The eye stared back at Buster and he covered himself, shaking with fear. Blindly, the blue bunny felt along the nearby cave wall and found a light switch. Flicking it on, the room lit up and he noticed One Eye Jack towering before him. Razor sharp claws and long muzzle filled with dagger-like fangs. Buster prepared for the worst but then, he heard sobbing.
It was then that Buster noticed that Jack was crying with a river of hot tears streaming down his muzzle from his one good eye as he hung his head. The blue rabbit scratched his head in confusion, he never thought he'd see One Eyed Jack cry before as it really caught him off guard. It was a wonder that the taxidermied creature's tear duct still worked. Then again, toon physics. With a shrug, Buster approached the tearful monster and put his hand on its back, rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him, "Hey now, buddy. What's with the waterworks?"
After about a full minute of sobbing, One Eyed Jack wiped the tears from his eye and gazed at Buster sadly, "You scared of Jack...Jack alone...no friend."
Buster frowned as he remembered Jack's friendless backstory, "Don't cry now, Jack. I'll be your friend. My name's Buster Bunny and I live here in ACME Acres."
"Really?" The massive jackalope couldn't believe his ears. Someone actually wanted to be his friend? A single, massive tear of joy welled in his good eye and he let out a watery sniffle.
Buster nodded, "Of course, provided that you don't eat me."
The tear escaped Jack's eye and rolled down his snout, dripping off the end of his nose and plopping directly on Buster's head. Buster winced as the salty tear hit him and the next thing he knew, he was being scooped into a warm, close hug from the creature, "Jack love you so much, Buster! Jack made a friend!"
Buster chuckled nervously in One Eyed Jack's warm embrace. It was surprisingly gentle for such a large and fierce looking creature. Much more comfortable than the hugs Elmyra dished out, as a matter of fact. With a smile, Buster returned the hug.
After a good couple minutes, Jack released Buster and smiled at him, "So, Buster have more friends?"
"More friends?" Buster smirked, "Why, I'm one of the most popular guys at ACME Looniversity. I have more friends than I can count on my fingers and toes."
"Popular?" Jack blinked his one good eye.
"Yeah, being popular means you have a lot of friends." Buster nodded.
Jack's ears wilted and his one eye filled up with tears again, "Jack...not so popular."
Buster noticed the soft-hearted beast was going to start crying again so he wrapped his arms around Jack in a hug, "C'mon now. You've got no reason to cry. I'm your friend now. The past is the past. Okay?"
Jack sniffled and wiped his eyes, "Okay."
"So, what do you do around here?" Buster asked.
"Jack just sit here in darkness. Eat, sleep, cry, sometimes go to bathroom." One Eyed Jack replied sadly.
"You never play any games?" Buster asked.
"No one to play with." Jack replied with a sigh, "Never played single game in whole life."
"I've got some Go Fish cards on me." Buster offered, "Wanna play?"
"Yes! Of course Jack want to play!" The cryptid nodded as a surprisingly cute smile spread across his muzzle.
And so, Buster and Jack played games together well into the evening hours when Buster let out a loud yawn, "You know, Jack, it's time for me to go home. I'll see you this weekend, okay?"
One Eyed Jack began whimpering softly and nuzzled Buster, "Jack will miss you."
"It'll only be a couple of days, okay? I promise I'll come back. I might even introduce you to another one of my friends." The blue rabbit replied, patting the beast's head and scratching him behind the ears as if he were a giant dog.
Jack emitted a beastly chuckle in response to the petting, "Okay. Jack see you soon."
Meanwhile, at Montana Max's mansion, the little tyrant was pacing back and forth in front of a group of construction workers that were seated at his dining table,
"Now, as you all know, walking from place to place is a thing of the past, especially in America. That's why I gathered all of you here. I have my surveyor out on the field looking for a cave just big enough to build a subway in."
One of the workers raised his hand, "What if a creature lives in the cave?"
"Chase it out and make it homeless." Max replied, "Remember, we're making a subway that heads to the Looniversity, not throwing a housewarming party for some stupid animal!"
