Mickey couldn’t have been standing there for more than a couple of seconds, but to him it felt like hours. A lightning strikes from behind illuminating the large and imposing stature of the person in front of him. He tries his best to back away from the intimidating shadowy figure, as the wanted poster and the warnings surrounding it flash throughout his mind, he wasn't able to stop his mouth from sputtering “Y-you’re… Y-you’re…” “The Phantom Blot?'' the figure finished “Pleasure to meet you”. Mickey quickly felt the back of his foot touch the edge of the ledge, reminding himself that he is on the roof of this building. At night. Alone. With this guy. Crap. Mickey looks up at the towering figure again, not hiding any sense of fear. This man couldn’t have been that much taller than Goofy, but for some reason at this moment he felt 10 feet tall. During this, The Phantom Blot silently watches the little mouse carefully, noting every little move he makes. Though you couldn’t see his face, he appears quite amused and is relishing in the fear the mouse displays. Eventually, he decides to speak again.

He cheekily asks the mouse who he is and what he could be doing on this fine night. Mickey doesn’t respond as he still seems to be in shock at what is going on. The Blot chuckles to himself and jokes about how speechless the mouse is and how he tends to have that effect on people. He also remarks that the air is “quite thin” up here and perhaps the mouse may be more talkative on the ground. The Phantom Blot then leads Mickey to a pole and gestures for the mouse to go down first. Almost instinctively Mickey drops down the pole, before quickly realizing that this could be his best chance to escape. The second he reaches the bottom he does his best to bolt out of the alley… Only for his shirt collar to be caught by the Blot who chides him for attempting to escape before they finished their conversation. The Phantom Blot then drags him over to the trap with the camera, holding tightly onto Mickey’s collar. 

Assured that the mouse won’t try to escape again, he questions the mouse again, this time only asking for a name. A defeated Mickey Mouse answers him, stuttering out the response. The Blot makes a snide comment about Mouse being a common last name, before moving onto his next question asking what the mouse is doing. Mickey gives in and explains about how he was trying to capture a thief that was going around stealing cameras. The Phantom Blot seems to instantly notice the trap and pulls it apart, remarking about how the mouse should have used a different kind of knot if he really wanted to be effective and that he could do a better job at hiding it. He then easily picks up the camera and pockets it into his cloak. Further bringing shame to the mouse.

Afterwards, the Phantom Blot continues to prod for more information on why Mickey wanted to capture this thief, this time a bit more seriously and scary. Mickey quietly squeaks about how he works at the Mouseton Argus and how he was hoping to write a story about the crime. As he somberly answers the shadowy figure’s questions, trying to do his best to avoid his frightening eyes, Mickey can feel himself coming to terms with his fate. There is no way this man is just going to let him walk. There is a good chance he could die here. He could never see Pluto, Donald, Goofy, Felicity, Clarabelle, Horace, Morty, Ferdie and Min… Minnie. He never even got a chance to say goodbye to Minnie. All for some stupid story. What did he get himself into? The shadowy figure makes a comment about how it is odd that a couple of missing cheap cameras would be good enough for a story, but I guess everybody starts somewhere. He then really starts to look at the mouse, this time not just trying to observe his actions, but trying to read him, understand who he really is. The large man crouches in front of Mickey, meeting him eye to eye, this time gripping his large hands hard onto Mickey’s shoulder, instead of his collar. Mickey still tries to avoid eye contact, though finding it a bit more challenging. Once he got his fill, he gave a cruel laugh and smiled through his eyes, claiming he knows what really is going on here. 

The Phantom Blot starts explaining about how Mickey is someone who is not happy with their lot in life, an unimportant nobody who wants to move up the totem pole and get what they think they deserve. So he tried to do something brave and bold in hopes that it would help him stand out and rise to the top. But unfortunately this little fish is starting to see why they shouldn’t swim with the sharks, or in other words, the mouse bit off a bit more than he could chew. The Blot chuckles to himself as the mouse seems to take every word to heart and part of the fear he feels morphs into shame. The Blot continues that normally he would take great pleasure in teaching the little mouse a lesson, but it seems like he already learned it. You know, despite what others say, he isn’t really one for wanton violence, given his “soft-heart” and all that. Plus he just isn’t in the right mood and it isn’t fun, if he isn’t in the mood. So perhaps he may be willing to let the mouse go just this one time. Mickey’s ears perk up at this as he gives the cloaked man a confused look. The Blot continues his speech adding that the mouse doesn’t have to shower him with gratitude, that would be rather annoying, all he has to do is forget this whole situation and go back to his pathetic unimportant life where he belongs… And stay there. Besides, it isn’t like anyone would believe him anyways. 

Mickey, shocked at what he thinks the man is saying, tries to sputter out a response, but is quickly interrupted by the Phantom Blot adding that the mouse should take advantage of this rare moment of charity. Because if not… He grips harder on Mickey’s shoulder… Well let’s just say he has some traps he has been dying to try out and would love a lab rat. The Phantom Blot then loosens his grip on the mouse’s shoulder and starts to get up. Clearly getting ready to leave. Mickey still seems to be processing what is going on before instinctively yelling “Wait” at the shadowy figure. The man faces him one more time, his frightening eyes glowing as pure white as the full moon in the sky and his haunting deep black cloak vanishing in the shadows of the night. 

“It’s best to think of this as a bad dream. If you’re lucky… You’ll never have to see me again” 

and with lightning quick speed the man picks up the mouse by the front of his collar and tosses him against the alley wall knocking him out. Hearing the echoes of villainous laughter before it all fades to black.

Hours seem to have passed as the cool night starts to shift into a warm day. It seems like it did rain a little bit last night as the alley is drenched in water from the rain collectors on the nearby buildings. We then pan to Mickey who still seems to be knocked out between a couple of trash cans. Suddenly the leaf of a plant on top of a window sill fills up with enough water for it to unravel, dropping the water on Mickey’s head. This seems to wake him up as he spits out the water. He groggily looks around and tries to make sense of his surroundings. Where is he? How did he get here? Mickey tries his best to stand up, stretching as he didn’t exactly sleep in an ideal position. He feels around for his phone and finds it cracked with no battery. Despite his head hurting, he tries his best to think about what happened. He was looking for a specific missing camera. The Little Korker V39. He found one at Horace’s place. He used it to set up a trap. And then… horrifying white eyes flash through his mind… “a bad dream” rings in his ears... Did that really happen? Did he actually meet the Phantom Blot? THE Phantom Blot. Mickey sits down on a box as he tries to put his thoughts together. 

