Author's Notes and Disclaimer: OK, I might as well start off with an apology for the truncated title in the Chapter List; since two things are occurring at once in this chapter, I decided to make this chapter title reflect that. However, due to the word limit, I've had to pick one. Don't worry, you can still find the full chapter title below with the chapter's contents. On another note, this is the chapter before the climax, and then after that it's full sail to the story's end, so you're almost there!

Disclaimer: I do not own the movie "The Secret of NIMH" (owned by MGM/UA Entertainment Co., Aurora Productions, and Don Bluth Productions), the characters of "Loonatics Unleashed" (owned by Warner Bros), or the "Tiny Toon Adventures" character Calamity Coyote (owned by Warner Bros and Amblin).

Recap: In order for the rats to move Mrs. Brisby's house, the farmer's cat, Dragon, has to be drugged first. The problem is only a mouse can fit through the hole in the kitchen floor and with Mr. Ages on crutches, the task seems impossible…until Mrs. Brisby volunteers, much to everyone's (except Nicodemus') surprise. To add on to the surprise, Duck and Rev also volunteer. However, when the time comes, the volunteers grow frightened, and Rev becomes so frightened that his powers don't work for the return trip back to the hole, leading to him and Mrs. Brisby getting trapped by Billy Fitzgibbons. Duck goes back to save them, but due to the lack of confidence he has in having the ability to Quack more than just himself and one other person, his powers don't work either.

Meanwhile, the others leave for the Brisby home to help in the moving…all but Calamity, that is, who disobeys Tech by going off on his own to save Rev, Duck, and Mrs. Brisby.

With everyone split up, how will things play out? Read on and find out…


Chapter 11: Plan Gone Wrong. The Escape

Inside the Brisby home, Teresa, Martin, and Cynthia were helping Auntie Shrew do laundry, unaware of what was about to happen.

"Rats. Rats?!" Auntie Shrew asked as she carried a kettle.

"They'll be here any minute," Martin informed her.

"To move our house over there by the stone!" Teresa added, hopping excitedly.

"Wr-r-r-rong!" Auntie Shrew disagreed, rolling her R's again and popping some bubbles in the process.

"Actually move it!" Teresa exclaimed happily, tossing some bubbles out of the teacup that was being used for a washbasin.

"Not while I'm keeping watch," Auntie Shrew glared.

"Auntie Shrew, I'm not afraid," Cynthia said. "Revvy said it will be OK."

"Yeah, Mr. Tech said we'll be fine," Teresa added.

"Slam'll be able to move our house easily," Martin bragged.

"I don't know…" Auntie Shrew trailed, still rather suspicious about the Brisbys' guests.

"Auntie Shrew, I'm not afraid," Cynthia repeated.

"Afraid, child?" Auntie Shrew asked, waving a hand dismissively at the possibility. "I have no fear of those great, hulking beasts," she bragged as she walked by Cynthia with the kettle. "And should one of those hairy barbarians come through that door…" she began as she poured more hot water into the teacup.

There was scraping and a clank of metal from outside, making everyone stop what they were doing.

"Oh! The rats!" Auntie Shrew gasped in fear, clutching her hands.

"Mr. Ace and the others must be with them," Teresa guessed, taking over keeping everyone positive since Auntie Shrew was about to panic.

"What about Mom? She should be here by now," Martin pointed out.

"And Revvy," Cynthia started to whimper. "Where's Mommy and Revvy?"

"They'll be here, don't worry," Teresa tried to soothe her baby sister.

But the question still remained: Where were their visitors? And where was their mother?


Sthtill in the cage, Duck said to himself after waking up from a daydream for what felt like the millionth time to a roll of thunder, answering the above question.

How long had he and the others been in here? An hour? Two? He had lost track, not that he was keeping track to begin with. Duck shivered and shifted; the metal bars of the bird cage cold and hard against his feathery back. He wished that he had had the sense to grab his shirt and jacket before teleporting back for his failed rescue attempt. He looked around at his new surroundings. It had everything: good view, plenty of food and water, comfortable bedding…and zero chance of escape.

He saw his two fellow prisoners, looking as miserable as he was, Rev maybe more so, young as he was.

"Anybody wanna try pinching each other to wake usth up?" Duck tried to joke, but it didn't do any good.

Mrs. Brisby turned around and looked between the duck and the roadrunner, who was sitting against the water bowl. Both were downcast, all hope gone. These weren't the heroes she had been told about; the ones who never gave up in a crisis, the ones who would do anything to help someone. They just couldn't be.

"Well," Mrs. Brisby began, trying to make herself assertive. Someone had to in this situation. "I don't know about you, but we need to find a way out of here."

"Where do we find that?" Duck asked in a monotonous tone.

"Well, I was hoping one of you had an idea," Mrs. Brisby replied.

"What can we do?" Duck asked bleakly.

"You two are the ones with the powers," Mrs. Brisby pointed out.

"Sthome help they were," Duck stated curtly.

