"I really can't feel comfortable around all of those preds." Charles whispered as they walked. "Seriously, I don't feel safe around them. The cheetahs worry me, both of them; even if one is so fat, I could probably outrun him if I put my mind in it. I've been practicing my prancing."
"The fox is not as dangerous because he is smaller." Charles said, looking over to the fox that was at the distance, walking by the side of the bunny. "But I'm not letting him get too close to me. He might steal my wallet. He certainly wouldn't stop doing it just for having a badge."
"Also, I swear I don't know how Miss Popstar feels comfortable around those tigers. Only that one makes me nervous already." He continued, "The way he shows his teeth when he smiles... predators show their teeth only when they want to sink them in you. And don't even get me started in that hybrid."
He had his eyes on Marcy, who was walking by the side of her two brothers, seemingly unaware of what the horse was saying.
"It is just not normal, you know?" Adrian said, "Mixing species, it is just wrong. It never works out. There is always something wrong with hybrids."
By his side, the masked gazelle to whom he was whispering said nothing. He only continued to walk calmly by his side, seeming like he little minded the horse, almost as if he was ignoring him.
"And there is that wolf you work with." Charles said, and this caused the gazelle to turn to look at him. "I mean, it seems that he is more domesticated than most wolves. I guess you made a good job training him while you worked together, didn't you? Anyway, he doesn't seems like he is smart enough to pose a threat to anyone. Seriously, the guy is..."
Charles trailed at what he was saying, as he felt a shiver run down his spine. He looked at the gazelle, who was staring at him. He could not see his eyes due to the mask, but he had the instinctual feeling that the guy was glaring at him through the lens. That he was looking at him with a great deal of hatred.
"Hey, I'm just saying!" Charles said defensively, the gazelle continued glaring at him, and this made the horse more than just a little uncomfortable.
"I'm just trying to make conversation. Geez." Charles said, as he and the gazelle continued walking among the group. Charles had tried to talk to the male gazelle about his worries, once he seemed to be the only one in here who could probably understand his worries. He knew that the popstar would think he was speciest, and so would the bunny and probably Chandler's girlfriend. Chandler would yell at him for talking like that about the fat bastard, and his own wife would probably say that he was being too paranoid for thinking that all predators could jump at him.
Was it his fault that he was reasonable enough to know that predators could be dangerous? I mean, they had claws and fangs, not to talk about their hunting instincts. Any prey on their right mind would he rightfully nervous around a great number of predators. You could not avoid that. Wasn't it that Yahya usually said?
Of course, speak about this to anyone and you are immediately label as speciest. It seemed that even the gazelle buy thought like that. Even though it only seemed that he had gotten mad when Charles started to talk about that wolf mascot of his'. Luckily it was only that guy giving him glares, for Charles had been careful enough to speak it in a low voice to the gazelle that was walking by his side.
However, he did overlooked the fact that bunnies had big and sensitive ears.
Judy had clearly heard what he whispered to the gazelle, and she didn't liked it. She felt particularly angry with what Charles had insinuated about Nick.
She wanted to turn around and say a few things right to his face, to let him know that she didn't approved at all what he said. However, she didn't had the time to do that, for they had now arrived at the place where they were going.
They had been walking through the hallways, following Chandler, and passed by a number of works of art, all of them part of Adrian's vast collection. Some of them were quite beautiful, and the mammals ventured to look at them as they walked through the hallways. Now, Chandler stopped in front of a door and turned to his guests, smiling.
"So, tonight, the second night of our mystery game is going to start." Chandler said to all of them. "This, of course, means more challenges for you to overcome, my friends. Now, for the following event, I have chosen another one that is very popular for Halloween, so much that it is, in fact, a classic."
With this said, Chandler opened the door, leading the guests into a room that had been prepared for the game. This room, like all the others, was fill with works of art from Adrian's collection, with paintings on the walls and with vases and sculptures in pedestals near the walls. However, these didn't called as much attention as the big barrel that had been place right in the middle of the room, standing over big towels on the ground, with a tall stool right by the side.
As they walked inside of the room, the ones who had the most sensitive noses quickly could detect a smell on the room. It was fresh, sweet, and fruity. It was the smell of...
"Apples." Legoshi said, and Chandler nodded.
"That's right." The horse said, looking at the group. "The next challenge is the classic Halloween party game of apple bobbing. I do believe that everyone in here knows how the game works, right?"
