"This is it," Professor Squawkencluck said, almost reverently. She, Danger Mouse and Penfold stood at the mouth of a very large hole that descended deep into the earth. Penfold blanched in terror while Danger Mouse began to grin.
"Excellent!" he cried. "I had hoped that this caving trip of yours would yield some adventure and it looks like it already is!"
"Now, now, mouse," Professor Squawkencluck warned. "There will be no funny business on this trip. Got it? This is purely a scientific expedition, not some "super mega ultra secret danger mission" ok? You stick close to me the entire time we're down there!" she continued to grill the mouse.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, whatever," Danger Mouse replied carelessly as he rigged up the line to get himself and his two friends down the hole safely and into the belly of the Earth. They were in America, having flown out to the Appalachian Mountains just a couple days ago. Professor Squawkencluck had apparently read about this place in some geology journal of hers and it had sparked her interest enough that she'd scraped together some funding to head out and see it in person. Danger Mouse and Penfold had come along as her company and backup.
Professor Squawkencluck descended into the mountain first, despite Danger Mouse's protest that he wanted to go in first. Once she was safely down below, she called out for the other two to join her. While Penfold carefully (and nervously) lowered himself down after Professor Squawkencluck, Danger Mouse wasted no time in trying to bungee jump in, free-falling through the hole until right before he would've crashed into Professor Squawkencluck and Penfold. Then he halted his descent and came to a quiet landing before bowing dramatically.
"We do this safely, in order, following my lead!" Professor Squawkencluck snapped as he bowed. Then she paused. Where had that come from? Although she had meant to chastise Danger Mouse for being so reckless before they'd even entered the cave, the words she had chosen to speak seemed to have come from another time and person, like a buried memory. Her face even contorted in concern as she looked at Danger Mouse, wondering if he might've realized that those were not the words she had meant to speak. But since he was so used to being yelled at by her because of his stunts, he only ignored her.
"Come on, Professor!" he cried. "Learn to live a little!" and while he and Professor Squawkencluck argued, Penfold stood off to the side, trying not to let his fear show too much. Originally, Professor Squawkencluck was supposed to be the only one going on this trip, but when Danger Mouse found out she was going caving, he'd all but forced his way onto the mission as well before tricking Penfold into signing up too, telling him that they were going to explore and tour nature. Well, this is what Penfold got for not asking for specifics...
"Carrots!" he shrieked suddenly as a small swarm of bats flew out of a nearby crack. He jumped out of the way in time, but not before he noticed some strange cracks running through that side of the mountain. But that discovery was overridden by his sudden fright from the bats. Professor Squawkencluck was quick to come to his aid, pulling him safely out of the swarm while Danger Mouse only laughed at his plight.
"Enough, Danger Mouse!" Professor Squawkencluck snapped at him again, but he only shrugged calmly.
"No point in standing around here anymore! There's only one way out and that's down the pipe!" he pointed to another narrow opening in the hole that they were already inside of. It led right into the cave Professor Squawkencluck so desperately wanted to explore and study. The moment she heard him say this, another strange and serious look passed across her face and she gave him an unusually respectful nod before taking the lead into the dark, endless, merciless abyss.
For about an hour, things actually went fairly well. The cave was gorgeous and all was peaceful.
"But it's soooo boring!" Danger Mouse complained. "I wanted action and adventure! Not a cheap walk through rock!"
"Well, if you had listened to me like I said, you would know that I did not come down here for a mere joyride!" Professor Squawkencluck grunted impatiently, intently studying the cave walls. Truth be told, she really had not come here on a scientific expedition at all. That had just been a cover story. Of course, she hadn't come here on holiday either, but her whole story about wanting to explore and study the cave had been total nonsense. Instead, it was because she had felt inexplicably tied and drawn to it.
From the very first moment she heard about it and saw a picture, she had been struck by it. The cave seemed to haunt her like a ghost and it drove up her curiosity every single day until she finally caved (pun possibly intended) to its irresistible and mysterious call, booking a flight right over to America all in the name of seeing why it seemed so fixated on her, and vice versa. And now here she (with two unplanned tagalongs) was! But the reason for why the cave seem so connected to her was still foggy. Oh well! She was just going to have to keep looking! Danger Mouse could go cry her a river for all she cared. This exploration was far more important to her than he could ever know and she was not going to have him ruin it just because it wasn't "fun enough".
Penfold, meanwhile, looked surprisingly happy with the way things were going so far.
"Come on, Chief!" he tried to encourage. "It really isn't all that bad or boring. Some of these stones and cave walls are really quite lovely!"
"They're rocks, Penfold, rocks!" Danger Mouse replied indignantly.