There is no way that could have actually been him. The Phantom Blot is a master criminal that deals in high end crime worth hundreds of millions of dollars all over the world. Why would he be in Mouseton taking cheap cameras? He holds his head again as another migrain pulses through. Perhaps he just fell and knocked himself out. He looks around and sees that the camera is gone from where he remembers placing it. He also notices that the trap he set was very carefully dismantled. All of the sudden memories of the cloaked figure pocketing the camera and taking apart the trap rush into his mind giving him another headache. Mickey tries his best to look around for any clues, any other signs that the Blot was here. Any proof that he didn’t just imagine it. But struggles to find anything of note. He stops. He takes a breath. He may not see anything physical. But. He can still feel it. The fear. The fear from the moment is still somehow fresh in his heart. And maybe that is proof enough.

Mickey looks at himself and realizes how soggy and dirty his clothes are. Well the best he can do is go home now. Pluto has been left alone for quite a while and he could use some cleaning up. He tries to remember where he parked, thankfully still finding his car there and drives off. Not being able to keep his mind off of whatever may have happened last night. Eventually he is able to get home. He feeds a very worried Pluto, and takes a shower wearing a new set of clean clothes. He looks at his now charged phone and sees a couple of messages from Minnie last night. The typical good night and good morning messages she always sends, and he usually sends back. He should probably call her soon, so she doesn’t worry. He then noticed the long long list of missed calls from his boss. He looks at the clock. Crap. Late Again. At that moment, the phone rings. It’s the Editor in Chief. He takes a deep breath and the answers. All he hears is five words “Come. To. My. Office. Now” before the other side hangs up. He sighs again, not looking forward to that.

We cut to Mickey already in the Editor in Chief’s office, honestly more tired than worried. The Editor (By the way I realized I never clarified what animal the Editor was because he ended up playing a bigger role than I expected. Let’s say a Hawk) paces in front of his desk with the fake Mickey that the real Mickey made yesterday sitting on top of it. He goes on about how Mickey has been late 3 times in a row, seems to be getting behind on his work, and even tried to use this thing, as he gestures to the fake Mickey, to get out of work. Mickey tries to pipe in only for the large bird person to continue. He says that he has been giving Mickey some slack out of respect for his sister and his previous good behavior, but is feeling his patience wearing thin. He then asks Mickey what could possibly be causing all this trouble. Mickey finally has some time to explain and tries to bring up the case about the missing cameras. However once he mentions the cameras the Editor stops him and laughs. Not a comical laugh, more of a frustrated one. He can’t believe that Mickey is causing all this trouble over a couple of missing cameras. Mickey tries to add that there is more to this and he just uncovered a big break in the case that could lead to the story of a lifetime. The Editor looks at him waiting for a response. But Mickey stops himself, realizing how crazy it would be to mention the Phantom Blot. He might as well say that Al Capone stole his socks. Plus he is still processing whether or not he actually met him or if it was a bad dream. Annoyed by the silence the Hawk sighs and says that he will give Mickey one more chance. But Mickey will need to drop whatever camera story he is looking into and to continue his normal work without complaint. Mickey wants to say something, but is unsure what he could even possibly say. The Editor tells him to get back to work and to get rid of this thing, as he points to the fake Mickey. Mickey complies and drags the fake version of him back to his desk. 

Mickey sulks over to his desk, thinking about his current situation. You know maybe it is a good thing to drop this whole camera fiasco. He’s at risk of losing his job, his body still aches from sleeping on the street, and it is just a couple of cheap cameras. But as he tries to open his laptop and go through emails, he can’t stop his mind from wandering. That had to be the Phantom Blot right? The memory is too fresh to feel like a dream. Plus where else did the camera go and who else dismantled his trap. This could explain how there were no traces left at the other locations. Without a thought he instantly starts searching up the Phantom Blot on the web and skims through articles about his thefts. Even seeing an article about a missing emerald. Aha! Apparently it is said that the Blot is said to be so skilled at theft that most people don’t even find out they were stolen from until years later, leaving absolutely no traces. Sometimes he leaves notes, but usually he will leave a fake in its place or even nothing at all. If he could steal gems from museums with the best security systems money can buy, he could totally steal cameras from a couple of pawn shops as if it were nothing. But now the question is why. The Phantom Blot deals tends to steal items that are worth millions. Why would a couple of cameras catch his interest? There has to be more here. Something that even a large enough villain as him would care about. Something truly wicked. Just as Mickey considered the possibilities one of his coworkers dropped a giant pile of paperwork at his desk and gave him humorous but confusing instructions on which ones to print copies of, which ones to staple, and which ones to scan. Oh yeah work… Well whatever the Phantom Blot is planning, he won’t be able to figure it out. He can’t risk his job. Plus even then what can he do… He’s just a Junior Assistant Photojournalist in Training… He’s just an unimportant nobody… He’s just a mouse.

At that moment his phone buzzes and he takes a quick look. It’s Horace. Horace messages him mentioning that he found something really important about the cameras. Mickey sighs, messaging back that he is dropping the case. He immediately heads over to the large amount of paperwork and tries to remember the confusing instructions. His phone buzzes again and he reads a message from Horace asking if he is sure. Mickey sighs again, and types that he is sure, heading back to the piles of paper. Before getting one more final buzz from Horace 

“K if that is what u want 👍”

... What he wants… What he wants… What… is he doing? Here he is just about to resign the rest of his life to boring paperwork, as if there isn’t an important mystery that needs to be solved. Mickey knows for sure that if he were to drop this case now he would regret every day since. He doesn’t even care about the story anymore. Something is not sitting right with him about this whole situation and he, Mickey T. Mouse, is going to be the one to find out why. He picks up his phone again and texts Horace that he changed his mind and will be stopping by after work. After that he proudly smiles, glad to feel his optimism come back and confident that he made the right choice.

