This Chapter is where the story starts to deviate from the original. But its a change for the better. Enjoy!


Chapter 3

Until the Blood Runs Dry

Pearl struggled against her captor's hold as he dragged her down the hall way, "Let me go!" She shouted trying with all her might to break free of 118-7's grasp on her shoulders. The Lawbot growled, having difficult holding onto the Toon.

"Stop struggling! It will make it less painful for the both of us…" Seven hissed, digging his fingers into her shoulders. Pearl yelped in pain and stopped her squirms. Seven grinned, "That's better."

"Where are you taking me?" Pearl hissed.

The Bloodsucker smirked down at her, a hungry look in his eyes, "You'll soon find out."

"And where are you going, pray tell?"

118-7 froze in his tracks and whipped his head around to face, to his horror, Lawbot Second-in-command 159-2. Not only that, but that meddlesome Telemarketer with the blue scarf from before had followed him here. His thoughts raced for an explanation about what he was doing. Desperately trying to not let the truth slip out.

"I'm taking her to the jail blocks, she's a Toon is disguise," Seven blurted out.

The Big Wig nodded, "Very good. Only we are not currently arresting Toons, even for trespassing and or spying."

"Um, shall I let her go then, Sir?" The Bloodsucker asked, playing dumb.

Two's palm met with his forehead, "No. You throw her out. What do they teach you in basic training these days?"

Seven gave a nervous grin at his superior, "Right away Sir," he saluted before he began dragging Pearl back off again in the direction 159-2 and the Telemarketer had come from. When he had got a decent distance ahead, he rounded a corner that led away from the entrance.

When they turned the corner, and started heading down a different hallway, Pearl began to suspect something was amiss, "Wait a second, he said throw me out…"

"What 159-2 doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides, I've got better things to do with you then throw you outside where you could potentially cause us more problems…"

"What does that mean…?" Pearl asked, struggling once more.

"Let's just say, you won't be alive long enough to worry about it," Seven sneered, making Pearl's skin crawl.

"That's it, I'm out of here…Seven! Seven help-MURPH!" Pearl started to shout but the hungry Bloodsucker quickly covered her mouth to silence her screams.

"I don't think so…" he snarled as he got to the edge of another corner and peered around it in time to see the other two Cogs parting ways.


Second-in-command 159-2 scowled after the Bloodsucker as he dragged the Toon clad in their attire away from his sight before turning back to the Telemarketer, "Anyway, you are free to go, 118-7. This is a Lawbot affair now. Though if she does turn up, you'll be the first to know; on your way."

"Yes Sir," Seven replied and watched his form recede away as he headed back to the C.J. before starting to walk himself. He walked a short distance when he realized he didn't see the Bloodsucker that had managed to nab Pearl, something he wasn't very surprised about. But…where are they?

It was then that a muffled scream reached his ears. He turned sharply around in time to see the same Bloodsucker slip from one end of the hall to the other hauling a gagged Pearl with him. At the sight of the pair, he quickly took off after them. She had become a dear friend to him. Not quite in the way Roxy had, but he couldn't bear the thought of something bad happening to the pink feline either.

Don't worry Pearl, I'll save you…


Lawbot 118-7 dragged Pearl to what looked like an ordinary wall. He looked around the hallway to check to see if any other Lawbots were headed in his direction. When he saw no one, Seven rhythmically tapped on the wall. It lifted upwards, revealing a hidden room behind it. Seven smirked down at Pearl once more before he started dragging her inside. The moment he had passed the threshold of the door way, it began to descend.

The moment the door started closing, Seven made a run for it. Sprinting as fast as he could, he felt a brief moment of panic when he realized he might not make it in time. He reached the final stretch, he slid, and managed just to zip through in the nick of time, He looked back at the door just to see it quietly touch settle back down.

"Phew. That was close," he whispered to himself as he cautiously peered around the corner.


"Eight, are you in here?" Bloodsucker 118-7 called out to his younger brother, his voice echoing throughout the cavernous space.

118-8 poked his head out from the inner workings of a large machine console. The machine was connected to several large holding tanks. He looked around for a moment not spotting the source of the voice, "Seven is that you?" He asked.

