Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For months, I knew something was off with Chip. We'd been friends for a while, but I noticed him acting stranger and stranger as time went on. At first I thought he was still ashamed that I learned about his override, but I eventually realized he was hiding more from me. I didn't know what it was, but I was worried about him. But I was also scared because what was apparently worse than his override?

One night, I decided to sneak into his office in an attempt to find out. His shift ended at 21:00, but I waited until midnight just to be sure he was gone- and to use the cover of night to my advantage. I brought a flashlight, lock picking tools, some blackout curtains, and some adhesives with me. The flashlight was so I could see, and the curtains and adhesives were to cover up the big window behind Chip's desk so nobody would see the light of my flashlight. The lock pick was in case his office was locked, which I assumed it would be.

The streets of Acorn Acres were nearly silent with only a few Cogs still on the clock at this time. I made sure to act confident and like I knew where I was going so I wouldn't draw any suspicion to myself, even when I entered Cut to the Chase, Logging Co. Once the doors to the outside were shut behind me, I turned on my flashlight because it was pitch black. Then, I approached the doors to Chip's office. Just as I'd expected, it was locked. I moved the flashlight onto the nearby table to shine light on the door while I worked, and I carefully picked the lock after a few minutes and a couple failures of accidentally resetting the pins.

Once I was inside, I turned my flashlight to the dimmest setting and was careful not to shine the light towards the window. I immediately grabbed my curtains and the adhesives, covering the window quickly. Afterwards, I put my flashlight back to normal and turned to face Chip's desk. I'd never been on this side of his desk before, and I realized just how many drawers and cupboards he had. I also realized how large his desk and his chair really were, which made sense when I considered how huge he was. And then... I realized just how stupid what I was doing really was. I was invading my best friend's privacy to find out a secret he was keeping from me. What kind of a friend was I, anyways?

Thump, thump, thump, thump...

Somebody was coming! Not knowing where else to go, I opened the largest cupboard and hid inside of it, making sure to do it as quietly as possible. As the footsteps got closer, I noticed there were lights in this cupboard for some reason. I was about to turn my head to see why, but I instinctively froze when I heard the door open and the flick of a light switch.

"Huh? I don't remember Mr. Revvington putting up curtains in his office. Whatever, I won't touch the boss's stuff," a Cog muttered to themselves. I then heard a beeping sound and a brief static followed by them saying, "No signs of break-in. False alarm."

"I know you didn't check everywhere with a response that quickly. Dude, trust me, I wanna clock out too, but if somebody broke in and you call it clear then we're both getting fired," another Cog voice responded over the radio.

"Ugh, fine," the Cog scoffed, and I heard them get closer and closer to me... I even held my breath so they wouldn't hear me breathing, hoping not to get spotted. Just as I thought they were about to start opening cupboards and drawers one by one, I heard them walk away! I heard them leave through what I assumed was probably a side door, and their footsteps got softer and softer until I didn't hear them anymore. I stayed frozen in that spot for a couple more minutes, wanting to make sure I was really alone before I started moving again.

Slowly, I turned my head towards the lights in the cupboard. I noticed that they were all hung over various pictures to illuminate them, and then I noticed what they were pictures of...

Me. All of them were pictures of... me?

Huh? How did he even get all these pictures?

I felt a sense of eeriness as I looked at more and more of the pictures, realizing as I looked that only some of them were from me being in his office or even Acorn Acres. Some were pictures of me in different playgrounds, or in Cog buildings... and even Toon buildings. Some had been taken from Alton's security footage of Barnacle Boatyard and others were taken from various cameras, ranging from Polaroids to something modern and even smartphone pictures. Some... had been taken from inside my house.

Horrified, I turned around to face the wall behind me and found more pictures of me. I also found a notebook propped up against the wall, which I carefully picked up and opened. I immediately recognized Chip's neat, methodical handwriting.

Date: 29. June, 20XX

I've purchased this notebook so I have a place to dispose of my emotions. They're strong, and I'm worried it could cause an override. And I'm worried it could hurt her too.

It started a couple months ago when my romantic feelings towards her grew stronger and stronger. Too strong. It started to interfere with my work because all I could think about was her, even when I didn't want to. Every single thought I had became about her, even if they weren't related at all. My productivity slowed. My employees noticed me often looking back at the window, which I did in secret hopes I'd see her running through Bossbot HQ. I found myself always trying to guess where she was or what she was doing, and when I finally got to clock out at the end of every day I wanted to find her myself.

Next thing I knew, I was following her everywhere. Her schedule became my schedule, and I learned more and more about her as time progressed. I even paid Benjamin to tell me where she lived and keep quiet about it. He still hasn't told anyone. Now I check on her every night to make sure she made it home safely. Some nights she's worried me because she wasn't back until very late, but now I've learned she's almost always home by three in the morning.

One day, she gave me an idea. She'd taken me out to get 'ice cream,' a treat Toons enjoy quite frequently. Then, she suddenly took her phone out of her pocket and asked if I wanted to take a 'selfie' with her. I asked her what that was, and she explained that it was taking a picture of yourself. I agreed to it, and she took the 'selfie.' She sent me the picture in a text message later that night, and I printed it to keep in my pocket. The next day at work, I realized I was looking at that picture a lot. But I didn't care about me being in the frame, I cared about her. I grabbed my own phone and opened the camera application. I realized I could take my own pictures of her and keep them for myself. She looks so... perfect. In every single one.

"What the fuck...?" I mouthed out loud to myself.

I didn't know if I wanted to, but I turned the page to find another entry.

Date: 2. July, 20XX

I had a wonderful idea. I discovered the existence of tracking devices, so I put one on her 'Shticker Book' as she calls it while she was asleep last night. It's very small and I embedded it into the book's binding, so it doesn't even look like it's there. I can see where she is and even where she was with the help of an application on my phone. It tells me her precise location, how long she's been there, her location history and how long she was at each of those places, and even where she spends most of her time.

I didn't bother to read the rest of the entry. Instead, I closed the journal and grabbed my Shticker book, trying to find the tracking device. But, just as he'd said, it didn't even look like it was there and I couldn't find it.

Wait... if he's following me around all the time and always knows where I am... he's going to find out I was here.

Fuck.

I debated on leaving my Shticker Book so he couldn't track me anymore, but then he'd know I discovered his secret. I decided it was best I pretend I never saw anything and just go home, so I carefully crawled out of the cabinet and peered at my surroundings. The room wasn't pitch black anymore because the moon was shining through the window, casting a faint light on the desk.

Where did my curtains go? ...Someone's been here.

I kept low to the ground and took my chances to peek around the side of the desk. There was nobody there, so I cautiously stood up and made my way to the doors. Only opening them just enough for me to slip by, I closed it silently and started walking into the lobby. The room was completely dark, and I tried to get myself to navigate only by touch, but I got too scared and turned on my flashlight.

There was nobody here, either.

I sighed in relief and started walking to the door, knowing I was almost safe and-

Squeak! Click.

I immediately turned around to see who opened the door behind me, and to my horror it was none other than Chip Revvington.

"Cinnamon? What are you doing in my office so late?" Chip chose to play dumb. So he didn't know that I knew?

I was gonna play along, but my body reacted on its own and took a step back. I didn't know what to say, but my body seemed to react without my input as I said, "I saw your journal."

"Oh..." Chip looked at the floor, which I couldn't tell if it was out of embarrassment or if he was just sad his chances with me had been ruined. Then, he looked up to notice that I'd taken another step back and he sighed, "I'm sorry I scared you."

"You... You've been stalking me for months?" I chose my words carefully and left it open-ended on purpose, not wanting to cause anything drastic to happen. I just had to defuse this situation and leave. I was on his territory, so screaming all the things I wanted to at him wasn't gonna help right now.

"Yes, I have. I guess you've already read the why and the details, so I don't need to explain those. Just... please, don't leave me," Chip hesitated before taking a step towards me.

"I..." I didn't know how to respond. I didn't want to lie and say I wasn't gonna leave his life, but I knew if I said the truth that things would escalate quickly. Eventually I decided to say, "I'm going home. We can talk later, okay?"

I turned around to walk out the door.

"No..." Chip mumbled. I heard his chainsaw turn on as he repeated louder, "No!"

I made a run for it, not bothering to look back because I knew whatever I saw would be horrifying. I grabbed the handle of the door and opened it as fast as I could, running through it as I heard loud footsteps and Chip's chainsaw revving up more and more as he chased me. I decided that the best course of action would be to lose him in the woods, since he clearly had no problems finding me elsewhere. I grabbed my Shticker book and threw it on the ground as I ran so he wouldn't be able to find me with it, and it seemed to also gain me some distance because I heard him stop for a second to pick it up.

I ran into an alleyway that lead directly into the forest, running in a random direction in hopes of losing him among all the trees. I carelessly tossed brush and branches aside if they got in my way, knowing my top priority was gaining as much distance as possible and having him lose sight of me. His chainsaw in the distance let me know that even though it seemed to be working, he was still on my trail.

Eventually, his chainsaw became quiet. And then... I didn't hear it anymore. I was safe! I knew he'd still be on the lookout for me, though, so I decided to climb the nearest tree and hide really high in the branches so he couldn't see me from the ground. Not only would I be able to rest, but it'd be a safe hiding spot until I was confident he'd given up and I could seek shelter in the Acorn Acres playground. I just had to wait it out.

As the night continued, the fatigue from the stressful situation started to reach me. I realized I had some scrapes and scratches, and I was covered in leaves, twigs, and even a few thistles. I pulled out the thistles from my clothes and carefully left them on another branch, not wanting to drop anything that came from me from the tree in case Chip found it and connected the dots. Even if he realized I'd been in this exact spot at some point in time, that wasn't good.

Vrrrrrrr....

Chip was in the area. His chainsaw got louder and louder, but I knew my best bet was to stay put and let him pass by without seeing me. I couldn't see the ground with all the branches and leaves in the way, but I could tell he was right under the tree by listening to his chainsaw. Then, I realized... he wasn't moving.

Does he know I'm here?

I could practically feel the ink in my body freeze when the tree shook slightly and I could feel a vibration running through it.

He was cutting the tree down.

I didn't know what to do. If I climbed down, it would take several minutes and he'd be able to see it. I could risk jumping to another tree, but I didn't know if I'd even be able to make it. Sure, Toons didn't get hurt from falls, but that didn't mean I could immediately get up. I'd be dazed for at least a few seconds, and that was more time than I had. But if I waited for him to cut the tree down, I'd fall anyways along with having to try to get out of all the branches.

The trunk was incredibly thick, but I could tell it wasn't much of a problem for Chip as it quickly started to shake and sway more and more. I reflexively gripped the nearest branch for dear life, and only a few seconds later I heard it creak as it started to tilt. Then, it started falling faster and faster, and next thing I knew I collided with the ground. I bounced up into the air again because of Toon physics, this time landing in a bush.

I could hear chicks chirping around me to broadcast to the entire world that I was dazed, but otherwise none of my senses seemed to work properly for the next few seconds. When I was finally lucid again, I realized that Chip had taken me out of the bush and was sitting on the forest floor with me next to him. I could also feel him holding onto my arm so I couldn't leave, and I heard his chainsaw moving slowly.

"Ugh..." I groaned and sat up slowly, trying to yank my arm free. Just as I'd expected, he didn't budge.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you or scare you like this. I just couldn't stand the thought of you leaving me, and... this happened. I can't lose you, Cinnamon," Chip 'explained.'

"Chip..." I sighed. I did feel bad for him since I knew I was the only person who knew about his override who hadn't left him, and now with this on top of it I was sure it was even worse. But at the same time, I valued my privacy and my safety- not to mention that stalking was completely illegal. His actions were irrational at best and inexcusable at worst. I looked him in the eye and said, "Look... I feel really bad about all of this. I understand how you feel, but... you're violating my safety and my privacy. And that's not okay just because you have some mental struggles you haven't fully worked through yet."

"I know it's not. I'm sorry," Chip looked away, his grip loosening on my arm. I started to pull away from him, but then the lights on his head flickered red and he immediately grabbed my arm tighter than before. He gave me a look of horror and said, "You need to run."

He completely let go and I started to leave again, and then the lights on his head started to flicker red more consistently. I didn't wait to see what would happen and started to run again as I heard his chainsaw rev up once again.

"No!! You can't leave me!" Chip cried out, and I only made it a few more steps before he grabbed my gloved hand. I immediately slammed backwards into him like a rubber band because of my Toony physics, and he took the opportunity to wrap both of his arms around me so I was stuck. His chainsaw died down once more.

That was when we both realized I wasn't leaving any time soon.

"I'm sorry," Chip sighed, slowly picking me up and holding me over his shoulder, "I... can't let you leave."

Not wanting to possibly trigger an actual override, I chose to stay perfectly still and silent. He started to use his propeller, which I could tell was clearly under stress from the added weight of me. I tried to keep my eyes open to see where he was taking me, but even the adrenaline was failing me. Even under so much stress, I couldn't help but feel really drowsy, and Chip suddenly started to feel really soft and cozy...

I groaned as I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was a ceiling over me. But it wasn't mine. I looked around and realized I was on a couch in a living room. There was a coffee table with a few pink slips, books, and papers scattered on it, and there was a TV that was turned on and playing my favorite show. The carpet was white and almost completely pristine, but there were a few wood chips by the door. There was also a nearby end table with a lamp and a clock on it, and the clock told me it was 1:48 PM. Judging from how there were pink slips and a bunch of wood chips scattered around, I assumed I was in Chip's house.

I stood up quickly. The door was right there, so there was nothing stopping me from just leaving. I walked towards it and expected it to be locked, but I quickly realized that it didn't even have a lock. Huh? Well, whatever. I'm not gonna ask questions about Cog engineering. I turned the knob and tried to open the door, but it made a bzzt sound. A robotic voice said, "Unauthorized exit of hostage denied. Notifying Chip Revvington."

Hostage? Oh no...

I reached into my pocket so I could grab my piano and try to break the door, but I realized I didn't have it. I didn't have any drop gags... or throw... or squirt... or... oh Cog, he stole all my gags.

Buzz buzz.

My phone vibrated in my pocket with a notification, which I hesitantly opened. It was a text from Chip.

I'm sorry about all of this. I couldn't get out of work but I'll explain everything when I get back. Make yourself at home.

I told myself I'd be gone before he got home, but then I realized how stupid that was when I could take stock of the situation first to see what methods of escape were even possible. What if he had security cameras hidden to watch me, or what if he decided tracking my Shticker book wasn't enough? What if there were hidden traps everywhere for me to fall into if I tried to leave?

I first explored the house, getting a feel for the floor plan as well as what his front and back yards looked like. Then, I decided to go into his room to see if I could find any more journals that would conveniently detail what he's done in my name recently. I started to open drawers and cupboards randomly, mostly only finding his casual clothes and spare work uniforms. I found a drawer full of more pictures of me, including some from when I was sleeping on his couch. I did find a notebook, but when I looked at the front page there was only a bunch of stuff about his work in there. Just in case, I flipped through every single page but it was just more and more about his job, detailing paperwork he had or still needed to fill out and when it was all due and information about projects to stop the Toons. If I was here under different circumstances I'd probably steal it and give it to the Resistance, but right now I cared more about finding a way to get out of here.

After a while, I decided to search under his bed. To my surprise, I found a notebook hidden and wedged between the bed frame and mattress. I carefully removed it and opened it, realizing it was the same notebook I'd found in his office before. I flipped around until I saw an entry dated for today.

Hello, Cinnamon. I'm so sorry I have to do this to you.

I've purchased a second tracking device that I embedded into your ear in case you find a way to escape. It may itch for a few days. I wish I didn't have to hurt you like this, but I couldn't let you leave. I couldn't because I knew you'd leave me forever, and that hurts worse than anything else. I'm sorry.

That's all it said.

Several weeks later...

"Good night, Chip," I smiled and kissed the side of his saw blade. We both knew I was pretending, but Chip was clearly just happy I couldn't leave him.

"Good night, Cinnamon," Chip patted my head a few times and then went into his room, which was across from mine. I waited for him to close the door behind him and hear him get into his bed, and I waited to hear his chainsaw quietly revving with his breaths that was a true indicator of him actually being asleep.

I got up, walked over to my chest, and quietly pulled all the contents out, lifting the fake bottom I'd made with Spruce's help. He'd caught wind that Chip had kidnapped a Toon and came for a visit to make fun of them, but when I told him everything that had happened and showed him the notebook he became sympathetic to my situation. So, with his help, I made an escape plan.

Concealed by the fake bottom to the chest was everything I needed to escape. Once I'd completely removed the fake bottom, I turned back to the chest and reached for- huh?

There was a single piece of paper instead of my escape gear.

Sorry, Cinnamon. You trusted the wrong Cog to help you. Spruce told me about your escape plan.

Then, I noticed a motion sensor had been placed in the hidden compartment. A few seconds later, Chip opened my bedroom door and asked, "Why would you leave me...?"

Chapter Text

"Keeping me hostage in your house isn't okay, Chip. Of course I was gonna try to escape..." I looked at the piece of paper in my hand, "But I guess you already knew that, so I don't get why you're so surprised."

"I... know it's not the right thing to do. But... I need you to stay with me. Forever," Chip walked towards me, and I risked taking a few steps back. I could see the hurt on his face immediately warp into desperation. He stepped towards me as his chainsaw activated, revving slowly.

I knew I was just going to back into the wall if I kept taking steps back, so I suddenly darted past him and out of the room. I shut the door behind me so he'd have to spend just that much more time opening it and so he wouldn't see which way I went. Without much time to think of a destination, I just chose to hide in Chip's room and immediately made myself flush with the wall to obscure where I'd gone. Just as I'd hidden myself, I heard the door being opened while his chainsaw revved up.

I could tell he was looking around for me just by the sound of his saw blade, and then I heard him quickly walk away in a direction I assumed was one he randomly chose. I wanted to close the door for more visual privacy, but I knew that'd make noise at worst and be seen when he walked back through the hallway at best. So, instead, I chose to carefully stick to the back wall of his room until I had a more concrete plan on how I was gonna get out of here. I'd planned to escape tonight, and I'd be damned if I wasn't gonna try even if my original plan had been stolen from me.

Then, I had an idea. I remembered that Spruce mentioned gifting some kind of expensive axe to Chip a few years ago that was supposed to be super sharp or something, and that he'd used it a few times before sticking it in his closet and never using it again. I wonder if that axe is still there... I should check. I walked to Chip's closet, looking through the contents for a few moments before I finally found the axe. I picked it up, walked over to one of the windows in Chip's room and-

Vrrrr....

Chip was coming back.

I raised the axe and hit the window as hard as I could, expecting it to shatter. Instead, I simply bounced backwards and fell on my ass as the axe made a loud THUD, hitting the floor. I'd dropped it since I hadn't been expecting the window to not even get a single scratch or dent! I wondered for a brief second what the windows were made out of, but I didn't let that thought stay in my mind for very long. I started to stand up, but I froze when I noticed a shadow looming over me.

Slowly, I dared to look up and meet Chip in the eye.

His chainsaw revved up more and more as he looked between me, the axe, me, the axe, me, the axe... and then the lights on his head turned red. His pupils disappeared.

"PERSONALITY OVERRIDE ACTIVATED."

"Oh Cog-" I finished standing up, "Chip? Chip... Hey, um... I'm still here, right?"

"CANNOT DEFINE 'STILL HERE.' IGNORING."

Chip grabbed the axe and carelessly tossed it behind him, though only the handle hit the wall. It fell to the floor with a THUMP. Then, his lights flickered green. I had a chance of not getting killed, which was a start. Against all my survival instincts, I took the chance to approach him and hug him. I was only as tall as his thighs so it was more like hugging his legs, but it didn't really matter. It seemed to reach him because his whole body seemed to flinch.

"Chip... I'll stay, okay? I won't try to escape again," I looked up at him, knowing I was basically begging for my life. The lights on his head flickered for several seconds, but they eventually turned green and his pupils returned.

He looked tired even from an override that short, but he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he asked, "Do you promise...? You'll... never leave me?"

"Yes, I promise," I could practically feel the entire world draining away from me in an instant. I thought of all my friends, my family, how my life had been before that night... and felt a wave of despair as I knew this meant I was promising to never see any of it ever again. I couldn't help but feel tears begin to form and quickly fall as I grieved the full gravity of my promise.

Chip picked me up and set me on his bed, wiping away my tears. He gave me a look of guilt, but he didn't say anything and just kept wiping away my tears for the next few minutes. I didn't want to be vulnerable in front of him and give him the opportunity to trauma bond with me, so I tried to make myself stop crying. Eventually, I managed to do it, and Chip patted my head as I let out my last few sniffles.

"Let's get some rest... You'll feel better in the morning," Chip gave me another few encouraging pats on the head.

I knew that was a lie, but I had no choice but to just play along with it. I sighed and said, "Alright then... good night."

I started standing up to head to my room, but Chip stopped me and pulled me closer to him and said, "No... you're not leaving me. I... I... want you to sleep in my arms."

I was a bit surprised at the suddenness, but at the same time I'd been assuming Chip would try to ask that at some point. Luckily, I'd already prepared an excuse to try to get out of it. So, I asked him, "But what about your chainsaw? It revs in your sleep..."

Chip reached over to the end table next to his bed and opened a drawer, taking out a chainsaw cover. He put it on and then said, "I don't like wearing it, but I don't want to hurt you."

Damn. He already thought of that.

I curiously poked at it a couple of times, but I didn't want to make Chip mad so I only did it a little. I stayed silent as I let him guide me into his bed, laying down next to him and cuddling him as I'd done a few times during the day. He placed one of his robotic hands over my heart and closed his eyes, seeming happy to feel it still beating. I, on the other hand, listened to the ticking and clinking of his robotic mechanisms for several minutes until I drifted off into sleep.

