PrismRain13: hey guys! I'm back! And here's the world I'm guessing a lot of you have been waiting for. I was really surprised to find out that so many readers guessed our trio vanished to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's world!
Oswald: wow, I'm surprised so many people remember me!
PrismRain13: don't act so surprised, you're awesome!
Oswald: Yay! Prism owns nothing other than the plot and her OCs enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 49: The King's Brother
In a word, Sora felt like crap. The young Keyblade master's entire body was aching all over, reminding him of the time he, Donald and Goofy were swallowed up by Monstro. He slowly opened his eyes, gasping at what he saw around him.
He and Roxas, still unconscious, were locked inside a small iron cage resting on a stone floor. The space around them looked like some type of ruined castle that was missing a ceiling and a small, deadly-looking laboratory in front of them with a number of machines. Around the walls, he could see detailed stained glass windows.
As Sora grasped the bars and leaned forward, he could make out someone familiar unconscious and strapped to the table in the lab with an unmoving machine above them. They were small, dressed in red with big, round black ears.
"Your majesty!" He exclaimed worriedly. "Roxas! Roxas wake up!" He hissed, shaking his former nobody's shoulder.
"Hmm...wha?" Roxas mumbled, opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings. "Sora? What's going on? Where are we?"
"Some kind of lab I guess." Replied Sora. "The last thing I remember was that black arm grabbing us and pulling us into the mirror. So, how'd we get here?"
Wasteland
"The Blot brought you here." An accented voice rang through the lab, both boys turned their heads, finding a tall man walking towards them dressed in a long, white labcoat and black gloves. He had a bald head, a beard, a moustache and large teeth. "Brought you right to me." The man laughed.
"The Blot? You mean that black monster thing?" Roxas asked just as Mickey started to stir.
"Ugh.. Sora? Roxas?" Mickey groaned, then his eyes widened at the sight of where they were and who was with them. "Oh no!"
"Ah, dear King Mickey. So wonderful you could join us." The man smirked, rubbing his hands together. "You remember me, don't you? I am the Mad Doctor. How long has it been? Fifty years?"
Immediately, Mickey began to struggle against his restraints, but they wouldn't budge.
"Now, now." Laughed the Mad Doctor, walking up to a large, metal machine beside Mickey. "Don't struggle. Just let me take your heart and no one gets hurt."
"What do you want with the King's heart?!" Demanded Roxas.
The Mad Doctor glared at the two boys, obviously irritated with the constant interruptions. "If you boys must know; once I take a heart, I'll finally be able to leave this land! Now shut up and leave me to my work!"
"No! Leave him alone!" Protested Sora.
"Doc, come on, ya don't wanna do this!" Mickey pleaded, but they went ignored as the Mad Doctor laughed insanely and began to power up his console. After pressing a few buttons and pulling a few levers, the machine above Mickey roared to life.
A number of mechanical attachments burst out of it; a mechanical eye, a chainsaw, a pair of scissors, a corkskerw and a hand holding a plunger. Settling on the plunger, the Mad Doctor commanded the machine to attack. Immediately, the plunger attached itself to Mickey's chest, moving in away that was trying to pull something out; his heart. The King struggled more than ever, trying to escape from his bonds and the heart-extraction device, resisting with all his might.
Sora snarled at the sight before him. Unable to stand by any more, he summoned Kingdom Key to his hand and pointed it to the lock on the cage. A beam of light shot out of the tip of the weapon and into the keyhole of the lock, causing the door of the cage to open, setting them free.
"Come on, We gotta help the King!" Said Sora.
Roxas smiled encouragingly, summoning Two Become One. "Right behind you!"
Mickey shivered in fear as the tip of the plunger-like mechanical arm was just about to pull his heart out. But, before it could, Sora jumped up and used his keyblade to destroy the machine. Then, he threw his weapon directly at the controlling console beside the doctor, destroying it instantly.
Roxas followed, using his own Keyblade to unlock the shackles holding the King in place. Mickey didn't waste any time in jumping off the table, between the two spiky-haired boys.
"You okay, your majesty?" Asked Roxas.
Mickey nodded, summoning Star Seeker. "Yeah, now. Thanks, fellas."
"You fools! You'll pay for this!" The Mad Doctor exclaimed, then looked up to the sky. "Shadow Blot! Come! Aid your ally!" He yelled. Instantly, a giant blob of black ink with glowing green eyes and mouth dropped down in front of the doctor. Its claw-like hands looked just like the one that dragged the three of them into this world.
"So, you're the one who brought us here!" Growled Sora as he, Mickey and Roxas crouched into their battle stances.
