At a New York City private investigation building, 8:00pm, a 3 foot, 5 inch 8 year old chipmunk in a blue ankle length shirt, a fashionable brown detective's cape, black glasses, white gloves and green tennis shoes was watching the news while reading a newspaper with the head lines reading "Toons Missing", "Black Outs Everywhere" and even "Toon Debt Skyrockets". As the Chipmunk was about to hit the bricks, a similarly aged female chipmunk in an oversized blue sweater, a purple skirt and black glasses walked into his office.
"Good evening, Simon!" she said."
"Jeanette, what a surprise!" said Simon in shock, "What are you doing here this late?"
"I missed you," said Jeanette.
"Well, what do you want?" asked Simon, wiping the sweat off his face.
"I need you to find Miss Miller!" said Jeanette, "She's been kidnapped."
"I'd love to help you, really, but I can't right now because I'm a little bit backed up on cases." said Simon as he walked Jeanette out of his office, "But remember, if you ever need me, you know where to find me!"
Simon was quite stressed out after an entire day of work, thankfully, he was able to rest. He put away his newspapers, turned off the TV, set up the bed part of his cot and put on his nightgown, only to have an unexpected visitor. He opened the door, to find Crash and Lara, who eventually came into his office.
"What are you guys doing here?" asked Simon.
"We've come to pick you up, mate." said Crash.
"We need you!" added Lara.
"For what?" questioned Simon, "I'm a little busy right now!"
"Simon, The multiverse is under threat!" explained Lara.
"That's terrible!" replied Simon
"So, you'll come join us?" wondered Crash.
"Why, of course," answered Simon, "I'll go grab my stuff."
As Simon got dressed, he started packing for the journey. He put his magnifying glass, his books, his evidence bags, his VHS tapes, his Gameboy, his flashlight, his sleeping bag, his nightgown and his newspapers into his backpack and then chucked it onto the back of Lara's jeep.
Later, the 3 heroes were on the road to continue the journey.
"Alright, first stop, Theodore Seville!" said Lara.
Simon didn't say anything, he just sat still looking sad.
"Simon, what's the matter?" she wondered.
"I just miss him!" replied Simon in tears.
"You do?" asked Lara.
"Yes," said Simon, "it's been years since I last saw the little snack packer. He's probably out there, alone, sad, hungry!"
Meanwhile, in a dark area in Union City, New Jersey, Theodore was sadly sitting on a stool, next to a beat up cardboard house and a pile of food packages and pizza boxes.
"Alright," said Theodore crying, "get it together old boy! I know, I'll just stop thinking about it."
With that recommendation, Theodore felt a little better.
"I don't even remember why I was sad!" he added.
But then, the plan backfired once Crash, Lara and Simon arrived to ruin it.
"Hey, if it isn't the cutest of the three Chipmunks!" said Lara.
As a result, Theodore started crying again.
"Wow, the pressure's already setting in!" she thought.
However, Simon wasted no time telling Theodore his situation.
"Theodore, you live in filth!" he said.
"I know, Simon," replied Theodore in despair, "My love of food got the best of me. I bought more than I can pay for, and I'm so sorry I let you down!"
"Don't worry about it, Little Theodore," said Lara, "we're more than willing to help you out."
"But that's not all," replied Theodre as tears started shedding from his eyes, "I owe a lot of money to Greasy, Wheezy, Psycho, Stupid and Wiseguy."
"THE TOON PATROL!?" said a shocked Simon, "Theodore, those guys are never to be trusted!"
"I know, I know," replied Theodore in guilt, "and if I can't pay up, I can die from being thrown into a vat of dip, or WORSE, I'll be bootlegged."
"Bootlegged," wondered Crash, "what's that, mate?"
"It's been rough for us toons once the Weasels started walking the streets." replied Theodore, "Did you guys hear what happened to Bob the Builder, when he fell behind on cement payments?
"You mean…?" wondered Simon.
"Yeah," replied Theodore with a look of grief on his face, "He got bootlegged!"
"Crikey," said Crash in shock, "now that's awful!"
"Don't you worry, Theodore," said Simon "we won't allow the Toon Patrol to take you."
"But…" replied Theodore.
"I know, Little Theodore," said Lara, "but let's discuss this someplace special."
"Okay," said a stressed Theodore as he picked up his teddy bear, "if you insist!"
Later, at a Restaurant in Lake George, Theodore felt a bit less depressed as he was enjoying a basket of fish and chips. However, he was then taken back once he saw the bill, fearing how he would pay it.
"Simon," he asked, "you have money right? I'm not very liquid right now."
"Can we foccus!?" asked Simon, sipping his tomato soup.
"Sorry!" said Theodore.
"So, what's the plan, Lara?" asked Simon.
"Next, we'll be picking up Alvin." responded Lara.
"You mean that ruthless, greedy RED CLAD MONEY GRABBER!?" questioned Simon.
"What do you mean by that, Nerd?" asked Crash.
"Simon just doesn't want to think about Alvin," said Theodore, "not after what happened in the 80's!"
"What do you mean by that, Little Theodore?" asked Lara, sipping her tea.
"If you must know!" said Simon, "It all started back in 1958."
"The time of our creation!" added Theodore, "We made our debut in the hit album, The Chipmunks Song in November that year."
"The three of us have never been so happy in our lives!" said Simon.
"And the success of the albums led to us getting our own television series in 1961 called, The Alvin Show," continued Theodore, "although it didn't last long, It brought us into Pop Culture. But the success was short-lived, as by 1965, we were facing serious competition and we weren't making as much money as we used to. So, by 1969, my brothers and I pulled the plug on the business, with our last album, The Chipmunks Go to the Movies, releasing early that year."
