Daron grabbed his tray and took his place in line at the cafeteria buffet. Jail was a lot better than he had expected. He actually ate better here than he did when he was on the outside. As the delicious aroma of baked goods, sweet smells, and other scents he couldn't even recognize filled the air, he smiled. He could do this for a year. It had taken him a few days to adjust to his new lifestyle. Sure, the cell was much smaller than his estate, and not having Benny or Nightmare had eaten at him, but he was beginning to get used to it. Nightmare had promised that her and Benny would come visit at least once per week. After all, they were now living and working in Toontown Central. The knowledge of seeing his husband and daughter again powered him through his darkest moments. He didn't even leave his cell for the first few days, opting to just lay around, depressed. Fortunately the guards would bring him meals. It was usually just what was left over, but it was appreciated none the less. This was the first time he had actually come to the cafeteria. The large, gray room was filled to the brim with metal bleachers and concrete tables. Toons in orange jumpsuits chatted with their cliques, mostly keeping separate from other groups. The line for food had wrapped nearly around the whole room, as Daron had showed up late. As he had never left his cell, he was still trying to find his way around and the guards were too busy to escort him. A lot of familiar faces had stopped to stare at him as he had entered the rest of the population. Sliding his tray down the rack, he picked at various foods, shaking his head and scrunching his face as he looked at the stuff that was left behind. Stale pizza, bruised applies, and warm chocolate milk was about the best he was going to get. Finally filling his tray he made his way over to an empty table near a barred window.
As he gnawed his way through his slice of pepperoni, he felt the fur on his neck prick up as he felt somebody approaching him. Quickly spinning around he was face to groin with a dark green cat. Scanning up, he nearly lost his jaw from shock. "Long time, no see... friend."
Watching the cat slowly circumnavigate the table and place his tray down, Daron shuddered. "Chase. Why am I not surprised to see you in here?" pausing Daron imitated contemplating. "Actually I thought you were dead. So I guess it does surprise me a little." Chase Hucklefink. Daron had known him back in their days as Anti-Toons. Chase had started as a small-time jellybean launderer and small-time criminal. However, shortly after he joined the Anti-Toons he had become well known even among the cogs for his brutality and heinous actions. It was not unusual for him to kidnap and torture Toons just for the entertainment of higher ups. At one point he had killed at least four Toons, and that number was likely low. Of course, Chase had picked up a lot of enemies in his time, even among his so-called comrades. Many felt his actions were too extreme and his general cockiness and terrible attitude certainly did him no favors.
"Hmm. I could say the same thing for you Daron." reaching over and grabbing Daron's apple, he took a bite, before quickly spitting out the soggy skin and tossing it back over the table. "Heard that you just disappeared off the face of the earth. Then rumors started popping up that you were actually alive in Donald's Dreamland with that wimpy little pussy-cat, and some little runt." sipping on a can of soda, he chuckled and burped. "Never would have taken you for one to go soft, but I guess we're all full of surprises, right?"
Clenching his fist under the table, Daron peered over at the obnoxious cat. Taking a deep breath, he attempted to calm down. He knew Chase was trying to get under his skin, and it was working. It was one thing to talk about him, but Benny and Nightmare? That made his blood boil. "Yup. I got married and had a daughter. Some of us actually do something with our lives. How's Milo doing these days?"
"You better watch your mouth, you traitor." the dark green cat stood up and leaned over the table, grabbing Daron's front collar. "One more word from you about him and I promise it will be the last one you utter in your pathetic life." letting go as a guard took a step forward towards the pair, he sat back down and dusted his gloves. "I guess if you didn't know about me, you probably haven't heard about Beppo, then?" the cat scowled at the mention of a former co-worker.
"No.. I haven't" Daron cringed slightly. Although Beppo was still an Anti-Toon, he was still a close friend, and hearing his name caused a small gut punch. "What happened to him?" he inquired anxiously.
Chase mockingly placed his hand over his heart. "Poor soon of a cog had a heart attack about three years ago. Went into a coma. Some no name, In-Sells got the jump on him and attacked him in the hospital and made sure he never woke up." Daron's heart sank as the cat giggled at Beppo's misfortune. He didn't want to believe it was true, but he grudgingly accepted it. Chase had no reason to lie about it.
"What about Evil Twin?" Daron tried to hide his nervousness. After all, besides Benny, Evil Twin had been Daron's best friend. Even after Daron had left the Anti-Toons, they had stayed in secret contact for several years until the cogs were defeated. Daron had always assumed he had escaped somewhere, but in the back of his mind he always had the nagging feeling that he had gone down with the cogs.
