"What do you want from us?" Brittany screamed.

Klaus puffed on his cigarillo.

"Your lives."

Theodore whimpered; Eleanor tried to reach him through the bars of her cage, but her friend was simply too far away.

"You…you're going to kill us?" Brittany slumped against the wall.

"Eventually, but first I'm going to enjoy watching you suffer."

"But…why?"

Klaus' face twisted in anger.

"Why?" He clenched his fists. "I'll tell you why! Because of your childish shenanigans, I was left to rot in prison while you continued to live your cushy, sheltered little existence!"

Klaus regained his composure.

"I won't let you get away with that."

"It wasn't our faults! You were the one who put us in danger…sending us around the world to drop off your stupid diamonds!" Brittany kicked at the bars of her cage.

Klaus chuckled.

"Oh, you're going to put on a show for me! Please, continue!"

The gargantuan henchman who stood near the heavy, metal doors to the chipmunks' prison erupted with laughter.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Klaus shook his head. "These gentlemen are Fernando and Miguel; they generously offered their services to me in gratitude for my releasing them from their confinement."

"A prison break." Simon grimaced.

"You could call it that, yes. Now, forgive me, I have other business to attend to. Don't worry-I'll be back. I look forward to your next performance!"

Fernando and Miguel held the double doors for their master; once he was through, they slammed them shut behind him.

After a short silence, Brittany looked to Alvin.

"What the hell is going on?"

"I…I'm sorry, Brittany…he made me do it."

"He made you do what?" Simon scowled.

"Write the notes. He…he used some sort of poison on me; it made me obey him!"

"Yeah, right," Brittany turned her head away.

"No," Simon rubbed his forehead. "Don't disregard Alvin's explanation so quickly, Brittany. Alvin, I want you to explain to me exactly what happened."

"I don't remember everything."

"What do you remember?"

"Well, he stabbed a needle into my arm. It was filled with some sort of black stuff. Then everything sort of went dark-I guess I passed out or something. When I woke up, my body did everything Klaus told it to…I had no control over my own body."

"I believe you, Alvin," the blue-clad chipmunk said simply.

Brittany screeched angrily.

"None of this matters now! We need to get out of here!"

"You think so, Brittany? That hadn't occurred to me!" Simon snapped.

"Bickering will get us nowhere!" Jeanette said quickly, hoping to avoid an argument. "Now, listen. Klaus has one, very significant weakness: he's careless! He's a maniac. He makes decisions on impulse. Why else would he kidnap six celebrities in broad daylight, and from their favorite hangout, no less?"

Simon nodded pensively.

"It would be foolish of us not to take advantage of that weakness."

"Oh, that thought hadn't occurred to me!" said Brittany mockingly.

"You know, Klaus probably has this room bugged," Eleanor frowned, looking up at the ceiling.

"He probably has cameras hidden in here, too," added Jeanette.

"You two seem to have forgotten that he also has two enormous guards standing at the door!" Brittany gestured towards Miguel and Fernando. "Do you think they can't hear us?"

"Then we're sunk," said a dispirited Alvin, plucking at his shoelaces.

After a short silence, Simon put his hand to his forehead.

"Maybe not."

"What do you mean?" Brittany frowned.

Simon looked at Jeanette.

"Well, Jean and I developed a code to use when discussing our projects."

"Yes of course!" Jeanette grinned.

Alvin, Brittany, Eleanor and Theodore listened in awe as the two smartest chipmunks said string after string of numbers.

Finally, Simon spoke in English,

"We have a plan."