Chapter 9
*I still own nothing! Besides, this is all I could think of.
"Judy?"
The gray rabbit grabbed Nick's shaky paws. She knew why he was so tense, but she would let him open up to her first. That is, if he wanted to do that.
"Yes, Nick?"
The plane accelerated and zoomed into the clouds. Its bumpy ride made him shake even more and sweat.
"Um, well, yeah, funny story..."
"Nick?" Gazelle turned to the fox and looked at him worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"He's just afraid of heights," Leo snapped arrogantly, a cruel smirk forming on his lips. He was mighty proud of himself for figuring out what the fox feared. "Pathetic, isn't it?" Gazelle just rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.
"You're pathetic, Leo."
Nick glumly removed Judy's paws from his and clutched his tail. "He's right, Carrots. I can't do it. I'm... I'm sorry..."
Judy shook her head and grasped his paws again. "Nick, you can. I'll be right behind you. I promise."
"Uh, guys?" Benny sheepishly pointed to the opening portion of the fuselage. "I think we've arrived at our landing spot!"
"Agents," McHorn spoke to them from his office. McHorn and the agents were wearing microchips so they could communicate with each other. "It's time to go."
Nick pressed his body against his seat, panting a little. "Judy," he whispered. "I'm afraid."
"I know. I also know you can do this."
"AAAAH!" Felicia was the first to go. Leo watched her jump and gave Nick a smug grin.
"You snooze, you lose, fox! So long!" He fell backwards. Gazelle managed to encourage Benny to jump with her. Consequently, Nick, Judy, and the irritated wolf pilot were the only ones left on the aircraft.
Judy stood up and surveyed the height, biting her lip. It was rather daunting...
"Carrots? Don't go yet." Judy turned to Nick, and her heart sank. He was glued to his seat, trembling with wide eyes. She had never seen him look so vulnerable.
She had to be brave for them both.
"It's now or never, Wilde's." McHorn spoke up.
Judy marched up to Nick and gently guided him to the edge. Her paw found his paw and clutched it tightly.
"Nick, just don't let go, and I promise..." She dumbly took another glance below and gulped audibly. "I, uh, I promise you'll be okay. I'm here for you."
Nick studied her violet eyes before nodding. With one last breath, the couple hopped off the aircraft.
xxx
"WHOOO!" Nick shouted and cried with glee as Judy somersaulted and took back his paw during their descent.
"There they are!" Judy dove for the others, and Nick copied her movements. They soon caught up with the other four.
"Glad to see you could join us!" Benny shouted jokingly to them.
"Isn't it breathtaking?" Gazelle admired the view below her.
"Yeah..." Nick stole one glance at the ground and shivered. "That's one way of putting it..."
Meanwhile, McHorn kept track of their progress. Every potential recruit was wearing a tracking device that showed on McHorn's laptop computer how far they were falling, how close they were to the ground, where they were, who they were, etc.
"Excellent job, agents." He began to smirk slyly. "But can you handle this mission: outlier rescue? This is another mission centered on teamwork."
"What is it?" Judy wondered nervously. "What do we have to do aside from skydive? It can't be that easy."
"Correct, Mrs. Wilde. In addition falling freely, you all must show me what to do when one of you does not have a parachute."
"SHIT!" Nick began hyperventilating. They were only a few thousand feet above ground at that point, and everyone was decently spread out.
I might die without hearing my son speak his first words.
"NICK!" Judy screamed. "Just don't let go! I've got an idea!" Judy met Gazelle's eyes and raised Nick and her intertwined paws. The lovely gazelle understood quickly and took Benny's paw.
"Everyone grab on to each other! NOW!" One by one, all the animals grabbed each other's paws and hooves and formed a circle.
"Guys!" Everyone else turned to Benny. "Let's open our parachutes one at a time! Then we can see who's got nothing!"
"I'll go first!" Leo volunteered before anyone could protest. Felicia opened hers next.
"Judy!" Gazelle yelled at the bunny. "Or Nick! Open yours!"
"No!" Judy squeezed Nick's paw. He looked ready to vomit or even faint. "We're staying together! You and Benny open yours!" They did so, but not before Benny grabbed her hoof to guarantee their safety. All four had opened parachutes. That mean either Judy or Nick had no safety net.
Even in stressful situations, Nick could think cleverly, and he did so that afternoon. Gambling with a fifty-fifty chance, Nick grabbed Judy's waist and held her below him. Her back was facing the ground, and their stomachs and noises collided.
"NICK!"
"JUST TRUST ME!" He struggled to open the parachute. No, it had to be him. It had to be, or they both would die.
McHorn nearly chocked on his tea. The Wilde's were only several hundred feet above, dangerously close to the ground.
"WILDE, OPEN THAT DAMN PARACHUTE!"
"I'M TRYING!" They were only five hundred feet above. Four hundred. Three hundred.
"NICK!" He could see the tear's in his wife's eyes.
"JUST HOLD ON TO ME!" Their eyes met, and they saw their lives flashing through each other's eyes. Breathless, Nick opened the parachute and touched her forehead with his own.
"Don't let go...I've got you." They were going to die, Judy realized. Die before seeing their son grow up. Die and no longer hold each other, laugh with and at each other. Die and never grow old with one another...
Two hundred. One hundred...
