Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"I'll be right back, I promise!. You'll barley even miss me!"

At the moment Yakko Warner had uttered those words to his siblings, they had been the truth. So why weren't they now? Maybe it was the weird train that had appeared out of nowhere, practically pulling him in. That was the last thing he remembered before waking up on a hard, wooden floor.

"What-?" He glanced up, getting a full glimpse of the room he was in. Tall tables covered in paper and books surrounded him, and in the distance, shelves were stacked with much more. "Huh. Train libraries. That's a first." Even so, he shrugged and looked around some more, for some kind of sign, or someone, anyone to talk to.

"Hello?! Anyone here?"

Silence.

"'Course not. Great." As he stood up, he leaned his head on one of the tables. This was not what he meant when he said he needed some space. The thing about a fifteen minute walk around Burbank was that more often than not, there would've been people to pass by, sometimes waving or giving a generic greeting. But this was different. This type of silence was eerie and uncomfortable. It was almost too silent. He felt almost too alone. But in the distance, something was coming along that would change that

"Egad, Brain! There's a passenger!" Yakko slowly looked up from the table, glancing around for who could have said that.

"Quiet, Pinky. We can't waste our time talking to some stranger!"

"But Brain-"

"I already told you, we don't have the time, even if it is our duty as denizens."

As he moved closer to the source of those voices, Yakko came across two white mice. Now seemed like the perfect time to intervene. "Sorry to interrupt, but...uuuuhhhh...I couldn't help but overhear you two mention passengers and denizens? What was that all about?" The shorter of the two mice touched his head to his hand in what could only be annoyance, as the taller one moved closer.

"Yes! Hello...sorry, what's your name?" That one must be Pinky.

The other mouse, presumably called Brain, groaned and looked up. "Pinky, I'm sure we're wasting his-"

"Oh, nonono! not at all! Honestly, I'm glad I'm not the only one in here."

Pinky leaped up, cheering excitedly, his counterpart once again not sharing his enthusiasm "Oh, brilliant! NARF! Hey, you didn't answer my question."

The tallest of three let out a small laugh as he answered. "Right. I'm Yakko, and I'd ask you two the same question, but you've basically already answered it."

The Brain nodded. "Well, that certainly saves time that was to be wasted. Come along, Pinky, we must prepare for tonight." Both the Warner and the other mouse look at him surprised.

"Hey, you're leaving just like that? Without giving any background about whatever this is?! I need to get back home. I promised my sibs I would." Yakko froze for a moment. Did that seem to desperate? Why did it matter?

"I am sorry, but there are more important tasks at hand for us. I'm sure you'll understand." The Brain seemed adamant, getting more and more insistent that there were better places to be. Yakko was about to argue again, and make a case for himself, but Pinky beat him to it, running between the two as if that would do anything.

"But Brain, we're supposed to help the passengers get off the train! He needs us!" If Yakko thought he had been pleading earlier, Pinky's attempt was at peak desperation.

"He's got a point, y'know." Of course, the toon just had to interject.

"Well..." The shorter lab mouse looked up, turning to Yakko. "I suppose you can come along with us, as long as you don't disrupt our plans."

That got a sigh of relief out of the passenger. "No promises, but I'll try not to! What sort of plan is it anyway?" He scrambled to keep up with the mice, noticing that they had already started walking.

"No time to explain. We can exchange our backstories on the way. Do try and keep up." Yakko nodded at the Brain's remark, trying his best to keep up with the mice, and making a mental note of all of the questions he had.

"Have you looked at your number yet?" Pinky had broken the short-lived silence.

"My what?" Guess that was going onto the list too.

"Your number! Poit! It tells you how far you need to go until-" The taller mouse laughed as a small pink hand reached out and hit him on the head. "It's nothing to worry about really, just your way off."

As he heard the mouse's comment, Yakko slowly glanced down at his hand, a neon green light shining through the white glove. As if in a trance, he pulled it off, just barely being able to make out 3 digits on his palm.

256

Chapter Text

It was way too hot.

That was Dot's first thought as she started to stir. As she began to feel less groggy, she felt small grains of sand under her.

