"Somewhere Out There" - Part Six

 

Part Six

            Along with the Mousekewitz family, Craig was gathered with several other mice inside a building that once belonged to a ‘Professor Digitalus’ and his ‘Museum of the Weird and Bizarre’. There was supposed to have been another rally, arranged by Gussie Mausheimer and Honest John; however, after ten minutes of waiting, something about this felt wrong to Craig. Adding to his suspicions were Gussie and John onstage, bickering back and forth about who called for a rally.

            That’s when it dawned on Craig: “This is a trap!”

            “What?” Tanya was the only one who heard him. “What do you mean?”

            “Look at everyone,” he gestured among the crowd of mice. “Look at how confused everybody is. Nobody has a clue who called for this meeting. That makes it an obvious trap!” He then yelled loud enough for Gussie, John, and all the attendees, “We need to get out of here now!”

            All eyes were now on him. “What was that? What did you say, boy?”

            “This is all a trap!” Craig repeated his warning.

            “A twap?!” Gussie exclaimed with her notable speech impediment. “Who would set a twap for us?”

            “CATS!” Someone suddenly bellowed. It was one of the guardsmen who had been keeping watch over the entrance. “Cats are heading straight for us!”

            Everyone looked out the windows to see what the guardsman saw.

            There was, in fact, a fleet of cats storming their way towards the abandoned museum. And they weren’t just any cats—they were the Mott Street Maulers, the most vicious cat gang in New York City. They were identifiable by the M’s on their turtleneck sweaters and t-shirts.

            However, the most alarming aspect of this mob of cats was the one leading it.

            “Hey, ain’t that Warren T. Rat?” Tony indicated. “He’s lookin’ more like a cat than a rat right now.”

            “That’s because he is a cat!” Craig said.

            “Quick! Awm yourselves!” Gussie instructed the mice. “We mustn’t let a single cat in this building!”

            “I don’t think they’re trying to get in—Look!” Bridget pointed specifically to Warren, who was lighting a match near the base of the chained wooden doors of the abandoned museum. To Bridget’s horror, she realized, “They intend to burn us out!”

            “Wawwen!” Gussie cried. “Don’t you dawe! Thewe are childwen in hewe!”

            His gold tooth shimmering as he sinisterly snickered, Warren disregarded Gussie’s words and said, “Adios!” As he was about to set fire to the entire building, Warren’s feline ears twinged as he heard music playing in the distance—a woman hitting a very long high note. “Eh? What the heck…?”

            The other Maulers heard it, too, as did Craig and the mice inside the museum.

            All attention turned towards the nearest corner as something large and monstrous strolled its way down the block and onto the pier. Craig was shocked to see it was a Dalek—one that had an old disco song playing from its built-in speakers. It started chasing after the Maulers and shooting a few of them with its deadly death ray, although none of the cats were struck. It was as if the Dalek was only scaring the cats and not necessarily trying to exterminate them.

            But what kind of Dalek showed that kind of mercy?

— — — — — — — —

            It wasn’t exactly the Mouse of Minsk, but it was big and scary enough to frighten Warren and his gang. With a few last-minute modifications, including the installation of pod stations, Rania was able to grant herself, Tyler, and Jennifer full control of the Dalek’s weaponry, mobility, and auditory functions. Rania controlled the mobility, effortlessly moving the Dalek through the streets of New York City; thankfully, no humans were around to see it. Tyler was given the task of handling the weaponry, utilizing his marksmanship, and firing at the feet of the Mauler cats while not harming any of them. Fievel kept him company inside the weaponry pod station.

            Of course, that task would’ve been better suited for Jennifer, who opted to operate the auditory function instead. She enjoyed every second of playing DJ, wearing a backwards cap and sunglasses as she played Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ through the speaker lights from the Dalek’s top dome.

            “That’s right, boys!” she yelled from her station. “Feel the loooooove!”

