ANIMATORS AMUCK! By; Leloni Bunny

A fuzzy camera focus slowly evolved into a clear view. It settled on a

rather odd -- yet somehow familiar -- beginning for a cartoon.

If one considered oneself an art expert, one might have a variety of ways to describe the

pure white scene that lay before her/him.

Perhaps the scene was that of a polar bear in a blizzard. Seeing as how a polar bear is

white, it would only make sense for the bear to be invisible in a blizzard.

Then again, maybe this was a scene of a cow eating grass. Because the cow had eaten it

all, the grass was gone. Of course,when grass is not present, neither is a cow.

Those that fancied themself a true artistic individual might even go so far as to call the

white scene a child's interpretation of an imaginary friend. Generally adults can't see

imaginary friends. So naturally the scene would appear blank to them.

Even a 'modern artist' might choose to analyze the white scene. It could be considered a

perfect example of an artistic explosion of a soul torn; a jaded void left within a cruelly

tragic heart belonging to a creative genius of unfathomable proportions.

However, to the unenlightened eye, the white nothingness would simply indicate a lack

of scenery. This was a fact soon to be discovered by Plucky Duck

He walked into the shot carrying an armload of video tapes.

"I just love '4 for $5' day at Maverick's Movie Mansion," he said. "Hope Buster's in the

mood for 'Kid's Play 6: Mother-in-Law of Charlie'."

So deep in thought over his viewing choices was the evergreen mallard that he didn't

seem to notice where he was - or wasn't as the case may be. Plucky just kept walking and

walking and walking and wal - THUMP! He walked right into a freshly painted

billboard.

Plucky dropped his pile of videos as he was forced to reshape his battered bill. DVDs

clattered all over on, what could be considered, the ground. Being a white nothingness

made it a bit hard to determine what was ground and what wasn't. But Plucky had to be

standing on something hadn't he? So, for all intents and purposes, the DVDs fell to the

area that the duck was standing on. He glared up at the billboard. Plucky's intended

remarks were lost as he read the billboard.

'Hey, Mr. Alert! Take a look around you.'

"Huh?" queried Plucky. He glanced to the left and to the right. The small black irises

of his eyes disintegrated into flea sized dots. Overwhelming nothingness was finally

evident to the duck.

"What in the--" Plucky began. An oversized pencil eraser entered the scene and quickly

erased both the billboard and every one of Plucky's DVDs.

Suddenly, Plucky realized just what was happening. He cast a casual glance upwards.

"Oooohhhh no you don't! I went through the 'Duck Amuck' bit already. I am NOT

reliving that nightmare for a sequel!"

Without hesitation, the avian leaped straight upwards. He jumped right out of the

drawing table and landed in the lap of...

"Babs Bunny, I might've known," said Plucky dryly.

"Aheh," Babs chuckled. "What can I say? I just can't help myself."

Plucky crossed his arms over his chest. Needless to say, he was not impressed or

amused. "Uh-huh, why am I not surprised that you were the one behind this?"

Babs pretended to sulk as Plucky hopped down to the floor. "Least you could've done

was let me have a little bit of fun." She pouted.

"You already have more fun than a rabbit oughtta have as it is," Plucky sneered at her.

Then he added, "You're falling back on your old cliched lines, Bunny."

The duo headed towards the door as they talked. Babs reached out to grasp the door

knob only to find that there was no door knob there to grasp. In fact, there wasn't even a

door!

Plucky snickered. "Smooth move, Babsie. You can't even remember where the door is."

"I-I could've sworn that it was right here," Babs said. She scratched her head as she

tried to figure out how she'd managed to lose a door.

"Serves you right," sneered Plucky. He turned back into the room, hoping to find out

where the door really was. Unfortunately, Plucky wouldn't be able to find a door in this

room. In fact there wasn't even a room here. Only the dark blue coloring of the former

walls remained.

"Um, Babs?" Plucky gulped. He tugged at her sweater sleeve. "We have a problem."

"Yeah, you," she replied, pulling her sleeve away from him. The door had to be here.

This was where she'd left it to begin with. At least, she thought she had...

"No! I mean a REAL problem. Look!" Plucky grabbed the sides of Babs's head and

forced her to look.

The confused expression on Babs's face vanished as her head was forced around. Her

eyes nearly bugged out of her skull!

