Alright. Dr. Scratchensniff is in here, and I'm doing the best I can at his accent. When you read this, just imagine him talking like he does on the show. I have to admit, this chapter is... eh... not so great. Forgive me! Like I've said before, I'm a beginner at writing. Thanks to my reviewers for keeping me going though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Animaniacs.

Chapter 4: I'm Here Now

Scratchensniff was organizing his papers, when he heard a knock at the door. He opened it and groaned when he spotted the Warners, but then he realized there were only two.

"If you kidses are here for an appointment-"

"Wakko's missing and we don't know where to look for him!" blurted out Dot.

Scratchensniff was silent for a moment, trying to take in what he had heard.

"Scratchy, we thought you might be able to help us," said Yakko, almost in a pleading tone.

"Alright, just calm down, ya? Tell me everything."

Yakko began telling Dr. Scratchensniff about Wakko's trip to the store and how he disappeared. He went on to tell Scratchy that no one had any knowledge on Wakko's disappearance.

"I see..." Scratchy put a hand on his chin, deep in thought. His eyes sparked with a sudden realization.

"Yakko,"

"I'm still here!" Dot snapped.

"And Dot, as you probably know, Wakko is not the only one who has mysteriously disappeared."

"We know," Dot spoke. "Buster has too. I have a feeling they might be connected, but then I thought that was silly."

"Well, Buster and Wakko are not the only who have disappeared. Toons all over Burbank are mysteriously vanishing."

"Really? Do you think the other disappearances are connected to Wakko's?" asked Yakko, intrigued by this new information.

"Yes, I believe they are. And I think I know who is responsible."

"Who?" Yakko and Dot asked in unison.

"Think now, who vould vant to kidnap toons for his own cruel purposes?"

"Scratchy, as much as I love riddles, I'm really in a hurry to find my brother," said Yakko, impatiently tapping his finger on the desk.

"Just answer the question."

Yakko rolled his eyes, but thought about it. His eyes grew wide. It all made sense now.

"Tamson..."

"What? That crazy scientist? But they wouldn't let him!" said Dot in disbelief.

"He is probably doing it illegally, if he is doing it at all," explained Scratchy.

"Who else could have taken Wakko? I mean, I guess a lot of people could, but..." Yakko shook his head. "Where would we look for Tamson Scratchy?"

"Vell, it might not be easy to find. He vould not just be working in a building out in the open."

"Maybe underground?" suggested Dot.

"I need to do some research on him first. Maybe there are people that used to work vith him or zat still work with him that I can speak vith."

"And how long will that take?" asked Yakko, fearing the answer.

"I do not know. I vill get right on it though, ya?"

Yakko sighed, but he didn't really have a choice.

"Alright. Just... hurry. I want my brother back."

Dot looked at Yakko sadly.

"We vill find him."

Scratchy watched them leave the room. He sighed and immediately began his research. He had known that Tamson might have had to do with all the disappearances, so he had called the police about it, but the police hadn't found anything. Scratchensniff was still suspicious, but he had let it go. Now though, it was personal. Though he would never admit it, he was very fond of the Warner children, even if they were zany. Maybe it was Tamson and he was just hiding his work space very well.

Then again, Scratchy thought, Maybe it wasn't Tamson at all... But it doesn't hurt to research it anyway.

Meanwhile...

Wakko watched as the scientist placed the plate of apples and ham in the room.

"Here's lunch Wakko."

Wakko just stared at it, not even daring to eat it. For the first time in history, he didn't feel like eating.

It was horrible now. He thought it was horrible before, but now it was unbearable. He didn't even know what was real anymore. All his nightmares that they had been causing were beginning to morph with reality. He was beginning to have nightmares about being in the lab, and at first, he didn't even know they were nightmares. It seemed like he was just sitting on the lab table awake, until it happened. They weren't even nightmares about clowns anymore. He would love to have clowns after the nightmares they'd been giving him. Heck, he'd embrace a clown dream right now. No, they had found his weakness, his family. All his dreams were about him losing his family... inside the lab.

Wakko shivered and pulled his legs up to his chest. The room was over air conditioned, and it didn't help that he was in a thin gown either.

And I don't have my hat.

But his missing hat was the least of his troubles. They didn't even warn him about the nightmares anymore. They just happened. He didn't know whether he was asleep or awake anymore, and it was driving him crazy.

"Wakko."

Wakko jumped at the booming voice speaking in the intercom.

