Chapter Text
Mulan and Mickey were near a lake so Mulan could clean off the blood from her armor, Mulan in the lake, Mickey sitting on a nearby rock.
“So, where am I?” Mickey asked.
“I’m just a soldier, I couldn’t explain it half as well as someone like Jenny Everywhere or Santa Claus could to you.” Mulan responded.
“Wait, Santa?” Mickey asked. “He’s real?”
“You heard about him before you got here?” Mulan asked. “So have a few of us.”
“Like who?” Mickey asked.
“A lot.” Mulan answered. “We should get going.”
“Do…. Do you think my wife is here?” Mickey stuttered before they left.
“I don’t know.” Mulan answered. “Sometimes they make it through, and sometimes they don’t. Those who don’t……” She stopped herself and continued walking.
“What? What happens to those who don’t?” Mickey asked.
“They get devoured.”
“D-Devoured, by who?” Mickey demanded to know.
“He goes by many titles, The High Priest of the Great Old Ones, The Sleeper of R'lyeh, The Great Dreamer, The Devourer of The Lost Ones, but he is most well-known by his given name.” Mulan monologues before revealing his true given name.
“Cthulhu.”
“Is there-” Mickey screamed before being interrupted by Mulan.
“She’s probably back at base or being rescued by another of my team’s scouts. We’d best make it there soon before nightfall.” Mulan tried to assure Mickey. They continued to walk until they made it to a town.
This town was fairly large, there were about 100 buildings making up the town. Most of it was made of houses, although there were two restaurants, a grocery, a park, a church, a horse ranch, a laboratory and a river. The most striking parts of the town were a massive tree near the river with a hole inside, a castle on a nearby hill and an enormous workshop near that.
Mulan pointed at the workshop. “That belongs to Santa and functions as our base of operations.”
“Who’s us?” Mickey asked.
“There are some of us who would rather use newcomers as test subjects or as a meal. We are a team meant to protect said newcomers and help them adjust to their new surroundings.” Mulan answered. “We still don’t have a name though; Santa can’t come up with anything good.”
“How much longer until we get there?” Mickey asked.
“I’d say at most forty-five minutes on foot at this rate.” Mulan answered. “I’d also be cautious; we haven’t seen anybody like you before.”
“What do you mean?” Mickey pondered.
“You do realize you’re a talking mouse?” Mulan asked him.
“Are there no other talking mice here?” Mickey wondered.
Mulan just looked at him completely dumbfounded before just bluntly stating. “No.” Before backtracking and thinking back. “Well, Alice Liddle and Dorothy Gale claim to have seen many talking animals, and Christopher Robin has his sentient toys, but most of us haven’t seen anyone like you.”
Mulan and Mickey moved towards the workshop; however they were being watched. From behind a nearby shed laid a being of the future, a machine composed of sleek silver, looking nearly identical to that of a woman, but with no life nor soul behind her cold dead eyes. This was the Man-Machine, also known by the name “Futura”.
Futura processed the new individual brought here and reported it back to her owner, a thin aging balding man dressed in a dinner suit. He had recently taken ownership of the machine to use as a scout as he watched listlessly on his computer, stolen and replicated from certain members of Santa’s organization.
His name was Professor James Moriarty.
He spoke to his sentry in a calm yet hoarse voice. “Futura, I would very much appreciate it if you would capture this mouse you’ve spotted and bring him back to headquarters as soon as you can.”
“ Objective: Understood. ” Futura said before rushing towards the traveling duo.