Chapter Text
Standing in front of a table with a white tablecloth decorated with ivy and Lilies that matched the color of the cloth, Martin couldn't help but stare at the two framed pictures between the beautiful yet colorless Decoration.
“It just happened out of nowhere...” The blond young boy could hear people whispering behind him. Though they kept their distance, they didn't hide their topic well, assuming the brothers couldn't hear them. The quiet room though made every word clear to them, making Martin wish he couldn't hear as a voice pitied, “This is so sad. What will happen with the boys, now that their parents both are...”
Another added, “I don't think they have any other relatives. How are they supposed to get by on their own?” As Martin tried to ignore the chatter, a hand grasped his and began pulling him out of the room. Looking to see who pulled him, Martin realized it was his younger brother, Chris.
Chris led him outside the building, across the grounds to a bench atop a hill beside the cemetery. As they stopped beside the park bench between trees, Martin broke the silence, “Whoa. That was... a quicker retreat than when we got asked if we had our homework done.” Chris hadn't let go of Martin’s hand and showed no sign of doing so, though he didn't turned to look at his older brother either. “Just... got too noisy in there... Sorry,” Chris explained, taking a deep breath. Martin noticed Chris’s tense shoulders and his free hand clenched into a fist as he fought to keep his body still. “It's fine. I thought about needing some fresh air myself, too.” Martin smiled gently, matching his little brother’s firm hold.
When, a few fireflies circled them, and one landed on Chris’ nose. Chris blinked, surprised, prompting a giggle from Martin, who reached out his pointing finger, letting the firefly climb onto it. “Look, even fireflies start to show pity at you when you're like this,” Martin teased, trying to lighten the mood. Chris rolled his eyes. “I didn't ask for the pity of a creature that has an even shorter lifespan than I do,” he grumbled. Martin sighed. “True... two months is a really short life. All they can do is find a partner and lay eggs to keep their kind going,” Martin mused as the firefly floated away. “It's not much, but for the fireflies, it seems to be enough...”
“Must be nice to fly around with so little care about what will await you at the end... when the blinking lights go out forever.” Chris’s voice shook. Martin thought about this before answering. “Heh, sounds like an actual good idea, Bro.” Chris turned confused, “What?” Martin smiled at him. “I mean, once you’re done with school and we finish our degrees too, why don't we travel the world together and do what we do best? Researching creatures in just one spot sounds boring after all. So why not? You know, the two of us!” Martin suggested. Chris’s grip tightened as he turned away to consider it. “... And... we will stay together, right? No matter what?”
“No matter what!”
“You Promise?”
“I swear by my most clean pair of Socks!” Martin promised jokingly, to which he finally got a giggle out of his younger Brother. “Alright...Then we will stay together. No matter what happens.”
Just when the Alarm went off, Martin flopped out of his bed, hiding the hard ground underneath, all while his Sheets got dragged along and over him. “Arg! Mrr~! Is it morning already?” he could only ask, still half asleep, all while his younger Brother was making a better start, already starting to stretch, yawning. “Good Morning, Bro! Come now, don't tell me you slept that badly this night. We have a mission to fulfill after all!” he right away reminds his brother, who fights his way out from underneath his sheets. “Ah~ maybe. But that won't stop me from solving this mystery with you. It's not every day a whole herd of elephants disappears like that, after all.” Martin said, while stretching before letting out a loud yawn, getting up from the ground, all while Chris starts to rub his chin, thinking. “Right. Honestly, when Juma's call came in, I couldn't believe it either. I mean, even Elephants blend in to their environment quite well to hide from predators, but the herd was being monitored and tracked by the local wildlife conservation center,” he summarizes from what they have been told, starting to change his clothes to get ready for the new mission, and with his brother doing the same right away. “True, that is for sure nothing as simple as the herd getting lost. That much is for sure. There is more reason to look into this!” The Blond man said, determined, and when finished dressing up, with their Creature Power Suits and all ,the Brothers made their way right away to the main room, where the others were still half asleep, although Jimmy was still sleeping like always, but Aviva and Koki already up and making first preparations for their mission.
