A loud, incessant buzzing jarred Wakko out of his restless sleep. He shot upright in fear, looking around wildly for a few seconds before remembering where he was. The cell door clanked, then swung open to reveal the same young guard from yesterday.
"C'mon, move," he growled. "Common room."
Very reluctantly, Wakko slid off the bed and moved to the door. By now, he knew the best thing to do was keep quiet and do what they said.
Course, if I had my mallet, 'they' wouldn't be doing much talking..
Wakko sighed. This was all so frustrating, being defenseless like this. If only they knew how strong he was with his powers...
The guard snatched Wakko's hand and began walking out the door.
"So, in case you haven't noticed, I'm your personal caretaker. I will give you food, water, and a bunch of other stuff." the guard explained.
"Caretaker?" Wakko quietly asked.
"Yes. Caretaker. Ya know, the person who takes care. It's kind of self-explanatory."
"Well, you have a name? Or do I just call you 'Caretaker'?"
Wakko smirked sarcastically, but instantly regretted it when the guard glared at him.
"Hey now, don't get smart with me. I'm the one who controls your happiness."
The guard still sounded harsh, but Wakko thought he heard some regret in there. Still, he glared and tried not to scoff.
If you cared about my happiness, you'd let me go...
Finally, the guard sighed in irritation.
"I'm not supposed to tell anyone my real name, but you can just call me Jack."
Wakko didn't respond, instead he was completely lost in thought. The guard seemed to be a little less hostile than he was before, even giving his name. Wakko was starting to wonder whether he was supposed to be scared of him or not.
After following the same path as yesterday, they reached the guard stand at the door to the common room. Jack pulled out a card and held it up before one of the guards turned to open the door.
The electronic voice announced the opening door again, and it slid open. Several other kids were already gathered in the large space within, and as before they all looked up to see the newcomer.
"Now don't start any trouble or there's gonna be a lot more. I've got to go get Jarod." Jack said gruffly as he exited the room.
Wakko sighed. Even though he was surrounded by a couple hundred kids, he has never felt so alone.
Wakko looked around. The kids were a mixture of toons and humans. There was groups ranging from two to ten kids, either sitting on tables eating or standing around.
Thankfully, none of the kids gave Wakko a second look.
He took a deep breath and walked across the floor, resisting the urge to rub his arms. Even if they were kids like him, Wakko had a feeling that it was a good idea not to show signs of weakness around them. His stomach rumbled like thunder, reminding him that he hadn't eaten in a day now. He glanced around, looking for wherever the others were getting food.
He noticed that there was a line of kids in the far left area of the room. He went closer to investigate, seeing instantly that there was a small buffet-type area.
Wakko's eyes widened, and he made a dash for the line.
"Watch it bub!"
"Hey, get out of here!
"Watch where you're going!
Wakko paid no attention to the yells of the children he was bumping into. There was only one thing on his mind, and that was food. He was almost there when suddenly, a rough hand grabbed his shoulder from behind. Wakko gasped as he was yanked around, pain throbbing in his shoulder from the hard grip.
An older kid, human, was glaring down at him with cold, angry eyes.
"You trying to make trouble, punk?" he growled.
Wakko spastically shook his head. This kid was taller than him, and would obviously would have no trouble beating him up.
The bigger kid scoffed, a smirk tugging on his face.
"Really? Cause I think you are."
As he raised his fist, Wakko closed his eyes and held his hands in front of his face. The other boy had a tight grip on his shoulder, keeping him from dodging or running away.
"Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"
Wakko's ears burned at the harsh language, but he was thankful when the large kid released his grip.
"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm teaching the new kid some manners!"
"What for? He didn't do shit. All he wanted was some food, and then you have to come out and be an asshole, like usual."
Wakko opened his eyes and tried to take in just what was happening. Standing nearby was another kid, glaring at the big one. He was a toon rabbit with brown fur, who looked about the same size as Wakko. But even though he was much smaller than the bigger kid, he didn't seem scared of him at all. He continued, his voice dripping with disgust.
"And besides, you think no one else here's noticed you only go after the littler kids? You better start watchin' your shit, or people are gonna start thinking you're chicken."
The bigger kid clenched his fists and made a growling sound, but the toon kid didn't back down. He stood his ground and kept his glare on, his arms crossed. Finally, the bigger kid scoffed and turned away.
"Whatever. Not even worth my time anyway."
With that, the large kid walked off. Of course, he shot them a well placed 'Middle Finger' before doing so.
Wakko stood there, awestruck. This little toon bunny just completely told off that giant behemoth.
Wakko approached the bunny, puffing his chest out in an attempt to look tough. "Umm, thanks."
The bunny put a dismissive hand up. "Save the act. Trying to look tough will only make you look more like a punching bag."
Wakko inwardly cringed, embarrassed that the bunny saw right through his act.
"Well? Don't you want to go eat something?"
Before he could reply, Wakko felt something tug on his shirt. Startled, he looked down to see Jarod sticking close to him, looking around with wide eyes.
"Hey, who's the little guy?"
Jarod gasped and shrank back, looking at the bunny toon fearfully.
"His name's Jarod," Wakko said. "He's new too."
The bunny looked Jarod over, then shrugged.
"Not much of a talker, huh? Just as well… less chance to piss someone off. Where's he from?"
"Florida," Wakko replied. The bunny glanced at Jarod with interest.
"Huh… long way from home." He looked back at Wakko. "So what about you? You have a name?"
"I'm Wakko. Wakko Warner. You?" Wakko asked.
