Scurvy stood silently, steering the ship, basked in the warm glow of another sunny day. It had been two days since Horsenado's unfortunate disappearance and nobody really seemed to have come to terms with it fully. Even Scurvy, who had lost crew members before, was still finding themselves calling out to Horsenado for one thing or another. Scurvy would have to explain to Five-o's family what had happened, something they did not wish upon anybody. However there was still a job to be done, and the crew was working harder than usual. Calypso had begun keeping a record of all the events that had bypassed. Mariner and Edmund seemed to be closer than usual, as the pair constantly worked on things together. Mariner even started showing Edmund how to do basic cooking. John had found an inflatable ring and wore it at all times, even when he was in the safety of his room. Cross continued to nap in the deck below when she wasn't tasked with any maintenance work. It was sulky, but stable. The ocean reflected back the bright yellow gleams from the sun above, casting a beautiful path for the ship to follow. Small splashes as schools of Purranas leapt out of the water and dove back in surrounded the ship. Calypso had set up small nets for catching fish, however the crew had little luck on the front, mostly finding deflated Balloon Fish, or the occasional Clown Fish if they were really lucky. "Arrrgh everybody, how bout' we be gettin' some lunch, me stomach be growling louder than dees Purranas!" Scurvy tried to rile up the group into a more enthusiastic attitude, but it seemed nobody really could get into the mood. Usually the lunch conversations were fun and really bonded the group, however today nobody seemed willing to talk. Forks clanged against glass bowls as Toons poked at their food. Scurvy scowled, a crew could not get by in this kind of funk. "So mateys, I know everyone be still handling things. I'm sure many of you ain't ever lost anyone. It's incredibly difficult, I know that. Trust me, I know quite well how that be. Tis ain't the first time I lost a crew."

"Wait, you've had something like this happen before?" Edmund asked concerned. "You say crew. You lost a whole crew? Are we going to survive this whole thing?"

"Oh yeah, I think you mentioned something about that, with the Corporate Raiders? Didn't they attack your ship?" Cross inquired.

Shaking their head, Scurvy sighed. "Ain't a fun tale, buckos. I guess I should be tellin' you all the fate that befell the crew of the Melville." Scurvy stood up and faced the group. "Twas quite a while ago now, and it still hurts to think. So one day me and my original crew were out on an expedition, trying to hunt down that Mackerel. For months I be scroungin' and savin' my jellybeans to afford a crew of tha best fishertoons I could find. These Toons were experienced and could not have been better prepared. Aye, one day we out off Donald's Dock, about thirty knots. We be doin' some basic searchin'. not havin' any luck. Out of tha blue comes this ship, one ye all be familiar with. The old Clipper-On Tie. At the time we didn't think much of it, we be too busy and plenty'a ships had come and gone. Well wouldn't you know it was our old friend Steel-Beard and his rowdy crew o' Raiders. At tha time I had started to send off on me little dinghy to go back ashore and grab some supplies dat we had forgotten. I'm about a mile away when dis explosion rocks me boat and nearly knocks be overboard. Cannons be firin' and hittin me ol' Melville. Now, the old crew were ain't much for fightin'. These be fishertoons, and they ain't ready for something like this. I start rowin' myself back when suddenly the ship goes ablaze. A huge, roarin' fire that I could see. It quickly engulfed de ship and soon enough Toons be jumpin' overboard. I was rowin' as fast as me arms could take me, but between da smoke and cannon shots hittin' the water, I was blind. By tha time I made it back, the ol' Melville was nearly sank and not another Toon in sight. I got shot at a few times, and had to duck down into the water me self. I didn't see naught a soul. I hid underwater as long as me lungs could hold out, before comin' back up and seein' nothin. Tha Melville be gone, the Clipper-On Tie be gone, and me crew be gone. I jumped back into me dingy and searched fer hours. Never ended up findin' any of me crew. Got back to shore and searched out help. Large cast of Toons went out lookin' but in me heart I knew twas too late and they be gone. Fourteen good Toons gone to the great playground in the sky, where da fish be plenty and not a Raider in sight. At tha funeral, I was too shamed to speak, twas my fault. I should had been there with em'. No boat should go down without its captain."

