And now for the flash-back.

~7~

15 Years Ago… during Missing in Fiction One…

Location: Reality Brooklyn.

Time: 4:02 PM

Author's POV

I walked down the street, my head hanging low. I had just come back from the cemetery, of which I visit every once in a while… I never knew why I went to it, considering being around the dead only reminded me that I couldn't die, which always gave me a pang of guilt- especially after what had happened last year.

I walked through the Bowery to our gang's hangout, an old cellar of a building filled with old furniture, which we arranged to deem it fit for our own home-away-from-home. I walked down the stairs and through the door, seeing the rest of the guys lounging around- Scruno was trying to nap on the couch, Peewee, Skinny, and Rocky (another member of ours) were looking through magazines, Glimpy and Mugs were sitting by an old television which showed a static-covered image of Drake and Josh (Glimpy beating on the top of it, trying to get the picture to come in clear), and Danny was sitting by a radio listening to the Weekly Top 40, though the signal kept getting overlapped with the oldies-station.

"Hey, Zeke, we were wondering when you'd show up," Rocky told me. "Haven't seen you around all day,"

"I was just out for a walk, thinking." I replied with a shrug.

"What's on your mind this time?" Mugsy asked, then gave Glimpy an irritated look as he repeatedly slapped the TV, until our leader slammed his fist on the top of it, making the image come in clear.

I walked across the room, looking around, my hands in my pockets. "Just about how we never get many chances to get outta town, never see anything new,"

"What do you mean 'we'? You're always getting out of town, then coming back without telling us where you've been." Skinny scoffed.

"That's actually what I was thinking- I'm always going somewhere on my own, but never showed you guys where. I figured it's time I did,"

The gang all stared at me, Scruno even lifted his cap to give me an odd glance. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Yeah, where do you keep going that's so secretive?" Mugsy demanded.

"Well, it's sort of a place out of town- way out of town… out of this universe, even." I explained, then shook my head. "But, I doubt you'd guys would believe me, which is why I never told you about it before."

"Yeah? Show us where it is, and maybe we will," Glimpy sneered.

"Okay… but you gotta promise me you guys won't freak out,"

"Why, are you taking us to another planet or something?" Peewee questioned.

"Enough with the mystery already, just show us!" Mugsy snapped.

"Alright…" I then held my necklace- a small medallion with a cross on it- and concentrated. It began to glow, and suddenly a portal opened- where the TV used to be.

The guys, of coursed, freaked. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Danny screamed… and it was the first time I ever heard him swear like that.

"It's a portal, to that place I was telling you about," I motioned to the cartoon-city that stood on the other side of the portal. "It's called The Tooniverse- where cartoons and other fictional characters live."

"H-How did you learn to open that p-portal?" Scruno asked.

I looked at my necklace. I knew how to use it… but I couldn't remember how I learned. "I don't remember. …So you guys want to check it out, or are you just going to back out like a bunch of chickens?"

Mugsy, as I've learned, was always up to a challenge to prove he had guts. "Yeah, we'll check it out. Rocky, Peewee, Skinny, you guys stay here- in case the guys from Cherry Street come by to pick a fight." he said.

"I'll stay behind too," Scruno offered.

"Did I say you could? Didn't think so," With that, Mugsy pushed Scruno through the portal, then stepped in himself, followed by Glimpy and Danny.

"See you guys later," I told the others, then followed them through the portal, which closed once I reached the other side. "Well, here we-"

*BOOM!*

All at once, a giant portal opened in the sky, sucking up everyone within a 3-mile radius… us included!

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Glimpy cried, trying to grab onto something.

"I DON'T KNOW!" I replied, and tried to grab onto my friends, only managing to grab onto Danny, while the others were separated as we shot into the portal.

Then all went dark.

~7~

I saw my friends, Tracker, WG, and FF2, all on top of a mountain. FF2 had a manic look in his eye, and held a wand that he shot toward the sky, and everything seemed to shift, as if reality were slowly shifting into the toon-world, and my sister stood before him, trying to talk to him, until she heard another voice and looked over… and then FF2 raised his hand, covered with a gauntlet, and zapped her dead…

I gasped, opening my eyes, looking around. We were in some sort of dark room, Danny lying beside me. "D-Danny? Are you alright?" I asked, shaking him.

"Ow… no." Danny groaned, sitting up- then did a double-take at me. "Z-Zeke?! What happened to you?!"

I looked at myself, realizing I was in cartoon-form. "Oh, yeah. I'm a cartoon now. It happens whenever I come into this world,"

Danny looked at his hands. "Then… why aren't I a cartoon?"

