- Chapter 21 -

Meet Basil of Baker Street

Author's Note:

Wow, over 100 reviews! And I haven't even gotten to the Disney worlds yet!

Speaking of which, here they are. Sorry for the long wait.

If the title isn't much indication, after much debate, I decided to go with The Great Mouse Detective for the first world. Really hard to choose which ones to use; honestly, why do all Disney movies have to be so stinking good?

The Lanes Between

Ven sat in the chair next to Sora, whose turn it was to pilot the Gummi Ship. Mickey was seated on the other side.

"I really can't thank you enough for taking me into your heart, Sora," Ven said. "If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead right now. I owe you my life."

Sora turned to him and gave his trademark grin. "Well, since your heart and Keyblade Armor protected me from Xehanort's darkness six months ago, I'd say we're even."

Ven smiled back. "I guess you're right."

Mickey was focusing on their navigation, and saw on the screen that they were coming up on a new world. From their place in the Lanes, it appeared to be a large, circular ball with a few small buildings, and a giant clock tower resembling Big Ben from Neverland sticking out of the top.

"We're coming up on a new world, everybody!" Mickey called. The others stood up from the couches and made their way over to the cockpit.

"What's this place called?" West asked. Mickey examined the information that popped up on the nav screen.

"It says it's called Baker Street," he said.

Sï'Lea raised an eyebrow. "Weird name," she said.

Aqua shrugged. "Let's just get ready to land."

Baker Street

The Gummi Ship landed in a dark alleyway, and the group filed out... to see that the surrounding buildings were much larger than they expected.

"What in the world?" Hikari said. "Everything's so big!"

Goofy removed his hat to scratch his head. "No, Hikari," he said. "It's not that everything's big..."

Ven let out an annoyed grunt. "It's that we're small!"

The others looked around, and indeed, they were now no bigger than mice. Even the Highwind was smaller.

"What kind of crazy world is this?" West asked.

Aqua shrugged. "We're not gonna find anything out standing here asking questions. C'mon."

The gang took a few steps, and heard a loud yell of panic. They dashed to the mouth of the alley, and saw a mustachioed, somewhat chubby brown mouse in a brown derby and trench coat being menaced by Heartless.

The Heartless in question were Rabid Dogs, resembling small, blue dogs with massive heads and equally massive, toothed maws. Their ears were long, stood on end, and curled at the tips. They had crooked, blue tails and four short legs with no discernible digits on their paws, with long, pink tongues. The Rabid Dogs' large, yellow eyes each sported a black spiral pattern. They also wore large, red collars with several conical, silver spikes on it, though, because of their size, the collars were worn around their waists instead of their necks. The Heartless emblem was on their rear ends.

"Heartless!" Sora exclaimed as he summoned his Keyblade. "C'mon, he needs our help!"

The others summoned their weapons and dashed after Sora, jumping in front of the mouse.

"Who are you?" the mouse asked, his voice containing a heavy British accent.

"We're here to help!" Nixe said. "Take cover! We'll handle these things!"

The mouse nodded and ran to the relative safety of a nearby porch, while Sora and the others turned to face the Heartless.

The Rabid Dogs barked, projecting a soundwave that the group easily managed to block. Sora threw his Keyblade, which spun around him in the Circle Raid attack, damaging any Heartless foolish enough to approach him. Riku pelted them with Dark Firaga, while Mickey, Donald, Max, and Goofy helped with Keyblade strikes, magic spells, and skateboard/shield attacks, respectively.

West threw her knife at one of the Heartless, slaying it on contact. "So these puppies know how to play dead," she quipped as she snatched her knife back up. "Good to know."

One Rabid Dog lunged at Sï'Lea, who summoned her shield and knocked it back. Nixe quickly seized the chance and slew the Heartless. Kairi and Hikari stood back-to-back as they slashed at the Heartless, while Aqua and Ven supported them with magic and blade strikes of her own.

Lea snapped his fingers, and levitated slightly off the ground as three pillars of fire surrounded him before charging through the Heartless, torching several of them.

Eventually, the Dogs were reduced to a handful, and Ven decided to step in and end it. Placing a hand over his heart, Ven concentrated intensely, and was enveloped in a golden aura, his body appearing to vibrate even when standing still. "Don't blink!" he said as he charged at the Heartless and literally ran circles around them, moving so fast that he left a trail of after-images, slicing through the Rabid Dogs with incredible speed. The Dogs were all sent airborne, dissipating as Ven skidded to a stop and the aura fated. "Couldn't keep up, could ya?" he quipped (1).

With the danger averted, the gang turned to the mouse, who was straightening his coat. "I say, thank you, my good people," he said as he approached them and looked them over. "Interesting. In all my years, I've never seen mice like you chaps before."