Not noticing it, Duck's tone of hopelessness started to make timid Mrs. Brisby bristle inside. She could not believe what she was hearing! She marched right over to the depressed duck, her eyes narrowed.

"Now, look here…" Mrs. Brisby started in a scolding tone.

"Hey, wait a minute-" Duck started, noticing Mrs. Brisby.

"No, you wait a minute, young man!" Mrs. Brisby interrupted, her temper actually starting to rise. "Are you telling me that everything you told me about yourselves was not true?! Are you really just going to give up?!"

"Danger Duck doesthn't quit!" Duck stated bombastically, as he stood up, his ego coming back.

"Then what do you call this?!" Mrs. Brisby exclaimed. "You know, if this is the real you that I'm seeing here, then maybe I had you all pegged wrong, or at least two of you. Or maybe just you," she added critically.

"Y'know, the two of usth weren't the only onesth who acted like they were out of luck; I sure didn't sthee you coming up with any ideasth!" Duck argued in a derisive tone.

Rev watched the scene from the sidelines, concerned but not saying anything.

"I think I'm starting to see why the others treat you the way they do," Mrs. Brisby remarked disapprovingly.

"Good! Then you finally know who thisth duck really isth!" Duck shouted. "A sthelfish, egotisthtical brat who doesth nothing but sthcrew up all the time! You look at my life and it'sth nothing but! It'sth who I am! But you, oh no, you couldn't sthee that, stho you usthed your motherly influencth-e to turn me around! Well, guessth what, sthisthter, it'sth not working now!" Duck continued scornfully, leaning into Mrs. Brisby's face. "And thisth time, it wasthn't justht me; we ALL sthcrewed up, including y-"

SMACK!

Everything went quiet for a moment after that sound. Rev stood there, hands covering his beak and eyes widened in shock. Duck gradually registered a stinging sensation on his left cheek. Mrs. Brisby opened her eyes to find that it looked like she had swung her right arm, and her right paw began to hurt.

The pain in Duck's cheek finally registered in his brain, and he let out a groan, putting a hand to the sore spot.

Mrs. Brisby looked between her paw and Duck before realizing what just happened.

"Oh Heavens! What have I done?!" Mrs. Brisby gasped in fright. It was like she had come out of a trance. "I-I don't know where that came from!"

"Uh, actually, I think you do, Mrs. B," Duck said, sounding regretful.

Rev nodded in agreement.

Mrs. Brisby looked between the two Loonatics apologetically before wincing in pain from her paw being sore.

"I can't believe I did that!" she said to herself. "I don't know what Jonathan would say if he saw me do that!"

"He'd sthay that duck destherved it like a boot to the tail-feathersth," Duck answered. A smile then crept onto his face and he started to laugh, actually amazed that Mrs. Brisby had summoned the courage to slap him in the face. (A/N: Considering Duck's big beak, it couldn't have been easy!)

"Um, Duck? Have you finally gone loopy?" Rev asked the laughing duck unsurely, wondering why he was laughing when he had just gotten slapped.

Duck laughed a bit longer before answering between giggles, "No, that hurt! That actually hurt! To borrow a phrase: Sthufferin' sthuccotash! Lady, you hit hard!"

"And…you're laughing…why?" Mrs. Brisby asked, starting to laugh herself.

"Becausthe…" Duck had another laughing fit. "Becausthe I'm wondering if you've got iron pawsth for a sthuperpower! And I think I know where Martin and the girlsth get their mox-th-ie from; and I'm not justht talking about Jonathan!" he laughed.

Mrs. Brisby blushed and laughed, not quite believing Duck's compliment about her having a superpower, or moxie, whatever that was.

Rev finally gave up on being confused and ended up laughing along.

"But I am sorry about hitting you," Mrs. Brisby apologized once the laughing was finished.

"No, don't be, Mrs. B," Duck shook his head. "Frankly, I would have been disthappointed if you didn't; I wasth in an attitude that destherved a-"

"Boot to the tail-feathers?" Mrs. Brisby finished.

"And you gave it to me. Thanksth. Really," Duck said sincerely.

"And thank you to the both of ya," Rev spoke. "That argument you guys had was my kick in the keister."

"Sthame thing I justht sthaid," Duck translated the phrase for Mrs. Brisby. "And…we don't blame you if you blame us for putting you in this situation. C'mon, Mrs. B, I've been honestht with you; you have been blaming usth, right?"

Mrs. Brisby hesitated in giving her answer, but when she gave it, she answered honestly, "Ye…Yes. Yes, I have. A bit. But I really wasn't much help then, either," she added.

Duck and Rev wanted to argue on that, but it died before it left their mouths.

"Well, now that we've gotten the daylightsth knocked back into usth, how are we gonna get outta here?" Duck asked, looking around.

There was a loud ring that made the trio jump.

Rev sighed in relief when he found what it was. "It's the phone in the room over," he told Duck and Mrs. Brisby.

Footsteps coming down the stairs in said room were then heard and a human male appeared putting on a bathrobe and yawning, "I'm comin', I'm comin'! Hold your horses!"

