#09alih

In a panic, Oswald put one of his ears to Mickey's chest and listened with bated breath. He heard a faint thudding and breathed a sigh of relief. Once help got here, everything would be okay. Everything was gonna be okay.

He gently slipped a hand under Mickey’s head, cushioning it as best he could. "Hang in there, Mick," he murmured.

"Oswald!" The rabbit looked up as Ortensia raced toward him. "We came as fast as we could! The Mad Doctor is on his way, and—" She broke off and her eyes went wide with horror. "Oh... oh, no..."

"He’ll be okay, Ortensia, but he needs help right away," Oswald said, his voice trembling just slightly. His imaginary heart was beating a million miles a minute as he waited what felt like eons for the Mad Doctor to arrive.

Suddenly, Oswald’s ears shot up at the sound of a faint moan and he looked down as Mickey opened his eyes a little. They were alarmingly dull, but the pleading in them was clear as he forced out a weak whisper. "Mih... Minnie..."

Oswald swallowed hard. "Mickey..."

Ortensia knelt beside him, putting a hand on the mouse's cheek. Oswald saw the tears in her eyes and forced back his own. He had to be strong—for her and for Mickey.

Then suddenly, Ortensia gasped and tugged at his arm. Oswald looked up to see the Mad Doctor hurrying into the room, stumbling under a massive load of equipment. A sense of relief washed over the rabbit.

"Doc!" he called with a frantic wave. "Over here!"

The Mad Doctor rushed over, plopping down his cargo and setting everything up with cartoonish speed. Oswald waited, his mind racing with possible solutions.

"Doc, I'm willin' to do an ink transfusion or somethin' to make up for the lost ink, if that'll help! Whaddya think?" the rabbit offered, speaking rather rapidly.

The Mad Doctor hurried over and bent down for a closer look, a rare frown of concern creasing his brow. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves... something like that is an extreme measure. Let me see what I can do first."

"Doc, in case ya couldn't tell, this is an extreme situation, and extreme situations call for extreme measures! If there's anythin' I can do, let me do it!"

Despite Oswald's harsh tone, the Mad Doctor's reply was calm and firm, with a noticeable touch of sympathy. "If it becomes necessary, I'll do so right away. But first, I need to determine whether or not it's the best option."

Oswald let out a sigh. "Alright." He carefully handed Mickey over to the Mad Doctor and watched anxiously as the Doc got to work.

Ortensia walked up beside him and ran her hand across his back, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. "Don't worry, Honey Bunny... he knows what to do."

"I know..." Oswald mumbled, wringing his hands as his foot thumped impatiently. He noticed something out of the corner of his eye and glanced to his left. Prescott hovered nearby, Gus patting his shoulder. The gremlin's face was haggard with guilt and fear as he watched the Mad Doctor. The silence and tension in the air was nearly unbearable as all eyes remained on the Mad Doctor.

After what felt like ages, the Doctor straightened up. Slowly, he removed his goggles and let out a heavy sigh.

"So... what's the verdict, Doc?" Oswald asked nervously, stepping forward.

The Mad Doctor turned to face him, and the look on his face was one nobody had ever seen before. His head tilted down utter defeat. "I'm afraid... we cannot help him."

As soon as the words reached his ears, Oswald felt his body go cold. "Wh-What?" He shook his head. "No, we can't give up! There's gotta be something we can do—anythin'! Just... give him some of my ink, as much as it takes!"

The Mad Doctor sighed again, looking at the floor. "You must understand... even if I did, it wouldn't do any good. He's lost too much."

Oswald's throat tightened. "But, that's... that can't be it! There's gotta be a way! C'mon, Doc, please! Ya gotta at least try!" he begged, pulling the Mad Doctor down to his level by his collar and shaking him in desperation. The Doctor waited until he stopped, then placed a hand on the rabbit's shoulder and spoke with more sincerity than most thought him capable of.

"I'm sorry, my friend."

Oswald's body trembled and became rigid, the Doctor's coat slowly slipping through his fingers as his expression twisted with utter grief and despair. A stunned silence filled the room, each toon slowly grasping the reality of what was happening. All of a sudden, Prescott whirled around and charged at the Petes in a blind rage.

"BLOODY IDIOTS! I told you it was too much! I told you this would happen!"

Gus barely snapped out of his own shock in time to grab his fellow gremlin and hold him back. "Prescott! Steady, man! Get ahold of yourself!" His voice trembled a little as he continued. "It won't do any good. They're not worth it."

Prescott's wild struggles slowed, then stopped. His angry snarls faded into whimpers as he clutched his head in his hands. "I... I tried..."

Gus eased his grip a little, sniffling back tears. "I know, lad," he murmured. "I know."

As if in a trance, Oswald walked over to Mickey and sank to his knees, staring at his brother’s unresponsive face. He bit back tears as he lifted the mouse into his lap.

"You listen to me, Mick; you're gonna be just fine, and you're gonna pull through. Got it? No matter what they say, I know ya can beat this. 'Cause you're so strong and ya always pull through—no matter what." His voice began to choke. "Ya never go down without a fight."

Then, to his horror, he noticed the mouse's breathing had stopped and the color was beginning to drain from the mouse's body, his black fur and brightly-colored outfit slowly fading to a dull gray.

"Don't you dare do this to me! I'm just gettin' to know ya after all these years, and I won't let you just end it here!" Oswald let out an agonized growl and hugged Mickey’s limp body close, shutting his eyes as his body began shaking with muffled sobs.

Ortensia, struggling to suppress her own tears, took a step forward, but then stopped. The Mad Doctor and the other toons stood in mournful silence; even the Petes were subdued. Ortensia watched Oswald with tear-filled eyes, wishing she could comfort him, but knowing there was nothing she could do.

Unbeknownst to Oswald, the brush poking out of his pocket was beginning to emit a pale blue light. Paint slowly gathered on its tip until a large drop had formed. The shimmering drop of Paint then detached itself from the brush and slowly floated upward.

Hearing soft gasps from those around him, Oswald lifted his head and stared at the bright orb in confusion. Its glow was warm and ethereal, with a strange sense about it that he couldn't quite put into words. It came closer, moving down toward Mickey's limp body until it touched his chest, absorbing into it. The spot where it had entered flashed suddenly, then a soft glow began to spread throughout the mouse's body. The light began to pulse, and Oswald could swear he saw waves of color flowing back into Mickey's body with each one.

As the light slowly faded, Oswald's mind was spinning so fast, he could hardly bear it. However, before he could even begin to process what he had just witnessed, he suddenly felt a slight movement in his arms. There was a soft moan and Oswald looked down to see Mickey's eyes slowly opening.

"Mickey?" Oswald breathed in astonishment.

"O-... Oswald...?" The mouse's voice sounded weak, but no longer in pain.

"MICKEY!" Oswald suddenly squeezed him tight, sobbing with relief. He barely even noticed the gasps and cries of relief from those around him. "I’m so glad you're okay," he choked out. He had no idea how this was possible, but he didn't care. Mickey was okay and that was all that mattered.

As the rabbit held him, Mickey felt his throat tighten. He'd never seen Oswald like this before. It was a bit unsettling, but also comforting to know he cared, like family should. Family.

The mouse's eyes widened. Somehow, he kept forgetting that Oswald was his brother. After a lifetime of absence, it was hard to get used to that fact. Sure, he knew the fact itself was true, but feeling it was true was a whole other picture. But now, after all they'd been through together, Mickey suddenly felt less alone in Wasteland. As much as he missed home, it was comforting to finally feel he had family in this world too. Family that cared just as much for him as he did for them.

At those thoughts, Mickey gave a small smile and weakly returned the hug. "Y'know, you're just like him."

"What?" Oswald pulled out of the hug and looked at the mouse in confusion.

Mickey nodded. "I've seen it since I first came here. Not just 'cause ya were... downright stubborn, but how ya did things. How folks respected ya, even if they didn't agree with ya." His eyes grew glossy. "It's like there's a piece of him inside ya."

The rabbit's eyes widened, a small blush sweeping across his face. "I don't know about that, but thanks."

Suddenly, Ortensia raced over and threw her arms around them both, half laughing and half crying. "Oh, thank heavens! We were so afraid!"

Oswald smiled and gave Ortensia a passionate kiss on the lips. She returned it and gave him another hug. A muffled grunt of pain escaped Oswald as he suddenly became aware of the throbbing pain in the wounds on his front and back.

Ortensia gasped and drew back, her joy quickly replaced with worry. "Oh! Sweetie, are you all right?"

Oswald quickly pushed his discomfort back and gave her a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Ortensia continued examining him anxiously. "We should get some Paint..."

"I'll be fine," Oswald insisted.

The Mad Doctor stepped forward, his mouth still hanging open, and bent down curiously, checking Mickey's pulse and other vital signs. The semi-conscious mouse stirred again, mumbling. "Remarkable!" the Doctor murmured.

Oswald couldn't help smiling. "Yeah, well..." He shrugged. "He's a tough fighter. Runs in the family." He paused, his smile faltering as he thought back. "Say, Doc... any idea what that light was?"

The Mad Doctor blinked and furrowed his brow, rubbing his chin. "I'm not quite sure..." He glanced down at the brush poking out of Oswald's pocket. "It seemed to come from the brush, though I never suspected its capabilities extended so far."

"The brush...?" Oswald shifted Mickey to one arm as he pulled the brush out of his pocket and examined it. "But... how? I wasn't even usin' it."

"I should also perform a full examination at some point," the Mad Doctor said, gesturing toward Mickey. "Just to be certain."

Oswald nodded. "Yeah, better let him rest a while first."

"And you too," Ortensia said, raising a brow. Oswald gave her a tired smile and squeezed her hand.

"I will in a little while, Hon. Just gonna make sure he's taken care of first."

The Mad Doctor placed a hand on Oswald's shoulder. "I can take you two back to Ostown."

Oswald gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Doc." Carefully, he lifted Mickey up over his shoulder, Ortensia helping him stand, then hopped up onto the Doc's flying contraption. Its engines whirred to life as the Doc started it up and took off.

The locals were a little stirred up when the Mad Doctor landed in Ostown, but the mood quickly turned to happy surprise and concern when they saw the two passengers. Oswald thanked the Doctor as he hopped down onto the pavement, carrying Mickey to his and Ortensia's house. Residents hurried up with concerned questions about his scars and Mickey's condition, but Oswald assured them they'd both be fine with a bit of rest.

Oswald carried Mickey upstairs to the bedroom, then used an ear to pull back the covers as he carefully laid him in bed, tucking him in. He smiled at how peaceful the mouse looked. "Glad you're okay," he murmured. Then, stretching tiredly, he plopped down into a chair beside the bed, letting out a long, exhausted sigh. He was feeling pretty worn out from the fight himself, but he had been so focused on Mickey that he hadn't really realized it until now.

After a while, a soft knock came from the doorway. Oswald looked up and smiled when Ortensia padded into the room and over to him, carrying a small container of Paint. Setting it on the floor, she smiled and gently rubbed behind his ears. Oswald let out a pleasured sigh as his foot began thumping.

"How're you feeling?" Ortensia purred.

"Great, now that you're here," Oswald mumbled in a daze, wearing a silly grin.

Ortensia giggled and kissed his nose, then picked up the Paint. "I brought this... It should help."

"Oh, thanks, hon, they aren't really that ba—AGH... ahhh..." He flinched at the initial stinging, then moaned in relief as she brushed the Paint onto his wounds. They healed up as his skin absorbed the Paint, but faint scars still remained. They would still have to heal on their own in time.

Ortensia finished applying the Paint, then slid into the chair beside Oswald, nuzzling him. "I'm so proud of you, Hunny Bunny."

Oswald's cheeks turned pink. "You are?"

"Of course, silly," she replied, giggling again. "Who wouldn't be?"

Oswald thought for a moment, then smirked. "Well, when ya put it that way..."

Ortensia smirked back and poked his nose playfully. "You're impossible, you know that?"

Oswald snickered. "No idea what you're talkin' about."

They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying being near each other. Then, after a while, Ortensia squeezed his hand.

"I'd better go make sure the kids are okay. They've been pretty worried. Now, you get some rest, Honey Bunny."

Oswald nodded. They shared a quick kiss on the lips, then Ortensia hopped up, gave a little wave, and left. Oswald laid back in the chair, letting out a long sigh as he relaxed. Before he knew it, he was out like a light.

Mickey stirred as he came to, finding himself lying on a soft, warm surface. He sighed quietly and opened his eyes, blinking to clear his hazy vision. Slight confusion came at his surroundings, then he realized he was back in the guest room at Oswald and Ortensia's house. When faint snoring came from nearby, he glanced to his right. Oswald was fast asleep in a chair, his foot twitching every so often.

Mickey smiled, a warm feeling of gratitude filling him. Then Oswald shifted positions, revealing the claw marks on his front and back, and Mickey's smile faded, an intense sense of guilt swelling up inside of him.

This is all my fault... Oswald's hurt because of me...

He let out a heavy sigh as he sat up, debating whether or not to wake the rabbit. However, the mouse's decision was made for him as Oswald suddenly began to stir. The rabbit groaned softly, stretching and rubbing his eyes. Glancing over at the bed, he was glad to see Mickey sitting up.

"Hey, how ya feelin'?" Oswald asked, getting up and walking over to him.

Mickey rubbed his still-hazy head and smiled. "Better now."

"I'm glad," Oswald said, smiling back. "Heh, ya really had me goin' for a while there." A lump formed in his throat.

Mickey felt a slight chill at those words. Between pushing Oswald out of the Blot's path and then waking up in his arms, he remembered almost nothing. "Os, I... I'm sorry if I scared ya. I just..." He trailed off when Oswald let out a long, tired sigh, rubbing his forehead before looking up again.

"Why did you do that?"

Mickey stared at him, thoroughly confused by now. "Oswald, the Blot came back 'cause of me! I couldn't let it hurt ya more!"

Oswald shook his head, irritation showing on his face. "No, the Blot came back because of the Petes! It had nothin' t’ do with you!"