"Mice?" West asked. "Look, sir, I think you may be-" But she was stopped from going any further by Riku elbowing her in the ribs.

"Riku, what was that for?" she asked. Riku bent down to whisper in her ear.

"Remember the world order," he said. "If he thinks we're funny-looking mice, let's just go with it." West nodded, and Riku straightened up.

"We're just glad we could help," Sora said to the mouse. "I'm Sora." He then introduced the others, gesturing to each one of them as he did.

"Pleased to meet you," said the mouse as he tipped his hat. "I am Dr. David Q. Dawson, of Her Majesty's sixty-sixth regiment."

"Her Majesty?" Donald asked.

Dawson raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Queen Mousetoria. How do you not know this?"

"We're not from around here," Sï'Lea explained. "It's a long story."

At that moment, it started to rain, the drops pelting them all. "Well, that's just great," Lea said sarcastically.

Dawson drew an umbrella and unfurled it. "Let's find someplace dry, shall we?"

"Lead the way, Doctor," said Aqua.

The group made their way down a nearby alleyway, when Kairi stopped in her tracks, having heard something. Sora stopped as well.

"Kairi, what is it?" he asked.

Kairi put a finger to her lips, shushing him as she brushed the hair away from her ear. The others listened, and they heard it as well: the sound of a little girl crying.

Their curiosity peaked, the gang followed their ears to an old discarded boot, and within the boot was a little mouse girl, clad in blue, sitting on an old medicine box and sobbing quietly. The sound of it was so heartbreaking that Kairi felt tears sting her own eyes as she made her way forward, Dawson following her while the others quietly looked on.

"Hey," Kairi said softly, the girl turning to look at her. "Are you okay?"

The little mouse sniffled as Kairi and Dawson approached, Kairi sitting next to her.

"Come now," Dawson said, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and handing it to the girl. "Here, dry your eyes."

The child took the hankie and blew her nose before handing it back to Dawson, who put it in his pocket.

"There, that's better," said Dawson. "Now tell us, what's troubling you, my dear?"

"I-I'm lost," the girl sniffled. "I'm trying to find Basil of Baker Street." She handed Dawson an old newspaper clipping. Dawson pulled out a pair of reading glasses and put them on.

"Now, let me see here," he said. "'Famous detective solves baffling disappearance.'"

"But where are your parents?" Kairi asked. At that, the girl broke down and started crying into her scarf.

"That's why I must find Basil!" she choked out, Kairi and Dawson looking on with sympathy as the others looked on from the outside.

Goofy sniffled and wiped his nose. "Gawrsh..."

"That poor little girl," Hikari said, a single tear slipping out.

"Hey, hey," Kairi said soothingly as she put a comforting arm around the girl's shoulders. "Come here."

"I don't know any Basil," Dawson said, giving a small smile. "But I do remember where Baker Street is."

"C'mon," Kairi said, helping the girl up. "We'll help you find him. What's your name?"

The girl smiled at Kairi. "Olivia Flaversham."

"Nice to meet you, Olivia. I'm Kairi."

With that, the three exited the boot, and Kairi introduced Olivia to the others and explained her situation to the others, who naturally agreed to help, partly because they couldn't in good conscience just abandon a little girl in her time of need, and partly because with the Heartless present, either Maleficent or Xehanort were lurking about.

Baker Street, Basil's Residence

After a while, the group found themselves before a small mousehole on the outside of 221B Baker Street. With Olivia at his side, Sora knocked on the door, and after a moment, a female mouse, clearly the maid, opened the door, her arms loaded down with clothes and books.

"Um, hi," Sora said, raising a hand in greeting. "We're looking for Basil of Baker Street."

"I'm afraid he's not here at the moment," the maid said. "But you're welcome to come in and wait."

"We don't wanna be a burden," Sora said, gesturing to Olivia. "It's just that little Olivia here-" But it was that moment that Sora looked to see that Olivia was gone.

"What the?" Sora said aloud. "Where'd she go?"

"She ran inside before you started talking," West said flatly.

The group entered, and indeed, Olivia was already inside, playing with a magnifying glass.

"You poor dear!" the maid said, dropping her load in Sora's arms before dashing over to Olivia, removing her hat and scarf. "You must be chilled to the bone! Let me fetch you a pot of tea and some of my fresh cheese crumpets."

The maid dashed out of the room, leaving the group to their own devices. Sora and Ven walked over to a nearby table, upon which sat a bizarre contraption: a small propeller operating a bellow, with several cigarettes and a pipe attached, all of which were puffing.

Ven waved a hand in front of his face, coughing at the smell of smoke. "Doesn't this Basil know cigarettes can kill you?"

