I'm really having a huge blast writing this story. I can only assume that you guys are enjoying it as well. It's time for Chapter 4.

Chapter 4: Breakdown

The coughing was loud and bombastic. It echoed all throughout the Water Tower and it wouldn't stop. It was different this time though. It was deep rooted, nastier, and much more aggressive than before. There was no denying how scary it was and how worse the cough had gotten since Wakko's disappearance.

Yakko sat on the couch, in one of his latest and biggest of coughing fits yet. It was starting to hurt his chest. Every time he managed to stop briefly he was barely able to regain enough composure to realize just how horrible he felt.

His eyes were tearing up and his body was wobbling from side to side despite the fact that he wasn't even standing. Something sloppy and disgusting had been building up in his chest and throat but he couldn't get it out. It lingered there and made him feel like he was on the verge of vomiting.

Every time Yakko thought he was about to throw up he made a motion to get up and go to the bathroom only for him to get queasy and tumble back onto the couch.

Dot was here beside him, making sure Yakko stayed as well as he could in his condition. She had a bucket at the ready and had told him three times now that there was no need to try and head to the bathroom if he needed to vomit. However, Yakko was so far gone that he must not have heard her until the third time. That was the only time he faced her direction and nodded as if he had received the message.

All this pain, all this fear, all this worry and all this doubt was accumulating well over time. It was now at a rather frightful all-time high.

It had officially been an entire week since Wakko went missing.

"What's a big brother to do… knowing he's a colossal failure…? Can't find… my own little bro…" Yakko muttered out between bouts of more coughing. His voice was hoarse and extremely weak.

"We'll find him. It's way too early to be talking about failure…" Dot began. She stared at Yakko's now vacant looking eyes. She saw one of them twitch slightly before he surprisingly shot himself up into a straighter position.

"I'm going back to the Acme Labs… see if they made any progress…" Yakko went to stand up but Dot moved quickly and clamped her hands on his shoulders to hold him back down.

"You're not going anywhere. You're incredibly sick and you just got back from that lab an hour ago!" Dot scolded. The first time he left, he didn't tell her about it. It was a miracle he managed to make it back to the tower in his condition really.

"… Uhnn…" Yakko made an odd noise and stared downward as she held him in his seat. She let him go and looked him up and down. It was the exact opposite of the brother she had grown up with sitting here. That lively demeanor and that spring in his step couldn't be conjured up. He probably couldn't even smile now without feeling pain…

"You really have to rest. Okay? Take a load off and go to sleep. You've been up every night looking into Wakko's whereabouts and it's making everything worse for your already questionable state of health." Dot sounded like his older sister rather than his younger one.

"…No… I can't… Gotta go and… " Yakko stopped and swallowed a bit. He was finding it hard to focus or get his words out now.

"You'll take your nap and when you wake up you're going to go over and start a surprise session with Scratchy. I'll go over to the Acme Lab and make sure everything is going well for you. That way we can look into it while treating whatever it is that you've got. Okay?" Dot laid out all of this while waving her finger at him. Yakko's face was that of sad, submissive fatigue. He slowed nodded his head as if he had just been hypnotized by said finger.

Dot smiled lightly and helped Yakko up. He stumbled a bit but managed to walk with her support. His rather limb body managed to make it to his bed. He all but fell over on top of the thing when she led him to the edge of it too. The sight of his bed must've triggered a reaction that forced his body to collapse on top of it. It made Dot giggle slightly.

Dot helped move Yakko's body so that he faced the head of the bed. By this time, the softness of the mattress had taken him over and he was already half asleep. Dot pulled the covers over him and kissed his forehead. By the time she finished with that, his eyes were completely closed.

Dot left the room, letting all of what was happening get to her at once. The weight of the situation they were in made her feel heavy. She shook her head and wiped away a few tears before exiting the tower.

"Get better Yakko. We need you. When Wakko comes back, he won't be happy to know that you've gotten worse…"

"Combination 24-663! Initiating away!" Pinky shouted and pressed a bunch of blinking pink and red flashing buttons on the computer console. A few beeps were heard and the virtual map in front of them digitally adjusted itself to fit the newly imputed commands.

Nothing happened though. A location wasn't specified and an alert wasn't sounded. The newest input into their machine had failed!

"Dammit! I mean Curses! It failed to locate him again!" Brain shouted, jumping from the empty stool of tape he was standing on and overlooking the console of the machine in front of him. "I simply don't understand. It's been an entire week and this thing hasn't stopped running. Surely, wherever Wakko Warner is he can't have been-"

"Still haven't found him yet?" Dot's voice rung in their ears as she made her presence known. Considering the situation that was going down, being hospitable and knocking didn't cross her mind. The two lab mice didn't seem to mind at all though.

"No. I'm afraid we haven't. I'm rather ashamed of my performance concerning this dilemma." Brain sighed and tapped his foot.

"It's alright Brain." Pinky chimed in. "Just let the shame go and try again. I never feel any shame and look at me! I'm as happy as a stuffed crab! Wahaha!"

