The next day soon came and it looked like the weirdness was over... for now since a lot of weird stuff happened in Springfield one way or another.
Bart yawned and stretched as he came over to his window to greet the day. "Great day to be alive!" he then said, sounding recharged before he and the others would come downstairs for the day.
"Hey guys, you're just in time for a good old Itchy & Scratchy marathon!" Lisa said as she was already in the living room with Zofia and Maggie was sitting on the couch behind them.
"Oh," shrugged LJ. "...alright, I guess."
"Even if I did enjoy the reboot, I'm just glad they went back to the old Itchy and Scratchy." Bart declared.
"Are they still mad about that?" LJ complained. "I mean, come on! It's basically the same cartoon; they're just in dresses now!"
"We don't talk about it." Bart and Lisa muttered.
Soon, the kids all got comfortable in the living room to watch some good old-fashioned cartoon violence. Jane and Carlos were out by the window again and were heard whispering to each other. Maggie blinked and glanced over, sucking on her pacifier curiously until the two seemed to disappear in thin air, making her drop her pacifier in shock.
"Just wish we could've seen the one where Scratchy finally gets back at Itchy." Bart muttered.
"Maybe someday," responded LJ. "You'd be surprised at what gets a bootleg recording and pops up on the Internet these days!"
The show then started and the kids watched the reckless little mouse cause mayhem and misfortune to the clumsy and corrupted cat as the kids laughed and laughed.
The latest short ended with Scratchy getting run over by Itchy as the kids laughed at more cartoon slapstick.
"Hey, kids! Wasn't that great?" Krusty grinned on the screen after the cartoon ended. "Don't go away, we'll be right back with another Itchy & Scratchy cartoon right after this shameless plug for NEW imitation chocolatey flavor Frosty Krusty Flakes!"
"Is there ever in food in those cereal boxes?" Zofia wondered.
"Half of the time." Lisa shrugged.
"So give a hoot, buy my cereal!" Krusty told the audience.
"All riiiight! Another heaping helping of harmless cartoon violence!" Bart approved.
"You know, judging by his expression at the end of that last episode, I'd almost think Scratchy has achieved a zen-like acceptance of his situation!" Lisa remarked.
"And all it took was Itchy terrorizing him and forcing him to come back to work," LJ commented. "Ain't the Status Quo just dandy."
Suddenly, there came a THUMP! Or rather, a VWOOOSH! KACHANK!
"Huh?" asked Bart. "What's that noise on the roof?"
"And now, back to Itchy and Sc—ZZZKKK!" the TV groaned as the signal went off, turning to static.
"Uh-oh, I guess the scotch tape Homer used to put up the antenna finally gave out." commented Bart.
"Maybe we can fix it!" Lisa suggested.
"Yeah, we better act fast or we'll miss the show." Zofia added.
"C'mon, guys! Homer keeps his tools in the basement!" Bart suggested as he led the way out of the living room.
LJ, Zofia, and Lisa followed behind as Maggie was on her own at the moment. The baby girl sat calmly on the couch until she safely climbed down and crawled up to the TV screen, tilting her head. Suddenly... out came a certain cartoon cat and mouse duo, having one of their chases and Itchy was the one holding the axe.
"Time to cut to the chase!" Itchy cackled.
"YAAAAAAAGH!" Scratchy shrieked as he ran for his life.
Bart was, to say the least, stunned. "Wow! It's Itchy and Scratchy, wreaking havoc in our house!" he exclaimed. "This is so cool! Maybe I can get their autogr-"
"I'd worry more about keeping ourselves out of harm's way," said LJ. "Those guys don't seem too concerned that this isn't a cartoon!"
"Heheh, go Itchy!" Bart cackled and cheered on until something was thrown at his head suddenly. "Owwww! LJ? I think you might be right," he then added. "This isn't harmless cartoon violence, it's REAL!"
And so, Itchy proceeded to chase Scratchy around the house with a chainsaw, causing him to SMASH through the house down the street. All the while, Itchy chased after the cat who yelped out in pain every step of the way.
"Wow!" Lisa said as they looked at the cat and mouse shaped holes in the wall. "For some reason, I have a foreboding sense of impending catastrophe."
"That roller-coaster feeling is back." Zofia warned her brother.
"Yeah! And I have the feeling something bad is gonna happen too!" Bart agreed with his sister. "Mom and Dad will never believe this."
And so...
"BART! What have you done, boy?" growled Homer as he came inside.
"Oh, my!" gasped Marge.
So Bart explained everything that happened. "...so then Itchy and Scratchy crashed through the wall and ran off down the street!" he finished.
