Chapter Text
It was a picturesque day at the park near Warner Bros. Studio. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and every leaf and blade of grass was an emerald green. A more perfect day could not have been asked for as the Warner siblings began exploring their surroundings.
"Well, sibs," Yakko said, looking down at his younger brother and sister, "this is a historic moment for us."
Dot raised an eyebrow at her eldest brother, a skeptical frown adorning her lips. "Really? This is historic: the three of us wandering around, playing in the park, and checking out the local shops until Bugs' meeting is over with? Sounds kinda boring, if you ask me."
"She has a point, Yakko," Wakko said, fiddling lightly with the strap of his red backpack.
"Oh, c'mon, guys." Yakko encouraged. "I know it doesn't seem like much, but I have a feeling that today's romp will be one that we'll never forget. Think about it: for most of the day, it's just us three. Three innocent toons roaming the land, seeking adventure and fun. Kinda like the Three Musketeers, you know—all for one, times three!"
Dot snorted as she listened to her brother's words, though she couldn't help but smile. "I'm not sure about the 'innocent' part, but the rest of it sounds like fun to me."
"Me too." Wakko nodded his head in agreement.
Yakko smiled at his siblings before leading them in a random direction. "Then, onward, sibs! To new adventures!"
However, after several minutes of walking, boredom began to sink in as the kids found themselves wandering into a section of the park that was bare save for the concrete path they were on and a few oak and birch trees that littered the area. Dot, feeling irritated, looked up at her eldest brother and muttered sarcastically, "Some adventure, eh, Yakko?"
Yakko frowned at her tone. "Well, how was I supposed to know that this part of the park would be empty?"
Wakko scratched his cap-covered head as he looked around. "Think we should try a different spot?"
"Maybe," Yakko admitted, looking around the area. "Still, I had hoped we would run into some people or toons by now. Maybe even make new friends today, like Bugs suggested."
"Well," Dot said, stretching the word a bit as she looked around the area. "We obviously won't be able to make any friends out here. This place is more lifeless than a graveyard."
"Yeah," Wakko agreed; it was then that both of his siblings noticed that Wakko held a rock in one hand and a salt shaker in the other. Realization struck them as Wakko shook a generous amount of salt onto the rock before opening his mouth and swallowing it whole. Apparently, despite eating breakfast twenty minutes ago, the middle Warner sibling was still hungry. Licking the salt off his fingertips in satisfaction, Wakko looked towards his older brother, "Let's go somewhere else, Yakko."
Yakko smiled and shook his head side-to-side at his sibling's antics before checking their surroundings. "Alright, fair enough, sibs. Now, the question is: where do we go from here?"
Before they could decide where they should go next, a small object seemingly fell from the sky and lightly smacked Wakko directly on the head. "Ouch!" he exclaimed as he fell backward onto the concrete pathways.
"Wakko!" Dot shouted with concern. She and Yakko rushed to his side instantly, checking to see if he was alright.
To their relief, Wakko, although stunned, appeared to have no visible injuries or abrasions. Looking at his two siblings, the middle Warner child said, "I'm alright, guys."
"You sure?" Yakko asked, scrutinizing his younger brother.
"Positive," Wakko assured, and he quickly stood back up and spun around in front of his siblings to show them he was okay. "See. But what in the world hit me?"
"This," Dot stated, having picked up the object and held it up for her brothers to see. It was a soccer ball. Looking at her brothers, she asked the obvious question, "Now, where did this thing come from?"
Suddenly, the three Warners heard a voice shout, "There you are!" Looking in the voice's direction, the three siblings spotted a young toon running towards them. The young toon resembled an anthropomorphic male tree squirrel who appeared to be quite young, judging by his voice and bright reddish-brown fur. The young squirrel looked at the three Warners with a bright smile as he approached them. "Excuse me, but that's my soccer ball. Can I please have it back?"
Looking at the young toon who stood just a little bit taller than Dot, Yakko raised an eyebrow before asking, "Well, my young squirrel, that all depends—can you prove that this is your soccer ball?"
"Sure, I can," the squirrel said, pointing at the round object in Dot's hands. "I made certain to put my name on it."
Turning the ball in her hands, the female Warner soon found an area on the ball's surface that was covered with transparent tape; underneath the transparent adhesive, Dot saw the words "Property of Skippy Squirrel" written in black marker, along with what she assumed to be the squirrel's phone number. "Skippy, huh?" Dot muttered.
