The Prankster III: Not Him Again! By Michael M. Okay. Let me fill you in on what has happened up to this point. The first story introduced the infamous Prankster to the Tiny Toon universe. The Prankster was actually Fifi LaFume in disguise. Fifi had accepted a part by Bugs to give Buster a challenge. You already know this if you read the first story. The second story concentrated more on Fifi dealing with her guilt at bringing forth the Prankster. Once again, the group encountered the sneaky villain and was forced to fight a person who would throw everything he had at them, even the kitchen sink if he had one. Fortunately, Fifi overcame her guilt and accepted herself as being the Prankster. She became a hero to the students when she, playing her own version of the Prankster, conquered the second Prankster that was a Perfecto spy. In the end, she vowed to go after anyone who would resume the Prankster role. It seemed impossible that another "evil" Prankster would appear. Fortunately, Acme makes the impossible, possible. And now, the conclusion to the trilogy, as well as a new beginning! 1 year later since the last Prankster appearance. It was the beginning of a new school semester in Acme Acres. The day was one of the prettiest times of the year. Students slowly made their way to school, talking with each other about their summer vacation. Among the group of students approaching the school were Buster, Babs, and Plucky. Although Buster and Babs approached the school with a happy attitude, Plucky was aggravated. "Out of all the days to start school, why today." Plucky groaned. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Babs said to Buster. "Why do we have to go to school anyway? We know all the tricks of the trade. We have our own television show. What can we possibly learn?" Plucky stated. "Come on Plucky. All of us know that Bugs and the rest of the teachers always hold back at least some trick of the trade. Its our job to find out what by attending class." Buster explained. "Teacher's pet." Plucky grunted under his breath. "Still, it is a shame to let all this good weather go to waist." Babs said. "And that's another thing. Why is it always sunny and cheerful before something bad happens? This is exactly how many stories start! A bright sunny day and then some form of disaster strikes!" Plucky complained. Without warning, a giant thunderstorm formed over Acme Acres. Rain began to poor heavily after a roar of thunder was heard. A single lightning bolt touched down on the ground, right where Plucky was standing. The lightning bolt turned Plucky into a pile of ashes. Only Plucky's bill remained. "This isn't what I had in mind either." Plucky's bill said. "You wanted something different, you got it." Buster said as he looked at his friend's remains. "To bad we all have to suffer." Babs said as she held her book bag over her head in a failed attempt to stay dry. "We better get inside. Come on." Buster said and ran with Babs to the Looniversity. "Wait! You can't leave me like this! Buster!" Plucky shouted. Slowly his remains, including his bill, were washed down a nearby sewage drain. After acquiring their new school schedules, Babs and Buster were forced to part to attend their classes. Babs slowly made her way to her first class. As she did, she found Shirley and Fifi starring into one of the science labs of the Looniversity. Shirley appeared slightly aggravated while Fifi appeared curious as to what was inside the lab. "Hi Shirley! Fifi!" Babs called out. Both girls turned to Babs and greeted her. "So what are you up to?" Babs asked. "Like, looking in on Calamity. He just made a new invention, or some junk." Shirley said. "That's not new. So, what is it? Another rocket? A weather machine? Does the school have enough insurance if it explodes?" Babs asked. "Like, much worse. You remember the time when Calamity tried to increase your humor through technology." Shirley asked. "How can I forget? I almost became a nerd forever." Babs groaned. "Well he's using the same technology again. Take a look." Shirley said. Babs snuck a peek inside. Inside the lab, Calamity looked over his latest invention with incredible satisfaction. The invention consisted of a platform with some kind of adjustable ray gun pointed down at it. Next to the platform was a large metal capsule that had a swing away glass door on it. There were a number of pipes and tanks that connected to the capsule. At the opposite end of the room was a giant computer used to work the invention. "What's wrong with that?" Babs asked. "Don't you understand?! He is experimenting with life! It contaminates the life force of the world! It destroys the entire ecosystem! Toons were never meant to experiment with such devices! It is immoral!" Shirley shouted. Babs looked to Fifi questioningly. "I am just, 'ow vou say, curious about it." Fifi said, giving a shrug to Shirley's response. "You kids are just overacting." said Wile E. Coyote as he approached the group from behind. All the girls turned to him. "So what is Calamity working on?" Babs asked politely. "Calamity calls it the Toon Modifier 3000. It's a way to revolutionize the show business. The idea is simple. We take a group of toons together, each possessing a desired cartoon trait. We then copy that trait into this machine and combine the traits of others to it. The computer then constructs a toon from those traits. It is the most effective way of building the ultimate toon. Calamity is a super genius, second to me of course." Wile E. Coyote explained. "So your saying if you put me in this machine, it could copy my sense of humor and use it to make a new toon?" Babs asked. "Why be so general. We could take one of your impersonations you do and create a toon from just that. We can even enhance a toon's characteristic with this device." Calamity said. "Wow!" Fifi said in amazement. "That's incredible." Babs said. "It, like, breaks all the laws of nature." Shirley groaned. Everyone looked at Shirley questioningly. "This machine is a bomb just waiting to go off. Babs, do you really want a thousand Babs characters running around, acting like you?" Shirley demanded. "Well, no." Babs said. Babs had always enjoyed being unique to the rest of the group. She was considered the wackiest toon that did not live in Wackyland. "And Fifi. What would you do if there was a thousand love sick female skunks going after the same skunk you were chasing." Shirley said. Fifi frowned at this concept. "Or better yet, after Hamton." Shirley added with a sly grin. "Destroy ze machine! Zere can be only one Fifi!" Fifi shouted, pointing an angry finger at the Toon Modifier 3000. Before Wile E. Coyote could protest, Bugs Bunny came strolling down the hall. "What's all the commotion?" Bugs asked politely. "Like, Calamity is wreaking havoc with the natural karma of nature, or some junk. It is immoral. It is a crime against nature! It's a -" "Shirley. We already know what you think." Babs said, trying to calm her friend. Bugs looked at Shirley in puzzlement. He could not recall any other time that he saw Shirley so upset. "Do you mind explaining, doc." Bugs said to Wile E. Coyote. "I'll do even better. Allow me to demonstrate this machine's potential." Wile E. Coyote said. "As long as this doesn't attract any lawyers or insurance agents, you can proceed." Bugs said after considerable thought. "Activate the machine, Calamity." Wile E. Coyote said. Calamity gave a nod to his mentor and ran to the control panel for the machine. He quickly punched in a number of buttons. "Now, I will need a volunteer." Wile E. Coyote said. He looked down at the Amazing Three. After carefully looking at each of them, he grabbed Babs by the ears and placed her on the Toon Modifier's platform. "You'll do." Wile E. Coyote said. "Wait a minute! I never volunteered!" Babs shouted. "I know. But we need a Guinea Pig. Since your species is the closest thing we have to one at the moment, you'll have to play the part." Wile E. Coyote said as he placed Babs on the platform. "Guinea Pig?!" Babs shouted in outrage before Wile E. Coyote pushed a button that lowered a glass dome over the platform. Nothing else that Babs said could be heard through the glass. Given the fact that she was jumping around angrily, what she had to say was probably not pretty. "This won't hurt her, will it, doc?" Bugs asked. "She will hardly feel a thing." Wile E. Coyote said. He then turned to Calamity. "Go ahead Calamity." Wile said to his student. Calamity happily obliged and began to throw a number of switches. After Calamity finished throwing all the switches, the ray gun that was pointed at the platform shot out a green laser beam. Babs, having thousands of volts of electricity flow through her, did a wild take of where a toon would flash from their regular self to an image of their skeleton, and back again. Wile E. Coyote led Bugs, Fifi, and Shirley to a computer screen at the control panel. On the screen was a list of names. "The computer has just scanned her. This list shows every character impression Babs has ever done in her life." Wile E. Coyote said. "That's a lot of names, doc." Bugs said as the list scrolled on and on. "Babs always did a lot of impressions. She lives off zem." Fifi added as she saw the list scroll on the screen. "Next we can choose a impression. Lets use her John Wayne impression, shall we." Wile E. Coyote said. Calamity nodded in approval and immediately selected the name and punched in a few commands on the computer. Once all the programming was done, the Toon Modifier 3000 roared to life. "Now, feast your eyes on the empty capsule next to the platform. This is only a copy and will easily be erased after the demonstration." Wile E. Coyote said, pointing to the capsule. Inside the empty capsule, blobs of pink, purple, brown, and blue ink were pumped inside and swirled around like they were caught in a twister. Slowly from the ground up, a second, transparent Babs Bunny was created. The copy of Babs wore a cowboy's outfit, complete with hat and guns. "Howdy partners." the second Babs said. "Babs's spirit has been contaminated! Her body and soul can no longer be one with the planet!" Shirley screamed. She then fainted. Fortunately, Fifi was behind Shirley to catch her. "Amazing, doc." Bugs said. "Eez zat really a second Babs?" Fifi asked. "Not really. I guess you could say it's one of her traits