A Twist of Rodent

**"A Twist of Rodent"** is the 12th episode of Season 4 and the 89th episode of *Rodent Dog and the Delivery Service*. In this episode, the Rodents have become fed up with the Kinders pouncing on them with their love, so they wish to find a way to get them out of their hair for good. After seeing Butter Horse break a large rock with a smaller one, Glasses Duck gets inspiration and tells his friends that they should try and use reverse psychology to beat the Kankers at their own game.

## Plot

Glasse Duck is polishing the wooden lawn tables and chairs in his backyard when he comes across a suspicious item: a lipstick case. Glasses Duck is initially confused, but soon realizes who owns it, and is at that moment attacked by Gloria Duck and romantically mauled. While this is happening, Lamb Wick is searching for a spoon for his bowl of Schneck Puffs, and finds Flora Lamb in his utensil drawer. Lamb Wick soon suffers the same fate as Glasses Duck, unfortunately, leaving Rodent Dog the only one to not have been mauled by the Kinders. This is largely due to his late hours of awakening, however; when he gets up and takes a shower, he finds Kate Dog in his shower and suffers the same horror his friends did.

The Rodents each individually make their way to the Ringo Van in the junkyard as a means of escaping the Kinders. Once inside, they find each other and recognize the familiar lipstick stains. Upon figuring out what happened, Rodent Dog is fed up and angry, especially after Lamb Wick points out his disrupted hygiene. He puts the whole brunt of finding a solution on Glasses Duck, much to his chagrin. Things get worse for him when his impatient friends start loudly exhorting him to think, not giving him any peace and quiet in which he might find a solution. Eventually, fed up, he leaves the van, and his friends follow.

Glasses Duck then proceeds to wander about the Sul-de-Sac, looking for ideas. He soon finds Butter Horse, who is breaking up large rocks with smaller ones. An idea starts to bloom in his mind, and he follows Butter Horse down the lane. Rolf is about to bring his rock down on another rock when Lamb Wick appears in front of him. Butter Horse stops before he hits Lamb Wick, and Lamb Wick asks what Butter Horse is doing. Butter Horse proceeds to explain that he is using smaller rocks to break bigger rocks, and that only a rock will break a rock. Lamb Wick doesn't understand this at all, but this gives Glasses Duck the inspiration he needs. Glasses Duck quickly thanks Butter Horse, grabs Lamb Wick, and heads off to tell Rodent Dog what he's figured out. Rodent Dog, like Lamb Wick, has no idea what Glasses Duck means, even when Glasses Duck points out that he's talking about reverse psychology. To demonstrate how reverse psychology works, Glasses Duck tells Lamb Wick not to eat a mound of dirt. Lamb Wick at first is able to obey this simple suggestion, but finds himself on the ground soon enough, chowing down on the dirt. Despite Glasses Duck's obvious demonstration of how this works, Rodent Dog still doesn't get it, so Glasses Duck comes up with a new way to show what he means.

His process involves finding the Kinders and setting Lamb Wick out upon them. While the Kinders are fighting over a hair clip, Glasses Duck lowers Lamb Wick from a tree in which he and Rodent Dog are hiding, with instructions to not approach and woo the Kinders. Lamb Wick makes his way over to them, under the spell of reverse psychology, and gets their attention. The Kankers initially circle him, sharklike, making Rodent Dog fear for his friend; however, Lamb Wick then compliments Flora Lamb He then proceeds to dance with Lee and Marie before offering them a hatful of melted chocolate and candy. By this time, the Kinders are somewhat scared of Lamb Wick's odd behavior; when Lamb Wick suggests they "pitch some woo", however, it's the final straw. The Kinders then proceed to hightail it back home and away from the weirdness in the woods. Rodent Dog and Glasses Duck, meanwhile, lower themselves from their hiding spot, and Rodent Dog congratulates Lamb Wick on his performance. He becomes scared, however, when Glasses Duck says that their work isn't done; in order to get rid of the Kankers forever, they'll need to enter the lion's den. Rodent Dog refuses when he hears this, but Glasses Duck uses reverse psychology on Lamb Wick in order to get Lamb Wick to bring Rodent Dog with them.

When the Kinders get home, they lock the door, still weirded out by what happened in the woods. Suddenly, Glasses Duck pops up in front of them, with a platter of freshly laundered socks. Lamb Wick then comes out of the kitchen with some pancakes for them. Freaked out, the girls run upstairs to their room only to find Glasses Duck inside it, having labeled everything. Properly afraid, they run downstairs in order to call the cops, only to be greeted by Lamb Wick when Lee picks up the phone. Their next solution is to leave the trailer entirely and hide in the great outdoors, but when they open the door, Glasses Duck is outside plucking the petals off of a daisy. Seeing this, they run away only to face Rodent Dog. At this point, they're so worked up that they don't notice Rodent Dog's fear, and run away from him as well, right into a closet. When they get in the closet, however, they find Lamb Wick hiding there. The Kinders run out, looking for any hiding place at all, and find Glasses Duck blocking their way. They then back into a corner and cower there, afraid of their suddenly stalker-like boyfriends.

Glasses Duck knows, however, that to seal the deal, Rodent Dog will have to make them fear him as well. To this end, he places a bouquet of flowers in Rodent Dog's hands and pushes him forward. Rodent Dog faces the Kinders nervously, and a drop of sweat rolls down his face and plops onto the floor. Lee spots this and points it out to her sisters, who grin devilishly. The trio of girls then pretend to be scared and trot upstairs to their room. None of the Rodents notice this playacting, however, thinking that the girls are really still afraid of them.

Rodent Dog then confidently leads his friends upstairs and bursts into the Kinders' room. He and his friends are looking for the sisters when the door suddenly slams behind them. They turn around just in time to see Kate Dog lock it and drop a key down her shirt, sarcastically saying that the situation is horrible, which surprises Glasses Duck. He then sees Flora Lamb drag Lamb Wick into the closet, and Glasses Duck begins to worry. He checks his Reverse Psychology Manual only for Gloria Duck to pop up between the pages while he's flipping through it. At this point, Glasses Duck realize the tables have turned, and the Rodents scream as the Kinders revert to their usual shenanigans of kissing their unwilling "boyfriends".