Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 Since the day toons appeared on TV, they were loved. Funny characters that made people laugh, honestly who wouldn't love that? Right? And as they became a part of the daily life of almost everyone, studios wanted more toons. And this is how the toon deliveries started. At the time there were not enough people to deliver what was asked, so the toon delivery service was found. Helpful toons received letters and delivered the newly made toons all over the world. The small project became a big one, and more toons joined this service. It was hard - many small accidents happened. And troublesome too. Probably a job that; if someone who was not a toon tried to do would end up in hospital. Or worse. 

 Thank goodness they don't do that anymore. 

 The thing is, it turns out the whole time the toon delivery service was delivering the wrong package. Now they had a much better job, and a new name as well: ToonsStore! 

 Nowadays the delivery toons, like Yakko Warner, delivered the best quality products.  Like today's delivery- a brand new phone. And just like always, it was another successful delivery for the black and white toon. Not just successful, but his millionth delivery too.

 With a confident smile, he walked past the factory gates. Ralph the guard greeted him, along with a thumb up for Yakko's success. Yakko was surprised to see the guard being so nice to him. Since Yakko had caused a lot of trouble for him with his rather insane entrances, he had thought the guard wouldn't care at all. Yakko gave thumbs up to him too, "Oh yeah!" 

 As he walked past the toons he saw almost every day of his life, he heard them congratulating him. Yakko thanked them, but not without adding jokes that made his workmates laugh. As he entered the locker room, he was greeted with congratulating friends again. 

 "Are you going to celebrate it, Yakko?" asked Dr. Scratchansniff- or Scratchy as Yakko liked to call him. He was a friend of him, a man that worked at the factory to help the toons. A psychiatrist.

 Yakko shrugged as he walked to his locker, "You know what Scratchy, you are right. I should celebrate." Yakko winked to his reflection on the mirror inside his locker. "I deserve it."

 "You definitely do!" Runt said joyfully, wagging his tail behind Scratchy. Another friend of Yakko, a big dog toon.

 Yakko began fixing his tuft of hair-like fur on his head, "What are you guys doing this weekend? Are you free?" 

 The room fell quiet and Yakko already knew the answer. Of course, everyone had their own plans. They always did. After a few seconds, Scratchy's answer confirmed this: "Sorry Yakko, but I got appointments."

 Runt frowned too, "I promised Rita we will spend the weekend together."

 The pigeons who were listening to them, the Goodfeathers, shook their heads.

 Yakko forced a smile as he closed his locker, "We can celebrate another day. I had guessed you would be busy anyway, so it is fine."

 Scratchy looked concerned for the young toon and was about to say something, but an old man began talking: "Heard you did your millionth delivery Warner."

 Yakko knew the man very well, Thaddeuz Plotz. The former boss of ToonStore. And a jerk, if you asked Yakko's honest opinion. Currently worked as God knows what, just to earn even more money, as if he needed it. Plotz kept talking, "Surprisingly good for such a troublesome toon. Have heard you've been doing even better than some older toons. Is that true?"

 Yakko kept walking towards the door, not paying attention to him at all and only replying with a simple "I guess."

 Plotz was still talking, even though it was clear Yakko's attention was on other toons that kept complimenting his achievement. "I wonder what that woman did to make you such a good worker after I left my position to her. There is no way you became better at your job on your own. Are you listening to me? I am talki-" His sentence was cut in half as he tripped on a bench and fell. 

 Yakko tried not to laugh as he asked if the man was okay. Plotz got up, dizzy, telling something about being good and even better than many years ago and not making sense at all. Yakko's attention got distracted when a blonde approached him, "Hellooo Nurse!"

 The woman didn't seem to mind when the boy jumped on her arms. "The boss wants to see you." she said, petted Yakko's head, put him down, and left.

 "Uhhhhhhhh... the boss?" Yakko repeated. Why would Norita want to see him? Was it about his millionth delivery? Or was it about what he had done last week? Yakko hoped it was the former as he walked to the elevator. He had yet to meet Nora Rita Norita, even though it had been a long time since she had become the boss. But he had heard a lot about her. According to many, she was a cold-hearted ambitious woman who would do anything to achieve her goals. Some even said she was sadistic, insane. Good thing, Yakko was insane too.

 As the elevator went up, Yakko thought about how he should introduce himself. Maybe he should look confident, "Hey, so you are Norita! I heard you wanted to see your best delivery toon!" he made finger guns with a smug grin. Then he shook his head, "No too unprofessional. Even for me." He tapped his chin before smiling and talking again: "Hello, boss, Norita. The CEO of ToonsStore. Nice to meet you." he said dully. "Too lifeless!" he yelled to himself. "Just be yourself." Yakko said to himself. He cleared his throat and tried again, "Norita! Nice to meet you!" but his voice cracked and he groaned, "What's wrong with me!" His anxiety was not helping, that was for sure. Even though he was known for his yakking -it was in his name!- sometimes Yakko wouldn't be able to find the right words. Like now.

 The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Yakko was not prepared for the blinding sunlight and felt his eyes burning. He could only see a silhouette, "Norita?". The young toon walked in and immediately felt less powerful. 

 "Yakko." the woman replied coldly. "You know why I built my office toon-proof, even though it is a factory for toons?"

 So this was the reason for how he felt. "I do not." he answered. He could slightly see better now.

 The woman turned to the boy, a cold smile on her face. "Power move." she answered and Yakko got chills. As she walked to him, Norita kept talking: "Almost 90 years ago, toons stopped delivering newly made toons. A brave decision that saved everyone. Now on Monday, on the ToonsStore exclusive ToonCon, the board will announce they're kicking me upstairs. I am going to be named Chairwoman."

 Norita began walking towards Yakko. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and the boy did his best not to pull away. "And this means, you're going to be named boss."

 Boss? Yakko couldn't believe what he just heard. A toon becoming boss. Something that has never happened before! Him being the boss! He wanted to jump and run around, tell the news to everyone in the world. But he knew he couldn't do that. So instead he nodded with a big grin: "Cool, cool, cool. Very cool, very cool."

 Norita walked back towards the massive glass window, pulling Yakko along. He suddenly felt anxious again. Being so close to her was not something he liked. "Now, look upon your domain with your eyes wide open." Norita said. 

 Yakko once again got blinded by the light. "Yeah."

 Norita had a power-hungry smile, "Wider."

 "I love it. Looks good." 

 Norita looked at him, "How can you be boss if you can't look at it?" she said disappointed.

 "If I go blind, it was worth it." Yakko said, his eyes hurt even more now.

 Norita sighed, "Do you know what is the hardest part of being a boss?" 

 "Staring at the sun?" Yakko joked.

 She gave him a stare, "No, this is easy."

 Maybe I should get glasses as well then, Yakko thought. "Whether to be like a friend boss or a distant, weird boss?" he guessed. Like you.

 "Always be distant and weird." Norita growled. "What's the matter with you?"

 Yakko rolled his eyes, she didn't notice. Norita walked to her desk and grabbed a photo. She then put it in front of Yakko's sight. "This." she said bitterly as if she had eaten something disgusting. It was a picture of a toon that looked very similar to Yakko. A smaller version of him, you could say. With a blue sweater and red hat. Yakko knew that toon very well. 

