Hell Bound

**"Hell Bound"**is the eighteenth and final episode of *Rewritten* and the 18th episode overall. It is the second episode of the two-part season finale.

It was published on November 25, 2017.

In the episode, the Cogs implement a completed Operation Sever and take refuge in a Cog building near Toontown Cenral. With the full details of the plan known to the Toon Resistance, it is up to Eileen Irenic and her team to thwart the Cogs' malicious plan.

## The Episode

=====THE GARDENS=====

==5 Years Ago, Before Exodus==

Aunt Hill opened her eyes. She was lying on a cold metal table in a cold, dark, grey room. Two large statues of Cogs were towering over her. As she tilted her head, she saw three Spin Doctor Cogs conferring by an elevator door.

Fear began to set in. The last thing she remembered, the Cogs had appeared in her shop and suddenly the walls were bleeding grey. Her home became an elevator and she was rocketed into the sky.

And now she was here...was she in the same building? What were they doing?

The Cogs...they all seemed so helpful, so beneficial. Were they in fact hiding some sort of agenda? In Aunt Hill's nearly eighty years of life, she had never seen something so dark and dismal as this room. She shuddered to think this was how the Cogs lived. Did they have no laff?

"Good evening," a voice said. Aunt Hill whipped her head to the left, where a young green duck was standing beside the table. He was wearing a surgical mask and gloves.

"I will be your doctor tonight. I am Dr. Adam Molecule. What is your name?"

"Edith," Aunt Hill said. "Everyone calls me Aunt Hill."

"Isn't that cute," Dr. Molecule said tonelessly. He removed a syringe from his medical bag.

"Hush hush," he said as he injected it into her arm. "When you wake up, you'll be the first ever Toon/Cog hybrid."

Horror seeped into Aunt Hill's heart, but it didn't last long.

She was dead within minutes.

The operation had failed.

===SELLBOT HEADQUARTERS===

=Two Weeks Ago=

Soggy hollered and screamed as the VP ripped her from the cage. She kicked and threw punches and slammed her body whenever there was a gap, but the VP held her tight in his enormous hand. He dropped her into the elevator, where three Minglers grabbed her and kept her still.

"Stop screaming," one of them said. Despite its feminine appearance, its voice was deep and unyielding, monotonous.

Soggy was crying uncontrollably as the Cogs led her out of Sellbot Towers, across the Headquarters, and into the Factory. They led her down winding corridors and under gigantic platforms that would fall with great force on the ground. The Cogs called them stampers. Soggy tried to keep her hooves together, to remind herself to be brave, but she continuously thought that this could be the end of her life.

Why me? she asked herself. Why was I the one taken? Why did I go to my knitting circle the night they kidnapped me? Why didn't I stay home? Why didn't I walk home with someone?

Soggy watched as the Cogs unlocked a metal door and ushered her inside. A metal table was the sole item of furniture. Two Spin Doctors stood by the table, which Soggy was not expecting in the Sellbot Factory. The Lawbots were wearing surgical masks and gloves.

"Get on the table," one of the Minglers said. "Remove your clothing."

Soggy wept as she undressed and got on the table. The light above her was blinding. She thought of all her friends and family and wished for a quick ending.

The first Spin Doctor made an incision in her collar bone while the second one injected her with anesthesia. She drifted into unconsciousness, and ceased to be a Toon.

===TOONTOWN CENTRAL===

=Present Day=

Slate Oldman descended into the basement of Toon Headquarters. Constance Miller accompanied him.

"There's thirty cells," she said. "They haven't been used in several decades, but they're still safe and secure. Twenty-seven of them hold the Togs."

"Togs?" Slate inquired.

"The Toon/Cog hybrids. We don't know what to do with them just yet. I guess hope we can find a cure."

"Is Dr. Byte working on that?" Slate asked as they entered the corridor.

"Yes," Constance said. "With luck."

Slate looked around the hallway. The cells faced each other, so there were fifteen rows of them in total. Constance led the way to one of the furthest cells, where Soggy Bottom was kept. She was the only Tog that had not been converted by Dr. Molecule directly. Which means that the Cogs had the capability to convert Toons. And that must be stopped.

"Hello, Soggy," Slate said as Constance unlocked the cell door. Soggy was sitting on the cot with perfect posture, paws resting on her knees. She turned her head slightly to look at Slate as he entered.

"Hello," Soggy said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Slate Oldman."

Soggy's eyes narrowed.

"The Blizzard Wizard. Yes, I know you."

Slate nodded to Constance, who stood back and watched. Slate got on his knees in front of Soggy and took out a stethoscope, which he wore around his neck. He placed the instrument on Soggy's chest, near the incision on her collarbone. To his surprise, she did not shrink away or try to fight back.

Slate listened. He could hear a heartbeat, which was good, but he could not hear the soft buzz of full laugh. So that meant her laff was at zero.

"How do you feel?" Slate asked Soggy, who had been watching him intently.

"I feel fine," she said. "Better than before. Stronger. I suppose my secret is out. I am a Cog now."

"Not really," Slate said. "You're what we call a Tog. A Toon/Cog hybrid. You're still a Toon, deep down."

"Call me what you will," Soggy said in a voice that was almost not her own. Slate did not know her personally, but the tone she was using Slate would not associate with a plump middle-aged seamstress. "I serve the Cogs and the Creator. Cog Nation will rise."

Constance inhaled. Slate smiled at Soggy.

"We're coming for you, Soggy," he said. "We'll get you out of that mind. Be brave."

As Soggy's Coglike eyes bore into them, Slate and Constance left the cell, walked down the gauntlet of Togs, and back up into the light of Toontown Central.

===TOON HALL===

The Toon Council (Mortimer Myles, Ahab Ishmael, Heidi Babel, Christine Colette, Paula Behr, Ichabod Irving, and Mayor Eileen Irenic) clustered with Constance Miller, Professor Pete, Clara Clark, and Alice Carver and Bradley Wolfe around the council table in the main chamber. On it, Alice and Bradley had spread out a titanic map of Toontown. They used four large grey rocks to indicate the Cog headquarters. Alice had drawn an X over Chipper Acres and the clearing where she had spent too much of her life.

Eileen examined the map. Recently, a volunteer artist sketched the extent of Sellbot Headquarters, and it dwarfed the Gardens. Extensive coal mining sites were in use, providing power for the Cog Nation.

