TOY CRIME STORY PART 15

 CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Nightbeat looked all around him. There were ten goombas, and they surrounded him completely. Cat, grinning, sauntered off and turned, hands under his chin. “This is going to be wonderful!”

“Yo!” they said in unison. Then they shouted out their own in a cacophony, jumping up and down, excited.

Nightbeat glanced at Cat. “You knew they were waiting for me.”

“Of course!”

“You led me into a trap.”

“It’s not my trap, but I like it nonetheless. I wonder what you’ll look like when you’re dead.”

Nightbeat looked around at all of his enemies. Don Snowy sat on his corpulent ass apart from the goombas, watching them do his bidding. The other toys were nowhere in sight. Nightbeat thought of a movie he’d once watched when Wally was a kid, High Noon. If he called out to Angel, would he help? Would anyone?

“Am I the only one invited to my death?” he asked.

“Yo!” “Yo!” “Yo!”

“Yo Nightbeat!” Don Snowy said. “Take it like a man, and we can put this to rest, yeah?”

“Where is everyone else, Snowy? You pay them off?”

“Maybe they knew better than to get in my way,” Don Snowy said.

The closet was the only place they could be. Nightbeat looked over to see that someone had put a wedge under the door. He could hear the others in there. He wondered what they would do when they got out and found him dead. Or would Don Snowy just end them, too?

Maybe he could stall them, get enough time to yank that wedge out. He turned to Don Snowy. “Speaking of taking it like a man, why have your goombas do this? Afraid to get your hands dirty?”

“Hey! I’m a made man! I call the shots! That’s some pretty stupid thinking for a detective.”

The whole time, Nightbeat had been moving from foot to foot. Slowly, he’d been able to get just that much closer to the closet. The ring of goombas just readjusted itself to his movement. If he could keep Don Snowy talking, maybe he wouldn’t notice until it was too late.

“You shouldn’t have killed Joey,” Nightbeat said. “That’s unheard of for a toy. You’re a disgrace. You should be unstuffed.”

“Yo! I’m not the one dyin’ here! Goombas! Finish him!”

“Yo!” “Yo!” “Yo!” “Yo!” “Yo!”

Shit. So much for that. Nightbeat slugged the closest goomba and jumped through the gap where it had stood. He sensed the others closing in on him, but he concentrated on getting to that wedge. Even when he got there, when he tried pulling it out, he paid them no mind. Not until they arrived and the first one bashed him on the back of his head. He staggered forward, hitting his head on the door this time. Sparks of light fluttered in his vision, but he shook his head, intent on getting this done.

Just as he yanked at the wedge again, two goombas latched onto his arms, pulling him away. He flung both arms back, and one shook loose, but it was quickly replaced by another. They flooded around him, pushing and shoving. He couldn’t get a grip on the wedge. There were too many. Over their heads he saw Cat watching, grinning. He had his tail between his legs, stroking it like it was his cock.

Nightbeat crouched down, allowing a few of the goombas onto his back. He then jumped up, arching backward, flinging at least three of them away. It gave him some wiggle room, which he used to kick two more aside. That gave him enough time to grab the wedge again. This time he felt it give a little. He thought he could hear someone on the other side pushing at the top of the wedge. He thought if he could give it one good yank . . .

The goombas went for his feet, sending him sprawling. They climbed onto his back, pinning him down. He felt like suffocating as his face pushed against the carpet. He turned his head slightly and saw that the wedge wasn’t too far behind him. He tried kicking at it, and he barely made contact. He tried slithering back, but the weight was too much. Weakness overcame him almost as badly as when Man-E-Faces tried to kill him. In a last ditch effort, he kicked back with all of his strength.

He hit the wedge hard enough to dislodge it. The closet door popped open, and Angel and Spike jumped free.

“NO!” Don Snowy shouted.

“I don’t usually pick on someone smaller’n me,” Spike said, “but . . .” He kicked at the goombas, and Angel did the same. Nightbeat felt lighter, and he pushed himself to his feet.

“It’s over, Don Snowy,” he said.

“Yo! It’s never over! Get those bastards!”

The goombas circled the trio, who now stood back to back with each other, ready to take on whatever the goombas had. Others shuffled from the closet, chief among them Don Draper. He had a dazed look on his face.

