Chapter 18: Train of Trouble

I was one step closer to getting even further away from a city filled with evil, and was one step away from heading to a long journey to freedom.

Once that first step was taken, there was no going back. I had no intention of looking back where the troubles were behind me for now.

But I never realized that trouble had a way of finding me. No matter where I go as it is right around the corner and right under my nose.

November 26, 2018 11:10 p.m.

It didn't take long for Dawson to find a nice hiding spot away from any witnesses or Royal Guards. As the carriage was parked, Basil stepped out of the carriage with the bag that had both his and Dawson's gears inside while he had both his tophat and the same oval shaped sunglasses that Dawson had, looking like someone who was an aristocratic elite with Dawson hopping off the carriage. They waited for Anna to get dressed in her disguise which only took about several minutes before she too came out of the carriage. She was wearing a baby blue dress with a white apron, brown heeled boots on her feet, white gloves on both her hands, a white hooded shawl that covered her ears along with her red hair that was tied into a bun upon suggested by Basil, a grey veil that was over the hood, and oval shaped sunglasses to match Basil's and Dawson's. One good look at her and someone would think that she was a nurse who came from a wealthy family.

After setting the horses free to cover up their tracks and leaving the other black bag behind as there was no need for it, Dawson gives Anna a fake permit so she could walk out at night along with a fake Exit Visa, that way no Royal Guard will ever know who she is as her name on both the permit and Exit Visa was Miranda Walkin. Getting a little curious, she asked them what their fake names were, with Basil telling her that he was Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, an aristocrat of Britannia and Dawson was Cary Elwes, his right-hand man. He even told her that she would play as his fiance who he decided to marry right here in Kingsland, but had to wait due to the king being married in the same church he had planned out and now he has to leave because of all the chaos.

Speaking of which, he gives her a golden ring so that way she'll play the part. However, she had a hard time trying to figure out which finger the ring should go to since she was used to having five fingers and knowing where the ring should go, but Basil managed to help her as he placed the ring on her third finger. She never thought that a mouse's ring finger would be the third one because usually when wearing a wedding ring it wasn't the middle finger but right next to it.

Still, she never imagined playing pretend fiance to Basil, but at least she could be grateful that she wasn't an actual fiance anymore to that rat. Much less, be even married to him which made her mentally shudder at that. However, she still couldn't figure out why Ratigan would even spy on her back in her world. Better yet, why did he stalk her behind her back? That thought brought her some dread as it started to scare her a little. Why would he do this? What was so special about her that made him want to do that? Those questions she couldn't even answer and yet more unanswered that kept piling up in the back of her head.

With everything ready, Basil gives Dawson the bag and offers his arm to Anna which she gladly takes, then the three start to make their way with Anna asking Basil where they were going. He tells her they were heading for the train station. Occasionally, they would pass by many Royal Guards. Most of them didn't even notice as they were too busy searching for The Masked Phantom's and the king's fiance, other times one of the guards asked if they seen either of them to which Basil denied, and other times a guard or two would ask why they were here or if they have a permit to be walking around this time of the night. Again, Basil tells them that he, his fiance, and his right-hand man each have a permit as they showed it, and were about to leave Kingsland.

The ruse was working out splendidly, nobody even recognized Anna, Basil, or Dawson. It was like they were ghosts from Anna's perspective. The trio finally arrived at the train station, where many people either an entertainer who just came back from the castle, an aristocrat from another part of Britannia, or someone of high-social standard, were gathered as they were showing their Exit Visas to receive their ticket. When it came to the trio's turn, they received their tickets and finally boarded the train.

With a honk of the train's whistle it started to move, carrying it's passenger's along with it. At a private car where the three wouldn't be disturbed as they took off their sunglasses and the curtains were closed, Basil and Dawson sat right in front of Anna. Basil had some questions for her to ask, but these first ones would probably be a little odd for her, much to Anna's confusion. He brings out a notepad from out of his suit and asks her this question, "What is the square root of pi?"

Automatically she said, "1.77." She shook her head while having an odd look. "Wait. What did I just say?"

Basil and Dawson looked at the notepad, seeing that the answer was correct as they looked at one another. He flips to the next page as he asks her the next question, "What is the answer to the energy of infinity?"

Again, she automatically said without a reason why, "Zero." She covers her mouth with both hands, then she takes them down. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

Basil and Dawson were just as confused as she was. This wasn't the Anna they remembered. In fact, Basil could easily answer the first question, but the other question was way out of his league and was lucky that the answer was written in the notepad. So how was this possible for her to become that smart? Putting this odd moment aside for now, Basil puts the notepad back in his suit and proceeds to ask her other questions like:

What became of Anna and Ratigan back at the castle?

What happened back in her world before the merge?

Did Ratigan do anything to her?

Every question that Basil asked she answered. The first thing she told him was that ever since she went back to her world, she was taken to some room and was tied to a chair. Basil and Dawson became shocked when she then told them that Moriarty was actually Ratigan this whole time, and the way he did it was by using the watch so he could become human and blend in with her world. What became even more shocking was that he told her that he's been in her world for thirty-one years.

"Thirty-one years?!" Dawson exclaimed. "But how was that possible?"

"I think it's clearly obvious, Dawson," Basil said calmly. "Time had barely affected him because he wasn't part of her world. He even used that to his advantage to learn how to use that watch. Still, what else happened back in your world?"

She told them about Ratigan's plan to merge worlds in which that part he had already succeeded, but before he did so, he tried to kill Basil in revenge. Basil could tell that Ratigan would attempt to do so if he was actually alive. Still, he needed to know more. Then there was the next shocking thing that Anna said as it made Dawson lean back on his seat. "Before I went back in time, I saw that Ratigan brought another copy of himself. And that copy went back in time to warn himself that I was coming to steal his watch."

"Another copy. That's impossible." Dawson said.

Normally, Basil would agree. It was impossible, but this was Ratigan they were talking about. He's a genius who was twisted for evil and whatever he uses, he can use anything to his advantage. Especially traveling back and forth through time, and through different worlds. She even told them that he has managed to merge with himself and has become far more powerful. So powerful that he didn't need to use the full potential of the watch to use time and space as that power was now at the palm of his hand, much to shock Dawson even further, and she even told them that somehow he's able to hypnotize people. To which Basil told Dawson that he saw it first-hand when he hypnotized an entertainer to commit suicide in front of the audience.

Dawson was finding this hard to believe. If Ratigan had that kind of power, then there was no telling what would happen. To make it even worse, if Ratigan manages to hypnotize more than one person and then says the word to kill themselves or each other...Oh, dear lord, this'll be a bloodbath. No, that word wouldn't cover it. It'll be a massacre of innocent lives!

However, something didn't seem right as Dawson says, "But this doesn't make any sense. Why would Ratigan even want you to begin with?"

"How the hell should I know!" Anna shrugged.