"I defy you to run that logic by me again…" Brain grumbled before he noticed Dot's sullen face. "Something you'd like to inquire?"

"How exactly does this machine work?" Dot made a gesture toward the virtual map. Brain looked her over once before turning to the map as well.

"We use strands of DNA we've taken from the Wakko Warner's blood stain on the hat you showed us and the machine uses it's prowess to hunt him down. It sends a signal that scours the world and pin-points the exact match and tells us the location of the subject we're looking for." Brain explained with his hand out.

Dot stared down at him with a question forming on her lips. Brain continued before it could get out though.

"The problem is that something seems to be jamming the signal every time the machine seems like it's close to getting an exact pinpoint. The capabilities are being blocked, in other words." Brain finished.

Dot managed to find herself a new question. "What can block the machine's capabilities?"

"Well…" Brain looked to the side a bit before focusing back ahead and following through. "… Locating someone from inside something that's been buried or if it's hidden within the confines of something organic-" Brain stopped when he saw Dot's face.

She looked horrified. That made him feel uncomfortable for some reason.

"But those factors don't mean much." Brain put his hands behind his back for a pose that was slated to emphasize how trustworthy his analysis always was.

Pinky decided to help with that emphasis. "Yup. Brain's right. Those factors don't mean much at all. The third one is way worse!"

"There is no third factor." Brain's retaliation was rather quick.

"Uh. But Brain, I could've sworn you said that the machine won't work if the subject was already dead." Pinky had spilled all that from his mouth while Brain had clenched his fists and fumed in anger at his astounding stupidity and lack of tact. With a swift strike of a pencil over Pinky's noggin he had the taller mouse seeing stars.

It didn't matter what he did to him though. Dot had already heard it and let out a rather ugly and distressed sigh in reaction to it. Did she even want to entertain the thought of Wakko dying? Of course she didn't. However, it had been put out there and she couldn't stop it from coming.

Instantly the image of the blood from Wakko's hat stung in her mind, actually managing to make her wince. With one thought comes another. A graveyard, an engraving, tears… so many tears…

'Stop it! You know better!' Dot mentally scolded herself. Just hearing the possibility of Wakko's death had put her into an instantly troubled mood. The possibility had always been there, ever since the night of the party even, so why would anyone voicing it cause such a weak willed reaction?

She couldn't panic from just having her fears addressed like that. It was true that Wakko wasn't showing up on the radar and that death was one of the possibilities as to why it was happening but…

She needed to remain strong. Even if the chances that he was alive were at a devastating low, she needed to for both her brother's sake. Thinking of Yakko reminded her of another pressing issue that was concerning her. It was small potatoes compared to Wakko's disappearance though. Well, at least it would be to any one person. However, the well-being of both her brothers was her concern. They both needed to remain healthy and strong, both physically and mentally, for the sake of living out their lives.

The conditions being the way they were now, she didn't see that happening for either of her siblings and it worried her. Wakko was missing physically and Yakko…

She listened to herself let out a tiny whimper that got the two mice's attention. Brain shot Pinky another angry glare which made Pinky slump in shame. The mouse was about to apologize when Dot turned to face them and spoke first.

"My brain… feels all jumbled…" Dot resounded to standing there and looking straight at them as she let that out. "… I think this is one of those hard to believe situations where I've been left as the one who needs to remain strong. Maybe my subconscious knows that and that's why I've been so… calm."

Calm? Was that the right word?

"You're doing a fantastic job of remaining composed. I assure you that you and your brother's efforts will not be in vain. You continue to search on your own as we will remain here to do what we can. That's the deal we have and that's what we must latch onto for the best possible outcome." Brain sounded rather reliable there.

Pinky blinked at the table top he was standing on and looked ahead at Dot. "Only you? What about Yakko?"

Dot swallowed slightly, having felt a lump forming in her throat.

"Yakko is… " Dot began but stopped when she realized that she didn't have the words to continue with. The only one that came to mind was one that Rita had implanted into her two days after Wakko's disappearance.

Rita and Runt had decided to stay in Burbank a little longer when it was declared official that Wakko was missing. This was hours after Dot had confirmed it for herself.

She and Yakko went to go search their own way immediately. The Warner way. That way usually got things done. However, it became apparent as the days went by that Yakko had lost the know-how as well as the means to executing their way.

Yakko simply wasn't acting himself. Instead of remaining composed and doing what he knew would get Wakko back by seeking help and searching the right way, Yakko had panicked. He went about asking random people to help find his brother and would later collapse in the street due to accumulated stress amplifying his sickness. It was so reckless and self-destructive… and rather scary to boot.

When Dot had set this system up with Pinky and the Brain, Yakko had decided to abuse the possible lifeline he had to Wakko by constantly visiting the two of them to see if there was any new lead. Instead of initiating the help, he latched onto whom or what he knew was already helping. That expressed his deepest concern for Wakko, sure, but it did nothing to actually help the situation. It was made worse considering that Yakko was ridden with a disease no one around knew anything about.

