"Oswald, hurry up." Bosko yelled behind him.
Bosko, Oswald, and Gonzo had been walking through the slums of Towntown for about an hour. Even though the earthquake had caused extensive damage, Bosko could still make out the bars and stores he went to when he lived here almost 40 years ago. They had even passed his old apartment a few blocks back.
He was relieved to see that it had been completely demolished in the earthquake. The shabby rooms that had once been a bleak shell of a home was where he spent countless nights alone with a bottle of whiskey and his thoughts, forced to face the hell that had become his life. Even Clampett could be more cheery than that place.
But now he finally had an opportunity to put all of that misery behind him for good, so long as Smokey cooperated.
"How close are we to Smokey's place?" he asked Gonzo, who hadn't spoken since breakfast.
"Close enough." the fox growled.
Bosko, for once, didn't fire back at Gonzo. He didn't like being on the receiving end of disrespect, no matter how passive the comment or aggressive the act. But Gonzo still hadn't gotten over his hissy fit, and Bosko didn't want to add any more fuel to the fire. Maybe Oswald was right. Maybe he did need Gonzo on his side.
Or maybe he needed to dump the fox and do things on his own, like he always had.
"Is that you, Boskie?" a screechy voice called out behind him. He turned around to find a panther- who wore a bit too much make up and let the collar of her blouse fall a little too low- running towards him.
"Sylvia?" he said.
"Boskie, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be in the slammer?" she screeched as she jumped on him. He roughly shoved her off and her eyes widened. "What's wrong Boskie?"
"What's wrong? You stole all my cash and took off 40 years ago!" he yelled, backing away.
"You have to understand, I was pregnant and desperate!"
"Yeah, with another guy's kid." Bosko glared. She hesitated before following him again.
"We don't know that! Boskie, you have to see her. She's all grown up now with two little boys-"
"Oh, I've seen her. She's blonde with a freakin' beak. If you hadn't noticed, neither of us are blonde and I don't have a beak!"
"But Boskie, I love you! I've waited so long for you!" she yelled and grabbed for his arm, only to catch air.
"Save it. You've slept with half of the toons at Clampett. Just get lost." he stormed away, leaving a dumbstruck Sylvia behind.
He noticed that Sylvia hadn't changed much in 39 years. While she seemed to have gained a bit of weight around her waistline and lose quite a few inches on her skirt, the same face he remembered was still hidden behind a disgusting layer of makeup. He wasn't surprised by this, since a toon basically stops aging once they reach adulthood (which some say lasts longer than that of a human's by at least 50 years).
"What the hell was that?" Oswald asked as he and Gonzo approached him.
"None of your damn business." Bosko muttered angrily.
"Whatever. Keep your girl problems to yourself, then." Oswald shrugged.
"Well that was awkward," Gonzo said to Oswald, who rolled his eyes in return. "Smokey's place is a few blocks down."
They continued down the street and stopped in front of a small building with several boarded-up windows and too many shingles missing from it to count. Gonzo stepped forward and knocked on the door, which a large rat slowly opened.
"Hey, Frank. Smokey in there?" Gonzo asked.
"Yeah, he's in his office," he said, looking over Bosko and Oswald. "Who are they?"
"Remember Bosko and Oswald? They got sacked right after you started working here." Gonzo said. Frank's eyes widened.
"That's them? They're smaller than I thought they'd be. My kid has bigger dolls than that." he whispered to Gonzo.
"You stupid sewer rat-" Bosko jumped towards Frank, but Oswald held him back before he could throw a punch. Gonzo rolled his eyes and gestured for Frank to go inside.
"Take a few minutes to cool him down. Smokey doesn't like a hot-head." Gonzo said to Oswald before following the rat.
Oswald shoved Bosko once they were out of sight. "What the hell? Do you really want to piss off Smokey, too? Get it together!" he yelled. "Unlike you, I actually wanna get out of this in one piece, so watch yourself in front of him!"