"Cashbot Headquarters," Bradley Wolfe said, "is the economic center. All goods come and go through there, kind of similar to our former trolley depots. They are transported by a train system which runs in a ring around all of Toontown."

Eileen stared.

"What?"

"That's impossible," Mortimer Myles said.

"We'd see it," Heidi Babel retorted.

"It's hidden by the fog," Alice Carver said, shrugging. "Those trains carry armies of Cogs, crates of supplies, and whatever else the bosses need. There's one terminal in each headquarters. We saw Molecule's plans for them. He was proud of his designs."

"All the headquarters are linked by the train system. With it, all the Cogs are united."

"But..." Ahab Ishmael stuttered, "the southern side of Toontown is all water! We're on the coast! How can there be a train running from Sellbot to Bossbot to Lawbot headquarters?!"

Alice and Bradley exchanged glances.

"It's underwater," Bradley said. "They built tunnels without us knowing. You have to understand that in the three years of Exodus, the Cogs could create whatever they wanted. They didn't have to worry about construction noises or disturbances because there were no Toons to disturb."

"And," Alice added, "in that last month before you all returned, the Togs were helping."

The Toon Council looked at each other in silence. They gazed at the map of Toontown, flooding with grey.

"Now what?" Christine Colette asked.

"Now," Eileen Irenic said, "we have to look at Cashbot and Lawbot Headquarters while continuing our search for Bossbot Headquarters. We know it's in this corner, by the Docks. But where exactly? Why can't we find it?"

"That's a good question," Bradley said, as he looked at the map himself. "The Docks is situated on the southeastern shore. It's completely coastal, and there's no room for there to be a Headquarters. Which makes me think it's underground too, like the tunnels."

Paula Behr whistled.

"An underground headquarters, located under the Docks? Unprecedented."

"That would be catastrophic," Eileen said. "We'll have to investigate that theory at once."

"What do you want us to do about Cashbot and Lawbot Headquarters?" Ichabod Irving asked.

"We'll need to infiltrate again," Eileen said. "Find out if there's a factory equivalent in each. What's the leader of the Cashbots called?"

"Hmm?" Alice said. "Oh, Chief Financial Officer. CFO. And the Chief Justice is in charge of the Lawbots. CJ, for short."

"Clara," Eileen said to Clark Clark, "Ensure the Gag Shops are constantly stocked. We're through the looking glass now."

Eileen sighed and stared at the map.

Today more than most days, this looked like war.

===LOOPY LANE===

Doctor thanked the optometrist for his new glasses, which were long overdue, and stepped out of the shop onto Loopy Lane. He watched the sun dip toward the horizon, and started off toward the Playground. He was meeting Piggy Pie for dinner on Punchline Place. As he walked, he passed a Cog building, which was there when Doctor went down the street for his appointment earlier. It had still not been reclaimed. The elevator doors were closed, meaning Toons were inside.

As Doctor veered onto the sidewalk to avoid an oncoming Cog, the elevator doors opened.

And a Cog grabbed him.

Doctor yelled for help, but the Cog had already pulled him inside the elevator.

The doors shut with a slam.

===THE ESTATE OF DR. KILO BYTE===

"Kilo," Hyla Sensitive said, "I think I solved those coordinates."

"You did?" Kilo said, dropping his pencil on his desk and hurrying over to Hyla's. "Where is it?"

Dr. Hyla Sensitive had been attempting to decipher a Cog memo which denoted a "site" for what members of the Toon Resistance believed might be the base of Operation Sever. The coordinates were not used by Toons, and Hyla had been struggling to pinpoint anything.

"It's Loopy Lane," Hyla said excitedly. "I had to stretch the coordinates of Toontown's borders to include the headquarters. It makes me think Cashbot HQ is bigger than we thought. But look. It's that building right there. Used Firecrackers, owned by Smokey Joe. The Cogs may have already taken it over."

"For Operation Sever?" Kilo asked.

Hyla nodded gravely.

"And now we know what that entails--they're going to turn Toons into Togs."

Kilo sat back in his chair.

"But *how*?"

"I don't know," Hyla said. "But I need to share this with Eileen."

"Let's go," Kilo said, jumping to his feet and stuffing papers into his bag. "We're going to Toon Hall. They're going to need us."

===TOON HALL===

"Excellent work, Dr. Sensitive," Eileen Irenic said eagerly. The Toon Councilmembers were reading over Hyla's findings. "Can someone call Smokey Joe?"

Constance Miller dialed Joe's number on the phone mounted on the wall. There was no response. Constance hung up, pondered for a moment, and then called another number.

"Sid, this is Constance. Is Used Firecrackers a Cog building?"

Her eyes went wide.

"I see. Can you..."

She trailed off and listened. Eileen, the Council, Byte and Sensitive, Alice and Bradley, were all silent as they waited.

"Thank you, Sid. Thank you."

Constance hung up.

"Used Firecrackers is indeed a Cog building. And Sid says that he just saw a Toon be dragged into the elevator. By the Cogs. A dark blue bear with a top hat and suit."

Eileen gasped.

"That sounds like Doctor."

"Flippy!" Piggy Pie called. She spotted the former Mayor coming out of the Gag Shop.

"Piggy Pie!" he responded happily. He was in much better spirits than the last time Piggy Pie saw him, downtrodden at the market.

"Purchasing gags?" Piggy Pie asked, seeing a gag pack on Flippys' back.

"Yes, indeed," Flippy said. "It's time to start training again."

Piggy Pie smiled.

"That's wonderful, Flippy."

Flippy shifted his pack.

"Do you...do you want to go fight some Cogs?"

Piggy Pie frowned.

"I can't...I'm waiting for my friend. He's late though."

Piggy Pie turned and scanned the Playground. Still no sign of Doctor. Where was he? She had called his estate, but no answer. He was always punctual. What could have held him up? A Cog battle?

"No worries," Flippy said. "Maybe some other time?"

"Oh yeah," Piggy Pie said. "Absolutely."

As Flippy prepared to walk away, he froze and looked over Piggy's shoulder. She turned to see a short duck waddling in haste toward her.

"Piggy Pie," the duck quacked, out of breath, "Eileen needs to see you. Right away."

"Why?" Piggy Pie asked. "Is everything alright?"

