The slow beeping sound was the only thing that Raindrop could hear as he groggily opened his eyes. The burning of florescent lights quickly made him reconsider. His entire upper body was burning with pain, yet his lower half felt completely numb. Peeking an eye open, he looked around the room. Medical equipment that he didn't recognize surrounded him. There was a large teal curtain hung up on large rungs that encompassed his bedside. Pulling himself up, he accidentally hit a button on the side of his bed which set off a small beeping sound, followed by the voice of a Toon calling to him. "Mr. Raindrop, are you awake?" slowly grabbing the speaker that was connected to the bed, he pushed the button again.
"Um, yes... Where am I?" he quietly inquired.
There was a small pause before the voice responded. "Very good. I will be there momentarily." Raindrop placed it down and looked at his arms which were covered in bruises. He had no memory of anything that had happened. The last thing he knew was that he was fighting some cogs, and then he hit his head. Now he woke up in the hospital. Was it all a dream? He certainly wasn't sure, but he was just glad that he was okay. Shortly after the curtain was pulled aside, and in front of him was a tall, purple cat. Wearing thick black glasses, and a white uniform it was clear she was a doctor. Grabbing a pen from behind her ear, she pulled a clipboard from the front of the bed. "Mr. Raindrop, I'm glad you finally woke up. We've been waiting for almost two weeks now, sleepyhead."
Raindrop almost jumped out of the bed, hardly able to believe what he had heard, "Two weeks! I've been here for two weeks? Where am I? Where's Cookie and Mindy? Where is my mom and dad?" he bounced back and forth in each direction, searching frantically for a familiar face."
"Mr. Raindrop. You have been in a medically induced coma for the last twelve days. It's no surprise that you don't remember much. Honestly we're just glad you remember your name." before she could finish she was interrupted as Raindrop leaned forward and grabbed at her.
"Please. Just tell me where I am and why I'm here, and please tell me that Cookie is okay!" Raindrop pleaded.
The doctor scribbled some notes onto the clipboard and hung it back on the bed frame. "Please calm down. You are at a medical tent here in Cog Nation. You are complete safely." biting the pen she looked up. "I presume Cookie is referring to the brown dog who came in here with you?"
"Yes! Yes! Cookie. He's - he's okay, right?" Raindrop's heart pounded with anxiety. "Please tell me he is okay!"
The doctor grabbed a chair and sat down next to the bed, shining a flashlight in his eyes and clicking her tongue. "Yes, yes. He's doing okay. He just suffered a fractured wrist, and some other minor cuts and bruises. He'll be fine. Right now let's focus on you though."
"What do you mean by that? Where is he? I mean if I'm here, I feel like he should be here too? A broken wrist seems way worse than some bruises." waving and pointing at his purple marked arms.
Sighing, the purple cat was about to speak when the door screeched open behind them and Clara walked in and stood behind the doctor. "Matzoh. Why didn't you tell me he woke up? I was lucky I overheard you guys talking." Kneeling down next to the bed her eyes softened and she placed her hand on Raindrop's arm. "Glad you're finally awake Ranger. How are you feeling?"
"Um, I'm doing okay. What are you doing here, Captain? Shouldn't you be out with everyone else?" Raindrop looked at her, confused.
"We're on a short rest to let everybody re-group. Figured I'd stop in and check up on you. I'm glad you're feeling alright.." looking away, she exhaled heavily.
Raindrop looked at the pair with frustration. "Okay, can someone please tell me what is going on? I just want to know where I am and why I'm here!"
Doctor Matzoh looked at Clara who nodded at her. " Mr. Raindrop. You've suffered some.. injuries." she waited as Raindrop looked at her nervously, breathing heavily. "We did everything that we could but unfortunately we could not save them."
"I'm so sorry, Ranger. I do want you to know that your actions saved both Cookie and Mindy's lives, and that you will be receiving your honorable discharge." Clara closed her eyes, envisioning her own sons who were just a few years older. "Thank you, Ranger."
Raindrop began to hyperventilate. "What do you mean SAVE THEM. What are you talking about?" ripping off the blanket he nearly fainted at the sight. It explained why he couldn't feel his legs, because they were gone! Wiggling his knee stubs he screamed, curdling the blood of all who could hear. "No! No! What! Why?" beginning to sob he grabbed his pillows and began to throw them around the room. Clara and Matzoh jumped up and tried to restrain him and calm him down. Fully breaking down, he was unable to completely process what was happening. "What happened!"
