4 pm approached sooner than expected. After conducting lengthy investigations on the toons of Burbank, Hello Nurse and Scratchansniff (with Pesto in tow) returned to the studio. They approached each other on the street corner in front of the studio, exhausted, sweaty, and ready to go home. Police were still guarding the front gates, though there weren't nearly as many as earlier that morning. The line of cars had left, as it was far too late in the day for the Warner Brothers employees to get anything done.

Hello Nurse waved weakly to Scratchansniff, suddenly pausing when seeing the pigeon flying along with him, "Scratchansniff, did you find a friend?" She laughed a little.

Pesto landed on Scratchansniff's bald head, "Who you laughin' at? It better not be me!"

Scratchansniff took the pigeon off his head and held him tight to keep him from attacking the blonde woman, "Ms. Nurse, I'm sure you remember Pesto. He's one of the Goodfeathers. He insisted he come along in order to find his missing friends."

Hello Nurse raised an eyebrow and looked at Pesto, "Bobby and Squit are missing?"

"Been missing for several decades!" Pesto replied, "I thinks it's got something to do with those half-toons!"

Scratchansniff heaved a heavy sigh, "Pesto informed me that his companions disappeared around the same time that the studio employees began vanishing and reappearing as half-toons. That's why he wants to help us investigate as well." He smiled weakly at Hello Nurse, "I hope you found something useful?"

Hello Nurse rubbed her temples, "Sadly, the one suspect that seemed to know something kicked me out of her house. Slappy Squirrel knows something, but I'm afraid I won't be able to get anything else out of her."

"So it seems that we've hit a dead end."

Hello Nurse took out her list and read over it again, "Not necessarily."

Just as she was reading through the list, a tow truck exited the studio gates. Hitched on the back was an expensive looking sports car. The front end was smashed to pieces, with bits of engine sticking out the hood. The driver's side door was gone; it had been violently ripped off its hinges.

Scratchansniff let out an audible gasp, "That's Ms. Norita's car!"

Hello Nurse quickly pulled out her phone, snapping pictures of the car as it was towed away. The truck took the car out of sight around a corner. They turned their attention back to the gates, where the police were now getting into the cars and driving off. Though the employees were all told to go home, the studio was still technically open.

"There's one last group of suspects I want to talk to." Hello Nurse said, crossing the street to the gates with the psychiatrist and the pigeon following her.

"Who? There's no one in the studio right now." Scratchansniff said.

Hello Nurse turned her attention to the iconic water tower, rising above the office buildings and sound stages. Scratchansniff gasped and began to sweat.

"Oh no no no no!" He sputtered out, "We're not getting the Warners involved with this whole ordeal!"

"What's the ordeal, doc?" Pesto asked from atop his bald perch, "The hot nurse lady's got a point. Them kids are trouble."

Hello Nurse nodded, "Sexist comment aside, Pesto is right. If anyone would know anything about the half-toons, it would be the Warners. They've caused so much trouble in the past, I'm sure they would at least know something about all this chaos that's been happening."

Scratchansniff shook his head adamantly, nearly knocking Pesto off, "I don't care! I am not getting involved with those kooky kids again! I am not going up to that tower! You can't make me!"

Hello Nurse shrugged, "Fine then, I'll go by myself."

"B-b-but that's dangerous!"

"You just said you didn't want to come."

"Well I-..."

Scratchansniff hesitated. He suddenly took out his phone and pretended to be getting a phone call, "Oh look! Dr. Magenta is calling me about results! I best take this!"

Pesto called him out, "Whaddaya mean? Your phone ain't ringin-!"

Before Pesto could finish, Scratchansniff took off running to the front gates. Hello Nurse rolled her eyes and continued on to the water tower, now in front of her. Sure, the Warners were a chaotic handful, but they weren't exactly dangerous. Hello Nurse knew she would be even safer now than she was back in the days of working at the studio. Getting harassed by the Warners had encouraged her to take kickboxing lessons to protect herself. While she would usually resort to using her trusty taser, she hadn't had time to go out and buy a new one after Dr. Magenta had taken hers for testing. So the kickboxing lessons would have to do if the Warners overstepped their boundaries.

