- Chapter 25 -
Ratigan's Trap
Author's Note:
Music for this chapter:
*/ Kingdom Hearts: Villains of a Sort - www. youtube watch?v = foAVk_HbtZM
Ratigan's Hideout
*/Hiram sat bitterly, working on the robot. He tensed up as Ratigan entered the workroom.
"Ah, Mr. Flaversham," Ratigan said, holding his cape dramatically. "Allow me to present... your charming daughter!" With that, he moved his cape to reveal Olivia in Fidget's grasp.
Hiram's eyes widened. "Olivia!"
"Father!" Olivia shouted, struggling to get away from Fidget. Finally, she stomped on Fidget's foot and ran over to her father as Fidget hopped up and down in pain.
"Ow!" Fidget shouted, holding his foot. "My foot! My only foot!"
As Fidget did so, Olivia buried her face into Hiram's chest, crying.
"Oh, Father!" she sobbed. "I thought I'd never find you!"
Hiram stroked her head comfortingly. "There, there, my dear," he said. "I'm alright. Oh, I was so worried about you."
Ratigan feigned sniffling and mockingly wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. "Oh, how sweet," he said. "I just love tearful reunions." With that, he roughly snatched Olivia out of her father's arms. "Now, come along, my dear."
"No, please!" Olivia pleaded, struggling as Ratigan handed her back over to Fidget. "Father!" Hiram tried to run to Olivia, but Ratigan forcibly held him back.
"Olivia!" he shouted as Fidget walked out the door. "Oh, please, Professor-"
"Now, now," Ratigan said. "Fidget will take good care of her." Then his face darkened, and he added threateningly, "That is, as long as we have no further delays!"
Hiram fearfully nodded and quickly returned to the robot. "Yes, I'll finish it! Please, just don't hurt my daughter!"
Ratigan made his way over to the door, grabbing the knob. "Remember, it must be ready... by tonight!"
With that, Ratigan slammed the door and made his way down the stairs, where Pete and Mortimer were standing near an empty green bottle, which Fidget was jamming Olivia into.
"Stop! Let me go!" Olivia demanded, to no avail as Fidget stuffed her into the bottle, which Pete proceeded to cork.
"That oughta hold ya," Pete said. Olivia pounded on the inside of the bottle with her little fists.
"Let me out!" she begged. "Please let me out!" Fidget blew a raspberry at her, and then strode over to Ratigan, who was looking through the bag.
"Ah, the uniforms," he said. "I knew I could rely on you, Fidget. Now, you didn't forget anything?"
Fidget cackled. "No, I took care of everything. Everything on the list."
At that moment, he reached into his pocket and searched around, only to realize the list wasn't there. He frantically began to search his pockets for it.
Ratigan glared down at him. "What's wrong?" he demanded. "Where's the list?!" Pete and Mortimer looked on, nervously.
Fidget gulped nervously. "Well, you see. It was like this. I was in the toy store getting uniforms when I heard..." he started howling and panting like a dog.
Ratigan raised an eyebrow. "I don't follow."
"A dog came, and I ran," Fidget continued. "I got the girl in the bag, and Basil and some kids started chasing me-" Hearing that, Ratigan's composure cracked completely.
"What?!" he shouted. "Basil's on the case?!"
"Uh-oh..." Mortimer said, already fearing the worst.
Fidget cowered before his boss as Ratigan clutched his chest, apparently having a heart attack. His face turned beet-red, but just as quickly as his temper flared up, he calmed himself down and chuckled, scooping Fidget into his arms.
"Oh, my dear Fidget," he said calmly. "You've been hanging upside down too long."
"You mean you're not mad?" Fidget asked, relieved. "I'm glad you're taking this so well."
Ratigan proceeded to carry Fidget around to the back, as Pete and Mortimer looked on, bewildered.
"That's it?" Pete said, recalling Bartholomew's grisly fate. "Not what I was expecting."
After a moment of silence, they heard a bell ringing, and heard Fidget screaming. The two peered around the corner to see Felicia clutching a struggling Fidget, trying to eat him, as Ratigan was leaning against a nearby bottle.
"This is what I was expecting." Pete said, looking on in horror.
"Yeah," Mortimer agreed.
Felicia stuffed Fidget into her mouth; over the bat's screams and struggles to escape, Ratigan rubbed his temples.
