A/N:
This story was originally written out completely on another site under a different username. However, I have decided to rewrite my story in order to improve it and to present it to this community.
Enjoy!
The Cog Metamorphosis
Prologue
In June, the sun beats down relentlessly on Toontown Central, the Toons who once dressed in multiple layers and sipped mugs of hot chocolate in their homes now wearing t-shirts and shorts, drinking cold drinks outside, laughing and playing with friends, or battling Cogs as they sweated.
Although most of the Toons now enjoying themselves outside in the summer heat were only now beginning their training, some were stronger and more experienced, visiting friends, helping out random Toons or simply enjoying the scenery.
On this particular day – 17th of June, 2012 – there was a small festival inside the playground, celebrating summer. Amongst the huge group of Toons were three friends – a plump, yellow mouse, a navy blue dog, and a light blue cat.
The tallest – the dog – was glaring at the mouse. "All I'm saying is," he growled, "my pie was missing, you were there, and you had crumbs all over you."
The mouse patted his large belly, staring up at the dog towering above him. "Come on, Max, you think I'd do that?" he appealed, in a wounded tone. "You gotta believe me, I don't do it! What do you think, Fish? Do you really think I'd be such a -"
The cat's large green eyes narrowed, and she pounced, interrupting the mouse. He hit the floor and squeaked desperately. Max looked at them and chuckled.
The cat placed a paw on the mouse's face. He struggled but was barely able to move. "My name is not Fish, got it?" she hissed.
"Max, help!" begged the mouse, staring at the dog as he laughed.
He shook his head. "You asked for it, Jake! Get 'im, Fi- I mean, Toon. E. Fish!" cheered Max.
She dug her claws in to his head a little. "I said, got it?!" she hissed again.
"Yeah, I got it, I got it! Owwww!" screeched Jake.
"Good!" Toon. E. Fish mewed, getting off the poor mouse.
Max smiled and shook his head. "Come on, guys. I thought we were gonna help little Toons to get those tasks done? We shouldn't waste time."
Toon. E. Fish hissed. "I don't want to. They're ungrateful when you help 'em. I think we should just holiday here."
"Yeah!" Jake piped up. "We should just go in to an all-you-can-eat buffet. I heard there's a nice place in Loopy Lane."
"Come on," urged Max. "We've gotta finish this task. Hey, there's jellybeans in it."
Jake turned to look at Toon. E. Fish, who was clearly being persuaded. "I could use some extra cash..." she mumbles.
"Aw, come on, it's too much work!" protested Jake.
"It'll only be a few Cogs, maybe a Cog Building if we find one. You can stay behind if you want, but you won't get any of the reward," Max replied.
"I'm not sure. I figured we could just relax... but then again it is fun to destroy Cogs!" Toon. E. Fish muttered to herself. She brightened after a moment.
"Okay," she mewed, smiling – a very rare thing for her to do – and rustled around in her backpack. "Yeah, let's go!"
Jake looked at Toon. E. Fish thoughtfully. He noticed that she never really smiled, never spoke in a cheerful voice, unless she was thinking about or talking about destroying Cogs. Sometimes, when they were battling Cogs, chucking cream pies and squirting water hoses, he would realise that she was grinning, putting all of her energy in to it, loving every second of it. Sometimes, when they were not, when the three of them were sitting on a park bench or in a quiet café, he would see her with her head in her hands, her eyes staring off in to the distance, perhaps through a window or just at a wall, and he would know that she was deep in thought, and he knew that she was daydreaming about destroying more Cogs.
Max nodded, smiling, and started checking his own backpack for gags. "You got gags, Toony?" Max asked, using the agreed on nickname for her – the one which didn't end in a lot of pain for whoever was dumb enough to say it.
"Yeah, have you, Max?" she replied as she slung the backpack back on, looking around once more at the packed neighbourhood. She saw Toons of every size and shape dance, play and laugh. She shook her head – it was noisy and frustrating.
