I'm back again everyone! I meant to have this up yesterday but I had to do a lot of proofreading for this and the previous chapter. Here another chapter for you all! Thanks for continuing to show your support and following this story. It's always appreciated. Also, special thanks to WheresDaBeef for the latest review. Let's get on with it.
Chapter 10: Next Stop Mils and Notts/ Scratchy's 1st clue.
6:00 PM
Scratchensniff stared out at the towering buildings of downtown El Paso. Lucky took a scenic route through the city towards their destination.
"...And over here is the classic Plaza Theatre, and over there is the El Paso Museum of Art … " Bonkers announced over the sound system, once again acting as a temporary tour guide.
It was almost as if the psychiatrist ventured into a whole new world. Sure the city didn't really look all that much different to Burbank aside from it's Tex Mex flair. But the striking feature was that there were hardly any toons at all, save for a tiny few speckled in between. He counted at least three. But aside from that, nothing but regular everyday humans. Scratchy knew that he and his gang stood out among the crowd. They looked like everyone else on the street, acted and talked like everyone else, except for the fact that they weren't real flesh and blood. As cliché as it sounded, he felt like a fish out of water.
The car stopped at a red light. Another car next to him rolled down its window. In the passenger seat, two girls probably in their teen years were signaling him to roll down his window. He rolled it down.
"Are you the doctor from Animaniacs?" one of them asked.
"Vhy…yes!" Scratcehnsniff responded politely, hiding his confusion. It wasn't often somebody asked him who he was. Then again it had been a long time since he'd been out of Burbank. He practically knew almost everyone there. One of the girls squealed and flipped out a cell phone.
"Can we take your picture real quick?" Before he had a chance to answer he heard a click. He barely had a chance to smile.
"Thanks!" they chirped as the light turned green. Both cars pulled off.
"Looks like you're not a total stranger here Scratchy." Nurse commented.
"You know, I never really considered myself a TV star, especially a popular one at that." He replied. He recalled back during the show's prime, a neat folder of fan mail would always be delivered to him after every month, whereas the Warners would get a full truckload almost every week.
"At least your fans are the nice kind. You wouldn't believe the kind of fans I get on the internet."
"How bad are they?"
"Let's just say they're the reason I 'Google'd myself only once." She shuddered.
"Goodnight Everybody" Scractehsniff muttered dryly.
"Scratchensniff!" He looked up at Mr. Plotz's irate face poking from behind his seat. Plotz had been (for the most part) quiet for the ride, so hearing that really caught him off guard. "Stop that, you're really creeping me out with that!"
"Sorry..." he apologized. Plotz mumbled something under his breath before he returned to his seat.
I wonder if he ever considered the Warners to be a bad influence on me?
"You know, this trip would have been a lot simpler if we flew." Lucky proposed.
"Please! And go through that nightmare known as airport security? " Plotz scoffed. "Besides they charge an arm and a leg just for first class!"
"Eh, that's true" Bonkers interjected. "And over there is the lovely San Juanito Plaza..!" he resumed with the tour.
Everyone didn't do too much talking for the rest of the ride. Especially after Lucky snipped a clothespin on Bonkers to shut him up. Several more minutes passed. It didn't take long at all to find the place they needed to go to. It was located on the other side of town at the edge of Frankin Mountains State Park. The car slowed to stop right in front of their destination. Mils and Notts didn't look all that impressive from afar. It was a single white building in front of mounds of scrap metal. A sole Chevy 67 Impala was the only car in the store's cracked parking lot. The paved walkway was lined with several wooden fence posts. The only other surrounding places were a gas station and a few apartments.
"Is this the place?" Ralph asked.
"This is it alright" Lucky answered. "Alright, Everyone out!"
Everyone got out of the car. Scratchensniff moaned when the dry heat beamed directly onto him. Had Wakko been here right now, he probably would've cooked an egg on his bald head, and then probably ate it.
"Hmm, I expected this place to be a bit, bigger" Bonkers kicked at a loose post in the ground. Everyone followed the paved pathway straight towards the building.
