Children No More
By Cassie Buttelman
Cassie walked into the Warner lot. She didn't see anyone, which she found odd. Usually the Warner's would start terrorizing this time of day. But no one was around. This freaked her out some. As she stared out at the deserted soundstages and locked up buildings, she felt a cold chill in the air. Muttering something about not bringing a jacket she made her way to the water tower. With only a spaghetti strap purple dress on, the wind was very cold. Cassie looked up at the sky and saw it was overlaid with ashen clouds.
"Looks like there's gonna be rain." Cassie murmured. Her pink hair got caught around her face as the relentless wind continued. It got annoying after a while. Finally she made it to the WB tower. As she climbed the rungs of the tower she started thinking. Why was she here? She was still grounded! When that thought got into her head she winced. She made her way up to the tower and opened the WB shield with both arms. What she first saw made her gasp.
The tower was lit up and two figured lay on the floor knocked out apparently. Yakko and Wakko! She raced over to them and made sure they were okay. Then tried to get them conscious again.
"C'mon Yakko....please wake up!" She shakes him. "Okay that's it.....I'm sorry in advance for this..." She then slaps him. He wakes up instantly.
" OWWWWWW!!! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Yakko jumped to his feet rubbing his mouth.
" I'm sorry but I couldn't get you to wake up." Cassie walked over to Wakko and shook him by his shoulders. He instantly woke up.
" I've been shaken....not stirred." He murmured.
"What happened?" Cassie asked.
" Dunno...two guys jumped us, next thing we knew we hit the ground and all went black." Yakko said while sitting cross-legged on the floor thinking.
"Where's Dot?" Cassie pondered.
Both brothers blinked in surprise. They had forgotten about their little sister!
"Ahhhhhhhhhh maybe I should go look." Yakko said standing up and ran off into their rooms. He came back empty handed.
"Shes gone!" he announced.
"They must have kidnapped her!" Wakko said, frightened for his little sister's safety. Then both brothers looked at Cassie as if she just walked in.
"Wait a minute....what are you doing in the toon world Cass? I thought you still were grounded." Yakko eyed her suspiciously.
"Well.....I......"
"Cassie you know you can't go running off without telling your parents....and especially ditching school!"
"Yakko you sound like my mother....actually more like my father.... Anyway, I left them a note this time... I somehow knew there would be trouble!"
"Yeah yeah, your powers...Well as long as you're here help us find Dot." They searched everywhere in the tower. But there wasn't a sign of their sister anywhere.
" I wonder who could have taken her." Cassie thought out loud.
"No doubt whoever broke in the first place and attacked us." Yakko mumbled.
"But, who would go as far as to...well hire bad guys and kidnap your sister?" Cassie looked at Yakko not expecting him to answer.
To her surprise he said "PepperAnn Snowfall."
Cassie blinked, "Whos that?"
"Shes this evil tycoon who wanted to `test' us on some type of growth liquid. We said no thanks and she threatened us." Yakko sighed and sat on the couch. Cassie sat next to him.
"What growth formula?" Cassie asked confused. " I mean, what does it do?"
"It supposedly makes you older. It's really creepy. It like, turns you into a grownup." Yakko shivered. " I may be over sixty, but I'm still a kid...Well in toon years anyway."
Cassie had to laugh. "Yakko for crying out loud your fifteen!"
" Well okay...so I'm a teenager....big deal." He then stuck his tongue out at her. Cassie rolled her eyes.
"C'mon boys....we need to find your sister." Cassie stood up and walked to the door. The boys followed. Cassie told the two boys to take her to this PepperAnn's office and wait outside. She'd transform back into her normal human body and would walk in pretending to want to be part of the experiment. The boys reluctantly agreed to the idea with warnings to Cassie.
As she walked into the office. She walked by a mirror and caught a glimpse of her human self in the mirror. She sighed as she saw her strawberry blonde hair waving about and hoped her blue eyes wouldn't give away to anyone that she was lying. She walked up to the front desk as casual as possible and put her hands on the desk making the women stare up at Cassie. She had a dark dress on and her hair was even darker.
"Yes?" the womens voice was hard to make out much. She almost seemed like she was whispering.
" Can I please sign up for the experiment with the growth formula?" Cassie pretended to look cool and confident about it.
The womens eyes widened. "Yeah....sure sure come with me.." the women got up from her desk and went to a hallway. Cassie blinked. That was easy. Too easy.
Cassie followed the women down the hall. She turned to a door and opened it. Cassie went after her. The room was pitch black! Immediately Cassie became alarmed! This was a trap!
"Ya think shes okay?" Asked a very scared Wakko Warner. He was leaning against the building, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I really dunno bro. It's been too long. I'm going after her." Yakko made a move to go into the building but Wakko stopped him.
" No if you expose her well never find out who kidnapped Dot!"
"But what if they kidnapped her too?"
"Yakko we have to wait! Maybe she found something!"
"And what if shes been kidnapped? How can we save them both?"
Cassie's instincts kicked in and she made a grab for her necklace. But before she could both of her arms were forced behind her back. She grunted in protest. But they wouldn't let go. She began to open her mouth to scream when someone put a hand over her mouth muffling her cries for help. She heard the door slam shut cutting off all light. Then she began to twist and turn her body to get out of their grasp.
"Don't struggle." An evil voice snarled. Cassie's mouth went dry. Were they planning to kidnap her like they probably did to Dot?
"Good," The voice said, " Now who are you and what are you doing here?"
Cassie was too scared to answer. Not to mention the fact that the person who had her still had his hand over her mouth. Then she heard the door open.
"Hey! You jerks! Let the girl go!" a women's voice shouted. They dropped Cassie and ran away. When Cassie was finally able to get up. She saw a woman with red hair and leaf colored eyes.
" I'm sorry about that sweetie. Those boys are such jerks." The woman looked at Cassie thoughtfully. Cassie noticed then that the women had red glasses and wore a silk red dress. She also noticed the women had a heavy red lipstick on and a pink eyeshadow on her eyes. The women looked like she could be in her mid thirties. Meanwhile the woman was looking Cassie over.
"How old are you?" she asked.
