Family

by The Middle Warner Sibling

A different look at the Warners. This fic will follow the siblings from their beginnings, through Animaniacs and beyond.

14. Chapter 14

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who left a review - I really do appreciate it.

Chapter 14 - Studio Protection

"Mr. Spielberg," Mr. O'Grindy said again, "-I don't mean to question your judgment, but are you sure you want to go any further with-"

"I do Phil, trust me," he replied.

The beaver shrugged and went back to flipping through his papers and jotting down notes.

Yakko, already edgy, was growing annoyed with being talked about while he was standing right in front of them.

"We are right here you know; you could try talking to us-"

"Sorry kids," Mr. Spielberg said. "I for one appreciate your honesty. All the kids in here today have been gushing all over me and my movies. I hate that. So you three, how about some names from you?"

Yakko cocked an eyebrow, noticing Dot did the same maneuver. Wakko glanced up at him before looking at Spielberg and the others. Both his siblings were looking at him as if to ask if it was OK to give their names.

Sighing, not seeing any way out of it, Yakko finally responded.

"I'm Yakko."

"Wakko," his younger brother responded, still looking at the group, half hidden behind him.

"I'm Dot."

Spielberg continued to look at them thoughtfully stroking his chin. "Interesting names."

"Interesting indeed," Mr. Bunny said. "They're not stage names are they?"

Stage names…they were in an audition. Ho boy…

"No, birth names," Yakko said.

Stage name…humph. I like my name.

"Probably aliases," Mr. Plotz muttered.

Mr. Bunny shrugged and began jotting down notes on the white pad in front of him. "I like them, they have unique appeal."

"Everything abut them is unique. What are they anyway? Some breed of dog?" Mr. O'Grindy asked, looking at Mr. Spielberg, who was sitting in his chair, seemingly listening to his writers.

"I was thinking of a type of cat hybrid," Mr. Bunny speculated, looking up from his pad at the eager beaver, who was now writing at a furious pace with his right hand and flipping through his stack of papers with his left. The rabbit went back to writing on his pad, even drawing some sketches.

Yakko was growing more annoyed with them again talking about them while they were standing right there. "What we are is here; you could just ask us you know-"

Finally Mr. Spielberg seemed to snap to life, saying, "That's part of the reason I had you taken out of line. I was coming back from a break when I spotted you three out in the street, taking on that costumed clown outside the gates before bouncing in. Even without that I probably would have noticed you."

"Why's that?" Yakko asked.

Spielberg raised a bushy eyebrow at him. "Did you happen to look at your linemates? Bunnies and ducks; three quarters of the toons out there are one or the other. No offense Bernie-"

"None taken," the rabbit replied good-naturedly, waving his hand in dismissal and not even looking up from his drawing.

"-but I'm growing tired of the same thing. Disney's got so many ducks clogging the airwaves you choke on feathers when you turn the TV on. We already have a duck and a pair of rabbits as established stars on Tiny Toons, not to mention two of our biggest legends going back to the very beginnings of the studio are a duck and rabbit."

Spielberg pointed a finger at Yakko, then Wakko, then back to Dot. "I'll be blunt and just say it; I have no idea what you guys are supposed to be-"

"Politer than you -" Yakko cut in, shifting Dot higher on his hip. "It's not nice to point ya know."

That didn't faze Mr. Spielberg, he just grinned and continued talking. "But I like that. You're unusual. You're different, you're-"

"Just weird looking," Mr. Plotz cut in. "They'll never sell Steven-"

"I don't know," Mr. Bunny cut in. He studied them for a second. "They sort of have the look of the old style of toons; you know, like Oswald or Koko the Clown-"

Yakko heard his brother let out a whimper when the rabbit mentioned 'Koko the Clown' and looked down at him, wondering if he had accidentally stepped on his tail or something.

"Yeah, that's us - straight out of the inkwell," Yakko jumped in. "This is an audition isn't it?"

"Oh wow," Plotz said snidely, "he's intelligent too.

Jerk.

"Come on now Thad, don't be like that," Mr. O'Grindy said. "They're strange looking true-"

"Strange looking!" Dot exclaimed, so indignant her voice raised several octaves until it was almost a squeak. "I'm not strange looking. I'm just cute!"

"Right. Cute as a baby beaver dragging driftwood," he agreed.

"Ick," Dot muttered, twisting her face in disgust.

"Anyway," Mr. O'Grindy continued, "Think of the writing possibilities for them-"

"I am," Mr. Bunny said, holding up his pad. "I've already come up with a few script scenarios. Black and white toons - they look like they hopped right out of the twenties."

Yakko was quickly running through the options in his mind. They'd blundered into an audition. Not just any audition, an audition with Steven Spielberg himself. This office was nowhere near where they had been waiting in line; all those other toons were going into a large warehouse type building. Explained what Joel meant about not a lot of toons getting this chance.

They shouldn't have gotten this chance; none of them were actors. At best they could be labeled 'con artists'; him and Wakko anyway. Unfortunately, in a few years, despite his best efforts, he had a feeling that Dot would be one as well.

Be really interesting if we could audition though...wonder how we'd do compared to the other toons, the professionally trained ones...be nice; this studio is large and powerful enough to do a guardian ad slavus...who am I kidding, we got to get out of here.

"Ehhhhh...think there's been a mistake. We weren't in that line to audition-"

"You weren't?" Mr. O'Grindy asked, looking up from his pad.

"Nope!" Wakko said happily. "We were hid-"

Yakko quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. "Ehhhhhhh, no. No, we thought it was the line to tour the lot-"

"I wanna audition anyway," Dot said in a wheedling tone.

"Hush Dot. Look, we'll be on our way – sorry for any confusion."

Get out of here before we look like total retards...

The three toons and Spielberg regarded them for a minute, then bent down in a huddle on the table, confirming with each other. Hopefully they could get out of here in a few minutes; Darkwing had to be gone. This was making him antsy.

Lifting his ears, he heard Plotz saying something about them wasting their time, Spielberg saying that something funny was going on, but they didn't look like they wanted to go on the lot tour. The rabbit was still talking about scripts and how they were a refreshing change from the snots, brats, and prima donnas that kept coming through the doors, and the beaver was shuffling through his papers again, talking to himself about scripts being available.

Mr. Plotz finally turned back to them.

"Have you had any professional training at all?"

"Depends on what sort of professional training you're talking about," Yakko shrugged.

Dad was a professional pick-pocket; he trained me.

Mr. Spielberg stood up, and all eyes went to him. Even Dot and Wakko, who had been whispering quietly and making faces at each other turned to look at him.

"You kids seem eager to leave; how about reading some scenes for us anyway? The camera is here, and I'd still like to-"

Yakko felt both his eyebrows rise up in surprise. "Why? We just told you we didn't come to audition for-"

He stopped talking when Dot grabbed his ear, yanking it down to her mouth so she could whisper quietly.

"Let's do it anyway Yakko; it might be fun!"

"It might be dangerous too," he said quietly back to her. Looking down to make sure Wakko was paying attention, he continued, "I'm not nuts about us being on camera; it'd be different if we had some assurance that the film would never-"

Everyone wanted to talk over him today it seemed.

"How about a deal then kids?" the blue rabbit said, nodding at Mr. Spielberg before reaching into his hammerspace, pulling out a small metal tin that held some bright orange cards. "You read the scenes for Mr. Spielberg so we can keep him happy, and I'll give you passes for free lunch in the cafeteria."

"Food?" Wakko asked, his face lighting up. "Will there be candy too?"

Yakko slapped a hand over his eyes. Quickest way to Wakko's heart was through his sweet tooth.

Surprisingly, the rabbit seemed to think this was the funniest thing he had heard today, because he threw his head back, laughing. "You remind me of my son – huge sweet tooth. And yes, there's an extensive candy selection down there."

"I want some candy too Yakko," Dot said, turning her big liquidy eyes to him and grabbing his ears. "Can we do it...Please?"

Great, she's doing the 'I'm so cute you know you can't resist me' look...

"Pretty pretty please...whipped cream-"

Here it comes...

"-and a cherry?"

"Well..." he trailed off, feeling himself weakening. It could be fun. They weren't going to get hired anyway, but it would be neat to actually get some of the real 'Hollywood' experience.

"Come on Yakko; who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?" Wakko whispered. "Besides, we might see some stars – you like that Michelle Pfeiffer...might see her."

Now that would be a treat.

The longer they were in there, the longer they were out of the 'mighty masked mallard's' sight. Maybe he'll give up soon, if he hadn't already.

Yakko sighed, feeling all resistance crumbling, and turned to Spielberg. "OK, fine, we'll do a few readings."

