Shit just got real guys! Hope you enjoy!

Cogs © Disney

Pearl, Val, Taffy, Trevor, and Victor are mine

Roxy and Sadie/Butcher belong to PoweroftheWol

Sarah/Fangs Atrox

Winky belongs to Winky Dizzypop/ lalalei2001

Edumacated, King Lollipop Rockenwoof, and Cyborg are owned by their creators of the same screen names on TTC Fourms.

Chapter 10

Election Day Blues

The whole of Toontown's populous was gathered in the vicinity of Toontown Central, waiting for the votes to be tallied. Everywhere you looked, Toons were bustling with excitement and anticipation. Would Mayor Flippy once again hold mayoral rights, or would this newcomer with a very peculiar last name take charge? Only time would tell…

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Pearl adjusted her hat and the collar on her duffel coat before she spoke into the hidden mike clasped to the inside of one of the lapels, "Agent Pink Hook here, I need a roll call. Is everyone in their positions?"

Valerie finished adjusting the volume of the long distance recorder before she answered back, "Agent All Ears ready for action!"

Winky was busily examining wires to the sound system located just behind the stage while Ed kept watch, "Agents Magic Touch and Faulty Wire reporting, we're almost in the system," replied the rabbit.

"Good to hear guys. Agent Pritt Stick, any sign of our target yet?" Pearl called out over the transmitter inside her coat.

"Not yet Pink Hook, though a lot of Toons showed up here today, he might be lost somewhere in the crowd at the moment," Roxy replied, lowering her binoculars.

Pearl sighed and answered, "Okay keep looking; he's bound to be here somewhere. Agent Brave Eagle how's the Cog watch?"

Rockenwoof unhooked the talkie from his pants pocket and responded, "The skies look clear from this end."

"For now but don't let your guard down. Agent Eye Spy, how about the other half?"

"Nothing but blue sky and white clouds, Pink Hook," Cyborg replied, repositioning his goggles so they were more comfortable atop his head.

"Alright, same with you; don't let your guard down. They could show up at any moment and we have to be ready," Pearl let go of the microphone and sighed. It was now or never, and she was desperately hoping that it was now.

While adjusting her hat someone off to the side caught her eye. Normally Pearl wouldn't have given them a second look but the posture of the Toon seemed a bit dejected. She looked over and blinked in surprise. Sitting on one of the playground benches was none other than Toontown's famous inventor, Gyro Gearloose. A sudden uncontrollable urge, perhaps awe, flowed through her and the pink Toon made her way over. The Rooster was a rare sight around Toontown and hadn't really been seen outside his home much in years. She wasn't about to let this opportunity slip past her.

As she neared the bench Gyro sat on she realized that she hadn't thought of anything to say to him. Her mind raced through thousands of options, but none of them sounded worthy enough. Far too late she realized she was standing next to him, and at that point the only thing she could come up to say with in a squeaky sounding voice was, "Um. Hi."

Gyro turned his head towards her, looked her up and down, and scowled slightly, "I don't take interviews…"

Blinking, slightly taken aback by his coldness, she thought about what he had said and then felt rather foolish. She was still in disguise, "Huh? Oh! I'm not with the press. I'm uh. . . um. A fan…sort of."

The Rooster looked dubious of her words, so she added, "Well…uh, I know it might not seem like much, but I'm really glad for your work on the black hole. I don't think we would have made it through the last crises without it and-"

Gyro cut her off, "Calm down, you're drooling on yourself…I thank you for taking an interest in my work, but kindly leave me alone now."

Pearl's mouth hung slightly agape from the coldness of his comment, and she tried to continue, "But-," only to be cut off again.

"Read. My. Beak. Scram!"

"C-can I just ask one quick question though? Please? I'll go after that!"

Looking flustered, Gyro sighed and rubbed his head, "Fine. What is it?"

