This Chapter marks the most important turning point in the story. The time clock for all life on Earth is ticking…

Chapter 19: Our Last Day Begins Below the Red Sky

"The news has never been so entertaining dude. Seriously, you have to see this." Max munched on popcorn in the back seat of the aircraft, staring at the screen as the news was letting what was taking place sink in for the audiences at home.

Buster stared straight ahead as he flew the plane though. He could hear everything just fine from where he was and wasn't too sure what Max's deal was. He should've expected this kind of response.

The news was blaring loudly and going on and on about the mental instability of the tools they use for entertainment. The world was visibly shaken about what had happened with Yakko. A lot of them, especially the old types in suits, were blaming the toons. The other side was rightfully blaming the way the studios and the audiences were treating them. Of course, people didn't take kindly to being blamed for something that was their fault so being on that side was the controversial route to go.

"Oh! They're bringing in the cartoon 'experts' now. These guys are always a hoot." Max laughed in the background.

"What we have here is a simple malfunction in the collective minds of these cartoons. It seems pretty obvious at this point that they just figure themselves impervious to the rules our collective society. Feeling as though they can go through life being handed the things they want most likely. The majority always find out the hard way that that's simply how it doesn't work. At least not past their initial conception."

"He so sounds like he wishes he knew what he was talking about." Max built up a huge chuckle. Buster's ears twitched. Yelling at Max to shut up and turn that crap off wasn't going to do anything. Max didn't care about what other people had to say but Buster's conscience never left him. This was just insulting.

"So the world is totally blowing up over this gunk. I totally cannot wait until the world just ends. Can you imagine dude? They have another broadcast and it's just those old guys screaming like little girls as another crazed person comes on and chops his head off." Max laughed. Well, he thought it sounded funny at least. Buster just looked a bit downcast.

"Hmm… "

"Geez." Max rolled in his chair to face the rabbit. "I know your life is ruined and all but is all of the old you just gone? I mean, I hated the old you but at least you responded more often. This silent treatment is a little rude."

"Whenever I talked to you before all this nonsense, what came out of my mouth wasn't any less rude if you'll recall." Buster leered up and out the window.

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh." Max sat back with his arms behind his head. "I guess I just miss the attention."

"It's astounding how twisted you are you know that?" Buster growled.

"You feel like you're in a position to talk bad about me? That's rich. It doesn't look like we're doing anything different here." Max closed his eyes with a smile.

"… … No, I guess not." Buster sighed.

"Intentions don't matter. We're both gunning for the same result here. When this is over the world's gonna be flooded with people who just wanna kill each other. The place couldn't get much redder. If there were ever an animal that loved the kill, it's the majority of the intelligent society of our world man. All of us are the same. Toon or not, emotions work the same way baby. I honestly don't even think there's a good side in all this. One side is filled with idiots who don't know what they're talking about and oppress for the sake of lording over the lives of their entertainment. And the other side is filled with people like us." Max grinned wickedly.

"At this point it's just a battle between who's the most ruthless." Buster muttered.

"Yup. Glad you finally came around man." Max kicked his feet up. "Before everyone starts dying I'll need to take a picture of the carnage and give it a title. I'll call it something artsy like… 'The true intention behind the living spirit'… or 'Red meat'. Something cool like that."

Buster didn't have anything more to say. Max was crazy.

Then again, so was he.

The floating station hovered above the clouds, overlooking the world below. It seemed so fantastic looking from so high up. It was always great looking down from so high up. So rarely does one reach heights like this. No one ever finds it all too fascinating looking up at the clouds unless they just didn't care much for the way their normal and quiet lives were.

The boss sat in his seat with a huff. His TV wasn't on. Light was pouring into his command center from the large window stretched across the front of the control room of his floating fortress. His mask still stayed on his face though. He wasn't ready to part with it just yet. Exposing his face to the light wasn't in the cards right just yet.

It probably would never be. No one has a right to gaze upon the last bit of passion he had for his former life. He turned and looked at the picture sitting at the side of his ship's control panel. He picked it up and looked it over. It had been a while since he had decided to look at it. His memories seemed fluent and gave him that feeling of a longing for revenge well enough.

But the effect of actually staring at the object of his affection couldn't compare to simply remembering what had happened. It truly had been so long.

Thinking about the bonds that people shared with each other and how he used to have something like that he could call his own… did nothing to sway him from continuing this plan. He knew he wasn't alone when thoughts of devastation and heart-break came to mind. People lost loved ones every day and it was always so hard to deal with. So, understanding that, why condemn everyone else anyway?