"It's Doctor," the duck said with a quick glance at Flippy. "He's been taken by the Cogs."

Piggy Pie felt her heart somersault.

"Doctor..." she whispered.

With one desperate look at Flippy, she sprinted toward Toon Hall. Flippy followed.

Piggy Pie and Flippy jumped the stairs near Toon HQ and dashed into Toon Hall, where Eileen Irenic was waiting inside. She was streaming out of the Toon Council chamber with Constance Miller, Dr. Byte, Dr. Sensitive, several members of the Toon Council, Clara Clark, Clan Destine--that was a surprise--and a purple monkey. Constance was talking quickly.

"The Cogs have taken residence in that Cog building and if Doctor is any indication, they're starting to convert Toons into Togs. This is Operation Sever. It's enacted."

"But how do we know if they'll be successful?" Heidi Babel asked desperately.

"They already got Soggy," Eileen reminded.

Piggy Pie's eyes darted around the lobby. What were they going to do about Doctor? Everyone at the same time noticed Piggy Pie and Flippy. Some of the councilmembers turned away from Flippy, still angry about Exodus, while other smiled sympathetically. Flippy awkwardly milled by the door.

"Can more than four enter this Cog building?" Eileen asked Constance.

"Doubtful," Constance said. "Elevators only ever have the capacity for four."

"So who's going?" Christine Colette said, but then suddenly the lights went out.

Piggy Pie craned her neck to stare up at the darkened light fixtures. She could not remember a time the lights in Toontown had gone out. The generator was the sole focus of Toontown engineers, and it was always running and never malfunctioning.

"What...?" Ichabod Irving whispered.

"That's new," Flippy murmured so quietly that only Piggy Pie could hear him.

Everyone was looking upward, thinking if they waited long enough the lights would come back on their own accord. Eventually, Dr. Byte broke the silence.

"It's the Cog building," he muttered. "It's leaching the power from the Playground."

"How do you know?" Mortimer Myles asked, looking concerned.

Byte showed a device he was holding. It was a minimized map of Toontown, with bright yellow dots denoting where electricity was most prominent. Toontown Central was the only playground shrouded in darkness.

"Their Tog conversion machine must require a lot of energy," Dr. Sensitive said. "More than a regular Cog building could provide."

"Why do they need a Cog building?" Eileen asked.

Dr. Sensitive shrugged.

"Maybe their headquarters cannot harness the power either."

"That seems unlikely," Clan Destine said. "The headquarters are huge."

When the lights remained out, Piggy Pie spoke up.

"Who's going to get Doctor back? I certainly am."

Eileen placed a paw on Piggy Pie's shoulder. "I'd expect nothing less."

She turned to the delegation.

"I'm going too. This is the darkest hour of my tenure as Mayor. As representative of the Toons, I will go shut down Operation Sever."

"You'll need Kilo," Dr. Sensitive said. "If the Cogs have a machine, Kilo can figure out how to dismantle it. For good."

Eileen nodded. She looked around the room. No one else stepped forward.

"Constance?" Eileen prodded.

Constance shuffled her paws.

"I promised Bradley and Alice I would set up their security at their estate. I...I don't want to cancel..."

Alice and Clan (was his name Bradley?) smiled gratefully. Eileen nodded emphatically.

"Yes, of course, Constance. I would want you to do that for them."

Eileen looked at the council members, but they seemed hesitant, or scared.

"I would be better suited providing gags," Clara Clark said. "I have emergency packs in the shop that you all can use. All the highest level gags are in there, and they pack a punch."

"Thank you," Eileen said, and once again glanced around for volunteers.

"I'll go."

Eileen turned around saw Flippy with his paw raised.

"Let me be useful," he said.

"No," Eileen said curtly. "Your training skills are not strong enough."

"And we can't trust you," Mortimer Myles said with a scowl. Heidi Babel knitted her eyebrows together.

"I think he can go. Why not?"

"Why *not*?" Paula Behr said, raising her voice. "He's a coward. He can't fight the Cogs! And especially not on a mission this sensitive. He's been wandering around Toontown in a daze playing the victim, demanding pity and sympathy for crimes *he committed*. He's as bad as Molecule."

The monkey named Alice planted her feet together and rounded on Paula.

"Mayor Flippy is guilty of no crime. He was beguiled by Dr. Molecule as so many of you were. No one in Toontown would willingly inflict Molecule's agenda on anyone. How dare you accuse someone of unparalleled evil."

"No one is as bad as Molecule," Bradley said. "Shame on you."

Paula Behr clamped her mouth shut.

"It's not a question of record or trust," Eileen said. "We're going into a highly dangerous building. We need strong fighters. Piggy Pie is the highest caliber we have on the Toon Resistance. Dr. Byte's insights are expertise will be needed. I need another fighter like Piggy Pie. Doctor would be a good choice but..."

"Tori Dorrance?" Constance Miller suggested. "Or Horace Calves?"

"Both busy," Eileen said. "They're storming the Factory as we speak. They won't be back in time. We have to go now."

"Let Flippy go," Piggy Pie said. "He's ready, he's passionate about helping, he loves this town. I want to save Doctor immediately. We don't have time to pick over resumes for suitable candidates. Flippy volunteered. So let's go."

Paula Behr and Mortimer Myles rolled their eyes. Heidi Babel stepped forward.

"Good luck, Flippy," she said and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed. Eileen turned to Clara.

"Can we get those gag packs now?"

"Absolutely," Clara replied and hastened to the door of Toon Hall. The entire procession followed.

===LOOPY LANE===

Used Firecrackers was not even a block away from the Playground. It was visible as soon as they exited the tunnel. Flippy gazed up at the mammoth structure in awe and fear, the four bars of the Sellbots shaped in steel. He had never stormed a Cog building before, but he had felt an insurgency of bravery standing in Toon Hall listening to the banter that had been his daily joy for seven years. He was glad Piggy Pie and Heidi Babel had supported him. Hearing Mortimer Myles and Paula Behr's diatribes were deeply saddening for him. He tried to remember all the kindness shown to him since Exodus, but instances of that were slim. People seldom understood what Alice Carver had said: the truth. Flippy was deceived by Molecule. And by then it was too late.

