The Fall of Rome: A Battle of Metal and Magic || [The Order v Team Magic]
In which the Acherons, the Golden Trio, and their allies hope to finish (begin?) a war...[takes place: June 11]
@knightley--phillip, @trip-downtheriverstyx, @oh-heartlessman, @sanmononoke
[tw -- violence/death/gore/etc.]
SAN:
Night fell a few hours ago.
The moon was a waxing crescent, still low in the sky like a lidded eye lazily peering down at them. San never minded the moon too much. As a wolf, it’s pull kept her grounded in her favored form. As a human, it kept her mind from being fully present during those conversations. The conversations that lead her here to a ghost town. Many moons ago she devoted herself to Merida and her pack. This was a simple choice.
Protect the pack. Protect the family. Protect the Magicks.
The Order must fall. San stood at Hades’ side, white fur bristling in the light breeze. She let out a deep, hollow growl, urging him to move forward. She watched with impatient eyes and waited for permission to move into the cellar door they had unearthed.
HADES:
Yes, the Order must fall.
The Order would fall. Tonight.
For Hades, it was a simple and clean truth. He had no regrets or reservations, and his conscience was clear. That hadn't always been the case, when going into battle. But he'd once spent months deep within the chambers of the Fates. He had read through countless tapestries that spun out what made up a destiny. He had an intimate understanding of the way dominos could fall. The dominoes had been falling toward the Order's demise for years now. Tonight was just lighting the match.
"You'll want to stay behind me," he said to the party, not looking back. "Watch my back. Whoever I leave, you can have."
He wasn't planning to leave many.
And then without even moving a muscle, he opened the door with his magic. It creaked and groaned. He barely felt the strain. And as the first guard startled, Hades blinked, and his neck snapped. He crumpled to the ground.
"Come."
Hades rushed in, and with every lantern he passed, a blue flame jumped up, wild and hungry, basking the catacombs in hellfire's light.
HOWL:
Howl was here for Belle. The Order had never harmed him till it harmed her.
It had been a while since he'd used his magic for something like this.
His specialty was versatile, you see. He could lift cups and spellbooks. He could also whisk away the body of the man whose neck Hades had just snapped and tuck it away. He'd leave most of the killing and murdering to Hades -- though he'd certainly make sure no one got away.
In his satchel, he also had a few offensive spells tucked away, which he could use at a moment's notice. He'd prepared for this, with an arsenal of attack spells all contained in little vials.
The blue light cast eerie shadows over the dark catacombs, and Howl wished for a moment that the Shadow still lurked under his skin. But no, he could do damage as himself, without a demon's aid.
"Intruders!" A voice came calling from somewhere in the distance. "Ready yourselves, men! A demon is upon us!"
"Oh goodie," said Howl. "Now the fun can begin."
SAN:
San had no trouble seeing even before the blue flame shed its low glow. She kept her nose low to the ground until her ears swiveled to hear the low yell around the bend.
Without much hesitation, the wolf jumped over the body being moved telekenetically and followed the sounds of the living. Turning the corner revealed three cowering humans. A snarl escaped her lipless mouth, echoing off the metal armor mere inches from her teeth as San launched her first attack. Teeth met jugular, silencing the scream that came from seeing the werewolf up close.
San clamped her jaw down until the thrashing stopped and threw herself back into action as the other targets were armed and ready.
HADES:
The deeper they got, the more dangerous the fighting would become. Hades would need to be quick, precise, and not hesitate-- no matter the gruesome cost. He braced himself for each turn of the corner as they marched ever forward toward the throne room.
They had to get there fast, or they'd give the bloody king time to flee.
Sure enough, as they entered another hallway, the Order was more ready for them this time. They brandished weapons and surged forward-- eight, nine men. First, Hades broke up the pack, using his telekinesis to push them all into the walls. They yelped, but didn't drop their weapons.
Hades focused on one that stumbled the most. He stole the sword from his hands and then plunged it through the man's neck, while the other men attacked Hades's own party. @the first battle
HOWL:
This was messy. Howl knew it would be and honestly, they were a little disappointed that it was not harder. But no -- the Order was made up of simple-minded Mundus who thought themselves powerful because they could brandish swords. Not even enchanted swords at that.
Howl was almost offended. Almost.
Hades took the lead, which Howl did not mind, for it was Hades' fight to blaze forward.
One of the men scrambled towards Howl, who lifted up a hand lazily and snapped the man's arm backwards. Manipulating a body usually required more effort for Howl than simply moving around cutlery -- but still, it was no more than a lift of their hand. The knight yelped in pain and dropped their sword, but then reached for it with their other arm and staggered forward. Howl sighed.
