A/N:

Thanks for not giving spoilers in the reviews and giving such great reviews at that! I tried to keep Pinky and the Brain in-character and funny despite the situation. So, hope you like and read on. XD

"Who's there?" I demanded, making myself sound as fearless as I could, I had to be strong for my siblings.

"Narf! I can't really answer that because we don't know who you are, you see?" the one with a pitchy and slightly cockney accent explained.

There was a muffled sound of something being hit hard and the second voice made itself heard, older and somewhat exasperated, "She means, who are we."

"Well, Brain, if they don't know who they are then why are they asking us?

A pause, and then, "You're idiocy never ceases to astound me, Pinky."

While the two argued, pretty one-sidedly, Flynn nudged me and pointed towards one of the metal tables that were only a few feet away from us. But aside from a few beakers and a microscope, there was only a simple hamster cage of sorts. Yet, the voices were coming from there. Was there someone hiding behind the table, lurking in the shadows. I shifted Poppy off of my lap and hid her behind me as I edged closer to the voices. I ducked my head downwards but there was no one in sight. This was getting annoying now and I had enough to worry about without this too.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"Poit! Yhoo-hoo!"

Poppy tensed and clung onto my arm, pointing at the cage with a trembling finger. If she'd done that over a week ago, I would have looked but not paid much attention, still searching for the voices' owners. But after everything, I gave it a closer look. My throat tightened in surprise at the sight of two small albino rodents inside, not scampering around, but standing on two legs and one of them reaching out through the bars to wave at us. The one waving was the tallest with blue eyes and was pretty skinny with made its overbite look bigger than it probably was. The other was short and had pink eyes almost hidden under a furrowed brow; his tail was badly crooked like it had been broken a few times and not healed properly. Not to be mean, but that one had a head bigger than Dib Membrane from Invader Zim! And boy did he look irritated.

"It's getting embarrassing calling you my associate…" he muttered at the taller mouse.

"I don't like rats." Poppy whispered, shrinking against me, trust her to be scared of the animal and not that it's talking to us…

"We're not rats, we're lab-mice." Big-head explained, "Previously inanimate and current genetically altered lab-mice."

"I'm not sure if I like mice either." Poppy whispered to me.

Flynn arched his brow, clearly unsure about this new situation, "So… you're toons?"

"If you want to simplify it, yes." Big-head replied, somewhat dejected.

"Egad! Brilliant, you're remembering things now!" the cockney one beamed, "Such a shame losing memories, I still have trouble finding mine, you know. Do you remember who you are yet? Narf!"

Exactly how altered was this one? "Uh, I'm Talia, and this is my brother, Flynn, and sister, Poppy." I crouched down so that I was eye-level with them, surprised by how used to things like this happening. Maybe after a talking cat, dog and three… Warner's, mice were a tiny step backwards, "And who are you?"

Big-head stepped forward and started to shove his tail into the key-hole of the cage; suddenly it made more sense as to why his tail was so out of shape. After a few struggles, he opened the door and stepped out to face us properly. The other followed him and gave us another extravagant wave, making Poppy chuckle and give a shy wave back.

"I am known as The Brain," Big-head announced before glancing at his friend with a little irritation, "and this is my associate, Pinky."

Pinky and The Brain, I thought while taking in what I'd seen to far; one sounded like the genius of the mix while the other just seemed… insane. A/N: I couldn't resist XD Poppy seemed to be coming around to them, not holding on so tightly now and fully studying them with her eyes. Flynn was keeping at a distance but was still listening inventively.

"So what tests are we having today?" Pinky asked, clapping his paws together.

"Tests?" we muttered in confusion.

He looked at us in pity, "Still having trouble with the memories then?"

Brain smacked him on the side of the head, "Think, Pinky. Do they, a group of minors, look like scientists? That and the forceful way they were locked in here should give you a clue that they are here against their will. They are prisoners too."

"Poor little things, oh can we keep them, Brain? Oh can we, please? Narf!"

I had to admire the irony of that statement, "Uh, so how did you end up here? In the Waiting Room, I mean." I didn't fancy going off back down the story of how they were created and stuff like that again, but I was eager to find out what this Waiting Room was all about and more importantly, how to get out.

"Waiting Room? This – Talia, was it?" Brain started, "This is the labs. The Waiting Room is on another floor completely and is only used for people that the CEO wants to intimidate, why did you assume this was that room?"

"Because that's where the CEO said to send us." Flynn explained, "How come that goon sent us here instead?"

I shrugged, maybe Mackenzie really was as stupid as I thought him to be. Or he couldn't be bothered going back and fore to a different floor so he was lazy and locked us here instead. Did it really matter anyway? We still didn't have much time before we were carted off again. There was no way I was selling out the toons, and even if I wanted to I couldn't say exactly where they were to do so. But there was also no way I was letting them take my siblings away either. Over my dead body. But if this part of the building was the labs; then this was probably where they were experimenting on toons. That would explain why Pinky thought we were going to carry out tests. I really wanted to ask what kinds of tests they were doing on them, but I wasn't sure if the answers were going to be child-friendly. And my siblings had been through enough lately without hearing all the gory details. I assumed gory because R.J looked more than capable.

