Exactly forty-seven hours and fifty minutes had passed since Gary had left his meeting with the Toon, Ninja. The Glad Hander was still unsure that the monkey would follow through, or be able to get him the information needed. His two-pronged plan revolved on the knowledge of where to send cogs to overpower. After all, even the strongest Toons would struggle against wave after wave of cogs. Gary had intended to send his strongest fighters to destroy any Toons who could fight and block of gag supplies, and calls for help. The rest of the cogs would wait and pick off any Toons who tried to escape at the town exits or run for help. Checking his watch, he grimaced as the hands slowly ticked away. Why hadn't he shown up a few minutes later? To pass the time, he thought of all of the ways he would destroy the Toons who had dared to defend themselves from him. With two minutes remaining, the husky cog began to become impatient, before turning and pacing back and forth down the alley. As he strolled back towards the street, he didn't notice the dark red duck who had just turned a corner and slammed directly into Gary. Falling backwards, the Toon rubbed his beak which stung in agony, before quickly realizing he was face to face with a cog. "Woah, a cog in the alley? Well, whatever! I need to destroy some Glad Handers for my Toontask. Thanks cog, you just made things a lot easier for me!"

Cursing to himself, Gary knew he was going to have to handle this Toon. He didn't want to risk his meeting with Ninja to be interfered with. "Very well, Toon. I'll gladly make quick work of you." Stepping backwards, the experienced fighter prepared to destroy the Toon. Fortunately for him, he would never need to lift a finger. As the duck raised a cream pie, he suddenly froze in place. Gurgling, the duck dropped his pastry and fell forward, landing face first into the brick sidewalk. Glen bent down and examined the body, realizing a knife was sticking out of the Toon's back. Slightly terrified, he began to spin in a circle, preparing to fight any oncomers.

"Calm down, cog. It's just me." Out of the shadows, the calm killer stepped out. Stepping over the body, Ninja leaned down and yanked the long blade from the deceased Toon. "Should always look where you're going. He stepped right in front of my knife. Unfortunate coincidence." Ninja spoke in an uncaring tone, as if murder was second nature to him. "So, do you have my payment?"

"Yes. You never specifically stated your rate of pay, so I just brought all of the jellybeans that I have left." Pulling out a tremendously sized sack, Gary planted the heavy bag of money on the ground. "There's about fifty-thousand in there. I had my staff count over them just to be sure. If that is not enough I can always get more."

Sneering, Ninja walked over and used the bloody knife to slice a line through the burlap sack. "You insult my honor by bringing me such a ridiculous payment. I am the great Ninja. What need do I have for money? I can steal anything I want. I slip through the shadows unseen. Material possessions mean nothing to me." As jellybeans spilled out in a consistent line, Ninja stepped onto the hardened sugar and squashed them into the ground. "No, I demand something much more valuable."

Gary raised his eyebrow and sighed. "Well, I apologize. I'm not really sure what Toons want. Like I said, you never specified your payment. I meant no disrespect. Well, what would you like instead?"

"Me? I want power. I want a team that I can control to better help me complete my tasks. As you may have realized I am a very busy Toon. I have many requests, and unfortunately even for me, not enough time. Toon or Cog, I do not care. I want at least eight submissive task-takers that will be at my command whenever I need them. Can you do this?" Ninja circled the Glad Hander. While he was in view, the monkey stuck out his tongue and licked the blood from his blade, wiping it clean. "If not, well I don't think anybody would hear you scream."

"I can do this. I command an army of thousands. Eight cogs to me is nothing. However, you must know that cogs are not programmed to be able to do the sneaking what not. However they are otherwise quite reliable and will do anything you need them to do within their power. If they're destroyed, well you can have access to as many cogs as you need. When I take over Toonstone, you can command the entire Headquarters that I will be constructing." Gary gulped as Ninja continued to encompass him, flinging his knife up and catching it by the tip.

Ninja considered the offer and eventually sheathed his weapon. "Alright. That would be acceptable. We can go over the terms of our agreement at a later date. I promised you information, and I have everything you could ever want." Pulling out a file filled with pictures, he handed it to the cog. "I have the locations of every gag stored in town. The names and homes of every Toon who I have found that seems capable of fighting and... I found something else that might be of interest to you." Opening the folder, Ninja browsed through various photographs and nodded as he pulled out one. Closing the manilla envelope, he placed the picture on top and grinned. "Look at what I found at the sheriff's house."

Gary placed his finger down onto the picture as he stared, unsure of what he was seeing. "No. This cannot be true, could it?"

"It is. I honestly couldn't believe it myself either. I have several other pictures in there. They were eating dinner, and I heard them mention something about maybe staying there. Anyways, I figured you would like that first." Ninja started walking down the alley. "Anyways, I have other arrangements. I will come see you soon. Stay tuned." Just as quickly as he arrived, the monkey was gone, leaving the cog flabbergasted with the image presented to him.