Stopping his antics, Chase looked towards the ground and frowned. Although he was an evil, psychopathic, murderer, even he had a soft spot for Evil Twin as did most others who met him. "Honestly, I'm not sure. About ten years ago, I saw his brother when I was running a scheme out in Daisy Gardens and managed to slip some information from him. Apparently he had retired from greening and tried to join his brother's gym, but due to pressure from the Toon Council he quit and just ran off one day. Never saw him after that. It's a shame." the two sat silently for a few minutes, eating and staring at the ground. As soon as Chase finished the remaining morsels on his plate he stood up and walked over to Daron and narrowed his eyes. "Listen, Daron. I have no beef with you. But I know that there are a lot of Toons in here that are pretty happy to know you are as well, and not for good reasons. You better watch your back because I'm not going to do it for you." grabbing his tray he walked over and tossed it onto the pile of dishes and left the room.
Daron began to sweat as he scanned the area. Many faces stood out to him, even if he couldn't remember the names. Anti-Toons, In-Sells, former Resistance Rangers, and just regular Toons, all who had a bone to pick with him for one reason or another. Swallowing the last gulp of his chocolate milk. If he was going to survive this year, he was going to need to make some friends. Fortunately for him he knew Toons in high places. Walking over he placed his tray down before quickly scampering back to the safety of his cell.
"I think you're going to find this meeting quite... Transformative." Cupcake swung herself around just in time to see the lamppost quickly morph into a cog. or she thought it was a cog? It kind of looked like one, but the sharp, pointiness had been replaced by smoother rounder edges. It resembled a skelecog in some ways, but much more fluid in its motions and it didn't have a tie on, which was unusual for cogs. Towering over the trembling pink cat, the cog quickly reached out, attempting to grab her in its' gargantuan hands. Ducking into a roll, Cupcake managed to just stay out of reach. Eying around her for an escape route, she only saw one way to go. Jumping up she began to sprint. her legs were still exhausted from her previous escapades, and her heart was certainly not happy with her as it tried to burst through her chest. Sucking in air like a vacuum, she made her way back the way she came from. Unfortunately for her, and something she realized too late, was that there was a dead end. Slowly approaching the large wall, she looked around for any sort of way out. There were a few crates, but they were nowhere near tall enough, even if Cupcake jumped as high as she could. There were no holes or anything. Reaching into her pocket for her teleportation hole, she was quickly hit with a power trip, knocking her onto her stomach and sweeping away any remaining breaths that she had in her. Looking up, the horrifying cog was only feet away. Knowing she didn't have time to put in the coordinates for an escape, she meekly rolled over and reached into her pocket. Fortunately for her, she never left the house without a full gag pack. Something her father had always reminded her when she went on Toontasks. Staring down merrily at the near-helpless Toon, the cog laughed calmly. "Ah. I see your fate is becoming to shape into form."
Cupcake waited for the right moment. Waiting as the cog slowly approached, like a killer in a horror movie, she waited patiently. Using the last burst of energy she could muster, she leapt to her feet and one in swell motion launched a birthday cog, nailing a direct hit to the cog's face. "Happy Birthday!" she screamed in anger, as she launched a second cake, striking the cog in the chest, enough to easily destroy any cog. To her horror though, the icing and sugary crumbs slowly slid off the cog like he was made of water.
"Now, now, Toon. I don't think the fates have shifted in your direction." he grinned as he pulled out a large roll of tape, launching it at the stunned feline. Before she could reach, she felt the sticky circle wrap around her, tightening with each wiggle and movement. Looking hopelessly to the sky she began to scream. "Mark! Mark!" she called, hoping that somehow her hero, or any hero, would come for her. Unfortunately this far away, with the playground on lock-down, she had no chance of being heard. "Don't worry, Mrs. Doggenbottom. I assure you that you're death with be slow and painful." pausing the cog rubbed his chin. "Oh, well I guess that isn't very relieving is it. Regardless, it is time for you to join the Angels."
Watching as the cog stretched his arms out, the world seemed to slow down around Cupcake. Almost as if she had found a rift in time. Closing her eyes, to her surprise her life did not flash before her eyes. However a vision did appear. It was a light blue dog. It was her father! Walking towards her in his purple shirts and orange T-Shirt he smiled. "Honey. It's not your time."
"But dad, I don't know what to do!" she called out in her mind. "I'm trapped and I have no hope to get out. I'm going to die, and Mark will never know what happened." trying to hold back tears, she watched as Flippy frowned at her.
