Harold groaned as he downed his fourth cup of coffee. It had been five hours since the bugs were taken to the station and given to the computer geeks. He was beginning to grow impatient, waiting five hours without any information will do that to you. He could only imagine the kind of anxiety that Yakko and Dot must be feeling.

He leaned back in his chair and let out a hefty yawn, stretching his arms above his head. He then pulled out a cigar from a drawer on his desk and lit it with a small steel lighter that he pulled from his pocket. He coughed briefly as the first puff of smoke filled his lungs.

He didn't always smoke. It certainly wasn't an addiction of any kind. He only did it on days when stress got the better of him, and today was definitely one of those days.

He sighed as he technically wasn't supposed to smoke indoors, but he didn't care today. This was his office and he knew that anyone would be stupid to try and interfere with him with everything thats been going on.

He took another hit from the cigar and blew the smoke out; the smoke seemed to dance above him as it faded off into the ceiling. He closed his eyes and tried to relax as the strong aroma of cigar smoke filled the room.

He rubbed the back of his neck and stood up from his chair. He stretched his body and hastily exited the office. The trip from the hallway to the computer lab was short and uneventful, but the looks his fellow co-workers and detectives gave him was somewhat off putting. He shrugged it off.

Once he arrived at the entrance to the computer lab, he slid his I.D. card through a small electric key card reader. The glass doors made a quiet whooshing sound as they slid open.

Harold marched with his head held high into the large, clean room. The several men inside stared at him, all wearing white lab coats and black dress pants.

"Listen, I have been waiting an obligatory FIVE HOURS for you people to track a damn signal. This is something you all do pretty much everyday! So please try your best to explain, why in the hell is it taking so damn long?!"

One of the men walked over to Harold. He stood in front of him confidently and began to speak. "With all due respect sir, this isn't something we do often. Tracking a signal with something as small as a bug is no easy task, but our men have managed to do it."

"Alright, then why have I not heard anything?"

"Actually sir, we were just about to go inform you of our findings." The man said politely.

Harold sighed with relief. "Ugh, alright, just tell me what you know."

"Very well. Take a seat, detective."

Harold sat down on a small metal chair in the corner of the room. The man pulled a chair in front of him and took a seat.

"Alright, this might sound strange, but the bugs were tracked to a place... outside of California."

Harold's eyes widened. "What?!"

"Do not fret, it's not far out. We tracked the signal to an area just past the US border."

"Canada?! You're telling me that the signal is coming from Canada?!"

"Yes sir, we were able to pinpoint the location to an area that was thought to be a barren wasteland of ice and snow."

Harold's leg began to shake with anticipation. He leaned in closer to the man and said, "Listen, I want helicopters, SWAT, sniper cover, hell, bring out a damn drone if we have to. I want that area searched immediately."

"We've already informed the Canadian Police Force, they said they would investigate."

Harold sighed. All he had to do now was wait - something he was all too familiar with.


"Move. Your. Ass." Alex whispered angrily as he tried to push Wakko out of the way.

"I can't go any faster! They will hear us!" Wakko responded as he continued to crawl.

"Fuck, why did I go in 2nd?"

"You know, your foul language isn't helping the situation!"

The three boys crawled through the seemingly endless string of air ducts, with Wakko in front, Alex in the middle, and Jarod behind. The three of them crawled as hastily as possible while still managing to be quiet.

Jarod, the youngest of the three, smirked at the bantering between Alex and Wakko. He was happy being the baby of the group, it meant that they both treated him a lot nicer than they did eachother.

However, it also meant that he felt a lot more helpless than them. He was considerably talented with toon powers, especially for his meager age, but his confidence was sorely lacking. Even though he was extremely talented, he was still too young to be able to use his powers to it's full potential.

Simple things like using a mallet, falling without being hurt, and creating pies were easy to him. More complicated things such as toonspeed, morphing his body, and painting doorways were still difficult for him and required intense concentration, something that he didn't have the pleasure of having at this moment. Morphing his body to get past the men that were stuffed in the air ducts wasn't an easy task. It took him longer than he had wanted, but with enough encouragement from Wakko, he finally managed to do it.

"I can't see shit in this godforsaken hell hole. Whose idea was it to crawl through this anyway?" Alex whispered.

"It was mine, and what other plans do you have? Wander around until we get caught?" Wakko responded with annoyance.

Jarod silently chuckled. Even though he wasn't confident with his own powers, he felt safe with Alex and Wakko. He knew Wakko from his TV show, and that alone was enough to show how talented he was. Alex, however, he didn't know. He assumed he was also extremely talented, and how quickly he was able to get passed the bodies was proof of his abilities.

"Umm, do you guys know where we're going?" Jarod quietly asked.

The two boys stopped arguing for a moment. Alex turned around and said "Just keep following us, buddy. We will eventually find a way out."

Wakko rolled his eyes at Alex's sudden change of tone. He went from angry and annoyed to sweet and gentle in a matter of seconds.

"You hear that? Even Jarod is concerned over your brilliant plan." Alex said, the angry tone in his voice returning instantly.

"Shut up, I see a light up ahead." Wakko said, hoping that it's an escape from this nightmare.

Before Alex could get out another word, he saw the light. Smiling, he said "That damn well better be an exit, or else I'm gonna explode."

"You're in luck. It's an airvent." Wakko exclaimed as he got closer.