"Farmer Fitzgibbons!" Mrs. Brisby gasped softly.

"Shh! Let'sth listhten!" Duck shushed as the farmer answered the phone.

"Hello? Who? NIMH? Oh, oh, yeah! NIMH!" Farmer Fitzgibbons said in recognition.

The trio looked at each other in panic when they heard that NIMH was on the other end of the phone, and they grew more scared as Farmer Fitzgibbons continued to talk to NIMH.

"Yes, yes, I know. You called about the rats. I don't know nothin' about any special behavior, but…the traps sure don't work. Morning? Suits me fine. No, no, no, you can…bulldoze that rosebush right out of there; I want those rats exterminated! Now, uh, there's…no…charge…?" the farmer chuckled a bit before wrapping up his conversation and hanging up. "Good. OK, well…I'll see you in the morning. Uh-huh, buh-bye."

"NIMH!" Mrs. Brisby gasped.

"They're coming here?" Rev asked worriedly.

"The ratsth'll be disthcovered!" Duck realized. "We've gotta warn the othersth!"

"And Justin!" Mrs. Brisby added.

Mrs. Brisby jumped toward the cage door and tried to rattle it open, but was having no luck. Duck and Rev joined her, but they didn't have the strength needed to open it by force. Duck would've used his Power Eggs, but after what happened earlier, he decided not to chance hurting Mrs. Brisby. Besides, they didn't want to attract any unwanted attention.

Duck stopped for a breather and spotted a paperclip under the newspaper bedding. He picked it up and tried to formulate a way to use it to open the door.

I know I sthcrew up, but pleasthe…pleasthe, pleasthe, pleasthe, pleasthe…justht for onc-th-e in my life, make sthomething go right! Duck prayed.


Meanwhile, outside at the Brisby house, the rats' plan to move the Brisby house went into action. A system of ropes, pulleys and winches were put to work. Slam worked at a huge wheel with about twenty-nine burly rats that made it all go. Slowly, but surely, the cement block began of rise out of the mud.

Tech, Ace and Lexi all watched in concern, but with different reasons on their minds: Lexi was still worried about Nicodemus; this was the perfect time for Jenner to execute an accident. Ace was worried about the children inside, especially Timothy, and was wondering if they probably should've brought Teresa, Martin, and Cynthia out for safety's sake and left Auntie Shrew to watch out for the ill mouse child, as he couldn't be moved out of bed in his condition. Tech kept his eye on the equipment, marveling at it but at the same time keeping an eye for any problems that might form. Aside from the one he already had, that is; it had taken a few minutes, but Tech finally noticed that Calamity had gone missing again, and he was deathly worried.

But the older coyote genius had to focus on one thing at a time, and right now, that thing was making sure that moving the Brisby house was successful.


Inside the house, the children tried to keep the items in the house steady while Auntie Shrew hung on to the clothesline in a state of panic until the line fell and she fell into half a walnut shell. She managed to yell, "Teresa!" before a blue marble conked her on the head, knocking her out.

"Martin!" Teresa gasped, she and Cynthia coming over to their out-cold babysitter.

"Auntie's afraid!" Cynthia giggled.

Teresa glared at her, not finding this funny at all.


Once the cement block reached the necessary height, the real work of moving it transversely began and the other three Loonatics began to assist where they could.

"Pull on the end-haul! Careful!" Justin called. "Careful! Easy does it! Take 'er up!"

Elsewhere in the same area, Jenner and Sullivan were at the anchoring ropes with swords in their hands.

"Nicodemus is cooperating beautifully!" Jenner grinned evilly as he saw the aged leader of the rats on the stone, supervising the operation.

"Jenner…!" Sullivan spoke up nervously, having second thoughts about what they were about to do.

"Standing in just the right spot!" Jenner chuckled darkly.

"Jenner, I…I can't do it!" Sullivan confessed.

"When that block reaches midway, you cut the line," Jenner instructed.

Sullivan stammered, dropping his sword, and soon found himself having Jenner's sword blade at his throat.

"Don't get any ideas, my friend," Jenner growled threateningly. "You're in this up to your neck!"

Lexi's Sonic Hearing activated, hearing Jenner's voice, but not clear enough as she was currently more focused on helping with the machinery and on the instructions Justin was giving.

"C'mon, mates! Put your backs into it!" Justin encouraged.

Slam growled an encouragement of his own in his native language. The rats didn't understand the words, but they understood the tone in them, and they continued to work harder.


"Y'know, at timesth like thisth, we could sure usthe sthomebody with Magnetic Manipulation!" Duck remarked as he continued trying to bend the paperclip he had found into the right shape. "Or Sthuper Sthrength!"

'Would a psychic do?' chirped a familiar, young telepathic voice.

"Calamity!" all three exclaimed.

"Calamity, where are ya, kid?" Rev called, looking out the cage bars.

'I'm coming up; hang on a minute,' Calamity responded.