That was easy. It's because we all share the same instincts. Every baby is born knowing how to breathe and swallow and blink. The people they meet and the experiences they endure shape who they are. They'll get over it quickly. The people who are currently sad because their life was ruined forever by the system or the unending heart-ache they feel after recently losing something will all have their problems washed away.

It's always so hard to think about. Who deserves to live? Who deserves to die? Does anyone deserve either? How do you re-shape the world to get the desired result? Does the world even have any interest in changing? He was just so tired of watching this nonsense play out. Year after year after year, it's the same nonsense. Everyone was a pawn. The nice people were pawns. The mean people were pawns. The idiots with money who run those studios were pawns. They were all slaves to their instincts as a flurry of beings who simply could not band together to come to a single conclusion.

Do we work to make sure everyone lives in peace?

Do we work to make sure everyone lives in misery?

Since there was all this fighting and what not he was going to decide for them.

When Yakko fully loses himself, everyone loses their lives. No more worrying about right and wrong anymore.

And then those who were smart enough to realize his way was right may get a chance to bask in the glowing pit of his own hatred for all of eternity. It feels so good. Just the idea of melding with those spirits was making him fidget.

And with the next call he received, he was a step closer to that reality.

He pressed the button on his console when it started to beep. "Hello there Beans. Report?"

The henchman who stayed behind on the lot after getting into that scuffle with Slappy and her nephew, Beans the Cat, was speaking back to his boss. However, he was panting and his voice was hoarse.

"Sir… uh… one of our guys… okay… a f-few more then that… suddenly went crazy and tried to kill me and a few other guys…"

"… Oh really…?"

"I don't know what's happening… I think there's small reports of stuff like that happening around Burbank but I'm not too sure… word of mouth is a bit sketchy b-but they were trying to kill us man. I swear! It was self-defense! I didn't mean to strike back so hard! It-!"

"Calm down. It's alright."

"… It… it is?"

The boss was scrunching his hand on the armrest of the chair. He wasn't mad. He was excited. The water tower was almost ready. Yakko was close to completely losing it. Time was of the essence.

"I'll be there eventually. As of right now Buster and Max are on a mission that I'm waiting for a report on before I fully take this fortress to it's destination. If what you say is true, I'll need it for what's to come next. I'll have to put my faith in them."

"S-So you're coming here? Wh-What exactly is the plan again?"

"Don't concern yourself with it. Just stay there and enjoy the time we all have left."

"…?" Beans didn't get it. He's taking the large battleship to the Warner Brothers lot and not the prison? They already took the lot over. What exactly is he expecting to go down here? Should he really be concerned?

The boss shut the communicator off and sat in his chair facing forward. "It's finally time. My heart hasn't raced so fast in so long. This is going to be fantastic."

Yakko sat up in his bed. His vision was even more hazy and screwed up than it was the night before. He was coughing and hacking and sweating beyond the limitation one's body should be able to handle.

He got out of bed and plopped to the floor, gasping and gagging on his own saliva. He felt terrible. Trying as hard as he could to hold his own self back was indeed making him sicker and weaker than ever.

Not talking to anyone and not paying anyone any mind was making him completely see red. He was sore all over already from the labor they were making him do on top of how horrible his body was. Not much in medical attention was given to him due to his sentence being on death row anyway. He doubted that he would've gotten it anyway regardless.

Yakko struggled to see clearly through the bars of his cell to make out what was going on outside of it. Even though putting effort into anything, even seeing and breathing, felt like a waste of time to him now something was compelling him to not force his death to come any earlier. He coughed and winced and finally managed to make out someone at the door of his cell.

It was a prison guard. His memory flashed to a bit where Ralph was eating pizza and right before Yakko was about to prank it out of his hands, the guy spotted him and offered him a slice.

He missed his portly studio guard.

This guy upon opening Yakko's cell, kicked him across the face and let him lurch to the ground with a bit of blood-red spittle dripping out the corner of his mouth.

"Get off the floor. Time for you to go and make what you can of your last hour." The guy said with a sneer. Yakko's eyes widened when he processed what the guy said. Pain was shooting through his sickly and weak body but he felt himself sit up despite that.

"… Wh… what…?" Yakko's voice was really quiet. Again, he rarely spoke now. Anything he did, he was afraid would set himself off and he wouldn't be able to control himself. But what did that guy just say to him? "… I'm… going… free…?"

"Hahaha! No, you're going to Hell. Your execution has been pushed forward. Looks like even if your siblings had wanted to say a final farewell of some sort they just ran out of time to try." He sounded so slimy and was gloating quite a bit. This was the type he and his sibs would take on together and actively make miserable.

