Disclaimer: I do not own Animaniacs, it belongs to Steven Spielberg, Warner Brothers Studio, et al. I claim no rights to any of this, it was made purely for entertainment and for writing practice. No profit is made off of this. There are original characters featured within.

Animaniacs Return

Chapter 37: Last Game Played

I couldn't trust in that plan. Zenny knocked his head on the back of the barn door. He knew the Warners full plan, but it was insane. They couldn't guarantee it would work, that Warren would have to approach them to find out the insane plan that didn't make sense. He played his small part, dressed up like Warren and took the squirrels away, revealing later who he was. He got whacked hard for that one, too. Afterward he was supposed to stay next to Aroma with Renraw, just in case he went after her next. And he did. For a little while, but he couldn't believe in such a stupid plan. Warren was a genius he wouldn't fall straight into the cops himself, no matter how curious he was. Yakko and the others were putting their reputations on the line for nothing.

He was going to come back to the former barn of Pinky's family. They had another barn built for them outside of city limits, so it was deserted and perfect. He was there with Aroma and Renraw, but his conscious bugged him again.

It would just take a few minutes to see The Brain and tell him the whole plan. Maybe he would know something more? That mouse was a genius, and had to have something better. Something better than complete incompetent nonsense. By the time he reached him and explained, he had nothing though. The mouse continued to the chairman's and he made his way back…

To an empty barn. Zenny sighed, knowing he screwed up. Iri was safely outside the limits, waiting for them to arrive. Gone just a few minutes…

"Zenny, you idiot!" Yakko stormed in and grabbed him. "Where the hell were you? You and Renraw together could have held him off long enough to call us, but not alone. Why'd you leave her?" Yakko yelled again.

"The plan was insane, it made no sense! You were putting your lives on the line and it wasn't going to work. I told you that," Zenny reminded him. "I just took off a few minutes to tell The Brain the real plan. I thought maybe he knew something better."

"Yeah, well our incompetent plan worked." Yakko let go of him. "Now he's got your sister to help him 'feel better'." He looked at him in disgust. "Damn copy. It was a fool proof Warner plan," He groaned and kicked a soda can, "they never look like they work, but they do. It's psychological predictability, not genius."

"Okay, I screwed up. I know I screwed up," Zenny admitted. "I should've trusted it. It was just a few minutes. Now what?"

"The cops have him now," Yakko answered. "He still has an incredibly smug smile on his face though."

"Shoot," Zenny murmured. "Now what?"

"Now what? Now what?" Yakko scoffed. "We were supposed to be going out for victory sundaes. We won. But now? We won, but he grinned and told us to check the tower."

Zenny held his breath. "And?"

Yakko moaned. "Trouble. You see…"

/Yakko could see a shadow of someone and a bigger shadow above the tower. Wasting no time, he ran over and slid to a stop in front. "…"

"Hey. So, why are you hanging by my tower?"

"Our tower."

"Right. Our tower. Don't get strung up about it."

"Well, I wish it was about that." Aroma looked at the rope wrapped around her chest. "Sorry, Yakko."

Yakko heard his phone ring again and picked it up quickly. "Let me guess, Satan?"

"Close enough. Satan doesn't get only one call in jail."

"I think Jeopardy would have let me have it." Yakko looked up at Aroma. "I assume there's a reason I can't climb up there and untie her?"

"You've got a large vat of my former creator's dip on the top of your tower. I have some magnetic cartoon fields holding it in place. Aroma and two new special guests are on the other side. If any of them lose their body weight, the vat falls."

"Big icky spot on the ground?" Yakko asked with sarcasm. "Oh no, wait, I'm guessing this stuff burns everything around it and is actually going to spread a ways, melting everything in its path?"

"Now you're getting it."

"Okay, give me a second." Yakko looked at the phone, banged it on his head once, and began to speak again. "So obviously you're a little mad at us. If I say sorry?"

"By noon tomorrow, one of those three will die. With the right maneuvering, two can escape."

"But the dip gets pulled in one of their directions." Yakko looked up at Aroma. "Pickle."

Yakko moved around the tower and saw Slappy. "Ooh, should have known you'd be on his list."

"Get me down from here already or I'll-"

Moving on, Yakko went farther and saw the special guest. "Ooh. Minerva, hey, did you want something?"

"Now is not the time to tease me," she warned him. "Get me down from here, my lawyers will hear about this."

Yakko didn't answer and moved toward the front again, to Aroma. "So…I can't really get you down yet."

Aroma smiled, "I kind of guessed that." She gave him an odd look. "This is it, isn't it?"

Yakko stood still. "We'll figure it out."

"Hey, why is Aroma strung up to the tower?" Dot asked as she and Wakko approached.

