Chapter 5: Mr. Big
It took some time, but the three of them managed to arrive in Tundratown. Immediately, Tracy's feet felt cold from touching the snow, and she was lucky she wasn't freezing to death because one: she had her jacket, and two: she had fur which kept her slightly warm. However, despite the freezing temperature, she couldn't help but be in awe in the surrounding area. Unlike Sahara Square, where the place was filled with sand, this place looked more like a winter wonderland.
By the time they arrived at Tundratown Limo Service, the gate was locked. Judy rattles the lock and says, "Closed. Great."
"Mmm, and I betcha you don't have a warrant to get in. Hmm?" Judy looks at him with narrowed eyes. "Darn it. It's a bummer."
"Y'know, Tracy was right, you wasted the day on purpose."
Feigning hurt, he said while simplifying his junior ZPD sticker, "Madam, I have a fake badge. I would never impede your pretend investigation."
Tracy, who stood next to Judy, had her eyes widen as her left eye twitch with anger. Did he just say "pretend investigation". She was about to yell at that fox, but Judy beat her to it as she said without yelling, "It's not a pretend investigation." She pulls out the picture of the Otterton's and points at Emmitt. "Look, see? See him? This otter is missing."
Nick looks at the picture for a moment, then says, "Well, then they should've gotten a real cop to find him."
Tracy gave a small cat-like growl while her paws tightened into fists.
"What is your problem?" Judy said, upset while putting the picture away. "Does seeing me and Tracy fail somehow make you feel better about your own sad, miserable life?"
"It does. 100%." he grinned.
Tracy's cat-like growl grew with anger, until it was contained no more as she yelled at Nick, "What is the matter with you?! Don't you understand that Emmitt Otterton has a wife and kids, and they're worried sick about them. Don't you at least care that that's the reason we're trying to find him?"
"Yeah...no."
Judy became shocked when Nick said that as her eyes narrowed angrily. How could he be so cruel to somebody so innocent who's probably worried about his family and wanting someone to find him and take him home. She wanted to march over to him and slap him for what he said, but refrained from that when she heard Tracy say, "What is it with you? What do you have against Emmitt or his family? What do you even have against Judy or me? Better yet, what do you have against the world so you could be such a jerk?" She kicks the ground, though not what she expected as chunks of snow came off the ground, creating a small hole as Nick yelps and loses his footing, then while his back was at the ground, he covers his face with both arms as snow piles on him slightly.
Eyes widened and jaws dropped with surprise from both Judy and Tracy. For the rabbit cop, she couldn't believe that a simple teenager kicked the ground so hard. There was no way she could do that as the ground would probably be too thick for her to kick a small hole. She could at least kick a little bit of snow at the fox, but not like this. Speaking of which, just looking at the fox's predicament made her cover her mouth and snort, letting out some small giggles as she thought that this was funny.
As for Tracy, she couldn't believe this actually happened. She wanted to try to kick some snow at the fox, but nothing like this. Looking at the small hole, she wondered how she did that. It was like she grew stronger for some weird reason. Bringing up the pendant that she wore, was it possible that this could be the reason why that happened. Well, so far, she has already experienced some strange things that not even she could find the answer's yet. Nevertheless, as she looked back at the fox, she couldn't help but let out a few small giggles.
Nick uncovered his face as his eyes narrowed, then he stood up as he shook off the snow and dusted his arms and snout. His narrowed eyes didn't leave the young girl as he said while pointing at himself, "You wanna know what I have against the world? Nothing! All I'm trying to do is not get too involved in other people's lives, okay! It's the world that's always against me!"
Judy seemed confused by what he said. What did he mean by that?
"Why?" Tracy said as she crossed her arms. "Is it because you're a fox?"
The only answer Nick could give her was those same narrowed eyes.
"It is, isn't it?" she sighed. "Do you even realize how both prejudice and stereotypical this sounds?"
"Well, that's the way the world works, kid. Whether you like it or not, get used to it." He turns his attention to Judy. "Now, since your sans warrant and if we're done here. Can I please have the pen so I could leave?"
Judy sighs and brings out the pen. "Fine. We are done. Here's your pen."
"Thank you." Before he could take the pen from Judy, she tossed it behind her as it sailed over the fence. "Hey!" He watched as the pen was embedded in the snow and sighs. "First off, you throw like a bunny. Second, you're a very sore loser." He starts climbing the fence as he couldn't wait to get that pen and be free from this mess. Not to mention, get as far away from that kid as possible. "See ya later, kid and Officer Fluff. So sad this is over. I wish I could've helped more."
After he got over the fence, he became surprised as Judy and Tracy were there before him as she was holding the pen with a freshly dug up hole near the fence for both herself and the teenager to crawl through. "The thing is," she said with a smirk. "You don't need a warrant if you have probable cause and I'm pretty sure that me and my witness saw a shifty lowlife climbing the fence."
Nick had an unamused look as he placed his paws on his waist.
"So you're helping plenty. Come on."
As Judy was walking away, Tracy snickers, then cups her paw and whispers, "You're stuck with us until we're done." She playfully sticks her tongue at him before following Judy.
Nick follows the two girls from behind with Judy leading while she takes out her smartphone and turns on it's flashlight. The three mammals kept looking at the rows of limos until Judy dusts off the ice of one license plate as she whispers, "29THD03. This is it!"
