Doomsday

**"Doomsday"**is the fourth episode of *Rewritten* and the 4th episode overall.

It was published on June 16, 2017.

In the episode, the Toons prepare for an evacuation, but a sudden largescale invasion thwarts all plans. With no other alternative, Professor Pete and his allies utilize the last resort.

## The Episode

===TOONTOWN===

=Three Years Ago=

"What?" Cork Clark, the family patriarch, Clara's father, exclaimed when he entered the room. "What did that say?"

"Shhhh!!!!" Kara Clark, his wife, murmured, turning up the volume on the radio. The entire Clark family, all fourteen rabbits, clustered in the living room of the family estate. They were all listening to the radio report coming from the Toon Patrol.

"To repeat," the voice said on the radio, "a full-scale evacuation will commence Friday at noon. All Toons are expected to evacuate Toontown. The Cogs are dangerous. The threat is growing. Toontown is no longer safe. Meet in your designated Playground at noon on Friday and Toontown officials will lead the way out of Toontown. The Cogs have murdered and they will murder again. Today, seven Toons have been killed. Toons of Toontown, evacuate this Friday. Evacuation is mandatory."

Each time the word "evacuate" was said, Clara Clark felt a jab of sorrow. How could it have come to this?

When word of the murdered Toon in the Brrrgh spread, Clara was terrified. She had avoided the streets altogether since yesterday. Reports came in all day that more Toons had died.

Died. At the hands of the Cogs.

Murdered in cold blood.

The evacuation was only three days away. How would they pack by that time? What *were* they allowed to pack? And where were they going?

"And now a special message from Mayor Flippy Flopper," the radio droned. The family pressed closer to the radio.

"Good evening, Toontown," Flippy's voice said solemnly. Clara crossed her arms as she listened. She did not vote for him. "I know...that an evacuation is sudden. It is an event for which we are not prepared. But I assure you we have a plan. By Saturday, we will have egressed beyond Toontown and will be making our way to the colony in the North, where we will request refuge until it is time for us to move on. We will become nomads. And one day, hopefully, we will construct a new home for future generations. Toontown has housed us without issue for centuries, but all of that safety, familiarity, and sanctuary has been ripped from us by the diabolical Cogs."

Flippy paused, long enough for Dad to intercede.

"Didn't Flippy bring the Cogs in the first place?" Cork Clark shouted.

Mom shushed him. Flippy continued,

"Toons, please do not try to stay behind. Do not leave your neighbor. Ensure everyone you know is in the Playground on Friday afternoon. We *must* leave Toontown if we want to live. The Cogs cannot be defeated and they have grown too great in number. They have destroyed our town, our climate. Even the greatest minds cannot find another answer. Our only option is evacuation."

"Damn," Herb, Clara's brother, said.

Clara looked at her mother, who had suffered a hip injury years back and had difficulty walking. How was she supposed to survive a trek hundreds of miles North? What about all the elderly? The infants? The orphans that had no one to care for them? Clara wanted to have faith that the Toon Council had worked out all the details, but it was so sudden...so soon.

Clara was frightened.

=Two Days Later=

Evacuation was tomorrow.

The signs were posted all over Toontown. Clarabelle Cow was making phone calls for hours on end. Everyone by now knew what was to happen tomorrow. The Exodus from Toontown.

Violet had stopped going to work. Many Toons did too. There was really no point. Who was going to buy a Doodle right before they had to leave? Were Doodles even going to survive the journey? Violet had to leave work a few days ago when more than a dozen crestfallen Toons arrived at the Pet Shop with their Doodles, asking for them to be put down so they wouldn't have to endure the uncertainty of an evacuation. It was too much for Violet. Piggy Pie too.

Violet looked down at her wings, resting calmly on the counter of the store. At least she was able to remain calm. Many Toons were panicking, shrieking in the streets, shouting about Doomsday.

If there is a Doomsday, Violet thought, here it is.

