Common Sense

**"Common Sense"** is the third episode of *Revolution* and the 78th episode overall.

The episode was released on February 13, 2022.

In the episode, Usa negotiates with the tribe of bandits for her freedom, Doctor finds hope in captivity, and Toontown integrates further into the Vulpus Empire.

## The Episode

—Vista, Vulpus—

—March 29, 1051—

Mata Hairy’s disguise held, and she moved seemingly undetected through Vista. She wore a thick hoodie that obscured her face, large sunglasses, a facemark, and gloves to hide her orange fur. The bustling city paid her no mind, even though there was a clear campaign to locate the missing heirs.

Posters and electronic images of the Toons were plastered everywhere, from lampposts to enormous billboards. The Caligaris, Doctor, Bradley, and Slate were not pictured anywhere. Mata knew the foxes had killed the Caligaris, but she inferred from the lack of the other three that the foxes had captured them. Doctor, Bradley, and Slate were probably right here in the capital of the Empire. Mata’s best guess was inside the Rook of Vulpus.

Mata approached one of the posters of herself.

“WANTED! DANGEROUS FUGITIVE!” the poster screamed. “MATA HARI: MONKEY, ORANGE. NOTABLE FEATURES: EXTENSIVE PIERCINGS.”

First of all, Mata scowled to herself, they misspelled her name! How rude. Second, she had dispensed of that distinguishable feature. All of her earrings were lying at the bottom of a sewage grate between Vista and Yefoxerinburg.

If Doctor, Slate, and Bradley were prisoners of the Empire, and the Caligaris were dead, then the other eight Toons must be with the Free. Finding them would be an impossible task. Cartonia was massive and Mata had no idea how to get around. Locating even one Toon would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

However, Bradley, Doctor, and Slate could be here, in Vista. That was a doable task.

Mata kept winding down the streets until the Rook of Vulpus was visible upon its lopsided hill. She had been inside the castle before, which gave her an advantage. The first time she broke into Cashbot Headquarters, she had been flying blind. This time around, with this redoubt, she wouldn’t be blind.

Infiltrating was her speciality. She was confident she could slip into the Rook of Vulpus and find her friends.

And most importantly, she could take a shot at Vella Vixen.

—Toontown—

Chief Aleck Harding’s neck was craned upward, watching dismally as the foxes constructed a massive tower in the center of the Brrrgh. Crates of Cervidian steel were hacked open, the supplies emptied and put to immediate use on the project. The construction on this tower had been continuing nonstop since the foxes first conquered the town.

Commandant Hans Einfach was here, of course, overseeing the progress. The sandy fox was seemingly everywhere. Aleck did not envy Constance’s position as Colonial Governor. She more than anyone had to interact with the Commandant.

“What is that?” Deputy Paul Pickaxe of the Brrrgh asked his once-superior. Aleck maintained his gaze on the spiraling spire.

“It’s a communications tower.”

“Well, what does it do?” Paul asked.

“Connect the Empire,” Aleck uttered. “Bridges the gap between Toontown and Cartonia.”

“Oh.”

The Toon Patrol had essentially been disbanded once the foxes took over. Aleck Harding was stripped of his Chief title that he had fought so hard to acquire. The foxes took over the various headquarters, leaving Aleck without a job. However, he kept his head attached by helping the foxes with menial requests. They would ask him for a map and he’d comply. They’d ask him to carry a box to another headquarters and he’d do just that.

His five living Deputies did the same—one, Susan Fletcher, had died in the *Chipper* disaster. They also advocated for their citizens. Observing the curfews in Dreamland was difficult when the neighborhood was always dark enough to give off the illusion of night. Dreamland Deputy Linda Lawla explained this to the Vulpine Third Officer in charge of Dreamland, and he implemented a 5-minute grace period. Was that helpful? Maybe not so much but Aleck had instructed his Deputies to try anything to ease the tight restrictions already choking the Toons.

Unfortunately, having your job hijacked by another entity meant that Aleck spent most of his day just wandering. That’s why he had already wasted his entire morning watching the communications tower go up.

“How long until it’s done?” Paul asked, sipping a mug of coffee. Aleck frowned.

“At this rate, just a few days. Once it’s done, the Commandant will be able to talk freely and seamlessly with the Vixen Queen. Toontown will never be silent again.”

—Antlerstag—

—Lyme, Cervidium—

Though the hexagonal room was relatively spacious, it got small very quickly. Doctor hadn’t even been confined here a day and he was losing his sanity. He started latching onto the window, finding comfort in seeing a world larger than these six walls.

Slate Oldman and Bradley Wolfe were handling things much better. Slate occupied his time by creating flurries above his cot, sometimes crafting large snowflakes with intricate designs. Bradley found a black rock on the ground that when scratched against the wall could serve as a form of graphite. Doctor had never known Bradley to be an artist, yet here he was drawing the familiar form of his wife, Alice.

Doctor got up from the window and crossed to the small mirror hanging on the wall. He inspected his face. The escape from that house in Yefoxerinburg had been hectic and harrowing, but he was relatively unscathed. At least physically. His blue fur seemed a bit thinner, but the stress of the last year was to blame for that, not just the other night.

“Psst.”

Doctor froze. What was that?”

“Pssst!”

