Chapter 8
The brown monkey joined Rosie and I and together we tag-teamed more and more of those Skelecog things. Toons around us had formed large groups and were systematically eliminating Skelecogs like they were nothing. The large wave of the creepy creatures lowered down to about half a dozen, and the brown monkey, Rosie and I tackled a couple of them, easily dispatching them.
“We make a great team! I could barely touch these guys on my own, but with you two they’re going down like ice cream on a hot day,” the brown monkey said with a grin.
“I love ice cream!” Rosie gushed.
“Me too!” the brown monkey said, laughing. Rosie grinned, and they locked eyes for a few seconds.
“What is your name, by the way?” Rosie asked him.
“Chim Panzee, at your service milady,” he said, and Rosie giggled. “People call me Chim for short,”
“Like Jim?” Rosie asked.
“Yes, except my full name isn’t Chames,” he quipped, his eyes sparkling and his lips forming into a smirk. Rosie burst into a fit of giggles. Grinning, the brown monkey turned to me.
“And what’s your name, cute face?”
“Kit, err… as in Kit T. Kat.” Not this time, I thought, biting my lower lip.
“Cute name to go with the cute face,” he said with a smirk, and his eyes met mine. There was interest in them, and I shifted my feet uncomfortably.
“My name’s Rosie,” Rosie cut in, turning his attention back to her. He smiled.
“I like your name,” he said, and she blushed.
“Th-thank—” A loud BAM sound from behind us interrupted her, and the ground shook.
“What the—?” I gasped, turning around. A giant skinny Skelecog had landed right in front of the tunnel leading to Loopy Lane. That thing was huge, it was at least twice as tall as the other Skelecogs that had come down thus far.
“This is it, Toons! They’re sending in the boss! Brace yourselves, this will be the toughest one yet!” Dr. Surlee cried.
“The boss?!” I gasped.
“Excellent! Let’s take the creep down!” Chim cried excitedly and started charging toward it. Other Toons around us did, too.
“Um—” I said uncertainly as Rosie followed him.
“Apparently our marketing strategies haven’t exactly appealed to you ‘Toons’,” the giant skinny Skelecog said in a booming, high pitched voice. “I suppose you could say that ‘I’m the boss.’” The giant Skelecog started walking, taking the path around the gazebo in the center of the playground. “I’ll be needing to speak to your President directly. I’m prepared to close this deal quickly,” the Skelecog continued. Again with the talking to the President thing. What’s up with that? And isn’t the President gone already?
Chim and Rosie had reached the Skelecog and were pieing in the face. It didn’t seem fazed at all and just kept on walking, ignoring them. The rest of the Toons in the playground had caught up now and were also pieing it, but again it just shook off the pies and kept walking. I caught up to Chim and Rosie and started pieing the thing, taking steps back as it kept coming toward us.
“Holy smokes! It’s not going down!!” Rosie cried. Pie after pie landed on it and it just kept on walking like they were nothing.
“Relax, you’ll find this is for the best,” the Skelecog said as it passed by us, barely even glancing in our direction. Panic was rising in me again. At this point we were just passing by Goofy’s Gag Shop and it showed no sign of slowing down.
“ENOUGH!” the Skelecog boomed after Toons started surrounded it and kept throwing pies non-stop. It jumped high into the air, landing back on the ground with a large BANG. The ground shook and I fell onto my stomach.
“Oof!” I cried and so did many other Toons. I lost my sense of joy and sadness started creeping in again.
“Oh no,” I breathed, recognizing the effects. I rose shakily to my feet as the giant Skelecog walked right past me, without even glancing my way.
“Yowch! That hurt!” Chim groaned and rose to his feet. He turned around and started throwing pies at the Skelecog again, but again it just seemed unfazed.
“At this rate I’ll need to liquidate Toons from the picture,” the Skelecog boomed. More pies flew at it. “ENOUGH!” it roared, and jumped into the air again. Instinct and panic made me jump along with it, and this time I was in the air when the ground shook. I landed back down after the shaking had stopped, and I was completely unaffected by it.
