Annan had once told Broken Fang a story called "The Ugly Duckling":
Once upon a time, a The Ugly Duckling lived among a brood of ducklings. The ducks mocked him for being big and ugly, for being different from them. The The Ugly Duckling was heartbroken, but he didn't know he was actually a Swan. When he grew up, all the ducks would marvel at his beauty.
"You're different from the other ducks... No, from the other Ratfolk. Treachery is their creed, and cruelty is their way."
"I gnawed on a neighbor's leg when I was little, too..."
"What? It's just a metaphor. Your future changed the day you joined Free City. Believe in yourself, the way I believe in you."
Broken Fang could hardly describe how those words made him feel. It was much like how Ratfolk felt when they heard a Divine Oracle from the Great Horned Rat.
From then on, Broken Fang became Annan's devoted Fanatic. He carried out Annan's will and revered him as he would the Great Horned Rat—
So Broken Fang was no longer content to hide in the Basement as just another Ratfolk at the Hell Mountain Camp.
Broken Fang was going to find his own path.
There was a hundred times more he could do out there than on Hell Mountain.
Now, for instance, well-fed and strong from his time in Free City, Broken Fang squeezed out of the Basement and into the Camp.
The Camp was packed with Elite Rats and Slave Rats, but there were no Brute Rats. Once the Musketeers discovered that bringing down a Brute Rat took out even more Ratfolk than some Rolling Stones did, they always focused their fire on them. Not a single Brute Rat had made it to the Camp alive, so they had