"Is there any way out of here?" I asked, guessing that with their size they were bound to creep out somewhere.

"Alas, we have only been in containment for only a matter of days and within that time been under constant supervision. Only briefly in the night hours have we roamed from our cage but still no exit had been found. It seems the only way out is the only way in." Brain pointed at the locked door, "This halts my plans for world conquest considerably…"

Okay… that came out of nowhere… What kind of experiments were they doing to them in here?

"You could use your tail…" Poppy mumbled, still unsure of them.

"Poit! That would snap you like a twig, Brain, it would!" Pinky nodded with a strange sense of glee.

I hadn't noticed that he'd slid down the table leg and was now gazing up at the colossal metal door as if admiring the sight. I would suggest them crawling under it, but even they would struggle to get through that gap. Plus, what would they do when they got out? They didn't have keys and couldn't reach the handle, we'd still be stuck. And anyway, we didn't even know anything about them! They could be dangerous for all we knew. But then again… Flynn and I exchanged tired glances as Pinky started muttering words to Jailhouse Rock while Poppy giggled and sat cross legged to enjoy the show. Well at least one of us was smiling again. I envied the six year old mind, so easily distracted that even in hostage situations she could still be amused. So maybe not dangerous, but definitely unhinged.

"Well we've got ten minutes to get out…" Flynn sighed, fists clenching in frustration, "Before that lunatic comes and gets us."

"Actually, it seems we're getting out of here sooner than that." Brain muttered while looking at his associate, "Pinky…"

Pinky stopped his song and shuffled into view, swivelling a metal circle around his hips like a hula-hoop; and attached to the metal were –

"…When exactly were you planning on using those keys for their original purpose?"

"Keys? Zort! No Brain, I found this hula-hoop crammed under the door there. I'll tell you it would be a lot easier to use without this…" he stopped and examined the objects attached to it, he widened his eyes in joy, "Egad, Brain! I found keys! What do you think they're for?"

Flynn face-palmed, Poppy giggled while Brain and I just exchanged sympathetic glances, although mine was tinted with amusement.

"What kind of experiments have they done to him?" Flynn muttered in bemusement.

Brain arched his brow, "Believe it or not, he was worse before we were brought in…"

Well that was something to think about… But something here didn't make sense. Keys just weren't found crammed under doors, especially in a place like this. Was Mackenzie really that much of an idiot that he dropped them? Possibly, but that still didn't explain why they were practically pushed into the room. Pinky handed the keys to me and I was surprised that they were so warm, like they'd been clutched in a hand for a while. No, Mackenzie was R.J's nephew, he wouldn't do this. Maybe it was Dr. S or Nurse trying to make it up to me. Right now though, I didn't care, even the thought that it might be a trap didn't bother me; I had the keys and I was getting my siblings out of this hell-hole.

"Do you know your way to the toon part of the studio from here?" I asked Brain cautiously.

"Naturally." He nodded, then looked suspicious, "You know about -?"

"We know the story, yeah." I answered, eager to press on.

"And guess who started this mess ten years ago." Flynn snapped. It hurt, but he was scared so I let it go, he picked it up and instantly back peddled, "Sorry…"

A glimmer of realisation formed in the Brains eyes, calculating who we actually were. No doubt he'd be in on the Warner story, it seemed every toon was, And if he'd been on the inside for a few days, then he was bound to have gathered some info on us too; "How do we know that you aren't going to lead the guards right to us when we get out?"

I pointed warningly at him, "They did unforgivable things to me and my family; they threatened to take my siblings away from me and now they are planning to hurt people I care about. There isn't a chance in hell I would be helping them."

My tone was harsh, my voice louder than I intended but there was no denying that I meant every word I said. He nodded and stepped back into his cage and started rummaging around in the scraps of paper and tissue that was, I hoped, used as bedding. Soon he emerged with a scrap of paper with scribbles and notes.

"In the time that we've been here, there was a fire drill and we were one of the essentials to be preserved; as we were taken out, I carefully calculated each turn and came up with this diagram. It will at least get us outside through the fire-exit; but it's not as reliable as I would have liked…"

"If it gets us out of here, I don't care." Flynn interrupted, taking the keys away from me and started towards the door.

"Are you coming with us?" Poppy asked Pinky, taking to stroking his head softly.

"Oh are we going on a day-trip? I love going out, a picnic would be brilliant this time of year! Zort!"