"Good luck in there," Clerk Clara Clark said as she handed Flippy his gag pack. He thanked her genuinely. She was distracted though, looking around at the dark buildings, all their lights gone. The Cog building, however, was brightly lit. With the sun now set, and the natural light evaporating, the power outage was more apparent.

"Call me as soon as you're out," Constance Miller said to Eileen Irenic, who was fixing her gag pack on her back. Piggy Pie was already near the elevator, itching to go. The doors were wide open, as if welcoming them inside. Dr. Byte joined Piggy Pie over by the door. As Flippy headed that way, he heard the dog named Bradley speak to Constance and Eileen.

"That symbol over the door means someone high in command is present."

Flippy followed their gaze to see an ornate gear planted over the title of the Cog Building: Used Firecrackers Inc.

"What do you mean?" Flippy asked out of curiosity. The dog looked back at the gear.

"That's the symbol Molecule designed to show low-level Cogs that a boss was present in this building. Well...every Cog building has a boss. But that symbol means that a high-ranking Cog or even the leader is inside."

Alice Carver nodded along with what Bradley was saying.

"You'll probably encounter a Director of some sort...they're usually Mr. Hollywoods. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Vice President of the Sellbots was there himself to ensure the Tog conversions are going smoothly. The Cogs undoubtably put a ton of effort and Cogbucks into this machine to fulfill Molecule's last request."

"Which was?" Eileen said tentatively.

"To form Cog Nation," Bradley said. "If there is a boss inside, he'll be on the top floor."

"Good luck," Alice said.

The Toon Councilmembers each wished everyone luck. As expected, Paula and Mortimer ignored Flippy entirely. He boarded the elevator with Piggy Pie.

"We'll get your friend back," Flippy said. Piggy Pie smiled gratefully.

"Thank you for coming."

"Of course."

"Madam Mayor!" Dr. Byte called to Eileen, who was hugging Constance.

"Goodbye," Eileen said to the crowd. Flippy saw Toons watching from their windows. Once all were on board, Piggy Pie pressed the only button. The metal doors sealed.

Flippy couldn't help but feel that he was being locked in a crypt.

The elevator doors opened and Piggy Pie was faced with four Minglers, each adorned with a malicious pink smile. They strode from the corners of the room to conglomerate together, staring down their opponents.

"Let's mingle," one of them said stoically. Piggy Pie, Eileen, Flippy, and Dr. Byte rushed out of the elevator to engage in battle.

"Lure and trap?" Piggy Pie suggested. Eileen nodded.

"Flippy, do you have lure?"

"I do," Flippy said and removed hypnotic goggles. "I garden them at home."

Eileen looked impressed as Flippy tranced the Cogs, right onto the traps Eileen, Piggy Pie, and Dr. Byte had laid. Three of the four Cogs exploded. As they battled, Dr. Byte remarked to Eileen,

"I've never heard of a building with four Cogs in the first boiler room. This building is under heavy protection."

"Are we going to have enough gags?" Piggy Pie asked.

"We have to use them wisely," Eileen said. "Lure will be our ally. If it runs out and the gags miss, we'll run short."

The Minglers were destroyed, and their destruction unlocked the elevator door. The four boarded, and the doors shut.

"Prepare to face your worst nightmare."

The Two-Face was flanked by three Mover & Shakers. They were waiting in a line when the elevator door opened. They were ready.

Dr. Byte looked around in surprise. This Cog building was different than most. Usually, the second, third, and fourth levels of the building were thin corridors spanning a vast chasm. The corridors were stacked on top of each other, so from the fourth level you could look over the edge and see the third and second. However, this was not the case in this building. They were in another boiler room.

Eileen apparently noticed the change too, because she was wrinkling her eyebrows.

"I can use drop," Flippy said.

"What's your accuracy?" Eileen asked.

"Use it," Piggy Pie said. "I'll stun."

Dr. Byte cast a glance at Piggy Pie, who had laser-like determination. She had her eyes on the elevator behind the Cogs. She wanted to save her friend.

Dr. Byte aimed and fired a pie at the Two-Face, which destroyed it.

The elevator doors opened, and the four ascended to the third level.

Eileen felt awkward having Flippy present. He was her predecessor, and despite what anyone said, he was still the reason the Cogs arrived in Toontown on the scale they did. He did hardly anything to mitigate the damage, and failed to do anything to stop the Cog buildings from falling. She submitted a request to him to investigate the disappearance of her family, and the call went unheeded. She knew from being in the position herself that hundreds of those requests came through his office, but it was still his responsibility as Mayor to protect the citizens of Toontown.

And he had faltered.

The third level of the building progressed as easily as the first two, with no loss of laff. The four were working efficiently, even though the volume of Cogs increased as they went upward.

But why were they continuously battling in boiler rooms? Where were those slim hallways overlooking vertiginous heights? Was this building designed differently? Was it important?

"Eileen," Piggy Pie said. "Let's go."

Flippy smiled reassuringly as Eileen boarded. She told herself not to let his presence bother her. She wasn't here for him. She was here for Doctor.

Another boiler room awaited on the fourth level, but when the doors opened, there was no elevator on the opposite side of the room. Just a wall lined with boilers.

"I'm ready to rock and roll your end credits," a Mr. Hollywood boomed. There were ten of them in total. Flippy tried to see which one was the boss. If there was no where else for the Toons to go, this must be the top floor, the penthouse. One of them was the boss. Flippy was relieved there was no Sellbot Vice President. He shuddered to think what a beast that would be.

"I can use a wedding cake," Dr. Byte said, reaching into his gag pack.

"No, not yet," Eileen said. She looked confused. "I can't believe we're at the top. I don't see anybody...well...I don't see a boss. We have to preserve our gags just in case."

"Where's Doctor?" Piggy Pie said anxiously. "I don't see anywhere for him to be. There haven't been any other rooms anywhere."

"It's a big building," Dr. Byte said. "He could be anywhere."

"There might be more kidnapped Toons," Eileen said. "Sid Seltzer said he only saw Doctor, but there could have been more. Especially in the dark."

"DUCK!" Piggy Pie cried as a Cog attack flew past her. Flippy didn't react in time and got struck by a Power Trip.

"Are you okay?" Dr. Byte asked, grabbing Flippy's shoulder.

"Nothing a Toonup can't fix," Eileen said and tossed some pixie dust at Flippy, who giggled.