His brother came into view a moment later, dragging with him a feline Toon clad in a Lawbot suit. He grinned over at his younger sibling, "Yes it's me, and I come bearing gifts," he gestured to the Toon in his grasp that had the makings of tears of fright in her eyes.

"Oh, nice catch Seven," Eight grinned excitedly. After having worked on the machine for several hours, he was feeling rather famished.

Seven beamed with pride, "I agree; let's hook her up, shall we? It's been a while since we tested this, after all."

"With pleasure!"


Seven frowned as he listened in on the two brothers, "This doesn't sound good…" He peeked out a little more to see what they were up to.

118-7 ripped the sleeves of Pearl's suit before he and his younger sibling hauled her onto a large, slab-like table. Cuff like restraints snapped around Pearl's wrists and waist. Unable to move, she could only lay there, futility trying to squirm free. The elder of the two walked over to the controls of the machine, hit a series of buttons and started the machine sequence. Two panels on the sides of the table opened up and several long tubes tipped with sharp needle points came out of them. The tubes buried themselves into both of Pearl's arms, and the sides of her neck.

The helpless Toon shrieked in pain, "W-what are you doing to me?!"

That was enough for Seven. Without another though, the Telemarketer stepped from behind the wall and shouted at the two Bloodsuckers.

"Hey you, stop!"

"Seven!?" Pearl cried happily at the sound of her friend's voice.

118-7 whipped around from the control panel in surprise; when he saw who had spoken his eyes lit up with fury, "You! How did you get in here?!"

"I followed you," Seven smirked at him, "Now then, step away from the machine."


The Bloodsucker snarled with rage. How dare a Sellbot intrude into their affairs? It concerned only the Bloodsuckers for Halloween was their day.

"Why should I?" He glared angrily.

Seven almost looked appalled for hearing such a question, "This is barbaric. Cogs don't kill Toons!"

The Bloodsucker snorted, "You act as though the Toons don't kill us! There was time it was permitted…a long time ago. Before the Chief Justice was fully constructed, the Master allowed it. Then, when he took over he decided a change was in order. We were no longer allowed to bite Toons. We're Lawbots, and Lawbots are supposed to uphold the law..." his fists clenched tightly, "But he allowed us to at least capture them on Halloween, except we were not to harm them. However…things changed recently…"

"How so," asked the Telemarketer. Seven moved a bit closer to where Pearl lay tied down.

"You see, our cells are full due to other Lawbots arresting more Toons this month than usual. And so the Chief Justice proclaimed that our yearly capturing could not take place this time. A problem that could have easily been solved by letting some of the current prisoners that had less serious offenses free. But he ignored our suggestion, and told us his decision was final…" He finished, looking up at the Sellbot; a deep seeded anger in his eyes.

Seven stared blankly at him, unable to believe what he had heard. The Lawbot Master had actually let them kill Toons once upon a time long ago. He felt sick and disgusted at such a thought. His Bloodsucker cousin glared at his expression angrily, "I wouldn't expect you to understand you're not a Bloodsucker."

"I can't imagine the Chief Justice understands very well either…" he frowned.

118-7 smirked, "What he doesn't know won't hurt him…"

As he had suspected as much; this machine was a secret to the Lawbot Boss. Seven's face morphed into sheer disgust, "To disregard your superior? It's Outrageous!"

"Humph, it wasn't very nice of him to throw out our feelings on the matter either! It's time he learned our opinions on the whole affair."

"But to go behind his back on the issue with something like this…you call yourselves Lawbots?"

Pearl looked between the two Cogs before speaking out, "If you two are done, get me out of this damn thing, will you?!"

The Scarf wearing Sellbot looked over at his shackled friend and nodded, "Yes, of course."

"I don't think so!" snarled the agitated Lawbot as he pressed an activation switch.

Pearl let off a terrified shriek at the machine stared up. Seven froze in place, unsure of what he should do. His thoughts raced. If he had to fight Seven for the controls, he might lose too much time. His eyes shifted to the needled stuck into Pearl's arms and neck. It would be painful and risky, but it had to be done. In a flash the Telemarketer grabbed two of the wires and ripped them out. The resulted pain stricken howl from Pearl made Seven grimace an apology. He took care to be gentler with the rest.

