Day – February 27

Tomorrow is the last day. The past four days have been spent
preparing for... Well, we don’t know what. We don’t know where the threat could
come from – The forest, the sky, the ground, the interior of the community... We
have all been quite anxious about what lays ahead for us.

The meeting four days ago went over as well as any meeting of that sort
could.

The community members filed into the public meeting hall, taking their seats
and looking a bit nervous already, despite the fact that nothing had been told
to them yet.

Justin was at the front near the small riser where the speakers stood. He
was leaning on a side table with both paws, his head bowed in what looked like
extreme concentration. I could feel his insecurity beaming from where I stood.

I was on the right side of the meeting hall about halfway from the door and
the podium. I leaned against the wall with my arms crossed, trying not to look
too nervous myself. Isa was standing by the door, making sure that everybody
was accounted for. I had told her of Blake’s premonition, so she was looking a
bit nervous, which was completely understandable. Constelle was on the other
side of the door helping Isa, while Brutus was with the rest of the guards
sitting near the back. Probably set up that way so that Brutus wouldn’t block
anybody’s view.

Kat and Mrs. Brisby, I noticed, were sitting up front. Mrs. Brisby kept
looking at Justin and trying to get up to see what was wrong, but Kat
continually had to keep her sitting down. I think everybody in the room was
wondering the same thing: What the heck is going on here?

Before the meeting started, Blake slowly walked into the meeting hall. A few
heads turned (which was common with him – It’s not every day that you meet a
rat that sets test papers on fire with his mind), but nothing serious. They
didn’t know about his premonition, so naturally they wouldn’t be worried about
him. Isa noticed him, though. Immediately she signaled to me, but I had already
seen him. I waved Isa off and beckoned for Blake. He slowly walked over and
leaned up against the wall next to me, "What’s going on?"

I looked at Justin again to make sure he wasn’t about to start, so I could
talk with Blake for a bit. Justin was still thinking about what he was going to
say, so I responded to Blake, "Justin’s going to tell them about the
premonition."

Blake’s eyes widened and his stomach probably sank, too, "What?
Why?"

I met his eyes, "Because that little premonition of yours just made one
of Nicodemus’ prophecies true." Blake looked confused, so I continued,
"Nicodemus predicted a lot of things. Even his own death." He nodded,
this was old news. I continued again, "He predicted that there would be
another conflict after Moving Day, a second unrest as he called it, and it
would take place five days after it was first predicted. Guess what, Blake -
you just predicted it."

He shook his head slowly, "Wha..? But... That’s..."

I put a paw on his shoulder and noticed that Justin was moving towards the
podium, "Blake," I said, "Let’s give your dad a chance to
explain it."

He just nodded and sat down on the floor, his back to the wall, a
dumbfounded expression on his face.

Justin walked up to the podium and at once everybody was quiet. The feeling
in that room was so ominous that the children went quiet all by themselves.

After a brief pause, Justin cleared his throat and leaned against the podium
with both of his paws – A nervous habit of his. Strange – He used to love
public speaking. At the rosebush he would crack jokes and deliver sermons on
the Plan to the entire council. Now he had trouble mustering up enough strength
to get a prepared statement started.

Another pause. Justin cleared his throat again and looked up at the crowd,
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. A crisis will soon befall our
colony." He stopped and murmurs began sweeping across the crowd like wind
through a wheat field. After a few seconds, Justin cleared his throat yet
again, and the crowd went silent, "As many of you know... Nicodemus had a
gift. A gift that allowed him to do things that many of us could not." He
stopped and tried not to get caught on himself for mentioning Nicodemus – a
topic that he still had a hard time talking about, "One of Nicodemus’
abilities was the ability to predict events that have not yet occurred."
It was a well known fact in the colony that Nicodemus had these powers and
Blake only solidified those facts. Justin did not need to elaborate, "One
such event that Nicodemus predicted was a second unrest in our community."
More murmurs, but he had gotten the crowd’s rapt attention so he didn’t need to
make any noises or gestures to quiet the crowd this time, "Moving Day was
our first unrest. Nicodemus predicted that."

Suddenly, Sullivan’s voice could be heard from his seat near the middle of
the room, "What!? Another crisis like Moving Day?"

Justin held up his paws, "Please, please... Quiet. Nicodemus spoke of an
unrest that was... Worse than Moving Day."

The murmurs were becoming more urgent now. Justin spoke over them and
continued, "He said that after the unrest’s prediction, there would be a
period of five days before the actual event occurred. This afternoon, that very
premonition occurred."

Sullivan’s voice again, "Well? Who predicted it?"

Justin was silent. Then I looked down to the floor and saw that Blake was
gone. I looked up at Justin again and Blake was walking towards him. The crowd
was talking again, but Blake’s voice broke through, "I did! Don’t ask me
how or why... It just happened. And it doesn’t matter, either! If we want to be
prepared, we need to listen to my dad."

Justin smiled down at him, not only flattered but also looking a bit more
confidant. Justin ruffled his son’s headfur and looked back out at the crowd,
"Blake’s right. We have five days before whatever happens, happens."

Jessica spoke out, "What is that supposed to mean? Don’t we have any
idea what it will be?"

A first gen named Marla spoke out, "I’ll bet I know what happens!
Victoria comes in and starts killing everybody! She got away from us before,
and she’ll find a way to get back in!"
I was about to say something but Isa cut me off, "Don’t worry,
Marla," she said, "we’ve got everything under control."
Marla wasn’t pleased, "Oh really? Then explain to me, dear, how she
managed to get past you and into the forest unseen after killing Rion?"
More public outcry. I heard one rat near the front, "And what about the
Jenner followers? There could be some in here as we speak! I’ll bet in five
days they rebel! We don’t even know how many there are!"

More outcry. Things were getting out of hand. Justin was shouting for
everyone to calm down, but his voice was drowned out in the confusion and
chaos. Isa was drawing back towards me. When she got to me, she had to yell so
I could hear her, "This is nuts! We’ve got to find a way to calm these
guys down!"
I looked over at Blake, who nodded (I don’t know why, but I think he knew I had
some idea planned) and ran back over to me and Isa. I yelled into Blake’s ear,
"Let me take care of this!"

I closed my eyes and held up my arms, feeling a surge of power running
through them. From somewhere inside my eardrums, I could hear a faint hum –
That was the sound that proved my power was working. A light repeating hum – I
remember hearing it a lot in Nicodemus’ office at the rosebush.

Anyway, the hum came, and when I opened my eyes, the meeting room was bathed
in blood red. I knew that my eyes had probably assumed the same color from
those who were looking at them from the outside. When the room was red, there
was no end to the possibilities. Example – What I did to stop the public dismay
(and what could have easily turned into some sort of a panic riot)

I floated about half a foot into the air and flew to the front of the room. I
didn’t wait for the crowd to recognize me, instead I held my arms up high and
cloaked myself in flame – Probably looking quite menacing. Then I let the power
within speak for me, "Citizens of Thorn Valley, you must stop this trivial
arguing! The true threat does not lie with us here, at this moment. The
prophecy gives five days, therefore we have five days to prepare ourselves.
Should we squander our five days of preparation with paranoia, anger and
hatred, we shall all certainly perish. So, good people, give your leader your
ears and stop this bickering – For he has a plan that may save you all much
grief."

I don’t know where those words came from, but they worked.

I let the power subside and, feeling a little beat, let Isa and Blake help
me into a chair to rest. I tilted my head around to see that those who weren’t
still standing in shock over what I had just done were retaking their seats.
Even Marla and Sullivan were awaiting Justin’s words.

