No!

Not like this!

Not in a watery grave!

"Please, let go! Let go of me! Please!" Fluttershy thought frantically, struggling to pull her leg free from the black, mechanical-looking rope that had pulled her from the motorboat and into the sea. She was also struggling to hold her breath, but she knew she wouldn't last long without a breath of fresh air.

But already her lungs were beginning to burn. She had to get free!

"Let me go! I don't want to die!" She thought, still trying to free herself. But it was a losing battle; the rope was too tight!

What was this mysterious thing? Why had it grabbed her and dragged her into the sea? Why was it trying to kill her?

Her lungs were burning as if they were on fire at this point, and she felt her cheeks puff up. She couldn't hold on much longer!

Just when she was beginning to think about how much drowning would hurt, she heard a splash above her and looked up, and felt her eyes widening when she saw who it was.

It was Snappy! He had dived in to rescue her, holding a sharp-looking fishing hook on one hand.

He swam close to her and started cutting away at the black mechanical rope.

Luckily, it seemed to be a regular rope that was just painted black to look intimidating, because the hook was cutting through it with no issue.

He nearly dropped the hook once, but he quickly grabbed it and resumed slicing as fast as he could.

Fluttershy smiled at him, glad he was here to help her. But her smile quickly faded when a small torrent of bubbles suddenly erupted from her mouth. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands as Snappy worked away at the rope, trying to hold on whatever air she had left.

"Come on, come on, come on..." Snappy pleaded in his head, still trying to cut through the rope. He had never done this with a fishing hook before but right now, it was his only chance to save Fluttershy.

After a few more tense moments, Snappy finally smiled in triumph. He had finally cut through the rope and freed her!

Grabbing the now red faced Fluttershy, who continued to cover her mouth with her hands, he swam as quickly as he could to the surface.

Fluttershy felt her entire body give off a nasty jolt, as if she had just been given an electrical shock, when she reached the surface and gulped in a fresh breath of air. She couldn't believe it. She had thought for sure that she was going to drown, but Snappy had saved her.

Snappy quickly swam over to the boat and hoisted her in, before climbing in himself. Fluttershy was coughing up water violently, and they were both soaked to the bone. But they were both alive.

It took Fluttershy a good minute or so to come to her senses, but when she did, she sat up and looked over at Snappy, looking extremely worn.

"Oh my goodness, that was so scary. I thought I was going to die..." She said in a half-exhausted tone, breathing deeply to calm herself down.

Snappy wiped his brow and slipped his hat back on, which he had tossed into the boat before diving in to save Fluttershy. He couldn't believe he had just done that. He had never tried to do anything even remotely close to that before and here he had just pulled it off perfectly. He was slightly shocked over his sudden surge of courage.

"Thank you for saving me, Snappy." Fluttershy said to him in a most grateful tone, feeling her cheeks growing red. Snappy just scratched the back of his head and chuckled at her.

"Ah, it was nothing. It's all in a day's work." Snappy said, handwaving the entire ordeal away. He wasn't about to admit it, but now he was slightly embarrassed to be around her, perhaps because he had just saved her life.

"What about you're jetpack and cannon?" She asked him, now wondering if their brief swim had ruined his equipment. He shook his head reassuringly.

"Waterproof, like the Medal-Detector-5000. They're perfectly intact." Snappy told her as he sighed to calm down himself. His heart level had increased dramatically during the rescue, and he needed it to return to normal if he was going to think clearly.

But now his mind was on another topic.

"What the heck was that thing that grabbed you, anyway? It was painted black and looked all mechanical, but it was just a regular old rope..." Snappy wondered out loud, putting a hand to his chin and thinking about it deeply. He didn't recall seeing anything like that before in Mysteries lineup.

Fluttershy was still worried about what that red cats eye was that she had seen before. Was it connected to that black rope in some way? She had a feeling it was.

"I don't care. I just want to get out of here." She said in a frightened tone, not wanting to be out on the water any longer. She wanted to get as far away from the coast as she possibly could, before something else came along and tried to kill her.

"Working on it." Snappy said, starting up the motor again and turning the boat around to head back to the coast. The boat had managed to drift a ways out to sea while Snappy was busy rescuing Fluttershy.

They were about four hundred yards out from shore when something slammed into the boat again, bringing it to a dead stop and causing the two to fall over yet again.