"Silly girls don't fear cogs." was all he muttered, as he sprouted a pair of wings and began to fly towards a now brightening sky. "Silly girls don't fear cogs." he repeated as his words became harder to hear as he ascended into an opening cloud.
Cupcake's eyes ripped open as the cog was now beginning to take hold of her. Grinning evilly, she waited for the cog to get as close as possible. Flooding her memories, she imagined the silliest thoughts she could. Mark buried in the sand. Flip Pea and Brownie rolling down a hill, tussling over the last piece of her father's famous cherry pie, Mark baking her birthday cake and accidentally writing sweaty. She felt her body began to surge with an almost electric feeling. Jumping up, the cog stood back as the Toon's fur began to glow a brighter pink. Laughing, almost manically, Cupcake stared down the cog. She continued with the thoughts. Her father sitting down on a whoopie cushion at Deputy Skids' wedding, Mark sitting on a whoopie cushion at their wedding, it all flooded her mind. Laughing louder and louder, she felt as the tape began to peel and tear, loosening her arms. The cog paced backwards, in fear of what he was witnessing. He had heard about this when he was in training, but he had assumed that it was just an urban legend. Grabbing more tape he began to toss it at the cat relentlessly with no luck as it just bounced right off. Cupcake was now the aggressor, walking towards the cog, she was able to finally slip out of the tape and broke into a sprint. With a newfound stamina it didn't take long before she caught up with the slow moving robot. Wrapping her arms around his back, and her legs around his torso and held on for dear life as her adversary twisted and turned, gripped her limbs and attempted to tear her away from him. he felt the nuts and bolts began to unscrew, slowly falling to the ground. His life meter began to quickly change from a bright green to a blinking blood red. Letting out one last scream, Cupcake jumped off just in time to watch the cog began to spin around, his arms contorting into an array of different shapes before finally setting and exploding into lots of pieces.
From inside of of the deceased cog a small box shot out, similar to a safe, crashing into the ground and breaking through the planks of the sidewalk. Cupcake run over and watched as the door slowly pushed open and the sound of gasping and choking filled the air. Ripping open the door, her heart exploded at the sight of a pile of jumbled Toons, all bunched up and trying their best to escape their prison. Instantly recognizing a blue mouse, she began helping the Toons out. "Seabreeze, Cinnamon, Thunderbolt!" she shouted out in succession as the three were finally rescued, along with five other Toons who began to sob at the sight of something that wasn't the inside of a metal box.
"Oh my cog, Cupcake!" Cinnamon screamed out, leaping towards the pink cat's feet and kissing the ground. "What was that? How.. I mean.. What? I mean." the panicked bear stumbled over her words as Cupcake bent down and grabbed her hand.
"It's okay now. It's okay." looking at the other Toons, another pink cat, a pair of green ducks, a very young magenta monkey, and a brown deer all laid on the ground, thankful for their spared lives.
The other pink cat jumped up and ran over to Cupcake. "Oh my cog, it's Mayor Cupcake!" wrapping her arms around the cat, she sobbed. "My fiancee Soda Pop told me that you didn't know what you were doing, and I always told him he was wrong. I knew you would come save us. I just knew it!" pulling out her whisper device, Cupcake began to type in messages and sending them out, comforting the rescued Toons and waiting for help to arrive.
Walking over, Cupcake picked up a small bronze nameplate of the cog who had been destroyed and gasped, before dropping it with a clang on the ground. "Shapeshifter, level sixteen."
Nightmare hesitantly walked up onto the large stage in the front of the room. In lines of chairs in front of her, dozens of Toons in Resistance Ranger uniforms chatted among themselves, unsure of what was going on. Walking up to a microphone, she tapped it slowly, flinching as the feedback pierced through the air, silencing the entire room. "Well, that works." she thought to herself. Gulping she scanned the Toons, now all eyes were on her. She had never spoken to a crowd before, especially not a crowd like this. Many of the Toons had emotionless faces as they impatiently waited for the black cat to say something. "Um, good morning everyone. I am Nightmare, the Mayor's assistant. Some of you might know me from around the office." the room stayed silent with the exception of a loud "boo!" from the back of the crowd. "Anyways, I'm sure you're all probably wondering why we are all here."
"Just get on with it!" a different voice screamed out.
"Yeah, We have places to be" another joined in.
