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.


5 PM

The van was a little more silent than usual, there was still some talking in the back with Shannon asking more questions, but Bradley was the most silent and in thought. He still didn't know who or where this toon is, but they were definitely getting closer. But knowing there were a lot more toons captured, and even scattered everywhere in Toontown, where could they be? He still looked lost despite the new information.

Bradley did break out of that thought though to guide Mom to where the nameless cat lived, to which she looked concerned. "Didn't expect it to be this big?" Mom said.

Bradley shook his head. "A little." He said with a soft sigh. "I'm just worried it's gonna keep getting worse... What if the other toons still think the humans are doing it?" He added.

"I'm sure things'll get cleared up, but it does seem really troubling." Mom said in agreement. "Will your friends still be able to make it here?"

Bradley hadn't thought of that, thinking Toontown would cut off their tunnels or portals to the place, mean Rick and Stan couldn't come in. "Good point, I'll have to tell them."

After a quick call to the both of them, with them saying they'll be there after dinner, they arrived at the cat's house. The Warners bounced and hopped out through the sunroof while the humans left the normal way out the doors. The cat's place was a quaint little house, seemed almost like a normal 1-story human house, but rather tall on the inside. Seems like he still didn't have that big a liking to peppering his home with zany decorations and so on.

"Ahh, just as dull as I remember." Yakko said after a deep breath, smiling with his hands on his hips.

Bradley knocked on the door a few times and the cat answered with a content smile. "Ahh, Bradley! I was wondering when you'd show up for a visit." He said as he pats the teen's shoulder. "And you brought guests too?" He added, looking to the other humans and toons behind him.

"Yeah, we were planning a big party at your place the whole time." Yakko said as he bounced inside.

"We're just the early birds!" Dot added as she bounced in too, with Wakko following right after.

Bradley just chuckled softly, stretching. "Yeah, we found out some stuff I think your smarts can help with."

"Is that so? And who is this?" The cat said upon seeing Shannon.

"Oh, she's Shannon, she's my friend." Bradley said as the girl waved in response.

"I see, tis an honor to meet you, miss Shannon." The feline said, giving a bow.

"Well well, an honor to meet you too, Mr. Cat." Shannon said in response, smiling back as she entered, the mother last to walk in before the door shut.

"So, what would you like to learn about today?" The feline said, brushing his suit while the Warners bounced on the couch. The interior looked almost like a huge library, pulling the "bigger on the inside" approach. Shannon looked very impressed indeed at all the books, looking through a few of them.

"Well, we managed to find something about this toon-napping case, and thought you could have an answer." Bradley said as Shannon and the Warners looked through various books, some fun, other like history books.

"Oh have you? I've found out things of my own, but you go first." The feline said as he sits down in his rather big chair in the livng room.

Bradley then went to tell him everything that happened, such as the car chase and the talking he did with the captured suit. He repeated the words he was told, with the look of the toon and a piece of the revealed plan, as well as seeing that ink drip from the suit's form.

"I see... I've heard of these before somewhere, let me find it." The cat said after a moment of thought, leaping to a nearby ladder and searching through the bookcases.

Bradley looked through some of the other books while the cat was busy. One of them caught the teen's eye that he recognized, one of the more recent history books about Toontown. He brought it out and opened it to a bookmark he put in last time he was here. He read a little through it until he saw the portion where he came into the picture.

Shannon took notice and walked over to see as well, curious. "Is that you?" She asked when she pointed at the picture of younger Bradley with the Warners.

Bradley nodded in response with a soft smile. "Yeah, that's me. 10 years old and I was already gonna be in a book." He said with a little laugh, clearing his throat. "Now puberty's hanging over my shoulder and everything."

Mom softly smiles at hearing them talk, walking over to join them. "Yup, my baby's a hero." She said with a proud tone, ruffling Bradley's hair. "I was really worried for him, but he showed me he can handle those Warner kids just fine."

"Well, mostly." Bradley said with a little laugh, looking up at the Warner siblings trying to find a book for them to read, with Wakko frowning at the lack of picture books and tossing them onto the floor.

"And now you live here with them?" Shannon said, pointing up to the siblings.

Bradley nodded. "Yeah, I'm their caretaker and their friend." He said with a warm smile, getting the caretaker badge from his pants pocket. "Probably need to shine this soon though..."

"You're honestly really sweet for doing that, especially back then..." Shannon said. "But you have to think, is staying with those three friends of yours really worth it in the long run?" She added, a little worried now that she was figuring out what Bradley really does in Toontown.

