Professor Squawkencluck paced around the hotel room in circles, thinking about where Danger Mouse had gone to, where Penfold had gone to, and what sort of trouble both of those idiots are going to get themselves in to?

She understands that Penfold must have had a reason to disappear like that - he's not too keen on marrying someone he doesn't even love nor is he interested to be someone he's not - another snobbish, emotionless member of the high society.

Penfold should've told her about it. Something to keep herself, Danger Mouse, and the family from getting worried.

Danger Mouse's excuse?

Either he's really upset about this ordeal as much as she does and decided to go back home alone, or Colonel K contacted him about some mission he had to do, and he didn't even inform her about it?

Come to think of it, the Mark 4 haven't been moved from its parking space since she and Danger Mouse arrived in New York back in chapter 5.

She knows Danger Mouse when it comes to transportation. She knows that Danger Mouse would prefer walking rather than driving in crowded cities like this - it saves gas and money, gets him to go to places easier than being stuck in traffic, gives him a bit of exercise, plus the Mark 4 is only ever used for secret missions.

She hated to admit it, but she had to admit that Danger Mouse had made some smart decisions.

She had already contacted Colonel K if he had given Danger Mouse any secret missions to do, but atlas, Colonel K had informed the professor that he had not given Danger Mouse any missions, nor did he see Danger Mouse arrive at Headquarters.

Then it hits her.

Something bad must've happened to Danger Mouse.

While pondering, thinking about all the 'what-if' scenarios that could've happened to Danger Mouse, her iPhone rang.

Hoping it'd be Danger Mouse calling her, like he should have in the last chapter, Professor Squawkencluck reaches for her iPhone from her pockets.

Looking at her iPhone, she notices that the caller wasn't Danger Mouse, much to her disappointment.

However, her heart stopped for a moment when she sees that the caller was Penfold.

"Penfold?" Professor Squawkencluck asked.

"Hi, professor." Penfold's voice answered from the other line. "Is Danger Mouse with you? I kinda wanted to speak to him badly."

"Penfold, I haven't seen Danger Mouse since yesterday. Cor, even the Mark 4 is still outside at the parking lot." Professor Squawkencluck replied. "Come to think of it, I just contacted Colonel K earlier and he told me that he hasn't seen Danger Mouse at Headquarters at all."

"That's funny. Cousin Alexander told me yesterday that DM went back to London to sign my resignation papers because I was a useless, annoying assistant."

She mentally face-palmed herself. "And you believed every word your cousin said to you?"

"Oi, I happened to be in a very depressing mood at that time ever since my fiancee said terrible things about DM!" Penfold argued before his voice calmed down. "Cor, is it me, or did I have the Inside Out experience in the last few chapters, despite the fact that I haven't even finished watching it."

Yes, Penfold. You really did have the Inside Out experience in the last few chapters which, according to the authoress that wrote this fanfic, played a role in this story while also paying homage to the actual movie. Even Professor Squawkencluck had a small Inside Out experience in chapter 7.

"Anyway," Professor Squawkencluck spoke again. "There's a good chance that your cousin might be lying to you about what really happened to Danger Mouse. He might be hiding some secrets he doesn't want you to find out. I can only hope I have some evidence to back it up."

"B-b-but ... what if Alexander's telling the truth?" Penfold asked nervously. "Alexander wouldn't lie and keep secrets from me, would he?"

"I'm not forcing you to believe me, Penfold, even if I'm telling you the truth." Professor Squawkencluck replied. "I'm asking you as a concerned friend to have a talk with your cousin and ask him about Danger Mouse, but don't let him think that we're attacking him to make him tell the truth."

"Thanks, professor." Penfold hung up as Professor Squawkencluck puts her iPhone away.

()()()()()

Penfold puts his iPhone away and was about to retreat to his room to call it a night when he stopped and saw Alexander leaning causally on the wall with his arms crossed and letting out his usual charming smile.