We see Mickey as he drives up to the same apartments as before and knocks on the door to Horace house. Horace greets him, glad that he changed his mind. Horace starts to jump into a deep explanation as they head over to his room, before stopping and pulling something out of a box. It’s Ol’ Reliable. Excited Mickey takes the camera and jokes about how he’s surprised Horace didn’t sell it. Horace confirms that he wouldn’t sell anything that meaningful to a friend and even cleaned it up using a special camera cleaning technique he learned online. Mickey thanks him and puts the beloved camera around his neck. Horace then restarts his explanation. As he mentioned before, he decided to look more into these cameras to see what could make them so valuable, but had a hard time finding anything since they just seemed so generic. But when he decided to go to the library on a whim and check out some old newspapers, he ended up finding an article about the guy who apparently made the cameras. Horace then shows a photo of a middle aged dog along with a copy of a small news article. Horace explains that this is Jimmy Korker, who was an inventor of the Little Korker Cameras and owned the company who made them. He explains how the article mentioned how he got arrested, while at one of his mansions in Mouseton. Horace couldn’t find exactly what got him arrested, but saw that there were theories of terrorism or conspiracy in the article. Horace struggled to find much about the situation, even on the internet, outside of the fact that he likely wasn’t held for long and that Jimmy sold the company not too long after the date of the arrest. Horace also cheekily asks Mickey if he knows what was the last version of the camera sold before he left the company. Mickey responds with the Little Korker V39. And Horace winks. Bingo.

Mickey cheerily takes in this information, taking notes and thanking Horace for looking into this. He loves how thorough Horace can be when he really gets interested in a subject. Mickey wonders out loud if perhaps, whatever Jimmy Korker was arrested for could be connected to why the Phantom Blot wants the cameras. “The who?”... Oh right Horace doesn’t know yet. Taking a deep breath Mickey tries to explain what happened last night with his encounter with the Phantom Blot. As he explains, Horace's cheerful demeanor drops into a more horrified one. Afterwards, Horace asks if Mickey is sure that he met with THE Phantom Blot and not just misremembered. But Mickey confirms that it had to be the Blot. It is possible it could have been an impersonator or maybe just an illusion but, as memories of the cold white eyes pierce his mind… It felt too real. Horace takes a deep breath, still stunned about what he heard. He remarks that he used to do research on the Phantom Blot back when he was training to be the next Robin Hood. Mickey rolls his eyes, remembering all the broken windows he had to fix at his family’s house when Horace was “practicing”. Horace continues about how he tried to learn his tricks, so that he could use it for “good”, but the more and more he learned about this guy and what he was capable of. He knew that this wasn’t the right field for him. The dude’s a criminal genius and no one can even come close to what he can do. Horace then remarks that he is surprised that Mickey is still alive, as the Phantom Blot isn’t afraid to off anyone who gets in the way. Mickey adds that he does think it is odd, though noted that the Blot said he had a “soft-heart” though Mickey could tell he was joking. Horace wonders if maybe it is because the Phantom Blot doesn’t think Mickey would be able to do anything meaningful or useful and that killing him would be just a waste of time. Before realizing what he said to a slightly annoyed Mickey. 

Mickey then brings the topic back to the article and asks Horace if he happens to know where this mansion is. Horace looks up something on the computer and shows an abandoned mansion on a maps website (Think Google Maps). Great it is still there and looks to be abandoned. Mickey then remarks that his best chance to learn more about this “crime” is there. Thankfully he has tomorrow off, so he will have plenty of time to look at the place, without having to worry about going to work the next day. Horace also says that he will continue to look into this and see if he can find more information. Right before Mickey heads out, Horace wonders if he is going to wear a disguise. Mickey is confused at first about the need for a disguise, until Horace mentions that if this is connected to the cameras and the Phantom Blot, he may be in the area and may not be so kind if he recognizes him again. Mickey admits that Horace is right and asks if he has anything he can use. Horace pulls out an old box labeled “PATH TO BECOME FAMOUS ACTOR #4” and pulls out a top hat, a fake beard, some glasses, as well as some old looking clothes to go with it. They oddly enough fit Mickey well and Mickey thanks him before rushing off to the address of the old mansion.

When Mickey reaches the mansion the sun has already set and the moon is out. There doesn’t seem to be many buildings in this area due to the giant yards. The mouse heads out of his car to try and see if he can open the large gates that lead to the mansion. Surprisingly they are unlocked and he is able to open the gate with no problem. The mouse keeps himself alert, trying to notice anything that seems off in his surroundings. But currently all he can see are the lights of some night-time bikers trying to get some exercise. He dodges behind his car as they pass by. After they leave, seemingly unaware of the open gate, he quickly drives his car into the yard, closing the gate behind him and tries to find a place to park. Some place where someone wouldn’t find his car. He then sneaks over to the front door, as quietly as he can, keeping an eye on everything around him. He tries to see if the door is unlocked and to his surprise again it is also unlocked. One door unlocked is lucky. Two are suspicious.. He will have to be extra careful walking around this house, as he can’t really reschedule, despite the danger. He quickly sneaks in and pulls out a flashlight. The flashlight he brought is pretty dim, which was an annoyance whenever he went camping, but is perfect for sneaking. Gives just enough light to see, without giving his location away. He looks around at what is a mostly empty large room with a stray piece of furniture here and there as well as some frames with a picture of Jimmy Korker and what is likely his family. There is a staircase in the middle that leads up to two hallways each leading to the opposite side of the house. He looks to each side of the room that also has two giant doors leading to other rooms… Well guess he better start searching.

Mickey spends about an hour searching each room, being as quiet as well… A mouse. For a while he is unsure that he will be able to find anything, until he happens to gaze upon a portrait above an empty fireplace in one of the rooms. This portrait is odd as the other ones around were more serious and this one is more silly, with Jimmy Korker goofily holding up his hands like a hitchhiker pointing to the left. Mickey thought about the comics and cartoons he watched where usually this would lead to some kind of clue… Wait… What if. He looks to the left and notices that there appears to be a Knight in the left corner of the room who is looking to the center of the back room. Wait… Why is there a knight in an American mansion? Focus. Mickey then follows the trail and notices on the back wall there is another frame that is empty but on the top of the frame there is a duck character looking down and on the bottom there is a knob. He goes to the knob and turns it, which creates a loud noise behind him as he looks to see that the fireplace has swiveled around revealing a staircase. Hot Dog! Mickey immediately runs down the steps just as the fireplace continues to close again. He walks down the wooden steps, carefully to avoid any squeaky steps and avoid any traps that could be placed. 

