PLEASE READ: A/N:

So I've been working on this for a while, just to try something new. So, for a better summary: Talia met the Warner's once as a child, but no one ever believed her, leading her to be a troubled child. After both parents being cut out of the picture, Talia, now 18 must care for her two younger siblings. Over the years she's tricked herself into thinking that the Warner's were just in her head, so when the return, she thinks she's going insane. But is she? Or are they real?

Talia is an OC but she is NOT a Mary-Sue, why would she be here if she was?

Ten years ago… That's when it happened. Ten years ago…

"And on you're left you will see Studio 2 where most of your animated shows are put into production!"

I yawned secretively to myself as the tour-guide continued to point out the different parts of the studios in his unnaturally joyful voice and forced smile that looked like it was made from stretched plastic. This tour was taking too long, and being only eight years old at the time, I was so bored! I'd been bored the whole day! Dad was being moody because he didn't like how much money the tour was and Mom wasn't any fun because she was tired. Her stomach was hugely inflated where my brother was due to make an appearance any day now. None of us wanted to go on this trip, but Mom had insisted on doing something big before the baby came. I didn't want to be there, stuck at the back of a smelly cart that steered roughly around corners and being shown identical plain buildings but never getting to go inside. It wasn't fun… at all.

"And just to you're right you'll see the landmark for this amazing studio," the tour-guide squealed, "The water tower! Now this beauty can be seen from anywhere in the studios! So if anyone gets separated, that's the place to go."

I traced my eyes over it. Sure, it was big, yellow and had the Warner Brothers logo on the side. Just like everything else in this place. So bored! We jolted harshly, making my moms' hand spring to her stomach in discomfort. We'd stopped and were being led out and into a large hall where there was a café. Food… I wasn't even hungry, but it was something to do. We were given small brown paper bags with sandwiches, an apple, a candy bar and a juice box inside. Dad started moaning openly about the lack of proper food considering the price while mom tried to convince him that it was still good food and not to make a scene. This didn't help and he started to get mad. People started to steal peeks over at us and I could feel my cheeks starting to burn. I tapped my moms elbow and made an excuse to use the bathroom. She didn't notice, she was too busy trying to calm dad down.

Tears spilled down my face as I made my way outside. I didn't know where the bathroom was, and I didn't need to use it. I just had to get out of there; away from the people staring and muttering. It wasn't fair all of the time! They did this at home, why did they have to do it when people watched? It wasn't fair. None of it was fair. I stubbornly rubbed my eyes and found that I'd wondered out into the open, surrounded by identical blocks for buildings. For a moment, I panicked. I knew I wasn't allowed to wonder off, but I'd rather be out alone than go back in there again when they were like that. Anyway, maybe they'd stop if they came looking for me. So I carried on walking alone until I found that I couldn't even remember which way I'd come. Everything looked the same around here. Now I really was starting to panic. I wanted my mom, and my dad! I didn't like being here alone! I stopped when something the scary tour-guide came to mind. My eyes travelled upwards and the water tower came into sight. So if anyone gets separated, that's the place to go. Hope filled inside me and I broke into a sprint.

By the time I was at the base of the tower, I had to lean against the thick stands to gasp for breath. My childish frame could barely stand and the sound of my own heartbeat scared me. I was short for my age, no one was going to see me here. So, being a terrified and alone little eight year old that I was, I did the only thing that made sense to me. Get higher. That way, from the top, everyone could see me and they'd find me sooner! I circled the base of the tower until I found a thin and brittle looking ladder leading right to the top. But, I didn't know what brittle meant, and I wanted my parents, so I started to climb.

My thin limbs shook all the way up, and I only made the mistake of looking down once, letting out a shriek and taking a good fifteen minutes before I started moving again. As soon as I reached the top, I flattened my back against the bright yellow wall and cowered away from the edge. My entire body trembled and little whimpers escaped me. That's when it hit me that maybe they weren't even looking for me…

"Please come find me Mommy…" I muttered, "I'm right here Daddy…"

Clang-Clang-Clang

I jumped and shrieked at the sound of something knocking against the metal behind me. Carefully, I examined where the noise had come from and tilted my head in confusion. There was no one there…

Clang-Clang-Clang

There it was again! It sounded like it was coming from the inside of the tower… But that couldn't be right; it was a water tower, so there couldn't be anything inside but water, right? The knocking returned, and it sounded like it was moving along the wall and stopped at the logo. Staying a safe distance from the edge, I got to my feet and followed the sound around. My eyes widened in surprise as I found that there was a large wheel-like object fused to the centre of the logo. It reminded me of the types of wheel-locks that you found on vault doors in cartoons. My fingers itched, wanting to turn it and see what was inside. But I was too scared to move. I nearly jumped backwards right against the rail as the noise sounded again.

