Aurora

**"Aurora"** is the first and premiere episode of *Revolution* and the 76th episode overall.

The episode was published on January 30, 2022.

In the episode, the heirs to the defunct thrones of Cartonia voyage north to their ancestral homeland while the foxes of Vulpus swiftly conquer Toontown.

## Previously On

As with Contact and War, a previously on segment was published as part of the premiere's release in order to bridge the gap between Contact and Revolution, especially given the extensive distance of time between them. The music used is "Wolsey's Suicide" from *The Tudors*.

## Appendix

Above is a map of the Cartonian continent around the time the story begins. All area south of the Vixen Mountainrange is not a part of Vulpine maps as the conquest of Toontown is still new.

## The Episode

—*The Imperial Conqueror*—

—The Eastern Ocean—

—March 22, 1051—

-Present Day-

Eileen Irenic gripped the railing on the bow of *The Imperial Conqueror* as the ship sliced through the choppy waters of the Eastern Ocean. Above them, the swirling clouds of Hurricane Haven were dissipating against the black midnight sky. A ship of BioFreaks was leading the Vulpus Armada, its occupants forced under duress to part the seas. Eileen felt ill, and not just from the turbulent seas. BioFreaks were like slaves to the foxes of Vulpus. What fate awaited the Toons in Cartonia?

The ships were sailing north, hugging the coasts of the Cartonian continent. There were seven in total, but none larger than the mammoth *Imperial Conqueror*. The Vixen Queen herself, styled in her mother’s crown, was on board. Vella Vixen, her name was. Eileen had previously known her as Blair Fawkes, before she shed that alias and revealed her true colors.

Everything had happened so quickly back in Toontown. Just last night, Eileen and her good friend Constance Miller were congratulating each other on finally ridding their home of the diabolical robot Cogs. At long last, they were free again. A series of celebratory dinner cruises were planned, to be staffed and served by the six Cartonian refugees who had earned Toon trust over the winter months. Then, the ship exploded with 200 on board. The Cartonians were not refugees. They were plants. Once the Cogs were defeated, the coast was clear, and the foxes were invited in.

Toontown was invaded by land and sea. The Vixen Queen herself stepped off this very boat and declared Toontown a colony of the Vulpus Empire. Vella had murdered her mother in cold blood and taken the crown for herself. Then, she had revealed her master plan: to steal the heirs to Cartonia’s defunct thrones and placate a rebellion in the kingdoms of the north.

Eileen had been absolutely shocked to learn that Toontown was settled by the royal dynasties of Cartonia. Seven descendants lived on as their heirs. Heirs to thrones, heirs to a dynasty, heirs to a legacy. All seven were taken by the foxes, and Eileen was selected to accompany them.

Though she was grateful to be away from Toontown as it fell to the foxes, Eileen was heartbroken for those left behind. Constance, once the Mayor, was just appointed Colonial Governor, but her rule would be in tandem with an unfriendly fox named Hans Einfach. If he was as vile as Vella Vixen and her cronies—Tick Hunter and Rook James—then Toontown was as good as dead.

Eileen’s family was already dead, lost to the Cogs. Her life had meaning in the fight against the Cogs. She would continue to devote herself to the good of Toontown, but with the town falling to pieces, what use was there now?

The journey north to Cartonia would take several days, especially given the slow speed the ships had to take as they charted through Hurricane Haven. Until Cartonia had recently figured out how to create water-controlling BioFreaks, Toontown was protected by the Haven. Nobody had known they were there. For over 320 years, Toontown was safely hidden. Until Dr. Adam Molecule—the diabolical Creator of the Cogs—submitted an online application to the University of Cervidium and the foxes detected the signal.

Eileen was angry. More than sad and worried. She was furious with the dead. Dr. Molecule had ruined Toontown all by himself. Had he never existed, there would have been no Cogs, no Cartonian refugees, no Vixen Queens. None of them would have infiltrated Toontown. Her family would still be alive. Her children would be growing up. Her husband would still have his shop. And Eileen would not be aboard a Vulpine battleship returning to her ancestral homeland, going back to a place that her ancestors had fled three hundred years ago. She hadn’t thought about them much, but given the new information she had about Toontown’s founding, she assumed they must have been aides or allies to the Willonian monarch. According to a letter written by the first Mayor, Maximilian Walters, that monarch would have been called Daisy.

“Eileen!”

She turned. Eleven of the fourteen Toons on this voyage were on the port side of the ship, watching the darkened coast roll by. The Kinnar Mountains that ringed the northern boundary of Toontown were barely visible. The other two Toons were striding toward her. Piggy Pie and Doctor.

“I have half a mind to jump overboard,” Eileen remarked. Neither laughed.

“Cale Metfin is alive,” Piggy Pie said at once. “She’s on this ship.”

Eileen’s eyes widened. Her paws curled into fists.

“That *bastard!* Where is she? Let’s throw her to the hurricanes!”

Cale Metfin was one of the six Cartonians who came to Toontown and pretended to be a poor, helpless refugee. Her true colors were revealed when the *Chipper* exploded in the Bay of Toontown. Cale was a murderer.

“She says we’re all going to be killed when we get to Cartonia. On public television.”

Eileen scowled.

“Of course we are. And she’s taunting us about it?”

“No, no!” Piggy said, though Eileen could hear apprehension in her tone. “She…says she’s part of a resistance called…what was it?”

“The Free,” Doctor said. “She said the Free can save us from the trap Blair—er, Vella—is sending us into. She said that her sister, Jerockle, and herself were not aware of the plan to blow up the ship.”

“She’s hiding at the back of the boat,” Piggy added. “She called to us from the shadows. She wants to come to your cabin tomorrow night and tell you the whole story.”

Eileen scoffed.

“Oh, sure. Let’s hear her come up with yet another story! Remember her television interview? All of that, everything she said, were *lies!* She is not to be trusted.”

Doctor and Piggy glanced at each other.

“What?” Eileen demanded.

“That’s what she told us,” Doctor muttered. “We just have to trust her.”

Eileen shook her head.

“Fat chance. Piggy, she killed your brother.”

Piggy Pie’s cheeks blushed. She stared down at the deck. Eileen shouldn’t have said anything. The wounds were so fresh. Hog Pie was one of the passengers on the *Chipper* last night.

“I think we should listen to her. Hear her out…” Piggy Pie mumbled. Eileen shook her head.

“No. We bring her to Blair.” She scowled. “I mean Vella. We turn her into Vella. If she’s happy to see Cale, then we’ll know they are complicit. If she is shocked Cale is alive, *then* I’d like to hear her out.”

“Vella will kill her!” Doctor pointed out. Eileen shrugged nonchalantly.

“So be it.”

Piggy was persistent, however, and wore Eileen down.

“Fine. *Fine*. I’ll hear her out!” Eileen surrendered. “But I won’t be alone.”

Piggy raised her trotter.

“I’ll be there.”

—March 23, 1051—

—The Next Morning—

Mata Hairy found Henry Yorcaster alone after breakfast. The Toons had been well taken care of for their first meal aboard *The Imperial Conqueror*. A wall-to-wall royal buffet had been set up in the opulent dining room. Vella Vixen sat on a red velvet throne with her cronies at a gilded table. The Toons all sat together and ate rather quietly. When Mata would bend her head over her plate, she kept one eye out.

Observation would be critical to understand and assess the new environment. This ship and their final destination was and would be unlike anything Mata had ever experienced. She must remain focused, or else she may die. The newly-crowned Vixen Queen could not be trusted. She murdered her own mother in cold blood, in front of hundreds. She slaughtered 200 innocent Toons just to send a message. She was evil incarnate.

Mata considered herself fortunate to be on board, even if it was her floating coffin sailing toward her final resting place. This was an enthralling adventure! No Toon had ever gone to Cartonia, nor had anyone ever forded the perilous Eastern Ocean. Mata had been chosen as the guest of Dr. Hyla Sensitive, alleged heir to the mouse Kingdom of Willie.

She was far from royal herself. Mata was an outlier in Toontown, a misfit. Her fur was neon orange, and her face was heavy with piercings. She wore all black ensembles that shifted between skin-tight and loose drapery. She had spent her childhood suffering in unending dance lessons which left her with, among other things, perfect posture and unparalleled elegance.

