The Only Family You Have Left

By: Tesla2251

Mickey felt exhausted. His body still hurt from being kicked off the top of a building by a Seer and blasted by a Spladoosh. But he had been able to dose the remaining Blotlings with paint and turn them good before anymore serious damage could be done. As he climbed the stairs, he could hear the tapping of Oswald's foot on the concrete.

" Really, Mouse. You got to stop playing around. I've been waiting here for months," said the white and black rabbit as Mickey walked up the steps. Mickey had come back to the Wasteland to help repair some of the damage caused by the Shadow Blot. But even after destroying the Shadow Blot and saving both their worlds, Oswald still hated Mickey even though they had made a very uneasy truce.

" Thanks for your concern. I nearly died in thinner, Os!"Mickey exclaimed at the rabbit.

" Like I care," muttered Oswald. Mickey had had it. Enough was enough.

" I've had enough, Oswald. Why do you hate me? Why? Answer me!" Mickey yelled.

Oswald wheeled around quickly, probably meaning to clobber Mickey in the face(who moved), and screamed," CAUSE YOU STOLE MY ENTIRE LIFE FROM ME!"

Mickey growled lowly at him, his body bubbling from his anger. Oswald felt a little frightened, Mickey looked angerier than ever, cause when ever his anger was this great, the bit of Blot in his toon body reacted. He kept his eyes on the brush, just in case Mickey decided to turn it on him. The brush stayed pointed at the ground.

" I never stole anything from you. Tell me, Oswald; how do you think I became so popular?" Mickey growled.

Oswald scowled angrily," Dad made you perfect. He abandoned me, cause I was nothing more than a prototype for you." Mickey glared menicingly at him.

" Don't you dare put Walt down," he growled," I was never perfect. When I was created, I knew nothing about acting. Every day on the set, when Dad drew me, I was frightened I'd mess up. It took almost a whole day to get me out of the ink bottle before each animating period. Every day I asked Walt to draw me a brother. Someone who could help me. Or draw me with one of his older characters. He seemed to tear up a little when ever I mentioned it. He just told me I was his first character and he could not help. I wondered why he always seemed so deeply saddened when I said it. I soon found out."

Mickey seemed to weaken alittle, but kept his tone strong as he said," When he was in the hospital, he told me about you. He called you, my brother."

Oswald, momentarilly stunned, shouted," YOU AND I ARE NOTHING ALIKE!"

" I said the same thing when he showed me a sketch of you," Mickey said, continuing, his voice raising in volume, " But he told me that he based me off of you, cause he never stopped remembering you. You want to know how I got popular? I had to work my tail off to get where I am today, Oswald. I don't take pleasure in what happened to you, Ortensia, or anyone else here. When I started out in cartoons, I was frightened about making mistakes! You think I was drawn popular? Did you honestly think I was that shallow and perfect? I was young and had NO ONE to go to for help! But, do you know what the worst part of it all WAS!"

Oswald backed down alittle as Mickey added, in a deeply depressed tone," All I wanted was a brother to help me. Some one to look out for me. Anyone."

If he had a heart, it would have melted as Mickey's words seeped in. Oswald had once thought Mickey blind with fame, that he could care less of other characters that had preceeded him. What he heard next would have killed him if he was of flesh and blood.

" Dad died on December 15th, 1966, Oswald. His death made me forget my unknown brother," Mickey sobbed.

" No. Dad can't be dead. It hasn't been that long, he can't be! You're wrong! You have to be!" Oswald cried. Mickey slowly shook his head.

" He is, Oswald. It hurts me as much as it does you. Before his death, I tried to find you. I wanted to talk to you, to tell you about Dad's condition, to maybe bring you back to the show. I looked everywhere in the film archives but found nothing. Oswald, whether you like me at all doesn't matter, but understand this: your the only family I have left. If I had known you had been existing here all this time, I would have tried everything to get to you. I would have asked Yen Sid to allow me to see you if I had known he put you and all the other forgotten characters here!" Mickey shouted.

