Chapter 2

Oswald sat in the passenger seat of Mickey's old red jalopy, brush in his right hand and remote in his left. He ran his thumb up and down the polished wood handle, remembering the last time he wielded this magical device was to help Mickey and them get their hearts back. Who would've known Pete's revenge could've been as dangerous as it turned out to be. He looked up through the windshield as Mickey drove them out of their neighborhood and towards Main Street.

"The Petes and Julius are still in jail, right?" Oswald checked.

"Last I heard," Mickey said with a nod.

"Same with Miklos?"

"Yeah."
Oswald let out a sigh as he tried to go over the past few years. "You don't think it might be Dr. Vulter?" Oswald turned to look at the mouse driving and added, "We don't know where he went off to after we defeated him."

"It could be," Mickey mumbled. "But he always took me as the 'take over and rule' kind of villain, not the 'destroy everything' kind."

"But we haven't seen him in about ten years," Oswald reminded, partially to himself. "That's long enough to come up with a plan like this. And he did want to leave Wasteland to ruin."

Mickey slowed to a stop where the traffic started to get thick. He leaned his head out of the open window before sitting back in his seat. "Reach into the glove compartment. O'Hara gave me one of those old emergency roof lights."

Oswald quickly found the dome light, untangling its cord to plug into the cigarette lighter beneath the old jalopy's radio. He instantly regretted it as a blue light flashed across his eyes. Closing his eyes, he reached his hand out the open window and felt the magnets take hold onto the hard top above him.

"Hit that button on the side of its base," Mickey said as Oswald was already pulling his hand back in.

Oswald opened his eyes, the blue dot imprinted on his retinas, as he already noticed cars trying to get out of Mickey's way. He reached back up and felt around the base for his figures to find an old toggle switch. Flicking it on, a whirling siren filled the air and startling those who hadn't noticed Mickey's blue lights.

Mickey worked his way out of the two lanes, through the traffic that had backed up, and made for the light through the turn lane. They quickly made it to where police men in orange reflective vests were directing people away from Main Street's center, getting the police to stop traffic so they could drive up into the epicenter. Mickey stopped his car behind a barricade of police cars, pulling the plug for the siren rather than turning it off properly.

Oswald handed over the brush, careful to keep it in his right hand, before letting himself out of the car. He shut the door and put the remote in his right hand as he turned to look beyond the wall of police cars and rescue vans to see fire trucks farther down the street, emergency crews rushing back and forth as an ambulance took up shop in front of the shoe store with the back doors opened as they did their best to help those who had been attacked by thinner creatures. Oswald quickly noticed two black furred girls helping out, getting him to call out, "Hey Mick." Without turning to see if the mouse was following him, Oswald headed over to the ambulance.

Ortensia lifted her head from the firefighter she was wrapping his arm, the bull's uniform and jacket pulled away and currently melting in a pile of greens and purples on the street. "Oswald, Mickey, they're trying to keep the monsters in front of city hall."

"Monsters?" Oswald echoed.

Ortensia looked back at her work, careful of the bull's exposed pencil lines, as she tried to explain. "They're not like the blotlings. The kids say they can still eat them but they look like the blotling's worst nightmares."

"Chief O'Hara's been looking for you two," Minnie called out as she and an EMT tried to help a wounded police man and his disfigured leg.

Oswald cringed at the sight of the dog fighting back tears, their right leg almost completely gone.

"We're going," Mickey said, it sounding like he was recovering from the shock of the police man's injuries.

Oswald pulled his eyes away from the man in blue to see Mickey still staring. He quickly turned to Ortensia, placing a kiss on her cheek as the severity of what was happening finally hit him. This was on the thinner disaster's level and, though he didn't want to admit it, it scared him. "I love you," he whispered into her pointy ear before turning to leave. Noticing Mickey still staring at the few wounded there in the ambulance Oswald said, "Come on, Mick."

Mickey turned his gaze to Oswald, fear visible on his face, as he nodded his head. He took a moment for his features to harden as he built up his resolve. He gave Oswald a nod, signaling for the two to walk down the street.

Oswald led them through the last barricade of firetrucks, careful of green thinner working at erasing the trucks from existence. Firemen held onto hoses as they tried their best to keep away the purple creatures, the police department only an after image along with its neighboring buildings. Oswald caught sight of a few of his kids, their cartoon physics helping in the fight as they stretched high and ate the smaller of the monsters.

"Boys, what took ye so long?" O'Hara's voice asked as the Irish dog poked his head out of his hiding spot of a police cruiser's open driver side door.

Oswald and Mickey rushed over, hoping to not be noticed yet by the monsters, and quickly ducked behind the chief's car.

"How did ye deal with these in Wasteland?" O'Hara asked, already peaking his eyes out the window.

