Silver and Gold: Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Face to FaceI was determined to find those that I had already lost. With hope filled within my heart of a promise made by a friend, I knew that I would soon be reunited…But little did I realize was that he knew I was coming for him...and the face of evil was expecting me.---June 20, 1897 9:23 p.m.Hiram continued to work on the robot in his dimly lit workplace of a cell. So far, he managed to fix the robot, despite barely having any light in the room and only had to rely on his eyes when they started to adjust to the darkness. He also managed to create a face for the robot, consisting of a bear trap of a mouth with razor sharp teeth and eyeballs that had blue eyes and eyelashes that were staring right at him. All what he needed to do was the finishing touches, then the robot was complete.The door of his cell opens and light fills the room, making him flinch as he shuts his eyes for a moment. He didn’t know how many hours he'd been down here without catching a glimpse of the light, but he slowly opened his eyes as he saw Ratigan at the door. Seeing his captor made him wonder why he was here?“Ah, Mr. Flaversham,” Ratigan says while snickering and smiling a toothy grin.Hiram gave Ratigan a depressed look, he didn’t want to see him again. In fact, he didn’t want to do any of his dirty work. But what choice did he have? It was bad enough that he was working on this monstrosity of a creation made by his hand with Ratigan’s plan, but to add salt to the wound, he threatened on harming both his friend Anna and his little daughter Olivia if he didn’t cooperate.Ratigan raised his cape over the doors entrance like a theatre curtain. “Allow me to present,” he says with a bitter tone. “Your charming daughter.” He moves his cape back, revealing Olivia whose face had a terrified look, and was being held hostage by Fidget.Horrified, yet happy at the same time to see his daughter, Hiram drops the wrench that he had and stood up off the chair while crying, “Olivia!”“Father!” Olivia cried as she tried to go to her father, but couldn’t as Fidget held her by the arm. She turned around and stomped on Fidget’s only foot, forcing him to let go of her as he winced in pain. Taking this as her chance, she rushes over to her father.“Ow! My foot! My only foot!” Fidget cried out in pain while holding onto his foot and hopping on his peg-leg.Olivia leaps into Hiram’s open arms, who caught her as they shared a loving embrace. She never felt so happy to be reunited with her father. To feel the warmth of his hug and to know that her father was safe. “Oh, father!” she cried as she sniffs, a single stray tear escaped from her relieved eyes. “I thought I’d never find you!”“Oh, there, there, there, there, my bairn. I’m alright,” Hiram said comforting her. He lifts her chin to look at his smiling face, seeing this made Olivia’s sad face to fade as it was replaced with her own smile. They hugged tightly once again, not wanting to let go of each other as Olivia cried on her father’s chest. “Oh, I was so worried about my little girl,” he said softly.Speaking of worry, Hiram was wondering what became of Anna? If Olivia was here, then something must’ve happened to her. So with that, he looks slightly at Ratigan and Fidget, then his eyes focused his attention on Olivia as he looks at her and asks while whispering, “Olivia, tell me what has become of the red-headed girl?”He knew he shouldn’t speak her name, afraid that both Ratigan and Fidget might hear him. However, for Olivia, she was confused at first, but figured out what her father meant as she says, “Don’t you mean-”“Shh,” he shushed slightly at her, then slightly tilted his head towards Ratigan and Fidget’s direction.Olivia was about to look to where her father was tilting his head, but was stopped by her father as he brings his hand towards her face and makes her look at him and not at them. The least he needed to worry about was drawing suspicion towards his captors. “Tell me, Olivia. Is she safe?” He asked, he hoped beyond hope that nothing terrible had befallen to poor Anna while he remained a prisoner in this ghastly place. “Please, tell me that she isn’t-”“No, father,” Olivia whispered, knowing he was talking about Anna, and he didn’t want to bring up her name in front of Ratigan and Fidget. “She’s fine, she’s with Basil.”Seeing that she was fine made Hiram sigh in relief while placing a hand towards his chest. However, when Olivia mentioned “Basil” he knew exactly where she was. He has heard of this private detective of Baker Street from reading the London newspapers and from what he learned so far was that he was famous around here in Mousedom. Knowing that she was safe and well protected made Hiram put his mind at ease...for the moment at least. So with that, they shared another hug, knowing that their friend is safe and unharmed.“She’ll come for us father, I know it.” Olivia whispered.Hiram wanted to tell her that Anna mustn’t come here, it was just too dangerous. It was bad enough that Ratigan knows that she was here, but to know that he was expecting her was another story. He didn’t know what Ratigan intended to do to her, but Ratigan did warn him that he would have two lives hanging over his head if he didn’t finish the robot. During his work, he remembered that Ratigan said that she was coming for him. What did he mean by that? As he thought of this, something was made clear to him…Anna was in danger if she came for him, and he prayed that it wouldn’t come to be. If so, then why? Why would Ratigan by expecting her that’s if it was possible, and what does she have to do about this? Something wasn’t right and something about this doesn’t make any sense. But he still prayed that she remains far away from this dreadful place and away from Ratigan. It was bad enough that his daughter was now a prisoner, but to add her as a prisoner and seeing her get hurt wouldn’t be good on his conscience. However, for poor Olivia, he knew that she needed some hope to have so he remained silent...for her sake. She cared about Anna as much as he cared about her as well.“Oh, how sweet,” Ratigan cooed as he sniffed and pretended to be sad at this emotional, yet touching reunion. “Oh, I just love tearful reunions.” He takes out his handkerchief and dabs his eye, adding to his false facade of emotion while smiling a toothy grin.Deciding to end this little family reunion, Ratigan puts his handkerchief back inside his tuxedo and makes his way towards Hiram and Olivia. He places his hand on the toymaker’s arm and says, “Now, come along, my dear.” He moves Hiram’s arm away from Olivia as he grabs her and starts to pull. Hiram tried not to lose his daughter yet again as he grabbed ahold of Olivia’s hand, but Ratigan pushed him back, making him lose his grip on Olivia as she was pulled away from him and was held back as Ratigan was dragging a struggling Olivia with his other hand.“Oh, please! Please!” Olivia begged as she continued to struggle, not wanting to be separated from her father again. But her pleas were ignored as Ratigan gives her to Fidget, who takes the poor girl and starts dragging her away as she cries out, “Father!”“Olivia!” Hiram cried as he tried desperately to get his little girl back, but once again, he was held back by Ratigan as he grabbed his apron braces and was lifted off the ground, his feet dangling helplessly. “Oh, please, Professor!” He begged.“Now, now,” Ratigan says as he places his hand underneath Hiram’s chin to look at his toothy grin. “Fidget will take good care of her.” He chuckles a little, then his face turns into a serious look as he points at Hiram’s chest, making him swing slightly while saying, “That is, as long as we have no further delays.” He releases him near the workbench as the toymaker immediately gets back to work.“Yes, yes! I-I-I’ll finish it!” Hiram promised fearfully, grabbing a few of the tools that were on the workbench. “Oh, just don’t hurt my daughter,” he pleaded.“Remember, I may not have that human, but I will remind you that you have two lives hanging over your head instead of just one,” Ratigan smirked as he continued, “but, if this will ease your mind. I give you my word that no harm will befall her that’s when she arrives here before me.”“What?” Hiram says with a shocked look. Was he really going to spare her, that's if she does come? “You promise me that no harm will come to her?”“Why, of course,” Ratigan was at the door with that toothy grin of his. As he begins shutting the door, dimming the light of the room. “Just as long it must be ready…” He left the door opened by a slight creak as he finished with a serious look, “Tonight!” With that he slammed the door shut, imprisoning the toymaker once again.While he was outside, he chuckled a little and muttered, “Foolish old man.” He had plans for this human once she arrived and he wanted to see the look on the toymaker's face when he gave him hope, then shattered that hope into a million pieces once he saw what he had in store for her. However, he had no clue when she’ll arrive, but at least he will be prepared for the upcoming preparation for her arrival.Meanwhile, Fidget dragged the helpless Olivia by her feet while humming to himself. As he got closer to an empty giant green glass wine bottle, Olivia yelled while struggling to get free, “Stop! Let me go!” Fidget picks her up as she continues to yell and struggle, “You ugly old thing!”Fidget shoved Olivia inside the bottle’s entrance halfway in, her rear sticking out while her legs were kicking. “That ought to hold you!” He says as he picks up a cork and pushes it against her rear, shoving her inside the bottle.“Help! Let me out! Let me out!” Olivia cried out while banging her hands inside the green glass, but her cries were muffled from the inside of the bottle.Fidget went to her and said, “See how you like that!” He rudely stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry at her, then strolled away with his head held high.Ratigan was looking through Fidget’s sack, pulling out one of the stolen red toy soldier uniforms. “Ah, the uniforms,” he said with delight. “Ah, Fidget, I knew I could rely on you.” He stuck his head in the sack while chuckling with delight, then he pulled his head out and asked while smiling, “Now, you didn’t forget anything?”“No problem,” Fidget laughed. “I took care of everything. Everything on the list.” He gestured to where the list was held in his pocket...only to realize that it was gone. “Uh-oh.”“What’s wrong?” Ratigan scowled.“The list, well I know I had it…” Fidget insisted nervously while searching himself.“Where’s the list?” Ratigan demanded.“The list, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you see, it was uh, it was like this,” Fidget nervously said as he explained what happened. “I was in the toy store, I was getting uniforms when I heard a AARROOOHH! AARROOOHH!”“You’re not coming through,” Ratigan muttered while rubbing his eyebrow.Fidget imitated a dog panting, then pretending to run and tied his ears to his chin. “A dog came, I ran. I had baby bonnet, girl in bag, and that small human was chasing me-”“What!” Ratigan exclaimed when Fidget mentioned the small human. “You saw that red-headed female!”“Yes,” Fidget nodded as he showed the bruise from when Anna threw that stool on his first encounter. “She did this to me!” He then placed his hands on the sides of his head while having a fearful look. “She’s crazy! Crazy, I tell you! She tried to…” Fidget stopped himself, he didn’t understand what came over him as he said slowly, “She...tried...to.” He blinked his eyes as he nodded his head, trying to remember something, but for some odd reason...he barely remembered. It was like something fuzzy was in his head, preventing him from remembering what that human tried to do.Ratigan had an odd look at first as he saw Fidget’s terrified look and then seeing his confused look, but then changed to a serious look as he said with a hard tone, “She tried to what?”Fidget looked at Ratigan with that same confused look and answered, “She tried to kill me.” Ratigan gave him his own confused look while Fidget scratched the side of his head while muttering, “But I don’t get it. I don’t remember, but somehow I barely remember like...like it was in a dream.” Fidget remembered bits and pieces from this so-called “dream”. He remembered seeing that human punch him here and there, her yelling was muffled, but he could make out words like “he” and “Hiram”. Who was this Hiram exactly? Was she talking about that toymaker that he kidnapped a while ago? He even saw his own blood come out of his nose and mouth, each time that human kept hitting him, feeling the pain from each punch that came in contact with him. When the dream came to an end, he was back at the cradle while his eyes opened. He wondered if he accidentally slept slightly while waiting for the girl.Ratigan sighed at this. If that human did try to kill Fidget, then where are the rest of his injuries besides that bruise he had? This was starting to become nonsense that Fidget was spouting. “What are you babbling about?” He asked.“I know I remember,” Fidget said with confusion. “But I just don’t-”“Then what do you remember besides that small human you encountered?” Ratigan said through clenched teeth as he was starting to lose patience with him.“Oh, yeah,” Fidget changed the subject as he remembered something else while finishing his explanation. “Besides that small human was chasing me, Basil was also-”“What? Basil on the case!” Ratigan yelled angrily. “Why you gibbering little…”Fidget flinched and hid himself in his wings as his boss towered over him. Ratigan gasped as he was on his knees, clutching his chest while groaning and grunting, trying to contain the rage that was starting to build-up inside of him. His face turned beet red, ready to explode any second now...But then he chuckled as his face returned to a normal color and inhaled deeply as he chuckled, calming down the rage.“Oh, my dear Fidget,” Ratigan said affectionately, picking up the bat in his arms and carrying him like how an adult would carry a little child. “You have been hanging upside down too long.”“You mean, you’re not mad?” Fidget says with relief while chuckling, he slightly wrapped his wing around his boss’ shoulder in a hug. “I’m glad you’re taking it so well.”Ratigan slowly carried Fidget around a corner. Things were quiet for a few seconds…Until a tingling chime of a bell came and a scream of horror came from Fidget.Felicia held a fluttering Fidget by his scarf, she smiled as she opened her mouth, ready to devour him. “Not me, you idiot! No, stop, you stupid furball!” Fidget managed to flutter away as Felicia released him to her gaping jaws, but missed as she grew a confused look. She had an angry look as she grabbed Fidget from the air and stuffed him into her mouth. Fidget began to struggle from the inside of Felicia’s mouth while yelling as his voice was muffled, “Open up! Open up! Aye-yie-yie! Ooo-ooo, Aye! You’re hurting my wings!”Ratigan stood next to another giant green glass wine bottle, rubbing the sides of his head, then grips his face with frustration as he mumbled, “How dare that idiot Basil poke his stupid nose into my wonderful scheme and foul up everything!”“Let me out! Let me out!” Fidget cried as he flew around Felicia’s plump cheeks, then pried open the cat’s jaws with his foot and peg-leg. “HEEELP!” He shouted, but Felicia poked him back into her mouth while he yelped “Ow!”