The Shadow Blot released a menacing roar, but after taking one look at the three Keyblades in front of him, his expression immediately turned scared and fled up into the sky. The Mad Doctor looked just as surprised as the rest of them.
"WHAT?!" He exclaimed, then he looked down ans saw the weapons his opponents were holding. His expression slowly changed to a devious smirk. "Oh, Keyblades. I see now. Well, I'll just have to dispose of you myself before you cause any damage to the Blot!"
The Mad Doctor then slammed his fist down onto a large, red button on the busted console. The ground surrounding them immediately started to shake and the floor surrounding the doctor started to move and open beneath him. The Mad Doctor fell through, but soon reemerged inside a large, dome-shaped flying machine with multiple powerful rockets beneath it and large mechanical claws.
"Let's see you try and defeat me now!" The Mad Doctor laughed madly.
"Bring it on!" Mickey exclaimed, leading Sora and Roxas into battle.
The King jumped up into the air, firing a light spell at the machine, causing it to go crashing into a nearby brick wall and the doctor inside to slam against the glass dome. This gave Sora and Roxas the chance they needed to rush in and attack with everything they had. However, it wasn't long before the Mad Doctor recovered and took back control of the machine. Using the controls, the mechanical arms came to life and slashed at both boys. Sora and Roxas managed to keep up, though and succeded in blocking most of the attacks.
With the Mad Doctor distracted, Mickey rushed behind the machine, out of sight, and unleashed a powerful blow to a weak point, causing a great deal of damage. Sora and Roxas followed his lead, breaking through the claws and striking the machine in front with their Keyblades. That proved to be the finishing blow as the Mad Doctor's machine's rockets stopped working and slammed to the floor, sending the doc himself to his knees.
"No, I will not be defeated by you!" The Mad Doctor pushed himself up with some difficulty inside his machine. "I am the MAD DOCTOR!"
"Oh, give it a rest, Doc!" A new voice echoed throughout the lab. In the next second, a small dark silhouette with long floppy ears jumped down in between the three heroes and the doctor. "Now get outta my castle!" Immediately, the Mad Doctor's expression shifted to one of worry.
The figure before them raised his hand as an object magically appeared in his grasp. From where the trio was standing, it looked like...
"A Keyblade?!" Sora, Roxas and Mickey all gasped at the same time.
The mysterious stranger pointed his keyblade directly at the Mad Doctor and shouted, "Thundaga!" Electrical sparks flew out of the tip of the weapon from the thunder spell, hitting the Mad Doctor's impact, the machine began to go haywire.
"Noo! My instruments!" The Mad Doctor released a final scream before being sent blasting off into the sky.
Sora, Mickey and Roxas's jaws dropped at the sight before them. They were so distracted, they barely even noticed a small creature appear beside them in a flash of light.
"Oh dear, that's going to be a rough landing." The creature smiled.
The trio gazed at the creature curiously. He appeared to be floating in mid-air, had green skin and was dressed in a red and white bodysuit with white gloves, large brown shoes and a red helmet with goggles. Coming out of the helmet were two small horns, one with a tiny bowler hat and a white broom moustache under his round, orange nose.
The creature only just noticed the trio looking at him, "What? Never seen a gremlin before?"
"Obviously not, Gus." The dark silhouette before them spoke. "It's been a long time, mouse."
It was then that the figure steeped into the light, revealing himself to be a a black cartoon-like rabbit. He was dressed in a short-sleeved zip-up jacket, puffy pants, large shoes and wristbands coloured blue, black, white and green. His Keyblade was decorated with rusted gears, springs, movie reels and blue and green ink.
Mickey gasped in shock. "Oswald?!"
"Well, nice of you to remember me." Huffed the rabbit, crossing his arms.
"You guys know each other?" Roxas asked.
Mickey looked up at the two boys. "Know each other? Oswald's my brother."
"WHAT?!" Sora and Roxas exclaimed at the same time.
"Why didn't you tell us you had a brother?!" Sora demanded.
Mickey nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it's kinda a sensitive subject for me."
"Yeah, sure it is." Grumbled Oswald, dismissing his Keyblade. "Especially after you stole my spot as King and allowed me to become forgotten!"
"Oswald, I never stole your spot! Dad made it really clear that I was gonna become King from the beginning!"
Oswald clenched his fists, ready to attack Mickey. But before he could, Gus flew inbetween the mouse and rabbit.
"Come on, boys. Let's not fight. Besides, I think we need to provide some explanations for our confused friends over here." Gus said, pointing towards Sora and Roxas who both had confused expressions upon their faces.
Mickey quickly moved to introduce the two boys. "Oh, Oswald, Gus, this is Sora and Roxas-"
"I know who they are." Interrupted Oswald. "I pay attention to what goes on in your life."
