"Why am I doing all the work?" Bugs complained.

"Because you've got the strength," Doc reminded him.

"You can't move a few M&M's?" Bugs asked. "They roll pretty easily."

"I have to tell you where to put them," Doc pointed out. "After all, it won't help us much if they don't spell out something."

Bugs looked at the arrangement of M&Ms on the floor, trying to figure this out. "How can they spell out anything but 'Mmmmmmmm?"

"We're not spelling out anything with the M's!" Doc sighed. "I'm positioning the candies to spell out SOS."

"You mean I'm positioning them," Bugs reminded him.

"Technically, yes," Doc agreed. "And that green one goes right over there."

Bugs proceeded to push the green M&M into the place Doc indicated.

"It's really a shame they discontinued the red ones," Doc sighed. "Those would have come in very handy in this situation."

"There," Bugs said as he placed the green M&M. "Is that enough?"

"Almost," Doc observed. "We just need two more."

Bugs looked around, panting with exhaustion. "I don't think there are any more," he said somewhat hopefully.

"Have you looked everywhere?" Doc asked.

"I looked around the water cooler, under the bench . . . " Bugs reported.

"Did you look by Doomsday's secret entrance?" Doc asked.

"That's clear on the other side of the room!" Bugs complained.

"If we don't signal the others, they won't know what happened to us!" Doc reminded him. "Do you want to spend the rest of your life living off crumbs that Doomsday puts on the floor?"

"Okay, okay," Bugs sighed as he started his journey to the other side of the room. "I'll see what I can find."

"Get the yellow and orange ones first if you can!" Doc reminded him.

Doc watched until Bugs had passed underneath the desk and out of view. He began to go over the configuration of the M&Ms again, picturing how they looked from above to ensure their message would be clear.

Suddenly the door of the C.A.P.E.R. room opened slightly. Sgt. Vinton's face appeared, looking around a moment as he murmured, "Make a fool of me, will they? We'll show them." Sgt. Vinton pulled back a moment, then reappeared, bending low as if he was setting something down.

Doc couldn't see around the desk to know what the Sergeant was doing. He didn't see any point in screaming or yelling because he knew he would never be heard, and Sgt. Vinton wasn't looking in his direction in the slightest.

"There we go," Sgt. Vinton cooed as he stood up again. "Now get those mice!" He withdrew from the room, closing the door behind him.

"Hmm, I wonder what that was all about?" Doc hummed to himself.

Doc was about to resume his calculations with the M&Ms he saw something moving between the bottom of the desk and the top of the broom across from him. A moment later the yellow striped tabby cat came around the corner and into view, casually rubbing its neck against the corner of the desk to mark its new territory.

"Oh boy," Doc sighed, trying quickly to think. He remained perfectly still . . . to give the cat a moving target would be the worst thing he could do. He knew it was only a matter of moments before the cat spotted him.

As if on cue, the cat's green eyes spotted Doc standing among the M&Ms. Its head tilted and it moved forward to investigate.

"Think fast, Doc . . . think fast!" Doc urged himself. Finally he did the only thing he could think to do . . . he fell to the floor and remained still, pretending to be dead. After all, it was supposed to work with bears. And Doc knew that cats preferred prey that moved.

It was very difficult to remain still as the cat's head pressed low over him, it's hot breath steaming down as it sniffed over its strange find. The cat really didn't know what to make of it. It batted at Doc with its paw, pushing him slightly around the floor, but not unsheathing its claws, thank goodness. Doc continued to lay perfectly still. He could tolerate a little abuse if it meant the cat would quickly lose interest.

Suddenly the cat bounded up into the air as if startled. It spun around, claws out, swiping at the floor around it, knocking the M&Ms message in all directions. Doc opened one eye and watched as the cat's attention was completely diverted from him, but he couldn't figure out what the cat was so infatuated with.

The cat leaped straight up again, then spun in a circle as if chasing its tail. Its claws were scraping on the cement floor at it went around and around. Then the cat lost track of where it was and stood, looking dizzy.

"Doc!" Bugs' voice called from somewhere nearby.

