A/N:

Hi guys, hope you had a great Christmas! XD

Anyways, here is the next chapter, and it may start out a little slow, but at the end is one of my little twists that may just tickle your interests, lol XD Aren't I evil? Well read on and you tell me!

*Poppy's POV*

Typical, Flynn goes missing and I'm stuck missing out. I liked staying at Slappy's but I bet I could help find Flynn faster. It made more sense with more people looking, right? And I bet he was just hanging around with that girl anyway. Wakko told me that there was something strange about her, but he wasn't sure what. You know, thinking about it, I when I thought there was something strange about Mindy and Buttons, they ended up being toons. So what if there were more? I mean there could be. It wasn't impossible. I didn't think many things were now really.

Wait… what if that girl was a toon, and that's why there was something strange about her? It was a long shot, but didn't I just say that it wasn't impossible. And obviously Flynn was with her, I think he likes her, and so do the others so why wouldn't he-I'm getting off track again… What I meant was, if Flynn was with her, and she was a toon, then he would be where Mindy and Buttons went to go home. And they always went further into the toon lot. If there was more to the toon lot that is. I remember someone saying something about it being drawn and animated for the toons. Maybe they drew it bigger than we thought? But that was really really far fetched, right? That was a long shot beyond… anything!

Oh come on, whenever I trip and graze my knee black stuff shows up for a second and then was completely fine! Long shots had nothing to do with this. I smiled a little at that thought. But point being. If all of that was real, then I knew where Flynn might be! Might…

The front door opened and Talia walked in with the Warner's. She looked at Slappy hopefully, "Has he shown up yet?"

Slappy shook her head, "Guess there's no point asking if he's called. Ah don't worry yourself, he'll turn up. You know he reminds me of the old Lassie."

"Small and hard to understand?" Yakko asked.

"Runs off but is there when you need him." She answered, "Just let him be."

No, don't let him be! "I think I know where he is."

"Where, how come you didn't say earlier?" Talia asked.

"Because I only thought of it now." I shrugged and looked at her on tiptoes, "You know the bit under your eye gets all jumpy when you're pretending not to be nervous…?"

The Warner's tried to hide a laugh as she dropped her shoulders, "I'm aware, and I'm working on it. You said you knew where Flynn is?"

"Where he might be." I corrected. Well I didn't want to get blamed if I was wrong, did I? "I think he's with that girl he talked about, on the toon lot."

Dot narrowed her eyes, "You think he blabbed to her?"

"No, I think she's like you."

It took a minute, but I think they got it. Yakko lifted an eyebrow, "I get ya, Red… Come on, I got a hunch here."

Talia watched him run back outdoors, "Which is?"

"Leading me in this direction, keep up!"

"Ah go ahead," Slappy said, "I've got the fort here, anyway my show's on in a minute."

Talia thanked her and looked at me like she was guilty about something, "I'll be back with Flynn soon, you be a good girl, okay?"

Not again! "Can't I come too? It was my idea."

"And it was a great idea, thank you, but it's safer for you here. Just in case."

"Coming?" Dot asked from the door.

"Yeah, on my way." Talia smiled at me and pushed my hair back, "We'll be back before you know it."

I didn't say anything. It wasn't fair. I know if I was here then I couldn't get hurt, but that also meant I couldn't help. And I was good at helping, I liked it. But Talia and the Warner's were already leaving. I followed them to the front door and watched them leave. Sure, last time I'd followed Talia somewhere was to the big scary building where… I rubbed my arm where the tiny bump still stayed from that day. But I didn't care, after that, what else could happen to me?

They were soon out of sight, and I was about to go back inside, when something hooked my arm and pulled me around the side of the house. A scream of help was about to come out when a flash of blue and black and red made me stop. Wakko was grinning at me with his tongue hanging out as usual. I looked at him, confused.

"Here." He said, handing me one of those sticky black circles they use to jump around sometimes, "It's all set, just throw it at something when you want to catch up."

I took it from him, but was still a little confused, "But, I thought only toons can use these?"

He moved my arm to the side so it looked like I was tossing the circle, it flew out and stuck to the side of the tree, all ready for me to use, "Yeah, we can."

Clever, "Thank you!" I grinned.

Giving a little shrug, he waved and jumped through the circle to catch up to the others. When I was sure he made it to the other side, I peeled it from the tree and folded it up in my pocket. Inside the house, Slappy was already watching her show. I told her I was going upstairs to play, she didn't mind, she was too busy with the TV. Okay, now all I had to do was wait a minute or so, that way they Talia can't send me back so easily. Just to be sure, I unfolded the circle and threw it against the wall. It was really dark in there, and even leaning in I couldn't see the other end. But I didn't mind, I'd done this before. But never alone… Okay, on the count of three. One…

"Tricked me!" I muttered to myself, jumping in head first, eyes tight shut. Well, better sooner than later, right?

