Chapter Text
It had taken an hour, but Kevin and Road Runner finally detached after hastily (yet cautiously) going back to Kevin’s motel room, where he was then able to get rid of the glue. The hour wasn’t mostly spent going to the motel, though, as the ACME employees that had shown up to his office really wanted to thoroughly search the place.
“I’m washing the dishes,” Kevin had told them, both of his hands submerged under the water of the sink.
Road Runner was also submerged under there, and had to be until the employees eventually decided to leave. It was lucky that a toon couldn’t drown.
The employees had took their sweet time as they wondered around, slamming doors open and kicking open drawers, looking for any sort of hiding place, as if Road Runner was a toon who would end up in those situations. Kevin internally scolded them for that… they didn’t even know who they were working with. His earlier relief about the fact ACME was dealing with the case begun to dissipate away the more he saw how they were handling it.
Back at the motel, Kevin finally came to terms with breaking the ice to Paige and allowing her to assist- especially as she could understand whatever Roadie had to say.
“So, why would someone do this?” She asked, standing at the doorway, “Roadie’s never done any wrong to anyone.”
“Or maybe he was just the most convenient target to blame,” Kevin added, rubbing his eyes as he sat on the edge of his bed, “meaning Bugs was who the perpetrator wanted gone.”
Roadie had chirped in, to which Paige nodded at him.
“It’s something with ACME, definitely,” she vocalised his point, “though I don’t know how we can directly prove it.”
Some ideas were thrown about between the three of them, although Kevin was continuing to rub his head and participate less and less to the conversation. Not because he was unmotivated- he knew he had to dedicate himself to this now- but rather deep in thought. A case like this hadn’t happened in ages, where there were so many little bits and pieces of it scattered around, ones which would end up adding together to reveal the full picture. There was an actual puzzle to solve here, and he had to put his mind to it, even if it hurt.
He thought back to Daffy… the duck certainly looked to have gone slightly insane from earlier, even more so than he usually was, but the points he’d been making were valid. Kevin frowned when he recalled how he closed the door on him, mentally kicking himself for ignoring something so crucial. He really had to start stepping his game up if he wanted to solve whatever this was about.
Then, he remembered another prominent thing, and in fact, realised it was possibly the most important thing of all: Wile E’s account. He’d been one of the last ones to properly see Bugs, and of course, his interactions with him is what apparently caused all of this to snowball.
“I need to find Wile E,” Kevin spoke up, the other two quietening down and looking at him; he looked to have interrupted their conversation, but coughed as he elaborated, “he was presumably the last one to interact with Bugs… and… well, I think he’d-”
“He’d tell us what’s happening behind the scenes,” Paige enthusiastically continued the sentence. Roadie had piped in again, a worried look on his face, to which Paige nodded once more. “Yeah, there was more to that chasing thing than what everyone made out to be.”
Again, Kevin thought back to what Daffy was shouting about. Bugs flirting with Wile E? Expected, especially with the joke that the duck was pulling off with them. The bunny was known for that sort of thing, no toon was really an exception to it. But Wile E indulging back and essentially breaking what him and Road Runner had? That was odd.
Though Kevin did have a slight dread when he realised that maybe Wile E was willing to step over the line… the drag act was something he never thought he’d do, but well, he went and did it. So, really there was no telling… the only true way to find out was by asking him and hoping he was honest.
Paige and Roadie remained at the motel while Kevin had gone back to the main town. There was no indication on where the coyote would be, but had heard that the venue had closed off after the incident- so it couldn’t have been his room. That was sort of unfortunate as it only widened the possibilities on where he was… Kevin remembered the map in his office, and so, prompted to have a quick glance over it to see if he could spot anywhere that he might’ve gone to.
Unlike earlier, there was no one waiting outside his office, which he honestly found a relief after the entire commotion had essentially wrecked the place. Definitely needed it renovated after this was all over. With a sigh, he reached for the doorknob, already trying to think of some locations to check- but it once again seemed the universe was listening to him as that task suddenly turned irrelevant.
Wile E was stood right there, behind his desk, seemingly inspecting the trap.
“Wile E!” Kevin spluttered, hastily stepping in and shutting the door behind him, “Wile E, I need to talk to you. Desperately.”
