Chapter 5: Where In the Multiverse Am I?!

Oswald had managed to survive the portal. After a glitchy fizz, with some ink splashing onto the sandy beach he was standing on, the portal overhead blipped out of existence.

He shuddered as he leant down to touch it. Droplets of it clung onto his fingers, as he took a shallow breath. It was the Blot's ink.

It was here now, somewhere, or maybe it just was in that strange tube, but wherever it was, no-one was safe. How it got out must have been simple enough for the Blot: creating goons out of itself, and using them to break the cork of its Jug. He hadn't pushed the button to start the traps he'd set. Its inky shadow would now tower over them once more.

He sighed. "Once again, my luck was useless… and ain't that the sad truth." He sat down, and stared at the ocean. The tide came to wave at him, but his mood repelled the tide, and it sank down, leaving him in unwanted peace. He watched the shimmering waters, thinking about how he'd defeat the blobby menace again. "Wasteland is my only home," he said, "and it was Ortensia's too. I'll do whatever it takes to stop you, for good this time!" He opened his eyes, and saw the sun slowly rise up– "Hang on."

Oswald got up. He knew he wasn't at the castle, just somewhere else. He thought it was Ventureland, or maybe Skull Island, but it made no sense now. It was midday a few seconds ago. Why would the sun be ascending? He slowly started to piece everything together. ""That dot… the tube… thi-this is a-another WORLD!"

How did this happen? Maybe he was a clone of him that had gone inside? No, it couldn't. The machine he'd made a long time ago wasn't programmed in any way to transfer a consciousness, and besides, it was scrapped for parts. It couldn't be that. What was happening? He felt dizzy. He was about to sit down, when he turned around, and saw the most astounding sight he'd seen in a long time.

A massive, and by massive, he really meant humongous, statue of multiple faces sat atop the island he was currently standing on. They were all… birds? All of a sudden, a gust of yellow wind swept past him, but it seemed to have a body. The speed he was moving at was so shocking that he couldn't even believe he'd actually seen anything. "What in the Cartoon World…?" he started, as whatever the wind thing was reversed and stopped beside him.

"Hi, there, I'm Chuck, and you are?" spoke the yellow bird. His speech seems to be as fast as he is, thought Oswald. He looked quite slim, and had black tail and head feathers. He stuck out his yellow wing, and Oswald shook it. Unfortunately, Chuck shook it quite hard and with such enthusiasm that it came off. Naturally, any person who would've seen something like that happen would scream, which Chuck followed to the letter. "AAAAAAARRGHHHHH! OH NO, OH NO, YOUR HAND, YOUR HAND! I AM SO, SO SILLY– I'm so sorry!" He practically had to whisper this last part with all the breath he could muster.

Oswald smiled slightly, and picked up his hand and plopped on his arm. This brought on another bout of screams from the bird, but in just three seconds, he calmed down. "Ok, so what are you, because you don't look like anything I've ever seen. Are you– (gasp) Wait, are you another enemy of birds?"

"What? That's ridiculous. I didn't even know there was a whole island dedicated to birds, and I've been here for 5 minutes! Look, I don't know whether or not you'll believe me but…"

"Oh, that's not a problem, I believe anything. See there was this one time, where my friend Bomb–"

"You have a friend named Bomb? Is he dangerous?"

Chuck laughed and said," What?! No! Well, only if you don't scare him, or make him angry 'cos then, well, he does live up to his name." The way he said this at the end had a slightly worrying tone, but it was nothing Oswald felt panicked about. As far as he was concerned, he had a new friend. It had been such a long time since he'd talked to anyone, and Chuck's easy-going nature built his confidence up.

"Well," he said, remembering what had happened, "where exactly am I? One second ago, I was… well, somewhere else and now I'm here!"

Chuck looked somewhat confused, as if someone had told him to solve the Rubik's cube "Riiiiiight. Ok, let's start from the top, so we're clear, buddy. Do you mind if I call you buddy? I don't think so. Anywho, what species are you? I mean you can't be bird, or pig, and definitely not eagle."

"See, I'm a rabbit… A cartoon rabbit…? Basically, I come from this place called Wasteland. It's a place where Forgotten Toons like me, well, end up. A long time ago, I was created by Walt–"

"Who's Walt? Also, what do you mean by "created" and "forgotten"? And what is Wasteland? Tell me, tell me!"

With a deep breath, Oswald steadily began to recite his story. He knew it off by heart – it was moulded into his head after its echo inside his brain for so long. He continued his tale, and had just finished explaining how he got here, and was about to mention his worries about the Blot, when another bird walked up to them. He was completely red, aside from his slightly lighter stomach and his dark, thick eyebrows. From a distance, he looked angry, but he wasn't like that. Well, not always. He had a small red feather sticking out from the top of his head and an evenly sized body, unlike Chuck. He was running, but Oswald and Chuck didn't even notice anyone approaching until hearing his voice.

"Chuck, where were you? I had to climb down the mountain with no help!"

"Sorry Red, I was busy talking to this guy! I found him down here on the beach! He needs some help…!" Chuck looked at Red excitedly. Red had been friends with Chuck long enough to know that face. He turned to Oswald, who waved back at him nervously. Looking back to him, he could see what his speedy friend was trying to intone: he had a ton to say.

"Alright, alright, Chuck. You obviously want to speak, BUT don't go too–" started Red, but he was cut off by Chuck beginning his story-telling. 15 minutes later, Chuck finished explaining mostly everything that Oswald told him. He bowed down, and was greeted with applause from Oswald. Red clapped, and, just as Oswald was going to speak, faced him.

"Ok, so, you're telling me you are from another dimension. Hmm…"

Red thought for a moment. "Maybe, if we go to Silver… She might be able to tell what happened to bring you here. She should be able to send you back too. Honestly, though, at least it's just you from another dimension." Red turned around and started moving. "If we had to deal with a multiverse of multiverses, well, that'd just be–"

A fizzing sound clipped off what little he had left to say. The trio looked up as out came a blue and a pink hedgehog, a fox with two tails, and a red… Actually, none of them were sure what it actually was. After a few seconds, the portal spat out one more hedgehog, and disappeared, leaving a pile of animals at their feet.

"Why did I speak?" grumbled Red, smacking his forehead.

A/N: Welp, things are finally starting to collide...