*Chapter 5: Returning to California*

The odd trio sat in their seats while the other passengers boarded. Memblo went straight to reading a complimentary newspaper while Yakko kicked up his feet and reclined back in his seat. Rem on the other hand, wasn't so well at the moment and they haven't even lifted into the air yet.

"Is there something you wanna get off your chest there, Roth?" Yakko asked pleasantly.

Rem silently fumed for a moment before answering.

"Yeah sure, let's talk about it. Do you know what hell it's been, not knowing where you've been, what you've been doing, and wondering if you're okay?" she ranted without taking a breath.

"Ditto." Yakko replied simply.

Rem then heard the announcement on the plane's overhead sound system declaring that the nonstop flight would take approximately nineteen hours and thirty-four minutes. Something she really didn't want to hear right now.

"Seriously?!" she cried. "Can't we do the whole page turning thing? It only takes like a few seconds."

"We're off grid, remember?" Yakko reminded her.

"Oh, for-he can't possibly be eye-balling everything."

"Sez the girl who had a fit because I used a cellphone..." Memblo commented pointedly, without looking up from his paper.

"...That's different."

"You know, if you two keep bickering like this, you'll never know the flight ever happened."

Both Yakko and Rem exchanged glances to which Rem made an aggravated expression.

"...can I smack him?" she whispered.

"No, but...eeeeeehhhh, how 'bout I give you a juice box instead?"

Rem made a pouting face as she grudgingly took the apple flavored juice box from him and speared the straw through the tiny foil hole. After taking a good long sip however, something about the taste made her choke and cough. Then Rem suspiciously eyed the juice box.

"...Warner, what's in this?!" she quietly demanded.

"Why, apple juice, Rem." Yakko answered innocently. "Vitamin A, C, and other preservatives."

Rem narrowed her eyes at him.

"...You're full of shit." she hissed.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Yakko replied with the same innocent tone.

"Dude, I'm not playing around, what's...iiin...thiiss..."

The teen suddenly swayed a little before dropping her head onto his shoulder, losing consciousness. Yakko managed to grab ahold of the juice box before it fell to the floor and made a mess.

"Nighty, night, Rem." he sweetly murmured after draping a blanket over her and patting her head.

"Slippin' a mickey in your girlfriend's drink is real classy there, Yakko." Memblo said admonishingly.

A pinkish tint appeared on the elder Warner's face, along with an expression as if he were wrongly accused of something that he would never dream of doing.

"Heh, heh, heh. It's good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor there, Weed." he scoffed sarcastically.

"Who's laughthin'?"

XXXXXX

When the plane touched down at the Burbank airport, Rem woke from her stupor after feeling the vibrations from the aircraft.

"...wuh-Warner?"

"Yes, Rem?"

"...What's going on?"

"From the sound of things, and the requests to refrain from smoking, the plane's landing."

Rem jerked up in her seat but fell back because of her fastened seat belt, and the throbbing in her head.

"Uggh...crap, Warner. What did you give me?" she moaned.

"Just a little something to help you with the trip." Yakko quirked.

"You think you could warn me next time?"

"C'mon, you two." Memblo ranted. "I'd like to make it to the studio without more visits from robots."

They all disembarked from the plane with Rem slightly swaying left and right from the aftereffects of the apple juice. Memblo had to catch her from tumbling down to the floor when her knees buckled.

"Be honest with me, what do you see in that kid?" he asked.

"He makes me laugh." Rem replied with a shrug.

"...'He makes you laugh'. Sure."

"At least this way, I get to kick his ass later on."

"Now that'll be something to see."

After coming out of the boarding bridge and walking through the terminal, they found two small figures dressed in fedoras, trench coats, and sunglasses, each carrying a sign that read 'Warner' and 'Roth' respectively. They were none other than Wakko and Dot. Rem, feeling her spirits lift tremendously, could laugh if she wasn't so flabbergasted by the scene.

"What are ya, auditioning for another Blues Brothers movie?" Memblo asked.

"Not unless Dan Aykroyd decides to join." Wakko quipped.

"I'm sorry, but can I just say how freaking ecstatic I am to see you guys?" Rem rasped, nearly becoming giddy.

"Hold your applause, Rem." Yakko said smoothly. "We've got just one last thing on our to do list before we go back to the studio."

Although Rem wasn't quite sure what this next thing was exactly, she wholeheartedly rolled with it.

...Right.

When the group reached the outdoors, Rem nearly found herself laughing out loud in pure joy again. Standing at the curve and in front of a black limo, was Slappy and Skippy Squirrel. Both dressed in chauffeur attire.

"Evenin' Weed." Slappy greeted. "You're lookin' good for pushin' eighty."

"Looking well yourself, Miss Squirrel." Memblo replied. "Is this the red-carpet treatment you got for me?"