Flynn was rattling the keys in the lock; as much as I was eager to get out like him, I still flashed an apologetic and grateful smile towards the mice. I gingerly lay my hand palm-up next to Brain who simply eyed my sceptically before stepping onto my hand. To be honest, he looked pretty tired of the whole situation; like he'd been through things like this many times and felt it all too tedious to show much emotion. Poppy, who had been laughing at Pinky so much that she now took a shine to him, had Pinky perched on her shoulder. I let Flynn open the door which thankfully opened silently. We peeked around the door into the empty corridor. My heart was pounding so loud that I was scared that it was going to draw attention to us.

Nothing was making sense. I guess that if we were meant to be in the Waiting Room, whatever that was, then the security would be there, but surely there would be at least one guard. Why had Mackenzie taken us to the wrong room in the first place? And why were the keys just stuffed under the door? Now I know what they say about looking a gift horse in the mouth, but it just seemed too easy. And that's what was unnerving me.

"If you insist on quivering so, I implore you to pass me on to someone else…" Brain muttered.

I tried to steady myself but I just couldn't, thankfully Flynn took over and allowed Brain to travel up to his shoulder. Come on, Talia, get a hold of yourself! At any given time our luck could run out. And it had been pretty fantastic up to this point. We edged along the corridor, following Brains directions while Pinky seemed pretty occupied with trying to plat Poppy's hair. My hand clutched around my siblings' and shielded them behind me as we edged along, our footsteps echoing a little too loudly for my liking. It was too easy, I thought, it was just too easy. The route Brain was taking us down was clear and precise, until we came to a fire door. And this is where the luck ran out.

There was a large red bulb above the fire-door and a warning sign fixed to the wall. Warning: Do not open this door other than emergency. Opening this door shall trigger the fire-alarm. Only open when necessary. Oh perfect… And next time a gift horse comes along I will blindfold myself and lock myself in a closet just to avoid looking at its mouth!

"Oh is there going to be a disco?" Pinky asked, pointing at the bulb and siren, "Oh I've always wanted to try disco dancing! Narf!"

"You actually cause me pain, Pinky." Brain commented, examining the situation with a furrowed brow.

"Can we get out another way?" I whispered, trying not to panic for my siblings sake.

"Not without running into security."

"So we just go back and wait?" Flynn snapped, "No way!"

Before anyone could think, he shoved against the handle and swung the door open. Poppy screamed as the corridor was flooded with flashing scarlet lights and ear-piercing wails. Flynn was driven by anger and panic, tugging me along into the outside light while Poppy was pulled behind. We found ourselves in the side ally between two buildings which was crowded with dumpsters and trash. Our hearts pounded loudly as we sprinted out of the ally. Behind us, the fire door started slamming. I tilted my head to see men in uniforms, security, starting to follow us.

I didn't know where we were headed, but we had to get there fast. The sound of people giving chase was terrifyingly close. Poppy was picked up, her arms looped around my neck and head buried into my hair as if it could give her protection. Flynn had Pinky and Brain in the hood of his jacket and listened as Brain barked directions. The studio grounds were like a maze; how they knew where they were going was a mystery to me, but one that I would have to solve later. Right now I was struggling to keep up due to my sisters' practically dead weight as she trembled in fear. Finally, we arrived at a bordered off part of the studio. Brain told us to carry on regardless. We jumped over the barriers and carried on running. Sweat was pouring down my face and I was struggling to breathe in the heat. So much in fact that when the buildings started to separate and get smaller, along with more trees and grass forming, I thought I was hallucinating.

But no, somehow the studio was leading off into a woodland area of sorts. Tall, thick trees started to enclose us and the studio was nothing more than a memory. This must be the toon part of the studio that we'd been told about. Well, it was ruled by toons pretty much; when it was set up, it must have been given an animated freedom so that the toons could do with it what they wished. Maybe toons like rural areas. There wasn't time to judge, we had to keep moving. We weren't sure if we were still being followed, but I didn't want to look just in case. Poppy whimpered and I instinctively looked down to check on her. However, as I kept running at full speed, and now not looking where I was going, I didn't see the low branch that Flynn had skilfully ducked.

I looked up just as the thick strand of bark collided violently with the side of my head, knocking me to the ground flat on my back. Instantly, my vision was swimming and I felt like I was underwater. Poppy rolled off of me and I wasn't sure if she was sobbing or laughing. Someone somewhere was calling my name, but it sounded like it was muffled by a brick wall. Words jumbled in my mouth and I couldn't move. Things seemed to get more blurred and dimmer. Some people were shouting, seemingly miles away. Three shapes loomed over me, black and white smudged together with a glint of red. I tried to focus but that seemed to make my vision darker. Vaguely aware that I was being moved, I reached out to try and find my siblings, but my arms just hung limp. So much pain… So tired… So dark now… So…

A/N:

And she's out cold XD Okay it's pretty obvious who those three shapes was, as if they were just going to leave her, lol! Sorry if it seemed a little rushed, I was on a time limit and tried to do my best. Next chapter includes a reunion and more characters, please review and tell me what you think or want improved XD