Remaining as composed as she possibly could, Pearl began her inquiry, "Why are you out and about after all this time? No offense, but I heard you weren't much of a socializer…" Kinda noticed it too.

For a brief moment the coldness in his eyes broke and showed what could only be described as pure sadness, "I can't tell you, I'm afraid," he said softly, resting his chin on his folded hands and glanced over at someone else a short distance away. Pearl followed the path of his gaze and noticed that there was female hen Toon with brown hair sitting on a checkered blanket. She wore a long blue dress that had short puffy sleeves. Sitting with her on the blanket was a small, fluffy chick with red hair wearing a casual yellow shirt and brown shorts.

Blinking and feeling a bit numb at this sudden revelation, she looked back over at Gyro and asked, "Are those your-"

"Yes that would be my wife and son. Now then, that was your second question. What happened to leaving after one?" Gyro growled, his hostility returning.

"Why aren't you over there sitting with them?" She persisted, not hearing his previous comment.

Gyro face-palmed and gave an irritated growl, "Are you deaf, I told you to-"

"Daddy? Mommy said it's time for lunch," came the childish voice of Techno as he tugged on Gyro's sleeve.

Gyro jumped a bit in fear and he bent down and nudged the chick back in the opposite direction, "Tech, I told you to stay by Mommy, I'll eat later, alright?"

Techno looked about to object but Gyro wouldn't hear of it. Pearl looked away feeling a bit awkward at the situation now when the microphone hidden on her collar went off, "Pink Hook, come in, we have a situation here," Roxy squeaked.

"Not now Roxy!" Pearl whispered into the mic then switching it off before Gyro could notice.

"But-" Click.

Techno looked up at his father, confusion in his eyes, "But lunch is ready now…"

The adult Rooster sighed at his son, "Yes, I know lunch is ready Techno, but Daddy isn't hungry right now, al-"

"Daddy is it? How sweet…I wasn't aware you had a child, Gyro," the snide, sarcastic tone remarked, cutting him off.

Both Gyro and Pearl visibly stiffened and turned towards the voice, and Pearl now painfully realized what Roxy had been trying to tell her; Trevor had been heading towards her position. Trevor was not looking at her, however, as his attention was on the inventor.

"I'm surprised to see you out and about, Gyro. I heard from an old acquaintance of yours you might be around for today's special occasion, but imagine my surprise to actually see you. I'm sure he will be most-", Trevor paused a moment, noticing Pearl out of the corner of his eye, "I see you've made a new friend," he smirked, "I do hope you remembered the agreement of holding your tongue, Gearloose?"

Gyro backed up, looking slightly on edge, "I-I haven't said anything. You tell that brute to stay away!" The rooster spat more in pure terror than in anger.

"Careful there Gearloose, wouldn't want anyone to…overhear anything…" Trevor smirked, eyes shifting to Pearl off to his right.

That clamped his beak tightly shut and Gyro silently scooped his son up and hurried over to where his wife was sitting on the blanket; all the while, Techno wondering why his father was so upset. Trevor chuckled as the rooster retreated and he turned to face Pearl, "And what are you up to on this fine day, Miss Pearl? By the looks of it, trying to meddle in areas you have no control over."

Pearl smirked right back, trying to hide her nerves, "Oh you know me, always got my nose in other Toons businesses. Speaking of, what's this about an agreement that Gyro made?"

"Alas, I'm afraid I can't tell you that my dear friend, but I can assure you, today will be one you won't soon forget," Trevor chuckled, making his leave, "Enjoy the rest of the day while you still can."

Ears flattening against her head, Pearl switched her mic back on, only to receive very angry shouting from Roxy, "Are you crazy? Why did you cut me off! Trevor is-"

"Sheesh Roxy, calm down! I already bumped into our little, red friend, along with someone else. I got to talk to Gyro Gearloose!"

"Seriously? What was he doing here?"