"But they're pretty," Penfold repeated, admiring the serenity and beauty surrounding him. Although he still felt a bit uneasy being all the way down here in the dark, the reassuring presence of Professor Squawkencluck and Danger Mouse, combined with the majesty of the cave, settled his nerves. Along the way, then, he noticed one particularly shiny rock loosely embedded within a crack in the cave wall.
"Here Chief! I think you'll like this one!" he grinned as he reached out to take the stone. It was a bit trickier to get out than he'd expected, but after a bit of fumbling, he managed to remove the smooth stone from its crevice and hand it to Danger Mouse.
"Penfold, NO!" Professor Squawkencluck shrieked the moment she turned around to see what Penfold had done. As if on cue, then, the entire cave began to rumble and shake like a dying animal.
"Oh! Carrots!" Penfold shrieked, suddenly terrified again. "All I tried to do was remove one little stone!"
"But it was a wet stone, Penfold!" Professor Squawkencluck cried. "There must've been a lot of water buildup behind it, or maybe the rock isn't as sturdy as we think!" then, once again, right on cue, the first stones from the ceiling began to collapse.
"Cave-in!" Danger Mouse cried, then without hesitation, he scooped up both of his companions in his arms before he took off running... deeper into the cave. Behind them, the world got darker and darker and more and more stones blocked their pathway back out...
Thanks to Danger Mouse's quick reaction and even quicker feet, he and his friends managed to escape the cave-in without any injuries, but there still wasn't much to celebrate because, as amazing as Danger Mouse had been back there, that didn't change one simple little fact:
"WE'RE TRAPPED!" Penfold howled.
"Oh, don't worry, Penfold! I'm sure Professor, here, has a Plan B that will get us all out of this mess before lunch!" the mouse tried to be encouraging, sincerely believing in what he had said, but then he caught that dazed look in Professor Squawkencluck's eyes.
"Squawk?" he asked her, but she almost seemed to be in another world entirely, looking very far away and very haunted.
"Professor?" Penfold was next to try and get her attention, having noticed her unseeing stare. Right before either of them could worry, however, she seemed to snap awake, blinking and shaking her head.
"Sorry," she muttered. "I must've blacked out..." but she refused to say anything else as pulled out a little GPS from her vest and stared at it for a few seconds. "Come on, then," she instructed a few seconds later, then she led her two companions onward, even further in and further down. They had to escape before they became a buried memory within this dark and endless tomb of a cave system...
At last, the trio reached a little underground canyon.
"How will we get across?" Penfold fretted, but Professor Squawkencluck already seemed to know the answer. Without even thinking, she shined her headlamp up and forward. Sure enough, hanging from the ceiling, there were the remains of a rope and climbing gear from past cavers.
"Nice catch, Professor!" Danger Mouse cried. "How did you know that was there?"
"I don't know," the hen replied, that airy and distant quality returning to her voice. But it was true! Somehow, she had known that it would be there, even though it made no sense how or why. It was like a buried memory, slowly but surely unearthing itself the longer and longer they remained trapped down in the darkness. She wasted no time in being the first one to cross over.
"Are you sure it's safe?" Penfold fretted, noting how old the climbing gear looked. It looked about 10 years old. 10 years alone, down here, rotting in the dark, forgotten and unclaimed. But nobody else seemed to share his concern about the rope's stability after all this time. Of course, it didn't surprise him that Danger Mouse was undeterred by the rope's age, but the fact that Professor Squawkencluck seemed just as unconcerned was a bit surprising to him. Wasn't she supposed to be the voice of reason in the group? So what was going on? It was a question not even Professor Squawkencluck herself could've answered, climbing across the treacherous crevice in a near-hypnotized state.
She made it across easily enough which only encouraged Danger Mouse to do likewise, swinging across and showing off. Then that left Penfold. He was shaking terribly, but seeing Professor Squawkencluck and Danger Mouse reaching out to him with encouraging smiles made him feel a little bit better and he managed to find the strength and courage to follow after them, climbing hand over hand along the old rope. He made it across just as easily as his two companions did.
"Well, that was easy!" he chuckled nervously. Professor Squawkencluck chuckled back, feeling unspeakably relived that Penfold had made it across. Then she paused again. Although she knew that she would always feel glad whenever Penfold managed to accomplish something big, the relief she felt now was unspeakably large, and there was still something old and almost déjà vu about it. She could not explain why, but seeing Penfold cross safely without the rope giving way alleviated a fear she didn't even know that she had until it became a possibility. With everyone safely across, however, the fear subsided and the feeling of a buried memory went along with it. She consulted her GPS again. According to it, they were only maybe a mile or so from an exit now. All they had to do to reach it was to keep walking straight.
