The Cog Metamorphosis
Chapter Eleven
Toontown Central was a mess of police activity over the next few days. The attack on Zippy's hotel was being investigated by the police, though they could find no logical reason for such an attack. The Toon Resistance was placed on high alert. At night, there was not a single Toon on the streets; doors were locked, curtains were drawn, and guard doodles were placed outside. Meanwhile, the police also began to investigate a mysterious fire at a computer repair shop owned by a Toon called Bones.
A red pig was wearing forensic gear, pouring through evidence meticulously. "Interesting," he muttered, examining a wall which was charred and damaged. Having examined the floor they found traces of gasoline; the fire had definitely not been an accident. He had a small collection of evidence to his left side; every now and then he looked at it, mesmerised. He was acutely aware of the crowd around the crime scene – there were at least fifty Toons watching intensely, hoping to get a good look at the scene of the crime. Police officers at least kept them from entering the crime scene.
Suddenly, a lilac cat appeared behind him. She was also wearing forensic gear. He turned and gave her a long look; a look of sadness, and half-buried memories.
She looked away. "I didn't know you were working on this case," the pig mumbled. He looked at her and gave her a regretful look. Her face was completely blank, and only silence came to meet him. After a moment, she gave him a stiff, "Well, I am."
He nodded. There was a rather awkward silence, and the pig could sense the cold fury seeping out of her mouth, despite her mouth being shut tightly. He continued trying to talk.
"Look, Lilac, I'm sorry... shouldn't have..."
Suddenly, she erupted. "Oh, you're sorry? That's wonderful, Frank! Yeah, I'm really glad that you're sorry, because that fixes it, doesn't it? Never mind the fact that you still did it, you jerk! I could've been something, and you had to ruin it! You will never get my forgiveness!" she glared at him, her once calm, icy eyes now replaced with angry, fiery ones. Subconsciously, Frank moved backwards. She advanced on him, sticking a finger out at his rotund belly.
"You ruined everything. It was all you, and you will never deserve my forgiveness. You will never earn it, you disgusting, worthless piece of filth!" she continued, verbally ripping him apart. He tried to speak, but she cut him off, continuing her searing onslaught.
"Don't talk! I don't wanna hear it. I just want to get this job done and go home!" she hissed.
Frank scurried away, mentally cursing himself. He should've known not to discuss anything with her. Though it had been years, her anger never cooled.
He sighed to himself, and started working in the other section of the house, but he already knew he wouldn't find anything; obviously, the arsonist was experienced.
Tobi and Princess had led the group to a safehouse in Daisy Gardens, near Sellbot Headquarters after the attack on Zippy's hotel. It was completely empty, save for a radio in the main room and a locked door at the back of the house. Tobi already had the keys, and when he opened it, they found it was a room full of barrels.
"This place is an old Toon Resistance headquarters," he explained. "A few years ago, it seemed like the Cogs from the factory in Sellbot Headquarters were going to storm the entire neighbourhood, so we set up a few of these houses on this street. If the Cogs invaded the street they'd have to go through us. I stayed here a little while, and I can promise you that the Cogs have no idea what this place is."
Sheriff looked concerned. "We're near a huge cog stronghold. How is this safe?"
"The Cogs won't be looking here. As far as they know, this place is entirely controlled by them – and Cogs like to be efficient. They've discarded any possibility of us being here, so they'd never waste time looking for us here. Plus, it's a good way to keep an eye on them. We're still working for the Resistance, and we still have to gather information."
He cracked open one of the barrels. It was half full of gags. "This is the armoury. If we need gags we'll grab 'em here."
He showed them to another room, the kitchen. The cupboards had a few pieces of bread and the fridge was full of meat and cheese.
"We'll have to restock the kitchen in a few days. As for living quarters, there are none. We'll sleep in the armoury, I think there are some spare sleeping bags somewhere around here, I'll look for them later. For now... well, make yourselves comfortable. That radio is tuned in to Toon Resistance channels, and I'd ask you not to change it."
The others listened wordlessly, still shocked by the brutal attack on Toontown Central the other day. Sheriff kept glancing at Toon. E. Fish and Jake worriedly.