“Morning. What do we have, Koki?” Martin asks as soon as he enters, to which Koki gave a short glance over to the two before saying, “Ah, morning, you two. We talked with the Rangers here. The herd went missing all at once around yesterday afternoon, with their chips stopped sending a signal. The last Spot they had been spotted was around...this area. A little more to the east from here,” she informs the two, while they hovered over her chair, sharing the same deep in thought expression.
“Somehow, I get the feeling of déjà vu. Whenever a large number of animals disappear, it’s usually Zach,” Chris bets, referencing their childhood nemesis. “And with elephants’ strength, I don’t want to imagine what kind of Zachbots he’s planning.” Aviva sighed in annoyance, replying, “It’s always him, isn’t it? I wish he’d give it a rest, but our job is to find the elephants and make sure they’re all safe.” She turned from her chair to look at the brothers, who nodded. Martin added with a confident smirk, “Ha, easy. After so many encounters with Zach, this is a routine by now. Nothing we can’t handle, right, Bro?” He looked at Chris, who replied, “Yeah! We’ll find the herd and put Zach in his place, like always!” They exchanged a high five as Aviva rolled her eyes and Koki giggled. “Alright, I’m sending the coordinates to your Wild Pats. Good luck out there.” Koki tapped her keyboard as the brothers checked their devices, confirming they had the info. “Meanwhile, I’ll keep monitoring the tags and let you know of any updates.” With everything set, the brothers headed out immediately.
All while in a metal bunker, hidden in the wooden savanna, the Brothers' prediction turns out to be somewhat correct. Zach couldn't help but laugh over his achievement of having now a bunker full of Elephants, which he had put on helmets, so they wouldn't make any Escape maneuver. When an ominous Man a lot taller than Zach, walked over to him, he stopped right away, trying to act more serious around this new person. The man is wearing a black tailored suit and a red shirt underneath, held together over his broad shoulders and tight chest, not a spec of lint or fuzz littered the surface. His knuckles were defined and clad with several golden rings adorned with jewels. But the most prominent feature was the golden lion mask hiding the top portion of his face. “I see no reason to laugh, Mr. Varmitech. You ensured your methods would be subtle,” his client sneered, tapping the side of his whiskey glass in annoyance. “And they are! Trust me!” Zach counters, snapping his fingers and making a nearby Zachbot approach them with a tablet. “The data loop I programmed into the GPS trackers made them go off the air completely. So you can do your transport without any snoopy Animal Lovers crossing you,” the Twink of an Engineer ensured him, though one sharp stare from the intimidating man made him go silent again. Before the man could respond, the Zachbot holding the screen began beeping, getting both of their attention to the screen again, changing it to live footage broadcasting from a Zachbot that was patrolling outside.
“A... giant turtle?”
The masked man wonders about what he was looking at, all while Zach let out a shrill gasp when turning towards the screen, mortified to see the Tortuga in the same area as his most recent commission. “Those Wild Rats! Where are they?!” Zach screamed in his usual way, all while the Man couldn't help but side-eye him. “Wild ...Rats, you say? What an odd name,” he couldn't help but comment, as the screen changed over to a different spot, zooming in on a blue and a green figure, trekking through the wilderness.“Ah, no! It's the Kratt Brothers again! They always have to mess up everything for me!” Zach stomped his feet and continued to pace around in anger. All while Diego took the tablet, squinting at the screen as he took in the details. “Two young men, probably in their twenties. Quite skilled in observation, as they search for something, I assume the missing Elephants. Yet, they seem to be ignorant enough not even notice your little ...Scouts. Interesting,” he mumbled mostly to himself, ignoring Zach behind him, going on a tantrum in the meantime until throwing a knife over his shoulder, almost hitting Zach but missing his head by a few meters, getting it stuck in the Wall. “Without any Snoopy Animal Lovers, you say?” his tone of voice sounded anything but amused about this change of events. “Eek! W-We need to abandon the project and find a different group of stinky animals to get! Trust me, the more you fight them, the more they'll bite back and make your life a miserable joke!” Zach said, but when the men looks over his shoulder, he was struck by the sharp eyes, making him go silent again. “Excuse me? But whose Project is this again? We're not breaking up anything!” Right away, Zach stiffs up, he wanted to say something back, but the words got stuck in his throat somehow, which was a first for him.