Dawson looked at Basil. "Don't look at me, Dawson, I'm just as clueless as you are." He placed a finger under his chin as he was in thought. "Although, there is somewhat of a connection to what's happened so far before all this."

"What is it then?" Dawson asked.

"Well, we already know that Ratigan has been practicing using that watch for thirty-one years in Anna's world. Then after discovering some secrets, he returned back to The Outskirts of Time Itself." Anna was going to ask Basil how he knew about that, but he beat her to it as he looked at her and said, "And yes, Anna, I know about The Outskirts of Time Itself along with the multiple worlds as I was told about it."

"Who told you?"

"That I'll explain later. Now, around the thirty-one year time-gap, Ratigan somehow managed to find Anna and became infatuated with her. For that, I don't know why, as that part I hit a dead-end for now. But, back to where Ratigan returned back to The Outskirts of Time Itself, he somehow managed to change the one course of history where I managed to beat him at the clocktower and bring his second version of himself to the other side of time and space. This part right here gets a little interesting. While remaining trapped for thirty-one years, he became a bit...interested in the futuristic modern world as he wanted to create his own future world under his own image. To do that, he needed to create alternative worlds. Speaking of which..." He turns his attention to Anna. "Has Ratigan said anything to you about alternative worlds?"

"Yes, he said he needed me to experiment on his world to create an alternative version of his world, but I…" Anna sighed.

"Yes, go on."

"I think he somehow created an alternative version of my world."

"Are you sure about that?" Dawson asked.

"Honestly, no. But I have a weird feeling that he might have."

Basil couldn't agree more. In fact, he too had the same feeling. If he managed to create alternative worlds in his world, then it's possible that he might've altered her world as well. The question was: How did he do it exactly? Again, this seemed like another dead-end as there were more missing pieces to the puzzle that needed to be connected in order to make sense of things. Nevertheless, they weren't just dealing with a mad king, they were dealing with the mind of an evil genius who's leaving many twists and turns before they come to an end to this crazy labyrinth of questions and answers.

Anyway, when it came to the questions of what happened at the castle and whether Ratigan had done anything to her while she was there. Anna told them everything that transpired before she was taken to the castle. However, when the thought of Francine and Phillip were brought up, a few tears came from her eyes as she told them what had happened to them with Dawson giving her his deepest condolences and they will find Phillip wherever he may be in any of the workhouses. She then told them that she tried to escape by herself, but Ratigan caught her and sped-up time to today as he forced her to watch as a child was being whipped. Dawson became a bit angry that Ratigan actually tortured a child in order to force Anna's hand in marriage as he asked what child it was so whenever he meets one, he'll be sure to treat that child right away to which she told him that it was a male Golden Retriever. After that was done, she told them that Ratigan did put his hands on her. The first thing he did was slap her in the face when she mentioned Basil, then she told them this…

"Then that bastard grabbed my ass after he kissed my cheek. I wanted to slug him, but I was afraid he might hurt the children if I did that."

Dawson gasped when he heard that. As for Basil, though his face didn't show it as it remained calm, he was furious as his hands clutched tightly on his legs. How could Ratigan be so impertinent?! Putting his hands on a woman's rear without their consent is downright rude! Clearly, this rat had no manners and had no concept on how to treat a lady. This not only irked him to no end, but he feared what would've happened if he didn't rescue her in the nick of time. He got up off his seat and sat right next to her as he embraced her.

With all said and done, Anna had her own questions to ask. Like who were those other Masked Phantoms? Were they real or were they fake so they could distract the guards? Basil told her that she got it half-right on the distraction part, but those Masked Phantoms were just as real as he was. She wanted to know more about how the plan was to save the children along with her? So far, her slightly enhanced smart mind managed to piece together somewhat of the plan as she already knew that he told her that they, or in better case the resistance, would rescue the children. However, she needed to know what else the plan was instead of just that.

Basil seemed a little surprised that she managed to figure out some parts. He did explain to her that the first part of the plan was to infiltrate Kingsland while their spy from above would find Anna so they could locate her, but the plan changed when their spy told them she was taken to the castle so they had to go to Plan B. The rest she knew from Dawson when he decided to rescue her himself.

As for the next part of the plan, the resistance had already set charges to a certain time to detonate on the museum to send the message throughout the city if anyone wished to escape and come to the resistance to join the revolution, or just be free and don't need to fight, while one of their tech wiz's jammed the frequency where Basil gave his speech and the fireworks show began.

The third part of the plan was for Dawson to fetch a carriage while those Masked Phantoms became the distraction to throw off the trail for the Royal Guards and the other members of the resistance to infiltrate the castle to rescue the children and anyone else who was still a prisoner from the inside. However, the real plan behind it all was to destroy the security blimp that way once they return, that blimp won't cause them any trouble, and to get her. Anna seemed confused as to why she was important to the resistance. Even Basil himself admitted he doesn't know why either. The point was, she was safe for now as long as she stuck with him and Dawson, and all she needed to do was join them at The Freedom Lands.

When Anna asked him what became of him for the last five years since she's been away, he told her that it was a long story and didn't want to go much into detail yet. But he did tell her about the resistance as they were divided into groups there. The first group was the assault group as their job was to attack head-first into battle. The second group was the tech-wiz's as their job was to send any known information via computer to any of their spies, or hack-in to any computer when paired up with a group if necessary. The third group was the tinkerers as their job was to either repair or create certain things to help with the fight against Ratigan. The fourth group was the spy network as certain people are carefully chosen to take undercover assignments by going behind enemy lines. Like the tech-wiz's, instead of getting information from a computer, they gain information throughout everything, and if anything's useful they must report this to the resistance immediately. The fifth group was the medical group as their job was to treat the wounded and the sick. Then the last group he told her was called The Phantom Troupe as that one was special. They were a combination of the groups wrapped into one.

He even explained to her that everyone in Britannia has heard about the freedom fighter called The Masked Phantom, but no one has actually seen the face. However, since Kingsland knew about him along with the other four, that didn't mean that the rest of the land knew the faces of others. In fact, The Masked Phantom isn't just someone who wears a mask and fights for freedom, that individual has to become the persona who means to free a nation. In short, you need to be a symbol for the people to look up to and follow you.

Anna seemed impressed by this. It seemed to be more like a superhero comic book. Instead, it was much different than that. Nevertheless, she wanted to know more about this Phantom Troupe group and if there were more of them. Basil explained to her that there were many of them. However, that doesn't mean anyone can automatically get the mask and become a Masked Phantom. To do that, you have to earn it by proving yourself if you have what it takes to become part of that symbol for the rebellion. He even explained to her that every Masked Phantom is different from one another, other than the simple hat, cloak, gloves, boots, and utility belt. Every uniform was different and unique in their own way.

