Chapter 10: Retaking Buckingham Palace

I knew what I had to do, because I already knew what was going to happen. With a goal in mind for both myself and my friends before me, it was a race against the clock.

However, despite the goal, the enemy had one advantage against us...he had the power over time and space. But, the problem was he didn't know how it works and I prayed to God that we weren't too late in him figuring out how it works…

Little did I realize that when I retrieved something that was stolen from me, I too would learn a little bit about its secrets and the power of time and space that literally laid in the palm of my hand.

June 20, 1897 9:50 p.m.

At the royal chamber, Ratigan was just finishing up on preparing his coronation. He was now dressed in his overly rich royal garments consisting of many golden medals sewn over his robe with a mantle over his back, a huge golden belt with the letter R engraved at the center was wrapped around his waist and on the left side of the belt was a sword. The garments gave off a shine while glittering as it gave him a majestic vibe that was filled with power.

Today was a momentous occasion for him, it felt like to him that fate and good fortune was on his side. His enemy Basil along with that red-headed thief was dead, the queen will soon join them, he will become king, and to top it all off, he has the silver watch and with it the power of time and space at his disposal, which he kept close inside his robe. However, that leaves one part of his new plan to be accomplished and that was to figure out how this watch works. But once he finds out, an endless unknown future will be his to control and he will be the one to lead this world into a new age under his rule. Putting that plan on hold for the moment and wanting to focus on the here and now for the time being. The last touch he needed to add to his royal garb was his crown, which he left it right on the dresser near the mirror he was at. Picking it up, he was about to place it on top of his head, until…

Ding…

Ratigan cringe with pain as he rubbed the side of his head. He looks at the crown with an odd look, but then shrugs as he was about to place it on his head.

Ding…

Ratigan cringes again as he clutches the side of his head. He gave off a serious look while looking around, trying to find out who was making that weird noise...But there was nobody here but him, which made him change his look to a confused one while saying, "What in the blazes-"

Ding…

Ratigan grunts in pain while dropping the crown on the floor and clutching the sides of his head. As the crown dropped, it bounced on the floor.

Ding...ding...ding…

Ratigan threw his head up and howled in pain, his back was against the wall while his teeth clenched and said with a painful voice, "My head!"

At the exact same time while Basil, Anna, Dawson, and Olivia were trying to get out of the sewer…

Ding…

Anna yelped while letting go of Basil as she collapsed on the sewer floor and clutching her head while grunting in pain.

"Anna!" Basil exclaimed as he went to the floor, wondering why Anna was somehow in pain.

Dawson too went towards the floor along with Olivia, who had a worried look on her face for her friend as Dawson asked, "What's wrong?"

"My head!"

As she continues to grunt, Dawson checks on the back of Anna's head, hoping that she didn't agitate it or worst of all suffer a concussion from beating the back of her head from trying to escape earlier. But shockingly...the bruise was gone, almost like it didn't exist from earlier today. Dawson and Basil looked at one another with shocked looks. How was this even possible? They didn't know what was going on, but somehow Anna was in pain. Basil lifts Anna up to hug her while she continues to grunt in pain. Olivia was going to join in, but was held back by Dawson. All of them were worried while waiting for her mysterious pain to end.

At the exact same time, Anna and Ratigan said these exact words…

"What's happening to me?"

For Anna, her vision was blurred, but once again felt like someone was dragging her. She looked around, but couldn't tell where she was due to her vision still blurred as she heard the woman's voice from before, but this time she could make out a posh medieval accent as she said, "Where am I? Where hast thou taken me?"

She heard an evil chuckle as another voice spoke and it was...Ratigan's? "Welcome to the other side of time." As she continues while being dragged, Ratigan continued, "You my dear, are now part of my grand plan."

Grand...plan? Anna thought with confusion. What did Ratigan mean by grand plan?

"Let me go, you fiend!"

As she continues to struggle while hitting his arm, trying to be free from his grip. She felt Ratigan grab her face to make her look at him while he says, "Be grateful my dear, you will soon become part of-"

Next thing she knew, Ratigan was flung off of her while she yelped and landed on the floor.

"Why you insolent, interfering little-augh!"

She looked up as lights danced here and there and she heard the sounds of crashing glass everywhere. Anna didn't know what the hell was going on or what the hell she was seeing. What was all the light show? Whatever was happening, somebody was fighting Ratigan. But who?

After the last light, Ratigan was screaming and another crash of glass came. Then the next thing she knew, light engulfed her vision and then she was struggling not to trip as she was running and her hand was gripped by somebody. Since her vision was still blurred, she could make out a brown bowler hat and somebody telling her in an elderly voice, "Quick, in here!" A door was opened as she stepped inside, but couldn't tell what it was. "Stay here and wait for me," The elderly voice ordered. "I'll be back soon, but don't open this door or touch anything in this path."

She turns around while saying, "Wait, who are-"

She was interrupted by someone shutting the door. Ding! Her vision came to an end by a flash of light. Anna opened her eyes while breathing heavily as the pain in her head came to an end. She and Basil looked at each other while he asked her, "Are you alright?"

Anna nods her head while Dawson says, "What in heaven's name just happened?"

As they stood up, Anna answered, "I'm not sure." She didn't know how to explain the vision she just saw, but she did tell them what she heard. "But Ratigan has some grand plan or whatever it is he's doing."

"Grand plan?" Basil says with a confused look. "What grand plan?"

"I don't know, but I have a terrible feeling that something bad is about to happen. We have to hurry!"

"My thoughts exactly," Basil grew a serious look as he grabbed her hand and continued on their way out of the sewer with Dawson and Olivia following them.

While Dawson remained confused about what's going on and what Anna meant by some "grand plan" she meant, Basil could already tell that something was already happening. Ratigan must be somehow tampering with the watch, which is probably the reason why Anna was in pain just now, and he too had a terrible feeling that not only Mousedom was in danger, but so was Anna's future.

