"First floor. Please enter swiftly." the Toons opened their eyes to an empty elevator. Exhaling, the Toons stepped inside. Still a bit wary at how simple everything was. No security, or anything? After all this was the Chief Operations Officer's hideout. Although if they wanted to keep it hidden, then having a bunch of security would likely draw an eye or two. Cupcake scanned around and once comfortable hit the button for the top floor. Just as quickly as things had gone well, a wrench was thrown into the gears. A heavy sputtering sound overcame the whirring of the elevator around floor three, before the elevator finally shut down and stopped ascending. Groans of frustration and worry rang out through the spacious elevator. "Alright guys. Let's just stay calm. Stuff like this happens. It's probably just a coincidence." stepping over to a panel, Cupcake pulled it open and slapped her forehead. "Yeah, call for help, that's a great idea.." she whispered to herself. "Let's just wait a few minutes and see what happens."
A few minutes passed as the restless Rangers clung to their weapons and their fear, waiting for something or anything to happen. After all, hardly anybody else knew they were here, and anybody that could help would never make it in time. The chubby pink cat spoke up. "Cupcake, I think it's time for us to try something else. It doesn't look like we're getting out of here anytime soon."
"I think you're right Professor. Here, can someone give me a boost? I think we might be able to get out through the ceiling." the two tallest toons stood beneath a panel in the ceiling. Holding out their hands, Cupcake stepped on and wobbled back and forth as she was lifted into the air. Struggling to maintain her balance, she reached her arms up and was just barely able to touch the ceiling. Pushing her palms against the hard metal, she stabilized herself and nodded down. "Okay watch out below!" grabbing a medium sized grate, she tugged on it until it unhinged, and pulled it off, tossing it to an empty space on the ground. "Okay, going up guys. Give your arms a break!" Using all of her strength, Cupcake lifted herself up into the dark hole. She had never seen an elevator shaft, and would be glad to never have to again. From what her eyes could make out there was a metal chord that was holding the elevator and a few feet above and to her left a small crack of light burst through what was likely a door. "I think I see a way out guys! Come on up!" momentarily silence gave Cupcake pause. "Guys?"
"What is that!" Lenny screamed out. Cupcake immediately jumped back in time to watch as the grate that she had thrown had slowly began to morph into a figure.
Cupcake took no time in taking action. "Get that door open!" she screamed, landing on her feet she ran over and began doing her best to pry open the door. The Shapeshifter had fully formed and towered over the eight Toons. Two other Toons finally managed to compose themselves long enough to run over and help, while the other five continued to stare in shock. They had heard about these cogs, but seeing them in person was.. horrifying. Going with their base instincts the Toons began launching pies at the cog to no effect.
"It's not working, get the Laugh-O-Matics!" the large pink cat screamed, as she reached for her device. The Shapeshifter reached out and grabbed a brown rabbit and began to strangle him, watching as his color disappeared from his body. The four fighters did their best to laugh as loudly as they could but nothing was being magnified! The echoes in the elevator did have a slight affect, as the cog trembled uncomfortably, dropping the gasping rabbit who crawled away. "This isn't working either!" the cat screamed.
Cupcake continued to pull open the door, grunting as it slowly began to crack open. "Hold it off! Few more seconds guys!" Unaware that behind her, her comrades had been hit with a power trip and fell to their stomachs, knocking the breath out of them. The pink cat was hit with a power tie, and another power tie released the fighters from their feet a second time. "Hey, Bearon, go help them!" Cupcake nodded to the orange bear who had been opening the elevator with her. Running and jumping on the cog's back, the bear struggled to hang on as the enemy swung around rapidly, before getting flicked off like a booger and crashing into the wall before blacking out. This was enough to push Cupcake into full-blown attack mode, bulging muscles and extra silliness fueled her as with one final thrust the elevator door was opened. "Now!"
The available fighters had no idea what their leader wanted, as some started running towards the exit while others tried to attack the Shapeshifter with more pies. "Cupcake, I don't think I can make that jump!" Lenny called out, as he sized up the gap between the elevator and the next floor.
"Get him out!" Cupcake pointed to the cog, as she reached in for a fire hose. Positioning herself in front of the cog, she let loose. A stream of high pressure water began to slowly push him back towards the elevator. Smiling, the remaining Toons followed suit, with their own attacks. The combined push was enough to cause the struggling Shapeshifter to narrowly avoid falling out. Grinning a savage smile, Cupcake was filled with a blood-lust she had not experienced in some time. Stepping back. she took a running start and leapt in the air, stretching her leg out her foot made contact with the hard metal of the cog's chest knocking him into the abyss below. A crashing sound several seconds later let them know that they had finally dispatched their enemy.
Everybody sat catching their breath. A yellow rabbit walking over to Bearon and knelt down, checking his pulse. "Looks like he took a pretty nasty hit. He's alive but I don't think he's gonna be awake for a while. What do we do?"
"Well I don't think we're going to be able to carry him." Cupcake pondered. "I think we might have to leave him.." she quietly let out her response knowing it would not be a popular decision.
"He could die though!" Lenny interjected.
