And here's. . . THE END! (*dramatic music*)

**************

Chapter Twelve

"

The hero isn't the strongest or the smartest or the best-looking. The hero is the one who, no matter how hard, does the right thing."
-The Pirates who Don't Do Anything

A few days later, while the VP was signing papers, a Telemarketer poked his head in the door. "Sir," he said breathlessly, "there are Toons in the courtyard. All over the courtyard!"

Panic clutched at the VP. This was it. The Toons had finally launched a full-scale invasion. So much for a truce.

He straightened his shoulders and nodded at the Telemarketer. "Thank you," the VP said. He took a deep breath and rolled out into the courtyard, not knowing what he'd find.

What he saw shocked him.

Toons were clustered around in several groups in the courtyard - with mops and buckets and rags. Some were scrubbing at the oil puddles on the ground. Some were picking up spare crowbars and beams and gathering them into a pile. And one group was down on their hands and knees, scrubbing frantically at the rusty walkway that led to the factory, gathered around a dog whose floppy ears covered her face.

It was that group that the VP rolled up to. "What is going on here?" he asked. His brain was in its biggest tangle yet.

"Hiya, sir!" came an almost-familiar voice from under the ears. "We're just fixing the place up - you don't mind, do ya?"

The VP could only stare as his mind whirled. This was the strangest Toon attack yet. So strange, as a matter of fact, that he didn't see how it would hurt the Cogs.

But an awful thought popped into his mind and straight out of his mouth. "And I suppose after that, you'll hang up pink curtains, too?"

The dog shook her head. "Oh, no, sir," she chirped. "This is your territory, and if you want it dark and dreary, then dark and dreary it is. However -" she rubbed the sponge even harder against the walkway - "dark and dreary is one thing, dirty and falling-apart is quite another." With that, she tossed the ears out of her face.

The VP's jaw dropped. "It's you!"

The dog smiled. "I have a name, you know. I'm Weird Curly Megaquack."

"Oh." Something inside the VP shifted. He'd never known a Toon by name before. But then again, this was no ordinary Toon. And in that case, he had to be polite.

He stuck out his hand. "I'm the VP."

Miss Megaquack's smile grew, crinkling her eyes nearly shut. "I knew that already." But she took one of the VP's fingers in the hand and shook it firmly.

The whole world seemed to stand still as Toon and Cog connected.

I just touched a Toon - without trying to hurt her, the VP realized. And she wasn't trying to hurt me.

He gulped. I guess there's no turning back now.

Miss Megaquack pulled her hand back and stared at it. "That's weird," she said - quietly, as if she were talking to herself. "I didn't lose any Laff points."

A couple of the other Toons exchanged astonished looks. The VP was pretty astonished himself. Whenever a Toon had so much as bumped into his treads during a battle, they lost Laff. He didn't even have to try to hurt them - it just happened.

During a battle. Maybe - maybe if they weren't fighting - if they didn't want to fight -

A yip broke into the VP's thoughts. He jerked his head around and saw a small lavender creature shaped like a jellybean bounding toward Miss Megaquack. He recognized it as a Toon-pet. "Doodles," he was fairly sure they were called.

Miss Megaquack laughed - maybe the first time ever that a Toon laughing didn't make the VP want to crush them under his treads. She bent down and scratched her pet's head. "Wagtail, sweetheart," she murmured. "Did you follow me here?"

Wagtail gave a joyful bark and waddled off toward a small Goon. The Goon spun around, catching her directly in its light.

Miss Megaquack gasped. The VP blinked in confusion.

But Wagtail seemed none the worse for wear. As a matter of fact, she squatted down on her paws, stuck her rump in the air, and wagged her tail. The Goon copied her as best as he could.

Wagtail leaped back up and gave a Goon a friendly lick, then took off across the courtyard. The Goon followed her.

The VP felt himself soften. It didn't look so hard for them to come to a truce. But then again, they probably had no idea that they were supposed to be fighting.

Miss Megaquack snapped her head back toward him. "Anyway," she said, "this place needs to be majorly cleaned up. Gyro's bringing his air-cleaner -"

The VP felt his heart slam to a halt. "Gyro? Gyro Gearloose?"