"How dare that idiot Basil poke his stupid nose into my wonderful scheme and foul up everything!" he snarled, glaring at his reflection in the bottle. "Oh, I can just see that insufferable grin on his smug face..."
He pounded his head against the bottle, wincing briefly, before he got a wicked idea and broke into a malevolent grin.
"Yes..." he said, "I can just see it..." He turned to Felicia, who still had Fidget in her mouth. "Release him!"
Felicia pouted, but nonetheless obediently spat a mangled Fidget out. Ratigan walked over and held him up by his cheeks.
"Fidget, you delightful little maniac. You've presented me with a singular opportunity," he said before dropping him.
"Poor Basil..." he said, grinning evilly. "Oh, you and your little friends are in for a little... surprise."*\
Baker Street
Back at Basil's flat, Basil lit a lamp and inspected the list Kairi had found with his magnifying glass as Sora, his group, and Dawson looked on.
"What have we got?" Riku asked.
"Offhand, I can deduce very little," Basil replied. "Only that the words are written with a broad pointed quill pen which has spattered, twice."
He tossed the paper in his hand, testing the weight. "That the paper is of native Mongolian manufacture, no water mark."
He put the paper to his lips and smacked them three times; this earned him weird looks from Sora and the others. "And has been gummed, if I'm not very much in error."
"Weirdo." Nixe muttered under her breath.
"Gummed by what?" Dawson asked. Basil sniffed the paper, and promptly recoiled in disgust, holding the paper at arms length.
"By a bat that has been drinking Rodent's Delight!" he exclaimed. "A cheap brandy sold only in the seediest pubs."
"You can tell all that?" Mickey asked, amazed.
"Amazing!" said Dawson.
Basil shrugged as he rummaged through his desk. "Oh, not really," he said. "We still don't know where it came from."
He pulled out his microscope. "Perhaps a closer inspection will tell us something." He focused the lens on the list.
"Hmm, coal dust," he said. "Clearly of the type used in sewer lamps."
The others tried to look through the microscope, but Basil pulled it away and held it over a small flame, allowing it to catch fire.
"What are you doing?!" Hikari demanded. "That's our only clue!"
Basil shushed her as he let the ashen remains of the list fall into the bowl, and patted it down with a small wooden masher. He proceeded to pour the contents into a small jar containing a yellow chemical, which turned blue upon the addition. The others stared at the liquid as Basil picked up a vial containing red liquid.
"Excuse me," he said, the group obediently moving as Basil carefully let a single drop fall into the jar. A puff of smoke came out as the chemical turned purple. Basil proceeded to set the jar below a glass spout and reached around to the other side of the chemistry set, turning on a small flame below a beaker containing a green chemical.
The green chemical bubbled up and slowly made its way through the tubes, eventually making its way to the spout above the purple chemical. The group watched intently as a single green drop fell upon the chemical violet chemical, turning it red.
"Aha!" Basil cheered, putting his arm around Dawson. "We've done it! This reaction could only have been triggered by the paper's extreme saturation with distillation of sodium chloride."
Goofy was confused. "Uhh, was that English?"
"He means the paper's been in contact with salt water," Aqua explained.
Basil began to rummage through his desk again, pulling out a map. "It proves beyond a doubt, this list came from the riverfront area." He used his darts to pin the map to the wall.
"So what do we do?" Dawson asked.
"Elementary, my dear Dawson," Basil replied. "We merely look for a seedy pub at the only spot where the sewer connects to the waterfront."
Some time later...
Toby sat down at the pier, looking down at Basil and the others.
"Stay, Toby!" Basil whispered as they approached the front door of a pub, a sign reading "the Rat Trap" above it.
The group were all disguised as sailors, Basil wearing a fake mustache, Sora, Riku, and Ven wearing eyepatches, Lea, Donald, and Goofy wearing bandanas, and Mickey and Max wearing eyepatches and fake mustaches. Hikari, Kairi, Nixe, and Sï'Lea had their hair tied back in low ponytails, while West had somehow managed to bundle up her pigtails and stuff them under her hat.
"Uh, Basil?" came Dawson's voice from behind a pier column. "I feel utterly ridiculous."
"Don't be absurd," Basil replied, pulling out a cigarette instead of his pipe. "You look perfect."
Dawson sighed, and came out from behind the column. He was disguised as a pirate, wearing a bandana, an earring, an eye patch, and a striped shirt that was much too short for him. Sora and the others fought back laughter at the sight of him.