Judy goes around with Tracy following her as Nick opens one door and the rabbit cop opens the other. White steams hisses out like a freezer as they enter the front seat of the car. Judy was the first to find something for evidence as she took out blue tweezers from her utility belt and picked up white fur. "Polar bear fur," she said as she showed it to them.
While Judy was taking a small ziplock bag out of her utility and Tracy looking around the car to hopefully find something for further evidence, Nick opens a compartment and dramatically says, "Oh, my God!"
"What? What?"
"What is it, Nick?"
Nick pulls out two CD's and points at them. "The Velvety Pipes of Jerry Vole." He smiles at them as two girls sighed at him unamusingly. "But on CD." He tosses the CD's back in the compartment. "Who still uses CD's?"
Tracy finds a black sliding window which probably shows the back. Climbing up towards it, she slides it as her eyes widened. "Uh, guys. I think you might wanna see this."
Judy and Nick climbed until they were in between her as their eyes widened too from what all three of them were seeing…
At the back seat of the limo, there were claw marks everywhere.
"Wow," Nick said. "If your otter was here that you two were looking for. He had a very bad day."
Judy shined her light and said, "Those are claw marks. You ever seen anything like this?"
"No."
"Me neither," Tracy said.
As Judy shined her light at the claw marks, she moved her light downwards and found a wallet that was opened. "Oh, wait, look." The rabbit climbed through the window first with Tracy following her second and Nick came last. Picking up the wallet, she shines her light as all three of them see Emmitt Otterton's drivers license along with the picture of his family and two credit cards. "This is him, Emmitt Otterton. He was definitely here." Judy and Tracy eyed at all the claw marks. "What do you think happened?"
"I don't know," Tracy said. "But it seems that Emmitt might've gotten savage for some reason."
"Savage?" Judy had an odd look. "Don't you think that's a little much?"
"Well, how do you explain all these claw marks here and there?"
Judy had no clear answer from that. Still, savage was a bit of a strong word. There was no way that a sweet otter could do this. Maybe there could be another possibility as to why there were so many claw marks.
"Still, there are some questions to all this. Like whose car this is? Why would Emmitt come here and where was he going?"
Judy shrugs her shoulders as again she had no answer. However, Nick somehow managed to find that answer as he finds fancy glass cups on the floor and picks one up, seeing the letter B on it. "Well, now, wait a minute. Polar bear fur, Rat Pack music, fancy cup?" His eyes widened with panic. "I know whose car this is. We gotta go."
He quickly puts the glass cup he had in his paw back on a small shelf and picks up the rest, straightening each of them while Judy asked, "Why? Whose car is it?"
"The most feared crime-boss in Tundratown." He looks back at the two girls. "They call him Mr. Big." He flails his arms around and points with paws while adding, "And he does not like me. So we gotta go!"
"We're not leaving. This is a crime scene."
Nick goes behind Tracy and wraps his arm around her waist, then grabs Judy's arm while saying as he leads them to the door, "Well, it's gonna be an even bigger crime scene…" He opens the door, without realizing that two polar bears were waiting outside. One was wearing a golden dollar sign necklace and had a ring on his left paw, and wore a black zip-up shirt and pants. The other polar bear wore the same clothes, but the crown symbols and the stripes on their sleeves were different as one on the left was light-blue and the other on the right was yellow. "...if Mr. Big finds me here. So we're leaving right now."
"Uh, Nick," Tracy said as she saw the polar bears.
"What!"
She points behind as Nick turns around, only for him to gasp in surprise and place his paw on his chest. Quickly composing himself and trying to stay cool he said to the polar bears, "Raymond! And is that, Kevin?" The polar with the yellow stripe, which must be Kevin, growls a little. "Long time, no see. And, speaking of 'no see' how about you forget you saw me, huh? For old times sake?"
Immediately, the two polar bears grabbed Judy and Nick, but not Tracy.
"That's a no."
As they pick them up, their eyes turn to Tracy. She gives them a small smile and chuckle, and was about to make a run for it by going to the other door, but the light-blue striped polar bear named Raymond grabs her by the scruff of her neck and picks her up. Kevin reaches out while she hisses as her claws unsheathed and Nick yells, "Wait, don't hurt her!"
Judy's eyes widened with worry as she thought that the polar bear might do something bad to her. However, much to her shock, Kevin scratches Tracy's ear. This seemed to not only surprise the teenager, but shock her as well as he then started to scratch the side of her face before stroking her neck next, causing her to stretch her neck and purr. He gives a small chuckle as he gently takes her and places her on Raymond's shoulder.
As the two polar bears carried Judy and Nick, with Tracy riding on the shoulder of Raymond. The teenaged cat looks at the rabbit cop who gives her a confused look, to which Tracy just shrugs as she too was confused. Why were these polar bears treating her kindly while they were treating them badly? Was it because she was a cat and was probably too cute to even be harmed by such vicious creatures, or was it something else? Maybe it was best to just watch and see for herself where it'll lead her to.
When they get to a black car, Raymond gently grabs the girl as she is brought to his chest. Kevin opens the door and goes around while still carrying Nick as Raymond gets in and places the rabbit right next to him and Tracy on his lap, then Kevin gets in as he places the fox right next to Judy. As he sat down, the two mammals were in between the two polar bears as a polar bear chauffeur started the car and drove off with its passengers in tow.
However, no one noticed that out in the distance two figures in black robes were on a rooftop watching as they saw a car drive off with Tracy inside. One was small and had a fox tail while it looked young, and the other was bigger who looked to be an adult and had a white tail. Inside the hood of the mysterious white-tailed individual with shadows covering the face, icy-blue eyes narrowed.
