Chapter Ten

Tommy:

I saw a tall, skinny, boney figure dressed in black standing over me when my vision was slowly coming back to me. The figure was a tall, skinny, and boney man in all black and was wearing glasses with pretty thin frames.

"Pick them up." He said.

Then, I heard Eddie groaning. I looked up and I saw Bongo carrying Eddie to an empty chair. He did the same to Beatrice. I got up and made an 'X' sign to Bongo. I sat next to Beatrice and I asked her who the man in black was.

"Judge Doom." She mouthed at me.

I saw Judge Doom look through the broken window. He looked like he was slithering towards the window instead of walking. That really scared me. What scared me the most was that Doom's face having the 'Terminator' face, a blank face without a sense of remorse or emotion.

"Wandering around a ladies' dressing with two teenagers, aren't you, Mr. Valiant?" Judge Doom asked. "Tsk, tsk. What on Earth were you looking for in here?"

Beatrice and I jumped in surprise when we heard Jessica's voice. Everyone in the room looked at her while she was crossing her legs and making a pose that'll make this or next year's Miss America look like a pansy.

"Last week, some heavy breather wanted one of my nylons as a souvenir." Jessica said in a tone that I can't even describe.

"Mrs. Rabbit, Eddie wasn't here for nylons or underwear!" I exclaimed. "You probably know really well that he was looking for Marvin Acme's will!"

"Marvin Acme had no will." Judge Doom said. "His estate is under my jurisdiction."

"Oh, there was a will, all right!" Eddie exclaimed and looked at Jessica. "You and R.K. Maroon killed Marvin Acme for it!"

Jessica stands up in anger and places her hands on her hips.

"THAT'S ABSURD!" She exclaimed.

But Eddie doesn't give up.

"Someone else is here, too! And they're looking for that will!" Eddie exclaims again. "Probably one of Maroon's flunkies! My assistants and I would've found the will if that overweight monkey didn't get in the way!"

Bongo charges at Eddie but Judge Doom holds him back with a cane while sitting down on a chair across from Eddie's.

"Easy, Bongo." Doom said. "I would like to ask Mr. Valiant's assistants a couple of questions, if they don't mind."

Beatrice and I exchanged terrified looks.

"You, boy. Why did you and the girl join Mr. Valiant for his search for the will?" He asked me.

I looked at Beatrice and then, I replied with an improvised excuse,

"Mr. Valiant wanted to have a sidekick with him during the search, like Sherlock Holmes. My sister wanted to tag along and we both got the job."

"Is that true, Mr. Valiant?" Doom asked.

"Yes." Eddie replied.

"All right. I'll talk to the boy's sister and see if she can give me an answer." Doom looks at Beatrice and she froze. "Do you know where the rabbit is hiding right now?"

Everyone in the room, including me, stared at Beatrice, waiting for an answer. And I swore that I saw Jessica briefly reveal a sign of concern and sympathy on Beatrice on her face.

"Well?" Doom asked. "Yes or no?"

Beatrice gives Doom a blank look and that sets Bongo off. He grabs her by her tank top and shouts,

"ANSWER THE JUDGE'S QUESTION!"

Beatrice still doesn't answer and Bongo shakes her. I stood up in anger.

"Stop it!" I shouted, angrily. "NOBODY TREATS MY SISTER LIKE THAT!"

"Bongo, let the girl go." Doom said calmly.

"BUT SHE DIDN'T ANSWER YOUR QUESTION!" Bongo exclaimed.

"Just let her go."

Like Smarty did to Beatrice in Eddie's office, Bongo drops Beatrice like she was a rag doll. Beatrice gets up and runs to her chair. I thought I saw Jessica make that same face that I caught for a second.

"If the girl doesn't want to talk, then we'll handle her, the boy, and Mr. Valiant our own way…down town." Doom said and flashed a creepy toothy smile at us.

"Down town?" Eddie smiled. "Fine! Let's get a hold of Santino. We'll be more than happy to go downtown."

Doom stops smiling and in a low, creepy, and serious voice, he says,

"Oh, I'm not talking about that 'down town'. I'm talking about down town TOON TOWN."

Eddie looks at Judge Doom and his smile drops to a look of terror. Beatrice tenses up and I got confused.

Why would Doom want us to Toon Town? I thought. We're not Toons.

I heard multiple footsteps, crazy high-pitched giggling, and coughing and I knew those sounds. The Toon Patrol was here.

The door opens and Smarty enters with an evil grin on his face. Greasy walks in and he spots Beatrice again. She was sure if he was looking at her or at Jessica.

"We warned you to stay out of this case, Valiant." Smarty said while fixing his pink tie. I didn't notice until now that his tie had a jewel on it. Weird. "We even warned you two," Smarty continued, "but you didn't."