The coyote, of course, held a sign up in response.
[ ME TOO ]
Kevin paused as he thought about that action. Holding a sign… when he’d clearly used his voice the other night. Not just in front of the audience, but, privately with Bugs as well. The investigator frowned.
“Signs? After you spoke full words with Bugs, and did it for your performance?” Kevin took steps towards him as he angrily continued, “what’s really going on here? I mean, you use signs with Road Runner. You use signs with everyone, but, that night- the singing, the act, the aftermath with Bugs- you’d spoke. You’d acted differently. What is going on with-”
Wile E hurriedly shook his hands back and forth in distress as an interruption. Kevin paused in his tracks, luckily just before he reached the glue, but that wasn’t what he focused on- he was more concerned over the demanded explanation. Before he asked any questions for Roadie’s sake, he knew he had to figure out what the coyote was really doing here.
What seemed like ironically, a sign was held up:
[ I DON’T LIKE TALKING ]
Flipped around.
[ BUGS WAS DIFFERENT. HE INSISTED ]
Kevin opened his mouth to protest, as that seemed to only back up his ideas that Wile E really was ‘cheating’, but the coyote was somehow quicker with the signs.
[ ORIGINALLY IT WAS JUST FOR SHOW. I WAS OKAY WITH THAT ]
Hurriedly flipped around again.
[ BUT I GOT BLACKMAILED INTO TAKING IT FURTHER ]
That was… what Kevin was going to ask about, and he’d answered it without any prompt. Narrowing his eyes, he took a moment to think, the coyote giving him a worried look as he continued to hold the sign up.
“…Blackmailed by Bugs?” He pondered; the coyote shook his head.
[ BY ACME. ROAD RUNNER WAS GOING TO LOSE HIS JOB ]
He sighed softly as he read that sign, giving Wile E a sympathetic look. The paranoia drained away, and he didn’t really have to think twice about that; it made sense, because truly, everything with Wile E was about Road Runner. That was famously true for their shows, back when they were on air, and it had reflected into real life. They stuck together and did their own thing whenever they could.
Yeah, Bugs had tried to interfere, but he did that with everyone- he was Bugs Bunny after all. What mattered in the end was that the two that had chased each other for so many decades would continue to do so without letting anything else stop them.
“I figured as much,” Kevin muttered, “and I guess you’re on about more than just your voice.”
Wile E gave a nod: this was about everything.
Kevin took a moment to look over him again- still wearing the outfit, though was acting a little more casual with it. As he’d just communicated, the coyote was alright with the show performance, and didn’t mind looking or being this way. His appearance mattered very little to him in retrospect: not in a defeating way, but rather because he saw no reason to care. He was just drawn that way for these instances. It didn’t have to reflect who he was, or how he’d behave outside of a little show. So why change if he was comfortable?
“Road Runner’s at my motel,” Kevin spoke as he went back to what was important, keeping his voice low, “we can head there now- I think it’s fair to assume that he believes you’re innocent.”
Wile E gave a smile to that, Kevin slightly returning it, before the two begun to hurriedly leave the office. There was no knowing who was currently about and watching at any moment, either through a camera or something else stupid alike, so they prompted to be quick and careful. ACME had full control of the area at this point.
Just as they went down, however, Kevin spotted sight of something on the downstairs TV- one which, he swore was not always there- which made him pause in his tracks.
That was… his motel room. There were masses of people outside of it. What on Earth?
The investigator shouted for the toon that was with him, to which both of them watched the conveniently placed device with wide eyes. He made out the masses of people to be reporters, all of them drawn to the room for some reason, despite the fact little was happening there. But there was no mistake in seeing that the focus was indeed, again, on his room out of all of them; it was where Paige and Roadie currently were, which couldn’t have just been a coincidence.
They clearly were not careful enough.
“Um… how do they know we’re here?” Paige murmured as she peaked through the curtains. She’d refused to move the actual object as that was a solid indication that someone was there, and instead, just took a quick glance through the already-present gap; but she was aware that they might have still been able to see her.
“Beep, beep,” Roadie added from the back, deciding to stay as far away from the window and door as possible.
“But you went in the car, right?” She turned around to the other, “I mean, Kevin took it back to town. Surely that would imply there’s nothing here.”