*Yakko's POV*

"The toon lot is bigger than we think?"

"Great impression of a Dictaphone, kid." Dot smirked.

I arched an eyebrow, "A what?"

"A Dictaphone."

"Mwah! Goodnight Everybody!" Well what did you expect? "Don't make me wash your mouth out, young lady." I warned, kids today… Hey, there's that death-glare we love to fear! I turned back to kiddo, "But yeah, that's what he said."

"Like I said, riddles." Wakko shrugged.

"And he knows what happens when we sign contracts, what's wrong with him?"

"Jar-Head-itis." I answered, me and the sibs nodding mournfully, "The search for a cure goes on…"

"No kidding."

We'd given kiddo the full report, if there was anything to report. Sure the contract gig didn't help us at all, but that clue was still bugging me. Bigger toon lot, did that mean more toons? That's what I was thinking. And we weren't going to find out exactly how big or how many just moping around. And as for Slugger's girl, she saw us, so that little smacker should have been a hint. I mean, our disguise was only meant to fool humans, we didn't think about toons. That added up. So if she was wearing a cover-up… she was trying to fool both brands of the bar if you catch my drift. Oh so she was a runaway! Yep, perfect match those two… Well shut me up and call me Inch-High Private-Eye, this actually made sense!

And I gotta hand out credit here, Little Red had given a good track to follow here. Speaking of Red, I kinda felt bad leaving her behind, but kiddo had a point, one sub-sib was hard enough to keep track of, let alone two.

"Agh!"

Next thing we knew, a little flash shot out from the trees and crashed into us, sending us flying like bowling pins. What the heck, lets add the strike sound effect for the fun of it. Kiddo was first on her feet and inspecting the racer, who just so happened to have a windswept mop of red curls, and perfect timing.

"Poppy?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know where I was so I ran and… ran a little too fast…"

I dusted myself off and helped up the sibs, "I know next weeks lesson plan already."

"Poppy, I told you to wait with Slappy." Kiddo sighed.

"Yeah, but I can help! You wouldn't even be going this way without me."

"She's got a point." Dot nodded, "Come on, where's the harm?"

Wakko smiled, oh I knew that look, crafty little cricket, "It's just for a little longer anyway…"

Now came the big choice, for kiddo anyway. Hey look she's got that little look in her eye that's normally a cross between the French and Saunders duo. Half tired and forced the other excitable and sly. You figure out which is which frankly I gave up. But bro had a point, chances of finding Slugger were getting more in our favour, and Red had a fair say too, she gave me this idea of where to go. Or was it Jar-Head? Hmm, well after calculating which had more lights on upstairs, I was rooting for the eight year old. Anyway, was kiddo going to answer or not?

She sighed and pushed her hair back, "Fine, but if we don't find him in twenty minutes we're taking you back, got it?"

"Got it." Red answered giving a salute.

Kiddo started walking again. And where we were heading I don't really know. I was getting agitated with this one, word play was my gift, why was this one giving me such trouble? "Toon lot is bigger than we think…"

"That one's bugging you, huh?" Dot asked, "We already agreed that it might mean there's more toons living out here!"

"But if it isn't?" I challenged, "I refuse to be duped by a guy with a name like Jar-Head, it's too degrading."

"This is you we're talking about." Kiddo smirked, "If he dupes you anytime soon then the apocalypse has officially begun."

Such comfort in such… choice words. Red tilted her head, "You mean you think Flynn's with toons too?"

"Pretty much." Wakko nodded, "This is where those friends of yours headed after playing, right Pops?"

Ah that name got me every time! And her too by the little double blink there, "Yeah… But I don't know exactly where they went, or if there were others. It was just an idea."

Kiddo smiled at her, "And it was a great idea, I just hope we find Flynn before he gets into any trouble."

"Trouble?" Dot asked sarcastically, "What trouble could innocent, level-headed little Flynn get into with a bunch of unknown toons?"

She arched an eyebrow, "Rhetorical question?"

"Rhetorical question." Sis replied.

Something caught my eye and I put a hand over my eyes to peer into the shadows of the trees, "Slugger in the distance?"

Wakko followed by gaze and clarified, "Slugger in the distance!"

Well looked like my theory was correct, oh and uh, Red's too if you want to count the kid. Yeah why not, after all she 'ran' all the way here. Wink-wink… But still, kinda needed Slugger to clarify for us. Jeez kiddo's eyes practically popped out of their sockets! Yikes he was going to be in more trouble than Charlie Sheen after a night out at… Uuuuhhhh-Goodnight everybody!

"Flynn!"