"I'm not sure, but when Trevor showed up he said something about an old acquaintance of Gyro's and an agreement that they had made. Gyro left looking like he'd seen a ghost. He knows something and Trevor's got him on a short leash but he's not talking…" Pearl trailed off, trying to think of what the Rooster might know as Roxy continued the conversation.

"So what should we do now? It's obvious something is up. Should we try and get Gyro to talk, you think?"

Pearl frowned and looked over at Toontown's great inventor and thought for a moment. While he was smiling and chuckling in the presence of his wife and son, there was a strain on his features that told of the fear he was now hiding underneath. She sighed, "No…he's been through enough today, let's leave him be."

"Okay…what should we do about Trevor?"

"Leave him for now and keep a close watch. We need to stay sharp and be ready and prepared for anything," Pearl stated, before ending the conversation and laying the lapel back against her chest.

"And what exactly do you need to be ready for, Pearl?" asked a slightly annoyed voice behind her.

Pearl felt her fur go rigid at the question. For a second she processed the voice as being Trevor's, but after remembering he had just left, she turned around and realized it was not the traitor Toon. It was his oblivious girlfriend who had a neutral looking red duck standing next to her.

"Oh…hey guys," she grinned nervously, "Haven't seen either of you in a while. Sorry about that."

"Yeah, where have you been? I was starting to worry," Prince Thunderroni frowned at her.

"Well, you see…that's a funny story actually-" she began, only to be cut off by Little Taffy.

"I'll tell you where she's been all this time," Taffy hissed, "trying to black-mail Trevor for something that isn't true."

Pearl stood quietly for a moment before sighing heavily and pinching the bridge of her nose, "Little Taffy, look I know you like Trevor and all, but open your eyes a little. Guys don't just show up out of nowhere and become the next thing since pie. He's playing you, and you've taken the bait like a good little fish. That's why he's been able to get by with threatening me with Dip, kidnapping my cousin and turning her into a Toon Cog, and working for some maniac who sent Cogs after me and the rest of the fan club last night! He's just a distraction for Toontown and its hero so that neither they nor she goes suspecting he's really a traitor and go snooping around for clues; and this might be the last chance we have to stop him before its too late."

Little Taffy glared daggers at Pearl but the pink Toon ignored them when she heard distressed cries come from over the hidden microphone hidden in her trench coat, "Pink Hook here, what's going on?"

"Pearl, help, there's a security guard here and-ah!" Winky squeaked frantically from the other end as another booming voice could be heard in the background.

"You little punks ain't goin' no-where! I'll teach you to mess with things that aren't yours!"

Without another thought about Trevor or Little Taffy, Pearl rushed off to the sound system behind the stage. When she arrived she found the security guard Pete that she and Taffy had met at the museum a while back. He was holding a struggling Winky and Ed in both of his massive arms, looking quite pleased with himself. A moment later the rest of the fan club showed up behind her, having also heard the cries for help over their mics.

"Officer Pete, stop!" Pearl cried as she hurried over to the large black cat.

"Huh? Well if it isn't Miss Pearl. What brings you back here?"

Biting her lip she looked down at her toes, "Well um…I'll tell you if you'll please put my friends down?"

Pete blinked and his slightly pleasant tone disappeared from his voice, "Your friends? Now what would your friends be doin' back here, hm?"

Feeling like a reprimanded child, Pearl clenched and unclenched her hands as she spoke, "We…were trying to make sure Trevor doesn't get elected…"

Raising an eyebrow, Pete set the two struggling Toons down, "Well if that's what you were tryin' to do, you're going about it the wrong way. The voting was all calculated last night and the ballots already counted. Didn't you get the mailer that was sent out?"

Pearl's eyes widened slightly realizing none of them had really been paying attention to their mailboxes of late, "T-they were? Who won?"