given a form, or a phantom for lack of a better term. This character only has about forty-eight hours of life, unless we add a stronger concentration of ink and paint to it. Only then will the character become more stable. For now, we will just erase it." Wile E. Coyote said. He then pushed a few key commands on the control panel. "Now hold on there, pilgrim!" the copy of Babs said, but it was too late. The Toon Modifier 3000 was reactivated again and started to erase the impression of John Wayne. "Whoa! Guess I'm going to the wild blue yonder!" the impression said as its body turned into ink blobs that went flying around the capsule. The character disappeared in a mater of seconds and all the ink used to create it had been drained out of the capsule. Shirley awoke at this time to see the second Babs disappear. "This is a outrage!" Shirley shouted. Everyone turned to her. "Like, you are fooling around with life! Who knows what evil deeds this machine can do! What would happen if these abominations took over after we created them?! What if they decide that they are better than us and tried to erase us?! What if there was a real toon in that capsule?!" Shirley said. "Can this thing erase real toons, doc?" Bugs asked. Wile E. Coyote began to stutter at this. He then turned to Calamity. Calamity gave a small nod. "Yes, after ten minutes of exposure." Calamity held on one of his signs. "I do not zink zat I would like another me taking over moi place." Fifi said. Bugs looked over the machine for several minutes. He had to admit that the possibilities of creating new toons were now endless with the Toon Modifier 3000. No longer would Warner Brothers have to search for new toons if there ever was a shortage on ideas. It was even possible to create the ultimate toon. Bugs then looked at Babs, who stood slightly dazed on the platform. The pink rabbit that contributed a lot to cartoons in her own unique style. Something all toons did and wanted to share. "I've made my decision." Bugs said. Everyone looked to Bugs with eyes great in anticipation. "I admit that this machine is great, but I can't allow it." Bugs said. Shirley, Fifi, and Babs sighed in relief. Wile E. Coyote looked down to a depressed Calamity. Bugs saw the heartbroken coyote and kneeled next to him so they could see eye to eye. "Its nothing against you, kid. It's true that we could create wonderful toons with this. However, I fear that if we do, there would be no room for all the other toons in the world to show their own unique talent. We'd just have a bunch of phantoms doing cartoons. Nothing would be new." Bugs explained. Calamity seemed to understand. He nodded his approval and held a sign that said, "I'll destroy it." "I'll give you two days. The least I can do is let you make a few experiments to see if it really works. Just make phantoms only. No real toons." Bugs said. "And don't use me as a Guinea Pig! I'm a rabbit, not a hairy pig!" Babs said after Wile E. Coyote had removed the glass dome from the platform. "Correction on that. Use only willing volunteers." Bugs said. Calamity smiled at this. Shirley on the other hand was slightly upset. "Like, you can't!" Shirley cried out. "Shirley. Calamity put a lot of effort in this. It will be taken apart, but allow Calamity at least some glory in his invention." Bugs said. Shirley groaned at this. Nevertheless, she knew that she had to agree with the decisions of Bugs Bunny. She had no choice, at the moment at least. News on Calamity's invention spread throughout the school like wildfire. Students flocked to see the machine in action, with a few volunteering to be scanned and copied. Combining several traits from various students made some interesting phantoms. Some even resembled the experiments made by Dr. Gene Splicer. Calamity was pleased with the results. Although he would have liked to make these phantoms a permanent addition to Acme Acres, he dared not disobey Bugs Bunny's decision. Bugs trusted Calamity to keep his word, and Calamity didn't want to break that trust. Shirley on the other hand was not pleased with any of this. To show she was against this, she sat down at a table outside of the science lab and petitioned students not to even approach the science lab. Several times, she screamed of how unnatural it was, but many times the students didn't listen to her ramblings. "Like, fear this new evil! It will cause the world's destruction! You will no longer be one with your soul!" Shirley shouted. She then collapsed on the table in frustration. "Hi Shirley." Buster said as he walked to the table. "Like, hi Buster. Come to see the invention as well?" Shirley groaned. "No." Buster said. "At least someone is listening to my advice, or some junk." Shirley said. "Actually I was going to volunteer and see what kind of characters could be formed from my traits." Buster said. Shirley screamed and tore a few of her feathers from the side of her head. She then collapsed face down on the table. "I guess I shouldn't have said that." Buster commented. "At least Plucky hasn't found any interest in this machine. Like, maybe he realizes how evil this machine is and is willing to listen to my words of wisdom. Maybe he is becoming one with his inner self and is changing his ways." Shirley said. "Nah! Last time I saw him, he was washed into the sewers after being struck by lightning. He's probably still trying to pull himself together down there." Buster said and snickered. "So much for putting faith in him. The day I can put faith in him is, like, the day pigs fly." Shirley grunted. A sudden uproar of laughter was heard inside in the science lab. Both Shirley and Buster looked inside to see what was going on. Inside the capsule, was a pig with a pair of wings. The pig launched itself in the air and flew in one place, looking at the students in curiosity. "Well?" Buster said to Shirley. "Like, I think I meant when Hamton flies, or some junk." Shirley stuttered. Buster began to snicker as Shirley found herself at a loss for her argument on faith. The lunch bell rang the next moment. The students barged out of the science lab at an incredible pace. At the head of the crowd was Babs Bunny dressed in a soldier's uniform from the Civil War. "CHARGE!" Babs shouted as she pointed her cutlass forward, leading the students. Calamity was the last one out of the science lab. He locked the door to the lab and headed for lunch. "Come on Shirley. If anything, you need a break from watch duty." Buster said. "What's the point of being here. Like, no one listens to my warnings. But I have to do something." Shirley said, but Buster just ignored her as he helped her to the cafeteria. Once inside the lunchroom, Buster led Shirley to the table that was reserved for the Amazing Three. "Well, I'm going to get some lunch. I just hope the mystery meat is dead this time. You better eat something as well." Buster said. Shirley only nodded as Buster left and took her seat at the table. "Hey Shirley." Babs said as she and Fifi walked to the table and joined Shirley. Each carried a tray with the mystery meat on it. "Oh. Hi Babs. Hi Fifi." Shirley groaned. "So what's going on?" Babs asked. "Not much. Like, how are you?" Shirley said. "That remains to be seen after lunch." Babs said, pointing to the mystery meat. At the same moment, Fifi picked up her fork and placed it into the meat. "UGH!" a voice from the meat shouted. Fifi jumped in surprise. She then stared at the meat for a few seconds. Deciding it was just her imagination, Fifi sat down and began to saw the meat. "OW! EEEH! OOH! OUCH! AGONY!" the strange voice cried with each cut Fifi made with her knife. Fifi, having heard enough sounds of agony, took the fork and knife out of the meat and scooted the plate away. "I zink I have lost moi stomach." Fifi groaned while clutching her belly, her face turning green. "I think you mean appetite. I don't blame you." Babs said as she scooted her lunch away as well. She then saw her lunch jump off her plate and run out of the cafeteria. "I always hated to eat food on the run." Babs said. She then looked to Shirley. "Are you okay, Shirley. You didn't eat that, did you?" Babs asked. "Babs. Fifi. Like, we must do something to stop Calamity. We can't let him do his experiments anymore!" Shirley said to her friends. "But Bugs said -" Fifi began. "Like, forget Bugs. We need action, or some junk!" Shirley stated. "Shirley. The machine will be destroyed. But Bugs knows Calamity did a lot of work on it in the summer. Didn't you see how devastated Calamity was when Bugs said it had to be dismantled?" Babs asked. "Like, so what! We need to protect nature from that thing, or some junk! I'll do it myself if I have to!" Shirley said. She then began to march out of the cafeteria. "Uh oh. I zink Shirley has, 'ow vou say, snapped." Fifi said. "Or maybe she did eat the cafeteria food." Babs said. "Zis ees terrible." Fifi said. "We better stop her." Babs said as she started to pursue Shirley. Fifi was right behind Babs. Quickly, the two of them ran toward the science lab, knowing that Shirley would be trying to destroy Calamity's invention. They arrived just in time to see Shirley taking a stance in front of science lab door. "Like, open sesame!" Shirley said with her arms stretched out toward the door. The door began to creak and its hinges groaned. The door exploded outward a few seconds later. Pieces of wood went flying in all directions. Shirley only stared at the door exploding. "Shirley!" Babs and Fifi called as the two rushed to their friend's side. "Don't try to stop me!" Shirley said as she faced them. "But Shirley. Vou will be in trouble eef vou do zis." Fifi said. "Like, we are already in trouble! We must destroy this machine before something terrible happens, or some other junk." Shirley said. At that moment, a giant lightning bolt crashed down and struck the clock tower of the Looniversity. The energy in the lightning bolt raced down through the school. The building appeared to jump off its foundation as energy coursed through it. Every light in the school went out. All the computers in school blew a circuit. Every student using an electrical appliance did a wild take. However, the most damage happened at the science lab. The energy of the lightning bolt raced through the electric outlet the Toon Modifier 3000 was connected to and activated the machine. Sparks raced through the controls