Another thing he explained to her were the gadgets and equipment every Masked Phantom has. For the women, a simple umbrella with a shield feature when unfolded, along with either a hidden shotgun or pistol feature with either semi-fire or fully automatic burst, and sword. As for the men, a cane with a club feature, and either a shotgun or rifle. Basil's cane was more of a rifle along with Dawson's, to which Anna asked the obese mouse if he was a Masked Phantom like Basil. He gives her a nod and shows his mask that he kept hidden in his suit coat. She could even tell that his suit was actually his Masked Phantom uniform. Anna asked them why all Masked Phantoms have to dress so fancy. Basil told her that if anyone wears the mask, they must always dress like either a gentleman or a lady in order to blend into the new world while also living a double-life as both a rebel and an aristocrat or someone of high-social standard to throw-off their enemies.

He then continued his explanation on more of the gadgets and equipment. The utility belt contained a variety of unique items. Ranging that from a single binocular and flashlight, to smaller items like: smoke pellets, explosive mini-bombs, shock stunners which could put a man down for about several hours, and other smaller items he didn't list as it would probably bore Anna, but he did tell her that depending on the mission, they will use different sorts of smaller items. Other than that, he even talked about the grapple gun with a built-in hook that could only be used five times, and the standard pistol with fifteen rounds plus two extra mags. The next thing he told her was the gauntlet which had a two-way communicator to both the mask and a hidden earpiece where he and Dawson possess one to contact others along with the people at The Freedom Lands which is also connected to the cloak to change colors from both the front and back of it. It even had a transparency system which allows both the wearer or anyone wrapped around it to become invisible, so long as they don't move too much, bulletproof system to protect the wearer from getting shot, depending on the firearms as it can't protect the wearer long, and even an element protect system so fire or any sort of element will have no effect as it is completely clean with no scratch on it.

He even told her about the hacking system on the gauntlet which will allow anyone to hack-in any computer system or any known weapon connected to the computer in all the land, similar to that of the tech-wiz group, and even explained to her about the mask as it has three extra features other than communication with it's unique visions when activated: heat-signature, x-ray, and night vision. The last thing he told her was the boots that every Masked Phantom should wear as they were called Gravity Boots. Only tapping the back heels two times will allow the wearer to run fast and jump higher than any normal person would for several minutes. That would explain how Basil was able to move so fast and act acrobatically because of those boots along with as to why he was talking to nobody as he had that hidden communicator.

With the explanations finally done, Dawson got a little hungry and suggested he should buy some food. Basil seemed to agree as he too was hungry due to all the excitement that happened tonight and thinks they should celebrate with a little drink and feast before they arrive at their destination. However, after Dawson left, Basil's hidden communicator beeped. He pressed it from the inside of his ear and answered while Anna listened, "Yes, Basil here...What already?" He sighed as he got up off of his seat and sat in front of Anna again. "Alright, give me a moment."

Bringing the black bag where Dawson left it at the window, he unzips it and digs out his gauntlet as he puts it on. He then took his hidden communicator out of his ear and offered it to Anna while saying, "Here, put this in your ear."

Taking the hidden communicator from him, Anna placed it inside her right ear.

Basil took his mask out of his suit and offered it to her. "Put this on as well."

Anna did what she was told as she took the mask and placed it on her face.

"Now just relax." He activates his gauntlet as the lid slides up, then presses a few buttons.

Anna gasped slightly as the visors closed, then she was seeing static for a second before it stopped as she saw a familiar elderly mouse sitting on a red chair sipping a cup of tea and putting it down on a small table while having one leg crossed. Her eyes narrowed as she said with a low but hard tone, "You."

"Hello, Anna Johnson," the elderly mouse said. "I know you have a lot of questions and I can assure you they will be revealed once you arrive. However, since we haven't had the chance to properly introduce ourselves before we parted ways for now, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Professor Jonathan McKenley, the true mastermind behind the rebellion and the creator of The Masked Phantom along with its team The Phantom Troupe."

Anna was a little surprised that this man was a professor. He didn't look like a professor, but looks can be deceiving.

"And I know you're wondering where I am somewhere in The Freedom Lands. Well, that part I can answer." The screen shortened down until it was on the top right corner of the side as she was seeing a map of where the train was heading. "Right now, you're on your way to a town district called Dalesville." The map zoomed ahead until she was seeing a small town. "From there, Basil and Dawson will take you to one of our allies who is still undercover and will lead the three of you to a secret underground train which will bring you straight to one of our rebel bases." The screen of Professor McKenley returned back to full-view. "I hope we see each other again face to face. So until then…" He tips his bowler hat at her. "...cheerio for now."

There was static again and the visors opened as Anna took off the mask and pulled off the communicator from her ear as she handed them to Basil. However, he seemed to notice her slight aggravation. "You don't seem amused to see him?"

"No, duh, Sherlock! Haven't you forgotten what he did?" She gripped her hands into fists on her chest as she clenched her teeth and said, "Ooo, when I get my hands on that guy."

Basil couldn't blame her attitude. In fact, he too felt a little angry ever since Professor McKenley sent Anna to the time limbo without any warning. He placed his hands on her and said to her calmly, "Easy Anna, save all that until after we arrive."

Meanwhile, Dawson was walking around the hallway of the train to find food. However, during his search, his ears heard a cat couple talking to one another as a male cat said, "Did you hear about the new law, darling?"

Dawson's ears were paying attention as the female cat said, "Why yes, the Exit Visas. The symbols on them were originally blue, but now they've changed them to red. Probably to catch either more rebels or someone who's under suspicion of rebellion against King Ratigan."

When he heard that, his eyes widened as he took out his Exit Visa and opened it, seeing King Ratigan's stamped blue symbol as it held a rat face with a crown on its head. He quickly put his Exit Visa back in his coat and made his way while the male cat said, "I highly doubt that. No rebel is foolish enough to come aboard a train filled with guards."

The moment he said that, he gave a small gasp of shock as he stopped. Guards! On the train! Why were they here? His thoughts were put on hold as he heard a guard say, "Hey, you there."

He thought that he was caught, instead he was relieved for now as he heard another guard say to the cat couple, "Exit Visas, please."

He starts making his way again until a Royal Guard says, "Mind if we check your car. We're looking for the king's fiance. She's here somewhere on this train with a rebel by the name of The Masked Phantom."

Dawson took a turn and hid as he poked his head slightly. He watched as a few guards with one of them having a contraption that must be a tracker went inside the car while the male cat said, "The Masked Phantom? Here on the train along with the king's fiance? I never thought they would be here. I only heard about the commotion that's happening in Kingsland."

The Royal Guards came out of the car as one of them said, "It's empty. There's nothing here."

"Alright, let's move along."

Dawson quickly left before the Royal Guards took the same turn. He fast-walked all the way to the private car as he opened the door. Basil and Anna had odd looks as Dawson didn't bring the food, but the detective was concerned when he noticed his partner had a look that meant something was wrong, "Dawson, what happened?"

The obese mouse showed his Exit Visa and answered, "The one thing I hate about Ratigan's laws. Now everything's in red."

"Red." Basil's eyes widened with shock as he didn't anticipate this.

