Terminal

**"Terminal"** is the tenth episode of *Revolution* and the 85th episode overall.

The episode was released on April 3, 2022.

In the episode, the leaders of the Free convene to make final preparations for the revolution.

## The Episode

—Antlerstag, Lyme, Cervidium—

—April 20, 1051—

—Ten Days Until Revolution—

Doctor hadn’t seen Slate Oldman for almost a week now. Whenever Bradley or himself asked about Slate’s well-being, they were informed matter-of-factly that Slate was still ill and “in recovery.” Doctor feared Slate had perished and the Doe was keeping the secret from them. Doctor and Bradley often sat in front of the single window in their room/prison and watched for flurries, an indication that Slate was alive.

It was in front of the window where Doctor and Bradley sat when there was a sole knock on their door and then it swung open. A parrot in military dress was standing there, his hat tucked under his arm.

“I have a message from the Macaw.”

Neither Doctor nor Bradley moved.

“Go on,” Doctor said. The soldier seemed perturbed, but he nonetheless said,

“The Macaw invites you to walk with him in the gardens.”

“Why?” Bradley replied at once. The soldier narrowed his eyes.

“It is His Magnificence’s wish.”

Clearly this was not a request that could be denied. Even if the Macaw’s loyalties were in question, he was a guest at Antlerstag. Any guest ranked higher than a prisoner, and so Doctor and Bradley acquiesced to the request.

As they followed the Psittancynesian soldier through the halls of Antlerstag, Doctor caught a glimpse of his reflection in a passing mirror. His fur was uneven, with tufts of white and grey interspersed with the blue. Doe Halley’s experimentations on him primarily dealt with his fur color, the same for Bradley. Scars were developing all over his body where injection sites had become infected and where the scalpel was cut too deeply. Doctor did not think, for now anyway, that any of the side effects would be long-lasting. The scars would last forever, sure, but his health was on the upswing. The worst part was being strapped to the roof in the cold.

Doctor reminded himself that it was the Macaw who ordered them off the roof, thus saving their lives. During the War, the Macaws of Psittancyna were allied with the Vixen Queen and Stags of Cervidium. Over three centuries had elapsed since then, but Psittancyna still existed, and there was still a Macaw. They had to be allies still, so why did the Macaw care so much about them? Why was he so fascinated with Toontown? It was disconcerting.

Macaw Kitt was waiting for them outside. He was leaning on a walking stick made of twisted wood. Doctor had seen him walking completely unaided before, so this cane was just for style. Kitt was always so colorfully dressed, as if each outfit must incorporate as many colors of the rainbow as possible. Once again, that tall crown was affixed to his head. A long cape flowed behind him on the paved walk.

“Good afternoon,” the Macaw greeted. “Thank you for joining me.”

“Did we have a choice?” Bradley grumbled.

“Of course,” the Macaw grinned. “I am not your keeper.”

Bradley raised an eyebrow.

“Then tell her to let us go.”

“Ah,” the Macaw sighed, “my powers are limited.”

He began strolling toward the tall hedges of the main drive. Antlerstag’s elaborate gardens were probably as large if not larger than the Gardens neighborhood in Toontown. From the upper window of their room/prison, Doctor and Bradley studied the labyrinths made of greenery. Everyday, the palace gardeners were out there trimming and tending to the living beast that surrounded Antlerstag. It was both beautiful and formidable.

The Macaw walked ahead of the Toons, but they were being followed. Both Psittancynesian and Cervidian guards were trailing them.

“Where’s Slate?” Bradley asked. “Is he alive?”

“Yes,” Kitt said. “But he’s not well.”

Doctor was relieved to hear that Slate was still alive, but if he still had not recovered from the torture Halley inflicted…

“You should know,” Kitt went on, “that the Doe has taken Slate to the labs for another experiment. She aspires to extract his power from him, something that has never been done before. BioFreak superpowers are irreversible, but Halley thinks she can change that.”

The thought was terrifying. Halley was no doctor, no surgeon, no scientist. She was just a child with a knife, stabbing and slicing away at her victims. If Slate ended up on Halley’s table again, he would not survive.

“The Doe is insane,” Bradley scowled. “She’ll kill him.”

“She’s being aided by a doctor from Vulpus,” Kitt said calmly. “Dr. Czufran Monet; I think you’re familiar.”