Scratchy realized someone was missing. He stopped to look back at the car. Plotz had opened his door, but he still remained in his seat. He stared straight ahead. What was he thinking about?
"Mr. Plotz, aren't you coming?" he asked him. Plotz blinked and turned to him.
"Yeah, I'm coming. Just adjusting to this damn heat" he took off the blue suit jacket that was understandably too hot for him. Scratchensniff swallowed a lump in his throat. The thing he was going to talk about next had to be tread lightly. The last time he tried to convince Plotz to talk about it, Plotz got angry and ordered him to never bring it up again. That was years ago.
"So… how does feel to be here?" he asked. Plotz narrowed his eyes at him.
"It's, warmer then I remember… he quipped dismissively.
" No I mean, how does it feel to be home...?" The CEO's expression darkened when he jumped out of the car. He stuck a finger at his nose.
"Let's get something straight here….Just because you know this is where I grew up, doesn't mean you can use your psychobabble on me!"
"But this is your first time in over…"
"Is you guys coming?" Ralph called out just ahead of them.
"Were coming!" Scratchesniff replied. Plotz cursed under his breath after the guard turned back around.
"It doesn't matter how long it's been!" Plotz lowered his voice. "This is strictly a business trip, once we find out what we need, were out of here! This may be where I'm from, but it isn't home"
He briskly trudged past Scratchy. The psychiatrist sighed and decided not to press any further. He and Plotz fell in with rest of the group, Lucky and Bonkers leading up front. Lucky came forward and opened the building's screen door. A wave of refreshingly cool air confirmed this place was air-conditioned. Slowly they filed inside. Scratchy nearly knocked over a few items from a nearby shelf. The store's interior was a stark contrast to its outer appearance. Despite being completely empty, it felt seriously crowded inside. Various items from car parts, to home improvement tools, to cleaning items, were neatly stacked on metal shelves. Picture a smaller homely version of Home Depot.
"Hmm, a little dusting and this place will be a shoe-in to pass the daily inspection" Bonkers rubbed a bit dust off a nearby shelf.
"Who cares how it looks? We're not here to perform a health inspection" Lucky grumbled.
"Hello, Howdy ya'll" a stilted voiced spoke up. Everyone turned around. Behind the counter was a lanky human toon dressed in a typical cowboy outfit. A mop of blond hair completely covered his eyes.
"How are you doing? My names Phil." The toon answered as if he'd rehearsed this a million times. He adjusted the red scarf on his scrawny neck. Lucky came up to the desk and held out his badge.
"This is Lucky Piquel of the Los Angles Toon Department. We need to speak with the store manager" Phil said nothing for a moment.
"Huh?"
"We need to speak with your store manager!" Lucky said a little louder." Phil turned his head to a side door at his left.
"Hey, Gil!" another toon came out the door. He looked completely identical to Phil except that he had a green scarf around his neck.
"What?"
"Do we have a manager here?"
"I don't know, we have a Sheriff"
"I don't need to speak with the sheriff!" Lucky cut in.
"You think the Sheriff knows what the manager is?" Gil pondered. Lucky buried a hand into his reddening face.
"I'm a cop! I don't need to-"
"Bill!" Phil and Gil called out. Another identical looking toon came out. Oddly enough, his entire body and clothing were light gray. All the coloring on him was completely washed out save for the blue scarf on his neck.
"You know who the manager is?!"
"Yep," Bill replied.
"Oh thanks, can you tell me?" Lucky sighed in relief.
"You mean why the sheriff needs a manager?" He jumped back when Lucky pounded on the counter.
"I told you I don't need a…!"
"Now whoa! Hold on there!" A new voice answered in the back. It had a distinct Alabamian accent. Out the side door came a fat toon wolf. On his bright orange shirt was a name tag that read Sheriff. "What's all this hollerin about?" He beamed an irritated scowl at the identical triplets who quickly disappeared through the same door. "Darn Willie Brothers don't know how to help if their lives depended on it." Lucky buried his head into the counter.
"Please, tell me you know where the manger is!" he pleaded. The wolf laughed as if it were a funny joke. "Do I know who the manager is?! Well of course I know! You're looking right at him."