            Rania shook her head. Though no one could hear Leeka from outside the Dalek, the two-way communications Rania installed between their pod stations permitted her, Tyler, and Fievel to hear the immortal captain. “Chill, Jenn,” Rania told her. “We have to focus on getting them off the pier.”

            Rania was careful to herd the terrified Maulers down one particular pier where one boat—The Star of Hong Kong—was leaving. She timed the whole sequence just right—Warren and his gang were pushed off the pier and into the water, hauled up by the boat’s anchor to be sailed far away to Hong Kong; subsequently, the Dalek chassis fell into the ocean, sinking to the depths, never to be found again. Of course, Rania and her companions were safely away from it in advance.

            Unfortunately, Rania didn’t plan for the stray death ray bolt that struck canisters of kerosene outside the abandoned museum, setting the entire pier ablaze. It cut short the mice’s celebration of their victory over the cats. Some mice ran while others started a bucket brigade. Ultimately, the inferno drew the attention of human firefighters, who did their part in extinguishing the fire.

            Amid the chaos, Rania did a head count of her companions and made an unsettling discovery: Fievel had disappeared. “Where did he go?” All that she could find of him was his blue Russian Kasket cap, which had been left on the ground.

            “Hey, it’s youse guys—the magicians!” A familiar New York-accented voice called to them. It was Tony and Bridget, both running straight towards them, only to stop in their tracks when they saw Tiger with them. Bridget shrieked, while Tony took aim with his slingshot. “Looks like we missed one kitty-cat.”

            “No! Wait!” Tyler bravely stood in Tony’s line of fire. “He’s on our side!”

            Tony hesitantly lowered his slingshot. “Ya sure ‘bout dat?”

            “Positive,” Tyler said.

            Tony shrugged. “Stranger things have happened, I guess.” He then looked over their group and noticed, “Hey, where’s Fillie?”

            “That’s what we’re tryin’ to figure out,” Jennifer said.

            “Craig! Craig!” Some voices called out in the distance, drawing confusion from Rania, Tyler, and Jennifer. Were people native to this dimension calling out for their lost little companion?

            “It couldn’t be our Craig…could it?” Tyler considered.

            “Only one way to find out,” Rania said, leading everyone to the voices.

            To their surprise, the voices belonged to the Mousekewitz family.

— — — — — — — —

            Now Craig was really lost!

            In the disarray brought on by the fire, he was squeezed and bumped around by mice much taller and bigger than him. He had no idea where the Mousekewitzes were or if they even knew he was gone. It didn’t matter either way. He didn’t belong to them—Fievel did—and Craig didn’t even know where he was. Last he saw of Fievel, he was with Rania, Tyler, and Jennifer. Craig imagined Fievel was happy with them. They were truly amazing friends, ones who would take good care of him and would never leave him…not like how they left Craig…

            He pushed those negative thoughts aside and focused on finding a way back to the Mousekewitzes.

            For what seemed like hours, he wandered aimlessly around the city. 1885 New York was as foreign to him as the one in his world and time would’ve been. It wasn’t that often he had been outside of Herkleton, Maryland, which was pretty close to New York state.

            “Get a load of this!” He heard a voice say. It sounded like a hefty kid.

            In that moment, he noticed that he had wandered into a place called ‘Orphan’s Alley,’ according to a hanging sign overhead. There, he spotted three kids—one chubby, one short, and one bespectacled—harassing one kid who was lying on a pile of straw. Zeroing in on the one kid, Craig was astonished to see it was Fievel.

            “You’re sleepin’ in my place,” the bespectacled kid told him.

            Awakened by the kid, Fievel looked around blearily. “Huh?”

            “Give me that!” The bespectacled kid tore away a blanket that Fievel kept himself wrapped in, spinning his tiny body in the process.

            “What’s your story?” the chubby kid asked.

            “I’ve been looking for my family,” Fievel replied.

