ST, Ch 4: Lilly Tangerine

Chapter 4

Lilly Tangerine


    “Let’s see. . . I don’t recall the time when Bloodsuckers were allowed to bite Toons,” Telemarketer 118-7 mused to himself, “I’ll have to look further back in the Archives.”

    He headed further down the aisles, running a finger along the books as he passed. Seven heaved a sigh, “I have no idea what I’m looking for.” The Sellbot picked up a random book off the shelf and flipped through it. Nothing. He skimmed through several more before his mobile went off. Slightly annoyed, he pulled it out and opened it, glancing at the Caller ID before answering.

    “Hello, One.”

    “Seven, Roxy McSocks wants a word,” his sister replied, cutting straight to the chase.

    “What!?” He shouted into the other line, about making One drop her phone.

    “I said, Roxy McSocks wants a word,” she repeated more slowly.

    “Where is she?”

    “She’s standing right in front of me.”

    “Thank goodness! Put her on.” Seven spoke with an excited air about his voice.

    “Uh. Okay.” 118-1 handed the blue Toon her mobile. Roxy happily snatched it away.

    “Seven?” Came Roxy’s familiar voice over the speaker.

    Relief washed over him, “Roxy, are you all right?”
   
    “I am now.”

    He sighed heavily into the phone, “Thank goodness. What happened?”

    “I can’t explain it. One moment I was smitten, the next I was back to normal,” she stated, One raising an eyebrow at her.

    “But you’re otherwise all right?”

    “Yeah,” replied Roxy.

    “Head on over to Pearl’s house, I’ll meet you there as soon as I’m finished in the Archives, alright?”

    “Will do.” She handed the phone back to its owner and thanked her, smiling.

    The Name Dropper glared back and said in a somewhat sour tone, “You’re welcome, Toon.”

    Without another word, Roxy pulled out a black hole and jumped into it. She was ready to crash, she’d probably snuggle up on the couch until Seven got back. And she hoped he’d be back soon.





    Seven sighed, “I should probably keep looking. Little Taffy’s likely still under the same effects if she’s been captured as well.”

    Just as he said that the title of a book caught his eye. He pulled a book entitled A History of Lawbots out and flipped it open. He skimmed through the table of contents of the book when the sixth chapter title caught his attention. It read Traditions of Old. From the words he could tell he was on the right track and flipped ahead. As his eyes flicked over the words, a feeling of unease began to wash over him at what was written:

    …Probably one of the most infamous traditions held up, not by the Lawbots themselves but the Bloodsuckers, is their yearly tradition of capturing and draining the blood of Toons on the night of Old Hallows Eve. This tradition has been around as long as any can remember. It was started by one of the founding Lawbots, Vladimir Bloodsucker. Seeing it only fair that hundreds of Cogs are destroyed each day in the war against the Toons, Lawbot Master Jeremiah Big Wig deemed such acts fitting to their cause.

    However when his son Lamont Big Wig, the current Chief Justice, took his place as head of Lawbot Head Quarters he decided that it was time for the tradition of the Bloodsuckers to end. He deemed it too disgusting and horrific of an act for any Lawbot to commit. Not to mention the fact that a hypnotized Toon would follow their captors around in a daze; disrupting the lives of said Cogs. The aforementioned hypnotic state is caused by either an induced hypnosis or bite and can only be broken when the effects wear off over time, or if the Toon has their emotional state compromised. Some liken it to what Toons refer to as ‘heart-break’.

    Uproar surfaced, and every Bloodsucker protested against this decision. After many difficult negotiations, a verdict was reached. The tradition could still continue on one condition. Any Toons captured could not be harmed or bitten for the reasons stated in the above paragraphs.

    The tradition of capturing Toons is still practiced by Bloodsuckers today, as of the publication of this book, and is likely to continue for generations to come…

    “Goodness this gives some context! I’d better get back to Pearl and Roxy.”

    Seven took off at a speed an Olympic sprinter would have envied and made his way to Pearl’s house.





    Little Taffy sat with 606-6 on a bench in one of the streets for Toontown Central. She sat there quietly, leaning her head on his shoulder. It had been nerve wracking for a while until the two of them had been able to find a confiscated sticker book and teleport out of the Head Quarters. But the Toon was still on edge; sure that another Bloodsucker would pop up at any moment.

    “Are they going to find us, Six? I don’t want to go back.”

