A/N: I'm having way too much fun with this story-

Chapter 2: Sit Back and Relax

A sharp pain shot up from her lower back as Dot felt herself fall on her tail. She winced as she tried to stand up, reaching behind her to rub it, hoping to numb the pain. Dot stumbled a bit before regaining her balance, smoothed out her skirt, and wagged her tail to make sure it wasn't broken. She was relieved to know it was fine.

Shifting her attention, she looked around the room. It wasn't until she saw carpet under her feet that she realized she was taken somewhere different. Dot wasn't in the storage room anymore.

It was dark, but she could feel the smooth carpet under her feet. She took a step forward and almost fell on her face again when she found the ground was missing. Stairs. Her eyes followed the small translucent row of tiny lights that ran up the staircase with her eyes. On each step, a row of dark blue cushioned seats followed. It seemed like it went on forever, and Dot knew that it probably did. Now knowing that she was on a staircase, she carefully made her way down towards the front row.

As she approached the front, she noticed that the seating pattern changed. Instead of chairs, there were now benches made for two people. It was cushioned as well, and the only difference was that the double seats came with retractable tables and cup holders.

As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could now begin to make out her surroundings a lot more clearly. The walls were a dark burgundy, with small round speakers drilled into the walls in a consistent pattern. On the front wall sat a big black screen. She was in a theater.

"Hello?" She called out. Dot had hoped her brothers were somewhere in the theater with her. She looked around, but it was too dark to make out anything ten feet in front of her. "Do I at least have a date?"

A cold breeze hit her, causing her fur to stand on end. She shivered as she walked back up the stairs. This time, she noticed crumpled wrappers and spilled sodas tossed between each of the rows. She cringed at how messy and dirty it was. She figured that the theater had been recently used. That must have meant that there were other people nearby. She looked around, hoping to spot the exit, but failed.

"That's weird," she mumbled to herself as she continued up the stairs. She called out for her brothers again, but the only response she got in return was her own echo. She was beginning to get nervous. She wasn't afraid of the dark or anything, but the lack of responsiveness was off-putting, especially in a place that is supposed to be full of people.

A soft creak came from the bottom of the stairs, causing her to swiftly turn around towards the sound. Dot didn't see anyone, but her heart was racing. She took a couple deep breaths before turning back around. She screamed in fright when she saw who was standing in front of her.

It was none other than Nickelwise himself. "Hello!"

Dot laughed, holding her hand to her chest. She could feel her heart pounding, "You really need to stop doing that."

There was a tense silence before Nickelwise reached out to drag her down the stairs. Dot yelped in surprise as she did her best to keep up.

"Take a seat." Nickelwise tossed her into one of the benches in the front row.

Dot adjusted herself on the bench, smoothing out her skirt and fixing her flower bow. She looked up at the clown and asked, "Where are my brothers?"

Nickelwise ignored her question; he simply laughed and asked his own, "Dotty, is it?"

Her entire demeanor changed. "Don't call me 'Dotty.'"

"Oh Dotty"-

"-Stop it."

Nickelwise clasped his hands together, "You sure are a feisty one, Dotty."

She narrowed her eyes at him. She could put up with a lot. Living with two older brothers had trained her to be patient. While she loved her brothers very much, they were guilty of their occasional benevolent sexism and teasing. But even her brothers knew that she had her limits. Getting called "Dotty" was one of them. Nickelwise might not know it yet, but he was on her hit list.

"What's wrong?" Nickelwise asked as he patted her head, "I thought you took pride in your assertiveness."

"You're condescending," She shot back. Dot crossed her arms in front of her. "It's not a good look at you. In fact, nothing you have on right now is a good look on you." She looked him up and down before shaking her head and standing up in her chair. "If my hammerspace were working, I'd fix you up real good." Her hands clenched in a tight fist.

"Me? Condescending? Never." The clown smiled and poked her nose playfully, causing her to back away. "But, you would know a thing or two about looking cute, wouldn't you?"

