Animaniacs is owned by Warner Bros. I don't claim any of them as mine, same as with any other franchise I use in here, they're not mine either.
Warner Film Lot, in the Admin Building, 10 PM
"So you finally found them?" Plotz said when he saw the groups return, wiping his brow. He had been admittedly very nervous after they left, so he hoped they had good news.
"Yup we got them all!" Bradley said with a bright and confident smile. "They're all back, at least I hope so. Right?" He said as he looked to the others, especially the Warners.
"Yeah, don't worry, they couldn't get out of there fast enough!" Yakko said. Who'd have thought that'd be related to a good thing?
"Mine left just as well." The suited cat said.
Rick and Stan also gave the same results. "Yup, after some trouble. Stan here wouldn't get over being all caught off guard by the last time he went up against one."
"Hey, it's not supposed to happen!" Stan said with a grumble, to which the Warners snickered.
"Well get used to it." Yakko said.
"It's what makes things fun for us!" Dot said happily.
Bradley let them talk before walking to the window after yawning. Wakko noticed and walked over to him. "'Ey, what's the matter?" He asked, hopping on top of the human's shoulders.
"Ehh... Just thinking things over." Bradley responded.
"Wonder what that's like." Wakko said, looking out the window too and resting his arms on top of the teen's head.
"Well, it's great that we got the toons back and we know where this Bendy person is, but... Why did he even want to do this?" Bradley wondered out loud. "Did he even know what Toontown was going to turn into without new toons in it? Or C.G. City or anywhere else here?"
"Maybe you can ask him when ya find him!" Wakko answered, hopping off.
"Yeah, I was thinking that." Bradley said with another yawn. "But of course I still have school, so after, we'll talk. I oughta tell Shannon about this too, since we're friends."
"So you DO like her!" Wakko said, getting the attention of the other Warners. Bradley shushed him right away.
"As a friend Wakko. And I'm sure she thinks that too. Like how I think of you all as friends." Bradley assured him. "But I still have to ask this guy about all of this. Why they took the toons and did what he did with his suit guys. Who knows, maybe they'll give a good explanation."
Soon after, Rick and Stan walked over. "Whatchya talkin' about over here?" Rick asked.
"Oh, just what we're gonna do when we find this Bendy person." Bradley answered.
"You mean pound them into a puddle?" Stan said with a smirk.
"Nooooo, as in talk first." Bradley said, rubbing his eyes. "After we sleep and after school, we'll head over and follow that new map we got." He added, with Stan looking disappointed.
"That's kind of a good idea anyway." Rick said in agreement.
"Aww, we can't have a little fun with them first?" Yakko said with a frown. "We had a lot of games planned, like Battleship and Chinese Checkers!"
"Who knows, but for now, we need rest." Bradley said plainly, he was just about at his limit of staying up.
"I'll stay with Plotz, we're gonna talk about what to do with our new clues." The feline said.
Bradley nods and Rick and Stan soon end up leaving through a specialized toon hole back to the human world, back to their respective houses.
As the group of 4 returned to the Water Tower and got into bed, Bradley sighed and thought things over that went through his head back at the studio. He looked over to the soon sleeping Warner siblings. They were definitely his friends and they'd stay friends for a long time, even if they were toons. There was no way it'd stop now.
The next morning, in the human world at school
Bradley and the Warners left Mom's van when they reached his school, but Mom looked worried about Bradley as usual, but more so since this whole toonnapping fiasco went on. "You going to be alright?" She said worriedly.
"Yeah, we'll be fine, it's almost over." Bradley assured her with a smile.
"Don't worry, we'll steer him straight ma'am!" Yakko said, the three siblings grabbing Bradley and shaking him a little. "We'll insure the proper punishment if he strays out of line." He added with a slight southern accent, taking on the role of a cop.
Mom didn't chuckle though, she was genuinely worried for him. "Well if you're sure." She said simply, soon leaving.
As they four of them entered, the other students looked on with a slight bit of surprise and distain. How were those toons able to come to their school since they weren't allowed back in Toontown? Bradley assumed the tunnels were still closed off to the others.
"Well aren't you lucky?" One of the older teens said to Bradley, an 8th grader. "You still got your toon friends, but now my little brother can't even visit that place cause of what's going on in there."
"Well it's not my fault." Bradley said as he kept walking.
The older teen stopped him. "Then how come your blotches are still hanging out with you? What makes you special enough to keep going back and forth there huh?" He said, almost threateningly.
"Hey now, I can smell your aftershave from here." Yakko said with a disgusted "bleagh" face.
"You shut up!" The 8th grader said with a pointed finger at the older Warner brother. "You shouldn't even be here cause of what's happening!"