Dot had at first considered this to be a rather harsh but understandable emotional reaction to Wakko's disappearance. However, Rita had decided to voice her own concern when the two of them, along with Yakko and Runt, had decided to go out looking for Wakko in their own search party.

The concern she had was for the possible inclination that Yakko's mind was collapsing.

What had caused her to fess up to having thought that way was the action Yakko took when he asked a random person passing by, after the countless questioning of other people, for anything in regards to Wakko's whereabouts.

When the man said he didn't know about the situation, Yakko suddenly clawed at his own face and fell to the ground, kicking at the dirt as if he had suddenly gotten a stroke.

The scene was night terror worthy.

Shortly after that, Yakko's disease suddenly intensified. The next few days, Yakko had been on edge, but barely acknowledging Dot's existence. He seemed angrier and was always looking straight out at the wall. When he wasn't busy being angry at nothing, or panicky to the point of distress, he was usually exhausted due to whatever his sickness was trying to do to his system. Today had been one such occasion. The only difference was that it was worse.

His coughing had been monstrous and the rate at which he was sweating coupled with how utterly spent he was despite not having done anything yet…

"Urrrgh!" Dot growled and pounded at her head. The two mice had not been given an answer for a good two minutes while she had recounted what was wrong with Yakko in her head. Now she was suddenly pounding at her skull. How bizarre.

Dot's bout of frustration ended prematurely when she whacked herself harder than intended and her eyes ended up crossing in pain. She shook away the cobwebs she gave herself and looked down at the two confused mice before sighing gracelessly.

"Yakko is… a bit… broken…"

Yakko shot straight up and fell out of the bed when he reached over his stomach to turn off an alarm clock that wasn't even going off. It was a rather humorous scene to be sure.

Yakko was now face-planted into the floor with his feet propped up against the side of the bed. His arms were flopped down at his side and a groan floated from underneath his mushed face.

What jolted him awake wasn't a sound but somehow, on impulse, he reached over to turn off the alarm clock regardless. How stupid was that?

Yakko fixed himself by forcing his body up a bit and then slamming down onto his butt with his legs now splayed out in front of him. He looked terrible despite having rested for a nice long while. Maybe he just needed more rest though. It wouldn't surprise him if he did. Whatever was wrong with him warranted more than the regular kind of healing remedies.

Yakko let out an even louder groan when he remembered what Dot had suggested to him before he slept. An appointment with Scratchy? Did he want that? Could he afford to blow it off?

This didn't seem like the kind of situation where it'd be okay to play hooky. Still, he'd much rather go out and look for Wakko again. Why couldn't Dot understand that he just didn't feel like worrying about himself at a time like this? His little brother was missing.

Why or how wasn't crossing his mind at all. He just knew that he was missing and that there was a potential danger that hung over that fact.

Yakko stood up, walking ever so slowly to the door, and made his way out into the empty living room. Just seeing the place so empty and quiet made the pit in his stomach churn. It didn't matter that it had been that way quite a few times before either. For some reason, it being empty now was horrifying.

"I… kinda want to see Scratchy now…" Yakko muttered, rubbing his face down. He couldn't explain it but he was suddenly in the need for human contact. Any kind of contact at all would suffice.

Yakko walked out the door of the tower, filling his head with excuses as to why him going to see the doctor was a better idea than going out to look for Wakko. It would make him act more efficiently should he get whatever he needed to get off his chest he supposed. Was that true? It sounded like something Yakko would say to either Wakko or Dot should they be feeling this way but now that he was confronted with this problem he wasn't sure he believed it.

Yakko forced his thoughts to sway throughout his mind as he walked onward. He managed to pass by Ralph the Security Guard, eating a humongous sandwich, without any confrontation. It had been like that for a while really.

When Yakko walked by, he gave the man a light wave. Ralph spotted him, smiled, and waved back before going to town on his lunch again. Since the Warners weren't really all that out of control anymore, there wasn't any real reason for him to be after them all the time. Both he and Plotz knew it. For some reason that bothered Yakko. Had they really become that boring to them?

'I can't be boring now. I was so fun and spaz-tastic before. How'd all that go away so quickly?' Yakko let the thought float there in his head as he approached the main office. After making his way inside and heading up to the desk, he eyeballed Hello Nurse.

"Hello Yakko. Are you here to see Dr. Scratchnsniff?" The beautiful blonde asked him with a clean smile.

Yakko simply nodded, smiling back. He entertained the thought of smacking his lips at the side of her face and shouting "Helloooooo Nurse!" but knew that if he tried his heart wouldn't have been in it. That would've just made things awkward for him personally.

After the formalities were attended to, Yakko waited where he usually did before an appointment. The atmosphere the waiting room reeked of was just as awful as the thoughts in his brain. His leg was bouncing in frustration and little beads of sweat were visible on his head. It must've looked quite bad, as Hello Nurse did a bit of a double take when she noticed Yakko's extreme fidgeting.

'Oh please, Doc. Hurry up. I can't take this much longer.' Yakko thought as his leg bounced up and down. It looked like he was in desperate need of the restroom though in reality it was just his unhinged nerves getting the best of him. Sitting here right now, he felt so alone.

