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, and this disclaimer remains intact.
Flushed Away: What if…?
Part Four
To say Spike felt insecure about his current situation would have been an understatement. He was sat on an electric whisk, braving crosscurrents, eddies and gravity itself, secured to dry land only by the most flimsy of ropes. He wasn't even sure it was rope, judging by the way it kept on stretching and creaking. It was more like sodden wool.
"Careful Spike." Came the voice of Whitey from in front, "Don't look down."
Of course, the first thing Spike then did was look down – not so much at the water under and all around him, churning and rolling, but down the tunnel to the huge, raging waterfall that would mark a short tumble to a long demise.
Gulping loudly, although still barely audible over the roar of the water, Spike steeled himself and decided to just go for it.
Whitey and the other henchrats were mere centimetres away now, having boarded the Jammy Dodger before him. Thimblenose Ted had gone first, securing that frail-looking line between good, solid ground and the rocking, unstable deck of the Dodger.
He didn't really want to be there, but he couldn't lose face in front of the others. He had opted for Whitey and himself to stay ashore and keep the line secured. But, the large ex-lab rat had wanted to be part of the boarding. If he'd stayed alone then it would've looked like he'd bottled it. And he couldn't press the issue too much or they'd think him a coward. That was the last thing he wanted.
So, there he was, clinging onto the whisk with one hand and the guide-line with the other.
"Have you found anything yet?" he called across the ever-decreasing void between whisk and boat, trying to take his mind well and truly off his current situation.
"Nothing yet!" Whitey called back, "It looks like she abandoned ship!"
Spike would have pondered that for a moment, had his own vessel not collided with the boat, sending him flying forwards. Luckily the deck of the Dodger was there to catch him, even if it was hard and abrasive. It was a lucky escape, if a little undignified.
"Where's she gone?" Spike demanded, "She can't have gone far. Are you sure you searched everywhere?"
"We've all but turned the boat inside out," Fat Barry answered, somewhat of a rarity for the second largest rat of the group, "She ain't 'ere."
"Well, where is she then? She didn't just vanish into thin air!"
"There's only one place she could have gone." Ted spoke up matter-of-factly, emerging from the lower deck.
"Where?!"
Ted's answer was the simple pointing of a finger.
The entire quintet followed his gaze. The waterfall.
The collective gulp managed to drown out the sound of the water, if only for a moment…
Rita's fist collided with Roddy's face with a dull thud, sending him flailing backwards off the hearth. He hit the carpet with a loud grunt.
"Good grief!" He collected himself, clambering quickly back to his feet, "You try to do somebody a favour and- Ow!" he was cut short by a small chunk of pseudo-coal hitting him on the side of the head. He went tumbling, ending up under the bed.
"A favour?!" Rita cried in outrage, picking up another piece of coal a little larger than the first and leaping down onto the floor to give chase, "That ruby was from Queen Elizabeth's crown!"
Roddy ducked further under the bed, trying to seek refuge. Rita simply followed him, chasing him to all the way back to one of the legs.
"It fell down the drains of Buckingham Palace!" She let the chunk fly, narrowly missing his head.
"Well," he ducked behind the leg as she retrieved the missed shot, grinning sheepishly, "Maybe the Queen wears fake jewellery?"
"Keep still!" Rita screamed at him, enraged, throwing the coal at him even as he ducked back behind the leg again.
Roddy kept his eyes closely on her, dodging behind the leg as she tried to round it in an attempt to get him. She didn't even try to retrieve the coal this time, simply giving chase.
"Can't we just talk about this?" Roddy pleaded, somehow managing to keep the leg post between himself and this crazed woman.
"Real or not, that ruby was going to change my life!"
Roddy cowered behind the thick wooden leg, closing his eyes and covering his head with his arms to shield himself. To his surprise the expected onslaught never came.
Opening an eye and looking around, Roddy realised that he couldn't see Rita at all. Deciding to brave it, he let his hands fall to his side and rose to his feet, daring to peer around the leg. Rita was sat leaning against the wall at the head of the bed, head in her hand, looking somewhat deflated.
"Rita?" He asked, approaching cautiously.
"Just go away, please." She rubbed the bridge of her nose.
Roddy considered pointing out that this was his home. He couldn't exactly just leave it. But seeing Rita before him, he thought better of it, "Um… I'm sorry." He apologised gently.
Rita scoffed, "Sorry?" she looked up at him, climbing to her feet, "Me and my dad worked the drains for years. He broke every bone in his body trying to get that ruby. It was going to be the answer to all our prayers," she sighed, rising to her feet, "And now, look at it." She gestured towards the small pile of glass on the marble hearth; all that was left of the valued gem.
Roddy thought for a moment, "Well, maybe I can make it up to you?"
"Get stuffed." She replied, walking away from Roddy, her back to him.
"No, no, no." He followed her, trotting to keep up and block her path, "I mean it."
Rita stopped in her tracks, eying him suspiciously, trying to figure him out.
