A/N: And in this chapter, we actually have a little bit of an interaction with Wile E. and Bugs, with a few other guests, too (hence a reference from "To Hare is Human"). But not before having a moment of character development for Kate, that is. In this one, William Shatner portrays Kate's father and Jennifer Aniston portrays her mother, both parents of which are, let's face it, killjoys.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Chapter 8: The Desert Operative
The next morning, Kate woke up and noticed, upon going to the bathroom in which there was a mirror, to discover that she has rabbit teeth.
"Oh, great. Now, I have rabbit teeth…", Kate groaned.
Suddenly, she realized something she nearly forgot as a kid. The time in her life when she actually had a sense of humor.
"I have rabbit teeth…", Kate said.
In the past, according to the flashback playing at this moment, Kate was a little 8-year-old girl quite eager to watch her favorite cartoons, specifically Looney Tunes. That was for one reason: Bugs Bunny. Even a short in which he and Daffy gang up on Elmer on account of Elmer Season in the end had her laughing.
"Shh. Be very, very quiet. We're hunting Elmers.", Bugs whispered.
Daffy then laughed after that, making Kate giggle joyfully. Later, she was even pretending to be a rabbit as she was hopping along the room, that is, until her parents appeared, making her stop, even if only for a moment.
"Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad.", Kate greeted almost flatly.
"Katherine, have you been watching that cartoon again?", her mother asked.
She hesitated. But after a moment, she conceded.
"Uh-huh.", Kate groaned.
"Katherine, how many times must we say it? Working on cartoons would never amount to anything in life.", Kate's father scolded.
"And if you pursued a career in working with cartoons, your accomplishments would amount to nothing but loneliness, misery, and shame. For all we know, it would even turn into a documentary about filmmaking. You don't want that, do you?", Kate's mother added.
"No.", Kate responded.
"Well, then. Why don't we just turn off the TV so we can get started?", Kate's father suggested.
Back in the present, Kate was now outside.
"And to think they tried to get me to be a lawyer… Not like it worked for them. They died before I graduated High School.", Kate said to herself.
Sad as she was, she was starting to smile as she, for the first time in her life, saw a silver lining.
"You know? Maybe becoming a cartoon isn't so bad after all.", Kate said to herself with a small smile.
And after she said that, her cheeks became as round and furry as Bugs' were. Then, she felt a ticklish tingle in her feet causing her to giggle and look down to see her feet. Her shoes then showed a comedic shape of her growing rabbit feet.
"Oh, look. I even have rabbit feet.", Kate grinned.
DJ was the first to notice and he was surprised.
"Are you okay, Kate?"
Kate gasped from hearing DJ talk to her, snapping her out of focus.
"No! Uh…, maybe? What do you mean?", Kate asked.
"It's just that… that you were happy. You were never that happy.", DJ responded.
"Well…, I did a bit of self-reflection and I figured I could try and loosen up for a change.", Kate explained.
"Huh. Well, it's nice to finally see you smile. Guess I just wasn't used to seeing you that happy. Ever, in fact.", DJ responded.
"I get that. Well, now I do.", Kate responded.
Robyn, Tom, and Jerry were the next to notice and become surprised, seeing as Daffy was sweating enough to a point that his very beak was cooking an egg already and Bugs was dressed as a cook as he flipped said egg.
"Did she have a couple of screws loose or somethin', Robyn?", Tom asked as Jerry got out a card that showed a screw and a baseball, and with a question mark next to it, yet.
"I don't know, Tom. Either way…, she actually seems happy.", Robyn said with a grin near the end.
"So, where do we go from here? We can't exactly go the rest of the way by car now that it's out of gas.", Jerry asked.
"There's nothing but a big rock for 10 miles in that, that... that, and that direction. So…", DJ said before betting on a coin.
"I say we go that way.", DJ advised before heading to the direction he put it.
"Really? We're all going that way because you decided in a coin toss?", Jerry asked.
"Yeah, real smart, mister.", Tom concurred.
"Say, who are you kidding here? We're goners!", Daffy gasped as he's dragged for a moment while grabbing onto Kate's leg before Kayla picked him up and held onto him as her
"Water! I can't die now. Think of the millions of children who want me to have the diamond. Oh, the poor children!", Daffy sobbed.
