Dim as an Ember

**"Dim as an Ember"**is the fourth episode of *Justice* and the 22nd episode overall.

It was published on June 17, 2018.

In the episode, Flippy's funeral is held as the election proceedings get underway.

## The Episode

===Sellbot Headquarters===

=Present Day=

One week after the attacks, the lights of all the Cog Headquarters remained dark. Tori Dorrance shivered in the darkness of Sellbot Headquarters. The goggles Dr. Sensitive had designed helped her see clearly that there were no Cogs in sight. The doors to Sellbot Towers were open, abandoned. The Factory's towers were smokeless.

The lack of Cogs on the streets and the darkness of Headquarters gave everyone the illusion that the Cogs were gone and destroyed. But no one was that foolish. Everyone knew the Cogs were biding their time, licking their wounds, waiting to return. The Toon Resistance was launching attacks on the spare few that dared walk the streets. Every now and then the Cogs would take over a building and it would be reclaimed instantly. But ultimately, there had not been much for people like Tori to do. The ones on payroll, such as Horace Calves, Tori, and Piggy Pie, had instead been directed to work on Flippy's funeral.

Flippy's state funeral was scheduled for today, and Tori was about to go to Toontown Central to help ensure everything was underway. But she felt the need to come check Sellbot HQ again. She was here yesterday and it was quiet. Too quiet.

Once again, it was abandoned. The Cog's coal industry seemed to have ceased in its entirety. Which made sense, considering they had no power to even work with.

Tori dropped her transport hole and headed to the funeral, holding her black hat in place.

===Toontown Central===

His coffin was draped in black. It was rested on a platform in the center of the plaza before Toon Hall. A wreath of flowers was placed on top. Piggy Pie, Dr. Byte, and Eileen Irenic stood as his watchers around the coffin, protecting him.

Even though the coffin was empty.

Black drapes hung from every window in the square. All the mourners wore black too. A line had formed around the Playground, and Toons were cycling through, paying their respects. Piggy Pie had been surprised that over the past hour, no one had been disrespectful. No one had called Flippy a bad Mayor, or the reason for the Cogs. In fact, most people were crying as they passed his coffin. One woman placed a large placard near Piggy's feet that said "WE WILL MISS YOU!"

The day was surreal. The sky was overcast, which Piggy thought was fitting considering the mood. Earlier in the morning, both Piggy and Eileen delivered eulogies for Flippy. Both were moving and half the town turned out to hear the speeches. Christine Colette had outdone herself with the funeral preparations. Everything was tasteful and a tribute to Flippy's life.

The living former Mayors of Toontown came as well, and left roses on Flippy's coffin.

Throughout the day, however, Piggy Pie kept thinking about Doctor. About how they hadn't found him, how they had not heard anything from him since he was taken. She dreaded the thought that if Doctor was not located and saved and rescued, that he would be the next empty coffin at a funeral.

===Toon Hall===

=Hours Later=

Eileen recycled both the funeral program and the previous Mayoral agenda. She wrinkled her snout at the Mayoral one, which had been so jam-packed with duties that it overflowed onto three pages. She rubbed her head and wished her interim term was over.

As if by providence, Eileen's receptionist walked in the office and placed the new agenda on her desk. Eileen was shocked to see only one item: Toon Elections.

Eileen frantically looked at her calendar and saw that it was indeed time for Mayoral, Council, and Toon Patrol elections. The first election since Exodus.

"I can't believe it," Eileen said. "Is it really time? Has it been eight months?"

"Seven," the receptionist said. "The election is in four weeks."

Eileen started laughing in relief. She was about to be the former Mayor of Toontown. She would get her portrait in Toon Hall. She could focus on the Toon Resistance and forget all the mundane tasks of the Mayorship. She would never have to deal with the idiots on the Toon Council again.

Just four more weeks.

"Who's running?" Eileen asked.

"Uh," the receptionist said. "Don't you know?"

Eileen stared.

"Was it in the paper or something?"

"It's been on TV..."

Ah, Eileen thought. It had been months since she even turned on the TV in her house. There was no time for it. She caught maybe one or two news briefs at the office before but she hadn't used the TV recreationally since Exodus. Eileen imagined that the news programs were broadcasting bits about the candidates so people could start preparing who they were going to vote for.

