Author's Notes and Disclaimer: OK, everyone; we are at the second-to-last chapter of the story. Once the story itself is over, you'll be shown the Cast List and given the questions for the previous nine chapters that I would have put up if I had thought of the idea earlier. So far, I've only gotten answers from my friend DJ Rodriguez, but I hope more of you will read and answer them as well.
Here's the 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", "Looney Tunes" characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, or Godzooky (owned by Warner Bros), or the "Tiny Toon Adventures" character Calamity Coyote (owned by Warner Bros and Amblin).
Recap: For the last three days, Calamity and the Loonatics have been in the world of "The Secret of NIMH", helping the widowed field mouse Mrs. Brisby save her family. They've met friends like Mr. Ages, Jeremy, Auntie Shrew, the Brisby children, Justin, and Nicodemus, and faced down their enemy, Jenner. They were even able to tap into the power in the courage of the heart, which ultimately enabled them to save the Brisby home. It's been a rough ride for all of them, but now they can finally have a moment of peace.
It won't be a long one though, as the title of this chapter indicates. Let's read on.
Chapter 13: Time to Go Home
The next morning, the trucks from NIMH arrived and began work on the rosebush. They found nothing but a few destroyed items and knickknacks, including things that looked suspiciously like some electrical cables that Farmer Fitzgibbons had noticed had gone missing. Bodies were also found when the work was done; the rats who had volunteered to stay behind…as well as the corpses of those who had died the night before. But, as Justin hoped, the Rats of NIMH had left no trace for anyone to follow. And now he, Mr. Ages, and the rest of the rats could make their way to their new home and live in peace.
Meanwhile, back at a certain cement block, the Loonatics and Calamity were helping Mrs. Brisby watch her children. And having a lot of fun doing it.
Timothy woke up, and, actually getting out of bed and coming to the window, pleaded, "Mama, I'm tired of bed; I wanna get up!"
"Well, you're not getting up," Mrs. Brisby told him, making the young mouse sulk.
"You better listen to your mother, young man," Tech added. "Speaking of which, there's still a little matter of you scarin' me twice in one day," he then said to Calamity, who was drawing on a piece of mouse-sized paper. "We're gonna have to do something about that."
'Yes, sir,' Calamity nodded, stopping his drawing momentarily.
Tech thought for a bit on a suitable punishment before saying, "Well, I think someone's going to have to do without their chemistry set for a bit."
'Uh, bad idea,' Calamity spoke up. 'I already made up my mind that I wasn't gonna use it for while…especially after what I saw,' he explained.
"Oh. Oh, right…" Tech said, then tried again. "OK then, how's this: No video games and no dessert for a month."
'Yes, sir. I'm sorry,' Calamity apologized before returning to his drawing.
"I know, but it's not good to do that," Tech replied.
"Am I gonna get punished for taking a sthlight trip, too?" Duck asked in a bit of a whiny way as Lexi bandaged his hands.
"No," Lexi said. She then got a devious smirk on her face and asked, "Why? Do you want to be?"
"NO! No-no-no-no, no, thanksth. I'm good," Duck said quickly, shaking his head vigorously.
Lexi couldn't help but giggle at that, then at Rev playing with Cynthia and then at Martin trying to roughhouse with Slam, who was just standing there with a smug, but friendly smile on his face.
"Y'know, Mistah Ages said dat it would take three weeks for Timmy to recover from his pneumonia," Ace was saying, looking at the young mouse in the window. "But it's been only four days and he's already lookin' a lot better than when I last laid eyes on 'im."
"It must have been the medicine, right, Mr. Tech?" Teresa asked as she worked on bandaging her mother's paws.
"Well…I think it did play a part in it," Tech trailed, the wheels in his mind turning.
"But…?" Ace asked, waiting for the rest of the thought.
"Well, this is just pure speculation, Chief," Tech began, "but I'd have to say that when we used the power of the Stone to extricate the Brisby home from the mud, it may have also given a boost to Timothy's immune system, accelerating his healing process."
"What does that mean?" Teresa asked in confusion.
"I…think it means that yer mom's magic necklace may have made your brother get better faster-Tech," Ace answered while realizing something about Tech's explanation that made him think he was hearing things. "I didn't think you-a scientist wit' a rational, genius brain-would start believing in magic!"
Tech chuckled and rubbed the back of his head in an embarrassed manner before replying, "Well, uh…heh… Well, Chief, considering what's happened to us so far and what happened last night…let's just say I'm becoming a little more…open-minded on the subject."
"Whatcha making, Calamity?" Lexi asked, having finished with Duck and gone over to the young coyote.
'I'm not done yet,' Calamity told her. 'Don't look!'
"Oh! OK, sorry. Tell me when," Lexi said, looking away.
Calamity made a few more adjustments; a slight erase here, a bit more shading there, a bit more refinement on the lines…then he looked at it, smiled, and nodded. Perfect.
'All done!' Calamity called.
"May I look?" Mrs. Brisby asked.
"Lemme see," Ace said, going over. He looked at Calamity's work and whistled in amazement. "Wow, Cal! Dat is a good drawin' of Tech!" he complimented.
'Uh, Ace, that's not-' Calamity started to explain when the drawing was quickly taken by Tech.
