*Chapter 5: Traitorous CoStar*
To Sakko's surprise and astonishment, Rem's serious countenance and carrying her sheathed katanna prompted various employees and staffers to back off when they reentered the lot. She did however earn a few concerned expressions from Ralph, Junior, Dr. Scratchansniff, and Hello Nurse. But Rem couldn't worry about that right now. The task ahead of her was confronting Buddy and calling him out of his bullshit.
Rem was even more cautious when she encountered little to no resistance on the way to Plotz' office. Just because there was almost no security, doesn't mean she could let her guard down. When the pair finally arrived, they were faced with a very surprised Mr. Plotz and Buddy.
"Er, Miss Roth? Is there something wrong?" Mr. Plotz asked.
"Nope, but if you don't mind, we'd like to have a word with Buddy in. In private." Rem replied very politely.
The teen caught a split second where the toon boy displayed a taken aback expression before quickly returning his usual cheerful self.
"Why of course you can!" he said rather jovially. "Take a chair, tell me all your problems. Let's work 'em out!"
Rem arched a brow at Buddy's response.
...Funny you should say that.
She waited patiently until Plotz had left the room.
"Well, come on!" Buddy encouraged. "Don't be shy!"
Rem took another moment in total silence to gather all her thoughts. Sakko meanwhile was nervously sweating bullets and twiddling his fingers.
"Well, to begin with, there's a few things that I'm a bit confused on." Rem said softly.
"Oh really? Like what?" Buddy asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"...it's been brought to my attention that you've recently acquired some robotic appliances from one whack job, Doctor Frankeninni, who is currently serving a prison term at the moment, I might add. At least as far as I know..."
The teen paused for a moment to let that sink in.
"And not just that, but Mr. Warner here tells me that his main purpose here is to separate me from those I hold near and dear to me...which you obviously don't."
Buddy's eye slightly twitched.
"He also informs me that your big plans for the studio in general are actually, and I quote, 'destroying it.'"
There was another long pause as Sakko squirmed uncomfortably where he stood. Buddy slowly turned away to face the huge WB shield that hung over Plotz' desk, still bearing his typical grin. Rem suddenly felt the atmosphere get extremely negative despite all appearances.
"...You believe all that hocus pocus, do you?" he questioned a little too pleasantly.
"It sure does sound like a load of crap." Rem replied matter of factly, and calmly humoring him. "But I'd very much like to hear your side of it. I would especially like to know why the hell Sakko would say stuff like that, when he's got nothing to hold against you. That and he's got nothing to gain from it either. For one thing, he doesn't strike me as the kind of person to make forceful demands."
She got him. There was no way for him to counter back. Didn't even have any wiggle room. There was an awful silence hanging in the atmosphere as the negativity got worse making Rem's fur bristle. Yet she remained ever calmer.
"...you think you're so smart don'tcha?!" Buddy hissed viciously.
Rem stifled a gasp in her throat.
Elsewhere on the lot, three other pairs of ears were listening.
"...why?" she quietly asked, ignoring the sudden pounding in her chest.
"...Thirty pictures that amounted to nothing...all because of those...those thieves." Buddy replied bitterly.
Rem just couldn't believe how petty he sounded, but her conscience told her to be careful how she proceeded from there. She could sense that he was increasingly becoming unstable.
"And that fool, Plotz..." Buddy continued with more venom in his tone. "Why, he wouldn't know humor if it came up to him and smacked him in his fat face! I had room to improve and grow, but oh no! WE COULDN'T HAVE THAT COULD WE?!"
Sakko frightfully quaked behind Rem, who stood tall, firm, and quiet.
...Let him pour it all out.
"And those three idiots had me actually believe that they cared! BAH! They may have pulled the wool over my eyes, but after that 65th Anniversary, I KNOW BETTER!"
There was another appalling silence as Buddy breathed in gasps. Rem could sense the inner pain that just barely surfaced and zeroed in on it.
"...I think you're sadly mistaken, Buddy." she softly and sympathetically told him.
"Oh?" Buddy snapped as if daring her to say a word. "I don't think you quite understand, young lady. The humiliation, the abandonment, disloyalty...NO MORE!"
"I understand perfectly. You're me from two years ago."
Both Buddy and Sakko gawked at her without a word.
