"Now, could anybody please tell me the proper etiquette for enacting a battle against a Toon?" A well-dressed Mingler stood in front of the varying group of different Sellbots, ranging from the lowest level Cold Callers, to the highest of Mr. Hollywoods."Um. How about you Glen, you seem to be quite the stickler for etiquette." Peering into the back of the classroom, the professor's gaze could pierce through the Glad Hander's steel exterior right to his heart. He knew that she was setting him up to be embarrassed.
"Miss Mindy, are you really asking him of all cogs? He is afraid of Toons. He'd probably self-destruct upon seeing one. You might as well ask him what would happen if the Toons won the war! It is just as impossible!" A fellow Glad Hander spoke in a sarcastic tone, gathering a chorus of laughter from the rest of his peers.
Standing up, Glen rubbed the top of his head and closed his eyes doing his best to ignore the taunts. "Well, when you see a Toon, you will approach and introduce yourself properly. After all, we want the Toons to understand that their way of life is... er... incorrect. That they need to change their ways. The best way to do that is to introduce our ideals to them so that they understand that they have been taught wrong." The response drew an even more raucous laughter from the class, including a light snicker from Mindy who turned to face away from everybody.
"Alright, everyone. Let's just calm down. Well, Glen. That isn't quite wrong. We do wish to instill our beliefs onto the Toons. However, the proper start is through some sort of battle taunt. We need to demoralize them before entering the battle. Toons are quite susceptible to insults. Once they have been defeated they will have an opportunity to learn from us. They do not wish to do anything but destroy you, there is no place for pleasantries with the enemy." Mindy pulled down a projector screen and dimmed the lights. Soon the screen was lit up with a paused video. "Alright, everybody. Let's watch how a proper battle should go."
A Mover and Shaker on the screen was walking down a street somewhere in Toontown that Glen didn't recognize. The town was colorful though, covered in beautiful white. The scenery was exquisite. A paradise that didn't deserve to be tainted with the stains of what his fellow cogs were going to do. Soon a Toon appeared on screen. The Toon was tall and lanky, variously colored, and energetic. They stood in stark difference to the Shaker. "Big mistake, Toon. You're world is about to be rocked!"
Mindy paused the video and stepped in front of the class, turning the lights back on. "Now, notice his technique as he was approached. Even though the Toon came in ready to fight, he did not forget his terms of engagement. He stood sturdy and spoke confidently. Now, next we are going to start getting into battle techniques. There are various attacks that Toons have, we will study between one and four fighters."
"Um, excuse me. Miss Mindy?" The Mingler was interrupted by the Glad Hander who had just answered the earlier question. Why was he asking her questions now?
"Yes, Glen? What do you need that couldn't wait?" Mindy pinched her nose, speaking exasperated. "Please make it quick though, we have a lot to go over. I'm only allotted one week to train and any lack of preparation will just lead to an assured destruction for everybody here."
Glen knew that what he was asking would likely lead to further tormenting from his peers, but he needed to know. "Why do we need to be enemies and fight the Toons? Why can we not just let them live how they want to live? After all, they leave us alone, and only fight us when they need to. Would it not be better for everybody involved to just mind our own business?"
"Aw, look at this everyone. Glen cares about the Toons! How sweet! I bet he's going to cry watching this video! Miss Mindy, can we just report this traitor to the VP and have him re-programmed? He's a disgrace!" The aggressive Glad Hander continued to insult his classmate.
"Keith, will you please just let me handle this." Mindy navigated her way through desks filled with cogs until she was standing directly over Glen. Leaning forward, she stared directly into his eyes, unblinking. "Listen Glen, and anybody else who may have this regressive mindset. The Toons are not our friends. They will betray you in a heartbeat. They will gladly stab you in the back. If we let them continue on with their uninterrupted existence, they will eventually come after us. Just look at Anti-Toons! There are hundreds of Toons who have turned on their kind to join us. Now, they are in the right for doing so, but that is not something you would ever see from your fellow cog! If someone were to commit such an act... well it would mean immediate destruction. Does that answer your question, Glen?"
Sweating profusely, all the robot could do was gulp and nod. "Yes, ma'am."
"Great! Alright everybody, we're going to finish the video. This will be a simple one-on-one battle. We are going to analyze and see how he could have improved..." Glen tuned out his professor's words as he stared down at the worksheet he was provided. Were Toons really that bad? He had certainly never met any in person, but they seemed to be much different than they were taught. However, maybe that was just his emotional side overriding his logical one again. How could he have asked such a ridiculous question in class? He had instantly regretted it.
