"Sitting in a pile!" Nick said, as he saw what Judy had just drawn on the whiteboard with a chalk. The bunny was standing on a stool, and she was drawing something with the help of a long extension. However, it soon became clear to everyone that the bunny was not the best at drawing.
The stick figure that she made was only recognizable as a bunny thanks to the big ears, and the thing it was sitting in might as well be a giant chocolate bar.
Hannah seemed to think the same, for she said:
"Chocolate? Is it trick-or-treating?"
It was a reasonable guess, since what they were doing in there for the past thirty minutes had been a game of Halloween Pictionary. With the twelve players of the game dividing in teams of three, with one of them drawing the thing based on the word from a random paper they would pick from a hat and then the other two would try to guess correctly.
Nick and Hannah had both drawn, and they had both managed to get their partners to guess what the things they had been tasked with drawing were. "Zombie" and "Haunted House", respectively. However, now that it was Judy's turn to draw, they found themselves scratching their heads as they tried to figure out what could a bunny sitting on a box means.
"Jackrabbit in the box?" Nick offered, but it was not it. Then just started adding something else to the drawing.
Good, maybe this new part of the drawing would make it clear whatever it was.
However, that proved to be a pipe-dream.
"What is that?" Nick asked, as he looked the thing that Judy was currently drawing. Everyone else was trying to figure out as well, not only Hannah.
"Is that a monster truck?" Legoshi whispered to Melon. "I mean, the wheels seem big enough."
"Is that a motorcycle?" Tyson asked.
"I think that's one of those sport carts." Said Gabe as he stood in there, watching the game developing. He had a raised eyebrow and a tilted head as he watched Judy continue the drawing. "Being drove by another bunny?"
"Guys, let's allow Officer Hopps to focus?" Chandler asked to the people in there, and Judy sad "thank you!" as he spoke that, and she could focus on her drawing, which she now finished and was gesturing to it by the guys.
Nick and Hannah, however, were not sure of what this meant.
Time was ticking, and Judy started to panic, and she decided to add a few things, like small houses and trees, and even what seemed to be a bunny on a stick.
"I don't know..." Nick said, "Kart ride of the undead rabbits?" Nick asked, and Judy looked at him in exasperation.
Next, the timer that was counting down finally rang, signaling the end of the time that the bunny had.
Now Judy could finally let the two, even everyone, know what it was that she had been drawing.
"It is a hayride!" The bunny said, speaking as if it should be obvious. "You guys never saw one? We did it all the time back in the Burrows! When you sit in a hay cushion on a cart!" She gestured to the 'chocolate bar' where the stick bunny was sitting. "While they pull you with a tractor?" She then gestured to the vehicle being piloted by the other sticky bunny.
"Wait, that's a tractor?" Nick asked, genuinely surprised. Some others also had something to say.
"Ha! That's the crappiest tractor I've ever seen!" Melon said, and he was, immediately after, smacked on the back of the head by his mother, who was standing right behind him alongside her husband.
"Do you guys need to stay here!?" Melon said as he rubbed the back of his head, where his mother slapped him. They said nothing, as they both continued where they were, once more proving that they would be doing good of Lumia's word of not letting the two teenagers out of their sight after everything they pulled.
"Seriously, Hopps, you need to have some drawing lessons. I don't think they would have guessed even if they had all night..." Charles said, looking at what, until now, he had the impression of being some kind of convertible clown car being drove by a bunny. Judy glared at him as her foot thumped on the chair she was standing into.
"Well, her team still got two guesses out of three right." Chandler said, "This means that the three of them still qualify to receive the clue. Now is your team's turn, and it's your turn to draw, Effie."
Without saying a word, Euphemia got up from the chair she was sitting and walking to the blackboard. She picked a paper from the jack-o-lantern and read from it, while Judy said something about how bad Charles drawing was, as that thing he had been drawing didn't looked like a scarecrow at all...