 "Wakko?" Yakko asked as she lowered the picture, only to reveal Wakko was standing far away with some weird stuff. "I don't understand."

 "No, it's dealing with that." Norita said as she walked back again. She sat on her chair and turned back to the toon. "Do you know why we stopped delivering toons, Yakko?"

 "Uhhhhhhhh... Because there are so many other ways creating toons?" Yakko answered. 

 "Yes." Norita smiled, satisfied with his answer. Yakko thought she was not going to say anything else, but she suddenly rose from her chair, "But that's not the whole story." 

 Yakko, now curious, walked towards her desk. Norita kept talking, "On 1929, when we still delivered newly created cartoons, one of the working toons named Slappy went crazy and tried to keep a toon." She showed a picture of a gray squirrel toon on her tablet to Yakko. "Wakko's beacon broke. His address was destroyed, so he couldn't be delivered anymore." Yakko started feeling nauseous, he had never heard Wakko's story detailed. Norita showed another picture of the squirrel- she was fleeing while throwing explosives around her. Norita sighed and turned the device off, "That was when Plotz Senior understood there was no future in delivering toons. No more accidents like this could happen. In 1934 the factory closed, and in the later years, it found a new purpose. But you already know that." 

 That was true, Yakko had seen all this happen. When the factory had closed he was around here for five years. 

 Norita's frown changed to a grin so quickly, Yakko nearly jumped out of his skin. "But now a studio is looking for a toon, which means we can finally get Wakko out of here."

 "To be a part of a show?" Yakko asked hopefully.

 "No, they are asking a toon to help backstage." Norita looked away as she answered.

 Yakko had a feeling she was lying. He had never heard a toon work backstage. But he didn't comment on that. Instead, he gestured to Wakko, who was still doing something crazy far away, "But he is no trouble." 

 "Oh, he is not, is he." Norita deadpanned as she pulled a chart from the ceiling. "Here's our profit chart."

 Yakko smiled, even though he wasn't sure where the woman was going with it."I love a good profit chart." 

 "Me too," Norita said seriously.  Norita pointed to the chart. "The peaks are when Wakko is on vacation, asleep or out with the flu. The valleys are when he tries to help."

 Yakko's smile dropped, understanding now what she meant. 

 Norita looked at him coldly, "Wakko will be sent away tomorrow. Can you handle that?"

 Yakko knew it was not a question, he had no choice. But he pretended to be eager to accept the job. "Consider him gone." he said, even though it hurt to do so. 

 "Good, and use those." she handed the boy two bracelets. Yakko looked at them with fear, "Toon-proof bracelets? Why?"

 "Procedure." 

 Yakko hated that, but he did not say anything. He turned to leave but stopped on his steps, "But what if he does not want to leave?"

 "His opinion does not matter." Norita seemed much angrier now.

 Yakko felt even worse hearing those words. "Really?" he asked seriously.

 Norita walked back to her desk, her eyes still sharp. "The only thing you need to do to be named boss on Monday is to hand Orphan Wakko to the studio employees." Her voice became even soulless. "If I'm not being clear, I mean get rid of him!"

 Yakko knew his opinion didn't matter as well. So he forced a smile as he kept walking, talking at the same time. "Yes, sir. I am on it. I have read between the lines and heard you overtly." He kept talking until the elevator doors closed. Then he let himself fall on the elevator floor, "Why would anyone want to get rid of Wakko." he murmured to himself as he put the bracelets in his sack's pockets. He wasn't gonna use them anyway.

 Many of the human employees of the factory had not noticed, but Yakko and Wakko got along very well. Yakko usually spent his free time with the younger toon. And since all those years Yakko had helped Wakko on many things, Wakko had started calling him brother and even calling himself 'Wakko Warner' sometimes. Yakko occasionally called him 'sib' and 'baby bro' too. Perhaps the reason was that the two toons were created in the same year, with few hours apart. But whenever the two toons were together and caused chaos, Yakko felt much more alive. It was as if he was created for this.

 And now Yakko had to tell his sib that he was being kicked out of here, the place they both called home for many, many years.

 How was he supposed to do that?

 The elevator doors opened and Yakko forced himself to walk towards Wakko. He was far away, on the higher point of the place, doing something.

 "Hey, Wak!" Yakko called.

 Wakko swiftly turned towards Yakko with a big goofy smile, "Yakko!" 

 "What are you up to there?" Yakko asked with a smile.

 "Something will help everyone, right Skippy?" he answered. The small toon, a brown squirrel, raised his head from the whatever-the-heck-it-was and waved to Yakko. 

 "Is it about proving that child toons can do deliveries too, again?" Yakko asked, even though he knew the answer. 

 "Yes! And this time it will work!" Wakko said, his accent even thicker with his excitement. 

 Yakko grinned and shook his head, "Alright, but be quick. I need you down here."

 "Can't you tell it from there?" Wakko shouted as he did something with the machine thing.

 "No." Yakko said. "I need you down here." he repeated.

 Wakko didn't say anything, he was too busy with his plan. After few minutes he finally finished and put the small box-like machine on the metal handrail. He pushed a button, and Wakko and Skippy began watching. Yakko did notice a crowd gathering around him to see Wakko's newest invention. The machine began working and making sounds, then projected a big world hologram on the space above them. In various countries, red dots were shining with names written on them. Those were the addresses awaiting their delivery. Yakko was impressed with this simple yet useful device. He also noticed how some new spots appeared and disappeared each second, meaning the map updated constantly.

 "Faboo! It worked!" Wakko cheered. He jumped up and down excitedly. Skippy smiled brightly next to him.

 Yakko grinned as well until he heard Plotz's voice: "This boy is again up to something bad. Just you wait." 

 Why he was still here anyway? Yakko groaned, "Cut it Plotz. What he did is useful, don't you see? Or you have become so old that you need glasses?"

 Plotz glared to the toon, "Give him ten seconds and you will see who needs glasses, Warner."

 Yakko rolled his eyes. He didn't have the energy to continue the bickering. 

 BOOM

 The sudden sound gained Yakko's attention and he saw the smoke rising from the projector. "What the?" he whispered but before he got an answer, the device started shaking and the globe began glitching.

 "Oh no!" Skippy shouted, "Everyone take cover!"

 Just as he said that the small machine exploded and flew to the sky. Yakko watched it falling to the ground, still burning. As it crashed without causing any harm, he sighed with relief. He was about to call Wakko again when the machine once again exploded, this time towards a room, and started a massive fire. Yakko heard someone shouting he had everything under control, but it was as clear as day he had nothing under control. Then he noticed Norita staring at him from far away in her office, pulling down the profit chart and showing how the line fell. It had gone down so much, that she pulled an extra part to reveal the situation.

 Yakko gulped as he heard the fire alarm and felt water on his fur. Wakko and Skippy now had walked down.

 "I gotta go back to my work Wakko." Skippy said rather sadly before leaving. He waved to the two toons.

 Wakko frowned, his tongue sticking out. "It failed again." he sighed.

 "It is alright, you'll figure it out next time buddy. You were amazing, if we don't count the explosion." Yakko tried to cheer him. "But uh, first I gotta tell you something."

 Wakko looked at him, still frowning. "If it's about my birthday, thank you. But I don't think I'm gonna celebrate it."

