Chapter 12.

Wakko's Struggle.

Before…

"No no! Please! Heaven, no! Don't! I've got family—"

Wakko's pleas fell on deaf ears. Because, in that moment, Kenneth Domhler pulled the trigger on the toon gun, and immediately, a loud crack filled the air and right there, two painful yelps split the air as Wakko very suddenly felt a hot iron sharp object ram into his flesh. Into him. Wakko immediately flopped back down onto the ground, and suddenly, his mind formed an awareness that something bad had just happened to him. Wakko then felt a very sharp pain shoot through his body, especially where he felt the hot object ram into him. And right there, Wakko knew that once, again… he had been shot! And in that moment, Wakko felt a cold blooded sensation sweep over him. He immediately placed his left hand on where he had been shot, and immediately, Wakko felt that the bullet from Domhler's gun had struck him right next to his right side kidney. The other hand was stuck out , fist clenched as Wakko sputtered again, his stomach in agonizing pain. And just as he thought it was over, Wakko suddenly yipped as he suddenly felt yet another bullet from Domhler's gun strike him, and right in the chest. Suddenly, Wakko yelped, then his body tensed up a moment, then, he felt his own body go limp as he now formed an awareness that he had been shot, not once like last year… but twice! Wakko's chest suddenly heaved up and down as he tried to breathe, and nothing came out but painful coughs and sputters. Wakko then closed his eyes and blacked out, so unaware that Domhler had just turned himself around and left him, laying there on the ground of the filthy, dirty warehouse, bleeding out from his gun inflicted wounds. Leaving him to die there! It was so clear now that…

Wakko Ryan Warner was left to die…

Afterwards…

2:45 pm…

Wakko was finally showing signs of consciousness. The puppy child immediately moaned as he all too suddenly felt a very sharp pain shoot through his stomach. Wakko then sputtered as he felt the pain continue on. He suddenly remembered what had happened to him just an hour ago. He remembered what Domhler had done to him. Wakko suddenly thought of how he had even survived being shot once again. The kid looked around him and saw that he was in a pool of his own ink. Ink… it was practically a toon's lifeblood. Without it, they were pretty much dead. Wakko then suddenly realized that he breathing sort of normal, but without a little difficulty. Wakko immediately took the hand that was laid down across his stomach and saw that he was definitely bleeding out. Then he realized something, the bullet that struck him in the stomach had went right through him. If the bullet had went right through his body, then what about the one in his chest? Or was there even one in his chest? Wakko tried taking a deep breath, and he was successful in doing so, but with some pain. Then he realized something else… he was never shot in the chest with a bullet. The 'bullet' was actually in fact, a blank. Domhler did that to scare him. Wakko then looked around the warehouse for anything he could use to help stop the bleeding. But as he was pondering what he was thinking about, Wakko suddenly started gasping for air, and started coughing violently. And he started sputtering again. And on top of all that, he started shaking again.

My sugars. They're dropping too fast. God, please don't let me die! Please!

As beads of sweat popped up on his forehead, Wakko happened to look to his right and saw that there was a belt on the floor. He knew that it was probably in the warehouse for a long time. But Wakko was willing to do anything he could do to stop the bleeding. He immediately reached for it, and sure enough, he was able to touch just the tip of the belt. Immediately, he grabbed it fiercely, like as if his life depended upon it; because, after all, his life did depend upon it. Wakko would use the belt as a tourniquet to help stop the bleeding, and he also hoped that it would also alleviate the pain sort of. Wakko immediately placed the belt underneath himself—as he lifted himself up, he suddenly yelled in extreme pain as he felt the pressure from his bullet wound stinging him. Wakko immediately fell back onto the ground as he finally got the belt underneath of himself. Then he wrapped the belt up around his stomach until it was just tight enough for him to deal with the pain. As soon as he got the belt to the tightness he needed it at, Wakko immediately put the belt through the loop and immediately, he pulled it with all his might. Immediately, Wakko yelled in pain once again as he felt the pressure of the belt cutting circulation off; but he told himself that it was worth it, as it would be beneficial for his bullet wound. After he got the belt wrapped around him, Wakko rested his head back onto the ground and closed his eyes.

