A/N: Firstly, I would like to thank the three people who reviewed, favourited and followed this story. I'm sorry this came out later than I wanted, I was called into work more during the weekend and Monday so I haven't had the chance to sit down and type. Hopefully a nice long chapter will be worth it? It is about 5,700 words long. Hopefully any questions will be answered and my writing isn't as wordy as last time.
Also, I found out from one of Rob Paulsen's podcasts, when he was talking to Tom Ruegger that the determined ages for the Warner's was that Yakko was 14, Wakko was 11 and Dot was 9, so I'm gonna follow that age chart even though toons don't exactly age properly. They've grown, but that's about it.
And this is hopefully the last cameo from an outside Animaniacs character, I need to fill a lot of years.
Chapter 1
About an hour after Bugs left, Yakko decided to take a casual stroll around the lot instead of constantly pacing around his looping thoughts.
Opening the door to his office, the toon made his way out into the reception desk.
"Hey, Minerva?" he called to his assistant as he passed her desk.
Looking up from her paperwork, the mink smiled back at him.
"Let me guess, you want me to cancel your 12 o'clock so you can do movie protagonist clichés again, i.e. walk around brooding?" she asked, neatening up a stack of documents in her hands. Yakko grinned at her, leaning on the desk with one hand.
"If you wouldn't miiinnnddd…" he drew out, fluttering suddenly grown eyelashes at her. She just rolled her eyes skyward and nodded in reply.
"Thanks, Merv," he said, pointing his hand like a gun at her, clicked his tongue while winking.
Making his way out the door, he slowly counted down from 3.
3, 2, 1…he listed.
"And stop calling me Merv!"
His laughter could be heard all the way down the hall.
He'd taken Minerva Mink as his assistant almost straight after he got his own job as CEO. The two had been working together since their Animaniac days and Yakko knew she was a hard worker. The show was so mean to her, painting her as if she had some shallow personality that cared more about looks than anything else. She was probably the only one on the show that wanted it to end and Yakko couldn't blame her. Plus, she was real easy on the eyes.
Making his way downstairs via an elevator, the Warner greeted a few workers as he walked by. He wanted to be liked by his employees, something that Plotz didn't really think about. In Yakko's mind, in order for a company to succeed; he needed people to like their jobs, hence the reason why many actually called him by his first name. Plus, it got kind of confusing in meetings when they had to keep mentioning 'Warner' at every other moment.
Making his way to the front doors of the building and hoping that the press weren't snooping around, the Warner took a careful glance around, noticing that only a few reporters were hanging around the administration building, trying to snag a few words from passing businessmen.
Realizing they hadn't even seen him exit the building, Yakko quickly and quietly tip-toed away from the entrance in the opposite direction, looking around every now and then to make sure he wasn't spotted. The last thing he wanted to do that day was answer questions.
He'd almost made it around the corner of the building when he heard another familiar voice call to him, causing him to pause mid-step.
"Hey, Warner! Why are you sneaking arou-"
"Shhhh!" Yakko interrupted, grabbing the visitor by the mouth and carrying them off to the back end of the building. Thankfully that outburst hadn't drawn the reporter's attention and so he carefully let out a relieved sigh, slowly letting go of the others mouth.
"Jesus Christ, Yakko! I thought you were about to take my mouth off!" the visitor exclaimed, rubbing his sore mouth earnestly. Yakko just gave the cat a blank stare in reply, before it melted away into a grin.
"I'm sure your mouth can take more than that, if you know what I mean," at the toons laugh, he reached out to shake the cats' hand, "its good to see you again Danny. Are Sawyer and the kids doing all right? What brings you down my way?"
"It's good to see you too, Yak. Sawyers doin' well and the kids are almost ready to get their voices soon, so I'm out here scouting for voice actors and thought I'd give you a visit," Danny replied, accepting the handshake enthusiastically.
Yakko thought back to when he'd finally been given his voice, he'd been almost ten at the time. That's unfortunately what happened to a lot of toons when they could barely afford to put food on their table, let alone pay a voice actor to give them a voice. However, thanks to Warner Brothers, Yakko and his siblings were given their voices by three of the best voice artists in the business at the time, ones that have helped them get where they were now.
