Secrets revealed. Enjoy.

Chapter 17: The One in the Mask

The door creaked open after the ridiculous amount of chains used to tightly bolt it closed were dropped. The fact that the door to the boss' room had to be chained shut with a locked door behind it was just as unsettling as it sounded. They all walked through and it shut just as fast behind them.

Max smiled as he trotted forward, ready to make this the grandest of all entrances for the sake of showing off to his boss' guests. He was probably unaware that their current opinions of him made it impossible for them to be impressed or even all that surprised by what he would do. It was still up in the air just how he got here or why some of these toons were doing what they were doing.

The plan was hazy. The motive was hazy. This boss of theirs was hazy. But Max was clearly just sleazy.

Max walked at a faster pace than the rest of them and made a motion with his finger behind them to stop. They all did so and pretty much had to force themselves to take in where they were.

This place was a lot different than the brownish, obviously dug in sections of the cave they were all at before. It was still necessary for the room to be lit of course but that was the weird part. The exact center of the room looked stacked with metal alloy that resembled a chair. Across from the large seat was a small television. That television was pretty much the only real provision of light this room was offering. Sure, there were shades of blue at the sides from two un-broken lights above, but they were incredibly dim. It seemed that whenever a light went out here, the boss didn't make it a top priority to change it.

At the top of the seat they could make out the figure. He was shrouded in the darkness that he had created for himself but he didn't really seem as though he was trying to make himself look ominous. Then again he didn't really have to.

He was wearing a large coat that stretched from his neck down to his shoes. He also had on a white mask that had makeshift holes punctured into it for the eyes. Because of the wonky handling of creation, there were cracks at the side of the holes.

What was really bothering Wakko wasn't his appearance though. It was what he was watching on the television across from him. They were all standing at an angle where they could clearly see him looking at the small TV from up on high so he could barely catch a glimpse of what was playing. However, he didn't need to. Hearing what it was had given him enough information.

Yeah, it was their show. Animaniacs.

But why sit up so high and look down at such a small television to watch it? Why wear a mask?

"Hello sir." Max spoke up, standing in the middle of the room. It looked like the flickering blue light above was giving him a spot-light. "I'm pleased to report that we have the visitors you predicted would be coming once Buster reported back to you about the success of our mission."

Dot looked to the side a bit. She was having trouble watching this scene for some odd reason. Scratchnsniff was easily intended on staring straight ahead despite his fears though. The same went for the others. A few eyes shifted of course and there were some murmurs, particularly from the Goodfeathers, about how ridiculous this place seemed to be but then again… what were they expecting?

"Yes… yes of course…" The person in the mask spoke. His voice was obviously being distorted by the mask. That had to be one of the reasons he wore it, aside from obviously not wanting his face to be seen.

The figure shifted his seat and managed to turn to face Max and the others. Max smiled and stood on one knee.

"It's always great whenever I get to see you looking at me and not the television sir. However do you not get tired of playing that show over and over again in a constant loop?" It was actually the first time Max had asked that question. It was always a constant wonder regardless if it was spoken up about or not though.

"… Tolerance and stamina." was what he said. It seemed like it was his answer. Wakko couldn't tell for some reason. It sounded like he cut himself off from a separate sentence.

"Uh-" Wakko began.

"Wakko Warner."

Wakko flinched. Max grinned. He could feel Wakko's uneasiness radiating from his body behind him. Just the way his boss talked was creepy but he had purposefully addressed Wakko. Seems he didn't have any problem meeting up with one of the people on the show he admired so much.

It was silent aside from the cartoon still playing at a low volume on the television beside him. Wakko shook his head and stepped forward. It wasn't like him to be in fear of anybody. If anything he should just be angry and hurling mallets all over. Something about this guy was compelling him to remain calm though.

Wakko looked right up at the guy and couldn't make out the movement of his eyes. The holes in the mask looked pitch black in this lighting. It didn't help that he stayed so silent after addressing his name.

"I am a really big fan of your show." He made a gesture toward his chest, putting a hand over his heart. "It really is the kind of show that makes one feel nostalgic regardless of age. It didn't end that long ago really… but I do remember the year it started. A lot of time has passed. A lot can change in that amount of time. In the world outside of your luxury existence, other toons were living out their sentence in the post-stardom era of their lives. It would seem your time has come."