Sure enough, up came a gray-furred coyote in pink high-tops wearing the Stone and holding a tissue. And without strings or a jetpack to hold him up.

"How…How…How are you…?" Mrs. Brisby gasped at the young coyote.

'The word you're looking for is "floating", Mrs. Brisby,' Calamity answered. 'But, actually, the term is "levitation"; it's another power of the mind. I've been practicing this for a while; it's not easy!' he added with a chuckle.

"I can imagine," Mrs. Brisby said, smiling.

"Um, Cal…did Tech or Ace send you here to help?" Rev asked in a suspicious tone.

Silence and a rather guilty look from Calamity.

Rev groaned, shaking his head. "Calamity Coyote, you know better than that!" the roadrunner scolded. "Tech must be worrying himself sick! You know how he gets about keeping you safe!"

'I know, Rev,' Calamity replied. 'But I couldn't leave you guys here! Justin, Ace and the others left to go help move Mrs. Brisby's house; they said we'd come back for you guys later, but what if later was too late? What if the powder wore off before it should? You guys would've been killed! Or one of the rats when they would come to help! Or one of us might have to resort to drastic measures with Dragon; Ace wouldn't want to do that!'

"That'sth Ac-th-e all right," Duck agreed, still working on the paperclip. "He wouldn't want to resthort to taking a life. None of usth would."

''Sides, that would've put the humans on to the rats faster, and then things would really be a mess!' Calamity added.

"Asth if they weren't a messth already," Duck put in rhetorically, making one last adjustment to the paperclip.

'I know; I heard the whole thing,' Calamity said. 'And…And…And I felt…that you guys had lost faith in yourselves. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't ignore it. That's why I came back for you,' he confessed. 'I couldn't leave you guys like that. It felt like we were abandoning you,' he added honestly.

The caged trio admired the honesty in Calamity's tone when he said that. And, they had to admit; for a while there, they did feel like they had been abandoned.

"You mean…you came back to…to give usth a pep talk?" Duck asked as he climbed up to the cage door, paperclip in hand. "Appreciate the effort, but you're a bit too late there; Mrs. B beat ya to it," he stated, grinning. He then winced when he felt some pain on his right cheek again. "Ooh, wrong word," he groaned a little.

'What happened?' Calamity asked Duck.

"Tell ya later; right now, we've gotta get outta here and warn the restht of the team and the ratsth about NIMH," Duck told him. "All right, I think I need another pair of handsth here…Oh, thanksth, Mrs. B," Duck said when the widowed mouse climbed up to help.

"Uh, why not just have Calamity unlock the door?" Rev asked, that course of action being the most obvious.

'Duck wants to try his idea first,' Calamity smirked.

"I heard that," Duck grinned, trying to sound sarcastic while also admitting that Calamity was right. "Call it a little 'ego indulgenc-th-e'. You might wanna stand back a bit, or…float back, or…whatever," Duck instructed the self-levitated coyote. "OK, you take that end…like that, yeah…and we justht loop it around like stho…" he mumbled as he and Mrs. Brisby worked the paperclip around the cage door lock.

Finally, the duck and the mouse had the paperclip just where Duck wanted it.

"Pleasthe, let thisth work," Duck prayed. "OK, ready? Pull…pull…" he instructed. "Almostht…Almostht…Almo-"

TWANG! The paperclip ends snapped back, hitting Mrs. Brisby and Duck, who gasped and yelped, respectively, in pain.

'Mrs. B!' Calamity gasped in alarm.

"Duck! You guys-" Rev cut himself off when he saw something red drip from Mrs. Brisby's arm.

"Ooh!" Duck winced. "That really hurtsth! Not justht that; it sthtingsth! And…why isth my hand wet?" Duck queried, trying to make sense of what was on his fingers. "That'sth the problem when you have black feathersth," he muttered, his eyes starting to look down. "You really can't sthee anything dark on you until…" Duck trailed off, noticing some small, red splotches under where his affected arm was. He then tilted his arm a bit, and a drop of red dripped off.

Duck's eyes widened in horrified surprise, as did Rev's and Calamity's, as his brain finally caught on to what was happening: He was bleeding.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Brisby asked the boys, snapping them out of their horrid transfixion.

"Sth…Sthorry. It'sth just…well…I've never…stheen my own blood before," Duck confessed hesitantly.

"Me neither," Rev added nervously.

'I've never seen it before,' Calamity said, looking a little pale.

Mrs. Brisby was a little confused before remembering that Calamity told her that in his world, Toons don't bleed because they were pretty much invulnerable.

"Looks like you were right about this world having its rules based on the Real World," Rev told Calamity.

'Yeah, but I didn't want to confirm it like this!' Calamity argued, still a bit nervous around the blood.

"Um, hello? I'm justht sthcratched; I'm not dying!" Duck said in a sarcastic tone.

"Sorry,"/'Sorry,' Rev and Calamity apologized sheepishly.

"We'd better clean those up," Rev decided.

