When they reached the structure that had been Pete's old evil lair, pulling to a stop in its shadow, the four Public Domainies looked up at it silently.
"We're here," Minnie said with nervous enthusiasm.
Mickey was silent another moment, then, "You know, I thought this place had been much quicker to get to last time we came here."
Oswald felt a rush of enthusiasm that he had the answer to this before Felix could butt in to give it. "There's only so much that can be shown in a six and a half minute short, obviously they'd condense it for the sake of runtime."
"Runtime, takes the fun out of everything," Mickey huffed under his breath.
At first Mickey thought he was going to have to use his tail to hoist himself up to the third floor again, but then Oswald pointed out the boarded up door. The boarded up door had been there for so long that the boards had completely rotted away, leaving the building free to go through.
"Yeah, I'm not going through that," Minnie exclaimed.
So tail hoisting it was.
Once they made it up to the third story window (having miserably to haul the two shrimp-tails up after them), Mickey and Minnie climbed into the room and looked around.
At first, Minnie had thought that seeing the place again would only bring back dark memories, but actually, seeing the place once again after so long, she felt a sudden rush of excitement. Those chains on the wall, the bench against the windows, the swords hanging crisscrossed on the walls, this whole place was a treasure trove of memories for hers and Mickey's history together.
"Don't you remember it Mickey?" Minnie said, spinning around the room until she was tangled in the mess of chains as if they were ribbons, "How I was chained helpless to this wall..." she pulled at the chains to demonstrate her distress, "...and then you swooped in through that window, to save me?" Minnie spun back around the room, bopped one of the swords from the wall, "You took up your sword..." catching the sword, she held it in front of her heroically, "...and confronted Pete with all the heroism I know is inside of you!"
Mickey bumped the other sword from the wall, and instantly the two of them began to spar, jumping up onto windowsills, leaping across the room, just taking it all in.
Oswald glanced at Felix confused, but Felix just gave an open shrug. Nostalgia was strange.
So was Stockholm Syndrome.
Should Minnie have been suffering PTSD just being here? Probably, but this is a cartoon, if you want dark stuff like that, you're going to have to find yourself a horror Mickey Mouse story or something.
...
The four heroes fell silent, the sudden feeling that something wasn't right.
Minnie felt a chill run down her body, felt the fur on her body beginning to rise.
Then she heard it, the sound unmistakable, a tongue rolling over sharp and razor teeth, a sound that called for her over any other.
"Minnie Mouse, a mini mouse, a mini morsel for me..."
A handle turned, the door on the wall began to open, nothing but darkness on the other side.
A rotting gloved hand grabbed at the edge of the stile.
And the door creaked the rest of the way open, revealing the flesh-eating form of Mickey the Mouse.