Mickey Mouse in the Public Domain - Chapter 21
Minnie's cage ripped free of the chain, and it went flying.
There was a shattering sound of impact as the cage landed and went careening, clattering over the splintered deck of Screamboat Willie!
The Steamboat's collision with the Screamboat had left both boats scarred, rippling gashes running wide and deep, like a grotesque wound that would never heal.
Perhaps a fanservice fueled attack wasn't always the most effective approach. But come on, we all know that we the audience wouldn't have traded it for anything.
Oswald may have traded it for something though, perhaps some Advil, because having been one to have slammed his head into the wheel during collision, he probably could've wanted some once he woke back up.
Sadie however, had seen Minnie's cage go flying and was already on the run, leaping from one piece of Steamboat Rubble onto Screamboat rubble, rushing to the cage, Oswald's Mechanical Cow by her side, ready to help.
"Minnie!" Sadie said, reaching the cage and looking at the shaken mouse inside, "Oswald said you would be dead."
Without waiting for a reply, Sadie grabbed the lock, turning it over. She gestured the Mechanical Cow, who had taken the position of keeping watch, to join them. The Mechanical Cow tottered beside the cage, and looked at the lock. Then, producing some milk things from her udders, she used them as a blowtorch to burn away the lock; By Golly, this cow had certainly gotten the upgrade.
Once the lock had burnt away, it fell away, clattering onto the deck with a clatter, which I just said. Sadie swung open Minnie's cage door and helped her out, embracing her. Minnie couldn't help but wince, and Sadie pulled away, looking at Minnie's wound.
"Oh, you poor dear, was that the monster? I'm so sorry that had to happen to you."
Minnie shrugged, "I guess it's the consequence of dating a future horror villain."
By this point, Fanny had reached the group as well, and was watching them with concern.
Sadie looked back at Minnie, "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know," Minnie admitted a bit shakily.
"You have to let yourself be rid of him girl," Fanny said, "You can't do that to yourself."
"But that's the thing," Minnie replied, "I don't believe he's beyond hope; he's scared, and he needs support now more than ever."
Fanny looked unconvinced, Sadie unsure.
"Trust me," Minnie said, "Perhaps I can't save him, but he's not gone yet, I think there's a chance if I still try."
Fanny continued to look at her skeptically, "Just don't expect yourself to be seen as a symbol of a healthy relationship."
"I don't," Minnie admitted, "But Mickey is as much a friend to me as anything, and I can't give up on him without a fight. What's the damage on the ship?"
For the first time, the four ladies paused to take in the damage caused by the collision, and it wasn't pretty. What had already been mangled and twisted on the original Screamboat had become mangled and twisted with Steamboat Willie; pieces of deck here and there splintered and torn, ripping through and twisting into and out of one another in an icky fashion that would not have met fashion standards of any decade, Public Domain or not. Whether the boats could even continue to float after this collision was yet to be seen, but fortunately, the gaping gash it had left in the side of the Screamboat meant infiltration into the depths of the dark lair was no longer an issue.
"Besides, we still have to save Henrietta Hen," Minnie said urgently, "So come on."
"Who?" Asked Fanny and Sadie together.
But Minnie didn't answer, just scurried forward, disappearing into the darkness of the ship before anyone could interject.
"Let's follow," Fanny suggested.
Sadie nodded.
For being a ship with a gaping hole in its hull, the innards were as dark as ever, penetrating into the Soul like a ship from a horror should be. The two Mickeys would be caught up in fighting eachother, leaving the rest of the interior unguarded, but Minnie still had a sense of foreboding something bad could appear from around any corner. The four ladies looked at eachother, strengthening their resolves; the main girl often survived to the end of a good horror, and there were three of them, so Minnie felt confident in their odds. The Mechanical Cow might have a problem however, not really being sure where she fit in in a horror; Sadie looked at the Mechanical Cow to see if she was still on board, and the Mechanical Cow twirled her flame-thrower-udders like a revolver full of resolve, letting burst some flame for effect. She was in.
Minnie hoped they'd be able to find Henrietta and Mickey fairly quickly, but sometimes, these things you never know. According to the old toon, the Steamboat didn't appear too big, but one never knew the creative liberties that could've been taken in the inside/outside spatial relationships of a cartoon steamboat turned horror; It wasn't like anybody ever cared about honoring an accurate representation of space before, the original sound-comics not the exception.
So they rounded a corner, the Mechanical Cow wielding her flame-throwers like a flamethrower (which was quite the feat of anaerobics considering where they were located on her body), and the others rounding cautiously behind. But these halls were just as empty as the last, so so far, so good.
A few more corners that were really repetitive of the last one, and Minnie let out a sigh of relief. In the gloomy light coming down from the opening through which Minnie's cage had earlier been hoisted up through, there in another cage sat Henrietta Hen where she had been waiting all this time, grumbling to herself about how dirty and messy this place she called prison was.
"Don't worry Henrietta, we're coming to help you," said Minnie, jumping out from behind the corner and rushing for the cage.
But that's when Sadie noticed something, "Hey, are all these cages supposed to be open."
"Minnie," Fanny warned, "I don't think you should..."
Crackle-crinkle-POP!
Minnie stopped in her tracks, looking over at one of the cages, left open with bones inside. There was movement, then more.
And not just in one of those cages, but all of them, writhing and moving like a swarm of maggots that make this author feel nauseous as he remembers what he found in his bedside trashcan that one morning long ago in Laurel Montana... Wait, how was this sentence even supposed to be structured again? Never mind that, let's get on with this.
The flesh-ridden bones were moving, squirming like maggots back into place, reconnecting and snapping back together, until they were no longer maggots, but full on corpses, pulling the twisted bones back to their feet with crackling that was still sickening, but at least way more tasteful than maggots. And by tasteful, I don't mean we're actually going to be tasting- okay enough with the maggots, we are officially done here, I think we all get the picture, and it's made us sick enough, we are PAST that!
The rotting corpses came back to life, fueled by the hatred of The Mickey that radiated through this place, their Souls contaminated by the mouse who had stolen their blood.
And not just under the boat was this happening, but all across the Screamboat. As Oswald regained consciousness at where he had nearly impaled himself at the wheel, he saw them rising, all of them, every corpse from which The Mickey had ever taken a life that was on board this boat.
"Must have something to do with those rays of blackness radiating from inside of the boat," Oswald mused to himself, still in a bit of a daze.
Then his eyes went wide. Why was blackness suddenly rising outside of the depths of the boat?
Then, as he saw the half-eaten corpse of Caroline Cow - Bessie? Whatever the name of that thing was - rise up on the deck of the Screamboat, the understanding hit him.
The Mickey's war against himself must have taken a turn for the worst.