Clandestine

**"Clandestine"**is the sixteenth episode of *Rewritten* and the 16th episode overall.

It was published on November 19, 2017, following another month-long hiatus.

In the episode, in the past, Dr. Molecule attempts to cure his loneliness by abducting two Toons, who struggle to adapt to their new lives in captivity. At the Final Battle, Clan Destine finds himself transported beyond Toontown.

## The Episode

===Chipper Acres===

=The Final Battle=

The emerald fields were soaked with blood. Toon blood.

Clan Destine was paralyzed with horror. There he was.

Dr. Molecule, the creator, the master, his kidnapper, the monster.

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

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

So much had just happened.

Too much.

They were all dead.

Cogs were surrounding them. Molecule was taunting him. Repeating the name he had chosen, the alias.

Clan Destine.

There were few options. What could he do? His laff was so low. He thought of Alice, gone, missing. She was supposed to be here, with him. Together. They had promised each other.

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

The time was now.

"You're next, Clan," Dr. Molecule sneered.

Clan rushed forward.

===Present Day===

Eileen Irenic was sitting on her bed, her paws dangling over the mattress. She kept her eyes firmly on the wall in front of her, where the door was. She avoided looking behind her, as she inevitably did every morning. She didn't want to see the empty side of the bed where Paul Irenic would have slept. If he were still alive.

Eileen slid out of bed and felt the cool touch of the floor beneath her paws. She slowly walked to the doorframe, where, on instinct, she turned.

Empty bed, untouched pillow, an alarm clock gathering dust, a book unfinished.

Eileen absentmindedly wandered through the empty house. Into Constantine's bedroom. Irene's. Folding their clothes for the hundredth time. Cooking breakfast for four instead of one, throwing away the extra. The table was still set for four. There were still four coats on the rack. Everything in fours.

The house was empty. Hollow. Every room had an echo, drafts were stronger. Being home was once the highlight of Eileen's day. Now it was grim, dark, and full of sadness.

Flippy placed another apple in his basket and quietly thanked the merchant at the weekly Farmer's Market. The merchant gave Flippy a look. What was it? Pity? Disgust? Disappointment? Shame?

Flippy felt all of them combined and turned away to avoid the pain of the glare. Cogs were milling at the end of the street, just beyond the Farmer's Market. Flippy wanted to scream at them to go away, but the courage to do anything died as soon as it arose. He had not trained his gags in weeks. Was it a month?

Flippy felt more stares on him. Those same looks. Pity. Disgust. Disappointment. Shame. Anger. Flippy dropped his basket and the fruit he had collected spilled out. The apples and oranges bounced on the cobblestone. He swayed.

He wanted to run, to dive headfirst into the swimming pond, to push himself to the bottom until no breath could reach his lungs. He shut his eyes.

Did he want that?

What did he want?

"Flippy."

Flippy opened his eyes. A pig was standing in front of him. She held out his basket, all the fruit recovered.

"You dropped your basket."

Flippy reached out and took the handle. He looked into the pig's eyes.

No hatred. No disgust. Disappointment or anger. It was...concern.

"Are you feeling alright, Mister Mayor?"

"I'm not the Mayor anymore," Flippy mumbled.

"I know," the pig said. "But you still keep the title."

She stuck out a trotter.

"My name is Piggy Pie."

"Flippy."

Piggy Pie giggled.

"I know that, Mister Mayor."

Piggy Pie turned to walk and glanced at Flippy, signaling for him to follow. He did so, robotically taking one step after another.

"You don't look well, Mister Mayor. You should probably go home and get rest."

"Just call me Flippy."

Piggy Pie bowed her head.

"Do you want me to take you home, Flippy?"

"No," Flippy said before he had time to think about it. He probably shouldn't be out on the streets. Too many stares, too many judgements, and too many Cogs.

"I don't know," he said quickly. "Maybe."

Piggy Pie stopped walking and turned to him again. Flippy met her gaze. There was the softness in her eyes again, the genuine concern. It made him feel so much better.

"Flippy," Piggy Pie said, "what happened is not your fault."

Flippy's stomach flipped over. He didn't want to talk about this. He set off at a brisk pace. Piggy Pie hurried after him.

"Flippy, wait. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you..."

Flippy stopped in his tracks. Piggy Pie bumped into him. An apology? For him?

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Flippy asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

Piggy Pie looked confused.

"Every Toon is deserving of kindness."

Piggy Pie looped her arm through Flippy's.

"Come on," she said. "I'll show you where they sell the best truffles."

===Toon Headquarters===

Constance made another checkmark on her sheet. Of the twenty-six Toons that survived the Final Battle and had subsequently been converted by the Cogs into some kind of horrible Toon/Cog creation, twenty had been found and apprehended. The other six were being cornered in their homes at that very moment. Constance was certain that soon all would be safely confined in the cell blocks beneath Toon HQ. It was only a matter of time. Soggy Bottom, who Eileen had suspected of being converted, was also apprehended. When they tested gags on her, she was silent. A 27th convert.

Constance was still shocked that until yesterday, no one had any idea that Herb, Flim Flam, Professor Prepostera, and twenty-three others had been turned by the Cogs. Had they been brainwashed? Promised something? It was just too extraordinary. Constance was just in awe.

