.... your kids are infected - they'll become anime-style toon mice too."
As soon as Dr. Norri said that, it happened! Darryl and Diane became anime-style cartoon mice. Notably, Diane's eyes looked like the eyes of a
shojo girl (shojo is romance manga/anime), her breasts were bigger and her hips were wider, but no more so than any typical shojo girl's. She
and her brother seemed to have rodent incisors that always showed even with closed mouths. Diane had mixed feelings about her new body.
On the one hand, she liked her now perfect hourglass shape - too bad it included a tail, rodent incisors, and big ears. Darryl liked being an
anime-style cartoon mouse-boy - he thought it was cool. At least their clothes had shrunk with them - not that any of them needed clothes
with all that fur.
"I was told about how this happened," Dr. Norri said, kneeling down to be closer to them "and I'm afraid that you're all stuck like this. You see,
when you were cartoon mice the first time, it got imprinted into your DNA, and when you came out of Hellivision and touched your kids, they
became infected too. Normally, this would've taken a number of years, but coming here sped up the process. There is some good news - the
rules of the real world and Hellivision don't apply here, so you can't be killed, and you can't die. Take me for example: I've been here since
1965, and I don't look a day past my 20's. You'll literally have forever to be a family and have fun together. You just won't get any older. I guess
you could call this, as alchemists would put it, Equivalent Exchange. This is perhaps one of the most extreme cases of it, but at least you didn't
lose an arm or leg like a certain blonde boy I know. His younger brother is worse off yet - he lost his entire body! So you Knables are very
lucky!
"You call THIS lucky?" Diane said, pointing at her teeth "How come Darryl and I have teeth like this, but mom and dad don't?"
"Well," Dr. Norri said with a sweat drop on her face "it's got nothing to do with genetics. That's a rule that doesn't necessarily apply here - it
may at times, but not necessarily."
"So," Roy started, still trying to absorb all this info "how much do we owe you?"
"After what you've all been through," she said with an understanding look on her face "I won't charge you anything. It's free."
"Really?" asked Helen, relieved to hear this "Thanks."
"Think nothing of it," Dr. Norri said smiling "and here's a guide to tell you more about being a toon, so you'll know how your bodies work. Some
of the things you may already know, but it's still pretty useful for first-timers."
"Thanks Dr. Norri," Roy said, as he accepted the guide that was bigger than his body "but how will I fit this in my pocket?"
"A little thing called 'hammer-space'.", Dr Norri said, smiling "It means you've got infinite space in your pockets, bags, and other things - it's
pretty standard among toons."
So Roy stuffed the whole thing in his back pocket, and there was no evidence that anything was in there! "Great gouda!" Roy exclaimed "I could
get used to this!"
"That reminds me." Dr. Norri said, hearing what Roy just exclaimed "You'll all start acting more like cartoons, and thinking like them too. You'll
still be 'yourselves', and keep your memories, but the way you act will be more exaggerated - you may even lose your sanity at times, but you'll
never lose your love for eachother."
"It's gonna be a long way to walk back." Darryl noted, cleaning his glasses.
"Don't worry about that." Dr. Norri assured him "Just reach into your pocket."
Helen was the first one to do this, and pulled out a black hole. "A hole?" she asked.
"It's just like in cartoons." Roy said "Just think of where you want to go."
"Okay." Helen said "I'd like to go back to our hotel room." and with that, she looked in the hole, and their room was there on the other side.
"Wow," she exclaimed "this will save a lot on gas."
"One more thing." Dr. Norri said "Because you're all like this now, you can't live in the real world anymore, so you'll have to move to the
ToonWorld. If you miss the real world that much, then I recommend moving here to the AnimeLand district - you'll find it's structurally identical
to the real world, with some differences of course. You can always invite your friends to visit you, we have jobs here, and even schools so your
children can finish their education. We'll get you all moved in when you settle on a place, but for now, just enjoy the rest of your vacation.
With that, they waved goodbye, thanked Dr. Norri, and went through the hole to their hotel room. When they got there, Helen took the hole,
and stuffed it back into her pocket. They found that everything in the room was now just the right size for them. Roy then pulled out the guide,
and began reading it to his wife and kids. After hearing it - especially the part about anime - Diane was even more concerned. "So let me get
this straight," she asked "not only do we automatically regenerate if we lose limbs, get blown up or cut into pieces, but if we exhibit extreme
emotions, we'll super-deform into chibis? Sure that's only temporary, but aren't we small enough already? Never mind that, what about living
forever? How can I live with myself knowing all my friends will die and I'll be left without any?"
"You can always make new friends." Darryl suggested.
"How will I have a boyfriend like this?" Diane asked.
"You'll find someone Diane." Helen said, patting her on her shoulder "You just have to have faith. I'll bet you'll find a cute guy mouse just your
size."
"Really?" Diane asked with anime sparkles in her eyes "I'll bet he's a real great hunk of cheddar!" At this, she covered her mouth "Oh no! It's
starting already!" she said, worried "My mind is becoming more toony, isn't it? I don't wanna be insane!"
"It's okay, dear." Helen said trying to comfort her "We'll all be insane, but we'll still love you." at this, a screw fell out of Helen's right ear. Roy
picked it up and handed it back to Helen who just smiled, and put it back in her head "I guess I already have a few loose screws." Helen said
smiling with a sweat drop on her face.
"You know what?" Roy said "Let's not even THINK about any of that stuff - let's just have fun as a family. That's why we're here, remember?"
So the Knables talked about it, and reached a decision, but what will they do now?