I'm so happy when I get the hear your praise. Stay tuned as we go even deeper.

Chapter 13: The Agenda

"Thank goodness that guard is such an idiot…" A former Warner Brothers cartoon star stomped through the empty lot, anger beaming from his face. His name was Beans the Cat. He starred in about 9 shorts before he was officially retired. Quite the career he had.

Ralph, was actually, none too easy to vi-pass. It had been a chore for him to make it into this place with it having been closed off to the general public. Buster got in with no problem. It seems like he's been at it with that guard before and finally worked out a way to get through. Beans was on the other side of the fence out of pure luck. One misplaced look in the wrong direction was all it took...

Looking through this place was making him angrier. Why wouldn't it? He was thinking about recounting his career and who he thought he was back then. He was thinking or reiterating what it was that led him to the studio all those years ago and how horrifying it was that his official retirement came so swiftly and suddenly. He thought about how he should probably be remembering all the times he spent slumping in the gutter just outside of Burbank with no way to return to the life he lived before he came there.

He was going to do all that but realized quite immediately that there was no point. His story wasn't anymore special or noteworthy than any of the other people in their little group. No one got top tier in the pity department because they were all wronged in some way. They all shared that same feeling about this place. That welling up in the pit of their stomachs that made them want to vomit every time they saw the "WB" logo filled his system. He knew he was just another one of "them". That's all he was ever going to be from now on.

He'd embraced that. It didn't bother him anymore. This time, he was here on a mission for the sake of more than just his own self.

"Hmm?" Beans stopped when he spotted a squirrel walked down the empty gravel walkway. It was obviously a kid. The child didn't bat an eye when he walked by Beans. The cat didn't know if it was due to the squirrel being deep in thought or if it had to do with how massively unrecognizable he was by this point.

Either way, this was an opportunity.

"Excuse me. Kid." Beans spoke up.

For a second he was worried that the boy would just continue on, ignoring him to wallow in his own devices. However, that didn't happen.

Instead, the boy stopped and turned to look at the approaching cat. His face was sunken and he looked tired. This kid looked traumatized if he was being honest.

"What's your name?" Beans asked.

The squirrel looked him up and down before asking his question, ignoring the other one.

"How'd you get here? The gate is closed off to outsiders."

"I had special privledge. Your name?" Beans didn't need to dwell on the topic of his intrusion. His own devices came first.

The boy sighed. "Skippy."

"Skippy… I've heard that name before." Beans pretended to ponder. Of course, he knew where that name was from.

"You have to think about it huh? Guess it won't be too long before I'm forgotten too." Skippy spoke in quite the depressing, slow voice. It almost made Beans shiver. The cat put his hand on the squirrel's shoulder.

"Being forgotten's not so bad." Beans said in as comforting a voice as he could muster.

Skippy looked up at him and forced a smile. "Something tells me that you would know. You an old cartoon star mister?"

"… Something like that." Beans chuckled. He didn't know if nine shorts was enough to make him a star. Maybe "distraction" was a better word for what he was. "Let's you and me go for a walk. I think I may have a story to tell that may interest you…"

Wakko's eyes were focused directly on Buster. The rabbit wasn't looking at him. He was staring straight down into his drink.

The Warner didn't know what to do with himself. The air had already been cold and awkward. Now he was fidgeting in his seat, wondering what he was to do next. He wanted to ask so many questions. He wanted to pry so damn hard into whatever this was but the worry that had eclipsed his body for Buster's well-being and the utter shock that had not yet completely caught up to him yet from being presented this news was making him stay silent. Everytime he attempted to talk he instantly forgot what it was he was going to say.

Buster had easily sensed his unease and spoke for him. "Go ahead. Ask away."

Wakko flinched rather hard and felt an uncomfortable shiver go down the back of his spine. What world was he living in? Does this stuff just… happen whenever your show ends? Why…? Why was this…?

"… I… I don't… under…" Wakko began before darting his eyes worriedly across the table top. He hesitantly forced himself to look back at Buster again. "… H-How…?"

