Chip forsake his vehicle to take to the street by foot. After everything that had happened he didn't want to take any risks of anything that could possibly go wrong. His first stop would be to try and hunt down the hotel that the crew was staying at. Reed said there was only one hotel in Funny Farms but that seemed ridiculous. There had to be another hotel somewhere, as the one he was staying in likely wouldn't fit fifty Toons in it. As the brown monkey wandered around, he was surprised to find that there were almost nobody else walking around. While it was still pretty early, he expected to see SOMEBODY. Maybe somebody headed to work? However there was nobody. Stomach grumbling from hunger, Chip tried his best to ignore it. He had more important work to do. Everything about Funny Farms seemed unusual to him. While in Toontown the streets were generally made of cobblestone or brick, here it was pavement. There was almost no greenery or shrubbery. The trash cans and lamp posts stood still. There was no silliness or fun to be found. Just a stoic, eerie atmosphere. Another sharp stab in his stomach was doing its best to force Chip to stop and take in some breakfast. After a few more minutes of no luck, Chip gave in and decided he would stop in at the next restaurant that he could find. Fortunately for him, it wouldn't be too hard. Just a few blocks from his hotel was a small diner. Like the hotel he was staying at, there was a flickering neon light. "Danny's" Chip wasn't a big fan of diner food, but it would have to do. Crossing the empty street, he pulled open the glass door as a bell rung indicating that there was a guest. The inside was unlike anywhere Chip had ever seen. The floor was a checkered black and white pattern. The booths were a bright red and white pattern. There was a small counter with several stools. In the corner there was a jukebox that was quietly playing a song that Chip could hardly make out. Behind the counter was a deer wearing a pink apron and leaning on her elbows, likely bored out of her mind. Immediately she caught notice of the brown monkey and her face went from one of boredom to one of annoyance. "Welcome to Danny's, take a seat wherever you want, I guess."
"Um, thank you." Chip walked over and took a booth near the window. From here he would have a good view on the outgoings of Funny Farms. Chip believed in Toon watching. If he watched hard enough, maybe he would notice something suspicious. Sliding across the smooth leather, he slunk into his seat and gazed out of the window. Shortly after the waitress walked over and tossed a menu onto the table and walked away. Stomach growling again, ravenous for some sort of food, Chip grabbed the menu and pulled it open. Visions of pancakes floating through his mind, the monkey was quickly disappointed. Everything on the menu was... pumpkins? Pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup... pumpkin pancakes? Well that would have to do. "Um, miss, I would like to order."
The deer once again slumped at the counter sighed and pulled herself up. Grabbing a notepad she walked over and pulled out a pen. "What do you want?"
"I'll take an order of pumpkin pancakes...? Also could I please get a glass of apple juice?"
"We don't have apple. We have pumpkin juice." the deer retorted snarkily, as if anybody would suspect such a thing existed.
Chip scratched his head and shrugged. "Um, okay. I'll take a glass of pumpkin juice?"
"You're not from around here, are you." the waitress didn't so much as ask, but rather bluntly stated her comment. Narrowing her eyes, he finished scribbling something on her notepad and walked back to the counter. "Danny, I need an order of Pumcakes!" she shouted and walked back to her original spot. Trying not to stare, Chip looked back out the window. In the reflection of his napkin holder, he could see the reflection of the front counter. Strangely enough like the cat from the hotel, the deer made absolutely no movement. Her chin buried in her palm as she slumped over the counter. No breathing, no blinking. It was uncanny, but Chip was too hungry to care. After a few minutes of watching, not a single Toon had crossed his path. Not a car, no employees or anything. It was a ghost town. The morning sun had fully risen, bringing a warm welcome to Funny Farms. Realizing that he still had not gotten his drink, Chip turned his head and looked over at the waitress who suddenly stood up and walked over to a small glass container filled with orange liquid. Taking a large glass she pushed down on a button and the orange liquid began to pour from the container and into the glass. Walking over she slapped the glass down onto the table, her face completely devoid of emotion. Inside of the juice floated seeds - likely pumpkin. Once again, she walked away with no further words and back to her original spot, as if she was programmed to stand there.
