The Lemon sat down on the couch, still in the process of waking up the yellow deer sloshed around a steamy cup of coffee. Reaching up with his free hand, he reached up and rubbed his eyes to remove the crusty substance that built up overnight. In the middle of a yawn, The Lemon noticed his brother who had also awoken from a previous slumber. "Uhhhhh, good morning. I made coffee if you want any."

Stretching out, The Lime shook rapidly and walked over to join the yellow Toon. "Eh, I'm alright. I've been up for a while. I couldn't really sleep last night after what happened with The Orange."

"Yeah, I get it. This whole situation is just a garbage fire on top of a tire fire on top of a forest fire. We're working with the Rangers, then we're not, then we are, then we're not. I just want to finish our job and get back home."

"Home. I can't even imagine what it looks like anymore. Well, I mean I guess it looks mostly the same – parallel universe and all. Although I'd kill to get back to Olde Toontown and get one of those tarts at Ye Olde Baker Bridget. That mouse could bake a tart, I tell you what." Salivating at the thought of the delicious dessert, The Lemon was beginning to let the homesick feelings creep in. "I remember when dad would get breakfast on Saturday mornings, and he'd always stop there."

Sagging forward, The Lime joined in nostalgic recollections from back home. "Oh yeah, but I don't think anything beats Nutty and Wacky Desserts in Acorn Acres. That almond pastie would probably be my last meal if I had to choose." Licking his lips, he felt a wave of emotion come over him. Trying to keep his composure, he stood up and crossed his arms, tilting his head he pointed towards the other room where The Orange had moved to start working. "Should we check on The Orange? He's been kind of recluse the last few hours. He can't hide from us."

Grinning, the deer stood up and clapped loudly. "Exactly, I don't believe that he should get to hide safely from us for this long." Pausing, he rubbed his chin. "Although, maybe we could surprise him with a delicious breakfast… I know he was pretty upset last night. There's a cool little doughnut shop down the street. Can't go wrong with doughnuts, right?"

"Good point. Let us eat doughnuts!" Leaping up onto the couch, the humorous dog made a heroic pose, pointing towards the front door. "Alright, let's go."

From the other room, The Orange sat at a desktop, furiously researching through newspaper articles. For several hours he had worked tirelessly to check anywhere and everywhere that might have even a mention of Jack, or a black pig. After all, he was a noticeable fellow, and must have done something newsworthy at some point. "Where are you, swine? You can't hide from me forever." The chimp had gone through every newspaper in Donald's Dreamland, The Brrrgh, Donald's Dock, and Toontown Central for the last two months without a single mention. Exhausted and hungry, the ape let his head plummet down onto the desk. "Ugh, this would be so much faster if I had access to the Ranger's system. This is going to take days." As the helplessness began to overwhelm him, the sound of the front door slamming close sprung his natural defenses. Crouching down on the side of the table away from the door, the monkey armed himself with the first thing he could find – a pen. It would have to do. Just seconds later, the door to the office was also flung open violently. The Orange knew that he would have to be careful, whoever this was, they were likely here to harm him. Peeking under the table he could see two pair of feet, although he couldn't make out any other details. "Alright, The Orange. They're here to stop you. You don't let them." He whispered to himself. Taking one last inhalation, he leapt out and brandished his makeshift weapon. "Prepare to die, scum!"

Standing in front of the defensive primate were not a pair of bloodthirsty assassins, but rather two goofballs holding a large box of doughnuts and three cups of hot chocolate with horrified, and blank expressions on their faces. The yellow deer nearly dropped the cups from fear but managed to hold on to them. "Um, would you like a doughnut…?"

"Gosh, you guys scared me. Why did you barge in so violently? I thought you were part of Jack's gang to come here to kill me or something. I thought you guys might have been in trouble!" Still breathing heavily, The Orange shifted his eyes back and forth on his comrades.

"Aw, you're always so serious, buddy. We thought we'd surprise you! You can't surprise somebody quietly and boringly. There has to be some excitement! Plus, we each ate three doughnuts already and we're super energized!" Shaking from the sugar intake, The Lime looked ready to begin bouncing off the walls.

Calming down, The Orange couldn't stay mad at those two. As ridiculous and frustrating as they could be, they were also his best friends, and he knew that no matter what happened they would have his back. "Sorry guys, I guess I'm just a little on edge right now. Between what happened with The Rangers, a lack of sleep, and no progress on this research, I'm a bit irritable right now. Walking over, he opened the large, pink box The Lime was holding and peered inside at the delicious contents inside. "Is that a chocolate glazed with sprinkles and gummi worms?"

