"Just so we're clear, if anything you say isn't true, I'm taking you down with me." Oswald threatened. The rabbit marched a few paces into another room. Mickey uneasily got to his feet.
"Yeah. We're clear on that." Mickey submitted. Oswald flicked on a light on the wall. Mickey followed the rabbit inside a light blue painted room, the mouse instantly identified as his bedroom. His room, or more accurately his and Oswald's room, was completely bare of decorations or furniture, aside from a beige mattress in the middle of the floor. "Did a previous owner leave that behind?" Mickey asked.
"Who cares?" Oswald snapped, plopping down on the mattress. "Shut your trap when I'm not talkin' to you. Sound of your voice makes me sick." He ordered. Mickey bit his bottom lip awkwardly. Getting along with Oswald definitely wouldn't be a walk in the park. The mouse sat down side by side with his brother. But Oswald turned his front towards Mickey, refusing to let his guard down. "Alright. What exactly do you think you know about me?" Oswald grilled.
"I know what happened in February of 1928, and I'm very sorry it happened to you." Mickey answered.
"Heh. Who's twisted version did you get? Walt's?" Oswald quizzed. 'Yours.' Mickey thought.
"Don't ask me how, but I saw the absolutely true version. The version only you could have seen. That's how I know you stood on the doorknob to look in the window. No one else was around to see that, except you." The mouse explained. Oswald bolted up from the mattress.
"This is ridiculous." The rabbit disregarded. Mickey thought fast before Oswald could make another move.
"Wait! I know about Ortensia!" He claimed.
"Never heard of her!" Oswald shot back. Mickey mentally kicked himself for messing that one up.
"I know about Sadie!" The mouse tried again. Oswald's expression calmed. Mickey continued, once he realized he had Oswald's attention. "I met Sadie."
"When? Where?" Oswald beseeched.
"A week ago, on Alice Ave in Two Tone Town." Mickey informed. "She lived there under the name Ortensia Cat." Oswald turned his back to the mouse, and wiped a hand across his eyes. Months of searching, worrying, blaming, and moping flashed through his mind. His lost love hid in plain sight within Two Tone Town the whole time. Oswald bottled up a tremble of weakness.
"Wh-what did she say?" Oswald inquired.
"Well she hates my guts just as much as you do." Mickey smiled. The rabbit breathily chuckled. Mickey hoped this was progress. "She thought I came by her house to apologize." Mickey paused. Oswald faced Mickey again, glaring through the mouse. Even if it wouldn't change anything, his love deserved an apology from the over glorified toon mouse star, for shoving their cartoon series off the stage and into a corner.
"Did you?" Oswald questioned.
"She told me to stay away from her boys, and slammed the door in my face before I could-" Mickey started.
"The boys?" Oswald gasped. He darted to Mickey, leaning in inches from the mouse's face. "Floyd and Lloyd? They're with her?" Oswald pressed urgently. "How are they? Do they look healthy?"
"That's all I found out from her." Mickey confessed, leaning back uncomfortably. "I tried to talk to her the next day, but the house was abandoned when I got there." Oswald got out of the mouse's space. His face fell downheartedly.
"What did you really want from her?" The rabbit questioned. Mickey reached behind his back. Oswald tensed. "What're you doing?!" He demanded. Mickey brought out the snow globe before the rabbit could hostilely retaliate.
"It's just a gift from Walt." Mickey calmed. "This is how I found you." Oswald studied the trinket, immediately noticing the Mickey Mouse figurine inside. The rabbit clenched his teeth.
"I thought you found me because of some conspiracy Walt made up." Oswald taunted.
"That's not what I said before." Mickey pointed out. He scooted over on the mattress, and patted a spot for Oswald. "Just, please listen to what he has to say. I've come a long way looking for you, and... maybe there's something in here you've been looking for too." Mickey pleaded. The inkblot rabbit reluctantly sat down next to Mickey. Assuming it was best Oswald was introduced to the snow globe's powers from the very beginning, Mickey moved all the numbered disks to zero. That code should have played the activation message. However, when the snow flakes swept up, the toon brothers heard an entirely different message.
