Much had been made since the discovery of Funny Farms just a few months earlier. Ever since the brave actions of Ranger Ressess Candybar, most of Toontown had become aware of the mysterious, and frankly creepy town on the outskirts of the map. When it had been discovered that a town was just a few hundred miles outside of Acorn Acres, some were confused. There had never been a town there before, had there? The most brilliant minds had come together and decided that for the sake of not being too frightened, they would just assume it had always been there. When Ressess had gone for the initial investigation into the town, she had run across a conspiracy and a mystery that had left her too afraid to go into much detail. Rather, she had just implored Toons from both Toontown and Valentoonia to never go there. However this would be short-lived. As adventure seekers, conspiracy theorists, and just others curious about this new town began to slowly trickle into the new world, more problems had started. Many who returned seemed... different. Some were unable to recount their experiences at all. Some spoke in different languages, some Toontown had never heard. Some recalled horrible experiences with terrible creatures, and most said that they had never got there in the first place. Approaching Halloween, the Toon Council had put out a warning to spooky thrill seekers that going to Forbidden Farms could be dangerous, and that while they could not legally force Toons to not go there, they strong encouraged Toons not to go.

Quentin Tarintoono was such a Toon who was unphased by rumors of ghosts and monsters. The recent college graduation had just signed on to direct his first independent film; Reservation Dogs. It was going to be a film about a group of dogs who all got together for a dinner and none of them had reserved a table ahead of time. It was still a work in progress and the black cat was eager to leave his stamp. When he had learned of Funny Farms, he figured it would be a great place to film. As there was no known governmental body, he was not beholden to the same laws that Toontown enforced on filmmakers for safety and regulations. He had anticipated this would be quite an intense film and would need to skirt the rules here and there. The up and coming director had even managed to pull in some serious talent. Scarlett Johanstoon and Toon Hanks; two of the biggest stars in Hollytoon, had been cast as the leads. Today was the fourth day of filming, and sure enough there had been no issues. The Funny Farms stories had turned out to be complete jibberjabber hogwash, probably dreamed up by hippies or idiots who were afraid of their own shadows. However, there was one small problem before they could get started. "Where the hell is Scarlett!" Quentin rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. These big name actors weren't going to push him around just because he was a new director.

"I'm not sure. We haven't seen her since last night." a purple dog shrugged. "She said she was going to go check out the town and then she just never came back. Do you think that maybe...?"

"Oh don't be ridiculous. I can't believe that some of you actually believe the rumors. Nothing has happened yet and nothing will happen. These are just regular Toons and a regular town. Whatever, we will film without her." Quentin placed his hand on his hip and tilted over, rotating as he stretched out his back.

Hanks, who was normally a dark red cat, had gotten a re-write to become a yellow dog in time for the movie's filming to begin. "I'm not sure, Quentin. I went out the first night as got here to go get a drink at the bar. Well there's almost nobody out on a Friday night. Bartender didn't say a single word to me. Didn't charge me for my seltzer either. Toons here are... interesting. I'm a bit worried myself."

"Oh, fine. If you're all a bunch of yellow-belly cowards, I guess we'll just hold of on filming. Since there's no Toon HQ here, I guess I will contact Toontown to send a search party out here." the black cat stomped his foot and walked away, pulling out his whisper device. Dialing the number for the Acorn Acres Toon HQ, immediately hit a busy signal. "Of course. Cog, this place sucks. Can't even get good reception. Funny Farms was unusual by Toon standards; mostly desert with small patches of town throughout. Quentin walked further out from the small town into the vast sands. The further he went, the more the wind began to pick up, causing the small grains of sand to piece together and blanket the cat's eyesight. After about fifteen minutes of no signal, he gave up. "Whatever, I guess we'll just have to go find her ourselves. What a diva. I knew I should have went with Jennifer Annistoon." looking around, Quentin immediately realized he had no idea where he was. The blinding sands had overtaken the sky and now all he could see was brown. Covering his face with his forearm, the black cat clung close to the ground and scooched his way back the way he came. Wait, was this the way he came? His footsteps had been washed away by the winds. This had to be the right way, right?

After what seemed like hours of tedious walking and frustration, Quentin began to worry. Somebody had to have realized he was gone by now? Was the crew out looking for him? Feet aching from the burning sand and small jabbing rocks, Quentin sat down and pounded his fists into the ground, sinking slowly into the earth below him. "Whatever, I guess I'll just wait here." after about twenty minutes the sands began to die down a bit. In the distance, the shadows of two figures became visible. "About time!" standing up Quentin began to wave his arms. "Hey, I'm over here dummies! Hurry up! We have some filming to do!" as the arrogant director screamed, his voice began to break with anxiety. These two Toons weren't responding. What was their problem? "Hey, idiots! Feel like saying anything!" as soon as the words left his mouth, Quentin could feel his heart rise to his throat. These two Toons were not part of his crew. Whoever they were, he could not describe them. They were unlike anything he had ever seen. As he turned to run, he was immediately hit in the head and knocked over. As his vision began to fade, he turned around and began to crawl away backwards, trying to get away. His body began to feel weaker, and soon his arms were unable to move. The two figures were now standing above him. Letting out one last scream that echoed through the desert, nobody but the three would ever hear.