Just then, a flash of blue and green from the Tablet Display took the Man's attention back to stare at the screen. Even more surprising to him was seeing two humanoid cheetahs standing next to a normal cheetah. The two humanoid once ran off, not giving him enough time to process what he just witnessed, with the Zachbot only capturing the blur of their trail. “What in the... What on earth was that?” the Man wonders now, curious as to what he just witnessed. Zach, on the other hand, was unsure about it. It was nothing new to him; he saw the Brothers transform every time their paths crossed, but it only annoyed him at this point. “What? The critter power suits thingy they always pull out? Eh, it's mediocre at best, just like their creator!”
“Rewind that!” Diego ordered the Zachbot, who complied right away and without fail, all while Zach gets ignored. A short loop of the Transformation and a small pause before seeding off played, capturing the Man's full attention now, followed by a smug grin covering his cheeks. “Well, I might have a change in plans after all...” he mumbled before turning fully around to face Zach, coming closer to which his shadow engulfed the small Inventor whole. “Tell me everything you know about them and their...technology.”
All while the Brothers were running through the Savanna at their record-holding speed, the Cheetah suit gifted them. “Wuuhuu! It's a good thing we ran into Blur! Makes this job twice as speedy!” Martin whooped as he sped up, with his brother right next to him, who could only agree. “Haha, proud 130 km/h is nothing to cuff at! The only thing that's faster is a Peregrine falcon in their nosedive!” he said before slowing down for a moment, though, since they knew Cheetahs were anything but endurance sprinters. Using that short break to lift his nose a little and sniff for a moment. “And with the Cheetah's incredible sense of smell, we can keep on their trail much easier too!” he added, when Martin's pat started ringing, and he right away picked up, projecting the video call into the air right above the pat, on which Aviva and Koki were to see, sitting in the Tortuga.
“Hey, guys! How's it going? Any clues so far?” Aviva asks for some updates on the search, getting right to the topic. “We got a scent and trust me,we're not losing it!” Martin answered with a confident smile. “Although we did run quite a long way already. It's odd we haven't found any sign of other People yet. I don't know about you guys, but I am starting to think the herd just got spooked and ran off somewhere.” Chris adds to it while inspecting the elephant tracks in the dried mud. “But how is it possible that all of their traces suddenly went offline like that? If it were just one or two, you can excuse it with them malfunctioning, but of every single member of the Herd? That is too fishy to be all of it.” Aviva counters, though, right away, bringing up a good point. “That is quite the Mystery. One we're sure to find the answer to if we keep going. So don't worry about it! Once Chris and I find the elephant herd, we will make sure they are all doing fine and accounted for and bring them back where they belong,” Martin said, before giving his Brother a high five and ending the sentence together with him. “Living free and in the wild!” making the Girls smile a little about it, it was just so typical for the two optimists. “Alright, give us any update you can if you find out anything new, you hear me? If we find out anything, we'll do the same.” Koki reminds the Brothers before ending the call on them. Right away, the two couldn't help but roll their eyes a little.
“As if we forget to do something so Important. The Girls really worry sometimes over the smallest of things.” Martin shucks it off, getting a small side eye from Chris when saying that, but he left it with no comment. “We only have a couple more hours of daylight, let's hurry and find the herd, Mr. Responsible,” he had to tease his older brother, though a little, getting a soft poke of the elbow in the side. “Race ya to the next track!” Martin blurted out before speeding off, making Chris laugh at his brother's antics while running after him with a brief. “Hey! No fair!”
When the sun almost finished its cycle in the sky, by the time the brothers skidded to a stop behind a large rock formation. Finding themselves in the more foliage parts of the wooded savanna. Looking over the rock, they could clearly make out a large rusted warehouse, covered by trees. “Mh...Are you sure they are inside there, though?” Chris asks, noticing an unwell gut feeling rising within him, something Martin didn't have. “Of course, I am sure. The Trail led us here after all.” he seems more optimistic about all of this. Chris still wasn't too sure about it, so he tipped on his Pat right away, calling the Team in the Tortuga.
