systemcat: Yep, that is the canon Harold. Helena was a bit harder; she's G2 from Inspector Gadget 2, but I renamed her here. They'll appear soon in RI, and their relation to Hymie will be touched on.
I could see why you'd guess that, but I already made Brenda the Drosselmeier counterpart.
Hope you all enjoy!
Friday, December 19, 2087
W.O.M.P. HQ, London Branch, London, England
It had been a long day for Inspector Prince. While the last few missions she had gone on had been fruitful in shutting down Charybdis operations, that also meant that there was a lot of paperwork in it for her.
She had been sitting at her desk, writing report after report, and then checking report after report, making sure they would be ready when she finally turned them in to the C.I.A. branch of the building. It had gotten to the point where she was certain that if she even had to look at the words "report," "file," or "protocol," she was going to scream.
Thankfully, the torture was just about done and she had started printing off the near mountain of her work. As she watched the printer work, she chuckled to herself, glad that she wasn't going to have to head down to the mad-house of a printing room to get this all done.
She leaned back and took a sip of her coffee when Data rushed in, with Scooter closer behind her. "Mama! Mama! You have to see this!" Data exclaimed, rushing past Prince and logging on to the computer.
Prince gave a smile. "See what? What's going on?"
"One of Miss Penny's friends started telling this story, and it's been streamed to the blog she and her friends run," Scooter explained. "It's been getting quite a bit of attention as of late."
"And we're in it!" Data said with excitement. "You've already appeared, and Scooter and I are just about to come on! I've got to log on."
"Oh, I've appeared?" Prince asked with a laugh.
"Yep," Scooter replied. "You're the Sugarplum Fairy. At least, that's what some of the commenters are guessing."
That response really confused Prince. "The Sugarplum Fairy?"
"You'll see what we mean in a moment," Scooter said, giving a shrug."
"Oh! We're on! We're on!" Data exclaimed.
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
The building that John, Heatherdown, and the two wind-up soldiers hurried into wasn't very large, and as a result, it didn't take them long to find the room they were looking for. It was guarded by another wind-up, though he was older than the other two.
"Prince John!" the wind-up guard said with a salute. "It is good to see you safe."
"It is good to see you two, Sargent Hymie," John replied. "However, we are in a hurry. We must speak with Miss Data and Miss Scooter as soon as possible."
"Of course, your highness," Hymie replied, moving aside so that the Prince and his entourage could enter.
Inside were another two sets of wind-ups who looked incredibly like Fidget and Digit. The had been left to rest in the room, though they were far too concerned to just wait. When they saw their visitors, however, they cheered up considerably.
"Cousins!" Data exclaimed, hurrying over to embrace first Fidget, then Digit. "Thank heavens you're alright. We had become worried that the rats got to you."
"Oh, you know they couldn't take us that easily," Digit replied with a laugh.
Turning to the prince, the two wind-ups curtsied. "Your highness, it is good to see you, too. Is the princess alright?"
"Penelope is as fine as I am," John replied, motioning towards his wooden frame. "But what about the Sugarplum Fairy? Where is she? What has happened to her?"
"Oh, your highness, it was horrible," Data replied. "The rats just invaded the castle! We did everything we could to hold them back, but their numbers and magic were too strong!"
"The Fairy did her best to drive them off," Scooter added, "but we suspect the Rat King was prepared for her. Nearly as soon as the invasion started, she was struck with a spell that made it painful for her to use her magic."
"Using the last of her strength, she sent off one last spell," Data said, "and after that, she passed out. It wasn't long after that when the rats made it to us. It's a miracle we survived it. Please tell me you're looking for a way to rescue her."
Prince John nodded. "Indeed. Her, and the rest of the kingdom. There's no way we're backing down from a challenge like this."
His face then softened. "Don't worry. You two rest and recover. We'll find a way to save her. You have my word on it."
…
That entire afternoon, the Rat Prince had sat in wait for his spy to return. He was eager to charge into the village, but he'd need to know the weakness of the hideout first.
It was drawing close to evening, and the end of the Rat Prince's patience, when he finally heard the call. "Sire! Sire! I found it!" There, coming in close, was Chameleon, swiftly changing back into his human form.