"Yeah, well, there might be a bit of a problem: There'sth only one water bowl here, and onc-th-e one of usth usthesth it, it'sth gonna be usthelessth," Duck pointed out, not wanting to contaminate his or Mrs. Brisby's blood.

'I can take care of that part,' Calamity volunteered. 'Gina showed me this once.'

He then concentrated on taking some of the water out of the bowl and making it like a cleansing cast around Mrs. Brisby's arm. Slowly, a small ball of water lifted out of the bowl, floated over to Mrs. Brisby, and shaped itself around her afflicted arm. The watery cast turned slightly red from the blood.

"It won't be any good unless we have something to staunch the bleeding," Rev pointed out.

Calamity carefully moved the blood-stained water off Mrs. Brisby's arm and let it drop in an unoccupied corner of the cage (A/N: Where else was he gonna put it? Not back in the bowl!) before offering the tissue he had in his possession.

'I took this out of a tissue box on the counter,' Calamity explained. 'I wasn't sure if anybody had gotten injured, but I thought I'd better take it anyway. 'Sides, Tech's the one with the medical supplies he picked up from the rats, and I couldn't take those; I was putting myself in enough trouble already.'

"Well, it's not exactly medically sterile, but it'll have to do for now," Rev shrugged as he ripped a strip off the tissue and began tying it around Mrs. Brisby's arm.

Duck, meanwhile, was washing his own arm when he suddenly noticed that he could put his arm outside the cage through the water bowl. He did it one more time…maybe… A look of epiphany came over his face.

"Uh, Duck? What are you doing?" Rev asked, ready with Duck's makeshift bandage.

Duck didn't answer, but he jumped into the water bowl, trying to squeeze himself out that way. No go; not enough room. Duck got himself out and began to back up.

"Duck?" Rev called, still waiting for an answer.

"Hang on, I've got an idea!" Duck answered before making a flying leap at the water bowl, trying to push the end sticking out forward.

He winced, having put his shoulder into that push. Duck then made another attempt; close, but no cigar. He got out again.

"You'll hurt yourself!" Mrs. Brisby warned Duck.

"Lemme get your bandage on," Rev told him.

"OK, OK, but make it sthnappy!" Duck conceded impatiently. "Then I want you to put thosthe kickin' feet of yoursth to work!" he ordered Rev.

"All right," Rev agreed, rapidly finishing tying the tissue strip. "But I'm gonna do the dive this time," he told the dripping wet duck. "I don't want you getting that wet."

"It'sth gonna get wet anyway when we get out in the rain!" Duck pointed out. "Justht do it!"

Rev conceded, backed up, did a flying kick at the water dish, rapidly kicked it, then did a test dive. Being thin of frame as he was, he could easily get his head up above the water on the other side.

"I got my head out, but I think that's as far as I can go," Rev reported when he got out, now soaked himself.

"Then we're gonna have to do thisth justht like we did the fuel line on the tractor," Duck formulated. "Cal! You pull, we push, got it?" he instructed the floating desert canid.

Calamity nodded.

"OK, on three," Duck instructed Mrs. Brisby. "One…two…three!"

Duck and Mrs. Brisby did a leaping push on the water bowl. It moved a bit, but not by much.

"Cal! What happened to the pull?!" Duck demanded.

'You didn't give me a chance to get ready!' Calamity replied.

"Oh. Well, let me know when you have a good grip, then we're all gonna try again," Duck instructed.

Calamity nodded, then concentrated on a pair of invisible hands taking hold of his end of the water dish, awaiting the command to pull.

'I'm ready!' Calamity alerted Duck.

"OK, one more time and give it every bit of oomph you got!" Duck commanded, sounding like a leader. "One…"

Calamity steadied himself.

"Two…"

Duck, Rev, and Mrs. Brisby tightened themselves up against the cage wall across from their target, waiting to uncoil like springs.

"THREE!"

Duck, Mrs. Brisby, and Rev jumped at the water dish, pushing it forward. Calamity pulled as the three pulled back to try again. Another push, another pull. They did it once more before the water dish fell to the floor, freeing the captives.

"We did it!" Rev rejoiced, stepping onto the platform outside the cage.

"Shh!" Duck hushed. "Cal, anybody awake?" he asked.

Cal did a low-level telepathic sweep so as not to disturb anyone in the house.

'Nope, they're still upstairs asleep,' Calamity told Duck.

There were sighs of relief before they began figuring out how to get down.

'Why not Quack us down?' Calamity suggested, setting himself down on the platform.

"Can't you justht levitate usth down?" Duck asked, still unsure about using his teleporting ability with more than two people.

'Duck, I've expended a lot of energy trying to levitate myself, then manipulating the water while levitating, and pulling the water dish out while still levitating,' Calamity listed. 'If I'm going to have enough left to help the rats, I need to conserve my strength.'

"For those still at the novice level, using those powers for many things at once over an extended period of time or on one task that requires a lot of effort can be taxing," Rev confirmed to Mrs. Brisby. "And since speed is of no use up here…sorry Duck, you're it," he added.

