11 – The Rat's Trap

Hey there people, here's ChainSaw again. First off all, sorry hardrocker21, for not using the "Toxic Bird Bath" suggestion, it was cool, but I just didn't figure out how to make it work. But I hope you all still like it. Enjoy!

˝Don't think, that your reverse psychology is going to work on me, we both know who's work this all is?˝

˝We do?˝

˝Yes we do, Hans.˝

˝*Chuckle* wrong again Skipper, now if you would please continue, I want to see what you're going to do with your next victim.˝

Skipper growled, slightly, but then continued making his way down the hall. While walking, more questions came to his mind, 'If it's not Hans, then who is it? Who has the motive, knowledge and resources to create all this?' The next door came into view around the corner.

"A RAT IS A RAT", said the message in red this time, ˝What is this stuff anyway?˝ Skipper asked, pulling his flipper across it, smearing the letters.

˝Oh, that? Don't worry, it's just human blood, no animal had to suffer obtaining it.˝

Skipper rolled his eyes, ˝Now that's a relief,˝ he replied in a sarcastic tone.

˝Now back to the trap, behind this door, is an adversary of yours with which you have shared many battles. He was given his own trap and has been trying to break free for the past hour. He's tired and in pain, but you know already how that looks like. You can easily save him, but remember what the door said and this one as well "A tiger can't change its stripes". Good luck!˝

Skipper immediately pulled the door back and entered, 'One hour of torture, no one deserves that… well maybe… NO! No one!' he quickly spotted a chair in the middle of the room. Its back was facing him, so he couldn't see who it was at first, but as he circled it, he saw the bulked up rodent put in his place, ˝Rat king!˝ he said with an angry tone in his voice.

Fighting for his life, the mutant was exhausted, and was resting his head between his legs, but when he heard the penguin, he slowly began lifting it. Skipper observed his body, there were some bloody dots on his back and shoulders and larger circular wounds here and there. There were also some bones already showing.

He gulped and imagining what it's like, seeing your own bones exposed, sent shivers up his spine. Skipper's eyes then went over to the rat's hands; they were tied down and each had a wide gash on its forearm, probably caused by a weapon of some sort, but seeing as they were tied, Skipper couldn't imagine, where those wounds came from.

But everything was clarified when the rodent fully raised himself and the bird's eyes widened, when he saw an axe head in the "king's" mouth. It was held in place by a helmet-like contraption, but the back of the head was still supported against the rat's teeth. Two dried streams of blood ran down the edges of his mouth and the look he gave Skipper, just made the penguin feel compassion.

˝Don't worry… I'll get you out of there,˝ he said and slowly approached the chair. He looked it over, to see if there were any hidden mechanisms or booby traps, but all he saw were two ropes, going through a system of pulleys, and ending up above the rat, ˝Knowing this guy, I guess I shouldn't spill that.˝ The rat king nodded, unable to speak with the axe head in his mouth.

˝Don't worry I'll figure something out.˝

One hour earlier

The rat king woke up in that very chair; he felt the taste of metal in his mouth and noticed that he couldn't move his jaws. He tried grabbing his snout, but that proved impossible and instead, he received a burning pain on his back. A television on his left turned on and he looked at it. Billy the penguin appeared and slowly turned towards the camera.

˝Hello Ratimir. I want to play a game. Your entire childhood, you had been weak. You were picked on by bullies and ignored by the rest. But one day, you decided to risk it all in an attempt to become stronger. You were lucky and survived. But blessed with your newfound power, you chose the path of revenge. You quickly took out everyone, who ever did you wrong and climbed to the top, where you crowned yourself king.˝

'What the fuck is this, the story of my life? Why doesn't this guy tell me where the fuck I am instead?' thought the huge rat.

˝Do you remember the feeling of being weak?… No? Then let me help you. On your head is a specially designed pair of braces that hold the axe head in your mouth in place. Tied around your forearms are ropes, which are connected to a container of sulfuric acid suspended on hinges above you. It's carefully balanced so when the rope breaks, it will empty itself on you. At the moment, your forearms serve as the wedges holding the rope and with the axe in your mouth, you can make sure the stay there. The exit is right there,˝ a light turned on, illuminating a door (different than the one Skipper came through later), ˝Good luck˝

The screen went blank and the rat continued staring at the TV. 'Fuck this!' he thought and began tugging on the ropes, this caused the container to shake violently and, being filled to the edge, drops of the corrosive liquid began falling on the rodent. Each drop made him let out a grunt of pain. The stench of burned flesh and rotten eggs filled the air.

He stopped, knowing what the scent was, he wished he could close his nostrils, but tried to ignore it. His back was extremely painful, but he had no choice but to endure it. The mutant looked at his hands, could he really just leave them behind like they're nothing? He closed his eyes and made three deep breaths. He leaned back as far as he could. And then, he did it.

He brought the blunt blade down on his forearm with all his power, which, in that position, wasn't much, and then let out a muffled scream as his back teeth shattered under the force. He did manage to break the skin, leaving a gash, but the vibrations caused a large amount of acid to come splashing down on him. For the first time in his life, since his mutation, he began crying as a warm liquid ran down the sides of his mouth.

Present time

The mechanism was pretty simple actually, Skipper held one end of the rope and untied the rat's arm, and then the "king" untied his other hand, but without warning, the rodent let go and jumped out of the way. Skipper looked up and saw the clear fluid falling towards him. He jumped out of the way and rolled on the ground. The splash still caused some drops to hit him, but with his thick coat of feathers, it didn't teach his skin.

He searched the room and found the rat king, who just broke of his braces, and then spit a combination of broken teeth, saliva and blood on the floor. He wiped his mouth and then grinned at Skipper, ˝Thanks for the help.˝

˝You're welcome,˝ Skipper replied, shooting an angry glare.

They stood there, looking at each other, until the mutant finally made his move, he hurled the axe head at Skipper, which he easily avoided and then watched the rodent run towards a door, ˝Hasta la vista!˝ he said and opened the metal door.

I almost forgot how much fun writing this thing is. Hope you liked it, review!