"What is that?" Chip asked as he placed one of his hands over my chest.

"My... boobs? Y'know, the fat bags girls have?" I scoffed, pushing his hand away from my chest and closer to my belly.

"No, not that. It was... something was pulsing under your skin," Chip tried to explain it in the best way he could.

"Do you mean my heartbeat?" I started to laugh. Did he seriously not know about Toon anatomy? That was basic knowledge!

"What's a heartbeat...?" Chip asked.

Oh my Cog. He didn't know.

"A Toon's heart is an internal organ that keeps pumping ink around their body. If a Toon dries up and doesn't have any more ink, they get erased, so a heartbeat is like... the indicator of life," I explained it just as my parents had explained it to me when I was a young rabbit.

"The indicator of life? ...I like it. It's calming."

Chip moved his hand a bit so he could feel my heartbeat more strongly, clearly fascinated by it.

I opened my eyes slowly, immediately realizing I was still in the cold embrace of Chip's arms. I then realized that he was petting me and that he was intently watching me.

"Good morning, Cinnamon. Did you sleep well?" Chip asked.

"Yeah, I guess."

One year later...

"Lord Lowden Clear?! What the hell are you doing- how did you even find me?" I asked.

"The Resistance has been looking for you forever! But then someone told us they overheard a conversation between Treekiller and the Chainsaw Consultant about where you were, so we investigated it and and now I'm here. I'm so glad we finally found you!" Lord Lowden Clear handed me a brand new gag pouch and said, "Come on, let's get you out of here. I've hacked the front door so the security's letting anyone through right now."

I stood up to follow him, but then I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

Could I really do this to Chip...? Could I just... leave him?

What was I talking about?! Was I that brainwashed?! Did I actually feel bad for him?

"Cinnamon? Are you okay?" Lord Lowden Clear asked. He was looking at me, and I realized I was starting to cry. I wiped away my tears and sighed.

"I... I think I've been brainwashed," I managed to stammer out, "because I... I actually... feel guilty about leaving."

"What?!" Lord Lowden Clear ran over and grabbed my arm, "That's no way for a Toon to talk! Come on, we need to get you to a doctor right now!"

And with that, I left with Lord Lowden Clear.

I spend the next several weeks with Professor Pete and several Toon doctors, who kept me safely in the Toon Hall with Flippy in case Chip tried to find me again or Brian tipped him off to my whereabouts. Professor Pete was also able to disable the tracking device in my ear. I told them everything that had happened over the course of the just over a year I'd been held hostage in Chip's house... even the most unsavory memories. They listened to everything I said and took notes and asked questions, clearly wanting not only to better understand what Cogs were capable of but also how badly I was psychologically damaged and what they could do to help me. They were able to successfully undo my brainwashing, and I was able to properly hate Chip and mourn what had happened to me. That was a year of my life I'd never be able to get back and a year of my life I spent actually sympathizing with my own kidnapper.

But those days were behind me. I was a stronger Toon now.

I was given a new house that I moved into after a month, not bothering to go back to my old house for my old furniture. The Toons running the catalogue told me they'd restore my house to exactly as it was all with new furniture in case there were spying devices anywhere in my house or on the old furniture. We wanted to take all necessary precautions in case Chip was up to something, which we knew he was. Toons frequently reported to the resistance that he was having overrides incredibly frequently and that there were disciplinary reports against him for allegedly ruining company property with his chainsaw after getting emotional about something. Other Cogs murmured about the scandal or rumors they'd heard while walking on the streets, and it was recorded and brought to the Resistance.

We knew Chip was looking for me.

Despite that, I started to get an urge to return to my normal life. I became desperate to stop living my life in constant fear of Chip Revvington. Even after I'd escaped, my life was still all about him. I had to constantly live in the shadows and sneak around because Cog forbid somebody spill the beans to him about where I was. I wasn't allowed to trust anybody- not even my old friends. I had no way of knowing if they'd tell Chip. But, after me begging and pleading for long enough, I was allowed to start roaming the streets and doing ToonTasks again. I was strictly forbidden from going to Bossbot HQ or Acorn Acres, but it wasn't like I wanted to go there anyways. They reminded me too much of Chip, and they were incredibly dangerous places to be because the chances of spies was much higher there.

...

I walked down the streets of Daffodil Gardens, humming a tune to myself as I watered the flowers that were growing on the sides of the street. I heard the chiming of a bell, which let me know that Benjamin was nearby, but I didn't pay much attention to it. I was on the grass, so I'd be safe even if he wanted to pick a fight. I continued to carelessly walk along the grass, watering more-

I was suddenly pulled aside into an alleyway. I let out a surprised yelp and said, "Hey, what's your prob... oh Cog."

"Cinnamon... It's you... I've finally found you again...!!!" Chip picked me up, holding me tightly to his chest. He let out a content sigh, and then started to laugh, "You have no idea how hard I've been looking for you. You didn't leave me, right? You were kidnapped by those... Toons, right? You... You kept your promise, right?"

I wanted to scream and struggle around, but I knew it was useless at this point since I'd been caught. Trying to fight back tears, I forced myself to welcome his embrace and say, "Yes... I kept my promise. I didn't leave on my free will."

"Good... That's good... Yes, Cinnamon wouldn't leave me. You promised me. But that's okay because we've been reunited now. Cog, I missed you. Let's go home, okay?" Chip held me tighter as he started to use his propeller, and I knew I'd be brought back to his house.

That was the last day I ever got to step foot outside of Chip Revvington's house.

But it was okay. I realized the other Toons were wrong and they'd been the ones brainwashing me. Chip was meant for me and he was just keeping me safe from them because they didn't understand true love.

Chapter Text

26. May, 2023

Introduction

This is my first entry in this journal. I don't really know how to write a diary or whatever? Well, I guess I just start writing about why I started a journal in the first place.

It's about these letters I keep getting in the mail from a "secret admirer." It's been happening for a while now and at first they were kind of sweet. I didn't know who it was and I talked to some of my closest friends about it, but we didn't think much of it other than some simp is just too scared to say it to my face or even admit who they are. We kind of giggled to ourselves and joked that maybe it was someone like Flippy or Rain, but we knew it wasn't actually them. It was just silly banter.

I got another one in the mail a few days later, and when I compared the handwriting it was the same so I knew it was from the same person. I told my friends about it and we decided to actually try to find out who it was. We wrote down every single Toon I could think of that I'd ever interacted with, and we started crossing names off one by one as we went down the list and decided who it could possibly be. If we weren't sure, we left their name open to come back to it later.

A couple of days later, I got yet another letter from them saying they'd overheard our conversation in Daffodil Gardens and how cute it was that I was trying to figure out who it was but conveniently didn't add them to the list. They also said they would come forward if I guessed correctly. At first I thought it was one of my two friends who were helping me write the list, but both of them denied it so I started trying to think outside the box. I was stumped, and none of my friends could think of anyone else it could possibly be.

And then, a few more days later, I got another letter saying it was a Cog.

My whole world feels like it's been flipped on its head. How could a Cog have a crush on me? Toons and Cogs aren't supposed to be friends, and I know some are anyways, but I'm not. The closest is that I've kind of had a few conversations with some of those managers, but it was just idle chatter when neither of us wanted to fight and they were on break. I didn't even know they got breaks, but I digress.

What the hell am I supposed to do with this new information?

30. May, 2023

The List Starts

I got another letter from this Cog, so I asked my friends to teleport to me and we read it together. They dropped more hints and said they were a male, a manager, and that they often see me walking around on the streets of a certain playground.

So now we know it's got to be one of these Cogs:

• Buck Ruffler, the Duck Shuffler.
• We debated about this one a little bit since he uses he and she, but we also decided it could be Mary Anna, the Deep Diver.
• Alton Crow, the Land Acquisition Architect. His security cameras all over Barnacle Boatyard means he could be using those.
• Benjamin Biggs, the Bellringer.
• Cathal Bravecog, the Multislacker. We realized that he has security cameras and Sellbot HQ could be considered a playground, especially by a Cog who maybe doesn't know exactly what we consider a playground.
• Flint Bonpyre, the Firestarter. We really don't think it's him since he's apparently in a relationship with Graham Payser.
• Spruce Campbell, the Treekiller.
• Tawney Esta, the Featherbedder. Once again we debated a little bit since they use just about any pronouns, but we chose to play it safe.

I did think about just confronting all of them with the letters and accusing them one by one until one of them admitted to it, but I decided against it since that's, like, REALLY embarrassing. I also don't wanna get a bunch of gossip about me spreading around.

My friends and I tried to think about who it most likely was, and we could only agree on the fact it probably wasn't the Firestarter or the Multislacker.

4. June, 2023

He's a Creep!

He knows about the conversation I had with my friends in my estate when we were discussing who we thought it was. That's freaking creepy! I got another letter today where he said he admired our 'continued efforts' to figure out who he was, and then he said my next hint was that he'd listened to our entire conversation at my estate. To prove he did, he recited word for word some of the things we'd said.

I immediately teleported to my friend Glowstick and showed them the letter. They said it was really creepy and offered to let me stay at their place to hopefully get away from whoever it was, and I agreed. If they were spying on me, this whole "secret admirer" thing has gone from cute and kind of fun to really creepy and I need to figure out who it is for my own safety. After all, how am I supposed to run from them if I don't even know who they are?

I grabbed all the letters from my drawer along with the list, and then I teleported to several playgrounds before finally teleporting to my actual destination- Glowstick's estate. We laid out all the letters and ranked who our top suspects were from most suspicion to least suspicion- and we even asked Professor Pete for information on each of the Cogs after explaining the situation. Here's our new list:

• Benjamin Biggs. He's known for eavesdropping and Professor Pete was even able to pull out a disciplinary record where he was caught looking through a mailbox or something. I've got a bad feeling it's this guy, I'm like 80% sure of it.
• Alton Crow. His cameras all over Barnacle Boatyard just rubbed us the wrong way, especially with how he'd have the energy to do something shady with it.
• Buck Ruffler. He's just really random and we never really know what he's up to.
• Spruce Campbell. This is where we start to think it's probably not them, but we decided compared to the rest of the Cogs he was more likely than they were. We honestly didn't really know where else on the list to stick him.
• Mary Anna. We also just don't know much about her.
• Cathal Bravecog. He's got cameras like that Alton guy, but he just doesn't really seem to care enough to be that creepy. He's too lethargic.
• Tawney Esta. They sleep 95% of the time, how could he even find the time to do this?
• Flint Bonpyre. Dude's literally in a relationship with another Cog and he's too soft spoken to have the confident voice the letters have.

5. June, 2023

He's a STALKER

Benjamin Biggs is a fucking stalker. He came forward in a letter addressed to GLOWSTICK'S house with MY name on the envelope and said that not only was it him, but he still knew where I was and thought it was 'humorous' that I was trying to hide from him. He also said he 'inquired' about what I've been writing in my journal and that he'd like to read it to 'get inside my head.'

I don't know what to do anymore. I'm not safe in Glowstick's house and I don't want to put them in danger, but I also don't wanna be left alone in my estate. Who knows what he'd be willing to do now that he's gone and admitted to the fact he's a stalker?

Me and Glowstick borrowed a bug finder from Professor Pete and bug checked myself, themselves, our stuff, and even our houses and we couldn't find anything. So we tried our entire estates, but we still couldn't find anything. We think he's actually physically there in person and listening to our conversations because how else would he be eavesdropping if it's not through any bugs placed around our estate? So we called up a favor of some other Cogs- which cost us a LOT of Cogbucks to convince them to do something for Toons AND keep it hush hush from everyone else. But in the end, we got motion sensors that will pick up when Cogs move through them and sound off an alert, even if they try to fly really high to avoid it! We placed them all over Glowstick's estate and placed the alarm in their house, so now I guess we just wait to see if the Bellringer is stupid enough to come back here.

6. June, 2023

Scary Shit

Last night was scary.

He came here. He actually came here and got inside Glowstick's house. And it was while both of us were sleeping. I woke up to the alarm ringing, and in my groggy state I didn't wanna get up to deal with it since I'd forgotten what it was for in the first place so I just turned the other way and tried to cover my ears. But, it just kept getting louder and louder and waking me up more and more. And that's when I remembered that was for the motion sensors, and I realized it was getting louder and louder because more sensors were getting set off.

I sat up, and at the same exact time I heard the alarm fall completely silent. I turned to the alarm, and there he was... Benjamin Biggs was standing in Glowstick's house. Holding the alarm. I screamed and told him to get out, and I threw my wedding cake at him. He staggered back a little bit but he didn't quite fall over, and he wiped some frosting off of himself. He said he wasn't gonna hurt me or Glowstick and then said he didn't like us trying to keep him away.

Then, he broke the alarm.

He literally just threw it on the ground and used his foot to smash it into tiny pieces.

So I ran up to him and grabbed him by the collar of his suit and slammed a birthday cake in his face. While he was kind of dazed, I ran into Glowstick's room to wake them up. But their bed was empty. I was all alone with the Bellringer.

I turned around and he was behind me, clearly about to grab me. I backed away quickly and threw my second birthday cake, but he jumped to the side and dodged it. It splattered all over Glowstick's wall. I don't really remember the details after that, but I used a lot of my other gags and managed to get out of the house. I don't know if he was following me because I didn't even bother to look back, I just kept running. I got lost at some point, but I just teleported to Mezzo Melodyland so I'd hopefully be a little bit safe.

Like an hour later, Glowstick whispered to me and asked me what the hell happened and where I was and if I was okay. So I told them what happened and asked where they were, and they said one of their friends had asked for help with a late night fight with the Pacesetter and it'd gone horribly wrong and they had to try several times before finally defeating him.

Tonight we're gonna spend the night with Professor Pete.

10. June, 2023

Stays With the Professor

The first few nights with Professor Pete were fine, and I actually started to feel safe. But then today I had a letter addressed to me, and I immediately recognized that Bellringer's handwriting on the envelope. I debated on just throwing it away, but Professor Pete convinced me to read it so I might know what he's up to and be able to gauge how much danger I'm in and plan accordingly. So I read it.

Apparently it took him a few days to find me here, so that means if I move around then I'm at least safe for a few days. So I told Professor Pete my thoughts... through a note conversation strategically away from all windows. Just in case someone was listening. I asked him where he thought I should go, and he recommended I ask the most possibly estranged Toons to me since the Bellringer won't think to check with those Toons for a long, long time.

Then, Professor Pete told me that he'd also told the Resistance about what was going on and that they'd agreed to help keep me safe so I should communicate my plans with them so they can help out. So, I ate the notes me and Professor Pete sent to each other to get rid of the paper trail and then gave Lord Lowden Clear a note explaining my plans. I told him to make sure to only show it to Resistance members away from windows, and to have somebody eat the paper when everyone who needed to see it had seen it and under no circumstances have it last overnight because Bellringer would probably find it and read it.

So I teleported to Acorn Acres and asked a random shopkeeper if I could spend the next few nights in their shop and explained the situation to them, and I showed them my growing pile of letters. They agreed to let me stay in their shop, so I found a place in their supply closet (which has no windows!) to stay put for a while. I also told them that if any letters addressed to me show up, I need to read them ASAP because it probably means I have to leave ASAP. They said that wouldn't be an issue, so here I am. In a supply closet. Hiding from Benjamin Biggs.

How did I even get here? A part of me feels ridiculous for running all around Toontown, but at the same time I know he's a real stalker. I literally saw him INSIDE GLOWSTICK'S HOUSE. I don't know why he was there or what he was planning to do, and I don't know if I want to know.

I just want this whole ridiculous thing to end.

22. June, 2023

Supply Closet

He still hasn't found me yet. I think I may have officially made him lose track of me, and I've considered going out of hiding. But I also know it's only been basically 2 weeks, which isn't really a long time. So I think I'll wait it out just a little bit longer and see how things go.

It's been a while since I've even seen the sun. Man, that's sad. I had to ask the shopkeeper what day it was because I didn't even know. Has it really been nearly two weeks already? I kinda started to lose track of time. I just started sleeping and being awake whenever, since there's no windows to tell me when it's day or night and the shopkeeper doesn't really need to get anything from their closet.

I think I'm going a little crazy in here.

1. July, 2023

I'm Worried

The shopkeeper told me today was the first of July. Wow, time flies! Ha. Not really. Maybe? I don't really know anymore. Well, either way, I still haven't been found out yet. I actually think this might have been the right call to make.

Do my friends even know where I am? Did the Resistance tell them? Maybe it's for the best they don't know. Benjamin Biggs might get that information out of them somehow. But I feel bad they don't know. Do they think he kidnapped me? Are they looking for me? I don't know anymore.

Maybe, just maybe... I should reach out to them? None of them have whispered to me, so I'm not really sure. Maybe they know what's going on and just don't want someone to eavesdrop.

I think I'm going to ask the shopkeeper to send a letter to Glowstick on my behalf.

3. July, 2023

I Have to Run

Glowstick was so happy to hear back from me. They said the Resistance told them that I'd gone away into hiding from the Bellringer and were trying not to worry, but seeing a letter from me in MY handwriting saying I was okay was everything they needed to hear.

Apparently Benjamin visited their house and demanded to know where I was and even threatened violence on them, but he realized they genuinely didn't know and gave up and left. They haven't heard anything since, and they even tried to spy on Benjamin to see if he was on my trail but they actually couldn't find him, like, anywhere.

Then, they warned me to be careful because the fact they had an address to send a letter to means that the Bellringer might have seen it if they intercepted the mail at any point in time. They advised me to run to a new place immediately.

4. July, 2023

Hiding in Plain Sight... Kinda

I told the Resistance via notes what my new plans were, and then I left the Acorn Acres shopkeeper for good.

I had this genius day of hiding in my own estate. Surely with me running around everywhere, he won't think to check back here? And, even if he does, I'm hiding in my wardrobe so I'm completely out of sight.

I guess now I just sit and wait it out. I can at least see the passage of time through the tiny slit between the doors, though. That means I can count the days starting from today so I don't lose track. I didn't hear or see anything from the Bellringer, but I wanted to take Glowstick's advice and get out of there instead of waiting for him to let me know he knew where I was.

12. July, 2023

Risky Spot

Today, I heard him walking inside my house.

I was thinking to myself about a fun memory me and Glowstick had a couple years ago when I suddenly heard the front door of my house opening. I froze up and stayed perfectly still, and I could hear that damn bell muttering to himself. He sounded insane. Apparently he's unhinged because he can't find me and was using my estate as a way to help him calm down just enough to get back to work.

I could hear him ringing his bell a lot and going through some of my stuff, and I was starting to get really worried he'd open my wardrobe and find me.

Somehow, he didn't.

I'm not sure if I should consider my estate a "safe haven" anymore because he's clearly using it as his own, but he also clearly didn't even think I might have been less than 10 feet from him. I think I'm safe for at least a few more days. Plus, I don't even know where I'd go.

16. July, 2023

The Bellringer is INSANE

He found me today. He opened the damn wardrobe.

Seeing his eyes widen and then suddenly being trapped in his arms and hearing his bell ring so loud my ears were ringing was... not a fun experience.

I almost got away, but he stepped around the quicksand at the last second and caught up to me. And he trapped me in my own freaking house!

Okay, I think I need to back up and write that in more detail. I'm just still processing everything that's happened to me.

Well, anyways, it started when I heard the door to my house open. He started talking to himself about how he wanted to cook me a meal or something, I think? I dunno, I can't really remember. Anyways, he started going through my stuff again. I thought he was about to leave when suddenly he said to himself that he wondered what clothes I was even wearing, and that since he knew what all my clothes were he could use process of elimination. I stuck out my hand to push the wardrobe door open and run away so I wasn't caught in a space where I couldn't run away, but he opened the wardrobe at that exact second.

I still remember so clearly the way he looked at me. At first, I could tell he was confused. And then I could see him look so, so relieved and happy. And then he was excited and his eyes widened. He grabbed me and hugged me tight and started ringing his bell really really loud, and I struggled around and tried to get away. Eventually I did manage to get free, and I threw a trapdoor down behind me as I ran out of my estate. I heard him fall down the trapdoor, and that bought me enough time to get outside and start running away as fast as I could.

I realized he was chasing me and that he was faster than me by a LOT, so I threw down a quicksand and kept going. I heard one of his shoes get sucked in, but then I heard him force it out and keep chasing me. I tried to bring out my portable hole so I could just run back to a playground, but as soon as I threw it on the ground and got ready to jump in I was pulled back.

He brought me back to my house, making me leave my portable hole right there in the meadows just outside my estate. And then he LITERALLY chained me up inside. Like, what the fuck? This man is INSANE. He CHAINED me up! CHAINS!!! In my own house!

He tried to talk to me, but I won't talk to him. Even if he rings that stupid bell of his super loud. At the very least, he left once it got late because he had to go to his actual house. That's how I'm writing this now or else I just know he'd look over my shoulder the entire time or just take my notebook so he could read everything.

21. July, 2023

Fuck You

Today he said if I still didn't wanna talk, we could write. So he wrote me a note and passed it to me. I ripped it up and looked away.

I'm trying to think of a way to escape. But I can't write the details in this notebook just yet in case he gets his hands on it. I can't even trust this notebook to keep my secrets anymore.

I hate you, Benjamin Biggs. I hate you so fucking much and I hope you ARE reading this so you know how much I fucking hate you. You've ruined my life. I can't even remember what a normal fucking life feels like anymore, how fucked up is that? I can't even remember it anymore! All because of YOU. You selfish, vile, disgusting degenerate. I hope that bell head of yours falls off and you die a horrible death.

24. July, 2023

FUCK YOU

Guess what? Just as I thought, this idiot DID want to read my notebook. So he read it while I was asleep last night and I woke up with him holding it in his hands and a smug expression on his face. He seemed to find the last chapter amusing, apparently. And he said he'd "charm all my woes away."