Once she got what she was going to draw, Euphemia put herself to work on the board, and she was able to produce some nice drawing, with a lot of details in a surprisingly small amount of time.
It was also pretty obvious.
"Cemetery!" Said Gazelle. With this, the team formed by her, Charles and Euphemia won the game, as they also had managed to score two out of three.
The same was true to Tyson, Legoshi and Melor, who all got a perfect score of three out of three, much to the surprise of some of the presents.
Finally, it was turn for the final team to go, and this one as the team of the two cheetahs and their hybrid sister.
Marcy picked the paper from the pumpkin-shaped bowl and looked it. She gave a sly smirk and then she picked the chalk and started to draw. The two brothers watched intently as she started to draw.
Starting with the general muzzle of a fox, and the tail as well. Then some things on the neck, with small protuberances.
With small bolts of lightning coming out of them.
"Foxenstein!" Said the Clawhauser twins right away, and it was the right guess.
Everyone in there cheering for the Clawhausers clapped their paws/hooves. Gabe was certainly the most vocal of them, as he cheered for Ben, while Angus limited himself to clap silently, as he was raised to have much more elegance than that, although he did had a smirk on his face as he could admire how Ben's team had also a perfect score, with all three guesses they did having been perfect.
"No way they did not used telepathy to win..." Charles grumbled under his breath, but he was ignored by everyone.
"Okay, guys. This was really nice." Chandler said to all of them. "The good news is that all of you have earned enough points to pass this challenge. Congratulations, guys."
Everyone was satisfied with this result, with a few exceptions.
"What means, all of you have earned the right to see the next clue." Chandler said as he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "Pass it around guys, everyone take a look. Those who are not on the game, refrain from giving anyone any clues."
Chandler gave the paper to Hannah, who looked at it, taking in what it was, before sharing it with the rest of the participants of the test.
"A phone call register?" Nick said, as he and Judy both checked into the paper. "What number is this?" Nick asked, and Euphemia was the next to see the paper, and she said right away that it was the phone of the Manechester house.
"So, someone made a call from this house..." Judy saw the register, including the number to which they had called. It was one she didn't recognize. She knew right away it was an international phone call, because of the 011 added on the beginning, but the rest of the number was unknown to her. Luckily, the note also included a small note written in blue pen.
"To South Afurika?"
The paper continued being passed by everyone, and they all got a chance to look at it. Even the ones playing the role of audience had the chance to look at it, as they looked over the players' shoulders.
"And that's an actual number in Afurika! He even got the phone code right! Well researched!" Marcy said, as she allowed the other ones to take a look at it.
"And what does this has anything to do with the mystery?" Melor said, with an apparent disinterest. That was, however, when Legoshi said:
"Melon, the wasp!" Legoshi said, "The dead wasp on Blackson's body came from Afurika!"
There was a brief silence, before the hybrid looked at his friend, and said:
"Thank you, Legoshi..."
Apparently, he already knew that, and he was just looking at Legoshi as if wondering how he could function with only two braincells.
Judy and Nick, on their end, shared a look among them, as they realized that Ogami was right. And, if their theory about the bug being what carried the curse that infected Blackson and caused his demise, then...
"Okay, I guess that's enough, guys." Chandler said to all of them. "I hope you all had time to look at this clue, because I have another game planned for tonight, and on this one half of you are going to be losers. Now, if all of you would come with me..."
And everyone went, both the players and the audience, all of them wanting to see that game to the end.
"You know, you don't need to stand so close..." Melor said to his parents as they followed him like shadows, both with serious expressions on their faces as they watched both their son and his wolf friend like hawks.
"What's the matter, Horne?" Charles said, "Nervous that your mama and papa will be here to see you losing?"
Melor looked at him.
"Well, I'm not sure about that." Horne said to him, "At least my mama and papa care about to come see me. I mean, it could be worse, they could have kicked me out home and told me never to come back because I am a disgrace."
"What?" Charles said, turning to the hybrid, "What was that, what did you say!? What did you just said to me, you freak!?"
