I apologize if the wait was a tad longer this time. I had, and still do, have a lot on my plate. This is always important though.

Chapter 11: The Bond We Share

For their future.

The only way for them to live happy lives from now on was to murder and maim the oppositions in their way?

Was that really the only way for the Warners to live on the way they wished to?

Wakko was actually contemplating the idea behind that. Acting on it was out of the question. But the very idea that the world hated them so much that the only way for them to achieve happiness was to go legitimately insane-y?

Wakko was still crying as he tried to keep his gaze fixated on his scary older brother. He sniffled and shook his head back and forth, to shake off the water and to get a better view. The world was always blurry behind those tears.

"It's scary looking now, but I promise you, you'll get used to it." Yakko smiled warmly.

Wakko was shaking profoundly. He was surprised when he eventually managed to find his voice.

"… Th-This won't… it won't help our futures… in any way. You're just making things worse!" Wakko's voice inflections were cracked. He was trying to project himself due to the fact that this was his brother… and yet was still with-held due to the fact that he wasn't his brother.

Yakko tilted his head to the side with a look of genuine confusion and peaked curiosity. Wakko's words seemed to have miffed him.

"What do you mean Wakko?" Yakko spoke out-loud. His voice was softer than it had been just seconds before. It made Wakko shiver but his gaze didn't shift away.

"You know what I mean… killing that guy in the waiting room… a-and the doctor just now! All that is … is really extreme revenge… it won't change the way people treat us." Wakko spoke, his hands out, in a bit of a pleading gesture.

"… That sounds… familiar…" Yakko muttered. Wakko blinked, a bit distraught, before Yakko spoke again. "Oh yeah. I said something like that to you… back when you were acting out…" Yakko smiled.

Wakko's eyes widened and his frown seemed to freeze in place, aside from the occasional quivering lower lip. Yakko was certainly right about that. Somehow, their positions on the matter had been reversed. Wakko began to ponder this. He knew he was more impulsive and stuck hard to his own selfish beliefs than either of his siblings tended to. Had he continued doing what he had been doing, would he have eventually reached the same conclusion Yakko seems to have come to?

Wakko shook his head and took a step back, suddenly feeling really dizzy. He unconsciously clutched at his chest. Yakko took notice and let out a concerned gasp.

"Are you hurting?" He asked with a smile.

Wakko felt more water works on the way as he nodded. Emotional pain and worry built up so quickly in a situation like this. He had already been tortured physically. He knew there was little chance he could survive this mental stress.

"We can get you treatment now. Heheh. I doubt they'll refuse any-" Yakko grinned, while twirling the axe, flinging some blood on Wakko's shirt. Wakko instantly let out a cry of terror and shrunk back, shaking all over and feeling his cold body grow even more goosebumps.

"St-stop it! Just stop it already!" Wakko cried. Dot and Dr. Scratchnsniff stood by the door, watching the scene as if it were hypnotizing them. It wasn't wonderment they watched with though. The wide-eyed terror evident in their expressions was proof enough of that.

"Stop what?" Yakko asked, dryly.

"You know what!" Wakko stomped his foot onto the floor. "You… You're Yakko! You're my big brother… a-and you've gone completely off the rails! Come back to me Yakko! This… this is really scary… I'm terrified right now! Can't you see that?!"

Yakko looked right at him. It seemed more like he was looking right into him even. The depth of his soul was starting to feel violated by how intently Yakko was looking into him.

"… You don't sound like you're having fun. Wakko, that's what we do best. Come on. Laugh with me." Yakko put on a grin.

Wakko shivered. This wasn't the kind of fun they had. This was a morally bankrupt, twisted idea of fun that toons who had gone completely off the deep end engaged in. He had never once considered the idea that his brother would be one of those people.

Yakko's grin faded when Wakko's reaction amounted to little more than a shake. His face slowly contorted a worried half-smile.

"C-Come on Wakko. It can't be that hard to understand. I admit it took me a while too but I was being a stick in the mud before all this began. You were already on your way there. This is the only way to ensure we remain happy. My brother… my brother and sister would agree with me. I know that they will. I have faith in them. We can keep this going together and then our worries will disappear." Yakko began to spout out loud, his own voice a bit shaky with worry.

