Welcome to Mediapolis

Toon Gods

"If you all don't mind, I'll be borrowing Brook for a while, so the rest of you can go home." Darlene told the others. Everyone stared at her curiously.

"Cartoon logic powers? What the Hell are you talking about?" Brook glared before her expression softened and she blinked. "Ohhh--my powers. Fine."

"Well my job here's done, so...I'm gonna go home. You comin' with, Bubbles?" Buttercup asked her.

"Yeah, sure!" She replied, hopping around, seeming to have gotten back her energy already after the fight.

"Alright! We'll see you guys tomorrow." Buttercup waved to the others.

"Bye bye!" Bubbles waved.

"Wait!" Cory ran up to Buttercup. "Buttercup. I just want to say thanks."

"Oh," Buttercup chuckled shyly. "No problem. I am a superhero, after all."

Cory giggled at her reply. "No, really, thank you. You're amazing. I knew you guys could help us. So thanks. To all of you."

"Any time!" Bubbles smiled.

"Yep. Those two are always prepared, and I can transform just like that!" Kurumi pointed at Bubbles and Buttercup, and then snapped her fingers at the end of her sentence.

After a few seconds, Buttercup placed her hand on Cory's shoulder. "Cya tomorrow, Cory!"

"Cya." She replied, and then Buttercup and Bubbles soared off. Cory grinned sheepishly and turned sharply towards Rose to see if she was watching. She wasn't.

"If you're gonna go with Brook, we'll go too. We don't want Mom worrying." Rose spoke to Darlene. She was curious as to why Darlene wanted to talk to Brook, but now was not the time to pester for answers. She then turned to look at Brook. "But Brook--you promise that you won't hurt us? Tomorrow after school, we can try letting you out with us. You just have to be patient."

Brook deeply glared at Rose. She stared at her silently like she was her prey while unblinking. Rose darted her eyes down at the ground in fear.

"I promise." She replied, her expression unchanging. She hid a sly smirk on her face. "Let's go, whatever your name is."

"It's Darlene. Let's go. We'll see you all tomorrow."

"Cya." Rose and Cory said.

Suddenly Darlene shot into the air. Hovering around 100 feet above them, she motioned Brook to fly up and follow her. She obeyed, and the two flew off.

"That was strange." Milky Rose mumbled. Rose and Cory turned around to see she had transformed back to Kurumi.

"There you are, Milk." Rose smirked. Kurumi's face turned slightly red, but she said nothing.

"That was strange," Cory spoke up. "Why was Darlene acting like she knew everything? She said something about being surprised that she didn't know her."

"I dunno," Rose replied, disinterested. She was thinking about all the characters--and people--she met the past few days. "But I do know one thing..." She glanced at Kurumi and grinned cheekily. "Your name is Milk and that's what I'm calling you."

Kurumi's face turned bright red. "I'M KURUMI AS A HUMAN! KURUMI!" She yelled, and started to chase Rose around. Cory started to chase them around, too. Rose laughed and was quickly caught by Kurumi. She gripped Rose's shoulders and kept her from running away, and Cory bumped into Kurumi's back. The three of them laughed joyfully together.

-

Darlene and Brook stood in front of the steps of the city hall. Darlene turned her head slowly to observe Brook. She was staring silently at the majestic but intimidating steps of the building. It was like she was stepping into elite territory. In a way, she was.

"Follow me." Darlene spoke. They hovered up the staircase and Darlene pulled out a key from her dress pocket. She unlocked and opened the door to the city hall.

"It's after hours, now. Everyone's gone home. Even the boss." Darlene led Brook to a small dimly lit room that appeared to be her office. The room was small and cramped—papers were stacked everywhere and papers sticking out of half-opened file cabinets. Darlene sat in her spinning chair and motioned Brook to sit down in the smaller wooden one across from her.

Brook sat and examined the office. "So...your mom work here or something?"

Darlene smiled. "No, silly. I work here. And I know everyone in Mediapolis. Everyone! I was surprised to meet Rose and Cory because I know everyone. And I'm especially surprised to meet you, considering the fact that you've been here for 2 years. Rose was right—you've made no presence here. The city hall doesn't know you exist."

Brook was confused. "Why do you work at the city hall?"

Darlene grabbed an empty folder and a blank character file. She grabbed a pen from her cup and started scribbling down information. "Because I applied for the job and I was accepted. Now I need to make a file for you. Your name is Brooklyn Toon, you were originally from Earth, and your age is..?"

"Fourteen." Brook replied.

"Your human last name wasn't Toon though."

"No, it wasn't. Once I accepted my fate that I was stuck here forever, I eventually forgot my last name. I had to write down my first name in journals. I steal the things I own, and I've lived in various places across town and I've stayed in some other outside places as well."

"Interesting!" Darlene nodded, rapidly writing down the information and humming. "Now I'd like to talk to you about your cartoon logic powers. Here at the city hall, we have records of every citizen and if they have awakened their powers or not. I have, obviously, because I defeated you," She playfully stuck out her tongue at Brook while she cringed at Darlene in response. "There's less than 100 characters in Mediapolis that have awakened their powers, so I'm wondering...how did you awaken yours if you're from Earth? I guess you became a toon after the 24 hours, but...when did you get them?"

While she was speaking, Brook had her cheek rested against her fist while she leaned her elbow on the desk. She was beginning to doze off. "Uh...let's see..." She sat up. "It was a few months after I arrived. Actually, my powers first started appearing a few weeks after I arrived, but it was only a few, and then over time I gradually got more. I don't know how—all I ever did was explore the world. I think my first power was levitation."

Darlene stared at her in awe. She nodded slowly, trying to process the information and come up with some thoughts. "As far as I know, powers don't develop slowly like that. They usually come all at once, but it takes some time to get used to. Maybe you're different because you're from Earth. If that's the case, then I'll also have to study Rose and Cory."

"How did you get your powers?" Brook asked.

"The same as everyone else who is accepted into the council. We are granted them right away. Now how come you never enrolled in school, got a job, you know?"

Brook looked at her like she was stupid. "Uh, I was 12. I didn't want a job and I hated school. I just wanted to explore. I'm constantly going in and out of Mediapolis."

"That's why I've never seen you around! I'm surprised the other members of the council never saw you. I've only been here for 2 years, so I'm quite inexperienced."

"Yeah," Brook rolled her eyes out of boredom. Suddenly Darlene pulled out a camera from a desk drawer and snapped a photo of Brook. She jolted up and widened her eyes.

"Thanks for the information! Now you're an official citizen of Mediapolis. I'll continue trying to find out how and why you got your powers. You can go now."

"Finally." Brook started to walk out the door.

"Wait!"

Brook groaned and turned back around. "What?"

"Would you like to consider enrolling in Mediapolis School? I know you don't like me or my friends, but it's a great place to get to know others better."

"I'll think about it." Brook replied aloofly while tracing her fingers along the wall and walking out of the door.