Warner Brothers saw the Warner's toon abilities surfacing on a talent scouting expedition and decided to give them a job, unfortunately it had eventually become too difficult to communicate without the use of signs the toons would hold up. The writers of Animaniacs decided to finally give the children voices that would help with further learning and develop proper personalities, and thankfully, they chose the perfect people to voice them.
Yakko remembered walking into the sound room before his siblings and sitting down for an hour or so as his voice actor gave him his voice. They'd play back clip after clip of the man talking, which would eventually be melded into Yakkos' ink as his voice eventually took shape in his mind and was able to open his mouth and speak for the first time.
Looking back at Danny he noticed slight differences since last time they met. The cat seem a lot more calm, settled almost; it seemed to Yakko that the former screen actor suited being a father, it helped keep him grounded. Something he was sure his wife, Sawyer, had been trying to do since they met.
The year was 1996, and the Warner's, while filming their own show, had heard that a new animated movie was being made and was set to premiere the year after.
The title of the movie was 'Cats Don't Dance', starring the tabby cat and his now beautiful persian cat, wife, Sawyer. The Warner's had met the cats while on their way back to the water tower from a shoot and they automatically hit it off, Yakko and Danny especially since they were nearing the same age of eighteen at the time. After the success of the film, Danny, along with Sawyer, decided to move onto the toon stage instead and they've been living in New York ever since.
"It's been five years already?" Yakko said, mildly scratching his head as the two began to make their way down the back of the studios. Glancing at the feline while smiling, Yakko shook his head and placed a friendly hand on Danny's shoulder.
"Yeah," Danny shrugged, "What? Feeling old, Warner, or is this place getting to ya?" the cat finished, giving the other toon a punch, jokingly.
Yakko sent a wry grin back, "It'd get to anyone who's had to stay here as long as I have," a tired look graced his features suddenly, showing an age well beyond his years, "I think I'm almost due for a holiday, if I could find someone to fill my spot that is," he placed a hand on his chin in thought.
"I'd put my hand up," Danny called hopefully, "but I don't have a death wish," he chuckled, "all of Warner Brothers to look after? Ya gotta be kidding me!"
"Just Warner Entertainment and Television," Yakko stated matter of factly, "I couldn't possibly handle the rest. I'd rather be dipped than have that much on my plate." Speaking of which, the company does need to have a group meeting soon, he thought.
"Yes, yes, yes, Mister 'Chairman of the Board'," Danny said, imitating an English accent. He sped in front of Yakko and perform a large bow, halting the Warner in his tracks, "shall I build an extra room for your head, or do you want more of an open setting," he asked, holding two different pictures of random hotel rooms in his hands, grinning at the now laughing toon.
"Har, har, very funny. Shall I make you one for your mouth while you're at it?" Yakko replied, eyes half lidded, "Oh wait, there wouldn't be enough space in the world that it would fit."
The CEO smiled to himself, he missed doing this with people. Now a days he had to remain respectable and polite around people who gave him the shits and he hated it. It was a nice change of pace for once.
"Oh, is that you, Mister Warner!" A voice suddenly called from further down the lane. Squinting, Yakko was just able to make out a lanyard that said 'press' on it. Sighing, the toon turned to Danny.
"Sorry, duty calls and all that," he said shrugging to the cat. The tabby merely nodded back.
"That's okay, Yak," he paused for a moment, "hey, are you free for dinner tonight?" he asked.
Quickly grabbing his phone out of his pocket that doubled as his hammerspace, Yakko scrolled through the endless amounts of meetings in his schedule and came up with a positive conclusion.
"I'm free after 8:30 tonight, though I should make that 9 considering how long people prattle, we're bound to go overtime," he said, rolling his eyes skyward. Danny smiled at him, watching the reporter come closer towards them.
"That's cool, 9 it is then!" he said, giving Yakko a quick handshake and walking smoothly away, "I'll give you a text where to meet!" he called back.
"Right," Yakko said to himself. Turning around to wave the cat goodbye, he was suddenly startled to find himself face to face with an overly eager reporter, microphone pushed into his face.
"Lanett Peters from Fox News," she exclaimed, forcing the young toon into a vigorous handshake, "I was just wondering whether I could get a few words from you about the so called Animaniacs reunion people have been talking about."