But Mata’s history was dark and cloudy, very much an unsolvable enigma to her cohorts in the Toon Resistance. Eileen Irenic, for one, was always trying to crack her code. Mata preferred to keep parts of herself hidden, such as the darkest period in her life when she was so desperate for money that she resorted to prostitution. As far as she knew, she was Toontown’s only ever prostitute.

To this day, she was asked by Eileen, by Mayor Constance Miller, by so many, who her clients were. Who, in a town steeped in morality, would deign fall to this lascivious low?

“Hello, Henry,” Mata said, sidling up beside him. He was sitting on a bench gazing across the water. He jumped when he saw her.

“Go away.”

“You never told me you were married.”

Henry Yorcaster flushed red. He avoided Mata’s stare.

“*Go away*.”

Mata sat beside him. She hadn’t seen him in years, since their last tryst. Maybe eight years ago? But he was here with his wife, Katherine Becker, heir to Mallardia, and their daughter, Mary. Young Mary was eighteen. The math was easy enough to prove that Henry had been married when he had his affair with Mata. A paid affair, no less.

“You should have told me you were married.”

“Oh, *please!*” Henry snapped. “There was nothing moral about what we did. So don’t go judging me! You’re just as awful.”

“Have you told Katherine?”

“Are you kidding!”

Mata patted his knee.

“You shouldn’t keep secrets from your wife, dear. Now, you’ve put me in an awkward situation because I am trying to turn my life around. I think you need to confess to your wife, or I’ll be forced to do so for you.”

Henry nearly erupted with anger.

“Have you *lost your mind?!*” he seethed. “My wife has just been named as the heir to the goddamn Kingdom of Mallardia. We are on a ship crawling with foxes heading north to the worst place either of us can imagine. And you want me to take away her sense of stability and happiness *now*?”

Mata blinked. He had a point. Nonetheless, the truth had to come about eventually.

“Sorry, Henry. Tell your wife, or I will.”

—Colony of Toontown—

Two days ago, the sun set over Toontown as an independent civilization in its moment of triumph. Today, the sun rose over a conquered town already subjugated to its new overlords. Toontown was now a colony of the Vulpus, and Mayor Constance Miller had been “promoted” to be its Colonial Governor.

Constance wasn’t sure which group had the worse fate—the heirs and their guests heading north toward Cartonia, or the Toons left behind in a town already unrecognizable.

Everything had happened so quickly over the past 48 hours, from the explosion of the *Chipper* to the subsequent invasion of Toontown. The arrival of the Vixen Queen, and her immediate murder. The declaration of Toontown as colonial property of the Vulpus Empire and Constance’s own ascension to the Colonial Governorship.

There was one person who went with the foxes to Cartonia whose absence was already felt so deeply. Eileen. Constance felt bereft without her. Ever since the Cogs and the Exodus, Eileen and Constance had been a unit. Eileen as Mayor, Constance as Chief of the Toon Patrol. Once Eileen stepped down as Mayor, Constance succeeded her but the two continued to lead in tandem. Eileen was gone now, and Constance was unsure if she’d see her again. She’d have to surge on alone.

Constance opened the door to Dr. Artery’s clinic and headed inside. Fox soldiers were marching up and down the streets, taking stock of their new territory. For now, they were letting the Toons wander unencumbered but transporting was strictly prohibited. Anyone entering or exiting a transport hole would be shot on the spot. No one was willing to risk that.

Abe Artery was in the middle of a surgery, amputating the lower leg of Horace Calves. Constance stopped dead when she saw Dr. Artery removing one of Horace’s defining features. The horse had been injured during the fox invasion. His girlfriend, Tori Dorrance, was holding his hand.

There were others here too, all injured. The shades had been drawn, and Dr. Artery had removed the medical cross from outside so that the foxes would not disturb his aid.

“Constance!” Tori cried, catching sight of the Mayor. “Is it all true? There are heirs to Cartonia in Toontown?”

“And have they really gone north?” a patient squealed.

“Is Eileen gone?”

“And Slate?”

“And Blair Fawkes…is the Vixen Queen?”

Constance tried her best to answer as many questions as she could. Information was critical now, and false rumors were dangerous.

“I heard Eileen say she was the heir to Willie,” a mouse with one eye said. “She said that to Blair Fawkes!”

“Her name is Vella Vixen,” Constance said with anger, cursing the fox a thousand times. She was the linchpin for Toontown’s coming perdition. “And no, Eileen was covering for another. Hyla Sensitive is the true heir to Willie. Eileen has, however, gone north.”

Constance gently rubbed Dr. Artery’s shoulder.

“Thank you for what you’re doing, Abe. Keep them safe.”

The kind doctor smiled.

“Don’t give up, Mayor Miller. We are mightier than they know.”

—Pie Estate, Dreamland—

Constance paused at the gate to the estate. The foxes had not ventured this far yet. They were too busy doing a census of all the streets and buildings, but soon they’d head out to the private estates ringing the town and loot the bucolic homes.

She looked down at her paw, where the note from Piggy Pie lay folded. This was the last of her stops, the last family. Fourteen Toons had gone north to Cartonia, and none had a chance to say goodbye. Delivering news of the disappearance of a loved one was tough, but this was going to be the hardest without a doubt.

Two houses on this estate lay empty.

Constance knocked on the doors until she finally found Piggy Pie’s four brothers. Muddy Pie answered the door. His eyes were puffy.

“Oh,” he said, “Madam Mayor. Have you seen Piggy? We can’t find her.”

Constance exhaled.

“May I come in?”

All four brothers were sitting in the living room. Muddy was the eldest, and his younger brothers Potbelly, Truffle, and Hamlet regarded Constance with similar curiosity. Their half-brother, Hog, had just perished in the *Chipper* disaster.

“There’s something I have to tell you about your half-sister,” Constance began, dreading the coming words. “She’s…actually the heir to the Kingdom of Porcinia.”

The four stared, then Truffle said,

“Confirmed?”

Constance lowered her eyebrows and nodded.

“Wow,” Potbelly mumbled. “I wasn’t sure I believed her.”

“Oh, you *knew*?” Constance gasped.

Hamlet shrugged.

“She told us yesterday. That crazy fox told her. What’s her real name? Bella?”

“Vella.”

Muddy stepped up to Constance.

“But have you seen her? Piggy? She hasn’t come home, and there’s foxes out there! I know she’s tougher than all of us, but these are *foxes*…”

Constance held out the note.

“Piggy has been taken by Vella to Cartonia. She is going willingly, and she has Doctor with her. They want her to help quell a rebellion in Porcinia, and then she can come home after a year. The heirs were not allowed to say goodbye, so she wrote you a note.”

Truffle whimpered, and Potbelly moaned.

“What?” Muddy said, almost inaudibly. “She’s gone?”

“To…Cartonia?” Potbelly gasped. “No!”

Muddy took the note and read it over. Tears sprung to his eyes. The paper passed around the room, each brother’s face growing heavier.

“Madam Mayor,” Muddy whispered, “if you don’t mind I think my brothers and I need some time alone. Now we must mourn two members of our family.”

Constance opened her mouth to offer words of comfort, but Muddy cut her off.

“She’s as good as dead. We’ll never see her again.”

—*The Imperial Conqueror*—

—That Night—

Piggy Pie helped herself to a cheese plate as Eileen Irenic paced the cabin nervously. They were waiting for Cale Metfin.

“Do people really live like this?” Piggy asked, taking in the luxuriousness of the cabin. “Not even Vidalia VaVoom has a room like this in her house.”

Eileen didn’t answer, too busy mulling over questions for Cale. Piggy was grateful Eileen did not turn Cale in to Vella. Everyone thought Cale had died in the *Chipper* explosion along with her sister, Evelyn. But Cale had lived, and escaped Toon captivity. Sweet, meek Cale. Was that part of the act too?

There was a knock at the veranda door. Eileen and Piggy spun around to see Cale through the glass. Piggy unlocked the door and Cale entered. She was still wearing the same outfit from two nights ago. She must not have a change of clothes. Then again, neither did Piggy. The foxes provided her with strange Cartonian clothes, which she reluctantly wore.

“Sit there,” Eileen commanded, pointing at the couch by the fireplace. “Hitch up your skirt.”

Cale stared.

“W-what?”

“Do as I say.”

Cale reluctantly sat and lifted her skirt over her thighs. Eileen took her place on the couch opposite Cale. She reached for the fireplace and removed a smoldering poker. Its edge was red-hot.

“I’m going to ask you some questions, Cale,” Eileen said. “If you lie to me, I shove this against your legs.”

