Gremlin Village
"I have no idea," Gus said. Oswald and Mickey looked at each other and charged. "Do they often do this?" Minnie asked.
"They are the heroes of Wasteland. Didn't mickey tell you this?" Minnie shook her head.
"I'm sorry to ruin the moment girls but we have to run!" Gus said as he lifted the girls into the air and flew them a safe distance away. A green-eyed toon barreled toward them. Gus stood in front of the girls with his wrench at hand. The toon rushed at him with its arms outstretched. Big drops of something dripped from its arms. Gus hit the toon across the head. They all let out a short-lived sigh.
Mickey and Oswald led the toons away from the gremlins. "We don't want to hurt them!" Oswald said. He set his remote to its lowest level. Mickey urged the brush to give off paint. Two toons split the friends apart. Oswald shocked the toon. It fell to the ground. Little birds twittered around its head. Mickey painted the toon rushing at him. The toon stopped and lowered its arms. Its eyes changed from green to normal gray. "Paint works!" Mickey yelled to Oswald. Oswald led other toons toward Mickey. Mickey painted then. The green-eyed toons turned back to normal.
Minnie and Ortensia watched their heroes from a nearby hill. His had flown off to help his fellow gremlins. "Did mickey ever tell you about his time in Wasteland?" Ortensia asked. Minnie shook her head.
"No, he was quiet for a while after he returned," Minnie said. "Do you know how he got here in the first place?"
"I didn't meet Mickey the first time he came. I was a little held up." Ortensia looked to the ground. Minnie gave her a hug. She looked over Ortensia's shoulder. A toon was running up the hill towards them. Minnie pushed Ortensia behind her. She pulled out the wand. Minnie pointed the wand at the toon. Blue sparkles flew out the wand and surrounded the toon. Its eyes changed from green to gray. Minnie and Ortensia let out a sigh.
Mickey and Oswald shocked and painted the last toon. "That's all of them." Oswald gave mickey a high-five. Toon wandered around wondering how they got to the Gremlin Village.
Gus flew over and picked up mickey while Oswald flew behind then. They landed near Minnie and Ortensia. The girls ran to their heroes.
"Why didn't you tell me about Wasteland?" Minnie asked. Mickey looked at the ground avoiding her eyes.
"I didn't want you to feel sorry for these toons. Once you found on about this work you would insist on helping them. Trust me. These toons do not need help. "Mickey said.
"Oh Mickey, you really like it here, don't you?" Minnie said. Mickey embraced her.
"Of course, I like it here. And it's not just because I'm the hero. I have family here and friends." Mickey said. Minnie pulled away and looked at him funny.
"Family?" she questioned.
"Oswald is sort of my brother," Mickey said. He scratched the back of his head. Oswald waved shyly. His vision went blurry again. He fell to the ground. "Oswald!" Ortensia yelled.
Oswald woke up inside one of the gremlin houses. "'Tensia?" He murmured. This time, it took more out of him.
"I'm right here Ozzie." Ortensia was at his side holding his hand.
"Whose house is this?" he asked.
"The gremlin that is going to help you. I didn't catch his name." Ortensia said. Oswald sat up. He was feeling better already. Gus, Mickey, and Minnie were discussing in the corner while a blue gremlin fluttered near the window. "Oswald! How are you feeling?" the gremlin asked.
"I feel fine. Even better than fine." Oswald said. The gremlin flew over to Oswald and busied himself with tools. The gremlin swiftly fluttered around Oswald, performing little tests. "Say ah." Oswald ah-ed.
"Okay. I think I have a diagnosis." Everyone in the room came together. "I believe that you are earning a heart." The room was silent.
"Earning a heart? I don't have a heart." Oswald said.
"Apparently, you can earn one." the gremlin said. Oswald looked at his friends. Their faces showed different signs of surprise. The only one that caught his attention was Mickey's. Oswald recalled their last battle with the Blot. He remembered the strong heart beat as it lay in his hands. He remembered how tempted he was to take it and leave Wasteland forever. How could he earn a heart?
"Does this mean I could leave Wasteland?" The gremlin shrugged.
"This is the first case I've seen. I have never heard of someone earning a heart." Oswald looked at his friends again. Mickey and Minnie were whispering something. A lightbulb lit up over Mickey's head.
"Hey, Gus do you think you can wire my telephone in Ostown to the Toon World. I think I might be able to get more information about earning a heart." Mickey asked. Gus silently did some calculations.
"I think so." He said.
"Why do we need to call the Toon World?" Ortensia asked.
"When a toon is forgotten it loses its heart and cannot leave Wasteland, but what if a toon becomes unforgotten. Thetoon becomes popular again loved by audiences everywhere." Mickey said.
"So could I have become known again?" Oswald asked. His mind wandered to the days when he was on the big screen.
"I don't know yet. I haven't seen anything since my last trip here." Mickey said. Minnie held his hand. "We need to go to Ostown to get more answers."
"Oswald," the blue gremlin said, "Be careful, as you earn more of your heart the more you will faint." Oswald nodded as he jumped off the table. He grabbed Ortensia's hand and followed Mickey to the projector.
When they got there, a familiar purple gremlin was fluttering around the projector. "Prescott? What are you doing to the projector?" Gus asked.
"I'm only fitting on a gear that has different locations accessible by a projector to it. So there are not so many projector jumps." Prescott said. He turned to look at the group. He saw the normal group. Oswald, Mickey, Ortensia, Gus, but there was someone new. "Hello, I don't think we've met. I'm Prescott the one who keeps this place running." He took Minnie's hand and lightly kissed it like a prince. Minnie blushed. Mickey's face reddened with an angry rage. "Well it looks like you are on some hero mission thingy, better let you to it. Projectors are up and running." He vanished with a bow towards Minnie. Mickey took Minnie's hand and jumped through the projector.
Ostown
The group landed in Ostown. They rushed to Mickey's house almost knocking animatronic Goofy into the fountain. "Gus, it's up to you now," Mickey said. Gus took out his wrench and started to fiddle with the phone lines.
"There, I think that will work." Gus took a step back wiping the sweat off his brow. Mickey picked up the phone and dialed.
"Goofy! Yes, it is me, Mickey." "I'll tell you about it later. I need a favor. How popular is Oswald?" "Yes, the toon before me." "Really! Thanks, Goofy. I owe you one." Mickey hung up the phone. "Turns out that Oswald is part of the family again. You are showing up in games and cartoons. Goofy said he even saw people in Oswald Ears instead of Mickey Ears." Oswald looked at Mickey in unbelief.
"People like me?" he said. Mickey nodded. People like Oswald.