This guy is delusional and needs to get a hold of himself.

Hello again, Benjamin Biggs. I know you're reading this now. I still fucking hate you and I will remind you of this every chance I get.

25. July, 2023

Cinnamon, it's quite unfortunate you have this perception of me. Since you still seem quite adamant about not speaking with me, I hope you shall want to engage through the only means I can think of: your journal. Your ideas that I'm "crazy" and "insane" fail to take into record just how deeply I care for you and why I became like this to start. I wish to do no harm upon you, and it's a shame my advances have seemed to do just that.

I truly love you, even if you think not. I can't stand the thought of you running away again and hiding from me for so, so long. I looked everywhere I could think of, and when I still didn't find you I became worried for your well-being. I want nothing more than to hear your wonderful voice and have ourselves a proper conversation. It could be about anything, but if I must compromise with your writing then that's how it has to be.

27. July, 2023

I know you read the note I left for you. Why do you wish to rob me even of this form of communication?

28. July, 2023

Cinnamon, please stop crossing out my words. Please respond.

30. July, 2023

Stories and Songs

That fucking asshole found a way to make me speak out loud. Out. Loud. And I know he's gonna read this entry and smile to himself like he achieved some great thing, so I'm not even gonna bother trying to pretend he's not reading these. Hello, Benjamin. I hope you're proud of yourself. You probably are.

I'm not gonna put down how or why he did it because I don't wanna give him that extra bit of satisfaction of hearing my point of view of it. Why don't I just write some nonsense garbage in here that's NOT about him? That sounds lovely.

Once upon a time there was a Toon named Kitchen Sink. Kitchen Sink was quite the silly Toon, and everyone loved him because of his ridiculous name. Everyone wanted to be his friend, and he was okay with this because he loved being friends with everyone.

Okay, maybe never mind that. I suck at writing stories. The sentences are literally repeating themselves. Maybe I should try writing a song?

Gotta get to the gag shop, (7)

So I said let's hop! (5)

Right to it,

Never mind that too. I don't even know where I was going with it. But at least it wasn't about HIM.

Those were cute, I quite enjoyed reading them. You should continue them and try again. STFU Benjamin.

31. July, 2023

Chainsaw Consultant

I remember one time when me and Glowstick were fighting the Chainsaw Consultant and we had the worst luck imaginable. It started with phase 2 when we were about to trigger chain linked, but my lure missed while everyone managed to hit with their throws so he used aggrandize instead. I decided to throw a 40% toon-up unite and try to have all 4 of us hit him again so we could raise his RPM and try again, but that time ALL of our gags missed. He used spark plug and was literally barely still in aggrandize range, so we had to deal with ANOTHER aggrandize.

Glowstick wanted to re-soak him since he was out of aggrandize range, so they used a storm cloud and the rest of us used rocks. The Chainsaw Consultant managed to dodge the cloud and 2 of the rocks! And so he used spark plug... leaving him almost at throttle range.

We managed to make it out of there somehow and that was even when Glowstick got his sticker, but I still remember that moment so vividly. Wild times. Hopefully soon I'll get out of here and have more moments like that.

You don't need to have such dangerous battles anymore. You're safe here with me.

3. August, 2023

FUCK. YOU.

I've had it up to just about here with Benjamin. And you know what? Just to make sure you can't write in the little margins anymore, I'm gonna fill it up with bullshit.

FUCK YOU BENJAMIN BIGGS I FUCKING HATE YOU AND I HOPE YOU DIE A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH FUCK YOU!!!

4. August, 2023

I can simply author my own entries if you insist on keeping me out of the margins of yours. Ironically, your attempts at seeing less writing from me has resulted in you reading more of it. Are you so sure you truly hate me? Are there any feelings you might be repressing?

I will leave my margins open for your comments, though I'd much prefer an entire entry. You're still quite stubborn on speaking out loud even after so much progress has been made.

5. August, 2023

10 days left.

Until what, love?

6. August, 2023

9 days.

7. August, 2023

8 days. I wonder if this notebook will ever be recovered by anyone.

What are you planning?

8. August, 2023

7 days. Benjamin keeps trying to pressure me to tell him out loud what it is I'm planning, but I won't tell him. He'll probably be on high alert the entire time regardless of what I tell him, even if it was a complete lie or nothing at all.

9. August, 2023

6 days. Sometimes I wonder to myself if my Toon life really made much of an impact at all. Did I really matter to anyone except a few individuals? Not really. Did those individuals do anything important or noteworthy because of me? No. So my life was really just meaningless this entire time. Ha.

10. August, 2023

5 days. I wish I'd planned for it to happen sooner.

11. August, 2023

4 days. Benjamin is getting increasingly erratic and he's actually starting to scare me. He thinks I'm planning on killing myself and has basically put me on suicide watch. Don't really know how he expects a Toon, which are historically very tough to kill, to kill themselves when they're chained up inside a house but okay, go off I guess. Fucking idiot.

12. August, 2023

3 days. It's so close and yet so, so far.

13. August, 2023

2 days.

14. August, 2023

Tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day it finally happens. I won't even give him the light of day in this fucking notebook by talking about all the shit he's doing. Anyways, it's tomorrow.

15. August, 2023

I can't believe I've actually done it. I know I did, and yet... I still feel like I'm in complete shock. Benjamin Biggs has been arrested for kidnapping me and holding me hostage in my own house, and there's almost no way he won't be found guilty.

I secretly snuck a letter into Benjamin's "send" pile when he wasn't looking that was addressed to Glowstick. Since there's like 500 letters in there, he doesn't check them and just drops it all off into a mailbox for Postmaster Pete to mail out to Toons and Cogs alike. Supposedly he's already gone and checked them all because he had to write each letter for his job, after all. Anyways, this letter to Glowstick told them to wait every single night outside my estate. If Benjamin left anywhere between 21:00 and 22:00, the coast was clear and they could come inside and we could talk. Otherwise, they were to head home and try again the next day.

I got them to get the Toon police involved, and with their help I bugged my own house to gather evidence to use in the courtroom. They also told me to keep writing in my journal in ways that'd provoke Benjamin, but I could only take so much of that before I just kind of melted inside. I tried.

With all the letters I've kept from Benjamin, this has got to be a slam dunk case. At least, I'd hope so. I need him behind bars forever so I can live a normal life and not have to worry about him coming back for me.

Chapter Text

"We wouldn't have all greened if you'd just listened to me! I told you to use a trapdoor!" Glowstick jabbed a finger into my chest.

"Well, we didn't have enough time for me to change my gags! By the time I started grabbing it, those Cogs were already moving again!" I shoved them away and out of my personal space, and they staggered a little but quickly caught their balance. This whole argument was stupid in the first place.

"You had like three solid seconds before they started moving! That was plenty of time!" Glowstick huffed, returning the shove but with enough force to send me to the ground. My laff meter drained to zero instantly.

I stood up and dusted myself off, trying to hide the tears that were now building up. I looked away and scoffed, "Whatever."

Then, I quickly teleported away to a random playground. I ran into the streets, still trying to hold back my tears. It was becoming more and more difficult, and I knew I was gonna burst into a fit of crying soon. Not wanting anyone to see, I ducked into an alleyway and hid behind a trash can just as I couldn't hold it back anymore and burst into complete sobbing.

Only a couple minutes later, I heard someone ask me, "Are you okay, dear? What happened?"

I didn't bother to look up to see who it was, and instead sniffled out, "Go away. I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine. It's okay, you can tell me what's wrong," the stranger gave me a small pat on the head.

Slowly, I decided to look at them. I recognized the pants of a Lawbot suit instantly, and my eyes trailed upwards to see that the stranger was none other than the Mouthpiece. A Cog... was asking me what was wrong? This couldn't be right.

"Do you think I'm stupid? You just wanna pick on a sad Toon," I snarled, reaching into my pocket for a piano.

"Heavens no! If I wanted to do that, I'd have already sent you back to the playground with negative laff. I'm just here to help," Mouthpiece seemed sad that I'd even accused her of trying to green me even more than I already was.

"...Fine, I'll tell you what happened. But you have to promise not to tell anyone," I sighed.

"I promise," Mouthpiece spoke in a voice that indicated she wanted me to keep talking.

"Okay, well... I have a friend named Glowstick. And I got into a fight with them because I accidentally got us all greened in a boss fight near the end and we'd been having a really good run until then. I pushed them and they pushed me back, but harder... and I got so sad from it that I greened right there. So I just ran to a random playground to go cry alone and that's how I got here," I explained quietly.

"I'm sorry to hear that, getting into arguments is really tough," Mouthpiece reached into her pocket and grabbed a bag, taking out a cookie from it and handing it to me, "They're not fresh anymore since I baked them this morning, but it might help you feel a little better."

I hesitated a bit before taking the cookie and eating it. I could distinctly taste Cog ingredients like cinnamon flavored tar and even a little bit of motor oil, but somehow I didn't mind it because it actually tasted... good? Like, really good. I didn't even know it was possible for a Toon to enjoy Cog ingredients.

I felt my laff meter gain a single point, which was just enough to bring me out of my sadness. I managed to say a small, "Thank you."

"Of course! ...You know, you're welcome to ask me to bake you anything at any time. I'd be more than happy to make it for you!" Mouthpiece 'smiled,' if that was even possible with her anatomy. But I could tell it was a smile.

"Wait, what?" I kind of stammered a bit. This was coming from absolutely nowhere.

"Anyone, Toon or Suit, is welcome to try my baking," Mouthpiece kind of laughed a bit.

"Why though? Toons and Cogs are supposed to hate each other," I gave her a confused look.

"No young whippersnapper is gonna tell me I can't be nice to someone who needs it!" Mouthpiece huffed a bit, and from the way she was talking I could tell she was talking about somebody else. Did she mean... her boss, the CLO? ...The Chairman??? I didn't know their exact ages but I assumed they weren't much younger than the Mouthpiece if they were in such high places on the corporate ladder.

"Wait, so... how long have you been making sweets for random Toons?" I suddenly asked.

"Ever since I got this position of street manager," Mouthpiece chuckled a bit, "I can still remember my first day in this position like it was yesterday. I ran into a brown rabbit who looked just like you and he was crying his poor heart out. Said he'd... oh, sorry dear, I'm rambling on."

"You can finish your story, I'm kind of interested now," I admitted a bit awkwardly.

Mouthpiece seemed a bit surprised, but a couple seconds later she continued, "This poor rabbit said he only had a week left to live. His ink was leaking, and there was no way for the Toon doctors to fix that. I tried to help him feel a little at ease by giving him sweets every day, and for the next couple weeks I saw his color get more washed out every day. And then one day he didn't show up and I never saw him again... I hope he's in a better place now."

"I think you ran into my brother," I awkwardly stammered out after a while. After a few more seconds, I added, "Was his name Oregano?"

"Yes," Mouthpiece seemed a little surprised.

"Then it was probably my brother... Every day he ran off somewhere, and we just chalked it up to his leaking disorder getting the best of him mentally or him trying to cope with his pending death. It's... kind of reassuring that somebody was actually helping him cope," I looked at Mouthpiece and mouthed a 'thank you.'

Several weeks later...

I still haven't spoken to Glowstick since we had our falling out. I tried a couple of times to whisper to them, but they never responded. Belle suggested I give up, move on, and consider that friendship to have sailed. It's been really hard to live without my best friend, but I found myself relying on Belle more and more for my friendship needs. I even started visiting her house sometimes, which was lovely blue manor full of antiques and children's toys. You could tell in a heartbeat which items belonged to her and which belonged to her grandchildren. However, due to the fact that Toons and Cogs weren't supposed to get along, we often hung out in her basement that she otherwise rarely used. It was away from her family members, so if anyone suddenly came over then it was a safe place for me to hide.

Today, I was at Belle's house and enjoying some tea with her. She experimented with some Toon ingredients I brought her since she said me eating Cog ingredients all the time wasn't healthy, and it did taste a little weird but it was progress.

"I'm starting to think Cog water is way different from Toon water. Honestly, we should like, get a testing kit or something. Since you guys only use it to wash dishes and stuff I feel like it's probably way less regulated and more polluted," I suddenly said.

"That idea never crossed my mind, but now that you mention it, that could be the reason you still think the tea tastes off... It could also be the heavy metals on the cup getting into your tea. It's nutritional for Cogs but I can't imagine a Toon would find it healthy or appetizing!" Belle gave me an apologetic smile.

"So then next time I bring my own dishes and my own water and we try again, no biggie. I've already had like a million Cog products so what's one more gonna do? Worst that happens is I get greened from the inside out or something, and that's easily cured," I chuckled.

"I hope it's not too rude of me to ask, but... doesn't that stuff get stuck in your body and cause problems? You've always spoken like the oil, tar, kerosene, lead, nickel, and other foreign objects can be easily removed or don't hurt your health. It's made me start to worry a lot, especially with how much you've been consuming lately," Belle looked away, clearly embarrassed about asking such a personal question.

"Huh? Does that happen to Cogs or something? 'Cause for Toons that's just not really a thing. Even if something does manage to get stuck in our tummies, we just cough it up cartoon style. And anything small enough to pass through gets passed through. Nothing really sticks around or accumulates or whatever you're thinking of," I giggled a bit.

"Oh, really? That's... quite a relief," Belle couldn't help but laugh and sigh in relief that she wasn't slowly poisoning me.

We talked and chatted for several hours with Belle making more tea and with me even trying to help her make some cookies- on the condition that I looked away when she added the special ingredient. Eventually, it got really late without us even noticing until we started to get tired.

"Wow, it's already 11 PM... heh. Time flies! But I should probably go home now," I awkwardly smiled at Belle.

"That's alright, dear. If you'd like to make the trip when you're more awake you're welcome to use one of the guest bedrooms," Belle offered, which caught me off guard.

"Oh, uh... are you sure? I don't wanna overstay my wel-"

"Nonsense! They're free for anyone to use," Belle gave me a few head pats, which only made me feel more drowsy. Now I really didn't wanna go anywhere...

"Well, if you say so, then..." I started walking towards one of the guest bedrooms as I yawned.

"Good night, Cinnamon!" Belle called after me.

"Good night," I responded quieter as I entered the nearest guest bedroom.

I'd been in one of her guest rooms before, but never overnight. It was always if I had a phone call and needed privacy or if one of her grandchildren was coming over soon and would want to use something, since I didn't want to make Belle walk over and go get it. She was an older Suit, after all, and I wasn't blind to the rust that was forming on her body. It looked painful for her to even exist, let alone move.

In the darkness, I slowly and methodically removed the sheets from under the pillow and crawled into the bed. It was clean and I could smell the distinct smell of Belle's laundry detergent- a fresh benzene smell. It didn't take long for my eyes to close by themselves since I was so tired, and before I knew it I'd already drifted off into sleep.

I opened my eyes, my stomach growling as I woke up to the smell of freshly made Toon food. Belle, dressed in her work uniform, was holding a tray and walking towards me, and when she noticed me waking up she set the tray aside on a nearby end table and gave me a couple of head pats as I sat up.

"Good morning, Cinnamon! I made you some breakfast in bed since you're probably hungry," Belle gestured to the tray of food, and when I looked I noticed my favorite breakfast foods had been made!

"Wow, uh... thank you, Belle. Heh, erm... I wasn't expecting this," I giggled a bit awkwardly.

Belle chuckled as she picked the tray up again and placed it in my lap, "No amount of hospitality is too much for the Dama family! Dig in before it gets cold!"

I gave out another small chuckle as I picked up a fork and started eating the food, instantly amazed at how awesome it tasted. It was easily the best breakfast I'd ever had in my entire life- possibly the best meal in my entire life.

"This tastes so good! How do you even make food like this?!" I exclaimed in shock and awe.

"The secret is to always cook with love, dear," Belle smiled as she once again refused to tell me her secrets. After a few more seconds, she added, "I have to leave for work in a few minutes. You're welcome to stay as long as you'd like, but just know I won't be home."

Wait, what? That was a serious amount of trust to hand out.

"Are you sure? That's... a lot of trust to just give out," I looked at Belle a little funny.

"I trust you that much, dear. I know you wouldn't harm a fly!" Belle gave me another couple of head pats before turning away, "I've got to leave now. I'll talk to you later!"

"Okay, Belle. Have a nice day at work!" I waved even though she wouldn't see it, and with that Belle left me alone in her house.

I finished my breakfast and brought the tray to the kitchen, rinsing them off and then putting them into the dishwasher. I noticed it was getting full, so I decided to start the dishwasher for her. I already knew how she did it since I'd seen her do it before, so I did it exactly as I'd seen her do it and then pressed the start button. The dishwasher immediately sprang to life, and then I looked for a piece of paper and a pen so I could leave a note to let Belle know I'd washed her dishes for her.

She keeps a lot of stuff in that closet right next to her room, I should look in there. I thought to myself. So, I got up and navigated the hallways until I saw the closet. I opened it and started looking through it to see if there were any paper and pens, though I didn't extensively look since I didn't want to invade Belle's privacy. Right as I was closing the door, a thick book fell onto my head and then fell onto the floor.

"Ow!" I grumbled, looking down and immediately picking up the book so none of the pages would get damaged or bent since it'd landed face down. I adjusted some pages and then carefully closed the book, reading the title only to realize this was Belle's personal diary, dated for this year. Well, I was definitely not going to look at that.

I tried to look for where the book had originally been, and after a few seconds I managed to find a perfectly book shaped slot that I assumed it'd previously been in. As I moved the book, a single page fell out and landed right into my hand as if it wanted to be read. I sighed. Now I have to read this just to figure out where in the journal it's supposed to go. Well, let's see if there's a date here... um... yes, but the day is smudged and I can't read it. You've got to be kidding me. I actually have to read this. Well, at least I know it's in September of this year so it's very recent. That narrows it down to like, three days.

Date: X September, 2023.

I never thought feeling love would be possible after I lost my husband years ago. Now, I find myself falling into the same thought patterns and behaviors I did when I fell in love with him all those years ago. The only difference is now it's a female Toon instead of a male Cog.

I blinked a few times in confusion. Was... was I reading this right? Now I couldn't stop reading.

I can't stop thinking about her and wanting to be around her constantly. I know I'll have to send her home in the morning, but I don't want to. I wish I could let her spend the night in my house every night and check in on her to find her gently sleeping before retiring to my own bedroom for the night. I want to cook every meal for her so I know she's eating well and to show her how much I care. I want to embrace her in my arms and tell her about these feelings, but I know I shouldn't. She wouldn't reciprocate the feelings of a rusty old lady who doesn't have many years left before she'll become scrap metal for cheap patchwork.

But... those are just the beginning of the thoughts. I realized in my youth that wanting more than that wasn't normal, but for some reason I did anyways. I always have whenever I fell in love- even to my first crush when I was still a little girl no older than seven. That poor girl never understood why I was following her around everywhere, and I didn't either. I thought I just wanted to be her friend since the idea of homosexuality wasn't widespread like it is now. Her parents encouraged her to talk to me since I was so eager to 'make friends,' but she didn't want to because she said I was creepy and weird. I didn't understand back then how my actions were so distasteful.

My husband died never knowing how I truly felt about him. I intend for it to be the same with Cinnamon.

I was left feeling confused, but also a little worried. Was Belle implying in her own diary that she was stalking me? And how the hell did she manage to get a crush on me anyways?

Whatever it was, it was none of my business, right? I placed the page back into the journal and awkwardly went back to looking for a paper and pen, trying to ignore what I'd just read. I didn't want to believe it and nor did I want to look further into it. I'd just carry on like nothing ever happened.

I walked to another closet and opened it, and immediately my feet were covered with... whispers? Wait, what? These were from Glowstick and addressed to... me. To me? Why were they in here? Increasingly worried, I realized as I touched each whisper that I finally started to properly receive them in my chat log and they disappeared from existence in the physical world.

I whispered to Glowstick, "Hello? I'm sorry I haven't talked to you in a while, I wasn't getting any of your whispers. I think something's wrong. Can you try to whisper to me? I don't want us to keep fighting."

A few seconds later, Glowstick whispered back to me, "Cinnamon! Where have you been?! Where are you?! The Toon Resistance said you went missing last night!"

So it appeared in my chat logs, which was good... but I did feel bad about the missing thing and making everyone worry. I whispered back, "Sorry! I, erm... I was spending the night at Belle's house. You know, um... Mouthpiece?"

"WHAT?! Are you okay?! Did she kidnap you?!" Glowstick whispered back, clearly freaking out.

"No, it's not like that! Well, um... kind of? Look, it's a long story, can we meet in person so I can tell you everything?" I whispered back.

"Yes! Let's go to Drowsy Dreamland, I'll be there as soon as I'm done with this Multislacker fight."

"Glowstick?" I couldn't help but grin when I saw them for the first time in weeks.

"Cinnamon! It's been a while," Glowstick ran over and hugged me, which I gladly returned. After we pulled away, they asked, "So how'd you end up spending the night with Mouthpiece?"

I started from the beginning, from when I broke down crying and how me and Belle slowly became friends after that and how I eventually even started to visit her house. I finished off by telling them about how I spent the night, she left for work, and then how I stumbled across her journal and all the whispers I assumed she'd been keeping from me on purpose somehow.

"Holy shit, that lady's crazy! We are never going to Mezzo Melodyland ever again," Glowstick huffed.

"Yeah, I don't wanna fuck around and find out with whatever the hell she's got going on," I cringed at the thought of finding out the hard way or after it was too late.

"Glad we can agree on that. So, uh, anyways, wanna get some ice cream and forget about life?" Glowstick offered.

"Yes!" I grinned.

Suddenly, my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out and said, "Hold on, somebody's calling me."

I unlocked my phone to see the contact name Belle Dama on the top of my screen. I showed it to Glowstick, and they hesitantly pressed, 'Answer' for me while gesturing that I was gonna talk and they'd stay silent.