"Sand? On a train?" She shook her head, not bothering to think about it much longer. As she looked around, she let out a sigh of relief as her eyes landed on Wakko. As she headed over to him, she kept her eyes peeled for her eldest brother, but there was still no sigh of him. She shook her head and reached out her hand once she was in close enough proximity. "Psst...Wakko..."

"Huh...?" The middle sibling blinked a couple times, before rubbing his eyes. "Dot? Didn't we get on a train?"

"Yeah." The Warner sister nodded.

"Why are we on a beach then? Was this one of the stops?"

"No idea. We can't have gotten that far."

"I guess you're right." Wakko stood up, taking a glance around at their surroundings. "Hey, where's Yakko? We got on the same car?"

Dot simply shrugged. "Maybe he woke up before us?"

"But he wouldn't leave us here!" As if to make his point clearer, Wakko throws his hands in the air. Dot squinted, letting out a gasp as she noticed something.

"Wakko-"

"You know he wouldn't, Dot."

"No, that's not what I'm talking about. Your hand. It's glowing."

"Huh?" Wakko looked at both of his hands, a faint glow coming from his left. He whipped off the corresponding glove, and stared, transfixed, at the source of the green glow, before showing his sister.

"137?" Dot raised an eyebrow as she examined the number sketched on Wakko's hand. "What does it mean?"

"Maybe it's our seat number?"

"Wakko, why would they draw our seat numbers on our hands?"

"So we knew which ones to go to when we were on?" Dot shrugged at her brother's idea. That made some sense, as waking up on some strange beach made even less. She looked down at her hands as she thought about it, noticing the same soft glow that was on Wakko's. She closed one eye as she whipped the glove off of her hand, gasping yet again as she reads the number.

"I have the same one."

"Then that must be it! It must've been our seats!" Wakko seemed confident that that was the reasoning for the weird numbers on their hands. He walked alongside his sister as she started to move, looking up and down, from her hand to the endless sand.

"It doesn't look like Yakko's here," Dot mumbled almost too loudly, "So there must be a way out." In the distance, the siblings see what looks like a wall. The first thing that hasn't been sand since they woke up.

"Maybe there's something over there." Wakko pointed straight at the wall-like structure.

"It won't hurt to find out." Dot continued walking, she and Wakko eventually reaching what ended up to be an overpass made of sand. "Why is this not surprising?"

Wakko didn't hear Dot's comment. He had noticed something else, right under the overpass. "Dot, look!"

"What?" she headed over, freezing as she saw a crimson door, golden handles laying in the center. "Whoa."

"This could be the way out!" Wakko jumped up excitedly. "But why would a door be in the middle of nowhere?"

"Not sure. We should still take a look, and see whats on the other side."

"Okay!" Before anything else could be done, Wakko grabbed onto the handle and twisting it, a bridge soon revealed on the other side of the doorway. The two siblings stepped through, in awe, as they saw the sky change to dark orange, and a big green car on the other side of the thin bridge. Dot was the first to break the silence.

"I don't think we've left the train..."

Chapter Text

"Sorry, bud. You can't leave 'til you win the game."

Yakko had to take a moment to process what the denizen had just told him. He took one look around the red and black speckled room before turning back to the two mice accompanying him.

"Hey, you didn't say anything about not getting through the cars."

"Really? We must've missed it then. ZORT!" Pinky shrugged, rocking back and forth as he answered. With that, Yakko shook his head and approached the stranger.

"So, uh, what do I have to play you in?"

The denizen laughed, motioning around to the entire room. "Why, checkers of course! What else?"

"Right..." Yakko couldn't help but shake his head. The proposition of the game brought back all sorts of memories. The last time he played the game, the stakes had been much different, and so was his opponent, but that was not something he wanted to think about now. "So, when are we starting?"

Surprisingly, it was the Brain who interjected this time, seeming concerned for the passenger. "Yakko, don't you think you're being hasty? Surely we need to come up with a strat-"

"It's fine! I got this! It's not like I've never played before!" He didn't realize how loudly the words had come out. Hopefully they would be taken as overconfidence rather than defensiveness. After all, that's partly what he was supposed to be, right?