            The three kids laughed at him. “He’s been looking for his family,” they mocked.

            Craig’s fists balled as he watched the revolting display of the three street kids bullying poor Fievel. They told him disheartening things like…

            “I stopped that long ago.”

            “Mine left me on a doorstep.”

            “At least you know who they are.”

            “Why you lookin’ for them? They should be lookin’ for you.”

            “They don’t care. Forget ‘em.”

            By that point, Craig had heard enough. “LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!” he yelled, bringing the boys’ attention to him.

            “And what’s yer problem, kid?” the chubby one asked.

            “That kid’s my friend,” Craig pointed to Fievel. “And I’m not gonna let you guys bully him with all those lies!”

            “We ain’t liars, kid,” the short kid told him. “We’re just statin’ the cold facts.”

            “One way or another, he’s gonna learn for himself,” the bespectacled kid stated.

            “Yeah, so why don’t ya back off!” The chubby kid shoved Craig.

            That was a mistake.

            In the blink of an eye, Craig socked the chubby kid right in the face, knocking out more than a few of the kid’s teeth—baby teeth that would sooner or later fall out. The chubby kid rolled like a bowling ball and struck down his two friends like pins. As soon as they were able to gather themselves, they stood and looked at Craig in absolute fear.

            “Alright, kid, no need to get rough,” the bespectacled kid whimpered. “Your buddy can have my bed. It’s all his.”

            After that, the three street kids scampered away.

            Craig surprised himself with what he had just done. Never had he punched anyone in the face. It felt awesome!

            I think I’m turning into Captain Leeka!

            The sound of sniffling brought his attention to Fievel, who despairingly sat on the pile of straw. “Don’t listen to them, Fievel,” Craig told him. “I’ve been with your family these past few days.”

            Fievel wiped his tears away with his sleeve, looking at Craig with renewed hope. “You have? Are they looking for me?”

            Craig hesitated in his answer. While he had managed to convince Tanya that Fievel was still somewhere in the city, Fievel’s parents were difficult. Any time Craig would bring Fievel up in conversation, he was scolded by Mrs. Mousekewitz to keep quiet and eat (during dinner), sleep (when it was bedtime), or work (when he had to do chores). They practically treated him as if he was their replacement son; there was no way he could let Fievel know that—it would shatter him.

            But it turned out there was nothing Craig needed to say to cheer Fievel up.

            The sound of a violin playing drew the boys’ attention down the alley, followed by two voices that called out both their names.

            “Papa?” Fievel said.

            “Rania?” Craig said.

            Soon enough, the large shape of a cat stepped into view—it was Tiger, who carried on his back Rania, Tyler, Jennifer, Tony, Bridget, and Fievel’s family. “FIEVEL!” Mr. Mousekewitz cheered.

            “PAPA!” Fievel rushed to embrace his family in a small puddle, which might as well have been a full-sized lake to them.

            Craig did the same for his TARDIS friends—the four of them huddled in a warm group hug. “I didn’t give up hope, not for a sec,” he told them. “I knew y’all would find me again.”

            Jennifer kissed his forehead. “We’d never forget someone as precious as you, sugah.”

            “Face it, lil’ dude, you’re stuck with us.” Tyler playfully rubbed Craig’s head.

            “I’m sorry we took so long to find you, sweetie,” Rania said.

            “It’s O.K.,” Craig absolved. “The Mousekewitzes took care of me, just like y’all took care of Fievel.” He then recalled, “By the way, did you find the Archivist? What was he doing in Fievel’s world?”

            “We’ll explain on the way back to the TARDIS.” Rania glanced at the reunited Mousekewitz family. Mr. Mousekewitz had returned Fievel’s Kasket cap to its rightful place: on top of Fievel’s head. “Our job is done here.”

