Chapter 12 - Standing in the spotlight
September 19, 1991
And those were 101 weird facts about hammerspace. We hope that you learned something new from this book, and that you use this useless knowledge to your advantage.
Yakko folded the book closed, having just skimmed through the whole thing for the third time in under a week. He had received this book about hammerspace in the mail last Saturday, and it was the second new toonology book he received this month. He had become invested in the world of toon physics ever since Jake gave him that old textbook over a year ago. Since then, Jake had given him plenty more for his enjoyment. Mrs. Rentman, too, had given Yakko two new books for his birthday last December. He had quite the collection going for him, with two piles of books stacked next to his bed, both of which were almost as tall as he was. He had well over twenty books at his disposal, and he had reread every single one over and over, relishing in toon knowledge.
He could hardly believe it had been over a year since he and his siblings had been living in this place. Time had flown much faster than Yakko expected. Ever since he met Jake on his first full day at the foster center, the two had become close friends. The boys would practically spend their whole day together. They'd play baseball outside, they'd eat lunch together in the cafeteria, and on some occasions, Yakko would sleep over in Jake's bedroom for the night. He really confided in the fox, mainly because Jake was the first person who truly understood him and his feelings. Yakko felt comfortable talking to Jake, because he knew that he would always listen. And in turn, Yakko would listen to the fox's advice, and laugh when he cracked a joke.
He was especially glad at how nicely his younger siblings got along with Jake. While the fox was Yakko's best friend, Jake was friends with Wakko and Dottie, too. Jake would give Wakko piggyback rides and noogies, and would assist Dottie in brushing her long mane. The two younger siblings never fuss, or whine, or cry when they are around the fox; Jake seemed to have a way of lifting the little one's spirits with his presence alone. Which is why Yakko would sometimes trust Jake in babysitting his two siblings whenever he needed some well-deserved alone time. He loved his little sibs to pieces, but he occasionally needed a break from being a big brother.
After all, it was hard to be the oldest sibling, especially when he was supposed to act as the parental figure for two rambunctious little kids.
"Quit shoving me!"
"I'm not shoving you!"
"YAKKOOOOOO! Tell Wakko to stop!"
Yakko looked over his shoulder and saw his siblings enter the bedroom. He groaned, seeing that Wakko and Dottie were squabbling again. He never enjoyed when his two siblings argued, and it seemed like these days, the two always had a bone to pick with each other about something. Most of the time, they were fighting over the most nonsensical thing imaginable.
"Tell Wakko to stop elbowing me!" Demanded Dot.
Yakko let out a long sigh. Already, he felt aggravated, which was not a good sign. He uncrossed his legs, dangling them over the bed, and knelt down to his two frazzled siblings
"Alright, alright, let's back things up a little," eased Yakko, hoping to break the tension, "Dottie, tell me how this all started."
"Wakko won't stop elbowing me in the hallway!" She exclaimed. "I told him to stop, but he won't because he's a meanie!"
"She's lying!" Wakko complained, "She just wants attention!"
"I'm not lying!" Dot proclaimed.
"Yes, you are!" accused Wakko.
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are!"
"Alright, ENOUGH!" Yakko shouted over them. He rarely used his angry voice, only when he was really furious with something – or someone, in this case. As expected, Wakko and Dottie became intensely quiet. "I don't want you two playing the blame game with each other. You're just making things worse! Wakko, you apologize to your sister. And Dottie, you do the same. Right! Now!"
"Sorry, Dottie," Wakko apologized, though it didn't sound genuine.
"Sorry, Wakko," Dottie apologized next, her scowl remained. "Hey! Stop calling me Dottie! It's not my real name!"
"Dottie, don't start another argument with your brother," Yakko said in a warning voice.
Dottie shot a glare at her eldest brother. "I'm not," she told him, "I just don't like being called Dottie anymore. It sounds so childish."
Yakko raised his eyebrows at that statement. Frankly, he was shocked by what she said.
"Since when did you care about that?" Asked Yakko, eager for an explanation.
"I dunno, I just..think it's childish. I don't want to be treated like a baby!" She told her brother profoundly.
Yakko didn't say a word for a few seconds. There was a gut wrenching feeling inside him when he heard his little sister say that. His little Dorothy claimed that she was "too old" to be called by the nickname that he gave her when she was just an infant. No, that can't be right, can it?
"What's wrong with Dottie?" Yakko followed up with another question, a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Nothing. I just don't like when you call me that," she bluntly replied, "and I really wish you'd stop."
His sister's response only made Yakko feel worse. He didn't like to dawn on the fact that his little sister was no longer a baby, and wasn't as helpless and vulnerable as she used to be. But Yakko couldn't really ignore the fact that his precious baby sister was growing up right before his eyes. She had turned five years old in July, and received her very own pair of gloves. Yakko even started to teach his little sister how to use her hammerspace, using the many books he had received. He nearly balled his eyes out when Dottie was able to extract a penny from her invisible space. Wakko, too, was starting to get the hang of it, now being able to extract objects roughly the size of his own fist.
Both his little siblings were growing up on him, and Yakko felt that he could no longer ignore this. Maybe he should allow his baby sibs some wiggle room to grow a little more. He only wanted what was best for his family, after all.
"Well..alright, if you really don't like it," Yakko sighed, forcing the words out of his mouth. "Do you want me to call you Dorothy instead?"
"Nah. I still want a nickname," she told her brother, "I just don't like Dottie." She thought for a moment, then she asked: "How does Dot sound?"
"Sounds perfectly fine with me," he said as he lifted his sister into his lap, hugging her tightly. "Dot sounds like a lovely name for a cute little girl like you."
Dot beamed at her brother as Yakko stroked her head, straightening her flower pin tucked in front of her ears. It was going to take a while for him to get used to calling his sister Dot instead of Dottie, but as long as his sister was happy about it, then he would feel happy too.
"I like Dottie better than Dot," uttered Wakko.
When Dot heard that, she scowled at her immediate older brother. Yakko rolled his eyes. Great, now they're gonna fight again!
"Don't you dare call me Dottie again!" She fumed.
"What are you gonna do about it?" Wakko scoffed, sticking his tongue out at his sister.
"I'm gonna do something about it," Yakko interrupted his sibling's argument, unable to bear their bickering anymore. He spoke firmly to Wakko. "Now Wakko, our sister doesn't want us to call her Dottie anymore."
"But why?" Asked Wakko, annoyed, "We always called her that, and she's never complained about it before."
"I know, but now, she wants to go by something else." Yakko explained to his younger brother, "Please don't tease your sister and rile her up. Just get along with her for once, please."
He practically had to beg his brother to not argue, and while it was a tad bit unnecessary, it did seem to work. Wakko said nothing more. He crossed his arms and pouted, making a 'hmf' noise.
"It's always what she wants," he muttered under his breath.
Before the siblings could return to bickering, there was a knock at the door. Yakko's ears perked up, he wondered who that could be. He got up from his bed and walked towards the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see Mrs. Rentman on the other side. She was holding a pamphlet of some sort in her left hand, and she wore a peculiarly wide grin on her face.
"Mrs. Rentman? What are you doing here?" Yakko asked curiously.
Mrs. Rentman chuckled and handed Yakko the pamphlet. He gazed at the front cover, his eyes growing wide with intrigue.
Burbank Youth Talent Show
Buena Vista Park, Burbank, CA
Saturday, October 5
Show starts at 6PM, goes 'till 9PM
Children age 6 to 15 can participate
20 slots available
"A talent show?" Yakko shot Mrs. Rentman a dazed look, confused as to why she had given him this.
"Well?" The woman retained her smirk, cocking an eyebrow at Yakko, "Are you interested?"
Yakko looked down at the pamphlet again. He noticed the cover image at the bottom of the page was a little girl dressed as a ballerina, twirling in her pretty pink tutu, with a large crowd looming in the background of the shot. Yakko focused his attention on the crowd – there were at least a hundred people in that shot. And if this was how many people were going to be there at the show…
Yakko gulped. He suddenly found himself sweating. He lowered his arm, hiding the pamphlet from eyesight, and returned his gaze to Mrs. Rentman, who was waiting eagerly for his reply.
"Um, I'm not sure," he told her, scratching his shoulder.
"It'll be lots of fun," Mrs. Rentman said excitedly, "There will be singing, dancing, music, and all sorts of acts at the show – and it's all for a good cause, too. I'm hoping that we get lots of donations throughout the night."
"L-lots of p-people," Yakko stuttered, "And..How many people is that?"
"However many people we can fit into seats," she replied, "The park we rented has a capacity of…uh, about three hundred people."