Hello Nurse reached the base of the tower. She gazed up. The tower stretched high above her, nearly several stories high and with only a rickety, rusty ladder leading to the top. She swallowed her fear and took to the ladder, climbing up at a steady pace.

A klaxon alarm went off somewhere deep underground, alerting the three Warner siblings. They rushed to a still working computer console, where a grainy image displayed a human climbing up the ladder of the water tower.

Yakko pressed a few buttons, trying to zoom in on the footage, "Who's climbing the tower? There's no one in the studio!"

Wakko squinted his eyes, "It looks like a woman!"

"Who really needs to eat a cheeseburger." Dot remarked.

Yakko banged his fists on the console a few times. The footage glitched in and out a few times before finally clearing. His eyes widened at the sight, "Wait a minute..."

"Is that...?" Wakko asked.

The two brother's jaws suddenly dropped to the floor, quite literally. They retracted their jaws and threw their heads back in a musical howl, "Hellooooo Nurse!"

Dot sighed, "Not this again."

Yakko stood up, practically drooling on the console, "And she's coming to visit us? Well I'll certainly welcome her with open arms!" He snickered, "If she'll let me jump into hers!"

Yakko started to take off. Wakko followed him, but Yakko quickly stopped him with a firm glare.

"Aww, why can't I go?" Wakko asked.

"You know why, Mr. Warnerium beast." Yakko said, pointing to his various bodily growths, "She sees those, she'll ask questions."

Wakko pouted and whimpered sadly before walking away. Yakko was about to speak to Dot, but she cut him off.

"I know I can't go, and I don't wanna go." She growled as she took out a magazine labeled Afterlife Monthly and began to flip through it, "I've got my own plans later."

"I'll just go greet our beloved nurse myself!" Yakko giggled with delight as he raced out of the room and down the corridor.

After a bit of hair-raising climbing, Hello Nurse finally reached the top. She carefully sidled to the large Warner Brothers logo emblazoned on the front. Trying not to look down, she knocked on the logo and waited.

Surely they're still in here, right?

Hello Nurse waited a few seconds before knocking again. She tapped her foot impatiently. Even though it was the middle of summer in southern California, the wind was chilly on top of the tower. She hoped the Warners would answer soon.

Creeeaaak...

The tower door suddenly opened, seemingly on its own. Hello Nurse was rather surprised. No overly loud break into song. No ridiculous and over the top greeting. No jumping into her arms and violating her personal space. It was... Strange.

Against her better judgment, Hello Nurse decided to step into the tower. It was pitch black dark save for the light coming from the open door. She managed to catch a glimpse of a light switch across the room, right before the door to the tower slammed shut. She suddenly felt uneasy. Were the Warners attempting to frighten her?

She decided to ignore her fears and feel her way over to the light switch on the other side of the room. She heard something; someone behind her. Instead of turning to confront them, she rushed to the light switch and quickly flipped it on. The lights blazed to life. She whipped around and saw a familiar face standing, poised to grab her. When the lights came on, he froze and backed away, regaining his composure in record time.

"Helloooo Nurse!" sang Yakko Warner, pretending as if he wasn't just hunting her down like a bloodthirsty predator.

Hello Nurse squinted at him. Though he was a toon, he seemed to have aged. His fur was messy and tinged with green. His eyes were wide, unblinking, and dilated to the point he seemed unhinged. And... What was with his costume? He was dressed like a Dr. Frankenstein reject, white lab coat and oversized rubber gloves included. He seemed fidgety, twitchy almost. This was not the Yakko Warner she was familiar with.

Hello Nurse pushed aside her uneasiness and addressed the eldest Warner brother, "Hi, Yakko. It's... Been a while."

"I'll say!" Yakko continued, his tone overly cheery, "I've really missed doing this!"

Without any warning, Yakko tried to jump into Hello Nurse's arms. She saw it coming and immediately avoided it, causing him to fall and land on his bottom. He whined in pain and glared up at her.

"What gives?" He snarled.

"I would rather you not do that anymore." Hello Nurse told him, backing away, "I'm not here for a friendly reunion anyways."

