Buster gazed out into the viewing audience and breathed a heavy sigh, "Greetings, toonsters. Buster Bunny here. You know, we already had an episode called Elephant Issues and one segment was about bullying. Well, I just had an adventure with someone I thought I'd never even dream of befriending. This adventure...didn't turn out so well." The rabbit closed his eyes in silence and wiped a tear away, "Listen...you guys may want to get some tissues. This won't exactly be the happiest episode of Tiny Toon Adventures. In fact, I think it may have killed me a little inside..."
Babs folded her arms in annoyance, "Tiny Toons is supposed to be a comedy show."
Buster shook his head, "Babs, life isn't just a series of gags. Tragedy can strike, even in cartoons. Well, mostly in anime and Disney movies but you catch my drift."
Babs sighed, "Yeah, I never thought I'd feel bad for that hulking beast of a jackalope..."
Buster nodded in agreement, "He...he wasn't as bad as I thought he'd be. Poor guy..."
"He was actually kind of adorable." Babs added, "He never deserved what happened to him...no one deserves that..."
Buster hung his head as a single tear ran down his nose. With a groan, he wiped the tear away, "Enough of the reminiscing, let's just get on with the show."
And with that, the blue rabbit pressed the remote and a title card came on the screen. It was a picture of none other than One Eyed Jack. Despite his terrifying and beastly appearance, tear tracks could be visible on his cheeks and long snout and he had a look of sorrow in his only good eye. He was holding onto a plush doll of Buster Bunny close to his heart.
Stars filled the clear night sky as Buster took a midnight stroll through the forest. Breathing in the night air, the rabbit thought about the test he was going to take tomorrow. He knew he should've been in bed but it was a very restless night for him. Possibly, it was the full moon messing with him. It was a quiet night. Too quiet. A chill dashed across the blue bunny's fur as his heart pounded in his chest. It was then, a bloodcurdling growl filled the air and Buster spun around to find himself face-to-face with the wolverine. The hairy beast locked eyes with him, he could literally smell Buster's fear fresh off the rabbit. Poor Buster remembered that he left his wolverine repellant at home and squeezed his eyes shut, fearing for the worst when a loud roar filled the air.
Opening his eyes, Buster watched as another beast clawed at the wolverine. It appeared to be a giant rabbit with antlers, a long snout full of razor sharp teeth and claws as long as machetes. Most noticable of all, however, was the single yellow glowing eye. Right away, Buster recognized the creature as One Eyed Jack. Frozen in terror and awe, the rabbit watched the two beasts fight one another, scratching and biting, roaring and bleeding until the wolverine surrendered and took off into the forest, whimpering like a beat puppy.
It was then that One Eyed Jack turned his full attention to Buster. Every hair on the rabbit's body stood on end and his heart pounded faster than ever before. Buster whimpered, tears stinging his eyelids as he felt the cryptid's hot breath on him. Expecting the worst, the young blue rabbit mouthed a silent prayer and when he open his eyes, One Eyed Jack was gone.
Buster breathed a sigh of relief, "That's the last time I eat expired pizza."
And with that, Buster headed back in the direction of his burrow and once he got there, he felt asleep from exhaustion.
The next day, at ACME Looniversity, Buster seemed very distracted. During Foghorn Leghorn's class, he gazed absentmindedly out the window as he remembered the incident last night. Was it all a dream? It felt so real to him. He wasn't sure what to make of it. One Eyed Jack saved his life. But why? One Eyed Jack was a savage beast from a campfire legend. Or so Buster thought. After all, it turned out that Elmyra Duff was in that costume all along. But...what if there really was something out there?
Before Buster knew it, the school bell rang and the students filed out into the hallway. As he opened his locker, he noticed Shirley Loon passing him. Thinking she may have the answer to his questions, he politely tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey Shirley, you got a minute?"
"Like, is something troubling you, Buster? Your aura seems like, really distracting today." Shirley replied.
"Shirley, what do you know about dream interpretation?" Buster asked.
"Like, what kind of dream did you have?" Shirley asked.
"Well..." Buster scratched his head, "I had the weirdest dream last night. It felt so real, I could've sworm I was awake. I was walking through the woods at night and I was nearly attacked by the wolverine but One Eyed Jack of all things saved my life. I've never had a dream so vivid before. I remember the growling, the scratching, the heat of One Eyed Jack's breath. I've never experienced anything quite like it before."
