Hello Nurse loaded up the last dart gun filled with the Anti-Warnerium antidote and tossed it to Scratchansniff. They each double checked to make sure the guns were firing correctly and the aim was spot-on. Once that was assessed, Brain insisted that Hello Nurse and Scratchansniff ought to find some sort of protective gear. After pillaging one of the SWAT trucks that had been left abandoned, they had proper equipment to protect themselves. Bobby was told to stay behind since he was still mildly injured from his fight with Pesto, so he offered to keep a look out in the skies.
"Are we ready?" Hello Nurse asked the group.
Scratchansniff gulped, "As we'll ever be."
Slappy shouldered her mallet and reached in her purse for more dynamite sticks, "We'll show these brats what happens when you mess with family."
Brain nodded, "Let's proceed."
The group left their hiding spot and approached the gate. Past the broken gate and destroyed security office were the ruins of the studio. Bodies laid in puddles of glowing blue Warnerium. Broken glass scattered the ground, reflecting the light of the blazing fires of the surrounding buildings. A Warner Brothers sign had fallen into a sound stage and was currently going up in flames.
"My god..." Scratchansniff breathed.
"Oh those poor people..." Hello Nurse found herself tearing up a little.
Slappy shook her head in sorrow, "You don't really understand how breakable the humans are till you see a mess like this."
"We don't have time to be sentimental." Brain said, strutting his way to the front of the group, "Yes, it is unfortunate so many were caught in the crossfire, but we have the power to stop any more destruction. I suggest we head to sound stage back entrance and ambush the Warners directly."
The group pressed on. They had to step over the broken bodies of fallen officers and civilians and avoid the dangerous puddles of Warnerium. Directly ahead was the Warner Brothers water tower, rising into the burning orange sky.
"Where are all the half-toons?" Hello Nurse asked, "Weren't there tons of them swarming all over the place just a few minutes ago?"
"Perhaps they've retreated for now." Brain answered, cautiously glancing around.
They turned at the tower and made their way for the back lot through a space between the sound stages. Things were quiet... Too quiet.
"Wait!" Hello Nurse suddenly stopped them from going any further.
Directly ahead of them was a middle aged woman, slouched over and weeping quietly. She appeared to be weeping over the body of an unknown person who had clearly been killed by a half-toon. The darkness of the alleyway made it difficult to discern any details. They approached slowly and quietly, as things didn't seem normal.
The crunch of the glass beneath their feet got the woman's attention. One green eye and one glowing blue eye turned to stare at them, hideous stitches leaked blue and dribbled down her body and torn business suit. Bullet holes filled her body, but seemed to do nothing to slow her down. She stood to her feet, shaking in an inhuman way.
Scratchansniff gasped, "Miss...?! Miss Norita?! Is that you?!"
The dark skin and the smooth black hair gave away her true identity; it was indeed the ex-CEO of Warner Brothers, Nora Norita. Before they could react, Nora opened her toon mouth and let loose a horrendous shriek that echoed down the alley.
"Get away!" She screeched, "Get away! Get away get away GET AWAY!!!"
She charged wildly at them. They jumped out of the way as she whizzed past them, swinging her arms with reckless abandon. She left a trail of blue trickling off her body. The sickly scent of outdated pen ink and human blood filled the air as she whipped around to glare at them.
"Run!" Hello Nurse shouted.
They took off in the opposite direction, hopping over the broken body that Nora had been sobbing over. Nora screamed and charged at them again, the Warnerium leaking out of her body pulsating with her inhuman sounds. She was insanely fast and caught up with them before they had realized it. She jumped and tackled Slappy in the back. The old squirrel had the air knocked out of her as she fell to the ground.
"Ahh!! Hold on Ms. Squirrel!" Scratchansniff cried as he reached for the dart gun and tried to get his hands to stop shaking. Hello Nurse however, beat him to it and fired off a dart before he could. It hit Nora in the shoulder, only pausing her just enough to allow Slappy to scramble out from under her and hit her hard with a mallet. Nora fell in a heap, more blue leaking from the new injury in her head.
"I guess we know for sure what happened to Ms. Norita now..." Hello Nurse breathed.
Slappy approached them. There was a small gash in her shoulder where Nora had punctured her skin with her nails. A shiny black fluid leaked from it, dripping down her chest and stomach.
"Ms. Squirrel! You're hurt!" Scratchansniff exclaimed.
Slappy gestured casually, "Ah, nothin' to worry about. I'll be alright. Let's keep moving."
"At least let me bandage you up first." Hello Nurse insisted, reaching into her purse for a first aid kit.