"That's me," The toon squirrel confirmed with a smile.
As his sister handed the ball back to its owner, Yakko decided to introduce themselves. "Well, Skippy, my name's Yakko, and these are my younger siblings, Wakko and Dot."
Wakko waved at Skippy, giving him a friendly smile with his tongue sticking out. "Hello, Skippy."
"Hi." Dot greeted with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, guys," Skippy said, holding his soccer ball underneath his right arm. He then looked at the three with an inquisitive look. "I've never seen you around before. Are you new here?"
"Uh…sort of," Dot said, wincing slightly at how that sounded.
Thankfully, Yakko came to her rescue. "We've actually lived in the area for a while but never really had the chance to explore and take in the sights. However, our toon tutor gave us permission to go out and explore while he was busy."
This bit of information caught Skippy's attention. "Really? Who's your tutor?"
Yakko was about to respond but hesitated for a second. How would Skippy react if they told him that Bugs Bunny was their toon tutor? Would he act like some fans he and his siblings would see that would chase Bugs Bunny, hounding him for autographs or photos with him? Or would he be jealous that they work and live with arguably one of the most famous toons in history?
After thinking about it momentarily, the eldest Warner decided to be cautious. "Eh, no one major," he said, sending his siblings a subtle wink that went unnoticed by Skippy. "But the studio he works at is—Warner Brothers Studios."
Skippy's black eyes lit up upon hearing this bit of information. "Did you say Warner Brothers?! No way! My aunt used to work there."
This caught the siblings' attention. "Really? Who's your aunt?" Dot asked.
"Only the best toon to have ever worked at Warner Brothers." Skippy proclaimed proudly.
Wakko looked confused by the young squirrel's words. "You mean Bugs?" he innocently asked; immediately, he cringed when his siblings shot him short glares, silently telling him to be quiet about Bugs.
Thankfully, Skippy didn't seem to notice any of this. "No, even better than Bugs Bunny!"
Dot rolled her eyes at Skippy's words. "I'm not sure about that."
"No, really, she is. My aunt is probably one of the best toons—if not the best—that ever worked at Warner Bros." As he said this, an idea flashed through the young squirrel's mind. "Say, how about you come and meet her? Then, you can see for yourselves."
"Now, just a minute," Yakko said, looking at Skippy, "You want us, a couple of strange toons, who you've only just met a minute ago, to follow you home and introduce us to your aunt? Just like that?"
"Yep." Skippy nodded in affirmation.
The three siblings looked at the toon squirrel before looking at each other. Before they left, Bugs gave them a small lecture about talking with strangers, especially those who tried to invite them to their house or car. While the kids were confident they could handle anyone who wanted to mess with them, the rabbit's warning words were blaring in their heads, telling them to be cautious.
That said…
"You know what, sure." Yakko agreed, grinning at the stunned looks of his siblings.
"Great!" Skippy said, and soon the small group of toons began making their way towards Skippy's home.
As they walked, Dot and Wakko hung back to privately converse with their eldest brother. "Okay, Yakko—start talking." Dot demanded.
"Yeah. Why are we doing this?" Wakko asked. "After all, we only just met Skippy, and now we're going to see his aunt."
"Hey, you guys said you wanted adventure," Yakko smirked. "And what's more adventurous than meeting a new friend and then, possibly, meeting a toon who is supposedly better than Bugs?" Seeing the looks on his siblings' faces, he added, "Trust me, guys: I have a good feeling about this."
Wakko shrugged, trusting his older sibling knew what he was doing, while Dot looked unsure.
A few minutes later, the group approached a tall, lone oak tree that stood off the side of one of the park's concrete pathways. As they walked, the Warners noticed that several windows and a door with a red awning stuck out of the tree, and situated a couple paces from the door was a bright blue mailbox.
Wakko asked the obvious question: "You and your aunt live in a tree?"
"Yep," Skippy nodded, looking back towards his new friends.
Upon hearing the toon squirrel's words, Dot shook her head and snorted. "Should've seen that coming."
Skippy blushed at the female Warner's words. "I'll admit, it is a little cliché—"
"You think?" Dot smirked.
"Now, now, sister sib," Yakko gently scolded, with a look of disapproval. "Let's not make fun of our new friend's home. Besides, it's not like we're ones to talk—after all, we currently live in a burrow with our tutor."
