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Mickey stumbled through the darkened rainforest, tripping over vines, cutting away brush feebly with his old-and-worn sword.

He's taken Minnie, the monster has taken Minnie away. The Mickey has taken her-

I'VE taken Minnie away.

He couldn't take it anymore, it was all too much.

This sword, he had this sword, and yet he had used it for nothing; he used it to set The Mickey free, and now The Mickey had his Minnie.

My... Minnie.

He could feel the tears stinging at the bottoms of his eyes. How had he thought they could make do? How had he ever thought him and Minnie could ever find a happy life for themselves here in the Public Domain? There was a reason their copyright had been extended for 95 years, Mickey didn't belong here, and neither did Minnie. But it was over, 95 years had ended all too soon, and because of it, Minnie was going to die in the most horrible way possible, and it would all be Mickey's fault.

Mickey slashed a weary arm across his eyes to clear away the tears, but new ones began to pool in their place. Why had his copyright had to end? Copyright should be forever; if it had, him and Minnie would've never ended up in this cursed place.

Curse the Public Domain, Mickey thought, still trying to pull back his tears, Curse it with everything I got!

Then Mickey's foot caught, deep in the thick foliage, and he stumbled forward, face first into the mud. He pulled himself up, up onto his hands and knees, and cried out into the sky, "Please! Take me back! Take me back to into copyright where I belong!"

But the stars and Moon that shined overhead through the rainforest canopy remained silent. They couldn't hear him out here; did they even know he was here? They had there own Mickey up there, 95 years still under copyright, this small piece that had fallen off, he was on his own; no copyright law in the Universe was going to save him.

As Mickey collapsed face first into the mud and just surrendered to the money-grubbing slop he had become, there was the sound of branches cracking in the forest, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit burst free into the clearing.

"Mickey! Are you alright?" Oswald cried, rushing to his pal's side.

Mickey pulled his face from the mud, and Oswald could see the misery written in every inch of his expression.

"He took Minnie," Mickey rasped, "He's going to kill her. Cut out her guts and eat them all up. All because of me."

Oswald offered a hand and helped Mickey to his feet. He looked at his friend closely.

"Listen," Oswald said, as much to keep himself from losing it as Mickey, "It's over, the Evil Mickey's gone and there's nothing we can do about it. We need to give up before anyone else gets hurt."

Weary eyed, Mickey looked around at his surroundings, realizing the first time that he was completely lost.

"But Minnie," he managed.

Oswald looked at him, helpless.

"I cannot leave Minnie!" Mickey growled suddenly.

Oswald took a step back in start, and starred at his friend.

"But how?" Oswald asked finally, "We have no idea which way they went."

And in that instant Mickey knew; he could see it deep within those eyes that had looked into him, for That Mickey was This Mickey, and this present was already the past.

"Steamboat River," Mickey stammered. "I know where he's going."

...

He knew where he was going.

He knew what he was going to do.

He could see it clearly as if they were thoughts of his own.

Because someday, they would be.

...

Mickey bit down on his tongue in rising anger; he let his tongue seethe its way along his teeth.

Oswald watched, a cold feeling growing over him.

“He has Minnie and I am going to take her back," Mickey growled, the hilt of his sword twirling through his fingers "I'm going to find him, and when I do, I'm going to kill him!"

Mickey swung the sword at the nearest tree, and the blade shattered, a piece of it breaking off into the night.

And it was in that moment Oswald saw it, that same wild look in his eyes, the way the broken sword glinted in his hands, the jagged edges where the rest had torn off, a perfect reflection of the knife wielded by the Evil Mickey.

Mickey swung again, his knife cutting through the greeny standing in his way, then again, nothing would stand in his path-

When suddenly his blade came to a halt, caught on a branch held out by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

“I can't let you do this," Oswald said, trembling in his feet under the weight of the blade.

“You can't stop me!" Mickey said, trying to knock Oswald and his branch out of the way with his knife; but Oswald fixed his feet into the ground and held firm.

“Listen," Oswald said, "I know you don't want to hear this, but Minnie's gone! She was just a love interest! This is the Public Domain; you don't know who she is still under copyright. For all you know she's replaced with another girl mouse a few years down the road anyway. Or a cat. Or even a rabbit..." Oswald paused, a distant sadness reflecting in his eyes, "But it doesn't matter," Oswald continued, shaking away his own thoughts, "she's gone, and you have to let her go."

Mickey stood there looking at him, blade still locked with branch, and Mickey could see in his eyes, almost a sense of understanding.

Then Mickey's expression hardened.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL MAKE THIS KNIFE FOR YOU!" he shouted, the bark of Oswald's wood cracking under the strength of the knife's blade.

And Oswald's body went still; he looked up at Mickey, straight in the eyes, seeing him now for The Mickey he truly was.

Oswald could only stand there, praying beyond hope that his branch wouldn't shatter.

Then, “You know why I helped you out this far?" Oswald asked, his voice weak but steady, "Because I truly believed that that monster... I believed you didn't have to become him," Oswald took a breath, “But now I'm seeing, maybe I was wrong."

Mickey and Oswald's eyes locked, saw the expression in the other's eyes, the struggles, the sincerity, the brotherhood that would never be. Suddenly, Mickey's arms felt weak, he couldn't stand. He dropped the knife and collapsed to his knees.

Oswald let his branch fall, and looked down at his feet, “I can't stop you from doing what you're about to do, but I can't be here to watch you turn into that thing."

Oswald turned to leave, but hesitated. Mickey just remained there on the ground, lost in the silence.

Finally, “Maybe Minnie was only created to be an expendable love interest, but she's become so much more than that, at least to me." Slowly, Mickey pulled himself to his feet, picking his knife up from off the ground. “I can't leave her like this," he continued, "even if it means I risk becoming the very thing I have to save her from."

Then, with knife in hand, The Mickey turned and vanished into the darkness of the rainforest.

Oswald stood there, Mickey's words ringing back as if trapped within his rabbit ears.

“Then I wish you the best of luck," Oswald said quietly.