Hey guys, 087-B here with the next chapter of Years Later, the Animaniacs story that takes place after the TV series. In the last chapter, we were introduced to Jonathan Spielberg, the new owner of the Warner Brothers studios. In this chapter, he'll learn more about the Warner siblings; the trio he found locked away in the water tower. Maybe he'll find out why they were locked inside? Probably not this chapter.

Now, on with the show!

Chapter 2: A New Home

The Warner siblings continued to stare at the new individual before them. Who was he? Why was he here? Why did he open the door? Was he…was he here to set them free from their imprisonment?

"Who…who did this to you guys?" Jon asked.

"Who locked us inside the tower?" The eldest one asked. Jon nodded. None of the siblings responded and simply looked at each other with worrying expressions, trying to reassure one another.

"…if you…if you don't want to answer, you don't have to…" Jon said. He felt so awkward talking to cartoons. It felt like he was talking to a TV screen, except he was on the other side of the screen. He did feel bad for the three, however, as they looked so beaten, so weak…what happened?! Did they just get worse in condition over the last decade?!

"W-Who are you?" The second eldest asked.

"I'm…Jonathan Spielberg." Jon answered. "New owner of the Warner Brothers studio lot." He was about to continue when he realized he barely remembered these three from his youth. "Who are you three, anyway?"

"Yakko Warner." The eldest said.

"Wakko Warner." The second eldest said.

"Dot Warner." The youngest said.

"Nice to meet you three." Jon said, showing a smile. The three didn't smile back, they only shivered and trembled a little.

"W-What y-year is it?" Dot asked.

"It's 2012." Jon answered. The Warner siblings' eyes widened.

"We were locked in here in 1998..." Yakko said. "It's been 14 years since then…"

"Geez…you guys don't look healthy. Are you three alright?" Jon asked. They shook their heads.

"We didn't have a lot when we were locked in here." Dot said "We had food and medicine, but that ran out..."

"Toons don't always need to eat food, but it's still nice to have, at least..." Wakko said. "Being locked in here wasn't fun, and nobody would let us out."

"But now…" Yakko began. "Now you're here."

"What do I have to do with this?" Jon asked.

"…are you willing to let us go?" Yakko asked.

"Let you leave the tower? I don't see why not." Jon answered. "I don't even know why you guys were locked in here in the first place."

The Warner siblings weakly stood up, still trembling and shivering. They slowly walked toward Jon and stepped past him, going outside of the tower. There eyes had a hard time adjusting to the sunlight, but they got used to it. They were shocked to see how the world had changed…well, it didn't change way too noticeably here, but they hadn't seen the outside world in so, so long… The wind blew in their faces and their tails slowly wagged. They stared over the bars out into the studio lot. They didn't smile, but inside they were incredibly happy to finally be free.

"Spielberg! How dare you!" The worker from before had climbed up the ladder and was fuming with rage. He glared at the surprised Warner siblings. Yakko beckoned his siblings behind him for protection.

"What do you want, sir?" Jon asked, stepping out of the tower.

"You let these insane psychos out of the tower?! What is wrong with you?!" The worker shouted.

"Psychos?! You've gotta be kidding me!" Jon scoffed. "These three are absolutely harmless! Besides, they're near dead, and they need help, and all you can say is I've made a mistake?!"

"…you really don't know what you've done, do you?" The worker glared at him. "They were psychos on their show and off set, even!" Jon sighed.

"That was 20 years ago!" He retorted. "That was WAY in the past!"

"Does that really matter?! They haven't adapted!" The worker said.

"But I'm the boss here." Jon said, smirking. The worker mumbled to himself, knowing he lost the argument. "And my first order of business is that the Warner siblings can roam the facility at all times as long as they do not vandalize, destroy, or do anything else of the sort to any of the buildings within the facility." He turned to look at the trio. "Especially my dad's- I mean my office." The worker glared again.

"…fine, but don't say I didn't warn ya." He then climbed down the ladder.

"I can't believe he just let it go." Yakko said.

"I can't believe he forgot the elevator was right next to him." Jon said. He put a serious look on his face and knelt down in front of the kids. "…so what now?"

"What are you asking?" Wakko asked.

"Where do you plan on going? What do you plan on doing?" Jon asked. "I mean, you can't just stay here…can you?"

"…the water tower is the only place we've ever been able to call home." Dot said.

"So then…you want to stay here?" Jon asked.

"…you'll lock us up again, won't you?" Wakko asked.

"Why would I do that?" Jon asked.

"Haven't you seen our cartoon? We're pretty much reckless, annoying, and insane." Yakko said. "Would you really want that running around?"

"Does it look like I care?" Jon asked sarcastically. The trio didn't respond. "You three obviously need help."

"But where would we go?" Yakko asked. Jon pondered over that question for a moment. Where would they go?

"…if you want, you can stay with me for as long as you need." He suggested. "I have plenty of space, and I'm willing to let you guys figure out what you want to do next." Wakko and Dot smiled at the offer, but Yakko stayed quiet, not even smiling or saying "thanks". Could he really trust another human? It was humans who put him and his siblings in the tower in the first place, after all.

The four went down the elevator. The Warner siblings were a little surprised by the elevator, as it wasn't there 14 years ago. Once they reached the bottom, they followed Jon to the entrance of the lot. It hadn't changed in the past 14 years, but it sure did look…old and worn down, in a way. They were about to exit when Jon stopped himself.

