Wakko sat down on the aisle floor. He stared blankly at where his siblings had sunken into. He kept looking, half expecting them to come back out. He barely registered the store clerk next to him, trying to shake him back to reality.

"Hey, kid? Are you okay?" The store clerk said worriedly. "What the heck happened here?"

No matter how hard he shook him, Wakko wasn't moving, wasn't talking. His breathing came in sharp and rigid. It sounded like his whole body was frozen and his brain had to force him to take breaths. He looked traumatized to the point where his body just couldn't shake anymore. It didn't have the energy to.

The doors swung open. Wakko's ears made a slight twitch at familiar voices. Still, he did not move. Not even when Slappy picked him up into her arms, held her out in front of him, and shook him hard.

"Kiddo! Snap out of it!" Slappy yelled at him.

Scratchensniff looked around. He noticed the mess that laid strewn on the floor. "Did Yakko do this?" It didn't seem like too farfetched of an idea. He might have just gotten into one of his crazy routines, though a part of him felt that was unlikely due to him usually causing mayhem with his siblings.

"N-No..." Wakko's voice finally spoke.

"Finally." Slappy set him down. "Tell us what happened."

"Th-The m-man..." Wakko forced himself to speak. He paused for several seconds. "H-He took them..."

"Took who?" Skippy, who had been uncharacteristically silent until this point, asked.

Wakko's eyes slowly closed. "Yakko and Dot..."

As he said this, there was a low groan coming from a couple aisles down. Brain's ears perked at this. The voice, it sounded so familiar. But it couldn't be, could it? No, he wouldn't be stupid enough to...

Brain, on instinct, darted towards the voice. The other Animaniacs followed, with Slappy holding onto Wakko. When they reached a third aisle down, they suddenly stopped in their tracks. Brain stared in shock at the scene that laid before him.

On the ground was Pinky. His body was partially buried under soup cans. There was a small pool of blood encircling one of his legs. His body, other than a few twitches, was completely still. The leg with the blood around it looked twisted far behind its normal position. Just looking at it, everyone knew what it meant.

Eyes enlarging, Brain yelled, "Pinky!"

He rushed to Pinky's side. He tried to move the cans himself, but he was too small. Before Brain could call for help, Skippy came over and began to move the cans himself. After Skippy removed the cans, Pinky's voice let out a few whimpers as the weight of the cans came off his body. His voice let out a shuddered scream as the can from his leg was taken care of.

After the cans were removed, Brain helped Pinky up into a sitting position. He gently pressed his back to the wall. Slowly, Pinky's eyes opened up. He stared almost blankly at Brain. His trademark smile was replaced with a confused and frightened expression.

"Brain, why do I feel like I was just run over by a truck?" Pinky said in a raspy voice.

The sound of Pinky's voice worried Brain. It just didn't sound like him. He looked down at Pinky's leg. Ever so carefully, he felt down the other mouse's leg, trying to determine the extent of the damage. As soon as he touched the bent point of Pinky's leg, the other mouse let out a painful squeal.

Brain immediately removed his hand. "I'm sorry, Pinky." He stood up and backed on foot away from him. He turned over and looked up at Scratchensniff. "We'll have to take him to the hospital to fix that leg."

Scratchensniff nodded in agreement. "Right." He lowered his hand towards the mice. "Hop on."

Brain pulled Pinky's arm over his shoulder and helped him support his weight. He moved slowly over to the human's hand. The process was slow and painful. Pinky winced everytime he took a step. He was unable to avoid his battered leg touching the ground with each step.

Once the mice were in his hands, Dr. Scratchensniff lifted them off the ground. He looked down at Wakko. "Vhat happened to him?"

Wakko slowly looked up at the man. He regained some strength to speak, but it still sounded forced. "He...he tried to save them. He tried to stop the madman. But the madman..." Wakko bit his lip tightly and nearly drew blood. "He was struck down."

Brain's eyes practically glinted at this comment. "If I were to succeed in taking over the world, he will be the first 'problem' I will take care of..."

Scratchensniff didn't say a word. He looked down sympathetically at Wakko. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "It waz not your fault."

Wakko blinked at the doctor. "How did you know?"

Scratchensniff smiled. "Iz my profession. You did your bezt, Wakko. No one can accuse you of not trying."

Wakko sighed and looked tiredly at the hand. He pushed it away and walked away from the psychiatrist. "But I was right here...I was right here! I could have done something, anything!"

"I am sure you did, Wakko." Scratchensniff said. He looked down at the mice and realized he had to get going. He looked back at the small boy. "Pleaze don't be hard on yourself."

Wakko looked over his shoulder and watched as Scratchensniff walked out of the store. He slumped onto the ground, at a loss of what to do. What could he do? He didn't know where to start. He wasn't like Yakko. He wasn't as knowledgable about different subject. He wasn't a mastermind. All he was really good at was whacking things with a mallet and eating a lot of junk.

How was that going to help him here? It wasn't. He wished Yakko were here to give him advice. Yakko would have a better idea of what to do. He wanted to wish so badly for him to come back, but he knew that never worked in real life. He felt so lost and confused and guilt-ridden. He felt he could have done more to save his siblings.