"Really? You don't think I'll not just snap the other one too? And your legs as well? Leave you an immobile mess for the flames to take you?"
And he held up a hand and the other arm snapped, the sword clattering to the floor again.
"I should be kind and just snap your neck."
PHILLIP:
Meanwhile, Phillip, John, and Merida were going about the long way around.
Back in Order training, they'd learned the secret paths and entrances of the various Order strongholds. They had to, in the case of emergency evacuation. Or if the strongholds were ever swarmed by, let's say, some demon out of hell, a werewolf, and a powerful sorcerer.
Phillip would think this was funnier, if he was not sure many people would die tonight.
Oh sure, he and John were sworn not to kill. And oh sure, most of the people who would die would probably have it coming. But still -- he'd grown up with them. It was not something that went away.
They found the cellar door in the back of an old house that led to one of the various tunnels and now they marched, John leading the way and holding up a torchlight. They'd been walking for a bit, when they heard some shouts echoing.
"Ah, seems the landing party has arrived," Philliip whispered. @the first battle
SAN:
It wasn’t very fun to have this much help.
Hades and the sorcerer threw the knights around like rag dolls. San was just trying to down as many as possible while not accidentally creating a werewolf army… Bite to kill.
The white wolf tinged pink with the blood of her enemies rounded another corner to meet a familiar face. Still, in the adrenaline of it all, she snarled and bared her teeth.
HADES:
Hades whirled around, magic like a whip in his hand, at the sound of approaching footsteps. But that magic went slack as he saw it was simply the Order-- San and the rest-- who had also cleared much of their path.
He paid little attention to the growling wolf, instead meeting eyes with John and then Phil. "Almost at the throne room, yeah?" he said. He had studied the maps before, but the twisting catacombs were confusing to someone with little experience.
But these men knew these tunnels as well as they knew their own mothers. The quicker they could go, the better-- the king was probably trying to make a hasty exit.
"Lead the way."
PHILLIP:
Phillip nodded at Hades -- at the wolf with bloodstained fur and at Howl, who was examining one of the bodies on the floor. He glanced briefly back at John, looking for reassurance, and then stepped forward.
Normally it was John who led them, but Phillip knew these tunnels better. He'd spent more time here when John and Tom were in the Navy, doing as the King commanded in order to make his family proud.
The irony was not lost on Phillip.
If anything, it was a beautiful fuel to keep him going through the twisting catacombs. Phillip Knightley: who once bowed down to the King in these very halls, now leading a group of deadly Magicks to kill him. Phillip Knightley: who wanted nothing more than to live up to his family name, now wanting nothing more than to burn it all down.
Poetic.
"The end of the hall," he said, dropping his voice down low. "The door on the left -- if he hasn't escaped yet, that'll lead to the fastest exist tunnel. We can grab him there."
SAN:
San could smell the fear penetrating the dank tunnels. Whoever was left, the King, was under a lot of pressure now. They had little time to waste, but the renegades had the upper hand. Finally. The wolf threw her head back and let out a warning howl.
The end was approaching.
Unfortunately, it was that pretty man who gave instruction and not someone she cared for. San still adhered to his plan, she launched herself into a run towards the last door on the left. So far it had been an unbiased massacre. Now it was a hunt.
HADES:
When they arrived in the throne room, it had already been emptied, the King having abandoned his throne.
When they headed into the tunnels, the torches had been extinguished as the party had fled, but you could still smell the smoke and the ash. They weren't far behind.
They all pressed forward, a wolf at Hades's flank and Phil and his men right behind. He didn't need to rush because Hades knew they had already won. They'd won the moment the King had left his throne.
Sure enough, there was a glimmer of light ahead: the King and his men.
Hades reached a hand out and then folded his fingers into a fist and pulled back. Instantly, one of the shadowy bodies was yanked into the air and went flying into the tunnels. He yelped-- the men scattered.
"Kill them all-- leave the king to me!" Hades hissed as he ran toward the group.
And then the two parties collided.
PHILLIP:
Now, Phillip wasn't gonna argue with Hades that technically by the blood oath that he made them swear, he and John couldn't really kill people. They could certainly raise their swords and flank them, though, herding them towards Howl and San.
It was odd. John and Phillip fighting back-to-back, against the men who'd trained them. Phillip tried not to look at their faces too much.
