I threw a cream pie and it landed right in the cog's face. I watched its heart turn blood red and blink violently. But it wasn't a heart. Cogs didn't have vital organs, they didn't need anything. They were machines.
It exploded and I did a small victory dance. I walked to the farthest side of the room to the elevator opening and rode down to ground level. My first solo 3-story building was complete. I exited the building back onto Punchline Place. There was surprisingly no one around. At least, no toons. I ruffled my blue hair back in distraught. It was rare for nobody to be on the streets. I started walking towards the street to Donald's Dock. I used the sidewalks to ignore the cogs that crossed my way. I turned to my left and walked into Professor Wiggle's House of Giggles.
I walked in and the place was dark. All of the lights were off and the windows were shut. His chair was tipped over and he was gone. Something wasn't right. I mean, this was a house of giggles for gods sake. Plus whenever Professor Wiggle needed something he would either have me get it for him or ask me to look after the store while he was gone. This wasn't good at all.
Suddenly I heard a large racket outside. It sounded different- not like a cog building being built- but like somebody was being attacked... By a toon.
I ran outside the door. The noise was coming from The Flying Pie. I tried to open the door to find that it wouldn't budge. I backed up and ran with full force into the door. The force from my shoulder and side made it open. Ned Slinger, the owner of The Flying Pie, was fighting someone.
They didn't look like a toon. They had black hair and incredibly pale skin. In fact, they reminded me of a member of Club Penguin.
Club Penguin was a cult founded a few years back. They grew and kept growing until they made their own community. The first members were born here in Toontown, but now most of them lived in the deep snowy south. They were constantly giving Toontown nuclear war threats, but never actually attacked us. Perhaps that was happening now?
The cult member turned to look at me. I noticed she was girl, younger than me. She looked around 15. She was crouched above Ned, holding a sword to his throat.
Swords... I thought they were only sold in Jamaa. I quickly pulled out my seltzer bottle and squirted her. Of course it didn't hurt her, but it stalled her long enough for Ned to throw her off of him and take her sword.
"Give my fucking sword to me!" She tried to grab it, but her vision was blurred by the water. Ned kicked her in the knee. She fell to the ground, clutching her leg in pain.
"Just fucking go!" She screamed. Ned grabbed his jacket from the coat hanger and sprinted outside, grabbing my arm.
"What the heck was that?" I asked, as we started walking towards Toontown Central.
"The penguins. They've finally attacked us."
So it was true. Did they find Professor Wiggle?
"What about Sir Astro?" I ask. He ran a small nightclub on Punchline Place. He was also a general in the first world war.
Back when Club Penguin wasn't formed.
"I thought you weren't into sugar anymore," Ned says.
"Hey, I'm not." After the first world war Sir Astro had been affected by PTSD, and he became addicted to sugar to help him recover. He became a well-known sugar dealer, and, well, I had been addicted at some point.
"You know he's clean now," I remind Ned.
"Well I don't know what happened to him." Ned picked up the pace and almost jogged towards the playground.
"Where exactly are we going?" I ask.
"The Headquarters. The penguins have ambushed and stolen our resources. They've stolen our land." What?!
"Wait, what happens after we go to the Headquarters?" I ask.
"I don't know!"
We reached the tunnel and made our way through it quickly. I thought back to the sword the penguin member was carrying. It looked like it was imported from Jamaa. I didn't think that Jamaa was allies with them, but apparently they were. We reached the playground and sped to the headquarters.
We opened the door and body heat attacked us. There were so many toons crowded into the building. Voices filled the building until one loud voice rung above all.
"Everyone be quiet!" I recognized the voice. It was Jesse, the founder of Toontown. He was our leader and the person we turned to.
"Now... It isn't safe here. We need to move somewhere else, start a new community if we need to." He held up a map. "For now we will live in the outskirts of Jamaa."
Jamaa? Did he not know that they probably helping the penguins?
"We have to leave as soon as possible. If anybody is hurt from the attacks, Nurse Nancy will patch you up." Jesse jumped down from the desk he was standing on. Ned took out the sword and started walking towards Jesse. I put my arm in front of him.
"You get patched up," I say, examining the cuts on his face.
"But what about the sword?! Jesse has to know that Jamaa is their ally!" So he picked up on it too.
"I'll give him the sword. Your wounds look pretty bad." Ned hesitantly gave me the sword. I made my way through the crowd and found Jesse.
"Jesse!" I yell. I doubt he would remember me. He turned around at the sound of his name. I approached him and showed him the sword.