It wasn't a question; Yakko knew he'd have to answer it. Blanching internally for a moment, wondering how exactly she'd found out about it, he quickly thought up something to say. Smiling with confidence, he crossed his arms, glancing towards the woman.
"Ahh yes, the reunion. It is coming soon though I don't know much about it you see, it's a wonder so many people are talking about it," he raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yes, most of tinsel town is talking about it, saying it's the biggest events of the year actually," she informed, not dropping the subject, "I was wondering if you would be able to answer a few questions regarding your siblings, Wakko and Dorothy Warner, considering you three seemed so close on the show."
Yeah, on the show, Yakko huffed to himself. He couldn't possibly answer anything regarding them because he had no idea where they were to begin with, let alone how they were doing. The most he'd heard from them was where in America they were situated, never mind careers and such.
He'd tried digging up some information on them about four years ago and hadn't found much except Dots minor roles in various toon plays and Wakko being part of a small orchestra in the area. He wanted to see them, but every attempt at reconcile finished at a dead end. So he decided to leave his siblings alone, let them live their own lives and let him live his.
Plastering on a very apologetic expression, Yakko shook his head, tail twitching slightly at the lie he was about to say. Reaching into his pocket hammerspace, he concentrated slightly and produced another phone, this time toon, that had an alarm set to go off just at the right moment.
"I would love to talk about them, I really would, but as CEO of a big company my schedule is just completely booked," the alarm rang, "in fact, I better be getting back to my office now, those meetings won't host themselves," he gave the reporter a fake uneasy grin, "you understand?"
The woman seemed a little miffed for a while, but that was quickly covered up by a happy grin.
"Of course Mister Warner! That's no trouble at all."
Yes! I'm free! Yakko internally celebrated.
"I can just get a few words while I walk back with you to the office," she continued in an almost sing-song voice, "Of course that wouldn't be too unreasonable would it, sir?"
"Not unreasonable, I just would like to not talk about this out in the open," he answered, gritting his teeth in growing frustration, "the reunion is an important event and I just can't go prattling about details to anyone, especially in front of other reporters."
"But what's so secret and personal that you can't talk to me about it, it's just a reunion isn't it?" she asked, thinking she had the upper hand, "Come on, just a few words? It's just until you make it back to your office."
"I said no," he insisted.
"Surely you're being a little unreasonable, Mister Warner. It's only a few words," she pushed.
Yakko thought unhappily about that for a bit. I didn't want to resort to this, but Lady, you're pissing me off so here goes, he prepped himself.
"Oh, but you see Miss, I'm a toon," her smirk dropped immediately into a frown, but he continued, "That means that I can just, y'know, teleport back into my office," he stated matter-of-factly, smug smile gracing his features. She had to admit, he had her there.
"But isn't that a little childish? Running away from a reporter of all things. I would think a big executive such as yourself were past this nonsense," she questioned snidely. Yakko just grinned.
"But I'm not running away Miss, just using my abilities to benefit myself," his grin turned wicked, "Considering you have the audacity to force me into talking with you, after I explained my reasons for not doing so," he paused a moment, "and then you suggest that I talk to you about personal information as if you weren't going to post it all over the media tomorrow," he finished, glaring down his nose at her.
She just glanced dumbfound at him, mouth gaping like a fish. Getting her bearings eventually, her expression turned pleading.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I meant no disrespe-"
"But you did anyway," Yakko cut in, "Not only did you interrupt a conversation I was having to ask your silly questions, but you also questioned my maturity as CEO of Warner Brothers. You do realize I can get you forcefully removed from here for that. I could also report you for trespassing," at her alarmed look, he stopped his tirade. It almost looked as if she were about to cry.
No, that wasn't the reaction I was going for, he mentally slapped himself, better do some emotion control.
Quietly he came up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, startling her. He smiled softly at her. No harm, no foul, he chanted to himself. She gazed at him for a moment before finally opening her quivering mouth.
"I'm so sorry!" she wailed at him, dropping the microphone and clutching his suit jacket on either side, "I didn't mean it. It's just, I'm out of my comfort zone. They said you were difficult to crack and I was curious because no one's been able to interview you and I wanted to be the first and-and-and," she prattled off sobbing at him.
Geez, this is not what I wanted today, Yakko thought, rolling his eyes above her. Calmly patting her shoulder, he cleared his throat, hoping she'd stop crying if she realized how silly she was being.
