Squiggles could feel herself shaking with excitement as she looked around the large room, exiting the elevator. "Welcome to Bullion Mint – Floor Eighteen." A robotic tone called out over a loudspeaker. The most noticeable thing was how gray everything was, with the exception of giant stacks of gold bricks. "Geez, would it kill them to add some color in here?" The cat inquired.

With a chuckle, the purple monkey chimed in. "Knowing cogs? Probably. Although all of the money in the world apparently can't buy them good taste. I wonder what they do with all of this anyways. I doubt cogs are getting paid in gold bricks. Especially not the schlubs down here."

"Pays better than my last job did, probably. After we kill all of these Loan Sharks, I'm going to be in for a big payday. A hundred-thousand jellybeans gonna make mama happy!" Hazel sauntered along, running her fingers on the smooth concrete walls. "Really takes me back to be in here. I remember when I first started my Donald's Dreamland tasks. Sure seems like an eternity ago." Hopping up some stairs, the pink monkey gave little notice to the group behind her helping Squiggles through the obstacles.

"Hold on a second there, don't go ahead without us!" The Blueberry called out, his squeaky voice echoing down the hallway. "Sorry Squiggles, there is going to be a few spots like this. Just have to be patient, but we will all get through."

The next few minutes were spent painstakingly navigating through a variety of incredibly dangerous obstacles. There were large stompers that had nearly crushed them, a room with spinning paint and gaps to leap, and many stairs. With enough teamwork, excluding Hazel who seemed to be off in her own imaginative world, the trio eventually made it to their first set of cogs. It was an ordinary looking group, three level tens, and a level eleven. Fortunately for the group, three of the cogs were Loan Sharks. "Ugh, it looks like we have Toons. I doubt that Sandra authorized them to be here. Everybody ready themselves for a fight." The level eleven yawned. "Look, one is dysfunctional. This should be easier."

The two sides got into battle position. Squiggles' heart was pumping adrenaline faster than a firehose could shoot water. While she had fought high level cogs, this was beyond her normal abilities. She would really be relying on the other three. "Should we use sound here?" The red cat asked, flustered.

"Um, we should probably skip on that. Me and The Blueberry are soundless. I'm going to use lure. Do either of you have any trap gags?" The Grape shouted out confidently, knowing the cogs wouldn't be able to resist even with the foresight of her warning.

"Oh great, TWO soundless Toons? This is going to take an eternity! This has already taken forever." Hazel crossed her arms and scowled. "I have a trapdoor. I'm going for the Money Bags."

Squiggles widened her eyes in disbelief at the attitude from her friend. Not wanting to further provoke the chimp, she stuttered out a follow-up. "Alright. I'll cream pie. Let's take him out!"

The Blueberry took a quick glance over to The Grape. A motion so swift and unnoticeable, the other two would have thought nothing of it. Yet, the pair of fruits knew that they were in for a rough experience with the other monkey. They would need to coordinate clearly, and not let the aggressive ape take control of things. "I'll fruit pie. That should be enough. I want to save my high-powered gags."

With enough cooperation from Hazel, the group managed go get through the first set of cogs, although it was not without its own setbacks. The pink monkey continued to hammer the point that it would take forever. "Geez, I think it would be faster if I just went ahead and finished everything off and I meet you guys at the end."

"Don't be ridiculous. You'd get thrashed. These aren't some weak street-cogs that you're used to beating up. You're what, eighty-four laff? One battle going wrong, and you'll be back in the playground licking your wounds and begging for a Toonup. We didn't have to help, yet here we are. If anybody has reason to complain it is us – about your terrible attitude."

"Come on Hazel. Don't make this another building situation. We want to get through this just like they do. I'm trying my best to get through this, but it is just how things are that I won't be as quick. If you're worried, why don't you just head outside, and we'll finish? Don't worry, I'll still give you credit for the Loan Shark defeats!" Squiggles tried to take a neutral stance, as to not aggravate Hazel, nor the fruits. "I'm not really in a hurry, but I know you have stuff to do at home. I understand you're anxious about that." The cat had opened up a huge window for Hazel to backtrack and change her attitude, unfortunately for Squiggles and the rest of the crew, the chimp would refuse to enter it.