"That's not the only thing we need to worry about. Royal Guards on the train and she's being tracked."

"What!" Anna exclaimed. "How are they on the train?!"

"Ratigan…" Basil mutters calmly as Anna looks at him. He looked back at her and said, "He must've been a step-ahead in case you tried to come here to escape from him. When word got out that I took you, they must've been waiting until they started finding us."

The two mice got up as all three of them looked and saw the Royal Guards ahead. "Oh, no!" Anna said with a worried voice.

"Now don't panic, Anna," Basil assured her. "Just follow our lead." He gives a commanding look and adds, "First, put your sunglasses back on." Anna did what he said as she dug out her sunglasses from her pocket, then Basil looks at the obese mouse. "Quickly, Dawson, get the gear and get ready."

Dawson nodded as he went inside the car. He goes to the black bag and unzips it, then digs through as he pulls out the two gauntlets, after Basil already took his off and put it back in the bag. Tossing one over to the detective, the two mice put their gauntlets on. The doctor brought out the two utility belts, and again, tossed one over to Basil as they put it on before he dug out the two black hats with white feathers on them. He sets aside his own hat, but tosses the other to Basil as he puts it under his arm and conceals his hat, gauntlet, and utility belt within the confines of his cloak. The last thing he dug out was his own collared cloak as it was black with a white underside. Putting it on, he takes his hat and places it under his arm, and does the same thing as Basil.

The detective brings out his hand as Anna takes it and mutters to her, "Stay close to me." She nods as he then said to Dawson, "Stay close behind."

With a nod, the two mice left the private car with Anna in tow. Not long before they left, the Royal Guards checked that same car, only to find an empty black bag as Basil and Dawson had no need of it anymore. Despite it being empty, they now knew that the rebel The Masked Phantom was here on the train along with the king's fiance. Even if he managed to disguise the girl to fool the guards, there was no way she could hide from them as long as she held onto the tracker. Speaking of which, one of the guards checked the tracker and saw a yellow dot was slowly blinking, meaning they were getting close. So they got out of the private car and followed where the signal was leading them.

Back with the three mice, they kept moving forward until they reached the end of the first car where Basil opened the door that led outside. Before they went across that led to another passenger car, he smiled and said, "Right on schedule."

"What do you mean?" Anna said while having an odd look.

He points to the right as she sees a curve where the train was heading into some kind of hole and Basil explains, "There's a tunnel up ahead where the train's heading. It'll be pitch black in there for the next ten minutes where we'll have the advantage." He opens the door as he continues to lead Anna with Dawson behind. Noticing a restroom a few feet away from them, he tells the doctor, "Dawson, restroom. Leave the hat that you have and replace it with the other, then put on your mask and get ready to activate the night vision."

"Of course," Dawson nods. "I'll be behind you soon."

He breaks away with Basil and Anna as he enters the bathroom while the two mice continue forward. As they were walking on the car filled with passenger seats near windows, Basil took off his tophat and placed it on the head of a sleeping male bloodhound who snored peacefully. Finding empty seats, they sat down as the detective brings out his other hat and puts it on, tilting his head downwards slightly to hide his face as he then brings out his mask from out of his suit and puts it on his face. Bringing out his gauntlet, he activates it as the lid slides up and presses some buttons. The visors closed over his eyes and a small green glow came and went. His keen ears heard a small "Huh." and turned his attention to a small male kitten as the child's eyes widened when he saw The Masked Phantom who was literally a few feet away from him. Basil brings a finger to his mouth and gives a small shush. The male kitten nods and turns his head away, keeping his eyes straight at the seat that was in front of him and pretending he didn't see anything.

Looking at Anna, the detective reached forward and took off her sunglasses as he said to her, "You won't be needing that. It'll be pitch black soon." Putting her sunglasses in his suit, he noticed her distress as she didn't seem to realize what he did just now while her hands were rubbing nervously. He placed his hand on top of both of her hands and asked, "Are you alright?"

She nodded her head. "I'm scared."

Basil seemed to understand what she meant. First she had to face so many ordeals back at Kingsland, and now she's being hunted down by guards everywhere. It could make anyone scared out of their wits. Bringing his hand towards her face, he makes her turn to face him while he says, "Anna, look at me." Her eyes stared back at him as he continued, "Did I not promise that I will protect you?" She nods her head. "Then just trust me. Everything will be alright. No matter who tries to take you, I will always be there by your side." He brings his head towards hers as their foreheads touch, making Anna's ears turn a tinge of red. "So don't you worry about a thing."

She couldn't help herself as she brought both of her hands to his face while Basil brought his hand to the back of her head. As they moved heads away, their eyes didn't leave one another. Anna's heart was beating fast at her chest as she wondered what was the matter with her. Then, as if her body was on autopilot, she slowly moved her face towards his lips. What...What're you doing? Anna thought questioningly about the action she was about to do. You...need… Her body kept moving towards him. To...stop… She wanted to stop herself but her body thought otherwise. She thought that Basil would move away from this awkward moment, and hopefully she'll apologize for what she did, but he didn't budge. It was like he wanted this from her, which seemed a little strange.

When her lips were getting closer to his and her eyes slowly closed...zap!

She grunted and pulled away while massaging her forehead. "What's wrong?" Basil asked.

"I...I don't know."

She couldn't figure out why that sudden shock in her head had appeared. This was the second time this happened when Basil kissed her back at Kingsland when they were in the carriage. You mustn't be with him, Anna. The distorted voice said. You must remain alone!

Her eyes widened as she turned to face the window. "Anna, what is it?" Basil asked.

Anna was staring at not only her reflection, but behind her was the black blot she saw earlier when she was back at Ratigan's castle. He was standing on the walkway with his red eyes narrowed at her as he said, As long as you remain close to him. He'll only bring you more suffering and-

Anna, don't listen! The feminine voice said. Anna watched as a white blot materialized on the walkway. It was the same one with the green eyes that she too saw earlier as she said, Basil is your only chance of getting out of this. He'll protect you, just like he-

SILENCE! The distorted voice shouted as he looked at the feminine white blot while she looked at him. You've interfered long enough. I think it's time I showed her what happens if she has anyone near her.

Anna watches as the black blot raises an arm, just as the white blot yells, No, stop!

With a swift of the arm, a memory appears before her very eyes...and it was the painful memory of Francine and Phillip. Her eyes were threatening to spill tears as she painfully rewatches Francine getting shot as she was executed by the Royal Guards and almost hearing Phillips' cries as he watches with absolute horror as he was being taken away to the workhouses. You didn't know this was going to happen. The feminine voice said. You can't blame yourself for this.

She was about to say her name, but Basil beat her to it as he turned her around to face him while her eyes blinked back to reality as he said to her, "Anna, look at me. Didn't you hear what I said to you? I said, what's the matter?"

Anna didn't realize that Basil said those exact words, but she didn't seem to hear him. She was just staring at the window completely still. It was like the world became still as her mind took her elsewhere.