And after a few moments, Wakko slowly opened an eye and stared up at the ceiling of the warehouse. As his chest heaved up and down with each passing ragged breath, Wakko suddenly felt the urgency to get himself out of this filthy warehouse. He then tried to flip himself onto his stomach. Once he did that, he would start crawling army style out of the warehouse. As he tried to flip himself over, Wakko suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot right through where he had gotten shot at. He immediately screamed as finally turned himself around. Wakko then placed his forehead against the ground and closed his eyes as he tried to deal with the pain. And as he was doing so, tears started coming out of his eyes as he started thinking about Yakko, and Dot. He didn't want to crawl out of his predicament, and only for him to die.

As Wakko sniffled, he thought of how much he loved his siblings. Being the middle sibling was both an advantage… and a disadvantage; to say at the least. Wakko had always received some good natured teasing from his siblings from time to time, but he knew that they didn't mean anything wrong by it. Plus, despite the fact that both of them; older brother, and baby sister were sometimes a real pain in the neck, he loved them for the way they were, and he would not want them to change who they were. And also, on the plus side; they weren't always a pain in the neck to him. He remembered that one night, after performing a rather dark segment, Dot had had a nightmare about what they had experienced while shooting for the skit. Wakko had been awake when she had woken up. And since she couldn't go back to sleep, they—after having Dot being a little reluctant—have had talked about it, and to the point of where both she and Wakko had actually danced most of the night. Wakko suddenly smiled at he thought of the memory, his brain racing as he well remembered that night…

A/N: The following is an actual oneshot that I wrote down just recently. If you haven't read it yet, go ahead and give it a try. It's called, "Bright Side Of Broken."

Wakko found himself sitting on the living room couch. Or, actually, it was more like, he found himself laying down on the couch, and with a blanket wrapped up around himself. He had woken up from a nightmare. And currently, he found himself wanting to go back to sleep, but he felt like that would evade him tonight. Wakko immediately closed his eyes and started wondering why he, and his siblings had even agreed to perform such a dark segment as the one that they did just weeks before for their show. As far as he was concerned, that was the darkest thing they had ever done. Sure, in the movie that they did around twenty-two years ago, Dot was supposed to have 'died', but that was nothing compared to what they did for this segment. Plus, in their movie, she returned to life again; whereas, in the skit, all three of them had had 'died'. Wakko immediately shuddered at the thought of doing the skit.

After a while, he yawned. An indicator that he was finally being able to fall back asleep. However, that would all change. Just as he was about to fall asleep again, Wakko immediately jolted up, eyes wide open. He had just heard someone scream. And from the way they screamed, Wakko knew immediately who it was. After a minute, he threw the blanket off of him. He was going to check on his baby sister. Just then, he saw that Dot was coming down the ladder of her and Yakko's bunk. Wakko then closed his eyes as he felt the weight of sleepiness overtake him, but then, Dot walked over to the kitchen and got into the refrigerator. Wakko jolted up again, and watched what she was doing. And he also heard her sniff as she went about her business. Immediately feeling the urge to be there with his sister, Wakko found himself throwing the blanket off of him again. As he got up and walked over to the kitchen, Dot placed a saucer full of shredded chicken on the table. And as she was about to take a bite of her food, Dot looked up and just in time to see her immediate older brother, and he was just standing there, a concerned, rueful look on his face.

"You okay sis?" Was all Dot heard Wakko ask her.

Wakko then walked over to the table and sat down in the seat closest to her. And as she ate her food, the middle sibling placed his head on the table and just looked at her, the same look of concern evident on his face. Dot then stopped eating and closed her eyes. Wakko thought he heard her sniff again, or was it just his imagination? And, there it was again; her sniffles. Wakko immediately shot up and his face grew a little more rueful. Then, for the first time since she had woken up, Dot spoke.