"Look. It's from Jamaa." Jesse took the sword from my hands and examined it. He sighed.
"Where are we going to go?" I ask. If Jamaa found us we would probably be sold to slavery.
"There's nowhere else to go besides the Jamaarian outskirts. We're just going to have to risk it."
"What about Neopia?" I ask.
"They aren't exactly friendly there," Jesse says. "Especially the Tyrannians." Jesse was right. If Tyrannians found us then we would be killed instantly. Not to mention the other barbaric societies in Neopia. Witchcraft and necromancy were also common in certain parts of Neopia.
"You're right about that... What about Monstro city?"
"Monstro city wouldn't give two fucks about Toontown." Man, I've never seen Jesse this mad.
"Webkinz?" I ask. After that there were no more options.
"Half of that country is filled with little kids. I highly doubt they would be any help."
"So we're going to directly ask Jamaa for shelter?"
"If it comes to it. We'll live in the outskirts at first. Hopefully we won't need their help."
I took a good look around the room. There were tons of toons. Some of them had their doodles with them.
Ravioli...
I needed to get my pet.
I made my way to the other side of the room where Ned's cuts were being tended to.
"I'm going to my estate to get Ravioli," I tell him.
"Are you crazy?!" Ned yells at me. "You're going to get killed out there."
"I'll find someone to come with me," I say. I turn to Nurse Nancy.
"Do you know if the gag shop is open?" I ask. She nodded.
"They are selling gags to toons for the journey."
"Thanks," I say. It would still be nice to have someone come with me. But I suppose that wasn't an option.
I exited the headquarters. I crossed the bright green plain to the gag shop. I would stock up on all of my gags- definitely sound and drop. I opened the door and found a familiar figure leaned over the desk.
"What do you mean you don't sell to criminals?!" The guy said. Clerk Clark was irritated.
"You are holding up the line, Sir."
"Astro," I start, "let him be." The man turned around.
He was Sir Astro. His grey-tipped dark brown hair and eye patch gave it away instantly. He was almost at least a foot taller than me. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and black pants, and his shoes were scuffed, torn up boots.
"Neapolitan. I thought you were sober."
"I thought the same about you." I hadn't seen Sir Astro for months. After I stopped doing sugar we didn't have any reason to talk to each other. Despite what people said, he was a good guy.
"I am! But this red head-" he points his thumb to clerk Clark "-won't let me buy gags because of my past." I raise an eyebrow. Clerk Clark sighs.
"He doesn't have any jellybeans on him." I roll my eyes at Sir Astro.
"Have you been taking your medication?" I ask him, partially joking.
"Well-" I cut him off.
"Look, I need some help. If you come with me I can give you some jellybeans. I have some on me that can help us make the journey," I say.
"Wait, what exactly is it you want me to do?" He asks.
"I have to make a journey to my estate. To get Ravioli." Sir Astro grunted and smoothed his hair back.
"I take that as a yes?" I ask.
"Sure, kid." Sine Sir Astro was already in the front of the line, so all I had to do was pay for my gags.
I pulled out my small canvas bag of jellybeans. I stuck my hand in the bag to get out a few jellybeans.
I wore a pair of white gloves. They had a hole in the knuckles and ended at the base of my fingers. They were stained different colors on my palms from years of handling a variety of jellybeans.
I took some flower pots and bike horns, then the usual pies and seltzer bottles. I stuck the gags in my brown backpack. It was torn up and scratched to oblivion, and had several stains from pies and cupcakes on the inside. It had very faint lighter brown stripes that went horizontal and the zippers were black.
"This should stall the penguins," I say, and turn around to face the door.
"I don't think you should be doing this." I turn back around to find Clerk Clark staring at me.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"It's suicide." Suicide? Just how bad were the attacks?
"Have they made their way to any of the playgrounds?" I ask. Clark shakes his head.
"I don't know. Everyone just fled." I paused for a moment, thinking.
"I can't let them take Ravioli."
"Neapolit-" I cut Clerk Clark off.
"I'm sorry. I can't." Sir Astro was already waiting at the door, tapping his foot.
"I'll be back," I say, as I walk to the door.
"Neapolitan!" I ignore his call.
About 15 minutes later we crossed the tunnel to my neighborhood. Sir Astro was keeping good pace.
"Okay, I'm just going to run in, get some jellybeans and Ravioli, then come out."
"I better get a lot of money," Sir Astro says.
"Oh?"
"Escorting kids isn't exactly what I do for a living."