He turned around. Slate and Bradley were conversing about Bradley’s latest drawing.

“Hello?” Doctor whispered. The mirror suddenly transformed, and Doctor leapt back. The reflection disappeared, replaced with the curious face of a deer. She was young, peering inside like it was a window. Doctor reached forward and tried to pry the mirror off the wall, but it was bolted. A two-way mirror, controlled from the other side?

“Hello,” the deer murmured. “Can you hear me?”

“I can hear you!” Doctor said, getting as close to the mirror as he could. “Where are you?”

“On the other side of the wall,” the deer said, studying Doctor closely. “I work in the palace. Are you locked in there?”

Doctor felt a sudden rush of hope. Whoever this was could help them!

“Yes, we are! We’re prisoners! My name is Doctor.”

“Oh, you’re a doctor, then?”

Doctor laughed. He got this all the time.

“No, no. That’s just my name.”

The deer smiled.

“I’m Lee. I’m a scullery maid. My mum said there were people locked up. People from…the south?”

Doctor chose his words carefully.

“Yes, that’s right. I come from a place called Toontown. We’ve never seen a fox before.”

Lee’s eyes bulged. She must be no older than sixteen or seventeen.

“*Never*?”

“Just Vella Vixen.”

“Wow.”

Doctor was bouncing with anticipation. Was she going to help them? Could she?

“Do you know how to unlock the door, Lee? Can you help us?”

Lee shrugged.

“Mum has all the keys. I’m sure I can sneak it out while she sleeps. Are you a good man?”

“Of course,” Doctor answered immediately. In that moment, he forgot every transgression, misstep, and sin he had committed in his life. He had to convince Lee he was a saint or else she might not help.

“Are your friends good as well?”

“The goodest.”

Lee snickered.

“Stay here. I’ll see you soon. I’ll find that key.”

“Thank you!” Doctor breathed. “Thank you so much!”

Lee’s kind face smiled.

“Have courage, Doctor.”

—Rook of Vulpus—

—Vista, Vulpus—

“For the banquet tonight,” Queen Vella Vixen said to her dresser, Jewellia, “I would like to wear something silk and light. Red.”

“Of course, your Majesty,” Jewellia said at once, jotting down notes. “Pearls, perhaps?”

“Yes, that’d be wonderful.”

Vella shooed away the guards following them as she entered her own personal quarters. Jewellia opened the door for her. Vella rolled her eyes once she was over the threshold; three visitors were within.

“Sisters.”

Vyzanna, Varinna, and Vestia Vixen were each reclined on the chaise lounges in the sitting area. All three wore their royal tiaras. Their unity disgusted Vella.

“Vella,” Vyzanna sneered. She got up first, and the other two followed suit. They encircled her, cutting her off from Jewellia.

“Go, dresser,” Vyzanna commanded. “Leave us.”

Jewellia did not budge, loyal to the end. Vestia slapped her, and Vella begrudgingly dismissed her. Jewellia scampered from the room, crying.

“So,” Vella said, “this is your confrontation.”

Vyzanna was straightening herself as far as her spine would allow, desperate to be the reminder that she was taller than Vella.

“You’re a usurper, Vella,” she hissed. “You stole my throne!”

“She is the eldest daughter,” Vestia threw in. “Vyzanna was Crown Princess.”

Vella sniffed.

“Nominally. The succession laws have been relaxed for some years.”

“Only by royal decree!” Varinna shrieked. “You circumvented the succession!”

Vella gave a simple shrug.

“The army supports me. They didn’t have to accept me.”

“Of *course* the army supports you!” Vyzanna shouted through clenched teeth. “They watched you slay our mother! They followed her all the way to the bottom of the continent, only for their leader to be cut down by her own daughter!”

Vella laughed at the theatrics.

“You act as if no Vixen Queen earned her throne through familial sacrifice.”

Since the War, over the course of 300 years, there had been 24 Vixen Queens, including Vella. The average reign of any Vixen Queen was around twelve years. Many daughters grew impatient waiting for their mothers to die, and so they took matters into their own hands. As the youngest daughter, Vella stood no realistic chance of becoming Queen herself. The eldest sister, Vyzanna, was already married, one step ahead of Vella. She was only twenty-two, but time was of the essence.

“Let’s call a fox a fox,” Vyzanna stated. “You killed Mother, and usurped her crown. You used your conquest of that ridiculous town as leverage to curry favor with the army and the people. And though you may think that these deeds have earned you the throne, you have cast me aside!”

Vella yawned.

“Must you be so vain? It’s just the throne.”

Vyzanna ran up to Vella, inches from her face.

“*It is my birthright!* That is my crown!”

Vella removed it from her head.

“Come and get it.”

Vyzanna actually reached out to snatch it, but Vella pulled away. Varinna and Vestia made lunges as well, but Vella cunningly dashed their attempts.

“This isn’t over!” Varinna yelled. “Vyzanna will get her throne!”

Vella squinted at the two middle sisters.

“What’s in it for you? Why do you care which of us wears the crown?”

Vestia, the pipsqueak of the family, crossed her needle arms over her flat chest.

“Unlike you, Vella, I respected our mother. I respected her decisions. She chose Vyzanna as the Crown Princess, and that decision should be honored!”