Charles looked pretty angry at this, and he was nearly going for Melor. However, Lumia got in between the horse and her son, easily pushing the equine into the wall with a single hoof to his chest, proving to be way stronger than him, despite her thin and frail-looking body.
"Hey, pony-boy." Lumia said, glaring at the horse right in the eyes. "Chill."
The look on her eyes was enough to make Charles stand down, and he just continued with the rest of the group. However, he was casting glares at Horne, who was smirking at him as they went their way.
His smirk, however, disappeared when he noticed his mother fulminating glare on him.
He was not intimidated by Charles at all, but he was surely intimidated by his own mother.
While a lot of the house's guests were busy with the game, some others found something else to do.
Adrian and his wife were both on different parts of the house. They were not on the mood for being around each other lately. Adrian, surprisingly, didn't minded too much, not when he had that new painting to look at.
And he was also busy making some phone calls...
As for Yahya? Well, he still had a lot to catch up with an old friend he has literally not seen in decades.
"And then you put him on that hold until he was squealing like a pig!" Yahya said to Gosha, and the wolf laughed at the memory.
"Yeah, never imagined a lion could make that sound..." Gosha said, a smile on his muzzle as he remembered that, as he and Yahya continued to share a bottle of their favorite bourbon as they continued to reminisce about the old times.
"Can't believe they still make this." Gosha said, looking at the glass that was filled with the same alcoholic beverage that he and Yahya used to share after each successful mission as their personal way to celebrate.
"I thought the company that made it had gone bankrupt."
"It did." Yahya said, "I managed to track down some of the old works of the factory and get the recipe from them. Now I have those done for myself alone."
Gosha looked at him with wide eyes, and then Yahya said, with a smirk:
"Hey, it is our favorite bourbon, ain't it? Better than any of those overly-priced beverages Adrian drinks alongside those friends of his', that's for sure."
Yeah, that much Gosha could agree with. He had many types of alcoholic beverages, from the best beers of the pubs of England to the finest Nipponese sake, but nothing compared to that one delicious bourbon of a deep red coloration, so red that it nearly seemed blood, and that had the strong flavor of cherry in it, with a spicy twist that was only for a specific type of palate.
The type that Gosha and Yahya shared.
Yes, nothing was better than the ol' Red Blaze, made by the now-defunct Hop Notch brewery.
And Gosha believed that he would never have the chance to taste it again. The flavor of it on his tongue brought him a lot of memoires from the old times. It certainly helped him relive the good times of glory when he and Yahya were partners.
"And that one time with the crooked deputy?" Yahya said, "You remember that one time with the crooked deputy, don't you? No way you forgot that one."
Of course Gosha didn't forgot. Yahya was referring to that one deputy who they busted for flooding the local schools with drugs to get the teenagers addicted. That was long before crack made its ways to the streets and, according to some, a prelude to what it would be on the rest of the country.
"His face when we busted him! Hah!" Yahya said as he remembered the chocked and devastated look on that boar's features when they got him, while he bragged all the time that he was untouchable due to being relatives with influent politicians.
"I have to say, putting the cuffs on him was one of the most satisfying moments of our days together." Yahya said to the wolf sitting by his side. "That was it for it with his 'you need to remember your place' talk."
Those words made Gosha pause, his smile faltering. Yahya didn't notice because he had his eyes closed.
"To think that he can use something like that to keep us from fighting for justice." Yahya said, "As if giving up our ideals was a better option than facing any consequence."
Yahya took another sip of his bourbon. That was when Gosha said:
"Sometimes it is."
Yahya opened his eyes, he was now seeing Gosha, and that he had his muzzle down and a sad look on his features.
"Sometimes the consequences of not giving up can be way worse than giving up on what you believe in." Gosha said, "They were not on that occasion, but we were lucky back then. Sometimes you cannot be that lucky. Not if the people who you face are too powerful..."