It took only two years for the Cogs to destroy Toontown. They had leached laff, taken over the streets, sometimes even buildings--those ugly grey buildings that dotted select streets, impenetrable--then the climate, and now murder. Murder, it seems, was the last straw. But Violet thought something should have been done at the onset. Anything that took laff could not be good.

"Here you go," Soggy Bottom, the shopkeeper of Petal Pusher Bicycles said, handing Violet a receipt. Soggy Bottom then wheeled out Violet's new bicycle. Violet thought it might come in handy during the Exodus. Walking forever was going to make her tired.

Soggy Bottom left the bicycle in Violet's sturdy hand and then threw her arms around the purple duck.

"I'm so scared, Violet," Soggy whispered, her horse face streaked with tears.

"Me too," Violet muttered.

"Will you walk with me tomorrow?" Soggy asked. "None of the other shopkeepers are alone. They have family."

"Of course I'll walk with you," Violet said. She knew she couldn't go with her friends because they lived in different neighborhoods. Eventually, she intended to meet up with them. But for now she was content walking with Soggy.

"I'll see you tomorrow in the playground," Violet said, wheeling her new purchase to the door. "Meet me by the pond."

Soggy nodded with gratitude.

As Violet reached for the handle, the door opened.

And to her surprise, shock, and horror, an Ambulance Chaser Cog entered.

Soggy Bottom leapt in fright and reached her hand backward toward the phone, but it was fixated firmly on the wall behind the counter.

"W-w-what do you want?" Soggy tried to say with courage. Violet eyed the Cog with ire.

The Cog just glowered, its grey eyes burning through the Toons. A red cross was attached to its hat, the symbol of help and healing. This Cog would do no healing, nor would it give any help. It spoke with a loud clang.

"Building Upgrade Beginning."

The words hit Violet like a brick. She knew. She let go of the bicycle and snatched her friend's hand.

"RUN!"

Soggy and Violet sprinted past the Cog, barreling through the door, and onto Elm Street. Behind them, the sound of something falling out of the sky penetrated the air.

Soggy whipped her head back to look and Violet cursed to herself as she did the same.

An enormous grey building crushed the cheerful blue building with a single declarative crash. The gavel of the Lawbots towered over them, embedded into the architecture of the building.

"That's...my home," Soggy whispered. And then she burst into tears. Violet pulled her close.

The tender moment only lasted a few seconds. Screams erupted all along the street. Shopkeepers, their families, fellow customers billowed out of shops. The sky was soon filled with falling buildings.

"Oh my..." Violet gasped.

Crash. One after another. One by one, the buildings of Elm Street succumbed.

"What's happening?" Soggy whimpered.

As Violet looked up and down the street, now devoid of any Toon building, the sidewalks turning grey. Cogs marched out of the new Cog buildings, stomping along the greying roads.

"It's an invasion."

"GO!" Doctor shouted, thankful he had decided to visit Piggy Pie in Dreamland that day. They were running down Tenor Terrace in Melodyland. All of Lullaby Lane and Pajama Place in Dreamland had been taken over by the Cogs. And now Tenor Terrace was falling to a similar fate.

"COME ON" Piggy Pie shouted for no reason. Doctor was well on her trail. They dodged Cogs and tried to keep to the center of the street, away from the sidewalks and approaching Cogs.

"UP!" Piggy Pie screamed. Doctor looked up and saw to his terror that Cogs were descending.

The last building on Tenor Terrace was crushed by a Cashbot building.

"Teleport!" Piggy Pie said, reaching in her pocket for her transport hole. Doctor stopped to do the same, but they dangled loosely in their hands.

Piggy Pie's lip trembled.

"They're not working..."

"This way!" Doctor bellowed, pulling Piggy Pie down an alleyway. Seeing the tunnel for the Playground, they hurried through it. They were not alone. Other Toons were running from Dreamland as well, hoping to find refuge in Melodyland. Though that was a false hope, as now Melodyland had been breached.

"Toontown Central," Piggy Pie panted as they emerged in the crowded playground.