That was the best he could get out. It was clear enough for Buster to understand what he meant.

"She was still in that acting state of mind." Buster began, looking forward instead of down now. "She still had plenty of life in her. So much excitement and plans for the future. She was ready to make a new living for herself. I wasn't quite ready yet for reasons I won't disclose…"

Wakko sat there in his seat, looking right at the blue rabbit. Had the bar been at all full none of what was happening in the background or even right beside him would have grabbed his attention in the slightest.

"Give Babs an angle on where her life was going and she'd just role with it. She'd just go! GO!" Buster grinned for a second and let it die down to a soft smile. "… And she went. She went right on ahead…"

Wakko felt a twinge of fear despite already having been told the outcome.

"And one day she went too far…" Buster turned to face Wakko. "A deal with a new studio… one that was probably too good to be true. We're kids. It's easy to take advantage of one of us. Real easy. We went into that thing together. Did a few sketches. They liked us. They… told us they really liked us."

"… I… I guess they… lied?" Wakko choked out, surprised that he managed to let himself speak.

"That's a good guess. She worked real hard after getting accepted despite my small suspicions brewing that something was up. I didn't say anything though. I'm pretty stupid like that." Buster drank down the rest of his drink and whacked the mug aside.

It made him flinch. Suddenly Buster looked really angry.

"I just let her do it. She went on and preformed. And preformed. And she took every date and every tower of working hours they gave her. And she preformed and earned minimum wage. But they told her the money would increase the more she worked. So she worked more! And she worked real hard! And I marveled at how great she was at it! She worked and worked and worked and WORKED!" Buster suddenly shouted and clenched his fists shut.

Wakko started to grimace as Buster reacted to his own story.

"Work, work, work. She was having fun. It was going sooooo well. I even forgot why I was suspicious. She was accepted as their official star for their new show. She went in for the first official filming of the first toon. Guess what? She's overqualified! Isn't that amazing?" Buster turned to shout at Wakko. The bartender wasn't reacting to any of this. He was simply cleaning his glasses with his eyes a bit downcast.

Wakko flinched again but didn't move from his seat as Buster started to lose it and rant.

"So hey! She got booted out! No big deal right?! We'd start again! No one's a success story overnight. Remember that Tiny Toons star, Babs Bunny? We asked that a lot as we made our rounds. Oh yeah, she's talented, quite the small career SHE had right? That was our answer. It was our only answer.Every single time! Only a few months had passed. It was just a few months of talking with the others that got her to realize she was pretty much the only one that hadn't been able to find a path to continue on. Being a lead in Tiny Toons apparently does that to you. She's just Babs Bunny of Tiny Toons. She can't be Babs Bunny of anything else. No way! That'd be too fair wouldn't it?! We can't have that CAN WE?!" Buster yanked his glass off the table and tossed it clear across the room. Wakko winced as it shattered against the wall.

The bartender didn't react.

No one said a word.

Buster sighed and put his head down on the table, tears leaking from his eyes. "Those stories we child actors hear about failed follow-ups crept through her mind. She really didn't want to do anything else. She didn't have the talent for anything else, or so she said. She had nightmares. Freakin' nightmares about her road already being over at her really young age. She tried going back to the studio we first started at one more time. She worked up a whole new routine and wrote out her own script. She practiced in front of me. We perfected it together. We had dinner… we kissed…"

Wakko was trying hard to keep composure. His eyes were a bit red from his own pent up emotions but he managed to keep himself calm.

"… The next day. She went on over to show them all. She showed em what she had. Overqualification won't mean jack if a performance like that got their spirits goin'… Than they had their new lead come out and they did the take. The little witch started to taunt her from the side as she went on and made her fumble and sweat over her lines. She even ended up tripping on stage. All of them laughed and pointed at her. She ran off… I followed right after her but lost her in the crowd…" Buster trailed off.

Wakko looked like he was about to ask for more input before Buster delivered on it immediately.