A brief pause, and then Gosha sighed.
"Sometimes it is better to remember your place and lower your head when you are told..."
Yahya looked at Gosha. He could not believe what he just heard coming from his mouth.
That didn't sound like something the Gosha he knew would say. Not at all. That was not like his Sassy Wolf.
He could only stare at the wolf as he took another sip from his glass, wondering just what possessed him to say something like that.
Then he remembered what he heard earlier, straight from the mouth of his ex-partner's grandson. About how Gosha got fired from the enforcers.
Could it have something to do with how he was acting now?
The possibilities formed on Yahya's mind, and he was already coming up with a few scenarios on his head...
"So... I guess we lived quite the adventures back on our day, didn't we?" Yahya said, looking at his partner as he went back to taking sips of bourbon, emptying his glass, and refueling. He also offered a little more to Gosha, what he accepted. "But still..." Yahya was filling his glass, and Gosha didn't tell him to stop until the glass was nearly spilling of so full. "I bet it is nothing compared to the ones you had as an enforcer. I mean, you chased after criminal mages, for crying out loud."
Gosha nodded, and he talked about a little of what being an enforcer entailed. However, Yahya could easily notice that he was being vague when he spoke of things. However, from what he was told, he could easily infer that Gosha's job allowed him to save many innocents from the clutches of mages with no morals, and that he never ignored when someone was doing something that hurt innocent mammals.
That was much more like the Gosha he knew.
"Incredible." Yahya said, "You must have been great when you were still working."
Gosha paused, looking at him.
"Clawhauser mentioned you." Yahya said, in answer to the look Gosha gave him. "He mentioned that you retired some years ago."
Gosha took a moment to nod in agreement. He said that this was what happened. However, Yahya still knew him well enough to know that this was not truth. Even if he didn't already heard part of the true story, he would still have been able to tell from Gosha's expression and tone that this was not exactly truth.
"I thought I had done enough for the mage community as a whole." Gosha said, "Decided to move on to other things."
That was also not true. Yahya could still read Gosha well enough to know when he was not being sincere. There was still a part of the wolf that Yahya could not read completely. There had always been this mysterious part of Gosha that the horse could never peer into, but he was able to read him well enough that he knew when Gosha was hiding something from him.
"So, what are you doing now?" Yahya asked him, "Enjoying retirement? Spending time with your family?"
Yahya did saw Gosha flinch as he said that. The wolf, however, as quickly as always, recovered, and said:
"Yeah, I wish I could." Gosha said to him. "But, you know, bills and stuff. Legoshi was still in school age when I retired, and I did realize that I could not just sit back and relax. Especially after we lost Leano..."
Gosha was sad as he said that. Yahya placed a hoof on his shoulder in a silent offer of comfort, which Gosha accepted.
"And my savings didn't last as long as I had hoped. So, I had to get back to work. But, I could not go back to the enforcers right after retiring, legal technicalities, so I had to go for another option of employment."
"Freelancing." Yahya said, and Gosha looked at him in surprise. "Foxgrove mentioned."
Gosha seemed worried for a moment, as he asked what she said.
"Just that you took on being a freelancer like her." Yahya said, "Basically a magic mercenary. Ironic, considering you never had the best opinion on them."
"Yeah, that's true..." Gosha said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I guess being in need for money makes you do certain things you never thought you would do, does it?"
He was smiling awkwardly as he said that, but Yahya, once more, didn't thought that something like that sounded right coming out of his former partners mouth.
Not the same wolf who once told that no money on the world would ever make him turn his back on his ideals. That was one thing on the two of them had in common.
Of course, back on the day neither of them had a family of their own. In fact, Gosha often said that he didn't planned on ever having children...
"So, does this means is everything alright in your life?" Yahya asked, and Gosha, as he predicted, said that it was, once more failing to be convincing to his old friend.