"Please, talk to me," he said with concern as he placed his hand on the side of her face.

She opened her mouth as she was about to say something. However, her eyes widened when she saw the Royal Guards walking to where they were. "They're coming."

Moving his head slightly without looking, Basil could sense that the guards had finally caught up to them as they were on their way to where they were. Looking back at Anna, he tells her, "Act natural." Turning their attention away from one another while both mice had their ears on attention as the feet of the guards kept getting closer, they kept their eyes forward at the seats right in front of them. Basil placed his hand on top of hers to comfort her, then he whispered, "Listen, when I say now, duck your head and cover your ears."

One of the guards took out a pistol and slowly cocked the hammer. Before they could get any closer, darkness arrived as the train finally arrived at the tunnel. Behind them, they could hear feet running towards them as Dawson yelled, "Long live the freedom revolution!"

"Now!"

Anna ducks her head and covers her ears. The passengers on the train heard grunting and groaning as more than one person was fighting, but couldn't tell who was fighting who. BAM! Came the sound of a gunshot as the passengers either yelped or screamed slightly. BAM! Came another gunshot as they only caught a glimpse of a masked man holding the arm of a Royal Guard upwards as he had his pistol pointed upwards. There was more flesh connecting flesh as bodies landed on the floor, then everything became silent.

Uncovering her ears after the fighting came to an end, Anna looks around the darkness for Basil and Dawson, hoping that they are alright. There was a flash of light as she along with a few passengers covered their eyes with their hands while Anna only used one hand and turned her head away. Looking back, she saw Basil's cloak undergo a color change as the front went from black to blue and the underside went from white to red. As the color change was occurring, Basil offered his hand and said to her, "Come."

Taking his hand, he led her off the seat and started making their way, just before the light of Basil's cloak went out as the color change was complete. She couldn't tell where the hell they were going as her eyes hadn't adjusted to this kind of darkness. All she knew was that she had to hold on tightly to Basil's hand as he led her through the darkness with Dawson, having his pistol already out and ready to shoot any Royal Guard, following close behind. As they kept going straight, she was jerked to the wall, causing her to squeak as Basil placed his hand on her muzzle and gave her a small shush.

Behind Basil's mask, he could see a small group of Royal Guards coming their way. He looks at Dawson and nods at him, who nods at him back as too sees the small group while holstering his pistol and activates his gauntlet as the lid slides up, then presses a single button as he becomes transparent. Basil watched as his invisible partner went towards that small group and immediately one Royal Guard after the other were either hit, slammed to the wall, or tossed to the floor and were finished with a hard hit. As the small group of Royal Guards were unconscious, Dawson digs through them and pulls out some mags, then takes two MP5K sub-machine guns towards Basil while the obese mouse becomes visible. He tosses one over to him as he catches it and gives him a few mags. Taking Anna's arm, Basil looks at him and orders, "Take point. I'll cover you from behind."

With a nod, Dawson kept his good eye trained on the sight with both hands keeping a good grip while Basil used his one arm to aim the sub-machine gun as he continued to lead Anna. The obese mouse opened a door and saw more guards slowly coming their way after they heard a scuffle coming from the hallway. Basil brings Anna to another wall and gives her another shush before joining Dawson side by side. The two mice aimed their weapons to the oblivious guards and turned off the safety with a click. "Who's there?" one of the guards asked.

They were about to fire a hail of bullets. However...the pitch darkness was gone as they were out of the tunnel, exposing themselves to the Royal Guards. "Bullocks!" Basil said.

"The Masked Phantom! Shoot him!"

The two mice split for cover as they started shooting while Anna yelped as she dove for cover right next to Basil behind a passenger seat. "Wait, was that another Masked Phantom?" one of the guards asked. "Who cares!" another said. "Just shoot, but don't hit the girl!"

Bullets were shot on both sides, tearing up the passenger seats while only a few Royal Guards were killed by the masked mice. Basil and Dawson reloaded as Anna said, "What do we do now?"

Basil looked at her and answered, "Not to worry. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." He brings out his hand. "Give me the watch."

Anna seemed to understand what he was going to do. Taking out the platinum watch from out of her apron pocket, she hands it to him and said with a serious look, "Kick their asses."

Basil smiled as he got up from his cover and she expected him to use the power of the watch to stop time and beat all those Royal Guards. Instead, it became unexpected for her when he brought his sub-machine gun towards the watch and yelled in his smooth-tone, "Anyone who is still shooting I suggest you stop now!"

When they saw that watch, one of the guards yelled, "Cease fire!"

Basil tilted his head to Dawson, taking the gesture as he stood up while Anna went right next to him and had a confused look over what Basil was doing. "If I were you, I would stand aside and let us pass. Anyone who tries to shoot or even take this woman. We all go up in dust."

She didn't understand what he meant by that. In fact, what was he trying to do? Destroy the watch? If he does that, then they lose their only advantage whenever they need to use the power of time and space. "What the hell are you doing?" she said while marching to him.

"Anna, stay where you are near my partner and don't come any closer!" he said as he gave her a serious look. She goes back to Dawson as he then tells her with a smile, "Just trust me. I know what I'm doing."

While Basil turns his attention back to the Royal Guards, Dawson taps her arm as she leans down and he whispers to her, "Will explain later. Just get ready."

Her eyes gaze down as she sees him carry a white pellet, then gives him a small nod.

"Masked Phantom," said a Royal Guard as he came out from behind the seat. He was a slim male rat with light-brown fur and wore the same uniform as every Royal Guard did, but what stood him out was the blue ribbon stitched on his shoulder which meant he must be someone of high-rank. The pistol he was carrying dangled on his finger as he brought out a hand to signify peace. "Listen to me, there's no need for you to go this far." He points to the platinum watch that was still dangling by its chain. "You do understand what happens if you attempt to destroy that thing, right?"

"I do."

Anna still couldn't figure out what was going on. However, her eyes looked at the Royal Guards as each of them were scared. Why were they scared? Was it because of Basil since he's The Masked Phantom? No, that didn't seem like the right answer. Looking back at the watch that was still aimed by the sub-machine gun. Could it be that they were scared over that? It couldn't be. The only thing she knew were a lot of things about the watch and what it could do. Well, at least somewhat since there were other mysteries that had to be solved about the watch's power. Still, what could be so dangerous if it was ever destroyed?

"Then please," the Royal Guard with the blue ribbon said. "Give it back to the girl and bring her to us. And you can leave with your partner off of this train without any of my men shooting you as I will give them the order to stand down. I give you my word."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Basil said. "But you seem to be reasonable. Am I right, Captain?"

The Royal Guard seemed shocked to find out that this masked rebel was the Captain. "Wha-How did you know I was-"

"Quite simple really. The blue ribbon stitched on your uniform is blue, which means your second-class to King Ratigan's Royal Guards and was stationed here under orders to bring Anna Johnson back to the king. Isn't that right?"