"Hello?" I stammered, gently tapping back.

I was sure that I could hear voices from inside, but they were muffled and distorted, but they sounded young, child-like. Instantly my hands snapped into action and strained again the rusted metal, slowly turning it and wincing at the screeching rust. I pictured children like me being cold and in the dark, it scared me and I wanted to end it! All of a sudden, the entire logo burst open like a door with such force that it knocked me backwards. My foot plummeted downwards over the edge of the ledge. A scream tore through my throat as the rest of my body followed, ready to fall and no doubt splatter on the ground below. However, something clamped around my wrists, stopping my fall and suspending me in the air.

I looked up to see my saviour, or saviours as the case was. Their white gloved hands lead on to thin arms coated in a layer of black fuzz. The pair of them were black all over with the exception of white faces. They wore similar knowing smiles and their black eyes shone with playfulness, red noses twitched with excitement. One wore a backwards, red cap with holes for his ears to poke through and a blue jumper while the other was shirtless but styled baggy brown pants. They looked like a cross between cats, dogs and monkeys, yet something about them was also pretty human. My eyes widened at the sight of them, a mixture of awe and terror pulsing through me. However, they hoisted my up to safety.

As soon as they released me, I backed away and flattened myself against the wall. The one in the cap was small, only tall enough to reach above my shoulders while the other was a few inches taller than me. There was another one of them, this one a girl with a pink skirt and a yellow flower tying her ears together. She too was small like me, only coming up to my shoulders. I blinked in awe, all of them had tails too!

"Helloooo nurse!" the boys chanted.

Before I knew what was happened, the three lunged at me and pressed their faces into mine. The two smaller ones pressing their lips against either of my cheeks and the taller against my forehead in a loud and smacking kiss. I blinked in shock as they pulled back, mirroring each others excitable grins.

"You know it works better with a parachute." The girl said, thumbing over her shoulder at the drop.

"But this will get you down faster!" added the capped one, speaking in a British twang and pulling out an anvil from the neck of his sweater before tossing it over his shoulder.

My jaw dropped, how did he do that? There was no way he'd have been able to hide a thing like that, let alone hold it. My eyes felt ready to pop out of my head and I was unsure if I was about to laugh or scream. The tallest one folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't talk much, do ya kiddo?" he smirked, "A little tongue-tied?"

I tried to speak to please them but I felt a lump form in my mouth, making my tongue tingle. It poked out of my mouth at an unnatural length and snaked into a bow right before my eyes. I shrieked and it snapped back to normal again. My hands clamped over my mouth and I looked fearfully at my company.

"Who are you?" I muttered through my fingers.

"We asked you first." The girl insisted.

"No you didn't." I blurted, dropping my hands defensively.

"Well we meant to." She replied, betting her eyes at me.

Well I wasn't giving anything away until they did first. After all, I'd been told not to talk to strangers, and I was sure that this counted especially towards ones like these. The tallest one made me jump by clapping his hands together and grinning, turning on his heel to look out at the view.

"Well Sibs, what do ya say we take a look around? It's been a while since we've been out in the world!"

The other two grinned with excitement and bounded over to the rail and leaned over. I was terrified and curious at the same time. They still hadn't answered my question and I was too nervous to ask again. Although these creatures seemed harmless, and they had saved my life, there was still something that scared me. Slowly, I edged around the wall, creeping closer to the ladder that had gotten me into this mess in the first place. Just as I reached the top of the ladder, I noticed a large and bulky figure clambering upwards to meet me. He wore a security uniform, but he looked angry, making me back away in fear. I bumped into something and span around to see the sly grin of the tallest boy. He peeked over the rail and tilted his head.

"Hey Sibs, look who's still here!"

