Chapter Nine:

The Chapter With No Name.

Because I Couldn't Think Of One.

"Can I have some ice cream Mommy?" Annie asked shortly after waking up the day after the interview. Dot gave a quick yawn and walked to the crib.

"Sure Annie." Dot said as she let down the bars on the crib and started to pick her up.

"Wait a second Mommy, I need to get my book." Annie said. She quickly grabbed up the book and Dot carried her down to the kitchen. She sat Annie in her highchair, then filled a bowl with ice cream.

"Here ya go Annie." Dot said in a lightly cheerful but sleepy tone as she handed Annie the bowl.

"Thanks Mommy!" Annie said before digging in.

"You're welcome." Dot said, giving Annie a smile.

"Do we have any tapes of that show you were on Mommy?" Annie asked between spoons of ice cream.

"Annie, we have a library." Dot said. "Your uncle Yakko keeps every episode of Animaniacs ever made inside a chest in his closet." She said.

"Can I watch some?" Annie asked.

"Sure, I'll go ask him to bring it down for you." Dot said. "Sounds like he's getting up right about now anyway." She added before leaving the kitchen. Minutes later, Annie was sitting in front of the TV about to watch the premiere episode of Animaniacs.

"I can't believe I didn't show you these before you had to ask about them." Yakko said as he put in the first tape.

"Can I have some more ice cream uncle Yakko?" Annie asked, holding out her empty bowl.

"That could be arranged." Yakko said. Then he took the bowl and returned with more ice cream a few moments later. They continued watching for a while after that.

"Is something wrong with that girl uncle Yakko?" Annie asked when she first saw an episode of Buttons and Mindy.

"A lot's wrong with that girl Annie." Yakko replied.

"Can I have some more ice cream?" Annie suddenly asked.

"Sure." Yakko replied. Then he took the bowl again and went to get more ice cream. When he returned, Dot and Wakko were gathered around the TV as well.

They all wound up spending the rest of the day watching Animaniacs together, mostly just to see Annie's reactions to it. She made all sorts of amusing comments on various characters and episodes.

The next day, it was back to the movie set for Dot and Annie. It had been at least three days since their last visit, and Annie couldn't wait to see her daddy again. She wondered about the shades he was wearing when she saw him, but didn't think much of it.

"What happened to your eye?" Dot asked once Annie was out of earshot for a moment.

"I finally got around to having that little talk with Babs. Right after she found out on her own." Buster said.

"She hit you?" Dot asked in disbelief. Though it wasn't very hard to believe.

"Not as hard as she could've. And she still hasn't called the cops yet." Buster said. "I think she actually wants to believe in me. But it's gonna take her a while to actually come back."

"In the meantime, we've still got a movie to make. So let's not waist any more time on my problems, ok." Buster said. Then it was back to business as usual for the next few hours.

"Did you see me on TV this week Daddy?" Annie asked when she got a chance to talk to Buster in his office.

"I sure did." Buster said. "Ya did great kiddo." He said as he pet her on the head. "In fact, you did so great, I thought you deserved a prize." He said as he walked to the back of his desk. "So, I got you... this." He said as he reached behind the desk and came back up with a blue gift box tied with a gold colored ribbon. He sat it on the desk right across from Annie's seat.

"What is it? Can I open it right now?" Annie asked excitedly as she stood up in her chair to get a better look.

"Well it's yours, isn't it? Sure you can open it." Buster said in a cheerful tone.

Annie quickly climbed out of her chair and onto the desk, then carefully untied the ribbon and neatly folded it before placing it in her pocket. After that, she opened the box and found a cute little blue backpack inside. Her face lit up the second she saw it.

"Wow, thanks Daddy!" Annie said.

"I thought you might like it." Buster said. "This way you'll be able to carry around that book you like so much, and still keep both hands free. And look, it even has waterproof compartments inside. That way you don't have to worry about anything getting wet if it rains or something." He said as he pointed out one of the compartments.

