Bonjour, mes amies...OK, that's pretty much all the French I know...man I gotta learn more languages!

FairyTales And Pixie Dust: Aww, thanks, I'm glad you like Basil and Danielle as a couple, I like them too.

Sorceress of the Nile: Yeah, it was totes mushy, but I am a mushy person, so there you go. Poor Livy, she really IS a trouble magnet! Don't worry, I won't let her get hurt.

Here we have the big climatic showdown between our heroes and the dastardly Wallace. What's going to happen? Gotta read to see!

Wallace ran away from the church, carrying Olivia under his arm. However, the little girl was putting up quite a fight. "Let go of me, you big dumb bully! When Basil and Danielle get a hold of you, you're going to be in BIG trouble!"

"Oh shut up, you little brat!" Wallace snapped at her. Then, he saw Basil and Danielle following them. "So they decided to follow...BIG mistake!" He ran off to a sewer opening and jumped down.

"He's getting away!" Danielle cried out. "Come on!" Once they reached the opening, both mice jumped into the sewer. Danielle landed on her feet like a cat, but Basil fell to the ground with a thud. "OW! Oh God, I think I twisted my ankle!"

Wallace and Olivia were nowhere in sight. Suddenly, there was an evil laugh coming from deep within a nearby pipe. "You two shouldn't have followed me! Now the girl is going to die!"

"It's coming from over there!" Danielle noted. "Come on!"

"You go on ahead, Danielle," Basil told her.

"But I can't leave you here..."

"Listen to me, Danielle," Basil interrupted her. "I really hurt my ankle on the landing. I can't run as fast as you. Besides, you know the sewers better than do I, you can get to Olivia faster and get her out of Wallace's clutches! I'll catch up to you as soon as I can."

Danielle frowned. "You're right." With that, she ran after Wallace as fast as her legs could carry her. As she ran, the edge of her skirt got snagged in an open pipe. "Oh come on, let go!" She pulled hard and freed herself, ripping part of the skirt off. Then, she continued running. As she ran, her shoes fell off and various bits of clothes were torn off until finally, when she reached Wallace, she was wearing just the shredded remains of the dress. She leapt onto Wallace and knocked him down, making him drop Olivia.

Olivia blinked and watched in horror as she saw Danielle mercilessly beating up Wallace. After a bit, Basil limped over to where they were and gaped at what he saw. He held onto Olivia and turned away from the fight. It was too brutal. It brough back memories of the night on top of Big Ben, when Ratigan was mauling him near death.

Danielle continued to punch and kick Wallace. She was about to finish him off when she glanced over at a nearby puddle. She gasped at what she saw. Her clothes were torn, her hair was messy, her eyes were wild. She looked like a raving lunatic. No, worse...she looked like her father had on the day she saw his body. She squeaked and shrank back away from the battered Wallace, breathing heavily. "What...what have I done? No, I won't do this. I won't end up this way." She buried her face in her hands and wept.

Basil saw that she had stopped beating Wallace and was crying. He limped over to her and knelt beside her, wrapping his arms around her. Olivia quickly joined him in hugging the distraught girl. "Shh, there there, Danielle. It's all right, we've got you now, everything's going to be fine," Basil whispered to his love as she sobbed into his chest.

"Not quite." The three mice looked up in horror as Wallace was standing before them, pointing a gun at them all. "Say goodbye, monster woman." Thinking quickly, Basil pushed Danielle and Olivia away...and got shot in the shoulder in the process.

"BASIL!" Danielle screamed. She glared furiously at Wallace and got up, stomping over towards him. Panicking, Wallace tried to shoot her, but his gun wouldn't go off. "Confound this wretched thing!" He threw the gun aside...only to have it go off then and shoot him in the head. Danielle shrieked as she watched the villain's limp body fall to the ground.

For a long time, Danielle just stood there, staring at her dead enemy, absorbing everything that had just happened. Then, she heard Olivia cry out "Danielle!" She turned to see the little girl sitting next to Basil, who was lying on the ground, grasping his injured shoulder. She ran over to them and knelt down next to the hurt detective.

Basil moaned as he looked up at Danielle. "Are...are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Wallace accidentally shot himself. He's gone." Danielle hugged Olivia. "He'll never do anything to hurt any of us ever again."

Basil smiled. "That's excellent news. That most certainly is...excellent...news." He passed out from the horrific pain in his shoulder.

"Oh no." Danielle frantically shook Basil. "Basil, no! Stay with me! Dammit, stay with me!"

Just then, she heard a voice call from above ground. "Basil! Danielle! Olivia! Where are you?"

Danielle smiled a little. "Dr. Dawson! We're down here in the sewers!"

"In the sewers?" She heard climbing down a pipe, then saw Dawson and Mrs. Judson run to where they were. The first thing they saw was Wallace's body and Danielle in a torn wedding dress.

"Good Lord, child, you're a mess!" Mrs. Judson commented. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, but please, we have to help Basil, he's been shot!"

