Part IV: Justice
The clock with neon yellow LED screen turned to the next minute and began to play the local news radio. "GOOOOOD Morning Orange County! It's 5:15, closing in on 5:20 and we have got some news updates for you!" but the news updates never came as Nelly's hand flew out and punched in the button that turned off the alarm.
She sat up a bit in bed and yawned, looking out her window and realizing that even if it was dawn, it was still dark. She reached under her blanket to scratch her foot when she felt something fuzzy and hard around her ankle. She found Yakko sleeping soundly next to her and she smiled.
Nelly leaned over and softly kissed his lips and before she knew it, his arms wrapped around her neck and tried to pull her down. She broke the kiss.
"Good morning my dear. Did you sleep well?" she asked as Yakko opened his eyes. Yakko smiled and sat up. "Slept fine, but that was a great way to wake up. I know! Let's do it again, only this time you pretend your asleep and I'll kiss you!" he suggested eagerly. Nelly giggled. "I would, but you're tail is wrapped around my ankle and I still have to get to work today."
Yakko pouted and looked under the covers. "Wiggle your ankle. I still haven't unlocked the secret to this." he said and Nelly wiggled her ankle. Once free, she looked at it and sighed. A large red mark surrounded it like an anklet.
"Sorry." Yakko said bashfully and Nelly shrugged.
"Hopefully it'll wash off in the shower."
Yakko perked up at the mention of shower. "We get to take a shower?" he said, his eyes sparkling in some unknown light.
Nelly shook her head with a grin. "I'll take my shower while you can go eat breakfast. Help yourself to the kitchen." she said as she stood and gathered her clothing for the day. Yakko pouted and headed out of the room.
Yakko stood in the middle of the small kitchen. What did one eat at 5:30 in the morning? Oatmeal wouldn't hold over for very long and toast always needed something a little extra. He popped two pieces of bread into the toaster and looked around the kitchen for other things that could go with toast. He brought out the grape jelly from the refrigerator and as he did, his mind wandered towards his family. ~Okkay, I've had my 24 hours of fun, but now it's time to get serious. Someone set the fire to the church, and it was to kill Swirls. Who ever the higher up at the studio was at--~ A gentle tap on the shoulder interrupted Yakko's thoughts. He turned his head, and saw Nelly smiling at him. "You're going to burn out my refrigerator light." she said, dressed in a pastel green skirt suit.
Yakko waggled his brows and said in a low voice. "I hope that's all I'll wear out." Nelly giggled.
"Quit that. Go fix your toast and I'll scramble some eggs." Yakko smiled as he spread the jelly on the toast and popped in two more slices for Nelly.
Breakfast was of course, ready in no time and afterwards, Nelly packed her lunch as Yakko got dressed.
The drive to Burbank was mostly silent, the freeway wasn't too badly backed up and the radio played lightly over the silence. Yakko couldn't help but begin to think. ~Lon knew someone wanted us dead, and he knew it was a higher-up as well. Somehow he was connected. But who was the higher up? So many people hated us back then.~
As Yakko's thinking paused, a woman on the radio said,
"In other news today, the remaining family of Thomas Henry is asking St. Catherine's to release all information they have on the man who was killed in the devastating fire of 1934..." but Yakko turned off the radio and turned to Nelly with wide eyes.
"Get me everything you can on Thomas Henry and on all the hire ups that worked at the studio in 1934." Yakko said as they pulled into the studio.
Nelly blinked and nodded. "What are you planning to do?" she asked him.
"My sibs and I are going to find out exactly what Francine Lewis knows."
Swirls had been terrified when Yakko asked her to take them to Francine, but they all knew this might be their only chance at cracking this case. When they got there though, Swirls hid behind her mirror and had Yakko knock on the door. Francine blinked when she saw the Warners at the door.
"May...I help you?" she asked, confused.
"Miss Lewis, I am Yakko Warner, and these are my sibs." Yakko said as he waved a hand to mention Wakko and Dot. Swirls couldn't be seen.