    “I won’t let them take you, Taffy.”

    She nuzzled his arm and he sighed, ruffling her hair, “It’ll be all right, Taffy. You’ll see.”

    Taffy, though still a bit sceptical, decided he was right. Sighing, Little Taffy rested her head on the Cog’s shoulder again. Six looked over at her and smiled briefly until he saw something blinking on her sleeve. He frowned and plucked it off. It was one of the tracking devices that were put on their captured Toons. Six stood, and tossed it away from them down the street. He didn’t know if anyone would be coming to look for her soon, but he didn’t want to stay around to find out.

    “Taffy, get up. We need to get going.”

    “We do?” She asked.

    “Unless you want them to find us?”

    The feline shook her head and latched onto Six’s arm. He patted her head once more, and prepared to start walking until an unfamiliar voice called out behind them.

    “Little Taffy?”

    606-6 blinked and looked back; there stood a Telemarketer sporting a blue scarf. The Sellbot took one look at the two of them and frowned. Little Taffy looked over at the other Cog as well, and seemed to perk up.

    “Hi Seven!” She greeted with a wave.

    “Seven?” Six asked, looking at the Telemarketer.

    “118-7. And just who are you?”
     
    “606-6,” replied the Bloodsucker.
    “Well then, 606-6, what are you doing with Little Taffy?”

    “I’m. . . uh.” Six was at a loss for words. He had sworn not to tell about the machine, but at this point?

    Suddenly the green Toon rubbed her check against him purring lightly. Seven stared at her and then back at the Bloodsucker. “Have you bitten her?”

    “Of course not! Such an act is forbidden. Why would you think I had?” The Bloodsucker huffed, looking a little indignant at being asked such a question.

    “It would explain her…behaviour.”

    “She’s simply under the effects of hypnosis! I have done nothing more to her,” Six growled starting to get defensive.

    “Well her friends are worried about her. I can get her back home where she’ll be safe.”

    “Safe? She’ll be safe enough with me!”

    The Telemarketer looked unconvinced, “With what your associates are planning, I have my doubts she will be.”

    “I would never…”

    “Even still I must insist, for her own safety, that I take her home.”

    “But I don’t want to go home,” Little Taffy interjected, “I’ll be alright with Six. You’ll tell them I’m okay, right Seven?”

    “Are you though?” the Sellbot asked, raising an eyebrow.

    “Why wouldn’t I be?” She asked, clutching tighter at the Bloodsucker’s arm.

    “You’re obviously not.” The Telemarketer frowned heavily.

    “What do you mean,” she blinked looking at him confused, “I’m fine.”

    “Look at yourself! What are you doing?” He asked her sounding frazzled.

    “What do you mean, what am I doing? I want to stay with him!”

   “No, you think you do,” Seven insisted.

    “No. I do!”

    The Sellbot shook his head. “That’s what Roxy thought. But she was under a spell. So are you.”

    “I’m staying with him. And not you or anyone else is going to stop me,” She said flatly, as if she hadn’t heard Seven at all.

    “Oh no you’re not,” He grabbed her arm and began to haul her away, “You’re coming with me, Miss Taffy. Like it or not.”

    “What? No! Seven, come on! Be reasonable!” She hollered.

    “I am.”

    “Wait, stop!” Six yelped, hoofing it after the pair.

    “Six! Let me go, please!” Taffy begged, but the Cog’s grip only tightened.

    “Out of the question!”

    “No, you can’t!” Six cried, an edge of desperation beginning to creep into his voice.

    “Watch me!”

    “Six, stop him!” Little Taffy wailed as the Telemarketer continued to drag her away at a faster pace.

    “I’m…I’m trying! But-”

    Six suddenly doubled over, clutching at his hard drive. He wailed as a painful sensation, almost like an electric shock, coursed through him. His internal memory banks flashed before his eyes, running haywire as they called them to the forefront of his mind. But there were memories there that he hadn’t recalled having until that moment: memories of an analogous, yet different Toon. One he’d met only weeks ago. But one who was now gone.

    Oh Lilly...how could I have forgotten?

    “Seven! Seven, wait, something’s wrong with him!”

      Six looked up at the Telemarketer, “Please…I can’t lose her as well.”

    Seven stopped and looked back at the Bloodsucker kneeling on the ground, “What are you talking about?”

