Chapter 3

There has to be a better way than this, Yakko thought as he ran through the streets. Along with Wakko and Dot, he was being chased by an angry-looking Ms. Fuzzy.

"Tough luck Fuzz-brain, we're not staying in no orphanage!" Yakko called back, then picked up the speed. Rounding the corner of a building, the three Warners suddenly found themselves cornered in an alleyway. Ms Fuzzy was quickly closing in the gap.

"Okkay Yakko, stay calm.." Yakko mumbled to himself. He put his sibs behind him protectively, watched as Wakko pulled out a mallet, then realized something. "We're toons, we can do anything.."

But before he could think of something to do, Ms. Fuzzy was upon them.

"Stupid kids! You'll pay for.. OWWW!!!" She screeched as a small blur of grey-and-white fur flew at her. She began swatting at the small kitten, which was clinging to the top of her head with its claws, a determined look in its big green eyes.

"You @$%!$#& cat!" She yelled, then finally managed to fling the kitten off with a final swat at it.

Yakko stared at her. "Someone has a potty mouth!" he said, then proceeded to wash her mouth out with soap. Wakko joined in on the fight and Yakko backed off as his brother began to drop random heavy objects on the top of Ms.Fuzzy's head, and Dot tied her shoelaces together then crawled out of the way. Yakko, seeing that his sibs had everything under control by themselves, went and checked to see if the kitten was okkay.

With a final screeching of curses Ms.Fuzzy, now battered, scratched, and shoeless, made her escape in a yellow taxi that had somehow appeared during the chaos. Then there was silence.

"Someone should put that weirdo in a mental institution!" Yakko commented.

"Kitty awake!" Dot smiled, and Yakko looked at her a little surprised hearing her talk. He blinked, backed up, and looked at his siblings carefully again. They were growing up so fast.. so was he... way faster than normal. Weird.

He'd have to figure it out later though, he had right here and now to worry about. Wakko and Dot. The kitten. Right.

He went over to them, and put Dot in his lap. She smiled at him, then put the kitten on top of her brothers head. Yakko smiled, then picked up the kitten and examined it. She was a female kitten, in human years would be equal to a young kid. She was grey with white marks on her paws, tip of the tail, part of her face, and stomach, and had big green eyes. Also, she had a nick on her right ear that looked quite new, as if she'd recently been in a fight.

Yakko smiled and scratched behind her ears. "Thanks for saving us. You an orphan too?"

The kitten looked up at Yakko, paused, then looked again as if making up her mind. She climbed up onto his shoulders then batted at his ear playfully. "You're not so bad for humans.. "

Yakko blinked. He hadn't been expecting an answer.

"You can talk??"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" She replied smoothly.

"I.. You have a point I guess. Um.... so what's your name?"

"Rita. I heard you talking to your siblings, Wakko and Dot. What's your name ?"

"Yakko.. by the way, we're not humans."

"You act like humans." Rita paused, then climbed back down into Yakko's lap. "Welll... Maybe not as bad. Don't let the other cats know I said that though."

Yakko nodded, letting it all sink in.

"Well.. okkay, talking squirrels and cats isn't strange in the toon world. Nothing is strange here I guess. Or everything strange is normal. Or something."

"You new in the toon world? You look like a toon to me."

"I am a toon. So are my sibs.. just... I can't remember some things about what happened in our past. Like how we got here." He thought of something to ask her. "What do you know about ageing in the toon world?"

Rita thought a moment.

"Ageing? Well things like that, you don't think of too closely here. Some toons stay young seemingly forever, others seem to grow overnight. Sometimes it depends on the show they're in. It doesn't really matter though, because growing up always happens for a purpose. Or growing down."

"Growing down?"

"Yeah, happens to some toons, usually when some stupid write has a so-called brilliant idea to make a new series with the characters as babies. Ever heard of Muppet Babies? I have a feeling it's going to be quite a problem in the future. What's next, baby Loony Tunes??" She shuddered at the idea, then shook her head.

"The future is the future, and we shouldn't think of that until the time comes. We have the present to worry about."

"Yeah... " Yakko's head was spinning. Here he was talking to some toon kitten, who knew way more about the world he was in than he did. Actually, Rita seemed to talk like she was adult already. Crazy as it seemed, it looked like he was going to ask her for help.

"Um...so...Rita..., would you mind if we hung around with you for a while? You know, getting to learn more about the toon world and stuff, you seem to know a lot.. We could help out, find food! We have nowhere to stay though and.."

Rita jumped down onto the ground, then looked back at the three Warner kids. "No sweat, follow me."

Like a weird parade, with Rita in the lead, the four of them set off down the street together to find their place in the world.