For the first time in what seemed like forever, in reality about three days, Nightmare finally had some time for something other than sleeping, or eating. The hecticness of filling in for Cupcake only strengthened her respect for her superior. She had told the council that she had a family emergency to deal with, which she figured wasn't particularly untrue. Benny had found a cute little house down the street from her and he wanted to go take a tour of it. The owner was still living there but she had told them it was okay to check it out early. The pair had stopped by her house for a light lunch before making the short walk to Benny and Daron's hopeful new home. "So the cat who lives there is very sweet. She's around me and your dad's age, so that probably has something to do with it!" Benny jiggled with glee.
"Yeah, she's probably going senile and needs to sell her house to pay for her elder medicine!" Nightmare joked, jogging ahead as Benny playfully attempted to tickle her. They finally reached the destination, and the pair stood and gawking at the house. For both of them, the idea of living outside of their squabble in Donald's Dreamland was a fun dream, not something that would ever happen. But yet, here it was. Nightmare could see Benny's visible excitement and she completely understood. After all, she had been in that house, for the better part of seventeen years, with only a few ventures outside when she had a rare opportunity. Her father though? She could probably count on one hand the number of times she had seen him leave the house/tunnel. If anybody deserved this was him. Benny cried when Nightmare had given him the rest of the jellybeans he would need to buy the house so he could surprise Daron.
Walking up to the front door, they patiently waited until a short light purple cat answered the door. "Good afternoon you two. You're a bit earlier than I expected, so please forgive me for any messes, as I'm still packing." the cat walked them through the house and purred in excitement as she showed each successful room. "This is the kitchen. As you can see the countertops and appliances are all nearly brand new. The marble really brings out the personality of the room."
"Um, that window. Is it broken?" Benny asked cautiously.
"Gosh I hope not! If there's anything wrong I assure you it will be fixed before you move in though!" the purple cat was nearly begging for forgiveness at something she didn't do.
Benny walked around, investigating every little detail in awe. There was no broken windows, the paint on the wall was intact, the walls didn't have holes and weren't made of a flimsy metal. "Miss Bongo. Honestly, this is a dream."
"That's fantastic news. Well there's still more. Let me show you the backyard!" the trio walked through a sliding glass door. Nightmare and Benny were in shock at the size. The large fenced area was even bigger than Nightmare's. In the corner stood a larger than life apple tree. Attached to one of the lower limbs was a long rope with a tire swing that slowly bounced around in the light breeze. "So as you can see, plenty of room for Doodles or grandchildren. Excellent for barbecue in the summer, and bonfires in the winter!" Bongo continued to show them around until Benny had nearly fainted from hyperventilating. "Um, I know it's nothing too special, but were you still interested Mr. Decavity?"
"Um, I mean, oh my.. YES." Benny tried to remain calm.
Nightmare threw her arm around him and hugged him to her. "What I think he is trying to say is that he would love to buy it." smiling she kissed her dad's cheek. "Would next week be okay to finish signing everything?"
Bongo bowed and grinned. "Absolutely dear, just let me know!" escorting the father and daughter to the front as she waved goodbye. Watching as the pair skipped away she rubbed her chin. "Hmm. That cat looks a little familiar." shrugging she closed the door and walked back inside.
"Flippy. I'm sorry to bother you, but I don't know who else to talk to right now." Mark sat with his legs crisscrossed and arms laid neatly on his lap. "Cupcake has gone off to Cog Nation to fight the cogs, but I guess you already knew that." sitting silently for a few moments Mark spoke again. "Well anyways, sometimes I feel like there's no one else that really understands me besides Cupcake. While I love my co-workers and friends, I worry about going to them with how I feel. After all, they likely have their own problems." pausing again, he pulled out a picture of Cupcake. "She's so head-strong. It's one of the things I love most about her, but it does cause me to worry a lot. She reminds me of you a lot in a way. I guess that makes sense though. Anyways, I just wanted to come by and say hello. We still miss you." Standing up, Mark placed the picture of Cupcake on his father-in-law's grave and placed a small rock on top of it to ensure that it would now blow away. "I love you dad."
The graveyard had a much different atmosphere than it did five months ago when he had last visited with Cupcake. The spring had brought color back, with new grass and flowers blooming, but unfortunate the war had brought many grieving families. Sticking to the path, the Telemarketer was caught when he saw what appeared to be a mother and her young daughter standing in front of a grave. Neither were crying but their emotion was visible as the mother was doing her best to explain what had happened. As he stood and stared, Mark did not see the blue horse approach from behind him. "Hey you, cog! I think you better be on your way before I go get my cream pies!"
Cringing at the horse's words, Mark turned around to apologize. "I'm sorry sir. I was just here to visit somebody. I will be on my way."
"Yeah, get out of here you walking trash can. You took my brother, I won't let you take those innocent Toons as well!" the horse was aggressively shaking his fist at Mark, which caused him to step back anxiously."
"Hey, that cog isn't a bad guy! That's Marker!" the small child squeaked out to her mother.
This caught the attention of Mark, the horse, and the child's mother. "Jenna, what did I tell you to say about talking to strangers!" frowning, she apologized to the other adults. "I'm very sorry both of you, she knows better."