"We're trying to find out who's really to blame, we're close-" Bradley started before someone else joined the argument.
"Hey, leave them alone!" A feminine voice said. Shannon had heard what was being talked about and decided to intervene. "In case you're curious, he ended up saving that town years ago before you even knew it existed! He's trying his best, so back off!" She shouted, getting the attention of a few more students.
The 8th grader was almost wordless, with Yakko whispering "good find" to Bradley. The older teen huffed and leaned in close. "Just get this fixed, there's more than me that's mad about this." He said simply before walking away.
"Thanks Shannon." Bradley said with a light sigh of relief. "He looked ready to deck something."
"No prob, friend." Shannon responded, patting his back and sounding all optimistic again.
"It's actually good you're here, cause we're actually about to wrap this up." Bradley added.
"Oh I didn't know it was Christmas!" Wakko said with an excited tone, bringing out a wrapped mallet from behind him. Bradley assured him it wasn't that kind of "wrap".
"You're about to find out who took those toons?" Shannon asked with a hushed tone as they went to their lockers. "Good, I already miss going to that place."
"Yeah, and I honestly don't know what'll happen. And I want you to come with me." Bradley suggested.
"You sure that it's a good idea?" Shannon said. "They're not gonna let me in."
"So? You can come with me, just ask your parents if you can hang out." Bradley suggested with a little smile, the Warners listening in close.
"Well if you're super sure about it, I suppose it won't hurt." Shannon said after a moment. "And I'm sorry if I doubted you being friends with those three." She added, pointing to the Warners who were listening, zipping back and whistling innocently with hands behind their backs. "From the looks of things, you all seem really happy together."
"Thanks, that really means a bunch to me." Bradley said with a happier expression.
"And us, it's not often we hear good things about us." Yakko said with a little chuckle.
"Ain't that the truth." Bradley said with crossed arms, the Warners grinning at that as if proud.
"Well either way, I'll see ya later." Shannon said as she got her stuff and closed her locker, heading to class. Bradley nods and did the same, the siblings following him.
Lunchtime
Bradley sat down with Rick and Stan as usual, with the Warners hiding in his backpack. He told them to keep a low profile this time after the encounter with that 8th grader before, much to their chagrin.
"So you told her?" Stan asked, leaning in after his lunch was almost done.
"Yeah, she's coming with us too." Bradley said in response, about halfway done with his.
"Seems fair, we'll need as much help as we can get." Rick said with a tone of understanding, his food already done. "But how's she gonna get into Toontown with you?"
"I got a plan, it's simple, but it'll work. I promise it will." Bradley assured them. "Juuuuust gonna exploit a little loophole..."
Stan just sighed a little. "Still though, we're really close to the end, aren't we? We know where they are, why can't we give them what for?"
"Cause Bradley needs to find out why Bendy did all that. And we don't even know what he looks like, we don't have any pictures. Just a map to where he MIGHT be." Rick explained.
Stan grumbled and hit his hand on the table a little hard. "You know I really don't like it when you're right sometimes, when you put it that way." He said, hiding a tone of anger in his voice.
"Hmm, someone's getting fired up, you got any water in this bag kid?" Yakko asked from in the backpack, making it shake.
Bradley shook his head. "No, sorry."
"It's okay, we'll make our own water. Wakko, think of all your favorite foods!" Dot said.
Bradley just rolled his eyes and smiled a little, looking back to the other two. "Only if their explanation isn't good enough." He said to Stan, assuring him he'd get to hit something soon enough. "But this is really big stuff here. We can't screw this up or else those toons are just gonna get taken again. I don't know how long we got before everything else gets snatched up while we're gone."
"We can't, not after all that trouble!" Rick said worriedly.
"It won't happen, we got a lot of help." Bradley said with a smirk. "Like Things 1, 2 and 3 in there."
"Hey, we resent that! We can rock the blue hair a lot better than them!" Yakko said when the three siblings popped out of the backpack wearing blue wigs.
"I know you can." Bradley said with a snicker.
After school, about 3 PM
Shannon had told her parents that she'd be hanging out with friends, so they let her go as long as she was back by dinner. Rick and Stan said they'd be in Toontown shortly too. She joins the others in Bradley's mom's van and gets in the empty seat in the middle. While the Warners talked and had their usual games while Shannon just looked confused at most of it, Bradley saw the Toontown tunnel approaching while they drove into it. "Please work, please work..." He mumbled quietly to himself as they drove through.
Soon enough, they were all back in the Warner Movie Lot, with the teen looking back to see Shannon was still there. He sighed in relief, thankful the loophole worked as they drove up to the admin building. The cat was waiting for them at the door, smiling and twirling his cane.
