A/N:

Thank you so much all of you for your support and feedback, it's really given me a lot of motivation and now I think I know where I'm going wrong here, and I'm doing my best to fix it and make this fic all the better for you. Thank you again, you've all been awesome.

And yes, Dani was in fact Dani Fenton/Phantom from the TV show 'Danny Phantom', so if you don't know already, there's a lot more toons out there than you think. And if anyone has any requests for a cameo then don't be afraid to ask. I've already had a few, and I promise that more will be revealed soon.

Thanks again for all your support and I really appreciate it. Thank you XD

*Poppy's POV*

"Hi girlie!"

I sighed and waved, "Hi Mindy…"

It was a bit of a routine with her I found out. Mindy would run off and get into trouble which Buttons would then save her from and then I'd be rushing to catch up to them, she'd say hi and then… it would happen again. Honestly, when I first met them I had no idea they'd be this exciting! It was just like the toons. In fact I'm… nah they couldn't be! No way. Maybe?

But I'd had to see them again. And when I'd hear the familiar barking, I had to sneak off again. I know it was wrong and everyone would be super worried but… No one believed me! It wasn't fair. If I could get them back to Slappy's, then I'd prove them wrong. I didn't get why no one believed me. But I didn't really mind, I knew it was true, so who cares? And anyway, there were fun to be around.

Mindy toddled on the ground and gave her dog a hug, giggling. I smiled a little and patted his head. He was a good dog. Even though he didn't always act like one. He was a little like Wakko, never missed when he went to catch someone. Mindy stepped back and reached up to tug his ear gently. I chuckled at his tired but happy expression, to which he grinned at me. Buttons pounced and pushed me back playfully with his front paws, I stumbled backwards and landed on my back. Mindy sniggered and clapped her hands. He towered over me and nuzzled my stomach, making me laugh.

"Agh! Get off!" I giggled from him tickling me, "Stop it!"

*Rita's POV*

Jeez we've been strolling around these parts for ages and we still hadn't found what we were looking for. Fact was, we barely ever stayed in the house with the kids nowadays. Nothing personal, just getting a little too crowded ya know? And I don't like to stay in one place for long, you get too familiar with stuff and that leads to attachments and that's just messy. Not that Runt minded, but I guess it was a matter of looking for my own place, not squatting in someone else's. Still like them, no doubt, but they're not for me. Humans, they don't mean that much to me… Even if they're half-human…

Well, Talia's an okay chick, paranoid to the max and in desperate need of a chill pill but on the whole, hearts in the right place. And she didn't kick us out, that's a first. And it wasn't like she fussed us like those overbearing yutz' that you see today. Have mercy on the schmuck that tries to put me in a handbag! Flynn's a guy and a half, what can ya say? And he keeps Runt in line when I'm busy, that's handy. But that youngster, Poppy, 'my Rita' she called me, now that really was a first. I don't belong to anyone. Never have and never will. So why was I figuring that it had a nice ring to it? What was I doing? They're humans for the most part, they're nothing special to us.

"Gee Rita, where're we going again?"

"For the last time, Runt, we're looking for potential digs."

"Oh boy are the others coming too?" he asked excitably.

Dogs…

"Agh! Get off!"

Hey I know that voice, been living with it for long enough, "Did that sound like Poppy to you?"

"Stop it!"

"Uh… yup, definitely, definitely her."

That didn't sound too good. Before I knew it Runt was rushing off towards the sound, well what could I do but follow, eh? Soon enough, there it was. And what it was didn't look inviting. There was Poppy lying flat on her back with some mutt pinning her down. Oh that mangy flea-bag thought he could start one of my girl eh? Whoa where'd that come from?

"What'd we do, Rita?" Runt asked, bouncing on the spot.

"You know I should have my head examined, the fact is I could not go without you… I'm fond of your young wit and your red hairdo…" Oh to heck with this! I'm coming girl! "We'll always be together, us and you…"

I rushed forward and pulled out the claws, smacking head on into the yutz and sending him flying to the side. He blinked in shock and stared up at me. I raised a claw, "No one touches my girl, got it bub?"

"Silly kitty!"