Pete shrugged, "They keep that a secret. You'll find out in a little bit like everyone else; but I'm afraid that you're all gonna have to watch from a distance. Can't have you messin' with stuff again," his eyes met the rest of the fan club behind Pearl, "All of ya…"

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"Mmrgh…what do we do now? If the winner is Trevor, we can't let him be announced…" Winky groaned as she plopped frustrated to the ground.

"How do you propose we do that, Winky? They've got security watching the crowd for us; we're not going to get anywhere near Trevor now!"

"Thank you Captain Obvious…" Roxy said looking over at Cyborg.

All the while the as others were beginning to argue amongst themselves, Pearl was pacing back and forth wracking her brain for ideas. But as her teammates continued to argue, the more her brain came up blank. Finally she stopped pacing, feeling her frustration coming to a boil until she couldn't hold it in any longer, "Knock it off! I can't think with you all going at each other's throats like this!"

The fan club fell silent and looked at the ground, feeling childish as Pearl continued; "Now that I have your attention, would all of you help me to-" she stopped when she heard the speakers hooked to the microphone on the stage crackle to life.

"Howdy everybody; glad to see you all turn out for this monumental event today!" Came the excited voice of Mickey Mouse, "As you all know this has been an interesting mayoral election, because our previously unopposed Mayor, Flippy, has had a contender this time around; Mr. Trevor Mc'Cogsworth."

Pearl snorted at the smug look on Trevor's features as he waved nonchalantly to the crowd while Mickey continued with his announcement speech, "You've all cast your ballots, and now its time to find out who the winner is! Minnie, would you please bring me the envelope?"

Minnie Mouse took to the stage with an excited smile on her face and handed Mickey the envelope that contained the winner's name. Pearl realized the moment of truth was here and yet there was nothing that could be done. Even as the fan club tugged at her sleeves and asked for her advice, she could only stare up at the stage hoping for the best as she felt the sweat dripping from her forehead in bullets. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over and was surprised to see Little Taffy standing there. She'd forgotten she'd left her friend high and dry before because of the incident with Pete.

"I heard you guys got pushed back here for messing around with the sound equipment so Princy and I came looking for you. What's the matter, you look so nervous…"

Pearl noted that Prince Thunderroni was off to her left before looking back at Little Taffy, "Why do you think, fur-for-brains?" Pearl glared, "What have I been trying to tell you for a while now? Trevor is on the side of the Cogs and if he gets the Mayoral position then we're talking about another attempted invasion, possibly worse than last time! Yet you still refuse to ignore obvious signs that something is not right with Trevor, all because you feel flattered that he's taken an interest in you."

Little Taffy's ears fell back and her eyes seemed to grow genuinely sad, "Why can't you just be supportive of me being with someone. I'm all for you and Princy having gone out while I was in the hospital for a month recovering, why don't I get the same respect?"

Pearl looked into her friend's face and sighed, "If it were anyone else, I wouldn't give it a second thought. Trevor's given me several good reasons not to trust him and I know for a fact that he's not who he says he is. If you'd rather take the word of a complete stranger over the word of your friend…then be my guest. But when the worst does happen, don't say I didn't warn you it was coming…" Pearl choked out feeling like she had just lost her best friend as she grabbed Little Taffy's hand and removed it from her shoulder.

"…and now we will announce the winner of the election!" Mickey's voice rang out as Pearl's attention came back to the stage. Mickey tore open the seal of the envelope he held in his white-gloved hands and pulled out the folded piece of paper, "And the new Mayor of Toontown is, with a landslide victory…Trevor Mc'Cogsworth!"

And there it was; Pearl had prepared for it and gone over the scenario in her head multiple times, but that didn't compare to actually hearing Mickey utter the words she had been dreading for what felt like years; while the rest of the crowd, Little Taffy included, applauded the new Mayor, she and the rest of the fan club stood in jaw-dropped horror at the news. Trevor shook hands with Flippy before he approached the podium and was presented a shoulder ribbon that had inscribed on it the word 'MAYOR' before he turned towards the crowd to make his acceptance speech.