Everyone nodded, and they looked at the barrel, which they now knew was full of water with apples floating on it.
They also knew that they would have to, without using their paws/hooves, pick an apple in their mouths.
Which, of course, meant that they would get at least a little bit wet.
"I just passed gel on my mane." Charles complained, while everyone was removing their masks.
"Yeah, everyone noticed that." Chandler said, looking at the mane of the other horse, which was excessively shiny. "Now, you will be taking turns, and each one of you will have exactly two minutes to get an apple. Those who do will have access to the clue. So, who would like to go first?"
Some mammals wanted to go first, among them Benjamin. The cheetah quickly moved to the side of the barrel, and stood in there until Chandler gave him the signal to go, which the cheetah immediately did. The water immediately washed away fur-friendly makeup that he had on his face. It took him a few attempts, but he was able to get the apple eventually. With just a few seconds to go.
Next was Gazelle. She proceeded to make a few attempts, and she ended up soaking her dress a little bit as she attempted, not to mention her hair. In the end, she was not able to get the apple, but Chandler congratulated her for the effort, and gave her a towel to dry her fur. Then it was the turn of Tyson, and he succeeds in catching his apple in the determined time.
Then it was Josh's turn, and the muscular cheetah dived headfirst into the barrel as soon as Chandler gave him the signal. He missed the first attempt and the second, but he finally succeeded on the third go. Each time he shoved his head on the water, he pulled it back as if he was throwing back his head, letting the water fall over his shoulders and onto his chest, making his fur cling to his skin and making his muscles even more noticeable than they already were. For some, it seemed that Josh was doing that on purpose.
Hannah tried next, and even though she managed to catch the apple, she did that right when there were only three seconds to go, and only because she grabbed the apple by the stalk with her teeth. Then it was Nick's turn, and the fox climbed on the stool and dove into the barrel (almost literally), and pulled back with an apple held on his mouth, which granted him some clapping from the others.
Charles attempted next, and he failed miserably, only succeeding in soaking his shirt and mane in water, but completely failing to get the apple. He then returned to his spot, while Marcy went forward, and she succeeded on the task of getting the apple.
"You know, predators have advantage on that." Charles whispered to the masked gazelle as he stood by his side, drying himself with a towel. "After all, not only they have their huge mouths and their fangs to sink in the fruit, but they also have their killer instincts. The same ones that they used to hunt down and maul prey on the past. With all of those, getting an apple out of a barrel must be easy."
He was whispering that to the gazelle, but he once more overlooked how good the hearing of some mammals around him were. Hannah heard what he said, and she made a face at it. Judy and Nick also heard (Judy more clearly), and the bunny was really not liking it. Gazelle didn't heard it, but Tyson did, and he was glad that the popstar had failed to hear this, for she surely would have something to say about it.
Meanwhile, Legoshi had just finished trying to get the apple, but he had failed. He did had a strong jaw, but he didn't had the right focus to grab an apple. As he stepped down, it then was someone else's turn. That was when the masked gazelle raised his hoof.
"I'd like to go next, if no one opposes." He said, his voice muffled by the mask. Everyone looked at him, and everyone agreed that he could go next. The gazelle walked to the barrel and stood by it, facing everyone.
"Okay, you will really have to take off your mask for this, Mr. Horne." Chandler said, and the gazelle nodded.
"Melon..." Legoshi started saying, and he sounded a bit worried.
"It's okay, Legoshi." The gazelle said, reaching for the straps of the mask on the back of his head, and unstrapping them. "I've wanted to get this thing off anyway."
The gazelle proceeded to unstrap the mask, before he removed it from his face. As he did, he let out a sight.
"Thank goodness." He said; his voice no longer muffled. "I couldn't breathe with this thing on."
Everyone, save for Legoshi, stared at the gazelle. They looked at him in surprise. Some with raised eyebrows, others with shocked expression, but all of them stared.
It was the first time they actually saw Melon's face. Without mask or shades. The first time they could take a good look at his features.
And they didn't looked like the features you would expect in a gazelle.
His eyes were of a chartreuse coloration. It was a very unusual color for a gazelle to have. He had some spots on his cheeks, which nearly looked like freckles, and he also had whiskers, something that gazelles normally didn't had. His mouth was also different from a regular gazelle.