"Alrighty then! Onward and upward, my brave companions!" Danger Mouse declared, bravely taking the lead as he readjusted his helmet.
"Don't get too far ahead!" Professor Squawkencluck warned quickly as she put her GPS away again.
"Don't get your tailfeathers in a bunch!" Danger Mouse replied, tossing his head as he continued to strut boldly on. Professor Squawkencluck could only heave an exasperated sigh before following after him.
The trio managed another relatively peaceful walk, although the panic of being unable to find an escape was a constant concern, but that all took another sharp turn when a hissing shriek erupted in the distance.
"Stop!" Professor Squawkencluck gasped, and even Danger Mouse, hearing the note of genuine panic in her voice, had the good sense to obey.
"What is it?" he instinctively whispered back. Penfold was shaking harder than a leaf at the moment, holding onto Professor Squawkencluck's legs like a child. Professor Squawkencluck held up a wing to silence Danger Mouse.
"Some sort of large, hostile animal. Keep moving, but be as quiet and invisible as possible!" she hissed. Danger Mouse obeyed at once, continuing to lead the way, but this time moving much slower than before. Before long, however, the trio found their path blocked, not by stone or crevice though, but by bone. Tons and tons of animal bone littered the empty cave before them.
"Dead animals!" Professor Squawkencluck gasped. "Hundreds of them..." but before she or either of her two companions could speak, that hissing shriek sounded off again. This time, though, it was right in their ears...
"RUN!" Penfold panicked, bolting. But before he could get too far, Danger Mouse scooped him up, trying once again to repeat his actions from the cave-in earlier. It didn't work as well. The mouse could easily outrun a random natural disaster, but a foe that could think and move strategically? That wasn't as simple. And at one point, he tripped on a bone. He collapsed to the ground, his two companions sent flying out of his grip. He cried out for both of them as he fell, but Professor Squawkencluck had entered that strange trance again, a buried memory surfacing once more. With an eerie calm, she turned around. While the creature narrowed in on a panicking Danger Mouse, she took a deep breath in. She raised the climbing pick she had managed to keep with her steadily and, with one expert toss, she launched the pick right into the monster's face. It collapsed immediately, letting out a dying hiss before it went totally still and silent.
"Wow! Professor Squawkencluck!" Penfold seemed in awe of her, but she only walked back over to the creature with a hardened expression, not even flinching as she tore the pick back out of its face. She even spat on it for good measure. But then she knelt down to study it.
"It's totally blind, and judging from what we've seen, I'd say it uses sound to hunt, like a bat. It's perfectly designed to live down here in the dark," she muttered as she inspected its facial features and bodily structures. It was somewhat humanoid, very bony, very pale, very slimy and very hairless. Penfold looked like he was going to be sick as he chanced a few steps closer to it while Professor Squawkencluck continued to study it.
"So that creepy crawler lives down here?" the hamster whimpered. "Does that mean there's more?" and it was a question Professor Squawkencluck instinctively already knew the answer to, but she did not respond to Penfold's question. Instead, she only stood back up before helping a stupefied Danger Mouse to his feet. She flicked her head in the path that continued forward. Neither of them thought to argue with her, as grim and bleak as that forward path looked. Instead, they only allowed her to lead the way, that transcendent aura still surrounding her like a cloak.
"Say, Professor," Danger Mouse finally dared to ask a bit later. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" she asked back, and both he and Penfold were relieved to hear her more normal voice once again, and not that almost-ethereal one that kept on overtaking her the longer and longer they were stuck down there.
"The pick trick," Danger Mouse clarified, even copying the actions she'd completed to throw the pick with such ease and accuracy.
"Oh! That!" Professor Squawkencluck suddenly looked... embarrassed? "I honestly don't know," she said. "I don't know what came over me! I could never throw that well. But I just... wasn't myself in that moment, and something just... happened to me, like someone else was guiding me. It was like someone else was throwing that pick, but they were using my arm to do it, if that makes any sense..." she trailed off when she realized that both of her companions thought she was starting to lose it.
"Never mind," she decided with a tired sigh, suddenly aware of how sore she was. "Let's just keep on moving..."
At last, the trio reached their destination. Professor Squawkencluck quickly whipped out her GPS.
"Yup! We're here!" she whispered, but before any of them could celebrate and try to find the hole that would lead them to freedom, they were suddenly aware of a mass of crawlers surrounding them.
"Good grief!" Danger Mouse gasped as he figured it out first. "We're in the feeding den!" and so they were...
