On the other side of the studio, Brian and Pesto had gone to the sound stage entrance. Brian instructed Pesto to perch on top of one of the neighboring stages so he had a bird's eye view of everything. If he had followed Brian into the stage, he would have seen that Brian wasn't bothering to wear his hazmat suit. Once he had confirmed that Hello Nurse and Scratchansniff were successfully in the tower, Brian found the crate concealing the secret entrance and made his way down.
He listened to Hello Nurse and Scratchansniff fuss with the refrigerator, getting increasingly more frustrated that they couldn't figure it out quickly. As he listened to their struggles, he made his way down the corridor. It was just as Pesto had described it: a run down maintenance tunnel lined with old movie props. Halfway in, he encounter a replica of a steam train car wedged into the wall, blocking the tunnel partially. He squeezed his way through the car the best he could and continued on.
Hello Nurse's voice buzzed on the radio, "Pesto, Brian, I found something! There's a lever in the back of the fridge!"
Brian put the radio to his mouth, hesitating for a second. He was second guessing if he really wanted to do this. Luckily, Pesto answered for him:
"Well whatcha waiting for? Pull it and see what it does!"
With that, Brian turned off his radio and shoved it in his pocket. Guilt panged at him. Was he really going to sacrifice two innocent people for this? He shook it off and continued on anyways.
Up ahead in the brick tunnel was a crossroad. Brian stopped and looked down each tunnel, trying to remember how Pesto described the room he found. He looked to the right and saw a steel door at the very end of the hallway. It looked similar to how the pigeon had described it, so he decided to head that way.
The door was locked up tightly. There was a keypad to put in a password. Remembering Pesto reciting the code to Hello Nurse, he put in 1-9-3-0. The inner mechanisms unlocked slowly as the door swung open on its own. He stepped in and took in the sight. It was indeed as gruesome as Pesto had said it was: cartoon characters in cages with blue crystalline growths all over their bodies.
The female toon closest to the door stood up first, the blue crystals growing out of her eyes glowing brightly, "Who's there?!"
This woke up the other imprisoned toons, who sat up and stared at the newcomer with confusion.
"Is that a human...?" The female cat toon asked.
Her dog companion sniffed the air, "That doesn't smell like a human! Definitely not a human!"
The little squirrel across from them tried to poke his head through the bars. He growled with and unsure edge, "Who are you, mister? Are you working for the Warners?"
Two pigeons in a cage hanging above the squirrel regarded Brian with contempt. The grey one spoke first, "Hey mister, answer the boy! Who are you?"
Brian ignored them all and went for the cage hanging next to the birds, the one containing the small white mouse with blue growths replacing his ears. He perked up when he saw the man coming towards him.
"Oh, hello sir!" Pinky greeted, speaking loudly, "You look familiar! Have we met before?"
"Quiet Pinky," snarled Brian, "Or I shall have to hurt you." He pulled out a lock pick kit and started picking at the lock on Pinky's cage. This got the attention of the other toons immediately.
"He's come to save us!" Skippy cheered.
"I can't believe it!" Squit celebrated, "Someone's finally come to save us for good!"
The other toons celebrated joyously. However, their cheers were cut short when Brian growled at them.
"Silence! I'm not here to save you, you insolent toons. I'm here for my companion and my companion alone!" He returned to picking the lock.
Pinky raised an eyebrow; he hadn't heard a single word that was said, "Are you saving me mister? That's awfully nice of you! Thank you!"
Bobby sneered, "Your companion, huh punk? A human and a mouse? You can't spare the time to save the rest of us?"
Minerva's sudden gasp caught everyone else's attention. Standing at the door was Wakko, a massive mallet slung over his shoulder. He had a crazy eyed stare that echoed his elder brother's intimidating glare. He approached closer, a psychotic smile stretching across his face.
"You must be that Dr. Magenta!" He giggled, "My sister couldn't get rid of you, maybe I can with a good old fashioned mallet walloping!"
Brian grabbed Pinky's entire cage and ripped it from the chain it was hanging from. He backed away from Wakko while the puppy boy approached closer, raising his mallet above his head.
"Wakko, please listen!" Brian pleaded, "All I want is my friend here, that's it! You can keep the rest of them! I won't meddle in your plans anymore, just let me free Pinky!"
Wakko raised his mallet anyways. Brian threw the cage aside to protect Pinky before the giant wooden hammer slammed down on his head. Instead of cracking bones and blood splatters that would be expected of a human head getting smashed with several tons of force, Brian's head emitted a crunchy metal sound along with the sounds of sparks flying.
