Evil Incarnate (Part 2)

**"Evil Incarnate (Part 2)"**is the ninth episode of *Rewritten* and the 9th episode overall. It is the second half of the two-part episode "Evil Incarnate." This is the first two-part episode.

It was published on August 1, 2017, after a month-long hiatus.

In the episode, the manhunt for Dr. Molecule takes the Toon Resistance to a secluded corner of Toontown, where terrible truths are uncovered.

## The Episode

===The Battlefield===

=The Final Battle=

The emerald fields were soaked with blood. Toon blood.

The dog with a dark red head and lighter arms and legs was paralyzed with horror. There he was.

The duck.

The creator.

The master.

Dr. Molecule.

The dog stumbled backward, tripped over his backpack, and fell. A Gag rolled out of the pack. Dr. Molecule was laughing, walking up to him.

The dog pocketed the whole cream pie, his last Gag, and began to scurry away.

So much had just happened.

Too much.

They were all dead.

Cogs were surrounding them. Molecule was taunting him. Using his name.

Clan.

There were few options. What could he do? His laff was so low. He thought of Alice.

Clan saw Dr. Molecule beckon to three Downsizers, who withdrew pink slips from their pockets.

The time was now.

Clan rushed forward.

===Present Day===

Violet Vance marveled at Chipper Acres. It was wonderfully serene and picturesque. The bucolic landscapes surrounding her were entrancing and soothing. If this was indeed Molecule's choice of hideout, then it was certainly a peaceful retreat.

They had teleported on the edge of the forest and spent many hours walking toward the clearing. They couldn't teleport there directly because it was not on the transport system's map. They had to walk through the trees and ford the streams trickling throughout. It was not a difficult hike at all. In fact, it was all relatively downhill. Violet enjoyed the scenery, and she could see that Piggy Pie enjoyed it too. Doctor seemed to be in his own little world, trekking along lost in thought. Eileen and Constance led the way, turning the map and compass every so often to ensure they were on the right track.

Eventually, the sound of running water swelled and they emerged in the enormous clearing. Chipper Acres unfolded before them.

There was not much here. A river divided the two sides of the clearing. On their side, the grass was tall and luscious. There were no manmade structures, just the vast expanse of nature.

On the other side of the forest, a geyser was erupting from a small pond. But that was the only part of it that was beautiful. Trees were knocked down, the grass was matted as if it had been trampled, and there was a wooden shed in the center, its door ominously ajar. Beside it was a large generator, intricately constructed, but severely damaged. The top half lay in shambles at the base.

"Come on," Constance said. She withdrew from her belt a baton, the only weapon allowed in Toontown, and only then by the highest members of the Toon Patrol. There was no place for weaponry and warfare in Toontown.

They had to swim across the river. Violet went first, an aquatic creature. She tested the waters and assured the others it was safe to cross. Constance and Doctor, the bears went next. Piggy Pie, Eileen, and Dr. Sensitive brought up the rear.

The six of them, drenched with water, hurried toward the shed. Constance took a deep breath and stepped inside, baton raised.

She dropped it.

"He's not here."

The shed was desolate. Constance Miller swept her eyes across the small wooden space. It couldn't have been longer than 20 feet. And certainly no wider than ten feet. Such small living conditions. Eerily quiet.

Constance stepped inside so that the others could come in behind her. She immediately took notes on what was present, because the place was tastefully furnished. There was a wire-framed cot against the back right wall with a small table beside it. Blueprints of Cogs hung neatly on the walls surrounding the bed. A counter ran from the front of the shed to near the back, leaving a small space between the counter edge and the night stand for Molecule to get behind. The counter was very clearly the main work station, where Cog designs were plentiful. Piggy Pie lifted some of the papers and read off the names.

"Ambulance Chaser, Bloodsucker, Tightwad, Money Bags, Big Cheese..."

A single stool behind the counter was gathering dust. It had been a long time since Molecule had been here. The windows were not covered in shades or blinds, and sunlight streamed inside. Near the door was an umbrella stand and coat rack.

"Where did he keep his clothes?" Doctor asked.