Wakko , as well as Dot, both looked ahead at him. Their eyes met his head on. Yakko felt his own heart beat faster. It couldn't be…

"You guys… you're not seriously going to refuse me are you?" Yakko felt his eye twitch.

Wakko let a few more tears drop before he took in a deep breath and let it out.

"… You're trying to make it sound like we just don't understand. But any path that leads to stuff like this, we don't want to understand. There's no way me, or Dot, or the real you would ever do this. You need help Yakko. Let us help you. We love you." Wakko all but whispered that last sentence. He had said it with confidence before back at the hospital and it was still true, no doubt. He just couldn't help but feel that Yakko was the one who didn't care to take that into account anymore.

Yakko was standing there, wide-eyed and in a genuine state of shock. He looked at Wakko's face. His little brother was sure of himself and of his words. Turning to face Dot, she had put on a similar face. One of worry and fear but was obviously fully intent on standing at Wakko's side on this. Not his.

Yakko shook and rocked lightly on his feet. His eyes were downcast and the lightning and thunder blaring from the window behind him only seemed to set the spark going off in him even more. Wakko unknowingly took a step back. He froze again when he saw the tight fist around the bloody axe his brother was holding get ever tighter.

"So this is the truth." Yakko spoke finally. He was squeezing the handle of the axe rather hard suddenly. "My sibs… they'd… never…" He groaned out and clutched it even harder. A tiny bit of cfimson started to become evident under his gloves as he kept squeezing the axe, effectively bruising his own skin due to the amount of force being used to do so.

Wakko didn't pay any mind to how his body was reacting to seeing his brother shiver with anxiousness. Wakko's breathing was getting ragged and he was started to sweat. His nervousness was turning into an alert of caution.

He hesitantly began to speak back up to Yakko.

"W-We'd n-never-?"

"Never!" Yakko shot his head up and screamed at him. Wakko slunk back, pouting slightly as his fear began to overtake him.

"Y-Yakko. P-Please, we-"

"My sibs would never do this to me! They'd see clearer than this! I have faith in them!" Yakko started to advance on Wakko; with his passé quick from the start.

"Yakko! We aren't-! W-We can't-!" Wakko was starting to stumble over his words and almost tripped over himself due to backing up in surprise.

"You're not Wakko! And she's not Dot! I was right to strangle her after all!" Yakko spat at him.

"NO! Yakk-!" Wakko had his hands up as a flimsy form of protection.

"I made a mistake in believing in you empty husks! You're not my brother and sister!" Yakko raised his axe.

"Please stop!" Wakko cried.

"The two of them are long gone. I'm disowning you!" Yakko shouted and swung down at him.

Wakko let out a scream and shut his eyes. He felt his back jolt immediately afterward though. The force of whatever struck him send him spiraling to the side and he bounced across the floor and against the wall.

Wakko looked down at himself and saw Dot with her arms wrapped around his waist. She had tackled him from the side and got him clear out of the way of the swing before it stuck into him. The axe was slammed against the ground with an effective splitting crack in the floor as a result from the force put behind it.

That swing wasn't just intended to kill him. He would've hacked him apart with a hit like that!

"We gotta run!" Dot shouted at Wakko's still face. Wakko didn't respond to her. He just stared at the area where the axe made its connection and breathed harder. Dot was screaming at him with tears flinging every which way. Yakko was pulling the axe from the ground, fully focused on continuing his onslaught. Wakko seemed to have blocked all sound out though. He was breathing too hard and his thoughts were too scattered and ragged.

Dot seemed to have quit trying to get him to respond when she grabbed Wakko's wrist and ran ahead. Wakko's healing body was no longer being handled with care due to the urgency bestowed upon them at the moment.

She bolted out the door just as she spotted Yakko finally having his axe at the ready once again. He shot forward to and swung down again.

The axe struck the door as it was slammed shut again. The hole that had already been made through it for them to get inside was cut even wider. Dot looked to her side with Wakko's arm over her shoulder to see that Dr. Scratchnsniff had rammed it shut the instant he saw Dot leave the room.

"Scratchy-!" Dot began, unsure of what to say or do. She sounded so helpless and the way her legs were shaking told Scratchnsniff that this wasn't the time for him to lose his cool. He needed to remain level-headed for the sake of these children.