Wakko pulled his hammer away, gasping at the sight. Brian's jaw hung limply from his smashed in "skull", exposing fake teeth and animatronic jaw "muscles" that enabled him to talk. An eye sprung out, letting lose wires, screws, and more electricity.
"Dr. Magenta is a robot?!" Wakko screamed.
Out of the wreckage of the smashed animatronic head crawled a small white mouse. He groaned in pain and held his oversized forehead as tried to pull himself out.
From across the room, Pinky's eyes widened, "The strange man is Brain!"
Before Brain could jump off the wreckage and run, Wakko grabbed him hard in his fist. He stared at him for a while before smiling evilly.
"Y'know, I think Yakko and Dot would love to know that Dr. Magenta is Brain!" He said, laughing maniacally.
Brain struggled, snarling, "Put me down you insolent puppy child! I have a mission to accomplish!"
Wakko pat him on the head teasingly, "Sorry, I can't do that! I'll have to take you back to my siblings!"
"You can't do this!" Brain screamed, "I am a toon just like you! Let me go this instant!"
Brain yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to get out of Wakko's grasp. Unfortunately, it was no use. Wakko grabbed the animatronic Brian Magenta with his free hand and started dragging the wreckage behind him, along with the yelling mouse. Pinky watched them go, staring sadly at the struggling Brain.
Pesto pressed every button on the radio when he couldn't get Brian to respond. It had been about a minute since Brian went off the grid, making the pigeon panic. He screamed into the radio hoping that would somehow get the scientist to respond. When he still wouldn't answer, Pesto tuned the radio to speak to Hello Nurse.
"Hey! Where are you?! Are you alright?!"
There was only static on the other end for a little while. A voice tried desperately to break through the static, but was barely audible.
"Pesto-...! Bzzzzt hear-? Bzzzzt fell...! Bzzzzt trap-!"
Pesto screamed in a panic into the radio, "I...! Brian! I think he turned off his radio or lost the signal! Brian is in danger! You need to scram right now!"
There was only static on the other line before the radio signal went completely dead. Even more panic welled up within the pigeon as he threw down the radio and screamed.
"That's it! I'm going for help!"
Pesto took off. He flew as fast as he could over the lot, past a few streets, and into a nearby park. With no hesitation, he darted to an old oak tree decorated with pleasant flowers. With all the energy left in him, Pesto pecked at the door like a woodpecker, nearly drilling a hole into the wood within. He was surprised when the door swung open and he ran beak first into Slappy Squirrel.
"Hey hey!" She growled, grabbing the pigeon by the neck, "Whaddya think you're doing you rat with wings? Can't you see I'm busy?!" She gestured to the couch, where pillows and blankets were strewn about on it. She had clearly been busy sleeping since it was nearly midnight.
Pesto wheezed under her grip, "Slappy...! I...! Need your...! Help...! Please...!"
"Well it better be good," she growled, dropping the pigeon on the ground, "I was sleeping like a baby before you woke me up with your noise!"
"Slappy, I need your help!" Pesto screeched, "My friends! The Warners! The half-toons!'
The mention of the half-toons suddenly got Slappy's attention, "The half-toons? What about those freaks?"
Pesto slowed down, explaining everything that he could as quickly as he could. He told her all about the Warners, the half-toons, the imprisoned toons, and their infiltration plan into their secret underground lair. He told her that something had gone wrong while they were investigating.
"And what's this got to do with me, huh?" Slappy asked, clearly losing her patience.
"Your nephew..." Pesto breathed, nearly out of breath, "He's being held prisoner by those Warner punks!"
Slappy's eyes widened. With no warning, she slammed the door in Pesto's face. Pesto began to panic once again, until the door suddenly opened again. Slappy was back, this time with her purse and a cane. Pesto noticed the bright red stick of dynamite partially sticking out of her purse and smiled.
"Alright you crusty city bird," She said, her face serious and grave, "Lead the way. I ain't got all night, or much left of my own life." She laughed at her own joke before coughing and hacking.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Pesto praised her, "It's all going down at the studio lot. We need to be quick!"
Slappy held up a finger, indicating for Pesto to wait a minute. She went back inside and was gone for a minute or so. Suddenly, Pesto heard the revving of a motorcycle engine on the backside of the tree. Out came Slappy, riding what appeared to be a brand new green motorcycle with a side car. She was wearing aviator goggles, a pilot's helmet, and a scarf to complete the look.
"Well, doll?" Slappy asked him, "Pick up the pace and hop in!"
Pesto nodded, grinning like an idiot. He hopped into the side car and buckled up. Slappy squeezed the gas and took off across the park, heading to the studio.