Return to London
The following day, the members of the Heroes' Helpers club gathered together at the thicket. Mokuba didn't want to take the risk of bringing Guilmon along since he looked like a dragon and would more than likely attract a lot of unwanted attention from the humans in London, so he asked his partner to stay home. Rebecca felt the same way and asked Palmon to stay home and help her grandfather. Of course, the Digimon protested, saying they wanted to come to London, but Labramon was able to reason with them. He said that while everyone would turn into mice, the Digimon would remain in their natural forms and sizes. Palmon and Guilmon were disappointed, but they understood, so they stayed at home.
Leon approached the door and gently grasped the handle. "Brace yourselves, everyone."
"Oh, I'm so excited," Rini said, bouncing on her feet.
"I'm excited too," said Rin. "I can't wait to see Olivia's home."
Mokuba chuckled, admiring their enthusiasm. "Just remember, we're going to turn into mice. I hope you'll all be able to handle that."
"I think we will," said Kohaku.
With that being settled, Leon opened the door and they all passed through one by one. As they walked through the door, they felt their bodies changing. When the light subsided, the children took a moment to get their bearings and observe their surroundings. Everything was so big. Rin, Rini, Shippo, and Kohaku also noticed that they took on the forms of mice and their clothes had changed as well. Rini had her pink hair held in place with blue ribbons and she was wearing a light blue dress. Rin was wearing an orange dress with a yellow ribbon in her hair that was tied in a bow. Shippo was wearing a dark green shirt with a blue bow tie around his neck and blue trousers. Kohaku was wearing a grey shirt and black trousers and his hair was tied back with a green ribbon.
Of course, they were all tan furred mice with their natural hair color and eye color. They didn't mind having tails – especially Shippo, given he was born with a tail, but the fur was a little itchy.
"Well, guys?" Mokuba asked everyone.
Kohaku gave a light chuckle. "It's still going to take a while for me to get used to this; my appearance changing whenever I go to another world." The others agreed.
"Well, at least Olivia will recognize all of you," Rebecca assured them. She looked at the entrance to the toyshop. "We're right in front of her home, so we can go right in and see her."
Everyone became excited again as they wanted to see their new friend again. As usual, Leon was the first to open the door and step inside. "Olivia," he called out.
The mouse girl was sitting at the table. Her face lit up as she saw all of her friends coming in. "Everyone, you're here," she said happily, hugging every one of them. She wasn't waiting very long. It had only been a few seconds since she was escorted home. Olivia took a minute to observe her new friends' appearances. "Wow, you all look so wonderful." She cleared her throat. "Not that I don't like you in your true forms, but you look wonderful as mice too."
"Thanks, I guess," Shippo replied.
Rini looked around, admiring the toys all over the shop. "Wow, look at all of these toys."
Rin was admiring them too. "I've never seen so many in my life. Actually, I've never seen toys like these before in my life." Back in the Feudal Era, there weren't many kinds of toys like stuffed animals, toy vehicles, or ceramic dolls.
"My father made all of these," said Olivia. "Leon and Mokuba have helped out too." She looked towards the parlor. "I can't wait for him to meet all of you."
Leon looked towards the parlor as well, wondering if Hiram was busy in his workshop. "If he's busy, we can come back at a later time."
"But I want to stay and play with Olivia," Rin protested.
The mouse girl was happy to hear that. "We can go to the parlor and I can bring out some of my favorite toys to play with."
"Sure," said Shippo. "And we can see more of your house too."
Then they all heard Hiram's voice. "Olivia, do we have customers?"
"Actually, Father, my friends are here visiting," she replied.
The toymaker opened the door and stepped inside the shop. He was delighted to see Mokuba, Rebecca, and Leon again, but he was also surprised to see new children. "What have we here?"
Olivia straightened up her posture and introduced her new friends. "Father, I would like for you to meet Rini, Rin, Shippo, and Kohaku."
"Nice to meet you, sir," said Shippo.
"Olivia says you're a wonderful toymaker," Rin complimented. "And I agree. I certainly like all of the toys you made and I think they're wonderful."
"And you certainly have a nice house," Rini said politely.