 Yakko bit his tongue. He had completely forgotten about it! How was he supposed to tell him he was getting kicked out now? "Actually, Wakko. You're- you're, uh- well you're..." he struggled to find the right words. His heart wouldn't let him say it. "They- you-" he wanted to scream. Instead, he took a deep breath, "You're getting-"

 Wakko gasped. "Promoted?"

 "Wh- Uh yeah!" Oh no no no no-

 "Where? Delivery? Please tell me it's delivery!" Wakko jumped up and down with a grin.

 Dang, it. "No, actually," Yakko looked around to find his answer. Then he saw it. "It's the letter department!"

 "I thought we were not using it anymore." Wakko said, confused.

 "Now we are reusing it!" Yakko said joyfully. "And you're the head of it!"

 Wakko cheered and hugged Yakko, "Thank you, Yakko! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

 Yakko could only hug him back as he realized what he had just done.  

Chapter Text

 "Welcome to your new office!"

 Yakko and Wakko stood in front of the newly opened doors of the Mail Department. The building was near the main one, only 15 minutes away by walking. And still, it looked long forgotten. There was dust everywhere, the old curtains had holes and Wakko had noticed insects on the wooden desk that stood in the center of the room. He hoped Yakko wouldn't notice the bugs as they ran towards the shadows, Wakko knew the older boy was not fond of them. There was a door at the other end of the room, two closed windows on each side and next to them bookshelves covered with dust sheets.

 Wakko grinned, "I love it!"

 The young toon could see the place needed a lot of work to be done in order to look like an actual office and not like a... dumpster. But this also meant freedom to turn this place into something he could call his office. And he finally had his chance to show how useful he could be! He already had ideas just by glancing around once. Unlike his own room, or workshop as he called it, here he could show his talents!

 Yakko watched Wakko's eyes darting around the room with a smile, he looked like he knew exactly what the young toon was thinking. "I still have free time, if you want a hand here." he said.

 Wakko grinned even bigger and his tail started wagging. He nodded excitedly.

 Yakko smiled, but as if he remembered something important it changed to a more serious face. Wakko never liked seeing that expression on his brother. Being serious didn't suit him. It made Wakko worry. Yakko sometimes seemed to forget he was 14 years old, and even if he was created many years ago, that fact didn't change. He still was a child. "And of course, I still need to give you the talk about the rules."

 Wakko slightly tilted his head, "Rules?"

 "Do you know what the number one rule is?" Yakko asked.

 He knew that one! "Always deliver!" Wakko exclaimed.

 Yakko shook his head, "Wrong. It's ' never leave this room '."

 "Oh." Wakko said confusedly, "I always thought it would be something like ' Never give up! ' or ' Don't lose your hope! '"

 "Nope, that's way off. They do sound good though. Number one rule is ' never leave this room '." Yakko repeated. "Because if you leave, and a letter comes, who will take care of it? What if it is placed wrong? Or it gets lost?"

 Wakko nodded thoughtfully, this time looking more serious- if you didn't count his tongue sticking out of his mouth. "I won't leave this room, at all costs!" Wakko declared.

 "Great! Now, let's clear this place a bit. Maybe if we start now we can clean up all the dust in a few years." Yakko joked as he pulled a broom from his hammerspace.

 Wakko giggled as he pulled a dust cloth from his hammerspace, "I don't know... I think the dust we see is only half of what is awaiting us."

 "And this is why we won't let light reveal the rest." Yakko warbled as he began sweeping a big pile of dust. "If you don't see it, you can't prove it's real."

 Wakko walked towards the window on the right, "Too bad we can't work in the dark."

 But before Wakko could reach the curtains, Yakko ran to them and blocked his way. "I wasn't kidding. It's better like that. We can just switch the light on."

 "What?" asked Wakko, Yakko was quick to hide it but Wakko had seen the panicked look appearing on his face for a split second. "Yakko, what's wrong?"

 "Nothing, just don't open the curtains. Okay?" Yakko said, smiling once more.

 Wakko stared at him, "Were you bitten by a vampire or something?"

 "If I were, would you risk burning me alive?" Yakko asked dramatically, holding the broom close to his chest as if he was terrified.

 "Fineee." Wakko rolled his eyes. "But if something's bothering you, you can tell me." His voice was softer now, offering comfort.

 Yakko smiled genuinely and walked towards him, "Of course, Wak. But I can guarantee you everything's okay." he put his hand on Wakko's shoulder. "I just don't want sunlight burning my eyes again after staring at the sun at Norita's office. With all the buildings on this hill facing directly the sun in the morning, I can’t risk it."

 "Alright." Wakko smiled as well, he was not entirely convinced but he overlooked it.

 The next one hour they cleared the majority of the dust... If you counted a snowball fight played with dust instead of snow as cleaning. The time they spent included lots of laughs and sneezing. Now the two boys were sitting on the wooden floor, their backs on the wall with the snacks Yakko had brought earlier on their hands. The room didn't look any better, but they had fun together and it deserved a small snack break to celebrate their effort. That was what Yakko had said, and Wakko immediately had agreed.

 "After work, we'll get a big cake and celebrate your birthday." Yakko said as he ate his last chips.

 "And to celebrate my new job too!" Wakko finished another bag of chips (Yakko had stopped counting after five) and turned to him with bright eyes, "I cannot wait to get my first letter."

 He didn't notice the slight change on Yakko's face, "I'm sure you'll receive one soon baby bro." Yakko assured as he got up. "And I am sure you will do great here. But now I gotta go." he pointed at the big clock on the wall. To be honest, Yakko had found it surprising that it still worked. "And don't forget the number one rule."

 "Aww, okay..." Wakko frowned slightly. "And I won't."

 "What was it?" Yakko queried as he walked to the door with empty chips bags.

 "Never leave this room." Wakko huffed. "I won't forget it."

 Yakko smiled, he said "I know you won't." and left.

 Wakko looked after him. He wished Yakko would work less sometimes. Like the first years after they were created, they used to spend a lot of time together. But after he was given the delivery job, he worked almost nonstop. And Wakko missed him. Being alone wasn't fun. Causing a mess with someone was way more fun. Not to mention Yakko overworking made Wakko worry sometimes. Yakko may be a toon, but he still could get tired. Wakko only wished he could do something for the older toon. Maybe now that he was a part of the work, he could help him.

 He nodded to himself, right . He had a job now! And so Wakko walked over to the desk and sat on the chair. He tried to look serious and focused. But he had no idea that because of how small he was, only half of his face was being seen. Which meant two black eyes staring at the door with excitement. Letters could come at any minute now! So Wakko didn't move even an inch. Except for his tail, it wagged nonstop.

 He waited, and waited, and waited...

 And he got bored, bored, bored...

  Wakko huffed as he put his chin on the table. He looked at the big clock, only two minutes had passed since Yakko had left. And Wakko was already bored!

 Wakko looked to his right as if there was someone sitting with him. "So, you're new here?"

 He slid to the other side of the table, "Yeah!"

 He slid back to the left and rose with excitement. "Me too!"

 In seconds, he was standing in front of a bookshelf with his back laid on it, he was wearing his hat onwards. "Hey, newbies, have you heard about Michel and Minerva?" The way he talked was a little similar to Yakko.