And like the jewel on his tie, one of the black dots in the middle of Smarty's eyes flashed for a second, meaning trouble.

"No, not Toon Town." Eddie pleaded.

Then, he said 'no' twice before letting out a long 'NOOOOOOOOOOO' with the weasels giggling and chuckling in the background.

Stupid and Wheezy bring in three long pieces of rope and made me, Eddie, and Beatrice line up and put our hands behind our backs. I felt the rough grip scratching my wrists and my arms were already getting tired.

"You, girl!" Smarty exclaimed to Beatrice. "Tell us where the rabbit is currently hiding!"

Beatrice, at first, gives Smarty a blank look and then, she frowns a little bit and shakes her head 'no'.

"Hey, Stupid! Hand me the 'faceball' bat without the 'snail' in it! It's time for the broad to sing like a 'coronary'!" Smarty commanded.

"No, son." Judge Doom said. "Take these three to down town Toon Town. Punishment will have to wait."

Smarty commanded Bongo to escort Beatrice to the Toon Patrol car outside and he ordered Psycho, Wheezy, and Stupid to escort me and Eddie. Bongo grabs Beatrice by her tank top and carries her away with Greasy walking beside them.

Before Eddie and I were officially out of the dressing room, I watched Jessica giving us a shocked look on her face while we walked out but didn't do anything to stop the Toon Patrol, Bongo, or Judge Doom.

While walking out, I felt the sharp tip of a pocketknife poking on my spine for a second. I was shuffling behind Eddie and then, we got thrown in the back of the Toon Patrol car once we made it outside. Eddie attempted to escape but surrendered after Smarty pointed his pistol at him. Beatrice was literally thrown in last before Smarty and Greasy closed the doors of the back of the car.

Because of the pitch blackness inside of the back, I couldn't see a thing but I knew that the back was really tight-spaced. I heard the car getting started but the siren wasn't going off. I even heard Eddie breathe hard.

"Are you okay, Eddie?" I asked.

"Not really. Going to Toon Town sounds much scarier than hearing about it." He replied. "How's Beatrice?"

"I'm okay." She said softly.

"Traumatized?"

"Yeah."

Brief pause.

"Here is one thing that I want you two to keep in mind." Eddie said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"The weasels will try to make you trick you when it comes to asking questions. Beatrice, I want you to stay silent, like you usually do. Just try not to say anything. And Tommy, tell them that you don't know anything about Roger's whereabouts. Use improvisation like you did in the office, if you must."

"Okay." Beatrice and I whispered.

….

Beatrice:

After ten minutes felt like forever, the car finally stopped. Before those ten minutes started, I was scared of Bongo and the way that he shook me hard when he picked me up. I was afraid that I was going to throw up. Because of how hard Bongo shook me and not getting a large glass of water, I started to get a headache.

When the back of the car opened up, I was blinded by a bright light and then, my head was covered by something scratchy and smelled like hay in a barn.

A burlap sack. I thought. Seriously, when will blindfolds be used instead of burlap sacks?

"Ladies first, boss." I heard Greasy said.

Hey! I'm not a lady! I exclaimed in my head. I'm a free-spirited tomboy teenager!

"C'mon, we don't have all night!" Smarty exclaimed at me.

But I wasn't sure how to get out of the car if I got a burlap sack on my head.

"She can't get out if she's got that sack on her head!" Wheezy exclaimed in a deep voice that surprised me. "I told you that we should've covered their eyes with our hands first and THEN, cover their heads with the sacks."

I think Smarty had lost his patience and I heard him climb in to the back after I heard him groan in frustration. He pushed me and I fell out of the back and landed on my face. The weird thing was that it was a cool summer night and now, it's really warm. I knew that I was in Toon Town with Eddie, Tommy, and the Toon Patrol.

"Somebody pick up the broad!" Smarty exclaimed.

If you call me that one more time…I thought because that's probably the third time Smarty's called me that insulting name.

"Here, I'll handle this one." Greasy said. "C'mon, chica, I got you."

What's next? I thought. The coat-on-the-puddle routine? Don't even THINK ABOUT THAT!

I felt Greasy scratchy hands help me get off the ground and when I got back on my feet, he wraps his arm around my waist. I tensed up. I don't feel comfortable at all. I really wanted Greasy to let me go.

I heard Tommy and Eddie getting pushed out of the car and Psycho giggled an insane giggle.

"Let's go!" Smarty said.

I heard the sound of a switchblade (I know what it sounds like, thanks to one of Dad's demonstrations) getting flipped open and I heard Tommy say 'Ow', indicating that he just got poked by the tip of the blade.