Duck looked down at the floor below, still unsure. What if something went wrong in transit? What if something came back wrong in one of them and they got killed? At least when it was just him doing it there was risk to no-one but himself. When it was him and a passenger, it was easy to keep track. But all four of them at once?

Duck felt a light touch on his arm. It was Mrs. Brisby.

"I believe you can do it," she told the mallard with confidence.

"Me too," Rev added.

'Count me in,' Calamity said, climbing onto Duck's back.

Duck looked at his friends, seeing the faith they had in him in their eyes. It touched him. He closed his eyes.

They're counting on me: Mrs. B, Cal, Rev, the team, the ratsth, Timmy; they all hang in the balanc-th-e. If we don't get out fast, NIMH will kill the ratsth. And who knowsth what could be happening out there now; the move might be going according to plan or sthomething might've happened, Duck thought, remembering Lexi's concerns about Nicodemus and Jenner. I may have been bragging when I sthaid it before, but I mean it now: Danger Duck doesthn't quit. I may have sthcrewed up before, but not thisth time! I will not let Mrs. Bristhby down! I promisthe, I will. Never. Let. Her. Down. Again!

Calamity looked down in puzzled surprise at the amulet still around his neck, as it appeared to have flashed red for a moment. Duck opened his eyes; they were glowing orange, but the glow seemed to be a bit brighter this time. Before anyone could think, there was the weird screech that always preceded Duck's teleport, and the four of them vanished in a flash of light.


So far, so good, Ace thought as he helped with one of the lines pulling the Brisby home to the stone, unaware of Jenner and Sullivan.

"Ready with the knife…" Jenner instructed Sullivan, watching the block's progress.

The block started going over Nicodemus.

"Ready…" Jenner trailed.

The block reached the midway point.

"Cut now!" Jenner commanded, swinging his sword down on the rope.

Lexi's ears perked up again. She definitely heard Jenner that time…and a rope being cut.

"Jenner…" Lexi gasped.

"Lexi?" Ace questioned, noticing that Lexi had stopped pulling on her rope.

"I…I…" Sullivan stammered.

"Cut now!" Jenner growled, still swinging his sword and cutting all the ropes.

"No!" Sullivan refused, dropping his sword once more.

Now Ace's and Tech's ears perked up; they heard the sound of rope snapping.

Tech looked up and gasped in horror; all the ropes were starting to go.

"JUSTIN!" Tech cried out.

"SLAM! GET OUTTA THERE! IT'S GOIN'!" Ace shouted to the Tasmanian devil, the wheel he and the other rats were at starting to get pulled out of the ground.

Slam jumped for it, grabbing some of the rats in the process.

"NICODEMUS! LOOK OUT!" Lexi screamed.

Unfortunately, Nicodemus didn't react in time and was hit off the stone by the flailing equipment.

"NO!" Lexi screeched in horror.

"NO!" Tech and Ace cried out; now that the equipment was broken, there was nothing holding up the Brisby house anymore, and it fell into the mud below.


Inside the block, when it fell, chaos ensued; house objects fell everywhere, everything slid to one side of the house. Teresa screamed from under a table as she and it slid down. A lighted candle then fell over and rolled toward her, trapping her.

"MARTIN!" Teresa screamed.

Thankfully, the teacup washbasin that Cynthia was holding on to slid the same way as the candle, and the still out-cold Auntie Shrew, and the water spilled, putting the fire out.

Meanwhile, in Timothy's room, he miraculously didn't fall out of bed due to some ropes and pins keeping him and the pillows supporting his head attached to the bed, and the bed didn't slide and spill due to a modification made to the feet of the bed that allowed it to be hammered into place; Tech's handiwork.


"The kids!" Ace choked out, his heart having gone into his throat at the sight of the cement block falling.

"NICODEMUS!" Lexi screamed.

"Come on!" Justin ordered, leading the four Loonatics, Mr. Ages, and a group of rats to where Nicodemus was.

Soon, they reached the site of the wreckage. Lexi, still running on adrenaline, tried to lift a piece of debris out of the way but it was too heavy. The space between her ears began to spark. Tech grabbed her and tried to snap her out of it; her currently running-rampant emotions were making her powers act up, and she needed to stop before she accidentally loosed a Brain Blast.

Slam took over, going in first.

"OK, help! Keep going, Slam! We've gotta hurry!" Justin said, starting to follow Slam down as the former wrestler from the future cleared a path through. "That's it!"

"Come on! Come on, hurry!" Ace ordered.

Lexi rushed ahead of Justin, Tech right behind her, Justin, Ace, Mr. Ages, and the rest of the rats following.

There was a yelp from Slam ahead.

"We're coming! We're coming!" Justin called as he ran through the shallow water and pushing some additional debris aside.

The other three Loonatics reached the scene before Justin and the others did…and what they saw gave them dread.

"We found him!" Ace called to Justin.

"We found him!" Justin relayed to the others before appearing on the scene himself, stopping in horror. "Nicodemus…" he gasped. "Oh, no! NO!"