"Hello, my son. Wow, I can't... begin to express how proud I am of you. You actually made it to the trolley clue. Don't worry. You didn't miss anything. There is no trolley cart in this clue. At this point the past truths and whatever changes time has made must be colliding. So I understand if not everything is matching up like the cartoons. We can't expect everything to go by the book. Now it's time to look back on your journey, to see what you've accomplished, and see if anything else looks familiar."
Mickey frantically flipped the snow globe over while the snow flakes still glittered and blew around. The mouse gaped when he beheld the numbered disks no longer read zero. Instead the disks were set at zero, nine, zero, five, two, seven; the last code Mickey heard before he was transported to Yen Sid's tower. The mouse scrutinized the numbers, not believing his own eyes. 'They were all zero just a second ago.' He reasoned with himself. 'Who could've...?' Master Yen Sid's name came to mind, but so did someone else's.
Meanwhile, Oswald battled within himself over grief and joy. He felt so relieved to hear Walt praise him; to even say he was proud of his son. But that feeling was crushed by the cold reality that Walt spoke of Mickey. Still a tiny spark of hope probed at Oswald's heart, nudging him to believe Mickey's good report of Walt. Suddenly rapid flashes of color flew across the upside down globe. Oswald curiously tipped the snow globe up right.
"Look!" The rabbit alerted. Both toons stared at the black and white animation that projected onto the glass. Oswald ran through a white background with the occasional tent. A tiny black projectile shot towards his head, but Oswald tucked his upper body into his shorts, so he was but a black and white ball with ears and legs. The rabbit stayed shrunk down, avoiding another bullet, and kept running. Mickey wouldn't know it, but in the cartoon police were chasing Oswald through a circus because the rabbit stole a hot dog. Then color and live action scenery bled over the two tone animation. The new scene showed Mickey carrying Martha in his arms and toon speeding through a dark Disneyland. Oswald couldn't identify the place Mickey was running through, but he did notice concession stands in the background.
Mickey's short clip ended, and Oswald's next greyscale cartoon leaked through. A carefree Ortensia, skating by on an ice pond, is knocked on her tail by a soaring hockey puck. Oswald skidded to her aid; apologetically offering her his hand, and tipping his ears off his head like a hat. The rabbit sadly half smiled at the bittersweet memory. Mickey however fully beamed, for he knew what was coming next. Oswald's cartoon blurred into Mickey and Minnie ice-skating over Pixie Pond, surrounded by a grove of flickering green trees.
The colors faded and parted way for a black and white forest setting. A black bear cub hopped upon a large boulder to escape Oswald and his temper. Oswald pointed an accusing finger at the bear cub. In response, the cub blew a raspberry. Angered even more, Oswald grabbed onto a bump on the boulder to hoist himself up, but the black mass shifted into a ferocious mother bear. She stood up on her four clawed paws, causing Oswald to dangle off the edge of her nose. Oswald silently screamed in terror, as the mother bear opened her mouth wide enough to swallow Oswald whole. The scene darkened until the snow globe was an orb of black. Then dim moonlight painted a new picture. The silhouette of Mickey carrying Timothy on his back, was stared down by a hulking bristly brown bear. His tiny eyes glowed red. Oswald raised his brow in surprise, watching the moonlight catch the bear's every pearly white fang, as he uttered a thundering roar. So these were the dangerous trials Mickey had to pass to find him. 'Interesting plan, Dad.' Oswald pondered.
"Did he do something like this for every one?" Oswald asked out loud.
"Yeah. All twenty-six." Mickey replied.