He felt his heart skip a beat at that moment. Three hundred people? At a small talent show? Watching him!?
"That's crazy!" Yakko exclaimed, "I'm not a dancer! There's no way I'm dressing in a girly little tutu and doing ballet in front of a bunch of strangers!"
Mrs. Rentman snorted, followed by a roar of laughter. Yakko stared at the woman in disbelief. Apparently, she found the idea of him humiliating himself in front of a crowd of people to be hilarious. Yakko, however, was not amused.
"Oh, HA, HA. Very funny," He deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at the blonde woman.
"No, silly. I'm not gonna make you wear a tutu," she laughed, "We're not doing a theatrical rendition of Swan Lake."
Yakko's annoyance was replaced by embarrassment once the realization hit him. He had been imagining himself in the position of that little girl on the pamphlet, when really, he had been freaking out over nothing. His cheeks turned pink, his eyes glanced down at his feet.
"Ah, gee. Of course. What was I thinking?" He replied, sheepishly.
"No worries, Yakko. You were just having a misunderstanding, and it's fine," Mrs. Rentman reassured him, still chuckling a little. "Let me guess: the picture threw you off."
Yakko looked back at the pamphlet, and that picture of the little girl dressed as a ballerina. He found himself smirking now, thinking back to his reaction a few moments prior, before returning his glance towards Mrs. Rentman.
"Lucky guess," answered Yakko.
"That's what I thought," she continued, "No, I was thinking more of you pulling off some of those toon tricks and techniques that you seem to enjoy so much. I see you have a whole stash of books in the corner by your bed."
Mrs Rentman pointed at the stack of toon physics books stacked next to Yakko's bed. Yakko looked over his shoulder, staring at the pile that lay on the floor. He knew that a good few of those books in that pile were given to him by Mrs. Rentman as gifts. The caretaker has been very generous towards Yakko, buying him a handful of books from the money in her own pocket, all because he loved reading them so much. And Mrs. Rentman was right; Yakko was deeply invested in toonology and loved reading about it.
But still, he couldn't help but feel taken aback by this opportunity the woman was giving him.
"You want me to act like a toon?" He asked, bewildered, "In- in front of an audience?"
The woman nodded. "Sure. Rachel and I had been rallying kids all day trying to get as many participants as possible. We want to show off a whole variety of talents at this show, hence the name." The woman's smile grew wider as she spoke. "I know you're a wiz when it comes to those toon skills of yours, and I was hoping that this show could give you the opportunity to show off those skills to the world."
Yakko was perplexed by Mrs. Rentman's proposal. She was right in the sense that he had gained a lot of toon skills over the years; from his aunt, and from the textbooks that he read. But he only learned those skills because he was a toon. Toon powers such as hammerspace were essential skills that a toon needed to learn for self defense and protection. The only time he's seen toon powers be used for entertainment purposes were from the professional cartoon stars he sees on the TV every Saturday morning. So the idea of demonstrating toon physics to an audience was bemusing to him.
"Um, gee…I-I'm not sure," Yakko spoke with hesitancy in his voice, trying to find the right words. "It's just…I dunno.."
"It's just what?" Asked Mrs. Rentman, showing concern in her eyes.
"It's just…I'm nervous."
Mrs. Rentman's face fell. "What's making you nervous, Yakko?" Now she was really concerned.
"I dunno. Just the idea of showing off my toon powers in front of an audience– there's gonna be three hundred people there," Admitted Yakko, "You know, I'm just an ordinary toon. I don't brag about my skills; it's just a part of who I am. I'm sorry, I just…I just don't know!"
He was becoming anxious by the thought, troubled by the idea of performing like a "professional" toon as they dubbed it. After finishing his ramble, he felt Mrs. Rentman placed her hand on his shoulder, which was her way of showing reassurance.
"I can tell that you're feeling sort of lost," she said soothingly, "I have a feeling that you want to do it, but you're just not sure if you actually can."
Yakko nodded. The caretaker was right; he was feeling quite lost right now. He had never received the chance to show off his toon powers before, and especially not to an audience. Nobody ever paid attention to him when he was fishing something out of his hammerspace, or when he extended his arm out to reach a high shelf, or any other one of his toon powers that he had at his disposal.
"It's not that I think I'm bad at using my hammerspace; it's just that..I never used my powers like you'd see in the cartoons," Yakko explained to her.
"I mean, you're no Bugs Bunny, but you're still a toon," Mrs. Rentman told him, "I walk past your room all the time and I see you practicing your toon powers, and I gotta admit, you're great at them.
Great! you've been snooping on me, Yakko thought. While he felt sort of embarrassed knowing that Mrs. Rentman has apparently spied on him while he was practicing his toon powers, he also was sort of surprised by the caretakers statement.
"Really? Am I that good?" Yakko found himself asking.
"Absolutely," she replied, "I've seen what you're capable of. You're much more talented than you think, and you should really have a lot more faith in yourself than you do."
Yakko glanced down at his feet, still feeling unsure. It was great to know that Mrs. Rentman had his back, and supported his decision to learn more about toonology, but he still wasn't very sure if he wanted to do this.
"It would be great if you could be a part of our show," continued Mrs. Rentman, "Tell you what–I'll give you some time to think it over. There's a signup sheet in the main office if you do decide to participate – and your siblings can join, too, if they want. It'll be a lot of fun, trust me."
And no doubt, Yakko thought the idea of a talent show sounded like a lot of fun, and he knew that it would be. But he has always seen himself as a shy, quieter person than most. He mostly kept to himself, unless he was around Jake, but that was only because he was his best friend.
That's when an idea flew into his head.
"I'm gonna talk to Jake, to see if he wants to do it," Yakko told the caretaker his idea.
"I'm pretty sure he's going to be in the talent show," Mrs. Rentman told Yakko, "He's always been the outgoing type."
"Yeah, and I'd feel better if he came along with me," he added, "He did get me invested in toon physics, after all."
"But you were the one who collected all those books," the caretaker noted.
Yakko blushed. "I do have quite a few. Now that I think about it, I guess I do have a lot of information on toon physics stored up here in my noggin." He pointed his finger against his head for emphasis.
"Indeed you do," Smiled Mrs. Rentman.
After saying that, the caretaker hugged her arms around Yakko's shoulder. Yakko purred, he felt comforted by the hug, and the hugs he got from Mrs. Rentman were always the best. It reminded him a lot of how his mother used to hug him before she…Yakko stopped himself from finishing the thought, not wanting to make himself more anxious than he already was.
I'm never gonna see her again anyway, so what's the point? He told himself.
"Thanks, Mrs. Rentman, for telling me about this," Yakko thanked her, "I'll definitely think about it."
Mrs. Rentman chuckled. "You're welcome. Either way, I sure hope that I see you there. You'll love it, I tell you," the woman then gazed down at her watch and gasped. "Oh my gosh! Look at the time! I better stop dawdling and start hustling!"
Yakko laughed. "You're always busy," he remarked.
"I know," the caretaker sighed, "I'm just doing my job. Anyway, gotta run! I'll see you later, kiddo!"
"Bye!" Yakko waved goodbye to Mrs. Rentman as she rushed out of his bedroom in a hurry.
After the caretaker had left, Yakko turned around to face his siblings. Wakko and Dot had been standing behind him the whole time, their minds stuck in thought. Yakko knew that now was a good time to explain to his siblings about what he and Mrs. Rentman was talking about.
"Sibs," he started, "Mrs. Rentman said that the foster home was participating in a talent show at the park."
"What's that?" Asked Wakko, his head crooked.
"Um, it's where a bunch of kids perform different talents like singing and dancing," Yakko replied slowly.
He waved the pamphlet in front of his siblings. Wakko was bearing a look of confusion as he gazed at the picture, processing the meaning of it all. Meanwhile, Dot became giddy with excitement when she saw the girl in the tutu on the front cover.
"That girl looks pretty!" She stated, pointing her finger at the photo, "I wanna look like her, Yakko!"
"I don't get it," said Wakko, scratching his head.
Yakko smiled, looking down at both his siblings. He could tell that they were just as interested in this show as he was, but there was also a hint of confusion – more so in Wakko than Dot.
"I heard Jake is going to be in the show," he pointed out.
Wakko's face lit up when he said that.
"Is he really?" He asked eagerly.
Yakko nodded, only adding to his little brother's excitement. The six year old boy started bouncing up and down with joy, his tail wagging behind him. Yakko knew that his brother knowing that the fox would be a part of this would make him happy. Jake and Wakko were really close, and the younger Warner brother's happiness always peaked when he was around the fox. Jake was like a second older brother to Wakko, the more laid back, spontaneous older brother who was a slight contrast to Yakko's more modest nature.
