Chapter Text
Cosmo was already in a bad mood when he walked into the Cashbot HQ for the managerial meeting.
Star had Flint coming in saying that a group of toons had beat star and then not too long afterwards the same group came in and beat not only stars investors but also Cosmo starself, which made star uncontrollably irritable.
However, Cosmo knew that just skipping out on the meeting would get him a lecture from Chris and he would rather ask his investors to terminate him than listen to him rant about how bad of a job he was doing and how “irresponsible” he was being.
So, at the very least, star would be spared from that torture.
But the stars must have been angry at him, as Cosmo saw none other than the Witch Hunter walking towards him as him waited for the elevator. And, as the larger suit stood with one arm folded behind his back while the other held his pitchfork, a look of distain on his face, the temptation to slam his head into the fucking wall rose.
Trying to keep stars mind off of the infuriating suit beside him, star reached into stars jacket and pulled out stars pack of cigars and his lighter. Cosmo lit stars cigar before putting the other cigars and stars lighter away.
He took a puff of his cigar and exhaled, tapping his foot impatiently as he wondered what was taking the elevator so long.
“Do you find it necessary to smoke that wretched thing?” Witch Hunter sneered, face scrunched in disgust.
Cosmo exhaled sharply, not having the patience to deal with his bullshit as star glared at him.
“You already smell of smoke, so what’s a little more?” he replied with a snarky grin, punctuating his sentence with a puff of cigar smoke directly at Witch Hunter.
“I smell of no such thing!” he protested with an infuriated stomp of his foot.
“That’s bullshit. You literally reek of bonfire smoke as bad as Flint does. So don’t go and try to tell me that you don’t stink of smoke.” Cosmo argued, crossing stars arms over stars chest.
“Well, at least by measure, my smoke does not stink so pungently as yours.” Witch Hunter huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Whatever you say, buddy.” Cosmo laughed as the elevator dinged open.
He decided the argument wasn’t worth his time or energy as he went inside the elevator, his investors close behind him.
However, before the doors closed, Witch Hunter forced himself into the elevator, glaring down at Cosmo with a burning rage in his eyes.
“How dare you attempt to abscond and forsake our altercation!” he growled, pointing his pitchfork at stars face.
“You’re the one who started the fight, so I decided to end it. Simple as that.” Cosmo replied, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
“Do not use that lackadaisical excuse against me! I discern the substantiality that you are being a yellow-bellied cur and were attempting to hasten away from the truth.” Witch Hunter argued, slamming the butt of his pitchfork against the elevator floor.
“Sounds like someone was pissed that I got the last word.” star stated, staring up at him with a smug grin on stars face.
“I would not, under any condition, surrender to such a neglectful weakling who capitalizes on tawdry imperfections and uses his investors as mere shields.” Prester shot back with narrowed eyes.
A visceral rage filled Cosmo as he sharply kicked Witch Hunter in the Shin, causing the larger cog to bend over to grab at it in pain. Using the lowered height difference to his advantage as one hand grabbed Witch Hunter’s collar while the other punched his face, relishing in the distinct crunch of Witch Hunter’s nose breaking.
The investors were saying something but star couldn’t hear over the oil pumping through stars head as Cosmo continued to punch Witch Hunter’s face, who seemed to be trying to get star off, to no avail.
Finally, Kerberos and Charon managed to drag him off of him, holding him back as Styx, Nix, and Hydra stood in front of him, though he wasn’t sure if it was so that Witch Hunter couldn’t retaliate or to keep Cosmo from beating the shit out of him.
“Mr. Virgil, I would refrain from making any more comments for the rest of the elevator ride. After all, you are outnumbered and I would hate to damage you before we see our bosses.” Nix calmly said, though there was the implicit threat underlaying its words.
There was a growl from Witch Hunter as he huffed, a plume of smoke escaping his nostrils, but he stayed far on the other side of the elevator.
As the adrenaline wore off, Cosmo winced as star felt a stinging sensation from stars arm. Checking, star saw that he had managed to land a few blows on the side of stars face with the Cashbot emblem as well as on stars shoulder, which consisted of some dented metal and some claw marks that tore through stars suit.
Knowing that he was going to get lectured if it turned out that he and Witch Hunter got into a physical fight, he turned towards Charon.
“Char, can you heal both me and Mr. Virgil. I would rather not have to show up to the meeting in this state.” star asked with a tilted head over where Witch Hunter was nursing his wounds.
“I would rather terminate my own programming than receive assistance from the likes of you.” he growled before Charon got a chance to respond.
“Terminate it, then.” Cosmo snarled back, feeling anger rise.
It was amazing that Witch Hunter was the younger of the two, considering how much of a stubborn bastard he could be.
Deciding that, if he was going to get in trouble, he might as well show that Witch Hunter also wasn’t innocent, he just took out his handkerchief and cleaned off the oil before tucking it back into his chest pocket.