"Goodness, Captain. I didn't realize..." Cross squeaked sadly. "I'm so sorry that happened..."

"Wait... I think I remember you now! That's where I know you from!" John, wide-eyed, shouted. "My old friend Sushi was on that expedition. One of the best fishertoons I've ever met. Brave soul. Good friend. I remember being at the funeral and seeing you. Amazing how the memory works." walking over John hugged the blue cat. "You have no responsibility to bear. Everybody knew what they were getting into and they just hit the worst luck possible. You have no shame to feel, it wasn't your fault. It was those damn Raiders. Same with Horsenado. There's not a thing we could have done and none of us should feel bad about it. We can't keep sulking forever. We have to be strong for him!"

Calypso, scratching some notes into his journal, smiled. "You know guys, this is really turning into a classic story. Horsenado is not going to be forgotten. We have overcome so much to get here. Toons for generations will read about what we have done. We are heroes, and we should all be remembered as such." closing his book, the light blue duck stood up on the table and faced the rest of the crew. "I think we are getting close to the end though guys. The Ancestoons reached Toontown in eighteen days. It has been sixteen days for us. We have to be close now guys. Let's just push ourselves a bit longer! If in two days we haven't reached it, we'll turn around and head home. Regardless of what happens here, I hope everyone knows how proud I am of them."

"Wait, you're writing this. Are you going to turn it into a book? That's really cool. I'll be at the book store, and some customer will come in and ask for a recommendation and I'll tell them "oh there's this cool book. It's about me" and they will have their mind blown!" Edmund spoke valiantly, imagining himself becoming a huge star.

"I am. Not only do I feel that what we have gone through would be mind opening to many Toons, it may also encourage others to seek our their own adventures. It will preserve history. It will honor our fallen friend. However I'd like some more chapters, ones where we find the Old World! Who is with me?" the rest of the crew stood up and cheered, once again breaking free of the shackles of depression that had withheld any optimism in the previous days.

Boxer had quickly put behind the idle threats of Hog and had himself quite a night. A decent chunk of the film crew, as well as some of the other cast members went out to the Mouse Bounce House and drank a bit too much hard seltzer, scaring off most of the younger Toons with their antics. He had heard some fascinating stories, including one about how Quentin had gotten so annoyed once with Hog, that they considered dressing up everyone in Hog masks just to mess with him. Or one time Quentin came into work and everybody hid, pretending that they weren't there. One of the cast members had "come in" and asked why he was there on a Saturday, prompting him to get confused and leave for an hour before coming back and making everyone stay six extra hours. The bonding had really brought Boxer together with his co-workers and had made him even more excited to go back to shooting on Monday. He wasn't used to being off on a Saturday. Working at the House of the Rising Pun, as well as a few other places routinely had him working late nights and weekends. It was strange to sleep at night and be awake in the morning, but he kind of liked it.

Laying in the bed of his hotel, Boxer stretched out and pulled over his laptop. He figured he might as well do something productive. Deciding to watch one of his favorite movies, he would study the actors and their techniques. Pulling open his video collection he scrolled through and eventually settled on "Gag Order" a comedy-drama about a Toon who was wrongfully arrested for selling counterfeit gags who turned out to have an evil twin. It was a classic, and one that Boxer returned to every once in a while. For the next thirty minutes, the purple dog watched and chuckled at the hilarious actions on screen, keeping note of how the actors seemed to blend into the characters they played. His enjoyment was interrupted by a rumble on the bedside table, where his whisperer was charging. Removing the device from its power supply, he pulled it open and scratched his head. "Tyler? What does he want?"

"Hey big-shot, are is life on the set? Pretty amazing right? Just wanted to check in and see how things were going? Everything going alright? I heard that Quentin put you into the leading role! Can't tell you how big of a deal that is, could open doors for you bro! If you need anything, just let me know! Also don't forget I have a five percent commission!"