Back with Ratigan, he sees light engulfing his vision, then like someone hitting the fast forward button, memories that were not his own began to appear, but it was so fast he couldn't even catch a moment of what it was. But luckily for him, whenever a memory stops, he only has a second to look…

The first were plans filled with drawings…

The second was the silver watch's hands going fast until all the hands reached the top…

The last was a giant clock face with no numbers, only hands that were ticking…

After that, his vision flashed and changed as he was standing on some hard path, and in front of him was...A human! He didn't know who he was, but while the male human's back was turned, he saw that he was wearing an old light-brown coat and short tan-brown hair. What was strange was that he held something close to his ear and was talking to it, almost like somebody was there. As his body goes to autopilot, he quietly sneaks behind him, and then...grabs the man's mouth to silence him and then feels his claws tear at the man's throat, feeling the warm blood on his hands as he lets him go. He watches as the man drops something on the ground, noticing it was some kind of small metal contraption with a glowing mirror and numbers shining blue, he gurgles while clutching his throat and collapses on the ground at his front. The man twitched slightly as he finally died while his own blood made a small puddle surrounding his face.

Ratigan felt himself smirk as he snickered with delight…

His vision flashed and changed again as he was now seeing an odd building, but inside was a young man, whose back was also turned as he wore a blue coat with a grey hoodie, blue trousers, and unusual black shoes. Ratigan lifts something and notices in his right hand...A silver revolver? He had never seen a pistol look like this before, but the way he felt the weight from it packed some kind of power. His finger cocked the hammer...then pulled the trigger…

BAM! Came the loud sound of the revolver as the young man's back became a dot of red while he raised his arms slightly, noticing that he was wielding a black pistol in his right hand that he'd never seen before. Ratigan pulled the trigger twice. BAM! BAM! The young man's back was painted crimson as he collapsed on a shelf and knocked down the contents to the floor. However, if his face would've become shocked, if would've been now at what he was seeing…

It was the red-headed thief, herself! A stranger was already dead in front of her while her shoulder painted a stream of crimson that went down. Then, she collapsed.

Ding! There was a flash of light and Ratigan opened his eyes while breathing heavily as it came to an end. What was it, a vision, or was it something else? He didn't know what it was. However, he takes the silver watch out of his robe while looking at it. Whatever it was he saw, somehow that watch was connected to it. But something else appeared in his thoughts...Was that red-headed girl alive? No, it couldn't be, she had already been dealt with. After what he just saw, somehow she was killed again by his hand...Well at least he thinks he did. He wasn't sure anymore, none of this didn't make any sense.

Whatever the reason was, he didn't have time to ponder at this, he had bigger fish to fry...much bigger. So with that, he puts the watch back inside his robe, picks the crown back up while placing it on his head, and makes his way towards his coronation.

At the audience chamber, every mouse who was man, woman, child, young, or old had all gathered. Then, trumpets sounded off and drums were rolling by Ratigan's thugs, still disguised as royal guards, they were actually surprised with themselves that they were actually quite good for the first time.

A spotlight landed on some green curtains, which parted as their beloved sovereign appeared. Everybody applauded upon her entrance, just as the music stopped and were happy to see their queen. However, nobody knew that their beloved queen was not who she appeared to be. The robotic queen came to a standstill in the center of the stage as the crowd ceased their applause.

"On this most august occasion," The robotic queen began her speech while rattling and popping, much to the oblivious crowd who didn't notice. "We are gathered here not only to commemorate my sixty years as queen, but to honor one…"

Nobody in the crowd had noticed the phony guards smirking at one another. Hiding behind the curtain, Ratigan smiled with glee as his plan was coming to fruition. He looks at Hiram, who sat upon a stool as he was at the robotic queen's controls and reciting the words that had been prepared for him on cue cards, held by Bill the Lizard and another phony guard was pointing his rifle at Hiram's back to force him to cooperate. Then, he looks at the silver watch that he brought out while trying to think on how this thing works before his moment to appear before the audience comes.

Hiram felt horrible for what he was doing, but what choice did he have now. Not only was his heart aching for his probably dead human friend Anna, but his daughter was being forced to watch her die along with those two other mice, whom he didn't know who they were. To make things even worse, he felt like a fool for trusting Ratigan, thinking that he would spare Anna if he'd finish the robot, but at the same time...he was confused. He and Anna had been looking for a golden watch of the opposite value as the silver watch, and now after almost a week, they found it. But he never knew that the golden watch he and Anna were looking for was Ratigan's watch, and he even accused her of being a thief.

Was she really a thief? That couldn't be possible, he had put his trust in her and if she really was what Ratigan said she was, then she would've stolen something right under his nose. Unfortunately, even if she did, it wouldn't be anything valuable. None of this still didn't make any sense and he really wanted to know the real truth, but all of that was dashed with Anna taken from him and he'll probably never know what's going on.

Putting his confused thoughts out of his head, he had to finish the task that Ratigan had given him, Olivia was already waiting for him back at the lair so he continued, "Of truly noble stature. I present to you a statesman among mice…" The card switched as Hiram read, "A gifted leader…"

"A crusader for justice…" The robotic queen placed a hand over its heart as it continued onward.

Meanwhile, the real Queen Mousetoria had been gagged and bound by ropes, and was being carried off through the corridor by Fidget.

"Over here, fatty! You're a ton, toots!" Fidget cackled while the queen continued to shout muffly through her gag. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Time for mouse chow!"

The queen looked up and saw, to her shock and horror, Felicia jumping up and down excitedly. Every bounce caught a glimpse of the food that was soon going to come her way that her master had promised her with that ring of his bell.

Back with Ratigan, he had already opened the watch while tapping the face slightly a few times, hoping there might be a reaction, but once again nothing. He grew an irritated look, his moment to appear before the audience drew near as he wanted to figure out how this watch works now. "How does this blasted thing work?" He shut the watch, brought it close to his ear while shaking it, trying to at least find some kind of mechanism so he could at least get a hint on how it works, but it was silent.

"A majestic mountain of humility," continued the robotic queen, then gestured to the curtains behind her.

Ratigan knew that his time was about to be up if he didn't figure out how this watch works now before presenting himself. However, he notices three buttons, something that he hadn't seen before in any pocket watch in his life. He hadn't noticed it before, but still...What were they for and what do they do? Growing a curious look, he muttered, "I wonder…"

"And my new royal consort…"

The whole crowd glued their eyes to the stage, eagerly excited to see who this new royal consort was who will soon become the new ruler of Mousedom.

Ratigan looked at the three buttons and quickly chose the middle one since his pointer finger was close to it. He was ready to press it and hoped some kind of reaction would occur.

