Welcome to my first Flushed Away fic. The premise for this came to me when reading the director's commentary on the DVD (something they'd brushed upon), and I felt it was too good to resist…
Disclaimer: Roddy, Rita and the entire Flushed Away cast, story and universe as a whole are the intellectual property of DeamWorks/Aardman. They, as well as any references to the film, are used without permission purely for the purposes of entertainment. This plot does, however, belong to me. It can be copied and pasted (should you choose to) as long as the author (me) is credited.
Now, on to the story…
Flushed Away: What if…?
Chapter I
What if Sid had never made it to the pub? He wouldn't have ended up Up Top. He would never have met Roddy. And Roddy, who wouldn't have been flushed away, would never have met Rita…
Or would he?
The Jammy Dodger rested in silence, moored tight to the edge of the sewer. All was quiet aboard. The engine was off, the lights were cold and lifeless. The only sounds was the gentle lap of the water against the hull of the ship, and the lightly tempered breathing of the ship's pilot: one Rita Malone.
"She's around here somewhere!" came an all too familiar, high pitched, heavily accented voice.
"Spike." She muttered under her breath. Those rats never gave up!
Quickly leaping down from the helm, Rita grabbed her barge pole, a twisted paperclip attached to the top. As she'd done countless times before, she pulled down the brickwork sail that would (hopefully) camouflage her from her pursuers.
Stowing away the pole, she ducked down to the stern of the Dodger. With any luck the rats wouldn't find her.
"Beware…" Came an eerie voice from the front of her boat, "Beware…"
Turning quickly she saw that a slug had managed to make it's way onto the roof of the cockpit, "Bloody thing!" She hissed, "Be quiet! Get off my boat!"
Looking around for something to shoo it away with, the only thing to hand was the barge pole. Grasping it swiftly, she moved to prod the slug off the boat. The dim light made the job harder than it ought to be, the only real illumination coming from the rat's boat.
"Come on, hop it!" She demanded, pushing the slug quite harshly.
The little slimy creature didn't look all that appreciative. Slugs were used to going at their own pace. But if it was going to make a noise then Rita needed it off the boat before it gave away her hiding place. Unfortunately for her, the rushed slug wasn't gripping onto the roof of the cockpit anymore, and with a sudden slip and a thud it bounced down the side and onto the deck, catching the horn rope as it fell.
The resulting noise could have woken the dead, and it shook the Dodger violently enough to unhook the brickwork sail. With a loud zip it wound itself back up, knocking it out of it's supports and into the water with a loud splash.
A look of dread spread across Rita's face. Shooting a quick glance aft she could see the light from the rat's boat stop, then turn.
"Over there!" She heard Spike's voice again.
"You idiot!" She turned back, looking around for the slug that was no longer there. Those little sods could move quickly enough when they wanted, it seemed.
"We can't let her get away." She heard instructions being issued as the rats drew closer.
"Urgh!" She groaned, then ran over to the motor pull-chain, yanking at it ferociously, the old boat refusing to start, "Come on Jammy, me old mate, don't do this to me!"
She was knocked off her feet as the larger boat crashed into the Dodger, and she looked up just in time to see the group of rats sliding down the bow of their boat and boarding hers.
"Oh no you don't!" She muttered to herself, springing back to her feet. She deftly dodged the first one as he leapt at her, and a quick grab and a swing dealt with the next pair. But just when she felt she was in with a chance of winning, two big white paws grabbed her from behind.
"What?!" she gasped, looking over her shoulder. It was Whitey. "Let me go, you pink eyed freak!" She yelled angrily, twisting to deliver a harsh kick to his snout, knocking off his glasses.
A sudden blinding light from the rat's boat made her wince. The shadowed outline against the light was instantly recognisable as Spike.
"Rita, Rita, Rita," He heckled, "You thought you could give us the slip-"
He was interrupted when his left foot slipped, sending him tumbling head over tail down onto the deck of the Dodger.
Acting quickly, Rita turned on her heels, escaping Whitey's enormous grasp only for a moment. But quick as she was, Whitey managed to grab her by the tail, yanking her back.
