(Author's Note:

Hi, me again.

What is this, you ask? Why, it's the director's cut of Origins! Yes, many of the blemishes have been taken out, and the whole experience is now a more enjoyable one. So sit back and enjoy the show!

Okay, really, it's been four years since I wrote this baby. I put a lot of work into it, back when I was just a wide-eyed fourteen-year-old. However… my writing style has improved. Greatly. I'm not saying it's fantastic now, by no means, but still, I will tell you truthfully that when I read the original version of this, I felt like I had to throw up. I might have left it just sit and rot, but this, along with A Fish Called Wanda, are my two most popular fanfics. The two that I'm recognized as the writer of. And I felt downright embarrassed to be associated with the former version of Origins.

So, I did some heavy-duty editing to this puppy. I fixed grammatical errors, I changed things that sounded awkward, I added some things for clarity, and I took out some things that were irrelevant. The finished product is more clear, flows better, and has more funny "Animaniacal" moments, while still being the drama—although not as quite as sappy as it used to be—that I originally intended.

For those of you here for the first time, I hope you like it. And for those of you coming back for a second or third helping, then… thank you very, very much. Fans like you are the reason that I keep writing and get inspiration.

By the way, the two original authors notes (at chapters 10 and 13) were left in for posterity's sake.

Enjoy!)

"Yakko! Wakko! Wake up!"

Nine-year-old Yakko groaned in restless annoyance, but reluctantly opened his eyes. His four—no wait, it was five now—year old sister was standing over him, joy and ecstasy shining from her face.

"Yes Dot," said Yakko, still half-asleep. "I know it's your birthday."

"It's not just that!" cried Dot. She turned to glare at her seven-year-old brother Wakko. He looked dead. Wakko always looked dead when he slept.

"WAKE UP!" she screeched, kicking him in the side.

"I'm up, I'm up," Wakko said quickly, standing up and rubbing sleep out of his eyes discreetly.

"Guess what I found?" said Dot excitedly.

"A paddle boat?" asked Yakko.

"A crazy bald man who called you 'Chumba'?" asked Wakko.

"No," said Dot, trying unsuccessfully to hide her giggles. "I found a sign up sheet for a talent contest today. Third place gets five dollars, second place gets ten dollars, and first place gets…"

"What?" cried her brothers.

Dot grinned at their suspense. "First place gets twenty dollars."

"Twenty whole dollars!" said Yakko with astonishment. "We could have a feast with that!"

"Maybe we could pay someone to stay at their house," said Wakko thoughtfully. "I'm sure they would take twenty dollars."

"There are only three spaces left to sign up," said Dot. "If we're gonna sign up, we better do it now."

"Where is this sheet anyway?" asked Yakko, getting up from the concrete of the alley they had slept in last night, all his fatigue gone.

"Over there." Dot pointed off in the distance and started running. Wakko quickly got up and followed her and Yakko.

"So when is this contest?" asked Wakko, panting a little as he tried to catch up.

"Today," called Dot from behind her shoulder.

"Are you sure?" asked Wakko.

"Yeah," confirmed Dot. "It clearly said April 1st, 1991."

The siblings screeched to a halt where Dot stood, pointing up towards a sign hanging some inches above her.

Yakko, who could see the paper and read the best, stood up on his tiptoes to read it. "They're providing a piano," he said, smiling a bit. "We could all play something on the piano. I have Pachelbell's Cannon in D down pretty well. Dot, what do you think you could play?"

"I can play Music Box Dancer pretty good," said Dot.

"And Wakko, you'll just make something up, right?" asked Yakko.

"Actually," said Wakko, "a couple of months ago I was by this guy playing the piano in one of those fancy stores. He was playing this really neat song and he taught me how to play it."

"What is it?" asked his brother and sister.

"Maple Leaf Rag."

"I've never heard of that," said Yakko, looking at his brother.

Well then, you don't know what you're missing! thought Wakko. I'm going to play it at the concert, just so you can hear it!

Yakko grinned roguishly. "I'll look forward to it."

"What did he say?" shrieked Dot.

I didn't say anything, thought Wakko. Tell her that, Yakko.

"Wakko says that he didn't say anything," said Yakko matter-of-factly.

"Stop doing that, Wakko," said Dot. "Talk normally."

"Fine," said Wakko. "I said, I mean I thought, that I'm going to play Maple Leaf Rag so Yakko—and you too—can hear it. It's a really neat song. Written by some guy named… Scott Joplin, I think."

"But you probably haven't played it very often," said Yakko.

"Do you think you can do it?" asked Dot, looking at Wakko quizzically.

"Of course," said Wakko confidently. "You are talking to the Master of the Piano here."

"Watch out, Wakko, your ego is showing," muttered Yakko.

"I think he can do it," said Dot. She looked at Yakko and flashed the smile that only young girls possess.

"Alright." Yakko thought for a moment. "Dot, I think that you should go first. People will like us more—and not think we're quite as weird looking—if we bring the cute one on stage first." He handed Dot the pen.

Dot stood on her tiptoes and scribbled her name on the sheet. The siblings couldn't read very well, and about the only thing they could write were their names. Dot was getting better at hers, and hers was also much shorter than her brother's names.

"Then I'll go," said Yakko, taking the pen from Dot. He signed his name right below his sister's.

"Why do I have to go last?" said Wakko glumly.