    “Lilly. They took my Lilly away…”

    “Who did? And why?” Seven asked.

    “My b-brother’s…because I loved her!”

    Little Taffy looked at him in disbelief, “W-what?”

    “I loved her,” the Bloodsucker whimpered. “So they took her away from me. . .”

    Six ran as fast as his legs would allow him. He felt horribly slow, like he had two anvils strapped to his ankles. He had to move faster. He couldn’t let what was about to transpire happen. Not to her. When he finally made it to their secret room, he quickly tapped in the code to enter and rushed into the room before the wall had finished rising.

    “Lilly!”

    He hurried for the center of the room, in time to see One and Three strapping a struggling Toon down to the table. Out of nowhere, his two elder brothers 606-2 and 5 grabbed hold of him from either side. They restrained his arms behind him.

     “No!” He struggled, “Let me go!”

   “Six, we told you to stay in our room,” Two told him, sternly.

   “Why are you doing this?” He wailed.

   “We told you she was for this purpose long before you captured her! If the machine doesn’t work, then all of our other plans are bust,” Five answered.

   “Please…use someone else! Anyone else!”

   “You’re the one who captured her, Six! It’s your own fault!” Two growled at him.

     Tears began to pour from his eyes. Lilly wailed loudly, the needles of the machine having dug into her. Her cries made him struggle even more, but he just couldn’t break free.

    “Lilly! Hold on, please! I’ll get you out of there!”

    “…Six, don’t!”

   “I won’t let you die like this,” He sobbed hysterically, “Not after what you’ve been through!”

    “It’s…it’s too late…” She choked out, “Just…forget about me Six…”

    “No…I can’t…I won’t!”

    Six threw his weight against Five and Two, finally managing to break free. He charged for the slab that Lilly was strapped to. One and Three grabbed hold of him as he neared it, impeding his progress any further. Lilly turned her head slightly when she heard him approaching.

    She smiled up at him, her voice fading now, “I love you, Six…but there’s no time…”

    “I love you too. I-I’ll get you out, just hang on a little longer,” He said firmly, determination behind his voice.

    “Don’t…you’ll just make them angry…”Lilly whispered.

    “I don’t care. They’re not stopping me!”

     He shoved away from his brothers and headed for the console, only for someone else to step in his path: 118-7.

    “I don’t think so!” Seven growled.

    “Seven, get out of my way! Please!”

    “No, I don’t think I will, Six.”

    “Why? I thought we were friends! You have to stop the machine,” He shouted, fresh tears falling from his eyes.

    “We are friends…but you knew this would happen! It’s your own fault for getting attached in the first place. Cogs shouldn’t even be able to get attached to Toons at all!”

    606-6 tried to shove him aside. “Then I’ll shut the machine off myself!”

    But Seven would not be moved. The Bloodsucker shoved him back. “No! I’m sorry my friend…I can’t let you.”

    “B-but I can’t…” He started, unable to finish, the ache too great to think about.

    “Can’t what?” Seven frowned at him.

    “I can’t lose her.”

    “I’m afraid you already have, Six,” he sneered, pointing at the Toon strapped down to the table.

    Six spun around. Lilly’s let out a rattling breath. She squirmed one last time before her body lay still.

    “Lilly…no!”

    He ran to her side once more, hesitantly placing a hand on her cheek. The green Toon stared up at the ceiling with glassy, lifeless eyes. The sheen had gone from her once beautiful, soft green hair tipped in blue. Her fur had turned a sickly grey in contrast to its former bright green. A single tear fell from her left eye, streaking slowly down her cheek, but she moved no more. She was gone.

    “Lilly?”

    Six lightly shook her shoulder, unwilling to believe that she had gone. “W-wake up. Please…you have to. Lilly, by the Masters, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry…”

    Six began screaming in agony. Screams that echoed throughout the room and in every crevice of Six’s mind as he brought himself out of the memory…

    The Bloodsucker lay on the pavement, half curled up into a ball. Tears spilling from his eyes, He felt empty inside again. Emptier then he had before. Little Taffy and Seven simply stared at him, horror struck by his tale.

    “W-what? I-it’s the truth…”

    “No, I believe you, but…”

    “But what?” Six spat out.

    “If they did such a thing to someone you loved, why kidnap Little Taffy?” Seven asked.

    “I…couldn’t remember. It just all came back to me when you were taking Taffy away.”