Her lips twitched. "How many other Gyros do you know?"

The VP thought hard for a minute. "None," he finally said.

Miss Megaquack smiled again. "Yeah, it's him. You know - the guy that made your boss? Well -" she stopped and tilted her head to one side - "Scrooge McDuck brought him to life." She shook her head. "It was pretty stupid of him - but he didn't deserve whatever happened to him." She gave an enormous sigh. "I wonder where the poor guy is now."

Something heavy settled into the VP's chest, and he realized what it was. It was responsibility. Because at that moment, he had the clearest thought he'd ever had:

I need to tell the Toons that the Chairman has Scrooge.

But his tongue wouldn't work; his mouth wouldn't form those words. Maybe it was because he couldn't betray his boss, maybe it was sheer nervousness or his usual awkwardness. Whatever the reason, he just stood there, feeling like - like a senseless, stupid piece of garbage.

"Oh, you are not!"

The VP glanced down at Miss Megaquack. Only when he saw that she had her hands parked on her hips did he realize he'd said that out loud.

"Who told you that you were?" she continued.

The VP sighed. "The CEO. One day."

"Well, he was wrong! Because you know what's really senseless and stupid?"

The VP shook his head, strangely fascinated. He'd never met anyone who could talk as much as this Toon did.

Miss Megaquack pierced him with her eyes. "Senseless and stupid is thinking the entire world revolves around you, and treating your workers like dirt. It's stupid because then they don't want to work for you. The second anything better comes up, they'll drop you -" She gave her fingers a quick little snap. "- just like that."

Her eyes softened at the corners in a way that looked familiar. "Not your Cogs, though. They love you, because you love them. You take care of them. You tell them they're wonderful. Even if something 'better' came along, they'd stay with you - because they're loyal, not because they're scared."

She gave her head another tilt. "Why did he call you that, anyway?"

The VP shrugged his shoulders awkwardly. He'd forgotten why by this point. "Because - because I'm not the CEO."

"Of course not!" Miss Megaquack's hands went back to her hips. "You're the VP! You're not supposed to be the CEO! Why would you even want to be?" She leaned in, eyes blazing. "The CEO gives his baby Cogs nightmares. The VP comforts his baby Cogs' nightmares."

The VP felt heat rising to his face. "How did you know about that?"

"I talk to the little Cogs," Miss Megaquack replied. "They're very trusting - and quite eye-opening." She raised her eyebrows. "You want some advice?"

The VP felt as if he were staring at a closed door, reaching for the knob. He drew back. Toons are evil! the Chairman's voice boomed in his head.

You can't trust them! the CFO echoed him.

The VP shook them off, and then grabbed for the knob - and turned it. "Yes," he whispered.

Miss Megaquack leaned in. "You let the CEO worry about being the CEO," she whispered. "And you just keep on being the VP."

The VP nodded. He didn't exactly understand that, but somewhere in the back of his eternally-confused brain - it made sense.

"But, like I said, Gyro's coming with some kind of machine to clean the air in here," Miss Megaquack continued. "It really needs it."

The VP tilted his own head. "Why?" he asked. And then he felt that awful pressing in his chest. He bent over and started coughing into the palm of his hand. Each cough stung his head.

After the coughing had finally stopped, he heard Miss Megaquack say, "That's why. Dude, you sound like you have pneumonia or something." She gave her hand a couple of waves. "It's all that exhaust the factory's been churning out. Without anywhere to really go, it just hangs around here and makes people sick." Her eyes gave that familiar droop. "Like you."

With new eyes, the VP examined the thick gray smoke being pumped out of the factory. That was what was making him sick? But the factory was the backbone of their business!

"You don't need to clean it up for my sake," he managed to get out. "I'm just old, that's all."

"Oh, yeah, five years old." Miss Megaquack tossed her ears back over her shoulder. "Practically ancient."

The VP felt himself sag. Even she agreed. "See?"