"What?" Questioned Wakko, sitting up on the chair.

 "I heard they're daaaa-ting~!" Wakko kept talking in front of the bookshelf. 

 "Hey! Are you talking about us?" Yelled Wakko from the other end, as he was sweeping.

 "You guys better not be talking about us." said Wakko without a hat, and stopped cleaning the clock. “It’s not nice!”

 "I told you that in confidence." smirked Wakko, laying even more towards the bookshelf. 

 Wakko's shocked gasp was heard and he jumped down from the clock.

 "You don't make her upset. She's my Princess!" yelled Wakko as he threw the broom away, but he realized what he just said and gasped. "Oh, Gosh, I said it out loud."

"You're not supposed to say anything!" Wakko shouted, standing under the clock.

"Sorry, guys. Cat's out of the bag!" smugly grinned Wakko, watching them still his back on the bookshelf.

 "Oh no!" giggled Wakko from the desk.

 "Meow!" Wakko mimicked a cat clawing while smirking mischievously. Just like how he had seen Yakko doing it once before.

 "Are you gossiping?" Wakko, with a flower on his hat, stood angrily in front of the mysterious door. Then dramatically gasped, “Without me!”

 “Maybe...” Wakko said while stepping away from the bookshelf. Then he gasped, remembering something. “But first, I have a very important question! Do you guys like Don Knotts movies?”

 Wakko fixed his glasses, his expression changed to a happier one. "Oh, I love them!"

 "Me too, I've watched all of them!" said Wakko, who was sweeping again.

 "Me three, I even drew him," he raised a realistic drawing of the actor while standing on the chair. "Look!"

 "Ooooh!" gasped Wakko, while walking away from the clock. "Do you think there are any movies of his here?"

 "Maybe behind that door?" asked Wakko, holding the broom.

 Wakko, from the desk, looked at the door. He jumped down from the chair and ran to the door. Neither he nor Yakko had tried opening it, so he still didn't know what was behind it. Perhaps it could be a storage room, or if he was lucky enough a kitchen! “Maybe!” he repeated to himself. 

 He looked at the old, wooden door before trying to open it, only to fail. It's probably stuck , he thought. Wakko didn't give up and tried harder, in various ways. He was about to break the door with a mallet when he noticed the keyhole. "Oooh it's locked!" he said loudly as he threw the mallet away. All he had to do was to find the key. He searched around the room, looking everywhere for it. He looked under the dust sheets, in the desk drawers, behind the clock... but it was not in the room. This could only mean one thing: It was in the key room ! He had seen Skippy hanging keys on a key holder, in a certain room. He wasn't sure what the room was for, as no one ever let him near it, so Wakko simply called it the key room.

 Wakko was about to leave the building, but he stopped right in front of the door. "I promised..." he whispered to himself. He ran back to the chair and sat. But the locked door was still in his mind.

 "I need to know what is in there." he said to himself not even after a second and jumped off the chair again. He ran towards the exit, but once again abruptly stopped. "But the rule!"

 He looked behind himself, at the locked door, then looked back to the open door in front of himself, looked back to the mysterious door again, and lastly to the clock. Only five minutes had passed since Yakko had left.

 Wakko kept looking at both doors. "It's technically doing my job."

 Then he ran to the other side of the room, "But it's against the rule!"

 He ran back, "But I have to know what's in there!"

 He immediately was back on the other spot, "And what if a letter comes while you're away?"

 "Can't you cover for me?" he asked to himself, back in the front of the exit.

 On the other side of the room, Wakko thought for a second before shrugging, "Okay."

 "Thanks!" said Wakko as he left the room and headed back to the main factory building.

 Yakko no longer had the fake smile on his face. He was staring at the elevator walls absent-mindedly. He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. If they would get caught, both he and Wakko would be in real big trouble. And if Norita was telling him the truth, lying to Wakko meant taking an important opportunity away from him. Yakko didn't believe a word she had said about a studio wanting a backstage toon- not to mention even if it was true it would probably mean they would make him work his guts out. But still, he worried if he had the right to decide what was good for Wakko. They weren't actually related or something like that after all. Even though Wakko called Yakko his big brother, and Yakko called him baby bro. Yeah, the fact that whenever he was around Wakko, he felt almost whole didn't matter. He was just Yakko Warner, the toon no one wanted to hang with- except Wakko. The lonely toon, who was about to get yelled at by his boss for failing with his objective and getting locked again in a few seconds.

 ...

 "And I am overthinking again." he grumbled to himself. "Okay, Yakko everything will be fine. She has no idea where he is, and Wakko has promised." he tried to reassure himself . Everything will be fine.

 The elevator doors opened and he was greeted by light again. He squinted his eyes to see the woman at the other end of the room. Why had her office had to be on the highest level, facing directly the sun? He put a confident grin on his face as he walked in, "I have excellent news. I have taken care of your request."

 Norita was doing pilates while making business calls. She had her back turned on him, but Yakko knew she smiled satisfied. "Wonderful. Monday it'll be all yours." she said to the boy. And within a second, began yelling to someone over the phone, who apparently had made a big mistake and was about to be fired. Yakko felt bad for the poor guy. “Barring any monumental screw-up.” she grumbled after she finished the call.

 Norita turned to Yakko, “Do you know what will happen when you'll be the boss?” she asked him. She had that cold smile on her face again.

Yakko got excited upon hearing that, but he kept that confident look. “I think I do, but I still would love to hear it from you.” 

 Norita rolled her eyes before continuing, “You’ll go to fancy parties... You’ll point at stuff... You’ll team-build… You’ll wear suits... “ she began telling. “And you’ll be free and never alone.” 

 The words repeated in Yakko’s mind, will be free and never alone .

 “Because ToonsStore is your family.” Norita kept talking. 

 Something distracted Yakko from Norita’s talking. Red words- Security Alert! - repeatedly appearing on computer screens, along with Wakko waving to him- to the security camera actually- caught his attention. “What?!” he gasped. Yakko almost had a heart attack seeing the young toon. Norita kept talking about him being loved as the first toon boss and being able to do whatever he wanted, not noticing the alarm. Yakko quickly, and quietly, grabbed the keyboard and tried to turn the alarm off. Only to make it appear on the room walls as well. “No, no, no, no, no, no! How do you turn this thing off?” he whispered to himself as he kept pressing keyboard keys. As if the more he tried, the more screens appeared. “Why are there so many screens?” he whimpered, as he looked around frantically to end this mess. He saw the plug socket, ran to it, and swiftly unplugged the computer. Finally, the screens disappeared, and he ran back to where he was standing earlier. He had done it just in time. Norita got up and walked towards him with a smile. “You're about to get everything you ever wanted.” 

 Yakko’s only thought was Wakko right now. So he forced a smile as well, “Great convo, Norita. Too bad I still got packages to deliver, I’m sure you’ll miss me.” he said and trotted back to the elevator. Norita watched him coldly until the elevator door closed.

 Yakko couldn’t stay still, he couldn’t believe Wakko had not kept his promise. “I am so stupid! I should’ve stayed with him!” he grumbled, not stopping talking to himself even after the doors opened and he walked among the workers that held packages of varied sizes. Even though the machines’ sounds suppressed his voice, he kept yakking. “Why didn’t I stay with him?”

