Story: Tiny Toons: Busting Buster's Blues

I’ve been feeling kind of down and depressed lately, so I decided to write something quick, silly, and dumb. I watched a few episodes of the Tiny Toons remake (Tiny Toons Looniversity) recently, so I’ve had Tiny Toons on the mind. I really enjoy it, and I really like the new takes on the characters, but apparently a lot of people aren’t fans. Oh well. This is definitely not my best writing. Oh well. You can’t get it right every time.

Tiny Toons: Busting Buster’s Blues

It was the middle of January at ACME Looniversity. It had been an especially cold winter, and the days were short, with the sun having gone down by 5pm. Some toons relished in the darkness, while others were especially bothered by it. Buster was part of the latter group. While he was usually fairly bouncy and in good spirits, this week, he had been feeling rather down. The blue bunny was lounging on the couch in his dorm, barely moving, while his roommate Plucky was pacing around, tapping a metallic pen against a notebook, trying to think of new cartoon gags.

“Soooo, I can’t decide between having a piano fall on my head, or maybe a falling safe,” Plucky said, looking up from his book. “What do you think, Buster?”

“Oh, uh, the safe, I guess.” The blue rabbit’s voice was slow and disinterested.

“Uhhh, okay,” Plucky said, raising his eyebrows. “You feeling okay? Usually you have something more insightful to say.”

“I’m fine,” Buster said, not bothering to look at the green duck as he spoke to him. He just kept his eyes glued to the ceiling. “Just tired.”

“You’ve been tired all week. Did you stay up late last night?”

“No. I went to bed early last night, actually.” Buster yawned and started stretching, sprawling along the couch in the process. “And the night before that.”

The duck continued pacing around the couch, tapping the pen rhythmically against the notebook. “Ooh, I know what it could be. I have my headphones too loud at night - it’s keeping you awake. I’ll make sure to turn my music down a few notches when we go to bed. See? I’m not ALWAYS only thinking of myself, you know.” Plucky puffed his chest out proudly, as if he was doing some generous deed.

Buster just rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Nah. I can barely hear it.”

Plucky’s pride deflated quickly. “Oh, well - you never know, those big satellite ears of yours could be picking up the sounds, and you don’t even realize it!”

Buster groaned. “That’s not how it works, dummy.”

The green duck took the casual insult as if it were a challenge. “Oh yeah? And who are you calling a dummy, carrot brain?”

Buster just rolled his eyes again, and didn’t give a response. This caused Plucky to repeat himself. “Who are you calling a dummy, carrot brain? Huh? Huh?” It was clear that Plucky was looking to stir up an argument, maybe even just for something to do, but Buster wasn’t having it. “Hey, I’m talking to you, blue boy.”

“Yeah, I know you are, and I’m ignoring you,” Buster said plainly. “I’m not in the mood for this right now, Plucky.”

The green duck walked in front of the blue bunny on the couch, looking down at him, almost in concern. “Then, mister sad boy, what ARE you in the mood for?” Plucky waited a moment for a response. He only got more silence as a reply. The duck leaned down to look Buster in the eye. “Buster, as part of my duty and obligation as roommate and frenemy, I implore you, please, tell me what I need to do to get bouncy and annoying bunny boy back.”

Buster sighed. “I’m not sad, Plucky.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

Buster looked away from Plucky. He didn’t like being the center of attention. He just wanted Plucky to leave him alone. “I don’t know. I just… feel down.”

“Why? Is this because I ate your candy bar last week? I said I was sorry. I even offered you a dollar towards a new one. I could’ve offered you just a quarter, but I’m not a total cheapskate.”

Buster shook his head. “No, Plucky, I’m not upset about that.” He thought to himself for a moment. “I guess it’s the winter. It’s so dark and cold out. I just want to stay in bed.”

Plucky looked down at Buster, and then back to his notepad. He began writing into it. “To do: Make Buster annoying again,” he said out loud. “Step 1: get Buster off the couch.”

“I heard that,” the rabbit said flatly. “And how do you plan on doing that?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Plucky said. “I’ll think of something. I could drag you off by your feet, I guess. But then you’d probably kick me in the face.” Plucky snapped his fingers and smiled as he thought of an idea. “I know! Why don’t we go to the arcade? We haven’t done that in a while.”

Buster thought to himself for a moment, then shook his head. “Nah, too crowded. And I don’t feel like driving anywhere.”

Plucky frowned at the lack of enthusiasm from his roommate. He looked back down at the seemingly depressed blue bunny. Buster was sprawled out along the length of the couch, with his red hoodie riding up a bit, exposing a bit of his belly and torso. Plucky studied the sight before him for a moment, before an idea popped into his mind. He crossed out where he had written “arcade” on his notepad, and below it, he wrote, “Attempt #2: Pestering prodding.”

“Alright buddy, if that’s how you want to play it...” Plucky put down his notepad but kept his pen in hand. The pen was one of those fancy fountain pens that Babs or Sweetie would call ‘bougie’. While it had a sharp tip on one end, the other end was metallic and round, and cool to the touch. He leaned down, looming over the blue bunny, and with the chilly metallic body of the pen, he jabbed in gently and curiously into one of Buster’s exposed sides. This earned him a short squeak and a slight jerk of movement from the rabbit, who then frowned up at the duck.

“Don’t,” Buster growled, meekly tugging his hoodie down.

Plucky raised an eyebrow at the reaction, and poked at Buster’s side again, getting a similar, yet more irritated, reaction from the blue bunny. He even shivered a bit! This earned Plucky a smack to the forehead from Buster’s hand. “N-NUH, why is it so cold?!” the rabbit grumbled. “It tickles!”