"Didn't see her again for about a week… she came back, tired, hungry, she looked like she had been tortured even… she was slumming it out there all by herself for a week. She went too far and didn't know how to find her way back to the studio so we could leave it together and try something new for another day. No. She just wandered the streets… living that nightmare she had. She lived that nightmare and I wasn't there to help her through it because I couldn't locate her quick enough. When she finally did get home, nothing I did or said mattered. She wouldn't eat. She wouldn't sleep. She just kept rehearsing and ignoring me and every time we saw that … that evil… thing that had taken her place on T.V she would retreat to her room for hours on end and wouldn't come out. It had gotten to her and she was obsessed. They had promised her so much and gave her nothing so quickly. It really must have felt like she was some sort of fading memory now." Buster slumped a bit in his seat.

"… And then?" Wakko asked.

"Same ol' routine… over and over… I tried my best. I really did but she just stopped taking care of her body... and then, one day... I just found her on the floor of her room…" Buster let himself stop before slamming his forehead onto the table!

"… Buster…" Wakko mouthed.

"We're kids Wakko… we're just… kids right? Kids don't react to stuff like that? We're full of hope and strength of heart right? She just let her body DIE? Why?! DID those animals just suck the life from her? " Buster jolted his head up, red-faced and tear ridden, a slight bruise on his forehead.

"Buster… I-" Wakko stammered.

"Yeah. You wouldn't know would you? Look at you. Your situation is just as unbelievable… !" Buster sounded so bitter and angry. It wasn't something Wakko was used to, nor was it very comfortable.

"… I'll work through it. I can't let this go on." Wakko looked down at his hand as it rested on the table. He was just one kid. What could he do? The system is the way it is and apparently it works. It's been this way for so long and there's never a shortage of toons out there looking for their own shows. You can screw over anyone you wanted and not have to worry about a damn thing.

"Heheh…" Buster let out a chuckle. "You and me both. No way can I let this stand. It won't be just them. They're all gonna pay for this…"

Wakko was looking at Buster, surprise highlighted on his face.

"Are you okay Buster? You're not sounding like yourself… really…" Wakko tried to speak calmly but he was feeling a tad shaken for some reason.

Buster didn't answer immediately. After a few seconds he smiled and turned to Wakko. "Hey. You wanna take me to your Tower? It's been a while since I've seen the place."

"… Yeah. Sure we can go… I'll just-" Wakko eyed the broken glass against the wall before he saw Buster slam some money on the table and leave the stool. It was more than enough for both their drinks as well as what he broke. Still, when he left and waited outside for Wakko, the Warner decided it'd be best to still apologize for him.

"Erm, sorry about all that mister." Wakko stammered out before leaving as well.

"Don't worry about it…" He said when Wakko was still in earshot. "It's not like that was anything new."

"Who exactly do you blame for all of this Buster?"

That was the question Wakko leaded in with as they walked toward the Water Tower. Buster hadn't answered Wakko right away. For a while he simply stared straight ahead, with a serious, half-open eyed look on his face. It would seem that exceptionally tired look was all but frozen on Buster's face, as it stayed that way even when he was smiling.

When they made it to the Water Tower and overlooked it, Buster spoke again.

"… Who do I blame? Considering what I'm doing with my life right now, I don't think it matters. It doesn't matter to me and it shouldn't matter to you." He shifted his eyes at Wakko, making the Warner jump. Why was he so jittery from just looking at his friend now?

"W-Well… what if I'm just curious…?" Wakko asked.

"Are you looking for someone to blame too? Is that why you want to know? So you can have a clear target to focus on for all the hate I know you still have despite how positive and supportive you're trying to be around your sister?" Buster chimed in again, this time shifting his head so that it faced Wakko entirely.

The action just made Wakko drift his body a bit to the side. He was feeling a tiny bit ashamed. It's not like he didn't have a right to be angry though. No, he was completely within his right!

"I just want to know. Can you please tell me? Is it that one girl who starred in the show instead of Babs? Was it the producer? The head of the studio? Or do you just blame eve-"

"Everyone. All of them." Buster stopped him . "All of them… and then some. Quite a number of people really. I may even hold a little animousity towards you." Buster smirked when Wakko began to sweat. He could tell the poor boy's heart skipped a beat at that.