"Hmph," was Bosko's only reply.
The two toons walked into the front room. It was sparsely furnished with a yellow couch and two green chairs. Bosko opened the wooden door on the opposite wall and revealed a long staircase. He stared down into a dim hallway.
"Remember to watch yourself." Oswald said as they descended down the stairs. Bosko rolled his eyes and walked ahead of him.
The hallway led to Smokey's large and sophisticated office. Bosko peered in through a crack in the office door. He watched as Smokey paced behind his desk, glaring at Gonzo. The fox sat across from him and looked equally unhappy. Bosko put out his arm to stop Oswald from going in and put a finger over his lips.
"So you really won't work with Bosko?" Smokey asked. His pacing had slowed to a halt behind his desk chair.
"No. I'm done with the asshole. You know I never really liked him. I mean, I put up with him in Clampett, sure, but I don't have to now. He's just a bitter has been who treats everyone around him like shit." Gonzo fumed.
"That's too bad. Me and him go way back, you know. He got me out of some stuff before he got shipped off, and I feel inclined to pay him back for it. Oh, and if I do recall correctly, you still haven't gotten me that $50,000 I lent you," Smokey shot a sly grin at Gonzo. "I'm feeling generous today, so how 'bout this; I'll consider that money paid off if you help me and Bosko. And when I say help Bosko, I mean it. Get over whatever it is your pissed about and work with him. I don't have time for your girly drama."
"But you don't know what he did-"
"I know that Bosko is a good partner who always holds up his end of a deal, so shut up and work with him or I'll come knocking for that money." Smokey grunted, anger rising in his voice.
"Fine. But don't think I'm happy about it." Gonzo said, matching his tone.
"Why would I? I ain't Walt Disney- I don't care about your emotions and that sappy crap." Smokey snorted. Bosko took this opportunity to knock on the door.
"Come in."
Bosko and Oswald entered the room. Unlike the rest of the building, Smokey's office well kept. Bookshelves lined the creme colored walls and several leather chairs sat around a stone fireplace. Smokey flashed a crooked, yellow grin as they approached the desk.
"Bosko buddy, it's good to see you've made it out of hell pretty unscathed," Smokey said as he shook Bosko's hand. "You too, Oswald. It must feel good to be out of there."
"Sure does." Bosko muttered.
"I bet. Now, I'm assuming you two didn't come here for a friendly chat." Smokey said as he sat down in his chair. Bosko took a deep breath.
"I have a job I need help with, and since you're the best in town I figured I'd come to you."
"Gonzo just told me about it. Said you wanna take out the bunny."
"That's right." Bosko smirked.
"Then you'll be happy to know I ran into him a few days ago. He was hangin' around near the border of Toontown and Burbank." Smokey said, and a devious smile crept onto Bosko's face.
"Were any of those freaks with him?" he asked.
"Nah, just a little girl. She's on that Animaniacs show with her brothers. You seen it?" Smokey asked.
Bosko nodded. He remembered watching it a few times at Clampett. If they behaved, the prisoners were allowed to spend an hour each day in the game room, which was really just a room with three shoddy pool tables, several torn couches, and a TV that only played Toontown's comedy channel. The other prisoners didn't mind it, since it was the most popular station in Toontown and showed all of the major cartoons, like Tiny Toon Adventures and Looney Tunes, but Bosko hated it for that very reason
"Yeah, Yakko, Wakko, and... Dot's her name, right?" he said.
"That's them. We think they're traveling with the bunny, so I'll have my boys on the lookout for them."
"We?" Oswald asked.
"Me and my right hand man, Tango. He's been here for about ten years. You'll meet him later," Smokey said. "You picked a good time for this job. The earthquake will provide the perfect cover for anything we do to the bunny, and I've got a few new recruits who can do some serious damage."
"Good. I'll need all the help I can get." Bosko said.
"Whoa, what's all this 'I' talk I'm hearing? You know this is a partnership now, right? And my work doesn't come cheap." Smokey said. Gonzo snorted and crossed his arms.