 It had been a few minutes since Wakko had entered the key room. Luckily, someone had left the door open and he didn’t have to ask for help. He knew he needed a special card to enter here, which he didn’t have. Wakko was about to find the key he was looking for when he heard Yakko’s panicked voice, “Wakko! What are you doing here?”

 “I am searching for the key!” he answered cheerfully.

 “What about the number one rule?” Yakko interrogated Wakko, as he entered the room.

 “It's cool. I'm covering for myself.” Wakko replied, still searching for the key.

 “What?” Yakko said, confused. “Okay. We need to get outta here.” he said, while he swiftly broke the security cameras using a slingshot. “Come on, we have to go now.”

 Wakko managed to find the key right before Yakko grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room. He ran back to the Letter Department building as fast as he could- considering him using his toon speed, it was quite fast. And immediately closed the doors at the moment they both were inside. He turned to look at Wakko. He was already standing in front of the door leading to the mysterious room.

“Was that why you needed the key?” Yakko asked, he walked towards the younger toon.

 Wakko nodded, “I need to know what is in there.”

 Yakko looked at the door, now he was curious as well. And his curiosity beat his worry. “I don’t see a reason why you shouldn’t open it.” 

 Wakko grinned, put the key to the keyhole, and unlocked the door. As he pulled it, the old door creaked. Wakko was first to walk in the darkroom, with Yakko right behind him. 

 "Are you still afraid of the sunlight?" Wakko half-joked as he walked around the massive room. "I can't see much, with how dark this place is."

"Yes, I am. I will find a light switch." Yakko said as he searched the walls for one. “Besides, we can’t find the windows in the dark.”

 Wakko kept walking around. Even in the dark he could understand that this place was a mess, and even dustier than the entrance room. It kind of looked empty, Wakko could only see a big thing in the middle, and a few other things connected it. He wondered why they would lock this room. It could be useful for many things. It could be a storage, a waiting room, a kitchen- Wakko stepped on something and his thoughts were discarded. He bent down and picked the paper, no it was a letter, from the ground. It probably had fallen from somewhere, so he looked around to find its place.

 He noticed a sign and a hole under it, on the big thing. Wakko guessed the sign said 'letters here'. As he walked towards it, he heard a click and the lights turned on.

 "Found the lightswitch!" Yakko declared from behind. "Hey, what you got there bud?"

"A letter, I am putting it back to its place." Wakko said as he stood in front of the small hole. It was a transparent tube, probably leading to whenever the letters were put. That was Wakko's guess.

 Yakko, however, knew very well where it would lead the letter. "Wakko, wait, don't put it there!" He ran to stop him, but it was too late.

 Wakko had already put the letter, proudly smiling. "Here, the job is done."

 He noticed Yakko, next to him, looked panicked as he tried to reach the letter in the tube. "What's wrong?"

 Sudden voices and lights startled them both. It was coming from the pipe in front of them. Wait , actually as Wakko followed the pipe's direction he saw a giant machine working. And the letter was inside of it, going to the big glass belly of the machine. For some odd reason, it was shining. “ Danger! Danger!” a mechanical voice warned them.

 Wakko suddenly realized what the machine in front of them was. The screen with a drawing of ink and toon confirmed it, too. "It's the Toon Factory!" He exclaimed with excitement.

 In contrast to Wakko's excitement, Yakko looked at it with fear. "It's the Toon Factory."

 "Oh no no no!" Yakko stuttered while Wakko celebrated their newest discovery.

 And probably last, considering what was about to happen.

 "Wakko, stop celebrating!" Yakko turned to the young toon. Wakko only looked confusedly at him. "I think it was supposed to go over there." Yakko explained, pointing towards some boxes with different years written on them.

 Wakko looked at them, and then back to the machine. "Oh..." Yakko watched Wakko grasping what he just had done."You're right. That was wrong."

 Yakko was glad Wakko had understood, but now he had to stop the machine before they messed it up worse. There was supposed to be an emergency stop button and he knew it. He just had to find it. He ran around the Toon Factory. “Why didn't they just destroy this place years ago?” he murmured at the same time. 

 Meanwhile, the machine kept working and Wakko watched it fascinatedly. Papers, ink, pen… many things were happening at the same time, but his eyes were locked on the letter. His tail was wagging incredibly fast and Yakko heard him say “I can’t believe I’m seeing this.” in the most excited way possible. “Do you see all this? Yakko! This is amazing!” he called to the older toon without taking his eyes away from the machine. Wakko wasn’t sure why, but when the machine had started something felt so right that he couldn’t help but grin. He somehow knew something good was about to happen. Something that should’ve had happened a long time ago.

 On the other hand, Yakko was about to scream. Finally, he saw the red writing: EMERGENCY OFF. Under it was a scanner, and under it in a small glass box on the wall with small glass doors was the big red button.

  Great , he would push it and everything would be fine. Except for the problem that his hand got scanned and the light turned red and the freaking small glass doors didn’t open. Yakko tried again, and again and again but the thing wouldn't open. And the worst part was that it seemed to be made toon proof so he couldn't break it either. He had tried to mallet it, but it had bounced back and fell on his head.

 "Why won't you just open!" He growled as he tried again.

 Wakko turned to look at the older toon as he yelled. Then at the scanner and noticed something Yakko had not. "I think you need to read what is written on the small screen." 

 "What?" Yakko looked at the scanner's red screen and saw what Wakko meant: TOON DETECTED.

 Oh. So this was the problem. The scanner was for detecting toons and keeping them away. In a toon factory with working toons, of course, they wouldn't need the emergency button to be pushed by a toon anyway, Yakko thought sarcastically.  Good thing, now he knew what he had to do.

 Wakko watched as Yakko put his hands in the pockets of his sacks and brought out two bracelets. They looked like simple bracelets someone would wear as an accessory, but as a toon, Wakko immediately knew what they were. Now worried, he kept watching Yakko putting them on and getting his hands scanned once again. The screen turned green and the glass doors opened. Yakko immediately pushed the button and the room once again fell silent. "Is it off?" He asked.

 "Uh, I believe so." Wakko answered, his eyes still on the bracelets. He walked to Yakko.

 Yakko sighed and wiped his sweat. "Good."

 "Why do you have those with you?" Wakko asked, clearly referring to the toon-proof bracelets.

 Yakko was caught off guard with the question, "Uhhhhh... procedure."

 Wakko wasn't satisfied with the answer and crossed his arms, but Yakko ignored him. "Come on, let’s get out of here. This place is dangerous." he said as he turned towards the exit.

 "Don’t you want to get those off first?" Wakko asked as he followed.

 "Once we are out of here, it is what I’ll do first." Yakko said. "Now come-"

 The metallic sound coming from behind them cut Yakko's sentence in half. The two toons stopped walking, afraid to look behind them.

 "What was that?" Yakko whispered, worried.

 They slowly turned around in unison, and saw the answer right before their eyes:

 A new toon that was ready to be delivered.

 Yakko looked at the small metal pod. “Cute.” he whispered and fainted. 