“Unfortunately,” Doctor mumbled. Dr.  Monet was no friend. She was just as wicked as Doe Halley.

The parrots and deer behind them were slowing down, just as Kitt picked up his pace. They were snaking through one of the hedge mazes now. Kitt seemed to know exactly where he was going.

“It’s nice to have some spring weather,” he said, completely changing the subject. “The Psittacorum is still freezing this time of year. It’ll defrost in June. If we’re able to get this mess here sorted out, I’d be delighted for you to visit me at the Canopy.”

“The what?” Bradley questioned bluntly.

“The Canopy. It is my home. A grand house, just like this one. It is perched atop the mighty Mount Altum, the tallest mountain in northern Cartonia. The Vixen Mountainrange has some taller peaks, I admit, but Mount Altum is the original apex of Cartonia.”

*If we’re able to get this mess here sorted out*, the Macaw had said. Doctor kept wanting the Macaw to be secretly on their side, trying to free them. But his interest in them was rooted in curiosity at best. He wasn’t their ally, or their friend. Just another Cartonian gawking at the Toons from the south. Doctor was waiting for the Macaw to resume his line of questioning from the other day. All of his Toontown questions had gone unanswered.

The Macaw took a sudden left through the maze, then an abrupt right. He removed the crown from his head and ducked between a gap in the hedges. He beckoned for Doctor and Bradley to follow. The shortcut was an oversight on the gardener’s part, not a sanctioned part of the maze. Kitt led them through another such opening.

“I think we’re good,” he said quietly.

“What—?” Doctor tried to say, but the Macaw cut him off.

“We’re out of earshot. I have to warn you. The Free is coming, but they are walking into a trap.”

“The Free?” Bradley gasped. “Coming for us?”

“Of course,” the Macaw whispered, “but they are doomed to fail. They’ll be here in a matter of days. You cannot rely on them. If you mean to escape, you’ll have to do it soon.”

Doctor was stunned. Was the Macaw truly on their side? Or was this another trap, like when Halley staged herself as Lee? His sudden revelation of inside knowledge of the Free’s impending rescue was suspicious.

“What’s the plan for—?” Bradley started. Kitt held a finger to his beak and pulled them back through the hedges. As the Macaw nonchalantly began walking toward the maze’s exit, the parrot and deer guards ran up behind them. Kitt glanced back at them with disinterest.

“Keep up, boys!” he called.

Doctor glanced at Bradley. What were they to believe?

—Talonclaw Castle—

*—Former Felexa*—

—April 22, 1051—

—Two Days Later—

The rainstorms subsided in time for the Big Four’s summit at Talonclaw Castle. Usa Uhuru stood out front with Benjamina, waiting for their arrivals. They’d be coming in packs, each armed with information critical to the success of the revolution.

The meeting would be conducted in the dungeons. This was to be the final conference between the revolutionary leaders. Piggy Pie and the other Toons were invited to be a part of it. Piggy wasn’t quite sure what role she could play in this revolution. Did she even want to be a part of it? It seemed to be moving at its own pace, spinning like a wheel toward its fate. Too many spokes might offset its balance and destroy the results.

Usa was a quarter of the Big Four. The other three leaders came throughout the course of the afternoon. Flo, the medic caring for Mickey, pointed out each of the leaders from the destroyed atrium of Talonclaw Castle. They were out of sight, watching the arrivals.

“That’s Shea Ernestevara,” said Flo for the first one. “She’s the mastermind of the invasion of Vulpus.”

Shea was a silver monkey with a green stripe running from her head down her back. It was artificial, like Mata’s dyed orange fur. She wore a billowing emerald robe. Most of the revolutionaries Piggy had met, such as Usa and Benjamina, wore mostly humble tunics. This one was draped in luxury.

“She’s wealthy,” Flo whispered, as if reading Piggy’s thoughts. “She was once an informant for the Vixen Queen. Double agent turned back to our side.”

“Can she be trusted?” Piggy asked, shocked.

“Dunno.”

Next to appear on the castle grounds was an armless chicken in military uniform. It was a Vulpine uniform, altered with various bands and colors to make it appear different. Piggy thought he might be trying to evoke the garments of the bygone Galligasque army. This was the first chicken Piggy had seen in Cartonia. Whereas Shea Ernestevara had come with dozens of other monkeys and species, the chicken traveled with only two other companions. Two deer. The sight of an “enemy” species set Piggy on edge, but Benjamina was overly delighted to see them. Usa even recognized them and kissed their cheeks.

