Turns out that getting into a clinic was incredibly easy if you just knew where a vent was.
As the six of them traveled through the vent, RJ came to the realization that going in the clinic was going to be insanely dangerous. Granted, going into any place with humans was going to be dangerous by default, but usually they were limited to houses or the retail store. No one aside from Tiger, not even RJ himself, had been inside a veterinarian clinic, so he, like the others, were going into this blind pretty much.
Thankfully, RJ had made a little plan for how they could get Stella (depending on if she was here), in and out without so much of a problem.
"Alright gang, here's what we're going to do." RJ spoke as soon as Verne closed the grate behind them. Tiger looked miffed that they were not hauling tail to save Stella, but he reluctantly waited for what RJ was about to say.
"Since we have absolutely no idea where Stella could be in this clinic, what we're going to do is very, very simple." RJ spoke. "So simple that even the dumbest human in the world could figure it out."
"So your average politician?" Verne spoke.
"Yeah, pretty much." RJ replied. "What we're going to do is that every time we see a grate, we're going to peek through, see if it's the place where Stella is, and if it isn't, we move on."
The rest of the animals nodded, and with that, they started on their journey to find and rescue Stella. At least now they had some kind of strategy going on, and it didn't take long for them to find their first grate. Only took about a minute or so.
"Alright, first grate coming up." RJ spoke. "Remember, we're just going to peek through, and see if that's where she is."
Stopping at the grate in front of them, RJ peered through the grilles, trying to make out what was going on. He felt a little prick down to his left, and he quickly recognized it as one of the porcupine triplets. It was probably Quillo, who was trying to make up for her failure of keeping watch, even though once again it wasn't her fault.
Anyways, RJ managed to get enough of a sight to make out what appeared to be the lobby. It looked bare and empty, with there only really being a few things like a bench and two potted plants. It gave the lobby a sort of oppressing feeling that kind of unnerved the raccoon.
Of course, he wasn't about to let it be known, as his eyes fell onto the receptionist. Immediately, he could tell that she was young, blonde, and didn't seem to be paying any sort of attention to her job, and would much rather take selfies of herself. In fact, that's what she was doing right now.
"Slow day." RJ spoke.
"What's she doing?" Quillo spoke up, clearly noticing what the receptionist was doing. Thankfully, RJ knew exactly how to respond.
"That is a selfie, it's what humans with low esteem do in order to feel better about themselves, and if they're feeling extra unconfident, they'll post it to their social media with all these hashtags that barely relate to the subject matter at hand." RJ replied with his signature smirk.
"RJ, you seem to be on a streak of hating influencers." Verne said. Yeah, that seemed to be a common trend with the raccoon. He didn't like humans all too much (although he had pity on some), but influencers seemed to be at the top of his insult list. Honestly, it was mostly because from the videos he's seen of them, he's always had this urge to just…put down the phone and be thankful he isn't as obnoxious as them.
"I don't actually, it's just fun to make fun of them." RJ replied.
He suddenly jumped as he heard a phone ring, and he, along with the others felt a tinge of fear as they worried that the phone they brought in was somehow being called. They had made sure to delete every contact off the phone, so there was no reason for it to ring.
RJ at least felt a bit of relief as he realized the ringing was just coming from the lobby. The landline was ringing furiously, while the receptionist made very little effort to answer it. Instead, she just continued taking her selfies while the animals calmed down from the initial shock.
"That explains the bad customer service, at least." RJ spoke.
Getting back on track, it didn't take long for them to find their next grate. All they had to do was follow the awful scent that was emanating from somewhere in the vents.
"I think we're getting closer." Verne mumbled.
"How can you tell?" Tiger asked.
"I can smell it."
Upon hearing that, Tiger pretty much dashed up ahead, forcing the others to chase after him and prevent him from doing anything reckless. Of course, him doing that after what Verne just said reminded RJ that his breed was one that couldn't smell. He, or rather Heather, did their research on his kind.
If he was bred for his beauty, then if he lost a leg, then maybe he'd be considered even more gorgeous than he already was.
They managed to catch up to Tiger, who was looking through the grilles. Getting next to Tiger, RJ would peer through as well, hoping that this was the room. Certainly smelled like it was.
The room itself was small, but looked quite a bit dimmer and smaller than the lobby. In the room itself, RJ could make out what appeared to be a mirror and a sink, and right next to it was a toilet-
They were in the bathroom.
"Hey, we're on the right track at least." RJ spoke.
"No we are not." Was Verne's reply.
Ignoring Verne's comment, RJ decided to just get on with the search, with one reason being because of how bad the bathroom stunk. That probably had to do with the dirty portion of the review, although it was a public bathroom, they're almost never hygienic. Even Stella didn't smell that bad.
