A/N:
This is a cameo chapter. It puts the gang back on the right track and gives a few hints to what's coming and what's been kept secret. I really wasn't all that happy with this chapter or how it played out, but it's the best I could do. I promise the next chapter will be better. I promise. And again, this is just a cameo, NOT a crossover.
*Talia's POV*
I blinked away the daze as I was hoisted to my feet from the solid ground. It was surprisingly light in here, and homely. In fact if it wasn't for the brown walls, and rounded hole in the ceiling leading to the outside world, I could have sworn I was in some strangers living room, and I most likely was. Oh thank god, Flynn and Poppy were next to me, but their eyes were fixed on a figure on the opposite end of the room. The Warner's were helping me to my feet, their expressions bright with mischief and giving a message of: 'you're gonna love this'. I looked at them questioningly, just what was going on here?
Thoughts of gunfire, fear… R.J, came to mind. But the last thing I recalled was being pulled down into the darkness. He, whoever they were looking at, brought us here. But to save us or turn us in, I didn't know. From what I could see, he was a little taller than Yakko, oddly large front teeth with… fur? And long ears like… like a… I froze. Oh my god…
"Okay, ya vandals what's all the ruckus up there? This place ain't soundproof ya know?" the stranger stared at us individually, his accent now placed as either Bronx or Brooklyn. I blinked in awe, oh my god… you've got to be screwing with me. He clicked his fingers in front of my brother, "Ya mind not staring at the tail, mac? If it ain't fluffy enough for ya then you're gonna have to find yourself another rabbit."
I repeat, you've got to be screwing with me? Flynn snapped his eyes upwards and swallowed, "You're a rabbit…"
Yakko face-palmed at the obvious statement. Poppy however was beaming, her childish excitement in overdrive, "I know you! You're real!"
Dot looked at her sceptically, "And the award for stating the obvious goes to…" she rolled her eyes, "Seriously kid, after everything that's happened, that's your comment?"
This was crazy! Sure I knew now that there were more toons, and modern ones at that; but not ones like him! I assumed it would be underdog side characters, or random scribbles! He was, he was… I needed to say it aloud, just to be sure that the fall hadn't messed my head up too much, "Bugs, as in Bunny? Are you serious?"
"Quick, ain't she?" he rabbit commented.
Yakko draped an arm over my shoulders, "Oh, kiddo here's sharp as a tack."
How long was I out for? I shook him off and raised my hands in an attempt at asking for peace, "Now listen, I think that over the years I've been a pretty good sport. Toons are real, fair enough; me and my family become toon-hybrid, I'm learning to live with that; a lunatic tries killing us not once but twice, why not! But if you expect me to believe he has been part of the cover-up too then forget it!"
"That's it, you've got till the count of thwee! One, two, thwee…"
The gun interrupted my ponderings and jabbed down the entrance, taking aim at random. I thought we'd lost him! I wanted to duck and push the group back for safety. But before I had a chance to react, Bugs simply rolled his eyes and took Wakko by the wrist, dragging him towards the barrel, "Well that explains the rabble up there. Come lend me a hand, kid."
Blinking in confusion, Wakko suddenly found himself with two of his fingers jammed inside the barrel of the gun. There was a subtle click as the trigger was pulled. For a second, nothing happened, but then it was as if the bullets were swelling due to the blockage and ricocheted back towards the handle. There was a loud bang, making me flinch out of instinct. When the smoke cleared, Wakko was left standing unharmed, but with scraps of metal dangling from his fingers and coughing up smog rings.
A weak voice sounded from above, "Well… as soon as I get a new gun, then you've got till the count of thwee, you hear that wabbit? This show ain't over yet!"
The sound of the hunters disappearing footsteps meant I could breathe again. "Great act!" Wakko called up after him.
"But don't call us!" Dot added.
Yakko waved eccentrically through the hole, "We'll call you!" I didn't fancy having the gunman trying to take another shot so I pulled the toon back into the room by the tail.
Bugs smirked with half-lidded eyes, nudging me knowingly, "And I can think of a few things I'd like to call 'em."