"Apparently not," Aqua replied as she walked up to them and examined the contraption herself.

Sï'Lea and Nixe were looking at another contraption: four different pairs of shoes were being turned in a circular motion, first being brushed with black paint, and then setting a print on a stack of paper.

"Honestly, I'm beginning to get the feeling that Basil of Baker Street is some kinda weirdo." Nixe said flatly.

"Nixe!" Sï'Lea said reproachfully. "We haven't even met him yet!"

"Sorry, Mom," Nixe said quietly.

At that moment, another voice, its tone triumphant, cut in.

"Aha! The villain's slipped this time! I shall have him!"

The door burst open to reveal a fat white mouse dressed in Chinese robes, a revolver in hand and a crazed look in his eyes. Dawson gasped, and the others reflexively drew their weapons as the mouse charged in.

"Out of my way! Out of my way!" he shouted as he tossed his hat into the air, the hat landing on Mickey's head.

"Who the heck are you?!" Lea demanded. The mouse stopped and turned to them.

"Who, me?" he asked, before grabbing the top of his head and pulling, revealing himself to be wearing a mask. Underneath was a slender brown mouse.

"Basil of Baker Street, my good fellow."

Basil just smirked at the group's confused looks as he pulled a cord inside his robe, deflating it and revealing himself to be wearing a fat suit. Olivia eagerly approached him.

"Mr. Basil, I need your help-"

"All in good time," Basil replied, clearly not listening to her as he approached a house robe hanging on the wall by a dart, removing it and putting on the robe before scoring a perfect bullseye on the dartboard.

"But you don't understand!" Olivia pleaded. "I'm in terrible trouble!"

"If you'll excuse me." Basil said flippantly as he walked past the gang as if they weren't there. West lost her cool at that moment.

"Hey, buddy!" she exclaimed. "A little girl is asking for your help here!"

Once again, Basil was clearly not listening as he walked by. Dawson tried his luck next.

"Now see here!" he said. "This young lady is in need of assistance! I think you ought to-"

"Will you hold this please, Doctor?" Basil interrupted, handing him the gun.

"Of course," Dawson said, taking the gun, and then jumped when he realized he was aiming the revolver at himself. He quickly held it out at arms length until Basil retrieved it.

While this was going on, Sora and the others were whispering amongst themselves.

"This is the great detective Basil of Baker Street?" Hikari whispered. "He's... well..."

"A smug, inconsiderate jerkface?" West suggested.

Hikari nodded. "That suits him nicely."

"He does seem a tad eccentric, at least." Aqua said.

While this was going on, Dawson asked Basil, "How did you know I was a doctor?" As Basil spoke, he placed a single bullet in the revolver.

"A surgeon, to be exact. Just returned from military duty in Afghanistan. Am I right?" Dawson chuckled.

"Why, yes. Major David Q. Dawson. But how could you possibly-"

"Quite simple, really," Basil said, holding up Dawson's arm to reveal a stitch mark on his coat sleeve. "You've sewn your torn cuff together with the Lembert stitch, which of course, only a surgeon uses." He continued speaking as he gathered several pillows. "And the thread is a unique form of catgut distinguished by its peculiar pungency found only in the Afghan provinces."

He tossed the pillows one by one at Dawson, who caught them all. "Amazing!" Dawson declared.

"Actually, it's elementary, my dear Dawson," Basil said simply as he aimed the revolver at the pillows... that were still in Dawson's hands. Dawson gasped before throwing the pillows onto an armchair.

"Hit the deck!" Riku shouted as he, Sora, Kairi, and West dove under one of the tables. Sï'Lea pulled Nixe behind her and summoned her shield, while Aqua did the same with Ven and her Barrier, Hikari and Lea dove to the ground and covered their heads, and Donald cast a Reflect spell around himself, Goofy, Mickey, and Max. Dawson opted to grab Olivia and drag her behind the adjacent armchair.

BLAM!

Basil fired the gun, and the pillows exploded into a cloud of feathers as the others cautiously peaked out.

"Are you freaking crazy?!" Nixe shouted as Sï'Lea, Donald, and Aqua lowered their protection and the others got out from cover. "You could've hit someone!"

"Nonsense," Basil said as he dug through the feathers in the chair. "My aim is spot-on."

Nixe opened her mouth to say something else, but Sï'Lea shook her head, signaling for Nixe to be quiet.

The gang exchanged glances. One thing was for sure: Basil of Baker Street was certainly an interesting person.

Author's Note:

(1): Ven's Limit Break: Sonic Rush

I planned to have this chapter include the scene where Basil examines the bullet and so on, but them it would have been too long. But hey, at least I finally reached the first Disney world.

Please R&R. Until next time!