Constance's assistant stuck her head in the door.

"Hey, Constance. Sepulchra called to say she's dumping the remains."

Constance stared, confusion etched on her face.

"What?"

"Sepulchra in the morgue," Constance's assistant said as if Constance had no idea who Sepulchra Rigor was. "She said she's dumping the remains recovered from Chipper Acres because their time has expired?"

Constance leapt from her desk.

"Tell her no."

The command was said quickly, in one breath, as Constance darted out the door and down the stairs into the chilly morgue. She could not believe the nerve of Sepulchra Rigor. They should fire her, but Constance doubted anyone else in Toontown wanted Sepulchra's job.

Sepulchra was at her desk, picking at her abnormally long claws.

"Hello," she drawled.

"You can't dump the remains from the Acres," Constance said haughtily. "They're evidence."

"They're decomposing," Sepulchra said without even looking up. "They've been here past the standard deadline. What do you expect to do with them?"

Constance gripped the desk.

"The bodies of Dr. Adam Molecule and Alice Carver are staying here until the Toon Council..."

"Who?"

Constance's mouth continued to move, though no words were coming out. Sepulchra had knocked the wind out of her. Constance turned over the sentence she had just said in her head.

"Dr. Adam Molecule," Constance said, blinking. Sepulchra nodded.

"Right. The duck. Who's Alice Hanover?"

"Alice Carver," Constance said, her heart pounding. "Please don't tell me...you didn't...lose the body did you?"

Sepulchra sighed and put down her nail file.

"What did this body look like, pray tell?"

"Alice Carver," Constance repeated. "Monkey. Purple. All bones. Burned to death."

Sepulchra looked genuinely befuddled.

"Oh right," she said after a moment. "The misidentified monkey. Her name isn't Alice Carver."

"What?" Constance nearly shouted. "What do you mean that's not Alice Carver?"

Sepulchra removed a folder from her desk drawer. Constance recognized it as the file she herself had delivered upon the arrival of Molecule and Alice's bodies to the morgue, after they had raided Chipper Acres.

"Yes, I remember," Sepulchra said. "You brought in a bag of bones and said her name was Alice Carver. I ran the usual tests to confirm identity and her name is not Alice Carver. Her name was Geneva George. And she did not die by fire. She died from a Cog attack. A...let me see...jargon attack."

Sepulchra gently closed the file and laid it on the desk. With a serene smile, she nudged it toward Constance, who was standing with her mouth agape. She felt as if all the feeling had left her body. The monkey...all this time...was not Alice Carver. It was someone else.

"I..."

Constance took a deep breath. Sepulchra maintained her smug grin.

"Why was I not informed that the body was not Alice Carver?"

Sepulchra looked left to right, perturbed.

"I put this file on your assistant's desk. The day after the bodies came in. I assumed you knew or didn't care."

Constance closed her eyes. The day after the bodies were found, Constance had her assistant clear everything from the office so they could start fresh looking into the Alice Carver and Bradley Wolfe disappearances. That such an enormous piece of information got past her was extremely embarrassing. Constance snatched the file and read it over a few times. Her eyes dashed across the pages with celerity.

"Thank you," Constance said and hastened to the door. "Do nothing with the remains!"

Sepulchra just groaned and Constance leapt up the stairs.

If Clan Destine was actually Bradley Wolfe, what if Alice Carver was still alive?

===Years Ago===

Bradley Wolfe frowned at the letter in his mailbox. It was from the duck, the waiter at Bradley's favorite restaurant. He ate there maybe once a week with his school friends. And the duck, Adam, was always waiting on their table.

Why would he send me a letter? Bradley asked himself. He was so much younger than Bradley. Bradley was in his final year of school and hoped to attend Toontown's university. Adam was still a child.

Bradley opened the envelope and scanned the letter. It made him feel sorry for the duck.

"Hello, Bradley," it began in messy cursive font, "my name is Adam Avogadro. I wait on you at the Periodic Table. I don't have any friends, and you have always been kind to me. Would you like to come over for a play date?"

Bradley sighed at the letter. In all honesty, he did not want to go over to a child's house for a play date. It would feel like babysitting. And Bradley was not exactly a fan of children. Strange to think about, considering Bradley was still underage. But Adam would need friends his own age, right?

"Hey, Bradley!" someone called from the end of the driveway. Bradley looked up and saw his friends on their bicycles. "Want to go ride over by the waterfalls? Alex made sandwiches."

Forgetting the letter altogether, Bradley eagerly got on his own bicycle and pedaled with his friends toward the horizon of the setting sun.

===Chipper Acres===

=Two Years Later=

Adam Molecule was undeniably lonely. His year of isolation had proved beneficial for his mechanical studies, but not so much in terms of social factors. He hadn't really spoken to anybody friendly in months. He thought about who would make the solitude less harsh, and the person who kept coming to mind, as she did every night, was Alice Carver.

Alice, the beautiful purple monkey he first met in the Periodic Table. She was stunning, and above all she was kind. She was the one who came to the house on the darkest day of his life. The day that his mother turned her away, told Alice that Adam was not worth it, no good. That was the day Adam Molecule went sad.