"Listen, I'm broke right now but if you give me some time I can-"
"No, I have plenty of money. What I'm asking for is service," Smokey pulled open a desk draw and took out a manila folder. "I help you so you help me."
"What do you have in mind?" Bosko asked. The rat pushed the folder towards him.
"I want to take over Towntown."
"Well, I think I'll go back to my cot now." Dot yawned. She started towards her and Bugs's spot, but was blocked by Dr. Scratchansniff.
"Oh no, Dot. Bugs told you to stay here with me. It's too dangerous for you to be alone with all these people here."
"But Scratchy-"
"No buts, Dot. Why don't we have a little chat, hmm?"
Dot silently groaned as he guided her back to the cot. Oh great, an infamous Scratchy speech. The last thing she wanted to do right now was talk about her feelings. Dot sat down and rested her head on her hand, inwardly groaning at the impending conversation.
"Now Dot, this must be very hard for you, ja?" he waited for a response. After receiving nothing but an empty stare, he continued. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine." she said.
"Oh come now, Dot. I highly doubt that you are fine after being separated from your brothers. It's unhealthy to bottle up all of your feelings like this."
"I'm not bottling anything up. I just don't feel like talking right now."
"But that's just the problem. If you don't talk about your emotions now, they will continue to dwell inside of you and become too much to control." he said.
She turned her head to the side and let out a small sigh. What was he talking about, she was fine! Her brothers had made it out of the earthquake and were alright, and that's all that mattered right now. Sure, they were missing, but that's because they're looking for her. Besides, they couldn't have gotten too far. The area is so beat up that it takes 20 minutes just to make it down one street. Bugs and Foghorn will find them in no time, right?
"Really, Scratchy, you're making too big of a deal out of this. Once Yakko and Wakko come back, everything will be alright again." she claimed.
"But Dot, what if they don't find them. What if something happened to them? Or to Slappy and Skippy or anyone else from the show? Aren't you concerned for them, too?"
Dot hadn't really thought about the rest of the cast, since she had been too consumed with thinking about Wakko and Yakko to wonder about them. She was good friends with Skippy and had always respected Slappy, so the thought of them being hurt made her heart sink a bit. Were they alright? What about Pinky and Brian? Or Mindy and Buttons? Heck, now she was even worried about the mime.
"Of course I am, but talking about it isn't going to make everyone okay!" she raised her voice.
"But it will make you feel better in the end, Dot. I promise." Scratchansniff sighed.
"No, it won't. I'll only feel better when Yakko and Wakko come back." she turned her back to him.
"What if they're hurt? What if they don't come back? You need to accept these possibilities in order to deal with your emotions."
"No, what I need is for you to get off my case. Yakko, Wakko, and everyone else is fine!"
Dot jumped off the cot and ran through the rows of people. Scratchansniff trailed closely behind, and she had to dodge his hands several times to avoid being caught. She sped up and turned into a sea of toons as he shouted at her to stop. After weaving around countless bodies and cots, Dot finally lost the doctor when she ran into one of the school's hallways. Gasping for air, she slowed down and leaned against a locker. Ow, Dot, she thought. Bad idea to toonspeed right now.
She was glad that she could outrun Scratchy. Between learning the breathing techniques and acquiring the mindset needed for toonspeeding, many toons had difficultly learning this talent that took years of practice to perfect. But even though the theory behind it was difficult to understand, Dot easily picked it up. She even beat Yakko at it, which hardly ever happened during their tutoring. It was rare if she ever could do something before her oldest brother could.
Dot slid to the floor and rested her head against the cool metal. She wiped away the beads of sweat on her forehead, wishing she had some water. Her stomach growled and her eyes were growing heavy.
Looking around, Dot noticed that the hallway was completely deserted. She could still hear the muffled noises from the gym, but decided she was safe from Scratchy. While he was an accomplished toon, the psychiatrist struggled with toonspeed.