"Well...if you're so sure..." The shorter mouse almost seemed concerned for the toon. "But just don't come to me for assistance." And with that, the concern was gone. As Yakko tried to shake the thought away, the denizen motioned for him to step back, the floor of the room rising and transforming into a giant checker board. It looked like he couldn't use the same tactics as last time. With that, he nodded and moved to his side of the board.

"Well?" The denizen nodded, hopping onto the closest red piece to him. Yakko stared up and down at the board, before jumping onto a black space nearby. Of course, he was one for bending and changing up the rules, so this was not at all hard to get used to. This went on for quite some time, both players managing to avoid getting jumped. Yakko was slightly curious of how that would work.

"Say, aren't there supposed to be twelve pieces?" His opponent didn't answer, but merely jumped over him, a force pushing the toon back to the start. "Forget I asked." As he starts to plot his next move, certain questions arise.

What had he done last time?

Was it even possible to move this board?

What would've happened if the last game he played had been like this? Would the outcome have been different? Would they still have won?

Yakko froze, his mind coming to a blank. The two mice saw and scurried over. Well, it was more like Pinky had to convince the brain to come with him.

"What, do you need our help?" The shorter of the mice looked up as he asked, seeming very agitated.

"No...it's not that."

"Then what is it?" Pinky followed his counterpart, glancing up with genuine concern.

Yakko sighed. He could've told the two mice the story of how he and his sister had played checkers against Death himself to save their brother's life. He could've told them about the fear he had about being separated from him, how he would to anything to keep that from happening, or even the thought of the game ending slightly differently. Or how Wakko and Dot were dealing with him being gone longer than he promised. But he didn't. Not exactly.

"I'm just thinking about my sibs. They'd have a blast if we were all doing this together." The mice could tell that this wasn't just Yakko missing his siblings. It went much deeper than that. Before anyone could say anything else, they spotted the denizen, impatiently tapping his foot on the floor. "Well, I better get back to the game. No point in putting it off."

With that, Yakko jumped back onto the board, a newfound determination growing. Even though he hadn't said everything, the thought of getting back to Wakko and Dot lit a fire underneath him to win. He focused on the board, the surroundings almost disappearing, as he and his opponent continued the match. Until they each had one piece left. Still relatively far apart, the opponent made his move, seemingly preparing to take the win. He didn't account for the fact that he had to wait his own turn though, as Yakko saw the perfect opportunity to make his next move, taking a step back to jump to the next piece.

His opponent was pushed back for the final time, and the board once again sank back into the floor. "Congratulations," the denizen stepped to the side to present the door, "you're free to go."

Yakko rushed to the edge of the room, the golden handles on the door seeming to glow brighter. The lab mice tried to catch up. There was one thing that was on both of their minds.

"Yakko?" The toon turned to the taller of the mice, nodding slightly. "Was that all you were thinking about earlier?"

"'Course it was! I'd have said if it wasn't!" Yakko responded slightly too loudly, laughing as he attempted to convince the two.

"You seemed preoccupied by something more." The Brain was quick to interject. "Something unrelated to the game, quite possibly more about your siblings than you let on."

"It was nothing, I promise! Let's just go to the next room!" Yakko was quick to push open the door, holding it open for the mice as they exchanged worried glances. While the two of them could just barely see it, the passenger they were accompanying did not notice the clicking and green blur of the number changing under his glove.

Chapter Text

Although it probably hadn't even been an entire day, to the younger Warner siblings, it had felt like much more. They had managed to get through quite a few cars, but sadly still couldn't find their older brother. Each car had been more surprising than the last, so when the two toons stepped onto a grassy surface with trees as far as the eye could see, neither of them had much of a reaction.

"Hey, we're in a park! It kinda looks like the one back home." Wakko was quick to make the observation. He was almost as quick to go off and look around, but Dot had grabbed the collar of his turtleneck, pulling him back.

"Shouldn't we go in together? And with a plan?"