Cale’s eyes went wide.

“Eileen! Please! I’m on your side!”

“I don’t believe you,” Eileen sneered. “As far as I know, you’re a murderer. You, Vella, Tick, Rook, Jerockle, and Evelyn plotted to explode the *Chipper* from the moment you arrived in our town. You always planned to get close to us, to manipulate us, to earn our trust, and then betray us to the foxes at the first opportunity.”

Cale was terrified. Her eyes wandered from the poker to center on Eileen.

“What are your questions?” she murmured.

“Are you and Evelyn actually sisters?” Eileen asked first. Cale nodded.

“Were both of you part of the plot to blow up the *Chipper*?”

“*No!*”

Eileen moved the poker forward.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not!”

Cale wriggled further back on the couch. She never broke eye contact with Eileen.

“Please, let me tell the whole story. Let me tell you about my sister and I, about the Free, about how I became a BioFreak and came to Toontown. I’ll tell you everything. I will not to lie to you. I *need* you. We need each other.”

When Eileen didn’t protest, Cale began.

“Evelyn and I were born in a small commune on the Western Ocean, where Mallardia used to be. What Evelyn shared during our TV interview with Declan Antlin is mostly true. Because we were captives of Vella, we didn’t need to alter our story. The truth was believable enough.”

Eileen thrust the poker, nearly grazing Cale’s leg.

“In your interview, in all of your interactions in Toontown, you were the meekest, quietest, weakest little sniveling creature. Now you’re climbing on battleships and raising a torch in rebellion against the Vixen Queen. Who *are* you?”

Cale closed her eyes.

“Eileen, I’m trying my best to be brave. I am shy. I am scared, and I am timid. I don’t have courage but right now I absolutely must. I have seen unspeakable evil, and that evil is going home. Evelyn isn’t here anymore to help me. I have to help myself.”

Eileen and Piggy didn’t say anything else, so Cale continued.

“Evelyn worked as an electrical engineer for the Empire. I manufactured weapons for the army. Evelyn married her boyfriend, Desmond. We all called him Des. The three of us shared a cottage in the commune. We worked for the Empire, but the seaport was controlled by Scuridian chipmunks. They were fair to us. I knew we were crushed under Vulpine rule, but my life wasn’t bad in comparison to others. So Evelyn and I were silent. But Des got involved with the Free.”

“The what?” Piggy interjected.

“The resistance,” Cale said with a meaningful look at Eileen, the leader of the Toon Resistance. “The resistance to fox rule. It is all over the continent. It may be decentralized, but we are united.”

“Why are you called the Free?” Eileen asked. “You are anything but.”

Cale giggled.

“Exactly. We named ourselves what we want to become. We want to be free, so we are the Free.”

“And Des,” Eileen mused, “got you involved in the Free?”

“He did. It started with meetings, but then we were organizing events out of our cottage. We even participated in an attack on the seaport. About a year ago, Des was tasked with beaming a signal to the south. To you.”

Piggy shivered.

“You…knew about Toontown?”

Cale laughed.

“No! No, we had no clue if there was anything past the Vixen Mountainrange. But we all knew Hamish’s story. It is the cornerstone of our beliefs.”

Eileen and Piggy glanced at each other.

“You’ve lost us,” Eileen sighed. “Who is Hamish?”

“What story?”

“Hamish McRory,” Cale went on, “was the valet of King Bentley II of Canis. Right before he died, he promised that the heirs to Cartonia, who had fled to the south during the War, would return and save us all.”

Cale explained with unfettered excitement how every child heard this tale and came to believe in a secret commune of royal heirs amassing the resources and weaponry necessary to return to Cartonia and take back their thrones.

“But for over 300 years there was no one. No heirs, no one from the south. Even as the Vixen Queens colonized the Expanse, they couldn’t find any trace of the heirs. Some of us began to believe everyone had died in the destruction of the Vulpus Dam. But not Des. Not Des nor Evelyn. We went to Cervidium, to a remote mountaintop where the Free was covertly building a signal tower. We wanted to beam a signal as far south as we could. The signal would be a cry for help, something a monarch couldn’t ignore.”

Cale sighed heavily.

“But the signal activated prematurely. The deer detected it. The three of us were arrested, Des admitted to being the mastermind and was executed. Evelyn and I begged for mercy, and so the Doe ordered we become BioFreaks for our crimes.”

“Become?” Piggy Pie gasped. “You mean…converted on purpose?”

“I thought BioFreaks were side effects of other experiments…” Eileen agreed.

The darkness in Cale’s face said otherwise.

“Things have changed. They can create whatever BioFreak they desire. The Doe chose the water experiment for us, so that we’d have the ability to control water.”

As she spoke, her flippers began to drip. Her eyes glazed over as she recounted her trauma.

“This was a death sentence, you see. No one had ever survived the water experiments before. No one. Until us. Evelyn went first, and lived. I went second. We are the first water BioFreaks in Cartonia.”

Piggy knew that Vulpus now possessed an entire manifest of BioFreaks that could bend water.

“Why don’t you use your water powers to fight the foxes?” Piggy asked. “Why isn’t that whole ship of BioFreaks rebelling?”

It was a distressing question for Cale, who fidgeted.

“BioFreaks are bonded, so to speak. We cannot use our powers against those who created us, usually on a species basis. Most experiments are conducted jointly between foxes and deer so that both species will be protected. We can still use our powers against them, but at great personal harm. I…”

Cale rolled up her sleeve and pulled down the neckline of her shirt. From her wrist to her collarbone, her veins were blue and waterlogged. Her arm looked as if it had been submerged in water for years. She pressed on her skin and it wobbled like a water balloon.

“I used my power in Toontown to break free. I killed a fox, and this is my punishment.”

Eileen and Piggy were wide-eyed.

“Is there a cure?” Piggy asked quietly. Cale shook her head. She rolled down her sleeve and resumed her story.

“As Evelyn and I recovered from our surgeries and mourned Des, your town was detected beyond our maps.”

“We know about that,” Eileen scowled. “Adam Molecule’s application was picked up and traced beyond the Unforgiving Mountains. So you were sent south.”

“Under duress,” Cale asserted. “Evelyn and I were recruited for the mission because we could control Hurricane Haven. We could calm the storms, but only enough for one small ship to get through. We weren’t part of the planning, but I learned later that the Vixen Queen recruited her daughter to lead the expedition. That’s Vella. It was an exploratory mission, aimed to discover what type of settlement existed beyond the edge of the map. Most likely a commune settled by a group of nomads with significant technological skill, hence the internet capability. But also…it could be the home of the heirs that fled Cartonia after the War. The expedition’s participants were chosen with care for a multitude of situations. Only six of us were selected. Vella, the leader. Tick, the muscle. Rook, the manipulator. Evelyn and I, the BioFreaks. And Jerockle, the researcher to find the heirs.”

The story somewhat matched the one Vella told Eileen and Constance before they left Toontown. Eileen had shared the details of that conversation with Piggy already.

“Evelyn, Jerockle, and I were against the Vixen Queen and Vulpus. Evelyn and I were still part of the Free, but we knew our lives were in danger. We had to go along with the plan to survive. But moreover, we believed in finding the heirs. We believed in Hamish’s story! We could find the heirs and bring them back to serve the Free.”

Eileen held up the poker. Its end had faded from orange to grey. It wasn’t as hot now.

“You make Hamish sound like some sort of hero.”

The duck put a flipper over her heart.

“Oh, he’s faith. He *is* a hero. He traveled across Cartonia after the War telling us about the heirs. He’s the reason the Free exists!”

Her face fell. “His story is also the reason why the Vixen Queen was adamant on finding the heirs in the first place. The Free has grown in size and power. We are close to launching a revolution against the Empire. The Vixen Queen feared that the prospect of royal heirs existing beyond Vulpus was going to give too much hope to the rebels. When the signal was detected in the south, she immediately assumed the heirs had survived after all. Vella and the Queen concocted a plan to bring the heirs back to Cartonia and kill them publicly. This would leave us without hope. Three centuries of believing in Hamish’s promise that the heirs would save us…gone.”

Cale’s face turned forlorn for a moment, but then she regained composure.

“It’s important you understand that everything you’ve been told by Vella and the others is a lie. The Cartonia we described to you in Toontown…that’s not the truth. Vella, Tick, and Rook have manipulated you to trick you into coming north so that you can be executed. Evelyn and I lied to you to allow that manipulation to occur. Because we in the Free want you as well. We’ve dreamt of the heirs for so long. We believe you can save us!”