Turning over his paper to the blank side, Glen did what he always did to distract himself from his self-loathing; writing. The Glad Hander had dreamt of writing a novel. He wasn't sure what he wanted to write about. He found that he would come up, and discard, ideas almost daily. Everything he came up with didn't seem good enough. Until today. What if Toons weren't enemies? What if someone could bridge the gap between the two groups? It would be perfect. Now he just needed to figure out the characters, he wouldn't let himself fail this time.
Glen's operating system finished restarting, powering up the cog. As he began to awaken, he immediately leapt with a shock. Wherever he was, it wasn't somewhere that he had ever been before. Instead of the hard ground that he had fallen unconscious on had been replaced with a soft bed. Instead of being covered with bruises, he was instead blanketed by a soft-quilt. Most of the room was empty other than his bed. As he went to move his arm, he realized that his left arm was handcuffed to the metal bed frame. His body was burning in pain, but at least he was alive. Why was he here? Using his free arm, he patted around his suit and searched for his notepad, surprised when it was still in the same spot that he had put it before. From the other side of the room, the squeaking of a door opening caught his attention, alerting him into a defensive position. "Um, hello? Who is there?" He shouted.
"Well, look at that. I guess he's awake." The orange Toon who had came and saved him from Michael, Joshua, and Eric was now standing just a few feet in front of him. Closing the door, the Toon walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at the cog. "You've been out for three days, Mr. Glen. We thought you might never wake up."
Still groggy, Glen tried to get a grasp on what was happening. While cogs would usually recharge on their charging stations at night, he had never heard of one being out for three days. "I'm very sorry to interrupt you. But did you just say that I was unconscious for three days? I'm not quite sure then how I got here?"
Billy rubbed his arm, clearly conflicted on how to respond. "Well, I brought you here son. Er, well I guess I'm not quite sure how old you are. Do cogs age? Nevermind." The orange chimp tried to ease the tension with a light chuckle, before tailing off when he noticed Glen was still staring blankly at him. "Listen, I don't know what you remember, and frankly I don't know how comfortable I am talking to a cog, but you saved my daughter's life. I'm not sure why, but you did. You got quite the beating from those... friends of yours. After you shutdown me and my daughter brought you back to my home. We have a spare bedroom."
"Well, thank you sir. I do appreciate it. I understand that your daughter is Muffin?" Glen inquired, images of the blue cat floating through his mind.
"Um, yes. That's her name. I guess you two became acquainted." Standing up, Billy faced away from Glen and shook his head. "I'm not going to waste your time, Glen. I would have destroyed you if it weren't for my daughter. She is the one who talked me into bringing you here. I don't completely trust you, but I love my daughter and this is what she wanted." As he noticed Glen look over to his handcuffed arm, the sheriff sighed. "Yeah, sorry about that. Couldn't risk you running off and someone seeing you."
Scratching his head, Glen looked on confused. "I'm not really understanding. Somebody seeing me? Is my presence here causing you trouble? The last thing I would want to do is inconvenience you or put you in harm's way." The Glad Hander's tone was gentle and reassuring, something that Billy had never witnessed in a cog. "I understand that you don't trust me, and I completely understand, but would it be possible to swap which arm is handcuffed? This one is a bit sore from being in this position."
A knock on the door interrupted the pair's conversation. "Dad, are you in there?" Pushing her way inside was Muffin. Dressed in a flowery white dress, and matching silk scarf, the cat was almost gleaming. Unsure of what was happening, Glen looked down at his chest. His gears had begun to churn as a faster pace than was customary, and he could feel a tickle in his stomach. "Oh, he's awake!"
"Yeah, he just woke up a few minutes ago. No need to worry about him sweetheart, I can handle this." Billy bit his lip as his daughter walked over and sat down on the bed, Patting the cog's foot, the blue cat grinned innocently at Glen. "Honey, you don't know if he is dangerous or not. After all, he is still a cog. Why don't you wait outside and I'll let you know when it is okay."
"I'm not a baby anymore dad. Besides, I haven't had a chance to properly thank him yet. If he didn't show up, I don't know what could have happened. Cog or not, he saved me! You don't need to be so overprotective. If he wanted to hurt us, he would have, right?" Muffin's heart began to race as she caught another glance at the Glad Hander. Seeing the cog in such a defenseless position made her realize how cute his smile was. "You said your name was Glen, right?"
Eyes widening, the android was surprised that a Toon would be so kind to him. "Yes!" He cleared his throat when he realized how enthusiastic he sounded. "Sorry, I mean yes. I really hope I am not putting you in any danger or anything by being here. Although I don't think anybody would ever come looking for me."
"You could say that twice. I don't mean to be insulting or anything but the rest of your friends? Well, they're gone. Most of them were destroyed and the remaining ones were flushed out. I'm not too worried about them coming back anytime soon. I'm a bit more worried about other Toons seeing you. I don't think many would take kindly to seeing a cog here after everything that happened." Billy rubbed the back of his neck. After Glen and Muffin had fallen unconscious, he called called in the Toontown Rangers to come help. He had waited with Muffin thinking that Glen had been destroyed. Once she had woken up she had immediately went to help the cog and convinced her father to bring him back once it was found he was still alive.