Wakko looked at him and felt his heart ache.

"Now hang on." Rita spoke up suddenly. "Just because a toon's show ends doesn't mean that-"

"The young Warner didn't refute the inquiry I just made. I wonder if that means whatever it is you're about to say holds any water for him." The masked man shot back at her before she could finish.

Slappy began to scowl. Everything about this didn't seem to be in any of their favors. Still she was keeping herself from speaking. She understood that some moral ambiguity was going to be tossed around that she wouldn't like to hear or would have a problem taking in but nothing was going to be accomplished by interrupting and constantly having something contrary to say to the guy.

"I would just let the two of them have at it Ms. Cat." Slappy said to the flustered singing cat. "He wants to give us answers. Let's let him do it the way he wants to and not make waves at the freebee. I've investigated that Water Tower for decades now. Photos lined up and as the years passed it never changed. Nothing inside it did; not the pipes, not the water, nothing." She took out a set of pictures and tossed them out onto the floor.

Max leaned over and saw the changing years that were hinted by the quality of the pictures and the specified dates on each of them. He mouthed a word of approval and felt his face light up with crazed happiness.

Wakko looked behind him a bit to see these reactions and stared back at the boss. Seems he really just wanted to confront him and him only.

"Well… to answer what you said… yeah… it does seem like our time has come. No way were we going to go out without a fight though. Dot and I wouldn't and I would never expect Yakko to either. It's just the way that he did do it that bothers me." Wakko clutched at his chest. "It tortures me even… I know… I know he would never do any of what he's done. Not him. Not the real Yakko. There's a reason behind all of this. Something that being in that Water Tower must have done to him."

"… Well… you're certainly correct… about some aspects that you're thinking at least. I regret to inform you that he really would do all those things he's done." The man spoke with an as-a-matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Don't play mind games with me! You big bad villain types always gotta talk like you know me and my brother better than we do! Well, we're the Warners and we don't fall for stuff like that." Wakko raised his voice. Max chuckled at his nerve.

"Truth is very different from fiction. When the cameras are turned off a toon is very different in real life than how he is on the show he starred in. It may be a reflection of who you are to an extent but adversity in real life is different from adversity given to you through a script and a few shifting backgrounds. How nonchalant would you really be starring the Devil down if you're this uptight seeing me?" He asked, in all curiousness.

"We're not perfect. I'm not saying that we are. And I'm not saying we always have a handle over everything. Sometimes that wasn't even true on the show. But I'm not about to let you try and tell me that my brother's actions here are his own." Wakko growled. He was very much against letting this man have his way with his family any longer.

"Oh. Alright. I suppose I can't stop you from believing a lie you told yourself to make yourself feel better. However, what I say has nothing to do with my personal vendetta against you. I'm speaking the truth. Now, ignoring the fact that even if he were being brainwashed or something, they'd still be his actions because he's still the one doing them-"

Wakko felt his pupils dilate a bit. He was trying to compose himself but this was starting to not go over well.

"-And the fact of the matter is that he's doing what he does because that's what his body and mind are telling him to do."

"It's not his fault! He's doing it because he's being forced by some kind of… power that our tower has…" Wakko grimaced.

"You keep making incorrect guesses to sooth yourself. I was under the impression that you sought the truth rather than a safety net for your fragile psyche." He imposed on Wakko. The Warner grinded his teeth and began to sweat. His heart beat faster. He let out a gush of air and his knees wobbled.

This stress wasn't natural.

"Then… tell me… tell me what it is…!" Wakko grumbled.

"Yakko is acting on his true feelings."

"Don't LIE to me!"

"I have reason to lie to you? Do tell."

"…! But… Yakko…! N-No… he… told me… that day…" Wakko was flashing back to the day of the fire. "Y-Yeah… he said something about that…"

"Ah. So he informed you of the truth too? Seems you let your imagination and want for his innocence cloud even that. What did he say?" The man spoke with reverence.

"… Something about… a good side… and a bad side… and his bad side was winning. He talked like there was some sort of war going on inside his body and…" Wakko was fidgeting badly now. Why was his body so broken nowadays? So much stress and worry and other nonsense was just getting to him and he only ever calmed down when a certain comforting, babyish, or unrealistic thought passed by or when Dot encouraged him with kind, reassuring words.