Yakko perked up, "Oh? What are you here for if you're not here for me?"

Hello Nurse was about to open her mouth and ask him what he knew about the half-toons. However, her instincts told her to keep quiet about the situation. Something was off about Yakko, and it was setting off every alarm bell she had.

"I'm actually here to study toon kind." She lied, "I've been conducting studies on toons, learning about their lives and culture. I want to start a new science called toonology."

It was a stupid lie, but she felt it was a solid enough reason as to why she would be here in the first place.

Yakko seemed to take the bait and chuckled, "Well study me all you want, hot stuff! I'm an open book!"

Hello Nurse had to take a moment to think. What were some questions she could ask him that wouldn't immediately alert him to her knowledge of the half-toons?

"If you don't mind me asking," she started, "Where are your siblings today?"

Yakko replied, his smile never fading, "Oh, they've come down with a nasty case of toon flu. I'm afraid they aren't up for any visitors today."

"And the costume?"

"Oh this? I always wear this when my siblings get sick. I think it's fun to play a role for them!

"You look more like a mad scientist than a kindly doctor caring for his patients."

"Hey, I'm working with what I have. Some of us can't get our hands on real doctors clothes, unlike some people."

That last comment had a bit of bile in it, as if Yakko was directing it right at her. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but he almost seemed bitter at her.

"Well, do you mind if I take a look around?"

Yakko shook his head, that unnerving grin never faltering, "Not at all. Go right ahead!"

Hello Nurse decided she definitely would not turn her back on him, and kept him within eyesight at all times. She walked around the tower for a bit. Though the tower lacked rooms, each part was sectioned off like rooms with the use of old movie background sets. What she assumed was the living room, with a TV set, a couch, and a coffee table was surrounded by sets of the New York city skyline. Though the Warners' taste in interior design was certainly interesting, there wasn't really anything of interest.

The whole time Hello Nurse looked around, Yakko stayed dangerously close to her. Every time she turned to look back at him, he would flash an innocent smile and pretend that he wasn't staring a hole into the back of her head. One time she swore she caught him measuring her body with a tape measurer. Another time she felt a piece of her hair being pulled out, only for Yakko to conveniently blame it on "a door hinge that poked out too much". What in the world was wrong with him?

Only when she reached the kitchen did things get strange. Immediately, Hello Nurse's eyes went to the refrigerator. It was wrapped in chains and locked with a key pad. Why was the fridge of all things chained up?

"Oh, I know that looks bad," Yakko seemed to answer her, as if he could hear her thoughts, "But you see, Wakko's been sleep eating again. And he eats everything, I tell ya! So I have to chain the fridge up when he's sleeping so he won't devour everything in sight!"

Hello Nurse frowned. It was a realistic excuse. Wakko certainly could pack away the snacks when he wanted to. As she turned from the fridge, she made a disgusted face. Yakko was now sprawled across the counter, laying in a seductive manner; if his rubbery cartoon body and stupid smirky face could even be considered to be "seductive".

"If you don't mind me asking," he purred, as if trying to flirt with her, "What exactly are you looking for?"

"I'm simply studying the environments that toons live in." Hello Nurse answered plainly, "And I believe I have everything I need."

Yakko raised an eyebrow, smirking profusely, "You sure you don't need me?"

"How old are you again?"

"That's not important."

"Yeah, no, we're through here."

Hello Nurse grabbed her things and headed for the door. Surprisingly, Yakko did nothing to stop her. She exited without an incident and now stood on the small balcony of the water tower.

Something was very, very wrong with Yakko. While he still acted like his regular flirtatious, toony self, there was something... Sinister about his manner. His words seemed bitter. His smile was unflinching and unsettling. His eyes were even more dark and soulless than the usual dark and soulless eyes that old toons usually had. The fact that he had apparently tried to attack Hello Nurse the moment she entered the water tower... It was all bizarre.

His missing siblings... The odd manner and costume... The chained up fridge...

Hello Nurse shook her head. She needed to tell Scratchansniff and Dr. Magenta about her findings first and foremost. She climbed down the ladder hastily, still unnerved by the thought of Yakko's frightening behavior.