Mickey clutched the covers as his voice rose. "I'm the reason it even existed in the first place! Was I supposed t’ just sit there and let it all happen again?"

"That was an accident! Ya said so yourself!"

Mickey clenched his fists and opened his mouth to shout back, but a sudden dizzy spell stopped him. "Agh..." He clutched his head.

Oswald grasped the mouse's shoulders. "Mickey, ya gotta stop this," he said firmly. "Ya can't keep beatin' yourself up over this."

Mickey only looked away, torn between a longing to finally let it all go and feeling that he didn’t deserve that closure. Slowly, he looked back toward Oswald, but then his eyes shifted to the area past him and suddenly, he froze, eyes going wide.

"Mickey?" Oswald asked, a bit concerned.

Mickey opened his mouth, but couldn't even form words. Finally, he raised a trembling finger and pointed past Oswald.

"Huh?" Oswald turned to see a strange, glowing orb floating beside them. It pulsed, many different colors running through it as it began growing rapidly in size, reshaping until it formed a tall, glowing figure. As the light began to dim, the facial features became visible, eliciting a gasp from both Oswald and Mickey. Oswald felt his chest go cold as he stared. It couldn't be possible... it just couldn't. He faintly heard Mickey croak out a single word.

"D-... Dad...?"

The man's smile widened, and he spoke in a gentle voice. "It's all right... no need to be scared."

Within seconds, Mickey had leapt out of bed and hurled himself into his creator's arms. He had no idea what was happening or how it was even possible, but he was too overjoyed to care. "Dad!" Tears streamed down his face as he buried it in the man's shoulder, barely managing to choke out words. "I-I missed you so much..."

Oswald remained frozen in shock, his body trembling. As the man stroked Mickey's head, he looked over at the rabbit and Oswald felt himself shrink under his father's gaze. So many mixed emotions swirled about in his mind that he didn't know what to feel. He wanted to run to him, he wanted to run away from him, he wanted to hug him, and to yell at him—all at the same time.

"Oswald, I..." The man hesitated, struggling to put everything into words. Finally, he said the only thing he could. "I'm sorry."

Oswald huffed, crossing his arms and turning away. As if a simple 'Sorry' was going to fix everything, erase all those years of suffering and abandonment. Did he even comprehend the extent of the hurt he'd inflicted on the rabbit?

Walt let out a sigh. Oswald's reaction didn't surprise him; he knew the rabbit had every right to hate him. Still, the least he could do was try to explain.

"I never meant for things to happen the way they did, but I made the mistake of trusting the wrong people." Walt's eyes grew distant and hardened. "I thought they were in the business for the same reasons I was: for more than just the money." He shook his head, and the bitterness in his voice was clear. "I was wrong. They double crossed me, and there was nothing I could do about it."

Oswald snuck a glance at him, then looked away as his throat tightened. "You never came back," he muttered in a tone mixed with hurt and bitterness.

Walt looked at the ground. "I know," he murmured. "I always hoped that someday I might be able to get you back, but I was afraid to try at the wrong time and... I waited too long. I let you down, and I can never say how sorry I am."

Oswald's face grew warm, his eyes filling with tears. "H-How could you...?" he choked out, almost in a whisper. "You have no idea what I went through – what they did t’ me."

A long silence filled the room, then Walt's strained voice broke it. "I know... and if you can't forgive me for it, I wouldn't blame you."

Oswald's tear-filled eyes widened, then scrunched shut as he shook his head. "You expect me to believe that you care, when all those years, you didn't even try once! Not even a letter! You just forgot me like everyone else!" His whole body was trembling with emotion at this point. "I just want to know—why? Why am I so forgettable? Even to you...?" A few muffled sobs escaped him, then a hand on his shoulder made him look up at Walt, who was now crouched down to his eye level.

"You're right, Oswald. I... should've done more." A tear rolled down the man's cheek. "But I didn't forget you. I could never do that, Oswald. Never. I thought about you all the time and kept up with any news I could find about you. I tried to send you letters too, but they must've intercepted them."

Oswald shook his head. "Then, why'd ya hafta go and—" He snuck a side glance over at Mickey. "...replace me? Ya didn't even tell him about me!"

Walt gave another sigh. "I just wanted to protect him." He glanced over at the mouse. "I'm sorry, Mickey. I was worried if you knew, you'd try to get him back, and it just wasn't possible at the time. You would've gotten into all kinds of trouble with them and I didn't want to lose you too."

Mickey looked at him with a strained expression. "I... understand, but I just wish ya woulda told me. He's my brother and he needed me all this time, and I never knew..."

"I'm sorry, Mickey. But I am glad that you two finally met." Walt turned back to Oswald. "Oswald, when I lost you, I was out of a job unless I created another Toon to fill your role. The truth is, Mickey turned out a lot like you because I just couldn't get you out of my head." Walt gave a small smile. "He was never meant to replace you, my lucky little star."

Tears welled up in Oswald's eyes, a small smile pushing its way onto his face. He'd always liked when Walt called him that.

Walt held out his arms, gently easing Oswald into a hug. The rabbit hesitated for a couple moments, then suddenly threw himself against Walt, squeezing him tight as sobs rattled his body. He felt his father's arms close around him in a tight embrace.

"I missed you so much," said Walt.

"I missed you too," Oswald gasped out between sniffles.

Mickey smiled as he watched, knowing how much this meant to Oswald. Then, all of a sudden, a realization hit him. "It... it was you, wasn't it?" Mickey said, wide-eyed. "You... you saved me?"

Oswald's eyes snapped open. "What?" he uttered, looking from Mickey to Walt.

A slightly mischievous smile crossed the man's lips—one not too unlike that of Mickey or Oswald. "Oh? And what makes you say that?"

Mickey blinked, his eyes growing moist. "Just b'fore I woke up, when everythin' started comin' back, it felt... familiar. It was like... when you n' Ub first drew me."

Walt nodded, petting Mickey's head. "With a bit of magic wielded by their creator, it's possible for Toons to be saved from becoming inert. It's what Yen Sid and I used to make this world and save forgotten Toons from oblivion."

The rabbit's eyes widened at this news. "You... and Yen Sid?"

The man nodded again.

Oswald's eyes glistened. "Thanks..." He glanced at Mickey and swallowed hard. "And for... saving him. I don't know what I'd a' done if... if..."

The look in his brother's eyes made Mickey feel both touched and guilty. "Os... I-I'm really sorry..."

"It's not your fault," Oswald reassured him.

Mickey glanced down at the ground, the old debate raging inside him. "No, I mean the Thinner Disaster, the Blot... I caused it all... I—" He felt a large hand on his shoulder and looked up with tear-filled eyes.

"It's alright, Mickey," his father told him.

Oswald gave him a smile and nodded in reassurance.

Slowly, tears filled Mickey's eyes and spilled down his face. Oswald wrapped his arms around the mouse in a tight, comforting hug. Mickey returned the hug, clinging more tightly to Oswald as his legs went weak, sniffling. Walt joined in as well, wrapping his arms around them both. Mickey sighed in contentment, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

After a few moments had passed, Mickey suddenly pulled out of the hug, his eyes wide. "Os, your heart!"

Oswald looked confused. "Huh?"

"It's back! I heard it! Right there in your chest!"

"Y-You... what?" Oswald put a hand over the left side of his chest and held his breath. Thump. Thump. He let out a gasp. "But... i-it can't be... H-How...?" he stuttered in astonishment. A larger hand joined his, gently pressing against his chest, and he looked up to see Walt's twinkling eyes.

"It looks like it is," Walt said, smiling.

"But... h-how can I?" Oswald stared wide-eyed in disbelief, snapping back to reality when Mickey grabbed his shoulders, grinning like crazy.

"I knew it! I knew you'd get it back!"

"You knew I would...?" Oswald asked, still numb and expressionless from shock.

"Yes! I just knew it!"

Oswald put his hand to his chest again, feeling the steady thumping as it pulsed with everything he had ever wanted: warmth and love. "I can't believe it..." Oswald grinned, overcome with emotion as tears of joy rolled down his cheeks.

Mickey hugged his brother tight. "I'm so happy for ya, Os!"

Walt watched them with a proud smile. "I'm so proud of you both." He then reached over to give them one last hug as his form began to fade. "I have to go now, but don't worry; if you ever truly need me again, I’ll be here, in one form or another."

Instantly, tears ran down both Mickey's and Oswald's cheeks as they hugged their creator, their father, back as tight as they could, wanting to hold on to him as long as they could before the inevitable came. They each felt a loving kiss on their forehead as the last trace of their father faded away and dissolved into sparkling orbs of light. The bits of light continued to cling to them, still feeling like a warm hug as the lights slowly sunk into their ink and disappeared.

They stood there in silence for a few moments, then Oswald turned to Mickey, noticing the mouse's blank stare.

"Mickey?" He placed a hand on Mickey's shoulder and the mouse instantly sank to his knees, hugging himself as he began shaking. He couldn't even talk; something else was surging up. The raw, gaping hole he had felt inside ever since that night...

"I... I'm... sorry..." He barely managed to choke out the words before his voice gave out, struggling to contain his sobs.

The heartbroken sounds tugged at Oswald's heartstrings. He knelt down to the mouse's level and wrapped his arms around him. "It's okay. Just let it all out."

At those words, Mickey felt even more of the pain and guilt he'd been repressing for so long surge to the surface. He let it all out with deep, choking sobs as tears streamed down his face.

"That's it," Oswald said softly, rubbing Mickey's back.

As the raging emotions drained away, exhaustion flooded into its place. Mickey felt himself sagging, but his head was too numb to even think. Oswald, knowing all too well what his brother was going through, remained respectfully silent until he felt Mickey finally begin to relax.

"You all right?" Oswald asked softly.

A worn-out mumble answered him.

"Tired?" Oswald asked with a small smile, pulling Mickey away from him a bit so he could get a look at the mouse's face. Mickey managed a little smile in return and Oswald chuckled. "But ya just woke up, ya cheesehead!"

Mickey was too exhausted to shoot back with anything but an irritated grunt.

Oswald chuckled again before hoisting him up. "Alright, you're off th' hook for now."

He placed Mickey back in his bed and pulled the covers back over him. Mickey smiled and sighed as he quickly drifted back to sleep.

"Sweet dreams, Sleepyhead."

Next

Previous

"Mickeyjunk Mountain? Okay, thanks, Gus!" Oswald instantly took off running. What in the world was Mickey doing on that godforsaken mountain? It was still as dangerous as ever, swarming with Blotlings and Thinner pools. Oswald shook his head. He'd ask Mickey once they found him.

Emerging from the projector, he glanced up at the mountain as Gus reappeared beside him.

"I'll go see if anyone's found anything," said the gremlin. Oswald nodded, and the gremlin teleported off.

The rabbit gazed back up at the mountain and sighed. Hopefully, Mickey had calmed down enough to listen. Oswald began to climb the mountain, looking in every possible hiding spot he could find and hoping he would know the right thing to say. But if Mickey tried to run again, Oswald was prepared to tackle and pin him to the ground, if needed. After all, Mickey's attackers were still on the loose and he needed to reach Mickey before they did.

Suddenly Gus teleported in nearby, his face tense. "Oswald! We've found something! I think you'd better come now!"

The rabbit felt his stomach tense and his ears began twitching; that was something that only happened before things went very wrong. He ran after Gus as the gremlin zoomed down a trail leading to one of the isolated areas of the mountain, where one of the gremlins met them. Oswald's apprehension only increased when he saw what the gremlin was holding.

"The brush? Why would he leave it behind?" His mind raced at the possibilities. Had something happened to Mickey? Oswald glanced over at the Thinner pools. Could he have...? Oswald looked away, shaking his head. No. He wasn't even going to consider that possibility. "Keep searchin' this area," Oswald ordered, resuming a determined expression. "He's gotta be close."

"Yes, sir!" Both gremlins saluted and moved out, investigating the area. Oswald gazed at the brush before placing it in his pocket. Considering who it belonged to, Mickey would never just leave it laying around. Either he'd just dropped it and been too upset to notice, or something bad had happened.

"Oswald!" The rabbit turned in the direction of the shout to see Gus waving him over. As he raced over, the gremlin looked up from the ground with a tense, anxious look. "Look... there was a struggle here."

Piles of Mickey merchandise had been toppled, their contents scattered across the ground. Many of the items were dented or smashed, while small blobs of Paint and Thinner decorated the ground.

Oswald’s eyes widened as the realization hit him. "Oh no..." He was too late.

As the initial shock wore off, he felt a deep anger boiling up inside him and he turned to Gus with a fierce look. "Double the search parties and give everyone an update! We gotta find whoever took him before anythin' worse happens!"

  Mickey groaned as awareness slowly returned. He started to lift a hand to his aching head, only for it to be brought up short with a clanking sound. The fuzziness quickly faded, and Mickey’s eyes shot open. He began to leap to his feet, but once again he was yanked back down with a loud clang. A glance downward revealed the reason—chains were attached to his wrists, the other ends of which were bolted to the musty stone wall he had been sitting against.

Another look around confirmed what Mickey had already figured; he was in a dungeon. A movement drew his gaze to the bars of the dimly lit cell, and his jaw fell open. "Prescott?!" The gremlin glanced over at him, looking somewhat uneasy. Mickey stared for a moment, then his hands clenched into fists, anger replacing his shock. "Why're ya doin' this again?!" The gremlin looked away, his hands working silently as the sound of heavy footsteps approached.

"He awake yet, tiny?" At the sound of the voice, Mickey’s hands clenched again. Sure enough, Peg-Leg Pete lumbered into view. Looking into the cell, a nasty grin spread across his face. "Back with the livin’, eh, runt?"

Mickey tightened his fists, the chains rattling. "I dunno what you’re up to," he said through clenched teeth. "But whatever it is, you’re not gonna get away with it."

Pete laughed as he unlocked the cell door, throwing it open. "Big talk fer a pipsqueak t’ be makin’."

Mickey glared as Pete approached. "What do ya want with me?"