Another strike at the door with Yakko's axe made his urgency rise and he immediately began to act. "Dot, take Wakko and rush back to the waiting room. Tell anyone still there to bolt out the door as fast as they can. Do not look back under any circumstances."

"But what if you-?" Dot started before the doctor pushed her, almost roughly, in the specified direction.

"Not under any circumstances! Get your little tushies moving!" He ordered as he heard the door almost completely collapse behind him.

"Sorry Scratchy but you won't be able to do much. Any one of us can handle you on our own." Yakko snarled as he stepped through the demolished entryway.

Dot gasped and made her way out the hallway and back into the waiting room. She knew that it wasn't smart to argue against running away, especially with Wakko's life to worry about aside from her own.

With a quick look around the room she noticed how startled the people who were left looked. Hello Nurse was sitting beside Skippy and she looked to have been recently in the process of consoling him before the noises from the room grabbed their attention. Runt had never been this quiet for such a long period of time. Both he and Rita were standing at attention now despite that because of the sense of impending danger.

Dot took in a ragged breath. The more time she wasted to stop and warn them the less time they had to actually get going. It was situations like this that drove her crazy.

"Run now! Don't ask questions, just get out!" Dot shouted. Searching for words of explanation was too taxing. All they needed to know was that it was time to get moving!

Hello Nurse stood up and patted Skippy's back toward the other broken doorway. Skippy gave her a teary, slightly reluctant look before rushing for it. Rita knew that they weren't in any position to argue or proclaim their intent to help. She jumped on Runt's back and pointed forward. Without a word, Runt did as she instructed and ran out as well.

Dot turned to face Hello Nurse. Before she could speak though, the nurse plucked Wakko from her and held him close to her while motioning for Dot to go ahead of her. Dot was a bit surprised by the action but didn't complain. Scratchnsniff had made it clear that they were all to leave.

She didn't want to leave Yakko behind for some reason. It stunk that her brain knew that if she stayed she'd only be killed. With a sigh and a frightened jump due to hearing something crash from down the hall she had just escaped from, she ran ahead with Hello Nurse behind her.

It was just as dark as it was coming in and the flashes of lightning seemed even more intrusive and unwanted than before.


Dr. Scratchnsniff had managed to get his hands on the hilt of the axe. Yakko's hands weren't off of it though. He was struggling with the doctor in a way that had them backed out into the waiting room.

"They're getting away! Those imposters are getting away and it's all because of you!" Yakko snarled at the doctor as he struggled with him. Neither of their strengths were being overpowered.

"That was the idea." The doctor retorted, sweating a bit. He knew what he was doing was incredibly dangerous but this was just something he had to do. No one would've been able to make it out of here if the attention wasn't averted to someone who could stall Yakko long enough.

That was starting to become useless though. Yakko was starting to overpower the doctor. His eyes blared right at Dr. Scratchnsniff and the doctor got a chance to look them over. They looked even worse than the time Yakko had rejected him back at the appointment they had set up. The spaces underneath his eyes were purple and there was a flash of red to his pupils that told a story of either excessive eye-strain or sleeplessness. Both of which were most likely brought about by a tremendous amount of stress.

His body had already been acting weird. One minute it would be incredibly sick and tired. The next it would be strong and healthy. Here, it was as if a monster was controlling him.

Scratchnsniff was sweating hard. He was determined to keep Yakko at bay. This determination got him far but not far enough. Yakko eventually shoved into the handle they were grappling for and pushed against his body. The doctor tripped back and fell to the ground rather harshly.

As the pain shot through his system he noticed instantly that Yakko was no longer amist his presence. The second Scratchnsniff had let go of the axe was the second Yakko rushed out the door.

He had failed. Scratchnsniff grabbed at the counter he was pressed against and hauled himself up. He was mildly contemplating how Yakko's strength managed to increase so suddenly, finding the thought that it could even do that fearful in of itself, before stumbling ahead and exiting through the door. He had to keep the priorities straight. Right now, what Yakko was doing with that strength was what mattered and he had to do his best to hurry and stop it.


It was too damn dark.

Dot ran ahead, often looking behind her to see if Hello Nurse was still chasing after her with Wakko slumped over her shoulder. The only sounds were of the thunder, the rain, their footsteps, and their heavy breathing. It was too hard to see and the long hallway was hard to traverse down with all this stuff in the way.