Scratchensniff paused for a moment to polish his glasses. He looked very familiar. It took a moment, but he finally recognized him. Bonkers leaped onto his bald head so he was at eye level with the wolf.
"Hey, aren't you from Robin Hood? Sheriff of Nottingham?" Bonkers spoke up before Scratchy could ask himself. A wide grin came across the wolf's furry face.
"Why I sure am! And you is, no don't tell me! Tigger! No no, Garfield..." Bonkers leaned into his face, his eyes bulging as he eagerly waited for him to figure it out.
"I'll give you a few hints, hyperactive toon cop has a fat detective as a sidekick, had a TV show that lasted 4 seasons…"
"Two seasons" Lucky faked a cough.
"Oh I remember now, I remember! Roger Rabbit!" The wolf snapped his fingers. Bonker's eager smile dissipated instantly.
"Close enough" he muttered.
"Didn't know they had toon sheriff's this far out." Plotz came forward. The wolf blushed as he twiddled with his fingers.
"Ehh… Sheriff for me is more of a privilege than rather than a state of authority. Plus it sounded better on my resume."
"Of course" Plotz muttered in disdain.
"So my friends, how can I help you? I've got everything you need from..."
"We don't need any supplies, Sheriff of Nottingham" Lucky stated.
"Please call me Sheriff or Notts, take your pick." The wolf corrected.
"Notts, all we want is to ask a few important questions. The welcoming smile slowly vanished away from the wolf's face.
"Now what might those be, officer?"
"We found out a suspicious person has been in your store recently. A person by the name of Alameda Slim." Notts concerned expression remained in place.
"Well, I'm not quite sure who that is.." the wolf crossed his arms. He nearly jumped when Bonkers appeared from behind the counter and plopped a graduate cap on his head.
"Well, let me educate you" Bonkers took over. "We think this guy is the reason the Warners and Pinky and the Brain disappeared"
"Is that right? And what makes you so sure?"
"Elementary dear Notty, for a few things. We know the mice bought a lot of stuff from Slim at his old shop in Los Angeles several months ago. But there's one thing that caught our eye in particular. Paint Thinner. Something that was found at both the crash site of the plane the Warners rode on, and at the remains of ACME Labs. We had a chance to talk to Slim about this whole substation. And he said he didn't have any. But the label of the thinner we found in the lab proved otherwise." Bonkers pulled out the empty can from his hammerspace. "See, courtesy of Slim Scrapyard and CO. "
"No offense, but what does all of this have to do with me?' Notts asked as innocent as he could be. At least that's what Scratchensniff thought. His face barely changed at all. If he was lying too, he was doing a good job.
"We knew he had to have gotten it from somewhere..."
"And the closest spot is here." Lucky finished his sentence. "Your business card was in his jacket, and we think he may not be working alone. So we want to find out if he or any other toons have come by here for paint thinner in the past year"
"Notts rubbed the stubble of loose hair under his chin, musing over everything he just heard.
"That's mighty sharp of you to consider that, but I don't think you'll find what you're looking for"
"I'll be the judge of that; you have any purchases on record?"
"Of course! Think I'm an animal like critter of some sorts?" Notts scoffed in offense.
"Technically…" Bonkers spoke up but quickly shut up when Plotz clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Wait here. I'll be right back." He disappeared back behind the door.
"You think he might be lying?" Nurse asked softly.
"I don't know. But at least he's more cooperative than…" Lucky answered just as Sheriff returned with two items under his shoulder. The first one he placed on the desk was a large white jug. It was slightly bigger than the one Bonkers pulled out. The label was bright orange and read "Thinner Courtesy of Notts and Mils Company."
"But that doesn't look anything like the one we found!" Ralph blurted out
"Slim probably switched the labels when he sold them at his store" Lucky countered. "Check and see if they're there Bonkers" Bonkers gingerly flexed his fingers before he grabbed hold of the old jug. Gently he peeled back the label. Then in one clean swipe, he peeled it clean off the jug. The old jug was completely bare. There was no label underneath.