The Royal Guard Captain was surprised that The Masked Phantom figured it out in just a short time, and this really impressed him on the masked rebel's deduction skills. "You're not wrong. We've been given orders by the General sent by the king to be stationed here along with the orders back at the city. We were told that if the woman attempts to leave, we must bring her back to the king immediately as she is under no circumstances to leave anywhere out of the city."

Anna's eyes glared angrily as her hands clenched tightly. So not only was she supposed to become the king's bride, she was even meant to be a prisoner with the city being her cage. This absolutely disgusted her to no end.

"And let me guess," Basil said. "Anyone who's stationed is given a single tracker to find Anna if she ever leaves the king's side."

The Royal Guard Captain's eyes widened. "How could you know that?"

"My partner has that tracker to prove my theory."

Dawson moved aside his cloak to show the tracker strapped on his utility belt to simplify Basil's explanation.

"Tell me, Captain, what is your name?"

"Captain Second-Class: Michael Dereks."

"Then let me ask you some questions, Captain Dereks. Do you have a family?"

"The only family I have are my beautiful wife and my soon-to-be child."

"Then tell me. What would happen if your wife were to learn of the atrocities that you and everyone who served the king allowed such cruelty to continue?"

"Atrocities?" Captain Dereks raised an eyebrow. "I know nothing of atrocities. The only thing I know is that anyone who attempts to defy King Ratigan must be severely punished. For your case, Masked Phantom, you're a wanted man who the king wants to see you be put in front of a firing squad. Because the one thing you should learn is that no one can defeat King Ratigan. Not you, me, this rebellion, or anyone else in the land can dare challenge his power."

"I see," Basil nods. He could tell that Captain Dereks knew nothing of what was truly going on. It gave him a little hope that someone within King Ratigan's army would see reason and not a barrel of a gun to point and kill upon being ordered. "What if I told you the truth of the dark corners that was hidden from you? Ones that you are clearly unaware of. Would you want to know?"

"I don't think of the 'what if' and I don't listen to anyone unless I'm ordered to. Not unless any of these 'atrocities' you spoke about are actually true. The only thing I see is a wanted masked rebel who is the leader of the rebellion and has kidnapped the king's bride. As much as I want to end this rebellion here and now, and put a stop to more losses of life. I will do what I must to ensure peace in Britannia." Flipping the pistol back in his hand, he points it at the masked rebel standing before him. "If you're the one who's reasonable, I will ask again. Give the watch back to her and hand Anna to me and my men, then the both of you can leave since there's enough killing from both sides as I don't want it to escalate any further if it'll endanger more innocent lives." He pulls the hammer. "Or we end this here and take the girl by force from the both of you."

Basil sighs as behind the visors of his mask, his eyes closed. "Then we're finished here. Now!"

Dawson hurls the white pellet and quickly turns Anna around while covering her eyes. Captain Dereks along with the rest of the Royal Guard saw that small pellet as it landed and bounced on the ground. When it became still, it popped as a flash of light caused both the Captain and his men to yelp as their eyes became blinded. As the Captain tried to get the flash out of his eyes by nodding his head and turning around, the masked rebel used the sub-machine to hit him on the side of the head and knocked him aside.

"Quickly, now's our chance!" Basil said as he ran to the door that led to another part of the car with Dawson and Anna following him.

The car they were in was a storage compartment filled with suitcases, crates, and what-not. The three of them started to block the door as the flash wouldn't last long, then continued on their way until they opened the door that led outside to another car. "Go ahead of us, Anna," Basil said to her in his ordinary tone. "Dawson and I need to unclip the car."

Anna hops over to the other car and gets inside, leaving the door wide open. While she was inside the car, her eyes widened at what she was seeing. Back with Basil and Dawson, the two mice pull out white circular devices and mini-bombs. They were about to place them on the clip of the car, but noticed a different clip as this looked more like a metal bar with a hole in it. Not wanting to ponder this, they first placed their white devices and activated them by pressing the button. Moving out of the way, they heard fast beeping, then a pop as white smoke came and went, freezing the metal bar as it turned white as ice. After it was finished, they placed the mini-bombs and activated them.

Moving out of the way the second time, the mini-bombs beeped, but before they exploded, Basil said to Dawson, "Get ready to jump when the car starts moving ahead of us."

The mini-bombs exploded and the masked mice were ready to start running once the car started moving ahead. However, the car didn't even move, and the two mice looked in shock as the bar didn't break, nor was there a single scratch save for the ice on it, but it didn't make a single dent. "How is this possible?" Dawson asked.

"Isn't it painfully obvious?" Basil said as he looked at him. "We've been raiding trains like this for years. So it would be natural for Ratigan not to take any more chances." He looked back at the bar and thought, Still, what's so special about this train that Ratigan's hiding?

"What do we do now, Basil?"

"Simple, we do this the hard way. Come on!"

The door that was blocked was being beaten open as the Royal Guards got their visions back. The two mice were looking around while the detective said, "That door won't last long, but we need to find something to unclip the car."

It didn't take long as the obese mouse found a toolbox. "Basil."

The detective looks as Dawson shows him the toolbox that he found. "Excellent," he smiled.

Carrying the toolbox, Dawson sat it down, and Basil got down on his knees and opened it. Digging through the tools, he finds a hammer as that was the only thing useful to chip through the icy metal. Bringing the hammer towards the bar, he starts whacking it. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything but make sparks as not a single chip of icy metal came off. However, neither Basil or Dawson noticed that Anna was watching as she had some kind of red cylinder in her hand.

Whacking the bar much harder, the hammer couldn't take the strain. The head comes off and falls off the train, leaving Basil only a wooden handle as he growls in aggravation and tosses it aside while saying, "Confound it all! Isn't there anything on this blasted train that can unclip this thing that's better than what we got?"

"Hey, Basil," Anna said as she handed him a red cylinder-like object that was thin.

But this was no red object that he was holding...It was dynamite and the fuse was lit!

As the spark of the fuse continued towards its destination, Basil smiled. He could tell that this object would have enough juice to destroy the bar. "That'll work." He jams it to the hole, then he gets up. "Quick, go, go, go!" The three of them ran inside the car, but Basil placed his hand on Anna's shoulder. "Wait a moment. Where did you find dynamite?"

She takes his chin and turns it while saying, "Look, see for yourself."

Basil's eyes widened from what he too saw…

The car was filled with weapons. The walls were hanging with guns ranging from assault rifles to light-machine guns. There were already opened crates thanks to Anna as they revealed pistols of all sorts, and there were even explosives like: grenades, C4, claymores, mines, and even dynamite that had matches with it. What really caught Basil's eye was an armored suit. This seemed to make him smile as he found out that this was what Ratigan was hiding on this train. "Hello," he said.

"Uh, Basil," Dawson said while he was behind a crate and motioned to the dynamite that was near its end.