"See, we have this jewellery box," he moved out from under the bed, Rita following without really thinking about it. Roddy gestured up onto at a mirrored vanity table, "It's just crammed with rubies and diamonds. Real ones. I'm sure one of those would be more than an adequate replacement for your ruby." His eyes darted back over to the fireplace, surveying the little pile once more. Guilt rose deep in the pit of his stomach, even if it had only been an accident.
Rita looked from Roddy to the jewellery box and back again. She sighed heavily, as if conflicted, "How do I know this ain't just a load of old rubbish?"
"Well," Roddy tried to smile sweetly, "I suppose you'll just have to trust me."
Rita's eyes narrowed, trying to size him up. What did he have to gain from simply giving her the gems? Unless he felt guilt for the loss of the original, or was just being genuinely kind… After all, what use did a pampered house pet have for rubies and diamonds anyway? They held no value for him. All his needs were taken care of by his owners. He'd never go wanting,
"I must be out of my mind." Rita shook her head with a quiet sigh, then looked Roddy straight in the eye, "Alright, you've got yourself a deal."
"I must be out of my mind." Spike shook his head, drawing the only likely conclusion for his current situation. He was hanging from a rope – dangling, to be precise - suspended high above the fathomless depths of the water treatment cistern.
His four co-workers were in much the same situation, not that it seemed to phase them any. Somehow, after several failed attempts and a couple of near falls, the quintet had managed to fix up a line from the Jammy Dodger to the mouth of the tunnel. They'd then been able to lasso a further line around one of the higher located horizontal cross-pipes.
Spike couldn't recall exactly how they'd managed it, but it had worked, because here they were now, suspended high in mid air.
"Can you reach it, Spike?" Whitey called from somewhere behind him.
The larger rat had been pushing Spike backwards and forwards, swinging him in the direction of a walkway located along one of the walls. If he could grab it then they'd be able to find a way out, with any luck.
His fingers brushed against the cold steel handrail, slipping away as gravity pulled him back down.
"You need to push harder." Spike suggested as Whitey pushed him off again.
This time Spike managed to wrap his fingers around the rail, but the steam in the air had made it slippery. He lost his grip, again swinging back down.
"One more try!" He called back.
"Push him as hard as you can." Thimblenose Ted suggested.
With a loud grunt, Spike found himself flung back towards the wall much faster than any of the previous times. In fact, far too quickly…
"Aaaaah!" He cried out, grasping for the rail to try and stop himself. Unfortunately, his grip failed him yet again.
Thunk!
"Ow." He muffled in pain against the wall.
Trying to regain some composure, Spike peeled himself off the wall and set his feet down on the hatched mesh of the walkway. The old structure creaked, as if it hadn't been put under any stress in a long, long time. The bolts which held it to the wall, Spike had only just noticed, seemed more rusted than they ought to be.
"Spike, throw us a line!" Whitey called, jarring Spike back to reality.
One of his colleagues had untied the other end of his rope, the end that had held him suspended. Or, at least he hoped they had.
Shaking off a brief shiver that tried to run down his spine, Spike coiled up the rope, ready to throw it back out to the others in a moment. First, he untied the end that he was attached to, securing it around the handrail with a firm knot.
"You lot ready?" He called out to the others. A few nods said yes, so Spike let it fly. Catching it first time, they began reeling themselves in by pulling on it.
The walkway let out a loud groan of protest against the added stress, clearly neither used to nor wanting to be disturbed like this. Each tug of the rope seemed to sway the apparently fragile support a little bit more until the bolts themselves seemed to move.
Soon enough all five rats were standing on the small elevation, the walkway giving up it's protests and accepting the fact that it was being used again.
Spike breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing the sweat from his brow.
"What now?" Ted asked.
He had a point.
"Um…" Spike's hesitation lasted only a moment, "Look for a door, or a loose panel. Something… Anything."
They each took a step in different directions, eager to find a way out of the vertigo-inducing tower. The walkway gave out a loud groan and an unstable shudder.
"Easy does it." Spike warned, talking as much to the walkway itself as the other henchrats. Too much bouncing from their footfalls and it would be a long fall to a bleach-filled future. That thought, along with the strong smell of chlorine in the air, were enough to prompt Spike to tread carefully. He could only hope the others would get the idea too.
"Hey, Spike," Whitey called him over, "I think I found one."
His back to the wall, as if walking on a cliff edge, the smallest rat of the group worked his way over to the largest.
"I think this panel's loose." Whitey told him, taking the time to push on the panel a couple of times. Spike couldn't tell if any motion he saw was a result of the section of wall moving, or the walkway beneath their feet.
"See if you can get it off." He instructed, eager to get off the walkway.
It wouldn't hold forever.
There was a loud creak as the hinges on the antique jewellery box opened, letting light into the dark stained box, illuminating the precious contents inside.
"Ta-da!" Roddy presented, "As promised, the Kensington jewels."
Rita looked on at them, awestruck. When she and her dad had found the original ruby the sight had been impressive enough. And the value of it was almost unimaginable, at least for them. It would have given her family enough money to live comfortably for many years to come.
But the collection before her now was totally mind-blowing. There were more gems there than she'd know what to do with. And more than enough wealth to keep her family going indefinitely, no doubt for a generation or two to come. Heck, the whole of Ratropolis could probably have lived off them!