"Nothing, Lucky" Bonkers responded.
Notts dropped the second item he'd brought onto the counter. It was a thick three-ring binder. He opened it about halfway through.
"Here. These are all the purchases for paint thinner, strictly made by toons since we've opened. As you can see, we haven't had much." Lucky bent over the counter and carefully examined each individual date. There were only six. December 12 and 17 from last year, September 26, then June 5 and 6. But it was the earliest date that caught everyone's attention, March 16.
"Aha! So what happened here?!" Bonkers exclaimed. Notts pulled out a file from inside the binder.
"We had a really small group come by that day, bought at least 5 jugs of the stuff.
"Did they happen to mention what they were using it for?" Lucky cut in.
"No, they didn't. Now I want you to look at this and tell me do you see the man you're looking for?"
Bonkers grabbed at the folder. His excited grin melted away after a few seconds. His orange face nearly paled at what he saw.
"Wait a minute, this can't be right!" he hastily flipped through the files. "They couldn't!" Scratchensniff grew concerned at hearing that. What did they see?
"Let me see…" Lucky looked over the folder as well. His expression soured as he shook his head. The portly cop grabbed hold of the binder and looked at the other dates... "Lockheed, Joes Paint ship, Slim's not in any of these."
Worried, Scratchensinff tried to see what was wrong. He couldn't really see with Lucky and Bonkers in the way. But he could tell from their frustrated grimaces that it wasn't good. He reached underneath Lucky's massive arm to grab the folder.
"You be careful with that!" Notts snapped. Scratcehsniff ignored him as he stared down at what laid before him. Everyone else's eyes widened with horror at what they saw. It was the last thing they wanted to see. Inside was a copy of the receipt. It was a purchase for 5 jugs of paint thinner. It was made out to Pinky and the Brain, and at the bottom were their signatures.
"No No! No! This can't be!' Scratchensniff quivered. His hands shook so much he nearly dropped the folder. He set it back on the counter. Notts shrugged as he placed the folder back inside the binder.
"No!" Nurse gasped.
"They really did do it?" Ralph exclaimed.
"That can't be right! Let me see that book, you must've looked at the wrong file!" Plotz lunged for the binder. Notts pulled it away before he could get it.
"Sorry, the papers don't lie, son," the wolf remarked. "Now, if ya'll ain't gonna buy anything, I suggest you get out." And with that, he disappeared behind the side door. Bonkers clambered onto the bare counter.
"But those goons, the shoe, and knuckles…" his stammered, disappointment overtaking voice.
"We're just something to lure us away from the case" Lucky finished his sentence. Head hanging low, he rested a hand on Scratchensniff shoulder. "Dr. Scratchensniff… I'm so sorry." The psychiatrist gently pushed it away and looked at him.
"Don't be, you were right" he responded softly. Lucky's crestfallen expression remained in place. Scratchensniff stared at everyone around him. They had come so far just to find out this. "I- I need to be alone for a moment." Without another word, he walked out the door.
Scratchensniff barely paid any attention to where he was going. Despite the warm weather, he felt a chilly breeze brush past his head. He wandered out back to the junk piles of the scrapyard. Some of the piles towered well above his head. He plopped himself down near a mound of car tires. A small sigh came out. He couldn't believe this. The second day was almost over, and the only thing to show for it was more incrementing evidence on the mice and even less certainty on where the Warner trio was.
A few seconds later, someone else sat down next to him. He looked to his right. Bonkers hanging ears drooped to the ground.
"Are you okay?" he asked Bonkers. The bobcat's ears perked up halfway.
"Course, I'm fine. It isn't the first time I've had bad luck on a case. But I'll get over it" Scratchensniff could understand how he felt. This was probably the first case he had in a while, only to find out the truth was not what he was hoping to be "Well it's still not over yet, we still have to find out how this ties in with the missing Warner's." he added, a bit of confidence regaining in his voice.
"Yes we could, but what help I would be?"
"What are you talking about?" Bonkers stood up.
"I'm not a detective like you, I've haven't found any clues, I've haven't created an leads, I've been completely unhelpful these past two days."