"Why?" Doctor gasped.

"Violet," Piggy Pie said amidst her heavy breathing. "Clara."

Doctor nodded and they ran down Alto Avenue, which was still largely untouched by the Cogs.

"Why didn't the portals work?" Piggy Pie asked.

Doctor didn't have an answer. He couldn't comprehend it either. The transports had always worked, easily moving Toons from playground to playground, from friend to friend.

"There's the Resistance," Piggy Pie said quickly. "Eileen Irenic, a shopkeeper in the Gardens, formed it. It's to fight the Cogs."

"Really?" Doctor said, excited to hear such an organization existed but disheartened at the prospect of them being successful. Their chances were slim. "How are they going to fight this?"

As he spoke, buildings began to fall.

"EVERYONE OUT OF THE SHOPS!" a Toon screamed in anguish. Piggy Pie threw open the door to a passing shop and yelled inside. Toons ran out and, seeing Piggy Pie, Doctor, and a parade of other Toons running toward Toontown Central, followed with celerity.

The evacuation tomorrow is going to be a disaster, Doctor thought. An unmitigated disaster.

"We should join the Resistance," Piggy Pie said. They reached the tunnel and hurried onto Loopy Lane, only one street away from their destination.

"How?" Doctor said. It also seemed pointless. There was nothing that could be done. Though he did want to fight. It was just impossible.

"It's only a matter of time," Doctor said as they rounded the corner of Loopy lane and saw nothing but grey, "until everything is destroyed."

===FANTASYLAND===

=Present Day=

Pete remembered.

He remembered.

He kept going over his memories in his head, so happy they were back. The good ones, anyway. He hated being human. He never realized when he couldn't remember his life before, but he didn't feel right. He felt trapped in a human body with the ferocity of a cat begging to be released.

Pete was struck with awe that the Emergency Portal had worked. He had such doubts. But Dr. Nimbus, his dear dead friend, had pulled it off. The Toons had become human, lost their memories, and were living in an alternate universe.

As far as Pete knew, he was the only one in Fantasyland that could remember. And what a shock it was to have his memories return by a pie to the face. Surely that couldn't be the way to wake everyone else up? And why should he? That was never the plan. The plan was to stay in Fantasyland until the Professor back in Toontown decided it was okay for the Toons to return. Which was likely to be never.

It had only been three years.

And no one should be awake. Not even him.

Pete rubbed his head in frustration. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't rewipe his memories. And he wouldn't want to either. But he had no idea what Toontown was like now. If it had only been three years, he could only picture devastation. A slaughter of those left behind.

Yes, there were people left behind.

Laura and Ash included.

"Professor Ingalls!" someone called. Pete turned, suddenly surprised to find himself on the street. Clarabelle Cow was hurrying toward him.

"Are you doing alright, Professor? You left the party in quite a state last night."

Pete tried to smile politely, but as he thought of Toontown and his friends and family, he couldn't even muster a grin.

"Tired," he murmured.

"Well," Clarabelle blundered on, "a little party never killed nobody. I asked Vidalia about your secret admirer..."

"My what?" Pete said, shocked.

"Your Mystery Man," Clarabelle said with a wave of her hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply..."

"It's fine," Pete interjected.

"Oh. Well. So I talked to Vidalia and she said she *has* seen someone kind of like that. Just once, over by the Quarter. Maybe he lives there. I thought you'd want to know."

Pete nodded.

"Thank you," he said. He was curious about the Mystery Man. Now that he remembered Toontown, he tried to think about what the Mystery Man would have looked like in Toontown. He understood now that the skin pigment of the man here would mean that he was red in Toontown. Something probably went awry with the transport that didn't quite fully convert the skin tone to one of human nature. But what animal was he? *And what was his name*?

"It's certainly an enigma," Clarabelle said. She flopped her hand. "Who knows? Maybe he's a resident of a *Toon world*."

Pete's mouth fell all the way open. He stared in disbelief at Clarabelle. Did *she* remember? All this time?