"There's something inside." Annie said as she inspected the backpack.

"I also bought the next installment of your favorite book. Had to make sure it would fit the one you already have, right?" Buster said.

"Thanks Daddy." Annie said for the second time as she hugged him.

"You're welcome Annie." Buster said as he returned the hug. Then he suddenly happened to remember something. "Oh, incidentally, guess what happened after you and your Mommy's interview aired the other day." He said.

"What?" Annie asked.

"The phone in my office started ringing off the hook with calls from people who wanted you two as guest on their shows! You and your Mommy are regular media sweet hearts right now Annie!" Buster said enthusiastically. And truer words couldn't have been spoken. Everyone who was anyone, was currently interested in Dot and Annie.

Over the next week, Dot and Annie appeared on a number of different talk shows, received numerous offers for commercial deals and so on. All while filming scenes for the movie in between. To say the least, it was a busy week.

At the end of the week, the Warners received a letter from some director guy, saying that he was interested in casting all four Warners in a new film! Along with the letter, he had sent four tickets to the opening of a new amusement park as a gift to help persuade them.

"Think we should accept his offer?" Dot asked after Yakko had read the letter to everyone.

"Maybe." Yakko replied. "But we can think about that after we've used these tickets tomorrow!" He said.

The next day, the Warners arrived at the amusement park at around eight PM. Roughly an hour after the gates had opened. One of the park mascots was waiting to greet them.

"Excuse me. You four are the Warners, right?" The mascot asked.

"We are." Dot replied.

"Well I'm supposed to give you a special guided tour of the place. So if you would, please follow me." The mascot said as he turned and gestured for them to follow. "The first stop on our tour is the hall of illusions." He announced as they walked.

"What's that?" Yakko asked.

"It's one of the most interesting new attractions I've seen at an amusement park in years! It's got all these rooms with lots of different special effects inside. Even holograms." The mascot said.

"Why does it look so dark on the outside?" Annie asked as they got closer.

"It's not scheduled to open till later tonight. The owner is supposed to come by and give some big speech about the return of attractions with the same type of draw as the classic hall of mirrors before anyone gets to see it. But seeing as how you're all such special guest, I'm allowed to show it to you right now." The mascot said as they reached the entrance. Then he unlocked the door.

"Please enjoy the hall of illusions!" The mascot said as he ushered them in. "I'll be waiting on the other side." He added as the door slowly fell closed behind them.

"We're leaving the same way we came once we get done here, agreed?" Yakko asked once the door was completely closed.

"Agreed." The others replied in unison. Then they all started to look around.

The room they stood in looked like a standard house of mirrors at first site. But when they stood in front of the first set of mirrors, the reflections they saw were facing backwards somehow. As if they were looking at themselves from behind. The deeper they went into the room, the more impressive the mirror tricks got. In every direction the Warners looked, their eyes met with some new and fascinating spectacle.

The next room they explored was modeled after a Japanese garden at night. Tiny lights danced around like fireflies, reacting to the Warner's movements, and occasionally forming complex shapes in the air.

The third room was almost completely dark inside. The only light source was the dim glow of a large white tile near the entrance. It lit up brightly the second they stepped on it, starting a chain reaction. Patterns of blue light started to move across the walls, converging at the other end of the room and forming into blue holographic images shaped like the Warners.

"Look Mommy! I'm twins!" Annie said, pointing to her neon colored doppelganger. It mimicked her and pointed right back. She laughed and scampered towards the center of the room, meeting her holographic twin up close.

She gleefully compared details, danced about playfully, waved her arms, made faces. Whatever she could think of at the moment. Then, as the hologram continued to mimic her every move, she started to wonder if she couldn't somehow stump her holographic double.

She paused and held a hand to her chin as she thought back to the white tile that had activated the holograms in the first place. The way it lit up when they stepped on it reminded her of a camera, and she figured it had probably taken their picture to make the holograms. And if that was the case, she knew exactly how to trick the system!

