The Last Cow

**"The Last Cow"**is the ninth episode of *Justice* and the 27th episode overall.

It was published on August 4, 2018.

In the episode, Clarabelle Cow's past is explored as the present begins to unravel.

## The Episode

===Toontown Central Schoolhouse===

=Years Ago=

Clarabelle always wanted children. Ever since she was a child herself. As long as she could remember. It was her favorite childhood game—playing house with her friends. Her mother and father would smile and watch her pretend to be the best mother, the most caring, most doting, most loving matriarch.

Ub and Elvia Cow never wanted to talk about grandchildren. Clarabelle would sit at the dinner table and list all the names she was considering for children, and how she wanted two boys and two girls and they would all be about two-years apart so she could spend a good amount of time raising each one before moving onto the next. She told her parents about the boys at school she had crushes on and how they’d be good fathers. Ub and Elvia would change the subject, ever so deftly.

Clarabelle’s fall from bliss occurred on a temperate spring day. It was near the end of the school year. Clarabelle and her classmates were about to graduate to the final grade of second school. It was a momentous occasion, and the teachers knew it. And for the last month, in science class, there would be a special lecture. The students were told they would be learning about biology, Toon biology, and about babies.

Clarabelle had been so excited that morning she could hardly eat breakfast. Ub Cow had walked Clarabelle to school from Silly Street, which he hardly ever did, and he told Clarabelle, in an odd voice,

“Good luck today.”

Was there going to be a test? Clarabelle was bad at tests. Especially short answer.

Mr. Pete Ingalls, the youngest teacher on staff but the most beloved by Clarabelle’s class, was to give the first lecture of the seminar. He had taped up on the front of the largest classroom, into which the entirety of Clarabelle’s class was crammed, pictures of all the species known to Toonkind. There were also six sketches depicting the six species that had been on the opposite side of the War, and were thus not welcome in Toontown: the foxes, the deer, the goats, the parrots, the chipmunks, and the chickens. In addition, there were two grayed out images of the elephants and the crocodiles, which had gone extinct in Toontown. Clarabelle never knew why.

Until this day.

Mr. Ingalls then began to explain reproduction, which no one had ever heard of. Essentially, babies were formed from the reproductive process of a male Toon and a female Toon. This earned much sniggering in the class. Clarabelle had laughed too. How gross!

“Now for the tricky part,” Mr. Ingalls said. “I need a few volunteers.”

Toons far braver than Clarabelle raised their hands, and Mr. Ingalls invited several of them forward: two cats and two rabbits. A male and female each. Mr. Ingalls placed the two cats next to each other, and the two rabbits likewise.

“Now,” Mr. Ingalls said. “Because Cal and Sia are both cats, male and female, they can reproduce. These two can make a cat baby. But only a cat baby.”

He gestured to the rabbits.

“Judy and Oswald here can also reproduce, because they are both rabbits. They can make only a rabbit baby.”

Mr. Ingalls mixed them up, so that Cal and Oswald were next to each other, and then Sia and Judy.”

“With this,” Mr. Ingalls said, “we have two males together and two females. Though this is normal in life and love, this is *not* a viable method of reproducing. We won’t go into why right now. But you do need a male and female together.”

Mr. Ingalls mixed them up again, so Cal and Judy were together, and Oswald and Sia were together.

“Lastly,” Mr. Ingalls said, “this is another method that won’t work. Why not?”

Someone near the left side of the room raised their hand.

“Because Cal is a cat and Judy is a rabbit. They can’t make a baby.”

“Precisely,” Mr. Ingalls said, “it is perhaps the most infuriating of limitations in our biology. Though Cal and Judy may fall in love, they cannot naturally bear a child because they are not of the same species. Because of our lack of restrictions on who we can and cannot marry and with whom we can and cannot reproduce, many of you may have seen or may have parents that are of different species.”

A Toon raised her paw. Mr. Ingalls sent the four Toons back to their seat before pointing at the raised paw.

“My mom is a pig and my dad is a duck.”

Mr. Ingalls nodded.

“And have your parents told you how you came to be?”

“Yes,” the Toon said. “I was adopted by them. Mom and Dad said that many Toons have children in excess.”

Mr. Ingalls pointed to the pictures on the board.