"Thank you ma'am." taking a breath, Chip peered into the glass and cringed a bit. He liked pumpkin but the idea of pumpkin juice seemed... a bit unusual. However, it was that or nothing. Holding the glass up to his lips he took a small sip and swished the liquid around his mouth. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't very good either. It tasted as he thought it would. It was tolerable. Yet it was still a strange thing to serve, Thinking about it, he was confused why a diner served only pumpkin based foods. Maybe it was a specialty diner? He'd have to remember that before he came back. The minutes passed again, and not a single Toon came into view. His food still had not come out, and the hunger was crippling the monkey. Standing up he walked over to the counter and sat down at one of the booths several seats down from where the waitress stood. "Excuse me, ma'am. Do you know how much longer those will be?"
The deer rolled her eyes and nudged her head slightly to view the sole customer. "They'll be done when their done." turning her head, she stared back at nothing.
Chip closed his eyes and sighed. A thought popped into his mind. Reed had mentioned a diner. Well this one was the closest one to the hotel, maybe this is the one they went to? He mentioned they wouldn't serve the crew, which wouldn't surprise Chip with this waitress. "Excuse me, ma'am?"
"Your food will be done when it's done." was all she responded, a sharp tone rolling off her tongue.
"Sorry, that's not what I wanted to ask. Um, have you worked here for a while?" Chip pulled out his notepad.
The deer shifted her eyes back and forth, narrowing them and leaning forward. "What are you getting at, monkey?"
"Well, I'm researching some missing Toons. A film crew. One of the remnants of the remaining crew who came back mentioned they stopped at a diner. I was just wondering if you happened to see them. I'm just trying to get an idea of what they were doing or any kind of clues that might help me find them." Chip waited expectantly as the Deer stared aggressively at him.
"I didn't see anybody or anything. Now I'm going to have to ask you to leave." the deer stepped back and grabbed a ladle, arming herself and ready to swing at Chip.
The brown monkey hopped off of his stool and leaned backwards a little. "What's your problem, lady? What did I do? I'm just trying to find some missing Toons. I didn't mean any harm."
"Get out of here before I get Danny to do it for you!" the deer swung the ladle out at Chip who approached the counter again. "We don't know anything! Now get out of here!"
Backing out slowly, Chip felt his way behind his back until he reached his booth. Grabbing his backpack he slowly walked out of the restaurant, never breaking eye-contact with the waitress. Once he was just outside of the door, the same bell ringing, he threw up his arms in frustration. "Pumpkin juice is gross anyways!" stepping out onto the sidewalk he breathed a heavy sigh. What was going on here? He had never seen someone become so angry over such a simple question. That deer knew something but she clearly didn't want to talk. However there was nothing he could do about that right now. He didn't have any legal authority here, so he couldn't force anybody to talk to him. Visibly frustrated and still hungry, the brown monkey looked for some sense of relief. He couldn't focus on a growling stomach. He had some snacks in his car, but he wanted to save those for the return trip to Toontown. Shoving his notepad back into his pocket he started to look around. Fortunately, unlike hotels, there seemed to be plenty of places that sell food. Crossing the street, Chip smiled as he saw "Pumpkin Pizza Parlor." he didn't know if that meant pumpkin pizza or what, but he would eat anything at this point. The building was painted green bricks and there was a single door with no windows. Reaching out for the door handle he began to tug as the door quickly pulled him back. "Guess they must not be open yet." continuing down the street he saw "Bibi's Burgers." he could go for a burger, it was never to early for one. Just like the pizza place the building was created from nothing but painted bricks. There were no windows. In a case of deja vu, Chip yanked on the door only to find that he was rejected from entering.
