"I'll show them just how wrong they are. Trusting horses? Those fools." Brussel Sprout wandered down Lullaby Lane, contemplating how she could prove that she was right about the fiendish stallions. After all, if horses were trustworthy, then why were they so ugly? Stopping at a bench, the green crocodile took an opportunity to sit and think. She was going to come up with her most brilliant idea yet. Something beyond the comprehension of Captain Skids, Jade, or any of those other Toons whose names she had forgotten. The minutes tickled by as she stared at the passing Toons, straining her brain. Her head popping a vein as she struggled. "Garr, this is impossible. Just thinking about those horrible creatures is enough to kill off any brain cells I have left!" The short Toon leapt off the bench and prepared to concede. While she was right, there was no way to prove it without getting into that club, which was only for horses. Male horses at that. They wouldn't let her in, and without official authorization, she did not have the power to force herself in. While the gator didn't mind bending the rules, when necessary, she didn't need to take any additional chances while still in training. Once she graduated from Training Academy, she would probably be free to do whatever she wanted, just like in the movies. As she stared blindly into the nothingness, Sprout was bumped into by some unusual looking… thing.

"Watch where you're going, lady!" The costume that the Toon was wearing was quite the spectacle. Covered in rainbow sequin scales, the pure size of the Toon's costume was outstanding. It had a gargantuan body, a long tail, and fiery eyes. "You can't just stand in the middle of the sidewalk, dummy. Some Toons have places to go."

Stepping back into reality, the crocodile crossed her arms and scowled. "Look whose talking. You're walking around in that giant, ugly costume. You take up the entire sidewalk! Why don't you move your chonk!"

Offended by Brussel's Sprout's aggressive tones, the well-dressed figure stuck out his massive tongue. "Ugly? This is a one-of-a-kind dragon costume made by Designer Warren Bundles. This costume cost forty-thousand jellybeans! What's that get-up you're meandering around in? Lime green? What is this, March?"

"A Dragon? You know its June, right? Halloween isn't for a few months, your dork. Now, get out of my way, I need a way to sneak into a club and you're hogging all of my thoughts with your ugly!" Pushing her way past the costumed fellow, Sprout sneered and shook her head. "The nerve of some idiots. Ugh, now I am too distracted to think. I better go get something to eat." Pulling out her Shticker Book, she chubby crocodile searched over her favorite restaurants. "It is pretty hot. Maybe something cool. The Brrrgh should do it." Pulling out her teleportation hole, Sprout hopped in, ready to go feast.

Arriving in the chilly locale, Brussel Sprout was reminded of the time she lived in a freezer for two weeks, something she didn't like to think about. Scorching through the playground, leaving a trail of wreckage in her wake, the angry Toon searched out a delicious meal to refresh herself. In a tactful roll, the reptile plowed through the snow, before eventually knocking into a mint green and dark blue shop. "Ow, who put this building here! Better go give the owner a piece of my mind!"

Rolling up her sleeves, the chubby crocodile marched inside and was immediately met with some of the most amazing sights she had ever seen. Walls decorated with a myriad of different costumes, colorful or dull, big, and small. Things she could never even imagine seeing in the flesh, including a giant seltzer bottle. "Good evening, ma'am. Welcome to the Brrrgh Clothing Shop. Are you in today to look for anything specific?" The shopkeeper was an ordinary looking maroon rabbit, which caught the young Toon off guard.

"Um, I mean. What is this place?" Stuttering, Brussel was unable to process any sort of conversational skills.

"I just said… This is the Brrrgh Clothing Shop. We are the largest clothing store in the Brrrgh. We also sell the best costumes in Toontown, but nobody really comes here for that anymore." The rabbit's elbows were placed on the counter, his head rested on his open palms, as he examined the wacky character that had just stormed into his humble abode. "You look like a Toon on a mission if I've ever seen one."

Pumping her fists in equal parts excitement and anger, Brussel nodded. "Yeah, I am! I was remarkably busy when I accidentally rolled into this dumb building! I don't have time for these shenanigans, I need to do some investigating and I can't do that because I'm not a horse!" The green gator was unsure why she was releasing confidential information to a stranger, but something about his unusual demeanor seemed to draw out the words.

Smirking, the bunny pointed to his head "Mama didn't give me this big head for no reason. It hides this big old brain. Nobody ends up in here on accident. It was fate, and it sounds like I might just have the solution for you."

"Hmm. I guess I could humor you, fool. However, do know I am a terribly busy Toon/ I'm not veget-able to hang out here awfully long." Slapping herself, the crocodile sighed. "Ugh, Skids is rubbing off on me already. So, what is this amazing product that will cure all my ails?"

