Chapter 9: A Frightening Encounter

The TTC Enterprise made its way to the Yucatan pennisula in Mexico, and landed in Cucan. There they were greeted by Alex II's cousin Hector Armington, and his brother Michael Armington. Hector is the governor of Mexico, and Michael was the leader of the TTC Mexican Police Branch.

"Hola, Cousin Alex II and Presidente Raccoon," said Hector, shaking hands with them. "And hola to you, too, Señorita PowerPaws and Señor Roberts. What we can do for you?"

"Hey, cousin," said Alex II. "We need to head on over to the hidden underground Mayan city-we're going to search for the world's tallest Christmas tree. Can you take us there? You got the clearance for that."

"Sure, cousin," replied Hector. "But why?"

Bert answered, "We have to save Christmas from Jackson. He turned Robot Santa from Good to Evil."

Hector was shocked at hearing this. He said, "WHAT? That hombre is trying to ruin Christmas? GRRRR! Well, we can help you. Follow us in our special presidential limos and jeeps."

They got into the limos and jeeps, and headed over to the secret underground tunnel. At the entrance, the TTC began to look around, but they were confused. PowerPaws said, "We found the tunnel, but how do we get in?"

"It's very simple," said Xochitl. "When the remaining Mayans built their underground empire, they had a huge stone wall, which could only open if a secret password was uttered. That gave the conquistadores a hard time trying to get through to their intended prey-they eventually gave up after a million guesses!" She laughed and continued proudly, "Boy, were my people so smart..."

"Then," asked Bert. "What is the secret password?"

"I'll give you a hint. It's the Yucatec Mayan word for 'sun'. To close it, you need the word for 'water'. That's sort of like 'open sesame' or something like it."

"We don't know what it is. Can you demonstrate it to us?"

Xochitl nodded, before going up to the stone wall, which had a picture of a two-headed fire-breathing serpent. She raised her arms into the air and shouted, "K'iin!" In an instant, the jewel eyes on both heads of the serpent glowed a bright blood red, and the stone wall opened. Xochitl motioned for the team to follow her inside-Rufus stayed behind, speaking to the policemen in rapid-fire Spanish, telling them to guard the premises. Then, he caught up to the cops, just before Xochitl shouted, "Ha'!"

As soon as the wall slammed shut with a pulsating thud, the TTC continued on their way. Throughout the tunnel, the walls were adorned with ancient Mayan pictographs and symbols, pictures of creatures of the jungle and various characters from legends and folktales. Xochitl stopped the group and pointed to one particular picture. It showed three raccoon-like creatures fighting against something that looked like a pink aardvark with a long nose. Melissa said, "Hey, we remember that picture. That was when Bert, Ralph, and I encountered Cyril Sneer, when he attempted to cut down all the trees in the Evergreen Forest."

"Yes," said Xochitl with an amused chuckle. "I guess the high priests had unknowingly prophesied your beginnings, even when raccoons didn't exist in the tropical areas."

The TTC continued walking through the tunnel, until they spotted a bright light at the end. When they emerged outside, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. It was a real ancient Mayan city! With temples! Statues! And many kinds of fish the size of your own arm! In fact, it looked like it had come straight out of the history books. The people were real Mayans-they weren't actors and all the clothing and costumes they were wearing were for real. Little children ran along the side of the canal, playing with a bouncing rubber ball. Elders gathered by the river and discussed politics, religion, and the good old days. Even teenage boys and girls hung out, and talked, laughed, and flirted with each other.

"Well, here we are," said Xochitl cheerily. "The underground Mayan city of New Chichen Itza."

"It looks just like that city in 'El Dorado'," said Bentley. "Except that everything's not made out of gold."

Xochitl sighed. She recalled, "My mom used to take me there every summer, to educate me on my unique heritage. I spent a few years of my happy childhood in this place-I had so many friends there. And I learned so much of my people's language, culture, and religion, which molded me into the very person you met today."

"This is amazing," said Snooper. "I can't believe how one almost-extinct civilization could survive beneath the growing Spanish empire, without the conquerors knowing."

"It is. Everything here remains pretty much status quo over the centuries. Nothing has changed much...except for that new movie theater in the street over there-it was my dad who suggested that some new technology be introduced in this city. My people use it, yet they forget how."

All of a sudden, Rufus shouted, "Look!"

The TTC turned to see a beautiful Mayan woman in royal clothing, bathing her face in the pool. He said, "There she is-the love of my life. Her name is Zyanya."