"I guess it's because this is your first visit to the toon-world, you don't really become one unless you visit frequently or stay a while," I stood up, looking around. "Now, the question is, where'd we end up?"

"And where's Mugs, Glimpy, and Scruno?"

I began walking. "They've got to be around here somewhere. C'mon, we won't find anyone just sitting around,"

We then walked down the hall, when we heard a scream.

~7~

Scruno's POV

I was scared beyond belief. I had wakened up just moments ago, and already I was lost, scared, confused, and wishing I were back home. "Mugs? Glimpy? Danny? Zeke?" I called, slowly creeping along, tense about what may be in the shadows of this weird place. "Oh, please tell me this is just some nightmare I'm having…"

There was a growling sound behind me, and I turned around, seeing a strange creature with black scaly skin, no eyes, and sharp teeth. I screamed and began running away, and that thing followed me, gaining quick. It leaped at me, seconds from catching me in its jaws. "Oh, Jesus Christ, help!" I cried.

*Poof!*

Just like that, the thing turned to dust. "What in the world…?"

"Are you alright?" someone asked, and I spun around, seeing some cartoon boy with brown hair, some of it shaved with a rat-tail in the back, blue eyes, wearing a black jacket, cargo pants, and boots. He was standing on some sort of outcrop on the wall. "Those things have been coming after me all day, I just lost them through some secret passage,"

"Who are you?"

The boy jumped down, extending his hand. "I name is Jim Hawkins, what's yours?"

"Scruno,"

"Scruno!" A voice repeated, and suddenly some pink flying blob flew out of Jim's pocket… and turned into a mini version of me!

"Oh, yeah. This is Morph," Jim told me, holding his finger out for Morph to sit on.

I blinked. "What kind of world IS this?!"

Jim chuckled. "I figured you weren't from around here. This is the tooniverse… I take it you're from reality?"

I nodded. "My friends and I came here with another friend… and right now I need to find them and get out of here!"

"I'm looking for a couple friends of mine, too. Maybe we could stick together- this isn't the kind of place you'd want to walk around alone in,"

I already had that figured out as soon as I got here. "Thanks, man. Ain't no telling what might happen in this-"

*ka-chunk*

"YEOW!" Jim cried, and I spun around, seeing he had fallen through a trap-door, which shut after he fell through!

"Oh… shit!" I yelped. I heard more growling just then, and took off running.

~7~

Glimpy's POV

I woke up hours ago, and have been running ever since- being chased by Gremlins. "HEEEELLLLPPPP!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, running around one corner…

I turned around and raced the other way, pursued by these creatures with no eyes and sharp teeth, ducking into a room…

Running out, Jason Vorhees coming after me, and I continued to run until I reached another door, running in…

There was a shriek and I ran back out, seeing that I had accidentally ran into a women's restroom.

I reached another room, breathing hard. "Are you okay?" came a voice, and I looked to see… a g-g-g-GHOST!

"AUGH! GHOST!" I shouted, preparing to run another mile.

"Wait, it's alright! I won't hurt you!"

I paused, looking at him. "Y-Y-You won't?"

"No… actually, I'm willing to help. My name's Danny Phantom,"

"I'm Glimpy… what is this place?"

"That's what I'm still trying to figure out. I was in the middle of a fight when suddenly I was sucked into this place. One of my friends ended up here, too, and I'm looking for him."

"I'm looking for some of my friends, too,"

"Are they from the real-world too?"

I gave him a look. "How did you know we came from the real-world?"

Danny Phantom looked at me funny. "Well… I've never seen a cartoon that looked the way you do," he pointed at a mirror, and I saw that I wasn't a cartoon.

"Oh. Well, yeah, we came here for a visit- one of my friends knew how to open a portal to this place, but as soon as we stepped through, another portal opened and brought us to THIS creepy place. I've been running for hours now,"

Danny Phantom nodded. "I know how you feel. C'mon, I can help you look for your friends while I look for mine,"

"Thanks," I began following Danny Phantom as we walked down another hall…

Coming across more of those black, no-eyed creatures! Danny Phantom started shooting at them with green lasers that shot out of his palms(?) and I stepped back, pressing myself against the wall-

Which pushed in, causing me to fall through and down into the darkness, my scream echoing in the infinite blackness. "MOMMY!"

~7~

Mugsy's POV

When I woke up, I thought I had died. I was surrounded by darkness, and my pals were nowhere in sight. As soon as I find Zeke… I'm gonna kill him. I thought as I walked, looking everywhere for my friends. A trap door gave out beneath me and I fell through, landing in another dark room. …if I don't get myself killed first…

"Are you okay?" came a girl's voice.