It was scary. He couldn't be trusted here alone with his own thoughts. His thoughts have been scaring him lately. If he's allowed to be with his thoughts for too long they might cause him to-

"Yakko?" Hello Nurse spoke at him. Yakko shot up, looking like a scared puppy in a thunderstorm. The look of genuine fear on his face surprised her. Why was he scared? It was just another appointment.

"Y-Yes?" Yakko asked her.

"The doctor will see you now." The nurse pointed to the door. She decided not to tell him that she had called his name three times before his response. The wait hadn't been that long at all but Yakko was acting like an eternity had passed.

The eldest Warner stumbled past the concerned nurse and into Dr. Scratchnsniff's office. The cold air hit him like usual. The air conditioned room usually never got to him but the cold air was making him shiver all of a sudden. He should've been used to how his Water Tower made him feel but his nerves were getting to him even harder now.

Dr. Scratchnsniff watched Yakko's odd movements. He came in and stood by the couch across from him. After looking down at it for a few seconds he plopped his body down and sat there with his head focused on his lap. He was obviously nervous and sweating enough for the doctor to notice the light trickles of water streaming down the side of his head. It must be the heat from his body's sickness.

That didn't explain why it looked like Yakko was shivering from the air conditioning though. His body must be screwed up. The poor kid…

"Yakko…" The doctor spoke up, instantly getting the boy's attention. "Today is pretty slow. Appointments have not been that prominent since the farewell party. That is to change when a new show starts up, among the other projects the studio is doing, but for today, feel free to take as much time as you be needing."

Yakko managed to smile. He liked how nice the doctor was trying to be. He really was like their father figure, even during the times where they drove him crazy. He took them to fun events, the circus, the movies, and plenty other places for them to wreak their havoc and have their extended playtime away from the studio.

Opening up to him was so easy.

"Thank you. I appreciate it so much." Yakko spoke with his sullen voice. "In all honesty… I wasn't too keen on coming here today but…"

The doctor watched Yakko start to fidget.

"… I suddenly decided that coming would be a good idea because when I woke up from my nap today I got scared." Yakko said, realizing that he wasn't being all too specific. Going into it probably embarrassed him.

Dr. Scratchnsniff looked over at Yakko and asked the appropriate question. "What were you scared of Yakko?"

The truth was embarrassing but a lie would get him nowhere.

"I was scared… of being alone… so I came here."

It wasn't just loneliness. It was the need to talk to someone about what was going on with him. He couldn't go out and look for Dot since it wasn't assured that she'd still be at the Acme Labs. He needed assurance of human interaction coming his way and he knew Scratchy was almost always in his office. Maybe Pinky and the Brain would've sufficed but a P-Sychiatrist sounded more logical than two questionably unstable lab mice.

"Do you think something bad will happen if you remain alone?" Dr. Scratchnsniff's questions were subtle but they were working toward something. Yakko was too shaken to tell though.

Yakko's gaze wandered to the side a bit. "Yes." He had admitted it. "I don't know what though." That was the truth.

The doctor looked intrigued. "Can you make a guess?"

Yakko's pupils flickered a bit. He had a feeling as to why but couldn't get it out. He started shaking again. The doctor watched Yakko fidget and felt as though he was putting to poor kid on trial for some sort of crime. Yakko was having too hard a time so early in the session.

"I'm afraid of my own thoughts…" Yakko had let the truth spill from his mouth. This time though, the shakiness in his voice came with it. With that shakiness came the desire to continue. With his desire to continue in full bloom, the tiny and fragile wall that held together his emotions burst. He suddenly found the truth spilling out of him like a water fall.

"Afraid of your own-?" The doctor began but Yakko interrupted.

"Yes! When I'm alone I think too much! Way too much!" Yakko was obviously panicked now. "I start going on tangents about how horrible a big brother I am and how it's okay to take out my aggression on somebody else. A-Anybody else. I want somebody aside from myself to blame even though I know it's not fair to do so. Everytime I tell myself how unfair that is I keep thinking about how I shouldn't care and that somebody needs to answer for what happened." Yakko was gripping his long ears now. He was terrified.

Yakko's shivering and sweating body exerted those traits even more as he went on. The doctor looked on, absolutely fascinated by Yakko's sudden breakdown. What exactly was this? Was he saying what he thought he was saying?

But here he was. Yakko was admitting to all his thoughts right in front of him. "I hate closing my eyes to think or being left alone with my thoughts now. I keep getting this vision of myself with a horrible sneer, overlooking some dead guy like some kind of crazed devil child. I keep thinking to myself about how wrong and nasty that is but it's followed up so quickly by a thought that tells me that someone needs to pay for whatever pain my family's been going through and that it doesn't matter if they're innocent or not. I keep fantasizing about hurting people whenever I'm alone!"

Yakko suddenly stopped and took in several choked breaths. He burst into a slight coughing fit before regaining slight control over himself and muttering out and whimpering response.

