Chapter 10: The Big Game Begins
(Insert "Pump Up the Jam")
That night, the basketball game to win everybody's freedom was going to start. A banner that read, "Tonight the Ultimate Game" was tied between two telephone poles The cars were in heavy traffic. Some of the toons attending included Toro the Bull from "Bully for Bugs", Gossamer the red, hairy monster, Michigan J. Frog and more. The spotlights were shining around. Inside the dome, the Tunes were getting ready for the big game. Lola was taping her gloved hand. Her Tune Squad uniform had the number 10 on it. "Yes!" said Lola. Bugs put his shorts on and made his tail come out from behind. His outfit's number was 1 of course. Elmer tied a bandana to his bald head and growled. 53 was his outfit number. Taz was having trouble getting his jersey on, so he spun around and ripped it up and only half a little of it remained. His outfit didn't have a number, but an !. Sylvester and Tweety were doing jump roping and Tweety jumped off and put on black lace on his face. Sylvester's number was 9, while Tweety's was 1/3. Daffy put on an armor helmet and used random things around him over his outfit, which had the number 2. "Just get out of my way," said Daffy.
Pepé Le Pew sprayed some cologne on himself. He had a red heart instead of a number on the back of his jersey. Yosemite Sam's number was 6. He still wore his ten gallon hat. Porky Pig's outfit had the number 8. Wile E. Coyote's outfit had the number 13. Barnyard Dawg's outfit had the number 25. Foghorn Leghorn had the number 33. Fifi strapped on a blue bow instead of her usual pink one. She also applied blue eyeshadow instead of her usual purple. Her outfit's number was 3. Buster Bunny's outfit number was 4, while Pluck Duck's was 5. Minerva Mink's outfit had the number 7 on it. Yakko, Wakko and Dot's outfit had the numbers 11, 12 & 14. Bimbette Skunk and Julie Bruin's jerseys had the numbers 15 & 16 respectively. Fifi, Minerva, Bimbette and Julie's uniforms hugged their curves, showed their breast cleavage and midriffs. Pinky and Brain activated their robot basketball player suits. The jerseys they wore had 17 & 18 on them. "All systems up and running," said Brain. "Narf," said Pinky. Babs Bunny and Shirley the Loon's outfits had the numbers 19 & 20. Montana Max and Elmyra's had 21 and 22. Speedy Gonzales had the number 24. Gogo Dodo, Furrball and Sweetie had the numbers 26-28. All the other toons participating had whatever number that was taken by the other players. Michael Jordon put on his jersey, which had the number 23. He looks at his team. "Ready?" asked Michael. "Yeah! Yes!" said the toons. Yosemite Sam fired one of his guns. "Let's go," said Michael.
In the arena of the court, the crowd was both cheering for the Tune Squad and booing at the Monstars. The Acme Looniversity students' families were among the audience. Whatever toon that was currently a pet of Elmyra's had to be allowed out of their cages to watch too. Other spectators also included Roger & Jessica Rabbit, the cast from Animalympics and Danny and Sawyer from the movie, Cats Don't Dance. Fleur was at her seat when Brigette and Jean-Claude La Fume sat down. Fleur was at her seat when Brigette and Jean-Claude La Fume sat down. "Brigette, Jean-Claude, you cahme," said Fleur. "We wouldn't wahnt to meess our seestair pahrteecipahte een ziss gahme," said Brigette. "Where's your fahthair?" asked Fleur. "He's ovair zere weeth a film crew," said Jean-Claude, pointing to another part of the arena. Ash and his friends turned on the TV and used the special remote to tune in to the big basketball game. Just then, somebody else sat down next to Fleur. It was Bruce Wayne, the man behind the mask of Batman (though Fleur was unaware he was the Dark Knight). "Hello there," said Bruce. "Bruce Wayne, whaht ahre you doing here?" asked Fleur. "I'm on a business trip for the week and I thought I'd check out the game in between business meetings," said Bruce. "I see. I remembair when you cahme to my restaurahnt bahck een Pahrees," said Fleur. "Yes. I remember. I hear your daughter's participating in the game," said Bruce. "Oui," said Fleur. "I still can't believe the toons' freedom is going to be decided with a basketball game," said Ash. "Me neither," said Dawn. "Pikachu," said Pikachu. Max also turned on the TV with his own special remote. His parents, Norman and Caroline were going to watch too. Max was explaining everything to them. " . . . and so this game is going to decide wether they stay or go," said Max. "I see," said Norman.