I moved my head towards the front and saw Justin looking a little surprised,
but he recovered quickly and began to speak to the crowd, "Leon is right –
We need to efficiently use our five days to build our defenses and offenses for
whatever comes our way. Everything wrong that might spell disaster for the Rats
of NIMH will be carefully monitored in the next few days. Heating failures,
explosions, food poisoning, outside parties coming in, inside parties coming
out, weakened structures, sabotage and many other possibilities will be
considered. The Guards will be doing everything in their power to prevent
anything from happening that can be prevented. When this meeting is adjourned,
I expect all of you to spend the next few days being extremely careful of your
actions. Nobody is allowed to go outside except the engineers and the Guards.
The outdoor play areas and exercise areas will be disassembled in case humans
are to stumble upon our colony. I don’t know what is going to happen, but
unless you are ordered otherwise, I suggest that on the fifth day you stay in
your apartments and lock the doors. This meeting is adjourned. Good luck,
everybody." He shook his head in quiet dismay and looked sadly around the
meeting hall as the citizens filed out hastily. Mrs. Brisby went up to Justin
afterwards and hugged him tightly, telling him that she believed in him and
that he would be able to stop whatever was coming. I couldn’t help but smile a
little, and Justin knelt down and gave her a hug as well. Blake was by his
father’s side, giving him all of the support he could give. Kat was with him as
well, with a paw on the back of Justin’s neck, trying to relax him. I merely
kept my arms crossed and watched Justin get bombarded with his love and care.
He needed it.

I heard Isa’s voice coming from behind me, "That’s so sweet... I really
feel sorry for him, though. This whole thing must really be taking its toll on
him."

I shook my head, "Wait until you see him on day four."

Day four is here, and the last few days have been anything but squandered.
Justin checked with every department head about safety and any problems that
might have occurred. Nothing. Not a single problem has happened in the past
four days, which doesn’t surprise me: I figured that Victoria would be the
cause of the unrest, and she’s not back from the Fitzgibbons’ farm yet, so it’s
impossible for her to start any problems here.

The laws of physics prevent her from doing so, since she isn’t here. Sorry
for the redundancy, but I need some funny stuff to keep my mind off of
tomorrow.

Nicodemus’ prophecy of my horrific death may not have been 100% accurate,
but I’m almost positive that his last prophecy was. Me, Justin and Blake will
need to fight for the existence of the Rats of NIMH, and death might be the
result of it.

I don’t want to die, but if I must to ensure that our way of life is
preserved... Then I have no choice.

Day – February 28-29 (Midnight)

This is Justin, writing in place of Leon, who is not with us at this time. I
know, though, that he would want me to write this down. Today was a day nobody
will soon forget, and the actions of Leon, my son and the citizens of this
colony will not be forgotten either.

The day began normally. I couldn’t get any sleep, and Leon had the same
problem, so we just talked together in the lounge for most of the night, then
we fell asleep out of pure need.

We woke up at about ten o’clock in the morning. Leon shot straight up and
went to go check the guards and their positions around the colony. I went to
get my son – He and his gift would be needed today. I told Kat to wait in our
apartment, to lock the door and close the curtains, and to just wait. Once
today was over, our fates would be decided.

The hallways were desolate, the entire population of Thorn Valley having
shut themselves in their rooms. It was spooky – Like walking through the halls
at night. I wasn’t that afraid, though. I was more afraid of what lay beyond
the hallways than what lay IN them.

Blake said nothing the whole way to the entrance. I think he was just as
frightened as I was. When we got closer to the main entrance of the valley,
quite a few guards ran past us, on their way to wherever Leon decided to send
them. Probably to guard the interior of the colony to ensure that nothing went
wrong. I might have considered asking the guards where they were off to, but I
trusted Leon’s good judgment – he’s the Captain now, so he makes those kinds of
decisions. As much as I miss being Captain, I have to let Leon do his job.

The main entrance of the colony was a sight to see. Twenty guards stood in a
slightly curved line defending the entryway. Every other guard had a crossbow,
and the rest of the guards had either an electrified poleax or a sword. Brutus
was standing near the center of the line, his bulk making him look intimidating
even from a distance.

Isa was standing ahead of the line, behind Leon, who had taken position in
front of the line, facing the forest. He probably knew that whatever this
unrest was, it was going to be coming from the forest.

I walked up to Leon and stood beside him, Blake standing between him and me.
There we were – The three supposed heroes standing in a line at the front of
the colony, a metaphorical wall that protected the many innocents lying in wait
inside their homes. While we were at the front of a formidable guard, we were
the colony’s only hope.

Leon didn’t move his head when I approached him. I could see his eyes move
towards me, then slide back to the default view of the forest, "It’s going
to be here soon, Justin." He said to me, "This is it. I don’t know
what it is, but I doubt it’ll be pretty."

I nodded and Blake pulled on my shirt sleeve, "Dad..." He moaned a
bit, "I’m kinda scared..." He quickly looked at Leon, "I know you
taught me not to be scared, Uncle Leon, but this is different."

Leon was silent for a moment, then forced a smile that looked so genuine
that Blake couldn’t even determine its validity, "It’s okay, Blake. I’m
scared, too. We all are. We never had to fight for our freedom and our lives,
we just had to run and maybe think. But now... Something’s coming our way that
wants to harm us... Kill us. We must fight, and we must win."

Brutus grunted behind us, "I’s second that!"

The guards approved Leon’s words, then went back to their vigilant state.

Silence...

Deafening silence for about ten minutes (or twenty minutes, or a half hour.
Heck, it could’ve been five hours and I still wouldn’t know). After a while, we
heard a crow caw. Everybody’s ears perked up at once and the guards readied
their weapons.

Silence again, then Leon shook his head, "Relax, everyone, it’s not a
threat."

Everyone was slightly confused until Garret stumbled out of the forest,
carrying Kaya in his arms. We all went over to them immediately, though I was
the first to ask what happened, "Garret! Is Kaya all right? What’s going
on?"
Garret knelt down and laid Kaya on the ground, "She was hurt... Victoria got
away and we tried to follow her on Jeremy, but Victoria had the stone and she
knew how to use it! She shot some fireball or lightning or whatever at us and
it hit Kaya. She’s still breathing, but she’s unconscious." He shut his
eyes and stood up and Leon knelt down to check her as well. Garret looked down
at him, "Jack can take care of her." He looked up and eyed the crowd,
"What’s going on here? Did Victoria strike already?"

Leon shook his head, "No, but we anticipated it."
He snorted, "Lucky guess, then. Victoria’s got the stone, and Kaya and I
caught a glimpse of something bad that was with her."

Blake gulped, "Bad?"
Garret nodded, "Bad. Very bad. I think it had something to do with
Jenner."

Leon and I exchanged worried looks. Garret saw this and crossed his arms,
"Is there something I don’t know about here?"

At that moment, Jeremy flew over the small clearing that surrounded the
colony entrance and landed near us, a wild expression on his face, "Hey
guys! What the heck’s going on here? I start flying and I nearly get blown out
of the sky by a bolt of lightning! Then Garret here tells me about some rat
that went insane! Will somebody PLEASE fill me in, here?"

Leon stood and held up his paws, "Jeremy, would you please shut up for
a second! This is a little more important."

Jeremy was taken aback by Leon’s sudden outburst, but he said nothing else.
He looked into the sky and waited as Leon paced around, eyeing the forest. Isa put
a paw on his shoulder, "Leon? What is it?"