"So? Everyone's got a bit of detective in them! You just gotta find a way to bring it out." Scratchensniff pulled out the picture from his hammerspace. The Warner's smiled at him through the cracked frame. He put it back in. "Just out of tiny curiosity, do you have the time?" Scratchy pulled out his cell phone.
"It's 6:25" Scratchy replied. Bonkers stretched his head over the screen, blocking Scratchy's view.
"Lot of apps on your phone, Contacts, Weather, Minecraft, Email, with two messages?" He paused for a moment. "Scratchensiff how often do you check your email?"
"Not often, Vhy?"
"Maybe you should check it right now." Scratchensniff pressed the orange app. On the screen appeared two messages in bold print. The first one was a note from, Christopher Walken. But the second one nearly made his heart stop. In bold print, it read Yakko Warner. And it was from yesterday.
Oh, God…
Less than the second later he clicked on it. And up came the full message.
"Heeeellllooo, Scratchensniff! If your not him, make sure our P-psychiatrist Dr. Scratchensniff gets this letter. This is yours truly, Yakko Warner here."
His entire body jittered. He could almost hear Yakko saying that right to his face.
"Oh, and Wakko and Dot are here too I guess. You're probably wondering where we are and if we're all right. Well, we can answer the second part as of right now. We're all okay and fine. It takes more than a plane crash to take us down"
But uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… we're sort of being held against our will and have no idea how to get out. We honestly thought we could get out months ago, but our new friends suggested we should stay a little longer. All we can tell you is this. Pinky and the Brain are here with us. We don't know where, but we know they are in just as big trouble as we are. Something big is about to happen here and doesn't sound like a wrap party either. So if you can come find us that would be great.
There are only three things we need, Some snacks for Wakko, he's been so hungry he's starting to eat drywall now. Says it has a nice salty flavor.
Dot wants a mirror so she can get a good look at herself. Thinks looking her two handsome brothers is no longer a good substitute. But I digress. And if you can, bring Michael Phiffer
All jokes aside, Scratchy, if you're reading this, find us. Do everything you can. We don't care if you have to bore someone to death with your lectures in order to do it. We haven't given up on you. Don't you dare give up on us.
Sincerely, Yakko.
P.S Seriously, get Michelle Pfeiffer
Scratchensniff dropped the phone and leaned back against the pile. They were still alive. And they managed to contact him. They were okay, for now. And they were waiting on him. At this point, he no longer cared about how useless he thought he was to this investigation. He remembered how disappointed they were when he refused to come to their wrap party that whole year ago. He wasn't going to disappoint them again. This revelation was slightly undercut by Bonkers bursting into the air like a firecracker.
"Yee -yowsers! This is perfect! "Bonkers jumped for joy. " See I told you weren't worthless! You just found the most important clue we had this entire time! Let's go tell the others!" he grabbed hold of Scratchy's hand and dragged him through the maze of scrapyard piles. Suddenly he stopped. He started sniffing the air.
"Vhats wrong?" Scratchy asked.
"Something smells funny, it smells like home improvement work, smells like freshly applied paint." Scratchensniff gulped when he heard that.
Didn't Ralph say…
He yelped in pain when something massive and heavy clamped over his free hand. The ground started to pull away as he lost his grip on Bonkers hand. His feet dangled in the air. An enormous shadow lingered over Bonkers. Trembling and shaking, he pointed just over his shoulder. Scratchensniff turned around.
The face of a grungy looking grizzly bear sneered at him. He was just like Ralph described. Muscular with shiny fur, with plaid clothes, and a grimy green Mohawk.
"Didn't anyone tell you it's dangerous to play in scrapyards?" He remarked teasingly. " You might get hurt" Scratchy winced when the grip around his hand tightened.
"Are you, Mr. Muguu?" Scratchy strained, trying to ignore the pain. The bear let out a wide grin, exposing his sharp crooked teeth.
"That's right. Ralph told you huh? Now, what are you doing here?"