Eileen groaned. Piggy cocked an eyebrow.

“What are we supposed to do?” Eileen asked with frustration. “We’re completely at your mercy.”

“No,” Cale insisted. “Once we arrive in Vulpus, I will communicate to the Free that I have the heirs. No one knows you’re coming, not even the ones loyal to the Vixen Queen. Your arrival will be a complete surprise to all. But if I can warn the Free in advance, we can spring you before the executions and use you to garner support for the revolution.”

“But…” Eileen frowned. “Vella told us the Free specifically asked for us! You’re saying they don’t know we’re coming?”

“They lied to you. I told you; everything she’s told you is a lie. Listen…”

She leaned forward. “I do not mean to hurt any of you. All fourteen of you *will* live if you trust me and let me contact the Free. You must carry on as if we haven’t spoken. *Do not* tell Vella I’m alive! I alone can save you from this. Once the revolution is done, and you’ve delivered us, we will return you to Toontown and protect your sovereignty. You can retreat back into isolation, and the new Free government will respect that. I’ll make that promise to you.”

Eileen crossed her arms. Piggy almost laughed at the look of doubt on her face.

“Seriously, Cale? Who are you to make such promises? You haven’t bothered to address your role in the *Chipper* disaster. I haven’t quite forgiven you for that!”

It was a lot to go over, in fairness. If she were to be believed, she was unraveling all the stories the Toons had been told thus far and setting the record straight.

“Evelyn, Jerockle, and I did *NOT* know about the plan to blow up the *Chipper*. We were told that after the dinner cruises, we’d make a plea to return the heirs north and…oh what does it matter? They meant to kill us. We were expendable. They knew the Armada was coming with new BioFreaks. Evelyn and I had fulfilled our role.”

Cale got down on her knees.

“I am begging you to forgive us. We had to deceive you, for the good of the Free! We had to keep up the act, even after the Cogs were destroyed, until we could deliver you to Cartonia. We knew we would have to do evil to have the chance of gaining your trust and saving our homeland. But as time went on, my moral conscience began to deteriorate. The lies were killing me. Even though you had imprisoned me for months, I knew you were all good people. I hated it. I wanted to scream, to let you know the truth—“

“Then why didn’t you?” Eileen spat. “We could have killed Vella, Tick, and Rook. It wasn’t off the table.”

Cale shook her head.

“Vella’s Whisper Chip was tied to a heartbeat monitor in Vulpus. If she died, they would have sent reinforcements and obliterated Toontown.”

Eileen rolled her eyes.

“How?”

Cale went silent. She remained on her knees. Then, quietly, she mumbled,

“They have a terrible weapon…”

Eileen sighed.

“Okay, come on, get up. So you say you had nothing to do with the attack?”

“Nothing at all. I was just serving dinner. Piggy was there! She remembers. We were acting normally!”

Piggy frowned, not wanting to relive the last night of her brother’s life. Nonetheless, she said,

“You *all* were acting normally. Even Vella, Tick, and Rook.”

“I am innocent! I swear to you! I want to get revenge on Vella. She killed my sister. She has taken everything from me. For five months, I’ve been her slave. Her *accomplice*. I hate her! Together, we can avenge our loved ones. I lay the truth before you. That is my story.”

She outstretched her wings, as if Eileen and Piggy were expected to throw forgiveness at her. Eileen flapped upward with her paw, coaxing her off her knees. She slunk back onto the couch.

“What do you think?” Eileen said, and Piggy realized it was directed toward her.

“Oh. Uh. She seems…genuine.”

“Hmph!” snorted Eileen. “Sure she does. Just as she seemed genuine in Toontown, though now she admits all of that was a lie! There was a time you couldn’t even *speak* for yourself. And now? I don’t know. I don’t buy it.”

Cale’s eyes flashed.

“What choice do you have, Eileen Irenic? Trust me and be saved. Trust Vella and be executed. The Free can save you. *I* can save you!”

Piggy nudged Eileen.

“She has a point…”

“I know…”

Eileen mulled it over, finally putting the fire poker back into the fireplace.

“*Fine*. Get us off this ship in Vulpus. I certainly trust any other species that’s not a fox. I’m putting my trust in you, Cale. You better not fucking betray us again.”

“I won’t!” Cale pledged, tears falling to her cheeks. “Thank you! I won’t let you down. The Free will save you! I promise!”

“Yeah yeah,” Eileen said dismissively. “So what should we expect when we get to Cartonia?”

Their new ally thought for a moment.

“I’ll need to disembark first. It might take me a day or two to organize something, but Vella won’t have you killed right away. She’ll want you to feel safe. We can get you out of the Rook of Vulpus. We’ve done it before. I’m sure it’ll be scary, but you will step foot on Vulpine soil. Right in the capital.”

Eileen didn’t seem thrilled by the plan. Piggy certainly wasn’t. What if Vella did decide to kill them right away? What then?

“Is the path to the Rook of Vulpus safe? Is the river lined with Free rebels waiting to blow us up?”

Cale laughed at that.

“No. The only thing that you’ll have to worry about before you get to the capital is the Aurora.”

“The what?” said Piggy Pie.

“The Aurora. Cervidium’s gruesome nuclear experiments from over the centuries have produced so much radiation it has permanently contaminated the sky. It’s coalesced over the mouth of the First Vista River. You won’t miss it, but I warn you it can be distressing. Many have reported disturbing hallucinations.”

Eileen scoffed.

“Nothing is more disturbing than the nightmare I’m currently living.”

—Toontown—

—The Next Day—

Constance Miller could only watch as Toontown fell apart. Toontown Central, the heart of her home, was in pandemonium. Toons were in lines, registering with foxes as citizens of the Vulpus Empire. They were issued identification cards, their pictures taken. Mandatory curfews were to begin enforcement tonight, and so everyone must register today.

The gag shops had been overrun in every neighborhood. All the gags were confiscated, and the buildings converted into strategic outposts for Vulpine command. The Toon Headquarters faced similar fates.

Toon flags were stripped from the flagpoles. The colorful striped banner of Toontown was replaced with the black and red emblem of Vulpus. As Constance stood before Toon Hall, her new Vulpus Empire identification card burning a hole in her pocket, she could almost cry seeing such a symbol flying over the seat of government.

Four foxes were on ladders, knocking the letters “Toon Hall” off the building. They clattered to the pavement. Constance steeled her courage and walked around the work zone into Toon Hall. She had been summoned by Hans Einfach, the Commandant of the Colony of Toontown.

She froze in the entryway. The foyer was bare. All the Mayoral portraits had been removed. In their place, above the reception desk, was an enormous painting of a fox. The spiky crown atop her head clued Constance to the identity of this figure of reverence. This was a Vixen Queen.

“Queen Vixen VII,” Hans Einfach called from the other side of the foyer. He was wearing the same grey uniform as ever. His lapels were embroidered with scarlet, a single pin silhouetted of a fox tacked on the collar. “The Queen of Vulpine victory. She led us through the War.”

Constance couldn’t pull her eyes away. For her entire life, she had conjured images of what the original Vixen Queen had looked like. Was she an ugly monster, warped on the outside from the corrosion in her soul? Was she tall? Short? Mighty? Brawny?

She was beautiful. The portrait may have been embellished, but the effect was irrefutable. She stood at the window clutching a sword in one hand, a globe in the other. Beyond the window, Vulpine troops were destroying the Granite Bloc. Despite the crown on her head, a second crown lay at her feet. Hans caught her staring.

“The Harmony Crown,” he explained. “She abolished it so that Vulpus could ascend to its rightful place above the nations.”

Constance did not reply. Hans slid his arm through hers, a gesture she resented, and led her away from the portrait.

“I want to show you something. Come along.”

As they left the foyer, armed soldiers flanked around them. Hans pretended as if they weren’t there. Constance sized each of them up. If Hans meant to kill her now, she’d have no chance of escape.

He pushed open the door to the basement and nearly dragged Constance down the steps. They emerged in a room familiar to her: the laboratory. This was where Dr. Cumulo Nimbus and Professor Pete Ingalls developed the Emergency Portal. It was also where the transport gird was housed. And that was where Hans was heading.

“What are you doing?” Constance asked, stopping dead in her tracks. Hans continued on without her, retrieving his arm with graceful elegance. The soldiers came up behind her and pinned her arms back.