and began to overload them. On the computer screen, the words "Remove All Impressions/Hidden Personalities" flashed on the screen. The ray gun then started to move around at different angles until it had Babs, Shirley, and Fifi in its sight. "Zis ees, 'ow vou say, not good." Fifi said. "That's an understatement." Babs added. The ray gun fired at Babs. Again, Babs was sent through a wild take of being shocked. The ray gun then stopped after several seconds, allowing Babs to fall to the ground, unconscious. "No!" Shirley cried. She then turned to the machine. "For all of nature!" Shirley shouted as she raised her hands over her head. Lightning began to flow through her hands as Shirley gathered her powers. Before she could launch her attack, the Toon Modifier pointed the ray gun at her and fired. Shirley experienced the same reaction as Babs did. "Shirley!" Fifi cried as she saw her friend being zapped. Instinctively, Fifi grabbed Shirley by the arm. When Fifi did, thousands of volts of electricity poured through her as well. Fifi was knocked clear away from the door from the shock before the ray gun stopped its attack on Shirley so it could attack Fifi. "Removal Complete! Creating Multiple Units!" the computer screen flashed. A list of names then raced across the screen. Fifi was the first of the three to awaken. She felt a number of dizzy spells wash over her, making it a challenge to just stand up. She went to her two friends, who lay unconscious. She nudged them a few times, but got no response. Her attention was then turned to the Toon Modifier 3000 when she heard the door to the capsule open. From the door raced several Babs Bunny impersonations that appeared to be jumping out of a twister of ink inside the capsule, each acting out a character Babs portrayed. Fifi did not know what to make out of this. She did the only thing she could do. She ran screaming down the hall. "So how long do you figure it will take Plucky to reassemble himself?" Hamton asked as he and Buster walked the halls. "I don't know. He was pretty mad when he was washed down that drain. It may take him another hour or two." Buster laughed. "Poor Plucky." Hamton said. "Don't worry. I doubt he will find anything down there." Buster said. "What about alligators?" Hamton asked. "There are no alligators in the sewer. At least I don't think so." Buster said. He then heard the sound of Fifi screaming down the hall. Both he and Hamton turned to see Fifi racing to them. "Hamton! Buster! Help!" Fifi cried as she approached the two. She then collapsed a few feet in front of Buster and Hamton. "Fifi!" Hamton called out as he and Buster ran to her side and helped her. The two laid her on her back when they saw her weakened condition. "What's wrong?" Hamton asked. "Babs. Shirley. Help zem. Ze machine - " Fifi said before fainting from exhaustion. "Fifi?" Buster asked. "What machine is she talking about?" Hamton asked. Buster gave a shrug. He then heard hundreds of voices, sounding very much like Babs Bunny. He turned to the source of the voices to see thousands of Babs Bunny phantoms come racing down the hall, each one portraying their part to the letter. "Uh-oh. I think we got a problem." Buster said. "What's going on?" Hamton asked as he to saw the phantoms approaching. "I don't know, but I think I have a idea. Get Fifi to the Nurse's office. Also, see if you can find Calamity. I'll go get Bugs. We got a serious problem." Buster said. One of the impersonations stopped in front of Buster and Hamton. "I'm Barbara Walters. Bringing to you, live, the Babs Invasion." the impersonation said. "A very serious problem." Buster said. A single gunshot whizzed over Buster's ears the next moment. Buster turned to the source of the shot. Standing before him was one of the Babs impersonations dressed up like Yosemite Sam. "You dirty varmint! How dare you play that school prank on me last year!" the Babs clone said. It took Buster a moment to remember what the clone was referring to. When Buster did recall, he gave a sheepish grin. "It was just a small prank." Buster said nervously. "You tried to send me into orbit!" the phantom shouted angrily. "You were the one who placed that rocket under Sam's chair last year?" Hamton asked. "Well - ah. That is to say - " Buster began. He then bolted from his position and ran as fast as he could down the hall. "Come back here you no good varmint!" the impersonation shouted as she gave chase. Hamton stood stunned and watched the two disappear amidst the chaos of phantoms. He then turned to Fifi and started to carry her to the nurse's office. Buster made a dash for the principle's office without looking back. The Babs impersonation portraying Yosemite Sam was right on his tail. It did not take Buster long to reach the principle's office. Once there, he rushed in and slammed the door closed. Buster breathed heavily in relief in escaping. "What's up doc?" Bugs asked. "Bugs! We got a problem!" Buster said. "What is it now? Did Monty throw another cherry bomb down the toilets again, causing the bathroom to flood?" Bugs asked calmly. "No." Buster said. "Did Calamity cause another meltdown at the nuclear power plant?" Bugs asked. "Not quite." Buster said. "Warner Brothers didn't cancel my contract, did they?" Bugs demanded. A look of panic dominated his face. "No." Buster said. Bugs gave a sigh of relief. "Then what's the problem?" Bugs asked calmly. Before Buster could answer, the door that Buster leaned against was kicked open by a Babs impersonation that had the distinct look of Yosemite Sam. Buster was crushed between the door and the wall. "Where's that no good varmint!" the phantom said. It then looked around the area. "Oh. Hi Babs." Bugs said. "The name is Sam! Yosemite Sam! I'm looking for that no good rabbit, Buster. Teach him to pull a prank on me!" the impersonation said as he looked around. "Sorry, ah, Sam. Not here." Bugs said. "Wait till I get my hands on that varmint!" the impersonation said, and ran out to continue its search. On its way out, it slammed the door shut. Buster's body remained sticking to the door as the door was closed. It took Buster a moment to peel off the door and pop himself back into shape. "I take it that's your problem, doc." Bugs said. "That, and about a thousand others." Buster said as he opened a door to reveal thousands of Babs impersonations running through the halls, causing mischief. "Aw, great! Another case of split hares." Bugs groaned. Buster and Bugs ran straight to the science lab afterward. It was here that they found Babs and Shirley laying on the floor unconscious. Quickly, the two scooped the girls up and brought them into the nurse's office. They found that Fifi was already being treated and had regained conscious. Hamton was at her side. Babs and Shirley were placed into beds next to the one Fifi was in. Granny quickly came over and checked the two girls out. "Will she be okay, Granny?" Buster asked as Granny looked over Babs. "Don't worry. I'll have my star nurse look into this." Granny said. "Oooh!" said a familiar voice at the doorway. Buster turned to see Elmyra standing in the doorway. Elmyra was wearing a nurse outfit and carried a doctor's bag. Sticking out of the bag were several sharp scalpels and syringes. Buster gave a scream of fright. For any animal, there was nothing more frightening in Acme Acres than Elmyra playing doctor. "I'm going to help the bunny-wunny get all better. Time to operate." Elmyra said as she pulled a scalpel out of her doctor's bag. "I don't think so!" Buster said as he slammed the door on Elmyra. An imprint of Elmyra was made on the door. "I don't think Babs would respond well to having Elmyra operate on her." Buster said when he saw Granny starring at him in surprise. "Why do you say that? Everyone treated under Elmyra's care usually say they're feeling better in less then ten seconds." Granny said. "Or they have a enough sense to run for the hills." Buster said to himself. "I think it would be best if you looked over her." Buster said to Granny. Granny gave a shrug and continued to look over Babs and Shirley. She could not understand why Buster didn't want Elmyra's help. "So what's wrong with them?" Bugs asked. "Well Shirley here has just been knocked cold for a while. Fifi doesn't appear to have been hurt much. Babs is in shock." Granny said. "Shock? Will she be okay?" Buster asked. "She'll live. But she will be unconscious for a while." Granny explained. Buster could not believe the news. He walked over to Babs and looked over her body. He remained silent. "Ah, Fifi, can you tell us what happened?" Bugs asked. The skunkette rubbed her head as she felt a number of dizzy spells wash over her. "Oui. Shirley was trying to destroy ze machine." Fifi said. "What did she do to it?" Bugs asked. "Nozing. As soon as ze door was destroyed, ze machine attacked us." Fifi explained. "Well, maybe not quite." Wile E. Coyote said as he and Calamity entered the room. Calamity was busily writing down figures in a notepad and doing some calculations. "I take it you saw the problem, doc." Bugs said to Wile E. Coyote. "Who can miss a thousand Babs Bunnies roaming the school halls." Wile answered. "What do you think happened, doc?" Bugs asked. "Calamity here thinks that his machine was overloaded by lightning. The entire control panel has short circuit and the Toon Modifier 3000 was activated." Wile E. Coyote explained. "So what happened to the girls?" Buster asked. "Well, the machine copied all of Babs Bunny's impressions and has made individual phantoms of them. The girls will return to normal." Wile E. Coyote said. Calamity began to tap Wile E. Coyote's shoulder. When Wile looked down, Calamity handed the notebook he had used to make his calculations. "Are you sure?" Wile asked. Calamity gave a nod. "But you said earlier that they were just copies." Wile said. "Calculation error. Forgot to carry the one over." Calamity wrote on one of his signs. Wile slapped his forehead in disgust. He then turned to the rest. "Gentlemen. We have a serious problem. It seems the machine may have drained all impersonations from Babs." Wile E. Coyote stated. "What does that mean?" Hamton asked. "It means that we have to catch all of Babs impersonations and put them back in less than forty eight hours." Wile E. Coyote explained. "And if we don't?" Buster asked. "Then, like, all the impersonations fade away, and