Themakers of

our giganticfootprints, I

presume.

rRrrr!rRrrr!

I fearyou arecorrect.

TheGolems!

Run!

Fallback!

I’llbreak them…somehow.

UhMax, are

you lookingat what I’m

lookingat?

The Ruined Zoo

The Golems loomed menacingly overthe battlefield. The Boogeyman'sarmy and the boy's band of rebeltoys trembled with fear, awaitingthe monstrosities’ next move...

No, Max!Don’t you

remember?

Hide andthey’llignore

us!

Raaaawwrr!

Stop!They’ll kill

you.

Raaaawwrr!Raaaawwrr!

Comedown here

so I can takea chunk outta

you too!

Fall!

SMASH!SMASH!

Comeon you

slow pokes!Run! It’sfalling!It’s-- FWOOM!FWOOM!

No!

oh--

WHOMP!WHOMP!Put Me

Down!

{oof}

CRUNCHCRUNCH

“General?!”

Before...Before...

We’regetting

murdered outthere. Was this

part of yourplan?

dosomething.

CRACKCRACK

Run for your

lives!

He’scoming foryou, brave

knight!

You’llbe safeon thecliff!

All right,let’s cleanup in here.

Time for thebig move.

Johnny,go grab

another boxfrom the

otherroom.

Already?

Yeah!

Help!

Sure,I--

Uh… Imight need

some…

I knowthis wasn’t your

idea but sometimesfamily needs to makesacrifices. Grandma is

gonna take yourbrother’s room

while I’mgone. but

dad--

I bunkedwith my brotheras a kid. I’ll betyou’ll even likeit eventually.

Really?

Hello,knight. Itappears

you are ina spot ofduress.

I am, kindsir. I’ve beentrapped formonths. Canyou pleasehelp me?

My knightsand some of

the other toystried, but the

weight wastoo much.

Oh, myfriend, It has

been closer to ayear. In that timehas no one come

to search foryou?

What ofthat boy,

your master?Surely, a toysuch as you

has beenmissed.

For atime… but

another has takenmy place. I hear

them playing. I tryto ignore it,

but I cannot.

All whileyou remain lost

behind this largedresser with nohope of rescue.

A pity.

I fearnow that I

have lost favorhe will crush melike his common

toys. Perhapsthis is a kinder

fate than rescue.I would rather

end my daystrapped

back here.

Ahard truth toswallow, but I

have a possiblesolution. A bargain,

really.

Come playwith me. Be mine. Aforgotten toy like

you, a true warrior,will be treated

with respect.

I am waginga war for my worldand am in need of

a leader... a greatGeneral formy armies.

Welcometo theDark.

Then wehave adeal,

General--

“If not for a twistof fate, homer--”

--and aworld toconquer

together.Will

you joinme?

Yes,anything for

another chance.Free me and

you have yourleader.

“Except them. Imagine my surprisewhen the boy discarded his claymonsters, my greatest enemies,and they too entered The Dark. ”

--I could be fighting amuch different battletoday. Instead, I chose

The Boogeyman’spath.

What?

His willis the way. I

have conqueredall he has put

before me.

“they continued his mad ways…mindlessly destroying my first

army while I put down theZoo Rebellion--”

“--Preventing me fromfinishing the animalsbefore they scurried

into the Jungle.”

“Now they attack againas I chase another group

for the Boogeyman. Itis curious, no?”

General,you’re mad.If you don’t

do it, I will!

Fire! Fireall the

cannons!

Cutthem topieces!

“I am not mad, Homer, merely seeingclearly for the first time. If youhad fought them before, these...”

“...forces of nature...you would know they

are unstoppable.Never ending. ”

“They can not bedestroyed, only

damaged.”

“And even then, the damagedbecome more monstrous.”

“Perhaps they are fate’s ultimatearbiter, Atoning for past ills? Orcould it be the Boogeyman's willinfluencing them to help us end

our pursuit of the rebels?”

BoOoM!BoOoOM!BoOoOM!

BoOoM!

BoOoM!BoOoM!

Max!Harmony!Anyone?

rufrufrufruf

You thinkthese goonsare here to

help us?

If hiswill is truly

all powerful,what else am I

to believe? We willwithdraw, Homer,

and find ourenemies in the

rubble.

It ishis will.

