Chapter 8: The Toons' Town

"Here" Helper handed a small note card to Jiminy. "That's the list of the other toons we should round up. It addresses where you can find them, where they should search, and who the leader of that search party is. If you can, tell them to meet up tomorrow night in the Gateway."

They were walking past the Matterhorn on their way to ToonTown. It was awkwardly quiet besides the faint rustle of the leaves and the sighing of the waterfalls in the grand mountain. Any other moment it would hold a sense of serenity and a gentile nonsensical melody of nature, playing in the dark of night.

"But, uh, what if you need my help?" Jiminy tried to get out of the rather dangerous task, him being so small and all. "How's about Oswald do it?"

"Yeah, I'll go and do that while you and Jiminy talk to Minnie." Oswald was trying to get out of the extremely awkward upcoming conversation.

"Yeah, I'll let you do that, and then I'll have a tea party with good old Maleficent and play dress up." Helper said sarcastically, rolling her eyes "You're not getting out of this one, Rabbit!" She said sternly

"Oh? And why not?" he stopped, making Helper turn around to face him. His arms were crossed and he was tapping his large foot on the ground. This was his natural defiance in action, as well as a cover-up for the dread he was feeling. I can't face Minnie! Even with Helper there, she'll have my head!

Helper returned his even gaze as her mind screamed. Come on Oswald, I can't do this alone! Sure Jiminy's here, but he's tiny and I just met him! Not to mention, I've never met her. What would she think; someone like me, coming up to her in the middle of the night, and saying that the one closest to her is missing?!

"Alright, now hold up." Jiminy hopper in between the glairing toons. "There's no need to start a fight…Oswald, you want to recruit the others, right?"

"Yeah…" he replied suspiciously

"And Helper, you want him to go with you and talk to Minnie, right?"

"Yes. What are you getting at?" she asked, also a tad suspicious.

"I think that you should flip for it, to see who wins. That way its fair" he dug in his pockets for a coin, but turned them up-side-down, indicating that he had none. Helper dug in her pockets and revealed a button, three bent up paperclips, a small gadget that looked suspiciously like B.E.N.'s memory chip, and her MultiTool. Oswald turned his pockets upside down as well (even though Helper swore that he pulled something out of there earlier)

"Ok then…how about Rock-Paper-Scissors?" Jiminy asked innocently. He was met by confident laughs on both ends.

"Ha, I knew you'd see it my way. There's no way she could beat me!" Oswald proclaimed.

"In your dreams Rabbit; I beat you every time!" Helper laughed all the harder when she saw him falter in confidence, it was half a second of worry, but she caught it.

"Alright…" Jiminy shrugged. Oswald and Helper leaned in close and readied themselves. "Rock…Paper…Scissors…SHOOT!"

She was noticeably happier as the two walked past The Clock to ToonTown. Oswald had his hands stuffed in his pockets and was grumbling something about 'cheater' and 'I let ya win'. When they arrived at the large green gate, he stopped and looked at the gate curiously.

"It's really unlike toons to lock up their town…" Oswald stated as he investigated the gates which were closed tight. "Then again…"

"Then again what?" Helper asked. Oswald remained silent even though he had clearly heard her.

"Oswald?" he looked down to the ground, but didn't respond.

"Oswald?!" he cringed slightly, but still ignored her.

"OSWALD!"

"THEN-AGAIN-I'VE-NEVER-ACTUALY-BEEN-HERE-BEFORE!" he exploded in a loud jumble of words. He looked at the ground, embarrassed. The red of anger drained out of Helper's face.

"Huh? But you said—"

"That I come here all the time and visit 'my new friends'" he interrupted bitterly. "I know"

She was astonished. She had never known Oswald as a liar…well maybe a small lie to get out of trouble, but coming home most nights, telling stories of his antics in ToonTown…they were all lies?

"Why?" She asked softly. "Why did you l—tell us those stories?" she didn't say 'lie' because he was having a hard enough time with the situation as it was.

"I-I wanted to impress Ortensia." He admitted "When we came back home at first, there were so many new characters around. The first week I stayed at home, but then Ortensia kept pushing me to go out and meet the other characters…Mickey introduced me to a lot of 'm while he showed me around the Kingdom, but we never made it to ToonTown…Savin' the best for last, he told me…" he sighed "You're ashamed of me, I know. But I couldn't face his closest friends alone! Especially since I used to be so jealous of him, then I come back and suddenly he's missing…"

She put her hand on his shoulder. He turned his head away, waiting for her to snap. He's known her for about two and a half years now; she was Sarcastic, Resentful, Proud, Snappy, Stubborn, and so on. She was not the type to take this kind of revelation lightly.

