Once everybody had gotten back from their various activities, Scurvy had outlined the plan. John B and Mariner would stay behind to watch the ship and make dinner for the rest of the crew upon their arrival. The other five toons gathered small packs and waved to their friends as they made their way off into the jungle. This place was unlike any of them, aside from Scurvy, had ever seen. Toontown just didn't have this type of habitat. The trees, vegetation, and other small details left the Toons in awe. While the shade felt nice, the humidity cancelled out a lot of the effect. Horsenado had boldly decided to take the lead, taking notes on everything he saw. Large fallen trees rotted after years, if not decades of morbid stillness, created small obstacles for the group. Scurvy, with their peg leg, struggled the most. They would generally wait to go last, and have the rest of the crew pull them up and over. "This is beautiful, you guys." Cross squealed, reaching up and pulling down a small vine and swinging it back and forth.
"Aye. The jungle be quite the mystery even to me. Land certainly seems habitable. Would be a lot of work cuttin' down all the trees and gettin' Toons out here, but I guess same could be said for nearly anywhere we be ultimately landin'" Scurvy reached into their pack and pulled out an apple, taking a bite and crunching away. Speaking through a mouthful of fruit, the blue cat stopped and perked their ear up. The rest of the group continued on, unnoticing of their captain's stoppage. Tilting their head, Scurvy listened out and found silence. "Argh, guess me old ears be gettin' the best of me." jogging as fast as they could they slowly caught up with the group.
"So guys, how far are we going? I mean, everything looks okay so far. We've already been walking for about twenty minutes. Look at all of this fruit, too! Pineapples, coconuts, whatever those are!" Edmund spun in circles, finally leading his finger to point at a funny looking brown shape coming out of a tree.
Horsenado peered forward. "That is a weird looking fruit." stumbling forward, the red horse composed themselves after tripping over a root and walked over to the tree that Edmund had pointed to. Shaking the tree, the shape remained mostly still. "Must not be ripe, whatever it is. Probably isn't safe to eat anyways."
"Mateys. I don't be thinkin' that's a fruit..." Scurvy whispered to the remaining crew nearby, as another shape appeared in a tree perpendicularly from them. "Tis probably best we be makin' our leave now." the blue cat glared over at Horsenado, who quickly backtracked towards the rest of the crew. Leaning down, the cat picked up a large stick that was located a few inches away from their foot. Backing up, more and more rustling appeared in the trees as more brown shapes began to become known.
"Wait. Are those... monkeys?" Calypso questioned. Sure enough, the familiar ears and features were much more noticeable after Calypso's observation. "So Toons do live here. This is an incredible breakthrough!" pulling out a notepad, the blue duck began to write, but was stopped when Scurvy placed a hand on his shoulder.
Breathing heavily, Scurvy peered at the large circle of Toons in the trees, now completely surrounding them. "I don't be thinking these Toons are lookin' for a new matey, Calypso. We best be getting out of here now... On me signal, we run like hell and don't look back." The rest of the crew nodded. Hearts beating a million miles per second, all waited with bated breath for Scurvy's signal. Neither side made a move, both staring intently at each other, waiting for something to happen. "go!" Scurvy screamed, taking their aging body as fast as it could go. Having the peg leg certainly did not help. The wooden, rounded edge would easily get stuck in piles of mud or sand, caught in small roots, or even just lose grip every once in a while. To combat this issue, Scurvy had to lift their missing limb much higher and at an awkward angle when they ran, which slowed them down.
The monkeys in the trees began to screech and yell as the strange Toons began to run. The largest monkey, an orange behemoth, pointed and started sending monkeys flying from the trees in an effort to catch up with their uninvited guests. Breathing heavily, Horsenado held his chest, which was burning with the intensity of a thousand suns. He had never been much of a runner, and now with a hundred monkeys chasing after him, he had no choice. Southern Cross, the most athletic of the group, was well ahead and almost out of sight. Calypso and Scurvy, the oldest, were in the rear. Calypso tried to keep pace with his captain to ensure that they were not lost behind.
"Calypso, you go on. I got me stick. Any of these savage beasts be catchin' up to me and I beat them off." Scurvy cooed through heavy breaths.
"Captain, that's not a stick! That's a bone!" Calypso had finally caught a glimpse of the weapon in Scurvy's hand. While brown from decay, sure enough the long stick was actually what appeared to be a femur bone, likely from a dog, or maybe a very tall cat. "I don't like the look of this! Anyways, I'm not leaving you behind!" Calypso's sides felt like they had been stabbed by a million tiny knives.
Horsenado finally had a view of the beach in sight. Taking one gasp gasp of air, the horse galloped with a renewed intensity, finally leaping out from the secluded shade of the trees into the warm embrace of the grainy sand. "John! Mariner! Get the ship ready!"
John, who was in the middle of chopping vegetables, dropped his knife, almost landing on his foot. Pointing out behind the Toons now running onto the beach, he yelled out, getting Mariner's attention. "Go lower the plank! We have trouble!"
