Chapter 7: The Time Toon Cops
The Time Toon Cops Police Headquarters was the largest building they had ever seen. Most of the police buildings of Jennifer's time were usually smaller, but this place...
"Well, here we are," said Bert. "As far as you will know, the Time Toon Cops Police Headquarters is the biggest police station in Canerica's history. Commander Armington wanted this building to be huge to make enough room for his team and their units. There was the original building for the headquarters once when the Time Toon Cops were founded, but Shag..." He and Sherlock started laughing.
"What's so funny?" said Lizette.
Sherlock tried to hold back his laughter when he replied, "Oh, it's a long story--you'll never believe what Shag did to the whole place. You see, the police station was so small, that at one time Shag thought it smelled like a tree and cleared out the house! Fortunately our boss found out and decided to build another one, only this time it's bigger and stink-proof." He continued, "Anyway, the reason we brought you here is to enroll the three of you into the headquarters. But first, we'll have to get you registered."
Soon, they were waiting in the office of the building. A few minutes later, a sweet young woman in a business suit peeked in from behind the office door and said, "The boss wants to see you."
"Thanks," said Bert and he led his friends all inside.
Once in the office they all sat sat down in individual chairs. A familiar male voice from behind the newspaper said, "Are you new recruits for the Time Toon Cops team?"
Jennifer muttered shyly, "Well...uh...yes..."
With the newspaper folded up and placed on the desk, she knew exactly who the boss was. It was a young male fox in a tuxedo, with a top hat and red bow tie. He said happily, "Welcome to the Time Toon Cops Police Headquarters, saving the world from the past to the future since 2006. My name is Tempus Temporis, better known to most admirers of folk music as 'The Highly Educated Man'. And what can I do for you today?"
"We came to sign up here, sir," said Pomp.
Upon recognizing Bert and Sherlock, Tempus smiled and said, "Raccoon, Fox! Great to see you two back here again. I believe you brought these three recruits to the station, huh? What are their names?"
"Oh, you'll love them," said Bert. "They have a brilliant personality. This is Jennifer Elwood, and those are her friends Jean-Baptiste and Lizette Charbonneau."
"Jennifer Elwood...Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau...Lizette Charbonneau...are they, uh, cousins?"
"No," said Lizette. "I'm his sister, he's my brother. We're siblings."
"Siblings, all right. Age?"
"20," said Jennifer.
"30," said Pomp.
"25," said Lizette. "I'm five years younger."
"Place of birth?" asked Tempus.
"Lynwood, California."
"Fort Mandan, in North Dakota. Or in that case, present-day Bismarck."
"St. Louis, Missouri."
"Interesting," said Tempus. "Okay...tell you what--next to Socrates, you are the most remarkble group of people I've ever met. In fact, you might be able to come in handy one day. I'll alert Rufus and Amberley on this."
"I know who they are," said Jennifer. "They're from The Dreamstone, right?"
"Exactly, and they work here as trainers and teachers for the Time Toon Cops." With that, he blew a whistle and two odd creatures came in, a male and a female. Their fur was lightly brown (with a light tan around their mouths), had ears like rabbits, orange hair, and tiny brown horns. Tempus said to the creatures, "These three new recruits, Elwood and Charbonneau by name, will need some specific care and training while they are preparing to become part of the Time Toon Cops Headquarters. Make sure they're catching up on all the details and see that they have the proper uniforms available."
Soon they were all in a large room where thousands of cartoon characters had gathered. Amberley said, "Well, here we are--the heart of the Time Toon Cops Headquarters. In here you'll get to know all the famous toons, as well as some new picks from the crop."
Jennifer immediately recognized every cartoon and video game character in the room: Tiny Toons, Sonic Heroes, Rescue Rangers, Bonkers (without the poor bobcat), Bucky O'Hare and his crew, Star Fox, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers, TailSpin, Road Rovers, Ms. Brisby and her children (Ms. Brisby was the medical nurse for all the teams), Lilo and Stitch, Conker and his friends, Animaniacs, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Pound Puppies, Care Bears, Darkwing Duck, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (also known as TMNT). Her past had completely unfolded before her eyes.
