Knock Knock (Baffy)

6: A Little White Lie Never Hurts

"This is worse than the water tower." Dot crossed her arms. Wakko was curled up, sleeping on the floor. "Why didn't we just stay home today?"

Yakko crossed his arms as well. "I don't know. Maybe because somebody forgot to turn off the faucet last night and now the tower is flooded."

"It's not my fault! I thought you were going to brush your teeth next!"

"Well I didn't. I brushed my teeth first."

Dot scoffed and layed down on the dirty ground. "I'm going to sleep."

Yakko didn't reply. Instead, he grabbed a large coat and placed it on both of his sleeping siblings. In the small space that he had left, Yakko began to pace back and forth, worriedly, trying to come up with a way out of there.

"Maybe there's a vent in here somewhere. Or maybe we could dig a tunnel, or bust the door open." Yakko shook his head. "No, that would never work. Maybe we could use a stick of dynamite?"

Yakko sighed and slid against the wall. "...Who cares at this point? We're stuck in this smelly closet with no way out, no food, and a banana peel," he mumbled.

Wakko overheard his brother talking to himself and sat up. "...Are we going to die in here?"

Yakko's eyes widened. "No! Of course not! We're going to make it out of here, I promise."

"You promise?"

Yakko hated lying, but he also hated seeing his siblings upset.

A little white lie never hurts.

"...I promise." Some false hope should be enough to keep his siblings going. After all, that's something that Wakko cherished.

Hope. Whether it's real or forced.

Yakko felt his heart deflate a bit. Why was he put in this situation? Why were they put in this situation? The adults in the building are either too high to do anything, locked up in a closet, or are planning to do something extremely malicious to them.

Something that Yakko didn't want to imagine.

Despite Yakko's convincing tone and trustworthiness, Wakko could tell that his big brother was not telling the truth. He could tell that he was lying to get their hopes up, or at least lying to power them through this mess. But instead of calling him out, Wakko played along with his little lie, just so Yakko could have some hope of his own.

Hope that everything could be okay, might be okay, should be okay.

------------------------

Speedy was sitting in his mouse hole when he decided to ask Bugs what he thought about a certain pizza crust he had come up with. It could be a hit in his restaurant, but he wanted to get an outside opinion on it first.

He stepped inside the living room, and his jaw dropped from what he saw. Chairs knocked down, pictures torn off the walls, pillows thrown around the room.

Speedy wondered if Taz could have done this and Bugs just hadn't cleaned it up yet, but there was one thing that told Speedy that was not the case: This mess had been here for a week. He was surprised that Bugs still hadn't fixed the mess. Surely it would bother him.

Speedy frowned and decided to quickly clean up the mess for him. He zoomed around the room, and in a matter of seconds, the room looked presentable. It wasn't perfect, but Speedy didn't mind. He knew Bugs wouldn't either. In fact, he knew that if it was perfect, Bugs would scramble to make it imperfect.

He sighed and shook his head. The more that he thought about it, the more confused he got. Why would Bugs ignore a mess for a week? Why has Speedy been the one to refill Taz's bowl? Why has he not seen Señor Bunny for so long that his mailbox is filled with bills?

Where is he?

"Bugs?" Speedy ran upstairs. "Señor Bunny? Are you here?"

Speedy didn't receive a response.

He zoomed around the house, checking every room, and to his dismay, Bugs was nowhere to be seen.

-------------------------

Tina moved around in the closet, uncomfortable, sweaty, smelly, and confused. What just happened? One moment, she was helping Porky and those nice strangers burst open the door while Daffy was being taken away with a rabbit she didn't recognize. She was about to receive her ticket to freedom and fresh air. But then, she had gotten taken away, too, and still didn't get anyone to accompany her.

Tina sighed and did the math. "Two rabbits, two ducks, three dogs, and a pig. All of those together equal eight." She could feel the effects of the acid wearing off. "Everyone could be in a room with a partner. Daffy with the grey rabbit, Porky with one of the siblings, the other two siblings together, and the blonde rabbit with me."

She eventually gave up and her eyes flickered to the corner of the closet. There, she saw Gremlin, hunched over a discarded pill. "What are you still doing here? I thought you decided to run off and hang out with someone else." Tina rolled her eyes. "Who am I kidding? You don't even exist."

She nervously laughed, "I'm talking to myself again!"

Tina curled up into a ball and gagged at the smell that filled the area. The place reeked of dirty socks and bad fish. She needs an escape, some way out, but she is too disoriented to think clearly.

With her back turned away from Gremlin's ominous corner, Tina tried to remember what her life was like a week ago: a nice paying job, an apartment that she could afford easily, a paid-off car, and an attitude.

But now, all she can think about is the shell of herself that she became, and the need to escape it.