Why couldn't he just face reality normally?

He forced himself to stand up straight. Despite his continued fidgeting he looked the guy dead in the eyes as he kept going. "… Yeah… there's some kind of struggle going on in his body and… he said that… all of what he did was from the bad part of him. It was all…"

Dot and the others watched Wakko curiously. This was the first time they had heard of any of this. Max already knew what was going on though, so he found this miraculously amusing.

"… It was all… stuff that deep down… the bad part of him really wanted to do…" Wakko spoke up. There was one singular gasp that came from Dot behind him. The rest of them looked just as shocked, if not a little frightened by what that meant.

"So you acknowledge that what he's doing is something that he's wanted to do?" The man said.

"… The… The bad side of him-!"

"-Is still a side of him is it not?"

Wakko looked down at his feet, tearing up slightly. "Yes." He muttered, wiping it away. Wakko remembered the words Yakko had said. They were as clear as day. He had no mental condition. He wasn't having thoughts and feelings put into him that weren't already there. Yakko said it was… something that was making his evil side overtake his good side and act upon those dark thoughts and feelings that were within him. The things his good side kept harbored under control were being given free range because his good side was being depleted and destroyed. Yakko had described it as…

"… A curse…?" Wakko spoke out loud.

Everyone looked at each other and then back at the Warner. Max even looked a little surprised. How did he know that it was a curse?

The man didn't show any signs of being surprised that Wakko knew that though. "Yes. It is a curse. Well, depending on whom you ask it can be considered that. For other toons who really, really want unrelenting revenge against the world for their plight, it might be considered a blessing."

"Yakko… I know Yakko isn't that kind of person. That isn't denial." Wakko shot back. "I know that if he had to choose, he'd come back to us in a heartbeat."

"Probably… but then again, he might just do it because he felt he had to…" The man spoke on.

"If it's for our sake, I at least know where his heart is." Wakko ushered back, straight faced and serious. He didn't let that remark get to him.

"… Impressive reaction you had that time. Ha. Well, than, allow me to go on. The natural word for what's going on with your brother is that he has been cursed. When I found out I simply could not resist pushing his buttons. Admittedly, I played a tiny hand in helping his development along by urging those teenage goons to egg him on. Capturing you and having them all torture you wasn't anything personal. I did hear your screams though. It was a little jarring hearing the screams you had of today echoing over the episode of the show I was playing that broadcasted your laughing of the past."

Wakko shut his eyes and squeezed them tightly. He felt the memories coming back but now really wasn't the time to freak out. He knew this guy was doing this kind of talk on purpose. He just wanted to screw with him. And it was working. Really well and really quickly in fact...

"… You know…" He spoke again.

This guy…

"Me and your brother…"

Wakko curled and uncurled his fist.

"… We're so much alike, it's almost disgusting…"

WHAM!

Wakko slammed the ground in front of him with his mallet. It cracked the floor and made the people behind him jump. The masked man stopped talking but he didn't flinch.

"That. IS. ENOUGH!" Wakko shouted out loud, his pupils shrunken and his face a tint of red. "I am sick and tired of you jerks giving me the run around whenever I try and talk to you! You think you can just do whatever you want to me! I'm your plaything right? Me, my brother, and my sister are just children to screw around with huh? You saw us on the show and thought it'd be waaaaay cool to tick us off and show us up because we did it to other people on there all the time! Well screw you!" Wakko ran right up to him and jumped straight at the guy's high seat, with his mallet in full swing.

The man's arm lurched out and grabbed Wakko by the neck from where he sat. Instantly Wakko gagged and dropped it to the ground.

"Wakko!" Dot screamed.

Slappy was about to charge in but Max got in the way.

"Move you pint sized-" Slappy started.

"I'm saving his life. Be grateful. The second you charge him, you'll be given free range to be treated like a threat. In Wakko's positon all the boss has to do is squeeze once and his neck snaps. But that can be avoided if you guys stay put and don't give him any more reason to think of you guys as dangers." Max grinned with his arms splayed out.

"… Why… you…" Slappy grumbled.

"Alright. We won't move." Plotz interjected, feeling rather complacent and calm despite how riled up he was earlier. "Just be sure to put the boy down. You hear me, Mr. Mask?" He shouted past Max.