Eileen Irenic found the solution, locating a storage unit shoved under the bed. She had to lie flat on her stomach to see it.

"Rug is itchy," she commented. Constance smirked at the dramatic oriental rug shoved inside. It was far too big, and awfully dirty. The edges were coming up against the counter.

"He probably wasn't entertaining guests," Dr. Sensitive said. "Recluse."

Violet stepped outside, saying she felt claustrophobic, and wandered around the shed.

"This is so creepy," she said outside the window.

"For real," Piggy Pie agreed. Constance couldn't help shake the feeling she was standing in the den of a murderer. The absence of him, and the unknown of his whereabouts frightened her. They could have just walked into his trap. She kept her ears alert for sounds of Cog rotors.

Piggy Pie swept all the papers on the counter into her backpack. Doctor began going through an old brochure display case behind the counter. Constance and Dr. Sensitive began the daunting task of opening the dozens of drawers within the counter.

Eileen sat on the cot.

"Where did he...uh...pee?"

Piggy Pie cringed.

"Please don't say he did it in here wherever..."

Doctor wrinkled his nose.

"Might explain the musty smell."

Violet came back to the door.

"I think he did his business out here. There are a few holes dug up with dirt sprinkled in layers."

"Good enough," Eileen said. "We don't need proof."

Constance shuddered. She hoped Violet didn't accidentally stumble upon a shallow grave or anything.

Constance and Dr. Sensitive found hundreds of gears, screws, and other mechanical objects in the drawers. Dr. Molecule had an extensive arsenal of supplies with which he built the Cog empire, though it was apparent that they must have done most of it themselves. The entire shed was hooked up with electricity. Dr. Sensitive determined he was using hydroelectric power using the geyser. The greatest find was Molecule's journal, the one Flippy was shown six years ago. When it all began. There was a slight mystery, however, because the last pages had been surgically torn out. Piggy Pie probably wouldn't have noticed pages were missing if a bookmark had not been inserted on the first missing page.

Constance ordered everything that could be carried to be packed up. They would return with a full team and dismantle the shed and confiscate all the property once owned by Dr. Molecule. The manhunt would continue, but he would have no home or supplies to return to.

Eileen opened her backpack and began shoving clothes inside it.

"Help me, Piggy?" Eileen said, trying to wrench the storage unit out from under the cot. Doctor and Piggy lifted the cot so the mattress was pressed against the wall. Eileen slid the storage unit to the door and dumped it on the grass.

"Want a rug?" Constance joked to Violet, who was still standing outside the shed.

Violet grimaced.

Dr. Sensitive removed the blueprints from the wall and rolled them into neat scrolls. She joined Eileen outside, her backpack full. Doctor and Piggy Pie cleaned out the night stand (flashlight, reading light, hammer, pens, jellybeans, a candy wrapper). Constance rolled the rug toward the front door and shoved it outside. She stared at the mass of it; it would not be able to be carried back. Oh well. She turned to do a final sweep of the room, and found Doctor and Piggy Pie staring at the corner where the cot had been placed over the storage unit which rested on the rug.

A latched door.

Doctor and Piggy Pie made eye contact with Constance and the message was clear; he was down there.

Constance unhooked her baton from her belt and gestured for Piggy and Doctor to get out of the cabin. They trampled loudly on the floor. Constance winced.

She knelt on the ground, baton raised. She hooked her paw underneath the door latch and pulled gently. She exhaled. It was unlocked.

She lifted the handle.

And smoke engulfed her.

She gasped, jumping back, and the door thudded close. Eileen and Piggy Pie were upon her in seconds, checking her for injuries. But Constance just panted.

"Why is there smoke?" she muttered.

Doctor seized the handle and threw the door back with tremendous force. The door slapped against the wall and stayed in place. Smoke continued to stream out. Black, thick smoke.

Burning smoke.

"He didn't..." Violet whispered.

"How..." Eileen said, staring at the wooden shed.

"Metal," Piggy Pie said observantly, noting the bottom of the trapdoor. It was sheeted in cold, silver metal.