“Mother was a bitch,” Varinna said, canceling out Vestia’s thoughts, “but she was wise. She knew who had the iron stomach to do what was necessary to fulfill the Skulkisch Doktrin. Vyzanna was the right choice.”

Vella was seething now. Their words were evocative of Mother’s, always telling Vella she wasn’t hard enough, tough enough, cunning enough to be Queen. When she was sent to Toontown on her mission of discovery, she was told this was her one and only chance to prove herself, otherwise be relegated to a forgotten page in the Vixen royal family’s history book. When the Vixen Queen arrived in Toontown with the Armada, Vella seized her chance.

“I am perfectly capable of doing what the Doktrin decrees!” Vella blurted. “I am not weak!”

“We’ll see,” Varinna said mysteriously. “We’ll judge you by your actions. We’ll watch you carefully, because you will make a mistake. You aren’t safe. Your throne is made of glass, and it’s cracked from side to side.”

“I’ve always been the better daughter,” Vyzanna taunted. “The better Princess, the better Vixen. In every aspect.”

She lowered her paws to her stomach and grinned at Vella. The bitch was pregnant! If there was one thing the people of Vulpus went gaga for, it was a pregnant Vixen Princess.

“Your move,” Vyzanna threatened. The three sisters stalked out of the room, Vestia slamming the door behind her.

Vella stuck the crown back on her head and growled to herself. She was tired of being underestimated by her family! It was the sisters who should be worried about their safety, not Vella. She was the Vixen Queen!

She stormed out, marching down the stairs on a path for the High Tower. As she crossed the courtyard, Skulksmarshall Tick Hunter stopped her. He was accompanied by Skulksmarshall Rook James.

“Majesty,” Tick bowed, “I have an urgent message from your advisors. Skulksmarshall James, I’ll see you in a minute.”

Rook seemed dejected to be excluded from the conversation, but nonetheless walked away. After the Martial, Tick and Rook were the two highest-ranked members of the Empire’s military. And since Vella had appointed herself as the Martial, there was nobody else in the military above Tick and Rook.

“What is it, Skulksmarshall?”

“The mission is nearly complete on Eusuchia Island. The Commandant at 17 has requested we begin Galligasque shipments, and then Mallardians.”

Vella hesitated. Behind Tick was the High Tower, the first construction at the Rook of Vulpus. The original castle, the cornerstone of the Vixen dynasty.

“Of course,” she said. “You may proceed.”

Tick bowed and hastened away. Vella continued on for the High Tower. It was locked to all visitors, only the monarch. The two sentinels at the gate moved their spears, allowing the Queen to pass through. Vella climbed the spiral staircase, proceeding slowly on the antiquated steps.

At the apex was a single room. When it was first built, the High Tower was a watchtower and lookout point, protecting the original Skulk of foxes. Now it served a dual role, one public and one private.

The Tower was home to several dozen turtles, encaged and cared for by the reigning Vixen Queen. For over a thousand years, the turtles had lived up here, growing in number. The Vixen dynasty was held captive to a superstition that no one dared ignore. It all began with a poem around the time the Harmony Crown was first devised, and one of the last Kings of Vulpus had that poem inscribed on the wall:

*In the Tower High of mortar and bricks*

*Turtles of the Crown must be kept in six*

*For if one or more should flee the coop*

*The Crown shall fall, and Vulpus too*.

No Vixen monarch, King or Queen, was going to take any chances. There were around forty or more turtles up here now. Vella saw one had died, so she chucked it out the window. As long as there were at least six, she was safe.

In addition to the turtles, the High Tower also played host to the primeval Skulkisch Doktrin. It was once housed in the Vault of Vulpus, but Mother moved it to the High Tower. Vella thought she might move it back to the Vault; it’d probably be safer there.

The Doktrin was locked in a cabinet embedded in the wall. Vella had the key, and retrieved the tattered book. It was written in a dead language, but Vella was familiar with the dialect.

The Doktrin made reference to the human race, a species long dead that had destroyed itself. But during its heyday, the human race was the dominant species on the continent. The Doktrin predicted that with the fall of the humans, another dominant species must rise. Natural selection, it was called. Moreover, that dominant species was decreed to be the foxes.

The rise of the foxes began in earnest at the outbreak of War three centuries ago, a wave of conquest that brought Cartonia primarily under Vulpine control. Subsequent Vixen Queens continued to acquire land and territory, spreading into the Expanse and over the Vixen Mountainrange. Scuridiae, Psittancyna, and Cervidium all had to cede part of their holdings over the years, but still the foxes had not reached their full potential.

The Doktrin was clear on what must be done. And Vella was determined to be the Vixen Queen to set all obstacles—moral and physical—aside to see it so.

—The Jungles—

—*Former Simeone*—

Someone forced Piggy Pie off the truck, and ripped off her blindfold. The cloth had been tied so tightly around her face that it took her eyes a minute to adjust. She fell onto all fours and blinked back the waning sunlight.

First, she was captured by foxes.

Then, she was “rescued” by the Free.

Now, she was being kidnapped by bandits. What kind of a place was Cartonia? A lawless dictatorship rife with misery and suffering.

Alice Carver and Usa Uhuru were knocked down beside her. The driver and the other three nameless members of the Free were being pulled out of the truck now.