Jarod smiled and hoped that no guards were occupying the room that the vent lead in to.

Wakko approached the vent. Looking through it, he saw a small security room that currently had a single guard sitting on a chair and reading a magazine. On the computers were live video footage of the common room, the main hall, and two cell blocks.

"It's a security room. There is one man sitting down and monitoring the computers." Wakko explained.

Alex smiled. "Take him down. We don't want anyone looking through those cameras."

Jarod crawled closer to the both of them. "Wouldn't it be better to question him?"

Alex smirked at Jarod. "It would be, but I don't think we should take a chance. Alerting other guards is too risky."

Wakko sighed. "Alex is right. As much as I'd love to ask him a few questions, I don't think it's worth the risk."

Jarod sighed and nodded.

With that, Wakko quietly slipped through the vent, landing with a very faint 'thud' right behind the guard. Wakko cringed and held his breath; the guard did not budge.

Wakko quietly pulled his mallet out of his hammerspace and slowly held it back over his head. With as much force as possible, he slammed it against the side of the mans head, knocking him unconscious.

Jarod cringed; as much as he knew it was necessary, he still didn't like the idea of harming other people. He had hoped they would be able to convince the man to help them. He always believed in giving people a second chance, but that was clearly not an option at the moment.

Alex slid through the vent and landed gracefully on the chair that the guard was sitting on. "Not bad, Wak. From the looks of it, he's gonna be out for at least nine hours."

Wakko smiled and stood confidently. Getting a compliment from Alex was a nice change.

"But what are we gonna do with the body?" Wakko asked.

The room was small. A mess of monitors and computers littered the area in front of the chair, and an assortment of file cabinets was placed throughout the rest of the room.

"Nothing. We didn't kill him, we just knocked him out. We can just leave him in his chair and if anyone finds him it will look like he just fell asleep."

Wakko nodded. "Good thinking." He said. "How come Jarod hasn't come down?"

Jarod sighed. "I... I can't get through the v-vent!"

"C'mon bud, I know you can. You just have to focus." Wakko encouraged.

Jarod groaned, frustrated and embarrassed. He attempted to slip through, but failed. "I-I can't!" He said, frustration filling his tone.

"Hey, Jarod, just close your eyes and imagine yourself slipping through the vent. Breath slowly and concentrate entirely on that." Alex said.

Jarod closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. He imagined his body becoming liquid and easily passing through the vent.

"Keep your eyes shut and focus. As you imagine yourself sliding through the vent, feel yourself beginning to do just that."

Jarod's body went numb as he continued to focus. He clamped his eyes shut and felt his body begin to slowly move. Suddenly, he was falling. He groaned as he hit the ground and opened his eyes.

"Good job!" Wakko exclaimed as he helped Jarod stand. "Turning to liquid isn't something commonly done, but it works nonetheless."

Jarod stood proudly, happy that he didn't need Alex or Wakko to come up and save him.

Jarod felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. Slipping through something as small as an air vent was no easy task, and managing to do so made Jarod quite proud of himself.

"Alright, I turned the recording off on the cameras. They will still send a live feed here, but it wont record." Alex said.

"Good job. Anything else in here that we can use?" Wakko asked.

"Well... I found a set of keys on the guard, as well as this note." Alex handed Wakko the note.

Dear fellow staff-

Our time is nearly here. The children are becoming exhausted, and soon they will be under our full control. Until then, I have a few things that must be said to you all:

1. Food will be given in lesser quantities. Hunger will speed up the process.

2. If any of the children seem playful/energized, double the dosage for that child.

3. Any misbehaving child will be punished swiftly. If their disobedience persists, send them to me.

4. Interaction with the children will not be tolerated. Remember, what you're doing here is for the greater good. Their emotions mean nothing.

5. Mistreatment of the children will also not be tolerated. Your job is to simply make sure they behave and don't cause problems, not to torture them.

6. Do not enter my quarters passed 8:00 PM.

7. Sleeping on the job will result in a demotion.

8. If an emergency meeting is called, you are required to attend, no matter the circumstances.

9. The parfait in the greenroom is mine. Keep your filthy paws off it.

-Sincerely, your faithful leader, Jenkins.

"Well what the hell does that mean?" Alex asked.

"I think it means that he doesn't want you to eat his parfait..."

Jarod giggled at Wakko's response, and Alex gave him a brief glare.

"Right, but who is 'Jenkins'"? Alex asked.

"I met him once before, when I first got here. He took me and Jarod on a tour of this place. He was eerily friendly, and he dressed like some kind of wannabe renaissance king." Wakko explained.

"I thought he was nice..." Jarod said quietly.

Wakko turned and made eye-contact with Jarod. With a gentle voice, he said "That's what he wants you to think. He wants you to trust him so he can manipulate you easier. As far as I'm concerned, everyone here is an enemy until proven otherwise."

Jarod sighed and nodded. His innocence blinded him from the truth about this place.

Wakko gave Jarod a warm smile and patted him on the head. "Alright guys, we need to get out of here. Take the keys, we will probably need them."

Alex nodded, and the three boys made their way to the exit door.

...

Wow, two chapters in two days! I think thats a new record for me :P. Anyway, my lovely assistant Kayla is out of commission right now. College has her completely booked up. So, starting from this chapter, it will be written by just me until noted otherwise. Enjoy!