Animaniacs is owned by Warner Bros. I don't claim any of them as mine, same as with any other franchise I use in here, they're not mine either.
Bradley and the Warners walked to the entrance of this new city, the human still looking a little astounded at the fact that something like this place existed. He never saw anything like it before, it was much bigger and more city-like than Toontown was. Behind the four of them, the glimmering lights of said Toontown were visible, but a long ways away.
"So really, how did you find this place?" Bradley asked the siblings, walking along the sidewalk once they entered the city.
"Well we heard Plotz talking about trying to strike some sort of deal with them since all he knows are the two dimensions of tooning." Yakko said.
"So when we heard the name, we bounced around and ended up here!" Wakko said. "They threw us out when we met those three Martians and asked why they looked that butt-ugly though."
"And when I tried giving them enough makeup to not break their mirrors." Dot added. "You have no idea how much ink got wasted on that!"
"I can only imagine." Bradley said as they wandered, looking at all the CGI-ed characters. The human teen wasn't used to seeing them as opposed to the 2-D toons before, but had assumed they all were SOMEWHERE. They came across the 3D Inspector Gadget, Max Steel, the LEGO people, some characters from the Jimmy Neutron show, even 3D versions of the Disney toons like Mickey and Minnie while Yakko crossed some stuff off on a list of paper titled "List of Cameos". Seems even adding a different dimension didn't diminish their popularity any.
But then they came across the really bad ones that the other CGs stayed away from, such as the ReBoot group and especially a duo called Fanboy and ChumChum. Speaking of them, Bradley and the Warners found their home in a familiar form of a water tower. It was made out of wood, but it looked like the Warners' tower, had their own logo on it and everything. That got the siblings a little more than upset, but a bit more unimpressed than anything.
"Isn't 'imitation the sincerest form' or something?" Bradley said, noticing their expressions.
"Depends, can it turn into a giant mech robot and fight giant insects?" Yakko responded.
"Can it turn into a rocket and blast off to find aliens?" Wakko added.
"Can it hold a roller coaster and a TV and a fashion walkway at the same time?" Dot quipped.
Bradley looked at the three of them and shook his head. "Ehhh, doesn't look like it. Wonder if we can make that happen though. At least the second one." He said with a little smirk.
The Warners saw him smirk and caught on, also smiling brightly. "Ooooh, he's grinning that grin again!" Wakko said happily, jumping up and down.
"I smell plan!" Yakko said, taking a deep sniff. "Either that or it's city stench." He added with a disgusted face, waving his hand over his red nose.
"I hope the catering table's full again, I'm so hungry I could eat the whoooooole Water Tower!" Wakko said at the thought of smells, which almost always equalled food to him as he grinned a bit hungrily in thought.
Bradley rolled his eyes. "Well you can't eat this one, but I think I got an idea to make it more similar." He added, bringing the Warners in for a huddle to talk about their plan.
A few minutes later
Once everything was in place, the four of them hid and placed a trail, the other CGs looking at them oddly while they did so, mainly because of the Warners. They waited for a minute, then saw Fanboy and ChumChum skipping down the sidewalk.
"So that's what they look like?" Dot asked curiously from their hiding spot around a corner. "Yeesh, not even a 'Project Runway' touch-up would make them look good."
"Well there's a lot of different CG styles out there." Bradley explained. "Just that, you know... Not all of them look good."
"You can say that again." Yakko said in agreement.
"Not all of them look good." Bradley repeated.
"Thanks." Yakko said with a smile as they watched on.
The two "marks" looked at the candy trail left on the sidewalk. "Oooh, candy!" Fanboy said eagerly.
"Where do you think it leads to?" ChumChum said curiously.
"Maybe to a secret treasure trove, or an evil dragon's lair!" Fanboy explained in an over-the-top voice.
"Or an upgrade past Paint 3D." Yakko snarked in a quieter voice to the amusement of the toons. Bradley kept a close watch as the other two CGs followed the trail into their own water-tower-like house, the group walking closer so they could hear them inside.
The trail ended to a button that had a note with scriggly handwriting, saying "press me for fun".
"Should we press it?" ChumChum asked.
