"From this point forward you are my property. You belong to me and will belong to me until you are near death. Do you understand?"
I nod, my eyes locked on the ground. He pauses for a second; his bright blue eyes locked on me. Then he slightly turns and faces Clark. He repeats the same sentence to him, and I send Clark a warning glance- my best attempt to tell him to keep his cool.
It all started about a year ago. Our home, Toontown, was raided by a neighboring country and everything was lost- lives, resources, and land. It was thanks to our leader, Jesse, that a lot of us made it out alive. We decided to travel to the outskirts of Jamaa, a neighboring country that was known for its harsh communism and fertile land. I was lucky enough to travel with my former teacher and current friend, Professor Wiggle. However, our plans were quickly canceled when the Jamaarian government found and attacked us. Jesse was taken hostage, and one of the most prominent figures of Toontown, Sir Astro, was nearly killed. We were all separated into different jobs; some were forced into slavery, some into field work, and others- such as myself- were placed in the mines. A few months later I got into a mining accident that put me and my friend Clark in the hospital. While the only injury that occurred between the two of us was a messed up leg, we were still forbidden to go back into the mines, so we were instead sent into slavery.
Which is where I am now.
My wrists are taken by one of his helpers and they are tied tightly with thick twine.
I don't know what his real name is, but he had informed me and Clark to refer to him as "King." I find it very self-centered to want to be referred to as such a high noble rank.
I glance at Clark, and I can already tell what he's thinking. We spent everyday together in Mt. Shiveer, and he was basically the only person that I had talked to then, so I can pretty much read his mind. He was sick of all of the running around that we had to do and was fed up with our way of life. I wanted to say something to him; I wanted to tell him that it will be over one day. We were going to free Jesse, and then we would take back Toontown.
Clark and I never talked much back in Toontown. He worked all day at the gag shop in Toontown Central, and I spent most of my time running around training or helping Professor Wiggle. I remember the last time I saw him before everything went crazy.
He was working a shift at the gag shop, like usual, although that night it was especially hectic.
That was the night we were raided.
I had gone into the shop to stock up on gags for my journey to my estate. I had just finished talking to Jesse about where we would go next, and Ned Slinger had just yelled at me.
When I had entered the gag shop, I recognized Sir Astro instantly. He was at the very front of the line, and Clark was getting fed up with him. After that ordeal, I distinctly remember Clark telling me not to go to my estate to get Ravioli. I remember him saying that it was suicide.
Clark was always so cautious about everything in Toontown.
"King's" manor is in sight now. It's beautiful, really- a three story building with large columns and intricate windows. I see some people outside dressed in filthy clothes tending to the yard. I shudder, thinking about how I might be forced to do that.
Clark and I are led to the porch, although neither of us go inside. My cane is taken away from me and I stumble for a second, then regain my balance- er, my balance on one leg.
"Nancy, take Mutant inside."
I look up, and I see the last person I would expect to see.
Nurse Nancy.
She nods, then gestures for me to follow her inside. With one last glance at Clark, I travel up the stairs and into the house.
"Neap-" Nancy pauses, then shakes her head and continues: "Mutant, you're going to be inside. Normally you would be outside, but because of your injury you're staying in here." She speaks quietly and quickly, and after looking at her a second time, I can tell she has lost a lot of weight.
"It's simple work," she says, so softly that I feel like she's going to fall apart. "I care for the King's children if they get sick. You're going to help me serve food to them, but eventually you'll be the only one doing it."
She seems depressed, and the large purple-ish circles under her eyes tell me that she hasn't gotten that much sleep. She walks very uneven, and she seems to lead with her feet.
Jamaa is terrible. Up until now I've known that but I never realized just how bad it is.
"Since we work in here we live in here." She starts walking away and I follow her, even though she didn't technically tell me to. I hate this. How long was it going to be before I turned into that? Before Clark did?