"Then, we were given a second chance in 1983," said Simon, "after a long awaited makeover, and a new television deal, we came back on top."
"We were even more successful than ever before," added Theodore, "we had merchandise into the homes of 80's kids all around the world, a comic book series, new album and even a feature film."
"Well, what happened then, boys?" asked Lara.
"As the 30th Anniversary of our creation rolled around in 1988," replied Theodore in tears, "tension between Alvin and Simon began to grow, as Simon wasn't getting paid as much as the deal said he would, and this cost them their personal relationship as brothers!"
"I tried to negotiate with the red menace, but it didn't work," added Simon, "because he was too greedy to understand! The rat walked away with the money, which led to the show getting canceled that Christmas, and the marketing that went along with it went to the dumpster. As a result, The Chipmunks officially came to a close after 5 years of a comeback!"
"Leaving the sport was the hardest thing we ever had to do!" said Theodore as he started crying, "It's a shame what happened! "
"But, anyway, what's Alvin up to?" asked Simon in agony.
"Your brother is working the nostalgia convention circuit at a place called Pop-Con in Los Angeles!" answered Lara.
"What a shock," said Simon sarcastically, "he couldn't let go of the past!"
"Oh, relax, Simon," protested Theodore wiping his face, "he's our brother, and I bet he misses us as much as we miss him!"
"MISSES US?!" argued Simon, "That egotistical brat wouldn't care less about us even if we were decorated with dollar bills! Besides, he was the one that earned most of the money, and I was left with a fraction of the profits for all my work!"
"Well, I'm sure he feels bad for you!" said Theodore.
"Yeah right!" replied Simon sarcastically.
Meanwhile, at the pop culture convention, Alvin was standing at his own booth, filming himself for a podcast.
"And this has been another episode of Chipmunk Piece Theater," he said, "and please make sure to follow me for more radical content like this, this is Alvin Seville, signing out!"
On the opposite side, there were two more booths, one for Sally Acorn, and another for a forgotten video game mascot, Crank the Weasel, who's game was announced, but was eventually canceled after development difficulties.
"Of all the things I've experienced," said Crank in tears, "That podcast production was the best thing ever spawned!"
"Ewww! What's up with Cranky!?" asked Sally.
"He's just having an emotional breakdown!" replied Alvin, "but this one is positive!"
"Oh, give me a break!" complained Sally.
"Look here Sweetheart, lemme tell you this!" protested Crank, "You're just jealous because you ain't got the spotlight anymore! Look at me, my game was announced in 2002 but it got canceled this side of Brooklyn in 2003, and then, the company that created me went out of business in 2009!"
"You're the one to talk!" replied Sally, "You're as much of a real hero as the Totally Spies girls!"
"Says the girl who has been talking to a little handheld since her creation." said Crank.
"You can say that again!" said Alvin as his jaw dropped and started drooling.
"Lay off Alvin!" replied Sally, "Get a grip on yourself, will you?"
"Sorry," stated Alvin, "I can't help it! It's not easy for a kid like me to regain the success he lost 34 years ago!"
"And speaking of success," added Sally, "Alvin, don't you think you would be more popular if your brothers were with you doing the same gig?"
"You know," replied Alvin regretfully, "I haven't thought about that! I better pay them a visit, to see how life's treating them!"
As Alvin started thinking about the advice Sally gave, his thoughts became a reality as he noticed Simon and Theodore walking to his booth.
"ALVIN!" cheered Theodore as he ran to his red clad brother.
"THEODORE!" replied Alvin.
Theodore was so happy to see Alvin for the first time in years that tears of joy began shedding from his eyes.
"I've been thinking about you ever since before we got here!" he said.
"I'm sure you were, Theodore!" said Alvin gracefully.
Unfortunately, Simon was less than optimistic to see his snarky hat wearing younger brother.
"Theodore," he said, "Don't let him fool you with that buddy buddy act!"
"Oh, Simon," said Alvin as he noticed Simon looking blue, "why the long face?"
"I'm not happy, Alvin!" replied Simon, "NOT. HAPPY!"
"Are those Mickey Mouse gloves?" said Alvin trying to lighten the mood.
"Yes, Alvin," answered Simon, "they are gloves! In fact, I go everywhere with them, INCLUDING THE SHOWER!"
"Woah, calm down Simon!" said Alvin, "I was only trying to cheer you up!"
"Well, it's too late for that now." replied Simon, "You should've done that years ago."
"But, it's not too late to mention that people want us back!" stated Alvin.
"Want us back!?" asked Simon angrily, "People don't want anything to do with us!"
"But anyways, why are you two here in the first place?" asked Alvin.
"We've come to pick you up!" said Theodore.
"Yeah," added Simon, "and we better hurry up."
The Chipmunks returned to Lara's jeep so they could continue the journey.
"What took you so long?" asked Crash.
"For starters, Mr. Money Pants was talking about some sort of way to break out of retirement!" said Simon.
"Simon, please," explained Alvin, "all I want to do is make the fans happy, and you act as if that's a bad thing!"
"ALVINNN!" roared Simon.
"Boy, you sound just like Dave," said Alvin, "only higher and more childlike!"
"Right!" said confused Theodore, "But Alvin, did I forget to tell you that Dave misses us too?"
"Really," asked Alvin with cheer, "how is he doing?"
"He's doing great!" answered Theodore, "He is now a famous Spotify singer and a Broadway Performer!"
"That must be great!" said Alvin.
"Pardon me," said Simon, "I hate to break the conversation, but, I think we should focus on what's MOST IMPORTANT!"
"And you'd be right, my furred brained genius," said Lara, "for example, we must get back to the base! Something awful has happened!"
- To be continued