“Hey!” she yelped. Hans broke the lock on the cages surrounding the transport grid’s machine.

“Hammer,” he shouted. A soldier rushed forward with a heavy mallet.

“What! Hey, stop!”

Hans took the sledgehammer to the machine, sending sparks flying.

“HANS!” Constance shrieked. The transport grid was central to the Toon way of life. It was how they got around town!

He did not stop, not until the machine had been completely destroyed. Beyond repair. He dropped the mallet, and then the soldiers released Constance.

“Let me make this clear to you, Governor,” Hans sneered in her direction. “There will be no Toon advantage over us. You will no longer be able to transport.”

The transport grid was basically their fail-safe. Without it, they stood no chance of escaping skirmishes with the foxes as they had with the Cogs. If Pete or another engineer could attempt to fix the grid, they probably could, but Hans wasn’t going to let anyone get close enough.

“As for your final advantage,” Hans continued, surprising Constance, “hand over the BioFreaks.”

Constance raised an eyebrow.

“Huh?”

“The *BioFreaks*, Constant!”

“Constance.”

“Where are they?”

Constance sighed in irritation.

“The only one we have is Slate Oldman, and he’s gone with your Queen.”

Hans grabbed her face, tilting her head back. His claws pinched her cheeks.

“You’re lying! Evelyn Quin told the Vixen Queen that one other exists in this town. Who is it?!”

Of course, Constance knew. It was Drema Yawn, the somber cat with the ability to induce sleep. She was plagued with insomnia, and had passed her affliction on to her daughter. The two lived in Dreamland, and were as far as Constance knew the last two BioFreaks in Toontown. She was not going to tell Hans that. *She* was the final advantage the Toons had. The last card they had to play.

“I am unaware of another.”

Hans’s face contorted in anger. He let go of Constance’s face, reeled his paw back, and struck her.

—*The Imperial Conqueror—*

*—*That Night—

Slate Oldman was an expert at keeping his snow powers under control. He had concealed his affliction for most of his life, only openly living as a BioFreak once the Cogs caused a climate shift over his home of the Brrrgh. The Cartonians knew he was a BioFreak; would they spare him upon arrival in Vulpus? Or would he be killed immediately? He wasn’t sure how they’d react to him.

He considered using his powers to help the Toons now, but what good could he do? Freeze the ship? Ice the Vixen Queen? And then what? The ship was crawling with foxes. The ship itself was being trailed by a slew of other smaller boats also packed with foxes. No he’d keep his powers under wraps…unless his life or the life of another Toon depended on them.

“Look at the lights,” young Mary Yorcaster whispered beside him. Half the Toons were standing at the side of the ship as they did most night, watching the coast roll by. They had passed the Unforgiving Mountains and were now gazing at the once-barren wastelands of the Expanse. However, as Mary pointed out, there were lights all over the landscape. Communities. Towns. Cities, maybe. The Expanse was colonized.

“Everything illuminated is my kingdom,” a voice said behind them. Slate didn’t need to turn to see who: the Vixen Queen.

Vella Vixen came up beside them, squeezing herself between Mary and Slate. Her crown had been wiped of her mother’s blood. She smiled at the coast.

“Vulpus has conquered all of the territory between the Vixen Cliffs and the Vixen Mountainrange.”

No one responded. Mata Hairy spat off the side of the ship. Vella kept smiling. “And now we have Toontown as well.”

Cornelia Caligari, heir to Equine Isle, spun around to face the Queen.

“Why do you have to have everything? Why couldn’t you leave us be?”

Vella angled her head.

“Because, sweet Cornelia,” she teased, “it is what was prophesied.”

Slate scoffed.

“All of this is because of a prophecy?”

Vella pursed her lips, visibly annoyed.

“The foxes will rule Cartonia, from the Pinnacle Ice Sheet to the Bay of Toontown. It will be!”

—Glamor Grove, Toontown—

—The Next Day—

Vidalia VaVoom opened the alley door and ushered Constance Miller into her home. She raised a hoof to her lips. Constance nodded and the two women snuck down a set of stairs into the wine cellar. Almost all of the wine had been confiscated by the foxes for the army. Most of Vidalia’s home was ransacked. She lived in the largest house in Toontown, and Commandant Hans Einfach was eyeing it for his personal abode. He had moved in upstairs, but Vidalia and her staff were still permitted to reside there, for now.

“So,” Constance scowled, taking in the empty shelves, “the Commandant has made himself comfortable hasn’t he?”

“It’s only a matter of time before I’m evicted,” Vidalia sighed. I’ll be fine. It’s my staff I’m concerned about. They’ll be retained as servants to the Commandant. It’ll be hell.”

Constance didn’t argue with that.

“Well?” she said instead, changing the subject to the purpose of their clandestine meeting. “Have you found her?”

“I haven’t,” Vidalia admitted. “Cale Metfin is nowhere to be found.”

Constance balled her paws into fists. She was furious, and for good reason. Cale Metfin, one of the Cartonian traitors, had survived the *Chipper* disaster. She was one of two people pulled from the water after the boat exploded. And now she was gone. Constance had her tied up in the gag shop on the Docks, but after *The Imperial Conqueror* set sail, Cale was found missing.

“She must have been freed by the foxes and taken on board their ships. She was one of their conspirators!”

“But her own sister was killed in the attack. She may have been betrayed as well.”

“Nonsense!” Constance snarled. “All of them would have gladly died for Blair Fawkes. They worshipped her! And now she’s the goddamn *Queen*.”

“You think she’s still in town?”

“No…I don’t know where she is. But if she *is* here, I want her to face justice.”

Vidalia sighed.

“There is no justice here now. The foxes will see to that. We are at their mercy.”

Constance’s face relaxed. She nodded.

“You’re right…this is fruitless. We need to forget Cale and focus on the foxes. We need a new resistance.”

Vidalia’s ears perked up. A Toon Resistance to the foxes this time. They did it before. The Resistance successfully drove the Cogs out of Toontown. If they were strategic, they could do the same with the foxes.

“A new resistance,” Vidalia repeated. “I’ll spread the word.”

—*The Imperial Conqueror*—

—The Next Day—

Piggy Pie hurried up on deck. Doctor and Eileen had just informed her that Vulpus was approaching. After five days, Cartonia proper was almost in view. Piggy emerged on the starboard side overlooking the ocean. She hastened around the boat deck to the opposite side, but none of the Toons were there. She found them at the bow, clustered together. All fourteen were gazing westward in the sunset toward an unmistakeable natural wall jutting out of the land.

Sheer rock faces divided the Expanse, heading far across the continent beyond the horizon.

“The Vixen Cliffs,” Slate identified. There was no denying it. The Cliffs were described in detail in the Diary of War. The Vulpus Dam was not visible, too far from here to be seen. But Piggy knew from what the foxes aboard said that the Dam was reconstructed. It was stronger than ever, and none would comment on how long it took to rebuild or even why it was destroyed in the first place.

Of course, the Toons knew the answer to that. The Dam was obliterated so that the first Toons could escape on the flood and leave the War behind.

Once they were past the Vixen Cliffs, the nation of Vulpus looming over them, the ships began to veer closer to the rocky shores. The land sloped down over time, but very little was visible once the sun fully set. The Toons did not move from their spot at the front of the ship. This was their first glimpse of Cartonia, the first Toons to see it in 320 years.

“This doesn’t feel real,” Hyla Sensitive whispered. “This can’t be Vulpus.”

Piggy Pie shrank back at the lights glimmering so close. Foxes, real foxes. Sure, she had been surrounded by foxes these last few days, but somehow a Vulpine fox in actual Vulpus was scarier.

Behind them, on the bridge, Vella Vixen was standing beside the ship’s captain. She was watching the Toons below.

*The Imperial Conqueror* was ahead of the other ships, leading the charge home. Piggy imagined Vella and her army were thrilled to see Vulpus again. Meanwhile, the Toons were petrified. Not one positive word about Vulpus was written in the Diary of War. They had no reason to believe anything other than horror and misery awaited them in the capital of the Vulpus Empire.

“There it is,” Mata Hairy remarked. Ahead was an opening in the crags. An inlet. The way in. Piggy had heard one of the foxes call it the Gilded Gate. It was the entryway to the Vulpine civilization.

“What’s that?” Doctor asked, pointing. Piggy Pie squinted in the darkness. Something blue or green was blinking near the inlet. A lighthouse of some sort?