If you looked at Gazelle, you would see that her mouth didn't looked like Melon's. Even because, her mouth didn't had pointed teeth like Melon had.
As they looked at him, Melon also removed his jacket, now exposing his naked chest to them. The fur of his body, much like that of his head, was of a soft yellow, with white on his chest and his stomach. At some points of his body, it was possible to see black markings, which the others recognized as rosettes. Melon paid no mind to the staring eyes, as he folded his jacket and placed it on the ground, with his mask on top of it.
The unmasked mammal now stood in front of all of them, both his hooves supporting him against the barrel, before he opened his mouth wide. As he did, everyone could see the sharp teeth and the fangs of his mouth.
Those definitely were not the teeth of a gazelle.
They continued to look at the mammal in surprise, including Chandler, who was still holding the chronometer as he looked at the unmasked mammal.
"Anytime now, Chandler." Melon said; turning to the horse, making him realized that he had been staring, and he quickly recovered, blushing a bit.
"Y-yes, sorry." Chandler said, "Okay get ready... set..."
Melon once more opened his mouth, letting his fangs bared for everyone to see.
"Go!"
Melon dove with amazing speed and ferocity, plunging his head in the water, his horns nearly hitting the edges of the barrel. Some almost jumped back at how the mammal had dove his head into the water. Just two seconds later, Melon whipped his head back, making water splash out of the barrel. His head was not drenched, and he had an apple firmly grasped in his mouth.
He had gotten the apple in one go.
"Wow..." Judy said, looking at the horned mammal.
"Impressive." Euphemia said, looking at the mammal, and Melon had a smirk on his muzzle as he pressed his teeth into the apple, piercing the outside and sinking his fangs into the pulp. With one hoof, he took hold of the apple as he took a bite out of it, chewing as he walked out of his position near the barrel full of water and apples.
"You know..." Melon said, as he chewed on the mouthful of apple, before swallowing and then speaking more clearly.
"You may have reason on a thing or two you say, Charles." He said, looking at the horse he was speaking with, as he grabbed towel with Chandler and started to use it to dry his fur. "About how having fangs and killers instincts actually help. I mean, speaking objectively."
"Fangs can sink into something better than flat teeth." He said, as he started to dry his horns. "And killer instincts give you the better skill to dive in when you are going to bite. In this point, I guess that predators really do have a certain advantage."
As he finished drying himself, he picked his jacket and mask from the ground, and took another bite from the apple.
"I have some of those traits." Melon said, now walking in direction to Charles as he was once more dressing his jacket. "You know; the fangs and the killer instinct? I may not be completely a predator, but I still have them, from one side of my family. Guess this did gave me advantage in this game, right?"
He was now standing right in front Charles, and he took another bite of the apple. A big bite, which let his fangs shine in the light of the room, as he ripped a piece of the apple and chewed, before swallowing, and smiling at him.
"I guess there are some advantages in being gazelle/leopard hybrid, right?" He said, and he licked his lips from apple crumbles, once more letting his fangs in clear view of the horse, who looked at him without saying a word.
Melon chuckled at his expression.
Mammals in there continued to look at the horned mammal, before someone cleared their throat.
"Well, I believe we should continue the challenge, right?" Euphemia said, and she stepped forward. "Now, I'll be going next, if you don't mind."
With this, Euphemia was next, and she managed to catch the apple in a considerable time, and splashing surprisingly little water. Her dress had remained dry, and so did her mane! The only thing that had actually got wet was the fur of her face, and she gladly accepted the towel from her brother.
Then it was Judy's turn. The bunny climbed in the stool and waited for the signal from Chandler. It only took her two attempts before she managed to get the apple on her mouth. She had to open her mouth surprisingly wide, and she was able to sink her front teeth in the apple so hard that she had become stuck.
The apple was actually lodge in her mouth!
She needed a little bit of help to get the apple out of her mouth, and this prompted some to laugh, or at least chuckle. Nick himself had a very amused expression as he looked at her, his phone in his paws as he took a few pictures of Judy with the apple in her mouth.
"These pictures better never leave your phone." Judy warned him as she walked back to his side, and Nick chuckled at his bunny partner. Yeah, he definitely was not going to show them to anyone, for he valued his life, but they would definitely become his new screensaver.