When I looked over, I was sure I had died- because I was surrounded by beautiful girls. They were some of those Japanese-type cartoons, one of them barely dressed… having wolf-ears and a tail… and was standing over me. "Uh…. am I in heaven?" I asked, dumbfounded.

The girls looked at each other, the rest of them consisted of some sort of android in a long blue dress, a girl with a rabbit-ear type hairstyle wearing a short dress while holding some girly staff, and a girl with two pony-tails who also wore a mini-dress, having a pair of bat-wings. "No," they all replied.

I blinked. "Don't tell me I'm in hell!"

The girl with the staff chuckled. "No… trust me, I've been there before, and this isn't hell." she said.

"Okay… then where am I, exactly?"

"We don't know," the girl with wolf-ears replied. "We came here to visit some friends, and somehow ended up here by mistake."

"Two of our friends ended up missing, too." The android said to me. "We've been looking for them,"

I scratched my head. "A few of my friends are missing too. Maybe we could help each other out,"

"Okay!" The girls exclaimed.

"By the way, do you lovely ladies have any names I could calls ya?"

"I'm Liru," The wolf-eared girl replied.

"I'm Pachira," The bat-winged girl answered.

"I'm Yuma," The girl with the staff responded.

"I'm Aiko," The android told me.

"What is your name?" All four of them asked me.

"I'm Mugsy," I replied, standing up. I stumbled a bit, still sore from the fall.

"Are you okay? You look like you're in pain," Yuma said.

"Are you hurt?" Aiko asked.

"Just a few aches in the joints," I grunted, rubbing my back.

"Maybe we could give you a massage," Liru suggested.

"Yes! A massage will help!" Pachira exclaimed.

"You shouldn't walk around if you're sore," Aiko agreed.

"Lie down, we'll give you a massage!" Yuma urged me.

I looked at the girls, smiling a bit. Maybe I wouldn't kill Zeke too bad for bringing me here. "Alright, ladies, do with me what you wish," I said, rubbing my hands together and lying down.

*THUD!*

Something fell on me just then. "Oof! What the…?!"

"Mugs? MUGS! Oh, man, am I glad to see you!" Glimpy exclaimed, hugging me.

"Get off me, you yut. I was about to get a massage!"

"From who?"

"From those-"

I looked, seeing that the girls were gone, a large trap door opened where they once stood, closing seconds later.

Dammit!

~7~

Danny's POV

Zeke and I followed the sound of the scream, coming across Scruno, who ran right past us. "Scruno! Wait up!" I called, and we caught up to him. "What's going on?"

"Look behind you!" Scruno answered.

We looked over, seeing these freaky creatures with no eyes coming after us! "AUGH!" Zeke and I screamed, and we ran with Scruno, coming across a dead-end. We looked at the creatures, who were starting to close in. Zeke stood in front of us, and a creature approached him… but whipped back, hissing, and the rest of them began to back off.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

"I don't know…" Zeke answered. "I'm too busy praying to God…"

The creatures screeched just then. Scruno had his hands folded in prayer. "Oh, please get us out of here, Lord! Take us home, get us out of here, I want to go home! Help us get out of here alive!" he was begging.

I studied the creatures. They screeched at God's name, and seemed to be cringing as Scruno kept praying. I then got an idea. "Zeke, let me see your necklace," I said.

"What for?" Zeke asked, handing me his necklace.

I held it in front of me, walking toward the creatures- just as I thought, they began backing away. "That's it- they can't handle anything holy!" I approached them. "Back! Get back! Get out of here!" I swung the necklace, and when it contacted one of them, it turned to dust. I swung it at the others, making them disperse.

"Alright, Dan!" Scruno exclaimed, patting me on the back. "You showed them!"

"Now we just gotta find Mugs and Glimpy and get out of here," Zeke said as I handed his necklace back to him, and we ran down the hall.

We stopped then, hearing someone coming, and ducked into a room… watching as a pair of cartoons walked by, one of them being a baby wearing a yellow shirt and red overalls, and a kid with yellow stuck-up hair, wearing a red and black-striped shirt and black pants. "That's the last time I let YOU use the flame-thrower," the baby sneered, sounding way too grown up. "Darkarai won't be happy when I tell her that YOU let those heroes live,"

"ME?! You were the one who had us lose them, all because you needed a diaper change!" The boy snapped. "If we don't do something soon, we'll be mince-meat!"