"Perfect?" he said incredulously as he tried in vain to tuck his shirt in. "Perfectly foolish!"
Basil shushed him as he opened the door to the pub, and Sora and the others crowded behind him to take a look.
Indeed, it was a seedy place, with seemingly every lowlife in London gathered within. All of the patrons were playing poker, smoking, and/or drinking at the bar, with some even passed out drunk. One mouse was playing the piano while an octopus juggled three balls and tap-danced at the same time. Off to the side, a barmaid was ticking a patron under the chin, but when he tried to kiss her, she punched him with enough force to send him flying from his chair.
"Wow," said Sï'Lea as they entered. "This is the grungiest place I've ever seen."
"Yeah," Sora said, chewing on a toothpick. Riku looked at him.
"Seriously, what's with the toothpick?" he asked.
Sora shrugged. "I'm too young to smoke, so I went with this instead," he explained. "What, it doesn't add to the tough guy image?"
"Not really," Kairi said. "Good try, though."
"So what's the plan?" Max asked.
Basil struck a match against the wall and lit his cigarette. "Stay close and do as I do."
The bartender, cleaning his mug, looked up as Basil and the others approached. Basil signaled him for service as he approached a table big enough to seat them all; the others did the same, though in Dawson's case, his movements were a little exaggerated.
The patrons all eyed them suspiciously, and without warning, a knife embedded itself in the floor in Dawson's path. He stumbled back, only to bump into a woman's chair.
"Oh!" he said, turning to the woman. "I beg your pardon, madame."
The woman smirked at him and blew cigarette smoke in his face, making him cough. "'Quite unintentional, I assure you," he wheezed as everyone laughed, and the woman returned to her poker game.
"How impertinent," Dawson muttered to himself as he went back over to the others, Sora and his friends stifling laughter while Basil looked annoyed.
"Remember, Dawson," he whispered, "we're low-life ruffians."
"Well, I was until-" Dawson began, but Basil shushed him as they took their seats. They looked on as the octopus finished his dance, the pianist looking nervous at the unhappy stares from the patrons. The octopus finished, catching his hat and bowing, only to be surprised at the applause coming from Dawson and Hikari, but no one else; the rest of the pub immediately started booing and jeering.
"Get outta here, you eight-legged bum!" one patron shouted, and the octopus quite literally ran for his life as the entire bar started throwing food, knives, bottles, and darts at him.
"Wow, tough crowd." West said.
Ven shrugged. "It's a bad guy bar. What'd you expect?"
At that moment, a barmaid came up to their table. "What's your pleasure, mates?"
"Don't suppose I could get a glass of milk?" Sora asked. The barmaid raised her eyebrow at that, as Basil rolled his eyes.
"Uh, I'll have a dry sherry with a twist of-" Dawson began, but Basil clamped his hand over his mouth before turning to the barmaid.
"Pints for me and my shipmates," he said in a gruff voice. "Oh, by the way, we just got into port. We're looking for an old friend of mine. Maybe you know him. Goes by the name...of Ratigan!"
At the mention of Ratigan, the barmaid gasped, as well as several patrons and the pianist, all of them looking at Basil in shock.
"Uh, well..." said the barmaid, clearly hiding something, "I've never heard of him."
She walked away at that, and Basil smiled, pleased at the reaction.
"We're definitely on to something here," Riku whispered.
Hikari turned to Sora. "When the barmaid comes back with the drinks, you're not having any," she whispered.
Sora nodded. "Not after the sake incident. (1)"
"You don't drink any either, Nixe," Sï'Lea said.
As they whispered, the pianist started another song, and the curtains opened to reveal a salamander on a unicycle, struggling to balance a huge frog on his shoulders. The patrons immediately started booing again, once again throwing food and weapons at the stage as the salamander and frog quickly dashed off.
"Definitely a tough crowd." Aqua said.
A knife struck the piano as the pianist began the third act, and the patrons were already armed with knives, darts, and one with an ax, ready to throw them at whoever was next.
But when the curtain opened, the patrons all lowered their weapons at the sight of a pretty female mouse, wearing a blue tank top, purple skirt, and pink shawl.
"Dear friends, dear gentlemen," she said. "Listen to my song." With that, she began to strut about onstage while singing, and the patrons were absolutely mesmerized. Basil was the only one uninterested, turning to the bar to see the barmaid whisper something in the bartender's ear, with the bartender discreetly pouring the contents of some kind of vial into the pints meant for Basil's table.
