While Officer Growler and the rest of the Get Along Gang were trying to pick up the trail, the rats had reached their abandoned warehouse hideout on the docks. Riley and Ray were sorting the coins (well, Riley was sorting, Ray was taking them and spinning them on the table). Rocky was finishing tying up Montgomery and Leland, back to back to a couple of chairs.
"This oughta hold these two brats," he said.
"What are we gonna do with the kids, Rock?" Riley asked, smacking Ray in the hand to get him to quit spinning the coins while he sorted them.
"We'll let the boss take care of 'em," Rocky said.
"When's the boss supposed to get here, Rocky?" Ray asked.
"I dunno, he always shows up unexpectedly," Rocky shrugged.
Rocky sat down at the table, and began sorting through the coins with Riley. All Montgomery and Leland could do was watch them. They had to figure out a way to get free and get those coins, but they couldn't figure out how.
"What are we going to do?" Leland asked.
"I don't know yet," Montgomery replied, as he writhed around, trying to get loose. "I guess the first thing we have to do is get loose. Start moving around. Maybe we can get loose."
Both Montgomery and Leland began writhing around, but to no avail. They were tied too tightly.
"This isn't going to work," Montgomery sighed. "I guess the only thing we can do is wait for the rest of the gang."
"You know, this is just like what happened in Super Croc number sixty-seven," Leland said. "When Rex Ruthless found out Super Croc's secret. He captured Al E. Gator and stole the magic rock that gave him the super powers. Then he tied Al to a chair and was going to leave him in a condemned warehouse which was Rex's hideout, and then he'd let the demolition crew smash it to smithereens!"
"You know, Leland, I never pegged you as a comic book geek."
"Hey! I just thought of something! Al E. Gator got out of the mess by taking the keys to his office and cutting the ropes."
"That doesn't do us any good, Leland. I don't have a key."
"I do. I always have my house keys with me. All I have to do is get to them."
Leland maneuvered his arm around, trying to get his hand into his pocket. Montgomery shifted a little himself, thinking that would help Leland get to his key.
"Almost . . . ." Leland said, straining. Then, he finally managed to get into his pocket, and grabbed the key. "Got it! Now all we have to do is cut the ropes."
Leland began sawing at the ropes with his key. Montgomery wasn't so sure this was going to work.
"I don't know, Leland," he said. "I don't think this is going to work."
"Sure it'll work," Leland said. "It worked for Super Croc."
"Super Croc is a comic book. Comic book characters can cut through ropes with nothing but a key."
Leland didn't answer. He just continued sawing at the ropes, as hard and as fast as he could. It took a few moments, but the ropes finally snapped.
(Hey, it's a fanfic of a cartoon, anything can happen!)
"Hey, that worked," Montgomery said, a little surprised. "I don't believe it."
"I told you it would work," Leland said. "Now that we're untied, what do we do now?"
"We have to get the coin collection from those rats before their boss shows up. But I'm not exactly sure how to do it. I mean, they're sitting right there."
Leland just stared at the coin collection on the table for a moment. Then he looked around the warehouse, and saw a ton of crates. They were all over the place. He walked over to one, and began wrenching the top off of it.
"I wonder what's in all these crates?" he asked, as he pulled.
"Mostly anything I guess," Montgomery said. "Here, I'll help you open that."
Montgomery and Leland pulled as hard as they could, and managed to open the crate. Inside of that particular one was a bunch of glasses. They opened another one and found baseballs.
"I guess whoever used this place last forgot to clean it out," Montgomery said, picking up one of the baseballs.
"Boy, this could keep a kid in baseballs for his entire life," Leland replied. "In that same Super Croc comic I was telling you about, after Al E. Gator got loose, he was thinking how to get his magic rock back, and he ended up opening the crates in the warehouse. He used what he found in them to distract Rex Ruthless and his men, and when they were checking it out, Al E. Gator made a grab for his rock. Maybe if we did the same thing with this stuff, we can get the coin collection back."
"Leland, that's a great idea," Montgomery said.
"And Grandpa says I'll never learn anything from reading comic books. Grab a glass and smash it."
Montgomery nodded, and he and Leland each picked up a glass from the box. Then they hurled them to the ground as hard as they could. The crash attracted the rats' attention.
"What was that?" Rocky asked.
"Probably mice or something," Riley replied. "I wouldn't worry about it."
Montgomery and Leland took a few more glasses and smashed them. They had to get those rats away from that table. They continued smashing until Rocky began to stand up.
"Okay, that does it," he said. "Come on, you guys. Let's check this out."
Riley and Ray got up and followed Rocky to the crates. Montgomery and Leland snuck away from the crates as the rats were coming. As the rats began investigating the noise, Montgomery and Leland quickly shoved the coins into the leather bag the rats had used to steal them. Montgomery pulled the drawstring closed, and he and Leland raced towards the door to the warehouse.
"What do we do now?" Leland asked.