Looking around, Piggy couldn’t quite make out where they were. They were in some sort of ditch, more like a crater, but tall jungle trees shot up around the perimeter. The pit was shady, only a few spots where sunlight could break through the thick canopy.

The crater was filled with strange mounds of mud or sand. There were holes and gaps in the mounds. Oh! They were like…huts. Piggy squinted at them. Figures moved through doorways and across windows.

“It’s a slave pit,” Usa whispered. “An abandoned one.”

“Who are these people?” Alice asked as low as she dared. She wrestled with the bondings around her wrist, but they were tight.

“I told you,” Usa replied, her lips barely moving. “Bandits.”

The dog who appeared to be the leader of this tribe stood in front of them, tapping the barrel of his gun. Everyone seemed to have a gun around here. Piggy wouldn’t know what to do with one, but she kind of wished she had one.

“Take a good luck, everybody,” the dog bellowed to the tribe. Those that hadn’t been along for the ambush gathered around. Piggy estimated there must be fifty of them in total, including young children. This wasn’t just a ragtag band of thieves. This was a community of all species. Was it strange she was reminded of Toontown at the sight?

“What are we looking at, Seamus?” a female dog asked, hands on hips. “Why’d you bring ‘em back here? We’re not looking to adopt!”

“Her face!” Seamus said dramatically, pointing at Usa. “Has anyone seen her before?”

Usa was perfectly still as the tribe examined her. The parrot snapped his wings.

“I know who she is! That’s Usa Uhuru!”

Seamus clucked his tongue.

“Are you serious? I thought that was a legend.”

“Guess not…” the parrot muttered. “Pretty, isn’t she?”

Usa scoffed.

“I’m flattered,” she mumbled.

“So, then,” Seamus said, pacing in front of the group, “we have ourselves a little party of the Free.”

He eyed Alice. “Why is your fur so strange? What color is that?”

“L-lavender,” Alice whispered. Seamus approached and bristled his fur against hers.

“Ain’t never seen this shade before. Where did you come from?”

Alice stared at him with abject terror. Piggy Pie willed him away, silently begging him not to recognize them.

“Oy!” one of the deer from the ambush yelped. He hit a hand to his forehead. “That’s them!”

Piggy froze. Alice whimpered.

“Who?” Seamus asked.

“The heirs! Haven’t you heard? These royal babies were hiding in the south beyond the edge of the map! They escaped the Vixen Queen a few days ago! And that’s them!”

Seamus turned to the Free and the Toons.

“Which ones?”

The deer walked up to Alice and Piggy.

“Those two! Haven’t you seen the poster in town?”

Seamus rolled his eyes.

“I don’t go to town.”

The deer ignored him.

“Simeone and Porcinia. The heirs, right here!”

Seamus stroked his chin as Piggy Pie sought desperately for a means of escape.

“Is there a reward?”

“Fat one,” the deer said with a toothless smile. “Million per.”

“Holy shit!” the parrot cried. “What about Usa?”

“Probably the same!”

“It’s payday, comrades!” Seamus hollered. The tribe whooped and celebrated. Piggy and Alice glanced at each other. Which was worse? The bandits or Vella? Piggy had a feeling wherever she ended up, somebody would want her dead.

“How about them?” a cat asked, dragging a sword across the sand in front of the other four members of the Free. “Are they special?”

“Nah,” the deer yawned.

“They can die,” Seamus said casually. Before anyone could protest, the cat singlehandedly slit all four throats. Piggy screamed, Alice squeezed her eyes shut, but Usa just watched.

“They were innocent!” Usa spat. Seamus shrugged.

“Grigor, go call the reporting line. The Vixen Queen will want to know where her heirs went…”

The deer scuttled into one of the huts. He was about to make the phone call that’d seal Piggy’s fate. Seamus crouched over the supplies from their truck. He cut open bags and pulled out food.

“You weren’t lying about the worth, then,” he snickered at Usa. “This is all just supplies.”

“Well,” Usa said, “I didn’t calculate the cost of my own head.”

“A valuable head indeed,” Seamus admitted. He kept going through things. Piggy saw Usa getting agitated in the corner of her eye.

“What’s going to happen to us?” Usa asked loudly. “Who are you calling?”

In response, Grigor exited the hut tossing a phone up and down. “You’ll never guess who they put through! That was *Skulksmarshall* Tick Hunter. He’s on his way.”

Piggy’s blood went cold. Tick!

“Someone’s been promoted, then,” Usa remarked.

“How long is it from Vulpus?” Alice asked quietly. “A day or two?”

“Oh,” Usa scoffed, “the Queen has transport faster than you’d believe. We have a matter of hours.”

Only a few hours?! Then…Piggy would be dead by nightfall. Vella would not delay another execution.

Seamus kicked the remainder of the supplies, scattering the contents. His attention then caught on a box which Piggy hadn’t seen before. Usa sharply gasped. Seamus tried to open the box, shaped like a squat square, but it was locked.

“What’s in it?” he put to Usa. She didn’t reply. “What’s in the box?”

“My mother’s ashes,” Usa exhaled. “It’s her remains.”

She broke down and wept. Seamus recoiled and dropped the box.

“That’s disgusting!”

Grigor walked over and picked up the box. He gave it a shake.

