1907
Jeremy stopped as a cry came to his ears. He looked around to the desert-looking sidewalk: there was no one in sight. He shrugged: maybe it had been just his imagination...
"No, please! DON'T!"
...or maybe not. A woman's terrified voice came from behind the corner of the street, followed by a frightening laughter. Jeremy's eyes perked up. That laughter...that couldn't be a mouse's laughter. It was too deep, too thunderous.
His suspiciones were confirmed as a familiar scent came to his nostrils.
No, that was definitely not a mouse.
"Please, don't!" the woman was crying "please, don't hurt me! I have children! Let me go!"
A low growl escaped from Jeremy's troath as he ran towards the place where the voices were coming from.
"ENOUGH!" he shouted.
"What the heck..." a large rat with dark brown fur had cornered a woman, who was crying with her hand covering her face. The rat blinked as he saw Jeremy, then he seemed to relax as he recognized him as one of his kind. "Your timing couldn't be more perfect, mate" he said, baring his fangs "I was just gonna have dinner...I haven't eaten fresh meat since a very long time. Wanna join? There's enough for both of us..."
The rat licked his lips, looking towards the woman. Her eyes flashed to Jeremy, then she began to cry louder. She couldn't be older than twenty. "Please, sir..." she begged "please..."
The rat growled. "Look, look, now I'm a 'sir', am I? No longer a piece of scum, hmm?" he looked towards Jeremy "you can have a leg if ya want. I'll take the shoulders, I like chewing 'em...by the way, my name's Glenn, pal."
"I'm Jeremy. And I'm not your pal" Jeremy said quietly, a disgusted look on his face "let her go."
"What?" the rat looked at him, an astonished look on his ugly snout "are ya kiddin' or what?"
"Let her go. Now." Jeremy's voice was steady and commanding.
Glenn snarled at him. "Now, now" he said "I know what you're plannin' to do...steal my kill, ya want. Well, forget it – this is my kill!"
Jeremy snarled back, baring his sharp teeth. "Now you'll apologize to her" he said "then you'll let her go home...and maybe I'll let you live. Otherwise, you could become my kill."
The woman looked at him, seeming even more astonished than her captor.
"You..." the rat was boiling with rage. He took a step towards him, standing on all fours "you're protecting her...you're protecting a mouse! You're betraying your own kind!"
"Step back and let her go" Jeremy repeated with a growl. He tensed his muscles and put himself on all fours as well, getting ready for the fight.
Glenn took another a step towards him, obliviuos of his kill, his eyes fixed on Jeremy. The woman took advantage of his distraction and ran away, but he didn't seem to care about her anymore. "Ya traitor!" he spat "what do ya think? Do ya think that if ya pretend to be one of 'em, they'll welcome ya among 'em? Ya fool! Mark my words, boy: they'll never accept us!"
No wonder why, Jeremy tought sarcastically.
"I'm not like you" Jeremy growled, lashing his tail as they began circling each other. He was not afraid: gone was the fearful, quivering little boy he had once been. He had died ten years before, the night of the Diamond Jubilee.
"No, you're not like me" the other rat growled, getting ready to strike "you're my next dinner, boy...dead meat!"
He suddenly leapt forward, his claws ready to strike. Jeremy grinned to himself. He was slow. Too slow.
He leapt backwards just in time as the rat landed on the spot where he had been moments ago, then he leapt upon him and buried his claws into his shoulders's flesh, using his weigh to pin him on the ground. Glenn screamed in pain and struggled to get himself free, just succeeding to tear his own flesh even more.
"Dead meat, am I?" Jeremy growled, then he buried his teeth into his enemy's back. He gave another scream, then he fell on the ground, where he stayed unmoving.
"Tell me, pal" Jeremy said in a much calmer tone, standing on his hind legs again and looking down to him "who's the kill, now?"
"What..." the rat tried to stand up, but he couldn't move anything "what have ya done to me?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. I just bite a certain muscle on your back. You'll be paralyzed for a few minutes, then you'll be alrigh...exept for your bruised ego, of course."
The rat seemed surprised. "You're not going to kill me?"
"I'm not a murderer" Jeremy said dryly, cleaning up his blood-stained muzzle with a hankerchief and walking away "remember that."
The rat gave him an astonished glare. "What...what kind of rat are ya?"
Jeremy grinned at him. "I'm one of a kind" he said as he vanished into the growing shadows of the evening.
1919
"You shouldn't have told him your name" Howard said "you would have avoided a bunch of troubles."
Jeremy sighed. "Yes, but at the time I couldn't know..."
"A hudge bunch of troubles, I should add" Howard cut him off, grinning "you made a big mess, dad..."
His father gave him an annyed look. "No need to rub it in, you know."
"Oooo-kaay..." Howard said, then he shifted into a more comfortable position on his father's knees "so, dad, that's when Scarred Jack shows up, isn't it?"
"Not exactly. I had already met him when I was barely seven years old..."
"Then tell me!" the boy exclaimed "please, please, please..."
"Howard?" Jeremy said quietly, rubbing his temples.
"What?"
"I'm not going to tell you anything if you don't keep that stupid mouth of yours shut."
"...okay..."
1896
The little boy couldn't recall how long he had kept running blindly through the dark maze of the underworld. He couldn't even think clearly: his young mind was blurred with fear and confusion.
I must go away from here. If I stay, I'll be eaten from his cat sooner or later. Just like that mouse. The bell. He rang the bell. And when the bell rings, the cat eats.
I had never seen anyone die before.
I don't want to be the next one.