Dot crossed her arms. "At least it's better than a water tower."
Wakko nodded his head. "She's not wrong, bro."
Skippy looked at the Warners with confusion and concern. "Water tower?" he asked.
The three siblings cringed at the toon's question before shooting him with some half-hearted smiles. "It's nothing, Skippy," Yakko tried to assure the young squirrel. "Just…forget we said anything."
Skippy blinked owlishly at the three's behavior. While he was curious about the three and wanted to know more about them, he had just met them. They were entitled to keep secrets, and his aunt taught him to always respect other people's privacy.
That said, seeing the nervous looks on the three black-and-white toons, Skippy wondered if they were in some kind of trouble and if he or his aunt might be able to help them. "Well, if you guys are sure…" he let that sentence hang for a second, waiting to see if they might react. When they didn't, Skippy shrugged nonchalantly. "Okay, then. Well, c'mon, I'll introduce you to my aunt."
The Warner siblings quietly followed the young toon as he marched forward and opened the door. After stepping inside, the siblings looked around as Skippy closed the door behind them. The front door led them into the living room, which contained several pieces of furniture, including a couch, a couple of side tables, an old-fashioned television set, and a tall, red armchair, which was the vocal point of the room. There was also a fireplace to their left and a flight of floating stairs resembling half-cut logs that ascended to what the siblings assumed was the second floor. As they looked across the living room, they spotted another room that looked to be a combination kitchen and dining room, complete with a small dining table.
As he looked around the house, Yakko gave a small, barely audible whistle. "Man, this is a nice place you got here, Skippy."
"Thanks," Skippy said, setting his soccer ball down next to the front door. He then looked around before shouting, "Aunt Slappy! I'm home, and I brought some company!"
Suddenly, the four children heard a loud crash followed by an elderly female voice shouting, "Ah, butternuts!" from behind a small closet door underneath the staircase. Curious, the young toons waited and watched as the door suddenly slammed open. A toon resembling an elderly, grey-furred tree squirrel walked out carrying a busted television monitor in her hands. As she unceremoniously dumped the monitor on the floor, she took a moment to push her green hat, decorated with a drooping yellow flower on top, revealing sharp blue eyes.
As the Warners looked at the scene with confusion, Skippy walked up to his aunt and asked, "Gee, Aunt Slappy, what happened?"
Slappy huffed as she looked at the busted monitor on the ground. "Ah, was just trying to replace our TV monitor," she explained, her voice laced with a strong New York accent. "The old one's busted, so I went to the closet to grab the spare. However, I didn't hear you come in, and I dropped the spare when you yammered. Thing shattered on impact—piece of junk!" She emphasized her words by lightly kicking the spare with her right foot.
Skippy, however, was confused. "How'd the old monitor get busted?"
"It was having a bad day."
Yakko, who, along with his siblings, had kept quitting during the exchange, took a moment to examine the TV in front of the armchair. The glass was shattered, and various components could be seen; however, a quick look revealed how the TV got busted. "I'll say." Yakko whistled. "I'd be having a bad day, too, if I had a can of juice smashed into me!"
Slappy jumped when she heard his voice. Whirling around, she was surprised to find three unfamiliar toons in her home. "Who the heck are you three, and what are you doing here?!"
"These are my new friends, Aunt Slappy: meet Yakko, Wakko, and Dot." Skippy said, pointing at each sibling as he introduced them to his relative. "I met them while I was playing soccer outside."
Dot snorted at the young squirrel's introduction. "That's one way to put it, I guess."
"Be nice, sis," Yakko chided his sister gently before turning his attention towards Slappy and giving her a pleasant smile. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Squirrel."
Slappy, however, huffed before putting her hands on her hips. "Okay, first off, it's 'Slappy,' not 'Ms. Squirrel'. And second, you still haven't told me what you three are doin' here?"
"Skippy said that you used to work at Warner Brothers," Wakko innocently stated.
"Oh, he did, did he?" she asked, shooting a look at her young nephew, who suddenly looked sheepish. Sighing, she then turned towards the three. "Well, look, I can't help you three get into showbiz or get you Bugs Bunny's autograph or something like that. So, how's about you three just run along and go away!"
The Warners were somewhat taken aback by the Squirrel's cranky attitude. Was she always like this, or was this because of her TV monitor? Standing somewhat protectively in front of his siblings, Yakko attempted to talk calmly to the elderly toon. "Oh, we're not here for any of that, uh, Slappy. You see, Skippy said that you were, and I quote, 'the best toon that ever worked at Warner Bros.,' and he wanted us to meet you. I'd be lying if I said we weren't curious to see if that was true."
