A light whirring sound from the elevator was the only thing that could be heard as the ten Toons watched the floor indicator continued to lower. Clenching his pie. Raindrop looked around. The normally metallic silver walls, were partially rusted and brown. There was an odd smell, but Raindrop couldn't quite put a finger on it. Similar to burning rubber, but more noxious. The elevator started to slow down and finally stopped as the indicator read out something that Raindrop couldn't make out. The number on the wall read thirteen. The Toons watched as the doors slowly opened. Holding her arm out, Clara made a barrier, as she peered around the door. Long empty hallways , just as gray and metallic as the elevator were lined with paintings of distinguished looking cogs, and dead plants. Clara took the lead, swinging her had and the rest followed. Unsure of where to start, the unit headed to their right, holding their noses as the smell became stronger. Nobody wanted to speak out of fear of the unknown. After a while the hallway had turned into a catwalk. Below them, lines of conveyor belts pushed small viles of what looked like white liquid. Cogs stood in front of them, inspecting each one meticulously, before placing them back down and moving on. Raindrop had not seen any cogs like these in training. They had large, oval heads with a large metal piping connected to the top, connecting to a halo shape. They wore sharp white suits and had wings. or what appeared to be wings. The group tip-toed their way, holding their mouths. The heat from large vats of white liquid rose and warmed the metal flooring, causing them to take quick, strides. Some grabbed on to the metal sidings and lifted themselves, carrying their bodies instead of burning their feet. They could see an exit sign and briskly paced themselves, hurrying to get out of the view of anybody below. Bursting through the door, everybody took a sigh of relief as they were not in a large conference room. Unfortunately, they were not the only ones.
A Big Cheese who had been sitting in a side chair, stood up confused. "I thought I told the Foreman that I didn't want any visitors today! Especially not any Toons!" Standing up, the figure loomed over the much smaller Toons. "I want to see each of your badges so I can report this to your supervisor!" everybody stood, unable to speak. This cog must have thought they were Anti-Toons.
"Um, excuse us sir. This is a new group of recruits and they have not been given their badges." Clara patted around her pockets and frowned. "I apologize sir, it appears I forgot my badge in my office."
"You Toons are all the same. Dis-organized, unprepared, and disobedient. I will be talking to Stella about this, and I am sure that she will be putting this on your permanent record. What is your name Toon?" approaching Clara, he was stopped in his tracks from a well thrown pie from Cookie. The cog stood stunned. "Wait a minute. You aren't Anti-Toons!" running over to his chair, he picked up a walkie talkie. "We have TOONS in Factory 1X46F! Requiring immediate backup in the conference room!" Clara turned to Cookie and glared knowing that their cover was blown.
The Toons launched several quick attacks at the cog before turning and retreating through the door. Sprinting down the baking catwalk, they were surprised to see that several of the cogs from below had already began ascending towards them. Unlike most cogs who had a propeller in their head, these cogs flapped the wings attached to their backs. Clara began barking out orders. Raindrop, still clenching his pie began to panic. They had trained for situations like this, but now that he was here his mind began to blank. The cold, metal hand of a cog brought to reality. Turning around he got a direct hit right into the cog, sending it sputtering downwards and crashing onto the floor, exploding. Several of his unit members had lined up fire hoses and were spraying in a circle, keeping any attackers at bay. "Cookie, behind you!" Raindrop screamed out, launching a birthday cake, and watching as another of these new cogs exploded on impact.
"Thanks man!" Cookie wiped his forehead as he kept launching pies into the abyss, hoping to stop any resistance before it could take flight.
"We have to keep moving!" Clara yelled out. Pushing along her subordinates, she continued to bark orders out, making sure that everybody stayed in front of her. An ice blue mouse named Mindy did not see a gap in the walkway, and tripped as the rest of her unit continued to race by. Raindrop turned to hear the scream as one of the cogs picked up the crying Toon. The group froze as she began ascending into the air with the cog.