"So, this concludes this challenge." Chandler announced, looking at the participants. "So, it seems that everyone won, save for Ogami, Gazelle and Charles! It is actually more than I had expected. Now the ones who didn't got the apple, please wait in the hallway while I share the clue with the winners."
With this, the three mammals left the room. Charles, in particular, seemed to be quite grumpy about not having won the game.
"He is a sore loser." Chandler whispered to Tyson as they watched the losers leave the room, leaving only the other mammals into the room. Melon was already placing his mask back and strapping it to his head, still, some mammals were still looking at him. Marcy, in particular, looked at him with a certain interest.
"Okay everyone." Chandler said, "Congratulations for passing this challenge. You all have earned the right to see... this."
With this, Chandler pulled something out of his pocket, holding it for everyone to see.
"A box?" Melon deadpanned, looking at it, with his mask once more on his face. In fact, Chandler was holding a small wooden box for them to look. It looked to be one of those boxes that opened by sliding the lid to the side, and it was beautiful to look at. Every inch of the small box was decorate with circles and triangles, all of which looked like they had been carefully paw-carved.
"Well, it is pretty box." Nick said, looking at it as the horse kneeled to show it to the smaller mammals. "Kind of look like one my mother uses to put her necklaces."
"Is it a jewelry box?" Judy asked, looking at the box intently, which seemed rather small to be something that a big mammal would use practically.
"What that has to do with the murder?" Josh asked, and Chandler smiled.
"Well, that would be for you to figure out, my friends." He said, as he placed the box inside of his pocket once more. "Now, let's all join the rest of the group and go to the next challenge, yes?"
Everyone agreed, and soon, the group was passing through the door, to find the mammals in there waiting for them. As they came out, Legoshi immediately rushed to Melon, and started to whisper something to him.
"Melon, we have a problem!" The wolf said, looking at the masked hybrid, and he then proceeded to say something in a rushed tune. So rushed that Melon could actually not comprehend him, and neither could Judy, as her ears could easily pick what the wolf was whispering to the hybrid, and it immediately made her feel interested. She was looking at the wolf as he gestured to the masked mammal, as if to convey what he wanted to say, but the hybrid was still failing to understand him.
"Hey, calm down." Melon whispered to him, soon he was moving the wolf a bit farther away from the others, and Judy noticed it. She immediately called Nick's attention to it, and the fox soon was coming with her. They were able to get away from the group, as the others were distracted talking among themselves, but Benjamin noticed them moving away, and followed them.
"Okay, now tell me what is going on." Melon said, looking at the wolf.
"Look." Legoshi said, fishing on his pocket for something and showing it to Melon. It was a cicada, and it was vibrating as it let out a continuous, subtle, but perceptible sound.
"It started right after I got out of the room." Legoshi explained, and Melon looked at it.
"I see..." He said, looking at the wolf. "Well, this could be a problem."
"What could be a problem?" Judy asked, making the two mammals to look at her as she approached, followed closely by Nick and Ben.
"You guys up to something?" Nick asked, looking at the two, and the mammals looked at each other, and they both seemed worried.
"Did something happened?" Ben asked, and that was when Melon shrugged and said:
"Well, they are into it as well, right?"
Legoshi looked at the masked hybrid, and then he looked at the three cops, and showed them the cicada.
"It started chirping right after I left the room." He said, and the three cops just looked at it.
"And, that is bad because..."
"Because this cicada is connected to other ones on the outside of the mansion." Melon said, "We put them on the outside to act as warnings, and they are also connected to our bounded field."
"Really?" Ben asked, as it was clear that he had a better understanding of the matter than the two cops. He seemed worried.
"So, this means something happened outside?" He asked, and Legoshi nodded.
"Yes, you see, the cicadas are all connected to each other. They react when the other ones do." The wolf explained, "I did it using a formula of tying objects to each other by their similarity, you know, basic sympathetic magecraft, and this way they are able to contact each other over long distances through their chirping. I also based myself on how regular cicadas communicate through their music, so this way it was easier to..."
"Point is..." Melon said, interjecting, "The cicadas were prepared to react if anything invaded the area of the bounded field. This way, the cicadas would start chirping, and they would cause this one to start chirping as well."
"Wait." Judy said, looking at the two. "Does that means..."
"Someone has invaded the property." Melon said, looking back at her. The cops all went in alert as they heard that.