Getting Alice here was the problem. Adam couldn't just ask Alice to come with him. She would tell her aunt. There'd be conflict. Adam did not want anyone to know where he was. But he loved her unconditionally. She was his. And she would gladly go with him. Right?

Adam held his head to think.

Alice Carver was the most beautiful Toon in Toontown. She was a perfect specimen. He just had to have her.

Adam turned around to look into his shed. The unfinished Pinkerton Cog was standing in the middle of the room. Adam took the remote control on the counter and switched the Cog on. Its eyes lit up and the machine stomped out of the shed. Its black metal suit shone in the sunlight.

Adam took a nameplate from a bucket and engraved the name "PINKY" on it. He then fixated the badge to the lapel of the Pinky's suit.

"Time for business," it spoke.

Adam smiled. Operational. The Pinkerton was designed to be a spy. Gather intel, seed subterfuge. Adam supposed it wasn't exactly the best spy since it was quite conspicuous. But he  knew that everyone would be so impressed with the mechanical genius of the robot that everyone in Toontown would soon be buzzing about the mastermind behind Toontown's newest innovation.

Adam found a picture of Alice Carver from a yearbook he stole from the Toontown library. He handed it to the Pinky, albeit reluctantly; he was sad to depart with it.

"Get her for me," Adam said.

The Pinky flew away.

===The Docks===

=Present Day=

"This is it, isn't it?" Constance asked her patrol. They were standing in a minimalistic apartment on the second floor of a lesser-known complex on Seaweed Street. According to the landlady, it had been rented only for a few weeks. Sensing a possible pattern, Constance had contacted all apartment complexes in Toontown and asked for a list of residents who had only stayed a short while. Clan Destine apparently hopped around, only staying in each apartment a few weeks, the longest two months. He used a different name for each, and all his names were references to those who died in the Final Battle. For one, he used Milton Jessie, a tribute to Melville Jesop, the former leader of the Docks before his death in the Battle.

"It is," a patroller said. "Clothing seen on Clan Destine are in that wardrobe."

"Have you ever met him?" Constance asked the landlady, who seemed downright uneasy to be part of a police investigation.

"Yes, of course. He's an amiable fellow. Modest. He always wore long sleeves and gloves, pants...his face was a dark red color."

"What name is his apartment listed under?" Constance asked, jotting in her notebook.

"Lawrence Engel," the landlady said quietly.

Laura Ingalls, Constance thought. Poor Professor Pete, continuing to search for his closure and lost son.

Clan Destine, the fugitive, the enigma, could very well be the hero they needed. The only person who could shed light on what happened at the Final Battle. He could also lead the Toon Patrol to the potentially alive Alice Carver.

"Chief," an officer said, holding a piece of paper found under the mattress. Constance took the scrap and read the digits printed on it; a phone number.

"Do you have a phone?" Constance asked the landlady, seeing none in the apartment.

"Certainly. In my office."

The landlady led the way to a neatly decorated office. Constance used the phone and dialed carefully.

"Thank you for calling Toontown Regal Cinema. This is Geneva, how may I assist you?"

Constance froze. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

The voice of Alice Carver. It was very likely.

"Hello?" the voice said again. Then, quieter, "Clan? Is that you?"

Constance hung up. She couldn't think of anything to say. Clan Destine just led them to Alice Carver. She was in Toontown Central, working at a cinema.

They had to get to her before the Cogs could find out she was alive.

===Years Ago===

=The Brrrgh=

Young Alice Carver watched with wide eyes as the ferocious winds tossed an umbrella off the patio into the garden. The blizzard was certainly packing a punch. Thankfully, Alice and her friends were cozy in Alana Triton's house, enjoying their sleepover.

"Your turn, Jane!" Alana squealed.

Jane seized the giant orange foam dice, the words "TRUTH" and "DARE" scrawled on two sides each. On two other sides, the words "SUPER" were added by the girls so they could have even more fun. Jane tossed the die, which landed on TRUTH.

"Okay okay," Ella Ember said, clearly excited. "Is it true that your dad is running for the Toon Council?"

Ella bashfully covered her face.

"Maybe," she mumbled.

Alice and her friends dropped their jaws in delight. Ella's father, on the Toon Council? It'd be like knowing a celebrity!

"Go, Alice," Ella said, eager for the attention to be diverted. Alice tossed the tie high in the air, and watched it come bouncing down. It rolled onto SUPER DARE. The girls all jumped to their paws, this being the first time of the night SUPER DARE was rolled.

"I dare you to lick the wall," Jane said.

"No, that's stupid," Daisy Drake pouted. "It has to be super."

The girls thought it over. Alice just waited patiently. She was adventurous. She would do whatever it was that was asked of her.

"I dare you," Alana said slowly, for emphasis and effect, "to stand outside in the blizzard for thirty seconds."

"Ooo," Ella said. "That's interesting."

"I agree. I dare you too!" Jane said. Daisy echoed their sentiment.

"Fine," Alice said, "but you better have a towel ready."