He stopped and I could see him tightening his grip on his sword,
"Coming..."

He said it quietly, almost detached from reality it seemed, then suddenly he
turned at the guards, in a wild panic – He began to shout, "IT’S COMING!!
GET READY!!"

The line of guards held up their weapons, the crossbows all aimed at the
forest.

Leon quickly moved back a few steps and held up his sword, "On my mark,
you shoot into the forest!" He motioned with his head for Isa to move back
into the line, and he looked at me and Blake, "Justin! Get behind the
line! It’s coming!"
Blake shouted back, "What’s coming!?"
Then it came out.

Leon spun around in time to face it, but didn’t have enough time to drop his
sword and order fire. The hulking beast came out of the forest, with Victoria
behind him, riding on a crow with red eyes – No doubt under her control.

The hulking beast had once been Jenner. It stood about three and a half feet
tall, it had two legs, two arms, a head, slightly grey fur and a tail, but the
relationships between this thing and Jenner stopped there. Muscles of absurd
size bulged out from beneath the skin, the eyes were emblazoned in red.
Jenner’s huge claws looked razor-sharp, and his feet (which looked more like
talons now) dug into the grass.

Jenner had become a pure monster. If I had not known the rat as well as I
did before, I would have never been able to see any resemblance. He stood on
his legs slightly hunched, like he was just waiting to attack and tear us to
pieces. The stone had corrupted him, just as Nicodemus said it would, and the
powers it held were not meant to be misused like this.

Jenner smiled at Leon, letting out a monstrous, canine-like growl and
revealing his sharpened teeth, which looked like knives.

Jenner grabbed Leon, picking him up with only one hand, and threw him
violently against a nearby tree. Leon struggled to stand back up, trying to
support himself on his sword, but Victoria had leapt off of her crow and kicked
the sword out from under him. The other guards suddenly fired their arrows at
the beast and Victoria, but none of them made it – They all stopped in midair
as Victoria turned and held up a single paw. Her eyes began to glow red, and
the arrows froze. A red glow could be seen from inside her shirt, and the gold
chain was plainly visible. She had taken the stone... Leon was right.

With a snap of her paw, the arrows turned back at the guards and moved a
little ways back, like they were in an invisible bow. She looked right at the
guards and Jenner’s eyes followed, too, "Rats of NIMH, hear me!" she
shouted, "You don’t need to die here tonight! Go back inside your colony
and let us do our business!"

Leon struggled to his knees, his maw dripping with blood, "And what
business is that!? Killing innocent-"
Victoria cut him off with a growl and kicked him in the face, sending him
sprawling back against the tree. He coughed and his eyes rolled around a bit,
but he was still conscious.

Jenner suddenly noticed me behind the lines. Victoria turned and saw me as
well, almost as if the two of them shared the same set of eyes, "So,
Justin! You cower behind your guards! They cannot protect you!"
With another flick of her wrist, the arrows released. Many guards had
anticipated this and ducked, but a few weren’t so lucky. Nobody was seriously
injured, but Brutus was hit in the arm – Ash in the shoulder, almost hitting
his lung.

Victoria scoffed and began to laugh. Leon was up again, and Victoria saw it,
"You impudent fool – You just won’t die will you?" She held up her
arms like she was getting an orchestra ready to play, and Leon was lifted into
the air and thrown towards the entrance of the colony. He missed the rocks and
landed on the ground, rolling against the colony wall. Isa was instantly at his
side. Victoria began to laugh again, "Your captain had to take a short
leave of absence, but we won’t be needing him anymore. We’re here because we
need to settle a score."

Blake swallowed hard and I knew what Victoria would say next. She pointed at
me, "Justin, you killed Jenner when he tried to take the stone from that
pathetic mouse! You killed my one love and I simply WOULD NOT HAVE IT!! Now
he’s back! And he’s got his own little score to settle with you!" Victoria
lovingly patted Jenner’s deformed body. He snarled at me and balled his fists
so tightly that blood began to seep out.

Victoria began to coo at him like a human would to a kitten, "Ooh, what
are you gonna do to him? Slash his face off? Tear him in half? Smash him into a
rock?"

With every brutal suggestion, Jenner’s smile began to grow. His gaze pierced
into my mind and I thought I could hear his voice in my head, "I’ll let
you pick when the time comes, Justin. If you can’t make up your mind, I’ll just
do all of them, one after the other!!"

I shook the voice from my head in time to see Victoria look at Leon,
"You! Captain of the Guards! You tried to stop Jenner from carrying out
his plans! Not only did you try to kill him in the rosebush, but you spied on
him! And to think... I thought you couldn’t have gotten any worse than you
already were! There’s a penalty for invasion of privacy, Leon. Jenner’s got it
all figured out."

Leon snapped his gaze up towards Jenner. Was he hearing the voice, too?

Victoria merely smiled, "You may not be dead now, my boy, but trust me,
death isn’t my aim. When you’re down on your knees trying to keep your insides
on the inside, then my job will be done! The more painful the death, the more
power we get when you get sucked into the stone!"

Leon squirmed a bit at this, but he wasn’t really expecting any less of a
threat from a madwoman like Victoria anyway.

Suddenly, Victoria began to laugh maniacally, "And Sullivan, who dealt
the killer blow! Jenner has a little unfinished business with that backstabber!
And of course, dear Mrs. Brisby, who was the sole reason Jenner was
killed!" She smiled at me, and Jenner did as well, "She will pay most
dearly for what she has done. Death is much too good for her."

Jenner’s voice was back in my head, "I know you’ve got feelings for
her, kid. That’s why I’m going to try and make sure that you’re still alive
when I find her, so I can kill her in front of you, then watch you die. But
knowing you, Justin, you’ll probably fight me to the death anyway. You surely
can’t blame me for dreaming, can you?"

I screamed and swatted the air with a balled fist, "Shut the hell
up!!"

I stopped and saw Victoria smiling. Jenner was laughing.

Suddenly, Blake’s voice was in my mind and Jenner’s was washed away,
"Dad, don’t let them get to you. We’ve got a job to do, remember?"

I nodded in response to his voice and I turned to see how Leon was doing. My
resilient Captain was on his feet, though looking a bit shaky. Isa had wiped
the blood from his face and was helping him stand by putting his arm over her
neck. Leon looked at me, then motioned for Isa to help him over.

Victoria didn’t see this and she continued to speak, "At the rosebush,
my dear Jenner had a plan to connect two worlds together! He continues to want
to bring this plan into reality!"

Jenner growled and eyed our defenses. Victoria cleared her throat and held
up her arms, "Citizens of Thorn Valley, our plan has commenced. You stand
no chance. Lay down your weapons and I will assure you that death will be short
and relatively painless. Though I can make no guarantees. My love isn’t quite
consistent when it comes to mass execution."

Jenner let out a horrible roar and began to move towards the colony. Some
guards who had approached Jenner were beaten away like gnats in a matter of
seconds. Victoria chuckled lightly to herself and stood by the forest edge,
just watching the spectacle.

Leon was by my side as Jenner started his advance on the colony. He leaned
in as close to my ear as he could, "Justin... Victoria’s the real threat here.
Jenner’s under her control because she’s using the stone."

I looked over at Leon quickly, flexing my grip on my sword, "So what
are you saying?"

He took in a small gasp of air, "I’ve got to follow Victoria and finish
her off, then get the stone. Then you can kill Jenner."

I looked over to see where Jenner was – He had already swatted a few guards
aside and Brutus was about to face him. That would buy us some time, then. He
was about ten yards away.