Spielberg clasped his hand together in satisfaction. "Excellent. OK now let's get this going."

"Can we have some candy first?" Wakko asked.

Yakko shook his head. "Can you think about anything besides candy?"

Wakko shook his head. "Not if I can help it."

Spielberg chuckled. "Once we're done you can have some. You're Wakko right?"

Wakko nodded.

Mr. Plotz muttered, "Crazy name for a crazy kid. "

The writers however seemed to be pleased with their monikers, because the rabbit rolled his eyes and the beaver said, "It's unusual. It's kind of cute-"

"No, that would be me," Dot said primly.

The two writers and Spielberg began to chuckle, and Dot turned to Yakko, frowning.

"Why's that funny?" she whispered.

Yakko shrugged again. "These Hollywood types; who can say? Just easily entertained maybe."

Mr. O'Grindy, who had been digging through his pile of papers after Spielberg whispered into his ear, finally pulled some sheets out. He handed them around so Plotz, Spielberg and Mr. Bunny would see. They nodded in approval.

"Mr. Spielberg has a scene here he'd like to see you try; the girl and the oldest boy first," the beaver said, going from being halfway friendly to all business in the space of a few seconds. He stood up to hand the sheets to Yakko and Dot. "We'll give you a few minutes to look over the script. You three are all too young to know who the Marx Brothers were-"

"Harpo!" Wakko exclaimed happily.

"Groucho and Chico," Dot said. "And sometimes Zeppo. He was cutest."

"We know who the Marx Brothers are," Yakko said, annoyed. He muttered to himself, "How ignorant did you think we are?"

"You know who the Mark Brothers are but you didn't recognize Steven Spielberg?" Mr. Plotz said in a nasty tone.

"Maybe if he had a painted on mustache and a big cigar I would have," Yakko shot back.

The rabbit snorted as Plotz glared at him.

"OK kids; Yakko right?" Spielberg looked at him as he nodded, then continued. "You'll be taking Groucho's role – you seem to be the mouthpiece of this group anyway. The little boy takes Harpo, since he just screamed his name a few minutes ago. The little girl can take Chico's role. If you know the Marx Brothers', you'll know the 'Sanity Clause' scene."

Harpo's not really even in that scene. And Harpo doesn't talk; you'd think they'd give Wakko something where they could hear his voice too.

"Here," Mr. O'Grindy said, handing Wakko a few sheets of paper. "You can start looking over and preparing for the next scene if you want to kid; you'll be up next with your older brother."

Yakko looked down at the sheet for him and Dot; the 'Sanity Clause' scene from 'A Night at the Opera'. Thankfully Dot had just recently seen that movie at the theater with them a few weeks ago.

Telling her to only read the lines that said Fiorello, be began to read the entire thing, concentrating on the lines for Otis Driftwood.

This was a really talky scene; a lot of tricky lines and wordplay. He would probably do OK; he'd seen the movie a hundred times. Dot however had only seen it once, and would likely not be able to remember all the lines, especially with only looking over the script for a few minutes.

She was trying though, sounding out the words as she read the script.

Yakko looked down at Wakko's paper; his was almost blank...then he started laughing. Wakko's paper simply said to perform the mirror scene from 'Duck Soup'. He and Wakko could do that in their sleep.

He had one question though.

"How come Marx Brothers' scripts? The Marx Brothers never did anything with Warner Brothers."

Spielberg shrugged and smirked at him. "I happen to like the Marx Brothers. Besides, it throws people off. Everyone comes to the audition expecting to perform a scene from 'ET' or 'An American Tail'; this gives all of us a better idea on how someone would perform with a different medium. The show is going to be a comedy after all."

"If these reads go well, we each will choose a few other scenes and scenarios we'd like to see you perform anyway," Mr. Bunny said. "Maybe even a song or two. You'll be able to show us what you got."

Yakko watched as the rabbit leaned over toward the other three and then spoke again. "We'd like for you and the other boy to not use the scripts while you're auditioning; we'd like to see your face instead of the top of your head."

"It's more natural," Mr. O'Grindy added.

"And harder," Wakko muttered, standing on his toes to look at Yakko's script. "This is a lot of work; is lunch worth this?"

Yakko looked down at him as Dot continued to read the lines out loud quietly.

"Depends on how hungry you are."

"Really hungry."

"So be prepared to sing for your supper I guess."

"If need be, you can look at the scripts; it won't hurt your chances any," Mr. Spielberg added. "Especially...Dot was it?"

She nodded, beaming at having him remember her name.

"Relax Wakko," Yakko bent down to talk to him, still balancing Dot. "You'll do fine. Whatever you don't remember, we can fake our way through. It's not like we haven't worked together before."

"OK," Wakko said, looking worried.

"Come on, let's get this going."

With that, Yakko headed over toward the area where the camera was set up to help his sister with her lines, look at the equipment, and cross his fingers.

I'm going to get an ulcer from doing this.

XXXXXXXXXX

Yakko glanced down at his watch as Dot grasped Wakko's shirt, slowly pulling herself up to look in his face to say, 'You're despicable'.

Wakko cocked one eyebrow back at her and smirked, ending the final scene to be performed as the two writers and Spielberg clapped. He noticed Plotz even looked halfway impressed.

Over an hour of scenes read; his throat was going dry. He thought they would just have to do the two Marx Brothers scenes and they could leave.

Oh no...that would have been too easy.

Either they had impressed them enough that they wanted more, or they were getting some sick perverse pleasure out of torturing them, because they had six more scenes to read, all from Warner Brother's productions this time.

First up were a couple scenes from 'Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves', chosen by Mr. O'Grindy. The Beaver had directed Yakko to take the Sheriff of Nottingham part, Wakko to take Robin of Locksley, and Dot to take Maid Marian.

Strangely enough, he had enjoyed playing the Sheriff; there was something to be said about playing a villain.

And personally, he thought Wakko played a better Robin Hood than Kevin Costner; at least he had a British sounding accent. Not to mention, Dot was a lot cuter Maid Marian.

Wakko and Dot hadn't been bad, Dot only having to look at her copy of the script a few times. Wakko had to look more often, but still, Yakko didn't think he did too bad, considering. As an added bonus, Wakko had confessed to liking to be able to beat up his older brother in a pretend sword fight.

After making it through that, Plotz had said he wanted to choose the next audition, and had chosen two different scenes from 'A Streetcar Named Desire', this time telling Yakko to take James Dean's famous role of Jim Stark, Dot to take Natalie Wood's part of Judy, and Wakko to take the role of Plato Crawford, played originally by Sal Mineo.

They hadn't done awful at that one either. Then again, he was biased, so his opinion didn't count.

Mr. Bunny had chosen the final scene for the audition, appropriately enough the famous 1952 short 'Rabbit Seasoning', the second in the famous Merrie Melodies 'Hunter Trilogy'. He requested that Wakko take Bugs, Dot take Daffy, and Yakko take Elmer Fudd. And it was requested that they not only perform the entire seven minute short, it was also requested that this time, they try to work without the script.

Dot and Wakko had turned terrified eyes to him and Yakko had looked back, telling them that they had seen this cartoon before and again if need be, ad lib. He had been doing it the entire audition with no major flubs, even earning a few laughs here and there from their audience. He noticed that Wakko and Dot had ad libbed a few times as well. No big deal – they couldn't be expected to memorize a script, especially for movies they had never seen before, in a matter of minutes could they?

Spielberg and Mr. Bunny requested that they each sing a few verses from a song, any song of their choosing.

Yakko chose 'Whatever It Is I'm Against It'.

Dot sang more of 'As Time Goes By', waltzing with herself around the floor.

Wakko sang 'The Bugs Bunny Show Theme Song', even attempting to perform the famous dance of Bugs and Daffy.

Dot, giggling, joined him in the dance, and Yakko jumped in too, all three of them performing the chorus again before ending, arms splayed. Yakko grinned as he watched his siblings collapse in a fit of giggling as everyone applauded, even Plotz, though his applause ended after a few seconds.

They weren't that bad really.

"Wonderful kids; great job," Mr. O'Grindy said. "Now, just for the record, could you please state your names and ages for the camera please?"

Yakko shrugged and went first, followed by Wakko, then Dot, who also stated you always saved the best for last.

Yakko rolled his eyes; she'd be a fine actress; she was already vain enough for it.

Spielberg's eyes widened slightly when he heard their surname, but he didn't say anything and Yakko frowned. Sure, their name was the same as the studio, but really, the name wasn't that uncommon, especially among the humans.

"Can we eat now?" Wakko asked, turning his gaze to the giant blue rabbit.

"Not quite yet, but soon," Spielberg answered before the toon could even open his mouth.