“Rabbits, dogs, cats, pigs, ducks, and mice usually birth in high quantities. Due to financial restrictions, some families cannot keep all their children. Knowing that there are couples that would love children and are unable due to their difference in species, these mothers and fathers are willing to allow their children into the adoption process. It is very normal and widely accepted here in Toontown.”

The room nodded. There was no negative stigma against Toons that were adopted, and most Toons that were raised in different families still kept in touch with their birth families.

“You’ll notice,” Mr. Ingalls said carefully, “that not all species give birth in such large quantities. Horses, for example, only birth one at a time. As a result, the rate of population for horses is not growing as quickly. Though horses have an innate sense of mating within their species, if horses were not to reproduce, their species could die out.”

Clarabelle began to think more about what Mr. Ingalls was saying. She had a pit in her stomach, but couldn’t figure out why.

“The elephants,” Mr. Ingalls said with a whack of his ruler against the picture of the grey elephant, “and the crocodiles,” came to Toontown in small numbers and did not reproduce as much as it was necessary to save their species. As a result, the populations dwindled to only two. And the last two mated and had the very last of the species. And that last of the species had no choice but to mate outside their species with no possibility of a child of their own species. And thus the elephants and crocodiles became extinct in Toontown.”

Clarabelle’s best friend, Vidalia, nudged her.

“Bella,” she whispered, “you’re the last *cow*.”

It hit Clarabelle like lightning. Over and over.

She had never even realized it.

Her parents. Ub and Elvia. The last cow couple ever. And she, the last cow. She had been told that before. She knew that. She had always known that she was the last cow in Toontown. She had thought it made her special—it *did* make her special. But…

But…

No.

“Mr. Ingalls!” Clarabelle and stood. Mr. Ingalls looked shocked at her outburst, but mellowed.

“Yes, Clarabelle?”

“I’m the last cow in Toontown,” she said as if it were brand new information.

Mr. Ingalls took off his glasses and nodded. “Yes, you are.”

“Well,” Clarabelle said, shifting her weight and projecting her voice across the room, “if I’m the last cow ever…how am I going to have children?”

The entire room was silent, staring at the cow and cat, locked in gaze. Mr. Ingalls took a step forward, but he would never be able to reach Clarabelle personally as she was rows back.

“As I said,” he replied, “adoption is widely used and accepted…”

“No,” Clarabelle interjected. “I want to have calves. It’s been…my dream. Forever. You can’t…Mr. Ingalls, what other options are available?”

Mr. Ingalls shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Clarabelle. There aren’t any. You won’t ever be able to have calves. No one in Toontown ever will.”

Clarabelle felt tears pouring down her face.

“So…”

“Clarabelle, we can discuss this later.”

“NO!” she screamed. “Tell me what you mean. Tell me…”

Mr. Ingalls watched her with sad eyes. Then he sighed.

“The cow species,” he muttered, “will die with you.”

===Toontown Central===

=Present Day=

“Declan Antlin is issuing the recall. Telling Toons to smash the vases.”

“Thank you, Susan,” Constance said, rubbing her forehead. They were gathered outside the Cog building into which Clarabelle Cow had just fled. The insanity of the moment was kind of hitting all of them at once. Clarabelle Cow, the town’s most reputable socialite, the cornerstone of every home, the last cow in Toontown, the outgoing and affable woman, had betrayed the Toons? She must have known about the bugs in the vases because she wouldn’t have fled. And she certainly wouldn’t have fled into a *Cog building* if she was innocent.

But the Cog building wouldn’t be too difficult to reclaim, and Clarabelle would be retrieved from the restored Toon building and arrested. Constance, Eileen, Susan, and Aleck were of course the first to gather at the elevator, but Constance insisted they couldn’t all go inside just in case something happened.

“Continuity of government,” she said, “is essential.”

She grabbed Eileen’s shoulder.

“You stay here and if I die, you’ll become Acting Mayor.”

“HA!” Eileen barked. “Fat chance. I’ll call Piggy Pie and she can come along. You stay behind.”

“Absolutely not,” Constance argued. “This is huge. I’m going in there.”

She rounded on Aleck.

“Aleck, will you stay out here and if I die become Acting Mayor?”

Aleck’s eyes widened. He glanced at Eileen and Constance, then Susan, then back to Constance.

“Sure.”

“Good,” Constance said. They phoned and waited for Piggy Pie, who naturally came in a flurry. She looked shocked.

