The Mouse Watch, Volume 1

by J. J. Gilbert

  She followed Alph and the others as they rounded the corner of a walkway, which looked out over a vast chamber. Crouching low so that he wouldn’t be seen, Jarvis indicated the enormous metal vat on the far side of the room. Bernie noticed something else and gasped. On a nearby platform just above them were a hundred gleaming white drones. The Mouse Watch’s stolen fleet! The doctor’s formula flowed through long tubes that were connected to each drone. When those drones flew over the city, it would turn every person in the city—or as far as the drones could fly—into a rat-obeying zombie.

  Bernie noticed that a group of lab rats in white coats was patrolling the area.

  “We need a diversion,” said Alph. She turned to other agents. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. Jarvis and Bernie will deliver the antidote to the tank while we distract the guards. Who’s up for some fun?”

  The other agents nodded without hesitation. Bernie couldn’t help but admire their courage. From the smallest to the tallest, they were all truly the bravest mice ever born.

  Alph spotted a large, human-size crowbar. It took several agents to lift it. After they hoisted it aloft, she called out to the guards in a voice that was loud and daring, “HEY! You guys looking for a fight?”

  Five goggled heads turned in her direction. Together, the agents tossed the crowbar down below. The surprised rats barely managed to scamper away before it hit the tiles with a reverberating CLANG!

  Alph leaped down the remaining stairs to the platform with a crowd of roaring agents behind her, all yelling “FOR THE WATCH!” at the top of their lungs.

  Bernie watched as they bravely ran into danger. She tried to reassure herself by remembering that Alph and her team had probably done this hundreds of times.

  “Come on, now’s our chance!” hissed Jarvis. He indicated a nearby drone. Reaching into his pocket, he took out the Mouse Watch Drone Summoner that he’d gotten at the EEK. He pressed the button and the drone took off, racing toward the source of the signal. Seconds later, it made a perfect landing right next to them.

  “Let’s hop in that thing and get over to the vat,” Bernie said. The two of them ran over to the vehicle as fast as they could. Jarvis had clambered inside and Bernie was about to go in, too, when a familiar voice called out: “Stop right there!”

  Bernie turned.

  It was Digit. The old Watcher wore a cruel expression and carried a dangerous-looking weapon in his paws. He aimed it at Bernie and said, “Well, well, well…a misfit mouse and a renegade rat. I have to say, I’ve taken down harder targets. Any last words?”

  “Not for you!” said Bernie. “GO!” she yelled at Jarvis. Then, without a second thought for her own safety, she launched herself at Digit.

  Whether it was because he wasn’t expecting it, or because he’d grown a little old and soft, Digit was caught off guard by Bernie’s crazed attack.

  Bernie, of course, didn’t know any cool fighting moves. She didn’t even know how to throw a single kick or a punch! But, just like she’d done with the terrier in Union Station, she knew that sometimes the best way to face a threat is to show no fear at all. She roared at the top of her lungs, and for a split second doubt flashed across Digit’s eyes. He stumbled backward, tripping on one of the fuel lines connected to the nearest drone.

  As he fell backward, Bernie saw something attached to his belt. It was the zip-line grappling hook he’d been carrying on her very first day. She couldn’t believe it had only been the day before!

  Without a second thought she grabbed it, and then, thinking fast, she shot the zip line up to the drone that Jarvis was flying. It caught on the drone’s landing gear and immediately whisked Bernie up into the air. But just as she was being pulled upward, she felt an iron grip on her ankle, yanking her back.

  Looking down, Bernie saw Digit hanging below her with a ferocious grin on his face. The weight of the bulky mouse made her leg feel like it was being pulled out of its socket. She kicked and struggled but nothing she could do would shake him loose.

  As Jarvis tried to pilot the wobbling drone toward the vat, Bernie felt herself swinging wildly. The sky around her spun dizzily, and the ground seemed to be miles below, plus the pain in her leg was growing unbearable! Even though they were high up in the air, Digit just wouldn’t let go!

  She gulped and held on for dear life as the speeding vehicle zoomed around the huge laboratory. She caught a glimpse of the floor below, noting that Alph and the Mouse Watch agents were battling hard with the R.A.T.S. Beakers of colorful, glowing chemicals crashed to the floor.