"I mean, I have to travel a lot, and I don't spend as much time as I wanted with Legoshi. This is part of the reason why he had to go live with his dad in Nippon for the last four years. But, it is okay, all things considered." Gosha said, "No big money problems."
Another blatant lie. Yahya knew for a fact Gosha's life was in danger due to a loan, what proved that he had a big problem involving money. However, he knew better than to just confront Gosha about it.
"Does this mean you are happy with being a freelancer?" Yahya said, "Not after some other job? Maybe a more legit one?"
"Yeah, that would be nice..." Gosha said under his breath, what Yahya immediately noticed, even though the wolf immediately tried downplaying it. "I mean, I would certainly like a job where I don't have to travel so much. It would let me spend more time with Legoshi."
Gosha certainly didn't lie about that. It was obvious that Ogami was truly the more important thing on Gosha's life.
"He is the only family I have left..." Gosha said sadly, "Of course he is important to me. I mean, ain't your family important to you?"
Yahya didn't answer to that.
Truth was, the horse was not exactly family-oriented. He always focused more on his job than on his family. He was only present enough to not be considered a deadbeat. Other than that, he was much keener on helping clean the streets and fight for justice than being with his family. He preferred to be with his subordinates than with his relatives, to be totally honest.
He was pretty sure Gosha would not understand that. He had changed a lot since the last time they saw each other.
Not all of that was necessarily good, but it was not also necessarily bad. However, the things Gosha said about "lowering his head" and "doing things he never thought he'd do"... that certainly didn't sit well with Yahya.
"So, shouldn't you be watching your grandson play?" Yahya asked, to what Gosha shook his head.
"Things have been... a bit tense between Legoshi and me since we lost his mother." The wolf said, "We are still a bit awkward around each other. I thought it was better to give him some space."
Yahya looked at Gosha, and he could see the sadness on his face as he said that. Once more, Yahya offered him a silent support, the same kind they once gave each other whenever one of them was going through a rough patch.
They were never the kind to talk about their feelings, unless they absolutely had to. However, they were always ready to give each other that kind of support where they let one know the other was there in case he ever needed.
This was all that counted between guys like them.
"Legoshi is fine." Gosha said finally, "Lumia and Tibor are there, and neither of them would let anything happen to him, and they definitely will not let him get into any problem now that they are here. I am sure Legoshi is having a blast."
Legoshi gasped as he pulled back his head, his whole face smeared with that orange-colored pumpkin filling as he breathed deeply.
I mean, he had been trying to eat the whole pie in one go, like Melon told him to. For this was the next challenge that Chandler had prepared for his guests next, and this one was one that Judy was familiar with from the fairs back on the countryside: pie eating contest.
The rules were quite straight-forward. It would be a one-on-one competition. Two of the contestants, each one with their own pumpkin pie, appropriate to their size, of course, with their hands behind their backs, and they would both start eating their respective pies at the same time. First one to finish his' or hers' respective pie would be the winner.
The first ones were Melor and Nick, who each had a pie before them and they had tissues tied over their necks to keep anything other than their faces getting smeared with pie filling, and both of them dug in as soon as Chandler told them to begin. They both ate quite voraciously, with Melor being the one who finished first, having eaten his entire pie while Nick was still halfway done with his own.
"If it was a blueberry pie, I would have won." Nick said to the hybrid, who was smirking as he removed the tissue from his neck... and his mother immediately gave him another as she told him to wipe his fur clean.
Lumia and Tibor were still watching their son, and that was starting to get annoying for the hybrid.
The next ones were Judy and Marcy. The hybrid ate quite enthusiastically, but so did Judy, who had the added incentive of needing to win since Nick lost his round. Judy managed to end her pie first, while Marcy was almost finished with hers. It had been a close win, which had gone to Judy.
Hannah and Tyson were next, and that round went for the tiger, who finished just a tad bit before Hannah.
"Preds do have the advantage at this." Charles said to his wife. "I mean, they are voracious by nature."
His comments were, once more, ignored, and the game just proceeded with the next ones stepping forward. Those were Legoshi and Josh.