    Seven and Little Taffy looked at each other and frowned, then glanced back at Six where he kneeled on the pavement.

    “What’s Miss Taffy got to do with this?”

    He raised his head to look upon her, “I knew it, if only subconsciously. B-but she looks like her. Like Lilly. My Lilly Tangerine…” he choked out, sniffing back more tears, “I think that’s why I sought you out that night. I’m…I’m sorry.”

   Little Taffy’s eyes hardened in anger, “Y-you mean the only reason you’ve been trying to protect me was because I reminded you of Lilly?”

    Six whimpered, “I wouldn’t wish that machine on anyone! I-I care for you, Taffy. That’s why I-”

    “You’re lying! You never cared about me!”

    “That’s not true,” Six rasped, his tone barely above a whisper.

    “Yes it is! You wouldn’t have captured me otherwise! You said so yourself,” She screamed.

    118-7 pulled the green Toon into a hug and she sobbed into his shoulder. “Come now; let’s take you back to Roxy and Pearl.”

    Little Taffy stopped suddenly and pulled away. “What am I doing?” she asked wiping away her tears.

    “Oh. Does this mean you’ve come back to your senses?” 118-7 asked curiously.

    “I…think so,” she sniffed, rubbing her eyes again.

    “Good. Then let’s get you out of here.”

    Little Taffy would have replied, if the distraught Lawbot at their feet did not do so first.

    “T-Taffy, wait…”

    She glared at him, “What?”

    “Please…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen to you. I wasn’t myself. Forgive me…”

    Little Taffy looked at him a long moment before turning to leave, “Let’s go, Seven.”

    Stealing a glance at the Bloodsucker, Seven saw the look of shock morph onto his face before he too turned to leave. The two headed off without a backwards glance at 606-6, who collapsed a moment later into a pile on the street.



    Pearl was snoozing peacefully on her couch. Roxy was pacing about the living room, still waiting on Seven to get back. She glanced over at her friend and chuckled when the pink cat’s ear flicked. Unable to resist, she blew on it and her ear flicked several times in a row. Roxy giggled and poked at it. Pearl’s face scrunched up.

    “Mrgh…I’ll feed you in a minute, Illusion.”

    Roxy chortled. Her sleeping companion grumbled and turned over. She smiled and ruffled the pink cat’s hair.
     
    “Mrrgh! I said I’d-” she opened her eyes and stopped mid-sentence when she saw who had disturbed her slumber.

    “Hi. You feel any better?”

    “Roxy!” the blue cat was pulled into a tight hug. “I thought I’ve never see you again.” Pearl exclaimed joyfully.

    Roxy happily returned the hug, “Yeah, well. . . Sorry about that. I wasn’t myself, you know.”

    “I know,” Pearl winced and let go of her friend, “Geeze, ow!”

    “What?” Roxy asked, cocking her head in confusion.

   “My arms still hurt…”

    “Hurt from what?”

    Pearl held her arms out to show Roxy. They were covered by bandages, but some of the punctures had seeped through, leaving the wrap stained a faint brown.

    Roxy’s eyes widened at the sight of Pearl’s arms, “That’s horrible! What happened?”

    “The Bloodsuckers . . . they made this horrible machine. It drains the blood out of us.”

    “And they used it on you?” She asked, trembling.

    She nodded, “I’d be lunch if Seven hadn’t been there to help.”

    “Oh man, they were going to use it on me too, weren’t they?”

    She nodded again. Roxy turned green and hugged her again. Pearl hugged her back, “Hopefully Seven will be here soon.”

    “Yeah, where is he? I thought he was coming right over.”

    “I’m sure he’s fine; probably still looking through books.”

    “I hope so.”

    A few feet away from the couch, a black hole opened and a Telemarketer hopped out.
    “Good grief!” he exclaimed as he staggered to regain his footing. That was the last time he hoped to travel by black hole for a good long while.

    “Seven!” Pearl exclaimed with delight.

    Roxy squealed and tackled him to the floor. The Sellbot emitted a grunt as he hit the ground.

    “Roxy!”

    He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, never wanting to let go. Having lost her once was enough for him.

    Pearl smiled as Roxy purred, happy to see the two reunited again, when suddenly Little Taffy emerged from the same black hole. Pearl looked at her like she was seeing a ghost.

    “Little Taffy?”

    She nodded. “Yeah, it’s me.”