“That’s Pyotr Osvoboda,” Flo said, indicating the chicken. “He lost his arm in the BioFreak experiments. Those two deer rescued him from extermination. He’s been living on their farm in Cervidium.”

Pyotr Osvoboda glimpsed Piggy lurking in the shadows, but he didn’t stop as he headed for the dungeons.

The last of the three was a looming bear, twice as tall as Piggy, who swaggered past Usa and Benjamina with a cursory “hello.” Flo snickered in Piggy’s ear.

“Culper Tallmadge. Giant, oaf, or both?”

“Is he ineffectual?” Piggy asked, craning her neck as he passed.

“He runs a spy ring around Cartonia,” Flo explained. “Many of the spies die during their assignment, and he’s taken a lot of the flack. One of the doctors I worked with last year said Culper can’t take accountability.”

“Great,” Piggy muttered. The Free’s leadership was not without its faults. If Culper was indeed reckless with those in his charge, then Piggy was lucky that Usa rescued the Toons instead. Then again…six of them were dead.

Once Culper and his team had headed down into the dungeons, Usa and Benjamina came back through the broken doors to Talonclaw Castle. A battalion of Free soldiers posted watch on the front lawn. Flo tugged on Piggy’s sleeve, and they descended to the dungeons.

—

One of the dungeons was larger than the others. The night before, Usa and the others mucked it out so it would be relatively clean for the summit. Natural sunlight pushed through a crack in the surface. The rest of the room was lit with lanterns to avoid smoke billowing into the air and choking them.

The Big Four were joined by Benjamina, Piggy Pie, and Eileen. After his heart attack, Mickey was instructed to rest. Flo was with him, as was Alice Carver.

“My people are ready,” Shea Ernestevara announced. “There are hundreds gathered in pockets, awaiting invasion. Hundreds more are coming down through the Death Fields on trucks. We won’t move in until the last day, until the thirtieth of April. I have nothing new to report, for we have made our peace with whatever outcome results from the first of May.”

Shea was the closest thing the Free had to a proper army general. She was strategic and ruthless. Once, she had been an informant for the Vixen Queen. She rooted out espionage among the monkeys, but turned back to the Free. Usa wasn’t exactly sure why, but there were rumors that she had a female lover, who was strung up for her sexual proclivities. It never seemed right for such punishments to exist, yet Usa never considered reforming the law until she met the Toons and learned about Toontown’s liberating policies.

“In two days time,” Pyotr Osvoboda said to the group, “we will be moving into Lyme to rescue the Toons from Antlerstag.”

Eileen and Piggy perked up, leaning in. Pyotr noticed them in his periphery. “We have been given an inside operative who can spring them from imprisonment. I understand there is a division in their number; the BioFreak has been taken to an unknown location by the Doe. She means to extract his ability from him.”

Eileen audibly gasped.

“She’s what?”

Osvoboda shook his head. His one arm quivered.

“The Doe is a monster. She’ll kill him. Our operative has been instructed to get the other two—Doctor Smith and Bradley Wolfe—out safely. Perhaps they know where Slate Oldman is and can enable a later rescue.”

“That’s not good enough!” Piggy stated. “You have to get all three.”

Osvoboda sighed. He understood more than anyone the peril of BioFreak experimentation and torture. He lost his arm and his innocence because of them.

“I am doing what I can, Eileen Irenic.”

Eileen squirmed.

“You know my name?”

“Of course,” Osvoboda replied. “Everyone does. You’ve made quite a splash.”

Usa became aware that her comrades were gawking at the Toons. There they were, nothing like what had been promised. And yet more than Usa could have hoped, in some ways. They didn’t come with weapons, but they came with knowledge and hope for a future Cartonia had not the privilege to have.

“Pyotr,” Benjamina interjected. “Have you…heard confirmatory reports on the deportations in Gallix?”

Osvoboda’s face fell.

“I have heard that the rumors are true, and that I may be one of the last chickens on the mainland.”