Chuckling, The Lemon winked. "You think we'd forget your favorite doughnut? Come on, dude. How long have we known each other?" Pushing the box into The Orange's hands, he walked over and sat down at the computer. "Why don't you take a break. You need some energy. Eat some sugar. We got you a hot chocolate. Can't eat doughnuts without hot chocolate. Let me and The Lime handle this for a while. Er, whatever you were doing."

"Hmm, looks like newspaper articles. Needed a break?" The Lime peered over his brother's shoulder at the monitor and shrugged. "I'm not much one for the news, but you gotta do what you gotta do to relax."

"I'm not reading it for entertainment, unfortunately. Actually, after all of the news I've gone through, I'd be happy never seeing another news article in my life." Grabbing one of the extra chairs, The Orange dragged it over to sit in front of the computer with his friends. "I was researching and seeing if there had been any mentions of Jack anywhere. Anything notable that could help with some leads. Something, anything really that could maybe give us some ideas."

The Lemon nodded in appreciation. "Wow, you've been doing that all night? Geez, The Orange. You're really dedicated. I guess there's a reason The Kumquat made you second in command. You're smarter than almost any Toon I've ever met."

Joining in the compliments to lift his friend's spirits, The Lemon grinned and agreed. "Exactly. This is a brilliant way to track someone without them knowing it. After all, a criminal of his level can't be completely invisible. He must have slipped up somewhere or did something. We just need to find it." For the next few hours, the trio of Toons all took turns clicking and scrolling through thousands of articles, and more fluff pieces and depressing stories than any fruit should have to ensure in such a small time period.

By the early afternoon, they had scoured through every major playground, as well as Goofy's Speedway. The only remaining area left was Acorn Acres. All three Toons were exhausted, and none of them wanted to drag themselves through another piece. "Ugh, this seems useless. I don't think we're going to find anything." The Lemon had slouched over his chair, nearly sliding off before catching himself on the arm and dragging himself back up. "Maybe we should try something else."

"Man, I just spent twelve hours reading through articles, I'm not going to give up right at the end. It may be useless, but at least I'm not just sitting around uselessly like The Rangers. Those guys are probably wasting time trying to go after some small fish so they can say they did their jobs and move on. I'm going to exhaust every avenue to track down this pig and cook his bacon." The Orange remotivated himself with the fuel of anger he felt towards those he felt were wronging him and the world. "Let's keep looking." The trio continued their search for about fifteen minutes before they finally struck what they had opened was gold.

"Hey, guys. Come look at this." The Lemon who had taken the turn on the computer pointed excitedly, causing the other two to run over and join him. "Look at this article. "A Black Stain on Acorn Acres – Ruffians Are Destroying Family Fun At The Links."

The Lime scratched his head and scrunched his face. "According to recent reports from Acorn Acres Rangers show that increased trolling, and other nefarious actions such as threatening actions, violence, and other un-Toony actions. While there is no accusations against any particular group acting in coordination – early consideration has been aimed at the Anti-Toon Alliance, a group that is notorious for causing chaos and frustration in Toontown. We spoke to Jack Rabbit, a father of two from Toontown Central who took his spouse and kids for a fun day of mini golf. Instead, he was faced with threats and a horrible experience."

The Orange took over, eyes widening with every word. "Yeah, we were out on the red tracks, and we were waiting patiently for this group to go, and they were just causing all sorts of issues. What I remember most was there was this pig, unlike any Toon I've ever seen, he was all black. I politely asked them to change their language and actions as there were families around and he threatened me and my family. It was frightening. I can't believe somebody like that could act that way in a family-friendly place." Clapping his hands, The Orange spun around in his chair in excitement. They had finally found what they were looking for. "So, it looks like our boy here is a fan of golf. So, what do you guys think about grabbing some clubs and hitting the green?"

Deputy was struggling to change up plans on the fly. While he had Jade with him, this was a situation that neither Toon had gone through in their professional experience. Brownie would be walking into a potential minefield where he'd have to walk a very tight rope in order to protect not just himself and Akinari, but the investigation. "Keep the camera rolling, Brownie. Hopefully we will be able to get the location down and some evidence so that we can start making some arrests."

