Chapter 8 - Party blogs
The first thing that Dot heard the next day was the sound of a car being loudly driven on the wet concrete. She slowly opened her eyes, only to see that she was laying on a sofa in Hello Nurse's living room. She sat up, rubbed the sleepy out of her eyes and had a little look around. There was no sign of the nurse in the house, so Dot thought that maybe she was at the gym or something.
Dot rubbed her head a bit and tried to remember what had happened the night before. She remembered to have passed out on that jogging trip, but had she woken up from it? Had anything happen in between? Dot could have sworn that she had woken up, but what had she done? Had she gone anywhere? Or had she just been at home?
Dot's head was pounding a bit, and all this thinking and mind digging made it worse. She stood up from the sofa and went to the kitchen, wobbling a bit as she walked. She was going to have a glass of water because she remembered that it had made her feel very refreshed the day before.
It wasn't until she was reaching for a glass when she started to remember something.
I went to a nightclub! Holy mother of nightgowns! What happened there?
She grabbed a glass and turned the faucet on, pouring water into it. As she lifted the glass up to her lips, she remembered another thing.
I almost accepted a drink at the bar! What the fuse?!
She took a huge gulp of water, but spat it out almost immediately, dropping the glass on the floor with a loud CRASH!
Some guy asked me to come home with him! And I said yes! Omigosh! I didn't go, did I?
Dot grasped her hair, hoping with all her heart that she hadn't done it. She was going to go into the living room again, but stepped on one of the glass pieces on the floor, causing her to trip. She almost fell face down on all of the glass, but managed to stay upright. Once she caught her balance, she slowly pulled the piece of glass out of her foot and then carefully walked across the kitchen to look for a broom.
She took a few steps and then opened the door to the pantry, where she knew the nurse kept her broom. She picked it up and began sweeping the glass together, not even thinking about wiping off any of the water – her mind was stuck on that last thought.
I couldn't have done it! There's no way I could've done it! I won't believe I did it! And if I did, will I ever be able to forgive myself?
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Back in the water tower, Yakko was sitting completely silent in his room. At least, that's what Wakko figured since no sound had some from him whatsoever for the past few hours. There were a few gasps and sighs now and then, but Wakko just found them too normal to think about.
He, on the other hand, was still trying to figure out the two hard puzzles that had come up and only he knew about. First and foremost was the fact that the survey had not been dealt with, as far as he was concerned. That was just absurd. Secondly was the picture of him in 'Seen and Heard'.
The first puzzle was the trickiest, seeing as how he had to prove that it was faked and prove to Dot that he hadn't been the one responsible for the results. But how would he be able to do that with that picture? Surely Dot had seen that, and since she despised him, she would believe anything if it were something bad about him.
Yes, those two puzzles were connected in a very weird way and Wakko knew that he wouldn't be able to solve them alone. He had tried to convince Yakko to help him numerous times, but never succeeded. But who could possibly be so smart as to prove something that's probably impossible to prove? Who could have the brain to hack into a computer? Who could--?
Before Wakko could carry on with his 'Who could' thoughts, there was a knock on the tower door. For the first time in ages, none of the Warners had to struggle to be the one to open it. Wakko lamely walked towards it, thinking: this isn't how I wanted to get it . . . He opened the door but didn't do anything toonishly funny as he saw Hello Nurse standing on the balcony.
"Oh, it's you," he said coldly to her and avoided eye contact. "What do you want?"
"Don't be so cold," said Hello Nurse. "I have to show you something."
"Why? Don't you have something else to do?" said Wakko, still coldly as ever. "Like making Dot puke or something? I'm sure you guys do it all the time."
"Will you please let me get to the point of why I'm here?" said Hello Nurse, her patience fading.
"Okay, what?" said Wakko. "I don't have much time, you know."
"It won't take long. I'm just going to show you the recent gossip 'news' and some pictures," said the nurse as she took off her backpack (supposedly containing her work-out clothes) and unzipped one of the pockets on its front. She reached inside it and pulled out a diskette. "You do have a computer, don't you?"
"If we want to, yeah," said Wakko and let the nurse in the tower, even if he really didn't want her company right now.