Glancing over at him, Cosmo saw that he had just wiped off the blood, not even attempting to try to relocate his broken nose.
Served him right for insulting stars investors like that.
The rest of the ride was dead silent, with Witch Hunter immediately making a beeline for his seat, stomping and growling as he sat down in his seat next to Holly, who looked confused, irritated, and a bit concerned.
Cosmo took in a deep breath as tilted his chin up as he walked over to his seat next to Flint, who was glancing back and forth between the two with a mix of concern and thinly-veiled interest.
“Are you okay, Mr. Kuiper? What happened?” he asked, leaning in close so that no one would overhear.
“Don’t worry, kid. Just a mild disagreement with Mr. Virgil.” Cosmo replied, glaring at him across the room.
“If you say so.” Flint commented, a spark in fires eyes that made it obvious that this was going to spread like wildfire.
As people filed in, Cosmo internally thanked stars lucky stars at the fact that star didn’t need to work with him more than star needed to as star watched Ms. Grayelle argue loudly with Witch Hunter over something.
He was surprised they hadn’t gotten into a physical fight yet.
However, before the meeting started, the inevitable happened.
“Before we start the meeting, Mr. Kuiper, Mr. Virgil, would you two like to explain why you arrived in such a state?” Mr. Saggs asked, looking extremely tired as he raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the two.
“That rapscallion assaulted me with no ratiocination!” Witch Hunter immediately said, pointing an accusatory finger at star.
“We both know that’s bullshit, Virgil. You insulted my boys and were surprised when you got your ass handed to you by me.” Cosmo shot back, not even bothering to get up.
“You are spouting falsehoods!” he growled back, looking as if he wanted to beat the shit out of him.
“If it’s a “falsehood” to say that I broke your nose, then I guess I’m a liar.” star sneered back, leaning back in stars chair.
“Both of you, enough. Mr. Kuiper, you are not allowed to go near the towers of the Stone and Iron District for 72 hours, and Mr. Virgil, you are not allowed to go near Mr. Kuiper’s establishment in the Coal and Ice District for 72 hours. Additionally, you are to arrange separate repair appointments with Mx. Plosion. Are we clear?” Thomas cut in, slamming their clipboard on the table as they glared at the two.
“Crystal clear, Mr. Saggs.” Cosmo said with a nod, partially disappointed that the argument was cut so short before he could really prove his point but also smug that he had won it.
There was a moment of silence as Witch Hunter looked infuriated.
“Mr. Virgil, are we clear?” Mr. Saggs repeated, firmer and looking on the brink of yelling at him.
“…Yes.” Witch Hunter reluctantly said, slumping into his seat as his arms crossed over his chest.
“Good. Now that that’s over with, let’s actually start the meeting.” Mr. Saggs stated, nodding towards where Mr. Boar was.
A week passed since that incident and the two hadn’t encountered each other, though Cosmo did get a lecture from Mx. Plosion about how careless star had been and stating that they also had to give the same lecture to Witch Hunter.
As he arrived in the meeting room alongside Flint and the Investors it was…surprisingly quiet, even though most of the group was there.
It then dawned on Cosmo why it was so quiet as even Tawney, who was notoriously late to meetings, arrived, and there was still someone notably missing.
Witch Hunter.
While Witch Hunter had been late to meetings before, getting an earful from the C.L.O for it, he was never this egregiously late.
So either he was really running late, or something was up.
Which was seemingly confirmed when the C.L.O loudly sighed as she lifted her glasses slightly to pinch at the bridge of her nose.
“Has anyone received any sort of communication from Mr. Virgil about why he is so late?” they asked, sounding extremely tired.
“About yond.” Ms. Grayelle winced as she tapped her hooves against the floor.
“Well? What is it?” the C.L.O asked, laws fingers tapping on the table impatiently.
“Yond is the problem: I eke doth not knoweth wh're Mr. Virgil is. That gent hast been missing f'r nearly a week at this pointeth.” holy admitted, looking uneasy.
“And you did not report this why?” the C.L.O said, sounding uncharacteristically emotional about this matter.
“I has't w'rk'd with Mr. Virgil f'r about a year at this pointeth, so I assum'd yond this wast his n'rmal routine of having a grand idea, executing t po'rly, and then coming backeth licking his wounds liketh an did injure dog. Or, at the v'ry least, disappeareth f'r a did bite bef're reappearing just in timeth f'r the meeting. But, as thee can seeth, yond is not what hath happened. And I wast planning on bringing up anoth'r piece of inf'rmation yond I gath'r'd the present day.” Ms. Grayelle explained, starting in a matter of fact tone before leaning into something more concerned.
“Which is…?” the C.L.O asked, gesturing for gold to continue.