"Like what? Kill the first person who comes in sight and tell the other villains they were an ally to those meddling kids?"

The boy rubbed his chin. "No… but, what if we gained more allies on OUR side? Recruited more villains- the baddest of the bad. If we called in enough, Darkarai will forget our fluke- maybe even make me a general!"

"YOU?! If anyone should be general, it should be ME!"

"Are you kidding me?! You're not even potty-trained!"

"No, but I have more weapons, and aren't afraid of monsters under the bed!"

"I have a more dangerous mind… and I'm not in diapers!"

They kept arguing, walking out of site. "Who were they?!" Scruno whispered as we snuck off.

"Calvin and Stewie- one bad duo." Zeke answered. "We gotta hurry and get out of here,"

"Agreed," I said, and we raced down the hall.

~7~

3rd Person POV

Glimpy and Mugsy walked down the hall, having just come back from a run in with two more cartoons. "…Don't you think we should have asked them for help, Mugs?" Glimpy asked, looking back.

"Nah, we don't need help from some half-pint jerk and a tall lanky doofus," Mugsy scoffed.

Glimpy scratched his head. "They sort of reminded me of someone, though…"

"Just keep walking. The sooner we find the others, the sooner we can get back home, and the sooner I can pummel Zeke for bringing us to this shell-hole. …How long as it been since we've been here?"

Glimpy looked at his digital watch, seeing the date on it. "Almost three days!"

"Three days?! Geez, time sure flies in this place… unless we've been unconscious most of the time,"

"I sure hope the others are okay…"

"I sure wish there was more light in here," They walked deeper, the hall growing darker and darker. "I can't see anything in front of me! Doesn't that watch of yours light up?"

"It stopped lighting up when I fell in some sort of indoor pond,"

"Indoor pond? …Never mind."

There was the sound of footsteps just then. "I think someone's coming, Mugs," Glimpy whispered.

"I hear that. Be quiet, and stay close." He felt Glimpy cling on to him. "Not THAT close, numbskull,"

"Sorry."

Down the same hall, Danny, Scruno, and Ezekiel were walking. "It's getting really dark in here… anyone got a light?" Ezekiel asked, as they walked so deep into the darkness that only the whites of their eyes could be seen.

"I think I got a lighter here, somewhere," Danny answered, searching his pockets.

"Hey, someone's coming," Scruno whispered, hearing footsteps.

"Everyone keep quiet- it might be another villain," Ezekiel said. "I'll tackle 'em, and then Danny, you light up the place so we can get a good look at their faces,"

"Okay," Danny agreed.

"On three, we tackle them," Mugsy was telling Glimpy.

"Alright," Glimpy whispered as he and Mugsy inched closer.

"One…" Ezekiel counted quietly.

"Two…" Mugsy whispered.

"THREE!" Both of them shouted, then attacked each other.

*Bam! Whap! Scuffle! Bonk! Punch!*

Danny lit his lighter, giving the hall a dim glow but enough light to see who was in the dark… and his jaw dropped.

Zeke had Mugsy by the collar, while Mugsy had him by the shoulder, both of them preparing to punch the other. "Zeke! Geez, what are you doing, tackling me?!" Mugsy snapped.

"Me?! You started it and… what happened to you?" Ezekiel answered, staring at him wide-eyed.

"What do you mean?"

"Mugs… you're a cartoon!" He looked at the others. "You've ALL become cartoons!"

"Yow!" Scruno gasped, looking at his hands, feeling his face. "How did that happen?!"

"I guess, it's because we've been here a while, right?" Danny asked Ezekiel.

"That must be it," Ezekiel answered. "We must have been here longer than we thought,"

"Three days, actually," Mugsy answered, looking at himself. "Do crazy things like this always happen?"

"Meh, crazier things have happened in the tooniverse. Don't worry about it, though."

"Easy for you to say. If my mom sees me like this, she's going to have a heart-attack!" Glimpy sneered. "And how am I going to get a date like this? What if I get married- what will my kids look like?!"

"Calm down, Glimpy! Once we get back to reality, we'll change back,"

"And I suggest you take us back there NOW. I've had enough of this place," Mugsy snapped.

"Alright, alright, just let me…"

The place began to shake just then, the walls starting to cave in. "Zeke! You'd better open a portal out of this place quick!" Scruno yelped.

"I'm trying!" Ezekiel held his necklace, but the chain snapped and it slipped out of his grip, bouncing down the quaking hall. "Shit!"

"Everyone, run!" Danny screamed.