Oswald felt his whole body go cold. The space where his heart was felt like it was being clamped down on by a vice. His dad was not coming to save him, to revive him. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He didn't want to admit it, but he hadn't thought about his dad for so long. He had put Walt out of his mind, spending his days watching Mickey Mouse merchandise fall from the sky and land in a pile. He then remembered that this mouse hadn't stolen his life, his life had been stolen by someone else.

" Dad? Why can't I go with you?" asked Oswald.

" I am sorry, son. But...I can't do anything." The man sighed, tears in his eyes.

" But, Dad why? I don't want to leave you." Walt said nothing." Do I mean so little to you, Dad? Is it so easy to give me away that...it would be easier to let me go?" Walt reached down and picked up the little rabbit.

" I would never do that, Oswald. I'm your dad. I'd never give you away, even if someone was going to pay a fortune," he said, giving the black and white rabbit a hug.

Then he sighed," But, Oswald, understand please. The laws of the country says that Mintz owns you, not me. If I was to continue to draw you, I'd be thrown in jail and fined a great sum of money. One that could not be covered by my familys savings."

" I wouldn't want you to get in trouble, Dad," Oswald said, sadly.

"I know you wouldn't," he smiled. He gave the rabbit another hug before sitting him back down on the floor. Suddenly, the door opened, and in stepped a tall figure. Mintz.

" Come with me, little rabbit. We have cartoons to make."

" NO! I WANT TO STAY WITH DAD!" Oswald screamed, clinging to Walt's trousers.

" Come on, Oswald. Time to go. Your 'Dad' has to pack up his things before he leaves and he needs to not be desturbed," Mintz growled, losing his patience.

" NO! I WON'T LEAVE MY DAD!" Oswald cried.

" I. Was. Not. Asking," Mintz said. Then he reached down and tore Oswald away from Walt and took him out of the room.

" DAD! DADDY! DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME AWAY! PLEASE!" screamed the rabbit. The young man just stared at Oswald with tearfull eyes.

" I will get you back, one day, Oswald. I promise it, with all my heart. One day."

" DAD! DAD! DAD!"

Oswald curled in a ball and whimpered as tears streamed down his face, into a slowly widening puddle. He felt horrible, like he had the day Ortensia had been thinned out. Why hadn't Walt come back for him? Why had he been allowed to fade away? He then realized that someone was standing next to him. Mickey sat next to Oswald and gave the rabbit a small pat on the shoulder.

" He promised," he whimpered," He promised, but he never came back. I faded away, and came here. Why didn't he-"

" I don't know, Oswald. But what has happened has happened. Our father is gone. Your are the only thing I have left of a family, Oswald. Your the older brother I never knew, but would have been honored to have known earlier. All the friends I have back in my world, it doesn't replace Dad. Nor does the fame. Nothing can replace Walt. You can hate me for whatever reason you have, but I am going to always know you as my brother," Mickey said, sadly.

Oswald sat up and looked at Mickey, his rival who he had thought had replaced him. Now, that all seemed wasted. All the years he had spent hating that mouse, were all wasted. All the years hating someone who was his only original family left. Ortensia and his 420 children were his only extented family and they didn't replace the emptiness he felt. New tears crept out of his eyes, and he wrapped his arms around his brother.

" Brother...please...forgive me. I...don't want to be alone. Please...I can't be left all alone again. Not again," Oswald sobbed. A new feeling entered his mind. Fear. Had he pushed his brother away forever, the only person left in his life? It would be like the day Mintz tore him away from Walt all over again. Mickey let the brush fall from his hand and held Oswald tightly.

" Your the last person I want to lose. Your my only brother, and I'll never have another one," he said as he held the older toon.

" I'm sorry. I'm..." Oswald whimpered.

" You don't need to say anything. Big brother, I'm here,"Mickey sighed. And for a couple moments, Oswald felt his dead heart beat a couple times, for the first time in years. All his bitterness just dissolved away.

"Thank you, little brother."