The Playground Wars

Chapter Nine

We stay inside the building until the rain of dip stopped. While we are waiting, we all help each other heal. Chloe and Gary aren't hurt as bad. Before we leave, Gary checks outside to make sure it was clear. I want it clear of cogs and Flippy's armies because I'm tired of walking in the streets in fear, worrying that something might happen any minute. I've never been afraid like this my whole life. When we all went outside, I saw Gary staring at the street in awe. I think we asked a bit more than we wanted.

The whole street was in rubble. We heard a rumble and we turned around to the building. The building crashed down, and we all sighed at the thought of escaping in time. I didn't even know we were escaping.

"Oh my lord," Chloe said in awe. Seaweed Street was nothing now. We look off to the distance, and we clearly see Donald's Dock. I listen closely and I hear the screams of toons in the playground. We all look at each other, and start running towards what used to be the tunnel that leads to Donald's Dock.

I almost trip on my way running here. It reminds me of how I slipped minutes ago and how Drake saved my life. Did he really do it out of his heart? If so, I feel guilty not thanking him. I decide to do it when the time is right.

I look around Donald's Dock and I see about 8 injured toons lying down on the wooden floor. I see the steamboat that Donald used to drive, but instead, there is a blue pig shaking in fear. 3 dead toons are floating on the surface of the water, and I looked away. I don't want to be reminded of the dead toon I encountered in the woods. I can't let the nightmares return.

"Help us!" a toon called out. They must've seen us because we were the only toons standing. Chills were sent through my back. We were the fortunate ones that lived. These toons didn't see it coming, and I probably know why. Donald's Dock is the second strongest playground, the first being Toontown Central. Donald's Dock has high security and guards, and the toons that live here live a pretty normal and good life, since they have the sources they need to survive.

Gary pulled out the joke book from his backpack, and started cracking some jokes. We only hear 2 out of the injured toons that laugh. After two more jokes, one of the toons, a green dog, couldn't handle the pain anymore and left the world. The green corpse just lay there. I start to tear up and I felt like crying, but I manage to hold back my tears to prevent Drake from getting mad.

The last toon listening to Gary's jokes was a short purple bear. She blinks slower and slower as minutes passed. She manages a smile at one of Gary's jokes. Gary lets her lay her head on his palms. Within a few seconds she would become nothing more than a statistic of a body count. To me, she's a victim of a war that shouldn't have broken out in the first place.

"Think about it," Gary says, "you're going to a better place now. No more hatred and war." The bear smiles as her eyes start to close. Even Drake was staring at what was going on.
"Have fun up there," Gary comforts her. The bear shut her eyes and didn't open it for a while. Immediately, Chloe bursts into tears. Gary comes to her and comforts her, as she laid her head on Gary's chest. I turn around and I witness Crackers cry and stare at the body.

"It's.... it's going to be alright guys," Gary tells us, but I know he's lying. Heck, maybe even he knows he's lying. Any minute now Flippy's army can come back and kill us all. I look at Drake who was just staring into the cold water. I can't even see a tear come out of his eyes. I walk over to him, hoping that he won't explode and get mad.

"Why aren't you sad, Drake?" I ask him.

"This happens all the time, haven't you got used to it?" Drake snaps. I'm relieved that he didn't get as mad, but my heart starts to crumble at the thought of what he just said. Personally, everything going on has been of a shock to me. I've always been confined behind Dreamland's walls. I don't ever want to be used to pain. Never. What if I can't save Cuddles or Wacky Dog? The thought makes me shudder.

I stand back up, and I follow Gary, Crackers, and Chloe to the tunnel that leads to Chip and Dale's Acorn Acres. I can finally see the place that everyone has been talking about. Before entering the tunnel, I look back at Drake, who's still staring at the water.

"I'll catch up with you guys later!" Drake yells so Gary can hear him.