Bert clapped his paws to silence the overlapping conversation. He then said happily, "Hello, fellow toons of the force!"
"HI, BERT!!" everyone in the room shouted jubilantly. Only Jennifer knew that, since he had been the veteran of the force for some time, Bert was a favorite of the Time Toon Cops gang.
Two little bear cubs, Kit Cloudkicker and Molly Cunningham, ran up to Bert and gave him a big hug. Molly said, "It's so great to see you back again, Uncle Bert. We thought we'd lose you after that dreadful Freedom Day disaster."
Kit added, "And you came through!"
Ms. Brisby's kids also ran over to Bert. Martin, Teresa, Cynthia, and Timothy, they all gathered around him like a flock of kids surrounding the ice cream man. The puppies also ran in, barking happily. They shouted excitedly, "Uncle Bert! Uncle Bert! Uncle Bert!"
Cynthia chirped, "Uncle Bert's home!"
Bert chuckled as he hugged the kids back, telling them that he missed them so greatly. He said, "It feels so good to see you kids here again. After all, what would it be like if I weren't alive just to give you a horseback ride to the fun express!" With that, he piled all the children on his back and he started galloping around like a horse while the kids squealed and laughed with glee. After setting the kids back down, he turned to Ms. Brisby and asked, "Are you sure my leg's recovering correctly?"
"Well," said Ms. Brisby. "It should be back to normal in a matter of weeks, but you'll get by."
"You sure are a cute little bunch," said Jennifer to the kids. "But tell me something--why do you call him 'Uncle Bert'?"
Teresa answered, "We call him 'Uncle Bert' because he was the local teacher for the Time Toon Scouts."
"He loves to play with us," said one of the puppies.
"He'd tell us lots of stories," added Whopper (the littlest Pound Puppy).
Cynthia piped up, "And he'd teach us how to be cops and, and since he's president now, he makes sure none of us gets into all sorts of trouble."
"Speaking of trouble," said Sherlock, looking around. "Where's Levania?"
Jennifer's ears pricked up to the name. She thought Sherlock was mentioning his secretary, a new sidekick, or probably his girlfriend. But no, it wasn't any of those three possibilities...a small girl of about six walked into the room. She looked exactly like Sherlock--as a matter of fact, she dressed like him, too. The only difference is her light reddish-brown hair and her gentle chestnut-brown eyes that gleamed like two swimming pools. Buckled on her feet were a pair of black mary-jane shoes, all shiny and without a single scratch. She carried in her right paw a picture of an unfinished rainbow and a box of crayons in her left paw. The young girl appeared to be crying.
"Oh, there you are," said Sherlock. "What's the matter?"
Wiping a tear away with the sleeve of her coat, the girl sobbed, "Somebody stole a purple crayon from me, Daddy..."
"When?"
"I was trying to draw a rainbow to put on Uncle Bert's fridge."
You would've guessed that Martin indeed stole the purple crayon, as he was struggling to hide it in his backpack. Sherlock smiled and said, "It's all right, Levania. I'll buy you another box of crayons and then you can finish your rainbow."
"You will?" said the girl, her eyes lighting up. "Thank you!"
Lifting the girl up into his arms, Sherlock proceeded to introduce Jennifer, Pomp, and Lizette to her. He said, "Guys, I would like you to meet our most cherished good luck charm...my daughter, Levania Eldona Marjorie Fox."
"Why, hello there," said Jennifer with a smile.
"Hello, sweet little muffin," said Pomp. He pat her gently on the head, but to his great surprise, Levania grabbed the collar of his shirt and replied with a snarl, "Call me 'sweet little muffin' one more time, and you'll regret it!"
Pomp muttered to himself, "Whew! That's some wild girl you've been raising!"
Sherlock laughed, "She's a tough cookie, I know that. I guess you're wondering which side of the family she got all that witty personality from! Of course, she's a mixed breed."