.Ratigan glared at his reflection and grumbled, “Oh, I can just see that insufferable grin on his smug face.” He banged his head twice on the glass, making it ding as he gripped his head in pain...Then an idea struck! He already knew that small human girl was coming for him, but if she was leading Basil to him as well...Then he’ll kill two birds with one stone!When that idea came, he grew a sinister grin as he snickered, “Yes, yes, I can just see it.” Then he turned to his cat while snickering and commanded sweetly to her, “Felicia, release him.”Felicia had a stunned look while Fidget said inside her mouth, “I’m too young to die!” She frowned in disappointment with Fidget’s peg-leg sticking out of her mouth, then she spat him out as Fidget landed on the ground with a grunt. He was in a rough shape, his body was twisted, his ears had holes, and his tongue drooped from his mouth.Ratigan picked Fidget up and held him by his cheeks. “Fidget, you delightful little maniac. You’ve presented me with a singular opportunity.” He let go of the bat as he plopped to the ground. “Poor Basil and that small human girl!” He mocked sadly before his face turned evil as he gave off his wicked smirk and said while snickering, “Oh, they’re in for a little surprise.”---When Anna, Dawson, and Basil returned to Baker Street, the first thing they did was help Anna. The poor girl was suffering a slight headache from having the back of her head smacked by a marble. She was lucky it wasn’t too serious, but that still needed to be taken care of. After already turning on a lamp beside his red armchair and asking Mrs. Judson to make a fresh pot of tea, she was wondering what happened to poor Anna and what became of Olivia who hadn’t returned with them. Basil explained what happened and Mrs. Judson was shocked to hear that Olivia was kidnapped by Fidget and immediately went to work when she also learned that Anna’s head was hurting from getting hit in the head with a marble. Dawson went with her to fetch an ice pack for Anna’s head.While Anna was once again sitting down on the green chair, she was groaning while massaging the sides of her temples. Basil places his hand on her back, giving it a slight rub while she looks at him as they give each other a smile. Dawson came back with the ice pack as he placed it gently on the back of Anna’s head while she immediately kept hold of it. Mrs. Judson also came back with a fresh pot of tea and tea cup, she poured some and offered it to Anna while telling her it would help speed-up the healing and she immediately took the cup and started drinking it.After Mrs. Judson left the three alone, Basil took out both the list and his magnifying glass from out of his coat as he began to inspect it with Dawson watching him from behind and Anna listening while she was recovering.“Offhand, I can deduce very little,” Basil said as he examined the letters and the spattered ink on the sheet of paper. “Only that the words are written with a broad-pointed quill pen which has spattered, twice. That the paper is of…” He puts his magnifying glass back in his pocket while closing his eyes, concentrating on the texture and weight while making it softly flutter in his right hand. “Native Mongolian manufacture, no watermark. And has…” He began numbing on the paper with his mouth. “Been gummed, if I’m not very much in error…” He sniffs the paper to get its scent, then he holds the paper by his pointer finger and thumb while saying as he looks at Dawson, “By a bat who has been drinking Rodent’s Delight.” He showed the paper to Dawson while shrugging his shoulders and smiling casually. Dawson takes out his glasses as he briefly studies the paper and Basil finishes his deduction on the paper by saying, “A cheap brandy sold only in the seediest pubs.”Basil stops showing the paper to Dawson as he takes it over to a chemistry set filled with glass beakers, cups, bottles, and tubes filled with multi-colors of chemicals. “Hmm, amazing.” Dawson said with astonishment.“Oh, not really, doctor. We still don’t know where it came from.” Basil pulls out a microscope and slides the paper underneath the magnifying scope. “Perhaps a closer inspection will tell us something.” He hummed in thought as he brought the lens into focus, seeing black spattered spots on the paper. “Coal dust. Clearly of the type used in sewer lamps.”When Basil walked away, Dawson stood high enough to look through the lens and see Basil’s find. However, it only took a second as Basil snatched the paper away, surprising him at what the detective was doing next.With his tongue out, Basil carefully held the paper over the Bunsen burner. He turns the knob, causing it to ignite a larger flame as it burns a hole right through the paper. With the paper itself slowly burning, he turns the knob off.Seeing that Basil was burning the paper, Dawson objected, “B-But Basil I-”“Shh! Don’t speak!” Basil interrupted as he gently let the burning remains of the paper fall into a small wooden bowl as it turned to ash. He grabs a wooden grinder and starts charring the ashes even further into a dusty substance. After that was done, he poured the substance into a glass beaker filled with yellow liquid inside, making it’s color turn blue.Dawson stares at the blue liquid, but Basil immediately comes back as he picks up the beaker and grabs a bottle of red liquid while saying, “Excuse me, Dawson.” Carefully, he gently tips the bottle over the beaker. “Steady hand.” A small drop of red liquid fell, creating a puff as it changed to a darker shade of blue.Dawson had a curious look on his face as he continued to watch his friend’s unexplained experiment.Meanwhile, Anna noticed where this was going to go since watching the movie and she decided to speed-up the process. She downs the rest of her tea and places it on the nearby table along with the ice pack. The pain in her head started to dull slightly, but at least it wasn’t too bad. She quietly tiptoes to the corner of the room where a basket filled with rolled up sheets of paper stood. Knowing that those were maps, she quickly but quietly takes out a roll, trying to find the right map that Basil would use. The moment she unrolled the first one, it was the wrong one. She nods and places the map on the floor while digging out another one, but once again she pulls another wrong one the moment she unrolls it. For a few more times, she manages to pull out another map from the back and unrolls it. “Yes!” She softly exclaimed quietly as she finally found the right one.Placing the map on the wall, she noticed three darts on the dart board. Taking them, she pins the first two on the sides of the map to keep it where it is. However, she was having trouble trying to figure out where to put the last dart at. She knew where Basil would put it since he knew where to go. If he could do it, so could she. Closing her eyes while rubbing her chin with the back of the dart, she was trying really hard to remember this part from the movie...Then an image appeared in her head as she saw a thin bridge on the River Thames where Basil placed that dart at. Opening her eyes, she smiles as she did the same thing as Basil would’ve done.Back with Basil, he placed the beaker underneath the apparatus with Bunsen burner at the end with a boiling green liquid in a bottle flask and attached to it were twirling tubes that led all the way to the beaker. Turning the Bunsen on, the green chemical began to bubble rapidly as it started to flow through the tubes. “Yes. Yes. Good.” He says while watching it whiz and curl through the tubes. “Come along, come along, come along, come along, come along. Yes, yes. Good, good. Mmm, no, bad. Good, good. Go yeah. Come along. Come along, come on. Don’t go back up. Yes. Come along. Come on.” When it finally reached its destination, it gathered into a single drop on the beaker. His eyes widened as he said excitedly, “Yes...Yes!” The drop fell into the beaker, creating another puff as it’s color changed to red with lots of fizzing and bubbles followed after.“We’ve done it, old fellow!” He chortled, placing an arm around the clueless Dawson. “This reaction could only have been triggered by the paper’s extreme saturation with distillation of sodium chloride.” With those words, he was about to head over to the basket of rolled up maps, but stopped as his face turned to a surprised look.Dawson goes to the beaker with curiosity while putting on his glasses to examine the liquid, which had once again changed its colors, this time to a pale white blue. “Salt water? Great Scott.”“Anna, what were you doing?” Basil said.Dawson looked at Basil after hearing him, then looked to what he was staring at and saw that Anna had already gotten the map out and had already placed the last dart on the map.Anna looks at the two staring mice and says, “Uhh, just getting a map ready. I mean, our next move is to find wherever it is we’re going to. Right?”Basil goes to the map that Anna had already set up, then he looks to where she placed the last dart at. His suspicions began to grow even further when he noticed that she placed the dart at the riverfront area, exactly where he was going to place it at. But how could she have known about this beforehand? Looking at her, he answered slowly, “Yes...indeed.” He thought about questioning her on how she knew about this before he did, but decided not to waste anymore time and just add this to his list of suspicions. “It proves, beyond a doubt,” his voice changed quickly as it was filled with excitement. “This list came from the riverfront area.”“Now, now, steady on there, Basil.” Dawson says, trying to ease his friend's excitement.“No, no. Elementary my dear Dawson.” Basil waved a finger at Dawson. “We merely look for a seedy pub at the only spot…” He points to where Anna had left the dart at. “Where the sewer connects to the waterfront.”Dawson goes to the map while putting his glasses back on, getting a closer look at where they were going. “But, what does this mean?” He asked.“It means, that’s where our captured quarry is and where we have to go,” Basil answered, then wrapped his arm around Dawson and Anna as he started leading them. “Come along now, Dawson, Anna, we must get ready and-”“Now wait just a moment, Basil!” Dawson exclaimed while removing Basil’s arm away from him. “I’m going to have to object! It’s about Anna’s health-”“Dawson,” Anna interrupted as Dawson looked at her. “I understand your concern for me, but my head doesn’t hurt that bad. So I’m coming with you.”“B-But Anna-”“I’m not going to sit here and do nothing! Hiram and Olivia are still out there and I’m going to find them, my minds already made-up!” She sighed and looked at Basil. “However, I’m going to have a say on this, because there’s going to be a teensy-tiny little problem.” She simplified that by making a small gesture with her pointer finger and thumb, shortening it down until it was almost close to touching.“That is?” Basil questioned.“Well, look at me!” Anna gestured by motioning her hands to her body. “If anyone sees me like this, I’ll draw too much attention!”Dawson nodded in agreement at this. Anna was no mouse and if anyone else saw her it would’ve caused a big commotion with them.“Oh, not to worry,” Basil smiled. “I already have a plan in mind.” He winked at her.“You do!” Anna and Dawson said in unison while having confused looks.“Of course!” Basil exclaimed as he placed his arms again around Dawson and Anna while he led them up some stairs. “Now come along, the sooner we get ready, the sooner will be one step closer to getting Hiram and Olivia Flingchinger back.”“Flaversham!” Anna and Dawson exclaimed in unison.“Whatever,” Basil shrugged.---At the waterfront area, mist was surrounding the place while the ships remained anchored on the river and gentle waves splashed. On top of the docks, Toby sat there, his tail wagging as he watched his master and companions descend to their destination below.“Stay, Toby. Stay,” Basil ordered in a whisper."Don’t worry, Toby,” Anna whispered. “Will be back. You be good now.”Down below the docks, two figures were walking down the path towards a pub that had a lamp hanging by a sign that said “Rat Trap”. One was a male mouse wearing an ocean-blue captain sailors hat, matching long coat and trousers, magenta turtle-neck, and black shoes. The other was a female mouse wearing tomboyish clothes consisting of a black coat, red shirt, tan trousers with a black belt and gold buckle...and somehow possessed familiar brown boots. Her face was tan with grey on her muzzle and black nose, her auburn hair was tied to a bun and had a cap on top of her head. But for some odd reason, this mouse didn’t have a tail.“Uh, Basil,” Dawson said from behind the shadows.The figure in blue turned around, revealing himself to be Basil in disguise as he had a thin fake mustache under his nose and was carrying an unlit cigarette in his mouth. Taking the cigarette out of his mouth, he ushered his friend to follow him while saying, “Come, come, Dawson.”“I feel utterly ridiculous,” Dawson complained as he stepped out of the shadows and into the light. He wore a purple cap on his head, an eyepatch was hung over his right eye, a small red and pink striped t-shirt, dark purple trousers with a black belt and gold buckle, and a golden hoop earring on his right ear.“Don’t be absurd. You look perfect,” Basil assured him.“Perfect?” Dawson had an annoyed expression on his face while trying to pull his shirt down to cover his exposed middle stomach. “Perfectly foolish.”“Oh, don’t worry about it, Dawson,” the female mouse says as her voice revealed to be Anna who was also in disguise while she shrugged her shoulders. “Besides, it’s the best disguise that Basil could give you and look at the bright-side. You’ll be able to fit-in with the crowd.”“Well, maybe to you,” Dawson retorted. “But you dress more like a man instead of a woman.”Anna couldn’t help but nod while sighing and rolling her eyes as she smiled, Dawson would probably never understand that she’s used to these kinds of clothes. She couldn’t deny that Dawson was looking ridiculous in that disguise. But what could she say, barely any of the disguises didn’t fit him. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so she had to at least sugarcoat it. However, speaking of disguise, before they left Baker Street, Anna got a glimpse of how Basil always had those disguises. He took them to a room where racks of clothes were hung and mannequin heads filled with masks and other unique disguises were placed on the shelves. But she noticed something while looking around the room...Basil had women’s dresses and a shelf full of women’s makeup. She wanted to burst out laughing, but refrained herself while she covered her mouth and snorted slightly. Him, Basil wearing a dress and makeup! Oh, she would just get a kick out of this!When Basil chose the perfect clothes for her to wear, she immediately tried them on. She couldn’t deny that the clothes gave her more of a badass appearance. All what she needed was to give her don’t-screw-with-me look and she’ll fit-in perfectly. Unfortunately for her face, that’ll probably be a problem since she’s human. Luckily for her, Basil had already brought out a mask for her. Unfortunately once again, there was a bit of a flaw in this disguise. Her hair would have to be exposed from out of the mask, there were no gloves for her to wear since none of the ones that he had would fit her five-fingered hands, and she had no tail. But Basil explained to her that as long as nobody notices those hands, she’ll be fine or else she’ll have to makeup a story about those. As for the tail problem, no one would probably care and they’ll just dismiss it and think that she lost it somewhere in her life.Despite the differences in her’s and Dawson’s disguise, she could at least credit Basil for doing a good job for their disguises.Basil immediately shushed them while he already had his cigarette back in his mouth and gestured them to be silent. The moment when he opened the door, they looked at the inside of the pub while they heard the sound of music playing from a piano.It was a slightly smokey filled room, due to some shady looking characters smoking either cigars or cigarettes. Anna could literally smell the tobacco filling her nostrils. Many tables were strewn here and there as many of its occupants were sitting down drinking and gambling while chattering, murmuring, and grumbling came from the crowd. At the far end of the pub was a stage clad in red curtains illuminated in lights to make it stand out from the rest of the crowd.On stage, there was an octopus with a happy expression on his face and was juggling three colored balls while tap dancing with its many legs. The pianist at the bottom right next to the stage, provided the performance by playing a happy-go-lucky musical tune. Unfortunately, the audience weren’t in the mood to be watching this performance as they were too absorbed in their gambling, drinking, or just sitting there smoking. The barmaid flirted with one of her customers, until he puckered his lips and gave a smooch, almost like he wanted her to give him a kiss. But the barmaid angrily backfisted his chin, sending him flying off the chair while landing hard on the floor with a grunt.