Minor Retreats

Back at the toyshop, Mokuba and Rebecca sat at the table, waiting for Leon to come back. Olivia was waiting with them. They were all supposed to have gone to bed a long time ago, but that was when they heard a commotion. Almost over an hour ago, the children heard the sound of a dog barking. They looked out the window and saw Toby running through the streets carrying a group of mice on his back. Leon wanted to know what was going on, so he rounded up Labramon and told his friends to stay behind and protect Olivia and her father in case someone would come to the toyshop and attack. The children also had their communicators, so Leon would be able to contact them in case anything were to happen.

Hiram brought everyone some warm milk to settle their nerves. "Now, don't worry, children. I'm sure Leon and Labramon are all right."

Olivia sipped her milk. "I guess so. I mean, I know Leon can take care of himself, but I do worry."

Rebecca placed her arm over Olivia to comfort her. "It's good that you worry about Leon. That means you care about him."

The mouse girl really did care about the redhead. She cared about Mokuba and Rebecca too and would be worried about them too.

Suddenly, Leon burst in through the front door. "Leon," gasped Hiram.

"Leon!" Olivia cried. "You're back," she said, hugging him.

"What happened?" Mokuba asked him.

The redhead sat down at the table and the toymaker gave him a glass of warm milk. Leon took a few small sips. It felt soothing to feel the milk down his throat. He explained what happened, saying he and Labramon followed Toby to an abandoned pet shop. It turned out that the mice riding on the basset hound's back were Basil and the Heroes of Millennia. Labramon brought Leon to the back of the store. The door was slightly ajar. Then they went inside and trotted down into the basement and saw Basil and the heroes fighting Ratigan and his henchmice. While everyone was fighting, Labramon cornered most of the professor's minions into small carriers and trapped them inside and Leon found Emily trapped in another small cage. Ratigan and Fidget and some of the thugs escaped, but they were able to set Emily free and escape from the shop before any human authorities would come to investigate.

Everyone at the table listened with amazement. "So Ratigan escaped once again," said Rebecca.

"At least my brother and the others are safe," said Mokuba.

"And we're also glad that you made it back safely, Leon," said Hiram.

The redhead was glad to be back too. "Tomorrow I'll have to go back to Baker Street so I can tell Basil how I was able to find him." He then looked at the others. "I also think that after that, we should head back home for a while."

Olivia was sad to hear that.

"Don't worry, Livy," Mokuba was saying. "We can still get together at the clubhouse."

The mouse girl was always happy that she would still be able to visit her friends and spend time with them in the clubhouse. She was also glad that the summer holiday would begin in a few days. This meant that she could spend more time with her friends and they could also spend more time helping Hiram out at the shop. For now, it was time for everyone to settle in and get ready for bed.

Meanwhile, Ratigan and Fidget had retreated to the castle of the Dark Masters. They both sat in small chairs and were holding packs of ice against their heads to soothe the pain of their injuries. Maleficent came before them. "All right, one more time," she said. "What happened?"

The professor was the first to explain. "After the princess was captured, I had her brought to the abandoned pet store to lay out my trap for Basil and the others. When they arrived, I ordered Fidget and the others to cause many distractions to try to separate them as well as scare them."

The peg-legged bat gave a small laugh. "It was working out so well, too."

"Until they came to the basement," Ratigan interrupted. "My henchmice were about to ambush them until the one called Joey shot an arrow and released sparks of lighting, distracting them."

This intrigued Maleficent. To her knowledge, Joey was not skilled in magic. She figured that his weapon was most likely bestowed upon him by the Great Goddess herself.

"Yugi then took Basil's gun and aimed at the lamp at the ceiling," continued Ratigan. "And then, bang! The lamp came down and shattered and pieces of glass were flying everywhere."

"Hence the cuts all over us," Fidget stated.

"Was there fire as well?" Maleficent asked. She remembered how an oil lamp can cause a fire when breaking against the ground.

"There was," Ratigan confessed. "But then the sorcerer of the group doused it with his magic."

"After that, this strange looking dog came from out of nowhere," Fidget added. "He chased most of us and trapped some of our friends in the cages we were going to use to trap the heroes."

"How did you escape?" Maleficent asked.

"By crawling through a small hole in the wall," the professor answered. "Fidget and I then got as far away as we could from the shop and hurried back here. Of course, I had to leave the princess behind and let her friends rescue her," he confessed. "You see, it wasn't just the heroes I had to worry about. Some humans were coming to inspect the shop. Had I stayed a second later, I would have been caught and killed."

"I see," Maleficent stated. It was understandable that Ratigan and Fidget had to leave when they did and forget about their victims. At least they were able to avoid capture and come back with only a few small wounds. She dismissed the rat and the peg-legged bat and told them to rest and take care of themselves.

