Chapter 6

     The pie flew through the air, going right for one of the Cog’s faces… but it dodged out of the way!

     “Well… oops. That was a bit anticlimactic,” I said with a laugh, unfazed. I was still full of ecstatic joy and throwing the pie only made those feelings stronger. With renewed energy, I pulled out another pie (well, technically, it materialized in my hand) and tried again, and this time it connected.

“Yes!” I cried in triumph. Unfortunately, and of course, it didn’t go down right away.  The Cogs came closer, and I threw another pie. Behind me I heard a pie connect to a Cog’s face as Jenny threw some, too. I took another step back as the Cogs got closer, and so did Jenny, causing our backs to touch. We both threw a pie and one of the Cogs went down. I laughed as I realized that Jenny and I were literally fighting back to back.

“Brace yourselves! They’re sending in the Movers and Shakers!” Dr. Surlee cried.

“The what?!” Jenny and I cried in unison, momentarily stopping the pie throwing. I heard a loud BAM BAM sound coming from somewhere near the Trolley and the ground shook a little, causing me to stumble. I couldn’t see what was causing it, because there were so many Cogs around me now. What I did see, though, was those floating white orbs with blue hats and camera lenses for eyes flying around the playground, focusing on the Toons fighting the Cogs. When did that start happening? Then I remembered what Dr. Surlee said. Oh, snap. Were they recording and broadcasting everything? None of them were pointing at me, and I was glad. I wouldn’t want anyone to see me in this embarrassing predicament, stumbling around like an idiot. BAM BAM. The ground shook, and I stumbled. Darned Cogs didn’t let me see what was causing it!

“Get out of the way, dang it!” I cried at the Cogs blocking my view, and started throwing two pies at a time, destroying two more Cogs. Two more flew. Two Cogs exploded. Again, that BAM BAM sound happened and the ground shook, causing me to stumble again.

“Whoa, what is going on?” Jenny asked.

“I have no idea.”

“Movers and Shakers give tremors as they walk. You’ll need to hit them from a distance,” Dr. Surlee said loudly, his voice reverberating across the entire playground. How was he doing that?

“What is a Mover and Shaker?” I wondered.

“Beats me, probably another type of Cog,” Jenny replied. Sure enough, it was; I was down to three Cogs in front of me now, and I could see everything around them. I saw some maroon-suited Cogs with a long thin body stomping around. They had big smiles on their faces as they stomped around. Each time they stomped, the ground shook and that loud BAM BAM sound happened. Worse, in a small radius around them, visible shockwaves appeared and anytime they touched a Toon, they were knocked to the ground hard.

“Oof! Oof!” Toons cried as they were thrown onto the floor by the shockwaves. I quickly dispatched the three Cogs rushing at me, and turned to Jenny, who had promptly disposed of hers. My face was sweating, and I was panting.

“Phew! Well, that was fun wasn’t it?” Jenny said, laughing, her eyes shining with joy.

“Actually, yeah, that wasn’t so bad,” I said with a grin. I have no idea if it was because the rush of euphoria still in my system, but it was indeed fun throwing around pies. What a rush of freedom! I’d never experienced something like that before.

“Look!” Jenny cried as more of those Movers and Shakers Cogs came down from the sky and started stomping around.

“Oof! Oof!” Toons groaned as more shockwaves hit them.

“Yikes, that looks painful,” I said with a grimace.

“Look over there, isn’t that Rosie?” Jenny asked, pointing to someone in the distance, fighting off Cogs by Goofy’s Gag Shop. I squinted and saw a very tall purple cat.

“Yeah, I think so…,” I said uncertainly.

“Come on, let’s go help her!” Jenny said and grabbed my arm, pulling with her as she ran.

“Um, well, I don’t know…,” I mumbled. We ran past a group of Toons that had successfully teamed up and were throwing pies from a long distance away, hitting the Movers and Shakers straight in the face. Two pies and they went down.

“I thought she was your friend? Did you guys get separated or was she not helping you?” Jenny asked without turning around or stopping. We were halfway there, just reaching the gazebo in the middle of the playground.

“Something like that,” I mumbled vaguely, guilt building in my gut again. Rosie was throwing pies at some Movers and Shakers and was doing a good job of holding them back. Without turning around, she said, “Careful! Don’t get too close!”

“Yeah, we know,” I said, and she turned around then, for sure. Her eyes were wide with surprise.

“Kit! I—I thought--,”

“I know,” I said softly. Rosie just stared me, and her eyes grew a bit cold.

“Now I’ll have to annoy you again, huh?” she muttered, and I flinched.

“Um, well, about that…,” I started, but just then Jenny joined in the fight and started throwing pies at Movers and Shakers that were coming toward us from the Trolley. I quickly took out my own pie and targeted the same Mover Rosie did, taking it down in one blow as both pies connected.

“I am glad you’re here. I was really worried you’d left,” Rosie whispered to me.

“I almost did. Darned Cogs didn’t want me to go,” I quipped, rolling my eyes. Rosie chuckled, shaking her head. Her eyes were still angry, but at least her mood seemed to be a bit better.