" I'm fifteen."
"Really? Wow that's interesting." The woman said while circling Cassie like a hawk.
"What's so interesting?"
"There aren't many fifteen year olds who come for a job here." The women gazed into Cassie's blue eyes. Cassie immediately became uncomfortable.
"So.....What's your name?" Cassie asked.
" Oh? Hehehe Oh I'm so rude not to introduce myself. My name is PepperAnn. PepperAnn Snowfall." PepperAnn held out her hand for Cassie to shake.
"My names Cas......." Cassie couldn't use her real world name. " I mean Casey Standford." Cassie shook PepperAnn's hand. PepperAnn looked oddly at Cassie for the mistake of her name.
" A name that people called me much was Cascade, I'm so used to be called it, They said that cause I always like things to be clean." Cassie smiled innocently.
This seemed to satisfy PepperAnn.
"Well come back tomorrow darling and I'll see what we can do you for a job." PepperAnn ushered Cassie out.
As soon as Cassie saw Yakko and Wakko, she looked around then quickly grabbed them and hid behind a bush.
"Cassie! We were just out to see if you were okay!" Yakko then saw the imprint of a red hand mark on Cassie's arm. "And I suppose this answers my question.... What happened?"
" Well a couple guys jumped me and gave me this lovely souvenir. But it appears your PepperAnn saved me." Cassie looked at the boys. They both looked at each other.
"Wait......maybe it was trick. To get you to trust her." Yakko said.
"Well tomorrow I'm gonna have a job there, if I find anything I'll tell you boys okay?" Cassie then changed back into her Warner form.
"But Cassie you may get hurt!" Wakko warned. " This woman may be holding Dot prisoner and what if she finds out your our friend?"
"No worries, I do have my crystal. It always protects me." Cassie assured the boys. But Yakko was hard to convince.
"Cassie you know as well as I do I cannot allow you to go in there alone." Cassie rolled her eyes.
"Yakko you worry too much. I'll be fine."
"Like you were today?" Yakko eyed her expectantly.
" I promise to watch out for those boys. But we need to find Dot. And I'll do whatever it takes." She giggles. "Plus what could that woman do? She seems too obsessed with red if you ask me."
As Cassie walked up to the front door of the office she took a deep breath. She looked herself over. She wore a pink spaghetti strap shirt and black jeans. Her hair was pulled up with a purple scrunchie. She was determined not to foul this up. She opened the door with a smile on her face. There she saw PepperAnn standing and waving for her.
"Now Casey, you will work in this laboratory with these people until I am able to create the fluid for your body type. It won't take much, just a sample of your blood will do." PepperAnn leads Cassie to a room that looks much like a doctor's room. They walk in and the door closes behind them.
Yakko and Wakko are waiting back at the tower. They decided to play go fish, but their minds weren't in the game. So when Yakko asked for a 6 Wakko gave him a 5 accidentally. But Yakko didn't even notice.
" I wonder if she found Dot yet.." Wakko thought out loud.
"I dunno, but she is trying her best." Yakko sighs. "I wish we could help."
As Cassie walks back to the tower she sighs. She still hadn't found Dot and time was running thin. As she entered the tower she tried to look like she had found a clue or something. When the boys saw her they raced over.
"So? Did you find anything?" Yakko asked Excitedly.
Cassie took a deep breath. "I may have found a clue but I need to check it out."
Yakko and Wakko looked at Cassie questioningly. But did not want to push her. They merely nodded and Cassie silently went to her room and closed the door behind her.
The next day was a free day. Cassie decided to go out shopping. The boys stayed behind to see if there was any word on Dot by the toon police. Cassie had finally convinced them to contact the police. As she walked by the stores her mind began to wander. She started staring at the ground and into space. She didn't even realize anything wrong until a man in black collided into her.
"Hey!" Cassie yelled half in confusion and half in surprise.
The man whizzed by her and Cassie instantly became suspicious. She instantly turned around to face him. That's when she saw the person holding a jar with a bright green liquid. It was easily noticeable. The person saw her looking at it and began to run. She chased after him.
"STOP!!" She screamed at the dark figure. It kept running as if it didn't hear her. As Cassie chased after the figure, she dodged obstacles and people that made her almost lose sight of the person many times. Suddenly she remembered she was a witch and had powers. She slid to a stop and grabbed her crystal. But at the same time the man stopped and pulled out a weird type of gun and focused it on her. Before she could dodge a weird type of energy zapped her and she blacked out.
" It's been four hours! I'm calling the police!" Yakko reached for the phone.
"Wait!" Wakko held Yakko back. "Calling the police for Cassie's disappearance may just cause the kidnappers to hide. We need to find them both Yakko. By ourselves."
When Cassie first awoke. She didn't know where she was. All that she knew was that she couldn't move. And her head ached. She looked around and saw only darkness and the hum of traffic above. Instantly Cassie's eyes widened. Traffic! She was under the road! She struggled to free her hands but it was useless. The ropes that tied her hands behind her back were too strong. She stopped struggling for a minute and took a deep breath. She started thinking and looking around. Soon her eyes got used to the darkness and she was able to see objects. The first thing she saw was a bottle resting on what appeared to be a table. Cassie was confused. A table? Under the street? That didn't fit. She quietly moved her body across the floor until she hit one of the legs of the table. She grunted as pain traveled up her stomach but she was determined to get out of that place alive and she didn't want whoever kidnapped her coming back. She rammed into the leg again and again. Until the glass
bottle crashed to the floor. She managed to find a piece of glass and started to cut the rope.
Suddenly the door literally blew open. The secretary was so startled she jumped and hid under her desk.
"Where are they?" asked a threatening, male voice.
"W-w-w-where are w-w-who?" Asked a startled secretary.
" Cassie and Dot!" the male voice practically screeched out. The Secretary cautiously looked from behind her desk and saw the two forms of Yakko and Wakko. Both were looking angry.
"What are you two doing here? Get out!" the women ordered. The boys didn't move.
"Where are they?" Yakko asked clenching his fists and teeth.
" I have no idea what you are talking about." She said uncomfortably.