I gave a weak smile out of politeness but ended up taking a step back to look at Flynn questioningly, did he know about toons like him being involved in this? By the look on his face, I guessed not. So… did this mean that actual cartoon icons were included in this too as well as side-characters? Just how many were out there? And how had they all gone past the animator without anyone noticing? This didn't make any sense at all!
Okay, this was going a little too far now. I could understand the Warner's acting so passive about seeing him, he was just another toon to them, big named celeb or not it was nothing they hadn't seen before. And Poppy, she had been around toons since a young age, to have one that she recognises is just another up-side for her. Flynn, well sure he was just as shocked as I was, but he knew more than me about this than me. Frankly, I wanted some answers and I wanted them sooner rather than later. But where to start? God this felt weird, I should be used to this…
My inner babbling was interrupted by the rabbit eyeing me and grabbing my wrist and inspecting the glove imprint. For a second he rubbed his wrist against it as if either polishing it or testing to see if it'll disappear like a fake-tattoo. Naturally it didn't and I had to wince at the small twinge of pain the pressure summoned. His eyebrow raised slightly and he flashed a smile, making sure to glance at each of us individually.
"Oh now this makes much more sense."
I subtly pulled away and looked at the Warner's for guidance, "What does?"
"Remember how I said us lot were the talk of the town…" Flynn muttered, "A toon town."
Poppy bounced on her feet slightly and grinned in excitement, shaking Dot's shoulder, "He knows us!"
"How flattered." Dot smiled with exaggerated sweetness at the newcomer.
Bugs rolled his eyes, "I wouldn't be, you're not exactly a-listers on the mixer list."
Yakko pretended to look insulted, "And here's us missing out on all the fun…"
"Ya mean ya didn't get any invites?"
"You mean you tried to get us on the list? How nice."
"That's me in a nutshell."
"How nice." Yakko repeated.
"What no comeback? I gotta say you're reputation is a little off."
"Ah well I'm trying to change it for the publicity. Now whenever I come across a buck-tooth who has some major explaining to do and there's too much at once to quip, I simply say:" Yakko gave a toothy grin to mock him, "How nice."
Oh to hell with this, "Sorry to interrupt but exactly how does this make sense?" I asked, lifting my wrist, "Please just… what's going on here?"
"Calm down, doll, no sense getting antsy here." I think he was taking pity on us because he gave a more welcoming smile and nodded at my print, "That just makes more sense to me why all the ruckus. Like I said, reputation. And you six have got it big. You're the halfa's and the… mimes."
"Halfa's?" Poppy asked.
"Mimes?" Wakko questioned, "Warner's actually."
Dot smacked him upside the head, "He's being sarcastic, dummy, of course he's heard of us, we've got a 'reputation' after all."
"No kidding." Bugs replied deadpan, "Halfa, kid, you. Half toon? Jeez you really are out of the loop."
Flynn narrowed his eyes, "Give us a break, we know that you and the rest are in on our back-story, but we want to know why we don't know yours."
Thank god he was more blunt than I was. Bugs seemed to admire it and folded his arms challengingly, "Why not take that up with Jackie-boy?"
"You know Jar-Head?" Dot asked, looking genuinely surprised.
"If that's what he's going by, sure. I repeat, why not ask him?"
"Because he's under contract." I explained.
"Oh that's the story he's going with! Okay, I'll play along, it's a lie but I'll play along."
Play along? "You mean he's given us the run around?" Yakko asked. When Bugs nodded, he just pushed his hands together to make the knuckles crack, "How nice…"
"Hey I'm not getting involved." Bugs stated, "You got issues with the guy then have at it, I'm just setting ya straight."
"Straight into a literal ditch." He quipped, earning a scowl.
So, what he was saying was Jack could have told us at any time? He could have told us about other toons, or… what did Flynn say, a town full of them? What was this, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? This was pushing the boundaries even for our standard. Why would Jack lie? Okay, you know you're in trouble when a cartoon rabbit is more honest than a guy who's meant to be in the same boat as you. More lies. I really thought that the company was running out of those and secrets by now. Apparently not. Why couldn't we know about this? Even if me and my siblings weren't meant to know, surely the Warner's should know about this. They were toons after all.