"Well when we found you, you were surrounded by cogs. Ranger Walter came and found us and let us know what was going on. Fortunately, we had received backup support so we were able to infiltrate the factory where we eventually found you three. We easily wiped the floor with the remaining cogs. You three were all unconscious and when finally reached you..." she held back the painful memory. "I don't even know how to explain it. They had poured this.. well stuff on you and it your legs were just melting away. Nobody knew what to do. Ranger Peachtree wrapped a t-shirt around them and it made the stuff stop." she imitated everything. "Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to go through inorganic material. Same thing seemed to have happened to Mindy, she was missing both her arms. She still hasn't woken up yet."
Continuing to sob, taking deep breaths, Raindrop looked up. "I don't understand. How could that even happen?"
"We're not sure ourselves." Matzoh squirmed a little as she explained. "I've never seen anything like it. Although we have since gotten reports about similar attacks. Many Toons were not so fortunate. Purple crocodile who got here shortly after you was completely dissolved while trying to drag an injured Toon to safety. It's horrendous."
"Yeah, we've already told Toon Council about it and we're considering backing out of Cog Nation until we can learn more about it. We can't risk more lives right now." stopping to acknowledge Raindrop she continued. "Or anymore casualties."
Unable to pay attention as his mind went blank, Raindrop stared silently. The other two watched him sadly, fully understanding the horrible casualties that lied ahead if they continued fighting. How many young lives would be lost or changed forever. How many families destroyed. Neither one said another word.
Bloople watched as Clover easily tossed several pancakes in the air, watching them land cleanly back into the pain as she whistled away. When he had told her that Thursdays were Pancake Day, she lit up in anticipation. "Nobody makes a better flapjack than me." were her exact words. Then a short debate about the proper name for them was, before resolving their differences and agreeing that they were better than waffles. Clover had now been living with the three for about two weeks and she had transitioned seamlessly. She had taken Pickle's room after they had carefully cleaned it out, preserving any memorable items or pictures. Clover had offered after the funeral to come stay with them for a few days to help take care of things while Bloople got back on his feet, but it had quickly become a permanent arrangement. They were still slowly moving things over from Clover's estate, much to Miko and Hula's delight as the pair had quickly become stricken with the green cat. Sitting down at the table, Bloople sipped a glass of apple juice and flipped through the newspaper. He didn't really like reading the news, it just made him look more sophisticated around Clover. Plus he could sneak candy in the morning and nobody would see him. The screams and tumbling of the two young girls let him know they were awake and had probably smelled breakfast. Pulling out chairs, they bounced up and down excitedly as Clover placed two plates in front of them. "Eat up girls. Don't want to be late for school!"
Miko and Hula had been on Spring Break for the last week, and neither one wanted to go back to school. This would also be Bloople's first day back to work in several weeks as he had taken the rest of his paid time off to grieve the loss of his sister. He still didn't feel ready to go back but he knew that he had to eventually. Plus Clover would be going with him, so it couldn't be all bad. After a lively breakfast, the four Toons made their way out into the warm April morning. After dropping the girls off, Clover and Bloople made their way to work. Although they had been living together, since their first date Bloople had not made any further advances. He wasn't sure if he was ready, or if she would be. Reaching his hand out casually, he prepared to laugh it off, but was surprised when his hand was met with Clover's. Looking over at her, they smiled at each other. "Ready for your first day back? I'm sure everyone will be excited to see you. Griese becomes insufferable when you aren't around to distract him." Clover joked.
"Oh yeah, pawn him off on me right away. I'll remember this when his family is in town for Toonfest this year. You think he talks a lot? Just you wait." chuckling as they made their way to work. As they made their way through Toontown Central towards the Speedway, they were approached by a friendly looking pink dog.
"Hi there, sorry to bother you two. You see, my car broke down over on Punchline Place and I noticed you two were wearing mechanic uniforms? Do you think one of you could come help me out?" batting her eyelashes, she looked innocently at the pair.
Bloople looked at Clover and scrunched his face. He really didn't want to be late on his first day back. "Well we were actually on our way to work right now. If you want to come with we can send somebody to go get your car and bring it back and fix it up!" Clover smiled and nodded.
"Well you see, I'm worried about leaving it alone. I mean, who knows what kind of Toons are roaming around here? Couldn't one of you come with, and then the other one can send someone if needed?" clasping her hands together, the dog tilted her head and widened her eyes.
Clover smiled and laughed. "Come on Bloople. We can't just leave her right. If we go together we can probably get it done in time to get to work without anyone noticing we were late!"
"No. No. That's okay." the dog quickly exclaimed. "One of you will be fine. I mean, I don't want you BOTH to be late because of me, you know?"