Someone slashed at his shoulder and he pivoted, countering the blade with his own. He snarled a bit, but then stumbled backwards, shocked to see his own brother.
"Percival --!" he gasped.
Percival's face was stony. He grit his teeth together.
"Don't say my name, you scum," he hissed. He struck again. All Phillip could do was helplessly block blow after blow, staggering backwards as Percival drove him into a corner, then knocked his sword to the ground. He looked to John, but John was fending off his own assailants, and all Phillip could do was look at his brother's face, as Percival raised his sword above him, ready to kill.
"Percival, please. I'm your brother!"
"You are no brother of mine."
And Phillip closed his eyes and he tried to pretend that this was just a game, that they were playing in the yard, and that this final blow would just be the smack of a wooden sword --
There was an uncanny, horrible snapping noise. Then the clatter of a sword dropping to the ground.
Phillip craned an eye open to see Howl standing over Percival's body, Percival's head twisted unnaturally backwards.
"Figured I'd save you the trouble," said Howl. And the sorcerer waved their hand and Phillip's sword glided back up to his hand. "Now go be a good little knight and block off the entrance.”
SAN:
She didn't need much more than that. An order to kill. The swordsmen that accompanied her pack got to work. A sword raked across a body, forcing the knight into San's jaws. She took him to the ground as they moved to another.
They worked surprisingly well in tandem. That is, until one of the humans decided to let his resolve waver. A familiar face brought sentiment to the forefront of his mind rather than the mission. Foolish. San leapt past that sappy scene and brought down two more enemies in the time it took for that issue to come to an end. There were too many bodies running about, San couldn't catch them all despite being an apex predator. Her teeth clamped shut around air as she missed the calf of a knight retreating. She let out a frustrated snarl, urging her companions forward.
HADES:
The men fell around them, one by one. Blood splattered the dungeon, almost black in the low light. Blood spilled by sword, by fang, or by magic. In the dark, you could not tell one from the other. And in death, all men were the same.
This was the single thought in Hades's mind as he cut through the crowd and separated the king from his followers.
"Stay back!" The king barked and he drew a sword all his own. He leered, but his eyes glinted more with fear than hate. It was clear to see that he'd once been a tall, strong, and skilled fighter. But he'd been on the throne for years and he had let his sons take up the helm for him. He kept taking steps back, back, back-- retreating like a coward. Hades flicked his fingers to twist his head from his shoulders, but nothing happened.
Ah. Fucking amulets, right. Figured.
Still, Hades advanced.
"I'll kill you!" hissed the King. "I'll send my men to kill your whore next! Your children! We'll kill them all like cattle!"
Hades kept walking. The king's hands were shaking.
"I mean it! I-- "
"Oh shut up already," sneered Hades and this time, he aimed his telepathy toward the king's sword, which didn't wear any amulet.
The sword yanked around in his grip. "No!" the man gasped and tried to get a hold of it. But he was fighting with a force much greater than himself. Hades could feel it-- Death lurking around the corner, Death here for its victim.
Hades yanked the sword one more time.
The king stumbled. And then he fell onto his own sword and it pierced him through.
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[Ch. 5] - Epic Mickey 3: Sealed in Ink
(a collab by waltsluckyrabbit and 09alih [on DeviantART])
Back at Mean Street, Oswald pulled out his remote and turned on the radar. "Alright then. One down, four to go."
As Oswald watched the screen for results, Mickey sidestepped a Beetleworx scurrying down the street toward the train station with a stack of scrap metal. His grin grew troubled. "I sure hope we can get this stopped soon... those things can really do some damage, n' everyone's worked so hard to repair everything."
Oswald glanced up from his remote and nodded. "Tell me about it." He sighed. "Wasteland just can’t seem t’ catch a break."
Not since I showed up. Mickey barely kept himself from saying the words out loud. Opening that can of worms right now was definitely a bad idea. "Yeah."
To his dismay, he hadn't quite managed to disguise the catch in his voice. Oswald gave him a curious look, but thankfully his remote suddenly beeped.
"Error?" Oswald smacked the side of the remote several times, groaning slightly in annoyance. "Ugh... the signal's jammed; I can't get a readin'. Somethin' must be interferin' with it."
Mickey frowned, despite his slight relief at the distraction. "Really? S' there any way to find out where it's comin' from?"
Before Oswald could reply, Gus suddenly warped in. "Ah, there you two are! There's some problems in Gremlin Village. Broadcast systems aren't working, communications are down, and no one can figure out why."