"I'm afraid… I might act on these thoughts… that I might hurt somebody or even… k-"

"You and I both know that you'd never do that. Not even on the show did you ever harm someone who didn't deserve it and that was as zany and unforgiving as it gets ya? You can't be talking about hurting innocent peoples. It's not you." Dr. Scratchnsniff had to admit that he was starting to feel a little scared as well. All of Yakko's fidgeting, sweating, eye twitching, and spasms weren't the movements of someone who was healthy in the head.

He couldn't imagine Yakko, the oldest and most level headed of the Warner Trio, going legitmitely insaney.

"… It's not me… I know." Yakko managed to get out. "I'm… I'm trying my best to get all this under control but…"

"Try harder Yakko. It's not just you I worry about now." The doctor said with a hint of stilled shock in his voice.

'What did that mean?'

"Huh? Y-You mean… my brother and sister? Y-yeah… I'm worried about them too… Oh man, Wakko! WAKKO!" Yakko startled the doctor when he suddenly started to yell.

"You need to regain control of yourself Yakko. I'll help you in every possible way I can. If you don't I think your siblings might even be in danger."

'Is that what he meant?'

"Wh-What? A-Are you suggesting that I might hurt my little sibs?" Yakko's voice was suddenly angry. That didn't sit well with the doctor considering his earlier outburst.

"I'm not saying that you'd want to but…" Dr. Scratchnsniff hesitated here. He absolutely hated having to say this. It was so painful considering how much time he had spent with the Warner Siblings but here it is. "… With the way you are acting now, I have to see it as a definite possibility." He spoke, remaining in his seat, although now he was at the edge of it seeing as Yakko was now standing up with both his fists clenched.

"I'm not-! I can't be crazy! The whole reason I'm breaking down like this is because of my love and fear for my sibs! I would never hurt them you P-sycho!" Yakko felt his anger boiling. The very idea that he'd hurt his siblings made him angry. Hearing the doctor voice this as a genuine concern, though, had sent him over the edge. The change in attitude and demeanor in Yakko was shockingly immediate. It wasn't in any stretch of the imagination, considered normal.

"Yakko! Please! I'm merely suggesting that you consider all the possibilities and take actions to help avoid the really bad ones." Dr. Scratchnsniff wasn't seeing the scared little boy from before standing right here before him. Yakko's mind was in turmoil and it was on a different level than he was accustomed to seeing in someone so young.

It wasn't just that though. Yakko's condition was so unusual. He had no idea what this was.

"You mean like you're failing to do right now? Saying something like that and not considering the possibility that I may get upset!" Yakko stomped toward him.

"I didn't mean to get you upset!"

"Well you sure weren't trying to help! Look how much better I feel right now! Forget this! I'm not taking advice from you-!"

Dr. Scratchnsniff stood up, not angry, but he needed to emphasis the importance of what he was saying here.

"Yakko! This isn't an attack on you or your love for your siblings! You just need to be prepared for-"

"Who prepares for something that isn't going to happen? I love my siblings! I don't care how crazy you think I am I'd never do anything to har-!" Yakko started but doubled over in an extreme and sudden burst of pain. He was hacking and coughing up a storm, suddenly on his knees.

The doctor looked down at him, stunned, but he felt the need to continue. "That's another thing that needs looking into. That mysterious illness that so far no one has been able to pin-point the origin of." He really wanted Yakko healthy again.

Yakko's coughing slowed and eventually stopped altogether. He had heard the doctor's statement but didn't react to it right away. He was panting hard and was so on edge, it was even starting to scare him himself. It paled in comparison to the fear he felt when he looked into the palm of the hand that he had covered his mouth with.

"It's just a cold… and even if it wasn't, it's got nothing to do with my sibs." Yakko's voice was hoarse but harsh all the same.

The doctor took in a rather deep breath. Yakko was angry. His thoughts were all over the place and he wasn't listening to reason. The situation just got worse and he had a feeling it was all because of this session with him. He couldn't just allow this to continue though. He needed to help fix this before something happened that Yakko or anyone else couldn't take back.

"Ever since this mess started… you've been trying to ignore all the obvious problems you kids have been having. You didn't ask for any help and you never confided into anyone until it was too late and felt that you could swallow your pride long enough to try it before going back to acting hopelessly on your own." Scratchnsniff bent down to Yakko so that he could see him more clearly. Yakko looked straight at him, no longer hysterical but not happy either.

"Don't spurn the help Yakko. I can't force you to take it but… I can at the very least tell you that not taking it will not help matters. It will only make things worse. Please Yakko…" The doctor's voice was so soft and sad. He didn't like what he was seeing at all. He wanted Yakko to know that he was here to help. He desperately wanted him to know.

Yakko eyed him for a few more seconds before forcing his body up. He stumbled a bit, feeling a tad dizzy before finally fixing his angered face. His palm was closed now from hiding what he had seen in it rather than from anger.

"I… I don't want… to…" Yakko trailed off, slamming his eye lids shut before fidgeting.

