Disclaimer
This story is rated PG and contains no material out of character of Animaniacs.
This is an independent work of fiction with
no connection whatsoever to WB. The artists and creators disavow any knowledge
of and do no officially sanction the events in this story. This work is meant
to be the owners own personal look into what may have become of Minerva Mink.
Minerva is trademark WB. Meggie is (C) Shelly P. All other characters are
(C) the owner of this page. This story is Copyright © 2002 by Ross Snyder.
This story may not be sold or used for commercial profit in any form or fashion.
This story may not be modified in any way. This story may not be posted on
a mirror site or any other Internet site without the written permission of
the author. This story may not be distributed on print, magnetic, electrical
or optical mediums.
THE MINERVA MINK STORY
"Bunny Country"
Chapter 17
Wednesday Afternoon:
A few hours after Minerva had dropped Stephanie off at her parents house, something she was seeing more and more as the right decision to make as far as the little girl was concerned, she found herself sitting across from a large mahogany desk, more or less comfortably sinking deep inside a plush leather chair.
She crossed her legs in ‘Basic Instinct’ style while watching Newt, the pleasantly plump, sometimes eccentric Dachshund, that she had shared so many days at the WB studios working along beside, who just like her, had fallen into a strange obscurity.
They bade a curt welcome to one another, and Minerva had made sure that her visit wouldn’t seem like a social one. The last thing she wanted Newt to think was that she was showing up, out of the blue to try and seduce money out of him using their past relations
Fact of the matter was, they two had not spent much time in contact with the other, in all the years since they had first worked at WB. Beside the occasional reunion, yearly Christmas Card, and short, almost nonsensical phone call, both Minerva and Newt had lost almost all contact with one another.
The only difference between the two was the Newt hadn’t spent a whole lot of time letting the grass grow beneath his feet. While Minerva had retired quietly to her little home by the pond, Newt had taken what restitution he had received as part of the pitiful pittance doled out to the two of them from the weak kneed executives at WB, in an attempt to apologize for canceling their appearance on any further shows and shooting their idea for their own show down like a sick duck, investing it in the stock market.
It seemed a little laughable to think that mild mannered, slightly unconventional Newt would be able to become a stock market bull, but he had. And had taken that scant few dollars and turned it into almost multi millions in just a matter of a few short years.
His particular smart investing had given him a new semi-mansion, fourteen cars to play with, and a nice fat bank account. The latter especially, was something a very old, and somewhat feral part of Minerva’s personality growled hungrily for.
For now, the Investment Mastermind sat at his desk, a monocle stuck in one eye, examining Minerva’s business proposal as he flipped through the pages with his pudgy fingers. Every so often he would grunt, nod, or a combination of both, none of which she was able to understand as being positive or negative.
Ol’ Newt hadn’t changed much in the few years since she had last seen him. A little taller, a few extra pounds too she guessed, but still Newt. He had assumed a new air of Wal-street savvy, but there was still that underlying comical, sometimes clumsy person she had so enjoyed working with at the core.
Minerva signed nervously, but made sure it was only addible to herself. She had a lot riding on the hope that Newt would be willing to invest, and if he didn’t, things were going to end up being tight, very tight if possible at all.
The interior of Newt’s sizable office was starting to nibble at her attention again, for probably the tenth time that hour, and she starting eyeing some of the objects that were littered about the octagon shaped room.
Newt was an obvious pack rat, the type of person that bought and collected things that seemed to only have worth to them and no one else. Items that could probably be found at local land-fills by the dozen were bought for hundreds of dollars at seedy auction houses.
Several book cases were stuffed with antique books right along side almost new paperbacks, hideous African masks hanging on one wall, Japanese paper lanterns dangling from the ceiling, and a glass case filled with old comic books. Batman, Spiderman, Punisher, to which Cory had been a devout fan, and something called Killraven?
“You seem very distracted today Mink. Is something the matter?”
Minerva jumped in her seat slightly and turned to face Newt, who had now put the proposal down and was looking at her, rubbing the edge of his monocle thoughtfully.
“Me? No, I’m fine. Just admiring your.... ‘things’, that’s all.” She coughed into her hand eager to change the subject. “But anyway, what do you think? About the proposal?”
Newt hopped down out of his executive leather chair and started to pace about the room. He itched his chin thoughtfully then took in a heavy sigh. Minerva felt her stomach drop into her pumps.