“Dawson, Anna,” Basil said to them as he struck up a match and lit up his cigarette while tossing the burnt match away. Taking a puff of his cigarette, he exhales a puff of smoke and says to them, “Stay close and do as I do.”Anna nods her head as she and Basil place their hands in their pockets with Dawson following behind them, acting natural.A bartender washing a pint glass noticed the trio as his eyebrow was raised. Basil gave the bar keeper a simple wave of his left finger for service while Anna did the same, but she used her right hand while quickly putting her hand back in her pocket to avoid suspicion if the bartender noticed those five human-like fingers. Dawson did the same thing as Basil, albeit with a slightly exaggerated grumpy expression.Every gangster or thug was watching the trio with suspicion in their eyes, but when some of them noticed a woman with them...they either gave off a smile or were giggling slightly, barely any women actually came to this pub.The trio kept on walking while Basil, Anna, and Dawson not paying any mind to what these people thought of them, but Anna already noticed that they were staring at her because she was a woman, so she kept her guard up since she was already walking into enemy territory. There was no telling what might happen to her. However, while she was walking, she remembered something...Wasn’t something supposed to happen in this part of the movie before the bar fight? As she was in thought, she didn’t notice a dagger was thrown by someone as it landed right in front of Dawson by his feet, making him gasp while stumbling backwards as he knocked into a woman in green sitting on a chair playing poker with her two friends. She looks at him while glaring and giving him an annoyed expression.Hearing this made Anna look behind her as she noticed Dawson was looking at the woman in green. Knowing what’s going to happen next made her get Basil’s attention by tapping his shoulder, he looks at her as she tilts her head towards Dawson. Knowing what she meant, he nodded as they went back for Dawson.Back with Dawson, he took his cap off while bowing and apologizing to the woman in green by saying, “Oh, I do your pardon, madam. Quite unintentional I-” He was cut off as the woman in green had already taken a whiff from her cigarette holder and blew smoke in his face, making him cough as he finished by saying, “I assure you.” As Dawson continues to cough, the woman in green along with her two friends laughed rudely at him.When Anna was the first to get to Dawson, she immediately wrapped her arm around his shoulder while grabbing his shirt and muttered through clenched teeth while dragging him away, “Let’s go, Dawson.”Dawson looks at her and says, “Did you not see what happened? How impertinent!”Basil grabbed the front of Dawson’s shirt as he firmly said to him, “Remember Dawson, we’re low-life ruffians.”He releases him, Anna follows Basil after already letting Dawson go and patting his shoulder. Dawson puts his cap back on and follows them while saying, “Well I was until that-” Basil immediately shushed him before he caused another hostility.Managing to find a vacated table, Basil sits down with Dawson sitting beside him while looking back and giving the woman in green a haughty nod. But unfortunately for poor Anna, there was no chair for her to sit. So with a sigh, knowing that she’ll have to walk into deeper enemy territory, she says to them, “I’ll be right back.”“Anna,” Basil says while she looks at him after taking the cigarette from out of his mouth. “Be careful.”With a nod, Anna went to find herself an empty chair to bring and use. Worrying for the girls safety made Dawson get up as he was about to follow her while saying, “Maybe I should-” Basil stops him by grabbing his shirt as he protested, “Basil-”“Dawson, sit down!” Basil made Dawson sit back down on the chair. “The last thing we need is for you to create more hostility.”“But-But Anna she-”“Don’t worry about her, she’ll be fine.”Dawson had a shocked look. “How can you even say that, do you even know?”“I don’t,” Basil admitted with a nod, then exhaled out some smoke. “It’s a feeling.”Now Dawson was confused at what Basil just said. What Dawson didn’t know was that Basil had unusual feelings about this woman. For some odd reason, he felt like she could defend herself. He didn’t understand why, but something unusual came up in his head after the incident at the toy store. Not to mention, Anna mentioned something about “light” and...whatever nonsense she was spouting about. However, when they were returning back to Baker Street, he was starting to think about what she meant about this so-called “light”...then an image appeared. It was a bit hazy, but the first thing he remembered was seeing her fight somebody. But who was it? Then the next thing he remembered was...something. This memory was a bit hazier than the last one, but he seemed to notice there was...A silver watch glowing?But that couldn’t be, that didn’t actually happen at all...Did it? He wasn’t sure if it was in his head or maybe he was hallucinating and must’ve imagined it when he touched Anna, but for some very strange reason...There was something very off about this and it was far deeper than just his arch-nemesis...and it was surrounding that human.Thinking about Anna, he seemed to notice an odd aura surrounding her. Now, he wasn’t a psychiatrist nor was he a doctor unlike Dawson, but he did study psychology in order to better understand the mind of an individual and personality. Looking back at that hazy image, he noticed two things when she was fighting somebody. The first, was the eyes that were focused, but were filled with anger and it was like she was experiencing something that happened before. The second, was when every time she hits, it feels like they were meant to kill instead of beating somebody.He wasn’t quite sure if this memory was real or not, but this odd feeling didn’t leave him. He knew that despite her being good, protective, very clever, and a bit stubborn, there was something else about her that she was holding out on him. In fact, there was that one thought that did cross his mind…What was more to Anna than just that little secret she was hiding? He didn’t know and the only way to find out was just by watching her more closely than ever before.Anna was traversing through the crowd, trying to find herself an empty chair then getting back with the group. However, while she was searching, she noticed that some of the crowd was watching her. Either because they were still suspicious of her or because she was just another woman to be watched. She didn’t know which was worse, but it was starting to make her feel a little nervous.Wanting to take her mind off of those staring eyes, she decided to focus on what’s happening right now. Looking back on the stage, the octopus was still performing with his dancing and juggling act, but she was surprised that it didn’t end now like how it did in the movie. She also noticed the pianist had a fearful expression on his face, after already becoming aware of the hostile glares from the audience while others completely ignored the performance. She knew that once the performance ended, this would turn nasty. She pitied the poor octopus, he was really good at what he’s doing, that she couldn’t deny. But he was performing for the wrong crowd.What felt like a minute of walking through a crowd of thugs, she finally found herself an empty chair as she went towards it. The moment her hands touched it, the music came to an end. She looked back at the stage and saw the octopus bowing after catching all the balls in his hat and stopped dancing. It was quiet for a few seconds...until she heard one set of applause, knowing that it was coming from Dawson. He was quite impressed with the act as it took his worried mind off of Anna.Anna sighed while nodding as she quietly muttered, “3...2...1…”On cue, the audience started booing loudly, making Dawson flinch after being interrupted by the crowd.“Get off, you eight-legged bum!” A dwarf mouse shouted from his seat.The audience began to throw various items on the stage, many consisting of tomatoes, lettuces, a glass bottle, darts, and daggers, but the octopus managed to flee on time and off the stage. Anna wondered how they possessed such items with them was beyond her.Picking up the chair, she was about to head back with the group, but was stopped by a thug who slid his chair in front of her, making her gasp slightly with surprise. The thug had a brown bowler hat, brown coat, tan shirt, and matching black trousers and shoes. He took his cigar out of his mouth while exhaling out some smoke and saying, “Heya missy, whatcha runnin’ off too?”Anna’s eyes narrowed as she said in a hard tone, “That’s none of your business.”She was about to go around him, but was stopped once again as the thug placed his arm in front of her, blocking her path. “What’s the rush?” The brown coated thug asked. “Why don’tcha sit down with us? We can keep you company.”She hears the sound of snickering as she sees two more thugs, one was wearing a green coat, blue shirt, and a black cap while elbowing another thug who wore a grey sweater and was winking at him. Looking back at the brown coated thug, she says with that same hard tone, “Sorry, but no.”She was about to go around him again, this time at the front, but the thug used his other arm to block the other path. “Aw, c’mon missy, there’s no need to be shy.”“Shy” was definitely not the right word for her. This thug was starting to get on her nerves and it made her tighten her grip on the chair. “Look, I don’t have time for this. So do yourself a favor and move.”“Hey, there’s no need for you to get tense,” The brown coated thug exhaled out some smoke. “We’re all just tryin’ to have a good time.” He taps the tip of his cigar as ash begins to fall on Anna’s boot, making her shake the ash off of it. “But y’know, speakin’ of good time…” His eyes looked down as he nearly salivated, like how a predator would do if they see their prey for a piece of meat. “Maybe you should get on that stage and perform with those...lovely legs of yours missy.” The brown coated thug smacked Anna’s rear, loud enough for any thug nearby to hear it and Anna’s surprised squeak. He started to laugh along with his two friends and any nearby thug who saw Anna getting her rear smacked for the first time.Dawson saw what happened as his eyes glared at what that thug did to Anna with such impertinence. He was about to march over there and teach that thug a lesson in manners when handling a lady, but Basil grabs his shoulder, keeping him sat down before he does anything drastic. “Basil!” He exclaimed.Basil shushed him as he tilted his head up, making Dawson look ahead as he saw the angry look in Anna’s eyes.However, Anna was beyond angry...she was pissed! The brown coated thug had unintentionally made her self-restraint shatter as she said with clenched teeth, “You…” Then she yelled for all inside the pub to hear, “SON OF A BITCH!”She kicks the brown coated thug straight at the face, making him grunt as he falls over his chair. Everyone began looking while the pianist hit a wrong note as he too looked at the spectacle. Anna walked over to the brown coated thug and began kicking him hard, then she kicked him in the face again as he rolled over and grunted again. The two thugs go to help there friend while Anna lifted the chair up and was about to bring it down on the brown coated thug while saying, “You fricking jackass!”However, as she had already lifted the chair up, she accidentally made contact with somebody's head and with a cry of a “Wah!” she looked as the green coated thug covered his head with his hands and his eyes went up and bounced down after getting his head hit. His eyes narrowed angrily as he says, “Oh, why you little-”The green coated thug was cut off as Anna swung the chair at him, breaking it in the process as he grunts in pain and lands hard on the ground. The grey sweater thug managed to wrap his arms around her, but she elbows him on the side of his gut once, then twice on the opposite, making him groan as he loosened his hold of her. She turns around and punches him straight in the face as he backs up, then she goes towards him and grunts while giving him a strong uppercut, sending him flying as he crashes on a nearby table where thugs managed to get up as the table collasped and a pint glass was sent flying into the air towards a thug who was at the wall. He managed to duck as the pint glass shattered and alcohol splattered all over him.“What a woman!” The thug said while smiling as he enjoyed that fight.Anna was breathing as the fight ended as she looked at the three downed thugs, then noticed the thugs looking at her while smiling with enjoyment. They never saw a woman fight against a man before their whole lives. Now this was the kind of entertainment they wanted to enjoy and at least the night wasn’t a total loss for them after all. As for Anna, her eyes narrowed as she thought, Well, at least they now know what happens if anyone tries to screw around with me. Keeping her serious look plastered to make sure the thugs get the picture, she straightens out her coat and goes to get another empty chair.Before she had a chance to get another empty chair, the brown coated thug rose up by his arms while spitting out a small glob of blood, then took out a Bowie knife from out of his coat. “That wench!” He muttered through clenched teeth as he stood up and charged at Anna from behind.