Chapter 2: The Christmas Party

The Time Toon Cops, unaware of the new threat to Canerica and their own unusual predicament, were having a splendid Christmas of their own. President Bert Raccoon had invited them and their families to a big Christmas party at the White House. He was very pleased that his sons and their wives had chosen to adopt children. Now he had two grandsons-Percy Raccoon, the child of Bert Jr. and Nose Marie, and Harrison Raccoon, the child of Rocky and Bright Eyes.

The members of the TTC also had families of their own. There was Alexander Armington II, with his wife Fifi La Fume-Armington and his new son Randall. Randall was a cross between a squirrel and a skunk, with purple-and-brown fur and blue eyes. His brother Sky was also there, with his wife Dot and his daughter Diana. And there were other couples and their children: Alex III and Marina with Maureen (a fox cub with a squirrel-like tail), Razor and Tammy with Royce and Joyce (two little grey squirrels), and Ace and Lisa with Milhouse (a human/squirrel Mixer).

Charles and Bunnie Roberts were there, with their two children-their three-year-old son Eric and their infant daughter April. Bunnie said, "It was very nice of Bert to invite us to the White House for the party. He says it's going to be the best Christmas party in the world."

"True," replied Charles. "And Blaze and Lisa are over there serving eggnog."

Super Snooper and Selena had come to the party, too. With them were the four kittens, over a year old-Selma, Lorna, Daisy, and Sly. Snooper said to the kids, "Now, remember-when he gives each of you a present, what do you say to him?"

"Thank you, Uncle Bert," the kittens said in unison.

Sly complained, "Aw, come on! When do I get any toys? WHEN?"

"As soon as you can, Sly," said Selena sternly. "And if you keep it up, you won't get any."

At hearing that, Sly grumbled and pouted. He muttered, "Some Christmas..."

Matthew and Vanilla Roberts, with their daughter Cream, were there at the party. With them was their son Mark and their granddaughter Nancy. And there was Derrick and Brandy Armington-Harrington, with a human baby they had adopted from an orphanage in Tennessee. The boy's name was Derrick Armington-Harrington Jr. (after his dad, of course!).

And there were other people as well. Ralph Raccoon, one of Bert's closest friends and vice-president, was sitting with his wife Melissa. In her arms was their beautiful baby daughter, Carina. The one thing different about them is that they were wearing the clothes they had worn when they first appeared on "The Christmas Raccoons"-Ralph was wearing a red scarf instead of the usual white one, and Melissa was wearing a pink sweater with a matching snow cap. Ralph said, "How long has it been since we started wearing these old clothes? They bring back so many memories..."

"Yes, Ralph," said Melissa. "They looked a little yellowed when we found them in our attic, but they still fit us just the same. I wonder if our kids are enjoying the party as well."

Unfortunately, it looked like their children (except Carina) weren't in the mood for some yuletide spirit. Eight-year-old Dolly Raccoon yelled, "Mommy! Daddy! Morris bit my tail!"

Ralph groaned and got up to investigate. And there it was-sitting there, clamped onto Dolly's tail with his teeth, was three-year-old Morris Raccoon. Ralph said, "Morris, what are you doing?"

"I'm teething, Pop," murmured Morris through a mouthful of fur. Ralph released the tail from his grip and said, "You know very full well it's not nice to bite your sister's tail like that. And I thought you got off your teething stage a long time ago."

"I'm sorry," said Morris. "I couldn't stop."

"There's got to be a way to make you stop."

"But how? I can think of nothing but chewing on stuff."

Ralph groaned again. It was going to be a long day. Meanwhile, Fox and Krystal were sitting in the other side of the room. And sitting on the floor was their daughter Alice, now two years old, playing with blocks. President Raccoon's children were also there: five-year-old Charlie, three-year-old Arthur, and two-year-old Lucille. Charlie said to Bert, "Dad, do you really think there is such a thing as Santa Claus?"