“I will be blunt then. I think it is very risky, fashion studios are a dime a dozen in this part of the country. They pop up as easily and are most often eaten up by larger studios in only a short time.”
She gripped the arm of her chair tightly feeling a flush of heated blood hit her face. “That’s not always the case!” She said, trying to restrain the shout that was creeping up in her lungs. “There are always exceptions! And often times it’s the smaller business that can easily over take and even beat out the larger conglomerates for simple lack of red tape!”
Newt seemed nonplused by her remarks and replaced the small glass lens in one eye. “Naturally Mink, there exceptions to every rule. But as a practice, it isn’t smart business to bank on such things.”
“Are you saying that you see my new studio would be an investment risk? A money trap perhaps?” Her voice had now taken on a cold calculative edge, something she wasn’t entirely sure she liked. ‘This was not how I wanted this meeting to go.’
He snorted a bit and raised his large nose into the air, squeezing his eyes shut and clasping his hands behind his back. “In a way yes, your fledgling studio would be an investment risk. One would be throwing money down the drain on such a venture. No, unless you could give me a reason to believe otherwise, I’m afraid I will have to pass.”
‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this!’ Her mind screamed furiously as she gripped the arm of the chair even harder, threatening to snap one of her nails. She knew that any new business was some bit of a risk, but Newt seemed to be tossing her’s aside with hardly a thought!
‘Whoa girl, hold on there. Take a deep breath before you open your mouth and seal this deal for good.’
Thankfully, Minerva took this advice, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. She felt a little of her rage pass, but it was quickly replaced with something else. Passion.
“Me.” She said firmly, staring down the Dachshund and slowly releasing her grip on the chair.
“Hmmm?” Newt said returning her gaze skeptically.
“I said ‘Me’.” She returned a little louder and more forcefully. “You said you wanted an exception, a reason to believe otherwise. Well you have one. Me. No other studio has had me, Minerva Mink as their owner, and that’s what will make mine different.”
There was an uncomfortable few moments of silence after her statement in which Newt again removed his eyepiece and looked Minerva more directly in the eyes.
As they locked glances, she began to notice that there wasn’t any anger or annoyance on his face as she might have expected, but rather..... mild amusement? She want sure this was any better of a reaction.
Slowly, but surely, a small smile began to sprout at the corners of Newts mouth, and with a little shuffle, he broke her star and returned to his desk.
Hopping back up on his seat, which a stunt you would have to see to really believe and appreciate, he began pulling several folders and papers out from the inside, placing them in a semi-circle in front of him. He pulled an old fashion fountain pen from a holder at the head of the desk and began scrawling on different pieces of paper.
“You must forgive me Mink.” His smile brighter than ever. “Since I have come into my small fortune, I have been rather free in my loans of money. This is not a reputation of which I am ashamed. Please sign here.”
He handed the pen to Minerva who took is reluctantly then signed on a line at the bottom of some kind of form he placed in front of her.
“Thank you. As I was saying, I have been more than generous with my loans to friends and family, and yet I am no fool. I like to think I am able to spot true need from someone just looking for hand outs.
“Thus I felt it was necessary to give you a little test Mink, to see if you were truly intent on going through with your idea. I am pleased to say, you passed.”
Minerva’s eyebrows shot up at this remark, and she gave Newt a startled glance, that brought out another big smile on his face.
“You... You mean you’re going to invest?”
In answer, he pushed a check, signed and ready for the bank, toward her. “I would hope that I will receive some kind of stock voucher that I may hold before you open your doors?” Good old eccentric Newt.
“Yes!” Minerva bubbled picking up the check and looking at a lot of zeros. “I’m having them printed up next week!”
“Very good.” Newt put away his folders, back into his desk, and again leapt off his chair to the hardwood floor. “In that case, may I see you to your car?”
**************
Newt lead her back through the large halls of his estate toward the front of his home where she had parked the Mustang. His charming yet comical waddling gate making her smile as they passed several of his dark suited guards.
Once out front, he popped open the drivers side door and ushered Minerva into her car. When she was situated, he gently closed it behind her, settling his hands behind his back. “It was, as always, a pleasure doing business with you. Are you sure you will not stay for dinner?”
She leaned out the open window and planed a small kiss on the end of his nose, half expecting it to start laughing and crawl up his snout. “No dear, I can’t. I have previous engagements I have to go to. But maybe sometime soon, I promise I wont be such a stranger anymore. Okay?”
