A night club on downtown main street of the toon district of Burbank California. The club is a bustle of frantic energy as the employees prepare to open up. A small rabbit and even shorter mouse are discussing new plans. "I'm telling ya Mickey! You can't keep on with the House of Mouse! I'm co-hosting so I think we should rename this place so its fitting for the both of us!" the rabbit said in a soft friendly voice. "Well gosh Oswald that sounds great but uh-we can't change the name now! The show will be starting in fifteen minutes" squeaked the mouse. "Well yeah not now I mean something like a name change takes at least a day or two. But I've already got some new name ideas!" Oswald said happily "what kind of names?" Mickey squeaked. "How about Toon Town Plaza?" Oswald suggested "I think that's already taken" replied Mickey. "Well what about House of Oz?" offered Oswald "how is that benefiting the BOTH of us?" Mickey asked "it isn't" smiled Oswald. "Ten minutes to go guys!" squeaked a girl's voice and a female mouse the same height as Mickey started to shove the two hosts out on stage. "Wait! Where's Fran?" Oswald asked "Fran?" he called out "Yes?" said a bubbly girly voice and a small rabbit the same height as Oswald came to him and started straightening his shirt. Oswald was wearing dark blue pants and a red shirt with the sleeves jaggedly cut. "I don't know why you insist on wearing this old rag! There's a very nice casual suit for you in your dressing room!" Fran said with a sigh. "You mean like the one Mickey's wearing? No thank you!" laughed Oswald. Mickey was wearing a white button up shirt with the top button loose and a black jacket and matching pants in all honesty it wasn't a bad look and Oswald would have been glad to wear it if Mickey hadn't worn it first. "Say Fran. Where are the kids?" Oswald asked "Oh they're in the kitchen helping Goofy and the penguins" Fran said casually and she gave Oswald one last check then kissed and hugged him to wish him luck. Oswald blushed slightly then rushed out to the stage followed closely by Mickey.
"Thanks again for letting me bring my kids to the club tonight me and Fran really appreciate it." Oswald thanked "Ah it's not a problem but uh-you are going to get a baby-sitter for next week right?" asked Mickey edgily "I'm trying now! But not a lot of babysitters are willing to take care of seven hundred forty eight children. Especially with the minimum wage pay!" Oswald groaned "Minimum wage?" Mickey asked in awe at Oswald's apparent cheapness. "I'd offer more if I could but my pay isn't as big as it could be! Jessie and Hannah and Ozzie jr. are still in diapers and Ozzie started teething so he's putting whatever he can fit in his mouth and constantly crying! The combination of food diapers and medicine for Julie who recently caught the chicken pox-" "chicken pox!" Mickey interrupted warily "don't worry she's at home alone…I figured she's 16 and way too sick to try anything stupid. She's the only one sick and I can't afford any of the other kids getting sick so I have to isolate her from everyone." Oswald sighed sadly. "Gosh! I'm sorry but the landlord hiked up the price of the rent so everyone's pay had to be cut and I already had to fire some of the kitchen staff." Mickey sighed. "DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!" cried four small bunny children "Hey kids! How do you like the club so far?" asked Oswald as he picked up the two younger children and the two older kids started pulling at each others ears "Hey! What are you two fighting about this time?" Oswald asked tiredly "Mark won't share the chocolate bar!" cried one "It's MINE!" cried Mark "Where did you get a chocolate bar?" asked Oswald "Max gave it to me" replied Mark "He gave it to the both of us!" cried the little rabbit to his brother "wait! Who's Max?" Oswald asked suspiciously "he's a big kid who was in the kitchen talking to Mr. Goof" Mark answered "You got candy from a stranger? Didn't mommy and I tell you not to do that?" Oswald asked his kids frustratingly "Don't get mad at them Oswald! I should have introduced you to the whole staff. Max is Goofy's son he works here as the clubs valet" Mickey said quickly "Can I trust this kid? How old is he anyway?" Oswald asked curiously "He's 18 so he's technically an adult" Mickey answered casually "Daddy! Tell Mark to share the chocolate bar!" the angry child whined "Daddy! Tell Goober it's MY candy!" Mark complained. "I told you to stop calling your brother that name! It's Garrett! Let me see the chocolate and I'll help you split it evenly so you both get an equal part okay?" suggested Oswald who now let the two younger children swing back and forth on his ears. "Okay" Mark agreed reluctantly and he gave his father the chocolate bar. Without unwrapping the bar Oswald snapped it cleanly in half and gave one half to Garrett and the other half to Mark "Thank you Daddy!" they both said happily in unison.