"You'll see." Pete grinned nastily as he moved forward and detached the chains, snatching Mickey up in one hand.

Soon, Mickey found himself back in the very room where he had first landed in Wasteland—the Mad Doctor’s old lab. All the other Petes were there too. Big Bad Pete and Small Pete strapped Mickey down on the circular table as Prescott moved over to a large machine that seemed to be a modified version of the Mad Doctor's old heart extraction machine. There seemed to be an uneasiness in the gremlin's expression as he pulled over a metal device and attached it to Mickey’s chest.

"Just let the machine do it," the gremlin said. "It'll hurt less if you don’t fight it."

As Prescott moved to turn the machine on, Mickey clenched his fists and braced himself. There was a click, a whirring sound, then a familiar pulling sensation began; the same one from when he'd been ambushed in that tunnel the other day. Frightened, the mouse tried to pull away and almost instantly, the pain struck. It was so intense that he couldn’t stop himself from crying out. He could feel it pulling, yanking at his ink—his very life substance. Through the waves of pain, he felt the ink in his skin churn and begin to drip upwards. That was when it dawned upon him what they were extracting.

Prescott’s voice came through the haze. "I said don’t fight it!"

Mickey gritted his teeth; how was he supposed to not fight it?! If they removed the Blot from him, the consequences would be terrible—he knew it! The monster would come back and Wasteland would suffer yet again. He couldn't let that happen.

Gritting his teeth, Mickey put every ounce of his strength into resisting. His mind began to blur from the pain, and dimly he could hear Prescott and the Petes yelling, though he couldn’t make out what they were saying. At that moment, a searing wave of pain struck, so intense that everything began fade away.

No. Mickey fought to keep himself conscious, gasping at the pain. He couldn’t—wouldn't let this happen again. 

Oswald paced by the Walt statue, waiting for the gremlins to report back. It had been almost an hour and there was still no further leads on Mickey. Letting out an impatient sigh, he began pacing even faster. Finally, Gus warped in beside him.

"Well?" the rabbit demanded. Gus shook his head, looking very worried himself.

"Still nothing. The others are looking for any sign of—"

"Oswald! Uncle Gus!" another familiar voice interrupted. 

The two toons turned to see Gremlin Markus approaching. Oswald’s eyes widened at the sight of the other gremlin following Markus. "Prescott?"

The other gremlin flew forward, looking extremely agitated. "I know where Mickey is." At that, Oswald’s ears shot up. "He’s in Dark Beauty Castle with the Petes."

Oswald’s jaw fell open. "What?!"

Prescott huffed. "They wanted the Blot ink in him, but the machine's too powerful and those bloody fools don't know when to stop! Look, I just need you to stop those half-witted pea-brains from committing Toon-slaughter."

Without another word, Oswald turned and rushed for the projector leading to Dark Beauty Castle, with Gus and Prescott following. Once they arrived at the castle, Oswald turned to Prescott with a glare.

"Where are they?!"

Prescott flew forward, motioning for the others to follow. The group finally reached the heavy doors leading to the Mad Doctor's old lab; ominous sounds were coming from behind them. Prescott flew up and removed the giant locks and the doors opened with a long creak.

Instantly, a howling roar split the air, and Oswald cringed in pain as he clutched his ears. He looked up, then froze in horror. Sinister, glowing green eyes glared down from a huge, inky mass that swirled across the ceiling, like a ghost from his worst nightmares.

"Those mangy, pea-brained...!" Prescott's voice, both terrified and furious, yanked him back.

Oswald tore his eyes from the inky beast to the circular table in the center of the room. Panic filled him when he saw it was empty, but Prescott zoomed forward.

"They must be down by the cells!" said Prescott.

Oswald raced after him with Gus close behind. As soon as they were out in the open, the Blot roared again and a black, inky tentacle lashed down toward them.

"Look out!" Oswald yelled, yanking the gremlins along as he leaped to avoid it. It crashed down just behind them as he rolled behind a column. "How’s that thing already so strong?"

Gus shook his head and rolled up his sleeves. "We don’t have time to figure that out now. You two get going... I’ll distract him!" Oswald opened his mouth to protest, but the gremlin had already teleported to a nearby balcony. "Hey ugly! Over here!"

As soon as the Blot looked his way, he teleported to another spot, keeping it turned away. Oswald raced across the chamber toward the large window; unknown to many Toons, the platform underneath hid the entrance to the castle’s dungeon. Oswald had closed it up long ago, before many had arrived in Wasteland. When they reached it, he saw that some of the beams had been moved, making a clear path to the big iron door.

Oswald yanked it open and sprinted down the steps, shivering at the slight chill when they reached the bottom. It was a typical dungeon, dank and gloomy, the only light coming from the torches lining the stone walls.

"H-Hey!" The rabbit clenched his fists and whirled around, only to be met with one of the most incredibly pathetic sights he'd ever seen. Cowering in a nearby cell were the Petes, looking like frightened little kids who had just opened a tiger's cage at the zoo. Ha!  Here, he'd expected a fight, but low and behold, they'd already jailed themselves! If he hadn't been so angry, he'd have busted a gut cackling at the situation. "Y-Yuh gotta get us outta here!" Small Pete sputtered. "We been down here since—"

Oswald silenced them with a spine-chilling glare. "You’ll be wishin' you were still down here by the time I’m done with you!"

Then, spotting a slumped figure in a nearby cell, Oswald raced over to it. "Mickey!" Mickey was lying on the floor inside, his hands chained behind his back. He looked horrible: battered, sick, and obviously in pain. Oswald yanked at the cell door with all his might, but it wouldn't budge. Oswald clutched the bars, almost speechless with shock. "What..." He whirled around, his eyes burning with a rage that made the Petes’ ink run cold. "...did you do to him?!"

Peteronic began stuttering, but a harsh creak interrupted him as Prescott unlocked and pulled open Mickey's cell door. Oswald shoved past him in his hurry to get in and over to Mickey. Kneeling beside him, he grabbed the mouse’s shoulders and shook him.

"Mickey! Hey, wake up!"

Mickey’s ears twitched at the familiar voice. He groaned weakly and started to lift his head. "O-... Os...?"

Oswald's worried look softened into a small smile. He gently pushed Mickey up into a sitting position, letting the mouse lean against him. "Yeah, it’s me. Don’t worry, I'm gonna getcha outta here."

Mickey started to answer but groaned again as a sharp wave of pain shot through him. Prescott zoomed in, giving a frown. "He doesn't look good."

Oswald's face twisted with concern, but he quickly focused on Mickey’s chains and detached an ear. Morphing one end into a key, he inserted it into the lock and carefully jiggled it a few times. His efforts were rewarded with a satisfying click, and the lock sprang open. As he removed the chains, Oswald noticed heavy bruises on Mickey’s wrists. A glance revealed the same thing on his ankles. Whatever they had done, Mickey had fought it, and fought hard. Oswald’s anger flared again and he shot the Petes another venomous look, but managed to keep his voice calm.

"Okay, just take it easy..." Almost that same moment, the ground and walls suddenly shook. 

"We need to get out of here!" said Prescott.

Wasting no time, Oswald hoisted Mickey up over his shoulder and started running for the exit.

"Hey, wait fer us!" Petetronic called. "We're stuck in here n' we dropped th' keys!"

Oswald glared at him, then let out an annoyed huff. "Fine." Reluctantly, he used his rabbit ear to unlock the cell door. "I'm not keepin' an eye on you, so ya better keep up!" Oswald snapped.

Soon, they all emerged from the dungeon and back into the Mad Doctor's old lab where the Blot was continuing to wreak havoc. Gus was still teleporting from place to place, but the alarm on his face was much more pronounced. Oswald waved at the gremlin, then motioned to one of the small rooms attached to the main chamber before rushing into it, followed by the others. Once they were safely out of sight, Oswald knelt and set Mickey down. With one arm, he held him up in a sitting position while reaching for the brush with the other.

"Here, this should make ya feel better." He pointed the brush at Mickey's chest and unleashed a steady stream of Paint.

Finally Mickey groaned and opened his eyes, looking up. Everything was blurred and the only thing he could make out was Oswald's worried face. "W-What... what h-happened..." Suddenly alarm filled his eyes. "Th-... Th’ Blot..."

Gus teleported into the room, breathing hard. "I can't keep it distracted much longer!" He saw Mickey and his eyes went wide. "Mickey!"

The mouse didn't seem to hear. He closed his eyes, his face falling. "No... I-I tried..." A harsh cough cut him off, and Gus zoomed over. 

"This looks bad," Gus said grimly. "We'll need the Mad Doctor's help."

"Mickey!" Oswald shook him again and blasted him with more Paint, but with little effect. "Don’t worry, you just stay here and I'll take care of it." He stopped the Paint and gently laid Mickey back, then looked at the gremlins. "Watch him for me!" He then rushed back into the lab, brush in hand.

"Wait!" Oswald glanced behind him to see Prescott rushing up.

"The Blot's able to sustain itself now, and it's feeding on his pain along with the generator’s power. We have to bring it down before it gets too strong! If I shut down the generator, it should give you the advantage."

Oswald was startled for a moment, then shook it off. "Get to the Mad Doc first! Tell him we need help! Hurry!"

Prescott nodded and teleported off in search of the Mad Doctor. As Gus sat next to Mickey, Oswald began heading out again. "Oswald! What are you doing?" Gus called out.

"Whatever I can!" Oswald shouted back.

The Blot turned, its green eyes burning with malice, and let out a snarl that echoed through the chamber. Oswald clenched his teeth and tightened his hold on the brush, ordering himself not to give in to the terrible fear and freeze.

"C’mon!" he yelled, pointing the brush. "Just try me!"

The large, inky claws slashed out again, so fast they were a blur. Oswald jumped back and yelped as they scraped his chest, forcing him back into an alcove. He grunted as he rubbed the scratches, recovering from the blow. Luckily, they weren’t deep, but boy, was that thing fast! How could he possibly get on the offensive without being taken out? Still, he had to find a way. This monster’s return was what Mickey had been so afraid of all this time. He had to do this, for his brother.

He jumped out and shot some Thinner at the Blot. It roared and swiped at him, forcing Oswald to dodge and run again before he could see if he'd done any damage.

"Oswald!" The rabbit looked up in shock as Prescott appeared on a nearby balcony. "Hey! Over here!" the gremlin yelled. The Blot turned and charged, but Prescott quickly disappeared and popped up right next to Oswald. "The Doctor needs to gather equipment, but more help's on the way. I need time to shut down the generator, so don't be a fool and try to attack, just keep him busy!"

"That shouldn't be too hard," Oswald remarked sarcastically as he dodged another incoming attack. "Hey, Inkface! Try an' catch me!" Oswald shouted up to the Blot as he took off at full speed, running and hopping all around the room. Meanwhile, Prescott was working frantically to shut down the generator, pressing buttons and switches so fast, his hands were almost a blur.

Oswald continued to run and dodge whilst Prescott worked. Suits of armor went flying and pieces of rubble rained down as the Blot continued its string of ruthless attacks. "Are ya done YET?!" Oswald shouted to the gremlin as he narrowly dodged a few falling boulders.

"Just one more adjustment!" A few moments later, a loud clanking sound echoed through the chamber. The Blot suddenly stopped and began to writhe, snarling and groaning.

"It's down!" Prescott yelled.

Oswald grinned, but his relief was shattered by a bone-shaking howl of rage. The Blot began slashing its inky claws in a violent frenzy, shrieking all the while. It didn't seem to care what it hit.

"Cripes!" Oswald yelped, dodging. "I thought that was s'posed to HELP!"

Prescott suddenly appeared beside him. "It's lost a lot of power without the generator, and getting desperate." He grunted in annoyance. "Look, I'll just try and draw him so you can get a shot."

Oswald nodded, but before the gremlin could teleport again the Blot smashed a section of the wall, right above the doorway of the small room where Gus and Mickey were. The stones began to creak and groan from the stress. Seeing where the Blot had struck, Oswald's ears shot up and his eyes widened in alarm.

"Mickey! Gus!" he yelped as he sped toward the entrance. Once he got inside, the walls and ceiling were already starting to crumble; dust and small stones raining down. Mickey was struggling to get up, while Gus did his best to help him. Oswald ran over and snatched him up, knowing Gus could teleport himself to safety. "Hurry! It's gonna cave in!" They barely leaped out before the ceiling finally caved in, blocking the doorway.

"Easy, I've got ya," Oswald murmured, holding the mouse protectively against his chest as he watched the Blot's erratic movements carefully. He had to stop it as soon as possible, but now there was the added issue of getting Mickey to safety first. As he waited for an opportunity, he used the brush to spray more Paint into Mickey, hoping it would heal him enough to be able to walk.

Mickey felt some of the pain fade, but he knew he was still too weak. He'd slow them down, and things would only get worse.

"O-Os... you gotta..." He bit back a cough. "Y’ gotta g-get outta here."

"No," Oswald said firmly. "Don't you even start with that.'"

Gus zoomed up with Prescott close behind. "If we keep him busy, can you get him out of here?"

Oswald nodded firmly. "Yeah. Thanks." As soon as the gremlins warped off, Oswald glanced at Mickey. Knowing there was no use arguing, the mouse nodded.

With a huff of exertion, he heaved Mickey up over his shoulder and took off at a brisk pace up the nearest staircase. He hadn't gotten very far when suddenly a boulder crashed into the stairs ahead of him. He skidded to a stop as part of the staircase collapsed in front of him. Oswald quickly scanned the area and soon spotted several stacks of rubble close enough for him to jump across.

"Alright, hold on tight!" he said right before he ran and leapt across the towers of rubble. Burning pain stabbed through Mickey’s chest with each jolt and he clenched his teeth, whimpering as he forced himself not to cry out. "Hang in there," he heard Oswald urge. "Not much further now."

Finally, they reached solid ground again and Oswald hesitated. "You all right?"

Mickey took a deep, shaking breath and nodded. "Y-Yeah." A sudden movement nearby caught his attention, and he gasped in horror. The Blot was heading right for them! "Oswald! L-Look out!"

