Bugs had to stop the car. He parked it and came out to have a closer look. He rubbed his eyes but he couldn't believe what he saw. What the hell?
"Acme Mall!" he blurted out loud
This huge mega mall replaced the entrance to the familiar forest area. It was such a large complex, that one could hardly tell that it was in a forest at all. With exception to its size, it looked like any other mall. It was still early, so the mall was slowly rising from its slumber; with the guards opening the gates and workers coming in for the day. Bugs felt compelled by his curiosity to see what was within. He walked inside and saw nothing but stores, stores, and guess what…more stores. There were electronics, clothing, sports apparel, and department stores. It all seemed normal. Nothing out of the ordinary, until…
Bugs was frozen and gazed with disgust when he saw how huge the Disney store was. It was bright and cheerful, with all the usual smiling characters, and ones he's never seen before, adorning the front windows. The store seemed to take up all the floors above it. In the center of it all, was THE face of the Disney store and the representative of his company. He was grinning, almost mockingly, directly at Bugs. Jerk…
"Terrible, aint it?" came a voice the resounded over the large, mostly empty mall
Bugs turned around and saw Angel leaning on a column.
"Without you, the Disney regime would take over the whole animation empire," explained Angel
Bugs walked away fast from that blight in the mall and walked into a random department store, Angel watched him. Bugs sighed a little in relief and walked down the aisles of merchandise. However, it was short lived. When he looked around, on the appliances, on the toys, on the home décor…it was all Disney.
"You see?" said Angel again, appearing next to him
"How is dis different from da world where I do exist? Even if you walk into a store, you have better chances of finding something Disney or Disney-esque dan ANY of da Looney Tunes. I mean if you're lucky, you can find at least one thing with Tweety or Taz. A miracle if you find something with the others or even myself. But den Tweety has to turn into a girl to actually sell products. It's so messed up. We make so many sacrifices…Den again…"
"What?"
"WB isn't as successful, anyway. It's not like I made much of a difference…"
Angel sighed disappointedly.
"I know it's tough. But with you gone, it's impossible," said Angel
"Impossible? What do you mean?" asked Bugs
"Without you, there wouldn't be any Looney Tunes,"
"What? You've got your facts wrong, doc. WB and da Looney Tunes existed before I came around, and dey already had great players like Porky and Daffy,"
"You'll have to see what I mean. Go to where Acme Looniversity would be,"
"Where Acme Loo WOULD be? What do ya mean? What happened dere?"
Angel disappeared before he could answer.
Bugs went out of the mall and walked in the direction of his beloved school. The forest behind the mall was small, changed by the mere presence of that mall. Bugs found a footpath, which he instantly recognized as one that led to Acme Loo. When he was reaching the area, he saw a building there. It was of similar architecture of Acme Loo, yet it wasn't. When he came to the front gates, there was no mistaking it. This wasn't Acme Looniversity.
"What the…" said Bugs, "What is this place?"
"Acme Col-co-co-School of B-b-b-business and M-m-media," answered an all too familiar voice
Bugs turned around and saw a pig. He was dressed in a janitor's uniform and he was picking litter off of the grass.
"Porky? What are you doing?" said Bugs instantly recognizing him
"My w-w-w-job. And how d-d-did you know my na-na-n-who I was?" inquired Porky
"It's me, Bugs Bunny. We worked together,"
"I don't r-r-remember seeing y-y-you at the u-u-union meetings," he said glancing up and going back to work
"No, no. We worked together in da Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies," explained Bugs
"Looney Tunes? I try to f-f-forget those memories," he said in a remorseful tone
"Why? What happened?"
Porky stopped what he was doing. He looked directly at Bugs and told him what was on his mind. As though it were his only real chance of getting this off his chest.
"That m-m-m-rat, that's what. Aud-au-au-People just started to l-l-l-like the c-c-cutesy stuff over our crazy stuff. We were too ro-rou-violent. They s-s-said we had no w-w-wit. They preferred s-s-songs and dance rather than slapstick c-c-comedy. They j-j-just didn't like our style of f-f-f-humor."
"Dat's stupid,"
"I know. But w-w-what can I d-d-do? I'm out of s-s-show business. I-I-I'm stuck cleaning after this breeding c-c-center of evil CEOs," said Porky. He then turned around and saw something in the distance.