Gary replies with a shrug, "You sure? I mean, I don't know Drake. What if Flippy attacks this playground again? You saw what happened moments ago." Drake reluctantly agrees to come with us. He rushes to the tunnel and shoves me on his way in, but I don't say anything. I'm fine with him doing stuff like that to me. I don't know if it's because I have gotten used to it, or because he saved my life. Maybe it's both.

I run to catch up to Chloe, who is probably the fastest one in our group. She stops once she sees a medium, green pig in a cog crusher suit. He's guarding the entry to Chip and Dale's Acorn Acres. It's just like the one I wore back in the woods. Gary steps forward and confronts the pig.
"HALT!!" the pig yells. Crackers hides behind me, and I hold his hand. I find myself shaking violently like Crackers.

Gary leans closer to the pig's ear, and whispers something I can't hear. Drake raises his brow in confusion.
"You may pass," the pig says. We keep walking and after looking around, I stop. This place is so beautiful. The sky is a bright blue, and I can actually see the sun. Or is this another force field trick? Is the sky actually like this? Anyways, the trees are so marvelous and tall. The mountains surrounding this playground are kind of tall, yet still beautiful.

I look around once more and I see a bunch of gathered toons in front of a gate.

"Form a line!" a horse yells. The toons then do what he says. I walk away from the toons and I turn my attention towards the geyser. Toons are laughing here. I walk by some smiling toons. This place really is marvelous, just like what Joey told me, I say to myself. I wake up from the beautiful trance of this place, and I realized that I got separated from the group.

"Gary!" I yell in fear. The toons around me stare at me in confusion. I'm probably the only one worried here. "Gary! Chloe?" I yell out again before I bump into a short, chubby, sea green duck. Thank god it's Crackers.

"Oswald, we've been looking for you in this crowded place," Gary says coming from behind Crackers. He sighs and says, "Don't get lost." I nod at him. We start walking towards the tunnel to the golf course. I'm about to step inside when I hear a scream coming from across the playground.

"Oh my god! There are dead toons in Donald's Dock!' a toon yells. Everyone then goes into panic. A toon pushes me to the floor, but Crackers helps me get back up.

"Calm down everyone! Panic will not solve our problem!" a medium bright green cat says. I recognize him. It's Felix! Felix is alive.... Why is he here then? I'm betting that he left our squad for dead after the capture. I start walking towards Felix, but as usual, Gary grabs my arm. We all walk into the tunnel to the golf course while everyone else is screaming and running.

I raise my voice once inside the tunnel. "That's my squad leader! Felix!" I yell to Gary so he can hear me from the screaming.

"Felix? You know Felix?" he asks me. I nod, and then we keep walking to where the golf course karts should be. There are just 2 toons here, but we don't pay much attention to them.

"Oswald," Gary says. He takes out my cog crusher suit from my backpack and my golf hat, along with my yellow athletic shoes. My eyes grow wide open.

"You want me to wear this?" I ask him. He nods.

"I need you to do something," he replies.

"But some toons can notice me as the toon in the wanted poster!"

"It doesn't matter anymore, Oz. You're in Acorn Acres now, your safe." Oz. Only Cuddles has ever called me that. I guess we all have been through so much trouble the past week, he decided to call me Oz for once.

I grab the clothing and accessories and change in the bush where they can't see me. No one likes seeing a clothless toon. I walk out of the bush in the same exact clothes I wore when I met them. My cog crusher suit is cleaner though because I cleaned them in the woods. I hear the screams get louder. We all go back to Acorn Acres and we see some Toonbots stomping through the front entrance. In front of the Toonbots are 3 resistance rangers. The toons start running towards the golf course area in fear.

"Attention toons," the cat resistance ranger says. Then, the other 2 rangers catapult some sort of bomb towards this tunnel. I stare at it in awe and fear. I can't hear the cat finish his sentence.

"Oswald, let's go!" Gary yells! But it's too late. The bomb explodes and the tunnel already collapses with me stuck inside.