"You have a meeting with the Election Committee tomorrow to go over the preparations for the Election. It would be at that time that you would indicate to the head of the committee if you wanted to run for the Mayorship again."

Eileen bust out laughing.

"Absolutely not," she said. "This was a temporary experience. I made that quite clear when I took the job."

"You've been marvelous," the receptionist said. She put down her head and scurried out of the office.

Eileen smiled. It was almost over.

She went out into the lobby where all the portraits of the Mayors of Toontown were hung. The first, Maximilian Walters, hung prominently at the center, the first face one saw when they entered. And then it went clockwise around the room, ending with Mayor Mickey Elias. Flippy's portrait was in the process of being completed. Eileen's would be hung next to Flippy's.

As Eileen stood in the lobby, gazing into the eyes of her predecessors, she remembered the time she attended the inauguration of Mickey Elias. Constantine had just been born...

===18 Years Ago===

Eileen and Paul Irenic held their newborn, Constantine, in their arms as they stood in the back of the playground in Toontown Central. The Playground was filled, nearly overflowing. People were hanging out of windows, perched on fences, scaling to the top of the tunnels to get a better view. Paul and Eileen had arrived from the Gardens and emerged from Silly Street to find the throng of people uncrossable. But from that point of the Playground, they would never see the inauguration. Paul pushed through the crowd and Eileen tentatively followed, careful not to scare Constantine. They finally got a place against the back wall of the tunnel leading to Loopy Lane. It was far, but they could see the mouse Mickey Elias now taking the stand on the platform in front of Toon Hall. Both Eileen and Paul had voted for him.

"My fellow Toons," Mickey said into the microphone. His voice was shockingly high-pitch, but he composed himself with such grace and poise. "Thank you for entrusting me with this duty, this responsibility, this magnanimous honor. I will spend these next four years working dutifully to serve you, to help you, to bring prosperity to our town."

The crowd clapped, including the Irenics. Such bravado. Mickey continued on with his agenda for his first month in office, a traditional piece to include in the inaugural address.

"When the founders of Toontown arrived in this valley hundreds of years ago, they described reaching paradise. Salvation. Freedom. We will never truly be able to understand the horrors our ancestors experienced when they fled the War and came here, not knowing what they would find, knowing the possibility--inevitability--that they would die in the wilderness and the harsh mountains just north of here. But instead they found a home. Their home. Our home. And in all of our daily lives, in each of our interactions and contributions, we must strive to maintain this home that they struggled so much to build. We must never let it falter, never let it crumble, and never let the Kingdoms back into our lives. The War rages north, but we have peace in the south. Toons, friends, brethren, I solemnly swear to execute the office of Mayor of Toontown with honor, dignity, pride, and by golly--gumption!"

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers. Eileen whistled. He was an excellent orator. In that moment, she felt inspired by his motivation and dedication to his town. She would never have imagined that seventeen years later, she would be standing in his shoes.

===Present Day===

The next day, Eileen waited in the council chamber for the Election Committee. It was only a three-person taskforce comprised of the bureaucrats in the Toon Resources department. They spent most of their time filing paperwork and managing hiring. They oversaw the Toon HQs town-wide. Before joining the Toon Resistance, Doctor had been a Toon Resources manager at the Toon HQ in the Docks. Now, he was a robot slave of the Chairman.

Eileen pushed the thought away and waited. The Committee was already two minutes late. After five minutes, Eileen was slightly agitated when the door swung open and the Committee sauntered in, no apology or explanation given for their tardiness.

"Madam Mayor," a petite pink mouse squeaked. "My name is Pearl Ament, the head of the Election Committee. Pleasure to speak with you."

"Likewise," Eileen said. Pearl gestured to her two compatriots, both dogs.

"This is Ballot Boxer and Bree Sinct, my colleagues. We are each overseeing a different facet of the election. May we sit down?"

"Of course," Eileen said, after shaking all three paws.

"Well," Pearl said, her voice thick with flair, "I--we--have been diligently planning these elections. As you know, it's the first election since the Cogs came to Toontown, the first since Exodus, the first since the Togs, the first since you..."

