A/N:

So here it is, the first of hopefully many Reality Check based One-Shots! Yay!

Oh, and a massive thank you to 'kisa sohma cookie' for making the first ever fanart for Reality Check! It's an awesome picture that you can find by typing in 'Animanaics Reality Check' into Deviantart, I've put the link in too but I don't know it the site will let it show. Here's hoping! Thanks again for making it and I hope everyone else likes it too!

: / kisasohmacookie . deviantart #/ d5ja07m

Okay, so this one takes place a few days after the events of Inkstained. The Nolan's are spending the night over in the water tower and Poppy has just woken up from a nightmare. In seeking comfort, she asks Talia for a story, but not just any story, the story of how Talia first met the Warner's. Naturally this sparks the interest of some zany characters, looks like it's going to be a long night…

*Talia's POV*

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.

Poppy grinned knowingly, "But you didn't tell him, did you?"

Wow it had been a long day. Trying to get everyone back into a routine after… what happened, was tougher than it seemed. I really don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for Dr. S writing those doctor's notes to hand in to Flynn and Poppy's school's. Things were hard enough to explain on its own. And my siblings were still getting used to their new 'abilities'. Like me, they were finding it difficult to grasp. The whole idea of 'expecting it to happen and it happening' wasn't so easy to get on a first try. But thankfully there had been no passing out or coughing up ink. Not that I was letting it get to that point. It was one thing for me to be overworked to the limit, but not them. I was the one who needed more control, I was the one looking after them after all. But it wasn't getting any easier. For one thing, if it wasn't me waking up from nightmares, it was Poppy. And for whatever reason, tonight she wanted a story to calm her down. And what story did she want? The one of how I met the Warner's for the first time. Not that I wasn't happy to meet them, but this story was never a favourite. It didn't really lead off into anything good and took over ten years to resolve. But, from where I was sitting; it was worth it.

We'd been invited, or more like forced, into spending the night in the water tower with the Warner's. The toons were sleeping on the other side of the room in separate single-beds, seemingly fast asleep and considering it was a rarity to see them quiet, I deliberately kept my voice hushed. Flynn was in the next bed over from Poppy, his back facing us. Time was ticking on and the nostalgic feeling was wearing off a little with the fatigue.

I matched her knowing expression and shook my head, "Nope."

"No, she set them lose to spread chaos on the rest of the world." Flynn muttered, rolling over to face us.

He had been listening in for a while I guessed. Of course he would claim that he just couldn't sleep with us girls 'gabbing on all night' if I mentioned it, and I wasn't going to embarrass him by saying otherwise. But lately, he'd been making more excuses to join in with not just us, but with everyone in general. I wasn't complaining. It was good to see more of him. And after everything that had happened, I was thankful that we were all here in the first place.

I shrugged at him, "In a nutshell, that's about it." My attention turned to Poppy, "Anyway, you know all this, I used to tell you both when you were younger."

She nodded and curled up under the blankets, "I know, but it's different hearing it now we know it's true."

Part of me wanted to remind them that it always had been true, but that would have been harsh. So instead I just tucked her in and stood up, "Either way, it's late. Sleep time; both of you."

"Fine by me." Flynn nodded.

"Can I have a drink first?" Poppy asked, blinking rapidly just like a certain toon had taught her, "Please?"

Flynn gave me a sceptical look to which I returned, but ended up sighing in defeat, "Okay, but then it's right to sleep."

She nodded and I got to my feet, making my way into the kitchen area. Sure, these past few days had been tough on all of us lately, getting back into a routine and all, but I'm glad that some things didn't change. And the way things were going, they would be changing for some time now… No, that wasn't the way to be thinking about it. In a way, it was what I wanted, so there was no need to make it sound so morbid. Being together is what we all wanted.

I finished pouring Poppy a glass of juice and figured I'd make one for Flynn too. On the way back I thought about the story I'd just told them, or rather, how I'd altered it. Whereas I'd slipped away from our arguing parents and then gotten lost, climbing the tower in hopes that someone would see me and take me home; I'd twisted it and told them that I'd run away on my own and gotten lost. It wasn't a big alteration, but it was enough to leave our parents out of a bad light. And that's the best place for them really. But at the same time, if they weren't arguing, would I have ever run off on my own? To be honest, I didn't want to think on it too much. Despite everything, I was happy.

