Chapter 3

"I feel like this is a bad idea," Oswald mumbled to himself as he carefully made his way back to the House of Mouse. He threw a look over his shoulder to see Daisy giving him a thumbs up, the four watching from behind parked cars in the lot. Oswald shook his head before turning back to the side door of the theater. He carefully pulled open the door and peaked in the crack he had made only to find the back hall empty. Squishing himself through the doorway, he carefully closed the door and headed to the dressing rooms. The sound of footsteps coming his direction froze his blood. He quickly grabbed the door handle for the viewing room and snuck inside, holding the door so he could peek outside the room. He held his breath as a bear, holding a rifle, lumbered down the hall towards the back door.

"...money laundering and counterfeiting, I never asked to be part of a hostage situation," the bear mumbled to himself. He shook his head as he stopped outside of Oswald's hiding spot and rested his gun against the wall. He unbuttoned the shirt of his stripped jump suit and tied it around his waist. "If we get caught, it'll be for a longer sentence, I just know it," the bear continued. He reached for his gun only to freeze, Oswald's eyes widening in fear. "Unless..." the bear started, a wide smile pulling at his brown snout. He snatched up the rifle and continued on his path down the hallway.

Oswald held a hand to his chest, his blood pumping loudly in his ears. He let out the breath he was holding before quickly throwing a glance at the room behind him, glad no one was in the room. He was surprised to see it looking more like an archive of old 35 and 16 millimeter film. He stepped closer to some canisters of film to see what the old handwritten labels said only to shake his head. He turned back to the door and peaked out before stepping out into the hall. Carefully he made his way farther into the back of the building, only taking a sigh of relief once he was in the prop room and the door was locked behind himself. Carefully he felt his way along, feeling for obstacles with his hands out only for his foot to run toe first into a wooden leg. Biting his lip to stifle the screen, he put a hand down on the table his foot found. Cursing the table silently, he felt around the top for the lamp he knew to be there. Finding the cold metal base, he followed up the device for the switch under the bulb.

Blinking away the bulb now ingrained in his retinas, he turned to take in the mess the costume room was in. The room was filled with boxes recently opened and moth bolls spread around. He kicked one of the small white balls out of his way, thankful he didn't step on any of those, as he knelt down next to a box just labeled 'men's' and started digging through the clothes it held. A part of him wondered why there was all of these props in a place that mostly just showed cartoons and feed people, but he never saw any of the old shows they had done.

Emptying out the 'men's' box, Oswald turned to one labeled 'film use' and started pulling out costumes until his hands found the one he was looking for. Pulling out the black and white striped shirt, he realized this one was different than the ones the convicts wore. He pulled out the pants, standing up to lay the costume on the back of the chair by the make-up table, as he started to change into Mickey's old costume. He tucked the prison shirt into the long pants, hoping no one would notice before throwing a glance at himself in the mirror. He dropped his ears down behind his head and reached for a hair tie left on the table, tying his ears together at the base of his neck. He pushed his nose up and took in his reflection now, unsure what animal he could pass for but hoped rabbit wasn't high on the list. He looked back at the side of the open closet and saw what he had seen earlier in the week, smiling it was still there. He grabbed the prop rifle and swiftly turned off the light before cracking open the door to check the hallway once more.

Oswald stepped out into the empty hallway, closing the door behind himself, and headed towards the dressing rooms. A part of him felt wrong, holding the prop rifle by the middle of the barrel, but was afraid resting it on his shoulder would remind Putrid Pete of who he really was. He gripped the prop tighter as butterflies worked their way into his stomach. He rounded the corner and found the dressing rooms guarded by a fox sitting in the chair outside of Minnie's room.

The fox looked up at Oswald and furled his brows. "Hey, who are you?"

Oswald stopped and put a hand to his chest. "That hurts, man," Oswald said. "Break outta jail with a guy and he forgets my face."

"Look, I'm sorry," the fox offered, holding up a hand in defense. "What'cha want?"

"Julius sent me to swap with you," Oswald lied, throwing his thumb over his shoulder. "He's up in the catwalk setting up something."

"Stupid cat," the fox muttered as he rose to his feet. "Just because we break outta jail together doesn't mean he's the boss o' us."

"Hey, have you talked to... shoot, what's his name," Oswald started, his free hand slightly twirling as he pretended to recall a name he never knew. "Not Pete, but the other bear."

"Sherman?"

"Yeah, him!" Oswald said, pointing at the fox. He dropped his hand to his side and offered, "He was talking about something similar. Seemed like he had a plan but I didn't get a chance to ask him about it. I mean, I don't want kidnapping added to my list if we get caught."