"Well well, I see you brought your new friend with you." The suited feline said when he saw Shannon in the middle seat. She waves at the cat in response.
"Yeah, I figured why not?" Bradley said when he got out of the van, walking over. "I wanted her to come see this."
"So he does like her!" Yakko said with the other Warners chanting: "You like her, you like her!". Bradley rolled his eyes and Shannon shushed them, the brothers and sister snickering.
"Anyways, this is it, huh?" Bradley said with a little sigh. "We know where they are, all that's left is to go there."
"Indeed." The feline said with a nod, pulling out a pieced together map to where Bendy would be. "We'll finally get our answers." He added as he pocketed it.
Mom however, was apprehensive. "It's still gonna be really nerve-wracking though. It's not Bradley's first time into something like this, but it's still making me really worried for him." She said with a little frown.
Bradley looked back to Mom and walks over to her. "Hey, I'll be fine, I promise. I got a lot of friends with me and you know I always try my best." He said with a little smile at her.
Soon after, Rick and Stan came in through the tunnel and joined the others. "SO!" Stan shouted. "We heading there to give that devil what for or what?"
"Stan, he said we're not here to hurt them, I'll keep saying it if I have to." Rick said right after to divert Stan's thinking. "Now how're we all gonna fit in the van?"
The Warners got an idea and got a button out to press, changing the van from human-made to toony once again. Mom and Shannon inside shrieked in surprise when it changed inside and out with her in it. "You gotta tell me when you do that!" Mom yelled.
"But it's more fun when it's a surprise!" Dot said happily.
"And since when were people ever excited by someone telling them ahead of time?" Yakko said with crossed arms, smirking.
"Well at least it looks bigger on the inside." Bradley said, opening the door.
"Like our dear hearts?" Dot said with her hand on her chest.
"Our brains?" Yakko added pointing to his head.
"Our stomachs?" Wakko said right after, patting his belly.
"We'll... Just go with all three." Bradley said with a little laugh, entering the toony van along with everyone else. Everyone got comfy and the seatbelts fastened themselves around the people that entered. "Ready everyone?"
The others gave varying degrees of "YEAH" to "I guess", the latter coming from Shannon. She was a little nervous about what they were about to do. "This is a good idea, right?" The human girl said.
"Honestly, I have no idea. It's the best I got." Bradley said with a shrug.
"Hey, that's what we think all the time!" Yakko said with a bright expression.
At the unknown location, 3:30 PM
The toon van made very good time with its speed and with the others following their map, as well as with the feline's lessons in controlling it that he gave to Mom on the fly. The Warners all yelped and cheered with each big turn they made while the humans held on for dear life and clung to the seats they were sitting at.
It didn't help Bradley's nervousness either, not knowing what'd he end up meeting when they got there. It didn't last long though when they finally reached the place. It looked like a very-much-abandoned animation studio, like the ones they were at in Toontown. After all the humans caught their breath, Bradley stepped out and the others soon followed. Shannon and Rick looked very dizzy and took longer to recover from that trip as well.
"So, this is it huh?" Bradley said, looking at the run-down place.
"It's another animation studio, but..." The feline started. "It looks very decrepit. Seems like it hasn't been kept up with for decades. I'm surprised it's still able to stand."
"But that's where Bendy is, huh?" The human teen said as the group walked closer to it. "Do you know what it is?"
"Not a clue, my friend." The cat said a moment later. "It must be something very little known that I haven't gotten to yet. Either that or some toons wanted to make their own place out of the way."
"Well it looks gross." Shannon said with crossed arms. "Look at all those splotches on the walls, is that... Ink?"
"Bleh..." Rick said to himself when that was pointed out to him.
"Looks like our fingerpainting portraits." Yakko said with a critiquing tone.
"At least they put their works of art right on where they live, that's something." Dot added with a complimenting voice herself.
Bradley sighs gently as they reached the front door, opening it slowly. Soon, there was an eerie whistling echoing through the halls.
"Where's the Ghostbusters when you need them?" Yakko pointed out as they walked.
"Hello hello, come on in!" A mysterious voice said over the intercom. "I'm very glad you could find this place, you're so close to finishing our game!"
The Warners uttered a little "ooh" at the idea of a game, but Bradley shushed them. "I don't think it's a fun kind of game." He said with a quieter voice.
"Oh don't worry, I'm not far, just beyond the next door, and the next and the next!" The voice said with a laugh.
"Oh, we're really not gonna go on another maze search like last time right?" Stan said with an annoyed tone.
