The rat bound toward the shackled woman, not stopping until it placed two small paws on her arm. It squeaked softly at her and nodded its head up and down.

Chiba's ugly old face broke into a wide smile. "My loving Apprentice has come for me? Is this a Jailbreak?"

The rat turned around and ran back toward the door, a moment later it reappeared dragging two rat dolls behind it. It easily bit through the string that bound them together and left one with Chiba before dragging the other toward Beta's cell.

Beta watched the Rat King as it approached her, it pushed the rat doll next to her and rubbed its head against her arm causing her to laugh. "I think Rat-Nix is a bit more affectionate then regular Nix."

The rat squeaked at her before backing up a few steps and sitting on its hindquarters. It stared at her patiently.

"I'm not sure what..." Beta looked down at the doll, she understood the theory behind Taxidermy but had never seen it displayed. Nix's skills had obviously improved quite a bit since his time with the Sasi family. "Are you saying that I can animate this?"

The yellow-eyed rat nodded its head up and down, the effect causing Beta to smile at him.

Beta placed her hand on the rat doll and closed her eyes. "Animate."

The second rat looked around for a moment, the room spinning in her vision while she tried to orient herself.

"Take your time Beta."

Beta-Rat looked at Nix in surprise. "Hey! I can understand you!"

"Hmm... we are both rats after all. Follow please."

Chiba cackled in pleasure when she saw the two rats bounding toward her. "It's a rat escape! Animate."

Chiba-rat experienced the same disorientation when she assumed control of the third Rat-King. She recovered quickly and scurried toward the other two that had stopped to watch her. "Nix! You're my f*cking hero!"

"Hmm... Follow me." Nix moved back toward the corner of the room and squeeze through the small hole in the floor.

Chiba paused at looked back at her body. "Hey, Nix. It's not an escape if our bodies don't come with us!"

Nix's quiet chuckle came from the rat hole. "Don't be so unreasonable."

Chiba scurried down the hole after him, her keen hearing told her that Beta was right behind her. "What's the play here Nix?"

"Scout first. We'll find your gear, something to free you from those chains and the location of the bad guy."

"So we can f*ck him up." Chiba chittered her teeth together in happiness. "Am I a male or a female rat?"

"I didn't check. You tell me."

Chiba squeezed through the tight passageway, her feet struggling to keep up. "Damn it Nix, you're a fast rat-bastard."

"Lots of practice!"

"I guess... Hey Nix, you're hindquarters is nicely muscled. Just the right amount of fur on it too."

"Why don't you switch places with Beta?"

"No way, I'm staying in the middle."

The three rats finally ended up in a kitchen, the light from the wood fire made shadows dance on the walls.

Nix glanced around before scurrying up on the table and carefully searching through the utensils.

Beta followed him, her eyes darting everywhere. "This is pretty amazing Nix. Can I have this Rat thingie?"

"No."

Beta moved closer to him and peered into the drawer he had managed to push out. "What are you looking for?"

"You're the lockpick right? Something to open the shackles."

"Something to open?" Beta nodded her tiny brown head suddenly. "Right! Rats have great dexterity."

After a few minutes of searching, Nix located a four-inch-long pin that closely resembled a metal toothpick. "Will this work Beta?"

Beta nodded and hopped down, her eyes spotting Chiba who was busying gnawing on a large orange ball. "Let's go, Chiba!"

"It's cheese! Who doesn't like cheese?" Beta scampered after them, gnashing her teeth together when she discovered she had become the third rat.

"Hey Beta!"

"I won't switch places with you, Chiba."

"Your master is tired Nix, let's take a break and try out some rat-sex!"

"Pass!"

"Fine, just ignore this rat while she takes care of it herself!"

"If you try that, I will blow you up."

Chiba rat stumbled slightly before speeding back up. "What's that mean? Do I have a self-destruct?"

"Yes."

"Would you let me finish first?"

"Definitely not."

Chiba was about to protest when she ran into Beta's hindquarters. "Hey?"

Nix squeeze through another hole and stopped next to two large chests. "The guards are through this door. Let's try to look open one of them."

The chests were unlocked and the three rats managed to lift them enough to peek inside. "Looks like your gear."

Beta's brown head nodded. "Now what?"

"I'm going to get some back-up. You two try and free yourselves."

[Stealth]

Nix left them and ran into one of the larger holes. He used his keen nose to locate one of the large chambers beneath the floors. The skittering movements of hundreds of rats caused him to stop.

He only waited for a few minutes before he heard Beta's excited rat-voice saying that they were both free.

[Dominate]

A hundred pairs of red eyes turned towards their master, they moved eagerly toward him.

[Follow]

Nix led them back to the guard area where four guards were steadily drinking. Four guards might have believed themselves safe from the rats of the castle, but the reality was vastly different.

They followed him into the room, shadowing his every movement. When the guards turned in surprise at the cell doors being swung open, Nix chose two guards and sent his rats in.

[Attack Target]

In the end, the rats ended up killing three of the guards. The fourth was done in by Chiba who used a fork. The two women reclaimed their weapons and armor before catching up with Nix who had dismissed his followers.

A breach opened before them and all three of them hurried through.

Beta looked around at the empty room they had stepped into. Nix was sitting on a chair with his eyes closed, he opened them a moment later before picking his Rat-King off of the floor.

[Beta has joined Alpha Team Channel.]

[Chiba has joined Alpha Team Channel.]

/Alpha Team: Beta: Where are we Nix?

/Alpha Team: Nix: Someplace secret, please don't ask.

/Alpha Team: Beta: Of course. Thank you, Nix.

/Alpha Team: Wind: Beta!

/Alpha Team: Beta: Wind!

/Alpha Team: Pon: Shit... The f*ck is this? Welcome back, guys. Now let's kill some stuff.

Nix held out his hands to the two women. "Fork them over."

Beta gave him an innocent look. "The Rat-dolls? Sorry Nix, in my excitement I forgot them in the cell.

Chiba nodded in agreement. "Same here Nix. Sorry."

"Sure. Only problem with that story is that I can sense when they are close." Nix snapped his fingers and kept his hand out. "Nice try though."

"Bastard." Chiba handed him the Rat-doll.

"Fine." Beta reluctantly handed over the second doll.

Nix breathed a sigh of relief and stowed them away. "I'm glad you didn't forget them. These are hard to make."

Chiba's ugly face scowled at him. "You can't sense them."

Nix laughed at their sour expressions. "No."

[Create Breach: Loki]

The three stepped into the breach and winked from sight. A moment later Leva walked in and resumed her place at the desk.

***************

All of Alpha Team were waiting near the front gate of Loki. Nix and the rest politely found something else to occupy their time while Wind and Beta spoke.

/Alpha Team: Nix: We're going in, you two in or out?

/Alpha Team: Beta: I have to check with Mtui. What's our mission?

/Alpha Team: Chiba: I'm in Nix. Thank you again.

/Alpha Team: Nix: Kill Overseer Belchi and completely destroy his stronghold.