Shining one of her foghorns, the monkey shook her head. "Well, can we at least use some sound? We can go a little quicker that way. Me and Squiggles can both use foghorns, and then you guys clean up the rest. We'll heal afterwards – repeat. Seems like a pretty bullet-proof strategy."

The Blueberry sighed, not wanting to go into detail why that would just end up taking longer and being more dangerous, and eventually nodding his head. "Fine, we can try it next battle. But only if there are no elevens. How much does your foghorns do?"

"Mine does fifty." Hazel responded proudly. "Hers probably does something. Does it matter at that point?"

"I think I can do thirty-six with mine. Still working on it but getting closer!" Squiggles flexed her arms jokingly, nabbing some laughter which was much needed with all of the tension. "That's about one-hundred damage. So, if each of you can use a pie or something, it should take out tens. Then we Toonup, and then attack the other two cogs. It might be crazy enough to work!"

The Grape, who was a bit more willing to try different strategies than her companion, nodded eagerly. "I guess that could work. Just make sure we're all getting healed. We don't want to risk anybody dying!"

Piling through some flat rooms, the group finally made it to the next large obstacle – the infamous "Diamond Room" or "The Doom Room" as some Toons called it. "Alright, well I guess this will be a good chance to rack up some cogs everybody. Do you mind going for all of the battles, or do you want to skip one?" The wheelchair bound feline questioned.

"Well, we need Loan Sharks. It looks like there are a few in each group. We might as well give it a shot." Sprinting in without hesitation, Hazel prepared to fight.

"Yeah, don't wait for us to prepare or anything…" The Blueberry whispered to himself, before running as quickly as his stubby legs could carry him into the battle."

Belligerently clinging to her ideals, Hazel pulled out her foghorn and warmed her vocal cords. "I hope you cogs have some headphones; you're going to need them!"

As expected, the two Toons with sound blared their loud sound gags, racking up a little over one-hundred damage. The next part didn't go as intended. Both The Grape and The Blueberry pulled out firehoses and blasted towards the tens. They had said no to elevens, but it was too late to argue, and they needed to extinguish any threat. Unfortunately, The Blueberry's heavy stream was off the mark, as a Robber Baron quickly evaded a watery death. "Argh, brace yourselves!" the blue mouse screamed out.

"I hope you can grin and Baron!" the mustachioed cog winked as he shot a golf ball directly at The Grape, who took the direct hit to the noggin, knocking her backwards and wiping out eighteen laff. Before she could react, she was quickly swamped by another attack from the surviving Loan Shark, taking off another twenty-four health.

"Ugh, see this is what happens!" The Grape narrowly avoided a third straight attack. "I'm down to sixty-three laff. Hey Blue, can you lure them? I'm going to use a trapdoor to finish off that smug looking Robber Baron."

Squiggles pulled out her lipstick and was prepared to heal The Grape when Hazel pushed her hand away. "I'll heal, why don't you attack the ten as well just in case that mouse's lure misses. His gags seem pretty useless."

"Oh sure, if you think that's a good idea. I'll hit the Money Bags. A fruit pie should do it right?" Squiggles rummaged through her bag of goodies until she found her fearsome weapon. "I hope you lived a good life, cog. Turns out money isn't everything!"

With a second left to attack, Hazel pulled out a trapdoor and attacked the Loan Shark, instead of healing like she had said. "I thought you were going to Toon-up?" The Blueberry squeaked out frustrated as he pulled out his blue magnet, expertly pulling in his foes. Two more of the mechanical beasts were quickly eliminated. With Squiggle's carefully tossed fruit pie, they were down to the other Loan Shark whose life expectancy was dropping faster than a Toontanic. "I'll get you, after this."

The Grape shrugged and rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't expect anything else from her. I'm just glad we're almost done with this battle. I don't think I can put up with this for another seven or eight battles though."

"Stop over-reacting! I meant I was going to heal afterwards! I wanted to make sure that the cog died!" Reaching for some pixie-dust, the pink monkey was quickly undermined when The Blueberry quickly pulled out his own magic dust and drenched his fruity partner. "Oh, my cog! What was that about! Now I'm not going to get any Toonup points! Argh, you guys are trolls! Greeners!"