"What happened to everything? Where's the table and chair? Where's the filing

cabinet? Where's the trash can...and the carpeting?" She gasped.

It was true, even the gray carpeting had vanished into a dark blue void.

"Not so funny when it happens to you is it?" Plucky smirked.

Babs looked around, bewildered. Then she too grasped the situation as Plucky had done

earlier. She glared upwards. "All right, put the scenery back, NOW."

A huge paintbrush entered the scene, granting the bunny's demand. It painted some

scenery behind Babs and Plucky - literally. The duo were still standing on the blue

nothingness. They glanced at the backdrop.

"Well, I've been meaning to hit the beach," Plucky tried to joke.

"Somehow, I doubt this is what you had in mind," Babs replied as she jerked a thumb

towards the beach themed backdrop.

Once again, the paintbrush made an appearance. It added something blue to the

backdrop. That something turned out to be a tidal wave headed straight for the beach.

As soon as the paintbrush finished, the tidal wave was set in motion. It splashed against

the sand and the toons too!

Even though he was now soaked, Plucky still managed to smile. "Hey thanks! I needed

a dip."

"You're one yourself," grumbled a dripping Babs.. She glanced at Plucky. "How can

you smile at a time like this?"

"Easy," explained the duck. "You know what they say about misery loving company?

Well, I'm enjoying the company of seeing your misery! Oh, and by the way, you really

do look like a drowned rat when you're wet."

"Oh, har har," snapped Babs. A red tint seemed to gleam from her dripping fur. She

might've done something nasty about then if it weren't for having realization hit her.

"OUCH!" she yelped. "Do you MIND?" Babs lifted up the huge block lettering that

was REALIZATION and tossed it aside. "We're already being attacked by an unseen

animator. We don't need an alliteration loving author getting in on the act too."

Getting back to the situation at hand, Babs noted, "There's only one toon who'd dare

drench me."

She reached way way up and groped around until she found something furry in her

hand. Then she yanked back hard. There was a squall of pain. Then two blue rabbit ears

were pulled into the shot. Attached to the ears was Buster Bunny's pained looking face.

He gulped as his face met up with Babs's. "Aheh, hiya, Babsie."

"Buuuuuuuuusssttteeeerrrrr," she scolded.

"Buster?" gasped Plucky.

The blue rabbit grinned. Then he replied, "Well, after all, I was the one who got the

sequel."

"And I got the third installment," Babs reminded the boys. She released Buster's ears.

His head snapped back out of the drawing table like a stretched rubber band. Babs and

Plucky hopped out after him.

"Well, now that we've all had our fun, I guess the story's over," said Babs. The boys

nodded.

Buster scratched his head. "This was a pretty short story though."

"Hey," Plucky said, "Least it's ov-OOF!" He words were cut off as a backdrop of

scenery plunked down on him and the bunnies.

A trio of squiggles worked their way out from under the backdrop. With a deep breath,

they popped back into shape. Buster began to brush himself off. He quipped, "I always

knew we'd get it in 'The End',"

Babs peered over her shoulder. With a wide-eyed cringe, she instinctively grabbed

Buster's arm.

"Whoa, Babs!" Buster exclaimed as he struggled to keep his balance. "I thought we

agreed to save that for marriage!"

The sudden fear Babs felt temporarily passed into delight. "You do love me! I knew it!"

she squeaked. Her eyelashes fluttered a few times at him.

Seeing that this was no time for a third wheel, Plucky turned to leave. (Yes, even Plucky

has some sensitivity.) After all of this, he needed a good old- fashioned reliable Weenie

Burger to help him relax. Just then, his gaze fell upon a large white tooth. Actually, this

large white tooth had a neighbor. In fact, it had a few neighbors. Plus, there was a huge

reddish-pink carpet next to it.

"Um, Buster?" Plucky casually remarked, "What's red, wet and has lots of pointy

teeth?"

Buster mulled the question over for a few seconds. "I dunno. Why do you ask?"

"Because we're standing in it right now!" the duck shouted.

"AHHHH!" cried the trio as they took a flying leap. It was a narrow escape from a

rapidly closing set of jaws.

A six-mile-high Dizzy Devil snapped his fingers in disappointment.

"HEY! That wasn't very funny!" Plucky called out, facing skyward.

In response, a familiar oversized paintbrush swooped down and swiped over Plucky's

head. A few of the bristles tickled Plucky's beak, causing him to sneeze. He shook his

head to clear out any stray bristles. As he did so, he felt something thumping softly

against the sides of his head.

