Hey, guys! Now that I've finished my major GMD fanfic, I can do some more one-shots, yay! In this story, we learn how Felicia became Ratigan's pet cat and what happened to her after the night of the Diamond Jubilee. Enjoy!
LONDON 1889
Professor Ratigan sat at his desk, slumped over, feeling absolutely depressed. Yesterday, he had just sent his ten-year-old daughter Danielle on a train to Bristol to attend Miss Rebecca's School for Elegant Young Ladies, and already he missed her desperately. He knew she needed to go off and get a better education than the homeschooling he had given her (although she was thriving well with what he taught her), but still it left a hole in his heart seeing his baby girl leave for the first time.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The door opened, revealing Ratigan's right-hand bat Fidget. "Hey, boss, I just wanted to let ya know that lunch is ready."
Ratigan sighed and shook his head. "No thank you, Fidget. I'm not hungry." In reality, he was starving, having refused both dinner last night and breakfast that morning, but he was too depressed to eat. No matter how empty his stomach was, it didn't feel nearly as bad as his empty heart.
Fidget frowned with concern at the professor. "Y'know, boss, the guys and me understand how you're feelin'. We all miss Dani, too, but it ain't healthy for ya to just mope in your room all day. Ya need to get out a little."
The professor thought about what the bat said. "You're right, Fidget." He got up from his desk. "I'm going to go for a little walk. I'll be back soon. In the meantime, you are in charge of the rest of the men, all right?"
"Sure, boss, no problem."
"Thank you, Fidget, I knew I could count on you." Ratigan left his room and started on his walk.
Most rodents would get lost in the winding maze of London sewer pipes, but having spent several years down there, Ratigan knew them like the back of his hand. Usually he enjoyed taking walks around. However, the sewers, as dark and dank as they usually were, somehow seemed even darker and danker. He wondered if he would ever snap out of his blue mood.
Just then, Ratigan heard a sound. Curious, he slowly made his way to where the sound was coming from...and quickly hid himself behind a pipe. There, hunting for food, was a young kitten, looking barely old enough to be weaned. It had tannish fur and a pale, almost white underbelly, and it looked half-starved, its ribs showing.
The professor's heart pounded. Being a rat-mouse hybrid, he had always been taught to fear cats, because cats ate all sorts of rodents. He peered to see the kitten still pawing around for food, its back turned to where he was. It's all right, Ratigan, he silently told himself. It doesn't look like it saw you. Just stay completely silent until it leaves, and then...
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Ratigan's stomach growled loudly, completely blowing his cover. He frowned. I REALLY should have eaten lunch before I took my walk, he thought.
The professor gulped as the kitten turned his way and walked towards him. He came out from behind the pipe, shut his eyes and cowered, preparing to be eaten, hoping that his death would be quick and fairly painless.
Nothing happened. After a while, Ratigan opened his eyes and saw the kitten sitting there, just looking at him, its tail swishing. "Well, aren't you going to eat me?" he asked. The kitten cocked its head to one side, as if it were confused. "You know..." Ratigan shoved his hand in front of his mouth and pretended to chew, pantomiming how to eat. "Aren't you going to do THAT to me?"
The kitten responded by letting out a tiny mew and nuzzling its head against the professor, purring. "Huh. So you're NOT going to eat me?" The kitten shook its head. "So you CAN understand what I'm saying." The kitten nodded. Ratigan smiled a little and patted the kitten's head. "Aww, aren't you sweet? Aren't you a good little..." He checked underneath the kitten. "...girl. What happened to you? Where's your mother?" The kitten looked sad. "Aww, you're all alone, aren't you, sweetie? I know how you feel. My daughter left for school, and I don't have any family with me either."
Just then, Ratigan's stomach growled again. The kitten gently poked at the professor's belly with her paw. "I know, my tummy sounds a little funny, doesn't it?" Ratigan sighed as he rubbed his stomach. "Dear me, I'm starving." He looked again at how scrawny the kitten was. "You must be starving, too, aren't you? Why don't you come back with me and I'll have some of my men give you something to eat?"
Ratigan started back to the lair, the kitten soon behind him. Just then, she started batting at the professor's cape as if it were a cat toy. "Oh, careful now, that cape was expensive, we don't want to tear it." The kitten hissed playfully. Ratigan chuckled. "My my, you are a feisty one, aren't you? You remind me very much of my sainted mother. She was extremely feisty. Nobody was more spirited than Felicia Ratigan." The kitten perked up. "Oh, you like that name? Very well, then, from now on your name is Felicia. Come along now, Felicia."