When he gets to the bottom he sees a medium sized circle room that is covered with papers. Most of the papers seem to be hung up on the round walls. He instantly got out his camera and started to take as many pictures as he could, while also trying to get a sense of what they say. One thing that sticks out is an article that looks very similar to the one Horace found at the library. However he sees notes around it written in black ink, wondering about some kind of chemical that was being trafficked from Mouseton. Mickey then notices another picture which seems to be the blueprints for the Little Korker V39, however he notices a specific area that is highlighted to show a compartment within the camera. He looked around some more and then noticed a table. Surprised that he didn’t pick it up at first he sees what appears to be some kind of green liquid in a vial inside a glass case. Mickey instinctively tries to open the case, but unfortunately it seems to be locked and attached to the table which is also bolted to the ground. But maybe it was fortunately Mickey thought as he realized that he isn’t sure if the chemical may be radioactive. He gets ready to jump back, but notices a book on top of the table. This one has different handwriting than the others. 

As he reads through it, he starts to realize that this may be the journal of Jimmy Korker. Apparently he was supposed to send the last shipment, each shipment having 250 Little Korker V39 cameras, that will be sent to… Mickey can’t seem to read the location as it is scratched out. He says that this is the last set with the chemicals implanted in them and should also be the one that also includes the blueprints for… This also seems to be scratched out… in one of the cameras. However the FBI were hot on his trail and he had to send it through unusual means. Unfortunately this resulted in the shipment being lost and he still ended up getting arrested. Apparently this whole situation has put him through a lot of trouble and he had to pay a lot of money to avoid this getting out to the press. Though he couldn’t pay off one small local newspaper. But he wasn’t worried as nobody really reads their articles anyways. He says that all of this stress on his wife and son made him realize that he cares too much about them to continue this life of crime. So he has decided to sell his company and find some place off the map to live with them. 

So this is why the Phantom Blot wants these cameras so much, Mickey thought to himself. He must be trying to find the ones that still have the chemical in it. I bet they are worth a lot. He also looked over to the part about the blueprint, wondering if he is after that as well. As Mickey takes a picture of the page, trying to get it as readable as he can, he notices some loose papers sticking out of another page. He turns to that page to see designs of some kind of weird mechanism that seems to use the chemicals. This seems to be the same person who has written the notes on the wall, now that Mickey thinks about it, there is a big chance this is the Phantom Blot. Hmm… He is a pretty good artist. Mickey picks up that he seems to be trying to draw something based on the description in the book. But what is it, some kind of tool… toy… But then a sudden thought came to mind as he started to put the descriptions and the drawings together… Weapon. It’s a weapon. Mickey's heart sank as he came to this realization. If the Phantom Blot gets a hand on this weapon, who knows what he could do. He could try to extort entire countries out of their wealth out of fear for destruction. Or he could sell it to other villains who could use it for their own nefarious needs. So many innocent people could die. As Mickey started to put his thoughts together he realized he knew what he had to do. He has to do everything in his power to stop the Phantom Blot from finding this blueprint… That is if he hasn’t already. 

Taking some final pictures, Mickey tries to leave, but finds that a piece of paper has stuck to his hand. He pulls it off slowly revealing what appears to be a set of talleys. He counts the talleys to where there appears to be 237. Mickey quickly puts together that this is probably the amount of cameras that the Blot has already found. That leaves about 13 left. Mickey is impressed he managed to find so many, especially after such a long period of time, but then a sudden realization hit him. The paper with the talleys are still sticky. That means it is wet. That means it wasn’t written that long ago. He needs to get out of here. Now. Mickey tries his best to leave the room as he found it and quietly but quickly exits the mansion. On the way he starts to come up with a plan. Since he intentionally avoided taking any writings with him and placed everything just as he found it, the Phantom Blot wouldn’t know that he was here. But luckily with help from Ol’ Reliable, he has enough pictures that will be just the evidence he needs to get the police involved. If he can be quick enough, they should be able to sniff the place out before the Phantom Blot even gets a chance to take anything and run. With the whole force on his side they should have no issues getting the final 13 cameras, if they are still around, and hopefully find the blueprint before he even gets a chance. Hey, maybe they can even catch the Phantom Blot once and for all. Mickey laughs to himself in his head, that last one may be a stretch too far since the Blot has never been caught before, but you can always dream. Mickey honestly can’t stop smiling, excited that things seem to be really going his way. He didn’t even see that creep in the cloak at all tonight and he is so close to where he hid his car. So Close. Or at least he was… Until he felt a cold metal cylinder touch the back of his neck, causing him to freeze instantly.

The show will start off with what appears to be a quiet night. We zoom into a fancy-looking museum where two figures are talking while going down the elegant and large halls. One appears to be a high-ranking security guard and the other one is in fancy attire. The security guard is assuring the other that the security system protecting the emerald (This would have a better name, but isn’t important now) is one of the best in the world and that there is no way any villain or criminal is getting through. As they discuss this, the security system is being shown off, being pretty impressive and thorough. The fancy one still appears nervous however and states that the emerald has very special properties and that if anyone gets their hands on it, who knows what they could do. They even start name-dropping some villains, almost saying the Phantom Bl-, before being silenced by the security guard. The guard assures them that they are 100% confident that there is absolutely no way anyone can get this emerald, including any creeps in cloaks… 

As they say that they stop to where the emerald is or rather was… The cushion where the emerald was once placed has an emerald-shaped dent with a note left on top. The note reads something along the lines of

“I was hoping for a bit of a challenge, but left rather disappointed. I guess that is never in the cards for me. Perhaps next time you won’t BLOW it up.