"What do you mean?" Bradley said. "I know I'm not a toon, I'm not gonna live forever. But I just wanna make sure they're happy for as long as I'm able to."

The Warner siblings hopped down with Wakko carrying a few picture books in his arms. "Yeah, he's been our actual friend for years, we're still just as surprised." Yakko said, getting into the group.

"And he always gives us lots of candy too." Wakko said as he pats his belly.

"Heh, always?" Bradley said with a smile and raised eyebrow.

"Well, maybe 60 percent." Yakko said.

"I was thinking 70." Dot quipped.

"The point is..." Bradley said before he was interrupted. "If I hadn't met these kids, I wouldn't have gotten to make any other friends. Sure I'm famous to the toons, but that's a bonus." He added to Shannon with a little chuckle.

"If ya say so. Still crazy though." Shannon said with a smirk.

"Hey, if you don't know how to be crazy, you ain't living." Bradley responded with a laugh, the Warners giggling as well.

"And not getting paid, that's the important part." Yakko said with a goofy grin.

Soon the suited feline came back with a book of his own, smiling at the group a bit when he noticed what book they had. "Reliving your best moments?" He said to Bradley as he walked over to them.

The human nodded a little. "Just explaining it to Shannon, it's fine." Bradley said with a little smile.

"Well come back to the present, because I may have found what we've been looking for." The cat said. Bradley closed the book he had and set it aside on a table, then the suited feline joined the others, sitting down. Shannon was a bit worried about it getting too crowded, but if no one else minded, she'd try to bear with it.

"What'd ya find?" Bradley asked. The Warners looked very curious too.

"I hope it's a picture book..." Wakko said expectantly.

"Unfortunately no." The cat said, sporting a frown. "Those descriptions you told me about what this toon looked like, I knew something like that once existed." He added, flipping through the pages. "Unfortunately, they haven't been seen in a rather long time, they were simply recorded as 'lost'."

"Who is it then?" Bradley's mother asked.

The cat stopped at a page that had the toon that was described as "devil-like", but there was no picture. "They called him... 'Bendy'." He said lowly, almost ominous.

The Warners all raised their eyebrows. "Does that mean he's out of shape?" Wakko said a moment later.

"Jeez I hope not, you know how much gym regimens cost now? That sweat ain't worth it." Dot added.

Bradley kept his focus on what was just said by the feline. "Bendy? Only Bendy I know was from that 'Fosters' show, with the pointed hair and yellow and black striped fur."

"Same name yes, but different breed of toon altogether." The cat said. "It's said he vanished not long ago, to quote: 'Grumpy but mischievous, hasn't been seen since'. It could be a long shot indeed, but it's the only toon that matches what that henchman said about him."

"Is there nothing else?" Bradley asked curiously.

The feline shook his head. "Other than starring in a very obscure series of old cartoons with equally obscure toons, there's all there is on him."

"Hm... Well we know who he is, so now the question is 'where'." Mom said to himself.

"As well as when, what and why." Yakko said. "Can't forget the remaining W's of storytelling after all."

The cat huffed softly. "Well, that's the problem, we don't know where. His personality says "mischevious", so perhaps this is all a certain game to him. Either he doesn't know or this is part of a sicker sense of humor. I'd put my betting dollars on the latter if that were the case."

Bradley thought a moment in silence, trying to come up with an idea. "Well maybe..." He started, the others looking at him. "What if we find and rescue the toons he's taken away? Maybe if we do that, it could give us some more clues to where exactly he is."

The cat mumbled to himself this time. "That... May not be a bad idea. But we don't know where out trapped friends are either."

Shannon poked the cat a moment later. "Hey, I know this is really important, but can I at least get up so I'm not squished in between five other people?"

"Oh, sorry!" Bradley said, getting up and helping Shannon get back on her feet too.

"Could be worse, one of our anvils could've dropped in, what would ya say to that?" Yakko asked curiously. "Seriously, what, cause we're stumped."

"Regardless though, it's still a really big clue. We gotta get those toons out first, but where to look..." Bradley mumbled to himself. They couldn't rely on the suits they captured cause they spilled all they had... Or did they? "I think we need to talk to those suits one more time."

"You're really sure about that?" Mom said as she stood up.

"Yeah... They wouldn't say anything about their leader, but maybe they could say something about where the toons are kept. A hint or anything like that." Bradley said with a shrug. "And depending on how many there are, we'll probably need help."

"Well never fear, for the looney calvary is here!" The Warners all said in unison, posing proudly.

Bradley smiled at seeing them so excited, the feline standing as well. "I'll try as well. It certainly sounds exciting to try and solve this." He said with a little smirk.