— — — — — — — —

            Fievel didn’t think Rania and her friends would leave without saying goodbye or giving him a chance to thank them for finding his family. Before it was too late, he had Tiger take him to the spot where he first met them—near the corner of Grand and Hester Streets. As soon as Fievel got there, he saw them entering that black domino, or their ‘TARDIS,’ as they called it.

            “Wait! Rania! Tyler! Captain Leeka! Craig! WAIT!” He cried out for them.

            Unfortunately, he was too far away for them to hear, so he ran as fast as he could toward the TARDIS just as he heard its strange engines wheezing—a sign that it was about to take off. He leapt through the door before it had closed, finding himself back in the console room.

            However, something was off.

            The proportions of the room shifted around Fievel, making him feel giddy.

            Everything got bigger—a lot bigger—including Rania and her friends.

            Once it all had stopped, Fievel struggled to regain his senses. Through his shaky vision, he saw giant figures towering over him. They were all dressed exactly the same as Rania, Tyler, Jennifer, and Craig…except they were no longer mice…they were human.

            “Whew!” Jennifer breathed with relief. “It feels good to be me again!”

            “Amen!” Tyler concurred. “I’m gonna have the taste of cheese in my mouth for days!”

            Their voices were like booming thunder to Fievel’s ears.

            “So, where to next?” Craig asked Rania.

            “Well, we’ve got some business to take care of, back home—the ‘home’ where Jenn and I come from,” she said.

            Fievel gasped. Craig’s humongous feet, now clad in strange white shoes, were stomping toward Fievel. “DON’T STEP ON ME!!!” Fievel screamed, falling into a fetal position on the sleek, marbled floor.

            “Whoa! Stop, Craig!” Tyler shouted, prompting Craig’s colossal foot to hover, shadowing over Fievel’s tiny, trembling body. He moved it back to allow Tyler to scoop Fievel into his gargantuan hand. “It’s okay, lil’ fella. I gotcha.”

            “Is that…Fievel?!” Craig exclaimed gleefully.

            “Oh, my goodness gracious!” Leeka gasped. “Bless his lil’ heart!”

            Fievel sat up on Tyler’s hand, relieved to see that he wasn’t squished. Looking up, he saw the giant human faces smiling down on him. He had never really looked directly at a human’s face before. He was usually too busy avoiding their feet. But to see Craig, Tyler, and Jennifer in human form was like something out of a strange dream.

            “You guys look so…different!” he said of them.

            Craig, Tyler, and Leeka all giggled.

            “Fievel?” He heard Rania speak behind him. He turned to look at her smiling face, which was more radiant in human form than it was as a mouse. For Fievel, it was like staring at the face of a goddess. “Sweetie, how did you get in here?” She carefully took Fievel from Tyler’s hand and onto hers, bringing him close to her face. Fievel was overwhelmed by her blossoming scent; it was like sitting in a bouquet of roses.

            “I wanted to thank you for finding my family,” he told her.

            Rania blushed. “Oh, honey. We should thank you for helping us find Craig.”

            Taking in the TARDIS console room in its natural form, which was even bigger than before, Fievel sadly realized, “I get now why I can’t go with you. I’ll never be big enough.”

            “Never say never, Fievel,” Rania smiled. “We’ll see each other again.”

            This delighted Fievel to hear. In his gratitude, he hugged the tip of Rania’s nose.

            After some recalibrations to avoid another transformative arrival, Rania returned Fievel to his world. The Type-Z got a few odd stares from some of the 1885 New Yorkers, now that it was more visible than ever on the corner of Grand and Hester Streets. Nonetheless, Rania took her time and care in returning Fievel next to Tiger, who looked on her and the TARDIS in wide-eyed, open-mouthed disbelief.

            “I must be seein’ things! Gotta be that stale broccoli I ate!” The cat reasoned.

            With a wave goodbye, Rania returned inside her ship.

            Fievel watched it disappear with a big smile, elated to know that—somewhere out there—he had made some of the most incredible friends he ever met in his first time in America.