"SHOT?!" Dawson ran to Basil. "Basil! Basil, can you hear me?" He felt the detective's wrist. "He's still alive. Quickly, we've got to get him to the hospital!"

Danielle nodded and carefully picked up her hero and held him in her arms. "Hold on, Basil, we're going to save you." The group of mice then ran off to the nearest sewer opening, on their way to the hospital.

Later that day, in the hospital, Basil was now awake and talking with the doctor who had treated him. His right arm was completely bandaged. Dawson, Olivia and Mrs. Judson were all waiting with him.

"Well, Mr. Benson, I'd say you're a very lucky fellow," the doctor told the detective. "Had that bullet hit your chest or your stomach, you'd be dead right now. But seeing as it only hit your shoulder, you're going to be just fine. You just won't be able to use your right arm for a while, and stay off your twisted ankle."

"Oh, that should be all right, Doctor," Basil sighed. "It's a good thing I'm ambidextrous, though." That got everyone laughing.

Then, Olivia noticed something. "Hey, where's Danielle?" The others looked around.

"She was just here a minute ago," Mrs. Judson spoke up.

Meanwhile, outside Basil's room, Danielle was sitting curled up in a ball on the floor. She was still in the torn wedding dress, but Mrs. Judson had combed her hair so that it was neat. She was still having some trouble digesting just everything that had gone on in the past day.

"There you are!" she heard Olivia greet her as she stepped outside. "Basil is awake now. He wants to see you." Then, she saw the distressed look on her sister's face. "What's wrong?"

"This is all my fault," Danielle said weakly.

"What is?"

"ALL of it!" Danielle exploded. "Your father's death, Wallace's death, Basil being injured...it all happened because of me! It would have been better if I had never met any of you." She turned away from the little girl.

"No it wouldn't have," Olivia argued. She moved so that she was looking at Danielle's face again. "And none of this is your fault. My daddy died saving ME, and Basil got hurt trying to protect us. And I doubt anyone's going to miss Wallace." She laughed, making Danielle smile a bit. "And if you had never met us, I never would have gotten the nicest, smartest, bestest big sister in the whole world." She hugged Danielle.

Danielle sighed. "What's worse is, Wallace was right when he called me a monster woman back there. I WAS a monster. I turned into a horrible beast. I must have scared you and Basil half to death. I'm just like my father was." She crossed her arms sadly and leaned over so that her forehead was resting on her knees.

"No, not really," Olivia replied. Danielle glanced up at the little girl. "Your father and you both turned into crazy monsters, that's true, but they were for totally different reasons. HE became a monster just to hurt Basil, but YOU became a monster to save me and to stop Wallace from hurting me."

Danielle nodded. "I WAS thinking pretty much of you when I was attacking Wallace. I wanted to make him hurt for everything he'd done to you and your family." She hugged the little girl. "Oh, Olivia, I love you so much."

"I love you, too, Danielle," Olivia responded. "You're my big sister and my best friend."

Just then, Dawson came out. "Oh, there you girls are. Come in, Basil wants to see Danielle." The two girls looked at each other and went in together. Basil smiled when he saw Danielle. "Could you all please excuse us? I'd like to talk to Miss Ratigan alone for a minute."

"Of course. I have other patients to tend to, anyway." The doctor left the room, followed quickly by the other mice. Danielle went up to the bedridden detective. "Basil, I can never thank you enough for saving me..."

"No, Danielle, YOU saved ME," Basil interrupted her. "You saved me from spending the rest of my life without love. You helped me see that I could soften my heart to others without fear of being hurt again." He took her hand in his. "And for that, I can never thank you enough."

Danielle sat next to him. "Oh Basil, why did you take a bullet for me?"

"I already lost ONE woman that I loved," Basil responded. "I wasn't about to lose another."

The young girl smiled as she stroked Basil's face. "Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed that a handsome prince would come to find me and save me from my loneliness. I never once imagined that my handsome prince would be in the form of a detective."

Basil coughed, then smiled up at Danielle. "Danielle, my love, if it's all right with you, I'd like to ask you something..."

Danielle squealed. "Oh, yes, Basil, yes. I WILL marry you!"

Basil frowned. "Actually, I was just going to ask if you would fetch me a glass of water. My throat's rather dry." He saw her face fall, then grinned. "But since you've brought up the subject of marriage..."

Danielle beamed as she hugged Basil, being careful as to not crush his injured arm. Then, she peered into his eyes as he peered into hers, and they kissed passionately, both of them knowing that this would be the start of a wonderful life together.

FINALLY! That bastard Wallace is DEAD! Hallelujah!

Poor Basil has absolutely no luck with climatic battles, does he? First Ratigan kicks the everliving snot out of him, and now he twists his ankle AND gets shot in the shoulder...I love ya, Bas, but you gotta learn better fighting tactics, dude!

Stay tuned for the final chapter of the story, coming soon!

All my best, DiscordantPrincess.