Chapter Text

 Wakko immediately ran to the pod to inspect it, while Yakko slowly got up. He was quiet, but his face wrinkled with pain. Normally such a comical fall wouldn’t hurt, but he had put on toon-proof bracelets. He had to be more careful now, or else he could end up breaking a bone- and that didn’t sound fun. Then he looked at Wakko and to the pod and immediately forgot about the bracelet problem the second he saw it again. Yakko felt his anxiety returning as he walked to it. 

 “Is that a toon?” Wakko asked curiously. 

 “Yeah,” Yakko answered, as he examined the pod as well. “A toon is resting in it currently.” 

 Wakko got closer to the pod, flattening his face on the glass lid. He squinted, then he turned to look at Yakko. “They look peaceful.” 

 Yakko leaned to look at the lid too, doing what Wakko had just done. He could slightly see the black and white figure sleeping. “They sure do. This is good, they’re in suspended animation . So everything went well during the creation process.” Yakko started pacing around the pod. “And this means there is a new toon because of us .” 

 Wakko watched him, focused. He nodded as if agreeing with the older toon. Then he stopped and asked a question: “What is suspended animation?”

 Yakko stopped circling the pod and looked at Wakko. “Well, sometimes during the lifetime of a toon, for various reasons they may be put in a sleeping state. It’s a complicated thing, done with different methods and ways. There are also some legal requirements for the studio or the toon’s ‘caretaker’ to do something like that. And it can be done at any time during the lifetime of the toon, which is kind of worrying if you think deeply about it, and the toon can be awakened whenever their caretaker wants.” Yakko took a break from explaining to point to the pod before continuing.

 “In our case, when a toon is brought to life by the Toon Factory, the toon will come out in a pod safely kept in a sleeping state- which we call them being in suspended animation.”

 “Does it hurt?” was Wakko’s next question. 

 “Talking from experience, it doesn’t. At least I don’t remember such a thing. And I guess you don’t remember such a thing too, huh?” As Yakko asked, Wakko realized what he meant. Both him and Yakko had come to existence just like this toon. Wakko knew he would remember such a thing if it hurt.

 “It’s kind of like a safety thing too. Some letters ask for toons to be awake during their arrival, having knowledge about general stuff. But some don’t want them to wake up until they meet their family or the show director or whoever wrote the letter.” Yakko said, then he turned his eyes to the pod.

 “However, being put in this state after waking up... I have no idea how that would feel.”

 Wakko felt uncomfortable with those words. Painful or not, being put to sleep for an unknown period was definitely something he did not like at all. Even just hearing this made him nauseous. He looked at the toon in the pod. 

 “We should wake them up.”

 “Are you insane?” Yakko exclaimed.

 “Are you not?” replied Wakko.

 “I am, but do you realize what we just did? Toon creation using the Toon Factory is forbidden! And what if someone learns about this? What if Norita hears about this?” Yakko held Wakko from his shoulders. “We can’t let anyone know, Wakko!”

 Wakko looked at Yakko’s panicked eyes. He understood very well the situation, being caught meant going back into being locked. And they both didn’t want to end up locked again. It was just he couldn’t stand seeing the toon trapped like that. He knew that being stuck somewhere was no fun. 

 “But wouldn’t it be better if they woke up?” He offered the idea again.

 Yakko shook his head, “No. Did you read the letter? Maybe they are wanted in this state.” He pointed out.

 Wakko had to admit he had a point. “But what do we do now?”

 Yakko eyed the pod. He knew he didn’t have much choice. He couldn’t risk himself and Wakko being caught in this mess. “There is only one thing to do: I will deliver them!” He announced his idea as he pointed his index finger high towards the ceiling.

 “Really?” Wakko excitedly jumped. “Can I come too?”

 “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Wak. You know that uhhh… someone has to look after this place.” Yakko saw the excitement fading from the younger boy’s face. He gave a comforting smile. “And I need someone to cover for me too. It’s a really important detail, you know?”

 “I know, but I want to come with you.” Wakko murmured. “I want to help, and see outside.”

 Yakko looked at him sadly. He was lucky he was free to leave the area and see the outside world. Wakko, however, never had gotten out of the hill ToonsStore was built on. They had never let him leave.

 “I promise after I deliver this little pal, we will make a delivery together.” He told Wakko. Since he didn’t work on the weekends, and Monday he would be the boss this wasn’t entirely a lie. He could do whatever he wanted after that day. And the first thing he will do will be to let Wakko go wherever he wants. Or better- they’ll go wherever he wants together.

 The freedom for both was so close, that Yakko couldn't help but feel excited.

 Wakko wasn’t satisfied but nodded in acceptance. Yakko smiled and then walked to the pod and grabbed it, holding it tightly. He got ready to jump and start running to the exit, “See you soon!”

 The younger toon waved his hand slightly. It was covered by his sweater’s sleeve. It gave him comfort when he would get upset. Then he raised his head and noticed something. “Yakko, the toon-proof brace-“

 Before he could finish his sentence, Yakko jumped high and fell with a loud thud. “Ow!”

 Wakko ran to his side. “Are you okay?” He asked the boy who was laying on the ground face down.

 Yakko slightly raised his head, “I am fine.” He said before his head fell to the ground again.

 Honestly, it did hurt. Not the fall, he was fine with that (okay, that hurt too, actually). What stung were the bracelets. They not only made him unable to use his toon powers, but when he tried to, it hurt. Kind of drained his energy too. But Wakko didn’t need to know about that. 

 “Check the pod.” He added. Yakko would do it himself, but right now he felt very weak.

 Wakko did as he was told. He ran around Yakko and leaned towards the metal pod. It looked alright, taking no damage from the hit. The toon inside it was still sleeping peacefully. “They’re okay!” He informed Yakko happily.

 Yakko slowly got up, he felt slightly dizzy but ignored it. “Good to hear. Now, let’s get rid of these.” He said bitterly, looking at the red bracelets. He tried to pull one off with his left hand but failed. He did the same with the left bracelet and his right hand. Unsuccessful again. He tried to bite it, cut it and shake them off. None worked.

 “Maybe you need someone else to get them off from you.” Wakko guessed.

 “Good idea!” Yakko agreed. He let Wakko pull the bracelets with all of his power. Then watched him use scissors, a knife and a saw to try to cut them. But no matter what he tried, nothing worked. After a long time of unsuccessful attempts, the boys gave up.

 “So, what do we do now?” Wakko asked, sitting on the floor with the pod next to him and his tongue sticking out.

  “I am thinking... So far we know we can’t get rid of these, that the new toon needs to be delivered for everyone’s sake and that you can’t deliver it.” Yakko sorted. He was tapping his chin thoughtfully.

 Wakko was thinking as well. Then a light bulb appeared over his head. “We could go to my workshop! There we can find something useful.” He offered.

 Yakko thought for a second if it was a good idea to enter the main building that was full of workers that recognized both of them, with Wakko -who was supposed to be leaving tomorrow- and a toon pod . But he didn’t have much choice now, did he? “Alright, lead the way.” He got up and took the pod, which was surprisingly light. Wakko nodded happily as he walked out of the room. Before they left the building, Yakko made sure to lock the door again. Wakko put the key to his hammerspace. It would be safe there until they put it back in its place. They walked to the main building in quick steps. The two boys were greeted by Ralph the guard as they entered.  

 “Hey what yous got there?” He inspected the pod with suspicious eyes. “Is it a new package, or..?” he squinted his eyes.

