Toon It Up: The Spicy Kick (Preview) (Patreon)

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Katsura bowed. “I think you may be mistaken. I’m just passing by.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!” the toon gasped, her eyes nearly bugging out. “You’re… you’re not hungry?” She let out a dog whimper, sulking forward with her arms going loose. Her floppy ears looked even floppier, tail limp.

On top of all that, it felt like the area changed. The sky grew hazy and an odd, cold breeze passed through.

Katsura felt bad. Toons were good at guilt trips it seemed. “I-I’m sorry. I… ah, maybe… maybe I could have a small bite of something?”

The dog immediately perked right back up, the sun bright and warmth returning to the air. “Reeeeally? Okie-dokie!”

She zipped over to Katsura’s side and brought her closer to her setup. She reached behind her back and pulled out a menu, pushing it into the human’s hands. “Da name is Jessica the Toon Pupper! Have a looksee and let me know what you want. I’ll cook it right up to perfection!”

“Ah…” Katsura opened the menu and looked through it. Nothing but barbecue and grilled foods were listed there. “Anything that’s not bad for the stomach? I need to finish my jog, and I don’t want to-”

“Jogging, you say?” Jessica’s tail wagged again, her eyes sparkling. “Ooooo, it looks like you need a kick to da system then!”

The toon rushed over to her food cart, popping open the top and yanking out a bunch of items. She pulled out frozen food, spices, pans, the whole nine yards. She even pulled out a folding table, plopping it beside the grill and dumping the items onto it.

Jessica began to cook. Katsura assumed that was what was happening at least. The toon began moving into a cartoonish blur, a similarly silly cloud appearing around the dog. The sound of utensils and other odd noises came from the cloud, the occasional gloved paw popping out to do a grand motion with a spatula or knife.

FWOOSH! SIIIIIZZLE! SSSSSSSH! DING!

“Done!” The cloud vanished as Jessica shot out of it. She stood up before Katsura, nearly making the human jump back in surprise. In her paws was plate with a sandwich, steam rising from it.

There was a twinkle in the toon’s eyes as she chuckled. “Ta-da! I present to you, your lunch: The Kicker Chicken Sandwich!”