"Come on, Rufus," said Bert. "You would take it real serious if she was your wife, too."

Rufus, however, wasn't listening. He had already run towards the woman, shouting happily to her in the Mayan language. He shouted, "Zyanya! It's me! Your beloved!"

The woman looked up and noticed Rufus. At once, she smiled, and the two embraced each other, sharing a tender kiss. Rufus continued, "I'm so glad you're still in New Chichen Itza. Would you like to come with me and meet my new friends?"

"I could," said the woman. "But I have so many things to do. You see, my father, he told me one day..."

The TTC stood from afar off, watching the reunited couple talking. Xochitl said, "My mom and dad got along pretty well, especially at the time I was conceived. They had planned to get married someday, but Dad had postponed it, saying that he had to tend to his projects, and promising to return when he was done. It was truly a heartbreaking experience for Mom-she hated to see him leave her so suddenly."

"Like in Puccini's 'Madame Butterfly'," said Bentley.

Alex II said, "All right, team. The Christmas tree has got to be here somewhere in this city. But in order for the search to be successful, we all have to split up and form new teams."

"But Alex II," said Blitz. "We weren't used to working in separate areas. We all work together!"

"That could be likely, but otherwise it wouldn't work. The only way that we could make this succeed is that we part ways and scour every street, lane, avenue, and boulevard for the tree."

"Well, if you insist. Who will I go with?"

"Blitz, you go with Melissa Raccoon. Bert will go with one of his daughters-in-law."

"Me?" asked Bright Eyes.

"Yes, Bright Eyes, that's you. Brandy will team up with Lisa, Bentley with Mr. Whiskers, Lilo with Whopper..."

While Alex II went on pairing up team members, Snooper said to Ralph, "I guess we're all going to be split up. Me, I'll go with Cyrus. Could you do me just one favor?"

"Of course, Snooper," said Ralph. "What is it?"

"I want you to take care of PowerPaws for me. She looks like she's gonna be ready to drop a kid in any minute, and you have to be in charge of her until then."

"But Snoop, I thought your brother told you to take care of her."

"He did. But whenever I'm around her, I always feel like silly putty in her paws. And the fact that she's pregnant put such a burden on me."

Ralph groaned. Then, he said, "All right. I'll take her." He took PowerPaws by her hand and led her away. Snooper looked on, and heaved a sigh. Cyrus came up to him and said, "So, bro, are you ready? You know I am."

"Yes, Cyrus," Snooper muttered sadly. "Me, too."

The TTC split up and went searching through New Chichen Itza in two-person teams. By that time, Ralph and PowerPaws had gone exploring in its vicinity. PowerPaws said, "Isn't this wonderful, taking a tour through one of the most historic-yet-unheard-of places in the world?"

"Oh, uh, yes," said Ralph nervously. "In fact, I can smell fresh maize just around the corner."

PowerPaws sniffed the air. She said, "Ooh! I smell them, too! Actually, I don't eat regular corn very often, so sometimes I had to make do with popcorn."

"I don't know if they make popcorn in here. This is an ancient city, you know."

"Ralph, you're being too serious. Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I've been eating a lot lately. About last month, I ate an entire Thanksgiving turkey and a pumpkin pie. And if I want to eat more, then I'm going to do it. Could you at least tell one of those merchants to hand me an ear of maize or two?"

"You know I don't speak or understand Mayan."

"Didn't you learn any of it from Xochitl?"

"No."

PowerPaws laughed. "Then, you're a coward. Why, I could even master Thai while walking upside-down on a rope suspended in the air...and you'd think that isn't really true. I'm a little like Whopper-I exaggerate most of the time. Or, maybe I can teach you..."

All of a sudden, she felt a short wave of pain grip her stomach. She muttered, "Uh-oh..."

"Was that a contraction, PowerPaws?" asked Ralph.

"I-I don't know," muttered PowerPaws. "This was the same one I felt three hours before. It wasn't that strong then."

"Well, there's not a single hospital in New Chichen Itza. But there are midwives-I can take you to one."

'No, I wouldn't want one. I was used to giving birth in hospitals. If you think hiring a midwife is crazy, then-"

Another contraction, this time much stronger and more painful, ripped through her body. She screamed out loud and clung onto Ralph, clutching her stomach and breathing heavily. She muttered in between gasps and pants, "Well...I...I could surely...hire a midwife in such an emergency...like this..."

"Oh, no," Ralph muttered desperately. "The baby's coming! But...I don't see any midwives anywhere in the city!"