"There's someone who would like to speak to you, ok?"

Wakko didn't reply.

Who?

Suddenly, the white doors slid open, and a familiar man strolled in. Wakko tilted his head.

He looks familiar...

"Hello. You're name is Wakko, correct?"

"Uh huh..." Wakko said, only half listening. Then it hit him.

Mr. Tamson? The nut? He's behind this?

Wakko narrowed his eyes at the man, but Tamson ignored it.

"Well Wakko, I have to say that you are a very interesting specimen."

Wakko clenched his fists and bit his lip to keep from screaming.

Specimen? Is that all I am? Just something to experiment on? I have feelings! I have a life!

"Why are you talking to me?" Wakko asked through clenched teeth. Tamson only smiled.

"I know it looks bad, but just think, you're helping me break new ground in the study of the toon species. You just-"

"I don't care about your stupid studies!" Wakko screamed in frustration. "I have a family that I love, and I'm tired of seeing them die over and over again! What if you had to watch your family keep dying?"

"I have detached myself from my family to prevent such silly emotions," said Tamson calmly.

"You're a heartless bastard."

Wakko was shocked at himself. He never cussed, but this guy was just unbelievable!

"Oh Wakko, you're just to young to understand. How old are you anyway?"

"Seventy," Wakko spat.

"That's nonsense. I'm quite aware that only drawn toons can live forever. I'm also aware that you're not a drawn toon." Tamson looked Wakko up and down. "You look about seven or eight."

"Why do you care?"

"I'm a scientist. It's my job to be curious."

"You've flipped your lid!"

Tamson grinned.

"You're very stubborn and feisty aren't you? I like that. It makes this even more interexting." With that, Tamson left the room.

I really wish I had my mallet right now.

That brought another question into Wakko's mind. Where was his mallet? If he had his mallet, none of this would be happening to him. Wakko lay down, not even on the table, but on the floor. He crawled over to the plate that had been left for him and reluctantly grabbed and apple slice. Usually Wakko could shove a whole table in his mouth, swallow it, and still be hungry. But now, Wakko simply nibbled on the end of the apple to pass time as he awaited his next nightmare.

Somewhere else...

"Jackson Web," Dot whispered as she, Yakko, and Scratchy approached the door.

"If I am correct, Mr. Web used to vork for Tamson, until he retired," explained Scratchy.

Yakko crossed his fingers.

Please let this guy know something.

Yakko knocked on the door, and waited. He was about to leave in disappointment, until the door cracked open.

"I don't want whatever you're selling so go away," spoke a gruff voice from behind the cracked door.

Yakko cleared his throat.

"We're not selling anything Mr. Web," said Yakko.

"If that's so then- wait? How did you know my name?"

Mr. Web fully opened the door to reveal himself. He was an old hunched over man who was balding.

"Ew..." whispered Dot.

Yakko elbowed her in the side, telling her to be quiet.

"You are Mr. Web then?" asked Yakko, just to be positive.

"Yeah. Who are you and what do you want?" Mr. Web asked harshly.

"Vell sir, ve have come to ask you some questions," said Scratchy.

"What kind of questions?"

"Did you used to work with Tamson?" Yakko asked, getting straight to the madder at hand. Web just stared at them for a moment, as if studying them.

"Yes, I used to work with that good-for-nothin' freak Tamson."

Yakko was half pleased that Web was not fond of Tamson, but he was also half worried. What if this man didn't have any information that could be of use to them?"

"Do you still keep in touch vith him?" asked Scratchy hopefully.

Web, sneered.

"That son-of-a-bitch thinks we're best friends, so I'm forced to keep in touch with him."

Yakko's hope began to increase.

"Can we come in or what?" asked Dot impatiently.

"Why not. All this talk about Tamson has got me curious. Come in." he motioned them in.

Yakko was slightly surprised. By Web's attitude, he was expecting his house to be a pigsty with beer bottles all over the floor, but his house was very clean and welcoming. He had a stone fireplace on the right side of his livingroom and many pictures framed on the wall. Yakko's eyes grew wide when he saw them. It was Web standing with a beautiful woman and two children, all of them smiling. It didn't take Yakko long to see that it was his family. The children had his eyes.

"I suppose you're wondering where my family is now," said Web, noticing Yakko's interest in his pictures.

"I was just looking, but I am curious, being the person that I am," said Yakko.

