Prologue: The Gray
It was a dark, gray day in Bossbot HQ. Absolutely lovely, if one is a cog. The CEO was overlooking the scenery as he discussed his plan with the other cog bosses. "With this new invention, toons will then somewhat willingly submit to our control." He finished with a smirk. "V.P, have your factories mixed enough paint?"
"They have, Sir. I've brought a canister with me for you to sample."
"Excellent." The CEO drove over to the vat and removed the lid. It was full of gray paint. He took a large vial from his desk and poured it's contents into the paint. It began to bubble and fizz.
"The Gray is complete!" He shouted triumphantly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two toons clash with the dull landscape. He chuckled. " And here are our first test subjects.."
"Mercury, why are we here? There's no way we can fight a high level cog!" The light green cat whimpered, clutching her partner's arm in fear as they walked into the BossBot headquarters.
"Relax, Clover," he black cat said. "The only cogs around here stay in the clubhouse and golf courses. We're just here to look around today." He smiled as they walked. The HQ was indeed empty. There wasn't much to see, but to low level toons, it was thrilling to be there.
"Well, this is boring," Mercury pouted. "Let's split." Clover nodded in agreement and the two toons turned to leave. As soon as they did, however, they heard the whirl of a propeller. They looked up as a Big Cheese landed in front of them.
"Careful, I know your expiration date." He said with an evil smile. The toons screamed and bolted for the exit, but the cog was faster. He grabbed them both and flew them up to the clubhouse.
The Big cheese flew through the window of the clubhouse suite. Toons have never been in the boss's private room before; except for those being kidnapped, of course. The Big Cheese handed the toons to his boss and retreated to the back of the room to watch. The CEO looked down at the two test subject toons. They both were shaking in their boots. Literally, shaking in boots that had appeared out of thin air as a visual gag. Choosing not to wonder where the boots had suddenly appeared from, the CEO slung Clover over his shoulder. Her boots flew off as she flew through the air. She landed with a yelp in the arms of the Big Cheese. He wrinkled his nose as he looked down at her. She waved sheepishly.
Back on the other side of the room, the CEO had Mercury by the scruff of his neck. He held him over the bubbling vat of Gray.
"Do you know what this is, Toon?"
"The start of a monologue?"
"The start of a... No!" The CEO snapped in confusion. "This is the Gray, a chemical I've developed. You know what Dip is, don't you?" Mercury gulped in fear, unable to take his eyes of the canister. Now that the CEO had mentioned the most feared chemical in the tooniverse, Mercury figured it would pay to pay attention.
"Tell me, toon, what do you know about the dip?" The CEO asked.
"Umm..." Mercury paused, wondering if this was some kind of trick question. "It melts toons?"
"Precisely!" The CEO shouted, obviously delighted with Mercury's answer. "As you probably don't know, the dip has no effect on cogs. This mixture and Dip are the same in that respect. It's only effective on the minds of toons." The CEO paused here, wondering if the toon would question what he meant by 'the minds of toons'. When Mercury said nothing, he continued his monologue anyways. "This chemical isn't nearly as violent, of course. The gray isn't about to melt you, no sir. We wouldn't settle for something that low. You will, however change your mind about us cogs."
Mercury glared up at the CEO. "Change my mind? About you? Never." However, this was just what the C.E.O was hoping he would say.
"Don't believe me? Try it yourself!" The CEO laughed, as he dipped Mercury's face into the Gray. Clover yelped as Mercury's body went limp. She tried to escape from the Big Cheese's grasp, but he was required to hold on to her, much to his distaste. Meanwhile, the CEO had fully submerged Mercury. He pulled him out quickly, and set him up on his feet. Mercury opened his eyes, and coughed out a bit of gray paint. Despite having been a black cat, he was actually a bit lighter in color; he was a very dark gray. His clothes he was wearing had also been dyed gray. He stood still, looking like he was waiting to receive orders. The CEO drove in front of him. Mercury bowed his head with respect.
"What did, I tell you, Toon? You've changed your mind, haven't you?" The CEO asked smugly, confident that he had succeeded.
"You were right as always, sir." Mercury replied in a dull voice. The CEO had a wide grin. The experiment was indeed a success.
"How are you feeling, Toon?" He asked, questioning further.
"I am feeling very well, thank you sir." Mercury replied, in the same monotone voice. The cogs all were scheming happily. They knew that with success of this invention, Toontown would soon be under their control. Clover, on the other hand, was struggling more than ever to escape from the Big Cheese's grasp.
"Let me go, cheese brain!" She shouted as she kick and struggled. The Big Cheese would have been more than happy to let go, but held on to her regardless. Mercury looked over at her curiously, wonder what she was doing. He and Clover made eye contact. Clover suddenly stopped struggling and stared at him.
"Mercury," Clover said slowly, with fear in her voice, "why are you looking at me like that?" Mercury looked over at his boss, wondering if he should speak. The CEO chuckled, and drove up to Clover. Mercury followed behind uncertainly.
"You see, toon, this isn't whoever you thought he was. I've changed him. He's one of us now."
"You're lying.. He would never join you!"
"There's a first time for everything."
Clover turned to Mercury. "Mercury, I know you're in there. Say something." Mercury kicked at the ground nervously, his eyes darting around the room. "Listen, I don't know what you're talking about. Sorry for any inconvenience." Clover looked at him like he was crazy. The CEO yawned.
"Listen, this is all very interesting, but we've got things to do, toons to brainwash, town to take over. That sort of thing." He lifted Clover up from a very grateful Big Cheese. She kicked and punched at the CEO, but he ignored her. Mercury watched this, looking slightly concerned, but said nothing.
"Don't worry, she'll be feeling much better in a moment." The CEO assured him, noticing his look. He dipped the struggling toon into the Gray. She went limp in a moment. After she was pulled out, however instead of standing up strait she fell flat onto her face. Mercury hurried over and stood her up strait. At first glance, it looked like the experiment was just as much as a success as it was with Mercury. She had light gray fur, but her eyes were unfocused, and she swayed like she was about to fall over. The cogs crowded around her, wondering what had gone wrong.
"How strange.. It must be some kind of side affect." The CEO pondered. "We should get some more test subjects before we carry out Plan Gray." He turned to the other Cog Bosses. "Gather your best men and tell them to bring us more toons!"
"Yes, Sir!" They all shouted, as they turned and left. Once they were gone, the CEO turned to Mercury and Clover.
"Marty and Chloe, isn't it? Marty, take care of her for me, will you?"
'Marty' nodded eagerly. "Yes, sir! I won't disappoint you!" The CEO chuckled and grew a wide grin.
"If everything goes according to plan, I won't be disappointed by toons ever again."
How was that for a prologue? Mercury and Clover won't be main characters in the story, as chapter one takes place in the next generation. Cogs had brainwashed all the toons, except for the ones that escaped, and took control of Toontown, changing it into Cog Nation. The two main characters will be Mercury and Clover's kids, living in Cog Nation. Stay tooned for the next chapter! Please Review!