Usa took a deep breath before revealing what she had seen and experienced on Eusuchia. She mentioned Heinrich Meyer and how he had proven to be both a valuable asset and a key insider to taking down the monarchy. Of course, what the others latched onto was the long-feared confirmation that the Vixen Queen was carrying out mass-exterminations on the island.

“They’re death factories,” Culper Tallmadge gasped. “They built those specifically to handle the rigorous demands of their dastardly intent!”

“There’s an extinction schedule,” Benjamina added gravely. “If we don’t act, we’ll all be dead before the end of the decade.”

Eileen stood.

“But *why*? That’s the thing I cannot understand. Why would these Queens wipe out whole populations?”

To Usa, the answer was plain.

“They think they’re better than us.”

Eileen was not satisfied.

“They’re taking thousands of people out of the workforce. And from what has been described to me—and no offense, Pyotr—the chickens have been basically doing slave labor. Who’s going to take over once they’re all dead?”

Usa shrugged.

“Deer, maybe. In the end, it’ll just be foxes and deer. Evil and wicked, together.”

“There’s more,” Eileen said. “No one is just evil for evil’s sake.”

Usa cocked her head.

“The Cogs?”

“Those were robots,” Eileen retorted.

Shea raised an eyebrow at Usa.

“What is the Cogs?”

Usa waved her paw. A story for another day.

“Eileen is to be commended,” Benjamina resumed. “She suggested we send Skulksmarshall Rook James to Eusuchia. Our report from Heinrich Meyer indicates that Rook did not realize what was going on there.”

“In what way?” Culper pressed. “He didn’t realize there were mass extinctions or that they were being carried out in such a way?”

It was unclear. Heinrich reported that Rook emotionlessly left, but there had been clear confusion as to why the Vixen Queen had sent him to Eusuchia. Heinrich noted that at one point during the slaughter, Rook’s lips separated in the slightest display of surprise or shock.

“Has there been any activity from Rook since?” Shea asked. “Or a message?”

Benjamina and Usa paused before admitting that nothing had ultimately become of Rook’s trip to Eusuchia.

“It was still a strong idea,” Benjamina said, nodding at Eileen. “We want to do something similar for Skulksmarshall Tick Hunter and her minion Jewellia. Maybe we can shake one of them.”

Culper snorted a laugh.

“Skulksmarshall Hunter once almost took a bullet for Vella Vixen. He is unshakable.”

“Jewellia was raised with her,” Shea agreed. “They’ve been best friends since youth. If one of them was going to turn, it’d definitely be Rook. But time is running out for him to join us. If I see him on the first of May, I’ll ensure crocodile extinction myself.”

Usa winced. There was obviously no way to know for certain, but if Rook was truly the last crocodile in Cartonia—and if Toontown was truly bereft of crocodiles—then Rook’s death would indeed mean the end of a  species. There was a finality to that, something that could not be reversed. Not without a miracle.

“Usa?” said Osvoboda. “What other updates do you have?”

“Oh,” Usa stammered. “Sorry, I was thinking about…never mind. The towns and cities are prepared for their uprisings. I feel best about Valdastadt and Vannastadt, but I’m worried for some of the communities in Mallardia. There obviously won’t be anything in West or East Gallix given the populations were shipped to Eusuchia. There will be small-scale revolts in Vista itself, but I wouldn’t count on large reinforcements. Those residing there are hesitant, but many will stand with us.”

“Foxes?” Piggy blurted.

“The ones in Vista?” Usa said. “Yes, most if not all are foxes.”

“How do you feel about our chances?” Shea put to Usa. She clucked her tongue.

“30% it goes well.”

“Hm,” Shea sighed. “I was thinking 35.”

“20,” Culper grumbled.

Eileen and Piggy were openmouthed, but Usa ignored them. They were used to smaller battles, not a full-scale revolution. It was not going to be easy. Nothing like this had ever been attempted before. The foxes always found out before. This time…this time, they’d take them by surprise!

“Well, just me left, then,” Culper Tallmadge said. “I’m afraid I am the one bearing bad news, though I don’t mean to discredit the horrors Usa described on Eusuchia Island. My informant has been discovered by the Rook of Vulpus palace guards. She was executed three nights ago.”

“*What!*” Shea bellowed. “That was our ticket into the castle!”

“I know,” Culper moaned. “I know. I still haven’t told her family…they’ll be crushed.”