"I get the idea," Eileen said, a little peeved. She wasn't in the mood for this much energy.

"In just four short weeks," Pearl said, "the Toons of Toontown will vote! First we'll discuss the election for the Chief and Deputy of the Toon Patrol both by neighborhood and for the top positions."

Pearl flipped over a page with disinterest. She was obviously not that excited about the Toon Patrol elections.

"How many people are running for Chief?" Eileen asked, thinking of Constance.

"Uh," Pearl said, glancing at Bree Sinct.

"Three," Bree said. "The Toon Patrol elections are my specialty. Three neighborhood Deputies are vying for the Chief position. Whoever gets elected will then choose their Deputy from the pool of elected Deputies."

"Is Aleck Harding running for Deputy of Toontown Central?" Eileen asked, thinking Aleck was an excellent Deputy.

"Aleck is running for Chief, actually," Bree said. Eileen's heart sank. Constance would be sad to run against her close friend, Aleck.

"Anyway," Pearl cooed. "We will also elect our new Toon Council. All of our incumbents are seeking reelection with the exception of...uh..."

"Christine Colette," Ballot Boxer said, who was probably in charge of the Council elections.

"That's too bad," Eileen said. "She's good."

Not stellar, Eileen thought, but good. And that was fine enough. She had organized Flippy's funeral and she had been a sturdy supporter of the Toon Resistance.

"The Councillor contenders are well sought after," Ballot Boxer said. "It's very easy to get on the ballot...all you have to do is get a certain number of signatures from neighbors. Each neighborhood has at least fifteen Toons running. The Docks has over forty."

"Forty!" Eileen exclaimed.

"Dreamland has four," Bree Sinct whispered to Ballot Boxer.

"You're right," Ballot said. "Dreamland only has four running. They're a habitually lazy district."

Eileen laughed. They were right.

Pearl cleared her throat obnoxiously. She cast frustrated glances at Bree and Ballot.

"Anyway," she said with something almost close to ire, "the big event is the Mayoral election! That's what we're all here for."

Eileen opened her mouth to correct her, but Pearl plowed on. She slammed an enormous folder on the table and flipped it open. Pictures of the contenders for Mayor were printed on full sheets of paper. Eileen raised her eyebrows and tried to match Pearl's enthusiasm, but it just wasn't there.

"Ten brave, noble individuals have entered their names and have acquired enough signatures on their petitions and will go through the primary vote in two weeks. The two with the highest votes become our finalists! On Election Night in four weeks, they will be the only two up for Mayor and one of them will emerge victorious!"

"The deadline to enter the election is tonight, though," Bree Sinct said. She looked knowingly at Eileen. She wanted Eileen to run.

No, thank you, Eileen thought.

"Who are the candidates?" Eileen asked.

Pearl seized the folder and unveiled the photographs one by one. Most of them were Toons Eileen didn't recognize or only passively knew from their neighborhood council positions. Slappy Quackintosh, the duck who ran against Flippy twice and lost both times was running again.

"Paula Behr, the Brrrgh."

"What?" Eileen said, snatching the paper and reading it over. "She can't be serious."

"She is!" Pearl said, taking the paper back. "She actually got the highest number of signatures."

Eileen sat back in her chair.

"Anyone else from this Council?"

"Yes, actually," Pearl said and gave Eileen the next name. "Mortimer Myles, Toontown Central."

Of course.

"And lastly," Pearl continued," we have Vidalia VaVoom, Toontown Central."

Eileen stared.

"Vidalia? VaVoom? The town gossip?"

Pearl shrugged. "She got all the necessary signatures."

Eileen sat open-mouthed. Of all ten candidates, none were ideal. Was Toontown really going to pass into the reigns of Paula Behr, Mortimer Myles, Vidalia VaVoom, or someone else? *Slappy?* None of them popped for her. She didn't feel comfortable giving any of those people control. What if...what if Eileen would have to run after all? Just to keep Toontown afloat?

"Um," Eileen said. "If Paula Behr and Mortimer Myles lose the Mayoral election, can they still run for Council?"

"Yes," Ballot Boxer said. "They've also submitted their names for Council."

I hope they both lose, Eileen thought.

But who would win? Who was worthy? In two weeks, they would know.