Dot only knew this because she overheard a conversation between the writers and director on set. They were trying to find away to accommodate this inability during a scene on the show, but Dot was pulled away by a makeup lady before she could hear their solution. Hopefully, Scratchy wouldn't use the trick they came up with to find her. She was still mad at him after their little "talk."
She slowly closed her eyes. Even though Bugs had teased her for sleeping so much, all she wanted to do was take another nap. She wasn't happy about it, but toonspeeding had tired her out. Her stomach let out a loud, low growl, but she could fix that after a short rest. Laying down, Dot put her hands under her head and entered a deep sleep.
Dot was walking around the water tower; her feet padding on the cold wood floors as she made her way down the hall. Light poured in through large windows and danced on the walls and floors. Staring out of a window, she watched small birds chirp cheerfully while sitting on tree branches. Leaves and blossoms swirled around in the wind as a vibrant sunset illuminated the lot. Dot smiled and continued towards the bright room at the end of the hall.
She walked into the living room that was painted white and held crisp clean furniture. Large buckets of paint were sitting neatly in front of a bare wall, and several paint brushes were stacked next to them. The tower door opened (without the loud screech, for once), and her brothers came bouncing in. Yakko was wearing his baggy brown paints and black belt while Wakko was dressed in his blue sweater and red hat.
Looking down, Dot realized she was in her own Animaniacs costume. They ran towards her and Wakko grabbed her left hand while Yakko took her right. Pulling her to the paint buckets, Wakko picked up a brush and handed it to her. They took their own and dipped the brushes into the buckets, then brushed them against the white wall.
Dot looked into the buckets, which held red, blue, and yellow paints. She dipped her brush in the blue paint and stroked the wall. After swishing her wrist and swirling the paint, a bright blue sky looked down on her. She added puffy white clouds and two red Cardinals to the painting before putting down the brush.
Dot stepped back and admired her work, feeling it needed one more thing. Picking up a clean brush, Dot dipped it in the yellow paint and added a little butterfly near the bottom. She smiled and turned to her brothers' paintings.
Wakko had created a vast, dark ocean and cloudy sky. A silver moon peered through the mass of wispy gray clouds and shone a sliver ray of light over the water. While the ocean was relatively calm, a few loose waves rippled through the water. The scene underwater completely contrasted the dreary surface. Colorful sea creatures swam around three coral reefs, and light shimmered through the water. It was much more pleasant than the darkness above.
Dot smiled. Wakko always was the best artist in the family.
She turned to Yakko's painting. It was no masterpiece by any means, but the lines still had a precise and neat appearance. Flames danced in a stone fireplace while a cat lay on an over-sized green recliner. A few tiny kittens were sleeping against her, and another larger cat was sprawled out on the braided rug in front of the fire. A small window showed dozens of stars shining in the night sky. A layer of crisp white snow covered the ground, making the indoor scene feel cozy and inviting.
Her brothers' laughter rang out behind her. She watched as they tossed a baseball back and forth, doing goofy tricks in between each pitch. Yakko would jump around on his tail like a spring while Wakko used his tongue to catch the ball. Dot laughed along with them, wearing the smile she usually reserved for Christmas morning or moments like this with her brothers.
Yakko tossed the ball to Dot. She went to catch it, but it fell through her hands at the last second. A scream pierced the air when the ball hit the ground. The room started to spin as fear filled her brothers' faces. The floor disappeared and Yakko, Wakko, and Dot began falling. Red and white flashed around them as the vortex transported them to another dimension.
Dot slammed against a hard surface. The whirling stopped and she sat up, taking in her surroundings. Familiar brown plaster walls surrounded Dot and her brothers. A single light bulb hanged over a battered door. She exchanged a terrified look with Yakko and Wakko. A plump woman burst through the door. Her face contorted into a malicious grin as she hobbled towards Dot and her brothers.