Before Mickey and friends could flee, the snow globe flashed from near pitch black to bright grey. A short black fox raced off out of sight on the cue of the bolded word 'BANG' popping over his head. A dozen dogs gave chase, with several inkblot characters mounted on horses following up the rear. Meanwhile Oswald was left in the dust, being jostled around by his stubborn, bucking horse. Again the snow globe darkened to show Mickey and friends' antics that particular night. This time only Donald and Pluto were depicted running through the snow.
"We were supposed to chase a fox out of his cave with my dog, Pluto." Mickey clarified.
A new sample silver screen animation lightened the globe. Oswald sat on a grounded steel girder eating a sandwich while Sadie crouched on the girder, flirtatiously winking at him. Then she puckers her lips to him. Above the couple, a burly inkblot bear wearing overalls and a top hat, spits out his tobacco in disgust. The obvious antagonist spots a rope and hook looped around his girder. Oswald finished the last bite of his sandwich, and met Sadie lips to lips. Unbeknownst to the lovestruck couple, the bear lowered the hook down behind Sadie. The hook curved into Sadie's bloomers, and the bear reeled her in. Oswald, and Sadie for that matter, only realized something was wrong when their kiss was forcibly broken. Dark shades of blue leaked through the grey. Soon Mickey beheld a moment in time he had missed; the second he turned his back and the girls disappeared. The snow globe showed shadowy figures of Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Goofy, Peter, Timothy, and Martha facing towards Chicapin Hill. Br'er Rabbit stood on the fence post to get a better look. Suddenly the sky erupted in sparkling fireworks. But in the midst of all the explosions and Br'er Rabbit's boisterous cheering, something caught Martha's attention behind the group. She looked around, but detected nothing. That was when three lengthy red arms reached out their claws, and snatched Minnie, Daisy, and Martha. The captured toons vanished in puffs of red smoke, and the only clue they left behind was the snow globe.
In Oswald's following short, the rabbit hung onto the outer edge of a balcony, to save his fair maiden from the tower. But Sadie shook her hands in front of him, to shoo the rabbit away. She frantically pointed behind her at an unseen threat then down below them, signaling the rabbit to go back the way he came. Sadie continued to shake her head, and intertwine her fingers, desperately begging Oswald to leave. However, not one of Sadie's warnings registered in Oswald's mind. The rabbit gave Sadie a cheeky grin, grabbed her arm, and proceeded to kiss it repeatedly. Mickey laughed lightly at the display. He found it cute and typical of 1920's animation, in a nostalgic way of course. Gentle water colors flowed over Oswald's cartoon. In the off white courtyard of the Evil Queen's castle, Mickey ran to Minnie's waiting arms. They embraced, and Mickey's red robe evaporated off his arms and torso. The mice shared a few words before Martha came into view. Mickey hugged her and kissed her forehead.
"After the girls were captured, they were trapped in a castle for about eight hours." Mickey told Oswald.
"By who?" Oswald wondered, becoming more and more interested in this adventure Walt designed.
"You'll see. I think." Mickey commented. Another dated cartoon swept over more recent events. In this one, Oswald and a familiar bear character positioned themselves between train carts, with a Checkers board between them. The toons' shorts were stitched and patched, and a hobo bindle on a stick laid beside the bear.
"Who is that?" Mickey queried, pointing at the bear in the top hat.
"Pete." Oswald mumbled.
"His name is Pete too?" Mickey thought out loud. He remembered Walt gave him and the gang a screenshot from Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip (1940), with Pete present in the picture.
"Yeah, but not the one you know." Oswald growled. Mickey flinched. Did he say something wrong? "Don't think I don't know about all the elements Walt recycled into your cartoons!" He fumed. The sequence of Mickey and friends talking on the purple train went unnoticed by the agitated rabbit. "That part where you saw Sadie and me kissing, that short's called Skyscrappers! But you call it Building a Building!" Oswald ranted. "Those were my stunts, my jokes! You just mimicked and took credit for what I'd already done! Just because you're exact copy of my cartoon had sound, everyone thought you were so much better! And Walt knew that." Oswald accused. The rabbit stopped yelling. He made his next words puncture Mickey's mind with the severity of his anguish. "He let you steal from me over and over again." Oswald vented seriously. The rabbit waited a long time to get those words off his chest.
