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PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION BEFORE READING THIS STORYBIT!

"We've got a big problem, Scarlet!" the voice of Ludwig Von Drake panicked into Mickey's ear, and the mouse had to struggle not to yell 'Gee, ya think?!' Not that he could respond to the microchip in his ear right now anyway… his attention had to be given all over the place. First, to Minnie, who was still sitting on the stage, wiggling her way out of the ropes around her wrists. Second, to the fire that was devouring the musty building, with planks of wood falling from the ceiling as they could no longer be supported. Third, and most directly, was Mortimer, and the sword fight that was ensuing between mouse and rat. Whatever problem Ludwig and Gyro were having, it would have to wait.

Yet Ludwig continued, and to add onto the problems, his voice was fading in and out. "Someone's trying to hack into our systems! We might lose communication with you, just hang  -" The sentence was cut off by a harsh sounding buzz, making Mickey visibly wince. Shaking his head, he managed to successfully block Mortimer's blows as they came. Though the rat was taller and had slightly more strength to him, Mickey had considerably more skill and determination. It was a matter of time, but with the fire continuing to build, time was something he couldn't afford.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you!" The classic cheesy line was growled by the taller one, gripping both hands on his sword, as both blades were now locked together, both men pressing hard against each other. "If you give up now, I won't even tell that you ran away with your tail between your legs!"

"You're not even worth my time!" Mickey shot out his leg, kicking Mortimer hard in the stomach, and sending the taller one flat on his back. "I'll only leave you be when you swear to leave the Duchess alone!" It was difficult not to fall into his usual dialect with the heat and exhaustion growing around him, but this would be an awfully bad time for his identity to be revealed. If Mortimer just gave up now, everything could go a lot smoother. A promise, a swear, that was all Mickey needed, and would be satisfied with that alone.

So he thought, until a piercing scream hit the both of them.

Both male heads turned toward the stage, where the fire had now completely engulfed the acting arena. The floor beneath Minnie's feet could no longer support her, and in a devastating crash, it collapsed beneath her, and she fell downward, vanishing before their eyes. Before the horror of that could even begin to sink, more plants of the ceiling tumbled down, falling into the hole, possibly crushing whatever lay beneath there. Not even her screams could be heard anymore, over the roar of the flames and the continued collapse of the building.

Not even Mickey's scream could be heard, as he scrambled towards the destroyed stage, ignoring whatever fell onto his path and ignoring the burns that would appear on his body. He managed to climb onto the ruins of the stage and look down the hole… but there was only sheer darkness. No basement, no lower portion of a hidden stage, no trap doors… just a bottomless hole that could go onto forever. That was where his Minnie had fallen.

Mortimer, however, had no such fears or concerns, beginning to get back on his feet. Only now had he realized the danger he had put himself in, as he had set this ablaze, and looked around for an escape. To his fortune, he could see past the burning chairs that the doors were still intact. With relief, he began to run up the aisle, glad he would soon be able to put this whole night of humiliation behind him.

~*~

"Ludwig, what's going on?" Gyro couldn't look for himself, his fingers flying over dozens of keyboards, doing his best to keep the hacker at bay. Whoever this attacker was, they were very skilled, and there was a good chance that the secret lair in the clock tower would be exposed. Yet he had heard the Duchess screaming as well, for although they could not communicate with Mickey, they could still hear and see everything that was going on within the theater. Hidden cameras were all throughout France, but Gyro couldn't afford to look up for even a second for sake of missing a keystroke.

With some foreign swearing under Ludwig's beak, the duck was beating on another keyboard, while also pulling and pushing on a joystick, while slamming the button for the microphone over and over again. The dozens of screens above their heads flashed different angles of the burning theater, and Ludwig rapidly looked from each one to the next, his arms blurring over all the different tasks he was trying to do. "That was the Duchess! The theater's collapsing, and it took the girl with it!"

"Is she all right?" Any other time, Gyro would have realized this was a stupid question, but his mind was barely in the conversation.

"I can't tell! I can't find her!" Not for lack of trying, as Ludwig tried to move the cameras with the joystick as best he could. "And I still can't talk to the boy! He's…" It was then that his attention was back to the boy in question, and although Gyro couldn't see it, Ludwig's already white feathered face began to pale further. "Oh… no."

Gyro nearly threw a keyboard in his agitation, snapping harsher than he meant to. "What in the world is going on, Von Drake?!"

