Chapter Two

A Different Kind of Playtime

Nack stretched out his arms behind his head, yawning slightly and taking in the afternoon sun. They were in the middle of Station Square now, sitting on a bench next to a fountain that sparkled in the daylight. Bean had already crawled into the water, trying to catch the 'shiny' water in his hand while Bark tried to fish the duck out of the ceramic decoration. Nack shook his head in annoyance, turning his head away from the spectacle to look at the fidgeting fox next to him.

The cops in the station had been anything but pleased when Stella had presented them with double the bail money—they had already set it ridiculously high to make sure the Hooligans weren't let out. Then, to their utmost dismay, some little kid had strolled in willing to pay all of it and more. The look on their faces had been priceless. The weasel had been sure to shoot them all a smug grin before he was 'escorted' off the premises by the fox girl.

Stella had been awkwardly quiet since then, though. She simply sat next to the weasel on the bench, hands clamped together as she waved her legs back and forth while staring uncomfortably at the cement sidewalk. Nack sighed, reaching around her head to yank one of the girl's large fuzzy ears. Stella yelped loudly, pushing away from the weasel to the other end of the bench.

"W-why'd ya…" She stammered, but Nack held up his hand.

"You had a job for us, didn't ya?" He questioned. She stared then nodded slowly. "Well, we ain't got all day. The sooner you tell us the job, the sooner we can get it over with, the sooner we can get a piece of that LOVELY little gem that you're carryin' around with ya."

"You can't have it until you finish." Stella snapped as her hands grazed protectively over the front of her peacoat. Nack scoffed, glancing upwards as a shadow fell over them—Bark had retrieved the bomber, tucking Bean safely underneath his arm. The duck waved his fingers pleasantly at the fox and she puffed her cheeks up. "I'm not kidding! You can't have it 'til you finish the mission, okay?!"

"That's how it usually works, yeah."

"…I want you three to find my parents." She muttered.

"….Wot?" Nack asked incredulously, leaning in to stare at the little girl; one finger jabbed out to push right against his eye and the weasel jumped backwards screeching in pain. Ignoring his rolling and loud obscenities, Stella turned to look at the polar bear and duck behind her—Bean still wore his usual blank smile and curiosity seemed to fill Bark's red eyes. She sighed, jumping down from the bench.

"M'parents went missing about a year ago." She explained, crouching down by Nack. The weasel just spat expletives at her, one hand covering his eye. "I'm in the care of my aunt right now, cuz the courts declared them both legally dead. But I don't believe it. There isn't any proof."

"That's it?! Don't stab me in the eyes just for that!" Nack snapped. He hauled himself up, slamming his foot against the bench. Stella scooted down the wooden surface slightly, towards the polar bear and duck—Bark grasped the back of her peacoat and she let out a yelp as she was lifted into the air to be situated on his free arm. "Bark, I swear to everything holy—"

"Don't get so worked up, Snaggletooth. You'll ruin all the fun." Bean interrupted, leaning against Bark's head to look over at the little girl. Stella clung nervously to the fur of the polar bear's massive arm, chin rested against the shoulder as her feet hung limply downwards. The duck laughed, offering her a hand and dragging her up to stand by him—the height didn't seem to make the fox too comfortable. "Nack's a real jerk, huh? He's bad at getting stuff done too. What's the maniac mission you got for us, little foxy-loxy-chicken-poxy?"

"Uh….? I told you…"

"We need more information than just FIND YER PARENTS, Shiela!" Nack shouted, trying and failing to scale the yellow furred behemoth that the girl stood atop. Bark took a paw and held the weasel down.

"No, no…he's right. If I'm gunna hire you three, you oughta have a little bit of an idea of what the heck is going on." Stella replied. She flopped down to make herself comfortable on the bear's shoulder. "Like I said. My parents went missing about a year ago. They went for a drive durin' a snowstorm, to talk to an old family friend of ours…Dr. William Piniford. But they never came back, and shortly afterwards the police said they were dead."

"But you don't believe it?"

"No! I DON'T!" Stella huffed, slamming the back of her feet against the bear she sat on. Bark winced slightly. "They…they never found the bodies. An' they never found the crash site, either. They just declared them dead, and they did it really quickly. I don't know what's going on but I think that there's something weird about it. I think that someone is tryin' to pull some sort of long scam on my family!"

"And why would that be?" Nack asked, motioning to the polar bear. Bark obliged and scooped the weasel up in his paw, raising him to meet the fox's eye level.