"Cross, Five-O... Calypso and Captain. Wait where is Edmund?" Mariner yelled out as he lowered the plank. The four Toons, still led by Southern, sprinted through the sand, feet sinking into the sand with each successive step. Unable to keep her balance, Cross stepped on her own foot, stumbling forward and falling in the sand. Horsenado, surprising even himself, swooped by and grabbed Cross' arm, pulling her along until she could get to her feet and continue running.
Calypso, taking Horsenado's lead, grabbed Scurvy's arm and began to drag them along. Finally the four made their way up the plank, unaware that their fifth member was nowhere to be found. The four fell to the deck and sucked in air like it was the last time such a privilege would be granted to them. Before any of them had a chance to speak, John and Mariner were pelting them with questions. "What the heck is going on? Where is Edmund? Why is everybody running?"
Scurvy jumped up and turned around, gazing over the barrier onto the beach where there was... nothing. Not a single Toon in sight, including Edmund. "My gah, mateys. Where be Edmund? Wasn't he with you two?" the blue cat pointed towards Cross and Horsenado, who were still on their knees, thanking the Toon gods that they were okay.
"Wait... wasn't he... with you guys?" Horsenado spoke between heavy breaths. "I didn't... look behind..."
"We need to go back and find him!" Mariner yelled. The blue dog ran over to the plank and make their way down the plank when they felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and pull him back.
"Mariner! Just wait a second!" Calypso felt the younger Toon wrestle and try to break free, eager to go save his friend. "You weren't there. There were hundreds of them. We can't just go running off willy nilly, we don't know what we could be walking into!"
John B walked over and threw his hands up. "Hundreds of what? Mosquitoes? You gotta be more specific here!"
"Monkeys. Hundreds of monkeys, matey." Scurvy shook his head as he spoke. "Never seen anything like it. They be Toons, but unlike any I have ever laid eye on. These Toons do not speak our language, and then there be this." holding up the bone they had brought with, a shocked expression filled the other crew's faces, aside from Calypso who had already been familiar.
"Wait. Is that a bone?" Cross exclaimed, shuddering in disgust. "Why are you carrying that, Captain?"
Holding out a hand, Scurvy lightly tapped the edge of the bone into the palm of their hand. "We in uncharted territory. Can't be takin' no chances. Toon or no Toon, we don't know they be friend or foe. Looking at this, I be sayin' they leaning foe."
"Well, if that's the case then we need to go find Edmund! Who knows what will happen if we don't go searching for him!" Mariners was nearly in tears as the realization hit him that his friend could already be dead.
"We're going to go find him, Mariner. I promise. But we have to be careful. What good will we be if we go running out like fools and get picked off ourselves? Then who will save him. We will need a plan." Horsenado boldly spoke, as the remaining pairs of eyes gazed upon him. "I think I have just the plan..."
Wacky walked into the Toon Council Meeting Room, excited to announce that the plan had been a success so far. To his surprise, some of the members were already there, including Bessie and Sid. "Morning fellas, you're here early." There was no response from either, who were staring intently down at a very professional letter that was laid out on the table. "What're you reading?"
"Mayor Banana, we have a problem." Sid whispered, nervously.
Wacky sat down and slid the letter over to him. "To Toon Leadership. My name is XF2719-S. For you Toons, I would otherwise be known as Jamal, a Backstabber from Cog Nation. I will be blunt. Trouble is brewing in Cog Nation. We have had isolated attacks on our production factories, and even in some Cog's homes. Now, the Cogs have been very obedient in our directions since the surrender to Toontown two years ago. As part of the treaty, it was agreed upon that there would be no future attacks from either side. Now, I do not believe that leadership would have authorized these, or so I hope. While nobody has been caught in the act, we do have evidence that Toons were responsible for this. We ask, not as an enemy, but as a friend to please reign in these rogue Toons. If it continues, or if it is found that Toontown has authorized these attacks, we will have no choice but to retaliate. Yours truly, Jamal." Feeling lightheaded, the yellow monkey took a seat. "Do either of you know anything about this?"
"Not at all, sir. I'm not even sure that this is from the cogs and not a prank from the Anti-Toons." Sid responded
"This is certainly Cog letterhead." Wacky responded. "I've seen enough letters from them to know the language and letterhead. While Anti-Toons may be involved, they would be doing so with the help of the cogs. I think it looks like we have a Toon problem. Someone is out there with a grudge or something to prove. But why would they do this now? Why wait this long?"
Bessie crossed her arms and scowled. "I actually think I have a pretty good idea who it is and why they are doing it. It's a little difficult to believe, but I don't see who else could do something at this scale. Plus the timing? It's too perfect."
"You don't mean..." Sid croaked out.
"I think she does, Sid." Banana frowned and shook his head. "This is a big accusation though. We can't just drop this kind of thing and go around blaming anybody without proof. I think we better start by talking to them and see what they know."