    The green Toon was pulled into a tight hug by Pearl, “Don’t ever worry me like that again missy!”
   
    “I’ll try not to,” she chuckled, returning the hug.

    “Where have you been? I’ve been out of my mind wondering where you had gone all this time!”

    “I found her with a Bloodsucker,” Seven supplied. “Quite a story he had too. . .”

    “Story?” Pearl asked, “What story?”

    “Sit down, and we’ll tell you…” Little Taffy said with a hint of distain in her voice.

    “Oh, and I also came across what I was looking for in the Archives, I’m sure you’ll be interested to hear what I found as well,” added Seven.




    A quiet unease had settled over the room once Taffy and Seven finished recounting the tragedy of Six. Pearl sat there stunned, while Roxy had her hands over her mouth in absolute horror.

    The pink cat sighed, “Well…what do we do now?”

    “I’d say nothing,” her green friend replied. “Hopefully when Six let all their prisoners get away, they’ll give up on trying to catch more.”

    “I don’t know, they seemed pretty desperate,” Seven observed.

    “Yeah,” Pearl paused, “Well wait, now that Roxy’s safe, I think we could probably go and tell the CJ about all this. It’s time he knew the truth about what his Lawbots are plotting behind his back.”

    “But will he listen to us?” Roxy asked.

    “He has to. We can’t let this go on for any longer,” Pearl sighed.

    “Well then, we should hurry. The more time we sit around, the more time they have to regroup,” Little Taffy pointed out.

    “My thoughts exac-” Pearl cut herself off when she spotted something blinking on Roxy’s shirt. “Um, Roxy?”

    The blue Toon blinked, looking bemused. She glanced down to see what Pearl had noticed. She plucked it off and held it up for all to see.

    “What is it?” asked Seven.

    “Dunno, but it’s blinking.” Pearl pointed out.

    Little Taffy held her chin in thought, wondering why it was vaguely familiar to her. It hit her just what it was when a shadow outside Pearl’s window caught her attention. She looked over at the silhouette, and her eyes bugged. She turned back to her oblivious pink friend who was staring intensely at the blinking object.

    “Uh…Pearl? Pearl!” she said more frantically, poking her arm to try and her attention more.

    “Not now Little Taffy,” Pearl grumbled shooing her friend’s hand.

    “What is it Taffy?” Roxy asked. The green Toon frantically pointed at the window. Roxy looked over to see several more figures landing outside the window. Her heart nearly stopped.

    “Pearl!” Taffy shouted once more.

    “What?” she growled.

    Little Taffy grabbed the sides of her face and directed it at the window, “It’s a tracking device you numbskull!”

    “Oh…” the Toon gulped back the fear slowly creeping over her at the Bloodsuckers grinned at them from outside the window.

    “We’re screwed,” Little Taffy whimpered starting to shake from the thought of having to return to Lawbot H.Q.

    “What do we do?” Roxy asked sounding frantic.

    “Maybe we can out run them if we go out another way?” suggested Pearl.

    “If I can get long enough to take off, I might be able to go for help.” Seven piped up.
   
    “Well you better run fast, because I'd rather not end up lunch for real this time,” Pearl squealed with fright.

    Seven smiled, “Running fast is what I'm built for!”

    “Then go,” Little Taffy looked over at him, “Find Mayor Flippy before it’s too late!”

    “Will do,” he saluted before taking off full speed out of the house.

    With Seven’s parting, the Bloodsucker armada smashed the window in and stormed the house. Roxy squealed with fright, Little Taffy screamed at the top of her lungs, and Pearl covered her eyes and wished her heart out that this wasn’t about to happen.





    606-5 and Four glanced up and down the street; looking for where the tracker’s signal was coming from. Five found it discarded and lodged in a crack in the cobblestone.

    “Looks like one of them got away,” Four commented.

    “Looks like it,” Five frowned.

    The pair of them turned to head down the street when something caught their attention. Five smirked looking over at a sobbing navy blue mass lying in a heap in the ground.

    “Or perhaps we found someone else.”

    Both brothers walked over to him, looked down upon their youngest sibling and frowned at him. He was oblivious to them even being there, his gaze distant.

    “Six, get up,” Five growled at him.

   When he didn’t budge, Four snarled at his little brother and yanked him roughly to his feet by his hair. Six yelped at his scalp being tugged on. Five pulled him to look him straight in the eyes.

