On a dark and stormy evening, a mysterious figure entered a castle that overlooked a provincial village. Deep inside the gothic estate's stone walls, the figure snarled as he trudged up the winding stairs, leading to the top floor. He let out a vicious cry as he opened the large wooden doors to the laboratory.
Dr. Brainenstein, the lord of the castle, stood behind his chemistry set, the glass beakers obscuring his face. Upon hearing the door open, he dropped his studies and gazed upon the visitor with an eager smile.
"Ah, Pigor, you've returned!" Dr. Brainenstein greeted his assistant with a confident grin. The scientist emerged from his chemistry set to reveal himself. He wore a fancy black coat, a satin purple shirt underneath a white collared shirt, and black pants.
The monstrous shadow revealed to be a lanky and chipper mouse wearing a brown hood and a muted yellow tunic. "'Ello, Dr. Brainenstein!" Pigor replied merrily, waving to his boss. The mouse carried a large brown sack with something moving about.
Dr. Brainenstein slid down the table leg and eagerly approached his assistant. "How was the graveyard scavenging?" He inquired menacingly, whilst rubbing his hands.
Pigor strained as he carried the large sack with his findings. "Oh, brilliant!" He cheerily answered. "You know, you would be surprised what the dead leave lying around."
"By the way, I've probably been in here a thousand times, but I'm always amazed at how beautiful your castle is!" Pigor complimented.
"Thank you, Pigor." Dr. Brainenstein acknowledged. "I employed only the top masons. Those schooled in the latest techniques of wall-stone craft."
The scientist curtly shoved his assistant off to the side. "Now, let's see what you brought me!"
Dr. Brainenstein eagerly opened the sack, expecting a horde of body parts for his latest scientific experiment, but was surprised to see the Warner children. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot huddled together and smiled at the mouse.
"Hi!" They chorused, but Wakko belched loudly, blowing the scientist's fur and jacket backward like a strong gust of wind.
"Sorry." Wakko apologized, their cheeks turning a bright shade of pink.
At that moment, Pinky and The Brain broke character and started laughing. The Warners soon joined in, and the five rode out their bout of laughter together.
"Oh, classic Wakko." Brain sighed as he wiped a tear from his eye.
Pinky went by Brain's side and wrapped his arm around the smaller mouse's shoulder and turned towards the camera. "You better add this to the blooper reels! Zort!"
But the primal yell from the director brought the joyous moment to a halt. The five actors immediately huddled together as they were about to face the wrath of the man in the director's chair.
"What is this?" The director irately shouted.
"Hey, Wellesley! Hope you don't mind the surprise cameo!" Yakko replied with a playful smile to humor the irascible filmmaker.
"Yeah, we just wanted to give our favorite mice a surprise visit." Dot explained as she gently patted their heads. Pinky contentedly closed his eyes and began tapping his foot a mile a minute upon receiving the girl's affection. Brain, too, was endeared by the Warner sister's pats and smiled at her.
"So I ate all the potatoes and we hopped into this sack!" Wakko concluded, happily stimming by flapping their hands around.
"But the script says for Pigor to carry a large sack of potatoes and have Dr. Brainenstein to open up the sack and be squished by a pile of potatoes!" Wellesley angrily explained. "Now can someone get those pesky kids out of here and get back to the scene!"
But before any of the crew members could intercede, Brain stepped forward, taking a defiant stand against the director. "Forgive me if what I'm about to say comes off as a crushing blow to your fragile ego, but I wholeheartedly disagree with your creative vision." Brain argued. "I say we should keep the Warners in the short."
The intelligent mouse quickly retrieved the script from his coat pocket. "And one other minor criticism I have with the script is that I find the 'wall-stone-craft' pun to be awfully misleading." Brain added with a stern frown. "While Mary Wollstonecraft was an illustrious writer, she did not pen the classic gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Her daughter, Mary Shelley, wrote the book that this segment is parodying."
"Hey, the studio isn't paying you to be a walking history book." The director fired back. "And besides, potatoes are very funny."
"Perhaps in Idaho, but having a cameo appearance from the Warners would be keeping in the comedic spirit of Animaniacs in regards to rapid-fire visual gags." Brain argued. "The kids are staying in the short, and that's final!"
Unbeknownst to The Brain, the Warners smiled as they watched their fellow co-worker stand up for them and make a compelling case for their inclusion.
Pinky then rushed over to Brain's side and faced the director. "Can the Warners stay in the segment? Pretty please, Mr. Director?" Pinky pleaded, using his best puppy dog eyes and simpering pout.
Wellesley rubbed his forehead and gave in. "Alright, we'll use the Warners, but the 'wall-stone-craft' pun stays. Now can we get back to filming please!"
Brain smugly smiled, satisfied with the compromise. He then turned to face his dearest co-star. "Well Pinky, it appears that my excellent debate skills and your irresistible cuteness have saved comedy yet again." Brain complimented, ruffling the taller mouse's head. Pinky relished the small and gentle display of affection from Brain.
"Aww, I thought I was the cute one!" Wakko sadly interjected. Dot merely rolled her eyes at her sibling's protest.
"Places people!" The director yelled.
"Come on, sibs." Yakko said as he stood up. His younger sibling followed suit and the three pulled up the potato sack and hopped their way towards the door entrance. Pinky followed the Warners and Brain immediately returned to his place behind the laboratory equipment.