On the other side of the spectrum, Jake was also like an older brother to Yakko. Physically, Jake was older than him by a year, and was taller by a few inches. But the fox was so protective, so caring towards him that Yakko really felt that Jake had become part of his family in a way, like the fourth sibling that he never had.
If he was going to partake in this talent show coming up, then he definitely needed comfort from the fox to ease his stress. In fact, he figured what better time to talk to Jake than now.
"Why don't we all go over to Jake's room and see what he's up to," Yakko suggested to his siblings, "I bet he's preparing for the talent show."
"Yes! Yes! Let's go! Right now!" Wakko chanted eagerly, grinning ear to ear.
Yakko chuckled, and put an arm around his brother. "Well come on, then, you silly billy," he said, "let's go!"
Wakko and Dot sprinted out of the bedroom. Both younger siblings were antsy and excited. "Wait for me, sibs!" Yakko hollard as he caught up to them, closing his bedroom door once he stepped out into the hallway. The siblings made their way down the hall towards Jake's bedroom. It was definitely convenient for the fox's room to be on the same floor as Yakko's, which made it trivially easy for him to stop by and visit without having to navigate flights of stairs.
A short while later, Yakko and his siblings reached the outside of Jake's bedroom door. Wakko and Dot were bouncing up and down, their tails wagging, both of them chanting: "Jake! Jake! Jake! Jake!".
"Settle down there, sibs," Yakko eased his siblings, though he smiled seeing how excited they were.
Wakko and Dot stopped jumping, but their eagerness was still clearly visible through wide, toothy grins. Giving his sibs a quick nod of approval, Yakko turned to face the door. He raised his fist up, pounding his knuckles against the door three times. After knocking, there was some shuffling heard from inside the room. Then, the door started to creak open very slowly, only opening about a quarter of an inch. Yakko cocked an eyebrow, leaning his head up to the crack in the door. Wakko and Dot leaned closer, befuddled as to what was happening.
"Hello? Jake?" Yakko said, confused, peeking his eye through the open crack, "You in there?"
There were a couple moments of silence, and then, when Yakko was caught off guard, the door flung open. Out emerged a yellowy orange creature, wearing a pale white mask, with devious green eyes and red blood around its gaping mouth.
"RRRAAAAAAAHHHH!" yelled the menacing creature as he jumped out in front of Yakko.
Yakko jolted backwards, his heart dropped. He shrieked as he scurried backwards, his back hitting the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. Meanwhile, Wakko screamed bloody murder, his eyes wide with terror. He leapt into the air, a whopping six feet, before landing in his little sister's arms.
" Oof! Wakko!" Dot groaned, balancing her hefty older brother in her arms.
"S-s-scary man! S-scary man!" Cried Wakko, timidly. He covered his hands over his eyes, refusing to even look at the crazy madman that busted out from behind Jake's bedroom door.
Yakko's heart pounded in his chest, his eyes locked on the creature that stood in the doorway. He started to calm down a little bit, that adrenalin of panic started to wear off on him. He now realized that the yellowy orange monster was just a person wearing a scary looking clown costume. That person started to laugh at him, bending down towards the ground to hold his balance. Logic started to kick in as it finally clicked in Yakko's brain:
"Jake?" He asked, his cheeks turned red, "is that you?"
The clown nodded. "Yes!" he laughed, "it's me!"
Yakko instantly felt a wave of embarrassment towards his reaction to the scare. He should have known that it was just Jake messing around with him, and he felt really dumb thinking that this supposed monster was just his best friend in disguise.
"Man, you should've seen the look on your face!" Chuckled Jake, "That was hilarious!"
"Oh, yeah. It sure was," Yakko deadpanned, "You're lucky I didn't pee my pants from that scare."
"But you gotta admit it was funny," Jake said. He took off his clown mask, revealing the familiar orange and white fur and long whiskers. "I didn't mean any harm by it. It was just a prank, dude."
"I guess," replied Yakko, hesitantly, "But you sure did scare the bejesus out of me and my sibs."
Yakko gestured towards his brother and sister. Wakko was still in a state of panic, shutting his eyes as tight as he could, his body shaking in fear. Dot was struggling to keep him upright, her arms wobbling from trying to balance Wakko in her arms. Her tiny body could barely comprehend the weight of her immediate older brother. Eventually, she gave up, dropping Wakko on the ground. The boy kept his eyes shut, refusing to blink.
Yakko noticed a guilty expression start to form on his best friend's face as he watched Wakko cower in fear. Jake had laughed at Yakko's reaction to the jumpscare, and the petrified face he made when he had jumped out in front of him. But seeing Wakko laying absolutely terrified on the ground sparked a complete opposite reaction from the teen fox. Jake approached Wakko slowly, taking great care to be as gentle as possible as to not spook him any more than he already has.
"Easy, buddy," Jake spoke softly to Wakko, kneeling down to his level, "It's just your old pal Jake, just joking around with ya."
Jake gently tapped Wakko on the shoulder. The child quivered, removing his hands from his eyes. He stared up at the fox, wiping tears from his face, fear in his expression.
"It's okay, Wakko," whispered Jake, stroking the boy's head, "There's nothing to be afraid of. You're safe now."
Wakko's eyes sparkled as they laid upon the fox. His body stopped twitching, his muscles became looser, and his frown was soon replaced by a crooked smile.
"Jake," he said, looking visually relieved that the friendly fox was sitting by his side, "It's you."
Reaching his hand out towards Wakko, Jake pulled the child up off the floor, scooping him up into his arms. All sense of fear inside Wakko disappeared in an instant. He snuggled against Jake's body, leaning his head against his chest. Yakko couldn't help but smile at the adorable sight. Despite the fact that Jake had scared his brother to the brink of tears, he appreciated how brotherly he treats Wakko and Dot, especially when they were feeling down. Besides, he could only stay mad at his best friend for so long.
"Awe, he likes you," remarked Yakko.
"I like Jake," Wakko told him, tongue hanging out joyfully.
"I know you do, bud," replied Jake, rubbing Wakko's head. Then he looked at Yakko with a smirk. "What are we all standing around for? Let's go to my room."
Holding Wakko in his arms, Jake carried the child into his room. Yakko grabbed his little sister, scooping her up into his arms, and then followed the fox into his bedroom. Once in there, he set Dot safely down onto the floor.
"Aww, but I like when you hold me!" The girl whined, albeit, in a jokey manner.
Yakko chuckled. "I assume you enjoy being held more than holding someone else."
"Yeah," she nodded, fully agreeing to her brother's remark. "Wakko is bigger than I am, and he's soooooo heavy!"
"Hey," Warned Yakko, raising his voice slightly, "What did I say about making fun of your brother's weight?"
Dot pouted, putting her hands on her hips. He has told her in the past how he didn't want her making fun of her brother for his eating habits. He didn't know what had gotten between her and Wakko, but this behavior had only intensified after they arrived at the foster home.
"Sorry," she muttered, forcing the apology out of her mouth.
He knew that she wasn't truly sorry, but he wasn't going to give his sister grief over this. Besides, Dot was right to a degree. Glancing over at Wakko, he could see that his little brother wasn't so little anymore. Over the last year, Wakko had grown a few inches taller; the boy was nearly a head taller than his little sister. He had a little bit of a gut poking out of his blue t-shirt, but Yakko didn't see it as alarming. The benefit of Wakko always being hungry was that he was never starving, and seeing his own brother starving would be much worse in Yakko's eyes.
Looking back at his sister, Yakko could see that she had grown too. She wasn't as skinny as she was a year ago, and she was a little taller now than she was before. Even he had gotten bigger, too. Last year, he was a walking skeleton. It had taken some time for him to get used to eating three meals a day after being deprived of food in his old home. But while he was healthy now, and had more meat in his bones, he was still awfully slim for his age. More than anything, he was proud of the fact that both his siblings are healthy and full. He knew it would be selfish of him to think that way about himself.
Yakko decided to forgo the thought for now, and instead focus on what he came here for in the first place. He focused his gaze on his best friend. The fox was in the middle of taking off his clown costume, revealing a gray tank top and blue jeans underneath. Remembering how terrified he and his brother were when they first saw the costume, Yakko grew worried.
"You're not going to wear that for the talent show, are you?" Yakko asked.
"Of course not," laughed Jake, "I just wanted to scare you."
Yakko sighed in relief. "Thank god! That costume is freaky!"