Alana scurried into the bathroom and fetched a large, fluffy towel. Alice walked over to the patio door and slid it open. Kicking off her socks, she stepped into the torrent. Her friends closed the door behind her and began to count.

Alice walked until she was standing in the center of the patio. Her paws already began to get really cold, sunk in nearly a foot of snow. The flakes were coming down so hard that she could hardly see.

"Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen..."

Alice could hear her friends counting loudly through the glass. Alice wrapped her arms around her torso and waited.

Twenty-two, twenty-three.

A shadow loomed in front of her. She turned.

And was grabbed.

Her scream died in her throat. She felt her feet lift off the ground. Paralysis swept through her. A fear unlike any other. Something was taking her, flying away with her. Where? Who? What was it? It felt metal.

Alice thought of the warm, fluffy towel Alana had laid out for her, of the socks she had left neatly by the door.

And the night that had just gone so terribly awry.

Alice cried into the chest of the metal creature that was spiriting her away to a lifetime of darkness.

===Journal of Dr. Adam Molecule===

I am disappointed. Alice Carver has been nothing but trouble in her first month here. She has refused to speak to me, cried almost all the time, and apparently has no interest in electronics.

The Pinky Cog is officially dead; it had short-circuited because of the snow during her liberation. I have tried to replicate the robot, but so many of the parts have been completely fried and I cannot remember how I had put the machine together. I must be more meticulous with my notes.

Alice keeps trying to run away, which is exceedingly annoying. The first thing I had done when Alice arrived was to take her transport hole. It was not easy, as the transportation effect is practically bred into Toons. I had to shock her into unconsciousness and take the hole. The holes are not really capable of being destroyed, so I carried it into the woods and buried it under a log. I don't remember the exact spot, so I hope I don't fall into it accidentally.

I keep Alice locked in the bunker beneath the shed. She kept trying to break out at night, and her continuous scratching on the trapdoor was driving me insane. I built a cage in the bunker and locked her in there. Now I can sleep peacefully at night. I think Alice might be homesick, so I'll give her more grace and patience so she can adapt to her surroundings.

We're a family now. I hope she'll learn to be happy here. I love her so much.

Alice Carver whimpered in the cage. She had been imprisoned for a calculation of nearly three months. She had nothing sharp with which she could mark the days on the metal wall. She had seen that done in movies before. She always thought it was a cliche, but now she wanted nothing more than to have something to do to pass the time. She had asked Adam for a journal in which she could write. It had been three days and she hadn't heard anything from her captor.

What if he had died, or left forever? She would be trapped down here and no one would ever know how to find her.

"Why do you want a diary?" Adam had asked. "Just talk to me."

"I need something to do to pass the time," Alice said desperately. Adam's eyes narrowed.

"You know that if you behaved you could be upstairs with me. We could share a bed, tell each other stories."

Alice had nearly vomited.

"I like to draw," Alice said stupidly. "If I had a journal, I could draw. And write you stories."

Adam thought it over.

"If I give you a journal, I'll take it at the end of each week and read it. Then I can get to know you better. Is that fair?"

"Yes," Alice said, willing to agree to anything to better her life here.

"I'll think about it," Adam said and climbed out of the bunker. He slammed the trapdoor shut, leaving the lantern in the corner outside the cage as Alice's only source of light.

===Diary of Alice Carver===

Adam has generously granted me this journal so that I may write stories for him. I am indebted to him for this beautiful bout of generosity and pledge myself to his glory. He is extremely intelligent, and I think just about my age. I could not ask for a better companion and hope for a happy life in his company.

I think Adam wants to know more about me, so I'll give a brief biography. I am Alice Carver, a purple monkey from the Brrrgh. My parents divorced when I was young. Mother died from disease, and father was killed in a robbery. He was a criminal. I live with my Aunt, who I doubt worries that I am missing, as she never cared much for me in life. I enjoy sunlight, nature, snow, and long walks in the forest. I love to cook and bake and be surrounded by the smell of yummy food. I hope Adam has a kitchen I can utilize.

Ever grateful,

*Alice*

===Diary of Alice Carver===

*Page found in mattress stuffing, edges burnt*

Adam is a lunatic. At risk of him finding these words, I write it in confidence. It makes me feel better, to see them in ink. Adam is insane, a mad scientist, just like the movies. But worse. He's so young. So horrible. I can't believe the lies I had to write in my diary so that he would be appeased. It is my only hope of being spared. I hope he falls for them, and lets me into a kitchen where I can stab him with a knife. Or take me out into the forest so I can run away and lose him amongst the trees. I know we're located near trees, because we flew over them when that horrible creature took me here. I know there's water because I hear it flowing nearby. I dream of holding Adam's head underwater and watching all the life go out of him.

I am hiding this page in the mattress where I think he won't look. I have already hidden my wallet in there, the last piece of my old life I have.

I hope the police are looking for me. Auntie will surely miss me. If not and I die here, a cold case in the Toon Patrol's extensive history, Auntie know that I love you and thank you for raising me when mother had no one else to turn to. You're a beautiful woman and you have cared for me like no other.

Alana, Jane, Ella, Daisy, it is not your fault what has happened. It is mine.