By the time Oswald saw it coming, there was no time to dodge. In the split second he had, he turned and shielded Mickey with his body, bracing himself. Thinner-laced claws raked his back, and though he clenched his teeth, he still let out a yelp of pain. The traces of Thinner made the wound burn and ooze small amounts of his black ink.

The Blot swatted at the gremlins, who were desperately trying to distract it, then headed for the two brothers again. With all the strength he had left, Mickey forced himself up and shoved Oswald away as hard as he could. Still in shock from the pain, Oswald easily toppled over from the push. Confused, he glanced over at Mickey, only to see an inky hand wrapping around him.

"Mickey!" The pain forgotten, Oswald scrambled to his feet. As the hand began to pull away, the rabbit dove at it, just barely managing to catch the edge of the inky fist as it lifted into the air. He clung on with all his might, but it only took the Blot a few flicks of the wrist to throw him off and send him careening into a wall, where he slumped to the floor with a groan. A gleeful snarl from the Blot made Oswald look up. With an almost mocking grin, it tightened its fist around the mouse.

Mickey screamed in pain as his ink began draining away. He tried to struggle, but a nauseating wave of dizziness struck him, then everything went black. Below, Oswald stared in horror as Mickey went limp in the Blot’s fist.

"NO!" Oswald leapt to his feet, pulled out the brush, and fired at the Blot, unleashing a massive wave of Thinner.

The monster shrieked as the Thinner struck, dull green stains spreading across its inky form. Prescott and Gus bravely zoomed around the Blot's head, shouting and drawing its attention long enough for Oswald to leap back across the ruined staircase. He had to find a way to get to the upper level, where he could get a clear shot at the mouth. He leapt and hovered with his ears several times, landing on any higher platform he could find until suddenly, he hit a dead end. He was stumped for a moment until he suddenly remembered the extent of the brush's capabilities. He fired Paint at the empty cliff in front of him, causing several platforms to materialize, then quickly leapt across them and continued making his way up the stairs. Seeing another dead end coming, he wasted no time and repeated the process as he ran, hopping across the new platforms.

The Blot tried to grab him, but Oswald dodged easily. His fury and determination seemed to charge him like a battery. Being careful not to hit the fist holding Mickey, he shot another burst of Thinner. The Blot howled in anger and drew back, clawing at the spot. Seeing his opportunity, Oswald quickly leapt from the highest ledge and dove directly at the Blot, using his ears to hover right in front of its inky face. He focused all his energy, all his rage into the brush's magic power, rapidly forming a massive ball of Thinner, then swung the brush as hard as he could, shooting it directly into the Blot's mouth. The monster let out a horrible shriek that Oswald was sure could be heard from Mean Street, ink gurgling in its throat. As its free hand raked at its melting face, Thinner began seeping through the growing cracks in its ink.

Oswald's eyes immediately snapped to its other fist. "Mickey!" He hovered up a little higher and dropped onto the fist as it passed. Grabbing Mickey's arm, he pulled, but the Blot wasn't willing to give up its victim so easily. Oswald pulled harder and harder, grunting in frustration. "Agh, let go!" He yanked out the brush again and fired blasts of Thinner at the giant fingers. As the fingers sizzled, the Blot let out another ear-piercing shriek and whipped its hand back. Oswald's sensitive ears ached from the shriek, but he ignored it and clung as tightly as he could to the mouse. 

"If ya want me t’ let go, you'll hafta let go!" he snarled.

Suddenly a small blur shot past them and slammed against the Blot's wrist. Oswald's eyes widened.

"Prescott?!"

"Go!" the gremlin yelled.

Snapping out of his trance, Oswald realized the Blot's grip had loosened. Gritting his teeth, the rabbit yanked as hard as he could on Mickey until the mouse suddenly broke free, sending them both plummeting to the ground. Oswald managed to right himself in mid-air, grabbing ahold of Mickey as he spun his helicopter ears to slow their descent. Once they were close to the ground, Oswald collapsed, panting heavily, one arm still wrapped around Mickey.

From somewhere above, the Blot's wild, desperate shrieks broke through his exhausted haze. Oswald looked up and his eyes widened. The Blot was slowly melting, howling all the while. As it dissolved into nothingness, droplets of excess Thinner and Ink sprinkled down from it. Quick to react, Oswald scrambled over Mickey and shielded him, clenching his teeth as just a few of the tiny drops singed his back. Just a few seconds later, it was over, and Oswald let out a long sigh of relief.

"We did it." He sat up, a tired smile spreading across his face. "Mick, it's—" He stopped, his smile faltering. Mickey lay completely still.

Next

Previous

"I'll bet," Mickey commented.

"Yeah, can't say I'd be too comfortable livin' with Blotlings myself."

Mickey sighed and shrugged. "Still, hope they can figure things out. Looks like the Blotlings are here t’ stay, after all... and Ghost Ian says a lot of ‘em are workin’ pretty hard to fit in."

By now, they had reached the square that held the projectors. Oswald was still focused on his screen, but then he noticed that Mickey had hesitated. When he looked back, the mouse was standing in front of the Walt statue replica, gazing up at it with a distant look in his eyes. Oswald felt an uneasy clench in his stomach as he realized that he’d never really thought about how Mickey felt about that statue. Clearing his throat, he pocketed his remote and walked over.

"Mickey?" When no reply came, he placed a hand on the mouse’s shoulder.

Mickey jumped, startled. "Huh? Oh, uh, sorry... just got a little distracted."

Oswald looked away, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "Look, about the statue... I didn't mean to—I mean, uh, I did at the time, but that was just... I didn't know and I was mad and... I didn't actually think you'd ever see it—"

Mickey shook his head. "No, ya don't have to explain... I get it, really. I mean, it was kinda hard the first time I saw it, but not 'cause I wasn't in it."

Oswald frowned in confusion, but before he could ask any questions, Mickey continued.

"Up 'til then, everything I'd seen was so much like home. And I was so, well, happy t' see he was there too. But when I saw it was different, it just..." He hesitated, then released a heavy sigh. "It was probably when it really hit me that I wasn't home, and I just felt... so alone."

Oswald’s ears drooped a little. "I'm sorry." He glanced over at Mickey. "But y'know, I think our statue over in OsTown is much better."

Mickey smiled at that, the small twinge of homesickness fading. "I like it too. It reminds me how something that starts out pretty messed up can end up something good." He glanced over at Oswald. "I know I've said this before, but it really meant a lot that ya did that—had the OsTown statue remade and all. I mean, ya didn't hafta."

The rabbit smirked and gave him a light punch on the arm. "Yeah, well, I do got a reputation to keep up."

Mickey smirked back; he'd been around the rabbit long enough to recognize his avoidance methods when things were getting too mushy. "Right. So, ready to hit the next generator?"

"I'm ready tah smash it," Oswald replied with a grin, hitting his fists together.

Mickey grinned back. "Then let's get t' the Fort and give 'em what for!"

Gus nodded. "We may need to be on our toes... the recent attacks by the enhanced Blotlings are straining things between residents even more."

"Hah! Ya say that like we aren't always on our toes anyway," said Oswald.

Mickey chuckled at that. "Like at the Lonesome Manor, huh?"

"Zip it, Squeaks," Oswald shot back.

Gus rolled his eyes as the group headed to the projector, but couldn't suppress an amused smile.

Emerging onto the docks of Fort Wasteland, Oswald and Mickey began making their way to the shore. Then all of a sudden, several Blotlings came racing across the docks, letting out a series of loud, frantic warbles. The two toons tensed, ready for a fight, but to their collective astonishment, the creatures only scurried behind them, trembling and garbling fearfully.

"What th'..." Oswald began, but then Mickey sucked in a sharp breath.

"Uh, Os... I think that's why."

The rabbit followed his wide-eyed stare, then his own eyes widened. Other Blotlings were approaching in a feral crouch, snarling like demented wolves as their eyes burned red. Oswald and Mickey pulled out their weapons, assuming their fighting stances. One of the Blotlings lunged at them and they fired their weapons, Paint and bolts of electricity merging into a single beam that slammed into the Blotling, knocking it back. It roared in pain as it was knocked onto its back, electricity sparking off it.

The Blotlings huddled together behind them yelped, trembling even harder. In a rush of sympathy, Mickey gave them a quick, reassuring smile over his shoulder. "Don't worry, fellas. We got this."

The Blotlings' ears twitched, and a few let out a quiet chirrup as the two rabid Blotlings charged forward onto the narrow docks. Oswald leapt forward, grabbing onto a wooden post as he swung around it, slamming his feet into one of the attackers. It smashed into the other one, knocking both of them off the dock and into a stray pool of Thinner.

"Nice one!" Mickey called as he dodged swipes from the remaining Blotling. Twisting in mid-leap, he shot a thick blast of Thinner from the brush. The Blotling screeched as its ink sloughed away, revealing traces of the machinery underneath. "Os!"

"On it!" Pointing his remote, the rabbit shot a bolt of electricity directly at the half-revealed circuit box. The Blotling convulsed and jittered wildly as the sparks jumped all over its body. Finally it gave a final jerk, accompanied by a loud 'pop!', and collapsed in a heap. "That takes care of them!" Oswald grinned as he tossed his remote from one hand to another and pocketed it.

Mickey passed the brush back to his tail, then turned to look at the normal Blotlings. They were still trembling, peering around as if expecting more enemies to appear at any minute. Mickey stooped down to their level and smiled. "Don't worry, fellas. If there's any others, we'll take care of 'em, and we're gonna make sure they don't come back."

The inky creatures blinked up at him, looking almost startled. One by one, they stopped trembling and a few let out soft chirps that sounded like a thank-you.

Oswald gave them a nod in agreement. "Well, we've gotta get goin'. That generator isn't gonna turn itself off—though that would sure make things a whole lot easier if it did."

Mickey nodded as he straightened up, giving the Blotlings one more reassuring smile. "Just keep an eye out." He then turned back to Oswald. "Okay, let's get going. What's the radar say?"

Oswald looked down at his remote, turning a dial. "Okay, looks we're heading... that way." He pointed directly into the forest, far away from the path. As they approached the forest, they noticed that there was very little clearance between the large tree trunks, and that space was full of large, overgrown bushes.

Oswald frowned, then leapt up onto the lowest branch of the nearest tree—which wasn't really all that low. Mickey braced his feet, then took a running start and leaped. Grabbing the branch, he swung his legs and pulled himself up onto it. Oswald turned and hopped onto the next nearest branch, leaping from tree to tree in the direction of the radar signal. Mickey followed along, moving a little slower due to not being a rabbit but still managing to keep up.

Finally the signal began beeping faster, and Oswald pointed the remote toward a nearby tree. "Hmm..." Slowly, he moved the remote down until it pointed at the base of the tree and the beeping of the radar went wild. Oswald leapt down to the ground, spinning his ears to slow his descent. He then pulled back some dead branches and leaves around the base of the tree, revealing a small, metal door.

A scuffling sound came from above, then a loud yelp came from Mickey. In an unceremonious shower of twigs and leaves, he dropped to the ground beside Oswald. "Ouch," the mouse mumbled, rubbing his sore backside. The mouse looked up, his eyes widening at the sight of the door. "What d' ya know. Must be underground again."

Oswald raised an eyebrow at the mouse, then turned back to the metal door. There was no knob or handle; it looked electronic. He felt around the base of the tree until his hand found an unusually smooth depression. "A-ha!" He pressed the button in the middle of the depression, cleverly disguised as a knothole. There was an electronic beeping sound and the two halves of the metal door slid open.

Inside, the lowest area of the tree had been hollowed out, leaving the entire upper part of the interior intact. The ceiling was also quite low—the perfect size for the two rather short toons. As they stepped inside, they found the small room inside completely barren, the only point of interest being a set of stairs that led down into the ground.

"Underground, it is." Oswald pressed a button to mute his remote, then glanced at Mickey with a teasing smirk. "Try not to make any racket when ya fall down 'em."

Mickey glared at him as he pulled out the brush. "You're th' one who ditched me 20 feet up a tree, flat foot."

"Hey, ya made it up, I thought ya could make it down." Oswald gave a shrug. "If ya needed a ride, ya should've asked."

Mickey grumbled to himself as he followed Oswald down the steps. "Didn't need a ride. Just a hand would a' been nice."

Oswald chuckled and focused on his remote as the radar symbol pulsed. "Looks like we're gettin' pretty close. Remote says the signal's about twenty feet down and to the right."

"Probably more Blot guards too," Mickey grumbled. "N' I'm willin' t' bet they're not small fry."

He immediately regretted saying anything when Oswald gave him a teasing smirk. "Somebody losin' their nerve?"

"No," Mickey grumbled. His temper was shorter than usual regarding these Blot creatures. It wasn't that he felt any connection to them, it just bothered him knowing that he was pretty much the reason they existed in the first place. And he'd seen the damage they could do. What if they really hurt someone before all this was over?

Oswald gave a small chuckle. "Well, you seem a bit grumpier than usual about them." He gave the mouse a friendly elbow. "C'mon, ya know we take care of these guys easily."

Mickey's face tugged into a grin, then he chuckled. Oswald hesitated and cocked his head. "What?"

Mickey shrugged. "Was just thinkin'... not that long ago, I was the one tellin' you stuff like that."

Oswald looked away, his face turning slightly red in embarrassment. "Oh, uh... right."

Mickey smirked and gave him a friendly nudge. "Hey, relax. I don't tell anyone."

Oswald gave a small smile. "I know. Heh, it was pretty pathetic, huh?" He gave a self-deprecating chuckle.

Mickey stopped and put a hand on the rabbit's shoulder, making him stop as well. "No, it wasn't. Ya know how many times I've been stuck? I can't count how many times I've caught myself thinkin' I should ask Dad about somethin'... or wonderin' what he would do." The mouse's round ears drooped a little, his face distant and sad.

Oswald gave him a small, sad smile. "Heh, I wonder the same thing too sometimes." It was somewhat comforting to know he wasn't alone in that.

By then, they had reached the bottom of the stairs, which opened into a wide tunnel. Mickey squinted, but the light from Oswald's remote only went so far.