“Don’t sound like no ashes.”

He lifted the box over his head, prepared to smash it. Usa lunged forward, falling on her face, her cheeks totally dry.

“NO!”

Seamus’s eyes went wide.

“Is it really ashes, love?”

The box remained poised over Grigor’s head.

“One way to find out,” he snarled.

“No! No!” Usa urged, rolling over. The parrot and cat lifted her to her feet, then shoved her back on her knees.

“You better share what’s inside, or Grigor’ll smash it,” Seamus threatened.

“Please…” Usa begged, but it fell on deaf ears. Grigor threw the box down. Usa shrieked as it bounced, but didn’t break.

“20392!” Usa screamed. “20392! That’s the code! Please don’t break it!”

Seamus punched in the numbers, and the box clicked open. Lifting the lid, his eyes twinkled.

“My, my,” he murmured. “You’ve been holding back.”

Piggy tried to see what was inside, but it was obscured by the lid. Grigor and Seamus seemed shellshocked. Seamus finally reached in and lifted out the contents. It wasn’t ashes. It was a crown.

The silver glinted in the crepuscular light. Studded around the crown’s ridge were large gems of all colors. It was both beautiful and formidable. It didn’t look like the crown Vella would wear, spiky and scary. This was elegantly crafted, though in some places it appeared rusty. An old crown? Piggy wondered which nation it had belonged to, and how Usa came upon it.

“Do you you know what that is?” Grigor asked, taking a step back.

“Of course,” Seamus uttered. “The Harmony Crown…”

“Hoh!” the female dog barked a laugh. “That thing was destroyed centuries ago! The Vixen Queen burned it up herself. That there must be a replica.”

Usa was silent, watching the bandits handle the crown as if they were killing her own child. She was so tense. Piggy marveled at the crown. If it was indeed the Harmony Crown, she’d be just as surprised as the bandits. She also thought the Vixen Queen had destroyed it around the same time it was abolished. Why would she have kept it?

Unless…she hadn’t kept it. If the Free had the Harmony Crown, they must have had it for some time.

“This is the best day of my life!” Seamus declared. “Millions in reward money from the government, and we can break down this crown and sell it for more! Comrades, by month’s end we’ll have our own estate!”

Amidst the cheers, Usa butt in.

“That crown cannot be destroyed! Use your common sense! We need the Crown to take down the Vixen Queen! It’s a symbol of our unity.”

Seamus turned the crown over in his hands.

“It’s a gold mine, is all it is. How long have you been carrying this around with you? You could have had a castle.”

“Any castle under Vulpine rule is a prison,” Usa snapped. “You’re all fools if you think you can sell the Crown!”

Seamus began to tug on one of the red gems, a ruby. Usa went ballistic.

“NO! STOP! LEAVE IT ALONE!”

She was shrill, delusional. Piggy thought she was being a bit much.

“Ugh! Enough of her!” Seamus groaned. “Put them in the pen until the Skulksmarshall arrives.”

—Vannastadt, Vulpus—

—*Formerly Mus, Willie*—

Mr. Meesh’s safehouse was indeed in the center of the city, directly underneath Musenzollern Castle. At least, that’s what the castle used to be called before the War. Mr. Meesh said it was now known as Vannazollern, named for Queen Vanna Vixen, who closed out the War. The city bore her name as well. The Vixen Queens were notorious for prying off old names and sticking theirs in its place.

Musenzollern Castle, as Eileen would prefer to call it, was perched on a hill much like the Rook of Vulpus in Vista. The difference was the hill had a secret hollow core. The core connected to steam tunnels throughout the city, enabling the Free to sneak around. The city of Vannastadt had a strict curfew for its mice residents. The foxes that ruled the city had free rein, and the mice were subjugated. Eileen was not surprised.

The safehouse was a whole apartment, with a functioning kitchen and bathroom. There were four bedrooms, one that was permanently occupied by Mr. Meesh. Eileen, Hyla Sensitive, and Mickey Elias filled out the other three.

That night, as they had dinner for the first time together, Mr. Meesh asked them about Toontown. Eileen had expected that, of course. He was naturally curious, just as she was curious about him. Without his hood, the scars on his face were much more grisly. His right eye was white, suggesting blindness.

“All three of you were May-er?” Mr. Meesh asked at the conclusion of one of Mickey’s stories, sounding out the title.

“Just these two,” Hyla clarified, thumbing at Eileen and Mickey. “They’re two of our Mayors. The current Mayor is a woman named Constance. She’s amazing!”

Mr. Meesh stabbed at his food. He had cooked for them steak and potatoes.

“I cannot imagine voting for a leader…what if you make the wrong choice?”

Eileen shrugged.

“Vote against them at the next election.”

“What about BioFreaks?” Mr. Meesh asked next. “What role do they play in Toontown?”

Eileen nonchalantly kept eating as she spoke.

“They’re fine. We only have two, Slate and Drema. Slate is one of the heirs, actually. He served on the Toon Council.”

Mr. Meesh’s eyes bugged out.

“BioFreaks can…serve in government?” He was genuinely shocked.

“We don’t discriminate in Toontown,” Eileen said. “It’s a utopia, or as close as you can get to one.”

Mr. Meesh pushed his plate away. Something sparked near his fingers, and he crossed his arms.