  Suddenly, the vat swung into view, bubbling with the doctor’s orange formula. Bernie was losing her grip with the added weight, and she feared that she was going to fall at any moment. As Jarvis tried to steady the pitching drone, Bernie heard him call down, “Bernie! I feel bad about something!”

  “Jarvis, it’s okay to break the rules this one time,” she shouted back.

  “No, I mean, I should have gone with you back at the ferry. I…I chickened out and I wanted to say I’m sorry! I still tried to help you, though.”

  “Don’t be sorry! I’m the one who’s sorry! I never should have doubted you!” Bernie called to him. Her hands were slipping now. She knew that if she died, at least she would have mended everything. “You’re one of us, Jarvis. I hope you know that I know that now. And…more importantly, you’re my friend!”

  Jarvis beamed down at her as he removed something from his pocket. It was a small bottle with a red cap. Inside of it was a liquid that Bernie couldn’t identify. “Hey, Bernie?” said Jarvis.

  “What?” said Bernie.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “I’m swinging from a plane you’re flying!” said Bernie. “I think the answer is yes!” Her arms were really hurting now and her leg was hurting even more. Digit was laughing maniacally as he began to pull himself upward, using Bernie’s leg like a rope.

  Jarvis unscrewed the cap of the little bottle. “If you trust me, then DUCK!”

  Jarvis took careful aim and shook the bottle. Bernie did as she was told, and as she turned her head away, she saw a drop of something from the bottle shoot past her. It wasn’t one of Thornpaw’s chemicals.

  It wasn’t even something from the EEK.

  Whatever it was, the bright red juice flew right into Digit’s open, laughing mouth. His eyes grew wide. He sputtered and coughed. He reacted like he’d been stung, and with a yelp of pain, he released Bernie’s leg and fell down, down, down into the bubbling vat of orange liquid below.

  “Ahhh!” he cried, and then, “Mmm, it tastes like cheese, too!” Digit sputtered and flailed as he tried to slurp up the doctor’s secret formula.

  “What was that?” shouted Bernie.

  “TABASCO SAUCE!” Jarvis yelled happily.

  Bernie could hardly believe it! Without the added weight pulling her down, she scampered up the zip line to the cockpit. After Jarvis pulled her in, he said, “I hope they won’t mind that I borrowed it from the kitchen at HQ.”

  She gave him a hug.

  It turned out, rats gave great hugs.

  “I’m sure they won’t! Now hurry! Drop the antidote!”

  Jarvis quickly dumped the vial of blue liquid into the insidious brew.

  “There it goes!” he said. The vial turned the entire mixture from orange to purple, and as the mist from Gadget’s spray filled the air, Digit’s eyes closed. The wicked mouse stopped struggling as Gadget’s Sleep Spray slowly took its effect, and he released a loud snore.

  “We did it!” shouted Bernie.

  “Well, what do we do now?” Jarvis asked.

  “Well, I’m hoping New York HQ got the homing signal from my hair clip and that agents are on their way here to help us get Thornpaw and clean up this mess. But just in case…”

  Jarvis shot her a worried glance.

  “Listen, Jarvis, he killed my brother. I need to confront Thornpaw face-to-face. I promise I’m not being impulsive, I’m just doing what’s right. I need to do this
, Jarvis. Please?”

  Jarvis held the control stick of the drone for a second and stared straight ahead out the cockpit window. Then he turned to Bernie and said in a firm, supportive voice, “I’m in,” and added, “But where is he? I didn’t see him anywhere in the lab.”

  “I know where we’ll find him. Where’s the Bluetooth system on this thing?”

  Jarvis indicated the touch screen next to the navigation system. Bernie did a quick search for any transmitting signals and squealed in delight when HAIRCLIP77 popped up for pairing. She selected it, and moments later a blue dot showed exactly where the homing beacon was located.

  “He’s there!” shouted Bernie.

  Jarvis did a sharp turn and sent the drone speeding in the direction of the flashing dot. They flew along the long laboratory corridor and down a sprawl of equipment-laden storage rooms, coming eventually to a richly appointed, human-size office. Thankfully, the door was open a tiny crack, but it was just big enough for the drone to fit through. Inside they saw the rat they were looking for.