Getting out of Ludwig's momentary stupor, he shook his head, and nearly yanked the microphone out of its place. "Mickey! Mickey, stop!" Gyro immediately knew the seriousness of the situation, using the Scarlet's real name over the communication lines, despite the risks involved. The inventor looked up at the screens for the slightest of moments to see what the terror was, as Ludwig continued to uselessly yell at the top of his lungs. "Mickey, you'll kill him!"

~*~

In the few minutes that the birds had been talking to each other, Mortimer had been heading for the doors, when a sudden hot pain struck at the back of his left leg. It wasn't the touch of fire, but the slicing open of a sword wound. Mortimer had fallen, yelling as he clutched his leg, but the attack wouldn't wait for him to recover before creating another slice along his back. The rat quickly rolled to a side before being struck for a third time,  and as he now laid on his back, he used his blade to block a fourth blow. Standing over him stood the Scarlet, his clothes burnt, his body covered in sweat and soot…

And his eyes without a single shred of mercy.

The mouse struck again, and again, and again, not giving Mortimer even a fighting chance to stand back. Mortimer could tell now that this fight was rapidly different from the one from sheer moments before. Then, the Scarlet was trying to inflict the least amount of wounds, was playing fair and even, and was allowing Mortimer to run away unscathed. Now?

Now, as Mortimer realized in the pits of his stomach, the Scarlet was trying to kill him. The rat forced himself to speak, begging to high heaven that reason would save his life. "W-w-wait a minute! What about that oath? You know, not killing, letting police clean up after you?" It wasn't working, because the blades still danced, with the Scarlet not even flinching as he got cut as well. Once more, their blades were locked, but this time, much to Mortimer's dread, The Scarlet's 'push back' was far, far stronger. The hero wasn't holding anything back this time, and hadn't said a single word. His mouth had been closed since this revenge had begun, with not even a bite of the lip or grinding of the teeth.

"I'll turn myself in!" Mortimer tried to get his voice was loud as possible, as if volume was the problem. He cried out when his sword was forcibly yanked out of his hand, and tossed aside along with the Scarlet's. "I swear, I'll even tell them to give me a huge sentence! A hundred years! I'll do anything you want!" The pleas went unheard, as the hero's gloved hands now clung to Mortimer's neck, pinning him down, getting tighter and tighter with each beating second. Mortimer struggled to claw at his attacker, but it didn't stop the fingers pressing into his throat.

Tighter and tighter and tighter…

That harsh buzzing sound came again, followed by  " – alive! Minnie's alive! The girl is still alive, Mickey!"

A pin struck the Scarlet's balloon of anger, as he suddenly sat up, eyes wide, loosening his hands. "Huh?"

Ludwig's voice was back, and speaking as rapidly as he could make it. "I just found her! There's a canal under the theater! She landed in the water, and she's alive!"

Mortimer was instantly forgotten, and the boy broke into a sprint, racing back towards the gaping hole in the stage. Without a second thought, he jumped right into the hole, paying no attention to Mortimer, who had begun dragging himself out of the theater.

~*~

Both birds exhaled deeply in relief – not only had Ludwig managed to find the girl with their cameras and fix the communication problems, but Gyro had finally defeated the hacker.  They both collapsed on their behinds on the floor, their fingers aching. Ludwig wiped a bit of sweat from his brow, watching the screens still. "So, who was trying to hack in?"

"I haven't the faintest idea." Gyro shrugged, leaning back to watch the screens as well. "But they didn't get in far… they only saw some of our camera work. We're still safe." Adjusting his glasses, he made a nervous little chuckle. "I didn't know Mickey had 'that' in him."

Ludwig grinned, patting his chest to try and calm his still quickly beating heart. "Ah, you've never been in love, Gyro! Just you wait."

~*~

The landing in the water was rough, but Mickey had far gone past caring about pain. The canal was long, dark, and deep, with the only light coming from the planks in the water, some of which still burned brightly. It was thanks to this light that Mickey, when he had swum to the top of the water and stuck his head out to breathe, could see a stone floor to climb on top of. It appeared that this used to be a casual canal in which people would stop by to get a wooden boat ride on, but the theater had been built over it when better boats had come along. There on the stone floor lay Minnie, lying on her belly, breathing quietly in her fatigue, worn out from the night's events.

Flooded with joy, Mickey swam to the stone surface, climbing out of the water and kneeling beside the small maiden. "Minnie." He breathed, scooping her up into his arms, and pressing his face into her hair. She was okay, and all was right with the world. For the life of him, he couldn't remember what happened in the last five minutes before this moment, but it was probably unimportant. All that mattered now was hearing her breathe, hearing her heart beat, feeling her move in his embrace.