“Lassie, look out!” Came the shouting voice of a woman as Anna sharply turned around to face a knife raising thug.Her eyes widened as time seemed to slow down...then a flashing memory came as the brown coated thug was changed to a middle-aged man, somewhere around his thirties as he wore an old light-brown coat with pockets, his face was blurred from the back of her memories. Deep within her mind, she could almost hear him as these were his words…If someone ever comes at you with an object. Be it like a knife or something, use the wrist to block it, then drive your knee straight at the gut until the aggressor drops the object...Anna blinked her eyes, returning her to reality as her eyes narrowed and her teeth clenched. She brings out her wrist, blocking the brown coated thug’s knife and drives her knee towards his gut. The brown coated thug thought he was going to vomit after getting hit so hard at the gut, but only air escaped from his mouth as he dropped the knife.From the back of Anna’s mind, she could once again hear the middle-aged man’s voice…Or, if you want to really put’em down, go for the knee…And that’s what Anna did as she grunted, then drove her boot straight at the brown coated thug’s knee. A sickening sound of cracking bones came as the brown coated thug screamed with pain and the crowd winced while having amusing faces after seeing her break a man’s leg with such tenacity. However, Dawson gasped slightly as his eyes widened after seeing Anna break that man’s leg with no hint of restraint and Basil finally saw it...the eyes that were focused as they were recollecting something from before and were filled with intent, but this wasn’t the intent to kill. No, that was only the last…The first was suffering…Anna began punching at the brown coated thug’s face as he backed up through each punch, despite having a broken leg. Her memories flashed as they came and went through each punch...An image of the same middle-aged man with that same old light-brown coat with pockets, playing chess with her as he was killing some time…An image of a smiling young woman with dirty blonde hair…An image of a young boy with dark hair wrapping his arm around Anna’s shoulder while he did the same to another girl who had dark brown hair as they were walking a path…She hit the brown coated thug hard as blood came out of his mouth, just as another image flashed as she saw all four of those individuals lineup, then began to shrink as it was changed to a barrel of a pistol.She shuts her eyes tight, not wanting to see that memory. She didn’t want to see it again. She couldn’t! She wouldn’t! Her body went to autopilot as her hands came together and gave them an uppercut fashion as she hit the brown coated thug, knocking him off his feet as he landed on the floor hard.Anna opens her eyes while breathing heavily, she sees the brown coated thug on the floor. With the fury in her eyes hadn’t left her, she goes to the downed thug as she lifts her boot up, ready to stomp on his chest. Basil, seeing that her eyes changed from suffering to the fury intent on ending someone’s life, was about to stand up and shout “Anna, that’s enough!”, but if words weren’t going to stop her, he would have no choice but to break character for the moment and run-in there to stop her before she crosses the line. However, none of that was going to happen as he and Dawson saw Anna stop herself, her eyes blinked after what she saw…The brown coated thug turns over and spits out a tooth while coughing and groaning in pain.When Anna saw that tooth, the fury in her eyes left her as she put her boot down. Then once again, flashing memories came and went, but this time it was different. She was seeing Fidget all over again from the incident at the toy store and could almost hear those painful groans from when she hit him. Even though she partially remembered those things, she still couldn’t figure out how or why that mysterious earthquake, the lightning, and that mysterious light that somehow changed everything and made her forget some things. However, her memory flashed as she saw her hands covered with blood as the knuckles were raw and red.She lifts her hands as the memory faded, seeing her hands covered with blood slightly from that brown coated thug and her knuckles were red from hitting him. All around her, the thugs began laughing and cheering at Anna’s victory over the brown coated thug, despite not finishing him off for nearly gutting her like a fish. They could care less, she managed to give these thugs an entertaining moment they have never seen before, but they were completely oblivious to Anna’s slightly bloodied five-fingered human-like hands.Wanting to get the blood off, she was thinking about rubbing it off on her red shirt, but changed her mind when she saw a white handkerchief sticking out from the brown coated thug’s pocket. She takes it out and rubs all the blood off her hands, then tosses it down on the thug while walking away towards an empty chair, grabbing it as she carries it with her back to the group.When she finally came back, Anna placed the chair as she sat down on it. She’d expected Dawson, who was probably worried after what happened just now would say “Anna, are you alright?”, but instead it was more of the opposite as his eyes narrowed and said, “Anna, was that really necessary causing a stir?”She was about to say something, but Basil beat her to it as he took out his cigarette and said, “Actually Dawson, I concur with that. It did give us an advantage now that they know that we’re one of them.”“But Basil you saw-”“I know what I saw, I’m not blind.” Basil then looks at Anna while his eyes are too narrow.“However, I would have to say what happened in the last part. Do you have any idea what you almost did?”“I…” Was the only thing she could say while having a downcasted look, sighing, and shrugging her shoulders.Basil cocked an eyebrow in question while Dawson had an odd look on his face. This was an unusual change of behavior from her. “Well, do you remember anything?” Dawson asked her, wanting to know from her perspective.“I...I’m not sure,” Anna answered truthfully. “The last thing I remember was seeing that thug come at me with a knife, I was fighting him, and then...nothing.”Indeed that was true, while Anna’s memory flashed before her eyes, she was already fighting the brown coated thug, but after when he landed on the ground, her eyes were replaced with red fury. But luckily, she managed to stop herself when she saw that tooth come out of the thug’s mouth as she came back to reality once again, never realizing until now that her boot was hovering over the thug’s chest.Dawson and Basil looked at one another, concerned about their friend Anna. However, Basil had already made a mental note of what’s going on surrounding her. So far, besides his list of suspicions, he could definitely tell that something was wrong with her, and it seemed to be something personal. There was some kind of line behind her eyes that masked her between both the positive and negative influences. A perfect line to hide her emotions which keeps her in check, until something causes that line to bend and a different side of her awakens. He knew that this was not good for her health, because there was a limit to how far a person will take to hide their emotions until suddenly that line will snap and someone like her will be driven to the brink of madness.Even though he didn’t know what became of her and why she became as she is now, and as much as he wanted to sit there and talk to her, hoping that she might tell him something so maybe he could help her. He had to put that on hold for now, because he was already this close to finding his arch-nemesis’ hideout and he mustn’t let something like this distract him from the goal. However, the first thing he had to do was help Anna control her temper better by looking at her and telling it to her straight while saying, “Well, whatever the reason. You need to be a bit more careful or else you would have crossed the line.”“What do you mean by that?” Anna had a confused look.“Let me put it to you simply...murder.”Anna’s eyes widened as the word “murder” echoed in her head. She would never do that, she wasn’t a murderer! Sure she would fight somebody, but she would never go as far as doing...that! She wasn’t sure if she had the stomach to end someone’s life in cold blood and might not have the guts to do it. This wasn’t her at all!Seeing her distress made Basil place his hand on top of hers, making Anna blink her eyes as she came out of her thoughts. She looks at Basil’s hand who was on top of hers, then looks at him as he says to her, “Take my word for it, you need to control your temper or else it will control you. So for our sake, you need to think about what's at stake here. Not just for London or all of Mousedom, but for Hiram and Olivia as well. Do you understand?”Knowing that Basil had a point, she had to think about them and not about her haunted memories. She can’t let something like this get the best of her when she knew that she was this close to getting Hiram and Olivia back. So with a sigh while looking down, she nods her head.Basil smiles as he took his hand off of Anna’s and brings her chin up to look at him, then he takes the cigarette out of his mouth, taps it while the ash falls to the floor, and says to her with his best shipman accent while pointing his cigarette at her, “Don’t beat yourself up, be a stout-hearted lass and don’t let it get you down.” He winks at her. “You sure showed him since he got what’s coming to him.”Anna had an odd look when Basil spoke in that accent, she knew that he only spoke in that accent unless that barmaid was around them. She wondered why he spoke in that accent to her? Well, her thought was answered when she felt a pat on her back and that same voice from earlier saying, “I agree with that.” She looks as she sees the barmaid, realizing now that it was her that warned her in the nick of time before she was almost killed by that thug. She knew that she was at least grateful that she was alive thanks to that barmaid. “If anyone can take on a man three to one, especially if someone was armed, is alright in my book.” The barmaid smiles as she crosses her arms and asks, “By the way, where did you learn to fight like that?”Anna looks at Basil, who motioned her to speak, she could either speak with her own voice or make a different kind of voice. Either way, she had to keep in character. So with a smile, she looks at the barmaid and says with a voice that she learned from watching a lot of pirate movies, “From experience. The one thing you should know about me, is that if anyone messes with me, they will end up being beaten, broken, bruised, bleeding, and ended up on the ground. You get what I mean...savvy?”Basil was a little surprised, even though his face didn’t show it. That accent that Anna used was a little impressive.The barmaid bursts out laughing while patting Anna’s back again and saying, “You know, I like you! You’ve got spunk, I’ll give you that!” Her chuckling then shortened to giggles while she nodded. “Well, anyway. What’s your pleasure, mates?”Dawson acted in his usual manner as he ordered his beverage. “I’ll have a dry sherry with, uh...Oh, perhaps a twist of-” He stifled a grunt as Basil’s hand slapped his mouth shut, keeping him quiet before he broke out of character.“Three pints, for me and my shipmates.” Basil indicated by pointing his thumb at himself and at Dawson and Anna. The barmaid was about to carry out the order, but he stopped her by saying, “Oh, by the way, we just got into port. We’re looking for an old friend of mine. Maybe you know him? Goes by the name...of Ratigan!”The barmaid gasped as if she feared hearing that name. Even the thugs, gangsters, and the pianist, who once again hit a wrong note, all gasped as they stared at the trio. Dawson flinched from there staring while Anna looked at them and Basil as well while smiling at their reaction.“I...uh...eh, never heard of him.” The barmaid brushed it off while going to get their beverages.Dawson glanced at Basil, who had that same smile plastered on his face while tapping his fingers for he knew for certain that they were in the right place. However, what he didn’t know was that Anna had already known long before he did that they were in the right place and Ratigan’s hideout was right around the corner. But she had to play the oblivious one or else Basil would catch on.Basil looks at Anna, who smiled at him while mouthing off She’s lying, she knows. He nods his head in agreement with her.The pianist resumed playing by starting up a cheerful musical tune. The curtains drew back as a green frog appeared on the stage being carried by a tired newt upon a unicycle, struggling from the pressure of the weight. Once again, more booing came from the audience, they would rather see a woman fight a man than seeing this pathetic excuse for a performance. So with that, they began pelting the duo with vegetables and other various objects, knocking them off the unicycle as the curtains closed, ending the performance as quickly as it started.The audience began laughing while the pianist dodged a thrown tomato, after already dodging a Bowie knife as it was embedded on the piano. He started playing a gentler tune, just as the audience brought out their chairs, axes, darts, and other assortment of objects, ready to throw them at another unfortunate sap who would perform on that stage. However, when those curtains drew back, there stood a mouse at the center of the spotlight.Miss Kitty, as Anna had already known, was a beautiful white-furred lady mouse with a blue bow on the back of her head, lavender eye-shadow makeup over her blue eyes, maroon nose, and had red lipstick on her mouth. She wore a fuchsia shawl on her shoulders, cobalt blue skirt, and blue high heels. Looking at the audience, she began to sing.Dearest friends, dear gentlemanListen to my songNo sooner had she started singing, the entire crowd immediately calmed down while lowering down there soon-to-be-thrown objects. They all began to sit down and listen to her beautiful voice while one thug took off his hat and placed it at his chest.Life down here’s been hard for youLife has made you strongLet me lift the moodWith my attitudeThe tone of the music began to change into an upbeat rhythm as the band members began playing, due to waking up after Anna caused quite a stir with the thugs. Miss Kitty started to dance as all the men swayed their heads in sync to the rhythm with the exception of Basil as he was unwavered by Miss Kitty’s beautiful singing. Dawson gazed up at the lady and sighed, as if he had fallen in love with her. Anna smiled while rolling her eyes, despite having a front-row seat to listening to Miss Kitty’s song Let Me Be Good To You in person than watching it on the screen, she nodded as she sarcastically thought, Men, typical. At least she knew that Basil had the right idea to stay focused at the task at hand.Hey, fellasThe time is rightGet readyTonight’s the nightBoys, what you’re hopin’ for will come trueLet me be good to youAnna looked back as she noticed the barmaid going to the bartender. She gets Basil’s attention by tapping his arm with the back of her hand, then tilts her head to the direction of the barmaid. Looking in that direction, Basil smiles as he and Anna notice the barmaid whispering something to the bartender. The bartender looks in both directions to make sure no one is looking as he takes out a small green bottle from his vest, pulls the cork out, and pours out some kind of pink liquid into the three pints, making the drinks fizzle.Turning their attention away and pretending to be oblivious to avoid suspicion after what they saw, Basil once again places his hand on top of hers, making her look into his smiling face as he mouths off Good work. Anna gave her own smile while nodding and wondering why he keeps placing his hand on top of hers. She didn’t care at the moment, for now they had to focus on the task.You tough guysYou’re feelin’ all aloneYou rough guysThe best o’you sailors and bumsAll o’my chumsSo dream onAnd drink your beerGet cozyYour baby’s hereYou won’t be misunderstoodLet me be good to youMiss Kitty withdrew behind the curtains as the music grew stronger in beat. When the curtains drew back again, there stood Miss Kitty, but this time after getting rid of her shawl, she wore a sky-blue tight-suit with an exposed back and long back gloves that went past her elbows. Joining her side by side were two more white-furred lady mice who resembled her, but each of them had a mole on the sides of their faces. Anna had already figured that they were twins who were related to Miss Kitty with her probably being the oldest and the other two the youngest. The twins wore the same thing, pink dresses with layers, feathered hats, and the same gloves as Miss Kitty.Hey, fellasI’ll take off all my bluesMiss Kitty took off her skirt, revealing blue feathers underneath and a frilled garter-belt on her right thigh. The audience began whooping, cheering, and even whistling for this great performance. One of the patrons tried to grab her while trying to climb on the stage, but was held back by two of his buddies as they tried to pull him back down. Miss Kitty winks at the mouse trying to get on the stage, but pushes him off with her foot.Hey, fellasThere’s nothin’ I won’t doJust for youMiss Kitty shook her fanny at the crowd before she winked and pointed at Dawson, whose ears reddened as he seemed bashful by this. The twins started doing the can-can and the crowd continued to cheer for them.“There you are, mates.” The barmaid returned to their table, setting the drinks down while smiling slyly. “It’s, uh...on the house.” She looked at Anna and gave her a look that said “Nothing personal” as she left them.Dawson was pleased with the generosity as he took his beverage and said, “Oh, I say, how very generous.”Basil lifted the pint glass while eyeing it suspiciously. However, he noticed that Anna hadn’t even touched the glass, she was just gazing at it.Looking at the pint glass filled with beer, Anna had already known that it was laced with drugs, but that wasn’t the reason it was bothering her. Seeing the glass of alcohol once again brought back some bad memories as she sighed.Before Dawson took a sip from his pint glass, he too noticed that Anna hadn’t touched that glass as she gave that downcasted look again and asked, “Anna, is there something wrong?”