"Hello?" I tested the line.

"Cinnamon! I noticed the whispers I'd stashed away completely gone when I came to my house for my lunch break... I guess you know now," Belle sounded guilty.

"Yes, I do," I gave Glowstick a scared look.

"That's okay, dear. We can still have tea nights at my house," Belle chuckled, starting to sound unhinged.

"Um... no thank you," I awkwardly said.

"Don't worry dear! I'll make sure you're punctual tonight."

The line cut off.

Chapter Text

Someone's been watching me. It's not like me to be so paranoid and all my friends have basically abandoned me at this point for being 'too weird,' but I know I'm not imagining things. I keep feeling like somebody's watching me, but when I look around I'll only see a random Cog or something. Even when I found a camera hidden inside my own house, my friends said I was making it up and that I wasn't being stalked by anyone. Such good friends they are.

Enough about my ex-friends.

I still have one good friend, and he's been helping me out with the emotional fallout of this entire situation. His name is none other than Cathal Bravecog. He says he doesn't like thinking too hard about whether or not I really might have a stalker, but he's always here to listen if it helps me feel better. Recently he's started to act a little strange, though, so I've been pretty worried about him. He just waves away my questions when I ask what's wrong and tells me not to worry or that it's boring Cog stuff.

Seeking out my presence,

straining all my senses.

"Hey Cathal, what's up?" I casually said as I walked into his office. I took off my Cog disguise as he turned around, and his default smile seemed to widen just a tiny bit at the sight of me.

"Hey there Cinnamon. I'm just waiting for our show to start... it's on in ten minutes," Cathal said.

"Wow, looks like I got here just in time then. Heh, sorry I'm late by the way. I uh... I was fighting some Cogs," I awkwardly admitted. I hoped he didn't think me fighting Cogs despite our friendship was too weird, since it wasn't like I had to destroy them. He, on the other hand, didn't have much choice in greening Toons.

"I guess you don't have much choice since a lot of things you consider 'fun' have been taken over by the Cogs..." Cathal sighed, "Well, thinking too hard about that kind of stuff is a pain. Come sit down, I'm exhausted just seeing you standing like that."

"Alright," I lightly chuckled and grabbed my chair, which had been tucked away into a corner of the office. Cathal had some Cogs bring in a second chair just for me to sit in whenever I came to visit, and it was easily the comfiest chair I'd ever sat in. I scooted over so I was next to Cathal and we waited for our favorite TV show to start. We made some idle chatter about what we'd been up to lately- Cathal doing absolutely nothing while I'd been doing ToonTasks- but we weren't super engaged about it. And... that's what I liked about him. He was a great friend to help me de-stress since he was so casual and laid-back.

However, I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. Even now, when I was alone with Cathal, I just knew I was being watched.

I think I see you near.

Why did you come back here?

"Hey Cathal, can you get one of the goons to check around the area? I just... I feel like I'm being watched again. Sorry, I know it's stupid, but... well, yeah," I sighed.

"Okay," Cathal casually grabbed his phone and called somebody. A few seconds later he said, "Can you get the goons to do a thorough perimeter check around my office? ...No, I'm fine. ...'Kay. ...Mhm. ...Bye."

The show started a few minutes later, and Cathal got a call that he waited to take until the commercial break started. The perimeter was secure and nothing was found out of place, just as it had been every other time Cathal had made goons check. I was starting to feel like I was going crazy as it seemed more and more likely that there really has been nobody watching me this entire time.

"Do you... um... do you think maybe there never really has been anyone watching me?" I suddenly asked. I'd never had the nerve to ask anyone this question.

"Well... if you found a camera in your house a few weeks ago... then there's a good chance somebody is. I guess... they're just not here right now," Cathal shrugged, "But that's too much to think about... Let's just watch the show. The commercial break is almost over."

Others think you're a phantom,

but I know they can't fathom...

I have a shadow stalker.

"Shit!" I jumped back quickly to avoid walking into the spotlight of the large goon. It had a purple hat and moved incredibly fast... and it was looking for me.

I turned around to see that some Mr. Hollywoods had found my location and were walking towards me, so I ran forwards into the field of goons since that was my best way out. My Shticker book had been left behind, so it was actually my only way out. If I didn't make it, I knew I'd have to face the wrath of the VP all by myself. No gags to help me, no Shticker book to run away... just me stuck in eternal sadness.

Rounding a corner, I immediately ran into the spotlight of a goon. I cried out in pain and sadness as my laff meter took 43 damage, leaving me with 82 laff points remaining. My nose twitched in fear as I kept running, knowing that my best bet was to keep moving as the goon chased after me in an attempt to bring my laff down even lower. I ran down the long hallway before taking another turn, but I quickly backed up as yet another goon started approaching. I turned around only to see the other goon closing in on me.

I was cornered.

Looking as both of the goons rapidly approached me, I attempted to escape their beams by climbing onto a pipe fixture. It creaked under my weight, but it supported me and I managed to climb all the way up to the ceiling. I was safe from the immediate danger, but... how was I supposed to get out of here?

As I looked around for a potential escape route, I heard the sound of goons being disabled and looked down to see that all of the purple goons had magically been disabled. They sat idle, their beams off and their eyes facing the ground. I looked around in confusion to try to figure out why they'd suddenly been powered off, and that's when I spotted him... Cathal Bravecog. He stood with a remote in his hand and looked somewhat ticked off. I'd never seen him even remotely angry.

"I'm surprised you got as far as you did before security found you... This is a dangerous part of the factory for Toons. I don't know why you came here, but... we're leaving," Cathal said.

Carefully, I climbed down the pipes until I was on the ground again and walked towards Cathal. I knew he'd probably seen me running around on the cameras, but that still didn't answer my question of, "Why did you come save me?"

"I got tired of watching you run around, I guess..." Cathal yawned as we walked, "The commute here was too long... I need a remote for the goons that works from my office."

I wasn't at all surprised that a minute walk from his office was too long and said nothing about it. I also didn't tell him that the reason I'd been so deep in the Cog factory was to retrieve blueprints or what the Toon Resistance had planned for Sellbot HQ. I was sure he could probably figure most of it out on his own, anyways.

Footsteps behind me

don't make me worry anymore.

When we got to Cathal's office, he flew into his chair and I hesitantly decided to sit in mine just to take a rest if nothing else. The adrenaline started to slowly wear off and I started to feel drowsy and exhausted after being worried my Toon life had been about to end. I felt safe enough in Cathal's presence that I figured he wouldn't hurt me if I took a nap, and with that... I dozed off.

'Cause when I turn back,

nobody has walked through the door.

"Is there something wrong with me...?"

"...Nope. I'm not malfunctioning. Oh well... I guess I'm imagining things."

"It's no big deal."

"I won't think too much about it."

I jolted upright in my bed as I woke up to the sound of a loud thud. Grabbing my phone, I turned on the flashlight and looked around to see if something had fallen over in my sleep. Nothing looked out of place, so I checked the other rooms in my house. Nothing looked out of place.

Shadow stalker...

Although I was now starting to feel slightly nervous, I swallowed my fear and looked out the window to see if something had happened outside. The trees looked normal and I couldn't see anything that looked out of place when I shined my light through the windows.

That was... until I got to the last window. Somebody was standing outside my house.

Creeping closer...

I froze in complete fear and shock. Whoever it was seemed completely unbothered by the fact they'd been spotted and even waved to me, though from the distance and how generic their figure seemed, it was impossible to tell who it could be or what their facial expression was. Who the hell was at my estate at this hour and why were they just... standing there and watching me?

Was this... my stalker?

Just leave me be!

I decided to once and for all figure out who it was, so I retreated from the window and went to the back door of my house, a piano ready to crush them. I slowly opened the door, but the silhouette had disappeared. I spent the next several hours searching my estate and the surrounding area for any traces of them, even going all the way until the sun was starting to rise. The only clue I had about their identity was a strange purple piece of cloth that had clearly been torn off in a hurry.

I don't know what the hell you are.

I decided to visit Cathal and bring the cloth to ask him about his opinions, but when I got to Sellbot HQ I realized the purple cloth was the exact shade of purple of a Sellbot suit. My stalker had been wearing a Sellbot suit last night. I looked at the cloth, the passing Cogs, the cloth, the passing Cogs... It was definitely from somebody's suit.

At first I thought that meant it had to be a Cog, but I reminded myself that most Toons had a Sellbot disguise. This piece of information hardly narrowed anything down. It could still be virtually anyone. Sighing, I walked to Cathal's office and told him about the cloth and how little it actually helped even after I'd identified the source. He seemed surprised to hear that I'd spotted my stalker, and after that he became more serious about helping me figure out who it was. He even gave me the reports of all Cogs who'd needed suit repairs that morning, but he didn't read any of them since he was too lazy to do that part. His reasoning was that if no Cog needed suit repairs that matched the appearance of the cloth, it was most likely a Toon- and if there was a Cog match, I knew exactly which Cog it was and could deal with them accordingly. I eagerly read through the reports, hoping to see that a Cog, any Cog, had repairs that matched the general appearance of the cloth. Nothing even came close because every single repair detailed things like sewing on new buttons, washing off frosting, or ironing out wrinkles. Not a single report mentioned tears, rips, holes, or anything of that nature.

"I think it's a Toon. There's no Cog reports that even come close to matching it," I said.

"Is there anyone you think might be responsible? Like... maybe someone weird?" Cathal asked.

"No, I don't really know anyone like that," I shrugged, "I have no clue who it could be. All my friends left me because they said I was being ridiculous and I haven't really talked to Toons since then except for ToonTasks and stuff."

"Maybe... you just need more information," Cathal said.

"Yeah, I think so too. I'm probably gonna get some security cameras and stuff for my estate too in case they come back."

I watched the security cameras from my bed, hiding the light from the screen by being under the covers. My curtains were closed and my lights were shut off to give the impression that I'd already fallen asleep long ago. I even had headphones plugged into my tablet so I could hear every tiny bit of audio from my cameras.

Listening for something...

Only to hear nothing.

For several days, I would sit like that for hours upon hours until finally falling asleep from exhaustion as the sun was rising. I was worried my stalker had seen me putting up cameras or something and was purposefully avoiding my estate now that they knew they'd be caught. I'd tried to be as discreet as possible when I'd purchased the cameras and installed them, but I knew whoever was stalking me probably wasn't stupid. They'd managed to evade me for this long, so clearly they knew what they were doing. Maybe they'd been taking this time to try to find some kind of exploit to my cameras. Maybe they already had.

One night, I lost track of time while roaming my estate and ended up being outside as it was getting dark. I kept telling myself not to worry too much because I was still in my estate, but in the back of my mind I still knew that put me in danger. I wasn't safe in my own estate at night time. Keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, I used my phone as a flashlight to navigate the path back to my house as the sun rapidly set.

A twig snapped in some brush off to the side.

Something reaches my ear.

I immediately whirled around to the direction of the sound and walked towards it, not knowing who or what I'd find but wanting to finally put an end to everything.

Why did you come back here?

I could hear whoever it was trying to move away, so I walked faster and faster until I was running and chasing an unknown entity around the woods.

They think I lie about you.

"Who are you?!" I shouted.

What am I supposed to do?

Whoever it was didn't respond and kept running.

I have a shadow stalker.

After a while I started to get tired, and the sound of their footsteps became softer and softer as I realized they were gaining distance. They'd successfully outrun me.

Now I was scared because I realized I was alone in the dark woods on the outskirts of my estate. I didn't know where I was, and I couldn't see the light from my house anywhere. I turned in the direction I thought my house was in and started walking, figuring the worst that could happen was I end up in Acorn Acres since that's where my estate happened to be close to.

That's when I heard it... someone was following me. They were clearly trying not to be heard as they timed their footsteps perfectly with mine and were overall almost entirely silent, but there was definitely somebody following me.

Footsteps behind me

can make me worry once again.

"Please don't run off again... I just want to know who you are," I said out loud, slowing to a halt.

I didn't hear them running off, which was a good sign.

"I'm getting really tired of this. It's mentally exhausting. I can't really say I'm not mad at you since stalking me is pretty creepy, but... I just want to know who the hell you really are," I continued.

Again, they didn't run off.

"I'm gonna turn around now."

'Cause when I turn back...

I turned around to see none other than...

It looks like my remaining friend.

"Cathal...?"

"Yeah... it's me. Sorry I lied to you and stuff... the confrontation was just too much effort," Cathal casually played it off.

"And... running away from me wasn't? You were faster than me and you're not known to be a very fast Cog. Was it that scary to just... tell me?" I suddenly got very confused, "Why the hell have you been stalking me around anyways?"

Cathal sighed and looked away for a few seconds before slowly looking back at me, "Long-winded stories aren't really my thing, so... I guess the short answer is I kinda got a crush on you. Or... whatever the Cog equivalent of that is... I'm not really sure."

"Okay, but... why didn't you just confess to me or something then? Why the stalking?" I pressed for more details. Cathal seemed like the least likely stalker in the history of stalkers!

"Like I said... the confrontation was too much effort. So I just watched you on my cameras and stuff... and then I guess it got worse 'cause I got motivated to get up and walk around and stuff..." Cathal seemed genuinely embarrassed and ashamed of his actions, at least.

"Okay, how about this... I really need to process everything I just heard so I'm gonna go back to bed. And in the morning when I'm finally up for it, I'll go meet you in your office and we can talk about it, okay?"

"Okay," Cathal shrugged, not seeming to care much.

I managed to find my way back to my house, this time hardly even phased by the fact I knew he was still following and watching me. Well, it was still creepy, but at least I knew it was Cathal. He wouldn't actually hurt me, right? He just seemed misguided and kind of... strange, but... surely he had to be safe, right? Out of all the stalkers to get, he was probably the least dangerous.

Shadow stalker...

Creeping closer...

Just leave me be!

I now know who the hell you are.

Chapter Text

"Ooooo, Cinnamon's got a cruuuuuush~" Glowstick smirked as my face only grew even redder.

"Yeah, I get it! You think it's funny I like him," I huffed and crossed my arms, looking away, "Whatever. He's popular and lots of Toons and Cogs like him, I'm not the only one."

"You are the only one named Cinnamon who's my best friend and is currently so red your name should be changed to Tomato," Glowstick giggled.

"Shut up! Don't think I forgot about your crush on Alton," I tried to change the subject.

"The difference between you and me is I'm not embarrassed about my crush and I actually confessed to him. You, on the other hand, have just been stalking Graham for the past six months," Glowstick gestured to his shredder on my back, silently reminding me of the time I managed to convince him to autograph it.

"I don't stalk him! I'm just a big fan and attend some of his concerts..." I grew quiet.

"Then what about the time you spent over ten thousand Cogbucks for that backstage pass?" Glowstick kept teasing me.

"You know I'm loaded with Cogbucks since I infiltrate mints all the time so I can buy Cog products!"

"Then what's your excuse for the time you visited him all by yourself and literally let yourself be greened by him?"

"I was depressed that day already..."

"The time you saw him in public and took a photo of him?"

"He had a whole crowd of paparazzi! I wasn't the only one. Besides, I only took ONE picture!"

"The time you posted that really weird rant on Discord about what you think his personality is like where you had a lot of weird details about his personal life?"

"It's all public information, it's not that weird to know it if you're a fan of someone!"

"The time you personally saw to it that-"

"Noooooo no no no no no no don't finish that!"

"Then admit you stalk Graham Payser," Glowstick raised a brow at me.

"...Ugh, fine, I'm a creepy stalker fan of Graham Payser," I said in a sarcastic tone. I knew I was definitely one of the more dedicated fans, but I also knew there were people genuinely obsessed with him. Sure, my activities weren't necessarily the healthiest all the time, but they weren't the worst out there. I could still have a life without Graham Payser and things might be kinda dull, but I'd cope. Some fans made him their entire life's purpose.

"She thinks she's bad? Ha. Not even close."

Several months had passed since then, and I managed to become friends with none other than the Graham Payser himself. It'd started because of a complete freak accident because I accidentally ran into him- literally- out in public one day. He actually recognized me, and we talked for a few minutes before he gave me his freaking phone number. His freaking phone number!!! I fangirled a lot that night and had a phone call with him on speaker while Glowstick stayed silent just to prove to them I wasn't lying. We talked occasionally until it became more and more frequent, and after a while the initial butterflies began to fade away. I still saw him on a pedestal since he really did have superhuman capabilities with his incredible speed, not to mention how amazing he was at writing and playing music.

As me and Graham became closer and closer friends, Glowstick suddenly started telling me that there was something wrong with him. I asked them what they meant, and they said he was hanging out with me for way too long and that he was starting to kind of control me. I tried to brush them off as just wanting to hang out with me more often again, but when I went on a walk with them I realized they were right. Graham had been subtly leading me into spending more and more time with him and convincing me to spend less and less with my friends, especially Glowstick. I suggested that maybe he wasn't doing it on purpose and Glowstick seemed hesitant, but they agreed that having a civil discussion about it was worth a shot.

I told Graham about my concerns and he seemed genuinely surprised, but he agreed that maybe we could spend a little less time together all the time. He seemed to be genuinely hurt underneath it all, which pained me to see, but at the same time he still held up a confident front and aura and smugly said he'd use the extra time to write a song so good it'd absolutely blow me away with his talents. Glowstick seemed happy with that answer, and the topic was dropped afterwards. Me and Graham hung out a little less frequently, but in quantity we made up for in quality. Or... uh... sometimes just going really fast if Graham wanted to do a lot of stuff that day.

And that brings us to today.

"Ugh... I'm exhausted. How are you still running in place, dude?" I asked.

"Having trouble keeping up? You know we just got past the warm-up, right?" Graham snickered at me. He showed no signs of being tired.

"It's sunset, there's no way you're actually 'just getting past the warm-up.' If you haven't noticed, Toons have a lot of endurance but even I can't keep up with literally sprinting around the city all day," I sighed, my rabbit ears drooping.

"Well, I don't want you to slow me down!" Graham huffed a bit and seemed to only think for a split second before grabbing my hand and sprinting off, "This will work!"

"Woah!! Oh my Cog!!!" I cried out in surprise as Graham almost literally dragged me, him running so fast my eyes physically could not keep up with the scenery around us. It was all a blur and it started to make me dizzy and completely disoriented, and I started to feel sick. Then, my toon panel updated to inform me I had hurry sickness as my laff meter took 35 points of damage.

"You gotta keep up!" Graham taunted me when my laff meter took the hit, slowing down only a little bit for my sake. It was still greatly appreciated as it was just enough for me to keep up enough with what was going on to not feel so sick anymore.

By the time we made it to our destination, my laff meter had regained a few laff points and the hurry sickness was gone. We were at a nice, somewhat fancy restaurant that I'd mentioned once in passing that I'd really like to try some day. Had Graham really remembered that?

Whatever the case was, Graham slowed down to a halt effortlessly while he had to catch me before I fell to the ground since I was not able to stop so easily. Once I was stabilized, we walked inside and got seated. The waiter took our orders, and I wondered how Graham would fare while waiting for the food to arrive. Usually, it was only fast or pre-made meals with him since he'd get so impatient waiting for actual food to cook. The answer? A lot of fidgeting, a lot of fidget toys, a lot of talking really fast to me and then having to repeat himself slower so I could understand him, and right when I thought he was about to break, our food finally arrived.

"Finally!" Graham failed to use proper manners as he immediately started eating.

I sighed and looked at the waiter, "Sorry about him, he's very impatient. Thanks for bringing out our food."

"It's okay! Enjoy your food!" the waiter smiled and then walked away, and I started eating my food... at a much slower rate.

"Woah, what the hell? The sky looks red?!" I rushed to the window to look at the sky, worried there was a huge forest fire or something. As I looked around in concern, I was quickly relieved to discover it’d only looked red from the window because the neighbors had set up a bonfire in their yard along with the fact it was sunset.

But then... I realized the tree next to my window looked... off from my peripheral vision.

I looked directly at the tree only to stare in bewilderment as I saw none other than Graham Payser. I could only stare in complete shock for a few seconds, but after some thinking, I slowly opened the window so I could talk to him.

"Graham? What the hell are you doing in my yard at this hour?" I asked.

"Well, I was gonna knock on the window to scare you, but you randomly went up to the window! So, yeah, plan ruined. Oh well, you still get to see my beautiful looks again~" Graham smirked as he played off the fact he was on my property completely unannounced.

"Uhhh... then why are you carrying binoculars?" I raised a brow.

Graham hid the binoculars behind his back in the blink of an eye and said, "What are you talking about? Did you lose braincells?"

"Were you like, watching me or something?" I ignored his attempts at deflection.

"HA! Do you really think you'd be that important? Don't flatter yourself, Cinnamon. You're lucky I even consider you my friend," Graham laughed at my 'stupidity.'

"Okay, you only get like that when you're really embarrassed or insecure about something. Spill the beans," I said.

Graham only continued to laugh, "Me? Embarrassed and insecure? Now you're getting delusional!"

Just then, a piece of paper fell out of Graham's pocket and landed perfectly on my windowsill. I immediately snatched it up, somehow managing to get there even before Graham despite him sprinting. He tried to reach through the window to get it back, but I shut and locked the window so I could read it in peace. He knocked on the window and tried to get my attention, but I ignored him.

Activity log for 1. October, 2023.

2:07 - Cinnamon went to sleep. I left.

11:01 - I arrived 14 minutes early.

11:15 - Cinnamon woke up to her alarm.

11:17 - Cinnamon started making bacon and eggs for breakfast.

11:46 - Cinnamon finished making breakfast and started eating.

12:03 - Cinnamon finished eating breakfast.

12:06 - Cinnamon finished rinsing off her dishes and got ready for the day.

I only had the heart to glance over the rest as it detailed every single thing I'd done today- even when I left my estate to do ToonTasks. Graham had been… watching me the entire time… and documenting it for some reason.

