Chapter 3

The sound slowly faded away, one last crunch of metal sounding out before Oswald dared to open his eyes. "Head count," he muttered, trying to take in the upside down world before him.

"There's only the four of us," Monty said.

"What hit us?" Ferdie asked.

"Black blur," Mickey mumbled.

A click of a seat belt sounded before Morty fell against the ceiling.

"Morty!" Mickey exclaimed.

"I'm good," Morty said, pushing himself up.

"Be careful, the windshield's cracked," Mickey warned.

Morty backed up, resting on his hands and knees and looked up.

"Ugh, all the blood's rushing to my head," Ferdie whined.

"Hang on," Mickey offered. "Morty, scoot over so I don't squish you."

Morty side crawled so he was more under Oswald. He watched as Mickey reached up with one hand to place against the roof and braced himself against the floor with his feet. His free hand unbuckled his seat belt so he could slowly lower himself onto the ceiling beside his nephew.

"Well, at least this old truck can take a beating," Mickey said as he pushed open the driver door. He moved aside and looked over his shoulder as he said, "Morty, go ahead and get out. Stay off the road."

"I know," Morty said, crawling out of the truck.

Mickey turned around as Oswald copied the mouse's way of freeing himself. The rabbit lowered himself down onto the ceiling before turning around so he could look up at Ferdie dangling by his seat belt. He turned to Mickey and asked, "How're we gonna lower him?"

"Scoot over," Mickey ordered, moving so he crouched under the younger mouse. He reached up and pushed Ferdie upwards before saying, "Hit the button."

Oswald reached up and pushed the seat belt's release, following the belt back so it didn't slap Mickey. Slowly Mickey lowered Ferdie onto the truck's ceiling and asked, "You okay?"

"I think so," Ferdie said with a nod as he looked up at the mouse.

"Good, let's get out and see how bad the truck is," Mickey said, turning around to crawl out of the upside down door.

"And we should call Grandma Duck, let her know we're running late," Oswald realized aloud as he followed the two mice out.

"Guess we'll see how bad the truck is before we do that," Mickey said as he rose to his feet, Ferdie close behind him.

"A river and now a ditch, this truck seems to want to be in water," Morty said as he walked around the front of the truck back to the driver side door.

"A river?" Oswald asked as he made his way back to his feet.

"Long story," Mickey hurriedly threw off.

"Uncle Mickey didn't know how many pounds was in a ton," Morty offered with a laugh.

Oswald let out a hearty laugh, turning to his brother. "You broke a bridge?"

Mickey gave the rabbit a side glance before stepping behind him to see more of the truck. "We might be able to role it this way and get it back on its wheels."

Oswald pulled out his cell and handed it to Ferdie. "Here, call Grandma Duck. Let her know we're running a little late."

"Boys, get to the back of the truck," Mickey ordered, placing a hand on the side of the truck.

"Hate we're gonna damage this side," Oswald offered.

"I was just thinking the same," Mickey admitted, dropping his hand. He looked at the ditch they had found themselves in, the driver side farthest from the street was at the lower end of the ditch, the ground flatter under foot before the forest over took. He let out a sigh and led the way around the back of the truck, passing the twins.

"No, we're all okay," Ferdie offered into the phone. "They're seeing if they can flip the truck over, but we just wanted you to know we're gonna be a little late."

Oswald watched his footing, the street side steeper than he thought. He got himself positioned at the back wheel and saw Mickey get at the front. "If it's too heavy to rock, you think we could empty out the back?"

"Might have to, hate to see how much of a mess it is," Mickey said. He placed his hands on the front of the passenger door and looked at Oswald. "Ready?"

Oswald put his hands over Mickey's scrapped advertisement and repositioned his feet. "Ready." The two pushed the truck towards the driver side a bit before Oswald called out, "Back!" The two let the truck fall back towards them before pushing once more. The two fell into a rhythm and before long they shook the ground as it rolled back onto its tires.

A scream came from the back of the truck, sending ice down Oswald's spine. "Morty! Ferdie!" he exclaimed, his voice echoed by Mickey's as the two ran towards the back of the truck.

The two came around the corner of the truck to see the twins frozen as they looked up. Oswald followed their line of sight upwards to take in a metallic version of the blot he had known, the robot floating on jets just below the tree line. Oswald quickly stepped in front of the boys, Mickey right behind him. The four looked up at the floating mechanical blot, waiting for it's first move. Oswald dared a glance at Mickey, seeing his own confusion mirrored in the mouse's face. Looking back at the robot blot he asked, "This isn't normal, is it?"

Mickey opened his mouth to answer only to be forced to duck as the robot created a wake in its path out of sight. They turned to try and follow where it had gone only to lose sight of it over the trees. "That was his suit," Mickey realized aloud.

"You're gonna have to catch us up," Oswald pointed out.

Mickey turned to the three and explained, "The last time I saw the Phantom Blot in Avantgarde, he had created himself an exo-suit. He chased me into some ventilation system and I had to save him from becoming chopped but his suit got sent through the blades. The man got arrested and I thought the suit was destroyed."

"There wasn't a dent on that thing," Oswald pointed out, throwing a thumb over his shoulder in the direction the suit had flown.

"The man's a genius," Mickey informed. "I wouldn't put it passed him to have built some auto-repair system into the Darkenblot and-" he cut himself off as his eyes grew wide. He reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone and quickly made a call, putting the device to his head.

"Uncle Mickey?" Morty asked, all eyes on the older mouse.

Mickey stood silent as a ringing came from the phone. He turned in the direction the suit had gone before checking the sky. "Hey, Lieutenant Zark? It's Mickey Mouse," Mickey said, listening to the response. He grimaced away at the loud deep voice coming through the speaker before quickly saying, "I'm afraid so. His exo-suit just passed us heading your way." Mickey looked back at the boys, shifting his eyes to Oswald as he listened a moment. Closing his eyes he said, "No, but keep me informed, will ya? Thanks." Mickey pulled the phone away from his head and ended the call to look back at the three.

"Well?" Ferdie asked, the first daring to speak.

"Well what?" Mickey asked, putting his phone back in his pocket. "You two; check on the back of the truck, fix what you can. Oswald; you're with me, we need to check how the engine fared."

"We're not going after him?" Morty asked.

"No," Mickey stated. "I promised your parents you'd be safe this summer. Anyway, Grandma Duck is still expecting us. She's tired of her cows knocking down the fence and grazing outside of her land."

"Yes Uncle Mickey," Ferdie said, turning around to take hold of the truck's back door handle.

Mickey waited until both doors were opened, seeing his tools and equipment ransacked by the wreck, before leading Oswald to the front of the truck.

Oswald watched his brother lift the hood, propping it up with the metal bar attached for that reason, before asking, "Really? We're not gonna follow the suit?"

"You're a father, I'm not gonna bring the boys into something I already know is dangerous."

"That's when you get someone to look after them for you," Oswald pointed out, watching Mickey step onto the front bumper so he could check within the engine.

Mickey pulled a rag from his back pocket and leaned deeper into the engine as he asked, "But on my first day of having them again?"

Oswald let out a sigh, knowing how important his nephews were to him. He hopped up onto the bumper beside Mickey to see him cleaning off the dipstick before putting it in the oil again and said, "Okay. But your friend better fill us in on what all is happening."

"Wouldn't say he's my friend, but I'm sure he'll let us know," Mickey said with a laugh.