Mickey, Pluto, and Figaro woke up the next morning, practically at the crack of dawn. By that time, the storm had subsided, and the woods didn't look half as creepy as they did before.
"Well, fellas," Mickey said. "I guess it's time we get going."
Pluto barked, and Figaro meowed in agreement, and the trio started off. As they were walking, they heard a low growling sound behind them.
"What was that?" Mickey asked.
Pluto shrugged, and barked, as if to say "I don't know." Figaro shrugged as well, and the three of them continued along, but they still heard that growling noise.
"Pluto, is that your stomach growling?" Mickey asked. Pluto shook his head. Mickey looked at Figaro, who also shook his head.
"Well, it isn't my stomach," Mickey said. "Maybe it's just the wind or something. Let's go, fellas."
The trio walked on, until the growling became louder, and Mickey couldn't stand it. He stopped, and turned around to see exactly what was making that noise, but right away, he wished he hadn't. Behind our heroes was a giant grizzly bear, and he didn't look at all friendly.
"Uh oh . . . ." Mickey said, nervously. "RUN!"
Immediately, Mickey, Pluto, and Figaro took off running, but the bear was right behind them. Mickey and Figaro dashed up a tree, but Pluto was unable to escape that route, considering dogs don't climb trees, but he tried. The bear arrived, and stood up on it's hind legs, growling.
"Pluto!" Mickey shouted.
Pluto whimpered, and covered his head with his paws. Figaro then bared his claws and teeth, and jumped down from the branch.
"Reeeeooooowwww!" he yowled.
"Figaro!" Mickey shouted. "Wait!"
Figaro landed directly on top of the bear, and began digging his claws into it. The bear howled, and tried to swipe at the little kitten. It's big paw made contact with Figaro, and knocked him straight into a tree. Figaro wasn't hurt, luckily, just dazed. But Pluto suddenly became angry. He growled at the bear, with his teeth bared. He let out a series of loud barks, and pounced on the bear, attacking at full throttle, as if he were telling it to pick on somebody it's own size. Figaro got back into the fight as well, clawing, biting, and hissing at the bear. They managed to lure it away from Mickey, but Mickey lost sight of them shortly afterward.
"Pluto!" Mickey called, and then whistled. "Pluto! Here, boy!"
No answer. Mickey decided to try another tactic.
"Figaro!" he called out. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty!"
There wasn't any answer. Mickey began to get nervous, and started to climb down the tree. As he climbed, a branch he had grabbed onto broke, and he started to fall.
"Whoa!" he shouted, grabbing onto a vine, which stopped his fall, but left him dangling in mid-air a bit.
"Whew! That was close!" he shouted. Then he began swinging back to the trunk to climb down the rest of the way, but instead, he was hoisted upward, and found himself face to face with a large snake.
"Sssay now," the snake hissed. "What do we have here? A rather tasssty looking moussse."
"Uh oh," Mickey said, as he realized the vine he had grabbed was actually the snake's tail. He immediately let go of it, and started to run, but the snake wrapped his tail around his wrist, and stopped him.
"What'sss the matter?" he asked. "Don't trussst me, do you? Jussst becaussse I'm a sssnake?"
"Well, no, it's not that . . . ." Mickey said, nervously. "It's just that I gotta go find my dog, and . . . ."
"I might be able to help you, that isss . . . . if you trussst me."
"Well . . . ."
"You sssee, nobody every trussstsss me, because I'm a sssnake. I could be of ssso much help to people, if only they would trussst me."
"I don't know . . . . I'm kind of in a hurry, you see, and . . . ."
"Jussst trussst me."
The snake looked directly into Mickey's eyes, and Mickey suddenly felt sleepy. The snake began singing, as he hypnotized Mickey.
Trussst in me, jussst in me
Shut your eyes and trussst in me
Mickey started walking toward the snake, in a trance. He didn't notice he was about ready to walk right off the branch.
"Hold ssstill, pleassse," the snake said, positioning the tip of his tail against Mickey's forehead, and then creating a staircase out of his middle. Then the snake continued singing.