That was all he said before he spun around and marched out the door. Dr. Scratchnsniff held his hand out to him, as if wishing to call him back, but nothing left his mouth. He simply sighed and let his arm dangle limply at his side.

Hello Nurse had a confused and a heart-breaking concerned look on her face as Yakko marched by her. This was one of those times when he hadn't even given her a passing glance. He was too busy sweating and staring at his palm in fear. His face had reverted from angry to anxious to terrified in less than 30 seconds.

'Why didn't I take his help? Do I really not need it? What's happening to me? I can't… I can't think straight anymore! I want someone to help me so why did I refuse? I'm so scared…!'

Yakko felt a ton of horrid thoughts enter into his head. He didn't know what was next for him but it couldn't have been good.

His palm wasn't covered with spit or phlegm like usual after one of his coughing fits.

This time, it was blood.

Yakko didn't know where he was walking toward right now. His mind was a cluttered mess and his heart was beating too fast. Maybe he figured that if he just kept walking, he'd walk right out of the reality that he was in and everything would be like it was before.

He couldn't even remember what those fun times before felt like anymore. All he could feel was the thick mass of blood in-between his gloved fingers.

Time was flying by so fast it seemed.

The show was over and yet there was so much that had been left unaccomplished…

Buttons was currently walking Mindy back to the Studio. Apparently, they had forgotten to pick up the final paycheck in regards to the mother's appearance on the show. She figured it was so important that it was okay to ignore the fact that the sun had pretty much gone down at this point too. This annoyed Buttons tremendously.

She was a horrid mother in both the show and in real life. She was also barely on the thing so what was the point in going all the way back to the lot to pick up what could be little more than 50 dollars max. Seriously, Mindy, the small toddler, made more than this woman did. They were practically living off the income she got from the show.

Buttons sighed as he watched Mindy trot ahead, chasing around a butterfly. She was so blissfully unaware of their situation. It wasn't all that bad honestly. The father was rarely seen but with good reason. He was a hard worker and didn't take kindly to laying back and sending their child on a walk that took several miles just to pick up a check that he didn't deserve!

All this isn't even considering all the yelling, the shouting, the scolding, and other annoyances he'd grown to try and get used to. Seeing his life plastered there on the screen for the world to see really put things into perspective. He was a freaking dog! Why was he babysitting a grown woman's child?

That's not to say Buttons didn't enjoy spending time with her. He did. He really did. While she had a tendency to wander off, anvils and other painful junk tended not to fall on him when he chased after her. Thank goodness.

Oh well, the mom may be a witch, but he could stomach this so long as they didn't end up in the situation that ironically the main stars of the show were going through.

Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. Mindy liked playing with them on and off the set. They thought she was cute and would often encourage her to engage in mischief. So long as she didn't get hurt, Buttons didn't really care what they did together.

All that money the three of them made from the publicity, the tape sales, the years of steady income and the additional profit that came with shouldering the Warner Brothers name… where did all of that go? They couldn't have been that bad with money. There's no way…

Often Buttons would wonder if some sort of conspiracy was going on. There had to be an explaination as to why it was so impossible for those three to get a leg up on society again. Even if it has been quite a while since the show's cancellation, it was still popular. It had been a huge success. Money should still be flowing in somehow.

The more Buttons thought about it the bigger the confusion and thus the bigger the headache. Everyone else was doing relatively well. The main stars were the worst off though? How? He really wanted to know. This was starting to rattle his brain.

"Green light!" Mindy suddenly shouted and took a step into the street. Buttons instantly came out of his trance and rushed forward, clamping his mouth over Mindy's overalls to pull her back in from the road. Apparently, she thought the green light was telling HER to go and not the cars. If only that woman had bothered to teach her … anything.

She was so neglectful that she was constantly called "Lady" by her own daughter. It was embarrassing how many takes it took just to get her to say "Mom" in the movie…

Predictably, after she did, she never said it again. He hated that woman.

Buttons forced himself to interrupt his own thoughts again and nudged her with concern edged on his face. Mindy, not-surprisingly, giggled and hugged Buttons' face.

"Buttons… Good puppy…" She muttered silently, as if she was overwhelmingly relieved to be beside him suddenly.

Buttons smiled. Somehow, that smile and embrace of hers made this all worth it.

They continued on their way, unaware of the discovery that awaited them once they finally made it.

Nighttime was here and in full swing.

Yakko hadn't returned to the house yet though. He had been wandering the area as randomly as he could, hoping in vain that something would pop out at him to make him feel better.

He had no idea what he was doing with himself. He stumbled around with his eyes vacant and his body twitching continuously. He was stuck inside his own head. Thoughts kept coming and going as they pleased and he didn't know whether or not it was okay to focus on one topic or switch to another. Would it have made any difference?

Yakko's thoughts drifted from Wakko to money to the future to Wakko again to the blood…

He suddenly shuddered. His thoughts were beginning to overwhelm him with how consistently bad they were. He was a kid right? Why couldn't a kid find ways to think happy thoughts, even in the darkest of hours?

