Chapter 13: Ratigan's Trap

Clover Flaversham, Eve, Basil, and Dawson were already in the sewers beneath the pub listening to Fidget hum to the song, "Let Me Be Good to You". The three mice and the female bat watched as Fidget carried a lantern with him, leaping from stone to stone and positioning his lantern inside the opening of the pipe, while scrambling in with a grunt. "Let me be good to you," Fidget sang Miss Kitty's song as he'd done so. Basil waved to Dawson and the girls to come along and follow Fidget as Fidget hummed and sang. "So, dream on and drink your beer," Fidget continued to sing giddily, unaware that Eve, Clover, Basil, and Dawson were following. "Your baby's here…"

As Fidget grew farther away from them in the distance, it took Dawson only a second to take a glimpse of him leaving with a light. "Basil…" Dawson said, louder than he intended, so Basil quickly shushed him.

Basil climbed up the pipe before poking his head. "Follow me," he commanded in a whisper.

Dawson started to climb after him. "Great Scott! I can't see a thing!" Dawson exclaimed in aggravation.

"Grab my back and hold on tight, Clover," Eve commanded, once they caught up to Basil and Dawson.

"I've never been through here before, Eve," Clover said.

"I have, lots of times," replied Eve.

"Grab onto my coat and follow along," Basil instructed, but then noticed Dawson going the wrong way when Dawson's eyes slowly adjusted. "No, no, no, not that way! Dawson, look out for your-"

Dawson accidently banged his head against the loose lid with a loud thump. "D'OW!" he cried in pain, "Confound it!" He rubbed his head.

"Dawson, are you okay?" Clover asked with concern.

"He'll be fine in seconds," Eve replied for her, since Dawson didn't answer.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Dawson asked Basil, once he recovered.

"But of course," Basil answered confidently as he proceeded to lead the way. "Left turn...right turn here, Doctor…"

"We're right behind you, Basil and Dawson," Eve said as she crawled behind them, with Clover on her back.

"Very good, girls," Dawson said.

...

What seemed like a long while of climbing through the pipes with so many twists and turns, they finally reached the top when Basil opened the grate of Ratigan's secret hideaway. Seeing the golden "R" engraved on the barrel, Basil realized he, Clover, Eve, and Dawson came across Ratigan's home. "A-ha! Eve, Clover, Dawson, we found it!" Basil hissed excitedly, "Ratigan's secret lair." He was the first to climb out and lift the grate so that Dawson, Eve, and Clover could join him. "And it's filthier than I imagined." Basil set the grate down gently.

"No question about it," Clover agreed.

"I'm used to it," Eve told her.

Basil and Dawson crept towards a corner to see if there were any thugs in sight. What was strange to them, mostly Basil, was that everything in the palace was eerily quiet, yet they could see a light in the barrel, which meant someone was home.

"Look, the bottle!" Basil gasped.

For all they knew, it was Olivia trapped in the bottle. So, they rushed over to it with her imprisoned inside. Basil climbed up to the bottle's neck, trying to pull out the cork while Dawson stood beside it. The question was: Where was Andrew? With his adopted father, perhaps?

"Eve, where's Andrew?" Clover asked.

"I don't know," Eve whispered.

"It's stuck!" Basil strained.

"Olivia? Where's Andrew?" Dawson said, knocking on the bottle to get Olivia's attention, only to be stunned to see Fidget in there, grinning and smooching as Fidget disguised himself in Olivia's coat, scarf, hat, and shoes to trick them.

"You!" Eve snarled at her boyfriend.

"SURPRISE!" Ratigan's thugs hollered, making Basil plunge to the floor in surprise.

The gang outside of Ratigan's barrel clapped and laughed. Confetti rained all over Ratigan's hideout from the ceiling, balloons flowed, and a banner unfurled, written "Welcome Basil!" on it. Ratigan stood outside his barrel, clapping his hands. "Bravo! Bravo!" Clover, Basil, and Dawson turned to see him in shock, while Eve glowered at the rat. "A marvelous performance!" Ratigan cackled wickedly as he went down the steps of his barrel to draw near the detective, who glared at him and gritted his teeth at the sight of his enemy.

Ratigan pulled out a gold pocket watch from his vest pocket and opened it with a smile. "Though, frankly, I expected you fifteen minutes earlier. Trouble with the chemistry set, old boy?"