Basil gasped as he grabbed Anna and made a beeline to the same crate as Dawson was. The obese mouse scoots over and covers his ears while Basil brings Anna towards his chest to cover one ear and covers the other with his gloved hand. The Royal Guards along with Captain Dereks burst through the door, but before they could follow the three mice...BOOM! The dynamite exploded as the metal bar was destroyed.

The three mice came out behind the crate as they were at the door, watching safely while they were moving away from the Royal Guards and Captain Dereks. One of the Royal Guards aimed an assault rifle, hoping to at least kill either Masked Phantom, but the Captain quickly moved the weapon up and told him, "No don't! You'll hit the girl!"

"Captain Dereks," Basil said in his smooth tone. "Before we part ways, allow me to ask the same question I've given to others like you back at Kingsland. Who is the real enemy here? Me and the rebels of The Freedom Lands, or the tyrant of a king you serve? Once you learn the truth of these atrocities and at least have a heart to put a stop to it. Bring anyone you trust and come to The Freedom Lands. We need a lot of good souls who are willing to fight." As they were getting further away, he added, "Oh, one more thing. Sorry about the gun and I hope we meet again under better circumstances. Till then…" He tips his hat. "...cherio."

The three mice went inside the car while the train the Royal Guards were on was starting to slow down and they watched as the other half of the train continued its course. The Captain could only sigh as he failed on catching The Masked Phantom and bringing the king's fiance back to Kingsland. However, he wondered about these "atrocities" that he spoke about and not to mention the masked rebel didn't seem to look evil as he was told. He could've killed them all and taken the girl with him, but he didn't. It was like he was honorable and was trying to do the right thing, despite the wrongs he was doing. Still, he couldn't help but ponder about what was really going on here and it didn't just concern this rebellion. What was happening that not even he or any of the Royal Guard knew about?

Back with the three mice, Basil and Dawson were looking around the car they were in while the obese mouse picked up a magnum Desert Eagle from the crate and examines it. "This is amazing, Basil," he said. "Out of all the raids we've done for the resistance. This is by far the best."

Basil chuckled a little as he and Anna were looking at the armored suit. "I can't agree with you more."

He couldn't deny that he and many other members of the resistance had done raids, and it wasn't just trains. Other times it was trucks or storages that had weapons, ammo, food, other unique weapons to steal from the enemy, or prisoners being transported and stored so they could be rescued. This time they hit the jackpot as not only have they found a car that was literally a transporting weapons cache that wasn't in some sort of crate, they even discovered an armored suit. Despite it not being an actual raid, nevertheless it was still a great find.

Speaking about the armored suit, Basil and Anna continued examining it. So far, they could tell that it looked big and there was no way that a simple Royal Guard could fit in that thing as it was too big. What really caught Basil's attention as he bends down, was a circular hole at the midsection. It looked like something that could fit inside. The question was: What is it exactly?

"Why would Ratigan even build this?" Anna asked. "I mean, you could fit someone who's got a lot of muscles. So why even build this thing in the first place?"

"I'm not sure," Basil answered as he stood up, then he placed a finger under his chin. "Judging by the size of this armor, it means he must have someone strong enough to even wear it." The two mice looked at one another. "Which also means, we need to be prepared for whatever comes once Ratigan unleashes it." He looks back at the armor with a smile and adds, "Other than that…" He taps on the chestplate three times. "Despite its strange size, the design on this thing is amazing and we could use this to our advantage back at The Freedom Lands."

"Talking about 'amazing', you're not gonna believe what I also found."

She leads Basil somewhere while Dawson stopped examining another pistol, this time a big revolver as he sat it aside and followed them. She shows them a black case, bearing King Ratigan's symbol and opens it. What the two were seeing was platinum watches as they were different. They were similar to Anna's watch that Basil still had, but none of them had chains on them and looked a little bigger. What was really strange, they remained closed as they had no lids. Basil takes one as the obese mouse said, "Does it even work?"

"One way to find out, Dawson."

He pressed the middle button and immediately the lid slid open, revealing a clock face with hands as they were already at the top but no numbers or roman numerals as it started to slowly tick and Basil vanished in a flash of light.

"Basil!" Dawson said as he and Anna looked around the room for him. Only for Anna to suddenly vanish. "Anna!"

While Dawson remained frozen as time itself halted, Anna had already gasped in surprise as Basil wrapped one arm which held the watch and had his other arm around her waist as his hand was touching her stomach. What made her ears turn red was the nuzzling he was giving at her neck and he smiled at her. "Works like a charm," he whispered into her ear. The skin beneath her fur tingled from his warm breath, making her heart beat fast, but her eyes widened as he kissed her cheek.

As Basil pressed the middle button again and time resumed while the hands of the watch returned to the top and the lid closed itself, Anna placed her hand at her cheek to where he kissed her and looked at him. The visors of his mask were already opened along with Dawson's and he winked at her. Was Basil flirting with her? That couldn't be, he barely even knows her. Even though she knew a lot about him before the merge, she knew little of the other things about him.

Anyway, Basil had something on his mind as he looked at the watch, then looked at the armor's midsection where the circular hole is at. He hums as he thinks, I wonder.

Going back over to the armor, he bent down and placed the watch in the circular hole. It seemed to fit. However, the lid opened itself and Basil jumped back up. The three mice watched as the hands of the platinum watch spinned and became a blur, then the face glowed as the armor hummed to life and white lines appeared here and there around the armor. They were awestruck at such a thing as Dawson was the first to say, "Incredible! It was like the watch itself acted like a battery of some sort."

"Or a power source," Basil said. "This armor can gain energy from time and space once that watch is equipped with it. And if I'm right from what Anna told us about Ratigan's power, anyone who wears this armor can use a fraction of his power to stop, freeze, go back in time by a few seconds, or possibly hypnotize someone. If he would've used this against us, the damage could be catastrophic."

Dawson nods in agreement. If anyone who serves King Ratigan would've used this armor, then everything they've worked so hard for to take down the rat king for the past five years would be disastrous. It could mean the end of the rebellion.

"But if we reverse the situation and use this armor while finding more of these watches or possibly make more of them and harness the power of time and space, we could use that against him." The idea gave him a big smile as Dawson and Anna smiled with him. He placed his arm on his partner's shoulder and wrapped his other arm around her waist. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you our secret weapon. We need to place a tracker on this train immediately." His eyes widened as he remembered something. "Oh, yes, speaking of tracking…" He looks at Anna. "We need to explain something about what happened earlier. Come."

He leads her to another car, this time another passenger car, as the two masked mice keep their guards up. When it seemed that there were no Royal Guards in this car, Basil offered his hand to Dawson. The obese mouse nods as he hands him the tracker, then Basil gives the tracker to Anna and pulls out the watch from out of his pocket. "Now, I understand your wondering why I attempted to destroy this watch earlier. Is because of two reasons. To explain the first reason…" He walks a good distance in the hall. "I want you to watch the screen and come this way to me while I walk to you."

