Equinox

**"Equinox"**is the second episode of *Contact* and the 37th episode overall.

The episode was published on December 4, 2019.

In the episode, with the Cartonians locked in jail, the Toons assess the current situation with the crumbling Cog Nation. Flippy and Eileen analyze how to move forward in the final push against the Cogs. Mickey Elias struggles with a message from the past.

## The Episode

---The Mayoral Vault---

--12 Years Ago--

-Before the Cogs-

Mayor Mickey Elias frowned at the Vault. Exclusive to the Mayors of Toontown and safely nestled in the back of the Museum of Toontown, the vault was a mess. Since the only Toons allowed inside were the very-busy Mayors, the place had not been cleaned in ages. Dust and grime were not even the greatest concern. There was just so much *stuff*. Mickey had only removed from the vault the Mayor’s Manifest, which he read in the hope of finding guidance in his Mayorship.

It was the middle of the night. He had just had the worst nightmare of his life. A vivid, lucid dream of a fox invasion. Closing his eyes, he could still see them pouring over the mountains in an avalanche, spilling into the Brrrgh and Dreamland. In less than a day, Toontown was enslaved. He was still the Mayor, and he could do nothing to stop the carnage. By week’s end, the foxes had determined that Toontown was useless, and everyone was slaughtered.

He had gasped into consciousness, soaked with sweat and shaking in bed. There was zero chance he was going to be able to fall back asleep, so he clambered out of bed and teleported to the Museum. The Vault needed to be sorted through anyway. This was as good a time as any.

Mickey chose a corner of the room and started there. He tried to cluster objects together that were similar, or had some relation to another. The bust of Mayor Card Tatum, the last elephant in Toontown, clumped with a portrait of Mayor Evie Chompers, one of the final crocodiles. The private diaries of Mayor Lisa Ratigan with the only published copy of Mayor Oswald Locke’s autobiography. Nothing was chronological, and things from the most recent Mayor rubbed shoulders with the oldest relics in the Vault. Truthfully, most of this stuff should be out in the Museum. Why was it back here gathering dust and turning to rust?

As he moved another portrait of four Mayors in front of the newly-refurbished Toon Hall, a glass compartment on the wall revealed itself. The small window covering the alcove had turned opaque over the years, but Mickey was easily able to slide the glass to see the compartment’s contents.

It was a single envelope, the ink preserved in the shadows. Mickey imagined it was due to his nightmare, but his heart was racing. He removed the envelope and inspected the inscription:

**A FOX INVASION OF TOONTOWN**

*Dated May 29, Year 17*

Mickey gasped. He had just seen that. He had just dreamt it. Only it didn’t feel like a dream. He wasn’t superstitious, but had he just experienced a vision? Was this the future? If it was, Toontown was woefully unprepared. Most Toons didn’t even know simple self-defense. There was no need for it. This was a happy town, a cheerful town, a haven from the atrocities of the Kingdoms. The greatest threat facing Toontown was its stagnant economy, teetering on collapse. And he didn’t like to think about that. His second term was almost over anyway.

But Mickey wanted to open the envelope. He wanted to read what it said. The Vault was built by the founders, as they had constructed Toon Hall. This could be from the first Mayor: Maximillian Walters. The historian from the Kingdom of Canis who fled with hundreds of others to establish Toontown. What did he think of a fox invasion? Was there an emergency contingency plan already in place? And how horrible to think that if Mickey had not discovered this envelope, no one would know!

Mickey tore open the envelope. He needed to know. He skimmed the page, and frowned. His eyebrows fell in confusion.

*What?*

This…

*What!*

He reread it. Over and over. His mind spun in different directions, deep in disbelief.

Then, he tore up the letter. No one could know what he just read. Regardless of what the end had implied, this was proof that the original founders had not prepared properly for the event of a fox invasion. He would have to find some way to protect the Toons from the threat that very likely still existed north of their town.

By sunrise, the bones of the Emergency Portal were firmly set in his mind.

---Cashbot Headquarters---

-Present Day-

At night, Flippy landed among the wreckage of the trains in the center of Cashbot Headquarters. Lawbot HQ was a bust; the District Attorney was hell bent on assuming power over the Cogs, and Lawbots were always a selfish bunch.

The Sellbot and Bossbot HQs were officially destroyed. Bossbot immersed in the Bay of Toontown, and Sellbot damaged beyond repair. Just like the collapse of Lawbot Tower Two, Sellbot Towers were structurally unsound. It was only a matter of time before they fell into the pit or off the cliffs.