"Profess-"

The robotic queen was cut-off as Ratigan pressed the middle button and a flash of light came, making him turn his head away while closing his eyes. After that, he opens them while looking at the watch and saying, "Huh, bright little thing." He looks at Hiram, who seemed to not finish what he was about to say next. "Well, finish it." When he didn't get a response from him or finish the line, he goes to him and says to him with a hard tone, "Did you not hear what I said, Flaversham? I said finish it!"

When he got close to Hiram's face, he noticed that his muzzle was agape, almost like he was about to say the words, but couldn't seem to say it as his face remained frozen. Ratigan waves his face at him, trying to see if he noticed him...but he didn't. Everything became familiar to him as he looked at his thugs and they too remained frozen to where they were, their faces remained plastered and unchanged. The entire room felt quiet to him...too quiet to his tastes. Wanting to know what became of the audience the moment he pressed that middle button, he grew a curious look and parted the curtains...only to give a surprised look at what he was seeing…

The entire audience remained frozen as well! It didn't just happen backstage, it happened here as well, and if it's possible...then maybe the entire world remained frozen from time and only he was the only one moving. Looking back at the silver watch, he hums in thought while placing a finger under his chin. Wanting to know what would happen if he pressed the middle button again, he pressed it and there was another flash of light.

He hears the entire audience gasp, making him look at them as he sees them moving again as time resumes where it was. He could tell that some of them were surprised that he appeared in a flash of light while others were completely horrified and in disbelief. How could there beloved queen choose this infamous crime lord as her new royal consort? A little boy blew a raspberry at him, but he was quickly clamped over the mouth by his concerned and alarmed mother.

At the backstage, the thug and Bill the Lizard peeked behind the curtains, after seeing their boss disappear in a flash of light and reappear on the front stage. "How'd he do that?" Bill the Lizard asked.

"Isn't it obvious, you idiot," The thug answered Bill. "The Professor figured out how to use the watch and that means…"

They looked at one another with smirks on their faces, then laughed with triumph. With their boss using that watch, they'd be unstoppable! No, unstoppable wouldn't be enough to cover it...they'd be invincible!

Hiram had already stood up off the stool and gave a face that said "Somehow I knew". After he sat down, he said, "I knew there was something odd about her." The thug and Bill the Lizard stopped laughing and looked at Hiram. "I thought it would be crazy if I asked her. But, I always had this feeling...so now I know." He sat back down and buried his face in his hands while groaning, feeling even more guilty for not knowing beforehand of what the watch actually did so he could at least protect it. To make it even worse, not only was he the only one who would bring Mousedom's downfall, but Anna may have unintentionally brought the downfall to her world as well.

The thug and Bill looked at each other while having confused looks. What was he talking about?

Ratigan looked at the watch, then slowly grew a wicked smirk...and burst into a fit of maniacal laughter, lifting the watch up high as light reflected on it. "So that's how it works!" He cried out. "I've finally figured out one of its secrets!" He howled with laughter as he reveled at figuring out the first part of its secrets and it was only a matter of time before he figured out the rest.

The audience were confused. What did he mean by secrets and what does what work?

It took some time for the group, but at long last they found their way out through a metal sewer grate, which they managed to climb out through. Basil puts his fingers to his lips and whistles very loudly. There was familiar barking around the corner of the waterfront as Toby came bounding towards them with excitement.

"Toby!" cried Basil.

The loyal basset hound stopped in his tracks, right in front of Basil. Seeing Olivia, the dog gave her his welcome back greeting by licking her tiny cheek, making the little girl giggle as she lost her footing, but was caught by Dawson. Then, he turned his attention to Anna and gave her a lick at the cheek as well, seeing that she was alright and in one piece as she wiped her face with her arm. All three of them glanced up at Toby as they were happy to see him.

"The game's afoot, Toby! Our queen is in mortal danger!"

Listening to these words, Toby's happy expression immediately changed as he understood the situation and began to growl fiercely. He leaned his head down to the ground, his left ear flattened but didn't change to a staircase, much to Anna's surprise that it only worked in the movie but not in real life as they all climbed aboard upon Toby's back. As Dawson and Olivia sat down and grabbed onto Toby's collar, Basil and Anna stood on top of Toby's head while their arms wrapped around one another to keep each other secured and their feet in balance. "First, to Scotland Yard!" Basil ordered while pointing his finger. "We need help!"

And with that, Toby took off while barking as they were heading to their first destination.

Ratigan ceased his revel as he placed the watch back inside his robe while looking at the audience and telling them, "Pay no attention to what you saw just now." He then looked at the robotic queen and gave an exaggerated bow. "Oh, and thank you, Your Majesty." He reached back inside his robe and this time pulled out a big roll of parchment. "And now, as your new royal consort, I have a few slight suggestions."

Still grinning as wickedly as ever, Ratigan unrolled the parchment, revealing it to be hundreds of feet long as it proceeded through the royal red carpet and out through the blue curtained door as a smirking fake guard opened it slightly for it.

Ratigan puts on his reading glasses while clearing his throat and begins to read. "Item one…"

Everything seemed peaceful and quiet this late at night at Scotland Yard. Many of the inspectors and Constables were either working on some paperwork or returned back from their nightly patrols. However, despite the entire police group not getting invited to the queen's Diamond Jubilee, due to a note sent by the queen herself, they could probably understand their queen's wisdom in believing that she would be protected by her Royal Guards. Still, with The Napoleon of Crime at large, it was still hard in trying to find the ever-elusive crime lord. But they could put their own belief in the famous private investigator, Basil of Baker Street himself to find the fiend for them.

Two more Constables returned from their nightly patrol, but right before they went inside, a Constable pulled out two cigarettes asking if he wanted one, which he immediately nodded and took one. The Constable pulls out a match and lights it, taking a few puffs from his cigarette before bringing the lit match towards his partner's cigarette, which he took a big puff and exhales out of his mouth while the other exhales smoke from out of his nostrils.

Then, they began to hear the sound of barking which was coming their way. They looked ahead and noticed a basset hound, who stopped where they were while panting. "You there!" Came a familiar voice as they looked up and saw Basil. "Sound the alarm!"

A Constable takes the cigarette out of his mouth and asks, "Basil, what's going on?"

"It's Ratigan! The queen's in danger and he's at Buckingham Palace!"

The two Constables snickered at this, as if the famous Basil of Baker Street made a joke for the first time. "Preposterous! There's no way Ratigan could get in there."