"I can't get a signal either," Oswald informed Gus, showing him the remote's error screen. "There's somethin' awful fishy goin' on around here. Somethin's gotta be blockin' the signal... but what?" He folded his arms in thought.
Mickey cleared his throat. "Maybe we ought t' head to Gremlin Village n' see if we can find out more. Someone's bound t' know somethin'."
"That's what I'm thinkin'. C'mon, let's go," Oswald declared, leading the way up Mean Street to the train station, where the projector to Gremlin Village sat.
When they arrived in Gremlin Village, it was bustling with even more noise and activity than usual. Gremlins darted and teleported all about the village, checking many different utilities and systems as they attempted to find the source of the communications failure. The trio glanced all around as they walked into the village, overwhelmed with all that was going on at once.
"This is sure quite the ruckus," Mickey commented.
Oswald nodded. "With how hard they're workin', ya'd think they'd have found the issue by now." He pulled out his remote again and tested it. "Still no signal, no radar, no nothin'." He hit the side of the remote a few times, trying to get it to work. "Ya know what, signals don't just jam themselves." He pointed at Mickey. "Either one of your vintage radios landed around here, or someone messed with the communications on purpose."
Mickey looked around at the activity, a dry smirk on his face. "I'm willin' to bet it's the second one... whoever set up those generators prob'ly knows one of 'em's zapped."
Oswald nodded as he pocketed his remote. "And if whoever it is has the know-how to work with the Doc's designs, whatever's doin' the jammin's not gonna be easy to find."
Just then, a loud electrical zap came from inside a nearby house, and the two barely ducked in time as a sparking gremlin shot overhead. "YIIII!!" His flight finally slowed and he righted himself, still jittering with electric sparks. "N-N-Negative on crossing the blue wires..."
"Ratchet!" Gus exclaimed. "Are you alright?"
The gremlin nodded in response as he headed back toward the house.
"Should've named him 'Gremlin Sparks' instead," Mickey whispered to Oswald, who gave a small chuckle in response as they headed over to the house to investigate. Peeking inside, they could see many exposed wires poking out from the walls and hanging from the ceiling, sparking and crackling.
Gus let out an irritated sigh. "Ratchet, you know you're supposed to switch off the power before messing with the wires."
The other Gremlin looked at him with confusion. "But h-how else will I know if they're working properly?"
The trio of toons glanced at each other and simply shrugged to one another. Couldn't argue with that kind of logic.
"Well, uh, any chance you've figured anything out?" Oswald asked
Ratchet's eyes twitched a bit. "I can't... mm... do much with the systems jammed, but odds are, the source is up high where the broadcast would be stronger. S-Somewhere we can't access."
Mickey put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm, places Gremlins can't get to..."
"Just be careful, Ratchet!" Gus called as they walked away.
"W-Will do, S-S-Sir..." Pzzzzzzzzt! Another loud zap followed the Gremlin's words. The group shook their heads at each other before moving further on into the village.
"My guess would be the Windmill," Gus mused, stroking his chin. "But... that's the first place everyone looked. You can still get up there without the projectors."
Oswald frowned. "Well, there's gotta be some clue around here. What're some of the last places anyone here would go?"
Gus thought for a minute. "Well, there's the spot where Small Pete parks his boat... but the Thinner still isn't drained all the way. Getting there on foot is still dangerous."
Oswald and Mickey looked at each other, and each knew they were thinking the same thing.
"Danger is our specialty," Oswald said casually, folding his arms behind his head.
"All in a day's work," Mickey added, a half smirk on his face.
Gus sighed and clapped his hands once. "Right, then. I'll help you find the best way."
The group headed toward the Thinner Falls on the far side of Gremlin Village. Even though the Thinner had drained in this area, the gremlins were still debating over a new name for the falls.
"There's an inlet up the river," Gus explained. "It's deep and the current doesn't affect it much, so the Thinner still hasn't drained. Small Pete says he anchors there so people won't snoop in his things."
Mickey wrinkled his nose. "Considering what’s in that journal of his, I dunno why anyone’d want to."
Oswald raised his brow as he looked at the mouse. "You read his journal?"
Mickey coughed and waved a hand. "Long story."
They headed up the trail and soon came to the lake of Thinner. There was no bridge or path to be seen, only the various objects floating in the Thinner.
Oswald shot a smirk at Mickey. "I hope you're good at hopscotch."
Mickey returned the smirk. "Sure am."
"Good, because your life depends on it!" Oswald said with a laugh as he leapt across the first few objects with ease.