Mr. Swackhammer and his Nerdluck slaves had arrived to watch the game then he walks to his seat. "Are these the best seats? I like em yes! I can see everything from here. Very good," said Swackhammer. At the announcement box the announcer was asleep. So, Hubie and Bertie pulled the cord of the speaker and decided to do the announcing with the help of Mary Melody. "Okey-doke ready to go?" asked Bertie. "Yeah yeah sure riot!" said Hubie, pushing his comrade out of the way. He cleared his throat and then began to speak in a sportscaster-style voice.
(Pause Music)
"Ladies and gentlemen, the starting lineup for the Tune Squad," said Hubie. The crowd began to cheer as Taz began to spin into the arena. "Standing 2'4, the wonder from down under," said Hubie. Taz stopped spinning and had two balls in his hands. "The Tasmanian Devil," said Hubie. He hit the two balls into the air and they land in his mouth and popped them. He spun around as the crowd cheered. Penelope was in the audience for now, but said that she assured Furrball that she would join if things got out of hand. "At small forward, standing a scintillating 3'2, heartthrob of the hoops, Lola Bunny!" said Hubie. Some of the men started to go gaga at the sight of her. Charlie the Dog from the crowd passed the ball to Lola she caught it and dribbled it before she spun it around with her finger. "Mary Melody, care to announce the next three members?" asked Hubie.
(Insert "Animaniacs Theme, Instrumental")
"Okay. Our next three members are the zaniest toons to every be drawn and a sibling trio that is a force to be reckoned with! Please welcome the Warner siblings, Yakko, Wakko and Dot!" said Mary. The crowd cheered as the three stepped forward. "Thank you, thank you!" said the Warner Siblings.
(End Music)
"At power forward, the Quackster of the Court, Daffy Duck!" said Hubie. "Thank you! Thank you!" said Daffy, running forward. The crowd was silent, the crickets chirp and Daffy was not happy about it. "Very funny. Let's all laugh at the duck," said Daffy in a disappointed, but sarcastic tone. "Why aren't the crowd cheering?" asked Dawn. "You see, from what Fifi told us, Daffy along with his student, Plucky don't have much respect due to their greed," said Brock.
(Insert "The French National Anthem")
"The next member of the Tune Squad is one of the many students attending Acme Looniversity! She is the protégé of Pepé Le Pew and daughter of the famous chef, Fleur and famous TV director, Pierre. She's also known by the latin name of Sexius Skunkius. Please welcome . . . Fifi La Fume!" said Mary. The crowd cheered as Fifi La Fume stepped forward. "Merci, merci, merci!" said Fifi. She began to blow kisses at the audience. Ash and his friends cheered too. Even Pikachu couldn't help but cheer.
(End Music)
(Insert "Merry Go Round Broke Down" from Looney Tunes)
"And at one point guard, standing 3'3 . . . 4' if you include the ears," said Hubie. Bugs was burrowing under the floor. "Co-Captain of the Tune Squad, the Doctor of Delight, Bugs Bunny!" said Hubie. Bugs popped out of the floor. "Thank you! Thank you!" said Bugs. The crowd cheered, but the Nerdluck slaves from Swackhammer's stand boo and jeer at Bugs.
(End Music)
"And now the player-coach of the Tune Squad, at 6'6, from North Carolina, His Royal Airness: Michael Jordan!" said Hubie. The crowd cheered as Michael smiled and he ran in the court to his teammates. Swackhammer watched Michael as he holds one of his slaves in his hand. "Who? Is he a Looney Tune?" asked Mr. Swackhammer, looking confused. "Uh, uh well perhaps," said the Nerdluck slave nervously. Ash & his friends along with Max and his family were in shock as they watched Michael's entrance on TV. "No way!" said May. "The toons recruited Michael Jordon?!" asked Ash. "Pika?!" asked Pikachu. "I thought Michael's retired," said Caroline. "Apparently not," said Max. Even Bruce was surprised. "I guess retirement didn't agree with him after all," said Bruce.