"You must not know who I am, young'n. My name is Warren. I am the purveyor of miracles. Well at least if they are in any way costume related. I can't really do much else beyond that." Climbing up onto a stepladder, the magnificent magician of cloth was rummaging through a line of fabulous disguises and outfits. "Hmm. I know it is around here somewhere."

Curious, Sprout stood on her tippy-toes, not much in terms of difference for the miniscule legs that she had been blursed with. "Let me guess. You have just what I need, but for some outrageous price? What a coincidence. Just so you know buddy, I'm a Ranger in training. So if you play anything on me I'll have you shut down so fast you won't know what happened. We take bites out of crime and I have the biggest jaw and appetite on the force!"

Amused by the antics unfolding, Warren had to stifle his laughter to not disrespect his customer's ego. "Ah, I did not realize that I was in the presence of a Toontown Ranger. Now, I generally don't offer discounts on my merchandise as it is the highest quality… but I would not be Toontown's greatest costumer if I couldn't stand by my word. How about we make a deal."

"A deal? You're acting a bit sus if you act me." Scratching her head, Sprout leaned forward, narrowing her eyes. "I'm listening though."

Finally discerning the costume, he had been searching for, the elder hare clamored back down the ladder and laid a vacuum-dried package on the counter. Even the most minute details such as the lettering on the front were exquisite. "Well, it may surprise you but nowadays the younger generation don't appreciate the quality of my costumes. Since Clara started selling accessories, it has really driven out the need for my services. However, if a fashionable, hip Toon such as yourself were to strut around in one of my costumes, it may just bring the attention I need."

Shrugging, Sprout saw no harm in agreeing to the senile ramblings of Warren. "That seems fine. But you haven't even shown me what you have there, I'm not signing anything without seeing what I'm working with."

"Of course, dear. Nor would I." Unveiling the disguise, Warren grinned widely as he watched Brussel's face switch through a variety of different emotions. "You said you wanted to blend in the horses? Well, what better way to do that than to become one?"

The next day, Domino decided to stay home from school again. The previous night he had trouble sleeping again. His dreams had been wreaked by images of his brother overdosing on Powdered Sugar and trying to reconcile what he felt he should do, vs what he wanted to do. Was it better to potentially ruin his brother's life in order to help him? Would it fracture their relationship? Would he get in trouble? If he spilled, it would likely come out he went to that party where Ella overdosed. What about that? When the purple monkey's alarm had gone off, he had already been awake for hours, staring blankly at the ceiling. Both his brother and mother had left for the day, to school and to work. Rolling over, he picked up his whisper device and checked the time. "How is it only nine-thirty?" He yawned, flipping his legs over the bed he placed his feet onto the soft carpet and trudged out of his room, down the stairs.

"Yeah, my mom is at work tonight, and my brother is probably just gonna hang out in his room playing video games. Nobody will notice I am gone." Derek's voice could be heard from in the kitchen, but who was he talking to? Slinking through the living room, Domino ducked down and crawled until he was hiding behind the island counter. "I can try and get him to meet there, but I can't guarantee anything. Does it really matter that much though?"

Derek was up to something, and the younger ape was anxious to figure out what it was. As he began to lift himself to peek over the counter, Domino didn't notice how high he had gotten, bumping his head on the ledge of the counter, causing a small rumble and a salt shaker to be knocked over. "Oh, crap!" He whispered to himself as he tried to scramble away before being noticed.

Unfortunately, the monkey was not swift enough to avoid detection. "Hold on, what the heck was that?" Walking out of the kitchen, Derek saw the outstretched legs of his younger brother from underneath the couch. "Hold on, Stinky, I gotta call you back." Storming over, he knelt and dragged the ineptly hidden Toon from the crevice under the furniture. "Dude, what the Hell are you doing? Were you eavesdropping on me?"

"I mean, I didn't mean to. I didn't know you were home today. I was just coming down to get something to eat and I may have overheard you a bit. It isn't a big deal." Domino rubbed his arm anxiously, knowing that nobody would buy it.

"Shouldn't you be at school? Why are you at home? Does mom know you skipped school?" Ignoring the hypocrisy of his question, Derek scowled at his trembling sibling.

In a moment of competence as a liar, Domino managed to pull out a somewhat believable excuse. "Well that's why I was trying to hide. Mom doesn't know I didn't go to school today. I wasn't feeling great, so I ended up sleeping in." Pausing, the ape's confidence grew. "Wait, why aren't YOU at school? You skipped too, dude."