Wakko struggled in the guy's arm. He was kicking back and forth, sweating, and gasping for air.

"I feel compelled… to snap your neck right now… I could just kill you… your brother is already going off the deep end. It wouldn't take much to push him completely over it and have him complete what the Water Tower started with him 60 years ago. Six days should be enough. I heard the news. He's going to be killed right?"

Wakko started to droop and his arms grew weak. His struggling was lowering and his friends looked on in concern. Even Max started to doubt if he would let him go.

"Good. That should be more than enough time. I'd kill him myself but that'd just ruin everything. I hate being shackled to a time table… but I need to wait until my men who took over your studio lot confirm that the tower is ready for me. If they call in time before his execution than I'll just let them kill him. If the execution date comes and it still isn't ready, I'll have to make sure he gets rescued. Such a troublesome matter I have to contend to, wouldn't you agree?"

Wakko gagged and slumped completely in the guy's arm, aside from one hand that grasped at the Masked man's arm.

"Oh I'm sorry. You don't know what I'm talking about do you? You were about to let me explain before you attacked me correct? I'm being generous. All I expected was for you to take a few jabs at your expense for the sake of letting you know what was going on but you couldn't even do that. Pathetic."

Wakko winced in pain again.

"Cooperate. Do I have your promise that you will stand by and listen…?"

Wakko nodded.

The man tossed Wakko to the ground. He immediately started to cough and clutch his throbbing throat. Dot rushed over to him and tried to see if he was okay. He waved her off despite that though which only worried her more.

He hacked and coughed a bit as he stumbled onto his unsteady legs. "… P-Please… I-I'm sorry… make whatever joke or crack at me you want… j-just tell me…"

Dot winced herself now. Her brother sounded so helpless. He was begging this guy for information.

"Had you stood there and listened you wouldn't have even needed to beg. Guess it's just in your nature to be taken advantage of and humiliated."

Wakko shut his eyes and took the blow of those words. He gritted his teeth and stayed where he was. "… Y…yeah… yes it is… just … please… Y-Yakko… is… "

"The Curse of the Water Tower is what you'd call a rather creepy phenomenon. It's one that most wouldn't think possible and naturally wouldn't believe should they be assured of its authenticity. But it came to me. I know because I hold hatred of the studios and the entertainment business that warrants me able to see it. Not everyone can. Special conditions need to be reached in order for it happen. I'm a perfect candidate… but it chose Yakko instead. Why? Because he lived within it most likely…" The man slumped back in his seat.

"… Me and Dot… we lived in the tower too… this curse or whatever didn't affect us because… we didn't have enough hatred?" Wakko asked, trying to understand.

"The three of you shared the residence together… but only one of you resented your situation and the people who put you in it hard enough to be affected by that thing's curse. Because things remain constant within the Water Tower, it didn't start to affect him until he left it. You didn't realize it when the show began but overtime, Yakko grew more and more sickly the more he tried to do good. It's a curse that enhances the evil thoughts and desires one harbors within them and has it take over and completely eradicate the good thoughts and desires they had. And the more he tries to act good, the sicker he gets." He explained wholeheartedly.

"… So… that's why Dot and I are fine…" Wakko muttered. Dot grimaced. It felt weird knowing that they were living inside a cursed water tower for 60 years. That's not something you find out and don't get a case of the shivers afterward over.

"Chances are if any one of you were cursed, the other two of you would've been fine. Only one can be affected by it at a time." The man said back.

"Eh? Why is that?" Wakko asked with wide-eyed confusion.

"They only need one vessel to enhance the hatred of." He said back.

Wakko blinked. Did he just say they? Who are they?

"What about that thing makes it so that stuff inside it never ages?" Slappy interjected.

"Ms. Squirrel-" Plotz began.

"Hush. Mr. Boss man shouldn't have a problem with a simple question if he's explaining things anyway…" Slappy said.

The man looks past Wakko and over to her. "Not at all. I was about to answer that next…" he looks back down at Wakko. "… That tower acts as a dead zone. A gathering of spirits. A passage to the afterlife. Time does not flow for those among the realm of the dead."

"What?!" Slappy, Plotz, and Brain shouted out at the same time. Wakko and Dot had frozen looks of astonishment on their faces.

"… That tower did look like a tombstone…" Squit murmured to himself.