“Hey, we might have something. An old, unused-looking warehouse in the middle of nowhere. But something about it seems off. I'll send you the coordinates,” he tells the three people he was on screen, while typing on his tablet to give them the needed information. “Got it. Wow, that is really far out there! But how did a whole herd of Elephants end up in an abandoned Warehouse?” Aviva wonders, especially when looking at the Distance between their standpoint and where the Brothers are right now. “Maybe they got all too hot and wanted a shady place to cool down somewhat,” Jimmy suggests right away, following the logic of what he would do if he were out there. “Perhaps, but then again, the Gate isn't open either, and by that condition, I doubt it would just fall down on them after opening it with their super-strong trunks.” Chris counters, trying to think of a logical explanation, when noticing his brother already sprinting over to the Warehouse. “Ah, hey Martin, wait a minute!” The younger one yells after his older Brother, before sighing. “Sorry, got to go. We'll see if they're really in there and inform you right away.”
“Sure thing, but be careful, you two! We don't know yet who we are dealing with after all.” Aviva understood, though, letting Chris hang up before running over to Martin, who took a closer look at the huge Gate. Trying to hear if there was something to hear behind it, he held his ear close to it when Chris said. “Don't just run headfirst into this, Bro! We need a plan first, scope out the area first, and then-” he tried to reason with his older Brother who, though right away holds out his pointing finger, shushing Chris right away. “I hear something! Come closer and hear yourself!” Martin now waves Chris closer, who took a short but deep breath before doing so. “ ! Hold on, you're right! I can hear it too!” he had to admit, though, when lying his ear against the rusted gate. It did sound like there were Elephants inside, although something about the way it sounded felt off to him.“And still no sight of other humans around. Maybe the Elephants wandered in and got stuck! And the Warehouse might be the reason why the signals can't get through! Ha, I'm a genius!” Martin praised himself on his own Theory, letting Chris crack a smile at it. “Well, it could make sense, but I am still unsure about all of this. It seems to much of a ...Coincidence. Don't you think so?”
“Nah~, you're overthinking it again, my dear brother. Come, let's find a way in! It's getting dark after all, and we still have to guide them back home!” he decides, to Chris' dismay, sighing once again. “Alright, fine.” Chris gives up, knowing nothing can stop his Brother now, although he would preferred at least one backup plan. Yet, things seem to work out just fine as they are.
Together, they got a grip on the Bottom of the gate, exchanging a nod to each other before rolling it open. Though it was heavy, the two trained Explorers were strong enough to get it high enough, so they could get through it. “Ha, if we can lift that, then it's child's play to an elephant who can lift up to 300 or even 350 kg with their trunk.” Martin laughs about it, all while Chris rubs his ears a little from the squeaking noises the gate made when they lifted it. Walking inside with his Brother, but they were met with an empty and dark building. With just a few cracks in the roof letting through some sort of light aside from what came through the now open gate, but it was enough to be absolutely convinced that nothing was inside. Exchanging a confused glance, the Brothers were not sure what to think, especially with not them hearing the sounds more clearly. Slowly, Martin made the first steps inside, taking a quick look around. “Empty? But, where do these elephant noises come from?” he wonders about it, rubbing his head a little clueless. When Chris also stepped in, although more careful and cautious than his Brother. “Sounds like it's coming from a loudspeaker. But from where?... And more importantly, where are the Elephants? We're we ...too late?”