You can sssleep sssafe and sssound
Knowing I am around
Ssslip into sssilent ssslumber
Sssail on a sssilver missst
Ssslowly and surely your sssensssesss
Will sss-cease to resssissst
As Mickey was in that trance, he started to snore.
"You're ssssnoring," the snake said.
"Sorry," Mickey yawned.
The snake continued singing, only this time, Mickey joined in.
Snake: Trussst in me
Mickey: I'm trustin' in you
Snake: Jussst in me
Mickey: Yeah, only in you
Snake: Shut your eyes
Mickey: I'm shuttin' 'em now
Snake: And trussst in me
Mickey: I'm-a trustin' in ya, shoo-bee-doo-bee-doo-bee-dee-doo, doo-waaahhh
With that last note, Mickey slid down the snake's back, and into his coils, not knowing that he was about to become lunch. Thankfully, Pluto and Figaro had eluded the bear, and were looking for Mickey, via Pluto's nose. As Pluto was sniffing around, he bumped into the snake's tail, and looked up. There in the snake's coils was Mickey, with a silly grin plastered on his face. The snake was about ready to swallow the mouse, when Pluto bit it's tail as hard as he possibly could, and pulled.
"YEOUCH!" the snake shouted. As Pluto pulled, he managed to unwind Mickey from the snake's grip, and the mouse came whirling down from the trees, and hit the ground.
THUD!
"Ouch!" Mickey shouted, snapping out of the trance once he landed. Pluto immediately let go of the snake, ran to Mickey, and began slurping him.
"Down, Pluto!" Mickey shouted. "Easy, boy, easy!"
Pluto eased up, just in time to see the snake coming toward Mickey, Figaro, and himself. The three of them ran off as fast as they could.
While Mickey, Pluto, and Figaro were running from the snake, Minnie and Clarabelle drove into Duckburg to the McDuck mansion.
"I hope Daisy's feeling better today," Clarabelle said.
"Me too," Minnie said. "But I don't blame her for being upset."
"That's true. I mean, after all, she and Donald were like you and Mickey. Or, rather, like you and Mickey used to be."
"Yeah, I know."
"I just can't believe Mickey would even do something like that. Just when you think you know a mouse!"
"I know."
"And nobody even knows why he'd want to kill Donald! I tell you, Minnie, it's a mystery!"
"I know . . . ."
"I have a theory on it, though. The way I see it, you know how Mickey's always been the good guy, right? Well, what if he was just so good, he went bad? You know, he got tired of being a goody-two-shoes, and decided to see what it was like to commit a crime?"
"Well . . . ."
"Maybe that was it. Maybe he figured he'd become a bad guy, and he thought he'd get away with it because, well, let's face it! He's Mickey Mouse! He can't do any wrong!"
"Well, I don't really . . . ."
"Yep, that's it, I'm sure of it. He just snapped! Now he's a criminal, a crook, a convict . . . . ."
"Clarabelle . . . ."
"A wrongdoer, a miscreant, a hood . . . ."
"Clarabelle . . . ."
"A con, a jailbird, an outlaw . . . ."
"I GET THE POINT, CLARABELLE!"
Minnie had yelled that at the top of her voice, causing Clarabelle to jump a little. Immediately, Clarabelle decided to shut up. It was obvious Minnie was a little testy about the subject of her (former) boyfriend. Thankfully, they had pulled up at the McDuck mansion shortly afterward. Clarabelle decided to wait in the car, while Minnie went up to the front door, and rang the bell. When it opened, a practical tidal wave came rushing out. Minnie jumped to the side to avoid getting soaked. As she watched the tidal wave, she noticed Huey, Dewey, and Louie coming out along with it.
"Hi, Minnie!" Huey shouted, sitting on an inner tube.
"Hi, Minnie!" Dewey shouted, riding a surfboard.
"Hi, Minnie!" Louie shouted, paddling a rubber raft.
"Uhhh . . . . hi, boys," Minnie said, a little confused. Then she turned toward the door, and saw Duckworth in full scuba gear. She also heard Daisy's wailing from upstairs.