The duck glared over at the bunnies, thinking they had done something to him after the

brush hit. Both of them were somewhere between total bemusement and complete

hysterics.

"All right," Plucky demanded, "What'd you hit me with?"

Babs was the first to control her giggles enough to speak. "No-nothing, Plucky! It's just

that you're--" She burst into giggles again.

Buster took a deep breath and attempted to calm down. "Plucky, you're a Jack a-"

A pink paw was slapped across Buster's mouth, cutting him off.

"G-rating, Buster, remember?" Babs reminded him. She reached into a skirt pocket and

pulled out a compact mirror. Handing it to Plucky she explained, "I think you'd better see

this one for yourself."

Plucky snatched up the mirror. He took one look into it and screamed! His head had

been changed into a donkey's!"

Another giggle burst from Babs. She said, "Well, I guess we're not (giggle) out of this

mess yet."

At that moment, the paintbrush made another appearance. Buster was its intended target

this time. He yiped as the brush swiped over his form.

Too afraid to open his eyes, he cautiously asked, "Well...What happened?"

When no response came, Buster risked a peek. Babs's stark blank stare made him fear

the worst. This time, Plucky was the one in hysterics. Ignoring him, Buster looked down

at his hands and front. He didn't feel any different. He put his hands up to feel his ears --

HIS EARS! Where were they? Were they erased? No, they were still there. They were

just very short...and round.

About that time, Buster noticed that his tail felt heavy. He reached back to make sure

his tail was ok. He felt the base of his tail...then the puffy part...then some more puffy

part...and yet even more puffy part.

"What the HECK?" Buster exclaimed. He twisted his head around to come face to face

with a long blue skunk tail. "No.." he uttered. The tail twitched at him as if mocking him.

He poked the skunk tail and felt the poke reverberate through his own nerves.

Plucky took great delight in declaring, "Buster, you really are a 'little stinker'!"

Buster took the mirror from Plucky and glanced into it. He stammered, "I'm a, I'm

a...a..."

"You're a skunk," Babs finished the sentence in a small voice.

Suddenly, something purple landed upon Buster, sending him crashing to the ground.

He found himself in a mad embrace and being assaulted with kisses.

"And a 'andsome skunk he eez too!" said a familiar voice.

"HANDS OFF FEEF!" Babs growled. She rushed over and yanked Buster out from

under the amorous lady skunk. Death gripping Buster's arm, Babs added, "Skunk or

otherwise, he's still MY guy."

A small 'ow' was about the only thing Buster could add to the conversation.

Fifi LaFume giggled as she got to her feet. "I am sorry, mon amie. I could not -as vous

would say - 'Ass-eest moiself'." Fifi then broke up giggling and pointing to the dokey-

headed duck. He grumbled an inaudible reply.

"That's 'help yourself'," Babs said as she stiffled a groan and a giggle.."And no stealing

my lines."

"Are you the animator this time?" Plucky asked.

"Non," Fifi replied. "Actually, zee animator eez ...YEEEEEK!"

An electrifying shock fizzled Fifi's revelation.

The group rolled their eyes. "Shirley," they said.

Fifi nodded and coughed on her fried fur.

Plucky took a step forward and yelled, "All right, Loon. Either you fix this or I'm going

to hee-haw you into the nuthouse...again!"

Once more, the paintbrush appeared on the scene. This time, it repaired the damage

done to both Buster and Plucky. It also returned Fifi's scorched fur to its original natural

beauty.

One by one, the toons escaped the drawing table. Babs and the boys faced Shirley and

Fifi. "Well?"

Shirley smirked. "Like, you guys said the story was way too short. So I was, like,

extending it -er some junk. And I would've, like, gotten away with it too if it weren't for

this totally love-sick skunk!"

Fifi blushed shamefully. "I was joost curioos to see what Bustair would look like as a

skunk. Zat's all."

"Well, even though I tend to look good no matter what I am," Buster said, "Even I have

to say that idea just stunk, Feef."

The group groaned punfully. Well, they would've groaned if they'd had the time. An all

too familiar prop returned to wreak more havoc upon the rapidly growing group of

toonsters.