The pink duck was still baffled that Skids' seemed willing to let a Ranger go into this situation completely unprepared, especially someone like Brownie. "I still think he should make up an excuse to get out of there. We already have that bear on camera admitting to trafficking and making violent threats. This should be pretty sufficient to start making some arrests. It might not be Jack, but it is somebody high in the organization. It sets a trail for us to find Jack."

"I disagree. I don't think this would be enough to warrant a guaranteed conviction. We need concrete evidence here. We need it to be waterproof. Sure, we could probably nab Molly, but we don't have any connections to Jack and there is little chance she's going to talk. Nobody gets that high up in these organizations because they are willing to talk to us. They'd die before they snitch on someone, because it is going to be quicker and faster than whatever these ruthless criminals would do. I think you're letting your judgement be clouded by your eagerness. I understand, I want to catch this guy too, but we have to do it right. Even a few big fish aren't going to curb this problem. We need the head honcho. We need evidence on Jack."

"Ugh, what are the odds of that happening though? That greasy pig could slip out of the grip of any accusations that we could make. I've been tracking him for months and I haven't gotten a single shred of evidence. Even though we all know what he's doing, we can't prove it. This system just encourages criminals, and frankly it is ridiculous." Leaning back in her chair, Jade closed her eyes. "Sometimes I wonder why I do this."

Turning from the monitor, as Brownie was just walking alongside Akinari and Molly on screen, Deputy took a moment to try and connect with the duck. "I know what you mean, Jade. I've been doing this for thirteen years. I don't think I've gone a day where I didn't feel like I was being bogged down by bureaucracy or that I wasn't truly doing the right thing. I feel that every. Single. Day. Heck, I didn't even I needed a more stable job because we wanted to start a family. I signed up for the Rangers because it seemed like a steady paycheck. I stayed because I wanted to make a difference. If I quit, it isn't going to change anything. The rules will still be in place. Criminals will still commit crimes. We persevere through the frustrations and difficulties for our own reasons. Why did you become a Ranger to begin with?"

Biting her beat, Jade contemplated the question. Memories flooded her mind of critical points in her life that shaped her to be who she was, and decisions that led her to where she was now, but one thing stood out. "My parents."

"Your parents? Were they also in law enforcement?" Skids spun around in his chair, occasionally checking the monitor to ensure he wasn't missing anything.

"Not at all. My mom stayed at home to watch me and my brother, and my dad was a gag farmer. Both were terrible, spiteful Toons who always wanted me to be somebody I wasn't. They absolutely adored my brother and gave him everything he wanted. I ran away when I was still young because I couldn't be with them anymore. I was homeless for a few years, fending for myself. I managed to continue going through school and even college. I saw a lot of terrible things that I shouldn't have at that age. Drugs, deaths, and other things I won't mention that I am sure you are aware of. The street is no place for a child."

Confused, Deputy spoke in a soft, empathetic tone. "I'm sorry Jade. What a horrible thing for anybody to go through. Although I am a bit confused about how that involves your parents other than them being horrible Toons."

Jade opened her eyes, reveling in the current world she lived in after being reminded of the traumatic memories of her youth. "Well, it isn't completely their fault I ended up where I am, but I wouldn't have ran away if they had just shown a bit of love and support. Even when they had good intentions – such as my mom suggesting I try to make myself more appealing to boys – they were hurtful and nearly abusive. They would never accept me for who I am. I actually got a re-write because I didn't want them to ever recognize me." Deputy almost lost his breath as he saw a single tear escape from Jade's stoic eyes. "I can't stop parents from being terrible, but I can at least try and make the world safer for those who don't feel safe at home."

"Wow, Jade. Well, thank you for opening up about that. I can't say I understand, but I appreciate that you talked about it." Deputy rubbed the back of his head. They were still at work, and he didn't want to get too bogged down by an emotional conversation. "Hey, why don't we check in on Brownie?"

"Alright, we're almost there. You don't need to remember where this is, because I am going to be checking on you at random, when you least expect it. I'm going to track you at all times." The large, spooky purple bear didn't seem to be messing around. Brownie looked at her skeptically and was shut down immediately. "Don't look at me like that, mouse. Did you think I was just going to hand you a hundred thousand jellybeans worth of Powdered Sugar and send you on your way? Nuh-uh. You're still a stranger and I still don't really trust you. But heck, I do love me a good bet. Worst case scenario I get my sugar back and you end up in the hospital unable to tell them what happened."