Fluttershy stood up and started looking around franticly, wondering what it was that had hit them, while Snappy fumbled with the motor, trying to get it to work.

"Argh! What is going on around here? What keeps hitting us?" Snappy groaned after a minute of trying to get the motor running with no success. Did nothing work in this stupid place anymore!?

Fluttershy was about to make a comment about that, but something caught her attention and made her look into the water and gasp in shock.

There was a noticeable patch of water that was darker than the rest, about twenty feet from their boat. It looked as big as a pirate ship.

And slowly but surely, it was getting darker and darker. She also noticed that bubbles were beginning to burst on the surface around the edges.

Something was coming up to the surface! Something BIG!

And more than likely, whatever it was had something to do with the attempt on her life just recently.

Fluttershy quickly got Snappy's attention and pointed right at the dark patch of water, eyes wide with alarm.

The blue dog quickly grabbed his cream pie cannon and held it ready. He knew this was going to be nasty.

"Steady there, Fluttershy." Said Snappy, putting a soothing hand on Fluttershy's shoulder and looking at her reassuringly, before turning his attention back on the dark patch of water, which had just grown even darker.

Whoever or whatever it was, it was about to breach and hit them with everything it had!


- Meanwhile... -

"Thanks for the help, Dusty!" A happy shopkeeper said to the tall crimson canine who had just freed his store from the clutches of the cogs in Donald's Dock. It had been one heck of a fight, but Dusty, along with a few other Toons who had entered the same building, managed to take it down quickly and without a scratch.

"Hey, no problem. Just doing my job." Dusty replied, ignoring the small crowd of Toons who were currently cheering and praising him for a job well done.

However, Dusty was a little confused about something. This invasion hadn't lasted all that long. In fact, it seemed to be over before it had even begun. Normally Mystery sent out invasions that lasted for hours at a time. Why had this one ended so quickly?

And where was this monster that the resistance ranger said had been spotted near the coast? He hadn't seen any monster of any description upon arriving, nor throughout the task of driving off the invasion force.

The sound of the cheering crowd broke his train of thought. He made a mental note to bring this up next time he spoke to Snappy.

Dusty turned and smiled to the Toons, before pulling out something from one of his pockets. It was clenched in his fist, so they couldn't see what it was. The Toons all fell silent as he raised a hand and shushed them. He then cleared his throat and addressed them all.

"Folks, I know it can get rough when the cogs come looking for trouble, but never forget: Through courage and teamwork, we can and will stand triumph over the cogs through thick and thin!" He said to the crowd, earning even more cheers, before raising a hand high into the sky. Several Toons were already expecting what was coming next, and pulled out their jellybean jars.

"Toons of the world, spend wisely!" He shouted, snapping his fingers. Jellybeans went flying in all directions into the crowd. The Toons in the crowd scrambled to grab as many as they could, all the while laughing happily. They loved it when someone else did this!

"Dusty, you sure know how to work a crowd." The shopkeeper said, chuckling happily at the Toons as they all gathered the jellybeans.

"Heh. Why not let them have a little fun collecting beans? It's the only way to use a jellybean unite." Dusty replied, checking his supply of jellybean unites he had taken from the C.F.O.

"Plenty. Good for me, I suppose." He thought to himself, twirling his favorite billy club and holstering it once again.

He was still wondering why this invasion had been so short and sudden, and where this so-called monster was, when a pair of Toons came around the corner and ran right into the crowd, screaming their heads off.

"MONSTER! MONSTER!" They were both screaming as the crowd parted ways for them. They continued screaming until they reached Dusty, who was looking at the pair with an eyebrow raised.

"What's going on?" He asked the two, a pair of young pink cats in bright orange outfits, kneeling down to their level. They both had panicked faces and were out of breath, as if they had just run a marathon.

"There's a monster off the coast of the neighborhood! It attacked a little motorboat!" One of the two Toons quickly explained to him, whiles the other one just whimpered pitifully, tears in her eyes.

Dusty's eyes widened when he heard what was happening.

"Speak of the devil." He thought to himself. It sounded like he was going to get some info on this monster after all.

"Was it a cog of some description?" He asked the two, but they both shook their heads.

"No, it looked like some kind of submarine. It had a giant red cat's eye on it." The other Toon said, making everyone in the area gasp loudly.