"Yeah!" Wakko piped up. He was laying in Jake's bed, pressing his head against a pillow, "I don't like clowns!"
"Well, I won't do it again," promised Jake. He crumpled the yellow costume up into a ball and tossed it into a laundry hamper overflowing with dirty clothes. "Why do you ask? Are you going to be in the talent show?"
Yakko's ears perked up, his eyes grew wide. He dug his hand through his pockets, searching for the pamphlet that Mrs. Rentman had given him. Eventually, he felt the paper in between his fingers. Grasping his hand tighter, he pulled the pamphlet out of his pocket.
"Mrs. Rentman just told me about it," he said, waving the pamphlet in front of the fox.
"She gave me that too," Jake told him, pulling the same pamphlet out of his hammerspace and showed Yakko. "I'm going to be in it. Are you?"
Yakko's smile faded upon being asked a follow up question. He remembered his reaction when he first heard about the talent show from Mrs. Rentman. 'It would be great if you could be a part of our show', she told him with a smile. The truth was that he wasn't sure if he actually wanted to play a part in the show.
"Uuh…maybe. I'm really not sure," he replied reluctantly, rubbing his shoulder.
"You should!" Jake grinned at Yakko as he stood up, "It'll be a lot of fun. Mrs. Rentman told me this is the first talent show the foster home has done in over seven years!"
"I heard there's gonna be three hundred people there," added Yakko, itching the back of his head.
"Yeah, isn't that great?"
Yakko shook his head, gazing down at the floor. His arms grew fidgety, and he found himself holding the pamphlet loosley between his fingers. He tried his best to focus his gaze away from the picture of the ballerina, and the large crowd that stood before her.
"Is..something wrong, Yakko?"
Yakko was snapped out of his daze. He immediately noticed the look of concern on his best friend's face. He knew that he was overthinking all of this, and there was no need to worry, but he simply couldn't help himself from worrying over such a little thing.
"Earth to Yakko? Do you read?"
"No, uh, yes..I-I mean no!" Yakko stammered.
"Yeah, there's definitely something wrong." Jake put his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure you're feeling nervous about the talent show. Am I right?"
Gosh, he's too good! Yakko thought, his mind internally facepalming. The fox already knew he was feeling anxious, so he might as well fess up.
"Yes..yes, I am! I can't do it, Jake! I just can't!"
He didn't mean to be so blunt and profound in his response, but he was feeling so stressed about himself as well as the talent show, to the point where he truly doubted his ability to perform.
His reaction caused the fox to make a face. "What are you talking about?" He said, puzzled, "Of course you can! You are phenomenal at your toon abilities! Not to mention, your mind is strong as steel!"
Yakko shot his friend a weak smile. "Thanks for the compliment, buddy, but I'm still not sure about this. I mean, I've never shown off any of my toon abilities in front of an audience before."
"What about me? You've practiced your abilities in front of me countless times!"
"But this is different! It's not just you; it's three hundred people we're talking about! Everyone is gonna be watching me up on that stage. And I'm so weird, and strange! What will everyone think of me!?"
Yakko asked that final question with uncertainty. He always thought of himself as an "odd one out" among other toons. His ears were long and floppy, his snout most inherent – he wasn't sure what animal he was supposed to resemble, if he was even a real animal at all.
But Jake didn't seem to share that same worry. His eyebrows lowered over his eyes as he put a firm hand on Yakko's shoulder.
"Look, I know you're nervous, but don't be so hard on yourself, man," Jake told him empathetically, "You may not be like other toons, but I like that about you. My dad told me a long time ago that it's what's on the inside that matters. And boy, do you have a good heart."
Yakko felt a tear form in his eye. He quickly blinked the tear away, resisting the urge to cry. "Do you really mean that?"
"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. Not only do you have a good heart, you make a good friend." The fox put an arm around Yakko, pulling him closer towards him. "And a good friend always helps out a friend when they need it, no matter how big or small the problem is."
Yakko gasped, his eyes lit up. He knew what his friend was implying and, frankly, it was exactly what he was hoping for.
"Really, Jake? You'd do it with me!?"
"Of course, man!" Replied Jake, "I'm into that stuff, too. I've been dying for the opportunity to show off my toon powers to the world. Question is, would you do the same?"
Yakko was grinning delightfully. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't feeling nervous about the talent show, because he was. This wasn't the first time that the foster home had hosted an event involving nearly all of the children who lived here, but Yakko had never participated in any of them. Jake would partake in almost every event: a pie eating contest, a football throwing contest, a bean bag tossing contest, and pretty much any contest that came to mind.
It was weird how a talent show, of all things, would be the first of these events that would catch his eye. Yakko had never thought of any of his toon abilities as special up until now. Was he really that good at his powers? Good enough to be in a talent show? Ever since Jake gave him that book, his knowledge of toon ability became much more precise, and he definitely had the knowledge at hand to pull this off. He knew he would have to practice every day prior to the show to perfect his skills to a tee. It would be hard, no doubt, and he would be putting a lot of pressure on himself. But knowing that his best friend was going to help him…
"I'll do it." Yakko had decided to take the risk.
"There you go!" Exclaimed Jake as he gave Yakko a high-five. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"
Out of the joy of the situation, Yakko hugged his best friend in total gratitude. He felt so relieved knowing that the fox had decided to help him prepare for the talent show. Jake would definitely make this stressful situation a whole lot better to deal with.
"Does that mean we're going to be in the talent show?" Dot asked, eagerly, standing up on her toes.
Yakko nodded, sparking a thrilled reaction from his baby sister. She scurried towards Wakko to tell him the news. When the boy caught wind of what was happening, he leapt up from the bed in excitement, and started dancing on his hind legs, his tail wagging with vigor. The two younger siblings joined hands and started prancing around in circles.
He couldn't help but laugh at his siblings' enthusiasm. "Somebody's sure excited," he remarked, elbowing Jake.
The fox laughed. "They're more excited than you are. Now, come on! Let's go downstairs and sign up! We've got a show to prepare for!"
Yakko smiled away his underlying anxiousness. I hope this isn't a mistake. He hoped it wasn't.
Almost immediately after he, his siblings, and Jake signed up for the talent show, Yakko headed back to his room to prepare. There was a lot he needed to do prior to the show, and he was wasting no time at all in practicing his toon abilities. He knew he couldn't just perform any ordinary toon tricks; he had to master his powers, and learn new tricks that would wow the crowd. Already, Yakko was putting a lot of pressure on himself for the big night, but he had another task at hand that needed to be dealt with first before he could focus on himself:
"Reach into your hammerspace, Wakko– you too, Dot – and pull out a banana cream pie."
Yakko needed to coach his younger siblings in using their powers. This wasn't going to be a solo act; Wakko, Dot, and Jake were going to do it alongside him. He was confident in Jake being able to use his powers on stage. He shared that general interest in toon skills that he had, and he knew his way through the inner workings of toon ability. But Wakko and Dot were much younger, and much less confident in their toon abilities. They needed to get better at using their powers anyway, so Yakko figured this could be a good leadway for them to develop their skills.
But Yakko quickly realized that would be easier said than done.
Already, Wakko and Dot showed signs of struggling. As they reached back into their respective hammerspaces, their older brother could see just how much effort they were putting themselves through.
"C'mon! You can do it!" He encouraged them, "Think of what the pie looks like! What it tastes like! Think of how hard you'd laugh after throwing a pie at my face!"
He was sitting on the edge of his bed in anticipation, refusing to blink as he stared at his siblings. He kept encouraging them, reassuring them that they can do it, and to not give up hope. Wakko and Dot continued to struggle and sweat. They gritted their teeth, their face twisting and turning in all directions. Yakko was beginning to worry that his siblings might break at any moment from all the pressure.
They're gonna do it. They have to do it. He prayed to himself that his siblings would triumph, that together, his two siblings would extract two identical banana cream pies that they could throw at his face, just like he had seen in the cartoons.
Wakko and Dot gritted their teeth, sweat bouncing off their faces, determination radiating in their eyes. They continued reaching far back into their hammerspaces – Yakko could tell that something was beginning to form in the palm of their hands…
Less than a minute later, they did.
Wakko's determined mein became a look of surprise. Yakko felt his heart jump; his brother felt something, he just knew it! Dot followed, wearing the same shocked expression that her immediate older brother possesed.
Yakko couldn't believe what he was seeing. His own siblings, his precious little sibs, had succeeded in using their hammerspace.
"YES! you did it!" Yakko shouted, leaping up onto his feet in excitement. This was it. "Now, show me those pies of yours."