Dot couldn't make out Skippy, Rita, or Runt ahead of her. She didn't know if that was due to the darkness as well or because they had truly sprinted out of the place as quickly as they could.

She couldn't even pick up on their footsteps if they were running.

Wait. She was picking up on another one all of a sudden. It must mean that they were approaching one of them.

That couldn't be right though. It sounded as if it was coming from behind her.

Dolt felt her heart skip a beat. They were being chased.

Before she could ponder the possibility of it being Scratchy, let alone voice her concern to Hello Nurse, the nurse in question let out a ear splitting scream that got Dot to skid to a stop.

Hello Nurse fell forward and hit the ground, dropping Wakko in the process. Wakko didn't make a noise as he hit the floor aside from a cough and his continued ragged breathing. That's all he had been doing since they had begun running; breathing really, really hard.

Dot was suddenly really anxious and frantic. She looked at the scene before her, wondering what just happened. She saw blood spew across the floor and clamped her mouth shut when she had her eyes follow to where its trail began.

The axe that Yakko had brought with him was laying there. It had been chucked at her from behind and struck her successfully. She was laying on the floor, bleeding out from an unknown part of her body. Dot couldn't see! She hoped it wasn't somewhere vital.

Her vision got even more obstructed when water got in her eyes way. She quickly wiped the tears off her face, grunting in anger. Now wasn't the time. She could still hear footsteps drawing closer. It meant that Yakko was coming for certain. Dot bent down to Hello Nurse and shook her. She let out a bit of a moan before making a gesture in the darkness that Dot couldn't quite place.

The nurse did it again. It was a point forward. She was telling her to keep going.

"B-But you-" Dot began.

"Wakko's in danger and he isn't in a condition to defend himself. Hurry ahead."

That was her firm stance. Dot felt a pang of something sick and awful strike her heart. She wasn't at all okay with doing that… but what else could she do? Dragging her along would ensure that none of them got away…

Dot let out a whimper and grabbed Wakko's arms, hoisting him onto her back. She was actively ignoring all the thoughts telling her that this wasn't what she wanted to do. She put one thought at the forefront and repeated it over and over.

'I must save Wakko.'

That was it. She repeated it in her head over and over, forcing it to overlap all the other thoughts about how she couldn't leave the nurse behind and how immoral and horrible this all was.

She ran forward and ran as fast as she could too.

There was a section of brief silence ahead.

That lasted all but a single minute as she heard the footsteps pick up behind her again. Yakko hadn't taken long to catch up. It doesn't take long to swing an axe at an already downed and bleeding nurse. She knew that and prayed that he had simply walked by her presence. Even if she managed to save Wakko, she doubted she could live with that.

The footsteps picked up. He seemed to be going faster somehow.

Dot began to panic. Wakko was breathing hard on her back. His eyes were open and he was aware of what was happening but he wasn't reacting to any of it. His breathing just kept going faster and faster.

Dot had finally put it together, noticing Wakko's demeanor. He was hypervenalating. He was panicked and he wasn't able to compose himself in the slightest. Dot thought back to how close he was to being split in half by his own older brother.

The interval of time he had managed to live by was probably less than a second.

"Get back here, dear sister sib!"

Dot lurched forward in shock. She could hear his voice now. This wasn't good. Where was she going? Was this even the right way? She remembered it being a seemingly long hallway toward the main waiting room. How could she have made a wrong turn if there were no real turns to make? Did she go down the wrong hallway? Why was she still running?!

She passed a table with a vase on it.

She remembered that vase. It was close toward the entrance. Not close enough, but close. She was almost there. Carrying Wakko was undoubtedly what was making the trip that much slower but she was too scared to consider it. That and the fact that Yakko wasn't carrying anything aside from an axe that he had a pretty good handle over made the gap between them close so much faster than she would've liked.

"There's the door." Dot mouthed as she came up on it. There it was, cracked open with the light of the flashes of lightning and the droplets of water that the storm winds had blown in through the obstruction. She got more anxious the closer she got though. Each step made her reel with an angry thought that said that getting closer to it wasn't enough. She wanted the next step to be the step that got her there. Just a few more steps!

Crack!

Dot felt her vision float and blur a bit.