"Yeah, I got gags! You coming, Jake?"
Jake sighed, defeated. He realised he wasn't going to win this argument, and nodded slowly. "On one condition: we grab doughnuts first."
After five doughnuts, twenty Cogs, and a lot of running back and forth between the gag shop and Loopy Lane, Jake was tired and the sun had set over Toontown Central, and the sky had darkened. The three friends only had to help one more Toon destroy a Cog for the reward, but they couldn't find anyone to help. At night, most Toons would go back to their homes and sleep, or play games – but they wouldn't go outside – because at night, the Cogs began to get the advantage. More Cogs flew out in to the streets and attacked the few Toons left outside viciously, with nobody else to help the Toons. Toontown wasn't a safe place at night anymore, and it hadn't been for a few months now. At some point Cogs had started sending in more Cogs at night than day, and they were taking over more and more buildings, and hunting down the Toons who remained outside and saddening them. Still, these streets were safer than any other neighbourhood, and the three had enough gags to defend themselves ably.
They tried to convince Toons that were trudging home to come out and fight Cogs with them, or talk Toons out of getting on buses and going back to the other neighbourhoods so they could finish their tasks. But the looming threat of night-time was enough to stop the Toons from agreeing.
Just as the three Toons were about to give up and take Jake's suggestion to grab dinner at a McToons in Goofy's Speedway, they heard a very loud, distressed quack coming from further up the street.
Max looked at Toon. E. Fish. "Do you think that's...?"
Toony shrugged. "Could be, let's check it out!" she replied, her eyes narrowing as she sped off in excitement. Max jogged after her and after a small sigh, Jake reluctantly followed.
There were several more quacks as the three moved towards the source of the cry, and each one was louder and more distressed. The duck that was making the sound seemed to be in a lot of pain.
Finally Max and Jake arrived to see a small, cowering red duck being relentlessly attacked by a Cog – a Corporate Raider. Toon. E. Fish, who had already arrived, was giving the duck medical attention in the form of pixie dust.
"No way," breathed Max as he jumped in to help.
"What's going on?" Max quickly asked Jake, who joined a few seconds after, sounding panicked. "Is it a Corporate Raider invasion? How else could a Corporate Raider be here?"
Jake quickly checked his phone. "No invasion," he panted, still recovering from the long run.
Toon. E. Fish tossed a cream pie at the Cog. The robot didn't even try to dodge the attack, instead taking the pie to the face and wiping it off.
Max looked around. "If there's no invasion, how could it -"
"Shut up!" hissed Toon. E. Fish. "Focus on taking out this Cog!"
Max stopped talking and squirted a water hose at the Cog. Once more the Cog didn't move. Jake dropped a safe, which it dodged with ease.
The Cog finally retaliated, and a flurry of Power Ties hit the Toons. The ties were much power powerful than usual. Jake hit a button to summon a storm cloud. Predictably, the Cog moved at the last second to avoid the attack, seemingly taunting the Toons, but Max had thrown a birthday cake as it moved, hitting it in the face.
While the Cog was distracted, Toon. E. Fish threw a cream pie, hitting the Cog. The red duck chucked a cupcake, which the Cog didn't even notice. The Cog struck back at Max, attacking with an 'Evil Eye', knocking Max off his feet. He struggled back up only to experience another one, hitting him again. Once more he clambered back up but the Cog was not letting him go – a Power Tie hit him in the face and he stumbled backwards. "Help," he rasped, falling against a wall. The Cog prepared to attack again, but Jake pushed his red button and a safe dropped on the Cog.
The Cog jumped up almost right away, lifting the weight off. But it was met with three cream pies, and it stumbled back. Finally, a storm cloud rained down upon the robot, and it fell to its knees. It exploded quickly, leaving a pile of gears and other Cog parts.
The three friends looked at each other after a moment, each one waiting for one of the others to say something. Finally, Jake broke the silence – "I'm hungry."