He felt like he was on cloud nine as he grinned from ear to ear. Yakko was thrilled, and even that was an understatement. He could already smell those pies, and it smelled like they were fresh out of the oven. His siblings whipped their arms around to show him their hands and…Yakko felt his excitement arode within seconds.
"Muffins?"
He couldn't believe it. After his siblings put in so much effort and all that turned up were two dinky muffins!? And they weren't even banana muffins; they were BLUEBERRY muffins!
"Yum! These muffins smell good," said Dot, taking a bite of her muffin. "Mmm! And they taste good, too," she added.
"Yeah! I love muffins!" Wakko agreed. He tossed the bite sized muffin into his mouth, swallowing it whole.
"But-but…b-but they're muffins!" He exclaimed, showing deep dissatisfaction, "You were supposed to make pies! Not muffins! And they aren't even banana muffins for crying out loud!"
"What's this about banana muffins?"
Yakko turned around when he heard a voice. As if the moment wasn't awkward enough, Jake was standing by the doorway witnessing the whole thing. And, by sheer coincidence, he just so happened to be holding a banana in his hand, as if irony was going to fix this situation.
"Jake!" Wakko smiled when he saw the fox, "Me and Dot just made muffins with our hammerspaces."
"Even though I wanted you to make banana cream pies," Yakko added, skeptically, eyeing his younger brother, "We're supposed to practice for our act, remember?"
"Oh," Wakko squeaked, disappointed that he had let his big brother down.
"Let 'em have this win, Yakko," Jake told him, "Food in particular is hard to create with your hammerspace. I wasn't able to master creating food until I was eight. That's impressive for a six year old."
Yakko sighed, his lips forming into a frown. He knew he was being harsh on his brother and sister over a silly accident, but he deeply wants his siblings to get good at using their powers.
"I suppose you're right," he admitted, "but still, I want all of us to do good the night of the talent show, Wakko and Dot included."
"I mean, I get it. It is going to be a big night," Jake figured. He peeled his banana halfway and bit into it. After swallowing his first bite, he asked: "What about you? How's your practice coming along?"
"Pretty good," Yakko shrugged. "I'm thinking about doing some hammerspace, some squash and stretch, and the banana cream pies as you saw."
The fox nodded as he chewed on his banana, then swallowed. "That's cool. Are you gonna do anything crazy?"
"Does morphing into a walrus count?"
Jake laughed. "That's definitely crazy," he chortled, "You know, dude, I was thinking about something."
"About what?" Yakko asked, growing intrigued.
Jake hesitated for a moment before elaborating: "What if we did the handcuff trick?"
Yakko's eyebrows raised. Was his friend being serious? He remembers reading about the handcuff trick in one of his toonology books, specifically one about toon culture. Toon criminals used the trick back in the day in order to escape the police. In spite of its origins, this trick has been used in performance several times. Yakko has never done this specific trick before, but he heard it's one of the hardest toon tricks one could master.
"Uhh…I'm not really sure." He didn't know whether or not he could successfully pull this trick off.
"Ah, c'mon! It's worth a shot!" Jake told him hopefully.
While he was unsure about the idea, Yakko decided to give it a try. Jake pulled a pair of metal handcuffs from his hammerspace. He handed his half eaten banana to Wakko, who was most delighted, and put the handcuffs tightly around Yakko's wrist. On the count of three, Yakko started yanking his arms against the shackles trying to break free. He squirmed and wiggled his hands around, but the cuffs wouldn't budge. He knew that he must have looked like a moron right now as he uselessly shuffled his hands around behind his back.
He gave up less than a minute later. Yakko shouted at his friend, demanding that he take the shackles off his wrists at once. Jake swiftly took the cuffs off his hands in a jiffy. Yakko took a glance at his arms, noticing the fresh red marks that had formed around his wrists.
"I knew that was a bad idea," Yakko groaned, pathetically.
"You weren't doing it right," his friend indicated, "Watch me. I'll show you how it's done!"
Yakko watched as his friend put the shackles around his own wrists. Once he checked that the cuffs were on tight, Jake started the attempt to break free. Unlike Yakko, the fox was moving his wrists in a much faster motion, jingling the metal cuffs around like windchimes. He tinkered with the cuffs for about twenty seconds and, like magic, the shackles slipped off of his wrists and thumped onto the floor.
Yakko's jaw shot open. "WOAH!" He yelled. He could not believe what he had just seen. "B-but…what? How?"
"I just got a lot of practice with it," Jake told him bluntly, "Can you tell I've done this before?"
"Bro, that was incredible!" Yakko exclaimed. Then, a frown puckered his face. "I wish I was able to do that with such ease as you did."
Jake chuckled. "Ah, don't discourage yourself, buddy," he said, placing a firm hand on his shoulder, "How 'bout this: I do the cuff trick, and you can manage the rest. How does that sound?"
Yakko smiled. "Thanks, Jake. You know, I don't know what I'd do without you."
"What are friends for, am I right?"
October 5, 1991
The day of the talent show came sooner than expected. After practicing hours upon hours in preparation for the big night, Yakko could say for certain that he was fully prepared, and was bracing himself for whatever he might face on that stage.
In his bedroom, Yakko was frantically getting ready. Tonight, he was wearing a blue button down shirt and brown slacks, with a red bowtie placed under his shirt collar. It was different from his normal attire, but perfect for this night. He had also chosen special outfits for his siblings to wear as well. For Dot, he picked out a bright pink skirt and black leotard for her to wear, after she had pestered him to make her look like a ballerina. Wakko's outfit was tricky to find. He tried out a couple of button ups on him, but all of them were much too big on Wakko. As a last minute resort, he chose a blue, turtleneck sweater for his brother, so they could at least match in color.
After he got himself dressed–and more importantly, his siblings dressed, Yakko decided to read through the itinerary sheet that Mrs. Rentman had given him this morning. On the paper was a list of names. Specifically, the names of the children's acts in order of appearance. Scanning through the list, he found his and Jake's name.
"Looks like we're on seventh, sibs!" Yakko turned to his siblings, who were sitting on the bottom bunk of their bunk beds. "Aren't you excited?"
"I guess so," answered Wakko, picking at the hem of his sweater.
"Cindove," Dot followed, with even less enthusiasm.
"Hey, where is your guy's spirit?" He folded his arms, raising his eyebrow at both his siblings. "Aren't you excited for tonight? Aren't you excited to go out on stage?"
These words seemed to do the trick, as he soon noticed a toothy grin form on his baby sister's face.
"I can show everyone how cute I am in my skirt," Dot said, lifting her skirt up.
"I can burp to the beat of Yankee Doodle!" Exclaimed Wakko. He inhaled through his mouth before releasing a series of loud belches, almost in a synchronized way.
"Ew, gross!" Dot winced, recoiling away from her brother.
"That's enough, Wakko," Yakko told his brother in a disapproving voice. "Besides, we're going to do toon tricks, remember?"
"Oh, yeah," Wakko realized, "I forgot. Sorry."
Yakko knew that his siblings didn't understand the weight of this night as much as he did. While he was slightly disappointed that neither Wakko or Dot sounded all that excited for the talent show, he hoped that their enthusiasm would flourish as the night progressed. Admittedly, he was feeling as anxious as ever, but he still felt a spark of excitement within himself, knowing that tonight would be unforgettable.
"The stakes are high, sibs," he addressed to his siblings firmly, "Together, us four will put on the best performance the world has ever seen. That's right! We will be the stars of the show!"
"If you say so," muttered Dot under her breath.
He felt proud of himself when he phrased it like that. 'The stars of the show'. It made him feel more like a movie star rather than being an orphan. Jake had told him once that having a high self esteem was the best thing you could do for yourself, and boy, did he understand that value.
Jake, he remembered. The thought jogged his memory. "Oh, gosh! Hang tight, sibs. I'll be right back."
Without much further explanation, Yakko scurried out of his bedroom and darted down the hall. Dammit! Why didn't I think to check on him sooner!? Yakko hoped that the fox was getting ready at this point. The show was going to start two hours from now, and they had to leave for the city park in less than one. He was determined to make this night perfect, and one little slip up could ruin his streak.
Yakko reached Jake's bedroom in a flash. He was in such a hurry that he didn't even bother to knock as he bursted into his friend's bedroom. He was surprised to find that Jake was still wearing his normal clothes. The fox was bent down towards the floor, frantically packing stuff into a backpack. Yakko raised an eyebrow. He had no idea why his friend was doing this, or why he wasn't dressed up yet.