"Then let's head down to the station again. Hopefully the second one's awake by now." Bradley said. "All of us." He said with a little smile to the suited cat as well.

"Very well. It'll give me good some exercise anyway." The cat said with a nod, fetching and twirling his cane.

"Well then... Race ya!" Wakko said as he and the other two siblings darted out of the house instantly and giggling.

The others rolled their eyes and walked instead. "Annoying, but still good kids. You're lucky to stay their friend for this long." The feline said with a softer voice to Bradley.

"Sometimes I tell myself that too, but thanks." Bradley said with a little laugh as they headed back to the van.

5:15 PM

After driving back to the station, the toon cops let them in upon the group asking if the second sleeping suit woke up. They said he just recently did, so they headed into the room where he was still cuffed. The suit looked a little groggy, but looked mostly recovered.

Bradley stepped forward. "Hey, you can hear me, right?" He said to the suit with crossed arms, who nodded in response with a scowl.

"And what do you want?" The cuffed henchman mumbled.

"Just something to tell your boss..." Bradley thought a moment. "Whoever they are." He fibbed, just in case. "Tell them we know their game, and tell them-"

At the unknown location before

"-We're ready to play." Bradley's voice said through a speaker at the boss toon's desk, the same one from before. The black, inky toon cracked a smirk, he must've been listening for a while.

"He he... Now that's the answer I wanted to hear!" The toon said with a soft giggle, ink sliding down his person and pooling on the ground. "We finally found a player, and it's the one I've been most interested in, what a find!" He said to himself. He closed his eyes while that big smile was still on his face. "Now tell him this..."

At the station

"He's hidden pieces of a map where the captured toons are. You can send as many of your buddies to these places as you want if you can find them." The suit explained, likely being fed words from the boss. "More of us are gonna be at those places, and it'll be up to you all to get your friends out before you're caught. It's very simple that even an undeveloped inkblot can do it." He added as he smirked at the Warners, who looked at each other with raised eyebrows of confusion.

"Been a while since I've heard that term thrown about." The feline said with a quiet tone to himself.

"Another of us will bring you the hints to the places somewhere very easy to find, so don't worry about searching long." The suit added. "And take your time, it's not like we or they are going anywhere." He said with a snicker. "But yes, that's all you get for now. Time to begin." The suit finished, appearing to say nothing else.

Bradley crossed his arms and thought for a moment. So this really was a game to this guy. "Hmm... We're definitely gonna need some more help." He said they ended up leaving.

Shannon finally piped up. "Well I don't know about you, but I think it's time for me to get back home first. Besides, dinner's probably getting ready for me right now."

"Oh, right, sorry!" Bradley said with a laugh, rubbing the back of his head. "Kinda forgot what time it was."

"Smooooooth." Yakko said with a slight nudge to the human's side.

6 PM

After dropping off Shannon in the human world and returning to Toontown, as well as the cat heading back to his home, they headed back up the Water Tower where Bradley got out his phone, calling up Rick, then Stan. They both answered and Bradley gave them similar messages each of "come here either after dinner or tomorrow" and that "we found a breakthrough". They both seemed excited, but Stan felt a little unsure, especially with what happened last time, but both agreed to be there after dinner, at least for a while.

Bradley then hung up and sighed gently, sitting on the bed while the Warners played their games of "gag tag", where they tried to use different gags like seltzer and pies, standard things that they had an abundence of. He wondered about these new clues and this whole game that this "Bendy" character was making out of these kidnapped toons. Even after dinner the thoughts weren't subsiding. What was this going to accomplish?

Soon at 6:50, Bradley got a call from Stan. "Ooh, friends!" Wakko said as the Warners surrounded the teen.

"Heh, hold on." Bradley said with a chuckle as he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Brad, something's not right here!" Stan said with an annoyed yet worried tone.

"We're outside the tunnel-" Rick said in the background. "-And we can't get in! It's not showing Toontown!"

Bradley immediately felt his stomach sink and his smile fade, going from happy to worried quickly. "You can't get in? Ugh, what'd they do..." He mumbled to himself, also annoyed. He didn't expect the tunnel to seal up out of nowhere like that, how're they gonna get in? "I'll be right back, just stay there!" He said as he hung up the phone, heading outside.

7 PM, At the admin building

"What do you mean you had no choice?" Bradley said to Plotz angrily. "Those are my friends out there!"

"I'm sorry, but the rest of the toons that haven't been taken agreed it's the best thing to do. And we can't exactly reverse a decision like that just as easily." The CEO explained.