As for the duchess, she weakly opened her eyes, vision slightly blurry from her weariness. In that blurriness, she couldn't entirely make out who she was being held by. Yet she could faintly make out his eyes, tearing up in pure love, solaced in the knowledge she was all right. The eyes seemed familiar to her, even if she couldn't make out color or shape… just the very feel of their gaze on her was recognizable, somehow. Mustering up what little strength she had left, she put her hand to his cheek, for if those eyes belonged to who she thought they did, she wanted to comfort him. It pulled him in, and both pairs of eyes closed for the kiss that was to come.

It wasn't a strong kiss, or even a very passionate one, due to both ends being in deep fatigue. However, it conveyed exactly what it needed to, that each party was okay, and that was all that mattered. Minnie couldn't even last for too long of a kiss, and sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. Before she passed out entirely, she heard the one carrying her say a few words and she smiled in imagining who they could have come from.

"Je t'aime, ma petite duchesse."

~*~

Clarabelle swallowed hard, backing away from her keyboard. "I'm sorry, sir… they kicked me out. I don't think I can hack back in anytime soon." She turned to face her superiors, all gathered around the single large screen. The scene in front of them was now frozen, showing the still image of the Scarlet strangling Mortimer. Horace quickly exchanged a worried glance with Clarabelle, while Pete growled, chewing on the end of his cigar. Jonathan, however, seemed as calm as ever, sipping his tea without a care in the world.

"Well that was a whole lot of nothin'!" Pete growled, almost eating his cigar in his frustration. "All that work, and the lousy rat can't even find that stupid Scarlet's weakness!"

"Tut tut." Jonathan waved a single finger back and forth, his voice cheery and pleasant as always. "I'd say this night was very progressive."

"Whaddya mean?" Pete backed up a bit as Jonathan began to get out of his chair. "We were tryin' to see if he cares for the rich folk over the commoners, right?"

"Indeed, but we've learned something much better." Finishing the last drop of tea in his cup, the blonde human walked up to the screen, his smile growing wider the closer he got. "We were looking for a group of people to be his weakness… but instead, he's made it much easier for us. Of all the lives we've threatened, it's this particular one that's made him… lose his temper." He chuckled a little at his own understatement, delightfully amused at what was to come. "If the duchess is alive, let's give her a little time to rest…

… before we give her a formal invitation."

Description
PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION BEFORE READING THIS STORYBIT!

"We've got a big problem, Scarlet!" the voice of Ludwig Von Drake panicked into Mickey's ear, and the mouse had to struggle not to yell 'Gee, ya think?!' Not that he could respond to the microchip in his ear right now anyway… his attention had to be given all over the place. First, to Minnie, who was still sitting on the stage, wiggling her way out of the ropes around her wrists. Second, to the fire that was devouring the musty building, with planks of wood falling from the ceiling as they could no longer be supported. Third, and most directly, was Mortimer, and the sword fight that was ensuing between mouse and rat. Whatever problem Ludwig and Gyro were having, it would have to wait.

Yet Ludwig continued, and to add onto the problems, his voice was fading in and out. "Someone's trying to hack into our systems! We might lose communication with you, just hang  -" The sentence was cut off by a harsh sounding buzz, making Mickey visibly wince. Shaking his head, he managed to successfully block Mortimer's blows as they came. Though the rat was taller and had slightly more strength to him, Mickey had considerably more skill and determination. It was a matter of time, but with the fire continuing to build, time was something he couldn't afford.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you!" The classic cheesy line was growled by the taller one, gripping both hands on his sword, as both blades were now locked together, both men pressing hard against each other. "If you give up now, I won't even tell that you ran away with your tail between your legs!"

"You're not even worth my time!" Mickey shot out his leg, kicking Mortimer hard in the stomach, and sending the taller one flat on his back. "I'll only leave you be when you swear to leave the Duchess alone!" It was difficult not to fall into his usual dialect with the heat and exhaustion growing around him, but this would be an awfully bad time for his identity to be revealed. If Mortimer just gave up now, everything could go a lot smoother. A promise, a swear, that was all Mickey needed, and would be satisfied with that alone.

So he thought, until a piercing scream hit the both of them.

Both male heads turned toward the stage, where the fire had now completely engulfed the acting arena. The floor beneath Minnie's feet could no longer support her, and in a devastating crash, it collapsed beneath her, and she fell downward, vanishing before their eyes. Before the horror of that could even begin to sink, more plants of the ceiling tumbled down, falling into the hole, possibly crushing whatever lay beneath there. Not even her screams could be heard anymore, over the roar of the flames and the continued collapse of the building.