But hearing all this, his heart thumped. His pupils dilated and his whole body started to shake. The look on his face was frozen and sweaty. The nerve they had to just decide that he should die sooner than they had promised. The gall they had to insinuate an emotional backlash onto his siblings like that. It was too much. He had taken so much abuse since coming here but this was about to set him off.

When he got started, he knew there was no way he could stop. That tiny speck of kindness left in him was at the forefront now and should he let go now it was leaving and no way was it coming back. He managed to just barely avoid a break-down.

He just had to hold on until he was executed.

Eventually, the guard yanked Yakko to his feet and tugged him along. Yakko was breathing really hard and stumbling over his own feet. Even if this guy was a jerk, he didn't want to lose it and end up killing him.

People around him started to comment on his passing. Toons were treated so much differently from humans here it was almost unreal. Yakko wasn't headed off to something that would be clean and modern. It was pretty messy and mid-evil. The people here just didn't care about the methods they used in disposing of these guys. And the outside world didn't do anything about it. Either because the prison hid it from them or because they didn't care. He could only hope it was the former because if it was the later then there truly was no hope for any sort of compatibility between them and the rest of society.

Then again, why should he care? He was leaving this world soon.

... Yeah but his brother and sister were still in it.

And his passing meant they were going to be left alone in it. Sure they had friends but they all have their own lives too. Depending on them can only take them so far.

Yakko could hear more and more taunting and shouting ringing in his ears. By now his vision had just stopped trying to focus. Everything was blurred and his body just wouldn't stop shaking. He could barely muster any strength to step forward. His arms and head began to dangle and the mixture of sweat and blood dripping from his mouth and face was leaving a small trail behind him as he headed for the doorway leading to the courtyard.

The doors eventually were opened and sunlight hit his face, nearly full on blinding him. However, when it cleared up he managed to get a good look at what was in front of him.

Some joker was standing beside a stump with a black cloth over his head an axe in his hands. He could just see the guy chuckling to himself underneath that mask. He probably thought it was so funny that he was getting the chance to execute a toon like this. Child or not didn't matter eh? Why did this surprise him anymore?

His heart jumped and he let out a pained scream. The guard yanked on his arm to hoist him up.

"Don't do that. Stay quiet until it's time to start." He ordered.

Yakko was having a hell of a time ignoring all this nonsense. These bastards were just throwing one awful thing after another at him. He had snapped and tried killing his actual friends over much lighter stuff too. He honestly didn't know how much longer he could hold on. He only had about an hour left. If he could manage to stave off his wicked side for just that much longer then he'd be in the clear. His good side would have won. There's only so much left in him though. He could run dry of it any second.

"Come on… come on…" He continuously muttered to himself. It was barely above a whisper.

A shaky, tired, and desperate whisper.

An alarm went off within the prison. A voice came onto the loud speaker to verbally alert the workers and the prisoners at once.

The voice on the line was that of Detective Shorenay and he sounded particularly giddy today.

"Hello all. Your kind and generous boss has so graciously allowed me to send the alert for today's special ceremony as it were. The execution of Yakko Warner shall be commencing just as soon as we have a nice little audience for it."

The prisoners looked a tad confused. So much of what he had said in that little blurb didn't make any sense. His execution date wasn't anywhere near the allotted time by a couple of days. That and the prisoners weren't normally expected to come to the execution grounds on a whim.

"Don't you all worry. None of you are getting the axe today before your initial times are up like Yakko. I'm doing this as a special treat. You all are going to see first-hand how big of an example he's about to made of. No mercy, not even for a child like him and I want it to sink in."

The whole prison was hearing this all first hand. From all across it they were taking in this man's words, both stunned and unsure of what kind of moral ground this situation was imposing to them.

"Don't anyone be complacent with deadlines and other nonsense like that. Whatever procautions can be taken to ensure the safety and well-being of the world is justice in of itself. But the example I'm going to make of this kid won't stay hidden behind the walls of this prison. I was told to inform the big boss man here that there was an issue of overturn on his official execution date. Sorry to surprise you all with that. No need to worry about it. All that means is that the message will be made more public sooner."

The head of the prison stood next to Shorenay as he spoke, unsure of what to make of this man's intentions still.

"These toons should know by now, that the mercy granted onto them comes at the expense of our own safety and health. There's nothing keeping them completely bound to the laws we've set up for them and a heavy example like this doesn't come along often. He's still just a child and he's getting quite the gruesome send off. It may upset a few on the outside but the message will come clear. No one, absolutely no toon, is above their place in this world. Should they try and do what they want to step out of that place, child or not, they will be punished."