Leon began clarifying himself, "Jenner’s under control by Victoria.
Victoria’s got the stone. I’ve got to kill Victoria, you’ve got to keep Jenner
busy until I do. You’re the main one he wants because you caused him the most
trouble. I’ll get the stone, then use my powers to send it back here right
away. I’m the only one who can kill Victoria – The stone is too powerful for a
child to fight it. Even if the child is as gifted as Blake." He tried
grinning at my son, but it hurt his face to do so. I looked back at the tumult
behind us.

Brutus had tried to swing his massive poleax through Jenner, but the hulking
beast was too fast. The powers of the stone gave him a ridiculous advantage.
Jenner quickly stepped towards Brutus and swiped him across the face with a
howl of anger. Brutus screamed and stumbled back to the colony entrance, his
face bleeding from the claw wounds. I grimaced when I saw the seriousness of
the wound – Even from far away I could tell that he had probably been blinded
in his left eye.

I looked at Leon nervously, "He’s so fast and strong... How am I supposed
to kill him?"

Leon thought for a second, "You can use the stone! You and Blake
together!" He looked down at Blake, who had snapped his focus to me and
Leon, so he wouldn’t have to look at Jenner’s hideous form, "What do you
mean, Leon?"

He nodded to himself, as if he was quickly rethinking his strategy to make
sure it would work, "Yeah... Yeah, I’ll get the stone and send it back here.
Justin, you grab it. Blake, you pour as much energy as you can into that thing.
Then, Justin, you release it against Jenner! That’ll freeze him in his tracks
long enough for you to kill him!"

I nodded but then looked Leon over, "How do you expect to fight
Victoria like that?"

He grinned, this time actually making a smile and holding it, "You
forget, Justin, I heal pretty quickly. I think I might be able to fight
her."

Blake suddenly ran forward and wrapped his arms around him, "Uncle
Leon, don’t die! She’ll do horrible things to you, like with Rion!"
I could see a look of terror sweep over Leon’s face, but he quickly recovered
and shook it off, "I don’t intend to die out there, and neither should you
two. Good luck, and remember what I told you! We only get one shot at
this!"

He looked past Jenner and saw... nothing. Victoria was gone, though her crow
was still waiting and watching the battle. Jenner was less than three yards
from us. Leon suddenly turned and saw that the entranceway was completely
unguarded – its protection having left their posts to fight Jenner. Victoria
was inside the colony.

"No!!" Leon yelled, and stumbled into the colony after her.

Jenner was approaching us quickly. I leaned over to Blake, "Go over to
the side and wait for the stone." I thought for a second, "And if
Jenner gets a hold of me... Shut your eyes and run. Don’t look back."

He nodded and a tear ran down his cheek, "Be careful, dad."

I nodded and waved my paw towards an outcropping of rocks, "Go and
hide! Now!" and then I turned to see Jenner’s immense claw coming down on
top of me. Fortunately, my reflexes were anything but dull and I managed to
pivot out of the way just in time. Jenner didn’t miss a beat, though. He swung
his arms at me from the side and connected with my stomach. I tumbled backwards
and landed on my side, the wind knocked out of me. My sword was, thankfully,
still in my paw. I quickly rolled to the side and saw Jenner’s talons smash the
ground where I was just laying. I stumbled quickly to my feet and held out my
sword, "Jenner, stop this!" I realized with a chill that those were
the same words I had yelled out to him on Moving Day. As one would expect,
those words didn’t exactly have the effect I’d hoped for.

Jenner froze, then after a second he let out a horrible roar and charged me.
I could hear Blake scream as he saw what was going on. I didn’t let that occupy
my mind, though, and I ducked and rolled at an angle to my left. I could feel
Jenner’s claw slash against the cloth of my tunic. When I stood up again, I
realized with a sudden jolt of pain that he had struck me by my right shoulder.
I was still standing, though, so I didn’t worry too much about it. Jenner was
advancing again. It must have been from the west because his bulk was almost
blocking the setting sun. He growled and swiped the air. I ducked under it and
swung my sword. Jenner somehow dodged it by a good six inches and then swiped
again with his claws, trying to get closer and closer to me. I kept having to
move back, but soon I would be up against the rock face of the colony entrance
wall, and I’d be finished. I would need to get on his other side to survive this
battle any longer.

The next time Jenner tried to slash me, I cut up with my sword, aiming at
his arm as I pivoted behind him. The blow missed as Jenner drew back his arm
with a no doubt painful force. I was behind Jenner, and his plan of attack had
failed. Perhaps the rat had lost his smarts after being dead so long. That was
so close to being funny.

Jenner howled in dismay as I backed up, increasing the ground between us. I
tried to reason with him again, "Jenner, you must stop this! What are you
going to get out of this, huh? Revenge!? You don’t need to kill like this
Jenner, and neither does Victoria! You died once, and we were all so confused
about why you would give your life away and take so many! Don’t let this
madness take over your mind!"

Jenner stopped yelling, and gave me a horrible look, like the fire in his
eyes would reach into my body and pluck up my soul, chew it up and spit it out.
His mouth opened and he began to speak. This voice of his was somewhat similar
to his original, though it was a lot more gravelly, "Anything, Justin...
Anything to get back at the scientists that destroyed my life. Anything to get
back at those who mocked me and hated me, even though I could not help
it!"
I screamed at him, "Even if you know it’s not real?!"
He narrowed his red eyes and squeezed his monstrous claws together, "At
least I will die with a purpose other than just living from day to day –
Fearing what might happen should NIMH return and find us!"
I shook my head, "No, Jenner... No, that’s not right! We DO have a purpose!
We need to survive and live and establish ourselves! We can make it!"

He growled, "NO! No, you won’t!" Jenner softened a bit. I think.
He began to lean forward, his eyes not as full of hatred and rage as they had
been a moment ago, "Justin, you have no goals for life. I do. You just
want to run your whole life. I want to remedy every wrong that’s been given to
us!"
A could hear a faint hum coming from somewhere inside the colony. Leon and
Victoria were probably fighting against each other with their powers.

Jenner was advancing again now. Talking to him was hopeless, but I tried one
very last time, "Jenner! I don’t want to kill you! I didn’t the first
time!"
Jenner stopped and burst into laughter. The gasping sound combined with the
contortion of his face muscles made me sick to my stomach. His eyes filled with
the rage again, he bared his teeth at me, "I know you didn’t want to kill
me! Oh, how I know! Not only are you weak, Justin, but you’re a coward as
well!"
I growled and grit my teeth, but before I could say anything, he cut me off,
"Unlike you, Justin, I DID want to kill that night! I wanted to kill YOU,
and I’ll finish now what I should have finished that night! You first, then
Leon, then Jonny’s lovely wife. You’ll all make fine trophies."

I held up my sword and lowered my center of gravity, ready to evade Jenner’s
next attack, "Where you’re going, you won’t be needing trophies, you
bastard!"

Jenner frowned and suddenly dashed forward with such a burst of energy that
I couldn’t move in time. He plowed into me, knocking me to the ground – My
sword landing a good two feet from where I lay. Blake screamed. I looked up in
a panic to see Jenner slowly walking towards me, his claws gleaming in the
setting sunlight. I remember what I thought... I remember thinking, "Jenner
won... Oh my God he won... Now I’ll die and everyone will die and it’s all my fault
because I couldn’t dodge a stupid-" then my train of thought was cut off
when the field was suddenly bathed in a blood-red light. Jenner stopped and
slowly turned towards the colony entrance, "No... NO!" He shouted and
he turned back towards me, "Leon will PAY FOR THAT!! I’ll rip him in
half!" He began to run to the colony entrance, but he was blown back by
something – He looked almost as if he had been struck by a train. He was thrown
back, over my head, and landed a short distance away. The crow that Victoria
had ridden to Thorn Valley suddenly flew away. I smiled a little... Victoria was
dead. I just knew it. Leon had done it.