"You listen here!" Yakko said threateningly. " I know my sister and my friend are missing and you have them!"
"No....they don't.." came a weak voice. Yakko turned. It was Cassie! He raced over and hugged her. Then he saw her messed up chair and scratches from the glass.
"Are you okay?!" He asked suddenly alarmed.
" I'll live.." She answered with a delicate smile. Suddenly the secretary stood up and glanced at Cassie. Then smiled evilly. Noone seemed to notice it though. The Warners walked out of the office with Cassie behind.
As they walked back to the tower Yakko looked Cassie over. "What happened?" He asked.
"Oh not much, just got kidnapped and was tied up under the road." Cassie said sarcastically.
"Oh that ought to ruin your day." Yakko smiled. Cassie rolled her eyes.
"The thing I'm wondering is why stash me under the road? Where I can easily escape."
"Hmm that is strange." Yakko said.
The next day Cassie was walking to the office again in her human form. As she walked into the office she noticed it wasn't as crowded. In fact no one was there at all. She blinked. Instantly she was on her guard. I'm sure it was a workday, she thought. As she made a grab for her crystal suddenly someone grabs her arm and pins it roughly behind her back. Cassie grunted in pain.
"Don't make a move." A voice hissed behind her. Cassie stops struggling.
"Good." The voice said. The figure started walking dragging Cassie with it. Cassie began to wonder who was kidnapping her. And why.
As Cassie looked around she saw everything was dark. No one was there to help her. She thought frantically for something she could do to get out of this mess. Thought speak? Will it work? She closed her eyes and began to concentrate.
"Yakko! Wakko! Help me! I'm in trouble!" There was no answer and she sighed. Her only chance for freedom was gone.
Little did Cassie know that Yakko and Wakko indeed heard her plea. They both stood up at the same time and glanced at each other. Then started running.
As they continued to walk around in the building Cassie felt defeat. Even if Yakko and Wakko had heard her. They wouldn't get here in time. Suddenly the person stopped. So did Cassie. Then the figure pushed a button and a door, which Cassie never saw before, suddenly opened. She was forced inside.
She fell into blackness and landed on a cold hard floor. Finally since her hands were free she grabbed for her crystal and started concentrating on a spell.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A familiar voice said. Suddenly the lights turned on. Cassie looked around. She was inside a laboratory that she never saw before. Then she saw Pepper Ann. Behind her inside a huge tube with green water was Dot. Or what Cassie thought was Dot. She looked different. She was growing black hair and she looked taller. Her face still looked the same except more mature. Cassie was surprised.
"Why are you showing me this? I don't know who that is." Cassie tried to keep up her act of being Casey.
"Don't play games with me," The evil scientist snarled. " I know who you are Cassie Warner."
Cassie tried not to look surprised that she knew her name.
"Now put down that crystal and give up or I will terminate Dot on the spot!" Pepper Ann was holding a device. That convinced Cassie enough. She let go of her crystal and raised up her hands in surrender.
"I'm sure Cassie is in danger." Wakko said to Yakko as they ran to the office.
"Oh yeah and how can we save her Wakko? Use anvils? Those don't always work." Yakko commented. He was angry for letting himself leave Cassie alone in there.
Wakko could see how exasperated his brother was. So he didn't say anything else. They remained silent for the rest of the trip.
Cassie was tied to a chair. In her human form she could do nothing to get out. She couldn't even reach her crystal, which was placed on the shelf above her head. She decided to see what Pepper Ann was going to do.
"So....how did you figure out it was me?" Cassie asked casually.
" Oh that was your own mistake. After you got kidnapped and Yakko and Wakko came storming in. When you emerged my assistant saw your necklace. She noticed it was the exact same one you wore. I looked into more detail on it. And finally found you. Your part witch, part human, and now apparently part toon." She smirks. "And now look at you. Tied up and my prisoner."
Cassie blinked. "Wait....weren't you the one who kidnapped me before?"
Pepper Ann looked at her weirdly. " Of course not if I wanted to get rid of you I'd simply inject you with poison. Not kidnap you and hide you under a street. Plus I didn't even know who you were until my assistant saw your necklace."
Cassie thought for a second. If she wasn't the one who kidnapped her.....Then who....
Pepper Ann glared at her. " Don't start thinking of escaping, Even if those boys come to save you I have a little surprise for them." She grins evilly. Cassie gulped. If the boys get here......
Her thoughts were broken suddenly when the door swung open and Yakko and Wakko were standing there. Cassie rolled her eyes, what timing boys.
Suddenly two glass tubes appeared under the boys trapping them. Then a lid was placed on top. It soon filled up with green water and an oxygen mask was placed on their mouths. Before Cassie could move, both boys were knocked out.
" What do you want with them anyways?" Cassie asked in her most innocent voice.
"Well, my boss wanted me to make them grown up so he could control these beasts and use them as slaves!"
Cassie's anger began to boil. " THEY ARE NOT MONSTERS!" She shouted. "The only monster around here is you!"
"Tsk, Tsk Cassie... Haven't you been taught to respect your elders? Especially ones that hold you captive?"
" I don't know, I was never kidnapped by a mad scientist before." Cassie said sarcastically.
"Well how does it feel now Cassie? To be totally useless?" Pepper Ann said icily. "Dot has already reached the age 16 now. Wakko will be reaching the age 20 and Yakko 22." She turned away from Cassie and began her calculations. As Cassie looked around she saw a vial that said "Antidote" on it, the water was blue colored.
Cassie looked to the side. " Now how predictable is that?" She said dryly. Suddenly the room started filling up with smoke.
"What?!" cried an alarmed mad scientist.
Cassie started coughing, "Oh yeah...this place sure passed the fire code. No water mains!"
She felt her restrains loosen and she pulled out then grabbed her crystal.
She ran up to the Warners tubes and tried to break it open with her fist. Instead it didn't, not even a scratch.
Pepper Ann ran at Cassie. Holding a chair above her head. Cassie could tell she was insane by the look in her eyes.