"Think they made this an easy one?"

Oswald's reply was as casual as the question. "Nope."

Mickey smirked. "Me neither."

"Just stay on your toes," Oswald said as they moved forward. "We can't see real far and I don't want anythin' sneakin' up on us."

A few minutes passed without much excitement. Then, the dim glow from Oswald's remote began to reveal a line of large, shadowy figures in front of them. As they moved closer, the number of figures seemed to multiply as the light slowly revealed them.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot," said Oswald.

"In a manner of speakin'." Mickey whipped out the brush, his eyes narrowed and serious. "Watch it... if we get too far apart, they'll mince us."

Suddenly, dozens of pairs of glowing eyes lit up in front of them, sending chills down the two toons' spines. They got into their battle stances and stood their ground as several of the Slobbers began stomping toward them, the ground rumbling under their feet.

Oswald looked over at Mickey. "If you can handle the closest ones, I'll keep stunnin' the farther ones to keep 'em from gangin' up on us!"

Mickey twirled the brush in his hand, his face now set in grim determination. "Got it." With that, he began spraying a fountain of Thinner at the nearest Slobbers, and Oswald shot bolts of electricity at the others, keeping them stunned and preventing them from getting any closer.

Leaping and dodging, Mickey finally managed to melt the Slobbers down to their mechanical frames, which were quickly outed by a zap from Oswald's remote. Mickey then turned his attention to the next Slobbers that charged forward, kept to a limit by the shocks from Oswald's remote.

"Uh oh." Oswald mashed the button on his remote with no effect as several revived Slobbers came barreling toward him. He yelped as he leapt into the air over their heads and landed, narrowly dodging them in time as they continued charging toward Mickey. "Look out!" Oswald cried as he hurried after them. He leapt up and dealt a powerful punch, managing to knock one of the charging Slobbers to the ground.

Mickey knocked back his current opponents with another blast of Thinner, then leaped and dodged around the charging Slobbers. Oswald zapped the thinned Slobbers with the small charge that had refilled on his remote. Then suddenly, he found himself knocked to the ground by the force of a Slobber inhaling from behind him. He dug his feet and fingers into the dirt, only to have a second Slobber smack him with its claws, making him lose his grip. "Help!" he yelped as he was sucked toward the Slobber.

The mouse whirled around, his eyes going wide. "Oswald!"

Knocking back the other Slobbers, he raced over and snatched Oswald's hand just before he was sucked in completely. He planted his feet, teeth clenched with the effort. "Hang on!" he grunted as he aimed and shot a huge burst of Thinner directly into the Slobber's mouth.

The Slobber choked on the Thinner, its suction weakening. Oswald's other hand–which was coated in purple slime–reached out from the Slobber's mouth and grabbed tightly onto Mickey's hand. Mickey pulled and Oswald slowly emerged, then suddenly popped out. The sudden lack of resistance knocked the mouse onto his back, the Blot-covered Oswald landing on top of him. Oswald gasped and coughed for a brief moment before managing to speak. "Thanks."

Mickey managed to catch his own breath and gave the rabbit a quick smile as they both jumped to their feet. "No problem. But better save the thanks till we're outta this mess."

Oswald nodded as he wiped the slime from his face and grabbed his remote. "Right."

As he shot more electricity at the Slobbers, Mickey continued to fight the nearest ones, dodging and weaving as Thinner sprayed from the brush. It took a while, but one by one, all the Blotlings were reduced to puddles. The two toons sighed in relief, exhausted from the effort.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate those things?" Oswald said as he began wiping the remainder of the Blot slime off himself.

Mickey smiled and wiped some of the slime off Oswald's back. "Ya missed a spot."

Oswald gave him a tired smirk, then looked at his remote again. "Looks like it's straight ahead. Let's hope these guys were all the guards they got."

On alert, both toons slowly moved further down the corridor. It wasn't long before the corridor widened, and the flashing lights and whirr of machinery told them they were in the right place.

"You go 'head and get th' data," Mickey said, giving the brush a quick twirl. "I'll keep an eye out for any more creeps."

"Yeah, you do that while I go do all the work," Oswald joked with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah, 'cause pressin' a few buttons is so hard."

"Well, if it's so easy, why don't you go and do it?" Oswald shoved his remote into Mickey's hands and gave the mouse a push toward the machine.

"Oh, uh, well..." Mickey squinted at the remote, then shook his head and handed it back. "Not a good idea... I'd probably mess it up."

"That's what I thought," Oswald chuckled, twirling his remote in his hand. "You just go play sentry then."

Mickey gave a good-natured grunt as he gripped the brush and scanned the area for any sign of movement. "Better hurry... with our luck the thing'll spit out a bunch more of those goons."

"Don't worry, I'm on it."

Oswald headed into the machinery area, where dozens of giant electronic panels filled the room. "Whoa..." he mumbled, weaving his way through the aisles of panels and monitors. He finally stopped in front of a large panel in the back, which appeared to be the master control panel. He began pressing buttons on his remote at a rapid pace, then ran across the room and flipped a lever. He then ran down an aisle and flipped another lever, then turned and ran down another aisle. Before he could get any farther, however, an error message flashed across his screen and there was a whirring sound throughout the room as the levers were reset. He let out a sigh of frustration.

"Mick, get in here!"

Mickey came rushing in, brush at the ready and clearly expecting a fight. "What? What's wrong?"

"Afraid I'm gonna need your help with this. There's some switches that need to be flipped at the same time."

Mickey relaxed, looking around at the machinery. "Oh." Somewhat abashed, he put away the brush. "Alright, what do ya need me t' do?"

"Well, I'm gonna flip this switch on the main console here," he motioned to the switch beside him, "and then you need to flip the blue switch over in the second aisle over there while I flip the green switch in the fourth aisle. Then you gotta flip the yellow switch in the first aisle while I flip the red one. Got it?"

"Blue switch, second aisle, then yellow switch, first aisle. Got it."

Oswald nodded, then both hurried to their respective switches. Mickey waited by the blue switch as Oswald flipped the main one, then they both ran around, flipping their respective switches at the same time.

"Okay, that should reroute the code to... Now I'll just type this in here..." Oswald began rapidly pressing buttons on his remote. "And deactivate that... Oh!" He suddenly ran to another control panel and began rapidly pressing colored buttons. He then began typing on his remote again. Finally, the machine began to shut down, its lights turning off and the whirring noises dying down. "Phew!" Oswald wiped the sweat from his forehead as the room darkened.

"Everything alright?" Mickey asked, hurrying over. "You got the data okay?"

"Yes, but that was quite a security system. Whoever built this obviously knew what they were doin'."

Mickey glanced over at the generator, ears twitching. "Well, that definitely rules out Pete. But it still doesn't really tell us what we're dealin' with."

"Well, that's another one down." Oswald reset the radar on his remote, locking it onto a different signal. He began walking back in the direction they had come from. Mickey trotted up beside him and followed along, watching the remote's screen.

"Think this one'll be harder to find?"

Oswald shrugged. "Probably. But ya never know... it could be easy."

Mickey snorted. "If it was one of the Petes, it sure would. We'd have probably found 'em all stuffed down in the City Hall basement."

"Or in the center of town with a sign sayin' 'This is not a secret evil lair,'" Oswald replied with a chuckle.

Once they reached Mean Street, Oswald pointed his remote around, trying to find where the signal was strongest, until finally pointing it downward. "Looks like it's comin' from underground."

Mickey craned his neck to get a better look at the remote screen. "Guess we're gonna be usin' the DEC again. Hope all the bugs from last time are worked out."

Oswald flicked his ears, grinning. "What, think we can’t handle it?"

"Nah," Mickey replied. "Just hopin' we might have a bit of an easier go-round this time."

Oswald dragged open a manhole cover and leapt down into the dark hole. Mickey cracked his neck before jumping down after him. When he landed, Oswald was focused on his remote as he turned in different directions. Finally, his ears twitched and he nodded.

"Looks like we're headin' this way."

"Right," Mickey said.

Mickey remained silent for quite some time as they moved down the tunnel, prompting Oswald to glance over. He could tell that the mouse was deep in thought, and judging from his solemn look, it was about something worrying.

"E-Ticket for your thoughts?"

Mickey blinked, looking a little startled. "Huh? Oh, sorry... I've just been thinkin'. So far, these Mecha-Blot things are stickin' around the generators, but there's more of 'em every time. I have this bad feeling... it might not be long 'fore they start spreadin' around, and that's not gonna be good."

"You worry too much. I mean, c'mon, even if there's a whole invasion of 'em, we know how to stop 'em. And besides, we've dealt with much worse!" Oswald gave him a smile.

Mickey smirked, but the uneasiness remained on his face. "I just hope they don't hurt anyone b'fore we stop 'em."

That worry had been gnawing at Mickey ever since this whole fiasco started. Even if the others didn't think so, he felt like these new enemies were partly his fault. He should have made sure that the Blot piece was gone instead of just assuming it was.

Stupid.

Before Oswald could reply, Gus suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Ah, here you are! I've had a troubling report from the gremlins operating the DEC... there have been numerous sightings of hostile Blotlings causing damage to the equipment. No one got close enough to see the eyes, but I'm certain these are the mechanically advanced creatures."

"What a surprise." Oswald rolled his eyes. "Where are these sightings, exactly?"

"They were centered around two areas, the Rainbow Caverns and Bog Easy," Gus replied, frowning. "And that's not all... there are more of them."

Oswald glanced over at Mickey. "Well, we'd better get to work then." Mickey gave a nod and they took off down the corridor.

Once they neared Rainbow Caverns, they came across a rabid-looking Blotling hanging on the wall, chewing on a large, thick pipe. Its Thinner-laced fangs ate away at the pipe material, causing Paint to spew freely from the pipe.

"Get 'im, Mick!" Oswald said, readying his remote.

"On it!" Whipping out the brush, Mickey shot a stream of Thinner at the Blotling. Shrieking, the creature dropped down and looked around wildly. As soon as it spotted Mickey and Oswald, it hissed and charged.

"Os, you're up!" Mickey yelled as they dodged.

Oswald stood his ground and zapped the Blotling head-on when it got close. "Gotcha!" he said as the Blotling collapsed into a heap of ink and metal. Oswald kicked the pieces aside and rushed onward.

They defeated a good number of other red-eyed Blotlings along the way before they finally reached the wide-open cavern that housed Rainbow Falls. A large number of Blotlings patrolled the area immediately in front of the falls.

"Gee, I wonder where that generator could be," Oswald joked, putting a hand to his chin and giving Mickey an exaggerated puzzled expression.

Mickey grinned and stifled a laugh. "Well, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's behind the falls."

He scanned the area and the grin turned into a slight frown. "There's sure a lot of 'em... this might get pretty rough."

Oswald looked around, smirking as he thought of an idea. "Not if they can't see us."

He hopped over to an invisible ink well and jumped in with a splash, vanishing from sight as the ink coated his body. There was the sound of him scrambling out, then suddenly, Mickey felt a push from behind him, sending him headfirst into the well. Within seconds, the ink had coated his body, rendering him invisible. After he climbed out of the inkwell, a hand grabbed his arm and tugged him toward the falls.

"Hey—!"

"Shh!" Oswald hissed. "They can still hear us, remember?"

"Ya didn't hafta push me," Mickey grumbled.

"Ya weren't movin' fast enough," Oswald whispered back, giving a small snicker. He then yelped as he felt a punch in his arm.

"Shhh!" Mickey hissed mockingly. "They'll hear ya."

"...Touché, Mouse."

Mickey then took Oswald's hand and interlocked their fingers. "Stick together," he whispered as they began walking toward the Blotling guards. After slipping past them, Oswald tugged Mickey toward the far end of the falls, where there was a small gap. They sidled in, careful not to get any of the ink washed off.

The cave corridor led into a large room that was absolutely swarming with Blotlings. Not just any Blotlings, but huge ones—Slobbers and Spladooshes. They took up so much space that there was barely any room between them.

"Oh boy," Oswald mumbled under his breath.

Mickey bit his lip as he scanned the area. "Well, there's the guards, but where's the generator?"

Oswald squinted. "I dunno, but from what the remote said, we oughta be right on top of it."

"Uh, Os..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know it doesn't make any sense," the rabbit muttered. "Maybe this piece of junk’s broken again..."

There was a sharp tug on Oswald's ear. "Oswald, make that right under it."

The rabbit looked up, and his jaw fell open. Hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room was a large generator.

"How in the world...?" Oswald gave a sigh, shaking his head. "Y' know what, never mind. Let's just get this over with."

He grabbed the mouse around the waist and lifted him above his head as he leapt up and spun his ears, gliding over to the generator. It was pretty high up, but with Oswald lifting him, Mickey was just barely able to grab onto a ledge. It was a struggle, but after a bit of grunting and groaning, Mickey was able to pull himself up.

"Okay, I'm up. Gimme your hand," he whispered to Oswald. He then reached down and batted at the air until he found Oswald's hand. Grabbing ahold of it, he pulled Oswald up onto the panel.

After scanning the machine, Oswald nodded to himself. "Okay, keep an eye out. I'm gonna have to hover for this one."

"Got it," Mickey replied.

Oswald climbed up a bit higher, then leapt and hovered around to the other side of the machine. After a bit of searching, he finally found the control panel. He set to work on it right away, hacking into it with his remote as he hovered in midair.

Mickey kept a close eye on the Blot creatures below, his ears twitching nervously as Oswald continued to work with his remote. Finally, the rabbit pressed a button and hovered back to the ledge.

"Okay," he panted, rubbing his ears. "I've got the data, and I can activate the self-destruct from a distance. That should take care of all these Blotlings too."  

"Good, now let's get outta here before this ink wears off," Mickey whispered back.

After feeling around for where the mouse was, Oswald grabbed him around the waist and hovered back down, panting as he carried him over the sea of Blotlings. After sneaking back past the guards and putting a good distance between them and the Falls, they washed off the invisible ink with a blast of Paint from Mickey's brush.