“Gah!” Rosie cried as she fell to the ground onto her stomach again. Others cried out in shock as the same thing happened to them. She stood up, shoulders sagging and head drooping.
“Oh no!” I gasped. I ran over to her quickly.
“You need a—a—um--,” I stammered. What was it again?
“A Toon-Up,” Rosie moaned quietly.
“Yes, that’s it!”
“Stand back!” Chim cried and started pieing her. I joined in as well, and she immediately perked up.
“Whew! Thanks guys,” she said and then she started pieing me. I pied Chim and he pied me back. Glorious euphoria settled in me again, and a big grin spread on my face. I forced it away, my eyes turning to the Skelecog. It was now near the steps leading up to Toon Hall.
“The Chairman won’t be happy until you are,” it boomed. The Chairman? What? It stopped walking for a few seconds as a large group of Toons surrounded it, trying to stop it from walking any further. They threw pies directly at its face, and it stared at them blankly.
“I assure you that you’ll find no greater offer,” the Skelecog boomed, and stuck out its hands. From above a large storm cloud appeared, and the Skelecog directed it with its hands. The cloud floated over the head of some of the Toons, and the Skelecog raised its hands into the air, formed into fists. From the cloud came down some large metallic words that landed onto the Toons around the Skelecog. The Toons crashed to the floor with a loud OOF. WAH WAH WAH! The same sound I’d heard from Slappy when he shrunk away and disappeared came from them, and they too shrunk and disappeared. My mouth opened wide in shock, and I stood there, gaping.
“Oh my goodness! No!!” Rosie cried in despair.
“Holy crud,” Chim mumbled, wide-eyed.
“Where’d they go?!” Rosie cried, tears in her eyes. The Skelecog’s path was now open again since all the Toons around it had vanished and it started walking nonchalantly toward Toon Hall again. Toons dispersed, yelling in fear.
“Get away from it!” I cried as Rosie started running toward it again, fury in her eyes. I grabbed her arm and held on tight.
“No! That thing has to pay. First Slappy, now some random innocent Toons!”
“It’s too strong! It’s not going down!” I cried frantically.
“I don’t care! I. Have. To. Try!” she growled. I let her go, and to my surprise, Chim stepped up, a glint in his eyes.
“I’ll help. For Slappy. For all those Toons,” he said. She turned to him and the biggest smile I’d ever seen on her appeared.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” They both charged at the Skelecog. I stood firmly planted where I was. Other Toons followed Chim and Rosie’s lead and charged, throwing pies as they went. Splat noises sounded over and over again.
“ENOUGH!” The Skelecog cried and jumped into the air again. I screamed and jumped again, avoiding the ground shaking. WAH WAH WAH! More Toons shrunk and vanished.
“No!” I cried. Holy crud… Chim and Rosie were hit, and they both struggled to get up. Right now they were right in front of the gazebo, with the giant Skelecog about to reach the steps that led to Toon Hall.
“No! Stay away!” Rosie cried, and threw a pie feebly. The pie landed right in the middle of its gears, which caused them to get gummed with cream pie filling. The Skelecog froze mid-stride and sputtered for a split second, then turned to face her. It started doing the same motion with its hands as before, and just as before a large storm cloud appeared over Chim and Rosie. I gasped. Oh nooo…. Both of them tried getting to their feet, but they were going too slow. Too slow… too slow. I closed my eyes, and held my breath, knowing what was coming. I told them so! I warned them! I started backing away as the Skelecog started raising its arms into the sky. Rosie’s face, tears in her eyes flashed in my mind.
“If you walk away from this, that makes you a traitor,” her sharp words from before flashed through my mind. Traitor. No. Nono. No!
“Noooo!!” I cried, opening my eyes. I sprinted toward Chim and Rosie as fast as I could. Too slow. Too slow. Traitor! No! I dove toward Chim and Rosie, giving them a hard push with both of hands just as the words from the cloud came crashing down… right on top of me!
|
|