What the-? When did a second kid didn't get here? Poppy sat up and stared wide eyed, "Rita?"

Runt stood beside her defensively, good. I arched an eyebrow, "What's going on here?"

Was she pleased or worried, hard to tell. "Guys, this is Mindy and her dog Buttons." She looked a little smug, rightly so it seemed, "My imaginary friends."

But… I peered closer at the anxious looking mutt and backed off. Wait. The expressions, that scent, I knew it all too well. No I didn't know this dong, but it wasn't as it if was a dog anyway. This was something like us. Like a… toon?

*Yakko's POV*

"So to sum up; you think that Jack is hiding something at the studio and he doesn't want you to know so he's trying to keep you away from the studio by giving you time off… which you asked for." I clarified with an arch of an eyebrow towards kiddo.

"In some sense." She nodded, but slumped and gave an expectant smile, "You think I'm just being paranoid too, don't you?"

Dot clasped her hands under her chin, "Awe loo, she's mastered the toon-change and now she can read minds!"

"I know, sister-sibling, they grow up so fast."

Wakko pushed an invisible tear away. Ow! Hey why is that whenever someone makes a snarky comment around here it's always my noggin that gets a smack? Nah I'm kidding, kiddo's not much of a hitter when she's fully awake and not peeved at something, and she was smiling so that was a bonus. Sure, kiddo had a point, it was a little too good a timing and let's face it she had a knack for picking up these things. Nope, wait scrap that. She didn't pick them up, they downright jumped out and bit her on the –

"Maybe you do need time off." Wakko stated.

"Already got it, remember?" she shrugged, "And I know I've got to enjoy it but -"

"Buts are for kicking." I interrupted, "Look if it makes you feel any better we'll take a look and see what we can find?"

Why does she always look surprised when we offer her a favour? "Really?"

"Why not? It's nothing we haven't done before." Dot shrugged, "And I've been meaning to try out my new spy-gear."

"When did you-?" kiddo started and then stopped, "Nope, don't want to know."

"Good choice." I winked. As far as I know, kiddo doesn't know about my little discovery of her old files, and frankly that's a good thing, "Tell you what, kiddo, we'll make a deal."

"Oh these are always good." She quipped.

"Glad you noticed. Now here's the deal, we'll snoop around and if your theories are real then kudos, we're wrong. But -"

"I thought buts were for kicking?" Wakko asked.

Dot did the act of elbowing him for me and I continued, "On the off chance you're wrong, because everyone knows that never happens, you admit that it was all in your head and you actually have some fun."

The sibs nodded in agreement. Kiddo tilted her head, "Why do you guys take such an interest in my free time anyway?"

The three of us grinned, "Because we love ya!"

"Of course you do…" She rolled her eyes and held out a hand to seal the deal, "Sure we have a deal, but you don't have to make me having fun sound like a punishment."

We shook on it. Dot folded her arms, "For you I thought it was."

Oh what a scowl, "Ha… ha…"

Wakko pointed at her excitably, "Hey look, she's trying!"

Kiddo and I exchanged a look to which I shrugged. Hey, she could take it, "I'm so proud…"

She lowered my eyes and looked a little guilty. Why guilt? Oh I get it, this is the part where she feels bad for us offering and thinks about giving up but then goes against it because she really wants to know and we get a kick out of it because it's fun sneaking around even without reason and reason just makes it more of a moral and this is when she speaks and I can breath:

"Thanks guys."

Do I know our kiddo, or do I know our kiddo? We pretended to gush, I snaked an arm over her shoulders and rolled my eyes, "Hey what would we do around here without your jacked up conspiracies to get us rallied up?"

"Rally up your own conspiracies?" she offered brightly.

"Well they don't just walk in off the streets on their own now do they?"

Suddenly the door opened and Rita rushed in, and yet trying to look calm and collected. I gotta say that takes some skill to do that, hmm, should really offer her some lessons some time. Little Red and Runt came trailing behind as usual. What no Slugger, meh he's a big boy he can handle himself for another ten minutes before we have to step in again. Hold it, why was Red looking so pleased with herself?