“Pete Campbell better not be behind this,” he said. “I’ll have him run out of Sterling Cooper on a rail. Honey? Where’s my scotch?” He uttered a quack and fell on one of the goombas. It yelped, trying to get out from under his bulk, but Don was too heavy.

“I’ll help you!” Fox cried out. He leaped from the closet, ready to fend off the goombas, but Cat swept up in front of him.

“Just who I wanted to see,” he said.

Fox trembled. “I’m not scared of you! I’ll—”

Cat rushed forward and grabbed Fox by the throat, snapping his neck immediately. He made nom-ing sounds as he nibbled at Fox’s corpse.

Felix’s sons and wives rushed out and took shelter behind the bedroom door. Don Snowy saw this and lumbered over, no longer interested in the fight. “Yo! Show me your titties, my kitties!”

Felix stumbled after them and grabbed Don Snowy by his fluffy back. “Hey, Snowy! Keep your goddam hands off of them!”

Don Snowy kicked back, and since Felix had more booze running through him than anything else, he fell, unconscious.

Jack Bunnyson stepped in front of Don Snowy. “That wasn’t nice, man. And leave the chicks alone. They don’t want you, get it?”

“Yo, fuck you!” Don Snowy pushed at Jack Bunnyson, but he didn’t move much. Instead, he slugged Don Snowy across his carrot nose, sending him to the rug. “Yo! My dose! You broke my dose!”

“There’s a lot more where that came from.” Jack Bunnyson bobbed and weaved, his fists held in the air. He moved to kick, but Don Snowy shoved a foot into his crotch. Jack Bunnyson gasped, out of breath, collapsing onto his front. Don Snowy slipped behind him, to the pocket in his back, and yanked it down. Jack Bunnyson howled, and his ears hung down, the sunglasses off. Bunny said, “Noooooo! It hurts! Why?” He continued moaning until he mercifully died.

As Spike and Angel fought the remaining goombas, Nightbeat got one of his own and held it down, seeking purchase in its plush body. He found a faded area and jammed his hand into it, ripping the goomba open. It screamed as he tore the fabric up further, yanking out all of its stuffing. The scream turned to a moan until it stopped making any sound.

“These things killed Joey,” Nightbeat said. “We have to unstuff them.”

Spike nodded. “Say no more.”

The goombas, now aware of their peril, doubled their efforts to take the trio down. Spike and Angel were too big for them, and Nightbeat was too strong. The heroes worked together and managed to come up with a system. Spike fought with all his might, taking point while Angel struggled with each goomba, holding them down for Nightbeat to perform the unstuffing. As soon as the goombas figured out what they were doing, it was too late.

Angel, Spike and Nightbeat stood together, huffing and out of breath. Nightbeat recovered first. “Now it’s time to get the mastermind.”

“Who’s that?” Angel asked.

“Don Snowy gave the order to take out Joey. And me, incidentally. We have to unstuff him before it’s too late.”

They turned to Don Snowy, surprised to discover that Felix’s wives had already subdued him. He struggled to get out from under them, but he struggled harder to cop a feel. One wife sat on his throat, and he tried to maneuver his carrot nose into her bottom.

“Yo!” Don Snowy shouted. “Gimme a trial! I have rights!”

“You don’t, actually,” Nightbeat said. “Rights are for humans, and you’ve done the unthinkable. A toy should never kill its child.”

“You gotta prove it! Yo!”

“It’s proof enough that you bloody locked us away,” Spike said.

“It was Cat that locked you up!” Don Snowy cried. “Not me! I didn’t do it!”

Cat now munched away at Bunny’s corpse. “I was in the Catacombs. Nightbeat can vouch for that, yes?”

Nightbeat nodded, absolutely hating himself for giving Cat an alibi, even though it was true. “There is no getting out of this, Snowy. Is there anyone here who doubts that he didn’t kill Joey?” He glanced around. Bunny and Fox were dead, being eaten by Cat. Don Draper and Felix were passed out, stinking of booze. With the goombas dead and unstuffed, no one spoke up for Don Snowy.

Nightbeat shrugged. “Looks like the end of the road for you, asshole.”