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Chapter 7 - Old Friends

Lily sighed and hung her head for the fifth time in two minutes. She had long given up hope of being rescued. "We'll never get out of here..." she muttered.

"Of course we will," Jenny whispered. Unlike Lily, she still had some hope of being rescued. "It's only been a few minutes."

"It feels like it's been forever..." Lily sighed.

"You just have to have some patience," Jenny said, a little louder than before. "They'll come. I'll bet they're on their way right now with some others to help them."

Lily smiled slightly. "I guess you're right. Thanks for cheering me up, Jenny."

"Anytime, Lily. Anytime."

A Cold Caller walked in and looked at the two prisoners. "Both of you, shut up!" he commanded.

"Why don't you make us?" Lily taunted.

"Lily..." Jenny hissed.

"Because if you don't, the V.P. will get you into so much trouble, you'll WISH you could be locked up here for the rest of your life," the Cold Caller replied. "Man, that's a mouthful. Wait... Huh?"

"Ha, what can the V.P. do to us that he hasn't done already?" Lily teased.

"Lily, shut up!" Jenny whispered.

"Yes, what CAN I do?"

The Cold Caller turned around to see the V.P. and all his ugliness standing there. "I don't think you understand. You're not the only ones here. There are others in the rooms beyond, but I want you two in here for something special..."

"HA!" Lily laughed. "It doesn't matter, because you're too stupid to do anything to us!" She began laughing uncontrollably.

"LILY! SHUT THE HECK UP!" Jenny shouted.

The V.P. was about to blow a gasket. "TAKE HER TO THE TORTURE CELL!" he ordered a nearby Mingler that had magically appeared at just the right time for the V.P. to boss around.

(Author's note: I call The Mingler "Mingler" because the "The" part makes no sense. And neither did that sentence...)

"Yes, sir!" the terrified Mingler responded. The V.P. growled and left the room, followed by the Cold Caller. The Mingler opened the cell door, unchained Lily, and took her wrists.

"Hey, let me go!" Lily shouted. Mental note: Don't make fun of the V.P. Or anyone else, for that matter.

The Mingler dragged Lily out of the room. Jenny screamed to let her go, but her cries were in vein.

Lily was gone.

Jacob and Melody stood outside the entrance to Sellbot HQ, waiting for anyone who had watched Purr's newscast. "Do you think anyone watched the news?" Melody asked.

"Melody, everybody watches Purr Ower on the Hour," Jacob replied. "I think they heard."

"Good point, Melody," Jacob commented. "Good point."

Melody looked out at the street to see Purr and her new cameraman, Floppy the Dog. "Hey, it's Purr!" Melody exclaimed. "Purr, over here!"

Purr and Floppy stopped next to Jacob and Melody. "Hey, you two!" she greeted. "Has anyone else come yet?"

"Not yet," Jacob replied. "You're the first ones besides us. We'll need four more Toons if we're gonna rescue Lily."

"I noticed," Purr commented. "I hope Apple comes."

"Who's Apple?" Melody asked.

"She's the new Pet Shop Clerk, and one of my friends," Purr replied. "She said she'd see what she could do."

"I hope someone does come," Floppy chimed in. "We can't do this alone. We don't even know where they're being held."

"I think I have an idea..." Purr said slyly.

Lily's hands were cuffed behind her back and her ankles were chained up, as well. The Mingler threw her into a dark cell and closed the metal door, plunging the room into darkness. Lily stood afraid in the dark cell. "Hello?" she called. "Hello?"

"Hold your horses, I'm lighting the candle," said a familiar voice. A candle was lit in the center of the small cell, and a green dog sat there.

"Trixie?" Lily gasped. "What is this place?"

"Allow my new friend, Baby Squeakus, to explain," Trixie said.

A small, red mouse came from the shadows of the cell and looked up at Lily. "L-Lily?" she stuttered.

"Squeakus?" Lily asked.

"LILY!" Squeakus cried, running up to greet her old friend. "I would hug you, but as you can see, my hands are kinda behind my back."

"Mine, too," Lily sighed. "Hey, Trixie, how did you light the candle when your hands were behind my back."

Trixie held up her hands. "My cuffs came off, and the VP didn't bother to order anyone to get new ones to put on me. Thank goodness for laziness, huh?"

Lily laughed softly. "Well, I'm glad that the VP finally messed up," she commented. She paused for a few minutes and sighed. "So, Squeakus, what is this place?"

Squeakus frowned. "This is the cell where they hold all the Toons that are about to be punished for breaking a rule. I come in here everyday on purpose to see what's been happening."

Lily's eyes were wide. "That's so brave," she whispered through her tears. "What did you two do?"

"I actually broke out of my cell," Trixie replied. "And I almost made it out, too!"

"Trixie, please don't start this again," Squeakus whispered. "Anyway, I purposely talked back to a Cold Caller. Big whoop. What about you?"

Lily shuffled her feet. "I kinda insulted someone..." she said softly.

"Well, that's not so bad," Squeakus said. "As long as it was a low-level Cog, then you should be fine. Who was it? A Cold Caller?"

"ItwastheV.P.," Lily squeaked all in one word.

Trixie gasped as Squeakus backed up. "Oh, my word, Lily," Squeakus whimpered. "That means that you'll get horrible punishment!"

Lily groaned and began to cry. "Great. I'm gonna die in this stupid place and..."

Squeakus stopped Lily in mid-sentence. "Lily, it won't be all that bad. After all, this is only your first offense. Multiple-offenders like me get severely tortured. You have nothing to worry about." The small mouse swallowed a lump in her throat. "I hope..."

Lily groaned once more and sat down on the floor, afraid of what was to come.

To be continued...

Yep, I finally wrote! There's a huge surprise in the next chapter: Chapter 8 - Cog Court. Please review!