Piggy and Eileen looked bemused. Usa had explained to each of them the plan for the revolution, but they must have forgotten. Culper’s operative was the person who was going to assassinate the Vixen Queen as the revolution raged. Her disembodied head would be brandished from the Rook of Vulpus as the foxes engaged in battle with the Free. There would be no trial for Vella, who despite being on the throne for a month represented three centuries of tyranny. In her month as Queen, Vella Vixen had conquered yet another peaceful territory and killed the heirs to three kingdoms. The exterminations had intensified under her scepter, and were not going to stop. She was just as worse as her mother. It all needed to be stopped.

“Can you find a replacement?” Benjamina asked. Culper’s eyes went wide.

“To get inside the Rook of Vulpus and assimilate into the ranks of the guard? Not possible. Can I get an assassin inside? Yes.”

Usa raised her paw.

“I’ll do it.”

Culper had passed her over the first time when he chose one of his tenured spies for the assignment. The decision had come down simply to species. The dead spy was a fox, and Usa was an elephant. Culper would rather have someone living among the Vixen Queen turning on her than have someone barge in at the eleventh hour and take her down. Things had changed, and Usa wanted to be the one to end this for Cartonia.

“You, Usa?” Shea questioned. “Weren’t you planning to join me on the battlefield?”

“Duty is calling,” Usa replied. “Destiny, really. Why not me?”

No one protested. Culper even seemed pleased.

“There’s a covert entrance to the catacombs beneath the palace through the Mausoleum to Queen Vixen VII. You cannot go alone. I’ll arrange for some foxes to join you.”

“Can I go?” Eileen volunteered. “I have beef with Vella too. I’m useless on a battlefield but I can sure as hell do combat with Vella.”

“Same,” Piggy grinned. “I’m coming with.”

Culper was not on board with the idea of two Toons without his infamously rigorous training. Nonetheless, Usa trusted them. And they had been inside the Rook before! They knew where the Vixen Queen’s chambers were firsthand.

“Are the catacombs really accessible through a mausoleum?” Piggy asked quietly. Culper nodded.

“Not just any mausoleum. Kindly remember it is *the* mausoleum. Queen Vixen VII. The most revered monarch in all of Vulpus is buried there. It is a pilgrimage site as much as it is a final resting place. Tread carefully there. It’ll be guarded.”

“We can discuss that later,” Usa said. “We should for now discuss the greater role we want the Toons to play in the revolution. I think—“

A lookout burst into the room. He blew out the lantern nearest him.

“Trucks are approaching the castle!” he hissed. “Hide!”

Usa leapt to her feet. She crossed the room and threw her arms around Piggy and Eileen.

“Stay close,” she cautioned. “You mustn’t be found.”

She searched the dungeons for the best place to hide the Toons. Mickey and Alice joined them in the corridor as the others scrambled to mask their presence.

*Thud. Thud*.

Usa craned her neck. There were footsteps above them.

—Toontown—

Hyla had always been fascinated by the Cogs. She kept spare parts from them over the previous year. Kilo didn’t like to tinker with them as much as she did, but he was grateful she had the foresight to keep them even after the Cogs were defeated at the Deluge.

There was still much to be done before Kilo could properly construct a Tooncog, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t start basic assembly. He just wanted to try connecting parts together, to see what fit and what didn’t. Hyla never accumulated all the pieces to a single Cog out of fear that it might resurrect itself. Instead, her collection was a hodgepodge of various parts that may or may not fit.

The babies were in three identical bassinets in the corner of the lab. Kilo tapped each with his foot periodically to bounce them up and down.

As Kilo lifted a coil of a Pencil Pusher’s leg and began to wrap it around the apparatus once belonging to a Tightwad, the front door to his home burst open.

Kilo dropped what he was working on and turned instinctively to his children. Footfalls on the stairs echoed in his ears. Four or five foxes raced into the basement, into Kilo’s lab, and caught him red-handed. The Tooncog blueprints were face-up on the table.

“Gotcha,” one of the foxes sneered. “Commandant Einfach was right. You’re up to no good.”

He snapped at the other foxes.

“Take the children into the custody of the state.”

“No!” Kilo shouted, lunging for his babies. The foxes swept the bassinets out of his arms. “No, please!”

“Kilo Byte,” the fox smiled, “you’re under arrest for treason. Name your co-conspirators and your children can stay with you.”