Shrugging it off, the older gorilla coolly pushed the subject back towards his brother. "Who cares, we're both home from school. Why do you think I would care? I'm not a snitch or anything. Not like you."

"Not like me? What is that supposed to mean." Getting defensive, Domino stepped up onto his tip-toes to reach his brother's height.

"I know you. You've told someone. Gummi messaged me and said a Ranger had shown up to Stinky's house. You think that is just a coincidence? Just know, you better watch your mouth and if mom finds out? You're dead meat."

Turning from a dark purple to a dark red, the younger brother exploded in a fit of rage. "I did what I had to do! I wasn't going to let somebody die because I'm too much of a coward to face the facts. You think I didn't see you in the bathroom last night? You're doing powdered sugar, and who knows what else. You're my brother. You're one of the only Toons I have. I'm just supposed to sit by and watch you overdose and die or something? Good cog, Derek. I had to cover for you last night because mom almost walked in on you. But now I'm regretting not telling her if you're going to act like a baby!"

Almost instinctively, Derek balled up his fist and with the force of a nearly adult chimp, socked his younger sibling right in the cheek, sending him flying backwards before plopping on his rear end, pained, and confused. Immediately after his hit, the purple monkey's eyes widened as he realized what he had just done. "Oh my cog, Domino… I didn't mean to."

"Dude, you just punched me in the face. What's your problem! You think I've got your back now?" Pulling himself up with the couch arm, Domino rubbed his pulsating face. "I'm not going to tell mom, but I'm not going to cover for you anymore. If you want to destroy your life, whatever. I just hope that it doesn't end up with you dead in an alley somewhere!" Storming off, tears balling in his eyes, the young ape ran through the front door, eager to be anywhere but home. His eyes had been opened to whom his brother had become, and he could no longer accept it.

"Damn it…" Derek pulled out his whisper device. Punching in a number, he waited impatiently while it rang several times. Finally the clicking of the other line alerted him that he had reached his destination. "Hey, Stinky. I've been thinking about things and I'm going to have to call things off tonight. I can't keep doing this."

Screaming into his device, knowing his freedom hinged on selling out his friend, the yellow rabbit ground his teeth as he tried to sound convincing without giving away his position. "Like, dude. That's totally not cool. I was really depending on you to take us to your guy tonight. You're just going to let a bro go without? Like I'm totally out and I'm going through a lot of stuff right now. You just gonna leave me hanging?"

Conflicted, Derek bit his lower lip, harder and harder until the broken skin began to bleed, rushing a copper taste into the Toon's mouth. "Man, I'm not trying to flake, but this is messing with my life too much now. I just wanted to be able to get sugared up and have a good time. Now this is turning into a chore, my family is getting suspicious, and I don't know…"

"I thought you were a homie, man. I've always had your back when you needed me, man." Pausing, Stinky could feel his guilting reeling in the vulnerable friendship he was willing to trash. "Just do this one more time for me. I'll establish my own connection, and then you don't have to do anything. I'll even do all of the buying from now on. Just, come on man, don't be a cog."

"Fine. Fine, but this is the last time man. I don't have a mom like yours. She will kill me if she finds out, and I don't think Domino will cover for me anymore. Okay, I'll be at your house in about twenty minutes."

Jack rarely took personal time. After spending much of his twenties in prison, the black pig was determined to ensure that would never happen again. His operation was getting larger by the day, and what had started as a small group of ten Toons, had ballooned into a full-force gang. With branches in Donald's Dreamland, Minnie's Melodyland, and now Donald's Dock, he was finding that keeping track of everything was becoming more difficult. He had delegated responsibility as necessary, but the overly paranoid swine could never fully trust anybody. After all, if somebody could sell him out before, they could do it again. Today however, he had given himself a monthly day to just enjoy himself. Dragging along two of his highest-ranking officials, and a personal bodyguard, Jack had decided to go mini-golfing.

Just the sight of three hulking Toons, and a black pig, was enough to scare away all other patrons who had decided to spend their Sunday at the links. "Alright sir, I have your clubs. Do you want to start on green?" The bodyguard, a gargantuan orange bear wearing all black and sunglasses in the scorching summer hear seemed unbothered as he provided his boss with a lengthy club.

"Green? Do I look like a child? No we're doing the back nine, and if anybody beats me, I'm going to beat them with this club!" Erupting into laughter, Jack started walking to the kart. The trio of other Toons joined in on the merriment, forcing awkward laughs as they were unsure if their boss was kidding or not.