"So that's it," Aqua said, disgusted at the patrons staring at the woman. "It's a crowd of perverts."
"Well, she is a good singer." Ven said uncertainly.
At that very moment, the lady mouse, still singing, moved behind the curtain as a band joined in on her song. The curtain pulled back, revealing the lady mouse had been joined by two others, these ones wearing pink dresses.
As she continued singing, the first lady mouse put on black leather gloves, removed her shawl, and ripped her skirt off, revealing her garter. The patrons all started whistling and howling.
"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed, shocked, and Kairi and Hikari promptly covered his eyes. West did the same to Riku, Sï'Lea did the same to Nixe, and Goofy did the same to Max before covering his own, while Lea, Donald, and Mickey covered their own eyes.
Donald snickered and tried to sneak a peek between his fingers, but Aqua leaned over and bonked him on the head with her fist.
"None of that," she said. Donald grumbled as he covered his eyes back up.
"Why is this a thing?" Nixe asked, disgusted. "Why?"
At that moment, the barmaid returned with several mugs of beer.
"Here you go," she said. "It's on the house."
"How very generous," said Dawson.
Considering what he had seen the bartender pour into the beers, and the generous offer, Basil was quite suspicious. He dipped a finger in the beer and took a small taste, confirming his suspicions.
"Don't touch these," he whispered. "These drinks have been..." he turned to see that Dawson had already drained his mug.
"Drugged!" he finished, panicked. The others quickly pushed their beers away.
Dawson hiccupped. "Has a rather nice bite to it."
"Oh, this is just great," Sora said. "He's out of it."
Riku grabbed Dawson and shook him. "Dawson, snap out of it, man!"
Basil was about to cut in, but then he heard the sound of a peg-legged figure approaching.
"And there's our peg-legged adversary," he said.
Riku turned to him. "Fidget's here?"
Basil gestured over to the bar, and sure enough, Fidget was sitting there. He was mesmerized by the dancers and hadn't noticed Basil or the others yet.
"It's him!" Aqua exclaimed.
"Now we just need to follow him to Ratigan's lair," said Basil, turning back to them, only to notice someone was missing. "Where's Dawson?"
Sora looked back to the stage. "Oh, no..."
Everyone looked over to the stage, and Dawson was on stage with the dancers.
"Blast it..." Riku muttered. "We don't have time for this."
As the song finished, Dawson drunkenly stumbled off of the stage and landed right on the piano, crushing it. The angry pianist grabbed a wooden board and tried to hit Dawson with it, but Dawson slumped down, causing the pianist to miss and hit a large, muscle-bound patron instead.
Furious, the big patron grabbed the pianist by the neck and tried to punch him, but the pianist managed to slip away, resulting in the patron's punch missing and hitting the piano with such force that it crashed into the band members, sending them and Dawson flying in separate directions. That was all it took; a full-on bar brawl broke out at that.
"Oh, this is just perfect!" Riku snapped.
Basil jumped up. "Get to the bar! I'll get Dawson!"
"On it!" Hikari shouted.
As the bar fight raged on, Sora and the others dashed over to the bar, while Basil helped Dawson up and over to the bar. By the time they got there, however, Fidget had disappeared.
"Where'd he go?!" Riku demanded.
"Over here!" Basil shouted, jumping over the bar and pulling up a trapdoor. "Quickly, there's not a moment to lose!"
They all slipped into the trapdoor, with Basil right behind them. Basil shut the door just as a chair flew over the bar, narrowly missing them.
Ratigan's Hideout
Within the passageway, they saw Fidget up ahead, singing the mouse dancer's song to himself, climbing into a drain pipe. Basil motioned to the others to follow him, and they crept over to the pipe, seeing Fidget disappear into the darkness.
"Follow me," Basil said, climbing into the pipe, the others following.
"Ugh!" Max griped as they climbed down the pipe. "This is disgusting!"
Basil shushed him as they went down the pipe.
"I can't see a thing, Basil," Riku said. "Do you even know where we're going?"
"But of course!" Basil replied.
-X-
Before long, they emerged out of the grate, and quickly realized they had reached their destination.
"We've found it!" Basil declared excitedly. "Ratigan's secret lair!
He climbed out and held the grate open for the others. "And it's even filthier than I imagined." He added.