"I am. Some would even say I'm the cutest around." She pointed at her cheeks and gave him a smile.

"So then, what happened to your little intro?"

"What little intro?"

"In the theme song silly," Nickelwise giggled as the theme played through the speakers. "Dot has... wit? What, you're stepping on your brother's toes now?"

She rolled her eyes. Leave it for a man to point out the tiniest of details of a woman's success. "Are you mad that women are finally getting the attention they so rightfully deserve?" She scoffed, "Of course you are."

Nickelwise noticed the avoidance of the second question. "I'm not the one getting mad... but they are."

Nickelwise reached down and pulled on a seatbelt that was hidden between the cushions. He pushed her back down into the seat and strapped her in. He pulled out the table in front of her. He laughed as he watched her tug to take it off. "You look adorable," he teased.

Dot felt the leather belt dig into her fur. She couldn't move. "Hey, get this off of me!" She ran her fingers along the belt and noticed the ACME engraved along the edges, "Oh, look, it's toon proof."

Nickelwise grabbed a remote control from his hammerspace, ignoring her protests, and clicked towards the screen. "Look at this... you were very popular among the people." He displayed a variety of different charts and polls from the old show.

Dot looked at the charts. She saw herself at the top of many popularity polls and surveys. She knew she was a well-loved television persona; in fact, it practically defined her personality sometimes. There were times when Yakko would have to pull her back down to reality when she would get too cocky on set or at home. It was an enjoyable era for her, having people bow down at her feet. "So, what's your point?" Dot asked. "It's not my fault I gathered more revenue than your silly little movies. Maybe if you cast me in them, you'd make a quick buck."

"Ohh," Nickelwise shook his head, "There's the wit the song was referring to... speaking of the new song." He turned towards the screen and clicked on a few buttons on the remote. The charts shifted to show her current popularity among the audiences.

Dot cringed at her dramatic shift in popularity. She saw the numbers go down, as she was now getting less and less attention. Half of the polls showed her at the very bottom, and she couldn't even see her name in the others. Dot looked at the clown, who was smiling as he pointed up at the screen. She had to remind herself that these were probably fake, but thinking back to her experience with feedback from the reboot, they probably weren't that far off. Seeing her popularity diminish hurt as if a part of her was slowly fading away. But, they still had a few more seasons to record, and these were always subject to fluctuate.

She noticed Wakko slowly rise to the top of the polls and charts, and she remembered how excited Wakko had been when he found out he was finally getting his recognition. The pang of jealousy reappeared in her.

"Aw, is little Dotty getting upset?" Nickelwise laughed as he received a death glare from the youngest Warner. He gestured over to the black screen and told her to pay close attention to it.

She looked at Nickelwise with distrust and crossed her arms. "Well, this isn't exactly dinner and a movie," she joked.

Nickelwise clapped his hands together as he sat down next to her. "I think you'll like what you'll see."

For a 10-year-old, Dot had quite a bit of content. She's been in commercials, skits, theaters, public appearances and has had several cameos in other shows. It was an impressive resume. Nickelwise had so much material he could manipulate, and he was excited to show her. He started off easy, revealing her best performances.

Dot looked up at the videos and couldn't help but feel a sense of pride as she watched the clips play out before her. She watched herself perform alongside her brothers, and on some occasions, on her own. Yakko would always tell her that she had a face for the camera, and if her brother said it, then it must be true.

But halfway through the clips, Dot saw herself begin to progressively get worse. She would stumble over lines. She saw her posture alternate between a snarky upright and a lowlife hunch. Dot cringed at the bouts of attitude and sass between takes and bloopers. She didn't know where Nickelwise had gotten the footage from, but she wanted them deleted immediately. Dot felt embarrassed knowing that she acted like that in the past. No wonder her brother was getting more attention. She was annoying, even for herself.

Dot continued to watch the clips. She pretended to remain unfazed by the material until she saw a fabrication of an interview take place.