The paintbrush swiped over everyone this time. At first, they hoped maybe this one had

been a fluke. Upon seeing each other, there was no doubt about the damage. It was

technicolor gone wild with each toon looking like a big bright Skittle. Buster began the

spectrum in a ripe apple red. Plucky sported a fully orange feathered coat. Fifi's canary-

yellow coloring was enough to put even Tweety Pie to shame. Babs was green --but this

was no envy. Shirley was more of a Blue Loon then she'd ever hoped to be.

"The horror," moaned Babs, "The sheer unadulterated Y7-rated horror!"

"Mon deau!" cried Fifi, looking over her fur. "I look like zee bloated banana, non?"

Buster chuckled at Fifi. "I think that coloring makes you very ap-peel-ing, Feef."

"Least she doesn't look like a king-sized turnip," Plucky said.

The formerly blue rabbit frowned at this. He glanced over his own form. "Oh well,

least I don't look as sick as Babsie over there."

Even with a green exterior, Babs managed to give off a red glow. "Buster," she said

sweetly, "When this is all over,remind me to STOMP on your unfunny head!"

"Geez, can't you take a joke anymore?" Buster scowled at her.

Babs's tone changed as she realized she'd gone too far. She lowered her head, "I-I'm

sorry Buster. Bust I've been shocked, drenched, squashed and now recolored. No

offense, Plucky, but I HATE green."

"None taken," Plucky assured her.

"I can't take it anymore!" Babs dropped to her knees and prayed to the sky. "Please!

Please! Pleese! PUHleeeeeaasee fix this. Anything's better than this! I'll take

ANYTHING!"

More than happy to comply, the paintbrush swooped down over Babs, She winced as

she felt the bristles touch her briefly. When she didn't hear anyone reacting, Babs opened

her eyes and stood up. As she turned towards the group, it became very obvious that

something wasn't right.

Both of the guys were nearly drowning in their own drool as they gazed at her. Fifi

tried to hide her open-mouthed shock behind Shirley. Even Shirley seemed to be affected

by...well, whatever had just happened.

"What?" Babs asked, "What is it, guys?"

It was about then that Babs felt a bit top heavy. She glanced downward and shrieked!

Startoons' most noticeable trait was bulging in a nice round set of triple D's just barely in

Babs's shirt. Babs covered her chest with her hands and screamed to the sky.

"HHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMTTTTTTTTOOOOO

NNNN!"

Skipping over a very painful and possibly embarrassing scene, the toonsters

mulled around the most recent escapade at the drawing table.

The bunnies and avians stayed in one corner of the room. Fifi and Hamton remained in

the far corner. Their friends were trying to give the duo some privacy.

Buster queried, "So, Babs, how did you know it was Hamton anyway?"

Right on cue, Babs began her detective schtik. "Elementary, my dear Bunnyson," She

spin-changed into a detective outfit and continued. "Thus far each of us has been

involved in the 'Amuck' parodies in some form or another. Since Hamton was the only

one who did that to me before, it was logical to assume it was him again."

"Astounding, Holmes! Simply astounding," Buster retorted in his best British accent.

He looked over towards Hamton and Fifi. "I just hope this time, Hamton learned

something from it."

Hamton sat in the far corner, away from the group, nursing a very black eye. Fifi was

attending to his injury while scolding him about his actions. Whatever was said between

them isn't known. By his downcast expression, it was evident that Hamton felt bad for

what he'd done. Perhaps Fifi had gotten it through his head that being vulgar and

completely sex-minded wasn't the best way to get a new reputation.

In the end, the two of them seemed to work it out. Their embrace seemed honest

enough to everyone there.

Plucky snorted as he caught Hamton and Fifi's embrace out of the corner of his eye. "If

I had done that, you'd fry me. But because it's the 'ever-innocent porkloin' over there,

he'll get away with it," He muttered.

Shirley smirked at him, "That's because his conscience is, like, easy to get a message

through to. Yours usually needs a total semi truck rammed through your skull to get you

to listen."

Plucky frowned but didn't respond.

It looked as though things were calming down. So Buster called out to the group. "Ok,

gang! Now that we've got this whole 'anonymous annoying animator' thing out of our

systems, I say we get out of here and --"

If Buster had been about to say "Get a bucket of paint dumped upon us." He'd have

gotten his wish. If he hadn't been about to say that, well, that's what he got anyway. The

entire screen was flooded with a mix of green, gray and tan paint.

As the flood settled, it became a picturesque forest landscape. Tender oaks of gray and

brown barks dotted the area. A few white clusters of buds were visible here and there.