"I think we could take the handcuff off dad. How is he supposed to get better if he can't properly rest and relax?" Muffin slid off the bed and walked over to the top of the bed, reaching out and grabbing the handcuff. Very quickly she slid her hand up and felt Glen's hand, causing her heart to nearly explode. "See? He's clearly not relaxed. Please, dad?"
Contemplating the blue cat's request, he was distracted by a rumbling from his whisper device. "Excuse me." Standing up, he pulled open his device and read the incoming whisper. "Ugh. Sounds like Master got his foot stuck in the toilet again and nobody else is available to help him. I need to go handle this." Turning to face his daughter, he was shaken by her innocent blue eyes putting on her saddest face. She knew exactly how to get him. He could never resist her when she did this. "Alright, I guess I can go ahead and undo it. But Mr. Glen. Please remember that if anything happens to her that I will hunt you down personally... if one of our friends hasn't gotten to you first, understood?"
"Yes, sir. I would never do anything to reject the gracious gift that you have given me. I truly understand your hesitance, but I am no enemy of the Toons. In fact, I... I don't really like my fellow cogs." Glen closed his eyes and remembered the taunts he endured daily, the way he was treated by his fellow cogs, and just how cogs treated each other. He could never imagine a cog coming to rescue a fellow cog. "Thank you again, sir."
"Alright, alright. No need to worry about the sirs and all that stuff. Just call me Billy, alright?" The orange monkey undid the handcuffs, immediately freeing Glen to rub his wrist and feel the oil flow through his body once again. "Anyways, I'm headed out. Probably be gone for a few hours. Muffin, could you make sure dinner is done tonight? I don't think I'll have time to cook.
Muffin smiled and nodded. "Sure, dad. You go have fun. I'll make sure to make the biggest and best dinner you've ever had!" Squeezing the slightly taller Toon, she waved as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Almost immediately after he was gone, Muffin turned red and forgot how to make eye contact. "Um, sooo."
Like his new friend, Glen suddenly found himself incapable of speech. Something must be malfunctioning in him he figured. "Muffin? I don't need to seem as if I am being a burden, but would it be possible for you to bring me something as well? I have not procured any nutrition in several days, and I am quite hungry. I would go myself, but your father has made it clear that I should stay here."
"Oh, um. Of course!" Muffin spoke with a hint of hesitation in her voice. She had never been alone with a boy before, even if that boy was a cog. There was something titillating about it, but she had to keep her cool. After all, she was probably still just caught up in her emotions after being saved. "I'll have to see what I can find. I don't know where I'd find oil here. I might have to run Toontown. I might be a couple of hours, would you be okay here by yourself? Do you want me to bring the TV in here so you have something to do?"
"That's alright! This is actually a perfect opportunity for me to write." Glen pulled out his notepad and smiled softly at his new companion, slowly becoming more comfortable around the blue cat.
Intrigued, Muffin sat back down on the side of the bed and tried to peek over at the notepad. "Ooh, I didn't know you were a writer! I love reading! Do you have anything done yet? I'd love to give it a read if you don't mind!"
Glen was caught off guard by the latest question. Nobody had ever taken an interest in him or his hobbies. Although he had never had an opportunity to speak to somebody about his writing, so maybe that was why. "Well, I am still working on it, but when I am done you can be the first person to read it!" With a sudden surge of confidence, fueled by overwhelming excitement, Glen reached his hand out and placed it on Muffin's, before quickly retracting it when he realized what he had done. "Oh, er, sorry about that. Just wanted to shake your hand. You know, it is customary among the cogs to shake hands when a deal is completed."
"Oh. Oh, yeah." Muffin looked slightly disappointed, but faked a smile when she shook Glen's hand. "Anyways! I am going to go and find that oil, and get dinner for dad! Maybe all of us can have dinner together tonight!" Standing up, Muffin adjusted her dress and grinned at the Glad Hander. "I'll see you soon, alright?"
"It sounds fantastic, thank you Muffin." Glen tried to sound optimistic, although he had difficulty hiding the disappointment in himself again. Once Muffin had left and he could no longer hear the footsteps, he smacked himself lightly. "Ugh, you idiot. Why did you do that? Are you trying to upset her? Why would she want to hold your hand? Just be thankful that she didn't kick you out after pulling a stunt like that." Glen tried to put things behind him. He promised Muffin a book, and after all she did for him he would have to write the greatest novel in history. With nothing but time, he began to write, page after page filling with words. An elaborate story was beginning to unfold, quickly causing the injured cog to forget about what had just happened.