"Just what do you want Wakko?" She asked him, her voice trembling.

Wakko suddenly looked at her, a rueful look on his face.

"You're not usually awake at this time of night; and if you are, you just don't come into the kitchen and get something for you to munch on. Something's wrong sis, and I can tell. What is it?"

Dot sighed. "If I wanted to tell you, I would have done so already. So please go away."

The middle sibling's face then grew from rueful to hurt. Dot looked him in the eye and saw the pain in his eyes. She immediately regretted her trying to push him away from her.

"I'm sorry Wak; I didn't mean to hurt you." Dot apologized.

Wakko then gently smiled. "You're fine. But in all seriousness, what's wrong sis?"

Dot then looked away from her immediate older brother. She immediately squeezed her eyes shut as she felt her eyes welling up. She knew that Wakko meant good, but she just wanted to have Yakko to tell her what she was feeling. She suddenly took a deep breath as she felt like crying. Wakko cocked his head to one side as he heard his baby sister sniffling again. He was about to place a hand on her shoulder, then he stopped himself. He realized that she was not in the mood for comfort. Then he heard Dot mumble something under her breath. Wakko suddenly grew even more concerned as he heard her mumble something else. He immediately cleared his throat.

"Ya sure ya okay baby sis?" Wakko asked her, a rueful look on his face.

Dot immediately took another deep breath, then she took another bite of her chicken. Afterwards, she closed her eyes and started sniffling again. Wakko immediately grew even more concerned about his sister. Then he heard her mumble something else again. He so wanted to help her with whatever she was dealing with, but he knew if he tried to again, she would definitely push him away. No doubt in his mind.

If only I could help her. But she'll try to push me away. I gotta help her somehow. Wakko thought.

Wakko then did what he was originally going to do. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Sis, ya know that if you don't open up, no one's gonna help ya. Please, please tell me what bothering you… please?"

After a few seconds, Dot then turned herself around and faced her brother. And in that moment, Wakko saw that Dot was definitely crying. He saw the tears rolling down her face. Wakko immediately felt his heart break, and at the sight of seeing his sister crying. He immediately drew her in for a hug; and of which, she immediately let him pull her into his arms. Wakko then gently placed his head on top of hers and closed his eyes. As he felt her shoulders shake, he heard her mumble something under her breath and into his chest. Wakko suddenly then started rubbing her back.

"Dot, I can't hear you. What are you saying?" Wakko whispered softly.

Dot immediately unburied her face from Wakko's chest and looked up at him, tears streaming down her face.

"Please… tell me *sniff* that it's actually… y-you…"

Wakko was immediately confused. "Huh? Whatcha mean?"

Dot then placed a hand on Wakko's face.

"Wakko? It's you, right?" Dot sniffled.

Wakko then gently placed his other hand on her face and wiped away a few tears from her face.

"Dot, I'm confused. What did you mean by if it's me?"

Dot immediately sniffled. "I-I mean… you're not… ya know… s-shredded… and d-dead… tell m-me… please?"

Wakko immediately grew rueful as he took in the words Dot had just spoken.

"Ah, Dot. Hey, it's gonna be okay. I'm still alive. What happened to us in that stupid skit was just pretend. It's not real. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. We made it. We pulled through. It's just gonna be okay, okay Dottie?"

Dot immediately smirked as the tears streaked their way down her face. Out of all people, she allowed her brothers to call her by that nickname. She only pretended to threaten to 'kill' them while they were on set. But outside of that, they only called her 'Dottie' when she needed comfort, just like tonight. As she continued crying, Wakko immediately closed his eyes, and before he even knew it, he too felt tears rolling down his face and started choking on air as he tried to remain strong. However, after a minute, Wakko stopped crying and lifted Dot's face up and into his one hand. And with the other, he started caressing her face.

"I would ask you what you dreamed about, but I already know sis. So just do me a favor; just sit back, and save your breath."

