Here's Bernie! Ch. 7: Catching the Culprit

The day turned out to be one of the worst days for Bernadette Flynn; after chasing her boyfriend, Oz, and her "niece", Heather, and threatening to bop them, poor Bernie sat on the balcony of her cousins' apartment, wrapped in a blanket, and shivering. "Oh...." she moaned in anguish. "I feel terrible."
"Try and get some fresh air." Fang, the wolf, said, calmly. Fang's mate, Gummy, set an ice pack down next to Bernadette.
"Just in case." the brown wolf sighed.
Bernadette's cousin, Boog, knelt down next to her, and asked, "If you'd have anything in the world right now, what would it be?"
"I wouldn't say 'no' to a cupcake." Bernie smiled wearily.
Fanboy walked over to the two, and said as he handed Bernie a Frosty Freezy Freeze, "Here, Bernadette, drink this down."
"Thank you, Fanboy." Bernadette sighed, taking a sip.
"There there, Bernie," Chum-Chum cooed, petting Bernadette's hair. "You'll be okay."
As Bernadette stood up, she moaned some more, "Ow! I feel sore!"
"Come on, Bernie, drink that up." Fanboy coaxed.
Bernadette looked to Oz and apologized with a sad look in her eyes, "Oz, I'm sorry I tried to bop you."
"It's okay, Bernie." Oz sighed, holding his girlfriend's hand. "Seriously."
Bernadette looked over to Heather and said, "Heather, I'm sorry I scared you." Heather just sighed and drooped her ears.
"It's okay, Bernadette" Gummy reassured her.
"Maybe you can stay at my place to recover?" Oz asked her.
"I would love it." Bernie smiled slightly. With that, Oz took Bernie by the hand and led her to his store.

"Oh, I hope she gets some sleep tonight." Gummy sighed in pity.
"Yeah, she needs it." Heather  sighed in sorrow. She then walked over to the Fanlair with her tail and ears drooped down.
"Oh, my poor baby." Gummy sighed.
"I think she just had a rough day." Fang sighed. Once Heather got to the Fanlair, she went inside, and then started to hear some faint voices whisper throughout the room!
"Huh?!" the wolf pup gasped. "All right, come out, whoever you are!" she growled. She then sniffed the air and picked up the scent of, "Money?!" Then, she saw a shadow on the wall, creeping over to the door, holding a bottle of Amyl Nitrite. "What the- HEY!" Heather barked. "STOP RIGHT THERE!!!" She ran after the shadow, and snatched the bottle out of its hands. The shadow tried to get the bottle back, but, all of a sudden, Heather's own shadow bit the round shadow's leg. "Whoa!" Heather gasped. "Did you do that?!" Heather's shadow nodded back, and winked as a response. "Cool!" Heather gasped in excitement. She ran out of the Fanlair, and down to where the others were.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU STUPID MUTT!" a familiar voice yelled after her.

"Guys! Guys!" Heather barked as she ran down the street. "Brizwald's after me! "And he had this with him!" she continued, holding up the bottled chemical.
"Ha! Looks like his sinister plot shall be foiled once again!" Oz laughed.
"I would go and help, but my nerves are shot!" Bernadette moaned as her hands began shaking.
"How did Brizwald get into the Fanlair?!" Fanboy said angrily.
"Oh, I'm gonna bop the boppin' bop outta him for makin' my cousin go insane!" Boog growled.
"I'm with you, brother!" Abby agreed.
"Agreed!" Fang growled.
"Me, too!" Gummy agreed, slamming her paw onto the sidewalk.
"What should we do with this?" Heather asked, holding up the chemical.
Bernadette used her laser eyes, and vaporized the chemical. "Got it."
"Wait a minute!" Gummy halted. "I'll stay with Bernadette and Oz; I know how to make her feel better!"
"Okay, but the rest of us are gonna take that fancy-boy down!" Boog announced, cracking his knuckles.
"Yeah! Call me a dumb mutt, will ya?!" Heather growled. "I'll show him!"
"Wait till I sink my teeth into him!" Fang growled.
Gummy then stepped up to Oz and Bernadette, and said to them, "Now, if you two would like to follow me. "I know the perfect remedy." she continued.
"Whatever it takes to get my nerves back to normal!" Bernadette shuddered, her hands trembling even more.
"Now, now, Bernie." Oz coaxed calmly.