He nodded his agreement and started to wave as Minerva headed out past the gates and to the road beyond.
***************
It was another two hours of driving before Minerva got to her second destination of the day. All in all she had spent more than seven hours in the car and it taking more than a toll on her.
She loved the little Mustang, putting quite a large lump of money into it making it comfortable and a true ‘Chick Mobile’, but none the less she was starting to get fatigued and a little frazzled around the edges. Much to her distress, she felt small needle pricks of pain as her bottom began to fall asleep and she was developing a major ‘wedgie’.
Thankfully though, the next turn off would lead her down a small hill to her destination, the big double ‘B’ gate, and she would be able to get out and stretch her legs a little. She tried to shift her position, but it only worsened the prickling.
The car slowed at the gate and she leaned out the window to show a blue suited guard her drivers license. He grunted an approval and the gates opened, letting her enter and pull up the black top drive to the large house that sat behind them.
Flicking the engine off she got out of the car with a moan and gave her rump a good massage with the palms of her hands. ‘At least my tail didn’t drift off. That hurts the worse.’
Once the tingling was gone and her leg muscles stretched, she removed a small over night pack from the trunk and took a stone trail from the driveway to a side door on the house.
As she walked she looked up at the big home and felt a small smirk cross her lips. ‘Why do all of my friends have such big houses? Maybe I should trade my place in for something bigger.’
Big was right, for the home snuggled down into a little valley was almost the same size as her parents. However, this house was far more modern, with peeked roofs and green shingles, and what Minerva thought looked like a tennis court peeking out from behind the left side.
‘Naa, I would go stir crazy in a place like this, all by myself. That, or go into, like financial ruin trying to buy cloths for all the closets.’
She walked around to a small alcove in the right side of the house that merged into a walkway to the garage, and knocked on the small screen door there. After a few moments of no answer, she opened the door and let herself in.
“Hello? It’s me, Minerva! Is anyone home?” There was no reply. Hoisting her bag farther up on her shoulder, she ventured farther into the house.
The small room she had come into was only big enough for two people to stand in at one time, and was obviously meant only for on coming and out going traffic to the garage.
It opened into another small room that looked like a kitchen pantry, with large folding doors on both sides, and sure enough, around the corner was a large stainless steel kitchen.
Minerva marveled for a moment at the huge refrigerator, steel counter tops, and what looked to her like three plastic carrots hanging on the wall above the stove. The latter made her burst out into a small giggle and she surmised that it wasn’t the woman of this home that had put those particularly ugly decorations up.
Past the kitchen was a small hallway that took her into the front foyer and the main hub of the home. There were several rooms ahead of her that she couldn’t make out for the doors were partially shut, a large stairwell that went from the second floor down and then spun into the basement level, and another hallway that looked to lead to the back of the house.
“Hello? Is anybody home? It’s Minerva!” She tried calling again, but it seemed to her that no one was home. ‘That can’t be right, I’m on time and they knew I was coming.’
Suddenly there was loud bang in one of the forward rooms with the half shut doors, followed by the sound of metal clattering on the floor and Minerva heard a familiar shout.
“YEEE-OUCH!! Slippin’ rippin’ zarg barg a ding dong!!”
Quickly she stepped forward, pushing open one of the doors and finding herself in some kind of den/study. At the other end of the room, just outside of one of the rooms closets was Bugs Bunny, face of WB, hopping up and down on one foot, eyes squinted shut, holding the other foot and doing his best to filter curses through his bucked teeth.
Around where he was bouncing was a golf bag, most of the clubs spilled on the floor, something that looked like a set of lawn darts, several croquette balls, and a bowling ball wrapped in a knit bag. It was rather obvious what had just happened.
He rolled open one of his eyes and saw Minerva standing in the doorway of the den, hand covering her mouth and doing an earnest job of trying not to burst out in laughter.
Quickly regaining composure, Bugs let go of his wounded foot and gave her a goofy, full toothed grin. “Ahhhh, what’s up Minerva?” Her name almost coming out as “Moi’nerva”.
She stuck out a curvy hip and wrested her hand on it, rolling her eyes in the bargain. ‘He couldn’t resist saying that could he?’
“I was invited for dinner Mr. Bunny, but I almost thought no one was home. I didn’t get an answer at the door, so I let myself in. I hope I didn’t startle you.”