*Please*, Constance thought wildly, her mind conjuring the worst scenarios, the grisliest images, the most macabre possibilities. Don't let it be a murder palace. A torture den. A mass grave.

Eileen, Violet, and Dr. Sensitive filled their water bottles with cold water from the river and dumped it inside the trapdoor's hole. Eventually, after half an hour, the smoke subsided. Doctor shone a flashlight inside. It was only a four foot drop to the ground; one couldn't even stand down there.

"No one is down there," Doctor said, sticking his head in with the flashlight and moving it all around. "Except..."

Doctor suddenly tried to lift himself out quickly. His hand missed the ledge and he tumbled head first into the hole, landing on his back. He scrambled to his paws, but he smacked his head against the metal ceiling. His knees buckled and he crumpled at once.

"Ow," was his only reaction. Piggy Pie dropped in after him and got down on her knees so she could see. She activated her own flashlight.

And drew in her breath.

"We have a body," she said.

Constance jumped in. But Piggy Pie was wrong. It wasn't a body.

A skeleton.

The underground was cased in metal, steel. It was rusting all around, which made Constance unsure the structure was new. It was the same size as the shed upstairs. The underground area was lacking in height; all three of them were on their knees to avoid hitting their heads. Against the back wall was the most horrifying thing they had seen yet: a cage. Or rather, a barred door.

A miniature prison.

Inside the prison, behind the locked door, was a skeleton, lying flat on the floor. It was small.

*Please don't be a child*, Constance thought as she crawled closer.

Around the room, everything was burned. Molecule had evidently set fire to the place before fleeing. And burned his prisoner alive. Behind the door were two wire cots like the one upstairs, but the mattresses had been burned to ashes. A small pot remained, presumably the substitute for a toilet.

"It's a monkey," Doctor said quietly, analyzing the skeleton. He pointed at the head. "You can tell..."

Constance swallowed hard. The clothes had completely melted away. The fur was gone. It was just bones. Bones and nothing else.

*This was a murder. Toon on Toon.*

Constance had not seen a murderer Toon in her career. She began to cry. Piggy Pie wrapped her arms around her and they leaned against the charred walls. Doctor scooted back to the trap door and stood up, catching his breath. Eileen helped him out.

"What's that?" Piggy Pie whispered. Constance turned.

There was something tucked underneath the bones, something that survived the flames. Constance stuck her paw between the bars and reached as far as she could. Her paw grazed the bones and she shivered. But she retrieved the object.

It was a wallet. A small black, ersatz jewel-studded wallet with butterflies on it. The edges were frayed, singed by flames.

*A child*, Constance thought.

She opened the wallet. The inside was more intact. There was a movie ticket, one jellybean shriveled to nothing, and a library card. Constance flipped it over, her heart beating faster.

Sure enough, there was a name.

An elusive name.

The name of someone who had disappeared twelve years ago. One of the three disappearances, a cold case.

Alice Carver.

Constance hit a hand to her forehead.

"They're connected," she exhaled. "Adam and Alice. The disappearances *are* connected." She banged her head against the steel wall and cried out.

"*How* could I have been so *stupid*? Adam Avogadro! He lived in the same neighborhood as Alice Carver. They were probably classmates! And he kidnapped her."

She lowered her voice.

"And then killed her."

Piggy Pie stared at the library card in Constance's hand, the neat handwriting of Alice Carver, her final vestige of life, scrawled on the back. Constance was shaking her head.

"We should go," Piggy Pie said.

"HEY!" Violet shouted from upstairs. "Come quick!"

Constance and Piggy Pie scrambled out of the secret bunker and reentered the light. Eileen was running toward Violet, who was standing in the clearing. Dr. Sensitive and Doctor were in tow, though further behind. Constance and Piggy Pie set after them.

Violet gestured at the tall grass. It took a while for Piggy Pie to realize what she was seeing, but then it hit her: blood.

Toon blood, staining the base of the grass stalks.

"There too," Doctor said, his voice low.

"And there," Dr. Sensitive whispered, pointing.

Eileen stooped and picked something up. It was a cupcake.

"A gag," she muttered.