Hiram was flattered and humbled by their kind words. "Why, thank you. And it's certainly nice to meet every one of you as well." He was especially happy that his daughter had so many friends. He didn't even mind that they were all from different worlds. Of course, he knew that because Leon often mentioned them when he first started staying in the toyshop.
Olivia noticed her father's eyes welling up with tears. "Father, are you all right?"
The toymaker removed his glasses and dried his eyes before his tears could fall. "I'm just so happy that my little girl has such wonderful friends."
Rin smiled and said, "Well, we certainly like Olivia and we're happy to have her as a member of our group."
"That's right," the mouse girl was saying. "I'm part of the Heroes' Helpers club." And the children began explaining the details of their club and what they did. They mostly explained that it was a place where they could get together and play and talk about their lives and adventures in their own worlds. They didn't want to talk about helping their fellow heroes nor did they want to mention anything about the Dark Masters. They didn't want to say anything that would likely scare the toymaker or give him the impression that his daughter was being put in any kind of danger.
All the same, Hiram was happy to hear that his daughter was accepted and part of a group. And he told the children that they were welcome to visit the toyshop and play with Olivia whenever they wanted to. The children were happy to hear that. They all went into the parlor and Olivia brought her favorite toys to share with her friends. Hiram couldn't help but smile as he saw how happy his daughter looked.
Meanwhile, back in Domino, Yugi, Joey, Kaiba, and Emily got together after school and gathered their supplies and went to the Secret Garden. The boys also made sure to bring their weapons with them in case they would end up facing danger. They found the thicket and approached the door that led to the world of Victorian London. Before opening the door, Kaiba asked his friends, "Do you all have everything you need?"
Joey showed him his backpack strapped to his back along with his bow and quiver of arrows. Yugi showed him his sword that was strapped to his belt along with his own backpack over his back. Emily kept a knapsack close to her side with her own essentials. "What about you, Kaiba," she asked.
In response, he showed them his backpack along with his scepter. He also removed his glasses and stored them in a case and secured it in the pocket of his jacket. "Is everyone ready?" Seeing them nod in response, he grasps the handle of the door. "Now be careful. While we're going to London, there's no telling which part of the city we'll end up in. That's what happened when we first arrived in Paris."
They knew that Kaiba had a point. They could wind up anywhere in London. But they were still ready for an adventure. So Kaiba opened the door and they all passed through and they felt their bodies changing as they walked into the light.
Just like the children, the heroes took a moment to take in their surroundings. They also looked at themselves and noticed the changes to their appearances. As expected, their clothes had changed. They also noticed that they had transformed into mice, which they took naturally. After all, they were in the mouse world of London. They boys had light tan fur while Emily's was a lighter shade, like a cream color. They also still had their natural hair colors and eye colors as well. As usual, Emily was wearing a white dress with short sleeves and white shoes. She also had a golden crown on her head, fit for a princess. Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba were wearing Inverness jackets and trousers of their signature colors over their clothes. Joey and Kaiba also wore deerstalker caps on their heads as well.
Joey laughed at himself as he looked at his reflection in a small piece of glass. "I actually look like a detective." He looked at the brunette and said, "And, Kaiba, you almost look exactly like Basil. Except, of course, your hair is sticking out and you've still got your blue eyes." Kaiba rolled his eyes in response.
Emily smiled and said, "All that's missing is a magnifying glass and a smoking pipe."
The blonde lad stopped smiling. "I think I can do without the pipe." Next to excessive drinking, smoking was another thing Joey disliked. Thankfully, neither of his parents smoked, but his father was an excessive drinker.
"Maybe I can use my magic to turn us back into humans," Kaiba wondered.
"Or maybe we can still use our powers even though we're mice," Joey said.
"Why don't we worry about that later," Emily suggested. "We have to figure out what we're going to do from here."
She had a point. Should the heroes head to Baker Street and meet up with Basil or seek out Ratigan and capture him? They could also just take leisure time and explore London. There was really no rush. Kaiba also wanted to find out where Mokuba and the other kids were staying. He had a feeling that they already got here before the heroes did.
"Why don't we take a look around," Yugi suggested, "explore a little bit?" Joey and Emily agreed.
The brunette sighed. "All right," he replied. "Since we're new here, we'll need to get familiar with the city anyway." So the heroes decided to explore London while being careful to avoid humans and large predators.