your friends will never be able to do their impersonations again. In other words, they will be normal, or some junk." said a familiar voice at the doorway. Everyone turned to the doorway and saw Shirley. Everyone's jaw dropped to the floor in surprise. They all looked back and forth between the Shirley at the door and the Shirley on the bed. "Shirley?! But your - and in the - what?" Buster stuttered. "Like, I'm not Shirley. I am her aura, or some junk." the Shirley at the doorway said. "Shirley's aura?" Bugs asked. "Like, yeah. That machine pulled me into it and made this body for me. Its really quite nice to have some color now." Shirley's aura said, looking over her new body. She then turned to Calamity with a stern look. "Like, Shirley told you that machine upsets the entire balance of nature! But did you listen? No! Look at what it did to me! I'm no longer one with my body!" Shirley's aura shouted. Calamity cowered before the aura. He held his notebook out in front of him in defense, expecting the aura to zap him. "Alright, doc. You proved your point." Bugs said as he pulled Shirley's aura away from Calamity. "So how do we fix things." Bugs asked. "I believe if we fix the Toon Modifier 3000, we can reverse the process. However, we need to catch all the impersonations before they fade away. It's the only way to restore Babs completely." Wile E. Coyote said. "Then that's what we'll do. I'll have to get all the students to help though. Calamity and Wile will fix the machine." Bugs said. Bugs then raced out the door to get the help they needed. "Count me in!" Buster said as he followed Bugs out the door. Meanwhile, Shirley was beginning to awaken from unconsciousness. The first thing she saw was her aura looking down at her. "De-ja-vu. Do I, like, know you?" Shirley asked her aura. The storm continued to pour rain on Acme Acres. The entire landscape became drenched in water, forming pools of water all over the countryside. Directly in front of the Looniversity, a manhole cover budged and was being pried open from underneath. The sound of shouting could be heard from down below. Finally, the manhole was punched off, and Plucky jumped out of the manhole while trying to defend himself from some alligators with a club. Wedged on his tail was a set of alligator teeth that had been yanked out of an alligator's mouth. "Down! Down! Down!" Plucky shouted as he hit the alligators with a club and forced them back into the sewers. "Where's Paul Hogan when you need him!" Plucky shouted as he placed the manhole cover back on the sewer. At that moment, Paul Hogan, reprising his role as Crocodile Dundee, walked by. "Sorry mate, but I don't do alligators." Paul Hogan said. "What's the difference?!" Plucky shouted angrily. Paul Hogan pulled out a book and flipped to the pages with a picture of an alligator and a crocodile. "Well the crocodile has a somewhat longer snout and -" Paul Hogan began, but was shoved away by Plucky the next instant. "This isn't the Discovery Channel! Isn't it bad enough I have to attend school!" Plucky shouted. Without warning, the manhole cover Plucky was standing on was lifted up by a toothless alligator. "Hey pal. Can I have my teeth back." the alligator said. "Yeah sure." Plucky said calmly as he handed the alligator the jaws that had been lodged on his tail. "Thanks pal." the alligator said as he went back into the sewers with his jaws. "Who says there's no alligators in the sewer?!" Plucky demanded. Plucky proceeded up to the Looniversity in the foulest of moods. One could only wonder how he had calmed down long enough to pull himself back together. It remains one of the many mysteries of Acme Acres. Once Plucky reached the door, he kicked it open with all of his strength. "This has to be the biggest insult yet." Plucky said. Inside the school, Plucky saw hundreds of Babs Bunny characters running about. Each one seemed to be doing a different impersonation and being chased by some of the students of the Looniversity. In one corner, Plucky saw a few students trying to wrestle down Super Babs, who was making the students attempts look bad. In another corner, Babs, acting as a reporter, was interviewing some students who were leading her away. "Oh! Can we talk! Can we talk!" said another Babs, acting as Katherine Hepburn. She then ran off when she saw a few students start giving chase to her. "Oh! The horror!" she said as she ran. Another Babs dressed in royalty passed Plucky. "We are not amused by theses antics." the Babs said. "What's going on?!" Plucky shouted. He then saw another Babs run by him. This Babs seemed to be dressed as an old mobster. "You will never take me alive, copper! Nyah!" the Babs mobster said as she ran by Plucky. Following directly behind her was Buster. "Your going down, Mugsie!" Buster shouted. At this point, Plucky grabbed Buster and pulled him to his side. "Okay Buster. What's the gag?" Plucky asked in a civil tone. "Oh. Hi Plucky." Buster said. "Don't 'Hi Plucky' me. You let me get washed down into that sewer. Me! A star! And when I come back, the place is filled with Babs Bunny look a likes! What's going on?!" Plucky demanded. "It's a long story." Buster said. WHAM! Both Plucky and Buster found themselves in the shape of pancakes. They looked up to see the mobster Babs looking down upon them while carrying a giant mallet. "Nyah! That will teach you, coppers, see! Nyah!" laughed the Babs Mugsie. Buster, being calm, popped back into shape first. "Excuse me while I take care of Mugsie here." Buster said and then disappeared around a corner of the hallway in a flash. "Don't rush on my account." Plucky groaned, still in his pancake form. He finally managed to pop back into his regular self. "Nyah! Now I will do away with you, see!" Babs Mugsie said as she approached Plucky with a Tommy Gun. "I see! I see! Buster! Help!" Plucky screamed. "Mugsie!" said a dark voice behind the Babs Mugsie The Babs impersonation turned around to see Buster dressed as an organized crime figure. Buster glared angrily at the impersonation and was flipping a quarter in his right hand. His other hand was hidden behind his back. "Rocko! Oh no! Nyah!" Babs Mugsie said. "Its curtains for you Mugsie! Curtains!" Buster growled deeply. "No! Not that! Anything but that! I'm your pal! I'm your friend! Please don't say curtains!" the Babs impersonation pleaded. She then got on her hands and knees and cried. "Curtains! You hear me! Curtains!" Buster shouted. He then pulled some yellow curtains from behind his back and slammed them on the Babs impersonation. It took the Babs impersonation a moment to realize that she now had a pair of yellow curtains attached to either side of her head. "Aw. They're beautiful." the Babs impersonation said in a sweet voice. "You to, duck! Curtains!" Buster growled as he placed an identical pair of curtains on Plucky. "Hey! What are you doing, Buster?!" Plucky shouted as he tore the curtains off. "Sorry Plucky. I got carried away." Buster said as he slapped handcuffs on the Babs clone. "That will hold you." Buster said. "You can't do this to me copper! Nyah!" the Babs impersonation shouted. "Do you mind on telling me what's going on here!" Plucky demanded. "Just follow me and I'll tell you what happened to Babs." Buster said as he towed the Babs impersonation away. "We are still not amused!" said the Babs queen impersonation. Slowly, she was being broken down into blobs of ink within the capsule. Within seconds, the Babs impersonation was no longer in the capsule of Calamity's Toon Modifier 3000. Everyone within the science lab then turned to the body of the real Babs Bunny, who lay stretched on the platform. They watched as the ray gun of the machine zapped Babs, sending the Babs impersonation back into its rightful place. Despite the fact that she was being shot with incredible amounts of energy, Babs did not budge. Bugs, Wile E. Coyote, and Calamity could only wonder if the procedure was working. "That leaves only two more. Mugsie and Super Babs." Wile E. Coyote said after looking over the list of Babs impersonations. "Good job, guys. It may take a while to get those last two though. They're putting up quite a fight." Bugs said. "Relax Bugs. We got Mugsie right here." Buster said as he and Plucky towed in another Babs impersonation. "It's a good thing I watched all your old cartoons, Bugs, or else I would never have gotten him." Buster said. Plucky and Buster then threw the impersonation into the capsule. "Nyah! You can't do this to me, copper!" the Babs impersonation said as she was sealed in the capsule. The impersonation then started to break down like the others did. Again, Babs didn't budge when she was zapped. "So how many more are there?" Buster asked. "One more, doc. Super Babs. No one has been able to catch her yet. She's to strong." Bugs said. At that moment, Hamton came walking in with a Carrot Cake. He was followed by a drooling, hypnotized, Super Babs. "Come on. This way. Just get into the nice capsule and you can have the Carrot Cake." Hamton coaxed as he waved the carrot cake in front of Super Babs. "Wow Hamton! You managed to tame the strongest of the Babs impersonations." Buster said. "Show off!" Plucky grumbled. "It was easy, really. I just remembered how much Super Babs liked Carrot Cake." Hamton said as he placed the carrot cake within the capsule. "Oh boy!" Super Babs said as she jumped into the capsule. Immediately, the door to the capsule was slammed shut. The group watched as Super Babs devoured the cake and could only laugh at how easy it was to catch her. Super Babs didn't know she was in trouble until she finished the Carrot Cake and saw Calamity throw the switch. "Is this the end of our hero? Will the evil tyrants succeed in their mission? Did Super Babs crave for carrot cake seal her fate?" Super Babs asked as she began to turn into ink blobs. "Yes!" everyone else shouted before Super Babs finally disappeared. The ray gun then fired the last shot at the real Babs. This time, Babs did react to the laser blast. Her body jumped in the air and flashed between her body and an image of her skeleton. "That's the last one for Babs." Wile E. Coyote said as he raised the glass dome that surrounded the platform. "I told you that I wasn't a Guinea Pig!" Babs shouted angrily as she launched herself onto Calamity and wrestled with him. When Babs was through with Calamity, Calamity's