"I was kidding! Back where I come from, five years old is practically a baby. You don't even have to go to school yet!" She shook her head. "Even if you don't want it cleaned up for your sake, think about your Sellbots. Do you want them getting sick, too?"

A Cold Caller toddled by just then, and the VP stared at him, picturing him gray-faced and coughing. The image nearly made him cry. "Okay," he whimpered.

"I thought you'd see it that way," Miss Megaquack said. "We're just trying to take care of you, is all."

It was then that the VP recognized the softness in her eyes. "You remind me of the Minglers. They always want to take care of me, too."

Miss Megaquack threw back her head and laughed. "Female instinct, sir," she answered. "We feel the need to mother everything." She gave one of his treads a pat. "Even a big tough guy like you."

The VP felt himself beam.

"Listen, though," she continued. "If we're going to call a truce, now is the time. Something big is about to go down between your boss and the Toons, and I don't want any of you guys getting hurt in the process." She sighed again. "I don't want any of the Cogs getting hurt, actually - but I've gotta defend my friends and my town."

Something from five years ago pinged in the VP's brain. "Purely in self defense, of course," the Chairman had purred.

"That's - that's what I've been told that the Cogs were doing. All my life," the VP sputtered.

Miss Megaquack nodded. "And some of them are - like you. But some, like the CEO, are willing to hurt their own kind to get to the top."

The VP could practically feel the lightbulbs of his head lighting up. "You figured out the pink slips, huh?"

Another nod. "About the saddest thing I ever heard."

The VP nodded, too. Wow, he thought. Who would have ever thought I'd be agreeing with a Toon?

And then another thought struck him - hard. "How - how do you know that something big is about to happen?" Cold fingers of fear were creeping up his backbone.

Miss Megaquack grunted. "Toon instincts. Or, as we like to call it, in-Toon-inion."

The VP gave a groan. He still wasn't too crazy about these Toons' puns.

"Oh, sorry," Miss Megaquack said. "I keep forgetting that you're a Cog."

The VP wasn't sure whether that was an insult or a compliment. Probably a compliment, he decided.

"Well, I gotta get back to my work," Miss Megaquack continued. With that, she plunged her sponge back into the bucket of something marked "Rust-Away."

"Wait!" the VP blurted out. A question had been nagging at the back of his mind since they had first started talking, and now he finally had the words for it. "You - you told the other bosses that I was a better man than all of them combined."

"Yeah…" Miss Megaquack said slowly.

"But - why? The CFO is the strong one, and the Chief Justice is the smart one, and the CEO is the tough one - what am I?" There. The question he'd been asking himself for five years was finally out there in the air.

And she answered it with a casual shrug. "That's easy. You're the sweet one."

The VP felt his face go scarlet.

"No, I mean it," Miss Megaquack pushed on. "You're the one who's excited about promoting his Cogs and always talking nice to them and - and insisting on doing the right thing. Even if it keeps you from being very high-ranking, even though it must be really hard to know what the right thing even is in this situation, when you find it, you do it."

She threw out her arms as if she were finishing a dance. "That's a lot more important than being strong or tough or even smart."

The VP could only stare at her for a long minute. No one had ever said such nice things about him. He wondered if they were true.

"And you know what else my instincts tell me?" Miss Megaquack asked.

The VP shrugged.

"You're going to be okay." She reached into her gag bag and pulled out a feather, which she placed in the palm of his hand. "This is a Toon-Up gag. It lets us heal each other in battle."

So that's how that works.

"It's a symbol of hope." Miss Megaquack slung her bag back over her shoulder. "You hang onto it."

The VP met her eyes. "I will," he croaked out.

And in that instant, he knew Toontown would never be the same again.

******
"You're going to do what?" the CFO cried through the phone.

The VP pulled it away from his ear. "I'm going to tell the Toons that the Chairman has Scrooge."

"You are crazy," the CFO said. "Absolutely crazy. Do have any idea what the Chairman will do when he finds out you tipped them off?"

The VP swallowed hard. Actually, he hadn't thought of that. "He doesn't have to know it was me."