Shards of the vase, that she could've sworn that she had just passed by, pierced into her head and splayed all over the place. Yakko had managed to toss it into her. The force of the throw had sent her more than off balance. She plummeted to the ground, letting Wakko fling from off her back and roll into the next room over.

The footsteps were getting louder and louder now. Dot's consciousness was growing fainter and fainter.

That throw had hurt and the devastation was instant. There was nothing she could do to stop the throbbing. Yakko wasn't in any pain. He hadn't stopped completely like her. He could still do things…

Yakko's footsteps grew louder and vi-passed her downed body. His first and central target was definitely Wakko.

Dot loomed her head up, determined to at least see what was going on. She caught a glimpse of Yakko running into the room she saw Wakko roll into when she fell but that was it. With a teary eyed moan, she lowered her increasingly pained head and tried for crawling forward. How one hit could do this to her baffled and shamed her greatly.


Wakko, who hadn't said a word the whole way through, merely gasped when a sudden jolt sent him to the floor and tumbling into another room.

His mind was all over the place. He was in a tremendous panic. The thunder that clapped outside made him nearly ram up into the ceiling even. All he was really thinking about at the forefront of his brain was how unbelievable this was and how this had to be the scariest nightmare he had ever had.

"Y-Yakko. B-Big brother. Brother. Wants to kill me. Almost killed me. Axe. Bloody axe! H-Head chopped off and d-dead… he was dead!" Wakko, finally finding words to speak, spoke in disjointed phrases as his breathing got worst. He was clutching at his heart. It was beating way to hard and fast. It was quite cold in here and despite that, his sweat was all over his body.

Wakko stumbled toward the edge of the room. There were a lot of weird machines around. X-Rays and scanners they seemed to be. Who cares where he was? The crux of this place was basically the exact opposite of a hospital. It was a hell house. He was in Hell!

The door rammed open just as Wakko stumbled into one of the unidentifiable machines in a panicked daze. Wakko's gaze shifted up and his eyes met those of his crazed older brother.

Wakko and Yakko were staring at each other. Both of them were shaking but for different reasons. One was paralyzed with fear. The other was strife with anger and intensity.

"Wakko… you really sent me over the edge here. If anything, I need to make sure you go first. The loss of my beloved brother from before makes my heart go numb. Looking at an imposter like you makes me physically sick." He strutted closer to Wakko. It wasn't a slow walk. He was moving quickly.

Wakko's body came to life and had him scooting back. This demon… this thing… whatever it was, wasn't his brother. Both of them were thinking similar things. Whatever was in front of me, wasn't my brother.

Still, Wakko tried to reason with it. It was partly because he was scared. It was also because he desperately wanted his real brother to come back.

"Yakko… wha-whatever's wrong… I'm sorry. I-I was wrong before… b-back when I was acting out and going against you. It… It wasn't right. I'll do whatever you want me to do this time. Just please, go back to normal." Wakko whimpers and tears were glaring and continuous. He didn't bother hiding it. He knew that his real big brother would rush to help this image of him if he was still in there. It's not like he was doing it on purpose. He couldn't help crying and blubbering. Who could?

"Didn't you hear me back there? Didn't you listen to a word I said!? Huh?!" Yakko shouted.

Wakko flinched as he backed into a random machine. He looked up at Yakko and stuttered for a response.

"Well did you?! Huh?!" Yakko shouted even louder, making Wakko wince. His knees were knocking.

"Y-Y-Yessss…" Wakko managed to get out.

"Than what makes you think I'd accept that apology? If anything I'm even more mad that you said sorry. This is what needs to be done to ensure a better future. My little brother was afraid of that future because of the situation we were in. Now that I've warmed up to that wonderful idea he initiated to help fix it, he'd be overjoyed to help me." Yakko explained, raising his axe.

"I…I… " Wakko was scrambling for something, anything to say.

"So why wouldn't you be with me, Wakko? The only answer that makes any sense, is that you're no longer my brother!" Yakko gripped the axe tighter. Wakko's eyes widened as it dripped with now fresh blood on the tip.

"N-no… no… please… " Wakko couldn't help flashing back. Remembering his good times with Yakko struck his heart hard enough to almost kill him emotionally. Sitting on the couch and playing video games. Throwing a tantrum when he lost. Getting a playful noogie from Yakko when he won. Finding new special friends to tease and play with. Getting new Don Knots videos from him every Christmas and new pairs of pants and underwear to ultimately fawn over but not actually wear from him every birthday.