She opened her backpack, taking out one of her books and opening it. The hologram copied her movements, but had no book in it's hands. Annie triumphantly put the book away, having successfully bested the hologram at it's game of mimicry.

"So it turns out that the book is mightier than the hologram." Yakko said as he walked up to Annie along with Wakko and Dot.

"Tell us Miss Warner, what's it feel like to be the new champion?" Dot asked, playfully pretending to hold out a microphone. Then, without warning, the lights suddenly blacked out.

"Uh... I don't think that was supposed to happen." Yakko said. "Anybody got a flashlight?" He asked.

"Not me. What about you Wakko?" Dot asked.

"Didn't bring one today." Wakko replied.

"Then I guess we're in the dark for a while." Yakko said. Then he paused for a moment. "We'd better get outta here." He decided. "Everyone hang onto each other so we don't get separated on the way out ok." He said.

"Hang on a sec." Dot said as she felt around in the spot Annie had been standing. No one was there. "We're leaving Annie, say something so I can find you." She called out.

"Over here Mommy." Annie said. Dot followed the sound of her voice.

"There you are." Dot said once she had found Annie. She picked her up and slowly started back towards Yakko and Wakko. Before she could make it more than half way there, they all heard what sounded like a door opening and paused to listen.

"The four of you ok in there?" They heard the mascot guy call from a few rooms down.

"We'll be fine once we get outta of here." Yakko called back.

"Just stay right where you are then. I'm coming to get you." The mascot guy said. A few moments later, they saw a light approaching.

"There you are." The mascot guy said as he neared the room they where in. "I'm really sorry you didn't get to see the whole thing by the way." He added.

"What happened to the lights anyway?" Yakko asked. Then he suddenly heard a strange sound, like something moving rapidly through the air. Seconds later, he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder, followed by an odd moist sensation. He quickly realized it was blood, and that he had just been shot. Apparently by a gun with a silencer. A quick glance at Wakko revealed that he too had been hit in the shoulder. Dot and Annie however, remained unharmed.

"To answer your question, I shut off the lights so I could get close without you seeing this gun in my hand." The mascot guy said, standing just outside the room they where in.

As he stepped in and started to approach, it was plane to see he had changed clothes. Instead of the goofy looking costume from before, he wore a white T-shirt, jeans, a dark colored jacket, plus a ski mask and gloves.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess, and say that you don't really work here, right?" Yakko asked, joking despite all the pain he was in.

"That would be correct." The masked man said. Then he whacked Yakko over the head with his gun and kicked him off to the side.

"Yakko!!!" Dot cried.

"Zip it little miss Warner! What happened to your brother just now, happened because he didn't understand his place in this situation! And if you don't want me to remind him again, I suggest that you promptly hand over the girl." The masked man shouted while keeping his gun trained on Yakko. However, instead of intimidating Dot, he had only succeeded in making her mad.

"No way creep!" Dot shouted, kicking him in the shin, then taking off running.

"Get back here now girlie, or your brothers die!" The masked man shouted after her. He turned to carryout his threat, but found two cardboard cutouts standing there in place of Yakko and Wakko. He turned again and saw a large mallet rushing towards his face. The impact knocked him to the ground, causing him to drop both the gun and his flashlight.

"Wakko! Grab the light!" Yakko shouted.

"Got it!" Wakko said as he snatched up the flashlight before the masked man could get to it.

"Good, now let's go!" Yakko said. Then they dashed out of the room, leaving the masked man in the dark. They quickly caught up with Dot and Annie, then made their way to the exit.

"It's locked!" Yakko said when door refused to budge.

"Hang on a second." Dot said as she put Annie down. Then she took out a large mallet and knocked the door clean off it's hinges. She picked Annie back up again, then they all dashed out towards a crowd of people who were gathered around something or other.

As the Warners drew closer to the spectators, they noticed that a pair of cops were near the center of the crowd. The two officers were talking to a man who was wrapped in a blanket and had rope marks on his wrist. The back of the man's head was bandaged, where he had apparently been hit over the head with something.