"When there's fun promised with pressing a button, you always press that button." Fanboy explained, finger raised and eyes closed as he played teacher.
"Huh, we could use a phrase like that." Yakko said after a bit of curious thinking.
Bradley looked into the window and both of them slammed the button down with both hands. "Okay, time to back up!" He warned the other three, jumping down the house and running away(after the Warners caught him before hitting the ground cause it was so high up). There were some rocket engines attached to the legs of the home and they were warming up pretty fast. After some more noise, they ignited and started blasting off, propelling the tower into the air! Fanboy and ChumChum inside let out happy "WHEEE!"s as they flew through the sky, none of them knowing where they'd land though.
"So, now is it like your tower?" Bradley asked, brushing himself off.
"Ehhhhhh, I'd give it a B." Yakko said.
"Why?" Bradley asked.
There was an "OW" from the inside of the flying tower, a few of them actually, accompanied by stinging sounds.
"Oh, that's why." The human said with crossed arms. "That was fun though, let's see what else they have here!" He added, the excitement returning to his voice.
7:30 PM
After some more exploring and a few thanks from a couple CGs for their stunt getting Fanboy and ChumChum away from them for a while, the four of them ended up meeting a familiar face, with the cane, suit and very furry face.
"Hey, it's Mr. Kitty!" Wakko said happily as he tried hopping on top of the cat's top hat.
The cat hums a bit. "How droll of a nickname. But I see another happy face right here." He said as he pats Bradley's head.
The human teen chuckles from the pats. "Hi to you too. What're you doing here?" He asked curiously.
"I take it this is your first trip to CG City? And theirs as well?" The toon feline asked, the three Warners shaking their heads fast and in unison. Bradley nodded though. "I see. Well I'm here on a favor from one of my recently-established connections in this place, to see if I can get some sort of clue on this mystery of yours."
"Ah, right. We're just taking a break, these three just brought me here." Bradley said with a little hum.
"And I see you've already started making this city your own." The cat said, pointing to Fanboy and ChumChum's tower still flying around in the sky.
"Well what can we say, we just leave that sort of impression." Dot said with a little giggle.
"Usually they scream and run instead of going 'whee', but we can't be that picky all the time." Yakko said.
The cat rolled his eyes at that. "Anyways, with that situated, would you like to walk with me?" He asked.
Bradley had to pull the Warners away to avoid having them swarm the cat with various answers, which was easier said than done. "I'll answer for them, 'yes'." He said after another second of calming them down, the cat nodding as they walked down the sidewalk.
"So what's this favor of yours that you gotta do?" Bradley said curiously.
"Well I have to get some annoying movie CGs from their friend's house, they're partying in their front yard and won't leave." The cat explained as they walked. "So I figured I'd talk to them, but see as how you're here, they could respond more to craziness to match them."
"So you actually WANT us to be all unhinged?" Wakko asked as he hopped on Bradley's head.
The cat just shrugged. "As long as it gets the job done, then I honestly can't complain."
Bradley thought that was a good point as well, snickering a bit and lifting Wakko off his head to sit down on his shoulders instead. "'CGs' though? Is that the real name for them?"
"But of course." The nameless feline said. "Just as me and your friends are called 'toons' for being drawn and 2-D. Here, they were made or remodeled with computer programs." He explained, pointing out several examples of both good and bad kinds of CG as they walked. "Some look better or worse than others, but they're all just as computerized as the next in this place. It's a rather recent addition to this world that I've only found out a short while ago myself, but they've never really bothered us. They can be crazy or civil just like us, but with an added dimension to them."
"Mm-hmm..." Bradley hummed in thought, taking this new information in. It was good to know that computer-made cartoons had a place here too. Even though the whole thing still seemed odd and new to him, it's still always fun to find out new things about this world though.
8 PM, In the human world
Rick and Stan were walking along the sidewalk to try and have fun and pass the time, looking for something to do. They could try to help out with this mystery, which they discussed while they were talking before.
"So what do those suits even look like anyway?" Stan said. "Did Brad even tell us?"
Rick hummed a bit in thought at that question. "I don't know, but if they're in suits, they shouldn't be hard to find, right?" He responded as he looked around. He wanted to call Bradley for some help, but figured they could handle things on their own.
