The Case of the Captured Princess
The night of the terrible crime started like any other in the city of London for the human residents and the mice-folk. It was dark and the lamps were lit to provide light through the misty streets.
Just around the corner of Baker Street, Fidget had returned with Felicia and a few of Ratigan's other cronies. One was a lizard named Bill. There was also a slender mouse named Sykes and next to him was a stout mouse named Simon. They along with a few other henchmice had been watching from the shadows as they saw Basil take his leave for a case concerning another attack.
Sykes smiled slyly. "The detective has left the premises. Now we can commence the attack."
Simon wasn't feeling too confident about this. He didn't have a problem with attacking helpless rodents before, but this was different. They were going to attack the Heroes of Millennia. From what he had heard from Professor Ratigan, these heroes were not to be taken lightly. As such, Simon was afraid that he and his comrades would end up getting beaten and caught by the police.
"I don't like it, Sykes," he grumbled. "One more strike and they'll throw the keys away."
"Oh, come on, Simon, it'll be worth it," Sykes promised him. "The professor has promised a bountiful reward."
"I know, it's just," he was saying, "I've been thinking,"
"You've been thinking?" Sykes snapped, grabbing Simon by the collar of his shirt. "What have we been telling you? Leave the thinking to the professor."
"Guys, keep it down," Bill said quietly. "If they hear us, we won't be able to pull this off." With that being said, the group silenced themselves. Fidget limped over to Basil's residence and climbed up one of the shrubs. Bill joined him and they held a net in place.
Inside one of the guest rooms, Emily was having trouble sleeping. She couldn't help but feel that something terrible was afoot. She climbed out of bed and slipped her shoes on. Being careful not to wake the others, she quietly tiptoed out of the room and crept down the stairs.
It was quiet down in the parlor, as Basil had stepped out almost an hour ago. Emily was about to head to the kitchen to make herself some tea until she heard a sound coming from the front door. Looking out the window, she saw nothing. But maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a quick look around. Emily carefully opened the door and stepped outside. Being a mouse, her senses were now stronger, so she decided it would be wise to observe the area before going back inside. Emily sniffed the air only to detect water from the mist. She also kept her ears open, hoping to detect any kind of sound.
She was about to head back inside until she heard a rustling sound coming from the shrubs. Maybe it was a sparrow. Not wanting to take her chances, she turned on her heel, but before she could head for the door, Emily fell to the ground as a weight fell on her. It didn't take long for her to realize she was caught in a net.
The sound of a girl's screams aroused Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba from their sleep. They recognized that it came from Emily and based on the scream, she was in trouble. Dressed in robes of their signature colors, the boys dashed out of the room and hurried to the front door. When they got there, they saw a group of thuggish looking mice and a lizard and a peg-legged bat trying to secure the trappings around Emily.
"Get away from her!" Yugi shouted. He charged towards the net, but one of the thugs backhanded Yugi and pushed him back. Joey tried to fight another one only to receive a few blows to the face and stomach.
Fidget wasted no time and sedated Emily using a cloth that was dampened with chloroform. She blacked out from breathing in the substance. Fidget was about to sedate the others too, but Kaiba stopped him by hitting him in the back of the head with a rock he picked up. Before he could fight the other thugs, Kaiba was stopped by Felicia, who was holding him in her paw.
"No, don't eat him," Fidget cried. "The boss wants him and the others alive."
The thugs were about to subdue Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba until Fidget picked up the sound of a dog barking. "We got to go!" he alerted his comrades. There was no time to deal with the others, so they were just going to have to take Emily. The thugs climbed on Felicia's back while the cat carried the net Emily was in with her teeth and began running off.
By the time Felicia was out of sight, the heroes saw a basset hound coming to the residence. It was Sherlock's dog Toby. Riding on top of the hound was Basil himself. He climbed down and approached the heroes while Toby hurried back inside his master's residence. "What happened?" the detective asked the boys. He saw that their robes were smeared with mud and they had a couple of bruises.
Joey winced from the pain as he pressed his hand against his cheek. He was socked in the jaw pretty hard.
"We were ambushed," Kaiba said. "A group of thugs came and abducted Briar."
"There was a dozen of them," said Joey. "They came with a cat and a peg-legged bat."
Basil's eyes widened at the mention of the descriptions. There was no doubt that the peg-legged bat was Fidget and the cat was Felicia. This meant that Ratigan had sent his cronies to attack the heroes and capture them just as the detective had feared. "And they took the princess?"
"Yeah," Kaiba groaned.
Yugi struggled to get on his feet. "We've got to get her back. There's no telling what Ratigan will do to her."
Basil didn't want to voice his thoughts. Knowing how depraved Ratigan was, the detective had many ideas on what that rat would likely do to her. Instead, he suggested, "Do you have anything that belongs to the princess?"
In response, Yugi hurried back inside and ran upstairs to the guest room Emily was using. He came back with her handbag. "Emily always carries a few things with her." He pulled out her tambourine, her binoculars, her camera, and her crown.
Basil immediately took the crown. "This will do."
"What are you going to do with that?" Kaiba asked.
"You'll see," he promised him. "Meanwhile, I suggest you boys get dressed and equip yourselves."
The boys agreed. They hurried back to their room to slip out of their robes and dress in their own Inverness coats. They also grabbed their weapons.
"All right, chaps, let's be off," Basil said to them. He led the trio to a small opening that led to the dwelling in which Sherlock Holmes himself resided. The boys were astonished with the whole interior as they saw the chemistry set, shelves full of books, and a violin next to the chair.
Basil carefully looked around as he always did whenever he came to 'visit' his human counterpart. When observing Sherlock Holmes and listening to his cases, Basil would always be careful not to be seen by the human detective. He saw that the coast was clear and figured that Holmes was still out on another case with Dr. Watson.
Looking around, Joey was tempted to ask Basil if Sherlock had ever noticed him in all the times he spent observing his 'neighbor', in a sense, but the blonde lad decided against it, thinking it would be a stupid question.
It wasn't long until Toby appeared in front of the group. "Lads, Toby," Basil introduced.
"Hello, Toby," Yugi said. He had been around large monsters and animals before in his adventures, so he wasn't afraid. The basset hound sniffed the trio and panted at them with a smile, showing that he liked them.
Basil took Emily's crown and showed it to the hound. "We need your help, Toby. We need you to help find the owner of this crown."
Toby understood and began sniffing the crown. He detected the scent of fresh fruit and grass with a little bit of flour and sugar. The many scents were now burned into his brain and he barked in response.
Basil took Toby's leash and fastened it to the hound's collar. "Now let's rescue our princess," he said to Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba. Toby lowered himself, allowing everyone to climb on his back. Once everyone was aboard, the hound began to dash off. Yugi and Kaiba held on to Toby's collar, but Joey had slipped and was now hanging on to the leash for his life.