Taking a deep breath, Raindrop began to whirl his arm in a circular motion. Running forward and ignoring calls from Clara he pulled out a cream pie. "Forty feet." he whispered to himself as he launched the pastry, falling forward from the momentum of his throw. Time slowed down around him. Watching the pie fly, he muttered to himself. "Please, please, please." his prayers were rewarded when the sound of splat on metal rung out through the hall. The dog began to lose height, and started to tailspin down. Watching Mindy's face turn from one of horror, to elation, back to horror as she realized she was falling happened in just a few short seconds. Then she was gone into the black abyss below them. The sound of an explosion rang out and reverberated off the flimsy metal walls. Feeling himself lifted up, Cookie and Clara grabbed his arms and began to pull him. Now back on his feet, he continued to run, looking behind him his face went blank. Eventually the remaining nine Toons made their way to the elevator. Slamming the button, Clara watched as the indicator began to read each floor number. After what seemed like an eternity, the door open and everybody crowded in.
Breathing heavily, Clara looked around. Walking over to Cookie, she grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "What the hell were you thinking, Ranger?" she snarled out, her face turning an even brighter red.
"I'm sorry! I panicked when I saw the cog approaching you. My instincts took over!" Cookie argued back, trying his best to make himself seem taller.
"Well your instincts just lost us Mindy! I'm sure her family will be happy to know that you were just following your instincts when their daughter doesn't come home!" Releasing his shirt, she sat down.
Raindrop walked over and patted his friend. His comrades were all exhausted, gulping in air, some grabbed their feet, looking at singed fur. "Um, Sgt. Clara? Are we not going back for Mindy?" He breathed out, still in shock from what he had just witnessed.
"Mindy is gone, Ranger. You saw that drop. That must have been fifty feet. Even if she survived that, that was a pretty big explosion. The odds of her surviving that seem slim at best." Clara did her best to keep a calm demeanor, as she typed into a whisper device. "I'm calling in backup, and we are getting out of here."
"We can't leave her behind!" Cookie yelled out. "If there is a chance, we have to look for her! Right guys?" the brown dog pleaded with his remaining unit members, many who looked away or rubbed their arms.
Clara stood up and placed her hand on Cookie's shoulder. "She's gone, Ranger. You just need to accept it. It happens. She knew that this was a possibility, It's unfortunate but there's nothing we can do." Clara had now become very solemn as she talked about the young Toon.
Raindrop felt a sense of anxiety overcome him, trying to hold back he found himself speaking. "Sgt. Please let us go look for her. Even if I have to go alone, I don't want to leave her behind!"
"Yeah. Her family has the right to see her one last time.." an orange crocodile called out. mutters of agreement rumbled through the elevator.
Still typing into her whisper device, Clara did not look up. "You're right, Ranger. But how would I face your families and let you know I let you walk into what is basically a death trap for almost no good reason." rubbing her forehead, she looked to Raindrop. "Well Ranger, since you seem so eager to go, who am I to stop you." placing the device in her pocket she got on one knee. "Ranger Cookie, and Ranger Walter" pointing to the crocodile. "You three will stay behind to go look for her. The rest of us will be at the front of the factory, re-grouping. I have called in another unit to provide backup. However, just know that we can't wait there forever. We're giving you three hours. If we don't hear back from you in that time.. we will have to assume that the mission failed. So you better be urgent."
"Yes, ma'am." Raindrop responded. Gathering their supplies, the trio of young rangers exited the elevator, and waved to their remaining unit mates as the elevator doors closed. gulping, Raindrop turned to his partners. "Well guys. Here goes nothing."
Bloople nearly skipped the entire way to work. After dropping of Miko and Hula at school, he had felt a new pep in his step. Last night was one of the greatest nights of his life. Even the girls had noticed his good mood, when he had made pancakes for breakfast on a Monday morning. Usually they had to wait until Thursdays for pancakes. Approaching the garage, he watched as hordes of Toons in their mechanic uniforms walked in. Before he could join them, he felt his whisper device rumble. Pulling it from his pocket he read over the message. It was from Pickle. "First date!? You didn't tell me? I missed it! Oh my gosh, why didn't you tell me! What did you wear? What did you DO? I need the details! I'm so excited!"
