No Escape Room {{by invitation only}}

[Basil]

Basil was well aware of the time. Which is not to say he would've made it clear of the hearth in time. As it was, he became rather indignant to be yanked away from the clue and tumbled into the room. He was confident he hadn't needed the policewoman's help, and was preparing to tell her so, when the jet of flame put the carpet on fire.

Before Basil could utter so much as an 'egad,' Linguini doused the fire with some clear liquid from a glass ewer. Obviously not water. "That was some type of alcohol. Can you not smell it?" But no time for remonstrances now.

No mere water would douse that fire, it would merely spread the conflagration. Basil climbed swiftly onto the cabinet containing the scientific equipment. "Potassium, acetone, carbon...yes, we have what's wanted." But the glass jars were far too large for Basil to pour without help. "Come, man, help me mix these chemicals!"

[Judy Hopps]

Judy rolled to an upright position and breathed a sigh of relief as the jet of flame missed her by inches. Missed her, but set the rug on fire!

Now they were in big trouble, trapped in a room with no way out and a fire. Before she realized it, Basil had squirmed out of her grip and ran over to the big cabinet. "You're welcome," Judy said under her breath; after all, she did just save the mouse's life.

Judy grabbed a pillow and tried to beat it out while Alfredo found water somewhere and threw it on the fire. Only it turned out to be gasoline or something equally flammable. No help there.

Her next thought was to roll up the rug and shove it into the fireplace before it ignited anything else. To do that, Judy would have to move a lot of furniture off the carpet first, so she got started hauling chairs away.

[Linguini]

Linguini was frozen to the spot with a horrible feeling of déjà vu. Once again he'd tried to help by putting out a fire and just made things worse. Way, waaaaay worse.

At least Judy was trying to put out the fire. Linguini couldn't seem to move a muscle. Until he heard a yell:

Come, man, help me mix these chemicals!

Mix chemicals? He knew nothing about chemistry. What if he messed up? He could blow the whole room to bits.

If only mixing chemicals was like mixing ingredients in a kitchen. Not that Linguini was any good at that either. If it wasn't for his little rat friend...

An idea struck.

Without waiting to figure out if it was actually a good idea or not, the would-be chef scooped up Basil and dropped him on top of his, Linguini's head. "Yank on my hair! That'll let you control my arms, and you can mix whatever you need." Hoo, boy, that sounded weird when you said it out loud. "Just do it!"

[Basil]

Basil was still struggling to remove the stopper from the potassium when he found himself seized from behind and deposited onto Linguini's head. Before Basil could protest this affront, the Frenchman made the most bizarre request.

Yank on my hair! That'll let you control my arms, and you can mix whatever you need.

They hadn't time for such tomfoolery. Angered by the absurdity of it all, the detective did so, giving the gingery hair a good and proper tug. And he hoped it jolly well stung!

And the most amazing thing happened: Linguini's arm jerked upward, as if on cue. Astonished, Basil tried again, this time with the other hand. "Extraordinary!" murmured the detective. "Do all humans react this way?" Think of the possibilities!

Basil had a thousand questions. "Do you feel it when I tug? Can you resist? Are there locks of hair to control your legs? Your speech?" The ramifications were staggering!