Bugs made a slight raspberry with his tongue and waved a hand at her. “Oh no such ting doll.” He then bent and started picking up the golf clubs, making a rather disgusted face when he saw the bowling ball had landed on one of the irons bending it out of shape.
“Ah well,” He said showing the iron to her, “Wid’ as bad as I play, it wont make much of a difference anyway.”
At this Minerva did burst out into some small giggles, and also noticed for the first time that Bugs was dressed in a horrific golf outfit, complete with knickers and the little hat with the fuzzy ball on top.
“Ugh Bugs! Where did you get that terrible outfit? Did you mug one of the Three Stooges or something?!”
He gave her an indignant look and finished stuffing the rest of his clubs in the bag. “I’ll have ya know, that I happen to like dis outfit. It’s very ‘functional’ and a gift.”
“Sweetie, you really need to learn when Lola is making fun of you and when she’s being serious. That thing is awful!” She crossed the room and gave him a brief hug. “Speaking of Lola, where is she?”
He jerked a thumb toward the back yard. “She’s finishin’ up her daily game with the automatic ball server o’t back. I was just on my way out the door to my own ‘recreational sport’ a choice.”
“You mean your leaving already?”
“’Fraid so doll. I ‘Tee Off’ in less than half an hour. Daffy will have one of his classic conniptions if I’m late. Oh!” He snapped his fingers, and pulled an envelope out of his vest pocket. “Lola and I already when over the business ting’ you faxed us, and I’m glad to say that we think it’s woit’ a shot.”
Minerva smiled broadly, pleasantly surprised, and just a little relieved that she wasn’t going to have to make a hard pitch to her old friends like she had with Newt. She reached out for the envelope... which Bugs quickly snatched away from her before she could grab it. “That is, if you can make me one promise.”
This was really out of character for Bugs, and tipped Minerva off her guard rather forcefully. She was used to him doing silly things like keeping an item just out of her reach making her snap at it a few times before giving it over, but a demand? And in such a blunt manor, was something as odd to her as water on the sun.
“And, just what might that be?” She said with more than a little apprehension. Heck, with this day turning out as it was, she wouldn’t be all that surprised if Bugs confessed to being a little green rabbit from Mars.
There was a sudden flash of something across his face, and though it had been fast, Minerva caught it and interpreted it as sadness. He sucked in a breath, held it, then let it out.
“Don’t take dis the wrong way Minerva, and it aint really a demand. I’ll give yah the money even if you say no. But what I wanted to ask you, or rather consider is dis.
“When you get this studio up n’ running, would it be possible for you to try and find Lola somethin’ to do there?”
She was suddenly aware that her mouth was hanging open and she quickly shut it. “You want me to hire Lola? Why?”
“Just give it a thought for me, dat’s all.” He handed her the money in it’s little blue envelope and hoisted his golf bag onto one shoulder.
Minerva was about to open her mouth and restate her question when she was abruptly cut off.
“Minerva?! You’re here!”
Lola Bunny, sporting a white tennis outfit and holding a racquet in one hand bounced in the room and into her friend’s arms. “Oh it’s so good to see you! Thank you for coming!”
“Oh, you know I can’t resist a free meal and some good gossip! So what have you been up to girlfriend?”
“Oh you know, a little of this and that.” She giggled, “Not to mention getting a lot of use out of my new birthday present!” She brandished the racquet. “It came with the most lovely tennis court!”
Bugs coughed into his hand and did his best to squeeze around the girls with his bag. “Pardon me gals, but I really, really must be going.”
Lola broke off the conversation for just a moment and wrapped her arms around Bugs’ neck, almost tipping him over.
“Don’t be out late.” She said in a matter of fact tone.
“Yes dear.”
“And were going to order out, so you’ll have to pick something up for dinner tonight, or eat at the club.”
“Yes dear.”
“And were probably going to sleep in the attic room tonight.”
“Yes dear.”
“And let me know when you get home.”
“Yes dear.”
She kissed him on the cheek then playfully swatted him on the rump as he trotted out of the room and toward the garage. “Ahhh, it’s so nice when you have them wrapped around your little finger! So easy to manage.”
Both girls giggled and Lola draped an arm around her old friend’s shoulder. “Come my dear, I need a change of cloths and we have much to catch up on! I hope you like Chinese!”
End Of Chapter 17