Not even Mickey's scream could be heard, as he scrambled towards the destroyed stage, ignoring whatever fell onto his path and ignoring the burns that would appear on his body. He managed to climb onto the ruins of the stage and look down the hole… but there was only sheer darkness. No basement, no lower portion of a hidden stage, no trap doors… just a bottomless hole that could go onto forever. That was where his Minnie had fallen.

Mortimer, however, had no such fears or concerns, beginning to get back on his feet. Only now had he realized the danger he had put himself in, as he had set this ablaze, and looked around for an escape. To his fortune, he could see past the burning chairs that the doors were still intact. With relief, he began to run up the aisle, glad he would soon be able to put this whole night of humiliation behind him.

~*~

"Ludwig, what's going on?" Gyro couldn't look for himself, his fingers flying over dozens of keyboards, doing his best to keep the hacker at bay. Whoever this attacker was, they were very skilled, and there was a good chance that the secret lair in the clock tower would be exposed. Yet he had heard the Duchess screaming as well, for although they could not communicate with Mickey, they could still hear and see everything that was going on within the theater. Hidden cameras were all throughout France, but Gyro couldn't afford to look up for even a second for sake of missing a keystroke.

With some foreign swearing under Ludwig's beak, the duck was beating on another keyboard, while also pulling and pushing on a joystick, while slamming the button for the microphone over and over again. The dozens of screens above their heads flashed different angles of the burning theater, and Ludwig rapidly looked from each one to the next, his arms blurring over all the different tasks he was trying to do. "That was the Duchess! The theater's collapsing, and it took the girl with it!"

"Is she all right?" Any other time, Gyro would have realized this was a stupid question, but his mind was barely in the conversation.

"I can't tell! I can't find her!" Not for lack of trying, as Ludwig tried to move the cameras with the joystick as best he could. "And I still can't talk to the boy! He's…" It was then that his attention was back to the boy in question, and although Gyro couldn't see it, Ludwig's already white feathered face began to pale further. "Oh… no."

Gyro nearly threw a keyboard in his agitation, snapping harsher than he meant to. "What in the world is going on, Von Drake?!"

Getting out of Ludwig's momentary stupor, he shook his head, and nearly yanked the microphone out of its place. "Mickey! Mickey, stop!" Gyro immediately knew the seriousness of the situation, using the Scarlet's real name over the communication lines, despite the risks involved. The inventor looked up at the screens for the slightest of moments to see what the terror was, as Ludwig continued to uselessly yell at the top of his lungs. "Mickey, you'll kill him!"

~*~

In the few minutes that the birds had been talking to each other, Mortimer had been heading for the doors, when a sudden hot pain struck at the back of his left leg. It wasn't the touch of fire, but the slicing open of a sword wound. Mortimer had fallen, yelling as he clutched his leg, but the attack wouldn't wait for him to recover before creating another slice along his back. The rat quickly rolled to a side before being struck for a third time,  and as he now laid on his back, he used his blade to block a fourth blow. Standing over him stood the Scarlet, his clothes burnt, his body covered in sweat and soot…

And his eyes without a single shred of mercy.

The mouse struck again, and again, and again, not giving Mortimer even a fighting chance to stand back. Mortimer could tell now that this fight was rapidly different from the one from sheer moments before. Then, the Scarlet was trying to inflict the least amount of wounds, was playing fair and even, and was allowing Mortimer to run away unscathed. Now?

Now, as Mortimer realized in the pits of his stomach, the Scarlet was trying to kill him. The rat forced himself to speak, begging to high heaven that reason would save his life. "W-w-wait a minute! What about that oath? You know, not killing, letting police clean up after you?" It wasn't working, because the blades still danced, with the Scarlet not even flinching as he got cut as well. Once more, their blades were locked, but this time, much to Mortimer's dread, The Scarlet's 'push back' was far, far stronger. The hero wasn't holding anything back this time, and hadn't said a single word. His mouth had been closed since this revenge had begun, with not even a bite of the lip or grinding of the teeth.

"I'll turn myself in!" Mortimer tried to get his voice was loud as possible, as if volume was the problem. He cried out when his sword was forcibly yanked out of his hand, and tossed aside along with the Scarlet's. "I swear, I'll even tell them to give me a huge sentence! A hundred years! I'll do anything you want!" The pleas went unheard, as the hero's gloved hands now clung to Mortimer's neck, pinning him down, getting tighter and tighter with each beating second. Mortimer struggled to claw at his attacker, but it didn't stop the fingers pressing into his throat.