As the group continued trekking through the forsaken desert, DJ noticed something in the distance.
"Hey, look at that!", DJ called.
Up ahead, they all saw a Wal-Mart superstore in the middle of the desert.
"Is it a mirage? Or just product placement?", Bugs asked.
"I don't know, Bugs. It seems too early for a mirage.", Robyn responded.
"So, that means it's gotta be real, right?", Tom asked.
"Probably.", Jerry responded.
"Hey, who cares? With shopping convenience at such low prices. Water, Fresca, Mountain Dew. Your product name here! Woo-hoo-hoo!", Daffy whooped in joy and relief as he headed to the store.
"Is this your idea?", DJ asked.
Kate gave a bit of a playful "shocked" scoff from such a bit of accusation before turning to DJ.
"The audience expects it. They don't even notice this kind of thing anymore.", Kate responded.
"You know somethin', DJ? Picking that direction is actually a good call there.", Tom grinned.
Meanwhile, the ACME chairman saw the gang entering the store and, in annoyance, turned off the feed.
"Where's Yosemite Sam?", Mr. Chairman demanded.
Just then, Sam arrived via elevator, all waterlogged as one of the gremlins working it did a raspberry at him before the elevator doors closed behind Nasty Canasta, and Cottontail Smith, both of which looked stunned from seeing the chairman himself.
"Ah, what is your report?", Mr. Chairman asked.
"Uh, boss, it wasn't me! That razzan-frazzan duck, that crazy son DJ, that transmogrifying duck girl of his, that half-she-bunny, that cat and mouse, that dog-blasted, ornery, no-account, long-eared varmint, that deceptively beautiful Robyn Starling, and a humina-humina Dusty Tails.", Sam reported before sighing.
"You know, that makes a lot of sense. Thank you.", Mr. Chairman said as a big fan was pulled out before it then blew out Sam and his cohorts, causing them to be blown past the window before they were heard hitting the ground.
"We're okay…!", Cottontail Smith said weakly.
Then, Mr. Smith pulled down Damian's cage as well as Mr. Starling's.
"Well, Mr. Drake, Mr. Starling? Are you going to save us the bother of eliminating your son and your daughter?", Mr. Chairman asked.
"My daughter can handle anything you corporate hyenas throw at her.", Mr. Starling assured.
"And my son is going to kick your evil butt.", Damien retorted before he tried to reach his hands toward the chairman, but failed as, like Mr. Starling, he is restrained.
Just then, a buzzer was pressed.
"Mr. Chairman!", an old man called.
"Yes, Dad.", Mr. Chairman puzzled.
"Desert operative.", the father suggested, much to the ACME VP's chagrin's.
"No."
"Not a bad idea, Dad.", Mr. Chairman grinned.
Then, the VPs lightened up. Only Mary was grinning most of thd way.
"Our desert operative is due for a win."
Back at the desert, Wile E. Coyote was chasing after the Road Runner.
"Hmeep hmeep! Hmeep hmeep!", Road Runner beeped.
As the coyote chased him down, a phone rang on a cactus. When the coyote stopped in place, a caption which read below him in Fido font- "COYOTE: DESERTUS-OPERATUS-IDIOTICUS" appeared. He answered the phone and held out a sign saying "Hello?".
Meanwhile, the gang had finished shopping at Wal-Mart...
"Nice of Wal-Mart to provide these Wal-Mart beverages in return for us saying 'Wal-Mart' so many times.", Bugs said.
Suddenly, he wound up snatched up in a bag.
"Yeah, well, I think even they were annoyed with us saying it so many times.", Tom argued before he and Jerry wound up snatched in a bag, too.
"Maybe. Still, it's a good thing we got those things when we…", Robyn began before she also wound up snatched in a bag.
As it turned out, Wile E. Coyote has just snatched the four of them in 3 bags. He was quite pleased with himself as he was in the middle of bringing them to his lair while humming, unaware that while Bugs poked out a couple of holes with his carrot, Tom did so with his claw and Robyn did so with a multi-tool, which had a small knife normally used to carve up wood, both popping their heads out, especially Jerry.