Cassie dove out of the way just in time. The chair flew into one of the tubes. It shattered and a body fell from it. Cassie raced over and picked up the body of Dot. Then started running for the antidote. But Pepper Ann was persistent. She grabbed the first thing she could find. Which was a broken pipe to the gas. She charged at Cassie with the pipe over her head. Cassie saw her and gasped.
Thinking fast she pulled out her crystal and concentrated. Suddenly a bright light zoomed and hit Pepper Ann, wounding her.
Cassie was racing to the antidote when she saw the two other still in their tubes. She picked up a broken piece of metal and slammed it into each of the boy's tubes. They both came flying out and Cassie was able to catch them.
Finally when they were all out Cassie ran for the antidote. She could see Pepper Ann in the distance. Finally Cassie was closer so the antidote when suddenly the burning ceiling started to crumble. Some crumbled right in front of Cassie. She held up her hands to shield herself. When she removed her hands there was fire in front of her, blocking her from the antidote. She bit her lip in frustration. She turns away and starts walking away. When she gets far enough she turns back around and starts running. As she gets closer to the flames she gets ready to jump.
Faster! Faster! Suddenly the flames were right in front of her. She jumped as high as she could. All of a sudden she was on the ground. Breathing in deeply. She made it across.
As she stood up she looked around. She saw the antidote and along side it lay a hypodermic syringe. Cassie grabbed both and started running back to the others. As she ran she took the syringe and sucked up some of the antidote with it. As she held it up to her face she pressed on the bottom and grinned as she saw some of the substance fly out of the needle part. It worked!
It was getting hard to breathe, but Cassie had to save her friends. Suddenly something hit her hard on the back. She goes flying and hits the ground hard. She looks up and sees the antidote and syringe go flying.
" NO!!!!!" She shouted. As they both crashed to the floor. Cassie sighed then looked up and saw Pepper Ann was pinning her down. She desperately tried to escape. But Pepper Ann held her down firm.
She had no choice. She grabbed her crystal from her neck and aimed it at Pepper Ann. Energy exploded from her crystal and threw Pepper Ann off her. Cassie jumped up and began running. She quickly grabbed all three Warners.....Although it was difficult with all three of them. She began running out of the building. Suddenly a piece of the ceiling slammed into her body. She threw the others down and looked at herself. A big white piece of concrete had her pinned from the hip down. She started struggling but it was no use she was stuck. She began to call out for help. She couldn't see her friends anymore the smoke was too thick.
Suddenly a figure appeared and pulled the stone off her. The smoke was so thick she couldn't see who it was. Meanwhile the other Warners woke up and looked at each other.
" AHHHHHH!!!!!" they all said at once. "YOU! BUT HOW?!"
Suddenly Cassie came running toward them.
"RUN!!!!" She shouted. They began to run. Yakko came out first, then Wakko then Dot. They waited nervously for Cassie.
She had just run out of the front door when theres a huge explosion sending her and the three Warners to the ground. Cassie weakly gets back up and looks at the building. It's burning rapidly. The Warners got back up too and looked at it. Then Cassie turns around and starts walking back. They followed.
As she walks back she sighs. She didn't know how to return the Warners back to themselves. Yakko looked at himself worried. His pants looked more like shorts. Dot and Wakkos stuff didn't fit them either.
When they got back Cassie reached for her book. She had to decide how to fix this. Yakko walked up to her. She put down the book at looked at him.
"What happened?" He asked. Cassie sighed and told what she knew. Wakko and Dot soon joined them and caught on what she said. When she was done she looked at them.
"Oh....." all three said.
"How can we get changed back?" Yakko asked.
" I'm not sure." Cassie answered truthfully.
Dot started sobbing " I don't wanna be a grown up!"
Cassie again opened her book. "Well let's see..." She began searching through it. Yakko, stunned walked away and went up to the roof. He stared at the stars and wondered what it would now be like. His now older hormones cried out for Yakko to do something. What would it be like to remain how ever old he was now. He felt empty. Like something was missing.
Meanwhile Cassie desperately looked through the book for an answer. Finally she came to a page. Her eyes widened.
" That's it!" She cried.
Both Wakko and Dot looked at Cassie.
" I found the spell!" She said grinning.
"Get Yakko and bring him down! We have to do this now!" Wakko and Dot ran to get Yakko. They quickly brought him down and Cassie told them to lie down. They did as they were told. She closed her eyes and became in a sort of trance. Suddenly Cassie's crystal began to glow brightly. A white streak of energy appeared from her crystal and went through all the Warners.
When it was over there was a flash of light. Then Cassie collapsed.
All three Warners sat up and looked at themselves. They were back to their normal ages. Then they saw Cassie.
"Cassie!" they shouted running to her. Yakko started panicking. This never happened before!
Cassie soon woke up. She yawned and saw the three Warners looking at her worriedly.
"Don't worry I'm fine.....I dunno what happened though." She sighs and gets up.
"Maybe you should take it easy." Yakko said. "Whatever happened wasn't good."
"Okay." She nods and goes to her room leaving the three Warners puzzled.
When she walks to her room she sighs.
"I knew I shouldn't have done that spell. Now they may figure out I have limits." She looks worriedly around her room. "Well I can't keep it a secret forever."
The group of men comes into the room and each sit in a seat. One man pulls out a manila envelope. And puts it on the desk.
" Gentlemen we have a crisis." The man says. "The destructive Warners are a hazard but now we have a new problem." He opens the envelope and a picture of Cassie along with a profile on her is in it.
"This new girl is in our way. Our agent Pepper Ann is dead in an explosion that this girl started. She has saved the Warners, the ones we need to eliminate. Therefore gentlemen, she must be eliminated before we can deal with the Warners. Are we agreed?"
All the other men agree.
"Very well you are dismissed." Almost all of the men walk out, except for one, which is sitting next to the first man.
The first man turns a television on which is near them and they watch it. It's from a security camera. They see the fire begin. Then a streak of light goes past it as the smoke flares up.
"So.....she has magic?" the second man asks.
"Yes...that's why she must be eliminated do you hear me?" he slams his fist over the picture of Cassie.
" I hear you sir." The second man says. Then he stands up and walks out of the room. When the second man leaves, the first begins to chuckle evilly.