“*Clarabelle?*” she exclaimed.

“We’re missing something, I’m sure,” Susan said as the elevator doors closed, Aleck waving from outside. The four rocketed into the building.

“Maybe the Cogs have something over her,” Piggy Pie said. “Like how Mortimer Myles had pressured Sepulchra Rigor to doctor the autopsy report to frame Constance. The Cogs might have used Clarabelle under force and she panicked thinking you would all arrest her so she went to tell the Cogs to save herself?”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Eileen said, scratching her head. “It would explain her behavior.”

“We can ask her when he get her out of here,” Constance said.

The door split open and the first battle began.

===The Schoolhouse===

=Years Ago=

“You shouldn’t have done that, Peter.”

“Patrick…”

“You’ll have to explain yourself to Ub and Elvia Cow, who are already reminded enough of their predicament. Did you know that they didn’t even want a daughter? They…”

“Patrick…” Pete Ingalls said again, staring straight down at his feet. Patrick Prepostera had always been a mentor to Pete, but today he didn’t really want to hear anything about Clarabelle Cow and the lecture he had given in class. Especially about the rapidly spreading word of his confrontation with Toontown’s last cow. He knew he would in fact have to talk to Ub. Pete and he were actually family friends, as Ub was close with Pete’s father.

“I’m not concerned about Ub and Elvia,” Pete said truthfully. “I just hope Clarabelle is okay.”

“Of course she’s not,” Patrick said. His horse snout was drawn downward in anger. “She’s going to go her entire life knowing that there will never be another one like her. We’re supposed to be a happy town. How is she supposed to find happiness?”

Pete didn’t know. The last crocodile and last elephant, both of whom were elected Mayor, were reportedly never happy. Maybe a future career in public office was in store of Clarabelle, as well as a life of sadness.

The classroom door opened and another teacher popped her head through the door.

“Mr. Ingalls,” she said. “Ubert Cow is here to see you.”

Patrick gave Pete a look of “good luck; you’re going to need it” before slinking out. Ub Cow waltzed in almost immediately, looking casual in a brown suit and *smiling*. Pete was expecting at least a sour frown.

“Pete!” Ub announced, throwing his arms around Pete and pulling him close. “Always a pleasure!”

Always? Even now?

“You’re here about the lecture today,” Pete said tentatively.

“Yes,” Ub said, shaking his head. “It was inevitable. How did she take it?”

Pete was taken aback. He assumed Clarabelle had ran home, cried her eyes out, and sent her father to bring down the school board.

“Not well,” Pete said. “She didn’t know.”

Ub nodded.

“No,” he said. “She didn’t. She knew was the last, but I don’t think she fully comprehended what that meant. Elvia and I could never bring ourselves to tell her…we knew this day was coming. We wanted to be the ones to break it to her, but I’m so sorry. We couldn’t.”

“Why not?” Pete asked, genuinely curious. It would be a tough conversation, but hearing it from your parents was certainly better than learning about it in a group setting. In *school*.

“Because,” Ub said. “It makes Elvia and I sad. *Very* sad. Our laffs are teetering on sadness all the time.”

He shifted, a little uncomfortable, confiding in the son of one of his best friends.

“Elvia and I…” he muttered, “were despondent for a long time after we married. We knew that we were either going to be the last of the cow species and die together, childless, or we could have a few calves and *they* would be the last. But then how could we push that pain onto them? Years passed, and finally the torture of not having a child got to us and we had a daughter. Clarabelle. And we thought the hole we had felt so vividly in our hearts would be filled. But it wasn’t. It only grew wider.”

Pete wrinkled his eyebrows. He wasn’t sure what Ub was getting at.

“Clarabelle,” he continued, “is our light. Our joy. Our livelihood. But she is a reminder of our mistake. We took our suffering and gave it to her tenfold. She will never be able to even experience the choice we had to make. She will never be able to have a cow of her own. She will bear that pain forever. And ever. For all time. Even after she is dead. She will forevermore be known as the Last Cow in Toontown.”

Ub let out a large sigh.

“We thought about fleeing Toontown,” he said. “North to one of the colonies. Maybe there would be one with an abundance of cows. Or they would know a place where we could find them. Maybe even further north, to Bovo.