Mickey gulped as he approached the Thinner, but gathered his courage and made the first few hops across. Once Mickey was caught up, Oswald continued on ahead. They continued hopping across the trail of objects, being very careful to avoid any unstable-looking platforms. At one point, Mickey wobbled and lost his balance, letting out a yelp as he fell backwards toward the Thinner. However, Oswald was quick to leap over and grab him in time, hauling him back up to safety.
"Phew... thanks."
"I told ya tah be careful." Oswald almost seemed to be scolding him.
Mickey rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Heh, right."
They hopped the rest of the way, moving a little slower; Mickey to avoid another slip and Oswald to keep a subtle eye on him. Once they got on the steamboat, Mickey checked the door leading into the cabin.
"Locked. Guess Small Pete's smarter'n he looks."
Oswald grinned and stepped forward, detaching an ear. "Okay, step back n' let the expert handle this."
Mickey stepped aside and watched curiously as Oswald stuck his ear into the lock, moving it around until there was a sudden click!
Seeing the mouse's surprised look, Oswald shot him a proud smirk. "I have many hidden talents." He then opened the door and stood beside it. "Ladies first."
Mickey gave him an annoyed look and walked inside, giving Oswald a playful punch in the shoulder on the way by. Oswald laughed and followed him, shutting the door behind them.
"Maybe we should try the logbook first," Mickey said. "Even if Small Pete's smarter than he looks, that's still not much. We can at least figure out where he's been recently."
"Forget the logbook, where's his journal? I gotta see all the juicy stuff you found in there!" Oswald grinned mischievously as he dug through some drawers.
Mickey glanced at him with a smirk. "If you insist... but I think you're gonna regret it."
"Aha!" Oswald pulled a small journal out of one of the drawers. "Now what've we got here..." He began flipping through the pages, looking bored at some and disgusted at others. "Yeesh, when did he get so mushy?" he mumbled as he flipped through a few more pages. "Oh! Look at this!" He held the journal out in front of Mickey, snorting with amusement. "This is from the time I put a bee's nest on his seat! It says here he couldn't sit for weeks and when he ran out of ice, he had to put cold pickle jars down his pants!"
Mickey laughed as he looked through a drawer, wrinkling his nose at the thought. "No wonder he smells like vinegar." Then, with a victorious flourish, the mouse pulled out a thick book. "Aha! Logbook! Alright, Small Pete, let's see where you've been." He flipped open the pages and began looking at the most recent entries, his brow furrowing. "Has Pete visited Gremlin Village twice a day before?"
Oswald looked up from the journal. "Whaddaya mean?"
"Look." Mickey held out the logbook. "It says here that he's been going there twice every day for the past week."
Oswald gave a shrug. "I don't really keep track of his visits, but that does seem a bit odd, considerin' he doesn't have the best relations with the gremlins." He took the logbook from Mickey and began flipping the pages back to earlier entries. "Hmm... it looks like he was only visitin' a couple times a week, up until this one. What's he up to?"
Mickey shook his head, frowning in thought. "I dunno, but I guess this means we better head back and ask around."
Gus, who had been listening nearby, fluttered forward. "No need for that. I can go ask the others and be back in a jiffy!"
Oswald nodded. "Good idea, Gus. We'll keep looking for anything here."
The gremlin saluted and teleported off. Mickey began pacing across the cabin, thinking, and Oswald went back to flipping through the journal.
After a while, Oswald spoke up. "Strange. A few weeks ago, he started makin' lists of materials in here. Scrap metal, cogs, springs, wires... Is this for somethin' mechanical?"
Mickey stopped pacing for a moment. "Maybe... but what if he was just makin' repairs to his ship?"
Oswald scanned through the material lists again, slowly shaking his head. "I dunno, these don't look like ship parts to me."
A frown creased Mickey's brow as he walked over, looking at the entry over Oswald's shoulder. As he scanned the page, his eyes widened a little. "Os... this looks like it's for something big."
The rabbit nodded, a similar frown on his face. "And whatever it is, I know I haven't heard 'bout it. The repairs from the quakes are almost done... none of the areas around here would need this much."
Mickey sighed and began resuming his pacing. "Yeah... the only place that's still a pretty big mess is the castle, but that's closed off." He hesitated again, his frown growing more troubled. "I don't know why, but I got a bad feelin' about this."
"It's Pete; whaddya expect?" Oswald teased. Mickey glanced at him, but only a slight smile crossed his face before it became distant again. Oswald was about to reply when Gus suddenly reappeared in the ship's cabin.