"Just give me a couple of minutes to speak with my colleagues and check a few things. Gentleman." He said, motioning for the Mr.'s O'Grindy and Bunny to follow him. "Thad, please stay with the children for a few minutes."

Mr. Plotz didn't seem pleased about being left behind, and Yakko quietly sighed as he watched the human and his two writers walk out of the room. Spielberg couldn't have left one of the nice toons in there with them; he had to leave the pompous glaring blowhard.

Wakko muttered, "I'm hungry now."

"Maybe they plan on trying to wiggle their way out of it," Dot mumbled.

"I know Wak," he said just as quietly back. "I'm sure we'll be eating in a few minutes. And Dot, after all we just did for them; I hope they don't try to cheat us out of a meal. I'll never watch another Batman movie if they do."

Yakko walked to a chair across from Plotz and sat down, Dot in his lap and Wakko leaning on his legs.

Yakko watched Wakko and Dot exchange a smirk, Dot give Wakko a nod and Wakko smiled, looking at Plotz.

What are they up to now?

"Hey Mister," Wakko said loudly. "Ya got any candy?"

Plotz gave him a hard look. "I do not-"

"You sure?" Dot asked. "You look big enough – you probably know where all the good candy is."

Yakko watched in astonished amusement as the toon's face grew several shades of red and the man began to sputter, "How dare you speak to me that way - do you know who I am?"

Wow, this guy gets mad quick.

"No..." Dot and Wakko trilled together.

Yakko, amused, decided to step in. Why let his siblings have all the fun?

"Guys, he's the man with no candy," he said. In a loud stage whisper, he added, "You're too late; he ate it all already."

Plotz turned his angry glare from Wakko and Dot to him, and Yakko was delighted to see the man's eye twitching.

"I heard that you little smart mouth." The man began to mutter, "Of all the kids Steven had to set his eyes on-

Yakko interrupted him, snickering. "I know right? Guess he wanted the best." He watched Plotz's angry red color spill from his face to the top of his head and decided to see how far he could push the man before he finally exploded like a firecracker. "Don't worry Dumpty - we'll be out of your hair, what's left of it, before you know it."

That did it; the little man began to sputter, "What? Why - Why you - Dumpty. Hair! How dare-"

This was fun.

His siblings were starting to laugh, and Yakko had to join in, saying, "Words? Sentence fragments – phrases! Idiot...sound...you-"

At this point, Plotz was livid, as indicated by the man hopping on the table to shake a fist at him. Yakko smirked up at him; the toon was only a few inches taller than Wakko.

Must have that short man's complex.

"This is an outrage! Why I - I've never...oh..."

Dot, still sitting in his lap, started laughing harder. "Yakko, you broke him!"

"Keep going Yakko; maybe you can get him to jump up and down and turn a different color before he explodes!" Wakko added, standing on his toes to see over the edge of the table to better watch the show.

"Oh, if only Wakko." He turned to look at Plotz. "Look TP-"

"TP?" Wakko questioned, scratching his ear as he thought. "TP? Oh, like Toilet Paper, right?"

Yakko leaned back in the chair laughing, Dot shrieking in glee, as Plotz glared at Wakko. Wakko smiled back at him, tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"What? You little disrespectful monsters! I'm going to-"

Yakko really wondered what he was going to do. However, Spielberg and the two writers reentering the conference room stopped his threat, and he looked embarrassed as the others smirked at him. Plotz grumbled something before crawling back down to his chair.

Yakko leaned over the table to whisper at him, "Yeah, I know. Principal's back; better pipe down."

Plotz opened his mouth to say something, then looked at the two grinning writer's and the producer and thought better of it, instead just gaping at Yakko like a fish before shutting his mouth again.

Spielberg finally spoke, managing to erase most of the grin off his face and tucking a large binder filled with papers under in arm. "Thanks for staying with them while we conferred and did a little research Thad."

"My pleasure...they're just little angels," Plotz said through gritted teeth. When he looked at them, Yakko gave the sweetest smile he could muster, noticing that Wakko and Dot followed his lead.

He found it funny; Plotz didn't seem to think it was quite as hilarious.

"Right now, Yakko...could I speak with you privately?" Spielberg asked him, giving him a weird look.

This didn't sound good. Bet he's ready to kick us out, especially if he heard us picking on the little CEO.

"Bernie," Spielberg asked, directing his gaze to the tall rabbit, "Why don't you show Wakko and Dot some of the memorabilia and other items I have scattered around on the floor below?"

Mr. Bunny smiled and put his pad into his hammerspace before smiling and holding both his hands out. "Sure. Come on kids. Hey - you guys like Bugs? How about Batman? We got a working model of the Batmobile, a bunch of Bugs' old props and costumes."

Yakko looked down at Wakko and Dot. They had both frozen at the mention of going off with the rabbit, and were currently looking at him in confusion mixed with a little bit of interest.

He was growing nervous; why did he want to send them off?

"I give you my word that they're only going with me to the floor below," the rabbit said, looking him directly in the eye and not smiling this time. "At any time they want to come back to you, we come directly back."

Spielberg also nodded. "You have my word as well. I would like to talk to you since you are the oldest. The younger two might be bored by our conversation. I would simply like to speak with you and ask that you hear me out. If you don't like what I'm saying, you and your siblings are free to go, no questions asked."

Yakko looked from them down to his siblings again, their anxious but curious faces looking back up at him. He didn't even need to ask; they didn't want to leave, but at the same time, they wanted to see what the rabbit was going to show them.

Finally, Yakko nervously nodded his permission to them, and Wakko gave one final squeeze to his knees before bolting toward the rabbit. Dot stood in his lap, giving him a kick in the stomach and hugging his neck before jumping to the floor to follow her brother.

When they reached the head writer, they each took one of his hands as he began to lead them out the door of the conference room, asking them about what movies they liked and talking about upcoming movie projects the studio was working on.

The beaver gave a nod to everyone in the room before taking his leave as well, closing the door quietly behind him, and then Wakko and Dot were out of sight. He was now alone in the room with a half crazy toon and one of the most famous directors in the world.

Yakko fidgeted in his chair, already wondering if he made a mistake. He was always telling his siblings to never talk to strangers, and here he was sending them off with one. What had he been thinking?

He was getting ready to stand up out of the chair, grab Wakko and Dot and get out of there when Spielberg walked across the room, sitting in the chair at the head of the table near him, and spoke.

"Yakko, I realize that my sending your brother and sister out may seem disconcerting, but I assure you, nothing will happen to them. Bernie will watch them like they are his own. But I wanted them out; mostly because I'm afraid my conversation with you may frighten them."

"What are you talking about?" Yakko asked him suspiciously, resting his right hand in the chair, closer to his hammerspace.

He didn't plan on trying to brain either of them...but just in case.

"If I may be blunt-"

"Only if I can still be Yakko."

Spielberg smirked. "Ever the master of wordplay."

"He's just a wise ass kid," Plotz muttered.

Spielberg shrugged. "If used correctly, it's a valuable talent. Wise ass kids sometimes grow up to be very funny comedians, producers, writers...even CEO's of major studios, right?"

Plotz looked a bit chagrined with this statement, and Yakko quietly smirked to himself before steering the conversation back. This was growing too weird for him.

"I'm not trying to be rude, but can we get to the point please? I don't like my sibs wandering around with a stranger...no offense. I know you trust him, but still."

Spielberg nodded, looking serious. "Very well."

Yakko watched him open the long blue binder, and felt himself growing pale under his fur. The binder was filled with Toon Inquiry Services' wanted and missing posters, all encased in their own clear plastic page protectors.

As he was flipping, Spielberg continued to speak.

"When I first saw you, I was of course intrigued. Your mannerisms, two boys and a girl, your look, so like the old inkblot creations at the very beginnings of animation. There's not that many that look like you guys running around...which can be both good and bad. Good in that it gets you noticed; bad in that it lets people remember you. Which is why I pulled Bernie and Phil out to look with me, just to make sure."

He stopped flipping, holding the book open with three fingers on three separate posters. "When I heard your names, the unusual first names with the surname 'Warner', I knew I had seen you before somewhere..."

He trailed off and moved the book closer to Yakko, who felt his fur starting to bristle and his stomach knot. Spielberg was pointing to three separate posters with them listed on them, one even listing crimes against him.

Yakko felt his muscles starting to tense and he prepared to grab his mallet, smashing his way out of the room if necessary. He had to grab his siblings and make a break for it. And this time, they were leaving the area and never coming back - he'd try to figure out where later.

Plotz saw him and glared, already anticipating his actions. "Don't think about it inkblot; I've got a mallet too."