It was fun. That was Yakko. He was fun. He was always kind, caring, considerate, and smart. He was a role model. He was someone Wakko had always looked up to. It always crushed him whenever that rare event happened to get Yakko sad or angry before this.

And then Wakko turned into that very thing. He was the one who ended up making Yakko sad and angry all the time. He regretted it so much now. He loved Yakko. He wanted this monster to go away and give him back.

The axe lowered.

"You're out of here!" Yakko all but screamed.

"NOOOOO!" Wakko screamed back in a panic, grabbing the nearest thing closest to him and whacking Yakko with it. He didn't look where he hit him. He didn't care. He just wanted out of this nightmare!

Yakko was hit successfully at the side of his face. It was enough to get him to let the axe go and drop into the machine behind Wakko. It cut through rather easily thanks to the already applied force. Sparks flew and set right off. A small fire ignited.

Wakko hit the ground when the event passed. He was clutching his chest and breathing erratically. He was having a panic attack and wasn't holding up well at all. His body had already been tortured to submission before this and he wasn't fully recovered. He was a mess.

Yakko had hit the ground and slid back a small ways. There was blood on the end of the item Wakko had struck him with. Turns out it was a metal bar that hooked up to a hospital curtain. It had been dislodged earlier due to unknown circumstances and left here.

Looking over, Wakko saw his downed older brother. Wakko, in his panic, had managed to strike Yakko with a blunt object. He was down and from what he could tell, bleeding out the side of his head.

Wakko stared right at him. He didn't, absolutely could not, acknowledge the forming blaze behind him. This scene in front of him was too damaging. It was too crippling to his very core.

He had just struck Yakko with a blunt object. He'd made him bleed. That's the kind of thing he had been trying to tell Yakko that he didn't want to see happening anymore. It wasn't occurring to Wakko that it was done in self-defense. He didn't think about how obvious it was that he would've died had he not done that.

As he got closer to Yakko, all he could think about was how unfair this all was. He desperately wanted to know why this had to happen. He wanted someone to give him an answer.

A mini explosion on the busted machine behind them sent sparks flying and made the fire rise higher. It spread to the floor and rushed across the ground and to the sides, feeding on the air and growing stronger and stronger due to its unattended nature.

The wooden hilt from the axe Yakko had was ablaze and the blood on the tip instantly dried.

Wakko was now holding his brother's head up in one hand over his lap, crying onto his face as he bled.

"What did I do? Yakko, please wake up! Go back to normal… please…" He sniffled and pulled him closer to his body for a hug. "… I meant it when I said that I'll always love you… we can even move past this but…"

Yakko's eyes fluttered. Wakko noticed a stir and had Yakko pulled away from him to look straight at him instantly. "Yakko?"

"…Wakko…?" The response from his big brother came in the same voice it always had, only much calmer and warmer.

"Y-You… you're…?" Wakko stammered, trying to think of something to say.

"Leave me here and run away." Yakko choked out, letting himself lie over Wakko's lap. His head was throbbing in pain but he knew exactly what had happened and what he had tried to do.

"What? C-Come on Yakko. Me hitting you didn't turn you into an idiot right?" Wakko spoke back to him, confidence in his words building. That was something the Yakko he had almost died from speaking with wouldn't have said. Still, it was just as blasphemous as anything else. There was no way he'd expect his own little brother to leave him behild.

The fire was rising higher and getting caught on the linen and the carpet surrounding the area. Wakko shifted his gaze to the side when the roar of the flames reached his ears finally. He was already panicked and sweaty. He really didn't need this.

Wakko grumbled and tried to hoist Yakko over his shoulder to drag him out. The problem was that Wakko had to be carried all the way here and back due to his already tired out and unstable health. Having to carry Yakko out of the room and out the door before the fire reached them was an impossible dream.

Yakko's body slumped against Wakko's. His eyes were dim and his intense feeling of sickness had come back to him. With his urge to kill also went his strength stamina. Yakko's eyes had already been bloodshot but now they were tearing up. He wouldn't stop shaking. He was panting incredibly hard. Wakko thought it was due to how the room was filling with smoke. In reality, it was because Yakko had reverted back to his ever depleting kind state.

