The next morning, Toriel woke up early to make breakfast for her guests. She was preparing some food when someone snuck up behind her.
"Mornin', Tori!"
Toriel yelped, clutched her chest, and turned around to see Yakko smugly smiling at her. She calmed down and sighed.
"Yakko, you gave me a fright."
He patted her back twice.
"Try to get used to it. Anyway, what's cookin'?"
"I am making pancakes for you and your brother and sister, my child. Oh, you do not have any allergies, do you?"
"I have a love/hate relationship with lactose, but other than that we're good."
"I see, thank you for telling me. But if you do not mind me asking, what are you doing up so early?"
"I usually make breakfast for my sibs."
"Oh? But do you not have any parents to do it for you?"
"We did, but..."
Toriel gasped, knowing what he was implying.
"I am so sorry! I did not-"
"Don't worry, it's fine. Anyway, you'll need help makin' the pancakes; Wakko's got a black hole for a stomach!"
Toriel laughed.
"Very well, you may help me."
Together, they finished the pancakes. When Wakko and Dot woke up to the amazing smell, they saw Yakko and Toriel setting the table and preparing the food.
"Mornin', sibs! Toriel and I made ya some pancakes!"
He put three for Dot, two for Toriel, four for himself, and ten for Wakko. Then they ate. Wakko completely devoured his pancakes, letting out a loud belch shortly afterwards. Dot wrinkled her nose in disgust while Yakko laughed.
"Never gets old."
When they finished their breakfast, Toriel sat down in her chair. She looked at the bookshelf, in the mood for reading a book, but chose not to as she had company.
"My children," she said, giving the Warners her undivided attention, "please tell me...what exactly are you?"
"No one really knows," said Yakko, making a mysterious hand gesture. "For all we know, Wakko could be a dog, Dot could be a cat, and I could be a bunny! But what we do know is that we're toons."
"Toons?" said Toriel, confused.
"Yeah, as in cartoons!" said Dot.
"What's a...cartoon?"
The Warners gasped.
"Ya don't know what a cartoon is?" said Wakko.
Toriel shook her head.
"They're drawings that come to life," said Yakko.
"Oh," said Toriel. "No wonder you look so strange!"
"Zany to the max!" said Dot.
After that, they proceeded to tell her their story. They told her everything, from the day they were created, to when they were locked up in the tower, to their great escape. They told her about each and every one of their adventures. Toriel, finding them interesting, listened closely and tried to remember as much as possible. It took a few hours, but they pulled her through and even explained their abilities to help her understand their logic better.
"Oh my!" said Toriel. "You three must have done everything!"
"Well now we wouldn't say that," said Yakko, "but we've done a lot. But enough about us, what about you?"
"Yeah!" said Dot. "A friend of ours once told us monsters tend to live the most interesting lives!"
"You want to know more about me? Well, I am afraid there is not much to say. I am just a silly little lady who worries too much!"
"A modest one too," said Wakko.
Toriel checked the time; they had spent the entire morning away. She came up with an idea for the Warners.
"I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here. It is dangerous to explore by yourselves."
Yakko didn't bother to argue.
"We'll be fine, Toriel."
"I have an idea. Do you happen to have any cell phones upon you?"
The Warners took out their cell phones.
"Gotcha covered!" said Dot.
"Good! If you need anything, just call. Here is my number..."
She put her number in the Warners' contacts.
"Be good, alright?"
She left through the main door. After fifteen minutes, however, the Warners got bored.
"Well," said Yakko, "time to explore the Ruins."
"But what if Toriel sees us?" said Wakko.
"That's why we're using the back door, Wakko."
"Oh...got it!"
The Warners headed out through the door, walked down the hallway, reached the pillar, and moved on to the next room. Almost immediately, Wakko's phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Wakko. This is Toriel. You have not left the room, have you?"
Wakko panicked.
"Uh..."
He turned to his siblings for help. Yakko acted fast and took the phone.
"Nah, we're in the main room, right where ya left us."
He talked to her much more smugly than usual, then gave a thumbs-up to Wakko as if to say "gotcha covered". Toriel sighed with relief.
"Oh, good. The reason is because there are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try and solve them yourselves."
Dot rolled her eyes. Did Toriel find everything dangerous for them?
"Be good, alright?"
As she hung up, they continued forward and ran into a frog-like creature with an extra face between its legs; it was a froggit. Life must be difficult for it.
"Excuse me, humanfolk. I have some advice for you about battling monsters."
"Shoot," said Yakko.
"If you act a certain way or fight until you almost defeat them..."
It paused for a moment.
"They might not want to battle you anymore. If a monster does not want to fight you, please..."
"Spare them?" said Wakko, finishing the froggit's sentence.
"Yes. Use some mercy, humanfolk."
"Will do," said Dot.
They strayed off the path to see what was in the room next to the froggit. Inside was a grey pillar with candy on it, surrounded by a square of rose petals. A sign was on it.
"Take one," Yakko read. "Don't mind if I do!"
They each took a piece of Monster Candy, which had a distinct, non-licorice flavor, and exited, returning to the path ahead of them. On their sides lay piles of red leaves. They jumped in them and found another yellow star. Playfully crinkling through the leaves filled them with determination. Suddenly, they were pulled to the side and their souls activated as they found themselves surrounded by the boundary box again. An encounter was initiated as a whimsun, which looked like a giant bug, approached meekly. It was too sensitive to fight.