“I’m a BioFreak,” he said quietly. “Not many in the Free know that.”

“Why not?” Hyla asked. “Do you think they’ll turn on you?”

Mr. Meesh nodded.

“Not everyone is accepting of BioFreaks. Associating with one can ruin your chances at a normal life.”

He told them how he had been caught for robbery and sent off to the Cervidian laboratories as punishment. His experiment was a failure, leaving him blind in one eye and with a haphazard ability to control electricity. Except all he could really do was make sparks. He demonstrated on a candle, creating enough sparks to light the flame.

“Well, I think that’s incredible!” Eileen said with a smile. “Handy, too.”

“I’m not ashamed to associate with you, Mr. Meesh,” Hyla said. “I’m very grateful to you for keeping us safe.”

The mouse blushed and bowed his head.

“You know,” Mickey said as they resumed dinner, “Drema Yawn has a daughter, so that’s three BioFreaks in Toontown.”

“That’s right!” Hyla said. “I forgot about her. She doesn’t really talk about her.”

Mickey nodded.

“And,” he went on, “there have been rumors over the years of another BioFreak. One that can change the color of his fur.”

Eileen stared.

“Really? I haven’t heard about that.”

“It’s just a story,” Mickey said. “One of the Founders was rumored to have such an ability, and I think it caused him to either lose his fur or lose his colored sight.”

“Which Founder?” Eileen pressed. Mickey shrugged.

“No one knows for sure. I put money on either Sampson Tawel or Trent Mallon, both rabbits. He probably didn’t have children, or the line ended somewhere. I’m sure we would have known if another BioFreak existed.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Mr. Meesh muttered. “BioFreaks innately feel shame, and hide away.”

—The Jungles—

—*Former Simeone*—

The bandits dragged Piggy, Alice, and Usa out of the crater to a clearing a couple of miles away. They stayed at the perimeter, the bandits watching the skies. Piggy looked upward too, but there wasn’t anything there. What, was Tick going to drop out of the sky?

Eventually, Piggy did hear a rumbling overhead. She turned, looking for trucks or tanks, but instead something appeared above the tree canopy. Something was flying in the sky!

“What is that?” Alice cried. Usa glanced at them.

“The Vixen Queen’s transport.”

It was a flying contraption, almost like a parrot. It had long wings that curved upwards. Gigantic fans or engines were strapped to the side and underbelly, propelling the machine through the sky. It was massive! The machine stopped flying over the clearing and began to hover. Wind whipped across the grass, sending dust and sand flying into Piggy’s face. She turned around, blinking out the debris.

Behind her, the flying machine made its landing. The engines switched off, and she turned to see the doors open on either end. A ramp extended and hit the grass. Vulpine soldiers flooded off, led by the one deer: Tick Hunter.

“It’s called an aerowings,” Usa explained, as Alice and Piggy gaped at the machine. “It’s like a train that can go through the air. The parrots built two, one for the Vixen Queen and one for the Stag of Cervidium. They’re the only two in existence.”

Tick Hunter ignored the shocked faces of the Toons and went directly to Seamus and Grigor, their captors.

“You were smart to call the hotline,” Tick said. “You’ll be rewarded.”

“Now? In cash?” Seamus asked at once. Tick snapped at one of the soldiers, and they deposited a hefty trunk at the bandits’ feet. They opened it and cried out in joy at the mass of coins and bullion.

“Three million marks,” Tick said. “It’s all there. One million for each of the fugitives.”

His gaze passed over Piggy, Alice, and Usa. Piggy looked away. She couldn’t stand looking at him.

“So,” Tick sneered, “the Toons thought they could run. And you, Usa Uhuru, you thought you could rescue them.”

She clucked her tongue.

“I *did* rescue them. Being captured by air-headed bandits was not part of my plan.”

Tick stepped up to her, so close his lips were basically grazing her forehead.

“Where are the others?” he whispered. “Where have you put them?”

Usa backed up and stared at him.

“What are you on about? *You* have them!”

Tick scowled.

“Don’t play games! *Where are the other Toons?”*

Usa continued her act, looking genuinely befuddled.

“Are you telling me you don’t have them?”

Tick *tsked* and walked away, clearly not believing her.

“Get them on the aerowings! As for you—“

He rounded on the bandits. “Anything else you’d like to share? Any other valuable information you can provide?”

The bandits shook their heads.

“No, sir. We told you it all!”

“They have the Harmony Crown!” Usa blurted. Seamus’s mouth fell all the way open. Grigor did a double-take.

“What are you doing?” Alice hissed. “Are you crazy?”

Tick raised his hands.

“Wait, what?”

“They have the Harmony Crown,” Usa repeated. “The actual, legitimate, wartime Harmony Crown.”

Seamus began sputtering indignantly.

“Sh-she! She had it! She gave it to us!”

“And you were going to melt it down and sell it for scrap,” Usa fired back. “They have it. In a box, in their camp, about two miles back that way. The code on the box is 20392.”

Tick was still stunned, trying to wrap his head around this conversation.

“The Harmony Crown…survives?”

“Yes,” Usa said. “The Free have been keeping it safe, but these bandits stole it from me.”

“It’s a trick,” Tick said. “You’re tricking me.”