"I can't tell you how ecstatic they were when you came back to the studio a few days ago." she said in a kind and softer tone. "They certainly wouldn't shut up about the old days and how much they enjoyed working with you. They weren't actively after your job at all, they're just there to do what any cartoon character does best: screw around. I get it; I've been where you're at right now, but I can't abide by it. Not anymore. Why? Because they pulled me out of all that and at their own expense. They didn't have to, but they did. They gave me something that no one else before could or was willing to give. I think your anger is just very misplaced."
Rem then extended her hand again to him willingly, smiling warmly as did so.
"You don't have to resort to this. I can help you if you let me."
There was another silence. Rem had hoped that she poured enough of her soul for him to turn away from the negativity that he was emitting. For a split second, she felt that hope increase just slightly. Suddenly and abruptly, Buddy pulled out a weapon and fired a projectile at them both. Rem was quick enough to get enough to get in front of Sakko and pull out her blade, splitting the projectile in two. However, Rem felt the right side of her face split open, and a warm sticky substance trickle down seconds later. Sakko, cowering behind her, was horrified.
"...Rem?" he croaked weakly.
"HA! SO THAT CRAZT DOCTOR WAS RIGHT!" Buddy roared. "I thought he was just babbling a bunch of kookie stuff but was actually right! You're not a real toon...YOU'RE FULL OF LIES!"
Rem remained unfazed by his outburst, but she could see that it was too late. He was too far gone.
"...You nicked my fang, you jackass." she hissed in annoyance and disgust.
"Bah! Since you've been a good little girl and presented yourself, I think I'll get rid of you first!" Buddy ranted viciously. "It'll be easy with you, don'tcha agree, YA LITTLE FREAK?!"
Sakko, overcoming his fear, was outraged.
"Now y'all just hold on just a-"
Before the mustachioed Warner could finish, Rem leapt right into the air and tackled Buddy. She pinned him onto Mr. Plotz' desk, holding her blade right above him.
"Your ass is mine, punk." she hissed again with more venom in her voice.
"Heh!"
Buddy pulled out a lit black bomb. Before Rem could fully react, and Sakko could pull her away in time, it went off, sending both of them flying. They landed into the outside hall with a loud thud and while Sakko coughed and gagged from the smoke and dizzy from the bang, Rem's ears were ringing and was struggling to remain awake. Once Sakko collected himself, he tried helping her to her feet.
"Rem! Rem darlin' are you alright?!" he cried.
As the teen sank further and further from consciousness, Buddy emerged from the office slightly covered in soot, and his combed hair now splayed out. He grinned devilishly seeing the two partly incapacitated.
"See the benefits of being a real toon?!" he raved.
Now Sakko was really angry. He pulled out a mallet from his hammer space.
"That does it!" he exclaimed. "That ain't no way to treat a lady!"
Buddy was not impressed.
"Oh, put that away, you pathetic excuse for a-"
FWAAACK!
Buddy was suddenly hit from behind by a boxing glove projectile sending him flying towards the other side of the hall. Sakko, after dodging out of the way, turned to see three very familiar, yet very angry faces.
"As Rem was sayin'..." Yakko growled.
Buddy quickly scrambled to his feet and gave a disgusted and infuriated look.
"Heh, you're here to tell me that the jig is up, BUT YOU'RE TOO LATE!" he sneered. "I've got my hands tight on the studio now! And I'm gonna tear it up right from its very foundation! YOU'LL ALL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME!"
The siblings just glared at the toon boy dismissively.
"...If you've got a beef with us..." Yakko began harshly.
"Then we'll treat you to a party." Dot continued in the same tone.
"It's what we do." Wakko added.
"But the second you put so much as a scratch on our lady friend, all bets are off." Yakko concluded as he and his younger brother and sister brandished even bigger mallets.
(Now Playing: What You Want [Bonus Track Version] by Evanescence)
"Bah! The three of you make me sick!" Buddy ranted.
He pulled out a remote and pressed a few buttons. The halls of the Administration Building soon began to rumble as robots appeared within the corners.
"Anybody else getting Deja vu?" Dot asked dryly.
"You kiddin'?" Yakko quirked in the same tone.