Oswald looked out at the purple creatures and shook his head. He could make out what someone might call a relative to the seers, Mike Wazowski-like creatures, but instead of a smile these held sharp dripping fangs and arms that seemed to produce more of the vial stuff it was created from than its mouth did. The next in size should be the splatters, but instead of monster Mickeys, as he had jokingly referred to them after they first appeared, these looked more rabbit in origin with long tendril-like ears hanging out of their heads. He noticed some flying through the air that could be mistaken for dropwings but something seemed off in even their basic shape.

The only ones that resembled Oswald's memory of the blotlings were the sweepers spraying out the most dangerous waves of thinner from their buckets and the on slobber Oswald could make out in front of the old green front. "We didn't," Oswald stated, his eyes glued to the monsters resembling blotlings. "These aren't the same monsters we dealt with."

"They're not?" O'Hara asked, worry pulling on his face as he gave a glance to the two brothers beside him.

"They're similar but…" Mickey's voice fell away before he managed to say, "I created the ones we dealt with in Wasteland, some kinda looked like me. These look…"

"More like me," Oswald finished.

"Well, do ye think they'll still be defeated the same way?" O'Hara asked.

"Don't know, but we have to try," Mickey said, clutching tight to the brush in his right hand. He looked towards Oswald and asked, "Daze and paint?"

Oswald felt his thumb go over the edge of the button on the remote in his hand as he nodded his head. "Daze and paint." He rose off his knees, keeping hunched, as he knew that their plan put him in front. He led the way out from behind cover and headed to the first group of police and EMTs doing their best to knock back the seer and splatters with a garbage can lid and police asps. Realizing it had been more than five years since he had last wielded his remote, and even with practice shooting electricity could be tricky, he reached down and detached his leg to throw as a boomerang. He kept his speed by twirling his ears as he watched his leg cut between the four emergency personal and five monsters. All eyes turned to him as his leg came back, letting him grab it from the air and reattach it so he could fall back to his feet. "Get away!" Oswald warned, using his free hand to wave the toons aside. He gave them the time it took him to make a stride before he took aim, pushing the button to let fly a blot of electricity. Quickly countering for being too low, Oswald found his mark and let the beam travel over four of the five before he was forced to release the button, hoping to prevent the device from overheating. He passed the four dazed monsters as one of the seers fell over onto its eye and quickly shot a blast at the last remaining splatter.

The familiar sound of paint rushing from the brush sounded out as Oswald watched the long eared splatter fall onto its back, its eyes crossed as it was stunned. He glanced back at Mickey, seeing blue paint gushing from the magic paint brush as he turned the five good. Like with the blotlings they were familiar with, these took on a blue hue as if to signal they had absorbed enough to be brainwashed to fight against their brethren. Oswald turned to take in the emergency personal that had clearly not been trained to fight mysterious thinner creatures and asked, "Are you okay?"

A sheep in an EMT's uniform looked at the three with him, a dog in police blue throwing down his asp as it was disintegrated by the thinner. The sheep held tighter to his garbage lid and looked back to Oswald as Mickey turned the last of the five monsters blue. "I think so," the sheep said with a nod of his head.

"Good, find something inert-"

"Oswald," Mickey cut him off, drawing the rabbit's attention to watch the blue creatures run off to help fight the slobber-like monster. "Inert objects don't end up here all that often," he informed.

"Right…" Oswald mumbled.

"We know what we have to do," an EMT cow said, her features stern. "This is our town to protect."

"Anyway, with your help we might actually have a chance," the dog said only for a sucking sound to draw their attention back to the slobber as he sucked in the five turned good. "Or we're doomed. That thing's an outright demon."

"That next?" Mickey asked as he let out a breath.

Oswald was about to agree with him until a screen cut him off. He turned to the voice to see a firefighter holding onto what was left of his left arm as he tried to retreat to those with the hose as a type of dropwing chased him. Oswald turned and ran towards the injured fireman, knowing Mickey had noticed the same, and took aim. The bolt of electricity shot just in front of the dropwing, startling it to fly backwards and swing its large body against its tiny wings. Oswald corrected his aim, wishing he had had the time to get used to his remote again as he shot the blob with electricity. It dropped to the ground, giving Mickey the chance to shoot at it with paint as Oswald ran over to the fireman staring in surprise at what he had been running to. "Go to the ambulance that's that away," Oswald said, pointing back from where they had come from. "They'll patch you up."

"Patch me up?" the dog echoed with a hint of hysteria in his voice.

"Just go," Oswald ordered, already turning around to see the now blue dropwing flying towards the slobber. He ran after it, leaving the firefighter to follow his commands if he knew what was best for him, and headed to the slobber.

"Daddy! They're taking out the ground!" a young voice cried out.

Oswald turned towards his daughter's voice and noticed a chuck of the sidewalk was now missing, exposing dirt and pipes under blue penciled lines. "Mick!" Oswald called out, glancing over his shoulder.