"Because we want the program to end with a bang!" cried Yakko. "You could make it end with a bang… literally!"

Wakko took the pen from his brother and signed his name on the very last space. "Don't underestimate my powers," he said evilly.

For those of you Animaniacs fans who are wondering what the h-e-double hockey sticks is going on here, I'll tell you. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot had been wandering around without a home for as long as they could remember. Eating whatever food they could pay for… and beg for… and very occasionally steal (only Yakko did this), the kids only knew their first names and their birthdays: Yakko was born on February 1st, 1982, Wakko on March 1st, 1984, and Dot on April 1st, 1986.

Yakko, the oldest, basically assumed full responsibility for his younger siblings. His talent with words had many a time helped him get out of a jam—or landed him in one. Being the sole caretaker of Wakko and Dot for as long as he could remember, he had faced more heartache, hopelessness, and despair than most people face in a lifetime. Having seen much in his nine years of life, he often seemed older than he really was.

Wakko was the middle child. Quiet and thoughtful—he hadn't learned to speak until he was three, and before then the only way Yakko could understand him was by reading his thoughts—Wakko had an innate ability to be able to read emotions, even hidden ones. All three of the siblings were musically gifted, but Wakko had the unique ability to sit down at a piano and play beautiful music from the spot.

Dot was the youngest and the only girl. She was cute, and she knew it—and so did everyone else. She was somewhat spoiled—as spoiled as one could be in her situation. A pout of her lip could go a long way, weather with her brothers or with innocent passer-bys. Dot was also blessed with an almost super-natural ability—she had photographic memory, be it with either faces or words.

"So," Wakko was saying, "the concert starts at three. What time is it now?"

"Don't know," said Yakko, "but we could always go look at the bank clock."

"I'll go," offered Wakko.

"Wait!" cried Yakko. "I'm not to thrilled with the idea of you going out by yourself."

Wakko pouted. Come on Yakko, I'm seven years old. Besides, the clock is just a block away!

"Fine, go," muttered Yakko. "But be careful, okay?"

As Wakko ran off, Dot said angrily to Yakko, "Don't let him talk like that."

"Like what?" said Yakko.

"You know, the thinking thing."

Yakko sighed. "Dot, why don't you want us to do that? That was the only way we could talk to each other for a while."

"But I never know what he's saying! And why do you have to talk back to him? I thought he could read thoughts!"

"He reads emotions, not thoughts," said Yakko with another sigh. "Two different things."

"Well obviously you can read thoughts!" cried Dot. "And I can't do any of that stuff!"

"Yeah, but you make up for it by being incredibly cute," said Yakko with a grin. Pretty soon, Dot was smiling back.

Wakko came running back. "It's 9:26," he announced.

"I'm hungry," complained Dot, clutching her stomach. "How much money do we have? I'm ready for some breakfast."

Yakko reached into the pocket of the slightly ratty clothes that he had had since he was seven. "I have 2.57. Do you have anything, sibs?"

"I have a nickel," said Wakko.

"Hey, wait a minute!" cried Dot in sudden remembrance. "Today's my birthday!"

"Oh, she's right!" said Yakko slowly, hiding a smile. "Wakko, I completely forgot. Did you remember?"

"Oh shucks!" said Wakko. "I forgot too! Sorry Dot, no presents for you today."

"You're lying," said Dot, not very successfully masking the uncertainty in her voice.

"Wait a minute!" said Yakko. "I think I might have something…" He rummaged around in his pocket. Finally he pulled out a Mounds bar. "Here it is!"

"Weird," said Wakko. "I got her the same thing." He also pulled a Mounds bar out of his pocket.

"Well, you guys know how much I love Mounds! Thanks!" said Dot happily. "This will be my breakfast."

"Candy for breakfast? It doesn't sound very healthy," said Yakko.

"You two can go get breakfast somewhere," said Dot. "I'll just stay here. Don't worry, I'll be alright by myself."

"Well… okay," said Yakko reluctantly. He and Wakko turned and walked away.

"So where do you want to eat?" asked Yakko.

With 2.62, there isn't much we can buy, pointed out Wakko.

"We could always go to a gas station and get some munchies there," said Yakko.

Yakko… Wakko hesitated before picking up his thoughts again. What if we don't get any money from this talent show?

"It's possible. We just get on with our lives," said Yakko shortly, as if he wanted to change the subject.

But Yakko… what's our purpose? What good will it do? Will we spend the rest of our lives just wandering around like some hobos?

"Something will happen, Wakko. It'll work out someday, you'll see." Yakko gave Wakko a shaky smile.

Wakko didn't return the smile. Dot doesn't like us talking like this, does she?

"No," admitted Yakko. "She feels left out because she can't understand you."

We should quit.

"Yeah."

I didn't mean for you to hear that! cried Wakko silently. Yakko was quiet. Finally he asked him in his silent way, Yakko, can you… hear… my thoughts?

Yakko wasn't looking at Wakko, though, and it didn't quite work that way. Yakko had to be looking at Wakko to understand him. Wakko grabbed Yakko by his shoulders and turned him around. Yakko, can you hear my thoughts? he asked again. I mean, do you hear my voice or… what?

"I don't hear anything," said Yakko slowly and quietly. "It's more like I sense something. I am somehow about to look at you and know exactly what you're trying to get across. The words seem to come from inside me, actually. But I don't hear anything."

Weird, said Wakko.

"Very weird. Now let's get something to eat."