That night, Tobi insisted that they take turns watching the house. He was first watch, followed by Princess, and then Jake, but Toon. E. Fish might as well have kept watch the entire night, because she didn't get a wink of sleep; all night she stayed up worrying about Max. Every second they weren't looking for him was a second wasted, in her opinion. By now he could be depressed. She also wondered about the increasing brutality of the Cogs; the war had always been a vicious one, and Toons being depressed wasn't new, but it was certainly uncommon. Suddenly, the Cogs had begun depressing a great many Toons; grim news was spreading across the land like wildfire. The Cogs were planning something, she had no doubt, and she wondered whether she would still exist by the end of it. Would anyone? The Cogs were ushering in complete and total defeat for the Toons, it seemed. Cogs were vicious, vile things, and once they figured out how to destroy Toontown, they would end everything. Still, it wasn't all bad; she would have the chance to destroy a few more Cogs by the end of it.
When the day finally arrived, it brought no change in the Toon's attitudes; they all still felt on the edge of defeat. They had a small, unsatisfying breakfast, followed by a day of boredom and fear; they made very little progress in their plans. They agreed that they would have to rescue Max before the Cogs depressed him. They also agreed they would have to find out what the Cogs were doing. This had brought some protest from Sheriff, at first.
"I don't want these two," he said, gesturing to Jake and Toony, "to get hurt! I already screwed up once and now Max is in danger. You two are Toon Resistance agents and you're used to danger – in fact, I am too – but they aren't and you can't expect them to charge into battle with you!"
Tobi sighed. "Look, everyone is in danger now. Everyone. The Cogs are clearly escalating this war with us, and that means they have some reason not to be afraid of the consequences. It's no secret the Cogs want Toontown wiped clean of every single Toon inside it, and it looks to me like they're preparing to depress every last Toon."
"Hopefully, there won't be any battles – if we can stop the Cogs now, we won't have to do much fighting," Princess chimed in, though she didn't look hopeful.
Sheriff shook his head and looked around at Jake and Toony. Jake was staring into space, whilst Toony watched Sheriff angrily. "I wanna fight, I don't care about the danger! They took Max and they tried to depress us all. Sheriff, we're not kids anymore! We can look after ourselves, and it's our choice whether or not we want to get involved. The Cogs want us out of the picture, and I'm pretty sure that means they're scared of us. We know too much. I want to make them pay."
"I think everyone's scared of you, Toony." Jake mumbled, without thinking.
In the next moment, Toony was on top of Jake, viciously attacking. Sheriff sighed and looked over at Tobi and Princess. "It's normal for them, don't worry. Anyway... I guess I don't have a choice here. But first thing's first, how are we going to find Max?"
Tobi smiled. "I was hoping you'd ask that... there's someone who can help us there, I think. But it's not definite – in fact, the sooner we see them, the better. Princess, keep these two from killing each other, will you?"
Princess snorted. "I think that's the toughest mission I've ever been assigned!"
Jake wailed.
Meanwhile
Max couldn't remember the last time he'd slept. Between the interrogations and the constant screaming of other prisoners, he couldn't get any rest. He had been imprisoned for far too long now, and any hope of escape he had once possessed was now taken; the Cogs made sure of that.
He had no idea where he was; he knew it was somewhere controlled by the Cogs, but that was all. From his cramped, barren cell he could see one thing and one thing only – rows upon rows of metal cubes, with windows in the front and a few pipes on the ceiling. The first day he'd been kept there, he wondered if the cubes were some sort of prison cells – but that night, the Cogs demonstrated their true purpose.
They dragged in a struggling green duck and opened a small metal flap in the cube. Two Corporate Raiders shoved him inside and closed the flap quickly, stepping back. Then a Skelecog came over and pressed a few buttons – suddenly, there was a strange hissing sound, and oil began to pour from the pipes into the cube. Before long, the Toon was depressed. The laff that rapidly left his body was harnessed as some kind of energy, as a smiling Bottom Feeder explained to him, and used to power some of the Cog's machines.
He did his best to block out the memories of the Toons he watched (or heard) lose their laff, but each night that became a more and more difficult task. The Cogs depressed Toons nightly, and they made sure Max knew about it. It looked, and sounded, extremely painful, and Max knew the same fate would be awaiting him if he told the Cogs what it was they wanted to know – what exactly his friends knew.
He couldn't handle it much longer. He knew the end was coming.