“No, it’s nothing,” Anna lied while pushing the pint glass away from her.Anna was completely unaware that Basil had made another mental note surrounding her for two reasons. One: before her mood changed, she was only staring at it without even lifting the glass, much less be a little suspicious of what was put in the drinks. Two: there was some kind of link between her personal life and the alcohol placed before her, which meant she must’ve had a problem when it came to drinking.Thinking back on the first, he wondered how she wasn’t at least suspicious about it. It was almost like she knew what was in it. But that couldn’t be possible, she couldn’t have possibly known what was it beforehand...could it? Wanting to find out for himself and as to why she would push her pint glass away from her, Basil ran his finger around the ring and gently licked it. His eyes widened as to what it was and why she hadn’t touched hers for good reason. “Dawson,” he looked at him and was about to warn him. “These drinks have been...drugged!” He exclaimed at the last part in alarm, too late to warn Dawson as he had already guzzled down his drink and was licking and smacking his lips.“Has a rather nice bite to it,” Dawson says drunkenly while giggling as the drugs were starting to take effect. “Jolly good, ladies! Jolly good!” He shouted to the stage while standing up.Basil quickly dragged him back down while muttering, “Dawson, get a hold of yourself!”Unfortunately it was no use as Dawson lifted his eyepatch up and applauded. “Oooh, bravo! Bravo!”Basil heard snorting as he looked at Anna, who had her mouth covered as she tried not to laugh out loud from this. After already noticing that Dawson guzzled his drink, completely unaware that it was drugged, she knew that he was starting to act silly. Even though a part of her wanted to warn him same as Basil, but refrained from saying a single word from what she knew because he would’ve been suspicious about this later. However, this was the second time that she had to watch something as silly as this. The first being Basil when he was riling up Toby and now this.This was actually a lot better than watching it behind the screen, because this was just downright hilarious seeing it in real-life! She sees Basil narrowing his eyes at, almost like she felt like he knew and she could’ve at least warned him, but playing the oblivious one, she shrugs her shoulders and mutters, “What?”Basil had his mouth open and was about to say something, but was cut off as he and Anna heard thumping coming from the wooden floor. They slightly looked over their shoulders as they saw Fidget limping across the floor, his peg-leg making those thumping sounds. Basil smiled as he observed him while Anna’s eyes narrowed angrily at him, her left hand clutching her knee hard.Seeing Fidget made her remind herself that he made her fail twice now from protecting both Hiram and Olivia. As much as it was tempting to get off of this chair, march over to him, and beat the living crap out of him, then take that scarf of his and choke him until his eyes popped out, she had to hold herself back and wait for the right moment. Because the last time she beat Fidget to a pulp, she almost killed him and to make matters even worse, somehow she was responsible for that mysterious light that appeared and time itself went on rewind. She at first couldn’t figure out how it happened ever since she began thinking about it, but thinking about this really hard, her actions of trying to save Olivia made the silver watch go completely whacko.She still didn’t figure out why the silver watch would do this. Was it that hard just to alter the course of the story so she could finally make amends with her last failure? It wasn’t like it was gonna be a big deal, she already saw the movie dozens of times and knew exactly what was going to happen on each part. However, thinking about this really hard again...she began to realize what a damn fool she was. There were so many possibilities that she could at least try to do to make sure such things like what’s happening now don’t actually happen.Thinking about what happened at the toy store when she tried to protect Olivia made her rethink those possibilities. Even if she tried to make a difference in this world, would it happen again? Will the silver watch act up again and make that same earthquake and lightning, or other kinds of natural disasters? If so, will the silver watch somehow rewind time itself again? If not, then maybe she may not survive the second ordeal and that right there started to scare her. But, there was something else that did cross her mind…What was more to the silver watch’s power that not even she was aware of?Putting out those thoughts for the time being, she had to get back to the matters at hand. She notices that Fidget got himself a new cap after losing his old one, but somehow his ears had holes. She knew that he didn’t have holes in the movie, probably because of animation reasons or something as she paid no mind to it. But she knew that he had survived from nearly getting eaten alive by Ratigan’s obese pet cat named Felicia.So dream onAnd drink your beerGet cozyYour baby’s hereHey boys, I’m talkin’ to youFidget was gazing up at the dancing show girls, but while he was distracted, his peg-leg got caught in a hole in the floor as cried out, “Whoops!” He grunts while lifting his cap away from his eyes as he tries to pull his peg-leg free. When he managed to free himself, he clumsily stumbled back and collided with the bar itself.Anna bit back a snort as karma managed to deal her a good hand, but she knew that she'd settle the matter with Fidget herself.“Well, if it isn’t our peg-legged friend,” Basil says. Then with a smile he says triumphantly while looking at Anna and Dawson, “Anna, Dawson, Ooo-hoo! What luck!” But the moment when he looked at Dawson his chair was empty. “Dawson?” His ears heard laughter coming from Anna as he looked at her, it seemed that she couldn’t hold it back from what she was looking at. Confused as to why she was laughing, he asked, “What’s so funny, where’s Dawson?” She didn’t answer him, but instead pointed straight at the stage. Following the direction her finger was pointing to, he looked up at the stage and was immediately alarmed. “Dawson!” He whispered in shock.There up on the stage was Dawson, his mind still giddy from the drug as he was dancing the can-can with the twins, who didn’t seem to mind his presence, including Miss Kitty as she swung Dawson around when she took hold of his arm.Your baby’s gonna come throughLet me be good to youBasil face palmed with embarrassment and Anna dropped her head on the table as she continues to laugh while the audience began cheering for Dawson, seeing that he was the lucky one to be dancing with the ladies who seemed to be enjoying his company, and others were joining in Anna’s laughter as they could tell he was acting rather silly on the stage.As the song ended, Dawson and the twins were once again doing the can-can with him in the middle with his arms wrapped around the twins waist as they were at his side. The twins then kissed Dawson on the sides of his cheeks, bashfully giggling as he blew a kiss at the twins before stumbling off the stage and landing right on the piano, busting it as the music came to an end.“Yeah!” Miss Kitty cheered, ending her musical number.Anna ceased her laugh while raising her head up as she saw Dawson on the piano, then she noticed the pianist picking up a wooden plank. Her eyes widened as she knew what was going to happen next as she looked at the detective and said, “Uh, Basil.”“What is it,” Basil says as he looks at her.“I think now’s a good time to...duck!” She quickly ducks under the table.Basil was confused as his eyebrow was raised. “Wha...What for?” Anna grabs him, making him cry “oof” as he was pulled under the table with her.Meanwhile back with Dawson, he started to see dancing girls doing the can-can in his eyes, failing to realize the pianist had swung the wooden plank as he tried to hit Dawson with it, but missed as Dawson fell back down and accidentally struck a big muscular mouse with a light green and green striped shirt, breaking the wooden plank in the process while the big muscular mouse grunts slightly.The big muscular mouse turned around and scowled threateningly at the pianist, who hid the broken plank behind his back while his legs nervously shook. He grabs the pianist by the throat and intended to throw a punch at him for hitting him with that wooden plank of his, but the pianist ducked his head low enough as his fist hit the piano with such brute strength, causing it to slide while carrying Dawson and like a bowling ball crashing into the pins, collided into the band members as they were thrown everywhere towards the crowd.Shouting came amongst the crowd, then a huge fight broke out as men were strangling, hitting each other with their fists, or using their clubs and chairs. Underneath the table, Basil’s eyes widened when he saw the fight broke out and wondered why Anna somehow knew about this before it happened. He looks at her and says, “How did you…”Anna had a feeling that he would probably ask that. So she already came up with a story as she says, “Well I-”“Oh, never mind that,” Basil interrupted, he didn’t have time to ponder about this. He looks around until he spots Dawson passed out on the floor. Looking back at her, he says, “Quickly, we must get Dawson.”When Basil went forward towards the chaos to get Dawson, Anna looks behind her, seeing the bartender grabbing a club from under the bar as his only means of defense as he and the barmaid rushed into the chaos to try and break up the brawl while Fidget drank from his pint, despite the chaos going on behind him it felt like it was perfectly normal for him.Knowing that Fidget would lead both her and her two friends through the use of the trap door behind the bar counter towards Ratigan’s lair, but had a feeling that despite that Basil would find it in the movie, she decided to speed-up the process. So with that, she went the opposite direction.The brawl began to turn violent as someone pulled out a revolver and someone else was struggling, then came a gunshot as a bullet hit a lantern in the ceiling. Anyone who had a gun with them began taking them out and started shooting here and there.Anna sharply turned around while yelping and covering her mouth with her hands, just as her back was against the wall, exactly where she wanted to go so she could watch Fidget. She clearly forgot about this part when the bar fight began to escalate, but her eyes widened when she realized this was never a part of the movie at what she was seeing next…The bar fight was starting to turn into a bloodbath.Thugs and gangsters here and there took out their knives and began stabbing at their enemies, some who were right in front of them, others were grabbing as someone was stabbed to death. The ones who were armed with their clubs were bashing some heads who were on the floor to be finished off, others were just hitting them hard as cracking bones came and teeth came out of their mouths. Some were improvising as they took a bottle and cracked it, making a deadly serrated glass weapon as they were slicing their enemies, cutting-up clothes, arms, chest, or even their faces while some were stabbed at either the front or the back.Anna saw the realization of what’s happening in front of her. Seeing the mice either drop dead, groaning while bleeding on the floor, lying unconscious on the floor while still breathing, or others who were in pain were clutching their wounds as they were either leaning on the walls or on the floor, was in fact real before her very eyes. She always thought that nobody would die, not until later on in the climax of the movie, but she was so naive to believe such a thing, because ever since what happened at the toy store with Fidget and after what she nearly did with that thug made that seed of doubt fade at the realization that was happening before her.Her mind started to mute out the sounds of agony, pain, or screaming as someone was about to die and join the other dead mice as the floor was strewn with spittles or pools of blood, but that didn’t mute out the gunshots she was hearing. Everything began slowing down in front of her as each gunshot began showing a flashing memory of each of the faces she’s seen earlier. Her eyes shut tight as she thought, Don’t think about it! Think about what’s at stake, think about what’s at stake, think about what’s at stake…She kept on repeating those words in her mind, then the memories changed as she saw Hiram and Olivia standing before her, their arms stretched out as they were ready to hug her once again. Seeing this made her smile as she takes a deep breath and sighs as she pulls the cap down over her eyes and placed her hands in her coat pockets while ignoring what’s happening in front of her, keeping in character while her eyes opened as they watched Fidget finishing his drink as he goes around the bar counter and open up the trap door while disappearing inside.Back with Basil, he managed to get to Dawson, lucky enough that no one bothered to even notice him from the chaos and was completely unaware that Anna didn’t follow him as she went the opposite direction towards Fidget. He helps him up and says, “Dawson.” He taps Dawson’s cheek to wake him up. “Dawson!”“Ah, what! Wha...What?” Dawson woke up as the drug finally wore off, but was confused as he had no idea how the violent brawl started. He looked at Basil and asked with a confused look, “What in heaven’s name is going on?”“Anna and I have spotted our peg-legged…” Basil cut himself off as he realized that Anna was not with him. “Anna…Anna!”As Basil was looking for Anna, Dawson asked, “What’s wrong, where’s Anna?”“I’m not sure, but I thought that she was with me.”Worried about their friend, Basil and Dawson were looking at the crowd, then their eyes widened as they were scanning the floor, hoping that she wasn’t amongst the dead or hurt pretty bad. But then they heard a sharp whistle as they turned their attention behind them and saw Anna, who was pointing at a vacated Fidget who left the bar and motioned them with her hand to come here.Relief came to them when they saw she was alright, Basil’s eyes narrowed as he muttered, “Confound that woman!” He helps Dawson get back on his feet while saying to him, “Come on, old fellow. There’s not a moment to lose.”Basil and Dawson made their way back to Anna, thanking their lucky stars that they weren’t noticed by anybody. When they got to her, she pointed at the trap door and said, “I saw Fidget go in there.”Seeing the trap door made him cry, “A-ha!” Then he looks at Anna and says, “Well done, Anna!” Anna nods at him and is about to open the trap door, but Basil grabs her shoulder, making her turn her attention towards him. “Next time,” he said scoldingly like how someone would with a child who’s done something wrong, “you stay close to me and do as I tell you. Do you understand?”Anna sighs while nodding and rolling her eyes as she says sarcastically, “Yes dad.”Basil took the lead as he opened the trap door instead of her and beckoned them to go down the hole in single file, Anna went first and Dawson last. Taking one last glance at the chaotic but violent atmosphere, he quietly and carefully shut the door above him, just as a chair bounced off the door.Down below, they began hearing Fidget humming, looking down as they noticed him going into an opening of a watery pipe while carrying a lit lantern. “Let me be good to you,” Fidget sang Miss Kitty’s song as he placed the lantern inside the pipe and climbed up while grunting. Basil waved the others to come along as he led them to the pipe, listening to Fidget’s humming as they saw him go straight ahead of the tunnel. “So dream on and drink your beer,” Fidget continued to sing merrily, completely oblivious to the trio that was following him. “Your baby’s here…”As he got further away from them, where they could only make out a glimpse of Fidget’s lantern, Dawson spoke, “Basil…” But the detective quickly shushed him as he jumped inside the pipe.Basil pokes his head out as he whispers to them, “Follow me.”Anna was the first to climb inside the pipe and as for Dawson...well, let’s just say he had a bit of trouble climbing in as Anna and Basil helped the overweight mouse climb inside. As they began their walk through the pipe, it proved to be quite darker than anyone thought. “Great Scott! I can’t see a thing!” exclaimed Dawson.