That was all Dusty needed to hear. Something foul was afoot, and he intended to figure out what it was.

"Finish off any surviving cogs! I'm going to go see what's happening!" Dusty instructed everyone, before drawing his billy club once again and taking off toward the coast. The other Toons watched as he leaped on top of a dumpster, front-flipped off of it, grabbed into a street lamp, and launched himself onto a rooftop and out of sight.

"If what those Toons said is true, then it sounds like Mysteries already making his move! No time to lose!" He said to himself as he continued to leap across the rooftops with the greatest of ease, headed toward the sea. If there was indeed some kind of mechanical monster roaming around, he intended to get the first crack at it. "I just hope Snappy and Fluttershy are alright..."


- Back with Snappy and Fluttershy... -

"AAHHH!"

Fluttershy let out a terrible scream as the water suddenly erupted where the darkened area in the water was, causing a massive wave that nearly capsized the two and drenched them in even more water than before.

It took a good twenty seconds or so for the water to finally calm down, but once it did, Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat and Snappy nearly felt himself collapse upon seeing what it was.

What could only be described as a giant black submarine had emerged from the water. It was long and tall as a pirate ship, and had four giant, round wings on either side with propellers inside of them, which Snappy assumed were used to allow the thing to hover above the water like some kind of hovercraft. The propellers were covered from all angles except the bottom. A hatch on top looked like it was the only way into the vehicle. It also had a giant red cats eye on it, just like the one the two had seen before! The cockpit had, of course, black tinted glass, making it impossible to see who was piloting it. There appeared to be multiple, smaller hatches all over the thing.

On top of the machine, there was the cut end of what appeared to be a black-painted rope.

The same kind of rope that tried to kill Fluttershy!

And right next to it, there was a red octagon with a brown cats head inside it, with a thumbs down sign in the center of that.

Mysteries trademark calling card!

"What is that!?" Fluttershy asked out loud, backing away from the submarine in fear, having never seen a submarine before in her life, and right now, she didn't know what to do. It wasn't like she could just fly away from this danger, after all.

"Hahaha! Your worst nightmare, little lady!" A voice blared over a loudspeaker that was attached to the side of the cockpit. "I'm amazed you aren't swimming with the fishes right now. I thought I told my idiot sister Mildew to get stainless steel cables, not show rope painted black!"

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at the loudspeaker in spite of her fear.

"Swimming with the fishes?" She repeated silently, not knowing what that term meant.

"It means drowned. Bad guy talk." Snappy told her, before turning to the submarine and cupping his hands over his mouth. "Well, next time, maybe you should invest a few more jellybeans in your quality control! That rope was nothing more than dental floss tied together!"

A loud noise blared over the loudspeaker. It sounded as if the pilot had slammed his fist into the control console.

"You won't be laughing when you feel the wrath of Sir Milstone Grumblecrash, older brother of Lady Mildew Grumblecrash, and chief engineer of the Smog Smashers!" The voice in the cockpit blared once again, before laughing out loud like a madman. Clearly, he thought this was the funniest thing ever.

Snappy gasped loudly at his words. Older brother of Mildew? Chief engineer of the Smog Smashers!?

Did that mean he was in league with Mystery?

"Wait, WHAT!?" Snappy shouted, unable to believe what he was hearing.

Milstone laughed again from inside the sub. A second later, the loudspeaker went dead.

Snappy and Fluttershy looked at each other for a moment, before looking back at the submarine, wondering what was going on. What was Milstone doing?

Somewhere in his heart, Snappy didn't want to find out.

A moment later, the hatch on top of the sub opened up, and out came Milstone. Sure enough, he was the purple bear member of the Smog Smashers. And at that moment, he was smiling at the two Toons below in such a way that gave them both goosebumps.

"Oh my gosh!" Milstone exclaimed in a fake shocked tone, laughing like a crazy person. "The Smog Smashers are in league with Mystery? Who'd a thought it?"

Snappy growled at him, cream pie cannon still in hand.

"Somehow I had a feeling you guys were in Mysteries inner circle. Why'd you blow you're cover?" Snappy inquired, trying to stall for time long enough for his brother to get here. He wasn't about to take on something like this on his own.

Especially with a now more than likely terrified Fluttershy on board!