I looked at the window to see that Graham had taken off his glasses and was staring at me very intensely. After reading what I'd just read, it was incredibly scary... but still kind of hot.

...

...

...

Is that really how it happened?

I blinked in surprise, wondering where that thought had come from. That's literally my memory, though. What do I mean is that really how it happened?

The thought bothered me and I couldn't make it go away as it only got louder and louder. Is that really how it happened?

Is that really how it happened?

What… was happening? What’s wrong with me?!

Suddenly, memories started flooding back to me one after another. They were just like the memories I already had-

Well, not quite?

"Ooooo, Cinnamon's got a cruuuuuush~" Glowstick smirked as my face only grew even redder.

"Yeah, I get it! You think it's funny I like him," I huffed and crossed my arms, looking away, "Whatever. He's popular and lots of Toons and Cogs like him, I'm not the only one."

"You are the only one named Cinnamon who's my best friend and is currently so red your name should be changed to Tomato," Glowstick giggled.

"Shut up! Don't think I forgot about your crush on Alton," I tried to change the subject.

"The difference between you and me is I'm not embarrassed about my crush and I actually confessed to him. You, on the other hand, have just been stalking Dave for the past six months," Glowstick gestured to his saxophone on my back, silently reminding me of the time I managed to convince him to autograph it.

...

I somehow became friends with Graham Payser of all people. It'd started because of a complete freak accident because I accidentally ran into him- literally- out on the streets of Drowsy Dreamland one day. He recognized me from our battles, and we talked for a few minutes before he gave me his... phone number? I wasn't sure why he'd done it, but I decided to just kinda roll along with it anyways. I didn’t really care much for him, but he seemed like he was… maybe genuinely interested in me as a Toon? Whatever the case was, I decided to give him a phone call that night. We talked occasionally until it became more and more frequent, and after a while the initial confusion began to fade away.

As me and Graham became closer and closer friends, Glowstick suddenly started telling me that there was something wrong with him. At first I defended Graham, but the more I started to think about the past couple of months I realized they were right. Graham had been distancing me from all of my friends, especially Glowstick, more and more. I was worried he had much more sinister plans, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and try to have an adult conversation with him about it. If he ended up just being weird about it or something, I could easily go no contact and not look back.

I told Graham about my concerns and he scoffed and told me that Glowstick was just making stuff up out of jealousy. He tried to twist their words and make me doubt Glowstick even cared about me at all, but I immediately called out his bullshit and didn’t bother to look back.

...

Just then, a piece of paper fell out of Graham's pocket and landed perfectly on my windowsill. I immediately snatched it up, somehow managing to get there even before Graham despite him sprinting. He tried to reach through the window to get it back, but I shut and locked the window so I could read it in peace.

Activity log for 1. October, 2023.

2:07 - Cinnamon went to sleep. I left.

11:01 - I arrived 14 minutes early.

11:15 - Cinnamon woke up to her alarm.

11:17 - Cinnamon started making bacon and eggs for breakfast.

11:46 - Cinnamon finished making breakfast and started eating.

12:03 - Cinnamon finished eating breakfast.

12:06 - Cinnamon finished rinsing off her dishes and got ready for the day.

I only had the heart to glance over the rest as it detailed every single thing I'd done today- even when I left my estate to do ToonTasks. Graham had been watching me this entire time… and documenting it for some reason.

I looked at the window to see that Graham had taken off his glasses and was staring at me very intensely. After reading what I'd just read, it was incredibly scary... and I wanted nothing more than to run away. Despite that, with my Toony gloves slightly trembling, I opened the window and asked, "Why... have you been stalking me?"

Graham froze for a moment before suddenly lunging towards me…

…

And my memory cuts out after that.

...

"You can't just leave me hostage in here forever! Do you really think the Resistance won't send Toons looking for me? What are you gonna do about them, huh?" I snarled at Graham, trying to bite his hand as he pet me but he easily moved away in time.

"Do you really think they'll be a match for ME? You know how strong I am, you couldn't even defeat me once," Graham chuckled.

I huffed and defiantly wiggled around in the rope, but I'd already long given up on actually escaping them. Even in the few times I had, Graham had always spotted me and I can't outrun him. It was starting to make me lose hope and also starting to make me wonder if he was letting me escape on purpose just to catch me and make me even more miserable as escape would seem less and less likely. If he was, it was working.

I genuinely wanted to die.

...

I staggered backwards, completely messing up the dance routine and making Graham have to catch me before I fell on my ass. He looked at me with a bit of a scoff and said, "You haven't messed that up, ever. What happened?"

How did I even begin to communicate my conflicting memories?

How did I tell him that some of my memories said he was the hottest boyfriend ever while some of them said he was a dangerous stalker who kidnapped me and forced me into this? What was I even supposed to believe anymore? Which of these… memories of mine are real? Which was fake? Why do I remember two completely different versions of my life? Why can’t I tell which one is real?!

"I... I don't know," I managed to stammer out, instinctively taking steps backwards and away from him. Something was now beginning to feel... eerie and fake.

"Are you okay?" Graham's voice changed into one of concern.

I opened my mouth to respond, but instead I let out a loud gasp as another memory overtook me.

"Hahahaha, you think you don't like me, huh? HA! That's a lie and I can make it one even if it's true right now!" Graham grinned widely, holding a device of some kind in his hand. He looked at it for a few seconds and started pushing buttons.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked in a flat tone of voice.

"Simple! I'm gonna change your memories so it's all about ME. All you should ever remember is me, anyways."

“You can’t change memories, that’s sci-fi,” I rolled my eyes. This was just another one of his stupid attempts to scare me into no longer trying to run away from him.

“Don’t believe me, huh? Whatever, you won’t even remember this conversation happened.”

"I... I... I need some fresh air," I meekly lied. Graham was holding me since I’d almost fallen over again, and he seemed to hesitantly let me to my feet.

“Okay, but don’t take long,” Graham seemed to kind of grumble. He quickly changed to a worried expression and added, “It’s cold outside tonight! I don’t want you catching a Toon cold or something… I don’t have any medicine for that.”

“It’s okay, I’ll only be outside for a couple minutes,” I forced myself to smile and kiss Graham on the cheek, and then I stepped outside. My mind was screaming for me to get away from Graham right now , and the thoughts were only getting stronger and stronger with each passing second.

Did Graham… change my memories? Is that why I have two completely different life stories?

I looked through the window to inside the All Star Suites, which had been my home for… I wasn’t really sure, actually. Graham seemed to be frantically searching for something, so I moved a little closer to the window and managed to hear him talking to himself.

“...wearing off! Where is it, where is it?! She’s gonna run away and I’m gonna have to kidnap her again!”

Well, I think he just unknowingly told on himself.

I need to run. Now.

I made sure Graham hadn’t seen me yet, but I still made sure to walk in case he peeked outside the window. But once it was completely out of my sight, I bolted away as fast as I could. I didn’t have a Shticker book or gags, but that was okay. I could start a new life for myself… start all over as a proper Toon.

As I ran, more memories started to come back to me.

Over the course of several weeks I'd managed to loosen the ropes up just enough so I could slip my gloved hands out of the knot, but I only did it when Graham wasn't looking. I was planning my escape.

I ran and ran and ran for what felt like hours. I didn't bother to try to remember where I was going, instead only focusing on putting as much distance between me and the All Star Suites as possible. The further away I was from Graham, the better. Maybe, just maybe... I'd even be able to speak to Glowstick again.

I smiled and looked away as Graham gently grabbed my hands. I could tell I was blushing and I was sure he was enjoying every second of this moment.

Maybe I'd be able to have a normal life and figure out just how many of my memories he’d changed. How much time had passed? Which memories of mine were fake and which were real?

Did I even have a friend named Glowstick?

I stopped in my tracks.

How much of my life's memories were real?

"Trying to escape, are we?" Graham frowned.

"You know I was gonna try to do it eventually," I scoffed, not bothering to wait for him to reply as I just made a run for it. Waiting for Graham to move first would be a guaranteed way to get caught by him again.

I started running again. I didn't have the time or mental energy to think about that right now. I just... needed to keep running. I just had to keep running. Keep going. Once I knew I was safe, I could think about all of that. I could sort out what was real and fake.

"Wow, that was... magical," I managed to say between breaths. I didn't realize Graham could kiss so... perfectly.

Suddenly, I collapsed to the ground. I let out a quiet yelp as I hit the ground, losing a single laff point. I tried to get up, but I was too exhausted from all the running to really even move. My legs felt like noodles, and my arms would only tremble under my weight before quickly giving out as well.

I was stuck... alone. In the middle of the Drowsy Dreamland outskirts. All that lay around me were a few scattered buildings, trees, and a dense fog from so many clouds. It was dead silent and it felt like the entire world around me was truly asleep.

I didn't mind being alone. I didn't mind the fact that I didn't know where I was. I was free and that was enough to make me grin. I could rest here and find my way back home when I had my strength back.

I rolled over so I was on my back and looked up at the beautiful night sky, admiring all of the stars. As I panted quietly and tried to regain my strength, I started thinking back to all of my memories of my life again.

Glowstick… Glowstick… Glowstick… are they even real?

It was all I could seem to think of.

They’re my childhood friend. They have to be real, right…?

Well… I don’t really have a way of knowing.

I lay there for many hours thinking about my life, enjoying the blissful silence. Well, at least I think it was hours. However long it really was, I drifted off to sleep during that time.

When I woke up, I could feel someone’s arms around me. Fearing the worst, I opened my eyes only to be face to face with Graham Payser.

"Cinnamon... were you trying to run away from me? Tsk, tsk, tsk... how pathetic."

I wasn't free.

"Cinnamon! Oh my Cog, Cinnamon!!! It's really you!!!" a bright pink dog ran up to me and hugged me tightly. I hesitated before hugging them back, not really understanding what was going on.

"Um... hi? Who... are you? Why do you know my name?" I asked.

"What?! It's me, Glowstick!" the bright pink dog gasped.

"I don't remember any Toons with that name. I haven't really met a whole lot of other Toons before, so... I really doubt we've ever met," I shrugged.

"What's going on, Cinnamon?" Graham walked downstairs, and at the sight of the pink dog he seemed to get upset. He sprinted so he was in front of me and said to the dog, "You stay away from her. You've done horrible, horrible things and the last thing I need you to do is start spreading lies to my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend...?" the dog, apparently Glowstick, seemed incredibly shocked and even horrified to hear that word. What the hell was their problem? Didn't they know how to mind their own business? Well, probably not considering the 'horrible, horrible' things Graham had alluded to them doing. Glowstick took a few steps back and said, "This... what have you done to her? What did you do to Cinnamon?"

"What are you talking about? Stop trying to make every Toon in existence think they know you and then start asking for all their money until it leaves them homeless and bankrupt. Everyone knows your scam at this point," Graham scoffed.

I couldn't stand to hear the two of them bickering, so I ran up to mine and Graham's bedroom and didn't come out until the dog was gone.

I hugged Graham and asked, "What the hell was that all about?"

"Just a nasty con artist. Don't pay that trashy dog any mind," Graham said as he started to pet my ears.

"Okay. ...Hey, do you wanna play on the Wii?"

Chapter Text

I walked into the basement of the schoolhouse, looking around the large room. I noticed a Cog with a large brain seemingly presenting to some Desk Jockeys, so I quickly ducked behind the chairs in the old lecture hall so I could listen. Unfortunately, from this distance, it only sounded like distorted muttering. I crawled closer to the aisle between the rows of chairs... and that's when I noticed a banana peel sitting at the top of the stairs. A banana peel? Here? Huh, that's weird. I didn't know Cogs would use our own gags. Well, I assume that's what's going on.

I quickly equipped my invisible cheesy effect and removed most of my accessories before crawling out into the aisle and making my way down. I made sure to duck behind each row of chairs before proceeding to the next one down, and with each row I began to understand more and more what the Prethinker was saying to the Desk Jockeys. When I got to the final row, I made myself flush with the chairs as I listened.

"...will force those Toons to give me exactly what I demand! The projected success rate of this operation is 100 percent given all this information along with the 562 page manual I created for all of you," Prethinker said.

"You can't give a project a 100 percent success rate, there's always something unexpected that could happen," one of the Desk Jockeys said.

"Like what? Tell me even ONE scenario I didn't think of," Prethinker challenged.

"What if there's a Toon listening to all of this?" the Desk Jockey asked.

"I already covered that scenario in page 309 of your manual. We proceed with a standard kidnapping procedure to make sure they cannot reveal the information to other Toons," Prethinker sighed, clearly irritated that the Desk Jockey had asked a question he'd already answered.

The Desk Jockey tried to counter with more scenarios, but somehow it seemed that the Prethinker really had thought of, well, everything. Even things as outlandish as a sudden tornado hitting Toontown- which has never even happened before! On the bright side, that was more information for me to relay to the Resistance. I started taking notes so I could better remember all of it, and eventually the meeting or presentation or whatever it was came to an end. I heard footsteps, thank Cog going away from me, and then a door opening and closing. I was about to stand up until I realized I might not be completely alone, so I peeked my invisible head above the chairs. Sure enough, Prethinker was still in the room, and he was pacing back and forth while talking to himself about how grand his plan was and how smart he was.

I was very tempted to taunt him, but I knew that wasn't a good idea when I had valuable information and he'd clearly already thought through what to do in the exact scenario of a Toon like me showing up and collecting said information. This had to be a stealth mission. So, once again, I made sure to carefully make my way through the aisle and to stop at each row of chairs. This time I had to move more quickly since I only had a few seconds before Prethinker would turn to face my exact direction, but I was able to eventually make it all the way to the top row and to the door. When he turned his back, I opened the door and bolted, closing it quickly but quietly behind me. If he'd spotted me by then, it didn't really matter anyways because I was already gone. I sprinted across the playground and burst into the Toon Headquarters.

"Lord Lowden Clear! Lord Lowden Clear! I just took a TON of information from that Prethinker Cog!" I announced.

I listened to the faint sound of the door opening, and from the corner of my eye I could see that a Toon had entered the room. Surprisingly, unlike every other idiotic Toon who'd walked in here and carelessly thought they could get some kind of upper edge on me, this one immediately ducked under the chairs so they were no longer in my sight. This Toon had some level of intelligence, though it didn't matter since I'd already spotted them. Instead of confronting them, I chose the smarter option of giving them false information. I blinked three times at the Desk Jockeys to silently signal that I was about to give them wrong information on purpose because someone was spying on us.

I made up a project that didn't exist as well as a manual for said project that also didn't exist. I gave fake details, descriptions, and even drew fake blueprints on the chalkboard to make it as convincing as possible. One of my Desk Jockeys played the role of an idiot (their normal personality anyways), asking me stupid questions about this fake project. I pretended to be irritated with them for asking questions I'd already answered in this fake manual. They made sure to ask varying questions so a wide variety of fake information could be given to the Toon, and once I was sure they had enough fake information I called the meeting to an end. My Desk Jockeys retreated to their maintenance room while I stayed in the lecture hall, wondering how the Toon would "sneak" out of the room.

After a few minutes, they chose to come out the same way they came in. Though I found it stupid they didn't simply teleport away, I said nothing as I continued to play dumb. Once the Toon left, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself.

"Oh my Cog... all of it was fake? But there were so many details! How could it have been fake?! They didn't even notice I was in there, I... I..." I trailed off as I looked at the ground, "...I'm sorry."

"It's okay Cinnamon, Cogs are sometimes known to play dumb and give spies wrong information on purpose. This time, I want you to go there during the night when the Prethinker is asleep and listen all day to what he's planning. The Sellbots are clearly up to something, and we think the Prethinker is likely the one orchestrating everything," Lord Lowden Clear said.

"Alright," I nodded, eager to redeem myself after unknowingly giving the Resistance bad information.

That night, I managed to sneak into Prethinker's lecture hall around 3 AM. I made sure to open the door quietly and immediately duck down in case someone was asleep in the room. To my surprise, the lights were still on... and that's when I heard some kind of electronic noises from behind the door at the very bottom of the lecture hall. I stood up and quietly made my way to the door, pressing my ear against the wall so I could hear better.

"Oh good, another follower. Looks like ZzzSlackingAway figured out I'm the best streamer out there," Prethinker said. Was he... Twitch streaming or something? "Anyways, we're going to start a war because we can now exploit the infinite money glitch and that's how you start it. For the idiots who don't know even though I say it all the time, it's not actually infinite, it's just called infinite because you will be able to buy every upgrade in the game. You will not have enough money to buy all the cosmetics, but I don't care about them and neither should you."

Wait a minute... I think I actually know what game he's playing. Out of curiosity, I opened my phone to the Twitch app and searched for the category of streamers playing the game I was 90% sure he was playing. After a bit of scrolling since there were 10 people currently streaming it, I finally found a username that sounded like it could be his. I put my phone on silent and opened the stream, listening for more of what the Prethinker said to see if it'd line up with what was going on in the game since there was no facecam.

It was him. The Prethinker was actually streaming on Twitch.

I started to giggle, and I did my best to stifle my laughter but I couldn't. I just started laughing loudly. I knew I'd given away my position of stealth through my own laughter, so I quickly stopped out of fear and then tried to run for the exit. The Prethinker reacted just as quickly, and I could hear him ordering his Desk Jockeys to follow after me and not let me get away. They chased me while I ran up the aisle and to the door, gaining on me just a little because they were slightly faster. Luckily, there wasn't enough distance for them to catch up and I managed to escape back into the playground where they refused to follow me.

I considered going back for a second time in an attempt to get information, but I figured they'd be on high alert now and expecting a Toon to just waltz on in again. Instead, I told Lord Lowden Clear about my failure and we instead decided to just watch his livestream to see if any useful information came out of it. It ended up just being a waste of our time and made both of us go to bed incredibly late that night- I didn't sleep until nearly 7 AM!

In the following days, I decided to basically stalk Prethinker's social medias to see if even a tiny bit of useful information would come out of it, even if entirely by accident. I went through over a year's worth of old videos and blog posts, but it was all just... nerdy video game stuff. Nothing about where he worked or what he might be planning for the Toons... he hardly even mentioned the fact he was a Cog and it was hard to tell with the microphone he used that it was the voice of a robot at all. I told the Resistance about how useless trying to find anything about his plans through his social media was, but out of personal interest for the games he played as well as getting a little practical use out of finding out when I'd likely be caught, I decided to keep up with his socials.

"Oh good, another follower. Looks like ZzzSlackingAway figured out I'm the best streamer out there," I said as I hardly even looked away from my game, "Anyways, we're going to start a war because we can now exploit the infinite money glitch and that's how you start it. For the idiots who don't know even though I say it all the time, it's not actually infinite, it's just called infinite because you will be able to buy every upgrade in the game. You will not have enough money to buy all the cosmetics, but I don't care about them and neither should you."

A few seconds passed until I started to hear giggling, which turned into someone laughing loudly right outside my door. I immediately recognized that it belonged to a Toon and said, "Hold on, I have to be right back."

I muted myself and stood up, leaving my room to see the same brown rabbit from a few days ago making a run for it. I called, "Desk Jockeys! Stop her! Don't let her get away!"

My Desk Jockeys gave chase and were able to gain some distance on her, but it didn't matter because she was close enough to the door to escape.

I spent the next several minutes going through all my documents to make sure none of them had been touched or stolen. Thank Cog, none of them were. I also checked to make sure all of my traps were still set, which they were. Nothing was moved or looked out of place... so they'd either come here for an incredibly stupid reason or they were stopped before they could do any real harm. Regardless, why hadn't the security systems caught them when they were so close to my door? Was it broken? Were they smarter than they seemed?

I couldn't wrap my head around this... Toon.

A few weeks had passed since that pathetic night. I decided to try a third time at getting information from Prethinker since undercover Resistance rangers fighting him during the day said that his security had dropped back down to his normal levels and it was safe for me to try again. So, I broke in during the night and this time chose to lay down in a random row of chairs. I stayed perfectly quiet, and with that I was just barely able to make out that Prethinker wasn't streaming tonight despite that being on his usual schedule. Something was off today. Does he know I'm here? Was he expecting me?

If he did know I was there, he didn't seem very interested in confronting me about it since he never even came into the lecture hall. After a while I just started to feel naturally drowsy, and I fell asleep right there in the lecture hall.

When I woke up, the lights had been turned on and I heard talking. I immediately became alert and started looking around, expecting someone to be staring at me, but there was nobody to be seen from my angle on the floor. When I listened closer, I realized it was just Prethinker playing chess with one of the Desk Jockeys and both of them being incredibly snarky about it and challenging one another. It took over three hours for the entire game to play out, not including interruptions from challenging Toons, but in the end Prethinker won. I don't know by how much of a margin since I couldn't see, but it sounded like it was a genuinely close match. I was mildly amused at the idea that he'd probably be deeply offended by the fact he hadn't won by a landslide.

There was a couple hours of silence other than Desk Jockeys sharing passing conversations, an hour or so of Prethinker just pacing around and muttering... something to himself that I was too far to properly hear, more silence, and then near the end of the day there was some kind of meeting called. Prethinker started lecturing the Desk Jockeys about how they needed to improve in order to green more Toons and essentially gave them a lesson on more efficient greening using strategy and Toon anatomy against them. Luckily, his ideas of Toon anatomy only had the surface level facts correct while the details were entirely wrong- he even seemed to have the idea that we required food to survive! While it was strongly uncomfortable, Toons couldn't die of starvation.

I made sure to take notes on everything the Prethinker said, and eventually the meeting was called to an end. He started streaming from his room, and once I was sure the coast was clear of Desk Jockeys I left to relay my newfound information to the Resistance.

Today was supposed to be a day off for me, but I knew I'd still have to meet with my stupid Desk Jockeys and tell them how to actually do their jobs. It was ridiculous I even had to teach them these things, but it was part of my job so I guess it couldn't be helped. The world just needed someone as smart as me to tell them what to do, and I made good money from doing it too.