"Let's get on with this show," the last Mr. Hollywood said and stomped in front of the Toons. He seems confident, Flippy thought as he prepared his own attack. Flippy was feeling a rush of exhilaration. Storming this building was filling him with a sense of pride and worth. It was what he needed to pull out of his depression spiral.

The last Cog ruptured with a bang, leaving Eileen, Byte, Piggy Pie, and Flippy alone in the empty boiler room with no where to go.

With the din of battle gone, they listened. Flippy could hear the elevator behind them lowering away. To get more Cogs? Was this a trap? Now that they were here, they'd have to fight their way out?

"Do you hear that?" Dr. Byte asked, putting a paw to his large mouse ear. Flippy listened himself.

*Clang*.

*Clang.*

*Clang.*

"Sounds like a machine," Eileen said. "Do you think..."

"It could be the Tog converter," Dr. Byte said. "It sounds nearby."

Piggy Pie walked to the opposite wall, where an elevator should be. She poked some of the boilers, sticking her face in the cracks. Dr. Byte joined her and walked along the surface, running his paw over the controls.

He froze and backed up a few steps. With one press of a gear, the boiler split apart, revealing a crack in the wall.

"Kilo," Eileen breathed. "You're a genius."

"Well done," Flippy said, impressed. He noticed Eileen glance at him with...reprove? Or was it the usual? Shame, disgust, disappointment, anger?

Piggy Pie and Dr. Byte seized one side of the boiler and pulled, and the crack widened. Flippy thought the Cogs might have covered up the usual exit so the Toons would leave. As he inspected the boiler more closely, it seemed rather last minute.

"Whoa," Eileen said in awe.

"Careful," Piggy Pie said and took Flippy's paw. As they stepped forward into the opening, they came upon an incredibly thin, narrow precarious bridge that expanded over a dizzying drop. At the other end of the chasm was a large elevator door, sealed shut. Maybe that led to the penthouse and the boss?

Flippy glanced over the side of the bridge and saw nothing but slick walls leading down into a sea of vibrant blue electricity.

"Look," Dr. Byte said, pointing at the ceiling. Above them, heavy machinery clanged together, producing the sound they heard earlier. Wires and gears slammed against each other. Several bolts and screws seemed loose. The whole machine looked like it could fall apart at any moment. The roar of the machine was so loud, that Flippy could feel his ears ringing.

"This is the generator," Byte said, pointing up. "That's what powers the conversion machine."

"Where is it?" Eileen shouted over the noise.

"Upstairs," Byte said. "In the penthouse. Where Toons are least likely to reach."

"How do we get up there?" Eileen asked. "The elevator is closed."

Byte shook his head.

"I don't know. I can't override the elevator. There's no wiring in the wall. It's too dangerous. We...I don't know."

Flippy gestured at the lightning.

"What's all that?"

"It's from Toontown Central. That's all the power they're sucking. It powers the generator. It's perfectly contained in this silo. It's probably why they needed a Cog building and why it's taking so much power. They needed a ton of electricity and this was the best way to get it."

Byte paced the bridge, deep in thought. Eileen and Piggy Pie were looking around, maybe for an advantage to use, or a weakness to exploit. Flippy kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure no Cogs were coming up behind them. One push was all it would take to plummet into the lightning.

Byte snapped his fingers.

"If this machine can be killed...that is if we can shut it down for good, there'd be a massive power outage to all Cog buildings. They've hinged everything on this building. There's even someone high in the Cog ranks to ensure everything goes smoothly. Operation Sever is supposed to be the end of the Toons, right? So they're putting all their eggs in this one basket. If we can cut their power, it'll take out all the buildings, all the headquarters, all their central power lines. It could even stop the railroad in Cashbot Headquarters."

Eileen grinned.

"We could get a good strike at all the Cog leaders. Sellbot, Cashbot, Lawbot..."

"The power outage would also stop the Tog converter, which is imperative," Byte said. "Not permanently, but temporarily. I'd guess that we could kill the power for a full day. Just look at all that lightning. We can take their light and restore ours."

"How?" Flippy asked, a little skeptical.

Byte chewed his lip.

"I'm not sure. I don't know how to stop the power source. It's all very Coglike, and so far away. I can't scale the wall to see what's down there. And the lightning would kill us."

"Maybe we can throw something down there," Piggy Pie said, glancing back at the boiler room. "A boiler might clog it."

"A gag?" Eileen suggested.

"I don't think so," Byte said, shaking his head. "We would need something stronger, something that is overflowing with toonity. It needs to counteract the darkness of the Cogs. The lightning isn't what's at the bottom of this silo. It's something worse. It's likely the same thing that churns out Cogs at the factory, the final ingredient that we cannot comprehend because we're not Cogs. It's why the Cogs cannot understand us. They don't have laff."

Flippy lifted his head. That was it!

"Laff," he said. "Laff can destroy the generator. The living laff of a Toon would overpower the darkness of the Cog generator. And that wouldn't just turn the thing off, it would destroy it for good! It would blast all the Cogs to kingdom come!"

Byte's face was screwed up in concentration. He seemed to be turning things over in his mind.

"Yes," he said finally. "You're right. Laff would be one option. I don't know if the ensuing damage would be enough to destroy the Cogs for good, but it would kill their power for more than a day. The problem is we don't have a supply of laff to drop in. It's inside us. We can't get rid of it."

Now Flippy felt his head hammer. It was coming together, so quickly, so seamlessly. He couldn't believe how he was able to visualize it.

"That's how they're doing it," he said breathlessly. "Operation Sever! They're taking away what makes Toons inherently Toons: their laff."

"Oh...clever!" Eileen said and hugged Flippy. "The memos! The Cogs said they couldn't understand the laff. So they ripped it out all together. The machine--it performs heart transplants. It takes the beating heart of the Toon and replaces it with an artificial heart--one without laff. That's why we couldn't hear Soggy Bottom's laff but we could hear her heartbeat! The laff, taken out, severs the Toons from their identities and allows them to be morphed into Cog-like thinkers! Flippy, you solved it!"

"Doctor's heart," Piggy Pie said slowly, "could have been ripped out? All those people from the Final Battle...don't have hearts anymore?"

"That can't be," Dr. Byte said. "Alice and Bradley said they were injected with syringes."

Eileen frowned. Flippy looked over the edge again. The lightning was swirling violently.