"We, uh…we're kinda pretty rich." She admitted. Nack raised a brow, as if questioning how she thought they had yet to realize that. "An'…the inheritance to our fortune is in my name. But until I turn into an adult, the matter of who has the money is up in the air. It's up for debate an' a lot of folks have tried to make claims towards it since m'parents disappeared. Most of them have failed so far but it's only a matter a'time according to the lawyers."

"So you're gonna lose your shinies?" Bean questioned, leaning over Bark's head to inspect the child. "How are you gonna pay us if you don't have your shinies? We don't come cheap and you already said we could have the really NICE shiny!"

"That's why I nicked it before I left. So I would have something for collateral." Stella replied, pulling the box out of her coat again. Bean stared at it expectantly but the fox did not pop it open like before. "It's rightfully mine anyway. And when you get to the bottom of my case, you can have it. Heck, if you want some extra MONEY I can throw that in too, though I can't see why you'd need it with how much the diamond is really worth."

"As much as I love being wooed into business with a fifty million dollar diamond, I have to ask one more question." Nack began. Pink gloves pulled the box back towards the carnelian coat, mistrust reflecting in icy blue eyes. "You're lookin' to have someone find your parents. You're lookin' to have someone solve your dumb case. So exactly why did you go to illegal mercenaries before you went to a detective agency or something like that?"

A glint sparked in the fox's eyes.

"Mr. Weasel, I want them found quick…even if that means playing by rules that ain't quite legal. Because I get this feelin' that the folks who are out for my family fortune, well, they ain't exactly done tryin' to get at it yet." Stella said solemnly. She tucked the box back into her jacket. "And if they ain't gonna play legally…well, then neither am I."

"….Kid, I gotta say…" Nack chuckled, shaking his head. "I like the way you do playtime."


Atop a nearby high rise building sat a wolverine woman, dark brown fur accented with long stripes of white running down her back. She wore a black tank top, accented with patches sewn across the front. A light brown, leather jacket was tightly wound around her cargo jeans. The gusts of wind blew her tuft of slightly blonde curls around the binoculars held to her eyes—her free hand was cradling a pure white handgun against her leg as she gazed down at the gazebo.

"It look like target has gotten some self-defensing. Group of mercenaries." The wolverine muttered in a thick Russian accent. "Should I be shooting her now?"

"No. Don't be a fool, Svetlana. I want that child alive. I NEED that child alive." A voice crackled back through the earpiece jammed in her round ear. "She hired a group of mercenaries? Who are they? Are they a threat to our operation?"

"Heaven forbid." Svetlana snorted, taking the binoculars away from her eyes. "I have been work with some of them before. They are dangerous, yes, but they are also laughably incompetent. Especially the one they are consider their leader—he's a walking monkey's paw in term of bad luck. Hell, we would be lucky if he did not shoot her in face by accident."

"Complete accident, I'm sure."

"Well, they are not exactly legendary in reputation. The possibility of them making off with pink diamond and killing child is always a possible." Svetlana mused. She produced a small bottle from her cargo jeans and took a long swig. "Is you want me to be killing the mercenaries instead? They could be getting in our way of getting child, and I think that Nack would be no trouble to take down…"

"NO, Svetlana. Listen and use your ears for once. I don't want anyone to die in this. Nonsense like that is too…traceable. We do NOT need an investigation that links a death back to the Frost family." The voice snapped; Svetlana rolled her red eyes. Employers were always so concerned with that sort of nonsense. She figured they needed to live more on the edge and get a taste of living, but if the wolverine ever suggested that, she typically got fired. "Just tail these mercenaries and when the opportunity is right, snatch the girl and bring her back to me. No fuss, no muss, and NO KILLING."

"Yeah, yeah. Keep your panties on. I can do that. But I will be saying this, it is more complicated and difficult to do mission without the convenience of just shooting those who get in way. So perhaps maybe you could, I do not know…" Svetlana paused to let her implications sink in—the other side of the line was dead silent. "…you are knowing what I mean, yes? I COULD be using more of the reward if you are making job such a pain in the ass."

"You will get exactly what I offered you, no more and no less." Her employer said crisply; Svetlana's face fell, and then morphed into an expression of distaste. Her lips curled upwards into a growl, revealing a line of sharp white fangs. "Keep in mind, Ms. Vasin, that I am easily in a position to put you straight into jail again. There are plenty of other mercenaries willing to dip into my bank account, especially with the promise of eventually dipping into the Frost fortune. You are nothing special, wolverine, and do not make the mistake of thinking that you are. Good day."

With that, the line went dead.

The wolverine pulled the earpiece off her head, throwing it down against the hard metal roof to smash it under her foot.

"POSHYEL K CHYERTU, CUCHKA! I WILL GET YOU FOR THIS!"