Trevor adjusted the microphone and cleared his throat before he began, "Toontown it is with great honor and humility that I accept this position you have all given me…"

"Pearl, we have to do something," hissed Roxy as she snapped back to her senses.

"Yeah, tell us what to do and we'll do it!" Rockenwoof encouraged his still stunned friend with a light shake to Pearl's shoulder.

But Pearl didn't respond she just stared blankly at the podium, knowing she'd failed. There was nothing they could do now. Nothing, except wait for the inevitable to occur, that was…

Valerie looked at Pearl with concerned eyes when she didn't respond to any pokes or prods from the other club members. Seeing her hero like this was downright frightening, and something changed in her for a moment. Pearl had to be brought out from this fog she had found herself in and in a flash of uncharacteristic behavior, Valerie slapped Pearl hard across the face.

Pearl's head spun for a second before she shook it and looked over at Val, "You just…hit me…" she retorted, feeling her head become less cloudy.

"Yes I did. We need you to be our leader right now, not some spacey, late night, B-movie zombie. So pull it together and give us a plan of action already!"

Spurred on by Valerie's words, Pearl's face hardened, "You're right…I just…okay, plan of action…" Pearl thought, trying to block out as much of Trevor's speech as she could, "Alright, I know we promised Pete we would stay near the back of the crowd, but in this case we're going to have to break it. Let's do a fan out of the crowd and move towards the stage in pairs. Same as before, but Val and Roxy, you guys are with me. We're going to storm the stage and take him out now before something bad happens.

Ed and Winky, you guys take the left side of the fan; Rockenwoof and Cyborg take the right. Val, Roxy and I will take the center of the fan. When we hit the stage, hit him with the strongest gags that you've got. I know it won't do much physically, but maybe he'll let something slip if we get him angry enough. Ready? Break!" Without another word, they took their positions and headed towards the stage as quickly as they could. Pearl heard Little Taffy and Princy attempt to ask her something but she ignored them and marched forward into the crowd.

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As the prepared words of his speech spilled from his mouth, Trevor noticed seven Toons slowly inching closer to the stage where he stood. Inwardly he smiled, noticing that it was Pearl and her little friends. They were obviously enacting some last ditch effort to stop him, but by the time they arrived at the stage it would be too late.

"There's going to be a lot of big changes in store for Toontown. A transformation you might say…"

When they hit the stage, he was on his final words, "…and that transformation begins today!"

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"That's the signal, gentlemen," the Vice President said over the large walkie-talkie he held in his hand as he stared at the television monitor that had been brought to his office.

"Indeed it is…" commented the Chief Justice back to his comrade, "I suppose we should not leave them in suspense, should we?"

"As much as I and I'm sure the V.P. would like to disagree, no we shouldn't," remarked the C.F.O. with an air of dismay.

"I just hope using a back hole doesn't have any negative effects on our Cogs…" frowned the Sellbot Boss.

"Mc'Cogsworth said when he sent some Bossbots through one last night they were fine, albeit reluctant at first. I should think ours will be fine as well. Now then my friends, it is time…" the Chief Justice said before setting the walkie down to make his announcement to the H.Q.

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Pearl and the fan club reached the stage, gags out and ready. Pearl shouted, "Now guys!" But before a single gag could be used, a large black hole opened up behind Trevor. Pearl stopped dead and stared up at him. Trevor grinned down at her and said with a dark undertone to his voice, "Too late…" Several Toon and Cog shaped figures sprang up from the black hole that had appeared behind Trevor. Pearl stood frozen as the figures came into focus for her: an attack force of dozens, perhaps hundreds of Bossbots and Toon Cogs rose up from the black hole.

A voice called out to her, but in her shock she wasn't sure who it was, "Pearl! What are we going to do?"

She stared into the triumphant gaze of the Toon before her and muttered numbly, "I…I don't know…"