They climbed out and crept over to the barrel, and Riku stopped, noticing the bottle Olivia was trapped in. Olivia was curled up inside, apparently asleep.
"Over there!" he whispered, pointing over to the bottle. They quickly rushed over to the bottle, Basil trying to pull out the cork as Riku and Dawson went over to the side.
"Olivia?" Riku said, tapping on the glass. "It's us. Are you alright?"
Olivia turned around to face them, revealing it wasn't Olivia at all, but Fidget in her clothing. Riku and Dawson gasped and recoiled at that.
"It's a trap!" shouted Hikari.
"SURPRISE!" shouted several voices, and they all jumped in surprise as a banner that read "Welcome Basil!" unfurled from the ceiling. Balloons were released and confetti flew as Ratigan's thugs, as well as Pete and Mortimer, emerged from the shadows, applauding, and Ratigan himself emerged from the barrel, applauding himself.
"Bravo! Bravo! A marvelous performance!" he cheered as he approached them, smirking. Basil glared at him with pure hatred as Ratigan pulled out a pocket watch.
"Though frankly, I expected you all fifteen minutes earlier," he said. "Trouble with the chemistry set, old boy?"
Basil stiffened, before calming down. "Ratigan, no one can have a higher opinion than you than I have," he said in an almost friendly tone, and then he dropped it, glaring at Ratigan. "And I think you're a slimy, contemptible sewer rat!"
Ratigan calmly shut his pocket watch and put it away, chuckling. "By the way, I just love your disguise, Basil," he said, before angrily ripping his false mustache clean off.
They all glared at him as Ratigan started to inspect Basil's hat and nudge him, all while Basil seethed. "Really, one would hardly recognize you," he said mockingly. "The greatest detective in all mousedom!" He cracked up laughing at that.
Finally, Basil could no longer take it. "Ratigan," he spat. "So help me... I'll see you behind bars yet!"
At that, Ratigan angrily got in Basil's face. "You fool!" he shouted, grabbing Basil by the collar and shaking him. "You just don't get it, do you?! The superior mind has triumphed! I've won!"
He dropped Basil and laughed even louder, and his goons joined in. Basil tried to steel himself against the jeering and pointing, but soon slumped and hung his head, utterly defeated.
-X-
A few moments later, Sora and the others were dangling by their wrists with rope off to the side as several of Ratigan's thugs, having tied Basil and Dawson to a mousetrap, set the trap. Ratigan stood before the Keybearers.
"You were so easy to subdue, boy," he said to Sora. "And Maleficent is afraid of you?"
Sora glared at him. "You only 'subdued' us because of your trap, Ratigan. You couldn't take me in a real fight."
"You couldn't take any of us in a real fight, you ugly old rat!" West added.
Ratigan glared at her. "I suggest you hold your tongue, girl... before you lose it." He said, deadly calm.
"You don't scare me!" West shot back.
"Bah!" Ratigan turned away. "I would kill you all here if Maleficent didn't want that honor for herself. Nonetheless, I have more pressing matters to attend to." With that, he went over to Basil and Dawson, just as his goons finished setting the trap. Dawson flinched as the trap vibrated, while Basil was practically catatonic, simply staring off into space.
"Ooooh, I wanna kick his rat butt," West griped.
"We'll get that chance," Sora said. "First, we gotta figure a way out of this."
As this was going on, Ratigan looked down at Basil and Dawson. "You don't know what a delightful dilemma it was, trying to decide on the most appropriate method for your demise." he said. "I had so many ingenious ideas, I didn't know which to choose... so I decided to use them all."
Everyone looked at the entirety of the death trap, revealing a human-sized revolver, crossbow, and axe all aimed directly at the mousetrap, and a massive anvil hanging directly above it.
Ratigan chuckled evilly. "Marvelous, isn't it?"
"Overly complicated much?" Nixe quipped.
"Yeah, seriously," said West. "All that just for one guy?"
Ratigan stole a glare at them over his shoulder. "I don't remember asking you for input," he replied, before turning back to Basil. "Now, let me show you how it works. Picture this."
He gestured to a nearby record player, where Fidget stood, and where a cord was tied, leading to a cork that was propping up a wine glass with a metal ball inside, complete with a slide constructed of wood and pipes leading from below the ball to the mousetrap's trigger mechanism.
"First, a sprightly little tune I've recorded especially for you," Ratigan explained. "As the song plays, the cord tightens, and when the song ends, the metal ball is released, rolling down its merry way until..."