Judy and Nick remained silent during the ride while music was playing for all six of the mammals inside the vehicle to hear. Tracy was laying on Raymond's legs as he continued to pet her back. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't sleeping, more like relaxing as she continued to purr with delight. As the three of them were waiting to wherever it is these polar bears were taking them, Judy's eyes looked at Raymond who already had his smartphone out as he was looking at a picture of himself and Kevin as he had a wolf in a chock lock with both himself and Kevin smiling, then he gives a small chuckle as Judy cringes at this. "What did you do that made Mr. Big, so mad at you?" she whispers.
"I, um, I may have sold him a very expensive wool rug that was made from the fur of a skunk…'s butt."
Her eyes widened with shock as she looked at Nick while Tracy opened her eyes after hearing that and whispered, "Seriously? You actually did that?"
Nick gives her a slow nod as she slaps her forehead. How could Nick be so stupid? She thought he would be more clever than that.
"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers," Judy said.
Tracy nods as she couldn't agree with her more. She mentally prayed to God that they weren't going to be dead meat. Well, at least not her hopefully, but she would rather not push her luck. However, she was still a little worried for both Judy and Nick's sake. What could she, a teenaged human turned little cat, do to help them? These guys were three times her size and they could easily carry her like a rag doll. It was probably for the best that she didn't need to worry about that and just be patient. At least for now.
They arrived at a fancy mansion as Kevin came out first, tilting his head to signal Nick and Judy to get out while Raymond came out last behind them as he carried Tracy like a baby. Her eyes kept focusing on every surrounding that she saw and she couldn't help but admit that the place was amazing, despite the snow and ice here and there. This was Tundratown after all.
They then arrived at an office where there were two shelves of books, a fireplace with a shelf that held items and above it was a female elderly vole portrait with a rose and two candles, a lamplight, a desk with a fancy chair, and wonderful rugs. Kevin growls as he shoves Judy and Nick forward, earning him a hiss from Tracy as she said, "Hey, take it easy with them!"
"Shh! Don't intimidate them!" Nick whispered sharply.
Raymond leans down as Tracy hops off and lands on all fours, then stands up as she was right next to Nick. The door opens as a polar bear dressed in a business suit walks in while straightening his suit. "Is that Mr. Big?" Judy whispered.
"No!"
The polar bear stops as another one walks through the door, this time it was slightly taller than the one that just came in as he too stood next to the other polar bear while Judy asked, "What about him? Is that him?"
"No!"
There was a rumble-like growl as another polar bear walked through the door and this one was huge, twice the size of the other two polar bears that walked through that door as he had to duck his head in order to get in the office while both Judy and Tracy gasp at the size of that polar bear. His suit and jeans were black, and he had a black shirt underneath. Around his neck, he wore a golden necklace with a golden pendant attached to it, a golden ring on his left paw and two extra rings on his right paw as they were clasped together. "That's gotta be him," the rabbit said.
"No doubt about it," Tracy agreed while whispering. "He's definitely the big shot."
"Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking!"
As the big bear sat down, the ground shook a little as it made Tracy gulp some air. The big bear brings his clasped paws on the desk and moves them aside, revealing a small chair, then he uses his one finger to turn it around as it is revealed to be a male vole. He wore black suit coat and pants, black vest over a white shirt, black bow tie, white spats on his little feet, a small diamond ring on his right paw, and a small red flower on the left-side of his suit coat. His fur was brown with pink under the muzzle going to the nose, slick black hair that was combed back, and bushy black eyebrows that easily hid his blue eyes.
Judy seemed a little surprised as she tilted her head a little. "Huh?"
Tracy couldn't agree more as she crossed her arms. "Wow. I'm a little surprised."
Nick elbows Tracy's arm as she grunted slightly and rubbed her arm. "Mr. Big, sir," he put his paws together while the two girls looked at him. "This is a simple misunder-"
He didn't finish as Mr. Big brought out his right paw which held the diamond ring.
"Yeah. Here." He brings two fingers to the vole's small paw and gives it a small kiss. "This is a simple misunderstanding."
Mr. Big waved at the fox, telling him to move back as he did until he was in between the girls again. The vole then points and says, "You there."
"Me?" Nick said as he pointed both fingers at himself.
"No, no, no. The cat that's right next to you."
Nick seemed confused, the same as Judy as they looked at Tracy as she pointed at herself and said, "Me?"
Mr. Big nods and motions her to step-forward while saying, "Come here, child."
Tracy seemed a little nervous, but had to swallow that as she slowly stepped forward.
"There's no need to be scared," Mr. Big assured her. "I can assure you that you are perfectly safe." As she got to the desk, he continued, "So tell me, child. Have my men treated you with the utmost respect?"
Tracy raises an eyebrow with confusion as she answers, "Um, yes. They haven't hurt me or anything."
Mr. Big seemed to smile at her answer. "Good. I not only welcome you to my humble abode, but I also invite you to take part in my daughter's wedding."
"Your daughter?"
He nods at her. "It is my way of thanking you for saving my daughter's life. In return, I will take your kindness and pay it forward."