As a newly elected Council Member, Patches already had enough to worry about, but now there had been an emergency meeting called by the head of the council, which had prompted him to have to come in on his one day off in almost two weeks. The multi-colored bear drudged into work, hours before most Toons would normally be awake. Holding a lukewarm cup of coffee that he had picked up on the way, he walked into the Council Building in Toontown Central, joined by several of his fellow members. "Morning Devin." Patches waved to a yellow rabbit who looked at him and continued walking. Nobody really liked Devin. Ever since he had been assigned a special position by Mayor Mickey a few months ago, the pompous rabbit had acted like he was better than everyone. Walking in and taking a seat, he let out one more yawn as he waited for the rest of the members to file in. Finally, the leader of the council, Flippy Doggenbottom arrived. Flippy was the youngest member of the Council, at only eighteen years old, yet had quickly ascended the ranks and was widely respected by most.

"Good morning everybody. I'm sorry to have called everybody here on a day off. I hope everybody understands the true sense of urgency as this is quite an important matter." the light blue dog placed his face into his hands, rubbing his eyes, clearly still exhausted.

"Urgency? What's so urgent? We were just told to show up as soon as possible." a chubby pink duck adjusted her fuzzy glasses. "If I knew we were going to be up this early I would have went to bed earlier. Me and Desert ended up staying up all night trying to tie a bunch of fire hoses together to see how long we could make it."

The council chuckled at the duck's shenanigans, before Flippy quickly struck down on the table. It was unusual for the young Counciltoon to be in such a bad mood, and everybody immediately noticed. "This is not the time for that Jade. Did none of you get the memo from Devin? I asked him to send it last night!"

Everybody looked to Devin, who shrugged and threw his arms up. "Guess I forgot. Sue me." the second youngest member on the council, many had hoped that Devin would have been removed by now, yet for some reason the mayor was quite fond of him. Some had assumed he had blackmail on the mouse, but nobody could say for sure.

"Damn it, Devin. I can't have you keep screwing things up like this. Whatever, we'll worry about that later." pinching his nose, Flippy walked around and continued his debriefing. "Yesterday we received a report that a film crew that had gone to Funny Farms had all disappeared. Forty-eight Toons just suddenly vanished without a trace. Well, I guess an entire crew is incorrect. One showed up yesterday, frightened and scarred. They didn't seem physically affected, but they were quite shook up. Couldn't really talk. They had overslept and when they had gone to the shoot all of the cast, the crew, and all of the equipment was gone. He went to seek out help but the Toons there told him that a crew had never been there. Seems a bit suspicious. This of course isn't the first time Toons have gone missing in Funny Farms."

"I mean it is out in the middle of the desert. Is it possible that they just got lost? Maybe he was in the wrong playground?" a purple mouse suggested. "I mean, there's a lot we don't know about that place."

Flippy shook his head. "Doubtful. The crew had been there three days already. I doubt this guy suddenly forgot where he was filming and ended up in a different playground. Besides, forty-eight Toons? Just seems strange to me. We are all aware of the report from Ranger Reessess... Something is funny in Funny Farms. I think we need to send out a search team to get to the bottom of this."

"Good luck with that. No Ranger is going to go there after everything that has happened. The rumors are really starting to sink in. It is hard to blame them too. This isn't heading off to fight cogs, these are Toons there. If Toons are going missing and it is Toons who are responsible? I shudder to think about the possibilities. As you said, we are all aware of Ranger Reessess' report. So are many of the other Rangers. Not often do Rangers go on a six month sabbatical after a mission, Flippy." Eddie, a white monkey, and the eldest of the council spoke cautiously to the rest of the crew.

"Well we can't just leave them there. At the moment, there are about a hundred Toons who have not returned home. We have worried families. It is our duty to tell somebody else that is their duty to risk their lives to save these Toons." leaning back, Jade plucked a flower that she had taken out of her hair. "Is there anybody who would even consider doing such a thing?"

Flippy contemplated momentarily before turning back to his comrades. "Well, there is someone..."


"Hey Chip, do you know where the aluminum foil is?" a voice yelled out from the kitchen.

"Think it's in the second drawer below the seasonings. What do you need aluminum foil for? Are you making a hat again?" the brown monkey stretched out on the couch flipping through channels on the TV.

A pink monkey came out and shook his head. "Come on, I do that one time and now it becomes a whole thing with you guys. I don't actually think that there are aliens reading our minds, I was just saying it might be a possibility and we should be prepared. Anyways, I'm making baked potatoes. Lana is going to be home soon and I know she'll want one, what about you?"

"Eh, I'll pass. I'm supposed to be meeting someone later for a potential job. I guess some college kid went missing down in the Brrrgh, Probably just partied too hard and ended up lost in the snow. Happens all the time. I show up, find them sleeping, and bring them back home. Easy money." Chip turned off the TV and tossed the remote onto the cushion his head was laying on.