Don’t yousee?

“Leave the cannons andany wounded who cannot

move swiftly.”

“Sound theretreat horn--”

“--this battle is over. TheGolems will determine

everyone’s fate asthey always have.”

I’d eventake thatannoying

yapping rightnow…

I’mcoming,

mutt! Hangon!

rufruf

Max,thank

goodnessyou’realive!

Dusty,butok.

Whereare

the--

--others?

{Kaffkaff}

I’malive. It’sa miracle.

Barely…we’re

trapped.How will we

escape?

We? Ifnot for you

I would not beburied beneaththis wretched

zoo!

Iwantyou

dead!

It’samazinghow our

true naturesreveal

themselves--

…as alldeceivers

do.

No. Don’ttell him.Please.

Doyou want toknow Percy’s

secret?

In truthhe is a liar wholives in fear of

his secret being discovered…

Percivalcan be quite

the bully,can’t he?

Sire,please. Freeme. This madhog meantto kill me

before theGolemscame.

TheGolems

surely domake a mess of

things, don’tthey? So

disruptive.

--underthe proper

circumstances.

You!How?

Theblackest

shadows of TheDark are mine

to wander.

Didyou miss

me?

That’sthe spirit,Percival.

This swindling swine promisedhe’d slow his compatriots

down while I dealt withthe boy. He watched as

their belovedColonel was torn

in two.

He evenaccepted one of

my precious coins,only to turn around

and overthrowone of my

cities!

Mylord…you’rehurting

me.

Perhapsthis soldier

and I will informyour friends of

your truenature, hmm?

Pleasedon’t, I’ll

doanything.

Ahhhh!

{irk}

There.Problemsolved.

that’sanother

favor youowe me.

What morecan I do? I’vebeen leading

them as best Ican but theydon’t always

listen.

Nomore

whining!

Ahhhh!Ahhhh!

I don’teven knowwhere I

am going.

SNAP!SNAP!

You will take therope bridge and

lead them into theJungle that lies

beyond it.

But whywould I tellthem to do

that?

I am sureyou will thinkof something.You are veryresourceful,that is why

I choseyou.

Once There,the hideous beastswill decide your fate.

Some of you might evensurvive, if the beasts’

senses do notreveal all of your

band’s sordidsecrets.

Whatdo you

mean? Whoelse has a

secret?

Percy!Are you downthere? Keeptalking, wehear you!

Do asyou are told

this time. Therewill be no more

bargains.

No moresecond

chances.

You’realive! Thank

goodness!

Percy,your poor

face isbleeding.Let me--

No.I’mfine.

Whatabout our

captive? Didyou see what

happenedto him?

It looksas though

our interrogeedid not fair

as well.

Heperished, but

not before hegave me

information.

He saidhe wanted to

help because…Harmony was

so kind tohim.

What didhe say, Percy?Did he have anidea of where

the boyis?

No, buthe did say

we could losethe Boogeyman’sarmy by entering

The Jungle tothe east. They

would betoo afraid

tofollow.

Whywould

they beafraid?

Patience,Max, we have

been through alot today. We are

lucky to bealive.

fightingthrough that

army againis not anoption.

and Whatif those bigthings come

back?

It issettled

then. followme...

andwhat about

the boy?

Y-yes.I--

Well,this is rather

unpleasant. I thoughtgetting into the Junglewould provide us with

some relief, but Itis just as wet

under here.

rufruf!rufruf!

“…a safe haven lies just overthat bridge in The Jungle. ”

“Trust me, I will notlead us astray. ”

I don’tthink I haveever beenout in the

rain. It is

beautiful.

Untilyou rust,

ofcourse.

Percy!

I thought Iwas just

stating theobvious.

Well,regardless,

it feelswonderful.

I hatebeingwet.

Well, tobe perfectly

frank, youcould use a

shower.You reek.

This comingfrom a pig,Max. Take it

with a huuugegrain of

salt.

What’sthat

supposedto mean,

duck?

If itwalks like

a pig, looks likea pig and talks likea pig, it probablysmells like a pig

too, Percy. That’sabsurd! I havea phenomenal

sense of smell,Quackers.

I promise you,I do not

stink.

Nowwhat?

She’sburning up.

Her wound… Find

shelter forone thing. She

has not properlyrested sincebeing shot.