"Yeah, I'll bet," Slappy shook her head. "But what he probably didn't tell you is that I'm retired. Done! Finished! Finito! The great 'Slappy, The Slappy-Happy Squirrel' is officially out of the toon industry, and she ain't interested in showing off for a couple of kids like a clown at a birthday party! So, sorry, but you came all the way here for nothing."
Dot frowned, feeling irritated with Slappy's behavior. "Gee, sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." She snarked, shooting the elderly squirrel a sharp look.
Slappy, however, was unamused by Dot's words. Returning her own look, she suddenly brings her hands up to her chest as if she had been shot in the chest. "Ouch, now that's painful! Somebody shoot me! No, seriously, put me outta my misery!" she yelled melodramatically before dropping her arms. "Like I haven't heard that one before. If you kids are going to get anywhere in this business, you'll have to do much better than a couple of snappy remarks, Dottie."
The male Warners gasped, looking at each other with fright before focusing on their sister. Dot's face was visibly red, with steam coming from her ears like a tea kettle. Skippy, wide-eyed and sensing that his aunt may have overstepped, attempted to get in between the two, but Yakko and Wakko pulled him away. "Sorry, Skip, but trust us, you don't want to be caught in the crossfire!" Yakko stated.
Wakko nodded his head fearfully. "Whenever Dot gets like this, it's best not to get in her way."
With deep, haggard breaths, the female Warner stomped towards Slappy, who remained unintimidated by the girl's rage. When less than a foot in front of her, Dot stopped and glared at the elderly squirrel. "Don't ever call me that! I don't care who you are or how old you are, but don't you ever call me by that name again, or else!"
"Really?" Slappy asked, barely raising an eyebrow at Dot's words. "So, you're saying that if I called you by that particular name, I'll get hurt or possibly even die, presumably by your hands? Kid, I'll have you know that I have faced the likes of cartoon villains such as Walter Wolf, Sid the Squid, and Beanie the Brain-Dead Bison—all of them have tried to whack me, and all of them have failed. So, if those guys couldn't kill me, then I very much doubt that you'll have any better luck…Dottie."
Yakko and Wakko gasped while Skippy's eyes widened. As for Dot…
For a moment, it seemed as if Dot would explode; her teeth were barred, her face red, and steam coming out of her ears. However, a few seconds later, she took a deep breath and sighed, seemingly calming down.
Slappy blinked at the young girl before her eyes widened at the evil smile she got. "You asked for it!" Dot said, reaching into her hammerspace and pulling out a stick of dynamite with a burning wick before shoving the item into Slappy's hands!
While everyone else was shocked, Slappy paused a moment to look at the explosive device in her hand. Yet, her reaction was not what they expected.
"Cute, kid. I give you an 'A' for effort, at least." she said before licking the tips of her right fingers and dousing the burning fuse nonchalantly. Looking at Dot, Slappy continued, "Not bad for an untrained toon, but you'll have to do better than that to catch me off guard."
To Slappy's surprise, Dot still had an evil smile. "Oh, I know. But whoever said I was untrained."
Upon hearing her words, Slappy's eyes shot up, and she quickly turned the stick over and saw another lit fuse attached to the bomb!
Looking at Dot, who had retreated to where Skippy and her brothers were, Slappy had just barely enough time to say, "Oh, you little—" before the bomb exploded, creating a giant cloud of white smoke. A few seconds later, the kids, who had closed their eyes and covered their ears during the blast, cautiously looked around.
Skippy was the first to spot his aunt slumped against the wall, her body covered in black soot. With a gasp, he instantly ran up to her. "Aunt Slappy! Are you okay?!"
For a few seconds, the elderly toon was silent before a small groan escaped her lips. As she slowly regained consciousness, she blinked her eyes several times before looking up at her nephew. "I-I'm alright, Skippy." Slappy coughed out. As she slowly began to pick herself off the ground, she said, "Just…give me a minute."
While she was dusting herself off, the Warners walked up to them. Dot, who had noticed Skippy's worried expression, began to feel bad. While she wanted to teach the old squirrel a lesson, she didn't want to upset her newest friend. She gasped as a thought crossed her mind: would Skippy not wish to be friends with them anymore?!