I noticed that things were getting a little awkward, "Sorry, we're not trying to drag you into anything, it's just a lot to try and take in. I know that we've heard of you and you us but…" I muttered, thinking that it wasn't fair to interrogate him for answers when we had someone back at the studio who had so much more to answer for. I held out a hand sheepishly, "I'm Talia, this is my brother and sister, Flynn and Poppy; and these are Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner."
"Bugs." He replied simply, taking my hand briefly and nodding at the others.
Poppy tugged his arm, still star-struck, "So you mean that the studio has hidden hundreds of other toons out in the world?"
Bugs scoffed, "Not in the world, just behind the lot."
What the hell? Yakko smirked and spoke more to himself than anyone else, "The toon lot is bigger than we think…"
"You got no idea, doc."
"No, we don't." Dot agreed, "Hence the questions."
"I've answered them." He replied smugly.
"That's true," Wakko shrugged, "But what about Jar-Head?"
"Oh we'll get to him." Dot smirked.
Sooner rather than later. This was so weird, I wanted to leave and get answers, but at the same time I kind of wanted to stick around and see just who else was around these parts. Bugs seemed to pick up on this and tilted his head, "A toughie, ain't it?"
"You could say that…" I turned to the Warners, "I've got to talk to him, this has gone too far." I looked at Bugs, kind of unsure where to go from here, "Thanks for all this, I mean it," I nodded genuinely, "We didn't mean to intrude or -"
"Don't sweat it, from what I've heard ya ain't that bad, just unlucky. Go set the old boy straight, I told him his would happen." He winked, "And if ya get lost just tell someone ya know me and they'll help ya out." Bugs waved his hand passively.
"This coming from the guy who's had a gun pointed at his head and his house invaded by outcasts in less than an hour?" Wakko offered.
Yakko leant on my shoulder, arching an eyebrow at the rabbit, "Way to sell your pitch, did you get lessons from your real-estate agent?"
Bugs just looked at him with in the classic smug stance, "Coming from the one living in a tin can, I wondered where the smell of ham was coming from."
"At least I get some protein in my diet," he returned, moving his hand and mouth as if chewing a carrot, "Doc."
A long ear tweaked in interest, "Big talk from someone who's too short to be a jockey."
"This could most likely go on forever…" Dot grumbled.
She was right, but if I listened to anymore of this I was going to loose it, no wonder the Warner's were kept away from this place for so long. I hooked an arm around Yakko's shoulders and clamped my hand over his mouth, nodding at Bugs, "Thanks again for everything, we really appreciate it."
"Eh forget it, just try and keep out of trouble." He shrugged, "And you make sure Jack gives ya the full story, if it were up to me you'd be all in."
Poppy beamed and waved as she was lifted into the open, "Awesome…"
As I steered Yakko towards the exit, the others followed. Flynn folded his arms, "Out of trouble? You've heard of these guys, right?"
"Yeah, but don't sell yourself short either, kid, you've got a rep too, you know."
So we do… great. I gave another small smile of appreciation and clambered up into the open, shoving Yakko up before me to avoid another wit-battle. I couldn't actually believe that had happened. It moved by so quick and it was just so… I didn't have words. I know that part of me was screaming to get back in there and demand a full story, but it really wasn't fair to put him on the spot like that when it was Jack who'd lied. And he had saved us, not just from the hunter but also from… him. I knew it was him. I saw him. And he was still out there. That's another reason for my wanting to leave so soon, it wasn't safe with him around.
"Guys, I need you to go back to the tower and wait there for me." I said seriously as soon as we were in the open, "I'll be quick, but I just really need you to do that for me."
"Why the rush?" Yakko asked, glancing over his shoulder towards the hole, "We were having so much fun celebrity hunting…"
"I'm serious, can you do that for me?"
"Fine." The Warner's chanted, rolling their eyes.
I would have explained my reasons, but I didn't want to scare them. It was best that they stayed out of sight until I could get some answers. And I'm saying right now, the way I'm feeling, Jack wouldn't dare lie to me again. Just let him try.
A/N:
Be honest, this chapter was crap. I just hit a major writers block and I'm so sorry. Next one will be better I promise, don't lose faith just yet!