"Greeners? We're only this far because we haven't let you kill US yet. Okay, you know what I'm done here. You can finish this alone since you're so strong!" The Blueberry yanked out a birthday cake so that he could unleash maximum damage, taking out his anger on the unfortunate Loan Shark whose exploded bits left icing over the walls of the Bullion Mint. "I'm sorry Squiggles. If you're ever in need of another mint, always feel free to hit us up. But you know, leave her at home. I don't know how such a sweet cat like you ended up with a terrible troll like her."

Squiggles quickly went into a minor anxiety attack. She couldn't complete this mint without the two fruits, but she couldn't help but agree that Hazel was being completely unreasonable. "Wait, there must be something we can do so everybody is happy…?" Before she could finish her thoughts, the two Toons had already slapped down teleportation holes and disappeared into the darkness. Clenching her fists, the red cat could feel herself swelling with anger, a feeling she hardly experienced.

Hazel picked up a bolt and licked off some icing, swirling her tongue around her face. "Eh, who needs em? We'll be fine. They were just slowing us down anyways."

"Slowing us down? What is your problem, Hazel! You just made two very nice Toons ditch us here! How am I going to get through the obstacles here? I'm not going to be able to jump across things like you are! I was trying to be nice and give you the benefit of the doubt, but you just keep being mean! What is your problem!"

"Problem?" Hazel shook her head angrily. "I've been nothing but patient and helpful with both you, and those stupid fruits. Get your head out of the clouds and come down to the real world! Not everybody is your friend! Those two ditched because they couldn't handle being told how to actually do things! Then you have the audacity to call me the one with a problem?" Steam was practically fuming from the ape's ears. "You know what? If you think I'm such a problem, I'll show you that I am right! I'm going to finish this Bullion singlehandedly! I'll get the credit for the Loan Sharks, and you can head out and join your "new friends." The sooner we get this task done, the sooner I can get back to my life. Happy?"

The wheelchair-bound cat threw her arms up in the air, exasperated. "You're not listening to me at all! You can't just fix things by ignoring them! Why are you being so bossy and mean to everybody! It wasn't just them, there was that duck too! He went sad in the building! I want to finish this just as badly as you do, but I don't let that turn me into a bossy, mean Toon!"

Hazel walked up and put her face inches away from Squiggles'. "Listen to me, kid. You have a lot to learn about how the real-world works. You don't think most Toons would stab you in the back in a heartbeat? I've been nothing but helpful to you. I'm the only reason you're where you are now. I know how things work. Now, hand over the Toontask and I'll get this done. I'm tired of your whining."

"I'm not letting you just waltz through here alone. You'll be toast! Why don't we just leave and start over? We can just find a new group, I suppose." Squiggles suggested.

"I'm not going to get a new group. It'd probably just be another couple of idiots. Listen, if I want to risk it why do you care? You can even go get a head start by fighting some other Loan Sharks while I'm in here doing this. Divide and conquer or whatever." Hazel sounded a bit more level-headed as she made her suggestion, even though it was completely ridiculous. Soloing a coin mint would be a challenge for an experienced fighter. A solo Bullion was a death sentence. However, after how grating the pink chimp had gotten, Squiggles didn't care. She hadn't even noticed that the monkey's dialect seemed to have changed almost immediately upon entry.

Giving in, Squiggles pursed her lips for a moment as she considered what she was doing. Grabbing the parchment, she handed the magical paper over to her companion. "Just be careful and let me know the second you're out and I'll come get this back. If it looks like you're in any danger, please run! Kiddos won't be doing too good if you're stuck sad in Donald's Dreamland, right?"

Hazel seemed caught off guard by the mention of kids. "Kids? Oh, er, yeah. Them. Yeah, wouldn't be good at all." Nabbing the Toontask away from the feline, the monkey perked up and seemed intensely motivated. "Okay, you get out of here! You won't want to witness the oil-bath that will partake here. Time to bust out the big gags!" Squiggles was nearly forced into her teleportation hole as she made her exit back to the playground. "Watch out for them fruits, y'know! See'ya later, thanks for the task!" were the last words that the cat heard from the monkey echoing in the teleportation hole.