Dot immediately inhaled sharply, then she snuggled up against her immediate older brother and placed her head on his shoulder. Then, despite herself, she told Wakko all about the nightmare she had as she looked into Wakko's caring eyes.

That what happened to them in the skit was actually for real in her nightmare.

That she tried to stop Wakko from dying.

And that shortly after watching him die, she too died.

As Wakko listened to the words Dot spoke, he immediately squeezed her hand and closed his eyes as he felt the tears returning again. Then, all of a sudden, he placed his head back on hers and started rubbing her back again. And just for a while, both Wakko and Dot just sat there, crying and comforting each other as the night went on. However, afterwards, Wakko stopped crying and lifted his head off of hers and looked her in the eye. And what he asked her next actually put a smile on her face.

"Dot Warner; as your brother, may I take this dance with you?"

Dot immediately smiled as she soaked in Wakko's question. And as she thought about it, she realized that it had really been a while since she did anything causally fancy with her brothers like that. She knew that he asked her if she would, in an attempt to distract her from what she dreamed about earlier. As she thought about it, she realized that she had Wakko holding on to an empty, unanswered question. And right there, and for the first time since she had woken up from the nightmare, Dot suddenly smiled.

"Of course you may, dear brother."

Right there, Wakko immediately got out of his seat and held out his arm for Dot. She immediately took a hold of it and together, both of them walked over to the living room and as they prepared themselves to have their little sibling relational dance, Wakko had their Alexa play a song that both he and Dot liked a lot. And as it played, both Wakko and Dot begun their little dance, knowing that everything was just going to be okay...

As Wakko finally got done with going down memory lane, he realized that the pain in his stomach had somewhat subsided. Wakko suddenly grunted as he started moving again. No matter what happened to him, Wakko was not about to just give up, give in, and die. As he finally started moving again, Wakko tried to not think about the pain, nor did he try to think about how much ink he was losing. By the time he reached the entrance to the warehouse, Wakko was met by a blinding light, that he realized was nothing more than sunlight.

Finally, some sun. Wakko thought.

Wakko then gently crawled himself towards what he thought was a cyan blue colored 2019 Lincoln Continental. And sure, his hunch was right. Wakko then gently crawled himself towards the vehicle as he all too suddenly felt yet another surge of pain shoot right through his gun inflicted wound. As he crawled himself towards the vehicle, Wakko immediately closed his eyes as he started shaking again. Suddenly, he realized why he was doing such. And right there, Wakko came to the awful realization that he had a limted time before he could no longer be conscious. Due to him being shot, his hypoglycemia was now playing havoc on him. Wakko then suddenly started panting as he felt himself crawl faster towards the vehicle. And after a few minutes of taking some rest in between, Wakko finally reached where he wanted to be at. And after letting himself rest a moment, Wakko then looked for anything that he could use to break the window to the driver's side and climb in. But suddenly, Wakko heard a clicking sound as he—unknowingly—pulled the driver's side door open, and suddenly, he wanted to do nothing more than to climb in. The door suddenly swung open as he pulled it out. And sure enough, Wakko found out why; whoever was the owner of this vehicle was an idiot.

Stupid fool! They forgot to lock it up.

Wakko then gently, and slowly climbed up into the driver's seat. And then, very suddenly, Wakko started shivering and gasping for air as he felt his body slowly go into shock. He now knew that he didn't have much time left before he would fall unconscious once again. Then he looked down at his gunshot wound and realized that he was still bleeding yet as he saw ink slowly seep out of his wound. Wakko then suddenly squeezed his eyes shut and climbed up into the vehicle, and as soon as he made himself comfortable, Wakko—with all the strength he had left, yanked the door shut. Wakko suddenly clutched his gunshot wound as he felt himself sputter and cough violently. Tears immediately streaked down his face as he thought of his siblings again, and the fact that he was in the final moments of his life. Wakko had done all that he did, and only to succumb to his injuries? As Wakko slowly felt himself fading, he slumped into the driver's seat, and cried some more when he suddenly said something weakly…

"Don't die… please don't…"

And as soon as he said those words, Wakko slumped further into the driver's seat as he felt himself fading out of consciousness as he suddenly started panting, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. And with his chest heaving with ragged breaths, Wakko shut his eyes and succumbed into unconsciousness.