Eight looked at him horrified not sure what to do, "Stop that!"

His brother's palm met his forehead, "Eight don't just stand there, make him stop!"

"Uh, right," Eight said regaining his composure, and then attempted to restrain the Sellbot. However, Seven being a speed set Cog could easily run from one side of the table to the other with no trouble to remove the needles in Pearl's arms. Thus dodging Eights attempts to apprehend him.

"Darn it Seven, he's a speed set. I can't catch him!"

"Seven, hurry!" Pearl whimpered.

"Almost finished…there!" The Telemarketer declared as he removed the last needle from Pearl. He looked over at a furious Bloodsucker by the control panel and glared back at him, "Now then, how do you remove these shackles?" He asked his tone calm.

"And why should I tell you?"

"Because, it'd be a shame if I somehow damaged the machine trying to find a way to free her."

118-7 snorted, "There's a release switch on the underside of the table…"

"Thank you," Seven said easily finding the red button and pressing it. The shackles recoiled at once.

Pearl tried slowly to sit upright, and about fell off the table trying to do so. Luckily Seven was there to catch her.

"Easy there Pearl, you've lost quite a bit of blood."

"I…just want to go home now…" she said weakly, tears in her eyes.

"Alright…" he smiled sadly helping her down off the table.

Eight watched somewhat helplessly as their meal got off the table and was about to walk out and leave. He turned to look at his brother who looked like he had become a tea kettle about to come to a boil.

"Seven?"

"What?" He snapped back.

Eight flinched at his tone before asking, "What do we do now?"

Seven frowned at his brother, "Let them go."

The Telemarketer looked back and frowned at him, "Though I'm sure the Chief Justice will be most interested to find out what you lot have been up to."

He grinned at him, showing his fangs, "It's a shame by the time you tell him, Ms. Roxy will have already been exposed to the machine."

Seven's metaphorical heart about stopped, "No…don't you dare!"

His grin widened, "Only if you leave me with no other choice."

Seven hung his head in defeat, "Fine…"

"That's what I thought," he chuckled coldly.

"Make no mistake though, I will come back for her," the Sellbot sneered.

"It will be most amusing to see you try, cousin," the Bloodsucker smirked back, "Now then, both of you may get out of my sight!"

Seven sighed, "Come on Pearl, let's go…" he said quietly. Pearl groaned, but nodded. She leaned on him for support and the pair left the room without another word. Seven swallowed back the lump in his throat. He'd find a way to save Roxy as soon as he got Pearl to safety.


Little Taffy was happily cuddled beneath Six's suit jacket on the bed. She was peacefully asleep once more, purring lightly. Six was diligently watching over her as she snoozed. They had spoken for a while before she'd drifted back off. And Six couldn't help but feel like he had known this Toon for a long time. This made no sense. He'd never seen this Toon before in his life. So then why?

Six shook his head. He was going to have to get his hard drive checked later that day. Something was definitely off with him. It was almost like he had forgotten something. What that could be, he hadn't a clue. Sighing he paced about the room, wracking his brain for an answer he couldn't find. Eventually, his footsteps roused the room's other occupant.

Taffy's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him, smiling contently. Six paused to look at her and smiled back. The Lawbot walked closer to the bed and sat down once more. She handed him back his jacket and he took it with a nod of acknowledgement. As he was putting it back on, he heard a noise come from the Toon. When he looked over, she was blushing.

"Gosh, I'm sorry about that! Guess I'm hungrier then I realized…"

Six chuckled and patted her on the head, "Not to worry, Miss Taffy. I took the liberty of going to get you some food while you were resting."

The Lawbot gestured to a nightstand where a large slice of crème pie and a glass of water was sitting. Taffy's eyes lit up as she snatched the plate and quickly devoured the dessert. She stopped when she noticed Six looking at her; surprised evident on his pale face. Feeling his gaze on her, Little Taffy stopped mid bite, slowly shutting her mouth. She blushed again at having made a pig of herself in front of the Cog, and her ears fell.

Six chuckled a bit, "Goodness, I suppose you were famished," he stopped when he noticed a bit of crème on Taffy's cheek, "Hold still a moment."