The End
By Cassie Buttelman
Cassie walked into the Warner lot. She didn't see anyone, which she found odd. Usually the Warner's would start terrorizing this time of day. But no one was around. This freaked her out some. As she stared out at the deserted soundstages and locked up buildings, she felt a cold chill in the air. Muttering something about not bringing a jacket she made her way to the water tower. With only a spaghetti strap purple dress on, the wind was very cold. Cassie looked up at the sky and saw it was overlaid with ashen clouds.
"Looks like there's gonna be rain." Cassie murmured. Her pink hair got caught around her face as the relentless wind continued. It got annoying after a while. Finally she made it to the WB tower. As she climbed the rungs of the tower she started thinking. Why was she here? She was still grounded! When that thought got into her head she winced. She made her way up to the tower and opened the WB shield with both arms. What she first saw made her gasp.
The tower was lit up and two figured lay on the floor knocked out apparently. Yakko and Wakko! She raced over to them and made sure they were okay. Then tried to get them conscious again.
"C'mon Yakko....please wake up!" She shakes him. "Okay that's it.....I'm sorry in advance for this..." She then slaps him. He wakes up instantly.
" OWWWWWW!!! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Yakko jumped to his feet rubbing his mouth.
" I'm sorry but I couldn't get you to wake up." Cassie walked over to Wakko and shook him by his shoulders. He instantly woke up.
" I've been shaken....not stirred." He murmured.
"What happened?" Cassie asked.
" Dunno...two guys jumped us, next thing we knew we hit the ground and all went black." Yakko said while sitting cross-legged on the floor thinking.
"Where's Dot?" Cassie pondered.
Both brothers blinked in surprise. They had forgotten about their little sister!
"Ahhhhhhhhhh maybe I should go look." Yakko said standing up and ran off into their rooms. He came back empty handed.
"Shes gone!" he announced.
"They must have kidnapped her!" Wakko said, frightened for his little sister's safety. Then both brothers looked at Cassie as if she just walked in.
"Wait a minute....what are you doing in the toon world Cass? I thought you still were grounded." Yakko eyed her suspiciously.
"Well.....I......"
"Cassie you know you can't go running off without telling your parents....and especially ditching school!"
"Yakko you sound like my mother....actually more like my father.... Anyway, I left them a note this time... I somehow knew there would be trouble!"
"Yeah yeah, your powers...Well as long as you're here help us find Dot." They searched everywhere in the tower. But there wasn't a sign of their sister anywhere.
" I wonder who could have taken her." Cassie thought out loud.
"No doubt whoever broke in the first place and attacked us." Yakko mumbled.
"But, who would go as far as to...well hire bad guys and kidnap your sister?" Cassie looked at Yakko not expecting him to answer.
To her surprise he said "PepperAnn Snowfall."
Cassie blinked, "Whos that?"
"Shes this evil tycoon who wanted to `test' us on some type of growth liquid. We said no thanks and she threatened us." Yakko sighed and sat on the couch. Cassie sat next to him.
"What growth formula?" Cassie asked confused. " I mean, what does it do?"
"It supposedly makes you older. It's really creepy. It like, turns you into a grownup." Yakko shivered. " I may be over sixty, but I'm still a kid...Well in toon years anyway."
Cassie had to laugh. "Yakko for crying out loud your fifteen!"
" Well okay...so I'm a teenager....big deal." He then stuck his tongue out at her. Cassie rolled her eyes.
"C'mon boys....we need to find your sister." Cassie stood up and walked to the door. The boys followed. Cassie told the two boys to take her to this PepperAnn's office and wait outside. She'd transform back into her normal human body and would walk in pretending to want to be part of the experiment. The boys reluctantly agreed to the idea with warnings to Cassie.
As she walked into the office. She walked by a mirror and caught a glimpse of her human self in the mirror. She sighed as she saw her strawberry blonde hair waving about and hoped her blue eyes wouldn't give away to anyone that she was lying. She walked up to the front desk as casual as possible and put her hands on the desk making the women stare up at Cassie. She had a dark dress on and her hair was even darker.
"Yes?" the womens voice was hard to make out much. She almost seemed like she was whispering.
" Can I please sign up for the experiment with the growth formula?" Cassie pretended to look cool and confident about it.
The womens eyes widened. "Yeah....sure sure come with me.." the women got up from her desk and went to a hallway. Cassie blinked. That was easy. Too easy.
Cassie followed the women down the hall. She turned to a door and opened it. Cassie went after her. The room was pitch black! Immediately Cassie became alarmed! This was a trap!
"Ya think shes okay?" Asked a very scared Wakko Warner. He was leaning against the building, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I really dunno bro. It's been too long. I'm going after her." Yakko made a move to go into the building but Wakko stopped him.
" No if you expose her well never find out who kidnapped Dot!"
"But what if they kidnapped her too?"
"Yakko we have to wait! Maybe she found something!"
"And what if shes been kidnapped? How can we save them both?"
Cassie's instincts kicked in and she made a grab for her necklace. But before she could both of her arms were forced behind her back. She grunted in protest. But they wouldn't let go. She began to open her mouth to scream when someone put a hand over her mouth muffling her cries for help. She heard the door slam shut cutting off all light. Then she began to twist and turn her body to get out of their grasp.
"Don't struggle." An evil voice snarled. Cassie's mouth went dry. Were they planning to kidnap her like they probably did to Dot?
"Good," The voice said, " Now who are you and what are you doing here?"
Cassie was too scared to answer. Not to mention the fact that the person who had her still had his hand over her mouth. Then she heard the door open.
"Hey! You jerks! Let the girl go!" a women's voice shouted. They dropped Cassie and ran away. When Cassie was finally able to get up. She saw a woman with red hair and leaf colored eyes.
" I'm sorry about that sweetie. Those boys are such jerks." The woman looked at Cassie thoughtfully. Cassie noticed then that the women had red glasses and wore a silk red dress. She also noticed the women had a heavy red lipstick on and a pink eyeshadow on her eyes. The women looked like she could be in her mid thirties. Meanwhile the woman was looking Cassie over.
"How old are you?" she asked.