After about 15 minutes of wandering, they weren't turning up anything. Stan growled a bit in frustration. "Man, we haven't found anything at all, I'm starting to think Bradley lied." He said with a frown.
Rick patted his shoulder. "We just haven't looked everywhere yet. Come on." He said, leading him to another alley near where the first toon was kidnapped. While they did that, someone else peeked around the corner, muttering something softly.
"They're on our trail, what do we do?" The person said.
"Make sure they're somewhere secret, then put them to sleep." The other creature said on the other end, likely the boss.
Rick and Stan continued down the alley, with Rick kneeling down at something. "Hey, look at this..." He called out to Stan, who walked over to him.
"Yeah, what's up?" Stan said. Rick picked something up.
"What do you make of this?" Rick said.
Stan got a closer look, it was the can of sleep spray. "That looks familiar... Like the stuff I used years ago but in a can, not a bag."
"You think someone got knocked out here?" Rick asked curiously.
"Maybe... So Bradley was telling the truth after all?" Stan said as he got back up.
"Yeah, weren't you listening?" Rick said, shoving Stan in the arm a little.
"Yeah I was, Ricky." Stan responded with a shove back and a chuckle.
Rick frowned at being called that. "Hmph... Anyways, he said the next place was the warehouse where he found the suits... You think they're there again?"
"Man I don't know, I just wanna go to bed." Stan said with a groan.
Suddenly someone appeared from the corner into the alley. "We can help with that." They said as they entered the alley with the two of them, can of sleep spray in their hand. It was one of the suits.
The two teens stepped back, with Stan clenching his fists. "What do you want, nerd?" He called out.
"Oh, just you two out of the way, boss's orders. I doubt it'll take much effort." The suit said, walking closer.
Rick was a bit scared and stepped back, but Stan stood his ground. "You callin' us 'easy'?!"
"Oh hush now, it's your bedtime." The suit said with a smirk.
Meanwhile back in the toon world
While that was going on, Bradley, the cat and the Warners reached the place the cat's friend was talking about, and sure enough, what looked like a big polar bear and a group of smaller creatures surrounding him polluted the front yard.
"Ah, there we are, I figured he hadn't left yet." The feline said.
"Who's that exactly?" Bradley said.
"Looks like a reskin of Open Season." Yakko said with hands on his hips.
"He looks like a Merry-Go-Round ride!" Wakko said happily, about to jump on, but Bradley held him back.
"Easy now, let's wait until we hear what the cat says about what to do." Bradley said.
"Oh, I was going to suggest just that, drive him out like you do everyone else my dear little inkblots." The cat said with crossed arms and a soft smirk.
The Warners all gasped, then grinned to each other, liking this plan already.
"His name is Norm, a polar bear that has been driving everyone else in this place annoyed since his debut went sour." The cat explained, regarding his movie. "A sad tale really, his studio just didn't know how to wield him properly."
"Well that didn't stop Plotzy from OKing our 99-episode show, we're only just a little nuts." Yakko said, with Wakko nodding and eating a big bag of pistachios as big as his body. "I said a LITTLE nuts, little brother." He added with a little smirk.
"Ahh, right!" Wakko said as he crunched the bag down to the size of a quarter and ended up eating the whole thing. Yakko smiled in approval.
"So I guess the humans still need to learn some things about using them, huh?" Bradley said with a little worry.
"Some learned, but yes for the others, which is rather unfortunate." The cat said with a frown.
"Well, we'll talk about those later, right now we gotta get this bear outta here." Bradley said, looking over to the Warners. "You got a plan?" He asked Yakko.
"All right here, kid!" The eldest Warner said as he, Wakko and Dot brought out a giant book from Wakko's Gaggy Bag, titled "The Big Book of Perfect Plans", setting it onto the ground with a big "THUD".
"Jeez, that thing's giant..." Bradley said to himself.
"You should see what they got in the library, makes this one look like a pamphlet to Universal Studios." Yakko said. They opened the book up, with Bradley and the cat joining in to look.
Back in the human world
The suit that Rick and Stan encounted looked worse for the wear, his clothing ripped and looking incredibly tired.