"What...?" he said in a soft whisper.

Clarabelle's confused gaze refuted Pete's theory.

"Are you okay, Professor?" Clarabelle asked.

"Where did you hear that phrase?" Pete asked in return. "Toon world?"

"Oh," Clarabelle said, her shoulders sinking. "Esmeralda. You know, that old fortune telling box in the Emporium..."

Pete was already gone, heading down the street. All his manners had gone out of him. Toon world. The fortune teller knew?

Inside the Emporium, Pete stood in front of the box. He fumbled in his wallet for his credit card and inserted it into the device.

"What is your question?" the woman robot boomed.

Pete quickly typed out his question on the keyboard: "Is Toontown okay?"

The robot moved its arms to the crystal ball and put on its usual flamboyant show. The shopkeeper watched in amusement. Pete ignored her eyes.

"I sense a force beyond this world," Esmeralda said cryptically. "The answer to your question is..."

Pete bit his lip.

"Maybe."

Pete dropped his jaw. *MAYBE?*

"Piece of crap, that box," the shopkeeper said.

"Then get rid of it," Pete said angrily.

"Can't," shopkeeper said. "Too heavy. I've tried for like three years."

Pete cast her a glance. Defeated, he turned to go.

Until a light caught his eye. The fortune teller had lit up all by herself. And then the box lifted off the ground. Pete leapt backward, watching in amazement.

"Not this again," the shopkeeper grumbled. But Pete was rapt with attention. He would not dare tear his eyes away from Esmeralda.

"I sense a portal opening to a Toon world," she said. "Have you seen this portal?"

Pete smiled.

A message. A message from Toontown. A portal was soon to open. They wanted everyone to come back.

What could that mean? Pete thought as he left the Emporium and hurried to the police station. Was Toontown really okay? Was it really safe to come back? Were the Cogs gone? Or had a way been found to defeat them?

Or...

Pete slowed his pace.

Was it a trap? Had the Cogs found them?

And what about that message? How long had it been playing? Days? Weeks? What if it had been years? What if something happened to the Professor but Toontown was safe all this time and three years were gone forever?

Pete soon found himself at the door to the police station and descended the dark stairs to the morgue. The mortician was out. Pete let himself into the cold chamber and pulled the body of Dr. Nimbus out of the locker.

He looked strange as a human.

"I'm sorry, Cumulo," Pete said, tears fighting to the surface. He put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'll get everyone back."

Pete found Cumulo's journal on a table. He remembered hearing it was blank. Only the initial CN.

But when Pete flipped through the pages, rife with memories, he saw the words, the graphs, the instructions.

There it was, on the last page.

How to get back to Toontown.

But when he thought of Laura and Ash, he cried.

===TOONTOWN===

=Three Years Ago=

The Toon Council reconvened on the evening before the evacuation. The sun was beginning to set.

All were present, except Melville Jesop, Leader of the Docks, who was missing. Presumably swallowed in one of the Cog buildings.

"All of them?" Heidi Babel repeated in shock.

"Yes," Flippy said. "Every single Toon building has been taken over by Cogs."

Constance Miller spoke now, her usually kind and determined face marred by sadness and despair.

"Every street has fallen to the Cogs. They are marching on the Playgrounds. I don't know how long until they get to us..."

"They've come seemingly overnight," Flippy said, remembering his intelligence briefing. "Thousands of them."

"We suspect," Constance said, "that they may have constructed a factory in the South and have been creating more Cogs for months. And now they have struck in time to prevent our evacuation."

Christine Colette whimpered.

"The death toll..." Constance said, "has grown to over six hundred."

The room was silent. Constance was crying. Ichabod rested his head on Mortimer Myles. Flippy couldn't even look anyone in the eye.

"An evacuation," Flippy finally said, "is impossible."

Heidi openly wept.

"What do they *want* with us?" Heidi wailed. No one answered.

"What do we do?" Paula Behr said.

"The Emergency Portal," Mortimer Myles said with conviction. "We must."