*Flynn's POV*

Oh my god that was… insane. No seriously, how the hell did we not know about all of this? When Dani had said I was way off the truth, I had no idea just for far. Honestly, she didn't show me much on detail, just a quick fly-by. And I mean a fly-by. It was crazy. She really did have actual ghost powers and stuff! I didn't know what I was more confused about, the fact that she was a toon, or that she was a sub-category in a toon. It was all just so, like I said before, insane! But I didn't know if I was okay with this. I mean, how do I tell Talia about this? What if she already knew and it was another big secret. She promised no more secrets, right? Well I was going to keep my part of the deal, as soon as I knew how… Why shouldn't she? But maybe I was being a little harsh. Chances are she didn't know. It's not like the studio is good at keeping people up to date on stuff.

"Flynn!"

Christ that nearly jumped me out of my skin! Talia? Seriously? Wait, why would she be here if she didn't know about the hidden stuff out there? Suddenly I was caught up in a hug as she started to check me over for damage that was no doubt all in her head. I let her carry on, avoiding the sly looks from the Warners. This was just getting embarrassing.

"I'm fine, Tal." I mumbled.

"Where the hell have you been? We've been looking for ages, why did you call or something?" she urged, "I was worried and… what're you doing down here anyway?"

"You tell me." I challenged.

"Isn't that why she's asking?" Wakko asked curiously.

"Whoa, dumber than advertised…" Dot rolled her eyes.

Yakko took a good move and stood between us, "Actually, Slugger, we're looking for you and figured this was a step in the right directing since deciphering your girlfriends a toon."

What? "She's not my girlfriend!" Wait… "Hang on, you know she's a toon?"

"We guessed." Poppy answered, looking smug and prodding my chest forcefully, "And Buttons and Mindy are too, so that means they're real. So there!"

"Yeah I know that now," I groaned, "and I'm really sorry about teasing you but… Start over! When did you guys figure that out?"

"When did you?" Talia asked, looking just as confused as I was.

Yakko bunched us together under his arms and winked, "Story time kids!"

It didn't take much for them to explain their side of things. It was no surprise that Talia had gotten suspicious at what Jack said. I still didn't really trust the guy. And by the sounds of it Rita and Talia were right in their idea, if there were more toons out there, then someone really had been in the Waiting room. And from I've seen, they'd been busy. If only Dani had just gone into more detail, but then again she'd been so hyped about finding out about me of all things that it was hard to get a simple sentence out of her. But back to the point. Hearing the Warner's story of their 'interrogation' of Jack and frankly I wish I'd been there to see it. But he'd been right, this toon lot really was bigger than we thought. So from putting two and two together, no wonder they came here to look for me.

Sure, I felt a bit guilty about secretly accusing Talia like that; but I guess I didn't mean it. I really didn't. This place is getting to me… Anyway, now it was my turn to explain. The Warner's had already said that they saw something strange in Dani, and that meant I had to take over. There wasn't really much to say. I found out she was a toon. That was the basis of it. I told them how I followed her to the toon lot, and what I saw.

"She's a toon, but she has toon-ghost abilities too… it's a little confusing."

"So, she's part ghost? Toon-ghost?" Dot asked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Poppy's eyes widened in shock, "You're girlfriend's dead?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Jeez I was getting sick of this!

Yakko leant on my shoulder knowingly, "That might not be the part of the sentence you need to correct there, Slugger…"

I narrowed my eyes and shrugged him off, "She's not my girlfriend, and she's not dead. It's like, uh… Okay, she's from an actual TV show. A real show, Danny Phantom. Get it?"

Talia blinked in awe, "That Dani? Wait, so whoever is behind this is animating modern toons? How have people not noticed this?"

Good question. "There's more. Dani showed me a whole load more stuff back there!"

"Where?" Wakko asked.

"The other side of the toon lot. And here's the best part," I muttered sarcastically, "Apparently us six are the talk of the place. Dani doesn't know many details but, a lot of others do."

"Well we do have that charming effect on folk." Yakko smirked.

"The other side?" Talia muttered as I was about to try some comeback, "That's what he meant!"

"Miss. Marple, eat your heart out." Dot quipped.

Rolling my eyes at that, something moved out of the corner of my eye. I saw something grey starting to stick out from a shrub not far away. A tube? No, two, stuck together… Now if I didn't know better I'd say that looked like the barrel of a shotgun or something. What was one of those doing here? Sure we weren't that far from the other side of the toon lot, but a gun? Here? And it was moving, tilting to aim right at-

"Duck!" I yelled, shoving Yakko backwards as a loud bang cracked the air, a bullet darted past, just missing us.

"That's a gun, Slugger not a duck, don't get those two mixed up." Yakko steadied himself and looked over his shoulder, "Well the welcoming committee has arrived…"

*Talia's POV*

What the hell was that? I turned to see the barrel of the shotgun slide back into the bushes, the ominous click as the shooter was reloading. Flynn turned and pushed the Warner's towards the direction he had been walking from when we found him. I instinctively grabbed Poppy's hand and held her close protectively, reaching out to grab my brother in the process. He refused my grasp and instead tugged desperately at my wrist.