Pete looked at Ub with shock. *Bovo?*

As if the former cow Kingdom had not been decimated by war. But Ub’s thoughts made Pete begin to understand. Being the last of a species was an incomparable experience that was as traumatizing as it was final.

“You have a baby now, don’t you?” Ub asked.

Pete nodded.

“What’s his name?”

“Ash,” Pete said. Ub smiled.

“Every child deserves a happy upbringing,” Ub said. “I wish that for Ash.”

He clapped a hoof on Pete’s back.

“Clarabelle will be not be okay. But that doesn’t mean she can’t still be happy. I find a reason to smile everyday. She just needs to be given extra care. The title “last cow in Toontown” carries a heavy weight. If we’re not careful, it’ll crush her.”

===Clarabelle’s Cattlelog===

=The Day of the First Sellbot VP Battle, Months Ago=

The Toons were having a celebration. The Sellbot Vice President had been defeated. Detective Lima and Dr. Byte had been recovered after they were kidnapped by the Sellbots. It was all a grisly business, and Clarabelle was glad to be uninvolved with it. The thought of putting on *metal* clothes? Disgusting.

She instead focused her evening on finishing the design of her Toons of the World vase. It was a gooey appeal to the hearts of all these Toon Resistance fighters who were so bravely preserving a Toontown in which Clarabelle could continue her lucrative business of selling furniture and clothing over the phone. After motherhood was officially ruled out for her in her youth, designing became her life. And she found herself to be an adept saleswoman. Making phone calls was one of her most favorite things.

The vase depicted all the Toon species uniting hands around the gazebo in Toontown Central. Soooooo cute. The Toons would gobble them up and order en masse, making Clarabelle lots and lots of cash. Then she could afford the giant chandelier from Melodyland she wanted so much for her front parlor. Crystal, the shopkeeper, had offered an amazing, yet still exorbitant, price.

Clarabelle worked on the vase prototype into the night. She watched the moon rise over the countryside. She loved her hillside studio. An enormous antennae had been constructed on top to reach all of Toontown by phone. From her vantage point atop the hill, she could see all of Toontown Central and parts of the Gardens, before the fog obscured the rest of the view, of Sellbot Headquarters.

Horrid place, no doubt.

Clarabelle stood and stretched and put the prototype on her desk so she would be able to send it out for mass production in the morning. She was eager to go home. Maybe she’ll walk.

There was a noise outside. A strange noise. The sound of two metal objects clanging against each other. She tiptoed to the door and peered outside.

There was no other alternative but to scream. It was a Cog. A gruesome-looking Cog. Not like the ones on the street with the odd faces and goofy grins. This one was sinister. And he was huge, taller than the doorway. He did not say anything but he pushed his way inside.

Clarabelle kept screaming, but she knew no one could hear her. She lunged for the phone, but the Cog blocked her. He held up a grey hand.

“Clarabelle Cow,” he said. “Silence.”

Her mouth clapped shut.

“I am the Chairman of the Cogs. I have a business proposal to discuss with you.”

“With me?” Clarabelle gasped, terror flooding her body. What did the Chairman of the Cogs want with her? She didn’t even know there was a Chairman. But here she was, defenseless, gagless, in her shop, with the scariest Cog she had ever seen. And he was here for *her*.

“Yes,” the Chairman said. “With you. I believe we can help each other.”

Clarabelle stared incredulously. Her help him? He thought she would help the Cogs? Fat chance.

“I don’t think so,” Clarabelle said. She pointed at her vase prototype. “Toons of the World Unite!”

The Chairman cocked his metal head, making a grinding noise.

“I didn’t peg you as a fighter. How many Cogs have you destroyed?”

Clarabelle pursed her lips.

“Many,” she bluffed. The Chairman gave a mechanical laugh, obviously not buying it. He clasped his thick arms behind his back and gazed down at Clarabelle. She shifted in her heels and raised her hoof nervously to fix her earrings.

“Perhaps,” the Chairman growled, “I should be more direct. Explain myself. I came upon the knowledge that there is something that you want. That you want dearly.”

*My chandelier*, Clarabelle thought. Was this a threat? Did he kill the Melodyland shopkeeper? Or eat her?

“Children,” the Chairman said at Clarabelle’s searching stare. “Cow children.”

And she felt as if her stomach had fallen out of her body. She opened her mouth for breath, but none came. She staggered and fell, grabbing the table for support, nearly knocking over her vase.