Francine tried to close the door. "I can't talk right--"
"Miss Lewis, please, help us." Swirls said as she stepped out from behind Wakko. Francine shook her head in disbelief. "No. No no no. If all of you are together..." she trailed off as her eyes widened and she turned to go back inside, leaving the door open. The Warners followed with Dot closing the door.
"What will happen Miss Lewis? Please, we need to know." Swirls said softly as Francine sat on the sofa. Swirls next to Francine, Wakko next to Swirls. Yakko stood on the other side of Francine and Dot next to him.
Francine shook her head. "Everyone wants you all dead. They always have wanted you dead. The studio, the government, everyone. With all the damages costing them so much money, they figured it would be easy to kill you all. But...I couldn't let that happen, and neither could Mother Superior or Father Jerome. We would've happily taken you all in." Francine said in between tears.
Yakko looked at Francine. "Who was Thomas working for?" he asked her softly.
"I...can't tell you." Francine whispered back.
"You can!" the twins said in unison.
"No, I can't. Mr. Borax never told us who wanted you split up, besides the studio."
"Then who can?!" Dot asked, exasperated.
"It's all in the archives." Francine whispered, her eyes having been wide through the whole conversation, now lowered into slits. "Go. Now. I don't think it's safe here anymore." she continued to whisper. The Warners nodded and left.
When the four Warners returned to the studio, they decided to check on Nelly in the hopes she had found something for them. But upon entering the archives they found that her desk was loaded down with thousands of manila folders.
"Nelly?" Yakko called out as the four padded along the cool marble floor.
"Behind the files! I think I found something!" Nelly called out in reply as she waved a hand above the stack of folders.
When they came around the other side of the desk, Nelly held a crinkled and extremely old profile paper in her hand.
"Sean Harrison. He became the CEO when Jack Warner decided he wanted to be in movies." A black and white photo of Harrison was in the top right corner and they all seemed to memorize the young face. Nelly handed Yakko the paper and grabbed another one from the folder. This paper had yellowed edges, but still looked new.
"After a psychologist examination the day after to guys wrecked his office, the psychiatrist suggested that Harrison be given the pink slip. Sean told the doctor, in detail, how he was plotting to kill all four of you." Nelly pointed to the section that said 'Session Notes' at the bottom of the paper. It was all the same and it truly was all there. Everything down to the exact second of how Harrison would buy the supplies, Henry would set up the fire and St. Catherine's would burn to the ground.
"Is he still alive?" Swirls and Wakko asked in unison, almost eagerly.
"Supposedly so, but good luck on finding him. He could be anywhere." Nelly said as she closed the folder and handed it to Yakko.
Dot smiled as she approached Nelly. "Do you have a phone book? Preferably the white pages?"
Nelly blinked, confused, leaned under her desk and grabbed the phone book, handing it to Dot. Dot flipped through the pages and finally began to rattle off,
"Harrison, Sean. 818-555-7871. 1430 Northwest Drive, Burbank." Everyone looked at Dot, shocked. Obviously, none of them had thought of that trick.
"But is he the right one?" Yakko asked suspiciously.
"Well, let's go and find out!" Dot exclaimed.
The four were about to race out of the room when Nelly cried out, "Stop! Don't you want Harrison to be properly jailed for his crimes? To be tested against the full force of the law?"
"What's in it for us?" Yakko asked, confused, taking on the personalities of his siblings. "Perhaps money, to know that justice has been served and that this man may possibly go to jail for the rest of his life so he can't harm others." Nelly responded.
"You know, you're really taking the fun out of this." Dot said with folded arms and a frown.
"Besides, the police would never believe anything we say." Swirls added with Wakko agreeing by a nod of his head.
Nelly smiled evilly. "Then leave everything to me." she said, beginning to sound like a Warner herself.
It had been nearly two weeks since Nelly had promised that Sean Harrison would get his dues. But for nearly two weeks, none of the four had seen Nelly, and their had been no news anywhere that the former CEO of the studio was in jail or coming close to receiving the vengeance all four Warners had plotted for him. Yakko and Dot had been cool about the whole situation. They were currently browsing the internet for just anything that seemed interesting. Wakko had gotten bored and asked Swirls to play a game of checkers, which she happily agreed to, but halfway through the game began to pace when Wakko was deciding which piece he should move next. Out of the four, it was Swirls that seemed the most uptight. She constantly clutched and unclenched her hands as she paced the length between the checker game and Yakko and Dot at the table.