"Yeah," agreed the other Constable, who took his cigarette out of his mouth. "That place is pretty much well guarded and the queen herself is protected by her guards." The Constable taps the tip of his cigarette as ash falls to the ground while putting the cigarette back in his mouth and continuing to smoke.

"He's telling the truth!" Came a female voice as she stepped right next to Basil.

Their eyes widened as a Constables mouth was agape, dropping the cigarette from his lips. They couldn't believe what either of them were seeing...it was a small human! Rumors have been going around about her existence, but others including Scotland Yard didn't believe such rubbish. But here she was, standing right next to Basil! "Ratigan's cronies have replaced the guards, the queen's life is about to end, and Ratigan himself is going to take over the kingdom if you don't help us!"

"Wha...she's uh…" One of the Constables says flabbergasted.

"Listen to her!" Basil says. "She's my witness! She knows exactly what's going on!"

"But Basil," once of the Constables says while pointing a finger straight at the human. "She's uh-"

"Confound it all!" Dawson says as he stood up, he didn't have time to be dealing with this and neither were they. "Listen to them! Ratigan is at the palace and the queen is in danger, and all your doing is standing there doing nothing! So sound the alarm and get everyone to the palace!"

"You heard him!" Basil says. "Hurry, there's not a moment to lose!" He then ordered Toby, "Quickly, to Buckingham Palace!"

With the order given, Toby began barking while going to their next destination. However, Dawson didn't have enough time to grab ahold of Toby's collar as he rolled and nearly fell off if he hadn't grabbed ahold of Toby's tail once again as he held on for dear life.

With the two Constables alone, one of them looked at the other while saying, "Did you see that?"

"I did," the other Constable answered.

"Is Basil right about what he said?"

"Has he ever been wrong before?"

The Constable nodded his head no.

"Then come on!"

As they went towards the signal bell, the Constable took out a whistle while the other was about to ring the bell. But before he did, he told his partner, "Not a word about what we saw, they need to see it for themselves."

With a nod of agreement, knowing that no one would believe them without proper evidence, the whistle was blown and the bell was rung. Everyone in Scotland Yard heard it as the two Constables told the entire police about what Basil said, but left out about seeing a small human. They armed themselves with their guns and clubs as they left base, and had to wait to take a carriage towards Buckingham Palace as the race was on to stop Ratigan from taking over Mousedom and hoped that they weren't too late.

Things were starting to look pretty hard for Fidget, after the queen saw what was going to happen to her, she began resisting him. Not only has she crawled away from him a few times, Fidget was now forced to carry the queen, despite being too much for him to handle, he had no choice but to place her on his back and carry her out. But the trek was a slow and painful one as the queen continues to put up a fight with the little bat as she kicks him on top of the head.

"Stop it!" He cried while grunting as he continued to strain himself onwards.

Elsewhere, Toby rocketed forwards with his master and passengers on his back while continuing to bark. However, a large horse carriage that said "City Pound" rounded a corner, but Toby raced straight ahead as the horses whinnied in alarm while rearing back and the human coachman tried to calm them down. Seeing how they had all made it, Dawson glanced back fearfully as he continued to hang onto Toby's tail while swinging back and forth as they continued onward.

Back at the palace, Fidget snickered as he made it on the balcony with a calmly sat Felicia as she smiled happily while waiting for her supper.

Toby continued to bark as he finally made it to Buckingham Palace. He stops near the palace gates, close to a single pillar as he lifts his nose for all his passengers to get off. Basil, Anna, Dawson, and Olivia climbed off of Toby and made their way through a small crack in the pillar as another entryway inside the palace.

At the balcony, Fidget raised the queen above his head and Felicia opened her mouth.

"Open wide!" Fidget commanded.

Queen Mousetoria gazed down in horror at the cat's sharp teeth and salivating tongue, ready to swallow her whole.

Just then, the rescue cavalry arrived while racing down the corridor in a mad dash with fierce determination in their eyes. Basil was already in the lead, Anna following closely behind him while Dawson and Olivia were right behind her.

"Bye-bye!" Fidget cackled as he was about to throw the helpless queen right into the cat's mouth.

Right in the nick of time, Basil grabbed and pulled the puzzled queen right out from Fidget's grasp while the others arrived as well, but the queen's eyes widened with shock when she saw Anna. Fidget fell off the balcony while screaming as he almost landed into Felicia's opened jaws. The cat didn't seem to care whom she wanted to eat as she was so desperate. With a jump, she tried to get the peg-legged bat, her teeth snapping as the bat scrambled back up on the balcony. "Down, down, kitty! Down!" He shouted while waving his only foot at the cat.

Felicia stopped what she was doing as she heard a distant barking and looked behind her. Toby appeared, barking furiously as he growled while baring his sharp teeth. Felicia screeched, horrified as her fur stood on end and she started to make her getaway with Toby chasing after her.

Fidget managed to climb back to the balcony, but then his ears heard a familiar female voice as she said in a singsong tone, "Oh Fidget."

Fidget turned around, only to get a fist in the face as he spun around. He swayed left and right while he heard tweety birds in his head as he had a silly grin.

"That one was for kidnapping Hiram!" Anna says. "And this one's for kidnapping Olivia!" She uppercuts Fidget so hard, he literally backflipped and landed hard on his front while grunting slightly as he became unconscious. Looking back at Basil while sighing with relief, she said to him, "Boy, that felt good, I was dying to get that out of my system."

After Dawson manages to untie Queen Mousetoria, he goes over to the unconscious Fidget and places him on his back. The queen's eyes remained widened with shock as her jaw was agape, she remained quiet for a few seconds until she spoke, "Upon my word, your...your uh-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Anna interrupted. "I'm a small human, the rumors are true, and blah, blah, blah. There's no time to waste!" She grabs the queen's hand and runs with Basil and the others following them.

Meanwhile with Scotland Yard, they managed to arrive at the palace while taking another way inside and hoped they would catch up with Basil. But little did they realize the surprise that was going to be in store for them.

Back in the audience chamber, Ratigan was still reading out his vicious proposals to the helpless audience before him.

"Item ninety-six…" He announced as he snickered slightly and grinned smugly, "A heavy tax shall be levied against all parasites and sponges, such as the elderly…" as he spoke, elderly people gasped in horror while an elderly married couple held each other, "the infirm," there was another wave of shocked gasps as a crippled old man paled while his jaw was agaped, "and especially…" he smiled while snickering slightly as he turned himself upside down and gazed at the small boy who blew the raspberry at him, glared bravely at Ratigan, "little children." There was one last wave of shocked gasps as anyone who had children either grabbed or picked up their children while hugging them, even the boy's mother protectively pulled him back as she moved back into the crowd. Nobody wanted their children to go through this madness.