In Oz Comix, Gummy began reading through an old book, looking at a medicine recipe; "All right, add one cup of salt." she read, pouring a full cup of salt into a cooking pot full of boiling water. "One star fruit, sliced." she read on, adding a sliced star fruit to the mix. Bernadette looked at the mixture and began shaking again. "Don't worry, Bernie," Gummy reassured her. "I did this mixture when I lived in the Snowy Hills; this mixture is meant to sharpen the nerves!" The brown wolf then added a bowl full of sugar to the mix, and one drop of milk made the brew glow a light blue hue. "There! That should do it!" she smiled.
"Uh... does it have any side effects?" Bernadette asked, still shaking.
"No, not at all!" Gummy smiled, pouring the mixture into a glass. "Besides fast reactions! "Here you are," she said, handing Bernadette the medicine. "Drink it up while it's still cool."
"Um... okay." Bernadette stammered, taking the medicine. And with one gulp, she drank down the brew in as quick as a flash!

Meanwhile, in the Fanlair, Brizwald was all alone, grumbling; "That little mutt is gonna-... OOF!" He stopped as he bumped into a larger form; he looked up, and it was Boog! "Pay!" Briz squeaked.
"What's that were you saying about my daughter?!" Fang growled, baring his teeth in anger.
"Calling me a mutt?" Heather growled. "I don't like that!"
"Uh... well, I was just, uh... kidding.... you know?" Briz chuckled nervously.
"Oh, really!" Fang growled. With that, the grey wolf leaped up, and bit Brizwald on the arm.
"YOWWWWWWW!" Briz yelled in pain.
"That's what you get for calling her that!" Fang growled again.
"Dad, did you have to do that?" Heather asked, rolling her eyes.
Boog stepped up and said with a confident grin, "Allow me to do some more damage!"
"Mother!" Briz squeaked.
"Heather, you might wanna cover your eyes!" Fang warned. Heather covered her eyes, but all Boog did was bop Brizwald into the wall in one swipe.
"Okay, you can look now, Heather!" Boog announced.
"Wow!" Fanboy gasped in amazement. "That was a good bop!"
"Thanks." Boog smiled proudly.

Brizwald staggered to his feet and began babbling, "Which way did he go? Which way did he go?"
"I just wonder if Bernadette's okay." Fang hoped.
"I am, now!" Bernadette's voice announced from the door. The group (except a dizzy Brizwald) looked over to the Fanlair's entrance, and saw Bernadette, Oz, and Gummy standing with confident grins on their faces. Bernie stepped over to a still-dizzy Brizwald with a vengeful look in her eyes.
"Which way did he go?" Briz babbled again.
"Over here, idiot." Bernie hissed.
"You made that health remedy, didn't you?" Fang smiled to his mate.
"I sure did!" Gummy replied with a proud grin.
"Man, I love you!" Fang sighed. Brizwald then shook his head and found Bernadette Flynn standing over him.
"Bernadette?!" he gasped. "B-B-B-But-But-But, you're supposed to be broken!"
"'Broken'? Ha!" Bernie laughed. "It'll take more than a rotten chemical to break this mind!"
"Wait just a minute, you Gothic freakshow!" Briz replied sternly. "I only wanted to do that to make you pay, Bernadette Sabrina Flynn!"
"'Pay'?" Bernie asked. "Your vengeance plan didn't work, fancy-boy!"

On the wall, Brizwald's shadow stepped back a bit as Bernie's shadow cocked her arm. Suddenly, Brizwald gasped, threw a small and noneffective punch to Bernadette's nose, and ran! "HEY!" Bernie yelled in anger.
"Not cool, dude!" Heather yelled.
"After him!" Fanboy yelled. The group ran after the rich man, up the stairs and up to the roof. Once the group got to the roof, they saw that Brizwald was nowhere to be found!
"Whoa! What a workout!" Abby gasped.
"Oz, your cousin can't hide forever!" Bernie panted.
"I know, but he's gotta be here!" Oz panted.
"Come out and fight, Fancy-butt!" Heather barked.
"Why did  he come up here, anyway?!" Abby panted again.
"It's not like there's a nice view!" Boog panted.
"This is getting weirder and weirder!" Chum-Chum gasped. Bernadette stepped over to the near edge of the roof, and Brizwald looked over; The group heard a loud yell from behind them, and Brizwald ran out, and charged after Bernadette; he was meaning to push her off the roof. Luckily, Boog pulled Bernie out of the way, but Brizwald wasn't so lucky.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" He plummeted down 5 stories, until, (*plop!*).
"Whoo!" Fanboy gaped. "Good thing we didn't move that crash pad out of the way!" It was true: Brizwald did land safely on a crash pad that happened to be laying in the street.
"Whew! That was close!" Chum-Chum gasped. "We almost lost Bernadette!"
"Good thing I got you outta the way!" Boog gasped, putting an arm around his cousin.
"Yeah." Bernie smiled in relief as Brizwald flew away on his rocket boots in fear.