He led her way in the back of the tower, passing the kitchen; the TV room slash living room; the zany rollercoaster in the middle of it; all individual bedrooms (and the one they sometimes used together on the show); and the bathroom until they were finally in front of a shiny, green door. There was a big sign on it that read Come On! Make People Unbelievably Traumatized! -Emergency Room- Every word was written in its own paragraph so if one read only the capitalized letters downwards, it read COMPUTER.
"Wow, impressive," said Hello Nurse as Wakko opened the door. "Has this always been here?"
"No, only after Yakko unknowingly stole that sign from some hospital," Wakko replied in a lame tone. He still didn't want to have any conversations with the nurse.
"That sign was really at a hospital?" said Hello Nurse, sounding a little surprised.
"Yeah, there was some special comedy day or whatever, and the ER wanted to make fun of themselves," said Wakko while walking towards the big desktop computer. It was placed on a desk at the right side of the room, surrounded by unused folders and in front of it were three chairs. He plumped down in one of them and turned the computer on. He then looked up at the nurse again, reaching out his hand. "Gimme the diskette."
Hello Nurse handed the diskette to Wakko and sat down on the chair next to his. She watched as the middle Warner slid the diskette in and waited for the folder to come up. "Um, I should probably steer the mouse, right?"
"Whatever," said Wakko and rolled his eyes.
Hello Nurse leaned forward and clicked on one of the folders that had showed up on screen. Soon, a document opened and if it weren't for the huge headline font, Wakko wouldn't have been interested. Clearly, Hello Nurse had been surfing the web and come across a blog/gossip site, collected some of the articles and copied them onto the diskette. Wakko's eyes widened as he read everything the document included:
ZANY SIGHTING!
We all knew that Dot Warner (now known as Dottie) would one day be a hit. What we never expected though was that she would also begin clubbing at such a young age. One of our humble photographers was scanning the nightlife just last night and coincidentally heard a very familiar voice coming from one of the clubs in town.
"It was pretty weird," said the photographer. "I knew I had heard that voice before, but I couldn't seem to remember where. So I had a peek in the club. There she was, standing on a table, dancing for the audience and singing some trash to the old 'Chicago' number 'When you're good to mama'. I couldn't believe my eyes, or ears!"
And we didn't believe it either – that is, until we saw his photos. We'll let them do the talking.
"I couldn't put the photos up too," said Hello Nurse. "They were just too gruesome to look at. I knew you wouldn't want to see them."
"That's probably one of the few sensible things you've done so far in this story," said Wakko. "Scroll down to the next one."
Hello Nurse did so, though she was sort of hesitating. The next headline didn't sound better, but Wakko still had some urge to read it.
SHE'S TOO HYPED UP!
It's pretty hard to believe that someone as zany and hyperactive as the Warner brothers (and sister) could be any more insane. But that's just what I had to notice a few hours ago.
My friends and me were just out partying (as usual) and we wanted to go club dancing before heading home. We were just about to walk into one of such, when gusts of wind made our skirts go up (boy did we get strange looks!). When we were done fixing ourselves, the same gusts came right back to us. That's when I saw that it was none other than Dottie! I'm not kidding! She was standing there, right in front of me! She even posed for a picture!
Below that paragraph was an empty space that Wakko assumed had belonged to the said picture.
Anyway, I had hardly taken the picture when she was out running again, but this time, she went straight to the dance floor! I couldn't believe it! She was all hitting on the guys and moving sexily and she even did an attempted strip! What the heck?!
That blog had probably been longer, but the nurse had cut it off at that point. Clearly there was more in there that had nothing to do with Dot or clubbing. Wakko was just about to comment on it when someone beat him to it.
"Is this what I raised her to be?" said Yakko who had come into the room without Wakko or Hello Nurse noticing. He was also reading the blogs and articles that the nurse had brought with her and had sat down in the last empty chair on front of the computer. "This isn't Dot. It can't be her."
"Where'd you come from?" Wakko asked.
"My room," said Yakko. Wakko rolled his eyes. "Are those document ours?"
"No, they're hers," said Wakko and pointed at Hello Nurse. "She brought them on a diskette for us to see."
"Okay," said Yakko. "And so far nothing's looked good, huh?"