Before anything else could be said, a once distant background noise abruptly became the centre of attention, as whatever the source of it was had come a lot closer. Closer to the point it was directly outside and caused everyone to flinch and grimace at the sound- Paige took a quick glance outside once again and saw the way people were moving out of the way of something.
She then recognised the noise to be the propellers of a helicopter.
That was immediately backed up by said vehicle coming into view, slowly hovering down to the ground until contact was made. There was no need to guess what this was about, as ACME was written on the side of it in bold, red letters.
It took a moment, but the door facing the motel slid open, finally revealing who had literally flown in. Paige had been expecting Buddy Crane, which wasn’t ideal but she could deal with it… but her face dropped when she saw that it wasn’t him, and it wasn’t someone that she felt confident against.
Out stepped Foghorn Leghorn, the- surprising to many- toon that was ACME’s current CEO.
Luckily, the helicopter propellers had ceased for the time being, the clicks of reporter’s cameras now the loudest thing along with the several voices that chimed in to ask questions to the new arrival. However, Foghorn ignored them for the most part, waving his hand around dismissively, his eyes covered by a pair of shades that hid most of his expression. As he approached the front of the motel, Paige backed away to the point of the room that Roadie was in.
A couple feet away from the stairs that would lead to the room, Foghorn stopped walking, and swiftly turned to the crowd. The questions died down as he stood still, the held out microphones being taken back one by one, a sort of unease washing over everyone like a wave. They’d been told to meet there- ACME left a tip saying they had suspicions about the location- and so they did as instructed. While unexpected, the appearance of the CEO meant that this was the right place to be, so now it was just waiting and seeing what would happen.
“I’m looking… for a murderer,” Foghorn eventually spoke, his voice resonant yet slow, projecting out clearly to the crowd, “…a bird. A toon bird.”
He put his arms behind his back, facing the crowd with a confident stance that had no sign of weakness, one which defined him to be the authoritarian figure that he was.
“The other night, that bird killed- I say, I say, killed, another toon. No matter if famous or not, the mystery around that is all the same,” he took a moment to pause, as if allowing everyone time to take in his every word, “how did a toon actually die?”
Some murmurs were heard from the reporters, yet the cameras were unmoved despite the shuffles. Both the ones hiding in the motel room had approached the window once again, also hearing Foghorn’s speech loud and clear, but with no idea with where he was taking it.
There were questions asked about how such a thing was possible. How a toon, someone so prone to violence and distortions that would kill a non-toon being, yet turn out physically fine, actually did manage to get killed. It wasn’t as though they were immortal, but, that was nature’s play in those circumstances. For how Bugs ended up the way he did was the second biggest part of the case… the first was, obviously, the idea that Road Runner had done it. Somehow and in someway had done it.
“Well. We have the answer to that now,” Foghorn continued, lifting one hand to his shades as he steadily took them off, revealing the way he was narrowing his eyes at the audience. “We found a container at the crime scene in the warehouse. We sent the contents to our top ACME labs for analysis. From that, we deduced that whatever this strange substance was, it had been what killed Bugs Bunny. I say, it had the ability to kill a toon.”
On cue, two ACME employees shuffled to the front of their CEO, hauling an oil barrel with them and leaving it in front of the other. As quickly as they came, they backed away again, Foghorn taking a few seconds to inspect what was placed next to him. Looking back at the crowd, as if making sure their eyes were on what he was doing, he then reached out to the lid of the cylindrical container; lifting it up caused an instantaneous gasp from everyone. It would’ve been funny for an outside party if not for what they were actually looking at.
A green, bubbling substance was revealed, looking as if it was boiling just by existing. The strangest part, if not most unsettling, was the fact it was not something cartoony despite looking directly out of one.
“This is ACME’s recreation of what was found, using the exact same chemical composition,” Foghorn elaborated, a hint of pride in his tone, “a mixture of turpentine, acetone and benzine… we dubbed it Dip.”
Curiousness took over a few reporters as they got closer to the barrel, cameras leaning dangerously over and taking several snapshots of the newly discovered substance.
