The best made plans

Alvin slowly opened his eyes and allowed them to adjust. He was in a dark room with the only source of light being a dangling blub above him. He tried to move but found he could not. He looked down at himself to see that his arms and legs had been bound to a table. His right arm was no longer in the make shift sling and was securely tied to the table like the rest of his limbs. As he tried to squirm again, he pulled to hard on his right arm and pain surged through, causing him to writhe in agony.

"I see you are finally awake" said a familiar voice from somewhere in the darkness. Moments later a large man stepped out of the darkness followed by two other figures. Alvin couldn't believe who they were, Klaus and Claudia, the two diamond smugglers who had tricked them and got them all into this crazy mess. As they had trudged through the jungle, the Chipettes had explained the whole situation to him and his brothers, and they were outraged.

"You certainly are a heavy sleeper" Klaus mocked in his German accent making his way to the side of the table. Claudia and the other man walked to the opposite side.

"You… you are the reason we are all stuck in some jungle!" Alvin growled, although he discovered he was still very weak from last night's actions. Klaus and Claudia looked at each other for a moment curiously then returned their gaze to the angry chipmunk in front of them.

"You were going so well with your race; until you decided to steal the diamonds and money for yourself you little rat!" Claudia growled making a fist and shaking it in front of Alvin.

"Steal your diamonds? The chipmunks and I only learned about the diamonds after we crash landed in this jungle. The Chipettes discovered while they were returning a penguin to Antarctica and some goons attacked them" Alvin said, realizing that Klaus and Claudia really had no idea what was going on.

"Returning a penguin to Antarctica! How stupid do you take us for!" Claudia screamed and slapped Alvin across the face, causing him to wince, but he made no sound and he refused to look away.

"Yes, returning a penguin to Africa, after they were captured by an Arabian prince that Brittany almost had to marry. And as for us Chipmunks, we were just taking a short cut through the jungle here when we were attacked by a group of natives and were nearly sacrificed. The Chipettes saved us but their balloon crashed and we have been stuck in this jungle since!" Alvin shouted back, trying to get through to the still disbelieving criminals.

"Enough lies! If you won't tell us what you have done with the diamonds and our money, then we will force it out of you!" Claudia screamed. She and Klaus turned and stalked out of the room. The man standing over Alvin smirked.

"Now we get to have some fun!" he laughed before reaching down under the table and pulling out a metal baseball bat. Alvin looked at it and panicked but he tried not to show it on his face.

"Now you might feel a little sting!" the man smirked, and with that he swung the metal bat down with mighty force.

Simon slowly came to. He was lying in some sort of concrete cell. The cell was large, and instead of being square shaped, the room was circular. In front of Simon was a large metal door, but there was no handle, meaning it could only be opened from the outside. Suddenly a voice rang through the cell from hidden speakers in the walls.

"Why hello Simon, long time no see" Claudia said evilly over the com. Simon was shocked to hear her voice. Ever since the discovery of their plot, Simon had been contemplating a way to get back at them.

"Currently we only have the three of you. Soon to be two of you" She laughed into the speakers. Simon knew what she meant, but who she meant was another question.

"If you hurt my brother or Brittany!" he shouted, not aiming his voice in any particular direction.

"You'll what? You're stuck in there and they're out here with us. In fact why don't I prove it" she laughed before hitting a button on the control panel in front of her. There was a low rumbling noise and a rectangular section of the wall started to rise up revealing a hidden room covered by glass. Klaus and Claudia sat behind the glass laughing, but it was not them that had Simon's attention. Klaus was holding Brittany by the back of her neck. She was unconscious and blood was trickling from her nose.

"What did you do to her!" he shouted and rushed towards the glass. He smacked into it with his fist. Immense pain gushed up his hand but he ignored it as he stepped back. Claudia laughed even harder at the effort before speaking again.

"That glass is as thick as the concrete. There is no way you can break it. Now I see you want your friend back. Well I can't do that, but how about I introduce you to a new friend" she said a malicious grin appearing on her face. She hit a button on the control panel in front of her and the door started to rise. Simon turned to rush through it but stopped, his eyes went wide. A large paw stepped out from the doorway, then another, then a pair of sharp white teeth, then two blood red eyes.

"I heard that you fought a panther in your travels. Let's see how you face against a Barbary Lion!" Claudia screamed into the com, laughing maniacally. As the menacing beast stepped through the doorway, the metal door closed behind it and the concrete returned down over the glass. The lion growled as sharp claws shot out from its paws, a thin trail of saliva dripped from its jagged teeth as it eyed its meal. Simon gulped then started to back up until he was back to back with the wall. The lion lowered itself into a crouching position, then it lunged forward, claws at the ready.

"Oh no!" Simon shouted.