The elderly crippled mouse came forward upon his walking cane, and he told Ratigan angrily while shaking a fist, "That's ridiculous! You're insane!"

Not pleased at this show of defiance, Ratigan frowned irately and he turned himself right back up...then an idea came. He wanted to put the silver watch into another test, wanting to see what would happen if he managed to stop time...and what would happen to the old man that he had planned to make an example out of. So with a smirk, he takes off his reading glasses and puts it back inside his robe, then takes out the watch while saying, "Perhaps I haven't made myself clear." With that, he presses the middle button and vanishes in a flash of light.

The old man's cane vanished before everyone's eyes, since his leg was crippled, not even his good leg would help him keep in balance without his cane as he collapsed to the floor.

What no one realized was that Ratigan discovered another secret of the watch's power. When he grabbed that cane, time resumed for a brief moment before freezing again, but nobody noticed that he was right next to the old man. It was like he was completely invisible and nobody even saw his form. Realizing even further, that as long as he had the watch, and if anyone was frozen in place...he could do whatever he wanted. So with a wicked grin and an evil chuckle, he did something really horrifying…

A bone cracked in a sickening way and the old man screamed in pain as he clutched his only good leg, no doubt that it was broken and he may not walk for a while. The entire audience gasped in horror as they kept hearing the old man scream. Then, not only did his cane reappear, but was now broken in two by Ratigan's brute strength as it was tossed to the floor. Then, the old man vanished into thin air. Ratigan then discovered another secret, whenever he touches someone or something, they're encased in light as he brings them to the frozen realm of time and were helpless at his mercy.

He tosses the old man towards the wall, where the audience saw him reappear there before vanishing again. Ratigan tosses the old man again as he screams while crashing into some people in the audience as they are knocked to the ground, but that didn't stop the old man from crashing into the other wall by his front. He once again vanishes before the audience as Ratigan then tosses him towards the ceiling, making the old man groan in pain as his back hits the ceiling, then he starts to fall while waving his arms and screaming.

Everyone stood back while turning their children's heads away from the old man's soon-to-be-death...but it never came as everyone gasped in shock as the old man stopped inches from the floor and was suspended in mid-air. Ratigan appeared in a flash of light, holding onto the old man's tail.

The old man's eyes widened with fear from what he just experienced while looking at Ratigan upside down and saying, "What is this? Is this some kind of magic trick?"

"Oh, I can assure you this is no magic trick," Ratigan shows the silver watch to the old man. "This is the power over time and space."

Ratigan tosses the old man towards the audience, knocking more people to the ground. He then shows the silver watch while saying, "What you all just witnessed was only a fraction of what I can do and what you have all just seen...was the future!" The audience began murmuring at one another with confusion. "This little watch you see before you is from the future!" The audience were shocked, but it did make sense after what just happened. "As long as I have this watch, I can do things which no one has ever dared to dream and with time and space at my side…" He pressed the middle button as he vanished in a flash of light and reappeared standing on the banister of the stage. "I have the power!"

"Of course you do," the robotic queen confirmed it.

"I am supreme!" Ratigan's arms spread wide.

"Only you," the robotic queen agreed with him.

"This is my kingdom and soon the future will be mine under my rule!" Ratigan bellowed as he raised his arms high into the air, light reflected on the watch as a single star shoned for all to see and laughed maniacally.

His enormous shadow loomed over the crowds of people as they looked terrified. Nobody would dare stand up to him now, not as long as he possesses the power of the silver watch. Everything was hopeless as everyone was powerless to stop this monster.

However, there was still hope. Behind the curtains, the group finally managed to make it to the back of the audience chamber, thanks to Queen Mousetoria for pointing them in the right direction. Basil opens the door and peers through it, seeing Hiram operating the controls to the robotic queen against his wishes while having a depressed look. He looks at Anna and nods at her as she nods at him back.

She bends down and says to Olivia, "Stay here with the queen and Dawson. Basil and I will be right back. Okay?"

Olivia nods her head as Anna hugs her, then follows Basil as they go inside.

Basil goes towards the thug while Anna goes towards Bill as she taps his shoulder and says, "Excuse me."

Bill was confused as he turned around, only to get a fist at the face, then at the stomach while bending all of the cue cards in the process, and getting hit again at the face, knocking him down. Hiram's depressed look changed to happiness as he saw Anna, but didn't have enough time to warn her as the thug pointed his rifle at her. The thug didn't get the chance to shoot her as Basil grabs the rifle while they wrestled, then he knees the thug at the gut, making him groan as Basil then elbows him in the face while taking the rifle and uppercutting the thug using the butt of it as he lands on the floor.

Anna was a little surprised, she never saw Basil could defend himself. But this was reality, there was a difference between this and the movie. She brushes this off as she hears Hiram say, "Anna!"

She looks at Hiram with a big smile as she runs to him and hugs him. "Oh, thank heavens!" They looked at one another. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Well, it's going to take more than that to keep this girl down," she looks at the door. "You can come in guys, it's safe."

On cue, the door opened and Hiram saw Olivia as she smiled and cried, "Father!"

She races away from the queen and Dawson as she leaps onto Hiram's open arms while saying with happiness, "Oh, Olivia! Oh, my little girl!" All three of them embraced as they were reunited at long last.

"Daddy," Olivia says. "Basil was the one who helped us find you."

Hiram looks at Basil with a smile and says, "Ah, Basil, I've heard a lot about you, it's a pleasure to meet the man himself and I can't thank you enough for helping them."

"It wasn't just me, Hiram," they looked at Dawson as he placed the unconscious Fidget near the thugs. "Dawson was also the one who helped too."

"He's right you know," Anna agreed as Dawson stood next to Basil. Then she greeted Hiram to Dawson. "I want you to meet my friend, Hiram."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hiram Flaversham," Dawson brought his hand to greet him. "Dr. David Q. Dawson, at your service."

"The pleasure is mine, Dr. Dawson." Hiram takes Dawson's hand to shake.

"Pleasantries aside," Basil says. "What do we do about them?" He tilted his head towards the unconscious thugs and Fidget to simplify. "Scotland Yard isn't here yet to deal with them."