"I've called you here today because you're all the reason so many Toons have managed to defeat me. Do you know how embarrassing it is to lose to Toons? I'll rematch them later, but only when you idiots learn how to do your job properly. None of you know how to properly green Toons, and it's both because of your poor knowledge of Toon anatomy as well as your inability to strategize properly," I began my presentation as I used a stick to point to the slide I had on the projector that showcased my main two talking points in big, bold letters so even the dumbest of them would understand what I was talking about.

"Let's talk about Toon anatomy first. Did any of you even know Toons can starve to death? How about the fact they can die just by draining all of their ink? These same methods to less extremes can be used to green Toons and weaken them, too. For the practical things you can use, it all depends on where you hit a Toon. Hitting the side of their torso like you've all been doing won't do as much damage as the middle or even their head. The head is the best part to aim all attacks at, understand? I want all of you to aim for the head all the time with no exceptions. Not only is this where their brain is located which gives the possibility of damaging their brains so they make even dumber decisions than they already do, but it's also where they have the most nerves. The pain from the attacks is what causes their sadness, so it will do more damage if they can feel it more intensely."

"If for some stupid reason you think you can't hit a Toon's head or if they're wearing a helmet, the middle of their torso is the next best location to aim for. It will do roughly 25.70000001 percent less damage on average from a headshot, but it's an acceptable emergency alternative only if you really need to use it. This is where a Toon's heart is located, and since their bodies want to protect a vital organ, there's a lot of nerves around this area. However, it's much more heavily guarded than their brains due to their bones being thicker in this region, so it still does less damage. If for some reason you can't even aim for this region, still hit them, but I'll be very disappointed in your incompetence at simple aiming. Hitting a Toon in any other region varies in severity, but on average it will do about 40.20492 percent less damage than a hit in the middle of the torso."

"Are there any dumb questions you'd like to ask because you weren't paying attention or can I move on to how you idiots need to strategize?"

The Desk Jockeys were quiet for several seconds, so I continued, "Good. So, next... strategy. I'll make it very easy for you to follow since none of you seem to even understand basic concepts like castling or hiding further back to avoid their 'sound' gags."

"All you need to do is target one Toon, but don't let them catch onto who you're targeting. Try to green the Toon in two turns. Their teammates will heal them if their laff meter gets too low, but if you only take away a little then they tend to generally leave them alone and assume they can last another round. Taking out a Toon from full laff isn't possible, so instead agree on a Toon to green and get their laff low enough to finish them off in the next round but high enough so their teammates won't heal them. Then, finish them off in the next round of battle. Three Toons are still a threat and will heal each other more often, so at this point try to evenly green them for chip damage until they're all low enough to target one Toon again. Once there's only two of them, they usually run away, but if they don't, it's easy to finish them off. Always remember that Toons in groups are dangerous, but Toons alone are easy prey. Always try to pick off the Toons one by one, never try to green more than one at a time. Understand?"

When there were a few nods, I said, "Good. Next time some stupid Toons try to challenge me, I expect nobody to need repairs by the end of it. This meeting is over."

I walked away and heard my Desk Jockeys do the same, and a few minutes later I returned to the lecture hall to clean up my presentation materials as well as clean the chalkboard. While my back was turned, I heard the door to my lecture hall open, and when I looked I realized the brown rabbit was leaving.

They'd somehow managed to outsmart me and actually walk out of here with real intelligence.

Several months have passed since that incident. I had more spying missions on Prethinker, and just like Rain had eventually become the 'official' spy for Derrick Man, I became the 'official' spy for Prethinker. I learned his behavior patterns, his likes, his dislikes, and in general I just learned everything Prethinker... or rather, everything Brian. I knew that the smarter thing to do would be to lie low and hope I'd somehow never once been spotted, but I wasn't stupid enough to be that naive or hopeful. I knew Brian was aware that I was spying on him, but it wasn't like he was trying to hide the fact he was aware of my presence. He often left snarky notes for me and started drastically increasing his security to make it really tough for me to enter or exit the basement. I started carrying dolls around to test if an area was trapped, but eventually he made it so his traps only triggered upon detecting a real Toon and I had a close call where I'd only narrowly escaped. Eventually he put up security cameras... and so, so much more.

When I wasn't on a Brian spying mission or leaving equally snarky replies to his notes, I was stalking his social media or watching his Twitch livestreams. At this point he knew what my username was and would often call me out in streams if I spoke or stream sniped him in multiplayer games. His followers started asking him what was going on, and while he was more reluctant to explain, I was happy to spill all the details about him being a Cog and me being a spy Toon who often spied on him and was just tormenting him even in his personal life. Some didn't believe me while others just thought it was funny to watch Brian get annoyed at me regardless of whether or not it was true. I knew he cared more about showing off his 'massive intellect' in any game rather than having genuine fun, so I also knew it was genuinely annoying him. That thought made me smile.

Today was just another spying day like any other. I'd broken into the lecture hall a week ago and was camping out in a hidden compartment Professor Pete had made get installed when the schoolhouse was first built and which was never shown on the blueprints. Its original purpose had been to surprise students and give everyone a good laugh, but now it was my top secret camping grounds while I watched and waited for something important to happen. Then... Brian called a meeting and all the Desk Jockeys took seats in the chairs.

Brian walked to the front of the room holding a remote and said, "Before we begin, I'd like to test a new piece of equipment. I'm sure Cinnamon will be quite surprised by this since she's seemed to think she's been strategically hidden for an entire week."

Brian stared at my exact location as he spoke, and instead of waiting to see what the remote would do, I burst from my hiding spot and made a run for the door. Before I could get very fall, a ceiling tile very quickly moved over to reveal a cage hidden above. It dropped down so that I was trapped, and I ended up crashing into the bars of the cage and then falling backwards as stars danced around my head.

When I got out of my daze, I stood up and turned to face Brian who was now only a few inches from the cage. I lunged towards him and reached for his remote, but he backed away in time before I could reach it. The cage was given a proper floor with the press of another button, and Brian chuckled, "You thought you could outsmart me, hm? Well, I can say your tactics were clever. You gave me a real challenge, but in the end I won because I'm smarter than you."

"You really think you're just gonna be able to keep me held hostage in this cage?" I challenged.

"If you think you're gonna be able to teleport away with that 'Shticker book' of yours..." Brian reached into his suit pocket and retrieved it, showing it off to me, "...You won't."

I frantically reached around my pockets for my gags, which made Brian laugh as he put away the book and pulled out my gag pouch, "Looking for this?"

I looked up in shock and horror. When did he even manage to do that? How did he manage to do that? At a loss for words, I only managed to say, "Wh... wha... h-how...?"

"Do you really think I'm going to explain my strategy to the enemy? I overestimated your intelligence," Brian snarkily replied before turning his back, "Desk Jockeys, take her to the back room so Toons don't try to rescue her. I don't need her to break free and be a pain to capture again."

With that he walked off through the door connected to the lecture hall. The Desk Jockeys used their own remotes to control my cage, which I learned was now connected to a grid system on the ceiling via a chain. Once it reached the door, the chain was removed and they used teamwork to lift the cage onto a cart. Then, they opened the door to reveal that it was actually a hallway connecting to three places: two rooms on either side of each other and a staircase across the hallway. I already knew the stairs lead up to the first floor of the schoolhouse, but I'd never seen this hallway or where the two doors lead. I was brought to the room on the left, which appeared to be some kind of parts and service room for the Desk Jockeys as well as a storage room. I was placed in an empty corner and then the Desk Jockeys left, making sure to take me off the cart and personally make sure that nothing I could use to escape was within reach through the bars of my cage.

For the next few days, I was left completely alone. Desk Jockeys and occasionally even Brian himself would enter the room, but it was always only for Desk Jockey maintenance or to silently give me a little piece of food and some water. If I tried to speak to anyone, especially Brian, they'd give me a strange look of almost fear or nervousness before quickly going back to ignoring my very existence. It was strange, but after a while I just gave up on trying to negotiate my release or even negotiate better living conditions. I became completely silent.

I paced back and forth in my room. Was something wrong with me? What were these feelings? I'd been avoiding the Desk Jockey maintenance room ever since Cinnamon had been captured because I didn't understand this feeling I felt around her. I'd felt it for a while now whenever I saw her, but I'd been able to ignore it and safely try to analyze it from a distance until now. Now, it was stronger than ever and it scared me since I didn't know what it was or why I was feeling it. The fact my brain was so stressed out over an emotion instead of focusing entirely on logic was also making me worry.

Okay Brian, let's think about this logically and start with what these feelings actually make me want to DO.

Well... they make me want to spend more time around Cinnamon. That implies I'm feeling some kind of positive bonding emotion towards her. Gross, but I have to be objective here. They make me want to keep her held captive because I know she'll run away from me. The fact that's coming from an emotion rather than my logical mind means I must be feeling some kind of... possessiveness? I think... Well, I also want to... give her physical affection.

WHAT?!

Am I insane? Have I lost braincells? Am I malfunctioning? There's no way that could be right. There's no way I could actually want to give physical affection to a Toon.

Brian walked into the room holding a birthday cake slice and a glass of water. He handed them to me through the bars of the cage, which I accepted. I was a bit surprised he'd given me a food item that was almost exclusively used as a throw gag, but I was too hungry to waste it like that and practically scarfed it down. Even though I didn't need food to survive, I'd lost some laff points due to the emotional impact of starvation. I hadn't been fed the most nutritious or filling diet down here.

"You better be grateful I gave you an entire birthday cake slice," Brian suddenly said.

I froze.

Slowly, I looked up at him in complete shock. After a few seconds, I managed to say, "You're... you're actually speaking to me?"

My response seemed to surprise him for a second, but he quickly recovered and said, "Yes, I am. You'd better be grateful for that too- I'm sure your Toon brain is going insane without any interactions."

I looked away and said, "Toons are social creatures. We need social interactions to thrive, and without them we slowly lose our minds."

Brian chuckled, "You Toons claim to be superior to us Suits, but you can't even function if you were alone."

"Neither can you Cogs. Maybe you don't even know who Winston Byrd is, maybe you do, but he's absolutely lost it since he rarely gets any visitors. Supposedly, anyways," I made air quotes around 'supposedly' to make it clear that I wasn't talking about rumors but wouldn't give any further information on the former employee despite knowing way more than I was letting on.

To my surprise, Brian didn't even seem to really care that I had information on the long lost employee. Instead, he said, "That Suit was an exception to the rule. He was weak if he couldn't keep it together without any social interactions... just like you. You're also weak."

"If I'm so mentally weak, how come I'm apparently also so smart by your own words?" I raised a brow.

"Those adjectives aren't mutually exclusive. I'm doubting your supposed intelligence again," Brian sighed.

"I know that, but they're not usually words you'd use together to describe someone," I said.

"And I don't think you're usually trapped inside a cage," Brian scoffed a bit, "For a Toon so eager to talk to someone, you don't act like it. You won't care if I leave, then."

"Go ahead, leave. See if I care!" I rolled my eyes, though deep down I knew I'd regret it later when the short social interaction stopped being enough to satiate my need for socialization.

A week passed by without any interactions whatsoever. I stayed almost completely motionless during this week, but afterwards I started to become desperate to find a way to escape. Was the Resistance even looking for me? Did they know where I was? Had they tried at all to come rescue me or did they think I was just staying way longer than I'd planned for some reason? Why hadn't anyone whispered to me at all during this time? ...Why couldn't I whisper to anyone?

None of that would matter. I'd successfully managed to pickpocket two bobby pins from two different Desk Jockeys, and they went completely unnoticed. But that was enough for me to slowly and methodically take apart the cage until it was rather loose. I waited for Brian to fall asleep that night before I gave it the final shove, causing it to make a loud CRASH! as the pieces fell to the floor. Desk Jockeys and probably Brian were immediately brought out of sleep mode, so I quickly bolted towards the staircase at the end of the hallway. I climbed the stairs and grabbed the handle of the door, wasting no time in opening-

It was locked.

The door was locked.

I could hear Desk Jockeys starting to climb the stairs, and I started banging on the door and calling Professor Pete for help. My cries were quickly silenced with a hand over my snout and I was dragged back into the Desk Jockey room. Brian was waiting in the hallway for me, clearly very upset to learn that I'd managed to dismantle his cage.

"You thought you could escape just because you got out of the cage? Think again, Cinnamon... Now, let's see those bobby pins you thought you got away with stealing," Brian searched my pockets until he found them, returning them to the Desk Jockeys they belonged to. He chuckled a bit and said, "I was hoping your escape plan would have been more thought out than that, so I waited to see what you'd do. I'm pretty disappointed in your stupidity."

"Why the hell have you even kept me hostage here for so long? Don't you have something better to do with your time than keep me from leaving?" I struggled around in the Desk Jockeys' grip, but they hardly even budged.

"You really are an idiot. Do you think I'd willingly let you run to the Resistance with intelligence you shouldn't have?" Brian sighed.

"That week I literally didn't collect anything, though. Why do you think I was there for so long? I was literally waiting for something to happen so I'd have something to report! ...So... please, for the love of Cog... just let me go," I let my desperation finally show.

"Ohohoho, getting desperate? You're not leaving for a long, long time... Not until I can figure out- nevermind that," Brian looked away quickly before regaining his composure.

"Figure out what?"

"Nothing of importance to you, Toon."

"Figure. Out. What?"

"I said it's nothing of importance. Desk Jockeys, when is the cage gonna be done being rebuilt?"

"Another thirty minutes."

"Ugh! I have to deal with her for thirty more minutes?!"

"Don't change the subject, I wanna know what you apparently need to figure out. I am a spy and intelligence Toon, y'know. I might even have the answer you seek so this hostage ordeal doesn't have to go on any longer."

"Are you trying to give me information in exchange for your release?"

"Yes. Are you willing to do that?"

"Hmmm.......... Okay, how about you tell me what your ultimate plan for getting rid of us Suits once and for all is. I know you Toons have to have some kind of a master plan in motion."

".................................We don't really have one. Our plan is to just use our gags and defeat all of you guys over and over until you finally go away."

"That's it? That's the Toons' 'brilliant' plan?" Brian started to giggle, and it eventually became full blown laughter. He laughed and laughed and laughed, talking about how funny and stupid it was for Toons to not have any solid or concrete plans for getting rid of the Cogs and how it was going to be the reason for our ultimate demise.

Once the laughter died down, I asked, "I get it... So, so funny... Can I please be released now?"

"You also have to promise not to spy on me ever again," Brian narrowed his eyes at me.

"Fine," I quickly agreed, not wanting to be stuck down here any longer.

"Very well then... Desk Jockeys, release her," Brian commanded.

The Desk Jockeys let go of me, and I immediately started walking to the lecture hall so I could use that exit. I could tell Brian was following me, but I now paid little attention to him since I knew he wouldn't do anything other than probably just watch or something. Probably just to make sure I actually left and didn't go back to trying to spy on him or something, though I'm not sure why he was still so worried about me spying on him. I'd had enough Brian to last me a lifetime. I never wanted to see him or even hear his name uttered ever again.

I opened the door to leave.

"No..."

I turned around to face Brian only to see him practically glaring daggers at me as a massive brainstorm began to grow in the room. I turned around and went through the door.

"No! Desk Jockeys, stop her!"

"We had a deal, asshole!" I called out as I started climbing the ladder to reach the playground. I reached out my hand to open the trapdoor and- "Oof!"

I was suddenly pulled to the ground by my leg, and when I looked up I saw that it was Brian who had stopped me. He seemed frantic as he started dragging me back into the lecture hall, saying, "I can't let you leave... I can't let you leave!!!"

There has to be something wrong with me.

A few months ago, I had no idea that I would become too emotionally attached to some Toon rabbit to let her leave even after giving her a fair and logical deal that she agreed to in order to negotiate her release. I'd have called anyone crazy for making such a stupid claim. Now, here I was doing just that.

Every day I found myself becoming more and more affectionate with her against her will. I started to pet her through the bars of her cage and even give her hugs through her cage, but she clearly despised every interaction with me. She clearly wanted nothing more than to leave.

They were white lies to make myself feel better about what I was doing at first. I told myself that she was just pretending not to reciprocate my affectionate feelings or that she was just playing hard to get. Sometimes I'd tell myself she was just frustrated with the situation or confused about her feelings. Slowly, these white lies began to distort themselves more and more into actual beliefs of mine. I eagerly began to adopt these beliefs since they were much nicer than reality. Now, at this point, I know any day now I'll fully believe these lies I've grown so fond of. I won't be able to tell the difference between Cinnamon genuinely hating me and her liking me, if she'd ever even like me in the first place.

There's something wrong with me. This isn't smart, logical, nor brilliant like I'm supposed to be.

"Hello, Cinnamon!" Brian said in a cheerful voice as he walked to my cage, petting me through the bars. I was too dead inside to move away anymore, which he seemed delighted by. I could feel him get excited as he said, "You're improving so much. Finally, you're starting to realize your true feelings for me."

I still said nothing, though inside I was feeling complete disgust as he just kept petting my rabbit ears.

"We're gonna be together... forever."

Chapter Text

"Ugh, I can't see anything..." I mumbled aloud to myself, instinctively putting a gloved hand in front of my face in hopes it would keep some snow from falling into my eyes.

Why did I think this was a good idea? Oh, right, because me and Glowstick thought pissing off the Plutocrat would be funny. I grumbled to myself as I tried to escape the blizzard, knowing if I came face to face with the planet-like Cog that I'd be sent back to the playground in no time. Apparently, this Cog had the power to control the weather up here in The Brrrgh and that was how the blizzard had started. All because I thought it would be funny to steal some of his 'dough.' I'd long dropped it somewhere along the way, but I doubted that mattered much anymore. Him and his Satellite Investors would probably hunt me down and green me regardless.

After wandering in the outskirts of The Brrrgh for a long time, I stumbled upon a log cabin. Literally... stumbled. I accidentally slammed into the porch because I couldn't see it in the heavy snow, making me yelp in shock and stick my hands out so I could figure out what the strange structure was. After wiping away some snow and walking around the perimeter, I realized this was someone's log cabin. Hoping to take shelter from the blizzard as well as hide from the Plutocrat, I made my way back to the porch and loudly knocked on the door so I could be heard over the wind by whoever was inside. I also announced a Toon presence by saying, "Is anyone home?"

Several seconds passed, but eventually the door opened to reveal a cat Toon bundled up in several blankets. They gasped upon seeing me and said, "Come in, you look like you're about frozen with those icicles dangling from your arms!"

So, I quickly entered the cabin and shut the door behind me so I wouldn't let out more heat. The strange Toon refused to tell me their name 'because I'm not often seen around here,' but I was too worried about seeking shelter from the Plutocrat to complain anyways. I'd hardly even noticed I'd been slowly freezing due to being so scared, but now that things were calming down and I sat in front of a fireplace, I started to feel the sharp, bitter, numbing pains of the cold. The cat insisted that I'd been near death if I hadn't felt cold anymore. But Toons can't die from the cold... they just freeze over like statues until someone puts them somewhere warm and then they're good as new.

The cat left me sitting by the fireplace after that while they cooked some food for me, saying that warm food in my tummy would help me warm up. I tried to tell them they didn't need to do that, but they insisted on it, so I eventually gave up and just let them do it. After about half an hour or so, they returned with a bowl of some kind of soup I'd never seen before. It smelled delicious, but it also smelled a little bit like... tar.

"Thank you," I said, telling myself to not be so rude about free food.

"Of course!" the Toon smiled, taking a bowl for themselves and sitting across from me while they happily ate their food.

I hesitantly took a bite of the soup, and I could immediately tell it had been made from Cog and Toon ingredients. Despite that, it still tasted pretty good, and I was able to tell myself to ignore the strangeness of a Toon using Cog ingredients in their food. Who was I to judge? Maybe it was all they had available for all I knew.

After we both finished eating, the Toon suddenly turned to me and asked, "Are you familiar with some torture methods that include breaks from the pain?"

"Huh?" I looked at the cat, now feeling incredibly unsafe and suspicious.

The Toon sighed, and after a few seconds they continued, "Sorry to have to do this to ya, Cinnamon. Hurting my own kind isn't my favorite part of the job, but I'm selfish and I'd rather it be you than me."

Before I could ask them what they meant, they pulled out a button for a gag from their pocket... and the log I was standing on suddenly sprang to life- literally! I gasped as their front door opened on its own and I was sent flying out of the cabin, and then the door shut and locked itself behind me. I was back in the blizzard, now feeling the cold more intensely than I had the first time I was in it. It also didn't help that my snow-covered coat was still inside, but I doubted the Toon would exactly be willing to give it back. Sounds like they're probably working with Plutocrat, at least from the way they were talking. I should probably get out of here, then... they're probably closing in on my location.

I decided my best course of action was to try to find my way back to the playground and seek shelter in the gag shop or the Toon HQ. Cogs didn't dare enter the playground, so I knew I wouldn't risk one of them finding me... and then turning me in to the Plutocrat. Wait a minute, I can just teleport there! Why didn't I think of that sooner?

I grabbed my Shticker book from my pocke-

Where was my Shticker book?!

I couldn't find it anywhere in my pockets, but then I realized that it was still inside my coat... which was in the cabin...

I ran to the door and started to knock on it, begging and pleading for my coat. After nearly a minute of no response, I realized I was just wasting my time and that the Toon wasn't going to give it up.

I got off the porch and chose to just start running in a random direction and hope for the best. I barely managed to evade detection from Charon thanks to me cleverly hiding in some frozen shrubbery, and after a while I managed to make it back to Sleet Street. By this time my brown fur had turned to a medium blue, and ice was starting to form on my limbs again. I knew I didn't have much time until I'd slow down more and more until I'd become completely frozen. I could at least warm up in a random building, right...?