"Reporting back!" Gus announced. "I've spoken to several other gremlins, and they told me something rather odd. Most of them do remember seeing Small Pete a lot lately, but they're all positive that he never anchored. It was as if he simply passed through on his way somewhere else."
"Aha! We've got him now! Shoulda known a rotten ol' Pete would be behind this!" Oswald gestured excitedly with a grin of determination. "Now which way did they see him headed?"
"Well, he was always on the waterway that leads to the Boat Ride," Gus replied. "Everyone figured he was just messing around with the machinery again, so no one thought to ask exactly where."
Mickey shrugged, a slight grin on his face. "Well, 'exactly where's' too easy anyway."
Oswald made a beckoning motion with his hand. "C'mon, let's go check things out!" He exited the ship and hopped back over to the shore, then began walking along the path that led into the Boat Ride.
Mickey followed close behind, jumping carefully across the Thinner before hurrying to catch up with the rabbit.
"Hey, you know that dragon? The one over in the Asian Boat Ride?"
Oswald glanced back at him. "Yeah?"
Mickey shrugged. "It's sure not an easy place t' get to. I'm not sure a lot of people even know how to get there. If I was gonna hide something, I'd find a place like that."
"Alright, we'll check there first." Oswald lifted a ring of keys from his pocket and unlocked a door beside the boat entrance. "We can take a shortcut through these maintenance corridors."
"Huh. Wish I knew those were here," Mickey muttered.
Oswald snickered, twirling the key ring around his finger. "Wouldn't matter if ya did. Ya wouldn't have been able tah get into 'em without me."
Mickey smirked. "Hey, I know how to get places without keys."
Oswald’s grin widened as he repocketed the keys. "Well, Mr. Hotshot, ya can't always get by on your charm alone."
"Look who's talkin'," Mickey shot back. He glanced around as they entered the narrow room. "This kinda reminds me of home. All the crazy machinery in the back takes up about as much room as the ride."
"Glad my duplicatin' skills are up t’ par. I built it from one of the blueprints they discarded—with a few modifications." He climbed up a ladder and headed through a door that led to a catwalk over part of the ride. The outside of the catwalk was decorated to blend in with the rest of the ride.
"Whoa, handy!" Mickey moved over to the side of the catwalk, looking down. "How'd ya do all this, anyway?"
Oswald grinned as he continued on, hands in his pockets. "You're not th' only one with construction experience."
"Oh, yeah!" Mickey hurried to catch up. "I saw that film in the Cinema the other day. Sure brought back memories!"
Oswald was about to answer when something caught his eye. He walked over and picked up a large wrench that was lying in the middle of the catwalk. "Weird. This shouldn't be here."
Mickey moved over for a closer look, frowning in thought. "There hasn't been any maintenance or anything?"
Oswald shook his head. "No, and even if there was, this wrench is way too big for a gremlin."
"Well, I think I know who it's NOT too big for," Mickey replied. "I'd say it was too obvious a clue, but it is a Pete we're talkin' about here."
"Yeah, I bet the clumsy doofus came right through here." Oswald continued walking and headed through the door on the other side of the catwalk, which led into the Asia room. "It's gotta be in here somewhere."
Mickey smiled as he looked around. "I know we're on the job and all, but it's nice seein' this place fixed up."
"Sounds like you need a new tour of Wasteland. Ya really caught us at a bad time before." Oswald rubbed his neck, looking slightly embarrassed. "Gosh, ya must think Wasteland's supposed tah look like a regular dump!"
"Oh, no!" Mickey shook his head. "Even when I first got here, I could tell it wasn't supposed t' be like that."
Oswald glanced at him, a little surprised. "Really?"
Mickey nodded. "I'm not sure how t' explain it, though... it was just a feeling I had." Suddenly, the mouse groaned in frustration. "Oh, great..."
"What?"
Mickey shook his head and pointed at one of the houses. "One of the levers for the dragon's gone. Looks like it was pulled off... it's a good bet th' other one's gone too." He crossed his arms. "Probably means that's where this jammer is, but now we gotta figure out a new way t' get up there."
Oswald smirked and rolled his eyes. "Oh, is that all? Who needs levers?" Then, without warning, he snatched Mickey up, tossing him over his shoulder like a potato sack as he leapt from the platform.
"Hey!" Mickey yelped as Oswald glided across to the other side, unceremoniously dropping the mouse beside him as he landed.
"You're welcome."
"Oof!" Mickey gave a grunt as he landed on his back, shooting a glare at Oswald. He then picked himself up, smirking as he gave Oswald a playful shove. "Do ya always have an answer for everything?!"