"But mom. That is Mrs. Cupcake's husband! Remember? We saw him on the news, he is the good one who helps Toons!" the young mouse eagerly pointed to Mark and grinned." after the confusion had been cleared up, the horse had apologized for his actions. He had lost his younger brother in an attack on The Brrrgh. The mouse had lost her younger brother named Tank just a few days prior. Mark was surprised how easily he was able to converse with these strangers. Looking back up the road to Flippy's grave he smiled. Maybe he didn't need to be the stranger he saw himself as. Maybe he just needed to be the Mark that Cupcake and Flippy knew. Whistling a tune, Mark walked out on his way back home to get ready for his wife's expected return.
Ninja sat quietly outside of Daron's cell. He always found a thrill in sneaking in and out of the prison. How did these idiot guards not even notice him? Sometimes he would mess with them for fun by moving items around, or just outright stealing them. For the last few days he had tailed Daron from afar, watching every move he made, and every breath he took. So far nothing had come up about snitching or anything. He had been given very specific instructions, and as much as Ninja would have loved to ensure Daron never woke up, he was loyal to his employer.. as long as he was paid handsomely. Standing and stretching, he yawned. It was getting a bit boring watching the cat sleep. No guards were expected to rotate through here for another thirty minutes, so he had plenty of time to go report his findings to Chase. Slowly skimming his way through the shadows, the quiet monkey avoided light and the glaring eyes of anybody who may still be awake at this hour. Approaching his bosses cell, he peered inside and whispered. "Hey.. psst. Boss!" a figure under a tattered blanket rustled in sleep, but could not be made out in the darkness. Whatever, he could always report back tomorrow. Continuing his way down the path, he began to get an uneasy feeling, as if someone was following him. Too nervous to turn around, he sped up his walking until he finally found his exit, a door that would lead to a storage room that had a faulty window. Reaching for the doorknob he twisted, however the metal locked into place about halfway through. Twisting quickly a few times he cursed to himself. How could this have been locked?
"That doesn't look very good.." a deep voice calmly whispered into Ninja's here. Spinning around in a flash, the monkey was face to face with one of the largest Toons he had ever seen. A dark blue cat who was wearing an orange jumpsuit. Clearly an inmate. "You know, sneaking around in here like this is pretty.. stupid, wouldn't you say? Very dumb." Ninja gulped as he eyed an escape. He could probably ditch under the cat's large legs if need be. Twiddling his fingers, the assassin prepared to reach for his knife that was in his left pocket holster. "I wouldn't bother trying something like that." out of the shadows, three other similarly hulking Toons came out and grinned evilly. "Don't worry you wont die... quickly." crowding around, Ninja saw one chance to escape.
Ducking down, Ninja attempted to slip between a small gap but was quickly grabbed by his collar. Panic began to grip his body. Being on this side was more horrifying than he had imagined. The irony was not lost on the horrible Toon, who had killed dozens in his lifetime. "Please. I promise whatever that Stupid Rabbit is paying you, I'll double it!"
A maroon dog chuckled. "Boss said you'd say that. We're not traitors like you are. I hope you've made your peace because you're going to be in pieces soon. Hey guys, that was actually pretty good!" this elicited an awkward laughter from his co-conspirators.
"Yup. Sorry Ninja. If it makes you feel better, boss is going to much more lenient on your boss." Covering the monkey's mouth to muffle his horrified screams, the inmates unlocked the storage room and walked in, slowly closing the door behind them. One last scream let the universe know that Ninja would never harm another toon again.
"Deputy Skids. What gives me the honor of meeting with you for the second time in a week?" Daron sat, unchained, in the interrogation room that the pair's earlier meeting.
"Hmm. I'm not sure. Maybe it's your birthday or something? the lime green Ranger chuckled. "So Daron, I'm here with some good and some bad news. Which one do you want first?"
Daron pondered for a moment, deciding that anything bad enough would have probably come up already. "Um, I guess let's start with the good news." Deputy's smile reassured him that it was likely positive.
"Alright, sounds good. Well I did some talking, called in a few favors. Plus with the increased violence the last few days and heightened risk, your good behavior.. I have been able to expedite your sentence down to thirty days.." Daron jumped up for joy at the mention.
"Oh my cog, Mr. Skids. Thank you. Thank you!" Daron was overwhelmed with emotion, knowing that not spending another nine months in here was probably the greatest gift he could be given.
Deputy waited for the black cat to settle down. "Anyways. I guess I should tell you the bad news.." watching as the black cat sat down, he tapped his fingers on the metal table. "So you know that whole thing about it being dangerous? Well that apparently caught the attention of some of the higher ups and they figured that it might be best if you spend the rest of your time in a isolated cell in a different prison unknown to anybody else. For your safety and security of course."
"Wait, so that means I wouldn't be able to see my family?" Daron begged out hoarsely.
"I'm sorry Daron, it was the best I could do. Listen, I'm a family man myself. I have a wife and a daughter who is a few years younger than Nightmare. I couldn't imagine being ripped from them. But you will have to trust me when I say this is the best for you. You suffer a bit now to save a lot of suffering later."
Thinking about the proposition for a minute, Daron struggled with the idea. The longest he had gone without seeing Benny was three days, and that was earlier this month. The idea of not seeing him for an entire month killed him on the inside. "Can I see them one last time, first?"
"I'm sorry, Daron. We tried to reach them but we couldn't get in touch. We will be leaving soon. However I did bring this." Deputy reached into his pocket and retrieved a piece of paper and a pen. "It's not ideal but it'll let you talk to them still. I will personally make sure any messages get delivered between you guys. I promise."
A tear rolled down Daron's face as he nodded. "Yeah. Yeah it's for the best. Thanks Skids." grabbing the pen, Daron started to write his heartfelt message to his family.