Tighter and tighter and tighter…

That harsh buzzing sound came again, followed by  " – alive! Minnie's alive! The girl is still alive, Mickey!"

A pin struck the Scarlet's balloon of anger, as he suddenly sat up, eyes wide, loosening his hands. "Huh?"

Ludwig's voice was back, and speaking as rapidly as he could make it. "I just found her! There's a canal under the theater! She landed in the water, and she's alive!"

Mortimer was instantly forgotten, and the boy broke into a sprint, racing back towards the gaping hole in the stage. Without a second thought, he jumped right into the hole, paying no attention to Mortimer, who had begun dragging himself out of the theater.

~*~

Both birds exhaled deeply in relief – not only had Ludwig managed to find the girl with their cameras and fix the communication problems, but Gyro had finally defeated the hacker.  They both collapsed on their behinds on the floor, their fingers aching. Ludwig wiped a bit of sweat from his brow, watching the screens still. "So, who was trying to hack in?"

"I haven't the faintest idea." Gyro shrugged, leaning back to watch the screens as well. "But they didn't get in far… they only saw some of our camera work. We're still safe." Adjusting his glasses, he made a nervous little chuckle. "I didn't know Mickey had 'that' in him."

Ludwig grinned, patting his chest to try and calm his still quickly beating heart. "Ah, you've never been in love, Gyro! Just you wait."

~*~

The landing in the water was rough, but Mickey had far gone past caring about pain. The canal was long, dark, and deep, with the only light coming from the planks in the water, some of which still burned brightly. It was thanks to this light that Mickey, when he had swum to the top of the water and stuck his head out to breathe, could see a stone floor to climb on top of. It appeared that this used to be a casual canal in which people would stop by to get a wooden boat ride on, but the theater had been built over it when better boats had come along. There on the stone floor lay Minnie, lying on her belly, breathing quietly in her fatigue, worn out from the night's events.

Flooded with joy, Mickey swam to the stone surface, climbing out of the water and kneeling beside the small maiden. "Minnie." He breathed, scooping her up into his arms, and pressing his face into her hair. She was okay, and all was right with the world. For the life of him, he couldn't remember what happened in the last five minutes before this moment, but it was probably unimportant. All that mattered now was hearing her breathe, hearing her heart beat, feeling her move in his embrace.

As for the duchess, she weakly opened her eyes, vision slightly blurry from her weariness. In that blurriness, she couldn't entirely make out who she was being held by. Yet she could faintly make out his eyes, tearing up in pure love, solaced in the knowledge she was all right. The eyes seemed familiar to her, even if she couldn't make out color or shape… just the very feel of their gaze on her was recognizable, somehow. Mustering up what little strength she had left, she put her hand to his cheek, for if those eyes belonged to who she thought they did, she wanted to comfort him. It pulled him in, and both pairs of eyes closed for the kiss that was to come.

It wasn't a strong kiss, or even a very passionate one, due to both ends being in deep fatigue. However, it conveyed exactly what it needed to, that each party was okay, and that was all that mattered. Minnie couldn't even last for too long of a kiss, and sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. Before she passed out entirely, she heard the one carrying her say a few words and she smiled in imagining who they could have come from.

"Je t'aime, ma petite duchesse."

~*~

Clarabelle swallowed hard, backing away from her keyboard. "I'm sorry, sir… they kicked me out. I don't think I can hack back in anytime soon." She turned to face her superiors, all gathered around the single large screen. The scene in front of them was now frozen, showing the still image of the Scarlet strangling Mortimer. Horace quickly exchanged a worried glance with Clarabelle, while Pete growled, chewing on the end of his cigar. Jonathan, however, seemed as calm as ever, sipping his tea without a care in the world.

"Well that was a whole lot of nothin'!" Pete growled, almost eating his cigar in his frustration. "All that work, and the lousy rat can't even find that stupid Scarlet's weakness!"

"Tut tut." Jonathan waved a single finger back and forth, his voice cheery and pleasant as always. "I'd say this night was very progressive."

"Whaddya mean?" Pete backed up a bit as Jonathan began to get out of his chair. "We were tryin' to see if he cares for the rich folk over the commoners, right?"

"Indeed, but we've learned something much better." Finishing the last drop of tea in his cup, the blonde human walked up to the screen, his smile growing wider the closer he got. "We were looking for a group of people to be his weakness… but instead, he's made it much easier for us. Of all the lives we've threatened, it's this particular one that's made him… lose his temper." He chuckled a little at his own understatement, delightfully amused at what was to come. "If the duchess is alive, let's give her a little time to rest…

… before we give her a formal invitation."