"Okay," Oswald said with a grin, then pressed the button on his remote. "Fire in the hole!"

After a few moments, there was the sound of a muffled explosion and a tremor shook the ground. Pocketing his remote, Oswald smirked and raised a hand. "Three down!"

Mickey grinned back and high-fived the rabbit. "Two to go!"

Taking his remote out again, Oswald pressed a few buttons and the radar symbol began pinging. After a few minutes, a map appeared on the screen and zoomed in to a particular area.

"Well, looks like the next place is the Lonesome Manor."

"Really?" Mickey grinned. "Maybe I'll have another story for the kids." He laughed as he received a light punch in the arm.

Next

Previous

At that moment, Gus warped in. "The locals tell me that the mansion has been closed off ever since the creatures started appearing, and the ghosts are having a lot of trouble with them."

Oswald hefted his remote. "Well, we’ll give ‘em what for and clear it out."

Mickey nodded, but in truth, he wasn’t looking forward to fighting more at all. He was starting to really feel uneasy about using Thinner, even though it was far quicker to defeat the Mecha-Blotlings with than Paint. The more he used Thinner, the more he dripped ink, and that was starting to scare him.

Just then, Mickey heard a series of chirrups. He glanced over to see a few redeemed Blotlings giving him a friendly wave. Mickey was surprised, but smiled and waved back sheepishly.

"Huh," Oswald said, "looks like they’re warming up to ya."

Mickey glanced at Oswald, then shrugged and smirked. "Well, it had t’ happen sooner or later, right?"

The rabbit chuckled. "Don’t give yourself too much credit."

When they arrived at the Lonesome Manor, Oswald pushed open the door while Mickey and Gus stood at the ready. Sure enough, there were Mecha-Blotlings swarming the foyer. Mickey began to use Thinner, but as ink began dripping faster from his body, he suddenly switched to Paint and began alternating between both Paint and Thinner. As a result, it took far longer than usual to clear the area.

"You’re sure takin’ your time," Oswald grumbled, exhausted from the long battle. "Think maybe ya can step it up a little?"

Mickey shot the rabbit a glare. "Hey, you wanna take th’ brush, be my guest."

"I would, but then what would ya fight with? Ya don't know how to use the remote."

"In that case, how about usin’ it t’ figure out where we need t’ go?" Mickey shot back.

Oswald huffed, then punched a few buttons on his remote, bringing up the radar image. It pinged for a while as he pointed it first one way, then another. Finally, when he aimed it upward, the pinging grew faster. "Must be upstairs," Oswald said.

Mickey snapped his fingers. "I’m willin’ to bet it’s in th’ attic! There’s plenty of room up there with the Mad Doc’s machinery gone."

Oswald nodded, a little unnerved by Mickey's sudden change of tone. "Right."

As the group made their way through the Manor, they ran into large numbers of Mecha-Blotlings... not only Spatters, but Slobbers and Spladooshes. Despite his misgivings, Mickey began to use Thinner more than Paint again. He still switched to Paint occasionally, however, despite its ineffectiveness. Watching the mouse more closely now, Oswald began to guess what the reason might be, but decided not to push it.

Finally, the toons reached the attic of the Manor, and sure enough, there was the generator: crammed in the back of the room with plenty of Mecha-Blotlings guarding it.

Oswald twirled his remote and glanced over at Mickey. "I’m gonna go for the generator," he said. "Can ya hold ‘em back?"

Mickey took a deep breath and nodded, tightening his hold on the brush. "I’ll keep ‘em away."

With that, the two toons began fighting their way across the room. Mickey shot Thinner that melted away the Blotling’s ink while Oswald’s remote took them out of commission. By the time they reached the generator, both were panting from exhaustion. Without wasting a second, Oswald went to work downloading the information from the generator as Mickey continued to hold off the remaining Mecha-Blotlings. After a grueling few minutes, the generator finally powered down.

"Alright, the self-destruct is set. Let’s get outta here!" Oswald said, using his remote to unleash a giant electric field. The Mecha-Blotlings within range jittered, then collapsed. Dodging the remaining Mecha-Blotlings, the two toons raced for the exit. Once they were out of the mansion, the sound of an explosion shook the ground. Mickey panted, rubbing his aching head as ink dripped rapidly from his body. A hand on his arm made him turn to see Oswald looking at him with slight concern.

"You all right?"

Mickey took a few deep breaths, and the ink began to slow down until it was reduced to only a few drips. "I’m good," the mouse replied.

Just then, a few of the mansion’s ghosts popped up nearby, startling them both. "Thanks for clearing the place out!" one of them said. "We were really starting to have trouble!"

Oswald grinned. "No problem! Glad we could help!"

Mickey smiled too, nodding. After the ghosts disappeared, he turned to Oswald. "Just one to go. So where do we go?"

Oswald flipped his remote back to radar mode, turning it slowly one way, then another. "Looks like the last one is up on Mickeyjunk Mountain."

Together, the toons headed up the mountain, fighting Mecha-Blotlings all the way. Eventually, they found themselves outside Oswald’s old fortress. Both Mickey and Oswald fell into an uneasy silence; it had been a long time since they'd been here, and back then, tensions had been high between the two.

As the group made their way through the fortress, even more Mecha-Blotlings bogged down their progress considerably. Mickey noticed that Oswald seemed to be getting more and more agitated the longer they fought, so when they finally caught a break, he decided to ask about it.

"Oswald, what’s wrong?"

The rabbit glanced over at him. "We’re gonna have to take a detour," he said. "There’s somethin’ I gotta check."

Mickey was confused, but the arrival of more enemies quickly diverted his attention. He followed Oswald as the rabbit hurried along a hallway, then ducked into a small, out-of-the-way room. Peeking inside, Mickey’s eyes widened. Inside the room, there were several old photos and newspaper clippings. Each of them included Walt. A few of them even had Walt and Oswald together. On a table, there were also what appeared to be some old family knick-knacks, likely given to Oswald by Walt.

Oswald’s shoulders sagged with relief at the sight, then glanced behind him at Mickey, who remained standing in the doorway.

"I, uh..." he said softly. "I collected everything that I could find. I just had to make sure it was okay, what with all the crazy Blotlings roamin' around."    

Mickey nodded, an understanding look on his face. He slowly moved up to the rabbit and placed a hand on his shoulder. As the two stood there, Gus waited silently in the doorway.

Finally, Oswald cleared his throat. "We, uh, better get goin’."

Mickey nodded, and the two slowly left the room. Oswald closed the door, his hand lingering on the knob, then pulled out his remote and turned it back on.

The group continued moving through the fortress, facing down even more Mecha-Blotlings. Finally, they reached the room housing the final generator. The place was crawling with enemies, and Mickey and Oswald had to fight hard to get across it and to the generator.

"Keep holdin’ ‘em back!" Oswald ordered. "I’ll get th’ data!"

"On it!" Mickey replied, twirling the brush in his hand. As Oswald worked to bypass the security system, Mickey continued to fight the inky monsters. Thinner sprayed from the brush in large waves, making the Mecha-Blotlings screech as their ink sloughed away to reveal the wiring underneath. Soon ink was rising rapidly from Mickey’s body and his head was starting to pound. C’mon, Oswald... hurry! he thought to himself.

Finally, a bolt of electricity shot from behind him, making a Mecha-Slobber jolt as sparks flew from its mechanical body before it collapsed in a heap of ink and metal. Mickey continued to spray Thinner, clenching his teeth as he tried to ignore the growing pain in his head and the ink rising from his body. Beside him, Oswald shot at the Thinned-out Mecha-Blotlings with his remote. Slowly, the creatures’ numbers thinned out until only one large Mecha-Slobber was left. By now, Mickey was dripping heavily. Afraid to push it any further, he shot some Paint at the monster. But with a vicious snarl, it swung a clawed hand that hit Mickey, knocking him across the room.

"Mickey!"

Oswald charged at the Mecha-Slobber with his remote, then cried out as it snatched him up, pinning his arms to his sides. He couldn’t move, couldn’t fight. His throat tightened with fear as the monster drew back its other clawed hand to strike, but then Mickey's voice split the air.

"STOP!"

The Mecha-Slobber suddenly froze, and its menacing grin vanished. It began twitching, letting out strange whimpering sounds. Oswald yelped as it suddenly let go, sending him tumbling to the ground.

"Hey, what th’..." He froze at what he saw. Mickey stood there, his hands held out in a clawed position as ink bubbled from his body. His teeth were clenched, and Oswald could see him trembling with effort. His jaw dropped when he realized what was happening. He’s... controlling it?!

A soft growling sound escaped Mickey’s throat as he slowly lowered his hands, and the Slobber lowered onto all fours like a scolded puppy. Oswald stood frozen, unable to take his eyes off of what was happening. He could barely even believe it.

Suddenly, Mickey gasped and stumbled to the ground, clutching his head. The Mecha-Slobber hissed, its eyes narrowing, and began rising from its crouch. Oswald snapped out of his trance and shot a bolt of electricity, taking the creature out of commission. As it collapsed, the rabbit whirled around and raced toward Mickey.

"Mickey! Are you okay?!"

Mickey didn’t even hear him. The thought of what he had just done raced through his mind again and again, filling him with an ever-growing sense of terror as his head pounded and ink churned from his body in sporadic waves. Curling on his side, he closed his eyes tightly and struggled to force them down. Don’t... don’t push it any more! Get it together! The ink just kept churning faster, and a head-splitting wave of pain pulled him into a haze. Mickey started shaking as dark spots filled his vision. "No... no..."

Everything went black.

Oswald couldn’t stop his ears from twitching with nervous energy as he waited in the doorway, watching the Mad Doctor. He tried to read the Doctor's face, but it didn’t do much good; the Mad Doctor’s thinking face rarely gave anything away. The rabbit’s eyes moved to Mickey and his ears began to twine. Disturbing as it was seeing him actually control a Blot creature, that wasn’t what was worrying Oswald most... it was Mickey’s current condition. How bad could it get? Was he hiding it all this time, or didn’t he even know how deep his connection to the creatures went?

"So, how’s it look, Doc? Is it... ya know, bad?"

The Mad Doctor straightened up and lifted his goggles. "This is rather strange..." he said thoughtfully. "But it appears that it isn't at all."

Oswald blinked, confused. "What? What do ya mean?"

The Doctor looked at him with a thoughtful expression, rubbing his chin. "You're certain the circumstances were as you described them? The creature showed no signs of aggression?"

"Uh... yeah," Oswald responded. "It just sorta froze and collapsed... like a puppet on strings. Why? What does it mean?"

The Mad Doctor tugged on a glove. "It means that the Blot's power inside him likely responded to his own desire, and I imagine that desire was to stop the creature from doing harm."

"What's your point?" Oswald asked.

The Mad Doctor glanced at Mickey as the mouse shivered, letting out a faint whimper. "My point is, his own mind is still in control. All signs tell me that the possession he so fears is no more than that... a fear."

Oswald frowned, trying to make sense of what he was hearing. "You're sayin'... it's all in his head?"

The Mad Doctor shrugged. "The imagination is a very powerful thing." He looked at Oswald. "We know that better than anyone."

Oswald still looked a bit skeptical. "If he's not in any danger, then why’d he pass out?"

"Ah..." The Mad Doctor held up a finger. "That, my friend, is actually quite simple. With his... ahem... small stature, the mental and physical strain would be great, especially if he panicked. In this case, it merely became too much to handle."

"That's all?"

"That’s all." The Mad Doctor nodded, then yelped as Oswald suddenly grabbed ahold of his lab coat, pulling him down to his level and staring him straight in the eyes, his expression dead serious.

"So, you're sayin' the piece of Blot in him is harmless?"

"That’s correct."

Oswald's grip tightened. "And you're absolutely sure it's not dangerous?"

The Mad Doctor nodded. "But even if the danger is in his mind, it’s very real to him. What happened will only seem to prove it. Self-doubt is a hard thing to defeat, especially alone."

Oswald's gaze drifted over to Mickey. "I don't get it. He's the most successful toon in the world! How can he possibly doubt himself this much?!"

To his surprise, the Doctor only looked at him with a thoughtful expression that almost looked gentle. "Success didn't stop you from doubting yourself."

Oswald's eyes widened at those words, and he slowly let go of the Mad Doctor's coat as they sank in. The Doctor brushed the creases from his white lab coat before continuing.

"Forgiveness from others can be hard to earn, but the hardest one to earn it from is yourself." He shook his head. "And everything that's happened lately certainly wouldn't have helped. We should take care for his state of mind when he wakes."

Oswald gazed at the Mad Doctor for a few moments, still a bit surprised to hear such wise words coming from him, of all people. Oswald then let out a sigh and approached Mickey's unconscious form, shaking his head.

"I can't believe you're doin' this to yourself," he said quietly. "You're such an idiot."

Mickey whimpered as dark shadows hissed all around him, sending feverish chills through his body. The unintelligible but mocking voices made him shake with fear.

No, no... I'm not like that monster... I’m not...

With a gasp, his eyes flew open and he shot upright, only to be rewarded with a sharp ache in his head. Groaning, he closed his eyes again and rubbed it.

"Unh... my head..." A hand was placed on his shoulder, the sudden contact making Mickey jump. Instinctively, he pulled away and examined both arms with frantic eyes, looking for ink drops. "Wh-What's... Did I...?"

"Relax, everything's fine. Ya just passed out for a bit," Oswald assured him. "Listen, the Doc ran a few tests and he says ya got nothin' tah worry about."

Mickey looked up at him, confused now as well as scared. "But... you saw what I did. I controlled that thing! Just like..." He shivered at the memory, and grew even more scared by the ink drops that began rising again.

"Exactly! You controlled it t’ save me!"

Mickey stared at him, his mind spinning and hands trembling. Finally, he pulled his knees up to his chest and let out a long, weary sigh. "I barely remember it..."

Oswald stared at him; he'd never seen Mickey look so sad, so afraid. "Mickey, ya got nothin' to be afraid of, trust me."

Mickey's gaze moved back to the floor, his throat tightening as he hugged his legs. "It's me I don't trust."