Becoming blurry from hunger, Chip ran down the street, pulling on every similar looking door on every similar looking building. The few buildings that did have windows did not appear to be of any use to him right now. Anger rising, Chip kicked out at the door of "Cheesie Chucky's Cheese Buffet.", stubbing his foot. Leaping and holding his injured foot in one hand he caught something unusual out of the corner of his eye. Well, not unusual under most circumstances, but certainly strange given everything that had happened. A Toon had appeared and walked inside of "Bibi's Burgers." it didn't appear that they had to unlock it, they just walked up and effortlessly opened it. Maybe it was the owner and they had some sort security device that recognized them? Rushing over, the door quickly closed behind the Toon. Chip reached out and grabbed the handle, pulling back, he felt his shoulder ripped back as the door remained frozen in place. "Hello! Are you the owner? Excuse me! I am interested in a burger? Hello?" Chip yelled out. Putting his ear to the door, he heard a light rustling sound from inside, but nobody answered. "Come on! I know you're in there!" turning around, like clockwork, more and more Toons began to pour down the street and in single file entered each building, pulling the doors behind them closed. The single file line stopped once they reached Chip. About four Toons in total, stared at him in awe. Neither party spoke, as if the idea of speech itself was incomprehensible. "Excuse me. I'm just trying to get something to eat. Do any of you know the owner here?" Three of the Toons ignored the desperately hungry figure in front of them as they walked by, heads down and eyes forward, eventually reaching different shops and quickly following suit.
"You need to get out of here." the final Toon whispered. A cream colored rabbit, she kept her head down and made no eye contact with Chip. "Just get out of here while you can. They will find you. Please." without another word, the rabbit sped walked her way past him and up the street where she disappeared into what appeared to be a dentistry.
"They? Who are they?!" Chip yelled out. Everything just brought more questions and no answers. Deciding that there was little chance he was going to get into this place, he decided to walk back to the hotel. He would just have to eat into his backup snacks until something opened. Walking down, he noticed something unusual. Something about these buildings didn't look right. All of them looked exactly the same. There were differing colors used for the bricks, but the structures were identical. It wasn't unusual for certain buildings in Toontown to look the same, but there was usually some identity. Here, it was like being on a treadmill with a single portrait next to it. After a short walk he was back at the hotel. His blue car was still parked outside. Checking for cars, he walked into the street by the driver's side and pulled open the backdoor. "Time for some delicious..." on the back seat, something was missing. Where there had once been a pumpkin, there was now... well nothing. He was sure he had a pumpkin there. Pulling out his whisper device, he ignored the four messages from Flippy. Going into his pictures, he furrowed his brow. In his album, there was no picture of the pumpkin. Maybe he hadn't saved it? Going into his messages he scrolled down his conversation with Flippy. Once again, there was no picture. The message was there that he had sent Flippy. "Told you."
"Whatever you say, Chip. Just be careful." "Waiting on that picture." Chip read quietly to himself, as he stood halfway between his car and the street. A loud honking noise flustered him as he jumped up, hitting his head on the soft felt that made up the car's ceiling. Peeking out, he watched as a small cruiser flew by, not making any attempt to slow down. The realization that he had not updated either Flippy or his family finally struck him, like that cruiser almost did just moments before.
Closing his car door he walked back inside of the hotel with his plastic bag full of snack food. Surprisingly when he entered there was nobody inside. The cat that had been standing there overnight was gone. In the corner of the lobby was a small stack of magazines, as well as a newspaper. Typing back updates to everybody, he took a seat and placed his bag on a small table. "Might as well hang out here. Maybe that cat will come back." tearing open a bag of potato chips, Chip began to shove handfuls of greasy, salty deliciousness into his mouth. Finally finishing up his messages he wiped off his greasy hands on his shorts and burped. Still no sign of anybody. Peeking over he looked at the newspaper. "Maybe there's something in here. Surely a film crew would be a big deal in such a small town. Yanking the paper from its plastic container, he slowly unfolded the paper and stared at the front page. His stomach began to well up as he read the front headline. "Disastrous Fire at the California; twenty-seven killed." sliding his finger down, Chip continued to read. "Tragedy struck Funny Farm's premier hotel on Monday night. An electrical fire that started in a guest's room sparked a blaze that took the life of twenty-seven Toons, including seven children. The entire hotel was destroyed in this terrible blaze, and the Funny Farms Fire Department has confirmed only one survivor. Hotel concierge Claws Henley had suffered several burns while attempting to rescue a guest and had to jump from the second story window to avoid being taken with the rest of the victims. The cause of the fire itself is unknown, but for the moment Funny Farms grieves the terrible loss of so many lives, as well as such an important piece of history." Chip's blood turned ice cold as he finished reading. In the black and white picture was the same hotel that he had stayed in, however it looked much newer and extravagant. However that would pale in comparison as he flipped the page and found a list of the victims, including one - Claws Henley. An orange cat with a red, cylindrical hat...