whole body had been turned into a giant knot. "That will teach you to experiment on rabbits." Babs said as she wiped the dust off her clothes. "Babs! Your all right!" Buster shouted happily as he raced to Babs side and hugged her. "What's going on? Did I win the lottery or something?" Babs asked when she saw everyone happily looking at her. "You don't remember?" Buster said. "No. Boy do I have a hunger for Carrot Cake now." Babs said as she rubbed her stomach. "Come on. I'll get you some. My treat." Buster said. "Who can deny such a offer." Babs said to the others and followed Buster out of the lab. Bugs laughed at the two rabbits. "Well, she's back to normal." Bugs said. He then looked at Calamity as the coyote struggled to untie himself, but was having some trouble. "Hey Plucky. Get Shirley from the room across the hallway." Bugs said as he aided Calamity. Plucky was more then willing. Shirley and her aura sat at the desks and laughed together. She had felt strangely empty and dizzy by the experience she had with the Toon Modifier 3000. In fact, she could barely recall having an aura. It was like her memory of that part of her had been erased somehow. Fortunately, her aura explained what was going on and helped Shirley remember a little. For Shirley, talking to her aura was like talking to a twin sister. "Hey Shirley! Bugs said he wanted to - Whoa! I must be seeing double!" Plucky said when he saw the two Shirleys sitting next to each other. Although Buster told Plucky about Babs being split, Buster did forget to mention the same thing happened to Shirley. "Hi Plucky." both Shirley and her aura said. "Hey Shirley, is this your twin?" Plucky asked. "Like, no way. You see this -" Shirley said, before Plucky started to move in on Shirley's aura. "The name's Plucky Duck, my lady, but you can call me yours." Plucky said as he picked up the aura's arm. He then proceeded to rapidly kiss her hand. "As if!" Shirley's aura said angrily, pulling her hand away. "Plucky!" Shirley said angrily. She was on the verge of zapping him. "Cool it, Shirley. I want to get to know your twin more." Plucky said as he starred lovingly at Shirley's aura. "She's my aura!" Shirley shouted. "I don't care what part of your family she comes from. Maybe I'll have better luck with her then I did with you." Plucky said. He then stared eye to eye with Shirley's aura. "Care to go out with the best duck in the school?" Plucky asked. "Like, that does it!" Shirley and her aura said in unison. The two loons then raised their hands over their head and shot lightning at Plucky. Plucky was fried to a crisp. "Come on. Let's go see if Bugs is ready." Shirley said. Shirley's aura nodded in agreement and followed Shirley to the science lab. "A simple 'no' would have worked." Plucky groaned. A few minutes later, Shirley and her aura had returned to normal, or at least their idea of normal. As Shirley stepped off the platform, her aura jumped out of her body and walked with her. "Like, it feels good to have you back." Shirley said. Shirley's aura nodded in agreement. Calamity looked over the dials of the control panel with a confused look. He especially looked at the gages that showed the amount of ink that was in the tanks for the Toon Modifier 3000. "What's wrong, doc?" Bugs asked. Calamity pulled out a notebook and drew two pictures of the tank of ink. The first picture was a full tank labeled "before accident". The second picture showed a tank that was partially full and labeled "now". "I think what Calamity is saying is that the tanks appear to have lost some ink." Wile E. Coyote said. "Lost? What do you mean, doc?" Bugs asked. "Well, all the ink used to make all those Babs impersonations and Shirley's aura was recycled back into the tank. Calamity should have a full tank now. But it is only partially full." Wile E. Coyote explained. "Like maybe we should check Fifi. She may have a missing impression." Shirley suggested. "Its worth a try. Shirley, we'll need you to look over the list." Bugs said. Fifi was asleep in the nurse's office when Shirley came to get her. By then, Fifi had recovered from her dizzy spells. Together they went to the science lab. When Fifi heard about how some ink was missing, she agreed to be scanned. "Commence scan." Wile E. Coyote said after placing the glass dome around the platform. Once again, the ray gun emitted a green laser that electrocuted Fifi. Her fur stood out in several directions. The ray gun shut down after the scan was complete. Bugs, Wile, Calamity, and Shirley gathered around the control panel to look at the list produced. "Does this fit Fifi's profile?" Wile asked Shirley. Shirley looked over the list. The list showed all of Fifi's love crazed habits. A description of every skunk Fifi chased was also in the profile. "Like, this does fit Fifi, I think. Everything appears all right." Shirley said. "Maybe it's a leak. The machine was pretty heavily damaged. Fifi is also acting normal." Wile E. Coyote said as he raised the glass dome to let Fifi out. Bugs nodded in agreement. "It is possible. Calamity. I think it would be best if you disassemble your machine as soon as possible. Can't have the same thing happen to us again." Bugs said. "I'll take it apart tomorrow" Calamity wrote on one of his signs. The Toon Modifier 3000 had caused too much damage and almost ended up changing three of the main characters of Tiny Toons. Calamity could not let that happen again. At least the entire experience had given him a chance to see if his machine worked. While Wile E. Coyote and Bugs Bunny then left the room, Fifi approached Calamity. She could see Calamity's feeling had been crushed once again. She felt sorry for Calamity's loss. "Do not worry, monsieur Calamity. Eet ees not ze, 'ow vou say, end of ze show." "Like, I think you mean world, Fifi." Shirley said. She then turned to Calamity. "Just don't experiment on life anymore!" Shirley growled from a distance. Fifi shot an angry look toward Shirley for a few seconds. She then turned back to Calamity. "Vou will soon have ze new idea." Fifi said. Calamity found some meaning in Fifi's words. He had a whole list of ideas that didn't involve life. He could easily work on one of those after he scraped the Toon Modifier 3000. He smiled to Fifi and shook her hand as a way of saying thanks. After that, Fifi and Shirley left the room as Calamity began to sort through the other ideas he had. The next mourning, Buster and Plucky decided to pay a visit to Calamity to check up on him. After hearing the entire story of what happened yesterday, Plucky was interested in seeing the machine in action. Buster wanted to see if he could still find out what kind of toons could be produced from his traits. They met calamity outside the science lab. "Hey Calamity!" Buster shouted. "Hi." Calamity wrote on one of his signs. "Plucky never got the chance to see your machine in action and I want to see the characters that can be made from my traits. Could you do a demonstration on your machine?" Buster asked. Calamity smiled and nodded. He then unlocked the science lab and walked in. After taking a few steps into the science lab, Calamity slipped and fell into a puddle of black ink. "Wow. Look at the mess in here." Plucky said as he and Buster looked inside the lab. The entire floor was covered in ink. "And I thought Babs's closet was a disaster area. I wonder what happened in here." Buster said. Calamity stood up from the floor. His entire body was covered in black ink. "Looks like the tank is leaking." Calamity wrote on his sign. At this point, Plucky got an idea. Without catching Buster's attention, Plucky looked through a nearby desk and pulled out a bottle, which he quickly hid in his pocket. Calamity motioned for Buster get on the platform of the Toon Modifier 3000. Once Buster was secured on the platform, Calamity pushed a series of buttons on the controls. An alarm suddenly went a few seconds later. The controls began to short circuit. "Malfunction!" the computer repeated several times. The ray gun for the machine then began to shoot lasers in several directions. "Duck!" Buster shouted as he dove for cover. "Where?" Plucky demanded. A laser beam then hit Plucky, shocking him. At this point, Calamity started to panic and frantically pushed buttons. As he did, the ray gun pointed itself toward him. Calamity was shocked the next second and was knocked unconscious. When Buster saw this, he knew he had to do something. He then noticed the power cord that was a few feet in front of him. Quickly he dashed to and yanked it out of the outlet before the ray gun could shoot him. "Everybody okay?" asked Buster when the machine stopped. "Was that supposed to happen." Plucky asked. A circle of stars was around his head. Calamity shook himself back to life and looked over the machine. "Sorry. It still has its bugs." Calamity wrote on his sign. "We didn't loose anything, did we?" Buster asked, fearing he might suffer the same fate Babs did. Calamity typed in a few commands on the computer. A few moments later, he gave a sigh of relief. "It wasn't programmed to take anything out. Just add stuff in." Calamity wrote. "Well, we better get to class. I suggest you get that black ink off before Fifi sees you." Buster said as he and Plucky exited the room. "I don't have a white stripe." Calamity wrote on his sign. As Buster and Plucky walked down the halls, Buster began to notice that Plucky was chuckling to himself. "What's so funny?" Buster asked. As a response, Plucky pulled out a small, empty bottle and handed it to Buster. "White Out." Buster read on the bottle. He then starred at Plucky angrily. "You didn't!" he shouted. "Ooh La La!" echoed the distant voice from the science lab. Plucky broke down laughing, "You did." Buster groaned. "Relax. Calamity was working the controls when I put it on. He never noticed. Besides, this wouldn't be the first time Calamity had to run from Fifi." Plucky said. At that moment, Calamity raced by with Fifi in hot pursuit. Sure enough, there was a white stripe down his back. "You better hope Calamity never finds out. I can only imagine what he would do to you." Buster said. "He won't!" Plucky laughed. Plucky then started to become dazed. "Plucky! Are you alright?" Buster asked. "I got dizzy for a few seconds. Its nothing." Plucky said as he steadied himself. The school bell then rang. "Uh oh. Time for class." Buster