Spielberg raised his hands to Yakko. "Don't worry Yakko. Toon Inquiry Services sends the posters to all major studios, ad agencies, modeling agencies, every agency they can trip across. Everyone in the Hollywood area has these posters. At a hundred dollar bounty per child returned, most of the hunters for TIS make sure these posters are seen by as many people as possible; you had to have seen them littering walls and light poles throughout the city. I personally don't approve of bounty hunters, so rest assured that I will not be turning you in. I just want to talk; are you willing to listen?"

Yakko looked at him, still in the position to run. Looking at the man's face again, he nodded. He doubted Spielberg needed the three hundred dollars that the Warner hides would bring in. And the director didn't seem inclined to reach for a phone to turn them in…unless he had already done it and was just killing time until they arrived…

"You, Wakko, and Dorothy-"

"Dot," he corrected automatically.

"Fine, Dot. All of you are wanted runaways. The notices also say something about theft-"

"Oh good heavens Steven, thieves?" Plotz muttered, mostly to himself.

"-breaking and entering, a few various other minor charges, assault on an Inquiry employee," Spielberg said, talking as if Plotz just did not say anything. "Who did you three assault?"

"It was just me; I malleted someone who was in the way of me getting my sister back."

"Theft?" Spielberg asked, raising his eyes from the notice to look at him.

"Toons' gotta eat," Yakko replied, embarrassed and angered that the man was quizzing him.

Who does he think he is? Probably planning on making a movie out of it.

"Thieves? Runaways? Breaking and Entering? Assault? Various other charges?" Plotz asked, growing louder with each word out of his mouth. "Now really Steven, do we need this sort around? They weren't even that good!"

"We weren't that bad either. TP," Yakko said, smirking at the man.

"Be that as it may, we don't need that kind of publicity-"

Spielberg calmly raised his hand, and both Yakko and Plotz fell silent.

"Despite this knowledge, I think you and both your siblings did well in the audition. Of course, you are rough, and would need a lot of additional training to hone your skills before-"

"What are you saying?"

He can't be saying...

"I have discussed it with both my writers. I wish to hear Mr. Plotz's thoughts. A few other people would need to view your audition tapes before a final decision can be announced. However, I liked what I saw. And since my decision is the only one that matters..."

"My thoughts? Steven, please! You can't be serious-"

"Name one private audition today who you thought was better."

Plotz sputtered, 'hemming' and 'hawing' before finally growing quiet.

Spielberg turned back to Yakko. "With training, hard work and dedication, I think you three could be perfect as the new hosts."

Yakko narrowed his eyes at him, sure he was either hearing things or he was a contestant on the New Gong Show.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I'm not sitting through another audition today. I feel I've found the perfect hosts and starring roles for the newest animated feature I'm producing. After this, I'm going to the other studio executives to show them the audition tapes, but since final decision is left to me, I doubt you'll be turned down."

Yakko was glad he was sitting; if he wasn't, he knew he would have face dived to the floor. He hadn't even considered that they would make it in the running, let alone Spielberg saying he was done with auditions, he wanted them.

Yakko started laughing. "OK, OK. Where's the hidden camera? You can't be serious."

"If I wasn't serious, you wouldn't be sitting here across from me. I'm way too busy to waste my time."

"Look, Mr. Spielberg," he said, hoping he sounded polite enough. "This is all really…uh, neat, but you've got the posters in your hand, you know we're wanted-"

Spielberg shrugged. "Ways around that isn't there? I trust you're familiar with the guardian ad slavus?"

"Now Steven! Mr. Spielberg, I must protest! We haven't done that in years-"

"So?" he replied. "The studios don't do it often, but it is an option isn't it? Disney did it for that little bear cub; quite a few extras on their afternoon block are also under-"

"That's Disney," Plotz scoffed. "They're a bunch of bleeding hearts anyway. But I don't know if the studio should take this sort of risk."

Yakko listened to them go back and forth for a few minutes, Plotz looking agitated, Spielberg still calm.

Finally Yakko decided to break in; the sun would be down before they stopped. Besides, Spielberg could tell him more about the guardian ad slavus. Goose had mentioned it to him, his memory of that last conversation with her as fresh in his mind as if it had happened yesterday.

He could hardly believe he was still listening to this. Three street children being considered as the headliners of a new television show at one of the biggest studios in the world? Rags to Riches; he felt like 'Cinderfella'.

"What exactly do you have in mind Mr. Spielberg?"

"You three are obviously wanted, badly; I've seen your faces on no less than six posters. You left the system sometime in September, correct?" he asked, looking at a poster.

Yakko nodded, his glance going from Spielberg to Plotz, then back again. Plotz didn't seem happy, but he was no longer in high dudgeon. Instead, he was leaning back in the chair, watching him with narrowed eyes.

"What have you been doing since then?" Plotz finally asked him.

"Wandering. Staying out of the way of TIS and the authorities, making sure my sibs were well fed and cared for as much as possible."

"Haven't you ever wanted something more though Yakko, for yourself or your family?" Spielberg asked. "A chance to get an education, not worrying about where you were going to sleep that night or what you were going to eat, what was going to happen if you got hurt, one of your siblings getting sick? The chance to have a future?"

"A future that doesn't involve jail or a stay at Panic?" Plotz added grudgingly, looking at Spielberg and shrugging before turning back to Yakko.

"Of course I want that. I'm also old enough and realistic enough to know that wishing upon a star isn't going to make that possible," Yakko replied.

"The studio can help with that, protection, education, training…" Plotz trailed off, yielding the table back to the human.

"What; singing and dancing lessons?"

"More than that," Spielberg said, jumping back in. "Every child who works on this lot is required to get schooling; a human law I am happy to say the studio enforces on all toon minors at this studio. I'm assuming that your education in toon theory is limited, no doubt your basics as well."

"Yeah, well, hard to get a tutor on the streets."

"We can help with that," Plotz said before clamping his mouth shut.

"We don't have the money to-"

"You would be paid; all three of you," Spielberg said, cutting him off with a wave of his hand. "This is a job offer after all."

"Your pay would be decreased of course with the costs of tutors," Plotz said, jumping in. "Or any damage you three cause," he added with a mutter.

Spielberg continued. "Find the tutors, help with the costs. Between that and protecting all of you from TIS…they could never take any of you, not on the lot. Not off the lot either if you have a studio sanctioned chaperone. Do you understand?"

Yakko nodded hesitantly. This could be a dream come true, if it was all legitimate and he was understanding everything correctly.

He asked, "Can you explain more about the guardian ad slavus? What does it entail?"

Spielberg looked at Plotz and nodded to the toon, and the angry little CEO began to speak.

"A guardian ad slavus is a contract between a studio and a toon minor; in your case, three minors. The studio would assume a type of guardianship over you. We would become responsible for your education and well being to Toon Inquiry Services; they in turn take you off the posters and call their hunters off, at least when you are with a chaperone. If any of you were stupid enough to leave the lot without the chaperone and were picked up by a hunter however, we would not be able to assist you. You would be absorbed into the system. In this case, on the lot you, Yakko, as the oldest, would be responsible for controlling yourself and your siblings. Off the lot, you would be required to behave in a way that reflects properly upon the studio. This contract is not to be entered into lightly."

Protection, a job, their own money earned honestly, an education, hell, maybe fame…

"What if the show's not a success?" Yakko asked.

"This contract would be good until you turn eighteen Yakko," Spielberg said, ignoring Plotz's sputtering. "At that time, if you were interested, you could petition the court system of ToonTown, get these juvenile charges dropped. You could probably even gain permanent custody of your younger brother and sister if you were interested."

Of course I'm interested.

Yakko leaned back in the chair, thinking. He had always wanted an opportunity to do something better for himself and his siblings. Street children don't often get this type of offer. This human, even the little toon who was currently sputtering like a stopped up tea kettle in Spielberg's ear, were basically handing them an opportunity on a silver platter. All three of them could get an education, no doubt a good one, since they would be representing the studio, who would not want them looking like idiots and embarrassing their image.

He was ready to see a contract and talk pay. However, oldest or not, it wouldn't be fair to make this decision without discussing it with the other two thirds of the group.

"I need to talk to my siblings before saying yes."

"I respect that. I wanted to show the audition tapes to a few other people and toons anyway. You and your siblings were hungry. Why don't you go talk to them over lunch in the cafeteria? I will send someone to get you in two hours to meet and discuss this further?"

Yakko nodded as Spielberg stood, holding out his hand. Yakko looked at it for a second before standing and shaking it. Plotz held out his own hand finally, standing in the chair to do so, and Yakko, smirking, shook it as well.