"Well, someone's gotta lead the way!" Wakko started walking again, pulling his sister behind him.

"Who said it had to be you?!" Dot dug her heels into the ground, dragging her brother to a halt. His response was a shrug.

"Just made sense!"

"Wakko, do you even know where we're going?"

"Nope! Do you?"

"No, but-"

Before they two could argue any more, a door somehow carved in a nearby tree opened, and a giant squirrel, slightly taller than the two toons, poked her head out. "Hey, can ya quit the yapping? Some of us are trying to rest!"

Wakko and Dot slowly look over, staring at the new face. "We're sorry," Wakko started to say, but then stopped. "Is that the door out of here?"

The squirrel sighed and shook her head. "No. That's my home, and you two could've broken it's windows if you'd been any louder."

Dot tilted her head. "If that's your home...then you live here? Not everyone is a passenger?" Wakko nodded in agreement, silently asking the same question as his sister.

"Of course I do! Didn't you see the-" the squirrel let out a swear under her breath. "Right. The video only plays when your sleeping. How helpful." She glanced over at the confused expressions on the siblings' faces, letting out another long sigh. "Look, I can fill you in on what you'd missed. But you gotta promise to leave me alone and never come back here afterwards, okay?"

"Okay!" Wakko and Dot responded in unison, looking up at the older denizen who had talked to them. Little did she know that she was in for a lot more than a recap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe I let you two kids drag me into this." Through the explanation, the younger Warners learned that the older squirrel was named Slappy, and had somehow convinced her to join them on their journey.

"You did say that everyone gets a denizen companion!" Wakko responded, nonchalantly, as if that was a good enough explanation.

"Well, if it weren't for your sister, you'd have had to find another one." As Slappy walked on, Wakko and Dot locked eyes, the latter of the two smirking slightly. "Anyway, once you get your numbers down, you'll be out of my hair, an' I can get on with my life."

The siblings stopped in their tracks. "Wait, we're not getting off 'til we find our brother! What if he has a different number than us?!" Dot leaned back slightly as Slappy stopped and turned to her.

"Dot, was it?" She nodded. "You're just gonna have to hope that he's nearby and has a number 'round yours."

"He probably does! We might be here for the same reasons!" Wakko tried to be optimistic, but his mildly unsure smile said otherwise.

"He hadn't been acting like himself before he got on..." Dot picked up on Wakko's doubts, sharing most of them. "What if he doesn't? Are you not gonna help us if we get to zero before him?"

Slappy sighed, looking back down at the Warner sister. She had the urge to point out Dot's pleading face, almost using it to persuade her, but something else told her that it wasn't the time. "Look, kid, you already roped me into helping get your numbers down."

"Isn't there someone you'd want others to do the same for if you were in our place?!" That remark caught the squirrel off guard. Then she turned back and continued walking. "Hey! What are you-!"

"Just follow me. Hopefully we can find your brother before getting your numbers down to zero. Try to keep some of your character development at bay, okay?"

"Thank you! You don't know how much this means!" Dot ran as fast as she could to keep up with the denizen.

"What caused the change of heart?" Soon, Wakko had caught up too. Slappy almost cringed at his question.

"That's not important right now. Just focus on getting through the train, okay?"

The two siblings once again erupted into a chorus of "okay"s as they approached the door, preparing to move into the next car.

Chapter Text

Luke-warm, almost artificial air hit the trio as they entered the next car. They were met by what seemed to be a hotel lobby, and a nice one at that. With the mice atop his shoulder, Yakko headed in and looked around.

"Huh, seems much tamer than the last few cars." Though he thought that, the toon still remained wary, on the lookout for any twists the car had in store. So far, there was nothing surface level that seemed off, so he plopped down in the nearest seat, relaxing for the first time since at least getting on the train. "It's a nice change in pace."

"We really shouldn't stay." Almost as soon as Yakko sat down, the Brain was quick to disagree with his choice. "Our priorities should be getting through this train, so we can take o-" He paused, seeing the look Pinky was giving him. "So we can take you to find your way off this train."

