A large, round, wooden table sat in the middle of the dimly lit room. Circling the room was the Toon Council. The Toon Council was a group of elected officials: Usually one Toon per playground, the Mayor, and several other prominent Toontown figures such as head of the Toon Resistance. The room was loud with panicking, yelling Toons. The door to the room swung open suddenly, quickly quieting the crowd. Taking their seats, they watched as Cupcake made her way to the front and sat down in her designated chair. Clasping her hands together, she placed them on the table and sighed audibly. "Good evening, everyone." The group responded in a hushed tone. "So I'm pretty sure that everybody knows why we're here." Standing up she walked over to a television that was hung on the wall, flipping it on and turning it to the news. Images of cogs planting down into Animationville, Toons escaping, and some trying to fight and quickly being overwhelmed painfully reminded any who had somehow forgotten. She turned the TV back off and went back to her seat. "We're not sure why it's happening, or why now. But we do we need to act hard, and act fast. We cannot allow this to turn into a war of attrition. I don't think anybody here wants that."
Interrupting Cupcake, a periwinkle bear stood up and cleared her throat. "Excuse me Mayor Cupcake. As the Toon Council Representative from Animationville, I feel like it's important that I get a word in. As the rest of you have seen, Animationville has been under constant threat. Most of the Toons there are not experienced fighters. We have a lot of young families who came for opportunities to build their own lives, and older Toons who came to retire in a peaceful, relaxing atmosphere. We have missing reports of numerous Toons, and while we have tried to evacuate the playground, the cogs have barricaded the exits. We have thousands of Toons stuck in their homes and no way of getting Toons or resources in or out. I'm lucky I was already here in Toontown Central or I may have been trapped myself."
"Why can't they just teleport out?" A lavender duck stood up. "I've already instructed everybody in Minnie's Melodyland to prepare to evacuate at a given notice."
Cupcake nodded silently. "Yes, I agree with Sunflower. We can afford to lose Animationville, we cannot afford to lose Toons. What are your thoughts, Raspberry?" Looking back to the bear.
Growling, the bear looked around the room. "Yes, clearly I have thought of that." sarcastically looking to Cupcake specifically. "The cogs have put up some kind of magnetic field around Animationville, and it interferes with the Teleportation holes. While Toons can go in, where they go is completely up to chance. We've had several Toons teleport directly into more dangerous situations. Including one young Toon, an orange pig. He is only seven years old. He tried to teleport from school and was seen immediately, and fortunately saved from a cog battle, by Captain Reessess over here." Flattening her hand, she pointed to Reessess. "We need to take action now... We need to take action NOW!"
"Yes, I agree with Raspberry!" A red rabbit, Clerk Clara stood up. "I have a son and the last thing I want for him is to experience the kind of world that most of us grew up in. This is why we fought back. For their futures. It breaks my heart to think of these poor Toons who have been separated from their families, or have outright gone sad!" The rest of the group nodded in unison.
"Well it sounds like everyone is in agreement." Cupcake meowed out. "However, we still need a plan, because I don't know what we could possibly do to get in. If we can't teleport in, and the entrances are blocked, what else is there? I don't know what to do."
The representative from Prank City stood up. An older yellow rabbit, he spoke with a gruff voice. "Wow, that's a surprise. You don't know what to do? Do you who would know what to do? Flippy. Now that was a leader. Darn shame that his legacy is being tarnished by someone who never should have been put in power in the first place."
The group watched stunned. Cupcake looked down, trying to hold in her anger at what the bunny had said, grief over the fresh thoughts of her deceased father, and frustration over not knowing what to do. Before she could speak, another member spoke up. "That's enough, Devin!" Reessess stood up, walking over to where she was face to face with her co-councilman. "This is not the place to air your personal grievances, and this is CERTAINLY not the place to attack other Toons. I understand you're frustrated, and scared and you know what? So am I! But this has nothing to do with Cupcake, or me, or you, or any other Toon! This is about those cogs, coming back and destroying our way of life! We need to come together. Something I'm sure you would know about. I seem to remember you being quite the young hare when you were younger, standing up for others and fighting for what was right. Now it seems like these days all you're interested in is fighting among your colleagues."