Everyone around was continuing to stand and listen in shock. It was really heavy handed. Making such a deep example out of what happens when you cross the line of your place in the world through this poor kid. However, it wasn't a lie that he killed all those people… they knew that he did… so…

... Perhaps it was best to see this through. There wasn't much keeping them from thinking otherwise aside from the show that he was on correct? That was their place and he crossed the line. No one should feel sorry for him.

Some of the prisoners were trying to convince themselves of this. Others didn't care but there was a surprising amount of them that seemed as though they did. The guards and men stationed there were having serious mixed feelings about what he had just said. Were his words just beating around a way to say that he was advocating enslavement of the entire toon populace? Or did he really think that such a strict placement on the state and worth of their lives was necessary? Was it fact that they needed to remain inferior in the eyes of everyone?

No matter what they thought, the fact of the matter is, the ones in charge were definitely determined to keep it that way. And it seemed like with this Shorenay was going to usher in a new era of extreme punishments and abuse concerning the amount of leeway toons had after this kid was executed. A few encouraging speeches here and there along with a taped example of this murderer's death and he'd have all the communities eating this commentary up.

They were all thinking different things as the prisoners were led out of their cells by the guards to the execution ground behind the prison. He had requested an audience for this. They needed to comply.

Two guards stood outside with their guns in hand and looked out to the front with their gazes fixated ahead. Despite their blank faces, one of them eventually sighed and slumped a bit causing the other to face him.

"Did hearing all that get to you man?" The second guard asked.

"Yeah… a little… doesn't this seem a little screwed up? We're talking about people who dedicate their lives to just entertaining us and our children. I'm not so certain we have to collectively be so cruel."

"They still live among society though… and I guess society is worried about whether or not they have to prowess to take us over… I guess."

"But it's clear all they want to do is entertain us right?"

"That kid in there is on death row for killing quite a few people man. Maybe he's got a point."

"I'm just not… entirely convinced that what we're doing didn't lead to that outcome though… I-"

"Hey. What's that?" The guard he was speaking to looked up and pointed to the sky. The man who initiated the conversation squinted his eyes. He could barely make out something in the distance due to the rays of the Sun. However, his eyes got bigger once he noticed the object getting bigger too.

Not just bigger, but faster. It was headed right for them!

"What is that?" The second guard inquired again, truly confused.

"It's headed this way and it's coming in fast. Retreat!"

The two of them scrambled away just as a large ship flew over head and crashed right into the front of the prison! A thunderous explosion of rubble happened and the ship ended up skidding across the marble floor and tore down a few gates and support beams of the cell blocks while it was at it.

The guards and prisoners who hadn't reached the execution grounds yet stood stunned or just barely managed to duck back as it stopped in front of the long passageway toward the courtyard.

The side of the ship was already burst open from the impact and the people inside were already scrambling out of it, looking like they had just walked out of a roller coaster ride completely unscathed. That was except for the looks of seriousness and determination that was etched on a few of their faces, especially the boy with the red cap and blue sweater in front.

"I told you I wasn't certain of the handling of the landing capabilities." Brain sighed as he stepped out.

"You're just lucky I've got nine lives and not a one was injured in that landing." Rita scolded him.

"Look at all the guys in suits." Runt grinned.

"My brothers." Ralph chided happily.

"I've always wanted to invade a prison before. I have no idea why but the idea of it just fascinates me." Plotz motioned. The old guy was having the time of his life and he didn't even know it.

"Point us in the direction of the Yakko Warner holding cell and nobody gets hurt." Pesto spat.

"That ain't no promise either." Bobby interjected.

"You'd better take him seriously. He means business." Squit laughed as they trotted along.

Everyone around was just as shocked and as stunned as they were when the ship had just rammed through, demolishing everything at the entrance. What exactly was this?

"No such luck for you guys. You're already on my bad side by default considering why we're even here." Slappy tossed looks at all the guards.

"Focus is key. Our objective lands in the hands of the friend you took from us!" Skippy was holding two grenades in his hands.

"Erm… what's a cool line to say… th-the doctor is in?! Oh. I like that." Scratchnsniff giggled.

"I certainly hope you freaks haven't roughed him up any." Hello Nurse shot the inmates a few looks.

"Rescue, rescue! On to the rescue! And then we go out for cake to celebrate!" Pinky danced.

Mindy hugged onto Buttons' back as they stayed huddled in the center line.

"Oh I think I won't be able to hold back a single digit of my anger here." Dot grunted as they all traversed down the hall. A slew of guards came around the corner and stood with their guns pointed at the group.