"How is she still alive? I killed her. It isn't possible is it?" Gary whispered to himself as he stared at Muffin. "Those damn Toons. This will make it even sweeter to finally finish you off." Breaking his concentration he finally finished looking over the picture when he noticed someone else in the corner. "Wait, is that... Glen? Ugh, it figures that crybaby traitor would be there. That's probably how the Toons got away with what they did. They had someone on the inside. This all just coming together."


Billy hadn't been to Toontown in several weeks, and honestly he wasn't even really sure where he was going to start. How does someone hunt down one Toon with a name that he wasn't confident about, no description, while not being able to tell anyone his purpose. There was one Toon that might be able to help, but finding him would likely pose its own challenge. There was something comforting about walking through the afternoon sun, feet in the lush Toontown Central grass. There were days that he missed living here, but he could never follow through with coming back. After all, his true home was Toonstone. As he reached the Toontown Rangers Office, he stopped and looked up at the large sign. He had never hoped he would come back here after he resigned. After staring blankly for a few minutes, he walked inside and was immediately overwhelmed by the sounds of hundreds of Toons speaking, whisper devices ringing, and a variety of different things. A black cat behind a desk wearing thick rimmed glasses waved and called him over. "Good afternoon. Thank you for stopping by the Toontown Rangers Office, how can I help you?"

"Hey, Stardust. My name is Billy. I actually used to work here a few years ago. Anyways, I was looking for Deputy Skids. Do you know if he is in today?" Billy kicked his foot back and forth, trying to distract himself from the anxiety that was eating at him.

"Deputy Skids... let me check. Stardust began typing into her computer and rotated between nodding and shaking her head. "Aha. Well look at that, he is actually in his office. Although it looks like he has an appointment in about twenty minutes. Do you want me to let him know you're here?"

Contemplating, the orange monkey bounced back and forth on each foot. "Um, yeah. Would it be okay if I started walking down there? It is pretty urgent."

"Yeah, that should be fine. Do you know how to get there?" As the Black Cat spoke, she realized Billy had started jogging down the hallway and was soon out of sight. "Alright then." She laughed to herself.

Speeding down the familiar hallways, Billy tried to keep his eyes down. The orange monkey had been assigned to work with Deputy Skids when he was temporarily working in the Rangers, and while they had only worked together for a short time he knew that the green dog was the go-to Toon for information. Finally reaching a small office, he looked inside the window and watched as the early-thirties Ranger spun around in a wheeling-chair. "Welp, doesn't look like much has changed." Knocking on the window, he caught Skids attention who grinned and waved him inside. Pushing open the door, Billy walked inside and greeted his one-time supervisor.

"Ah, if it isn't Billy. I haven't seen you in quite a while! I had to check my ears when I heard that you were here. How are you doing, man? How is life in Toonstone? I've heard that you even made sheriff? I think that means you technically outrank me, right?" Using his foot, Deputy stopped his spinning and sat up in a normal position. "I'm guessing you're probably not here for friendly conversation though. So, what can I help you with, pal?"

"I guess you didn't make it to Deputy by being stupid." Taking a deep breath, the chimp tried to find the correct way of asking the nearly insane task he needed help with. "I'm looking for somebody and I don't know who else can find them?"

Chuckling, Deputy hopped off his chair and swung around the desk. Patting the monkey on the back, he winked and grinned. "That's all? I thought you were here with an actual challenge. So, who are you looking for?"

Biting his tongue, Billy could feel his anxiety rising. "That's kind of the problem. I'm... I'm not really sure. I have a name and that's about it. I don't really know much else about them."

"Hmm. Well I guess I spoke too soon. Well, maybe not. What's their name? I might know them." Deputy kicked open a large three-layered filing cabinet full of folders. "Hit me."

"That's the other problem. I'm not even sure if this is the right name. There's a widow in town named Jeanette Guacamole. She's a bit older, green mouse. She used to live here. Anyways, she was talking about her daughter Jenny..." Billy was cut off almost immediately once he heard the name.

Standing up, Deputy pretended to wipe sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew. I thought you were going to make that difficult on me. Jenny is actually a friend of mine. Well friend might be a strong word, but we're acquaintances. She works down in forensics. I can send you in her direction. However I do have a security detail for Flippy's re-election speech and I have to head out soon. They've requested extra security as his daughter is dating a cog now and its a whole thing."

"Er, wait Skids. I'm not actually looking for Jenny. I'm looking for a friend of Jenny. I mean, I guess I can always go talk to her, but I am really in a hurry to find this Toon. Their name is like Doctor Mitzi? or Mustard, or something? Not sure if that helps."

"Mitzi? Mustard? Hold on... Do you mean Dr. Matzoh? The purple cat?" Deputy had to restrain his laughter at Billy's butchering of the name.

Lighting up, Billy pumped his fist. "Yes, that sounds right! Do you know where I can find her?"

