The Great Cog Scare

Beyond the Manor

"Spook?" Grandpa Stub Paws' green glow appeared from the ceiling. "You can't stay, remember?"

My stomach shifted uncomfortably at the mere thought of leaving, and I tossed the table cloth over my head. 

"Where would I even go?" I replied, my voice muffled by the cloth. "I'm like you, I've been here my whole life. We don't even know where other toons live."

"That's not true." He sighed, his glowing figure sitting on the arm of the chair. "There was a time where I lived beyond the Manor."

"You left it?" I asked, peeking out from beneath the cloth. As far as I was aware, my storyline built the manor forever ago and had kept the manor up and running ever since. It was very odd to find out my Great-Grandfather had gone off to do something else. "Why?" 

"One of my old friends needed help setting up his shop, so I traveled to a place called Toontown and lived there for a while."

I squinted at the term. I'd heard of some of the ghosts talk about 'Toontown' before, but didn't realize it was an actual place. Sometimes their memories got a bit jumbled and mixed up over time, so while I did listen to their stories I didn't take every single detail to heart.

"When did you even meet this friend if you'd were at the manor?" I asked.

"That..." he said, flickering and holding his head, "...that I don't remember."

Very few things bothered ghosts but not being able to recall their past was one of them. My eyes widened and I took off the cover, gesturing wildly. "Don't worry about it, Grandpa! I don't need to know, I'm sorry I asked!" 

"It's quite alright," He stopped flickering and let go of his head. 

I sighed in relief. 

"You can figure it out when you ask him yourself." His gloved hand held what looked like a playing card. "This is your ticket out of here." 

He held it out to me and I gently took it, flipping it over in my hands. One side was blue, with the word 'Toontown' printed on it in bright, yellow letters. The other had a picture of a stout, maroon mouse signed by 'Daffy Don'. It seemed to glow in the musty darkness of the basement.

"What is this?" I asked. 

"That is an SOS card." He replied. "If you hold it face up in the palm of your hand and say 'SOS,' Daffy will come to you, no matter where you are." 

So there was a way for me to leave. My stomach dropped and I put the card down on the chair. As much as I hated the thought, I knew I couldn't stay. Not only had the atmosphere taken an extremely untoony turn, but the storm was going to come back. I might be living under here for weeks, maybe even months before I could get the manor even remotely close to being back the way it was. I glanced solemnly at the card.

"I know this isn't going to be easy, but you're the toughest cat I know," Grandpa assured. "If anyone can do this, it's you."

"But what about the Manor? And the ghosts?" I sighed, picking the card up again.

"They were fine then and we'll be fine now. Right now, you need to take care of yourself." He said, floating up to his feet. 

"Okay," I swallowed, standing up from the chair. "Should I tell everyone goodbye?" 

"No, Bandit, Matilda and I will explain everything." He replied, "And this isn't goodbye, we will see each other again after you get some proper rest."

I nodded. "Then tell the others I'll see them later." 

"I will, I promise. See you later, Spook." He smiled, disappearing into the ceiling.

Silhouettes of old and broken furniture loomed around me. I stepped forward from the chair and took a last look around the dark, cold, damp, dusty room and placed the card face up in my hand. 

"SOS." I said. I waited for several seconds, but nothing had changed. Maybe Grandpa Stub Paws' memory had gotten scrambled and the card didn't actually do anything. I turned for the stairs to go find him and there was a loud shunk from behind me. I whipped around and the maroon mouse from the picture flew up from a black dot that'd come out of nowhere. 

"Hello, Count Stub Paws, long time no see! I am here to help!" He cheered, holding up a dancing cane and a straw hat. 

I blinked in astonishment. He was...solid. I knew I was a real toon, but I'd never seen anyone other than myself before. 

"Wait...where...?" He asked, spinning around and squinting his eyes. "Hello?" 

"Hi," I replied, stepping towards him, "you must be Daffy Don."

He jumped, putting the hat over his chest. "Good gumdrops! You scared me!"

"Sorry." I frowned. 

"Don't be sad." Daffy replied, flashing a bright smile, but his eyes rounded and his face fell. "Jumping jellybeans, are you okay?" 

"Probably not by your stand-," I tried, but he suddenly broke out into an energetic dance before bowing. "Ta-da!"

This mouse had lost his marbles. I took some cautionary steps back but he leaped over and backed me up against the wall. 

"Not even a smile?!" He gasped. "This is the worst case of the sads I've ever seen! You need to see a doctor, stat!" 

I opened my mouth to respond but he grabbed my hand and jumped towards the strange hole, pulling me down with him. A terrifying second later I was face down on a wood floor that smelled like...chocolate?