In the clip, Dot was sitting on a white satin sofa chair in front of the TV host. She didn't recognize who it was, let alone where she was. Dot had on her favorite dress, complete with the hair and makeup to match. The reporter was going through a few questions with her. Everything was smooth until she asked her about her personality.

"Why did you go from cute and innocent to an annoying brat for the reboot?" She had asked.

Dot was taken aback by the question. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she awaited the answer. She crossed her fingers, hoping she said something funny to play it off.

When they had first received the scripts for the reboot, Dot noticed that she had taken on a more feminist approach to her character. It wasn't a trait that she wasn't unfamiliar with, but it was never this pronounced in the original series. Most of her girl power came in the form of controlling her brothers or confidence. It was portrayed through jokes and gags.

Everyone was expecting Dot to come back and play the cute card like she always has. If she were being honest with herself, she did too. But when the scripts were handed over, Dot found herself with a more vocal and assertive personality. Not that there was anything wrong with it, she was all for women empowerment. She was excited when she found that she even had a couple songs about it included in the reboot.

But, it was such a shift in her character that she didn't know if she could pull it off. Yakko had told her to not worry about it so much since the media nowadays is always at risk of being canceled or dropped if someone said something wrong. It was the reason why Hello Nurse was out of the picture. The times changed, he had told her. But once the first few episodes dropped, she received a lot of attacks towards her character. It was horrible.

The clip was cut short before she could hear her answer, and a slideshow of reviews and critics began rolling across the screen. Dot could hear Nickelwise giggling beside her as she got up and read them out loud for her. She hated this.

Every comment revolved around the same thing: her new personality.

She tried reaching into her hammerspace, but it was gone, which was odd. For a toon to lose their hammerspace, something had to be wrong with them, or someone did something to them. She settled for the latter. Dot knew there was nothing wrong with her. She wasn't sick or deathly afraid. Mildly enraged would be the best term to describe her state.

She tried to tug at the belt again and winced when she felt it get tighter around her. "Stop talking!"

Nickelwise looked at her and laughed, "What's wrong? I'm just reading the front page of Rolling Stones Magazine. Variety is next!"

"I don't wanna hear it." Dot said as she pulled down her ears.

"But look!" Nickelwise jumped into the big theater screen and pulled down a few of the cue cards that held the quotes. He fished through the cards and shoved some away until he got to the ones he was looking for. He cleared his throat before he began, "The new Reboot had potential if it weren't for the"- Nickelwise looked down at her, "Hm, we can skip over some of these words."

Dot glared at the clown. She wasn't going to look away; she couldn't.

Clearing his throat one last time, he smirked as he continued to read, "If I knew she'd be stealing the spotlight and being overbearing, I would have sat this one out. Her brothers deserve a raise."

Dot rolled her eyes, "My brothers deserve to get smacked in the back of their heads sometimes. Look, clown, I've already read these comments. It's recycled material."

"So, It doesn't bother you to be stealing your brother's spotlight? Stealing the show for the only ones that make sure you're safe and sound? That's how you repay them?"

Dot shifted in her seat.

"It does..."

"Shut up, my brothers like the new approach. It sets an example to lots of young girls."

"Do they?"

More clips played in front of her as Nickelwise danced around. They each consisted of some form of belittlement or harassment against her personality. People would call her a bitch, snarky, and stuck up. Some made comments about her behaviors and abilities. There were even some clips of her brothers; rolling their eyes or making comments towards her. The more the clips played, the more she found herself overthinking her role.

"Where'd the confidence go, Dotty? You can't please everyone..."

"It's still here," Dot lied. After what she just got reminded of, her confidence was lower than she would have liked to admit. She felt like shit; it was the same feeling she would feel when her brothers would sit around the dinner table and read over the exact same comments. How else was she supposed to feel when you're stuck reading degrading quotes and reviews next to family?