But much to his shock, Fluttershy was remaining relatively calm in the face of such danger. Her eyes were wide and her breathing was shallow and fast, but apart from that she seemed perfectly fine. He figured she had been in situations like this before and this was just normal for her.

"Inner circle? I'm amazed he didn't order our deaths after that little fiasco in Toontown Central! Me and my companions, we're on the verge of being taken out here! We're in anything BUT his inner circle!" The bear shouted angrily, clearly not liking where this conversation was going.

"That still doesn't answer my question. Why blow you're cover right in front of us?" Snappy repeated, wanting an answer. The bear just chuckled.

"Ah, why not? After all, Mysteries fool-proof plan will soon be finalized, and all of Toontown will be crushed, and all of us with it! I might as well have SOME fun before we're all destroyed!" Milstone replied, still smiling crazily, before sighing sadly in a way that made Snappy roll his eyes at how fake it was. "Besides, the goodie two-shoes bit was getting old and boring, anyway. Between you and me, I like full-on destruction myself."

Snappy still couldn't believe the garbage he was hearing. Mysteries fool-proof plan? What in the world did THAT mean? He shot Milstone another foul look as the bear continued.

"Oh, and yeah, I have a personal vendetta against you Bumblejinks, after the way you killed my father two years ago!" Milstone shouted, now glaring daggers at Snappy, who was glaring right back at him. "He was just trying to have a little fun destroying Toontown, and you're brother shows up and ruins everything! I'll show you what happens when you do that! I'd like to be able to do at least THAT before I die!"

Snappy had heard enough. He didn't want to listen to this idiot any longer. Luckily, Milstone seemed to have read his mind, for he had narrowed his eyes at Snappy.

"Well, I can see you two are bored of listening to me. Very well, then. I guess the time for talking is over." Milstone said, laughing at the pair again, before vanishing inside the submarine. Snappy saw the hatch close and felt his heart skip a beat once again. He knew what was coming next.

"I hope you two weren't hoping for a fair fight or anything." Milstones voice declared over the loudspeaker. He sounded full of glee, like he was going to enjoy this.

Snappy sure as spit knew he wasn't going to enjoy this.

He quickly grabbed the controls to the motor and tried to start it up again. Thankfully, it started up without a hitch this time.

"Hang on!" Snappy shouted to Fluttershy as he turned the boat around and piloted it away from the submarine. He wanted to put as much distance between them and the submarine as possible.

Fluttershy looked back and gasped as the giant machine turned around to face them.

"Look out!" She shouted, as it launched itself forward toward them!

Snappy yanked on the control for the motor and turned the boat around sharply, just as the machine shot past them, kicking up more small waves in its wake.

"Sheesh! How the heck are we going to beat this thing!?" Snappy exclaimed, clearly at a loss over how to destroy this mechanical monstrosity. Sure, he had helped his brother destroy machines like this in the past, but it had always been with Dusty, and never before had he encountered one in the open sea! He was truly at a loss over how to tackle this new threat.

"Would it be bad if that thing got to Toontown?" Fluttershy asked, watching as the machine shot past the two once again, its propellers splashing them with more water as it went.

"That's the understatement of the year." Snappy replied, looking for any sort of weakness he could exploit to damage this thing. But there was nothing to attack. "I can't see any kind of weakness in that thing. How are we supposed to damage it?"

"Can we go back to Toontown and get help?" Fluttershy asked out loud, to which Snappy shook his head sadly.

"We can't risk any collateral damage to Toontown. We got to destroy this thing before it gets to Toontown!" Snappy replied, as he continued to steer the boat through the water.

The pair let out surprised gasps as the machine shot right past them, barely missing them by inches.

"Argh! Hold still, you little pests!" Milstone shouted, who was quickly losing his temper over his repeated failures at ramming into Snappy and Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy! Any ideas!?" Snappy asked her, as the submarine roared past them once again. He was starting to wonder how much longer the motor would last before it died on them completely. After all, common motorboats weren't designed for scenarios like this!

As if on cue, Fluttershy thought back to when Snappy had helped her in Toontown Central, when he had used some kind of extremely sticky blue goo-like stuff. She didn't know if the stuff could be washed away, but right now, they didn't have many other options.

"Wait, what about that blue goo stuff you used before?" She said to him, and from the expression he had on his face, she could tell a lightbulb had just gone off in his head.