"As much of a red-carpet treatment as you're gonna get, ya ol' schmuck. And we ain't headin' for Grauman's Chinese either."

Skippy zipped to the passenger door to open it for the aging cartoonist while his aunt went towards the driver's side.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Memblo." the younger squirrel greeted politely and cheerfully.

"Yeah, you too, kid." Memblo humored him as he entered the limo. Then he stuffed a twenty-dollar bill in Skippy's jacket pocket. "This is for you."

"Wow, thanks!"

Skippy then climbed into the front passenger seat beside his aunt as she started up the vehicle.

"Catch ya later!" she called out before driving away.

The Warner Quartet watched them leave before Rem turned back to her peers.

"So, what are we doing?" she asked.

She got her answer when Pinky and the Brain emerged Dot's trench coat pocket, with Brain emitting a huge gasp for air.

"I believe you are familiar with Doctor Frankeninni's lab, correct?" Brain began.

"Gee, how could I possibly forget?" the teen quirked sarcastically.

"I can't forget being shocked by all the brightly colored buttons." Pinky excitedly reminiscenced. "ZORT!"

"It's where Buddy is getting his supply of robotics." Brain continued. "We shall have to destroy that lab, so he won't be able to obtain 'reinforcements' if you follow me."

Rem made a pause to think. If they do this, it would in fact blow any chance of her possibly returning to her home dimension. But then, at this point...why on earth would she want to?

"I get it." she murmured.

"Just so we're clear..." Yakko said cautiously. "...you're completely okay with this?"

Wakko and Dot also gave anxious glances, worried if she might get upset.

"Pretty much." Rem replied with a sigh and no hesitation. "I'm cool with it. Honest. So...is it just us going?"

She received her answer again when a commotion from within Wakko's trench coat pockets suddenly broke out.

"Get'chur beak outta my tail feathers!"

"Hey, I'm stuck here!"

"Will you two pipe down? I can't see!"

Rem couldn't help but grin upon hearing the Goodfeathers' voices again.

"Right then. Let's get this party started."

xxxxxx

The group next appeared in the outskirts of Burbank, and a few feet from Frankeninni's lab that was situated within a cave at the base of the foothills that eventually became Mount Lee. Not surprisingly, there were two robots patrolling the entrance.

"Looks like Buddy's been reading from How to Be an Evil Overlord." Rem commented as the group peered over a large boulder.

"There's a book called How to Be an Evil Overlord?" Squit asked blankly.

"Bah, we'll handle this." Brain declared haughtily. "Come, Pinky."

"Righty-O, Brain!" Pinky answered dutifully. "NARF."

The two mice went stealthily about their way as the others watched.

"So?" Yakko said in a low voice.

"So what?" Rem replied.

"Is there a book called How to Be an Evil Overlord?"

"It's on the internet."

"Of course it is." Dot ranted in her motherly tone. "Only someone who spends way too much time on the computer would know that."

"I haven't been anywhere near a computer!" Rem protested.

BZZZZT!

They were interrupted when the robots suddenly contorted as sparks went flying out of the open crevices and fell forward to the ground. A few seconds later, Pinky and the Brain came out into the open and motioned to the rest of the group that coast was clear.

"That's our cue, ladies and gentlemen." Yakko quirked.

They all zipped off towards the lab's entrance. When they came through the caverns however, the sounds of metallic whirring and clanking filled the air.

"I think those mooks have friends in there." Bobby said, rubbing the tip of his wing under his beak.

Rem started to think as the gears in her head began to turn.

"What've we got to destroy the lab?" she asked curiously.

"The usual..." Wakko replied, pulling out a barrel labeled 'TNT' from his gag bag. "Dynamite!"

Rem arched a brow before another thought popped into her head.

"You've got a microwave in there too?" she asked again.

The middle Warner, not thinking much of it, obliged her and pulled out the kitchen appliance.

"Awesome."

"I'm a little confused." Dot said sweetly. "Are we serving the robots a TV dinner, or mass destruction?"

"Well in light of the fact that we've got a whole factory's worth of robots in there, we're gonna need a detonator."

Her peers scratched their heads in confusion while the Goodfeathers shrugged. Brain on the other hand, understood instantly.

"I see. Interesting." the albino mouse mused while scratching his chin in thought.

"Okay, I'll bite." Yakko said. "Why is this necessary?"

"Because if we get caught in a throw down, which at this point is highly likely, we're gonna need extra time to place the dynamite, blow it up, and get our asses out so we don't end up as BBQ chicken." Rem said in one breath.

The Goodfeathers cringed at that last part.

"Fair enough." Dot contended.

"I'm also gonna need liquid cleaner, wire cutters, a handful of silverware, and duct tape." Rem continued in a determined voice, earning flustered glances from her peers.