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

XXXXXXXXXX

Yakko watched Wakko and Dot, sitting across from him at a table, eating their chicken fingers before gazing around the studio cafeteria, again. Amazing the wide variety of humans and toons in there. Many of them were recognizable. A few members of the cast of 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' and 'Family Matters' had been leaving the cafeteria when Mr. Bunny had escorted them down. The oldest girl from 'Full House' had been sitting at a table talking to the blond loon from 'Tiny Toons'.

All this amid the unknown crew members, supporting cast members and other employees not directly working on a stage; makeup people, accountants, writers, film editors, secretaries…

Yakko turned his eyes back to Wakko and Dot, taking a long drink of his soda as he did so. They were both finished eating. He had tried eating his own hamburger, which was very good, but had only been able to swallow a few bites. Shock, excitement, and nerves didn't exactly stimulate his appetite.

No time like the present.

"Guys, we need to talk."

Both siblings turned to him, eyes curious.

"About what? And how come they wanted to just talk to you?" Dot asked. "What's wrong with us." She winced when Wakko burped in her ear. "Me anyway?"

"Yeah! You missed seeing a lot of neat stuff," Wakko said enthusiastically. "He had a little model set of the city of Gotham-"

"I'll survive missing it," he said. He leaned down across the table toward them, pushing the empty plates away. "Siblings, that man, Mr. Spielberg, he liked our audition."

"He should have," Dot said. "We were good."

"He didn't think it was merely good, he thought it was great," Yakko said to her.

"Did Toilet Paper like it too?" Wakko asked.

"I don't think TP likes much honestly-"

"With a name like Toilet Paper it's no wonder," Dot said.

"Look sibs," Yakko said, trying to keep his voice serious enough and loud enough to be heard over their giggling. "They liked it enough they want to…maybe give us a show."

That stopped the giggling. Wide eyed, they both turned to look at him.

Then they laughed.

"Good one Yakko," Wakko said, laughing hard enough that tears were coming out of his eyes.

"Yeah, almost fooled me big brother," Dot agreed. Managing to pull herself together, she asked, "So, where do we go now Yakko?"

They didn't believe him. OK, fine, he didn't believe it himself hardly, but still…

"I'm not joking you two."

They looked back at him, their laughter starting to die off.

Dot looked at him with shining eyes and asked, "You're serious?"

"As serious as teenage acne." Yakko took a deep breath and continued. "Sibs, this could be it. They want to start a new show, with us in it."

"Why?" Wakko asked. Dot smacked him on the arm. "Ow! I'm serious now! Why us?"

"It's clear Wakko, you're just too dumb to see it - we're special!" Dot exclaimed.

"I'm not dumb you snot."

"Moron."

Yakko rubbed his temples. "Guys, knock it off. Wakko, you're not dumb. Dot, you're not a snot. Now, if we could please get back to the matter at hand?"

They both grumbled, but nodded.

Yakko continued. "He seems to think we have talent, we're special. We'll have to work hard of course, but with some training, we could do really well. I told him I wouldn't accept any deal without talking to you two."

They both beamed at him and he refrained from smirking; they were pleased that he was considering their thoughts. Good.

"This is an extremely important decision; we can't make this lightly. We're on the verge of getting a contract for a television show. We could become stars if the show is a success."

He checked to make sure they were both still paying attention to him. They were, their ears cocked up, for once they weren't fidgeting, looking around, talking…

Continuing, he said, "We'll finally be able to get trained properly, in all forms of Toon Theory, not to mention the basics, the studio will get us tutors-"

Wakko cut him off, looking upset and sitting straight up. "What's wrong with you? You've done OK teaching us!"

"Yeah!" Dot chimed in, eyes narrowing at him. "You've done OK with everything! We know how to read, TIS hasn't got us yet, and you're helping me find my hammerspace…"

Touched, he held up his hand and she trailed off.

"But I'm limited on what I can teach you guys. My own skills are spotty at best. And honestly guys, I'm not sure where we can hide next. One of these days, I might get hurt, I could slip up, and TIS hunters could be there waiting…"

A daily nightmare.

"With the show, we'd get paid-"

"How much?" they both asked as one.

"I have no idea, we didn't even talk about that yet. But an education, a television show, a home, some protection…it could be the thing to help us. At the same time, you should hear what all that will involve, so everyone can make a good decision."

"Like what Yakko?"

Yakko thought about how to phrase it so both of them would understand what they were getting involved in.

"Well, our freedom would be limited. You know how we used to decide to go to the beach, and we would just go? Or to a movie? We're not going to be able to just do it anymore. Once we agree to this, we have to sign a contract called a guardian ad slavus. We won't be able to leave the lot without a chaperone. We'll always be watched. Once we actually get a tutor, we're going to be spending a lot of time learning lines and studying. The hours of shooting are going to be long and hard work-"

"This doesn't sound like much fun to me," Wakko grumbled.

"Yeah Yakko, this sounds really hard."

Yakko frowned; he figured they both would be jumping on the chance.

"You wanted to be a singer and dancer Dot; that's a lot of hard work too. You think those people in that play we saw, or the actors in the movies we go see just hopped up there and did everything in an hour? Look guys, no matter what you want to do, it's going to involve hard work. You didn't find your hammerspace right away did you Wakko? That took several months of work. How about you Dot? You've been working on it for over a month, and you still haven't found it have you?"

He winced slightly as her eyes started filling with tears.

"OK, that came out wrong Dot, sorry." She sniffed, but nodded her head. "Look, the point I'm trying to make is we've got an opportunity to actually do something, make something of ourselves. Dot, I don't know a thing about singing and dancing; these tutors and coaches could teach you correctly. Wakko, you wanted to learn a few different instruments; this might be your chance. Studying and homework and memorizing lines doesn't sound fun, sure, but this might be the thing to get the hunters off our back once and for all. If they ever catch us again - and it's always a possibility, we're going to be split up, and we will lose one another this time."

Dot nodded again, looking far more serious than her age. "And you want to do this?"

Yakko hesitated, then nodded. "I think it bears serious consideration at least."

"Well, I'd like to get a real singing teacher…and I don't want to be taken away again."

Yakko nodded, having her answer, then cut his eyes to Wakko. He had fallen silent and appeared to be thinking, his eyes staring off in the distance beyond Yakko's shoulder.

Wakko gave a slight twitch and cut a small smile toward Yakko, tongue hanging out of his mouth and slowly nodded.

"OK sibs, no turning back. Once I say we're all in agreement, we can't back out, capiche?"

Both siblings nodded.

"OK, let's get some cake to celebrate, and we wait here for one of Mr. Spielberg's associates to come get us. We'll go back and tell him he's got three new hosts."

XXXXXXXXXX

As promised, one of Mr. Spielberg's associates came back after a few hours to escort them back to the penthouse conference room.

The next six hours were some of the longest of his life. Back in the conference room, he and his siblings had to talk to several different studio executives both human and toon, writers, a few lawyers, and Spielberg and Plotz again.

They had been tested, quizzed, asked question after question to see what they knew, what they didn't know, interests they had, any talents, and some additional tests to try to determine how quick they learned. He felt like a science project.

Dot had grown irritable around hour two, Wakko followed around hour four, and they had finally fallen asleep; Dot in his lap, Wakko with his head resting on his arms on the table. When they had collapsed in an exhausted slumber, it had fallen to him to continue to answer questions about their past, their life in the system, their parents…he had been afraid it would go on all night.

Finally, the entire table had been in agreement. The Warners were officially hired. The paperwork for the guardian ad slavus had been drawn up, and Yakko, with a deep sigh, had taken pen to paper, relief and nervousness coursing through him. For better or worse, he had signed them over to the studio for the next five years, until he turned eighteen.Spielberg, Plotz, and the other CEO of the studio on the human side, had signed after him. The paperwork would be sent to a judge in ToonTown to be signed, certified, and entered into the court's record.

At least after that, they wouldn't see their faces on any more wanted posters.

After that was more talking, this time about the show's contract; this contract was for a two year time period. Then even more talking, this time mostly with the attorneys and accountants, discussing pay, schedules, accounts, laws, California's 'Coogan Law' - something else for him to do; he would have to ensure that fifteen percent of each of their earnings went into this trust fund. He had been told that as the oldest, he was only going to be responsible for any negotiating, at least until they were able to obtain an agent if he so desired.

He would also be responsible for making sure they adhered to the rules of the guardian ad slavus; going to any and all classes, keeping their grades up, making sure they showed up at shoots on time with their lines learned…off the lot, they were to behave in a manner that would not reflect negatively on the studio or their own images. As of this moment, they could never leave the studio without a studio sanctioned chaperone; the studio would begin to choose who they would be after the holidays.

Yakko had shrugged; he was responsible for them regardless. It really wasn't that big a change than their lives prior to being at the studio.