Doc sat up and looked around. Bugs suddenly appeared behind the cat and Doc realized Bugs had been running circles around the cat in fast motion to distract it.

"I thought you were dead!" Bugs cried, the worry notable in his voice.

"Watch out!" Doc called as the cat spotted Bugs and made a lunge for him. Bugs darted to the cat's other side and stopped.

"Get between the file cabinets!" Doc called as he got up and ran to the sheltering space.

Bugs picked up an M&M and threw it with all his might. It bounced off the cat's nose, making it more frustrated. The cat leapt at Bugs, barely missing him as Bugs made a dash for the file cabinets.

Doc and Bugs both ran between the file cabinets with the cat right behind them. They stumbled over each other in their scramble to get to safety and fell to the floor. The space was full of dust bunnies and they choked amidst the fluffy grey clouds around them.

The cat's face pressed against the cabinets as it meowed with irritation. "Get back!" Doc warned, as he began backing away from the opening with Bugs struggling to follow.

The cat's paw suddenly reached into the crevice and came down, its claws extended. One claw caught the leather of one of Bugs' boot spats and Bugs suddenly felt himself being jerked back toward the opening.

"Bugs!" Doc cried, and he lunged forward to grab Bugs' hands, holding on tight.

A tug of war ensued between Doc and the cat, but Doc knew it was a losing battle. There was no way he could brace himself adequately to keep the cat from dragging Bugs back out into the open. There was only one chance . . . Doc suddenly released Bugs' hands.

"Doc!" Bugs cried as he felt himself being pulled toward the cat.

Doc quickly gathered up an armful of the dust bunnies and ran forward, holding them up and blowing as hard as he could. The dust balls flew up into the cat's face, causing the cat to sneeze and shake its head. The cat huffed angrily and its claws retracted as it pulled away from the opening and sneezed vigorously.

Doc quickly grabbed Bugs and pulled him back further into the crevice where the cat couldn't reach them. "Are you okay?" Doc asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," Bugs coughed from the dust. "Thanks, Doc."

They watched as the cat continued to sneeze and paw at its face, then moved away from the opening to another part of the room.

"Of all times for Sgt. Vinton to become an animal lover!" Bugs sighed.

"Seems like a good mouser," Doc observed.

"But how are we ever going to signal the others with that cat out there?" Bugs asked.

"It's certainly a catalyst to overcome," Doc noted.

Bugs looked at Doc strangely. "Are you kidding?" Bugs asked with surprise.

"I try," Doc smiled.

"Well, this seems more like a catastrophe to me," Bugs moaned.

At that moment, Doomsday and Violet returned to the C.A.P.E.R. room.

"I wonder why Bugs isn't guarding the machine?" Doomsday wondered as he set his C.A.P.E.R. band radio on the desk

"Is it all right?" Violet asked worriedly, inspecting the machine.

"It looks okay," Doomsday assured her. Doomsday then saw the cat sitting on the bench washing its face.

"Oh, hello, kitty!" Doomsday smiled as he walked over and scratched the cat behind the ears. "What are you doing here?"

The cat meowed several times, as if complaining.

"Oh no, I completely understand," Doomsday said. He picked up the cat and carried it to the window, setting it between the bars so the cat could jump down outside. "Thanks, anyway. Bye bye!" Doomsday called after it.

"What was that about?" Violet asked.

"Sgt. Vinton put the cat in here to catch the mice, but she doesn't like our mice," Doomsday explained. "They don't play fair."

"Oh, well now isn't that just too bad?" a voice said sarcastically behind them.

Doomsday and Violet turned to see that two men wearing white suits had entered the room. "Who are you?" Doomsday asked, hurrying to Violet's side.

"I'm Bric," Bric explained.

"And I'm Brac," Brac explained.

"The Brock Boys?" Doomsday gasped. "I didn't recognize you without your white bowler hats!"

"We left them in the car!" Brac bragged. "Wasn't that clever of us? Seemed to fool the police out there, too!" He indicated the outer office.

Doc and Bugs heard the conversation and looked out from between the file cabinets. "The Brock Boys!" Doc exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" Bugs asked. "I don't recognize them without their white bowlers."