"Go to the police station," Montgomery replied. "Then we'll be able to lead them to the warehouse, and the police can arrest those rats."
"Right. Let's go."
Montgomery and Leland snuck to the door, trying to avoid getting the rats' attention. They were still inspecting the broken glass. But the minute the boys got to the door, it opened, and there stood a fourth rat, smoking a cigarette.
"What have we got here?" he asked.
"Hey it's the boss," Ray said, as he, Rocky, and Riley came over.
"I think we're in trouble," Montgomery said.
"Darn right you are," Rocky said, yanking the bag out of Montgomery's hand.
"You got the coins?" the boss asked.
"Right here," Rocky said, holding up the bag. "And about the kids, well, they sorta got in the way."
"Never mind that," the boss said. "We'll take care of them later. I don't want to risk knocking 'em off now. Wait until midnight. That's when the boat's supposed to show up to take us to Brazil. We'll knock off the kids off then."
"Right, boss," Rocky said, as he tossed the bag of coins to the boss. He grabbed Montgomery and Leland by the arms, and started dragging them to the other side of the warehouse.
"I don't know how the two of you got loose, but I'll make sure you don't escape this time!" he shouted. "Just wait until midnight."
Montgomery and Leland looked at each other and gulped. They didn't like the sound of this. They had to figure out a way out of this mess and fast.
"I wish the rest of the gang was here," Montgomery said. "Then maybe we could figure a way out of this."
"I think I might have another idea," Leland said.
"I hope it doesn't involve anything out of a Super Croc comic," Montgomery replied.
Leland didn't answer. Instead, he swung his tail around as hard as he could, and smacked Rocky in the shin with it.
"Yeow!" Rocky shouted. Montgomery got the idea and gave Rocky a swift kick in the other shin as hard as he could.
"Ow!" he yelled again. "You little brats, wait'll I get my hands on you!"
"Run!" Montgomery shouted. He and Leland ran off. Rocky was right behind them.
"Don't just stand there, you dopes!" he yelled. "Get them!"
Riley and Ray joined the chase. Montgomery and Leland ran behind some of the crates.
"This isn't a good hiding place," Leland said. "They'll find us behind here."
"But we can stall them so we can get the coins," Montgomery said. "Start pushing!"
Montgomery and Leland began pushing one of the crates. Neither of them knew what was inside it, but it was heavy.
"Push!" Montgomery shouted.
"I am pushing!" Leland shouted. He braced his back against the crate and tried pushing it that way. "I thought you were the strong one in the gang!"
"I am, but it's nothing compared to Zipper! Just push harder!"
"All right, end of the line, kiddies," Boss Rat said. "If you give up now, we'll go easy on ya!"
"On three, Leland, push as hard as you can," Montgomery said. "One, two, three, PUSH!"
Both Montgomery and Leland pushed the crate as hard as possible. That caused it to tip over, and smash against the ground. The impact caused the lid to pop off, and the contents to spill out of it, which happened to be bowling balls. The rats were really "bowled" over by them. The balls crashed into the rats.
"STRIKE!" Ray shouted, dazedly.
Montgomery and Leland ran back to the rats. Montgomery grabbed the coins away from Boss Rat, and he and Leland ran for the door. The rats pushed the bowling balls off them, and chased after the boys again. Montgomery and Leland climbed up a nearby ladder to one of the higher levels of the warehouse.
"We've got 'em now," Rocky said. "Ray, get climbing!"
"But I'm afraid of heights!" Ray shouted. "I get dizzy climbing up the front stoop!"
"Oh for Pete's sake!" Riley shouted. "I'll go get them!"
Riley began climbing up the ladder. The other rats watched as he climbed. Montgomery and Leland had to think fast. Finally, Leland had an idea. He grabbed the top of the ladder and gave it a huge push. It started falling backwards.
"Uh oh," Riley said. "Look out below!"
The other three rats tried to run off, but the ladder crashed on top of them. SPLAT! The ladder broke into pieces upon impact.
"Ouch," Montgomery said. "That had to hurt."
"Now they can't get up here to get us or the coins," Leland said.
"That's true, they can't. That was a pretty good idea, Leland. But I have one question."
"What's that?"
"How do we get down from here without the ladder?"
"Oops."
Montgomery and Leland looked down to see exactly how high up they were. Montgomery sighed, and looked around.
"Maybe we could jump," Leland said.
"Yeah, if you want to break every bone in your body," Montgomery replied. "We'll have to find another way down."
"This thing kind of happened in Super Croc. Same issue I was talking about. He got stuck in a high place, and he used the warehouse crates to climb down. If we push the crates down to the floor . . . ."
"The crates will smash against the floor because of the impact of the drop."
"Oh."
Montgomery and Leland stood on the shelf, thinking. They had to find a way down, without the rats finding a way up. They began yanking lids off the crates to see what was in them, trying to find something to use to get down. The rats were standing there as well, trying to figure out how to get the coins back.