"I swear I am going to go insane." Swirls mumbled once or twice as she took off her hat and began to wrench it between her hands. Wakko watched as his mirror paced and couldn't help but take off his own hat.
~I need to gamble. I need money. I need a newspaper. I need to know what's going on at the races.~ Swirls mind rushed at a thought per millisecond.
~Then go get one.~ Wakko would shout back at her.
~I have no money. You need money to place bets. When is Nelly going to find out.~ ~Relax. Put your hat back on and come make your move.~ Swirls sighed and walked back over to Wakko as she did place her cap back on.
"Yakko, why don't you call Nelly? Maybe she went back to her apartment and forgot about us." Dot suggested softly.
"I've tried. All I get is her answering machine."
"Maybe she's in trouble." Wakko suggested himself as he looked over at the other two. Yakko's eyes shot at Wakko's and Wakko shrank back. No telepathy needed to be used to tell what Yakko was thinking. A thought of Nelly being in trouble was the worse anything could be thought of, especially when they were dealing with...Harrison who had now become the tower hold name for attempted-murderer.
There was a knock at the tower door and Dot jumped up to go answer it. A tall man in a business suit smiled down at her when she opened the door.
"Hello. I suppose you're one of the Warners. Here," the man said as he took a large brown envelope from under his arm, "This is for your brother, Yakko. Have a nice day!" and the man left. Dot turned around, looking at the envelope oddly as she handed it to Yakko.
"What is it?" Wakko asked as he and Swirls approached the table. Yakko opened the envelope and took out the few papers that were in there. Yakko skimmed the papers and blinked.
"It's...a court summons." he said softly.
"A what?" Dot asked.
"A habeas corpus?" Swirls asked.
The other three Warners looked at her with one raised brow.
She sighed. "Let me guess, a judge is asking we come forward at a court for some reason or another."
"To prosecute someone." Yakko responded looking back at the papers.
"What?" Wakko asked.
"In the trial of Harrison vs. Warners. It seems like dear Nelly did take care of everything. We have to appear in court tomorrow at nine a.m. sharp." Yakko said as he slid the papers back into the envelope.
"What'll I wear?!" Dot cried out as she ran to her room. Swirls and Wakko could only feel relieved. Finally, they would see the man who tried to separate them.
The four Warners entered the courtroom, but weren't amazed at what they saw, all except for Swirls that is. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot had been in a courtroom before when they were having problems with a meter maid, but for Swirls, she had never seen the American Judicial system at work before.
The only thing the Warners wondered about was where they should sit, but they saw Nelly waving them over to what look like it could've been their side. A man in a business suit, the same one that had given Dot the papers, sat at the dark wood table.
"I got you guys a lawyer if you didn't mind. I've spent weeks going over the case with him. We've got some great evidence against Harrison." the four could only nod as they sat down.
The bailiff announced the judge and the trial began. As the lawyers rattled off their opening statements, Swirls and Wakko leaned forward to try and catch a glimpse of Harrison and saw him. A short, pudgy little man, probably no taller than 5'3", he was all ready bald and had bloodshot eyes. His cheeks were red as if he drank and there was gray stubble on his chin. He wore a tattered old white shirt with a large yellow stain near the right shoulder. Over his shirt was a thin blue sweater. He didn't look happy and when he caught Swirls and Wakko staring at them, he sneered and snapped his teeth together as if trying to bite them. They both sat back in their chairs. He really didn't seem like a man to mess with.
Evidence was brought forth, people testified, and the people were old. Most of them were witnesses when they saw the fire break out. More evidence and old photos were presented and so far it looked as if Harrison was winning. Everything was so old, and he seemed like just a crotchety old man. Who cared? Until Nelly stood up.