Meanwhile…

"You are going to tell us the truth, and you're going to do so now."

Detective Skyler Washington sat across the table from Jori Cortez in an interrogation room back the LAPD'S 32nd district Intelligence Unit. She, and the team had arrested him when they learned that Wakko Warner had been abducted by Jori's accomplice, Kenneth Domhler. And as she sat across the table from Jori, the suspect realized that she wasn't alone. He saw that Detective Dolan Chase was standing right behind her. And the male LAPD detective had a scowl across his face. And if that wasn't enough, Washington pulled out a file and slammed it onto the table, and right in front of Jori to see.

Chase then took over.

"We've already arrested Butler; and now, we need Domhler also. And not mention, but a little young cartoonus characterus was kidnapped because of you. So, you are going to tell us everything we need to know; was it you who sabotaged the filming process, or not?"

Jori only gave the LAPD detective a cold look.

"I've already told you this; no, it was not me. It wasn't. And I'm sorry to hear about the young toon's abduction."

Chase suddenly raised a eyebrow. "Really? Last I heard, you were the one who orchestrated the whole entire thing."

Jori then only shook his head. Chase then directed his attention towards Washington, who then, immediately, called Lopez on her radio.

"You can bring him in now."

After a moment, the door to the interrogation room opened up, and walked in was none other than Kari Lopez. And she was with some man who Jori Cortez never saw—or he hoped, he would never see again. Because, in that moment, Jori lept from his chair and as he made a dash for the man, Chase immediately grabbed a hold of him and pushed him back down into the chair. The man that Jori was face to face with was none other than Bartholomew Cortez, his father! And immediately, Washington looked over at Jori Cortez.

"Well, that's fine with us; I mean, after all; we found out that your biological father was the one behind the sabotaging of the film process. So, you're free to go."

Chase immediately went over to uncuff Jori, and when he was done, the younger Cortez immediately got out of his chair and walked over to the entrance of the interrogation room. And once he stepped outside of it, he immediately saw that there were two toon puppy looking children standing right outside the interrogation room, and there they were, just standing in the hallway. The taller one had only a pair of smoky topaz colored slacks on, and the smaller one was dressed in a pink colored skirt. Jori immediately looked away from them as he continued on walking. Suddenly, the taller one yelled his direction.

"Hey! So, ya just gonna let your father take all the freaking blame for something he never did while ya walk free!?"

Jori—at this point—immediately was enraged and walked back over to the two toons. And he got right in the face of the taller toon—who was none other than Yakko Warner.

"First of all; he's not my father! And second of all; I can see why they call you 'Yakko'!"

The smaller toon—Dot Warner—immediately cleared her throat, then she spoke.

"Well, did he help bring you into the world or not?"

Yakko suddenly smirked. "Goodnight everybody!"

Dot immediately looked up at her brother and glared at him. "Yakko!"

Jori Cortez then walked past them as and he did, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"And plus; Bartholomew Cortez was never my father!"

Yakko cleared his throat. "And neither was Mike Millard."

Jori immediately turned around again. "Was too. A better father than Bartholomew!"

"Are you sure about that sweetie?" Dot suddenly flirted.

Jori about snatched Dot up, then he realized something. He realized that despite the fact that Bartholomew Cortez wasn't able to raise him, he knew that Bartholomew Cortez was a way better man than Michael Millard was. And right there, Jori was about to just move on when he heard Dot yelled her head off.

"And don't forget about my immediate older brother, Wakko! He knows what you did!"

