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kitkat1003 · 3 years

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The Dawn is Breaking, and I am Crumbling

Yakko is awake. His siblings awaken, too. Through the thin veneer of calm that is fueled by the near 70 years of acting experience they have, they keep it together enough to meet the new CEO after filming.

She’s not what they’re expecting.

This is Chapter 2 to this fic. Please read the first chapter.

@asilcorner

Yakko lets his face drop, just for a moment, when Spielberg turns away to mess with the controls and let his brother and sister out of the suspended animation tubes.

The whole room looks far too futuristic for only 22 years, Yakko thinks. The eerie glow from the tubes, a light blue, paints and eerie vibe about the metal interior. He can see the shadows in the corners of the room.

Wakko and Dot, at least, look healthy. As much as the redesign weirded him out, change of art style and all, he has to admit they kept the general feeling of their characters. Dot still has her flower and dress, Wakko still has his sweater and cap. The studio kept them relatively the same, though Yakko can’t help but play with the bit of hair sticking up between his ears, unused to it. He feels the lines are a bit sharper. Maybe this is how modern animation looks like?

The liquid starts to drain, and the polite grin is back on Yakko’s face by the time Spielberg turns around, even though his hands are shaking behind his back and he’s terrified by how this is going to turn out.

Dot’s tube opens first, and she’s picked up by metal arms and set down on the ground, and Yakko is at her side before he registers moving. She doesn’t look lucid yet, eyes open but unseeing, but she blinks a few times and he sees the spark of recognition soon enough.

“Yakko?” Her voice is so small.

“Hey,” he smiles at her, even though it’s a bit pained, and he hugs her close. She clings to him and shakes, but the sound of Wakko’s pod opening breaks them apart, because Yakko turns to see his little brother.

Wakko starts to cry the moment he becomes conscious, and Yakko rushes to his side because he understands, but they don’t have time to cry right now.

Not with executives watching. Not with the situation they’re in.

“Hey, hey, hey, bud, don’t cry, it’s okay,” Dot is right behind him, clutching him by the tail as if its a leash. Only his siblings are supposed to be allowed to grab his tail like that, and Yakko clearly remembers that night, when the men in the task force grabbed him by it and yanked hard enough to bruise. He shivers in memory. Wakko sniffles, as Yakko wipes his tears.

“We’re getting a reboot,” He says, loud enough for Spielberg to hear. Dot and Wakko glance at the man, who gives them a thumbs up. They wave back.

“We have to put on a brave face,” Yakko then whispers. “They don’t expect us to be sad. It’s just like acting, okay? Just for a day, and once we’re back alone in the tower, you can let it out,” he hates that he has to tell them this, that he has to ask they hide it away. He wants nothing more than to let them rage and cry and scream, because they have every right to want to.

But, because they did this in 1993, when all Yakko wanted to do was ruin Plotz, when all they wanted to do was feel the sun on their fur and play without contracts or cartoons, because they sucked it up and signed contracts and did the work then, they can do it now.

They all take a deep breath. Wakko rubs the tears out of his eyes.

They stand in a row, familiar grins on their faces.

“I think it’s time for Animaniacs, don’t you?” Yakko tells Spielberg, and he is both relieved and annoyed by the way Spielberg smiles and nods.

“You bet it is!” Dot agrees, and Wakko nods his head, tongue flopping about comically.

They play their roles well, don’t they?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The first episode goes well. Yakko helps move things along with the songs, all ad-libbed. The new CEO is a curveball, and when she looks at him he can feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up. There’s something off about her, something he can’t quite put his finger on, that makes her dangerous. He internally panics at how casual Wakko and Dot are around her. Maybe it’s just him?

In the break between the second half of their debut, where Pinky and the Brain’s return plays, she tells him that she wants a meeting with the three of them once they’ve looked over their contracts.

Yakko swallows the instinct to run and nods in reply.

They also, during the break between the two segments of their return, meet up with the grim reaper, who holds out their joint contract.

“Anything to keep us away from you, huh Daddoo?” He grins up at the reaper, and said personification of death cringes away from them.

“Yes-now read it over and sign it already,” The accent from this guy never gets old. Yakko snatches the document from boney fingers, reading it over. It doesn’t seem any different. A higher paycut, actually, which is nice. He supposes already being a celebrity helps with that. The finale clause, though, that bothers him

Upon the end of the Reboot, the Warners will become property of Death.