"Don't mess with the sports boy, guy." Stan said, walking over to the suit, now scared. Stan wasn't looking too good either, very tired as well, but definitely better than the other one. Rick stood nearby watching. "What's wrong with all that confidence, buddy? Poor suit looks all scared now." Stan taunted with a smirk.
"Grr, my boss will hear about this!" The suit said as he got up, dusting himself off as if nothing happened. "Far much more trouble than you're worth."
"Stop callin' us 'easy'!" Stan said, about to grab the suit again. The man was prepared this time, getting a can of sleep spray out from his pocket as he aimed and sprayed it at the charging teen. It sprayed him right in the face, getting him tired and knocking him out right away.
"Stan!" Rick shouted fearfully, about to run to help, but the suit aimed the can at him too.
"Whew, now that that's settled... Don't you dare follow me." The suit said to Rick as he panted lightly from tiredness, plopping a toon hole onto the ground and jumping in, disappearing somewhere else. Rick looked down at his knocked out friend, sighing a little and starting to lift him up onto his feet.
"That guy wasn't normal... Come on, let's get you-" He started, soon seeing a piece of the ripped clothing from the suit on the ground, picking it up with one hand while holding Stan up in the other. "This could be kinda interesting..." He said as he pocketed it, heading towards the direction of the Toontown Tunnel.
Back in the toon world
"Alright, you all got your roles figured out?" Bradley asked the Warners, the cat smiling behind him.
The Warners all nodded. "Yup, I'm the one that puts on the Iron Man suit, right?" Yakko said as he brought out what seemed like a Halloween costume version of that same suit.
Bradley raised an eyebrow at that. "Really?" He said, hoping they didn't forget.
"Oh relax, I'm just spoofin' ya!" The older Warner sibling said. "We got it, this ain't our first roundabout!"
"Yeah, you've seen our stuff with Ralph, this is gonna be easy." Dot assured the human after hopping on his head before landing back on the ground. "We're like the toony Avengers but without Chris Hemsworth." She said with a little sigh of dismay.
"Or Scarlett Johansson." Wakko said with an equally sad sigh along with Yakko, to which Dot uttered "boys" in an annoyed tone.
Bradley seemed convinced, smiling lightly and nodding. "Alright then, if you're ready, then it's showtime." He said with a smirk, the Warners smiling again as they stretched and limbered up. "I'll be with the cat if you need me." He added, with the cat nodding in agreement.
Once they were ready, the Warners slowly snuck into the front yard where Norm and his Lemming friends were dancing to the upbeat tempo of their music coming out of a rather tall speaker. Soon there was a stop to the dance music after a click.
"Hey, who turned off the beats?" Norm asked out loud, the CG polar bear looking to his Lemmings who shrugged amongst themselves, muttering that they didn't do it. Norm went back to turn the speakers back on, but there was no music coming out of them either. The Lemmings skittered to the speaker, wondering what was going on, then a pair of gloved hands plugged it back in. Right after, a blaring symphony of circus music came flooding out, sending the Lemmings flying and Norm falling down. He crawled against the force of the music to turn the speakers down, groaning and finally pressing a button on it to turn it off.
"Did ya enjoy those tunes?" Yakko said as he laid down along the back of the bear.
"We got a full soundtrack to cover, don't turn it off now!" Wakko added, hopping off the speaker and landing right next to his older sibling, making the bear groan from the landing on his belly.
"Ooh, a dogpile!" Dot added as she jumped in to join the other sibs, leaving Norm dazed and shaking his head.
"Or a 'whatever-we-are pile', but it doesn't sound that catchy." Yakko said to the readers.
Norm sat up, making the Warners fall off onto the ground. "Hey, what's the big idea? I was just chilling out!"
"Well as much as we'd love a dance and rave like a Skrillex reunion, this ain't really the best place for it." Yakko said.
"Yeah, this yard looks pretty boring to me." Dot added. "So much green, barely any popping out colors to show it's a party."
"Oh, I can fix that!" Wakko said, changing into a painter's smock with a brush, painting something along the grass. Each time he dipped the brush into the paint, it was a different color.
"Bradley, you're sure they know what they're doing, right?" The cat whispered to the human teen.