Another worker raised his hand, "What are we getting paid for this job?"
"NOTHING!" Max shouted, pulling a lever and causing a trap door to open under the worker, causing him to fall, "ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?!"
The workers slowly shook their heads "no" and Montana Max folded his arms, "GOOD! The sooner that idiot finds that cave, the better. Until then, I'm going to relax in my pool. AND NONE OF YOU BETTER DISTURB ME, GOT IT!?" And with that, Max marched out of the room and slammed his patio door behind him.
Later that week, Buster thought deeply about the promise that he made to One Eyed Jack. The poor creature was horribly depressed until he met Buster. Not even his own parents loved him. Jack's life was nothing but tragedy since the day he was born. He was a shy and sad creature from all the abuse he suffered, he couldn't even speak correctly because no school would accept him to learn, he was hit by a car and supposedly killed when a taxidermist brought him back from the grave as a terrifying jackalope monster and when he tried making friends in his new form, not only was he mocked but everyone was too terrified of him to even get to know him. It was in the middle of Granny's class when Buster suddenly broke down sobbing. Everyone looked shocked by Buster's tearful outburst and Babs put her arm on her blue boyfriend's shoulder, "Buster? Is everything okay?"
"Y...yeah." Buster choked out, warm tears rolling down his face, "For me, anyway..."
"Buster..."
The blue rabbit continued to cry softly and Granny started to take notice. She walked over to Buster and stared at him with a look of concern, "Is something wrong, Buster? Did you lose a loved one? Because if you did, you can always take the day off."
Buster sniffled and rubbed his eyes, "No...no one died in my family. It's just, I made a new friend and he's been through a lot of stuff. Like, really really bad stuff and I've been thinking about it and..."
"Buster, I had no idea you could be so compassionate!" Babs chimed in, giving Buster a hearty slap on the back.
Plucky turned to Hamton, "Just who do you think this new friend of his might be?"
Hamton shrugged, "No clue. Maybe this show has a new Charlie Dog counterpart."
"Maybe its One Eyed Jack." Plucky smirked sarcastically, "That would be good for a few laughs."
Fifi sadly shook her head in response to Buster's tears, "Zomeone must have eet REALLY bad if Buster is boo-hooing over zem."
Plucky turned to Fifi, "Buster's a role model, helping out troubled kids is in his job description."
"Except like, that Montana Max kid. He is like, totally a lost cause." Shirley chimed in.
"I HEARD THAT, YA DIRTY HIPPIE!" Max shouted, shaking his fist at Shirley.
"Maybe the new kid can go hang out with Furrball and they can go cry together or something." Plucky remarked, "Seriously, all of Furrball's cartoons are pity parties about him being homeless. Kid really needs to suck it up."
"That's an awful thing to say, Plucky. Furrball is one of the nicest kids in the school." Hamton scolded the green duck.
"You like, better watch what you say, Plucky or else Karma will hit you on the head like an anvil." Shirley replied. As if on cue, an anvil fell from the ceiling and hit Plucky on the head.
"Toon physics are a harsh mistress." Plucky groaned from beneath the anvil.
"So is your ego." Calamity replied sarcastically with a wooden sign.
The bell rang and everyone got up and left the class. It was the last class of the day and everyone was just itching to get home and relax after the long day. Babs walked with Buster who had recovered from his crying fit, "Say Buster, who is this new guy that you're talking about?"
"It's a surprise." Buster replied, "Just follow me to his house. I'll help lead the way."
"In what way is he troubled? Was he abused? Is he mentally ill? Does he collect knives?" Babs asked Buster, feeling that the whole situation seemed sketchy.
"He was abused, yes but he isn't violent." Buster replied, hanging his head, "He's just very, very lonely. I actually think I might be his very first friend. He kinda talks like Dizzy Devil but that's because his parents didn't care enough to properly educate him."
"Does he act like Dizzy, too?" Babs asked.