Flippy nodded.

"That is our only option."

"When?" Heidi asked through sobs.

"As soon as possible," Paula said.

The phone on the table rang. Constance answered. She stifled a sob, putting a hoof to her face. She lowered the phone.

"The Gardens..." she said with a quick glance at Heidi. "The Gardens playground has been breached by Cogs."

"NO!" Heidi screamed. She fell out of her chair as she struggled to get to her paws. Her rabbit ears were drooped in anguish.

"Toonup!" Paula cried and helped Heidi.

"We need to act now," Ichabod said over the rising clamor of voices.

"Someone has to save those Toons!" Constance yelled.

"Call Dr. Nimbus!" Mortimer said to Flippy.

Flippy snatched up the phone and dialed Nimbus' number.

"Cumulo," he said quickly. "The Emergency Portal. We need it."

He looked at the table, at Heidi's grief-stricken face, the looks of horror and consternation.

"No," Flippy said, "Tonight."

The Gardens had been breached. Eileen remembered seeing the Cogs enter from Oak Street into the Playground. The Toons had screamed and ran, Eileen among them. She no longer had anyone to protect. They were gone.

Eileen had taken Elm Street, sprinting among the blockades of Cogs until she reached Silly Street, and onward to Toontown Central. It was a miracle she made it. She had watched no less than nine Toons die on the way. But there was no time to mourn. *Why* wasn't her transport hole working?

In the Toontown Central playground, everyone was in an uproar. There was hardly room to move around, but yet everyone was still moving. Trying to find loved ones, no doubt.

There was no loved one left for Eileen to find.

"These buildings," Eileen overheard, "are unlike anything I've ever seen!"

Eileen rounded on them.

"That is not true," she said. "These buildings have fallen before. They have already taken so much. But you--all of you--turned a blind eye. And now it's too late."

The Toon looked at the ground. Shame? Guilt? Eileen hoped so.

"Are you..." a mouse said quietly, "Eileen Irenic? Founder of the Resistance?"

Eileen just nodded.

"Will you save us?" the mouse said, almost begging. Eileen let her shoulders drop, her bite and sternness slipping away.

"I don't know how," she said. She looked at the Toon she snapped at. "I'm sorry."

The three professionals stood in the schoolhouse, not wanting to look at each other. Professor Pete, Dr. Nimbus, and Professor Prepostera. The three architects of the Emergency Portal, though even Pete thought that title was ridiculous. Nimbus did all the work. Prepostera designed the destination, and Pete provided some of the semantics, but Nimbus did everything else. It was Mayor Mickey Elias who entrusted the task to his hands, and now even the former Mayor would witness the use of the emergency system.

"It's called Fantasyland," Prepostera said, speaking of their destination. "The Toons will be given alternative identities and lives. They will retain their names and will probably occupy jobs similar to what they do here in Toontown."

"And their memories of this world will be gone," Nimbus said.

"Why?" Prepostera said.

"If we remember what we have lost," Nimbus said, "we will only want to return. To find our loved ones. To fix this."

"You have to remember," Pete said, "no one knows about the Emergency Portal. They are going to be a bit surprised as it's happening. But then they won't remember."

"Until they return," Nimbus said.

"So they are returning?" Prepostera asked.

"Of course," Nimbus said. "One day. I don't know when. That's our job."

Prepostera nodded.

Pete was going to Fantasyland too. That was essential. He had to help lead the Toons back. No matter how long it took. Time was...frozen in Fantasyland. Pete couldn't really comprehend it. But Prepostera and Nimbus were to stay behind in a bunker, and send a message through to Fantasyland when it was time for the Toons to return. If Prepostera died before that time came, the Toons would likely stay in Fantasyland forever. That's why Nimbus was staying too. To find a way around that.

"Alright," Prepostera rubbed his paws, "what's going to happen now?"

"Now," Nimbus said, putting his hand on a large glass orb resting on Pete's desk. Inside, clouds swirled and lightning struck against the sides. "Now we bring the rain."