This seemed to confuse Tracy even more, Judy felt the same way. She doesn't recall anyone who was related to Mr. Big whom Tracy saved. Not that she was aware of yet. Mr. Big raises his arms as Tracy shrugged and went with it as she leaned her head forward and got a kiss on both cheeks. Nick's jaw dropped in shock as he and Judy looked at one another while Tracy giggled slightly from getting kissed by a vole. "Oh, speaking of invitation," Mr. Big said as he waved to the girl to stand right next to Nick, then pointed to the fox. "You come here with this girl unannounced on the day my daughter is to be married."
Trying to look innocent, Nick said, "Well, actually, we were brought here against our will, so…" He chuckles nervously as Mr. Big raises an eyebrow. "The point is, I-I did not know that this kid was being invited, or it was your car, and I certainly did not know about your daughter's wedding."
"Meh. I trusted you, Nicky. I welcomed you into my home." Nick hangs his head with both shame and guilt as his ears fold. "We broke bread together. Gram-mama made you a cannoli." Mr. Big, Nick, Judy, and Tracy looked at the elderly portrait of his grandmother. Looking back at the fox, Mr. Big continued, "And how did you repay my generosity? With a rug made from the butt of a skunk. A skunk-butt rug. You disrespected me." He points at the fox. "You disrespected my Gram-mama who I buried in that skunk butt rug." He looks at the huge polar bear who stood up after putting his boss down and crosses himself while looking up gloomily, then the crime-boss looked back at the fox. "I told you never to show your face here again, but here you are with this girl whom my men have been trying to find upon my daughter's request to come to the wedding and almost had to give up on finding her, which I could thank God that I prayed that she would come if anyone manages to find her."
Tracy seemed a little surprised, Mr. Big sent out his men to find her just so he could bring her to the wedding. Judy also seemed surprised, but at the same time worried. A crime-boss trying to take a child seemed a little like kidnapping to her, in which she could thank her lucky feet that none of his men took her right under her nose as long as this girl was in her care.
"And not only that, you've been snooping around with this…" Mr. Big couldn't tell from this rabbit as he hadn't seen a rabbit cop before. "What are you, a performer? What's with the costume?"
Judy assured him of what she was as she said, "Sir, I am a-"
"Mime!" Nick cut her off before she could tell the crime-boss that she was a cop working for the ZPD. "She is a mime."
Tracy sighs as she places a paw at her eyes and nods while thinking, Seriously? That's the best excuse he can come up with?
"This...mime cannot speak. You can't speak if you're a mime."
"No, I am a cop."
"Ugh," Nick groaned as he placed a paw on his eye and nodded.
Judy brings out the picture of the Otterton's. "And I'm on the Emmitt Otterton case. And my evidence puts him in your car." She puts the picture back in her utility belt and points at the vole. "You're just lucky I'm not arresting you on the attempted kidnapping of this poor girl standing next to Nick. So intimidate me and try to act all innocent to her if you want, but you're not going to fool anyone here. Me and that girl are going to find out what you did to that otter if it's the last thing me and her could do."
Nick's eyes widened with worry as Judy might've pushed her luck too far. Tracy cringed a little as she thought, Maybe that was a little too far. We could at least just question him and see what he knows.
Mr. Big thought that this was more of the other way around as the bunny was trying to intimidate him, which he didn't seem affected by. He commended her for trying to act tough, despite her being a cop and a rabbit no less as this was a first for him to see. Not to mention, he wasn't fooling anyone as he was a little innocent. Only if he doesn't want to be. "Meh. Then I only have a few requests." He looks at the huge polar bear and orders, "Koslov, hold the kid and cover her eyes. I don't want her to see this."
The huge polar bear, Koslov, nods in compliance as he walked around the desk. When he got to the cat, he reached down with his big paw and gently grabbed her as he lifted her up. "See what?" Tracy asked confused. "What's going on?" Koslov uses his other big paw to cover the upper part of her body as she couldn't see.
Looking back at Judy and Nick, Mr. Big said to them, "As for the both of you. Say hello to Gram-mama. Ice'em!"
Kevin grabs the back of Judy's bulletproof vest and lifts her up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Nick stammered a lot of words as he was trying to come-up with something. Raymond grabs the back of his shirt and tries to lift him, but the fox had his claws on the desk as he scratched it as he finally said, "I didn't see nothing! I'm not saying nothing!"
When he was lifted, Mr. Big said, "And you never will."
"Please! No, no, no!"
"Put me down!"
While a polar was moving aside a rug that was near the desk, Tracy said with her voice slightly muffled from Koslov's big paw, "What're you doing to them?!"
Using her small paws, she lifts Koslov's big paw while grunting, much to the huge polar bear's shock as she was pushing up on his paw with such strength and he was trying to prevent her from seeing this. When she lifted enough for her to see, she gasped when she saw a polar bear move away a wooden lid that was on the floor, revealing an icy hole with freezing water in it. This is what Mr. Big said after she heard him say "Ice'em", he means to freeze them to death.
"If you're mad at me about the rug, I've got more rugs!" Nick yelled.
Then it happened fast before anyone had the chance to blink. With a cry from Tracy as she shouted, "STOOOP!" She broke free from Koslov's grip and pushed him back with both of her back feet as she jumped while Koslov was slammed to the wall. She never even noticed that time itself somehow heard her call as it stopped. She kicks Raymond in the face as he was knocked to the side with Kevin as they crashed at the door, breaking it off its hinges. In the process, both polar bears lost their grip on Judy and Nick as they yelped and shut their eyes. When they thought they were going to hit the freezing water below them...they didn't even touch it as they were being lifted to safety as they were moving slowly and safely away from the hole. Opening their eyes, they both gasped as they were flying. But how?