"Maybe. Speaking of, have you heard about that thing with Toons going missing in Funny Farms? People are saying that when Toons do return they're completely different. Almost like they've been brainwashed or traumatized. I've even heard some people say that the Toons there might not even really be Toons... but something else."

Chip shook his head at his brother's conspiracy theories. "Michael, you're always over-thinking things. It's probably just some kind of weird desert hallucinations or something. Apparently things get real weird out in the desert if you stay out long enough. You couldn't pay me enough to head through that. I hate sand. It's all, well, sandy. Gets in your shoes and sticks to your toes. Ugh." standing up, the brown monkey began walking into the kitchen when his whisper device began to rumble. "Ah, right on time. That rich family probably calling me right now. Hold off on that potato, alright? I'm gonna take this." reversing course, Chip walked back into the living room and sat down on his couch. Holding up his device to his ear, he spoke confidently. "This is Chip."

"Chip! Buddy! It's Flippy!" the voice exclaimed.

"Flippy? Doggenbottom? Wow, I haven't heard from you in ages. I heard you got elected to the Toon Council! Pretty spiffy. Never would have expected that from the class president. Wait, actually, yes I would. So, what's going on? Why the call out of nowhere?"

There was a brief silence on the other side. "What, can't an old friend just call to check in? You wound me with your accusations."

"Hey, I call it as I see it. You have a job for me?" Chip put a leg up against his chest and made a yapping motion with his hand.

"Always one to cut to the chase. Well, if you say so, I think I might be able to scrounge some work together for you. I mean, if you're not TOO busy." Flippy responded. On the outside he was confident, on the inside though? He was a total wreck. Chip was his last chance. Chip had dropped out of high school to pursue his own business as a private detective. While he had mostly failed, he had carved out a niche locating missing Toons for large sums of money. There was no job that was too much for Chip. At least that's what Flippy needed to believe.

Chip pondered the opportunity. The rich Brrrgh family was likely an easy job, but he wasn't going to grow his brand doing easy jobs. Flippy was no fool, he wouldn't come to Chip unless he was in something deep. This made for both a great opportunity to milk some of that sweet Toontown Council jellybeans, and also expand his namesake. "I guess I can find some time in my schedule. What you got for me?"

"So, I guess you have probably heard about everything going on out in Funny Farms, yeah?" Flippy closed his eyes and crossed the fingers on his free hand as he waited anxiously for the monkey to respond.

Funny Farms? The place Chip was so adamant against. "Flip, I don't think I can. I mean, we're talking dozens of Toons. That seems like a big job. I'm a busy Toon y'know?"

"Listen, Chip. I'm not going to pull you around here. This is bigger than most of Toontown realizes. We just found out an entire movie crew went missing. Forty-eight Toons just gone. This isn't just someone getting lost. We're looking at either a mass kidnapping or one hell of a coincidence. We have nobody else that will take this job. Everyone's scared off by the rumors. Listen, we are willing to pay well above your asking price. Right now we have one-hundred missing Toons reported to have been at Funny Farms. We're willing to pay ten-thousand jellybeans apiece. if you can find information on all of them? That's a million jellybeans. We're taking this quite seriously." the brown monkey had to grab his chest when he heard the offer. It was a substantial amount. The most he had ever been paid for a job was twenty-thousand. But, it was Funny Farms. Even though he didn't necessarily believe the rumors, it still didn't feel like a great idea. But, the money. He could buy him and his family the nicest estate this side of Goofy's Speedway.

"A million jellybeans? I mean, that sounds nice and all, but I don't know... I mean, I guess I can stop by and we can talk details. But like I said, I'm a busy monkey. When do you have time?" playing it cool, Chip nodded to his brother who walked out of the kitchen holding three wrapped potatoes, offering the older monkey one.

Flippy shook his fist jubilantly. "How about tomorrow morning. Come to the Toon Council building. We will get you prepared. Don't worry, we're not going to be sending you in with a squirt gun and a dream. You will be adequately prepared."

"Alright. I'll see you then." Chip hung up and slunk back onto the couch, Michael looking at him confused.

"Was that the rich family? What did they say?" the pink monkey inquired.

Since Chip was sixteen he had been the main provider for his three younger siblings, including Michael. While they always got by, it was a bit of a struggle. This was his opportunity to finally raise his family above and into the success and happiness they do well deserved. "No, it was an old friend. Just had a job for me. I think it can be a big job."

"I heard you say Funny Farms? You're not going there are you? It's dangerous." Michael sat down and passed Chip a wrapped spud, still hot from being taken out of the oven. "What would we do if something happened to you?"

"Michael, sometimes being an adult means you have to make tough choices. Besides, like I said, Funny Farms is nothing. It's all overblown rumors and scary stories. You know me, I'm Chip. Nothing could take me down." the brown monkey wasn't sure if he was saying it to comfort his brother or himself. Regardless, he was in now and he was going to succeed or die trying.