said as he rushed off. "Do we have to?" Plucky asked. Buster entered his first class, Pranks and Explosives 200. He would have liked the class if it was not for the teacher, Yosemite Sam. After encountering the Babs impersonation of Yosemite Sam yesterday, Buster began to wonder if Sam really did know that he had sent him into orbit. It was only a small trick. Sam was only supposed to launch to the next state, not in orbit around the Earth. "All right class! This is Pranks and Explosives 200! Here you will learn the advanced study of pranks played in cartoons and the dynamics of explosions. Now for role!" Sam stated as he walked to his desk. As Sam took a seat at his desk, he heard the distinct sound of a whoopi-cushion underneath him. He pulled the toy out and looked at it. The class burst out laughing until Sam glared at them angrily. "Which one of you varmints did this! You know I will not tolerate any pranks played on me!" Sam shouted angrily. The class remained silent. Even Buster appeared with a halo over his head to show that he was innocent. "The next prank means detention!" Sam shouted. He then took a seat at his desk. As soon as he sat down, the chair broke from underneath him. Sam looked at the chair and picked up one of the pieces. "Acme's fall apart chair." Sam read. The class started to laugh again. Sam jumped to his feet angrily. The laughter abruptly stopped. Sam looked at each of the students, especially Buster. He went to Buster and stared eye to eye with Buster. "This wouldn't be your doing, rabbit." Sam growled in a low tone. "Not me." Buster said. "For your sake, it better not be." Sam growled. He then walked up to his desk. "Now! On with the class!" Sam said, bringing a fist down on his desk. As soon as his fist did, the desk fell apart, scattering everything in it or on it. Sam picked up one of the pieces. "Acme's Fall Apart Desk" was written on the piece. "Buster!" Sam shouted. "I'm innocent!" Buster pleaded. "Principle's office!" Sam shouted angrily. Steam could be seen coming out of his ears. Buster got up from his desk and made his way to the Principle's office. Despite the fact that Bugs was the principle, Buster did not wish to disappoint his mentor. "Now! Back to business!" Sam said as he stood in front of the classroom. The next second, Sam was aware of a crumbling sound above him. He looked up to see a section the ceiling above him breaking apart. The ceiling collapsed and a desk Porky Pig was sitting in, came crashing down upon him. "So that's where the new Acme Fa - Fa - Fall Apart Ceiling went." Porky stuttered as he looked over the damage. "I hate rabbits." Sam groaned from underneath the debris. Buster walked the long stretch of hall to the Principle's office. He could not understand why he was being blamed. He never played those pranks on Sam. He had to admit they were amusing. As he thought about what happened, he could feel that something was wrong. He then noticed Plucky marching down the hall in the same direction he was going. Plucky appeared to be in a fowl mood as well. "Hey Plucky. What's wrong?" Buster called to his friend. "I've been sent to the principle's office for something I didn't do." Plucky said. "You to?" Buster asked. "What do you mean 'you to'?" Plucky asked. "Sam sent me down there as well. He thinks I pulled some sort of prank on him." Buster said. "You mean you didn't this time?" Plucky asked. "Nope. I was innocent. What are you accused for?" Buster asked. "Old Foghorn Leghorn thinks I put a landmine behind his desk." Plucky said. "Landmine?" Buster asked. "Yeah. I think the chicken hawk did it. I've been framed!" Plucky said as he pulled out a wooden picture frame as big as himself and placed it between Buster and him. "Though I have to admit, I make a pretty good Picasso." Plucky said as he made a pose. "Oh, brother." Buster said as he rolled his eyes. The two continued down to the Principle's office. As they entered the office, they saw Bugs talking to a distressed Hamton. Both turned to Plucky and Buster in surprise. "Not you to." Bugs said in disbelief. "Huh?" Buster said. "Don't tell me. Someone played a prank on the teacher and you got blamed for it." Bugs said. "Wow! You related to Shirley somehow?" Plucky asked in surprise. "How did you know Bugs?" Buster asked. "Let's just say my office has been having students come in saying the same thing. Hamton here is the latest case." Bugs explained. "Hamton? You're kidding, right?" Buster asked. Never once did Hamton get in trouble for playing a prank. The only time he did get in trouble was if he went along with one of Plucky's schemes. "Nope. Some teachers think he flooded the teacher's lounge with cookie dough." Bugs said. "But I didn't. I admit I was making some dough for cookies, but I didn't use it to flood the teacher's lounge." Hamton said. "I knew you had it in you! Oh, joy! Hamton has finally got a sense of humor!" Plucky said as he hugged is friend. "I'm innocent!" Hamton shouted to Plucky. "Don't worry. Sooner or later Bugs will believe you." Plucky whispered. "Okay. That's enough. What are you two in here for?" Bugs asked. "We got framed as well." Buster said as he pulled out Plucky's frame and placed it so that he and Plucky were both inside it. "Hey! This is my frame!" Plucky shouted. "Enough with the props." Bugs said as he pulled the frame away from Plucky and Buster and tossed it to the side of the room. "Tell me what happened." Bugs said. Buster started off by telling his story of what happened in the classroom. Bugs listened with considerable interest. Bugs then asked Plucky to tell his story. "Well there I was, in class, paying attention as usual." Plucky began. "Meaning he was listening to the music on his headphones." Buster quickly added. "This is my story!" Plucky said, "Anyway, old Foghorn Leghorn was passing some papers, can't say I remember what." Plucky said. "Figures." Buster said. Plucky starred angrily at Buster and returned to his story. "Foghorn then goes back to his desk and sits down, then KA-BOOM! He explodes as he sits down. Next thing I know, a empty box for a landmine drops on my desk and Foghorn blames me." Plucky said. "So what your saying is that your receiving landmine boxes from heaven." Bugs said. "Yeah!" Plucky said. Bugs rolled his eyes. If it wasn't for the fact that other students had been sent to the principle's office for such pranks, Bugs would have sent Plucky to detention and then a mental hospital. "Okay doc. It seems someone is trying to frame the entire school. For now, I'll let you off." Bugs said. "Thank you, Bugs!" Hamton, Plucky, and Buster said as they kneeled before Bugs and kissed his feet. "No problem." Bugs said. At Lunch, Buster made his way to the cafeteria with Plucky. As he did, he began to listen in on the students talking among themselves. From what he could make out, they were getting worried about these sudden attacks on the teachers. Buster could understand why, whenever a teacher had a prank played on them, the student was blamed. Together, Buster and Plucky sat down at a table with Babs, Shirley, and Fifi. "Hi ya crew." Buster said as he and Plucky sat down at the table. "Hi Buster." everyone replied. "Like Buster, have you heard all the gossip going around. Its, like, bad karma or some junk." Shirley said. "Yeah. I can't say I blame them. The teachers have been sending several students to the principle. Even Plucky and I got sent for something we didn't do." Buster said. "You mean Plucky is innocent this time? How weird. Something must be really wrong." Shirley said. "Very funny loon." Plucky replied. At that moment, Hamton came to the table carrying a tray of mystery meat and sat down with the others. "Hey Hamton. I thought you didn't like the cafeteria food." Babs said. "I don't." Hamton said glumly. "Zen why are vou eating zat. It may still be alive." Fifi said. "I have no choice. Someone stole my lunch today and I got to eat something." Hamton said. "Is it safe to eat that?" Plucky asked, eyeballing the meat on Hamton's tray. "I guess." Hamton said as he picked up his utensils. "Don't eat me!" the meat said. "Huh?" Hamton said in surprise, pulling the utensils away from the meat. "Don't eat me! How would you like it if I ate you!" the meat said. The meat shaped itself into a mouth and began to growl and roar at Hamton. "Buster!" Hamton shouted as he cowered in his seat. Buster calmly lifted his hand in the air and snapped his fingers. Dizzy came spinning to Buster's table the next second, shouting in his native tongue. "You snap!" Dizzy said. "Can you do something about that?" Buster asked, pointing to the growling mystery meat. Dizzy nodded and looked to the mystery meat. "Bad food!" Dizzy growled. He then proceeded to eat the meat, along with part of the table as well. When he was done, Hamton's tray was gone, as well as a section of the table in front of Hamton. "Good boy, Diz." Buster said as he patted Dizzy on the head. Dizzy then left the group. "But now I don't have a lunch." Hamton said. "Don't worry, we can all share some of our lunch." Babs said. Everyone nodded and began to give Hamton a portion of their lunch. Hamton thanked each of them for their generosity. "I guess we can start looking into our problem now." Buster said. "What problem is that?" Plucky asked. "Someone is playing pranks on the teachers and making us take the blame." Buster said. "It sounds something like Perfecto Prep would do. After all, we did make them look bad at the football game last year." Babs said. "True. But I don't think it's them. I'm thinking of a single individual this time." Buster said. "Come on Buster! That's impossible! No one has ever caused that much mischief in the history of the Looniversity except - " Plucky said before he was realizing what he was saying. His jaw dropped to the ground from the realization. "Except tall, dark, and having a bad sense of humor." Buster finished. "Who?" Fifi asked. "The Prankster. Your old character, Fifi." Buster said, making sure no one outside of their table could hear. "Oh no! Not him again! Don't even think that!" Plucky cried. "Don't even joke about that, Buster." Babs ordered. "Yeah! That Prankster is, like, bad news or some junk." Shirley added. "I'm not joking on this. Think about it. Someone has been playing pranks on teachers. Evidence is then placed on us. It sounds something Fifi did." Buster