"M-Me?! What did I-?! I-If I did anything I'm really so-" Wakko clamped his hands together in a begging position. Buster started to laugh.

"Look what this situation's done to you. Don't worry so much. I assure you, this is all gonna end soon. You know? You gotta cheer up, and never ever give up hope…" Buster scampered over to the ladder and began to climb it.

Wakko blinked and followed after him on up the ladder. He wasn't sure what to make of Buster now. He was talking like he had some sort of agenda. It didn't seem like he was an outright angry and bitter person. Wakko understood his demeanor when talking about Babs and what had happened to her. However, there was something wrong here. He didn't have any clear example to highlight or pin-point though.

Either way, Wakko wanted to be there for his friend. He wanted to be there for anyone who might need his company at the moment. Just so he could be around other people who were feeling misfortune and work with them to get them back on their feet. He wanted to help as many people as he could. The urge to do so was strong but it only really showed up when the rare times he could get over his own plight came forward.

Needless to say, he has neither the time nor the resources to actually do anything though. Yet he was still trying to assert a demeanor that was willing to stay positive.

When they reached the top, Buster rubbed his hands together and grinned at the steel bolted door in front of him. When he grabbed the handle, he jerked his arm back away in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Wakko walked up next to him.

"Sorry, it's just… this handle is freezing cold. I wasn't… expecting that…" Buster trailed off and gripped the handle with both hands before turning it open. Wakko thought his line of speech when addressing the temperature of the door was odd. Everything about Buster seemed odd now. Was it just him? Maybe it was just him.

The door opened and both of them were blasted with a breath of cold air. Wakko shivered a bit. Odd reaction or not, he couldn't deny that Buster had a point. This place had increasingly and unnaturally lowered its temperature to the point where the thermostat wasn't really doing anything to heat them up. This was Wakko's first time back in the tower since his hospital visit so it was a bit of an eye opener coming into this place now after all this time and feeling instantly frozen.

Wakko breathed and could've sworn he saw a puff of air in front of him. Scratch what he said before. That reaction was totally called for. What was this?

Suddenly, Wakko became concerned for Dot. He looked around and having not spotted her he called out her name, while rubbing his arms.

"Dot! Yo! Dot! We're back!" He stomped toward her room while Buster stood in the middle of the room and looked around.

Buster felt the walls, the carpet, the furniture, and breathed out several puffs of air before sighing and holding up his arm where a small watch covered by his sleeve was. He spoke into it calmly.

"Hey there… yeah I'm here… it's just like you said, its freezing cold in here…" Buster heard some odd breathing on the other end before the conversation picked back up. "… Will it be hard for me to do…?"

Buster turned and looked toward the direction Wakko had wandered off in. He walked toward the open doorway and looked in. The middle child was lovingly overlooking his little sister as she slept in her bed.

Buster walked back to his regular position and sighed. "I'll admit. It may be a bit hard but I think… I think I can manage just fine."

"Wow. No offense Mr. Beans but that's quite the short career. It is interesting how all that went down though." Skippy sat on the comfy recliner that his aunt had while Beans the Cat sat on a stool right across from Skippy. He had insisted that the child be the one who felt comfortable.

"Yup. Anyway you spin it, it's really pathetic. Can you really blame me for not being particularly fond of this studio?" Beans asked with a light smile on his face.

"No… not really… actually, lately I've been having a few second thoughts about it too." Skippy hated saying so for some reason. He felt like he should be honest though.

"Oh-ho? Really now? Tell me about it." Beans scooted his stool a bit closer to Skippy. He was generally interested for certain.

"Well… I'm sure you know about what's been happening around here lately. I k-kinda saw a lot of… that crazy stuff go down and I just… when I think about Yakko and Wakko and Dot… and even my Aunt Slappy I kinda…"

"You're worrying a lot more than you did before eh? Let me guess, you had a lot of ambition for your next project or cartoon and you couldn't wait for what was to come for you in the future eh?" Beans grinned.