  Thornpaw watched the approach of the buzzing drone with a surprised look on his face. Jarvis swept down within a foot or so of where he stood, and he grabbed the handset for the P.A. system.

  “Give it up, Thornpaw. We have you,” Jarvis said.

  Now that they were close, Thornpaw could see who was piloting the vehicle. His scarred face split into a wide, yellow-toothed grin. Bernie then noticed with a horrible sinking feeling that several of the New York agents were tied up in chairs, waiting to inhale whatever foul, mind-altering chemical it was that the doctor had concocted.

  Bernie gasped when she saw the major, one of the toughest agents she’d met so far, tied up and first in line. The doctor had overpowered her, and he didn’t seem to have endured the slightest scratch! The major, on the other hand, had two black eyes and one of her wrists hung limply by her side.

  Seeing a hero who spent her life fighting to protect others tied up filled Bernie with rage.

  “You’re going to pay for this!” shouted Bernie.

  Thornpaw’s grin spread even wider when he saw the look of hatred wash over Bernie’s face. He removed a cloth from his pocket and casually wiped down the razor-sharp blades of his claw. “I’ll enjoy this,” he said.

  A feeling of pure rage consumed Bernie. She didn’t really realize what she was doing. She heard Jarvis somewhere in the background, shouting as she leaped from the drone and flew down the three-foot drop toward the evil doctor, landing perfectly on all four paws. All she could think about at that moment was Brody. She could see his kind and gentle face more clearly than ever in her mind as she switched on her goggles and grabbed the sonic blaster that Alph had given her.

  “This is for Brody!” she shouted.

  She was oblivious to her own danger as she fell directly on top of the doctor, knocking him to the ground. She pounded him with her little fists and kicked him with her feet. She bit and scratched. She was far more animal than intelligent mouse right then, but all she could see was red.

  She took the blaster in paw and was about to fire it when Thornpaw’s giant metal claw knocked it out of her paw with a quick, well-aimed strike. Her heart sank as she heard the sonic weapon clatter away in the distance.

  The doctor laughed.

  Bernie realized that Thornpaw wasn’t hurt at all from her wild attack. The villain vaulted skyward, using his hydraulic legs to his advantage. “You little fool.” He laughed. “You really think that you could take on an evolutionary marvel like myself?”

  Bernie was breathing hard. She was frustrated. She was angry. Her tail was stiff as a knitting needle.

  And, unfortunately for her, Thornpaw’s mechanical enhancements gave him a significant advantage when fighting any ordinary mouse. The doctor leaped at her and slashed out with his claw.

  Bernie’s goggles alerted her in the nick of time. The warning was just enough for her to duck the swipe, but she wasn’t fast enough to avoid it entirely. She felt a searing pain in her shoulder as she tumbled to the ground. It wasn’t enough to completely disable her, but it hurt terribly.

  The doctor executed a perfect landing and paused, a gloating expression on his face as he saw Bernie gripping her wounded shoulder.

  “I’ve fought enemies much larger than you, Bernie Skampersky. In fact”—he chuckled—“they were ALL larger than you. In what world do you think a tiny, helpless mouse like yourself could defeat me? I am more than a rat. I am the future!”

  The doctor loomed over Bernie and raised his cruel claw, about to strike.

  This is it, thought Bernie. This is where I die just like Brody.

  She closed her eyes tight, anticipating the killing blow.

  But then, a loud, ear-shattering CLANG! stopped the doctor’s claw in midair.

  To Thornpaw and Bernie’s surprise, a zip-line cable had appeared from nowhere and wrapped itself around the doctor in one well-aimed shot.

  “What?” squawked the doctor.

  Bernie saw Jarvis holding the other end of Digit’s invention, with a look of sheer determination on his face. He’d left the drone on autopilot, leaping down from it to stand right beside her.

  “Nobody talks to my friend that way!” shouted Jarvis. “She may be small, but she’s MIGHTY!”

  “Good job, Jarvis!” shouted Bernie, shaking with relief. And then, Bernie did something that she’d never done before. It was something that at one time she would have considered unthinkable.

  She placed her finger on the side of her goggles and said to the A.I. interface, “Help! We’ve got Thornpaw. We need backup!”