The wolf ate the best he could, trying to do as Melon instructed him and done it himself, and he pulled his head back when he thought it was finished. However, Legoshi had missed a portion on the corner of the plate and, just when he was about to go for it, Josh finished his own pie, making him the winner.
"Nice try, buddy." Melor said to Legoshi as the wolf walked to him, wiping his face with a tissue that Lumia gave him. "And you did amazing, darling." Melor said seductively to Josh who, surprisingly, gave him a cold "thanks" and didn't said anything else. That surprised the hybrid quite a bit.
Next ones on the line for the competition were Euphemia and Benjamin. They both got in position and, upon Chandler's signal, they both dove in and started eating with the very same voraciousness. Some were honestly shocked at how messily the elegant Euphemia was eating, but she didn't mind their stares. She was too focused on the task at hoof to give them too much attention.
Eventually, it ended and, much to everyone's surprise, it was a tie.
"Guess both of you guys will have the clue." Chandler said to his sister and best friend. Ben was happy for having had a tie, and he happily shook paws/hooves with Euphemia as they congratulated each other for a good competition, before they both went back to their places.
Last ones on the competition: Gazelle and Charles.
"You know I am winning that." Charles said to the popstar with a smirk. "You might as well just quit now."
Gazelle said nothing, and she just waited for the signal to start eating.
She was done with her pie in ten seconds flat.
"Wow..." Was all Nick could manage to say as he, like everyone else, was shocked with how quickly and voraciously Gazelle finished that pie. Even Charles was looking at her in shock as he had not even arrived in half of his own pie.
"You should see her when she sees a bowl of red licorice candy." Tyson said with a smirk on his lips.
"Oh, cálate, Tyson." Gazelle said to him as she removed the tissue tied around her neck. Her clothes were completely immaculate and, surprisingly, so was most of her face. The only hints of a mess were a little bit of staining around her mouth. Some wondered how it was possible to have so little stains on her face when she lunged at that pie like a vulture at a carcass.
"So, we have the winners of this round!" Chandler announced happily. "Congratulations, guys. The losers would please leave the room for a moment? Thank you."
Legoshi, Nick, Marcy, Hannah and Charles all left the room, leaving everyone else in there to watch as Chandler presented to them the next clue of the murder mystery.
Which was a bank stratus, signaling a transference from an account of the Manechester family on Furs National Bank to another bank all the way in South Afurika.
The same place to where the international phone call was made.
This was enough confirmation for Judy's theory on the mystery, and now she felt like she only needed a few more clues to confirm her suspicions... She would be sure to share this information with Nick so they both could be on the same page about the subject.
"So, I guess that is it for tonight, right?" Chandler said, looking at all his guests. "After all, I bet all of you are feeling pretty stuffed after eating those pies and would very much enjoy a good rest to help digest. So, we take back on the game tomorrow night."
Everyone agreed with it. All of them were pretty much loving the game so far and, after those last games, they were pretty much looking forward to the next ones.
Soon, they were all going their way, with some of them forming groups and others going on the mind their own business in private. Gabe, naturally, was with Ben, and so was Angus, much to the deer's annoyance. That horse had not yet given up on trying to seduce the pudgy cheetah, it seemed.
"We better keep an eye on that one." Marcy said to Josh. "The way he is all over Ben makes me think he might try something if our brother keeps rejecting him."
"Yeah, I had that impression too." Josh said, "I got the vibrations from him while he is looking at Ben, and that is definitely not love. Even though Angus himself thinks it is..."
With that said, the two siblings were once more talking. In part, they were talking about the game, and about who they thought was the murderer at this stage. However, there was something else that Josh felt like talking about:
"Did you already know about Drachenwolf?" He asked his sister, and she looked at him. "I mean, you already knew he was working as a freelancer, and I didn't know that."
She said nothing, and then Josh asked again:
"You know it, don't you? The truth about what happened? Did he really got fired?"
