The picture remained absent from anyone's minds for the longest time. In fact, Scratchy had taken it from the wall, hidden it in the bottom drawer of his desk, and put up a new one. He could hardly tell the difference, and so it was forgotten. Summer came and went, as did fall, and the Warners caused havoc throughout the studio with enthusiasm. Winter arrived, and snow fell from the sky to blanket the ground.
'Why's it snowing?' Dot asked. 'We live in Burbank!'
'It's convenient for the story,' Yakko answered.
'Who cares, let's have a snow ball fight!' Wakko said excitedly. He picked up a pile of snow and patted it into a ball. Aiming, he hit Dot square in the face with it. Seconds later, all three were engaged in a full-fledged snow ball war. Scratchansniff had the misfortune of walking right into it. When they finished their game, a snowman stood in front of the tower. They walked up to it and Wakko poked it.
'Faboo,' he said. Scratchy shook off the snow and put his arms around himself.
'Hey, Scratchy. What are you doin' in the snow without a coat?' Yakko said.
'I could ask you the same thing,' Scratchy said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
'We have fur,' said Yakko.
'Vell, I came out to tell you something important, so if you could sit still and listen...' Scratchy said. The Warners sat down and perked up their ears, looking at him expectantly.
'Right,' he continued. 'I came out to tell you that Pinky and Brain have gone missing. They didn't come back from their last mission to take over the vorld.'
'Hey, how do you know that's where they go?' Dot asked suspiciously.
'Yeah,' said Yakko. 'Even the scientists at ACME Labs couldn't figure that one out.'
'I am their p-sychiatrist too, you know,' Scratchy answered.
'Where did they go last night?' Yakko asked.
'They vent out to Lateman's Gorge.'
'We should go look for them,' Dot said. 'The Lateman's Gorge isn't that far.'
'They could've fallen in,' Yakko said with a note of worry in his voice.
'Maybe the conveniently fallen snow padded their landing if they did,' Wakko suggested half-heartedly. The three of them looked at each other, then jumped up and pushed Scratchansniff towards the car.
An hour later, they were standing at the top of Lateman's Gorge looking down. They had already searched along the crest of most of the gorge, but hadn't found anything.
'Why do they call it Lateman's Gorge?' Wakko asked as he knelt down to look over the edge. Yakko joined him.
'Because if you fall in, you'll be late,' Dot answered.
'Late?'
'As in the late Wakko Warner,' Yakko said. Yakko and Wakko moved to stand up. The ground beneath them started shaking. Yakko looked down and felt his stomach flip. The side of the gorge was giving way under their feet. Dot tried to run forward to help, but Scratchy caught her arm and held her back. Fear passed over all the Warners faces simultaniously as the eldest instinctively grabbed for the ledge, but Wakko kept falling. Yakko caught his hand as he fell past. He could feel a searing pain in the arm that held his unconscious brother, but he put it out of his mind. Scratchy let go of Dot and she ran forward; grasping Yakko's wrist and trying to pull her siblings up, but their combined weight was too much. Yakko clenched his teeth and started pulling his brother up to the ledge. Scratchy leapt forward and pulled Wakko over the top, setting him down a safe distance from the edge. Yakko was hauling himself up with the help of Dot when he felt something grab his leg. Whatever it was had an iron grip on his ankle. He held on to the side of the gorge with all his strength, the pain in his arm fighting its way back into his mind as he gritted his teeth against it. Dot was clutching his wrists, and Scratchy came to help, but they were being pulled closer to the side despite their efforts as Yakko lost his hold.
'Let go,' Yakko said quietly.
'What?' Dot looked at him like he was crazy.
'Let go.'
'No! I'm not letting go!' Dot pulled harder, but was still slowly approaching the side. Yakko looked up at Scratchy pleadingly. After a moment's hesitation, Scratchy let go of his arm and grabbed Dot around her waist. Yakko pried her hands from his other arm and disappeared into the gorge. Dot and Scratchy fell backwards into the snow. She struggled out of his grip and crawled drunkenly back to the edge, tears streaming down her face.
Wakko awoke a few minutes later, rubbing the bump on his head groggily. He looked from Scratchy to Dot, who was sitting quietly at the side of the gorge.
'Where is he?' Wakko asked. Scratchy turned around to look at him, then pointed to the bottom of Lateman's Gorge.