"I'm sorry...I have no choice...forgive me..."
Wakko reached his hand out slowly for the whimsun in an effort to console it. But halfway through his first word, the whimsun burst into tears and ran away.
"Poor little guy..." said Yakko, shaking his head.
Their souls deactivated as they kept moving forward. They approached their first puzzle, which consisted of a somewhat weak-looking floor.
"This doesn't look too bad," said Dot.
All they had to do was walk across, but it didn't make sense why there were two large holes in the purple brick wall. Yakko walked forward, but the ground suddenly gave away beneath him. He screamed as he fell down and landed on a pile of red leaves.
"Yakko!" Wakko shouted.
He knelt in front of the hole with Dot, unable to see their brother.
"You ok?" said Dot.
"Yeah!" Yakko called back.
"Don't worry," said Wakko, "we're gonna get ya out!"
Wakko dug through his Gag Bag, trying to find something to help Yakko. Looking up, Yakko noticed the gap was far too large for them to pull him out on their own. He saw two door-shaped holes, which were designed to look similar to the holes on the wall by Wakko and Dot. Realizing what it meant, he jumped through the second hole and teleported to the other side. He hopped out and landed on his feet. Wakko put his Gag Bag away, not needing to help Yakko anymore.
"How'd ya get out?" said Dot.
"Ya gotta fall through the floor," said Yakko. "There's a door down there that'll take ya here."
Wakko and Dot followed their brother's instructions and made it to his side. Toriel called again as they moved on.
"Hello, Wakko. This is Toriel. For no reason in particular...which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?"
"Both!" he shouted enthusiastically.
"And Yakko and Dot?"
"I like cinnamon," said Yakko, "but Dot prefers butterscotch."
"Oh, I see. thank you very much!"
She hung up, but quickly called again, this time reaching out for Dot.
"Yeah?" said Dot, answering her phone.
"You do not dislike cinnamon, do you? And Yakko does not dislike butterscotch, does he? I know what your preferences are, but...would you turn up your noses if you found them on your plates?"
"Nah," said Yakko. "But Dot's pretty picky."
"No, I'm not!" said Dot, giving Yakko a shove.
"Right, right, I understand," said Toriel. "Thank you for being patient, by the way."
After hanging up, the Warners waited five seconds. Since she didn't call back, they examined the room. There was a rock, a floor switch, a row of spikes blocking the way, and a sign on the wall.
"Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them," Dot read, wondering if Toriel put up all those signs.
Shrugging, she pushed the first rock onto the switch. This caused the row of spikes to lower, allowing them to move on. For the next puzzle, the entire ground was weak-looking and possibly cracked. Wakko, taking the first step, fell down almost immediately. He screamed as he fell, landing on a pile of red leaves.
"Where'd he go?" said Dot.
Examining the room, Wakko found out that the leaves were scattered in a particular pattern. He looked at the sign on the wall, which said "Please don't step on the leaves". He located the portal and made it back to his siblings.
"There you are!" said Yakko. "Found out how to solve the puzzle?"
"Yup!" said Wakko. "Follow me!"
He guided them through the puzzle, but made sure they didn't read the sign on the wall, thinking they would fall through and start over again. Making it to the next room, another encounter was initiated. Froggit and Whimsun drew near. Dot decided to handle it and touched Froggit.
"Smooth skin," she complimented.
Froggit didn't understand what she said, but was flattered anyway and blushed deeply. Wakko tried to console Whimsun again, but it burst into tears and ran away once more.
"Whimsun really needs to see a p-psychiatrist," he muttered.
Froggit attacked, jumping at them. But the Warners weren't intimidated by its raw strength and ducked. Froggit seemed reluctant to fight them, so it hopped away, allowing the Warners to spare it. It also left behind two pieces of gold. Wakko took the gold and put it in his Gag Bag.
Once the encounter was over, Dot found three more rocks in front of floor-switches and a row of spikes over a bridge. She pushed the first two onto their switches, but got a surprise when the third rock refused.
"WHOA there, pardner!"
Dot jumped back, not expecting the rock to talk to her.
"Who said you could push me around?"
Dot cleared her throat and used her cuteness on the rock.
"Excuse me, Mr. Rock, but can ya move over a little?"
She made puppy-dog eyes at him, but held back a pout.
"Hmm? So you're askin' me to move over? Okay, just for you, pumpkin."
"Thanks."
She smiled, but the rock didn't move far enough. Leaning in, she whispered.
"Hey, uh, can ya move over a little more?"
"Hmm? You want me to move some more? Alrighty, how's this?"
He moved to his left, earning a chuckle from Wakko. This was much more frustrating than Dot thought it would be.
"Wrong direction, hon."
"Okay, think I got it."
He moved over to the switch, removing the spikes.
"Ah, there we go."
They moved on, but the spikes reappeared. Dot turned around and saw that the rock moved out of place.
"Any chance you can stay there?!" said Dot, losing her patience.
"Hmm? You wanted me to stay there? You're giving me a real workout."
Nonetheless, he did what he was told. Right after crossing, the Warners came across a room where a mouse hole and a table of cheese were located next to another star. The cheese had been there for so long that it was stuck to the table. Wakko looked through the mouse hole, causing the mouse inside to greet him with a squeak. Knowing the mouse might one day leave its hole and get the cheese...it filled them with determination.