"Ah, this looks like quite a challenging hole, however I bet that it will be no issue for you, sir." A peach dog wiped her brow, hoping that this wouldn't start badly knowing her bosses' temper. In Toontown Mini-Golf, holes were randomly assigned which didn't allow any preparation ahead of time for the gang-members who had hoped to impress their boss. The first hole was a straight path with a large hill near the end which housed the elusive hole.

Placing his red ball down (choosing red because it was the color of blood), Jack closed his eyes and tilted his head. "Only something an amateur would worry about." With a smooth stroke, the hog smacked the small ball, rolling quickly down the green, up the hill, and into the hole. "What'd I say. Only an idiot could screw this up."

The next three holes flew by with almost no issues. The other three had made sure to make enough "bad shots" in order to not throw off their boss. Going into hole five, Jack was up by two strokes over the head of production in Donald's Dock, The Rotten Mango. In third was his bodyguard Cam, and drawing last was top assassin, only known as "Stabby" a beige deer with no outstanding features. "Oh boy, I hate this hole." Cam groaned as the windmill came into view.

"Yeah, this one is always broken. Maybe we should skip this one sir." Stabby suggested, watching as a family of four were slowly approaching to wait their turn on the hole.

Grabbing his stomach, Jack cackled at what he assumed was fear of losing from his subordinates. "Maybe you three could learn a thing or two about golfing from me." Pausing, he retracted his statement. "Never mind. I don't three insolent athletes could ever learn how to golf. I'm amazed I could trust you three to tie your shoes right." Lining himself up, Jack followed his normal routine. Closing an eye, tilting his head, and ensuring he was lined up, Jack swatted the red ball. As it rolled towards the windmill, an absurd stroke of bad luck from the wind generated by the large obstacle had blown the slow rolling sphere off course by half-an-inch. Bouncing off the very edge of the hole-in-one shortcut, Jack stared at the ball as it began to roll back towards him, nearly landing by his foot.

Holding their breath, the three gang members waited anxiously for their bosses' reaction. After a moment it seemed like they were in the clear, until a light chuckle broke out from the father of the family who were waiting their turn. "Now kids, this is why you don't brag. You wouldn't want to look like silly, would you?"

"What did you just say, you cog-damned idiot?" Turning furiously, Jack's one good eye had turned a bright red, nearly glowing from the pure anger he felt. Stepping towards the now fearing Toon, he swung the club, purposely just missing the taunter's head. "You want to come around here and insult me? I'll break your freaking skull open and slurp your brain our in front of your dumb little kids here! Now piss off before I change my mind!" Picking up their crying children, the only other patrons who had foolishly entered fled without a second glance. "Do any of you have anything you want to say?"

"Not at all, sir." The Rotten Mango stuttered. The other two nodded in unison.

Putting his sunglasses back on, Jack grumbled and resumed play. With a mulligan, he knocked the ball so hard it broke through the windmill's thin construction and rolled down in for a hole in one. "That's how a real Toon plays mini-golf. Hurry up, I'm getting hot out here."

The rest of the game breezed by, with Jack handily winning, although likely not due to his own skills. Once the group had finished, they had set back to the clubhouse to get a round of cold root-beers. Sitting at the bar, the quartet joked and told stories as the mood seemed to shift back to a more enjoyable one. Jack, when not threatening to kill, was quite funny and personable. Eventually the conversation had shifted to Jack's eyepatch. "So, Captain. How did you end up with an eyepatch?" Stabby had asked, after re-living a memory of how he had killed a blind octogenarian who had worn something similar.

"Hmm. You know, I don't really get asked about that." Jack spoke neutrally, giving pause to the other three who were unsure how he would react. Cam had crossed his fingers, saying a small prayer under his breath. "Kind of funny to me. Like, why is everyone so afraid to bring it up? It's a great story."

"I've also wanted to know, sir." The peach dog spoke confidently, hoping this would bring her some goodwill. "I remember I met a cat once when I was scoping out business locations on Seaweed Street. Some old hag who ran a shop making maps. I don't know. Looked like it was abandoned, but anyways, they had an eyepatch. Never asked them about it though. They gave me a hassle when I asked them about buying the location. Whatever, their loss I guess." The disgusting fruit gulped down the last of her carbonated beverage, letting a large belch rip and waiting for the story.

Hardly a patient Toon, Jack pounded his fist, getting increasingly more frustrated by the interruptions. "I don't care about some old fart you met. I'm telling a story, and if you don't want me to smash this glass on your head, you'll shut your mouth and let me finish." Once he had the trio's full attention, he continued. "So, about a year ago I had gotten in the pocket with some local politicians back home. Bought my way through several playgrounds, bought off the police, and even got in with the mayor's daughter. Was completely ready to screw her over, and then. Well, that's when everything went to Hell…"