"Someone is breaking in?" Judy whispered to them urgently, now worried about someone coming into the house and attacking the guests.
"They are not in the house." Legoshi said back to her, "It is chirping very lightly. This means that only the ones around the property are chirping. The ones near the house and inside of it are not reacting. But there is definitely something happening outside the mansion."
"That much we know for sure." Melon said, and this was enough to make the cops be more nervous.
"Hey, guys!" Someone said, making the five mammals look at the rest of the group, Josh was waving at them.
"You guys decided to take a break? Chandler said the next game is ready! Let's get going!"
The five mammals shared looks; right now, the cops wished that they could share the information with the rest of the group. However, Adrian had been adamant about that, and both the wolf and the hybrid seemed like they didn't wanted to anger him. They were the ones who talked the cops into not making a scene out of it, arguing that whatever was happening was not close or inside the mansion, and that there was no reason for them to be so worried.
At least not yet.
"Who knows, maybe the guy is just taking a stroll around." Melon suggested, looking at them through the lenses of his mask. "Maybe he is just curious about the place and then he will leave as soon as he has seen enough?"
The cops all looked at him. Judy had an exasperated expression as he looked at the masked hybrid. Meanwhile, Nick...
"Wow." He said, looking at the hybrid, "I knew that you worked for Adrian Manechester, but not that he had trained you to be his mouthpiece. And you said everything just like he told you to! Bet you will receive a treat later."
Melon turned his head to glare at the fox. Yeah, Nick could not see the green eyes of the hybrid, but he was pretty sure that there was a glare behind those lenses.
"Guys!" Josh called once more. "Game? Now? Come on!"
Judy looked at him, before looking back at Horne and Ogami. She let out a sigh, and she looked straight at the wolf.
"If there is any change, let us know immediately!" She said to him in a commanding way, which made Legoshi's tail tuck in between his legs.
"Y-yes ma'am." The wolf said, and this was enough to Judy. In truth, she wanted a lot more than just that, but it was enough for now, considering the situation.
Soon, they were all joining the rest of the group, and they were once more following Chandler through the hallways to another room that had been prepared for them. All the while, Judy, Nick and Ben were all a bit on the edge. They were the only ones among them, along with the two mages, who knew that there was something happened outside of the mansion. The thought that the one behind the attacks could be lurking around the house, maybe ready to invade at any moment, really made them all feel a bit edgy.
Judy wanted to rush to the security room and tell the guards in there to see if they could catch anything suspicious on the property. Darn, she wanted to forget this game and go outside to patrol the entire area herself!
Why wasn't she going?
Because of Adrian? Because of those two?
Darn! How she would focus on whatever game it was if she spent the night worrying that someone would be storming into the mansion at any moment intent on hurting everyone in there!?
That did it! She was not going to just lower her head and take it. She was going to turn around and go outside and she was going to patrol the entire area! Ben and Nick were coming with her! And so would these two mages who worked for Manechester!
However, before she could actually take action, Chandler's voice suddenly broke her out of her thoughts, and she saw herself looking at the horse, as he stood right before another door.
"Okay guys, now we go for our next challenge." Chandler said to them. "And this one is also based on an old Halloween classic. Maybe not as old or classic as the apple bobbing, but certainly popular." He said to all of them, "And this one might actually test your courage a little bit."
Judy barely paid attention to Chandler's words. She was once more thinking of excusing herself and her partner from the game so they could go patrolling, and she was thinking of dragging the wolf and the hybrid by the tails so they would help.
"Hmm, excuse me? Officer Bunny-san?" Legoshi's voice sounded near Judy, this made her turn her head to see the wolf now crouching behind her, and he had a worried expression on his face.
"Hmm, you just told me to let you know if there were any changes and... well..." He said, and this immediately made Judy more worried.
"I am not afraid of anything." Charles said aloud, apparently in answer to something that Chandler had just said to the group.
"Well, I am glad to know that." Chandler said, looking at him. "So, in that case, you can all come in!"
With that, Chandler opened the door and led everyone inside. Judy was going forward, as she needed to ask Chandler to excuse herself and the others from the game. Maybe even convince him to guide the rest of the group somewhere safe.
They were led inside another room. This one, like the previous, had more pieces of Adrian's collection. However, what called the most attention were the twelve black boxes put in twelve pedestals. Some of the mammals looked curiously at those boxes.