Sincerely"

The letter was signed with a couple blots of ink. The classic signature of the infamous master criminal. Both are shocked with the security guard furiously calling for back up saying that the Phantom Blot has been here, without realizing that they are stepping into a tripwire which leads into a hissing sound. The one in fancy attire hears the hissing and tries their best to warn the guard only for it to be too late. The once quiet night is now interrupted with the sound of a loud explosion and a cacophony of sirens as police cars swarming the area. Any public who happens to be out at night frantically looks around in fear, knowing that some villainy must be near. The camera pans up to a shadowy figure in a black as night cloak and two glowing white eyes standing on top of a building overlooking the mess. You can’t see his face, but you get a sense that he is grinning as he chuckles to himself, pleased to see the explosion and the chaos that surrounds it, with an emerald in his hand. 

We then cut to what appears to be reporters reporting on the emerald theft, but then it evolves into reporting on other crimes of the Phantom Blot and then not just reports but interviews and public accounts. Essentially they explain that the Phantom Blot is one of the most nefarious criminal masterminds in the world. Always seeming 100 steps ahead of any police or law enforcement organization and is able to make the most challenging heists seem like child’s play. This Phantom Blot has never been captured and has never failed, running his schemes nearly perfectly with impunity, often taunting and teasing law enforcement as if this was a game to him. He is feared by the public, but adored and respected by other villains (with a couple of exceptions, but that would be explored in other episodes). He has waitlists full of criminals who dream of working with him on the few times he gathers a team. Mostly drawn to his charisma and leadership but also knowing that with him that failure is a rarity. Many wonder if this evil genius is truly as invincible as he appears or if maybe someday there can be someone who can stop the Phantom Blot. 

This is where Mickey fades into view. He is currently asleep though not for long after being awakened by an alarm clock (looks like the classic cartoon clock) and jumps out of bed excitedly saying that today is the day. He goes to fix breakfast and feed Pluto with a large smile beaming on his face. Pluto, while happy that he has more food, is a bit confused by the sudden excitement from Mickey. That is when Mickey tells him that today is the day that things change. He mentions that he finally found a way to convince the Editor in Chief to stop giving him busy work and to let him take on the real stories. He even mentions having a secret weapon thanks to Minnie as he pulls out a white box from the fridge. Thinking about Minnie he checks his phone and looks at pictures of her together, reminiscing on how lucky he is to be her boyfriend, being high school sweethearts and together ever since… That is when he notices that the time on his phone doesn’t match the time on his appliances… Shoot, Daylight Savings Time, he was so focused on working on his special project that he completely forgot to change his appliances… Including his alarm clock which means that he is LATE… He rushes out the door… Realizes that he is in his pajamas… and then comes back in his clothes (looks similar to what he wears in the Topolino comics but with a white spotted red bowtie) and makes sure to grab a camera (similarly colored) to put around his neck and the white box… He tosses, gently, the white box, into the car and rushes out of the driveway. Going as fast as he can… Within the speed limit.

This is where the name of the show will appear. (Detective Mickey is the current placeholder title) Mickey will drive through the town as various gags take place and we can see some characters. We can see Mickey’s Neighbor Mrs. O’Hara wave goodbye to Mickey, Goofy and Pete who seem to be discussing something while taking Max and PJ going to school, Sylvester Shyster walking off with a sinister grin on his face, Clarabelle outside of a bakery she appears to own, Horace who is coming out of some kind of Amazon-like Pick up place carrying a large number of boxes, and a couple of other characters that are callback or will be referenced in later episodes. Once he is parked, the best he can, he rushes into a building that says “Mouseton Argus”. He instantly bumps into someone through the door, destroying the white box and causing pieces of cream and pie crust to splash out. Mickey looks up to see the person he crashed into is… Ugh, Mortimer… Mortimer of course takes this chance to mock Mickey and brag about how he just came back from another successful interview after catching his 3rd set of crooks that month. He reminisces about how ever since he started that Private Investigation firm, he has been having nothing but success while Mickey gets people their coffee. Mickey of course retorts that he does more than that and things will change soon. Mortimer of course laughs it off, before licking a piece of cream from the white box that flung out onto his cheek. He instantly recognizes it as one of Minnie’s Banana Cream Pies and asks for a slice only for Mickey to tell him to shove it. He then retorts that he’ll just stop by her place and ask for a pie and hey maybe ask her to get a new boyfriend too. Mickey rolls his eyes as he enters the building.

Mickey stops by his office to pick up a laptop, which is more of a corner with a kiddie table and chair, and immediately heads over to what appears to be the office of the Editor in Chief at the Mouseton Argus, ignoring all the glares and comments about him being late. He comes in apologizing for being late, but mentioning that he has something the Editor will want to see. He then shows a presentation on his laptop of various pictures that Mickey took and other demonstrations of his skills. Mickey goes straight into the presentation, trying to convince the man that he has enough experience to start joining the journalists on bigger stories and to move up from a Junior Assistant Photojournalist in Training. Unfortunately, the other man doesn’t look pleased and tells Mickey that he doesn’t think he is up to the task. Mickey tries to bring in the destroyed banana cream pie, but that doesn’t change anything as he continues to explain that just because Felicity is Mickey’s sister and she was one of the best journalists they ever had, enough to move away to a larger city and work on national news, doesn’t mean that he will get special treatment, heavily implying she was the only reason Mickey got hired in the first place. Mickey tries to interject. But is met with more criticism as the Editor mentions that they are nice enough to even let him make a cartoon for the funny pages, but when it comes to journalism he even wonders if Mickey is good enough to be a journalist. This unfortunately is the final point that leaves Mickey defeated as he takes back the pie, only for the Editor to stop him… So that he could leave the pie, but also to get him a coffee as Mickey was late this morning and thus missed getting him his morning coffee. Mickey sighs and solemnly goes to do so. When he returns with the coffee, he sees a couple of journalists inside the Editor in Chiefs office talking with an intern, who gives off major slacker teen vibes. They appear to be inviting the intern to go with them on a story as it would be a great learning experience. The Editor agrees and says that he supports him 100%. The teen shrugs and dispassionately agrees, bringing up the fact that the Editor in Chief is his uncle, which leads to cheers. This is the final straw for Mickey as he leaves the coffee on the desk and sulks back to his “desk” in despair.