“I wast admittedly w'rried, so I wenteth to his apartment and hath found t completely in toucheth. Which wouldst beest odd if 't be true that gent hadst just runneth hence, although the bethought of Mr. Virgil leaving without declaring aught is already strange as is. Coequal m're w'rrying is the fact yond, lasteth I int'ract'd with that gent, Mr. Virgil hadst mention'd yond that gent wast planning to confronteth the eld'rs of the Toon Resistance in the Stone and Iron District. So, mine own feareth is yond something may has't hath happened to that gent. And I wouldst n'rmally not advocate f'r action to beest done, but this is exceedingly w'rrying.” Ms. Grayelle finished, tapping knights shield absently.
There was a sharp inhale as the C.L.O’s became briefly panicked before it was replaced with a calm expression as she exhaled, rubbing the temple under her bangs with a hand.
“I will look into it, and if what you say is true, then we shall start a hunt for Mr. Virgil. Thank you for your information, Ms. Grayelle.” they said, waving their secretary over with their free hand.
Ms. Grayelle nodded, though shield seemed still visibly worried.
And, as the meeting continued as usual, Cosmo picked up on the lingering tension in the air as everyone seemed to be varying levels of worried, with some like Multislacker only being mildly confused while Mrs. Dama seemed exceedingly worried.
Which made sense, as even though Witch Hunter wasn’t the most well-liked suit, it still was not a good sign that a very competent manager just suddenly vanished like that.
And, even hours after the meeting, it was still bothering star.
Witch Hunter really wasn’t the type to just run away from a situation, even if he fucking hated it. He was the type to fight tooth and nail until his circuits burnt out, no matter how many times he lost.
And if he did just lose, then he would’ve been back, bitching and complaining about the toons who had done it to him, like he had so many times before.
So what had happened when Witch Hunter confronted the elders?
Were the elders even involved?
Cosmo sighed, putting down his pen and slipping on his jacket as he left his office, cutting through the freezers and going into the main pizzeria, where the investors were gathered at one of round tables with Mr. Ruffler as they did their weekly poker night, which Mr. Ruffler seemed to be winning, again.
“I’m going for a walk. Don’t burn down anything while I’m gone.” Star said, tapping the table to make sure that star had their attention.
“Okay, boss!” Hydra cheerfully replied, though its thrashing tail told him that it was annoyed at the fact that Mr. Ruffler was winning.
“Are you sure you don’t want one of us going with you?” Kerberos asked, starting to get up as his snout wrinkled in worry.
“Nah, I can handle myself. You boys have fun. Don’t let Mr. Ruffler eat too many of the poker chips. I don’t want to have to go for another casino run.” Cosmo reassured with a wave of stars hand as star gave Mr. Ruffler a knowing look.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Kuiper! I’ve only eaten 10 poker chips tonight!” Mr. Ruffler said with a mock salute and a manic giggle.
“I knew you were eating the poker chips!” Charon shouted, one hand slamming on the table while the other pointed an accusatory finger at Mr. Ruffler.
Cosmo chuckled as the investors argued about whether eating poker chips was a legal move while Mr. Ruffler just cackled in manic amusement. Using the chaos to quietly slip out without any more protests, he headed outside, sighing as the cold air hit his face.
The only sounds were the admittedly soothing music that always filled the night air in toon territory as well as the sound of the snow crunching under stars feet as Cosmo wandered the streets aimlessly.
Deciding to stop in the middle of the street that he was on, he stared up at the sky, he internally connected and named the constellations, feeling a sense of pride at the fact that he could still remember all of the ones that he could see.
It was strange how Cosmo found moments like this so peaceful, as star normally hated how irritatingly cheerful toon society was.
Maybe it was because it reminded him of his youth, being taught the names of the planets and the stars, how they connected to make the constellations and how their orbits were compared to Earth’s by his parents.
However, stars nostalgic train of thought was interrupted by the loud crash of a trashcan toppling over.
Startled and confused, Cosmo looked towards the alleyway, feeling a sense of unease fill him.
No one was ever awake during this time, or if they were awake, they were not wandering the Coal and Ice District, as the subzero temperatures were enough to keep any suit or toon out of the cold.
So, star carefully crept to the entrance the alleyway, making sure to step in a way that stars footsteps wouldn’t crunch in the snow, peaking it and nearly gasping in surprise at what star saw.
Going through a trash bin with its muzzle, obviously trying to look for food, was a large, blue, metallic, quadrupedal dragon.
Stepping forward as it hadn’t noticed him yet, Cosmo noticed that it was much larger than him, nearly four times his height, with gray blue belly scales and white spines that went down its spine.
Why was a dragon here of all places?
Dragons were more of a–.
Star paused.
It…couldn’t be.
Could it?
Hoping that he was wrong, Cosmo called out a simple name, “Virgil?”
However, much to stars rising discomfort, the dragon whipped its head towards him, revealing a jagged maw full of sharp teeth and all too familiar ruby red eyes.
Through something that the elders had done, Prester had been turned into the dragon.
And he was now aware of Cosmo.
Shit.