I'll be damned if my ending isn't happy! Ignoring the fact that Nick had opened his parachute, Judy angrily looked into his eyes and gave him their seemingly last passionate kiss. Nick quickly responded and wrapped his arms around his little bunny. They descended while kissing. They only stopped when gravity took over and they hit the mansion's grass lawn roughly.
"Again," Nick mused later that afternoon. "Anticlimactic." They both had stressed over absolutely nothing.
Judy had a parachute, too.
xxx
"One of your final missions... And some of you may have to leave." They all met in the bedroom. The stone-faced rhino showed them a picture of a cute, female Arctic shrew. "Operation Fru Fru."
"What?!" Nick chuckled a little at the absurdity, but Judy shut him up with a hard jab in the ribs. "Ow..."
"This is the target, and her name is Fru Fru, Mr. Wilde. I do hope you're amused and sure of yourself, because your mission is to charm this shrew and kidnap her. Whoever displays a sufficient amount of stealth and suavity stays. Do you all understand?" They all nodded. "Excellent. She'll be at *Hot Fuzz tonight."
xxx
The Hot Fuzz was a nightclub opened to all animals: big and small, furry and scaly, tall and short, etc. Soon, the six spotted their shrew and crept closer to her table.
"Oh my gosh!" Fru Fru exclaimed. She was excitedly gossiping with two mice. Her cute Boston accent and photogenic face could not be missed by the observant six. "Did you see those leggings at Mousy's?"
"O.M. Goodness!" Benny butted in as he 'walked by' their table. "I know exactly the leggings, honey! I have a friend who's addicted to Mousy's apparel! Especially leggings!"
"Really?" Fru Fru turned to Benny and squealed. "So cute! A cheetah and a mouse! I'm Fru Fru - "
"Fru Fru?" Nick 'overheard' Fru Fru and eyed her flirtatiously. "That's a pretty sexy name."
"Ooh, Fru Fru! A fox has his eyes on you!" Her friend whispered teasingly. Fru Fru just shushed her.
Felicia and Leo 'walked by' and sneered at Nick. "Common seducing trick," Leo informed Fru Fru. Felicia nodded in agreement.
"Next thing he'll ask is your sign," Felicia advised the shrew. "Don't fall for it." Her friends looked ready to burst into giggle fits.
Gazelle and Judy 'bumped' into Leo and Nick. They were 'drunk'.
"These drinks as soooo odd, right?" Gazelle playfully winked at Leo and Benny. They both blushed for real.
"Soooo radical!" Judy hiccuped and lazily leaned near Fru Fru's tiny table. "Love your hair," she slurred.
"Oh, thank you!" Fru Fru gushed happily. She stood from her seat. "If you'll excuse me, dears. Raymond!" She called one of the two towering polar bears who were guarding her and her friends. "I need to use the little shrew's room." Raymond offered her his paw, she settled into it, and he whisked her off. After they left, her friends decided to grab some drinks.
After the two mice left, the six sighed tiredly in unison. "Yours was the stupidest idea," Leo told Benny rudely. He glanced at the deliberately disheveled rabbit and gazelle. "And a drunk act? Seriously? That was your classiest idea?" Judy and Gazelle just gave him the stink eye.
"You all did wonderfully." All eyes were on Kevin as he spoke. "Very smart, agents. So sorry about the drinks." He gave them an evil smile. "They're a little strong, aren't they?"
Nick felt his eyes droop and saw Judy at the corner of his eye swaying. He caught her before she could hit her head. He saw the four others dropping like flies. No matter how much Nick fought, he was losing consciousness.
He heard the polar bear before he completely blacked out. "Sleep tight, foxy."
xxx
Judy woke up and frantically looked at her surroundings. She was tied to Nick, who was unconscious. They were suspended upside down in front of a desk in a tiny, dark room. Raymond and Kevin were glaring menacingly at them.
Judy nudged Nick. "Nick," she hissed. "Nick... Baby, wake up."
Nick blinked rapidly and stretched in his ropes. "Mm? Ca-Carrots..."
"Sh! Lower your voice!" She glanced furtively at the polar bears. "Where are we?"
"I don't know. We were drugged. That's all I remember." They watched Raymond stomp to the desk and turn a tiny black chair around, revealing an elderly, male Arctic shrew.
Nick gasped and hushed Judy. "Stay quiet! That's Mr. Big, the most feared crime boss in Tundratown."
"We'll be okay. We just need to be honest -"
"It's not just that," Nick whimpered. "He has...unique ways of extracting information from others."
Mr. Big cleared his throat and glared at the couple. "How dare you. How dare you try to kidnap my daughter. You disrespected me. You disrespected her." He appeared unusually calm. He shook his head with disgust. "I pity you children." He turned to the two polar bears. "Ice 'em."
Kevin cut down the rope and removed a plank of wood underneath them, revealing an icy, chilling pit. Raymond caught and dangled them over the pit.
"If you're at all curious," Mr. Big continued, "there is regular then dry ice in the pit. The surface is at least negative twenty-five degrees Fahrenheit. So, you'll quickly suffer from frostbite at least. The more you fall, the colder it gets." Mr. Big nodded. "Ice 'em."
Nick and Judy gasped as the fog of the dry ice floated inches away from their faces. They could almost taste and feel the cold, the coldness of a slow death.
Mr. Big raised his tiny paw. "Wait." Raymond paused, while Judy and Nick held their breaths.
Mr. Big leaned forward with a wicked grin. "I suppose I could release you too from a fate as cold as death... Just answer this: What is Kingzoo?"