"Nope, and they keep getting worse," said Wakko and signed Yakko to keep reading.
Hello Nurse sighed sympathetically and scrolled down. The Warner brothers both had to gasp as the read the next headline.
DID SOMEBODY DO DOTTIE?
This is just gonna be a short blog cause I'm getting pretty tired and I'm going to bed. Anyway, I don't think I'm even gonna be able to watch Animaniacs again after what I saw just now. I haven't been drinking much, so I know I wasn't hallucinating. I was walking home from a party at Ernie's and I could've sworn I saw Dot Warner going home with some guy. I have no idea what was going on in town tonight, but that was just freaky. I mean, what is she? Six years old? That's just nasty!
Hello Nurse was about to scroll down to the next blog/article, but Yakko stopped her by pushing a button on the computer, the one to get the diskette out. He then shut the computer down and handed the diskette to Hello Nurse. "We've seen enough," he said in a deep tone. "You're ready to leave now."
The nurse didn't even reply but simply put the diskette back in her backpack, put in on her shoulder and left the room.
"Wakko, you go ahead and say goodbye if you want," said Yakko and left the room as well, but he didn't follow the nurse. Instead, he went to his own room again and locked the door.
Wakko didn't really want to say goodbye to the nurse – not after that – but still went after her. He caught her when she was just about to open the tower door.
"What is it?" Hello Nurse asked.
"Just before you go, I want to ask you something," said Wakko and inhaled. "Why didn't you stop Dot from doing all this?!" he exclaimed.
The nurse looked down. "I tried, Wakko. I really tried. She's just out of control. I wanted to keep her safe, but she wouldn't listen. I guess I'm not such a good role model after all, am I?" With that, she left the tower, and Wakko was alone in the big room again.
He kicked through the air and mumbled. Nothing was right anymore. Dot seemed to be getting worse by the second! Something had to be done!
That's when he remembered his previous thoughts about the puzzles. What had been his last thoughts again . . . ? Oh yeah: how hard it would be to find someone with the brain to hack themselves into a compu--
Wait a minute . . . Wakko's expression brightened up a bit. There is such a person!
Wakko didn't hesitate. He swung the tower door open and jumped off the balcony, landing safely in a net. He smiled with his usual tongue hanging out as he ran towards the Acme Labs.
Meanwhile, Yakko lay face down on his bed, furious at himself for being such a sucky brother. Not only had he failed Dot, but he let her go so easily as well. Any time soon, Wakko would give up too and go into something less pleasant, like joining a street gang or something.
He turned to his back and looked at the white ceiling. What in the world was going on? Nothing seemed to add up anymore. And to think: all this started with just a ridiculous survey result. Yakko knew very well that it meant a lot to Dot to be on top, but something like that survey shouldn't have made her sink so low. After all, she knew that even if the whole world would turn its back on her, he and Wakko would still be there for her. Always.
"Aw crud!" Yakko groaned and put his hands on his face, trying hard not to remember what was about to go into his head.
It didn't work. A flashback was pouring over him . . .
In 1930, times were very different for the Warner siblings. They had just been created, but people had found them so insane; they had been locked up in the studio tower. It felt like being stuck in an isolation chamber. There were no windows, no lights, no furniture, no nothing. For the Warners at that time, it was a hard life.
Yakko sighed as his youngest sibling started to cry again. He picked her up and started to hush her down a bit. He then sat down on the floor with her (a bed wasn't an option). Wakko, his younger brother, sat down as well and cuddled up to him.
"Yakko," he said. "Why'd they throw us in here?" He had asked this question every day since they had been locked up. "It's already been a few weeks. Don't you think they want us back by now?"
The boy was only three years old, so Yakko didn't want to tell him what he really thought. "I'm sure they'll let us out one day, Wakko. Trust me on that." He added and patted on his brother's head.
Wakko smiled and used the opportunity for another question to pop up. "Will we be known toons when we're out?"
His black eyes were so full of hope that Yakko couldn't help but feel positive too. "Oh yeah. No doubt about that. And some day, maybe we can convince the studio to let us be a part of their team. Then we'll be stars like Bugs Bunny and the others."
"Bugs!" exclaimed the little girl in Yakko's hands.