But mostly, there was grass. It was unusually thick and tall for forest grass. It was grass

none-the-less. Bright green waves of grassy blades practically drowned the forest floor.

In one area of this grassy sea, something stirred. A rather large, bluish gray jackrabbit

poked its head out of the grass. It looked around a few times as if it were lost and trying

to gage its location. It jumped a bit as a voice echoed through the air.

"Um, have you seen a blue toon bunny around here?"

The jackrabbit turned in the direction of the voice. It was even more startled to see a

non-toon green mallard duck staring at it.

"P-Plucky?" asked the jackrabbit.

"Buster? Holy moly! You're...real!" the mallard uttered in shock.

Buster looked at his paws. Sure enough, his paws were a 3-dimensional bluish gray

color. In fact, his whole form had been altered. No longer was he a Tiny Toon. Now he

was just another 3-dimensional jackrabbit as dull and normal as any other realistic rabbit

in the world.

Buster had little time to ponder the implications of this 'alteration'. Another voice drew

his, and Plucky's, attention. "Um, excuse me. Have you guys seen some toons

wandering through here?"

A beautiful light fawn colored non-toon bunny appeared before the boys. She sat

delicately upon her haunches and looked from one boy to the other. Before anyone could

answer her, yet another voice piped up. "Babzie?"

The fawn bunny turned around and came face to face with a non-toon skunk. The

bunny's eyes widened. She gripped the skunk's paws and stared at her. "F-FIFI?" Babs

squeaked. "Holy...Wow, I didn't know real skunks came in purple."

It was true. Though the hue is far from pure in a 3-dimensional real skunk, a

lavenderish color is definitely evident in the grayish fur.

"Zis is, 'ow vous say, 'most distasting', oui?" noted the doe-skunk as she got a good look

at her own form.

Babs nodded. "I think you mean 'most disturbing'," She said.

"Ugh! This is like SO wrong!" cried Shirley as she struggled free from the massive

grass. She had regressed to the form of a non-toon Loon. Her vibrant, pure technicolors

were dulled into realistic 3-dimensional shades of snow white and orange-brown. Her

sunshine colored locks of hair on her head had vanished completely.

The non-toon pink piglet that was now Hamton shook his head, gravely. "This is

probably far from over, Buster. I'm afraid this could potentially go on forever."

Buster cast his gaze skyward. Indeed, the animator's brush was hovering there. It

waited, like a soldier ready for battle, to carry out whatever devious order its master

could conjure.

Fifi curled herself into a ball. "Zis eez going to ruin moi career!" she wept. "Je weel nevair be 'ired for anyzing but 'adorable background creature' roles evair again! Je-Je weel 'ave to get a job weeth ze 'Animal Planet' network!"

Suddenly, something shiny caught Fifi's attention. The skunkette blinked a few times. She got up and walked towards the direction of the shining. As Fifi got closer, she could see that a can was causing the shining. 'If zis zing is full of 'redrum' Je weel scream,' thought Fifi. To her delight, it wasn't full of rum. It was full of 'mephitis mephitis paint'.

A smile crossed Fifi's lips. She reached for the paint can. Then she had an idea. If this thing could turn her back into a toon skunk, then maybe...

Fifi picked up the can and gave it a good shaking. She positioned herself behind the can, making sure her tail concealed the label upon it. She called out, "Oh Bustair! Could vous come 'ere please,"

"What's up, Feef?" Buster answered as he hopped over. The rest of the toonsters followed him.

Fifi worked the lid loose and started to peel it back. The pressure that had built up due to Fifi's shaking the can took over from there. The paint forced itself out in a gush of liquid. It didn't just splatter Fifi and Buster. It nearly drowned the entire group!

Buster sputtered and coughed as the paint slid down his form. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "Wha-what was THAT for?" he demanded.

"Sacra bleu!" Fifi gasped. "Zat eez not what Je was expecting!"

The paint didn't just cause everyone to turn into cartoon skunks. It also gave them back their normal coloring. However, they weren't anthro skunks. They still bore the form of a normal forest animal.

"Oh, Fifi! How could you?" Babs whimpered.

Shirley rubbed her cream colored temples. "This is, like, not happening. This is, like, not happening.This is, like, NOT happening!" she chanted to herself. Babs patted Shirley's shoulder in hopes of consoling her.