Filming the rest of the segment went smoothly for the mice. Brain was able to ad-lib his rant after seeing the Warners in the sack, comparing their cameo to 'layman's detritus'. The mice were able to strike up a friendly rapport with the actress who played Drusilla in between takes. They listened to her fascinating background starting out as an extra on daytime soaps before making the move to horror movies and acting with heavy special effects make-up. Brain also managed to work in some improvisation near the final scene where he almost smooched his assistant in an earnest attempt to comfort him, knowing that the viewers would have a field day with that moment.
Once they wrapped up filming the segment, Pinky and The Brain collected their paychecks and made their way through the Warner movie lot, holding hands as they strolled through the studio together. After years of wrestling with his repressed emotions and attending many therapy sessions, Brain finally professed his love to Pinky, and Pinky happily reciprocated his romantic feelings to Brain. The two started their courtship four months before they received the news that they would be returning to Animaniacs for the reboot.
Brain ignored the curious stares from the other workers on the studio lot, instead focusing his attention on his hand, which was interlaced with Pinky's. This was all so new to him. He was trying his best to navigate the challenging terrains of a serious romantic relationship. Thankfully, Pinky was ever so gentle and understanding with him. The taller mouse possessed strong emotional intelligence and he was able to help Brain let his guard down and help him come to terms with his own emotions. The smaller mouse was still slowly getting used to public displays of affection from Pinky.
Pinky recognized Brain's nervousness and started to make small-talk to keep his mind occupied. "Oh, that 'Bride of Pinky' segment was so much fun, Brain!" The buck-toothed mouse proclaimed.
"Indeed it was" Brain politely replied with a small smile.
"And your improv was on point!" Pinky praised. "Dr. Brainenstein trying to kiss Pigor after the loss of his monster wife was brilliant!"
"Well, your performance was believable as always, Pinky." Brain kindly complimented.
"Yeah, I'm glad those last couple segments were more on the fun and heartwarming side," Pinky added.
Brain nodded his head. He was still bitter at the writers who penned that dreaded 'Mousechurian Candidate' script for a number of reasons. The material had angered him, but deeply disturbed Pinky to the point that he had been hiding in his trailer after each scene. Brain and Julia did their best to reassure their poor co-worker that they were only acting. But once they had received the scripts for 'The Babysitter's Flub' and 'Bride of Pinky', Brain was relieved that the following segments focused on the comedic and affectionate relationship the two leads shared. This renewed Brain's hope that the reboot would manage to retain the magic of the original series.
Meanwhile, the Warners bounced around the movie lot, looking for a way to let out their energy. Yakko spotted Pinky and The Brain walking together. He stopped Wakko and Dot and gestured over to their co-stars. The three made one long leap towards the mice.
"Hey, fellas!" Yakko greeted. "Listen, we just wanna thank you two for vouching for us earlier."
"We really appreciate you two standing up for us." Wakko added.
"Oh, your welcome." Brain said. "It's awfully rare that we cross paths in the show, but Pinky and I welcome your enthusiastic presence."
"Personally, I've always been an admirer of your sophisticated wit and earnest comedic chemistry." Dot complimented.
Pinky looked bashfully at Dot. "Zort! Oh you're far too kind!"
"Oh, I have something important to tell you two," Wakko announced. "So I told my siblings this a while back, and I want you to know that I'm Non-Binary!" The middle child turned their hat around to reveal the pin of the Non-Binary flag on the front of their cap.
"Egad, you have zero binaries? Why that's incredible!" Pinky exclaimed as he eagerly shook Wakko's hand.
"That's wonderful, Wakko." Brain congratulated. "And could you kindly inform us of your pronouns?"
"I currently use he/they pronouns." Wakko answered.
"Well, Pinky and I are very happy for you." Brain kindly told the middle child.
"Aw, thanks!" Wakko said with a sincere smile. Yakko playfully ruffled his sibling's head, causing Wakko to give their older brother a soft shove.
"Well, as much as I would love to converse with you further, Pinky and I need to go to the bank to deposit our checks, and return to the lab to discuss our plans for world domination." Brain explained, tugging his taller partner along. "See you soon, children!"
"Bye-bye kiddies!" Pinky addressed the kids with a friendly wave.
"Bye!" The Warners chorused before bouncing about on their merry way back to the water tower.
Unbeknownst to the mice and the Warners, they were being watched by Warner Brothers CEO, Nora Rita Norita, from the top floor of the WB office building. The businesswoman looked through the blinds and noticed the great rapport between the five actors.
She flashed a menacing smile before releasing her grip from the blinds.
AN: So this chapter is mostly set up, establishing the friendly rapport between the Warners and the mice.
Like my previous story, Those We Hold Dear, Pinky and The Brain work as actors and that most of the segments were filmed on the Warner movie lot (the period piece ones like How to Brain Your Dragon, Pinko and the Brain, Bride of Pinky, 1001 Narfs, and I added Mousechurian Candidate because of how poorly executed it was and the writers really did those characters dirty. And I was inspired by a post by themurphyzone about episode 8). While other segments like Ex-Mousina and Roadent Trip will be referenced later on in the story, occurred in-universe.
And I chose to start the story with the characters filming Bride of Pinky because I loved that little cameo from the Warners and thought it would be fun to play around with the idea of what went on behind the scenes. Also, I decided to expand on that director who kept yelling when something went wrong while filming, and decided to name him Wellesley after the one of the producers of the reboot, Wellesley Wild.
I also made the self-indulgent inclusion that Brain finally attended therapy because I love that grumpy little mouse and I wanted to at least have some of his emotional issues straightened out.
Special shout-out to Cresselia8themoon for beta-reading this chapter!
As of now, this multi-chapter story is mostly complete, and I just need to add in some details in certain scenes, so I will do my best to post new chapters frequently.
Please leave a review if you can! Thanks for reading!