"No worries, I was just surprised that you would be willing to take me on without vetting me, and then throwing so many barriers in my way. Cis a la vie, it won't stop me from fulfilling my end of the bargain. You'll be eating your words in a short week. Now, take me to the sugar." Brownie spoke with a confidence that would bely anybody into believing that he wasn't a Ranger, but rather an experienced criminal.

Akinari palms were sweating as she gripped Brownie's hand. "Um, uh, sweetie, maybe you shouldn't be making such bold promises. After all, most dealers are lucky to hit twenty thousand in a week. One-hundred thousand is an insane number. We're not making a schoolyard bet here, this has real consequences for BOTH of us."

The trio reached an ordinary building at the back end of Pajama Place near Cashbot HQ. Not a lot of Toons ventured down this far in the playground as it was usually a haven of cog, and Anti-Toon activity. The Toons that did live and work there were usually ones who saw themselves as very elite and needing to prove their strength, or who had no other options. It was no surprise to Brownie that Jack's gang would keep their distribution around here. Maybe if Brownie was lucky, he'd run into the hog himself. "Alright, before we go in you have to take those off." Molly pointed to Brownie's clothes/accessories.

"Woah, woah. You think I'm going in there naked? That's ridiculous!" The green mouse was feeling the pressure a bit. What if somebody went through his clothes and noticed his camera/microphone? Even if not, the whole purpose was to gather evidence, and this would be the most important evidence he could gather, and he wouldn't be able to record it. He would have testimony, but how strongly would that hold up? As he always did when he was in trouble, Brownie used his best weapon – humor. "I mean, I get if you want to see me naked, but my girlfriend is right here."

"Molly, he does have a point. I've worked with you for a while now. I will vouch for him. He's not doing anything funny. If you need to pat him down or something, why not just do that? We don't need to embarrass him by treading him around naked. Plus, him getting undressed here might bring some heat we don't want." Akinari, a much better manipulator, knew how to sway her boss.

The purple bear thought about things for a few seconds, peering at Brownie who slapped a large grin on his face to taunt her. "Fine. But like I said, anything funny and you'll be feeding the fish in the pond by this time tomorrow. Got it?"

Brownie shrugged and rolled his eyes. "You act like I haven't been doing this all of my life, Molly. Now, let's go ahead and get going why don't we? I am burning precious time that I could be selling. Capisce?"

"Don't get cocky. I'll cut your tongue out now if you say another word, fool." Molly opened the door and led the duo inside. The building looked like a plain, unused shop. It was empty aside from a counter, and some other various furniture. The room was quite brightly lit and looked nothing like he assumed it would. " The rodent found they wouldn't be there long. Instead, they went through a door behind the front counter which looked like a closet. A stairwell had been carved into the structure, only a few steps, but enough to lead into a makeshift basement. The bottom floor was much different than the top. There were machines Brownie had never seen that were constantly moving and creating. Sugar flowed from a large conveyor belt which poured into small Ziploc bags which flowed on a separate belt. It was a surprisingly well-oiled machine, something the Toon would expect from cogs. "This is our production center for Donald's Dreamland. Doesn't look like much, but this is where sixty percent of our Sugar is made. Don't think that means you can sneak anything for free, we keep strict tabs on our stuff. There are cameras down here anyways, so you wouldn't get very far."

"Hey, Molly. Actually, while I have you here I don't think I ever updated my records and got my new batch. Do you think we could do that now? I really don't want to forget and have to come back." Akinari knew that she would be buying time for Brownie to do some snooping if she could push Molly away. The Ranger was caught off-guard, but soon came to understand what she was doing. Excited by her willingness to cooperate.

The Supervisor grunted and tilted her head towards the other room. "Come to the office and we'll get that taken care of." Pointing a claw towards Brownie, Molly's voice got even deeper and scarier. "Don't touch anything or think about leaving. Like I said, cameras are watching you constantly." Akinari and Molly walked into the other room.

From afar, Brownie could hear his name brought up. Once it seemed safe, he took off his hat and held it to his mouth so he could speak to his comrades. "I think I have a few minutes; I'm going to take a peek around. I'm getting a lot of good evidence."

"Brownie, be careful. We don't know what they are talking about in there. For all we knew, Akinari is spilling the beans to protect herself. Maybe you should get out of there while you can. We can send somebody over as backup if needed." Jade hunched forward and spoke quietly into her microphone. The camera was pointed directly at the ceiling, so neither of the home-based Rangers could see their partner's face which was beginning to become a bit unnerved.

