It was roughly 4:30am. The group of humans and toons staggered along on the side of the road. Hello Nurse had tried to bandage any wounds they sustained from the Warners' vicious attack, but most of them still looked like a wreck. She probably appeared the worst with the massive cut in her arm, a missing shoe, and a ripped shirt. Scratchansniff's coat was also ripped and the bandage on his neck was turning red rapidly. The toons were more or less okay, except for Brain who had small burns from where Yakko shot him with the Pun Gun.

Up ahead was the currently closed Acme Labs. Brain reached for non-existent pockets before the realization hit him.

"I'm afraid I no longer possess the key to get in." He said, "I left it in the coat of my human suit."

"Move." Slappy told him, stepping up to the door, "Listen, these doors got alarms on them?"

Brain shook his head, "I don't believe so."

"Good." Slappy promptly produced a stick of dynamite from her purse and lit the fuse, "I'd step back if I were you."

They all did as she asked and quickly moved away. The elder squirrel threw the stick into the door.

BOOOOM!!!

The doors were blown off the hinges as the entrance bellowed black smoke. Once the smoke cleared, they all went inside. Brain directed them back to the lab where they had originally encountered Dot. Once they were inside, they all collapsed on to chairs and tables, exhausted, wounded, and emotionally spent.

Hello Nurse very carefully set Pinky and Brain both on a table. With no warning, Pinky cheered and hugged his fellow rodent a little too tightly.

"I'm so happy to see you again Brain!" He squealed, "How long has it been?! I've missed you so much!"

Brain choked out, "Twenty... Two... Years...!"

Pinky stared at him as he hugged even tighter, "What did you say?!"

Hello Nurse had to separate the two, otherwise Pinky would have choked Brain. Once Brain had cleared his throat, he turned back to the nurse above him.

"Despite our failings..." He started, "I must thank you for your cooperation. Without you, I wouldn't have saved my closest companion." He glared at Pinky, who was walking around aimlessly and giggling at his own reflection on the metal table, "He may be an idiot, but he is one of my only friends."

Hello Nurse glared down at him, clearly waiting for something more.

Brain sighed, "I understand you are angry with me. What I did was not... Ethical. And it may have been the very reason we all ended up being captured."

"It may have?" Hello Nurse sneered.

"Alright alright! Yes! It was all my fault that you were nearly killed! But you must understand, what I did was not in malice towards you. Truly, I wish to put an end to the Warners' plans and release the toons."

"Since when is yous a good guy?" Pesto demanded, squaring up to the small mouse directly, "Ain't your brand all about taking over the world?"

"You know, he has a point." Hello Nurse agreed, "Why should we trust you?"

Brain hesitated, "I... Well you see... Those Warners kids... I just... It's not exactly fair that inexperienced kids have gotten so far with such heinous actions."

Hello Nurse suddenly connected the dots as to why Brain would bother trying to stop the Warners, "You're jealous!"

Brain gasped, "Jealous?! Of children?! Hardly!! I could execute this plan of theirs far better than they ever could if I had thought of it first!"

"Oh he's jealous." Pesto snickered.

"Stop insisting that I am jealous!" Brain growled back at him, "My genius far exceeds that of mere children! And I shall prove it by bringing them down myself!"

Hello Nurse laughed, but soon became serious, "He is right though. What are we going to do about the Warners now that we know what they're up to? We can't let them continue to do this to innocent people."

"We need to go to the police!" Scratchansniff perked up, "We can use Pinky and Skippy as proof!"

"The police aren't an option at this point." Brain said sadly, "I'm afraid that even with this undeniable proof, they will be unable or unwilling to assist us. In fact, I am unsure if there is anyone we can go to in order to stop the Warners."

Scratchansniff threw his hands in the air, "We can't just let them continue this madness! They're hurting innocent people and toons! Who knows just how far they'll go with this if they're left to continue!"

"Absolutely," Hello Nurse agreed, "The longer we wait, the more people they'll hurt. And if their goal is to break the Law of Comedy..."

Slappy stood up suddenly, still holding the knocked out Skippy, "Wait a minute. No toon can break the Law of Comedy. Not even me."

"If we let them keep doing whatever experiments they're doing..." Hello Nurse said, "They're going to break the Law of Comedy. And then..."

"They won't get far." Brain shot back, puffing out his chest, "For you are in the presence of a genius. I can easily take samples of these Warnerium growths and figure out just what the composition is. Then perhaps I can create an antidote to remove it completely."

"There's just one problem," Hello Nurse spoke up, "What will happen to the half-toons if you do somehow make an antidote?"