I walked to the nearest Toon building and tried to open the door, but it was locked. I tried knocking, but when there was no response I just went to the next door. That one was locked too, and so was the next one... and the next one...

My fur was now light blue, and I'd slowed down so much that passing Cogs on the streets were faster than me. They snickered and scoffed at me, but they knew I was safe because I was on the sidewalk. I gave up on trying each door and instead focused on getting to the playground since it was taking too much time for me to turn towards each door. My fur was almost completely white at this point, and I was nearly completely encased in ice.

Then, eventually... I completely stopped moving as my fur turned white. I heard a crackling sound to indicate that I was now completely frozen, and I mentally sighed since I now knew all I could do was wait for someone to find me. I watched several Cogs pass by for what felt like hours, and eventually even the blizzard went away. The day went from afternoon to early evening, and yet not a single Toon had spotted me.

"Cinnamon...?" a surprised voice startled me, though all I could do was move my eyes to try to see who it was.

It was Flint... and I was never more glad to see him. He immediately walked over to me, wrapping his arms around my ice covered body and saying, "I'm... really glad I found you. I hope you haven't been like this for too long..."

With the warmth of his body, it only took a minute or so for the ice to melt and for my fur to gain the slightest shade of blue, which allowed me to at least move again. Very slowly, I managed to say, "Thank you, Flint."

"It's, um, the least I can do when my body is a furnace... heh," Flint said as he kept his arms around me, trying his best to shield me from the cold. After another minute or so, I had been completely restored to my usual brown colored fur. Flint still refused to let go, but I paid little mind to it. Instead, he asked, "How did you get frozen like that...?"

"I... tried to steal Plutocrat's money because I thought it would be a funny prank. He started a blizzard, so I ran away and found this cabin far in the outskirts of The Brrrgh..." I explained the entire story to Flint, ending with how I ended up becoming frozen solid.

"That's a very eventful story..." Flint sort of mumbled, but I could hear anger in his voice and see it in his eyes. The fire on his head lit up even brighter, and as he exhaled a puff of smoke he said, "I'll help you back to the playground. I have something, um... urgent to do."

"What happened?" I asked, but Flint didn't answer. Instead, he simply escorted me back to the playground and I ran to the Toon HQ to tell them about the traitor Toon I found.

LOCAL PIZZERIA CLOSES DOWN

Last night, the Mozzarella Styx Pizzeria was forced to temporarily close its doors due to a fire. Upon investigation by local officials, the cause was found to be water from the walk-in freezer dripping on an exposed wire, causing an electrical fire. The damage is estimated to be roughly $82,000 in repairs, which the staff of the restaurant says will be easily funded due to the popularity of their pizza. However, construction workers say they don't expect to finish repairing the restaurant until next June.

I chuckled at the irony and put the newspaper back where I'd found it.

PIZZERIA FIRE INVESTIGATED

Last week, the Mozzarella Styx Pizzeria was forced to shut down due to a fire. The cause was found to be water from the walk-in freezer dripping onto an exposed wire, and local fire experts elaborated on this today in an interview given to the press. Flint Bonpyre, coworker of the owner Cosmo Kuiper and known expert in fire investigation, stated, "When we arrived at the scene, we asked the fire marshals for the blueprints, history, and typical activity of the building as part of standard procedure. With all that information along with the burn patterns in the rubble, we could tell the fire had been started in the walk-in freezer, so we started our search there. We quickly realized many electrical wires were destroyed and that the burns likely originated from locations that had wires in the building, so we were confident the cause had been something electrical. We also realized the walk-in freezer was not routinely scraped to remove ice build-up on the floors like many food establishments require, and many health and safety inspections of the building confirmed this ice had been building up for years. We concluded that the fire was started from this ice getting into the wiring and causing a short circuit, eventually leading to so much heat building up it created the fire."

When asked if the wires in the building were insulated to prevent an accident like that from occurring, Flint stated, "Yes, all wires in any application are required to be coated in an insulating material prior to use or installation anywhere. The wires in the building followed this long-established industry standard, and under normal circumstances the water and ice should have only caused issues like mold. However, it's believed one of the wires was missing insulation. There were no records of problems like this in any health and safety inspections, so we assumed it was a very recent problem that didn't exist prior to the last inspection only a month ago."

Reporters from our team asked Flint if the team thought the fire might've been done on purpose, and he stated, "It's technically possible, but at this time we don't believe this was an act of intentional arson. However, the investigation is still ongoing, and more details may be uncovered at a later time."

Flint Bonpyre and his team refused to give further comment on the situation.

"Serves him right for not cleaning his place up," I snickered to myself.

POLICE SEARCH FOR ARSONIST

Nearly a month ago, the Mozzarella Styx Pizzeria was shut down due to a fire destroying most of the building. Fire investigation concluded three days ago, and today Flint Bonpyre and his team issued another statement to the press. Flint said today in an interview, "Our previous determination that there was no intentional act of arson has been proven false. We found a wire that survived the flames that had the insulation deliberately removed, and forensics revealed it had likely been done by a metal instrument. Additionally, our investigation of other areas of the building showed unusual burn trails along the walls, and we found a charred napkin under some of the rubble. The napkin dispensers in the building were empty despite it being restaurant policy to restock them after closing every day. We asked Nix, one of the employees at the pizzeria, about the napkins, and he told us they were never even half empty. Given this information, we were able to determine an arsonist had deliberately caused the fire to start in a way that would make it look like an accident and used napkins as an accelerant."

After Flint had finished putting down the paper, I asked, "Who do you think did it?"

Flint hummed a bit before saying, "I'm, um, not really sure. That's... for the police to investigate."

"Do you think they'll catch whoever did it?"

"...No. There's... not a lot of evidence for the case."

"There's... not a lot of evidence for the case."

Those words played in my head over and over. Flint had been acting really strange these days, constantly checking in on me and hardly letting me go anywhere by myself in The Brrrgh. When that was combined with his weird statement he shouldn't have really had the knowledge to say, it made me kind of wary of him. I knew in the back of my mind that I suspected him of being the arsonist, but I wouldn't consciously let myself formulate that thought. It was too much to bear the idea that my shy, easygoing friend would've done something like that... Even if the pizzeria had burned down on the same day I'd pissed off Plutocrat and even if he was acting all weird and knew just a little too much, I refused to let myself consciously suspect Flint.

After all, he was too docile to do something like that and there were so many Toons and Cogs alike! Just by random chance, it almost certainly wasn't him...

"Hi Flint!" I smiled and waved, which made the large Cog turn around almost immediately. The fire on his head made a 'fwoosh' sound at the sight of me and his eyes seemed to quite literally light up slightly.

"Hello, Cinnamon," Flint smiled, "What brings you all the way to the outskirts of The Brrrgh...?"

"I was tryna see if I could find that log cabin with the weird Toon in it again. I know you got my coat and Shticker book from them ages ago, still don't know how you managed to do that, but I wanna meet them face to face again and just... ask them stuff. They were just... so weird," I awkwardly said, not sure how to articulate my somewhat morbid curiosity effectively.

"Um... I wouldn't recommend looking for them. They, uh, hurt you, so..." Flint trailed off.

"I know they're dangerous... but I'm still gonna look for them anyways," I huffed a bit and crossed my arms to show my defiance, and I continued walking as my way of silently telling Flint he could either join me or keep doing whatever he was doing. Apparently, he chose to follow me.

The entire time he was telling me this was a bad idea and I should turn back, but he was clearly too timid to actually do anything to stop me. Eventually I kind of ignored him and kept walking around the frozen, almost completely bare landscape.

Then... I saw some kind of a building covered in snow in the distance. I gasped and said, "I think that might be it."

The shape looked a little off from that of a traditional log cabin, but since it was in the distance and I hardly remembered what the exterior of the cabin looked like from that day, I brushed it off and sprinted towards it. It got closer and closer into my view until I was right in front of it... but something was off. There were holes in the wood that looked charred around the edges and the wall had a completely uneven edge... and I couldn't see the roof!

Fearing for the worst, I made my way to the porch only to find that the front door was entirely missing. In fact, almost the entire building was missing. Left in its place was almost purely ash and a few remains of wooden furniture. Even metal objects like steel pots and pans had been warped and melted. The strange Toon was nowhere to be seen among the remains of the cabin.

"What...? What happened here...?" I managed to stammer out, too scared to 'enter' the building.

This... I really think it might've been done by...

"Flint...?" I slowly turned to him and made eye contact. In the moment our eyes met, a communication stronger than I could put into words happened, and it was like we both instantly knew. I still didn't want to believe it, so to be sure I asked, "This cabin... and the pizzeria... did you burn them down?"

Flint looked away from me, but after several seconds, he slowly nodded.

"Why...?"

"I... didn't want them to hurt you again..." Flint sighed, the fire on his head starting to burn less vividly, "When you told me what happened to you, it was like... it wasn't me anymore. I felt a... burning anger. I first went to the cabin and demanded to that cat for your belongings, but... I was so mad I accidentally burned everything down..."

"And what about the pizzeria?" I asked.

"Um... well... When I watched the cabin burn down, I, um... had an idea. So... I did it... and now Cosmo thinks of me as someone who's been nothing but help to the investigation, heh... He doesn't know it was me..." Flint looked at the ground, "I'm... really sorry for my actions."

I looked at the rubble again. I was silent for several minutes before quietly saying, "...Nobody has to know about this. But... you can't do something like that again, okay? if you do... I'm turning you in to the police."

I looked around to make sure Flint was nowhere to be seen before walking into the police station. I'd seemingly convinced him that his secret was safe with me, but I wasn't going to keep a criminal safe like that. The Cog at the front desk snickered when they saw a Toon walk in and said, "Come to turn yourself in?"

"No, I'm here to report one of your own Cogs as a criminal," I said.

"And who might that be?" the Cog asked like it was a challenge.

"Flint Bonpyre, the manager for your Coal & Ice District. He was the one who started the fire at the Mozzarella Styx Pizzeria, he literally confessed the whole crime to me."

"...Pffft," the Cog lost some health from laughing at me, "Do you really think I'd believe a joke like that? Unless you wanna walk into a jail cell right now, I'd advise you leave."

"I'm being serious! He even burned down a cabin off in the outskirts of The B- I mean the Coal & Ice District!" I was completely stunned. Was I not going to be believed simply because I was a Toon?

"That cabin has nothing to do with the pizzeria. I'm going to warn you one last time to get out of here," the Cog glared so hard at me they used Glower Power, which I failed to dodge. I cringed a bit from the pain as I got up.

"Fine, I'll get out of here. But you're letting a criminal go with an attitude like that!" I said loudly as I left the building.

Flint was standing outside.

Staring at me.

Hurt in his eyes.

He said nothing and walked away.

DISCIPLINARY NOTICE: FLINT BONPYRE

Date: 7. November, 2023

Action: 1 week suspension

Reason: Stalking a brown rabbit named "Cinnamon" for over a month instead of performing your job duties. Conduct yourself more professionally- this is your final warning.

Supervisor: Chip Revvington

I put down the paper and sighed. I wasn't even surprised to hear he'd been stalking me this entire time.

Chapter Text

First Impressions:

• He'd be like... creepy but not necessarily seem dangerous at first. But you'd know something was pretty off with him and overall there'd be uncomfortable vibes.
• You get sent some like... really weird letters in the mail. At first they'd be from "a secret admirer," but he'd come forward pretty quickly about who it was or make you guess. Either way, he fully intends to reveal himself and just feels like messing with you to get in your head for a bit first.
• At first, his flirting is actually pretty standard and pretty flattering. It'd be very normal to get a crush on him at this point because he's just so nice, he's such a charmer, he really knows how to schmooze...
• His bell will ring a specific chime every time he sees you, and he doesn't really realize he does this.
• He gives you lots of little affectionate touches, and it's kinda cute actually.
• You get mailed SO MUCH of your favorite stuff as gifts, or he'll just straight up give it to you. He just always knows exactly what you like and dislike.

Later:

• Those letters you've been getting in the mail have started to get weirder and weirder. Now they're giving information of private conversations and Ben is like... pretty unhinged.
• You know how he's been flirting a lot with you too? Now that's starting to get really weird and creepy too. He's saying some pretty concerning stuff and sounding really possessive, and in some cases little bits drop here and there as massive hints and red flags that he's stalking you and probably obsessed with you to an unhealthy degree.
• He'll have trouble understanding what's flirty and attractive versus way too much, so many lines and boundaries will be crossed. He genuinely won't understand what he's doing wrong and won't understand why out of all the people he wants to like him, the one he desperately wants to like him most is JUST out of his reach.
• He'll find a way into your house and go through all of your belongings. Without you even knowing he was there.
• He'll probably always know exactly what you are up to.
• He's getting VERY touchy. Always wants hugs, always finding an excuse to give you pats or put a hand on your shoulder, always fixing your Toony fur/feathers/scales/whatever for you... It's not too weird in any single instance but he's just. So. Touchy!
• His house is SUPER pristine, but if you mess it up he'll say something like, "If that's what you think makes it look better, I'll leave it exactly like this."

Last stages:

• He will be SUPER delusional that he'll be able to magically charm you away into his arms no matter how badly he's fucked up/been creepy/whatever. Or even if you're already taken, he just thinks you'll leave your partner for him.
• 100% believes you have feelings for him too that you're just repressing. Deep down he knows that's not true, but he'll try to convince you of that anyways. Be careful... he is VERY persuasive and very good at manipulation and gaslighting!
• "Love, are you sure you're telling the truth when you say you hate me? Are there any feelings you might be holding back? You can show how you really feel~"
• His physical affection seems to know zero boundaries because he's practically glued to you at this point.
• If you get kidnapped, you're getting a collar with bells on it that you can't take off. The bells are so you can't sneak around... he ALWAYS wants to know what you're up to, after all.
• He will VERY conveniently be there to help you when you get sick. Just... don't try any more of those brownies he gave you, alright? And um... don't ask what was in them.
• Alternatively, you will shrimply pass out after eating them. He very conveniently catches you bridal style when you fall... almost like he knew what was going to happen.
• He wouldn't necessarily make a shrine in the traditional sense because he wouldn't clutter up his home, but there would be a drawer or a box neatly tucked away somewhere random to look like it belongs with everything else that's actually full of tons of your important documents (think birth certificate, social security card/country equivalent...) and a bunch of things you thought you misplaced. Nope, your favorite pen that you swore you left right on your desk didn't magically vanish, he just stole it.

Chapter Text

First impressions:

• At first, it's just a normal friendship with Mary and there's no signs whatsoever that something is amiss.
• Sometimes she might say something that's a LITTLE weird, but those comments are easily overlooked and excused.
• He might flirt in subtle ways, but nothing that would make it super obvious he's into you.
• Overall, seems more focused on having a deep connection with you rather than making any obvious moves on you.
• Lots of deep conversations, she's just so easy to talk to and open up to for some reason.

Later:

• Something isn't quite right but you can't figure it out.
• Mary seems a little off lately, but if you ask about it he insists everything is fine.
• She's been meeting your friends by "pure chance" lately, so you've been hanging out as groups sometimes. But she really wants to hang out with just you most of the time, claiming she just has a better time with 1 on 1 encounters.
• He really wants to talk to you a lot and deepen your connection. It doesn't really seem to matter what it's about, he just wants to talk to you and spend time with you.
• She starts asking you questions about things you've never told her about, but you don't notice at first because it's so innocuous.
• Mary's started getting slightly irritated if you have to leave or take your attention away from him for any period of time.
• You've noticed he's started kinda not hanging out with his friends as much in favor of spending time with you.
• If you talk to your friends about what's happening, they tell you it's not actually a big deal, you're overexaggerating, etc.

Last Stages:

• You're in too deep now, you're practically drowning...
• Why does Mary know like, everything about you? Even stuff you never told her?
• He's seemed to turn the tides in his favor- your friends are all taking his side if you try to tell them he's stalking you!
• Those weird comments she'd make sometimes have become quite frequent and almost all of them revolve around the idea of wanting to date you.
• If you try to avoid him, he somehow always finds you again or your friends peer pressure you into coming back.
• It doesn't help all that time you spent making such a deep connection with her is a great trauma bond for her to weaponize.
• He'll never physically trap you, but instead he'll mentally trap you until you break.
• Blurs the lines between platonic and romantic interactions as much as possible and tries to convince you that YOU'RE the one blurring those lines because you like him.

Chapter Text

I snuck behind the Barrister carefully and quietly, immediately ducking behind an empty desk once I reached the other side of the room. The Barrister didn't seem to suspect a thing as it kept writing paperwork. Well, this is one room almost cleared. My mission is only gonna get harder from here. I don't even know where I need to go.. I forced myself to hold back a sigh and instead focused on getting out of the room undetected. The doors would be too obvious, so I'd have to either wait for the Barrister to leave or I'd have to find another way out.

I felt a chill draft from behind me, so I turned around and noticed a vent. Oh, that's perfect! I'll just have to be super quiet about this. I grabbed one of my whole fruit pies and bent the pie tin so it took the shape of a screwdriver. The pie was ruined in the process and I had to quickly eat it so I didn't get residue all over the floor, but I didn't really care. I had six more if things went wrong, anyways...

I unscrewed the vent cover silently, and to my surprise when it was time to pull it out, it didn't resist or make a sound. It was almost uncanny, but I chose not to think about it and set the vent cover aside to make it look like it'd just fallen loose on its own. Then, I crawled into the vent. It was a tight squeeze and my rabbit ears were pulled all the way down to the back of my head, but I kept going anyways. The vent system was surprisingly complicated and I found myself in what felt like a metal maze of some kind, but by some kind of dumb luck I was able to find the room I was looking for with enough wandering around. The lights were turned off, leaving only a thin sliver of light to come in from underneath the door leading to the hallway and a bit of moonlight from the windows. Despite that, I could still see exactly what I came here for placed neatly on a desk. A very, very neat desk...

I tried to pry off the vent cover, but I quickly realized I wasn't going to be able to brute force it. I thought about it for a while before taking my screwdriver-shaped pie tin and bending it into a new shape that would hopefully allow me to manually unscrew the screws of the vent from behind the vent. Hesitantly, I put the tool to the test... and it worked! Each of the four screws made a quiet, high pitched clink sound as they fell to the floor, and then the vent cover immediately fell with a louder and deeper thump. I cringed and waited to see if any Cogs would investigate the noise, but after several minutes had passed and no Cogs had so much as even walked by, I figured the coast was clear and crawled out of the vent.

I walked to the desk and picked up my lucky pen that a Big Wig had stolen from me earlier today. I still don't know how I found this so fast literally by pure chance, but I'm not complaining! I smiled.

I quickly stopped smiling when I heard the door open. Fearing the worst, I slowly turned around to see that none other than the Case Manager had stepped into the room.

"Hmph... a Toon in my office," the Case Manager seemed to think for a moment on what to do, but I wasn't going to give him that time.

"Uhh, you saw nothing!" I waved goodbye and teleported out of Lawbot HQ before he had the chance to attack.

"You know that Case Manager Cog, right?" I asked.

"What about him?" Glowstick casually asked.

"I know you were on the other side in that OCLO, but something was like... really weird about him. I dunno, he was just... staring at me a whole bunch. And he kept legally binding me! Like, literally, nobody else was bound! And here's what's even weirder: my lucky pen fell out of his pocket when we defeated him. Yeah, the one I literally stole back last night? Apparently from his office? He just magically had it again!" I said.

"What the fuck? I know Cogs sometimes steal from Toons if they're low on supplies, but it's never targeted like that. Something weird is definitely going on, and something tells me Case Manager is the one behind it. Let's lay off the OCLO grind for now, yeah?" Glowstick gestured to their Bossbot suit from their Shticker book as a way of suggesting we work on that instead.

"Yeah, definitely."

For the next few weeks, I'd randomly start hearing the clicks of Case Manager's case head wherever I went. At first, I thought I had to be crazy and that I was just hearing things. I never saw anything no matter how hard I looked, and I figured there was no way a Cog would stay that hidden if they were stalking me. So... it just had to be my imagination! There was no other explanation!

And so, I stopped paying any mind when I heard the clicks. Sure enough, they started to decrease in frequency too. See, it was just my paranoia...

"So you see that patch of dirt over there?" I gestured towards what was clearly a massive landscaping work in progress.

"What are you gonna do with that one?" Glowstick asked.

"I'm gonna plant flowers on it and then put a huge fountain in the center... Flippy just approved the irrigation systems and I hired some really nice Toons who're gonna do it for me! It's gonna look way nicer than having a random patch of sand on my estate property... apparently that sand was just dumped here by Cogs before I even moved in! So we collected it and we're gonna see if we can make glass with it, Flippy said they'd turn out cloudy and uneven so I wanna see if I could turn them into decorative pieces... Sorry, I'm rambling! I just have lots of plans for my renovations!" I blushed a little out of embarrassment for rambling on and on so much.

"No kidding, that sounds expensive! Did you have to take out a jellybean loan for all of this?" Glowstick gasped.

"No, it was actually really cheap! Only like ten thousand jellybeans," I said.

"Oh, wow... that's a lot cheaper than I thought it'd be. I can't wait to see what it looks like wh-" Click! "...Hey, did you hear that?" Glowstick looked around in concern.

"W-wait, you heard it too?" I couldn't help but feel myself begin to tremble, "That clicking sound... that's Case Manager opening that stupid head of his. I've been hearing it for weeks now, but I thought I was going crazy so I didn't say anything..."

"Case Manager's been stalking you and you didn't say anything because you thought you were going crazy?!" Glowstick shouted, "Cinnamon! This is bad!"

"No shit!" I took a look at my surroundings to see if I could spot him, but I couldn't. I whispered, "Let's get the fuck outta here."

