Version 2 Author Notes:
1) The town where most of the action takes place, AnimaCity, is larger than most AC towns (49 acres!) It has the regular buildings from the first game, but it also has the town hall from AC: Wild World. It may seem confusing at first, but the town hall maintains its importance as a gathering place for special events.
2) After doing a little research, I discovered that the Nooklings speak an equal amount of time. (In ACWW, when you first go to the second floor, Tommy talks and then Timmy repeats, but when you leave, it's reversed.) So, to give the twins some equality in my story, I now switch between them talking and repeating one another. However, you might notice that Tommy is more outspoken and Timmy tends to be a tad shy; that's my own design. Twins might not behave the exact same way, you know.
3) If any of you remember the old version, I kept the Nooklings as Tom Nook's sons, even though technically they aren't. Well, I have an explanation now. Since we never hear of a Mrs. Nook, I've opted to make them his adopted sons. But he adopted them at such an early age that they just say "dad" and "sons". Nook will mention some of this in Chapter 6.
4) And yes, I do still have the fictional attic in Nookington's (although, how do we know that it doesn't exist, hm?); the Nooks have to sleep somewhere, right?
Chapter #1: The Secret Meeting
It was a quiet summer night in the town of AnimaCity. Puffy cumulus clouds had covered up most of the deep blue sky, and a gentle breeze rustled the trees and bushes. In the denser parts of the forest, crickets chirped. Because of the strict 10:00 curfew, all of the villagers had turned their lights off and were snoozing in their cozy cottages…with the exception of three.
In a small apple orchard, three figures crouched in the darkest shadows; all of them wore black cloaks and hoods to hide their identities. They ducked further into their hiding place as a navy-blue robot trotted past them on its nightly patrol. Once it had passed, the trio darted out of the orchard and across a stone bridge. They dove into some bushes on the other side of the river and listened for any sounds. After a pause, two of the strange figures broke the silence.
"Wow, Daddy, this is fun!"
"Fun!"
The third figure turned to the younger ones and held a finger to his lips. "Shh! Timmy, Tommy, please be quiet!"
"Sorry, Daddy," the pair said quietly in unison.
The leader, apparently Tom Nook, shook his head and sighed. "If you want to go to the meeting, you need to be quieter and stealthier, all right?"
"All right," replied the Nooklings.
Leading the Nooklings with his arms, Tom crept to the AnimaCity Museum in Acre E-6 (remember, 49 acres, not 30). Once he was sure the coast was clear, he opened the wooden door that Blathers had placed into the entrance and ducked inside the marble building. Inside the main lobby, he closed the door and locked it with a key the owl had given him. Then he walked up to the museum's old grandfather clock and pressed on a brick in the wall on the clock's left side. The brick went inward and activated a special mechanism behind the clock. The grandfather clock moved to the right, revealing a secret stairway behind it. Taking his sons' hands, the shopkeeper walked down the stairs into the darkness.
The stairwell led down into the museum's hidden basement, where members of the Animal Alliance in AnimaCity met at least once a week. The basement was their storehouse as well, with weapons, gadgets, maps, and plans tucked into drawers and other furniture that had been smuggled into the Museum. So far, the village police hadn't found the hideout, and the Allies' activities had never been disturbed.
The Nooks weren't the first to arrive. The top members were sitting in a circle of red armchairs. The police dogs, Copper and Booker, were sitting at the bottom of the circle with their backs to the raccoons. Celeste the observatory curator (and also Blathers' sister) sat on Copper's left. At the head of the circle sat the Alliance's leader, none other than Tortimer the mayor. When the old tortoise saw the Nooks, he smiled and waved them over to the chairs beside him.
"Glad to see ya made it, Tom," he greeted them warmly. "An' ya brought the younguns with ya, eh?"
"Hi, Mr. Mayor!" Tommy said with an excited grin. (Remember, the other Nookling repeats what's underlined.)
Copper cocked an eyebrow at the raccoon kits and asked Tom, "Why did you bring them here, Nook?"
The shopkeeper shrugged and replied, "They insisted on coming, and I couldn't say no. I made them promise to behave themselves. Will they be any problem, friends?"
A chorus of "No, no problem at all" was the reply.
Then Tom looked around and scratched his head in puzzlement; one member was missing. "Where's Blathers? Wasn't he supposed to get his reconnaissance mission done before the meeting?"