They others stared at the large guard that was struggling up towards us and started waving. This only angered him and he moved faster. I was starting to get more scared, if it was between the angry guard and unfamiliar creatures… I was leaning towards the latter. The leader dived into his pockets and pulled out a flat, black circle which he stretched and slapped onto the floor. He bowed to signal for the others to go first, whatever it was they were meant to do. My jaw dropped again as they jumped onto the black circle, and vanished right onto it. The remaining one followed, leaving me alone and confused. It was as if they'd jumped into a tunnel, but that was impossible, right? The leader poked his head back through momentarily and wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"You coming, kiddo?"

"Don't guards usually help people?" I asked, looking over my shoulder.

He jumped out to his feet, "Sure, if you've got the money to buy it, he'll help."

"A-and will you h-help?" I stammered.

He smirked, "Hey, we come cheap!" he paused and looked uncertain of his words before blocking a kiss loudly, "Goodnight everybody!"

I didn't get it. He noted the flash of uncertainty in my eyes at the sight of the angered expression on the guard and winked at me, cocking his head for me to follow his lead. I sat down and scooted closer to the edge so that my legs dangled inside the darkness. Before I could change my mind, he gave me a sharp shove in the back, sending me plummeting into the black.

Almost instantly, my feet hit ground and I was out in the open just outside the studio gates. I gasped from the shock and jumped to my feet. The one with the cap grinned at me with his tongue hanging out slightly.

"Faboo landing! Want to try it again?"

I shook my head, feeling a little queasy, not to mention confused. The one who had pushed me landed next to me and pulled the circle from the wall and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Nice to see one thing hasn't changed around here." He announced before shaking my hand, "Thanks, kiddo and we'll be seeing ya!"

They all gave me a salute before running off in the opposite direction. I was frozen, speechless. Was that it? After all that they were just going to leave me? I wasn't sure if I wanted to follow them or if I wanted to run back to my parents. They were quickly gaining distance on me, and as nervous as I was, I wanted to know what was going on. So I swallowed my fear and raced after them.

"You didn't tell me who you were!" I called.

I don't know how they did it, but in the time it took me to blink, they'd vanished. However, something tapped my on the shoulder and I practically jumped out of my skin when I saw the three standing behind me.

"Hey she's right! Where are our manners?"

British twang rummaged in the sleeves of his sweater, "They were here a minute ago."

The girl pulled out a photo of a large and beautiful house, "Got my manor right here!"

I felt a smile tug at my lip; that was a little funny…

"Yakko, and my sibs here: Wakko." Announced the taller of the boys, nudging his brother playfully, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Bo Besca the Third." She announced, then looked at my worried expression and winked, "But you can call me Dot."

I breathed with relief. The oldest, Yakko, leaned in questioningly, "What about you, kiddo?"

"Talia." I answered obediently, feeling ashamed of a plain name compared to theirs, "Why were you in the tower?"

They all shared a mischievous grin, "Hide and Seek." They chanted.

"Yeah, the studio hid us up there." Wakko smirked.

"And we try and seek a way out." Dot added.

There was a small poof and all of a sudden a rainbow of streamers and confetti rained down over me. I was handed a small golden trophy and lights flashed as if cameras were going off and all three started shaking my hand again.

"You win!" Yakko announced, "And what a great player you've been and such a valuable new addition! Tell us, how do you feel achieving such a victory?"

I trembled with awe, "Uh… okay, and very confused…"

"Not very enthusiastic, are ya?" Dot folded her arms.

"What are you?" I blurted, cheeks flushing at the bluntness of my tone, I really didn't mean to be so harsh.

"The Warner brothers!" grinned Wakko, his tongue poking out the corner of his mouth.

"And the Warner sister!" added Dot.

"But what are you?" I repeated, not satisfied, "You seem a little… cartoony…" I tried, unable to find the right word.

Yakko had suddenly lined up a bow and arrow that I was positive hadn't been there before and shot it into the distance, "Not far off the target there, kiddo!"

I watched in awe, "How can you do that?"

"How can you do that?" Dot asked.

I looked down at myself questioningly, "Do what?"

Yakko admired a skull that he was holding in his hand, "That is the question!"

My head was starting to swim, "So… where are you going?"