Pete sighed. It had never rained in Toontown. Not ever. It probably did before and during the War, but afterward, the sun had always shone. But now Nimbus was going to bring rain. Memory rain. Rain to drain the memories of Toons so they cannot remember what they had lost.

"The rain will also electrocute the Cogs," Nimbus said eagerly. "Perhaps the buildings too. If we're completely lucky, we'll only be in Fantasyland for a few nights. The streets will be reverted back to normal by the rain. The climates too."

Pete gasped.

"What?"

Nimbus bounced on his toes.

"The clouds will shift the climate. I made sure of that. A counterclockwise shift. The climate will turn widdershins until it's back to normal."

"Why would we only be in Fantasyland a few nights?" Pete asked, a bit confused.

"Because," Nimbus said, "if all goes well and the rain kills the Cogs and buildings and changes the climate back to normal, we can all return at once."

"We still have no way to defeat the Cogs," Prepostera pointed out.

"I know," Nimbus said. "That's why you and I are staying behind. We'll work it out. From the safety of our bunker under Toon Hall."

The three stood in silence.

"It's almost charged," Nimbus said with a point at the orb. "It's sucking all the energy from the transport system so Toons cannot use their portals unless to go home."

"That could be dangerous," Pete said.

Before Nimbus could say anything, though he definitely agreed, the phone rang. Nimbus answered. As he listened, he mouthed "Flippy."

"Yes, sir," Nimbus said, "we can have it ready tomorrow morning..."

He paused and sucked in breath.

"I see."

He hung up.

"It's now," he said grimly. "It's time to bring the rain."

Pete and Prepostera didn't speak. But they were both thinking the same thing: they weren't ready.

"Well," Nimbus said, "are we ready?"

Prepostera and Pete nodded in what had become habitual silence. Together, they lifted the heavy orb off Pete's desk and took the stairs to the clock tower. It was a narrow spiral staircase only used in the original days of Toontown when the only neighborhood was Toontown Central. Dust was thick here, and Pete coughed up a hairball as they ascended.

"Gross," Prepostera muttered in what Pete interpreted more as normalcy than as an insult.

"Top," Nimbus grunted. He flopped open a door in the ceiling and the three architects clustered around the iron bell. Nimbus set the orb down on the ground. He jerked his head toward the back of the tower, where there was no railing, but it was away from the enormous crowd gathered in Toontown Central. It looked like there was only standing room in the Playground from Pete's perspective. And hundreds were flooding in from the streets. The Gardens had been breached. Which would fall next?

Nimbus opened the orb and a spark zapped his cheek. He winced in pain and the noise drew Pete's gaze away from the playground. The orb was opening on its own now, the glass sides melting away and the clouds and lightning inside drifting upward to the darkening sky. Pete expected to hear cries from the crowd at the sight of the blue lightning and grey clouds rising seemingly from the clock tower of the Toontown Central schoolhouse, but there was no such indication.

"Go," Nimbus said to Prepostera. "I'll meet you at the bunker."

Prepostera gripped one of Pete's shoulders and with his other hand took hold of Nimbus' arms.

"Godspeed, gentlemen."

"Go," Nimbus repeated with a quiver.

Prepostera fled down the stairs.

"I have to go home to Laura and Ash," Pete said. "We're going together."

Nimbus stood, watching the orb completely melt away and his rainclouds rise to the sky. The sky was blackening, grey clouds forming like a dark blanket.

"I'll come with you," Nimbus said. "See you off."

As Pete pulled out his transport hole, a scream shook him to his core. Careful not to fall off the clock tower, he hastened to the edge facing Toontown Central.

"No!"

The word escaped him at the sight of the Cog. The Mr. Hollywood waltzing through Loopy Lane's tunnel. Toons were screaming, clamoring, moving with terror away from the tunnels, pressing back onto the already thick crowd. Dozens disappeared into Toon Headquarters. Others jumped on the trolley, hiding behind it.