"Halt! Who are all of you and why are you here?! " The one in front demanded.

Wakko stood with his fists clenched and an angry glare pointed directly at them all. It did the trick miraculously well considering they all flinched.

"We're here to save my brother from you creeps. And don't bother running away either. We were planning on plowing through pretty much everything anyway." Wakko said with a cold and pressing tone as he held up his mallet.

The guards all took aim before Skippy tossed one of his grenades at them. They all stared at it before screaming and ducking to the sides. It went off and blew down the wall in their way! By this time, the alarms were going off everywhere and prison personnel were scrambling to see what the commotion was all about.

"And now it begins!" Slappy said making a motion with her finger that pointed them all forward. Each with their own brand of weapon they had taken from that high-tech ship, they all rushed forward with loud screams and random cartoonish gunfire blasting at the air. All the oncoming guards were easily bashed aside or trampled over as this small group of toons invaded and began their fight to the path ahead.

Wakko grabbed one of the downed gaurds by the collar. He shrieked and flung his head to the side with a squeal. Wakko wasn't feeling like joking with him or playing around one bit. He looked right at the guy as the cartoonish destruction rained down on the prison in the background and asked what he needed to ask.

"Where. Is. My. Brother."

"Y-Your brother…?"

"Look at my face! You know who I'm talking about!"

The guard knew exactly what he was talking about. "… The execution grounds… "

Wakko's heart skipped a beat and he let the guy go. His head banged against the floor. "Wha… b-but his time isn't-"

"Shorenay. That detective who took to solving the crimes Yakko commited said that they had changed the date… to today…"

Wakko looked dumbfounded. He didn't even go after the guy when he scrambled away. He, however, came to grips with himself rather quickly when it hit him that this meant he had even less time on his hands.

"Yo! Guys!" Wakko shouted out to them all as they were tearing the place apart and sending inmates and workers running. They all stopped demolishing what they were demolishing and faced him. "We're headed to the execution grounds stat!"

"What?!" Skippy blurted out, panicked.

"I don't believe this! Those two-faced-!" Scratchnsniff stamped his foot.

"Yakko…" Dot muttered and quickly picked up her pace to head back over to Wakko.

"Ah-ha. I know where we gotta go." Squit chimed in with his inquiry. He was looking at a map on the wall. "Says the execution grounds are way down the hall and to the left and past a few cell blocks. Apparently, it's behind the prison."

"We crash landed in the wrong place." Rita muttered.

"Who cares! They're gonna go through with it quicker now that they know we're here! Come on!" Wakko shouted right before a blast from a gun barely took his hat off. He turned and saw more guards headed his way. "Oh great…"

"Come on! No time for dilly dally. We're on a tight schedule. Move it! Move it!" Plotz pointed and directed everyone in the direction that had been specified.

Wakko took his mallet out and swung at all the people that had suddenly come his way, making sure to keep his eye behind him so that he could make sure his friends were off on their mission. He made out at the corner of his eye that Dot had been the last to leave his side and follow the others.

Good. She was learning to be more content with letting him handle a few things himself. He knocked a few more of them away before bursting off in a line of speed for the exit and turned to run after them right before several blasts turned the door he ran through into swiss cheese.

Wakko burst down the way with hails of gunfire and blaring alarms going off around him, that look of determination still etched on his face.

"We're coming Yakko. Hang tight!"

"The hell is going on?" Shorenay stood up from his seat, feeling several vibrations going on from behind where he was. A prison this buckled down shouldn't be vibrating.

"Uhhh…" The prison guard holding Yakko flinched and held up a walkie-talkie. "Hey uh… guys… mind telling me what's going on?"

"… bzzz… GAAAH!... ah… toons are craz-….! Send back-up! Toon invasion…!"

The guard clutched the device in his hand and dropped Yakko to the ground. The Warner didn't react to it. He looked as though he was fidgeting over something completely distant from his surroundings…

"Well go and figure out what's happening already! What is it?" Shorenay growled, now standing next to the man.

"Uh… I… " The guard tried to contact someone else and cupped the device over his ear. "Yes… yeah… what?! Ugh… I uh…"

Shorenay raised his brow.

"We're being invaded by a slew of toons and-"

"Yeah, I figured that's what toon invasion meant moron. "

"… And it appears that Yakko's brother is at the head of the pack." Shorenay groaned.

"Handle it!" He shouted back at him before turning to Yakko on the ground and kicking him hard in the side. He flew in the air and was caught by the axe man, whom seemed a bit surprised by whatever this turn of events was. "Nothing's interrupting my 'message'. Put him on the stump. Wait until a few of the prisoners reach this location and then take him out."