"Then, I'd suggest you start looking, Ralph," said PowerPaws. "And you'd better do it-QUICK!"

Suddenly, they heard an elderly voice call out, "Did somebody say someone's in the den?"

They turned and saw two foxes standing behind them. It was Aunt Enya Gracepaw, and her niece Una, straight from Vulpes. Ralph said, "Hey, you're those two women Bentley told us about. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, we were on vacation, dearie," said Aunt Enya. "Una and I decided that after a hard day's work bringing children into the world, it would be nice to relax and charge our little biological batteries."

"Anyway, you're just in time-PowerPaws here is going into labor, and she needs your help!"

Aunt Enya looked at PowerPaws for some time, before saying, "Well, she's definitely in the den, all right. I'll help, but first, we're going to need a comfortable atmosphere for the birth experience."

"How about that building," said PowerPaws. "Right over there?"

"Why, that's our hotel," answered Aunt Enya. "Not a perfect delivery room, but it'll have to do. Una! Let's bring those two into our room. We have a birth to attend to!"

"Yes, Aunt Enya," said Una obediently.

The two female Vulpians ran off, with Ralph and PowerPaws walking after them. Ralph said gently, "Everything's going to be okay, PowerPaws. It's gonna be okay..."

Back on Neptune, Jackson and Belladonna had finished making an evil clone of Super Snooper. The glass door opened, and the clone woke up. He resembled Snooper a great deal, but his eyes were red, his fur was black, and he had fangs and claws.

"Good work, Belladonna," said Jackson. "Your evil flowed into him." He turned to the clone and said, "From now on, your name will be Jack Snooper, A.K.A. Jack Bandit. I got that from Doug Funnie after I killed him, and Patti Mayonnaise and his friends-but I kept Bee Bee Bluff and made her my servant." As he said this, Bee Bee came out wearing a black dress, with spiked cuffs on her arms, black slip-on shoes, and was carrying a dark sword with her. She cracked an evil smile. Jackson added, "She also is good with housekeeping."

"How interesting," said Belladonna.

"Bee Bee," ordered Jackson. "Go and fix some food for the guest, but before you feed her, bring the food to me. I need to put something in it."

"Yes, Master," moaned Bee Bee, walking off to the kitchen.

Belladonna was stunned. She asked, "Why do you want to feed Holly?"

Jackson replied, "You want to know the reason why? I happen to have a mind control drug with me. Once I put it in her drink, and she drinks it, then she will be under my powers. It means I can control her, see? I am going to lay a trap for the TTC Jerks-once they rescue her I will order her to attack her husband and her kids, too. Then, we will attack them, too."

Bee Bee came back with a plate of a roast octorok (from the Legend of Zelda planet) and a cup of fruit punch. Jackson put the mind control pill in the drink, in which it instantly dissolved. He said, "There, now. Take it to her. Make sure she accepts it-Belladonna and I will be outside sending the clone out to Earth." And then he and Belladonna left. Bee Bee went over to Holly and said, "Dinner is served, Mrs. Snooper."

Holly took one look at it and said sternly, "You know very full well that I don't eat or drink anything that has drugs in it."

"Try it," said Bee Bee enticingly. "You'll like it."

"No," said Holly, and turned her back on her.

"It's good for you."

"It may be good for you, but bad for me. I'm not gonna eat that junk, even if you have to-oh!"

Bee Bee had wrapped one arm around Holly's waist and dragged her close. With the other hand, she held the drink and prepared to pour it down her throat. Holly screamed and meowed wildly, thrashing her arms about. But then, she decided to strike back by sinking her claws into Bee Bee's arm. Bee Bee backed away, yelling in pain. Holly yelled, "No means, no, and I mean it!"

The cup had fallen from her hand and the punch spilled all over the floor. Rubbing her arm, Bee Bee growled, "Have it your way, then. But I'll be back-and this time, it's no more Mr. Nice Girl!"

As soon as Bee Bee had walked away, Holly heaved a sigh of relief. Looking around, she said, "I'd better get out of here before Jackson returns. But...how?" At last, she spotted the door of the cage to her right. On it was an iron lock. She continued, "There's the door, but it's locked. I wonder if I can try to open it somehow. Eureka! I've got it!" With that, she produced a single claw, which sprang out of her finger. "I can use one of my claws to pick locks. I've seen people do this on TV dozens of times!"