"Look on the bright side!" Plucky chirped as he put a head lock around Hamton's neck. "No more boar-ring pig jokes!"

Buster twitched his tail. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're actually enjoying this whole experience, Plucky."

Plucky wiggled his eyebrows. "Well you know how misery loves company? So, I'm enjoying the com-"

Babs interrupted, "You've mentioned it already, skunk-duck. One running gag per story is enough."

Fifi approached her best friends. She clasped her paws behind her back as best she could and looked downcast. "Je suis desole, mon amies. Je didn't mean for zis to 'appen." She looked up and then back down. A slight blush came to her cheeks. "Eef vous don't mind moi saying so, vous deaux do 'ave very nice tails." Babs and Shirley blinked at Fifi, then at each other.

Hamton, meanwhile, had worked himself free from Plucky's death grip. He grumbled to himself as he rubbed his neck. "Actually, I didn't mind the pig jokes all that much." As he stretched his neck a bit, he noticed another paint can nearby. This one was marked 'Sus scrofa paint'. He grinned, devilishly. "Oh, Plucky!" he called.

"Yeah?" said the green skunk.

Another flood of paint washed over the entire group. As it slid down their forms again, they shrieked with horror. While the paint bath had given them back their clothing, it had also caused them all to become cartoon pigs.

"This is like, beyond wrong - er some junk!" cried Shirley.

Plucky just couldn't resist the temptation to say it. He smiled ever so sweetly at Shirley. "See? we guys aren't the only ones who are pigs. Who's laughing sow?" He snickered madly as Shirley chased him through the grass. "When I like, get my hands on you ..." she hissed.

"Say Babsie..." Buster began.

Babs put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. "One 'chubby' crack and you're bacon bits."

"Um," Hamton blushed as he spoke. "Actually, Babs looks quite pretty as a pig."

"Awe, Hammy! That's so sweet," replied Babs as she fluttered her eyelashes at him. As an aside she added, "Buster could learn a lot about manners from you." This caused Hamton to blush even more.

"Hey, Hamton!" Buster called out. Hamton and Babs looked in the direction Buster's voice came from. They both got drenched in paint. For some reason, the paint had the uncanny ability to hit all of the toonsters at once no matter which one it was aimed at. So now everyone shared the form of toy-like cartoon bunnies; simple, round, normally clothed forms; flat faces and small round button eyes.

"Stick to your own species," growled the re-rabbitized Buster as he stood behind a freshly opened can of 'Oryctolagus cunicuhus paint'. After a pause he added, "And skunks too if you want."

Hamton and Babs glanced at each other and shared a sly grin. "Well, if you insist!" grinned Hamton. The bunnies clasped hands and pretended to walk away together leaving a dumfounded Buster in their wake..

Meanwhile, the green bunny that was now Plucky had found an 'Anas platyrhynchos paint' can of his own. "Hmm," Plucky snickered, "Well, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck..." He reached for the can lid.

"Don't EVEN think about it," hissed Buster. After all, he was only 10 feet from Plucky.

At that moment, something snapped within the bunnified Loon. In one of those very rare

instances of karmic chaos, Shirley fell out of her normal cosmic alignment. She glared

up at the brush. Thrusting her paw in its direction, she scowled, "I, like, pride myself on

being totally comfortable with my karma in all of my incarnations. But when you, like,

violate my totally personal self, YOU'VE GONE WAY TOO FAR!" With those words,

Shirley went into a spin-change. As she came out of it, she was toon Shirley once again -

- But with martial arts flair! The Loon had donned the traditional robes of a karate

student - complete with a blue belt.

"Y-You're a karate blue belt?" gasped the rest of the group.

Shirley looked over her shoulder at her friends. "What? I'm, like, still 3 belts away from

black, 'kay. But that should be more than enough..." She lept into the air on a straight

collision course with the brush. "...To totally make splinters out of this brush!"

As he watched the severe brush-abuse going on above him, Plucky Duck couldn't help

but be in awe. "Y'know," he mused, "Every time I think I've finally got that girl figured

out, she surprises me."

The others agreed.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Plucky gasped. "Shirley turned back into herself when she spin-

changed!"

"Hey, zat's right!" said Fifi.

Babs joined in, "And if it worked for Shirley..."

Everyone nodded. The 5 of them suddenly became little tornados of color, quickly

morphing away the paint's effects.

