The Real Truth Behind DM's 22 Year Absence
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"Shirakage, do you remember when you told me that I'm not the same Danger Mouse from your memories?"
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My mind raced back to that question. A question given to me by Nezu-chan. It was a reminder of what I had observed of his return several months ago. He wasn't the Danger Mouse that my past human life once knew through my childhood.
My physical Japanese Tailed female white mouse body was lying in a peaceful spot of land filled with unspoiled nature. It was impossible for me to move about the breezy grass. If I did, then I would risk waking and disturbing the manly mouse from his well needed rest.
Nezu-chan hadn't been very pleasant since the day that he and his friends at Danger HQ discovered the ticking magical Death bomb on my heart, implanted into me by Sinister Mouse and his allied accomplices in the Twistyverse.
When I told him that I had lost 8 months of my normal lifespan by overusing the orb's powers twice so far without his knowledge, he yanked me out from the Professor's body scanner and forced me to look into his angry eye.
I'll never forget the anguish in his outburst...or the speech from his reaction...
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"SHIRAKAGE! YOU'VE BEEN KEEPING ME IN THE DARK ABOUT THAT LIFE DRAINING ORB THIS WHOLE TIME, AND YOU NEVER INTENDED TO INFORM ME ON THAT MATTER!?
"HOW DARE YOU!
"DID YOU EVER CONSIDER MY OWN FEELINGS AT ALL!? WHAT YOU'VE DONE IS JUST THE SAME AS THROWING YOUR OWN LIFE AWAY! DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT THE PEOPLE WHOM YOU'VE COME TO KNOW AND LOVE NEED YOU SO MUCH!?
"If you die..." he paused tearfully, his right amber eye squeezing shut as a long runny river ran down his cheek. "If you die, you'll only expand the hole in my heart that, until recently, been closing up. I WILL NOT ALLOW TO LOSE YOU TOO LIKE I LOST MY FATHER!"
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It wasn't until after he composed himself that he finally told me a well kept secret of himself...a secret that only he and the Danger Agency knew for so long...
The Danger Mouse that I'd remembered viewing in old video archives in school...were actually documentary films of his MIA'd father. The old DM from my past human life's childhood memories also had a real name for himself: William Manson.
And the current Danger Mouse—who is sleeping next to me in the grass—was William's only son: Daniel O'Malley.
Both Professor Squawkencluck and Daniel lied to me about where the WGSA had been since March 19th of the year 1992. In fact, it was Nezu-Chan's idea to have the female chicken boffin back him up on the Cryostasis lie...because talking about his missing secret agent father still caused him a lot of heartache.
So to see me, his beloved girlfriend's limited lifespan slowly getting drained away by the Queen of Weevils' orb whenever I overextend those powers...that familiar pain reignited the sadness and anger in Nezu-Chan's lonely heart.
I witnessed him shed more tears onto my blouse until his newly caught cold caught up to his nose and lungs again.
"Hhhh...uhh-huhh! Hhh uh...K'tdsxhuhhh! Heh! Eh'ptsgchuu! Hah! Kyeshtchuh! Ehyestchu!"
DM was sneezing left to right after his emotional lecture. He did nearly drown in his sunken Danger Sub, and would have died if I hadn't used the magical orb's power to save him.
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Even after Nezu-chan had recovered from that cold days later, his behavior had grown extremely edgy towards any stranger who might happen to approach me. Hell, his overprotective glares were making the Brits scared of him...and that used to be my job. I could not afford to have him start a fight on one of our public dates. So I decided to take him to a more relaxing private environment to help cool his anxiety.
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"It was never me you had been missing terribly, Shirakage. All this time, you were looking for my father."
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The bitterness in his voice echoed through my hippocampus. Danger Mouse had spat those very words to me before he had fallen asleep beside me on the grass. Here, in this open field of Scotland, held a peaceful aura which seemed to ease the tension in DM's facial muscles.
I smiled sadly at the beautiful son of the World's Greatest Secret Agent. His gloveless white paw was still holding my hand. He looked so vulnerable in this state of sleep. I sat up from my spot in the grass and continued to gaze at him some more.
My mind also began to drift back to a different conversation that I had with Penfold later on the night when the two of us were caring for a sleeping fevered DM in his bedroom...after the truth came out:
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Penfold and I watched Nezu-chan sleep in his warm bed, taking turns rinsing out and replacing a cold cloth on his burning forehead.
"So, Pen-chan," I began softly, so that we wouldn't disturb the sick agent in bed. "Do you have a secret behind your difference in character like DM too?"
Penfold grinned sheepishly. "Aw, Fiddle. I was wondering when you'd be asking about me for a while now." He then hummed thoughtfully and beamed. "Yes. I'm Ernest Penfold Jr., son to Ernest Penfold Sr. But unlike the Chief's father who disappeared years ago, my father stayed by my Mum's side.
"If it gives you any closure over how I'm a bit more brave than my own father (and the Chief's father's sidekick), I received that strong personality from me Mum's side of her hamster family. In fact, much of the women in my Mum's family tree are more strong willed and bolder in spirit than the male hamsters on me Dad's side of his hamster family tree."
"That makes a lot of sense," I said while adding everything in my logical brain. "You're definitely not completely your father's son in the cowardice department." However, there was one thing that was still left unaccounted for...
"What about Colonel K?" My eyebrow twitched in irritation as I continued. "What's his story on being related to Daniel's father?"
"Um, I believe that's classified information, Professor Shirakage," Penfold deadpanned wryly. "The Colonel won't even reveal his family lineage to the writers of our show...except for one detail."
I waited eagerly for the hamster to spill. And he looked at me with a serious glint in his specks.
"The Colonel never forgot the name of my father who had worked for him and William Manson. And I believe he goes about forgetting my own identity on every episode...just so that he wouldn't confuse me for me Dad."
My blue eyes widened a bit but turned skeptical. "Is that what you really think?"
Penfold shrugged. "The Colonel did win a Supie Award for Best Nicknames recently. Don't you remember, Shirakage?"
I rolled my eyes. "If that was your writers' way of getting me to accept K Taisa's new running gag with you, then I'd choose your relationship theory over theirs."
A muffled whimper suddenly had us turn towards the lump in DM's bed. There were stress lines around his face's right eye, his teeth grimacing as if he were in some sort of discomfort. I feared that Nezu-chan was gripped within the claws of a nightmare.
"Oh, Nezu..." I hushed softly. "It's ok." I then placed my hand on his tiny forehead.
His unintelligible muttering grew quiet and his twitches stilled instantly by my touch. To my relief, his fever felt a bit cooler now than it did earlier in the day.
"Shirakage...?" Penfold squeaked with worry over his best friend's condition.
I glanced at him and smiled sweetly. "A low grade fever, Pen-Chan. Look," I gestured him to gaze at DM. "His breathing's starting to deepen again."
As Penfold leaned closer to see his friend's face, DM made a noise in the back of his throat, and I lightly brushed my thumb over the sick mouse's forehead. I continued this soothing manner until DM's stress lines receded from his stilled face.
"Aw, Chief..." Penfold muttered under his breath. "I know you'll be well again soon."
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