The man set Yakko's head down on the stump and grinned as he cleaned the blade of his axe.

"I may need to start this earlier than expected. The cameras are here but my vision calls for a live audience of some kind. Damn Warners…"

"Lasers? They have lasers? I want one!" Skippy shouted over the hail of gunfire and destruction.

"I'll get you one for Christmas. Keep moving." Slappy shouted back at him as they all ran ahead, ducking the mini explosions the weapons from behind were creating from connecting with the walls and cells of the prison.

"Gun them down! Don't let them move an inch forward. We've almost got them trapped." One of the men at the forefront said with a leer at the invading group straight ahead.

"What's that mean?" Dot asked to herself, managing to duck behind an open broom closet. The door of the thing was blown through pretty instantly despite that though. It made her heart thump. She was in a literal war zone and the excitement just engrossed her body for sure. However, the fear of what was happening to her brother right now was blocking any sort of revelation she was having about being a toon soldier.

A cold shiver ran up her spine suddenly and she immediately dived out of the way as a blast came from behind her just then! She rolled to a stop and looked back, seeing a platoon of men heading her way from the other direction. Is that what he meant?

"Wakko! They're trying to trap us!" Dot shouted. Wakko managed to catch his sister's warning and skidded to a stop. Dot ran right up to him and panted. "What do we do?"

Wakko skimmed over the area. He looked behind him and saw Mindy and Buttons backing up toward him. Even more far back, he could barely make out Scratchy and Hello Nurse running around the rubble, barely missing all the shots fired at them. Ralph was clubbing people and Plotz was literally throwing the book at anyone who crossed his line of sight. Seems as though he somehow had more then one.

He looked ahead and saw the men heading their way. It seems they were indeed being trapped. Coupled with the fact that some of their group weren't as agile and meant for fighting as a few others, the situation was a bit straining.

Wakko began to sweat. He knew they were close. He could taste it.

"Come on! Man your stations! Hurry up!" One of the guards screamed at his men as they scrambled to gather their weapons and headed for the demolished forefront of the prison. Surprise attacks like that never happened. They just didn't happen. There was no way the people inside were prepared for this nonsense.

The man ran forward, ready to join the fray when he heard a loud whoosh sound go over his head. He flinched and willed himself to stare up at the sky. It was a second airship!

"Wh… Again?! What's it doing?!" He panicked and scrambled for his communication device. "Hello! Squad B on the inside! There's another ship and it's… it looks like it's positioning itself to come in through the side…!"

Mindy was hugging Wakko's leg and the middle child patted her head. "Don't worry Ms. Walking Disaster. We'll be fine."

Buttons looked back at Wakko. The dog's look of skepticism was evident. This situation was growing increasingly worse. He knew crashing a ship into the prison was something of an element of surprise that would no doubt get them brownie points for creativity and a decent amount of headway but going into this hoping to reach Yakko before they retaliated this heavily was too risky.

Scratchnsniff scooted back and found himself standing next to Dot. "Oh. Hello. So uh… never thought I, of all people, would be a part of a prison-break. You guys just keep making my life interesting."

Dot smiled up at him. Words couldn't express how grateful she was for everyone's assistance but…

By this point their group was being closed in on from the front and the back. Wakko knew that they only had one corner and a decently long hallway left to go before reaching Yakko. He couldn't go down now when he was so close!

The platoon in front of them pointed their guns at Wakko's group. Wakko clenched his fists and tensed up, holding up his mallet.

The guard in front couldn't help a small smile at that. He had always wanted to be apart of an execution.

And he was going to be... in the form of cruel, sick, twisted ironic fate as a second airship burst through the wall of the prison beside them. The collection of men in front of them turned to the side just quickly enough for them to catch a glimpse of what caused their deaths.

The ship rammed into all of them and bashed against the wall, kicking up a huge trail of dust and rubble. Wakko went to shield his sister and his sister shielded the small child Wakko was standing beside. Scratchnsniff and the others ducked back, almost being blown off their feet by the thing's imposing presence and impressively destructive crash landing.

The prison guards who were standing in the back all had a collection of mixed reactions. Some scooted all the way to the back and broke off in a run. Some stood there stunned. Some stood there just not knowing what to do. And others just tensed up and kept their shaking guns raised.

Wakko stared up at the ship, dumbfounded. He half expected nothing to happen but knew that it was a silly inquiry on his part. The hatch door opened and out from the sides came their saviors.