"Hey, Tech, what's the…?" Lexi stopped herself when she saw her friend start to tear up looking at the picture.
'I tried to tell you: That's Tech's younger brother,' Calamity finally explained, earning "Oh's" and nods of understanding. 'I still had a pretty clear image of him in my mind even after I woke up; I thought I'd get it on paper before it was gone. Thanks again for the paper, Ace,' he thanked the Loonatic leader.
"My pleasure," Ace replied.
Calamity went over to his big brother figure and looked over his shoulder at the sketch: The young coyote drawn, Shilah, did almost look like a younger version of Tech, but it was more youthful, more innocent; the eyes looked bright and full of life, the smile was gentle and playful. The younger coyote then looked hard at his sketch again and then saw something.
'Hey, Tech? You were right; when you first met me you said that I reminded you of him,' Calamity said. 'Now I can actually see why. I think it's in the eyebrows a bit, but…I actually think it's the ears.'
"The ears?" Tech asked.
'Yeah, they look like mine, don't they?' Calamity asked, slightly pulling on his own ears so that Tech could get a better look.
"Hmm, I don't know…Let me…" Tech smiled, beginning to adjust Calamity's ears and tickling him in the process.
"Miss Briz! Oh, Briz!" a voice belonging to a certain crow called, panting, interrupting the moment.
"What?!" Ace exclaimed in disbelief.
"Are you kidding?!" Lexi groaned.
"Oh, boy," Slam growled a bit.
"Oh, come on!" Duck groaned.
Rev rolled his eyes.
"Well, better now than earlier, Chief," Tech pointed out.
"Yeah, you're right…" Ace conceded.
"Where are ya?!" Jeremy called, sounding like he was running.
"Over here!" Mrs. Brisby called to the crow.
Jeremy soon came running into view carrying a pack of string of various colors on his back.
"Here it is! I brought the whole mess!" Jeremy beamed, dumping the pack of string on a nearby rock.
Ace whistled in amazement. "'Mess' is right," he remarked.
"There's more where this came from, too. I got connections!" Jeremy added, bringing a blue string over.
"What is that?!" Teresa gasped, seeing something hanging from the red string around Jeremy's neck.
Everyone looked up at the crow and soon heard someone screaming, and it came from a lizard with wings who was hanging on for dear life to the string, looking very freaked out.
"OH! Oh, no! Oh…Oh, excuse me, pardon me! Oh-! Oh, no! Whoops! I'm so sorry; I guess I got so excited that I forgot I had a passenger!" Jeremy fretted.
The Loonatics and Calamity looked hard at Jeremy's terrified passenger; he looked familiar.
"Zooky?!" Ace realized.
"That's Zooky?" Mrs. Brisby asked.
"In da flesh and scales," Ace replied.
"GET ME DO-O-O-OWN!" the saurian howled, his voice throaty but a bit high-pitched.
"Oh! Oh! I'm so-I'm really-Here, lemme just lower myself…" Jeremy said quickly, starting to lean over.
"Too late," Zooky quipped as he lost his grip and fell to the ground with an "oomph!"
Everybody let out a wince and groans at the impact. Jeremy started apologizing again.
"Ooh, that'sth gotta hurt," Duck remarked as Ace, Slam and Lexi came over to assist.
"You OK dere, pal?" Ace asked the winged saurian as he helped him up.
Zooky nodded, a bit disoriented and woozy from the flight and the impact of the fall.
"Oh, man! Oh, I am really sorry about that! Excuse me, pardon me! Oh, man!" Jeremy continued on his apologetic rant.
"Well, least he's being polite about it," Lexi said to Ace.
Ace nodded before telling Zooky as he guided him to where Mrs. Brisby was sitting, "Maybe you'd better sit down."
"Yeah, yeah, I'd better…Whew!" Zooky sighed, still trying to recover himself. "Next time…I'm flyin' my own way!" he then promised.
"How'd you get here?" Rev queried, putting Cynthia down.
"Oh…stupe…stupid transport!" Zooky complained, still a bit dizzy. "Planted me all the way on the other side of this place last night!"
"Last night?!" Lexi gasped softly.
"Yeah, yeah, I think it was, yeah," Zooky continued. "Bumped into this guy trying to navigate through here," he said, pointing a thumb back at Jeremy. "Said he was gathering string for something."
"And he helped me, too!" Jeremy spoke up. "Even found a few pieces for me I never knew I had!"
"Yeah…Whoo-ooh, what a nightmare!" Zooky groaned under his breath.
Zooky's friends all smirked, each using their experiences with the crow to imagine what Zooky had gone through.
"Do you need me to get you anything, Zooky?" Mrs. Brisby spoke up.
"No, no. No thanks, ma'am, I'll be all…I'll be all…I…" Zooky started to reply, then slowly noticed that an unknown voice had used his name. "…Wait a min-" Zooky then shook his head rapidly, finally coming out of his daze. "Wait a minute!" he yelped, turning to Mrs. Brisby. "How do you know my name?!"
"Ace and the others told me," Mrs. Brisby replied honestly.
"Yeah…sorry, Zuke," Ace groaned sheepishly.
"Oops," remarked Lexi.
"We…kinda had ta spill some beans," Ace confessed.
"Yeah…we were kinda found out," Rev revealed.