The next scene immediately starts with a shocked Minnie who is very upset at the information that Mickey gave her. They are at a nice restaurant, clearly on a date. Minnie mentions that Mickey shouldn’t let them treat him like that and whether she should go and give the Editor in Chief a “Talk”. Mickey immediately lets her know that it will not be needed, but that he appreciates it. Minnie clarifies that she just wants to help given the fact that when she was getting nasty comments from her peers about her bow-centric fashion, Mickey was there to support her all the way. She believes in him just as much and knows that he will accomplish great things and wants the best for him. She even wonders whether Mickey should work somewhere different since they clearly don’t respect him there. Mickey reminds her that being a journalist was a dream of his and his sister and how they bonded over journalism. His sister started her own local paper as a kid and let Mickey take the pictures and draw the comics, while she focused on writing articles. He doesn’t want to give that up and let her down over some bullies at work. And the “Mouseton Argus” is the best news source in Mouseton and the best way for any journalist to get anywhere. Minnie sighs seemingly confused about what else to do, but then a smile grows on her face as she appears to have an idea. She brings up that since they won’t let Mickey be part of the bigger stories, why doesn’t he just find one on his own. Mickey grows a smile of his own as he thinks about the idea and adds that he can ask his neighbor Chief O’Hara to see if they have any unsolved cases he can look into. Minnie cheers on the idea and even mentions making some of O’Hara’s favorite lemon bars to help. They then continue to excitedly talk into the night coming up with new ideas and just enjoying the night together.

We now jump to another day as Mickey is heading into the Mouseston Police Department. He is carrying what appears to be a plate full of lemon bars. He goes to the lady at the desk and asks if he could see Chief O’Hara as they are neighbors and has a delivery for him. The lady ignores him and Mickey mentions to say it is from Mickey Mouse. She ignores him again until he gives a confused “please”. That seemed to do the trick as she told him to sit on the chairs in the lobby and that she’ll let O’Hara know that he’s here. Mickey thanks her and immediately heads over, but not without noticing what appears to be a wall of wanted posters (perfect place for cameos and references to future episodes). He stares at all the criminals carefully observing each one, but notices there seems to be a larger poster covered by a couple of smaller ones. Almost instinctively he starts to move the posters out of the way, until realizing he isn’t tall enough to get the ones at the top. He then drags a chair, careful to not make too much noise, and is now tall enough to reach the posters at the top. As he removes the final paper the larger poster is fully revealed reading “BEWARE THE PHANTOM BLOT” at the top. Mickey looks deeply into the cold white eyes of the dark-cloaked figure shown and feels a sharp shiver in his spine, when he tries to step back to take it all in, he stumbles on the chair he was standing on, immediately getting the lady at the desk to bark at him. He apologizes and looks again at the poster, still feeling unnerved. He comments to himself “Boy, I would hate to meet this guy” “Yeah I think anyone would”. Mickey jumps again on the chair, getting another angry glare from the secretary. 

He looks to the source of the other voice recognizing Chief O’Hara. O’Hara looks tired, but happy to see him. They greet each other and Mickey hands him the lemon bars, much to O’Hara’s excitement, and asks if they could chat. O’Hara mentions that they are really busy, but you know what he can squeeze in a few seconds. It would be nice to not think about work for a little bit and to chat with a friend. He leads Mickey to his office as the entire police department seems to be in chaos with officers and others rushing around in the background. Mickey inquires about what may be going on and O’Hara alerts him that a federal inspector is coming soon and they are trying to be prepared for it. They eventually reach O’Hara’s office with O’Hara sitting down and already digging into the lemon bars. He realizes what is happening and apologizes to Mickey and asks what he wanted to tell him. Mickey tells him about how he is wondering if O’Hara has something he can investigate for his job. O’Hara inquires as to whether they aren’t giving him anything at work, and Mickey sheepishly gives some excuses though O’Hara’s seems to understand what is actually happening. He says that he is glad to help as Mickey was always helpful to him even as a trouble-making kid. He remembers Mickey solving the case of “Mrs. O’Hara’s missing Orchids”, which ended up being the other neighbor's dog. Even comments that he is surprised Mickey didn’t become a detective given his strong observation and deduction skills. He then focuses back on the original conversation and mentions that due to the inspection all of the cases are being handled to increase the number of completed cases, much to Mickey’s dismay. He apologizes until a flash of recognition hits his face as he remembers that they just got a recent call about something. Apparently, a pawn shop is reporting a missing camera. According to the caller, it just disappeared one night with absolutely no traces of theft. O’Hara remarks that since the person reporting was elderly it is possible they misplaced it. Also in these cases, they just see if it was confiscated by a recently caught criminal or is on a suspicious Ebay (Or Ebay equivalent) listing and if not found after a week just assume it is lost forever. But maybe Mickey could look into this, it could lead to something. Mickey of course is glad to have anything and takes the case immediately. Noting that we all have to start somewhere. 

And with that, Mickey thanks him and runs off with the address of the Pawn Store, excited about all of the possibilities laid out for him. This could be his big chance. A chance for everything to change for the better. A chance for him to get the recognition for his efforts. A chance for his dreams to finally come true. That is if he didn’t immediately run into Detective Casey knocking him down. Casey tells him to watch it as he has important work to do as Brick helps him back up. Mickey apologizes profusely before running off as Casey shoos him away. Brick asks who that was and Casey mentions that it was probably no one important.

Mickey arrives at the address with no issue. Brimming with excitement about what this could all lead to. He looks up at the sign that reads “Louise’s Pawn Shop”. It is a little off kilter, and actually falls to the ground immediately. But Mickey still manages to retain a smile before entering in. The place seems to be a bit of a mess at first glance, but is actually somewhat organized the more you look. Despite being open, Mickey doesn’t see anyone prompting him to call. He instantly gets hounded by a small but feisty poodle woman asking him many questions about whether he is a ghost, what he is doing here, and if he is here to steal. Mickey introduces himself and assures her that he is just a journalist here to write a story about the missing camera. At first she is confused as to why a missing camera would be enough for a story, but then realizes that you gotta start somewhere and any attention is better than none. She explains that she is Louise, the proud owner of this store. She is one of the best pawn shop owners around, has a perfect record of everything in her store with the best security system found anywhere within the country. She is very thorough with her inventory checks and knows every single item that has left and entered her store and for 50 long years she has never suffered from a single theft… That is until yesterday. 