"They left me. I was so busy working for Tamson that I forgot what was really important. Back then, it made sense. I needed work and Tamson was paying good, but now..."

Yakko felt sympathy for the man.

Looks like Tamson didn't just break up toon families.

"So, why are you toons here anyway?"

"Tamson took our brother," said Dot quietly, but loud enough for Web to hear.

Web's once stern face softened at this news.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "Tamson doesn't have a heart."

"We were vondering if you knew where his hideout was."

Web fell back on the couch and rubbed his temples.

"Yeah, I know. Tamson keeps in touch with me."

"But he broke up your family. Didn't you tell him you were done with him? How can you still be friends?" Yakko asked.

"Back then, he convinced me that it wasn't my fault my family left me. I was do gullible, I believed him. It took me twenty years of living alone to figure it out... By then, I had to retire. I found it pointless to yell at Tamson after twenty years, but I was still angry at him, and for more reasons than my family leaving."

"You still keep in touch with him though?" asked Dot.

"He trusts me after working with him so long." Web smiled. "Enough of this chitchat. You wanna know where your brother is, right?

"Yes! I mean, yeah," Yakko calmed himself.

"Well, he tells me everything about his studies," Web shuddered when he said 'studies.' "So it's only natural that he tells me where he performs his experiments."

Web went into the kitchen and Yakko could hear him digging through some papers. Web walked back in with a little slip of paper in his hand.

"Here," he said, handing the paper to Yakko.

Yakko looked at it's surface, but only saw numbers.

2543261.

"What's this?" Yakko waved the paper in the air.

"It's the code to get in. On the edge of Toontown, there's a forest, a small one. About six miles in, you'll find a very small number pad sticking out of the ground. That the code to get in.

"So it is underground!" Dot said, proud of herself.

"Yes, but the pad is well hidden in between some trees. He made sure to cover it up good, but if you search hard enough, you'll find it."

Yakko began to pull on Scratchy's arm, while at the same time thanking Mr. Web. Dot followed her eldest brother by pulling on Scratchy's other arm.

"Do not vorry! I am coming!"

"Well you're not coming fast enough! We gotta find it!" Yakko nearly yelled as he pushed Scratchy into the driver's seat.

"We're coming to get you Wakko!" Dot said in a positive manor.

Yakko looked out the window.

Hopefully we're not too late.

In the lab...

"Stop! Please!" Wakko pleaded, tears in his eyes.

He watched in horror as his siblings were strapped down to the table by the scientists. Wakko was being held back by two other scientists, and despite how hard he kicked and screamed, he couldn't break free from their grip.

"Wakko! Help!" Dot screamed helplessly. Wakko was unable to look away as they injected his little sister with something.

Her eyes fluttered shut and her head thumped against the medal table.

"No! That's my baby sister! Stop!" Wakko screamed.

The scientists only laughed as they did the same to Yakko. Both his siblings were out cold, and there was nothing he could do about it. Wakko helplessly kicked at the men that were holding him back from his family.

Curse my short legs!

Wakko, knowing he was useless, tightly shut his eyes and turned his head away from his siblings. More warm tears stained his fur as he limply hung in the scientists' arms. He could hear them cutting his siblings open, and the sound burned him.

Wakko's eyes popped open and he found himself laying on the floor. He didn't even bother to look around. He knew there were no scientists or siblings in the room with him. The nightmare seemed so real.

As of now, science is my least favorite subject.

All the nightmares seemed too real to be fake, and that's why they hurt so much. Every time Wakko saw his siblings die, a little piece of his heart along with a little piece of his mind would wither away.

Wakko crawled into one corner of the room and curled up into a ball. He buried his head in his hands and cried. He had a bad feeling that he would be here for a really long time, and that they weren't going to give him a break anytime soon. He didn't even know how long he had been there. He knew it hadn't been very long at all, but for some reason, it felt like he'd been there for decades.

Yakko... Dot...

It hurt to even think about there names. Knowing he'd probably never see them again, the thought was unbearable.

Wakko heard the door slide open, but he didn't even bother to look up.

"Here's some water," said a monotone voice. The door slid shut again.

Wakko ignored the man and continued to sob.

In the forest...

"This heat is making my hair frizzy!" Dot complained as they continued to search for the number pad, that was proving to be very difficult to locate.

"You're a toon, your hair doesn't get 'frizzy'," Yakko mocked her.

She huffed and continued to search for the pad.

"But she is right. It is hot out, ya?" Scratchy said.