As he continued, Ratigan gestured to the mousetrap, gun, crossbow, axe, and anvil in that order.
"Snap. Boom. Twang. Thunk." He spread out his arms dramatically. "SPLAT!"
Everyone winced at that, as Ratigan mockingly removed his hat. "And so ends the short, undistinguished career of Basil of Baker Street..." he gestured to Sora's crew, "with these would-be heroes as witnesses."
"Why, you dirty, rotten..." Hikari began under her breath.
"You're despicable!" Dawson exclaimed. "You won't get away with this."
Ratigan scoffed. "So you say."
Fidget ran up to him at that, dressed in a guard's uniform, along with Pete and Mortimer.
"Is everything ready?" he asked.
Fidget nodded. "All set, boss."
Several more of Ratigan's thugs, dressed in the same guard uniform, pushed over a large white box with a pink ribbon. Ratigan peeked inside and chuckled evilly.
"Oh, this is wicked!" he declared. "So delightfully wicked!"
The thugs moved the package as Ratigan went over to Hiram, bound and gagged, standing by Olivia's bottle. Olivia was back inside the bottle, safe and sound.
"Mr. Flaversham, let me congratulate you on a superb piece of craftsmanship," he said, knocking on the glass. "See what you can do with the proper motivation?"
He cackled and pinched Hiram's cheek as more of his disguised thugs climbed onto Felicia's back. "You all know the plan."
"Right, Professor," the thugs said, saluting, and Felicia meowed as she trotted off. Ratigan turned back to Basil.
"It was my fond hope to stay and witness your final scene, but you were fifteen minutes late," he said. "And I do have an important engagement at... Buckingham Palace."
Dawson looked at him with confusion, not understanding, as did the others.
"Do remember to smile for the camera, will you?" he said, gesturing to the side, where a camera was indeed set up, ready to shoot a picture.
"You fiend!" Dawson shouted.
"You're sick!" Ven added.
Ratigan shrugged as he went over to the record player. "Sorry, chubby," he said. "You and those meddlesome brats should've chosen your friends more carefully."
He started the record, as Pete and Mortimer went over to Sora and the others.
"So long, suckers," Mortimer said, smirking.
"And don't think it ain't been nice knowin' ya," said Pete, "'cause it ain't been."
Nixe glared at them. "When we get out of here, we're gonna beat you black and blue."
Mortimer chuckled. "You mean, if you get out."
"Oh, we will," Riku replied.
"Keep telling yourself that." said Pete.
At that moment, Fidget came out, flying a dirigible, to which the mysterious package was attached by a rope. A rope ladder came down, and Ratigan, Pete, and Mortimer all climbed on.
"Goodbye!" Ratigan declared, waving mockingly as they flew off into the night.
"Buckingham Palace?" Sora said. "What business does he have there?"
Basil sighed, seemingly unconcerned. "Oh, haven't you figured it out yet?" he asked. "The Queen's in danger, and the empire's doomed."
Everyone gasped.
"The Queen?!" Dawson asked, horrified.
Buckingham Palace
Outside the palace, "Rule Britannia" played on trumpets as well-dressed mice gathered outside to see the Diamond Jubilee.
Inside her bedroom, Queen Mousetoria was preparing herself, only to be distracted by a knock on her door. She adjusted her crown before answering.
"Come in!" she shouted, and in came some of her guards, pushing the package Ratigan had prepared. Unbeknownst to the Queen, the guards were actually Ratigan's thugs in disguise.
"Begging your pardon, Your Majesty, but a present has just arrived in honor of your Jubilee," one of them said.
"A present?" the Queen said, delighted. "Oh, how wonderful!"
Another guard, actually a disguised Fidget, handed her the attached note. The Queen eyed him suspiciously for a moment, before opening the note and reading it.
"'To our beloved Queen, this gift we send, as her 60 year reign...'" she read the last line in puzzlement, "'...comes to an end'?"
Fidget and the thugs pulled the ribbons and sides of the box down to reveal what Ratigan had forced Hiram to make: an exact robotic replica of the Queen. She gasped, and studied it closely.
"How extraordinary!" she said, only to be shocked when the robot came to life and grabbed at the Queen, chasing her around the bedroom as she screamed.
Suddenly, the robot halted, and the door opened again to reveal Ratigan, Hiram operating the controls behind him.