Even though the Toons were preoccupied with the arrival of the Cartonians from the north—Flippy had seen the sail unfurl in the harbor as he hovered above the Docks—he had a job to do: destroy the Cogs for good. He had a unique advantage; no one knew he was a Toon in Cog’s clothing.

Actually, two advantages. He was the only Bossbot left. And he was a Big Cheese. That meant something to the lower tiered Cogs.

Evidently, not Lawbots.

The Cog network was afire in his mind, with distress signals being sent out from the bottommost level of the Bullion Mint. The Cogs, crying out for help.

The elevator to the Bullion Mint had plunged into the shaft, and Flippy frowned at the cavernous plunge. Activating his rotor, he lowered himself into the abyss. He took care not to verge from the center, or else scrape the walls and fall to a certain death. He couldn’t die yet. Toontown still needed him.

Surviving his sacrifice on Loopy Lane last year came as a great shock to him. He remembered hearing Piggy Pie shriek as he somersaulted into the silo of the Cog building. He could still feel the pain as the lightning that powered Operation Sever ripped his body to shreds. Then, a feeling of levitation as the remnants of his laff floated upward, seeking a host. An empty shell of a Cold Caller suit became his new life form. In a way, he had been reborn.

He often thought about why other Toons that died from Cog attacks were not able to experience rebirth. He assumed it was because his laff was used to destroy the lightning, and there was some chemical reaction or something scientific that spared him. Maybe Dr. Byte or Dr. Sensitive would be able to figure it out. It didn’t really matter to him. He knew that once they found a way to defeat the Cogs for good, he’d die.

It was a thought he tried not to have, but part of him couldn’t trust himself. What if the Cog part of him overtook the Toon, and he became a regular Big Cheese? What then? Would he be like Doctor and Smokey Joe, prisoners in their mind? Or like Ash Ingalls, the one who had suffered the most in this whole ordeal?

Flippy’s feet landed on the bottom of the elevator shaft. Rather, on top of the broken elevator. Using his robotic strength, he opened the elevator doors and entered Floor B50 of the Bullion Mint.

The halls were deserted, but Flippy knew any survivors would gather together in the bullion vault. After the Toons began invading Cashbot Headquarters with regularity, the Cogs renovated some of the chambers to be booby traps or deadly obstacles in order to halt the Toons. Unfortunately for the Cogs, Toons were clever and easily sidestepped these distractions. Flippy had to fly over a literal pit of lava—where’d they get *lava*?—to reach the end of the mint floor.

The Cashbot Bullion Supervisor was the first face Flippy saw when he opened the vault. The Robber Baron looked relieved.

“Sir,” he said instantly. “We await news. And orders.”

Flippy counted seventy or more Cashbots gathered in the vault.

“Are there others?”

“On the other floors, perhaps. Not many. A rogue train crashed into the Dollar and Coin Mints. There was a deluge from the Bay, and the tunnels flooded, along with the other Mints.”

Flippy nodded.

“Bossbot Headquarters is destroyed. All Bossbots are dead. The crag collapsed into the Bay; that’s the flood you described. Sellbot HQ is offline. The Lawbots have refused my aid and authority.”

“The Chairman?” a Loan Shark pressed.

“Dead.”

“That is unfortunate,” a dozen Cashbots said together. Flippy nodded.

“I will assume control of the Cashbots and Sellbots. When the Lawbots are ready, we will reunite with them. For now, we must recover and rebuild for the glory of Cog Nation.”

“To hell with the Sellbots,” a Tightwad said. “They’re weak.”

“Sellbots are scum,” a Money Bags said, spitting oil on the ground. “We don’t want to work with them.”

“Let them die,” the Mint Supervisor agreed.

That was easier than Flippy expected. The Sellbots were helpless without leadership. They were going to self-destruct if left alone. Perfect.

“We will establish base in the Cashbot Vault,” Flippy said, weary of being so far underground when the other two Mints flooded. “Send the word to all Cashbots. Warn all of the District Attorney in Lawbot Headquarters. I believe he seeks to become the next Chairman. We mustn’t allow Lawbots to assume control.”

“Only Bossbots can be Chairman,” a group of Cogs said in unison.

“The Lawbots have overstepped,” a Loan Shark chimed in.

The Cogs were already fracturing. Their world had been shattered overnight, and now it was down to just the Lawbots and Cashbots. Though many Bossbots would have survived the assault on the Cog buildings, the default transport from a defeated building was Bossbot HQ, which was now the middle of the Bay. Cogs would fall right into the water and short-circuit.