"Don't tell me you're turning into a diva like my sister," said Yakko.

"I am not a diva!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just keep searching miss 'This skirt doesn't match my fir!'"

Dot gritted her teeth, but didn't reply as she continued to search.

"He said they were in between some trees, but which trees?" Dot asked no one in particular, getting frustrated.

"Ve vill just have to keep searching," said Scratchy.

Yakko came across two large trees that were leaning inward at the top. They were barely touching at the bottom where a bunch of foliage was growing in between them. Yakko immediately began digging around in the plants, searching for the number pad. A wide grin stretched across his face when he spotted a very small, thin little pad sticking three incheed out of the ground.

"Guys! I found it!"

Without wasting anymore time, he dug around in his pockets for the little slip of paper. He punched in the numbers on the pad and waited.

Password accepted, said a computerized voice.

Yakko stumbled backwards as the trees began to separate, leaving a giant space of bare dirt in between. Emerging from the dirt came a pod, big enough to hold one human man... and two small toons.

"You can wait out here Scratchy," said Yakko as he approached the pod, Dot following anxiously behind.

"But Yakko-"

"See ya Scratchy!" Yakko and Dot said in unison as the pod door closed.

Scratchensniff watched as the pod lowered into the ground and the trees moved back together. Scratchensniff pulled his phone out of his pocket and called the police.

Dot and Yakko held on as the pod began to whiz through a dark tunnel. Dot smiled in delight.

"This is like a roller coaster!" said Dot cheerfully. "I wish Wakko was here to ride it with us."

A silence fell upon the pod, until Yakko finally broke it.

"He'll be here for the ride back."

Dot nodded, trying to have faith.

The pod jerked forward and then came to a halt. Yakko and Dot exited the pod into a long white hallway with doors running down each side. Yakko noticed some people walking in and out of the doors, but not many. The people walking through the doors seemed in too much of a hurry to notice the toons standing in the hallway.

"This place is huge. It'll take forever to find him," whispered Dot.

"Even if it does take forever, we will find him," said Yakko, determined to find his little brother.

"Hey! You!"

Yakko and Dot's heads snapped up to see a scientist running towards them.

"Get out your mallet!" Yakko ordered, and Dot did as told. Yakko looked the now terrified man in the eyes.

"Don't even think about calling for help, or show you how to really use a mallet," Yakko ordered in an intimidating way.

The man gulped and backed up a step, not wanting to get swung at.

"Where's our brother!" Dot demanded as she brought her mallet up.

"I-I don't know! Please, don't hurt me!"

"Then tell us where our brother is!"

Yakko could see the fury in Dot's eyes. He was pleased.

"I could tell you if I knew his name!"

"Wakko Warner. He looks just like us," Yakko said, his eyes narrowed at the monster in front of him.

"I-I'll check for him..."

Yakko, merely for fun, lunged forward towards the man and fake roared. The man ran off in terror while Dot giggled.

"I think you made him pee himself," said Dot, suppressing her giggles.

"I just got it," said Yakko proudly.

"What?"

"It."

Dot rolled her eyes as the man ran back with a clipboard in hand.

"Um. I-I don't exactly know where he is. H-he's in one of the extreme experimentation rooms. T-the doors are l-labeled. You need a key card to get in. T-take mine, just leave me alone!," he stuttered.

Yakko peered at some of the doors and saw different labels. Some said 'simple', others said 'intermediate', and a few said 'extreme.'

Good. There's not many that say extreme. We'll be able to find him faster.

Yakko looked at the man once more and gave him a disgusted look.

"You make me sick," Yakko spat, and Dot nodded.

With that, they began their search for Wakko.

They began to search room after room, most of the extreme rooms empty.

Maybe that sci- obsessed freak lied to me. What if Wakko isn't in the extreme room?

With that, Yakko's heart suddenly sunk to his stomach. He knew the man probably didn't lie to him, he was too terrified. But Yakko couldn't shake the feeling that he should look in some of the simple rooms. Yakko grabbed Dot's hand and ran to the closest room labeled 'simple.'

"What are you doing?" she asked, staring at him.

"I just have a feeling..."

Yakko stuck the card in the slot and the door slid open. Luckily, there weren't any scientists in the room, so he didn't have to worry about that, but unfortunately, Wakko wasn't in the room either.

But then Yakko saw him.

"Yakko? Dot?"

"Buster?" they asked in unison.