"She's part of a cartoon magnetic field, if we let her down, the vat falls," Yakko informed them. " We have 'til noon tomorrow to figure it out. In that time, we could do something, I bet." He shouted up to Aroma. "I'll tell you what, stay right there, I'll go figure something out with Wakko and Dot. Don't worry, I won't leave you hanging." /

"So, the lot is boned." Dot crossed her arms as she and Wakko entered the barn. "Even if we get Aroma, Slappy and Minerva out, the studio can't survive that uck. Game over. And one of them dies?" Dot scratched her head. "Toughie."

Yakko looked out the barn door. "Behind bars he still holds the cards. Seriously, he literally probably has an ace up his sleeve."

"No offense Yakko, but your girlfriend gets into too much trouble," Dot said.

"She's not my girlfriend," Yakko reminded her.

"Well your wife gets into too much trouble," Dot corrected itself.

"Can't help but agree," Yakko said. "Of course, if Warren would leave her alone, then she wouldn't be."

"It's all my fault," Zenny butted in. "My sister's up there because of me. I'll take her place."

"Mister Chivalrous, can't switch bodies." Dot teased him. "We'll get everyone out. He doesn't need to switch, right Yakko? Yakko?" Dot looked over at him.

Yakko looked back toward her. "It was his fault."

"Yakko," Dot scolded him. "He thought we were insane, which made him sane actually. Switching with her won't do any good."

"And how come you're defending him now?" Yakko frowned. "You always diss him and all the copies. What is making you stand up for him?"

Dot scoffed. "Well, n-nothing, I-stop looking at me like that."

Yakko's gaze turned from annoyance to surprise. "Dot?"

"Shutup," Dot crossed her arms. "You got it wrong."

"Got what wrong?" Wakko questioned. "Zenny, are you sure Iri made it out?"

"Safe and sound, I got her call." Zenny handed Wakko his phone. "Her numbers in there if you want to talk."

"Ooh, get on Wakko's good side since you're on my bad side?" Yakko grunted.

"Hey. I am trying to take Aroma's place because I know it's my fault. I'm her brother, do you think I really don't care?" Zenny accused him.

"Is this really true?"

Yakko's eyes rolled as he saw Newt walk in. "Stroll on in, we're in the mood for company."

"What is wrong with you?" Newt growled. "Aroma's life is on the line and you are still doing skits?"

"That's not a skit, open your ears." Yakko grabbed his ears and pulled them out. "Aroma could die."

"I'm replacing her," Zenny insisted.

"Instead of who is replacing who for whom, let's come up with an idea that works," Dot suggested. "Besides, once her pressure is lost, it goes. There might not be any leeway, best not to risk it."

"I quite agree, sis," Yakko nodded his head. "Any ideas? How do we get Aroma, Slappy and Minerva out?"

"Minerva?"

Yakko looked over at Newt. "Zenny didn't tell you that over the phone? Probably not, complete focus on his sister."

"Minerva?" Newt asked again. "That's it, I have to replace her. That's no place for her."

"Newt." Yakko groaned. "What about Aroma?"

"She'll be fine." Newt tapped his foot. "She's always in danger, she'll be fine. Minerva is not, she's not used to this."

"Yeah, Aroma does land in danger a lot," Yakko said. "Always looking to get into trouble, that one."

"I know it's not her fault," Newt said. "But Minerva is-"

"I get it," Yakko said. "I wish you would." He looked over at Zenny. "Nobody's dumping their life on the line. There's no reason to think it'd work. If it did, we could put sandbags on it. He's too smart for that."

Dot sighed. "So, now that everybody's had an emotional go can we concentrate? We are going to need twice as much pizza tonight, Yakko."

Yakko nodded and dialed on his phone. "Calling out now. Supremes?" He felt Zenny's hand on his shoulder.

"I hope…" Zenny couldn't finish. "Sorry."

"Yeah, yeah." Yakko took his hand off him. "Don't get all mushy. You'll replace her if you have the chance too, yada yada. Best not do that though." He looked over at Dot. "My sister has seriously bad taste in men, you're probably the best she can do." He watched her start to fume. "It's true."

"Shutup!" Dot yelled. "Jerk. Now really isn't the time."

"Yeah, you're right." Yakko gestured out the door. "Everyone but Wakko and Dot, out." He watched them all head out reluctantly.

"Jerk," Dot crossed her arms. "You know, I never said a thing to Aroma."

"Yeah, right." Yakko laughed. "That's 'cause it doesn't matter. She doesn't like me in that way-and-and besides! She's got a lot of baggage; this is the third time her life's been in danger since we met. She's worse than Zelda."

"Only because of Warren," Dot smiled. "After him, your princess is free and clear, Link."

