10: Another Master of Disguise

The Big Bad Wolf and Jessica Rabbit had ducked into a leaky underground tunnel that was almost like a large sewer system. As they traveled through it, Jessica was explaining about her part in the mission.

"The boss doesn't know about what I'm doing with the other agents. So far I've only turned around a few good guys in the group. Now I just need to work with the villains, like you…" Jessica softly stroked the wolf's muzzle.

"Heh, heh… you've already turned me to the good side," Zeke Wolf grinned.

"That's just what I wanted to hear," Jessica said.

…

Now in some kind of office building, the Big Bad Wolf was taking a nap on a leather couch in the lobby. He had his hat pulled over his eyes, snoring away. However, he awoke to the sound of a voice saying, "Cousin Zeke… is that you?"

The wolf woke up, readjusted his hat, and saw another wolf standing in front of him. He looked a bit similar to Zeke, but his muzzle was white instead of light tan, and he was wearing a pink turtleneck sweater and gray sweatpants, and he also had a brown derby hat on.

Zeke didn't recognize the wolf. He had seen most, if not all of his relatives, and this wolf did seem like he could be a distant relation.

"I beg your pardon?" the Big Bad Wolf asked. "I don't think I met you before…"

"It's me, your cousin Reynard Wolf!" he said.

"Hmm…" Zeke said. "I don't remember any cousin Reynard…"

"Well, uh," Reynard said, "I'm your second cousin twice removed, something like that…"

"That sounds a bit clichéd…" Zeke noted.

"Anyways, it's really nice meeting the famous original Big Bad Wolf, face-to-face!" Reynard shook hands with Zeke Wolf. He did notice Reynard's voice sounded a bit familiar, a little gruff with a slight English accent to it.

"You don't seem so bad to me," Zeke said, but then all of a sudden, something snapped in his brain. "HEY, WAIT A MINUTE!" he roared. "I don't HAVE a Cousin Reynard!"

Reynard sighed and said, "Yes, you are right."

"You're probably someone trying to defeat us," Zeke accused. "You're probably Basil enlarged with his ray thingy again, like earlier today, or maybe one of the Fab Five characters, or… curses, it's hard to tell!"

"I think I can answer that," Reynard said. He then began tugging on the sides of his face, then pulling upward, letting his head stretch out quite a bit. Then with a wet "SNAP!" the rubber mask popped off, revealing a certain handsome 'toon fox underneath…

"ROBIN HOOD?!" Zeke Wolf asked in disbelief.

"Surprise!" Robin Hood said in his true voice, pulling out his yellow archers' hat with a red feather stuck in it.

"It's been such a long time since I've seen you!" The Big Bad Wolf and Robin Hood gave each other a big hug. They have been good friends for years. Both were also masters of disguise, and sometimes swapped each other techniques on how to do so. "So, what are you doing here, Robin?"

"Don't worry," Robin Hood chuckled. "I'm not involved with this mission or trying to stop it from occurring. I did hear from Jessica about the whole ordeal, and thought I'd come by to visit you!" As he said this, he slipped out of the turtleneck sweater and white gloves, then hopped down from the stilts he was on, his own orange-red fox tail popping out from the costume's black wolf tail.

"That's very nice of you," Zeke Wolf said. "I do like how your disguise skills have improved a bit." As he said that, he removed his top hat and decided to try on the wolf mask Robin Hood was wearing.

Robin Hood said, "Thanks; I think Little John is improving too. Last week, as a practical joke he dyed all of his fur gray, and with a little makeup and the removal of his clothes, he looked just like Baloo!" He laughed and added, "Sure did cause some confusion! They even wound up doing the old mirror routine."

The Wolf was tugging the mask of his phony cousin Reynard over his own head, the mask making soft slurping sounds as it stretched onto his own features. Once he adjusted the latex mask to fit perfectly on his face, placed the derby hat on top of it and tucked the neck into his trenchcoat, he said, "That doesn't surprise me; Baloo and Little John look like THEY could be distant related cousins!" He laughed.

"Sometimes I'd even roam the parks wearing the official Robin Hood walk-around costume, and no one would be the wiser, not even official Disney World employees!" Robin Hood and the Wolf both laughed together. He then looked at his friend and said, "It doesn't even look like you have a mask on, old boy!"

Checking a nearby mirror, Zeke Wolf just had to agree. "I think I'd make a better 'Cousin Reynard' than you do, Robin!"

Robin laughed, and said "Maid Marian isn't into the disguise game that much, although we have occasionally done costume roleplay when we'd, you know…"

"Oh?" the wolf asked.

"Marian is now expecting," Robin softly said into Zeke's ear, or rather, "Reynard Wolf's" ear.

"Congratulations!" The Big Bad Wolf shook his hand. "Maybe we can try and soften up Disney before you and Marian start a family."

"I did indeed hear about the plan Jessica Rabbit started, to make the initial mission for Disney's world domination backfire. It's a lot like in my film, but I'm staying out of this one," Robin Hood said.

"Yeah," the masked wolf added. "I don't know if Basil was notified yet, because he's trying to solve this, on account of his old enemy Ratigan being involved…"

"Basil?!" Robin Hood asked. "I never really liked him. He's all blah-blah-blah, constant technical and scientific jibber-jabber, he doesn't really like action, and he smokes too much. Blech."

" 'Blech' is right!" the Big Bad Wolf laughed. "But I haven't seen him for hours now, and so far I'm hoping he is held up. I think for once, I should be a good guy!"

"Then I wish you the best of luck," Robin Hood said, leaping back onto the stilts, and beginning to pull his disguise back on. "Uh Zeke, can I have my mask back? I feel like staying in character more on the way back to my place."

"Sure thing," Zeke Wolf said, quickly peeling the "Cousin Reynard" wolf head off and tossing it to Robin Hood.

Taking off his own hat and then tugging the wolf mask and matching derby, smoothing it out on his own head and making a few final adjustments, Robin said back in his "Reynard Wolf" voice, "I'll probably stop by your place later tonight Zeke, just to catch up on old times."

"OK," Zeke said, "just be careful 'Reynard!'"

With a laugh, the disguised Robin Hood left. No one would ever guess he was in that wolf costume.

But then the Big Bad Wolf remembered something. He wondered out loud, "Evinrude said that Ratigan would have been hiding at the ink-and-paint club. But he wasn't; instead I just saw Fidget there, his old sidekick. I think I'd better call the boss…"