"Yes, he was, hootie hoot," said Celeste, and she ground her beak with worry for her brother. "I hope nothing happened…"
Tortimer attempted to assure the group, smiling and saying, "Don't worry, everybody, he'll git here!" He looked down at his feet and whispered to himself, "…I hope."
Suddenly, the Allies heard the sound of the museum clock moving; someone was coming into the basement. Fearing that Big Boss had discovered them, Tortimer ordered them to prepare for a fight. Tom Nook grabbed a fire extinguisher, and Tortimer armed himself with his cane. Copper got out his police gun while his frightened partner jumped into a big red vase; Celeste, not one for fighting, ducked behind the vase. Timmy and Tommy hid in an exotic wardrobe.
Copper, Tortimer, and Nook pressed themselves against the walls by the basement's entrance, with their weapons ready. Soon an animal with a black cloak and hood much like Tom's crept down the stairs, and when he was in range, Tortimer swung at him with his cane. The creature ducked the blow and held up his hands, which actually turned out to be wings, in defense.
"Hullo there! Stop!" he shouted in something like a British accent. "It's only me!" He lifted his hood off his head, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It was only Blathers!
"Blathers!" Tortimer exclaimed. "Ya made it!"
Upon hearing Blathers speaking, Timmy and Tommy poked their heads out of the wardrobe. "Blathers!" they cried, and they leaped out of the wardrobe. "You scared us!" said Tommy.
"I am so sorry for startling you, fellows," Blathers said as he removed his cloak. "No hard feelings, eh? Heh heh."
Celeste hugged her brother and asked him, "Do you have the information you were supposed to get?"
"Yes, I do. And it was quite hard to get, I can tell you!"
Everybody knew that Blathers could ramble on unchecked, and Copper quickly interrupted a bit rudely, "Don't tell us. Whatcha got?"
The owl pulled some yellow folders out from his cloak. "These are some of Big Boss's latest plans."
Tortimer's eyebrows rose. "Really? Let's hear 'em!"
He opened one file and glanced at it briefly. Then he turned to Copper and said, "This one is yours, Copper. He wants his robot police to move into your station. The gatehouse is too small for them all."
The dog shrugged and said, "Saw it coming. I'll live."
"They have orders to kick you and Booker out."
Copper's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "WHAT?!"
Chuckling, Tortimer whispered to Nook, "Betcha he didn't see that comin'."
Celeste patted Copper's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, friend. You and Booker can stay here in the Museum! Blathers and I won't mind!"
Booker's head popped out of the red vase, and he asked in a stupid voice, "Can I chew on the fossils?"
Celeste's eyebrows rose in uncertainty. "Then again…"
Tortimer asked Blathers, "What were the other two?"
Returning his eyes to the folders in his wings, the owl opened a second one. After clearing his throat, he said, "Big Boss plans on building a robot factory near Daytona."
Copper groaned. "Not another one! Why does he keep building more factories anyway?!"
As he was climbing out of the vase, Booker answered his partner, "It's 'cause we keep destroying his old ones, I think…" He fell out of the vase with an "Oof!" to end his sentence.
As Copper went to help the bulldog up and the others began planning how to sabotage the newest factory, Blathers studied the third and final folder. As he read, his eyebrows rose higher and higher. An "Oh dear" escaped his lips…err…beak.
Everyone stopped talking and looked at him. "'Oh dear' what, brother?" asked Celeste, nervousness in her eyes.
"Big Boss's last scheme is the worst. He's going to take control of the Animal Crossing Train Yard."
The reaction was expected; everyone shouted, "What?!"
"Yer right!" cried Tortimer. "That is worse! That's the biggest train yard in the whole country!"
Copper paced the floor angrily, yelling out the consequences if The Boss's plan succeeded. "If he conquers it, then he'll have the railroads too! We won't be able to ship weapons to other bases or receive shipments without him knowing!" He threw his paws up in frustration. "Heck, we won't even be able to get a train!"
Tom Nook punched his fist into the other hand in determination. "We have to stop him, or we'll be under his reign forever!"
"Just one problem," Copper pointed out. "We don't have enough men! Even if we could rally all our soldiers, they wouldn't be enough to counter the robots!"
"Then we have to get some more help! Recruit the strongest and bravest animals we know of!"
The police dog shook his head. "If you're referring to the guys who are in the Animal Crossing Hall of Fame, you're outta luck. All of 'em are either captured or out of the country."
Blathers suggested, "We can always ask more of the citizens to join our cause."