===Toon Patrol Headquarters===

Constance Miller signed the paper before her and put it to the side of her desk. She would have to finish the rest of the paperwork later. She still had to eat, having not done so all day. Maybe Aleck would be willing to get a late lunch?

Constance reached for the phone, when it rang in her hand.

"Chief Miller," she answered.

"Oh, Constance," a voice rife with grief said. "This is Susan Fletcher...Deputy of the Gardens..."

"Yes, hello, Susan," Constance said, gripping the receiver. "Is everything alright?"

"No."

Susan stifled a sob. Constance had worked with Susan for many years and regarded her as one of the most trusted and skilled Deputies in Toontown.

"The tunnel...Sellbot Headquarters tunnel...on Oak Street. It collapsed. Just now. The whole tunnel just gave way and collapsed. It destroyed the last block of Oak Street. We have six injured Toons and sadness pouring in from the collapse. We need help!"

"Any casualties?" Constance asked, scribbling orders for the receptionist, who was watching with concern from the doorway.

"We had two Toons who had entered the tunnel and have not reemerged. We think they were trapped in the wreckage. But the debris is so widespread...I can't fathom finding a way to get them out. They're dead if they weren't dead already."

Constance lowered the phone in solemn silence. She quietly mourned the two Toons.

Why would the Cogs collapse their own tunnel? Were they trying to keep Toons out? Or were they trying to protect themselves? Was the collapse by accident? Or on purpose? Constance would have to go check it out herself.

Her eyes wandered to the paper on her desk. She would have to see Eileen later.

===Toon Hall===

At the end of the day, Eileen packed up her belongings. She would take the election folders home to read over them. There was probably some information that Pearl neglected to mention, certainly about the Toon Patrol and Council elections, in which she was obviously disinterested.

Eileen stared longingly at the photograph of Constance, Irene, and Paul on her desk. Her family, gone. She sighed and picked up the folders, when the office door opened.

It was Constance. She looked frazzled.

"Constance!" Eileen said, a bit startled. "I heard about the tunnel collapse."

Constance stared.

"What? Oh, yes. Sorry. I'm not here about that."

"Oh," Eileen said, setting the folder on the desk. "What is it?"

Constance unfolded a sheet of paper from her pocket.

"I have...um...I have decided to run for Mayor."

Eileen's face lit up. Cosntance, however, didn't notice.

"I know that seems a bit presumptuous for me, but I think I would do a really good job following in your footsteps and I didn't want to submit this form without your approval."

"I gladly give it!" Eileen said and wrapped her arms around her friend. "You would make an exceptional Mayor. Did you get all the necessary signatures on your petition?"

"Um, no, not yet," Constance said. "I need one more. Would you...do the honors?"

Eileen nearly tripped in her hurry to get a pen to sign the form. She handed it back to Constance.

"I wish you the best of luck. We need strength like yours at the helm of Toontown."

Constance took the paper. She had tears in her eyes.

"Thank you."

## Production

### Continuity and Story Arcs

Sellbot Headquarters has been completely abandoned and the power industry has shut down. However, the tunnel that connected Oak Street to the Headquarters suddenly collapsed, trapping two Toons inside, ostensibly killing them.

The funeral for Flippy was held in Toontown Central, drawing a large turnout.

This episode marks the first appearance of Mickey Elias, albeit in a flashback. His character has been repeatedly mentioned throughout the series.

Eileen Irenic met with the Election Committee. Constance Miller, Vidalia VaVoom, Mortimer Myles, and Paula Behr are among the candidates for Mayor.

## Trivia

* The title of this episode is derived from the song "Once Upon a December" from the film *Anastasia* which contains the lyric "glowing dim as an ember." The line ties into the dim lights of Cog Headquarters as well as serving as the dimming memory of Flippy.
* The Election Committee's names are all plays on words.
	+ Pearl Ament sounds like "parliament"
	+ Bree Sinct sounds like "precinct"
	+ Ballot Boxer is a reference to a ballot box
* The Cogs are credited in this episode, even though not one appears.
* At 2,901 words, this was the shortest episode of Storytime from the time of its publication until the 2021 Christmas Special, "A Bell Cast In Iron."
	+ This was also the first episode to be below 3,000 words.