I'm baaaaaack! It's thank you time! Thanks to frumouttamimind, A Scribbler, KaylaMicael, shannon23, and Kaity Chameleon for reviewing my last chapter. As a special present to you guys, here's the next one, as promised!
Operation: Val Chapter 6
Dear Diary,
I have to admit, I had my doubts about sleeping in a basement. Dad sure wasn't thrilled with me for some reason but hey, it's a daughter's job to be a pain every now and again. So anyways, I was kind of doubting Daddy's taste in interior design at first but after I fixed a couple of things up, this basement living is pretty sweet. I get to have some quiet time at night and when my dad or uncle Jenks isn't in here, I can redecorate. I've already gone from a techno fab look to a nice sophisticated appeal. I think I'm going to settle for a modern style. I just can't give up my couch and flat screen.
Oh yeah and on another note, Daddy made me SO mad yesterday! My hand's shaking just thinking about it. I wish I knew why he had said all those things. Uncle Jenks said that it's because dad has plans for me. I hope those plans include an apology and a trip to the amusement park.
OH YEAH! Speaking of, I almost forgot why I was so excited to write in this! I peeked at Daddy's paper yesterday and I saw something so cool! Okay so first I was reading the comics and laughing at the chubby orange cat and then I heard Daddy coming so I turned to run back into the basement,(It's a little game I made up called 'don't let Daddy see you')when I saw a little flier for an amusement park right in OUR TOWN! And guess what, kids get in half price! I think I'm gonna ask him if he'll take me. Wish me luck!
X's and O's,
Val
…
Val closed her diary and gently clasped it before sticking it into the cushions of her couch, just as the door to the basement swung open again. Val had already gotten used to recognizing who had opened the door by how large the shadow was and how gently the door had been opened.
This time when the door opened it banged against the wall behind it and the shadow was skinny and pole-like. Val felt her heart skip a beat with excitement and hope as Dr. Thorndill slowly made his way down the stairs. Val sat quietly on the couch, forcing herself to not fidget as the doctor made his way to the cage.
"Good morning dad." She smiled at him politely, letting her eyes bat ever slightly. As she had hoped, he was taken aback by her quiet and calm demeanor.
"I ordered you to never call me that." His voice was slightly irritated but nothing more which was a major victory in Val's eyes.
She scooted to the edge of the couch, a small smile on her face. "Oh…I forgot. I'm sorry."
"Yeah well…..no more talking, I have some things I must get done today and you are to help me. I have something very special I would like to ask of you."
Val momentarily forgotten about the amusement park when she heard the word 'special'. "What is it?" Her ears twitched with curiosity and her eyes lit up.
Dr. Thorndill smirked as he unlocked her cage-Val secretly snickered at how he thought the lock actually confined her- and he reached in and wrapped an icy cold hand around her scrawny wrist before yanking her out with surprising strength.
"Come along. This is vital that you learn."
…
"Where we goin' Scratchy?!" Dot was hopping around the car, as much as her seatbelt would permit her.
Dr. Scratchansniff, the studio psychiatrist and unwilling caregiver of the Warner trio, sighed from the driver's seat. He hated that nickname from the very first day they had given it to him.
"You vill see."
Wakko, who had eaten the top of the seat in front of him, was now very bored and still very hungry. "Come on Scratchy we wanna know!"
Yakko nodded from the shot gun seat that he had fought very hard to claim from his sibs. "You'd better tell us now before we get bored and decide to have some fun with you." He grinned a bit menacingly when he said 'fun'. Before Scratchansniff had a chance to shudder in fear at what this fun could be, the Warner trio's question was answered by a towering rollercoaster in the sky.
And cue a chorus of simultaneous 'YAYYYS!'
…
"We're watching a movie?!" Val was grinning so big it stretched across her entire face. Dr. Thorndill was also grinning, although it goes without saying that his grin was far less adorable or joyful.
"Yes. I have already seen proof of your power and abilities-"
"Yeah, yeah mister big mouth now could ya stop talking and pass the popcorn?" While he was talking Val had set up a little theater area with a big comfy arm chair and a soda hat.
Dr. Thorndill's glass eye flashed for a moment before he turned to the theater screen and pushed a button.
The seat that Val was sitting in suddenly jerked up into a straight-back position and she blinked as metal clasps tightened onto her hands, keeping them restrained against the arm rests.
"Neat trick Daddy!" Val grinned happily. "I didn't know you were a magician! I'm so proud." She paused to sniffle." I mean, sure it's the second lowest form of entertainment but you'll get there someday, I JUST know it!"
Dr. Thorndill rolled his eyes as he made his way over to a projector set up in the back of the room. Val turned around in the seat and watched him, hopping up and down so excitedly that the chair was bouncing with her.