Piggy Pie looked around and saw something glistening by the riverbank. She retrieved a blue box with a red button.

"Another gag," Piggy Pie said and pressed it, aimed at the river.

A 1-Ton weight splashed violently in the water, sending waves cascading over the riverbank and onto the Toons.

"Thanks," Constance murmured, shaking her fur.

Eileen suddenly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"This is the place," she said. "This is where the Final Battle was."

Everyone looked around. It instantly made sense. The matted grass, the fallen trees, the horrible quietness, the reason why none of the ones left behind could remember where the battle was--because it wasn't on the map. Here the Toons made their stand, and here the Cogs decimated them.

Violet's eyes widened.

"Oh...no..."

She sprinted. She had seen something. She skidded to a halt near the riverbank and dropped to her knees. She leaned over the water and placed a flipper over her beak. She retched.

Piggy Pie arrived at Violet's side in time to see Doctor have a similar reaction. He turned his head and gagged. Constance stepped to the edge of the riverbank and looked down. She fought every urge to recoil.

It was a body. Mangled and deteriorated. Submerged in the water, caught between currents. The eyes were still open. There were no clothes, revealing a ghastly hole in the chest cavity. The heart had been cut out.

Constance was not sad, somber, or even repulsed. She was angry.

Because it was over.

There would be no trial. No retribution. No justice.

Adam Molecule was dead.

"He's *dead*?" Piggy Pie exclaimed. Eileen's mouth was open, her brain spinning wildly. How could Adam Molecule be dead? Why didn't anyone say anything? All those people at the Final Battle...they must have seen him die. They must have known he had fallen. And no one said anything? She rounded on Dr. Sensitive.

"Why didn't anyone tell us Molecule was dead? Why didn't you?"

Dr. Sensitive took a step back.

"M-me?" she stammered. "How would I know? I wasn't at the Final Battle."

"Neither was Dr. Byte," Piggy Pie reminded. Eileen ticked off her fingers.

"Professor Prepostera was there, Laura Ingalls, Ash Ingalls, Herb Clark, several shopkeepers..."

"Eileen," Constance said gently, "no one could have known. That would have been the first thing they told us when we brought them in for questioning."

Eileen's shoulders slumped. She knew what she was thinking was selfish. She wanted to bring Adam Molecule to justice. She wanted to order him to reverse the Cogs, restore Toontown. She wanted to put him on a boat and push him to the South, away from the continent. Or North, back to the War, to a far worse place. She would never get that chance. She let everyone down. She didn't get here fast enough.

"He's been dead for weeks," Dr. Sensitive said clinically, examining the body as Doctor, Violet, and Piggy Pie heaved it onto the riverbank. Piggy Pie quickly closed the eyelids.

"Weeks," Constance repeated, shaking her head. "Can you believe it? All this time we were waiting for his triumphant, horrible return and he died here with all the rest."

"How did he die?" Eileen asked.

Dr. Sensitive began to prod the body. Her eyes widened.

"Pink slip," she muttered, pointing to a slash in the cheek. "A Cog attack, specific to Downsizers."

No one said anything. That was certainly unexpected. Toons didn't do him in. The Cogs did.

*What*! Eileen thought angrily. All these people who were at the Final Battle conveniently were not present when the top target perished. At the hand of his *own side of the fight*.

Violet frowned.

"Wait," she said. "Where are the bodies? You know, the Toons that died here?"

"The Cogs probably took them," Eileen said.

"Why?" Doctor asked, a grimace etched on his face.

"To study us?" Dr. Sensitive suggested. "I know Dr. Byte wants to start a gear collection of Cogs...when they reemerge."

"So..." Eileen said, staring down at the body. "So the Cogs painstakingly remove every Toon corpse from the battlefield, leave hardly any trace, but had no qualms leaving their creator to rot in the water and waste away with the current?"

Everyone was silent. It certainly didn't seem to add up.

"A mistake?" Violet guessed.

"A glitch?" Piggy Pie added.

Constance shook her head.

"We should get back to Toontown Central. We have two bodies and a shed rife with evidence. I need to look over the other cold cases too; they might have some connection to Molecule."