"Jake!" Yakko scolded, "What are you doing?"
Jake whipped his head around to face Yakko, a nervous look on his face.
"Y-yakko," he spluttered, but Yakko cut him off.
"Why aren't you dressed yet? You know that we're leaving for the park in less than an hour, right?" Jake stared at Yakko with abnormal silence. Yakko stamped his foot in frustration. "The talent show is tonight, Jake! Me and you have been preparing for this night for two weeks! You haven't forgotten, have you? Please tell me you haven't forgotten!"
Yakko was appalled. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Has Jake really forgotten about the talent show? No, that wasn't possible. The fox had a stellar memory, where he could remember the tiniest of details of a particular situation. He watched as the fox slowly stood up, his face was drenched in guilt.
"I'm sorry, Yakko," he said, almost in a whisper, "but I can't come to the show with you."
Yakko's scowl was soon replaced by a wide open jaw. He was flabbergasted.
"W-WWHAT! B-But..but why-"
"I'm leaving."
He gasped. His eyebrows shot up. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Jake leaving? Right before what was supposed to be THEIR big night? No. That can NOT be true. He must have misheard that, right?
"No…no, you have to be joking! Y-you can't be leaving!"
The fox shook his head. "I'm afraid it's true," he admitted, sadly, "Rachel told me twenty minutes ago that I was being adopted. I didn't want it to happen today, but..here we are, I suppose."
Yakko froze. He didn't know what to say, much less did he know how to react. He never thought about the possibility of Jake leaving him one day, and he hated that it had to happen today. Of all the worst case scenarios that could ruin this night, this was the most dreadful thing to happen to him in an extremely long time.
He tried to fight back the urge to cry, but he ended up releasing a couple of tears anyway. It was difficult to not cry in this moment, especially when his best friend was about to leave him forever.
After a long moment of silence between the two, Yakko finally spoke:
"But…what about the talent show?" He asks in a pathetic whine. He could only stare at his best friend, his vision of the fox slightly blurred by fresh tears.
"You're gonna do fine, Yakko," answered Jake, firmness in his voice. He placed both his hands on Yakko's shoulder, locking eyes with him. "You know exactly what to do. You have been waiting for this day for so long now. Don't give in to sadness just because I'm not there. And I'm terribly sorry that I won't."
Yakko could see that guilt in his friend's eyes. He could tell that this was as hard for Jake than it was for him.
"No, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault," Yakko told his friend, desperate to lighten the moment, "You always wanted to be adopted by a loving family, and now, you're finally getting that chance. If anything, you should be happy that you're finally getting a home. A real home."
"I guess you're right." Jake's eyes watered, then, he flew his arms around his best friend, hugging him tight. "I'm gonna miss you, Yakko," he told him as he cried into his shoulder, "You'll always be my best friend. Never forget that."
With tears filling up in his eyes, Yakko squeezed his friend tighter. "Right back at you, buddy," he whimpered.
For the next minute and a half, both boys stood in place hugging each other, exchanging tears and many heartfelt goodbyes. Yakko was not ready to say goodbye to his friend forever. He knew that he would probably never see Jake again for the rest of his life. He was going to lose the one person who made him feel so happy during such horrible times.
Yakko didn't want to separate the hug, but he knew that he had to leave for the talent show soon, and Jake had to resume packing his belongings. He wiped away his tears, still warm and fresh, attempting to hide the fact that he was just balling his eyes out to his best friend.
"I guess this is goodbye, isn't it?" Yakko said, his voice low. "Thank you..so much..for saving me from Giant that day."
"I only did it because I care," the fox replied, "because that's what friends do; they look out for each other."
Yakko nodded his head in agreement, albeit, sadly. He was distraught, no doubt, but he still shot Jake a crooked smile upon hearing this advice. Man, was he going to miss hearing Jake's advice.
"Thanks..my friend," Yakko complimented his friend one last time as he started making his way towards the door.
"You're welcome–and hey! One last thing!"
Yakko looked back, surprised. The fox was staring down towards the floor, that guilty look on his face returning once more.
"Tell your siblings I said goodbye," Jake told Yakko, "and that I love them."
That's another thing: Jake never got the chance to say goodbye to his siblings. He knew that the fox had just as big of an impact on his siblings as he did for him. He could feel a second batch of tears filling up in his pupils, but all he could do in that moment was nod his head.
"I will," he answered, simply. He gave one last sad glance at Jake, waving goodbye, before he turned away and started walking down the hall back towards his room. Despite the horrible realization that he just made, he had to press on.
You have to do the talent show, Yakko told himself, Don't let this get you down!
Dusk had fallen quickly. In a city park, the sun was slowly getting over the horizon line, ducking behind tall, lush tree branches and high mountain tops. It was well past six o'clock, and the talent show was well underway at this point.
Yakko was standing behind a humongous red certain that seperated backstage from the audience. There were other kids standing near him, around the same age as Yakko, practicing their acts. A magician rehearsing pulling a rabbit out of a hat, a squirrel telling jokes to himself and making himself laugh, and an elephant wearing a pretty pink tutu, just like that seen on the pamphlet they have been given.
But Yakko was not rehearsing at all.
"Yakko?" A voice squeaked.
He looked down at his side. His brother was gazing up at him, confusion in his eyes, dry tear marks flattened his strands of fur.
"What's wrong, Wakko?"
"What are we gonna do without Jake?"
It was a simple question, but it still made him tear up. The truth is that Yakko didn't know what he was going to do now that Jake was out of the picture. Together, they had planned this whole night out, decided what they were doing and how they needed to manipulate their abilities for performance. Without the fox as his guide, Yakko was thrown off balance completely, and he was totally lost.
'You have been waiting for this day for so long now. Don't give in to sadness just because I'm not there.'
But it was so hard not to, not after finding out that Jake was leaving him.
His brother and sister were just as distraught when they found out that Jake was being adopted. Wakko cried into his shoulder the whole bus ride to the park. This was just as much of a detriment to them as was for him, and now they were looking at him in despair, appearing just as lost as he was.
Yakko took a long deep breath, attempting to think of a good reply that would somehow fix this insufferable problem.
"We'll try our best," he said at last, "That's what Jake would want us to do. It's going to be hard, but we'll give it all we got."
That was partially a lie. Jake would more likely tell Wakko to never give up hope, his go-to line for situations like these. But Yakko was so befuddled right now from hard emotions that he couldn't think straight. Wakko didn't verbally reply to his attempt at encouragement. Instead, he nodded his head sadly. Taking a glance at Dot, the girl looked just as bummed as her brother. Yakko knew that he had to say something that would lift their spirits up, and not anything sappy, either.
"Think of those banana cream pies," Yakko told them, "Don't you like banana cream pies?" He was so desperate that he almost yelled out in joy when he saw Wakko give a weak smile.
"I like pie," his brother replied softly.
"Is it okay if I throw a pie at your face?" Dot asked, as if to get his permission.
Yakko made a face. "What kind of question is that? Of course you can!" With a mischievous grin, Dot reached back into her hammerspace. "B-but not now, sis," he finished, not wanting to get spluttered by a pie just yet.
"Ahem," a voice piped up, "You're on next."
Yakko's eyes widened. He looked up to see Mrs. Rentman standing in front of him. She was holding a clipboard in her hand, with a pencil tucked behind her ear.
"Already?" He asked, surprised.
The woman nodded. "Yep. After Rosie and Rebecca are done with their act, then it'll be you and your siblings' turn on stage."
Yakko swallowed. He knew that this moment was coming. Peeking his head out from behind the parted curtains, he glimpsed at the stage. Two pandas were currently performing a gymnastics routine on stage. The crowd that stood before the stage was clapping and cheering as the twins twirled their pink ribbons. Yakko had seen these twins before, and they were good. Really good.
But that crowd. All those people rallied by the stage, watching everything. Their eyes were in some sort of trance as they stared endlessly as every child did their performance. Soon, Yakko would be that child on stage. Everyone. Every single person in that crowd would be watching his performance. If he were to slip up, then everyone would notice. Everyone would see him blunder on stage. Yakko couldn't take that sort of humility.
"Are you okay, Yakko?"
Yakko's mind was pulled out of his thoughts, Snapping him out of his daze. He could see now that Mrs. Rentman possessed a look of concern on her face. He knew that she could see his fear, which only made him feel worse.
"I…can't do it," he confessed, his voice trembling, "I'm sorry, b-but I just can't!"
Mrs. Rentman made a face. "What do you mean you can't? Of course you can! You've used your abilities plenty of times before. The only difference here is that you have an audience."