A smile broke across Yakko's face.

"Buster!"

Yakko ran up to him and gave him a hug. They quickly broke apart as they awkwardly coughed.

"It was a man hug," Buster clarified.

"Definitely a man hug."

"Will you ladies shut up!" Dot interrupted. "Buster, glad to see you. I see you're ok, but we need to find Wakko now."

Buster's eyes grew wide.

"They took Wakko?"

"Yep. And we're here to take him back," said Yakko.

They all ran out, only to find many scientists surrounding them, guns in their hands.

"Don't move, or we'll shoot!" yelled a blond female scientist.

"Hellooooo nurse!"

Dot elbowed Yakko in the ribs.

"They're on the bad side!"

"I can't help it!" said Yakko.

The woman's face became confused, but quickly changed back to serious. She held up the gun and Buster grinned at her.

"You guys don't know anything about toons," he said as he shook his head in false disappointment. "Guns can't hurt us."

"Oh yeah? We'll just see about that!"

The woman aimed her gun at Buster and pulled the trigger. At first, Yakko was terrified that they really had hurt Buster, but he sighed in relief when Buster simply had an empty hole going straight through him. Buster smiled.

"What do ya know? I'm holy! I guess I'm going to heaven."

The woman's face dropped.

"But... how..."

"Well, we'd like to stay and chat, but we have to go save our brother," explained Dot in a casual manner.

"Get them!" Yelled a male scientist, and everyone lunged at the toons.

"I don't have my mallet!" Buster yelled.

"We got it!" said Dot, as she readied her swing.

Yakko and Dot swung with all their might, not holding back. Usually, when they were shooting their cartoons, they had to use toon powers keep whoever they were wacking with the mallet safe. This was an exception though.

They easily took out the scientists. Yakko turned to Buster just to make sure he was ok. By now The hole in Buster's chest had healed. Sure, toons could get shot and hurt, but only by toon guns. That didn't mean normal things couldn't hurt them though. Just because real guns couldn't hurt them didn't mean they couldn't get knocked out by real objects or poisoned with real poison. The thought made Yakko shiver.

"Alright, let's find Wakko."

As they ran, Dot couldn't help but ask Buster a question.

"What did they do to you Buster?"

"Well, I actually thought that they'd do worse. All they did was put a weird helmet on my head and monitor my thoughts or something sciency like that."

"I hope it was that simple for Wakko," said Yakko, overhearing the conversation.

They kept checking all the rooms labeled extreme, only having to knock out a few scientists that got in their way. Yakko hoped that he didn't kill any. He was angry that they took his brother away from him. Beyond angry, but he didn't want to kill anyone. He didn't want to sink that low. The three toons came to the last door labeled extreme at the very end of the long hallway.

Yakko crossed his fingers as he stuck the card in the slot. The door slid open to reveal a large bright lab room. In the corner of that room sat his little brother, curled up in a ball.

Without a second thought, Yakko and Dot ran to their brother. Buster guarded the door.

"Wakko!" Yakko yelled as his wrapped his arms around his shaking brother.

Wakko didn't answer, but continued to blankly look ahead.

"Wakko?" Dot asked, worry creeping into her voice.

Still no answer.

What did they do to you?

Yakko began to shake Wakko shoulders, but despite his efforts, Wakko didn't respond.

"No. What did they do?" Dot cried.

Yakko took a deep breath in and pulled his empty brother into his arms, cradling him.

"I'm here now Wakko. I'm here now."

He kept whispering the same thing over and over, even though Wakko couldn't hear him. Dot lay her head on Wakko's chest and cried.

"You guys aren't dead."

Yakko's head jolted up and he took a deep breath in.

"Wakko?"

"You guys are alive. Are you really here?"

Dot's arms flew around Wakko.

"Wakko!"

Wakko slowly brought his arms around her and smiled.

"You're really here."

Yakko was overjoyed to see his brother. He reached into his pocket and grabbed Wakko's cap.

"Here ya go sibling. I thought you might want this back."

Wakko grabbed the hat and pulled it to his chest before putting it back on his head. Yakko pulled his ears through the holes cut out in the hat.

"So, are you hungry?"

"I'm starving!"

Yakko couldn't help but smile.

"Let's go home and order some pizza."

Is this the end? Of course not! If it was, the prologue wouldn't make sense! Well, there's the chapter. Sorry if it's not great. Please forgive me. Anyways, please R&R, be it good or bad.