They both heard grunting as Tracy said, "Man, you guys are heavy!"
They looked above with shock as Tracy had Judy by the back of her bulletproof vest and Nick's shirt while she was literally walking on air as if she was on the floor still with her eyes shut. Her body was surrounded in a light-blue aura as she continued her slow walk until Judy said, "Tracy, open your eyes!"
"Huh?" Tracy opens them as she was half-way to the door, but something was off for her. Why was everything a little bigger now? She looked around, only to see the shocked looks of both the polar bears and Mr. Big, whose jaw had already dropped while his eyes widened. He even wondered how was she able to do that and who was she? Looking down, Tracy gasped as she saw that was literally several feet off the ground and was flying while letting go of Judy and Nick, making them yelp as they landed on their fronts. "What...I'm flying? But…" She looks at her paws that had the aura around them. "But how is this-"
Just like that, the aura faded as gravity took over, causing her to cry out a loud mreow as she landed on the ground on all fours while the soft padding of her paws cushioned her landing, tail raised as the back of her fur raised slightly from surprise.
As she pants while calming down her racing heart, Judy crawled over to her and said, "Are you okay?"
She nods her head.
"How did you do that?"
She was going to answer, but Mr. Big said, "Child, listen to me." Tracy, Judy, and Nick turn their attention to him. "Be reasonable, there's no need for you to make this hard. Just step away from the fox and the bunny and come to me."
Judy narrowed her eyes as she quickly stood up right in front of her and said with a hard tone, "Over my dead body if she ever comes to you."
Nick quickly got up and stood next to the rabbit cop, whispering, "Don't give him that idea, Carrots!"
"That could be arranged," Mr. Big said. "Koslov."
Koslov nods as he straightens his coat and starts moving. However, before he could take another step, the office started to shake. This seemed to take everyone by surprise as bits of ice fell off the ceiling, the books from the shelves began to slowly fall off and land on the floor, and windows rattled and cracked. Unfortunately, none of them realized that unusual shaking wasn't happening at the office. It happened outside the mansion as the car's horn honked and polar bears were trying to not lose their balance from the sudden earthquake.
Two black robed individuals didn't seem to be affected by the earthquake as they arrived while the adult said in a male voice, "Yep, she's here alright."
When a polar bear noticed those two individuals wearing black robes, he could immediately tell that they didn't seem to be friendly as he took out a pistol which held tranquilizer darts. The adult looked at the small one who didn't even look at him and tilted his head towards the polar bear. Somehow receiving the command, the small robed one went forward. The polar bear seemed confused as to why this adult would send this little guy, or possibly a girl, wearing nothing more than a black-hooded robe towards him. However, the small one moved the robe aside, revealing a katana with a yellow sheath and the handle being black and yellow, strapped on the belt of his or her waist. As the small robed individual had a paw near the guard of the katana, the blade was opened with a small clank as it was pushed up slightly from its sheath.
Back at the office, Nick was looking around everywhere while saying, "W-What's going on? What's with this earthquake?"
"I don't know," Judy answered.
Behind them, there was a small glow of light-blue as they turned around, only to see Tracy who was still on all fours with that same aura surrounding her and her sky-blue eyes glowed light-blue as she gave a cat-like growl. Walking past the two mammals without taking their eyes off her as their jaws remained agaped, she stood up as her bag opened by itself and the king's grimoire floated out as it was right next to her. Judy gasped as she placed both paws on her mouth out of shock while Koslov took a small step back as the book's pages flipped until it was at the center where it glowed as it formed into a spiral of light.
Tracy's body seemed to go on autopilot as something was coming out of that book and she slowly reaches for it while a black handle with a silver jewel on the pommel slowly comes out as she addresses Mr. Big, "If you dare to send any of these polar bears to come near Judy and Nick again. I swear I'll-"
Nick waved both of his paws in a frantic manner while stammering as he was trying to come up with some words and quickly closing the book as he said to her, "Uh, kid, I think that's enough." He grunted as the book he shut was forced opened, and he tried to close it again but couldn't as the black handle slowly came out again, only this time he could see the shape of a sword as the blade had yet to come out. Looking at Judy, who still stood there and watched at this shocking spectacle, yells, "Carrots!" Judy jumps slightly as she looks at him. "Don't just stand there! Talk some sense into her!"
As Tracy grabbed the handle of the sword and was about to pull it out of the grimoire, Judy grabbed her shoulders and said to her, "Tracy, snap out of it!" She shook her slightly. "Tracy!"
She didn't seem to respond. However, her eyes gazed at the pendant that Tracy wore around her neck as it gave off a small light-blue glow. Somehow this thing must've been responsible for what's happening to her and the cause of this earthquake along with that book and the sword coming out of it. Taking the pendant, she yanks it off her neck as the chain snaps off. Immediately, the light-blue aura surrounding her completely dissipates along with the glow in her eyes as she loses her grip of the sword handle and collapses on Judy's chest while the sword was sucked back into the book and Nick slams the book shut. Then, the earthquake finally stopped.
He slowly breathed heavily as it came to an end. Just what in the world just happened? First this kid flies and now a glowing book with a sword almost coming out of it. Who the heck was she? Speaking about a book, he turns it around as he sees the cover of three circles that form a mouse head. He's seen books in his life, but nothing like this. Because books don't float or bring swords out of the pages. Turning it around for Judy to see, he points at the symbol and said, "What the heck is this thing?"