Oswald laughed. "Mostly."
Mickey chuckled as he dusted himself off. "Well, guess we better start lookin' around."
"I'll say. I wanna see what he's been messin' around with." Oswald began looking around the area around the projector. "There's gotta be somethin' hidden around here..." He began checking the walls and floors, searching for anything out of the ordinary.
"Hey, look here."
At the sound of Mickey's voice, Oswald turned to see the mouse kneeling and examining a spot on the ground. "What's up?" he asked, walking over.
"Look." Mickey motioned with his hand. "See those marks on the ground?"
Oswald bent down to get a better look. As Mickey had said, two scuff marks stood out against the floor. "Looks like a ladder." Oswald then glanced upward. "Hey, look at that!" He pointed at a square-shaped indent in the ceiling, which had been sloppily Painted over to match the rest of the ceiling.
"A trap door?" Mickey asked, standing back up.
"Looks like it, but I don't see any way to reach it," Oswald replied.
"Hmm... how about this?" Mickey tossed out an anvil sketch, then shot it with Paint. A giant toon anvil slammed into the ground beside them, shaking the ground.
Oswald startled as it narrowly missed his toes. "Geez, watch where ya toss those things!"
"Sorry," Mickey replied with a sheepish chuckle.
Oswald hopped atop the anvil and reached upwards. "Agh! It's still too far! Give me a hand here!"
Mickey jumped up beside him and bent over, letting Oswald step onto his shoulders, then stood up again. Oswald then reached upwards and pressed on the ceiling. He could feel the tile shift, but something was blocking it. He felt around the ceiling until he finally found a latch.
"Aha!" he said as he unlatched it. The panel swung downwards, bringing a ladder along with it, which came down and bonked Oswald on the head, causing him to come crashing down on top of Mickey.
"Oswald! Are ya okay?" Mickey asked in concern as he propped the rabbit up.
Oswald shook the stars out of his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. C'mon, let's go." He got up and began climbing the ladder, Mickey following close behind him.
They emerged into a small, dark room. Springs and gears of various sizes were littered across the floor and piled in corners, dusty and covered with spider webs.
"Huh." Mickey looked around. "Wonder how long this's been here."
"Look!" Oswald pointed to a whirring machine in the corner covered with flickering lights. "This must be the signal blocker!" He headed over to it and began fiddling with the controls in the dim light. "Agh, shut down's been disabled, of course." He pulled out his remote. "I'm gonna try hackin' into it."
He pressed a few small buttons on his remote and turned the dial, then repeated the process several times. His remote beeped and flashed an error message. He hit the side of his remote in frustration and tried once more, only for the same error message to appear again. He let out a sigh, then glanced up at Mickey. "Hey, see if you can get that panel open." He pointed to a section of the machine.
"On it!" Mickey pulled out his brush and melted the side of the panel with Thinner, then knelt down and peered inside. "Okay, it's open. Now what?"
Not looking away from his remote, Oswald called out a reply. "Now find the C sub-panel with the circuit board labelled M56 and reroute the pins to outputs 89 and 90."
"What?" Mickey asked, studying the mass of wires and circuits inside the machine. "Uh, maybe you should do this."
"I would, but I have to transmit these signals at the same time. This machine's real hi-tech. It can detect the slightest changes and readapt its security measures. We gotta be quick about this."
Mickey took a deep breath and released it. "Okay... what was that first thing again?"
Oswald glanced up, speaking more slowly. "C sub-panel, circuit board M56."
Mickey scanned the circuitry, his hand hovering just away from the wires. Finally, he spotted the panel. "Bingo. Okay, now what?"
"Alright, you should see two small pins with blue rings and wires attached to 'em?"
Mickey squinted, then nodded. "Yep."
"Okay, pull out the first one and plug it back into the output labeled 89. Then plug the second one into output 90."
Mickey reached to pull out the nearest pin, then stopped. "Wait, how do I know which one goes where?"
"It doesn't matter. Just as long as there's pins going to those outputs, it'll work."
"Okay." Mickey reached again and yanked out one pin, then carefully stuck into the 89 output slot. After repeating the same with the other pin, he looked up. "Done!"
Oswald finished pushing some buttons on his remote and there was a ding of confirmation. "Got it! I'm in! Now to access the motherboard..." He turned the dial back and forth. "And initiate emergency shutdown!"
Suddenly, the machine's whirring grew quieter, its lights dimming until the whole machine had powered down, leaving the room pitch dark and silent.