*Alice Carver*

===One Year Later===

=Journal of Dr. Adam Molecule=

I can't figure out what is going on with Alice. In her diary pages she lauds me as the icon I am, praising my intellect and thanking me constantly for saving her from an abusive household. But then when I interact with her, she is cold and uninviting. It has been over a year and I still do not feel comfortable taking her out of the bunker. I fear she will run. If we don't have trust, then what do we have?

I have finished work on my first Flunky. He is fully operational and does odd jobs around the shed. He cuts firewood in the forest and replenishes my water supply. Lately, he has been emptying the bedpan in Alice's cage. I think Alice is scared of the robot, even though he is the future.

Soon, the Flunky will be able to fly. I've been thinking about acquiring another companion for Chipper Acres. I remember Bradley Wolfe, the red dog who I invited for a play date years ago. And how he never replied. I like to think he wasn't ignoring me, as that would have been unwise. But I do think he might have not gotten the invitation. Either way, I think it time he joined us in our humble abode. Great friendships are always borne in threes.

Next month, a thick layer of fog is rumored to settle over Toontown. I think it's the third Monday. That's the day my Flunky will fly into the Docks and retrieve Bradley Wolfe.

===The Docks===

=Seven Years Before Exodus=

Bradley Wolfe pressed his back against the brick wall of the building. He was completely disoriented. The fog was much thicker than he had anticipated. His mother had castigated him for going out in the fog, but Bradley was certain he could make his way to his friend's house so they could work on their homework together. After all, usually you could see at least the area immediately in front of you. But this time, the fog was so thick he couldn't even see his feet.

Bradley just stood like a lamppost against the wall, so still, not knowing what to do. It didn't help it was nearly midnight.

Bradley took one step forward as he saw a light beam shine its way through the mist. Someone with a flashlight! Bradley moved toward the light until it was only feet away. It was green.

Bradley bumped into a squat brown metal wall. Upon closer inspection, Bradley was shocked to see a face with round glasses and beady eyes. It was unlike any face Bradley had ever seen before...it looked paler and intoon.

"I may be just a Flunky," it spoke in a monotone robotic voice, "but I'm real spunky."

And then it grabbed him around the waist. Bradley opened his mouth to cry out, but the Flunky slammed its head against Bradley's.

Darkness.

===The Diary of Alice Carver===

*Found in the mattress stuffing, edges singed*

Today is a day of happiness for me, another example of how dismal my life has become down here. I have not seen another Toon in probably a year and a half. By now, there's no point tracking days. Adam opened the trapdoor today. The Flunky brought down a red dog, his head bleeding, his eyes closed. Adam opened the cage and the Flunky put the red dog in here with me. Adam brought in a second cot, another ration of food and water, and another journal. The name "Bradley" is inscribed on the cover of the journal. I take that to be the name of my new bunkmate. He is very tall, and will not adjust very well to the low ceiling down here. He has not yet woken up, but I cannot stop smiling. Adam left us to get acquainted, and I have been caring for him.

He is my first contact with the outside world since Adam wrecked it for me. Maybe "Bradley" will know if Auntie is still looking for me, if the police have any leads. Or maybe Adam was careless and Bradley's kidnapping was witnessed by many. Salvation may be near!

I continue to pray for my liberation and return to my Aunt and friends, to the life I have lost. I pray for Bradley's recovery so that I can talk to him and learn about him, and befriend him. If we are to be prisoners together, then I hope we can be allies. And one day, we can escape this terrible prison together.

*Alice Carver*

===The Journal of Bradley Wolfe===

*Half-burnt, letter reconstructed*

Alice writes in her diary every night and I suppose I should too. At least she writes when she thinks it's night. There's no way of knowing for sure. It's weird to think I am a victim of kidnapping. It's even more horrible to know that Alice has been trapped in this cage for over a year. I cannot remember any case like this in Toontown's history. I think because it seems so unreal I keep telling myself this will be over soon. That help will find its way to wherever we are.

But no one saw me be taken. How could they? It was too foggy. I told Alice, and she cried.

She was overjoyed when I awoke. At first, I thought she was my captor. She gave me food and water and had already cleaned and bandaged the cut on my head. She explained the thing that took me was called a "Flunky Cog" or something to that effect. It's a robot created by a mad scientist named Adam Molecule. Molecule is apparently my abductor. And that we've met before. As of now, I have not seen him. He has not graced us with his presence. Alice explained that could mean he is busy. He only comes down into the cage on occasion. The Flunky Cog brings food, water, and empties the bedpan that serves as our bathroom. Alice has not showered or bathed in all her time in captivity.

Alice just explained to me that Adam will read this journal. She showed me how to remove pages without leaving any residue to indicate a page was torn out. She hides her true entries in her mattress stuffing so that Adam won't find it and she can be comforted by expression of her true thoughts. Then she writes passages praising him to the high heavens, hoping that he will believe her words and let her free. I asked if she has been let out of the cage even once, and she said no.

Alice is young, younger than I, but yet mature to a level I would never expect of anyone else her age. She is broken, and thus resolved to be better than normal. She can't be troubled with the stress and trivialities of a teenage monkey. She has to be strong. I have to be strong now too. As she explained, we are now friends and allies.