The more Maleficent learned about the heroes, the more she looked forward to one day meeting them. They were proving themselves to be very interesting people. And by sending her subjects to observe them and try to contend with them, she would be learning their strengths and weaknesses. For now, the Dark Masters decided to only worry about the Heroes of Millennia for when they would come to their worlds.

There was also the matter of Mokuba, Rebecca, and Leon. They were proving to be a bit of a nuisance as well. Then again, it was because of those children that the Heroes of Millennia were coming to these worlds. Maleficent and her comrades had to make sure to inform their employees to keep an eye on those children as well.

The minister also knew he would be seeing the children again soon as well. They did promise to come back for the Feast of Fools. Perhaps this would be an opportunity for him to speak to Mokuba and his friends regarding the events that transpired in London. He would have one more reason to warn them not to go looking for trouble.

Back in London, after escorting the captured criminals to Scotland Yard, Basil returned to his home at Baker Street. Much to his relief, the Heroes of Millennia had returned there safely as well. They all stepped inside and settled into the parlor. The boys were glad to see that their robes had been cleaned as well. They got out of their coats and slipped into their robes. Basil did the same thing.

In the parlor, Joey, Yugi, and Emily were helping themselves to some tea and cheese crumpets that were made by the housekeeper. At least, Emily just settled for tea while the boys were eating some of the crumpets. Kaiba had challenged Basil to a game of chess. He wanted to see how brilliant he was at the game. The detective accepted Kaiba's challenge. He recalled what the brunette said earlier about enjoying playing games and hating to lose. Besides, this would be an opportunity for the both of them to observe each other's skills.

While playing, Kaiba asked Basil, "So you say Leon and my brother and Rebecca are your irregulars?"

"In a sense," the detective replied. "I permitted them to come to me if they had any new information on any of the Dark Masters or if they had any new adventures in any of these worlds." He positioned his pawn, then continued, "They also told me that they plan on going back to Paris to take part in the Feast of Fools. Although I'm not comfortable about the idea."

"Tell me about it," Kaiba said in agreement. He positioned his pawn and confessed, "I've tried trying to talk my brother out of it too."

This got Joey's attention. He swallowed his crumpet and asked, "Have you really?"

"Mokuba assured me that he and his friends are just going to be watching from the bell tower," Kaiba said as Basil made his move. The brunette lifted the castle piece on his king's side. "It's not that I don't trust the hunchback. It's really the minister I'm worried about."

Basil understood, saying he shared the same concerns. "That depraved minister could still find a way to hurt those children even if they're in the bell tower with the hunchback." He moved his pawn, taking out one of Kaiba's pawns.

"I've decided to go," Kaiba immediately said. "You know, just to keep an eye on my brother and make sure nothing happens to him." And he positioned his knight.

Emily spoke up. "I'll be taking part of the festival too." She paused, then added, "and so will Tea."

All of her friends looked at her. Even Basil stopped and gave her his attention before moving his queen to attack Kaiba's knight.

"You see, Esmeralda has invited us to dance with her at the festival," Emily explained.

"The gypsy girl?" the brunette asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Em," Joey said worriedly. "You know how Frollo is with you. If he sees you, he'll likely become even more obsessed with you."

"He won't be able to do anything," the blonde girl assured him. "He may be a public official, but he's only allowed to observe the festivities."

Basil cleared his throat. "Be that as it may, Princess, I have to agree with your friends. You're taking a dangerous risk by going to the festival." He stood on his feet and said, "There's a reason why Frollo is a Dark Master."

"I know what he's done and I know what he's capable of," Emily said. "Basil, I may be a princess, but I'm not some damsel in distress who needs to be rescued all the time. I can handle myself."

Basil remembered the story of how Emily was able to outwit Frollo by having him thrown into the river. And she did have her magical powers. However, if she were to set foot inside the cathedral, she wouldn't be able to use her magic. In accordance with the old laws, the use of magic was forbidden in holy places like churches and temples.

The detective was tempted to argue with Emily and ask her why she didn't use her magic to escape and help apprehend Ratigan, but he decided to just let it be. He figured she probably couldn't have been able to if she was surrounded by guards or even sedated. Those were plausible possibilities.

Yugi spoke up. "Maybe we should all go to the festival," he suggested to his friends. "We can enjoy the festivities and be on guard in case anything does happen. And if nothing happens, we can just leave and return to our world."

Kaiba gave a small grin. "Might as well." He positioned his bishop in front of Basil's king and declared, "Checkmate."

The detective was impressed. "Well done, Master Kaiba."

"Yeah, he's one of the best chess players we know," said Yugi.

The brunette helped put the pieces away. "We should probably get some sleep. We can discuss more about or plans for returning to Paris in the morning." Everyone agreed and retired to their rooms.