And by the sounds of it, my siblings were too. I could hear Poppy giggling and even the occasional chuckle from Flynn. But then came the sounds of three other voices. I sighed and leant casually against the bedroom door with a half-smile, knowing exactly who they belonged to. Inside the six beds had been pushed together into one massive mattress; Poppy was wide awake and sitting up with an eager look in her eyes. Flynn was perched next to her with his arms folded, trying to hide whatever entertainment he was getting from the sight before them.

Balancing one footed on the frame of the bed, Dot swayed uneasily like she was about to swoon, "And then, just as the cutest of them all was in danger of plummeting to her doom after just being set free from the captive of her two moron brothers -"

"The monster jumped from its hiding place!" Wakko interrupted, leaping from under the bed and tackling his sister onto the mattress.

Yakko raised a fist in the air triumphantly as he took his sisters place balancing on the foot of the bed, "But have no fear! The brave, and obviously handsome, Sir Yaksalot is present to save his siblings and the newcomer from the towers edge and the beast!"

Sure he was… I stepped further into the room behind the eldest and gave him a light push, sending him toppling in a heap with his siblings, "And the Spirit of Reality came along and sent their heads out of the clouds and back to Earth."

"Evening, priss."

I nodded in acknowledgment, "Evening, pervert." Turning my attention to my siblings, I arched an eyebrow, "What happened to going to sleep?"

"They wanted to tell me the story again." Poppy answered with a grin.

"I don't remember coming across a 'cutie princess', a monster or a knight in rusty armour being there." I scoffed playfully.

Flynn gave me a look that was a cross between a smirk and tiredness, "Apparently there's more than one version…"

Of course there was… "Such as?"

The Warner's flashed him a set of toothy smiles as he continued, "Well apparently, there's the one where you travelled across the studio to save some princess. Then there's the one where you're being chased my something and these guys save you. And then probably the most unlikely; there's another version where you're the one trapped in the tower."

"Don't forget about the knight in shining armour coming to the rescue." Yakko added, folding his arms behind his back and aiming a look at me during the stress on the word.

Dot folded her arms, "Egomaniac much?"

Wakko chuckled, "Nah, just the ego."

"I can't argue with that." I smirked.

"Give us a break," Dot insisted, "Someone's got to make the story more interesting."

"Hey, I told it how it happened." I replied.

"So you get my point."

"And there could have been a monster." Wakko pouted, "I mean, we all ended being chased at some point."

Yakko nodded, "Well the size of Ralphs stomach was pretty scary…"

"And so is the time." I warned, taking note of Poppy's attempts at covering a yawn, "It's getting late so is it alright if we settle this in the morning?"

Wakko tilted his head, "Is this one of those times where you ask a question but you're actually telling us?"

"Yes."

Flynn gave a half smile and slipped back under the covers at the far edge of the bed, muttering a goodnight of some sort. Poppy pouted and snuggled back down by our brother and Wakko crawled in next to her followed by Dot and Yakko. The eldest arched an eyebrow cunningly and gestured at the free space next to him. I arched an eyebrow of my own and gave him a sceptical look.

"There's plenty of room next to your little guy, kiddo."

"Yeah, I guess there it." I nodded, "Flynn, move over."

I smirked as my brother nudged the group over so that I could take up a spot on the other side of the bed. Yakko scowled as Dot elbowed him mockingly and somewhat forcefully so that he was pushed right out of the bed and onto the floor. Mumbling to himself, he grudgingly got back under the covers and pulled the blanket harshly to that the sheets on my side flicked away, just covering Flynn. Not wanting to freeze, I took the bait and yanked the covers back to me. Not surprisingly, they were soon in an attempt to escape me again.