The feeding den was not the same as the bone den they'd walked into earlier. That bone den was like the crawlers' dumpster, filled only with all the leftovers from their meal. This area, however, was where that meal was actually devoured.
"They must've just returned from a hunt!" Professor Squawkencluck hissed. Penfold had since started shaking again, clinging to both her and Danger Mouse's legs. They, themselves, were too terrified to chastise him for this.
"You got any invisibility cloaks? Or cloaking panels?" Danger Mouse asked her.
"None that didn't break when we fled the cave-in or the first crawler," Professor Squawkencluck admitted ruefully.
"So we're just going to have to sneak out then!" the mouse declared, narrowing his eye in determination.
"Wait," Professor Squawkencluck put a wing out to stop him. "We should just let them eat first and wait for them to leave. When they dispose of their waste, then we can make our escape."
"I don't think I want to wait around to watch them eat!" Penfold whined softly, looking quite ill at the thought. No one could blame him, though. These crawlers were savage creatures, wild and brutish. Professor Squawkencluck, Danger Mouse and Penfold were certain that their sense of table manners were abhorrent, if not entirely absent.
"Well, would you rather try escaping right now while all of them are right here? Would you rather try crawling through all of them?" Professor Squawkencluck shot back, that strange and icy tone entering her voice again.
Penfold was swiftly cowed into agreement, not just because the idea of crawling through a nest of feeding crawlers sounded icky, but because that strange change had come over Professor Squawkencluck again, and that scared him worst of all. What was wrong with her? What was going on with her? Why had she wanted to come down here anyway? And why did she keep on falling into that weird and slightly creepy trance? But since Penfold wasn't brave enough to speak any longer than necessary, he simply plugged his ears before burying his face in Danger Mouse and Professor Squawkencluck's legs again, hoping that the crawlers' lunch would end soon...
At last, his wish was answered. Just like clockwork, just like Professor Squawkencluck had predicted, the giant group of crawlers slowly dispersed as the meal finished. Some went one way, some went another, some went another, and some went another. Some of them left carrying bones, getting ready to dispose of them just like Professor Squawkencluck had thought.
"Clear!" she whispered, then she led the way towards freedom, her two companions following very close behind. The trio stayed close to the ground, almost looking like crawlers themselves as they inched along the cave floor and towards the hole that lead up and out.
"Penfold, first," Professor Squawkencluck mouthed once they reached the cave opening. She swiftly and silently threw their rope up, managing to snag it on a branch that was peeking out from that tiny hole's wall. Clearly they were going to be emerging from right under a tree. Penfold wasted no time in swiftly and silently shimmying up the rope.
"Danger Mouse, next," Professor Squawkencluck commanded as soon as Penfold had made it out.
"But what about you?" the mouse sounded genuinely concerned for Professor Squawkencluck.
"Go," she replied insistently, face unreadable as she pointed towards the rope. Danger Mouse, for once, didn't argue, instead throwing her one last worried and pained look before lightly launching up the rope right after Penfold. Then it was Professor Squawkencluck's turn...
Right before the hen began to climb, however, she turned back to look at the feeding den one last time. There, in the corner of the giant room, she could see one crawler still present. Oh, no wait! There were two. But one was much smaller than the first...
"A child!" Professor Squawkencluck whispered to herself as it sank in. Then, despite herself, she took a step back towards the crawler, something strange rising up in her chest yet again, but this feeling was the strongest and most painful of all. Suddenly, she felt like two people, staring out of one pair of eyes. As she watched the baby crawler play with its parent, rolling around on the floor and waving a bone, Professor Squawkencluck felt her heart twist in her chest. Then the parent crawler made a strange noise that Professor Squawkencluck somehow knew was a laugh. It nuzzled the baby and Professor Squawkencluck felt tears burn her eyes.
Was it longing that she felt deep within her heart? Impossible! She had no desire for chicks! But for some reason, the longer she watched the parent and child play, the more and more longing she felt. But it wasn't her longing, exactly. It was more like someone else's, from ages past. Even though it was her body and mind, it was someone else's thoughts and feelings, working through her. That longing she felt was second-hand, she just knew it! But she indulged in it, allowing the mysterious presence to process its feelings through her.
"Professor!" Professor Squawkencluck was torn from her reverie to hear Danger Mouse's concerned hiss echoing back down into the cave. Professor Squawkencluck quickly shook herself awake, turning away from the twisted parent and child, shooting them one last peaceful and compassionate look before walking back over to the awaiting rope. Right before she reached it, however, something shining in the dirt caught her eyes. It was a necklace, she realized, ancient and filthy, but a necklace nonetheless. It was lying in a mound of bones. The implications were horrific, but Professor Squawkencluck felt at peace as she picked the necklace up. Normally, she would've been strictly against grave-robbing, especially in this context, but she couldn't help but feel as if that necklace was meant for her. Like a buried memory, that necklace was resting beneath stone and bone, waiting for her to take it and remember. So she did.