"Hay, it's alright. I'm not gunna hurt ya." She said in a perfect imitation of Oswald that night she was discovered. "After all, what are friends for? I understand why ya did it, I mean, hehe, that's kinda why a wanted you here. Look at me; dark, shifty looking toon come to inform you of your loss" she shrugged, used to the fact that she tends to frighten people "…not really the most welcoming, ya know?"

"What's not welcoming?" a voice spoke from behind the gate in the shadows, making them both jump. "Oops, sorry 'bout that."

There was a jangle of keys and a great CLANG! as the lock was undone and the large green gate eased open. Out of the shadows stepped a toon, about the same size as Oswald. She was covered in white feathers, had large teal and black eyes, and orange webbed feet and bill. Her huge bow and high-heeled shoes were a matching shade of light pink, while her shirt and purse were light lavender. The only other accessory she wore was a simple teal bracelet on her left wrist and an almost unseen golden chain around her neck which held a heart-shaped locket.

"Oh, uh…Hiya, Daisy…um," Oswald was looking all around, worrying on his ear and avoiding the duck's face nervously "uh…what's not welcome? He…it's funny…uh, ya see, I—well, we that is, um…it's uh—"

Daisy Duck was not known for her patience, and now was a perfect example. While Oswald was blubbering and trying to make simple conversation, Daisy folded her arms started tapping her foot in impatience. In an attempt to change the current conversation to a less awkward one, Helper decided to make herself known, which wasn't the best idea. She calmly stepped forward and smiled.

"Hello, I'm—"

"AHHH!"

SMACK!

Helper ended up on the ground, dazed. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and shook her head in attempt to clear it. Grumbling, she rubbed her sore cheek which was now getting a red outlining of Daisy's purse.

"AHHH!" Daisy screamed again, grabbing Oswald and trying to get him to run. "Come on! Get away from that monster!"

"Oh, that's nice." Helper grumbled sarcastically as she stood up. "'I'm gunna interrupt you to ask a question, then smack ya and call ya a monster!'"

"What are you screaming about? This is my friend." Oswald tried to talk Daisy out of panicking. Now she just stood behind Oswald in fear.

"B-b-b-but it came out of nowhere!" Daisy exclaimed

"She was here the whole time…" Helper tried to reason, crossing her arms.

"And it snarled at me" Daisy continued, not hearing her.

"I said Hello!" Helper exclaimed.

"And it tried to eat me with those huge, sharp teeth!" Daisy howled in despair.

"This is exasperating" Helper sighed, slapping her hand to her face.

"Look, Daisy, this is Helper." Oswald explained "She's a good friend of mine and long story short is that we came here to see if Minnie was in. Have you seen her around?"

"Oh…" Daisy looked thoughtful. All traces of the earlier conflict gone (besides odd looks to Helper, now and again) "Well…last I saw here was a while ago. She went out with Pluto for a walk. Next thing ya know Minnie and Pluto come running back, all muddy and scraped up."

"What happened? Are they all right?" Oswald asked worriedly.

"Oh they're fine. But it's strange, Minnie looked so worried and Pluto was on edge." Daisy elaborated "That was the first night we started locking the gate to ToonTown, like it was dangerous to go outside or something."

"Hold on," Helper asked, shocked at this news "so your saying Minnie was attacked?"

"Well she said something about helping some friends over to Tom Sawyers Island and that Big Bad and Louis of all toons were causing trouble."

"Big Bad, I can understand, but why would Louis cause trouble? Did his bayou party get outta hand or somethin'?" Oswald questioned the duck.

"I don't know; ask Minnie, she might be home. As for me, I'm going to Main Street. They have a sale going on at the Emporium!" with that, she skipped off.

"Well, let's see if Miss Mouse is home." Helper turned to the large gate and pushed it open. She and Oswald walked through, leaving the gate wide open…

"Hay, Lucky!"