said. "Moi?" Fifi asked. "Well, when you were the Prankster that one time." Buster added. "But both Pranksters were caught, Fifi being one of them and that Ralph Raccoon another. I don't think Ralph has escaped Elmyra yet." Babs said. "Not likely. But, as the saying goes, the torch has been passed on. Someone may be playing are old friend again." Buster said. "Like, won't anybody learn." Shirley said. "I guess not." Buster said. "Well we know how to handle him. We'll just have to fight fire with fire, or in this case, bad jokes with bad jokes." Babs said, looking to Fifi. "Huh?" Fifi asked when she noticed Babs looking toward her. "I think what Babs is saying that since you played the last Prankster, and since you know all his jokes, you can probably take that character out." Buster explained. "Besides, no one knows the Prankster better than you. You can do it." Babs cheered. "Not to mention that Buster never could." Plucky said. "Uh - Oui, I guess I will zen." Fifi said nervously. "What's wrong Fifi?" Hamton asked. "Well - Zat ees to say - I must be going." Fifi said. She then left the table and quickly exited the cafeteria. "That's strange." Babs said as she watched Fifi bolt out of the cafeteria. "Like I feel some real bad vibes coming from her." Shirley said. "Don't you guys understand?" Hamton asked. "Huh?" Shirley asked. "Fifi never liked playing that role. It's a burden on her. She just wants her ordinary life, not a villain's life." Hamton said. "Well, if she's out, who will protect us?" Plucky demanded. "I'll go see what's wrong with her." Buster said. Buster then left the table and proceeded to look for Fifi. For several minutes, he looked around the school with no luck. It wasn't until he looked into the library that he saw Fifi looking through some articles on the computer. She didn't appear to notice that he was watching her. "Hey Fifi." Buster said. Fifi jumped in her seat and looked to Buster. "Buster. What are vou doing 'ere?" Fifi asked. She then quickly turned off the computer she was working on and turned to face Buster. "I was going to see if you were okay." Buster said. "Oui. I am fine." Fifi said, slightly nervous. "Listen Fifi. We really need you on this. If there is a new Prankster here, we need you to stop him. After all, you did stop the other one." Buster said. Fifi gave a nervous smile. "Are you alright Fifi?" Buster asked. "Oui. I will do moi best." Fifi said, she then ran out of the library and disappeared. As Buster watched her leave, he could sense that Fifi was hiding something, but could not tell what. She was definitely nervous about something. A terrible thought then crossed Buster's mind. Assuming there was a Prankster, what if Fifi was the new Prankster. "Another Prankster?" Bugs demanded. "That's what I'm guessing." Buster said. He had just finished telling Bugs that there was a possibility of a new Prankster. Given the facts that the pranks used against the teachers did seem to fit the villain's style, Bugs could not deny that there probably was a new Prankster making trouble in the school. "Could Perfecto Prep be behind this again?" Bugs asked. "I would think so. They were pretty steamed when they lost the big football game." Buster answered. "Well, I'll have to have a talk with Perfecto again. We might also want to consider having Fifi look into this. She did catch the last one." Bugs said. "Well, that's another thing I need to talk about." Buster murmured. "Oh?" Bugs said. "Yeah. Fifi seemed uneasy when we asked her to do that. Almost as if she was hiding something." Buster said. "Listen, doc. Fifi may have been the Prankster, but I very much doubt that she would destroy her reputation by going against us." Bugs replied. "True. But I still think she's hiding something." Buster said. The next day, classes resumed as usual. Though the students did not know about a possible new Prankster, the students still wondered who could be responsible for the tricks. Bugs was glad that rumor did not circulate. The last thing he needed were students panicking. Shirley entered her first hour class and sat down at her desk. As she began to get her books out, she felt someone tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Plucky. "Hi Shirley. Listen, I want to apologize for going after your aura. I was hoping that I could take you out to dinner and then we can maybe watch a movie." Plucky said. "Like, let me thing about it." Shirley said. Her eyes burst wide open the next second. She then stared angrily at Plucky and shocked him. "What I do?!" Plucky shouted. "I saw what you were thinking! There is no way I'm going to do that!" Shirley said. She then zapped him again for good measure. Plucky's body was turned into a pile of green ashes from the second attack. Only his bill remained. "People often wonder why I still go after her. I'm beginning to wonder myself." Plucky said to himself. "I see the two love birds are fighting again." Mary Melody laughed. She was sitting in a desk next to Shirley's. "Love birds?! Like mondo bad vibes, Melody." Shirley said. "Like you can hide your feelings, Miss Loon." Mary laughed. "Like, don't make me zap you." Shirley said. "Give me your best shot." Mary teased. "Oh yeah." Shirley said. Little bolts of lightning then came out of Shirley's eyes, aimed at Mary Melody. Mary quickly pulled out a small mirror she had. The lightning bounced off the mirror and zapped Shirley. Shirley made the wild take of being electrocuted before slumping on her desk. A few puffs of smoke came off her body. "The hand is quicker then the eye." Mary laughed. "Like, no kidding." Shirley groaned. At that moment, Foghorn Leghorn came into the room. "All right class. I say settle down now. Quiet that is." Foghorn began. The class went silent. "Now today we are going to be studying wisecracks. In order to do this, you guys are going to have to become wiser. It's important if you want to crack this test. Wise! Crack! Wisecrack! That's a joke!" Foghorn laughed. Everyone in the room groaned. "Nice kids, but a little on the slow side." Foghorn remarked. He then began to write the lessons on the board as he lectured the lesson. Shirley groaned as she lazily wrote down the lesson. As she did, she noticed one of the ceiling panels move. A figure jumped down from the opening and landed behind Foghorn. It was the Prankster. The entire class gasped in surprise Foghorn then turned to the class to continue his lecture. The Prankster managed to skillfully dodge Foghorn's sight. "Now pay attention class. This is important." Foghorn said, motioning to the board. The Prankster copied the same exact motions that Foghorn made, except he didn't speak. "Like, sir. I think -" Shirley began. "I said pay attention! Don't speak!" Foghorn said, still not noticing the Prankster copying his movements. "Nice girl, but doesn't know how to shut up. Talks to much that is." Foghorn commented. Some of the students giggled as they saw the Prankster imitate Foghorn. When Foghorn looked at them, they stopped. "Uh, sir - " Melody began. "No talking! Quiet that is!" Foghorn ordered. He then turned back to his lesson and started to write on the board. The Prankster continued to copy Foghorn, except instead of writing the lesson, he drew a picture of a screw and a ball with a arrow pointed to Foghorn. The class laughed at this. "Quiet." Foghorn said. He then turned back to the board and looked at the picture drawn on the board. "Now notice this picture here. This is a good example of a wisecrack by using pictures. A screw and a ball. Screwball! That's a joke! It's saying that I'm a screwball! I'm a screwball! That's what it says!" Foghorn said. The class burst out laughing. Foghorn's eyes burst open. "Screwball? Wait a minute. Who, I say, who put this here?" Foghorn demanded. The Prankster then tapped Foghorn's shoulder. Foghorn looked down to the Prankster. "What are you doing out of your seat, boy? This is class. You don't go up to the board to write wisecracks. You write them on paper at your desk." Foghorn said to the dark figure. The Prankster only smiled happily up at Foghorn. "If you're looking to do pranks, the class for that is down the hall. Don't stir any trouble around here. Prank. Stir. Prankster. That's who you are son." Foghorn said. He then shook his head in surprise. "The Prankster!" Foghorn shouted. The Prankster reacted by kissing Foghorn on the beak. He then placed a cigar in Foghorn's mouth, lighted it, and raced out the room. "Isn't this, I say, isn't this one of Acme's exploding cigars?" Foghorn asked. BANG! "I guess, I say, I guess so." Foghorn groaned, and then collapsed on the floor. Word on how Foghorn was humiliated spread fast. By lunchtime, the entire school knew what happened. The idea of a new Prankster caused the same reaction that was caused when the first Prankster appeared. At lunch, Plucky, Buster, and Babs talked among themselves about the new Prankster. "Looks like you were right, Buster." Babs said to Buster. "Yep. I wish I wasn't though." Buster admitted. "You're telling me. I don't want to be blown up again. I'm tired of being blown up by that guy! No more!" Plucky cried as he jumped about madly. "Plucky. You haven't been blown up yet." Buster said trying to calm his friend. "Hey! Your right." Plucky said in a calm tone. "The Prankster seems to be going after the teachers now." Buster explained. "Fortunately, its all the teachers we hate." Babs said. "I think the Prankster was Fifi!" Plucky said. "Plucky! Why must you always blame her?" Babs groaned. "Because she started this mess!" Plucky retaliated. "She also helped fix it. She would never do that role to hurt us, or the teachers." Babs said. At that moment, Fifi came to the table. "Do vou mind if I sit with vou?" Fifi asked. "Not at all." Babs said. "Merci. Zee students are being, 'ow vou say, ze nuisance." Fifi said. "How so?" Buster asked. "Zere asking moi to capture zis Prankster." Fifi said. "Well, you did get the last one by portraying your character." Buster said. "Oui." Fifi said, her tone sounding like she was uncertain. "You can do this Fifi." Babs cheered. "But, I do not know where to begin." Fifi said. "How hard can it be? Just get into a costume and set a few traps." Plucky said. Fifi gave a timid smile and nodded to show she understood, or at least had an idea. As Buster looked at her, he felt Fifi was holding something back. Hamton walked