"Now live from main street! You know him! The happiest mouse on earth! Mickey Mouse!" screamed the announcer microphone. Mickey charged onto the front of the stage and laughed "Thanks Mike! Hey folks I got a real surprise for ya! I got a new co host please give a round of applause to my brother and partner OSWALD!" immediately there was a roar of cheers and whistles and claps as Oswald made his way onto the stage his two children now sleeping while holding onto his ears still. Once he made it to the spotlight he grabbed the two sleeping toddlers and they immediately let go of his ears and clung to his shirt and yawned in unison. "Awwwww!" the audience cooed as Oswald rocked his sleeping children then Oswald stopped and looked at all the eyes on him and waved hello with his free hand. "Hey Oswald! You wanna announce the first cartoon?" Mickey asked and Oswald nodded and coughed "Ladies and gentlemen! I'm pleased to announce the first cartoon of our evening. It's a story that will have you in tears of laughter and happiness starring me and my brother Mickey!" he said quietly and classily. The audience was stunned into silence then one in the back screamed "He TALKED?" there were whispers that greeted that scream. For a moment Oswald was worried he messed up hosting on his first day but then there were loud cheers and screams "WHOO OSWALD! FINALLY" the small tots in Oswald's arms stirred and stretched tiredly then they climbed up Oswald's arms and onto his head one yawned and fell asleep again while the other clung to her father's ear and started sucking her thumb. "Awwwww!" cooed the audience again and Oswald bowed and walked off the stage to tuck his children into bed. He stopped in the kitchen and found several wagons in the corner and connected them all like a train and dragged them to his other children who were all helping Goofy make a gigantic sundae. When the kids saw their father they squealed in delight "DADDY!" "Hey kids! Anyone wanna ride the bed train?" Oswald asked "no!" they all said in unison "Goofy? Anyone of these kids giving you a hard time?" Oswald asked turning his attention to a tall dog with a stupid grin on his face "Not at all! With their help I can get the orders out faster than you can say heavens to Betsy!" Goofy said happily. "Okay if you say so I'm gonna take these two to bed then" Oswald said smiling "Bye Daddy" called the kids but before Oswald could leave he felt a light tug on his pant leg and looked down at a yawning infant who was trying to put Oswald's pants in his mouth "Oh no you don't Ozzie!" Oswald exclaimed laughing and he picked up his youngest and set him and the two tots on his head in the 'bed train' and carted them out of the kitchen. He was just about to enter the lobby when a small fox with one green eye and one dark blue inky eye barreled into Oswald knocking them both to the ground. "Hey watch where you're go-"Oswald began angrily but softened at the sight of the fox's face she looked as though she was about to cry! She helped Oswald to his feet and ran away without uttering a word. 'That's odd' Oswald thought and he noticed something on his hand. A large dark blue stain on his palm only to be ink or paint. It smelled odd to like wet dog and metal. He was about to continue on his way when he bumped into a tall horse in a dark blue jumpsuit "Sorry Oz! Hey you didn't happen to see a fox run out here did you" the horse asked quickly "crazy eye color?" Oswald asked "a-huh she stole the cartoons and ran off!" the horse nodded Oswald pointed out the direction the strange fox ran off to. "Great! Thanks!" said the horse and he ran off after the thief. Oswald now walked brusquely to the lobby and found Fran "Hey Fran do me a favor and tuck these little sleepers in. I have to stall the show!" Oswald said quickly "Okay Oswald" said Fran and she took the 'train' and Oswald rushed out on stage to the audiences impatience "Where's the cartoon?" someone shouted "We are having some…technical difficulties right now so instead lets get some live entertainment out here!" Oswald shouted and the crowd cheered. "Please welcome our live musical entertainment HDL!" Mickey shouted from behind and techno pop music started to play and three preteen ducks emerged onto the side of the stage and began dancing and singing. Oswald and Mickey rushed into the lobby and met up with the female mouse "Minnie what happened to the cartoon?" Mickey asked "Horace said some girl stole it and ran off" Oswald answered before Minnie could open her mouth. "What! What are we gonna do without cartoons?" Mickey asked worriedly "The live entertainment seems to be working out" Oswald said "well yes but aside from the music we only have main street gossip with Clarabelle. We