Six removed a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped at the spot from her cheek. Little Taffy smiled at him, nuzzling his hand when he had finished. Six returned the smile briefly, and then frowned when something flashed through his mind. He saw Little Taffy, in the same room they were in now. Only she seemed tired; weaker even. She was trying to eat a piece of cake, but was having difficulty. Six extended his hand, taking the fork from her and lifting the food into her mouth.

Little Taffy snuggled into his chest, jarring him from his thoughts. He blinked, holding his head, wondering what in the world that had been. The Toon seemed to sense his distress and looked up at him.

"Six? Are you alright?"

"Hm? Oh, I was just thinking…"

"About?"

"Have we…ever met before?" The Cog asked.

The feline pondered a moment, picking her brain. But she couldn't recall ever having met this particular Cog before. The only one she really knew very well was 118-7, and he was a Sellbot.

"Not that I remember," she replied, "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, just…a feeling."

"Oh, alright," she said, rubbing at the remaining sleep still in her eyes.

Six looked at her a moment, before standing back up. He just couldn't shake the nagging feeling at the back of his mind, and it was driving him near mad trying to figure out what it was. The Cog rubbed at his temples, growling lightly. It was like his memory was hitting a brick wall every time he tried to think back. There was definitely something wrong. Maybe he'd have to make that trip to Maintenance and Repair sooner then he'd anticipated. But what was he to do about the Toon while he was gone?

Little Taffy tapped his arm, rousing him from his thoughts, and he looked back at her.

"Seriously, are you alright? You can tell me…"

"I'm…I'm not sure anymore. I think I need to leave for a bit…"

The Toon's eyes seemed to get very sad, "If it's something I did-"

"No it's not anything you did," the Cog sighed, "I'm just not feeling like myself today, is all."

"Well, then maybe I can help?" She offered, standing up next to him.

"I really don't think there's anything you can-"

Six's words were cut off when Little Taffy pulled him into a kiss. His head felt like it was spinning. He knew this was wrong. Everything he'd been taught told him it was. But there was also something familiar about it; almost comforting. And the Lawbot didn't have the will to pull away. He slowly put his arms around the Toon, and pulled her closer. The two were so encompassed in the other's embrace, that they didn't notice the door open.

"Six are you-What are you doing?!"

At the sound of his brother's voice, Six finally felt himself snap back to reality, and shoved Little Taffy off of him. The Toon stumbled back, landing on the floor with a thump.

"N-nothing!"

606-2 glowered at him, "Not again, Six!"

Six frowned with confusion, "…Again?"

Two pinched the bridge of his nose, "Forget it…I suppose you won't object to me taking your…friend with me?"

Six growled, embarrassed at the accusation, "She's…not my friend."

Little Taffy looked up at him from her spot on the floor, her voice warbling, "I'm…not?"

A pang of remorse shot through him, and Six did his best to conceal it. Two snorted angrily and looked directly at his brother.

"Whatever. I don't much care to hear an excuse" he paused, "So I'll be taking your quarry with me and be on my way. Hopefully it will keep you out of anymore trouble."

Six sighed and looked down, "I'm sorry, Two. It just…sort of happened."

"That's the same excuse you used last time…" his brother muttered.

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind, it's inconsequential," Two snapped, hauling Little Taffy to her feet, causing her to yelp.

"Let go of me!" she hissed, trying to tug her arm free. Two ignored her.

Six frowned at his brother, "No it isn't. Ever since this Toon has been here, something hasn't felt right with my memory banks. And I want to know why!"

Remorse flickered in Two's eyes before they returned to their stony solace, "Perhaps you should ask One?"

"Perhaps I will…"

Without another word, Two turned to take his leave, dragging Taffy reluctantly after him. The Toon struggled in the Bloodsucker's grasp as he walked, but couldn't get him to relinquish his hold on her arm. She turned back to look at Six, calling out his name. Six glanced back at her, his face unreadable.

"Six, please! I don't want to go with him!"

"Sorry…" was all he could muster.

Taffy stared at him as Two continued to drag her from the room; her eyes welling over with tears. She started screaming at him to help her, and Six felt his head start to buzz. Taffy's image waned; her clothes were much darker, black in fact. She had on a pair of stripped arm warmers that went almost to her shoulders. And her hair was dyed blue at the ends.

