Chapter 2

"Just… a few more minutes," thought the young resistance fighter. "A few more minutes until I can see Gene again."

Phineas was in a taxi, returning home after what seemed like forever. Ever since he was drafted into the Toon Resistance, he rarely got to see his boyfriend.

He remembered when life was too simple, when Gene was a boxer and he was a dancer. They gave no cares for the world besides on making their dreams come true and of course each other. When Phineas was drafted, he gave up on dancing, because he was needed to fight for ToonTown.

Gene still occasionally boxed, but not making it a major priority anymore. He stayed behind, at home. He watched over the house, wrote letters to him daily, and cared for the tree that Phineas planted in their yard the day before he was forced to leave. He planted the first gag he ever used, a cupcake, as a symbol that wherever he was working for the resistance, he was still at home.

Phineas started to tear up. He hadn't seen Gene in person since he left. While many other resistance members got the luck of being able to be called up to work immediately, Phineas just lived too far away. He had to stay with the resistance, wherever they went. Nothing mattered now, because he was about to finally see Gene again.

He requested vacation time off, to only be forced to come back early due to an emergency. He was approved, and here he was, just moments away from hugging his partner once again.

Those pleasant thoughts were ripped from his head as a ringing sound burst through them. Someone was calling him.

He sighed and answered it. "Hello?" Phineas asked reluctantly. "I have to apologize, but we need you back right now. Something has come up. Turn around immediately," and the phone clicked, giving Phineas no time to respond. Lord Lowden Clear has once again summoned him from sheer force.

He told the taxi driver the sudden change in plans, and the taxi was immediately turned around, heading back the other way.

Phineas put his head down and cried. "One day Gene," Phineas thought. "One day I will hold you in my arms again."

Duchess was walking down Seaweed Street. In about an hour, her job would start and she'd be in Toon HQ. She decided to grab some food at Squid's Seaweed while waiting. She approached the building and looked through the doors. There were a few other toons in there, but still pretty empty of a restaurant.

She walked through the doors, and sat at the bar. "What would you like, honey?" asked the old toon behind the bar. "Two seaweed cupcakes please," she replied. Duchess loved cupcakes. Ironically her first memory was her eating a cupcake with Eli. She smiled at the thought.

Sadly, the thought didn't last long. She noticed the toon sitting next to her at the bar. The toon was a duck, and didn't look like a happy one.

She was eating some squid. Well, was barely eating some squid. She was too busy stabbing at it and grumbling under her breath. Duchess stared in awe. "Hey," said Duchess. "Are you okay?" The duck looked up at her. "Yes."

Duchess was surprised at how rough her voice sounded. "Doesn't look like it," replied Duchess. The duck sighed. "I am going through issues," she replied. "Like what?" asked Duchess. "Personal requirements," replied the duck. The air was silent between them both. It felt awkward.

Duchess decided to break the silence. "I see," she finally responded. "I'm Duchess." Duchess held out her hand to shake the other toons. "Perhaps some friendly introduction will help out with the awkward feeling," she thought. The duck stared at her hand. Moments passed and nothing happened.

Duchess finally put her hand down, and the old toon behind the bar came up to her with a bag. "Here you go, sweetie! Two seaweed cupcakes!" she said and handed Duchess the bag. Duchess eagerly took the bag. "Thank you!" She got out of her seat and started walking to the door.

"I am Nymaco," the duck finally replied. Duchess looked over at Nymaco, who was still picking at her squid. "It's nice to meet you, Nymaco," Duchess said. She then proceeded to walk out the door.

The phone kept ringing. It rang and rang, on and on. Gengar sighed. They knew who was calling, and they weren't happy about it.

Finally, they picked up. "What the hell do you want?" asked Gengar, cruelly. "Shape up your act," responded Lord Lowden Clear. "I wouldn't be calling you if it wasn't for anything urgent. I need you here at the Toon HQ. Immediately." The phone clicked, signaling that the conversation was over.

Gengar threw the phone against the wall. Nowadays, they'd been avoiding working with the Toon Resistance as much as possible. They didn't care about fighting with the cogs; they wanted to learn more about them. Alas, only the toon research team was able to do that.

"Curse that Professor Tinkersprinkles," Gengar muffled under their breath. She stated that the research team was full and that the fighting team needed assistance from more individuals.

Gengar stood up from their chair, and walked over to the mirror on the wall. They looked into it and sighed, focusing directly on their missing eye.

They lost their left eye just after a few days of moving into ToonTown, thanks to an accident dealing with some TNT. Gengar shook their head. "Why did I even move to this town in the first place?" they asked themselves.

They moved to ToonTown to assist in the fight against the cogs once they struck their attack at the elections of ToonTown. Literally now, all the Toon Resistance does is go out, destroy as many cogs as possible, grab gears, and research the gears only.

"We should be researching them, themselves," thought Gengar. "It's just the same routine that the Toon Resistance does over and over again."

Gengar looked into the mirror again, sighing heavily. "I want some chips." Gengar left the mirror and started walking to their kitchen, preparing to snack on a few handfuls before they were to leave for Toon HQ against their will.

Neptunis stood outside of the doors to the Toon HQ. Her blood was pumping and she was extremely excited. "Today's the day," she thought to herself.

Immediately, she thought of the nightmares she has been having. The same dream happened again last night. The voice she heard in her dream, she couldn't even think of it as an actual voice.

"It's over," kept playing through her head on repeat, and finally she just shook the thought away. "Now is not the time for that kind of thinking," she told herself.

She walked through the doors of Toon HQ, and was immediately greeted by the amount of toons in the lobby. She was surprised. She didn't recognize many, but she saw Phineas. They weren't friends, but they were well acquainted. Last she heard, he called off for vacation to go see his boyfriend. "Why is he here?" she wondered.

The doors opened again behind her, and Neptunis turned around to stand face to face next to Professor Tinkersprinkles. Immediately, her facial reaction gave away that she had no idea why all of these toons were here. Following her facial reaction came out a soft "Oh goodness."

The doors leading to the lab suddenly opened, and Lord Lowden Clear emerged. "Toons of the resistance, I have alarming news. I have discovered that the cogs may finally be planning their next attack."