"An audience that's gonna mock me," grunted Yakko.
"Who says they're gonna mock you?"
It was an honest question, and was not asked out of spite. But for one reason or another, whether it was the way she worded it or the context of the situation, it got to Yakko's head.
"Well, if I mess up like an idiot, then EVERYONE WILL!" he snapped at the woman, out of his control, "One mistake and I'm done for! Everyone will laugh at me! Everyone will BOO me! And…and…"
He was so flustered that he ran out of breath. He couldn't speak anymore. He was breathing heavily through his nose, his heart was racing, and he felt like he was on the brink of tears. Mrs. Rentman said nothing for the first five seconds after Yakko had lashed out at her. She looked him straight in the eye and, clearing her throat, started speaking firmly to him.
"Yakko, please don't put that kind of pressure on yourself," she spoke to him in a calming tone, "No one's going to mock you. I promise you."
Yakko nodded, eyes looking towards the ground. The woman put a finger under his chin, forcing his head upwards to meet her eyes.
"I know that you are feeling anxious because Jake is not here, but you can do this. You're a master at your abilities, and you're smart about them, too. I know in my heart that you would not be here if you weren't so talented."
Yakko's eyes sparkled. Despite his repelling anxiety, he found himself smiling. He realized that he was getting too in his head for his own good. He wasn't bad at his skills; he just needed a confidence boost. Even though Jake was not here, Mrs. Rentman was, and, right now, that was good enough for me.
"Your right," Yakko said as he hugged Mrs. Rentman tightly, "If Jake were here, he would want me to cheer up-"
"-And never give up hope," the woman finished, chuckeling.
"Exactly." Yakko concured. It was a shame that Jake was not here; they'd be singing that silly piece of advice at the top of their lungs on repeat to no end. But if he were going to do this at all, then he was going to do it for Jake.
'You just gotta cheer up, and never give up hope.'
Soon, the panda's had finished their act and had proceeded backstage. It was Yakko's turn now. He stood behind the red certain, holding his sibling's hand, grinning down at both of them. This was it. Two weeks of practicing and a truckload of hardships had led to this moment. His heart was pounding in his chest, and a swarm of butterflies were fluttering around inside his stomach. He closed his eyes and took a long breath. He knew he had to be brave. He couldn't let himself down, not after all he's been through.
"This is for your, buddy," Yakko whispered to himself, at a volume so quiet that nobody else heard it but him.
He heard Mrs. Rentman shuffle past him, pushing past the curtain and onto center stage. Gripping a microphone in her hand, she spoke directly to the audience.
"Ladies and gentleman! For our next act, three toons will test their zany abilities to the max! Without further ado, put your hands together for Yakko, Wakko, and Dot!"
Yakko opened his eyes. At that moment, he bravely stepped out on stage, his siblings walking by his side. He was blinded by the bright orange light that shined upon the mighty stage, lighting up the night sky. The crowd gave him and his siblings a rousing applause. As Yakko drew closer, Mrs Rentman swiftly handed him the microphone with a wink, before she disappeared behind the red curtain. Afterwards, Yakko turned back to the crowd of people that surrounded the stage. It was incredible how many people showed up to this event, how many people who had come to see him perform.
He couldn't believe that any of this was happening, that he was actually doing this. Jake would be so proud, Yakko thought, If he were here with me, he'd pat me on the shoulder, and I would do the same.
The clapping soon started to die down. Everyone sat back down in their seats, ready to witness the next performance. All eyes were now on Yakko. Everyone was watching him, impatiently waiting for him to say something, do anything. He swallowed his spit, holding the microphone close to his mouth.
"Uuh…Hi, everybody," he said meekly, wincing as the microphone made a popping sound.
He cringed, laughing nervously. He was not expecting to speak at all, and upon being given the microphone, he said the cheesiest thing that came to his mind. The audience was dead silent. Nobody said a word. It was so quiet that he could hear crickets chirping in tree branches that hung over the audience. Yakko started to sweat, feeling the hot stage light beating down on his fur. He was now starting to regret wearing such a tight shirt.
"Go on!" A voice hissed.
Startled by the noise, Yakko turned his head back towards the red curtain. Mrs. Rentman was poking her head out of the gap in the curtain, giving him a rapid hand motion. "Get on with it!" she was saying.
Yakko knew he was stalling. He was stuttering over himself, much more than he anticipated. But he was nervous, which was totally understandable, because he was speaking to over three hundred people right now, all of them staring at him with a blank face. But he also knew that he needed to get things moving, because if he didn't, the crowd would get bored and uninterested. He sure would if he were witnessing himself fumble like this.
Quickly taking a deep breath, he shot both his siblings a head nod, a signal that it was time for them to start. Wakko and Dot understood, grins attached to eager faces. Standing in the spotlight, Yakko faced the crowd with more confidence than ever. He once again put the microphone up to his mouth and spoke.
"My name is Yakko Warner..and- and for my first trick, I will pull a, uh, seagull out of my hammerspace."
Getting into the swing of things, Yakko dug his hand behind his back, reaching into his hammerspace. This was a classic trick. He has read several times about cartoon characters pulling birds out of thin air and allowing them to fly away. He had done the trick before with grasshoppers, so he knew he could do it. It was just a matter of if he could do it on this scale.
He thought long and hard, reaching far back, way back into his hammerspace. He could see that seagull in his mind, flapping his feathers against the wind, flying high over the sunny beaches of California. He thought and thought, but he still couldn't feel anything. The audience watched on in anticipation, all eyes glued to the sight of Yakko using all his might to make this bird appear. But Yakko no longer cared about the audience; he only cared about getting this right.
Never give up hope. Never give up hope. Never give up hope, he kept telling himself. He had repeated this phrase many times through times of hardship, in times where he felt helpless, in times where he felt scared, in times where he felt angry. But never has the phrase been more important than at this very moment, the moment that could make or break his performance.
Yakko reached far back into his hammerspace, further back than he had ever gone before. Never give up hope. Never give up hope. He continued to repeat the phrase in his head, and continued to picture the sight of the seagull in his mind, not letting his brain stop thinking about either one of these things for even a second. He dug further into his hammerspace, squinting his eyes as he dug around in the core of his body. He had to find that seagull, he had to, he had…he had…
…he had found it.
Was this true? It couldn't be, can it? Was that the wing of a seagull forming in the palm of his hand?
Yes. Yes it was.
Yakko's eyes grew wide. It was working. He could feel the seagull at his fingertips. The feathers, the beak, its sharp claws. All the parts were coming together beautifully. Slowly, but surely, the seagull was taking form, and only when Yakko was confident that he felt the parts of the seagull had fully come together did he remove his hand from the depths of his hammerspace.
And when he did, there was a gleaming white seagull in the palm of his hand.
Yakko looked at the bird in pure astonishment, his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe this. He had to pinch his arm to remind himself that he wasn't dreaming, and that all that he had just done had actually happened. He then looked at the audience, jaws dropped to the ground. Nobody said a word. Everyone was dead silent.
The seagull stood still on top of Yakko's hand. Yakko could not believe the bird hadn't flown away yet and…was it just him or was the bird smiling?
"Ta da!" The bird squawked, gesturing it's feathers like hands.
Yakko was dumbfounded. Not only did he create a seagull with his hammerspace, but it could talk! It flippin' talks! And only after the bird had spoken did it fly away. It flew over the crowd spectacularly, taking off into the night sky.
After taking in everything that had just happened, he turned his attention back towards the audience, looking as stunned as ever. Thinking about what had just happened, Yakko was starting to find it rather funny. He laughed to himself and, unexpectedly, a witty remark flew into his head, and out through his mouth.
"Yeah! What the bird said!"
The crowd continued to stare at him in awe. Then, a man standing in the first row started clapping, followed by his wife, followed by his son, followed by his brother. A couple more people followed suit, followed by a couple more, and, soon enough, the entire audience had started clapping, and cheering, and hooting, and hollering. Yakko beamed, his smile glistening in the orange light. He shined his pearly whites at the audience as he took his bow.
He couldn't believe that he had actually done it. Successfully, too, with zero flaws whatsoever. He really wished Jake was here to witness that. If he was, he would give Yakko the biggest hug imaginable, and they would both be cheering and hollering as loud as the audience is right now.
But for now, Yakko celebrated the glory of the moment.
Mrs. Rentman walked out on stage with a huge smile on her face. She approached Yakko and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him in for a tight embrace. The audience only grew louder after that. Yakko didn't even care if it was possibly embarrassing that over three hundred people were watching him hug his caretaker. He was so happy right now that he could hug everyone in the audience.