Grumbling, the yellow rabbit sat down. "Fine. What do you want us to do?" he muttered, quietly.
"We're going to hit them where it hurts!" Standing up, Cupcake showed a invigorated energy. "We're not going to wait for them to come to us. We need to go to them. We need to show them we're not going to passively sit around and let them destroy us or our unity. I want a full-on attack on Cog Nation. I want them to know they cannot mess with Toontown and walk away from it.." The rest of the council stood up and cheered in support for their new leader. Even Devin got in a few claps, trying to stifle a smirk watching her speech.
Lemon, a lime green mouse from The Brrrgh spoke up. "Mayor Doggenbottom. As I'm sure you're well aware, it has been twenty years since most Toons have fought a cog. Many do not even know the art of fighting at all. I'm a school teacher, and it's a wonder if you can get through a battle without two Toons using sound and lure in the same round, or who just focus on their own gags and not thinking of the team. These Toons just don't have the training and the know-how that we did. Not that it's their fault, they should not have to bear this burden, but we'd be sending them into a pit of despair." Grabbing a handkerchief, the plump figure dabbed his forehead and sat down.
"He is right." Reessess stood up and looked around the room. "By my estimates, we have 25,000 MAYBE 50,000 Toons who are of fighting age and have experience fighting, however many of them are too old to fight. Honestly at my age, I probably shouldn't be out fighting either. But I took this position and I could not face my family knowing I did not do everything I could. The cogs could easily number in the millions, if not more. We do not know the extent of their manufacturing. While we have reclaimed the Cog Headquarters, we have never stormed Cog Nation and do not know what it holds in store." stopping for a few moments, she too a deep breath "I think we're going to have to look at a draft.."
The crowd broke out into chaos. Bickering, and raised voices filled the room. A loud slamming of the table quickly brought it to an end. "Enough!" Cupcake bellowed. It was extremely rare for the Mayor to raise her voice, especially at a council meeting. The Toons returned to their seats, their stares piercing through her, unprepared of what to say next. Why had she done that? Her mind was a blank! Looking around at the desperate Toons waiting impatiently, she closed her eyes. Allowing her heart to take over and her brain to shut off. "I think Reessess is right.." Cupcake mumbled. "There is no way that we can lead an invasion of Cog Nation with such a small force. Not to mention we still need defense at the Playground levels. We can't leave toons to fend for themselves. I want everyone here to bring me a list of 10,000 age eligible toons for each of their playgrounds. Nobody with children under seventeen unless there are two parents, nobody under seventeen, and nobody over sixty, if possible. Please try to take volunteers first, though. This will give us at least 110,000 fighters. Excluding Animationville, of course. This should be more than enough, at least for now. We can train more Toons as needed. I also want each of you to plan for their respective Playgrounds personal defenses. I will leave it up to Captain Reessess and her forces to train and divide up Toons as needed to both Cog Nation and Animationville. I want training to start no later than two days from now. I will send an emergency alert out to all available gag shops, factories, and bakeries to increase capacity. If the Cogs want a war, well they got one. Everyone is dismissed."