“It’s like embers of a fire,” Eileen said. “But…green?”

“That’s blue,” commented Katherine Becker, heir to Mallardia.

“I see purple,” Mata said.

The colors got closer, and suddenly Eileen gasped.

“The Aurora! Cale said there was radiation or something near the First Vista River. She said people pass through and hallucinate.”

Piggy closed her eyes and blinked away what she had seen. But when she opened her eyes, the blue and green lights were still there.

The ship’s bow angled toward the opening of the inlet. The deck lurched beneath them. The mouth of the First Vista River was soon open before them, and Piggy Pie held her breath. This was the gateway to Cartonia, the passage to Vulpus.

The green and blue flickers of the Aurora danced around the edges of the inlet. Piggy remembered what Cale had said about the spiritual qualities of the Aurora, the impossible visions experienced by those who sailed through it at night. She didn’t quite believe it, but it seemed such a bizarre thing to make up.

The Toons gripped the railing of the bow as *The Imperial Conqueror* cut into the inlet. Instantly, Piggy’s ears began to ring. A soft melody was barely audible, but not from anywhere around her. Just hanging in the air, like little bugs singing. Piggy glanced at Doctor, whose eyes were scrunched. Eileen was looking around. Did they hear it too?

Before she could ask, the blue and green lights burst around her, cascading into the sky. Piggy stumbled backward from the railing and gasped upward. The Aurora was materializing in a spectacular phantasmagoria of colors and shapes, looping and swirling like a rhythmic hurricane. Spinning around wildly, Piggy saw that the Aurora was everywhere, as far as the horizon, and she couldn’t hear anything other than her breathing and the tiny symphony in her head.

*The Imperial Conqueror* fully entered the inlet, and now the melody grew louder. Piggy tried to look at the faces of the Cartonians on the bridge, those that would have experienced this before, but they seemed bored or disinterested. Was this festival of lights invisible to them? Vella herself was nonchalantly chatting with the captain, oblivious.

Something turned yellow overhead, and Piggy craned her neck to watch a hail of sparkling stars fall in a luminescent dome around the inlet. Everything was taking shape. The swirling colors metamorphosed  into figures. Piggy saw eyes, heads, ears, bodies, Toons. No, not Toons. Their faces were heavier, worn. Cartonians. She spun around, smiling instinctively and marveling at the display. The other Toons were doing the same, entranced by what they saw. Hundreds of Cartonian faces lit up the sky, so lifelike they could have been genuine giants.

Then, Piggy recognized a face. An elderly dog with serious eyebrows and determined eyes. Drooping ears, chiseled cheeks. The same face hanging in portraiture at Toon Hall.

*Maximilian Walters*. The first Mayor of Toontown.

She pointed, and the others followed her gaze.

“Max,” Eileen breathed.

“Look! That’s Minerva Taylor!”

A serene mouse was smiling from the south.

“Card Tatum!”

The last elephant in Toontown.

There was another, and another.

“It’s them…” Mata Hairy whispered in recognition.

“The founders,” Doctor exclaimed.

There were all there. All five hundred of them, gazing down at their descendants. Piggy Pie began to cry, though she never stopped smiling. These weren’t ghosts. Piggy felt that they were alive, that they were here, standing above them, guiding them safely into the jaws of the fox empire. They were not alone. They were never alone. They had been gifted the luxury of freedom centuries ago when their ancestors risked their lives to escape the War. Everything that Piggy Pie had been raised into was directly because of the faces above.

A pig holding a book broke rank in the sky, and the other spirits turned to look at her. She was looking directly at Piggy Pie. The book she held was made of maroon leather.

The Diary of War.

It was Lana Loudoun, a young woman with tired eyes. The diary was tucked under her right arm. With her left, she extended her trotter. Piggy’s breath caught in her throat.

“*Come, sweetheart*,” she sang. “*You’re almost home*.”

Piggy lifted her trotter, openly crying now, but as she felt closer to Lana Loudoun, the dome shattered and the peaceful night sky replaced the pageant of the Aurora.

She wiped away her tears, smiling. The others were in similar states of reflection.

All except one. All except Slate. He didn’t look awed or inspired. His eyebrows were drawn over his eyes, and he was gripping the railing with whitened knuckles. Flurries danced around his fingers. He must have noticed he was being watched, for he looked up and met Piggy’s eyes.

He looked terrified. Instantly, he whirled and stalked off, head down. She glanced up at the sky.

What had he seen in the Aurora?

—Toontown Central, Toontown—

—That Night—

Kilo Byte’s infant triplets fell ill rapidly. It was alarming how their fevers rose with such speed. Worse, their illness came at night, after curfew. Kilo phoned Dr. Tom Foolery, pleading for help. He had expected verbal instructions, but Dr. Foolery said he’d break curfew and sneak over.

Kilo raced to the door when he heard a knock. Dr. Foolery slipped inside. The blue cat shrugged off his coat.

“Where are the kids?”

“In the nursery.”

Tom inspected them, and administered a salve to each of their foreheads.

“They’re going to be okay, Kilo. It’s just a post-natal fever. It’s common in young mice.”

Kilo rubbed his eyes in exhaustion.

“Hyla would have known that. She wouldn’t have panicked.”

Tom frowned.

“I’m sure she’s okay. She’s tough. She won’t let the foxes hurt her.”

Kilo didn’t reply. He wished he had the same belief, but his imagination conjured the worst nightmares for what could be happening to Hyla.

“Thank you for coming here,” Kilo said to Tom. “You could have been caught.”

Tom shrugged.

“I have always been willing to risk my life for another Toon. I hope when the time comes that others are prepared to do the same.”

—The Vale of Vulpus—

—Vista, Vulpus—

—The Next Morning—

At long last, the Toons reached the capital of Vulpus. Vista, the heart of the Empire. Bradley Wolfe was familiar with the location of the capital from the Diary of War’s map of Cartonia. As he stepped onto the gangplank sloping down from *The Imperial Conqueror* toward the harbor, he felt as if he was stepping into history. Stepping back into time. And stepping toward a doom he didn’t quite know.

The Vale of Vulpus was an ornate castle spanning the First Vista River like a bridge. Bradley recognized that too from the Diary of War. This was where the Harmony Holiday Gala in 707 was to be held, until it was interrupted by the assassination of Crown Princess Victoria Vixen. She died here in the capital, and the War began soon thereafter.

Bradley gaped at the seemingly endless skyline of Vista. Ultramodern architecture dotted the streets amidst the original structures. And there on a hill, across the city, was the Rook of Vulpus. It was as intimidating as the Diary Pig described. Black shingles framed the tower’s roofs. Small windows blocked out the sunlight. Crows circled the tallest point.

Something whizzed by Bradley on the right. He jumped as what looked like a rocket shot across the city on an elevated track. It snaked through the streets with reckless abandon. What was that?

Alice reached out for his paw, but Bradley swatted it away. They shouldn’t be seen holding paws. Interspecies marriages were certainly not tolerated up here. As the impetus for the War, it could put Alice and Bradley in danger.

The fourteen Toons were gathered together on the harbor. Beyond the gates of the customs house, flashing cameras indicated the presence of news crews. Of course, to see their new Queen.

But where was the Free? Bradley craned his neck to look around. Eileen and Piggy had said that the Free was allegedly supposed to save them once they disembarked.

“LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!” someone shouted from *The Imperial Conqueror*. The cameras stopped flashing for a moment as everyone bowed before Vella Vixen. She marched down the gangplank with a smarmy smile plastered on her face. She was reveling in her newfound sovereignty.

“Take the heirs and the guests to the Rook of Vulpus,” she commanded to Tick Hunter and Rook James, who snapped at several dockhands. The Vixen Queen herself got into a stretch limousine waiting near the customs house. The camera flashing resumed.

“Where are they?” Bradley heard Piggy Pie mutter.

“*She lied*,” Eileen sneered.

Tick and Rook led the Toons to a separate set of limousines. As they got closer, Bradley saw there was no driver. The vehicles were fully automated. Toontown used to have cars and automobiles but they fell into obsoletion after the transport network went live.

“HEY!” one of the photographers shouted through the locked gate. They were dozens of them, scrambling over one another for a shot. “Where are you all coming from?”

“Who are you?” someone else yelled. “Do you speak Cartonian?”

Bradley stared at Alice. Did they not know they were the royal heirs?

“Get in the cars,” Rook commanded. There was no point in delaying. The Free was not coming. Bradley did as he was told.

