"Hey you punk! Get back here and fight!"
Pesto flapped his wings as hard as he could to keep up with the pink apparition that was trying to avoid him. The ghost flew around and through buildings, trying to lose him, but Pesto was determined to keep up with her. She glanced over her shoulder and snarled at the pigeon.
"Beat it, you rat with wings!" She screeched, her fur standing on end. An electrical current coursed through her form before she fired bolts of electricity at the bird pursuing her. Pesto yelped and dove to avoid it as the bolt hit a building behind him, leaving a massive burn mark.
"Ha! You think you can take down a Goodfeather so easily?!" Pesto taunted her as he flew back up, hot on her tail, "C'mon girly! You fight like a...! Well... Uh... A girl!"
Instead of fighting with the anger prone pigeon, the ghost flew directly through glass on a building. Pesto, being a pigeon and lacking in depth perception, hit the glass head-on. He slowly slid off the window and fell to a soft awning below, where he bounced a few times before settling.
Pesto groaned in pain, little stars and ghosts dancing around his head. He shook himself out and recovered, standing to his feet and glancing around.
"I lost her!" He roared, "That brat used my one weakness against me: glass!"
Pesto flew up again, scanning the night skyline of Burbank for any sight of the pink light. His eyes went to the dark lot of Warner Brother's studio a mile off. The pink light retreated and disappeared there.
"Aha!" Pesto cried in triumph. He tucked in his wings and zipped to the studio as fast as he could. Now that he knew where she was going, he could figure out what she was. A part of him wondered if maybe the ghost girl was connected to his friend's disappearance as well. Whatever the case, he was going to catch her no matter what. Once he reached the studio, he ascended again to observe the lot. A pink flash towards the back end of the studio caught his eye. He dove down again, his rage fueling his energy to keep chasing.
Pesto landed on one of the sound stages. This part of the studio was run down and hardly even used, creating an unnerving feeling. Pesto's rage slowly faded and was replaced with anxiety. He started to question if it was such a good idea to chase a supernatural force to such a remote place.
What little logical thinking was swirling around in his tiny pigeon brain was replaced yet again when he saw the pink light again. He growled and gave chase, but suddenly stopped when he saw the pink apparition stop, fizzle for a bit, then solidify her form. Pesto gave a quiet gasp. The apparition appeared to be Dot Warner, one of the zany Warner siblings.
"I hate birds..." She growled before she floated into one of the dark and run down sound stages. Pesto stopped and thought for a moment before pursuing her. He decided to fly and land on the stage she disappeared into. He found a broken skylight he could peer into from above. Within the sound stage, he saw Dot, as well as two others. He recognized them as her brothers, Yakko and Wakko, though they looked considerably different from the last time he had seen them. They both paced around impatiently, seeming to be waiting for something. When Dot entered, they stopped and greeted her, though none too happily.
"Where have you been?" Yakko demanded.
"I don't want to talk about it." Dot replied dejectedly. She found a nearby box and rested across it, drawing in a heavy sigh.
Wakko approached her, looking confused. He then offered her a half-eaten chocolate bar from his sweater pocket, "You look tired. Want some candy?"
"Wakko, even if I could eat corporeal food..." Dot started, glaring at him, "I would never eat something from your sweater!"
"Your loss." Wakko shrugged and ate the chocolate bar whole, wrapper and all.
Yakko stood over her, his hands on his hips while he tapped his foot impatiently, "Dot, you've been up to something. Where did you go? Why are you so tired?" He glanced around frantically, a paranoid edge rising in his voice, "Did someone follow you?!"
Dot sighed, "They tried to, but I lost them."
"Who tried to?!"
"Listen, there's this scientist man who's been snooping in our business. His name's Brian Magenta and he works at Acme Labs. Dr. Scratchansniff and that other Goodfeather were hanging out with him. I tried to get rid of them all, but they all ganged up on me! That Magenta guy somehow had a sample of Warnerium and was studying it!"
"How did he get a sample?!"
"I don't know! He used an electro magnet on me, then that stupid pigeon started chasing me and I had to lose him!"
Both Yakko and Dot turned away from each other and groaned loudly. Yakko rubbed the bridge of his snout while Dot crossed her arms and huffed.
Yakko took a deep breath. After a while he spoke again, "We'll have to deal with them tomorrow. Our investor is sending a messenger to deliver the cash."
Dot perked up, "How much did you squeeze out of him this time?"
Yakko walked over to a tarp covering a lump of something. He ripped the tarp off, revealing a pile of metal crates. Each crate was marked with a radiation symbol, along with "PROPERTY OF WARNER BROTHERS (AND SISTER)". Yakko seemed to be counting them all before he turned to Dot and smirked.
"All together, these injections come out to ten million dollars."
"Ten milli-?!" Dot gasped.
"Is that a lot of money?" Wakko asked.
"Wakko, with that kind of money, you could buy at least twenty hamburgers." Yakko answered him sarcastically.
Wakko then gasped, "That's a lot of money!"
"We just need to make sure he pays it all." Yakko continued, "Last time the payment was a thousand short. He's not selling us short this time."
Pesto gave a quiet gasp. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Were the Warner kids selling illegal substances? For ten million dollars? He knew they were troublemakers, but doing this? He shook his head and continued watching, his anger steadily rising.
Ten minutes passed. A black car with tinted windows pulled up next to the sound stage. A young woman with dark hair and business attire stepped out, carrying a hefty briefcase. She was nervous and fidgety as she quickly made her way into the stage. When she entered, the Warners turned to her. Yakko smiled and approached her.
"Hiya Ms. Lee." He said, his smile full of malice, "Did your boss send the money?"