"No, no, it's OK; I should've expected this," Zooky reassured them. "There's always one person or being you meet who finds out or knows where you're from," he said, speaking from experience. "I credit you for finding out the truth, ma'am," Zooky added to Mrs. Brisby.
"Well, actually…I had a little help," Mrs. Brisby told him.
Now Zooky was concerned. "All right, who else did you guys tell?" he demanded his friends.
"Uh…um…Well, Mrs. B knows, Mr. Ages knows," Ace began to list. "And Justin…well, actually, all da rats know by now, I t'ink. And I t'ink Jeremy's on to it, too, now."
"WHAT?!" Zooky exclaimed. "Is there anyone you haven't told?!"
"The Fitzgibbons, for one," Lexi answered. "Not that we ever had a chat with them."
"Zooky…" Tech began calmly to pacify his friend. "Someone knew that we were coming long before we arrived."
"What? Who?" asked the saurian. "Where is he?"
"Well…dat's gonna be a bit problematic," Ace said uneasily. "He…ain't exactly in a position to explain anyt'ing anymore."
Zooky quickly realized the meaning behind that statement and apologized.
"Is it OK if I ask who it was?" the winged saurian asked more calmly.
"His name was Nicodemus," Lexi replied sadly, remembering the aged rat.
Zooky mouthed his name, then recognized it and apologized again. "And I got here the night before; If only I'd gotten here faster…"
"It wouldn't have mattered; Nicodemus knew he was gonna go one way or the other," Ace told his friend.
"You did missth one lulu of a sthwordfight and light-show," Duck said.
"Not to mention a double case of close-calls," Lexi added.
"'Light-show'?" Zooky asked, slightly confused and not hearing Lexi's statement; then he saw Mrs. Brisby's bandaged hands and remembered. "Oh. Right. Y'know, come to think of it, it could just be my imagination but I think I can sense you guys are…stronger, somehow," he told the Loonatics.
"Yeah, we kinda feel it, too," Ace said. "When I used my Laser Vision to help demolish da rat colony in da rosebush, it kinda felt like it had a little more 'oomph' to it."
"Same with my Brain Blasts," Lexi added.
Slam, Tech and Rev also put in their observations about their strengthened powers.
"I would've notic-th-ed it, too, but…" Duck trailed with a pout on his face, holding up his bandaged hands.
"Oh-ka-a-ay…" Zooky trailed, not sure how that happened. "We'll…save that for when we get home," he said.
"You have to go?" Mrs. Brisby asked, the children starting to look upset, even Timothy.
"'Home'? Home…" Jeremy repeated to himself, that word jogging his memory. He had come here to do something…Oh, wait, yes! That's right! Then he looked again and realized something. "HEY! Your house is moved!"
"Was that what all that string was for?" Zooky asked no-one in particular.
"Ooh, sorry; we did it already," Ace smirked.
"Oh, no!" Jeremy groaned. "What am I gonna do with all this string?"
"Ah, don't losthe your feathersth, Jeremy," Duck grinned to the crow. "I'm sure you'll think of sthomething."
Jeremy sighed sadly, starting to walk away. "What's the use? What's a guy like me gonna do with a love nest, anyway?"
"I never thought I'd say this, but I feel kinda sorry for Jeremy right now," Lexi said, looking sympathetic for the crow.
'He may have been a bit annoying at times, but at least he was trying to make an effort to do something,' Calamity admitted.
"Yeah, poor guy," Ace added.
"I sthtill can't get all thosthe annoying momentsth out of my mind, but…yeah, I feel kinda bad for him, too," Duck said. "But, I mean, it'sth not like histh 'Missth Right' isth justht gonna come flying in out of nowhere."
Then, as so often happens to Daffy Duck's descendant, as well as Daffy himself at times, some force in the universe proved him wrong when a female crow actually came flying in out of nowhere and bumped into Jeremy, sending both of them into the tall grass.
Everyone wore looks of surprise at that, but that didn't compare to the reaction that everyone had when:
"Excuse me, pardon me," Jeremy told the female crow.
"Excuse me, pardon me," the female crow replied.
Zooky was the first to burst out laughing; he laughed so hard he actually had to sit down.
The only who didn't start laughing was Duck, who just stared with a look that was reminiscent of his reaction to meeting Rev's parents for the first when they had come to their Headquarters back when the Loonatics lived in their own time. He was so stupefied that he didn't realize he was moving his hands to his head.
"WHAT?! Ow-oo-oo-ooh!" Duck cried out in pain when he clapped his bandaged hands to the top of his head.
"Oh, careful, Duck!" Lexi managed to say through her laughter.
"Oh, NO-O-O! Now there'sth TWO of them!" Duck exclaimed in a tone that made it sound like it was the end of the world.
"Revvy! Look, Mommy! Another turkey!" Cynthia pointed out to her mother and Rev.
The reaction to that was the most perplexed looks Rev and Duck had ever put on their faces and everyone else except those two and Cynthia laughing harder.
"What'sth stho funny?" Duck asked the laughing Brisby widow.
"Your face!" the field mouse replied once she found a breath before laughing again.
Duck was a bit puzzled by the response before he started laughing himself.