 Yakko grinned, “A new package?! That does not belong to our beloved ToonsStore? I can’t believe you would accuse us of bringing something inappropriate here! It’s our home.” He dramatically raised his free hand. 

 “Oh okay.” Ralph smiled. “What yous got in it?”

 “Pizzas.” Answered Wakko.

 “Books.” Answered Yakko.

 They glared at each other.

 Ralph didn’t seem to care about the different answers that were said simultaneously. “Good. Did you hear the news?”

 “Yeah of course." Yakko lied. At the same time, he motioned Wakko to keep walking.

 “Lucky rabbits.” Ralph said.

 “Yes, very lucky indeed!” Yakko said with fake enthusiasm.

 “But not entirely lucky.” Ralph frowned. “Not even in their cartoons.”

 Yakko shook his head in fake disbelief, “So unlucky!”

 “Then they end up happy.” The guard smiled.

 “So good for them!”

 “But loss their family!” The guard frowned again.

 “So sad for them!” 

 “But now they back and happy again.” Ralph smiled again. “Isn’t it nice?”

 “Of course it is Ralphy! Nice chat see you later, keep me informed with the rabbits!” And with that, Yakko ran to catch up with Wakko. When Ralph blinked in confusion and said how they weren’t rabbits but only one rabbit, Yakko had already disappeared from his sight.

  Finally, being freed from Ralph, the two (plus one) toons walked past many employees of the factory. No one seemed to notice them and the pod. Yakko and Wakko were silent all the way. Even when passing by one of the big machines used to transport bigger packages in the factory, Wakko didn’t say anything- and he loved those machines. He still wagged his tail with excitement, though. They both were only and only focused on getting in that elevator right now.

 Once they stepped in, Yakko relaxed and sighed with relief. His relaxation didn’t last long though. Just when the doors were about to close, a foot stopped it and Plotz entered. Much to both boys’ distaste. Yakko was quick to hide the pod behind himself.  

 “Warners.” He greeted them coldly.

 “Plotz.” Yakko nodded, doing his best to keep himself from saying anything stupid (according to Plotz) and risk being caught. 

 “So, what did you and Nora talk about?” The man asked.

 “Please, Plotzy, as if you don’t know already.” Yakko said, “Everyone knows how much you care about things happening here.”

 “Then how is it going?” He asked and Yakko felt his fur bristle.

 “Pretty good, you’ll see how good it goes soon. Very soon. Bet you will feel something new- like being proud of your favorite employee too. I am talking about it being that good.” 

 Plotz grimaced, “Not a chance of that. If anything, you’re my least favorite employee.” 

 The doors opened and Yakko handed the pod to Wakko as he kept talking, and pushed him out. “Aww so I got in the list. I knew you cared for me.” Then gave him a sloppy kiss and jumped out. 

 As the doors closed he heard Plotz yell: “You pesky Warner! Should’ve kept you locked in there!..” He kept yelling more, but after the elevator went up, it was hard to hear his voice.

 At least now they were on the lowest floor- the old storage. A safe place for them. Encountering Plotz again or anyone else here wasn’t a possibility. Home sweet home .

“We should have taken the stairs.” Yakko said, turning to Wakko. “At least he didn’t see the pod.” Then the two began walking to Wakko’s workshop.

 There was a beat before Wakko talked. “I realized I could’ve put it in my hammerspace.”

 Yakko stopped halfway on the road. “Are you saying this now ?”

 “Just now had the idea.” Wakko shrugged.

 Yakko facepalmed. Then he looked at Wakko and realized the thoughtful expression on his face. “What’s wrong, Wakko?”

 “Do you think the toon in the pod feels like it’s locked in?” He said, looking inside the pod. 

 Yakko had no idea, but he wasn’t going to be honest about that. Both he and Wakko didn’t like that idea, so why not think of the best possibility? “I guess they don't. They’re just sleeping after all.”

 “So they don’t realize that?” Wakko looked at Yakko.

 “That’s what I think. Makes a lot of sense.” He smiled. 

 Wakko seemed to be satisfied with his answer. He smiled widely with his tongue poking out. 

 The moment they entered Wakko's workplace, Wakko put the pod on the wooden table and Yakko began searching for something that could help him free from the toon-proof bracelets. There had to be something useful in the big messy room filled with various gizmos and stuff.

 The younger toon inspected the pod again. This time with more detail. A shiny red thing caught his attention and Wakko looked closer at it. He knew what it was- something he hadn't seen for years. It was the little beacon that showed the address when you clicked on it. Wakko had one too… or at least a piece of it. Now he wondered if he could improve it. Then Yakko could use a map or a better direction while delivering the toon. 

 While Wakko worked on his idea, Yakko was trying to burn the bracelets with a blowtorch. He almost burned himself, realized it was no success, frowned, and lay down. "I'll never be able to deliver again!" He whined.  

 Then he saw the thing that hung on the ceiling. "Is that an airplane?"

 "Huh?" Wakko turned to look at him, seeing where Yakko was looking, and he nodded. "Yes, kind of. More of a makeshift flying craft."

 "You made it yourself?" Yakko asked. Why else would it be here?

 "Yep!" Wakko answered as he kept working on his little project.

 "You made an airplane. A flying craft of some sorts to be exact."

 "Mmhmm."

 A beat passed.

 "And you didn't tell me!" Yakko turned to Wakko, getting back on his feet. 

 "Yes?" Wakko looked confused.

 "You made a small flying machine- an airplane !" Yakko repeated. "How did you even make that?"

 "It was easy after finding the right things."

 "You're very talented, Wakko." Yakko said, looking back at the small airplane. Well, not exactly an airplane but still a flying thing. It was good enough- perfect even. "But I'm still offended that you didn't tell me you did something so good. Does it work, by the way?"

 "I think so." Wakko said.

 Yakko's face shone with a bright idea, "We can use it to deliver the toon!"

 Wakko stopped working. Yakko caught the uncertainty in his eyes. "I dunno…" He said.

 "Why?" Yakko asked.

 "I didn't make it for something like this." He was looking away.

 "Then for what reason did you make it?" Yakko asked genuinely. 

Wakko hesitated before answering. "I wanted to join you in package delivery. With this mini airplane I'd be able to deliver many big packages and they'd have to allow me to work with you too."

 Yakko felt his heart sting. "Don't worry little bro, once this weekend passes and I become the boss, you and I will be the delivery kings!" He pulled Wakko into a side hug.

 This made Wakko smile a little, "Will we have fun in places other than this building?" 

 "You bet!" He ruffled Wakko's hair. "And this means you can make as many airplanes as you want and use them if you want to too. But don't worry, you won't have to save it for a plan like that since I'm becoming the booooss !" Yakko sang the last part and Wakko smiled. He always thought Yakko had a talent for singing. 

 "Alright, let's do it!" Wakko wagged his tail with excitement. "Oh and!" He turned and took the red beacon. "I updated it!" He clicked it and a big red hologram of the world was before their eyes. There was a big red dot shining. 

 "Burbank, California?" Yakko read the words written under the spot. "It's not that far from here with a plane."

 Wakko grinned, "Does it mean we can leave right now?" 

 "Yes! Let's go!" The older toon looked at the red beacon with concerned eyes. Then took it from Wakko's hands, "But let's be careful with that. We wouldn't like to end up like ol' Slappy Squirrel. You remember what she did, right?" 

