Chapter One

The Same, Different Morning

It seemed it was going to be one of those days for Danger Mouse that morning, there was just nothing dangerous happening; no villains were trying to take over the world, no Penfolds had managed to set the kitchen on fire and there was nothing DM would consider as good news in the morning paper. Yes, a 'fine' start to the day, thought DM as he continued to read the article on Big Brother, wondering about the state of society and whether Penfold could be bothered to stop snoring, wake up and make his beloved chief a cup of tea. Wishful thinking, laughed the hero to himself as his assistant's snores continued to sound along the hallway. Sighing, Danger Mouse reached over to the coffee table, picked up his beloved tufts of cotton wool and stuffed them into his ears as he settled back down on his sofa.

"My dear friends," he said to them as he opened the paper again, "I believe I'll be requiring your assistance until mine wakes up!"

***

Far across the city however, the morning of another white mouse wasn't looking quite as dull… then again, it wasn't looking quite as safe either. Angel Mouse, a secret agent for Colonel K, had spent the last forty five minutes hiding under drainage pipes, running from killer rats and bleeding to death from a bullet wound in her side. Her mission had been simple enough; spy on an illegal rodent clubhouse and learn more about the leader's plans involving several bank robberies that were due to take place in the next week. But somehow, Angel had been 'ratted' out and was now fearing for her life as each rodent in the entire building searched for her. Sitting between two water pipes in an old storage room, Angel tried desperately to calm herself down, racking her brain for some kind of plan; holding back a sharp intake of breath as she heard the door swing open from the other side of the room.

The agent quickly rooted around, slipping as gently as possible beneath the metal piping, trying to avoid causing herself anymore pain; the wound was throbbing steadily and Angel knew she had to get out soon before she became too weak. Now lying beneath one of the dripping pipes, she pushed back her sleeve to reveal a small watch; the voices were coming closer, talking would give Angel's position away but it was the one chance she had at being rescued.

Steadily, she raised the watch to her mouth, her other hand firmly pressed on a gun strapped to her jean leg prepared for anything; she pressed a small, circular button on the side of her gadget and a small radar emerged, spiralling and 'bleeping' every now and again. Finally, in a hushed voice, Angel closed her eyes and as she spoke, hoped with all her might …please hear me Colonel…

"This is Agent Angel Mouse requesting immediate backup and rescue at location zero one zero two four, my identity has been discovered and I am now in serious danger. I repeat, immediate backup is requested!"

Angel said no more and instead, pulled the gun from its pouch and shot at the rat now only centimetres from her, he snarled and pulled back, the bullet sinking into his shoulder; as fast as Angel could, she dived from under the pipe as it was ripped from its brackets by a much larger, muscular rat and thrown to the other side of the chamber. She held the gun in front of her, eyes and face fixed in determination; before her stood two rats, they too determined and smiling evilly. The larger of the two was white, his muscles toned and his veins clearly visible, his eyes were a deep red and his teeth were golden and cracked; the rat's tail was short and stubbly, as if it had been cut off at some point, but it was nothing to laugh at and Angel was certainly not laughing.

The rat Angel had shot was considerably shorter than the first, in fact he was shorter than Angel but it made no difference to the threat he posed for her, he was dark brown but had dyed, greasy red hair running a little along his back that was tied up; he too had golden teeth that were cracked and jagged but his eyes were grey and more sinister and cunning compared to his partner's. One ear held five piercings as did an eyebrow that also had a small pink scar running through it; he was missing several whiskers and a large chunk of his un-pierced ear was also missing. Angel recognised the both of them; she'd dealt with them before, each time narrowly missing losing a vital body part - like her head; the smaller was known as Clawface, his partner, Bruiser… both fitting names.

"Well, well… we might'a guessed it were you causin' problems."

"You know me Clawface," Angel replied coolly, "I'm not exactly one for a silent entry, or exit for that matter. Quiet as a mouse never did apply to me."

Clawface nodded and smiled evilly, still clutching his wounded shoulder "Yer, yer… too bad this time you aint gonna be exiting; and if you are, you'll be silent alright, so silent people might fink you is… well, a bit dead…"

"Oh I will be escaping; very much alive live and still kicking…"

He took a step forward but Angel clicked her gun warningly, Clawface stopped but did not hesitate, he just stood there… smiling even more. The agent felt a pang of worry slip through her body, why wasn't he afraid? He knew full well that Angel was not afraid to shoot or even kill for that matter; and yet he made no attempt to remove the weapon from her fingers. He doesn't have to…

Angel thought the words before she realised, there was no Bruiser standing behind Clawface, she'd been so fixated on halting the smaller threat she'd forgotten the much, much bigger one. That's when she heard it, the loud thud of a footstep from beside her and she turned, her gun ready… but it was too late, Bruiser stood inches away, his great hand already raised; he knocked the gun from Angel's hands and then punched her with his other fist emblazoned with brass knuckles. The white mouse flew backwards and hit the brick wall with a nasty crack followed by her limp body falling to the floor; she tried to push herself up but could only roll onto her back, her body stiff in sheer, nauseating pain and her head pounding heavily. She saw the two rats standing over her but their outlines were blurred, her vision was impaired and blotchy; and as the darkness surrounded her and the figures before her, she saw Clawface lean down to her, his lips beside her ear, and a sharp, clawed hand digging into her face, running along her neck and over her breast.

"Live 'n' kicking eh Angel?"

Angel did not have the strength to reply, or the strength to even widen her eyes; she knew she was losing consciousness as the black shadows swarmed towards the little light she could still see. As she finally gave up resisting and surrendered to the beating in her head and the constant spasms of pain in her muscles, she prayed with all her might that her high chances of rescue hadn't entirely been wishful thinking…