"I didn't know... my cartoons were so influenced by you. I'm sorry you feel Walt cheated you." Mickey carefully apologized. Oswald continued to scowl at the mouse. Hearing 'sorry' didn't make him feel any better. He still wanted the mouse dead; almost as much as he wanted himself dead. To Oswald's surprise, his wish almost came true inside the snow globe. First came a clip of Oswald as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. After identifying a disoriented Pete, Oswald unveiled his pistol, and commanded Pete to stick 'em up. Pete stood up to his full height, twice as tall as the rabbit, and laughed at Oswald. The rabbit squinted one eye and took aim. He shot off a bullet shaped more like a cannon ball, that sank inside Pete's gut and ricocheted back to Oswald. The projectile hit Oswald straight in the nose. He tumbled around in midair, then fell on his stomach. Naturally he was alright when he dazedly blinked at the fourth wall. However Mickey was not so lucky. Oswald's lips parted as he watched a faceless black robed figure point his gun. Mickey formed a purple psychic shield in front of him, but it did no good. A bullet zoomed passed Mickey's head. Then the mouse looked down at the snow in horror, realizing the bullet leaked Dip. Another bullet shattered Mickey's magic shield, and penetrated Mickey's gut. The mouse jolted forward upon impact. He threw himself down in the snow, tearing off his red robe. But by the time his friends came to him, the mouse laid face down in the snow, motionless.
"You were shot?" Oswald perceived, trying not to sound concerned.
"Uh-huh. So does that change your mind?" Mickey queried. The rabbit's face scrunched with confusion.
"What?" Oswald questioned.
"It's just that... I took a False Dip bullet that put me in the hospital for a day, and I kept going. I still had to find you." Mickey elaborated. "So, now do you believe I wanna help you?" Oswald turned his head away from Mickey and the snow globe.
"You can't help me." The rabbit moaned.
"Oswald, don't..." Mickey began. The following Oswald cartoon distracted him. Oswald drove a plow, pulled by a horse that looked an awful lot like Horace to Mickey. The horse trotted with rhythm as if he were dancing to music. Then the grayscale view transformed into a pure white hospital room. The first friendly faces that the snow globe fully colored in were Clarabelle and Horace. They stayed focused in the middle of the globe for a long time.
"What makes them so special?" Oswald grumbled.
"Well, they're my friends." Mickey replied. The rabbit rolled his eyes. "And my friends, Clarabelle and Horace weren't on this quest the whole time. See, Walt wasn't really specific about who he wanted to help me on my way. So I just gathered my five closest friends. But in that message we listened to at the hospital, for the first time Walt referred to the eight of us. And just before that happened, Horace and Clarabelle showed up and joined us. Walt even showed us an illustration from Horace and I's first cartoon together, called The Plowboy." Mickey marveled happily. Oswald clenched his teeth together. His paws dug into his blue overalls. Instead of red, Oswald's cheeks began to flush light grey. "It just seemed a little... magical?" Mickey hesitated, catching on to Oswald's warning signs. "Like it was... meant to be?" The snow globe's focus shifted away from Clarabelle and Horace, and moved on around the hospital bed, showing all the toons present. Finally the snow globe stopped on Mickey in his hospital bed, and the woman sitting at his left side.
"Who's that?" Oswald inquired. Curiosity subsided some of the rabbit's anger. Mickey looked at Oswald in disbelief. He supposed it made sense that Oswald didn't recognize her. From what he understood, Oswald hadn't seen their parents in person since the twenties. Mickey tried to break the truth to Oswald gently.