"Wait, I forgot something." He said. "You three just wait by my car, I'll be right back." The Warner's nodded. Jon walked off to his father's old office. Once inside, he walked over to the desk and took a something out of his pocket. He placed it on the desk and left. The object was a golden outlined, black name plate that read 'Jonathan R. Spielberg' in golden letters.

:::::

The drive back to the house was a very, very long one. The car was on the highway and the time was 6:57 PM. It was very silent. None of the Warner kids made conversation with Jon or each other, and Jon himself stayed quiet. By this point, Wakko and Dot had fallen asleep, leaning onto Yakko's arms. Jon was pulling off the highway when he heard Yakko speak.

"…what is that?" He asked. Jon looked into the rearview mirror and saw the boy pointing at something. Following his gaze, Jon saw he was pointing at his leg brace and car controls.

"Oh, it's a leg brace." Jon answered. "It helps support my leg."

"Why do you need one?" Yakko asked.

"I have a disability. I'm handicapped." Jon answered. "It's a birth defect."

"Oh…" Yakko was quiet for a while, then he said, "…your dad."

"Huh?" Jon noticed Yakko speaking again.

"…your dad is Steven Spielberg, right?" Yakko asked.

"Yeah, why?" Jon asked.

"…he created Wakko, Dot, and I." Yakko answered. "We owe our lives to him…" He was quiet for a second before he almost lit up. "Where is he? Can we see him?" Jon was quiet for a moment.

"…my dad's been dead for 4 years." He answered. "Sorry, but…yeah…"

"…oh." Yakko was silent again as he looked down at the floor of the car. He restrained tears from exiting his eyelids, shutting his eyes to hold them in. Spielberg was one of his best friends on and off set, mainly because he was practically their father. Losing him felt like losing family to Yakko, something he never wanted to happen. He looked at his two siblings. He was glad they were asleep and didn't have to hear this yet. Hearing it right now would crush them greatly, so he would hold off on it for a while until they were ready. He coughed loudly and began shivering. He felt sick, indescribably sick. More than wanting to throw up. He shivered and shivered, hacking and coughing, before Jon pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car. He turned to face the sickly boy.

"You alright?" He asked, a concerned tone in his voice. Yakko failed to answer and continued coughing, now coughing up blood. Jon quickly got out of the car and opened the side door that led to the back. He grabbed a tissue from his pocket and wiped off the blood that stained the bottom of Yakko's chin. He stopped coughing and continued to shiver.

'Damn, he's sick as hell…' Jon thought. "Don't worry, I'll get you three back to my house and get you some medicine." He took off his jacket and wrapped it around Yakko to keep him warm, then closed the side door, got in his seat, shut the front door and proceeded to drive off.

They reached the home in 20 minutes after the last stop. It was a nice, medium-sized home that was secluded by a fence and a tree border around the back of the house. It appeared to have two stories and it had a large garage as well as a nice porch. Once they were inside, Jon placed Wakko and Dot, who were still asleep, on a white couch in the front room so they could rest for now. Then he went into his bathroom and grabbed a bottle from the medicine cabinet that also happened to be a mirror. Yakko followed him inside as Jon knelt down in front of the poor boy. He held out a cup that contained about 10 milliliters of the medicine in the bottle.

"Drink it, it's medicine." He said. Yakko took it and gulped it down. It tasted bad, yeah, but he savored the taste. He hadn't tasted anything in so long…he almost forgot what he was drinking for a second. He finished it and stopped shivering momentarily.

"T-Thanks." Yakko stammered. Jon smiled at him.

"You better get some rest." He said. "I'll take you and your siblings up to the guest room." Yakko nodded. The two walked out and Jon picked up the sleeping Wakko and Dot in his arms while Yakko supported his bad leg. They approached the stairs.

"Damn…" Jon muttered. He slowly and carefully made his way up the stairs as he dragged his bum leg along. Going up and down stairs were probably the two most hardest things Jon ever had to do in his life, crutch or no crutch.

Eventually, he made it to the top, and the two went down the hall to a room at the end of it. They went into the room, and it was a nice, small room with a grand bed inside with some shelves, a desk, a dresser, and a television. A window was on the far wall that stared out down the Eastern part of the road. Jon set the sleeping children on the bed and under the covers while Yakko climbed in between them.

"Just rest up, okay?" Jon said. Yakko nodded. Jon smiled and walked out of the room, leaving the door open a crack.

Yakko stared at the ceiling for a while, many thoughts racing through his mind. What happened in the past 14 years? It's clear he and his siblings missed out on a lot. He felt a lot of regret that he never got to say goodbye to his creator, or rather, his father for that matter. Yet…he sort of has a new father now, in the form of Jon…he was thinking too deep about today. For now, he needed to sleep. He shut his eyes and thought about tomorrow. But something was new while he started to sleep. He was in a bed, not on the floor. He finally had someone to help him and his siblings, instead of being alone. Then he did something he hadn't done in a long time.

As he fell asleep, Yakko smiled.

-(End Of Chapter)-

Well, Jon has found the Warner Siblings and has taken them back to his home, in short. His main questions (besides how the hell they're real) are who locked them up and why. But for now, he only cares about getting them back to full health, as right now…they could use some help. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, reviews are highly appreciated, and as always…

Stay Tuned!

~087-B