"Don't worry my friend, just follow my buddies and we'll get to meeting each other reeeeeeal soon!" The voice said in response before cutting off.
"So are we playing hide and seek?" Wakko asked. "I love that game, we're the champions of hiding!"
"You should see all our medals for seeking too." Yakko added onto it.
Bradley chuckles softly. "Later, but now we need to find where that voice came from." Bradley said. "Stay cautious everyone..."
The Warners looked at each other and nodded, spinning around and getting into ninja suits. "Cautious is our middle name." Yakko said with a hushed voice.
"Wasn't it 'Amblin'?" Dot asked.
"As far as you know." The older sibling said with a smirk under the ninja mask he had on.
With that, the group walked through the halls, seeing the occasional suits. But instead of rushing them, the suits acted friendly and guided them on their way. "This way", "over there", they said every so often as they pointed out the directions.
"So what do you think we're gonna see when we get there?" Mom said.
"I... really don't know." Bradley responded, sounding a little nervous. "I mean we read what he looked like in the book, but this'll be the first time we could see him."
"Indeed, we won't know what we'll be up against." The cat said, gripping his cane a little tightly. "I just hope that our Bradley's idea of talking to him will actually work.
Shannon looked the most nervous, especially in being in a weird place like this abandoned studio. "Is what you're looking for really in here?" She said finally.
"Feels like we're gonna se a Slimer cameo in here." Yakko said, the Warners figuring sneaking wasn't needed and back in their normal clothing.
Soon there were two suits in front of the last door leading into a big part of the studio, which looked like it wasn't a part of the main building at all. They just gave neutral expressions and held the door handles, ready to open on command.
"So, do we send him into the fray alone or do we go with?" The feline said. The Warners peeked out from the backs of Stan, Rick and Mom.
"Oh, send the human in first, I want to see if he's really understanding enough first!" The voice over the intercom said.
Bradley looks behind him at the group. "Well, there's your answer." The teen said with a chuckle. "Just keep an ear out just in case, okay?"
"Sure! You can borrow ours!" Wakko said, detatching one ear off and giving it to Bradley. The human snickered and shook his head. "That'll be fine." He said, looking at the others before hugging Mom.
Mom hugged back in response right away. "Good luck in there." She said simply.
Bradley nods, looking at Rick and Stan. "You got this, man." Stan said, resting his hand on his friend's shoulder.
Bradley smiles in response. "Thanks, really." He said before looking to the Warners.
"I know, I know, we're gonna do the mopey routine and quote Braveheart to inspire the confidence, but we'll just say this to save on the budget." Yakko said. "We really hope you know what you're doing, kid."
Bradley nods and smiles, giving them all a hug. That surprised them since they usually pounce, quite literally, at the chance to give their special friends one. "I will, I'll just try to wing it like you do." He said with a chuckle.
Then Bradley looked over to Shannon. "I don't want you to go, but looks like everyone trusts ya." She said with a huff. "You really do have good friends, huh?"
"Well I try." Bradley said with a little smile, rubbing the back of his head.
"Well you definitely look like you succeeded." Shannon said in response. "Keep it that way, okay?"
Bradley nods, shaking her hand. "Yup, as long as I can."
"And as long as there's more seasons to show it!" The three Warners said in unison happily. The human teen smirked at that and soon turns around to the door.
"Well, here we go. Let me in." Bradley said to the suits. They nod and pull open the door. Inside was something that looked the inkiest of them all. The group gave a last look at Bradley before the doors closed. While the teen looked around, he saw some suits here or there, along with a balcony on the top.
"Ah, my dear human, welcome to my humble home!" The voice said, only it wasn't over an intercom, it was like they were really in the same room. Bradley looked up at the balcony, seeing a figure smirking, but mostly hidden in shadow up there. That didn't last long though as it hopped down to the ground. Bradley looked on and saw the figure in full, the horn-like head, pie eyes, black form dripping with ink occasionally, and that grin. That big toothy grin that usually indicates fun to be had.
Bradley looked on as the figure stood up, clearing his throat. "Are you Bendy?"
The figure held his smile as he bounced up into the air. "Yessir, that's me! Glad you could finally get here! Did you like my game?"
"Game? Oh, right, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." Bradley said, doing his best to play along.
"Oh really? Well why don't you play another game with me and I'll tell ya?" Bendy said, looking eager to play. "Tag me if you can!" He said as he started running. Bradley tilted his head curiously. "Don't worry, my suit friends won't get in the way, just catch me!" Bendy said before turning a corner. Bradley goes along with it, hoping to get some answers when they were done.
Author's note: Alright, motivation feels like it's back, so we could finish this up soon. We'll have answers in the next chapters, promise!