"Aww c'mon, Brain! Even I know that it's important to get some rest." The two mice slowly glanced at the passenger as he widened his eyes, realizing that he must've let something slip.

"Even you...?" The Brain repeated Yakko's words under his breath.

"What did you mean by that?!" Well, it looked like Pinky was more vocal about his concern.

"Nothing! It meant nothing!" Yakko quickly backtracked, looking for a way to rephrase what he had said. "I just meant that it seems like the perfect time for a break. Why else would this car be here?" The shorter mouse was about to argue when he heard a familiar voice crescendoing.

"He's right, you know." A white can stepped out of the shadows, clad in a vest and button down. "Hello, Pinky. Brain. I see you brought a friend with you."

"Greetings, the Cat." The Brain stepped towards the newcomer of the car. "He isn't a friend. We're just helping him get his exit." He didn't notice Yakko stop himself from interjecting or stepping backwards following that remark.

"Aren't those the same now?" the Cat did a sweep around the room, her eyes widening as they locked on Yakko. "A passenger, you say?" Nods came from all three of the others. "And one who's not human at that! You three can stay as long as you'd like, but I will be needing some form of payment."

"Then we can find somewhere else to stay. Come, you two." The Brain glanced at his two companions before starting for the door.

"Come now, where else would you find a place solely for resting?" the Cat tilted her head, as the Brain kept going.

"We've got nothing to give you. Now we must be on our way." While Pinky followed the Brain towards the door, Yakko stayed put, turning towards the Cat. The smaller mouse turned back with confusion. "Yakko, come. We're leaving."

"Wait. I've gotta have something that could work." The toon pulled random things out of his hammerspace, earning a look of something between confusion and amazement from the Cat.

"Ah,très impressionnant, Passager. Unfortunately, you don't seem to have what I'm looking for. what I was looking for." The Cat glanced towards the two mice, a smirk growing on her face. "But I think I may be having a change of heart. I'll discuss with them, you just get comfortable. You might be able to give me something after all."

"Really?! I'm sure I have that someth-"

"I'll let you know...Yakko...?" The Cat shook her head as she remembered the toon's name. "But we," she nodded towards the two lab mice, "have some business to attend to."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What is it that you want, the Cat?" The Brain paced back and fourth as the Cat rolled her eyes, trying not to claw at him.

"You know what I want, if you actually succeed in getting it."

"How will I know that you won't try and usurp the rule from me."

"Oh, you won't, Brainy. The last time someone took over the train from One-One, it didn't exactly go well for me."

The Brain sighed, placing his temples to his head. "Yes, I know what happened with Amelia, but my motives are not purely selfish. I promise I will be just as good a conductor as One-One, if not better."

The Cat stared at the lab mouse, raising a brow. "That seems awfully self-aggrandizing. Your hypothetical reign may be more like Amelia's than you think."

The Brain stopped pacing. "It won't be like hers, I'm certain. As a denizen of the train, I know more about it as to not make the same mistakes that she did! I'm even traveling through it to learn about the process, rather than watching it through a screen!" The Brain gasped, the Cat's eyes widened. She looked over at Yakko, who was seemingly too invested in a conversation with Pinky to notice the stares.

"So that's why you're accompanying him! He's your ticket across the train!" The Brain wasn't sure if that was disgust or amazement that tinted the Cat's voice. Maybe it was both.

"That's not true! I can prove it!"

"Really? Have you taken the time learn anything about him? to help him like we are supposed to?"

That was what finally led to a shift in the short lab mouse. "He goes on about anything except what is worth learning about him! The best Pinky and I can do is to go along with our plans and let it happen in time."

"Pinky doesn't seem to be doing that."

The Brain looked back at the other mouse, who was now cackling, probably at something the toon had said. "Look, we've tried. He talks until he gets defensive. From there it's almost as if we cannot get the information we need out of him." He pauses, a small smirk growing on his face. "Unless you happen to have something...?"

The Cat hissed, jumping on a shelf above the counter. "Not that. You should know how dangerous it is! Plus, I'm already letting you stay here for free. For now."