Kilo loved his children, loved them dearly. He’d rip apart the world for them, but the foxes would take his kids with or without the names of the Resistance.

“I act alone.”

—Talonclaw Castle—

—*Former Felexa*—

Piggy Pie and the other Toons were brought to a corner cell and covered in debris and other miscellany to shield them. Mickey’s lumbered breathing resonated in Piggy’s ear. Eileen and Alice were gripping Piggy’s trotters. Mickey whimpered when he heard the footsteps from above descend into the dungeons. Whoever it was had found them.

It must be Vella. There was no way that the Free could take shelter in a former castle and think they could get away with it.

But Piggy couldn’t see anything through the stuff piled on top of them, so she waited. She waited and listened and hoped and prayed that this was not the end. That she wouldn’t die in this awful place so close to the revolution. When she left Toontown, she didn’t even have time to say goodbye to her brothers. She must see them again. She must.

Someone spoke in the corridor. A female voice that was vaguely familiar. Vella?

Usa then responded. Then Benjamina. Someone started laughing.

“Who is that?” Piggy asked when the voice spoke again.

“I can’t place it,” Eileen whispered back.

Someone then removed the debris from on top of the Toons. It was Shea, who helped them out. When Piggy headed into the corridor, she was shocked to see that the voice belonged to someone she believed to be dead.

It was Cale Metfin.

The duck was a familiar face, but her status as friend or foe was questionable. Always had been, ever since the *Chipper* exploded.

“*You!*” Eileen scowled. “Murderer!”

Cale averted her eyes. She was not alone. There were three others behind her. Two were dressed in rags, torn and unkempt navy uniforms. Piggy Pie recognized the outfits from the soldiers on *The Imperial Conqueror*. All three were chipmunks, but the third was dressed lavishly. Jewels and gems hung from his neck, his clothes, and from his pierced ears.

“Not murderers, necessarily,” Culper Tallmage said skeptically, “but Scuridian pirates are not the warmest of bedfellows.”

“What happened at the vineyard, Cale?” Usa demanded. “You were supposed to protect the Beckers.”

Cale still did not meet anyone’s gaze. She just stared at the floor.

“Rogue pirates,” she muttered. “They came in the middle of the night. Forced us to the barn. They ransacked the house, took everything valuable. They were outlaws, banished from the sea by the Chequer. They killed the Beckers first, then Jackquez and Frances. They were going to kill me, but I demanded to be taken to their captain. I said I…I told them I knew where the Harmony Crown is.”

Usa softly inhaled. Only Piggy heard it.

“Do you?” Shea Ernestevara pressed. Cale shook her head.

“I lied. It worked. They took me to the Bay. Once I was on the water, I knew I could escape. I’m good with water. I thought there might be someone who could help us, and I found him.”

She absently turned to the lavishly-dressed chipmunk behind her.

“Is that the captain?” Benjamina asked. The chipmunk smirked.

“In a way,” he answered. “I am Alvo, Chequer of Scuridiae.”

Piggy reassessed him. There was a sophistication to the way he held himself, but he looked just as disheveled as the others. A pirate’s life, she assumed. When he said his name, she felt a pang of a painful memory. On the night her brother, Hog, died in the *Chipper* killings, they had been aboard a Scuridian boat. A life ring with Alvo’s name on it was hanging on deck. Hog had asked about it.

Here he was. A pirate. Great.

“What do you want?” Shea demanded. “Cale, can we trust him?”

Since both were asked a question, both answered.

“We can trust him,” assured Cale.

“I want to stop the Vixen Queen,” bellowed Alvo. “Scuridiae is a dying nation thanks to her and her mother, and her mother, and so on. Why wouldn’t we want to take her down?”

“You have the seas,” Usa said. “The Scuridian have long enjoyed the independence of the water.”

Alvo laughed.

“And do you think we spent all those decades acquiring that independence and charting the seas so that we could sit idly by when revolution came? No, that has been my family’s mission since the beginning. Take the water, and cut off the Vixen Queen’s ports. Cale tells me the revolution is to begin on the first of May. You can count on the chipmunks to engage the Vixen Queen in naval warfare. We will plunder every port city and fight those who fight in her name. We’ll send Vulpus to the bottom of the ocean!”

Shea crossed her arms.