Clearing her throat, Nightmare began to sweat, Wiping her forehead she closed her eyes. "As some of you may know, there have been some rumors of Toons missing in Donald's Dock and Mayor Cupcake has gone to investigate." this got the attention of the rangers, who began to gossip and speak louder, slowly drowning out Nightmare's frail voice. "On top of that, we have not heard from any of the Toon Council." the longer the spoke, the harder it was to speak over the growing noise in the room. Some Rangers had stood up and started making their way to the exit. Two in the back pointed at Nightmare and shook their head. Raising her voice slightly, she continued speaking. "Now, due to the situation and the uncertainty, I feel that it would be best if everybody did their best to stay calm and continue with their usual tasks and scheduled positions.." at this point most of the Rangers had shrugged off the young assistant and had stood up.
Nightmare felt her anger rising, which was finally reaching its breaking point when a red monkey in the back jeered. "Why would we listen to an Anti-Toon!" with some mutters of agreement.
This was the final straw for the angering cat. Slamming her fists on the podium she screamed out. "Sit down and listen." the group of Toons quickly turned to face her, shocked. Some quickly seated themselves, and the Monkey covered his mouth, eyes, and ears. "Ever since I have gotten here, I have been harassed, discriminated against, and treated with hostility and disrespect and frankly I am sick of it!" looking towards the ceiling she inhaled and calmed herself down. "Yes, my father was a greener. That's the key word - WAS. He is no longer anymore, and his actions have nothing to do with me. My entire life I have been treated like a second class citizen, including by those who swore to protect and serve ALL Toons, and it sickens me. I am the Mayor's assistant now and I ask to be treated with the dignity and respect I deserve and that I have given all of you!" stopping she watched as a few Toons looked to each other and nodded in agreement. "Now, I know we are all uncertain of what's going on. I'm not going to promise to have any answers, but I know that Toontown is in trouble. Toons needs you guys to be there for them. They can't have you running around like headless chickens, and they can't have any of us making things worse. Mayor Cupcake has directed me to let everybody know that nobody will leave their original post, and we are to keep all rumors of kidnappings to a minimum. We do not want to cause a panic, and we do not want to make things worse. Once the Council arrives, we will have further instructions. Until then, I want everybody to get back and to be safe!" stepping off, Nightmare sighed and looked at the still crowd. After a few seconds a small burst of applause broke out among the Toons. Nightmare could not help but grin, hoping that this was not just a sarcastic response. Walking off the stage, she watched as many of the Rangers quickly dispersed. Checking her watched she hopped up in panic. It was almost noon! She had promised to meet her dad for lunch. Quickly running down the stairs, she began making her way to her next destination, still full of adrenaline from the speech she had just given.
Benny's first day so far had been a resounding success. Although it had taken him a little while to get caught up with the chaos, he quickly found himself getting into a groove. Running from the front counters to the back storage room, he worked like clockwork delivering needed gags to the Clerks, and switching out jellybean jars for empty ones. He did not have a lot of time to get to spend with his new co-workers, as the Clerks stayed busy throughout the entirety of the morning. Toontown Central was the starting place for all new Toons once they had finished basic schooling, and with the wave of excited new fighters, the need for gags arose with it. Benny had not worked this much in his entire life. Lifting heavy boxes of pianos and quicksand piles, he found he hardly had time to think. Nightmare was right, how could he worry about something if he was so busy? Smiling he returned to the front with a box of fruit pies and placed them down next to his new boss. The young deer smiled and patted Benny on the back. "Looks like we're starting to slow down. How about you go take lunch? We can handle it here for now. We don't need to scare you away on your first day!" grinning at the mature red cat giving him a resistance salute, he reached under the desk and pulled out a jellybean bank. "I know we're not normally supposed to do this, but you have been killing it today. Go get yourself a nice lunch." Pulling out a sandwich bag, the deer poured a small pile of jellybeans in and zipped it, handing it to Benny.
"Thank you, sir!" Benny grinned, grabbing the bag he skipped out underneath the front counter and through the entrance to the gag shop. using the sleeve of his shirt, he wiped his forehead, drenching himself in sweat. Lifting his armpit, he cringed a bit at the smell. "Whew. Can't be taking Nightmare out like this." running over to the empty fishing pond, he dipped his hand in and splashed himself with water as a makeshift bath. It is something that he was used to, as it was frequent for the water at his old estate to stop working and without somebody who could come fix it, they could go days, even weeks without running water. Looking down at the reflection he sighed at the figure staring back at him. The once youthful, handsome face had been replaced with wrinkles and gray fur. Splashing the area with his hand, he watched as the ripples dissipated the image. Standing back up he made his way through Toontown central. Passing hordes of young, innocent Toons he smiled. So many opportunities, so much happiness. It made him sad in a way as he thought of Nightmare. This should have been her life too. Instead she had spent her first seventeen years cramped into a two bedroom estate hidden away from the world. But now she was home and she seemed happier than ever. Quickly getting a pep back in his step he continued along.