Shirley closed her eyes for a few seconds then opened them, "To see two monsters fighting in a dream means that you're struggling with your masculinity. Your yin side and your yang side are representative of like, the monsters fighting each other. Like, perhaps your subconcious is telling you to sign up for Home Ec or Yoga classes. You like, need to embrace your inner femininity, Buster. Well, either that or you ate expired pizza. Either way, I guess learning to sew wouldn't hurt you."
"Ummmmmm, yeah. Thanks for the advice, Shirley." Buster replied, his ears drooping, "Embrace my feminine side, huh? Guess it wouldn't hurt to try new things."
The students all got their lunches and walked into the school's cafeteria. Plucky sat down next to Buster who was still deep in thought over his surreal experience. The green duck nudged the blue rabbit, "Heya, Buster old pal. You've been pretty quiet. Something on your mind?"
"Nothing..." Buster pinched the bridge of his nose, "It's just, I had a pretty long and crazy night last night."
"You were invited to a party without me?" Plucky gasped, "I can't believe you'd do something so selfish, Buster!"
"No no no, that's not it at all." Buster said as he rubbed his eyes with his thumbs, "I just had the craziest dream last night and it seemed so real. One Eyed Jack and the wolverine were fighting each other and-"
"Sounds like you've been watching too many monster movies, buddy." Plucky laughed.
Buster rolled his eyes at Plucky's hypocrisy, "I didn't watch any monster movies recently, Plucky. In fact, it's not even close to Halloween."
"Whatever you say, Buster. I personally enjoy marathonning monster movies on Valentine's Day. It's just way too mushy for my taste."
Hamton walked over to the table and sat next to Buster and Plucky, "Hey guys, how's it going?"
"Just fine." Plucky replied, "Buster was just telling me about this really weird dream he had but between you and me, I think the expired pizza is doing a number on Buster's brain."
"What was the dream about?" Hamton asked as he took a bite out of his sandwich.
"Well..." Buster explained, "I had my life saved by One Eyed Jack and I have no idea what to make of it. Shirley told me that I should try embracing my feminine side more when I told her about the dream."
"So does that mean you're gonna start collecting My Little Pony figurines?" Plucky asked with a smirk.
"Says the brony with the Rainbow Dash lunchbox." Buster replied, taking note of Plucky's new lunchbox which had Rainbow Dash all over it. Hamton burst out laughing while Plucky sank in his seat in embarrassment.
After a few minutes, the bell rang and the students were back in their classes. Buster made his way to Yosemite Sam's class and took a seat. Closing his eyes, the blue rabbit drifted off to sleep when he heard a monstrous voice ring his his head, "See you soon."
Buster immediately jolted awake, heart racing and sweat trickling through his soft fur. After a few minutes, he calmed down and raised his hand, "Excuse me, teach?"
"Whaddaya want, ya long-eared varmint?" Yosemite Sam asked, stomping his foot in irritation.
"I'd like to leave to go home now. I didn't have enough sleep the night before." Buster honestly replied.
Yosemite Sam crossed his arms and glared at Buster, "Oh all right, I'll let you go just this once. At least you won't be around to disrupt my class like you normally do."
"Thanks, Samuel." Buster smirked as he got up from his desk and exited the room. As he walked into the hallway, he could hear Yosemite Sam loudly protesting about being called Samuel and couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He walked through the hallways of the school and out the front doors.
After a peaceful walk through the woods on the campus outskirts, Buster made his way to the spot where his so-called dream happened. He trekked lightly through the forest, autumn leaves crunching beneath his footpaws as he breathed in the fresh pine air but not even the beauty of nature could help clear the thoughts in the back of his mind. Finally, after quite some walking, Buster came to the spot where he was attacked by the wolverine the night before. Sure enough, there were rabbit prints although they were much larger in scale compared to that of an average rabbit, "One Eyed Jack..." Buster whispered to himself.
Mustering up all the courage he could, the blue rabbit followed to tracks to a cavern that was about a mile away. Upon arriving at the entrance, he turned to his viewing audience, "Normally, I don't do stupid stuff like this but if the plot calls for it then I guess I have no other choice."
After shattering the fourth wall like glass, Buster entered the cave. Walking around, he couldn't help but notice just how dark the cave was inside. He put his hand on the wall to the left side of him and made his way deeper into the cave. As he was walking, he heard a loud crunch beneath his feet. He stepped on a branch. Instantly, a single glowing eye opened in the darkness of the cave. Buster let out a terrified whimper, his heart racing a mile a minute. He knew he was surely done for.
To be continued...