"Let's stack some crates up and go get them," Ray said.
"I have a better idea," Boss Rat said, and he walked closer to the shelf. "Hey, you kids! Let's make a deal."
"What kind of a deal?" Montgomery asked.
"If you give us the coins," Boss Rat said. "We'll help you get down from there. What the heck, we'll even let you go."
Leland thought it over, and was about ready to toss the coins down, but Montgomery grabbed his wrist to stop him.
"Hold it," he said. "Don't throw it."
"Why not?" Leland asked. "They said they'll let us go if we give them the coins."
"Leland, these guys are crooks. You can't trust crooks. Look at Catchum."
"Good point."
"Listen, I have an idea. You up to some teamwork?"
"Sure, I guess."
Montgomery nodded, and he and Leland pulled a lid off of another crate. Inside of it were more baseballs. The boys took a few and walked to the edge of the shelf.
"Going down!" Montgomery shouted, and he and Leland began tossing baseballs left and right. The rats could barely fend them off.
"Now what?" Riley asked.
"That does it!" Rocky shouted. "Start stackin' those crates! I'm going up there to get those brats!"
The rats began stacking the crates. Montgomery and Leland just waited. Finally, the rats managed to build a makeshift staircase out of the crates. Rocky climbed up and faced the boys.
"All right, you two," he said. "I've had it with this. I want those coins and I want them now, or else, I'm gonna have to get mean!"
"Okay," Leland said, taking the bag of coins from Montgomery. "We'll give them to you."
"Leland!" Montgomery shouted, flabbergasted.
"Just trust me," Leland whispered.
"Smart move, kid," Rocky said. "Gimme those coins."
Leland gave him the coins all right. He backed up a little, swung the bag around, and threw it as hard as he could. It hit Rocky right in the head. BONK! The coins fell to the ground. Quickly, Leland swung his tail around again, and hit Rocky in the face as hard as he could. Rocky stumbled backwards and fell down the crates, knocking into the other rats, bowling them over, before they could retrieve the coins. The cigarette Boss Rat had been smoking flew into the air, and landed in a crate filled with fireworks, igniting the fuses.
"YIKES!" Ray shouted. "Let's get outta here before they blow!"
The minute Ray made the suggestion, the fireworks started to go off. They were exploding left and right. Some of them flew towards the ceiling and smashed right through it. Other fireworks crashed into the crates (some of which were filled with more fireworks). Pretty soon, the warehouse began to catch fire.
"Let's get outta here!" Rocky shouted.
"But what about the coins?" Riley asked.
"Forget the coins!" Boss Rat shouted. "Let's split before our tails get fried!"
The rats raced out of the warehouse. Leland looked a little sick.
"Uh oh," he said. "That didn't turn out like I hoped. See, what was supposed to happen was he was supposed to fall, and crash into the other guys. It works all the time for Super Croc when he hits the bad guys with his tail. Never once has a cigarette landed in a crate full of fireworks and they started to go off."
"We'd better get out of here ourselves," Montgomery said. "And fast!"
Montgomery and Leland started climbing down the crates, ducking and dodging flying rockets. They were also dodging falling beams from the ceiling, since the whole building was practically falling apart due to the fire that was rapidly spreading. The boys were just about to race out the door when Leland suddenly turned around and started running back.
"Leland, what are you doing?" Montgomery shouted.
"I have to get the coins!" Leland shouted. "Or else my grandfather is going to kill me!"
"If we don't get out of here now, this fire's going to kill you!"
Leland didn't listen. He was gathering up the spilled coins and putting them in the bag. Montgomery groaned. Just when he was starting to think Leland had some common sense, he turns around and proves him wrong. Finally, Leland gathered all the coins, and was about ready to race out of there when he bumped into a pile of crates. They came crashing down, smashing to pieces, all on top of Leland. Montgomery ran back over and began pulling the pieces of the crates off him.
"Montgomery, take the coins and get out of here!" Leland shouted.
"No way," Montgomery said. "You and I are in this together!"
Leland was stunned. Never in his life would he think Montgomery Moose would ever say that to him. Actually, he never thought anyone would say that to him! As Montgomery was pulling the pieces of the crates off, a piece of the ceiling began to fall.
"Montgomery, look out!" Leland shouted.
The warning came too late. The piece of the ceiling smacked Montgomery right in the back of his head, knocking him out cold. Leland had to do something. He couldn't just leave Montgomery there. He tried to push the broken crates off of him, but he couldn't. He was stuck.
"It's no use," he said. "I'm too puny to get out of here."
Leland was about to call it quits, when he remembered about the Krypton coin. He pulled the bag open, and began searching for it, frantically. Much to his shock, and dismay, he couldn't find it.
"Oh no!" he shouted. "It's not in here! What am I going to do now?"
It looked hopeless. Leland was stuck underneath a huge pile of broken wood, and Montgomery was unconscious. Without the Krypton coin, there was no way Leland could do anything.