“Don’t worry,” Anna assured him. “Your eyes will adjust...I hope.” She muttered the last part as she wasn’t quite sure if a mouse’s eyes could adjust to the darkness, the same as a human.“Shh! Grab onto my coat, Anna. Dawson, grab onto her coat and follow along,” Basil instructed.Anna tried to grab onto Basil’s coat, but instead she grabbed onto his hand, much to both of their surprises. Her cheeks turned red while Basil’s ears turned a tinge of pink, he cleared his throat slightly, making her think that he didn’t want her to hold his hand. She was about to let go and grab his coat instead like he told her to, but much to her surprise his fingers managed to intertwine with hers, despite her having five fingers and Basil four as he kept her in place. She sighed slightly as she wraps her other arm around Basil’s arm while leaning her head onto his shoulder, unaware that Basil’s ears turned red from this unusual predicament, but decided to let it be since she needed a shoulder to lean on to from all the things that had happened to her today as her mind was filled with thoughts.However, her thoughts came to an abrupt halt as Dawson was trying to grab onto the hem of Anna’s coat, but instead accidentally grabbed her rear, making her yelp slightly as she sharply turned around and backhands him as he cried out “Ouch!” as his cheek was slapped as he massaged it.“Shh! Quiet!” Basil says firmly while letting go of Anna’s hand as he looks at the both of them with narrowed eyes.“Sorry!” Dawson and Anna said in unison. Then Anna apologizes to Dawson for slapping him, knowing that he didn’t mean to grab her rear. “Sorry about that.”“It’s quite alright,” Dawson assured her. “In fact, it was unintentional, I assure you-”“Shh! C’mon,” Anna ushered Dawson to keep moving.As Anna’s eyes started to adjust to the darkness, she managed to wrap her arms around Basil’s arm, making him smile as they continued onward, but noticed Dawson going the wrong way as his eyes slowly started to adjust to the darkness. “No, no, no, not that way! Dawson, look out for your-”There was a clang of metal as Dawson’s head was smacked as he cried out in pain, “D’OW!” Anna winced as Dawson was now massaging his forehead. “Confound it!”After that little fiasco was over, the trio continued on their journey.“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” Dawson asked.“But of course,” Basil said with confidence as he continues to lead. “Left turn...right turn here, chaps…”It seemed like forever just walking through the pipes with it’s many turns here and there. However, while they continued on their journey, Anna was back to her thoughts. She already knew that this path, the one where Basil is leading them, was taking her straight to Ratigan’s lair. But there was something that was plaguing her thoughts…Was she prepared to meet Ratigan, The Napoleon of Crime himself?Back then when she was younger, Ratigan was the one who managed to scare her to pieces, besides Fidget who was the second to scare her with that demonic looking face and laughter of his. It was almost like she was staring at a monster from the screen. But when she got older, neither of them ever scared her anymore. That all changed the moment when she entered Basil’s world and her childhood fear was starting to resurface. She then started to wonder if she would ever face the genius criminal mastermind like Ratigan. Would she stand against him? Could she even beat him? She wasn’t sure if she could as that seed of doubt returned to her. Somehow, she realizes that as long as she’s with Basil, her childhood hero, she knows that she could beat him. But that lingering fear still bothered her.As she and her two mice friends were climbing a ladder, she thought to herself with a determined look, You can do this, Anna. This time you won’t fail. No going back now.With that, they finally made it to the surface as Basil lifted the grate up, making it creak as the trio saw loads of crates and empty wine bottles here and there. Up ahead, they see a distant light shining on a single barrel with a golden R painted on it. “A-ha! Dawson, Anna, we found it!” Basil whispered excitedly. “Ratigan’s secret lair.” He crawled out and lifted the grate for Dawson and Anna to get out while adding, “And it’s filthier than I imagined.”“Well, what did you expect?” Anna says with a shrug. “We are in a sewer after all.”Ignoring her comment, Basil cautiously crept up ahead with Dawson and Anna following him. They peered around the corner to make sure none of Ratigan’s thugs were in sight. But it was strange though, the whole place was quiet and empty save for the light that was still shining inside the barrel which meant someone was there. However, what Basil and Dawson didn’t realize was that Anna knew that Ratigan was waiting for them.“Look, the bottle!” Basil gasped.The trio spotted a little figure who was lying down curled up inside a giant green glass wine bottle. Basil and Dawson knew for certain that it was Olivia, but for Anna...she already knew that it was Fidget dressed up as Olivia and it was an obvious trap set-up by Ratigan. Right before Basil and Dawson went towards the bottle, she stopped them by saying, “Wait!”They turn their attention to her as Dawson says, “What is it, Anna?”Anna was trying to figure out a way to tell them that this was a trap, without actually telling them, but hoping they could at least go around and find another way. “I don’t like this,” she says as she played being the one knowing something was wrong. “Something’s not right.”“Why, what is it?” Basil asked.“Well, look,” Anna pointed at the bottle. “Don’t you think that this is a little too easy?”They look back at the bottle where Anna was pointing, then they look back at her as Basil says with suspicion in his eyes, “What do you mean by that?”“Just think about it for a minute. Why would they leave a bottle that has Olivia in an empty room unguarded?”Now that she mentioned it, Dawson had a strange feeling that something was wrong, despite Olivia being left there with no one to watch her. However, Basil wasn’t quite so sure, despite her pointing out some things. “What are you suggesting?” He crossed his arms.“I think we should go around and find another way.”“There’s no time for that, Olivia is right there! Don’t you want to save her and Hiram as well?”“Of course I do! I just think we shouldn’t go there.”“Why?” Basil had a confused look after what she just said. “Do you even know?”Of course I know, it’s because it’s a trap! Anna thought as she wanted to say those words, but instead it came out jumbled as she tried to make-up some words, “Well, no, I...It’s just...uh…” She grunted as she tried to figure out what to say, until after a few seconds she said, “It’s just a feeling okay!” Her eyes looked at the bottle, seeing the curled up form of Fidget who was pretending to sleep and was just waiting for them. “It’s just...well...I don’t think we should-”“Anna, look at me!” Basil placed his hand on her cheek, making her eyes look at his. Her cheeks turned a slight shade of pink as she felt his hand on her face while he said to her, “If you ever feel scared, just now that me and Dawson are with you.” He smiles at her as he places his hand on her shoulder, knowing that she needed some motivation since he could tell that she was starting to get scared. “Take my word for it. Whenever there is fear, just know that no matter what happens, don’t let it get to you.” He takes his hand away from her. “So show some courage and let’s be on our way. Olivia is waiting for us, and soon Hiram.”Basil went ahead with Dawson following him. Anna raised her hand to protest, but no words came out of her mouth, her arm fell down and her hand tightened into a fist as she muttered through clenched teeth, “Damn it!” Her other hand tightened as she cursed herself. “Stupid dumbass! Why couldn’t you just tell him?!” Because, how the hell are you going to explain this to him! She thought to herself.Knowing that this was not going to end well, she took the opposite path while she continues to remain hidden. She watches them go towards the bottle...then something from behind grabs her while covering her mouth as she yelped.Back with the two mice, Basil climbs onto the bottle's neck, trying to pull out the cork and free Olivia from her prison. “It’s stuck!” He strained, then he looked for Anna to see if she could help him, only to realize he had lost her again. “Anna...Anna! Confound it all! Where is that woman? I thought I told her to stay close to me.” As he kept looking for her, he thought, From now on, I’m not letting that woman out of my sight for even a moment!Dawson was lost in thought for a moment after what Anna said earlier. He couldn’t shake off this feeling that something about this was wrong and she was right about what she said. All of this was too easy. So where was everybody? He knew that Olivia must know something was wrong. So with that, he taps on the glass and whispers, “Olivia.”...Only for him to have a stunned look as Fidget looks at him, wearing Olivia’s clothes while grinning at him and giving him a smooch.“SURPRISE!”In an instant, the entire chamber was lit up as Basil fell off the bottle's neck in surprise.Everyone of Ratigan’s thugs came out of hiding as they laughed and clapped. Confetti rained down from the ceiling, balloons drifted into the air, and a banner unfurled to reveal the words “Welcome Basil” written on it. Ratigan steps out of the barrel, clapping his hands. “Bravo! Bravo!” Basil and Dawson looked as they saw him. “A marvelous performance!” Ratigan chuckled evilly as he went down the barrel’s steps and approached the detective.Basil stared at his arch-nemesis in shock, until angry eyes and gritted teeth spread across his face, seeing his hated enemy had managed to gain the upper hand upon them.“Though, frankly, I expected you fifteen minutes earlier.” Ratigan pulls out a gold pocket watch from out of his vest pocket and opens it while smirking. “Trouble with the chemistry set, old boy?” He chuckled as he added, “Or perhaps your little lady friend gave you the wrong directions to find me of course.”Basil was a little confused after what Ratigan just said. Does he already know about Anna? Brushing the topic off, he gave Ratigan a calm cooling smile while placing his hands together and saying, “Ratigan, no one can have a higher opinion of you than I have…” His expression changed back to an angry look as he clenched his fists on the sides and spat out his best insult, “And I think you’re a slimy, contemptible, sewer rat!”Gasps came from the crowd of thugs, but Ratigan’s face was frozen in a smile. A part of him was trying to fight the rage that was building up inside of him and luckily for him it was only a small spark, which was instantly squashed like a bug. He snapped his gold pocket watch closed and puts it back in his vest pocket while chuckling amusingly, “Oh, by the way, Basil…” He reached forward to stroke Basil’s fake mustache. “I just love your disguise.” He harshly ripped it off his face, causing Basil to cringe in pain slightly as he scowled at him. Then while the thugs were laughing at Basil’s pain, Ratigan lifted Basil’s chin up, making him look up at him as he continued mockingly, “Really, one would hardly recognize you.” He lifted his hat to get a better look before he placed it back on Basil’s head. He chuckles as he shoves Basil’s figure and continues to mock him, “The greatest…” He stifles a laugh. “...detective...in all Mousedom!” He broke into a fit of laughter as his thugs joined in. When he composed himself, he started looking around while saying, “Oh, before I forget. Wasn’t that lady of yours supposed to be with you?”“You mean this lady, Professor?” Came the voice of one of Ratigan’s thugs.Ratigan, Basil, and Dawson look ahead as they see Anna being dragged by two thugs by the arms. When Dawson saw this, his eyes narrowed angrily as he yelled while going to them, “Unhand her you-”“Dawson!” Basil yelled to his companion while whirling his head to him and nodding, stopping him before he did something drastic and knowing that Ratigan may either use her as a hostage or try to harm her.“Caught this one trying to pull a sneek, she did,” One of the thugs says. “Luckily we caught her before she missed out on the big surprise.”Anna stopped struggling as she saw Ratigan face to face, her eyes widened as he stared at her. However, there was something...unusual, but strangely familiar about the atmosphere that was surrounding him. Those blue eyes that he had were cold, almost like it would kill her with a single stare. She even notices that he was giving her an evil, but smug smile. The evilness of his face made the warning bells in her head to go off, telling her to run and get away from this thing, but couldn’t since she was held back by the two thugs, and the atmosphere gave a slight chill to her spine.The thug grabs Anna's chin, making her eyes turn it’s intention towards him as he says, “Strange, but pretty little thing ain’t she?” As he chuckles slightly, Anna’s eyes narrowed, then she bites his hand, he screams in pain slightly while pulling his hand away from her and shaking away the pain.The other thug laughs at the thug's misfortune, then he too grabs Anna’s chin and says while giggling, “Bit of a feisty one.”Anna elbows the thug hard in the gut as he grunts, then she lifts her feet up and pushes the other thug who was in front of her, knocking him down as the force of the push sent both her and the thug who had her down on the ground, her cap that was given to her came off her head in the process.Ratigan hums while crossing his arms and muttering, “Impressive.”Anna looks back at Ratigan, her eyes narrowed as her fear was forgotten and was replaced with anger. She gets up and charges towards him, her sense of reason was thrown out the window as she wanted to beat the living crap out of him until he tells her where Hiram and Olivia were, but was held back by three thugs, trying to slow her down as her feet kept moving. When a fourth thug managed to wrap his arms around both her waist and neck, they finally managed to keep her still, but were surprised that it only took four thugs to keep this stubborn and aggressive lady held back. “Where are they?!” She yelled. “Where’s Hiram and Olivia?!”Ratigan uncrossed his arms and answered, “I can assure you they’re safe...for now.”Anna’s hands clenched into tight fists as she said through clenched teeth, “I swear to God if you ever hurt a single hair on any of their heads…” Then she shouts as her voice echoes throughout the sewer, “I’M GONNA FRICKING KICK YOUR ASS! DO YOU HEAR ME YOU RAT-FACED FREAK?!”Gasps came from the crowd of thugs again as she said the R word, but were once again surprised when she said such unusual foul language.Ratigan growled slightly as his own hands tightened into fists, his rage once again began to flare after not only being called a freak by this woman, but also being called a rat. His eyes closed tight as he breathes through his nostrils and exhales out of his mouth as his rage was quelled for now. He opens his eyes while snickering, then he makes his way towards her.The thugs who were holding Anna released her as their boss was moving towards her. She gulped slightly when she realized how big he was, she could actually reach the middle of his chest, but not all the way towards his head, and a part of her was starting to regret calling him the one word he despises. She wanted to run away from him so she could get to Basil, but her legs refused to move as fear came back to her. Ratigan now stood in front of her, an evil smile already plastered on his face...then his face turned serious as he grabbed Anna by her shirt, her legs dangling from being picked up like a ragdoll as her hands grabbed a hold of Ratigan’s arm.Seeing their friend in danger, Basil said, “Put her down, Ratigan!” Then Dawson, “Yes, let her go, you fiend!” They charged ahead, but were held back by the thugs as they watched.Ratigan shook her slightly while saying, “Basil was clever in giving you this disguise, but you can’t easily fool me since I already know that your…” He pulls off her mask and declares, “A human woman!”Gasps came from the crowd of thugs for the third time, but this time it was out of pure shock at what they were seeing before them. As Anna was dangling from Ratigan’s grip, she could hear their murmurs about her like:“Look, it’s her!”