Boxer shrugged and placed the whisperer back on its charger. He had other things to do, he could respond later. As he continued to watch it came to a scene where the criminal was confronting the accused in a flashback. "Hey Bobby, you better not rat me out or I promise you, there WILL be consequences."

A pink crocodile seethed and sarcastically responded. "I'm on trial because of you. Why should I go to jail so you can go free? You're a scumbag, Joey, a true scumbag."

"You better watch your back, Bobby. You talk and I promise its the last thing you'll do." the criminal Toon stormed off, leaving the crocodile.

Boxer's mind was suddenly thrust into his conversation with Hog the day before. It was eerily reminiscent. Reaching over for his whisper device he began to type back to Tyler. "Hey, Tyler. Everything is going pretty well. Although Hog McBuffson is a pain in the back, you know? He seems pretty mad that I got his part for now. I don't want to have to worry about causing any on-set drama, especially not until I become an established star. Any advice?"

A few minutes passed, as the purple dog zoned back into the movie. Eventually his whisper device began to rumble again. Picking it up, Boxer grinned noticing Tyler had already responded. He figured it was best for Tyler to handle this side of things. After all, he was Boxer's agent. Maybe he could talk to Quentin or something. "Don't you worry about that buddy. I'll handle things from here."

Wacky had called his assistants and the Toon council to let them know he would be staying in Cog Nation for a while. Unfortunately for him, the new factory explosion was causing even higher tensions, and he didn't feel safe leaving on his own. Most of the Toons that worked and lived in Cog Nation, such as Matt, worked out of the capitol building, and had plenty of food and company to keep themselves busy while on a mini lock-down. Figuring it was safer for all Toons in Cog Nation, as well as the cogs as well, to keep the groups separate while investigations were ongoing. Wacky had tried to call in his top investigator, Deputy Skids, who was busy tending to other matters. Instead, Wacky would have to rely on an up-and-comer named Kuma. A white bear from The Brrrgh, he had been a low level Ranger before he broke through the investigation into the Halloween Cult a few months prior. Sitting inside of his makeshift office, the yellow monkey struggled through a stack of papers; photos, documents, testimonies. Different crimes that had been submitted. There was no doubt a Toon was involved. While he had some suspicion a cog may be masquerading as a Toon, possibly to stir up trouble, the gags of choice and technique pointed to an experienced fighter. Besides, finding gags in Cog Nation was near impossible. Wacky was interrupted from his work from a light knock on the door. "Ah, yes, please come in."

Matt walked into the room, followed by a tall, lanky, white bear. "Good morning sir. I'm sorry to bother you. I just wanted to introduce you to Ranger Kuma, he will be handling the investigation from here."

"Nice to meet you Kuma! I've heard great things about you!" Wacky stood up and walked over to shake the bear's hand.

"The pleasure is all mine, sir. It's a great honor to finally meet you." Kuma smiled excitedly.

Chuckling, Matt threw his arm around Kuma. "You see, I have already caught Kuma up on most of the details of what has happened. I'm going to take him to meet with Edward, and then we will probably head off to start on the factory explosion. Figure there might be some fresh tracks there, and it'll be best to try and use those rather than trailing something cold."

"Whatever you guys think is best. I'm going to be doing my own investigation as well. I am still a bit curious about that letter we received from Mr. Jamal and his eventual death. I think I'm going to go check that out."

"Didn't that place burn down? Matt asked, slightly aggravated. Clearing his throat, the brown dog shook his head. "I apologize, I am still a bit tender about that. After all, I knew Jamal personally and thinking about it still stings. I'm just worried is all."

Mayor Banana clasped his friend on the back. "No need to worry about me, Matt. I've been through hell and back. I figure I can handle this. Besides, Edward will be attending with me as he is going to give a speech there. I think a lot of the structure remained intact, so I'm hoping there might be something that survived the blaze." Grabbing his jacket, the yellow monkey winked at his comrades. "No need to worry about me guys. You try to stay safe. be back here at six o' clock and we will report our findings. Good luck." putting on his fedora hat, Wacky walked out of his office and slowly closed the door behind him. He was going to do this, whether or not it killed him.