"Quiet, you!" the prince hissed, grabbing his underling by the throat. "Do you want them to know we're out here?"
"Sorry, boss," Chameleon gulped. "I did it, though. I found where you can get in!"
"And where would that be?" the prince asked.
"There's an area in the wall where the ground is softer than elsewhere, even under all this snow," his lackey replied. "If you dig there, the whole structure would collapse."
"Excellent," the Rat Prince said, giving a grin that under any other circumstance would have been charming. "Round up the troops. I want them to be ready to attack right now. We have the nutcrackers surrounded, and I won't leave this place without the Princess Penelope."
"Right, of course, sir," the Chameleon replied, giving a hasty salute. "I'll get them right away!"
With a flick of his wrist, the Prince tossed him backwards. Without waiting for a moment, the underling hurried off, quick to spread the word that the prince wanted to mobilize an attack and for right now. Every rat worth his or her salt moved, well aware of the consequences of displeasing the prince.
As his armies gathered together, the Rat Prince a cruel grin before taking his own rat-monster form to lead the charge. Tonight, the smell of battle was on the wind, and the rats were eager to meet it.
…
The training session that Penelope had arranged had gone on well into the evening. It soon became clear to William that he was a little bit at a disadvantage. All of the others there, having had to live through attacks and battles, were already used to their weapons and rather good with them. At the same time, he had come from a more peaceful background, and was thus floundering around when dealing with the swords and axes that were available. However, he was not about to let his lack of confidence in his abilities show, especially with the Princess watching him.
Still, despite his valiant efforts to hide his difficulties, she still noticed his struggle. "You're not used to these, are you?" she asked.
William felt a blush creep up over his face when he heard her ask. "N-no, I've never had the opportunity before."
"Perhaps you might do a bit better with this, then." Penelope reached into her workbench and pulled out what looked like a small flintlock gun, though there were parts of it that still looked different. "I've been working on this for a while. It was going to be my personal weapon, but I can't use it now." She gave a small smile as she held up her mitten shaped hands. "No fingers. Since you've already shown you have pretty good aim, maybe it will work for you."
William took the weapon and examined it. Despite being based on a flintlock, there was a small chamber in the side of the weapon, probably for loading the ammo. The whole thing was made of a reddish metal that he couldn't identify, except for the polished wooden handle that had images of leaves carved into it. "It's beautiful."
"Thank you, but I'd be more concerned with if it's functional," she replied with a laugh. "Here, it's already loaded. Just pull back on the lock, aim, and fire. You can aim at that feed bag over there." She motioned to a bag positioned on the other side of the room with a crudely drawn rat on it.
Seeing the target, he nodded. Prepping the gun, he took aim and fired. As he expected, there was an amount of kickback, but not nearly the amount he thought there would be. The bullet sailed through air and struck the feedbag, hitting the painted rat in its stomach. A small hole appeared and some of the oats started to pour out of the opening.
"Nice shot!" Penelope congratulated. "Right on target!"
"I was actually aiming for the head…" William replied, blushing slightly.
Penelope waved his modesty off. "Had we been under attack, that would have done very well." She picked up the holster and belt and handed it to him. "Hold onto that. There may come a time very soon when you'll need to use it."
"Penelope, we might have a problem," Bridgette called out.
Hearing the call, the princess hurried over, accompanied by her other companions. "What is it?" she asked.
"It sounds like fighting," Bridgette said. "Lincoln went up to check the area out, just to be sure, but-"
"It's the rats!" Lincoln's voice carried down to those who were still in the bunker. "I don't know how they got in, but there's full on fighting in the streets!"
"Looks like we'll need to use these sooner than I thought," Penelope commented. She snatched up her own weapon, a rapier, which had been lying on the table. "Come on, there's only one way out here, and we don't very well want them cornering us in here."
The others nodded, snatching up their own weapons and hurrying up as she spoke. When they arrived outside, they could see just what had happened. The tunneling the rats did at the wall caused an entire section to collapse, allowing the monsters to flood in through the hole. Those who were unable to fight had been forced to flee, and those who could fight had already sprang to arms.
In an instant, the kids were forced to as well, as they were immediately sprung upon. Penelope especially seemed to attract attention, though the rats weren't picky as to who they battled with.