I walked along with Eddie and Tommy, even with Greasy's arm around my waist. The shuffling of our feet on the concrete and the multiple lefts and rights felt like time was going slowly. I heard the sound of cartoon traffic happen and unidentified conversations were present.

That's when I noticed the temperature change again. It was really warm and now it was back to the cool summer night.

Why is the temperature constantly changing? I thought. I don't think I keep up with the feelings of hot and cold if they're constantly changing.

I felt Greasy's arm getting off my waist and I thought that I would be free from his grasp. But then, I heard the sound of his coat making a flapping noise (that noise that a coat makes when there's a hard wind blowing) and I knew that he was going to—

"Una bella muchacha no debería estar en el frío como éste." Greasy said to me. "Aquí está mi abrigo."

IS GREASY COMPLETELY IGNORING THE FACT THAT I CAN'T UNDERSTAND OR SPEAK SPANISH?!

"Beatrice, Greasy says that he thinks that you shouldn't be in the cold and he's…letting you borrow his coat." Tommy said.

WHAT?! I'M NOT EVEN—

That thought was interrupted when I felt Greasy's scratchy and heavy coat on my shoulders. He really shouldn't treat a prisoner, like me, for now, like this. A police man doesn't give a criminal anything, like a coat, when they're cold.

"We're here." Smarty said.

The shuffling on concrete transformed into hollow clip-clops on wood. I knew that we have arrived at a building.

The door opens with a click and a squeaky and Greasy's coat was lifted off my shoulders. I was forced to walk inside with Eddie and Tommy. The burlap sack was pulled off my head.

I was in a small waiting room with Tommy, Eddie, and the Toon Patrol. The walls had cracks and the paint job was really lousy. I found an ash tray with a big pile of cigarette ashes. There was another door and I didn't know where it led.

I saw Eddie and Tommy getting moved around and I was pushed in between them. We were in a single file line.

Eddie had a blank look on his face and I probably guessed that he didn't want to encourage the Weasels' love of fright. Tommy looked kind of scared and I was tense.

"What is this place?" Tommy asked.

"If you must know, this place is our 'leadquarters'." Smarty snapped.

IT'S 'HEADQUARTERS'! I shouted in my mind.

After putting down their weapons, four members of the Toon Patrol lined up like they were a group of soldiers, except they didn't look serious and didn't even think about standing straight. While Smarty talked to the four members, he would walk in a straight line to his left, stop, and turn around and walked to his right. This cycle repeats a few times.

"I want these three fugitives placed in separate rooms. While I go pick up some things, figure out which room is appropriate for our 'printers' and try to get them to talk, especially the broad. Talk to Valiant, then the boy, and finally, try to get the broad to start 'spelling' information." Smarty said.

Stop calling me that, you meathead! I thought. It's not 'spelling', it's 'spilling'!

Smarty stops his walking pattern and gives the other Toon Patrol members full eye contact.

"Any questions?" Smarty asked.

Stupid raises his hand but Smarty ignores him. He leaves us and I didn't want to be separated from Tommy and Eddie. I don't want to be left with Greasy or Psycho. I know that they'll try to do many inappropriate things to get me talking.

"Remember what I told you! DON'T TELL THEM ANYTHING!" Eddie called me as he is guided away from me and Tommy by Wheezy and they disappear in to the room that I had questions about.

Tommy attempts to escape but Stupid and Psycho guide him away to the same room.

"Looks like it's just you and me, for now." Greasy purred. "Come this way."

I refused to walk towards the door but Greasy thought that I wanted to enter the room first and he opened the door for me.

"Go ahead." He said. "You'll be all right."

Thanks to many books, I knew that I couldn't trust a weasel, especially if it goes by the name 'Greasy'. Weasels are well known for their deceitfulness, cheating, back-stabbing, and even have a group of cronies. You can never trust a weasel. They claim to be friends but all they ever do is lead you to more trouble.

Anyway, I reluctantly entered the room and I knew that I was going towards my fate after hearing the door lock. I was walking down a hallway with many rooms and a dirty carpet.

While I walked, I noticed how Greasy walked. When Greasy walks with his hands in his trouser pockets, he walks like a duck. As he continues to walk like a duck, the upper half of his body sways side to side like he was a snake. I think I saw Greasy walk like that when I saw him at the Acme Factory, walking like he was a combination of a duck and a snake.

After a couple of minutes of walking, Greasy took me to a small room with random objects scattered around and a piano pressed against the wall. I heard the sound of the switchblade getting flipped open.

"It's all right, cariño. Just hold still." Greasy said.

Wait. What are you-? I thought.

Then, I heard the rope snap.

"Adios until later, cariño." Greasy said and then closed the door and locked it.