"Of course! You're a genius, Fluttershy!" Snappy complimented, making Fluttershy smile happily, pulling out a push button like the one he had used before. "I'm glad I developed more of these in my spare time."

But as Snappy went to use the gag, the machine rounded on them and charged at them once again. Snappy quickly grabbed the motor and the boat shot forward, barely avoiding Milstone.

A couple of seconds later, Snappy saw a smaller hatch on the side open up, and a TNT bundle shot out at them. Snappy quickly steered the boat in another direction as the TNT bundle went off.

Fluttershy gazed wide-eyed at the spot where the TNT bundle had gone off. This thing was shooting TNT at them!

"Looks like you're having a blast, Snappy!" Milstone shouted over the loudspeaker, laughing wildly at his own joke, as a group of cogs loaded bundles of TNT into TNT cannons all over the machine. It looked like it could fire up to thirty bundles at once, in all directions!

Snappy gritted his teeth as the boat shot in another direction, narrowly avoiding another bundle of TNT that was fired at them.

"Argh. I can't use the quicksand and steer the boat at the same time." Snappy complained, before tossing the button over to Fluttershy. "You'll have to use it!"

Fluttershy looked down at the button, gave it a quizzical, nervous look, and looked back up at Snappy. How was she supposed to use it?

"Um, how do I do that?" She asked in a slightly nervous tone.

"Fix you're gaze on the target and push the button." Snappy instructed her. He looked over at the submarine as it shot past once again, and as the boat avoided another bundle of TNT, he spotted something that might be a weak point.

"Try aiming for those propellers! Maybe you can gum them up!" Snappy told her, steering away from a couple of more TNT bundles fired from the submarine.

Fluttershy gulped away her nervousness and nodded to him. She wasn't exactly sure of this plan, but it wasn't like she was in any position to argue or come up with a plan of her own.

"Oh, I can't see the propellers. Can you bring us in any closer?" She asked him, to which he smiled and nodded, avoiding the machine as it shot past them again. He drove the boat directly past the machine and the propellers.

"Now's your chance! Hit it!" Snappy shouted to Fluttershy.

She didn't need to be told twice. She fixed her gaze on the nearest propeller and, after letting out a breath, hit the button.

"Hey! Stop that, you little runt!" Milstone shouted as an alarm blared on his control console. The blue goo had done its job and jammed up the propeller, making it unusable and unresponsive.

Snappy smiled upon hearing Milstones reaction to the goo gumming up the propeller. Maybe if they did that to the other propellers, the thing would be unable to remain in the air and would be forced to fall into the ocean. Then they could make their escape!

Fluttershy and Snappy both smiled and cheered, steering away from the machine as TNT bundles flew out in their direction.

"It looks like we're getting somewhere! Keep it up!" Snappy said happily, making another turn in the water to avoid the machine ramming into them.

Snappy then saw the top hatch open, and a pair of Mr. Hollywoods flew out of it.

"Uh-oh! Rust buckets inbound!" Snappy said, pulling out his cream pie cannon and firing multiple pies at the approaching cogs, all the while moving the boat closer to the machine. He tossed Fluttershy another push button as the cogs fell into the water and exploded.

Fluttershy fixed her gaze onto another propeller as the machine passed them again and hit the button.

"Argh! Why, you little-!" Milstone shouted as another alarm went off in his control chamber. He pressed the button to speed up the submarine, but it was no good; with two propellers out of commission, the machine couldn't move nearly as fast. He slammed his fist into the arm of his chair in anger.

"Alright, that's it! I'm just going to start pressing buttons at random until you're both out of my sight!" He shouted at the pair, before hitting the button labeled "Maximum Power", laughing maniacally. "Prepare to die!"

It was complete mayhem. Though the machine was slowed down considerably without the support of the other two propellers, it continued to follow the pair regardless, firing TNT bundle after TNT bundle at them. Cogs occasionally flew out of the top hatch to try and attack the two, but they were quickly dispatched with Snappy's cream pie cannon.

Fluttershy had to hold on for dear life to keep from being thrown back into the water, but she held onto the button all the same, waiting for a chance to use it.

It was getting more difficult to avoid everything that was coming at them, but Snappy somehow managed to stay one step ahead of Milstone.