"Uhhh . . . ." Minnie said, a little apprehensively. "Is this a bad time to see Daisy?"
"Not at all," Duckworth said, standing aside to let Minnie in. "Quite frankly, Miss Minnie, I think it would do Miss Daisy a world of good to see you."
"Aye, I couldn't agree more," Scrooge said, coming into the hallway, wringing out the bottom of his coat. "The lass just hasn't been herself."
"I bet," Minnie said. "I don't really blame her, though."
"I don't, either," Scrooge said. "But she's been crying non-stop ever since the trial, and we're all up to our ears in tears around here. I'm practically working with literal liquid assets! Incidentally, Minnie, how have you been doing?"
"Oh, about half and half, I'd say. I'm still trying to figure things out with Mickey, and why he did it, but truthfully, I'd rather not think about it, or talk about it."
"I understand, lassie. In any case, see if you can get Daisy out of the house. I need to dry out a little."
Minnie nodded, and followed Duckworth upstairs to Daisy's room. He knocked on the door.
"Miss Daisy," he said. "Miss Minnie is here to see you."
The door slowly opened, and Minnie did a double take. There was Daisy, wearing a black dress, black shoes, and a black hat with a veil on it. Her eyes were red rimmed and puffy, and she looked like she hadn't slept in weeks (which she probably hadn't). Once Daisy saw her best friend, she let out a wail, and hugged Minnie.
"Oh Minnie!" she shouted. "Minnie, Minnie, Minnie, Minnie!"
"Oh, Daisy," Minnie said, returning Daisy's hug. "There, there. It's all right."
"I'm so miserable! I don't know what to do with myself! I miss Donald so much!"
"I understand. I'm sure it must be very hard for you."
Daisy let out another wail, and continued to cry into Minnie's shoulder. Minnie hated to see her like this. It was kind of depressing to see the once fun-loving and enthusiastic Daisy like this. She was a shell of her former self, though Minnie couldn't really blame her. But she had an idea.
"Daisy, you could use a bit of fresh air," she said. "Clarabelle's out waiting for me in the car. We were going to do some shopping. Why don't you join us?"
"Well . . . ." Daisy said, sniffling. "Maybe I should get out."
"Atta girl! Come on."
Minnie and Daisy then went downstairs, and out to the car. They climbed in, and drove off.
"Hi, Daisy," Clarabelle said. "How are you holding up?"
"Oh . . . . okay, I guess," Daisy said. She pulled a tissue out of her purse and blew into it (resulting in that same truck horn sound effect).
"Oh Daisy," Clarabelle said. "I know you miss Donald, but it's not like your completely alone in the world! You've still got us. And, as they say, there are plenty of other fish in the sea. Or ducks in the pond as the case may be here."
Clarabelle laughed at her little joke, but Minnie didn't seem to find it that funny. Neither did Daisy, for that matter. Her eyes filled with tears, and her beak began to quiver.
"Waaaaahhhhhhh!" she wailed, as her eyes became ocular gushers.
"Clarabelle, you're not helping!" Minnie scolded.
"Sorry," Clarabelle said, sheepishly.
By the time the girls got to Daisy's favorite store, A. Jacques's Boutique, her wailing had been reduced to sniffling and whimpering.
"Oooh! Look, Daisy!" Clarabelle shouted, excitedly. "A. Jacques's is having a big sale!"
"Yeah," Daisy said, unenthusiastically. "Great."
"Come on, Daisy," Minnie said. "This will take your mind off things."
The girls went inside the store, and began looking at the merchandise, and going in and out of the fitting rooms. Daisy came out of the dressing room wearing a pastel pink dress with matching shoes and bow.
"Oh, Daisy, that dress looks perfect on you!" Minnie shouted.
"Thanks," Daisy said. Then she started sniffling. "Donald always liked me in piiiiiiiink!"
Daisy began crying a river again. Minnie and Clarabelle looked at each other, and sighed.
"Back to the ol' drawing board?" Minnie asked.
"You said it," Clarabelle said, as she and Minnie led Daisy back into the fitting room.