"Murder *and* kidnapping," Dr. Sensitive said, whistling, "what a terrible person."

Piggy Pie paled.

Now that there were bodies, Eileen knew that a second team of Toons would have to return tonight. She and Constance recorded the coordinates of the clearing so that they could attach it to the Transport network and be able to move efficiently to and from Toontown Central. For now, they were able to return to the Docks.

As Eileen pulled her transport hole out of her pocket, she thought she saw something in the distance, on the horizon, shadowed by the setting sun. It was tall and black, like a ghostly tower. It flickered on the corner of her gaze for a moment, but when she turned, a cloud had covered whatever mirage she had conjured in her mind. She ignored the ominous feeling racing through her heart and persuaded herself to remain focused on the task at hand: Molecule was dead. He left behind enough of his handiwork to begin to paint a portrait of who he was and what had led him down his path of evil and wickedness.

The evidence found in the shed was monumental. Every single thing in the shed was taken back to Toon Headquarters. Then the shed came down, plank by plank, to be reassembled in the basement of Toon HQ. Constance oversaw the operation, still reeling from the events of the afternoon.

Adam Molecule was dead, she repeated in her head. He's dead. Forever. His heart was cut out. Who would do that? The Cogs? An enemy? Someone who was now dead as well?

The Mystery Dog was still a constant enigma. In the weeks since the Toons had returned from their Exodus, the Mystery Dog had only resurfaced once, when he planted the clue about Chipper Acres in the mailbox of the Toon Patrol. He had known. He wanted her to find Molecule's hideaway, and the battlefield of the Final Battle. But who *was* he?

There were so many questions unanswered, and it was beginning to overwhelm Constance.

Where were the Cogs? Where did they live? Where did they go?

How and when exactly did Adam Molecule die? And who knew about his death and said nothing?

What was written on the last pages of Adam Molecule's journal? Who had the pages? What horrors did they contain? Why had they been torn out?

Who was the Mystery Dog? How did he know in Fantasyland about the deaths of Laura and Ash Ingalls?

What happened to Alice Carver? How did she get intertwined with Adam Molecule and how did he kidnap her? Why did he kill her? What did she know?

What about Bradley Wolfe, the other missing Toon? Was he connected as well?

Constance sighed as the last of the shed was dismantled in Chipper Acres and taken back to HQ. Blood samples were taken from the grass to determine who had died. The underground bunker was removed as well, the skeleton wrapped in a body bag.

Constance held her chest as she felt her laff decrease. It was a rough day. And she had a lot of work ahead of her.

===The Next Day===

Constance went alone to New Horizons Real Estate Company. She was the first one in the door as they opened. A cheerful rabbit was logging onto her computer.

"Good morning," she said. "Welcome to New Horizons, where we make it all about You Horizons."

Constance almost rolled her eyes. She held out her Toon Patrol badge.

"I would like to speak to Arthur Ficial, the manager."

The rabbit disappeared in the back and returned with an overweight orange monkey.

"Call me Arty," he said, shaking Constance's paw. "What can I help you with, copper?"

Constance wasted no time.

"I would like to know more about a piece of property sold thirteen years ago. It's located in Chipper Acres."

Arty Ficial frowned. A look of utter befuddlement crept across his face.

"We don't own no property in Chipper Acres. No one does."

Constance presented him with a copy of the deed borrowed from the Toon Library. Arty scratched his head. He turned to the back wall of his office and began rooting through filing cabinets. Constance waited patiently for an entire five minutes before Arty found what he was looking for. He opened the file and read the top line.

"Oh," he said. "I remember this."

"You do?" Constance said, perhaps too eagerly.

"Yeah," Arty said, slumping in his chair. "But I don't wanna say nothing without my lawyer."

Constance rolled her eyes now, outright.

"Mr. Ficial..."

"Arty."

"Arty, I promise I will not press charges against you. I just want to know what happened with this piece of property."

Arty thought it over for a few seconds, and then acquiesced.

"Okay, fine. Thirteen years ago, I just started here. Dirt poor. Down on my luck. My mama just threw me out of the house for getting in trouble at school. And this duck comes in to the office right before closing."