"Hey, if it'll get your bear off their lawn faster, it'll work." Bradley whispered back.
Wakko was soon finished, humming and putting the paint away as some flowers began to rise out of it.
"And what are they?" Norm asked, with one of the lemmings poking one of the flowers.
"Oh just some plants, they have our favorite songs and our non-favorite songs." Dot explained.
"Like?" The CG polar bear said.
The Warners said nothing, but instead put earmuffs on, passing two more to Bradley and the cat, putting them on too. Yakko was changed into a conductor, tapping a stand and starting a song. It was the Smurfs theme song and it was rather loud, with Dot on the tuba and Wakko on the trumpet adding to it. The polar bear and lemmings covered their ears, groaning and looking tense and annoyed. The siblings didn't stop for a good minute, with Norm slamming his fist on the grass. "Okay, okay, stop! Please, just stop playing that song!" Norm shouted.
The Warners didn't listen cause of the earmuffs, continuing to play for another minute with notes coming out of the horns from Wakko and Dot hitting the bear and lemmings on the head until they finally stopped. Yakko sighed and smiled at the other siblings. "Good work, ya made those Smurfs proud."
"That's what we were playing? I thought it was from a Nickelodeon movie soundtrack." Wakko said with a shrug.
"Wrong network." Yakko responded.
"If you wanted me to leave, you could've just said something!" Norm shouted, more than peeved off.
"We did, several times!" The cat said. Bradley watched on, crossing his arms.
"Oh. Well, those people were all just haters anyway, and if there's anything I learned, it's don't listen to the haters." Norm said matter-of-factly, the lemmings nodding in agreement.
The cat sighed and slapped his forehead. "That's what got him in this to begin with..." He said in a quieter tone to Bradley.
"Oh we're not haters, we're just, ehhhhh..." Yakko started.
"We're people with good taste!" Wakko interrupted.
"When was the last time you tasted anything?" Dot asked.
"Well I ain't moving cause some haters tell me to." Norm said with crossed arms, looking stubborn.
"Well we can always go to track two of our party soundtrack." Yakko said with a smirk, pressing some buttons on the DJ record console.
The CG bear looked scared, shaking his hands. "No no no, no more music, we're going!" Norm shouted as the lemmings covered their ears, starting to leave, but the Warners stopped them.
"Hey where're ya going, we're just getting the party started!" Wakko, setting up a craft service table of food before biting the table itself.
"Uh-oh..." Bradley mumbled to himself.
"What's the matter?" The cat asked.
"You told them to be their naturally zany selves... You know they take stuff like that literally, right?" The teen said, looking worried before they looked back at the Warners. They shouted out that it was game time, so the Warners got on either side of the lawn with slingshots. Yakko and Dot had pies while Wakko's had a lemming in it. They really thought they were helping the party.
"Oh dear..." The cat said with a sigh as both he and Bradley watched on. The human looked behind him at the buildings across the street, with some of other CGs already getting suspicious and looking at the scene weirdly. "Bradley, you better stop them before things get truly out of control."
"Good idea. Hey Warners, I think he got the message." Bradley called out.
The siblings however didn't listen, so they did their slingshot war with lots of confections and the occasional lemming flying through. Norm was right in them middle of it, trying to get out of the way, but the 2D toons were too fast and he kept getting bapped by cupcakes, other foods, lemmings and even other animals like a turkey.
"Hey guys and girl, I think he got the point!" Bradley called out in a louder tone.
The Warners stopped and looked at the bear. "He's right, his fur's all messy! Let's clean him up!" Dot suggested as they all hopped onto the polar bear and got into a scuffle cloud.
"Guys, enough's enough already!" Bradley shouted, getting a little mad.
"You need to step in there, they look like they're in their own world." The cat suggested.
The cloud diminished and Norm looked like he had a curly wig on, with Dot using the lemmings to apply makeup and blush on his face.
"GQ's gonna love this for their animal edition." Yakko said. "Or maybe Animal Planet, they look like they're missing a dress-up bear from their line-up." Norm wiped the stuff off his face and tried to back away, but the Warners noticed and were about to pounce again.
Bradley had enough. He hopped over the fence and grabbed the Warners from behind in his arms, trying to wiggle free. "Come on guys, he got the point!" Bradley shouted, the toons finally stopping and getting the message.