Tech then spoke, trying to keep his laughing back until he finished, "You…You know…You guys wanna know something I thought?" he chuckled.
"Oh, do tell, do!" Zooky grinned like an eager child, wanting to hear.
"Well…and-and realizing the fact that she's young, of course…if…if she…thinks…that Jeremy, a crow…is a turkey…then what do you think she thinks these two are?" Tech laughed, pointing at Duck and Rev.
The laughing started up again, but this time, they tried to hide to practically no success. Rev, on the other hand, was so offended by the tease that his feathers actually bristled, making him look like a blue-and-purple bottlebrush with a beak, legs, and clothes.
Duck, however, just accepted it with his usual brand of sarcasm: "Ha, ha, ha, ha; ve-e-ery funny."
"Yeah, take it easy; she is only a little goil, after all," Ace told Tech, slowly recovering from his laughing bout.
'I think you'd better go apologize,' Calamity told Tech, referring to Rev, who was being taken by the hand by Cynthia over to where the two crows crashed.
Tech agreed and started making his way over.
"Stay right there," Jeremy told the girl crow before exploding out of the grass, making Rev pick up Cynthia and Tech and run for cover. "Miss Briz! Miss Briz! Lemme have the sparkly! I GOTTA have the sparkly!" he pleaded to the female mouse, hoping that she still had the shiny amulet.
"'Sparkly'?" Zooky mouthed to himself in question before having another memory boost; Jeremy was asking for the amulet that Nicodemus had given Mrs. Brisby.
"Miss B, I gotta have it!" Jeremy continued to beg. "Girls can't resist a sparkly! Oh, please! Ple-e-e-e-e-e-ase?!"
"Oo-ooh. Uh-oh," Ace intoned.
"Oh, dear," Lexi chuckled.
"Oopsie," Slam grunted sheepishly.
'Oh, sorry,' Calamity apologized.
"Ooh, bad timing again, Jerr," Duck said.
Jeremy looked at the group and listened to their apologies with panicking disbelief. What was going on?!
"Wha-What? What do they mean? What's goin' on? Miss B, where is it?" Jeremy asked, getting desperate.
Mrs. Brisby answered, "I gave it to Justin." When she said that, she glanced over at Duck, but no-one noticed.
"Justin? Who the heck is Justin?!" Jeremy demanded.
"The leader of the rats," Mrs. Brisby replied.
"'The leader of the rats'," Jeremy repeated mockingly, very disappointed that he would never get his "sparkly". "How could you do this to me?! What'll I say? Guys, what'll I do?" he asked.
"Well, just be, um…be…" Mrs. Brisby thought, trying to find the right word.
"Athletic!" Duck piped up. "Yeah! You sthaid stho yousthelf: 'Girlsth go for the athletic type, don't they?'" he added, remembering something Jeremy had said when they first met him.
Jeremy perked up, going along with the idea. "Ah! That's right; athletic!" he grinned, now having a plan.
The crow then turned to go back to his "Miss Right", once again not watching where he was going and ended up tripping over Cynthia, Tech, and Rev, who had dropped to the ground to try to avoid the incoming crow, Rev covering Cynthia to protect her.
"I'll just be a little-AH-AA-AA-AAUGH!" Jeremy screamed as he tripped and fell, going back into the grass.
The antic ended up starting the laugh-fest all over again.
Duck just sighed patiently, smirked, and shook his head, saying, "When will he ever learn?"
Meanwhile, Tech and Rev were recovering from their brief experience of being a tripping instrument.
"Y'know, he's really gotta learn to watch where he's going," Rev sighed as he got off the ground, releasing Cynthia.
"Did we do that?!" Tech asked Rev, looking extremely confused.
"You sound like you're surprised!" Rev stated as if what happened was obvious-which it was.
There was the sound of laughing behind them, so they turned and followed Cynthia to peek through the grass to see Jeremy and his new lady-friend all wrapped up in string and laughing their heads off.
"Sheesh, don't those two make a perfect pair?" Rev remarked, making the peeking trio giggle a bit.
About two more seconds passed before Tech tapped Rev on the shoulder.
"Um, we should probably get outta here before…" Tech trailed before looking down at Cynthia, then at the crows while making grunting sounds and clearing his throat.
Rev looked at Tech, Cynthia, the crows, and back again before his brain finally connected the dots and he let out an embarrassed giggle at not having figured it out sooner.
"Uh…c'mon, Cynthie, let's get back to your mother," Rev told the little girl mouse in a sing-song tone and ushering her away, not wanting her to stay around any longer to see if…well, something she wasn't supposed to see yet was going to happen.
"Aw, Revvy!" Cynthia complained, taking the opportunity to climb up to Rev's shoulders.
"'Revvy'?" Zooky asked, hearing Cynthia's nickname for the roadrunner. "That's a new one for you."
The roadrunner grinned and giggled nervously, embarrassed at having Zooky say his new nickname in public.
"Well, let's just say somebody got a little attached," Tech grinned.
"'Attached'? She'sth practically crawling on him," Duck remarked, watching Cynthia actually squirm and fight to stay on Rev as he tried to put her down.
"Mother, Ace, did the rats really go to Thorn Valley?" Teresa asked.
"Yes," Mrs. Brisby nodded.
"Sure did," Ace added.
"Will we ever see them?" Martin asked.