Holly dug her claw deep into the keyhole of the lock, until she heard a clicking noise. Then, she pushed the cage door, and it opened with a creak. Holly laughed. She was finally free! Holly walked out of the cage and looked back at it with pride. She said, "Now, how about that? I found a way to get out of my prison. Getting off of Neptune, however, is another problem. But still...I'm glad that I've got my confidence back. I'm sure that my son will come to rescue me, once he gets here."

She looked around the room, making sure there was nobody around. There were two evil elf guards, but fortunately they happened to be fast asleep. Holly, with growing determination, tiptoed quietly past the guards and entered Jackson's control room. This was her chance to get back at her kidnapper. She walked over to one section of the room and looked at all the buttons, levers, and switches. Then, she came upon a red button, with a message above it that said, "DANGER! DO NOT PUSH!"

"Danger schmanger," scoffed Holly. "I've got a Christmas to save..." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pressed the button. She expected to hear an alarm, but there wasn't one. All she could hear was complete silence. Then, she heard somebody moan groggily, "Where...am I?"

Holly spun around and saw Bee Bee staggering into the room. This time, she looked and felt different. Holly asked, "Are you all right, dear?"

"Um, yes," murmured Bee Bee. "I guess so. Where's Daddy? Where are all of my friends?"

"They're dead. I don't know if your father's still alive. But I'm glad you're back to your normal self again. Wait a minute, did I..."

She looked outside and became surprised. Neptunian elves and reindeer, who were once subjected to Jackson's control, were now freed from his evil power and had gained their normal identities. She looked back at the button she had pressed. Holly had unknowingly freed the captives from the spell, but why did the sign say not to press the button? Perhaps she will never know.

"Come along," she said, taking Bee Bee by the hand and leading her away. "Let's form an army. I'm going to give that wicked young man a piece of my mind..."

Meanwhile, the TTC had already split up and searched the premises of New Chichen Itza. In the marketplace, Blitz and Melissa were asking an old merchant about the location of the Christmas tree. Melissa said, "Excuse me, sir, but we're looking for a tall Christmas tree. Do you know where it is?"

"A Christmas what?" said the merchant, raising an eyebrow.

"A Christmas tree. You know-coniferous, sort of like a fir tree. We need it for our mission."

"I don't know what you're talking about, young lady."

Blitz and Melissa looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Blitz said, "This poor fellow's probably stricken with a case of Alzheimer's."

"Sir," Melissa continued. "Our friend, Xochitl, told us that a Christmas tree must be in this city somewhere."

"Oh, Xochitl?" answered the merchant. "Ah, I remember her. She's that half-serpent girl. She and her mother used to come around this area."

"Then, do you actually know where it is?"

"It's either in the east side behind the emperor's palace, or in the west side in the middle of the city plaza."

Melissa turned to Blitz and said, "We're gonna have to split up again and search both areas at once. Blitz, you go explore the palace. I'll go to to the plaza."

"Right," replied Blitz. And then they separated.

In another part of the city, Snooper and Cyrus were sitting by the river. Using their binoculars, they searched the entire region for any signs of the Christmas tree. Cyrus said, "Do you see it yet?"

"No dice," answered Snooper. "You?"

"Nil. There's hardly a leaf or bark that could tell us that the tree is in here. And it's not across the river, either."

They put down their binoculars and sighed. After a moment, Cyrus said, "It's no use finding the Christmas tree. We might as well give up."

"But still, we have to keep trying, Cyrus. The people of Canerica are counting on us to save the holidays."

They sat in silence for several moments. Then, Snooper said, "Say, while we're sitting here, maybe we can tell some jokes to cheer us up a little bit."

"Really?" said Cyrus. "Oh, I absolutely love jokes! Okay, I got one-once there were three religious leaders. One was a priest, the second a rabbi, and the third a swami. They entered a restaurant one night..."

Unbeknownst to them, the clone named Jack Bandit had landed in the city. Upon spotting Snooper, he cracked a sly smile and prepared to load up his laser gun. He muttered, "This cat is going to be dead meat for sure." He aimed the gun at his target, but he had trouble figuring out which one. Snooper and Cyrus looked identical to one another. They were twins-what's the use of trying to kill an intended target? Confused, he accidentally pulled the trigger.

"...and then the rabbi said-"

A ray of burning light zipped past their heads. The two cats jumped up with a start. Cyrus shouted, "What was that?"