"Heh, sorry Brad. " Yakko said with a shrug once the human teen set them back down.
"We were just making the party more fun!" Wakko added.
"The point was to get him out of here and STOP the party!" Bradley said with an angry tone this time. "Not add to it!"
"It's okay, I got the message." Norm said with a sigh. "This is what happens when you let the haters get to you." He added as the lemmings hopped on his shoulders, all of them leaving the yard.
The cat watched them go and looked back at Bradley and the toons, frowning lightly. "Hmm... Are they finally starting to wear on you?" He asked curiously.
Bradley calmed down a bit. "Not really, I just... I guess I still gotta get used to them taking things literal." He said with a little shrug, sitting down in the grass.
"Awww, sorry kid." Dot said.
"Maybe it's your puberty thing, huh?" Yakko suggested, with Wakko poking Bradley's side.
The human gently sighed, relaxing a little more. "Maybe, yeah... Either way, it's done, right?" Bradley said to the cat.
The suited feline nodded. "Yup, I asked you to get him out of my friend's yard and you did. I'll let him know, but for now, I think it's time you four went back home. You especially need a rest." He said to Bradley, who nodded.
"Yeah, good idea, it's break time..." Bradley said with a sigh. The Warners all frowned at that idea.
"Aww, but we only just got here!" Wakko said. "I haven't got to see that big green guy and his pet mule yet!"
"In this big city, I doubt we'll find what you're looking for before bed." Bradley said with a soft chuckle, standing back up and getting his toon teleport hole from his pocket, the three Warners getting the hint and doing the same. "You're not coming?" He said to the cat.
"I have to report to my contact. Don't fear, I'll let you know if they tell me anything useful." The feline toon said.
"Alright, if you say so." Bradley said with a nod, hopping into the hole after thinking of his destination, the Warners yelling "Wheeeee!" when they jumped into their own.
9 PM, back at the Warner Movie Lot
The four of them managed to make it back, but Bradley looked less than thrilled. He was used to them not listening to him sometimes, but this was to help prevent a bigger crisis. He thought they'd rein it in a touch and not go overboard. But either way, the job was done and the boy just wanted to sleep.
But he couldn't get the chance for now as Plotz walked over, as if waiting for them. "Bradley!" Said the gruff voice of the CEO.
"Heeey Plotzy, long time no talk!" Yakko said, the three Warners coming in for a group hug.
"Wait to you hear where we went!" Dot said happily.
Plotz shook and threw them off. "I don't know if I should care or not. Bradley, your friends are waiting for you in my office."
"Hm? Why?" The human asked curiously, scratching his head.
"It looks serious, so come on already!" Plotz shouted, like he wasn't being listened to. Bradley nods and follows him to the admin building, the Warners following Bradley close too.
When they got there, they saw Rick and Stan sitting down. Well Rick was, Stan was still knocked out. Rick looked at the people entering, focused on Bradley and looking worried.
"Whoa, what happened? You look like you got in a huge fight." Bradley said as he rushed over to them.
"We did..." Rick said with a worried tone. "We found more of those suits, Stan fought one of them, but... He used that spray thing on him."
"The sleep spray again..." Bradley said to himself.
"And..." Rick added, getting something out of his pocket. "During the fight, this was on the ground." He said as he brought out the ripped suit piece.
"Ah-ha, a clue, Sherlock!" Yakko said in a British accent, with a bubble pipe and trenchcoat no less.
"I call Watson!" Wakko shouted with his hand raised.
"What about me?" Dot asked with a frown.
"You can be ol' Mrs. Hudson." Yakko said with a smirk, to which Dot let out a "hmmph" with crossed arms.
Bradley looked at the torn suit piece closely. "From the guy you were fighting?" He asked. Rick nodded in response. "Hm... This could be a bit useful." Bradley said.
If this new clue could help them find out more about what they were up against, they'd be a step closer to solving and fixing this problem before any more toons got kidnapped...
Author's Note: I'm honestly sorry for taking so long to complete this. Life got in the way again and I had writer's block. I was trying my best to get back into Animaniacs again, at least enough to continue.