“Yeah, no,” he points to the clause. “I don’t think you actually want us, and I’m pretty sure making people property has been illegal for a while now,” Death seems surprised by the clause, himself. He glances at it, and then his eyes dart towards the CEO’s office. Yakko’s eyes narrow.

“Of course,” Yakko watches him revise it, the reaper mumbling under his breath about That crafty woman, and once that’s been taken out he lets Wakko and Dot sign it with him.

“Your As still look like 2s,” Yakko whispers conspiratorially to Wakko, and he giggles.

Back to the show.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The office building is quiet when they go in to meet with the new CEO. He doesn’t actually know her name. Nora? Norita? He doesn’t remember her introducing herself, so maybe that’s just for the mysterious factor.

“Leave the talking to me this time, sibs,” he whispers to them as the elevator dings to their floor. They must hear something in his voice, because they don’t argue.

The CEO is at her desk when they arrive, scrolling through her tablet while nodding along to a call she’s in. Her eyes dart sharply to the Warners, and Yakko pushes his sibs behind him.

“Mhmm, yes, that’s very interesting. Please hold,” She tells the person on the line, setting her tablet down and pressing a button on her earpiece. She takes it out and sets it down on the desk, standing up. Her heels make her loom, ever taller, over them, and her eyes are dark.

“Now, I know of your history. Plotz spoke of you extensively, and I had an assistant watch your previous show incarnation several times. I know how you work, your strengths and weaknesses, and your fears,” She regards them coolly, and Yakko stands tall, despite the ever mounting panic.

“You were brought back because Spielberg wanted you, and keeping him ingratiated to the studio is more profitable than the property damage you cause with your antics,” Every sentence is said with calculated precision. Every sentence is pointed, like the end of a knife

Yakko isn’t that aggressive, but Dot certainly is. He can feel her getting angry. Even Wakko, the calmest of the three when it comes to dealing with things, is becoming annoyed with the CEO’s attitude. That’s dangerous. He grips their hands in his tight, squeezing to remind them that they have to be quiet.

“You three, of course, will bring us money, but you’re also expensive to keep around. The nightmare that will be the publicity scandal should you come out with what happened to you these past 22 years would be...difficult to handle. So, I think it’s in your best interests to keep quiet,” She crosses her arms over her chest awaiting the challenge.

Yakko can see it, so he doesn't react. His siblings, on the other hand, don't quite understand the position they’re in.

“Like Hell we’ll keep quiet!” Dot jumps out in front of Yakko before he can stop her, stomping over to the CEO with a glare and a sharp toothed scowl on her face. “I’ll make sure the whole world knows about what you did to us!”

“Yeah!” Wakko runs over, mallet in hand. “What are you gonna do if we blab, huh?”

She’s got them lifted in the air by their tails before they can blink, gripping them tightly. Yakko jumps, staring at her with wide eyes, and Dot and Wakko are frozen in shock for a moment, before they start trying to escape. Dot is shouting obscenities. Wakko keeps trying to hit her with his mallet, but it isn't long enough. She holds them far enough away from her body that they can't reach her.

Yakko is frozen. This is the worst case scenario.

“None of your episodes have aired yet,” She reminds them. “I could halt production here. Spielberg is important, but we could smooth things over with him with the right words. He’s terribly sentimental. And while the fans would be upset about this reboot’s cancellation, we could cite many things that would have the Warner Bros. studio come out as if we were doing what was best for the show,” She glances between the two younger toons, and then to Yakko.

“And your next ending won’t be as peaceful. We have Dip, here, and we aren’t afraid to use it. That’s how we get rid of new toons that don't meet our standards, after all,” She grins, then, and Yakko freezes.

They use Dip casually? Here? That-that’s murder. And they’ll do that to baby toons, ones who haven’t even gotten their footing in this world. Yakko thinks he’s going to be sick.

“So, you have one option. Comply,” She shakes Wakko and Dot in her grip, stunning them out of their scrambling to escape. “I’ve made things efficient here, and I won’t have that changed by toons whose character sheets should have been burned in the 1930s,” Wakko and Dot flinch, and Yakko clenches his fists.