“A small human! How’s that possible?”“I’m seeing it, but I don’t believe it.”“So the rumors about a small human in the streets of London really is true.”Their murmurs cease as Ratigan tosses Anna, she lands hard into the floor while sliding, the wind knocks her breath away and her bun comes loose as her hair spills. As she sat up while groaning, Ratigan slowly moved forward towards her while saying, “So...the thief finally appears before me.”Anna looks up at Ratigan with a confused look. Basil and Dawson were also confused as to why he would just call her a thief, even the thugs were once again murmuring about why their boss would accuse her of something like that.“Thief, what the hell are you talking about?”Ratigan snickers as he stops walking and answers, “Oh, come now, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten why you're here.” Anna just sat there with that same confused look. “Very well,” he shrugged. “Allow me to jog your memory, but first answer me this. By any chance do you have with you in your possession…a silver watch?”Anna gasped in shock, even Basil and Dawson had their own shocked looks as they were looking at one another. How could Ratigan know something about that?Seeing her shocked expression gave Ratigan a wicked grin as he said, “With that look on your face, I’ll take that as a yes.”He looks at his thugs and nods to them, getting the gist of what they must do. Two thugs went towards Anna and picked her up by the arms, then Ratigan looked at Fidget, who had already gotten out of the glass bottle thanks to the thugs and was already out of Olivia’s clothes and back to his own, tilting his head towards Anna.Fidget was a little nervous about wanting to go towards this woman, after what she did by giving him that bruise that was slowly starting to heal, but nevertheless he puts on a brave face and marches towards her. He starts patting her down while having his tongue out as he was trying to find this so-called silver watch that Ratigan mentioned. Then, he felt something round and hard on the right side of her trousers. Reaching in, he pulls the silver watch out that Anna brought with her before she left Baker Street by it’s chain. She struggles from the two thugs as Fidget quickly backs away from her as she says to him, “Hey, that’s mine you little freak, give it back!”Fidget smiled while giggling and swinging the silver watch back and forth, almost like he was taunting her. “You hear that boys? The girly wants it back.” He started laughing as the two thugs joined in. Then he looked at the silver watch as his smile was replaced with wonder, he had never seen a watch that looked so...beautiful. Looking back at Anna, he smiles again as he pulls the chain up and grabs it while saying, “Nice watch by the way.”Anna’s teeth clenched and her eyes narrowed as she kicks Fidget hard in the gut, making him groan in pain while clutching his stomach, then she kicks him again in the face, knocking him hard on the floor as his cap came off and the silver watch he had in his hand was flung into the air.Everyone looked up as they saw the silver watch shine like a star after light started to reflect on it. It felt like it came down from out of the night sky and landed right here in the form of a watch. Taking this as a chance of distraction, Anna elbows a thug to the face and punches the other as they were both knocked down, she jogs after the watch while stepping on Fidget as he grunts while clutching his gut. She had her hands out, ready to catch the silver watch as it came down, down, and down. However, a gloved hand had caught the silver watch as Anna slid to a stop while gasping as Ratigan was the one who caught it.Ratigan flipped open the silver watch as he gazed at it, then with a wicked smirk and a slight snicker he said, “Beautiful, just as I remembered it from before.”Anna once again had a confused look as she thought, “Before”, what the hell is he talking about?He looks back at her while closing the silver watch and saying, “Now then, if I recall correctly you were looking for a golden watch of the opposite value as this watch. Am I right?”Anna had a stunned look on her face while Basil and Dawson were once again shocked. How did Ratigan know about that?Seeing that expression, Ratigan says, “I’ll take that look as another yes. Well then…” He places the silver watch in his vest pocket, then walks over to her while talking out his gold watch and flipping it open. “I believe…” He stops in front of her while showing her his watch. “This is what you're looking for.”Anna gasped in shock again at what she was seeing and it wasn’t just the gold watch...it was the face of it! The glass wasn’t made out of crystal like the silver watch, but it was neatly polished as it gave off a rainbow-like shine when light reflects from it. As the time was slowly ticking away, she could see the hands were made out of fine iron instead of diamond and were decorated with vines and leaves.She couldn’t believe it, after so many days of searching she finally found it! However, she was now confused, Mr. Moriarty sent her to find a golden watch of the opposite value, but he never said anything about Ratigan’s watch. This made absolutely no sense!Basil and Dawson were now shocked for the third time, they already knew Anna was searching for a gold watch that was opposite to the silver watch, but when Ratigan showed her his watch and saw the expression on her face, they realized that she finally found it. But now they too were confused, why was Anna here to retrieve Ratigan’s watch?Ratigan closes the watch as he was through showing it to her. Placing it back in his other vest pocket he says, “It seems that all that time traveling just to find my watch has all been for nothing, little girl.”Basil heard Ratigan say “time travel” what did he mean by that? “What are you babbling about?” He said.Ratigan looks at Basil and says, “Oh, come now Basil, hasn’t she told you or haven’t you at least figured it out yet?”The only answer he gave to Ratigan was a confused look. Ratigan looks at the human, then back at Basil, his wicked smirk grew as he started to giggle...then he busted out laughing. “Oh, this will be a moment I will absolutely treasure! You’ve been fooled by a little human and you haven’t even figured it out yet!” He started laughing again, bending down while slapping his knee as it felt like he got a really good kick out of this.“What are you talking about?” Dawson now asked as he too was still confused by the whole situation.Ratigan looks up and answers, “Oh, isn’t it painfully obvious?” He started counting while simplifying on each finger, “A light appearing on the road of Shaftesbury Avenue, a small human wearing nothing more but unusual clothing, and if you have or haven’t already noticed…” He points directly at her boots. “She’s still wearing those unusual shoes.”Basil looked down to where Ratigan was pointing and couldn’t help but admit that he was right. However, the boots that Anna was wearing were no doubt made from America and were made out of fine deerskin, but the way they were manufactured was nothing like he had ever seen before. He hadn’t noticed it until now.“She’s not even from our world,” Ratigan says as Basil looks back up to him. “Much less from our time completely!”“What’re you saying?” Dawson asked.“Let me put it to you simply for both of you to understand...and for all of you to hear!” He simplified for all of his thugs, then he pointed at Anna. “This girl is from another time, she’s from the future!”Anna had a shocked look. How did Ratigan know that she was from the future!“What!” Dawson exclaimed as the thugs were once again murmuring to one another. What did their boss mean that she’s from the future? That couldn’t be possible...could it?As for Basil, he didn’t believe this rubbish as his eyes narrowed. “Preposterous! You're lying, she’s not from the future!”“Oh, I can assure you, Basil.” Ratigan gave him his wicked smirk. “This is no lie, but don’t take my word for it, take it from hers.” He looks at Anna and says to her, “Go ahead, tell Basil where you're from.” He grabs her by the back of her coat and shoves her towards Basil and Dawson. “Explain it to him!”Anna nearly lost her footing from getting shoved, but luckily she managed to regain her balance as she was looking at Basil and Dawson.“Anna,” Dawson muttered.She knew that sooner or later she would have to tell them the truth, but she wasn’t quite sure when that would be. So with sigh while looking down and having her eyes closed, knowing that there was no point in beating around the bush anymore, she says, “He’s not lying you guys…” She looks back at them with her eyes opened. “I am from the future, in the 21st century...in the year 2017.”Basil’s eyes widened as his jaw dropped into complete shock, even Dawson’s jaw dropped while gasping. The thugs also gasped when they heard her, they just couldn’t believe it. A human from the future! The 21st century in the year 2017! That was like...two centuries away from this time! How was this even possible that someone like her was able to travel back in time?However, Dawson was a little confused on some things while at the same time, seeing that some parts started to make some sense. But still, he wanted to know more from Ratigan as he said to him, “Now wait just a moment! How come you knew she’s from the future and how did you know that she had that silver watch with her?”Ratigan giggled as he answered, “Very good, at least someone,” He looked at Basil who glared at him, “Has a brain in figuring something out. So allow me to explain...and listen well, all of you!” He told all of his thugs. “Now, to answer your question as to how I know. Let’s just say a little birdie told me…” He then took out the silver watch as he looked at it. “And he even showed me the power of this silver watch.”Light reflected from the watch as he began his tale.---June 5, 1897 10:00 p.m.Two Weeks Earlier…It all began when I was planning, sitting there thinking on my chair…At Ratigan’s hideout, a gathering of thugs were all talking to one another while their boss Ratigan sat there on his throne, his hand on his face while tapping his fingers while he was thinking on his new plan.Then one night...he came.A massive light came outside of the hideout, every thug including Ratigan covered their eyes from the mysterious bright light. The doors opened by themselves as a gust of wind blew, then a mysterious figure slowly made his way in. He was dressed in a grey cloak that covered his entire big frame and his head was obscured by the hood as his face was hidden behind the shadows. Every thug stood aside of this mysterious figure, then he stopped right in the middle, bringing out his arm from out of the cloak that had a black sleeve and was pointing his finger which was covered in a white glove as he says, “Professor Padraic Ratigan…” Ratigan stood up while gasping at what this mysterious figure just said. How did he know his full name, much less know his hideout? “I’ve come for you.”As the mysterious cloaked figure placed his arm back inside the confines of his cloak, Ratigan had no idea who this man was or how he knew he was here. Nevertheless, he was an intruder that came uninvited. Looking at his thugs, he grew a serious look and yelled, “Don’t just stand there you idiots!” He points at the cloaked figure. “Get that intruder!”They didn’t have to be told twice as they charged, but most shockingly...he disappeared, like he just upped and vanished into thin air! Ratigan’s jaw dropped when he saw the mysterious figure disappear before his very eyes, even every thug as well was downright shocked when they saw him disappear. They were looking to where he disappeared too until a voice behind them said, “My quarrel isn’t with any of you.” They looked behind them, their eyes widened when they saw him appear behind them. Just how did he manage to do that?! “I’m only here for Ratigan. So stand aside.”They didn’t know who he was or why he was here for Ratigan? But whoever he was, this mysterious figure had to be stopped. “If you want the professor,” a thug said. “You're going to have to get past all of us!” They couldn’t agree with him more as all the thugs took their clubs, guns, and knives out, ready to use it against the intruder.Ratigan could’ve swore he saw a wicked grin as the mysterious figure says to them, “Very well...if you insist.”The mysterious figure vanished again...then the thugs who were holding their guns were sent flying here and there, some of them landed on the other thugs as their revolvers landed on the floor. The figure reappeared and gave an evil giggle, then a thug who had a knife charged forward, ready to stab him from behind, but the figure vanished as the thug was sent flying. The figure reappeared again and this time in between two thugs who had clubs, they were about to swing it at him, but the figure disappeared as they two thugs hit their own heads, giving off a silly expression as they collapsed unconscious. A thug manages to get his gun back, just as the figure reappeared and the thug took aim while cocking the hammer. The figure looks at him, then vanishes again.The thug points his gun here and there, shaking with fear as he said, “Where’d he go?! Where’d he go?!”Ratigan’s eyes darted here and there, trying to find the mysterious figure. He still couldn’t understand how this figure was pulling this appearing and disappearing act. It almost felt like a split-second and not even he was able to calculate where he will appear next. His eyes widened when he saw him as he gasped.The thug felt someone tap his shoulder, he yelped as he quickly turned around and pulled the trigger at the figure...click...click...click...clickclickclick. He opens the barrel, only to find it empty as it had no bullets. Looking at the figure, he pulls out a small bag from out of his cloak and drops it to the floor, dumping the contents as it contained all the bullets that the thugs had loaded into their guns. The thug's jaw quivered as he dropped his gun, the figure bent down and looked at him…”Boo!”The thug screamed as he tripped and fell to the floor. The figure threw his head up and laughed, then he looked at Ratigan as he slowly made his way towards him while saying, “I hope you’ve enjoyed watching that, because there’s more for you to see.”Ratigan began taking shaky breaths after what he just witnessed. Who was this figure, a demon or something?! How could one single man take on his entire thugs and beat them without even lifting a single finger? Whoever this figure was he wasn’t normal, and for the first time in his criminal career...he was afraid.Him! The Napoleon of Crime, afraid of some cloaked figure pulling a magic show on him! Just who does he think he is?! His fear was replaced with anger as he was not going to be bested by some...thing! He picked up his chair and hurled it towards the figure, but he disappeared again as the chair landed on some thugs who got up and were about to charge at the figure again. He looks everywhere, trying to find where the figure will pop up next, but felt arms wrap around his waist and throat, and he could’ve swore he saw a glint of silver in the figure’s hand as he whispered in Ratigan’s ear, “We need to talk.”He shut his eyes tight as light came, then he tried to struggle from the figure’s grip, but was released as he tumbled straight to the ground. Opening his eyes, he sees that they were outside the hideout, then he turns around and sees the figure again who was making his way towards him. Fear overcame him again as he yelled, “Stay away from me!”He quickly gets up and makes a beeline straight back into the hideout while the figure says, “Ratigan wait!”When Ratigan got back inside, he immediately ran towards his thugs while yelling, “Quickly, stop him, slow him down!” He immediately started running again, hoping to get away from this figure, but stopped as he realized that none of his thugs moved. Growing an angry look, he says to them, “Are you daft, do you have cloth in your ears? I said move!” He looked at each of the thugs, each of them stood in their place, their faces plastered and unchanged. Going to one of the thugs, he waves his hand towards the thug's face, trying to see if he noticed him...but he didn’t. It was almost like he and everyone else were completely frozen in place like statues.