The Lawbots just wanted isolationism. They wanted to be an independent entity in Cog Nation. They had always wanted that. But Flippy would exploit their perceived seclusion as adversity against the Cashbots and Cog Nation. He would pit the two against each other, and let them destroy each other. That would leave the Toons to handle the new arrivals without additional hardship.

For Toontown, he would do anything.

---Toon Hall---

-The Next Morning-

“Fax for you, Eileen,” the receptionist said and handed Eileen a scrap of paper. Having barely woken up, Eileen groggily read the short text.

“Eileen, 7pm. Meet me where I fell.”

It was from Flippy, asking her to meet him on Loopy Lane where he sacrificed himself. She was dying for an update from him. They hadn’t spoken since they fled Bossbot HQ. As both of them were former Mayors, she wanted to talk about the new arrivals. What this meant for them. The Cogs seemed like bath toys compared to the concept of a fox invasion.

Constance and Aleck would be spending all day with the prisoners, trying to determine how much of what they shared was fact, and how much was fiction. In the meantime, Eileen would check on other members of the Toon Resistance and make sure everyone was still ready to continue the fight against their foe.

Whether their primary foe was the Cogs or the Cartonians was yet to be determined.

---The Pie Estate---

The Toon Council gathered around Piggy Pie’s dining room table and listened to the ending of Doctor’s retelling of his capture in Bossbot Headquarters. No one spoke when he finished, all too horrified at what he had experienced. The darkness, the sadness, the helplessness, the gravity of the revelation of Ash’s identity as the Chairman. Standing in the doorway were Piggy’s brothers. Usually apathetic and indifferent, they were enraptured. Muddy, Truffle, Potbelly, and Hamlet Pie shivered multiple times during the story. Hog, the only one to seemingly care about the Cog crisis, was in disbelief.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Slate Oldman said after a minute. “Thank you for sharing that with us. I can only imagine how difficult this was for you.”

Doctor tipped his head. Piggy Pie gripped his arm in support.

“Do you feel back to normal?” Vidalia asked. “Or…do you feel Toon again?”

“I do,” Doctor muttered. “But I also feel distant. And lost. Sometimes…I don’t feel much of anything. Like I’m void. I’m just grateful to be home.”

“Hear hear!” Mulaney Chortle exclaimed.

“Let us know if you need *anything*,” Barnacle Barbara said earnestly. “But we know you’re in good paws here with Piggy and her brothers.”

“Pigs have trotters, not paws,” Muddy said matter-of-factly. Barbara smirked at him.

“Sorry, Mud.”

After the Council had gone, the Pies and Doctor sat in the living room. Piggy knew that Doctor was tired of talking about himself and his experience in the darkest pit of hell, so she changed the subject to the new arrivals. The Cartonians from the north. She hadn’t met any of them after she fled the docks with Doctor in tow. Eileen had said they were freaky.

“What do we do now?” Truffle asked. “The Cogs were bad, but the Cartonians? The *foxes*? They’ll kill us all.”

“Not if they’re behind bars,” Potbelly pointed out. “They can’t hurt us if they’re in prison.”

“That’s what they want us to think,” Hog retorted. “There’s a deer among them. The deer were the ones who mutilated other species and made them BioFreaks. What if they mastered teleportation without transport holes?”

“They don’t even have transport holes,” Piggy Pie said. “Constance told me that. They’re Toon inventions.”

“I say we kill them,” Hamlet said. “Straight up. A dead Cartonian can’t hurt you.”

“I absolutely agree,” Muddy said.

“I bet there’s more,” Potbelly added. “Waiting. Biding their time. Letting these six go first.”

Piggy Pie shivered.

“After the election,” she said to Doctor, though her brothers were listening too, “I met Mickey Elias. And he told me that he had a dream of the foxes coming to Toontown. They enslaved and killed us all. That’s why he made the Emergency Portal.”

She shook her head. “We don’t even have that anymore.”

---Silly Street---

Bradley found Professor Pete in Dr. Tom Foolery’s operation recovery room. The two cats were bent over Ash Ingalls, who was still unconscious. Professor Patrick Prepostera was in the corner, gnawing on his hooves.

“How’d the surgery go?” Bradley asked delicately. “We’re all very hopeful. And eager to help.”

Dr. Foolery turned around and smiled at Bradley.

“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Dr. Tom Foolery.”

“Bradley Wolfe. I’m a friend of Pete’s.”

Pete hadn’t moved. It was as if he was alone with Ash.