Constance's heart beat faster.

"He asked if we had any properties that were isolated. Like super duper secluded. I said sure and showed him all these estates around Toontown, but he wasn't having any of them. He said they were too big, too expensive, yadda yadda. And so I start panicking. Because this was my first sale. And I didn't want to blow it, you know? So I started grabbing any of the portfolios around me and he picked one of the ones I discarded. Like he grabbed it off the floor and said 'what about this one?'"

Arty swallowed. He loosened his tie.

"It was this...like you said, a shed. It was so tiny. I don't know how I managed to grab that folder. No one had owned the property in a long time. But it was in Chipper Acres. This old visitor center by the river. He wanted it so bad, I could tell. So I gave him the asking price of 8,000 jellybeans. He got hesitant after that and I was scared I was losing him. He agreed and so I asked for his credentials. You know, his identification, and all that."

"And you didn't recognize him as Adam Avogadro, a missing child?"

Arty looked shocked.

"Wait what? He wasn't a child. His voice was deep. He acted incredibly mature."

"Okay, okay," Constance said. "Go on."

"Well the duck--Adam, you say?--didn't want to give me his credentials. So then I get all suspicious. You know, why wouldn't you want to give me your credentials? What could you possibly be hiding? But he said he would give me 9,000 jellybeans to skip the credentials. So then my brain starts spinning. I could pocket the difference. Like sell it for 8,000 and keep 1,000 to myself. But I got greedy so I asked for 9,100. And he accepted. Paid with jellybeans in person. So I forged some of the paperwork and gave him the deed and the key. And he left. I never saw him again."

Arty let out a huge sigh.

"I never told nobody that story."

"Thank you for doing so," Constance said. "As I said, I won't press charges or arrest you. You've been very helpful. Do you still have the blueprints?"

Arty shook his head.

"That building is *old*. Older than you'd think. It became a visitor center two centuries ago. The duck took the blueprints with him. Said he didn't want anyone to know he bought the place. The 1,100 jellybeans difference was for my silence. But hell it paid my expenses for a while."

Constance leaned forward. She would have to share more information.

"An underground bunker was found beneath the shed," she said. "I need to know if that was part of the original structure."

Arty smirked.

"Yeah, yes it was. It was built by one of the first settlers of Toontown. He was a lunatic, really. Paranoid as anything. Makes sense because I think he was a veteran of the War. He's actually the ancestor of the owner of New Horizons. He was certain, downright certain, that the foxes of Vulpus would come to Toontown. They would invade and kill us all."

"What an awful thought," Constance said. Arty nodded.

"He built that shed in the seclusion of Chipper Acres so that he could retreat there and be safe. The underground bunker was an extra precaution."

"But it's so small," Constance said. "We could hardly stand down there."

"He was a short mouse," Arty said with a shrug. "He built dozens of properties around Toontown, many with secret underground bunkers. There might be one under your house."

Constance cringed.

"Did you find anything down there?" Arty asked. "In the bunker of the shed?"

Constance met his gaze.

"No," she lied. "Thank you for your time, and your honesty. You have been exceedingly helpful."

Constance left the real estate shop and made notes in her notebook. She pondered what she had learned.

Adam Molecule did not know about the underground portion when he bought the property. He probably found out from the blueprints, or because there was no oriental rug blocking it when he moved in. But that didn't explain how he kidnapped Alice Carver.

In what was undoubtably an inconvenience, Alice Carver was an orphan. Her parents died when she was really young. She lived with her elderly great-aunt, who had died long before Exodus. So no one had witnessed, or probably noticed really, her disappearance.

And now she was dead. Dead monkeys told no tales.

"Two tickets to see Steamboat Willie," a mother mouse said to Geneva George, the ticket taker at the Toontown Regal Cinema. Geneva promptly handed over the movie tickets and wished the mother and daughter a good experience. Geneva turned to check on the popcorn, when the door to the lobby opened.

"Hey," a familiar voice said. Geneva whirled around. It was him.

Clan Destine.

