Disclaimer 1: I do not own "The Great Mouse Detective" or its characters. They are property of the Walt Disney Company, Eve Titus and their associates.
Disclaimer 2: I do not own "An American Tail" or its characters. They are property of Universal Studios, Don Bluth and their associates.
Disclaimer 3: I do not own the original idea for this story. That belongs to Masked Bard and his "Basil's American Tails" trilogy. Furthermore, credit goes to Masked Bard for inspiring me to write this fanfic.
"Basil and Nellie"
By TwlightSparkle3562
Chapter 1
"Ratigan Resurfaces"
It was 1898, exactly one year after Basil of Baker Street and his assistant, Dr. David Q. Dawson, had stopped the notorious Professor James Ratigan from attempting to overthrow the Queen of England. The two mice were hailed as heroes throughout London and were even knighted by the Queen of England. Furthermore, it was believed that Professor Ratigan was dead after falling from Big Ben clock tower while trying to kill Basil for ruining his plans.
But, it wasn't to be.
On a foggy and rainy night over 2,000 miles from London, in the United States, in New York City to be exact, everything was normal and nothing out of the ordinary. As a matter of fact, there was a sense of excitement in the air as the US President, William McMousey, was coming for a visit to speak about the labor unions in Manhattan.
For young Bridget O'Hara, wearing a yellow-green dress, nothing in the entire world would dampen her spirits. She was a beautiful young female mouse from Ireland that had been built as a fiery speaker about the ongoing battles against New York's cat population. In recent years, however, she met and fell in love with a young male mouse named Tony Toponi. After 11 years of courtship, the Italian-American mouse had just asked her for her hand in marriage. She could only ask herself who would want to take away such happiness from her.
"Hmm, it's a lot colder than normal," she said to herself in a thick Irish accent as she walked home from a union meeting. A few raindrops had also begun to fall and Bridget opened up her parasol to protect herself from the rain. "Not to mention that it is starting to rain. I only hope that Tony is patient enough for the news I am about to tell him about what President McMousey is planning to do."
As Bridget walked, a strange and hulking figure hid himself in the shadows, breathing heavily, almost like a wild animal. Bridget heard the noise and let out a sharp gasp, jumping into the air as she spun around. After she spun around, the noise stopped, but Bridget knew that she needed to be scared. This wasn't just any threat. For several years, the rise in cat attacks was increased despite the efforts of Bridget and several other speakers against cat violence. She wanted the cats to be extinct from New York City, but it wasn't going to be easy.
"Who's out there?" she cried, pointing her parasol like a spear. "Come out, I say! Whoever you are!"
There was silence, nothing after the sudden surge of noise that came from the alley. This caused Bridget to lower her guard and sigh to herself, almost as if she was hallucinating.
"Guess that I must be hearing things," Bridget remarked as she reopened her parasol. "God, it's starting to come down now. I'd better get home before my dress is ruined."
So, Bridget started to continue her trek home as it started to rain more and more. This caused Bridget to take shelter under a thrown away cardboard box until the rain stopped. About 5 minutes later, the rain let up and the fog started to close in again.
"Now then," she said to herself to no one in particular, opening her parasol again as she walked out of the box. "Shall we continue with the journey home?"
But, little did Bridget know that as she left the cardboard box, the breathing started again and as she neared her house that she shared with her fiancé, Tony Toponi. It wasn't far to go in terms of distance and Bridget was starting to become desperate, not to mention the fact that she was starting to become scared. Furthermore, the fog was growing thicker and causing the house to become engulfed in the fog.
"Almost there!" cried Bridget as she started to hike up her dress and make a break for the house before the fog got even worse. Suddenly, as she was almost home free, the cloaked figure revealed himself in the fog, causing Bridget to stop and fall into a puddle of already fallen rain. Bridget glared at the cloaked figure as it just stood there, looking down at Bridget and dumping its hideous breath onto the pretty young Irish mouse.
"Do you mind?" Bridget snapped. "How dare you stand in my way? Now, please move and let me through!"
But, the figure refused to move and the sounds of the ragged breaths continued to grow with each passing second. Bridget was starting to become even more scared, not because of the weather, but because of the figure itself.
"What do you want?" cried Bridget as the figure advanced closer and closer to her. "Go away! Are you friend or foe?"
For the first time, Bridget heard the sounds of the figure's voice which was hollow, ghostly and thin.
"Is he friend or is he foe, the pretty little mouse wonders?" hissed the figure as he grabbed Bridget's hands. "I can assure that I am no friend. I am Professor Ratigan, and I will take what should have been mine long ago!"
The cloaked figure bent down and pulled Bridget towards him, pulling her towards the cloaked face, trying to kiss her. Bridget tried screaming for help, thinking that Tony would hear her. But, she was unsuccessful and with her violent struggles against the cloaked figure, she was carried into an alleyway and was about to suffer the consequences of encountering a dark and dangerous stranger.
Meanwhile, back in London, Basil and Dr. Dawson had settled down for the night after solving another of their many cases. It was already 2:00 in the morning and the two mice had just gone to bed when a knock was heard at the door.
"Oh, what is it now?" moaned Basil as he wrestled himself out of bed. "Don't people realize that it is the middle of the night?"
Donning his robe and slippers, Basil walked to the front door of his home and opened it to reveal a mouse dressed in a gray suit and black necktie.
"Are you Basil of Baker street?" he asked, looking down at him.
"Yes," replied Basil, bitterly. "Is there something I can do for you? But, I'm warning you, if this is a ploy to wrestle me from my sleep to solve a case…"
However, before Basil could say another word, the mouse pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Basil. On the paper was a paragraph of words with a picture of Ratigan at the bottom.
"Is this some kind of joke?" muttered Basil, bitterly to the mouse as he handed him back the paper. "I can assure you that Ratigan is dead! Fell to his death from Big Ben! Good night!"
But, as Basil attempted to slam the door in the mouse's face, the mouse stopped Basil from shutting the door on him.
"Basil, let me assure that I am not here to waste your time," remarked the mouse. "I am from the United States Embassy and I have some important news for you concerning Ratigan!"
Basil was still thinking that this mouse was wasting his precious sleep time, but out of respect and of good faith, he listened to what the mouse had to say.
"What is it about Professor Ratigan?" asked Basil, impatiently. He wasn't prepared for what the mouse had to say concerning Ratigan and as the mouse spoke, Basil's thoughts of a good night's sleep went right out the window.
"Basil," he replied with a frozen look of fear on his face. "He's alive and he is in New York City."
Basil's tired eyes widened at this, for he could not believe that his archenemy was still alive after a long fall from Big Ben. Still, he knew that Ratigan was now even more dangerous than ever and who knew what Ratigan was planning to do?
Nevertheless, he and Dr. Dawson would eventually embark on another great adventure that would surpass their first case together…