can't afford to keep HDL for the whole night and Clarabelle is running out of gossip" Mickey complained then smiled slyly but Oswald didn't notice this and he frown in deep thought "Hey Oswald?" "Yes?" "Mind doing me a favor?" Mickey asked slyly Oswald looked at Mickey's sly smile and his eyes widened a little "Oh no! No I'm not doing it! Nonononononononono! Find another fool willing to risk it!" he said determinedly "You don't even know what it is yet!" Mickey accused then softened "come on! What could go wrong! This can be a defining moment for us! For you! Nothings going to go wrong! I promise." he urged his older brother. Oswald thought a bit and nodded seemingly aware of what he was agreeing to. The two brothers walked away discussing their plans and Minnie went to Mike and told him what to say as soon as HDL was finished singing. The band stopped and Mike announced "And now! Put your hands together for Mickey Mouse!" and Mickey ran out on stage. "Hiya folks! You'll never believe what happened to me just a few days ago! I-" Mickey was cut off by a loud CRASH thud thud thud BOOM. "Hang on! I'm going to go see what all that commotion is about" and he left.
The stage was quiet a bit then Oswald walked out on stage "BOY! Am I glad that guy's gone! Is it me or does anyone else here notice he's a bit on the cocky side? I mean who does he think he is?" Oswald said then he pulled down his ears and pulled out his tail sao that he looked similar to Mickey and proceeded to mock him "Everyone loves me!" he said in a fake high pitched voice "I'm so innocent and loveable no one can POSSIBLY hate me!" then he fixed his ears and tail and groaned "YEESH! Kittens are more butch than him! He's so innocent and cutesy it makes my teeth hurt!" a few people laughed "I'm serious! Just a few days ago I went to the dentist for a check up and the guy looks at me after the check up and says 'you've been talking to your brother again haven't you?' I say 'yeah why?' and he just sorta shakes his head and sighs and tells me that he could make enough money from my dental bills to pay for a vacation house in Honolulu!" more laughter and some applaud. "Anyone remember the old days? How we could throw punches at each other over some dame? Noone talked and body language was essential in a conversation?" Oswald asked the audience and the audience clapped and roared. "They don't even make jokes like they used to! I remember trying out for a show and I was using my usual silent bit! It was a scene from Sky Scrappers where its me and Pete (who is still in the job by the way but I'm not complaining) And we're sockin it to each other real good until the producer complains that it was 'too quiet and unsuitable for children' and he asked me if I could talk and I let my anger slip (which was building by the way from taking care of my many wonderful children…and people wonder why I'm so lucky!) And I clear my throat and say 'yeah I can say something! Fuck you! Hows that for something?' And he got furious with me and booted me out of the studio" the audience laughed and applauded immensely. Just then the fox stormed on stage and almost ran past Oswald but Oswald grabbed her tail and said "hold it! Where do you think you're going?" the fox made a noise that sounded like a bicycle bell "watch your mouth!" Oswald warned her. The fox made another noise like a car horn and she sounded angry and frightened. "Oh I see" Oswald nodded then he cleared his throat then made a noise like a slide whistle. They began to converse using body language and the noises they were making this language was the 'silent speak' very few toons knew how to speak it and those who did know stopped using it when they moved onto the vocal era. Oswald had to learn to find his voice in 1932 in order to find a job and socialize in the working world but he still spoke silently at home and with old friends until they moved on into the vocal era. Oswald let go of the fox's tail and pointed up at the control booth while making sounds like a very fast excited slide whistle the fox shook her head and sounded more like a bell that was slow and tired she looked as though she was going to cry. Oswald looked worried and sighed then an exclaimation point popped up above his head then he pointed at the fox and then at the audience frantically and excitedly while making the chirps of a whistle. The fox looked delighted then confused and embarrassed and scratched her head uncertainly then slowly nodded. The fox knelt down beside her bag and reached into it and pulled out five disks and gave them to Oswald then pulled out a giant sheet of paper and wrote the words 'I'm sorry' in ink so that everyone in the crowd could read it then she walked off stage.