"Careful Miss." He hoisted her up and held her by the waist, leaving her dangling upside-down, "You'll injure yourself."
"Now then," Spike strummed his fingers together, leering in at her, "Where's the ruby, Rita?" He demanded.
"The boss wants it back." Whitey added forcefully, tightening his grip.
"I don't have your stupid ruby," She lied.
"OK," Spike sighed, stepping closer, "Are we going to do this the easy way," his voice became a low growl, "Or the hard way?"
"Oh, I think we should do it the easy way, don't you Spike?" Whitey added.
Spike rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright. It's time to bring out the persuader."
Both Rita and Whitey gasped as Spike brought out the soldieresque nutcracker, causing Whitey to almost drop his captive. Less than an instant later he had her again, and his hand rested over her back pocket. It felt oddly full.
"Spike, I think I've found it…"
"Well, come on then!" Spike urged, "Spit it out!"
"Don't. You. Dare!" Rita glowered at the giant rat.
"The booty's in the booty." Whitey explained, letting Rita slip from his grasp. He grabbed her leg, shaking her. The ruby soon fell loose, clattering across the deck.
Spike, a grin spreading across his lips, picked it up from where it had settled, lifting it up to the light, "Ha ha ha!" He turned back to Whitey and Rita, "Thanks mate! The boss is going to be so happy with us."
Rita, angry, crossed her arms, "You're toast." She told the rats.
The rats bungled Rita, arms bound in chains, into a large, well decorated room. It was one she'd seen before on several occasions. And she knew who it belonged to. That slimy, warty villainous creep; the Toad.
As usual the lights were low, the main illumination being the fire. A large chair, back partially towards the door, sat close enough to practically be on the hearth. A telly sat just to the side of the fire.
"Boss," Spike called, trotting ahead of the group as they made their way forwards, "We've found it boss."
As the group came to a standstill just off to the side, the telly turned off and the Toad rose slowly to his feet. A superior look crossed his face as he turned to look down at the rats.
Leaning forwards, he spoke slowly, almost patronisingly, "Hello Rita."
"Hello hansom." She shifted her weight and looked at him mockingly.
With a slight chuckle, the Toad clicked his fingers and held out his hand. Spike jumped up, placing the ruby in his green, warty hand, "The prize returns to me." He paused, looking down at her.
The mocking smirk left Rita's face as she watched him inspect the ruby.
"Did you imagine I would let you steal it from me?" He turned his back.
"You what?!" She demanded, knocking Spike out of the way and marching forwards as far as the chain would let her, "That jewel belongs to my father, and you know it!"
Whitey hoisted her back into formation and clamping a hand over her mouth to silence her.
"Your father?" The Toad chuckled, "A good for nothing scavenger just like his daughter?"
Rita tried to protest, her voice muffling around Whitey's giant paw.
The Toad simply looked down at her, indifference turning into disgust, "Dispose of her."
Rita's eyes went wide. No way was she going to let them just 'dispose' of her without a fight. Determination and defiance bubbled up inside her, and a plan began to form in her mind. With a growl, and without warning, she bit down hard on Whitey's hand, eliciting a yelp of pain and letting go of her mouth. A fraction of a second later she brought down the heel of her boot on his toes. A second yelp of pain followed the first, and she felt his grip loosen on both her and the chain.
The Toad, meanwhile, had moved over to his prized collection. Rita's ruby was now perched delicately on top of a torch. That was her goal.
As quickly as she could, Rita leapt forwards, swinging the chain around to the side and using it like a lasso. Running towards the ruby, she heard footfalls behind her. The rats were giving chase.
"No!" She saw the Toad, only now noticing her as she ran towards him, "Stop her!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than his tongue sprang out towards her. With a quick jump and an energetic summersault she had dodged it, the Toad instead finding Spike, knocking the young rat over. The others were sent sprawling as they tripped over Spike, tangling themselves up in the toad's tongue.
Looking back with a chuckle, Rita turned back to the Toad, now moving to block her. With a few quick swings of the chain, Rita let it fly, tangling around the Toad's legs.
"Feeling a little tongue tied?" she mocked.
"No! Ith not pothible!" Toad lisped.