" I'm fifteen."
"Really? Wow that's interesting." The woman said while circling Cassie like a hawk.
"What's so interesting?"
"There aren't many fifteen year olds who come for a job here." The women gazed into Cassie's blue eyes. Cassie immediately became uncomfortable.
"So.....What's your name?" Cassie asked.
" Oh? Hehehe Oh I'm so rude not to introduce myself. My name is PepperAnn. PepperAnn Snowfall." PepperAnn held out her hand for Cassie to shake.
"My names Cas......." Cassie couldn't use her real world name. " I mean Casey Standford." Cassie shook PepperAnn's hand. PepperAnn looked oddly at Cassie for the mistake of her name.
" A name that people called me much was Cascade, I'm so used to be called it, They said that cause I always like things to be clean." Cassie smiled innocently.
This seemed to satisfy PepperAnn.
"Well come back tomorrow darling and I'll see what we can do you for a job." PepperAnn ushered Cassie out.
As soon as Cassie saw Yakko and Wakko, she looked around then quickly grabbed them and hid behind a bush.
"Cassie! We were just out to see if you were okay!" Yakko then saw the imprint of a red hand mark on Cassie's arm. "And I suppose this answers my question.... What happened?"
" Well a couple guys jumped me and gave me this lovely souvenir. But it appears your PepperAnn saved me." Cassie looked at the boys. They both looked at each other.
"Wait......maybe it was trick. To get you to trust her." Yakko said.
"Well tomorrow I'm gonna have a job there, if I find anything I'll tell you boys okay?" Cassie then changed back into her Warner form.
"But Cassie you may get hurt!" Wakko warned. " This woman may be holding Dot prisoner and what if she finds out your our friend?"
"No worries, I do have my crystal. It always protects me." Cassie assured the boys. But Yakko was hard to convince.
"Cassie you know as well as I do I cannot allow you to go in there alone." Cassie rolled her eyes.
"Yakko you worry too much. I'll be fine."
"Like you were today?" Yakko eyed her expectantly.
" I promise to watch out for those boys. But we need to find Dot. And I'll do whatever it takes." She giggles. "Plus what could that woman do? She seems too obsessed with red if you ask me."
As Cassie walked up to the front door of the office she took a deep breath. She looked herself over. She wore a pink spaghetti strap shirt and black jeans. Her hair was pulled up with a purple scrunchie. She was determined not to foul this up. She opened the door with a smile on her face. There she saw PepperAnn standing and waving for her.
"Now Casey, you will work in this laboratory with these people until I am able to create the fluid for your body type. It won't take much, just a sample of your blood will do." PepperAnn leads Cassie to a room that looks much like a doctor's room. They walk in and the door closes behind them.
Yakko and Wakko are waiting back at the tower. They decided to play go fish, but their minds weren't in the game. So when Yakko asked for a 6 Wakko gave him a 5 accidentally. But Yakko didn't even notice.
" I wonder if she found Dot yet.." Wakko thought out loud.
"I dunno, but she is trying her best." Yakko sighs. "I wish we could help."
As Cassie walks back to the tower she sighs. She still hadn't found Dot and time was running thin. As she entered the tower she tried to look like she had found a clue or something. When the boys saw her they raced over.
"So? Did you find anything?" Yakko asked Excitedly.
Cassie took a deep breath. "I may have found a clue but I need to check it out."
Yakko and Wakko looked at Cassie questioningly. But did not want to push her. They merely nodded and Cassie silently went to her room and closed the door behind her.
The next day was a free day. Cassie decided to go out shopping. The boys stayed behind to see if there was any word on Dot by the toon police. Cassie had finally convinced them to contact the police. As she walked by the stores her mind began to wander. She started staring at the ground and into space. She didn't even realize anything wrong until a man in black collided into her.
"Hey!" Cassie yelled half in confusion and half in surprise.
The man whizzed by her and Cassie instantly became suspicious. She instantly turned around to face him. That's when she saw the person holding a jar with a bright green liquid. It was easily noticeable. The person saw her looking at it and began to run. She chased after him.
"STOP!!" She screamed at the dark figure. It kept running as if it didn't hear her. As Cassie chased after the figure, she dodged obstacles and people that made her almost lose sight of the person many times. Suddenly she remembered she was a witch and had powers. She slid to a stop and grabbed her crystal. But at the same time the man stopped and pulled out a weird type of gun and focused it on her. Before she could dodge a weird type of energy zapped her and she blacked out.
" It's been four hours! I'm calling the police!" Yakko reached for the phone.
"Wait!" Wakko held Yakko back. "Calling the police for Cassie's disappearance may just cause the kidnappers to hide. We need to find them both Yakko. By ourselves."
When Cassie first awoke. She didn't know where she was. All that she knew was that she couldn't move. And her head ached. She looked around and saw only darkness and the hum of traffic above. Instantly Cassie's eyes widened. Traffic! She was under the road! She struggled to free her hands but it was useless. The ropes that tied her hands behind her back were too strong. She stopped struggling for a minute and took a deep breath. She started thinking and looking around. Soon her eyes got used to the darkness and she was able to see objects. The first thing she saw was a bottle resting on what appeared to be a table. Cassie was confused. A table? Under the street? That didn't fit. She quietly moved her body across the floor until she hit one of the legs of the table. She grunted as pain traveled up her stomach but she was determined to get out of that place alive and she didn't want whoever kidnapped her coming back. She rammed into the leg again and again. Until the glass
bottle crashed to the floor. She managed to find a piece of glass and started to cut the rope.
Suddenly the door literally blew open. The secretary was so startled she jumped and hid under her desk.
"Where are they?" asked a threatening, male voice.
"W-w-w-where are w-w-who?" Asked a startled secretary.
" Cassie and Dot!" the male voice practically screeched out. The Secretary cautiously looked from behind her desk and saw the two forms of Yakko and Wakko. Both were looking angry.
"What are you two doing here? Get out!" the women ordered. The boys didn't move.
"Where are they?" Yakko asked clenching his fists and teeth.
" I have no idea what you are talking about." She said uncomfortably.
