Old Version of Resisting Business (Up for archiving and reading)

Chapter 7: Some Facts May As Well Be Lies

WARNING: A wild cameo will appear during this chapter. Be on the lookout!

Star's POV

I sank down into a seat in the office, looking down at the floor. Doctor Surlee walked up to his desk and sifted through a pile of papers, taking one packet out and handing it to me. I glanced at the contents as I flipped through it.

"Thank goodness none of them come in here. There is so much information in here that they don't know, it may as well be a treasure trove!"

I continued to flip through the pages and a bolded line of text caught my eye.

"Surlee, who is this?"

He walked over and looked at the paper, the bolded text reading,

Flippy Assumes Position of Toon Council President After Disappearance of Slappy During Election Results Announcement Ceremony

"Ah, that is Slappy. He disappeared in the face of the cogs due to some... What did that cog call it? Oh, it called it Positive Reinforcement."

Positive Reinforcement. My mind flashed back to the shop and the Yesman that tried to do the same to me.

"I was almost attacked by a Yesman that mentioned using that..."

"My stars! Thankfully you made it out OK. Bubba, who was in there with her?"

"Me and the shopkeeper. I honestly wasn't sure if we were gonna make it out. Every gag we used was a danger to Star. Plus it seemed that the cog was going directly for her."

Surlee looked up towards the ceiling and sighed, taking out a pen and then handing it to me. He then launched himself into a recollection of the events of the elections. I was in awe and shock through the entire re-telling. So many toons risked, and lost, their lives defending the playground to keep it cog free. To think that the only gag they had handy at the time was pies...

"So, as you can see, we're still trying to locate Slappy. Well, not us directly. The resistance keeps sending out toons to investigate but always come back, heavily damaged. The rebels stopped sending toons out to the cog HQ's after... Squeak and Yazzy."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Bubba shudder at the mention of their names. I got up from the chair I was sitting in and offered it to him. He shook his head and looked forward, fighting off tears.

"Star? Do you already know about them?"

I looked over towards Surlee and nodded, then glanced back over at Bubba and saw a tear fall off his face and onto the floor.

"Do I need to give you two a minute?"

"That would be great, thanks."

"Anything for a fellow rebel member, Bubba."

He opened the door and walked out, quietly closing it behind him.

"Star... I'm so sorry about Doctor Surlee showing up when he did. I-"

"It's OK. You couldn't control it."

"I guess. Now, back to what we were discussing in the hall..."

"Go right ah-"

The door then abruptly opened, revealing a tall, sea green rabbit.

"Bubs, Mega sent me to get you and... Uh, who is that?"

"Uh, I'm Lucky Star. You can call me Star if you'd like..."

"Nice to meet you Star. I'm Captain Twinklepoof, but you can call me Singer."

"Why Singer?"

"Because I love to SINGGG! That and listen to music. It's pretty much my entire life besides working with the rebels."

We all walked out of the office and went towards the conference room, with Bubba going back into the main room to hack into the memos.

"Hey Star. I noticed how he was looking at you. Is there anything going on between you two?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I think that if he wants to bring it up, he will."

We both walked down the hall and ended up in front of the conference room, with someone standing in front of the door.

"Excuse me sir, but we kinda have to get in there."

The toon stared forward, ignoring what I said. Singer walked up to the toon and I followed her.

"Hey, Smirky. Mind moving?"

"Oh, not at all. Sorry, Singer."

"It's alright. Besides, doesn't Oldman need to meet with you?"

"I totally forgot! Thanks for reminding me!"

Smirky ran off and hastily bumped into the pig from earlier, making him drop the stacks of paper he was holding.

"I am so sorry. Please help me out, Singer?"

"Yeah Zepeta."

Singer went over to him and helped pick up the papers. Someone opened the door and I felt a brisk gust blow through the building. A piece of paper blew towards my foot and I picked it up, glancing at it for a moment. I folded it up and put it in my pocket before anyone noticed that I had it. Zepeta then ran off with the stack of papers, minus one. Singer walked up to me and then escorted me into the conference room, where Megasnoop was standing with a pitiful look plastered onto his face.

"Is everything OK?"

He ignored what she said and went to sit in a chair, looking at a piece of paper and tearing up. I walked over to him and sat in a chair next to him, turning around for a second to see that Singer had left the room. He looked up at me and sighed, refocusing his attention on the paper.

"Megasnoop, what happened?"

"They got her... The cogs they, they got her."

I took out the piece of paper in my pocket and unfolded it to see a picture of a purple duck with him. He looked at the picture and he started to cry softly.

"Lanna... How come I cou-couldn't protect you..."

He broke down crying and I put a paw on his shoulder. I couldn't believe how much turmoil is happening around me with all these toons being toon-napped by the cogs. I felt a want for justice overwhelm me and I stood up, looking down at Mega.

"I swear, I will find Lanna and bring her back to you."

He looked up at me and smiled through his depression.

"Thank you. But..."

He turned away from me and sighed, then looked back to me.

"You have no gags and only fifteen laff. You'll need to do some intense training before you go to a cog HQ. It's way too dangerous for you to go alone. I suggest training in ToonTown Central and working your way up to where your friends are."

I nodded and went to go and grab some jellybeans off the floor when Mega stopped me.

"Listen, I'm sorry for how I acted towards your group earlier. Prov explained how the resistance blackmailed me and now I realize the error of my actions. Maybe you could talk to Alphinore for me?"

I shook my head no.

"I think that you should talk to him about it. You gotta fix your own mistakes y'know?"

He smiled and then walked out of the room, leaving me alone. I looked up at the monitor to see an incoming video message from Flippy. I accepted the call to see him sitting at his desk, looking flustered and stressed beyond belief.

"Listen, I don't have much time. The cogs, they've started capturing low toons. Put all of ToonTown on high alert IMMEDIATLY."

END OF TRANSMISSION