"Now that we have that out of the way! If you'll excuse me folks I think it's time we get this show back on" Oswald said and he ran off stage with the disks. Horace and Mickey were discussing other plans when Oswald came up behind them and cleared his throat for them to acknowlege his presence. "Hey Oswald" Mickey said waving shortly to his brother "I have the cartoons guys" Oswald said happily holding out the disks. "Way to go Ozzie!" Horace exclaimed and he took the disks and went back to the control booth and the cartoons began. "How did you get them?" Mickey asked "I just asked her to give them back" Oswald shrugged "we've been chasing her all around the club telling her to stop but she didn't-" Mickey began but Oswald cut him off "she didn't understand you! She doesn't have a voice. She's poor and frightened she only stole the cartoons hoping she could sell them at a pawn shop for food money!" he explained "well I'm sure she wouldn't give them up so easily if she's that desperate for food!" Mickey commented "Correct! I had to give her a sort of job offer which reminds me. Where's Fran?" Oswald asked "up front with Minnie" Mickey said casually and Oswald walked up front and found Fran talking to Minnie and Daisy (a female duck at the front desk) "Hey Fran!" Oswald called "Hey! I hear the cartoons playing so you obviously found that thief!" Fran smiled "Yeah…about that. It turns out that she needs food money so she stole them so that she could sell them. So I-uh-offered the baby sitting job" Oswald said cautiously "how do we know we can trust her? She's obviously desperate enough to steal" Fran asked "Which is why we can trust her! She's only stealing because she can't get a job! She's poor and she's not gonna complain about the pay we give her!" Oswald argued "Wait a minute…Why can't she get a job?" Fran asked curiously "she hasn't found her voice yet" Oswald explained "oh the poor thing! She can't understand any of us?" Fran asked "She can understand me but that's just because I never forgot who I was before I found my voice unlike some I might mention" Oswald commented, annoyed. "I haven't forgot who I was either Mister! I'm honestly a little hurt that you would think for a second I forgot about the glory days!" Fran snapped "not you! I know you haven't forgotten I'm talking about the mouse!" Oswald snapped back "Oswald! He's moved on! I don't think he's forgotten about how he started either but he let go of the past like you should!" Fran said angrily "Fran! Not one ounce of him holds a single bit of humility! This stardom thing has been giving him an inflated ego! I would give anything to pop it and put him back in his place! He's not as loveable as everyone thinks he is!" Oswald fumed "and you weren't like this! When you were the star of Disney I distinctly remember you having a balloon of an ego too! I guess it runs in the family!" Fran argued heatedly "we may have been created by Walt! Hell! We may even have the same heart! But that rat is no brother of mine! He was created to replace me Fran! I only had the spotlight for a few months! But then I was tossed aside to make room for the mouse! He made everyone forget me! Mickey had the spotlight for eighty three years while we were left out of the job praying and hoping that today was going to be the day! That people may remember us and we could have enough money to feed and clothe the kids! I'm tired of being in his shadow Fran!" Oswald said hotly. "He gave you half of his heart so you could come back!" Fran argued "It was MY heart to begin with!" Oswald retorted. "Point being he gave you a chance to be back in the spotlight! Don't let your grudge towards him and his cocky attitude screw it up or you'll never forgive yourself!" Fran said trying to sound encouraging. "Yeah I know" Oswald sighed. "Now I think you better get ready to head back on stage and introduce the next cartoon. I'll handle the baby-sitter applicant" Fran said pushing Oswald near the stage entrance. "Can you understand her language?" Oswald asked. Fran then sounded something like a piccolo. "Alright!" Oswald exclaimed happily and he rushed out on stage to a cheering crowd.