"It's a passage that I'm waiting to be fully ripe so that it can open up within the Water Tower. Once it does only the vessel they've chosen may enter and gain access to their powers of manifested hatred and possession." He clutched his hands tightly. "I want it so much for myself. I hate this world and the studio heads who govern the fate of the toons who all simply wished to entertain the masses and enjoy the lives they had. To make people smile and laugh was the goal… but then you reach the end of your rope and you truly see what life has in store for you…"

Wakko stared at him, shocked. He couldn't actually mean…

The man stood up from his seat and jumped from his elevated height down to Wakko's level. "And once you see the devastation that awaits you, you learn to live with it, cursing the monsters that took your life away from you… or you die. Whether it be by suicide or natural causes… or even just depression, early graves are all the rage for toons this day in age especially."

Wakko shook where he stood.

"And their rage and anger and hatred boils deeper and harder and it carries on after they die toward the afterlife. And the collective amount of tortured and angry souls amass and continued to do so more and more. They couldn't fully ascend because their hatred and lust for revenge tied them to this world. Your face tells me you're starting to understand. You know who they are now don't you?"

Wakko didn't say anything or even change his now stunned, yet horrified expression.

"They are indeed a massive collection of toon spirits harboring hatred… a hatred so strong and so deep that it plunged itself into a symbol of something that represented the misfortune that befell them all in life. You know what that symbol is…"

Wakko kept the same expression. "… Our… Water Tower…"

"That tower stands in the Warner Brothers studio lot as a symbol of the ruination of their lives. Their spirits aren't made of anything tangible. It's nothing but hatred and vile anger that connects them to the tower. The spirits aren't made of souls or spectral gas. They just became a manifestation of hatred when they died. They all cobbled together and latched onto the water tower; possessing the large item that represented what they were now."

Wakko fell to his knees.

The room was silent for quite a while. The spirits of Cartoon stars. The ones that laughed and joked around and played about... and wanted to make people laugh... just a giant ghostly ball of otherworldly possessive hatred...

No one continued to talk. Letting something like that sink in was hard. Max was the one to speak up again.

"Ahahaha. Toons die a lot and it's starting to happen more frequently then before. I wonder how many of them transferred into manifestations of cursed hatred or whatever." Max grinned. "If I were to die, would I become one? If I could, I'd take over the president and make him go on a personal killing spree. Wouldn't that be a cool newspaper headline? President goes on literal killing spree? It'd be history in the making!" Max laughed.

"No one person can die and leave behind a mass of hatred strong enough to possess someone. They all had to come together as a singular unit to vi-pass the barriers the afterlife created and latch onto an item in the living world so that they could stay there. It doesn't work for spirits to just float around without attachment to something of the living world. That's why we all have bodies. They serve as vessels for souls. Just as Yakko serves as a vessel for their hatred." The masked man said.

"… What?" Wakko looked up, teary eyed. "But… you said that they latched onto the Water Tower! Why would they need my brother?!"

"Idiot." The man actually kicked Wakko to the ground. He gasped and grabbed his arm.

"Hey!" Skippy went to go forward but Slappy pulled him back.

"You don't think do you? What's latching on to the Water tower going to do aside from keeping them from floating away from the living world? The Water Tower can't feel. It has no feelings. It has no hatred. Their manifestation of hatred longs for revenge. They need a vessel of a person who harbors thoughts of anger and revenge so they can take it over and complete their goals together as a singular unit within the body of one person from the living who hates this world and it's practices hard enough to encompass them all." He was raising his voice.

"That… that can't be Yakko…!" Wakko stood back up, twitching.

"That IS Yakko. They chose him! It wouldn't work if you didn't have enough hatred or a lust for revenge strong enough to sate those wronged spirits. There is no debating this." He stood staring down at Wakko.

Wakko clutched his head. "… It has to be… because he had the most hate out of the three of us… we were all trapped INSIDE that thing!"

"That I agree with!" He said back. Wakko looked back up at him. "I harbor much more hatred of this world, its people, and its disgusting practices than your brother does. I truly am a fan of your show and I can vouch for Yakko when I say I'd be a much stronger and more suitable vessel for the spirits seeking revenge than he would."

"… Y… You…" Wakko muttered, sitting perfectly still. Slappy looked disgruntled.