The woman called Ms. Lee nodded, shakily handing the briefcase to Yakko. He snatched it from her, held it up, and undid the latches. Inside were stacks upon stacks of one hundred dollar bills. The stacks were so comedically massive, there was no feasible way they could have fit in the briefcase. Pesto had never seen that much money in one place. The most he had seen was a stray ten dollar bill that he snatched from someone's lost wallet on the street. He continued watching the scene.
Ms. Lee spoke, her voice shaky and terrified, "Listen, I don't know what kind of deal you and my boss have, but I want nothing to do with it!"
"Shut up and start loading these crates." Yakko snarled at her, his friendly façade fading in record time. The woman gave a fearful squeak and rushed to grab a crate and put it in the car. It was far too heavy for her and she struggled to lift it into the back of the car. None of the Warners bothered to help her; they watched with amusement as she heaved the boxes around, nearly dropping them on her toes or breaking her back with how heavy they were.
At one point, Wakko stuck out his foot in front of Ms. Lee. She tripped and dropped the crate, falling face first on to the edge of it, leaving a big gash on her forehead. This of course knocked her out and caused the contents of the box to spill out. The Warners seemed to find this hilarious and giggled nefariously.
Pesto squinted at the mysterious ore that had just spilled out of the box. It was a bright, radioactive blue, glowing with pure, dangerous energy. It was irregular in shape, growing in spike shaped shards and filled with big scratches and imperfections.
Wait a second...
That was the same ore that Dr. Magenta was studying! The same ore that grew out of the half-toons! Pesto growled as he started to connect the dots.
These little punks got something to do with the half-toons! And maybe... Why Bobby and Squit disappeared!
Pesto held himself back. He couldn't attack them on his own. He knew how quick thinking the Warners were, and how much they abused their toon powers. No, he would need to wait and see what happened.
Yakko approached the Ms. Lee and rolled her over with his foot. She was out cold and now bleeding profusely from her forehead. He chuckled coldly.
"I want her for testing." He said, "Wakko, finish loading the crates. Dot, when he's done, drive the car and our delivery back to Mr. Investor."
Dot groaned, "Why do I have to do it?"
"Because Wakko can't drive and I want to start work on this new specimen." Yakko told her simply, "Besides, it's an electric car. You can handle that fine, can't you?"
Dot gave another annoyed groan before she floated over to the car. She disappeared under the hood. Once Wakko finished loading it, the car started up by itself, pulled out, and drove off the lot. Yakko slung the unconscious woman over his shoulder while Wakko followed close behind.
"Wakko, do you think you can help me with this new specimen?" Asked Yakko as he strolled over to a particularly large crate in the middle of the sound stage, "Or are you going to get sick and vomit all over the place again?"
Wakko shook his head, "I can handle it just fine! I just might need to uhh... Go to the potty a little more often."
Yakko sighed. He picked up the bottom of the crate, let Wakko go under it, and finally slipped under it himself, disappearing from view.
Pesto waited a few minutes. He wasn't sure what to make of the situation, but he knew one thing: it wasn't good. He knew he had to follow them and figure out what was going on. Most importantly, he needed to know if these shady little puppy children had anything to do with the disappearance of his fellow Goodfeathers. He flew down from the skylight, landing next to the massive crate. He placed his wings under it, lifting it up with surprising ease. It was incredibly light; light enough for a small pigeon to lift it. Underneath, he found a human-sized trap door. He slipped under the crate and went for the door, slowly lifting it until there was a gap big enough for him to squeeze into.
Under the door descended a ladder into darkness. Pesto hovered down slowly, taking his time into the inky blackness. Eventually, the ladder led into a dimly lit, large maintenance tunnel, lined with pipes, electrical lines, and old, decaying movie props, signs, and posters. It smelled like death and... Oddly enough, candy and popcorn. This must have been an old storage basement for the studio until the Warners took it over.
Pesto nervously advanced into the tunnel. There were props and posters from movies dating all the way back to the 1930s. Costumes rotted on decaying mannequins. Dummy replicas of movie monsters towered over the small pigeon, looking ready to strike him. The path up ahead was partially blocked by a rusted out replica of a steam train. Pesto easily flew through the broken windows of the train and continued on.
Up ahead was a light. Pesto could barely hear the voices of Yakko and Wakko echoing down the tunnel. To his right was another dimly lit corridor, this one considerably less dense with movie props. Deciding that he didn't want to face the unhinged Warner kids, Pesto went right. He continued down that corridor for a while before he saw another door. It was a huge, reinforced titanium block, secured with military grade locks and keypads. Strangely enough, it was much more modern than the rest of the tunnels.
Pesto shook his head. There was no way he would get in there.
"You ate so much of Warnerium, now I gotta get more!" Yakko's voice echoed from the other end of the corridor. The voice sent a chill through Pesto's body. He panicked, looking for a place to hide. Eventually, he found a small, open hole in the wall and squeezed his way into it. Just then, Yakko walked past. He stopped at the door, punching in a few numbers that Pesto could barely see.
1... 9... 3... 0...
The latches and locks released and the door swung open. Yakko disappeared into the room. Pesto could barely make out the sounds of someone shouting before suddenly being silenced. A few minutes later, Yakko exited the room, carrying a small bag of... Something in his fist. He closed the door behind him, making sure it was locked and secured. He then walked past Pesto's hiding place and disappeared out of view. Pesto didn't dare leave until he heard the sound of Yakko's feet go quiet.
Finally, Pesto worked up the courage to squeeze out of his hiding spot. He flew up to the keypad on the door and pecked in the numbers.
1... 9... 3... 0...
The latches and locks released yet again, allowing him access to the room within. Pesto pulled the door open enough to let himself slide in. Once he was in, he took a look around his surroundings.
His stomach dropped in horror at the sight.