Inky Holli Would

 
"For her next acquisition, Madame Ink had to travel deep inside a grimy, chaotic, crime-ridden section of the Toon Universe that had been virtually forgotten for almost three decades -- a garish midnight Metropolis known as "Cool World" to its degenerate inhabitants.  It was not a... good place, by any stretch of the imagination, but had a certain retro charm that strongly reminded Madame Ink of her vanished past.  Most of the 'toons (or "doodles,"as they were called in the lingua franca of the place,) were quite primitive, and Madame Ink's sleek and flowing form attracted a large number of gawkers, catcallers, and other lowlifes.  At the very least, they were able to point the way to her destination.

She found her misbegotten doodle in the darkest, dankest flop house located in the sub-basement of the most disturbingly twisted structure she had ever seen.  The blonde woman had fallen on hard times, if the remarkable number of empty liquor bottles and overflowing ashtrays were any indication.

"Holli Would, I presume?"

The inebriated doodle slowly raised her head and her gaze focused on the form of Madame Ink looming over her.

"...you?  What are YOU doing here, Rabbit?  Come to gloat, I suppose... but why do you look like a Texas oilman's wet dream?"

"Rabbit?  Oh!  No, my dear, I understand your confusion.  We do look alike, her and I.  She was my... original, I suppose.  But we have nothing to do with one another at this time."

"Original... I can relate to that, sister," Holli burped, taking another swig of rotgut and launching into a ramble.

"I guess I was designed to be a knock-off, I can admit that now... but why not?  Who Framed Roger Rabbit was the biggest show in town back then.  It was a phenomenon!  Everyone loved it.  So the bigwigs at Paramount, they wanted their own live-action/animation hybrid... studios always want the next big thing, you know?"

"Yes, I see."  Madame Ink was genuinely interested in this story, as she was still filling in the gaps of animation history that had unfolded while she had been in hibernation.

"...so anyway, they hire, umm, that Bakshi guy. Poor Ralph... guy was a legend in the trades but never really brought home the big dough, see?  Fire & Ice, Heavy Traffic, Wizards, they didn't really set the world on fire.  Respectable, though.  So the suits give him this golden ticket, one final job in the big leagues... that's where I came in.  I was supposed to be the next Jessica, the next pin-up princess, I was gonna be paired with Drew Barrymore, but..."

"...but?"

"...it all went South faster than a drunken carpetbagger.  The producer put his idiot son in charge... Frank Jr... he threw Ralph's script in the can and had a couple of his goon buddies rewrite the whole thing on the fly.  Barrymore was out, Basinger was in.  Ugh!  What a downgrade that was.  Basinger, I mean, she was a doll, but she was getting too big for her britches and demanded more rewrites -- she thought we was making a kid's movie!  Do I look like a school marm, sister?  Anyway, Ralph lost his drive.  Barely finished the thing, the poor guy's heart wasn't in it.  Let the director direct, I say.  The damn thing cost 28 million and brought in half that.  And that was the end of my career, blackie!  No sequel, no spin-offs, no funnybook crossovers... just a one-and-done, a footnote for animation geeks and ink freaks."

"How tragic."

"You can say that again.  Worst of all?  Brad Pitt was gonna be my main man in the movie, but they bumped him down to second banana and put Gabriel Byrne in the lead!  Now, I ain't got nothin' against Gabe, he's a cool cat, but... Brad... Brad... I mean, he was just startin' out and all, but he was still Brad-everloving-Pitt!"

By the lovelorn look in Holli's eyes, this Brad must've been a real catch.

"...but like I said, that was that.  Over, kaput, finito.  And here I am."

Villain though she was, Madame Ink felt a twinge of genuine sympathy for this forgotten 'toon.  She knew all too well what it was like to be forgotten and cast aside by the studio bean counters, after all.

"Well, my dear," she cooed, patting Holli on the shoulder, "I can't help any of that, but I can offer you a second chance, if you want it..."

Holli's eyes brightened.  "No foolin'?  We talkin' a reboot here?"

"Even better..."

Black ink from her body oozed over Holli's body and coated her completely, draining her of her unnecessary color.  Holli moaned and writhed suggestively throughout the process.  My, my, thought Madame Ink, this one really is rated-R.  Not for kids, indeed.

The reborn Inky Holli stood before Madame Ink, just as dark and nearly as gorgeous.  She still needed to sober up and get back in the game, but Madame Ink was glad she's taken the chance on this one (instead of, say, that do-gooding Gwen Tennyson.)

Inky Holli lit a fresh smoke and looked approvingly over her new form.  A long, inky tendril from her body slithered about as if it had a mind of its own -- which it did!  A pair of surprised cartoon eyes peeked out from Holli's excess ink -- in her excitement, Madame Ink had accidentally merged Holli with a random doodle who had been sleeping underneath the barstool!

"Gadzooks, my dear... I've never seen that happen before.  Do you want me to try and..."

"Nah," Holli said, caressing her inky companion, "that's just Tony, he's alright.  He's always had my back, so I say we let him ride along."

Madame Ink shrugged in acquiescence.  I suppose this sort of thing just happens in Cool World.