Judy nods as she shrugged, having no idea what that was either. What is going on here? Just what is she getting herself into that doesn't just involve the missing mammals? Better yet, was there more to it than just that? Was this somehow tied to this "classified information" that Chief Bogo and Tracy were talking about? Darn it, there were so many questions that she doesn't have the answers to them yet. Putting those questions out of her mind for now, she looked at Tracy who groaned as the rabbit cop said, "Are you okay?"
"I…" Tracy rubs the side of her head with her paw. "I think so. What happened? Everything just went white."
Judy and Nick were confused. What did she mean by "white"? There was no white anywhere here. The rabbit cop was about to ask her, but was interrupted when she, Tracy, and Nick heard a small female voice say, "Daddy!" They looked and saw a female vole who wore a white wedding dress and a wreath on the back of her black hair with white flowers on it. Judy and Tracy recognized her. It was the same vole they saved the other day from being crushed from the giant donut, and she was the daughter of Mr. Big, the crime-boss' daughter. She ran over to her father and placed her paw on his and said with worry in her voice, "Daddy, are you alright? I was coming to get you and there was this strange earthquake."
He pats his daughter's paw and assures her, "It's alright, darling, I'm fine."
Mr. Big's daughter looked around, noticing both Kevin and Raymond walking back in after the door was destroyed as she asked them, "What happened?"
The only answer she got was Raymond massaging his sore face and spitting out a tooth. She winced seeing that he was hurt for some strange reason while Judy hissed slightly and Nick gave a small whistle. Seems that this kid was a bit stronger than he thought if she could take on a polar bear like that. Mr. Big's daughter looked around again as she looked down, seeing the icy hole in the floor, then looking at the three mammals. Putting everything together, her eyes narrowed as she turned to her father with her paws at her hips and said, "Oh, what did we say? No icing anyone at my wedding!"
"I have to, baby. Daddy has to."
"And what about that sweet girl?" She shook a finger at her father. "You better not try to either ice her as well or even hurt her after I told you to treat her with respect if she ever comes to my wedding!"
"Of course not, I'm not a monster. I don't hurt kids and not one spec of fur was taken off that girl's head. She's just being hard, that's all." He looks at the two polar bears and orders them, "Raymond, Kevin, grab the girl, but be easy with the kid. Take her to my daughter's wedding and watch her until I get back." He then looked at the huge polar bear. "Koslov, grab the bunny and the fox, then...ice'em."
With the orders given, the three polar bears started to move slowly towards the three mammals as Judy gasped and Tracy got on all fours as she hissed at them. "Uh, Carrots," Nick said. "I think now's a good time to give that necklace back to that kid because we're gonna need her strength right about now."
Judy looks at the pendant that was still in her paw. She was hesitant as she wasn't sure if she should give it back to her. Would Tracy lose herself completely and unintentionally hurt someone or worst of all herself? On the other paw, she did see for herself what she could do and how she protected them from getting iced. So throwing caution to the wind and hoping she doesn't regret it, she was about to place the necklace back on Tracy's neck, then would tell Nick to find cover as this will probably get a little ugly, but couldn't do any of that as Mr. Big's daughter yelled, "Wait! Wait!" The polar bears stopped moving as she pointed at Judy. "She's the bunny that was with that sweet girl who saved my life yesterday, from that giant donut!"
"This bunny?" Mr. Big said.
"Yeah! Hi!" Mr. Big daughter waved.
"Hi," Judy waved back. "I love your dress."
"I'll say," Tracy agreed as she stood up. "You look so beautiful and congratulations on your wedding."
"Oh, thank you."
Mr. Big looks at a polar bear. "Close up the ice box." As the polar bear did what he was told, the crime-boss looks at the bunny and points, then waves that single finger while saying, "You, come here." The rabbit cop walks towards his desk. "You've done me a great service. I will help you and your friend find the otter. As I said to that young girl, I will take your kindness and pay it forward." Mr. Big raises his arms as Judy leans her head forward and gets a kiss on both cheeks.
Nick's jaw drops in shock again after he sees Mr. Big kiss another mammal. This night just couldn't get any weirder than this. Still, his mind was filled with questions concerning Tracy, even Judy herself had her own questions as she needed to know from her.
(Tracy)
We arrived at another room where the party was starting. Unfortunately this was more for the little guys instead of me, Officer Hopps, and Nick joining in as we were too huge. But we did become spectators the same as all those polar bears who work for Mr. Big. Anyway, I even introduced myself to the bride and Officer Hopps' name Judy. To which the bride told us that her name was Fru Fru. She told me that my name sounded cute for a sweet girl like me and Judy's name sounded beautiful. For me, after she told me that my name was cute, it was more of the other way around. Her name sounded cute since well...she's a cute tiny vole who I could literally hold her in the palm of my paw.
While we watched as the photographer took a picture of the bride and her husband, I heard Italian music as all the voles danced. They were all so adorable the way they did it. I knew I needed to get a picture of this. I was about to dig out my badge that was still in my pocket, but Officer Hopps placed a paw on my shoulder as I looked at her and said to me, "Tracy, we need to talk...now."
She led me somewhere with Nick following us. I could tell that she had some questions she needed to answer. Honestly, I can't blame her after everything that just happened. When we came to a balcony where no one would hear us, I faced Officer Hopps and Nick as she asked me with a tilt of the head towards the bag I had, "First-off, tell me what that thing is inside your bag."