On the other side of the village, the Prince was hard at battle, too. He had his own broadsword at hand, and Heatherdown was by his side, her rifle at the ready. The two of them had been preparing to gather together a troop to take to rush the rats' fortress when the attack had occurred. In an instant, all thoughts of plans and preparation were tossed out the window.
"How'd they all get here so fast?" Heatherdown asked as she paused to reload her weapon.
"There must have been some weakness in the defenses!" Gadget replied. He clashed swords with a rat before successfully disarming his opponent and kicking him in the gut. "We'll have to pull a retreat!"
Heatherdown nodded, but before she could reply verbally, she was forced to pick up her weapon and aim for a rat sharpshooter, who had been aiming at the prince. The enemy dropped in a moment.
"Good idea," she agreed when she had a moment. "We'll have to find the princess and get the two of you out of here."
"Get Penelope out," Gadget corrected. "I need to stay back here and make sure the rest of the troops make it out."
"But your highness," she tried to argue, but she was cut off.
"Don't argue with me!" he snapped back. "It is of utmost importance that she makes it out, but I need to lead the rest of the troops!"
"Of course, sir," Heatherdown replied, though it was clear she wasn't happy with her orders. "Now, where is she?"
"She should be…" John started, but he trailed off when he caught sight of Penelope, locked in battle herself. She had her rapier in one hand, and her book in the other, and she was fighting hard against the Rat Prince, who was himself armed with a scythe.
"No!" The nutcracker prince kicked out, sending a rat flying as he hurried over to try to rescue his niece from her attacker. Heather hurried behind him, struggling to keep up with him.
At the same time, Penelope was well aware of the danger she was in. In the chaos of the battle, she had gotten separated from the other kids, who were all in struggles of their own. As a result, she knew she could not depend on anyone hurrying over to her rescue.
She had only been able to dodge a swipe from the Rat Prince's scythe by mere inches. Spinning around, she was about to provide a counter swing with her rapier. There was a clang as metal hit metal, and she was face to face with her foe.
"Little princess is all alone out here, is she?" the Rat Prince mocked as faced her. "No uncles or giants here to rescue you this time, sweetie."
Penelope didn't bother to respond. Maneuvering backwards, she sought out any route that might give her the upper hand in the battle. However, everything was in chaos, and the Rat Prince had no intention of letting up in his stream of attacks. She would just have to keep working to keep out of his reach until she received an opening of attack.
The nutcracker princess was doing a good job of holding her own against her enemy, but that didn't do much to comfort her uncle. He struggled to get through the battlefield to her side, where he hoped he could defend her from the enemy.
Unfortunately for him, his earnest rush to get by her side also meant he wasn't paying attention to what was happening in the battle around him. As he struggled to get closer, he was forced to dodge into a hut that had been set aflame. Once he was through it, he would be right by his niece's side.
"Penelope!" he called out as he made it near the exit of the hut, Heatherdown right behind him.
"Uncle John?" Penelope responded, turning for a moment to see him.
"Penelope, I'll be there in a-!" he stated, but he was cut off as the hut he was in started to collapse. Burned through timbers collapsed down, burying John and Heatherdown where they stood.
The moment Penelope saw this, a panic overtook her. "Uncle John! No!" she cried out. Breaking away from her battle, she attempted to make her way over the smoldering wreckage to rescue them.
Unfortunately for her, that gave the Rat Prince the opportunity he needed. Swinging out with the handle of his scythe, he hit her hard in the back, knocking her on her stomach. While she was in this prone position, he hit her right in the head with a sleep spell. She went down in a moment, allowing the villain to take his prize.
"We have the princess, and the nutcracker is no more!" the Rat Prince called out. "Return to the palace!"
With a roar, the rats let out a cheer before hurrying away. The battle had been won for them, with their most dangerous foe in splinters and the second most dangerous a hostage. Nothing more had been left for them in the little village that had not already been destroyed or swiped. All was finished in the battle, and it seemed that, perhaps, the war had been won as well.
…
What remained of the resistance after the sudden raid of the rats did what they could to salvage what supplies were left. It wasn't looking good, though. The princess was captive, along with a good portion of the village. Only Fidget, Digit, their cousins, Brain, and the family of wind-up soldiers were left, all others slain or captive.