There had been some additional discussion about pay. Wakko and Dot would be earning the same, he would be earning slightly more, due to the writers already deciding that he would probably have the most lines, he was also going to be the negotiator and the one responsible for the team and would be the one spending the most money. Some nameless executive had called it a small stipend for living allowances.

With it being so close to the holidays, the executives and the other 'handlers' as Yakko had taken to calling them had stated that it would probably be early January before they would begin finding tutors and beginning any training.

Finally, someone noticed the time, and they came to another realization; no one had thought of where to put the three new hires for the night. Another nameless writer, having gone faceless the previous hour because Yakko was so tired he couldn't remember anything at that point, had suggested the extra dressing rooms on the lot, usually reserved for extras to rest and get ready for shoots.

They were working on a few ideas for a more permanent home for the three of them on the lot. It was hinted at that a few writers had already come up with an idea.

Picking up Dot and shaking Wakko awake, he had stood and shook hands with several people, knowing that he would remember none of these people come morning. He had a very large pile of papers thrust into his hands, and had heard something about Coogan's Law, trust, contract, pay, and writers already working on scripts.

At ten o'clock that night, a security guard had led them to a grey one level motel looking structure on a back part of the lot that reminded Yakko of a classy crack house. Handing him a key to room four, the security guard had wished them a pleasant evening and disappeared into the night.

Yakko, holding Dot with his right arm, led Wakko up the four stairs and down the wooden porch to the room, looking at the building. No lights were on in any of the rooms they passed; it looked abandoned and forgotten, like so many places they had stayed in the past. They should feel right at home.

Opening the door and flicking on the lights, Yakko looked inside. It didn't look that bad, it was clean anyway, if a bit worn looking. From the bronze and brown color scheme, he guessed it hadn't been redecorated since the seventies.

Walking in and waiting for Wakko to stumble in, he shut the door, locking it and looked around. There was two double beds, a long dresser with a small television, and a bathroom. Compared to where they had been staying the past year and three odd months, it was quite luxurious.

Wakko staggered to a bed, threw himself across it, and went back to sleep.

Shaking himself awake, Yakko put the stack of paperwork on the dresser, resolving to look at it in the morning. He laid Dot down in the bed closest to the bathroom, covering her with the stiff gold comforter. He positioned Wakko correctly in the bed then collapsed beside his brother, falling asleep before his head hit the pillow.

XXXXXXXXXX

December 22, 1992

Have to give it to Warner Brothers Studios; their cafeteria had good food.

Stomach full, Yakko led his brother and sister from the cafeteria. Thankfully, until they actually earned any money, the studio was allowing them to eat meals for free there. The guardian ad slavus was pretty handy.

He held the door for his siblings. As he glanced up into the cafeteria, he almost dropped the door on them he was so surprised. Coming in on the other side of the cafeteria, he spotted several toon stars; Bugs Bunny, Buster Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Yosemite Sam, all getting into line to get food. He was tempted to go back; he had always wanted to meet Bugs, and they had missed hearing him speak at the toon convention.

Sam looked up briefly and spotted him. The toon's eyes narrowed and Yakko stared back, wondering if he recognized him. He knew Sam didn't get that great a look at either Dot or him, but he had gotten a good look at Wakko, and Wakko looked a lot like him. And like Spielberg said, they were unusual enough looking that Sam could easily spot the resemblance.

Yakko swallowed, waiting to see what would happen next. To his surprise, the man gave a slight shake of his head, as if clearing a vision, then turned and got into line again.

Yakko gave a slight frown. Seeing Sam reminded him of something else that had been weighing on his mind the last few days; he still had to at least talk to Wakko about the whole fiasco at the convention. Wandering off like that, then grabbing a wallet? At the very least he needed a stern talking to.

He'd deal with it later, after Dot was distracted or asleep. No sense dragging her into it.

Dot was skipping beside him, and finally looked up to ask him, "What are we gonna do now Yakko?"

The same thing we've done for the last three days unfortunately; go back to our room, come out for meals, then back to our temporary abode until time for the next meal.

It was pretty boring.

"You still have to practice Dot; you want to find your hammerspace right?"

"Well, yeah…"

"So, we can work on that for a while."

"What about me?" Wakko asked. "I don't need to do that."

"You still need to practice your Fritzing, and I could have sworn you were supposed to be writing a paper for me on a newspaper article-"

"I did that already," Wakko said.

"A paper saying 'I read an article and it was boring' wasn't what I was going for," Yakko replied, ignoring Wakko's frown and Dot's snickering. "The idea was for reading comprehension and to practice your writing skills. I was hoping for something more in-depth."

"Should have said that," Wakko muttered.

"I'm saying it now - you can rewrite the paper - at least give me half a page on the article you read."

"Can I do it later?"

Smirking, Yakko said, "Later, like when we walk in the door? Sure!"

"Later, like tonight?"

"You can do that too; then you can write two papers."

"Alright, jeeze. I'll do it now."

Yakko smirked and pulled out the key to their temporary home as they climbed the steps. It wasn't that bad really. It was a roof over their heads, they could take showers nightly; they even had basic cable.

XXXXXXXXXX

Two hours later, Dot had fallen asleep, worn out from her constant effort trying to find her hammerspace. Yakko was sitting on the bed beside her, still making his way through the stack of paperwork. Currently he was reading paperwork for the company credit union. With the guardian ad slavus, he would be allowed to sign the documentation, even underage, to open accounts for the three of them.

Fifteen percent of their earnings had to be placed in a trust account per 'Coogan's Law'; the rest would go into savings, at least for the time being. No way was he going to give a five and eight year old that kind of money. They'd spend it all on video games, dolls and candy without thinking about the future. Giving them an allowance, at least for now, would probably be the wisest course of action.

Glancing over toward the other bed, he noticed Wakko was finishing his second attempt at writing a summary of the chosen article. From this angle, it looked like Wakko had at least written more than a sentence or two.

Wakko gave a relieved sigh and looked up at him.

"Finished. Now can I go outside?"

If I'm going to talk to him, now would probably be the time; Dot's asleep.

Looking up, Wakko was already across the room and opening the door.

"Ah ah…hold it right there."

Wakko stopped at his words and turned, giving him his best 'I didn't do anything' face.

"What? I rewrote the paper; it's even over half a page this time."

That was true, but with Wakko's messy scrawl, it was going to take him an hour to figure out what he wrote.

"We still need to talk about what happened Saturday."

Wakko swallowed, but nodded his head.

Yakko stood and walked toward him. "Let's go outside. I don't want to wake Dot up with this."

Biting the corner of his lip, Wakko opened the door, stepping onto the porch in front of him.

"Sit."

Wakko sat down, perching himself on the top step and not looking at him.

"What were you thinking the other day huh? Walking off like that-"

"I didn't walk off Yakko…I got separated from you and Dot."

Yeah, and you biting your lip and not looking at me really makes me believe you.

"Ehhhhh…try again. Without lying this time."

"I did get separated from you," he muttered. "Just when I got back toward you, you and Dot were looking at all those boring displays, and there was so many left-"

"Look I know it was a boring exhibit," Yakko said, cutting him off. "Trust me; I could feel my roots growing I was so bored. But you know better - I was pretty explicit when I said to stay close."

Wakko hurriedly nodded, looking anxious to get the conversation over with. "I know, I'm sorry, really. I won't do it again."

"You better not; you could blow this whole deal we've got with the studio. From now on, you go anywhere, you tell me, do you understand?"

Wakko nodded again, muttered 'sorry', and started to stand up.

"Ah ah…we're not done yet. Sit your butt back down."

Grumbling under his breath, Wakko looked at him but sat down, looking more nervous than before.

"Now about your loose fingers at the convention-"

"I'm really sorry about that, I didn't mean for him to see me-"

"But he did Wakko!" Getting slightly angry at him, Yakko tried to keep his voice level. "Do you even realize what could have happened? If that masked moron had caught you-"

'I know…look, I'm really sorry; I know you told me not to do it, and I did it anyway-"

"Like usual with you. I told you, you're too little and you don't pay enough attention - you could have been caught! We all could have been caught!"

"I said I was sorry, and-"

He sounds so guilty…but if I don't pound this into his head now, I'm never going to get through.

"Look, don't be sorry, just don't do it again." Yakko bent down to look in his eyes, putting his hand on Wakko's shoulder. "The thought of something happening to you, or you being taken, scares me to death."

"I know."

"Look, I know that you got sort of mixed signals for a long time; Dad telling you it's OK, me telling you it's not OK. Then I turn around and start training you and having you work with me. I'm sorry for that, you have no idea how sorry I am that either of us were caught up in this. But do you understand what we were doing, we don't have to do that anymore right?"