"What's going on?" Yakko casually asked a man in the crowd.

"Some guy got his costume stolen." The man responded without looking at them.

"I think we may've seen the guy who took it." Yakko said.

"Really? How could you tell him apart from all the other park mascots?" The man asked, still not looking at the Warners. Yakko tapped him on the shoulder and he finally looked in their direction. A stunned expression instantly etched it's way across his face.

"Call it a hunch." Yakko said. The man promptly called over the two cops, diverting the crowds attention to the Warners as well.

"Where did you last see the person who did this to you?" One of the cops asked while the other officer radioed for an ambulance.

"In there." Yakko replied, pointing to the hall of illusions. The cop who was talikng to him took off running towards it, and was soon joined by the other cop who covered the other exit. They searched, but didn't find anyone inside. They searched the surrounding area as well, but still turned up nothing.

The paramedics soon arrived and transported Yakko and Wakko to the hospital. Dot and Annie were driven there by the two cops.

At the hospital, Dot was interviewed by the two officers while she and Annie waited to see Yakko and Wakko. She answered their questions as best as she could, and told them all about the tickets and the letter they had received. The officers temporarily broke off their questioning when a nurse finally came to tell Dot she could see her brothers.

After Dot and Annie had visited with Yakko and Wakko, the officers asked a few more questions. When they were done, they offered to drive Dot and Annie home. Dot declined however. She just couldn't leave after what had happened that night.

As the two officers walked away, Dot took Annie's hand and got up to make a couple phone calls. The first one was to Natasha. The second one was to Buster. She told them what had happened, let them know where she was, and made arrangements to stay with Natasha till Yakko and Wakko were out of the hospital.

After she got off the phone, one of the nurses informed Dot that there were some extra beds available if she was going to be staying for the night, and pointed her towards the nearest room. Dot thanked the lady, then entered the room with Annie still in tow. She let out a short sigh once the door was closed, then walked to the bed and started pulling back the covers.

"Well Annie, looks like I might not be able to keep my word about taking you out to more places after all. Not right away at least." Dot said as she got the bed ready. She heard a small, almost inaudible sniffle escape from Annie, and looked to find that her eyes were filling with tears.

"Don't worry Annie, I'll make it up to you eventually." Dot said as she placed a hand on Annie's shoulder and kneeled to be closer to her eye level.

"I'm sorry Mommy." Annie said.

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" Dot asked.

"Uncle Yakko and Wakko got hurt because of me." Annie said. Dot briefly paused to consider her response.

"Annie, the one responsible is the one who hurt them, not you." Dot said.

"But... if I hadn't been there with you, he never would've come." Annie said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"What happened was not your fault Annie. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. If I hadn't gone along with the idea to involve you in that stupid movie, that guy never would've even known you existed." Dot said.

"He would've come sooner or later. The man in the white coat told him to find me." Annie said.

"What are you talking about Annie? Who's the man in the white coat?" Dot asked, growing even more concerned.

"He was there the day I was born." Annie replied.

"You remember things from the day you were born?" Dot asked.

"Not till today. I remembered when that man with the gun was yelling at you. He was doing the same thing the first time I saw him." Annie said.

"You saw him? Do you remember what he looked like?" Dot immediately asked.

"I never saw his face. He was wearing a mask just like this time." Annie replied.

"What about the man in the white coat? Do you remember seeing his face?" Dot asked.

"No, just his coat." Annie said.

"What about their names? Do you remember hearing any names at all?" Dot asked. Annie shook her head no.

"Sorry." Annie said as she let her head droop sadly.

"I'm putting too much pressure on her. I should be trying to think of a way to deal with this myself." Dot thought to herself. She wiped away Annie's tears and wrapped her in a comforting hug.

"Don't worry about it Annie. We'll get through all this one way or another." Dot said. "I'll think of something. You'll see." She said.