"Hold on, Jade. We can't assume the worst right now. So far, Akinari has been very cooperative and helpful. Let's give her the benefit of the doubt. We have plenty of evidence but if you can poke around a bit more and show how they are making it so potent, we'd have a slam dunk there." Deputy surprisingly seemed less worried about the potential of something going wrong. Whether that was displaced trust in everybody he met, or an overaggressive disregard for his teammate, Skids was not willing to allow such an opportunity to pass them by. "Brownie, stay there and I want you to record as much as you can. I'm going to come by just in case everything goes wrong. Jade can stay here and monitor the situation and keep me updated.

The pink duck flung backwards in surprise, eyes bulging from her head. "Hey, wait a minute! I don't want to be stuck here by myself! Why don't I go, and you stay here?"

The two debated the merits for a minute before they were quietly interrupted by Brownie. "Hey, guys. Hold on a second. I think I hear the door opening. It sounds like they're coming back. Just hang on a second!" Quickly placing his hat back on his cranium, Brownie cleared his throat to give a quick notice to Skids and Jade. Sure enough, Akinari and Molly came from the other room, both of them acting as normal as before. The pink crocodile had an entire suitcase in hand. "Hey, welcome back sweetie. Look at me, didn't move a muscle." Brownie winked at Molly who seemed unamused.

"Great, I guess you managed to do the absolute bare minimum. Don't worry, I have monitors in my office. I'd have noticed if you had done anything anyways." Brownie breathed a sigh of relief that he had not done anything further, which would have easily given him away. "Anyways, Aki here has everything you guys will need. A few reminders – you get banned? You've never heard of anyone here. You're acting on your own accord. We have Toons on the inside who will love to find a traitor. You catch what I'm saying, mouse?"

"Yup, yup. I'm not going to lose a bet to some behemoth bear, I'll tell you that much right now. So, I have a week to sell all of this?" Brownie inquired coolly.

Nodding, Molly responded quickly and coldly. "One week. One Hundred Thousand Jellybeans. Otherwise? Well, you know the rest." Walking back towards her office, Molly turned one last time to face the "couple." " Don't forget, I'm watching you both. I could be anywhere at any time. Don't do anything stupid, Aki." With those last words tailing, Molly was gone leaving the younger Toons to their own devices.

Akinari breathed a sigh of relief knowing she had somehow gotten out of that. "Should we head out now? I did my part."

"Sorry, but you're not quite done yet." Deputy stated, forgetting Akinari didn't have an earpiece. "Er, Brownie, could you please tell her she's not done?" The mouse parlayed the information to the crocodile who was flustered and frustrated.

"What the heck? I did what you said. I did my part. You can't keep lassoing me in! Do you want me to die?" Akinari asked bluntly, pushing back on her responsibility to what she agreed to.

Jade shrugged. "Sorry. You did the crime, and you'll either cooperate or do the time. We're not done with you yet. We're not being unreasonable here. Brownie is your "boyfriend" it would seem weird if you suddenly stopped talking. You guys are going to need to stay together for a while, at least until we can make some arrests.

Now outside of the building, Brownie walked over and sat down on a bench. "Woah, woah. I'm a little lost here, guys. What do you mean stay together? Like you want us to hang out here for a while? I can't go around selling drugs, and I certainly couldn't allow it."

"Well, we were thinking you guys should dating for a while longer. You don't have to live together but being out together sometimes might help solidify things. Just until we can get all of this wrapped up. It isn't anything personal, Akinari, but Jade is right." Deputy took a weird enjoyment from the Toons' embarrassment. "We'll arrange those meetings later on. You guys did good today. Brownie, why don't you guys come on back and we'll start getting that video together to see if we missed anything. Don't forget Akinari though. Don't forget, you guys are together now. Hold hands or something." The lime green dog winked and hung up his headset.

"This is probably the weirdest case I've ever worked on. You certainly have a unique way about going about your business, Deputy." Jade placed her headset down and stood up, stretching out and yawning. "Do you usually go about things this way?"

Skids thought about it for a moment, recalling his numerous escapades and wacky stories. "Er, nope. This is definitely a first. Anyways, it seems like you're getting a bit tired. Why don't you go and get yourself some coffee? I'm going to start re-watching over this video. I'll let you know if I find anything." Dismissing the pink duck, the determined Ranger sat down and prepared to scour over every second of the video, desperately hoping he could find what would be the next important clue in the saga.