Skippy didn't know why this cat was so happy about realizing that but didn't see it as him deliberately being mean about it. "Y-Yes… that's what it is…I'm… I'm just kinda…"

"The warners were kids, like you. And you observed what happened to them. Even before the oldest one apparently went crazy, they were falling on hard times. It only got worse from there and now it's just a marvel." Beans looked straight at Skippy. Skippy looked to side when he did.

Beans put his finger on Skippy's head and turned his head back to face the cat's face.

"Heh. Look at me. You see this? I look similar to them minus the red-nose. It's got nothing to do with looks though as I didn't get to star in anything as nearly as successful as Animaniacs." He explained, his voice rather calm but he was still smiling.

"… So what was it? D-Do you know? C-Can you tell me what I should do to avoid it?" Skippy asked, leaning closer as well.

"Heh… ahahahahahaha!" The cat started to laugh, lowering his head slightly. "There is no avoiding it! Unless you're real lucky like your aunt or you fancy yourself the next Bugs Bunny, you're destined for the gutter should you search for anything more within show business."

"… Wh… Wha-?" Skippy blinked, wide-eyed. That completely dashed all the plans and ideas he had when saving all his paychecks after each appearance he made.

"Well, the position you're in… maybe you can scramble for a spin-off show. Something you can do with your Aunt maybe? Perhaps something that highlighted your time in school. People would probably like that. Maybe you could pitch the idea. Pinky and the Brain was a major hit. Some people talk about that more often than Animaniacs sometimes." Beans said, bringing it back to a much lighter but still just as harsh note.

Hearing this didn't make Skippy feel any better. Not in the least. His heart was fluttering a mile a minute. He saw that vision of Yakko getting arrested cross his mind and clamped his hands onto his head, feeling a sense of hopelessness wash over him.

"I… I don't… b-but I love acting and cartoons and…" Skippy started to tear up.

"Can't do it forever. No matter how long your tangent is, it's over now. You don't think you can do anything else?" Beans tilted his head, in mock concern.

"… Me … too?... What did I do wrong?" Skippy asked.

"You wanted to be a cartoon star." Beans eyes narrowed.

"Why is that wrong?! Besides, every toon wants that-!"

"I know! STRANGE isn't it?!" Beans pressed.

Skippy blinked back tears and sat straight up in his seat. "I don't believe it. My Aunt Slappy-"

"Got lucky. I honestly don't think I've heard a story quite like hers before. But how could you choose not to believe it after seeing all this? This is a first for me as well. The general public has seen children stars go to gutter before, certainly, but it's never been anything like this! It only gets worse! What're you gonna do if you do get another chance? When that's over are you gonna try for a third? Are you gonna hope for another sketch comedy show to come around and offer you a place under a creative concept like "Toon Veteran" and have that turn up a success too? Are you?"

Skippy's eyes were wide and fearful. "… I… I don't…!"

"You don't know? I do and I haven't even seen your future yet. I can tell you that if you stick with show business, it's not gonna be pretty. Your time is up and are you at Bugs Bunny status?"

"I'm not but-"

"Than it's over."

"It's not over!"

"Says who?"

"ME!"

"And who're you?!"

"I'm Skippy Squirrel!" He was standing straight up on the chair. "And whatever you came here to do to me, I'm not falling for it!"

Beans sighed and clenched his fists. "The world is the way that it is. Your future's not gonna be anything different from the Warners if you keep on doing what you love. It's either invest in something you'll find much less interest doing or give up and hit the streets. The Warners were on their way out regardless. Your aunt can't live and protect you forever. The only way anyone gets out of this, is if we change the system. By force if need be!"

Skippy and Beans had a bit of a stare down. The squirrel eventually began speaking again.

"… I'm not stupid… I know you're not lying… I want to change things too…" Skippy said solemnly, looking down in defeat suddenly.

Beans smiled and stuck out his hand. "Then lets-"

"… But I'm not gonna do it by giving up and going down whatever path you did mister." Skippy said reaching over with his hand and instead of taking the cat's hand he stuck his hand in his side pocket and pulled out a switch-blade.