"Oh," Dr. Byte said. "Remember the other thing from the memos? They couldn't understand the Creator's work. Molecule probably designed the serum in the syringes to remove the laff cleanly. The Cogs can't figure out how to replicate his results, so they had to improvise." Byte pointed at the ceiling. "Look at this thing! It's falling apart! They can't convert all of Toontown with this machine. They can't even grab us off the streets anymore. We're getting better at fighting, stronger, and less susceptible to their threats."

"That's probably why they put this building here!" Flippy exclaimed. "It's so close to the Playground and so many people pass by every day that they could easily step out of the elevator and grab unsuspecting Toons!"

"Amazing," Eileen said. "We need to tell the Toon Council. I can't believe you both figured it out!"

Flippy looked around with pride. Piggy Pie, however, was not smiling.

"That's great," she said. "But how do we save Doctor? How do we get upstairs?"

"Are you ready for your final scene?"

Flippy whirled around. Two Mr. Hollywoods were standing at the entrance, arms placed on either side of the split boiler.

"Goodbye, pesky Toons," the first said.

"I'm afraid I need to cut you from the credits," the second said.

With malevolent smiles, the boiler was slammed shut, leaving Flippy, Piggy Pie, Eileen, and Dr. Byte trapped on the bridge.

"Oh no," Eileen said. "Now what?"

"Do you think gags could open the elevator?" Dr. Byte asked. "We could try TNT."

"I have a stick left," Piggy Pie said, and removed her gag pack.

Flippy took a deep breath.

"We need to shut down the machine," he said.

"Yes," Eileen said. "But we can't. We don't have laff. We'll have to find another option."

"No," Flippy said, wishing everyone would look at him. "That's the best way. It'll cripple the Cogs, destroy the Tog converter once and for all. If this is the only one they have, and they've put everything behind it, they won't be able to make a new one. They'll have to give up on Operation Sever. If we don't escape, Toontown loses a Mayor, a genius, and a fighter. Toontown needs you."

He sighed.

"Toontown doesn't need me anymore. I can jump into the power source and my laff will kill it."

"NO!" Byte and Piggy Pie screamed in unison.

"Don't be ridiculous," Piggy Pie said. "You just cracked the code. You're useful. We need you." She took his hand. "You're my friend."

"We don't even know if that's for certain," Dr. Byte said. "Everything we've been talking about hinges on possibilities and plausibilities. Trust me I hinge my life and career on statistics and there's a very low probability we're right about the power source. Laff might not have any effect on it."

"You can't jump," Eileen said simply.

Flippy tried to steady his arm, which was shaking. "But the Togs are a threat. A worse threat than the Cogs. If this building has taken more Toons than Doctor, how do you know which ones have been converted? It can be your friends or family. It could be the Toon Council. *Anyone* can become a Tog. Toons will turn on each other, and civil war will break out."

"Nonsense," Eileen said, but she looked scared.

Flippy shook his head.

"We're not getting out of here unless someone jumps."

"Maybe not," Piggy Pie said, her voice thick with pleading. "The Cogs locked us in here. They know there's no way out. Why would they let us jump in if they know it'll kill their power?"

"They don't know," Flippy said. "They can't understand laff. They don't know its power. They just know it prevents us from thinking like Cogs. They won't expect this. They won't know how to recover."

"Flippy," Piggy Pie said sternly. "You're not jumping."

Flippy closed his eyes. He thought of all the faces after Exodus, the hatred in their eyes when he took the bullhorn atop the steps outside Toon Headquarters. How they jeered and yelled at him, blamed him for the Cogs and for Exodus, for all the lives lost. Feelings and thoughts that persisted in Flippy's mind everyday. He remembered the disgust, anger, shame, disappointment in all the faces of Toons at the market, at the gag shop, on the street, near his estate. Everywhere, never escaping. Piggy Pie had been the one smile, the one warm paw. Even the Toon Council, his former peers, hated him.

Guilt. Rampant guilt. Guilt that would never fade. Here, as he stood in the belly of the beast, in the crux of the Cog empire, during another dire hour of Toontown's history, he was overcome with guilt. The sleek grey walls, the macabre Cogs, the machinery, all because of him and his choices. Because he took a gamble on Dr. Adam Molecule.

A face that still haunted his memory, his dreams, every atom of his being.

"Let me repent for my sins," Flippy said quietly.

He thought of his estate, and how everything was settled. He didn't have anyone to leave everything for. He had dedicated all his possessions to the town, his one source of happiness. His pride and joy. His true love. Toontown.

"Step away from the edge," Dr. Byte said, outstretching his arm. Piggy Pie stood in front of him, her own feet mere inches from the precipice. She wrapped her arms around him, and squeezed tight.

"I'm not letting go," she said, "until you come away from the edge."

Flippy hugged back, grateful for her. She was the only person he'd truly miss.

"You're right," he said. "I'm sorry." He rested his head against hers and together they turned. She softened her grip and gasped in relief.

"Thank you, Flippy. We'll find another way out."

A few more steps.

Flippy pushed. She stumbled backward and let go. Byte and Eileen caught her before she fell down. She turned around wildly, her eyes locking on Flippy just in time for him to leap over the edge.

Flippy heard them scream as he fell, plunging into the lightning.

His fur was on fire.

He was on fire.

But his soul was redeemed.

His laff never wavered, even to the final breath.

Piggy Pie fell to her knees and screamed. Flippy dove into the abyss, his body somersaulting over itself and then disappearing entirely into the ocean of blue lightning. Instantly, a shockwave exploded upward, knocking Byte and Eileen over. Byte's glasses knocked off his face and fell into the silo. Eileen gripped the edge as the bridge rocked. The entire building was shaking. Then, an explosion.

Orange lightning crept up the side of the silo like veins and connected with the machine. The entire operation began to fall apart. Instinctively, Eileen, Piggy Pie and Dr. Byte ran toward the elevator doors. Just as they cleared the bridge and reached the landing, the entire machine plummeted out of the ceiling, broke the bridge clean off, and plummeted into the lightning.

The blue lightning had completely evaporated, replaced by the orange which now fizzled and crackled throughout the chamber. Piggy Pie sunk to the ground, her back pressed against the elevator door, now expecting fully to die. As the entire building seemed to be falling apart, chances of survival seemed slim.