We destroyed some more Movers, just as more Cogs descended from the sky, this time ones that were much larger than we’d seen so far. Most of them had muscular builds, but there were two that were different: one of them, green suited, was large and round shaped, and had a flattened head which a lot like a giant bag, actually, now that I thought about it. Another, a blue suited one had a green head, a stethoscope around its head, and a tall skinny build.

“Is that a robotic doctor? What, does it heal Cogs or something?” I asked, pointing at it.

“Who really cares? They’re going down regardless,” Rosie said vehemently, and started charging at the Cogs. This wave was large, a whole bunch of Cogs having arrived at the same time. They quickly spread out all over the playground, with blue doctor-like Cogs approaching Toons and throwing some kind of red rope at them. When it connected with Toons, the Cog spun them around rapidly, causing the Toon to grow dizzy and fall to the floor. The Cog then proceeded to lift the Toons with yellow strings it threw at them, and throwing them hard back onto the floor.

“Holy—" I cried as I saw this happen to a group of Toons in the far distance, over by the Punchline Place street tunnel that led to Donald’s Dock. They had been attempting to fight it off and weren’t doing so well.

“They’re definitely getting stronger…,” Rosie said, worriedly biting her lip as we approached a group of 6 brown-suited Cogs with a tall, muscular build. They turned to face us and immediately charged us. At this point we were near the gazebo again and I ran right through it to the other side while Rosie flanked the Cogs from behind. Jenny came in from the side and together we took down the six of them easily. Each Cog needed only two pies to destroy each, thankfully

“Alright!” Rosie cried, pumping her fists into the air.

“Not over yet, look!” Jenny cried, pointing above us. The sky had grown darker now, and above came more Cogs, these ones slightly taller than the previous Cogs. I saw some that were blue-suited with bird-like heads—or, at least, they had beaks on their faces. My Animology lessons flashed back to me. Some kind of eagle, maybe? Anyway, two of those Eagle-like Cogs landed near us and we promptly took them out without much fuss. More eagle Cogs came down, followed by green-suited Cogs with tall builds and large shark-like heads.

“Holy smokes! Now that’s a scary looking Cog!” Rosie cried, pointing at a Shark Head.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” I breathed. I knew sharks were some of deadliest predators in the sea…. At least, according to my Animology lessons when I was younger. I’ve personally never been to the sea—mostly because it was hard to visit anywhere. Though, even if I could have, I wouldn’t want to with sharks being out there! Some more Eagle and Shark Heads came down, coming down in groups of eight, 5 groups at once. Without wasting a second they immediately spread out and attacked the closest Toon. The shark heads attacked with large fake teeth, which they threw quickly at Toons, going one throw per second. They didn’t seem to care if the teeth connected or not, they just marched through the playground and threw them. Meanwhile, four metallic blue-colored birds flew quickly from the eagle heads’ hands, spreading out and attacking Toons individually.

“Watch out!” Rosie cried as one of the metallic birds suddenly darted toward me.

“Gah!” I cried and threw myself onto the floor, awkwardly rolling away from underneath the bird. It quickly swerved and changed direction, heading for Jenny’s face. She ducked neatly, rolled away quickly and stood back up in less than three seconds. Without missing a beat, Jenny threw a pie at it before it could swerve away again, and it just fizzled out of existence when the pie connected.

“Whoa!” Rosie cried as more of those darned metallic birds came toward us. I threw a pie at one of them and it fizzled away. Rose did the same to the one flying right next to it.

“More birds incoming!” Jenny cried, and 4 more birds flew toward us.

“This is insane! Now we have other things to worry about than the large metallic menaces!” I cried. Captain Obvious.

“We can’t get the Cogs like this, if we’re focused on the birds…,” Jenny pointed out. She was right; a lot of the Toons around us were frantically running around, throwing pies at the birds chasing them and not the Cogs… which unfortunately meant that more kept coming and piling up, which meant more of those darned birds being thrown at us. It was a horribly vicious cycle that didn’t seem to have any end coming to it soon.

“Not good…,” I mumbled. Rosie yelped as 4 metallic birds and one pair of fake teeth darted at us from both our left and right sides.

“Duck!” I cried and the three of us dove to the floor. I stood back up quickly, turned around and threw a pie in one fluid motion. SPLAT. Bull’s eye! Jenny and Rosie had their pies connect, too, leaving only one bird and the fake teeth. The teeth kept going and crashed into the wall by the Gag Shop, breaking into many different pieces. The metallic bird swerved and headed back toward us. SPLAT. Someone else’s pie crashed into it and it fizzled out.

“Boom! Take that, you dumb bird!” a voice cried and the three of us turned. A brown-colored boy monkey with a small head, small torso and small legs stood behind us, a giant grin on his face. He was wearing a blue shirt and orange shorts with red stripes on it.

“Ladies,” he said, bowing down to us. Rosie laughed. “Hey, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it—actually, mention it some more, there’s more coming,” the monkey said, and motioned behind us. We turned, yet again, and sure enough there were more of the birds incoming.