"Oh, that. It's called a grimoire."
"Grimoire?" Nick said with an eyebrow raised. "What's that?"
I shrugged and answered, "Honestly, I don't know."
"Well, maybe you could answer this," Officer Hopps said as she took out my necklace out of her utility belt. "Where did you get this necklace?"
I dug through my pocket and pulled out my badge. "I got it with this."
She had a sceptical look. "Are you sure?"
I nod my head. I mean, she had seen a holographic map come out of this. What's to say that a necklace would to. Seeing that I was telling the truth, she put my necklace back in her utility belt, probably to keep me from wearing this again. Which again, I can't blame her, there was something weird about that thing that made me do this crazy stuff earlier. However, Nick was finding this hard to believe as he said, "How was this even possible?"
"It's best I don't tell you about that yet," I answered.
"Okay, then how about telling us about the flying and the glowing?"
"I don't know," I shrugged. "It's just as I said, everything went white."
Officer Hopps and Nick looked at one another, then they looked back at me as she said to me, "Do you remember anything at all or did it all happen so fast you don't even remember?"
Placing a finger under my chin, I thought hard for a second, then said, "The first thing I remember was carrying you guys while walking on something solid before I found out I was flying. Then, the second thing I remembered was getting angry since Mr. Big sent that huge polar bear at us and I was going to warn him that he'll be sorry if he dared try to send any more of those polar bears at you guys again."
Judy crossed her arms while having a questionable look. "How did it feel when you flew along with the glow?"
"Hmm...It kinda felt tingly. That's all that I know."
"Alright," Nick said. "So what about the sword?"
I had a confused look. "Sword?"
"You mean you don't know?"
I nodded at him.
He points at the bag. "Well, that grimoire or whatever you call it, floated right out of that bag and opened itself. Then a sword came out and you were trying to pull it out."
"I did? That actually happened?"
Officer Hopps and Nick nod at me. Did that really happen? I don't seem to recall trying to grab a sword from this grimoire. In fact, I don't even remember how it happened. Getting a little curious, I opened the bag and pulled out the grimoire, opening it as I flipped through all the empty pages save for The World Key image. Keeping the book opened, I turned it as all the pages were hanging over and I shook it. "Huh?" I looked at them. "No sword coming out now. I wonder how that happened?"
I heard a throat clear as me, Officer Hopps, and Nick looked as a polar bear tilted his head, signaling us to come join Mr. Big for the rest of the party.
We all sat down on a chair near a table as tiny glass cups were there that were filled with red liquid. Something that was definitely not for me since I'm too young to drink. A vole waiter came by, carrying with him a circular tray that had small plates that had small slices of cake. I managed to get one, the same as Judy and Nick, but she set that to the side. Me, I couldn't deny that it looked absolutely cute as I can easily carry it with just two fingers. Not to mention there was a small fork as me and Nick picked one up. I managed to take off a piece, then all I only needed to do was give a small lick and swallow it. It was really sweet despite it being that tiny though.
"Otterton is my florist," Mr. Big said as we listened. "He's like a part of the family. He had something important he wanted to discuss. That's why I sent that car to pick him up. But he never arrived."
"Because he was attacked," Officer Hopps said.
"No. He attacked."
This took us by surprise. Otterton attacking? How did this even happen?
"Otterton?"
"Otterton. He went crazy. Ripped up the car, scared my driver half to death and disappeared into the night."
"But he's a sweet little otter."
"My child, we may be evolved, but deep down we are still animals."
We looked at one another with concern. There was something strange going on here and I think we were about to get deeper before we got closer to the truth. Speaking of the truth, Mr. Big doesn't know that I'm actually a human and not an animal. I was turned into one the moment I came into this world.
"You wanna find Otterton, talk to the driver of the car. His name is Manchas, lives in the Rainforest District. Only he can tell you more."
Breep! Breep! Breep! We heard a loud noise as we looked around. "What's going on?" I said, "Is this a fire drill or something?"
"That's no fire drill," Mr. Big said. "There's an intruder in my home." He looks at two polar bears and orders each one. "You, go find Koslov and round up the others. Find this intruder." The polar bear nods as he runs off. "And you, take these three to the other exit and drive them to the Rainforest District to where Manchas lives."
"Shouldn't we stay and help?"
"No, you need to find the otter. Don't worry about me."
Officer Hopps places a paw on my shoulder. "Tracy, we have to go."
I sighed as I knew we had to leave. This wasn't our fight. We still have a job to do. Giving Mr. Big a small kiss to the cheek, I said to him, "Thanks for the party, I enjoyed it. Please be careful."
He petted my nose and said to me, "You're a good child. I'll be fine. Now go." I nodded as Officer Hopps and Nick came with me as we followed the polar bear to the other exit. "Good luck to you all and Godspeed."
Mr. Big was sitting on his chair with Koslov still holding him in the palm of his paw. So far, he found out from the other polar bears that they were dealing with not one, but two intruders who have come invited into his mansion. He was just lucky that the wedding was over before they arrived or else his daughter would've been endangered by these mysterious mammals. Still, what drove them to come here in the first place? It was probably best if he asked them himself before icing them. That's if they survive long enough to be questioned. However, he also found out that some of the polar bears were either dead or critically injured and they needed medical help immediately. Just who were these mammals and how could only just two take on an entire tough small army of polar bears?
