, he picked up the phone to make a call.  'Hallo, Captain? Could you ask the person in room 2D to come to my chambers immediately? I have some business to discuss with them.'

It took only a few minutes before a slender red vixen appeared at the door. 'Who are you?,' inquired the shocked mouse. 'You're not who I sent for!'

'Nonsense!', replied the vixen. 'Or is this what you wanted?'  With that she threw down the body of a tall black rat directly at his feet.

'AGH!! What have you done to my partner? Now I have no one to aid me in my ransom plan!'

'Humph! For someone who's supposed to be sophisticated, you fall very short of the title. You hired yourself a third rate handyman. I made easy work of him.'

'What did you do to him?,' asked Reginald, who was now trembling uncontrollably.

'Nothing in particular', replied the fox. 'A little poison here, a jab to the neck there, just simple.'

'I must give you some credit', started the mouse, whose trembling had now ceased. 'What is it that you want?'

'A say in your plan. If you're going to ransom your soon to be wife, why not ransom yourself as well? I could help you with that.'

'Hmm…your idea sounds intriguing. Will you explain it a bit more over dinner?'

'Let me think about it…yes! Just let me finish what I'm doing right now'. She lifted the body out towards the window, released it & watched as it slowly sank to the bottom of the deep blue sea.

'Why did you do that?', he asked.

'I just gave him an honorable burial at sea. And between you & me, he never existed..'

'The plot thickens', chuckled the mouse. 'Both DM & Bullet don't seem to suspect anything. I'm a bit disappointed though. DM usually would have sniffed me out in a second.'

'DM is here?', inquired the now scared vixen. 'She'll ruin everything!'

'There's nothing to worry about. She has no idea of what I've have planned for her.'

Chapter 5

Bullet had finally finished fixing his bowtie into the perfect knot. He looked around for any signs of DM's presence before proceeding to the dresser in the farther corner of the room.

'Won't see be surprised when she gets this!', he thought as he took out a tiny glass box from one of the drawers. He opened it to admire the diamond ring inside. 'It's a good time like any to pop the question.' Gently placing it in his side pocket, he asked, 'Susan, are you ready?'

'Finished!', she replied. 'Now don't laugh at me, Bullet, or I'll pour water on your suit this instant!'

She stepped out of her chamber to reveal that she had on a lovely, shimmering blue evening dress. Bullet stared at her for a moment, surprised at the transformation of the tomboyish mouse.

'Ok, you've seen me. Now stop staring & let us be on our way', she said while walking to open the door.  But before she could open it, Reginald pushed it aside & stepped in.

'What a lovely couple the two of you make!' he started cheerily. 'It's not often that I see Susan dressed up for me!'

'For you correction, I'm dressed up because I feel like it.', replied Susan. 'Not for yourself. What do you want from us?'

'Nothing, love. Don't get offended. I just wanted to sit the both of you next to me & my guest.'

'And just exactly who would that be?', inquired Bullet. 'Regina isn't on this cruise.'

'Not her, but an old friend I ran into before the ship departed. I haven't seen her in awhile, so I invited her at the last minute to join me. You can come in now.'

'Salutations', started the sly fox as she stepped in. 'It's a pleasure to meet you all. Is this the famous DM that you've told me so much about?'

'Flattery will get you nowhere. As for your invitation, Reginald, I'll have to decline. I have to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.'

'But what better place than to sit next to me? It'll allow you more time to react.'

'Thanks, but no thanks. We'll see you later. I still have to finish getting ready.'

'But..', started Bullet. He remained speechless after uttering 'but'; Susan had telepathically shut his mouth.

'We'll talk later. Bye!' She pushed both outside the chamber & firmly closed the door.

'Why did you do that for?,' asked Bullet while choking for breath. 'Any tighter & you would have suffocated me!'

'Sorry', she cried while catching him in mid-fall. 'But something's wrong when you willing bring Lady Crimson along. You're just asking for trouble.'

'That was Lady Crimson?', asked Bullet. 'I didn't recognize her.'

'To you, all vixen look the same. You wouldn't have known if she said it herself.'

'So what do we do now?', inquired Bullet.

'We sit back & watch. I think I know what's going on. Reginald made one trip too many by coming here. I've picked up his brain waves.'

Chapter 6

Everyone had finished eating their dinner when the lights dimmed to project the slide show that had thoughtfully been put together by Reginald's staff.

'And now, for all your amusement & entertainment, we present to you, the life of Reginald Astcroft.', blasted a loudspeaker.

'Torture & confidment is more like it,' murmured Susan. Bullet nudged at her arm for attention. 'What's the matter?', she inquired curiously. 'I haven't done anything wrong, have I?'

'It's not that love', started Bullet. A lone drop of sweat rolled down the side of his face. 'I just wanted to ask you something. But I need your full attention first.'

'Ask away. You have my undivided attention. Whatever you have to say is 10 times better than this.'

'Susan, I…', he stumbled to find the right words for the moment. But he was interrupted by a loud bang.

'What's going on?', Reginald asked a crew member. 'Are we under attack?'

'There's a bomb on the ship!', he replied. 'We need to act fast in order to save the ship!'