"Bart, you can't honestly expect us to believe that!" Marge insisted. "It's near-impossible!"
"What about the holes in the wall?" asked LJ.
"Um, I'm not sure about that." Marge admitted.
"Your mother's right, boy!" Homer said, pointing to Bart in blame. "You violated a sacred trust by damaging your family's home, for which YOU MUST DIE!"
"Classic Homer." Zofia sighed and shook her head.
"Look on the bright side, Homer," Bart shrugged with a grin. "At least they came through the TV unscathed!"
"Ooooh, he's got a point there, Marge~" Homer had to admit.
"Homer!" Marge chastized her husband. "Bart, being older means taking responsibility. And until we can think of a suitable punisment, you're grounded! Which means you don't get to go see Krusty the Clown perform at the Nuclear Power Plant this afternoon. Go to your room!"
With a grumble, Bart turned and headed up the stairs.
"Now what?" LJ wondered.
"Please, let me help explain," Lisa offered. "No doubt Mom and Dad will listen to ME if not Bart."
"Take a shot if you will." LJ said as he headed up after him.
"I'll try to help back you up." Zofia told Lisa.
"Thanks, Zofia," Lisa replied. "You're a much better friend than Janey."
"Who?" Zofia then wondered.
And so, the boys went up to Bart's bedroom to brood a bit as the spiky-haired boy tried to occupy his time with a comic book.
"...even the latest instant-classic adventure of Radioactive Man can't take my mind off the fact that I'm missing the corporate-sponsored entertainment event of the year." groaned Bart as he flipped another page.
LJ turned through his copy of Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew. "That, and Itchy & Scratchy are probably out wreaking all kinds of cartoon chaos," he added. "They'll survive just fine, but everyone else WON'T!"
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Guys? It's us." Zofia said behind the door.
Bart merely grunted in response.
Lisa poked the door open and peeked inside to see her brother. "Sorry Mom grounded you, Bart! We tried to tell her what really happened, but she thinks we're just being our usual selves by sticking for you!" she then said apologetically.
"Thanks for trying, I guess." LJ shrugged at that.
"Well, at least Mr. Flanders is sure to be at the power planet with his video camera!" Lisa encouraged for their sake. "Maybe you can watch the tape later."
"Oh, man! Having to go to Flanders' house to watch Krusty!" Bart groused. "How low can I sink?!"
And so, Lisa left with the others for the big event.
"I bet we're the only people in town who aren't going," Bart sighed... and then inspiration struck. "Hey... if everybody's at the power plant, that means just one thing. This burg is wide open for El Barto!"
"And I'll come along as... um..." LJ started to add until he shrugged. "I'll think of a name for myself later, but I'm coming with you, but you know, I had another feeling about yesterday."
"Now what?" Bart wondered.
"I feel like someone was missing..." LJ said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure who."
"Mrs. Flanders?" Bart asked.
"Never met her," LJ reminded him. "In fact, I never knew she existed in the first place, I thought Mr. Flanders was always a single dad." he then added.
"Yeah, you had to be there," Bart admitted and then had another thought. "Uh, Mrs. Krabappel?"
"Maybe...?" LJ shrugged. "...eh, it'll come to me later." he then shrugged as he took out a soda can and sipped from it with a picture of a missing person in it, but he didn't notice it right away.
Soon, Ned brought out his video camera, trying it out as he turned it on. "Dilly-doodly! Now we're rolling!" he then smiled at his family as he brought out the camera. "Silly me! Guess I haven't gotten the hang of this new camcorder; I forgot to flip the 'ol standby switcheroo!"
"Oh, Daddy~" Rod and Todd chuckled.
"Stand over there, kids!" Ned then said as he filmed with his camera properly now. "I wanna get a shot of you in front of the stage-a-roony!"
Rod and Todd then did what their father had asked of them.
"That's a dandy picture! Now, I'll just pan over the crowd..." Ned murmured as he took a sweeping shot of the people before him. "Gee whillikers! It looks like every-ding-dang-doodly-body in Springfield is here! And with this zoom lens, I can see clear to the back of the crowd... and gosharooties, if it isn't the Simpson family-doodly!" He reached up and waved to them. "Hidilly-ho, neighborino!" he called.
"Stupid Flanders," growled Homer, shaking his fist. "How come he gets to be right up front?"
"Maybe he didn't waste half an hour haggling with that bootleg t-shirt vendor." Marge replied.
"Marge, this isn't just a T-shirt! It's a pop culture artifact!" Homer insisted and grinned. "After today, we'll store it away and maybe someday this mint collectible will help pay for Lisa's college education!"