"The tower was taken over by a collective mass of lust for revenge… from the afterlife… " Slappy reached down and scooped up her pictures of the tower. Year after year it stayed the same. Possessed by spirits and harboring a ghostly aurora of vengeance. "The tower only acts as something that connects the world of the living and the world of the dead. It was being taken over by those spirits and because of that it functioned like something from the afterlife. Things in the afterlife never age or grow old…"

"Which explains why the Warners never aged when they were trapped inside of it…" Brain murmured.

"Ohhhh… you know Brain, I was this close to giving up and saying a Wizard did it." Pinky expressed.

"I wasn't that far behind you Pinky… still… it's all rather hard to take in…" Brain grumbled.

"I'm not about to stand here and wait for you to accept it." The boss said. "I sit here and re-watch these episodes over and over again. It got to the point where the eye strain was too much and I had to elevate my seat to view it from far off. I refused to allow any light to come from anywhere but that television screen. I couldn't let anything, not even the smallest glimmer of light, distract me from my goal. You Warners don't know who I am but I know you all well. You play a big part in why I'm doing all this. You all are a great motivational tool and reminder of what I lost. How ironic that fate deals me this hand where the death of your brother ushers in my chance for full-on revenge." He blurted out.

"WHAT?!" Everyone tensed up. Wakko wobbled on his feet but remained composed but still surprised.

"That manifestation of hatred. That lust for revenge. The powers of the afterlife that will be granted to Yakko once the Water Tower is ready. I want it all for myself! It belongs to me and I cannot allow him to keep it!" He said.

"Good! Yakko doesn't want it either!" Dot stepped forward.

"It doesn't matter what the old Yakko thinks. The point is that the new Yakko is relishing in the evil that's encased in his body now. Try to visualize what it is I'm saying. He'll become a full on monster that's completely overtaken by hatred without a single ounce of goodness left in him. The Water Tower is still connected to the afterlife and once Yakko's curse strips away all the good left within him the tower will be ready to accept him and open a portal to them. Than all he'll have to do is return to it and all the manifested spirits will fully and completely take his body over and they'll use it to enact revenge." The masked man explained.

"The spirits aren't inside Yakko yet?" Wakko asked.

"No you imbecile. They only cursed him. I told you that. It's just a spell. A power of spiritual persuasion that was granted to them when they took the form they have now. A passage from our world to their area in the afterlife will be created only when Yakko's good side is completely done away with. Only once that passage is open is when I can kill him. They will need a new vessel to take over and that vessel shall be me. I don't need to be cursed in order for my evil side to take hold. I'm perfectly willing to allow it to happen. The spirits have their eyes set on Yakko though, so it can't open until he's fully evil. Get it now? When he dies is important to me. If he dies before he turns fully evil then the portal won't open inside the Water Tower and he'll die as their permanent already-selected vessel. When he turns fully evil, the portal will open. Then I can kill him and go through it so that they can re-select me as their vessel. It all hinges on making sure that portal opens. Anyone can go into it and be taken over by the spirits so long as the portal opens."

"Their vessel can't die before he turns completely evil or else the portal will stay closed permanently?" Wakko asked.

"They only have one shot at it before the portal opens. If their vessel dies before it opens than that's it. Their chance is over. However, if someone with enough hatred can wander into the portal through the Water Tower after it opens they can have as many new vessels as they want no matter how many times it dies. The key here is making sure someone turns evil so that the passage can open. Once its open, anyone can enter. But it needs to open first. He can't die before he's fully realized or else it won't open. Understand now?" The stood tall over Wakko.

"I… I do…"

"Explain it back to me."

The request surprised Wakko… but he did so anyway...

"… Angry vengeful ghosts took over our tower and cursed my big brother… because of that he's turning evil… and when he turns completely evil a portal between our world and the afterlife will open up inside it so he can go into it and let the spirits take him over so they can be free to do whatever they want over here. Yakko is their unwilling vessel… and if their vessel dies before the portal opens they won't be able to get another chance to do this again. But if their vessel dies after the portal is open, any one person can go into it and get possessed by the spirits if they have enough hatred…"

"Now you're up to speed. Fantastic." He said to Wakko.

"No. Not entirely…" Wakko said back.

"Hmm?" The man looked a bit taken a back by that.