“Um,” Tom said, “Ash had to have comprehensive cranial reconstruction surgery. I usually have a team of nurses to help, but everyone was bunkered down for the siren, and I was alone. I did my best and I have reconnected parts of his skull, but a portion of his brain was damaged when he removed the Chairman’s helmet. I don’t know if he’ll wake up from this. We can only wait and hope.”

Bradley inched closer, and saw that Ash was essentially naked except for a modesty cloth. The wounds over his body had been patched up. Rows of stitches lined his torso. His head was wrapped in a bandage, blood seeping through, and his lips were moving. Trembling.

“Has he spoken?” Bradley asked, and felt dumb for saying it. Of course he hadn’t. He was unconscious!

“No,” Prepostera muttered. “His lips are just trembling from the cold.”

“Really?” Bradley said, leaning over the bed. “It looks like he’s trying to speak.”

“He’s catatonic,” Dr. Foolery said in annoyance. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Wolfe, but I know what’s best for my nephew.”

Bradley raised his paws. He was not trying to ruffle any fur here.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I just thought…”

He trailed off. It wasn’t important. He wasn’t a doctor. He headed for the door.

“Wait,” Pete said suddenly. “What were you going to say?”

Bradley froze, his back against the door to the hall. Pete, Prepostera, and Tom were all looking at him.

“I just…well…he’s lying on his back, so his tongue will be resting down on his throat. If you lifted his head, propped him up I mean, maybe he can talk. I don’t know. Medicine isn’t my forte. Just a thought.”

Pete nodded at Tom, and Ash was lifted up a few inches. Patrick grabbed another pillow from an empty bed. They leaned Ash against it, and his trembling turned to mumbling.

“Ka-ga-nay-en…ka-ga-nay-then…”

“Jibberish,” Patrick sighed. “Well, Bradley was right. He is trying to say something.”

But as the mumbling continued, his voice grew stronger. His eyes remained closed, his face devoid of emotion, but the words came together.

“Ka-ga-nay-shun…ka-g-nay-shun…kawg nayshun…”

“Cog…” Pete gasped.

“Nation…” Bradley finished.

“Cog Nation,” Ash spoke clearly. “Cog Nation.”

In Bradley’s head, he saw the moment all over again. The Chairman glaring down at Pete, who was wrapped around the robot’s body. Pete’s hand was digging into the crack of the Chairman’s face, and he—Ash—tore off the mask. Blood sprayed across the courtyard, an incongruous burst of red in that sea of grey and beige.

It took courage. Unadulterated courage. To see Ash now, comatose in bed muttering the name of his captor…

In all those years of captivity with Adam Molecule, even after the monstrous surgeries that ruined Bradley’s skin and Alice’s body, they were still them. They still had their minds, their thoughts, their sanities. Ash didn’t even have that.

---Bank of Toontown---

Clarabelle crossed her arms and scowled at Alice Carver as she brought her lunch. After the Cartonians arrived, they relocated her to the empty vault in the Bank. She didn’t even have a window anymore. It was more spacious, but that really wasn’t a perk. The walls were metal and it smelled like poverty.

Alice was usually the one to bring her meals, and she never spoke to her. After the bitch monkey so rudely castigated her after her trial, she wasn’t in the spirit of making good with her captor. Alice wasn’t even on the Toon Patrol, not officially. Who did she think she was, strutting around like she was some brazen officer? She was nothing but a charity case, hired because the government screwed up the search for the missing monkey. Alice might have even been the right-hand woman for Dr. Molecule. They didn’t know who this girl was! Clarabelle heard she had gone by another name after Exodus, and that was sketch.

Clarabelle sniffed at the food and grimaced. It was lasagna again. She took the jello and carrots and sat on the prison cot they dragged in for her. She closed her eyes and pictured the cells under Toon HQ. There had been six Cartonians. Two ducks, one crocodile, one chicken, one deer, and one fox. She knew the different species from their sketches in textbooks. The Diary of War didn’t include original drawings, but the first Toons had passed down descriptions of their appearances.

There weren’t any cows, but seeing the crocodile brought her hope. Once, crocodiles had been plentiful in Toontown. But population numbers declined and they went extinct. The cows were next, unless Clarabelle mated with another cow. If Eusuchia still had crocodiles, then Bovo still had cows. She just had to get out of Toontown and head north for the Kingdoms. There weren’t any maps of the regions above Toontown, except for the rudimentary map in the Diary of War. Getting out of this prison would be difficult. With the Cogs and the Cartonians posing threats to the Toons, security would be at an all-time high. Then, even if she escaped, she’d have to brave the harsh landscape north. Toons had left Toontown before, but none had ever come back. It was unknown if they made it to safety or not.