"It's starting," Nimbus said. At first, Pete thought he meant the Cogs, but above them, the first raindrops were falling. The clouds were now stretching in every direction, heading for the other playgrounds. The other locations of Toon dread. Where Cogs were marching to kill.

"Let's go," Nimbus said and he dropped his own transport hole. With one last look at Toontown Central and the impending doom, Pete jumped into his portal to home. To be with his family at the end of the world.

Flippy could hear the commotion outside. No doubt the Cogs had arrived. Flippy moved to the window of his office and opened the window. He saw rain, actual rain, dripping slowly on the grass. That was part of it, he imagined. He probably had to touch it.

Flippy looked around his office in sadness. This was his pride in his life. His office, metaphorically and physically. It was an honor to serve as Toontown's mayor, though a true burden to shoulder the weight of consequence his actions had brought. Everyone was dying because of him. He had been deceived by Dr. Molecule, that monster.

Flippy pushed open the screen on the window and stuck out his paw. A droplet fell into his palm. He drew his paw back inside and stared at the water pooling. It didn't evaporate, but was *absorbed* into his fur. He felt a sudden slight lightness in his head. He reached back for the window, when the sound of a transport portal opening up emanated through the office.

Flippy spun on the spot. No one could teleport into the Mayoral office. Only the Mayor.

A neon green duck shot upward from the ground, a victorious smirk etched on his face.

Dr. Molecule.

"You."

Flippy could think of nothing else to say. His anger had clouded his thought. *This* duck, *this* creature had committed the most horrendous crime. He had created killing machines. Leaches of happiness, harbingers of death.

"Hello, Mayor," Molecule said calmly. His orange flippers were crossed. He looked so calm. In the new world, Flippy thought, Molecule would be a criminal. He must be. And he would be caught and imprisoned and executed.

The malicious thought shook Flippy. He averted his gaze and decided to instead look back out the window.

"Good to see you again," Molecule said, moving around the desk to stand behind Flippy. "Everything has gone according to plan."

Flippy spun.

"What *plan*? What are you trying to do?"

Molecule only smiled. Flippy wanted to punch him. Molecule gestured outside, to the running Toons. A horde of Big Wigs were stomping out of Punchline Place, wagging their fingers, causing Toons to fall and lose laff.

"They're beautiful, aren't they? So coordinated, so determined, and so...unlike us."

"What's wrong with us?" Flippy demanded.

"This," Molecule said sincerely, taking Flippy's paw and placing it on his own chest. "Our laff. It weakens us."

"It *is* us," Flippy spat.

Molecule shrugged.

"Soon you'll see."

"What?" Flippy said. "How? You're going to kill us all."

Molecule's eyes went wide.

"Oh no no," he said, "not at all."

Molecule cocked his head, his duck eyes piercing Flippy's. "I thought you wanted this."

Flippy sputtered in indignation.

"Of *course* not! How could I? I never never ever wanted this!"

Molecule sat on the desk.

"You love power, Mister Mayor. You won't admit it openly but you do. You wanted to stay Mayor as long as possible but your second term will soon be up. Your opponent Slappy has decided to run for your succession, since you're ineligible. You'll be nothing but the man who destroyed Toontown. But..."

He winked.

"In your brave new world, you'll remain Mayor. When you all go beyond Toontown, you'll be locked in a universe where time doesn't pass. Leaving you Mayor forever."

Flippy was taken aback. Flippy had indeed wanted to stay Mayor, frustrated his second term was coming to its end. But the way Molecule described him...it made him sound evil. And...

No. What?

"How did you know that?" Flippy said in astonishment. "How did you know about the new world?"

The thought of Molecule getting locked up in the new world was quickly slipping away. What if Molecule evaded capture, again? Should Flippy arrest him now? With what? Would the Cogs stand for it? Where was Constance?

A scream outside made Flippy shudder. She could be dead.

"Relax," Molecule said, staring at Flippy with a look of bemusement. "I'm not going."

Now Flippy was outraged.