"Perhaps," his mother replied.
"Today!" Cynthia beamed.
"No, when you're older," Mrs. Brisby smiled.
"As for us, it's time to go," Zooky told the Loonatics and Calamity, standing up.
"What?" Martin asked.
"Oh, must you?" Mrs. Brisby asked, feeling like she was going to lose more family members.
"Sorry, Mrs. B, but…well, yer problem's solved for good now, and da rats are safe, so…dere's not really a need for a couple of superheroes and a young psychic to stick around," Ace shrugged, not really wanting to go, either.
"Aw, man! I hardly got to know you guys!" Timothy pouted from his bed.
"Ah, sorry, squirt. Wish we got to know you a bit better, too," Ace said apologetically. "But we've gotta go home."
"Briiisby!" a familiar voice called, making Duck widen his eyes, Tech and Rev hold their muzzle and beak, respectively, and Calamity fidgety.
"Who…?" Zooky asked, not knowing who it was or why four of his friends were panicking at that voice.
"Oh, Auntie Shrew!" Teresa gasped.
"Oh, Auntie!" Cynthia added.
"Oh, no…!" Martin groaned, face-palming himself.
"Oh, no…!" Duck, Tech, and Rev groaned at the same time as Martin.
"A-a-a-a-and I t'ink now is a good time for another one of those 'graceful exits'," Ace hinted to Zooky, a nervous smile on his face. He then looked at Zooky and hissed with a panicked expression on his face and waving his hands frantically, "It's da shrew! Get us outta here!"
"OK! OK! Wow, I didn't realize things had gotten that bad!" Zooky exclaimed, letting a giggle escape.
"Uh, sorry to say 'so long' and run, folks, but, uh…" Ace said, smiling nervously.
"I understand," Mrs. Brisby giggled.
"No! No! I don't want Revvy to go! Don't go, Revvy!" Cynthia cried, hugging the roadrunner's ankle.
"Aw, sorry, Cynthie, but I gotta," Rev cooed to her, gently pulling her off.
"Do you guys really have to?" Martin asked Duck and Slam.
"Uh-huh," Slam nodded sadly.
"Sthorry," Duck shrugged, standing up to go.
"We're gonna miss you guys," Teresa said. She then turned to Calamity and gave him a hug, surprising him a bit and making him blush. "Goodbye, Calamity," she then said.
'Good-bye, Teresa,' Calamity smiled before standing up and going to the others, taking the drawing with him.
The Brisby kids each said their good-byes to the visitors; well, except Cynthia, who still wanted her Revvy to stay. Then came the hard part: saying their farewells to Mrs. Brisby, a lady mouse who had done so much for them and was so kind to them that they actually felt part of the family.
Ace stepped forward and accepted a farewell hug from his hostess first.
"G'bye, Mrs. B," Ace said softly.
"Good-bye, Ace," Mrs. Brisby smiled. "Oh, and, Ace? Good luck…with the Resistance," she added.
"T'anks. And don't worry, we'll be out dere, keepin' your woild safe. Just keep us in yer prayers and t'ink of us once in a while," Ace said.
Mrs. Brisby gave Ace another hug. "Ooh, we'll be thinking of you all for more than a while!" she laughed softly. She then let Ace go so that Lexi could come forward.
"Thank you so much, Mrs. B," Lexi said to her hostess as they hugged.
"Oh, no, thank you, dear; all of you," said Mrs. Brisby. "Good luck with your young man," she whispered into the female bunny's ear, making her blush.
Slam was next; he carefully hugged the widow mouse with one arm while she hugged him he best she could, given that he was a big fellow and all.
"Bye-bye," Slam said.
"Ooh, bye-bye, Slam," Mrs. Brisby said as they finished their hug, letting the coyotes come up next.
"Good-bye, Mrs. Brisby," Tech said, smiling.
'I'm gonna miss you,' Calamity said, already missing her.
"Aw, me too," Mrs. Brisby said motherly, giving Tech a kiss on the muzzle and Calamity a kiss on the cheek. "Now, remember to listen to your big brother, young man," she added to Calamity.
'I will,' Calamity promised.
Rev came up then, still having some trouble with Cynthia clinging to him. After some embarrassed laughs, Rev finally managed to detach the young girl mouse from his person and hand her to her mother.
"Eeh, sorry 'bout that, she wouldn't…heh…" Rev tried to explain, but he was starting to feel a little guilty about having to go. That, and Cynthia was giving him the "mournful eyes-and-pout" look that a small child could pull off easily, making his heart melt.
Mrs. Brisby smiled and nodded in understanding.
"Can't you stay?" Cynthia whimpered sadly.
"Sorry, Cynth, I can't," Rev sighed.
"Could we go visit them?" Cynthia then asked her mother.
Mrs. Brisby didn't know how to answer that; she still had minute understanding of the concept of other worlds besides the one she lived in, and she had absolutely no idea how they worked. So, she gave the best answer she could:
"Maybe. When you're a bit older."
"Well, who knows; maybe we'll come back and visit you," Rev suggested.
Rev, Mrs. Brisby, and Cynthia all shared a hug, with Cynthia giving Rev a kiss that brought a slight blush to his cheeks.