Michael and the toons formed up together and they put their hands on top of each other. "You guys ready?" asked Michael. "I'm set to take the rack, Jack!" said Daffy. "Those Monstars will wish they never been born!" said Tweety. "We'll make them wish they never invaded Looney Tunes Land to begin with!" said Brain. "Guys, let's just go out and have fun," said Michael. "Yeah!" said the Toons. Everybody began to hear some rumbling from the other side of the court. "The challengers for the ultimate game, all the way from Moron Mountain; Pound, Bupkus, Blanko, Nawt and Bang! Together they form . . . the Monstars!" said Hubie.
(Insert "Hit 'em High" from Space Jam)
The Monstars ran onto the court. Bang and Bupkus did a body slam. Pound thumped his chest like a gorilla. Blanko and Nawt bumped each other's chest. "Go Monstars! Go Monstars! Go, Monstars! Go, go!" said the Nerdluck Slaves. The rest of the crowd booed at the Monstars. Bruce Wayne stared at them suspiciously. Something about them remind of somebody else, thought Bruce. Michael approached them as the spotlights turned off. Bang growled at him while Michael shook his head. "What are you looking at?" asked Bang. Pound growled at Taz, causing him to gulp and faint. Michael got into position as Lola and Bugs ran into their positions.
(End Music)
(Insert "The Ultimate Game" from Space Jam)
Blanko approached Michael as he got into his position. "Cool shoes," chuckled Blanko. Marvin the Martian stepped onto the court. He was the referee as indicated by how his kelt was black & white instead of its usual green. He held the ball as Blanko and Michael looked at him. "Ready?" asked Marvin. Marvin threw the ball in the air and Blanko and Michael jumped up to get it. Michael got it and hit the ball away from Blanko. The game had now begun.
Pound jumped up to catch the ball but missed it. Bugs caught the ball and dribbled it. "I got it! I got it! I got it! I got the ball! I got the ball!" said Bugs. Without warning, Bang backhanded Bugs, sending him sliding across the floor. "Coming through little boys!" said Bang. "Ooh," said Michael. Bugs was seeing stars. With the ball in hand, Pound jumped up to the hoop and slam dunked the ball, scoring the Monstars' first two points. "Way to go boys!" said Mr. Swackhammer. He turned to his minions. "Did you see the moves on that one?" asked Mr. Swackhammer.
Marvin passed the ball to Taz and he passes the ball to Michael. He ran for the hoop but Pound, Bang, Bupkus, and Nawt blocked his way as they started to taunt him. "Come on, come on show me something," taunted Bupkus. "Whatcha got?" asked Nawt. Michael tried to shoot, but Pound kept blocking his way. So he passed the ball to Daffy. "Whoops!" said Daffy as he caught it. "The duck!" said Bupkus, pointing to Daffy. "Yeah beat up on the duck man!" said Pound. Daffy got panicked, looking around as the Monstars charged at him. Thinking impulsively, he threw the ball to Granny, who was sitting on the bench with Stan. After catching it, Granny saw the Monstars were charging at her. The Monstars jumped on both Granny and Stan. Michael saw what happened. "Oh my," groaned Granny. Birds flew around her head. Lola glared at Daffy. "She was wide open!" said Daffy. Lola shook her head and walked away.
Pound passed the ball to Nawt, who began dribbling it. Lola tried to stop him, but Nawt spun past her and passed the ball to Bupkus. The purple Monstar slam dunked, earning two more points. Michael now had the ball and he ran through the court, dribbling the ball. Nawt tried to block Michael. "Watch the screen. Coming your way. Coming your way. Watch out!" said Nawt. "Come on get him!" said Bang. Pound and Bang tried to stop Michael, but he jumped and slam dunked. He scores the first two points for the Tune Squad. At Swackhammer's stand, the Nerdluck slaves were giving Mr. Swackhammer a massage when he saw Michael scored. "How did he do that?" asked Mr. Swackhammer in surprise. He slammed his fist down angrily.