"Amazing likeness, isn't it, Your Majesty?" he asked. The Queen glared at him.
"Professor Ratigan?!" she exclaimed, before looking at her guards and pointing to him. "Guards! Seize this despicable creature!"
Fidget and the guards merely snickered, as Ratigan held up a speaker and spoke into it, the robot Queen mimicking his words.
"Guards, seize this despicable creature!" he said, laughing into the speaker, the robot mimicking him as well. His thugs promptly grabbed the Queen and dragged her off.
"Let go of me, you ruffians!" she shouted, struggling all the while.
Ratigan's Hideout
Back at Ratigan's hideout, Sora and the gang was still reeling from the revelation of Ratigan's plot, while Basil had still made no effort to free anyone. Olivia tried in vain to get out of the bottle, as the song was reaching its end.
"We've gotta do something!" Aqua said.
Basil ignored them, sighing. "Oh, how could I have been so blind?"
West winced. "Oh, you've gotta be freaking kidding me!"
"Ratigan's proved he's more clever than I," Basil lamented. "He would never have fallen for such an obvious trap..."
"Basil, pull yourself together!" Sora shouted. "We all make mistakes!"
Basil brushed them off as he continued bemoaning his failure. "Oh, it's finally happened. I've been outwitted. Outsmarted. Duped!"
"For God's sake, Basil!" Hikari said. "Snap out of it!"
"C'mon, Basil!" Aqua said. "Your queen is in danger. Olivia's counting on us. You're about to be squashed like a bug. And all you can do is sit there feeling sorry for yourself!"
"They're right, Basil!" Dawson said, now annoyed. "I know you can save us, but if you've given up, then why don't we just set the trap off now and be done with it?!"
Basil gave a weak chuckle. "'Set it off now,'" he said. His eyes widened, realizing something. "Set it... off... now?"
He began chuckling, as the others looked at him, horrified. "Yeah! That's it!" Basil exclaimed. "We'll set the trap off now!"
"What?!" Sï'Lea exclaimed. "Are you nuts?!"
"He's lost his mind!" West said.
At that moment, the song ended, and the ball started rolling.
"Uh-oh!" Goofy said, seeing it. "This is it!"
Basil, now back to his confident self, began muttering to himself as the ball came closer. The most the others could make out from his muttering was "The angle of the trajectory multiplied by the square root of an isosceles triangle...", "dividing Guttermeg's principle of opposing forces in motion...", and "and adjusting for the difference in equilibrium..."
"Dawson, at the exact moment I tell you, we must release the triggering mechanism!" he declared.
"What?" Lea shouted. "Are you crazy?!"
Dawson gulped, but nonetheless nodded as the ball got closer.
"Get ready, Dawson..." Basil said, watching the ball. "Steady... NOW!"
They sprung the mousetrap, which caught on the ball, and set off a chain reaction.
The vibration of the trap loosened one of the pegs, which ricocheted towards the gun, knocking it upwards. The gun fired, hitting the crossbow, which, instead of hitting Basil and Dawson, fired at the axe, slicing off the top of the axe and then cutting through the Keybearers' bindings. The axe then fell lengthwise, cutting through the mousetrap and sending Basil and Dawson out of harm's way as the anvil fell, narrowly missing them.
The force of the anvil hitting the ground rattled Olivia's bottle, popping the cork and sending Olivia flying out. Riku quickly jumped and caught her as Basil composed himself and changed into his hat and coat. He put his arm around Dawson.
"Thank you, Dawson," he said happily, and as everyone reached him, he pulled them together in front of the camera. "Smile, everyone!"
At that very moment, the camera went off, capturing Basil's brilliant smile and the others' stunned expressions.
"Uhhh..." said Max, bewildered. "What just happened?"
"I... don't know," said Mickey. Olivia hugged Riku.
"Oh, Riku, I knew you'd find me," she said. "I was so scared..."
"It's okay," Riku said, patting her head. "We're gonna get your dad back, and put Ratigan away."
"Come now!" Basil said. "We must be off! Not a moment to lose!"
"Uh, just one second." said Sora.
Basil sighed. "What?"
Sora gestured to his sailor costume. "Let's take these stupid costumes off first."
Author's Note:
(1): An incident that will be revealed in the next chapter of Chronicles of Wutai.
Again, thanks to Kristen Verne for RP'ing this chapter with me and helping me work it out.
Please R&R. Until next time!