"H-h-here come some n-n-now,"
From the parking lot behind Porky, Bugs saw two cars pull into parking spaces. From one of the cars emerged a baldheaded man wearing a black suit. From the other car emerged a short redheaded man with the red beard to match, dressed uniformly with the other man. They walked towards the stairs with their Acme labeled briefcases.
"Hey! Elmer! Sam!" called out Bugs
They looked towards Bugs in confusion, then ignored him and continued on their way.
"Wait! Don't you recognize me?" said Bugs walking up to them, blocking their path
"Do we know you?" asked Elmer, without his trademark speech impediment
"Elmer?"
"Yes?"
"What happened to…?" Bugs couldn't finish the sentence, for he was cut off by the serious Elmer
"Life," answered Elmer as he walked around and continued up the stairs
"Sam? Not you too?" asked Bugs
"Sorry, stranger. But I have no time for unnecessary chit chat, I've got a tight schedule afterall. G'day hombre," replied Sam with as much as a glance as he too rushed into the building.
"What happened to them?" asked Bugs
"Elmer was in Looney Tunes with m-m-me. But since its downfall, Elmer had to make a n-n-new life for himself. He traded his speech prob-pro-pr- impediment for a more professional sounding v-v-v-voice. He enrolled here at A-A-Acme College. I'm not even sure who the sh-sh-sh-short guy was…" Porky paused. He then had an afterthought, "Human toons have it b-b-better than us because they're c-c-closer to humans. They get more re-re-respect, so they have better chances of m-m-making it."
"No way... The Looney Tunes are really gone? Dis is terrible…"
"T-t-tell me about it. I have to g-g-get back to w-w-work. Nice t-t-t-chatting with you,"
"…Likewise,"
Porky continued on his way; picking up garbage like he had nothing else to do. Bugs was left dumbfounded. He's never seen Porky so defeated and dismayed. And Elmer's and Sam's change of attitude was freaky. Soon, Angel appeared next to him.
"You brought the humor the Looney Tunes were known for. And you pulled it of in such a way that everyone loved. After you, all the others followed suit and added their own personalities to what became the Looney Tunes style. You all inspired the future generations,"
"Eh…often imitated, but never duplicated…" said Bugs with a weak smile
"Exactly. But since you never existed, the Looney Tunes have never ever made it to success. You wouldn't have created Acme Loo, thus drowning the hopes of all future generations,"
Bugs frowned and looked at Angel.
"Well, I guess dey have me to thank for washing up deir dreams before dey even reached da limelight. Amazingly enough, you're not making me feel any better…" said Bugs beginning to walk away
Angel slouched, then followed Bugs and walked beside him.
"You're very difficult you know that," said Angel
Bugs stopped when he saw a flyer on the floor. He picked it up. It was actually a wanted poster. Bugs cocked an eyebrow when he saw the face on the poster.
"Daffy?"
He read the bottom description. It described Daffy as a psychopathic maniac and a menace to society. "That's fairly accurate…" said Bugs smiling inwardly. But he took a closer look. The poster listed Daffy's crimes: Disturbing the peace by swinging mallets, dropping anvils, and pestering people. The poster also had 'destruction of public property' and 'assault' on the list. Bugs shook his head, but yet he was confused that they painted Daffy more as a criminal than just a crazy duck, which he was. Bugs heard a commotion around him and saw a group of people running into the city. He heard one of them yell 'Daffy' and another say 'over there'. He decided to follow them, leaving Angel behind.
When Bugs reached the larger crowd, he fought his way in to see what was going on in the street. When he broke through, he saw an ambulance, a car that had crashed into a pole, and a group of men in white suits huddling over something. When they broke from their huddle, they revealed a black duck wrapped in a gray straightjacket. There were police officers there, controlling the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen please step away. Stand back as they take Daffy to the insane asylum," yelled an officer into the crowd
Daffy was all daffy, shouting his 'woo hoos' into the crowd.
Women shrieked, and the sight of Daffy disgusted the men there. Daffy was giving them all a hard time.