Basil regarded him in disbelief, but then he smiled wryly. "Ratigan, no one can have a higher opinion of you than I have…" Basil's face changed to anger as he clenched his fists to his sides, adding an insult, "And I think you're a slimy, contemptible, sewer rat!"

"You tell him, Basil," said Clover, winking at the detective.

"Good job!" Eve said, giving him a thumbs up.

Basil turned to them with a smile on his face. Then shifted his gaze at the rat with a death glare.

Ratigan's thugs gasped as Basil said the word Ratigan hated. Ratigan, however, was not moved by Basil's insult and Ratigan easily brushed it off. The rat snapped his pocket watch shut and put it back in his vest pocket, while chuckling with amusement, "Oh, by the way, Basil…" Ratigan outstretched Basil's fake mustache to touch it, "I just love your disguise." With that sarcastic remark, he cruelly ripped it off his face, causing Basil to wince in pain and scowl. While the thugs chuckled at Basil's affliction, Ratigan lifted Basil's chin up so Basil could look at him. The professor mockingly continued, "Really, one would hardly recognize you." Ratigan picked up Basil's sailor hat to get a better look at him and placed it back on his head with a snicker. The rat pushed Basil mockingly. "The greatest…" Ratigan stifled a laugh. "...detective...in all Mousedom!" He broke into a fit of laughter along with his thugs. Ratigan stopped a moment to compose himself.

The rat turned to Eve. "Eve, is that your new friend, Clover Flaversham?"

"I've been her friend for years," Eve replied, "Don't hurt her, please!"

Ratigan shoved the girl bat aside and sauntered over to Clover.

"Clover, what a pleasant surprise," Ratigan said, putting her hand in his.

"Ratigan!" Clover gasped.

Then he drew her closer to his chest. "Would you be mine?"

"Absolutely not!" Clover snapped and spat in his face.

The professor let go of her to wipe the saliva off his face.

"Clover! Eve!" Andrew and Olivia cried.

Hearing the voices, Clover called as she headed towards the bottle her siblings were in, "Olivia! Andrew!"

"Are you two okay?" Eve asked.

"Yes, we're okay," Olivia replied.

"Ratigan's gang is rough with us, though," Andrew said, "But Eve's not like that."

"Nope," Eve and Clover agreed.

"Ratigan's forcing Daddy to build a robot to get rid of the real queen, so he can be king," Olivia said.

"We heard it all. It's all true," Andrew assured them.

"We'll stop this from happening," Eve vowed.

"Eve keeps her word," Clover said, wrapping her arm around Eve.

"Break it up!" Ratigan said and snatched the poor girls with a cackle.

Basil's chest heaved as he spoke in anger at what he was doing to the young women, "Ratigan, so help me...I'll see you behind bars YET!"

"You fool!" Ratigan snapped in Basil's face. "Isn't it clear to you?" Ratigan picked him up and shook him, showing him his strength and power. "The superior mind has triumphed! I've won!" Ratigan shouted triumphantly as he dropped Basil to the ground.

Fidget joined in the jeering laughter along with the other thugs, laughing at Basil. Basil steeled himself from the cruel laughter, but his ego faded as he hung his head in humiliation. That humiliation showed that despite upsetting others, he felt guilty for how he treated Andrew, Dawson, Olivia, Eve, Clover, and many others.

Dawson wanted to help, but didn't know how. Clover and Eve sadly watched Basil being ridiculed. "We'll shut them up," Eve promised, referring to herself and Clover.

"That makes two of us," Clover said.

Ratigan held onto his chest, pointing as he continued cruelly laughing at Basil. "Oh, I love it! I love it! Oh, I love it! I love it! I love it!"

"ENOUGH OF THIS CRUELTY!" Eve snapped, scaring her boyfriend, Fidget, Ratigan, and his gang. Even Basil and Dawson flinched.

"YOU HEARD RIGHT, YOU SEWER RAT!" Clover raged and Ratigan snarled at the insult she spat out, "How would you like to be bullied for your failures?"

"I'm looking at all of you, especially you, Fidget!" Eve angrily pointed at Fidget, who gasped. "As for you, Ratigan, I quit because you used me!"

Ratigan growled, not believing she betrayed him.

"You know better than that!" Clover chided the bullies.

"Eve! Clover!" Olivia and Andrew cheered and Dawson and Basil smiled.

"You wretched women!" Ratigan yelled and slapped poor Clover and Eve, making them unconscious.

AN: Kudos to Clover and Eve for defending Basil.