Jeremy stopped running, his legs shaking, and looked around. He hadn't the slightest notion of where he was: he had lost his way. Well, he had never had a way.
"I'm lost" he whispered to himself. Jeremy swallowed and sat down in a corner, exausted. He shut his eyes and curled up into himself, trying to make himself as small as possible, and chocked back a sob. How much time had passed since his escape? Had Ratigan already found out he had fled from the lair? Was he already looking for him, ready to ring his bell to punish him for his escape? What was he supposed to do now?
"Look, look" a husky voice came from the darkness "looks like somebody lost his way..."
Jeremy shuddere and opened his eyes to see a blood-red eye staring at him. "I...I..." he stuttered, getting on his feet and taking a step back.
"Oh, don't be afraid little one" the voice said as its owner came closer "don't run away, it would be useless..."
Jeremy could see him more clearly now. He was a rat, as large as his father was. He had jet black fur and slightly graying hair. On the left side of his face ran three parallel pink scars, one of wich had caught his eye, who was tightly shut. His other eye was as red as blood, and the madness that burned in that eye made Jeremy tremble.
"Now, little one" he said, staring at him with his blood-red eye "what's your name?"
"I..." Jeremy exitated, then he decided to tell him the truth: maybe, being Ratigan's son could protect him from that frightening rat "my name's Jeremy Ratigan."
A deep growl came from the rat as he heard his surname. "Ratigan? Did you just say Ratigan?" he asked, moving darkly towards him.
The little boy swallowed hard, realizind he had made a bad mistake. He took a step back.
"So, it's you" the rat was staring at him with a rage Jeremy had never seen before "I've heard about you. You're his son...you're the son of the traitor. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT ESCAPING, BOY!" he barked as Jeremy took another step back. The little boy froze, and the rat grinned.
"Very well" he said huskily "you know, little one...I once happened to have some arguments that traitor of your father. You can see my face, don't you, young boy? HE did this to me!" he barked out the last words, causind Jeremy to wince.
"Please, sir" he said shakily "I didn't...I didn't do anything!"
"No, you didn't" he grinned "but your father did. And you know how it works: Sins of the Father..."
"Enough, Jack" a commanding voice came from behind them "get away from my son before I give you another scar to match the ones you already have on your face".
Both Jeremy and Scarred Jack turned to see Professor Ratigan standing a few feet from them, his arms folded.
The rat growled at him, forgetting about Jeremy. "James..."
The momentary distraction was all that Jeremy needed: in a blink of eye, he had run away from the red eyed rat and beside his father.
"Father, I..." he began to say, but Ratigan cut him off.
"I'll deal with you later" he said sharply, then he looked back to Scarred Jack "very well, Jack...it has been a long time since the last time we met, hasn't it?"
"Damn you, you traitor!" the other rat barked "I should have ripped you life away from you when I had the chance!"
Ratigan chuckled. "Temper, old boy. Temper" he said "first of all, you never had a chance to kill me...I did. I could have easily killed you during our last figh, the one who costed you your eye, but as you can see I let you live. You should be grateful to me for that, you know."
"Grateful to you!" Scarred Jack spat "never! How could I be grateful to somebody who disowned his own kind?"
"Oh, I never had to disown any kind, you know...I can safely say I'm one of a kind."
"You just disgust me, James!"
"I assure you the feeling is mutual" Ratigan said quietly "now, if you don't have anything else to say, I warmly suggest you to leave...before I decide to take your life as I should have done many years ago, of course" he said, pulling out his bell from his pocket.
Scarred Jack gave him a furious look, then he finally stepped back into the darkness.
"Mark my words, James" his voice came from the distance "you're not invincible! You will fall, someday...and then I'll be there to enjoy you downfall!"
As his laugher faded in the dephts of the sewers, Ratigan turned his gaze to his son.
"Now" he said, trying to not snap "would you please explain me what were you trying to do?"
He still had the bell in his hand, and Jeremy began to tremble.
"I'm sorry, sir, I was afraid...I..." he swallowed "please, don't ring the bell..." he begged pityfully.
"The bell?" Ratigan looked at the bell in his hand as if he didn't know how it had come to be there, then he began to laugh "of course, now I do understand...you saw me ring the bell, you saw Felicia eating that idiot...you had never seen anyone die before. You were afraid, and then you fled."
Jeremy nodded, relieved to see that Ratigan didn't seem upset for his escape anymore. "Yes, sir."
"Hmm" Ratigan stared at him for a moment, then he sighed and put his bell back into his pocket "alright, young boy. Let's go home" he said, walking away. The little boy quickly followed him.
"Father?" he dared to call after a few minutes.
"What?"
"Who was that guy? Why did he hate you so much?"
"It's a long story, Jeremy. Just let it go" he stayed silent for a moment, then: "don't dare to leave the lair again without telling me, Jeremy. He almost killed you today."
Jeremy swallowed. "I'll never leave the lair again" he promised.
There were a few minutes of silence before Ratigan spoke.
"I won't be here forever, Jeremy."
The boy gave him a confused look. "Uh?"
Ratigan stopped walking and glared down at him. "I cannot protect you forever, boy. You must learn to take care of yourself, sooner or later."
Jeremy lowered his eyes. "I'm afraid that's not my place, sir" he said with a small voice.
"I know" Ratigan turned his gaze away from him and spoke almost to himself "but sometimes you happen to be stuck inside a world you don't belong...a world you hate. And you cannot just run away, because something will always come back to hunt you...and you'll have to face it. Remember that, Jeremy."
The little boy nodded. "I will, sir."