"If you're telling the truth…"

"And I am…"

"… Then why do you want it so bad? What's going to happen when they get released into the world through your body?" Wakko asked.

"… Loads of people will die of course. Anarchy. Towns will burn to the ground. Cities will be destroyed. People will go on random killing sprees toward any one person they see. It's been building up for so long in that tower. People who've been near it started to go crazy and started killing random people because the spirits inside it are getting restless. It has the power of suggestion. That killing spree so many years ago was due to the tower. It "suggested" that everyone lose their minds and kill everyone. And the method of choice was severing their heads." He explained.

Slappy in particular looked astonished by that.

"The method was severing their heads…" Skippy spoke up next to his aunt. "Oh wow… but why that particular method?"

"Heh. The spirits of the afterlife have a peculiar sense of humor. They chop off the heads of people because the head is where imagination is born. The kind of imagination that studio heads put behind the creation of popular cartoon shows…" He laughed.

Wakko pointed at him.

"Last question! WHO are you? Why do you know so much?! Who told you all this when no one else in the entire world could've known? And why did you just tell us all this?!" Wakko demanded.

"… That was more than one final question brat." He said back.

"Don't get smart with me." Wakko ordered.

"Where did that daring demeanor come from all of a sudden?" He challenged back.

The guy took in a deep breath and spoke again when Wakko just continued to stare. "… Yes… well, as for why I told you all this it's rather simple. Should you choose to assist me, my colleges would need to know all that. We can't work together without a common goal in mind."

"Heheh. That's right." Max chimed in.

"Screw you! Both of you! Why in the world would we help you?" Wakko asked.

"We both need to reach that prison. You want to save your brother but my intention is to kill him. However, I cannot kill him before the portal opens and if this six days isn't enough, I may need your help rescuing him." He explained.

"And your goons can't do that? You can't just kill us and send them after Yakko?" Wakko asked.

"Wakko! Hey!" Rita shouted at him.

"No. That isn't possible. The majority of my men are at the Warner Brothers studio and they need to remain there to both protect it and keep watch of the Water Tower. I'm short on numbers right now and it's far smarter to act upon a common goal we have than to just send my remaining grunts out to handle it. I'm sure they could but this is much safer. It's not like any of what I told you helps you stop my plans after all. There are only three outcomes. Yakko gets saved by you only to be possessed and becomes the seed of anarchy and destruction. Or he gets killed by my hand and I take on the spirits and their power myself when the portal opens after he turns evil. Or he gets killed in the execution before the portal opens and before he turns evil and no one gets the powers of the afterlife." He explained.

"Y-Yakko dying would ruin your plans for that third option though right?" Wakko remarked feeling a sting of desperation well up.

"Oh? You're saying you'd allow the death of your brother than? Silly me. I told you all that under the assumption that you wouldn't allow that to happen. I guess I can't underestimate how cold hearted a Warner can be. Looks like my plans are in ruins." He stared directly at Wakko's face, searching for the reaction he knew he would have.

Extreme despair. There it was, written all over Wakko's face. Of course he wouldn't just LET them kill Yakko…

"… I'm… I'm not going to work with you… we'll steal the items we need and do it ourselves!" Wakko said.

"And you think telling me that you're planning on robbing my hideout will help you accomplish your task?" He gestured to the side with his cloaked arm.

"You're not an idiot. I can tell that. If we refused, and we DO, than what else were you going to conclude that we were going to do?" Wakko spoke with a bit of a slight stammer. He was clearly even more flustered than before. This new info didn't sooth him in the least. A cloud of cold, scary death loomed over everyone.

Speaking of cold…

"Why was the Water Tower so cold?" Wakko asked suddenly.

"More questions? It seems you've mistaken what the word 'final' means…" the one in the mask retorted. "It's not hard to figure out. The aurora of death is freezing cold. Your tower is basically acting as a zone for the dead. Icy cold air comes with the territory." He explained. "As for the other questions you asked me… why do I know all this… and who I am… that's not anything you need to know."

"Hey now-!" Wakko grinded his teeth.

"I'm not going to air all of my dirty laundry for you. I only told you what you needed to know to make sense of why I needed you to assist me. If you want to know who I am…" He pointed his thumb at the mask on his face.

Wakko stared intensely at him as he did so.

"Then come over here and take off my mask for yourself. I dare you to try."