I looked at the colony entrance and lo and behold, the red light became more
intense, and finally the stone became visible. It was floating in midair,
staying about seven or eight inches off of the ground while making steady
progress towards me. I stood up shakily and admired it for a moment. I hadn’t
looked upon it for a long time and I realized then just how beautiful this
thing was. I remembered when Nicodemus first got it from the Great Owl how it
had been just an ordinary rock. Then the powers were put into it, and it
changed. Everything changes with this power, and it always seems to be for the
worse. Jenner was a prime example.

I turned to see Jenner getting to his feet – His massive size making it a
little more difficult. I turned and the stone was still hanging there, not two
inches from my nose. I knew what I had to do. "Blake!" I shouted,
"NOW!"

Blake, who had been hiding a few yards away, was ready. He closed his eyes
and I could see him moving his paws as if he were playing some obscure musical
instrument down by his sides. The stone began to hum, the bright red interior
beginning to move around as if it contained storm clouds.

Blake’s eyes popped open and he collapsed instantly. The stone was a greedy
thing – It sucked in more power than you gave it (at least, I was told that
later) and left you drained completely. I knew Blake’s strength would return,
so I quickly picked up my sword and readied myself.

I could hear Jenner approaching from behind. This was it...

I took a deep breath, then I reached out with my left paw and firmly grabbed
the stone out of the air. Flames erupted from my paw and the stone, and my body
screamed at me to let it go. I refused – If I lost it now, I wouldn’t be alive
long enough to pick it up again. The flames seared through my fur and skin, but
I simply could not release the stone. I had to hold onto it, for all that was
good and just. Then the pain went away.

I spun around and, not quite sure what to do, turned the red jewel outwards
and held it up in Jenner’s direction, "Stay back!" To my surprise,
Jenner screamed and his claws flew up to his face in pain. This was working!

But after only a second, Jenner was fine again. He narrowed his eyes to
slits and bared his teeth at me, "Dirty trick, Justin. But perhaps you
would be so kind as to give me that stone, so I can show you how you really use
it!"
I bared my own teeth, "You mean to help with your bloodlust? Spare me the
dramatics!" I held up the stone again, "Back off!"
Jenner screamed again and stumbled back a step. I moved in one step closer, not
actually gaining ground, but getting Jenner closer to the pile of rocks that
Blake had been hiding behind. Now Blake was near the colony entrance, watching
the fight with a mix of fascination and utter horror.

Jenner’s attention had been diverted and the guards were lined up again,
watching us battle, knowing that their lives were dependant on my own. I wasn’t
really in the mood to disappoint them.

Jenner raised his claw for another strike, but I held the stone up to his
face again and Jenner stumbled back a step. He repeated this twice more and
then he tried to dash around me, but I just held the stone out in front of me
and he was powerless.

I noticed that the closer the stone was to him, the more damage it did –
Perhaps I’d need to get in closer? Then again, what good would that do? Jenner
was near-invunerable. There was only one spot I could think of that might be
weaker than the rest. His back: where Sullivan had stabbed him. But that was a
problem – Jenner was still quite fast and getting behind him long enough to
stab him would be quite difficult. I would need to get –very- close to him with
the stone if I was going to incapacitate him long enough.

Jenner waited about two feet from me, waiting for me to drop my guard so he
could move in and knock the stone from my paw. I was relentless, though – I
stood half crouched with my sword in my right paw and the stone in my left paw,
never taking my eyes off of Jenner except for those quarter-seconds it takes to
blink.

I stepped forward, and Jenner stepped backwards. Two more steps and he would
bump into the rocks. At his height, the killer wound would be about two feet
above the ground. I’m not two feet tall – so I needed to make sure that
wherever Jenner was when I struck, that I could hit him in the right spot. The
rocks would help me get to that height, but only if I had enough time to get
there.

Jenner growled at me, apparently annoyed that I was taking so long in making
a decision on what to do. I stepped inwards and Jenner moved back. He was one
step away from the rocks. If he bumped into them, what would he do? Go around
them, perhaps? Or maybe he would go in another direction? No... Too risky. This
was a one shot opportunity.

"And..." I thought to myself, "a long shot option."

I knew what I had to do. Jenner may have been quick to dodge a poleax or a
sword, but to dodge the stone was another story. I only hoped that it would
maintain its powers after it left my paws. If Jenner got a hold of it without
hurting himself, my life and the lives of everyone here were finished.

I mumbled to myself, "Please let this work..."

I threw the stone directly at Jenner’s face and sprinted towards him,
slashing with my sword at his face. He dodged the sword, but as a result the
stone hit him in the face and he screamed in agony, stumbling back into the
rock pile. I ran past Jenner and leapt up on top of the rock pile. Without
hesitation I drove my sword into Jenner’s back, where Sullivan’s dagger had
killed him on Moving Day.

Jenner let out a howl that resembled the death throes of a hundred wild
dogs. It was loud, piercing and as un-rodentine as a scream could be. Had the
NIMH scientists seen and heard this monstrosity, they obviously would have
stopped their experiments over fear – Fear that something like this may
eventually escape and wreak its private hatred out on the world.

Jenner, however, wasn’t dead yet. He turned sharply, taking my sword with
him. He shot out a claw and grabbed me by the head, pulling me off of the rocks
and holding me in midair, "JUSTIN! YOU BASTARD!" He roared,
"I’ll rip you apart for that!!" He began to squeeze my head – I tried
to scream but his claw was too tight for me to even breathe. I began to kick my
legs, writhe and wriggle – Anything to escape, but nothing was helping. Another
few seconds and my skull would be crushed in. Then, just as I began to fade out
of consciousness, Jenner’s grip began to fade as well. He dropped me to the
ground and then stumbled to the ground himself, falling onto his backside, the
sword driving itself through his body. He lay unmoving, but I could hear his
voice barely penetrating the air, "Jussstin..."

I couldn’t move – My head hurt too much, "What?" It barely was a
whisper. Jenner laughed a little, "To think it would come to this,
Justin..." he said, "To think I would have to die twice..." He
coughed up some blood and I could hear him choking for a few seconds, but then
he began to talk again, "Nicodemus... He must have told you about what NIMH
did to me..." I snorted in disapproval, but my image blurred when I did so,
"No... He wrote about it. If you hadn’t killed him, he might have told
us." Jenner was silent. Then he convulsed for a second, then I said,
"Jenner, because of what NIMH did to you, we understand why you did what
you did... But it doesn’t make us like you any more."

Jenner was silent again, but then I saw his eyes glaze over a bit, "At
least... You understand, my friend..." All was still for many minutes. I was
slowly blacking out. Whatever damage Jenner had done to my skull was beginning
to take effect. I slowly slumped down against the rockface where I had been
leaning and closed my eyes. All went dark.

I woke up in the infirmary with some of the guards surrounding me, but Jack
was in front of all of them, bandaging my head. When I stirred, I could hear
Jack’s voice, "Now, don’t bother him! Loud noises might still be a bad
idea – He’s had severe head trauma!"

I forced a grin, "Jack... Jack, you old goat – Don’t try to pretend that
you know what’s best for me!"