"Mickey..."

"This whole mess is 'cause of me. Why should anyone trust me?"

"'Cause you're a good toon! C'mon, Mick, you're bein' too hard on yourself."

Mickey glanced at him, then looked off into the distance. "So many times, I... I want to ask Dad what I should do. How I can fix all this. No matter how bad things got, it seemed like he always just knew what to do." Tears glimmered in his eyes. "It's like, for one second I forget, and then I remember he's gone."

Oswald had to work to keep himself from tearing up as well. He knew that same feeling all too well. "Mickey... I know exactly what he'd say."

The mouse's dispirited eyes turned to him again, and Oswald gave him a sad smile. "He'd tell ya t’ stop doubtin' yourself so much. And then he'd tell ya a story of how everyone used to doubt him and how he'd never have made it if he let it get to him."

That finally brought a slight smile to Mickey's face. "Heh... yeah." Chuckling, he wiped his eyes. "Y'know, he used to say no matter how many people told him it wouldn't happen, he'd never give up."

Oswald nodded. "Yeah, and I know he'd want you to do the same. He'd tell ya it's never too late t’ try again."

Mickey's smile widened. Somehow, Oswald had a way of making him feel better in the same way that Walt used to. He let out a quiet sigh. "Thanks, Os."

The rabbit smiled back and gave him a light thump on the back of his head. "No problem. Someone's gotta keep that rock-hard head in line."

Mickey couldn't stop himself from smirking. "Hope I wasn't out too long... Oh, what about the generator?"

"Don't worry, I got it while you were takin' your little nap."

Mickey gave a slight chuckle. "Great, now the Doc can find the main power source."

Oswald nodded, glancing over at the Mad Doctor, who was absorbed in his work. "Hey, while he's workin' on that, how about we go grab some ice cream? My treat."

Mickey stood and cracked his back, then gave Oswald a hand up. "Sounds good to me." His old grin appeared. "I think we could both do with a break."

Oswald smiled and gave a wave to the Mad Doctor as they headed outside. "We'll be back in a bit, Doc!"

They then headed down a path through the grassy hills to Mean Street. Since Wasteland had been restored and it was such a short distance, the projectors weren't always needed for traveling. After a bit of walking, Oswald heard a soft sigh and looked to see that Mickey’s eyes had grown distant. He was smiling, but there was a strange sadness in it.

"Mickey," he said, making the mouse jump, much to his amusement. "Still a bit sleepy?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yeah..." Mickey gazed off into the distance, looking almost as if he were somewhere else. "It's just... me and… and Dad…" he said softly, "We used to do this all the time back home. Just walk, looking at everything, talking about what could happen next… "

"He did that with you too, huh?" Oswald said softly.

Mickey glanced over to see the rabbit gazing off into the distance with a very similar nostalgic look. "So that’s why…" he said quietly. Oswald looked at him with a confused look and Mickey began to explain. "Sometimes, he seemed sad. Like he was remembering something he missed a lot. When I asked, he said he was just thinking of things he couldn’t do before. I didn’t understand then, but now… I think it was you."

"Me...?" Oswald uttered in surprise, his ears perking up.

Mickey placed a hand on the rabbit’s shoulder and his smile grew a little wider. "Yeah," he said. "I think he missed you."

Oswald looked away. "I doubt it," he spoke in a soft, sad tone, his ears drooping a bit. "If he did, he wouldn't have forgotten me." His eyes became a bit glossy.

"No," Mickey said, an utter, almost fierce determination in his eyes, "He’d never forget. Never. I might not know a lot about what happened before me, but I know this much: He loved us, all of us, and I know that with all I got in me." A distant, sad smile crossed his face. "And I still feel it."

Oswald suddenly stopped, a bit of frustration beginning to boil up inside him. "Well, I don't," he grumbled.

Mickey immediately drew back his hand and stepped back, ink dripping upward rapidly from his body as his eyes grew dark with anger. "Don’t you dare say he didn’t care!"

"Why not? It's the truth!" Oswald shot back.

"YOU'RE WRONG!" Mickey's dripping ink surged, almost looking like bristled quills on his back. Without even thinking, he pulled out the brush and shot a blast of Thinner directly at the rabbit. Oswald cried out in pain as he was soaked in the acid-like substance, his body melting down into nothing more than a formless puddle.

As Mickey stared down at the puddle, the reality of what he had just done suddenly sunk in. He began trembling all over, his eyes stretched wide with shock and horror. His hands were shaking so hard, he barely managed to shoot some Paint in order to reconstruct Oswald.

The rabbit coughed, propping himself up by his arms as his body reformed.

"I... I..." Mickey backed away. "I didn't mean... I'm sorry..."

Oswald reached out toward him. "Mickey, I—"

"N-No!" The mouse stumbled back, away from Oswald. "Don't! S-Stay away from me!" Mickey's eyes darted around, panic blurring his mind so completely he couldn't think. Whirling around, he took off down the path. All he could think was that he had to get away from here... he couldn't hurt anyone else.

"Mickey, wait! Where're ya goin'?!" Oswald stumbled to his feet and took off after him. Mickey whirled around, and Oswald found himself knocked to the ground by a faceful of Paint. When he scrubbed off his eyes and looked up, Mickey was gone.

Next

Previous

Oswald glanced up from his remote and nodded. "Tell me about it." He sighed. "Wasteland just can’t seem t’ catch a break."

Not since I showed up. Mickey barely kept himself from saying the words out loud. Opening that can of worms right now was definitely a bad idea. "Yeah."

To his dismay, he hadn't quite managed to disguise the catch in his voice. Oswald gave him a curious look, but thankfully his remote suddenly beeped.

"Error?" Oswald smacked the side of the remote several times, groaning slightly in annoyance. "Ugh... the signal's jammed; I can't get a readin'. Somethin' must be interferin' with it."

Mickey frowned, despite his slight relief at the distraction. "Really? S' there any way to find out where it's comin' from?"

Before Oswald could reply, Gus suddenly warped in. "Ah, there you two are! There's some problems in Gremlin Village. Broadcast systems aren't working, communications are down, and no one can figure out why."

"I can't get a signal either," Oswald informed Gus, showing him the remote's error screen. "There's somethin' awful fishy goin' on around here. Somethin's gotta be blockin' the signal... but what?" He folded his arms in thought.

Mickey cleared his throat. "Maybe we ought t' head to Gremlin Village n' see if we can find out more. Someone's bound t' know somethin'."

"That's what I'm thinkin'. C'mon, let's go," Oswald declared, leading the way up Mean Street to the train station, where the projector to Gremlin Village sat.

When they arrived in Gremlin Village, it was bustling with even more noise and activity than usual. Gremlins darted and teleported all about the village, checking many different utilities and systems as they attempted to find the source of the communications failure. The trio glanced all around as they walked into the village, overwhelmed with all that was going on at once.

"This is sure quite the ruckus," Mickey commented.

Oswald nodded. "With how hard they're workin', ya'd think they'd have found the issue by now." He pulled out his remote again and tested it. "Still no signal, no radar, no nothin'." He hit the side of the remote a few times, trying to get it to work. "Ya know what, signals don't just jam themselves." He pointed at Mickey. "Either one of your vintage radios landed around here, or someone messed with the communications on purpose."

Mickey looked around at the activity, a dry smirk on his face. "I'm willin' to bet it's the second one... whoever set up those generators prob'ly knows one of 'em's zapped."

Oswald nodded as he pocketed his remote. "And if whoever it is has the know-how to work with the Doc's designs, whatever's doin' the jammin's not gonna be easy to find."

Just then, a loud electrical zap came from inside a nearby house, and the two barely ducked in time as a sparking gremlin shot overhead. "YIIII!!" His flight finally slowed and he righted himself, still jittering with electric sparks. "N-N-Negative on crossing the blue wires..."

"Ratchet!" Gus exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

The gremlin nodded in response as he headed back toward the house.

"Should've named him 'Gremlin Sparks' instead," Mickey whispered to Oswald, who gave a small chuckle in response as they headed over to the house to investigate. Peeking inside, they could see many exposed wires poking out from the walls and hanging from the ceiling, sparking and crackling.

Gus let out an irritated sigh. "Ratchet, you know you're supposed to switch off the power before messing with the wires."

The other Gremlin looked at him with confusion. "But h-how else will I know if they're working properly?"

The trio of toons glanced at each other and simply shrugged to one another. Couldn't argue with that kind of logic.

"Well, uh, any chance you've figured anything out?" Oswald asked

Ratchet's eyes twitched a bit. "I can't... mm... do much with the systems jammed, but odds are, the source is up high where the broadcast would be stronger. S-Somewhere we can't access."

Mickey put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm, places Gremlins can't get to..."

"Just be careful, Ratchet!" Gus called as they walked away.

"W-Will do, S-S-Sir..." Pzzzzzzzzt!  Another loud zap followed the Gremlin's words. The group shook their heads at each other before moving further on into the village.

"My guess would be the Windmill," Gus mused, stroking his chin. "But... that's the first place everyone looked. You can still get up there without the projectors."

Oswald frowned. "Well, there's gotta be some clue around here. What're some of the last places anyone here would go?"

Gus thought for a minute. "Well, there's the spot where Small Pete parks his boat... but the Thinner still isn't drained all the way. Getting there on foot is still dangerous."

Oswald and Mickey looked at each other, and each knew they were thinking the same thing.

"Danger is our specialty," Oswald said casually, folding his arms behind his head.

"All in a day's work," Mickey added, a half smirk on his face.

Gus sighed and clapped his hands once. "Right, then. I'll help you find the best way."

The group headed toward the Thinner Falls on the far side of Gremlin Village. Even though the Thinner had drained in this area, the gremlins were still debating over a new name for the falls.

"There's an inlet up the river," Gus explained. "It's deep and the current doesn't affect it much, so the Thinner still hasn't drained. Small Pete says he anchors there so people won't snoop in his things."

Mickey wrinkled his nose. "Considering what’s in that journal of his, I dunno why anyone’d want to."

Oswald raised his brow as he looked at the mouse. "You read his journal?"

Mickey coughed and waved a hand. "Long story."

They headed up the trail and soon came to the lake of Thinner. There was no bridge or path to be seen, only the various objects floating in the Thinner.

Oswald shot a smirk at Mickey. "I hope you're good at hopscotch."

Mickey returned the smirk. "Sure am."

"Good, because your life depends on it!" Oswald said with a laugh as he leapt across the first few objects with ease.

Mickey gulped as he approached the Thinner, but gathered his courage and made the first few hops across. Once Mickey was caught up, Oswald continued on ahead. They continued hopping across the trail of objects, being very careful to avoid any unstable-looking platforms. At one point, Mickey wobbled and lost his balance, letting out a yelp as he fell backwards toward the Thinner. However, Oswald was quick to leap over and grab him in time, hauling him back up to safety.

"Phew... thanks."

"I told ya tah be careful." Oswald almost seemed to be scolding him.

Mickey rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Heh, right."

They hopped the rest of the way, moving a little slower; Mickey to avoid another slip and Oswald to keep a subtle eye on him. Once they got on the steamboat, Mickey checked the door leading into the cabin.

"Locked. Guess Small Pete's smarter'n he looks."

Oswald grinned and stepped forward, detaching an ear. "Okay, step back n' let the expert handle this."

Mickey stepped aside and watched curiously as Oswald stuck his ear into the lock, moving it around until there was a sudden click!

Seeing the mouse's surprised look, Oswald shot him a proud smirk. "I have many hidden talents." He then opened the door and stood beside it. "Ladies first."

Mickey gave him an annoyed look and walked inside, giving Oswald a playful punch in the shoulder on the way by. Oswald laughed and followed him, shutting the door behind them.

"Maybe we should try the logbook first," Mickey said. "Even if Small Pete's smarter than he looks, that's still not much. We can at least figure out where he's been recently."

"Forget the logbook, where's his journal? I gotta see all the juicy stuff you found in there!" Oswald grinned mischievously as he dug through some drawers.

Mickey glanced at him with a smirk. "If you insist... but I think you're gonna regret it."

"Aha!" Oswald pulled a small journal out of one of the drawers. "Now what've we got here..." He began flipping through the pages, looking bored at some and disgusted at others. "Yeesh, when did he get so mushy?" he mumbled as he flipped through a few more pages. "Oh! Look at this!" He held the journal out in front of Mickey, snorting with amusement. "This is from the time I put a bee's nest on his seat! It says here he couldn't sit for weeks and when he ran out of ice, he had to put cold pickle jars down his pants!"

Mickey laughed as he looked through a drawer, wrinkling his nose at the thought. "No wonder he smells like vinegar." Then, with a victorious flourish, the mouse pulled out a thick book. "Aha! Logbook! Alright, Small Pete, let's see where you've been." He flipped open the pages and began looking at the most recent entries, his brow furrowing. "Has Pete visited Gremlin Village twice a day before?"

Oswald looked up from the journal. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Look." Mickey held out the logbook. "It says here that he's been going there twice every day for the past week."

Oswald gave a shrug. "I don't really keep track of his visits, but that does seem a bit odd, considerin' he doesn't have the best relations with the gremlins." He took the logbook from Mickey and began flipping the pages back to earlier entries. "Hmm... it looks like he was only visitin' a couple times a week, up until this one. What's he up to?"

Mickey shook his head, frowning in thought. "I dunno, but I guess this means we better head back and ask around."

Gus, who had been listening nearby, fluttered forward. "No need for that. I can go ask the others and be back in a jiffy!"

Oswald nodded. "Good idea, Gus. We'll keep looking for anything here."

The gremlin saluted and teleported off. Mickey began pacing across the cabin, thinking, and Oswald went back to flipping through the journal.

After a while, Oswald spoke up. "Strange. A few weeks ago, he started makin' lists of materials in here. Scrap metal, cogs, springs, wires... Is this for somethin' mechanical?"

Mickey stopped pacing for a moment. "Maybe... but what if he was just makin' repairs to his ship?"