The only thing they could see of Nicodemus was his paw and some of his cape sticking out from the rubble.

Mr. Ages shook his head as the other rats looked on in horror, then grief.

Lexi gasped again, turned to Ace, who embraced her, and began sobbing into his shoulder.

Tech's ears lowered and he started to cry himself, despite trying to keep calm so that his powers wouldn't act up.

Slam whimpered sadly and he bowed his head.

"May…Maybe…" Ace sniffled. "Maybe there's a chance…"

Lexi looked at Ace and shook her head; her Sonic Hearing couldn't hear Nicodemus' heartbeat. Ace turned to Tech who had gone to Nicodemus and felt for a pulse. Tech shook his head; there was none. Nicodemus was dead.

Ace squeezed his eyes shut, trying to prevent tears from escaping as he tried to deny this was happening. But he couldn't; this was real. He hugged Lexi closer as she continued to weep.

"Nic…o…de…mus…" Slam mourned.

Tech swallowed hard as he suppressed a howl of mourning that had been growing in his throat, and allowed it to come out a whimper. He blamed himself for not jumping into action sooner, for not making more frequent checks on the equipment.

Suddenly, something else occurred to the four Loonatics: the kids! What happened to them?! They quickly ran past the other mourning rats and scrambled towards the fallen cement block.

"Teresa! Martin!" Ace called, pounding his palm on the block's wall.

"Teresa!" Tech shouted.

"Timmy!" Slam called.

"Are you all right?!" Lexi called, praying that they were as she pounded her fist on the block. "Cynthia!"

"Teresa!" Tech called again.

"Mr. Tech?" came Teresa's voice from inside the block.

"Teresa?" Tech asked, his ears perking up at the voice.

"Mr. Tech! Mr. Tech!" Teresa called again.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Tech sighed in relief, leaning against the block.

"Teresa, dat you in dere, kiddo?" Ace asked.

"Mr. Ace! It's me!" Teresa called back.

"Mar-tin!" Slam growled.

"Slam?! That you out there?" called Martin.

"Is everybody OK?" Ace asked.

"Yes!" Teresa answered.

"Timmy?" Lexi asked.

There was a moment of quiet as someone inside went to check.

"He's OK!" Martin reported.

"Yes, the adjustments I made worked!" Tech said quietly in relief.

Ace suddenly remembered who else was with the kids. "What about Auntie Shrew?" he asked.

"Auntie Shrew's asleep!" Cynthia said.

"Well, can ya wake her up or somethin'; I wanna talk to her!" Ace told the kids.

There were sounds of the kids trying to wake up the knocked-out shrew before her loud voice sounded off, yelling, "TERESA!"

"Auntie Shrew!" Ace called, trying to bring the shrew back to reality.

"Good gracious! What happened here?!" the shrew gasped.

"Auntie Shrew!" Ace called again.

"Auntie, Mr. Ace and his friends are outside!" Teresa told her babysitter.

"Mr. Ace? Mr. Ace!" Auntie Shrew called to the rabbit.

"Here, ma'am!" Ace responded. "You all right in dere?"

"No, I'm not! It's a mess in here!" the shrew responded, clearly distressed. "What's going on out there?!"

Ace struggled to answer that, not wanting to scare anyone more than they were now. "There's…There's been…a minor difficulty, ma'am," Ace finally answered. "Don't worry, we'll get it fixed as soon as we can."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth, either.

"Brisby! Where's Brisby?" the shrew demanded.

"And Revvy! Where's Revvy and Mommy?" Cynthia asked, wanting her mother and the roadrunner.

"Don't worry, Cynthia; Rev's on his way…I hope," Tech whimpered quietly.


Duck groaned, feeling like he had landed on tile. Oh, he did, he realized when he opened his eyes. He looked around to see Calamity, Rev, and Mrs. Brisby-all visibly in one piece-and Dragon's bowl. He had teleported them to Dragon's bowl. Not quite what he was going for, but it was better than being near the cat himself.

"Everybody have everything they should?" Duck asked his passengers as they recovered themselves.

"If you're asking if we're all in one piece…" Rev started.

'Yeah, we're OK,' Calamity finished.

"Mrs. B?" Duck asked the female field mouse, who was looking rather shaken.

"That…That was…Oh…O-oh…" Mrs. Brisby exhaled, trying to get herself together. "That…was…That was…AMAZING!" she finally exclaimed, actually looking excited.

Duck was taken aback by Mrs. Brisby's reaction as she laughed.

"You sure you're OK?" Duck asked cautiously.

"Oh, yes. Yes!" Mrs. Brisby reassured him, still laughing.

'Yeah, she's OK,' Calamity confirmed, smiling. 'Not bad for a first teleportation experience. The normal reaction would be confusion…and maybe a bit of freaking out, but she's taking it rather well,' he added.

"That was an…an…incredible experience!" Mrs. Brisby continued. "It's like Rev's Super Speed, only…it's like…you're in one place, then you blink, and then you're in a different place! Amazing!"