—

Alice Carver found the Rook of Vulpus freezing. It was an old, drafty castle. While there was splendor in all the rooms, from the enormous atrium to the upper corridors where the Toons were to be housed, there was also darkness. Shadows lurked in every corner. An air of foreboding followed Alice as she climbed the stairs.

The Caligaris and the Beckers were placed in the same room, but Alice and Bradley were separated. Rook James said it was for “decency.” Nonetheless, they were only across the hall from one another.

“Don’t worry,” Bradley said as he inspected his own bedroom. “It’s just for a few nights.”

“Is it?” Alice whispered in a hushed voice. “We haven’t been given any sort of itinerary. Maybe that’s because there isn’t one, and we die tonight. The Free never showed up.”

“Cale did say it may take a day or two,” Bradley pointed out.

Eileen and Piggy had presented Cale Metfin’s counter-plan as spurious at best. And yet Alice chose to believe it. She wanted to believe that somebody could put distance between the Toons and Vella.

Then again, Alice worried what rebellious intervention would have on Toontown. Their actions up here could affect those left behind. Alice was determined not to let any misfortune befall Toontown on her behalf.

For that reason, she did not protest the room assignment.

—

The Toons were instructed to wear their clothes from home, not the robes and elevated raiment the foxes had provided them with on *The Imperial Conqueror*. After dinner, the Toons would partake in a press conference announcing their presence and inheritance to all of Cartonia.

Mata changed into her skin-tight black and purple leather suit. It felt good to be in it again, though she had appreciated the spacious muumuus in her naval wardrobe.

The Toons were escorted as a group downstairs to the royal dining room of the Rook of Vulpus. It was a cavernous space, lit by an idiosyncratically small chandelier. A roaring fireplace added the only shred of warmth, for Vella’s chilling aura sucked all the happiness out of the place. The Toons entered from the top of a staircase descending into the chamber. Vella Vixen was already seated at the center of the table. Rook James and Tick Hunter were to one side, along with other foxes in military uniforms. To her right were many female foxes. Half wore tiaras. Her family. The Vixens.

Mata was at the front of the line for the Toons, and sat directly across from Vella. The other Toons filled in the other chairs. The table was set with real crystal china and gold utensils. The napkins were silk.

Everything moved in suspended time. Mata was looking around, taking it all in. She had always dreamed of seeing a place like this, something so refined and luxurious that your breath is struggling to keep up. She had visited Vidalia VaVoom at Glamor Grove, but that was nothing compared to this. This was *regal*.

And horrible. Vella Vixen did not deserve any of this. All of this was bought with the blood of thousands.

Mata wondered what had transpired in this room all those years ago during the War. Had this been the infamous war chamber of Vulpus? Had Queen Vixen VII dined at this table as she plotted the downfall of Gallix, of Felexa, of the Granite Bloc? What about the other heroes in the story? Bentley Connelly and Victoria Vixen? Had this been the room where they met?

“Welcome to the Rook of Vulpus,” Vella announced, drowning Mata’s thoughts. She raised a glass of bubbling red liquid. “To your Queen.”

The Toons reluctantly raised their glasses. Mata was the last to cave, and only because Vella was glaring at her and she didn’t want to die over a glass. After Vella downed her beverage, she rang a bell in front of her plate. Servants immediately emerged from the various doors surrounding the dining room, carrying large platters of food. The smell was overwhelming in the best way possible. Mata’s stomach immediately roared with hunger.

Surprisingly, all the servants were foxes. She had expected decrepit Galligasque chickens to suffer through service. Instead, cheerful foxes ladened happy helpings of food onto her plate.

“Allow me to introduce my guests,” Vella said, and Mata immediately snapped her head up to take notes. But Vella was talking to the other foxes, and went down the table naming each Toon.

“Cornelia Caligari and her husband, Ulysses. Cornelia is the heir to Equine Isle. Mickey Elias, one of the former Mayors of Toontown. Bradley Wolfe, heir to Canis. Alice Carver, heir to Simeone. Piggy Pie, heir to Porcinia. Doctor Smith. Mata Hairy. Eileen Irenic, another former Mayor. Katherine Becker, heir to Mallardia, and her husband Henry and daughter Mary. Slate Oldman, heir to Leprolia. And Hyla Sensitive, heir to Willie.”

The foxes were whispering throughout the introductions. They seemed disgusted by them.

“And who are you?” Mata demanded a little too forcefully. Vella’s eyes narrowed.

“This,” she said gesturing to the grey fox directly next to her, “is my dresser and friend, Jewellia. And these are my sisters, Vyzanna, Varinna, and Vestia. Then my Aunt Vhaska, and her daughters Vhulma and Vholly.”

Mata’s head swam with the V names. She hoped none of them were important to remember. The one sister, Vyzanna, looked downright pissed off about something. She wouldn’t even look at her sister. Trouble in paradise for the new Queen? Maybe her siblings didn’t approve of their sister lopping off their mother’s head.

“You must consider yourself so fortunate,” the dresser, Jewellia, said to Mata as she shoved strange fruits into her mouth. “You’ve been rescued from your savagery.”

Mata stared the girl up and down. She was probably only fifteen or sixteen. Vella wasn’t all that much older, but Jewellia’s immaturity was plain. Not to mention her brainwashed perspective. Savagery?

“We come from a civilized community,” Mata retorted. “We are not savages.”

Jewellia looked shocked.

“Anyone outside the realm of the great Vixen Queen must be a savage. You are uneducated, uncultured, unaccustomed to the proper way of life.”

“Yeah?” Mata said, licking her knife. “What way of life is that?”

“Unbridled devotion to her Majesty!”

Mata folder her arms and cocked her head.

“Were you so devoted to the last Vixen Queen?”

The table fell silent. Vella Vixen’s eyes bulged. Jewellia gasped audibly. Mata feigned horror.

“Oh, dear! I’ve said something upsetting. I hope you can educate me on where I misspoke.”

“No mind,” Vyzanna Vixen droned with a wry grin. “We all make errors. Let us enjoy our dinner.”

The tension diffused only slightly, Mata resumed her meal. Jewellia did not say anything else to her. Good thing, too. Mata already despised her. More than most of the people she’d met thus far.

Over the best desserts Mata had ever eaten in her life, Eileen asked Vella about the night’s press conference.

“It’ll only be about an hour. I know you’re all tired, but time is of the essence. The revolutionaries must be quelled.”

“Will it be here?” Alice Carver asked.

“If you mean the Rook, then no,” Vella replied. “We’re going outside the city.”

“Why?” Mickey Elias asked. There was a hint of fear in his voice.

“Change of itinerary. You won’t be spending the next few nights here. After the conference, you will each board trains and travel to your respective provinces. Hyla, Eileen, and Mickey to the area formerly known as Willie, *et cetera*. There’s no point for you all to hang around here. There are…greater threats.”

Mata understood her to mean that the Free were close. Closer than they had anticipated. The Toons had to be moved or else they’d be rescued. Mata wondered if the Free gaining on Vista were of Cale’s calling, or another group entirely. If they were close, then every second counted.

Mata took her time polishing off her plate, and stalled as the Toons headed to the carriage house. But it bought minutes only, and soon Mata found herself with the thirteen others in a limousine spiriting them out of the Rook, and out of Vista.

—

Another convoy. This morning it was ships. Now it was limos. Eileen was exhausted, but alert. Cale had warned them of imminent execution. Eileen had expected all fourteen to be shot or worse at the Rook, but Vella didn’t want blood in her house. So she was instead sending them outside the city to be massacred.

Vella was making it seem like moving them was necessary for their safety, but Eileen knew it was a lie. This was the last drive of her life unless the Toons figured a way out of it.

But Tick Hunter and Rook James were in the limo with them, armed with guns.

The drive was long, and eventually the civilizations died away in favor of rustic plains. Eileen’s mind was afire with scenarios and strategies. How could they escape? How could they overpower Tick and Rook? If all fourteen bum-rushed them, would they succeed?

Then what? Head south for the Dam? Could they escape the same way their ancestors had?

“Yefoxerinburg?” Mickey Elias said aloud, reading a passing road sign. “Doesn’t that name sound familiar to anyone?”

“It’s an old industrial town,” Tick said in a bored tone. “It’s where all the railroads connect.”

Eileen was curious about that. Wouldn’t the best place for all the railroads to converge be Vista? Why would anyone want to drive over an hour to catch a train?