A sharp pain went through his hard drive, and he clutched at his chest. His knees gave out from the sensation, and he hit the floor. He looked back in time to see his brother cup his hand tightly over her mouth, then drag the Toon around the corner and out of sight. Six took a moment to collect himself; the pain ebbing down to a prickle.

"L-Li….Lilly…" Six frowned the moment the name left his lips, "Where did that name come from?"

Two's words echoed in his head. Perhaps now was as good a time as any to ask One. Hey prayed to the Masters that One would have the answers he sought. When the last pin pricks of ache had subsided, he got to his feet and went to seek out his eldest brother.


"Ow…" Pearl whimpered as 118-7 bandaged her arms up.

"I'm sorry…" he winced.

"I-it's alright," she replied.

When he had finished patching her up, he looked her in the eyes and asked, "Are you feeling any better?"

"I still don't feel good…"

"Perhaps we should get you proper medical treatment. I'm not exactly a licensed professional. I can take you there if-"

The pink Toon shook her head, "We don't have time for that. I'll be alright," Pearl sighed heavily, "We need to figure out what to do. Roxy and Little Taffy…"

Seven's features became briefly distraught at the mention of Roxy in the clutches of such a barbaric Cog. He didn't care what it took or cost him, he would make sure she got out of there safely before such a thing could be done to her. Yet that made the Sellbot wonder: If such a machine was in their possession, why had they not used it on Roxy?

As if reading his mind, Pearl spoke up, "What I don't understand is…why is it that Roxy has been spared this long?"

Seven thought for a moment, when idea surfaced, "Perhaps they are going to drain all their captive Toons at once?"

And then the answer, it hit Pearl like an anvil. She sat upright, but perhaps a little too quickly. She instantly felt dizzy, and began to pitch sideways off the couch.

Seven reached out his hand to steady her, "Easy now, you'll hurt yourself," he cautioned gently pushing her back onto the couch, "What is it?"

"That must be it. Remember what your cousin said about their yearly tradition being taken away? They kidnap Toons leading up to and on Halloween; so they must be waiting to do it all on the same day, like you said."

"That seems like the most logical reason," Seven paused as he realized what day it was, "It's the day before Halloween…"

"That means we only have a few hours left. Seven, we have to do something!"

"We can't….you know what will happen to Roxy if we do," the Sellbot frowned looking torn.

"Seven they're going to do that to her anyway! There's got to be a way we can stop them."

Seven rubbed the bridge of his nose in thought, but he kept coming up blank, "I can't think straight right now…"

"That should be my excuse," Pearl groaned, trying to think, but she still felt woozy from blood loss. Perhaps there was something he could go and look up that they could use? It was worth a shot, "Hey Seven, does Sellbot have a library? Maybe there's something there we can use?"

"Yes we do, only it's called the Archives."

Pearl nodded, "Good, go and look something up that we might find useful or informative. I'm too weak to go with you though…"

"What am I looking for," the Telemarketer asked.

"I don't know, look for something about when the Bloodsuckers had free domain to kill Toons and bite them. Maybe look for a way to reverse whatever has been done to Roxy."

"Alright I'll see what I can find. Rest well Pearl," he smiled, ruffling her hair before heading for the door to scour the Sellbot Archives for anything useful. When the door clicked closed, Pearl shut her eyes and soon found herself asleep.


Roxy sighed and sat up from 118-7's bed, "What's taking him so long?" she grumbled pulling her knees to her chest and staring at her toes. She wriggled them, feeling bored and alone. With a frustrated sigh she hopped off the bed and left the room to search for him, "Where could he be I wonder."

Roxy wandered aimlessly down the hallway, not sure where to look at all. Frowning she started to think she'd never find him. That's when she heard a hushed, and agitated sounding conversation getting under way.

"How could you have been so careless, Seven?!"

"If one word of this gets back to the Chief Justice, our plans are a bust!"

"Now calm down. Seven made our cousin swear not to tell a soul. He seems to have a soft spot for the Toon Seven captured. I believe her name is Roxy McSocks."

At the mention of her name, Roxy inched closer to the door to hear the conversation better.