"Come on!" Doc motioned to Bugs as they hurried from their hiding place.

"Now we'll just be taking that machine," Bric announced.

"You can't take this machine!" Doomsday insisted, stepping forward to shield Violet and the machine.

"You think you can stop us?" Brac asked. "You and this scared little girl?"

"Hey, watch what you say!" Doomsday countered. "She's not a little girl! And she's not afraid of anything!"

Doc and Bugs ran into the middle of the floor, waving their arms and shouting to get Doomsday's attention. Violet happened to spot them out of the corner of her eye and then screamed.

"Mice!" she cried, clinging onto Doomsday. Doomsday stumbled back, stepping onto the handle of the broom, and he and Violet pitched backwards into the machine, hitting the red button.

There was a hum, a strange flash of light, and Doomsday and Violet felt very strange and disoriented. "What happened?" Doomsday asked.

"Oh no!" Violet cried. "We must have accidentally set off the machine!"

"Hey, look! It's a shrinking Violet!" Bugs commented as he and Doc ran toward them.

"Doc! Bugs!" Doomsday cried with surprise. "What are you doing down here?"

"More importantly, what are they doing up there?" Doc pointed.

They looked up and saw Brac Brock picking up the shrink ray machine as he and Bric Brock looked down at them, both wearing smirks of glee on their faces.

"Looks like this machine works pretty well, don't it, Brac?" Bric asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna make a fortune with it!" Brac laughed.

"You put that machine back right now!" Bugs ordered. "In the name of the law!"

"Tsk, tsk," Bric sneered, reaching down to pick up the broom. "What say we help clean up around here?"

"Don't you dare!" Doc warned, but of course there was no way of stopping them.

"Run!" Bugs warned, and they tried to get out of the way as Bric swept them all up with the broom and pushed them into the corner.

"There," Bric smiled, setting the broom against the wall and clapping his hands together with finality. "That takes care of them!"

"A clean sweep!" Brac added, and they laughed heartily as they walked out through police headquarters.

"Is everyone okay?" Doc asked as he pushed his way out from the broom's bristles.

"Violet?" Doomsday called worriedly from the spot where he was trapped in the bristles some distance above the ground. "Violet!"

"I'm okay!" Violet called, pushing her way out from within the bristles as Doc helped her.

"Those Brock Boys made fools of us!" Bugs complained, working his way from the upside down position in the bristles he had found himself.

"How will we ever get the machine back now?" Violet asked. "Without it, we'll won't be able to return to our normal sizes!"

"There's still P.T.," Doc pointed out.

Speaking of me, I was just returning to the police precinct. I hadn't seen any sign of the Brock Boys. That is until I passed a car that was pulling away from the police station with two men inside. As the car picked up speed, I just caught sight of them placing white bowlers on their heads.

"The Brock Boys!" I gasped, running after the car for a moment. I realized pretty quickly that would do no good, so I turned and ran into the police station.

Sgt. Vinton was sitting at a desk as I passed by quickly. "What's wrong, P.T.?" he asked.

I hurried into the C.A.P.E.R. room and realized at once the machine was gone. I looked around quickly and didn't see any sign of Bugs, Doomsday or Doc, but I did note that their C.A.P.E.R. band radios were all sitting on the desk. So wherever they were, I wouldn't be able to reach them.

What I unfortunately didn't notice was the four tiny figures in and around the broom in the corner desperately calling my name. "P.T.! P.T.! Down here!"

I hurried from the C.A.P.E.R. room to Sgt. Vinton's desk. "The Brock Boys stole Violet's shrink ray machine!" I informed him.

"The Brock Boys?" Sgt. Vinton scoffed. "How could the Brock Boys get in here without our noticing?"

"They weren't wearing their white bowlers," I explained.

"Those dirty cheats," Sgt. Vinton said angrily, and he picked up his telephone. "I'll issue an All Points Bulletin for them right now."

"We have to get that machine back," I said. "Do you know where Doc, Bugs and Doomsday are?"

Sgt. Vinton shook his head.

"I'll try tracking down the shrink ray machine with Seymour," I said. "He remembers distinctly what it smelled like. Walnut and chrome."