"Your Honor, just a couple of days ago the police were given a warrant to search Harrison's home. I was wondering if they could bring in some evidence they found?" The judge nodded and two policemen carried in a large box, setting it on the evidence table. The Warners lawyer, who had been now recognized as Owen Inba, began to pull out the evidence and explained each piece as he went along. Everyone in the courtroom became shocked.
Thousands, upon thousands of papers were produced, in Harrison's own writing, that he was plotting, again, to try and kill the Warners. Blue prints for bombs of all sorts came out of the box, as well as hand drawn and computer diagrams. Addresses of hitmen and receipts for payment were produced. Pictures of stratigical hit points on the tower were also produced, and finally, a dart board with several darts plotted on a group picture of the Warners came out of the box.
"Stop Stop! I know there isn't anymore! Yes! I'll swear and pledge right here and now that I have plots to murder those...those...those little pieces of--" Swirls gasped and put her fingers to her ears, Wakko pulled down his hat and Yakko and Dot covered their own ears as Harrison began to curse a horrible blue streak.
"Order! ORDER! Mr. Harrison, there is no place for language like that in my court." the judge cried out.
"It doesn't matter. If you care, I plead guilty. Guilty for attempted murder, for arson, for whatever you want to charge me with. But I swear that in jail I will still plot and plan, not only to get out of hell, but to continue to attempt to kill the Warners. There is no place in this world for extreme anarchy. And that's what they are. Godless, non-fearing daemon heathens who try to spread Anarchy and Satanism through this good heavenly place of Earth. They are the ones who should be in jail! They who have caused millions of dollars in damage! They should burn in hell for the troubles they've caused!" Harrison sat down as he still fumed in his seat. The Warners looked at each other and gave cuckoo signs, for obviously Harrison had gone a little too past the right and outside of the box.
"Are you through Mr. Harrison?" the judge asked. Harrison nodded quickly and the judge looked to both of the lawyers.
"We rest our case." Harrison's lawyer said, almost embarrassed from the outburst his defendant had given. The judge looked over to Owen.
"We rest our case."
The judge nodded and banged his gavel.
"Court dismissed until the jury has reached a verdict." and both the judge, as well as the jury and the rest of the court went to relieve themselves of Harrison.
It hadn't been long when the jury had informed the court that they were ready with their verdict. When court resumed, the judge looked to the jury.
"Have you reached a verdict?"
"We have."
"What say you?"
"We find that on behalf of the court of LA County, to find the prosecutors, the Warners, to be innocent. And that the Defendant should pay 200,000 dollars in punitive damages to the Warners as well as going through a 4 year period psychiatric session and be put into Los Alamos Asylum." a young blonde announced.
"I couldn't have said it any better. Case dismissed!" the judge called out as he banged his gavel against the podium. Everyone began to leave as Harrison began to scream obscenities at the Warners.
"Bon Voyage!"
"Au Revoir!"
"C'est la vie!"
"Aloha Oy!"
"Oy Vey!" the Warners called out to Harrison has the last of him disappeared through the door.
"We've got money! We've got money!" Swirls, Wakko and Dot chanted happily as they rushed out of the courthouse and down the steps. Yakko and Nelly on the other hand stood at the top of the steps and watched as the fading sun began to fall down behind the tall Burbank buildings, turning the world a vibrant orange.
"I hate to break it to them that Plotz will probably get it all." Yakko said as he stuck his hands into his pockets.
"Why's that?" Nelly asked softly as she watched the three little Warners play around the statue of Justice at the bottom of the steps.
"He always finds some reason. I don't worry about it much." Yakko said as he too watched his siblings.
"I guess that's it then. There's no more worrying. You and your siblings can live happily ever after." Nelly said as a note of sadness entered her voice. Yakko looked up to her with a half grin.
"You know, I still need a beautiful princess to live with me in my kingdom." Nelly blushed a bit.
"Do you really want me as a Princess though?" she asked, curious. Yakko put his arm around her waist.
"I couldn't imagine any other woman Nelly."
"Well then. I love a party." she said as she smiled and rested her head on top of Yakko's. The sun slipped down beneath the horizon, the stars began to shine brightly and the town of Burbank had one less Psycho and one more family to bring into their life.