    “You’re in a lot of trouble little brother. Especially after what you did to One…”

    “I don’t care. Do what you want…” he said quietly. Six hopped that they would just end him and relieve him of his misery.

    “Oh we will,” Four’s smirked maliciously, “You're going to watch every Toon we recapture go through the machine tonight at Midnight.”

    Suddenly, Six began to care. His head shot up, eyes wide with absolute horror.

     “No! You can’t!”

    Four and Five grinned something nasty at their little brother, and he started sobbing. Five gripped his chin, “And since we put trackers on all of our captured Toons, you’ll be watching a lot, Six.”

    Both brothers chuckled at him before dragging his struggling form back to Lawbot.





    Mayor Flippy was busily indulged in paper work, filing missing claims on Toons. He sighed; having to do this every Halloween was getting rather tiring. They always turned up a day or so later anyway.

    Suddenly the door of his office burst open and 118-7 the Telemarketer entered his office looking frantic. The noise startled him, causing him to jump.

     “Oh good, you’re here,” Seven breathed.

   Flippy looked at him, still a bit rattled, “118-7?”

   “Roxy McSocks and her friends are in danger!”

    “What? What’s happened?”

   “Bloodsuckers have them surrounded at Pearl's house! I came here as quick as I could, but we have to hurry!”

    Flippy sprang up from his seat at the news. It was one thing to capture Toons off the street, but to attack them in their own homes? They’d gone too far this time!

    “I’m right behind you, 118-7.”

    Seven nodded and ran as fast as he could out of the office. Flippy pulled out his black hole and jumped into it, disappearing into the blackness.




    The hole opened outside Pearl’s door. Flippy poked his head inside to find an absolute mess. All of Pearl’s belongings were smashed or ripped to pieces. Flippy felt sick; they had arrived too late to help them.

    “They’re gone…” was all he could muster in those moments.

    Suddenly Seven was behind him, having heard the Mayor’s comment. He couldn’t believe it was true.

    “No...Roxy…”

    Flippy turned to face him, his face creased with worry. Something about this whole situation was very bothersome.

    “Why would they come to an estate and kidnap them?”

    “They want to drain them of all their blood. They’re hiding a vile machine in Lawbot. I thought they were all safe until we discovered a tracer on Roxy’s shirt. Moments later, a hoard of Bloodsuckers were outside the estate,” Seven said quietly.

    Flippy’s expression became horrified at Seven’s announcement, “Has the Chief Justice been informed about this at all?”

    The Telemarketer looked shamefully at the ground, “I haven’t had the chance.”

    Flippy sighed at the news before his face hardened in anger, “Then let’s go have a little chat with him, shall we?”

    “Indeed,” Seven agreed and took off again.





    Flippy frowned as he and 118-7 inched closer to Lawbot, seeing the guard post outside were a number of Bloodsuckers. They would surely alarm the others inside if the two of them tried anything from here. Flippy sighed, rubbing his head.

    “This isn’t good.”

    Seven frowned, “I don’t suppose we could try sauntering by?”

    “Doesn’t look like it.”

   Seven scratched his chin in thought, not able to come up with any answers. His dismay continued to grow by the second. What were they to do now if they could not get in to see the Chief Justice?

    “If only we could somehow contact the C.J. directly.”

    Seven suddenly perked up, “Of course, how could I forget?” He smiled, pulling out his phone, “I still have the Vice President’s number in my contacts.”

    “You do? Go and give him a call then.”

    “Will do,” Seven replied, dialling the number.

    A moment later the Sellbot Boss answered, “Hello Seven.”

    “Sir we have a situation,” Seven frowned cutting to the chase, “I've uncovered a plot by the Bloodsuckers. They have a machine to drain the blood of Toons. And they’re planning on using it tonight.”

    “What? They were forbidden from harming Toons in that barbaric manner!”

    “Hence 'uncovered a plot', Sir.”

    The Sellbot Boss frowned, “I'll tell Monty right away. Don’t do anything reckless, Seven,” he commanded. A second later, the line clicked off.

    Seven closed his phone with a snap, “He’s on it.”

    “Good…” sighed Flippy, feeling somewhat relieved.

    “Now all we have to do is…wait.”

    “Yes, but he'd better hurry,” Flippy turned to look at the H.Q. and frowned once more, “It's getting late.”