Brittany groggily opened her eyes. Her head hurt and she could feel blood dripping from her nose. She remembered struggling to get to Alvin when they had departed the helicopter but one of the men had punched her in the face to knock her away. She must have fallen unconscious after that. She realized that someone was holding her and she started to squirm weakly to get out of their grip.

"Stop squirming girl and watch your friends" Klaus laughed then shoved Brittany towards a monitor on the control panel. Her eyes widened and tears started to drip from them. The monitor was split into two screens. The first showed Simon backing up against a wall, a huge lion lunging towards him. She watched as Simon ducked and the lion missed, before he started to run around the cell, the lion on his heels, clawing at him. The other screen was even worse. A man was standing over Alvin. There was a bloody bat on the floor, but at the moment she could see the man repeatedly punching Alvin in the face, the screaming chipmunk trying desperately to escape, blood gushing from his mouth and eyes.

"Now you see what happens when you try to steal from us girl!" Claudia spat, standing up. Klaus followed her lead and dragged the resistant Brittany with him. Brittany tried to kick and punch him, but he held her too far away, laughing at her pathetic attempts to harm him.

"What's the matter girl? A little too small to hurt me? Well I'm not that small" he laughed then slapped her across the face. Brittany started to cry, covering her red face with her hands. Claudia glanced at her and laughed.

"Once we finish with Alvin, your next girl. You can wait here until we are done" she said at last as they approached a dark room. Roughly, Klaus tossed the squealing Chipette into the darkness and slammed the door shut, locking it on the outside.

"Let's go check on Alvin and see if he is ready to talk yet" Claudia said smugly and lead them back towards the interrogation chamber. Brittany sat in the darkness crying. First she had caused so many deaths, and now she was imprisoned in some cell, watching her friends suffer because of her. She reached down the front of her dress and pulled out the Alvin doll. She had stuffed inside her dress once they had been taken from the jungle, in case the men tried to take it from her. It wasn't the Alvin she loved, but she had to be with him, she needed someone.

"I'm so sorry Alvin. I'm so sorry" she sobbed, bringing the doll close to her face. She started to stroke the doll as she gently rocked herself back and forth, the tears in her eyes intensifying more and more.

"What are we going to do? Simon is trying to escape a lion, you're being beaten for information and I'm stuck here in some cell" Brittany cried squeezing the doll harder. In all her life, nothing like this had happened. Brittany had always had a rough life. After she had escaped the orphanage in Australia (just to note the Chipettes sound nothing like Australians, I know, I am one) she and her sisters had managed to find their way to America, but life hadn't improved for them just yet. They couldn't get a job better than that of waitresses at a sleazy diner. But then their luck had started to change. Over time they managed to land a singing career and met the Chipmunks, and now they lived in a tree house right nearby them. Brittany had thought that no matter what happened in her life, it would always be better than that, but now she was wrong. Now she risked losing her friends, her love and her own life.

"Oh Alvin, I don't know what to do. I need you. Please help me" she said faintly between her tears, gently stroking the doll, hoping that it could somehow all be over.

Dave sat down on his bed and rested his head in his hands. They had flown over every square inch of the jungle, but there was no sign of Simon, Brittany or Alvin. Theodore, Jeanette and Eleanor were just as worried as he was. All day they had done everything they could to help. They told Inspector Jamal everything that had happened to them, including Klaus and Claudia's diamond smuggling, they tried retracing their steps to see if the others had simply back tracked, but that hadn't worked. Now the three of them were sitting in their room crying, Dave knew because he could hear it next door. Slowly he got up and entered their room. Once they had reached the hotel, Dave had got them all fresh clean clothes to replace the animal skin garments they had been forced to wear, he had even managed to get a spare pair of glasses for Jeanette. They were all hugging each other crying. Dave scooped them up in his hands and joined the hug.

"We will find them guys don't worry" he whispered as tears started to leak down his face as well. The chipmunks in his hands nodded, but their tears continued to drip.

"Mr. Seville, I need to talk to you urgently" Jamal said from the doorway. He stopped talking when he noticed the three crying chipmunks in his arms, before saying, "In private"

Dave nodded then put the upset children back down on the bed.

"I'll be back in a minute guys, then you can all hop into bed" he whispered. They all nodded but continued to cry. Dave stood up and left the room with Jamal.

"We have to find them" Theodore sobbed, trying to wipe his tears away, but with no success. For a few more minutes the kids continued to cry, but Jeanette was the first to calm down.

"I think Inspector Jamal might know something" she said. Eleanor and Theodore calmed down and looked at her.

"They don't want to tell us in case we get scared. But I want to find my sister, Alvin and Simon" she said and stood up. As worried as she was for Brittany and Alvin, Theodore and Eleanor could tell that Jeanette was especially worried about Simon. They had finally just gotten together before splitting up to help their siblings, and now they couldn't find one of them. Theodore and Eleanor realized they would feel exactly the same way if one of them was missing.