Harmony,what canwe do?

Do notfret...

…I shallbe fine, my

dear comrades.I just need a

moment torest.

Wasthat a

smile? Shemust be

sick.

You’regoing to need

more than a moment.

I’mnot surestopping

is the bestcourse of

action.

Max?Scout,

Quackers andI will find a

cave, anything,to keep us out

of thisrain.

Someplacebetter

than thisold tree.

Thankyou…

Jester?What is

happening? Max

is seekingdry lodging forus. After that

we’ll make a fireto get warm.

We areall exhausted,so a rest was

in order.

Liar. Ithank you for

it, though.

Someoneapproaches.

Itmust be

maxwell. Whatgrand tidings

do youbring?

Princess!

“...be quick.”

Wehave

littlechoice,

Percival.

Humanswho capture

our kindmust die.

Whodid we

capture? Thecowboy? We

meant noharm.

No!The pig!He‘s your

meal, isn‘the!?

Thethought may

cross our mindsfrom time to

time.

Heaven’sno! We mean noharm to anyone!This is not thetime for jokes,

Jester.

It isnever not

time for jokes,m‘lady.

Percival,come out of

hiding! Tell themyou are our friend,not our meal for

goodness’sakes!

I amhardly dinner.My companions

would never eat me.This is a simple

misunderstanding. Now,please, putyour claws

away.

Trespassingin our kingdom

comes at aprice. We are notthe humans’ pets

anymore.

What’sgoing onhere?

CLANG!CLANG!

Getaway from

them!Now!

Yeah!

Stayback or

else Max’llget ya!

{Squawk}

Quackers!

RAAHHH!If you’ve hurtQuackers orthe others,you’ll pay!

Twooffenses

bring death toanimals here!Traitors… or

pets! Whichare you?

rrrrr!rrrrr!

Killthemall!

No!Save some

for thehunt!

Thefirstone.

Are youhere to judge

the newbeasts?

No. Youwoke me frommy nap and I

came to see whatthe commotion

was.

So manyanimals withtheir teethbared. It’sunseemly.

Sometimesa simple, kindgreeting is

in order.

Hello,Harmony.

Hello.

you knowour simiansaviour?

That,Jester, isMonty theMonkey. Abit beforeyour time.

Theboy’sfirsttoy.

Moretraitors!

{Sniff-sniff}The boy’s scent

is strong on them.Recent. They’renew to The Dark

and ourJungle.

We should bewelcoming them,

Rose, not fightingthem. They have noplace in our long

conflict.

Sounds like we’re all

friends, Rosie. Youcan, um, remove

your talonsnow.

Do notcall me that.

I will releaseyou when I am

ready.

Fineby me,

beautiful.

Althoughsome carry

the scent of…questionablecompanions--

--I saylet them

continue ontheir way.

No! Theymake companywith humans!

Capitalpunishment orThe Hunt. Thatis our way!

Anya,be calm.

These are notthe humans that

killed yourmate.

Allhumansare toblame.

We haveno conflict

with them. Letthem go.

TheKing must

decidetheirfate.

He isour ruler,First One,

unless you wishto rule? ShouldI announce the

challenge?

No.I will notchallenge.

Verywell. What

say youall?!

Yes!Let the

Kingrule!

King!King!

So beit. Bring

them beforethe King.

Mayhe be

merciful…for

once.

King!King!

Leaveme

alone!

tap-tap-tap

tap-tap-tap

CreeeeakCreeeeak

Whoareyou?

I'myour friend.from next

door. Nowquiet downbefore you

alert all ofThe Dark to ourwhereabouts.

TheDark?

Sure.That's

where we are,don't you

know? You’re

the only oneI've spokento or seensince I wasdragged--

Throughthe closet.That’s howI ended uphere too.

Waita minute.

How did youget in mycloset?

It wasa trick. The

closet dooris the way

out. He likesto playgames.

{Shhhh}Do youhear

that?

Yeah,footsteps.Hide down

here.

Elsewhere in The Dark

WHUMPFWHUMPF

Comeon… get up.We can'tjust stay

here.

You'regoing totake me

withyou?

Iwoudln’t

just leaveyou here.

I wasafraid

you’d escapewithout

me.

Noway. We're

in thistogether,

right?

Good,Let'sgo.

You,bet!