Oswald scanned through the material lists again, slowly shaking his head. "I dunno, these don't look like ship parts to me."

A frown creased Mickey's brow as he walked over, looking at the entry over Oswald's shoulder. As he scanned the page, his eyes widened a little. "Os... this looks like it's for something big."

The rabbit nodded, a similar frown on his face. "And whatever it is, I know I haven't heard 'bout it. The repairs from the quakes are almost done... none of the areas around here would need this much."

Mickey sighed and began resuming his pacing. "Yeah... the only place that's still a pretty big mess is the castle, but that's closed off." He hesitated again, his frown growing more troubled. "I don't know why, but I got a bad feelin' about this."

"It's Pete; whaddya expect?" Oswald teased. Mickey glanced at him, but only a slight smile crossed his face before it became distant again. Oswald was about to reply when Gus suddenly reappeared in the ship's cabin.

"Reporting back!" Gus announced. "I've spoken to several other gremlins, and they told me something rather odd. Most of them do remember seeing Small Pete a lot lately, but they're all positive that he never anchored. It was as if he simply passed through on his way somewhere else."

"Aha! We've got him now! Shoulda known a rotten ol' Pete would be behind this!" Oswald gestured excitedly with a grin of determination. "Now which way did they see him headed?"

"Well, he was always on the waterway that leads to the Boat Ride," Gus replied. "Everyone figured he was just messing around with the machinery again, so no one thought to ask exactly where."

Mickey shrugged, a slight grin on his face. "Well, 'exactly where's' too easy anyway."

Oswald made a beckoning motion with his hand. "C'mon, let's go check things out!" He exited the ship and hopped back over to the shore, then began walking along the path that led into the Boat Ride.

Mickey followed close behind, jumping carefully across the Thinner before hurrying to catch up with the rabbit.

"Hey, you know that dragon? The one over in the Asian Boat Ride?"

Oswald glanced back at him. "Yeah?"

Mickey shrugged. "It's sure not an easy place t' get to. I'm not sure a lot of people even know how to get there. If I was gonna hide something, I'd find a place like that."

"Alright, we'll check there first." Oswald lifted a ring of keys from his pocket and unlocked a door beside the boat entrance. "We can take a shortcut through these maintenance corridors."

"Huh. Wish I knew those were here," Mickey muttered.

Oswald snickered, twirling the key ring around his finger. "Wouldn't matter if ya did. Ya wouldn't have been able tah get into 'em without me."

Mickey smirked. "Hey, I know how to get places without keys."

Oswald’s grin widened as he repocketed the keys. "Well, Mr. Hotshot, ya can't always get by on your charm alone."

"Look who's talkin'," Mickey shot back. He glanced around as they entered the narrow room. "This kinda reminds me of home. All the crazy machinery in the back takes up about as much room as the ride."

"Glad my duplicatin' skills are up t’ par. I built it from one of the blueprints they discarded—with a few modifications." He climbed up a ladder and headed through a door that led to a catwalk over part of the ride. The outside of the catwalk was decorated to blend in with the rest of the ride.

"Whoa, handy!" Mickey moved over to the side of the catwalk, looking down. "How'd ya do all this, anyway?"

Oswald grinned as he continued on, hands in his pockets. "You're not th' only one with construction experience."

"Oh, yeah!" Mickey hurried to catch up. "I saw that film in the Cinema the other day. Sure brought back memories!"

Oswald was about to answer when something caught his eye. He walked over and picked up a large wrench that was lying in the middle of the catwalk. "Weird. This shouldn't be here."

Mickey moved over for a closer look, frowning in thought. "There hasn't been any maintenance or anything?"

Oswald shook his head. "No, and even if there was, this wrench is way too big for a gremlin."

"Well, I think I know who it's NOT too big for," Mickey replied. "I'd say it was too obvious a clue, but it is a Pete we're talkin' about here."

"Yeah, I bet the clumsy doofus came right through here." Oswald continued walking and headed through the door on the other side of the catwalk, which led into the Asia room. "It's gotta be in here somewhere."

Mickey smiled as he looked around. "I know we're on the job and all, but it's nice seein' this place fixed up."

"Sounds like you need a new tour of Wasteland. Ya really caught us at a bad time before." Oswald rubbed his neck, looking slightly embarrassed. "Gosh, ya must think Wasteland's supposed tah look like a regular dump!"

"Oh, no!" Mickey shook his head. "Even when I first got here, I could tell it wasn't supposed t' be like that."

Oswald glanced at him, a little surprised. "Really?"

Mickey nodded. "I'm not sure how t' explain it, though... it was just a feeling I had." Suddenly, the mouse groaned in frustration. "Oh, great..."

"What?"

Mickey shook his head and pointed at one of the houses. "One of the levers for the dragon's gone. Looks like it was pulled off... it's a good bet th' other one's gone too." He crossed his arms. "Probably means that's where this jammer is, but now we gotta figure out a new way t' get up there."

Oswald smirked and rolled his eyes. "Oh, is that all? Who needs levers?" Then, without warning, he snatched Mickey up, tossing him over his shoulder like a potato sack as he leapt from the platform.

"Hey!" Mickey yelped as Oswald glided across to the other side, unceremoniously dropping the mouse beside him as he landed.

"You're welcome."

"Oof!" Mickey gave a grunt as he landed on his back, shooting a glare at Oswald. He then picked himself up, smirking as he gave Oswald a playful shove. "Do ya always have an answer for everything?!"

Oswald laughed. "Mostly."

Mickey chuckled as he dusted himself off. "Well, guess we better start lookin' around."

"I'll say. I wanna see what he's been messin' around with." Oswald began looking around the area around the projector. "There's gotta be somethin' hidden around here..." He began checking the walls and floors, searching for anything out of the ordinary.

"Hey, look here."

At the sound of Mickey's voice, Oswald turned to see the mouse kneeling and examining a spot on the ground. "What's up?" he asked, walking over.

"Look." Mickey motioned with his hand. "See those marks on the ground?"

Oswald bent down to get a better look. As Mickey had said, two scuff marks stood out against the floor. "Looks like a ladder." Oswald then glanced upward. "Hey, look at that!" He pointed at a square-shaped indent in the ceiling, which had been sloppily Painted over to match the rest of the ceiling.

"A trap door?" Mickey asked, standing back up.

"Looks like it, but I don't see any way to reach it," Oswald replied.

"Hmm... how about this?" Mickey tossed out an anvil sketch, then shot it with Paint. A giant toon anvil slammed into the ground beside them, shaking the ground.

Oswald startled as it narrowly missed his toes. "Geez, watch where ya toss those things!"

"Sorry," Mickey replied with a sheepish chuckle.

Oswald hopped atop the anvil and reached upwards. "Agh! It's still too far! Give me a hand here!"

Mickey jumped up beside him and bent over, letting Oswald step onto his shoulders, then stood up again. Oswald then reached upwards and pressed on the ceiling. He could feel the tile shift, but something was blocking it. He felt around the ceiling until he finally found a latch.

"Aha!" he said as he unlatched it. The panel swung downwards, bringing a ladder along with it, which came down and bonked Oswald on the head, causing him to come crashing down on top of Mickey.

"Oswald! Are ya okay?" Mickey asked in concern as he propped the rabbit up.

Oswald shook the stars out of his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. C'mon, let's go." He got up and began climbing the ladder, Mickey following close behind him.

They emerged into a small, dark room. Springs and gears of various sizes were littered across the floor and piled in corners, dusty and covered with spider webs.

"Huh." Mickey looked around. "Wonder how long this's been here."

"Look!" Oswald pointed to a whirring machine in the corner covered with flickering lights. "This must be the signal blocker!" He headed over to it and began fiddling with the controls in the dim light. "Agh, shut down's been disabled, of course." He pulled out his remote. "I'm gonna try hackin' into it."

He pressed a few small buttons on his remote and turned the dial, then repeated the process several times. His remote beeped and flashed an error message. He hit the side of his remote in frustration and tried once more, only for the same error message to appear again. He let out a sigh, then glanced up at Mickey. "Hey, see if you can get that panel open." He pointed to a section of the machine.

"On it!" Mickey pulled out his brush and melted the side of the panel with Thinner, then knelt down and peered inside. "Okay, it's open. Now what?"

Not looking away from his remote, Oswald called out a reply. "Now find the C sub-panel with the circuit board labelled M56 and reroute the pins to outputs 89 and 90."

"What?" Mickey asked, studying the mass of wires and circuits inside the machine. "Uh, maybe you should do this."

"I would, but I have to transmit these signals at the same time. This machine's real hi-tech. It can detect the slightest changes and readapt its security measures. We gotta be quick about this."

Mickey took a deep breath and released it. "Okay... what was that first thing again?"

Oswald glanced up, speaking more slowly. "C sub-panel, circuit board M56."

Mickey scanned the circuitry, his hand hovering just away from the wires. Finally, he spotted the panel. "Bingo. Okay, now what?"

"Alright, you should see two small pins with blue rings and wires attached to 'em?"

Mickey squinted, then nodded. "Yep."

"Okay, pull out the first one and plug it back into the output labeled 89. Then plug the second one into output 90."

Mickey reached to pull out the nearest pin, then stopped. "Wait, how do I know which one goes where?"

"It doesn't matter. Just as long as there's pins going to those outputs, it'll work."

"Okay." Mickey reached again and yanked out one pin, then carefully stuck into the 89 output slot. After repeating the same with the other pin, he looked up. "Done!"

Oswald finished pushing some buttons on his remote and there was a ding of confirmation. "Got it! I'm in! Now to access the motherboard..." He turned the dial back and forth. "And initiate emergency shutdown!"

Suddenly, the machine's whirring grew quieter, its lights dimming until the whole machine had powered down, leaving the room pitch dark and silent.

"Ha!" Mickey whooped. "See how they like THAT!" Turning, he moved forward in the dark.

"Now, we just gotta get back to Gremlin Village."

"Right." Oswald replied, heading back toward the trapdoor panel, which, aside from his remote, was now the only light source in the room. "As for the machine, I'll have the gremlins disassemble it. That way they can't turn it back on again."

"Better put a watch on supplies too," Mickey said, "in case they try to make another one."

"Right," Oswald agreed as they reached the opening in the floor, which emitted a dim light. Oswald glanced down. "Hey, what's that?"

"What?" Mickey asked.

"That!" Oswald said, pointing down through the opening.

Mickey came to stand beside him, looking down. "I don't see any—AHH!" He suddenly felt a shove and was sent tumbling down through the hole. He flailed helplessly in midair until he suddenly felt something grab him. He looked up to see Oswald hovering with his ears, flashing a mischievous smirk as he carried him safely down onto the ground.

When they reached the ground, Mickey gave Oswald a hard shove. "You jerk! That wasn't funny!"

"Haha! You should've seen your face!" Oswald laughed.

Mickey glared, despite the smirk tugging at his mouth. "Well, laugh all ya want, pal, 'cause I'll get ya for that."

Oswald laughed even harder, unfazed by the threat. "Ooh, I'm so scared!"

At that moment, Gus teleported in, raising a brow as he glanced between them with a knowing look. "Well, it seems you've done the trick!" he said. "All electronic functions in Gremlin Village have been restored, and it seems everything beyond is back to normal as well."

"All right!" Oswald pumped his fist. Grinning, he pulled out his remote and punched a few buttons. "Swell, it's workin' again. Now we can get back to the main job."

Mickey nodded and headed for the exit. Oswald started to follow him, then stopped and turned to Gus.

"Oh, and Gus, you'll find the signal jammer up through that hatch," he said, pointing. "Get the others and make sure it's disassembled. Also, tell everyone to keep a strict inventory on supplies."

"Right away!" Gus saluted and teleported off again while Oswald trotted to catch up with Mickey.

"Well, hopefully that'll keep us from havin' any more problems for a while."

Mickey nodded as they headed for the exit to the ride. "Right," he said. "Then we can take the rest of those generators down and figure out who's behind this. Then maybe all this mess will finally be over."

"Yep!" Oswald agreed.

Suddenly, Mickey released a heavy sigh and gazed at the ground. "I don't know, Os. To tell ya the truth, sometimes I... I just think..."

Concerned now, Oswald looked at the mouse a little closer. "What?"

The mouse glanced at him, then sighed. "Well, I guess I just..."

Oswald frowned in concern as he waited, but then the ghost of a grin flickered across Mickey's face. Before the rabbit could ask any questions, a blast of Paint hit him in the face. Knocked backward by the force, he landed with a grunt on his backside as Mickey burst out laughing.

"I was just thinkin' that would serve ya right!"

"Oh, that was just plain dirty, Mickey!" Oswald said with a glare, wiping the Paint off his face.

"And shovin' me off a ledge wasn't?"

A small smirk tugged at the rabbit's lips as he stood back up. "Touché." He balled some of the Paint up in his fist, then shot his hand out and rubbed it across Mickey's face.

The mouse shook his head, sputtering. "In the interests of bein’ a good sport, I won’t get ya back for that."

"More like in the interest of bein' a total wimp," Oswald teased, sticking his tongue out. Mickey stuck his own tongue out in response.

"Whatever. Just don't forget, Mr. Tough Guy, I've seen you do some less than impressive things yourself."

"Yeah? Like what?" Oswald challenged.

Mickey raised his brow, a sly grin crossing his face. "I have yet to tell the kids that story about the ghost at the Lonesome Manor."

His face turning red, Oswald snatched Mickey by the imaginary collar.

"Don't you dare! That was a dirty trick n' I..." Gus suddenly teleported in before he could finish, and Oswald immediately dropped the mouse, trying to look innocent.

"Everyone's been informed, and there's now a close watch instated on supplies. Anything goes missing, someone will know."

"Ah, great. Good work," Oswald responded. "Guess we'd better get to work finding the next generator!" He pulled out his remote and pretended to study it as he headed out.

Gus glanced over at Mickey as they followed after him. "Dare I ask what that was about?"

Mickey gave the gremlin a cheeky grin. "Just cashin' in some insurance."

Gus nodded, the slight confusion vanishing from his face. "Ah."

Next

Previous