"'Crusty Springfield 1994'," Zofia read aloud. "I always thought Krusty the Clown spelt his name with Ks like the Krusty Krab before they got permanently shutdown."
"You should've seen him trying to advertise for a Krusty Komedy Klub with those initials." Lisa muttered and nodded.
"Hmm..." Marge paused thoughtfully at her husband. "I think it might have been wiser to put that $20 in the company savings' plan, but..."
"Look!" Lisa interrupted and pointed out. "The show's starting!"
"Wow, Troy McClure," Zofia smiled at the celebrity who came on stage. "I should get LJ his autograph."
"Good afternoon, everyone!" Troy exclaimed. "I'm Troy McClure! You probably remember me from such films as '3 Men and a Nuke', and the smash-hit instructional video, 'Kiss Your Butt Goodbye: Post-Meltdown Emergency Procedures!' Before we start our show, let's have a big hand for our sponsor, Montgomery Burns!"
Zofia suddenly looked deadpan at the mention of Mr. Burns. As a matter of fact, no one clapped or cheered for the richest and oldest man in town for obvious reasons.
"Wretched hoi pollio!" Burns complained. "Smithers, get the names of those who failed to applaud and see that their electric rates are raised immediately!"
"Yes, sir!" The very loyal employee obeyed.
"And now, here's the guy you've all been waiting for!" Troy continued to announce. "That clown-about-town: Krusty!"
This time, there was wild clapping and cheering.
"It's an honor to present you and Channel 6 with this award for being Springfield's most wasteful energy-users!" Troy declared as he handed Krusty a trophy. "That air-conditioned parking garage really clinched it!"
"I'm happy to be here, Troy," Krusty replied as he accepted the trophy. "Especially since the judge said this would count towards my community service time!" And so, he stepped up to the mike. "Hey, kids, a funny thing happened to me on the way to the Nuclear Power Plant today..."
"YAAAAAAAGH!" someone screamed, getting everyone's attention.
"What the..." Krusty began, as he turned around. There, to everyone's surprise, was Scratchy, running for his life, while Itchy was driving a bus full of senior citizens with the Kwik-E-Mart sign, and Apu, on the front fender!
"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Scratchy shrieked.
"Gee, he acts like he's never seen a bus before!" Itchy snickered, laying on the horn.
"I must demand compensation for the defilement of my sign!" Apu muffled as the head of Jebediah Springfield landed on his own head.
"Whoa! Nice move, clown dude!" Otto chuckled as he was holding onto the end of the bus as Krusty seemed to leap to avoid getting run over.
"Wow! The commercials didn't say that Itchy and Scratchy would be here!" Milhouse exclaimed as he stood with Samantha.
"Those costumes sure are convincing." Samantha remarked.
"Yeah! They're surprisingly realistic." Martin added.
Scratchy yowled as Itchy soon rammed the bus right against him and some speakers.
"This cat and mouse freak show wasn't in the contract, you blasted merry-andrew!" Burns glared as he shook his fist in anger. "You'll not get an extra penny for it!"
The bus's back doors then came open and out burst the senior citizens.
"Oooh, I need my pills! I thought I saw a giant blue rat driving the bus!" Grampa moaned to himself. "Hmm... pretty good costumes though." he then added.
"They're not part of my act, you crazy old coot!" Krusty ranted. "They're just scene-stealers!"
"Yeah, I hate it when that happens." Meg Griffin added, having a random cameo.
"Hey, Old Burns came through for once!" Lenny commented. "This is a great show!"
"Yeah, nice goin', Burns!" Carl chimed in.
"Hooray for Mr. Burns!" exclaimed one citizen, and soon everyone else joined in. "Burns! Burns! Burns!"
"Eh. I liked it better when I killed him in Bart's weird dream sequence." Homer shrugged.
A record needle scratch was then heard.
"Why dd I just say that?!" Homer wondered.
"YOU KILLED MR. BURNS?!" Marge asked, aghast at that news.
"Eh, sorta, I was looking at my phone and he fell into a vat of acid?" Homer grinned nervously.
Marge groaned in response.
"Cherry? What did I tell you about using your author powers on stories in the making?" Luna prompted the now adult perky goth as they were in some sort of cloudy world.
"What? That was awesome!" Cherry defended and smirked. "Mr. Burns finally died and the Nuclear Power Plant shutdown!"
"CHERRY?" Luna repeated firmly.
All right, all right..." Cherry muttered as she erased that from her adventure journal.