Escape would only be worth it if Bovo was still alive. Clarabelle had to get back to Toon HQ to ask one of the Cartonians about her mother country.

---Toon Hall---

As the Toon Councilmembers checked in on their neighborhoods, Constance gathered the Deputies of Toontown in her office. Aleck Harding and Susan Fletcher joined her. Each of the neighborhood Deputies reported a normal night for their inmate.

“Jerockle—that’s the chicken—” Wiggle McDiggle said, “cried all night. And it was *ugly*. Like a choked up heaving sob. *Bock bock bock bock*…it was maddening.”

“The fox was silent,” Deputy Rocky Shores sighed. “Plotting, probably. Barbara had us strip the boat and dry-dock it. Nothing threatening on board. No weapons, except heavy ship machinery. The ship is primarily powered by a motor but relies heavily on wind to achieve full speed. The fuel tanks were nearly empty.”

“How many cabins are on board?” Susan Fletcher asked.

“Six exactly. And each had been slept in. We couldn’t tell whose was whose.”

“The deer,” Ivy Waters said suddenly, “is too tall for our cell. His horns…”

“Antlers,” Constance corrected, trying to remember the deer’s name. It was Tick Hunter.

“Sorry. Yes, antlers. Do you think we could cut them off? He’s scraping the paint off the ceiling.”

“I’ll get the saw,” Marshall Ihob of Melodyland quipped. Constance did not join the others in laughing. She wasn’t in the mood for jokes. She wished she was. She wished her laff wasn’t bobbing up and down like a cork rapidly filling with water.

“I have concerns,” Constance said, “that these new arrivals are only feigning innocence and helplessness in order to gain our trust, in order to betray us. I am fearful that they are here for with ulterior motives.

“So we keep them in prison,” Susan Fletcher stated. “We don’t let them out.”

Aleck crossed his arms.

“We keep them locked up? Forever?”

Susan just shrugged. The Deputies collectively agreed to let the Cartonians stay behind bars for the time being. There was no safe alternative. They couldn’t send them back to Cartonia, where they could share the location of Toontown. They couldn’t execute them in cold blood, purely on moral grounds. But they couldn’t turn them loose on society either. The safest place for the Cartonians and the Toons was where they were now.

---Sellbot Headquarters---

Tori Dorrance and Horace Calves emerged from the dark tunnel unto Sellbot Headquarters. Or rather, what remained of the former Cog base. The Sellbots had been the heart of the industrial powerhouse that was Cog Nation. With no one to sell Cogs to, their purpose had been reduced to hard labor. All the electricity, power, energy, oil, and construction industries had stemmed from Sellbot Headquarters. The higher-ups coordinated from Sellbot Towers, and the rest toiled in the Factory and oil fields below.

Now, it was abandoned.

Tori and Horace navigated around the ghostly quarry to the Factory complex, where the elevator doors were permanently jammed open, the locking mechanism broken by the hordes of Toons swarming inside. That was two days ago. Only two days ago.

Besides Exodus, had there ever been a day more significant in recent history? A moniker for the Final Battle had been derived. Tori wondered what historians would refer to the other day as. The Day the Bossbots Fell? Or the Day Contact Was Reestablished? Which was more important on the grand scale? Probably the latter.

Tori and Horace, and the other Toon Resistance Rangers, had been excluded from the Cartonian conversation. That burden lay with the Toon Council, the Deputies, the Mayor, and Eileen. Somehow, Eileen Irenic constantly found herself at the center of Toontown’s problems.

The Factory was burning from the Warehouse, flames spiraling up the two silos. The assembly lines were destroyed, and Cogs would never roll off their belts again. Cog parts lay in piles within every room. A graveyard of the fallen beasts.

Sellbot Towers were no different. The Toons of the Gardens and Melodyland had not just stormed the VP’s lair on the top floor. They burst into offices on every floor, and fought any Cog that moved. A stack of Telemarketer bodies were piled on top of the receptionist’s desk. A Cold Caller lay dead inside the elevator. Windows had been shattered by the Toons to let air—and laff—inside. Tori and Horace didn’t have to wear the standard Cog suits to walk through the Towers.

The elevator still functioned, and took Tori and Horace to the top floor of Sellbot Towers. The Vice President’s domain.

A line of Cogs were down on the landing platform below. Tori and Horace crept to the edge of the upper level and watched them. They were walking to the precipice.