Yakko would try to make her feel better by reading her the positive comments, but it wasn't the same.

She remembered what he would tell her: People would say some stupid shit no matter what she does. A stranger's opinion shouldn't matter to her. Someone is always going to find something to get mad at, but there is always going to be someone who really enjoys what she puts out."

Dot took a deep breath, just like Yakko taught her, and smiled at the clown sitting next to her. "You almost got me."

"Almost?"

A clown belittling her for having strong opinions and a "bitchy" personality wasn't something she needed to be worried about. Especially after realizing that almost all the negative comments came from misogynistic men. Besides, it wasn't like Dot sat around all day thinking these things about herself. She took the advice her brother gave her to heart. "Yeah, almost. Fuck their opinions."

Nickelwise was caught off guard with her cursing as he turned to look at her.

Dot giggled, "My brother's words... not mine."

Nickelwise was left a bit confused. He was able to see deep into her subconscious. Why wasn't this working? Her fear of people-pleasing was there, but it's dimmed. He had to think quickly before she became entirely unafraid. "So, you aren't afraid of this?"

What would she have done without her brother? Even though he wasn't here with her physically, he helped her nonetheless.

"Nope!" Dot shrugged as she continued to tug at the belt, "Call me what you want."

"Okay, Dotty."

"Except for that. You are one lucky clown, you know." She pointed to the seat belt, "This is your saving grace."

Nickelwise laughed as an idea popped into his mind, filling the dark and empty theater. He cut off the screen, and the only source of light from the film was now gone.

Dot covered her ears with her hands, trying to block out the hysterics of the clown beside her. "You wanna share the joke? Or am I going to have to crack one too?"

When she found no answer, she reached her hand out towards where he was and found that he was gone.

Dot was back to square one. Except for this time, she was still tied down to the bench. She ran her fingers along the belt, looking for any rips or tears she could use to her advantage, but she found none. "Geez, ACME really stepped up their game in the past 22 years."

She called out for her brothers once more but found no response. She sighed as she stared at the black screen in front of her. She had to admit, the clown did, in fact, get to her. Even if it was just for a minute, she felt distressed for having fallen for his trick.

She bet her brothers wouldn't have fallen for it- they probably would have found their way out by now. Dot thought about her brothers and what scenarios they might be going through. If it was anything like hers, they'd be okay.

Right?

She thought about Wakko. Her brother might be cool, calm, and collected, but he could be pretty sensitive at times. And he has an immense fear of clowns, which the more Dot thought about it, the more it worried her.

With Yakko, Dot knew that he would be okay. There was no doubt in her mind that Yakko would walk out of this as if nothing had happened. In fact, Nickelwise probably went off to go see him right now. When he gets back, Dot was sure he would come back defeated. But, she knew her older brother. Just like how Wakko could be sensitive, Yakko could be a bit... anxious at times. She thought back at all the times he's ever panicked for trivial reasons.

The more Dot thought about her brother's experiences, the more anxious she felt. Being held back by a belt inside of an abandoned theater, she felt useless. Her brothers might need her right now. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

No, her brothers were okay. There was no point in panicking. They were Warners- they were always okay. Besides, she almost fell for the easiest trick in the book; what help would she be?

"Hello."

Dot jumped. If it weren't for the belt holding her down, she was sure she would have jumped up a few feet.

"Whatcha thinking about, Dotty?" Nickelwise sat down next to her with a teasing smile on his face.

"The one hundred different ways I could kill you right now."

"Something else is on your mind," His voice wavered between a whisper and squeak. When Dot didn't reply, he started to laugh. "Someone worried about her big brothers?"

"Oh, aren't you a smart one? Where are they?"

"I won't tell you! I won't tell you!" He sang as he pointed his finger at her, like a child teasing another. Nickelwise shot up from the couch and clapped his hands in front of him. "How much do you love your brothers, Dotty?"