"Hello there WBrats! How's about a kiss for our troubles!" Montana Max stomped out with his arms out. Buster followed after him, keeping a straight face the whole time.

"Did… did you really have to…" Hello Nurse began before Buster raised his hand.

"No time for a sappy question on our moral ambiguity. We've got to get going." Buster spoke and turned to the guards still behind the Warners. Max grinned and fixed a button on his wrist weapon. The guards got ready to fire at them once they saw that the two of them were doing something.

Max's evil smirk widened and his eyes dilated into something fiercely crazed as he set off his weapon. It shot a bright red light that engulfed the room and fired several lasers through the bodies of the guards. It was a shower of laser blasts and it managed to take them all out quickly, even the ones who dropped their weapons and took off running. Max made sure to fire on the cowards who ran even more blatantly and ruthlessly.

When they were all gone, having escaped or having died, Max blew the smoke off his wristband and turned to the group. "You're welcome."

Wakko's group stood there and stared at the two. Wakko fidgeted, not sure what to say about this. Dot kept Mindy's face pressed to her dress so that she didn't have to look at the carnage.

"I said… I said we weren't teaming up…" Wakko muttered, his voice shaky.

"We're not giving you a choice." Buster stood his ground and stared at Wakko, right in his eyes. One of the guards squirmed on the ground, reaching for his gun as they spoke.

"What happened to you man? … Why… doesn't killing all those people make you feel… anything?" Wakko looked at him, genuinely upset and hurt by the Buster standing in front of him. He was twitchy all over and the bruise on his head from when Buster had tried to kill him before began to ache.

"You're pretty lucky you know. The boss mended his plans for you to have us work together when he found out you survived what I tried to do to you. But you remain ungrateful huh? Well sorry. It seems like the only thing that's going to make you content with me anymore is seeing me back to the way I was but I can't…" Buster spoke and trailed off.

"… You… really don't care about the concept of any form of life anymore? For real?" Wakko asked with a softened voice.

The guard finally grabbed his gun!

The group gasped and winced soon after. Not due to what the guard did but by how fast Buster's reflexes were in stopping what he was going to do next. It was impressive.

He didn't even look away from Wakko's face as the spiked tentacle from his wristband jetted behind him and struck the guard through the back. Max grinned watching the poor man get punctured and seeing his body slump as confirmation of his death. The metal coil retracted back into Buster's wristband leaving Wakko's face wide-eyed and misty.

"For real. Sorry. I can't say that I do anymore." Buster finished. "No more talk. Move forward or your brother dies."

Wakko clenched his eyes shut and shook his clenched fists. He quickly turned around and began sprinting down the hall as fast as he could. The others called out after him before they began following from behind. They all tried their best to ignore the huge mound of blood spatter that was dripping from underneath the crashed airship.

"This is intense. I think I may consider this the best thing the Goodfeathers have ever done. If the God Piegon could see us now!" Pesto commented to his two comrades.

"I want this documented in some way, shape, or form. My daring deeds can not go forgotten Ralph!" Plotz grinned as he ran beside the guard.

Rita rode on top of Runt and let the dog turn the next corner expertly for her. "Alright. This is it! We're coming up on our exit!"

"I see it! Straight ahead and the Yakko Warner is ours for the taking." Brain pointed ahead, sitting next to Pinky on Slappy's hat.

Wakko, Buster, Dot, Max, and Scratchnsniff were all ahead of the back with Buttons finding a safe place in the center for Mindy to cling on to him. The entire group came up on the open exit where they could see a few of the prisoners exiting through the doorway…

"We have enough." Shorenay looked around and saw the people seated. "They're all watching. Good. The camera is rolling. Excellent. The axe is sharpened?"

The man in the black mask held up the axe and gave Shorenay a thumbs up. He was grinning brightly. He so wanted to lop Yakko's head off more then anything. He didn't notice Yakko's fidgeting below him.

Yakko himself didn't notice anything anymore. All he could hear was the increasingly loud beating of his heart. It wasn't beating out of fear either. His mind and body wasn't reacting to any of what was happening around him. Not anymore.

"Sir! Please hurry! HELP!" Beans shouted frantically on the other end of the line as he contacted his boss back.

"Hmm? What's the problem?" The cloaked leader on the other end sounded just as calm as he did before. He was tapping his fingers on the armrest. His heart was beating rather fast and he seemed extremely anxious. Was this confirmation of what he hoped was happening? The wait was killing him!