He eventually stopped outside a tavern, a place for grown-ups to mingle and alcohol to flourish. He took one look at it and stumbled inside. Instantly the smell of booze and polished wood hit his nose. He acknowledged it for two seconds flat before wobbling toward the stools and sitting down. He just didn't care anymore.

He was just going to sit here amongst all these people having a good time and think about what was going on. He couldn't bring forth a thought on how to fix it though. Everytime he tried, his headache would act up and make him choke out tears of frustration.

His head was all but kissing the counter in front of him when he heard some familiar voices ringing in his ears.

"Yo. If ain't the oldest Warner kid."

That was Bobby's voice. Not Wakko's. Why bother greeting him?

The Goodfeathers and the God-Pigeon were on the counter beside Yakko now. All of them had flocked forward without him noticing.

"Aww man. You look so down. Life's been malleting you good hasn't it?" Squit asked with his trademark grin.

Yakko lifted up his face so that his chin remained on the counter. It was just so he could see the people talking to him initially but that tremendous need to speak to someone was coming back yet again.

"… Is it that easy to tell?" Yakko groaned at his own statement. He was pathetic. Just look at him. Of course it was easy to tell.

"Yeah well, you look like dirt." Pesto chimed in.

'Thanks Pesto.'

"… Naw… I probably look and feel a lot worse than that." Yakko responded.

'Thanks Me.'

The God-Pigeon rubbed his peak and suddenly started to spout out his usual gibberish. Yakko raised an eyebrow. What the hell was that supposed to be anyway?

Thankfully, Bobby was apparently the only one in the world who could understand the guy. "The God-Pigeon says, you should take a load off and have a few brews."

"Ha. There's an idea. As if I wasn't cross-eyed enough dealing with this stupid cold." Yakko smiled a bit. The thought really was funny to him. "Sorry guys but I'm a minor. I can't drink my problems away like everyone else in here. Besides, I'm well aware of what drinking does to a guy. I probably wouldn't even if I was of age…"

Was that the truth? Yakko always figured himself to be a rather outgoing party goer. Alcohol didn't seem too far out of his league for when he reached the recommended age.

"Yakko Warner's a boy scout. Who knew?" Pesto laughed and brushed his feathers at Yakko's sullen face. Yakko didn't really like that comment. It's definitely not something anyone would've called him before this mess started and began draining the fun right out of him…

"He's just being well aware. Like how you are Pesto." Squit smiled brightly.

'Uh-oh. Seriously, why did Squit even bother trying to complement this guy?' Yakko's smile grew.

"What do you mean by that?" Pesto was all up in Squit's sweating face now. "Are you saying that I am a paranoid little gutter snipe, who looks over my shoulder constantly, in fear of the harmless unknown like some sort of baby blue bird? Is that what you're saying to me?"

"N-No! I just said that you're really well aware. Like, attentive. You know?"

"I am aware?"

"Yes! Exactly!"

"… …THAT'S IT!"

Yakko was grinning at the fight cloud in front of him. The phrases "I'll show you aware" and "I've got your 'Aware' right here" was making him feel a bit giddy. Was he so easily entertained now? Bobby was holding his stomach and laughing though. Maybe his reaction was the correct one.

Bobby must've noticed Yakko's smile and decided that it'd be best to speak to the boy while the atmosphere was good.

"If you can learn to just take it easy and not sweat the details too much, you can have fun like us. Go on. Just try one. It's on the house." Bobby smirked and pushed a drink toward Yakko's face. Yakko's mind was so cluttered and scatter-brained that he didn't even remember what that was supposed to be or where he was anymore. The thing with Pesto and Squit had served as a brief distraction before all the bad stuff flowed back into his brain again.

He had been thinking about negative outcomes for him and his siblings and suddenly thoughts akin to his situation fluttered in and kicked those other thoughts all around his head. All the people he liked and all the friends he would probably never see again came to him. A frantic and spastic voice was ringing in his head, telling him that nothing was beginning to matter anymore.

His sibs mattered. Of course they did. He loved them. He was draped over this counter in excess sadness because of them…

No, that made it seem like it was their fault. It wasn't. It was his fault.

'But what did I do?'

I don't know. It must've been bad because the cosmos isn't cutting you any slack.

'Why am I sick?'

Good question.

'Where did the cold come from?'

Who knows?

'Is it even a cold?'

Why bother asking that now?

'Is it too late?'

Yes.

'Does what I do now have any consequence?'

No.

'Who am I talking too?'

Yourself.

'Am I going insane?'

Yes.

'Than it doesn't matter. Does it really not matter? That sounds great. Heheh.'

You don't know what's going on. You don't know how your situation got like this. You don't know if you've been screwed over with your money situation or if it was just bad luck. You don't know how to fix yourself. You can't find Wakko. He's probably dead. Dot's probably given up on you too.

Just give in to all these thoughts. Don't even entertain the notion that you could work toward making it get better. It'll only get worse. Follow that impulsiveness you relied so heavily on before. When an idea springs to mind, just do it. Embrace your final moments of sanity and realize that nothing else matters.

Not you. Not your sibs. Not the world. Not in this moment.