"Not to worry," came the voice of Queen Mousetoria. She had already brought out some rope that she dug from the piles of junk that was stored backstage. "This should do until they get here."

"Hey, Basil," Anna says to him as she tilts her head towards the controls.

Seeing the controls made Basil give off a smug grin while humming in thought and stroking his chin.

Back with Ratigan, he calms down while clearing his throat and sits down on the banister, turning to the robotic queen saying, "That is, of course, with Your Highness' permission."

There came no response. Thinking there was something wrong with it, he quickly gave it a slight slap and then that familiar rattling and popping returned.

"Most assuredly…" the robotic queen replied, making Ratigan smile with relief. But then, it looked at him as it's expression suddenly became angry while speaking out in an angry tone, "You insidious fiend!"

"What?" Ratigan was shocked and confused at this unexpected answer. This immediately caused confusion with the audience as well as they looked up at their sovereign.

"You're not my royal consort!" snapped the robotic queen.

Trying to cover it up, Ratigan quickly ran over and covered the robotic queen's mouth while desperately putting on the best facade grin. "What a sense of humor." But the robotic queen escaped from his grasp for a moment to insult him, "You're a cheap fraud and imposter!"

Quickly catching her at the mouth again, Ratigan mumbled angrily under his breath towards the curtains, "Flaversham!" Then he went back to grinning innocently at the audience.

What he didn't realize was that behind the curtains, Basil was the one controlling the robot as he moved the levers and spoke onto the microphone, letting out all his rage and thoughts onto what his adversary truly was. "A corrupt, vicious, demented, low-life scoundrel! There's no evil scheme you wouldn't concoct!"

Behind the detective while he was using the microphone, they managed to bind and gag the thugs and Fidget as they all looked furious while the queen tightened Fidget's ropes, almost squeezing the life out of him as she paid him back for the suffering he put her through.

Anna taps on Basil's shoulder and asks, "May I?" Basil nods and motions his hand towards the microphone, he could already tell that she had some thoughts of her own that wanted to be let out. But before she spoke through the microphone, she looked at Hiram while clearing her throat and making a cutting gesture saying, "Uh, Hiram."

Getting the gist of what she meant, he covers her daughter's ears as Anna cups her hands and yells through the microphone, "So who's the failure now asshole!"

The audience gasped when they heard their sovereign speak such foul language as the adult mice covered their children's ears. Even Ratigan himself was shocked, nobody spoke such foul language all except…

"No…" Ratigan didn't want to accept it. "That's impossible, you're dead!"

The audience were confused. Who was who that died? The robotic queen's expression changed to a smirk as she laughed at Ratigan's frightened face. "What's wrong?" The robotic queen placed her hands on her hips. "Afraid you're seeing a ghost?"

Ratigan didn't want to believe it...it just wasn't possible! He wasn't a superstitious man, but here it was right here in front of him…

Somehow that already dead human was possessing the machine!

Unfortunately for Ratigan, he didn't know that Anna was still alive as she covered her mouth while continuing to giggle. Even Basil himself let out a few giggles as his adversary believed that Anna came back from the dead to haunt him. "Do it," she encouraged Basil.

"My pleasure."

It was now their turn to pay back Ratigan. For Basil, it was to publicly humiliate the rat who once humiliated him when he had carelessly walked into his obvious trap, and for Anna, the emotional hurt he put her through. Basil jerked the controls forward, forcing the robotic queen to go haywire.

The robotic queen's spring neck sprung upward and bit Ratigan right on the nose, making him yelp in pain as it brought him out of his shocked and fearful expression. He manages to pull his nose off of the robot's head as he pushes it down, but the spring arms come out, punching him right at the stomach as he groans while clutching it. He tries to hide the seemingly possessed machine behind him while smiling innocently at the audience. However, when they saw their sovereign who was not who she appeared to be, and realizing that they were all tricked, glared up at him hatefully.

"No depravity you wouldn't commit!" The robotic queen walked out right from underneath him, nearly making Ratigan lose his balance. But after regaining his balance, he tries to hide the robot again. No such luck as the robot lifted itself up on it's spring legs, forcing him to go up with it. Then he fell on the floor in a slightly painful crash. He massages his sore chin, only for his eyes to widen and gasp as the robot turned its head backwards in a rather creepy way and was looking at him, making him crawl backwards in fright.

"You Ratigan," Anna said through the microphone as the robot spoke for her while the rest of its body turned forwards to face him. "Are nothing more than a sick bastard! A cruel son of a bitch who's going to get what he deserves!"

Basil began thrusting the levers back and forth, making the robot spiral out of control even further as it lost its crown and robe. Ratigan quickly gets up while covering his face with his arms as he is showered with nuts, bolts, and cogs. Its face smashed to pieces, leaving only it's eyes and teeth remaining as its neck sprung forward right at the horrified rat's face. Then, Basil and Anna spoke in unison, making the robot's voice distorted, almost like it was truly possessed by the dead human's ghost, "And you're none other than a foul, stenchus rodentus, commonly known as a…"

As the robot began to laugh, Ratigan's fear was changed to anger. Not only because he was being mocked by this human, but because he recognized those Latin words. He breathed hard as his face turned red, then wrung the remains of the robot by the neck, crying outraged at the human possessing it, "Don't say it you wretched human!"

Some of the audience members were confused. Did he just call that robot a human, has he already gone mad?

Basil and Anna revealed themselves from behind the curtain. They shouted at Ratigan in unison with Basil's being normal while pointing at him and Anna's in a singsong voice while cupping her hands, "SEWER RAT!"

Ratigan threw his head up and screamed. Anna literally busted out laughing while clutching her stomach.

At the exact same moment, Scotland Yard threw open the curtain door and rushed through. Seeing Ratigan on stage made one of them say, "Look, there he is!" and another one says, "So Basil was right, he really is here!" But one of them noticed Anna as he pointed towards the stage and yelled, "Wait look!"

Both Scotland Yard and the audience looked to where he was pointing...until a female mouse yelled, "It's a human!" Many of the mice, both Scotland Yard and everyone else had shocked looks on their faces, gasping and murmuring came, while others grabbed their children and held them close as if she would harm them. Nobody expected to see a human appear before them, much less think that the rumor about a small human was true.