She hadn’t expected that. She would never have expected that. She had packed that away so carefully, so forcefully, since her childhood. Once it was officially ruled out, she never told anyone, *ever*, how much she wanted kids still. How she longed for them. How she never felt as if she could marry or date anyone ever because they wouldn’t be able to give her what she wanted, what she needed. Not an ugly squealing mouse or a fat pig. She wanted a calf. A little sweet cow with black and white spots and long ears, strong legs.

How did the Chairman know? Was it a stab in the dark? Did everyone know? And how was that supposed to help her help him?

“Am I wrong?” was all he said, unconcerned with her emotional trauma. “I can give you what you want.”

Clarabelle’s mind was spinning. Everything that she valued was flying out of her ears. Toon pride, patriotism, loyalty. The urge, the need, for children built up inside her. She saw them—triplets—calves—hers. They were smiling up at her. She would name them after her parents and the first cow Mayor, the one who had always been a role model. Evenna Cow, one of Clarabelle’s distant ancestors. She could feel them in her arms, cradling them, singing them lullabies. All the dreams she had ever had came rushing back, coalescing, making it so she needed it to be true. She needed them. She wanted them.

“How?” she whispered, still leaning heavily on the table.

The Chairman unlocked his hands and swung them around to his front, where he relocked them. He peered down at her.

“We have perfected a way of creating a living Toon specimen. The same way we make Cogs. They may be a bit different in biology, but I assure you they are better. If you give us a sample of your DNA, we can create you a cow. A baby cow.”

Clarabelle didn’t really like the sound of all of that, but for the first time in her entire life, and definitely the last, she was given a *chance*. A *chance* at a family. And even that she would take.

“What do you need me to do?”

The Chairman smiled.

“I need you to sell those beautiful vases you’re so proud of. At an exceptionally low cost.”

“What?” Clarabelle barked. “No way. Those things will make me rich.”

“You don’t need money, Clarabelle,” the Chairman persuaded. “You need children.”

Clarabelle couldn’t argue with that.

“So you will sell those vases, but only after my Cogs have made a few minor adjustments.”

“What minor adjustments?” Clarabelle asked, but only half-interested. She was already painting the nursery in her mind. A light yellow would be sublime.

“Just a way to level the playing field,” the Chairman said. “All is fair in strife and war.”

Clarabelle’s eyebrows wrinkled. Was that a quote from the Diary of War? If so, it was misquoted, but she was too excited to think about correcting him.

She was going to have a baby! It was everything she could have hoped for and more. She wouldn’t be the last cow in Toontown! And once the Cogs delivered on their promise, she would definitely tell the Toon Resistance about the vases. But that would be later. For now, she would need to start baby-proofing the house.

===Silly Street===

=Present Day=

For Eileen, the battle passed in a haze of gags and sweat. She was grateful for Piggy Pie and Constance for organizing each attack, and keeping her calm as they rose to each floor. She was vacillating between two emotions: pure anger and tantalizing fear. She was trying to direct her anger toward the Cogs, but she was getting the rising suspicion that Clarabelle was not all cute and innocent.

They were about to find out. The elevator was opening onto the penthouse.

A Big Wig was standing with three Legal Eagles. Clarabelle was sitting on the steps leading up to the large window overlooking Silly Street. She yelped when she saw the Mayor, Deputy, Eileen, and Piggy. The Big Wig glowered at them.

“I’m the boss,” came the customary exclamation.

Piggy Pie’s masterful trap skills easily undid the Cogs and his posse. Clarabelle was looking increasingly petrified.

“Clarabelle!” Constance called to the cow, who was inching her way up the stairs, knowing the battle was ending. “Please come with us! Anything you think we’ll do to you is better than what the Cogs will actually do to you.”

Clarabelle looked as if she didn’t even hear. Her face didn’t change at all. Now her back was pressed against the window. Eileen hated that window. It was the same design as the one through which the Chairman had fled with his four Togs, including Doctor. Piggy Pie was probably thinking the same thing. They just wanted to wrap up the battle, grab Clarabelle, and get out of there.

The last Cog exploded. Or what they thought was the last Cog. The elevator doors opened and four more Big Wigs walked out.

“Lure and throw?” Susan asked, preparing her pouch.