“Right on time, actually,” a deep, raspy voice commented, echoing thanks to the metal walls and making it impossible to locate the source, all while the elephant noises stopped playing. Yet, this was the smallest worry for the two Cheetah Brothers, when out of the blue the gate slammed shut, making them jump as their sensitive ears were literally bombarded with the ugly noise that echoed through the large Hall as well, and on top of that, taking the biggest light source out, leaving the two in the dark void of the warehouse. Holding their ears in pain as they pressed their backs against each other, Martin and Chris darted their eyes around as their eyes slowly adjusted to the sudden darkness. “What in the?! Hey, who is there?! Who are you?! Show yourself!” Chris yells out into the dark unknown around them, with Martin adding, “And what have you done with the Elephants?!” However, their voices echo unanswered through the hall, but that only made the two young men stand on high alert even more, looking around, trying to see any kind of clue or anything they needed to look out for. “Heh, good thing cheetahs have excellent night vision, this little darkness is nothing for these eyes,” Martin said, trying to find a bit of a chance to loosen the Situation, making his younger brother smirk as self-confidant about it as he was, when Chris noticed something coming up from his right ,towards his brother. “Martin, watch out!” but it was already too late, the fist that came flying from the void, met Martin unhinged on the face of his face, sending the blue cheetah flying to the ground, throwing Chris off balance in the process. Quickly dodging another punch that now came his way, Chris quickly shoving something, or rather someone away, noticing he was toughing a living human being, rather than a cold machine. That, of course, surprised Chris for a moment as the attacker stumbled backward. Unfortunately, that was not the only one, as two more arms grabbed him, making Chris grab for them in return as he tries to resist the attempt to immobilize him. “Hands off! Hey! Let go of me!” he couldn't help but scream.
Martin, at the same time, quickly shook his head, even though the vision became swimming and darker on his left side. Yet, when hearing the distressed hissing from his brother, he pounced right back into action. Not thinking, only feeling the need to protect, tackling the second assailant to the ground, now as well noticing it was a human, not a robot. “What?! Since when do Villains have human henchmen?!” the older Brother couldn't help but ask out loud in confusion, trying to keep his panic at a minimum and trying to see where his brother was, to check up on him. “I don't know! But that means we can't use our claws at all!” Chris's response, close to him, now noticing Martin next to him holding out an arm, which Chris took, thankful to get back on his feet, or rather, Paws. “Right. Don't wanna hurt them, even though they don't seem to feel the same way. To bad we can't withdraw them though. Urg...” Martin grumbles a bit, feeling his left cheek and temple heat up in pain. Chris wanted to ask if he was alright, when his ear twitched as he heard several footsteps running in their direction. “And it also seems like there are more of them,” he comments, and the two quickly stand on each other's side again, ready to keep each other safe as best as possible, all while already trying to think of a way out of this situation.
“Heh, whoever you guys are, you are pretty dumb for wanting to mess with pure Cheetah power!” Letting Chris smirk a bit about it. “I was about to ask if you're alright, but when you can say stuff like that, I worried myself over nothing,” he had to comment as well, but much more time was not given to them as the shadowy figures came closer, only now the two could make them out more clearly as they were getting approached. That is when they notice these people wearing some kind of special Glasses, letting them conclude that they can see the Brothers in the dark as well, Night-vision goggles. Quickly, though, the Kratt Brothers were able to act, speeding around fists and kicks, using their incredible night sight to their advantage to trip and shove their attackers away. Martin dodges another incoming fist, grabbing the arm now to throw the person over his shoulder, in hopes his own strength could scare off the rest and amuse his younger brother in the Process. Chris shook his head with a fond smile, shoving one of the attacking men back into the next one, their head bonk against each other, and let them fall down to the ground. “Anyone else want to mess with pure creature Power!?” Martin yells out, noticing how all the men he had picked up on surrounding them before now seem to have found their way to the ground.
“Let's find a way out while we can, Bro! This smells fishier than Jimmy's special seafood pizza!” Chris, right away, takes the Chance and turns toward where they notice the Gate, about to run over, when the Warehouse's lights turn on without any kind of warning, blinding them both in the process. The two hiss while covering their sensitive eyes. “Wahh! Hey! What is the big idea?!” Chris yells, now getting more frustrated the longer this is going on, but a clapping coming from a pair of hands echoed through the hall instant of an answer.