I asked her how she keeps her laff high down here, as surely it drops daily as despair sets in. She told me she thinks of her family, her friends, and of escaping. Every day, over and over again. She plays out scenarios in her head of people coming to rescue us, of Molecule's arrest, and never seeing this cage again.

Alice said she'll brief me on everything she has learned about Adam, the Flunky Cog, and this prison. Then, once she's ready, and I am too, we will escape.

*BW*

===One Month Later===

Alice nodded at Bradley. They were ready. By their estimation, it was morning, and the Flunky would be back to take their dinner trays away and provide them with breakfast. Bradley held the bedpan behind his back, filled to the brim with water saved from days of hoarding. Both were parched, but needed all the water they could get to fry the Flunky, take his keys, and flee.

The trapdoor opened and the Flunky dropped inside, his eyes behind the glasses fixated on the prisoners. He approached in his customary gait, carrying two plates of breakfast. He wordlessly set the trays on the ground and retrieved the empty ones. As he pushed the two full plates forward, Bradley heaved forward and dumped the water over the Flunky's head.

It let out a cry before sparks blew out of several crevasses. The Flunky pitched over and fell with a clang against the bars of the cage.

"The keys are in his breast pocket," Alice said urgently.

Bradley dug his paw into the breast pocket of the Cog and triumphantly removed the key. Alice felt her heart fill with hope. Today, after years, she would be free. Bradley stuck the key in the lock and unlocked the cage. He locked eyes with Alice.

"After you," he said, extending an arm. Alice took two slow steps outside the cage, feeling the outside floor for the first time in years. She could already imagine the sky, the sun, the stars, the trees, wind, nature, grass, river...

The trapdoor was still open. Bradley and Alice clambered out of it, emerging in a dingy wooden shed. Alice stared in shock.

"But..."

"It's so tiny..." Bradley said.

Alice turned to look back at the trapdoor, so small in appearance. How big it had looked when it was her whole world, the source of food and water and Toon contact.

Bradley and Alice stretched their legs. They had not stood in so long, not without pressing their back against the ceiling. Alice was short, but still not tall enough to stand up straight in the bunker, which was only a few feet high.

An ugly oriental rug was peeled back near the trapdoor. A cot lay against the wall, probably for Adam Molecule. A wooden counter ran the length of the shed, kind of like the ones Alice saw in convenience stores. A glass case behind the counter, like the one in tourist centers, was filled with nuts and bolts and other screws, gears, and cogs. Journals and diagrams were everywhere, consuming all blank space. Molecule's life work, his evil. Where was he?

"We have to go," Bradley said. He crossed the shed in two steps and opened the door. A breeze assailed them. Alice was overwhelmed with the scent of the earth. It called to her, luring her outside. She stepped off the threshold and let the grass touch her toes. Alice wanted to roll on the ground, soak up her surroundings, bask in the natural paradise in which she had emerged. She was free, free at last! She was not in the basement of some shop, or in a pit of hell in the outskirts of Toontown. She knew exactly where she was.

Chipper Acres, the luscious golf resort where she had vacationed with her mother before the golf course went defunct and mother was infected. The distinctive tall redwood trees towered in a circle around the clearing in which the shed was situated. Alice saw the river flowing quickly through the center, only feet away. The water would lead to the Docks. All Bradley and her had to do was follow it the way it flowed.

"Come on," Alice said and headed down to the shore. Bradley followed, his head swiveling around in shock.

Then they saw him.

Molecule.

His eyes afire, hatred teeming from his pursed lips. He stood with fists clenched at the edge of the forest, two Cogs flanking him. They dropped the firewood they were carrying.

"GET THEM!" Molecule screamed.

"RUN!" Bradley screamed. Alice didn't hesitate. She sprinted away from Molecule, Bradley in tow. They could make for the mountains, live in a cage, signal for help or something...

Alice stopped in her tracks. Bradley slammed into her.

Cogs had formed a barrier around the clearing. Hundreds of them, all with different terrifying faces. All this time, Alice thought the Flunky was the only Cog, the only evil. There was so much more. What was he going to do with them?

All the Cogs, in unison, drew a piece of paper from their pocket.

Hundreds of multicolored papers flew at Bradley and Alice. Alice turned and wrapped her arms around Bradley, awaiting the worst.

The papers slammed into them, cutting their laff. Adam was walking toward them, irate.

Bradley's knees buckled and Alice had to grab his waist to prevent him from falling. His eyes were full of sorrow.

"We can't..." he muttered.

"I know," Alice whispered. She gasped in defeat.

"We're trapped."

Adam reached them and wrenched them apart.

"How dare you," he spat. "I'm disgusted. Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'don't bite the hand that feeds you?' Huh?"

Alice and Bradley were silent.

"Well," Adam said, eyeing his captives. "If you're not going to be grateful for the lodgings I've provided you, maybe you need to be humbled."

Adam turned to a Cog with greasy hair next to him. It's badge said "Telemarketer."

"Bring them back to the bunker. Give them no food or water for two days."

He gave them one last glance.