"Why, yes, Charlie," replied Bert. "There is Santa Claus. But the only thing different about good old St. Nick is that he's also a robot."

Charlie looked at him, his eyes widened in wonder. He said, "Santa...is a robot?"

"You bet he is. He was built by scientists a long time ago, when the old Santa decided to retire. He thought his new replacement would give the whole world a cup of cheer, as the old holiday song goes. But then, a mysterious computing error caused Robot Santa to go from 'Jolly Mode' to 'Wicked Mode'. That way, he declared all his long-time international recipients...naughty. And so, he came to Earth every Christmas Eve, bringing wrath and destruction in place of presents. Nobody dared to go out on that fateful day, until I found a way to put a stop to the nonsense. How? By flicking the switch back to 'Good' and turning Robot Santa into the jolly old soul that he used to be when he was first constructed. And to make sure that it won't happen again, I placed an error-proof microchip inside his back. And ever since that time, everybody was happy that he was back to his normal self."

The thought at Robot Santa being evil made Charlie and his siblings whimper. Bert noticed this and said, "Hey, don't worry. Robot Santa's not going to kill you, and he's not going to fill your stockings with coal either. He thinks that of all the kids in this world, you're the good ones."

"Thanks, Dad," said Charlie, smiling. "I know he won't."

And finally, who else should show up to the party was Bentley Raccoon, the famous actor/Time Toon Cop. He even brought his family along-his wife Vanessa Raccoon, his children Clark and Maeve Raccoon, and his parents George and Nicole. Bentley said, "Hi, Bert. It's nice to see you again. Did you know my new movie is going to come out next week?"

"What is it?" asked Bert.

"It's called 'Agent R and the Case of the Thieving Elves'. It's a holiday special."

"Oh, good. We'll go see it when it starts."

The Time Toon Cops were not the only ones invited to the occasion. There was King Faolan, ruler of Planet Vulpes, and Rufus Dudley, the ex-officer of the International League of Futuristic Heroes (now the interpreter for the TTC). Soon, everybody gathered around for a holiday feast. Bert said, "I'm so glad all of you guys are here. And so are your wives and kids, too-what a king-sized family reunion this will be. And now, before we get to chowing down, here's Father El-Gamal to lead us into prayer."

Father El-Gamal, the priest of the First Amalgamated Church, nodded and said, "Let us say Grace, please..."

Everyone bowed their heads and closed their eyes. The whole dining room went completely quiet. Quiet as a mouse. Then...

"OW! My leg! You're gonna pay dearly for this, you..."

"Oh, buzz off! Why don't you go away and read some Playboy magazines?"

"I'm no Playboy, but I do know that you're going out with KITT again."

"And I'm still with him to this day! Can't you even see?"

"Well, all I see is that you're having another baby! I knew it! I knew it!"

The silent prayer was interrupted by a pair of quarreling voices outside. Snooper said, "What's going on?"

Rufus sighed and said, "It's PowerPaws and Cyrus again. It seems their relationship has been getting a whole lot worse than it was last year."

Bert got up and went to the front door. He opened it and let the two inside. PowerPaws was pregnant, only nine months along. A year earlier, she and Cyrus got back together and proceeded into a courtship that lasted nearly nine months. But then, they started arguing again, because of a rumor that PowerPaws was back dating KITT. And Cyrus wasn't even sure if the baby she was carrying was his!

Following behind them was her eldest daughter, Luna Dudley. She said, "I guess Mom isn't willing to get along with Cyrus very well. I thought they were going to be together for all eternity, until that nasty hearsay started."

"Who you think started the rumor, Luna?" asked Bert, as he led her to the dining room.

"Did you ever hear of that new gossip website, Grapevine? Somebody created it to spread rumors about every single person in Canerica. It could even create rumors about our teams, too, if we're not careful."

"Ooh, that's terrible. Maybe I should watch myself whenever I'm online."

"I hope Mom decides to return to Cyrus real soon. If she doesn't, this will be the worst Christmas I've ever had. The only Christmas present I've always wanted was a father."