"Yes," Wakko said quietly.

"From now on, I think we'll be better off. We won't have to keep stealing to make sure we can eat and try to stay alive. I kept all those wallets for a reason. At some point, we'll start repaying what we took back to the people."

"OK."

Wakko was fidgeting on the step, not meeting his eye and biting the corner of his bottom lip. Yakko sat back on his heels and waited. Usually this meant that Wakko wanted to tell him something, but was trying to decide how to formulate what he wanted to say.

"I still have it, Yosemite's wallet," Wakko finally muttered, so quietly that Yakko thought he had misheard him.

Yakko looked at him, eyebrows raised as Wakko reached into his hammerspace, pulling out a long thick wallet.

"I didn't throw it when you told me to," he continued, talking quicker when he glanced up at Yakko. "I was going to, but there was so many toons around and I didn't know if he'd actually get it back. Then we were sailing through the air and the duck was chasing us and shooting things and people were yelling…" He trailed off, catching his breath before saying softly, "I'm sorry…I panicked and just put it in my hammerspace. I didn't know what to do and then with everything that happened I didn't know how to tell you."

Yakko listened to the whole confession, letting his brother talk without interrupting him, nodding when he hesitated at certain portions to encourage him to continue talking.

On one hand, he was annoyed with his younger brother. He had told him to not take anything, and he didn't listen. Then he told him to throw it back at their pursuers, and he didn't listen then either.

On the other hand, he was actually very proud of his brother; he had confessed what he had done, even though he wouldn't have gotten caught. Up until this conversation, the thought that Wakko had not tossed the wallet hadn't entered his mind.

"I didn't take any money out, I promise! It's all there."

Pleased with his brother's growing maturity, he said, "I believe you Wakko. I can't say that I'm pleased about you not listening, again, but I'm proud of you for at least telling me. You're taking responsibility for what you did."

God I sound like Charles Ingles.

Trying not to grimace at that thought, he crossed his arms and looked at Wakko.

"What did you plan on doing with it?"

Wakko shrugged, still looking anxious. "I don't know, I didn't think that far out. Maybe just stick it in a mailbox…his address is on the license. The postman could bring it to him, right? Or maybe leave it in the cafeteria…"

"Can you think of another option?" Yakko asked, trying to prod him in the right direction.

Wakko continued to look at him with wide eyes.

Trying again, hoping his brother would come to the conclusion on his own, he added, "He was here on the lot…"

After a few seconds pause, Wakko said quietly, "I could give it back to him."

Good boy.

"Do you think that would be the best choice?"

"Not really," he muttered. "He's got guns. And he likes to use them."

"This is also a guy who's managed to work with a smart mouthed duck and rabbit and hasn't shot them yet. I doubt he is going to shoot a very contrite unarmed eight year old."

Wakko swallowed again, but shook his head. "Guess not. You sure I can't just mail it to him?"

Yakko shrugged. "I suppose you could, but remember that he saw you. And since we are going to be here for a very long time…"

"You want me to take it back to him?"

"I'll leave it up to you."

Wakko mulled it over for a minute as Yakko watched him think.

I've been trying to raise both of them as well as I could, not that I'm exactly a great role model myself. Let's see if he makes the right decision, takes responsibility for what he did. If he doesn't, that means I've totally failed at what I was trying to teach him, which means I've probably already failed with Dot too…

"Fine. I'll give it back to him." After a pause, he asked, his voice worried, "Will you come with me?"

Like I'd let you do this alone.

Thrilled that he had not only made the correct decision, but that he wanted him to go with him, Yakko nodded. "Of course. We should probably go now though; we don't know how long he's going to be here, and we're technically not supposed to go anywhere except the cafeteria, at least for now. Not to mention, Dot's asleep. Even if she wakes up, she knows not to leave the room if I'm not here. She'll be OK for a little while."

I hope. Hopefully we've reached some level of stability, and this will be the last time I have to leave her alone again.

Yakko held his hand out, and Wakko grasped it to pull himself up.

"Do you know where he is?"

"I have to guess that he's probably in his office; I know most of the tutors have one over there near where the set for Tiny Toons is."

"How do you know?"

"Overheard it when we were in the cafeteria. If Yosemite's still on the lot, I have to wager a guess that's where he's at," Yakko said.

"OK. Let's do it now before I change my mind," Wakko muttered.

Yakko was secretly delighted; maybe he hadn't failed after all.

XXXXXXXXXX

A half hour later, they finally found where most of the rooms reserved for the on set tutors were. They had to ask several people, and been chased at one point by a very portly security guard, finally losing him when they ducked in between two buildings.

Briskly walking through the parking lot, he noticed only two cars were parked in it; a black Chevy Blazer and a new fire-engine red BMW 525i.

Entering the large two story brick building, Yakko looked around, a very nervous Wakko clinging to his side. The last person they had spoke to said that Sam's office was on the second floor, and the doors were labeled with each tutor's name.

Ahead of them, he could see a staircase, with a window next to it, the sun shining in like it was lighting the way for them.

"Stairs are ahead of us Wakko. You ready?"

"Yeah, I guess," he muttered.

With a nod, Yakko headed for the stairs, Wakko still staying close to him.

On the second floor, Yakko looked as they walked, their footsteps silent on the polished hardwood floor. Some of the doors were blank. The names emblazoned on the gold stars on other doors read like a who's who of toon greats; Bunny, Leghorn, Pig, Duck, Le Pew, Fudd…

They reached the end of the hall, stopping at a door marked 'Sam'.

Also with the sun shining in on it, thought Yakko. It's like a sign.

Wakko took a deep breath, squeezed in front of Yakko and knocked twice. They waited for a few seconds, looking at each other before looking back at the door. Not hearing anything, Wakko shrugged.

"Maybe he's left. Oh well let's go," he said quickly, turning and starting to walk off toward the stairs.

Losing his nerve.

"Not so fast Scooby," he said, grabbing Wakko by the collar of his jacket. "I hear something on the other side of the door."

Yakko lifted one ear; he could have sworn he heard a grumbling behind the door. He shrugged and knocked himself this time, jumping when a very loud brash voice bellowed 'Come in I keeps saying come in! Oh never mind – gotta do everything!'

"Guess he's in after all," Yakko muttered.

He took a small step backwards, almost tripping on Wakko when the door was wrenched open, revealing the short redheaded figure of Yosemite Sam. Wakko made a strange sound and moved closer to Yakko.

"This better be important; I've things to do!"

Yakko, trying to pry Wakko off his leg, looked at the glaring toon and tried to smile without looking too intimidated. Even in his office, Sam was wearing his customary guns.

Wakko took another look at Sam, made an 'eep' sound, then ducked behind Yakko.

Thinking about what Wakko had said regarding Sam's guns and how much he liked to pull them out, he managed to choke out, "Ehhhhh, hi."

Wakko peeked out from behind him. Sam looked at both of them, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm a thinking I've seen you two critters before."

"And you'd be a thinking right," Yakko replied, watching Sam. Since the toon did not seem inclined to do more than glare at them, he gently steered Wakko forward, adding, "Sorry to disturb you when you so obviously had things to do, but my sibling has something to say."

Sam turned his eyes toward Wakko, who looked about ready to bolt. Yakko kept his hand on his shoulder and nodded toward him.

"I recognize you now..." Sam muttered, eyes turning bright when he recognized them. Then started yelling, "That little varmit from the convention! Come back to try it again-"

Wakko, who had gotten back some of his nerve at that point, looked at Yakko wide eyed. "Thought you said he wouldn't try to shoot-"

"He's not; not yet. Hurry up and give it to him before he 'full's us full of lead' or something," he hissed back at him.

Maybe I should have done it myself, or let him put it in the mailbox.

Talking quickly and loudly to the point he was almost babbling, Wakko said, "Look mister, I'm really sorry! He told me not to do it because he's always right and I did it anyway because I don't listen and here's your wallet and I didn't take anything out of it and please please please please don't shoot us OK?"

Wakko thrust the wallet at the startled toon, who had stopped his rampage when he began speaking. Wakko then ducked back behind Yakko, peeking at Yosemite.

Yosemite gave them both a glare before he opened his billfold, quickly going through the contents.

"Well, it's all there," he finally grunted.

"Told ya it was," Wakko muttered.

Yakko nudged him. Sam still had his guns.

"Never thought I'd see this again...had pictures in here that were important..." the toon was muttering.

Who knew the volatile Yosemite Sam had a soft side?

"As for you two varmits – I should full ya so full of holes ya look like Swiss cheese! When I was younger we'd a killed any low down no account ornery toad who'd a dared touch another man's property!" Yosemite bellowed, his face as red as his hair and jumping up and down in the doorway.