This is all you talking Yakko. Remember that.

'Yeah… It's all me…'

Bobby, Pesto, and Squit were staring at Yakko in obvious confusion. The boy who had refused the alcohol earlier for an obviously sound reason was now chugging down glass after glass as if it were soda. Bobby had told the kid to just drink one glass as a kind offering but what was this? His eyes didn't seem like they were looking at anything. He was twitching quite a bit but the smile on his face made that seem like it was nothing to worry about, despite the fact that it was.

Absolutely nothing about Yakko's thoughts, his body, his movements, or his actions made sense anymore. Yakko was breaking down before because of it. As of now, though, he was embracing it. He was oblivious to his surroundings entirely now.

What just happened?

Yakko stumbled over the counter and grabbed a full bottle of bourbon from the shelf and started chugging away. The bar-tender looked on in fascination. He probably should've been worried about the minor drinking in front of him but… for some reason, he was getting chills just standing beside him…

"He's crazy." Bobby muttered.

"He's awesome." Pesto grinned.

"He's… really cold…" Squit's comment got him some confused looks. "His body heat shot from room temperature to that of a refridgerator in zero seconds flat." This was crepping him out. Yakko was starting up another bottle now, stumbling into the other bottles and knocking a few over as he did.

"So what? He's finally regained his fun side back. Encourage the kid for pete's sake. Why ya gotta be so negative?" Pesto shot toward Squit.

Yakko slammed the empty bottle down in front of the four birds, making them jump in surprise. He let out a rather loud belch and then started giggling like a toddler.

"Always wanted to try dis stuff. Hehee!" Yakko grinned, grapsing the empty bottle firmly. The bottle had cracked due to the impact. By now, quite a few heads had turned to the scene at the bar. What Yakko was doing wasn't exactly quiet… or normal.

"Y-Yeah, that's good but uh… I think maybe you've had enough so-" Bobby began. He didn't finish though as Yakko suddenly screamed and slammed the bottle onto the counter, shattering it into pieces.

"Dammit no! I can't listen to me anymore! Me's hurting my family! Gotta think smart-like again! It's useless, pointless. Can't do it! Haha! I can't do it!" Yakko shouted and twitched. His statement that seemed to go completely back and forth in such a short span was rather odd. How does someone go from saying they should do something to saying that they shouldn't try to do anything in the same exact statement?

"O-Okay, this is starting to scare me now." Pesto remarked, realizing that this episode wasn't at all a fun-loving gesture on Yakko's part.

"Kid, calm down! Please. Whatever you need-" Bobby started up again before Yakko blew up at him.

"Who needs yours help? Where were you before when I needed it huh? Who cares? Shut up and die!" Yakko screamed and violently flung the half broken bottle at them. They all ducked just in time to see it smash against the wall behind them.

It would've been bad had Yakko continued his onslaught. However, his eyes were dizzy and his balance was noticeably unsound. He ended up tripping over his own feet and slammed his chin into the counter before falling over onto the ground in a barely conscious heap.

He lay there, moaning in pain, hiccuping, and letting out a few random giggles with his body splayed out like a board.

"I… I don't think I care much about his body temperature anymore…" Squit squeaked out over the silence.

Yakko coughed onto the floor, more blood dripping from the side of his mouth...

Slappy was tired of this. It was way too annoying having to deal with this mystery and coping with the fact that she'd never forgive herself if she didn't continue looking through it.

Right now, she was walking down the concrete pathway towards the tavern. Maybe she was entertaining the thought of a nice Happy Hour to get her mind off the frustration.

"Nah, I'm not that conflicted." She decided. " I did manage to come to a relatively helpful solution today." This was true.

After she and Skippy went through everything they had; all the notes they had collected and all the information they had gathered, they had still ended up with no clear definition of what was up with that Tower. There was a lapse in hope in ever finding out what the deal was until Skippy brought up a news report that had been broadcasted while she was asleep. Imagine her luck on that one.

"I'll stop by the place and pick myself up one little drink. Then its back to using this little lead I have to my advantage." Slappy spoke to herself, yawning and trudging forward. "I'm sure Skippy wouldn't mind…"

She grimaced slightly as her discovery floated through her head. What did this mean for the people who were staying on this lot in the foreseeable future?

The report had been rather simple in the information it provided but to her it was a gold mine. Two people who had previously worked for Warner Brothers studios were found decapitated. The weapons used to do so were the same; two small axes ripped from a nearby hardware store. Absolutely no evidence was left behind to suggest that someone else had been there.

Upon hearing the news from Skippy, Slappy felt her heart do backflips. Instantly she recalled the small info she actually did have that told the story of how the people on the lot went crazy after approaching the water tower and started to kill each other those several decades ago. The preferred method of death was decapitation as well.

The recent murder mystery had been solved the instant she had heard about it. Now, she was convinced that whatever had plagued the lot those years ago had come back in some form. Maybe in a way that made it so you didn't even need to approach the tower…

"Yeah. There's no doubt about it." Slappy sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Those two guys offed themselves."