Doing what Basil said, Anna looked at the screen as she saw a single yellow dot slowly blinking. As she kept walking, the blinking yellow dot started to grow faster. Then as she got closer to him, the yellow dot stopped blinking. Her eyes widened with shock and looked at him. "Yes, Anna," he said to her as he could tell what she was thinking and showed the watch to her. "The watch that you carried, had a built-in tracker inside in case you tried to run."

It all made sense. That was why Ratigan found her because he…

Out of shock, she dropped the tracker as it landed on the floor with a thump while she backed away slowly and said, "All this time...It wasn't me. I didn't get Francine killed and Phillip taken away."

"What are you saying?" Dawson asked in confusion.

She found something to grab onto as her legs lost strength and she collapsed while Basil quickly went to her as he hugged her. Anna hugs him tightly and sobs on his chest, letting out her emotions as the slight weight of guilt was lifted out of her heart. She found out the truth that Phillip was the one who brought the tracker to her without even knowing and after learning about spies from Basil, she crossed out the thought of Francine's apartment being rigged as Ratigan's spies were the ones who recorded everything that Francine said as she never even knew about it. All this time it wasn't her fault, it was Ratigan. He was the one who killed Francine and sent Phillip to the workhouses. Not her.

NO ANNA! The distorted voice shouted as he tried showing her memories of them, but all that came were short pieces. YOU WERE THE ONE WHO GOT FRANCINE KILLED AND PHILLIP TAKEN TO THE WORKHOUSES AFTER I WARNED YOU THAT YOU MUST REMAIN ALONE! The memories he sent her tried to convince her. However, a part of herself thought otherwise as she could tell that the distorted voice was wrong.

That's right, Anna. The feminine voice said. Now you're starting to realize that it wasn't your fault for what happened to them.

NO! EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT! LISTEN TO ME, ANNA JOHNSON!

She didn't listen to any of the voices as she finally calmed down. Looking at Basil, he asked her, "Feel better now?" She nods as he takes out a handkerchief from out of his suit and lightly dries her eyes before putting it back. "Now then…" He tosses the watch to Dawson as he catches it. "Why don't you show her the second reason."

With a nod from the obese mouse, he went towards a window and opens it, then he attaches a mini-bomb and activates it. While it beeped, he looked at Anna and said, "See it for yourself."

Giving it a good, hefty toss. The watch was sent sailing out the window as Anna and Basil stood next to him. They watched as it landed somewhere in the woods while the train made a u-turn for its passengers to see. At the bottom of the forest floor, the platinum watch laid on the snow as the mini-bomb chanted its last beep…

Anna could only turn her head away as a flash of light came and a small dome of light appeared before the three mice. She turned her attention back to it as the dome of light disappeared, then she gasped as she saw a flat crater with dead trees here and there with the snow completely gone, leaving only bare ground.

She was finding this hard to believe after what she just saw as she said with a shocked expression, "Jesus Christ! What the hell was that?"

"That…" Dawson said as she looked at him. "...was a time bomb."

"A time bomb?" She had an odd look. "What's that?"

"A weapon imbued with time and space." Basil answered as she looked at him. "When destroyed or detonated, it creates a dome of destruction which turns anything into complete ash. Leaving no traces of life or any survivors."

"Oh, my God!" she gasped, horrified while covering her mouth with both hands. However, she became confused about something. "Wait, if I had both a tracker and a bomb with me, then how come-"

"How come Ratigan didn't detonate it now so he would kill you and be done with it?" Basil said as he knew what she was going to say. "Because, to him you're too precious to be turned to dust. And if I'm right, Ratigan had also anticipated that you would probably go to The Freedom Lands to seek refuge. However, we thoroughly check to see if anyone is being tracked before letting anyone in, and if we find the tracker hidden in your watch and attempt to remove it and destroy it. The bomb will detonate and we would not only lose some good people, but one of the locations of any Freedom Land you go to would be compromised. He had the utmost confidence that you wouldn't die from the blast and he would take you back to Kingsland once he found you."

Anna seemed to understand about all this. Ratigan was a step-ahead of everything. He knew that she would take the train to leave the city, which was why the Royal Guards were stationed there to bring her back once they found her. If that ever failed and if she were to go to The Freedom Lands and found out she was carrying a tracker, they would not only confiscate it, but she would let them deal with it. She couldn't blame the rat because she would find a place to stay while she would've been oblivious to the bomb that was in it. What would've been worse, she would unintentionally bring an army of Royal Guards to the rebels' front doorstep. Ratigan had planned every contingency for her. Almost as if he knew what she was thinking and she never saw through everything before it was too late.

"Speaking about The Freedom Lands and going there." Basil brings out his gauntlet and pressed a few buttons, then the visors of his mask closed. "Wait here. Dawson and I will head to the front of the car."

While Dawson did the same as Basil did and visors closed over his eyes, Anna said with a bit of worry, "You're not gonna hurt the engineer, are you?"

Basil looked at her as Dawson left through the door while the detective answered with a smile, "Of course not. There is no engineer on this train. It's automatically run by the computer which makes things easier for us."

"Huh?" Her jaw dropped in shock when she found out about that.

Basil giggled a little from her expression. "Welcome to the new world."

He closes the door, leaving her alone in the passenger car as she wraps her arms around herself. She was going to need to know more about this new world.

Meanwhile, the two masked mice continued looking at each car they arrived in while keeping their sub-machine guns up in case they run-in to anymore Royal Guards. Luckily for them, there wasn't any in any of the cars. So far, they've been to a dining car and a sleeping quarters car before arriving to the front of the car where Basil began using his gauntlet to hack-in the computer which held a map as it was heading towards Dalesville, their destination. With the hacking complete, he looks at Dawson and tells him, "With word going out about Anna's escape. Ratigan will probably station every Royal Guard at the train station to catch us by surprise when we arrive at the town. So in order to avoid this, we'll have to take the scenic route to the town's trainyard. It'll take us two days to get there. And if my calculations are correct, we should arrive sometime tonight."

With everything done, the two mice took off their masks and hats as they went to fetch Anna back at the passenger car. However, the moment they arrived, she was already peacefully asleep on one of the passenger seats, her head and body laid sideways. Basil smiled as he went to her while Dawson smiled as well as he closed the door and went to the sleeping quarters, leaving the two mice alone. The detective takes off his cloak and drapes it on the red-head's sleeping form, then he pets her head and kisses her cheek as he whispers, "Sweet dreams, my dear."

Going to a passenger seat right across from her, he laid his back on the seat while putting his hat back on and pulling it over his eyes. It was going to be a long two days before arriving at their destination.

With their journey to freedom almost at an end, it's going to be a long ride to Dalesville. However, what is happened over at Kingsland now that the chaos has died down? And what will happen to our heroes next once they arrive to the next part of their destination to The Freedom Lands? Join me in the next chapter once I'm finished and get it posted to find out what happens next.