“Now,” She takes a breath, “Are you going to quit wasting my time? Because I have about ten calls waiting that are more important than you three,” She smiles at Yakko, and it’s one that makes him shiver again.

“Well? Don’t try for bravado. I know you’re nothing without your words.”

And Yakko hates that, and he’s terrified, but she’s got his siblings held tight in her arms, by their tails, and she’s threatening them with murder, and it’s all too reminiscent to that night, where he let his siblings down.

Not again.

He pounces, teeth bared, and digs them into her shoulder, knocking her to the ground. His teeth breaks through her nice suit coat and shirt and through skin, and she drops his sibs and kicks him with her sharp heel, knocking him back. He rolls across the floor before standing, spitting out fabric and the taste of her, wiping his mouth. He’s trembling. Wakko and Dot look shocked.

He’s never done that before.

“Here’s something you don’t know,” he spits, as she stands, incensed. “No one’s threatened us with Dip before. So, maybe I’m not as useless without my words as you think,” She narrows her eyes, and regards him with...something indiscernible.

“You don’t touch them,” he growls it out. They aren’t fully animals and they aren’t fully human, so they’ve got the sharp canines that put a household dog to shame and enough cognizance to know when to use them.

“You got a problem with us, you leave them out of it. This is just you and me, got it?” He bares his teeth, a reminder of what he can do. The smell of blood makes him want to throw up, and that’s with him trying not to register the taste.

“Yakko,” Dot tries, but Wakko shushes her. It’s a standoff, and Yakko is more terrified than brave but he doesn’t blink, doesn’t breathe, just lets the blood drip from his teeth as she holds a hand to her bleeding shoulder.

“This meeting is over,” The CEO says, finally. “I trust you can see yourselves out.”

It’s not a concession, but it is something different than the high and mighty attitude she had before. Maybe she’s realizing that all Yakko has to lose is them, his siblings, and that means that death means nothing to him.

Hard to beat someone who’s not so easily manipulated by fame and fortune or threats, is it?

The walk back to the tower is silent. Dot holds his hand, leaning against him, and Wakko clutches his pant leg. They both seem to still be in a state of disbelief.

“They have Dip now,” Dot whispers, incredulous, horrified.

“They aren’t gonna play anymore,” Wakko agrees, with the same amount of horror. He’s shaking.

Yakko holds them tight, as best he can, and they go home.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The first thing he does when they get to the water tower is direct Wakko to the kitchen and Dot to her dressing room area.

“Eat and get ready for bed,” He says, weary and exhausted. Wakko’s blood sugar levels need to steady out, and Dot needs something to keep her mind off of what happened. Directing them to something that they can lose themselves in the motions of is easy. He knows them too well.

They don’t protest, nodding.

He goes to the sink and gargles water, over and over, until he stops spitting out pink. He brushes his teeth six times. Scrubs his tongue raw. Washes his face. Doesn’t look at himself in the mirror until he’s sure he won’t see that dark red anywhere.

He doesn’t regret his actions, but he certainly isn’t proud of them.

When he comes out of the bathroom, their bunk bed has been made a large king size one, and Wakko and Dot are waiting for him. He quickly slips into some pajama pants and heads over to them, getting in the middle so they can snuggle up against him.

“Yakko?” Dot starts, and he can feel the fire in the back of her throat. “Don’t-Don’t you ever say that. That people can do bad stuff to you, if they keep us safe. You did it before and you did it now and I can’t-we’re a team. We don’t sacrifice each other-we can’t-you can’t do that to us,” Ever word is pushed out, like she has trouble knowing that she has to say it.

“You’re everything to us too,” She finally says, halfway to tears, and Yakko can’t swallow the lump in his throat to reply.

“Stay,” Wakko pleads. “You can’t give yourself up for us. You have to stay,” A man of few words, and yet they strike Yakko right in the chest, as he holds them tight.

He rubs their backs until they’re almost asleep, staring at the glow in the dark star stickers on the ceiling.

“I’ll try,” he mumbles, and it’s not as much of a promise as it is a hope, but they’re too close to sleep to try arguing.

When he finally drifts off, he doesn’t dream at all.

#animaniacs #animaniacs 2020 #kitkat1003 #yakko wakko and dot #yakko warner #wakko warner #dot warner #nora rita norita #blood

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