Without another word, me and Glowstick immediately teleported away from my estate. We chose to regroup in Barnacle Boatyard since we figured the humid weather and salty air would deteriorate his leather head too much for him to follow. We tried to talk about normal topics, but our conversations kept going back to Case Manager and how creepy it was that he was at my estate, and we tried to discuss what we should do about it. Eventually, we just decided that for now I could crash at Glowstick's place until we could find a more permanent solution. I was worried about him going through my important legal documents, though, so I went back to my estate to grab things like my Toon ID and the deed to my estate.

Afterwards, I spent the night at Glowstick's place.

I woke up the next morning to my phone buzzing next to me, making me groan. In my groggy state I answered without checking who was on the other line, "Hello...?"

"Hey Cinnamon, sorry to wake you up so early! Um... did we miss a memo or something, 'cause we went to your property to start building that fountain but the whole job's been done!" a familiar voice said over the line. Oh, right! This is Charles, that guy I hired.

"Wait, what?! I only hired you guys to do it..." I half mumbled, "Hold on, I'll be there in a few minutes."

I got all my stuff ready as fast as I could and then teleported to my estate. My fur was still messy and I was still in my Toon pajamas, but I quickly stopped caring when I saw that the job had indeed been completed by an unknown third party. It was done... exactly the way the blueprints had specified, too. Who did this, and more importantly... why?

"This is so weird... who would just renovate someone's estate for free?" I wondered aloud.

"Hold on, take a look at this!" Charles grabbed a large yellow envelope and a fountain pen that had been laying neatly on the edge of the fountain. My name was printed perfectly on the envelope, and underneath my name it read: Legal documents enclosed to only be viewed by intended recipient. Documents are considered void if seal is broken or if contents are soiled before intended recipient receives, or if third party is present at any time enclosed documents are being viewed except for legal advisors and other exempt entities as per Toon/Suit Legal Council Act 9 under Section C-2.

"That is... definitely not the doing of a Toon..." my eyes widened as I read and reread the legal mumbo jumbo under my name.

"Eek! I think a Lawbot came here!" Charles shrieked, losing several laff points just from the idea of a Cog giving him so much fear.

"It's okay Charles, I won't make you look at any of this... Just... tell Rocky about this, okay? And I'll go see what all these papers are for," I sighed.

"Okay!" Charles quickly teleported away, which I felt was more about him wanting to get away from something about Cogs rather than him being excited to visit Rocky. I took the envelope and went inside my house, breaking the tightly sealed seal and opening the large envelope. A perfect stack of papers that had been secured with several paperclips fell out, and my heart sank when I realized I'd been sent possibly hundreds of pages of... something.

I tried to gloss through some of the pages, but the language felt intentionally confusing and vague, and I found it practically impossible to understand. The only things I could say for sure was that Case Manager was the Cog who'd sent it to me and it was about that mysteriously built fountain and planted flowers. I'll just wait until Charles comes back with Rocky... he'll know what to do, he's dealt with the Lawbots since Operation Break the Law! 

Five minutes of waiting turned to ten, fifteen, twenty... Something was wrong. Rocky wasn't coming... for some reason? Well, maybe he's just busy right now. Resistance Rangers can get tons of work, so it's not that out of the ordinary...

Knock, knock, knock.

Oh! That must be him.

Feeling relieved that Rocky was finally here to help me, I almost literally skipped to the door and opened it to greet- "Case Manager?!"

"Hrmph... I was made aware Toons aren't accustomed to legal jargon. I can assist you, if you'd like," Case Manager spoke curtly and, as his name made a kind of pun of, briefly.

Something tells me the person giving me the legal paperwork shouldn't also be trying to "help" me with the paperwork, but I guess it could be mildly entertaining to see what he says about it... Worst case scenario I'm just bored to death and best case scenario I might even get to ask him what the fuck inspired him to do this.

"Sure, I guess..."

"Woah, what's this like half page of tiny print? I can barely even tell what the words are when I squint, that's like size one font!" I huffed in frustration.

"That's legally required by the Toon/Suit Legal Council," Case Manager didn't elaborate any further.

"What's it say?" I asked, though I was already literally grabbing a magnifying glass to read it for myself.

"It states you're aware the Toon/Suit Legal Council may have their decisions overruled by other governing bodies, such as the Toon Council."

He's... straight up lying to me. Like, he's actually just lying right now. This fine print says nothing about the Toon/Suit Legal Council.

"Oh, okay..." I kind of mumbled. So what else has he been lying about? Well, I guess it's good I haven't actually signed anything yet... I knew I shouldn't have trusted him.

"When you sign the papers, bring them to Flippy since he needs to file it for your Toon Council."

"Hey Cinnamon, I'm so sorry it took me forever to get here! The Litigator was really angry at me for some reason, and, well... you don't need to know about what happened next! Uh, anyways, a Toon named Charles told me you got a bunch of paperwork from Case Manager?" Rocky asked.

"Yes, I did! And he came to my house to 'explain' it to me but I think he was lying about everything to try to get me to sign it, but it's kinda hard to tell since it's really confusing and vague," I grabbed the papers from my pocket and gestured to how big the stack was.

"Woah! You weren't kidding when you said a bunch of paperwork, I've never seen him so determined to confuse a Toon like that!" Rocky took the papers from my hands and walked to my desk, "Okay, let me go through these with you and tell you what he was actually trying to get at. Whatever it was, something tells me it's much more nefarious than his usual motives..."

I grabbed an extra chair and sat down next to him, and one by one we went through all of the papers. At first, it started off with things Rocky said were 'standard,' such as agreeing I personally verified the structural soundness of the fountain by signing the papers and that I couldn't modify the structure without Case Manager's written approval. Apparently, since he paid for it, he could also choose to modify it whenever and all he'd have to do is send me notice it was changed 'within 30 days of modifications being complete.'

"He definitely wants to do something with your estate. This here only states he can't enter any buildings or structures without your verbal or written consent, but he's allowed to go to your estate whenever he wants if he can claim he's 'modifying' the fountain. And here's the really concerning part- just look at it for yourself!" Rocky pointed to some text, so I read it aloud.

"'Modifications to the fountain include but are not limited to the following: repairing, replacing, or otherwise performing maintenance on irrigation systems, changing the fountain's or associated structures' appearance, composition, or other visual attributes, testing the fountain's functionality-'"

"That's the part that concerns me! 'Testing...' he could come to your estate at any time and claim he's 'testing' the fountain! There's no definition for what testing has to look like, so he could be gathering intel on Toons and have all the legal rights to be there! It gets even worse, though... if you don't agree to any of this you have to pay to get it removed, and I doubt anything's stopping him from just putting it up again. You can try to put him in a deadlock if you want, I guess. He's not a Boardbot so hopefully he hasn't taken any of their business strategies," Rocky weakly suggested.

"Well, I wanted to put up a fountain anyways, so I wonder if I can just destroy his and quickly build my own before he has the chance to put up his own. What the hell even gave him the right to build it in the first place?" I asked.

"I don't really know, I'd have to look at your original papers to figure that out. I thought he'd just broken the law and put this here without notice and was trying to get you to sign off on it so he'd get away without consequences, but now I'm thinking he might've been exploiting some kind of legal loophole. Do you have your original papers?" Rocky asked.

"I do, actually, they're right here," I opened a drawer on my desk and gave him the very colorful, Toony pages. It was only 3 or 4 pages, and they were with big fonts and in a bulletpoint list. The most confusing page was the last one, which talked about how the owner of the estate was decided. I didn't even bother to read it since Charles had told me not to worry abo-

"Hey Cinnamon, did you ever take the deed to your estate off the premises at any time? That's the most obvious loophole I can see in these papers," Rocky interrupted my thoughts.

"Um... Yeah, I did that the night before the fountain was built. I was worried Case Manager would steal my important documents since me and Glowstick heard him, so I took them and spent the night at Glowstick's house. Why...? What's this loophole...?" I nervously asked, knowing I didn't want to hear the rest of it but knowing I'd have to anyways.

"It says here if the deed to the estate isn't on the premises and someone with the deed is absent at time when payments are due, whoever claims to be the owner will be assumed the owner. There's nothing here about the owner later becoming present since this law doesn't really get abused, so I guess he took advantage of that... Cinnamon, hey, stop hyperventilating! It's okay, the Toon Council can easily fight this in court. This is a slam dunk case for us. He's not gonna have any power."

"This is a slam dunk case for us."

Those words repeated in my head almost every day. It used to make me laugh in disbelief or some kind of despair, but now I'd grown bitter and angry towards those words. Rocky failed me. Flippy failed me. Lord Lowden Clear failed me. Professor Pete failed me...

I opened the door to my house, not even acknowledging Barry anymore. I'd grown used to his constant presence in my estate and me constantly being bound to his laws. Instead, I made my way through the trees so I could take a walk by myself.

"Improperly filed...? Wh-what do you mean improperly filed?!" I felt tears start to form in my eyes, "Your Honor, you can't be serious! You're going to harm your own Toonkind on a technicality?!"

"Good morning," Barry greeted me quietly.

"Hi," I responded just as quietly and briefly, and I continued walking.

"Rocky, settle down your client before I throw you out of this court room!" Judge Flame glared at both of us, uncaring and unwavering.

"Where are you going?" Barry asked.

"Out," I said.

"I'm sorry, Your Honor!" Rocky bowed and then turned to me, "Cinnamon, let me do the talking, alright?"

"You can be more specific than that," Barry prompted.

"Outside," I said.

Despite the tears now spilling, I forced myself to nod. He'd handle this for me, right...?

"That's still not specific enough," Barry tried yet again.

"The woods," I said.

Rocky turned back to the judge with a heavy sigh, "Those papers ask you to fill them out to the best of your ability. I did, in fact, fill them out to the best of my ability. I'm not an attorney and nor have I gone to law school, so I believe voiding those papers on the basis of one field being incorrectly filled out is unjust."

I could feel the tension starting to get worse and worse, and I knew that Barry was going to snap soon.

"Where in the woods?"

"Just the woods."

"Your entire career in the Toon Resistance is spent watching Lawbots. I believe that is plenty education on how the judicial system operates, and as such I am going to void form A-23."

"DO YOU THINK YOU CAN IGNORE ME FOREVER?!" Barry suddenly shouted, which caused me to yelp in surprise and literally jump.

I turned around to face him and said, "You're the one who put me in this mess! You can just legally invade my privacy, and for what?! All you do is stand around and watch me like some kind of fucking creep! What the hell's your problem?! Why have you just been... watching me for months?!"

I thought I heard him laugh ever so slightly, but before I could truly process whatever the half-chuckle noise was, he took a step towards me as he huffed, clearly already exhausted from showing so much anger, "Because I want to."

"And what the fuck was this about being specific, huh?" I took a step back to keep the distance between us the same.

"Point noted. It's because I like you," Barry stated so calmly, so coolly...

"What?!" I shrieked in surprise, "What the fuck does that mean?! Barry Brief, what the f- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!"

I tried to push him off of me, but he didn't even seem effected by it. Instead, I was stuck with his arms around me. It was like being stuck in a hundred legal bindings at once... and my laff meter instantly went from full to sad.

"It means I want us bound together, Cinnamon."

Chapter Text

First impressions:

• At first, he doesn't even really seem to like you. Well, maybe he does? It's kinda hard to tell
• You're friends regardless, even if you may not feel particularly close
• No mentions of dating or being interested in you romantically
• He considers it groundbreaking that a Toon would even talk to a Cog in such a friendly way
• You have NO idea he's actually stalking you. There's absolutely zero hints of it
• You know when you first met him? That sure wasn't the first time he met you! But you don't need to know that...
• He also kinda conveniently seems to be your type and you might end up getting a small crush on him

Later:

• Okay, this is getting creepy... why were all his security cameras in his office focused on you?
• Why does he have so many pictures and saved footage of you? You didn't even KNOW he was taking pictures, or that there was even a camera...
• Um... why does he have pictures of you SLEEPING?
• So, so many pictures...
• He will catch you finding out about his secret and confront you about it and basically tell you that you have no choice but to start dating him, or else...
• Or else what? Well, you REALLY don't wanna find out.
• If you agree to date him, you will be stuck in a relationship with a guy who acts normal, but you're always going to find really weird pictures of yourself
• Okay, yeah, he's not acting normal, he's also REALLY fucking possessive. Doesn't really like it when you hang out with anyone else
• But if you don't agree to date him? Well... you just get kidnapped. Saying no wasn't an option

Last stages:

• Regardless of if you said yes or no to dating him, you are now trapped in his estate forever and ever!
• Go on, try to leave. See what happens. I wouldn't try that if I was you, though...
• Yeah, that's what I thought. A green laff meter doesn't feel very good, does it?
• ALWAYS in your personal space. Be it just to tower over you to intimidate you or to give you a hug you can't escape from, he's in your personal space
• Talks so, so much to you. If you don't respond and have pleasant conversations with him, he will get VERY upset and bring your life of hell from the 6th circle to the 7th
• Well, it's not all bad... he built you your own bedroom! ...With tons of security to make sure you can't leave that room without him knowing. Isn't he so nice and thoughtful?
• If you have any friends or family, he will use them as "motivation" to "make sure you always love him"
• Those pictures he was taking of you? He may as well be a hoarder now. Please do not look in the closet, the shed, the attic, the basement... just don't look anywhere if you wanna spare your sanity, okay?

Chapter Text

"Cinnamon, let me see what's in there," Mary gave a soft smile as she reached for my notebook.

"No!" I quickly moved it behind my back, taking a few steps back as I said, "I don't want to have any more 'deep connections' with you, okay? Just... leave me alone!"

With that, I turned and fled. Mary acted quickly, though, and next thing I knew I was tripping over his leg. My notebook broke upon contact with the floor, causing pages to scatter everywhere...

27. February, 2024

I think I made a new friend today. She goes by Mary, and she's one of those manager Cogs. I was supposed to fight her, but she didn't actually wanna fight me at all! She said she'd seen me around trying to care for the environment and that I 'wasn't like the other Toons.' I'm not really sure what she's on about, but it was nice to make a new friend anyways! She seemed really interested in actually making friends too 'cause she was talking all about wanting to have a deep connection. Well, she IS the Deep Diver, so I guess it makes sense.

There is... one thing that struck me as a little odd, though. She made this really weird comment about my friend Glowstick. She literally said to my face, "Are they a true friend?" I mean, I guess she was trying to be polite, but it was just... weird.

"Oof!" I lost a few laff points from the fall and was dazed for a couple of seconds, but I got up as quickly as I could. I could already see Mary collecting some of my pages, so I started gathering the remaining ones as quickly as I could and asked, "What the fuck was that for?!"

Mary didn't respond and continued to pick up more pages.

1. March, 2024

Something is a little strange about my new friend, but that's okay! He seems to really like the ocean though, which is also expected. I don't really care much for marine life, but it's kinda neat to see that spark in his eye and how much joy it brings him to ramble on and on about it. I've personally humored him a couple of times since I just wanna see him happy and excited. Other than that he's pretty chill so far, and he's actually been really nice and helpful for my ToonTasks of all things! Yeah, that's the weird part I wrote about at the start of my entry. What the hell kind of Cog helps a Toon with their ToonTasks?

"So what, you're just gonna hoard all those notebook pages like some kind of creep?" I scoffed.

"I just want a deeper connection with you," Mary said.

"Then do it by fucking talking to me like a normal Cog. Don't read my personal journal!" I hissed like a cat.

18. March, 2024

Something is very, very wrong with Mary. I don't know what he problem is, but I think she's stalking me. She knew things about me that I've never told her, not even hinted at! At first I thought maybe Glowstick or one of my other friends told her, but then I remembered... she's not friends with them. She hardly even talks to them. So how the hell does she know about my toy collection or the fact I have a dead brother named Oregano? Who's... giving her this information? Well... it's easy: she's finding it herself. That's the only explanation I can come up with that explains everything.

"But I want your honest thoughts. I want your private thoughts," Mary said as she continued to collect my notebook pages.

"Can I please have even a little privacy?! Those thoughts are private because they're meant to stay with me!" I realized all the pages on the ground had been collected. I tried to steal some that Mary had stolen, but he ripped another random entry from my hands instead.

13. April, 2025

It's been almost a year since this mess started. I'm losing hope that I'll ever get out of it. I keep telling myself that "this time" I'll tell Mary to get out of my life, and every single time I'm not able to do it. I'm stuck in an endless cycle of people pleasing. I keep delaying the inevitable. I don't want to see Mary get mad. She's TERRIFYING when she's mad. Under any circumstances, I don't want to see it. It feels like all I'm really doing is making myself feel "safer" in the moment while keeping myself in harm's way in the long term.

Why can't I make it stop?

When I realized what entry he was holding, I froze for a moment. I remembered what I'd wanted so desperately to do for all this time.

As much as it pained me to know Mary would always have uncomfortable information about me, I stepped back. I sighed. I said to Mary, "You know what? Keep those damn pages. I'm leaving."

I grabbed my Shticker book and teleported away. It was the last time I ever had to see Mary.

Chapter Text

I'd been enjoying my Deep Diver-free life for over a year. It was liberating.

I didn't have to answer to anyone anymore.

I wasn't chained to a toxic "partnership" that forced me to sacrifice myself to make someone else happy.

I didn't have to lie just to survive.

I took in a fresh breath of air.

This is freedom.

I don't have to say "yes" to anyone I don't want to ever again.

I happily patrolled Barnacle Boatyard. Deep Diver had been long gone from this playground, and it became safe for me to roam once again.

Suddenly, I was snapped from my thoughts when a large Cog I'd never seen before stepped in front of me. His voice was deep and somewhat familiar as he asked, "Hey there Toon, what's your name?"

He kind of reminds me of... Deep Diver. I quickly pushed the thought aside. I've investigated so many Cogs that looked or sounded like him, and none of them have been him. It's just PTSD. I'm just paranoid.

I curtly responded, "Cinnamon."

The Cog smiled, "Nice to meet you, Cinnamon! My name's Fish Bait, and, well... this is a bit embarrassing, but I'm a new manager at C.O.G.S., Inc. I'm too shy to ask another Cog, so... just keep this between you and me, okay? Um... Do you know where Alton S. Crow's field office is?"

I sighed. I knew Cogs received orientations upon being hired along with being provided a digital map in an email, so the question was ridiculous and could be answered with resources already available to them. If Fish Bait really is a new manager, they do their job poorly because they're not very thorough. Whatever, I'll just tell them and then fuck off because they really remind me of Deep Diver and my gut is telling me to run.

"Look for the big Toony sign labeled 'Anchor Avenue' and then go past the Toon HQ into like... a little alley. The building should be a remake of a previously discarded building design from Sellbot HQ," I explained, "If you need further assistance, I recommend contacting your actual bosses and not me. I'm not an official support avenue."

With that, I turned around and started to walk away.

Fish Bait called after me, "Thank you so much for the information!!"

I figured that was the end of the discussion.

However, only a few moments later, Fish Bait suddenly appeared from behind a corner and added, "By the way, what's your favorite district in Toontown? I'm conducting a survey about Toons, and your participation would be extremely helpful for my marketing campaign!"

I ignored him and continued walking.

This time, Fish Bait jumped out from a bush, "Just a moment of your time, Cinnamon! I didn't know you wrote such passionate novels! Would you mind telling me about them?"

I don't even write novels. I write short stories. This idiot doesn't even know what the hell he's talking about.

Wait, how does he know I write?

Fish Bait jumped out from a pool of water.

However, the water started to wash away his makeup...

And Deep Diver was underneath. Fish Bait was never a real Cog.

My eyes widened in horror, and I stepped back as I saw the sight in front of me.

Deep Diver's back.

She was never gone.

Deep Diver opened her mouth to say something to me, but my brain didn't register her words anymore.

The only thing I could comprehend was that Deep Diver was back and I wasn't safe anymore.

With trembling hands, I pulled out my Shticker book as fast as I could. I teleported to my Estate.

Once I was 'safe' in my Estate, I called Glowstick in a panic, barely able to wait for them to pick up the phone before screaming, "DEEP DIVER'S BACK!!! I SAW HIM!!! HE HARASSED ME IN BARNACLE BOATYARD AND I TOOK A RECORDING AND HE WAS PRETENDING TO BE SOMEONE ELSE BUT IT WAS REALLY HIM AND I CAN PROVE IT AND I-"

"Woah, woah, WOAH!!! CINNAMON!!! Slow down!" Glowstick's harsh tone tried to pull me back to reality, "Can you give me more proof?"

"JUST CHECK THE VIDEO I SENT YOU! AND LOOK AT THE PICTURES! I... ALL THE PROOF IS THERE!!!" I hung up the phone without giving any more information. I felt tears threatening to spill from my eyes, and I didn't want Glowstick to hear me crying.

Before I knew it, I started to cry.

I didn't try to hold back the tears.

Why would I? I was mourning the loss of freedom I never had in the first place.

I sat in Rocky's office.

If anyone knew how to handle this situation, it was Rocky. I didn't know of any other Toons familiar with the law.

As Rocky looked over the massive document I'd prepared in advance, he asked me several clarifying questions about Deep Diver's stalking. I did my best to answer them, but I didn't always know the answers.

Eventually, Rocky sighed and said, "Cinnamon... if you want to bring this to court, I'm willing to be your lawyer. But I'd really advise against that because I don't know how much of a case you really have. This kind of stalking is really hard to prove, and I don't know if you'd actually win. It's possible, but it's really unlikely."

"Seriously?! I can't even get a restraining order against my own stalker?"

"I know you're upset. Hell, I'm upset on your behalf. What Deep Diver is doing is... well... crazy. I'd be angry and scared too. But unfortunately, I don't think a judge is going to side with you because the information you've given me doesn't meet the legal requirements to prove it's stalking."

I live in a world of "freedom." I know it's not really free, though.

I constantly find myself looking for signs of Deep Diver.

I never find them, but there's no way of knowing if she's really gone.

This isn't the ending I wanted.