However, before she or her brothers could apologize for her actions, Slappy did something that none of the kids expected: as she brushed the soot off her fur, she slowly began to laugh. The children watched as the old toon laughed so hard she clutched her sides. Before they could say or do anything, Slappy looked at the kids and, for the first time, gave them a smile. "Now that's what I call comedy!"
"Uh…Aunt Slappy? Are you okay?"
"Okay?" The toon squirrel looked at her nephew incredulously. "I just got my fur singed with a bit of karma that took almost forty years in the making. I'm better than okay, Skippy!"
All four kids were confused by this remark, with Wakko asking, "Forty years of karma?"
"I'll explain in a second, though I must say that I'm a little mad at you, Skippy."
Skippy was stunned by his aunt's words. "Me, Aunt Slappy? Why?"
Slappy smirked as she looked towards the Warners. "Because you didn't tell me your new friends were training under Bugs Bunny."
Upon hearing her words, Skippy's eyes widened, and he turned his head towards his new friends. Did he hear right? Bugs Bunny was Yakko, Wakko, and Dot's toon tutor?! Judging from the stunned expressions on their faces, he must have. The mascot of Warner Brothers Studios was tutoring his new friends! He almost couldn't believe it.
Meanwhile, the Warner siblings were shocked by the squirrel's words. How did the elderly toon find out? After a short moment of stunned silence, Yakko looked at Slappy. "How…?"
The elderly squirrel smiled at the question. "It was simple, really." She turned her attention to Dot, who froze under her gaze. "That trick with the dynamite your sister used: that carrot-eating rabbit used the same bit when he filmed a short with the coyote back in the early 50s. Well, did he ever tell you who actually invented that little gag and taught him how to properly use it?"
Once again, the kids were surprised by the news. "You're kidding?!" Dot asked in disbelief.
"Cross my heart and hope to tell the truth. Back in my Looney Tune days, some of the other cast members would sometimes ask me for help or advice whenever they planned on doing a gag that needed an 'explosive' touch, if you know what I mean." The elderly toon snickered as memories from her time at the studio passed through her mind. "In this case, ol' Bugsy needed to create a stick of dynamite with two burning wicks from his hammerspace, but he had trouble with the second wick—the thing either came out unlit or instead of a wick there was a hole where the powder would escape from."
"And that's when you helped him, right, Aunt Slappy?" Skippy eagerly inquired; he had never heard this story before and, like his friends, wanted to know more.
"Yup. Showed him how to overcome that little problem, among other things—much to ol' Wile's dismay. Mr. 'Super Genius' said that one day either he or someone else would get back at me for helping Bugsy do those explosive gags." Slappy then looked at Dot, who looked nervous, before flashing the girl a small wink. "And what do you know: almost forty years later, someone finally did get back at me. Though, I gotta admit, I never imagined that it would be one of Bugsy's apprentices." she shrugged her shoulders and chuckled. "What goes around comes around, I suppose."
The kids were floored by this information, especially the Warners. Not only were they in the presence of a former member of the Looney Tunes gang, but the toon in front of them was essentially one of Bugs' old teachers during his career! It was hard to imagine, but the proof stood before them, living and breathing.
Though they process all of this information, one question filtered through their minds…
"Wait, you call Bugs 'Bugsy?'" Yakko asked.
Slappy snorted and shook her head. "Yeah. But that's a story for another time. Right now, though, I've some questions I'd like answered, starting with how you three became ol' long ears' apprentices? Last I heard, Bugsy was only working with some young toon bunny, not three… whatever you are?" Slappy squinted her eyes at the three black-and-white furred toon kids, noticing that they almost resembled dogs or cats, yet something in her mind told her that they weren't either. "What are you anyway?"
As if on cue, both Yakko and Wakko looked at the two squirrel toons and said in unison, "We're the Warner brothers."
"And the Warner sister." Dot added cutely.
Both toon squirrel's eyes widened upon hearing those words. "Did you say Warner?!" Slappy asked in disbelief.
"Yeah…it's kinda a long story." Yakko sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
As he stared at his friends, a memory from earlier flashed through Skippy's mind. "Does this have anything to do with that 'water tower' comment you guys said earlier?" he asked.
The three siblings cringed at the question, which Slappy immediately noticed. "Water tower?" Eyes narrowed, she crossed her arms and looked at the three Warners, who grew increasingly worried.