“Now…” Ratigan yelped slightly as he turned around sharply and saw the figure. “Are you going to stop acting like a fool and listen?”Ratigan backed away from him and said, “What do you want from me?”“I told you, I just want to talk.”“Talk?” He repeated as his eyes narrowed. “You come here uninvited into my lair and attack my men! You expect me to just talk?”“Quite the contrary, Ratigan. Your men were the ones who attacked me and if I recall correctly it was you who sent them to attack me.”Ratigan opened his mouth to retort, but no words came out as he knew that he had a point.“But, however, it did work well to my advantage.”“Your ‘advantage’?” He said with confusion. “What do you mean by that?”“Oh, come now. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten what you saw.”“Of course I haven’t forgotten!” He exclaimed. “Just how did you do that and what’ve you done to my men?!”“I can assure you their fine,” The figure pats the shoulder of one of the frozen thugs. “They're just frozen in place where they won’t bother us.” He starts walking away from him while saying, “Now come, we have much to discuss.” Ratigan didn’t move from his spot which made the figure stop while turning his head at him. “We could do this the easy way or the hard way, you decide.”Ratigan didn’t want to listen to this man’s demands, but what choice did he have, he was already up against the wall. So with no other alternative, he decided to play along and find out what he intends to talk about and hoped he might find an opening so he could get out of this mess. Following the mysterious figure back outside his hideout, the figure turned to look at him. They stared at each other in silence until Ratigan spoke in a firm voice, “Alright you, out with it! Just who are you exactly?”“To answer that question. I’m just a messenger, but to put it simply...your informant.”“My...informant?”“Yes, I’ve come here to show you and warn you.”“Show me...and warn me?” Ratigan was now confused. “Show me and warn me about what?”“Simple,” He started walking around Ratigan while Ratigan did the same with the figure. “I bet you're wondering how is it possible that I was able to disappear and reappear at random and why are your men frozen in place while we are the only ones moving about? One word…” He brought out a single finger. “Time.”“Time?”“Yes, time,” he assured Ratigan. “Time is the most powerful thing known in existence. It has the power to do all sorts of things.” He raised his arm to simplify the world they were in. “Here in this world, it is completely impossible to gain the power of time. But what became impossible, is now possible and it’s all thanks…” He reaches in from the confines of his cloak and pulls out something. “To this.” The figure shows Ratigan the silver watch as it was dangling by it’s chain.Ratigan had an unamused look, he couldn’t be serious about this. “You expect me to believe that a trinket of yours has the power of time.”“Oh, this is no trinket, Ratigan. This little watch has the power over time and space.” He pulls the chain up and grabs the silver watch. “Allow me to demonstrate.”The figure presses a button that Ratigan didn’t see, his jaw dropped in shock while gasping as he saw the figure moving so fast here and there that he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of his form. He sees the figure’s blurred form coming towards him, making him raise his arms in defence. Placing them down...the figure was gone! Looking around he didn’t know where he went this time, but then a voice said to him from behind, “Now you see…” He yelped as he turned around while breathing and clutching his chest as he felt his beating heart. “This is the power over time and space.”Ratigan didn’t know what to say at what he just saw, but there was one thing that came from his mind as he spoke out of his thoughts, “Is this...is this sorcery?”“I can assure you that it’s not sorcery, it’s advanced science from out of my world.”“Your world?” Ratigan grew a curious face. “Who are you really?”“I’m from the future, centuries away from out of your time.”Ratigan had a shocked look after what the figure said. “Impossible! It can’t be true!”“Believe me, it is true. I have traveled far into the past to see you, and I even know everything about you, which is why I found you.”“You know...everything about me you say.” Ratigan grew a smug grin as the figure unintentionally gave him the opening he needed. If this figure knew everything about him and claimed what he said to be, then he’ll have to be the judge of that. “Well then, answer me this. What am I planning right now?”The figure motioned him to come here, Ratigan turned his head as the figure whispered something into his ear...His eyes widened as he gasped and backed away. “So it is true, you do know everything about me.”“Indeed.”“B-But why are you here?”“I told you my two reasons. The first is showing you the power of the watch and the other was to warn you.”“Warn me about what?”“Simple...your thief is coming for you.”Ratigan was once again confused. “T-Thief? What do you mean by that?”“Before I answer that. Tell me, what month and day is it?”Ratigan didn’t understand why the figure gave him his question, but instead he answered, “Uh, June 5...why?”“Perfect,” the figure purred in delight. “It means that you have two weeks to prepare for your thief’s arrival.”“I...I don’t understand.”“Let me put it to you simply so you would understand. In two weeks time on the night of June 20 of this year, your thief will be coming for you…” He took out his silver watch again. “And will possess this silver watch as I have.”“Wait, your saying there’s-”“Yes, there’s more than one silver watch from where I’m from and this thief will come to take one of your possessions.”Ratigan began to fear about losing his prized possessions. “Which one will this thief take?”“Your gold pocket watch.”Ratigan takes out his gold pocket watch from out of his vest pocket. “But why come for only this?”“Because…” the figure flipped opened the watch while showing it to Ratigan. “It is of the opposite value as this watch.”When Ratigan looked at the face of the silver watch, he was immediately marveled at such a thing. Never before has he seen anything so beautiful. However, he opened his own watch while gazing at their faces, they were almost identical to one another. It was probably no wonder that this thief was interested in his own watch. He couldn’t help but gaze at the silver watch, not just by its beauty...but by the power it possesses.The figure chuckled slightly as he closed the silver watch. “I see that you're already becoming quite interested in this watch.” He began swinging the silver watch’s chain as Ratigan followed it, almost like he was hypnotized as he wanted it for its power and also wanted to know more about it’s secrets. “You want to know it’s power and you want it for your own purposes.” He pulls the chain up and grabs it. “Be patient, you will get one of your own.”Ratigan was going to say what he meant by that, but was interrupted as he heard fast ticking.The figure opens his silver watch again and mutters, “Curses, I’ve used up too much time!” Looking at Ratigan, he reminds him as he stands away while pointing a finger at him. “Remember, June 20 and when your thief appears, take the silver watch and learn it’s power.”Light had encased the figure, but Ratigan held out a hand as he exclaimed, “Wait! I want to know why you went to all this trouble just to find me and warn me?”Ratigan once again could’ve swore that he saw a wicked smirk. “Because...you and I have something in common.” A loud Tick-Tock-Tick came from the silver watch. “Until then, farewell!” With a swish of his grey cloak and a flash of light which made Ratigan cover his eyes, the figure was gone, back to whatever future he came from.“Something in common,” Ratigan repeated those last words from his informant. “What do you mean by-”“Professor!” One of the thugs yelled as Ratigan looked as all his thugs came out of the hideout, no longer frozen in place as time continued its course. “Professor, are you alright?” Another thug said, then another thug asked, “Where’s the intruder?”“He was no intruder,” he answered. “He’s just our informant.”The thugs were confused as they murmured at one another. Ratigan walked past them, a wicked grin on his face as he slightly snickered. Two weeks to wait and prepare for this so-called “thief” to arrive from the future and try to take his gold watch...and to wait until he takes the thief’s silver watch and learn it’s power.---Present Day…“I never saw him again that day, but I haven’t forgotten his warning.” Ratigan concluded his tale.Every thug couldn’t believe it, but it did make sense and it was no wonder that he was waiting for a certain someone to come for him. They had never expected that a human from the future came all this way just to steal their boss’ gold watch. They couldn’t deny that it was a bold move, but nevertheless foolish. As for Basil and Dawson, it was hard to believe anything that Ratigan said, but Basil started to piece some of Ratigan’s story together. Anna had her mouth covered when she learned about this “informant” and that he came from the future same as her, but he too possessed a silver watch. But that couldn’t be possible could it?! If it’s true, then is there more than one silver watch other than Moriarty’s? This didn’t even add-up!“Now, after waiting on the night of June 20 such as this day,” he tossed the silver watch and caught it. “I now finally have my own silver watch and with it the power over time and space.” He laughed with delight. “And you can thank your dainty human companion of yours for giving me this power!”“Dainty”, hadn’t Anna heard that word before?“If you hadn’t been so blind into trusting this human, you would’ve noticed that she was leading you straight to me.”Basil’s eyes widened when he managed to finally piece some parts of the puzzle. “So it all makes sense.” He looks at Anna. “You knew didn’t you? You knew exactly where Ratigan was didn’t you?”Anna didn’t have the right words to tell him. His eyes narrowed at her as he said with a firm voice, “So this is what’s all about...you were using me so could try to steal.”“Basil!” Dawson exclaimed, trying to reassure his friend about what he’s saying, despite being confused about what’s really going on, he doubted Anna would do this.“No!” Anna tried to explain to Basil. “It’s not like that I swear!”Basil started circling her as he questioned her, “I saw you put that dart on one of my maps exactly where Ratigan’s hideout was and you even openly admitted it to me before by saying you were looking for a golden watch of the opposite value. Do you deny this?”“No,” she said with a firm, but truthful voice.“Then you're guilty of petty thievery.”“Basil!” Dawson said his name, but fell on deaf ears.“No, it’s not true, I’m not a thief, I didn’t come here to steal anything!”“And you expect me to believe that?” He said it in front of her face, his eyes were filled with anger as he was furious at being lied to and being used. Anna started to slowly back away from him as Basil was slowly walking towards her. It was starting to happen again, her being accused of a crime she didn’t commit from Mr. Moriarty and now being accused of a crime she hadn’t even done from Basil. “It’s always the women who are the least to be suspected, especially from a human! What other kinds of secrets have you been keeping from me? But you know what, I rather hear you sing those secrets of yours...BEHIND BARS!”Anna lost her footing, fell on the floor, and landed on her rear. Dawson had enough of this as his eyes narrowed and he went in front of Basil. He knew it couldn’t be true at all, Anna couldn’t be a criminal. “That’s enough, Basil!”“Dawson, stay out of this and don’t you dare take her side! She’s nothing more than a petty thief who will get what she deserves!” Anna felt her heart get hit from Basil’s hurtful words as tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. Dawson was about to say something to Basil, but he turned his attention away from him as he was staring at Ratigan. “And as for you, Ratigan! So help me...I’ll see you join her behind bars yet!”“You fool!” Ratigan said it straight into Basil’s face. “Isn’t it clear to you?” He picked him up and shook him in the air, showing off his strength and power. “The superior mind has triumphed! I’ve won!” He announced triumphantly as he dropped him. He then looked at the human as he said to her, “And as for you! I commend you on your courage in trying to find me and take one of my valuables, but understand this, little human. No matter what you do, no matter what you think, and no matter what method you try against me. You. Will. Fail!”Anna felt her heart get hit even harder from Ratigan’s words, not because he was wrong...but he was right, and that right there made her heart chip off a piece. Nothing around her made any sense anymore, nothing about this seemed even right anymore, and the piles of questions began to pile up even more as she couldn’t even answer any of them.Ratigan began bursting into a fit of laughter, Fidget joined in after already recovering from getting kicked by Anna, rolling on the floor as his legs dangled into the air. The rest of Ratigan’s thugs joined in as they were either laughing hysterically or chuckling heartily at both the detective and the human.Basil shook with fury from the laughter being aimed at him, but then his mind locked onto something as the thought broke him, deflating his ego in a matter of seconds as it made him feel hopeless inside. His body slumped forward in defeat as he gave into despair under the cruel resounding laughter.As for Anna, her mind started to go into a state of vertigo as the cruel laughter began to distort, almost like it sounded human. They were laughing at her failures, seeing her become the state that she was in. A part of her wanted to cover her ears to drown out the laughter, but couldn’t as her body refused to move.Dawson gave a worried look to Basil as he wanted to help his friend, but didn’t know how he should help him. He notices Anna starting to wobble as she was about to faint, but quickly got to the floor as her head landed on his shoulder, worried that something dreadful was happening to poor Anna. Her eyes became glass and her face emotionless.Ratigan grasped his chest while pointing a teasing finger at both of their defeated looks. “Oh, I love it! I love it!” He grasped his chest again as he cackled. “Oh, I love it! I love it! I love it!”The last thing that Anna saw before her vision turned black...was the cruel laughter of Moriarty as he too was laughing at her failures…But that didn’t stop the cruel laughter even after her vision turned black.
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