Instigator

The toons cautiously make their way down a dark alleyway, avoiding trash and broken objects as they move.

Glass crunches behind them, as if a bottle has been stepped on by something heavy and the group spins around to investigate, but there’s nothing there. Frightened, the toons huddle closer together.
The group keeps moving, soon finding themselves at the door of a warehouse, obviously once inhabited by C.O.G.S Inc., that now stands abandoned for unknown reasons. The toons enter, unaware of the danger following behind them, closing in on its prey.

Sticking close to each other, the toons begin looking around the warehouse, but seem to find nothing of interest. They start to leave, but the warehouse door suddenly slams shut, plunging the room into total darkness and trapping the toons. A threatening growl sounds from the darkness and the toons are forcefully knocked to the ground as something attacks them.

The lights flicker on, revealing the Instigator as the toons react with surprise.

“Finally! I was wondering when that stupid council of yours would send some poor fools my way.”

The Instigator flashes a wicked grin, tail lashing behind him as he circles the toons

“Took them long enough, I was beginning to think I needed to try… harsher tactics to get a reaction from you creatures."
"Honestly, I’m a little disappointed that it didn’t have to come to that, but I’m sure you’re pleased. Anyway, enough talking.”

The toons react angrily, ready to fight, but the Instigator simply laughs.

“You think you’re the ones in control here?”

Without warning, the Instigator lunges, and the battle begins.

The Instigator grunts and stumbles back, growling as he glares at the toons. He shakes off the brief stun and bares his teeth.

“Is that the best you got?! Pathetic!”

He lunges again, and the toons just barely manage to dodge his snapping jaws.

The damage is starting to take its toll on the Instigator. Sparks are flying off him and his shoulders are heaving, giving him the appearance of breathing heavily due to the strain of the fight. His body has become twitchy.

“G-Give up y-y-yet?”

The Instigator’s eyes flash briefly, transitioning between his dark eyes and normal eyes. He suddenly clutches his head, face contorting in pain as he drops to his knees, squeezing his eyes shut. He growls, then screams out in pain and fury, lunging at the toons for the last time.

The Instigator stumbles back once again, tail lashing. He’s sparking even worse now.

“No… NO! You damn toons! You can’t beat me! You WON’T beat me!”

He lurches forward.

“Not… like… this…”

The Instigator collapses hard to the ground, eyes transitioning to their normal state.

“I…”

He struggles, weakly trying to get back on his feet. He fails.

“I w-want to go h-h-home…..”

He claws at the ground for a moment, then powers down, going still and lifeless.

Shaken by their encounter with this violent cog, the toons back away from his body, then turn and run for the door. They clearly don’t want to be around if he wakes up.

The battle begins. Every toon passes. The Instigator lashes his tail, clearly irritated by the passivity.

• “Hah, frozen in fear? Pathetic.”
• “Too scared to fight back?”
• “Are you trying to annoy me?”
• “Hoping I’ll take pity on you? Don’t make me laugh.”
• “Hoping you’ll be saved? Think I’ll be shot through the chest or something? Hah!”

For the second turn in a row, every toon passes. The Instigator snarls, his irritation having quickly reached a boiling point.

“If you’re not going to fight, stop wasting my time! Tell your lousy council to send some toons with spines next time!”

He lunges and grabs one of the toons in the group, throwing them across the room. The other toons scatter, fleeing the warehouse. Once the cutscene is finished, all toons are teleported back to the playground, and the toon that was thrown is left with a single laff point.

• “This is gonna hurt!”
• “Just sharpened them this morning.”
• “This’ll have you crying to your mommy.”
• “You’ll need a doctor when I’m done with you.”

• “Think you can dodge this?”
• “Think fast!”
• “Can you keep up?”
• “I can do this all day!”
• “Think you’re tough?”
• “Do you really think you can stand up to me?”

• “Have a nice trip!”
• “This’ll make you fall flat!”
• “Hope this hurts!”

This gate is here for a reason. Best not stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.

• “Scared yet? You should be.”
• “Let’s rock and roll!”
• “You’re gonna regret crossing me.”
• “I can see you trembling.”

• “That’s all you’ve got? Lame.”
• “Yawn. That wasn’t even worth my time.”
• “Too easy, don’t come back til you learn to put up a fight.”
• “You won’t be so lucky next time.”

• The Instigator snarls and snaps his jaws at you, just barely missing.
• The Instigator scoffs “I don’t need friends, ESPECIALLY toon ones.”
• The Instigator laughs at you, then smacks you away.
• The Instigator sneers. “I hate you critters.”

• “You’re the one trespassing, idiot. The only one liable for whatever happens here is you.”

• “Fire me? YOU think you have the authority to fire ME?! That’s so stupid, I can’t even laugh about it.”