Out of respect for the dead, the eight went to work at finding the bodies of the slain and laying them to rest. It was long, hard work, but they went at it as best they could.
When the work was near finished, Fidget was working at moving away the wreckage of the burnt out hut that had collapsed on John and Heatherdown. He wasn't looking forward to unearthing their remains, but still felt it best that they be recovered and buried properly.
When he came upon them, however, he was given quite a shock. "Hey! Hey come over here! I've found the prince and Heatherdown! I think they're still alive!"
"What? They're still alive!" Digit cried, and he hurried over to help his brother out. The others came as well, almost not daring to hope that they could be correct, but still holding out that, perhaps, beyond all expectation, their prince could still be alive. If he was still alive, then so too was hope.
…
When the building had come down on the two of them, John had realized in a moment what was happening. In that moment, a conflict had occurred and he froze, the desire to save his niece from the foe before he and the urge for survival splitting him in two. It had been Heatherdown, who sprang forward in an attempt to get him out of the way of the rubble, who shook him back to his sense.
By that time, however, it was too late for escape. In a moment of desperation, he pushed her in the direction of a small alcove and covering over the entrance of the divot with his body. It was here that, for once, the curse became a benefit. Had he been of flesh and blood, the falling rubble would have killed him then and there, but his hardwood body was capable of taking on the trauma of the collapse. At first, he was worried that fire might have spread down, but they were too far down for it to reach, so for the time, the two of them were safe.
Unfortunately, that was where their luck ended. While he was durable enough to take the blows, he was not strong enough to move the encapsulating debris off of himself, which meant that, for the time being, John and Heatherdown were trapped.
"Are you alright?" John asked when he realized he couldn't move.
"As I could be, considering the circumstances." Heatherdown was hunched over in her hiding place, her weapon long lost. She had just enough room to roll over, but not much more. "How about you?"
"I've been better," he replied. "I'm kind of stuck, though."
"Let me see if there's anything I can do." Heatherdown reached around her prison, trying to feel for something that might allow her to get some of the debris off of him. Unfortunately, there was hardly any room for her alone, and there was nothing that they could use to get free.
They were forced to sit and wait, unhappy about their circumstances but helpless to do anything about it. After what seemed like ages, however, signs of rescue came. There was a scraping sound, like someone pushing boards off of them. "Hey!" Heatherdown called out. "We're down here! Please, help!"
"We're trapped!" John added.
Near immediately, the heard Fidget's voice, though it was somewhat muffled by the remaining debris. "Hey! Hey come over here! I've found the prince and Heatherdown! I think they're still alive!" Excitement filled the two captives as they realized that he was calling help over. They would be out soon.
…
By the end of the attack, William was not sure what to make of his surroundings. It was clear that the battle was not turning in their favor, and even though he was able to defend himself using the gun Penelope had given him, he was still feeling overwhelmed by it all.
After a few moments of the battle, he found himself surrounded by people he didn't recognize. It wasn't too hard to tell friend from foe, but still, the fact that none of his allies were familiar was rather disconcerting. He turned this way and that, pausing every few minutes to reload his weapon and fire, but his priority was finding some ally that he knew.
He soon got his wish, but not in the way he had wanted. As he was fighting, there came a great cry from the rats, and for a split second, William looked to see what had happened. He was not pleased by what he saw.
At one side of the battlefield, the Rat Prince had called out the victory for his side. The other kids were unconscious captives, including Penelope, who now dangled from the Rat Prince's clutches. Prince John or anyone from his team were nowhere to be seen, and it was clear that the battle had gone badly for John's side.
William had only a moment to process this, though, as in a moment, he was shoved down by several of the rat soldiers. He was only able to avoid being slaughtered by laying still and hoping the rats didn't trample him.
Once they were gone, though, the boy pushed himself back up. The princess was hostage, the true prince nowhere to be seen, and he, a foreigner from another world, was all that was left. "Penelope's in danger now, and I'm the only one who can help her." He bit his lip, afraid of what he knew he had to do, but willing to do it anyway.
Pleased to find that he still had the gun and that his ammo bag was still three quarter full, he moved away from the former battlefield, not noticing the wind-up soldiers going about their job. He turned his attention to the matter at hand, especially the first act. He'd need to find out where the rat army had gotten to.