  “Idiots!” shouted Thornpaw. “You think that this stupid cable can hold me?” Bernie’s eyes widened with alarm as she saw a metal saw emerge from the back of his claw and begin to spin, lowering toward the metal cable that had him trapped.

  “Don’t even try it!” came a chorus of new voices.

  Thornpaw glanced down and saw a dozen laser sights dancing on his chest. Behind Bernie and Jarvis was a team of Mouse Watch agents, their blue goggles glowing and grim expressions on their brave faces.

  Thornpaw’s arrogant expression faded. It was clear that, for the first time, the evil doctor was facing certain defeat. The blade stopped spinning and returned to a hidden compartment in his metal claw.

  Bernie, battered and bruised, clutched her wounded shoulder and shared a smile with Jarvis.

  They had done it.

  And, more importantly, they’d accomplished the impossible by working together. Never again would Bernie question Jarvis’s loyalty. As she looked up at him, she saw something in his face and expression, something that reminded her of someone she’d known very, very well.

  As Jarvis gazed down at her with his warm brown eyes, she didn’t see a rat anymore. She saw someone who looked, surprisingly, an awful lot like Brody.

  “You can call me small but mighty anytime you want to,” said Bernie shyly.

  Jarvis grinned and said, “Thanks. And you can call me anything you want to, except for one thing.”

  “Oh?” asked Bernie. “What’s that?”

  “Late for dinner,” said Jarvis, grinning even more broadly. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving!”

  Bernie had, of course, heard the saying that New York is “the city that never sleeps.” That’s why it was such a strange sight to see the entire city actually snoring. The population was sprawled out in a dreamless sleep, and, upon waking, would remember none of this nightmare, all thanks to Gadget Hackwrench.

  While the human citizens slept, Bernie, Jarvis, and the rest of the Mouse Watch agents helped restore all that had been damaged under Dr. Thornpaw’s brief but terrible reign.

  Bernie and Jarvis worked as a team the whole time. Gadget herself emerged from her secret workshop to oversee the entire operation, carefully making sure that everything was put back exactly how it was, right down to the last lightbulb. Bernie’s jaw dropped to the ground when Chip and Dale showed up to help, too!
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  The mood was jubilant. Everyone felt relieved that the mission had been accomplished and that the sleeping citizens’ nightmares were finally over. When the people of New York City awoke, they would never know that somewhere, locked away in a very special fortified prison dedicated to the most nefarious of R.A.T.S. criminals, Dr. Thornpaw resided. He even had a new name. The nefarious villain was no longer a doctor of any kind, but instead simply known as inmate number 206.

  The number was stitched onto the pocket of his prison jumpsuit.

  It was a fate better than he deserved in many agents’ opinions, but Gadget had made sure that the prison was outfitted with the latest in security technology and assured the agents that no one, not even an evil genius, could break free. And Thornpaw was hardly that.

  The rest of Thornpaw’s lab rats had given up quickly after their leader had been apprehended and were now in a minimum-security jail. The Mouse Watch believed in rehabilitation when possible, and they held out hope that the rats would mend their evil ways.

  They all felt that if one rat could change sides and join the Mouse Watch, maybe others could, too.

  When New York City was back to normal, the S.W.I.S.S. was waiting to take everyone back to California. Jarvis wasn’t thrilled at the idea, but when he was offered a special motion-sickness capsule designed by Gadget for people of a more “delicate” constitution, he happily accepted it.

  Bernie was relieved to be going back home. She missed her parents and wanted to tell them all about the amazing things that had happened. While they waited at the platform for the S.W.I.S.S. to arrive, she asked Jarvis a question she’d been wondering about.

  “Hey, Jarvis?”

  “Hmm?”

  “You’ve never told me anything about your family,” said Bernie.

  Jarvis got a faraway look in his eyes. He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “There’s really not that much to tell. I had seven brothers and sisters and they all joined the R.A.T.S. We were poor and nearly starving. They do a lot of recruiting in our neighborhood, promising a better life, food, and shelter. When you’ve been a rat digging around in the garbage most of your life, it can sound pretty good at face value. I didn’t believe it, of course, but my brothers and sisters did. I wouldn’t have ever joined except…”