In the motel room, Paige and Roadie were practically up right against the window, taking their own look at the so-called ‘Dip’. Roadie shivered within a blink, his feathers ruffling all over, then taking a few steps back in unease.
“This is what Road Runner used to take the life of another toon,” Foghorn bellowed, a frown now plastering his face, “it’s a hazard- I say, it is a hazard, that can’t be in the wrong hands. Or, I suppose… the wrong wings.”
Even though Foghorn told that joke as if it left a bad taste in his mouth, a couple people had distantly and awkwardly chuckled at it. Whether or not it was meant to be funny was unclear, but it seemed like a joke either way, especially as… it came from a toon.
“He’s saying you used that? Is he serious?” Paige spat, slightly shaking her head, “he literally admitted to ACME manufacturing it. Even if there was the stupid claim of it being a ‘recreation’, they still made it. It’s a weapon.”
Her rambles had gone without an extra comment, but there was little time to think about that as Foghorn had continued to speak. And, as he spoke, some employees had once again broke out from the crowd and begun to lay something out.
“The ACME employees on this case were lead to believe that investigator Kevin Avery was associated with Road Runner,” he’d started a new point, “he lives at this very motel… and might be hiding as we speak. Or, if he’s not, then, I say, I heard, that his associate is definitely here.”
Piles of cartoon bird seed were beginning to be laid on the ground in rows, the exact type that was always used, hence what Road Runner would eat. The action looked like a giant mock towards the shows that Roadie would’ve been in, as it was the same level of comedic stupidity that Wile E was known for. However, like the previous one, this was… nothing to do with the coyote.
“As a toon bird myself, I know Road Runner can’t resist these,” Foghorn laughed; this time, the audience were more confident to laugh along.
Though the chuckles quickly died down as the process came to an end, and the full scope of the plan was revealed- the two employees grabbed the container of Dip once again, and had begun to pour it in-between the rows of bird seed. It was oddly viscous as it spread, infecting the ground around it, making parts of it sizzle up. Any of the cartoon seed that got into contact with it instantly disintegrated with a sizzle, leaving behind a foul-colored gas, and acting as an indirect implication of what this little set-up was for.
“They’re trying to kill you,” Paige uttered.
Foghorn continued to shout random phrases along the same lines as before, all of which taunted Roadie, dared him and otherwise insulted him. Well, not really just him, because some of them seemed to be insults to toons in general… repeating the points of how they couldn’t resist certain situations and were obliged to act certain ways. Paige blinked in disbelief as she listened, genuinely wondering what was going through Foghorn’s head as all of this would’ve applied to him as well. Worst part of it all was how on-board the reporters looked to be with it…
“There’s no way he’s right about any of that,” Paige finally took her eyes away from the commotion, and back into the room, “I’m sure you can resis-”
She cut herself off with her own jaw dropping when she finally saw the state of Road Runner.
He’d practically wrapped his legs together as he slightly tilted to the side, his neck bending in comically impossible ways where some of his joints looked rectangular. One of his eyes noticeably twitched, his vision turning tunnel as he watched directly out the window to where all the bird seed was. Paige instantly rushed towards him at this, giving him the most worried look he’d ever seen- well, that was if he was actually looking at her.
“Roadie! Roadie, no!” She harshly murmured, “that’s going to kill you!”
Roadie stayed silent as he continued to fight back against all the ways the universe was shouting at him to go outside. Foghorn may have been insulting, but there was definitely something happening here, something dumb and evil that was making him feel so tempted. Was it just his nature as a toon? Always eating the bird seed? Even if the situation looked dangerous?
“The trap is irrelevant to you,” Paige vocalised her realisation, taking a few steps back as she thought it over.
The trap was irrelevant because it never posed a threat. The humor that came from Road Runner was the way he’d never be affected by what happened and could get what he wanted without trying.
The panicked look instantly hit Paige again, to which she tried to block Roadie’s view of the seed, like an obstruction in the tunnel.
“This is different! This isn’t your show with Wile E!” She called, slightly waving her hands, “this is actually a dangerous trap that could work! It could kill you!”
Some strained beeps came from him, the outside becoming harder and harder to resist, his mind racing as fast as he normally would.
“The one in his office? That didn’t have any Dip, did it?!” Paige argued, barely being able to distinguish what he was saying at this point, “Roadie! Roadie, don’t! Don’t!”
