DANGER MOUSE:
BEYOND THE DOOR
WRITTEN BY ZARIUS
(Contains Spoilers For "Dark Dawn")
Soundtrack: Cosmic Gate & Emma Hewitt - Going home
Emma Hewitt-Still Remember You (Stay Forever)
Her request had been simple.
Stop making her look silly.
As Snuggles aired footage of him and her together in more jubilant times, venting over how she took him for granted, Dawn had risen to the heavens with thunder in her voice and blackened fire emitting from her hair. She was in a combative mood.
The clash between bear and beauty was not a spectacle that struck awe and fascination with people, it was a dangerous game of wits and head highlights, turning buildings black and red until most of the city resembled a checkers board.
The skies were a mix of pitch black and scarlet; the mood of the city had become so dour even the narrator could barely get through the recording session without coming across as a thoroughly broken man.
Dawn found Snuggles perched atop Big Ben, inflicting his bitterness on most of the city, his faithful family of furried friends, toys he had brought to life, rallying behind him. Each as angry as he was with how they had been treated by their possessive and selfish owners.
Dawn let out a tantrum, Snuggles did likewise, they were so angry with the other they were even competing to see who could scream the loudest.
And then the Mark IV Danger Car came between them.
Oh. Joy. She thought.
The grown up was attempting to take charge.
He stood there in front of them, his arms outstretched, a stern expression on his face, a look that could easily captivate the pair of them as an authority's presence, and then usually he would start speaking and erode all trace of said presence, and with that, their respect.
"I know you're both upset, but things change, people change, teddies change" he began, being briefly interrupted by his sidekick Penfold who rallied against the shock of the new, wanting things to go back to the way they were supposed to be. Something nobody else agreed with him on.
"What I'm saying is, if you love something, you have to set it free" he concluded.
The words stirred something in Dawn, and she looked back towards Snuggles, who looked back at her.
The grown up was making sense.
Tears formed in her eyes, the Mouse had eloquently put his case forward with conviction and strength, appealing to her fairer sense of judgement, trusting her to come to the right decision.
He trusted her.
A pity she wasn't quite ready to act like an adult herself and listen to him, neither was Snuggles.
"Nah" they both said, shrugging off the words and exchanging further flames between them, until one blast caught one of Snuggle's friends off guard and sent him flying off the tower and hurtling to the ground below.
"Bernard" Penfold screamed as he recognised the stuffed animal in distress, and descended from the Danger Car to catch him. Danger Mouse, concerned for his friend, also dove off of the car to intercept both of them, only to crash into Dawn.
Snuggles caught Danger Mouse by the legs, Dawn clutched on to the mouse's arms tightly.
From this point, she felt something odd course through her, a sense of tenderness, of warmth, it wasn't just a matter of holding on to him because she had to, and she could levitate any time she wanted. She was holding on because she wanted to, she needed to.
It was almost as if she wanted an excuse to observe something from this angle, a part of her was saying it was OK now. It was time to stop being so silly. She had a feeling something special was happening that would stay with her forever.
Penfold grabbed Bernard and triggered a parachute, as they landed, Penfold told Bernard he was willing to let him go, that he could live without him. Bernard responded with a gentle embrace, forgiving Penfold for being so selfish and possessive, and letting his rage subside.
Dawn watched this, her nimble fingers still latched on to the Mouse's warm and assuring grip, tears were swelling up in her eyes.
The Mouse had been right to say what he had, this had gone beyond words, and now she was having another epiphany.
She was going to earn his trust; she was going to prove his faith in her was well founded.
She was going to forgive Snuggles, and let her back into her life.
She would cast aside her angst, turn her back from maturity, and once more embrace her childhood habits and soft comforts.
She marvelled at the ongoing freedom she had to initiate such a moment.
More to the point, she was starting to think about why she was still a free woman at all; after all she had committed a slew of nefarious offences and inflicted harm on Danger Agents and citizens alike. She should have been in numerous detention complexes.
Somehow she doubted it was all due to the high priced lawyers of her father, sometimes he would not concern himself with her affairs at all, and he almost never made house calls after she got out.
But Danger Mouse did.
She thought back to her first encounter with the Mouse that day in her home, when his sidekick crashed the Mark IV into her house suspecting her to have been behind Snuggles and his toyetic takeover.
He had kicked the door to her room in, only for the Mouse to have opened it with care and grace.
The door hadn't been locked.
The house was keyed in to her biological rhythms, it reacted to her every telekinetic whim.
There were only two people in the world that the house would open for.
Her father, Augustus, and one other, which was now obvious to her
Her response to this was to ignore the realisation, to bury it deep down and speak of it another day, it couldn't be possible with where she was going, knowing what side of the fence she was on.
"I'm sorry I was so angry" cried out Mr. Snuggles.
"Me too" Dawn replied.
Before she began climbing up the mouse's body and towards Snuggles to embrace him, she clutched tighter to the Mouse, cradling them like she were locked in an embrace of a different kind, burying her head in his arms, bathing him in her tears.
This moment was all she could spare, and it went beyond the door.