through the library after school, looking for a few books to help him with the twelve thousand term paper that explained the shape and geometry of falling anvils. As he picked up the twelfth book he needed, he noticed Fifi sitting at a nearby computer looking through some articles. Thinking he could offer his assistance to her, Hamton began to approach Fifi. "Hi Fifi." Hamton said. Fifi turned to look to Hamton. "Bonjour Hamton. What are vou doing 'ere." Fifi asked. "Just getting some books for my assignment. How about you?" Hamton said. "I was just, 'ow vou say, killing ze watch." Fifi said. "You mean killing time." Hamton corrected. "Oui." Fifi said. "I can probably help you if you want." Hamton said. "No." Fifi snapped, "That ees, I don't need help." she added in a calmer tone. Hamton was surprised by Fifi's reaction. "Fifi, is there something wrong?" Hamton asked. "No. Its just that I wish to be alone for now." Fifi said. She then switched off the computer and ran off. Hamton did not even try to catch up with Fifi. He only stood perplexed and slightly heartbroken. In the past, Fifi was willing to tell him anything that was troubling her, at least a few things. He began to wonder if he did something wrong. "Ah Fifi! Your article!" yelled Granny as she ran by Hamton. She stopped at the entrance of the library when she saw that Fifi was already gone. "Did Fifi forget something?" Hamton asked as he approached Granny. "Yes. She printed out this article. I was going to deliver it to her when I saw her run out." Granny said. "I can probably deliver it to her." Hamton said. "Why, thank you Hamton." Granny said as she handed the article to him. Hamton took the article and looked at it. His eyes jumped wide open in surprise when he looked over it. The article was from the school newspaper about a year ago. "Why is she looking at this?" Hamton asked himself after he looked at the article. He knew he had to find out. The next day, Buster Babs attended their Toon Chemistry 200. The class would experiment on creating new formulas. Everything from Gun Powder to the chemicals needed to make chocolate malt. "Let us get started, shall we. Today, I want you to experiment on mixing Nitro Glycerin to other explosive formulas. I want to see your results on paper by the end of the class." Wile E. Coyote said. He then made his way to a small isolation chamber in the corner of the room. "While you work on this explosive formula, I'll hide behind this isolation chamber to avoid any unnecessary discomfort." Wile E. Coyote said as he entered the chamber. "Do you ever get the feeling that the teachers are putting us in danger?" Babs asked Buster as she began to mix some of chemicals. "Nah. The teachers would never put us in any real danger." Buster said. A lab station exploded in the far corner of the room. "What about that?" Babs asked after the explosion. "Its nothing serious. I'll show you." Buster said as he led Babs to the lab station. He found Concord at the station that exploded. His entire body had been blackened. "You all right, Concord?" Buster asked. "Yep. Yep. Yep. Every thing is fine. Uh huh." Concord said. "You see, nothing really serious." Buster said as he led Babs back to their station. Concord's body then began to disintegrate into a pile of ashes on the floor. "Hmm. This doesn't feel right. Nope. Nope. Nope." Concord thought. "Hey look. Mary Melody is giving another one of her reports." Babs said when she glanced at a television in the corner of the room. "Lets hear what she has to say." Buster said as he put down some chemicals he was about to mix. The students put down their experiment to here Mary's report. "This is Mary Melody, coming to you live. Today I'll be discussing about the old villain who has once again entered our school and what is going to be done to stop our little trickster." Mary began. "Why did she have to bring him up." Babs groaned. "It has been a full year since we last encountered the one called the Prankster. The first time he was encountered, Fifi LaFume had portrayed him. The figure was then reenacted by Ralph Raccoon. Who our new friend is, or where he is, no one can tell." Mary said. "Hey Buster! Look in the background!" Babs said. Buster looked at the scenery behind Mary Melody and saw the Prankster making faces and giving Mary Melody "bunny ears". Mary Melody never noticed the Prankster playing in the background. "Uh-oh. Looks like the Prankster is trying to put on a show." Buster said. "What a ham." Babs said. "If you've seen the Prankster, please alert a professor. There is no telling where he will strike next." Mary said. The Prankster then turned Mary's head to him and kissed her. Mary screamed in surprise as the Prankster made a run off the stage. "Why that no good little -" Mary began. "Mary! Were still on!" said the cameraman. "Oh. This is Mary Melody saying I got to transfer out of this school." Mary said. The television then went blank. "Hey! Isn't the studio just down the hall?" Buster asked. The entire classroom then witnessed the Prankster run by the door. "There goes our quarry." Babs said after doing a spin change into a western cowboy. "Come on! We can catch him!" Buster said as he gave chase. The two rabbits exited the lab and began to charge down the halls in the direction the Prankster had gone. They found that the Prankster had a good twenty-foot lead. "Babs! Try to cut him off! I'll follow him!" Buster said. "Roger, Bravo Leader." Babs said in a pilot's tone. Babs then turned into an adjacent hall. Buster continued to chase the Prankster. The dark figure was indeed fast and Buster found he was a hard time catching up. The Prankster then rounded a corner in the hallway, disappearing from Buster's view. At that moment, Buster gave an extra burst of speed. Pete Puma came around the corner, mopping the floor. "Look out!" Buster cried as he tried to stop. Buster then reached the area Pete had been mopping. He slipped on the floor and went spiraling into some lockers. "Be careful. The floor is a little slippery." Pete said after Buster crashed. Buster groaned. Babs ran through the halls trying to get her bearings. She then stopped and pulled out a map from her pocket. "Hmm. If my bearings right, Buster should be running by that intersection any minute now." Babs said to herself. She then ran to the hall intersection that was in front of her. Just as Babs reached the intersection, she bumped into something hard and was knocked to the ground. A few seconds later, Buster came running up to Babs. "You got him." Buster cheered. "I did?" Babs asked, dazed by her fall. Buster helped Babs up and showed her the dazed form of the Prankster on the floor. "What's going on out here?" Porky Pig said as he and number of students entered the hall to see what the commotion was. "Babs caught the Prankster!" Buster said. The students flocked around the Prankster and looked at the dazed form on the floor, each one guessing on who the dark figure was. Bugs Bunny inched his way through the crowd to look at the captured villain. "All righty then, who is our mysterious friend?" Bugs said as he reached down and pulled the mask off. "You?!" Bugs said in surprise. "What has happened?" Fifi groaned on the floor. She then noticed all the students staring at her in surprise. "Fifi! What are you doing dressed up like the Prankster?" Babs demanded. "Like, I never thought you were the Prankster." Shirley said within the crowd of students. "I knew you would resort to your old role!" Plucky said. "Fifi. What's going on here?" Hamton asked. "You better have a good explanation for dis." Bugs said. He peered down angrily at Fifi, who was still sitting on the floor. "Oui. I do. I was chasing ze Prankster. But he managed to escape through a opening in the ceiling. I then ran into Babs." Fifi said. "Wait a minute. I thought Buster was chasing the Prankster." Babs said. "I was." Buster said. Bugs turned to Buster. "Did you see two Pranksters?" Bugs asked. "Well, no. But I did lose sight of the Prankster for a short time. Maybe Fifi did give chase." Buster confessed. "Don't believe that rabbit! He's just trying to cover her tracks! Fifi is the Prankster! She's the one who played those tricks on the teachers!" Max shouted from within the crowd. "Non! Zat ees not true!" Fifi shouted, jumping to her feet in outrage. As she did, a small notebook fell out of a pocket and landed on the floor. "What's this?" Bugs said as he picked up the notebook and examined it. Inside, he found a list of all the pranks that had been used in the past, including the ones used on Sam and Foghorn. "Care to explain this?" Bugs asked. "A list of pranks played." Fifi answered. "She is the Prankster!" Max shouted. The students around Max began to shout angrily. "Quiet down kids!" Bugs said. He then turned to Fifi, waiting for an explanation. "I did not know 'ow to play ze role. So I made zis notebook zat had all ze pranks used." Fifi said. At this point, people began to call Fifi a liar. They knew that Fifi had played the Prankster before. Fifi supposedly knew all the tricks in the book. "Simmer down, kids." Bugs shouted to the students. He then turned to Fifi. "Fifi. Given the circumstances, I think we better talk in the Principle Office." Bugs said. "But I didn't play ze tricks on ze teachers!" Fifi said. Bugs only gave her an angry glance and pointed to the Principle Office. Fifi could only obey. Both she and Bugs disappeared into the office. Buster couldn't believe what was happening. It was true that Fifi was acting strange, but he never thought that Fifi was the new Prankster. Something felt very wrong about this entire ordeal. But Buster could not understand what. "What's going to happen to Fifi?" Hamton asked. "Unless she can prove herself to Bugs, Fifi is going to be in a lot of trouble." Babs said. TO BE CONTINUED....... This is the first half to the conclusion to my Prankster Trilogy. I have already begun on the second half and hope to have it by next month. But I would like to incorporate some new gags in it. If you have some ideas, drop me an E- mail at mjm632s@smsu.edu. I think its fair to warn you that if I do use your gags, I may need to twist them around a little to make them fit the story. I appreciate any help you can give me. Can you add at the bottom of the story that the characters are property of Amblim Entertainment and were used without permission.