'How could this be?', he thought. 'I had the ship inspected twice!'

'You should have checked a third time', started Crimson, who had gotten up from the table. 'This is just a diversion for us to escape & leave DM & the others to their watery death! Let's go!'

Both ran out in the direction of the motorized lifeboats. While choosing the fastest one for their escape, they were removing the motors to the other boats.

'There!', cried Reginald as he finished the last boat off. 'Now no one but us will be able to escape!'

'Get in!', screamed the fox, now wet with sea foam. 'We don't have much time left. Hurry!'

He jumped in just as the first few people had reached the dock, only to find that they were too late. He didn't look back until their boat was at a considerably safe distance; only to watch as the last of his cruise liner sank into the deep blue sea.

'A million dollar loss', scoffed the mouse. 'But it's well made up for with the inheritance that'll I'll get for all my dead relatives!'

'He's one wicked mouse', thought the fox. 'I never could have brought myself to kill that many. Besides, I wanted to have the pleasure of killing DM for myself. But since she's gone, no harm done.'

'Full speed ahead for Winston Palace!' ,shouted Reginald triumphantly. 'Everything's in place!'

Chapter 7

It was early morning when the pair had arrived at Winston Palace. Both had discussed the plan carefully, & agreed to split the profits 50/50.

When both saw that they had arrived unexpectedly early, they thought it a better time than any to place the plan into effect. No one would suspect anything until it was too late.

'I'm going to go up to get her', said Reginald. 'You just stay here & watch out for anyone, though I doubt that'd be necessary.'

'Ok then', answered the fox. As soon as he left, she started stuffing her pockets with jewels & trinkets that were laid out over a dresser. 'Here's a little compensation just in case the plan doesn't work out.'

Reginald gingerly stepped into the main palace chamber to find Regina sleeping soundly on a couch. He tiptoed over to look at her warm smiling face. 'Poor little fool. I could never love you. Just wanted to make myself rich, that's all. Don't take it too hard.'

He was about to pick her up when she unexpectedly woke up. 'Reginald, what are you doing here so early? It's bad luck for us to see each other before the wedding.'

'Go back to sleep, love. I just wanted to look upon you before the big event. Just close your eyes, & I will gently rock you back into slumber.'

'Then, rock this!', she shouted while jumping to her feet. 'So much for your little plan, Reggie!'

Regina slowly changed in shape & size, becoming taller & darker, until finally forming into a dark, slender female mouse. 'Surprise…you thought you had me, didn't you? Lazy as usual. You forgot to check.'

'I made sure no one could get off!', shouted the angry mouse. 'How can you still be alive?'

'First of all', started DM, 'you forgot that I'm a telepsychic, so I could teleport from anywhere. And just in case you're worried about your relatives, they're all safe back at your little resort.'

'If that was you, then where's Regina? I'm worried sick', said the lying mouse.

'Save your excuse for someone else', said a voice from the closet. 'I can't believe that you would do that to me!'

The closet door opened to reveal the true Regina, who had overheard everything & had tears beginning in her eyes. 'How could you? Why..'

'Save it for someone who cares, Regina. I only wanted your money. Nothing personal, love. Just another day's work.'

'I figured you were trouble, but not this much', started Susan after her long silence. 'I'm going to end this right now!'

'That won't be necessary. I'll just show myself out', he replied as he ran to the door. But he was stopped in his tracks by Bullet, who had the now unconscious Lady Crimson under his arm.

'Sorry Reg, but you're not going anywhere', started Bullet. 'What ever happened to your wedding?'

'I need to leave for business reasons, it's been cancelled. Bye! Good night! Nice seeing you again!'

As he ran to the window, Susan slid & tripped him as he jumped out, only to lose his balance & crash directly into the ground.

'I doubt that he survived that', said Bullet while he looked out the window. 'Regina, I think you should get someone to clean that mess up as soon as possible.'

'Let's just go home Bullet. I've had enough of this assigned vacation.'

Chapter 8

It had been two days since DM & Bullet had stopped Reginald from ransoming Queen Regina. Susan was happy to hear that Lady Crimson was now behind bars, serving time for what she had stolen.

The two mice were once again safe in their flat apartment, both sitting in front of the television playing Playstation.

'Ha! I can dance better than you!', screamed Susan. 'Who's the champion? I'm Kitty N!!'

'Susan, you still didn't let me finish my question.', started Bullet, frowning. 'It's very important that you listen.'

'The last time we we're saving people from drowning. This time, you have my attention.'

'I…', He was rendered speechless yet again. 'I don't know how to ask you this, it's as if I already know the answer like I've asked you before.'

'Just say it as it comes. Or else I'll have to read it for myself.'

'I want to spend my life with you.'

'I..' Now she was rendered speechless.

'Now take your time. I don't want a fast..'

'Yes.'

'What?'

'I said yes. You act as if I were a ghost.'

'Sorry, I'm just a bit shocked.'

'Well don't be. I sort of knew from the way you were hiding on the boat. You're terrible at hiding secrets from a telepsychic.'

'So what shall we do about it, DM? Will we get started right away?'

'I rather wait. After all, we did just get back from a vacation.'