Edwin didn't know what it was like to sweat, but he figured if it was possible for a cog to perspire, he would look like he just survived a storm cloud attack. Even though Isaac and Josiah had promised that everything would be okay, something about this mission was nagging at him. Something seemed off. However, there must have been a reason he was called to that small little café. Alex wouldn't have led him there. Not to mention the ties to Horacio as well. The Tightwad had been given a package that would be delivered directly to the C.E.O. According to Isaac, it was a goodwill offering with some literature to try and sway the Cogs' second in command to reconsider his view on faith. Even Edwin couldn't believe that was true, and that it was likely something more devious. Against his better judgement though, he had taken the tan-wrapped box and quickly fled the Toon haven. Bossbot HQ wasn't very far from Daisy Gardens, only about a ten-minute flight. As he got closer to Donald's Dock, he could feel a light misting as the bright sunny skies had quickly gloomed and turned grey. A light rain drizzling felt nice against the Cashbot's burning exterior. The Tightwad's mind had mostly gone blank, and he just allowed himself to exist through the final parts of the journey. Mostly enjoying the sights and sounds from above, his thoughts occasionally reflected his yearning to understand the Toon's lives.

Finally reaching the first sign of Bossbot HQ, Edwin began his descent. This would be his first time in the land of the highest-ranking Cogs. He had never really given any thought to why there were such power structures amongst his kind. After all, all Cogs were built in the same factories, why were some automatically better than others based on their typing? It was just one of many revelations he had discovered since his best friend's death. Touching down on the brown, bland ground, Edwin took in the contrast between where he had come from and where he was now. All the trees and shrubbery had died long ago, leaving husks of life dispersed randomly around him. Gears and chunks of metal from destroyed cogs, remnants of gags, and other genera debris had been left without any care to attention. It looked like whoever resided here gave little care to their surroundings. Almost immediately upon landing, Edwin was approached by a high-level Head Hunter. While the Bossbot's face was quite small, his expression was still very noticeable. Scowling, the Cog crossed his arms and spoke in a brutal tone. "What is a low level Cashbot doing here? Did you get lost, idiot? You're in the complete opposite direction of where you should be. Now, scram before I call my boss!"

"Oh, um." Edwin stumbled over his words. Normally he was not the most confident or assertive, but on top of that he had the anxiety of his mission and the uncertainty that it brought with.

"Yeah? Real convincing. I'm calling security!" Pulling out a walkie-talkie, the Headhunter was about to speak when Edwin did something that seemed beyond him. Several feet away was a half-used Seltzer bottle, probably from a Toon who had died. Making a dash, the mint green Cog ducked down and nabbed the squirt attack. Spraying the contents into his adversary's face, temporarily incapacitating the level nine, the Tightwad made a run for it. He didn't even know where he was going, he just knew that he couldn't stay there.

The short stubby legs were not designed for running, and Edwin found it almost impossible not to trip over himself. Looking behind him, Edwin began to slow down as he realized that nobody was following him. It didn't appear there were any security alerts or intercoms to report his current unwelcome stay. "Gosh, why am I here?" The Cashbot was feeling immediate regret, but at this point he had already committed. He had assaulted a superior, which would be grounds for immediate demotion, and more likely, termination. Looking around him, Edwin noticed he was actually not that far from the C.E.O's main office. He had recognized the building from some training he had taken after he was created. The vast wasteland of Bossbot HQ was much easier to find landmarks anyways, especially compared to the immense density of Cashbot and Sellbot Headquarters.

While Edwin was naïve, he certainly wasn't foolish enough to believe he could just wander into the C.E.O's office without triggering numerous security alerts. Fortunately, where he was taking refuge didn't appear to have a lot of traffic and he could spend time researching a way in. After about thirty fruitless minutes, Edwin began getting frustrated and decided to take a break. Heading from the front entrance, he wandered towards the back area of the building, where much to his surprise there were a gaggle of Toons, who seemed to be led by a pink cat. "Okay class, today we're going to be infiltrating the C.E.O's office. This is much different than what we have been doing with the golf courses. Cogs here are much stronger, and security levels are much higher. I trust that everybody brought their suits?"