"It's nothing you guys need to worry about." Dot quickly tried to assure them.
Slappy, however, was unconvinced. "If it was nothing, then you wouldn't be shaking like Sammy-Boy whenever Bugsy tricks him into a room full of gunpowder with a lit match." She stated firmly.
"You mean Yosemite Sam?" Wakko asked, trying to change the subject.
Unfortunately for them, Slappy would not be deterred. "Don't change the subject, kid. Now, spill it: what does a water tower have to do with Bugsy becoming your toon tutor?"
Realizing that Slappy would not let up and seeing Skippy looking at them with sad eyes, the three siblings sighed before reluctantly telling the two about their origins. When they revealed how they were imprisoned for almost sixty years in the studio's water tower before being rescued by Bugs, Skippy was shocked. He couldn't believe someone would be so cruel as to imprison the Warners for just being themselves!
As for Slappy, her expression was thunderous, especially when the kids revealed that it was Plotz and most of the cash-hungry executives who had them imprisoned in the water tower back in the 1930s. She dealt with Plotz multiple times when she used to work for the studio; the old toon would usually complain about how she would blow the budget whenever she worked on one of her cartoons. She knew how frustrating he could be, but hearing that the toon CEO was willing to imprison toon kids…
"I'm going to kill them." Slappy growled after the kids finished their story. The four kids watched as she rounded about to her closet and began rummaging around until she pulled out several different types of explosives, including sticks of dynamite and cartoon bombs. "I'll make those cash-hungry cows and that little dwarf pay dearly this time around. When I'm through, Mr. CEO will wish that his creator had squashed and thrown away his original concept before he was finalized!"
Before the Warners could stop her, Skippy had moved in front of his aunt and stopped her. "No, Aunt Slappy!"
"Don't try to stop me, Skippy."
"I said, 'No!'" Skippy then grabbed the explosives from his aunt's hands and put them back in the closet. Before the Warners could relax, though, they were shocked when Skippy pulled out two small rockets that resembled nuclear missiles! "These would be much better against those creeps."
Slappy nodded her head in approval. "Yer right, Skippy. What was I thinking?" She then turned her attention towards the Warner siblings. "A'right, you kids stay here whilst me and Skippy go to the lot and give those greedy schmucks a lesson they won't soon forget."
The two squirrels barely walked three feet before the three kids jumped in front of the door, blocking their exit and yelling, "Stop!" The two were stunned when they saw the worried looks on the kids' faces.
"Look, it's not that we don't appreciate you guys going out of your way to teach Plotz-y a lesson on our behalf—" Yakko said.
"If anything, we'd like to join you," Dot added.
"But, if we did anything, not only would we get in trouble, but so would Bugs." Wakko stated.
Slappy resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the middle Warner's words and tell them not to worry. It wasn't like Bugsy hadn't been on shaky terms with Plotz before. Heck, she could recall dozens of times when it seemed that the rabbit was in hot water—literally and figuratively—with the head of the studio because of some kind of argument.
Noticing the elder's body language, Dot made one last plea to the toon squirrel. "Please, Slappy, if anything were to happen, and Plotz finds out, then there's no telling what he'll do. He...he might even try and take us away from Bugs!" She said, her voice hiccupping slightly at the terrifying thought.
Had her heart been stone, the old squirrel was sure that it would've cracked upon seeing the fear and worry on the kids' faces. They were honestly scared and worried about being taken from Bugsy. It was something that struck her...
Especially since she experienced a similar type of fear almost thirty years ago when she retired.
With a reluctant sigh, the old squirrel nodded her head before turning towards her nephew and gently pulling the explosives out of his hands. The young squirrel was, understandably, surprised by her actions, especially when she put the items back in the closet. "Aunt Slappy?"
"Much as I hate to admit it, Skippy, the kids make a good point," she said, turning towards him. "Knowing Plotz, if he even suspected something, he'll do everything in his power to get rid of the kids, regardless of what Bugsy might say or do."
"But we can't let him or those executives get away with this!" Skippy protested.
"Unfortunately, Skip," Yakko said, getting the two toon squirrels' attention. "Plotz-y has us over a barrel right now, especially after an incident with Taz a couple of weeks ago—and that wasn't even our fault. If we tried anything on purpose, and he found out…well, he'll bring the hammer down on all of us."