Copper rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right!" he said with plenty of sarcasm. "Okay! Why don't we put up some Uncle Sam flyers around the towns that say 'We want you for the Animal Alliance! Meetings every Saturday night in the secret museum basement at midnight!' Then all we have to do is hope that Big Boss and his goons don't see them!"
Tortimer chuckled. "Heh heh! Good one, doggy!"
Narrowing his eyes, the dog growled, "Don't call me that."
Celeste put her wings on her hips and said, "Please, boys, be serious. We need to find a way to get more people so we can take the Animal Crossing Train Yard."
The mayor threw his hands in the air, one hand holding his cane. "But who do we git?! All the humans moved out when that madman came and started his dictatorship!"
"We have an idea!"
"Idea!"
"Huh?" Everyone turned to look at the Nooklings.
Seeing that they had their attention, Timmy exclaimed, "We can get help from heroes! You know, the guys who travel around and save the world and stuff!"
Tortimer chuckled. "Cute idea, kiddies."
Timmy's mouth dropped; they weren't taking them seriously? "Cute?! Kiddies?!"
Copper was losing his patience. "Sorry, Nooklings, but we can't just sit around and wait for some guy to pop out of your comic books and save us."
"But…" the two coons protested.
Celeste stepped forward and put her wings on Timmy's shoulders. "Thank you for your help, Timmy and Tommy, but your idea just won't work." Both of the twins hung their heads; Timmy sniffed and wiped his eyes, but neither of them said any more.
Copper sighed. "I guess we'll just hafta make do with our squads, since only the kids came up with their 'comic book idea'."
Tortimer held his cane in the air and exclaimed, "Well, outnumbered or not, we've gotta try to git that train yard before The Boss does! We'll rally our troops at the train station tomorrow morning! Meeting dismissed."
The Allies walked up the stairs out of the basement to the lobby. Blathers and Celeste opened the front door, let the others out, and locked the door behind them. Tortimer left for his office in the town hall, and the dogs went back to the police station. The raccoon family walked all the way back to their store, Nookington's.
As Tom was locking the automatic door after them, he noticed that his sons' heads were still as low as their chests. He sighed with sympathy and, placing his hands on their shoulders, he tried to cheer them up. "You boys did a good thing by giving us an idea. You've made me proud."
Their heads came up, and the twins smiled, glad that their father was proud of them.
Nook got an idea, and he whispered to them with a glimmer in his eye, "Who knows? Maybe I'll ask Tortimer to make you two official members."
The Nooklings' eyes widened. "Would you, Daddy?" Tommy exclaimed, clasping his paws in excitement.
"Only if you two behave while I'm gone tomorrow."
"Yay!" they cried in unison.
"Now go upstairs and get ready for bed. I'll be up to tuck you in after I lock up."
The twins raced up to the attic, which was where the raccoons lived. After they brushed their teeth and changed into their matching red-and-white striped pajamas, Tom tucked them into their identical blue beds. Then, yawning, he left their room and went into his own.
But as soon as Timmy heard his father's snoring in the next room, he kicked off his blankets and hopped out of bed. Then he tiptoed up to the room's window and stared at the night sky, which was clearing up.
His brother was watching him, and he wondered what he was up to. He spoke without copying, which the twins rarely did. "Whatcha doin' up?" he asked.
Timmy simply replied, "I can't sleep, so I'm watching the stars."
Tommy joined his sibling, and they gazed at the twinkling stars. After a long pause, he whispered, "Are you scared of the robots?"
"…Yeah."
"Me too. I hope Dad kicks their butts tomorrow."
"Uh huh. But…but they need help, don't they?" Timmy's lip quivered with fear. "Those robots might hurt 'em real bad."
"Yeah, but who can help them?"
"…I dunno…people like the ones in our comic books…heroes. There are real ones out there…but…are they gonna come?"
"I hope they do, bro."
They fell silent for another minute, and admired the heavenly bodies in the blue sky. After a while, Timmy spotted what he had been looking for, and he broke the silence. "Look! A shooting star!" he whispered and pointed in excitement.
Tommy also saw it and caught on to his joy. "We get to make a wish!"
"I've got one! I'll say it, and you echo."
"Okay!"
While staring at the stars, Timmy said the rhyme he had learned about making wishes on stars.
Star light, star bright…
First star we see tonight…
Wish we may, wish we might…
Have the wish we wish tonight.
Then, with the light of their wishing star shining in his eyes, Timmy whispered, "We wish…for heroes."
His sibling was silent for a second, and then he too said the wish. "…heroes."