Looking at Bloople skeptically, Clover shrugged. "Well I have an appointment in fifteen minutes. Why don't you go and I'll just tell everybody what's going on. Just send me a whisper if you need anything!" leaning over she kissed Bloople's cheek, giggling as he turned bright red. Turning around she skipped off to work, leaving the two dogs behind. Bloople followed the pink dog back to Punchline Place. The dog was eerily quiet, not saying a single thing the entire way other than reiterating what she had said earlier. Bloople stayed several feet behind, watching her awkwardly lead him along. The pair finally stopped at a long alley and the pink dog turned and faced him.
"Just down this way sir." she motioned with both arms into the dimly lit corridor.
Holding his place, Bloople looked around and asked despondently. "Um, why is your car down the alley? Didn't it break down?"
"Oh, uh. Well you see... Well I pushed it down here to get it out of sight! Nobody would look down here, right?" the pink dog kicked the ground a few times and looked down.
Bloople's ears pricked up, suspicious of the whole situation. Pulling out his whisper device he began to type. "This sounds like a multiple Toon job." typing in he was interrupted when a hand grabbed his arm.
The pink dog leaned over, allowing her baggy shirt collar to droop forward. "But mister, if I don't get this fixed right now I could get in big trouble. I don't want to get in trouble. I'm not a bad dog. You believe me right?"
Sighing, he pocketed his whisper device and quickly went into a job as the dog dragged him down the alley which bleeding light until it was almost pure black. "Um, are we almost there? I really need to get back soon."
"Oh yeah, we will be done reaaaaaal soon.." the dog whispered back.
Romeo waited outside in the lobby of the Slapstick Villa jailhouse. He had not slept since the previous morning as he had run back and forth between the attorney's office, the jailhouse, and Donald's Dock to get the needed jellybeans. Fortunately, his lawyers had convinced the judge to grant Allen bail, unfortunately it was set at five-thousand jellybeans and he had almost nothing left even after mortgaging the restaurant. Crossing his arms, he slumped back in the chair and closed his eyes. The middle brother had went to go meet Allen while the other two were off doing research and interviewing witnesses. Slowly finding himself drift into a much-needed sleep, he was quickly rustled awake by a familiar quacking. "Romeo!" springing up, Romeo watched as a light blue duck came running over to him and quickly wrapped his arm around him. "Bro, you made it! Oh my cog, is it good to see you!"
"Allen. Thank goodness you're okay." pausing he wrinkled his forehead. "Wait, how did you get out? Did they realize you are innocent and change their mind?"
"Actually, no. Allen made bail." the attorney calmly interrupted.
Releasing himself from his brother's grasp, Romeo stood back. "Wait, what? Made bail? I didn't have enough money for that. Did you have money, Allen?" the blue duck shook his head, just as confused. The pair looked at the mouse inquisitively.
"Don't look at me guys. Apparently some brown cat came in about fifteen minutes ago and paid off the whole thing. I actually think she's still back there talking with one of the officers." pointing his cane towards a different door, he laughed jollily. "Never look a gift horse in the mouth, that's what I always say."
Allen grabbed the cane and shook the mouse slowly. "Wait, geezer. Did you just say a brown cat? Did you happen to catch her name?"
"Hmm. Some manners you have there. It's no surprise that you ended up in here, son." adjusting his sunglasses, the mouse frowned. "I didn't get her name. Officer just came in to tell me bail was posted, then I grabbed you and now here we are." tapping his cane on the ground he harrumphed at the pair of ducks.
Whispering to Allen, Romeo's heart pounded. "Could it have been Rudy? But how would she know you were here?"
"Isn't it obvious? She was over there, or at least she probably heard from Berry. Now she has to make herself look good so she dropped by and decided to get me out even though she's the one who got me in here?" Allen whispered back.
Romeo looked at his brother frustrated. "Allen, she's not the reason you're in here."
"Really? I'm pretty sure I have video evidence that says otherwise." before Allen could finish speaking, the mouse rapped him lightly with the cane.
"Please don't make things harder on me than they need to be, kid. Don't forget where we are." pointing his cane towards the front door, he escorted the two brothers out. Romeo grabbed his whisper device and sighed. He hadn't heard from Rudy since yesterday, and he hadn't said anything to her since. Neither one of them seemed ready to be the first one. Opening his messages, he pulled up Rudy's name and began to type. Staring at the screen for a few moments, he took a deep breath and quickly hit send. Feeling the huge weight lifted off his back, he was quickly reminded of the anxiety when a message quickly returned. Trembling he closed his eyes again. Pressing the read button, he opened the message. Slowly peeking open one eye, he began to read. Stopping in his tracks, the other two did not notice he was not continuing with them as the attorney blabbed away about plans and strategies. Staring at the words, he wasn't sure what to say. Quickly cramming it back into his pocket, he ran to catch up with the others.