When Ratigan heard someone say "human" his eyes widened with shock as he turned around, only to gasp, "You! It can't be!" He couldn't believe it, not only was he fooled into believing that the robot was possessed, but his most hated adversary was alive. To make it even worse, so was that human who stood right next to Basil!

Anna gave off her own smug grin while crossing her arms and saying, "I told you I'd be back."

"Arrest that fiend!" Basil shouted.

Everyone shook off of their stupor as both the audience and Scotland Yard charged at Ratigan's men. "Give me back that watch!" Anna shouted at Ratigan while she, Basil, Dawson, Hiram, and Queen Mousetoria all jumped on him, attempting to hold him down while trying to get the watch away from him.

Olivia peered out at the chaos from behind the curtain. Fidget was grunting as he was struggling with his ropes, but managed to stick his peg-leg in-between the ropes, untying himself while taking off his gag and was ready to snatch the unsuspecting little girl.

Meanwhile, Felicia was running for her life while screeching and Toby continued to bark as he continued his pursuit after her. Felicia plowed through a bush, then at a rose patch as she scurried up a huge stone wall. Toby began pawing and barking furiously beneath the wall. The cat hissed at Toby, almost like she was snickering mockingly at him before raising her head while turning up her rear end and jumping over the wall.

However, what she didn't realize was there was a sign that said "Royal Guard Dogs". Everything was quiet until…

There came a screech and barking as cat fur and a purple ribbon went flying. Nobody would know her gruesome end came at the jaws of those guard dogs.

Back at Buckingham Palace, the chaos began to escalate more violently than ever. When someone had pulled the trigger and a gunshot was fired…

The night was once again turned into a bloodbath.

Shots were fired out from inside the palace audience chamber, bodies dropped or fallen off the ledge dead as both Scotland Yard and Ratigan's thugs fought against each other with support from the civilians. However, despite the valiant effort of both Scotland Yard and civilians, most of the others who didn't fight were caught in the crossfire as some were shot dead by Ratigan's men or were injured badly, forcing some of the police mice to retreat to help the wounded by carrying them or leading them out before more bodies were piled. But luckily, some of the thugs were cowards as they fled from the fight when it came to the angry civilians and law enforcement.

As blood was being spilled on both sides while many were either trying to find the children who were separated from their parents or were being carried to safety before they were injured or worse get killed in the crossfire, the struggle that was happening onstage was becoming a bit harder for anyone to notice. The group was having a hard time trying to bring Ratigan down, but the rat was a lot tougher to bring down than anyone thought. However, every time when Ratigan manages to knock one of the members of the group, they quickly get back up and climb back on. Anna was the only one who didn't get knocked down by Ratigan. Sure she was shaken, but she managed to keep her limbs wrapped around him like a snake coiling it's prey while trying to get the silver watch out somewhere in Ratigan's robes.

Luck was on her side when she managed to reach inside somewhere in those robes and felt something metallic, then pulled out the silver watch. Seeing that his watch, his only link and power to time and space, was about to be taken by that human, Ratigan grabs her hand while grunting, "Let go you wench, it's mine!"

"No, it's mine!"

While one was trying to pry the watch from the other, Anna accidentally pressed the middle button as a flash of light came, stopping everything around them while the struggling continued. Seeing that time had stopped gave Ratigan the advantage he needed as he shouts while charging at the frozen crowd, carrying the group with him as he plows through the crowd, trying to get them off of him. But in the process, caused time to go in and out of resuming and freezing as civilians, law enforcement, and even Ratigan's men were pushed, shoved, and flung here and there.

Ratigan spins around and tosses Queen Mousetoria who was on his arm as she was flung into the air, she screams for a moment until she freezes since she is no longer holding onto him. He then slams himself to a wall, making Anna and Dawson groan in pain, but the overweight mouse lets go of him as he too freezes. Hiram and Basil tried their best to help Anna get the watch, but Ratigan uses his brute strength to throw both of them off as they both froze, leaving only Anna to get the watch herself.

Both Anna and Ratigan's hands clasped at one another, trying to pry the watch from each other while Ratigan says, "Let go you miserable creature!"

Having enough of this, Anna grits her teeth and says through her clenched teeth, "Like...hell!"

With that, she bites Ratigan's wrist hard.

Ratigan threw his head up and screamed loud with pain, but accidentally pressed the middle button as a flash of light came and time began to resume. Queen Mousetoria screams as she lands on top of both civilians and some police mice as they collapsed to the floor, Dawson had a painful face as he slid from the wall while clutching his stomach, and Hiram and Basil were tossed into two different directions with Hiram sliding on the floor by his back and Basil rolling on the floor. He manages to throw Anna off him as she yelps slightly and rolls on the floor. Ratigan shakes his wrist to ease the pain, only to realize the watch he had in his hand was gone. Looking ahead, he notices the human shaking her head to get rid of the dizziness, then notices she has the silver watch in her hand. Growing an angry look, he shouts while Basil yells to Anna, "Look out!"

Anna looks and sees Ratigan coming towards her with his arms raised, she yelps and covers her face. However, by sheer accident she pressed the left button and a flash of light came. She uncovers her hands, noticing that Ratigan wasn't there, then looks ahead as she sees him shaking his wrist from when she bit him. She had a confused look as Anna thought, What the hell? Anna looked at the watch as she didn't know what had happened since she didn't see it. She was going to ponder, but that was interrupted when she heard Basil yell, "Look out!"

She looks and see Ratigan coming towards her while shouting and having his arms raised, Anna yelps while raising the silver watch and presses the left button again, only this time she sees a flash of light for a moment, then fades as she sees Ratigan once again back where he was as he was shaking his wrist. Her jaw was agape and her eyes were blinking twice, trying to make sure she was seeing right. Upon realization, she only went back a few seconds in time by pressing the left button. She looks at the watch again with her face filled with wonder. However, she wondered about the right button as she hummed and thought, I wonder…

Ratigan stopped shaking his wrist as he had a clear-sense of deja vu, even Basil and everyone else felt the same when both sides stopped fighting as everyone was confused. They were about to do something to one another, but stopped when a flash of light appeared not just once but twice as they were put on repeat. Ratigan looks ahead and notices the human looking at the watch, his eyes widened as he figures that somehow she had discovered one of the watch's secrets. His eyes narrowed with anger as he snarled. How dare that human woman take one of those secrets from him! It should be him! Not this filthy human! Wanting to stop her before she discovers another secret before him, Ratigan shouts while going towards her with his arms raised.