Snooper looked behind Cyrus and saw Jack. He said, "I don't know who that stranger is, but I'll bet he's after me and my friends!" He took out a laser gun and shot back. It was only then that he regretted his choice-the gun had run out of ammo. "Oh, no, not again..." Then, he started to run away, with Jack following behind him and shooting after him. Cyrus called out, "Be careful, bro!"

Snooper continued to run away from Jack. He pushed through two elderly women, who complained. He shouted back, "Sorry!" He then arrived at the marketplace (where Blitz and Melissa had been) and hid in one of the clay pots. Jack stopped there and jumped in another one. After a silly hop-out-of-one-pot-and-appear-in-another gag routine, Snooper jumped out and ran away. Jack blasted out of the pots, breaking the others near him, and dashed off, leaving the shopkeeper to fret over the mess.

Then Snooper made his way through a courtyard, where a rubber ball game was in progress. When a ball bounced into his paws, he ended up being pummeled by the opposing team. Jack arrived and witnessed the whole thing-he wanted to get into the action, pounding Snooper to death. Unfortunately for him, the private-eye cat slipped out from under the pile of players and walked off, the ball still in his hands. He heard the crowd clamoring, so he decided to make the best of it by kicking the ball high into the air, and it passed through a gold ring in the wall. Before continuing to run on his way, he shouted victoriously (and just for fun), "Goaaaaaaaaal!"

Snooper eventually ended up in a three-corner alley. This time, he had nowhere to go, and he knew he was going to be trapped. Jack found him standing there, shivering.

"The party's over, Mr. Snooper," said Jack sternly. He held up the laser gun and pointed it at Snooper's head. "I'll see you at the Pearly Gates..."

"And I'll see you in Hell!" said Snooper angrily. "What do you want?"

"Nothing in particular. Nothing...except your soul!"

"You'll never get away with taking my life! NEVER!"

Snooper reached into his pocket and took out a small box of Sinutab tablets. He whispered, "This is for you, YouTube..." With that, he jammed the box down Jack's throat, shouting, "Sinutab! Apply directly to your forehead! How do you like that?"

Jack was choking, but he still wanted to kill Snooper. He gasped, "I'll...get...you...for...THIS!"

Snooper ran off, leaving his adversary behind. Suddenly, he heard a loud scream. And then a female voice that he recognized: "Snooper!"

"It's PowerPaws," said Snooper. "I'll bet she needs help!" And then he ran off, trying to find the source of the noise.

In Una and Enya's room in the hotel, PowerPaws was indeed in need of help-she was giving birth. She moaned, "Oh, no...oh, no, the pain...it's too much!"

"Come on, PowerPaws," said Ralph. "Just use those Lamaze breathing exercises. You'll be all right once it's over."

"Were you this nervous when Dolly was being born?"

"Well, I was...a little bit, actually."

Back outside, Blitz and Melissa had reunited. They still haven't found the Christmas tree. Then, they ran into Bert and Bright Eyes. Melissa asked, "Did you find the tree?"

"No," said Bert.

"It wasn't in the south gate," added Bright Eyes.

And then came Lisa and Brandy. Lisa said, "It wasn't behind the north one, either."

Their ears perked up to PowerPaws' screaming. Blitz said, "PowerPaws is in trouble. We'd better go help her."

"No," said Melissa. "You go and find the others. Bert, Bright Eyes, Brandy, Lisa, and me, we'll go and see what's happening."

The five cops then ran off, leaving Blitz behind. They arrived at the hotel, where they found PowerPaws propped up against the foot of a bed, with Ralph supporting her. Melissa asked, "Ralph, what are you...?"

"Don't ask," said Ralph.

Melissa went over to PowerPaws. She said, "Are you all right?"

"I'm good, so far," whispered PowerPaws. She grimaced, before continuing, "However, I'm in a serious predicament right now..."

"Are you sure you're not-"

PowerPaws gave out another ear-piercing scream. She grabbed Melissa's paw and gripped it tight, almost crushing it. She said in between gasps, "The baby...the baby...it's coming right now...I don't think I'm gonna make it!"

"What's going on?" asked Bert.

Melissa said to Ralph, "Call all the rest of the cops in. This is a big emergency we've got to deal with."

"But the mission..."

"We're gonna have to put that off for a while. In the meantime..."

Suddenly, Aunt Enya shouted, "Great flaming tails! Look!"

"What is it?" asked Melissa.

"I see a little patch of brown fur in there. That might be the top of the baby's head coming through. Buckle up, you guys-we're gonna have one heck of a bumpy ride."

PowerPaws groaned again. What was taking Snooper so long?