Back on the court, the Monstars had the ball. Porky ran up to Michael. "Er, nice shot, Mr. Jordan," said Porky. Michael saw Nawt had the ball now. "Hey, Hey, Hey come on. Get back on defense!" said Michael. Nawt passed the ball to Bupkus and he slammed it to the hoop earning two more points. "Way to go!" cheered Mr. Swackhammer. "MJ! MJ!" said Bugs. He threw the ball to Michael and he caught it. He looked up to see the Monstars staring down at him. "Red light!" said the Monstars. "Feed me! Feed me!" said Tweety. But suddenly, Sylvester grabbed Tweety. "Feed you? Feed me!" said Sylvester. He put Tweety in his mouth, but Michael passed the ball to Sylvester. The ball hit him in the stomach, making him spit Tweety out. Tweety landed on the ground. "Bad ol' putty tat!" said Tweety. Furrball gave Sylvester a death glare. "What did Lola tell you?" scolded Furrball. "Not to think with my stomach during the game," said Sylvester. "I'll take that, thank you," said Pound as he picked up the ball. The orange Monstar ran to the hoop. "Don't try this at home!" said Pound. He jumped and slam dunked the ball.
(End Music)
Right now, Foghorn Leghorn was dribbling the ball. Fowlmouth was accompanying him. "I wish I was in the land of cotton," sang Foghorn. But Bang blocked his way. "You going somewhere?" asked Bang. "May I remind you. sir, that physical violence is paitiently against . . . ," said Foghorn. But he was rudely interrupted when Bang breathed fire like a dragon, frying both roosters. When the flames subsided, both Foghorn and Fowlmouth were black as soot. "Did you order the original recipe . . . ," began Foghorn. He dissolved into ashes. " . . . or extra crispy?" finished Fowlmouth. He turned to ashes too. Bang smiled sadistically at the two.
At that moment, Fifi La Fume now had the ball. Both Blanko and Nawt were going to charge at her from both sides. But the purple skunkette was too quick for them. She jumped up high and the two Monstars crashed into each other, face first. Fifi then slam dunked the ball into the hoop, scoring another two points for the Tune Squad. The audience and her fellow teammates cheered. "I steell gaht eet!" said Fifi. "Zat's my geerl," said Pierre. "Fifi's told me about how she's good at basketball, but seeing her play is different," said Pikachu.
The buzzer went off and it was now the second period of the first half. Michael goes to the bench to pick out another player. He looks around and picked one. "Let's go," said Michael. "Me?" asked Sniffles the Mouse happily. He ran to the court. "Oh boy! I'm ready! I can can do this!" said Sniffles. "Mouse? You picked the mouse?" asked Stan, confused. Some of the toons laughed at this. Sniffles went to Blanko, who looked at Sniffles while holding the ball in his hands. Sniffles stops to talk to Blanko. "I love basketball. I've always loved basketball. Do you love basketball?" asked Sniffles. "Uh-huh," said Blanko. "You're big but you're pretty good at basketball. I'm small, but I'll try really hard at playing basketball. Really I will," said Sniffles. "Right. Okay. Yeah," said Blanko. "And my mom always says. "Try your best in everything you . . . ," said Sniffles. SPLAT! Blank dropped the ball on him, squishing him, causing the crowd to gasp.
Lola Bunny had the ball and was dribbling it to the hoop, but Pound and Bang blocked her path. "Try to get by me, doll!" jeered Pound. "Doll?" asked Lola. Lola jumped and dribbled Pound's face with her feet. She jumped and slam dunked, which surprised both Pound and Bang. The other toons cheered for her. "Don't ever call me . . . ," began Lola. She blew her ears out of her face. " . . . doll," said Lola. Pound had a dumbfounded look. "Nice shot!" said Bugs as he high fived Lola. "Thanks Bugs," said Lola. Arnold the Pit Bull had the ball now. Pound tried to block him, but the white dog threw the ball and it went through the hoop. "Curses!" said Pound.