Sellbot Headquarters was located on the far western cliff of Toontown. Only the Towers were built on sturdy ground; the rest was swampland, which was why the Gardens never colonized it. And also how Sellbot HQ remained hidden at first; the Toons never suspected the Cogs would build somewhere so dangerous. The VP’s landing platform jutted over the edge of the cliff. Every time the Toons fought him, and he rolled off the edge, he would fall to the rocks below.

You’d think by now the Cogs would have added a railing. Then again, no Cog ever lived to tell the tale of how the VP was defeated. Not even the VP.

“What are they doing?” Horace asked, as the line of Cold Callers moved closer to the cliff’s edge.

“They’re going to fly away,” Tori whispered, “to join the others.”

“Not if we stop them,” Horace hissed and began moving. Tori followed. They only stopped when the first Cold Caller walked right off the cliff.

He didn’t sprout his rotor. He let himself fall. Tori and Horace watched openmouthed as the others did the same. They killed themselves.

The Sellbots were leaderless, factionless, and abandoned by their compatriots. Cold Callers, the lowest level of Cog out there, saw no way out.

The Toons were winning!

Tori could hardly contain her excitement as they headed back to the tunnel to the Gardens. The Sellbots could officially be crossed off the list. They were done! The Bossbots were dead too. That only left the Cashbots and Lawbots in the northern part of town. But the Toons could double up and crush them for good.

“Ow!”

Horace’s thick leg caught on something and he fell. Tori bent to examine the dirt. A root was pushing its way through the coal field.

“It’s a mangrove root,” Tori gasped. “Like the ones that were here before.”

She stood and surveyed the landscape. Above them, the smoke clouds were clearing, and sun was beginning to shine through.

The Earth was reclaiming the land.

---Loopy Lane---

Smokey Joe’s building was never rebuilt after the debacle that occurred there. It was, until two days ago, Flippy’s final resting place. And it didn’t seem right to do anything without Smokey Joe’s consent. Now that Smokey was recovering, and Flippy was actually alive, Eileen didn’t know what would happen.

There was an empty building across from the ruined building, the rubble of which had been cleared away. It was Silly Sal’s Daffy Diner. Once the home to Silly Sal, until he was converted into a Tog and killed. The Diner had been boarded up, and soon would be put on the market, now that Silly Sal was confirmed deceased. His wife and kids had already moved out, taking up a new life in Dreamland.

Eileen sat in the Diner now, at the bar. The stools were squeaky, and the place was dark. It was evening, and the boarded windows let hardly any light inside. Eileen wasn’t really supposed to be here, but she needed somewhere quiet to meet with Flippy. She didn’t know why he chose here to meet with her, besides the ease of understanding where to go. The Diner was one of the first buildings on Loopy Lane, and anyone walking through the tunnel would immediately want to engage a flying Big Cheese in battle.

The Diner door opened, and Flippy entered. A Big Cheese entered, anyway, and Eileen could only hope it was Flippy.

“Hello, Eileen.”

“Flippy.”

He was too big for any of the chairs in the place. Did Cogs sit? Yes, of course they did. They sat at the Bossbot banquet.

That was all two days ago. Eileen had dressed as a waiter then, and served poison to the highest-ranking Bossbots in Cog Nation. She had watched emotionlessly as they exploded.

“Thank you for meeting with me. We should choose a more discreet location.”

“Chipper Acres,” Eileen said at once. The clearing where the Final Battle occurred.”

Flippy’s Cog eyes rolled into the back of his head.

“Confirmed location,” he said robotically. “The Creator’s base.”

Eileen shivered.

“Don’t talk like that.”

Flippy paused.

“Sorry. Sometimes it just slips out. I’m still a Toon, in my mind. But the Cog chip makes some things fuzzy.”

Eileen eyed him.

“Will you ever lose control?”

“Maybe,” Flippy said at once. “I don’t know. I hope not. But if I do, you have permission to lob a wedding cake in my face.”

Eileen wanted to laugh, or smile, but she just nodded. It could very well come to that.

“The District Attorney has taken control of Lawbot Headquarters, and I have cobbled support from the Cashbots in Cashbot HQ, but I don’t know how long it’ll last. It appears I’m the only Bossbot left alive, and the Cashbots are willing to follow me. The Lawbots believe they have the best plan to revive Cog Nation, whatever that may be, and want nothing to do with the Cashbots for now. I’m going to try to pit them against each other so they’ll be easier to fight.”

“How long until they’re ready to fight us again?” Eileen asked, fearing the answer.

“I would estimate two weeks. For the Lawbots. I’ll delay the Cashbots for as long as possible. You’re welcome to come destroy us whenever you’d like.”