"You already have a father, Luna, and that father is KITT."

"I wouldn't count on it. With Mom expecting a new kid, there's no telling whether it was Dad's or Cyrus'."

"We'll have to find out when it comes."

Bert went back to his seat and said, "Sorry for the delay, folks. Got a little problem with the couple here. Anyway..." He continued happily, "Let's all wish that this will be the greatest Christmas in the history of the United States of Canerica. With this in mind, I say, 'Merry Christmas' to all of you. And to the Vulpians who are here with us today, 'Falla Miha'-that's Reynardian for 'Merry Christmas', too. Cheers!"

They clanked their glass mugs together and shouted, "Cheers!"

Everybody cheered and started eating their fancy Christmas dinner. But no sooner than they've done this that Cedric Sneer, the Secretary of State, came rushing in. He shouted, "Bert! Stop the festivities! I have some really bad news!"

Bert, who was munching on a turkey leg, said, "Bad news? But Cedric, it's Christmas! We're taking a break right now."

"The break's over," said Cedric. "Because something terrible has happened. There's been a break-in at Hackel Laboratories, and something has been stolen from there."

"What was it?"

"It's Professor Hackel II's most prized possession-his project, Shadow Charles!"

Everyone gasped in horror. Mr. Jinks said, "Could it really be that bad?"

Cedric replied, "When the police checked out the crime scene, they found paw prints and human footprints all over the floor, leading up to the glass tube where Shadow Charles was held. It was not known who the burglars are, but the footprints were the only evidence they had left behind."

He showed them a picture of the crime scene at the lab. PowerPaws sensed something suspicious. She said, "Hand me that photo." Cedric gave the photo to her and she started scrutinizing every detail. Then, after taking one closer look, she said, "Hmmm...those footprints look very familiar. It appears that these set of footprints belong to somebody we know."

"And who could that be?" asked Bright Eyes. "We know it's not bad old Jackson Roberts. Or is it?"

"That's him, all right-Jackson has returned. And he's got six new friends with him, all of them dogs."

Bert said, "Six dogs? Who do you think they are?"

PowerPaws replied, "Belladonna, Carface Caruthers, Killer, Firedog, Itchy-"

"Me?" asked Itchy.

"No-the other 'Itchy'. And there's that new dog in the group...a Demon Dog."

James said, "How can you tell?"

"By the size of those paw tracks. With claws dug in the ground, of course."

"That's strange," said Bentley. "We beat Morgana last year, and now her sidekick comes back to exact his revenge? We thought he was dead for good."

"He's immortal," said PowerPaws. "Immortal villains like him would do anything to come back to battle the same enemies. That's means us."

Bert groaned. For the first time in his years as president of Canerica, Christmas was going to be ruined. He said, "Well, he's spoiled my party and our break. Now what are we going to do?"

"We got to go investigate," said Alex II. "Maybe we'll figure out where the thieves have hidden the project."

Cedric said, "But there's good news, particularly for PowerPaws-Ms. Amberley Dudley, a young Mixer from New York City, has come for a visit."

PowerPaws nearly jumped at the announcement. She said, "Hey! That's my half-sister!"

"Yes," continued Cedric. "And she came down here to spend Christmas with you and your father. She even brought a friend along."

"Well, I can't wait to meet her and her new friend!"

Rufus smiled. He said, "Amberley's a Mixer. And what a Mixer that she is-she's a superhero."

"If she is a superhero," asked Blaze. "What is her nickname, then?"

"She has a very beautiful nickname-Xochitl. It's Nahuatl for 'flower', and I chose it for a very good reason."

"Are we going to meet her?"

"We will. Perhaps she can assist us on this new mission we're in."

Everybody agreed and they all stood up from the table. Alex II shouted, "Time Toon Cops, let's move out...again!"

"ALL RIGHT!"

And they all left the White House, on their way to Hackel Laboratories.