"Had a talk with one of your friends?" Alexander asked Penfold.

Once again, shivers went up to Penfold's spines as Alexander slowly approaches the small hamster.

"Look, Alexander," Penfold spoke. "I think you and I need to have a little talk."

Alexander raised an eyebrow. "About?"

Penfold looked up to Alexander and lets out a very serious look. He knows what he wanted to talk about. "Danger Mouse."

Alexander shook his head as he circles around Penfold who still kept a serious expression. "My dear cousin, I've already explained to you that he went back to London, signing your resignation papers because he had finally come to a conclusion that since you're being married to the lovely Jennifer Brown and you're taking over the family business, there is no reason for you to continue working with him anymore."

Alexander held Penfold by the chin, forcing the latter to look at the eyes of the former. "You are now a proud member of the high society, not some low-class peasant working endless hours to earn cheap minimum wages."

Penfold wasn't exactly satisfied with what Alexander is telling him as he pulls his chin away from Alexander's grasp. Despite coming from a wealthy family, Penfold have always been taught that money doesn't always equal to happiness.

Penfold had noticed just how forced and twisted Alexander's smile looked during the entire conversation.

Maybe Professor Squawkencluck was right. Maybe Alexander isn't telling the entire true, and is hiding something.

Alright, no more playing games. He wants some freaking answers.

Now.

"Alexander," Penfold spoke in a stern voice again. "What happened to Danger Mouse?"

Alexander was taken aback from this. He nervously laughs a bit. "Ernest, my dear cousin. I've already told you what has become of Danger Mouse."

"That's not what the professor told me on the phone." Penfold replied, still keeping the serious look on his face. "Tell me the truth!"

"I'm telling you the truth, you stupid moron!" Alexander finally snapped at Penfold, who shook a little. "Didn't that foolish Aunt Doreen ever taught you to listen?"

"I may not be too fond of her, but no one badmouths her like that!" Penfold felt his voice getting louder. He hated when people avoid his question. He grew angry. "I'm not going to ask you again."

Penfold gazed at Alexander. "What. Happened. To. Danger Mouse?"

Alexander lets out a blank face as he dusts the dirt off of his suit. "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead."

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? Those were the names of Hamlet's friends, whom he left for dead, and both were beheaded. Oh ick! Danger Mouse was beheaded.

"What did you do to him?" Penfold yelled louder then he had meant to. "If it's the fortune you wanted so badly, take it! Just tell me where my friend is!"

He was holding back in tears, breathing heavily, and his heart pounding out of his chest. What would he do if Danger Mouse was dead? Give up? Go back to London and see if the British Secret Services would still welcome him after he indirectly killed one of their best secret agents?

"Calm down, cousin. I've done nothing to him yet." Alexander continued to smirk as he spoke. He placed a hand on Penfold's shoulder. "Tomorrow, after your wedding, I shall see that Danger Mouse returns to London safely, in one piece.

He took his hand off of Penfold's shoulder and walked down the hallway without looking back.

"Oh, there's one more thing I forgot to mention to you, cousin dearest." Alexander spoke again. "I have a detonator that sets off bombs placed around the place I kept Danger Mouse in for the time being. If you were to so much try to get out of the wedding, Danger Mouse will die. So make a wise choice, my dear cousin."

As soon as Alexander left, Penfold collapsed onto the floor and burst into tears. His wails could be heard throughout the penthouse as he lay in a head on the floor, sobbing.

Tomorrow, the wedding. He would be forced to marry that snobbish woman instead of the woman he loved, if there is a woman he loved, though he hoped it'd be Professor Squawkencluck.

And then, he would be forced to see his friends go back to London, never to be seen again for the rest of his life. Why didn't they just stay in London in the first place? Danger Mouse could have been safe.

They couldn't just leave you behind. A voice whispered in Penfold's mind. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, maybe Danger Mouse would rather die than see Penfold be wedded off like he was being sold to the highest bidder. Penfold could only imagine the fight that Danger Mouse had put up when confronted by Alexander. His chief, trying to be the awesome hero that he was.