"Ahhhhh…It's okay…" he trailed, wishing she'd let go of him, it was making him uncomfortable.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, she came out of it. She looked towards him, being the same height, their eyes met on equal lines and she looked incredibly embarrassed. Yakko looked down at his suit jacket to find lots of little wet patches gracing the fabric. He sighed, unbuttoning it and taking it off, hanging it over his arm. Hearing the woman cough uneasily, he looked back towards her with a blank face.
"I'm really sorry about that! I don't know what came over me," she said, chuckling slightly, looking away from the man in front of her. There was an awkward pause before Yakko decided to break it.
"Look, sorry for making you cry," he said, rubbing the back of his head, ears flickering up and down softly, "you've just caught me on a bad day is all. Been having a bit of an emotional day myself," he looked away.
"Hey, I guess I deserve it for being rude to you. Sorry about your jacket and everything. Just trying to get a good scoop and all, the reunion is an exciting event for me since I grew up watching the show and all…" she looked away embarrassed again. This just piped Yakko's curiosity.
Smirking, he put his jacket into his hammerspace for keeping and calmly clasped his gloved hands behind his back. It wasn't every day that he'd meet one of his fans, people were only interested in Warner Brothers information, not some silly cartoon from the 90s.
"Ohhh, so you're a fan are you?" he took her reddening face as a yes, "So if I was to do something like, say, this?"
Suddenly, he did a quick spin, changing almost automatically out of his suit and into a very familiar pair of brown slacks and belt. Obviously not the originals, since he'd grow quite a lot since then, but a perfect replica all the same. Lanett's reaction to it was hilarious; Yakko could almost see her turn into a kid again, sitting in front of a television set. He chuckled at her.
"That would be your reaction," he said, eyeing her with a hand to his chin, "priceless," he shook his head, amused. Then he became serious again.
"But, I digress," he said looking at a hand as if he had nails he were admiring, "I really should be getting back to the office, so if you were after anything else…" he trailed off, waiting for her to snap out of her reminiscing.
"Oh, yes, Yak- I mean, Mister Warner," she stumbled, "again I'm very sorry about how I acted before. It was unprofessional and completely uncalled for and I apologize," she said with a slight bow. Yakko just waved a hand at her.
"Alls forgiven, just take no for an answer next time is all. I wasn't exactly angry, just more frustrated than anything else," he shrugged, tail flicking from side to side. The woman smiled, relieved.
"Thank-you! Also, as a fan of your show, awesome move before, you look the same as I remember," she pointed to his now smug face, "that face and all. I assumed it was all an act, boy was I wrong…"
"Technically not everything was real," he pointed out, "I'm certainly not as…zany as the show liked to state and I like to think I'm not as rude either," his face became annoyed for a moment before it bounced back to normal, he shrugged again, "but thank-you as well. I don't see many fans these days and it's nice to show off every once in a while I guess…" he paused again, sticking his hand out for her to shake, "but anyway, I've gotta go now. I forgive you and stuff, it was nice to meet you considering the circumstance."
"Yes and thanks again for not calling anyone on me, I may have lost my job," she replied accepting the handshake, "it was nice meeting you too and I hope once everything gets sorted out I may be able to have an interview?"
"Maybe…" he replied, spinning again to change back into his suit, "Good bye and all that. And don't annoy too many of my stars, they complain otherwise," he joked, laughing lightly as he put his jacket back on, now magically clean of all tear stains.
"Of course, Sir. Goodbye," she laughed as he began to make his way away from her, now safe of prying questions, "again, nice trick," she called towards his retreating back.
Turning his head slightly to wink back at her he replied.
"Well, as the show did say," he smiled genuinely at her this time, "I am the very model of a cartoon individual," he finished, turning back around to saunter confidently off, tail swishing behind him.
"The merchandise sales for The Hobbit are rising steadily since the second movies trailer came out, we were thinking about making a Hobbit themed display in the WB store, with your okay of course."
You know what I would be okay with? Getting out of this stupid office before Christmas, Yakko thought unhappily.
"Did I not say before that you don't need to come to me with this? I don't care what display gets put there, just as long as we own it," he replied, rubbing his temple to hopefully will away his growing headache, "Look, we've been in here for over two hours, talking about this product placement. Can we please come to a conclusion guys? I've got somewhere to be at 9."