"Okay, there is a box for each one of you and..." Chandler said, but Judy interrupted him, as she pulled the leg of his pants, causing him to look down to her.
"Excuse me, Chandler." She said, gesturing for him to come closer. Chandler kneeled near her.
"What is it?" Chandler asked, and Judy was just about to tell him of her worries, when a chirping sound was heard in the room.
The mammals on the room blinked as they heard the loud chirping, and some of them already started to look around, to see where it was coming from. That was when some said someone say:
"Kuso..."
Legoshi was looking in horror at the cicada on his paw, which was chirping so loud that it was nearly vibrating on his hand. Melon was looking at it too, and he seemed to share of the wolf's opinion.
"Oh, crud." He said, his voice muffled by the mask.
"Officer Bunny-san!" Legoshi said, rushing to Judy, and as soon as he was before her, he then said:
"T-they are inside!"
"What!?" Judy said, looking at the wolf.
"J-just a few moments before!" The wolf said, showing her the chirping/vibrating cicada. "It was chirping in a way that told me they were really close to the mansion! B-but now, now it is vibrating because they have entered! Someone has invaded the mansion!"
Judy's eyes widened in horror. Ben gasped and covered his mouth, while Nick let out a curse. Meanwhile, the rest of the guests looked confused, and so did Chandler.
"Wait, what?" The horse said, meanwhile, Judy was already managing the situation.
"Okay, we have to act now! Safety of the guests is our top priority! Nick! Ben!" She called out, and the fox was soon coming. Ben came right after. Meanwhile, the rest of the guests were all becoming aware of what was going on.
"Wait, someone has invaded the house?" Marcy asked.
"How do you even know that?" Charles demanded, looking at the wolf.
"We have our ways, okay?" Melon said, immediately defending the wolf from the horse, and Legoshi looked at the masked hybrid.
"Look, we don't have time, okay?" Judy said, "There is someone invading the house, and we need to secure everyone! What is the safest place to be right now?"
"Wait a minute." Euphemia said, causing the attention to turn to her. "If there is someone invading the house, then shouldn't we first try to know where they were? Otherwise they could sneak on us no matter where we were."
Judy and Nick shared a look, as they all could agree with that.
"Ogami!" Judy said, immediately turning to the wolf.
"H-hay!" The canine immediately said, as he stood to attention.
"Do you know where they are? How many they are?" Judy asked, and the wolf soon was answering.
"W-well, I can use my familiars to get this information. I can get them to communicate to each other and relay the information for us."
With this, Judy told him to do so, and the wolf did, closing his eyes and focusing on the little cicada that he still had on his paw to communicate with the other ones spread across the house to gather information. That was how he found out the number of invaders, as well as their steps across the house.
It was a single invader, they had come in through the front door, passed by the main hall, and from there they went through the hallways to other rooms, and were currently at one that was not very distant from where they were.
"Good, you are coming with us." Judy said, and she then turned to the rest of the guests. "We are going to take care of everything! All of you stay in here."
"You guys going to face someone?" Josh asked, "I am going as well."
"Me too." Said Marcy, but Judy shook her head.
"No, you guys stay in here." The bunny said, looking at the two. "You will stay and protect the guests, in case the invaders come this way. Horne, you are coming with us." She pointed at the gazelle, and soon, the three cops and the two other mages were leaving the room, leaving the rest of the group behind.
"Okay, so, we go there and we do what?" Melon asked, to which Judy answered:
"We apprehend the suspect." She had her dart gun in her paws. She had been carrying both her own and Nick's inside of her clothes, and she swiftly passed Nick his own as they walked out of the room, and now they were both ready. Benjamin, on his end, didn't really had a dart gun. He was now regretting having left it on his luggage, thinking that he was not going to need it inside of the mansion.
"What I am gonna do without my dart gun?" Benjamin complained. That was when Melon looked at him.
"What, did you actually forgot how to do magecraft after giving up being a mage?" The hybrid asked, looking at the cheetah, and Ben looked back at him.
"We are getting close." Legoshi said, and the mammals all got on guard. As they approached the door, they were able to hear voices.
"How did you got inside?" Someone asked, and the voice as neither from Adrian nor from anyone of the house. Maybe it was the voice of one of the servants.
"I know that he is here!" The other voice said. "Where is Benjamin Clawhauser?"
