Chapter 0

December 18, 2015

"So what are you gonna give Minnie for Christmas?" Oswald asked as the two walked down the center of the mall. Ortensia and Minnie had wanted to get some shopping done and forced the two to do the same, only they were getting little results with only one shopping bag between the two.

"I don't know, I want it to be something new, but after eighty plus years I feel like I've done everything," Mickey admitted, looking at the shops they passed. He turned to his brother and asked, "How do you get presents for all your kids?"

"I don't," Oswald simply stated. After seeing Mickey's confused face he explained, "A while back Ortensia came up with a system where pretty much everyone's only got five or so people to get something for. Of course I always get something for Ortensia and the kids normally get something for us but it makes it easier than trying to find something for all four hundred twenty of them at one time."

"So what'cha giving Ortensia?" Mickey asked, hoping for ideas.

Oswald looked away, hoping to hide his blushing cheeks as he tried to look at the shops they passed. "I'd, um, rather not say."

Mickey snickered before turning back to watch where they were walking. "Just give me some warning before you dump the kids on me."

Oswald looked back in surprise, his face a bit flushed still. Mickey threw an arm around Oswald's shoulders with a laugh. "Come on, I wanna see if they've got that charm bracelet Minnie's been hinting about."

"No you're not, mouse," a voice growled as the barrel of a gun pressed in between Mickey's shoulder blades, freezing the two.

"Pete," Oswald growled, recognizing the voice as Mickey's arm fell away from his shoulders.

"Not just, Oswald," another voice said, a new hand gripping the rabbit's shoulder as a head peered around to look at Oswald. A male cat smiled before ordering, "Let's get out of here."

"What'll make us?" Oswald asked.

"This will," Pete laughed as he pulled back the hammer, showing he was ready to use the gun.

"So where've you been?" Mickey asked as the four started walking to the closest door.

"Around," Julius said ambiguity. "My background in stage makeup has come in handy this past month thanks to you two."

"You kidnapped my wife and permanently gave Fanny a new ear hole," Oswald reminded. "I won't be happy till the two of you have been locked up for good."

"Oh you know that'd never happen," Pete laughed pushing Mickey forwards and almost making him lose his bag.

"Ooh, anything good in there?" Julius asked, quickly ripping it from Mickey's hand. He opened the bag only to pull out, with a frown, a doll.

"Hey, give that back," Mickey exclaimed as the four walked through the automatic doors.

Julius threw the doll back in the bag in disgust before placing it in a passing trash can. "Dolls give me the creeps," the cat growled.

Pete pushed the barrel harder into Mickey's back as he ordered, "Head over to the delivery entrance."

"You gonna kidnap us this time?" Oswald asked, wondering what the two were up to. The four walked around a wall to block the view of trucks bringing in deliveries, loose gravel crunching under their feet.

"No, this time we're going to get rid of you two," Pete growled.

As if that was his cue, Julius reached one arm around Oswald's neck and another covering his mouth and nose with a small cloth. Mickey saw this out of his peripheral and swung out a leg towards Pete's pegged leg in just enough time for the bullet to wiz by his ear. He looked for Pete, seeing the bear on his back with the gun still in his hands. A silencer muted the gunshots as Mickey found himself in a game of dodge bullet. Quickly taking in his surroundings, Mickey jumped for cover behind the dumpster, hoping to pull out his cellphone and call for help.

"Not so fast, mouse," Julius laughed, freezing Mickey right before he could hit send.

Seeing the gun now in Julius' hands, Mickey quickly pressed send before turning off the screen. He lowered the phone to the ground before slowly standing back up, hands up, showing he was defeated. "You won't get away with this, Julius," Mickey said.

"Oh really?" Julius asked. He threw his thumb over his shoulder as he laughed. "Pete's already loading Oswald's body in the van, let's go ahead and put yours there."

Mickey looked passed the cat to where he'd last saw Oswald, noticing a van parked with the rabbit's limp body hanging out the back door. With his good foot, Pete swiftly kicked the rabbit in the back to push him farther in. Mickey looked back at Julius and said, "You won't get away with this."

"Oh really?" Pete laughed from where he stood next to the van.

"Drop the gun," O'Hara's voice ordered, getting a smile on Mickey's face. The two turned to find the police chief standing a few feet away with his gun pointed at them.

"No," Julius stated before quickly shooting a gas can that had been sitting by O'Hara. The bullet sparked the mettle as it passed through, causing the gas to ignite in a tremendous ball of fire and smoke.

Mickey closed his eyes, the only preparation he had before the force pushed him back. He made contact with something metal before crumpling to the ground, the sound of tires screeching just able to be heard over the fire.

Mickey forced himself to his hands and knees, knowing he needed to get away from the fire as it fed on debris and trash left out. Coughing forced him to stop only to notice a black body laying a few feet in front of him. He crawled over and found Oswald's body had fallen out of the van.

Forcing himself to his feet, he grabbed hold of Oswald under the arms and pulled the rabbit as far as he could before dropping himself to the rough concrete. Sirens filled his ears with a voice Mickey recognized before everything went black.