"Of course you're going! Everyone is going! You can't choose! It doesn't work like that!"

Thunder clapped outside and the rain began in a torrent. Molecule frowned at the sound of electrocution.

"Such a waste," he muttered. His eyes went back to Flippy. "No, I'm not going."

Flippy snatched the duck's shirt and pulled him off the desk, close to Flippy's face. He did so with such pugnacious force that Molecule was literally lifted off the ground.

"You're going with us," he spat. "You will be tried for your crimes, for your treachery, and you will be the first Toon executed since the War. Mark my words, doctor, I will hunt you down and capture your insane tail."

Molecule began laughing. He poked Flippy's nose, which startled him. He dropped the duck. Molecule backed away and pulled out his transport hole. With one final wicked smile, he leapt in the hole.

"I'll see you when you get back," he said.

## Production

### Continuity and Story Arcs

The evacuation order is given to the Toon population, setting the date for the mandatory event for the Friday of the week of Exodus.

After the first Toon death in "Remembrance," six more Toons died at the time of the first radio message of evacuation, bringing the total death toll to 7. The number would climb to several hundred by the time of Exodus.

An invasion occurred on the day before the planned evacuation, as Cogs took over every Toon building and began to advance on the Playgrounds.

By the time of Exodus, Eileen Irenic had formed the Toon Resistance, but it was too late to stop the Cog invasion.

Professor Pete admitted that Toons had been left behind during Exodus, including his family.

Professor Pete determined that the red pigment of the Mystery Man's skin in Fantasyland was indicative of him being a red Toon, though his species was indeteriminable.

Professor Pete saw Esmeralda in the Emporium and heard the cryptic message she had been delivering. He determined it was a message from Toontown that it was safe to return. Using Nimbus' journal, his notes now visible to him, he vowed to return the Toons to Toontown after three years of exile.

On the evening of Exodus, the day before the planned evacuation, an emergency Toon Council meeting is convened, though Melville Jesop is absent and missing. The Councilmembers realize that an evacuation is impossible and ask Nimbus to utilize the Emergency Portal that night.

The Council believes a factory has been constructed in the south of Toontown.

Professor Prepostera is first introduced as one of the three architects of the Emergency Portal, along with Professor Pete and Dr. Nimbus. The plan was to have Prepostera and Nimbus stay behind in order to do more research on the Cogs and make Toontown safe again for the Toons to return. Pete would go to Fantasyland to help leads the Toons back eventually. However, as is now evident, Nimbus never stayed behind and died on the trip to Fantasyland.

The memory rain designed by Dr. Nimbus was designed to not only wipe the memories of the Toons but also fix the wonky climate. With luck, the rain would activate the Emergency Portal, destroy the Cogs, reverse the Cog buildings, and restore the ruined climate.

The rain began to fall in Toontown on the day of Exodus.

As the rain fell in Toontown, Dr. Molecule reemerged and visited Flippy in his Mayoral office. He taunted him, telling him everything had gone according to plan, and insinuated that Flippy was okay with the Cog takeover and Exodus because it would allow Flippy to hold onto the power he craves. He also mentioned the new world in reference to Fantasyland. Flippy was astounded that Molecule knew about it and even more so to hear that Molecule had no intention of going to Fantasyland, which was not a choice Toons could make.

### References

When Clarabelle Cow was talking to Professor Pete about the party the previous night, she commented "a little party never killed nobody," the name of a Fergie song that played during the party scene of *The Greaty Gatsby*.

The Quarter in Fantasyland that Clarabelle referred to is a reference to the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, on which New Orleans Square is modeled in Disneyland.

Dr. Molecule called Fantasyland a "brave new world," a reference to Aldous Huxley's novel of the same name. The title of that book itself is derived from a phrase from William Shakespeare's *The Tempest*.

## Trivia

* The episode is named for the presumed apocalypse that Toons believe was coming to Toontown. It is also a reference to the Doomsday event of Toontown Rewritten, when the Cogs first arrived in that story of the game.

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