They stopped before the door as they heard that other voice demanding. Benjamin, in particular, was left nearly petrified, with his eyes widen. He looked as if he was in shock.
"How have you entered!?" The servant said, "Where is security?"
"I know that Benjamin Clawhauser is here!" The other voice demanded. "Let me see him!"
"T-that voice..." Benjamin muttered, and soon, he was stepping forward, passing by his two fellow cops.
"Ben?" Judy asked, but the cheetah acted as if he hadn't heard her. Instead, he just opened the door. In that room, they found two mammals who seemed like they were having a discussion right on that moment. The first one was an impala butler, and he looked in surprise at the corpulent cheetah, and so did the other mammal.
The deer stood around 6 feet tall, maybe a few more inches taller than that. His fur was brown in coloration, with a lighter shade around his muzzle and on his neck, certainly going down his chest as well. He had antlers of a brownish-gray coloration on his head, and the fur on his ears was darker than the rest of the fur of his head. He was wearing a red shirt and jacket, and a pair of long social pants of a gray coloration. As the doors opened, he turned his eyes of a light green to the door, and they looked on the cheetah that was standing on there.
For a long moment, the two mammals locked eyes.
"ZPD, don't move!" Judy said, immediately rushing forward, aiming her dart gun at the deer, who looked at her confused, as well as the fox that was by her side. He also saw the two mammals that were behind the corpulent cheetah, the wolf and the horned mammal in a mask.
That was, of course, before the cheetah stepped forward, what caused the deer to turn his attention back at him.
The deer had a raised eyebrow as he looked at that cheetah, who looked at him with surprise.
"Gabe?" Ben said, and the deer blinked, before his eyes widened.
"Ben?"
For a long moment, no one spoke, as the cheetah and deer looked at each other, and the other mammals looked at them.
"Ben... Is... Is that you?" The deer said, nearly in disbelief, as he looked at the plump cheetah up and down, and the feline only looked at him. His face was one of... well, it was hard to read his expression, but he seemed to look at him with a certain... longing...
"You have let your antlers grow bigger..." The cheetah said, looking at him, his face softening. The deer looked back at the cheetah for a few moments, before his expression also changed. It became harder.
"So, it is you." He said, in a serious voice. "You have... changed."
Ben looked down, his hands resting on his belly, almost as if he wanted to hide his fat body from the deer.
"Ben, do you know him?" Judy asked, looking at the cheetah. She was asking something obvious, and the other mammals in there could tell it.
"Ben!" Someone said, and this caused the attention to turn to the door from which the five mammals came, only to see more mammals coming. Chandler Manechester was in the front.
"Ben!" He said, passing through the door and into the room, and he soon was catching sight of the deer.
"Who is this?" Chandler asked, as more mammals started to come. It were all of the guests, including Josh and Marcy.
"What are you doing here!?" Judy asked, looking at them. "I told you to wait in there!"
"Chandler was worried about Ben and rushed outside on the first chance he got." Josh said, as the other mammals soon were moving through the door. "We just came along. I mean, if there is some guy in here who wants problem, then I am not going to just sit and..."
He was saying, but his voice trailed as soon as he laid eyes on the deer. His eyes widened as he looked at him.
"Gabe?" Josh asked, looking at him.
"Deerbrook?" Marcy said, as she also looked at the deer with surprise. The deer, in return, looked at both of them with a neutral expression.
"Joshua, Marceline." He said, looking at them. "Good to see you two again."
"Wait, you guys know this deer?" Chandler asked.
"What are you doing here?" Marcy asked, looking at the cervine, who looked back at her.
"I came to see him." He said, pointing a hooved finger at Benjamin, causing the feline to shy away slightly. "I came here for satisfaction."
"Satisfaction?" Chandler said, looking at him. "What does that even means?"
"This doesn't concerns you." The deer said, the horse looked at him with a glare, and the deer soon added:
"But, if you want to know, it has to do with what that cheetah did seven years ago."
Ben whimpered a bit, as he shied away more.
"What do you mean?" Euphemia asked, "What has Benjamin done?"
"Oh, nothing much." The deer said, now starting to walk in direction to the cheetah. "Other than leaving without as much as a proper goodbye."
She raised an eyebrow, and so did the other mammals in the room, all of them looking from the deer to the cheetah and back.