The green duck grinned. “Oh, I know,” he said, as he jabbed the rabbit in the side with the pen again. “Don’t mind me, I’m just getting my money’s worth out of this thing.”

Buster kicked his leg out in response, which Plucky dodged. “I mind it very much, actually!” the rabbit said, still not bothering to sit up.

“Hmm, cold reception. Guess I’ll have to get my feathers dirty,” Plucky said with a smile, dropping his pen on the coffee table. He stuck out his index finger on each hand, wiggling them tauntingly. “You have until the count of three to get up, or else.” He bent over a bit, moving closer to Buster, and wiggled his feathers more threateningly. “One...”

“Or else what?” Buster said, looking away defiantly, but also folding his arms over his sides to guard them.

Plucky just smiled. “Two...”

Buster pulled his feet in a bit, ready to kick out if necessary. “I’m not moving. You can’t make me.”

“Three.” The duck’s hands went for the rabbit’s sides, wiggling his green plumy fingers against the exposed blue fluff.

Buster’s arms were no match, and immediately shot up towards the ceiling, as he let out a squealing laugh. His feet kicked out in defense as well, but the duck, well prepared, hopped right over his feet, and landed beside him on the couch.

“Time’s up, buddy!” Plucky said. With his roommate no longer holding his sides, the green duck’s fingers went to work, scribbling against the rabbit’s now exposed torso. He was quite pleased with the results - Buster was indeed laughing, but it was much higher pitched and squeakier than he had expected. He made a mental note of this reaction, which he would surely exploit again in the future. Plucky then moved a hand under one of the rabbit’s arms, wiggling his fingers along the sensitive fur there.

art by Glifer on FurAffinity.

“AHAHAHAHA! P-PLUHUHUHUCKY!” Buster shouted, squirming about, and trying to push the duck’s arm away.

“Aw, does this tickle?” Plucky asked in an innocent, sing-song voice as he wiggled his fingers under Buster’s other arm, enjoying the fact that he was getting such a big reaction with just one hand. The rabbit squealed in response. “You know, all you have to do is get up, and I’ll stop,” the green duck said with a smirk.

“NEVER!” Buster shouted defiantly between his laughs, still squirming and kicking.

“Have it your way, then,” Plucky said, and moved his free hand to the rabbit’s stomach. Buster was laughing pretty hard already, but when the green duck started spidering his fingers across his tummy, he really started to lose it. His laugh was high and shrill, and his legs kicked wildly, and his hands balled up into fists. After a minute, his laughing started to get breathless, and Plucky could tell his buddy was starting to tire out, so he slowed his movements down to a gentle wiggle.

“Still not gonna get up?” Plucky asked, smiling and wiggling his fingers under the rabbit’s arms, albeit at a slower pace. “Cause I could do this all night.”

Buster shook his head. “Nah...naahaha!”

“Well, alright, then,” Plucky said, shrugging his shoulders and resuming the tickling at a faster speed again, scribbling his hands over Buster’s sides and tummy. “You know, I was gonna ask if you wanted pizza for dinner, but maybe we could try RIBS instead!” The duck punctuated the word with a squeeze to each of the rabbit’s ribs, which got a squeal of a laugh from Buster.

“STAHAHAHAHAHAP!” the bunny squeaked, flailing his limbs about. “I CAHAHAHAN’T TAHAHAHKE IT!”

Plucky began spidering his fingers across the rabbit’s ribcage, smirking and chuckling as he did so. “Oh yeah? Getting a li’l ticklish there, bunny boy?”

“YEHEHEHEHES!” Buster said, trying to wriggle out from under the duck’s grasp, but failing to get anywhere.

“Well, you’re the one that wanted to stay here all day. If I were you, I’d start thinking of a way to get me to stop.” Plucky was having fun and was smiling from ear to ear. “But if you wanna stay here all day, I can tickle you all day, too.”

Buster’s eyes started watering a bit. “PLEHEHEHEHEASE!” he squeaked. “I GIHIHIHIVE! I GIHIHIVE!”

“Ha ha, good choice!” Plucky exclaimed, stopping his movements. He sat up, and looked down at the rabbit, who was panting, and had a hand on his forehead. Plucky chuckled, and leaned towards him with a smirk. “I know, I know, I’m a comedic genius. You don’t have to thank me, really. I’m just that good.”

Buster looked up at him, and frowned, blushing a bit. “Yeah yeah, VERY funny. You’re a real knee-slapper.” He sat up and wiped his face with a sleeve of his hoodie, looking away from the green duck. Plucky snorted, amused. The blue bunny pulled himself off of the couch, tugging down his red hoodie, and brushing it off a bit. “Were you serious about getting pizza for dinner?”

Plucky smiled, also pulling himself off of the couch. “You bet I was. But I’d be down for ribs, too,” said the duck, wiggling his fingers around in the air in front of Buster, with a big smirk on his face. The bunny countered with a well-aimed jab to said ribs. This caused the duck to jump and let out a small quack, which got Buster chuckling. Plucky slapped away Buster’s paw. “H-hey, duck ribs are off the table, bucko!”

“Alright, pizza sounds good,” Buster said, walking towards the entry way to fetch his car keys. Now, unlike earlier, the rabbit kept a smile on his face. “I’ll race you to the car!”

The green duck nodded. “First one there picks the toppings?”

“You’re on!”

The two toons ran out of their dorm room, their laughter echoing throughout the hallway. It may have been a dark, cold, wintery night, but at least they weren’t going to be spending it moping around. Plucky might have been a self-centered, self-serving duck most of the time, but when the situation called for it, he could change his tune if he felt like it. And even if he found Buster annoying most of the time, at least he could tell himself that he did something good that day to cheer him up.

That’s all, folks!