Slappy walked up to him. She stood next to him and kept silent for a moment. She said, "I know it's tough. But you gotta pull yourself together." She saw the tears that started to form in Wakko's eyes. "What's with the waterworks? There's still a ch..."

Wakko grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "What if I'm not good enough?! What if I'm too late?! What if they are killed?!"

Skippy stared at this in shock. No one had ever yelled at his aunt like that. Not without getting a smack in the face. His aunt didn't strike Wakko; she just stood there and had let him snap at her.

Slappy would normally get physical if someone acted like this towards her. She couldn't bring herself to do anything Wakko. He didn't deserve it. It wasn't her he was mad at. He was angry he, in his eyes, failed his siblings. When the crying Warner stopped yelling and just stood here, breaking down, Slappy put her arm around him.

"There, there. I ain't the comforting type, bucko, because we can sit here all day, telling each other nice things, but it won't change a thing." Slappy said. She gripped Wakko's chin and looked at him in the eyes. "If I knows anything about ya Warners, is that you are persistant and never give up on a goal. Are you going to break that tradition?"

Wakko rubbed his eyes. "But I..."

"No buts!" Slappy firmly said. "No more thinkin' about what you could have done. Do you think I spend every waking morning of my life wonderin' how things would have been if I didn't do a certain thing?" She paused. Wakko opened his mouth to speak. She cut him off. "No, I don't. I don't because if I spend too much time feeling guilty, I lose sight on what I should be focusing on. The present."

"I..."

Slappy wasn't done yet. "If I lose sight of the present, I lose sight of my nephew. His needs outweigh any trivial guilt I might feel. I can and do regret, but I don't dwell on them because I can't change them. If you stand around here, beating yourself up, then your siblings will never be saved."

Wakko's mouth dropped open at that statement. He hadn't thought of that before. Slappy was right. He couldn't just stand around doing nothing. He couldn't keep beating himself up. His sibs needed him, and he had to find a way to get to them.

Without thinking too much, he wrapped his arms around Slappy. "Thank you..."

Slappy was taken aback a little by the hug. "Hey, hey, hey! Easy!" She pushed Wakko off of her. "Enough with the waterworks. I told ya I am not the comforting type!"

"You did a great job of it though, auntie!" Skippy chimed in.

"Yeah, yeah." Slappy replied. She looked at Wakko. "So, what's the plan there, chief?"

Wakko was silent for a few moments. He began to think of the next course of action. He thought back to what the guy had said, what Yakko had told him. He tried to make sense of all the events that had happened. There had to be a connection or something that could help him.

A thought crossed his mind. Of course! Why didn't he think of it before? But first, he'd need to pay a visit somewhere. If his hunches were confirmed...

"Come with me!"

sss

Yakko stared, eyes widened, at the uncovered hand. Instead of a human hand like he had been expecting, it was instead a black in color, as pitch dark as his own fur. He could see a few strands of fur on the hand, and his mind quickly came to the conclusion.

This guy, Duu, was a toon just like him.

Why would he be doing this? Yakko could hardly think of a toon that was this hostile, this deranged, this maniacal. Any toon that came to mind was just an actor. In fact, many toon villains were often quite nice off set.

This was no acting. Yakko knew no toon would ever do something like this, if it weren't the real deal. His eyes wondered up to Dot, who was still out cold. The cage had been placed back to its original orientation. He winced at the thought of how that orientation could change at any moment.

He was the oldest sibling. He was responsible. He had always taken care of Wakko and Dot. And now here he was, tied up, unable to do anything. He never felt so helpless in his life.

He turned his eyes back to Duu. His yellow eyes gleamed at him. For the first time, he noticed how the human 'skin' seemed to move around unnaturally, like it didn't belong there. He subconsciously wondered if this was part of the reason he had been afraid when the man got too close. Maybe he had sensed, even back then, that something was seriously wrong with this guy.

Yakko, still staring at Duu, said, "How could you turn against your own kind?"

Duu grinned. "I'm not. I have bigger, better plans for my fellow toons." He walked back over to the levers. He gestured up to Dot once more. Yakko swallowed in fearful anticipation. "Thinner is just used as a...motivator. It sends a message."

"Which would be?"

Duu smirked. "Follow me and live. Defy me and die."

Yakko's fur bristled. "You're sick...!"

"Call me what you will." Duu said. He leaned against the control panel, careful not to touch any buttons or levers. He folded his arms across his chest and gave an arrogant smile at the bound Warner. "I'm not the one who is immobilized."

"Release me and I'll show you..." Yakko started to say before his muzzle glowed and was shut tightly.

"I tire of you talking." Duu said, doing a mock yawn. "I won't try to convince you I am doing this for the best of toons. I'm sure you'll disagree with me the whole way, am I right?" Seeing Yakko's eyes brimming with hatred, Duu smirked. "I thought so." He glanced over at Dot. "Since you've been uncooperative..."

He reached for the lever. Yakko's struggles became frantic. Duu thought for a moment, and then pulled away. Yakko stared at him, confused.

"No..not yet." He turned to Yakko. "Perhaps I should tell you something first..."