"You listen here!" Yakko said threateningly. " I know my sister and my friend are missing and you have them!"
"No....they don't.." came a weak voice. Yakko turned. It was Cassie! He raced over and hugged her. Then he saw her messed up chair and scratches from the glass.
"Are you okay?!" He asked suddenly alarmed.
" I'll live.." She answered with a delicate smile. Suddenly the secretary stood up and glanced at Cassie. Then smiled evilly. Noone seemed to notice it though. The Warners walked out of the office with Cassie behind.
As they walked back to the tower Yakko looked Cassie over. "What happened?" He asked.
"Oh not much, just got kidnapped and was tied up under the road." Cassie said sarcastically.
"Oh that ought to ruin your day." Yakko smiled. Cassie rolled her eyes.
"The thing I'm wondering is why stash me under the road? Where I can easily escape."
"Hmm that is strange." Yakko said.
The next day Cassie was walking to the office again in her human form. As she walked into the office she noticed it wasn't as crowded. In fact no one was there at all. She blinked. Instantly she was on her guard. I'm sure it was a workday, she thought. As she made a grab for her crystal suddenly someone grabs her arm and pins it roughly behind her back. Cassie grunted in pain.
"Don't make a move." A voice hissed behind her. Cassie stops struggling.
"Good." The voice said. The figure started walking dragging Cassie with it. Cassie began to wonder who was kidnapping her. And why.
As Cassie looked around she saw everything was dark. No one was there to help her. She thought frantically for something she could do to get out of this mess. Thought speak? Will it work? She closed her eyes and began to concentrate.
"Yakko! Wakko! Help me! I'm in trouble!" There was no answer and she sighed. Her only chance for freedom was gone.
Little did Cassie know that Yakko and Wakko indeed heard her plea. They both stood up at the same time and glanced at each other. Then started running.
As they continued to walk around in the building Cassie felt defeat. Even if Yakko and Wakko had heard her. They wouldn't get here in time. Suddenly the person stopped. So did Cassie. Then the figure pushed a button and a door, which Cassie never saw before, suddenly opened. She was forced inside.
She fell into blackness and landed on a cold hard floor. Finally since her hands were free she grabbed for her crystal and started concentrating on a spell.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A familiar voice said. Suddenly the lights turned on. Cassie looked around. She was inside a laboratory that she never saw before. Then she saw Pepper Ann. Behind her inside a huge tube with green water was Dot. Or what Cassie thought was Dot. She looked different. She was growing black hair and she looked taller. Her face still looked the same except more mature. Cassie was surprised.
"Why are you showing me this? I don't know who that is." Cassie tried to keep up her act of being Casey.
"Don't play games with me," The evil scientist snarled. " I know who you are Cassie Warner."
Cassie tried not to look surprised that she knew her name.
"Now put down that crystal and give up or I will terminate Dot on the spot!" Pepper Ann was holding a device. That convinced Cassie enough. She let go of her crystal and raised up her hands in surrender.
"I'm sure Cassie is in danger." Wakko said to Yakko as they ran to the office.
"Oh yeah and how can we save her Wakko? Use anvils? Those don't always work." Yakko commented. He was angry for letting himself leave Cassie alone in there.
Wakko could see how exasperated his brother was. So he didn't say anything else. They remained silent for the rest of the trip.
Cassie was tied to a chair. In her human form she could do nothing to get out. She couldn't even reach her crystal, which was placed on the shelf above her head. She decided to see what Pepper Ann was going to do.
"So....how did you figure out it was me?" Cassie asked casually.
" Oh that was your own mistake. After you got kidnapped and Yakko and Wakko came storming in. When you emerged my assistant saw your necklace. She noticed it was the exact same one you wore. I looked into more detail on it. And finally found you. Your part witch, part human, and now apparently part toon." She smirks. "And now look at you. Tied up and my prisoner."
Cassie blinked. "Wait....weren't you the one who kidnapped me before?"
Pepper Ann looked at her weirdly. " Of course not if I wanted to get rid of you I'd simply inject you with poison. Not kidnap you and hide you under a street. Plus I didn't even know who you were until my assistant saw your necklace."
Cassie thought for a second. If she wasn't the one who kidnapped her.....Then who....
Pepper Ann glared at her. " Don't start thinking of escaping, Even if those boys come to save you I have a little surprise for them." She grins evilly. Cassie gulped. If the boys get here......
Her thoughts were broken suddenly when the door swung open and Yakko and Wakko were standing there. Cassie rolled her eyes, what timing boys.
Suddenly two glass tubes appeared under the boys trapping them. Then a lid was placed on top. It soon filled up with green water and an oxygen mask was placed on their mouths. Before Cassie could move, both boys were knocked out.
" What do you want with them anyways?" Cassie asked in her most innocent voice.
"Well, my boss wanted me to make them grown up so he could control these beasts and use them as slaves!"
Cassie's anger began to boil. " THEY ARE NOT MONSTERS!" She shouted. "The only monster around here is you!"
"Tsk, Tsk Cassie... Haven't you been taught to respect your elders? Especially ones that hold you captive?"
" I don't know, I was never kidnapped by a mad scientist before." Cassie said sarcastically.
"Well how does it feel now Cassie? To be totally useless?" Pepper Ann said icily. "Dot has already reached the age 16 now. Wakko will be reaching the age 20 and Yakko 22." She turned away from Cassie and began her calculations. As Cassie looked around she saw a vial that said "Antidote" on it, the water was blue colored.
Cassie looked to the side. " Now how predictable is that?" She said dryly. Suddenly the room started filling up with smoke.
"What?!" cried an alarmed mad scientist.
Cassie started coughing, "Oh yeah...this place sure passed the fire code. No water mains!"
She felt her restrains loosen and she pulled out then grabbed her crystal.
She ran up to the Warners tubes and tried to break it open with her fist. Instead it didn't, not even a scratch.
Pepper Ann ran at Cassie. Holding a chair above her head. Cassie could tell she was insane by the look in her eyes.