As they approached the next vent, RJ had a good feeling about this one. He just had a feeling that this next vent was going to be the one that housed the animals. Rule of three, third time's the charm, right?
Sure enough, peeking through the grilles of the grate, there appeared to be some cages small enough that they could theoretically hold animals. This must've been the place. Now all they had to do was just get down, get Stella, and get out.
"Alright, this should be the place, now all we need to do is-"
"For Stellaaaaaaaaaa!"
RJ and the others had barely any time to react as Tiger suddenly rammed the grate, causing it to pop off from the vent and for the loyal cat to tumble right out all the way to the floor. Seemed like a bit of Deja vu, RJ thought, as he looked down to see Tiger laying down. He would've called out for him, wanting to see if he was okay, but Tiger rolling over to give what RJ believed was his version of a "thumbs up", assuaged their thoughts.
"That works too."
Reaching into his bag once again, RJ would dig out one of his most trusted tools; a toy fishing rod. He remembered using it the day of the heist, and with it he got the idea just how powerful Heather could be when she pulled a roof gutter clean off its hinges somehow. Since that day, he has made two notes. One was to have others learn how to use it in case of an emergency, and two, presume that someone like Lou or Stella was going to somehow cause way more damage than just a gutter being torn off, and be cautious with them.
"Alright kids, you stay up here, be ready to pull us up, okay?" RJ spoke, handing them the pole. It may be a bit of a risky strategy having the kids be in charge of pulling, but hey, as long as they work together, they'll be fine. What could go wrong?
As RJ and Verne lowered themselves down to join Tiger, the cat had gotten back up from that fall. They would be surprised at how fast he recovered, but considering how much pain Tiger has been through with their antics, they really weren't. In fact, they were both more concerned with how much of a racket Tiger was making.
"Stella?!" Tiger shouted. "Stella, my beloved?"
"Tiger, quiet!" RJ hastily spoke. "We'll get Stella out of here, but you need to be quiet."
"RJ, actually, I just realized, how are we going to get Stella out of here?" Verne asked.
"What do you mean Verne?" RJ replied. "It's simple, we grab her, take her into the vents, and high tail it back to the hedge, what's wrong with that?"
"What if she's still hurt?"
"Easy Verne, we'll get someone to look at her, help her out, no biggie." RJ again spoke. He wasn't really sure what Verne was getting at with all this.
"Yeah sure, that sounds all fine and dandy." Verne replied. "One question, who?"
"Well, I…" RJ trailed off, seemingly unable to come up with an answer. As much as he didn't like to admit it, there were times where Verne made a more than excellent point. This, for example, was one such moment.
For all the members of the family who had specialized roles, from heavies to tech wizzes, the one thing they didn't have was someone who could deal with injuries. It was something that RJ had regretfully looked over, mainly because, again, no one really got hurt on these heists, and back then the worst injuries were recovered from rather quickly.
Or at least in Heather's case when she was punted down the stairs, the adrenaline of everything that happened that day pretty much powered her through what would've been something that kept her out for a while.
"Stella?!" Tiger shouted once more. "Where are you, my beloved?!"
"Hey, Romeo, your Juliet is in the container next to me." A new voice spoke up. Turning their heads, they took note of a beaver with dreary eyes staring them down behind a cage. Clearly, she didn't look too amused to see them, despite the fact they never met before.
"Thank you." Tiger spoke, before heading to the container next to the beaver, leaving RJ and Verne to look at the tired-looking beaver. Presumably Tiger's shouting woke her up, and admittedly, RJ couldn't blame her for looking like that.
As for the beaver herself, her expression suddenly changed, as if she realized what was going on.
"Wait, who are you guys?" She asked.
"I'm RJ, ringleader of the Camelot Estates Heist Crew." RJ replied with his signature cocky smirk. "Trademark pending."
"Come up with that yourself?" She asked in a very deadpan tone. Part of it must've been tiredness, but RJ knew from being around Verne enough that part of it was clearly sarcastic. Thankfully, being around Verne gave RJ a great way to respond to the beaver without losing his edge.
"The last part, yes." RJ replied, before looking over to see Tiger unlocking the cage door where Stella was being kept. "How is she?"
"She's in here!" Tiger exclaimed, before finally opening the door. "Stella, come on, let's go!"
RJ watched as Tiger's happy expression dropped, which was already a concerning sight, but what immediately concerned him more was the fact that Stella wasn't immediately coming out. He half expected her to just run out, even with all the pain, and join them while throwing in a few casual threats towards the humans, or anything to just show that she was okay. But no, Stella just wasn't coming out.