Marcy only looked at her sibling, and she looked that she was considering telling him. However, she didn't have the chance, for that was when someone else talked:
"You know, it is not nice to pry on someone else's lives."
Josh and Marcy both turned to see the other hybrid of the party coming their way.
"It is of poor taste to pry on people's pasts, as much as their minds." Melor said to the muscular cheetah. "I really had the impression that you were more polite than that, dear."
Josh, surprisingly, looked at him coldly, and then said:
"So, I guess both of us didn't really were what the other expected, huh?"
This caused Melor to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay, what's the big deal here?" The male hybrid asked. "Why are you being so cold all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong? What, was it because I didn't wanted to cuddle after we were done? I told you I was too hot!"
"It is not that, Horne." Josh said to him, turning to look at him with his arms crossed over his chest. "You lied to me."
"What, about being twenty-four instead of eighteen?" Melor asked, "Oh, come on, I just added a couple years! That's the big deal! I was playing a role, you know? Look, why don't we forget about it? I would certainly like to repeat yesterday's performance..."
Melor said that in a seductive way, as he tried to caress Josh's face with his fingers, but Josh pushed him away.
"You lied to my face." Josh said to the hybrid. "You remember what I told you about my relationships? About how honesty is one of the three main things? Well, the moment you lied to me, the honesty died! With no honesty, there is no trust! And with no trust, there is no chance a relationship can last! I explained all of that to you!"
"So, you are throwing me away just because I added a couple years to me age?" Melor asked, "Come on! Who doesn't lies about their age every now and then? That is one of those white lies that are harmless! No need to be so high-strung ab out it. Well, if we are not going to have a 'relationship', then what about we just fool around? Seriously, I really would like a reprise of yesterday's best moments..."
Melor was about to make another advance. Josh was ready to push him back, when a hoof came out of nowhere and grabbed Melor's ear, squeezing really hard.
"Was this one of the best moments?" Lumia asked as she pinched her son's ear so hard that he was left crying out in pain and grasping his mother's wrist uselessly. "You know, I promised myself I would never beat my own children like my mother used to do to my brother and I, but sometimes I really think that one or two sucker-punches would drill some sense into that empty head of yours!"
"Mooooom!" Melor whined as he felt his ear being pinched so painfully. Josh, on his end, watched with crossed arms.
"Well, I guess it is past your bedtime now." Josh said, "Goodnight, Melon."
Josh and Marcy both left, while Lumia continued to hold her son by the ear, and her husband was right behind her, watching the scene unfold before him.
Then, his attention was called by something in a corner.
He was only there for a moment, and then it vanished. However, Tibor knew it had been in there. He saw it very quickly, and he could not tell what it was, but he knew for a fact that it was in there just a millisecond ago.
The leopard then looked back at his wife. She was looking back at him as she held Melor's ear, and a mere look into her eyes let him know that she had seen it too...
Was he really going to do it? Should he do it?
He should not. He knew that well. He knew that he should not be doing any of that. This was wrong, and even a child would know that. However, a child would not be married and have a wife who they wanted to protect above anything else on the planet.
All those talks to children about "what was right was right and what was wrong was wrong" totally disregarded how much more complicated things were when you were a grownup and needed to take into account when making a decision like that.
Man, Eliot really wished his parents had explained those kinds of things to him when he was a child. At least to give him a preview of what he would have to face as an adult.
When he had his own son, he would make sure to let him know that life was not always so simple.
"Fanghanel." Said a voice that caused Eliot to "yip" and jump back in fighting position, interrupting him right when he was in the middle of pacing back and forth so he could look at the newcomer, who might as well have materialized out of thin air, with how suddenly he came.
"Still unsure about this whole thing?" Cornelius asked, and the wolf looked at him for a few moments. Before he sighed.