They all ran down the hall, seeing a wall cave in, seeing the sky outside. "This way!" Mugsy said and they ran toward the opening. He stopped at the edge, nearly toppling if the others hadn't grabbed him, and they looked down, seeing that the sky was red and there was lava down below. "HOLY SHIT!"

Ezekiel saw his necklace, watching it topple over the edge and made a grab for it, only to miss. It landed on a small outcrop. "I gotta get my necklace! It's the only thing that can take us home!" he said, and began climbing down.

"ZEKE! Are you NUTS?!" Danny screamed.

"Yes!"

The shaking stopped and Ezekiel climbed closer to the necklace. He couldn't climb any further, with no other outcrops to grab onto, the necklace just a few inches away from him. He reached for it, straining to grab it. "C'mon… c'mon…" he urged, the tip of his finger brushing against the medallion.

The outcrop under his foot crumbled just then and he slipped, gripping onto the outcrop he hung onto. "Ezekiel!" Danny cried.

Ezekiel struggled, and kept reaching for the necklace. In a desperate attempt, he kicked off one of his shoes, swinging his bare foot up onto the outcrop with the necklace, grabbing the chain with his toes. "I got it!" he called, swinging his foot back then bending his leg up, reaching down with one hand and grabbing the necklace, holding it up for the others to see.

In an unexplainable event, a snake popped out of a hole and grabbed onto Ezekiel, twisting around his arm. "Holy- Zeke, hang on!" Mugsy cried, reaching over the edge. "Guys, hang onto my legs! Lower me down toward him!"

The others did as they were told, helping Mugsy reach for Ezekiel. The outcrop the author held onto crumbled and he would have fallen, if not for the snake hanging on to him, stronger than it appeared. Mugsy grabbed onto his hand and pulled him up, the snake slithering down and twisting around Ezekiel's waist. "Hurry, Mugs, there's a snake on me!"

"I can see that! Hold on!"

"Pull, guys, pull!" Danny grunted as they held onto Mugsy's legs.

"That's what we're doing!" Scruno snapped.

They hauled Mugsy, Ezekiel, and the snake onto the edge, breathing with relief. The sky then turned into a deep blue, the dawn approaching, and the lava hardened to stone. "What… was THAT all about?" Mugsy panted.

"Frankly… I don't know," Ezekiel answered, then looked up at a mountain top not too far away, seeing angels floating upward to the sky, and watched as a group of familiar cartoons climbed onto a dragon's back and flew off, noticing three of them were his author-friends. "Whatever it was, though, I think it's all over."

The snake slithered off his waist, looking at him curiously. "That thing isn't p-poisonous, is it?" Glimpy asked.

"I don't know… I think it might be friendly, though." Ezekiel observed the snake. "It saved me from a fall, at least… and I think I've seen it somewhere before," he held out his hand, and the snake slithered up his arm, relaxing around his shoulders. "It must be a pet or something, since it's so tame,"

"You're not thinking of keeping it, are ya?" Mugsy asked.

Ezekiel shrugged. "I might as well. It likes me," he rubbed the snake under the chin. "I think I'll call him… Ryoji,"

"Can we go home now?" Scruno begged.

Ezekiel held up his necklace, making a portal back to reality open. "Oh, and guys, one thing… don't tell anyone else about the toon-world. They might either see you as crazy, or be an enemy looking to destroy it,"

"I know I'm keeping my mouth shut,"

"Same here. I want to forget this place," Mugsy answered, and glared at Ezekiel. "Remind me never to go on a trip with you again,"

They stepped through the portal, returning home.

~7~

Present…

"…And that's how it all went down," Ezekiel finished saying. They were just a few miles from Garfield, NJ, having been driving all night.

"And it's also the reason why I never want to see another cartoon as long as I live," Mugsy sneered. "Makes me wonder why I'm helping you out with this sort of saturation now, anyway."

"Oh come on, you're just helping us look for some friends." Alexia scoffed. "It won't be too much trouble,"

Ezekiel froze just then…

He saw a boy about six feet tall, his eyes reflecting red, and black hair, wearing a blue shirt, jeans, and blue sneakers, and holding a gun toward someone. In front of him stood a boy a bit taller, with short black hair, wearing a black jacket, black jeans, and black boots, with brown eyes and glasses, having a gun-blade aimed at him…

"Oh… shit!" he gasped.

"What now?" Kasandra asked.

"I hate to say it… but I think we're going to have trouble,"

~7~

A/N: Is it getting too intense for you?

Well, please review, and be nice or I will have Ryoji attack you… and to answer the question, yes, he IS poisonous.