"Like me!" Jennifer brightened up. She asked, "But...what's her ancestry?"
"Oh, that's easy," answered Sherlock. "Through her maternal line is a steady hint of human blood. Through me, however, is a mixture of vulpine parentage, good old English descent, as a matter of fact."
"I was Irish," muttered Jennifer under her breath. She continued, "But what about her personality, then?"
"That's a good question," said Sherlock. "Levania's such a feisty little girl for her age. Even though she's only six, she has just about enough energy to pummel Muhammad Ali."
Just as he said that, Levania had gone over to interrogate Martin, the little crayon-stealer. She growled, "Martin, did you steal my purple crayon?"
Martin stammered fearfully, "N-n-no! Whopper's got the crayon, not me!"
Whopper, overhearing the accusation, ran over to Martin and said, "How could it have been me? I had a yellow one!"
"Liar!"
Levania barked, "No! You're the liar! YOU stole the purple crayon! I know you're trying to fool me!" She pointed to his backpack, with the purple crayon still sticking out of one of its pockets.
Martin retorted, "Says who?"
"ME!"
With that, she punched him square in the nose. Soon, the two kids started to fight. Mrs. Brisby ran over and managed to separate them. She said sternly, "That's enough, you two. You've been fighting almost all day." To Martin, she said, "Give Levania her crayon back, sweetheart."
Martin groaned in frustration, before saying half-heartedly, "Yes...Mom." He reached into the backpack, took out the crayon, and gave it to Levania, who snatched it away and stuck out her tongue at him.
Jennifer was astonished at the little girl's violent antics. However, she was skeptic. She said to Sherlock, "I'm still not buying it."
Sherlock snapped, "Don't believe me, huh? Then I'll tell you that it wouldn't be possible for her to exist if I hadn't met the most beautiful woman in the world, the love of my life..." He sighed contently, before whispering, "...my wife, Eldona."
Jennifer was in shock. How could a fox like Sherlock be married to a human woman? She chose, however, not to hurt his feelings and ask him about how he and the woman met. He drew a deep breath, before begining the biggest story in his lifetime.
"It all started back ten years ago," Sherlock recalled. "I was driving through the streets of New York City, minding my own business. And before I knew it, I took a wrong turn and ended up smack-dab in the middle of the worst car accident in history. My car was a complete mess, and everybody knows I wouldn't be seen in a car that's been totally wrecked. So, to avoid further embarrassment, I took it over to the nearest auto repair shop I could find. And that's where I met her."
"You met Eldona in an auto repair shop?"
"She was a mechanic. I had started to pull my car into the garage when I first laid my eyes upon her. She was a winning sight in a red oil-stained apron, a wrench in one hand and an oil can in the other, and those lovely teal-green eyes and her beautiful red hair. I didn't mind falling in love with a tall, ugly giant of a woman like her. So, one thing led to another, and finally, I had the courage to ask her for her hand in marriage. And you'll never believe how I did that--I actually convinced my parents that she was a noblewoman, descended from one of the richest families on the face of the earth. When they noticed her true identity, they were shocked. They were never used to having their children marry people of an inferior species, but then they relented and decided to give me their blessings. We were married on a cool summer evening, and there was a huge party that followed after that...it was a lot of fun. So, Eldona and I spent the rest of our lives as a happy couple together, living in a comfortable little mansion next to my office. Eventually, our daughter was born. She was the most beautiful child we ever had...and we always did our best to protect her from harm. She was our special treasure. And since she was born at sunrise, we aptly gave her the name 'Levania'. We thought the name would fit her quite nicely."
"And it does," commented Jennifer.
Rufus then showed up. He said, "Amberley's in the Training Room on the 3rd floor of the headquarters, and she will be waiting for you in due time. Are you ready for your first challenge?"
Jennifer looked at her friends for a moment, before replying confidently, "I am."
Next Chapter: Someone (or something) is following the Time Toon Cops--you'll never believe who it is!