Not so soft a side after all.

Yakko watched with mounting alarm as Yosemite reached inside his vest.

He's going for his gun! Wakko was right after all!

Almost tripping over his brother, Yakko started to turn, planning on grabbing Wakko and trying to make a run for it, even though with the man so close there'd be no way they'd get out of this, when he saw what Yosemite was going for.

A handkerchief.

Yakko left out a ragged sigh as the man wiped his forehead; he probably looked like a ninny. He could feel Wakko shaking behind him he was so scared, and he put his hand on his siblings head, trying to calm him down.

Yosemite bent down a few inches to look in Wakko's terrified face, saying loudly, "Stealing another man's property is low down, dirty, just plain wrong!"

"I know; I'm sorry," Wakko whimpered.

"I should press charges on ya! See ya locked up! Ya know in some countries they'd be chopping off your hands for this sort of chickanery! I should have ya strung up by your thumbs for a week-"

Yakko decided to jump in. One thing to scold his brother; it was an entirely different matter to terrorize and threaten him.

"This is my fault too; I should have watched him better and I'm sorry. You want to scream at anyone, scream at me. Now, we've apologized and you have your property back. We'll leave you alone; sorry for the whole mess."

Yakko turned, leading his brother down the hallway, when he heard Yosemite clear his throat and step out of his office, his boots making a loud clicking sound on the floor. Yakko stiffened and stopped, turning around to face him.

Yosemite started talking again, looking up at Yakko, his voice still with its harsh guttural tone, but not yelling. He almost seemed calm.

"I gots to say though; I have to respect a man that's willing to own up to what he did. Took a lot of guts to come and face me after what ya'll did."

Scrutinizing him, Yosemite held his hand out to Yakko. After a few seconds of surprise, Yakko shook it.

"Ya'll the toons for that new show I'm guessing."

"Yeah, that's us. I'm Yakko." Nodding in the direction behind him, he added, "That's Wakko. We have a sister back at the room, Dot."

"Mighty fine to be knowing ya. May be hope for the next generation after all," Yosemite said. "Thinking that maybe, must maybe, ya'll might be doing OK here."

Wow, a compliment from the old guard.

Yakko glanced down. Hearing Yosemite's deep voice no longer yelling, Wakko was peeking out from behind Yakko again, shyly watching from behind his waist.

Yosemite stuck his hand out toward Wakko, who just looked at it before shrinking back into Yakko's leg.

He gets any closer, he may as well just climb in my pocket.

After a few seconds, Sam growled at him, "What boy – ya to proud to shake a man's hand?"

After a short pause, Wakko gave a small smile which broke out into a grin as he came forward enough to shake the man's hand. Yakko flashed Yosemite a grateful smile which the older toon returned.

"I's gots to get going; I'll be seeing ya'll around the lot. Don't be afraid to come up to say hi every now and then."

"Thank you, we will," Yakko replied.

Looks like we made a friend. A powerful one too.

Yosemite walked back toward his office, and Yakko turned to go down the stairs after Wakko. He heard the sound of a door behind him and he looked back, wondering if Yosemite had something else to say to them.

When he looked though, he saw no one in the hall. With a shrug he continued to go down, catching up with his waiting brother who swore that he would never take anything again and that he was very happy Yosemite didn't shoot them and had turned out to be a nice little man.

Yakko had to admit he was happy Yosemite didn't shoot them too. He also had to admit that he was extraordinarily proud of Wakko; he honestly thought his brother would have chickened out and that he would have had to do the apologizing for him.

Yakko grinned to himself. He wasn't doing bad at the whole guardian - role model thing after all.

XXXXXXXXXX

December 28, 1992

Why won't this blowhard pipe down? Yakko thought. We've been listening to this for almost an hour.

Yakko checked his watch; a quarter to twelve. He heard his stomach rumble, then perked his ears as Wakko's rumbled. Over to his left, he heard Dot snickering at them before her own stomach answered. She got a look on her face like she just swallowed alum and bent over in her chair, hands clutched to her stomach.

Yakko smirked; all three of their stomach's rumbling, and Plotz just continued to ramble on, oblivious to his less than captive audience.

Not wanting to listen to Plotz any longer since the man was just repeating himself, he looked around the man's office instead. It was huge, which he supposed was understandable, him being a CEO and all. He had a nice view of the lot, windows making up almost the complete wall to his right, the famous Warner Brothers tower visible in the distance.

"This is one of the most important toons in Hollywood," Plotz said emphatically, "And you three had better not do anything that would embarrass me, Mr. Spielberg, or the studio. You should be grateful for the chance to even meet with him."

Yakko drawled, "OK TP, calm down. We'll be on our best behavior, I promise." He crossed his fingers in front of him so Plotz could see.

"Yeah, promise I won't blow bubbles with my spit," Wakko added.

"He can blow them with his snot though; I've seen him," Dot added helpfully.

Plotz rolled his eyes and muttered, "Why this...star; this legend has any interest in you I don't know..."

"Cuz he knows greatness when he sees it?" Dot asked.

Yakko snickered at the scowl Plotz directed toward her.

On Friday, Plotz had sent them a message via a very stupid security guard, stating that someone wanted to take them to lunch on Monday at noon; they were to be in his office at eleven. The note had very basic, very explicit instructions on how to get to the office, including a step by step diagram on how to use the elevator. Yakko was surprised the man hadn't told them how many steps it would be to go from their room, across the lot, through the lobby and up to his office.

The note had also stated that the judge in ToonTown had signed the guardian ad slavus, making everything official; they were now under the studio's protection.

While chaperone's had yet to be chosen, someone had managed to get temporary chaperone rights to take the three of them off the lot for lunch. They had all been insanely curious to know who it was, but the letter did not state, and Plotz refused to tell them, saying that the toon wished to stay anonymous for now, and they would find out in good time.

"This star of stage and screen wants to meet the three of you, you should be respectful, eager to please, only speak when spoken to-"

"Yakko's gonna blow that one," Dot muttered.

"You're on a roll today sis," Yakko said back.

"Just following in your footsteps big brother."

Wakko let out a soft sigh. When Yakko looked over at him, he almost started laughing; he had fallen asleep, tongue hanging out his mouth, arms and legs splayed out across the chair.

Yakko turned back to look at Plotz just as the temperamental toon slammed his fist down on his desk, making paperweights, pens and papers jump.

It also made Wakko wake up; he actually caught air between jumping in the air then landing on the floor as Dot howled in glee. Yakko, unable to help it, starting laughing at Wakko's muttered 'ow' as he crawled off the floor and back into his chair.

"You children are unbelievable! Sleeping, laughing, talking! Disgusting lack of respect - I can't believe you're even here! And you couldn't even dress for the occasion! You should have looked presentable!"

Yakko looked at the three of them; he was in a grey t-shirt and jeans; Wakko had a black Batman t-shirt and jeans, still complete with his denim jacket obtained so long ago; and Dot had on her new pink Tweety-Bird shirt he bought her for Christmas with her jeans.

Unable to leave the lot to go Christmas shopping, Yakko had bought them each a shirt and a bag of candy at the studio store with the small amount of cash he had left. Both his siblings had been very understanding, and had said, in their own unique way, that they had already gotten their present; safety and some assurance of a future, all of them together.

He had been surprised; pretty profound thoughts for a five and eight year old.

"How much more presentable do you want TP?" he asked. "They're wearing Warner Brothers' products. And we're clean, we don't stink-."

"The rash has almost disappeared," Wakko added.

"I even had a flea bath," Dot said.

Yakko grinned at Plotz, who was developing a tick in his left eye. Yakko pointed at it.

"You should have that checked."

Plotz was opening his mouth to say something when his telephone ran. He turned to answer it, throwing Yakko one more nasty look.

Yakko sat back in his chair, listening to the man say that 'they were here, and yes, yes! Of course he could come in'.

He wondered who wanted to take them to lunch.

He wondered where they would go.

He wondered why it was so much fun to get the CEO, and in all actuality their boss, all riled up.

Listening to Wakko complain that he was so hungry the desk was looking tasty and Dot whine that a real man wouldn't keep a hungry lady waiting, he turned as the door to the office opened. On either side of him, Dot and Wakko stood in their chairs to see over the backs.

Wakko inhaled deeply beside him, and Dot made a quiet squealing sound, clasping her hands together.

Yakko could hardly believe his eyes himself, but was able to refrain from having his jaw drop...too much.

Standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of black sunglasses and twirling a set of keys around one gloved finger was Bugs Bunny.

This was their lunch date?

"Think we're having something made with carrots for lunch sibs," he said.

End Chapter 14