Making his way inside of the Mayor's Office, Benny glanced around for a map. Nightmare had given him instructions how to get to her office, but the hecticness of work had driven it from his mind. Unable to find anything distinct, he made his way down the first hallway he could find. Benny was amazed at the scope and size of the building. It was not quite the size of the Queen's castle back in Valentoonia, however it was still a marvel to see. The floor was covered in a magnificent royal red carpet. The walls were lined with portraits of notable Toons from throughout Toontown's history. He grinned as he imagined his daughter's portrait someday joining the other esteemed figures. Benny was surprised how empty it was. He had not seen a single Toon since he got in here. Continuing down the path, he heard the loud chattering of Toons coming from a pair of double doors at the end. Jogging over, he peeked in and furrowed his brow at the sight. Nightmare was standing at the front of the group, he watched as she struggled to get the Toons attention. Unsure if he should say something, he peeked through the door, sure that she was unable to see him. "Why would we listen to an Anti-Toon!"a red monkey screamed out, causing Benny's spine to tingle.
Clenching his fist, he was about ready to burst through and show that Monkey a true Anti-Toon when he heard it. "Ever since I have gotten here, I have been harassed, discriminated against, and treated with hostility and disrespect and frankly I am sick of it!"Benny's heart fluttered as he watched his daughter passionately defend herself and take charge of the group. Unable to keep his eyes of the suddenly confident and assertive cat, he was unable to keep his eyes off. "Until then, I want everybody to get back and to be safe!" Waiting for Nightmare to finish, he could not hold himself back from applauding. Much to his surprise this caused a domino effect as the room exploded into applause as Nightmare left the stage. Smiling, Benny checked his watch and noticed the time. He didn't want to embarrass his daughter at work. Quickly darting off back the way he came, he decided to wait in the lobby and pretend as if he just arrived.
Mark breathed heavily as he looked around the now destroyed living room. Broken pianos and cracked floors had struck him back to normal. Gazing down at two unconscious Toons, he dropped the piano leg he had been holding. Reaching his hands up in front of his face, he stared as he rotated them, unsure of what he had just done. Bending down, he checked Vinny's pulse, exhaling at the feeling of a slow heartbeat. Doing the same for Thorn, he quickly walked over and found his whisper device. Looking for Cupcake's name he quickly typed in a message. "Honey. I'm sorry to bother you while you're at work but two Toons came to the house and I believe they are In-Sells. Please respond when you get this." sitting down on the half-crushed couch, he looked over at the picture of Cupcake that had caused all of this chaos to begin with. Normally he was so calm and passive, yet when those Toons had threatened her he had lost it. He couldn't remember much from the interaction after the initial "blood-lust."" Checking his whisper device, he anxiously awaited a response. He was worried about calling other authorities without Cupcake's knowledge. Even though he had a well-known reputation in Toontown now, he still hesitated when interacting with powerful Toons alone. Adding in the face he now had a pair of Toons in his home who had been knocked out with blunt force, it certainly wouldn't look good.
Standing back up, Mark walked over. While these Toons were clearly evil, he knew that he didn't have it in him to just let them lay here in a pile of their own blood. Jogging into the bathroom upstairs, he leapt over a broken piano onto the staircase and grabbed some towels. Heading back downstairs, he began to cover the Toons wounds and clean up the mess. The last thing he would want is for Cupcake to come home to a destroyed home. Over the next few minutes he checked multiple times for a response, without anything. He began to worry a bit. Cupcake almost never missed a message, and generally responded right away, no matter how busy. Feeling panic set in, he looked at Thorn, who began to twitch around a bit, slowly moving his arm. He could not wait for Cupcake anymore, he had to get help. There was only one other Toon he trusted in this situation. Opening his contacts, he scrolled to his "D" section and bit his lip. Typing in a quick message he hit send and continued to clean. If he couldn't help, then he was out of luck.
A few more minutes passed as Mark had finished cleaning up any blood and shattered glass. Starting to slowly remove the pianos with a teleportation hole, something Cupcake had shown him as a way to avoid taking out the garbage, he watched as the room became de cluttered. Feeling the vibration in his suit jacket pocket, he ripped out his device, hoping for something from his beloved wife. He breathed a sign of frustration, as well as relief. It wasn't Cupcake, but at least "he" had responded. "Make sure they don't wake up. I'll be there in ten minutes." short and blunt. Mark wasn't sure what to do with this. Staring at the pair, neither seemed likely to awaken anytime soon. He didn't like looking at them, he didn't like that side of himself. Turning around, he began to clean, waiting for his friend to arrive.