Penfold hugged his legs to his chest and leaned against the door frame, tears still streaming down his face. He sat alone in the hallway, wondering what his next move should be.

()()()()()

Meanwhile, back at the warehouse, Danger Mouse managed to cut the ropes loose with his pocket knife and pull the gag off of him. His right ankle is still swollen and it hurts like hell when trying to stand up and putting a lot of pressure on his foot.

He knew that Alexander must've injured his ankle while he was unconscious. He knew that if Alexander knew that he was here in New York and wanted him out of the way by tomorrow, that meant Penfold was in trouble.

"Activate iPatch." Danger Mouse said as his iPatch activates to show Danger Mouse a map of the world. "Locate the Mark 4."

"Locating..." the artificial voice from his iPatch scans the world map for the location of the Mark 4. "Mark 4 located."

The exact coordinates of the Mark 4 shows Danger Mouse that the Mark 4 is still parked at the hotel he and Professor Squawkencluck were staying at. He wasted no time to send his exact coordinates to the Mark 4's Danger Map, hoping that the vehicle will come to him in auto-pilot mode.

Grabbing a spare broomstick from the floor, using it as a crutch to keep himself standing with his injured ankle, Danger Mouse slowly makes his way outside the warehouse where the Mark 4 is parked by the entrance, waiting for him.

He gets into the vehicle and used the Danger Map to locate the coordinates to the nearest hospital from here, so that he can get his ankle treated before either Penfold or Professor Squawkencluck blow a fuse upon seeing his injured ankle not being treated carefully.

()()()()()

The day had come.

The day of the big wedding.

Alexander and Aunt Doreen had the servants locked him in his room so that he wouldn't try to escape from the arranged marriage again.

Penfold looked at his reflection in the mirror, him in that fancy black tuxedo, designed to only fit his size. Again, he wore a plain, black bowtie, a pair of Andrew Hill black formal shoes and, for the first time, wore a simple, black top hat.

He just stood there, with a blank expression on his face, saying nothing.

Did someone drugged Penfold this morning?

"No, I am not drugged!" Penfold yelled at the narrator.

He wanted nothing more than to leave New York, but not abandon his family entirely. To get out of this forced marriage. To go home. To be with his friends.

But he was out of time, out of plans, out of hope. He thought about the events of the last few days since he arrived at New York. Alexander had Danger Mouse held captive somewhere with bombs planted around him in which Alexander will set them off, killing Danger Mouse if Penfold doesn't go through with the ceremony. Arthur was probably stepping down as chairman of Penfold Enterprises, meaning that after the wedding Penfold would be chairman of the company. He should have been happier, but he wasn't.

All he could think about were his friends.

What can he do?

There was a knock on the door. Penfold turned around and waited for whoever was retrieving him for the ceremony.

I don't want to do this.

He shouldn't have been surprised that it was Alexander, looking dashing and regal as ever in his black tuxedo. He was smiling evilly at Penfold. "Are you ready for your big day?"

Penfold looked at Alexander in horror, Alexander just kept smiling at him.

Without saying anything, Penfold ran out of the room, his shoes making it hard to run. He could hear servants and Aunt Doreen yelling at him to stop, he didn't want to. He felt tears in his eyes but he refused to let them fall, he didn't want to give Alexander nor Aunt Doreen any satisfaction.

He kept running until he was outside the penthouse, he didn't need to turn around to know that Alexander was following him. He ran until he came to the edge of the building. He was about to jump, but skidded to a stop before he reached the edge.

He wasn't Ophelia, the potential wife of Hamlet, nor was he meant to be. He turned around, head down, looking at the patio tiles and his stained shoes. He looked up at Alexander, and his Aunt Doreen who arrived minutes later.

"Alright." Penfold gave in. "I'm ready."