“Have the Cashbots planned anything?”

“No. They’re waiting for my command. Any attack from either sect will be limited to Polar Place and Pajama Place, at least until a new Factory can be constructed. Sellbot HQ has been completely eliminated. Both the Bossbots and Sellbots are caput.”

“I know,” Eileen said, telling him of what Tori and Horace saw there.

“I’m smiling,” Flippy said, “internally.”

Eileen smirked. His face was stolid, a Big Cheese sneer.

“What do I tell the others?” Eileen asked. “About you? Should I let them know I’m alive?”

Flippy sighed, a noise that sounded like air being quickly let out of a large inflatable.

“I don’t know. I feel like most won’t believe it. And it could damage your own reputation. You might as well keep my secret, and let me destroy the Cogs from within.”

Eileen thought for a second.

“Flippy,” she said gently, “what’s the end for you…? I mean…if we destroy the Cogs for good, there’ll be no place for you in Toontown. What happens then? Can we convert you back to a Toon?”

“Doubtful,” Flippy said. “The only thing that’s Toon about me is my mind. If you took this body apart, you’d have a Cog. I already gave my life for Toontown, but I suppose my sacrifice was not yet complete. When the Cogs are dead, I can die too.”

Eileen was about to cry, but steeled herself to remain strong.

“What about the Cartonians?” Eileen put forward. “Are the Cogs still a bigger threat than the arrivals?”

Flippy’s response was instant.

“Absolutely not.”

Eileen hung her head.

“I’m so tired,” she whispered. “I’m thoroughly exhausted.”

Then, in a moment she never would have anticipated, she found herself in the comforting embrace of a metal Cog.

---Toon Hall---

Constance’s receptionist had gone home, but she left the office door open in case any of the Councilmembers came by. She had just finished reading Tori and Horace’s report on Sellbot HQ, and Piggy’s memo on Doctor’s condition. Eileen was meeting with Cog Flippy tonight, and would report tomorrow on the condition of Cog Nation. Constance could only pray it was weak. The Cartonians were stressful enough.

A soft knock came at the open door. Constance looked up in surprise to see former Mayor Roy Law hunched over the doorframe.

“Excuse me, Madam Mayor, may I have a word?”

“Certainly!”

Roy sauntered in and sat at the desk. He was smiling mischievously.

“You know, Madam Mayor…”

“Constance.”

“Constance…I have never been a nosy person. I have always tried to mind my own business and not infringe on others.”

She wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but that was an accurate description of how he conducted his Mayorship. He didn’t do anything about the stagnant economy, and passed it on to Mickey Elias.

“I was just wondering…” Roy continued, shifting in his chair, “well…”

He laughed. “I just wanted to know what the envelope contained.”

Constance blinked at him.

“What envelope?”

Roy laughed again, shaking a finger coyly.

“The one in the Mayoral Vault. You know, to be ‘opened in the event of the worst.’ The worst has come! So what did it say? I never thought it’d be open but I’ve been kicking myself today dying to know what the founders had planned. It occurred to me…”

“Hold up,” Constance interrupted, “*what envelope*?”

---The Mayoral Vault---

The compartment was empty. The envelope was gone. Roy was dumbfounded, and tried to remember if it had indeed been there, but there were no other glass compartments built into the wall of the Vault.

“It was there!” he insisted. “I know it was. I may have put some extra stuff in here after my tenure…maybe it got covered up…but no one has access except Mayors!”

“And Eileen and I didn’t know about it until my inauguration. Flippy never told us…I wonder if Mickey knows.”

“Pfft,” Roy snickered, “Mickey wouldn’t have seen it. He hardly ever came in here.”

Constance wasn’t taking any chances. If the founders had left a message for when the foxes invaded, she wanted to read it. She wanted to know what they would recommend. The foxes hadn’t invaded per se, but a fox was here. That was scary enough for her.

Mayor Mickey Elias was surprised to find two Mayors on his doorstep. He welcomed them inside. Mickey and Roy made light small talk, much to Constance’s annoyance. There were things to do!

“Do you know about this envelope?” Constance asked. “The one that was to be opened in the event of a fox invasion?”

Mickey’s face fell. He cast a nervous glance at Roy, who was watching him in confusion.

“I…opened it…years ago.”

“YOU WHAT?!” Constance bellowed, all the frustration and stress from the day manifesting in her words. “What did it say? Why did you open it? What made you do that?”