Slappy was reluctant, but they paused as Hello Nurse cleaned and bandaged Slappy's wound. As they did, Brain hopped out of Scratchansniff's coat pocket where he had been hitching a ride and approached Nora. He squinted as he noticed something peculiar.
"The Warnerium doesn't seem to be reacting to the antidote in the same way it did with the pigeon." He stated, "This is troublesome."
"But it stunned her, didn't it?" Hello Nurse asked as she finished bandaging Slappy and helped her to stand up.
Scratchansniff shook as he kept his eye very closely on the unmoving body of Nora, "Yes, but for how long?"
The sound of heavy foot steps from the other end of the alley way all got their attention. A small group of half-toons had taken notice of the movement in the shadows and were approaching closer. As soon as they saw the group, they flew into a frenzy and charged.
"Quickly!" Shouted Brain, "Make haste to the sound stage!"
They took off, sprinting across the lot. They exited the alley, only to see other half-toons appearing from around corners and buildings, coming straight for them. Possibly one hundred freakish part-toon abominations had noticed them and were now out for their blood. The group didn't dare to slow down and engage with them, but instead dashed for Sound Stage 13, where the back entrance of the underground laboratory was. Once they made it into the stage, Slappy shut and barricaded the door behind them with any old props she could find. The others helped by grabbing long abandoned film equipment and pushing it against the door. The angry half-toons scratched and growled on the other side of the door, howling to be let in.
Once the door had been properly barricaded, the gang went to the hidden door underneath a box and made their way down into the depths of the maintenance tunnels.
"I suggest we keep ourselves on high alert." Brain said as they all took a moment to breathe, "I have a feeling the Warners will be expecting us."
Yakko stood staring over the body. He nodded his head in approval and pulled sheet over his sister, now with her surgery complete. Turning his attention to the opposite table, he drew the sheet back from Wakko's body.
"How are we feeling, baby bro?" He asked.
Wakko groaned and pulled the sheet back over him, "Five more minutes..."
Yakko chuckled lightly, "Alright, alright. It's not quite showtime anyways. I still got one more to do..."
Yakko left the room and went one more time over to the H-TIEM machine. The half-toon body of Mr. Plotz almost seemed shrivelled up, barely moving or responding. The tubes leading from the needles made sounds like someone sucking an empty glass of water through a straw. Yakko took the last container from the machine and shut it off. He was enamoured with the contents until the sounds of pigeon violence caught his attention. Squit had entered the room, dragging a beat up, inky mess that was Pesto. Pesto was swearing at him, but not nearly as loud as he usually was.
Yakko snickered as he approached the two, "Well, if it isn't the New Yorker pigeon who nearly ruined my plans. You aren't looking too good, are ya?"
Pesto ruffled his ink drenched feathers and cooed angrily.
"Well, it'll be nice to have a captive audience for my grand finale!" Yakko continued, picking up the container of half-toon blood and spinning around, "My siblings are resting, but they'll be ready to show off their new and improved appearance soon enough!"
Pesto snarled, "What's that supposed to mean?!"
Yakko gave an evil chuckle, "Oh you'll see soon enough. I can't wait to show off my best work yet!"
Suddenly, an alarm went off. Yakko jumped a bit before he put the container down and rushed to a computer console. He cursed as he saw two humans, a squirrel toon, and a mouse toon on the screen.
"It's them again!" He snarled, "But my experiment! It's not done! I need more time!!"
He started to pace the laboratory floors, thinking deeply. Pesto gave a watery cough before chuckling.
"Now you're gonna get it, punk." Sneered the pigeon, "They'll stop you and your half-toon freaks. Just you wait, buster!"
Yakko paused, his eyes slowly turning towards the strange machine in the corner, the one currently controlling every half-toon in the studio. A psychotic smile crossed his face as he made quick strides over to it. He pulled a few levers, pressed a few buttons, and turned a single knob as far as it would go, to the point it was close to breaking off entirely. The machine responded, it's low hum becoming louder and almost ear grating. The sinister blue glow from within radiated so bright, it was hard to look at.
"Ohoho... I have a surprise waiting for them in the tunnels!" Yakko giggled, his eyes and teeth glinting blue from the Warnerium Frequency Radio's glow, "Perhaps I can make something useless... Useful after all!"
He cackled, snatched the blood container off the table, and ran into a secluded room in the laboratory. Pesto tried to cuss him about, but Squit stepped between him and kept him in place. Pesto backed down, already severely injured. He gulped, wondering what Yakko could have meant by his ominous surprise.