Slowly but surely, the two at least got the Time now to get used to the lights, showering the Warehouse in bright colors, hurting the eyes of the Brothers, while they do their best to adjust, now seeing more clearly the people lying on the ground, some struggling to even stay unconscious, while others are clearly knocked out. That was when their view wanders up, following the clapping noise and quickly finding the source, this time presenting himself on the catwalk overlooking the warehouse.
The huge, broad man in his suit and with his golden mask still clapping before tacking off his night vision Goggles, all while another presence caught the brothers' attention, standing next to the tall man. The short, well-known twink with his familiar smug grin. “Zach?!” the Cheetah Brothers couldn't help but let out in surprise. “What, did all of your Zachbots break down all at once, or since when did you start using human lackeys?” Chris asks, now putting his hands on his hips in a mocking and sassy way, turning Zach's grin into an annoyed sneer, all while Martin holds a hand to the left side of his face, still feeling the stinging pain and a slight ringing in his head, although he could still stand with not to much trouble. “Hah, noticing now that your Bots are no use against nature power, that you change tactics? Too bad human power is just as useful against creature Power as your lame Robots!” Martin adds to the Insult game, feeling a bit more comfortable having their usual banter, but before Zach could counter them, the man with the gold Lion mask interrupted. “Creature Power, you say? Hah hah, absolutely marvelous...such speed, such Power! And yet... what a waste.” That comment makes Martin and Chris exchange an unsure glance at each other, before turning their attention right back to the two men above. “Hey, if you wanted an autograph, you could have just asked! And usually when meeting someone you haven't met before, you should introduce yourself with words, you know, as a normal person would.” Martin continues calming down a little, although still feeling a little uncomfortable. The man next to Zach had an Aura like no one they had ever encountered so far. A demanding presence that sucks the joy right out of the air around them. But Martin stands his ground, not budging a bit, since he doesn't know who they have to deal with. “You can call me... Diego,” the tall man answered after a short break, followed by a dark chuckle that sent a cold shiver down the Brother's spines. “D-Diego? Well... my name is Martin, and this is my bro-”
“Christopher Frederick James Kratt and Martin William Kratt, yes. I am well aware of who you are and what you are wasting your valuable time and Talent with.” That now even struck Zach by surprise. “Hey, wait a minute... Your middle name is Frederick?!” he asks Chris in shock, who gives him an annoyed glare right back. “Knowledge doesn't give you permission to call me that. Chris is more than enough, buddy,” the Brunet right away states, although before Zach or Martin could add anything to this, Diego once again interrupts their typical banter. “Frankly, I'm not really the asking type, nor do I have the patience to deal with your meaningless talking.” That said, he snapped his fingers, making Zach jump, to the surprise of the Brothers. “Zachbots! Immobilize!” he yelled, pointing right down to Martin and Chris.
Despite the brothers' advantage with cheetah speed, they could not predict the circle of Zachbots that suddenly surrounded them in a tight formation. “Ha! So now you send your Bots out! At least now we don't have to hold back any longer!” Martin got ready to fight his way through, though, with Chris doing the same, both smirking as they knew how much easier it was to go against Zachbots than actual humans.
The two of them charged at the barricade of bots, ready to make their way through, when, unexpectedly, each of the Zachbots started to spray a thick white gas right at them, not only taking their breath but also, for a moment, their breath.
Stumbling back as he couldn't suppress his coughing, Chris suddenly found himself losing balance. “What the he- … What now?! Don't tell me ...this...this is...”
Martin, on the other hand, tries to wave his hands in an effort to get the gas cloud away from him, feeling his legs start feeling like mush while coughing as well, when noticing in the corner of his limited vision something green falling to the ground. “Chris! U-Urg!...” he wanted to get to his brother's side, yet his legs gave up on him the same, all while he tried to catch any kind of breath as his vision got blurrier by the second. “Th-That...so dirty... Z-Zach!” he could only say before falling down to the ground himself as well. His mind started to feel too fuzzy to even form another thought, not even comprehending how he was trying his best to reach out in the direction he last saw Chris, before his eyes shut down and his mind did as well, all while hearing a deep chuckle echoing further and further away.