"And after all of the years, all of the promises, and all of the vows." The deer said, and he continued to approach the cheetah.
"I-I... I just..." Ben said, and the deer continued.
"You were hurting. You were sad and angry." The cervine said, looking at the feline. "You had all the right to feel like that after what happened, no one can blame you. Maybe you were right to depart like that. Maybe you had all the reason of the world to just leave without even saying goodbye. But don't you think that this makes it hurt any less."
The cervine sounded upset as he spoke that; almost hurt. His volume was raising as he spoke that, and he continued to look at the cheetah as he approached.
"This does not change the feeling of being abandoned and left behind. This does not changes the feeling that all of these years meant nothing!" He said, his voice becoming more filled with emotion as he spoke. "This does not change the fact that all of the promises seemed like lies!"
"They were not!" Ben immediately said, looking at him. "I never lied to you! About anything!"
"Well, it is quite easy to say it now, isn't it?" The deer asked, he was now standing just a few feet away from Ben, and he stopped and was now looking at the cheetah. "It does not change the hurt that one can get by waking up in a morning and finding a single note that lets them know that all of the plans and promises for the future just crumbled away into nothing!"
"Who ends an engagement through a note left on the nightstand while the other mammal is sleeping!?" The deer said, causing Nick and Judy, as well as some other mammals, to widen their eyes. "Who doesn't even have the courage to wake up the mammal they were supposed to marry and end everything in a proper way!? And later avoid having any form of contact with them after all of the time they spent together and after all that they had shared with one another!? You even went as far as having your entire family covering up for you! I only managed to find you after seeing you on the news!"
Ben flinched, giving a step back and looking down as he did. There was silence on the room, as everyone in there looked like they were just holding their breaths and waiting to see what was going to happen.
"What happened to you..." The deer said again. "All of the things that happened to you... they shouldn't happen to anyone. It is normal to feel hurt and to want to leave everything behind. But don't you dare thinking that you are the only one who was left hurting."
The voice of the deer once more had that hurt, almost resentful tune to it.
"Others get hurt by what happened. They get hurt because of the decisions that you made, as correct as they might have seen back then. I know that you understand that." The deer said, Ben continued to look down. More silence formed, before the deer spoke.
"Look at me."
Benjamin hesitated, keeping his eyes on the cervine's feet.
"Look at me, Benjamin Clawhauser, of the Clawhauser clan." The deer once more said, making the cheetah flinched, before he raised his face. Sad brown eyes met stern green ones. For a long moment, they looked at each other.
"Gabe, I..." Ben tried to say, but he was silence as the deer, with surprising speed, stepped forward, closing the distance between then both. Before anyone could react, the deer placed his hooves on Ben's shoulders... and kissed him on the lips.
"What?"
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
Melon tilted his head, and so did Nick.
Judy looked with a surprised, nearly shocked expression.
Ben was as surprised as everyone else. His eyes were wide, and he was stunned as his body stiffened, tail included. He didn't reacted as the deer continued to press his lips on his' for solid eight seconds, before he pulled away.
The cervine and feline looked at each other, and Ben could see moisture in the deer's eyes.
"I... I missed kissing you..." He said, looking at the cheetah, a hoof gently touching his cheek and rubbing it. "I missed how soft your fur was... I missing looking into your eyes..."
After a few more seconds, the deer looked like he was ready to break down in tears.
"Ben..." He leaned over, putting his arms around Ben's neck and resting his head on his body as he pulled him into a hug. "I missed you so much."
Ben was stunned. However, he soon reacted on the only way he could: by hugging the deer back very gently. Being careful with the antlers.
Meanwhile, everyone continued to look at them. Some in surprise, some in shock.
"What the heck!?" Charles finally blurted out. "What is going on!?"
"Seriously, who is this guy?" Melon asked, looking at Josh and Marcy for explanations, and the two did answered.
"Gabriel Deerbrook Junior, heir of the Deerbrook clan." Marcy said, looking at the scene with a calm expression and her paws on her hips. "He is Ben's fiancé."
"Actually, ex-fiancé." Josh explained, as he also looked at the hugging cheetah and deer, just like everyone else.
Okay, this chapter is a little shorter than the others and, to be honest, I felt it was a bit rushed. Hope you guys still managed to enjoy it.
R&R, no flaming, but constructive criticism always welcome.