Cupcake nodded. "Yes, but if we try and bring him with us it would surely make things more dangerous for us. We'd have to dedicate two of us to carrying him. Not to mention, what happens if we drop him on the way up? It would mean certain death probably. Honestly, he is probably safer here. This elevator likely isn't going anywhere. We will come back for him." the more Cupcake spoke, the more she sounded like a leader. Confident, strong, and wise she directed her unit. The Toons made their way up into the ceiling. Climbing the rope, they made their way to a small platform where the next floor's entrance was. Once everybody had safely made it sans Bearon, she sighed. "Okay everybody, prepare yourself." inside Cupcake was screaming. It took eight of them to take down that one Shapeshifter. What would happen if there were more? There could be anything in there. "Whatever happens everybody, I love you all."
This door slid open a lot easier than the elevator, likely due to some safety requirements. Gazing around the Rangers were amazed that it was a simple cubical farm. Cubical after cubical filled the room. Phones ringing and voices speaking rung out. As they stepped into the room, they were overwhelmed by the sheer size. This was a maze! There was nothing but a sea of gray walls. "I don't like this. Where do we start? Maybe we should keep climbing to the next floor?" the brown rabbit inquired.
"Well we're this far. Let's keep going." Cupcake began leading the Toons through. Fortunately most of the cubicles faced away, so they could remain out of sight.
"Good morning, sir. My name is X271-F9. Have you felt like something has been missing from your life?" Cupcake peered into a nearby cubicle and hopped back. It was a telemarketer. The other Rangers followed suit, looking over walls or into gaps and confirmed. It was all Telemarketers. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Their deep robotic voices doing their best to sell whatever cog nonsense they were forced to peddle.
For some reason the sight of all these Telemarketers gave Cupcake a slight pause. She had stood there as the rest of her team continued forward, going into a daze as she thought of Mark. He was all alone at home right now, probably worrying about her. She shouldn't have come here, because he needed her there. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts she did not see the cog walking behind her. "Excuse me. You look unfamiliar, may I please see your badge?" swinging around, Cupcake was face to face with a Telemarketer. The slicked back hair, tacky suit, and unbecoming frown all quite familiar to the pink cat. "Wait a minute. You're not a cog! TOON ALERT!" the cog managed only that before Cupcake sprung into action, slamming a birthday cake into his face and watching as he stepped backwards and initiated explosion protocol."
"We're surrounded!" the pink cat screamed out as hordes of Telemarketers abandoned their calls and streamed from their posts, angrily ready to fight.
"Everybody, gather in a circle!" Cupcake screamed, as the rest of her unit stood back to back with each other. "Okay everybody, we went over this! Ready... Go!" The Toons began thrusting large piles of marbles all around them, watching as cogs slipped and fell, causing jumbled piles of struggling arms and legs to fight for position. As the Telemarketers attempted to regain themselves, they would continue to slip and fall. The chaos ensued as the Toons switched their marbles for storm clouds. Slamming their buttons, the cogs began to be drenched, leading to mass explosions as the low leveled fighters were over-matched by the elite Toons. Dozens and dozens of cogs fell, as waves of their similarly manufactured comrades stepped in to accept their unfortunate fate.
Lenny had started to celebrate prematurely as a cake hit two Telemarketers at once and they quickly exploded. "Eat that!" unfortunately, he did not see the cog who was crawling towards him, stabbing a pen down into his foot. Shrieking in pain, Lenny fell to the ground, toppling over the brown rabbit who was standing nearby. Now with a small hole in their defense, the Toons had to fight even harder to make up for the weakness. Cupcake, in a moment of intense clarity, popped up with an idea. Grabbing Lenny, she had the yellow rabbit grab the brown rabbit and they fought their way back, lining up in a horizontal line.
"Fog time, boys!" Cupcake yelled out, amazed she had not thought of this yet. "On my mark! Get set.." rows of Telemarketers began to submerge on the Rangers, right as they did, Cupcake grinned. "Go!" five Toons screamed into their foghorns, letting out an abhorrent sound that boomed through the entire floor, causing mass exodus of their remaining enemies, many of whom would have fallen to a single foghorn. Soon after the explosions, the room went silent. No more Telemarketers remained. Catching their breath from another unexpected showdown, hands on hips, the Toons thanked their luck that they had survived another ordeal. "O-okay everybody." Cupcake sucked in air. "There should be a set of stairs somewhere around here.. we take those to the top floor and we finish these hunks of scrap metal!"
Laying on the floor, still in pain, Lenny held his bleeding foot. "I'm sorry guys, I don't think I can go on. There's no way I can walk on this foot! I'd just slow you down!" kneeling down, the pink rabbit scoffed.
"Come on, stop being a cry baby." pulling out some pixie-dust, she sprinkled it on the wounded Toon, watching as the bleeding quickly stopped and the crocodile breathed a sigh of relief. "We're all doing this together. Now get up Ranger, you're an elite. Now act like it!"
The Toons made their way through a hodgepodge of gears and other cog pieces, winding their way through the maze of cubicles. After what seemed like an eternity, the group breathed a sigh of relief as they found an exit sign. "Okay everybody. This looks like our way up!" tossing the door open, the Rangers groaned as they stared up at the remaining thirteen flights of stairs. "Okay everybody, this is it. This ends today." Cupcake confidently stated to her comrades. "Let's do this!"