She points to an empty area in one of the glass cases and remarks that there used to be a camera there, a “Little Korker V39”, but when she came in this morning and checked the stock it was completely missing. It has been sitting there for weeks, but just randomly disappeared all of the sudden. Mickey takes some pictures of the area with the colorful boxy camera around his neck and starts to ask questions. She doesn’t take too kindly to any questions about her misplacing it or forgetting about selling it as she claims that despite her age she is still as spritely as ever. But when Mickey asks questions about anything else missing, she notes that only that camera is gone. As he looks around for clues, he asks if she noticed anything odd in the store such as any proof of theft. Louise remarks that is what makes this “theft” odd. Nothing is out of place and there are no signs of anyone or anything getting in or out. There aren’t even signs about her security system going off. In fact even when she checked the security cameras. The Little Korker was there and then gone in the next second, therefore there must be a ghost behind this. Mickey, also struggling to find anything of note, immediately perks up on the mention of security cameras and tries to ask about them. Unfortunately the poodle lady appears to be on a rant about who the ghost might be, wondering if it was her 2nd ex husband Robert who was always jealous of her business acumen. Mickey does manage to get her attention and she takes him to a small tv in her office and shows the recording of the night. 

Just as she said the camera appears in the glass case, but then instantly disappears. Louise again goes on about how this must be a ghost as there is no other possible explanation. Mickey however notices that there is a very difficult to see slight reflection in the glass that appears to be reflecting a clock on the wall. He asks to rewind the footage and when focusing on the clock he notices that as the camera disappears that clock also jumps about 10 minutes. He points this out trying his best to take a picture with his trusty camera and write down the observation. He notes that it appears whoever did it must have altered the footage somehow. She remarks that it is impossible since the recording is done through the security system, which again is one of the best in the country. Mickey asks to see it and they head over to what appears to be a large panel filled with a ton of blinking lights, switches, and knobs. Mickey's face drops as he realizes that he has absolutely no frame of reference to understand this. Seeing the confusion on his face the lady shows him an app on his phone which is much easier to understand. She shows how the system usually tells her if the security is affected in any way even being turned off. But oddly she has absolutely no notices about anything odd last night. 

Mickey takes note of this and remarks that whoever is behind this, must be very crafty to find a way to bypass this. As he continues to write notes, someone comes into the door ringing the bell. Louise appears to be ready to ambush the person just as she did to Mickey before, but then stopped when she recognized the face and greeted the large pelican woman calling her Susan. Susan very cheerfully greets the other woman and asks if she is ready to get some lunch. Susan then notices the young mouse writing away as well as the freaked out expression on Louise. After inquiring on what is going on, Louise and Mickey fill her in on the situation. She seems a bit surprised at the news, and a little confused on why this would warrant a news article, but I guess everyone starts somewhere. She points out that she happens to have a couple of the Little Korker Cameras at her own pawn store across the street and maybe Louise could use one as a replacement, sort of as a thank you for all the help she provided over the years. She also notices the camera around Mickey’s neck and points it out as a nice looking Polarbearoid. Mickey thanks her and mentions that it was his very first camera and he named it Ol’ Reliable. He bought it with his own allowance and has taken care of it ever since. He also asks to join as maybe investigating the cameras can bring a clue to why this one was stolen. Susan agrees and they head off to her store, debating with Louise on whether ghosts are real. 

They enter what appears to be the storage room of Susan’s store as she starts to go through boxes. She brings out a couple of cameras, some of them Little Korkers, but Louise remarks that she needs the V39 as that was the specific one she lost. Susan responds that she actually has two of those, but as she goes to look where she put them… She finds two empty spots where the cameras should be. The three are shocked, and Mickey instantly starts taking pictures and looking around for any clues. Susan panics and starts looking through her other boxes seeing what else might have been stolen, as Louise pesters her about any ghosts named Robert she may know. Eventually they realize that just the two cameras have been taken with again no traces of theft. Mickey inquires about the last time she has seen the cameras and Susan remarks she does monthly storage checks and they were there earlier this month, which was about a week ago. As she gets chided for such a lax storage check policy by the small poodle woman, Mickey asks her about her security system or any cameras. Susan remarks that she does have cameras aiming towards the doors, not at any of the boxes, and her system is a downgraded version of the one Louise has. As she gets chided again for such a lackluster security system, they head over to look over the footage of the doors, unfortunately however, there doesn’t seem to be anything that stands out despite rewatching it over and over again. 

Mickey remarks that it is quite odd that multiple of the same exact camera, down to the specific version, is missing, and that it appears that nothing else gets taken. He also notes that it is odd that there are absolutely no traces left and that their security systems don’t pick up anything. Perhaps there is a lot more to this case, than just a simple misplacement. Though he does feel bad for the ladies for losing their stock, he can’t help but feel a bit of excitement knowing that this could make a great story. And maybe he can help them get their cameras back. He asks them if they are aware of anyone else who may also have these cameras. The ladies remark that he could try other pawn shops around town, though that may take a while as there are quite a lot in Mouseton. After a pause Susan remarks that there was a weirdo who bought a lot of her cheaper cameras about a couple days ago, who claimed it was going to make him rich. Mickey asks who this person is and Susan shows a social media account for an account called “ The Camera King 📷👑” (@HHExpertOnAll). As Mickey looks through the account, which is currently filled with pictures of cameras with pretty detailed though a bit exaggerated descriptions, he realizes that he may know who this weirdo is. He thanks the ladies and assures them that he will find the thief, before bolting off. The ladies wave back though admit they are a bit confused on what he can do and should probably cut their losses.