His dark red face smiled at her, waving a lighter red arm.

"I've been waiting for you," Geneva said, leaning over the counter. Clan moved closer.

"They found Chipper Acres."

Geneva's smile vanished.

"They *what*? How?"

"I told them."

Geneva's mouth fell all the way open.

"You *what*?" she almost shrieked. "Why would you do that? Are you stupid? If the Toon Patrol find it, the Cogs will realize..."

"They needed to know," Clan said.

Geneva was incredulous. They had a plan. A carefully concocted plan. And Clan had just sent it awry. She couldn't even mitigate the damage. Doing so would expose her.

"They found the skeleton," Clan said. "They found Alice Carver."

Geneva swallowed.

"Do they know about...the others?"

Clan shook his head. "Not yet."

Geneva jabbed an angry finger at him.

"You *better* not say *anything*."

"I won't," Clan said solemnly. "I know the risk. It's too dangerous..."

"Please, Clan," Geneva said, "don't endanger us again. You have to lay low."

"What about Professor Pete?"

Geneva wrinkled her eyebrows.

"What about him?"

"I told him I was sorry for his loss. In Fantasyland."

Geneva almost collapsed. She couldn't believe it. Why was Clan being so reckless?

"Why?" was all she said.

"Because he lost his wife and son," Clan said. "He needed to know I was sorry."

"YOU DIDN'T KILL THEM!" Geneva shouted. "YOU HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!"

Clan blinked.

"They can help us."

"Can they?" Geneva spat. "They failed us before."

Clan was silent for a moment. He reached across the counter and took Geneva's paw. She didn't pull away.

"I'll lay low," he said. "I promise. I just wanted to let you know what was happening."

"Thanks," Geneva said sourly.

Clan gazed into Geneva's eyes for a full minute, caressing her hand. She wanted to hug him, but patrons were now filing into the lobby as the showing in Theater 3 ended.

"One last thing," Clan said, "before I go." He pulled his hand away and reached into his pocket. He gave her a sheet of paper, folded several times over. Geneva's eyes widened.

"Where did you get that?"

"The Cogs left it behind," Clan said. "It was in the mud in the clearing."

Geneva unfolded the page from Dr. Molecule's journal. The ugly, terrifying truth glaring back at her.

"Hide it," Clan said, "or destroy it. Your choice."

## Production

### Continuity and Story Arcs

This episode featured the first flashback to the Final Battle. In it, the Mystery Man, his name now revealed to be Clan Destine, saw Dr. Molecule before his death.

The reconaissance team of Doctor, Piggy Pie, Eileen Irenic, Violet Vance, Constance Miller, and Dr. Sensitive discovered Adam Molecule's cabin. A big find was his journal, but the last few pages were torn out. One of the pages was in Clan Destine's possession, before he passed it on to Geneva George. They also found a trapdoor with a secret underground bunker, sheeted in metal. It had been set on fire, charring the body of its inhabitant, Alice Carver.

The clearing of Chipper Acres was revealed to be the site of the Final Battle.

Adam Molecule was revealed to have been dead for weeks, killed by his own Cogs. His heart had been cut out and his body was dumped in the river.

This episode featured the first mention of the foxes of the Kingdom of Vulpus, though the Kingdom itself had been mentioned in the previous episode.

### References

When Constance Miller opened the trapdoor, she hoped it wasn't a "Murder palace," a reference to the Murder Castle of American serial killer H.H. Holmes.

Steamboat Willie, the movie playing at the movie theatre, is the first animated feature with Mickey Mouse.

The movie theatre, Toontown Regal Cinema, is named after Regal Cinemas, producers' favorite theatre company.

## Trivia

* The episode shares its title with its preceding episode, and is a reference to Adam Molecule.
* Dr. Molecule's shed is designed after and inspired by the Unabomber's cabin.
* At the end of the episode, Eileen Irenic sees a tower in the distance, hidden by clouds. Though not explicity stated in the episode, it is implied that Eileen glimpsed Bossbot HQ.
* Arty Ficial's name is supposed to sound like "artificial," making fun of how real estate agents can be contrived.

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