Dot felt frozen, watching in horror as the stranger snatched up her immediate older brother, who was limp as a rag doll. Dimly, she heard Yakko's sharp voice telling her to stay put, then he summoned his mallet and took off after the man. The urge to follow was so strong that Dot completely disregarded her oldest brother's order and raced after. But before either of them could catch up, one of the other strangers, a scrawny-looking man in a frayed green robe, looked and saw. As soon as his eyes fell on the man with Wakko, a nasty grin spread across his face. Then he looked at her and Yakko, still running after. With a sweep of his hand, he sent another streak of red light shooting toward them. Yakko stopped short and leaped to the side, barely avoiding it.

Dot dropped to the ground and heard the shot whoosh over her. When she looked up, she saw the scrawny man summoning more red light. Jayna, who had taken out two of the other strangers, turned and saw the man holding Wakko. A look of pure alarm came to her face, and after closing her eyes for a split second, they snapped open, glowing white. As one of the remaining men charged toward her, she braced her feet and whipped her hands up. The ground under the man's feet jerked up, completely encasing them so he couldn't take another step. But before she could move again, the man with Wakko had reached the scrawny man. With a sweep of his hands and another flash of red light, all three vanished.

Stunned, Dot could only stare at the spot where they were standing at first. Then she noticed something on the ground and her throat grew tight. It was an all too familiar red cap. Slowly, she walked over and picked it up. Her eyes started stinging and she looked at Yakko to see him frozen to the spot. His fists clenched so hard they started shaking, then he kicked the ground hard and let out an enraged yell.

Jayna, whose eyes had returned to normal, stared for a moment. Then an angry look came to her face, and she let out a furious growl as she started pacing and raking her fingers through her hair.

"How could I let him get past me?!"

It was the first time Dot had ever seen her lose control, and it so took her by surprise that she was dumbstruck for a moment. But then her eyes moved to the one man not currently knocked out, his feet still encased in the ground. Hot anger began bubbling up inside her and a look at her eldest brother revealed the same on his face. His eyes fell on the man, and he stormed over to him, reaching up to grab his collar and yank him down to his level, giving him a glare that looked like it could burn him to ashes.

"Where. Are. They?!" he snarled, giving him a few rough shakes. "Answer me!"

The man only glared back, not saying a word. Dot tightened her grip on the hat and marched over herself.

"I'm warning you…"

But the man just smirked.

"What? You won't do anything to me."

Dot saw Yakko's grip tighten, a deeply conflicted look coming to his face. She knew what her brother was thinking: from the start, all three siblings had sworn to themselves that no matter what, they would never be anything like Salazar. If they resorted to cruel methods to get someone talking, that would make them no better than him. But the temptation to break that promise was so strong now that it was almost unbearable. Who knew what that creep was going to do to Wakko? How long did they have before something awful happened?

Finally, Yakko let go. The man's smirk grew even smugger, and he scoffed.

"I knew it… you're weak, just like your parents."

Dot felt her fur bristle, teeth baring in a growl, but before she could say anything Yakko whipped out his mallet and swung it hard, hitting the man square between his legs. All the color dropped from his face as he let out a choked gasp, dropping to his knees. As he struggled to catch his breath, Yakko locked eyes with him and bared his own teeth.

"Don't ever talk about our mom and dad," he hissed.

The only reply was a groan, and the eldest Warner turned away. Lifting his hands, he pressed them to his head and closed his eyes; the look on his face made Dot want to cry. Looking down, she held the hat close to her chest. It took a few moments before she knew she could speak without bursting into tears, and her voice still trembled.

"What do we do?"

Yakko opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Do? They've got Wakko. They've got our brother."

His hands clenched into fists, a fierce look on his face.

"We're gonna find him. Some way, somehow, we're gonna get him back."

Taking a deep breath, Dot nodded. She glanced over at Jayna to see that she had stopped pacing and was now standing still, a hand to her forehead. She looked at the two siblings, and Dot could swear her eyes were wet.

"I'm so sorry," the woman said softly. "I shouldn't have let that man…"

Yakko shook his head.

"No, you did what you could."

Dot nodded, turning the hat over in her hands.

"You were fighting… you just missed one guy."

Jayna sighed and shook her head, clearly not as willing to forgive herself.

"I should have been more careful."

Yakko looked up at her, and Dot saw sympathy in his face.

"It's okay," he said. "You did your best."

The woman let out another sigh.

"I'm not so sure," she muttered. A slight frown came to Dot's face; what did she mean by that? She heard her eldest brother let out a sigh and looked back at him to see him glaring at the man stuck in the ground, who was still doubled up and pale.

"These guys know where they are. If we can get one of 'em to tell us, we'll get him back."

Then Dot saw his eyes widen, and he looked at Jayna with an anxious yet hopeful look.

"Wait… you said you and Wakko are connected, right? Can't you, I don't know, use that to tell where he is?"

Dot's eyes went wide too, and she looked at Jayna with a pounding heart.

"What?! What do you mean, connected? Can you do that? Can you?!"

Jayna pressed her lips together in thought.

"I can try… but until he's conscious again I won't be able to reach him."

Dot let out a soft growl of impatience, and she saw the same impatience on Yakko's face. Waiting had never been their strong suit even in regular situations, but now it was even worse. Their brother was gone, and could be in danger, and they had no way of knowing where he was or how to find him. Looking down at the floppy red cap in her hands, Dot felt a lump form in her throat and tightened her grip on it.

Please, Wakko… please be okay.

Author's Note: To mark Hulu FINALLY announcing the release date for the second season, I decided to release this chapter early. The next one will be coming in the middle of next week and will be Wakko's POV, so some questions will begin being answered. Hope readers are enjoying the story!