"Hey!" Beans reacted in a quick panic, trying to snatch it from him but Skippy pulled his arm back in retaliation.

"What are you doing with this?" Skippy asked angrily.

"I use it to protect myself." Beans growled, getting angrier when Skippy opened it. The young squirrel almost dropped it when he saw a small splotch of blood still on it but stayed firm.

"Is this how you got in here? Who'd you feel the need to protect yourself against? Ralph? Or anyone who passed you by and spotted you because you're not allowed in here?" Skippy waved it at the cat.

"… How'd you even-" Beans tried to ask but Skippy told him just as well.

"My Aunt Slappy taught me how to notice when people were carrying concealed weapons. Being a child star, she said it was something I might need to know. You kept your hand well over your pocket for a good while and shifted a lot whenever I eyed you there. Were you gonna take me by force if I said no?" Skippy asked, feeling rather proud of his accomplishment. He had no definite proof that the cat was hiding something but the tidbits he picked up worked well enough to tell him it was something worth noticing.

"… Tch. If you had said 'No' I would've just left. You wouldn't have been worth my time." Beans grumbled.

The two of them suddenly heard clapping from the doorway.

They both turned and saw Slappy standing in the open door with her arms folded.

"Excellent job Skippy. See how this garbage doesn't want to associate with people clearly more talented than him. That's also the way of the world." She said stepping closer to them.

"Aunt Slappy…" Skippy smiled. He was actually really happy that she saw all that, truth be told.

"Your that old ass squirrel from those sketches you share with this starry-eyed waste of space." Beans was full on antagonistic toward them now. He wasn't being treated with the best kind of acknowledgement after all.

"I'm sure someone like you with such a huge library of cartoons under your belt feels just SO compelled to talk to about my nephew like that." Slappy fiddled with her fingers. She looked calm despite what just happened. Both Beans and Skippy knew better than to take that at face value.

"No need to pin anything special on him because of that. Some make it and some don't. That's not something he has control over-"

"I'm a little more positive that having at least some talent can help." Slappy shot back making Beans growl.

"Listen granny-" He stuck his finger at her which she grabbed and bent back, making him wince.

"No you listen. I'm not sure I appreciate you coming in here, invited by my nephew, and saying all this stupid jargon. What's your business here on this lot? Are you one of them thugs from before?" Slappy asked.

"Them thugs from...?" Skippy blinked.

"I assume she means one of the guys in league with Wakko's previous kidnappers." Beans grinned and got confirmation from Slappy's single nod. "Yes. That's the truth. So what? They just needed a little cash to acquire something worth it without raising suspicion from simply stealing it." Beans shrugged.

He was than raised into the air by his finger. It hurt quite a bit really.

"What'd they buy?"

"I dunno. Maybe it was a TV or some part we needed for one of our planes. They are pretty run down." Beans' smirk never left despite his position.

"You tortured that poor kid for something stupid like that!?"

Beans held up his other finger in mock protest. "Ah, Ah. I didn't do anything. Those kids had a field day with Wakko. Making him vomit and cutting him open for kicks. I can't say I didn't enjoy watching it a little-"

One swift motion and he was flung hard against the wall. Beans grunted and slid to the floor but than started to giggle almost immediately after he did.

Skippy was now behind his aunt. "Does getting cancelled tend to make people go crazy Aunt Slappy?"

"Hmm. I'm starting to wonder." Slappy stepped closer to the cat and hoisted him up by the arm this time. "Now then, you had an agenda other than trying to recruit my nephew to whatever group you belong to. Tell me." Her grip on his arm got tighter. He couldn't hold back his expression of pain from it either.

"N-Nothing special. I just accompanied Buster and was told to see if there were any people over at this lot who were smart enough to wise up and stop being apart of this farce. It's too much of a shame when they have to go through the entire process before ending up with our little fling." Beans shrugged.

"There a reason you think we won't retaliate with you telling us all this?" Slappy pressed.