Basil shook out of his stupor and yelled which without realizing it would be the third time, "Look out!"

Anna looks and sees Ratigan coming towards her for the third time, but this time, she reacted quickly by pressing the right button and a flash of light came. Her eyes widened and her jaw was agape once again when she saw Ratigan going slowly towards her...literally. She looks around and notices Basil's eyes slowly blink while everyone else slowly grows shocked and others are slowly turning around when they see another flash. Anna realized that when she presses the right button, everything goes in slow motion with time continuing at this pace. She got up as Ratigan came at her, ready to grab her, but she giggled while having a smirk as she ducked his arms and backed away from him.

She pressed the right button again as another flash came and time resumed as Ratigan missed grabbing the human. Basil's eyes completely blinked while nodding and his jaw was agape, everyone looked with either their shocked expressions or jaws agaped, even Ratigan's thugs stopped what they were doing as they saw the human use the watch. What everyone saw just now was Anna becoming a blur the moment she pressed the right button.

Anna was giddy with laughter as she covered her mouth while looking at the silver watch and saying, "Oh my God, that was cool!" She looks and notices Ratigan's shocked look as his jaw was agape as well. But then, it went back to an angry look as Anna unintentionally discovered another secret of the watch.

She gave off a smug grin as her finger was poised to press the right button again, there was something on her mind that she wanted to try. So with another shout from Ratigan and right before he was about to take a step, she pressed the right button again as time went back in slow motion. She charges towards a slow Ratigan and hits him at the gut, but backs up as she sees light encase his body for a moment and hears him gasp for breath as he is slowly lifted up. What she didn't know was that she once again unintentionally discovered another secret. The moment when she hit Ratigan, it felt to him like he was hit by the force of a cannonball.

She covers her mouth as she laughs giddly again while saying, "This is fricking amazing!" She gets into her defensive stance and starts punching Ratigan as he is slowly pushed back.

As time remained slow for Anna, everyone watched as Ratigan, while remaining slightly in midair, was bombarded with punches that came and went like how a gatling gun was fired. Luckily for Ratigan, none of the punches broke any of his bones, but that didn't stop the pain that the human was inflicting upon him. With one last punch from Anna, she then uppercuts Ratigan as his head goes up. She backs up and presses the right button, resuming time, only for her to jump as Ratigan screamed. What she didn't know about was when the moment she uppercutted Ratigan, it was so hard his crown and robes came off as he was back into his own clothes and was sent sailing through the air with everybody watching him as he crashed at the stage wall ceiling and fell on his front with a grunt.

Everybody turned their attention back to the human, who then kissed the silver watch and said, "Oh, I love this thing!" Everybody was in shock and awe, none of the police mice believed in what just happened, but saw it right before their very eyes, even both the civilians and Ratigan's thugs couldn't believe that a human would use the power of time and space to actually beat Ratigan by only just a few seconds.

Anna looks at the thugs, each of them with frightened looks as some of them backed away. She takes a deep breath…"Boo!"

Every thug screamed as they either dropped their weapons or carried it with them as they made a run for it. No thug would dare try to stand against this human as long as she held onto the watch. Scotland Yard took this as their chance to chase them, while some of the police mice or civilians tackled them and others were cut off from the exit by the civilians and Scotland Yard as they pointed their guns, making the thugs drop their own as they raised their arms up in surrender. Now all that was left was to deal with The Napoleon of Crime.

Ratigan grunts as his arms shakily lift him up...plet. He looks down and notices a small dot of red, then comes another. He feels something warm and wet drip from his mouth all the way to his chin, then wipes it slightly using his gloved hand, only seeing it was blood...his blood. His hand clenched tightly while shaking with anger, his eyes looked at the human with pure murderous intent. For the first time in his criminal career, someone drew first blood on him. It was mostly him who drew first blood onto others, but for someone like that human to draw first blood on him was not only a mockery to his image but was now left a stain, a permanent reminder for what that human just did. He quickly gets up as he is slowly surrounded by angry civilians and police mice. But then, he heard a loud sharp whistle as he and everyone else looked towards the balcony.

High on the balcony, there stood Fidget holding Olivia in his bat wings over the edge, chanting, "The girl! The girl!"

Hearing this, Hiram turned around and gaped in alarm that his daughter was taken from him once again.

Ratigan took this as a chance of distraction as he kicked the ruin junk heap of a robot towards the civilians and police mice, making it collide with them as they collapsed to the floor. He then looks at the human who shouts, "Hold on Olivia, I'm coming!" She was about to use the watch, but he wasn't going to let her. He jumps over the banister as he steps on two mice's heads, then grabs onto a rope as he sails through the air.

She didn't have enough time to react as Anna hears a shout, then turns around and yelps as Ratigan sweeps her away in his clutches while swinging for it to the balcony.

Seeing Anna in danger, a determined Basil went after Ratigan with Dawson and Hiram close behind. "Stay where you are!" Ratigan warned loudly as he dangled Anna over the edge, her wrists held tight in a vice grip as he already snatched the watch out of her hands and was back in his possession once again. He held the watch close as light reflected on it, making it look like he was holding onto a knife, ready to stab Anna as he was ready to push any of those buttons and kill her. "Or the girls die!" He whisks her away behind the curtain with Fidget following him while carrying Olivia.

"Hurry, Dawson!" Basil yelled as he went after Ratigan. Once the three mice rushed outside, he pointed up to the sky, shouting, "There he goes!"

They could see Ratigan's dirigible was already aloft and was flying away from the palace. Basil climbs up the flagpole, then grabs onto a large rope. "Dawson! Flaversham! Gather up those balloons!" He orders while pointing at a dozen balloons nearby. While the two mice were gathering the balloons, Basil managed to pull the Union Jack down from the flagpole with a mighty tug, then the three mice began quickly constructing their own flying aircraft to hopefully pursue The Napoleon of Crime and rescue the two girls.

However, what no one realized was that grey storm clouds were slowly approaching and thunder gave off a small boom. At Big Ben the hands went from 9:55 to 9:56, four minutes before ten…

And when the moment it reached ten, the hands of fate would soon turn.

Whoo, what a chapter! I hoped you enjoyed that, but now were one step closer to reaching the climax of the story. Join me next time as the fight at Big Ben will soon begin.

Well, I'll see y'all later for now!