"That way, quick!"

I didn't argue, allowing him to guide us onwards, "Where're you taking us?"

"I know where I'm going, just run!"

We followed our orders, the thundering footsteps of out hunter close behind. The Warner's couldn't help but wear excitable grins, the thrill of the chase returning fast. Occasionally they stole glances over their shoulder and flashed a cocky wink or pulled a face. I knew it was in their nature, but this lunatic had a flipping gun! For gods sake put more energy into running not antagonising! And where was Flynn taking us? Was this the 'other side' that we'd been puzzling over? Right now I didn't care. Run, just run!

What was this guys problem? I was sure that we were toon-speeding it out of there, yet the chaser kept close at our heels. We hadn't been trespassing right? No one should even know about this place! Poppy looked up at me with panicked eyes, little tears forming from fear. My hand tightened around hers and I urged her along. The trees skimmed past us rapidly, practically a blur. Suddenly, a root snagged my heel and sent me skidding along the ground. Poppy slipped from my grasp but a flash of pink told me that Dot had steadied her. Not wanting to loose a second, I jumped to my feet and ignored the throbbing pain in my ankle. The toon reflex was soon fixing that. Out of either curiosity or stupidity, I found myself looking for the hunter.

There was no sign, but I could hear a faint grumbling that told me he wasn't far away from us. I hoped Flynn knew where he was going. As far as I could see, there was no other visible way to escape here. Turning in a circle desperately searching, there was nothing but woodland and green. There was nothing arou- Holy fuck!

I froze, skin crawling in fear and disgust, but mostly disbelief and I just about screamed. A figure stood, sneering at me from the gloom of the tree trunks. Yes, it was shadowed, but I knew him instantly. That cruel expression, the thick glasses and balding head that to be honest looked inflated… His features looked worn and tired, aged in some way but understandably. He pulled back his sleeve and tapped his watch, mockingly as if he was timing me. Involuntarily, I shook my head, mouthing 'no' over and over. It couldn't be him. It just couldn't! He can't get us anymore! It's not true! He was behind bars, locked up forever! Yet there he was… R.J…

"Heads up, kiddo!" I felt a hand shove my head forward as an ear-shattering bang shot past us from behind. More gunfire.

When I was able to look up again. The figure was gone. I wasn't insane. Hadn't anyone else seen him? R.J had been there, I knew he had. And just like always he was playing mind games with me. But it wasn't going to work this time. I know what I saw, and it was real. Even if I prayed it wasn't. We had to get out of here. Now for more reasons other than the gunman close behind. I urged Flynn on with the Warner's while Poppy's hand became enclosed in mine. I don't think any of us knew where we were going, but as long as it was away from here I didn't care. The air became thick with noise. The thundering of our feet on the ground, grunts of fatigue and panic, Flynn barking directions that may or may not be useful as the certainty fell with each word, the explosions of bullets behind us… and the slight lingering of a wry and all too familiar laughter.

We were coming up to a clearing and every fibre in my being screamed to avoid it. We'd be out in the open and an easy target, but if we skirted the edges then he might be waiting. Flynn made the choice, beckoning over his shoulder as he raced straight across the grass, leaping over a hole in the ground. I tugged Poppy along after him as she did her best to keep up. The Warner's doubled back, eager to get a look at our hunter before poking their tongues out at him tauntingly before joining back in the chase.

Why did they have to antagonise him? I looked over my shoulder to urge them on as they too followed Flynn in a leap. Suddenly, the Warner's halted in mid-air, their tails bound together inside the tight grasp of a gloved hand sticking out from the gaping hole in the clearing. They barely had time to look at their restriction before being yanked backwards into the shadowed depths. Poppy snatched out of my grasp and rushed towards them. The same hand shot upwards again, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down after them.

Flynn practically burned in rage, "I'm coming, Poppy!"

"Flynn!" I cried as he jumped feet first into the darkness. I darted over and dropped to my knees and looked inside frantically. What the hell had got them? Where were they? "Flynn? Poppy? Guys? Talk to me!" Why weren't they answering me? Thoughts of R.J came flooding back to me. Please… no!

"Oh that reminds me," a muffled voice thick with an accent that I couldn't place echoed below. Suddenly, a pair of hands shot upwards and grabbed my shoulders, "I gots a few words to say to you as well! Get in here!"

Before I could even register his face, I was pulled headfirst into the ground. All thoughts and worries left me, as the darkness swallowed me…

A/N:

Well, evil or not, lol? XD So, what's this about R.J being inside the toon lot, and so close to the mysterious 'other side' too! And who is this stranger that's either a help or a hinder to the gang? Another toon maybe, a passer by? Who knows? I do, lol XD Well, I hope you liked this one, and I can't wait to see your reviews.