"Woo hoo! You think you have me? HA HA!" said Daffy as he started jumping around, while still constricted by the straightjacket.
The white suits tried to control him, but they lost their grip. Daffy bounced on his head, on his side, on the pavement, on the car, atop a man's head, all over the place. There seemed no way of controlling him, until the men in white suits used brute force. One of the men punched Daffy across his face. Daffy turned to face him immediately. At first he looked highly offended, but then his expression changed to one of a more 'playful' tone.
"That was fun, let me try!" he spun out of his straightjacket and into a boxer's outfit and gave that guy a right cross. When he was on the ground, he stood over him flexing his muscles. The crowd gasped, but Bugs let out a chuckle. The white suits had enough of Daffy. They all ganged up on Daffy, Daffy dodged them. Another tried to grab Daffy, but he missed when Daffy stepped aside. Two tried to trap him, but Daffy black-flipped.
"Woo hoo!"
Daffy landed atop another white suit. Daffy pulled out sissors and cut up his hair into a mohawk. The man tried to grab him, but Daffy jumped up and whacked him with a mallet. A bump split through the mohawk as the man crashed onto the ground.
"It's so you! Woo hoo!"
Daffy kept jumping around. The men repeatedly tried to trap him, they pounced and lunged at him but they missed every time. Daffy was unfazed, acting as though it was just a walk in the park for him.
"Woo hoo! Woo hoo! Woo hoo!"
The entire crowd, except for Bugs, was terrified of Daffy. Some ran in terror, others couldn't move from where they were, paralyzed by fear. Soon enough, the whole team of white suits got up in unison. They all towered over Daffy like a football team over the class nerd. Daffy stopped, and looked up nervously. The infuriated men ambushed Daffy. They punched him, kicked him, and pushed him around. Daffy stopped his woo hoo's. One of them punched him in the gut, another kicked him under his bill, sending him flying backwards into a wall. They all dog-piled him and trapped him in a super reinforced, straightjacket, with locks and chains. Daffy was very weak and couldn't get out due to the severe beating he received. The crowd cheered in the triumph of the authorities.
"Take him away boys!" said the officers
The white suits started to push Daffy cruelly along. Daffy wouldn't go quietly.
"Do you know who I am! Do you know who I AM! I'm Daffy Duck!"
"You're a criminal! Arrested for being a diabolical psycho. We don't tolerate your kind around here!" shot back the officer
"Hey!" yelled Bugs stepping out of the crowd, "what kinda cop are ya? How could you support such injustice!"
"Injustice? What the hell are you talking about rabbit? This IS enforcing the law!"
"Dis is lawful? Limiting his rights, using unnecessary force? It's all unfair!"
"For his kind! What do I care?"
"My kind is an endangered species," called out Daffy as he was being dragged away, "I'm a Looney Tune!"
That was the last thing he said before the officer came and knocked him unconscious with his club. The white suits threw Daffy into the ambulance and drove away. Bugs clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in anger. Bugs stormed up to that officer.
"You can't do dis!" yelled Bugs
"I already did," said the officer
Other police officers began to secure the area. Bugs and the officer were still glaring each other down.
"You better watch your temper, rabbit. Before you get sent away as well…" said the officer walking away from Bugs
Bugs glared back. The crowd eventually disembarked, muttering that the duck got what he deserved. Bugs was just disgusted by what he had just witnessed. Even though they've been rivals for a long time, they've been friends for longer. Bugs just couldn't believe that which he saw was real…
"How could dey do dat to him?" wondered Bugs aloud
Angel soon materialized next to him.
"I know Daffy's nuts, but dat wasn't necessary," said Bugs to Angel
"Now in this world, Daffy's sense of humor is a crime. They consider him out of control," commented Angel
"But dat's his style,"
"They don't care. Plus, Daffy never met his greedy and selfish side because you weren't there to challenge him,"
"But…he doesn't need me,"
"Believe it or not, he does,"
Bugs stared at Angel. Bugs frowned and shook his head. No way this shit is really happening!
"No, dis is crazy! I don't know how you're doing this, but I'm not gonna stand for it anymore! I'm going home!" said Bugs running off to his car and driving towards his borrow
Angel shook his head and sighed.
"You still don't get it, do you?"