The guards cheered, Constelle’s voice ringing out more than any other’s
"You killed him, Justin! You did it!"
The loud shouting and cheering did hurt my head, in fact, but I wasn’t about to
admit that. I looked at the crowd and then at Jack nervously, "Jack...
Where’s my son? And where is Leon?"

Jack looked away and the guards were silent. I repeated myself, "Jack,
answer me. Where are Blake and Leon?"

Jack turned to the group of guards and waved a paw at them, telling them to
leave us alone. My stomach sank, and my heart became as heavy as lead,
"Jack..."

He turned to me once the guards were out and he shook his head, "Leon’s
heart stopped beating after his fight with Victoria. I got it beating again,
but Leon’s unconscious and he’s not waking up... He doesn’t look too good. His
injuries have surpassed any he’s had before."

My jaw opened slowly, but Jack was quick to continue, "It’s not like
he’s lost any limbs or anything, but his... his future isn’t looking too bright.
And Blake is with him now. When I told him that you would be okay, he went
right to Leon. He spent most of the night with you."

I closed my eyes, "Leon... Might not make it?"
Jack’s voice was sympathetic, "He might, he might not. It’s up in the air
right now."

I fell back asleep with those words circling in my head. I had the worst
nightmares imaginable – None of which I think I’ll write about here.

Jenner might be dead, but it’s come with one hell of a price. Jenner’s death
grip on my head has, at least temporarily, given me a limp in my right leg.
Apparently the loss of oxygen messed me up in some major ways, and I’m lucky
that a little limp was the worst that happened. If I’m anything like Leon,
though, it’ll be gone in a month.

And Leon... Well, he’s still unconscious. It’s been over two days and still
not so much as a stir. When I look at him, I can’t stop thinking about Jonathan
– How everything looked alright since he was in the infirmary bed, but then he
passed away, taking a piece of us with him. If Leon were to die... I don’t know
what I would do.

He was like my younger brother... I can’t remember any of my old brothers and
sisters from my pre-NIMH days – I wasn’t that close with them, but I was close
with Leon. We could talk like brothers at any time – We trusted each other like
family, and we both respected one another.

Leon can’t die now – Not after all we’ve been through.

There’s nothing I can do now but sit and wait. And write.

Day - March 2

Leon’s not waking up... Jack’s been giving him a bit of water
every now and then and also managed to give him a small bit of food, but he’s
not coming out.

A few days ago I was officially discharged from the infirmary,
my only instructions being to walk with a cane to support my limp. Instead of
leaving the infirmary, however, I stayed to watch over Leon and meet with a few
of the Guards who had been wounded during the battle. Our only deaths were
Victoria and Jenner, and I’m hesitant and putting Jenner down since he was dead
beforehand.

Whatever battle Victoria and Leon had, it completely decimated a good
portion of the lower levels. There was a gaping hole in the floor in the first
floor hallway, which Victoria must have created to escape from Leon. The two
fought down in the machinery rooms, and Victoria was killed. She had been
knocked into a pool of electrified water. Leon had been knocked unconscious by
a force that Jack cannot explain. It’s that power – Leon was attacked by it.
It’s how the two of them fought.

I don’t know how we can save Leon. Nobody does... But everybody wants to help.

Isa has been here for the last few days, parting from Leon’s side only for
food and drink. She stays in her bedside chair, waiting, hoping. She cries so
much I wonder if I should send her to her apartment sometimes, as all this
crying can’t be doing her any good.

Blake stays by his side as well, almost as often as Isa and myself. Jessica
stops in sometimes, too. As do the Guards and other community members. Tallor
is here quite a bit, too. And Sullivan. Everybody worries for him – Everybody
cares.

This is Leon’s family. We are his family and his friends.

Leon was angry once when I told him we could never go back home. Now, I
think he has learned enough to know that he doesn’t need to go back. Heck, I
don’t think he’d even want to go back now if he had the chance.

Leon knows that he has a family now. He knows he’s got a life to live now. And
he knows that he is loved. If he didn’t before, he needs to see everybody
that’s come to see him.

Now that the unrest is over, Leon should come back to us. I don’t know where
he might be now, but I don’t think he’s ready to join his brother. No, not yet.

Please... Bring him back. It’s not his time, yet.

Day – March 4

I’m finally back. I didn’t mean to worry everyone, and you know
it. Well, of course you do – You’re a journal. You’re me. And I’m wasting
paper.

The events of the last few days have been incredible. Jack tells
me that I’ve been in some kind of coma... In reality, I’ve been at NIMH, talking
to the scientists. Sounds weird, right? Well, it is! As for Victoria... Geez, I
still need to explain what happened, don’t I? I’ll just take it from when I ran
into the valley complex, ‘cuz that’s where Justin and I parted ways:

I ran into the hallways after Victoria (well, both of my legs
weren’t working correctly, so it was more like "I pathetically limped
after Victoria"), catching only a glimpse of her turning a corner about
ten feet away. She saw me as she turned and didn’t hesitate for one second –
She turned towards me and a bright ball of light shot out of her outstretched
paws. The ball didn’t look it was moving at first, but I noticed it’s
reflection on the walls coming closer to me, and I flattened myself against the
wall just in time. I could feel the extreme heat against my face as it whizzed
by and plowed through the wall at the other end of the hallway.

Victoria cursed and threw another heat ball at me not two seconds after the
first one missed. I pushed away from the wall and fell to the floor, the ball
smashing into the wall where I was just a second ago. The blast exposed a
section of electrical wiring, which fell out onto the floor not three inches
from my nose. I forced myself back up and stumbled away from the live wires in
time to see Victoria readying another ball of deadly light. I moved back, and
found myself against the damaged wall that Victoria created with her first
blast. Crap.

She had the amulet, so she could create these balls of energy (and probably
a lot worse) in the blink of an eye with little to no concentration of powers.
She was using the stone as a weapon, and it had plenty of ammunition from me,
Nicodemus and apparently Jenner as well. That meant that what took her two
seconds to do would take me at least twice as long to conjure up.

I squeezed my paws together and felt the energy brewing inside of me.
Victoria could see me preparing a volley of my own, and she decided to not
release her ball yet, instead just waiting and building up the energy. If that
thing so much as touched my person, there wouldn’t be anything left of me to
bury.

My focusing was complete – My energy ball would kill Victoria if it hit her.
I growled at Victoria, and she growled at me. She half-crouched and drew her
paws back, like she was about to throw a baseball, "Here’s where we part,
Leon!" She screamed at me, "Remember, those who face Jenner-"

A sardonic grin crept across my maw, "They die. Right, right. Do you
have any idea how ridiculous that sounds? I’m sure in your head it sounds
spooky and intimidating, but I realized when some of Jenner’s thugs tried to
kill Tallor that the phrase sounds sort of silly when you say it out
loud."

Victoria snorted, a small smile appearing on her face, "Even when death
is so close, you jest. It shows your idiocy, Captain. I’ll enjoy snuffing out
your pathetic life!"

With a yell, she threw her energy ball. I could see the air around it bend
from the extreme heat. Thinking quickly, I dove forward, trying to keep as low
to the floor as possible. In the middle of my dive, I threw my ball at
Victoria. She wasn’t expecting such an unorthodox move on my part and she fell
to her back just in time. I’m sure the ball singed some of the fur on her face,
though.