"Good thing I got this with at Wal Mart.", Robyn sighed in relief.
"Eh… what you got in your bags, doc?", Bugs asked before Wile E. set the 3 bags down.
"Yeah, what's comin' off here?", Tom agreed.
"Oooh, uh, I say, I'm terribly sorry. One mustn't be rude, even to one's prey.", Wile E. said.
"Hey, I know you. You're Wile E. Coyote.", Robyn realized.
"That's right, kid. Wile E. Coyote. Super genius, esquire. Also D.D.S., P.h.D., and…", Wile E. began as he showed his card.
"Have brain, huh?", Jerry asked.
"You know, that thing must come in really handy at times.", Tom concurred.
"Why, yes. It has its advantages. Uh, for example, your bunny friend asked me just now what I have in the bags. And I was supposed to say a rabbit, a girl, a cat, and a mouse, to which he would reply, 'What are you going to do with them?'. Then I was supposed to say something stupid, which would enable you four to get clever and so on and so on and on, when, by this time, we all know very well that there is nothing left in the bags.", Wile E. spoke as the four slowly pushed out through their holes and got out of their bags, with Bugs' left foot thumping on his face as he finally pulled himself out, even looking in their bags.
"There isn't? Well, uh, I hate to disagree with no genius, but… there is.", Bugs said, handing him the bag as Wile E. chuckled.
"Well…"
When the coyote genius checked, however, something exploded from inside it, right in his face, leaving it singed and causing his nose to fall down.
"Uh-oh. We'd better get going, guys.", Robyn urged.
"Uh, yeah. So long, chum.", Tom agreed, leaving.
"Wish we could play with you more, but we got friends waiting for us.", Jerry added.
As Wile E. checked the other 2 bags, he became stupefied.
"Oh, no…!", the coyote spoke before both bags exploded on him.
Meanwhile, Robyn and the others caught up to DJ, Kayla, Kate, and Daffy.
"Hey, guys. What took ya? Bathroom break?", Daffy asked.
"Let's just say we had a bit of coyote trouble.", Bugs responded.
Sometime later, Wile E. was now spying on the heroes, looking better as he did before the explosion.
"So, what was he doing out here?", Robyn asked.
"Eh, probably out huntin' the Road Runner as per usual.", Bugs guessed.
"Poor chaps. They had their chance. Now, they must take the consequences."
With that, Wile E. ran off to order a missile launcher from ACME. As he purchased the product, he perked up when he realized that the package can be delivered to him in a gift wrap. He agreed to have the product delivered that way and had it shipped to him instantly. Unfortunately, the gift box dropped on him. Road Rinner beeped out the usual "Hmeep hmeep!" sound as he passed by the flattened coyote. Wile E. pulled out a sign reading "Ouch".
Back to Bugs, Daffy, Robyn, Tom, Jerry, Kayla, DJ, and Kate were trekking through the desert.
"So, what's the plan for when we get to Area 52?", Robyn asked.
"All right. Here's the plan. We figure out what the clue about the playing card is, get out, wait here for the next truck or car or camel or whatever and take you, Bugs, Daffy, Tom, and Jerry back to Hollywood and finish making the movie.", DJ said.
"What are you going to do?", Kate asked.
"I'm gonna save my dad.", DJ responded.
"Oh, no, you don't! You're not leaving me here while you make off with my diamond.", Daffy refused, even if it was for the wrong reason.
"Besides that, he's my grandfather, too.", Kayla added.
"And my daddy's in trouble, too.", Robyn added.
Tom and Jerry huffed as they crossed their arms seriously with nods as meanwhile, Wile E. prepared the missile launcher.
"Eh, sounds to me like they aren't leaving until they know for sure Mr. Starling is safe, doc.", Bugs guessed.
As Wile E. pressed the button to the launcher, the fire from the missile burned him, but luckily, the missile managed to launch correctly. Excited, he took his binoculars and looked at the missile. But it suddenly went falling on him instead on account of running out of fuel.
A/N: Well, that's all for now, folks. But it's not over yet. The last chapters of the story should come out sequentially, leading to a climactic final battle in time for the movie's 21st birthday on November 14th.