Rev went to his friends and Cynthia went to Teresa, just as Duck came up to say his good-bye. No words were exchanged, but both somehow knew what the other was trying to say. The two then embraced each other tightly, tears falling from their eyes. Mrs. Brisby felt like she was saying good-bye to one of her children for a long time, and Duck felt like he was saying good-bye to the mother he had just found. The two came out of the embrace just as Auntie Shrew called: "Brisby!"
"Ahem…I think you'd better get moving if you don't want Auntie Shrew to catch you," Mrs. Brisby told Duck. "Now, you be good," she instructed gently, giving him a good-bye kiss.
"I'll try," Duck said as he left.
"Behave yourself!" Mrs. Brisby called as a last word.
"Brisby!" Auntie Shrew called again, her voice getting louder.
"Uh, better hurry, folks; bus is leaving," Zooky reminded his friends. "And I think that shrew is almost here."
With a few more called words of parting between the Brisbys and the visitors from another place, the latter group went into the tall grass to hide their departure from this world.
"Everybody set?" Zooky asked.
When everyone nodded, Zooky hit a button on his watch, a glow enveloped them, and they disappeared from the world of the book without a visible trace.
Back with the Brisbys, Teresa had just asked her mother where their friends' home was when there was a whooshing sound and a glow of light from the tall grass. Said glow then launched up toward the sky like a rocket; up, up, up, until it disappeared from the naked eye.
The four Brisbys continued to stare up at the sky until there was a rather loud and frightened shout of "BRISBY!" that startled everyone and Auntie Shrew burst onto the scene, eyes wide with fear.
"Brisby! What on Earth was that?! Are you all right?! The children! Have the rats done anything?!" Auntie Shrew ranted.
Mrs. Brisby laughed, trying to settle herself after her scare and then tried to calm down the shrew, "Auntie Shrew, it's all right. The rats aren't here, remember; they went to Thorn Valley."
"Well, yes, yes, I do remember," Auntie Shrew thought. "Then what on this good Earth just happened a moment ago? And where are those young friends of yours?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Auntie Shrew; you just missed them," Mrs. Brisby apologized.
"They went home," Teresa added.
"Oh? I didn't see them leave," Auntie Shrew said, looking around.
Mrs. Brisby shushed her children when they were about to tell her that their friends probably left in the glowing ball that went towards the sky.
"Pity," Auntie Shrew sighed. "They weren't that bad after all…for strangers. I would have at least liked to have thanked them."
"I'm sure they know, Auntie Shrew," Mrs. Brisby said.
"Mother, where did they even come from?" Teresa queried.
"Will we ever be able to see them again?" Martin asked.
"I wanna see Revvy again," Cynthia sighed.
"What were they like, Mama?" Timothy asked, having not been able to get to know his mother's visitors since he had been ill.
"I'm more curious as to those strange things they can do; disappearing in one place and ending up in another, turning into tornadoes and whatnot," Auntie Shrew mumbled aloud. "Are you sure they weren't with those rats?"
Mrs. Brisby smiled to herself. So many questions, yet there didn't seem to be enough answers. Even her new friends couldn't tell her everything about where and when they came from. However, she knew this much: Wherever they were now, they would keep the world she and her children lived in safe from the Darkness.
The widowed field mouse looked back up at the sky, sending a silent prayer of good luck to them and thinking that she was going to have to give her children one of the most interesting and confusing bedtime stories they had ever heard.
"Hey, welcome back, adventurers!"
Ace rubbed his eyes to clear them and found himself, along with his team, Calamity, and Zooky, back in Bugs' house; the rabbit himself, who had greeted them, was sitting on the couch. Zia was coming towards them, peppering her mate and them with concerned questions. Daffy, on the other hand, was slowly standing up from behind his recliner, apparently having gone to hide behind it.
"Is everyone all right? Is anybody hurt? What happened?" Zia asked like a worried mother.
"Everyone's fine, Zee; they made it," Zooky reassured her.
"Well, we almost didn't," Lexi muttered under her breath, which was not missed by Zia or Zooky.
"How long have we been gone? It took four days to get through that," Tech asked.
Bugs glanced at the clock on the wall and replied, "It was 2:36 PM when you guys left. It is now…6:37 PM."
The Loonatics' jaws almost dropped to the floor. They did a four-day adventure in four hours?!
"Time flows differently between worlds," Zooky explained to the amazed superheroes from the future. "For instance, in the world of the Digimon, a day spent in the Digital World equals one hour outside it. When my family and I went to Narnia, then came back, no time had passed at all; even though on our first trip we had spent years there."
"Well, crazy time-sthtuff aside, at leastht I can get outta thisth jacket; I've been wearing it for a while and I really need a change of clothesth," Duck said, starting to remove his jean jacket.
"Uh,-Duck?-Maybe-ya-might-wanna-wait-" Rev tried to tell the mallard.
Too late; Duck had pulled out the arm that still had the bandage Tech had given him the night before they left, replacing the tissue one that Rev had made.
"WHOA! What happened dere?!" Bugs jumped.
"Uh…sthlight acc-th-ident," Duck replied sheepishly. "Cut mysthelf on a paperclip."
"Not just ya arm, what about yer hands?!" Bugs added, now drawing Daffy and Zia's attention to them.