Roddy reached in, picking up a large ruby and presenting it to her, "A genuine star-cut ruby."
"It's just beautiful." Rita gasped in wonderment. As fantastic as the original had been, this one was even more spectacular.
"And the best part?" Roddy banged it against the open lip of the jewellery box for emphasis, smiling warmly, "Unbreakable." He held it out to her.
Slowly, carefully, as if it were actually brittle or delicate despite Roddy's demonstration, Rita reached out and accepted it. It was heavier than the first one had been. It was smoother to the touch too. And the fact that she was actually holding it - the future for both herself and her family - took her breath away.
"I don't know what to say…" she confessed. But a voice in her head still nagged at her, "But why?"
"Because," Roddy explained, "A gentleman always repays his debts. Especially to a lady."
Even if she does attack you with coal, he added as an afterthought.
Rita was amazed that a total stranger would do such a thing. She couldn't get her head around it. Maybe she'd misjudged him?
A soft smile washed over her, taking Roddy by surprise. He hadn't seen her smile. It seemed to defrost the icy persona that she'd been displaying to him so far.
"Thank you." She said gently, barely audible.
"You're welcome." Roddy replied warmly.
"Well," Rita shrugged, "I s'pose I best be off." That had been the deal after all.
She heard Roddy say goodbye as she turned her back, hopping down from the vanity table with ease. She stashed the ruby in her back pocket, briefly turning her head to look back up at Roddy. He watched her closely as she walked out of the door.
Roddy sighed, the silence once again permeating the house. Maybe he should have offered to let her stay a bit, maybe grab something to eat? After all, the journey back to her world in the sewers could well have been a very long one for all he knew.
"Too late now, old chap." He sighed to himself, "She's long-"
His thoughts were interrupted by the creaking of a door. The front door.
Roddy's eyes went wide with alarm, realising it must have been Rita who opened it. His family weren't due back for a few days.
"Rita!" He yelled with a start, climbing down as quickly as he could and giving chase, "Rita!"
Entering the hallway, he saw that the front door was indeed slightly ajar, just wide enough for a mouse to sneak out of.
"Rita!" He called again, grabbing the edge of the door and pulling as he stepped out onto the top doorstep. Frantically, he looked around to see if he could see her.
Sure enough, there she was, hopping down the bottom step.
"Rita!" he shouted, this time getting her attention.
She twisted her head around, seeing Roddy standing by the door. She turned around to face him, a puzzled expression on her face.
With a sigh of relief, Roddy quickly bounded down to where she was, grabbing her by the arm, trying to tug her back up into the house, "Quick, come with me!"
"Roddy, what are you doing?" She demanded, resisting his pulls. Had he gone crazy?
"You don't understand," His eyes pleaded with her, "It's not safe out here. There's a-"
"Meow."
They both turned to look. There, overshadowing the two mice, was a rather large black and white moggie. She eyed the rodent pair, hungrily licking her lips. She bared her teeth in a Cheshire-cat-like grin.
"-cat…" Roddy finished.
"Uh-oh…"
"Um…" Roddy looked up at the towering feline, grinning sheepishly, "Hello."
"Meow…" The cat tilted her head in response.
"Roddy," Rita whispered out of the side of her mouth.
"Yes?"
"Run!" She grabbed his arm, dragging him along behind her, taking off down the base of garden walls that ran all the way down the street.
The cat looked startled for a moment, but it soon passed. Lunch was getting away. She coiled up her hind legs, then sprang into action, giving chase. Roddy couldn't help but look back, and he nearly tripped over his own feet in the process, the only thing keeping him upright was the fact that Rita had him by the arm.
He couldn't help but notice they were running away from the house, "Where are you taking us?!"
"Just trust me!" She yelled back, not even turning her head.
"Ok…" He said reluctantly, looking back. The moggie was gaining.
"Jump!" Rita's voice pulled him back.
"Wha-?" He gasped, looking forwards again just in time to see the curb ahead.
"Jump!" Rita shouted again.
She released Roddy's arm, and he saw her speed up, leaping off the edge of the pavement and onto the road. When he didn't see her reappear, but heard a splash instead, he realised just where they were heading.
"Woah, woah, woah!" He yelped, skidding to a halt, only just avoiding going over the edge. He teetered on the edge for a moment, almost comically. Sure enough, there was a drainage grate just in front of him.
"The sewers?!"
"Meow." He heard behind him.
Roddy twisted on his feet just in time to see the cat, "Yargh!" he screamed, losing his balance and falling backwards through the grate.
The cat became a silhouette against the bright daylight above. There was a splash, followed closely by a sinking sensation. As he looked up, the daylight seemed to fade completely.
Was this it?
End of Part Four
So many ideas, such a small vocabulary. Still, I think I finally have this story laid out exactly in my mind from start to finish. Which means I will actually complete it.
Thanks for reading. I hope you'll leave a review. All advice or encouragement is always welcome.
As always, stick around. The next chapter isn't too far away.
Thanks for reading.