XXXXXX

Slappy pulled the limo into the back lot of the Warner Bros. studios. Much to Memblo's displeasure, they were stopped by Junior.

"Can I help you?" he asked a bit suspiciously.

"Friz sent me." Slappy simply replied.

Junior blinked twice and an excited grin stretched on his face.

"Come right in." he instructed jovially, using a remote to lift the wooden red and white barrier.

Before Slappy pulled forward, Junior cautiously cast a careful glance at either side of him and leant down towards the squirrel's face.

"Avoid the area between Soundstage 23, and 25." he whispered. "And whatever you do, don't engage Plotz or dad. At least for now anyway."

"Yup." Slappy acknowledged.

She drove the vehicle into the lot and made a right towards the sets. Memblo quizzically looked behind his shoulder and out of the rear window.

"Jeez, and here I thought we'd get slammed." he said. "I suppose you've got people on the inside?"

"With a frozen paycheck and royalties with zero explanation? You bet'cha." Slappy quirked.

A few minutes later, the squirrel parked at the New York street set and ushered Memblo and her nephew into one of the office buildings.

"So what are those crazy kids up to?" Memblo asked curiously.

"Makin' sure ol' Buddy doesn't get to use his backup plan." Slappy quirked.

XXXXXX

Chaos erupted in Dr. Frankeninni's lab as robotic parts went flying and metallic sheeting were being smashed in, while chips, wires, and mother boards were being pecked out with extreme prejudice. With mallets flying, Rem and Brain busied themselves taking the microwave slightly apart while Pinky and Wakko laid out the dynamite.

"Screwdriver." Rem directed the albino mouse before taking the back cover off of the appliance. "Okay, wire cutters."

"I see, you're removing the surge inhibitor to take advantage of the high voltage the microwave carries." Brain mused. "Clever."

"Yup." Rem simply replied. "Screwdriver again, please."

Her peers paused from pummeling robots as she replaced the back cover.

"Where did you pick that up from?!" Dot demanded.

"That spy show on Fox that has Briscoe County Jr. in it? They show you a lotta interesting stuff." Rem explained. "Did'ja know that you could more or less do the same thing with an AC unit? The ones that hang out windows?"

"Yeah, sure." Yakko replied sarcastically. "Material worthy of a Bill Nye episode there, Rem."

"Can we please return to the matter at hand?" Brain pressed impatiently.

"Right. House cleaner and silverware, please."

The teen dumped a handful of forks, knives, and spoons into the microwave along with a few cans of pressurized house cleaner.

"Now duct tape."

Brain handed her a roll of grey duct tape to which she peeled half a foot to seal the door. Next, the pair connected it into an extension cord that Brain carried to a console to plug it in.

"We're live!" he shouted.

"Dynamite's a go! NARF!" Pinky added.

"Anybody up for some popcorn?" Rem called out.

"Where's the movie?" Wakko quipped.

Rem slammed the popcorn button on the microwave's keypad, and leapt to her feet.

"Okay, it's time to run like hell, people!" she shouted, letting Pinky and Brain climb onto her shoulder.

After giving their respective targets one final attack, the Warner Quartet and the Goodfeathers made a mad dash for the lab's exit. They raced down the caverns for the last time with the robots in hot pursuit when the earthy walls suddenly shook with the force of an earthquake.

KABOOOM!

The sound of the explosion was enough to prompt Yakko, Wakko, and Dot to grab ahold of their charge and rev their feet to Mach 5 speeds. The Goodfeathers and Pinky and the Brain desperately clung to Rem's hoodie as monstrous flames roared through the cave. The Quartet with mice and pigeons in tow, dove behind a particularly large boulder the moment they reached the mouth of the cave. Explosions rocked the large mountainous hill until it finally collapsed. crushing the entire lab and every robot from within. The small group watched the tower of smoke rise to the night sky while everything on the ground smoldered.

"...Well, not quite like Caddyshack." Yakko commented. "But...eeeeehhhh, I think that's another show we'll be puttin' on our 'No View' list."

"Pfft, whatever." Rem replied. "It ended last spring anyway."

"You mind cluin' us into the reruns would'ja?" Pesto whispered into the teen's ear.

"We could use some of them tips against the Sparrows, you know what I mean?" Bobby added.

"As far as I know, Mondays and Wednesdays nights."

"It's best that we vacate the area before Buddy learns that we've depleted his source of hired muscle." Brain told them.

"That reminds me." Rem said. "What are the chances of a certain crazy scientist dude crashing the party?"

"Zilch." Yakko told her. "The good doctor is now a semi-permanent resident of a lovely padded room with nice white coated fellows as neighbors."

"...Good to know."


AN: 'Friz' is Friz Freleng, one of the master animators from Warner Brothers during the Golden Era of animation. The more you know! ;)