"Yes, well we best hope it's soft enough to keep him from trying anything rash. Lest we want a repeat of what almost happened with 606-6…"

"We are not going to have a repeat of what happened with Six, One!"

That was Seven's voice! Roxy pushed her ear even further into the door as the argument continued.

"Can you be sure of that? As attached as our cousin was to the Toon, I highly doubt he's just going to forget about her. Perhaps we should have followed the 606 batch's initiative, and detained him so we could wipe his memory."

Roxy frowned at that comment and backed away from the door a bit before bumping into something behind her. She looked up and came face to face with the second youngest in Seven's batch, 118-8.

"What are you doing here? You're not supposed to leave the room!"

Roxy squeaked in surprised and tried to flee, but ended up tumbling right into the door with a loud thump. The door shuddered, alerting the assembled Bloodsuckers in the other room.

"Who's that?!"

"Someone's at the door…"

The door opened a moment later, and in tumbled Roxy, followed closely by Eight. He shut the door quickly, hoping that neither of them had been seen. When Seven caught sight of Roxy, his mild annoyance turned to rage. He stomped over to her and his little brother. Roxy's ears went back when she saw the look in his eyes, and she took a step back.

"What is she doing in here Eight?! She's supposed to stay in our room!"

"I-I don't know," he stammered, "She was outside the door when I got here!"

"You were supposed to watch her until I got back!"

"I was lonely…" she quietly interjected, earning her a piercing glare from Seven.

"I don't care if you were lonely, I told you to stay put!"

Roxy's eyes started to fill with tears, "But you never said where you were going. Or how long you'd be gone…"

Seven gave a frustrated growl, "That is of no concern to you. Not to mention, I can't have you following me around the Head Quarters!"

Roxy's tears began to spill over, "B-but all I wanted was to know where you were. I wanted to spend time with you-"

"Spend time with me?" He sneered, "As if I would ever want to spend extended amounts of time with a Toon!"

"But you said-"

"What I've said to you means nothing. Because that's what you are to me. You and every other Toon! You are merciless savages who do nothing but kill our kind each and every day! And I will not rest until you have all breathed your last!" He hissed, grabbing Roxy by the front of her shirt, pulling her to eye level, "And that includes you…"

Roxy burst into full blown tears and shoved the Bloodsucker away from her. She turned tail and fled the room, pushing past Eight as Seven hit the ground. Seven growled and looked at his younger brother, standing there frozen in the doorway.

"Why didn't you stop her?!"

Eight just stared at Seven, seeming frightened of his brother. Seven glared at him as he got back on his feet.

"What are you staring at?"

Eight remained silent, looking at the floor. Seven snorted looking back at the rest of his siblings. His face softened a bit when he saw the same looks on their faces: fear, confusion, and concern.

"Seven, I've…never heard you speak in such a way before," said Five.

"Nor have I. It's not like you to show such a poor display of tact," 118-1 added.

Seven grumbled at them, "Oh do shut up…"

One glared at him, "And remind me to have a private conversation with you on this matter when our affairs have concluded for the evening as well."

"Whatever you say, One." Seven scoffed, pushing past Eight as he left the room. He had a Toon to locate before she too managed to escape.


Roxy leaned sobbing against a wall, her tears starting to stop. The strange sense of abandonment that she'd been feeling was now going away as well. She couldn't explain why, but she was suddenly feeling normal again. The fog she'd been walking around in all morning had lifted. The Toon looked around and remembered where she was. Not exactly the safest place to just be standing around.

"Oh man, I've got to get out of here…" she whispered to herself aloud before taking off down the hallway toward the exit. She had to let Seven, her real Seven, know she was alright.


606-1 looked up from the book he was reading when his brother approached. He gave him a smile, and nodded in acknowledgment before closing his book. It would be good to have someone to speak to; having to drown out the whimpers of the caged Toons behind him was starting to get tiresome. Six, however, didn't seem like he was in the mood for light conversation. His face was distraught; his hair a bit disheveled, as though he'd been tugging at it.

"You seem troubled, Six. What's wrong?"