Constance listened as Mickey told her of his vivid dream, of the foxes coming down over the mountains. How he had been unable to fall asleep, and how the Vault needed cleaning anyway. He described in detail opening the letter and realizing there was nothing planned. No emergency contingency in place. How that was the first spark for the Emergency Portal. For Exodus.

“And…?” Constance pressed. “Where is the envelope?”

Mickey took a deep breath.

“I tore it up.”

Constance wanted to hit him. She had tremendous respect for him, and she wanted to hit him.

“Why would you do that?” she asked calmly, her teeth gritted.

Mickey looked at her pleadingly.

“Please don’t be upset. I know how that sounds, and I know how frustrating it must be. You’re the Mayor who saw contact reestablished. You want answers, but I promise you there’s nothing in that letter besides what I just told you that pertains to a fox invasion. The rest was…”

He shook his head. “It was written by Maximilian Walters, the first Mayor. They had no plan for what to do if the foxes returned, but they did have a request. And…it changed my opinion of him. Of all of them. Toontown…”

He trailed off, and sighed. “I will never share the rest of the message, not to anyone. It would rock the foundation of Toontown and change everything we spent centuries creating. Trust me, you don’t want to know. I wish I didn’t.”

Constance didn’t care. She wanted to know. But the letter was destroyed, and gone forever. Unless Mickey had a change of heart, she would never know what the first Mayor had penned.

---Lawbot Headquarters---

The District Attorney savored the applause of the surviving Lawbots. They cheered for him as he announced his plans. They seemed pleased that he stood up to the Big Cheese and refused to let a Bossbot rule over them. One of the major issues the Lawbots had with the Chairman was how closely he aligned with the Bossbot sect. The Bossbots got preferential treatment as a result.

“Lawbots!” the District Attorney shouted into his microphone. The Lawbots in the lobby of Lawbot Tower One listened with rapt attention. “We do not need another Chairman! We do not need more Bossbots! There has only ever been one in Cog Nation who was above all titles, above all ranks and politics. One, who made us who we are! The Creator!”

“THE CREATOR!” the Lawbots echoed.

“I propose!” the District Attorney yelled, “that we find ourselves a new Creator! A new visionary! A new architect to rebuild the glorious Cog Nation! Join me on this mission, and we shall see victory!”

The Lawbots roared.

“Cog Nation today!” the District Attorney boomed. “Cog Nation tomorrow! Cog Nation forever!”

## Production

### Continuity and Story Arcs

Twelve years prior, during the Mayoral tenure of Mickey Elias, a nightmare of a fox invasion triggered the Mayor to clean out the Mayoral Vault. This led to his discovery of an envelope and letter dated back to the year 17, and written by first Mayor Maximilian Walters. Its contents, not revealed in the episode, led to Mickey’s piloting of the creation of the Emergency Portal.

Mickey’s predecessor, Roy Law, also knew about the envelope but did not open it. He informed the current Mayor, Constance Miller, of its existence. Though Constance demanded to know its contents, Mickey refused to share for fear that it would forever change Toontown.

Former Mayors Card Tatum, Evie Chompers, and Lisa Ratigan are mentioned. Both Tatum and Chompers were final members of their species in Toontown.

Flippy reminisced on the events of “Hell Bound” and how he survived his sacrifice.

Flippy became the leader of the Cashbots, though the Lawbots remained separate.

Ash Ingalls survived his surgery, but remained catatonic. He constantly muttered “Cog Nation.”

Clarabelle Cow was relocated to the Bank of Toontown and imprisoned in a vault. She resolved to break out of prison to head north to Bovo.

Toons have left Toontown before, but none have ever returned.

The ship on which the Cartonians arrived was thoroughly searched, with nothing threatening found. Because the Toons were unsure of the Cartonians’ innocence, they agreed to keep them locked up.

The District Attorney proposed to the remaining Lawbots that they forgo finding a new Chairman and instead focus on finding a new Creator.

### References

Flippy flies over a pit of lava in the Bullion Mint, referencing the various obstacles in Cog HQs.

“Cog Nation today, Cog Nation tomorrow, Cog Nation forever” is a reference to the infamous line by Governor George Wallace: “segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!”

## Trivia

* The title of this episode was randomly selected. The author just thought it sounded cool.
* Muddy mentions how pigs have trotters, and not paws.
* Sellbot HQ was built on the cliffs west of the Gardens on unsteady swampland, explaining why SBHQ went so long without being discovered. An interesting point made is how the Cogs would never have known how the VP was defeated, since the Toons killed all Cogs that could have witnessed the scene.
* The date and year on the envelope from Maximilian Walters are significant. **May 29** was the date Storytime premiered in the year 20**17**.