Mumbles of agreement rattled out from the others in the small crowd. A green mouse wearing a long, purple hat seemed to already be ahead of their instructor as they began… putting on a cog suit? Edwin ducked into the remains of a charred bush and watched in awe as the Toons began slipping into realistic looking cog disguises. It was unlike anything the Tightwad had ever seen before. The suits ranged from Flunkies, all the way to Big Cheeses. Edwin wondered why they all didn't just choose to be Big Cheeses, but the thought soon eluded him as he finally had an idea. If he could join in with the Toons, maybe he could pretend to be with them and slip in. Of course, the moral quandary of working with Toons who intended to destroy Cogs, so that he could get in to help save Cogs was not lost on him, but at this point he had no better ideas. He was going to have to play it cool, and blend in very naturally… Sprinting from out of the bushes, Edwin waved his arms in the air. "Hey everybody. Wait for me, I am a bit late today!"

The group all stared in confusion at the Tightwad barreling towards them. It wasn't extremely rare to see Cogs outside of their normal headquarters, but it was certainly unusual to see them running. The pink cat who was not adorned in a Big Cheese costume, held out her hand and spoke loudly and aggressively. "Hold on there, cog! Where do you think you're going?"

"Er, I'm here for the…" Edwin had to think hard. He had no idea what these Toons were here for, other than that it seemed like some sort of training or education. He didn't know any of their names, and with how powerful some of them seemed, he would likely perish immediately if he got into a fight. If ever once he was capable of lying, he had to do so now. "I was sent here to learn from you!" Edwin wanted to slap himself for how stupid his reasoning was. It didn't even sound convincing, especially with the lack of details.

"Ah, so you're a Toon then. I guess that makes sense… However, why are you wearing a Tightwad disguise? We are not in Cashbot HQ. Are you sure you're supposed to be here?" The pink cat inquired skeptically.

The green mouse snorted and laughed. "Professor, can we just go on without this doofus? We don't have time to waste on shenanigans. The C.E.O's lunch meeting starts in twenty minutes, and if we're going to catch him off guard we need to be in there immediately!"

Edwin's gears began churning, this wasn't looking good. While it didn't seem like they were onto him being a Cog, it wouldn't really matter if he couldn't get in. He would just have to be honest… somewhat. "Wait! I have to bring this package to the C.E.O. My superior, er my boss, er… Anyways, I was told to deliver this directly to the C.E.O. It is for the benefit of Toons and Cogs alike!" The Cashbot held out the tan package, which was nabbed away by the Professor. Investigating the box, the pink cat rolled it around, shaking it, and even smelling it, before handing it back to Edwin.

"Smells pretty Toony. Although I'm a bit suspicious why you'd be delivering a package to the C.E.O. Where did this come from anyways? What's inside? Who sent you?" The feline was digging into him, and Edwin's confidence was falling further and further. Fortunately for Edwin, time didn't appear to be on the Toon's side, and once she realized the time she quickly forgot about her distrust. "Ugh, I don't have time for this. Listen, you're going to stick out like a sore thumb among us. I can't just let you go by yourself and get creamed either. Why don't you just stay behind and we're going to go destroy the C.E.O, then you can just say you delivered it. Nobody is going to know, anyways. He'll be gone!"

"What do you mean, destroy him? Can such a thing be accomplished? The C.E.O is the second most powerful Cog in Cog Nation! Surely you can't survive! This is why I must deliver my package here!" Edwin was shocked by the Toons' confidence, and mortified by the fact that somebody would even attempt to do something like assassinate the C.E.O. "This will be the most peaceful solution. However, I need to ensure this is delivered. It is vital information that may lead to the end of all fighting between Toons and Cogs!"

The desperation in Edwin's voice was enough, alongside the time-crunch, to let the Professor give in. "Fine, just… Just don't get in the way. If someone goes sad because of you, I'm going to be very upset and I'm going to talk to Flippy. I'm still a bit wary that you aren't an Anti-Toon, but it wouldn't be the first and it won't be the last time. So… come on, let's get this over with!"