Chapter 5: Gathering The Crew
Back on Bird Island, Silver had managed to gather a few of the people that had been scattered in the doctor's scheme. Chuck had rejoined her not long ago, and they'd talked it out a lot more calmly, coming to an understanding with each other. They weren't the only ones that were in her house.
Amy and Eggman had come first, then Tails, and Sonic too. However, with Tails came Gremlin Gus and Mickey, which just made things more messy and confusing.
This meant everybody was owed an explanation of who he was, where he was from, why he was here, what he knew, and all sorts of other questions that just didn't make the pair of them very comfortable. However, after the explanation was over, the trio did make them feel a little less like strangers.
"So… who are we waitin' for?" asked Mickey.
Sonic grumbled, "Not a lot of people, so don't worry. Also, why did the landscape look grey when I was leaving, Silver?" he asked, quickly changing the topic.
She shrugged at the group. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Tails piped up, "I saw it too, though I'm also pretty sure I saw it becoming white! Something's wrong, but I can't put my finger on what's causing this."
All of a sudden, Mickey and Gus started glitching. "Oh, right, you need the regulators. Here!" said Chuck, handing them four regulators each. They popped them on their hands and shoes, as they flashed blue and green on the curious mouse's hands.
"Thank you kindly!" said Gus. "But about that greying landscape we've all seen. I think we need to figure out what's going on with them. None of our worlds should be doing that, should they?"
Everyone stood in silence for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on. It was important to find out the cause of this loss of colour.
"Maybe the colours are being taken by a paint monster?" suggested Eggman. Nobody was sure about that idea, when Gus' eyes widened with realisation. He muttered something inaudibly to Tails, as everyone else went back to Silver's worktop. Tails gasped.
"It can't be… can it?" he muttered.
"But it's the only thing that makes sense!"
Tails sighed and turned to the group. He called to them, "Guys! I think we've got it! C'mon!" After everybody sat down on the blue, pristine chairs Silver had had to take out for an emergency meeting, Tails signalled to Gus, who magically made a blackboard appear in the centre of the room. The team clapped, but then gasped as a drawing of a monster appeared on the board in purple.
Gus took out a pointer stick, and said, "Back in my world, there is a monster, called the Blot. Years ago, a bottle fell into Wasteland, filled with thinner, and with it came this monster." Mickey's eyes widened, as his gremlin companion continued, "Oswald, us gremlins, and the residents of Wasteland worked together to try to seal it back from where it came, and it worked! But victory came at a cost, and our leader lost his wife, Ortensia. He tried to be there for us like he had for years, but he'd lost the last thing he'd loved. Even his kids couldn't cheer him up. He went into hiding, and his resentment that he'd controlled came back again. He'd only ever talk to me, but he was so… so distant. We don't know what had happened to him, but we understood it was because of Ortensia. No matter what happened, Oswald was brave, and he still was, just less so, but we never gave up on him, and we supported him any way we could."
Sonic had a question. "That monster seems to be exactly what we're looking for! But I saw the land turn from grey to white when I was leaving. So how's that possible?"
Mickey said, with some understanding, "Well, it can only make things inert, but I don't think it's ever made things white." He looked to Gus to be certain, and he nodded.
"That's not important," Chuck said, "because we know a bit about what's happening, and everyone saw something turn grey. Er, except for you two." Chuck pointed at Amy and Eggman, and a grumbling was heard from the pair. "So we know for sure it's the Blot. Um, right?"
Silver nodded. "But that doesn't mean we should rule out any other possibilities."
"Can you still get us home?" asked Tails.
"Well," said Silver, "I'll see what I can do. But no more promises. If what you say is true," she glanced up to the sky, expecting to see something, but getting a clear sky in return, "then nowhere is safe."
A/N: Hello! It's been quite the journey so far, hasn't it? Well, get ready, we're halfway there!