"Feh! That kooky doctor may not have been a good director, but he sure is a good builder when he put his heart to it!" Buddy cackled.
"The better for us to smash 'em." Wakko quipped darkly.
The sibling commenced their onslaught, pummeling every mechanical being that came at them. Buddy watched in total rapture as Frankeninni's robots came storming into the building. Mr. Plotz let out a yip when one came crashing through the walls of the break room and tried making a run for it. Meanwhile, a panicking Sakko watched while sticking to Rem's now unconscious form, unsure of what to do next. From the corner of Yakko's eye, he caught his cousin skedaddling from the battlefield, carrying Rem with him. It was just like him to run from a party, but at least he was getting Rem out of further danger. Or at least as Yakko thought, he had better be his intention.
Finally, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot managed to take out the very last robot, smashing it right down to the mother boards. The fight nearly spent all of their energy, but they came out on top, nonetheless.
"Not bad if I do say so myself." the elder Warner quirked, as his younger siblings gave him grins of approval.
"Oh gee, you fools think it's all over now, don't you?" Buddy hissed. "I'll betcha didn't know that ol' Frankeninni also made a replicator when he was still lucid!"
The toon boy ecstatically slammed another button on his remote and the floors started to shake again. Outside on the lot, more robots appeared seemingly from every nook and cranny of the studio. The siblings' expressions dropped when faced with this brand-new onslaught.
"...oh boy." Yakko sputtered.
"HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE, HEE-HEE-HEE! DON'T YOU IDIOTS GET IT?!" Buddy screamed madly. "I'M GOING TO BURN THIS ENTIRE STUDIO'S LEGACY TO THE GROUND WITH EVERYONE ELSE ALONG WITH IT!"
His rivals merely arched their brows at him.
"I think we've have had enough that already, thank you." Dot said with a highly dignified voice.
"AND I'LL START BY PURGING THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A TOON YOU'VE GOT UNDER YOUR WING!"
Now the siblings were really glaring at him and wondering if he was trying very hard to tick them off.
"Boy, you sure are breaking our little golden hearts there, Buddy." Yakko growled in an aggravated tone.
When more robot came hurling through the halls, the Warners retreated to get into more open space. They continued smash through the mechanical monstrosities with their mallets.
"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!" Buddy hollered at the bots. "AND GET ME THAT WORM, PLOTZ!"
(End Music)
"Say, Dot?" Yakko called out. "Do you happen to have some of Rem's ninja-vanish thingies?"
The Warner Sister reached into her skirt pockets and produced two white grayish pellets.
"Right here, Yakko." she replied, handing it to him.
"Now's a good enough time as any to use 'em!"
As soon as they all reached an intersection in the halls, they screeched to a halt, placed on gas masks. While the robots were nearly coming at them at every direction, Yakko flung the pellets onto the floor which broke apart and created a large cloud of dust, giving them a thick veil of concealment. With the robots momentarily distracted trying to screen through the dust, the Warners were able to make a quick getaway. At least until they nearly ran into a familiar and friendly face, also brandishing a mallet.
"Eh, nice smoke machine you got there." Slappy quirked. "Now let's haul tail outta here!"
They were all about to heed her when Dot suddenly remembered something important.
"Wait! We can't leave Scratchy!" she cried.
"Make it quick! That crazy yutz' already got his mitts on Plotz!" Slappy ranted urgently.
Wakko instantly revved up his feet and went rocketing through the building. He just managed to find the unfortunate p-sychiatrist nearly getting cornered by robots. The middle Warner grabbed a hold of him and zipped back into the company of his brother, sister, and the elderly squirrel. The four toons, one carrying Scratchansniff in the air, thus proceeded to pummel their way out of the building.
"We're gonna have to scram from the studio." Slappy huffed in between mallet whackings. "At least for now anyway."
"Oh sure, because I like nothin' more than abandoning ship all over again!" Yakko ranted sarcastically.
"You got any better ideas, ya schmuck?!"
Truthfully, he didn't and Slappy had a very solid point. They were all caught almost completely off guard, so it was better to retreat and fall back so they could recollect themselves so they could figure out what to do next.
"Speaking of crazy kids, where's our kid?" Slappy asked.
"If Sakko was smart for once, somewhere far from here." Yakko replied dryly.