"Keep the slobber distracted," Mickey ordered, heading over to the missing ground as the bunny child that had called out ate the sweeper that had been working at removing the ground.

Oswald turned his eyes back on the slobber, watching as it sucked in the high pressured water as well as anything loose into its large mouth. The firemen held onto the hose and one another as the large pig in front was threatened off his feet by the force of suction the slobber held. Oswald took aim, trying to already use the corrections he had made before, and shot a bolt of electricity into the thing's open mouth.

The slobber took a step back, closing its mouth in surprise as it looked for where the shock had come from. It let out a growl as it hurled thinner at the rabbit, reminding Oswald how to roll dodge out of the way quick.

The dropwing spat out paint, its weapon of choice now that it was fighting on their side, and made its mark on the slobber's head. It looked up and seemed to shake a fist up at it as if lobbed thinner up at the monster.

Oswald shot out another well aimed bolt, glad for the dropwing's assistance as Mickey tried to keep the paint layer of reality still there. He made it over to the three firemen and asked, "Do you know where they're coming from?"

"The police station, but the brooms destroyed it after this thing stepped through," the goat informed as the three kept all eyes on the slobber being pelted with paint from above.

Oswald took aim once more and shot at the slobber as running footsteps announced Mickey's return with a stream of paint. He watched as, now with two forms of paint hitting the monster, it quickly turned to blue before completely changing. He turned back to where about ten of his children were dealing with the last three monsters, all sweepers, and quickly shot off a bolt of energy at one as it reared its bucket at the back of 4 as she faced another with paws up and ready to fight.

"Oswald Junior 4, you've gotta be more careful!" Oswald chastised, worried for his kids as 29 ate up the dazed sweeper.

4 ate the sweeper before her. She turned around, seeing her brother returning to his size, and looked up at Oswald. "Sorry Dad."

Mickey took care of the last sweeper, turning it blue as it absorbed the paint. He turned his attention elsewhere as he asked, "Where's the rest of them?"

"I think you got them all," the pig said as the goat left the hose to go turn the water off at the source.

Oswald turned around, looking at a Main Street that resembled more of Mean Street with buildings missing their paint and injured toons littering the sidewalks as Ortensia led the EMTs to help. He pushed a slide button on the side of the remote, turning it off, and shoved it in his pants back pocket.

"Papa, I don't feel so good," 125 said, getting Oswald's attention.

Oswald knelt down, putting his free hand on his son's shoulder, as 94 said, "Well, it has been a while since we-" She quickly stepped back in disgust as 125 started retching.

Oswald shifted aside as his son expelled purple liquid, burning the asphalt of the street in front of them. He watched the regurgitated monster goop, worried it might start eating away at where the kid stood hunched over. He rubbed 125's back, worried for whoever else might have a reaction to the strange monsters.

"Daddy, should I call Uncle Mickey over?" 29 asked as he stepped over to be beside the rabbit.

"Where is your uncle?" Oswald asked, only daring to look up and notice a corner of city hall was now penciled in. He looked back down to see 125 wasn't bringing anything else up but the puddle still seemed to grow. Oswald carefully lifted his son up and brought him back a few steps before sitting him back down. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, wiping 125's face to remove any of the vial bile left.

"He's painting back in the buildings around the missing police station," 4 said as she found the mouse.

"I'll make sure he'll repair the street," Oswald said, glancing over his shoulder to see surprised emergency personnel watching Mickey work. He looked back at his kids, counting seven around him, and asked, "Where's the rest?"

"252 had to go to Mom," 29 informed.

"A few went back to the van after we saw these weren't what we were used to," 4 offered.

"4, I'm putting you in charge, okay?" Oswald said, rising to his feet as he folded up the soiled handkerchief and added, "Make sure everyone who came here's okay, alright?"

"Yes sir," 4 said as a serious look came over her.

"29," Oswald said, getting the blue bunny to look up at him. "Take 125 to the ambulance." The older child nodding his head and stepping over to his sibling as Oswald turned around. He made his way to Mickey's side as he finished painting in a lawyer's building, noticing the mouse looking tired. Knowing using the brush took paint from his own heart, Oswald asked, "You wanna break? I can finish."

Mickey gave the building a little more paint, filling in the last of the pencil lines to bring it back to how it had looked before, before lowering his arm. "Yeah, I need one," Mickey admitted. He held out a shaking arm to hand off the brush as he added, "I was gonna do the police station next."

"I think we should wait on that," Oswald said, taking the brush. He turned to what was left of the connected shops on the other side of the police department and started filling it back in as Mickey let out a confused sound. "They said the portal the monsters were coming from was inside it. Figured we'd better be prepared."

"Good idea," Mickey said as he lowered himself down to sit on the edge of the sidewalk.