'Toon physics don't work in that world, Principal Bugs,' Calamity answered. 'I couldn't even use my hammerspace.'
"Just give yourselves about a few hours tops for your bodies to readjust to the physics of Toontown and everything should be back to normal," Zooky told the group.
"Make dat a couple minutes for Calamity," Bugs said. "I wanna make sure nothin' s happened to his hammerspace to make it close up for good."
"Um, Lexi, what was that you said about…?" Zia tried to talk to the cream-colored female rabbit.
"Stho, what am I sthupposthed to do?" Duck asked.
"I'd recommend keeping the bandages on, at least until Toontown's laws kick in," Zooky told him.
Duck pouted, wondering how he was going to eat if his hands were bandaged in a way that gave him butterfingers.
"Dat must've been pretty scary, realizin' you couldn't toon in dere," Bugs said to the young, gray-furred coyote.
Calamity nodded in agreement.
"Well, we still had our powers," Ace pointed out.
"Something tells me we're gonna be in for quite a story," Zooky said.
"Lexi, what happened?" Zia asked again.
"We had some close calls," Lexi answered.
"I'll bet you did, consthidering you couldn't toon," Daffy remarked.
"But what did you mean by, 'We almost didn't make it'?" Zia insisted.
That got Bugs' and Daffy's attention.
"Wait, ya mean someone almost…?" Bugs trailed, not wanting to say the word.
"Two someones," Lexi corrected.
"I…think you guys better start at the beginning," Zooky said, looking very concerned at that.
"Yeah, uh…do we have to tell…everything?" Duck asked nervously.
Zooky thought on that a bit before answering, "If there's something personal you don't want to divulge in front of everyone else, you can meet me later and we'll talk, if you want to."
Duck sighed in quiet relief; he wanted to keep the conversation he had had with Mrs. Brisby between her and him, and them alone.
And so, for a better part of the evening, the Loonatics and Calamity told of their experiences, leaving out what they considered personal or something that they wanted to discuss in private with Zooky. The saurians, the Toon rabbit, and the Toon duck listened intently, the story leading them through a range of emotions that went from laughter, to concern, to amazement, to disgust, to fright, to relief.
After the seven of them finished, the four who had stayed behind were speechless for a moment as they digested what they were told; about Mrs. Brisby, her son's pneumonia, Jeremy, the group's initial problems with Auntie Shrew, stopping the Fitzgibbons tractor, seeing the Great Owl, their adventures in the rosebush, about meeting Nicodemus and learning about Mrs. Brisby's husband and NIMH and what happened there (which made Bugs and Daffy's fur and feathers crawl, respectively).
Zooky felt uneasy and sorry for his friends from the future at that part; coming from a world and time where testing on animals was taboo, seeing what had happened to the Rats of NIMH must have been a time- and culture-shock for the six of them.
They also thought about the parts where how the group had to tell Mrs. Brisby about where and when they came from because Nicodemus already knew who they were, the amulet Nicodemus gave Mrs. Brisby, when Mrs. Brisby, Duck and Rev volunteered to drug the farmer's cat and got caught and how Calamity went back to help them. About Jenner and his successful plot to kill Nicodemus and how they battled and defeated him. About when the Brisby home began to sink and how the Loonatics' powers became stronger with the amulet as well as their own courage of the heart.
When Calamity showed the picture he had drawn, Tech also finally came forward with more information about Shilah, his younger brother who had been killed in an auto accident years before the meteor hit Acmetropolis, which had answered a lot of questions Ace had had about the coyote.
Zooky then took the coyotes aside and Tech told him about what happened with Calamity, including the disciplinary measure he had given him, which Zooky approved. Tech also told Zooky about Duck's experiences with Angel back at the orphanage, which led Zooky to talking with Duck next.
It wasn't easy, but Duck told Zooky about her, and about the brief trip to Heaven he had.
"Oh, and she alstho sthaid that there were sthome folksth of yoursth up there who sthay 'hi'," Duck remembered.
The saurian unconsciously touched a golden, heart-shaped locket around his neck; a gift from his deceased mother, and nodded in thanks.
Then came the hard part of Ace confessing for his whole team that there was a point where they almost killed Jenner at the end of the battle with him, but they had held themselves back. Zooky admired their moral strength, but also told Ace that Justin had a point in asking what he did, even telling him about the first time a human friend of his, a young girl of twelve years, had first killed in self-defense. The girl had never harmed anything in her life, but if she hadn't pulled her sword and "accidentally" stuck it in that warg's skull, she wouldn't be alive.
"There will come a day when you and the others will have to take the step necessary to protect the people and everything you care about," Zooky forewarned the Loonatic leader. "You may feel that your morals have been compromised when you do, and it won't get any easier. Believe me, it's been hard enough on my uncle; he's carrying a family legacy that's so covered in red you could coat a couple continents. But as long as you don't lose that morality and keep a balance between it and your duty, you won't lose yourselves."
Ace nodded, promising to keep the advice in mind.
Once all that was over and done with, everyone had dinner and prepared for bed. However, not everyone got to sleep right away; some were still trying to process what they were told, some thinking about what they went through and some were still finding the disturbing imagery of what happened to the rats in their minds.