Dot didn't like where this was heading. Having to prove her love towards her siblings to a clown was never a good sign in her book. "Depends on the day," she sarcastically shot back. She hoped it would get the point that she was unbothered across.

Nickelwise didn't buy it. "How about on a day like today?"

Dot rolled her eyes, "They're my brothers, of course, I love them."

"Which one do you love more? You have to have a favorite."

She hated these questions. "You know, if my hammerspace were working right now, I'd have smashed you a long time ago."

Nickelwise giggled and kissed the air, "Goodnight, everybody!"

His words angered her. "Don't mock him."

"He mocks himself."

"No, he doesn't."

"Oh, then you should see him now..."

She didn't know what the clown meant by that, so she pointed towards the belt. "Take this off me. It's not nice to treat a lady this way. What in the world happened to dinner and a movie?" She scoffed, "Men these days..."

"You didn't like the movie?" Nickelwise feigned sadness, "Let's get to the fun part!" Nickelwise said as he clapped his hands together.

"Oh, goodie."

Nickelwise was improvising at this point. He had to come up with a way to scare her, and he knew it would probably be something revolving around her brothers. He had caught her being nervous about it, and that was really all Nickelwise needed. Nervousness was a premeditator of fear, after all.

He saw in his mind the other two Warners. He was slightly disappointed to see one of them be almost as relaxed as the girl. He didn't want to admit any overestimations, but he figured if he wished to pull some strings, now would be the time to do it. Thankfully, his energy wasn't going anywhere.

"You never picked!" Nickelwise leaned down towards Dot.

She cringed, "Look, Dime dumb, I'm really not afraid of you. A jump scare, a few creepy lean-ins, and some dark rooms aren't going to do the trick."

"is that so?" Nickelwise giggled.

"It's textbook material. My pet has better scares."

"Then let's go a bit off course."

"Finally, "Dot said with an eye roll. She crossed her arms in front of her as the light from the big screen turned back on.

A big plate of food appeared in front of her. She had a grilled steak complete with mashed potatoes and broccoli. On the top corner of the table sat a tall wine glass, filled halfway with red wine. She had to admit, it smelled delicious, but she wasn't at all hungry. "I think you got the wrong sibling," She said as she picked at the mashed potatoes with her fork. "Besides, I'm underage."

Nickelwise heard the shark clink that rang out through the theater as Dot used her fork to gently tap the cup. He switched out the drink. Replacing the wine, a can of soda appeared.

"You know who would really enjoy this?" Dot asked.

Nickelwise looked at her with great interest.

"My brothers. Say, speaking of my brothers-" Dot jumped as she heard the hysterical laughter come from the clown. She watched as the clown began dancing along the stage and up and down the aisles. Needless to say, she was a bit confused with the performance. She turned around in her seat the best she could, given the belt was still holding her in place. When she finally managed to turn around enough to see him, the clown was gone.

"Damn disappearing act," Dot mumbled to herself. She could already hear her brother scolding her for cursing, but her brother wasn't there. Besides the fact that their absence gave her free range, she didn't want to be alone. Not like this anyway.

She tugged harder at the belt, trying to reach into her hammerspace once more. Nothing happened. Dot sighed in frustration as she sat back down on the cushioned bench. She screamed for the clown and her brothers.

The big-screen flicked on, revealing Nickelwise dead center. He was smiling, his entire row of crooked yellow teeth on display. Dot could hear his breathing coming through the speaker surrounding her.

"You want to see your brothers?" Nickelwise asked. His voice was almost above a whisper. "I know how much you love them."

Dot looked around. Was this a trick question? She nodded her head slowly.

"Then, little Dotty," He extended his hands out beside him, "Remember to keep your cellphone off and your mouth shut. The film will begin shortly."

"Film?"

"And you never did answer my question, Dotty. But, it doesn't really matter."

Why torture one Warner... when he could kill two birds with one stone.

Dot didn't like where this was going.

A/N: Not me about to break out the angst... uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Thank you for sticking around and I'll see you next week! :D