Sitting down on a box, Bloople began typing back. "I knew if I told you that you would just freak me out even more with all of your advice! Anyways, she came over and I made dinner. Then we watched a movie. Pretty laid-back night! I think it went pretty well." feeling even more elated by the memories of the night before, he watched as a new message rolled in.
"You made DINNER? You? Bloople? I'm not imagining that? Did you make a frozen pizza? LOL. Anyways it sounds like it went pretty well. Super cute. My little brother is finally entering the world of romance. So... did you guys.. kiss?"
Bloople's stomach flip-flopped. Remembering that kiss gave him butterflies. Typing back quickly, he laughed. "Maybe. But I'll leave that up to your imagination! Anyways, how are you doing? How is training?" jumping off the box, he walked inside. Several Toons called out to him, yelling congratulations, and some slapping him on the back. It appears the news had already circled around. Walking to his station, he placed his whisper device down and looked across the room. Clover was already here and working, in her typical gray mechanic uniform. Turning around, she smiled at him and went back to work. Picking up his spray painter, he went to work on a Roadster which had been requested to made into a bright orange. Several minutes passed before the device rumbled again. Holding his painter in one hand, he reached up and grabbed the device.
"It's going okay. So we're actually being shipped off today. My unit is heading to Cog Nation to do some quick reconnaissance. Fortunately we are only supposed to be there for a few days, and we aren't going to be doing any direct fighting. After that they said I can come home for a few days to see you guys! Anyways, got to go again. I'm gonna go pack. I wont have my whisper device, apparently they are worried cogs can pick up on them through some kind of tracking, so I will be quiet for a few days. I'll message you the second I get back though, Love you guys. Also FYI, I want details of the second date!" Bloople smiled. Things were truly looking up, He was so happy he did not notice that he had been pressing down on the spray button, completely turning the pants leg of his uniform orange.
Before he could clean himself up, a familiar green face appeared overhead. "Morning!" Clover knelt down and laughed when she saw his pants. "Orange you glad to see me?" the pair giggled like a pair of schoolchildren at the bad pun. "So, how's it going!"
Smiling, Bloople looked at Clover. "Awful, actually. Some green cat is over here trying to kill me with bad puns." the two continued laughing. "Actually, it's been pretty good. Pickle just messaged me that she is on her way to Cog Nation and that she should be home in a couple of days! Plus, I don't know if you heard but I had a pretty hot date last night." winking he watched Clover's face change as she noticed a Toon walk in.
"That's great, Bloople. Um, I need to get back to work. Let's talk later though, okay? Maybe we can get lunch or something." briskly walking back to her station, Griese took her place.
"Bloople. Bloop-le. Bloooooople. How's it going my man." the two did a quick fist bump, as was tradition with Griese. Heard you finally did it, man. First date? You gotta be the only guy I've ever met who has two kids and zero dates. So I guess now you're almost even." the two joked around a bit.
Bloople snuck a peek over at Clover, who was with a customer. "Well I was feeling pretty good about it, but now she's kind of in a bad mood. I'm worried I screwed it up, somehow." Sitting down, he dragged his hand down across his face, pulling it down, and letting it slap back up.
"You're fine, man. I think she has a lot on her mind right now. Apparently her sister was part of that initial invasion of Cog Nation, and she's probably just worried. Anyways, I'd probably avoid talking about Cog Nation, y'know? Anyways, I'm gonna go see what Billy is up to." watching Griese run over to another co-worker, he could hear him yelling out. "Billy! Heard your son was headed off to Cog Nation. That sucks man!"
Peering over his shoulder, Bloople saw that Clover was alone again, lying underneath a pink cruiser. Walking over, he slid down on the floor next to her. Clover was silently crying. Unsure of what to say, Bloople watched her, before gathering the courage to say something. "Um, Clover. Are you okay?" Clover wiped her face and scooched closer to him.