"Alright Jeanette, let's go see what they're saying" Theodore said. The three of them stood up and tiptoed to the door so they could hear the conversation taking place in the hallway. Jamal was the first one to speak.

"Mr. Seville, I have some bad news" he said slowly. Dave looked worried, "What is it Inspector?"

"I checked out the airport records to see if I could find out whether any helicopters had been flying over the jungle last night, to try and explain what happened to the village. Instead I found this" he said sternly. He handed a piece of paper to Dave. Dave took it and examined it. It was a document detailing all the plane flights coming in and out of the airport over the last 24 hours. Jamal pointed to an entry towards the bottom of the list. Dave's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. A private jet owned by Klaus and Claudia Vorstien had landed.

"You mean those two might be here!" Dave said loudly. Jamal nodded gravely.

"They might have been responsible for the attack. We need to find them in case they have the children" Dave said, half stern, half pleading the inspector to help.

"Don't worry, if Klaus and Claudia have the…" he began but he heard something. The three chipmunks had gasped at the mention of Klaus and Claudia. Jamal walked to the doorway and looked down at them, hands on his hips.

"Eves dropping is wrong you know children" he said sternly. Dave looked over Jamal's shoulder and spotted them.

"Why were you kids listening?" Dave asked walking over to the three nervous children. Eleanor and Theodore backed away, but Jeanette bravely stood her ground.

"We want to help find them. We know we are kids, but don't hide information from us, we have as much right to know as you do" she said, crossing her arms. Theodore and Eleanor gasped, very impressed. They had never seen Jeanette so confident and strong before. Dave and Jamal looked at each other and sighed.

"You're right. I apologize. Here you have a look" Jamal said, handing the piece of paper to Jeanette. She examined it for a moment before looking back up at the inspector.

"I see. Did you cross reference the air code with any other flights in the area? They may have a private helicopter, but they would have to have registered it to avoid suspicion in the middle of a large city" she said, pushing her glasses up her nose. Dave and Jamal stood speechless. Jamal was the first to speak.

"N-No we didn't… how did you think of that?" he asked looking confused at how an eight year old chipmunk had thought of something before his entire police squad had.

"Well, I… I don't know. It's just something I would have done. I have done similar things for school assignments" she said blushing a little.

"Wait, you can cross reference aerial codes on your own? Only experienced computer engineers have that kind of ability" Jamal said completely flabbergasted.

"Well yeah… Simon and I are a little smarter than average…" Jeanette said blushing. She hated bragging about herself, but she really was smart enough to pull something like that off, with ease.

"Quickly, you kids come with me. Let's get this done right away" he said beaming. He turned and began to walk back to his room where he had a computer system installed and ready for use. The three chipmunks and Dave followed him. Once everyone had left, Miss Miller poked her head out of her room.

"Hmm… where did everybody go?"

Alvin coughed out more blood as the man hit him again. He had almost completely lost his voice from screaming in agony, so now all he could do was grunt in pain every time the man hit him.

"Your fur is so soft, I could just keep hitting you all day" the man laughed and threw another punch, his fist connecting with Alvin's jaw.

"That's enough. I think he is ready to talk now" Claudia laughed as she entered the room. The man looked disappointed, but he stepped aside and allowed Claudia and Klaus to take his position, hovering over the injured chipmunk.

"Now, Where are you kids hiding the diamonds and our money" she said sneering.

"I tried to tell you the last time. The diamonds and Money are in a river somewhere. We crashed and went over a waterfall. I don't know whether the money is still in the balloon or whether it has floated away down river" Alvin wheezed, blood still tricking from his mouth. Claudia became angry.

"So now you are telling me, that my diamonds and my money…" she began, Klaus cut her off.

"Our diamonds and money" he said sternly. He hated to anger her, but he wanted his recognition as well.

"Whatever! Our money and our diamonds are lost somewhere in a muddy river in the middle of a jungle!" she screamed. Alvin smirked and nodded. Claudia screamed then slapped him across the face.

"Throw him in with the girl. When the lion is finished with Simon, they can be next!" she growled and turned to leave. But Alvin's scream cut her off.

"What! You leave Simon and Brittany alone you monsters!"

"Silence you rodent! I will do what I like, and you, your brother and your ratty girlfriend are going to die whether you like it or not!" she cried, before turning and leaving the room, followed by Klaus, who seemed a bit frightened at how angry his sister was.

"Looks like I'm done with you. Maybe I can convince Claudia to let me have another round with you before she throws you to the lion" the man laughed as he undid Alvin's bindings. Alvin wanted to struggle and get away from him, but something inside him told him that if he did that, Brittany might be in danger, so he allowed the man to carry him and throw him into a cell.

"Al-Alvin!" said a sad voice from the darkness.