But the Cogs turned. They avoided the Toons altogether, and headed for the stairs. They climbed, two on either side of the elevator, up toward Clarabelle.

“NO!” Constance shouted, running forward.

“Clarabelle don’t let them touch you!” Susan yelled.

“Leave her alone!” Piggy Pie screamed.

The Cogs grabbed her. Eileen and Piggy Pie were almost at the top of the stairs.

The window shattered. Clarabelle turned her head as she was yanked to her feet and pulled out the window, the Cogs firmly gripping under her arms. She locked eyes with Eileen, and in them, in those brown orbs, Eileen saw nothing. No remorse. No regret. No compassion. They were hollow. As if this was just something that had to happen.

The thought came to Eileen at once: she was a Tog. There was no other explanation. She was lifeless, void, like Doctor and Soggy Bottom and Herb Clark and Flim Flam and Professor Prepostera and so many others.

The building was changing, the Cogs relinquishing their grip. Susan and Piggy had their arms outstretched, beyond the broken window panes, as if they could still grab Clarabelle. But she flying away with the Cogs. Her saviors—and her captors. Enslavers?

Eileen sunk to her knees. The floor rumbled as the conversion back to Toonity began.

How was she supposed to beat the Cogs when there were continuous breaches in her own ranks? When Toons were turning on Toons? For the first time, she truly felt as if the war was lost. The Toons had already fled evil to the furthest corner of the continent.

There was no where else for them to go.

===Toontown Central===

=That Night=

The news spread like a virus. Declan Antlin’s broadcast hit every home, and vases were thrown onto the streets and smashed to smithereens. Toons helped their neighbors leap on top of the rubble until nothing but dust remained. Volunteers collected the pieces and had them incinerated, the ashes dumped in the Bay.

Furthermore, the revelation of Clarabelle’s duplicity hit hard. Burned en masse were Clarabelle’s Cattlelogs. Phones were ripped from the walls (though Eileen couldn’t really understand what a phone had to do with it). Her house was egged and messages of “SHAME ON YOU!” were plastered on the windows. Eileen didn’t tell Declan that Clarabelle was probably a Tog, because she didn’t want to spread more panic. And it wasn’t as if she was withholding information. Vidalia VaVoom had actually convinced her that Clarabelle was *not* a Tog.

When Constance, Eileen, Aleck, and Susan reached street level again, Aleck was standing with Vidalia. The purple horse had never looked more concerned. She asked where Clarabelle was, and Eileen broke the news that the Cogs had taken her. Or that Clarabelle had gone with them. Vidalia said she needed to talk to Eileen and Constance. The three secluded themselves in the Mayoral office, which Eileen took a moment to appreciate being rid of.

“Clarabelle is my best friend,” Vidalia said. “We’ve been close since we were little. But I didn’t know anything about this. I promise.”

“Of course,” Constance said. “I didn’t think you would.”

Vidalia looked relieved.

“Everyone’s going to assume I knew something,” she said. “I could be thrown out of office.”

“Nonsense,” Eileen said.

“Really?” Vidalia said with a lifted eyebrow. “Flippy was.”

Eileen bit her lip. That one hurt a little.

Constance took Vidalia’s paw and looked at her with earnest.

“Vidalia,” she said. “Is there any reason that Clarabelle would betray the Toons willingly? What could the Cogs have over her?”

Vidalia thought for a minute. She shook her head.

“I don’t know. Clarabelle lived a public life. I can’t imagine there was a secret so horrid that the Cogs knew it but I didn’t.”

She looked sheepishly at Eileen and Constance. “I’m a bit of a gossip.”

*No kidding*, Eileen thought.

“What about promises?” Eileen asked. “What if the Cogs promised something to her? Maybe something she’s always wanted?”

Vidalia looked up. Then she closed her eyes.

“Children,” she said. “Calves. Baby cows.”

Eileen and Constance stared.

“What do you mean?” Constance asked.

Vidalia crossed her arms, shivering.

“Clarabelle is the last cow in Toontown. After she found out she’d never be able to raise a cow of her own…and especially after her parents died so young…she was distraught. She bottles it up and hides it from everyone. I always could see it but I never let her know that. She’s prideful, you know. She doesn’t want others to see the pain. To know how hurt she is. She feels hollow. And she’s buried the dream of raising a family quite deep. But if the Cogs promised to give her a cow baby somehow…she’d dig up the old dream so fast, with such alacrity. Then…maybe only then…she’d betray everyone she loves for the chance of a child. Her own child.”