“What’s in it for you?”

Alvo was perturbed by the question.

“Peace. A just world.”

“And you want a seat at the table that decides what that just world looks like, right?” Shea continued. She was direct with her questions, but Alvo admitted that she was right.

“The chipmunks have been excluded from any circle of power since the end of the War,” he lamented. “We want a voice again. All species do.”

“Even the parrots?”

It was Culper Tallmadge who spoke. Alvo regarded the spymaster with unease.

“The Macaw is not trustworthy. He plays both sides. He’ll simultaneously support the Free’s revolution and the Vixen Queen’s ambitions so that he’ll always emerge unscathed from the conflict. I’ve ceased communications with him, and haven’t spoken to him in years. Beware his loyalties.”

—Toontown—

Kilo was visited in his cell by Commandant Hans Einfach. The cell was one of thirty in the basement of Toontown Central’s Toon Headquarters. A good number had been damaged by the Cogs when they broke Clarabelle Cow and Blair Fawkes—Vella Vixen—out of jail. The foxes had done some work to restore the cells, but it wasn’t fully repaired yet. Kilo had been, of course, locked up in one of the intact cells.

Hans wheeled a television monitor in front of the bars. But instead of switching it on, he waved a stack of papers in Kilo’s face.

“Tooncogs, eh?” he posited, disappointed. “I had real respect for you, Kilo. The Vixen Queen calls you a genius, and I believe her. You are quite exceptional, but you’re wasting your talents on…robots? For the Toons. For this itty bitty town. What did you think you were going to do? Sic the Tooncogs on us? As if we’d be defenseless against them. Nothing and nobody can stand up to the might of the Vulpus Empire.”

“What do you want?” Kilo scowled.

Hans grinned.

“I want you to join us. Enjoy the luxuries at the House of Vixen. The Queen could use you in the capital. You can have the best laboratory in the world. You will have the ear of the Queen. You and you alone can revitalize our technology!”

“What about Hyla?” Kilo rebuffed. “I won’t go to the capital without her.”

Hans twitched. A bad feeling crept over Kilo.

“Think about it,” Hans said slowly. “Toontown will fail in any uprising against us. Of course we know one is coming, and then we shall crush it. This town will be massacred, but you and your children can survive. We can have you on a boat to Vista by the end of the week. I need only your sworn fealty to the Vixen Queen.”

Kilo backed away from the bars. In Toontown, words meant something. A sworn statement of allegiance to the *Vixen Queen* would destroy his soul. Hyla would never forgive him. The foxes wanted him badly, which gave him a bit of power.

“I am giving you a choice,” Hans said, losing patience. He picked up the television’s remote. “Choose Vulpus, and I open this cell door. Choose Toontown, and I press play and you stay here and watch it on loop.”

Kilo stared, not sure what he was talking about.

“Where are my children?”

“Safe in our care,” Hans deadpanned. “Vulpus or Toontown, Kilo?”

“What are you going to do to them?”

“Vulpus or Toontown?”

“*Where are they?”*

“*Vulpus or Toontown?!”*

Anger bubbled up inside Kilo and burst to the surface.

“Toontown!”

Hans’s eyes flared. He smashed his thumb against the remote’s play button. The monitor switched on.

There was a courtyard made of stone and brick. A scaffolding was in the center, encircled by wood and kindling. Someone was tied to the pole in the center of the scaffolding. Someone pink.

*Hyla*.

There were foxes around the perimeter of the courtyard, watching. The video had no sound. Hyla was beaten, bloodied, and bruised. A fox approached and lit the kindling with a torch. Hyla’s eyes were closed. When was this? Was this happening now?

Hans was emotionless, studying Kilo as he watched his wife immolated, murdered on screen. Once the video ended, Hans set the monitor on a loop so the video would never stop. Kilo was frozen, rooted to the spot, and Hans walked away.

All the lullabies Kilo sang his children, promising them their mother would be coming home, were lies. She died in Cartonia. She was murdered. By *her*. By the Vixen Queen.

He had made the right decision to side with Toontown. Even from prison, even from here, he would fight against the Vulpine shackles.

He would avenge Hyla.

*Hyla*.

His knees gave out, and he collapsed.