On his way to his friend’s house, Mickey decides to stop at a place to get lunch and to continue to scroll through the account to read more about the Little Korker cameras. He starts to read through the explanation, but he is interrupted by his phone ringing. It’s the Editor in Chief. He nervously  answers the call only to get a barrage of shouts demanding to know where he is. Mickey tries to respond that he is on a new story, and that he sent multiple emails and voicemails about it, also adding how the case is really picking up. Only to be met with a barrage of laughter which then turns into anger. The voice over the phone tells him that he doesn’t know what kind of joke Mickey is trying to tell, but that if he is not in his office within the next hour, he will be fired. Defeated, Mickey packs up his lunch and starts to head over to his car. For a moment Mickey feels an urge to call back to argue why he should be allowed to continue this case, but as his finger grazes over the call button. He decides against it and gets in his car.

He enters the Mouseton Argus building, ignoring the usual glares, and sulks over to his “desk”. He tries to get started on his “work” but struggles as he can only think about the case. He is red hot on the trail and doesn’t want to risk missing anything. But he also doesn’t want to lose this job. He doesn’t even know why they want him here so badly, since they give him boring work and clearly don’t like him. If only there was a way to have them think he was here, so he can continue the case and can complete the work at home at a later time. As he looks at what appears to be a stack of paper plates next to an assortment of kitchen items, some pens, some tape, and some white balloons, an idea pops into his head. A worker stops by his desk annoyed asking what appears to be Mickey “what’cha starin’ at”. Only for the worker to leave and it is revealed that he was not talking to Mickey, but rather an assortment of paper plates, balloons, and other items that are humorously taped and colored to look like Mickey. In the window we can see Mickey getting into a ride share car (Like Uber) to head off to his next destination. 

Mickey is then dropped off at an old but sturdy apartment building and rushes up to one of the doors. Mickey knocks his usual knock, but is surprised as nothing seems to happen. He tries knocking again. But again hears nothing. Mickey decides to call instead, mentioning that he is at his door. All of the sudden the door swings open revealing a smiling horse with a bat in his hands.  It is of course Mickey’s dear though mischievous friend Horace Horsecollar. The horse gleefully chirps that he is happy to see it is actually Mickey and lets him in. Mickey tries to ask why he is on edge noticing the bat, but is stopped as Horace sweeps him up to take him to another room. The room is covered in boxes. Inside the boxes there are multitudes of different cameras all in different sizes, colors, and shapes. 

Horace immediately delves into a long explanation about how he finally found his passion. Mickey brings the “silkworm farm” that Horace was so sure was going to be his big money maker. Only for Horace to add that it didn’t work out as planned as what he thought were silkworm cocoons, were actually spider nests. But assures this time he has figured it all out. He has decided to become a camera expert and to go viral on social media by getting people educated and interested in camera history and nostalgia. Mickey is a bit surprised by the lack of financial incentive, until Horace adds that once people get really into cameras, he will sell them all at a high price and become extremely rich. There it is. Mickey however is a bit appreciative of this new hobby, since Horace tends to be pretty thorough in whatever new thing he gets into and maybe he can help with the stolen cameras. Oh yeah, stolen cameras. Mickey then starts to explain that he is writing a story about some missing cameras from a pawn shop. Horace is at first a bit confused on why that would be good enough for a story, but I guess everyone got to start somewhere. A bit annoyed, Mickey explains that he needs help from Horace as he was hoping if he could give any information he has on the Little Korker V39 cameras. Horace proudly states that he has 4 of those and would have no issue showing Mickey. He heads over and picks up a box showing it to Mickey… Only for the box to be empty. Mickey notes that he doesn’t see any cameras. Horace mentions pretty bluntly that it is because he was robbed… HE WAS ROBBED. Horace immediately starts to panic, before Mickey calms him down. Mickey mentions that people all around town have been robbed of these specific cameras and asks if Horace has any information on these cameras and why.

Horace calms down and thinks for a bit, looks at his phone, and then recalls that the Little Korker cameras were popular but cheap cameras from around the 80’s to the 00’s. Once phones started to come with cameras, they started to lose popularity and only really have value for nostalgia or hardcore collectors. He even points out that the company that made them also makes the same one Mickey currently has. In fact, noticing the camera he asks if Mickey is willing to sell it given the great condition, but Mickey takes it off and reminds him that Ol’ Reliable is special to him and he would never sell it plus they need to focus on the case at hand. Apologizing and returning to the original topic, Horace is confused as to why anyone would steal it as these cameras aren’t really that expensive or too valuable, or rather not yet he adds. Mickey takes note of all of this and confirms that there is definitely some kind of thief going around stealing these cameras. He ponders about what to do next and how he wishes he had one of the cameras now. Horace then brightens up and rushes out of the room, coming back with a box. He opens it revealing a Little Korker V39. Surprised, Mickey exclaims how he managed to still have one, to which Horace answers that he just recently bought it online to add to his collection, and it came after he got robbed.

Excited Mickey starts to examine the camera, but fails to see anything that really stands out. If anything, it seems of a much lower quality than his camera. He then starts formulating a plan to try and use the camera as bait to capture the thief. Before noticing the more hesitant expression on Horace. Mickey asks if it is possible for him to borrow the camera to catch the thief. But Horace worries that this is his last camera of that kind and now that there is a thief going around stealing them, they might be all gone. Mickey sighs and offers to pay to loan the camera off of him so if the camera does end up missing or broken, Horace will still have been compensated for it. This appears to calm Horace nerves somewhat and he agrees. Adding on that this case actually makes him excited to learn more about these cameras and he’ll alert Mickey if he finds anything that stands out. I mean perhaps he will find something that will make these cameras even more valuable to sell. Mickey nods and heads off to try his new plan.

We now cut to outside at night at what appears to be an alleyway between a single story and a double story building. Mickey appears to be finishing tying something and places the camera onto a trash can. He looks at his phone which shows a post he just recently made about finding a camera in this alleyway and leaving it behind in hopes that the “owner” will come by and find it. Surely enough anyone who will try and pick it up would likely be the thief, the thief probably learned about the cameras Horace had from his social media and with a reshare from Horace, they’ll learn about this. However, this time though there is a trap, one he learned as a Junior Woodchuck, waiting to catch them. Then Mickey will be prepared to question them, take pictures, and call the police… Wait, take pictures… Mickey feels around and realizes that he forgot his Ol’ Reliable at Horace’s place. Oh well I guess phone pictures will have to be good enough, though he never really liked using them.