"Brittany!" he cried and rushed to her voice. The only source of light in the room was a barred window, letting the pale moonlight shine down on them. Brittany was curled up in a ball holding her Alvin doll, crying on the floor. When she heard the real Alvin she jumped, but almost screamed when she saw him. He staggered towards her, covered in blood, his right arm slinging uselessly from side to side. He was missing teeth and he had huge black bruises all over his face.

"Oh my god Alvin!" she cried and pulled him into a hug, which he returned. For what seemed like hours the two of them sat there, embracing each other, tears streaming down their eyes. After a while they broke apart. Alvin collapsed against the wall and Brittany snuggled next to him.

"What happened Brittany? I fell unconscious after stopping the panther, and the next thing I know, I'm tied to a table being brutally interrogated for stealing diamonds" Alvin said weakly, turning to face Brittany, but was shocked to see that she was covering her face with her hands crying.

"It-it's all m-my fault" she sobbed, tears dripping to the concrete floor like a waterfall. Alvin pulled her towards him and made her face him.

"Brittany, what happened?" he asked again, not forcefully, but urgently, needing to know why she was so upset.

"Th-The panther wasn't dead. It attacked us; b-but someone shot it. We turned to thank them and th-they sh-shot Simon in the arm. I lied to them and told them the others were at the vill-village. I wanted the villagers to capture them, b-b-but, they killed… killed… everyone!" she began crying hysterically. Alvin placed her head on his chest and let her cry. What had happened was terrible, but he knew that Brittany hadn't intended any of it. He pieced together that after the massacre they had been brought to Klaus and Claudia. Once Brittany started to calm down he pulled her head up so she could see his eyes.

"Brittany don't blame yourself for what happened. You didn't mean it. I know what happened was terrible, but you weren't the one who pulled the trigger" he said kindly, keeping his strong blue eyes connected with hers.

"But… but…" she started to say tears threatening to break free again, but Alvin stopped her.

"No Brittany, don't think like that. This is not your fault okay. You were trying to protect us. You didn't know. You weren't the one with the guns. Don't blame yourself. Brittany I love you. I am here for you. You don't have to be alone. Don't blame yourself, just don't" he said sternly, his blue eyes beginning to tear up as well. Brittany looked at him and realized he was right. She had lied, but she didn't pull the trigger. She didn't kill anyone. All she had done was try to protect her friends and family.

"Thank you Alvin" she said through her tears, before resting her head on his shoulder and hugging him. He wrapped his arm around her and allowed her to cry on him.

"It's okay Brittany, I'm here for you, and I always will be" he said once again lifting her head to face his. She looked at him with a smile then their lips locked together in a passionate kiss. Everything was turning out horrible, but at least they had each other.

Simon dodged again as the lion pounced. He had been running around the cell for what he thought was hours now, and if it wasn't for the adrenaline rushing through him, he would have been tired and collapsed by now. But the lion on the other hand looked like it could keep going all night if it had too. It knew that the chipmunk could only keep dodging for so long, then it would feast. Simon backed up once again until he was back to back with the door.

"I have to think of a plan or it's just going to wear me down and eat me" Simon thought to himself. His mind raced, trying to think of a suitable action he could perform, anything that could pull him from this predicament. Suddenly it came to him. He only had once chance at this so it had to count.

"Come on you big pussy cat, charge me!" he yelled making a defensive pose. The lion looked surprised, but eager at the same time. Finally the little runt was going to stop playing around and fight. The lion roared then charged towards Simon, claws at the ready. Simon waited and waited, then jumped, inches from the lion's claws. The surprised lion ran straight into the metal door with a thud. It hit the door so hard that the door dented inwards. A few teeth dropped from its mouth as it staggered backwards. Suddenly it closed its eyes and collapsed in an unconscious heap on the floor. Simon let out a heavy breath then fell to the floor exhausted.

"Well, let's just hope that you stay down until I can figure a way out of here" he said to himself as he stared at the great cat slumped on the floor.

"I hope the others are alright" he thought to himself as he let out another breath then started to look around the room. There was no sign of an escape anywhere except for the door. The he realized something. The dented door had a small hole in it, probably an impact from the lion's teeth. Simon walked towards it and examined it. The metal was rather thin. Simon looked to his feet and grabbed one of the lion's teeth that had dropped to the floor. He plunged the tooth into the hole and tried to tear the metal. Slowly the hole widened.

"This could take awhile. But it's the only plan I have" he sighed to himself and continued to dig into the metal of the door.

"Hold on guys. I'll get us out of here. I hope"

Well I hope you guys liked this chapter. Still a little tragic after the events of the last chapter, but I hope to try and get some happiness flowing soon. But believe me this story is far from over, I still have quite a few twists up my sleeve. Will Simon escape and help the others? Will Jeanette and the gang track down Klaus and Claudia's helicopter and what will Klaus and Claudia do once they realize what is happening? Find out in the next update!