He could almost hear the CFO shrugging. "But he'll probably find out. And when if he does -"

"If he does, the Toons won't let him hurt me," the VP butted in. He wasn't sure where that came from, but he went with it. "And neither will the Sellbots."

"And neither will the Cashbots," the CFO added. "You may be crazy, but I'm not going to let you get hurt."

Warmth seeped into the VP's tight chest. "You mean it?"

"Sure, I mean it." The CFO sighed. "I just don't see why you have to go and shake things up."

For an instant, the VP wondered, too. But the answer came out of his mouth - the answer to every question he'd been having lately. "Because the way things are now isn't right. And it needs to be changed."

There was a long silence.

"I guess you're right," the CFO finally said.

There was knock on the VP's door just then. A Mr. Hollywood stuck his head in. "Sir," he said softly, "Gyro Gearloose is here."

The VP dropped the phone.

"Hello?" came the CFO's voice.

The Mr. Hollywood picked the phone back up and handed it to the VP. Thank you, he mouthed. "I need to go now," he added to the CFO. "But I need to tell you something first."

"What is it?"

The VP took a deep breath. "You're my best friend."

"I'm your what?"

"I'll call you later and explain. But, don't worry," the VP added, triumphant at being able to explain something to somebody else for once. "It's a good thing."

*****
Gyro Gearloose was a skinny rooster. He had red hair and he wore a big floppy hat.

But it was his eyes that the VP noticed. The soft, compassionate look in them made him relax immediately. He hadn't known what to expect from the Toon who had built his boss, but Gyro was looking at him as if he was a long-lost friend.

"Hello, there," Gyro said, extending his hand. "I'm Gyro Gearloose."

The VP shook his hand with one finger, vaguely aware that this was the second time in one day he had touched a Toon. That immediately made him start babbling, the way he sometimes did when he was a nervous wreck. "And I'm the Senior Vice President of Sales, but my friends call me the VP. Actually, everyone calls me the VP - and I don't have that many friends. Just the CFO - and my Cogs."

He wondered if Miss Megaquack could be considered a friend. He would have to ask her about that the next time he saw her.

Gyro's face broke into a gentle smile. "Yes, I've heard about you, VP. You're the one the Chairman got right."

The VP stared as his thoughts started racing. The one the Chairman got right? Everyone always says I'm the one the Chairman got wrong!

"But - don't you like your robots to be smart?" he blurted out.

Gyro's soft face grew serious. "Of course I do. But it's the quality of the heart, more than the quality of the brain, that I'm really concerned about." He gave a crackly chuckle. "After all, you may have heard that I have trouble with my robots turning evil."

The VP nodded. "The Chairman told me about Armstrong."

Gyro leaned in. "And you, my boy, have the kind of heart I've been trying to give my robots all along."

For a minute, the VP couldn't breathe. The one who had built the Chairman, the one who was ultimately the one all the Cogs had basically descended from, was proud of him. It made his hands start to shake.

"But - but don't you hate now because we rebelled?" the VP dared to ask.

"Oh, no." Gyro shook his head. "I hate that you rebelled, but I love every robot I have ever invented."

That hit the VP square in the chest. "You love me?"

"I love you."

The VP would later look back on that sentence as three little words that changed his life forever. Because they gave him such a wonderful feeling that he asked, "Mr. Gearloose?"

"Call me Gyro."

"Okay - Gyro - can I talk to you about something?"

Gyro was smiling his wonderful smile again. "Anytime, VP. What about?"

The VP took a deep breath, his heart trying to throb its way out of his chest. He reached into his pocket and felt the feather, soft and warm against his clammy palm. "I know where your friend Scrooge is."

Gyro's eyes grew wide, and he leaned in. "Then, tell me."

And as the VP told him everything - absolutely everything - he realized that Miss Megaquack had been right. He was still clumsy and kind of simple-minded. He would probably never be as smart as the Chief Justice or as strong as the CFO or as quick and tough as the CEO.

But he wasn't them. He was the VP. And he had friends. He was even loved. And he was doing the right thing. That, he suddenly realized, was enough.

That was more than enough.

THE END