Hearing this, Skippy sighed in frustration. He knew his friends and his aunt were right, but he was upset that they couldn't do anything about Plotz without causing trouble for his new friends and possibly his aunt. It would've been easy to, he thought. Just sneak in and maybe rig his desk with some dynamite like Aunt Slappy did with Doug the Dog in her old cartoons, except no xylophone.
He was interrupted from his thoughts by Dot, who looked at him with a small smile. "Still, we appreciate you wanting to go out of your way to help us—especially since we just met you."
Wakko nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, thanks. You guys are real pals."
Skippy beamed with appreciation while his aunt huffed and turned away, though the Warner siblings saw the barest form of a smile on her lips.
As they mentally chuckled at the elder squirrel's attempts to hide her appreciation, the kids and the two squirrels jumped when the relative silence of the house was disturbed by the alarm of a cuckoo clock going off. Looking at the timepiece, the Warner siblings' eyes widened when they saw the time. "Ah, man, how time flies," Yakko said before apologizing to their new friends. "Sorry about this, but my sibs and I have to get going. There's still plenty to see before we get back to Bugs."
"Aww, man, do you have to?" Skippy questioned.
"Afraid so, Skippy," Dot replied.
"But, we'll try and come back soon. We'd love to hang out again sometime." Wakko promised.
"So long as it's alright with your Aunt Slappy, of course," Yakko added, looking in Slappy's direction.
The elderly toon shrugged her shoulders. "I ain't got a problem with it. In fact, if you will wait a sec," the elderly squirrel walked over to a small table next to her armchair where her home phone, answering machine, and paper and pencils sat. Using one of the pencils, Slappy quickly wrote something on paper before grabbing it and walking over to the Warner sister. Holding the paper towards her, the elderly toon said, "Here."
Taking the paper from Slappy's hands, Dot scanned the document and found that the squirrel had written down her phone number.
"If you have any questions, need anything, or reconsider getting back at Plotz, give me or Skippy a call, half-pint."
The sudden nickname caught Dot off guard, much to her brothers' amusement. "Half-pint?"
Slappy smirked. "Yeah, 'cause you remind me of a very young version of Bugsy, 'cept you got that 'cute' thing going for ya…and you're almost half his size. Ya gotta problem with that name, kid?"
"Eh…no," Dot said, shooting her brothers a look before turning back towards the older squirrel. "No, I don't have a problem with it."
Slappy nodded her head before making a shooing motion with her arms. "Good. Now get outta here. I still need to fix my set if I'm going to watch TV, and I can't do it with you kids interrupting me all day." She grumbled, walking towards the monitor on the floor before bending down to see what needed to be fixed.
"Aunt Slappy…" Shaking his head at his aunt's antics, Skippy turned to the Warners with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. Aunt Slappy can still be cranky when she wants to be—which is often." he added cheekily.
Not looking up from her work, Slappy shouted over her shoulder, "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that, Skippy."
The Warner siblings shook their heads and chuckled at the two's antics. However, before they made to leave, Yakko suddenly had a thought. Looking down, he cast a devious look at his siblings who were confused for a second before realization struck them, and they began sporting the same look.
Confused by their actions, Skippy was about to ask what they were thinking when Yakko suddenly spoke: "It's alright, Skip. In fact, before we leave, we'd like to give your aunt something to show that we appreciate her after everything today."
Overhearing those words, Slappy glanced over her shoulder and widened her eyes when she saw the kids standing beside each other. "Hey, what are you, kids—"
The Warners ignored her words, instead tapping into their inherit toon abilities, and a cheerful melody filled the house from out of nowhere. As the music started, the kids began to sing:
"The crankiest of creatures in the whole wide world.
Our new friend is none other than Slappy the Squirrel!"
Embarrassed and slightly irritated, Slappy shouted, "A'right, enough with the singin' already!"
However, the kids couldn't resist one final verse, "That's Slappy!" With cheeky waves and quick goodbyes, the Warners ran out the front door before Slappy could stop them.
"Cheeky kids," grumbled Slappy. She had a hunch that the Warners would become a significant part of their lives…and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. As she looked towards Skippy, her eyes narrowed. "What are you smiling 'bout, Skippy?"
"Oh, nothing, Aunt Slappy," Skippy said before making his way to the kitchen to get some food. As he left, his aunt's eyes widened when she heard her young nephew humming the song they had just heard.
With a shake of her head, Slappy sighed. "Can we just end the story and move on to the next piece, please."