As for me, I could feel the heat against my back as I dove under the giant
energy ball, but it didn’t touch me. I could hear a loud crash from behind me,
but the crash turned into a loud groan, and then the floor began to shake. I
turned quickly as I got up and saw a huge crack snaking along the corridor. It
swept right between my legs, and I followed its path of movement all the way to
Victoria, who was still trying to regain her wind after falling on her back.
She saw the crack and she froze, her eyes fixed on me. I stayed still as well,
knowing that the slightest movement could break the floor open. So I stood, and
Victoria sat – we were just looking at each other with the most utter hatred in
our eyes.

Suddenly she began to smile, then she began to laugh. I was confused for a
moment, until I saw a ball of light emanating from behind her – From her hidden
paw. With a yell, she twisted her body around and threw her energy blast at me.
I wasn’t expecting it at all, but I tried to dodge it as best as I could. It
missed me by about half an inch. The whiskers on the left side of my face were
singed.

As I hugged the wall, I could hear more groaning from the floor. Arthur’s
engineering skills were no match for the power that Victoria and I were tossing
at each other. The floor suddenly gave way and began to fall down to the
basement level. I hadn’t anticipated on the floor collapsing so quickly,
though, and I didn’t have enough time to use my power to levitate myself so I
wouldn’t fall. As my feet fell out from under me, I grabbed wildly with my paws
and found a little jutting piece of the first floor that was still attached to
the first floor. I looked down and saw the ground was about a foot or so below
me. As I looked up, I could see Victoria gently floating down to the rubble,
readying another volley of attacks. I yelped and let go just in time to see the
ledge I’d been holding melt away under the energy ball’s extreme heat. I landed
on a piece of stone and quickly examined my surroundings: Arthur’s water pump
was leaking, spewing water all over the floor. Also, to make the situation
worse, some of the electrical conduits had snapped and were submerged in the
water. Touching the water would result in a toasty rodent. Not very appeasing
to think about that.

I looked up and saw Victoria throwing another ball. This was getting serious
– I didn’t have enough time to ready any attacks, since the stone gave Victoria
an offensive edge. I couldn’t hit her with any of my attacks, as she would be
able to dodge them with ease. I mean, if I could dodge her attacks every few
seconds, then she could definitely dodge mine. That was not good.

I jumped to my left and landed on another jutting piece of stone that had
fallen from the first floor. Some loose rubble was still falling from above and
presented a hazard, so aside from keeping an eye on Victoria, I’d need to watch
for falling rubble. And of course the elctrified pool that was forming near
Arthur’s pump about two feet away.

Suddenly I became panicky. Was Justin still fighting Jenner? Had Jenner
already killed Justin? My stomach sank and I barely managed to avoid another
attack from Victoria, and I lay on the ground out of breath. She began to
laugh, "What, getting tired, Leon? I only kicked you in the face and
tossed you around out there, that’s not so bad." She threw another ball of
light at me. I didn’t even have enough time to get up, so I quickly rolled over
and the ball smashed through the rubble next to me. I quickly stumbled up and
saw exactly what I wanted to see – Victoria was so busy trying to tire me out
that she was not watching where she was floating around. She was directly above
the pool of water, next to the pump.

I began to draw my own energy – Trying to make as efficient a blast in as
little time as possible. Victoria wasn’t so nice this time as she had been
before. She threw a lightning ball at me the second she saw me start to make
one of my own. I had anticipated that, however. I jumped to my left, keeping my
body facing her, and I threw my energy ball with all my might. It went right
past Victoria – and into the water pump.

The pump exploded and knocked Victoria out of the air. She landed feet first
in the electrified pool, as if she was landing on regular ground. She instantly
began to scream wildly. She tried to stumble out of the pool, but she quickly
fell to her knees, and then after a short moment, she fell face first into the
pool, a few air bubbles signifying the last breath of the infamous Victoria. I
relished in the silence for a short moment, then I realized that Justin was
still fighting outside (that is, if he hadn’t been killed yet). Using my
powers, I lifted Victoria up, setting her aside the pool, and I quickly slipped
the amulet off her neck. The stone had lost some of its luster from its
prolonged use, but it still shone a rather bright shade of red. I closed my
eyes and lifted the stone up into the first floor corridor, then out the main
entrance, and then to Justin.

But it wasn’t over yet.

I felt Justin take the stone and I released my grip on it. As I opened my
eyes, I was greeted by the image of Victoria’s badly burnt body trying to get
up from beside the pool. I was so surprised by this that I froze in terror –
She was most certainly dead a moment ago. Now, though, I realize that it was
the last of her powers escaping from her body – Her mitochondria wished her to
do one last thing before she died, and that was to kill me.

While her body wasn’t working correctly at all, she managed to throw one
last ball of energy at me before falling back into the pool. The energy ball
struck me squarely in the chest and I went down. The blast, however, was not
nearly as powerful as the ones she had created with the stone, and it didn’t
kill me. Instead, it blew me back and broke almost every bone in my body.

When I woke up, I was hovering outside of my body. I grimaced when I saw
just how beat up I was. I don’t even think rats are SUPPOSED to bend the way I
was bent.

Then I looked up and saw a huge field – The destroyed basement was no more,
and my body was no longer there. Instead, I saw a huge field that looked
awfully familiar. As I flew across the field, I could make out a road. A
highway. Cars drove all over the place. I remembered it now – This was the road
that we ran along as we escaped from...

NIMH. I saw it, then – The huge white building that had started this whole
thing. Why was I here? Was this a dream?

I thought I was going to fly right into the wall, but instead I passed
through it and found myself looking at desks, chairs, scientists and finally
the cages that we had been kept in. My stomach began to throb – A pain that I
had worked so hard to get rid of... And it was back. What the hell was I doing
here?

The question was answered immediately. A man was standing in the doorway of
the animal testing room. It wasn’t Schultz, but another man. This was the
leader of NIMH. He was the boss – the one who oversaw all of the experiments.

But, as I read this man’s thoughts, I came to the realization that he was
unaware of the depth of Schultz’s experiments. Apparently this man, the
administrator, had no idea what the Rats of NIMH were all about.

I helped sum up the events for him.

I entered his mind and told him everything. I made him listen – I made him
remember – I made him believe me. I told him all about the true nature of
Schultz’s tests, of our escape, of our progressive intelligence, of our
civilization... Then I told him about Jenner’s experiment – Of how it almost
destroyed our civilization. Of how, with the combined powers of the stone and
Jenner’s own hate of Dr. Schultz, Jenner would have tried to kill him and all
the humans responsible for his transformation.

I smiled when I heard the administrator’s response to this, "This... will
not do."

Then he got angry.

I watched in glee as he stormed into Schultz’s office three days later with
government officials and confiscated all of his paperwork, then I cheered as Schultz
was fired the next day, then sentenced to a prison term for jeopardizing
national security by experimenting with unstable organisms that would soon be
compared to atomic bombs. He and his experiments were through. A law was later
passed that would ban mitochondral testing.

And perhaps the greatest achievement of them all was when a law was later
passed that banned any kind of human interference in the Thorn Valley region.
Whether the humans know about us or not doesn’t matter – what does matter is
that we will not be bothered by the likes of NIMH ever again.

And that is what I was doing while I was supposedly in the coma. When I
awoke, I found myself surrounded by Justin, Isa, Blake, Kat, Jessica and of
course, Jack. After word got around that I was awake again, the Guards filed
in, along with a slew of citizens who wanted to thank me personally for
stopping Victoria. Arthur was a little ticked at me for destroying his water
pump and decimating the first floor, but he quickly got over it.