And Flippy was dead.

He killed himself.

For what? For Toontown? For her? For them?

The orange lightning filled the room, blinding Piggy Pie. And then, as if being switched off, everything went dark. The sound of a machine powering down roared overhead.

The doors split open and Piggy Pie fell backward into the elevator. Byte and Eileen scrambled backward so they were out of the cavern. In the darkness, they could hardly see.

"Emergency lights activating."

A dim light overhead switched on, providing enough light to see that the bridge was completely gone and that the machine had wrought considerable damage as it fell.

Byte and Flippy were right. Flippy's laff had killed the machine, and cut the power lines of the Cogs. They were in the elevator. They could proceed.

"Manual controls," Byte read from the elevator buttons. He tinkered with the wiring and then the elevator slowly rose, the doors still open.

The three stood in silence, thinking of the fallen. Flippy, who had sacrificed himself for them. He had acted boldly, and definitely rashly, but because of him, Doctor stood a chance at survival. The Cogs were going to lose. They were crippled.

"Fifth level," Dr. Byte said quietly. The penthouse came into view, full of shadows and soft pools of light where emergency bulbs were lit. One Mr. Hollywood was waiting for them. He looked irate.

"I'm the boss," he said simply as they stepped out of the elevator. Behind him, a large glass window showed the night sky. Two fat ugly Cog statues were atop a small set of stairs. The one on the left looked particularly menacing, depicting a Cog type Piggy Pie had never seen.

"What did you do to our machine?" the Mr. Hollywood asked.

"We stopped it," Eileen said proudly. "Our former Mayor sacrificed himself to stop you. We will win."

"Unlikely," the Mr. Hollywood snapped, but he glanced at the corner of the room. Piggy Pie turned and saw seven Toons huddling in a cage, all alight with fright.

"They haven't been converted yet," Eileen said. She aimed her squirt gun and fired at all seven. All smiled impulsively, but none were happy. They were scared.

"Doctor's not there," Piggy Pie said. "Where's Doctor?"

"He's right here."

Piggy Pie looked at the Mr. Hollywood, but he was not the one who spoke. Out of the shadows walked the source of the voice: Doctor himself.

Piggy Pie recoiled. Doctor's eyes were hollow and blooshot, his eyelids blackened. His fur was lighter than before. Worst of all, a great ugly green light was implanted on his chest, just like the Cogs. Three other green lights were shining from the shadows. Doctor was not alone.

They got four of them.

"Let me try," Eileen said against hope and threw a cupcake at Doctor. He bent over in pain, the light on his chest turning yellow.

"STOP!" Piggy Pie cried. "Don't hurt him."

"We have to get them all out," Dr. Byte said. "We have to fight."

"You can try," the Mr. Hollywood said. "You won't be successful. There are more Cogs in this building than you could ever imagine. The sheer number would make your head spin. We will defeat you pesky Toons. Cog Nation will rise."

Eileen stepped forward.

"Let me ask you something," she said. "Before Exodus, before the climate shift, Cogs took over Toon buildings. The occupants of those buildings were never recovered. Where are they?"

Good question, Piggy Pie thought, but she was itching with anticipation. She just wanted to kill the Cogs, rescue Doctor, and leave quickly. Below the floors, she could hear clanging and booming as the machine continued to fall apart. With all that stuff falling, there was no way Flippy survived. Even if the fall didn't kill him, the lightning or the weight of the falling objects would.

"Dead," the Mr. Hollywood said. "The building takeovers were for experimentation. The occupants were used by the Creator for Operation Sever."

Eileen exhaled.

"My family...?" she muttered.

"I don't know the list of the failed test subjects," the Mr. Hollywood said in annoyance. "I know the one of this building was successful."

Piggy Pie saw Smokey Joe, the owner of Used Firecrackers, in the shadows with a green light on his chest. Poor Toon. Poor Doctor.

"Why..." Dr. Byte began, but the Mr. Hollywood stepped forward and shouted.

"Enough! Are you ready for your final scene?"

Piggy Pie flinched at the same line the Mr. Hollywood downstairs used when they trapped the four Toons on the bridge, leaving Flippy with his final choice.

"Get ready," Eileen said. "This won't be easy."

With one cake to the face, the Mr. Hollywood, the boss, was dead.

Eileen was right. For the next hour, the three battled upward of five dozen Cogs in what was the most difficult Cog battle Piggy Pie had ever endured. Even though the elevator was broken, Cogs continued to stream out of the passage. At one point, Dr. Byte disabled the elevator on which they arrived, sending it plunging deep into the building.

When Flippy jumped, he had taken with him his gag pouch. Even if he had tossed it onto the bridge, it would have been lost when the room collapsed. Eileen, Piggy Pie, and Byte tried to use their gags sparingly, but several times they came close to losing all laff.

Piggy Pie kept watching Doctor, who stood completely still at the edge of the shadows. He was thankfully not part of the battle, and Piggy Pie hated to think what would happen if he was hit with enough gags to turn his light a blinking red. Maybe it would save him, be his salvation. The light would fall off and his heart would be restored, but Piggy Pie doubted it. He would die.

His heart was gone. It was somewhere in this building, but where? Piggy Pie had no time to search for it. If they were successful against the Cogs, the building would become Toon again and all vestiges of the Cog building would be swept away with the Cogs as they fled back to Sellbot Headquarters. There was no hope of finding Doctor's heart. They would just have to save Doctor and find another way to restore his laff.

The seven Toons in the cage clamored and celebrated whenever a Cog was defeated. Their jubilee and support pushed Piggy Pie to excel. She kept thinking of Flippy, dead. A good Mayor, a good man, his story unfinished. He was one of three living Mayors at the time of his death. He was supposed to be at the inauguration of the new Mayor in only a few months time. He was probably going to endorse someone when all the candidates were announced. He deserved so much better.

But now he was gone.

Dead and gone.

If Piggy Pie didn't win this battle, Doctor would be too.

"We're almost at the end," Eileen said, as only three Cogs remained. For the first time in the hour, no replacement came up in the elevator.

"They're getting scared," Dr. Byte said excitedly.

Piggy Pie glanced into her pouch. Only a handful of gags remained.

"Last Cog," Eileen remarked as the final Mr. Hollywood took his stand against them.

