Willow [Toontown Fanfiction]

1. The Meeting

Toontown Central (I called it "the Central" this chapter) - The first of the six main areas in the game where all beginners start out; the most centrally located playground in all of Toontown.

Skelecog (skeleton Cog) - The framework for a suited Cog where its wires and parts are exposed.

Lord Lowden Clear - Toontown's Toon Resistance leader; he's a bright red dog who was featured in the Toon Resistance part of Toontown Online's "Toon News... for the Amused!"

~~~~~~~~~~

The meeting was called on a Friday morning. The new mayor of Toontown, the blue dog, Flippy Doggenbottom, came into the room. He appeared to be scanning the surroundings for someone or something before he took his seat on the stage platform. The mayor was usually present at our afternoon meetings, which were also on Friday.

However, today was different.

I could feel a sense of unease in the room. The meet was announced over the intercom by an Officer at 700 hours (or 7:00 AM for those who do not know military time). It was to be held at 800 hours. It was 7:57 AM in the morning already.

I sat up in my chair as straight as I could, flopping my hair feathers the way I wanted them. The tan Resistance vest was too bulky for me and made me look larger than I was. I suppose that was a good thing. It fit Rosie, my bunk buddy, perfectly however. Her and I were both short ducks. She was red, and I was burgundy. She had a wide figure, I was extremely skinny. We both had large beaks that stuck out far enough to get in the way when we wanted to do things up close.

It was our everyday Duck struggles.

Rosie sat beside me at the three meetings we have had since coming here. We quickly became good friends in these two weeks.

"ATTENTION!!!" called Lord Lowden Clear. He was a large red dog that had an over-sized head. He didn't look a lot like the mayor even though they were the same species. His voice was very loud and very clear. It was impossible not to hear the man, and that's what made any news he shared all the more terrifying - even if it wasn't supposed to be intimidating.

"Toons of the Academy: I know you all have been studying the movements of our enemies over the past two weeks! I applaud you in your successful endeavors, regardless of your lack of new information! You have all been very brave in sticking with us through this tough time!" Lowden took a deep breath before continuing his speech. "Today, we unfortunately have some terrible news which has been revealed to us by your very own classmates' watch from last night!"

I could feel the room's mood evolve from fear to paranoia. I sensed Rosie grabbing for my chair as she tried to brace herself. I reached out for her hand, hoping to calm her nerves. It sure wasn't calming mine, but it seemed to make her less scared.

Lord Lowden had pulled out a remote to control the projector screen. He open a presentation file which had information about yesterday's watch and included pictures that were taken by the scouts-in-training. "These photos were taken at 2100 hours (9:00 PM) last night! That cheap piece of metal right there!?" he pointed to an area on the screen where a dark blue and old burgundy colored object was positioned. It's colors contrasted with the brightly colored street shops of red and green and yellow. "This is a robot Cog! That is one of the nasty things you've been studying for the past two weeks! Now - that being said, this is a problem!" Lowden shifted his screen to a close up on one of the pictures. "This blue-headed thing was roaming around in Toontown Central in the dark of night! Why!? Well, we have no idea! Perhaps it thinks it's safe to move during the night!"

I suddenly flashback to the night I was trapped in the basement, and I grasped Rosie's hand a bit tighter in reaction.

"We don't know if these things are planning another attack as they conducted 5 years ago, or if they are simply too stupid to find their way back home!" A hesitant laughter rose up from the crowd.

"Home" meant the Cogs' main headquarters, which at that moment, had not been discovered by any Toon as far as we knew. Some have called the HQ "Cog Nation," where the Cogs are created from scratch and distributed across our world. The Cogs have been hiding out for, what we believe, about ten years. We don't know who created them, or where they came from, but we have suspected they have a leader. Who knows how many of those pieces of cheap metal are out there?

"Now, one more interesting piece of info you guys need to know: this Cog is different from the others that were discovered in the attack! This thing is not just up and walking, but as you have seen, it is also in a "suit" of sorts! We don't know the coverings purpose! However, upon studying the remains of our resident specimens, we've discovered the anatomy of the bots are very similar , if not, the same!" Lord Lowden set the photos from the labs on the screen with the fresh photo to show us the comparison. The lab photos contained picture of skeletal Cogs, where there were networked joints and wires. The new photo seemed to show that the frame was hidden away from the outside by encasing the bot with personality-defining pieces of colored (dully, mind you) metal sheets. Maybe it was to make dismembering them harder.

"Now, our wonderful mayor has a few important business ordeals to take care of at this meeting today! Please welcome Mayor Flippy Doggenbottom!" Lord Lowden stepped down from the podium and shook hands with the mayor, who was making his way to the center of the stage.

"Good day, Resistance! You are apart of a very special mission to study our secretive enemies and figure out their motives. You all are soldiers going into a very uncertain battle for our wacky town. Protecting the fun has been our driving force! I congratulate all of you for all for the work you have done to make sure we are all protected here in Toontown." The mayor seemed a bit nervous, perhaps he did not want to mess up his first time speaking with the Resistance. Or maybe, he had some life-changing news he was preparing himself to say.

I had hoped it wasn't the latter.

"However, today, I'm afraid I must share some precautionary information that is in the best interest of all of our citizens, soldiers and non-soldiers alike. I am very sorry with how this is going to affect your lives, and the lives of your families, but this is only to protect all of us as we go through this difficult time."

Flippy took a deep breath. "As of today, I had passed an executive order that requires that all Toons not enlisted in the Resistance to remain outside the boundaries of Toontown. This is only until we have enough guards to ensure everyone's safety. Secondly, we are requiring all Toons not enlisted to remain in homes outside our boundaries for the entire length of the war against the Cogs."

He made it sound as though we were going to be in hand-to-hand combat with the things.

"As you may have already guessed, from this day forth, any Cog found on the streets of Toontown must be taken down and given to lab scientists, whom of which will become our leading scientists in this fight." Some in the crowd gasped lightly. "We need to stop these menaces before they get out of hand. This is only for the protection of our entire town. Again, I am very sorry. Thank you for your understanding."

"MEETING ADJOURNED!!!" Lord Lowden Clear called.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome to my new Fanfiction! I do hope you're enjoying the story so far! If you did not read the Author's note page and the prologue, I would highly encourage you to do so as it sets up the entirety of the story-line and had other important information that will help you for the remainder of the book. The training period where the characters learn the basics of battle will be in the next chapter. Thank you for reading and, as they say in Toontown, "Stay Tooned!"