"Milstone, we can't keep up the fight much longer! We have to get back to headquarters!" A Loan Shark warned, clearly worried about the machines condition. He didn't think the machine could remain operational if they lost another propeller. The remaining two were struggling to keep the craft above water.

"We'll keep fighting until the end of time! Keep loading that TNT!" He shouted to the cogs, as he pulled the machine to a stop in the middle of the water.

He grinned to himself with glee.

"Time for some REAL fireworks!" He shouted, pushing a button that said "Mad Fire Hydrant".

Snappy and Fluttershy were curious as to what he was doing, but Snappy continued to maneuver the boat nonetheless.

"What's he doing?" Fluttershy wondered out loud, picking up another push button tossed to her by Snappy.

"No idea, but get ready with that button." Snappy replied, watching the machine carefully with his cream pie cannon in one hand, and maneuvering the boat with the other.

"Let's see you little fools dodge THIS!" Milstone shouted, pushing the large red button on his control console, laughing insanely.

Snappy and Fluttershy both drew in sharp breaths when they saw what was happening. Every last one of the smaller hatches opened at once, and they watched as over thirty TNT bundles flew out of the machine in all directions.

Though Snappy did his best to avoid them all, the blast from one of them was close enough to overturn the boat, tossing both Snappy and Fluttershy into the water. Luckily, Fluttershy was able to keep a firm grip on the push button and quickly swam to the surface.

Snappy grunted as he attempted to flip the boat back over, failing to notice that the motor had fallen off and sank into the sea. Failing that, he cast a quick look at Fluttershy, and felt his stomach do a nasty somersault.

"LOOK OUT!" He shouted, pointing to the submarine behind Fluttershy.

She looked over and gasped. One of the hatches nearest her was wide open, and she could see a cog inside preparing to launch a TNT bundle directly at her!

"Oh no, you don't!" She shouted to the cog, fixing her gaze on the inside of the hatch and pushing the button.

"Hey! What the heck!?"

Milstone looked over at the cog that had just shouted and felt his heart stop.

A TNT bundle that the cog had just loaded into one of the launchers was stuck. It had gotten caught in some blue goo-like substance. The cog was stuck as well.

"What is this stuff!?" The cog shouted, trying and failing to free himself. The other cogs on board weren't concerned with him, however. Their attention was on the TNT bundle he had just loaded into the launcher.

Its fuse was lit, and it was about to blow!

Milstone jumped up out of his seat.

"WHAT!? This can't be happening to me!" He screamed in a panic, before starting toward the emergency shutdown switch in the corner.

He was just about to push it when the TNT bundle in the launcher exploded, killing the cogs in front of it and sending sparks all over the place, including the many boxes of TNT that were positioned in the center of the submarine.

The other cogs all screamed and bolted for the top hatch as the TNT in the boxes caught fire and their fuses lit. They weren't sticking around to see THIS fireworks show!

Milstone just stood in place, a blank expression on his face.

"Well... that can't be good." He said flatly, before screaming at the top of his lungs and covering his face with his hands.

Upon seeing the cogs flying out of the submarine in a panic, Snappy and Fluttershy gasped and swam away from it as fast as they could, leaving the overturned boat forgotten.

A few seconds passed, and...

KA-BOOM!

Every last bundle of TNT on board the machine exploded at once, obliterating the entire vessel and creating a sound louder than anything the two had ever heard before, sending parts and debris flying everywhere. Snappy and Fluttershy had to cover their ears to block out the noise. Luckily, neither of them were hit by the flying scrap metal.

After about thirty seconds of covering their ears, the two looked up to see the aftermath of the explosion. The only thing left of the once giant black submarine was tons of scrap metal and a few pieces of driftwood floating about and sinking in the water.

The two looked around at the wreckage of the machine and sighed with relief, glad that it was destroyed. And with any luck, they wouldn't run into another giant, killer machine like that again for a long time.

"Well... it's not every day you do something like THAT!" Snappy exclaimed, climbing up onto a piece of floating metal that was drifting past. He reached down and hoisted Fluttershy up, too.

Fluttershy's heart was racing a mile a minute as a result of the battle they had just fought, but she couldn't help but smile regardless. She couldn't understand why, but she felt oddly satisfied, as if she enjoyed taking down that giant mechanical monster of mass destruction. Perhaps even more so then destroying the cogs from before.