"I know what you did for that Apex passenger-"

"No! That was different! Do not bring him up!"

The Brain nodded, backtracking and re-thinking his words. "My apologies. I'd forgotten about your relationship with-never mind. The memory tapes do seem like the only way though. I'm afraid his number may be going up, and we can't get back to-" he cleared his throat. "We cannot help him leave the train without knowing what the problem is."

The Cat tilted her head, pondering what to do for a brief moment. "You almost seem like you care. But you can't just force-"

"I will only use it if necessary." The Brain quickly cut her off. "And, if I hypothetically rule the train, I will treat you better than Amelia ever did. Possibly better than One-One. You may even get your own position of power." He had to force those words out of his mouth.

"I see..." the Cat nodded. It was too much of an opportunity not to take up, even if Pinky and the Brain were probably never going to take over from One-One. Then again, she knew what had happened the last time she gave someone a way to see another's memory tapes without their permission. She didn't even know if the passenger even knew what memory tapes are. Still, maybe this was a way to make up for past mistakes, to see if giving firsthand access to fresh memory tapes could be good after all. She motioned for the Brain to join her on the shelf before reluctantly pulling out a projector and small white orbs. "If this ends up being the only way, then use them, but do try something else first."

The Brain nodded as he went to grab what the Cat had unveiled. "Thank you. I'll try to keep that in mind." With that, he jumped off the shelf and back to his traveling companions.

"Well, we must be on our way."

"So soon?" the Cat raised an eyebrow, her gaze still fixed on the short mouse.

"Can't we stay longer, Brain?" Pinky seemed just as surprised as the group's host. "Yakko was just getting to the good part of his story, where the man-"

"It's fine. I can tell it on the way!" Yakko shrugged as he stood up. "And I dunno about you, but I'm feeling refreshed. What about payment thought?"

"Don't worry about that. It's been handled." The Cat turned to Yakko, giving him a reassuring nod.

"Okay, thanks then!" The toon looked back and forth between the denizens, then to the car door that seemed so close. He let the two mice hop onto his shoulder, as not many complaints were given. "Well, are we off, then?"

"I suppose we are." The Brain looked back towards the Cat as Yakko headed towards the door.

"Don't forget what you said," were her parting words. The Brain nodded, silently promising that he wouldn't as he and his group were met with the bright orange sky of the wasteland.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, you two were at it for a while. What were you talking about?" Yakko's question shook the Brain, causing him to almost fall off the passenger's soldier. "Whoa! be careful!"

"Thanks..." The mouse weakly smiled as he was helped back up. "It's nothing that concerns you. Just what exactly payment was going to be." A lie would be better than to tell the truth, especially when the truth involved sneaking a look into someone's memories and possibly questionable motives for helping them. Well, the he'd at least tell Pinky in the meantime. Despite their differences, Pinky was the closer to the Brain than anyone had ever been. He could trust him to keep this a secret, right?

Thankfully the subject was changed so the Brain didn't have to think about it anymore, but that didn't stop his mind from doing so. Yakko was probably finishing the story he was telling but to the shorter lab mouse, it was all muddled, the conversation he had with and the promises he had made to the Cat just replaying over and over again at maximum volume.

Chapter Text

"I told you we would've gotten out faster if we hadn't turned left!"

"And how was I supposed to know that?! It looked like the better path to take!"

"How, Wakko? Because it was more interesting? Because it just happened to suddenly be there?"

"When did you suddenly care about taking the easiest path?"

"When we were separated from our brother, and learned that we need to find him before these numbers reach zero!"

Slappy grumbled as the two sibling continued to bicker. She pressed her hat onto her ears in hopes that it would at least muffle the sound. "Would you two quit it? We're already two cars away, and at this rate, your numbers are probably in the thousands."

The siblings stared at their hands, not bothering to check the numbers glowing from under their gloves. While Slappy did notice this, she continued on. "Why can't one of you just call the shots on this?"

"We were trying but-"

"Never mind." Slappy cut off the Warner sister, who stopped and froze for a second. "Just follow my lead, and we'll be out of here as soon as possible."