They shrugged, and all three started blurting out different suggestions, blurring together. The ones I caught word of just sounded random. I was positive that one of them mentioned going into outer space and another testing what would happen it they swallowed a firework, which Wakko volunteered to be test subject. I found myself giggling at their suggestions. Despite their strangeness and weird powers, they seemed pretty funny. I was still too confused and nervous to tell for sure, but I think I liked them.

"Hey! You there!"

I jolted at the angry voice not far from us. It was that guard again, and he was sprinting over to us. Out of instinct I started to back away. Yakko swiftly pulled out the black circle again and slapped in to the wall. The three jumped inside of it. This time though, it didn't look like a tunnel to somewhere else. This time it looked like a cubby-hole, their eyes gleaming at me from inside. I wasn't sure if I was meant to follow them or not, but the guard was too close now. So instead I stood with my back to the wall, secretly shielding their hiding place behind me. I couldn't help but tremble as the overweight guard glared down at me.

"Where'd they go?" he demanded.

I blinked, "Where'd who g-go?"

"The toons, you know what I'm talking about!"

So they were cartoons! I knew it! "I haven't seen any cartoons since I last watched TV."

He narrowed his eyes, "So what are you doing out here?"

I gulped, "I-I was on the t-tour and got lost."

He grabbed my arm, "Then I'll take you back if there's nothing keeping you out here." He smirked.

There was nothing I could do, he was too strong and any form of protest would give them away. I could feel them watching me from the hiding place. When the guard wasn't looking, I stole a glance over my shoulder. Their heads were poked out of the portable escape and watched me with a hint of sympathy. And then, they were gone from view as I was led back into the studio and back to my parents.

After that day, no one would believe my story. I told my parents about the friends I'd made, for they had saved my life and when you're that age that makes someone a friend for life, as well as told them the amazing things they could do. But, naturally they thought I was making it up. No adult would believe an eight year old when she said she'd made three animalistic cartoon friends who were locked in the studio tower and saved her life and showed her some of the magic they could do. They told me it was a lie. Cartoons aren't real. I was making it up to get attention. I said it because I was jealous of my new baby brother arriving. I said it to get out of trouble. The list went on and on…

Things got worse, none of my friends believed me either, calling me a liar and that they didn't want to hang around with a weird kid who thought that cartoons were real. It took a whole year of trying to convince them that I was telling the truth, before they started sending me to a shrink. Every night I was told to look in the mirror and tell myself that I made it up, that it was all a daydream. I lied to myself everyday just to make them happy… I was alone with no one to trust. But it wasn't just that that made things worse.

When I was twelve, my parents had another baby, a girl. So now I had Flynn, who was four, and Poppy. Mom got sick… she didn't see my thirteenth birthday. Years later, I was seventeen, and dad chose to pack up and leave. For a while, we stayed with grandparents, until they couldn't cope with three kids, so I worked by backside off and managed to get a steady job as well as start an online collage course. At eighteen, only six months ago, I gained full custody for my siblings and vowed to never let them go. But as part of the deal for their living with me, I had to take weekly visits to a shrink. Mainly because of my troubled past…

Once again, I was made to lie to myself everyday, for my siblings sake. And I had long since started to believe those lies…

"Talia! Flynn won't let me watch my cartoon!" six year old Poppy cried.

"She's lying!" ten year old Flynn retorted.

I sighed and took the remote off of them and turned over to a show with live actors, "You don't want to watch cartoons," I insisted, "You know they're not real."

They sighed and settled down again. I went into the kitchen to start making dinner. A lot had changed in those ten years, and I occasionally thought back to that day out at the studio. But it never lasted long. I was a disturbed little child with arguing parents, naturally I would create an adventure of escape. I took it too far. This was reality and it wasn't fixed by a few visual gags and strange creatures. It was fixed with hard work and a clear head. That's what I believed now. I admired my childish imagination, but that was it. Imagination.

My eyes caught my reflection in the cooker window, I sighed and looked determinedly back, "It was all in your head. This is reality, and there are no cartoons in reality. Wake up."

It was harsh, but to me, it was true. It was all in my head.

A/N:

Or isn't it? XD

So tell me what you think and if it's worth carrying on. I tried to keep as 'in-character' as I could with such unpredictable characters. I will update soon if enough people like it and there will be much of the 'animanie, totally insanie Animaniacs' as it goes on. I accept constructive criticism and any help I can get. Please review and we'll see how it goes XD