Chapter 10: The Raid
Inside the Diamondfur home in the village, Charles began to tell the couple the story about Chris. He said, "You see, Chris is my Dark side that is powerful, and also immortal, too. Back in 2009 during our final battle, I used a spell on him to be sealed in his grave. Now, 1,000 years later he was freed by Belladonna--he can asborb any evil villian that he chooses, if
they become weak to him. He absorbed the Dark Dragon and became him. And now he's still alive and at this moment he's bringing my second worst enemy, Rayian Fox and his family, up to face us, so he's dangerous, too. The difference is that Chris's eyes are red--always red--so we're letting you know that."
"I see," said Aerona, as she started to pour warm mammoth milk in the ceramic mugs. "He indeed sounds like a dangerous creature."
"He is trying to take over Canerica and the world," said Bert. "But we stopped him. And Charles' brother Jackson was trying to take over the world, too, but we stopped him and put him in jail during the Christmas adventure."
"And yet, how lucky you seem to be in conquering those two cruel villains."
Aerona served the milk to the team members, but as she did so, she looked at Bert's team. Like herself and her husband, they were all raccoons (Charlie and Arthur are half-raccoon). She continued with an amused smile, "You know, you guys are the only kind of Eloi who live in the aboveground."
"Huh?" said Bert Jr. "But...we're not part of your tribe. That's a lie."
"Who says we're lying?" said Delwyn. "Of course, you are part of our tribe. In fact, you happen to be distant relatives of ours. Did you ever hear of good old Lord Raccoon?"
"Yes. Dad used to tell us a story about him, and how he faithfully helped Baron Reynard and his family get their wealth out of the Great Forest without getting caught."
"But you forgot one part of the story that you didn't get to hear. Before he became Lord Raccoon, he lived in an underground cave community just like this one, but only in England. And his Eloi name was Madoc."
"Oh," said Bright Eyes.
Delwyn continued, "To everyone in the Crystal Village, Madoc was the most cunning of all the Eloi. If a human happened to catch him raiding the berry bushes during the full moon harvest, he would play dead and then the human would leave him alone. When he left the underground village, he took this and all his tricks with him, all the way to the Great Forest. And just so you know, I'm one of his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandnephews."
"That means we could be your cousins!" said Bert happily.
A gentle female voice called out, "Mother? Father? Who are you talking to?"
"Guests, dear," answered Aerona. "Come in and meet them."
The TTC looked up and saw a beautiful young Eloi woman come into the room. She was 25 years old, and she was wearing a lovely dress made out of perfectly sewn mammoth skins. Her eyes were a clear blue-grey, and she had a sweet smile that lit up the atmosphere. Sidney stared at her, completely awestruck. He stuttered, "Who...who is..."
"This is our daughter, Alis," said Aerona, introducing the girl. "The younger sister of the late Hywel Diamondfur, and Weena's aunt."
"Alis Diamondfur," thought Sidney dreamily, gazing at her. "In the next minute, she's gonna be Mrs. Sidney Raccoon."
Alis bowed to the TTC and said politely, "A great pleasure to meet all of you."
"At the time of her birth," said Delwyn. "We started taking pains in planning an arranged marriage for her. We wanted her to marry somebody who is distantly related to us, but unfortunately we were unable to locate the right man to take her."
Sidney raised his paw, shouting, "How about me?"
Bert slapped his son's paw away. He said, "Hey! You don't want anybody else to know that, do you?"
"But Dad, I WANT to marry her," pleaded Sidney. "She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen! My brothers have wives, but I don't--and this could be my only true chance to show my potential as a model groom for his bride."
Silence filled the room. Then, Delwyn said, "I think your boy's got a point there, Bert. He is indeed perfect enough to marry our daughter, and that for two reasons--he is related to her through the famous Lord Raccoon, and most of all..." He laughed lightheartedly and continued, "He certainly looks a lot like your wife."
"Oh, yes, he does look like Lisa," said Bert with a smile. "He even has her eyes."
Aerona said to Alis, "See? You're going to marry the president's son. What do you think of him?"
Alis looked at Sidney, who smiled hopefully at her. Then, she smiled, and said, "Well, what can I say? He does look pretty nice, but..." She continued, with an embarassed look on her face, "We didn't even get to know each other just yet. I don't even know who he is."
Bert took Sidney and Alis by the paws and shoved the couple outside, causing them to fall to the ground with a thud. He said, "Good--after you're finished talking with each other, you can tell us when you're ready to tie the knot." And with that, he went back inside. Sidney sat up, dazed and confused. He looked at Alis, and she looked back at him. He muttered nervously, "Uh...shall we go for a walk down the marketplace?"
"Oh, yes, let's go," said Alis, as they got up to walk away. While walking over to the marketplace nearby, she began to introduce herself. She said, "My name is Alis Diamondfur. What's yours?"
"Sidney Raccoon, at your service," replied Sidney. "It's so nice meeting an attractive little Eloi girl like you."
"And it's nice to meet a handsome raccoon from the aboveground, just like you. So, tell me--what is it like to live up there, where you came from?"
Back outside, one of the soldiers came near a cave, and then he used his X-Ray Binoculars. When he saw the TTC in one of the cliffside houses, he smiled, before picking up a walkie-talkie. He then began to radio his boss. The soldier, named Vega, said, "Dark Hunter, this is Vega. I found Gerry and the TTC in a primative village inside the cave. And I saw something else, too--a couple walking towards the marketplace. That raccoon next to the girl is one of President Raccoon's sons."
"Good," answered Dark Hunter. "We will be over there, so stay there and watch them."
"OK, Boss."
Vega put up his walkie-talkie and stood there to watch the caves. It was going to be a good day for Dark Hunter and Dark Bugs--raiding an underground village to battle it out with the world-famous Time Toon Cops.