"I am a cop!" Eliot said, "I should uphold the law, not break it! This goes so against everything I believe! What if I get caught? I could lose my job! Worst yet, I could lose the trust of all my friends! Judy and Nick would never speak to me again! And if they don't, then it will be so much harder to make one of their children marry one of mine!"
Most people would be confused, and maybe a little creeped out, by those words. Cornelius, on his end, only looked at Eliot with a smile, before tossing something he had on his paw at the wolf.
Eliot fumbled a bit at it, as he tried to have the object on his paws without letting it fall, and he noticed that it was some small stick.
One that smelled like Chloe.
"What is that?" Eliot asked.
"Something I found on your bathroom." Cornelius said to him with a smile. "I guess your wife took it before Tasman took her."
She... took it? What?
Eliot looked down at the stick he now had on his hands and took a moment to realize exactly what it was.
His eyes widened as he looked down at the home pregnancy test. He was looking intently at the two lines in it.
Two lines... that meant...
"Seems like you are going to be a father, Fanghanel." Cornelius said to him. Eliot only half-listened to what he said. He was too busy looking at the pregnancy test and remembering the call he received from Chloe on the last time they talked, and how she told him she had something to tell him.
And how excited she seemed.
"That's what she wanted to tell me..." Eliot said, as he fell to his knees. His eyes were suddenly getting moisty. "I... I am gonna be a dad..."
There was a bit of silence in there, which Cornelius broke.
"Indeed... assuming that we retrieve Chloe, that is." The fox said, causing the wolf to look at him. "After all, since your child is still growing on her womb, if Chloe doesn't makes it back safely, then neither will them."
He was right.
He was absolutely right.
Eliot already figured out that this was his way of making sure Eliot would not back down on the plan, that he was just using this as a way of manipulating the wolf. However, that didn't change the fact that he was right.
Eliot had already been feeling like a failure as a husband for not being able to protect Chloe. Now he felt like a failure as both a husband and a father for not being able to help them.
And that made him twice as much motivated to save his family.
"If we do this..." Eliot said, looking up at the fox. "Then no one is to get hurt."
"This is a promise I cannot make..." Cornelius said to the wolf. "But, if everything goes according to plan, then I can promise you that no one will be seriously hurt. Especially not your little friends. You just have to follow my instructions."
Eliot was not sure if he could trust the words of the fox. However, in face of what he just found out, Eliot felt like he really didn't have any other choice.
Then, there was a ring on the doorbell.
"Delivery for Eliot Fanghanel." Said the elephant as he presented the package to the wolf, which was a big crate. So big, in fact, that it needed two other elephants working together to hold it. Once Eliot signed the paper that the elephant offered to him, he then helped the other two bring it into the garage, which was just barely big enough for the crate to fit.
"What is that?" Eliot asked, as he looked at the crate after the elephants left. The answer, once more, came from Cornelius, who still showed that he could come out of nowhere.
"It seems that Tasman has answered to our request." The fox said, and that confused the wolf
What did he meant by "answered to their request"? They did request for backup, right? Tasman would not just stuff the guys that would be their backup into a crate and have it delivered to them via mail... would he?
There were no breathing holes on the box...
With those thoughts in mind, Eliot opened the box in a bit of a hurry, and he had a shock when he looked inside, which was followed by a moment of panic, but then of confusion as he realized what exactly he was looking at.
"Those are..." Eliot said, looking at the things inside of the box.
"Our backup." Cornelius said, as he was standing into the edge of the crate and looking inside, a smirk on his muzzle as he looked down on the items, counting them one by one. He even got into the box and checked on one of them, seeing that they were of exceptional quality. And even got some nice little extras that were sure to come in handy.
"Yes, those will do nicely." Cornelius said with a smirk that caused Eliot to feel more than a little nervous.
"And, for the final part..." Cornelius said, as he pulled out a phone so old that Eliot thought it probably belonged into a museum and dialed a number in it.
"Hey, Sheppard?" The fox said as he talked on the phone, "You still up to do me another solid? I'll make it worth your while, I promise…"