EM: Gremlin Village

Chapter 6: Gremlin Village




Mickey continued to walk down the flight of stairs into the darkness. He painted up a flashlight to light his path as he walked.

"Gus, how much further?"

"Not much further, don't worry" The gremlin reassured him.

They reached the bottom of the stairs to come to another door.

"Excuse me for a moment"

Gus flew off of Mickey's shoulder and landed on the floor, opening a tiny door that was on the wall. Gus disappeared inside and Mickey waited. He heard the sounds of locks being unlocked and the door in front of him opened.

Mickey stepped across the doorway and gaped at what he saw.

Beyond the door was a rather vibrant place. Miscellaneous props had been turned into homes and workshops. The bright colors that once inhabited the 'Small World' ride now illuminated the place. It was shocking to see such an alive place in a dead world.

"Welcome Mickey, to the Gremlin Village…" Gus said as he sat on Mickey's shoulder.

Another Gremlin flew up to them.

"GUS! Your back! And who's this?"

"This is my new friend, Mickey Mouse! He's going to help us fight the Blot!"

"Mickey? THE Mickey Mouse?" The Gremlin floating in front of them shook Mickey's gloved hand. "It's an honor!"

"Nice to meet you too" Mickey smiled.

"Mickey and I need an alternate means of transportation to get around the Wasteland…" Gus explained. "Do we have anything?"

"Nothing YOUR sized I'm afraid…" The other Gremlin said. "We'll work something out…but Gus, come with us! We captured one of the Mad Doctor's robots!"

The Gremlin motioned for them to follow and Gus and Mickey did so.

"Is it a Beetleworx?" Mickey asked.

"No, it's one of the other characters"

"Who is it?" Mickey asked.

The gremlin paused.

"You wouldn't like it if I told you"

Mickey blinked in confusion but followed anyway. The Gremlin led them inside a large workshop where a blanket covered something and several other Gremlins were working underneath it.

"Guys! Gus is back!"

The other Gremlins came out from under the tarp and went to talk to Gus. While Gus caught up with his clan, Mickey approached the tarp.

"Ah! Mr. Mouse! Don't!"

Mickey pulled back the tarp and gasped. There, lying on a table was a half-robotic version of his best friend…Donald Duck.

His stomach was gone and replaced with a metal spine. He had one metal arm and one metal leg. He was missing an eye, which was replaced by a red light, and he had two bolts holding his jaw in place.

"DONALD!? Gus! What's going on here?? Donald isn't a forgotten character!"

Gus sighed and shook his head.

"People in this world come in two types, Forgotten and Clones" Gus explained. "Forgottens are just what they sound like, forgotten Disney characters. Clones are robotic versions of non-forgotten Disney characters that were created by the Mad Doctor. That's what that gorilla was."

Gus sighed.

"For some reason, he made robotic clones of all your closest friends, why he did so I'm not sure…But rest assured, this is not the Donald Duck YOU know"

Mickey looked at the robotic mallard and sighed.

"Yeah, but even so…it kills me to see him like this…"

"He was heavily damaged, so we're trying to repair him…" A Gremlin said. "In fact, we're almost done!"

Another Gremlin flew into Mecha-Donald's empty stomach with a wielding torch and fused a piece of the spine back together.

"I think that should do it!"

A few more gremlins flew around the workshop and plugged several wires into the robot.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Gus asked. "We don't know what he'll do!"

"We have him restrained" replied one Gremlin. "And we disabled any weapons he had on his body.

A gremlin pulled a lever and electricity began to flow through the wires, sending power into the robot and making it shake. Mickey stood back, wondering what would happen.

The power then died down and Mecha-Donald lay there. After a moment of silence, the robot lifted its head as the red light in it's missing eye socket came on. The robot looked left and right before looking at Mickey.

"…Mickey?"

Mickey slowly approached, smiling lightly.

"Donald? It's me!"

Mecha-Donald then suddenly quacked angrily as he rapidly tugged and tugged at his restraints, shaking the table. The sudden action made Mickey jump back in shock.

"YOU!!!" Mecha-Donald yelled. "YOU COULDN'T JUST LET ME LIVE IN PEACE!! YOU HAD TO DESTROY THIS PLACE!!"

Mickey looked at Donald in shock. Even though the duck was known for having a temper, he had never seen him this angry.

"Why does everyone say this is my fault?" Mickey asked.

"BECAUSE IT IS!!"

"Don't worry Mickey, he's probably just programmed to hate you" Gus assured him.

"It's not ABOUT my programming! It's about what YOU did Mickey! AND about all the abuse I put up with from you!!"

"What??" Mickey now yelled back. "Donald! Even if it's NOT the real you, I never abused you! Ever!"

"PHOOEY! Back in the old days…at the end of the day, who was it who always went home with a headache? ME! Who always took the fall while you took the spotlight? ME! The only REASON Goofy and I were created by Walt was to make YOU look better!!"

"That's not true! Walt would never--"

"Think about it Mickey! Around the time Goofy and I were created, when was the last time you starred in a cartoon that had you acting badly? Huh?"

Mickey paused for a moment and thought back to then. He had to admit that he was right.

"Once you became a big star, Disney couldn't afford to show you in a bad light!" Mecha-Donald continued. "I…or the REAL me was created because you couldn't be angry or bad, and the REAL Goofy was created because YOU couldn't act dumb!"

Mickey said nothing as he dwelled on his words. It all seemed to make sense in a way. Disney wouldn't allow Mickey to do anything reckless, so they gave that job to Donald.

"All Goofy and I are are your footstools as you accept all the fame!" Mecha-Donald said. "I'M TIRED OF BEING YOUR SIDEKICK! And I'm sure the REAL me feels just the same way!"

Mickey just turned and walked away.

"Ah! Mickey! Wait!" Gus flew after him.

The other Gremlins began to unplug the wires, cutting the robot off from power.

"It's your entire fault Mickey! It's all your fault! It's…all…you…" Mecha-Donald's voice trailed off as he powered down.

"Mickey!" Gus flew after Mickey, who was walking in a random direction with his head down. "Mickey, remember that's NOT the Donald you know"

"I know…" Replied Mickey. "It's just…I can't help but wonder…if that's how the REAL Donald see's me"

"Oh Mickey, I'm CERTAIN the true Donald Duck doesn't think like that at all!" Gus tried to cheer up the mouse.

"Mr. Mouse!" The Gremlin from before flew up to them. "I just remembered! We DO have something that can help you get around the ocean of the Wasteland!"

"What is it?"
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"We still have a little tinkering to do with it, but I'm sure we can get it up and running again!"

The Gremlin led them down a flight of stairs into a hollowed out cave on the island. The cave had a small canal running through it that would lead out to the ocean. Mickey stopped and gasped at the sight of what was in the river.

"I…It's Willie! The old Steamboat!"