"Nobody has heard from Petals in twenty-four hours. She was supposed to be heading out on a mission, but when they went to find her, she wasn't there. They sent a search party to look for her. That's actually who I was just talking to. Ranger Rose and Petals were close friends when we were younger." trying to keep her composure, her voice broke as she tried to finish her sentence.
Bloople grabbed Clover and held her to him. Neither one spoke. Stroking her head, he felt her body shaking as she let out all of the stress and frustration inside of her. Neither one saying a word.
"Hey everybody, gather around for a second!" Romeo walked out of the office excitedly, banging a ladle against a small metal pot. The small group of chefs put down what they were doing and went to the front of the kitchen, eager to hear the news. As soon as everybody was front and center, including Rudy, Romeo began to speak. "First off, I want to thank everyone for the amazing job everyone is doing. I know I haven't been back here as much as I hoped I would, and I promise I will be soon, but we have been swamped. Anyways, due to the higher than expected demand, we will be adding a new member to the staff. Can I get a drum roll please?" a few Toons banged their hands on the metal counters, as Romeo pretended to drum along with them before yelling out a name. "Your new junior chef... ALLEN!"
The drum roll stopped and the kitchen went silent. Whispers among the small crowd did nothing to quell Romeo's excitement. Rudy's jaw dropped at the news, unable to believe what she had just heard. "Um, everyone, let's get back to work. I need to speak with Romeo for a minute." Pulling Romeo by the hand, they walked into the office. Closing the door behind them, Rudy sat down and put her head in her hands. "Allen. Allen? Babe, you can't be serious. Allen?"
"Yeah. Allen. What's wrong with that? He's been watching and learning from everybody since we started. I think he's ready to take on some additional responsibility. We're not going to be having him heading the kitchen or anything. He'll be doing small things." throwing his arms in the air, he sighed exasperatedly. "Rudy, since the day you guys met you have hated him. Seriously, what is your problem with him?"
Rudy stood up and held her hands out, mouth wide open. Unable to answer.
"I'm getting tired of it, Rudy. He's my brother. You just need to accept that he's going to be around." Romeo crossed his arms and scowled at his girlfriend.
"Allen is twenty-six and he has never been able to hold down a job. Even around here, we're lucky when he shows up and if we're being honest it's probably better when he doesn't. He constantly screws up even the smallest of tasks. He sleeps on the job. He eats the food that's meant for customers. I know he's your brother. You wont let me forget. But he's also a loser and I'm sick of him!" Rudy tried to catch herself, and immediately regretted what she said.
Romeo slammed his hands on his desk. "Allen is not a loser! I'm sorry that you're jealous of him. I'm sorry that my family isn't awful and that we care about each other. It's not his fault that your family didn't love you or whatever, but don't take it out on him. Because if we're being honest, if it's between you and him, I will always side with Allen. If you can't accept that, then maybe there isn't a spot for you here." Romeo turned away, and took a deep breath. He didn't mean what he had said, but he knew he couldn't take it back now.
"I guess that's, that then. I'm going to take the rest of the day off. I'm going to need you to take over since Berry called out today. I'll see you at home later." Rudy tossed her hat on the floor and stormed out of the kitchen. Not bothering to speak to anybody else. Stepping out into the brisk air of Donald's Dock, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her whisper device. Walking down the street, she typed angrily, still trying to comprehend what had just happened. Did Romeo just fire her? She didn't know. But she didn't want to think about him right now. Or Allen. Or anything. Right now she just wanted to get away from everything. Finishing her message, she hit send. "Hey, are you home right now?" taking a seat on a curb, she watched her breath materialize in front of her. The rumbling let her know she had received a response.
"Yeah. What's up?" was all it read.
Rudy looked up and took a deep breath. Her stomach churned with nerves as she typed out her response. "I'm on my way over."