"P.T., don't go messing with the Brock Boys on your own," Sgt. Vinton warned.

"But I have to get the machine back!" I insisted. I then assured Sgt. Vinton, "I'll be careful. If the others come back, tell them to contact me on the C.A.P.E.R band."

I hurried from the station and climbed into the Big Bologna. Hopefully Seymour would be able to track down those crooks and quickly. And at that point, I wasn't even aware what was at stake!

As I was heading out after the Brock Boys, inside the C.A.P.E.R. room Doc and Violet were helping Bugs to get down from out of the broom.

"What about me?" Doomsday called down to them.

As Bugs was finally put upright on his feet, they looked up at Doomsday. He was several inches above the ground, too high for them to reach, wedged between a number of thick bristles.

"Can you work your way loose?" Doc called up.

"I can try," Doomsday said, and he began to try to work his way from between the bristles.

Violet suddenly let out with another scream.

"What was that for?" Bugs cried.

Doomsday looked down with concern, saying, "The only time I've ever heard her scream was when she thought she saw a . . . "

"Mouse!" Violet finished, pointing to the corner.

Two eyes peered out at them from between the file cabinet and the wall. Suddenly it darted at them, scurrying quickly.

"Not Mr. Whiskers again!" Bugs cried, ducking behind Violet.

They braced themselves for the mouse's assault, but at the last moment the mouse leaped above them and scurried up the broom until it reached Doomsday.

"Oh hi!" Doomsday greeted the mouse, then he called down to the others, "It's okay! This is my friend!"

"Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better," Bugs said sarcastically.

The mouse nosed his way between the bristles, giving Doomsday enough room to move more freely. The mouse suddenly bit down around the back of Doomsday's belt and lifted him up out of the bristles.

"This is very kind of you," Doomsday said. "Now just set me down next to my friends."

But suddenly the mouse ran back down the broom, dragging Doomsday with him. Without a look back, the mouse began pulling him to the dark chasm from which it had emerged.

"No, no, back there!" Doomsday said, but the mouse paid no attention, and they could just make out the mouse as it leapt over the empty cola bottle and scrambled back towards the small opening in the wall it had escaped to before.

"Doomsday!" Doc, Bugs and Violet called, and they ran after them.

"No, wait a minute!" they could hear Doomsday calling, his voice getting further and further away. "Hold it! Stop! Take me back!"

"I knew that mouse was up to no good!" Bugs said with frustration. "Now what are we going to do?"

"We have to save him!" Violet cried.

"Well, there's only one way I can see that we're going to do that," Doc stated, retrieving his flashlight from nearby and turning it on. "We're going to have to go where no man, or woman, has gone before."

"I was afraid you were going to say something like that," Bugs sighed.

*************************************************

I continued to follow the smells which Seymour was relating to me. As the Big Bologna moved through the city traffic I could tell we were getting closer. Finally the scent was the strongest it had been, so I pulled over to park.

"We're close, Mr. Featherstone," I said, unbuckling my seat belt and stepping into the back.

Mr. Featherstone, our radar specializing shark, popped up from his tank and uttered some unintelligible words.

"We just have to find out specifically where they are," I said. "From the smell, I would guess they're probably not indoors."

I raised the periscope and began to scan the neighborhood. At first I was disheartened, because I couldn't see any trace of anyone in white at all. Finally I focused further down where the street ended at a 'T' intersection two blocks away. Across the street I spotted the Brock Boys, standing outside of a store. One of them was holding the shrink ray machine.

"There they are!" I stated. "Standing outside that Fence Store." I thought about this. A fence store? I studied the windows of the establishment, which displayed with all manner of fences; wood fences, chain link fences, the works. I looked over the various signs hanging out front, one of which read, "We handle all your fencing needs - wink, wink."

"Hmm, what a way to front a fencing operation!" I stated. "With a fence store!"

Mr. Featherstone mumbled his concurrence.

I also noted a sign on the door which showed a clock face and read, "Back in 20 minutes."

"Undoubtedly they plan on selling the machine there," I sighed, lowering the periscope. "If only the others were here."

Mr. Featherstone made more sounds.

