( Author's Note: Hello and thank you so much for reading this far into the story. First off, I wish to apologize for such a mediocre chapter 7, I believe it was. You see, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot gave me the scrypts at the last minute and while I was typing away, they were all giving me ideas on what turn the story will go on, and well... you can't really trust a bunch of Animaniacs. So, I went to the original source of this story, the Mime himself and he told me exactly what had happened in their quest for the crystal. And yes, I'm actually writing on the Mime's behalf, but he is telling the story the way it is. Chapter 7 was just an experimental chapter from Yakko, Wakko and Dot. Even Pinky put in some effort. Anyway, without further delay, here is chapter 9! Thank You Readers!)
We escaped. I don't know how we did it, but we escaped. All I remember is that we ran as fast as we could. The Warners as usual were jumping up and down and saying boingy boingy boingy over and over again. I remember screaming at them to stop and then all of a sudden, we all fell down a rabbit hole. A very all to familar rabbit hole. We found ourselves falling and the next thing I knew, I was knocked out.
I wasn't sure how long I was knocked out, but I did hear voices. I woke up and I was in Annie's legs. "Are you okay?" she whispered sweetly.
"Annie? Where are we?" I asked.
Annie smiled. "You are not going to believe this. You have to wake up and see for yourself."
I got up and saw a sillouhette of a bunny. "Bugs Bunny?" I asked.
Just then, I heard a voice. An old ladie's voice. "Bugs Bunny? Were you smoking the good stuff?!" I finally came to my senses and discovered that we were not in Bugs Bunny's house, as I thought we were. We were in Slappy the Squirrel's new house. Or rather, underground home. The living room was cozy and very friendly, despite seeing our hostess rather ticked off by our arrival.
Slappy walked towards the kitchen with her big fluffy tail following her and she was just complaining and complaining. "First we get that weird incident at the studio, now I have the annoying pests of the Warners at my doorstep." said Slappy.
The Warners were sitting on the couch, drinking some tea and eating small sandwhiches that Slappy made for them. She passed them some sugar cubes and kept on talking. "Then I had to buy this house off an auction that Daffy Duck was putting on, then I had to kick out Elmer Fudd a ton of times for hunting me here. Jeez louis, you cartoon characters never get a break." said Slappy.
"Your a cartoon character too." said Dot.
"But not as looney as a looney tune nor crazy as a Warner." countered Slappy.
"You were once a looney tune... were you?" asked Wakko.
"I used to be more energetic and full of life. But now, I'm just an old woman trying to live my life in this wretched world we all live in." said Slappy.
Annie helped me up and we both sat on our chairs. Slappy then handed us tea and sandwhiches. "Your back to the living. Welcome back." said Slappy to me.
"Thank you." I said. I looked around her small living space and she grabbed her purse. "I know I had some acorn candies here. You kids want some?" asked Slappy.
"We're good thank you." replied Annie.
Slappy smiled and patted my head. "Well who knew that the Mime had a girlfriend. You didn't talk much in the cartoon." said Slappy.
"Well... I keep to myself." I replied.
"And I respect that. I like it when people are humble and not as showy as other stars we all know." said Slappy.
Wakko burped. "Well it is tough being famous."
Dot shook her head. "Our show is on it's last season. And if we don't finish it, our show will just might as well be cancelled."
Yakko then spoke. "And if it does, we'll just be immortalized by reruns." said Yakko.
"Welcome to my world kids!" said Slappy as she turned on the TV.
She then looked at me and Annie and smiled. "I have seen you two before. But where have I seen you two?" she asked.
Annie and I shook our heads. "Oh well Animaniacs was my first cartoon. I don't appear in any other shows." I replied.
"And i'm just a girl living in my hometown." said Annie.
Slappy then walked up to us a little closer. "You know, I never got your names, but for some reason... you two look awfully familiar. First off, the Mime doesn't have his makeup on, and without it, he reminds me of a young Tom Cruise."
"You flatter me." I said sheepishly. I was blushing and Annie kissed my cheek.
"Now I know! Your Zach and Annie from the Book of Virtues!" said Slappy.
Annie and I both turned to Slappy. "What?" we both asked.
Yakko spoke up. "Why Zach! You didn't tell us you were in some other show!"
Wakko spoke up. "Book of Virtues? Oh yeah! That was a show that was supposed to air on the PBS channel. I heard about it through my pal, Big Bird." said Wakko.
"You met Big Bird?" asked Dot.
"I have a life outside the tower you know." said Wakko.
"The show is about to start! Look kids." said Slappy as she showed us the TV.
Annie and I were then taken aback when the intro to "The Book of Virtues" played. First it showed Aurora flying into the air, and Annie was seen riding her bicycle. Then, I appeared and rode next to her. The intro showed all of our friends afterwards. Ari popped out of the ground as usual, Soch was there climbing from a mountain and Plato appeared to greet us. While the intro played, Annie started to cry. Our childhood, our beginning, was played before us. And the weird thing about it was that it really was us. No actors. It was really us. That meant one thing: our friends actually did our idea when we were kids. That we would video tape ourselves, and the cartoon would play.