In the time it took Rita to wink, she yanked on the chain, pulling the Toad's legs together and knocking him off balance. With just enough slack in it to release her hands, Rita freed herself from her bounds and let the chain go.
"Argh!" Toad cried, as his tongue began to recoil. He went crashing straight through the pile of rats like a bowling ball though pins.
Rita gave a triumphant laugh before stepping forwards to pick up her ruby. "The prize returns to me." She repeated the Toad's earlier choice of phrase, then pocketed it and ran.
She had to get back to the Dodger.
Looking around, the only way out was either back past the now recovering heap of rats, or to head further into the lair. One was certain capture, the other… Well, heaven knew what she may find.
"After her!" She heard the Toad call from behind her. She turned, seeing them climb to their feet and shake themselves off.
"Forwards it is!" She took off at a sprint.
Her path was cut off by a fridge, and she found herself hesitating. The sound of her pursuers was growing closer, so she took the only route she could find – up the stairs. Unfortunately, the only thing she found at the top was a few open windows and a very large drop back into the sewers below.
But her determination didn't falter for a moment. Looking around for a ladder, or any other way out, she saw a power-line across to the other side of the waterway.
"Perfect!" Now all she needed was a way to use it.
Leaping back into the building for a moment she soon found what she needed; a cable. It would double up as a flying fox type device to let her slide to safety.
With a few hard tugs and some sparks she soon had it loose. Instantly the room went dark.
"No, not the Master Cable!" she heard the toad yell, "Put that back!"
Ignoring him, Rita stepped up to the power line, swinging the cable around it.
"Toodle-oo!" She waved back to the Toad and rats, who were by now climbing the stairs. With a jump, she was gone.
Rita skilfully piloted the Jammy Dodger through the waterways that led away from Ratopolis. She had the ruby; all she needed now was a place to hide. She knew that taking it back home to her family now would only mean trouble for them, and that wasn't something she wanted to risk. The rats would give chase, and she needed to run for as long as she could, maybe find somewhere to hide until they stopped looking for her.
But where?
Steering away from the main channels, onto what constituted a small side-canal, Rita turned off the ship's engine. The slight current would keep her away from the walls, as well as keep her moving away from the city.
Securing the wheel, and pausing to pick up the cable she'd used in her escape – which had been resting on the floor beside her pilot stand – she headed below deck. She needed to look at her maps, maybe find some way of hiding the ruby until the Toad stopped looking for it.
Hanging the cable on a hook in the wall, Rita took the ruby out of her back pocket and placed it on a stand. She opened the top draw, reaching in and rummaging through the old looking papers. Soon enough, she'd found her rolled up maps. Laying them out on the floor and opening them up, Rita began to carefully inspect them. Wherever she went she would need to make sure that nobody was around to see her hide it. And to make sure of that, it had to be somewhere that nobody in their right mind would go.
"Hmm…" She pondered, absentmindedly swiping her tail from side to side as she looked for anything that would prove to be a good storage space.
The map that showed the area immediately surrounding Ratopolis yielded nothing of value. But, when she turned to the next one, a spot immediately jumped out at her.
"Of course!" She said enthusiastically, "The treatment plant!"
It was just the other side of Hyde Park and the rapids. All she'd have to do is get through them, avoid getting sucked into the inlet, and deposit the ruby in some sort of hiding place, no doubt one of the rain drains that led into the sewer from the park. It would be perfectly safe there. Nobody ever went near the rapids. Most didn't have a boat powerful enough to get through, nor strong enough to endure the cross currents. But the Dodger could manage it, she was sure!
An instant later she was up the ladder and back at the helm. In less than a day the ruby would be safe and she'd be on her way home until things died down.
What could possibly go wrong?
End of Part One.
Well, I hope you enjoyed that. Please, leave a review. Constructive criticism is welcomed.
Also, keep in mind that I'm aware that much of this is taken more or less straight from the movie, with a few tweaks in the way and manner that things happened. But I'm just setting up the scene, and it makes more sense to follow it this way. Almost everything that follows will be my own works, with only a handful of references to the film. So please keep that in mind.
Part Two will be up as soon as it's done.