Cassie dove out of the way just in time. The chair flew into one of the tubes. It shattered and a body fell from it. Cassie raced over and picked up the body of Dot. Then started running for the antidote. But Pepper Ann was persistent. She grabbed the first thing she could find. Which was a broken pipe to the gas. She charged at Cassie with the pipe over her head. Cassie saw her and gasped.
Thinking fast she pulled out her crystal and concentrated. Suddenly a bright light zoomed and hit Pepper Ann, wounding her.
Cassie was racing to the antidote when she saw the two other still in their tubes. She picked up a broken piece of metal and slammed it into each of the boy's tubes. They both came flying out and Cassie was able to catch them.
Finally when they were all out Cassie ran for the antidote. She could see Pepper Ann in the distance. Finally Cassie was closer so the antidote when suddenly the burning ceiling started to crumble. Some crumbled right in front of Cassie. She held up her hands to shield herself. When she removed her hands there was fire in front of her, blocking her from the antidote. She bit her lip in frustration. She turns away and starts walking away. When she gets far enough she turns back around and starts running. As she gets closer to the flames she gets ready to jump.
Faster! Faster! Suddenly the flames were right in front of her. She jumped as high as she could. All of a sudden she was on the ground. Breathing in deeply. She made it across.
As she stood up she looked around. She saw the antidote and along side it lay a hypodermic syringe. Cassie grabbed both and started running back to the others. As she ran she took the syringe and sucked up some of the antidote with it. As she held it up to her face she pressed on the bottom and grinned as she saw some of the substance fly out of the needle part. It worked!
It was getting hard to breathe, but Cassie had to save her friends. Suddenly something hit her hard on the back. She goes flying and hits the ground hard. She looks up and sees the antidote and syringe go flying.
" NO!!!!!" She shouted. As they both crashed to the floor. Cassie sighed then looked up and saw Pepper Ann was pinning her down. She desperately tried to escape. But Pepper Ann held her down firm.
She had no choice. She grabbed her crystal from her neck and aimed it at Pepper Ann. Energy exploded from her crystal and threw Pepper Ann off her. Cassie jumped up and began running. She quickly grabbed all three Warners.....Although it was difficult with all three of them. She began running out of the building. Suddenly a piece of the ceiling slammed into her body. She threw the others down and looked at herself. A big white piece of concrete had her pinned from the hip down. She started struggling but it was no use she was stuck. She began to call out for help. She couldn't see her friends anymore the smoke was too thick.
Suddenly a figure appeared and pulled the stone off her. The smoke was so thick she couldn't see who it was. Meanwhile the other Warners woke up and looked at each other.
" AHHHHHH!!!!!" they all said at once. "YOU! BUT HOW?!"
Suddenly Cassie came running toward them.
"RUN!!!!" She shouted. They began to run. Yakko came out first, then Wakko then Dot. They waited nervously for Cassie.
She had just run out of the front door when theres a huge explosion sending her and the three Warners to the ground. Cassie weakly gets back up and looks at the building. It's burning rapidly. The Warners got back up too and looked at it. Then Cassie turns around and starts walking back. They followed.
As she walks back she sighs. She didn't know how to return the Warners back to themselves. Yakko looked at himself worried. His pants looked more like shorts. Dot and Wakkos stuff didn't fit them either.
When they got back Cassie reached for her book. She had to decide how to fix this. Yakko walked up to her. She put down the book at looked at him.
"What happened?" He asked. Cassie sighed and told what she knew. Wakko and Dot soon joined them and caught on what she said. When she was done she looked at them.
"Oh....." all three said.
"How can we get changed back?" Yakko asked.
" I'm not sure." Cassie answered truthfully.
Dot started sobbing " I don't wanna be a grown up!"
Cassie again opened her book. "Well let's see..." She began searching through it. Yakko, stunned walked away and went up to the roof. He stared at the stars and wondered what it would now be like. His now older hormones cried out for Yakko to do something. What would it be like to remain how ever old he was now. He felt empty. Like something was missing.
Meanwhile Cassie desperately looked through the book for an answer. Finally she came to a page. Her eyes widened.
" That's it!" She cried.
Both Wakko and Dot looked at Cassie.
" I found the spell!" She said grinning.
"Get Yakko and bring him down! We have to do this now!" Wakko and Dot ran to get Yakko. They quickly brought him down and Cassie told them to lie down. They did as they were told. She closed her eyes and became in a sort of trance. Suddenly Cassie's crystal began to glow brightly. A white streak of energy appeared from her crystal and went through all the Warners.
When it was over there was a flash of light. Then Cassie collapsed.
All three Warners sat up and looked at themselves. They were back to their normal ages. Then they saw Cassie.
"Cassie!" they shouted running to her. Yakko started panicking. This never happened before!
Cassie soon woke up. She yawned and saw the three Warners looking at her worriedly.
"Don't worry I'm fine.....I dunno what happened though." She sighs and gets up.
"Maybe you should take it easy." Yakko said. "Whatever happened wasn't good."
"Okay." She nods and goes to her room leaving the three Warners puzzled.
When she walks to her room she sighs.
"I knew I shouldn't have done that spell. Now they may figure out I have limits." She looks worriedly around her room. "Well I can't keep it a secret forever."
The group of men comes into the room and each sit in a seat. One man pulls out a manila envelope. And puts it on the desk.
" Gentlemen we have a crisis." The man says. "The destructive Warners are a hazard but now we have a new problem." He opens the envelope and a picture of Cassie along with a profile on her is in it.
"This new girl is in our way. Our agent Pepper Ann is dead in an explosion that this girl started. She has saved the Warners, the ones we need to eliminate. Therefore gentlemen, she must be eliminated before we can deal with the Warners. Are we agreed?"
All the other men agree.
"Very well you are dismissed." Almost all of the men walk out, except for one, which is sitting next to the first man.
The first man turns a television on which is near them and they watch it. It's from a security camera. They see the fire begin. Then a streak of light goes past it as the smoke flares up.
"So.....she has magic?" the second man asks.
"Yes...that's why she must be eliminated do you hear me?" he slams his fist over the picture of Cassie.
" I hear you sir." The second man says. Then he stands up and walks out of the room. When the second man leaves, the first begins to chuckle evilly.
The End