Shirley landed in front of the group as they became themselves again. There was little

time to breathe a sigh of relief. Something had to be done about this constant animator

problem once and for all! Babs was ready to lead the way.

"I don't know about you guys," the pink doe said, "But I have had enough of this

running gag bit."

"Me too!" chorused the other toonsters.

She turned to Buster and Plucky. "Li'l help please?"

The duo caught on quickly. They joined hands and bent low.

Babs backed up a few feet and got a running start. "Alliiieeeee..."

"Oop!" finished the boys as Babs's foot landed in their hands. They threw her upward

and out of the drawing table. Then they did the same for Shirley, Hamton and Fifi. Next

came Plucky's turn. Buster helped him get a flying start. Once he was gone, Buster

backed up a few steps and got his own running start. With one great bound, he followed

the direction that his friends had gone.

The camera started to follow the direction in which the toons had gone. Suddenly,

Buster's head shot back into the scene.

"Hey, I don't hold the record for the 100 meter high jump for nothing you know."

Then, he was gone.

Babs went flying right out of the drawing table. She was moving too fast to grab

onto anything. The only thing that stopped her ascent was landing in someone's lap.

This didn't turn out to be just any lap either. This lap belonged to Bugs Bunny!

Unfortunately, Bugs hadn't seen this coming in time to balance himself for it. He was

unable to keep his chair from flipping backwards. Both rabbits spilled onto the floor.

All notions of ending this animation nonsense was lost to embarrassment. Babs was

quick to get to her feet. "Gosh, I'm sorry, Bugs!"

"You 'n me both, kiddo," Bugs noted. The gentle tone in his voice assured Babs that

there were no hard feelings about it.

A collective gasp drew Babs's and Bugs's attention back to the drawing table. Buster,

Plucky, Hamton, Fifi and Shirley were slowly making their way out of the table. Each of

them was wearily looking from side to side as they did. Because on either side of the

table stood Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck.

The younger toons stared at the elder LTs. Finally Plucky asked, "What are you three

doing here?"

"Well," Elmer began, "You didn't weawy expect us to just wet you do anothew

'..Amuck' pawody without us. Did you?"

Daffy added, "Yeah, you amateurs looked like you could uthe some expert help."

A stern, yet not angry, look crossed Bugs's face. "We also hope youse kids have loirned

a valuable lesson from dis too. A paintbrush in da wrong hands is a very dangerous

weapon around here."

The younger toons nodded sagely. Some of them even began to relax a bit.

"Well, now that everyone's had some fun, I guess we can get back to normal around

here," Babs said, hopefully.

Everyone agreed and turned to exit the studio.

Suddenly, a big yellow stripe was painted down Bugs's back.

"Hey!" he cried indignantly.

"Oh, come ON!" pleaded Plucky. "Who could possibly be left?"

Babs chinned in, "Yeah! Everyone here has, at some point or another been in on the 'Amuck'

parodies. And even Bugs, Daffy and Elmer --the original 'Amuck' stars- are here. Who could

possibly be left?"

The same question rested in everyone's minds.

"You know," said Hamton thoughtfully, "With each '..Amuck' parody, the involved cast

of toons grows. This could be far from over. We've barely begun to scratch the list of

cast members. Plus we haven't even counted the infinite number of dimensions beyond

our own."

"You mean like Boy George?" Babs asked.

Hamton nodded. He continued, "So this could potentially go on forever."

Right on cue, a paintbrush poised itself above the group. The entire cast cringed.

"Nnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Slowly, the camera's focus changed from the shrieking group to the paintbrush

above them. The camera inched its way up the paintbrush handle. Eventually, it focused

on a white ruffled glove. This particular white ruffled glove happened to be attached to

none other than Honey Bunny.

She smiled at the camera. "Yes I know I was never involved in any of the '..Amuck'

parodies. But I am the one who's been attacked by a paintbrush for redesign more times

than all of them combined. So I figured that it was way past time for me to be on the

giving end of this brush."

Honey turned to her left. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Beside her, an enormous paintbrush bobbed up and down as if chuckling.

The End?

As always, all TTA/LT characters are the property of Warner Bros. Inc. All rights

reserved. Which is a real shame cuz, doggonit! toons deserve their own rights too!

Comments and criticisms can be sent to not forget the folks who really helped make this the readable story that it is, the

editors!

Pepe K Kid DuSable