Mark laid on the bed he shared with Cupcake. Staring up at the ceiling, he was lost in thought. Mortality was something that he had been taught very early on in his training at Sellbot Headquarters. Cogs were programmed to be aware that there was the possibility that they could be destroyed at any time. It was just a matter of fact. Yet for Toons it was different. Toons feared death. When somebody died, it was a very painful experience for them. Large celebrations were held for a Toon when they died to remember them. Cogs did not do this. While he knew that he would die someday, he had never thought about the possibility of losing somebody close to him, or how hard it would be. When a cog was defeated, another cog would be there ready to take their place. It usually just meant a promotion. A chance to show that you were worthy. Seeing a cog's destruction was not a moment to be grieved, but a matter of fact. Some cogs even took what Toons would call "joy" in the destruction of their comrades. Many years ago, a group of his fellow cogs tried to kill HIM. Yet when Flippy died, Mark felt differently. It was the first time in his life that he had thought about death as more than just a state of life, but of a terrible tragedy. Flippy had become not just a close friend, but a father to him. He could genuinely say he "loved" him. Maybe not in the way he loved Cupcake, but love all the same. Leaning over the bed, he walked over to a desk across from the table. A mirror reflected back upon him, looking into it he stared at his face. Even though he had been built over twenty years ago, he showed no signs of aging. While cogs could "age" it was usually due to lack of maintenance, or outdated technology. Feasibly a cog could live forever in the right circumstances. This would be a blessing to most, but to him it was a nightmare now. Because he realized that one day the love of his life would be gone. Grabbing a picture frame off of the desk, he walked back over to the bed placing it on the table adjacent to himself. Turning to lay and face the picture he stared deeply. It was a picture of him and Cupcake at the beach. It was just several days after they had gotten married. They had went on what Cupcake called a honeymoon to Donald's Dock's beautiful beaches for a weekend getaway. It was one of the best weekends of his life. This day Cupcake had convinced him to let her bury him. Even though he knew that sand in his gears could lead to discomfort, her infectious energy made it impossible for him to disagree. Gritting it out for nearly an hour, he sat patiently, yet seeing her face melted all the pain away.
"Honey, I'm home!" A voice yelled from downstairs. Leaping up, Mark grabbed the portrait and returned it to it's original stand, rushing downstairs to greet his wonderful wife. He was greeted by an exasperated, down-trodden face. "Hey handsome, how was your day?" Doing her best to stay upbeat, she walked over and hugged her husband.
"I'm doing, er, Toontastic." he feigned with cheer. "How about you. Did you have an acceptable meeting?" Grabbing her hand, they walked over and sat down on the couch. Laying down, Cupcake rested her head on Mark's lap. She purred as he as he gently brushed his fingers through her soft, pink fur.
"It was definitely something." She looked up and placed her hand on his cheek. "Wow you're warm, hon, you feeling okay?" Her eyes softened, as they always did when gazing into his.
Mark calculated his thoughts. He didn't want to worry her. "I'm doing fine, babe. Anyways, you shouldn't be worrying about me. It is your birthday after all."
Pulling out her watch, Cupcake looked at it stunned. "Wow, you're right. This has been the longest day of my life. What an awful birthday. Not even a slice of cake to commemorate.." laughing quietly, she twisted herself so her face was away from Mark's body.
"Well, about that.." Mark, lifted Cupcake's head, gently placing it down onto a pillow. Walking into the kitchen, he soon returned with a large glass pan. "I made this for you." Placing the container on the table in front Cupcake, she managed to raise herself into a seated position. Mark pulled away the cover, revealing a crudely made carrot cake. Purple and pink icing spelled out the words on the cake.
"Happy Birthday.. Sweatie?" Cupcake looked up and giggled.
Mark's face turned red and he looked down. "I apologize about that. I meant it to say Sweetie, however some of the icing came out incorrectly and I could not fix it. I hope you can forgive me."
Standing up, Cupcake wrapped her arms around Mark's neck. "It's the greatest gift I've ever gotten!" Leaning up, she kissed him on the cheek. "But you can't eat cake, remember? Does this mean I'll have to eat the whole thing by myself?" Cupcake's eyes widened at the proposition. "Gosh, I think if I do that, I really will be sweaty!" the two laughed and sat down. "Thank you Mark, it's perfect. I'll probably have to eat this tomorrow though, I'm exhausted."
Laying down, Cupcake rested her head back on his lap, wrapping her arms around his stomach. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to fall asleep to the silent calm of her lover's embrace. Mark, continued to run his fingers through her fur, listening to her breaths become slower and more relaxed. Once he was sure he was asleep, he lifted her in his arms and carried her up to the bedroom. Placing her into bed, he tucked her in, and sat down on the bed next to her. Leaning over and kissing her forehead he sighed. "Good night, Cupcake. I love you." Laying down he turned out the lights, and stared at the ceiling until he could no longer fight his own exhaustion, slowly closing his eyes, he drifted to sleep.