"Ha!" Mickey whooped. "See how they like THAT!" Turning, he moved forward in the dark.
"Now, we just gotta get back to Gremlin Village."
"Right." Oswald replied, heading back toward the trapdoor panel, which, aside from his remote, was now the only light source in the room. "As for the machine, I'll have the gremlins disassemble it. That way they can't turn it back on again."
"Better put a watch on supplies too," Mickey said, "in case they try to make another one."
"Right," Oswald agreed as they reached the opening in the floor, which emitted a dim light. Oswald glanced down. "Hey, what's that?"
"What?" Mickey asked.
"That!" Oswald said, pointing down through the opening.
Mickey came to stand beside him, looking down. "I don't see any—AHH!" He suddenly felt a shove and was sent tumbling down through the hole. He flailed helplessly in midair until he suddenly felt something grab him. He looked up to see Oswald hovering with his ears, flashing a mischievous smirk as he carried him safely down onto the ground.
When they reached the ground, Mickey gave Oswald a hard shove. "You jerk! That wasn't funny!"
"Haha! You should've seen your face!" Oswald laughed.
Mickey glared, despite the smirk tugging at his mouth. "Well, laugh all ya want, pal, 'cause I'll get ya for that."
Oswald laughed even harder, unfazed by the threat. "Ooh, I'm so scared!"
At that moment, Gus teleported in, raising a brow as he glanced between them with a knowing look. "Well, it seems you've done the trick!" he said. "All electronic functions in Gremlin Village have been restored, and it seems everything beyond is back to normal as well."
"All right!" Oswald pumped his fist. Grinning, he pulled out his remote and punched a few buttons. "Swell, it's workin' again. Now we can get back to the main job."
Mickey nodded and headed for the exit. Oswald started to follow him, then stopped and turned to Gus.
"Oh, and Gus, you'll find the signal jammer up through that hatch," he said, pointing. "Get the others and make sure it's disassembled. Also, tell everyone to keep a strict inventory on supplies."
"Right away!" Gus saluted and teleported off again while Oswald trotted to catch up with Mickey.
"Well, hopefully that'll keep us from havin' any more problems for a while."
Mickey nodded as they headed for the exit to the ride. "Right," he said. "Then we can take the rest of those generators down and figure out who's behind this. Then maybe all this mess will finally be over."
"Yep!" Oswald agreed.
Suddenly, Mickey released a heavy sigh and gazed at the ground. "I don't know, Os. To tell ya the truth, sometimes I... I just think..."
Concerned now, Oswald looked at the mouse a little closer. "What?"
The mouse glanced at him, then sighed. "Well, I guess I just..."
Oswald frowned in concern as he waited, but then the ghost of a grin flickered across Mickey's face. Before the rabbit could ask any questions, a blast of Paint hit him in the face. Knocked backward by the force, he landed with a grunt on his backside as Mickey burst out laughing.
"I was just thinkin' that would serve ya right!"
"Oh, that was just plain dirty, Mickey!" Oswald said with a glare, wiping the Paint off his face.
"And shovin' me off a ledge wasn't?"
A small smirk tugged at the rabbit's lips as he stood back up. "Touché." He balled some of the Paint up in his fist, then shot his hand out and rubbed it across Mickey's face.
The mouse shook his head, sputtering. "In the interests of bein’ a good sport, I won’t get ya back for that."
"More like in the interest of bein' a total wimp," Oswald teased, sticking his tongue out. Mickey stuck his own tongue out in response.
"Whatever. Just don't forget, Mr. Tough Guy, I've seen you do some less than impressive things yourself."
"Yeah? Like what?" Oswald challenged.
Mickey raised his brow, a sly grin crossing his face. "I have yet to tell the kids that story about the ghost at the Lonesome Manor."
His face turning red, Oswald snatched Mickey by the imaginary collar.
"Don't you dare! That was a dirty trick n' I..." Gus suddenly teleported in before he could finish, and Oswald immediately dropped the mouse, trying to look innocent.
"Everyone's been informed, and there's now a close watch instated on supplies. Anything goes missing, someone will know."
"Ah, great. Good work," Oswald responded. "Guess we'd better get to work finding the next generator!" He pulled out his remote and pretended to study it as he headed out.
Gus glanced over at Mickey as they followed after him. "Dare I ask what that was about?"
Mickey gave the gremlin a cheeky grin. "Just cashin' in some insurance."
Gus nodded, the slight confusion vanishing from his face. "Ah."
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