He looked at the top of Muguu's head and suddenly felt something hot rise up inside him again. After everything that happened, he was no longer upset, distraught, or confused. He was angry. Even though it was torn and faded with grime. Scratchy recognized it as the gift he handmade for Wakko's birthday three years ago. On top of Muguu's head, was Wakko's red hat. Muguu rolled his eyes upward to see what he was looking at. He gave him a sickening smirk.
"Like it? Wakko, let me have it."
And then Scratchensniff lunged for the bear's face.
"Scratchensniff…!" Bonkers shout faded over Muguu 's guttural snarl.
"Let go of me you little cue ball!" the bear growled and wildly thrashed about. Scratchensniff's hand latched onto the rim of Wakko hat as Muguu bucked and roared to shake him off. He was honestly surprised his glasses hadn't fallen off at this point. He wasn't sure why he thought this was a good idea. Maybe it was the sentimental attachment the hat held, or it could have been the fact that this guy knew where the Warners were all this time, and he'd hurt them. His bald head slammed against a nearby metal sheet, causing him to see stars for a moment. Now was not the time for analyzing.
"Scratchy, grab my hand!" he could hear the bobcat within the confusion. Although it took a lot of focus, he could make out his gloved white hand in the violent swishes of color. He grabbed on. Suddenly the ground came to underneath him. The bucking stopped and his muscles tensed up.
He looked up to see Bonkers grabbing on to him with both hands. He feet digging into the ground. Then he looked over his shoulder to see Muguu arched back, firmly planting both of his furry paws on the hat. Scratchy strained as he struggled to hang on. All the muscles in his arms felt like they were being stretched like rubber. It was the most painful match of tug of war he'd ever been.
"Get off! Get off! Get off!" Muguu growled. Suddenly, Scratchy felt something rip and immediately give way. He went flying and crashed right into Bonkers. Piles of cans and trash fell on top of him. Something pulled away at the rubble.
"Scratchy, Scratchy! Are you alright?!" Bonkers spouted worriedly. Dazed but not dead, the psychiatrist slowly got off the ground.
"Yes, I am fine, thanks" He looked down at his hands. Wakko's hat was safely back in his grasp. But so was something else. In the back of Wakko hat was a clump of green hair sticking out "Oh no…"
A low groan from behind them roused his attention. Muguu had one knee to the ground, holding onto his head. He felt the bald spot on top of his head where only a few strands of green hair remained. His eyed widened in stunning realization. He bared his sharp fans.
"You know, that's a much better look for you" Bonkers chuckled nervously.
"You gonna really wish you hadn't done tha-"
Someone large and heavy slammed into Muguu and tackled him to the ground. The timing was impeccable. Although his back was to them, the two of them instantly recognized him by the pale green shirt.
"Lucky!" Bonkers exclaimed.
"Oh thank you, you really…" Scratchensniff began to thank him.
"Don't thank me yet." Lucky forced the bear to the ground with both arms pressed into his back. "Stay down! You're under arrest for assisting in the kidnapping of the Warners!" Bonkers slipped in and restrained him with handcuffs. Scratchensniff got on his feet, putting the hat inside his hammerspace. He picked up his phone on the ground and put that away as well.
"Hope you don't mind staying around for a bit of QA" Bonkers proudly rested a foot onto his back. Muguu started to chuckle, it was a very low chuckle that sent chills up his spine.
"You detectives think you know everything don't you" the bear muttered.
"Of course! Why wouldn't we?"
"You know last time I checked, there are rules about off-duty toon cops" All three of them froze when he said that. How did he know they were off-duty cops?
"Yeah, like how we still have authority to bring suspicious people like you in?" Lucky remarked, trying to ignore his concern.
"In state you are, but out here, you have to abide by the law as any normal civilian. And let me guess where you flatfoots are from, Los Angles perhaps?" Lucky's face dropped at hearing that.
"Right" he croaked. Suddenly the bear bucked Lucky off his back.
"That makes you two, fresh meat." In one swift motion, he cracked the cuffs. Before Lucky had time to react, Muguu had slipped underneath his body and grabbed him by the shoulder. The portly cop wailed as the bear hurled him into the air. He crashed into a tall scrap pile several yards away.