"Don't let Pete or Julius hear you talking like that," the fox warned as he walked passed Oswald. Stopping next to him the fox added, "If Sherman does have a plan, can we count on you?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

Oswald went ahead and took a seat on the chair the fox had been sitting in, resting the rifle across his knees. He waited while the fox's footsteps disappeared down the hall before making his move. He rose to his feet and carefully stepped over to Mickey's dressing room. He took hold of the door handle and slowly turned the nob. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and took in the room. Minnie froze with her ropes lose around her waist, holding onto the gag as she pulled it from her mouth. Ortensia, still tied with her arms behind her back and gagged, glared at the intruder into their escape plan.

Oswald let himself in and closed the door, resting the rifle against the door frame.

"Look, I-"

Oswald turned around and quickly held a hand to Minnie's mouth, holding up a finger to his own lips. "Girls, it's me, Oswald," he whispered, dropping his hands. He wiggled his nose, dropping it back to its natural shape, as he reached behind himself to pull out the hair tie to free his ears. He stepped over to Ortensia to untie her gag first as he explained, "Mickey had a plan, but I wanted you two free first."

"Mickey's free?" Ortensia asked only to realize how dry her mouth was.

"Our Mickey isn't," Oswald tried. He shook his head as he moved to untying the ropes around her as he said, "He can explain it to you. They're with Daisy over in the cafe, the kids found a safe way home, but I've gotta stay here."

"Oswald?" Minnie asked, standing free from her bonds.

"One of the convicts mentioned not liking being part of a kidnapping, and I've already talked to another on his side," Oswald explained. "If I can help create a mutiny here, I might be able to help those down in the basement."

Ortensia helped remove the ropes, now freed, and took Oswald's hand to get to her feet. "Do you still have your phone on you?"

"The kids have it," Oswald admitted with a shrug as he put his ears back in the hair tie.

Ortensia reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out her cell, holding it to Oswald. "Here, we'll send you a text when we get over to the cafe so we can figure out a new plan."

"Okay," Oswald said, putting the phone in his pants, hiding it away from view. "We've gotta go. I don't know how long it'll be before the fox comes back."

"Don't forget your nose," Ortensia said, poking a figure at his nose.

Oswald shoved it upwards again, stealing a kiss from his wife, before turning back to the door. He grabbed the rifle and peaked out the door, making sure the back stage area was still clear, before waving at the girls to follow him. The three snuck out of the dressing room with Oswald in the lead back to the door he had come in. Giving his wife one last look as she walked passed him holding the door, he silently wished them good luck as he closed the door behind them. He hurried back to the dressing rooms and sat back down in the chair, working on his plan for when the fox would return without being needed by Pete or Julius. He rested the rifle back across his knees and kept his eyes on the dressing room door as he kept his ears pealed for any noise.

Footsteps alerted him as someone came from the front lobby. He turned to see a pelican walking his way.

"Hey, Pete wants us to be in the basement," the pelican informed.

"What about the girls?" Oswald asked, throwing a thumb towards the door. Without waiting for an answer he said, "I'll stay here while you send the guys up."

"Yeah, that sounds smart," the pelican said with a nod.

Oswald waited until the pelican had gone down the hallway before checking Ortensia's phone. A smile pulled at his lips as he saw a message from Minnie.

We got to the cafe, 38 Mickey is planning to confuse Pete and Julius.

Quickly Oswald typed, getting sent to guard the basement. Will update. He shoved the phone back in his pants just in time for a voice to precede footsteps coming from the hallway.

"...to what end?" a young voice asked. "They're not putting out a ransom, as far as I know, the cops haven't even shown up. What is the point of all of this?"

"That's what I've been thinking," Sherman's voice hissed. They rounded the corner in silence, the bear stopping as his companion, a pig, continued onto the lobby.

Oswald rose to his feet, eyeing the bear. He stayed by the chair and asked, "You think those two are stupid for doing all of this?"

"Hey, I never said that," Sherman defended, stepping forward with his free hand in a fist.

"Calm down, a few of us are on your side," Oswald said, holding his free hand up. "I'll talk to Phil while I'm downstairs," Oswald hoped the pelican's name was something like that or the bear didn't know, "and when I got posted here, he was talking about the same thing. If we just get the other two on our side, we might just be able to get the better of Pete and Julius."

"You really think so?" Sherman asked, his hand losing its grip.

"I'm sure of it," Oswald said with a nod. "Yeah, I wanted outta jail, but I never asked to be part of a kidnapping. And if the cops show up, we'll just say it was our lives at stake. Throw those two under the bus."

"I like how you think,.. uh, what is your name?"

"J.P," Oswald offered. He gave the bear a smirk and admitted, "First time in a while I've bothered to give my name."