The men and women, who were part of the board, had the audacity to look guilty.
"We understand that Yakko, but all of this needs your signature…" One of the men, Kile I think, Yakko mused,piped in.
"Then leave a document on my desk about it. I don't need to sit through a lecture about this," he informed tiredly. Suddenly however, the board seemed to share worried looks amongst one another, waking Yakko slightly.
"Okaayyy…What's with all the worried faces," he tilted his head, "I don't bite, what is it you need? But before you ask for a raise or anything, I can't give it to you because of funds and such, besides…You guys earn enough, right? I don't think I'm that cheap. But if there are health concerns with one of you, I can be flexibl-"
"No, it's not that!" a woman, I'm gonna say Jacky…Yakko thought, interrupted, "Look, it's another idea we've been throwing around a bit, but it's stupid. Right, guys?" She said, cuing a round of nods. Yakko sighed.
"Seriously, what's so stupid you can't tell me? Do I have to remind you of what I did in the 90s? I lived in a water tower and you think some display idea is more stupid than that?" he waved his hands to emphasis his point, waiting for someone to say something against it.
"Actually, it has something to do with that…" Kile stated uneasily.
"Look, we're not putting another blow-up version of me on top of it like they did last time to tried and boost sales if that's what you mean!" all he received was a bunch of shaking heads, "well what do you want to do with my water tower then?"
"We don't want to do anything with it, Yakko," a beautiful red-headed woman piped up by the name of Claire, "we were wondering if we could put together a display for the Animaniacs 20th anniversary?"
"Well, that was like pulling teeth, people," the Warner replied, not really surprised by the idea, "I'm surprised you guys paid so much attention to the dates though," he eyed them for a minute before grinning, "Oh, I'd just hate seeing my face plastered all over the place for a month, really? That's a great idea guys! I still love my show and I'd love for more people to see it again," he heard a chorus of 'yays' and 'thank-yous', causing his grin to morph into a happy smile.
"Seriously, how many times will 'Animaniacs' come up today? It's almost like these are just coincidences leading up to some big event or something," he pondered out loud. This caused the board to stare at him confusedly. Yakko chuckled, embarrassed.
"Ahhhh…Forth wall joke. So are we finally set on this? Make it look good. Bust out those DVDs and toys cause I want to hear about it on the news," they still kept giving him weird looks, wondering why he was so enthusiastic, "Hey, it's important to me! I haven't seen myself on a billboard for years, it's exciting," that finally made them shrug and start clearing their parts of the table.
After they'd grabbed their items, Yakko met each member at the door to give them a handshake. Everyone filed out of the room until Yakko was the only one remaining. Suddenly Minerva appeared, startling the toon slightly. Having worked around humans so long he tended to forget that toons could, quite literally, appear from nowhere. Giggling, the mink handed Yakko a manila folder with a large stack of sheets, causing the CEO to sigh roughly.
"More homework, Merv?" he said tiredly, flipping through the files quickly. A sharp pain suddenly shot up his arm after Minerva gave him a punch, "Ouch! Man, you're vicious. I didn't think yoga worked muscles," he rubbed his sore arm while pouting at her.
"It doesn't, you're just a big baby, and I'll do worse if you keep calling me that!" she glared, causing him to chuckle.
"Okay, okay," he put his hands up in mock surrender, "I've got somewhere to be soon and I can't go out looking like I was just in a brawl."
"Greeaaattt, who's the unlucky girl you've managed to rope into a date this time," she drawled, crossing her arms while looking up at him. He sent her a slight glare, matching her pose.
"If you must know, it's a guy-"
"Oh my God! I just knew your style was too gay to be straight!" she exclaimed. Quickly shooting a hand out to stop her from talking, Yakko continued.
"No! Oh God, no," he calmly removed his hand from her mouth, "first it's a friend, second he's married and third, do you really think I'm gay, really?" he listed off with his fingers, staring at her like she'd grown two heads, "Not that there's anything wrong with it, but really?"
She just waved him off, "Of course, Yak. I'm just joking; you stare at my ass so much I'm surprised anyone would think you were gay to begin with," she rolled her eyes.
I didn't think I was that obvious, Yakko thought glumly.