The limo stopped on a quiet suburban street. There were camera crews outside the tinted windows. All foxes. Eileen felt Piggy Pie grab her paw. She squeezed back.

Where was Cale and her backup? Had they been outrun?

But of course. Cale was a traitor all along. It only made sense. It was all part of Vella’s plan to make them feel safe.

The limo doors opened, and the Toons were ferried out. The street was devoid of populace, just the camera crews and fox soldiers. They were at a house surrounded on all sides by a tall stucco wall. An iron-wrought gate in the center was open, leading up a walk to the two-story square house. Its windows were painted black.

“Is that…a gift shop?” Mary Yorcaster remarked. She was staring at a marquee that had mostly been covered up. “…esign Visitor Center” followed the redacted words. Operating hours were on a sandwich board, and there was a large poster for guided tours.

“What is this place?” Eileen asked Tick and Rook. They exchanged glances.

“It’s a popular tourist attraction in south Vulpus. The Vixen Queen wanted the press conference to be at a well-known landmark.”

Eileen had a terrible feeling about this place. Why were the windows painted black? It had eerie spirits hovering about. There was a plaque on the stucco wall next to the gate, but that too had been covered. She peeled back the curtain.

“The House of Intended Design,” she read before Rook’s scaly hand clamped down on hers. He replaced the covering.

“What does ‘Intended Design’ mean?” Mata asked.

“The House is merely a monument to Vulpine success and conquest. Go inside.”

Eileen wanted to protest, but the soldiers were already ushering them forward. She was walking to her death. She knew it. Something horrible happened in this house, and they would meet a similar fate.

Tick led them into the House’s hall. Stanchions were blocking off various places off-limits to tourists. The informational placards and audio tour markers had been removed or covered. Hastily, in some places.

“This way,” Tick said. He pushed open the basement door and pointed. “Down there.”

Eileen’s heart hammered.

“Why?” she asked. Tick looked annoyed.

“Does it look like we can fit all of you into a press conference up here? The biggest rooms are in the cellar.”

There was no escape. They could fight, but would die anyway. Eileen couldn’t think properly, she was so scared. She descended the stairs into the cold cellar.

Dozens of photographers were down there, setting up microphones at a table with seven chairs. One for each heir. A nameplate was in front of the microphones, with the names and kingdoms of the heirs.

Tick headed to the front of the group and pointed at the chairs.

“Heirs, sit there. Guests, come with me. You’ll wait off-camera.”

“No,” Mary Yorcaster pleaded. “I want to stay with my mom!”

Tick growled.

“You’ll see her when the press conference is over! Now, get out of frame!”

Eileen, as a guest, followed the other six into a room across the hall. In the guests’ room, a television was set up to show the press conference occurring in the other room. All seven heirs were getting seated. Not one face was brave. Piggy Pie was on the verge of tears, while Hyla was openly so.

“What the hell’s the matter with them?” a fox asked, gesturing at the screens. “Someone die?”

“They’re scared!” Henry Yorcaster argued. “You’ve separated us from them!”

The fox clucked his tongue.

“Listen. I’ve directed hundreds of these things before. Family always gets in the way. Just sit tight. Great Vixen, it’s just a press conference.”

He paused, taking them in. “You’re really from beyond the Empire?”

“Yes,” Eileen answered.

“And they’re actually the royal heirs?”

“Yes,” Mickey said.

The director raised his eyebrows.

“Blind me.”

Once the cameras were ready, the lights switched on. Each of the heirs was dabbed by a hair and makeup person. It was like watching a broadcast of Declan Antlin’s show in Toontown, but worse. So much worse. Eileen couldn’t help but feel this was all a farce.

The director raised his paw to his earpiece and listened for a moment, then checked his watch.

“Alright team,” he announced into his microphone hooked to his headset. “We are live in 1 minute. Your Majesty, are you in position?”

“I am,” a voice said over an intercom. It was Vella. Her face appeared on screen. She was back at the Rook of Vulpus, presumably on one of the balconies.

“In 10 seconds, you’re live.”

“Thank you, director.”

A red light blinked on, and Vella began to speak to the nation.

“Good evening, Vulpus. Good evening, Cartonia. Good evening to the provinces, to the cities, to the colonies of the Expanse. I am pleased to be addressing you for the first time as Vixen Queen, Empress of Vulpus. For these last months of the new year, I have been leading an expedition beyond the natural borders of Cartonia. We have discovered a civilization more advanced and sophisticated than any of the savage colonies we have acquired in the centuries since the end of the Great War of Vulpine Conquest. This civilization is called Toontown, and has been annexed into the Vulpus Empire. The inhabitants of this community, called Toons, are of great importance. They are the living descendants of the former monarchies of the Granite Bloc alliance. Their ancestors murdered Queen Vixen VII and destroyed the Vulpus Dam in a deliberate act of terrorism. They hid away for centuries, until we discovered their secret location. And now I present to you the heirs to the defunct thrones of Mallardia, Willie, Porcinia, Equine Isle, Leprolia, Simeone, and Canis.”

The camera snapped to the seven heirs, sitting petrified behind the table. The camera panned from one to the other, and each heir was instructed to state their name.

“Katherine Becker.”

“Piggy Pie.”

“Hyla Sensitive.”

“C-Cornelia Caligari.”

“Slate Oldman.”

“Alice Carver.”

“Bradley Wolfe.”

The director left the room with his assistant, leaving the guests alone. On camera, the heirs were looking frantic. Slate suddenly jumped up. Eileen gaped. What was happening in the other room? She ran for the door, but it was locked.

Vella’s voice came back.

“These heirs are a threat to Vulpus and the institution of our Empire. They wish to incite a revolution, or join the foolish rebels who threaten to undo our conquest. I speak now to the Free. Here they are! Here are your precious heirs, the ones you’ve dreamt of! The ones promised to you by sweet, dear, dead Bentley Connelly. I have them, and I sentence them to death.”

“NO!” Eileen wailed. She threw her body against the door, but it did not budge. On the cameras, the seven heirs were now scrambling for the exit, and as the cameras pulled back Eileen saw the photographers had left the room. All seven were alone, as were the guests.

Something opened above her. Eileen looked up, and screamed.

White gas was flooding the room.

“Death to the Free!” Vella shouted. “Long live the Vixen Queen!”

Eileen covered her mouth and shrank to the floor. She scurried away from the gas, but there was so much of it. Mickey Elias and Henry Yorcaster were trying to break down the door using chairs, but it held. They too collapsed.

Eileen’s throat closed up, and she gasped for breath. The edges of her vision darkened, and soon she was blind. Oblivion came for her and she could not resist.

As Eileen Irenic died, one thought was crystal clear:

*Fuck you, Cale Metfin*.

## Production

### Continuity and Story Arcs

Chronologically, this episode takes places directly after the season 3 finale, “Into the Fire.”

The story of Hamish McRory continues to survive in the modern day.

Cale Metfin largely recaps the events of “Wistful Oceans” and the third season from the perspective of the Cartonians.

Queen Vixen VII appears in a portrait in Toontown.

Hans Einfach destroyed the transport grid, eliminating the Toons’ primary mode of transportation.

Vella Vixen states “the foxes will rule Cartonia, from the Pinnacle Ice Sheet to the Bay of Toontown,” an amended quote from one of the Edicts published during the War, seen in “The Good Must Associate" and "Edicts of War."

Maximilian Walters, Minerva Taylor, Card Tatum, and Lana Loudoun all make special guest appearances as figures in the Aurora.

The Vale of Vulpus was last seen in the 2018 Christmas Special, “Silent Night.”

The House of Intended Design returned, last seen in “Lest We Forget” when the Mus Royal Family was slaughtered. In the modern day, it is a tourist attraction.

## Trivia

* The title of this episode refers to the eponymous Aurora in the sky near the entrance to the First Vista River.
	+ Other working titles for the premiere included "They Came From the South," "Homeward Bound," and "Intended Design."
* With Dr. Artery’s appearance in this episode, he is the only character to appear in a guest capacity in all four Toontown-centered seasons of Storytime.
* Hans Einfach’s surname means “simple” in German.
* The scene with the Aurora was the first of *Revolution* to be written.
* Yefoxerinburg is based on Yekaterinburg, Russia, where the Romanov Imperial Family was executed in 1918.
* This is the first episode to introduce the setting of modern-day Cartonia.
* At 12,300 words, this is the eighth-longest episode overall and the second-longest season premiere.