"So, what exactly is this place?" Roxas asked.
"You're in Wasteland. It's a place Master Yen Sid made for all of us forgotten toons." Oswald explained.
Sora cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean by being 'forgotten'?"
Oswald took a deep breath as he continued to explain. "You see, around fifty years ago, after me and Mickey completed our Keyblade training, our father announced Mickey would take his place as king. Soon after, Disney Castle began to grow overpopulated and some of the citizens started to get forgotten by the others and start to loose their hearts because of it. Yen Sid created Wasteland as a place where all us forgotten toons could live in peace and save us from turning into those heartless monsters. For a long time, I tried to make the best of it and turn this place into something nice for all the other forgotten citizens."
Oswald released a sigh as he continued. "Especially, for my sweetie, Ortensia, and our bunny children. We were doing okay until-" the rabbit chocked back a sob, as though he was thinking back to a horrible memory.
"Until what?" Asked Roxas.
"Until the Thinner Disaster." Replied Oswald sadly. "This giant bottle full of thinner rained down from the sky and destroyed almost everything it touched. The disaster unleashed the Shadow Blot, and the Mad Doctor went over to his side. I've been fighting them both ever since."
Mickey gasped as a shiver ran down his spine, staring at Oswald. For awhile, the King looked as though he was staring off into space until Sora shook his shoulder.
"Your majesty? Are you okay?" Sora asked with worry.
Mickey shook his head, snapping himself out of his trance. "Oh, yes. I'm fine, Sora."
"What are you lookin' at, mouse?!" Oswald snapped, noticing Mickey had been staring at him.
"Uhh... It's not important." Mickey replied. "So, what happened to Ortensia?"
Oswald huffed in annoyance. "Like you said - not important."
"I still don't get if things were so bad, why you guys didn't just leave and ask Disney Castle for help." Said Sora.
"Unfortunately, no one can leave here without a heart." Gus explained. "And, once a toon is forgotten they loose their heart. We don't become one of those heartless monsters because of the powerful magic Yen Sid used to create this place."
Oswald continued. "The heartless don't normally exist here, but thanks to whatever went on before you three showed up, they started to appear as minions of the Blot. Now they're harassin' us."
"So that's why the Mad Doctor wanted the King's heart." Roxas realized. "That's why the Blot grabbed Mickey."
"You got that right! I don't even want you clowns here! I wish you'd all just leave!" Grumbled Oswald, but then paused as he realized something. "Wait, you guys can leave! You still have your hearts, right?"
Sora, Roxas and Mickey all looked at each other and nodded their heads.
"Great!" Oswald smiled for the first time since they met him. "Tomorrow City has the Moonliner Rocket, you guys can fly it out of Wasteland and back to Disney Castle!"
"But, Oswald." Spoke up Gus. "I just went to check on the rocket a few days ago, three crucial parts are missing."
Oswald's face fell. "Hmm..." He pondered. "Must be the Mad Doctor's doing. We'll just have to look for them. Any idea on where they could be, Gus?
"Some of the other gremlins told me they saw some rocket parts guarded by the heartless at Lonesome Manor, Toortuga and in Tomorrow City itself." The gremlin replied.
Oswald looked up at the group. "Think you guys can handle those monsters?"
Sora smiled. "You got it! We've been fighting the heartless for a long time, now."
"Great, Sora will go to Tomorrow City. Roxas, you head to Toortuga. Gus, you go with Mickey to Lonesome Manor." Ordered Oswald as he turned away to leave. "When you've got all the parts, we'll meet up at the top of Mickeyjunk Mountain."
"Wait!" Roxas called out to the rabbit. "Where are you going?!"
"I have something I gotta take care of! Don't worry, the projectors will take you where you need to go!" And without another word, Oswald ran towards the laboratory door and disappeared through it, leaving Sora, Roxas, Mickey and Gus behind.
Sora ran his fingers though his hair. "Soo...did he just say 'projectors'?"
PrismRain13: so in case you guys were wondering, yes this world will be based off the 2010 wii game Epic Mickey. And if you guys want to see Oswald's Kingdom Hearts form, it's up on my DeviantArt page.
Oswald: Stay tuned for the next chapter!
Guest - Yep! You guessed right :) and, I don't know if this is the same person that keeps sending reviews like "Update the chapter", "Update the next chapters fist thing tomorrow" and "UPDATE NOW", I want you to know that I update this story as I'm able. It's impossible for me to update upon your demand because the chapter isn't even done yet when you ask around my busy schedule. I'm happy that you like my story and are anxiously waiting for updates but I'm not able to update whenever you ask me to.