Using her wingtips, the hen carefully brushed the soot off the necklace before picking it up. Slipping it safely into her vest pocket with her mini GPS, she finally turned back to the rope and took hold of it. She could see her two friends staring down at her with a mix of worry and relief. She gave them a smile that somehow felt as though she were smiling for two, but there must've been something else special about it because, for once, Danger Mouse and Penfold seemed to believe it, because they smiled right back down at her. Then, while she grabbed onto the rope, they pulled her up as swiftly as they dared. Professor Squawkencluck's last sight of the cave was of the two crawlers locked in a tender embrace...
A few days later, the trio was back at HQ like nothing had ever happened.
"So, did you find what you were looking for, Professor?" Colonel K's hologram asked the hen as she ate breakfast with Penfold and Danger Mouse.
"Yes sir, I think I did," she replied confidently. Although the answers were still very unclear to her, she felt as though visiting that cave had done something to and for her, and for someone else. It was as if two burdens had been lifted by her descent and ascent in the Appalachian Mountains. It sounded crazy and she knew it was something she could never share with anyone, but she felt at peace nonetheless.
"What was it that you were looking for anyway?" Danger Mouse asked, much more relaxed and confident now that they were all safe.
"Ah, I had heard about the cave giving off mysterious fumes and chemicals and I wanted to see if it was true," Professor Squawkencluck lied.
"Well then, was it?" Danger Mouse pressed.
"Yes," Professor Squawkencluck continued to lie. "Some of those rocks were so ancient and their reactions with each other and the moisture from the upper world were creating some very interesting chemical compounds. Nothing dangerous or fatal or new, but interesting nonetheless."
"Well, you won't be planning on a follow-up anytime soon, will you?" Penfold asked nervously, still somewhat shaken by the ordeal.
"No," Professor Squawkencluck laughed, finally telling the truth. "I don't need to ever go back there again. My work inside that cave is finished."
"Thank goodness!" the hamster raised his own hands to the sky in relief, earning a laugh from everyone else in the room, not that anyone blamed him. They were all more than happy to never see a crawler (or even a cave) ever again. They were more than happy to allow that caving trip to become a buried memory in its own right, for sure!
But after breakfast came to a close, while Danger Mouse and Penfold headed off to their next task, Professor Squawkencluck returned to her lab. There, hidden away in her private little corner, was the necklace she'd found in the cave. No one knew that she had it. She took a moment to study it now that she was entirely alone. It was small, copper-colored, and faded with time, age, wear and tear. It looked like a little leaf and, scratched onto its surface, was a message: Love Each Day. It made Professor Squawkencluck smile. It was not supposed to be like a trophy or souvenir from her adventure, but by bringing it back with her to London, she felt as though she had done something amazing. It felt as though she had set something free, and given it a new start all in one fell swoop.
Professor Squawkencluck dared to pull the little necklace on. She was certain, then, that she could hear a child's laugh and a woman's voice, reading out that message. Love each day. When the hen stopped by a mirror in her lab (it was really just a reflective piece of metal), then, to inspect herself, she drew back in surprise and blinked. But as soon as she blinked, the illusion was gone. She could only see herself in that piece of metal, but even though the hallucination was over, the memory of it remained in her mind forever, burying itself very deep in her brain and soul.
Just for a moment, she thought she had seen a beautiful woman, a creature unlike any animal that she personally knew or had ever seen before. But the creature, the woman, still felt familiar. She had long blond hair and big, bright blue eyes. Her skin was pale and speckled with freckles and she had been wearing the necklace too. She had smiled at Professor Squawkencluck through the reflection, as though to thank her for saving the necklace. But then she vanished. At least visibly. Because Professor Squawkencluck already knew that the mysterious lady would be immortalized in her mind, a buried memory that she kept deep within, safe and sound, never to be unearthed again. This time, though, that was a good thing.
AN: This was a weird Danger Mouse and Descent crossover fic. For those who do not know, the Descent is a rather gory horror film, but if you can stomach that sort of violence, it is AMAZING! And it's actually what got me into Danger Mouse at all since the main character of the Descent was played by Professor Squawkencluck's voice actress, Shauna Macdonald. So thanks to the Descent, I found Shauna, and thanks to Shauna, I found Danger Mouse. Consider this weird little fic to be an ode to that linked-up discovery.