"I don't know where they are," I sighed. "But it would be horrible if that machine were to fall into the wrong hands! No telling what kind of unscrupulous characters hang around a place like that."

***********************************************

Things were looking black for Doc, Bugs and Violet. That's because they had finally made their way around the Coke bottle and were entering the small opening in the back corner of the room, cautiously stepping into the narrow space between the brick walls.

"Which way do we go?" Bugs asked.

Doc shined his flashlight down each of the three directional choices which spanned out from the T-bone intersection the walls created. "I think we should try going this way first," Doc suggested. "We know that these two walls end in door jams pretty quickly. And there isn't as much dust and debris this way. It stands to reason that this direction sees more traffic in general."

Slowly they made their way down the eerie corridor. Doc continuously shined the flashlight around them, searching for any sign of movement.

"You know, you really ought to design a safety catch for that shrink ray of yours," Bugs told Violet as he kept a lookout behind them, "I mean, if it hadn't been so easy to trigger, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Bugs!" Doc said sharply.

"Well, it's true!" Bugs cried defensively.

"I didn't mean you, Bugs," Doc explained, pointing to a spot ahead of them. "I meant those bugs!"

In the small beam of light they could see their path was blocked by countless writhing, multi-legged shadows. Each one was about the size of a sheep to them.

"Cockroaches," Doc observed calmly. "Seems to be a colony of them."

"So Doomsday's free mouse lunches are attracting cockroaches, too?" Bugs sighed. "Now what do we do?"

"Well, we have to get past them," Doc said.

"How?" Violet asked nervously.

After a moment of silence, Bugs realized Doc was looking at him. "What?" Bugs asked.

"You're the great exterminator," Doc reminded him. "Surely you can take care of a few bugs, Bugs?"

Bugs crossed his arms in defiance. "Give me a broom and make me about five feet taller and we'll talk!"

"Please, Bugs!" Violet pleaded. "Doomsday needs our help!"

Bugs hesitated, then sighed with resignation. "But what if they try to eat me?"

"I hardly think they'll try to eat you," Doc insisted, handing Bugs the flashlight. "They only eat garbage and refuse and . . . " Doc looked uncertain. "Well, maybe they aren't hungry."

Bugs took a moment to steel himself, then began walking toward the group of huge insects. "Okay, listen up!" he said. "We've got to get through here, so you cockroaches stand aside or else!"

Much to their amazement, the cockroaches seemed to scurry aside the moment Bugs approached. Bugs turned to look back at the others and speculated, "Maybe they don't like the light? Like when you turn on a lamp in a room and the cockroaches scatter?"

"They didn't scatter when I shined the light on them before," Doc observed as he and Violet joined him.

Bugs continued to walk through the cockroaches, which moved aside en masse as soon as approached. Doc and Violet stayed close behind and could hear the cockroaches scurrying back into place as soon as they'd passed.

"You know what it is?" Doc realized as they made their way through the last of the giant insects. "It's your cologne! It must contain the same chemicals they use in cockroach repellent."

"Eau de Raid," Violet agreed. "That is what it smells like."

Bugs turned to them and gave the flashlight back to Doc as he snapped, "You know, this is starting to get insulting! I'm not going to stand for it, you know! I'll file an official complaint with the department! I'll go on strike! I'll take this to Capital Hill!"

"Oh Bugs, don't get carried away," Doc sighed.

They were surprised when Bugs suddenly rose up into the air and hung before them. Then he started to float away from them.

"You were saying?" Bugs asked.

Doc raised the flashlight beam over Bugs' shoulder and they could see the light reflect in the dark eyes of the mouse which had grabbed Bugs by his belt and was now backing away with him.

"Oh no, Doc!" Violet cried as she grabbed onto Doc's arm. "We'll be next!"

"I seriously doubt it," Doc assured her.

"Why?" Violet asked.

"Because we're not wearing belts!" Doc pointed out.

"Are you guys going to follow us or what?" Bugs called from the darkness.

"Are you still going on strike?" Doc called after him.

"No!" Bugs shouted.

"Okay, we're coming!" Doc said, and he and Violet hurried to try keep up with the mouse.