Tech, however, was thinking about Shilah, now that he had brought information of his deceased younger brother into the open. Until now, the only ones who had known were Calamity-when they first met and got to know him-and then Rev and Zooky-when Rev had had that horror-movie nightmare of his last Halloween. He felt a twinge of homesickness and shame in his heart; he hadn't been to visit Shilah's grave ever since him and the other Loonatics were brought back through time. He had promised that once a year, on the anniversary of the accident, he would visit Shilah's grave in the Acmetropolis desert. When the meteor hit and he joined the Loonatics, he had been unable to until after the Acmegeddon incident. Now there was no way for him to keep his promise until this business with the Darkness was over.
His train of thought was cut off when he felt Calamity trying to snuggle closer to him; must have sensed his thoughts. Smiling gently, Tech held the young coyote closer, and in the process happened to glance at the sketch of Shilah on the wall that Calamity had made before they left the book. In the limited light, it seemed that Shilah was giving his older brother a look of comforting approval. Tech smiled back as he closed his eyes.
Ace was another who didn't get to sleep right away, unable to stop thinking of the possibility of having there be a moment in a battle where him or one of his other teammates would have to resort to ending a life. It was inevitable, sure, but there would be soul-crushing consequences: He himself would find a way to deal with it; he had to-he was the leader. Slam was a fighter, but even he would feel terrible at having to do something that drastic. Tech would likely bottle it up in front of everyone except those closest to him. Duck would likely try to brush it off, or he would have a breakdown; Duck was unpredictable. It would take some comforting for Lexi to get through. But Rev…oh, boy. That was going to be difficult.
Not only was Rev the youngest out of them, he was the one who gave the team morale and had a positive outlook on people, which he maintained in spite of everything that had happened to him thus far. What would happen to that bubbly, bright personality of his once he got blood on his hands?
Ace groaned as he tossed and turned in bed. He was not going to get to get a peaceful sleep anytime soon.
Being the leader is never easy. Well, the Loonatics and Calamity have said their goodbyes to Mrs. Brisby and are now back home safe and sound, but not without a few surprises and quite a story to tell.
I think you can tell that this adventure has left quite a mark on the Loonatics as well as possibly opened the door to another source of power for them to tap into when the chips are down. Hopefully it will help them in keeping their powers in check.
Oh, one other thing that I forgot; this also takes place after two other LU crossovers that I have in the development closet. The first one is one where I crossed over "Loonatics Unleashed" with the Halloween movie "Phantasm", with Rev in the Mike Pearson role. Basically what happened was it was Halloween and I was on a "Loonatics Unleashed" kick when I watched the film on my own; I think it was also where the idea for Tech's younger brother Shilah materialized. It also ties in with an "in-between seasons" story that I have for my two-people-in-"Loonatics Unleashed" crossover that's still in the development closet. The second LU crossover is with the series "Captain Planet", and considering some of the stuff that happened in that series, as well as what the fact that near the end of the fight in the story's climax the Loonatics almost used their powers to kill Jenner, I don't think it's a surprise that Ace is more concerned about his team—Rev especially—now more than ever.
I also make a mention to another crossover I have in the development closet that has the Godzilla family, Vicky, and the Calico crew transported to the world of Middle-Earth (which is where Zooky got that scar on his upper left arm). As to the identity of the girl Zooky talks about…um…I think I may have already given the answer (oops!) but try to guess, anyway.
Yeah, I think it's clear that I've got one-too-many ideas banging around in my brain *chuckle*. Hopefully as I continue to work on my fanfics and eventually put them up, certain things will become clearer. I think it's also painfully obvious that a certain someone seems to be going through a lot more scary stuff than the others…just like with Zooky, I love that speedy bird, really! I do! I'm even a big fan of his voice actor! But I guess the more innocent the character, the more we writers are prone to put them through a lot. And I do mean A LOT.
OK, getting off of that and on to the questions:
Would you agree with Tech's theory that the power of the amulet may have accelerated Timmy's healing process and would you have the same reaction Ace did when he translated it for Teresa?
What would you be doing before and when Jeremy arrives on the scene?
If you had arrived with Zooky, what would you be saying when the Loonatics and Calamity tell the both of you that basically everyone they've encountered knows they're from another world?
What would your reaction be to when the girl crow comes flying in; would you panic like Duck or laugh like the others?
How about the perplexed looks from Duck and Rev and Tech's tease (as well as the two avians' reactions)?
What would you be doing when Jeremy trips over Rev, Tech, and Cynthia, landing back in the bushes? Or, if you were with those three when and after Jeremy tripped over you guys, what would you be thinking?
What would your reaction be to hearing Auntie Shrew approaching, as well as the reactions from Duck, Tech, Rev, and Calamity and how Ace is acting?
What would your goodbye to Mrs. Brisby be?
When the Zooky brings the adventure group back home, how would you react to the time difference between the world in the book and the world of Toontown?
If you were listening to the Loonatics and Calamity tell of their adventure, what would be the range of your reactions?
What would you say if you were the one having the private conversations with Tech and Calamity, Duck, and Ace?
After reading Ace's thoughts in the last couple of paragraphs, what are your thoughts?
And there we go. But hold on, we're not done yet; there's one last chapter to read, and then it's on to the Cast List and additional questions.
Until then, please read and review. Thank you.