“I am not tricking you. I am trying to save it.”

Suddenly, it made sense to Piggy Pie. The Harmony Crown was of the utmost importance to Usa, for whatever reason. If the bandits were left with it, they’d destroy it. The Crown would be cut up and sold around Cartonia. But if Tick takes it, not only would it stay intact for a bit longer, but Usa would know exactly where it was: Vista.

“Skulkscaptain!” Tick barked to another fox. “Lead the battalion two miles west. Find this camp and retrieve the Harmony Crown.”

“OY!” Seamus shouted. “Don’t go anywhere near our home!”

Tick smirked.

“Your ‘home’ is an unlicensed dwelling, from the sound of it. We have every right to enter.”

Usa looked positively triumphant when the foxes returned about ten minutes later carrying the unharmed box, its contents intact. Tick was openmouthed as he held the Crown in his hooves.

“Get them on the aerowings!” he reiterated. Wheel’s up!”

Piggy, Alice, and Usa were taken by the arms and led to the aerowings’ ramps. Tick turned to the bandits.

“Oh, for withholding the Harmony Crown, your reward money is null and void.”

The foxes took the trunk back. Usa chirped in laughter.

“OY!” Seamus hollered at Usa. “Fuck you!”

She blew a kiss in farewell, pleased with herself. The bandits slunk back into the jungle, defeated.

While Usa celebrated her victory in securing the Harmony Crown, Piggy felt no such sense of jubilance. They were still prisoners to the foxes—again—and their odds at survival were low.

They were pushed up the ramp and onto the aerowings. The inside was dismal and grey, designed for practicality over luxury. There were metal-wrought seats arranged in rows of two, one chair on either side of the cabin. Piggy counted only four rows, a total of eight seats. Two more were in the very back. Overhead were nets carrying what looked like luggage.

Piggy was pushed into one of the seats. Usa was across the aisle from her, but Alice was in the row behind them. Tick headed through a door at the front, presumably to the control panel or whatever was controlling this thing. The Skulkscaptain—Piggy assumed that was some sort of title—shackled her to the seat’s armrest.

Usa’s eyes were glued to the box that contained the Harmony Crown. It was placed in one of those overhead nets. Could she think of nothing else?

The aerowings rumbled as the engines gained power. Piggy glanced at Usa.

“Is this safe?”

“No clue,” Usa replied, raising her voice over the din from the engines. “If the Vixen Queen flies in it, she must think so.”

Piggy squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to scream as the aerowings was launched into the sky. Any glee or mystification that she should have had on her first ever flight was replaced with fear and terror. Where were they going?

The aerowings flew north, which Piggy could tell from the ocean on the left side out her window. In the distance, there were two islands. Piggy had seen enough maps of Cartonia to know those were Eusuchia and Equine Isle, homes of the crocodiles and horses.

Below them was the bay that once separated Scuridiae and Mallardia. The world seemed so small from up here. But also below, like black stains on a white tablecloth, were fields of desolation. Piggy was aghast at the devastation. It was as if there was nothing alive down there, nothing at all. Not even a blade of grass or flower.

*The Death Fields*. Must be! Usa had said they were remnants of warfare centuries ago. If that was what she was seeing, then the Death Fields encompassed more land on the Cartonian continent than Piggy would have thought.

The aerowings continued to fly over the continent, over the lands once known as Simeone and Ursus. The journey took a while. Piggy Pie strained her neck to see Equine Isle beyond Eusuchia. Something hit her stomach like a brick.

The island was desolate.

The aerowings lurched and glided downward, making its descent for Eusuchia.

“Why are we going to Eusuchia?” Piggy asked Usa. She pulled her eyes off the box to look at Piggy.

“I have suspicions. Do you want to know them?”

It was an honest question. Did she? Ultimately, she decided yes. She may not have many decisions left in her life.

“Tell me.”

Usa leaned across the aisle, getting as close to Piggy’s ear so she wouldn’t have to shout. Alice moved forward too.

“I’ve heard stories…whispers of something wicked on Eusuchia…but we don’t know what it is. I’ve known several people who have been sent to the prison camps there, and they haven’t been released. We think it’s another BioFreak breeding facility. Years ago, Queen Vixen XXIX started relocating polar bears and cows to Equine Isle and Eusuchia to free up living space for the foxes. I’ve been all over Cartonia, and I’ve barely seen any cows and no polar bears. I think they’re being isolated to prevent population increases.”

“Then why are we going?” Alice asked. Usa shrugged.

“I’m not sure. If something sinister is going on there, then I have to escape. *We* have to escape.”

—Vannastadt, Vulpus—

—*Formerly Mus, Willie*—

Hyla Sensitive tried to make sense of the cards she was playing with Mr. Meesh. He was teaching her a traditional Cartonian game, but she couldn’t understand the rules. He was being extremely patient with her, which she appreciated.

“Can I play this one?” she asked, lowering one of the cards onto the table. He shook his head slightly. “Oh. Okay, how about…this?”

“Better.”

“But still bad?”

“Yes…”

Eileen and Mickey were in one of the bedrooms conversing. Mickey was accustomed to going to sleep early, so he was about to turn in. Hyla saw the light turn off and Eileen exit.

“Mickey’s off.”

Mr. Meesh checked the clock. It was almost 10 at night.