Who knows how long this went on for. But Flynn's grumbles of annoyance along with Poppy and the two younger Warner's giggles were not helping the matter. What started as a game was now turning into a chore. But I didn't want to give up just yet. My eyes were closed in an attempt to sleep, but my hands were clenched around the blanket and struggling to keep it over me. Soon, it seemed boredom took over and the other occupants were snoozing soundly while the battle continued. Whether it was the sounds of the others snoring or the use of the last ounces of energy that were keeping me awake being spent on this blanket war, I was ready to drop. And this I let the sheet go.

"Fine, you win." I groaned, curling up for warmth, "Goodnight."

"Okay, kiddo, you can take some back." He mused, "For a catch."

"Goodnight." I repeated.

"Nah you've used that one before." He replied, "I know you're tired but don't go getting all tongue-tied over me."

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.

"Don't flatter yourself, pervert." I mumbled, clinging onto whatever sleep was reaching out to me.

But like hell was he going to just shut up that easy, "So what did you think of the re-write? You gotta admit it makes things more interesting. No offence to the big-shot."

Really not wanting to start on a tangent by asking what a big-shot was, I shrugged, "Creative. Still doesn't change what really happened though."

"You got me there, kiddo."

Do I really? I thought sarcastically, but didn't say anything. Please, Yakko, I'm too tired for a conversation tonight. But there was something in his pause that unnerved me. Sure he was a big talker, but when he had these little moments of quiet, he turned into a deep thinker. No, Talia, don't ask, he's deliberately setting a trap so that you'll talk more and then get more tired and fall for more of his and his siblings games later. Take advantage and sleep.

Nope, silent Yakko brought back too many scary memories, "Okay, what's up?"

I could just picture his smirk, "You just love hearing the sound of my voice, don't you, kiddo?"

"Oh shut up and tell me what's up."

"Well which up should I go with? The shut or the what's?" he challenged. But he seemed to take pity on me when I shoved the pillow over my face and gave an irritable groan, "Okay, okay. Just thinking about the end of the story. Like you said it doesn't change what really happened."

Where was he going with this? "Like you say, cliché's get old but classics never die."

"And don't you forget it." He answered, "But I can't say I'm a fan of the ending."

Oh yeah… That was another part of the story I'd altered for my siblings. I'd never really gone into much detail about getting dragged away by the guard and sent back to our parents. Don't get me wrong, they understood that no one had believed me, and even that I'd gone in therapy, who didn't? But details were vague. I just said that the toons had tried to find me, but couldn't until years later. I never ever told them how I felt they'd abandoned me, or how much I really doubted my sanity. All details were not to be repeated.

And now there wasn't a need to. We were all together and things turned out pretty good for the most part. Some parts of the past were forgotten, it wasn't like I was still thinking I was insane or anything. And it wasn't like the toons had done anything out of spite. It was their first day out of the tower. It was a weird day for all of us. I didn't blame them for anything.

"Doesn't matter." I answered finally, "In the long run it turned out good."

"Wouldn't have been such a long run if we'd come back sooner." He mumbled so quietly I wasn't sure if I'd misheard him.

"Huh?"

"You're right." He announced, "Everything turns out okay around us. And you know why?"

"I'll take a guess…"

"Yakko spelt backwards is Okkay!"

I smiled in spite of myself, "I know. Can I go to sleep now?"

"Is this another one of those demands disguised as a question?"

"Wow, you're quick…" I mumbled, "Goodnight, pervert." I felt the need to add that last nickname for good measure.

"Goodnight, priss." He retorted, settling down himself for the night.

"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-Fanna 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.

Yeah, I smiled to myself as sleep finally started to take over me; they were annoying, invaded my personal space, got us all into huge amounts of trouble on a regular basis, pulled pranks, snuck away into school with my siblings, forced us into one mess after the other and even just bugged me from time to time but… I guess I really did like them.

A/N:

Well, that was the first of hopefully many. Still not sure on making Reality Check a trilogy or not, but if anyone has any ideas for one, or even for more one-shots, I'd love to hear them! All italics were extracts from the first chapter of the first Reality Check. Please review, I've missed everyone from this section of the fanfic site! XD