"Goodness me, this is going to become contagious if I keep this up..." She thought to herself, smirking at her own thoughts. If only her friends could have been here, to see her doing these things. Things she would have never thought to try before in her life.

"I guess it's true. When faced with unknown danger, you tend to turn into someone else." She thought, now taking several deep breaths to calm herself down. She had heard that saying a few times in the past, but she didn't really believe it to be true, despite having seen it happen several times, and having felt it happen to herself twice before. The thought made her giggle slightly.

A coughing and sputtering noise nearby told the two Milstone had managed to get aboard a piece of floating metal himself. Sure enough, he had climbed aboard a piece of metal that was directly next to their piece. Almost his entire body was charred black from the blast, and despite his brief dip in the water, he still had small amounts of smoke coming off of him.

"Ugh... I know I should have upgraded this thing from WinToons Vista..." He grumbled to himself, holding his head in his hands. After that massive explosion, he had the mother of all headaches.

But Snappy and Fluttershy weren't worried about him. Their eyes were on the object he was holding in his left hand.

A Power Medal! It was dark yellow in color, with a bright yellow color for its center shape, which was a fist being raised into the air.

Snappy recognized it right away. The Power Medal of Strength!

But how did the Smog Smashers get it before they did?

Without a second thought, Snappy jumped over to Milstone and struck him on the back of the head with his hammer, knocking what little strength he had left out of him, and taking the yellow Power Medal.

"Well, it seems you guys were doing a little treasure hunt of your own. Thanks for bringing the spoils right to us." Snappy said to Milstone, chuckling as the bear looked over at him and groaned, collapsing onto the piece of metal.

Snappy looked over at Fluttershy and smiled to her, holding up the Power Medal happily. Three out of seven, and they had just started their search!

"Was he using that Power Medal to power this machine?" Fluttershy asked him, looking closely at the Power Medal in Snappy's hand. For some reason, its color and shape made her smile.

"Looks like it." Snappy told her, pocketing the Medal and checking to see if his jetpack was working again. Luckily, it was working like a charm. He didn't think the effects of the EMP detonator would last very long. They weren't known for being very dangerous to Toon technology, being meant to incapacitate troublesome cogs.

Fluttershy now had something else on her mind.

"Um, how often do you have to battle giant, uh... whatever that was?" She asked, almost dreading the answer.

"Every once in a while, Mystery goes insane and cooks up one of those crazy machines. It is a little curious, though. He usually pilots them himself or gets Mildew Grumblecrash to do it for him. Why did he send Milstone out here to do his dirty work?" Snappy wondered out loud, putting a hand to his chin and thinking on that for a moment. Surely after what Milstone had just said, Mystery wouldn't put him behind the controls of such a deadly and dangerous machine that had almost killed the two of them. So why did Mystery let him pilot this thing?

Was this just a simple case of miscommunication between the Smog Smashers and Mystery? Or was there something here that Snappy was missing?

He decided to just ask his brother about it. Surely, he would know more.

"Well, all that aside, shall we head back to Toontown? I'm sure my brother wants to hear about all this." Snappy offered happily, to which Fluttershy nodded in return. She was ready to get out of this place. After all, there was only so much one could take of the sea. Especially after fighting a giant, killer machine!

"Gladly." Fluttershy replied, wringing out her soaking wet hair and sighing sadly. She'd have to brush and fix her hair when she got back.

"Oh well… at least I'm still alive." She thought to herself. Getting her hair messed up was something she could deal with in due time. Dying, however, wasn't.

Snappy stepped over and picked her up gently with one arm, then went back over and grabbed Milstone by the back of his shirt collar with his other hand. Milstone was entirely out of it, so he didn't put up any sort of fight whatsoever.

Snappy then engaged his jetpack and took off toward Toontown. This trip to the coast hadn't gone nearly as smoothly as he thought it would. Though they were up by two Power Medals, he wasn't too keen on having another run-in with the Smog Smashers, now that they had been revealed to be among Mysteries forces.

He felt bad about leaving the sea behind, but he couldn't help hoping this would be the last he'd see of it for a while.


Dusty Bumblejinks and all associated characters are owned and copyright by Bulldozer Studios.

Fluttershy, My Little Pony and all associated characters are owned and copyright by Hasbro.

Toontown and all associated characters, including the cogs, are owned and copyright by The Walt Disney Company.