"When did you even do that?!" Bradley asked, his mood sinking further.

"Not long after you came back actually and dropped your other friend back off on the other side." Plotz answered, as if nothing was wrong.

"But we found a really big clue when we caught those suits-" Bradley started, but Plotz cut him off.

"I know that, it's incredibly stressful having to do this, but the othersdon't know what's been going on." The CEO responded.

"Can't we just tell them-" Bradley started before being cut off again.

"Too late, they already dispersed and we can't exactly hold a recount right now."

Bradley was only getting angrier. "But at least bring my friends outside the tunnel in!" He shouted.

"Oof, getting a little boiling in here." Yakko said to his sibs, keeping a fair distance away from the argument.

"I'll open a window, some fresh air's good for the complexion anyway." Dot said as she walked over casually to open the window up.

Plotz sighed and soon nodded. "Fine, call them up on my phone this time and press the button in the middle." He explained as Bradley nodded and dialed Stan's number again. As soon as he heard the "hello", Bradley pushed the button pointed out to him and a toon hole materialized in front of the two other teens, then another in an empty space in the office.

"Nice secret there." Bradley said after he calmed down. Soon the other two popped out and joined them.

"Whew, alright, now what's going on?" Stan said, still annoyed.

"Long story, but apparently they voted to close the tunnels to Toontown. They probably think the humans are getting too dangerous and they still don't know where they've been taken to, so they're not letting any more in so it'll avoid being a ghost town." Bradley explained to them.

"Wasn't that a little long too?" Yakko said.

Rick looked worried now. "No more humans? This is getting really out of control."

"I know, which is why we gotta find the toons before things get even more chaotic, in a bad way." Bradley said urgently. "Which means the next clue we found means more now than ever.

After telling the two of them what clue it was that the group discovered and who may have been behind it all, they looked more confused. "Really? Who's this 'Bendy' guy?" Stan said.

Bradley shrugged. "I dunno, there's no pictures of him anywhere. But we got a description, a game, and some more clues coming soon enough.

"So we still don't even know what he looks like other than 'devil-like'?" Stan said. "Even if that sounds cool..." He added, trailing off.

Rick snapped his fingers at his friend. "Hey, come on!" He said to snap Stan out of his thoughts. "So when are these clues gonna show up?" He asked.

Soon after he said that, some papers blew in through the window Dot opened, flying right into Plotz's face, making him stumble and fall back. "Gah! What's with this littering!"

The Warners snickered at seeing the CEO all flustered as he wiped the papers off his face. "What even are these anyway?" Plotz said with a huff.

Bradley grabbed them off the floor and looked over each one. "Hmm, they all have writing on them... I think these could be the clues." He said after looking them over. He puts them on the desk and shines a lamp on them, reading off what they said. "Hmm... Big one says 'Tied Together', and the others say:"

"Around the world"

"Great tall castle"

"Shield and Ring"

"Spiraling Star"

"What in... What do all of THOSE mean?" Stan said with a frown. "Cryptic little..." He mumbled to himself.

Bradley looked over the clues a couple times with the Warners peeking out behind him. "Hmm... Wait a minute..." He said softly as he started to catch on. "'Shield and Ring' sounds familiar, isn't that the shape of your Warner Bros. logo?" He said to the CEO as well as taking the caretaker badge out of his pocket which looked like the same thing.

"Why yes, why do you say that?" Plotz said as he walked over too. "You figure something out?"

"Yeah, that my head looks great like that." Dot said with a bright smile.

"Just don't give her any more vanity mirrors." Yakko mumbled to Bradley.

The human teen shushed them and put the pieces and similarities together in his head. "They're all logos, aren't they?" Bradley said after a few more seconds of thought. "Like the different animation studios?"

"Yes, different districts of Toontown." Plotz said, walking over and pointing to the clues on the paper. "Universal, Disney(The Warners gagged at that), Warner Bros.("That's us!" The siblings shouted happily), and Hanna-Barbera. Even though they all mingle together in the town, their homes are still there."

"So what does it mean by them all being 'tied together'?" Rick wondered out loud.

"It means that they're in their districts' studios where the toons are made." Plotz said, crossing his arms. "In the middle of each district, they have their own studio, a big one. They must be held there."

"So if we find them..." Bradley started.

"We find the toons!" Stan and Rick said at the same time right after.

"Well what're ya waiting for, let's get ourselves into a rescue mission!" Yakko said happily, the three Warners packing.

"Wait!" Bradley said, the others freezing."I'm not sure if we'll have enough time to go to every studio one by one. We gotta split up."