After a bit, Ratigan and Felicia made their way back to the lair. However, it sounded like there was a fight going on inside. "What the deuce...?" Ratigan ran into the lair. Some of the men were having a major brawl. Fidget was trying to break it up. "What is the meaning of this?" The professor's voice made the men stop. "All right, who started this?"
"It was Rogers, boss," Fidget answered. "He got into some of your best champagne and got drunk and started beatin' guys up."
"Snitch!" Rogers hiccuped, still quite intoxicated. "Of COURSE you'd betray me to the rat!"
Ratigan glared at the guilty mouse. He hated being called a rat, even though he was half rat. He picked him up by the shirt collar, looking ready to throttle him. Then, an evil grin spread on his face as he thought up an idea. He tossed Rogers outside and whistled. "Here you go, girl." The men watched in horror as a kitten picked up their companion, put him in her mouth and swallowed him whole. Then, they watched in confusion as Ratigan scratched the kitten behind the ear. "Good girl, Felicia." He turned to the others. "New rule, gentlemen; anyone who upsets me will promptly be fed to my new pet here, understand?" The men nodded. "Excellent."
From that day on, Felicia was Ratigan's loyal pet. After an incident in which she tried to eat Fidget, resulting in her accidentally injuring his leg so badly that it had to be amputated and replaced with a peg, the professor had to train her only to eat mice that had angered him (which was quite often, actually) by ringing a bell and calling her. Over time, the cat became quite overweight from eating mice frequently.
Also, Felicia became very close to Danielle whenever the girl came to visit during her school breaks. Even though Ratigan loved and pampered Felicia, Danielle was the only one who really played with her, and she became the only mouse outside of her father who could approach the cat without fear of being gulped down like a jelly bean. Life was good for the cat.
However, one night changed all of that. Ratigan had plotted to murder the Queen and take over her place. Felicia's job was to eat the Queen. But then Basil of Baker Street, Ratigan's greatest enemy, intervened, and instead Felicia was chased away by Basil's loyal hound Toby, straight into the Buckingham Palace guard dogs' pen. The cat escaped with her life, but was torn up pretty badly.
Fortunately, a kindly elderly human woman found the injured cat. "Poor thing. You look like you got into a bad fight." She picked her up. "Let Grandma take care of you." So she took Felicia home and fixed her back up.
Felicia was happy, but she missed living in the sewer. So as soon as she felt well enough, while the old woman slept, she snuck out and made her way back to the lair. However, she found it empty.
"Felicia?" The cat turned to see Danielle, now eighteen, standing there. The young mouse ran up to the cat and hugged her leg. "Oh Feli, thank goodness you're all right. I just got back from school a few days ago, and the police told me everything about Daddy's awful plan." Felicia meowed in confusion. "He's dead, Felicia. Daddy got killed falling into the Thames. The others have all been arrested. I'm the only one left. I'm just so glad you're all right." She sobbed into the cat's fur. Felicia frowned and gently stroked her friend's hair.
Just then, Danielle saw the collar that the old woman had put around Felicia's neck. "What's that?" She read the gold tag that said where the woman lived. "You have a family now? Oh, that's so wonderful. Are you happy?" Felicia nodded solemnly, then rubbed her head against Danielle, purring. "I know, Feli, I know. I want you to stay here, too, but it'd be best for you to have a REAL home with humans, like cats are supposed to. But don't you worry, I'll come by to visit you every chance I get, all right?" Felicia meowed sadly. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine by myself." She hugged the cat. "I'll miss you, my friend. Now go on home."
Felicia nodded and turned away. As she walked away, she turned back for a second to see Danielle smiling sadly at her. The cat smiled and went on her way.
"Oh there you are, kitty," the old woman greeted the cat as she made her way back home. "Out for a little walk, were you?" She scratched Felicia behind the ear, making her purr. "Good girl."
Awww, that was so sweet...and I'm not even a cat person!
I dunno, call me crazy, but in the movie, when Ratigan was cuddling Felicia after she ate Bartholomew (probably one of the only times you'll ever hear Vincent Price using baby talk, BTW) I thought he sounded a little like one of those stereotypical old cat ladies that you see on TV, that have a bazillion cats and no family (but Ratigan makes it sound about 20% cooler). My theory was always that Ratigan really did love Felicia and maybe used her as a supplant for a daughter he had, one that had either died or was away at school (fortunately for Danielle, in this case it was the latter). And yes, I do think she survived being attacked by the guard dogs, although she probably got mauled pretty badly. However, Ratti, Fidget and Bart are all goners in my book, so sorry folks, they ain't coming back unless it's in a flashback.
Hope you guys enjoyed this little one-shot!
All my best, DiscordantPrincess.