Jori turned around, yet again, and marched over to them and right there, he realized that they were just continue to pester him until either they got sick of it, or he would confess to being behind the sabotaging of his biological father's film. So without giving notice of the fact that both Yakko and Dot were wearing wires, Jori actually broke, and he confessed to everything he did, which included the telling Domhler to abduct Wakko. As soon as he got done, Yakko suddenly walked over to him and punched him right in the face.

"First of all; you messed with the wrong family! And second of all; never trust a toon that's wearing a wire, because HE'S WORKING WITH THE POLICE!"

Too late. Jori Cortez immediately realized his mistake. Because, in that moment, Chase came out of the interrogation room and pummeled Cortez to the ground and cuffed him.

"Jori Cortez Millard; you are under arrest for connection to a quad triple toon murder. Plus you're being charged with sabotage, misconduct, and obstruction of justice. And you're also being charged with the attempted murders of Bartholomew Cortez, and Yakko Warner, and, you're also being charged with the abduction of a Wakko Ryan Warner amongst other charges. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do will be held against you in a court of law. You also have a right to an attorney. And if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you."

Immediately right after Chase read Jori his Miranda rights, the detective then pulled Millard off the floor roughly and pushed him back into the interrogation room, where once he got in, he saw Washington uncuffing his biological father. And immediately, Millard knew what just happened.

"Mister Cortez," Washington began. "You're free to go; it looks like we made a mistake when we arrested you."

Chase then directed Millard towards the chair that he was sitting in just mere moments before. And once Lopez directed Cortez out of the interrogation room, she closed the door behind her. Once the door was shut, Chase slammed a file right in front of Millard.

"And now that you finally confessd; you're going to tell me where the hell Wakko Warner is. Because I know for damn sure that you know his current whereabouts, don't you?"

Millard immediately spat in Washington's face, which only made Chase slap him back.

"Tell me! Where's Warner!? And the truth!" Chase shouted as he pinned Millard to the wall of the interrogation room.

"I swear; if we find that toon boy dead, I'll make damn sure that your trial is slow and painful Millard! So tell us! Now!"

Millard—despite the fact that he was pinned to the wall—spoke.

"You're never gonna find him! I made sure that Kenneth did what he was supposed to do!"

Chase immediately kneed Millard in the stomach, causing the man to cringe in pain as he fell back into his chair. Then Washington immediately slammed yet another file on the table.

"This is another one; about Wakko Warner," Washington started.

"If we don't find him in about, the next hour or so, he's gonna die. And not because of Domhler, but because that boy has hypoglycemia. And if that happens, you're looking at heavy prison time for the deliberate death of an underage child who has a known medical condition. So if I were you; I would tell us where the hell Wakko Warner's at. And now."

Millard immediately looked down at the file containing the information about Wakko. He then studied it a moment. As he read the words, he silently chuckled.

Name: Wakko Ryan Warner.

Age: 11.

Species: Unknown.

Known Medical Conditions: Hypoglycemia.

After reading the words on the file, Millard immediately burst out laughing like a maniac. Then Chase immediately kneed him again.

"You think it's funny to laugh about a boy who's gone missing, and is probably fighting for his life!? Why you son of a gun!"

Right there, Chase slammed Millard's head down onto the table. Washington then got in the man's face.

"You are most certainly going to tell us where we can find Wakko Warner at. Because if we don't find him, those toons you saw out there, I'll let them do what they want to you. So where is he!?"

At the last part of her words, Washington punched Millard right in the nose, causing it to bleed. After a minute or so, Millard finally broke and told both Detectives Chase, and Washington everything he knew about Domhler, and Wakko's abduction. Then they aaked him about Domhler's current location, and he told them. And right there, Chase placed Millard in handcuffs as he and Washington made their way to the door, but then, Millard stopped them.

"Oh. And one more thing; tell Bartholomew Cortez that I HATE HIM!"

Yeesh! An extremely long chapter for this story. What's gonna happen now that LAPD knows where Wakko's at? And will Wakko even make it through? Chapter 13 of Here and Now.