Duck and Rev looked at each other, a little amazed at having their powers compared like that.

'It's, uh…pretty accurate,' Calamity shrugged, having experienced both Loonatics' powers firsthand.

"You know, you're probably the firstht mousthe I've ever met who'sth ever enjoyed her firstht teleport trip," Duck commented to Mrs. Brisby.

"You didn't do so badly yourself," Mrs. Brisby told him.

Duck's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly when he realized what she meant and what just occurred.

"I did it," he said softly. "I DID IT!" Duck exclaimed loudly, the excitement of his achievement running through him. "I DI-EE-YI-HI-I-I-I-E-E-E!" he yelped in alarm before covering his beak, having turned around to see the sleeping Dragon behind him.

The others saw Dragon too and grew frightened.

'Wait, wait, hold on,' Calamity told everyone, doing a quick check of Dragon's thoughts. 'He's drugged. The powder's in effect. He won't be waking up for a bit.'

"Whew!" everybody sighed in relief.

"Well, let'sth get outta here and not jinx-th it," Duck said as he and the others made their way to the hole in the floor.

As soon as Mrs. Brisby, Rev, and Duck had recovered their respective items of clothing, they exited the farmhouse.

'Looks like the rain's let up some,' Calamity noticed.

"Now would be a good time for sthome Sthuper Sthpeed," Duck told Rev, who nodded, tapped into his power, and started getting down into a runner's starting position.

"Are you sure you can carry all three of us?" Mrs. Brisby asked Rev as she let him pick her up with one arm.

Calamity had just gotten himself settled on Rev's back when he definitely saw the Stone flash again.

"I've got no intention of choking up this time, Mrs. B," Rev stated confidently, his glowing-red eyes glowing a bit brighter than usual, like Duck's had.

A theory started forming in Calamity's mind at that moment: Was the power inside the Stone augmenting Duck and Rev's powers, or was their newfound faith in themselves and promise that they wouldn't fail Mrs. Brisby this time giving power to the Stone, which was influencing the augmentation?

"Everybody set?" Rev asked his passengers.

The answer all around was "yes".

"Then here…we…GO!" Rev called, taking off in a blur of speed towards the Brisby home.

However, the quartet went unaware of the tragedy that had taken place, and the disaster that had occurred.


All right, that's another chapter done! We're almost at the end here, folks! Just one, two…three more chapters to go!

OK, first some miscellaneous stuff and trivia, then questions. So, were you guys surprised with Mrs. Brisby in this chapter? I know I would be! I actually adapted that argument ending with a slap to the face as well as Mrs. Brisby's reaction after doing that from a moment in the "Digimon Adventure 02" episode "Opposites Attract" when Kari slapped Yolei to stop her from panicking before saying, "Oh, what have I done?" I bet you didn't expect Duck to start laughing, though!

But it looks like the stakes have been upped since the trio (and as it is later learned, Calamity) hear that NIMH are on their way to bulldoze the rosebush and find the rats. Soon, Calamity shows up, and helps them escape, but not before Mrs. Brisby and Duck get injured…with Duck actually bleeding and proving that this world does indeed have its rules based in Real World physics. The "water cast" thing Calamity does I actually got from "FernGully" when Crysta manipulated some water into a ball. I realize Rev probably would have gotten everyone down since he can fly, but I decided to give Duck his moment and he was successful…but did anyone catch that bit of foreshadowing there? And I don't mean with the amulet.

Meanwhile, the other Loonatics are helping the rats when Jenner enacts his plan and everything falls apart. Thankfully, the children and Auntie Shrew are all right, but Nicodemus has unfortunately been killed, and Ace is horrified. Well, think about it; do you think they ever saw anything like that before going back in time?

Here are the questions:

What would you say to Auntie Shrew in regard to what's going to happen?

What would your reaction to seeing Mrs. Brisby actually get assertive and slap Duck?

What would you try doing to get the trio out of the birdcage?

What would be going through your mind as you help in the move of the Brisby home? How would you be helping out?

What would you do if you were with Jenner and Sullivan?

What would your reaction to Calamity's appearance and to what he says when Rev scolds him for disobeying Tech?

Would you agree that it felt like the rest of the Loonatics were abandoning Mrs. Brisby and their two teammates?

How would you react to seeing Duck bleeding?

When the Stone glows when Duck taps into his Quacking ability, what would you be thinking?

How would you be reacting when the machinery falls apart, hitting Nicodemus and making the cement block fall, as well as when the Loonatics and the rats find Nicodemus dead and the superheroes manage to talk with the children and Auntie Shrew?

What be your reaction to Mrs. Brisby's reaction to teleporting for the first time?

Do you agree with the theory Calamity formulates when the Stone glows again, this time when Rev taps into his Super Speed? Do you have a different theory?

And there you are. Now, the next chapter is the climax of the story. There will be swordplay, more peril, some sad moments, and the Loonatics experience a few things that they never have before, one of which leads to a hard question.

Until then, please read and review. Thank you.