"No, you sell drugs for a living," I joke. I hear him chuckle.
"How much do you want?" I ask.
"Seriously?!"
"I'm a bit of a tightwad," I joke. Cog jokes were the best.
"And that makes sense how...?"
"Well, if you haven't noticed, there isn't much use for Jellybeans anymore. I just need enough to feed Ravioli and buy a few more gags."
"Well damn." I opened the door to my green house. It was quite barren- I didn't spend much time at my house. I whistled for Ravioli and he came running. I picked him up and hugged him close to my chest.
"Don't you have a pet?" I ask Sir Astro as we made our way into my bedroom where my bank was.
"Used to. Too much of a hassle. Didn't really see the point in havin' one." I set Ravioli onto my bed and turned to the bank. I crammed as much as I could into my tiny canvas bag I had with me at all times. I filled my bigger bag with Jelly beans, then handed the remaining beans to Sir Astro.
"That's about 200," I tell him.
"Damn!" I stuffed the bags into my backpack then picked up Ravioli.
"Hey I thought you were rich," I say.
"A lot of people stopped buying sugar a few weeks after you quit," Sir Astro says, examining the jellybeans in his hand then pulling out his canvas bag from his jacket pocket.
Then we heard a splash in the water by my house. I handed Sir Astro a seltzer bottle and I took out a water gun. I set Ravioli on my bed. We rushed outside and found the girl that had attacked Ned Slinger shoving somebody's head under the water. I recognized the person as Professor Wiggle. His sienna hair was clearly visible in the pure water. Sir Astro shot her with the seltzer bottle. The force was enough to send her backwards into the pond. Professor Wiggle's head appeared over the surface of the water and he gasped for air.
"Professor!" I yell. I run to his side and lift him out of the water. His orange shirt was plastered to his chest from the water. I help him up and out of my peripheral vision I see Sir Astro beating the girl.
"What are you doing here?" I ask him, ignoring Astro. He coughed out some water.
"I was-" He stopped to cough again and cleared his throat-"Donald's dock." I looked at him.
"What happened?"
"The penguins raided the ship. I thought you might be at your estate hiding." Hiding. He thought I would hide?
"Where's Donald?" I ask. Donald Fauntleroy Duck was the captain of the ship that made rounds in Donald's Dock. He spent his days running the ship and returned to his Dreamland at night.
"We were both taken hostage. I managed to escape, but he's still in there. They had swords Neapolitan. Swords imported from Jamaa."
"I know," I say. "Why were you looking for me?" I add.
"I thought you could help me rescue Donald." Really? Weren't you just saying a minute ago about how I was probably hiding?
"Guys! Can we go?" I look around Proffesor Wiggle's shoulder to see Sir Astro carrying the unconscious girl.
"Why are you carrying her?" Wiggle asks.
"I'm taking her back to headquarters for questioning." I sigh.
"Fine. Let me just get Ravioli and we can get the hell out of here."
We entered the main headquarters 20 minutes later. Luckily everybody was still inside. I heard barking noises and found where everybody was keeping their pets. I walked over to the area and set Ravioli down. I turn around to find Professor Wiggle watching me. I noticed his arm was bleeding.
"Go see Nurse Nancy," I say. He nods and walks away. I see Sir Astro at one of the sides of the room. I walked up to him.
"Where's the girl?" I ask him. He points to a room enclosed by glass. Inside was the black-haired penguin member. She was pounding against the glass. Jesse was standing beside Sir Astro.
"She isn't telling us anything," Jesse says. I remembered what Professor Wiggle told me earlier about Donald.
"Donald was taken hostage," I say to Jesse. He looks up from the girl to me.
"What?"
"Some penguins got him and Professor Wiggle. Obviously Professor escaped but Donald is still somewhere."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying I could use her," I say, pointing to the girl. "She was chasing Wiggle. I think she knows where Donald is." Jesse frowns at me.
"Why don't you just ask Professor Wiggle where he is?"
"Okay, I will." I walked to the other side of the room. He was being tended by Nurse Nancy.
"Professor, where were you taken hostage?" I ask him. He turned his neck to look at me.
"Donald's dock."
"Where exactly?" I elaborate.
"I don't know, Neapolitan. They blindfolded me." Damn.
"Alright. I'll just have to have that girl escort me."

Woooo, I really needed to re-write this! So I did! I'm about halfway through this story already. Which is bad because I started it last year when Toontown closed... Oh well! Home. Name subject to change.