"That's Lillian. Your mother." The mouse answered. Oswald breathed in a shocked gasp. His exhale came out choppy and weak. Oswald placed a hand on the globe, covering up Mickey. He scrutinized the old woman. Her hair was so grey, and her posture made her seem so fragile. Oswald felt ashamed that not even a small feature of his mother looked familiar to him. The rabbit buried his face in his hands and sobbed. Mickey waited a few seconds to build up the courage to attempt comforting Oswald. He slowly laid his hand on Oswald's back. The rabbit's breathing hitched a second, but he snarled no threats at Mickey. So Mickey slowly brushed the fur on Oswald's back with his palm.
"It's okay, Oswald." Mickey comforted. "We can visit her tomorrow if you'd like." The mouse offered.
"No." The rabbit wept.
"I know she'd love to see you." Mickey assured.
"No!" Oswald cried. "She didn't want me back! Dad didn't want me back... until you came along." The rabbit cleared his throat. He spoke over the snow globe's silent clip of he and Sadie riding a horse drawn wagon, cuddling together. "The whole time... Mintz... owned me, I never got a call or a telegram from Walt. He never stopped by to see me, or stand up for me. He never even tried to get my rights back." Oswald criticized. The snow globe depicted Mickey and Lillian sitting side by side in the back of Delilah the toon limo. Neon colors of Toontown sped by in the rear window. "Almost two years later Mintz gets canned, and suddenly Dad's all chummy with Walter Lantz." Oswald continued. Mickey stopped rubbing his back. "Then the apology letters, and the extravagant birthday presents started pouring in. It was disgusting. He tried to buy my trust back, so he could have two of you! But I wasn't gonna be played like that again. So I told Lantz I didn't want anything to do with the Disneys anymore!"
"I don't think I understand." Mickey responded honestly.
"He didn't want me back until he saw what a success you were!" Oswald choked out. He wiped his eyes with his ears.
"Oswald. I'm sure Walt did everything in his power to come see you. But maybe... you just didn't see his best efforts because of humans like Charles Mintz." Mickey suggested.
"Humans who kept me in cages and fed me through the bars." Oswald glowered. "He should've tried harder." Mickey didn't know what else to say. Another Oswald clip played inside the snow globe. This time Oswald hung onto the ceiling for dear life. The structure's walls were clearly made of bricks, but Oswald gripped the ceiling as if it were a curtain. A bear character, different from Pete, flapped his arms up to Oswald. It was a running gag in Oswald's cartoons for the toons to momentarily fly or swim through the air, when they realized they'd ran out of solid ground. The bear grabbed onto one of Oswald's legs. But the bear's weight pulled down on Oswald's leg, making one much longer than the other. Oswald let out a mute scream, and tried to shake the bear off. Soon Oswald eyed a mallet laying on a high shelf. It was just within the rabbit's reach. He snatched the mallet's handle, raised it over his ears with both arms, and swung it down upon the bear's head. Stars flew from the impact point, as the bear confusedly released Oswald. He dropped like a rock. Oswald, feeling no guilt over this gave the audience a triumphant smile. However it only lasted until Oswald realized he let go of the ceiling. He made a desperate grasp for the ceiling before falling down with the bear. A light blue wall and ceiling bled through the grey, and Oswald viewed the oddest event Walt related to his cartoons yet. Bugs Bunny clung to a ceiling fan with all four limbs. The snow globe panned down to Mickey, attempting to calmly talk Bugs down. "What's the matter with him?" Oswald asked. Mickey was surprised Oswald didn't ask what in the world Bugs Bunny had to do with any of this.
"He's afraid of the snow globe. He thought it was cursed." Mickey explained. Oswald didn't have the energy to laugh. This whole process was so emotionally draining for him. Plus he was already exhausted from the time crunching journey he had to make to arrive at the old house by midnight.
"Can't you pause this thing or something?" Oswald yawned.
"I don't think so. But there's a chapter break coming up." Mickey replied. Oswald stared at the mouse bewilderedly. "Yes I can pause this thing." He sighed.