I stare at the small wooden table next to my bed. There's a single brown leather book on it, and I've been staring at it for hours, wondering if I should open it or not. There's a single yellow candle light that casts a big shadow across the room. I hear a creak and turn around to find Nancy entering the room.
"Mutant, we have to talk," she says, then shuts the door behind her.
"What's wrong?' I ask, and then cringe because I hadn't heard my voice all day.
"It's about Toontown." I slowly nod.
"What about it?"
"Who is still alive?" I think about this for a second.
"I am. Clark is. I don't know if he still is, but Sir Astro was alive yesterday. And… I don't know if he's from Toontown for sure, but there was a doctor at the hospital named Doctor Peepers. He sounded familiar."
"What about Jesse?" I stare at her.
"I don't know… Everyone seems to think that he's in Crystal Bay. That's what I'm trying to do."
Nancy smiles, then opens the door behind her, still facing me. "That's all I needed to know," she says, looking down and still smiling, then walks out of the room, closing the door behind her.
I limp over to my bed and lay down, placing my head at an angle to where I can see the brown book easily. Was it some sort of Jamaarian bible? Was it somebody's diary? Was it simply a book that contained some sort of helpful knowledge?
I reach out to touch the book, and the second I do so there is a loud bang. I've never heard the sound before, so when I hear it I automatically reach my hands up to my ears and cover them.
Then I do hear a sound I recognize- screaming.
Without thinking, I jump up, with the book in hand, and start running towards the door. However, I forget about my leg, so I start to fall down instead. I quickly grab the doorknob to pull myself up, then open up the door and exit into the main hallway.
A door opens up a little ways down and somebody runs outside, screaming, and heading towards the front door. I make my way over to where they came from and turn the corner into the room.
It takes me a second to realize what I see. Nancy is sitting down, although it doesn't look right- it looks more like she has collapsed into herself. There's a lot of blood, although it's all pooling onto her. The blood falls like a waterfall from her nose and matter pokes out at the top of her head. There's something black in her hand- a small machine-looking thing, and then I suddenly realize that it's a gun. Professor Wiggle had only taught me about guns a few times. It wasn't something that he liked to talk about.
I turn around and promptly throw up onto the floor, and I'm left with only one thought: escape. I have to escape.
I run as fast as my leg will let me out of the house and into the yard, but I don't have to go very far because the person I want to see is already outside.
"Clark!" I exclaim.
"What's going on?!"
"Can't explain," I say, then start limping towards the dirt path that signaled the end of King's property. "We're escaping," I add, clenching the book that was still in my hand. Clark easily catches up with me.
"What do you mean? Right now? We're leaving?"
"Yes, Clark! Now hurry! They're going to be preoccupied for a little while, so we have to get out now!"
"Where are we going?! They'll follow us! We're outnumbered and too slow! There's no chance!" I abruptly stop, feeling enraged. I turn around and face Clark.
"What the hell has gotten into you? You used to want to rebel everything! You managed to get by without even having to change your name! Why are you stopping now?! This might be our only chance to get out of here, and I'm not going to let that get away!" I pause, suddenly realizing why Clark is reluctant. "You can't be afraid now. Not at a time like this." With a last glance at him, I start to hobble away, towards the Jamaa countryside. I hear Clark jogging beside me.
"What's in the book anyway?" he asks. I hold up the book and move my thumb along the rough leather lines. Since I have to limp, I can easily read and walk. I quickly flip through all of the pages, finding that they are all blank except the first one. In black ink, it reads:
"Do you remember Trolley Tracks? How everybody would vote on a specific route? There's a trolley here that will lead to any land that you want to go to. If you stop at the first house on the right on the path towards Sarepia Forest, they will give you supplies. Take the trolley to Kimbara Outback. -Nancy"
I stare at the book for a second longer, then throw it down to the ground.
"What did it say?" Clark asks.
"Just follow me."
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand things get interesting. I've been playing Toontown Rewritten so much lately that I've just wanted to write this soooo bad.