Deputy nodded and gave a look of confusion. "I do, but what do you need her so badly for? I mean if you need a doctor, there are plenty of them in Toontown! I know a great one down on Silly Street. Here, let me get his number..."

"Hold on. Wait Skids." Billy spoke in a hushed tone, lowering his eyes. "I'm not looking for a doctor for myself. I'm looking for... Well I'm looking for someone else. That's all I can say."

Immediately recognizing the subtle messaging in the monkey's voice, Deputy nodded and grabbed a sticky note from his desk. "Alright, I got you. Well, just be careful with everything. I'm not going to ask questions. Matzoh is a great Toon, but do know she is still quite young and her experience in that field may not be the best. Not that there are many who can do that in the first place. If you really care for them, you might consider going down to Flippy's office and speaking to Surlee."

"I can't. I promised Muffin that everything would be kept under wraps and I don't know if I can trust Surlee. I think he might end up saying something. You know Toonstone. It isn't like Toontown. Things don't go down like that. Plus we just had that thing a few days ago. It just wouldn't be a good time." Billy grabbed the sticky note from his friend, and bowed his head.

"So... This is for Muffin. Now I certainly don't mean to impede on anything, but I just have to ask out of my own curiosity. You know, just because we have something similar happening here. Is she romantically involved?" Deputy rubbed his arm. "I don't care either way. Heck, I'm actually quite good friends with Mark. I just can't help but wonder if maybe there's a shifting tide in the world."

Shuddering at the thought, Billy wildly shook his head. "Oh, gosh. Absolutely not. No. Muffin isn't even interested in boys as far as I know. She's certainly never had a boyfriend. Plus... Plus he's a Glad Hander. I mean, I just couldn't imagine that after everything that's happened. He saved her from some other cogs and ended up getting pretty beat up. We took him in as a show of good faith and he seems like an alright guy, well for a cog. Figured we'd get him fixed up and kind of go from there. Muffin doesn't have a lot of friends so I think she's just been happy to have someone in the house to talk to besides me."

"Of course, sorry. I didn't mean for that to come off that way. Hey, after meeting Mark I'm just saying... maybe it wouldn't be as bad. We're an older generation. so I guess it is harder to wrap our heads around it. But I think that some cogs are just... good? I don't know if that's the right word. Anyways, just call that number and let her know that I recommended her. Tell her it is important. She owes me a favor anyways. I have to start heading out and getting ready. If you need anything else I wrote my number down as well. No need to walk all the way over here. That's what technology is all about." Walking out of the office, Skids closed the door behind him and walked the orange monkey out of the office.


"Alright, Glen. This is called a controller." Handing the Glad Hander a controller, she giggled when she realized how small it was compared to his large hands. "You use this to control your character. I guess the name is pretty self-explanatory."

"Interesting. I don't think I've ever heard of video games before. Although if you enjoy them then I probably will too!" Glen sat on the couch and watched as Muffin continued to set up the game console. "I don't think I'm going to be very good at it."

Turning on the game, the blue cat grabbed her controller and jumped back onto the seat next to the cog. "That's alright! I'm just amazed they don't have video games where you come from. I cannot imagine my life without them. This is basically all I do when I'm home. They're so fun. I mean, do you guys not have TV either there? If not, I might cry."

Glen was mesmerized as the flashing colors and characters on screen appeared. Toons dressed in ridiculous costumes used weapons to shoot colorful oil at each other. "Um, well we do have television. We have movies and movie theaters. Although most programs and movies are about cogs defeating Toons, or something. Once you've seen one, you've seen them all. I remember there used to be this commercial for Cog O's, which is a type of cereal. Do you guys have cereal? Anyways, in the commercial it would show a Loan Shark attacking a group of Toons and then after he defeats them he sits down at a table that appears out of nowhere and pours himself a bowl of cereal. It was just ridiculous."

"Cereal? Wait do you guys eat milk" Starting up a match, Muffin slapped her forehead. "Wait, duh. Probably oil. Wait, what is cereal made out of?"

"They're little gear shaped oil-mellows. They're actually quite delicious. You might like them. They have a soft and fluffy texture." Getting distracted by the screen again, Glen scrunched his forehead. "Splat-Toon. Oh, I get it, because they are splatting each other with the oil. So, how do I play?"

Muffin leaned over and grabbed the Glad Hander's hands and placed them in the right position. "It's pretty simple! You just use this button to shoot. This button uses a special weapon, and this little stick moves your character. You just want to go around and shoot as many opponents as you can. if you get shot, you will sink into the oil and re-spawn back at our home base. Does that all make sense?"

Beaming, Glen nodded. "Well, I will try not to do too badly. I'll just let you know that I'm not very competitive. I do enjoy my leisure time with you, Muffin. I really hope you know how much I appreciate all you have done for me."

"Of course, Glen. Spending time with you these last few days has been some of the best of my entire life. Now, we'll just see how you're feeling about that competitive feeling after a few matches..."