Helper and Oswald stopped halfway down the street and turned to see another duck racing after them. He only wore a blue shirt and hat, which resembled an old-fashioned sailor's uniform. From his shout, they could hear the unique, identifiable voice of Donald Duck. Donald often came to Oswald's shop to ask for random 'favors'. Although Oswald didn't notice, Helper did; Donald only came to ask favors that needed a 'lucky touch' such as a last resort of a mad plan of his. Aside from using Oswald for his luck, Donald was really a great guy (aside from his occasional temper tantrums)

"Hay, Donald. What's the matter?" Oswald inquired.

"Well, Daisy just called me and told me about a new toon coming into ToonTown, who had a monster friend. When I went outside to look, I saw you two."

"Oh, that clears things up…" Helper snorted, making a jibe at his voice. Donald didn't notice (which seemed to be a pattern for her tonight)

"We're here to see Minnie. "Oswald responded after giving Helper a quick glair "you haven't seen her around, have ya?"

"No I haven't." Donald responded. He was about to say more, when a Broom ran into him in a panic. The Magic Brooms acted as janitors for a majority of the Kingdom. This one, however, was tugging on their arms and shirts in frenzy, pointing Downtown.

"Aw, what do ya want!?" Donald snapped, trying to shoo it away. It continued to pull and point.

"What's gotten into him?" Oswald wondered.

"It wants us to go downtown." Helper started "Maybe—"

CRASH!

In the direction the Broom was pointing there was a very loud crash. Above the small buildings, a large water fountain was now erupting. Without further discussion, Helper, Oswald and Donald rushed off to see what happened. They turned a corner and saw the downtown area in ruins. There were firework blast-marks on the ground and buildings, the fire truck was now scrap metal, the street was littered with black tire marks, and the water fountain in front of the ToonTown Cab Co. was totaled.

"Whoa!" Donald exclaimed.

"Gosh! What happened!?" Oswald asked to no one in particular.

"Hmm…" Helper studied the marks on the ground, then stood and walked over to the fountain. There were bits of stone that fell off in many places, the centerpiece was now lodged into a wall of the Gag Factory, and there was a large indentation on one side.

"Hay!" Donald came over and looked at the large mark as well "that looks like Benny!"

"Who?" Helper asked

"Benny the Cab, the toon who runs the ToonTown Cab Company" Donald explained "in fact these tire marks are probably his!"

"BENNY!" a new voice shouted "where are ya?!"

Out of the demolished door came a tall, white rabbit with oversized red overalls, a huge spotted bowtie and yellow gloves. His ears and feet here gigantic, and he had a messy patch of red hair on top of his head.

"Donald!" The new rabbit shouted. He ran up and took Donald by the shoulders "Oh, Donald Duck! Why, you haven't seen Benny around here, have ya?"

"First it's Minnie, and now it's Benny!" Donald exploded "I can't keep track of everybody!"

"I think he was somehow involved in this…mess" Helper concluded, half listening to the conversation.

"Jeepers! Who are you?" the new rabbit asked "I've seen everyone in ToonTown, but your new!"

"I am the Helper of the Kingdom, and this is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and obviously you know Donald." She was glad someone was listening to her. "Do you know if Benny would have caused this?"

"No! Well, I mean he could if he wanted to, but he wouldn't want to." The toon said sadly "Then again, he hasn't been Benny lately. Cold and quiet and more like a robot that a toon if you ask me"

Helper stared at the ground, lost in thought. Was that how Louis was when he attacked? This can't be a coincidence! Someone must be behind this! Then she noticed something on the ground; A folded piece of paper. Curious, Helper picked it up. Before she could unfold it, there was another loud crash coming from Fantasyland…and a scream. No one could react quicker that she could. All at once she jammed the page into her pocket and ran past the ToonTown gate and flew off towards trouble.

A/N: So, how did you like this installment? Also my suggestion box is still open, as well as your opinion on a Miniseries of adventures. As for mentioned characters…

-B.E.N. is the robot from Treasure Planet who lost his mind.

-The Clock Tower, meaning from the 'small world' attraction

-Big Bad Wolf from the Three Little Pigs (official villain)

-Louis the alligator from the Princess and the Frog

-Magic Brooms from the Sorcerer's Apprentice in Fantasia

-Benny the Cab and the other rabbit (that's Roger Rabbit) are from the live action/animated movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which is one of the best cameo-filled movies ever (in my opinion)