" I'm fine, ouch…" he called out.
"Lucky!" Bonkers shouted. He stared up at Muguu, an intense glare in his eyes. Slowly he marched towards him. The bear flexed his fingers. "Scratchy, Go warn the others! Now!"
"I can't leave you here!" Scratchensniff protested. Bonkers looked back, his face softening for a moment.
"'I'll be fine! Trust me! Just go!"
Despite his disapproval, he did as told and ran back towards the building. Not far behind he could still hear Muguu's growling.
XXXX
"Sheriff! Notts whoever you are! Open this door!" Plotz yelled. Nurse didn't know why he bothered. He'd been banging at the back door for the past few minutes demanding Notts to answer a few more questions. And the wolf still hadn't come out. On top of that, Scratchensniff still hadn't come back inside. Even though Bonkers and Lucky went out to go check on him, she was getting very concerned. Ralph kicked at a random pebble in the floor.
"What do wes do now?" he asked. She really wasn't sure at this point, they couldn't just go back home. But it didn't seem like there was anything else they could find out here either. Even though the information they found basically painted the mice in the guilty party, Something still didn't seem right. She opened her mouth to respond when something else caught her attention. It was the acrid smell of fresh wall paint.
"I don't kn- Wait, Ralph, do you smell that ?" she sniffed. Ralph sniffed the air as well.
" Yeah, Id…"His eyes widened with horror. "Theys here!"
Before she could ask what he meant by that, a loud creak from the front door got her attention. Scratchensniff burst through the door, sweat beading from his head and scuff marks all over his sweater.
"Scratchensniff? What happened?!" Nurse remarked.
"We have to get out here now!" the psychiatrist breathed.
"Not until I get my answer from Notts here!" Plotz barked at him.
"Plotz please, They're after us!"
"Whose they? Who!" A loud slam from the front door made everyone jump. A click followed a second later. It wasn't from Scratchensiff. Someone else's meaty hand had pushed the door shut. It was almost deathly quiet inside, save for the jukebox playing Latino music in the background. She and the others looked at intruder before them.
Although he was beefy and shaggy-haired, he had an admittedly stylish red suit complete with a black cummerbund and top hat. His shiny shoes began to tap to the mid-tempo music in the background.
"Ever bothered to stop and listen what plays inside your store...?" she was slightly taken off guard by his distinguished voice. "You hear the most wonderful things." He danced past Scratchensniff and right towards her. She'd taken enough Latin dance classes to recognize his dance as the rhumba.
"Care to join? It takes two to tango." He held out his hand. A coy grin on his face.
"I'll pass" she uttered defiantly. Surprisingly though, the man actually complied and stepped back.
"Very well then, Siba?" He snapped his fingers. Something loose and rubbery shot out of his shirt sleeve and wrapped around her waistline. It was brown and furry. It got tighter and tighter the more she tried to loosen it. It curled around her arms. She gasped when she looked down. The creature's ferret-like face looked up at her with beady yellow eyes.
"Notts get out here now, Please!"Plotz banged on the door some more. The side door finally opened. "Now that's more like gah…!" He jumped back when a burly grizzly bear in plaid clothes came out the door. Plotz scampered away from the door and right behind Ralph, who was already trembling with fear.
"Yeah, Notts decided to close early today." The bear answered casually. Just as he said that she heard a revving of an engine from outside. Through a window she could make out the Chevy she saw earlier, speeding out of the driveway. And Notts was inside.
"What have you done with Lucky and Bonkers?!"' Scratchy demanded as he struggled to open the door. The bear shoved him to the ground with one of his massive paws. The shaggy-haired toon then grabbed him by the back of his sweater.
"Doctor...!" Nurse strained against Siba's tightening grip.
"None of your business, so let's just calm down and have a nice little chat." The bear uttered as he sat on top of the counter.
This was fantastic, Nurse thought. The door was locked. The store manager had abandoned them. And the goons they were trying to catch, caught them instead. They were trapped.
Hate to leave you all in suspense again. Thanks for reading, I should have another chapter up soon. Happy Memorial Day!