Kiddo opened her arms as Red rushed into a hug, "Talia! Guess what, I told you they were real! Rita saw them!"

"Whoa, calm down, what happened?" she chuckled. Yeah exactly what I'd like to know.

"Buttons and Mindy!" Oh this old nutshell…

I arched an eyebrow at Rita, but this time she nodded, wait she was being agreeable? Someone record this! "Brace yourself girlie, those imaginaries aren't so imaginary. But there were once…"

Dot nodded, "Yes… Now how about speaking English?"

Rita glared, "I mean, mime, that those two weren't just some mistaken identities. Those were toons."

*Talia's POV*

Did she say what I think she said? I looked at Yakko questioningly. He shrugged sheepishly, "Well, I guess conspiracies do just walk in off the streets…"

"Toons? What do you mean toons?" that seemed like a stupid question, but it's all I could think of, "There are no other toons around here apart for you guys and the ones at the lot."

Right? I mean I wasn't going to say that it was impossible, not at all. But why would there be more toons? I always thought that the Warner's were made first, and then the rest including Rita, Runt, Slappy, Skippy, Pinky, Brain and Minerva… There'd never been any mention of any others and in the almost three years I'd been here. I'd never seen any files or anything either. Where'd they come from? And it actually makes a lot more sense why no one else had seen them. Toons were tricky like that…

"That's what I thought too, girlie."

"More of us?" Wakko asked gleefully.

"Great that's all we need, crowd control." Dot huffed.

"I told you they were real." Poppy grinned.

Once again I felt guilt. It wasn't that I didn't believe her, it was just that I didn't question it. There was nothing wrong with having made-up friends, and now that they turned out to be real, and toons no less… Well déjà vu didn't even cover it. And I was still feeling guilty over the Warner's offering to help me out when I was just being stupid most likely. However, this changed things a little. If these two had only just been found now, then did that mean that the studio was Animating toons again? Why would they do that?

"More toons." I breathed, looking at the Warner's and finding myself smiling for lack of any idea what to do next, "There goes the neighbourhood."

Seriously? I'm making a joke out of this? Well what else was there to do? Don't get me wrong, I was annoyed and confused, but… I was actually pretty happy for Poppy. It may sound weird but I was. She'd been proved right, something I had to wait years for, and got it in a matter of days. And by the looks of it, she was happy with herself too.

"How did you know they were toons?" I asked.

"I didn't, I mean I guessed because Buttons is a little bit like Runt," Poppy replied, scratching the canine behind the ears, "But Rita knew right away."

Rita shrugged, "I knew the dog was, you don't live with one for decades and not pick up the signs… The tyke was a guess. Looks like you're not so paranoid after all…"

"Apparently not." I shrugged, mind still buzzing. More toons…

"Where are they now?" Wakko asked.

"They went home." Poppy answered.

"Which is where?" Yakko pressed.

"I don't know, not far from the lot… she's only three you know."

"Well that told you." Dot smirked at her eldest brother.

This didn't make any sense to me. Sure I knew that there was always a possibility of more toons, I mean you can't know about a machine like the Animator without thinking about it. But I always assumed that it was under lock and key. Those machines were dangerous, yet too valuable to destroy. I understood this. But it was forbidden to use them. I know it was. But I also knew someone who would know for sure.

I stood and looked at Rita, "Are you sure that they were toons?"

"Without a doubt, I'd bet my tail on it."

"Then I'm going to the studio. I anyone's going to know what's going on, then Jack will."

"I thought that was our job to play investigator?" Yakko asked, folding his arms for effect.

"But -"

Dot cut me off, "-are for -"

"-kicking, I know." I sighed jokingly, "Fine, you can have your fun. But I'm still going to look into this."

"Why? It is really a big deal?" Wakko asked.

"Yes." Rita hissed.

I'm glad we were on the same page. It was a big deal, "If there's more toons running around, then that means someone's been in the Waiting Room again."

A/N:

Rita' song in the middle was from 'Puttin on the Blitz, adjusted a little to fit with the situation.

Again, thank you so much for all the support, and if anyone has any more ideas/suggestions/requests then please send them my way XD