"Hey, you're not crying anymore!" said Yakko and chuckled. "Do you like Bugs?"
"Uh huh," said Dot and giggled. "He's funny."
"Is he funnier than Yakko?" Yakko asked.
"Yep!" said Dot and giggled again.
"Oh yeah?" said Yakko and grinned. He put Dot on the floor and began tickling her. Wakko soon joined in the fun. "Is he funnier that Yakko now? How about now? Come on! I can't hear you!"
Dot couldn't even shout 'No!' because of her brothers' tickling so she merely laughed, as did Yakko and Wakko. After a short while, Yakko picked her up again and hugged both her and Wakko.
"I love you guys, you know that?" he said.
"We know!" Dot and Wakko said in unison.
"And I'll always be there for you, right?"
"Right!"
"Always and forever?"
"Forever and a day!"
"That's right! But hey, a day doesn't last forever, so we gotta hit the sack or we're gonna be exhausted tomorrow," said Yakko and led his two siblings to a corner they had marked their sleeping spot. Wakko sat down there and waited for Yakko to come next to him with Dot. As he did, the three of them cuddled up again.
"You know, we have got to learn how to grab things out of nowhere so we can redecorate this place," said Yakko. "I mean, all the other toons can do it, so why not us too?"
"Yeah, and then we can hit people on the head with mallets!" said Wakko and swung his fist.
"Let's not get carried away," said Yakko and smiled at his brother. "First home, then comedy, okay?"
"Okay," said Wakko and lay down. "G'night Yakko."
"G'night Wakko," said Yakko and stroked Wakko's fur. "See you in the morning." He was about to say the same thing to Dot, but she caught the first word.
"Yakko, am I really the cutest girl?" she asked randomly.
"What? Why would you ask me something like that?" said Yakko. "Of course you are. You are far by the cutest girl ever. And mark my words, some day you'll make a living out of being cute! Stars do that sometimes."
"Will we really be stars?" said Dot, her eyes glowing with excitement.
"Totally," said Yakko. "Doesn't matter if we'll be famous or infamous, we're gonna be big!"
"And I'm gonna be cute!" said Dot and put a finger on her cheek.
"That's right, cause you're my cutest dot!" said Yakko and poked her.
Dot giggled and brushed away Yakko's hand.
"Aw, come on, Dot," said Yakko and smiled. He was going for a tickle war again. "Who's the cutest dot? Come, on. Who's the cutest dot? Who's my cutest dot? Who's Wakko's cutest dot?" he repeatedly asked while tickling his sister.
"Me! Me! Me! All me!" Dot shouted between her laughing. Finally, Yakko stopped tickling her and she lay down as well.
"Well, I think it's sunk in by now, huh?" said Yakko. "G'night sis."
"G'night Yakko," said Dot and yawned in her unique, cute way.
Yakko stretched and leaned against the tower wall. "And to those of you in Burbank, or anywhere else for the matter-" He blew a kiss to no one. "G'night everybody!"
He had tried and he had tried, but it was too late. The memory was already there, stuck in his head and tears were already starting to form in his eyes.
At that very moment, Yakko felt more responsible for Dot's downfall than ever. He regretted all their arguments and his big brother speeches over her. Maybe that was the reason why she was so out of control now. Maybe he hadn't been good enough to her as a brother when they were younger.
Why hadn't he gone after her? It was only the natural brotherly thing to do. If he had gone after her when she left, maybe she wouldn't be in this mess. If he had personally offered help instead of asking Scratchy, maybe she wouldn't have gotten so mad. If he had only told her about the survey when she had asked . . .
Oh, there were so many Ifs! Yakko just wished he could travel in time and fix all this mess! But still, maybe he wouldn't have to magically create a time machine for that. Surely there could be a way to fix all this without supernatural stuff. If only he had thought about that before . . .
Yakko hit his forehead. He had been nothing but a typical Mr. Careless all this time. Just watching things get worse and not really doing anything about them. Not thinking about the consequences of his doings.
"Careless . . . " he said to himself. "That's all I've been . . . Mister Careless . . . "
He turned to his stomach again, now suddenly very tired. Maybe I should go and talk to that guy Dot's working for . . .