“EAT PIE YOU BIRDS!” the monkey cried and quickly threw two pies in quick succession. I followed suit, and so did Jenny and Rosie. Our pies connected and the birds fizzled.

“Easy! These birds are pushovers!” the monkey said with a grin.

“Maybe, but those Cogs surely aren’t,” I said, pointing. There were now at least 60 Cogs on the playground, of four different types mixed. Besides the ones that were eagle and shark headed, there were also quite a bunch that had maroon suits, pink faces and red lipstick. Were they female?  Others were huge, with brown suits and large fat bodies. These had a red bandana on their heads, earring on their ears, blue around their mouths and a large eyepatch on their left eyes.

“Pirate Cogs? Really?” Rosie asked incredulously when she spotted them.

“Arr! These Cogs be getting on me nerves!” the brown monkey cried, his voice becoming a bit deeper, and covering one of his eyes with a hand. Jenny and Rosie laughed, and I joined in half-heartedly. Pirate? What is a pirate?

“Ahoy, matey! Let us get these landlubbers!” Rosie said, mimicking the brown monkey’s tone. Both of them laughed, and Jenny grinned, nodding. “Lets!”

“We have to do something about these danged birds,” I pointed out to them as more and more kept shooting out of the eagle Cogs’ hands. I saw some Toons trying to shoot pies at the Cogs, but the birds kept intercepting them instead. “If we don’t do something soon there’ll be too many Cogs to handle.”

“Yes, you’re right! But what?” Rosie asked, her fingers forming an L shape, which she rested on her chin. Her left hand rested underneath, her head tilted to the right and she looked up slightly. We thought for a bit, but it was cut short as more metallic birds came toward us. We destroyed them quickly. The brown monkey thought for a bit, and snapped his fingers.

“I got it! What if we draw out all the birds at once? Get them away from the Cogs so others can destroy them?”
            “How would we do that?” I asked as I threw a pie at another bird.

“Leave that to me!” he cried excitedly, and ran off toward a huge group Cogs heading in the direction of the stage. He ran right up to them hollering like a lunatic, which caused the Cogs to notice him and turn around.

“Hey, uglies! Bet you can’t have your stupid birds get me! They’re slow and dumb, just like you!” he taunted them. I blinked. What was he doing? The Cogs grumbled angrily and they all threw birds at him. The brown monkey ran away, laughing hysterically, as the birds followed him.

“Hey, all of you uglies! Bet y’all can’t get me! You’re all slow and stupid!” he shouted loudly, his voice booming through the playground. Every single Cog turned to him and started throwing their respective attacks at him. He ducked under most of them, laughing maniacally.

“Slowpokes and can’t aim!” he taunted and ran towards the Silly Street tunnel.

“Okay, now he’s just pushing it and showing off,” I grumbled.

“I know, isn’t it great?” Rosie said with a laugh, a sparkle in her eyes. The monkey’s plan worked; every single bird that’d been following Toons charged at the monkey.

“Quickly, while they’re distracted!” Jenny cried and lunged into action. She threw two pies quickly in succession, hitting two Cogs squarely in the face. I joined in and did the same, on the same Cogs. To my surprise, they didn’t go down right away. Crud. Two pies aren’t enough now?! I thought, and surely enough, they weren’t. A third pie didn’t take them down, either. Neither did a fourth. A fifth pie did finally take them down, though.

“Wow, five pies! Holy smokes!” Rosie cried as we threw pie number four at another Cog.

“I know, right?” I muttered. Other Toons around us had caught on to what had happened and were now throwing pies all at once, ganging up on Cogs and taking them down in one blow. Some Toons came over to us and started helping us do the same, ganging up on one Cog and destroying it all in one same pie throw. More types of Cogs came down, these ones much larger; Some had cheese for heads—really? Cheese? What is up with these weirdos? Their designs are so vastly different and weird all at the same time! Others had blue suits with big white wigs on their heads, and others had green suits and black masks over their face. More Toons came toward us, and we grouped together to face these new Cogs. These took six pies to take down! I wondered briefly how Flippy was keeping up with the sudden high demand; pies flew more quickly and more often due to how many pies it took to take these guys down. Two groups of seven toons each formed around the middle of the playground, with the gazebo in the middle splitting us from each other ; I was with Rosie and Jenny in one group, to the left of the gazebo. We tag-teamed the Cogs, destroying a bunch of them in one same blow as soon as they came down from the sky, before they could do anything. 

“You guys help them, I’m going to go see how that brown monkey’s doing,” Jenny said suddenly and darted away through a gap in the crowd of Cogs.

“Hey, wait—” I cried, but it was too late, she vanished into the crowd of Cogs and Toons.

“I hope he’s alright…,” Rosie mumbled, worry in her eyes.

“I’m sure he’s fine, he seemed capable of handling himself,” I said. Rosie bit her lip.

“I know… I—I just hope he doesn’t get hurt.” Rosie said softly as she threw one of five combined pies at a Cog. Her cheeks had flushed pink as she said it. I raised an eyebrow at that, but before I could ask her anything more about it, I heard a loud piercing wail above me.

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