Yakko grinned seeing the smiles on everyone's faces, knowing that he had been the highlight of everyone's night. The orange light was shining upon everyone– wait, now the light appeared white, no, blindingly white, as white as…
…Whipped cream?
It took a moment for Yakko to realize that he had been hit with not one, but two banana cream pies. One in the face and one in the butt. Yakko peeled the pie tin off of his face, his face smothered in whipped cream. The audience was soon thrown into a fit of laughter as they watched Yakko awkwardly peel a pie tin off of his rear end. Yakko's face had turned pink. He could see Wakko and Dot rolling around on the ground, laughing their butts off as Yakko flicked whipped cream off of his butt.
But he was so satisfied with his own performance that he couldn't possibly be mad at his sibling's for throwing pies at him. He had encouraged them, after all. He had shown off his skills to everybody, so it was only fair that his siblings got their chance too, even if it came at his own detriment.
They deserved it, after everything he had put them through these past two weeks.
"That was amazing, Yakko! I knew you could do it!"
"That's just what happens when you don't give up hope," replied Yakko, as he wiped his face off with a towel.
He had returned backstage with Mrs Rentman, wearing the proudest grin on his face. He still couldn't believe that his performance went as well as it did. He practically blew the audiences' expectations of his abilities, but frankly, he blew his own expectations of the capabilities he has with his hammerspace.
Wakko and Dot were standing by his side, looking equally as happy as he was.
"Let me tell ya, sibs," Yakko turned his attention towards his siblings, "Those were some mighty tasty banana cream pies you made!" He licked his lips as he patted his belly delightfully. "I guess your practice really paid off, didn't it?"
"We weren't really doing it for the act," admitted Dot, "we just really wanted to throw pies at you."
"Yeah!" Nodded Wakko, "And it was funny!"
Yakko chuckled. "Oh, sibs! Come here!"
Yakko opened up his arms and allowed his siblings to run into him. He embraced his arms around Wakko and Dot, kissing their foreheads. While he did a majority of the heavy lifting leading up to this night, he knew that his siblings put in just as much effort to make tonight as great as it was.
Thank you, Jake. Yakko said in his head, hoping that somewhere, Jake knew just how thankful he was for being his support buddy through and through.
"Uh, Yakko?" Wakko tugged on his pant leg.
"What is it, Wakkarotti?" Yakko asked with a smile.
"Don't call me that!" He whined.
Yakko laughed, stroking his brothers' head. "But why? It's only your real name."
"I know, but– Yakko? I really have to use the potty."
Yakko sighed. He never knew why, but it always seemed like his little brother had the urge to go to the bathroom. He himself was completely fine, but his brother was much worse at holding his bladder than he is. It was probably due to all the food he shoved down his throat on a daily basis, which now wants to rapidly exit through the back end of his body.
It was always an annoyance when one of these potty emergencies would come up, but Yakko had learned a long time ago that ignoring such an emergency would eventually end in disaster.
"I'll be right back," Yakko told Mrs. Rentman, "I have to take Wakko to use the bathroom."
"That's fine," the woman said, "There are porta potties right outside to your left. You should be able to find it."
"Got it," Yakko replied, giving a thumbs up. He grabbed his brother's hand and he led him off the stage.
They climbed down a small flight of stairs and stepped onto a patch of grass. There was a row of porta potties lined up against a chain-linked fence right in between the stage and where the audience was sitting. Wakko was making a face, his movements were slow and wobbly as he clenched his buttcheeks together. His older brother could tell that he was trying his best to hold it in until they reached the bathroom.
"Okay, Wakko!" Yakko told his brother once they reached an available potty, "Do what you gotta do!"
The moment that he let go of Wakko's hand, the boy went flying into the porta potty so fast that he nearly knocked the sealed container over. He must've really had to go, assumed Yakko, Either that, or he's trying out his toon speed.
Next to the porta potty was a long line of tables. On these tables were rows of water bottles, which all cost a dollar per bottle. It was part of the foster centers' attempt to drum up as much money as possible from the folks who showed up to this event. Mrs. Rentman has told him many times about how crucial it was that they get as much dough as possible from the fundraiser, so that they can use the money to reinvest in the foster center.
Yakko knew the importance of money. It was something he learned back when he was living with his biological parents. Less money meant less food. Less food meant less to eat. But since being put into foster care, Yakko didn't need to consider this value as much as he used to. Everything was handed to him on a silver platter. Everything he received was free of charge. He scoffed when he noticed a bucket sitting on the table, filled to the brim with one dollar bins from the several patrons who had passed by on their way in.
It was then that he realized that he was the only person here right now. Most of the water bottles had already been bought and taken, but there were still a couple dozen left sitting on the table untouched. And now that he thought about it, Yakko was feeling rather thirsty.
"Don't mind if I do," he shrugged. Yakko grabbed a water bottle, snapped off the cap, and started to guzzle it down, replenishing his thirst.
"Hey! Kid!"
Yakko's eyes grew wide. He was so startled that he choked on water as he swallowed. He coughed, tears forming in his eyes from choking. Clearing his throat, he eyes shifted to the person who just called the man. He was a cartoon man taking up the form of a human. He had a handsome set of black hair, and was wearing a red button down shirt and blue jeans held up by a golden belt buckle. The man was holding a water bottle in one hand, and had just thrown a dollar bill into the change bucket with the other.
Yakko swallowed. He had just been caught red handed stealing. He didn't recall any other caretakers coming along with him besides Mrs. Rentman. If he was going to get scolded by this man, then surely he wasn't in that much trouble. Maybe he could get off with the excuse of being an orphan who desperately needed a drink.
"Hey, aren't you the boy who pulled that seagull out of your hammerspace?" The man asked.
Yakko wiped the sweat off his forehead. He was relieved. This man for sure saw him take that water bottle without paying, and he didn't acknowledge it at all. He knew that if he wanted to get away with this, then he needed to play it cool.
"Uhh…y-yeah, I am," answered Yakko. He really needed to stop making that horrid sound.
Despite a bit of hesitation on his part, his response sparked a bright grin from the stranger, which Yakko could only see as a good thing.
"I know it's a little redundant of me for saying this, but that was incredible!" the man praised, "I'll admit, I was getting mighty bored until your act came and blew me away!"
Yakko blushed. This wasn't the first compliment on his act that he has heard tonight, but hearing those words from a member of the audience made him feel totally different.
"Well, it's not the best I can do," Yakko said, rubbing his arm, "I have a bunch of tricks up my sleeve that I've learned over the years."
"Really?" The man said, expressing interest, "How many of your toon powers have you mastered so far?"
"Quite a few, actually," admitted Yakko. He was starting to feel more comfortable as he spoke, "You know, my aunt first taught me how to use my hammerspace when I was five years old, and I've just sort of worked my way up from there."
"Really? Wow! You must be very talented then."
"I mean, I'm no expert, but-"
"Oh, and humble, too!" The toon man walked around the table and approached Yakko with a wide grin on his face. "You know, I've been to many talent shows in my days, both toons and humans alike, and I've never met someone who was as sure of themselves as you are. I hope you're proud of yourself, kid, because I sure am proud of you."
Yakko gasped. His mouth hung open slightly. He didn't know what to say, or even what to think of the amount of praise that he had received from a man that he didn't even know.
"Wow, um..thank you. You– you're too kind, sir."
"You're welcome. And no need to call me sir; sir is too professional." The man that stuck his hand out in front of him. "You can call me Joey."
Flattered, Yakko shook the man's hand. "I'm Yakko. Yakko Warner."
"As in Warner Brothers' studio?"
"Yeah, well..cindove. I think it's just a coincidence."
Joey laughed. "Welp, it's nice to meet you, Yakko. And thanks for making my night a whole lot better."
With a smile, Yakko watched as the stranger strode away, dangling the bottle of water loosely in his grip. And just like that, the man was gone. He could only feel a tremendous amount of pride in himself, knowing that he was able to make somebody's night just by doing what he knows best.
Soon after, Wakko emerged from the porter potty, pulling his pants up to his waist. He bent his knees and leapt out of the stall and onto the grassy ground.
"Feel better?" Asked Yakko, putting an arm around his brother.
"Oh, yes!" Wakko drawled, "I really needed to poop."
Yakko couldn't help a dry chuckle to that proud, honest statement his brother just said.
"Alright, we don't need to go into specifics," he said, deterring from the subject. "Now, come on. Dot is probably wondering where we are."
He grabbed his brother's hand and the two brothers started walking back towards the stage. The show would be over shortly.