Day One - Part 2

[Mickey Mouse]

Mickey had never been happier to see a bug.

The tension between the two pairs dissolved almost immediately following the armored woman’s nod. She lowered her sword, and Mickey lowered his powered glove. The tall man let his gun fall from a readied position, and Erza relaxed her fighting stance, setting Mjolnir on the ground as she rushed over to pet the tiny little caterpillar. “Thanks,” the red-haired girl said, shooting a glance up at the bounty hunter. She received a simple nod in reply as the woman walked over and leaned against a tree. Wow, Mickey noted, she got hit hard, I guess.

The mouse supposed the woman should find herself lucky that he and Erza weren’t really the violent types. They could have just as easily run into someone like that big green guy from before, who had spared no moments on pleasantries when he smashed the suited guy’s face in. Of course, her tall friend over there probably would do an okay job of protecting her—that big gun had to come in handy somewhere, didn’t it?

“Oh, by the way, my name’s Erza,” the mouse’s companion introduced herself, picking up the caterpillar and placing it in her lap.

“Harry Dresden,” the man spoke up first.

“…Samus,” the woman said, the first word she had spoken since coming into contact with the pair. “Samus Aran.”

“Mickey Mouse.”

“We know,” Harry waved off the mouse’s introduction. He looked to Erza and Samus, who were now shooting him puzzled glances. “Well, I know, anyway.”

If the mouse had eyebrows, one of them would have raised in that moment. Nothing surprised him more than when people in this Omniverse—who clearly were not from one of the realms that he ruled over—recognized him, but he would let it slide. This wasn’t really the time for questioning everything anyone said, anyway.

After all, Samus and Harry seemed like nice enough people for now—right? Something about Mickey told him that he could trust these guys. Of course, it might have been the good guy complex he had; Samus’s injury could have been swaying him. Naturally, he did not want to kick anybody while they were down. On the contrary, the mouse had a probably unhealthy desire to help anyone he came across that looked like they needed it. And Erza seemed pretty content not to scuffle with them as long as she could pet the caterpillar, which was, Mickey had to admit, rather adorable-looking.

With the tension starting to completely dissipate, Samus took the opportunity to stop standing. The bounty hunter sat with her back against the tree she had been propped up on, and Mickey plopped down near her. Erza remained a short distance away cuddling Samus’s little pet, and Harry stayed standing up.

“So, uh…” the mouse stammered nervously, “what happened to you?” He gestured toward the blood-stained cloth poking out of the mid-section of her armor.

“Oh, you noticed,” the bounty hunter said. She placed a hand to the wound. “Stabbed,” she stated simply, “by a man with big tusks.”

Erza and Mickey looked at each other in realization.

“The giant pig guy!” they shouted in unison.

“Yeah,” Harry chuckled, “that sounds about right.”