"But how is this possible? How is this show made?" I asked.
"Yeah. And when did this show come out?" asked Annie as the episode played. Slappy turned down the volume to speak.
"This show came out a few weeks ago. I was in the office when that yellow gopher arrived." said Slappy.
"They are are alive and well!" I said.
"But... where are they now?" asked Annie.
"They are hiding with the crystal. I'm up to speed in your predicament." said Slappy.
"But why did the show come out?" I asked. I was confused as to why our friends would put a cartoon based on our childhood memories on the air. Just then, the episode played.
Annie and I watched holding our hands as we were watching ourselves as kids, doing normal kids stuff. I was roller skating and Annie was riding her bike. We then got into some trouble. I honestly don't remember what happened in the episode, but there was a special segment during the show where Plato would open the Book of Virtues and then the stories we were told as kids would play. I was impressed to see actors potraying the fantasy characters from the book! After the episode ended, I was touched to see the heartfelt message in the cartoon. I believe the virtue of that episode was Bravery.
Slappy walked up to us and grabbed her cane. "So now you know. Your friends care about one thing and one thing only. Educating you poor saps in the world. Kids today are all glued on TV watching stupid cartoons with no plot what so ever! Cartoons like Edd, Ed, and Eddy, our Courage the Cowardly Dog. Bah! In my day, cartoons like Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and yours truly were the thing! The most wholesome cartoons kids ever watched! But today, it's all gross out humor and burp jokes. I'm looking at you Wakko." said Slappy.
Wakko smiled but Yakko spoke up. "I don't mean to kill the mood, but what does this have to do with the crystal? Is education part of it?"
I was taken aback by Yakko's more wise choice of words. There were times he would act a little mature. Once in a while.
Slappy scratched under her chin. "The Crystal for what I have heard is the balance in nature. Children need to see a balance. Nature and education." said Slappy.
Annie spoke after. "Yes. And the Wendigos that have come out... they care for death and violence." said Annie.
"But why are they created? Why do they fear this?" I asked.
Annie shook her head. "The Wendigo is the evil in all of us. Somehow... perhaps someone learned of the Crystal's power and they wanted to see it destroyed. Envy, hatred... they create pathways to evil." said Annie.
Dot spoke up. "But why do we have evil versions of ourselves? We are just cartoon characters." said Dot.
Yakko countered. "Ah but Sis, we aren't saints. How many people did we mess up in our show and in our own free time?"
"We do an awful lot of time traveling." said Wakko as he burped out loud.
"Narf! And how do you guys time travel?" asked Pinky.
"Oh we have our ways." said Yakko with a sly smile.
I laughed. "You guys are silly."
Slappy grabbed her purse. "I'm going with you all. I want to help." said Slappy.
"Really? Why?" I asked. Slappy wasn't much of a team player let me tell you that.
"First off, there is something I want to show Annie. She may be the key to finding our crystal and your friend's secret place." said Slappy.
"Me?' asked Annie.
"Your last name is Redfeather. You are a Native American girl. And that is why you are going to be shown something special." said Slappy.
Annie's eyes widened and Slappy pulled her hand.
In a couple of minutes, we were now walking in the forest clearing. We then heard cars driving by. We weren't far from civilization which was good. Slappy led the way, walking with her cane and purse in hand. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot were jumping as usual while Pinky rode on Annie's shoulder.
"I wish I was more help everyone. If only I knew what had happened." said Pinky.
"Relax. The Brain told you to find me, and you did. That's good enough." I said. Pinky smiled, but I could tell there was real sadness in his large blue eyes.
"There! That there! You see!" cried Slappy, pointing at a cave.
"You want me to go in there?" asked Annie.
"Yes. You and Zach. You two will go in together." said Slappy.
"What's in there?" asked Zach.
"You will find out soon enough." said Slappy as she sat comfortably on a rock. Dot sat next to her and Yakko and Wakko held Pinky for us.
"If you guys get into trouble, scream for us. I'll be happy to burp the cave down." said Wakko.
"What is it with you and burping?" asked Yakko.
"Boys are gross." said Dot.
"I'm offended." said Wakko looking at Dot playfully.
"Knock it off kids." said Slappy, knitting something.
Annie and I chuckled. We both held our hands and into the cave we went. It was a dark place, and very very quiet. We went in deeper and deeper. The further we went in, the distant were the voices of our friends. The cartoonish friendly voices were gone.
"I'm not afriad. I'm with you. I'm not afraid." said Annie, holding my hand tighter. I walked by her side, and we both went deeper into the cave. And then, in a matter of minutes, we light on the other end of the cave. We both held our hands tighter. And we ran to it.