The walls closed in as the woman's giant hands stretched out towards the Warners. Dot tried to crawl away, but the hands wrapped around her body and lifted her in the air. She was dropped into a rickety wooden crib and the cries of babies and toddlers surrounded her as more cribs appeared. Several stern nurses in crisp brown uniforms walked past the cribs, ignoring the wails that came from them. Dot tried to pull herself over the railing, but her tiny arms couldn't support her weight.
She was in the body of her two-year-old self.
The cribs began rolling through bleak brown rooms. Dot glanced around at the other children, whose faces mirrored the uneasy feeling that churned inside of her. After moving through countless blurry rooms, the cribs finally came to an abrupt halt. They were in a shabby play area with older kids. While a few of them argued over broken toys, most of the boys and girls sat in small groups.
Dot found her brothers playing with a rubber band ball. Looking sad and defeated, they meekly rolled it back and forth. She pulled on the crib's bars but they wouldn't budge. Deciding the crib was too strong to break, Dot tried to scoot the structure over towards Yakko and Wakko.
Large hands clamped down on the sides of the crib, and the plump woman glared down at Dot. She picked her up and dragged her away from the other children. After entering a dirty closet labeled "Nurse's office," the woman roughly placed her on a metal table. Turning around, she rummaged through a cabinet and pulled out a bucket with "medical supplies" scrawled across it, which was really just a pile of gauze and an empty bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
She picked up the gauze and pulled a needle out of her apron pocket. Dot scooted back on the table as she came towards her. Looking for an escape, she found none. The door had disappeared and the woman's enormous figure blocked Dot from jumping off the table. She hastily grabbed Dot's shoulder and shook her.
"Wake up!" she yelled, shaking Dot harder. Dot's vision blurred and the woman's voice grew deeper.
"Wake up, doc!"
Dot rubbed her eyes as Bugs shook her shoulders. She let out a small groan and he stopped. Sitting up, she blinked her eyes open and stared at a very agitated rabbit kneeling in front of her.
"What are you doing back here?" he asked sternly. Dot sat up.
"Uh, me and Scratchy had a little... disagreement. He wouldn't leave me alone so I left."
"But I told you not to run off!"
"Well, I didn't exactly run. I mostly sprinted." she said, trying to lighten the mood. The look on Bugs's face told her it didn't work.
"You know what I meant. Do you know how dangerous that was? What if Pete or some other creep came along? What would you do then?"
"I don't know... I have a mallet." she stammered.
"A mallet won't help you in that case, Dot. I doubt you could take some 300 pound freak. You should've just stayed with Scratchansniff."
"But he was being such a nosy jerk! And he kept saying that Yakko and Wakko might not come back," Dot leaned forward. "Wait, did you find them?" she asked hopefully. Bugs sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"No. I'm sorry kid. We really did look everywhere." Even though his tone had softened, it still had a slight hardness to it.
"It's alright. You tried." Dot hung her head.
"Come on, let's go find Foghorn and Scratchansniff. They're still out looking for you." Bugs said as he pulled her up.
"How long have you been looking?" she asked.
"About a half hour. Two for Scratchansniff. You had us pretty worried."
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you upset." she hung her head.
"It's alright. Just don't run off like that again," Bugs turned around when he heard the pounding of feet approach them. "Perfect timing."
"Little lady- I say- little lady, what were you thinkin' running away like that-" Foghorn started before being interrupted by Dr. Scratchansniff.
"Dot, that was very irresponsible of you! First your brothers run off and then you- I was worried out of my mind!"
"Calm down, you two. I've already interrogated her and everything's okay." Bugs said as he stepped towards them.
"Yeah, I'm really sorry," she said to the toons. "And Scratchy, I shouldn't have said what I said to you, so I'm sorry for that, too."
"It's alright, Dot. I should have given you more space. How about we all go back and get some dinner. I know I would love some of Frau Bakers soup right now!" Scratchansniff said. Dot smiled and rolled her eyes. Taking Bugs's hand, she and the three toons made their way back to the gym.