"I've been noticing something's wrong with me…"

"Well perhaps we should make a trip down to Maintenance-"

Six shook his head, "I was fine until this morning. That Toon I captured the other night, I can't say why, but her presence here has caused my memory banks to go haywire. I haven't felt right all day, and….Two said to ask you why."

One's face was unreadable, "Did he now?"

"Yeah. I'm not really sure what's going on at all…"

"Why not start from the beginning. You started feeling off this morning, right?"

"Yes. I can't really say for certain, but I feel like I've met Miss Taffy before," Six paused when he saw the skeptical look on One's face before he continued, "I know it's illogical. I've never seen her before in my life. Yet I can't shake this nagging in the back of my mind…"

"Perhaps you're just tired and mistaking it for something else?"

Six shook his head, "No. This isn't fatigue. I know it's not. I've had flashes where I've seen us together. But it feels…fractured. Like I'm not remembering all the details…"

One looked off to the side, scratching at the back of his head, "Can't say I know what they are. Is there anything more specific that you can recall?"

"I'm not sure…I…I remember a name, I think?"

"What name?"

"It…what was it. Lilly, I think."

"I see," One pondered, walking closer to Six, "Follow me for a moment, would you?"

Six nodded, and followed One, ignoring the slight bit of unease that had come over him. Perhaps it was the tone his brother's voice held. Then again he could just be paranoid at being off his game today. They moved a short distance away from the make-shift cell block. One was quiet, not saying a word as the pair of them walked. Six gazed down at his feet, scuffing them a bit along the concrete floor. He came to a halt when he bumped into his brother standing still.

"Oof, sorry One. Warn me next time," he apologized.

One sighed, his shoulders falling, "No Six, I'm sorry…"

Six seemed bemused by his statement, "Sorry for what One? You didn't do anything."

One looked over his shoulder at him, eyes sad, "But I did...and now I have to make sure you stay quiet about it…"

Six took a step back from him, "What are you talking about?"

One turned to face him, digging inside his suit jacket for something, "I can't risk you remembering…not when we're so close."

"Remembering what? I don't remember anything! That's why I came to ask you!"

"Ah, but you do remember something Six," One rebuffed, reaching into his inner suit pocket, "You remembered her name…"

606-6's eyes spied his brother reaching for his EMP detonator and felt the panic spreading through him. He grabbed hold of One's wrist, and his brother struggled trying to get him to let go. Six clamped One's hand over the remote, attempting to grab it from him, but only succeeding in causing the detonator to go off. One went crumpling to the ground, out cold. Six stood there a moment, feeling numb as his arms dropped to his sides. The EMP detonator clattered to the ground as it slipped from his brother's hand.

"By the Masters, what have I done…"

Someone across the room was shouting for his attention. He looked over and saw the cages full of Toons that he and his comrades had spent the last few weeks collecting. And something buried in the back of his mind was telling him that they had to be set free; that they didn't deserve such a fate. He still had time to get them out; One was not going to be getting up anytime soon to impede his progress. He unclasped the keys from One's belt loop, and made his way to the first cage. After a moment of scrabbling with the keys he managed to get it in the lock. He turned it, and the lock clicked. He swung the door open and told the Toons to run before he set about getting the rest of the cages open.


When Taffy heard a set of keys jingling near her cage, she looked up and was surprised to see Six standing there.

"Hold on Taffy, I'm going to get you out of there," He said, trying a key in the lock.

She frowned at him, "You didn't want to help me before, why do it now?"

Six looked at her and sighed, "I'm sorry. I haven't been thinking clearly all day. But now I am. I want to help you, I mean it."

"If you say so…" she murmured, tears forming in her eyes.

The Bloodsucker felt his metaphorical heart ache, "Please don't cry."

Little Taffy sniffed, "I just don't understand why you would care after abandoning me once."

"I can't explain why. But I do care. You just have to trust me," He replied, finally finding the right key for her cage, "Now come on; let's get you out of here."

Six opened the door, and held out his hand for her to take. Something was still telling her not to trust the Bloodsucker, but she was more than ready to get out of Lawbot. And if he was going to help her escape, what did she have to lose? Sniffing, she hesitantly grasped his hand, letting him help her out of the cage. Without looking back, the Toon let herself be led away, hoping to never see the room again.