"The name's Alex," the rabbit responded, offering his hand for a handshake. "I've been in this hellhole for a few weeks now."
Wakko cautiously accepted the handshake. Even though Alex just saved him from getting a black eye, he still didn't trust anyone.
"Umm, do you happen to know why we're here?"
"Don't look at me. I don't know sh-" Alex stopped himself, noticing Jarod was still standing next to Wakko. "Uh, I mean 'Crap'. Come on, let's get something to eat."
Wakko and Jarod glanced at each other, then followed Alex toward the line of kids waiting for their meals.
"So, where're you from?" Wakko asked softly.
"Nowhere specific." Alex coldly responded.
"Okay then. Do you have any friends?" Wakko cautiously asked.
"Nope."
"Well, do you have any family?" Wakko was trying his best to get to know the brown bunny.
Alex sighed, turning around to face Wakko.
"Damn, you sure do ask a lot of questions."
Wakko gulped, hoping he hadn't just earned a beating after avoiding one.
"S-sorry…" he stammered. Jarod let out a soft whimper and moved behind him, his eyes wide and scared. Alex looked between them for a moment, then sighed and shrugged.
"Whatever. Just do me a favor and don't ask a ton of questions, because I wont answer them anyway."
Sheesh, I was only trying to be nice...
Wakko sighed. He supposed Alex had a reason for not wanting to answer any of his questions, but that didn't mean he should ignore him. After all, Alex did save him from a beating. The least Wakko could do was try to be his friend.
The three of them grabbed a plate and awaited their turn.
"The only good thing about this death trap is that the food is edible." Alex deadpanned.
Wakko felt a shiver run down his spine, and the words escaped before he could stop them.
"D-death trap?"
"Don't get your panties in a knot, it's just an expression. I've got yet to see one corpse."
Wakko sighed as it became his turn to get food. He held out his tray as the man behind the counter put a mixture of meats and vegetables on the plate.
Wakko looked at his plate as butterflies flew around in his stomach. Food usually made him happy, but not this time. This time he felt incredibly depressed and sad, with no one to talk to about how he felt.
He started thinking about his siblings. In a way, he kind of wished they were taken too. That way he would at least have someone to talk to.
Wakko mentally smacked himself. That was an incredibly selfish way of thinking. He was glad they weren't taken, he was happy that they were safe, and he was glad to know that his brother would never stop looking for him!
"You coming?"
Wakko snapped out of his thoughts, seeing that Alex and Jarod were waiting for him at a table. With another sigh, he trudged over and sank into an empty seat. Picking up his fork, he pushed the food on his plate around a little before taking a half-hearted bite. His mood might be low as it could get, but he was just too hungry not to eat.
"You got family, don't you?"
Wakko looked up at Alex in surprise; the toon kid was looking at him with a scrutinizing look. He shrugged.
"I've been here long enough to tell."
He returned to his own meal, looking disinterested.
"You want my advice, forget about 'em. They'll give up before they even get close."
The fear came back in full force, but only for a moment. It was quickly replaced with anger… what right did this kid have to tell him to forget his family? That they would forget about him? His siblings would never give up… he knew they wouldn't.
"No!" he snapped. "No, they won't!"
Jarod looked at him with huge eyes, but Wakko barely noticed as he glared at Alex.
"What makes you think that?!" Alex scoffed. "Look around! All these other kids have families too, and no one has found us yet!"
Wakko clenched his fists.
"Shut up Alex! Maybe if you weren't so pessimistic, you'd have already found a way to escape!"
"Escape? There's no escape! And I've got a damn good reason to be pessimistic! Now just shut up and eat your food before I stab you with my fork."
Wakko closed his eyes and sighed. He was glad that the forks were made of plastic, or else Alex might actually stab him with it. He glanced over at Jarod, who wasn't eating anymore. He figured that his argument with Alex probably scared him.
Wakko rubbed the back of his head, thinking about his current predicament. For someone who saved him from a beating, Alex sure seemed to be quite a jerk. Of course, he probably had a good reason for being mean. In a place like this, you can't trust anyone, and Alex had obviously figured that out.
Wakko decided that he was still going to try and befriend him. Someone that tough and fearless could prove helpful in the future.
"Look, I'm sorry." Alex quietly said.
"What?" Wakko said, the comment catching him by surprise. Alex grumbled to himself.
"Dammit Warner, you're gonna make me say it again?"
"I'm serious, I don't think I heard you." Wakko said, trying to hold back a smile.
"Smartass," Alex mumbled under his breath. "Look, I said I'm sorry. It's just that… it's just because... well you see... dammit, just leave me alone." With that he stood from his chair and swiftly walked off. Startled, Wakko watched him leave. A twinge of sadness came to him as he began to think about Alex's words. Whatever he'd been through, it must have been awful if he didn't even want to talk about it. In his mind, there was now even more reason to try and make friends… having someone willing to give some support couldn't hurt Alex.
With a sigh, Wakko returned to eating. Out of instinct he glanced at Alex's abandoned tray, wondering if he was coming back. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Jarod was still sitting quietly, staring at his tray. Wakko felt sorry for the boy; he reached out and patted his shoulder, giving him a small smile.
"Hey, don't worry about what he said. It's gonna be okay."
"I hope so." Jarod whimpered as he wiped the tear from his eye.
Whelp, there you go. I put a lot of thought into Alex, so your thoughts on him would be most appreciated. Again, lets thank KaylaMicael for helping me out.
