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A long, distressed cry rang from the peak of Mickeyjunk Mountain, surfing down the rocky slopes until it met the quiet waves of Thinner which peacefully met with the coast. Standing not too far from the coast were a mouse and gremlin, who just came from a long and tiring adventure. Still, alerted by this cry, the two raced towards the peak. The person—or rather, rabbit—who made the noise was in obvious trouble, and help was needed fast.
Arriving at the peak, Oswald was attempting to push the cork of a jug back into place. The rabbit had previously destroyed the nastiest of slobbers with nothing more than a flick of the wrist, so the fact that he was struggling with this inanimate object clearly spoke to how powerful the inky black subject inside the jug really was. The rabbit’s feet pushed against the comically large book he was standing on, and despite his efforts, they crept closer to the edge as his strength faltered. Looking up, his desperate eyes caught sight of the two toons; Mickey and Gus themselves were exhausted from the fight with the Shadow Blot and subsequently race to the peak, but they were ready to help Oswald in any way they could. The rabbit tittered over to the edge of the cork, making room for the two to push it in. Together, the three of them strained themselves of all their might. The colour drained from their faces as they tried, but they successfully put the cork back in its place. A sigh of relief followed, and the trio finally let themselves rest.
Oswald collapsed to the floor, but made an effort to look at the other two. Thanking them, he commented “Dat was a close one—lot closer den I’d like it to be.” While the two didn’t respond due to their lasting fatigue of shutting the bottle, he continued on. “Y’know, no one else has made it up here to the Jug in years. No one bothers to come up, leavin’ me to guard it.” With shaky legs, he pulled himself up, with the other two shortly copying him.
“What's in it?" asked Mickey, confused as to why the cork held such a powerful force.
"The Blot,” Oswald deadpanned.
The mouse hesitated a response, his face ridden with obvious confusion. Once it clicked, he mustered the question: "What? But I've been fightin' the Blot!" He glanced down at the battlefield below, where he fought the Blot no more than five minutes okay. When Mickey looked back up at Oswald, the rabbit had his head face away from him. His brows furrowed down, his eyes staring at his fiddling thumbs.
A frown slowly spread across the rabbit’s face, growing by the minute. "Well, ya haven't seen the real Blot." His mouth opened like he had more to say—moving like words were trying to leave, but nothing came. Dark memories of his past entered his mind, until he eventually confessed. “”A long time ago, Ortensia n' I managed to bottle the Blot up in dis here jug. We saved Wasteland, but I... I lost Ortensia in the battle." Staring in the distance at nothing, Mickey watched somberly. This was the first time the rabbit had ever admitted his feelings. After a pause, Oswald continued, “Those droplings you've been fightin'... that's all they are. They're nothin' compared to da actual Blot." Oswald let his eyes wander around, before coming back to the topic at hand. "Oh,” he said in a tone which was clearly truthful, but left a twinge of annoyance with the listeners, “I didn't mention that before?"
With a sudden change of emotion, Oswald spun around from where he stood, facing towards Mickey. "Listen, Mouse, maybe I misjudged ya." He sat and fiddled with his fingers, expressing his nervousness and concern, muttering softly about how Ortensia would have wanted him to be nicer. Without warning,
Oswald suddenly put his hand out in a friendly manner, an innocent look on his face. "I say we should start over. Shake on it?"
The mouse was taken aback by this newfound kindness, making him hesitant to respond. Noticing the soft smile across Oswald's face, he came to the conclusion that he was to trust, and put his hand out with a large smile. Their hands nearly touched, but Mickey abruptly pulled back without warning. The gremlin watched carefully to see if he could catch what's wrong, while Oswald pulled his back in response, cocking his head to the side as an expression of confusion.
Mickey looked aside, a look of mass guilt spreading across this face. "A while ago, I found this workshop..." Mickey started to remember in detail what he had done that cursed day at the workshop, only increasing his guilt more as he realised that this was the consequence of his past actions. "...There was Paint and Thinner. Things really got outta control. I spilled a jug onto a... a gateway. A gateway to what I've found out now is this place..." His face cringed, as he realised that he had no choice but to tell the others what happened. "I caused the Thinner Disaster."
Oswald's entire body jolted, his face shocked. He didn't say anything for a few seconds, taken aback by what the mouse had said. He should have expected it—that mouse had been nothing but hurtful to him, but he had never thought it would have been true! He then bolted forward towards the mouse, his hands spreading out to make himself appear larger than he was. "YOU?!"
Oswald's face grew with rage, as he made his way closer to Mickey, their noses nearly touching. Mickey hung his head low, a frown hanging heavy.
"I'm really sorry,” was all he could say.
Oswald stomped repeatedly, fists shaking, his body ticking out of control from the rush of emotions. "I should have known! You stole my life AND ruined my home." He grabbed onto Mickey's tuft of fur by his neck. "Oh, you, you, YOU! I should have done this a long time ago.” Mickey watched in a mix of both confusion and guilt as Oswald wined his foot up.
"Oswald—" Gus called out, "What are you—"
Without a second of hesitation, Oswald kicked Mickey off the cliff, leaving him to soar up into the air. The mouse’s figure eventually faded into the same colour as the sky, and if he did fall, he fell far, far-far away from where Gus and Oswald could see.
"O...Oswald?"
Oswald looked at the gremlin, sticking up his nose and crossing his arms. "That should do it! He don’t even need the rocket, I sent him back home myself. Now that fragarassin' mouse can't bother us no more!" He dusted off his hands and sat back down at the Jug, pleased with what he had done.
Gremlin Gus looked up at the sky, then at Oswald, then back into the sky, before eventually shrugging it off. “I suppose my mission is done, then.” He teleported away, leaving Oswald by himself at the peak of Mickeyjunk Mountain, reminiscent of all the years he had done the same. While obviously fuming over Mickey, he wore a smug, toothy grin on his face, clearly amused with what he had done.