Yakko knew how this deal worked now. This "curse" was dead set on making him embrace his dark half. His good side was barely there anymore. The only reason it was even here right now was because Wakko had knocked him silly just than. Yakko whimpered and caught Wakko's attention.

"Y-Yakko? D-Don't worry. I'll… save us both! I promise!" Wakko grunted. After all this time he had only managed about three steps before he had to stop and rest on his knees. The fire had surrounded them completely by now and had reached the door.

Yakko shook his head. He knew the part of him that he wanted to keep showing to Wakko was going away and it was becoming more and more permanent the more he gave into it. He knew there'd be no way for him to get lucky after this. Yakko coughed rather hard, sputtering up blood and letting it drip onto the floor in front of him.

"Yakko! Are you okay?" Wakko continued to express concern for his older brother. Yakko just chuckled to himself. This was truly a marvel.

"Even after I tried to kill you just now… you still say you love me. You're still trying to help me make it out despite it meaning you won't be able to escape." Yakko stammered and faced Wakko. His reddened eyes were teary. When Wakko saw them like that, his heart sank.

"O-Of course I am. I would never leave you behind. I know that the only reason you're doing this is because… you've got some kind of mental condition a-and you need help. I'll make sure you get help Yakko." Wakko sounded rather determined. It made Yakko smile. It was a sad smile.

"No. This… this isn't a mental condition. It's a curse… and it doesn't make me evil or put feelings in me that weren't already there." Yakko reluctantly began explaining.

Wakko looked confused and felt himself shiver again. "What are you talking about?"

Yakko's smile got a tad brighter despite the overlay of sadness to his tone. "… All the things I said and did… are just extensions of the side of me that's dark and evil. I'm not being mind controlled. I have no mental condition. It's just too conflicting sides of my heart and brain going at it and the good side is losing out. Badly."

Wakko stared down at him in awe for a second before shaking his head, letting tears hit his brother's face. "The good in you outshines the bad. It always does and it always will. I don't believe that nonsense."

"No sane person would. But we're insane remember?" Yakko grinned with his eyes closed this time, tears rolling down his face. Wakko just looked at him. He couldn't find a response to that.

Eventually Wakko began to cough and hack himself. The doorway was engulfed in flames by now. The two of them were trapped inside. Neither of them had the stamina to leave normally. With all this smoke and fire making things worse it was damn near impossible to contemplate them making it out of this.

It took a while but that sinking feeling was settling in. They were both too weak to move on. Wakko collapsed and Yakko followed suit. They were on the floor, face to face with each other, panting hard.

"… Regardless if I made it out of here or not… the fact that the me you know and love is getting to talk to you right now is a fluke… thanks for cracking me upside the head. It never felt so good being beaten up by my little bro." Yakko laughed.

Wakko smiled. Tears were streaming down both their faces as the fire surrounded them. "It was no problem. I wish I could say it was my pleasure…"

Yakko let out a light chuckle before coughing again. "Despite how hard my dwindling good side may have been trying… I couldn't get back to you. Even when I was about to kill you those both times, I just couldn't get through." He hated admitting that.

Wakko's face became unreadable for that instant.

"You must be so ashamed of me. I'm such a hypocrite. Scolding you about all that stuff before when deep down I was willing to give into an even stronger urge to do it myself. You can't fail even harder at being the older bro than that." Yakko said, reaching over to touch Wakko's cheek.

Wakko looked to the side. Yakko kept smiling. It wasn't a big grin this time but a calm, simple smile.

"You're amazing Wakko. Really, you are. After all that nonsense, all that troubling uncertainty, all that torture, and all that fear… you still find the time to express care for people other than yourself. I envy that so much about you. You're the best brother anyone could ever ask for. Even the bad part of me agrees, which is why it was so upset when it determined that you weren't the real him. B-But I know, that you're him. You'll always be Wakko…" Yakko mused.

Wakko was blubbering and crying silently to himself, trying to keep a forced smile on his face.

"… Me… I think I may be going away forever… one way or another…" Yakko said, finally stopping to rest his eyes.

Wakko didn't hesitate. He wrapped his arms around Yakko on the floor and pulled him close.

"You'll never be far away from us Yakko. I'll make sure of it."