No one in Toontown had ever thought there would come a day where they’d lose Eddie Valiant. In recent months, however, his health hadn’t been in the best condition, which baffled the invulnerable Toons. His wife Dorothy tried to explain it the best she could, and while they had sympathy for their friend, it was clear that none of them could truly understand the fallibility of being human.

Toons can’t die. You could throw them off cliffs, hit them with anvils, smash big heavy safes on top of them; they’d bounce right back as if nothing had happened. That’s what made them what they were. Humans, though? Humans were fragile.

Humans were mortal.

So when that day finally came… it was a crushing blow to the Toons. They had Toontown, they had their studio, they had their industry… but they’d lost a dear, dear friend.

For Roger Rabbit, though… he’d lost his best friend in the whole world. His hero. The guy who saved his fur. He’d been put through the wringer in all of his pictures, pratfall after pratfall without breaking a sweat – but this?

For the first time in his life, this hurt. This actually hurt.

Still… the show must go on, right? The lights may have gone down in Toontown, but this wasn’t gonna be curtains. They’d keep going. And they’d do it for Eddie.

Laughter was the best medicine, after all.

That said, laughter couldn’t prepare Roger for the latest headline in the papers: Valiant & Valiant would be continuing their operations… under new management.

The toony rabbit’s eyes bugged out of his head with alarm bells and whistles. What did this mean for Toons? They couldn’t replace Eddie like that, could they? Were they gonna tear it all down, reverse all the hard work Eddie had done for them? This couldn’t be happening…!

Fortunately, a well-timed kiss from Jessica kept him from bouncing off the walls, to which she offered the best advice she could give:

’Go see for yourself. You might be surprised.’

Roger trusted his wife’s judgment. But… this was his best friend they were talking about here.

No… no, she was right. He had to try. For Eddie.

Hitching a ride from Benny, Roger soon found himself at that familiar apartment, at that familiar front door.

The sign was still the same. That was a… well, a good sign.

He tried not to sweat too many bullets as his yellow-gloved hands wrung together nervously. First impressions were everything.

Which is why, after inching back a few paces, he took a running start and dove through the mailslot, slipping in with ease.

Once inside… it was like going back in time.

Everything looked almost the same. A few changes here and there – way less dusty, that’s for sure – but aside from that? Virtually identical.

He spotted a framed picture of Eddie on the desk.

That struck a nerve.

Carefully, Roger took the frame into his gloved hands, a shimmer of emotion glistening in his blue eyes, lips trembling wistfully.

Then the lights flicked on. Roger immediately leapt two feet off the ground with a yelp and nearly fell over himself to face whoever had caught him, clutching the photo close to his chest… only to find the new owner of the agency watching bewilderedly at what – or rather, who they were seeing.

“J-J-Jeepers!” he exclaimed, straightening up quickly. “Well, this sure wasn’t the big first impression I was hopin’ to make…”

Realizing he was holding the picture a little too tight, he quickly repositioned it atop their desk with a sheepish chuckle and a grin.

“S-Sorry about that, I, uh… just thought I’d drop by an’ see what all the hubbub was about, ‘ya know?” His grin morphed into a small frown, before he stepped back and began to fiddle with his fingers again. “Eddie was a great friend to us Toons… and to me, so… if anyone’s gonna follow in his footsteps, I oughta be the first ‘ta know about it.”

…

“I’m, uh… I’m Roger, by the way. Roger Rabbit. Just… in case ‘ya didn’t know.” He awkwardly snapped his grin back into place and thrust his hand out to them. “Put ‘er there, ah…?”

…Aw, geez. This was embarrassing. He should know their name, shouldn’t he?