"Everyone is going crazy! Th-the whole studio... all of our men are just… they all lost their minds! They're attacking and killing each other and I don't know what to do!" Beans scooted back where he stood, watching as two of the henchman in front of him were attacking each other with knives from the kitchen. He slunk back before the newest blood bath rained down on him and rounded the corner to reach the Warner Brothers gate. The whole place was even worse looking then before, only this time, there were tons of bodies lying about and a ton more bouts of screaming etched in.

Beans was crying as he spoke to his boss, waiting for a reply. "HELLO? SIR?!"

"Look at the tower. What does it look like?"

"Huh?" Beans turned and looked at the tower.

And there it was.

What he saw made his eyes bug out. His heart stopped completely for about a second. His hands were shaking as his mind couldn't process the horror of what was befalling him…

"The… the tower… has… has a… flowing red and black aura around it…" Beans muttered into the device.

It was true. Their tower was silently spitting from all around it an imposing aura that stretched well enough into the sky and began flowing across it, mixing with the sky's trademark blue and shifting it into a flowing crimson red and jet black.

An explosion could be heard coming from the city and several police sirens were going off. The boss could hear the commotion on the other end grabbed his chest. He was getting even more excited. His breathe was getting caught in his throat and he was sweating up a storm.

The device cut off and left Beans by himself. Beans didn't even realize that his boss had left him though. He was frozen in shock and felt himself start to lose it. As the sky changed its colors his mind lost its last bit of remaining sanity.

One of the henchman charged him from behind. His ears were good enough to pick up on it but he didn't react until at the last second when he turned and rammed the device into the attacker's face!

He saw the poor guy fall back with a scream and stood there wincing and twitching as a wide crazed grin spread across his face and his pupils shrunk. He grabbed a metal pipe from the ground and jumped into the fray with his fellow cohorts.

His contribution to the bloodshed didn't last too terribly long.

After taking out about 5 of his own men, his head was bashed in from behind by another crazed lost soul…

"Perfect! It's time!" Shorenay raised his finger and let a wide grin cross his features. "Time to put my best foot forward and take my place in history as the man who ushered in a new stigma for the relationship between toons and the rest of us all over! No mercy for those who go against the grain Yakko Warner! Do it! Take his head off!"

An explosion took place by the door just after Shorenay gave the order. Shorenay was knocked back and fell to his side as the door's rubble was burst outward. The prisoners and the executioner turned as the entrance was blown away by Max's laser. It would seem they just barely made it...!

"YAKKO!" Wakko and his friends all shouted as they raced threw the door and down to the ground of the execution stand.

The executioner continued to stare as Wakko in particular raced right at him. Shorenay forced himself up, his hair messy, and his face cut from the recoil. "DO IT YOU MORON! KILL HIM NOW!"

The executioner sprung to life instantly. The stunned look went away as he re-raised his axe above Yakko's head.

"NO! STOP IT!" Wakko screamed. Max and Buster clenched their teeth in anticipated worry. There were a slew of reaction shots from the people all over as Wakko reached his hand out running for his brother as the axe was swung down toward his neck.

The whole scene might as well have been in slow motion for Wakko. His mind scrambled and all he saw were flashes of happier times with his brother and sister…

"YAKKO!" Wakko shouted, tears flinging from his eyes.

A moment passed.

Everyone around flinched.

The whole place was silent. No one uttered a word.

Wakko was on his knees, tears spilling from his eyes and looking right at the scene that lay before him just inches from the stump.

The executioner was grunting and sweating.

Yakko's head was still on his shoulders. The axe wasn't going any lower.

Yakko's hand was clutching the handle and fighting against his strength.

The people who had seen Yakko's state before were thoroughly confused. He was so sick and broken down before. He could barely breathe or move even.

And now he was matching the buff masked man's strength with one hand.

The slew of onlookers were all astonished and a chill cut through the air that made them stare at Wakko with mixed fearful reactions.

They all watched as Yakko stood up, easily yanking the axe from the executioner's hands. No one said a word. They were all frozen and had expressions on their faces that told them that the closer they were to him, the less amount of time they had left to live…

Yakko stood in the center of the execution grounds holding the axe with a flowing red and black aura around his body.

He looked at Wakko with a disheartening warm smile. The same smile Yakko used to give him back when he was sane.

Wakko mouthed his brother's name, his pupils fidgeting as he looked him over. His heart was welling up with fear. A really intense, overtaking, cold, and ruthless amount of fear…

It looked like Yakko but the person standing in front of him… it was obvious to everyone… this figure was drowned in the empowering essence of pure evil…

Yakko stood in front of Wakko still smiling.

"Hello dear brother. Guess it's finally done."

Wakko couldn't move. He couldn't… think… or move… or anything… he just couldn't…

"So… did you want to die first?"