She continued to plea, but the bird wouldn’t budge, his condition only worsening. The universe was pushing him, pulling him, tugging him, doing all sorts of things to him that he was never against, because there was never anything wrong with it. But now, that had been cruelly twisted- the way he behaved, and functioned as a character, was being used against him, to put him through actual danger. And there was little he could do to fight back.
“Beep, beep!”
A cloud was left behind in the motel room as Roadie abruptly ran out, Paige unable to see much except the flat grey color of the cartoon dust, but she heard it all. The intensity of the camera clicks peaked, gasps, mutters and even giggles emanated from the crowd, and- as the cloud cleared- the bopping noise of Roadie eating the bird seed became as loud as thunder.
Paige almost screamed as she rushed to the doorway, now having been burst open, but could only remain at the door as she watched below.
The two ACME employees came from the sidelines and sneaked up on Roadie as best they could, almost tip-toeing like a toon, before they both shoved their arms forwards in an attempt to push Roadie into the Dip just in front of him. However, like anytime someone tried to get the best of him, their attempt was unfruitful: another cloud of dust appeared within a second as he simply did his usual, and sped off. All that was left for the employees was for them to fall forwards themselves, even colliding with each other as their faces got covered in Dip.
“You, I say- I say, you idiots!” Foghorn yelled as he stormed over, yet cautiously keeping his distance, “you better get working on finding that darn bird, I say!”
As those two employees hurriedly tried to get back on their feet, fumbling and gagging with the Dip that covered them, a sight which would’ve been funny if not for the gravity of everything else, some others who were present had cast their attention to the motel door.
“Eh, boss, what should we do with the wallflower?” One asked as they pointed to it.
Foghorn turned to look at the area of interest, where Paige was standing with a look of sudden bewilderment. She’d been relieved when Road Runner escaped, but now, was apparently left to be the target. The toon rooster narrowed his eyes back to their usual state, and scoffed, “grab her. That might bring both Road Runner and Avery to our direction… and anyone else associated with them.”
Paige soon found herself being dragged to the helicopter by the employees, the cameras in her face as such, flashes of white obstructing most of her vision. What should’ve been distressing actually thrilled her a bit- this was like something out of a movie! It was what she expected to get when she signed up for this job, and it was actually happening!
“Uncle, uncle!” She called to the several cameras, realising she was being broadcasted, “go find Road Runner! He ran to the desert!” She continued to shout as she got closer to the helicopter and away from the crowd, “go find him- I’ll be fine! This is kind of exciting, actually!”
Once the propellers turned back on her words were indiscernible. Not that it mattered much, though, and she’d gotten the message out and was forced to the backseat either way, where Foghorn and the other ACME workers joined her. The two that were partially covered in Dip had been shouted at to go and pilot the vehicle while keeping as far away from Foghorn as possible, to which they meekly followed, and soon, they begun to lift up from the ground. The TV report cameras followed the helicopter as it flew higher and higher, only stopping once the noise had died down and it became a black dot in the sky.
Back at the town, Kevin and Wile E exchanged a look of horror, having just watched the entire thing. That luckily meant they’d seen Paige’s message, though Kevin was struck with concern over the fact she was excited to be in that situation. Well, he supposed it was better than her panicking.
“We need to go to the desert?” Kevin grimaced, “and just hope to bump into Road Runner?”
Wile E had quickly pulled a sign out and tapped it.
[ HE’LL SHOW UP ON HIS OWN ]
Flipped it.
[ HE ALWAYS KNOWS WHERE TO GO ]
With a huff, Kevin put his hand to his forehead again, trying to slow down his raging thoughts.
“You’re right, you’re right- you know him better than anyone,” he moves his hand to his eyes and rubbed them, “but we still need to do something about Paige.”
As if on cue, the TV report had promptly changed, now an interview rather than the recording of the motel. An interview… with the one person Kevin knew he could talk to about this.
“Buddy Crane, ACME’s lead detective on the Bugs Bunny case, told us more information this morning,” the reporter announced, their voice over on a clip of said man at the crime scene from earlier that day.
Both Kevin and Wile E knew where they had to go now: Buddy’s office.