Brain shrugged casually, "Oh, well they will surely die. From Yakko's description, it seems as if the Warnerium is the glue holding the half-toons together. When I do successfully create a reversing agent against the Warnerium, they will simply fall apart."

Hello Nurse glared at him, crossing her arms. Scratchansniff shared an equally nasty look. Even Pesto and Slappy were staring at him in a judgmental fashion.

Brain nervously glanced around, "I... Take it that is not exactly a popular answer to our problems."

"Listen Brain," Hello Nurse started, towering over the tiny mouse threateningly, "You may think you know everything, but you clearly need help. You don't know the first thing about humans. Luckily for you, I do know a little thing or two about the human body. We'll work together and figure out a way to cure everyone and stop the Warners."

Brain tried to open his mouth and say something, but just then a groan from Skippy distracted him. The small squirrel was waking up from his stunned stupor. When he opened his eyes and saw his aunt staring down at him, he cried out happily and hugged her tight.

"Easy, easy kid!" Slappy insisted, "You got a big rock in your chest! Careful with that!"

"Aunt Slappy, you saved me!" Skippy cheered, "I thought I'd never get out of there!"

Scratchansniff smiled, "We're glad to have gotten you out of there!"

"You'll be safe with us." Hello Nurse added.

Brain interrupted them, demanding in a serious tone, "Enough with the festivities. This boy can provide valuable insight into just what occurred in that laboratory."

"Oh no you don't," Slappy snarled back, "You're already on thin ice, ya stinkin' rat. You're not grilling my nephew!"

"I hate to admit it, but Brain has a point," Hello Nurse nodded in agreement, "If we can find out just what the Warners did to the toons, we might be able to help them."

Skippy gently pushed his aunt away and awkwardly stood up, "It's okay aunt Slappy. I want to help them." He took a shaky breath, seemingly hindered by the massive growth skewering his chest, "You can ask me anything. I'll try to answer. But um... I got a D in science so I don't think I can tell you anything science-y..."

Brain waved the concern away, "No matter. All I wish to know is just what the Warners did to you while you were under their captivity."

Skippy replied in a calm but melancholy tone, "Well... I don't really know how long I was there, but I remember waking up in a cage one day. Then those Warners came and brought me to this weird lab place. And they tied me down and gave me a shot with that blue stuff. Then when I started to grow the blue stuff, they'd take me back and run a bunch of tests before cutting it out and injecting me with more blue stuff. And they kept doing that to me and all the other toons. I don't really know what they were doing, but it wasn't fun. Yakko was mean and would scare me a lot. Dot would shock me if I tried to run away."

Brain nodded, "Thank you, boy. This confirms Yakko wasn't lying about using toons to grow and harvest more Warnerium. Which means now I only have to get a sample." He turned to Pinky, who was making funny faces into the steel table below him, "Pinky! Come over here! I must get a sample from you immediately."

Pinky only giggled maniacally and made more funny faces. He ignored anything Brain was saying to him.

"Pinky? Pinky!" Brain yelled louder.

"He's deaf, Mr. Brain." Skippy cut in, "That blue stuff is growing out of his ears. It makes it hard for him to hear."

Brain sighed as he walked over to his fellow mouse, "As if he ever listened to me to begin with." He stepped on Pinky's tail to keep him from moving and grabbed a chunk of Warnerium from his ear.

"Hehehe!!" Pinky snickered, "That tickles, Brain!"

"Hold still you insolent fool!" Brain snarled, "I can't get a grip on this! Infernal!! Ore!!"

Hello Nurse watched with amusement as Brain tried to break off a piece of Warnerium, but to no avail. Eventually, she grabbed a pair of gloves from another table and a small scalpel, and strolled over to them. She first pried Brain off Pinky. Using the scalpel, she very carefully chipped away a piece of Warnerium from his ear, careful not to pull too hard. With a bit of patience and surgical precision, a small chunk of Warnerium fell off Pinky's ear, exposing his old flesh. The ear was missing fur, but otherwise seemed to be okay.

"Wow! Thank you miss!" Pinky beamed up at her, "I didn't feel a thing! And I can hear a little bit better too!"

Hello Nurse smiled, "You're welcome, Pinky."

Brain gave an unimpressed huff and picked up the chunk of Warnerium, observing it closely, "Now that we have a sample, I shall utilize the tools of the labs to properly study it. Then I can perhaps create an antidote."

Hello Nurse cleared her throat, staring down at him accusingly.

"I mean..." Brain said through gritted teeth, "We can create an antidote..."