"Listen to them, Smithers," Burns smiled, evilly delighted. "That throng of reedy voices lifted in the praise of their beloved employer in spite of my contempt for them, their mindless adulation warms my heart!"
"Anything that warms your heart warms my heart too, sir," said Smithers... and then he suddenly saw Itchy and Scratchy heading for the reactor core. He hated to disrupt Burns' happiness... but it was necessary. "Sir, I've been tracking those two rather irresponsible cartoon characters since they entered the plant, and they pose a danger. Shall I have your escape vehicle prepared?"
"Evacuate, in my moment of triumph?" scoffed Mr. Burns. "I think you overestimate their destructive capabilities!"
Suddenly, there came a KA-SPLANG!
"What in the name of Malthus is that?!" Bruns demanded as he jumped up into his loyal assistant's arms in a Scooby-Doo in Shaggy's arms fashion.
"It doesn't sound good, sir. We'd better check the monitors," Smithers advised before doing just that. "Oh, dear! As much as I'd like to savor this moment, I'm afraid we'll have to move quickly, sir, they've broken through the containment dome!"
"Eh, what's a matter, Pussycat? I'VE GOT YER TONGUE?" Itchy taunted Scratchy with a sickening giggle.
"I knew I should've stayed in law school..." Scratchy groaned.
Smithers tugged on a lever. "The manual override is locked out, sir! The core is reaching critical mass!" he called.
"Quickly, Smithers, to the escape autogyro!" Mr. Burns declared.
And so, they rode away and Smithers boosted his boss up into a helicopter. "Upsy-daisy, sir!"
Mr. Burns smiled in approval before slamming the door shut and locking it before his assistant could get inside.
"Wait, sir! What about me?!" Smithers complained.
"Oh, I am sorry, Smithers, my engineers seem to have neglected to provide accommodations for you!" Mr. Burns apologized.
"I'll gladly cling to the landing skid, sir!" Smithers begged.
"Hmm..." Mr. Burns paused in thought, taking that into consideration. "Very well, but if your weight unbalances the craft and makes me queasy, you'll have to drop off!" he then decided.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, sir!" Smithers beamed and soon clung to the landing skid as the helicopter took off to the skies. "I only hope we're in time!" he then added to himself quietly.
Meanwhile, Bart was spray-painting his "El Barto" name all over the walls in town to get his frustrations out. "Man, this is like shooting fish in a barrel! ...but somehow, it's not quite the same thrill without the possibility of getting caught!"
LJ was about to say something until... VACHOOPFA! A loud explosion from miles away could be heard and there was a bright light behind the boys.
"WHOA, MAMA!" Bart gasped.
"Ruh-roh!" LJ added.
"Either Krusty is putting on the biggest fireworks display in history or else this is a job for..." Bart began to say before going behind the dumpster and came out with a purple mask and cape. "BARTMAN!" he then stopped and looked down at his outfit and hummed.
"What's wrong?" LJ asked out of concern.
"This outfit looks a little weird on an orange shirt, I never thought about it before, but I think it's time for that to change too." Bart explained as he just glanced at himself though he never really cared about how his outfits looked before.
"Yeah, good point," responded LJ. "Might I suggest blue?"
"Hmm..." Bart paused thoughtfully and tried to imagine it.
LJ's eyes darted around and he wiggled his fingers as Bart turned his back. Suddenly, Bart's bright orange shirt was replaced with a sky blue shirt.
"...hey, I kinda like how that looks." Bart admitted as he looked down.
"Same here," said LJ. "Now it's time for Bartman and Leo Quad to get a move on!"
"Right! Come with me!" Bart replied and then led the way with LJ close behind.
"Just wonder what we could've missed?" LJ remarked to himself.
MOMENTS EARLIER AT THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT...
"Whoo-hoo! More money!" Homer cheered.
"Mom, that was the real Itchy and Scratchy!" Lisa insisted to her mother who didn't believe the excuse of what happened back home.
"We know it sounds strange and arbitrary, but we're afraid they might do something terrible over here since they're little balls of cartoon energy and slapstick violence," Zofia added. "We should get out of here while we still can."
"Now girls, there's nothing to be worried about!" Marge reassured them both as she held onto Maggie. "Those are just actors, though I must admit, their costumes are quite convincing."
SUDDENLY...
"Oh, my!" Marge gasped once something else started to happen.
VACHOOMPFA! A massive mushroom cloud began sweeping over the crowd, and everyone began feeling strange.
"Gracious... I feel so... light-headed..." Marge said.
"What's happening to me...?" asked Lisa.
"I can feel my body, bursting with power..." remarked Homer.
"...uh-oh..." gulped Zofia.