Wakko and Dot responded in unison, both uttering an unenthusiastic "Right." The trio had reached the door, but the excitement of being able to move on through the car had tanked. The group silently made their way across the bridge, getting just about halfway when something in the air shifted.

"Do you hear something?" Dot looked around, glancing up at the orange sky. Wakko crinkled his nose as he started to hear what his sister was talking about.

"It kinda sounds like...wings flapping..."

Slappy's eyes widened she she processed the Middle Warner's observation. She immediately pushed the siblings behind her as a giant bug like creature started moving towards the ground. "Kids, get into the next car. Don't wait for me, just run."

"What is that?!" Dot managed to get the question out, she and Wakko both picking up on the urgency and severity of what was going on.

"There's no time to explain. Just go. I'll hold it off." The two toons nodded and rushed into the next car, not even bothering to look around. They'd hoped that the creature hadn't come after them, and after looking back, they sighed with relief. Then the fear rushed back.

"Wait, we can't leave Slappy out there! That thing, whatever it was, seemed to put her on edge." Dot started towards the door. She was about to open it, when she stared back at Wakko, trying to get him to follow. "What is it?"

"Are you sure we can do this? Just the two of us?"

"Of course! We're still the Warners! We can do this. You've got your gag bag with you, right?" Wakko nodded, ready to pull whatever he needed out of his hammerspace.

"Let's do this!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Slappy had been holding her own against the ghom for quite some time, but though she hated to admit it, she was running out of tricks to pull. Even when she was just barely out of the creature's grasp, she still fought. She was glad Wakko and Dot didn't have to see this. Glad that they were safe, and that the ghom only had to focus on one person. And then she heard a voice.

"HEY!" The ghom stepped away from Slappy, as she looked down the path it had started to take. Right down to Dot.

"Kid, what are you-"

Dot didn't seem to hear the squirrel. She just focused on the monster trodding towards her. "You look like you could use a friend." From out of nowhere, the toon pulled out a small box, one that she hadn't used in years. The creature still seemed to head right for the Warner sister, not noticing the box. That was, until she opened it, and another, more cartoonish monster popped out.

The ghom was taken by surprise at the monster's shriek, staggering back slightly. Dot made one final call, shouting, "Now, Wakko!" And the middle Warner came flying through the air, pulling a mallet out of his hammerspace, and bringing it down on the ghom, the impact squishing the creature into a puddle. Dot placed the box away, and pulled out a rag, wiping up the black goo, and ringing it out into a bucket her brother had pulled out. The creature's hissing was still heard as the two siblings dumped the contents of the bucket over the bridge, and turned back to Slappy as if nothing had happened.

"I gotta say, that was impressive." The squirrel stood up, her concern for the toons melting away.

"We've had practice." Dot beamed, sharing a quick glance with her brother.

"Well, that may help us again sooner or later, but we've gotta get a move on." Slappy headed for the door, leading the siblings into the next car.

"Hey, Slappy? Do you really think our numbers are in the thousands at this point?" Wakko continued to walk as he asked this, practically bumping into Slappy as she turned around and stopped.

"Why don't you see for yourselves."

The toons looked towards each other and nodded, both taking their gloves off at the same time, and looking down as the numbers shifted. Smiles broke out on their faces, and they burst into relieved, happy laughter.

"114!" Dot let out a small gasp as she looked from her brother to Slappy.

"It went down!" Wakko was just as overjoyed to see the decrease in the numbers.

"That's great, kids. I'm glad you got them to go lower." Slappy let a small smile slip as she looked towards the path. "But now we really should keep going. There's only one way to get your numbers to zero."

The enthusiasm that the toons had lacked was practically exploding out of them, as they bounded after the older squirrel. In the midst of the excitement, Wakko was hit with a thought, and turned to his sister. "Do you think Yakko is having as much luck getting his number down?"

Dot slowed down for a second to think about it. "I'm sure he is. I mean, he's got to be working through whatever he's boarded for, right?"

"I guess so. I just hope it's near ours when we find him."

"I hope so too."