"There a reason you think I'd bother if you had any real chance? We're not planning on doing anything bad you know. That's all up to everyone else when this blows over. Yakko and those few people who axed their heads off on the news are just samples of what's in store for the future." Beans grinned.

Slappy and Skippy both looked at him in shock.

"… What do you know about that? Do you know about the Water Tower too? Tell me! What is it really?" Slappy asked.

Beans just nodded, still smiling that innocent smile. "It's just an ordinary Water Tower with an odd feature. Nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to-?" Slappy grinded her teeth before he spoke again.

"You ever think the term Consensual Genocide has ever been used yet? Can't think of an instance where it would've been… " Beans trailed off, his eyes a bit dilated.

"Sorry about that Buster. She was asleep and I-" Wakko began before Buster silenced him by holding up his hand. Wakko looked confused until he saw Buster's saddened face. "I-Is something wrong?"

"Wakko… I'm gonna be straight with you… there isn't a whole lot of time left for either of us. I have to know. Would you ever consider changing the course of the way things are right now?" Buster asked.

Wakko looked at him. his confusion ever strong. "Of course I would. I'd do anything to make sure me and my family were back on top again."

"Would you really do anything?" Buster asked, emphasizing the end of his sentence. Wakko flinched.

"… I… well… maybe not anything…" Wakko stammered.

"How much do you love your sibs?" Buster asked with a straight face.

"You already know the answer to that." Wakko said quickly. That was a stupid question. Buster sighed and tapped his forehead before rubbing it a little and letting his arm fall limply to his side. "Yeah, I guess I do. It's that kind of love that has them attached to this world right? What if you could change the world? Make it so that this kind of stuff never happened again? Would you be up for that?"

"… I'd… I'd really like to… but…" Wakko looked at his feet. "How would that work?"

"The only real way is by force of course." Buster smiled.

"… Yeah… I can see that." Wakko looked to the side. Truth be told, if it meant securing a better future for everyone, he didn't see why force wouldn't be necessary in some form. "What kind of force?"

The kind of force used mattered to him though. It was one thing work towards a goal and make demands of those on top. It was another way to use violence. Buster winced at the question.

"Why does that matter?" Buster dodged the straight answer. Wakko noticed it.

"Do you know something you're not telling me? What exactly do you do now Buster?" Wakko put his hands behind his back, as if tensing up a bit but trying to remain firm.

"… I… I'm just a…" Buster's eyes shifted to his own side this time. What was the best answer for that?

"I consider you a friend you know." Wakko suddenly said, his voice rather serene. It wasn't spastic or confrontational sounding at all. "If you're doing anything wrong or illegal under some sort of cover for something like this… I'm not really sure what to say or do…"

Buster looked at Wakko as if studying him for a second, letting his arms dangle at his sides. His blank stare was getting to Wakko rather quickly.

"I'm sorry about what they did to you Wakko. Those three guys… I know who they are…" The rabbit admitted. Wakko's eyes bugged out. Instantly he held a palm to his mouth and turned away, feeling sick to his stomach on reflex. Those memories were coming back. The thought of all that torture was making him writhe and sweat and…

Wait… did he say he knew them?

"-Know them… y-you… how do…" Wakko flinched as he stared ahead in the opposite direction. If he were facing Buster he might have been able to react a bit against what happened next.

A loud clang was heard. Pain washed over the back of Wakko's head as his eyes crossed and he fell forward, hitting the floor with just as loud a thud.

Buster was holding a lamp in the palm of his hands with the same empty expression on his face. "I've seen a lot of eye-opening stuff since I was away Wakko. I don't want to make light of your situation but not even what you've been through till now can compare. It was stupid to think you might've wanted to help me."

Buster's ramblings were cloudy and distorted in Wakko's head. He could only make out the stars he was seeing. That was it before he completely went limp and drifted into unconsciousness.

"Don't worry Wakko. You're not gonna go through anything like that again. When nothing matters anymore there's not gonna be any reason for torture anyway. It'll all work out." Buster said, looking rather disappointed. "… I suppose I should at least be glad I got tasked with making sure you don't get to see how it all works out though…"