Buster shook his head, "He's very gentle and timid and he cries easily. He's not as happy or social as Dizzy but he's a pretty nice guy."
The two rabbits followed the set of monster prints to a cave. Buster looked beneath his feet and saw "Wellkum Buster" spelled out in stones. Babs observed the unorthodox welcome mat, "You weren't kidding when you said that you're his first friend, right?"
Buster turned to Babs, "Just so you know, you should probably cool it with the celebrity impressions and pop culture jokes around him. He's a pretty sheltered guy so all you'll do is end up confusing him instead of making him laugh."
Babs folded her arms in irritation, "Oh, all right but being funny is what I do best."
"I doubt he'd get any nineties jokes, let alone the jokes of today." Buster replied, his ears wilting a little.
Buster and Babs entered the cave and noticed One Eyed Jack sitting there, playing a pine cone and pretending it was some sort of rocketship. Babs went entirely white and shivers raced through her entire body, "T-that...that's...it can't be..."
"Oh, hey One Eyed Jack. I'd like you to meet my friend, Babs." Buster said, leaning against the cavern wall.
As if on cue, Babs fainted. Buster just smiled at Jack, "It's okay, Babs here is hypoglycemic and if she doesn't eat for a while, she sometimes passes out."
Jack looked over to Babs and smiled softly, "Jack get Babs some berries, make Babs feel better." The jackalope tilted his head and frowned a little, "Babs no scared of Jack?"
"It'll take time to get to know her but I'm sure she'll warm up to you." Buster smiled back at the hulking beast.
Just then, Babs spring awake and rubbed her head, "Oh, hey Buster. I just had the most awful dream that-"
Her sentence was short as she noticed One Eyed Jack was still in the room, smiling and waving at her. Folding her arms in annoyance, she turned to Buster, "Do you have any idea just who that is?!"
"One Eyed Jack." Buster replied, matter-of-factly, "So what?"
"Isn't he dangerous? You know the campfire stories, right?" Babs asked.
"Jack no dangerous." The jackalope's ears wilted and his eyes slowly misted up with tears.
"He's right, Babs. Remember when you met Melvin? He looked scary but was as gentle as a lamb. Judging One Eyed Jack by how he looks will only make you sound like a hypocrite." Buster replied, folding his arms.
Babs sighed and hung her head, "You're right, Buster. Sorry I jumped to conclusions."
One Eyed Jack sniffled softly, dragging his claw across his nose, "Parents no love Jack...throw him away like trash...brothers...sisters...hate Jack. Hit by car...everything go dark...bad man...scary man...hurt Jack bad...make even uglier...scared...alone...til Buster come."
"I have a question for you, Jack." Buster said, placing his hand on the creatiure's arm, "Why did you save my life?"
"Remind Jack...of old friend...only one...who cared. One day, hunter shot him. Die in Jack's arms...never cry so hard in whole life..." Jack felt a large tear sneaking down his long snout as he hung his head in mourning.
Tears glistened in Babs' blue eyes and her ears drooped, "I'm so sorry...I..."
Without another word, Babs ran up to Jack and tackled him in a hug, bitter tears streaming down her own face. Buster sighed, "Let's just...try and change the subject, okay? What's past is past."
"If Buster say so..." Jack whimpered softly, hugging Babs back.
Babs wiped her tears away and stepped out of the hug. For the next two hours, the three shared stories together of their more humorous experiences. One Eyed Jack even shared one of his rare joyous moments where he saw a mean poacher get sprayed by a skunk. The trio of rabbits laughed and smiled together. Laughter was a completely alien experience to Jack as all he knew was pain, sorrow and fear. After a long, hard day, Buster and Babs finally said good night to Jack and returned to their own burrows.
The next day, Babs sat in the principal's office by her own free will, "Hello, Bugs, there's a foreign exchange student I met whose taken interest in the Looniversity."
"Is dat so?" Bugs replied, "Tell me his name."
"Jackson Antlersson." Babs replied, "He's from Sweden."
To be continued...