Chapter 7: The White Space

Oswald blinked. He blinked again, rubbing his eyes. If somebody had told him his eyes had separated from his head, he might have believed them more than he could believe what he was seeing right now.

The landscape no longer had any colour. Everything was drained of life, and all that was left behind was a blank canvas. The ground they were on was white, as was the sky. The few random islands ahead of him were also blank. But perhaps most importantly, the Chaos Emeralds were all white, and had no colour. All their glittering and shimmering had stopped.

After a few seconds, Oswald realised that nothing was moving except for him and Mickey. The mouse looked around and, panicking, asked, "Uh, Oswald… What's goin' on? Why's everything frozen?!"

As if some greater force were waiting for these words, the others standing motionless next to him collapsed onto the ground, complaining. One by one, everybody got up, clutching their heads. Tails asked what happened, and the lucky rabbit admitted that he had no idea. He wasn't exactly ready to tell anybody what happened outside the dimension either. Then again, he knew it might come out eventually, so he was silently bracing himself for that possibility.

Tails did recognise this place though. Originally, it was a place where moments from their past had been ripped from their rightful place in the timeline. But now, all sorts of places were present. From massive planets to even the ones consisting of one small island, this White Space was packed.

"Oh boy," said Tails.

"It feels like we've never left here… WHY HERE?!" cried Sonic.

"What's wrong with it?" asked Tails. Mickey also seemed confused.

"Well, it's not like the places actually exist in the timeline anymore, they're ripped out fresh from it. Ijust don't like it. It feels wrong for all these moments in time to be out of their rightful place in our lives."

"Pathetic," muttered Shadow, before saying, louder, "When I was in White Space, the doctor told me that restoring the pivotal moments in time creates an equilibrium which restores the rest of the timeline. And he knew what he was talking about."

Everyone murmured in agreement, before Sonic suddenly asked, "Wait, you mean Gerald, right? We were battling the Eggmen, so couldn't have been them you're talking about."

"Yes, but do you see what I'm trying to say?" groaned Shadow, exasperatedly clutching his head.

If time permits me to say this, it could have been between two to three hours since these words were spoken. Sadly, time cannot be used as a measurement here, as White Space is a zone which has a lack of time. It cannot be counted, cannot be used and cannot be invented or destroyed. It is impossible, as such, to say how long it took the group to bring the areas from the past back to life. What could have taken an hour might have been equal to a minute, and what could have taken half a minute might have been equal to three-quarters of an hour.

Fortunately for Mickey and Oswald, they didn't have to worry overly about this, seeing as it was just encounters with old memories. But for some reason, all that Oswald seemed to be able to visit was Wasteland. Not that that was a problem. Seeing Ortensia there was good enough for him.

As Sonic and Tails visited a place from the future, somehow, and Shadow conquered a place called Sunset Heights, the mouse and rabbit jumped into the projector screen in front of Wasteland, ready to see the past once more.

Mickey gasped.

Looking around, all the sights shocked him. The place had people everywhere, welcoming each other inside their shops. Houses seemed to dance in the cool wind, whistling a jovial tune. From an ice-cream parlour, a few children walked out with three scoops of soft, chilly ice-cream, trying their hardest not to let it fall. Laughter and cheerfulness seemed to spread around like butter on bread. It was the home Oswald had grown up in and made his own.

"This was – Wasteland?" asked Mickey.

"Was. There was happiness everywhere. I took every duty that needed to happen upon myself, so as to let others enjoy themselves." Oswald watched as a couple of kids ran in front of him. He tried to stop them, but his hand passed right through them. They must have heard him though, because they had started walking. Confused, Oswald stared at his hands.

The scenery changed. Dark clouds started storming the sky, covering the sun in an impenetrable blanket. The villagers were now all in different positions all of a sudden, pointing at the sky and whispering to one another. Looks of worry were everywhere.

All of a sudden, a bottle fell from the sky.

"No…" whispered the mouse. He fell to his knees in agony. "I… I was the one… I caused this…"

The bottle fell to the ground. From it, a wave of green appeared over the town, with a Blotling riding it. It landed on the town, and wiped all the colour from it. Even though it swept past the pair's hands and feet, nothing happened to them. They were, as it seemed, only visitors.

Sonic had finally finished fixing his part of White Space, and came back to an eager gremlin. "Did Mickey and Oswald come back yet?" he asked.

"Alas, no. I've been waiting here for some time now. What about the others?" returned the Gremlin. Sonic shrugged. As if on cue, Tails flew down and landed beside Sonic, followed by Shadow skating across the ground.

"Are your friends done in there?" Shadow asked.

"No, they haven't. It must be taking them longer due to the nature of time in Wasteland."

Tails pointed at him, saying, "I've been meaning to ask, what is up with time in your world?"

Gus shrugged. "I haven't cracked it, and I have been in Wasteland for years. Maybe it's best left untouched, though.

After experiencing the Blot War, the loss of Ortensia, and the state of Wasteland, Oswald and Mickey had finally come to the exit projector. Everything had gone by like it was supposed to, but for each moment of sorrow that seemed to taunt him, blaming him for his mistake, Mickey winced.

He'd understood that his actions had caused consequences, but not at this level. He'd started the end of Wasteland with the Blot, wiped out life with the Tinner Disaster, and hurt his brother with his wife becoming inert. Normal Paint was unable to restore her: only the life force the Blot had taken could undo this mess.

And all this seemed to dim the light of hope within him. He was holding his sides, feeling miserable. Oswald had suffered so much because of him. Did he even deserve to be his brother? Did he even deserve to exist? He was trying his hardest to think positively, and the best he could think of was the fact that Oswald had forgiven him.

Speaking of him, the lucky rabbit was walking to the projector, when he noticed that his brother wasn't behind him. Turning around, he saw him gazing at the ground.

"C'mon, Mickey. We gotta go."

His attention snapped to Oswald. He looked up, and sighed. "Yeah. Ok."

Oswald felt pity for him, but quickly turned his notice back to the projector. They looked at each other, nodded, and jumped through into the world beyond.

A/N: This is reaching the end. I am so happy that I made this story, and I hope everyone here has enjoyed it too!