"Hey? Can we knock it off your crushes and figure something out? If I let Iri's sister die, I don't think I'll hear the end of it," Wakko said. "Oh, and Yakko would definitely be crushed by the loss of his-" He made quotation marks in the air. "friend."

"Okay, what do we know about cartoon magnetic fields?"

"…"

"Yeah okay, we're definitely in for a long night."

On top of the tower…

"So…" Dot cleared her throat and tapped her foot. "Are we really doing nothing but this?"

"No choice," Yakko said as he emptied his pockets. "It's acidic, lower the acidity and chances of death have to go down. Sugar, sugar, sugar. Wakko?"

Wakko opened up his bag and emptied every sweet treat he could.

"Still prism," Dot said. "Wakko, don't you have a candy store in there?"

"Easy, a store will spill it over," Yakko warned. He grabbed some more treats out. "Wakko, do you have big bags of sugar?"

"Lots!" Wakko started to pour a huge bag marked sugar into it. He threw the empty bag away. "Think that's good?"

"It's still prism," Dot said.

"Changing slightly," Yakko held his hand over the dip. Seeing that his glove wasn't burning, he took a deep breath and stuck his hand in. He immediately pulled his hand out. "…well the hand survived."

"You idiot!" Dot hit him. "It's bad enough we're stuck on the side of this massive death trap."

"We had to make sure," Yakko said as he looked at the bubbling mixture. "In any case, this vat can't handle anymore or this dip will spill over."

"It toasted your gloves, there's not a shred left," Wakko looked over at Dot. "How strong is ink in copies?"

"Mmm…" Dot looked over at Yakko. "So, Warner's Cars, huh? Sounds good, I can deal with that."

"According to what I see, I'm guessing…Minerva and Slappy will survive but their hair will probably be gone." Yakko looked down into the bubbling sludge that claimed his glove. "Copy ink is usually cheap, saves on costs. Better take a sample from everybody."

Wakko and Dot went to get samples from Slappy and Minerva, while Yakko handled Aroma. They each came up with a small piece.

"One of Slappy's or Midge or..whatever, from the hat." Dot dunked a tiny piece of the hat and quickly brought it out. "Okay, half survived. Good sign, she's got good ink."

"Probably does, her life force is stronger since she appears older than she is," Yakko reasoned. "Wakko?"

"It was tough, she's not very cooperative." Wakko held a piece of hair in his hands and dunked it in. "Ooh! Not much there."

"Still there though," Yakko reasoned. "She'll be fine." He yanked out the tiny piece of Aroma's original dress.

*POOF*

"Uh oh," Wakko remarked. "It didn't even hit the dip."

Dot kept her eyes down low. "Sorry, big brother."

"Well…okay, so she has sucky ink. Copies usually do, saves on costs. Did I say that already?" Yakko asked. "Yeah, well…"

"We could throw everything at it once it falls," Dot reminded Yakko, "but right now this suckers reached maximum capacity, big brother. The acid is too strong, Warren knew to fill it up high. Probably guessed what we could do. Can we make it tip in another direction?"

"Cartoon magnetic field." Yakko looked below him. "There's no way it could balance without it. Every cartoon can make one."

Wakko groaned, "but only that cartoon chooses when to take it down and how. Oh, I wish we couldn't defy gravity as much now."

"Okay, when it wobbles, we can take it over?" Dot suggested.

"Yeah, but when it wobbles it's still gonna splash." Wakko reminded her. "This is a really strong field. How long ago did he set it up?"

"Don't know, don't wanna know." Yakko held his foot over the dip. "Okay, I have doubts." He put his foot back down. "The best material to stop needling was our copy selves. Ink."

"Okay, I didn't really just want to be reminded of that," Dot said in disgust. "So?"

"Ink along with base should neutralize it. Strong ink." Yakko looked over at Wakko and Dot. "Any volunteers?"

"Oh no, you've got to be kidding." Dot gulped. "Nuh uh, no way."

"Aroma's ink is weak, she's a copy. Our ink is strong, and it just might be strong enough to let me survive. Or maybe…if not, I'm positive the ink will lessen the damage to anyone below." Yakko looked at his brother and sister. "What do you think?"

"I think our turned to me in that statement," Dot frowned, "and I don't like it. You're not in danger."

"Okay, just a suggestion." He smiled at Dot and Wakko. "I think with our expertise this will be a fool proof plan. It was only a small part of the dress, her whole self will be fine." Yakko laughed, "so you guys want to try Warner Cars? I know it's not super classy, but trust me, it's the closest thing to a fun job out there."

"Well, I'll miss acting," Dot stretched. "There might not be a studio left in the morning though. Better prepare."