 Yakko turned to see Wakko standing in front of old newspaper cuts about Slappy Squirrel. "I don't think I do remember the Squirrel that ruined my life, no…" 

 "Oh you're using sarcasm because… yeah. Yeah okay, right." Yakko mentally facepalmed. "Leeet's go, into the not exactly an airplane."

 Wakko took the pod and jumped in the aircraft. Then helped Yakko climb in. 

 "Thanks." Yakko sat in the driver's seat. "I'm flying it!" He announced. 

 "What? Do you even know how to fly an airplane?" Wakko raised a brow.

 "I'm sure I'll figure it out." Yakko shrugged.

 "But it's my airplane!" Wakko protested while he secured the pot on the aircraft. 

 "And I'm the older one here, so I get to fly it." Yakko smirked. 

 Wakko crossed his arms as he sat on the seat next to him. Then got an idea and smirked back at Yakko. "Let's go then." With a little toon power, he snapped his fingers and they were outside, hanging in the air. Wakko could see the hill and factory behind them. 

 Yakko's face turned into a panic when he realized where they stood -but not for long, they immediately began to fall. While Yakko struggled to pilot the aircraft, Wakko calmly watched him. He even ate a sandwich while doing so. The closer the aircraft came to the ocean under them, the more Yakko panicked. He was pushing every button and trying everything around him. Finally, just right before they fell into the water, Wakko reached and pushed a button that was under big bold letters written AUTOPILOT. The plane came to life and they rose back to the sky.

 He smiled smugly, "You can fly it?"

 "You caught me when I wasn't ready." 

 "Sure." Wakko grinned. Then he noticed something. "Is your seat wet or..?"

 "Yeah, let's not talk about this." Yakko said. "Let's talk about how we're about to deliver a toon after so many years."

 "And how this is going to be our first trip together!" Wakko exclaimed.

 The two toons kept talking, focused on the adventure that was waiting for them. So focused that they didn't see the silhouette that watched them from far with sharp eyes. 

 Hours had passed. Wakko was flying the plane while Yakko was playing with paddle balls and humming a song. It was when Wakko suddenly broke the sort of silence. "Hey Yakko, do you really believe being a package delivery boss is what you should be?"

 "Huh, where did that come from?" Yakko asked, surprised.

 "From my mouth." Wakko answered.

 "Well, Wak. I don't see why it shouldn't be." Yakko shrugged.

 "But do you really want it?" 

 "I guess."

 "I guess?" Wakko repeated.

 "Yes, I guess. Because that's the best opportunity I got. And I fully deserve that after so much hard work." Yakko sounded a little more serious now. A little stressed, even.

 "But if you could choose something else, would you?" Wakko asked this time.

 "Why should I choose something else?" Yakko laughed. (Or rather he forced a laugh.) It wasn't hard to tell he was getting uncomfortable. "I like my job." Wakko knew this was a big lie.

 Wakko was about to say something when he heard a Clunk! Clunk! sound. The sound repeated nonstop, so he turned to see where it came from. 

 Seeing a bird that tried to break the glass on the pod was something he didn't expect to see.

 "Hey! Shoo!" Wakko got up and headed to the pod.

 "Wakko, what are you doing?" Yakko called. 

 "Shooing the bird." Wakko said as he started a fight with the said bird.

 "Sorry to interrupt your fight with the seagull but reminder that YOU ARE THE ONE WHO CAN FLY THIS!" Yakko began yelling as the aircraft once again began falling. 

 All Wakko said was, "Right. Oops."

 He tried to return to his seat but the bird wouldn't stop pulling his ear. He pushed it and almost made it to the seat when the bird took his cap. Wakko turned back to the bird and hit it with a mallet so fast, that the bird didn't understand a thing. He took his cap from its half-open beak as it lay on an empty seat. He nodded satisfied when he was done adjusting his cap. 

 "WAKKO!" Yakko's call distracted him. Oh right, they were falling.

  "Coming!" Wakko jumped back to his seat but saw that it was too late. They would crash into the snow in milliseconds! He also remembered something: Yakko still had no toon powers! He wouldn't be able to protect himself from the crash. Wakko quickly pulled him and embraced both of them against the crash. Making himself and someone else rubber always worked in such situations. 

 Opening his eyes after the loud crash, he decided that either the snow was too soft or he did make good use of his powers. Still, he was clinging to Yakko like a cat, he realized that only when Yakko poked his arm. He smiled goofily as he let go of him. 

 "I think it was a good save." Wakko said. 

 "You let the aircraft crash because of a seagull."

 "It took my cap."

 "Ah. Fair then."

 As if on cue, the bird made a sound of panic and flew away in absolute terror. 

 "And don't you dare to come back!" Yakko yelled after it. Then he turned to Wakko. "Alright, let's-"

 A rumbling sound and the ground shaking cut his sentence in half. Not a second later, they started falling again. The snowy cliff they were on had broken and now they were falling towards a river.

 "What are the chances of this?" Yakko groaned.

 He didn't get any answer. Instead, he was hit by cold water. Wakko shook his fur when he realized his aircraft was floating on the water. Then he looked around himself. Luckily, the fall was short and it didn't do any serious damage to the aircraft. Yakko looked fine too, but Wakko was sure he needed a rest. And the pod…

 The pod was missing. 

 The pod was missing!

 Wakko looked around frantically. Just when he looked at the sky, he saw the metal pod falling. It was away, a few miles from where he was standing. And it was falling straight into -Wakko squinted- Acme Labs ?

 How was even this possible?

 Yakko was watching it too. "We have to get it back." He tried to get up.

 "I'll take it." Wakko announced. Yakko was about to protest but Wakko didn't let him. "You watch the aircraft boat and rest. And I'll take the pod back. I got toon powers, it will take only a second." 

 Yakko huffed in defeat, "Fine." He wouldn't admit it, but he was glad he'd get some rest. He was sure if he took another step he'd collapse. "But promise me to be careful."

 "Will be!" And with that, Wakko ran with toon speed to the Labs.

 Inside a laboratory, two mice were standing outside their cage. The small one with the big and round head was pacing, while the taller one sat holding his feet and smiled. 

 "Gee, Brain? Why are you doing lines?" The taller one asked.

 "It's called pacing , Pinky." Retorted the smaller one. "I am thinking."

 "Thinking about what?"

 "For my latest plan I need a toon. Innocent and ready to be taught everything new." Brain explained. "But the ways to find one are very limited."

 "I heard if you say something forty times it happens. Let's try it!" As Pinky repeated "A new toon friend." many times, Brain facepalmed.

 The sudden loud crash and the thing that fell from the ceiling startled both. While Brain managed to keep his balance, Pinky fell off the table. 

 They both looked at a metal pod in the middle of the room. 

 "I'll check it!" Pinky ran to it, while Brain warned him to be careful. As Pinky stood in front of it and looked at it, he heard a noise coming from inside. "There's someone in it Brain!" Pinky said and tried to open the lid of it. 

 Suddenly the lid burst open, hitting Pinky in the process. And from the pod, a small black and white toon with a pink skirt walked out. She yawned cutely, then smiled. “Did someone call for the cutest character of the fic?”