While I lay in the infirmary bed on the second night I was awake, Justin
told me about the past few days’ events:

Jeremy had flown back to the farm after the battle, to tell Mr. Ages what
had happened. Ages came back with Jeremy, and he had some news of his own: He
had been gathering roots for some medicines when he heard the radio. He
approached the farmhouse and saw the farmer and his wife listening to it on the
porch. The news? It was all about Dr. Schultz’s experiments. His REAL
experiments, mind you. He had been using government money to fund his own
experiments. Using NIMH facilities and staff, he attempted to prove that
mitochondria governed all growth in an organism and could be
"awakened" to produce immense power. The human govenment all opposed
his research and would not fund his project, even for military purposes. But
Schultz’s theory was far from finished – He was a very smart man, and he
overestimated his budget for every experimentation he ever had to do at NIMH,
purchasing supplies and funding staff for his own little endeavors into the
realm of sub-cellular research. He only took on projects where large amounts of
animals were needed, so the rodent presence in his experiment could be
explained. He didn’t have that many rodents – 40 rats and 22 mice to start out
with for such a big project was near to nothing as I’ve come to understand it.
Still, he did his experiments, and we were created.

The radio spoke about the creation of the rats of NIMH, and how we were
apparently all killed off after Schultz was fired as a matter of human safety.
However, this was followed by the ban on human interference in Thorn Valley
straight from the President of the United States (cleverly disguised as a
no-trespassing law put into effect due to poaching), so I’m pretty sure that at
least SOME humans know we’re out here. At least those humans are out to protect
us. Who knows? Maybe someday in the future we’ll be living side by side humans?

Yeah... It does sound a little silly.

Anyway, when Ages told us, there was an immense cheer from the whole of the
colony, especially from the first generations, like myself and Justin.

When I told Justin about what I had done at NIMH, he was ecstatic beyond
belief. He jumped up to embrace me, but held back when he remembered I didn’t
have many working bones. He just laughed a bit and pumped his arms once,
"Leon! I can’t believe it! I had dreams about Schultz being fired and NIMH
never bothering us again while you were in your coma, but I never thought they
were true!"

I grinned, a little surprised (after all, this was very unlike Justin to
show he was this happy) and let out a sigh, "Yeah, they were all true.
This is definitely an occasion to celebrate, Justin."

He nodded sharply, "That’s right. It means..." He paused and looked
around the room, "It means we don’t have to run anymore, or be afraid of
being caught."

He smiled at me, "We did it, Leon. We’re really free now."

I sighed again, realizing the impact of his words, "Yeah... We’re
free."

Day – August 2

It’s been a few months, and I’m finally out of the infirmary. I
didn’t write a single entry since my first long-winded one because I spent a
lot of time recouperating from a major loss of energy. A few days after I woke
up, I lost most of my powers. I can still lift a few things and do a little miracle
every now and then, but it drains me so to do it now. Maybe that blast of
Victoria’s did more to me than I thought. The same happened with Blake – He’s
having a lot of trouble doing things that he used to do normally. No more
battles of the mind, I’m afraid. When I told him that, he just smiled a bit,
"Good. I hated doing that."

You know, I just realized that I’m almost out of pages in this journal.
Maybe I’ll pick up another journal, and maybe I won’t. I’m beginning to think
that maybe I don’t need to write in a journal anymore. Since the incident, I’m
sure lots of rats are keeping journals, keeping track of their daily lives. And
honestly, who can sum up every important thing in their life in a few measly
pages? I tried.

My life is going to get more hectic as time goes on – I proposed to Isa
yesterday in the Guardhouse. A classic Leon-esque example of smoothness: She
was sitting in her desk, about ready to leave for the day, when I plopped a
huge amount of papers in front of her and said, "All these things were
moved to top priority while I was in the infirmary. There’s one thing in here I
want you to consider very carefully."

She moaned and smiled a bit as she started to rummage through the papers,
"I can’t believe you, Leon. You get out of the infirmary and right away
you’re giving... me..." Her voice trailed off as she found the ring I had
Tallor make for me while I was recouperating. She picked it up and blinked in
shock, "...giving me a... a..."

I smiled at her, "A proposal. Isa, will you marry me?"

She swallowed loudly and looked over the ring, then she looked up at me with
a smile that stretched to both ears. She accepted.

We’re hoping for children in the near future. And with children, a career as
the Captain of the Guards and community activity up the wazoo (I’m a
"guest speaker" in Jessica’s class now a few times every week), I
doubt I’ll be able to write in a journal very often at all. But who knows...
maybe I’ll pick another one sometime or another.

I look back on these journals and I realize just how much I’ve grown since I
was caught. I mean, of course I’m smarter than your average rodent – I’ve lived
about three lifetimes’ worth, but I just find it surprising how I have evolved
over the years. This life of mine... I don’t get it sometimes. Like all this
stuff happens to you but you don’t know why it does.

Perhaps I was thinking that writing in a journal would help me simplify my
life in a time when it needed to be simple. When I didn’t want to worry about
anything.

I guess the opposite happened. All these horrible things have happened, and
all of these great things have happened, and I really don’t know what to make
of them all sometimes. I know one thing, though – My life has definitely not
been "simple."

If I don’t write ever again, I think that this journal needs some semblance
of closure, don’t you think? Justin, Kat and Blake are living peacefully
together – Justin’s managed to equally balance family and work, and he’s become
a model father here. Blake’s training has ceased but we still meet every now
and then. Isa and I are common guests at Justin’s family apartment and we sit
together at dinner. Along with the Brisby’s, naturally.

Mrs. Brisby has settled nicely in here, helping out with different tasks and
proving herself as a real jack-of-all-trades. She hasn’t aged a day since I
first saw her. Well, she has a grey hair or two. We’ve all got some on top of
our heads after the battle. Even Blake – It dots his head and face like he’s
sneezed into an old fireplace.

The grey doesn’t really clash with my light brown fur, though, and I’m
thankful for that. We don’t have fur dyes for use right now.

Where was I?

Oh yeah – The Brisby kids: Tim, Martin, Cynthia and Teresa have all
completed school and are doing their respective jobs. They’ve all managed to become
an integral part in Thorn Valley life.

Jessica is still a teacher, and she’ll probably stay a teacher for the rest
of her life – She loves it that much. I remember when she came in to visit me
when I was in the infirmary, she kissed her paw and then put it on my forehead
and said, "Thank you. Now we don’t have to worry anymore."

And she was right. We don’t.

And the stone... That red rock that the owl gave us has caused more harm than
good. Justin took it far out into the forest one day by himself, also taking
the hunk of rock that I had gotten from Nicodemus, and buried them both deep
underground. When he returned, he merely smiled and said, "Well, that’s
one less thing for us to worry about."

He still wears the gold-colored necklace, though. He said that while the
stone reminded him of bad things, the string that it was attached to did not,
so he kept it on.

It’s worth noting that no major problems have occurred since we buried the
stones.

Well, this is it – The last page. So much time has passed and I’ve written
down so little of what has actually happened. I wrote down the important
things, sure, but so much has gone unsaid.

But hey, nobody’s perfect. I know for a fact that I’m far from perfect, but
it doesn’t stop me from trying. And that’s what we’ve been doing all these
years: trying.

And we finally succeeded – Our trials and tribulations are over, and now we
can live our lives not as runaway rats, but as the rats of NIMH.

If these journals have done one thing, I hope that it was showing you, the
reader, how we have struggled, how we have survived, and how we intend to live
our lives as we have wanted to since we first set foot outside NIMH labs.

Our story continues, but, for now, this journal ends.

Artwork by MAL

THE END