"What's the movie called? Does it have a good plot twist where the bad guy turns out to be the evil twin brother?! Is the climax stimulatingly exciting and mentally strengthening for the inner psyche?!" She paused and then gasped excitedly. "I bet there's a pony in it! Is it about a pon-"
"NO!" The doctor's glare was so angry and full of rage it probably could have melted ice cubes with a single glance. Val was, of course, unaffected. She just simply shut up and waited patiently.
"Someone needs a nap…." She muttered as she listened to him curse and fumble for the switch to the projector.
Eventually he managed to get it working and Val watched from her restraints as the screen flickered to life with a picture of an old fashioned cartoon cat.
"CARTOONS!" Val's excitement from before doubled instantly as she hopped closer to the screen from in her seat.
"Daddy this is so cool! What's the cartoon about? Do you think I can ever be in one?!" Being a genuine toon, Val felt something inside herself yearn to be on that screen too. However, what Dr. Thorndill had planned was far from enjoyment.
"Absolutely NOT! You will NEVER work for any cartoon corporation so long as you ever LIVE!" his nostrils flared as he huffed, his chest heaving as his face turned a dark purple.
Val sunk back into the chair in fear, her ears pressed flat against her head and her amethyst eyes seeming to swallow her entire face. "B-but….why?"
"THIS is why!" The doctor threw his fist down on the button of the next slide and the next, and the next. The cartoon cat appeared to be walking and as he walked he was bombarded by a plethora of toon horrors such as being squished by an anvil, dropped into a hole, smashed with a mallet, smashed in the face with a pie, etc.
Val watched with amusement and giggled louder with each thing that happened to the poor nameless cat. Soon, she was laughing out loud and Dr. Thorndill pushed a button on the remote to the chair. A robotic arm came up and squished a cream pie in her face.
"HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?!" He roared. Of course, she only laughed harder.
"It tastes divine. Do you happen to have any banana cream in there?" She giggled, losing control all over again as the giggles escalated into another laughing fit. The doctor pushed another button and she was sprayed with seltzer water, smacked with a rubber chicken, kicked with a comical shoe.
She just laughed until she started to hiccup, keeled over with an ache in her side. By this time, the doctor had gone into such a rage he had to leave the room and calm himself before he did something that would ruin his whole plan. Eventually he came back in, still red in the face but otherwise calm. Meanwhile, Val was wiping at her eyes and grinning.
"T-this was just too fun father. We simply MUST do this again." She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief and the doctor took note of how her restraints were gone, as if by magic. A LOT of the more "magical" things she does seem to be when she's alone…. He mentally took a note of that before turning to the projector.
"I have a series of questions for you. When you answer correctly, you will be rewarded with a cookie." A cookie appeared in the robot hand in front of Val and she instantly started to drool and reach for it. The hand slapped her and she frowned as the doctor continued.
"When you answer incorrectly, you will be punished, and not in the fun way you were punished earlier. Understood?"
"Yes sir." She saluted him as the restraints tightened around her wrists again. Dr. Thorndill turned to the next slide on the projector of the cat toon. The toon was standing, frozen in time, with an anvil hanging over his head.
"Question one: does the smashing of anvils on toons come as funny to you?" The doctor waited.
Val smirked. "Eyup."
"Wrong." A shock sent up from the restraints and into Val's hands, making her jump.
"OUCH!" she frowned. "That hurt."
"Too bad. Next question." The doctor was standing, his hand on the buzzer to her chair, waiting.
…
"THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN SCRATCHY! Thanks for taking us here today!" Dot hugged Dr. Scratchansniff and he smiled slightly, patting her head. Despite the headache the Warner crew gave him, he found these moments to be the most rewarding.
"You're velcome. Now can ve go now?"
"Sure!" Yakko walked over with a bushel of balloons and Wakko was sitting on top of them, eating his weight in cotton candy.
"Can I ride shotgun again?" Yakko grinned and Scratchansniff sighed, knowing just where this little question would lead to.
"Hey I wanna ride shot gun!" Wakko hopped down from the helium balloons and frowned. Dot scowled.
"Nu UH! I should get to! I deserve it more! You just wanna sit up front so you can eat the dashboard!"
"Nu uh!
"Yeah HUH!"
Scratchansniff sighed again as he unlocked the car door and began the long trek back to the Warner studio.
Yakko watched his younger sibs with amusement. Can today get ANY better?
…
After 275 times of giving the wrong answer, Val was let go because the doctor had run out of steam and wanted to go to bed. Val dragged herself to the basement, her hair sticking out at odd angles and smelling like burnt toast. Once she got back to her cage she sat down and rubbed the raw circles on her wrists where the shocky thing had burned the fur right off.
I didn't even get to ask if he'd take me to the amusement park. Val felt a tear fall down her cheek and she wiped at it stubbornly.
"There's no reason to cry Val." She whispered into the silent cellar. "No reason at all."
I know this one ended sadly. I'm sorry. As always, please oh please review and tell me what you like, what you don't like. Any suggestions are open too although I can't promise I'll use them all. However, if I do, I PROMISE to give you credit. Thanks, I'll see ya later 'gaters!