"Stella, come on!" Tiger spoke again, and once more, Tiger's expression confirmed that Stella wasn't coming out. This prompted RJ to head over to her cage, curious on what happened to her.
Staring into the darkness of the cage, RJ could barely make out the outline of the skunk just sitting and staring at the wall with an almost vacant expression on her face. It reminded him of when he saw that raccoon being hit by the truck, only this time he knew what it was like seeing someone like that. It unnerved him quite a bit, and seeing it happen to Stella of everyone just made things worse.
"Verne, we have a problem." RJ spoke, which prompted the turtle to hurry over to check on the skunk.
"What's going on?" Verne asked.
"She's not moving." RJ replied, before moving aside to see if Verne could get through to her. He was never good at emotions, and unfortunately Penny wasn't here at the moment, so really their options were limited. Tiger was too emotional at the moment to get through to Stella, leaving Verne as the only option.
"Stella…" Verne hesitated before speaking. "What happened?"
Stella didn't respond. She didn't even look Verne in the face. She just continued to stare at the wall, and it was at this point that Tiger began pleading.
"Stella, please, come on!" Tiger shouted. "We have to go!"
It was then that RJ remembered the danger they were still in. They may be alone right now, but that was because they were quiet for the most part. With Tiger earlier bursting through the grate, and now his shouting, it was only a matter of time before a human inevitably came around to see what the ruckus was about.
"We have to hurry; they're going to be coming around any second." RJ spoke. "Tiger, grab her and let's go."
"I don't know if she's hurt RJ!" Tiger replied.
"She fell out of a cabinet, of course she's hurt!" RJ spoke, all the while Verne started to think to himself. "But we can't stay here."
"Don't tell me you're suggesting leaving her." Tiger replied.
"No, no way!" RJ replied in an almost offended tone. "I'm not leaving her, no one is leaving her, but we need to hurry up and go!"
"RJ, I think I have an idea!" Verne spoke up, moving past him over to Stella. Whatever Verne was planning, RJ was hoping it would work.
"Stella." Verne spoke, before hesitating a bit. RJ wasn't sure if this was part of his plan, but whatever it was, he better hurry. He swore he could hear some footsteps.
"Stella, it's my fault you're here." Verne spoke. "I was supposed to protect you, protect everyone, and I failed."
Immediately the guilt came back to RJ. While yes, Verne did close the cabinet a bit too hard, RJ knew that if he just didn't distract Quillo, then maybe they wouldn't be here right now. Maybe Stella wouldn't be so distressed over what happened while she was alone.
"Wait, Verne, Stella." RJ spoke. "It's my fault, I didn't keep a look-out and wasn't able to warn you in time."
"RJ, what?" Verne asked.
"I was too focused on the cabinets and didn't notice the human wake up." RJ finished, letting out a heavy sigh whilst doing so. "I'm sorry."
While Verne would just shake his head in his typical "of course you would do that, RJ" way, Stella on the other hand let out a grunt. He wasn't sure if it was due to a sharp pain that coursed through her body, or a reaction to RJ telling the truth. Whatever the case was, RJ had seemingly gotten through to her.
Maybe she could start moving now, and that reminded RJ to check on the triplets-
"I wanna hold the pole!"
"It's my turn!"
Not the time.
Hearing the commotion, RJ would leave Stella's side to look up at the vent, and from what he could see from the swinging pole, the triplets were fighting over who held it. Or more likely, it was Bucky and Spike fighting over it, while Quillo was trying to keep them under control. He admired Quillo's efforts, but this was seriously the wrong place, the wrong time, pretty much the wrong everything.
"Kids, be-"
RJ barely got out of the way as a thud was heard, and the fishing pole fell from the vent and clattered on the floor. As if this rescue mission couldn't get any more stressful, and RJ was about to do something he rarely did.
Get annoyed.
From Tiger just trying to Leroy Jenkins his way through the rescue, to Stella being despondent, to the kids dropping the poke, everything was wrong. The worst part was that RJ literally had only himself to blame for this situation, and even more, even he had to admit that Stella being captured in the first part was the actual worst part.
How could things get any worse?
"Nice gang you got here." The beaver spoke up.
Just what he needed, sarcasm. He could take the sarcasm from Verne, Heather, Stella, and Tiger, he got enough of that on a daily basis. Now was not the time however, especially when that someone was making nothing but sarcastic remarks to them in a high-stress situation.
And that's when the door opened, and a human got a full view of the animals trying to escape.
We're back with the longest chapter so far, and after a few shenanigans, Stella has been found, but isn't moving. Just what happened in there?
Next chapter should be the last one as always, see you soon!