The surviving polar bears along with Koslov each had their tranquilizer pistols with the huge polar bear having a shock pistol pointed and ready at the door. Behind the door, they could hear grunting and bodies falling until it became silent. Then...a polar bear was smashed through the door as he rolled upon landing on the floor. Mr. Big clutched his paws on the armrests of his chair as two black robed individuals stepped forth. However, his eyes widened with shock as one of those individuals was a teenager who looked no bigger than Tracy. But that wasn't the only thing that shocked him. In the teenager's right paw, carried a sheathed katana and right next to the teenager was a book that was floating. Unlike the book that he saw from Tracy, this book was yellow with a black lightning symbol on the front cover with a purple jewel embedded on the symbol with purple markings surrounding the cover.
The black robed adult looked at the young teenager and tilted his head towards them. The teenager crouched down low while bringing the paw close to the handle of the katana. The pages of the book flipped by themselves until it stopped at a page where rune symbols that almost looked like words glowed and electricity surrounded the teenager.
The polar bears and even Koslov were shocked at seeing this, but Mr. Big sighed as he crossed himself and mentally prayed, Please God, forgive me for what I'm about to do next. Then with a serious look he yelled at the polar bears and Koslov, "Don't just stand there! Shoot!"
Shaking away their stupor, they took the order from their boss and started shooting. Darts and a single ball of electricity shot forward at the two. However, the teenager's eyes glowed yellow and said in a male voice, "Thunder Clap."
The last thing that Mr. Big saw before Koslov protected him with his huge paw and him falling off of his chair was a flash of lightning, the polar bears screaming, and Koslov crashing at a window while his body slid on the snow and more crashing from the other windows as shards of glass landed on the snow.
Koslov grunted as he sat up, moving aside his huge paw as he looked at his boss who was still in one piece but okay. "You okay?" Mr. Big asked him as he nodded to his boss. The huge polar bear took his eyes off of his boss as he looked at the teenager. Looking around at the snow, he finds his shock pistol and picks it up. He points it at the teenager, but he moves too quick as he kicked the pistol aside as was about to kill Koslov with his katana while the huge bear closed his eyes and was about to accept death with open arms.
"Wait!" The adult said as the teenager's blade was touching the huge polar bear's neck while he remained floating in the air with a yellow aura surrounding him. "Keep this one alive since he's carrying the father."
Koslov opened his eyes while Mr. Big became confused. What did he mean by that?
Out of the adult's robe came another book that was floating right next to him as this one was grey with a dark symbol on the cover that had four triangles forming a cross and at the center had a diamond shape. The book didn't open, but he did raise a white paw that had a dark-grey fingerless glove and said, "I have something of yours."
There was grunting as something was being lifted off of the adult's pocket. Mr. Big gasped as he saw a female vole floating right next to him as it was none other than his daughter. "Fru Fru!"
"Daddy!"
Mr. Big clenched his teeth and his eyes narrowed angrily. How dare this mammal whoever he was touch his daughter! Koslov could feel his boss' anger as his eyes too narrowed and he growled.
"If you're wondering how I got your daughter," the adult said. "Let's just say while I was looking around, I sorta stumbled into a bunch of these little pests who were about to leave since their so-called wedding came to an end. And this little one right here told me about you."
"I swear," Mr. Big said through clenched teeth. "If you hurt one hair on my daughter's head-"
"You're not the one making demands, pipsqueak!" He raised his paw as Mr. Big was surrounded in a grey aura and quickly floated towards him while Koslov tried to catch him but was held back by the teenager's blade. His book opened as the pages flipped and stopped on a page as the runes glowed grey, then he slowly clenched his paw. The crime-boss felt like he was slowly getting crushed by some unknown force as he grunted. "I can easily crush you easily without even having to try."
"Stop it!" Fru Fru shouted as she helplessly watched her father suffer.
The pages flipped again and stopped on another page as Fru Fru was surrounded in a grey dome. Her little paws hitting against it as she shouted, but no words could be heard as tears were streaming from her eyes.
The adult unclenched his paw and Mr. Big breathed heavily while the grey aura was still surrounding him. "Now then, if you don't want to see what I could really do to your daughter I suggest you start cooperating."
Mr. Big knew that there was no way he could stop these two and fearing for his daughter's life he had no choice. So with a sigh, he said, "Very well, but there is one condition. I want to see your face along with the kid behind me. It'd be bad business if I don't know the face of the mammals standing before me."
"Alright." He turns Mr. Big around to face the teenager as the crime-boss sees a fox tail. "Hey puppet, turn around and take off your hood."
Taking the sword away from Koslov's neck, he turns around to face Mr. Big as he takes off his hood. Mr. Big's eyes widened when he saw that the boy was not only a red fox, but his face had dark markings and his eyes were black as the night. Almost as if he couldn't see anything except darkness. When he was turned around, the adult took off his hood as he revealed himself to be an arctic wolf with grey hair and bangs dangling on the sides of his face.
Koslov took this opportunity to try and get his gun, but his boss yelled as he looked behind, "Koslov, stay where you are! Don't move!" He seemed to comply as the crime-boss looked back at the arctic wolf. "What do you want?"
"Information and your going to tell me something." He brought the crime-boss close as the arctic wolf's icy-blue eyes narrowed. "Where is the caretaker of King Mickey's grimoire?"
So now the enemy has been revealed. Who are they and what do they want with Tracy? Find out in chapter 6 of the story!