"But anyway, I guess I'll just leave you to get ready for your boys night and I'll see you tomorrow. Make sure you get your work done this time," she said, turning away from him to walk towards the exit, she turned slightly on the way, "and stop look at my butt!" she winked, exiting the room.
Yakko huffed from his position in the doorway. Minks, he smiled wryly.
Just over half an hour later, Yakko was in his car on his way to the restaurant Danny wanted to meet at.
"Olive's Bistro, Olive's Bistro…" he told himself, "Ahh, there it is!" he said to no one.
I've gotta stop talking to myself, he thought, pulling his car into a parking spot.
It was a nice little bistro, one that looked very fancy and would probably charge too much for what you got, but it was…quant.
He locked his car door and shoved the keys into his pocket, making his way towards the entrance of the restaurant where he met a waiter ready to take him to a table.
"I have a booking, I'm pretty sure he's already here," Yakko stated, glancing around the room for the cat, finding Danny waving at him, he returned it and turned back to the waiter, "Yeah, that him. So I'll just go to him then," he said, shuffling sideways towards the other toon.
"Excuse me, Sir. But I need a name so I can verify the booking was for you," the waiter interrupted, stepping in front of him. Yakko just gave him an exasperated look.
"Could you not see him wave me over?" he paused, shaking his head, "Never mind. It's Warner, Yakko Warner," he informed.
"Is that with one 'k' or two?" the waiter asked. Yakko threw a dry look his way, opening his mouth to reply, but someone spoke before him.
"Two 'ks', now can you please hurry up and seat him? I would very much like to eat sometime tonight."
Yakko knew that voice anywhere. He remembered it saying his name for the first time, harmonizing with it on the show and now here, ten years after fighting with it.
"Wakko?" he questioned the toon, turing around to face him, "What are you doing here?"
He took in the image of his little brother slowly. He'd grown, that was for sure, and he wasn't that much shorter than Yakko, coming up to his eyes. He wore a black pair of jeans, a simply blue t-shirt and a nice leather jacket over the top. Instead of a cap he wore a black beanie, seeming a little out of place considering he'd never seen him without his cap. The eldest Warner could see little tuffs of fur poking out of the beanie, hinting that Wakko decided to grow his head fur out.
His brother gave him a dry look, one eyebrow raised.
"Eating, y'know? Food is kinda important every now and then otherwise you kind of, die…" he drew out, giving Yakko a weird look.
Well, I can't complain, it was a stupid question, Yakko thought, shrugging. He chuckled uneasily, scratching the back of his head.
"Haha, yeah. Stupid question," he paused, trying to think of something to say to the brother he hadn't seen in years, "You've grown," he stated lamely.
That was pathetic Yakko. You've grown? That's all you can say? He chided himself. It was awkward having Wakko's eyes on him, he'd forgotten what it felt like.
"Yeah, so have you," Wakko replied, darting his eyes away.
There was a long awkward silence. The waiter fortunately broke it.
"Oh, yes, Yakko Warner. You're here with a cat named Danny, is that right?" at Yakko's nod, he continued, "Okay, I'll escort you to your table now," he turned to Wakko, "Just wait a moment please, sir. I'll get you a table shortly," Wakko just nodded mutely, staring off in Yakko's direction.
"Ahhh…it was…good seeing you, Wakko," he said pleasantly towards his brother, bumping him out of his thoughts.
"Oh, yeah. Good to see you too, Yakko," he replied distracted, watching as Yakko was ushered towards Danny's table.
Yakko sat down across from Danny, so deep in thought he hadn't heard the cat speak.
"Helllooo, Yakkooo," he chanted, waving a paw in front of the staring toon's face.
Yakko immediately snapped out of his thoughts to look at the toon in front of him, "Sorry Danny, my mind was elsewhere."
"I'll say, you look as if you've seen a ghost," he pointed out, picking up his menu to gaze over it, glancing every now and then at the strangely quiet man in front of him, "are you alright, Yakko?"
But Yakko's mind went elsewhere again. Why was that so awkward? Why couldn't either of them say a word to one another? He had so many questions he wanted answers to and all of them leading to dead ends. Wakko was his brother for Pete's sake! They were the Warner brothers and that would never change. So why was their relationship so strained now? Yakko would rather have argued with him than talk to him as if they'd only just met.
I don't like it, little bro. What happened to us?