Eileen’s mouth was agape. If Clarabelle had been so easily duped by the Cogs, then she should be locked up somewhere. Toontown didn’t have any of the asylums made famous by the evil foxes of Vulpus, but Clarabelle would certainly belong there. Any and all sympathy that Eileen would have had for Clarabelle and her plight of being the last of her species was gone. Evaporated. She had screwed them.

The door opened and Aleck came in with Susan, looking exhausted.

“I just got off the phone with Judge McIntosh. She’s arranged Clarabelle’s trial. We gave a Lawbot Cog on the street a letter to bring to Clarabelle, who’s probably at Bossbot Headquarters since we can’t reach her there, to bring her back to Toontown to stand trial.”

“What did we miss?” Susan asked, seeing Vidalia’s wide eyes. They spent the next half hour talking about Clarabelle’s treachery and how Toontown would never be the same. Gone was the Cattlelog, gone was everyone’s favorite socialite, along with her the stability and comfort in the public figures everyone had enjoyed since the new election. Even if Clarabelle was convicted and imprisoned, she would probably never be forgiven.

The receptionist buzzed on the phone.

“I have something for Vidalia. A letter from the Cogs.”

Vidalia lifted a paw to her chest. “Me?”

The receptionist brought in the note.

“A Cog gave it to a Toon on the street and told them to take it to their leader. They figured that meant you.”

“I think it means *you*,” Vidalia said, handing the letter to Constance. “Madam Mayor.”

Constance gingerly took the white envelope and cut it open, pulling out a standard looking Cog memo. Except the symbol of the Lawbots was prominently displayed in the upper left corner.

“To the figurehead leader of the Toons,” Constance read aloud. “We have received your notice of the trial against Clarabelle Cow, a Toon we now have in our protection. As citizens of Cog Nation, your request for a trial has been granted. However, due to the moot nature of the government of Toontown, including its judicial system, your request to host the trial yourself has been denied.”

Eileen’s breathing quickened. She didn’t like the sound of this.

“The Cogs have taken on the case of *The Toons vs. Clarabelle Cow*. The trial will begin immediately with initial proceedings commencing in the chamber of the Lawbot Chief Justice in two days time, giving the defendant a chance to confer with her legal council. The defendant, Clarabelle Cow, will be represented by the Lawbot legal team. A public defender will be assigned to represent the prosecution. Signed, the District Attorney’s Office.”

Constance dropped the letter. The room was silent. Aleck looked from one fact to another.

“What’s next?” he asked, puncturing the silence. Constance gestured absently at the floor where the letter lay flat.

“The Lawbots are taking us to court.”

## Production

### Continuity and Story Arcs

The six species who were on the opposing side of the War that precedes Storytime by three centuries were the foxes, the deer, the goats, the parrots, the chipmunks, and the chickens. This is the first mention of chipmunks and chickens.

Crocodiles and elephants are both extinct species in Toontown, but were once numerable species in the town.

Clarabelle learned in school that as the last cow, she will never be able to reproduce. This sadness left her bereft and she willingly chose to assist the Cogs by planting the bugs in her own vases, betraying the Toons, so that the Cogs would create for her a living cow that she could raise as a child.

The leaders of Toontown realized with Clarabelle’s being taken by the Cogs coupled with the revelation of the bugs that Clarabelle may not be innocent, and order for an arrest and trial. The Lawbots reject the order, citing Toontown as a moot government coinciding with the Edict released in “Edicts of War.”

## Trivia

* The title of this episode refers to Clarabelle, whose backstory and treachery are explored.
* Ub and Elvia Cow are named for Ub Iwerks, who created Clarabelle Cow at the Disney company, and Elvia Allman, who famously voiced the character.
* Cal and Sia are named after Calico and Siamese cats
* Judy and Oswald are named after Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Judy Hopps, the latter of which is a character from Disney’s *Zootopia*.
* Crystal is the name of the shopkeeper who sells chandeliers, a reference to crystal chandeliers.
* Before the series started, producers asked the audience what they wanted to see in the new Storytime series. One commented, "give Clarabelle a tragic past." A season and a half later, the author delivered.