"And remove the bedpan."

The Telemarketer seized Alice and Bradley and jerked them back toward the shed, back toward their hell.

===Chipper Acres===

==One Month Before the Return from Exodus==

=The Final Battle=

"You're next, Clan," Dr. Molecule sneered to Bradley Wolfe, tauntingly using the name Bradley had chosen to adopt, to shed his former identity, the one Molecule had destroyed. Behind him, on the fields, a dozen Toons swayed as their brains were hijacked, as their toonity was erased, replaced with the malicious agenda of the Cogs.

Toon-to-Cog conversions.

Togs.

Clan knew he had to find Alice, to stop the conversions, to save the people from the monster that had ruined Bradley Wolfe's life.

Molecule raised a syringe, the vile green liquid swirling menacingly.

Now was not the time for inaction.

Clan rushed forward.

He leapt over a fallen Cog and Toon and dove into the river. He heard Molecule order Cogs to capture him. A Cog attack flew past his face. Clan climbed out of the river and sprinted back toward the shed, hoping that Alice was not trapped inside.

Before he reached the door, she emerged from the shed doorway looking determined. She dropped a box of matches in the grass.

"GRAB HER!"

Gags whirled around them. Toons continued to fight, but more and more died. Dozens. A hundred. The Cogs were ruthless, and there to kill.

Those that survived were being converted into Togs, Cog-thinking Toons.

Herb Clark, the kind trolley depot clerk, convulsing in the grass as his brain was overrun.

Laura Ingalls, the wife of Clan's old schoolteacher. She was trying to run away.

"CLAN!"

Alice grabbed Clan's paw and together they raced away from the shed. Ahead of them, Professor Patrick Prepostera was engaging thirteen Cogs in battle. And he was doing so with aplomb.

"We have to help," Clan said. Alice looked around wildly.

"There isn't time," she gasped.

In the distance, Clan saw Bossbots descend around Ash Ingalls as he tried to escape. They snatched him and flew away with him. The purple cat kicked and screamed for his mother as he was airlifted.

Laura Ingalls ran after him, shrieking for her son. Seeing there was no hope, Laura angrily turned around and joined Prepostera's battle. Adam Molecule forded the river and marched toward Alice and Clan.

"He's mine," Alice said and removed a gag from her pocket. Clan took out the only gag he had left--a pie, and aimed it at the Cogs flanking Molecule.

Suddenly, the fighting intensified. Toon after Toon fell dead. Laura Ingalls was blasted backward by a wave of double talk. She was then beaten to death with a golf club. Mr. Hollywoods jammed syringes into the necks of any Toon who had survived.

A cyan dog wearing a flute sweater, a brown duck Clan had seen before his kidnapping, countless others. All of them would become weapons of the Cogs for if the Toons ever returned from their exile.

A world away.

The Cogs were gaining on Prepostera. Clan aimed his last pie and threw it hard. It struck a Big Cheese across the face. He bent over and exploded. Several Cashbots rounded on Alice, who was breathing heavily.

"Bradley," she said loudly over the noise of battle.

"Alice," Clan muttered.

"I love you."

Alice sprinted toward Molecule. She tackled him to the ground. He screamed and writhed under the weight of her. He threw her off. He stood over her and screamed for the Cogs to kill her. Dozens of Downsizers marched over, their attacks ready. Clan ran toward her.

Prepostera lost his battle. The Cogs had depleted his gags.

Clan turned to give Prepostera one final look of farewell, but the professor was drinking something from a vial. The defeated horse looked around the battlefield until his eyes landed on Clan.

"Pete," Prepostera mouthed. His eyes glassed over. A Corporate Raider came up behind him and slammed a syringe into his neck. Prepostera pitched.

A scream.

The Cogs threw pink slips at Alice. At the last second, she rolled away and leapt to her feet. The Downsizers tried again, and this time were successful in connecting with a Toon. But not Alice. She used Adam as a shield.

The attacks struck his depleted laff.

Darkness consumed Clan.

And he was falling.

He couldn't comprehend it.

He didn't understand.

Suddenly he was in a black tunnel of infinite vastness.

Falling.

Falling.

Away from Alice.

Away from the battle.

Away from Molecule.

Dead?

Clan looked at his paws and recoiled. Five long appendages were sprouting from where his paws were. His arms losing their fur, replaced with an ugly skin pigment.

And then...light.

===Fantasyland===

Clan Destine read the placard again.

"Professor Peter Ingalls, Anatomy and Biology."

Clan looked around in embarrassment. Everyone was staring at him. Clan didn't even realize he looked different until he was surrounded by all the other weirdos. Whatever species Clan had been turned into, it was ugly. He figured out rather quickly that this was where all the Toons had been sent. This was the Exodus.

Fantasyland.

And Clan had absolutely no idea how he ended up here.

Clan shuddered to think of it. He yearned to know what happened to Alice, and how to get back. But he also realized that this was permanent. Professor Prepostera was the only one who could get all the Toons back, and it was highly likely he was dead. There was no hope.