“Ah. Nearly time,” he said. He set down his cards and shook Hyla’s paw. “Good game! We’ll try again tomorrow.”

“Are you…going somewhere?” Hyla asked, standing. Mr. Meesh was putting on his cloak and scarf.

“I have to check the message boards. I check them every night. That’s how I found out about you lot.”

“Be careful!” Eileen called as he opened the door of the apartment. He had shown them how to lock all the mechanisms when he would inevitably step out for supplies or messages.

“Fret not, Toons,” he chuckled. “This is routine.”

He shut the door, and headed out into the night.

—Eusuchia—

The nightmare worsened for Alice, Piggy, and Usa the moment they landed on Eusuchia. Usa had mentioned quietly as they descended that it was strange they’d go to Eusuchia instead of Vista. And she was right.

The foxes hauled the three off the aerowings and didn’t bother to go slowly down the ramps. Alice collapsed on hard pavement and cut her paws. The foxes quite literally threw her into the back of a van. She barely even got a glimpse of the island.

They drove in the darkness for about an hour before reaching their destination. Alice was taken out of the van first, again by a group of nameless foxes. Two of them, with one on either arm, dragged her through the gates of an electrified and barb-wired fence. Within the circumference of the fence were about a dozen brick buildings. The place smelled terrible, but Alice couldn’t discern why. She twisted her head around to see if this place had a name, but the only thing above the gate was the number 17.

“Usa!” she cried out. “Where are we?”

But Usa and Piggy had been taken in different directions. She was alone.

The foxes led her to one of the brick buildings, and down a stairwell to the basement. She began to hyperventilate, traumatic memories rushing back.

“No…” she stammered. “No. No, not down here. Please. No!”

The foxes shoved her into a cell a couple of feet wide in either direction. The metal door slammed behind them, leaving her in darkness.

And then, she was back in Toontown. In Chipper Acres, underneath the wooden cabin in the middle of that bucolic field. She was a girl again, alone and shivering in the crawl space of that cabin, prisoner to Adam Molecule. She could smell the cold metal floor, hear the clinking of Adam’s trinkets overhead, hear his voice and smell his fur. The memories were paralyzing, leaving Alice frozen in the present and trapped in the past. The only thing she could do was cry out for the one person who had saved her last time, the one person who had suffered as she had.

“Bradley!”

—Vannastadt, Vulpus—

It was nearly 4 in the morning, and Mr. Meesh had not returned. Hyla, Eileen, and Mickey were still awake, watching the door. Waiting.

But he never came back.

—Rook of Vulpus—

—Vista, Vulpus—

Vyzanna Vixen felt something strange in her sleep. She rolled over in bed, and felt it again. It was…wet.

She opened her eyes, wondering if she had left the window open again and rain got inside.

Her sister’s dead eyes stared back at her. She screamed, leaping up in bed.

“VARINNA?” she shrieked, feeling blood everywhere. Behind her, on the other side of the bed, something else was pooling. She turned, and kept screaming.

Vestia was dead too. Both of their throats had been cut, their bodies dumped in her bed.

“Hello, sister,” a voice said in the darkness. *Vella*.

“What have you done?” Vyzanna gasped. “What are you doing?” Vella stepped into the moonlight, holding a bloody dagger.

“Making my move.”

She lunged across the bed, and plunged the dagger into Vyzanna’s heart. Reeling back her arm, Vella kept stabbing. Vyzanna’s heart, her chest, her shoulders, throat, and her womb, where her child was growing. Vella did not stop until Vyzanna choked her last breath.

## Production

### Continuity and Story Arcs

The High Tower, which was first introduced in the season 4 premiere “Winter of Discontent,” returned. The number of turtles encaged there has increased dramatically.

The Skulkisch Doktrin was introduced in the 2020 Christmas Special “Hollow Crown.”

Usa Uhuru was in possession of the Harmony Crown, last seen with Hamish McRory in the 2021 Christmas Special “A Bell Cast In Iron.”

Trent Mallon, the third BioFreak founder of Toontown, was mentioned. He last appeared in the season 4 finale, “Until I Die.”

When Alice Carver was imprisoned on Eusuchia, she suffered flashbacks to imprisonment in Chipper Acres at Dr. Molecule’s hand. Her captivity with Molecule was documented in season 1 episodes “Clandestine” and “Heaven Found.”

By killing her sisters, Vella Vixen eliminated all direct heirs to the throne.

### References

Mata Hairy’s name was misspelled “Mati Hari” on her wanted poster. This is a reference to the real spy Mata Hari who inspired Mata Hairy’s name.

The Skulkisch Doktrin references natural selection, a scientific term popularized by Charles Darwin.

Usa says there is “something wicked on Eusuchia,” an internal reference to the season 4 episode of the same name.

## Trivia

* The title of this episode comes from the 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine of the same name. *Common Sense* popularized the ideal of American independence in the British colonies and played a prominent role in the American Revolution.
	+ The title was quoted by Usa Uhuru: "Use your **common sense!**"
* Vestia’s name was inspired by the Greek goddess, Hestia.
* The legend of the turtles in the High Tower is based on the legend of the ravens at the Tower of London, which states that if there are less than 7 ravens in the Tower, the monarchy will fall.