Timothy lowered his head in embarrassment under Justin's glare. That was so stupid of him. Some hero. Now they had been captured by some force...
But what force? Dr. Valentine was acting like a dog. He was hardly capable of doing this. Who was behind this? Who was commanding these rats that had taken him captive with the others? Who was...
Thoughts were pushed from his head as they prodded him ahead of the others for some reason. A cloaked mouse came walking out of the shadows...
"Brother dear." it chuckled. Timothy shot his head up as the cloaked mouse enveloped him in a friendly gesture.
"I was expecting you here a lot sooner, Timmy."
"Martin?"
Timothy looked up and got the shock of his life. This was Martin, his brother, but something was very wrong. He was bigger than normal, and there was a nasty glint in his eyes that set Timothy off. He was wearing a cloak and robe that made him look like a dark king...
"MARTIN? What happened to you?" Timothy jumped back in shock. Martin, or the creature that was pretending to be Martin, laughed again.
"I got improved. Aheheh. Want me to show you?" He motioned to the rats surrounding Timothy. "Bring him in boys. I need to spend some quality time with my dear brother."
The rats surrounding Timothy shoved him away from Justin and Jenny, all of whom looked shocked. What was Martin doing? Was he responsible for all this?
Timmy found himself in a small room with a single table and three chairs. Two of them were on opposite ends of the table, and a third, a metal one, was off to the side a little. It looked rather menacing. Martin had taken up one of the chairs at the table, and motioned for Timothy to take the other. With two armed rats breathing down his back, Timmy did so.
There was some food on the table, a lot of food actually. Martin took a piece of bread and bit into it. Timmy didn't. Martin gulped down with his nasty smile.
"Why so scared, bro? Aren't you happy to see me again?"
"N-not like this...what did..."
Martin leaned on the table, confiding in Timothy. "Well, after it got announced that YOU would be a big fat hero, I ran off. Somehow dear doctor Valentine found me. He was still working with NIMH...heheh, still holding onto his experiments. How petty. Anyway, I was the only mouse handy, so he put me through a few shock treatments with THAT." He pointed to the metal chair in the room.
Timothy's eyes widened in Horror. "Oh, no..."
"Why so terrified? It wasn't that bad. In fact, I'm better off for it." Martin walked up beside Timmy, his hand resting on his shoulders. "Check this out, bro..." He pointed with his sceptre and, suddenly, the cake on the table simply exploded with a mystical energy that sent Timothy sprawling on the floor.
"Cool, hm? I can do a lot more, I'll show you later." Martin turned to Timothy again. "All thanks to dear old Valentine."
"But Valentines..."
"Out of it a bit? Ah yes, that was me." Martin laughed happily at the memory. "It was actually a very simple operation involving a pair of earmuffs and the labs circuit breaker. Now he's just another dog, mind like Jelly. Heheeee. Neat huh?"
"N-no..."
"You mean yes. Anyway, I know how to do a lot of things, much more than any of the rats at Thorn Valley could teach me. For example...boys, could you grab Marty for me?"
"Yes, your majesty." One of the rats turned and walked out of the room. Timothy got up slowly, bewildered. Martin turned to him with his insane eyes.
"Oh, did I mention that every rat here answers to me now? All it takes is a little show of power and occasionally..." He tapped the side of his head. "A bit of alteration. Ah, here it is."
The rat had returned, dragging a bizarre creature that looked like a miniature pink elephant with insect eyes and fangs by a rough collar. Timothy gasped, and Martin chuckled.
"Nice, huh? I can do much more than ever before, Timmy." Martin patted the creature's head. It mewed. Martin motioned for the guards to leave, and they did so without hesitation. Martin turned to his brother.
"So what do you think?"
"Whaddo I think! You're out of your mind, Martin!" Timothy squeaked shrilly.
Martin looked wounded for a moment, but regained his insane composure. "I guess it is a bit of a shock, huh bro? Shock, heheheh, it won't be so shocking when you've had it yourself."
"Had what?"
Martin pointed to the chair.
"What I had. What made me stronger and smarter."
Timothy looked at the chair. It was an electric chair with an apparatus that had been custom made for a mouse. It was hooked up to an IV with questionable liquid and a circuit breaker...
"NO!" Timothy screamed, trying to get out, but Martin stopped him.
"It LOOKS scary but it's not that bad! You won't regret it! You'll be just like me, and we can rule together!"
"Rule?" Timothy was in a panic now. "You're insane, what are you talking about?"
Martin picked his brother up and walked him to the window. "I'll show you." He said smiling. The curtain opened.
There were rows upon rows of rats and ravens, far as the eye could see. They were marching in military formation. One of the larger rats saluted Martin, and his ruler saluted back.
"Impressive, huh? Well Timmy? Timmy?"
Timmy was dumbstruck. Was his brother actually..."No..." Was all he could say.
"Oh, yes brother dear. Think this is enough? I think it'll be sufficient to take over Thorn Valley..."
"No."
"And after that, I could probably round up enough volunteers to take over the world! Wouldn't that be great? Everything would go perfectly for the first time in years."
"No!"
"I've been thinking sending one or two ahead to pick up Mother and the girls, too. They should be a part of this as well..."
"NOOOOOOOO!" Timothy screamed, and tried to run out the door.
He tripped and Martin caught him, holding his mouth shut and trying to keep him from struggling out of his grip.
"Timmy? Timmy, you're in a panic, you little wimp, just calm down and listen!"
Martin leaned in to Timothy's ear.
"You're my brother, Tim. I want you to be a part of this. We could rule the world together. THE WORLD, Timothy! Can you imagine! All the things we could do! We could fix everything and be top of the heap, no more scavenging around for food! We can have all cats massacred! We could force factories worldwide to make our favourite types of cheese, every day!"
Martin began dragging Timothy over to the chair.
"All you need to do is sit down and get the ideas into your head! You'll love it, I know I am!"
Timothy struggled in Martin's strong grip all the more as he was pushed towards the chair. The chair that would make him as insane as Martin was now.
"Think about it, all the family in charge of the world! Dad would be so proud..."
"DAD WASN'T CRAZY!" Timothy freed his mouth and screamed his defiance.
"Timmy, I don't think you get it. You think being a hero will change anything? You'll still just be a mouse. The bottom of the food chain unless we change things!" Martin's face had become somewhat sincere now.
"NO!"
"Timmy...I want you to be in this. You're my brother, I don't..."
"No! I won't!"
"Won't be ruler? Won't make dad proud? Won't make those rats pay for how they look at mother? Have you seen how they look at her? I have. They think she's just a mouse, no matter what!"
Martin released Timothy and looked him in the eye.
"I know you're nervous, but this is bigger than you! Just say yes, no one needs to hear but me! We can tell everyone that I hit you over the head, just..."
"NO!"
Martin sighed sadly. "Well, I have to respect your opinion..." He smiled again and signalled his guards to come back into the room. "Maybe it'll change though. Put hi in the cage, boys. Maybe Justin and whatshername will see sense."
"You leave her uhnnnn..." Timothy's world faded to black with a blow to the back of is head. His insane brother faded after his last few words.
"Think about it Timmy. I'm waiting for you to say yes."