(Insert "Hit 'Em High" from Space Jam)
Bupkus was confused by Michael blocking him. "Hmm?" asked Bupkus. "Where's your defense, boy?" asked Pound. He grabbed and spun Michael around. "I gotcha right here!" said Pound. "911!" said Bupkus as he jumped to the hoop. He slam dunked, earning two more points. At Swackhammer's stand, his Nerdluck slaves were serving him food. But Swackhammer doesn't notice he smiled and chuckled evilly as he watched the Monstars score. "Piece of pie? Pork chop? Some sorbet perhaps?" asked a Nerdluck slave. "In your face!" said Bang as he slam dunked. The crowd booed as the Monstars continued to score and on the scoreboard. On the Monstars' side of the scoreboard, it was going up like a casino machine and it said "Kinda one-sided, isn't it?". Pound jumped up letting out a yell and made one more slam dunk before the time runs out.
(End Music)
Marvin shot his laser gun. "Half time," said Marvin. He turned to see Sylvester coughing and he sees there's a hole in his chest. "Holy putty tat!" said Tweety as he flew through the hole. Sylvester felt annoyed. By the end of the first half, the Monstars scored 66 points, while the Tune Squad only scored 18. The toons were sad, thinking they'll lose. The Monstars celebrated their first half victory as they high fived each other. "Yeah man. We got it going. One more half," said Bupkus. "Right man. We got em," said Pound. The Tune Squad started to head to their locker room. "Moron Mountain, here we come," said Sylvester sadly. "We're gonna be swaves," said Elmer. "Come on guys, keep your heads up, we got another half to play," said Michael. Stan stopped and saw the Monstars heading for their own locker room. He decided to find out how they got big in the first place. So, he followed them to their locker room, carefully and quietly.
(Insert "Monstars Locker Room")
The Monstars charged into their locker room, breaking the door down. Pound fell onto the floor and Blanko stepped on his head. But he didn't mind he gets up and joined his friends. Bang and Bupkus high fived each other as they laughed. Bang pulled Pound into a noogie. But their celebration was cut short they felt shocked upon seeing their boss. "It's the boss!" said Bupkus. Mr. Swackhammer lit his cigar. "Hello, Mr. Swackhammer," said the Monstars. "All right, not bad for the first half, but we got to keep this up," said Mr. Swackhammer. "Hey, no problem. We stole the . . . ," began Pound. "We stole the talent boss from the best players of the NBA," interrupted Nawt as he grabbed Swackhammer's lapels. Little did the Monstars and Mr. Swackhammer know that Stan was hiding in one of the lockers, listening in on their conversation. "From the NBA?" asked Stan softly in shock.
"It was then uh, uh, uh Grandmama, wasn't it Larry Johnson?" continued Nawt. "Shut!" said Mr. Swackhammer, shoving Nawt away in annoyance. He began to sniff the air. "I smell something," said Mr. Swackhammer. Blanko sniffed his armpit, thinking it was him. "Uh, we have been playing really hard," said Blanko. "Yeah!" said the other Monstars in agreement. "Not you, idiot!" said Mr. Swackhammer. He looked over to the lockers. "It's coming from over here," said Mr. Swackhammer. Stan's eyes widened with fear, knowing they can smell him. He saw Blanko outside, who was sniffing the locker. "That locker!" said Pound. "Yeah!" said the other Monstars. The blue Monstar pulled and broke the locker open. They all gathered around Stan, looking at him menacingly. "Look!" said Bang. "Don't!" cried Stan. "It's the chubby boy!" said Bang. Mr. Swackhammer pushed Bound and Bang aside and saw Stan. "Ah, it smells like a spy," said Mr. Swackhammer. Stan chuckled nervously. "You guys need a publicist? I can make you big," fibbed Stan. He squeaked fearfully as they cornered him.
(End Music)
As you just read, I decided to have the Warner Siblings and Fifi La Fume have their own introductions and Mary Melody is an announcer for the game too. I thought it would neat to have Bruce Wayne as a spectator for the game. Don't worry, Penelope Pussycat will get to play in the game at once point. Next chapter, the Tune Squad will learn the truth of the Monstars and game takes a looney turn . . .