"Aww, but we were getting along so well..." Wakko said in dismay.

"No, I meant split into little groups to each studio." Bradley said in assurence. "It'll save on a lot of time. Yakko, Wakko, Dot; you'll stay here and look for the toons in this one. They must be hidden somewhere where you couldn't hear or see them easily." He added, the siblings saluting.

"Rick and Stan, you'll take the Hanna-Barbera one." Bradley said to the two of them, nodding in agreement.

"I'll take Disney, so that leaves..." The teen started, then a knock was heard.

"Me to take on the world." A familiar voice called out. It was the cat, all suited up and smirking as he walked in.

"Yay! Our kitty!" The Warners said happily, cheering and rushing to surround him with tight hugs. The cat grumbled a bit, but appreciated it.

Bradley snickered softly and walked over to the suited cat. "You really wanna join us and help do this?"

"Depends on if he can still be trusted." Plotz said with a huff. It seemed like he still had doubts about it.

"Yeah, he kinda has a point." Rick said, sighing lightly.

"Look here..." The cat said as he knelt down closer to Bradley's eye level, the Warners hopping off of him. "I know I've made plenty of mistakes. And I know some toons still don't trust me." He said, looking over to Plotz before looking back to Bradley. "I've worked as hard as I could to get back here and learn since that day. And helping this town get back to normal and rescuing our toons in need? Why wouldn't I sign up for something like that?"

"So that means you're gonna let him go on our adventure, right?" Wakko said eagerly.

"Yeah, come on Plotzy! Let him, let him!" Yakko said too.

"It'd add some variety for our group picture too!" Dot added with a bright smile, with all three Warners pressing against the CEO, again disregarding what personal space was.

"Well I trust him." Bradley said. "After so long, this'd be perfect for everyone else to trust him too."

The feline smiles and bares his fangs, ruffling the human's head. "Thank you Bradley." He said simply. "I won't let any of you down. that's my solumn promise." He added to the group.

"Alright, so are we doing this or what?" Stan said a bit impatiently.

"Yeah, the sooner the better!" Rick added.

"Geez, who gave them their 5-Hour Energies alluva sudden?" Yakko asked to his siblings with a smirk.

"Yes, while we all have enough energy to stay awake most preferably." The suited feline said.

"Hmph, fine." Plotz said, heading over to his office phone. While he was doing that, Bradley called the others over to him, getting in a huddle.

"This... Personally I'm not sure how this is gonna go. This'll be a really tough thing to get through." Bradley said in a softer tone to them. "If we find these toons, we'll find this Bendy guy, and maybe all of this'll stop."

"So this is gonna be a 'save the world' thing again, huh? At least it ain't gonna be like a lie about a show revival." Yakko said with a wink to the readers.

"Well I guess..." Stan said, a little unsure.

Rick noticed that change in tone, looking over to him. "Oh come on, these toons ain't bad once you get to know them."

"I know, why do you think we've been helping out Brad and those inky things?" Stan responded, that unsure tone gone and replaced with that annoyed expression.

"Well that ain't the worst thing people've called us." Dot said with a shrug.

"I hope we get a big, giant feast by the end of this!" Wakko said eagerly, rubbing his tummy.

"Heh... I'm sure we could try, my friend." The feline said to the middle sibling, much to his happiness.

"We gotta try, before they end up taking more of those toons..." Rick said as well.

"We will, I promise." Bradley said to Rick, assuring him it'll be fine. You all in?" He asked the group.

The Warners looked at each other. "Depends, do we get any cards to see if it's worth it?" Yakko quipped. "This ain't the WPN."

Bradley rolled his eyes and smirked. "Different meaning."

"Oh, then yeah!" Dot said happily.

Everyone else nodded and said some form of agreement, another minute passing before Plotz returned. "I gave calls to all the people in charge of their parts of the town and they said you're free to go in their studios." The CEO said. "And that doesn't mean break anything in mine, Warners." He added with a slight scowl.

"Don't worry, we'll 'probably' not wreck anything on the way there." Yakko promised.

"Yeah, pinky swear and all!" Dot added as she held her pinky up to emphasize the point.

"That honestly don't make me feel better... But we have no choice." The CEO responded.

Bradley nods as well. "Alright, then let's pack up and go get our toons back!" He said with a bright and confident tone.

They were so close to rescuing those toons, they had all the clues... But meanwhile, the inky devil toon smirked in his seat at his own location, eager for his game to begin.


Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, I had to take a break cause I got stuck right near the end. I got things figured out though, so hopefully the next one won't be as long to put out.