Piggy Pie threw a set of marbles, while Eileen used lure and Dr. Byte used drop. The three gags were enough and the last Cog exploded.

The seven Toons in the cage cheered and leapt for joy. The door unlocked automatically and they rushed out. One hugged Eileen instantly and began crying in happiness. Another shook Dr. Byte's hand.

Piggy Pie, however, rushed to Doctor. He was staring directly through her, and was cold to the touch. His fur felt harder, as if he was turning to metal. Piggy Pie held his face.

"What evil have they done to you?" she whispered.

Eileen gathered the Toons together and they danced in the center of the room. They waited for the Cog building to convert back into a Toon building, as it always did around this time of victory. Dr. Byte was trying to shepherd the Togs together so they could escape as well.

For whatever reason, nothing was happening.

"Oh no," Dr. Byte said, swallowing hard. "Do you think we killed the power for the building to change back?"

"I hope not," Eileen said, though she now looked terrified. "How else are we going to get out of here?"

Piggy Pie looked at the elevator that Dr. Byte had killed. Then she turned her head to see the elevator the Cogs had used. She was hesitant to use that one; who knew where it would lead? But then again, the elevator they arrived on would bring them back to the room they could not cross, and everything beyond that was a mystery too.

*Why wasn't the building changing*?

"Well done."

That voice.

It was horrid. Maleficent, teeming with hatred and vile. And it was loud. It carried over the room like an intercom. But it wasn't an intercom. It was coming from behind Piggy Pie.

She turned.

The statue on the left, the one of the Cog type Piggy Pie could not recognize, was coming to life. It unfolded its arms and stepped off the pedestal. It was huge, four times taller than any Cog and twice as wide. Its face was scarier in the emergency lighting, its mouth dipped downward in a monstrous scowl.

"Congratulations," it sneered.

"Who are you?" Dr. Byte asked, squinting without his glasses.

"I'm the Chairman."

Piggy Pie felt chills explode down her back. She backed away, trying to pull Doctor with her.

"Sorry about Flippy," the Chairman said with no apology in his tone. "It's a shame when we lose pieces of our boards. Replacing them is never easy."

No one spoke. The Chairman paced the top of the staircase. Piggy Pie reached into her pack for a gag, but she doubted anything she had would harm this Cog.

"Change the building back," Eileen squeaked.

"I will," the Chairman said. "I can't hold it forever. My powers, like yours, Madam Mayor, are limited. You did a number on our generator, and I think it's safe for you to assume the repercussions will be equally damaging. You may have won this round of our little game, but it's not over yet."

"This isn't a game," Eileen said with what must have been all the courage she could have possibly mustered. Her voice nonetheless came out as a tiny squeak.

"Oh, but it is a game," the Chairman said with a sinister smile.

Dr. Byte suddenly pulled a wedding cake out of his pouch and lobbed it at the Chairman. He stepped aside casually and the gag was wasted. His eyes seared red and with one humongous fist,   he shattered the glass window. A strong wind burst into the room, and the Chairman approached the gaping hole. He gestured to the Togs, who robotically turned and flocked to his side.

"DOCTOR!" Piggy Pie screamed and tried to stop her friend, but Eileen held her back.

The grey walls began to lose their pigment and color seeped back in. The building rumbled as the structure beneath them gave way.

The Chairman and his Togs sprouted rotors atop their heads. The Chairman flew backward, out the window. His Togs followed.

Piggy Pie saw the Chairman's evil eyes and Doctor's blank face as the floor broke apart and the Toons fell, the building restoring itself.

The Chairman's voice reverberated throughout the debris, blasting into all their ears.

"My turn."

## Production

### Promotion

On November 21, 2017, producers released the finale trailer. The video is to the right.

The trailer depicts several scenes and characters from the first season, including Dr. Molecule, Alice Carver and Clan Destine, Doctor and Piggy Pie running in tandem, Eileen Irenic raising her voice in the Toon Resistance salute, and Piggy Pie fighting the Sellbot Vice President. The trailer also includes foreshadowing for the finale. The trailer is set to the song *Game of Survival* by Ruelle, the same song used in the trailer for the first season of *Thirteen Reasons Why*. The penultimate image depicted with the words "Storytime Presents" superimposed is from ToonFest 2017 when the carousel was sped up to an alarming speed.

### Continuity and Story Arcs

Aunt Hill, whose building was taken over in "Genesis" and seen again in flashbacks in "Irenic," was experimented on by Dr. Molecule whilst her building was being taken over. He attempted to turn her into a Tog. The early takeovers of Cog buildings, therefore, were used as a way of acquiring test subjects, including Eileen Irenic's family. Aunt Hill died in the procedure.

Soggy Bottom's Tog conversion scene was depicted, explaining the incision on her collarbone seen in "Six Little Pigs."

Slate Oldman inspected Soggy Bottom's laff, and determined that it was at zero. This was, however, not the case. Her heart had been ripped out entirely and replaced with one without laff.

During Exodus, the Cogs built their enormous headquarters. The only part that was present pre-Exodus was the factory, the pollution of which caused the climate shift. All the headquarters are connected by a railroad system. Bossbot HQ remains unseen. Toons believe it is underground.

Doctor was kidnapped by the Cogs, taken inside a Cog building on Loopy Lane, and violently turned into a Tog, along with three other Toons.

The Cogs, including the Chairman, take up residence in a Cog building on Loopy Lane, which houses an enormous Tog conversion machine. The machine takes up so much power that the Cogs leech from Toontown Central's electricity. The ensuing vacuum causes a massive power outage in the neighborhood. Eileen Irenic, Flippy Flopper, Piggy Pie, and Dr. Kilo Byte storm the building and discover the machine near the highest floors. Flippy kills the machine by jumping into the power source, rupturing the power lines and causing an even greater blackout to the entire Cog population.

Flippy determines that Operation Sever is designed to *sever* the laff from the Toons, allowing them to morphed into Coglike thinkers.

For the first time, the Chairman appears opposite Toons. He compared the war between them to a game. His last words to them were "My turn."

## Trivia

* The episode, and its prequel, are named after the Season 9 finale episodes of *Doctor Who*, "Heaven Sent" and "Hell Bent." As the Toons in this episode enter the Cog building, several remark it is like being plunged into hell.
* Violet Vance is the only main character that does not appear in the finale.