Clan smoothed the ugly Hawaiian shirt, as it was called, that he purchased from the Emporium shop. He had found several "credits" worth of money in a fountain. Kind of a low point, he thought, rummaging through a fountain for chump change, but he had no other choice. This was his new life. He found lodgings meant for Prepostera in an apartment near the Emporium, and he assumed he could take that from the Professor since he wasn't coming here. He found a pair of basketball shorts in the wardrobe, which he now wore.

Clan ascended the steps of the university and looked for the classroom that contained Professor Pete's classroom.

Laura Ingalls was dead.

Ash, taken by the Cogs.

Toontown, gone forever.

Professor Pete had always been a kind teacher to Bradley Wolfe. He had educated him before his kidnapping. He did not deserve the life he had been dealt. He did deserve sympathy for what he had lost.

Pete's class was just letting out. It was weird to see him in "human" form, as opposed to the cat Bradley Wolfe had known. Pete was erasing the blackboard, complex mathematical equations disappearing in a cloud of white chalk dust.

Clan walked up behind him. Pete turned.

"Yes?"

He stared. Clan knew it was because of his skin, red in the face, lighter in the arms and legs. Another vestige of Molecule's captivity.

"Anything I can help you with?" Pete asked, composing himself.

Clan just gazed back at him, his eyes brimming with sorrow.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he said.

Overcome with emotion, thoughts of Alice reeling through his head, Clan turned and walked out of the classroom. He did not stop until he was outside. He turned into an alleyway, collapsed to the ground, and sobbed.

## Production

### Continuity and Story Arcs

The opening scene from "Evil Incarnate (Part 1)" once again opened this episode, though some extra details were added, such as Clan Destine's name.

Both Eileen Irenic and Flippy Flopper feel the ramifications of the Cogs in Toontown on a personal level. Eileen still mourns for the loss of her family, and cannot comprehend why the loss happened. Flippy feels immense guilt and cannot go out in public for fear of ridicule. In this episode, however, he befriends Piggy Pie when she shows him kindness and grace.

Twenty of the twenty-six survivors of the Final Battle, who had been converted into Cog-thinking Toons (Togs), were apprehended by the Toon Patrol and detained beneath Toon HQ. Soggy Bottom, kidnapped by the Sellbots, was also converted and thus became the 27th prisoner.

The body recovered from Chipper Acres in "Evil Incarnate (Part 2)" was in fact not the remains of Alice Carver, but a monkey named Geneva George. Constance Miller correctly deduces that Alice Carver is alive and using the assumed name Geneva George. This is confirmed when Constance locates the apartment of Clan Destine with a phone number connecting Clan to Geneva George at the cinema.

In an attempt to remedy his rampant loneliness in isolate in Chipper Acres, Dr. Molecule orders his Cogs to kidnap Alice Carver, followed by Bradley Wolfe. Both are imprisoned beneath Molecule's shed in the bunker discovered in "Evil Incarnate." Neither Alice nor Bradley's disappearances were solved due to weather limiting visibility on both their nights of abduction.

Alice and Bradley attempt their first escape in this episode, though it goes awry and they are reimprisoned.

In flashbacks to the Final Battle from Clan Destine's point of view, Ash Ingalls was kidnapped by the Bossbots and flown away. Laura Ingalls tried in vain to save her son, but failed. She was later killed by the Cogs. Herb Clark and Flim Flam were turned into Togs. Alice Carver used Adam Molecule as a shield and he subsequently died from Cog attacks. Before Clan Destine could see more, he was somehow transported to Fantasyland.

The final scene depicted one of the first scenes of the series in "Genesis," when Clan Destine told Professor Pete he was sorry for his loss.

### References

The Pinky Cog, short for Pinkerton, is a reference to Pinkerton men, members of the Pinkerton Agency who in the 19th century were notorious for acting as detectives, strikebreakers, bodyguards, and security forces.

When Ella Ember said "ooo, that's interesting," the line was borrowed from a *Friends*episode "The One with the Embryos" in which characters Rachel and Monica compete against Joey and Chandler in a trivia game. When Monica ups the stakes, Rachel remarks "ooo, that's interesting."

## Trivia

* The episode title is named after the eponymous character, Clan Destine.
* This is the first episode to name the Togs by name. Togs are Toons whose minds have been warped to think and act like Cogs, thus remaining undetectable.
* Sepulchra Rigor, last seen in a guest appearance in "The Last Laff" as a mortician in Fantasyland, returned in this episode. Producers liked her character and wanted her to return.
* The diary entries by Alice Carver, Clan Destine, and Dr. Molecule were inspired by the epistolary novel *Dracula*, which producers were reading at the time of writing.
* Alice's friends at the sleepover (Alana Triton, Jane, Ella Ember, and Daisy Drake) are references to Disney characters: Alana, the daughter of King Triton and sister of Ariel in *The Little Mermaid*, Jane Porter from *Tarzan*, Cinderella, and Daisy Duck.
* When Alice Carver expresses fault in her diary entry, it is a reference to how kidnapping victims frequently blame themselves for their strife in the beginning stages of their captivity.
* When the Cogs attack Alice and Bradley with paper, producers envisioned the paper attacks seen in the Lawbot CJ battle, during which lawyers throw paper at the scale and the Toons.