—Talonclaw Castle—

Usa chose Culper Tallmadge. He was a secret-keeper after all. His role on the first of May was to ferry messages and decode encrypted correspondence from Vulpus. He was not going to be on the battlefield, which made him a safe person to know about the Harmony Crown.

The Big Four knew that the Crown had been taken by Tick to the Vixen Queen. No one in the capital had seen it, but Usa was optimistic it was still extant.

Usa took Culper outside, walking far away from the others. Once they were completely alone, Usa confided in him the secret of the Harmony Crown.

“Oh,” he said. “That’s…dangerous.”

“Extremely, in the wrong hands.”

“It is in the wrong hands.”

Usa nodded.

“I have to get it back.”

Culper inclined his head.

“Ah. So that is why you want to go to Vista. Sure, sure, you want to be the one to kill the Vixen Queen, but you also want that Crown.”

It was the reason she volunteered, actually more so than being the assassin. But the sooner the Vixen Queen died, the sooner she could start searching the palace for the Harmony Crown. It had to be there somewhere! The Vault, the High Tower, the catacombs, the Vixen Queen’s bedchamber. Those were the likely options.

“Perhaps…” Culper mused, “you guarded the secret too closely?”

“What do you mean?” Usa retorted. “I had to—“

“A secret can be kept for too long.”

Usa ignored him. She pictured the Rook of Vulpus again, and all the hiding places where the Vixen Queen would be most likely to stash the artifact. Eileen and Piggy would both have to be on the lookout for the Crown as well. As far as they knew, it was just a symbolic piece of metal.

How wrong they were.

—Vista, Vulpus—

Most shops in Vista closed at 9:00 in the evening. Then, there was a three hour gap before the black market shops opened at midnight in the back alleys and undercities of the capital.

Mata Hairy visited one such establishment in the early hours of the morning. It was located in the eroding cellar of one of the slummiest tenements in the city’s outer regions. Mata wrinkled her snout at the living conditions down here.

The peddler was once a jeweler for a renowned store in Vista, but an economic recession put him out of work, and it wasn’t long before he turned to the black market to support him and his family.

“Beautiful monkey,” he greeted as Mata came in through the secret entrance. “I have what you seek!”

He went to a chest of drawers and removed a special tool made of copper. It looked like a set of tweezers. Mata held them in her paw and tested out the functionality. They appeared to work.

“And this won’t damage gemstones?” Mata asked.

“Nope,” the peddler beamed. “The tips are scratch-proof. My buddy stole that from the old castle forge in Viallastadt.”

Mata smiled.

“How much?”

“1,200 marks.”

Mata had no idea if that was a lot or not. She opened the bag she stole from a Vista native and dug out a bunch of cash. She tossed several wads to him.

“Keep the change.”

The peddler didn’t bother counting it up. It was clearly more than she should have paid, but then again it wasn’t her money.

“What are you doing with such a tool, anyway?” the peddler asked, inspecting her pale grey eyes hidden beneath her hood. Mata stuck the tool in the bag.

“Oh, nothing really,” she replied. “There’s just this old crown I found…”

## Production

### Continuity and Story Arcs

The Tooncog plan developed in “Hang Together” fell apart when it was discovered in Toontown.

In the third season episode, “Wistful Oceans,” the *Chipper* had life rings with Chequer Alvo’s name on it. This life ring is also featured in Contact’s official poster.

Kilo Byte learned that Hyla Sensitive was executed.

Mata Hairy made her first appearance since “Common Sense,” revealing she was still in Vista.

Usa Uhuru confided in Culper Tallmadge the still unknown secret of the Harmony Crown.

## Trivia

* The title of this episode is named after the codename "TERMINAL" for the 1945 Potsdam Conference between the Allied Powers of World War II (United States, United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union). The title was not quoted in the episode.
* Shea Ernestevara is named after Ernesto Che Guevara, a renowned revolutionary.
* Pyotr Osvoboda is named after leaders of the Soviet Union's 322nd Rifle Division which liberated Auschwitz (three of their names were Pyotr). His surname, Osvoboda, is based on the Russian word for “liberator.”
* Culper Tallmadge is named after Benjamin Tallmadge, leader of the Culper spy ring during the American Revolution.
* The Big Four is based on the Big Four alliances of the two World Wars.
* In many respects, this episode is similar to “Two Moths Drawn to the Flame,” which also revolved around military alliance planning.