Thankfully, that particular duty proved easy. The rats had not bothered to cover their tracks as they fled, so it wasn't long before William caught sight of their retreating forms.
His luck, unfortunately, ran out there, as the army was still on the move. He was forced to run to catch up with them, and even still, it was a full hour and half before they stopped to set up camp.
When he had finally reached the outskirts of the camp, William's mind raced to figure out something to do. He was going to have to get in there somehow if he was even going to have a remote chance of rescuing Penelope. Thus, he'd need to convince the rats he was one of them, at least for a little while.
To his relief, most of the rats were lounging around in human form, meaning he wouldn't have to convince them he was another species. Still, as long as he was wearing a soldier's uniform, the plan would never work.
He stripped off the coat, which would have been the most obvious giveaway. Tearing it to shreds, he rubbed it in the mud to further disguise the color and wrapped the cloth pieces around the gun so that the carvings wouldn't show. He then preceded to rub mud on himself, focusing heavily on his face, glasses, and shirt, to give the appearance that he hadn't washed in ages. He would have ditched his glasses as well, but he wouldn't have been able to see for a foot in front of him if he did that, so he just had to hold his breath and hope that no one noticed them if they were dirtied.
Hoping upon hope that this disguise would be enough, he crept into the rat's camp. He tried to be both quiet and casual, so as not to look suspicious or attract attention to himself. It appeared to be working, as none of the rats paid him any heed.
He had almost gotten to the center of the camp when he heard the call. "You, boy!"
William shot up to see who had spoken, as they had clearly spoken to him. It was a huge, older looking rat. He was glaring at the boy, and had a gnarled finger pointing at him.
"Me?" William asked in an anxious tone of voice.
"Yes, you," the older rat said with a snarl. "Who else would I be talking to? The flower-petal queen? Hand me that barrel of grog."
Turning to one side, William realized he was standing next to a huge barrel of grog. Instantly, a wave of relief hit the boy as he realized that he had not been found out. "Oh, yes, of course."
He attempted to pick the barrel up, but found it to be too heavy to do so, and had to resort to just pushing it over to the rat. As soon as he had done so, the rat snatched it up and turned away, muttering about how lazy the new recruits were getting.
That business now done with, William turned back to the matter at hand. He examined the camp to find other prisoners, but to his disappointment, he was on his own. It appeared that the band who had the captives with them had broken away from the rest of the group, meaning that the boy would be on his own.
He was almost certain that he missed his opportunity to rescue the princess as well, until he saw her. She had been imprisoned in a wagon, which was right next to the fire the higher-ranking rats were sitting at. She was chained up inside, with both hands imprisoned in a locked box so she couldn't attempt to pick the lock.
Moving as fast as he could without being noticed, William picked up his pace and came to the wagon. "Penelope," he said in as loud a whisper as he dared. "Penelope, I'm here. Can you hear me?"
"William?" Penelope responded as soon as she heard him. "Where are you?"
"Under the wagon," he replied. "I was able to sneak in, but I'd rather not risk being seen if I don't have to. Now, where is the key? I'll undo those chains and we can both make it out of here."
"Wait, not just yet," she replied.
"Not just yet?" he repeated, confused as to what she was saying. "Why not? Shouldn't we get out of here as soon as we can?"
"We should leave when it is prudent to do so," Penelope answered, "and right now would not be prudent. There are rats everywhere, and while you might have been able to pass yourself off as one of them, I certainly wouldn't be able to."
"Besides, I've got a plan, and it involves getting into the palace," she continued. "I would appreciate your help, though."
"Alright, then," William said, still feeling anxious but willing to go along with the plan. "What do you want me to do?"
"First of all, get into the wagon," Penelope answered. "There are cloaks back here you can hide in. No one else will be in the wagon, so we can communicate a bit more freely in here. I explain the rest to you in a moment."
Nodding wordlessly, William crawled out from his hiding place and hurried into the wagon. Just as she had said, there was a huge pile of filthy cloaks which, while unpleasant to be surrounded by, did provide a useful hiding place.
"Alright," Penny whispered, leaning into the pile once he was hidden. "Now here's what I had in mind…"
To be continued…