Wakko broke the silence. "Well that would explain how he got back from Antarctica..."
No words needed to be spoken among the siblings. Yakko didn't need to tell them that his attacker was the same random guy they pranked a while back. They never gotten his name before. Yakko wished they had; he could have named his attacker and all this would have been over with.
The man, wearing the same outfit as he did when he invaded the tower the other day in the picture, had been by the studio a while back. He didn't speak a word. He was just walking around. None of the workers really paid much mind to him. At least at first. When he was asked to leave, he responded rudely and continued on his way.
Things only got worse from there. The guy acted as if he owned the place. He stormed into offices, disrupting meetings, knocking over recently finished footage. He kicked some of the Animaniacs around when they were simply in his way. Ralph tried to exert his authority and get the man to leave, but he was knocked into a trash can.
Normally, Plotz hated the Warners' antics. But in this case, he made an exception. He spoke to the Warner Brothers and Warner Sister Dot and told them to get the guy to leave. The Warners were experts at making someone want to be as far away from the immediate area as possible.
The task was simple enough. The Warners accepted. How could they pass it off? It was one of the very few times where they could act as they want and would be rewarded for it. So they went up to the guy and pulled off their usual stunts.
The man responded in a manner that didn't suprise them. He grabbed them by their scruffs and threw them aside. He outright threatened their lives if they ever stepped near him again. Of course, the trio didn't take that laying down. Thinking the man was just another grumpy person who was all bark and no bite, they made him their 'Special Friend' and tormented him more.
The last thing they did that finally sent him away is they tricked him into going to Antarctica. When the man said that he wanted his studios back, the Warners laughed it off. They knew the studios weren't really his. As a joke, they told him there was a new studio headquarters being opened up and gave him the address. The man, falling for it, immediately left.
They thought they would never see him again. Yakko should have known something was up when he saw him again on the street. There was no way he could have gotten back to the Warner studios that fast without help. And the only people on Antarctica didn't have any mode of flight transportation nearby. The Warners thought that the man would be stuck with the expedition group for at least a few months.
Oh how wrong they were. The man's mysterious appearance back here only adds to the confirmation of him being a...something that wasn't human. The glow, the telekinetic powers, how would they deal with someone like this? This wasn't a skit. This wasn't acting; it was real.
Yakko hated to admit it. But he had no idea what he was going to do. He didn't know how he was going to get out of this mess.
"Hey, what is everyone looking at?" A voice asked.
The group startled and looked at the source of the voice. Waving back at thim was Pinky.
"Pinky!" Brain exclaimed. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be back home?"
"Yeah." Pinky laughed. "But I got lonely. Narf!" The tall mouse went over to the group and looked at the paper. "So what is everyone doing? Playing crossword? Oh I wanna play! I wanna play!"
Brain growled and pulled Pinky from the newspaper. "This is no game! We found the culprit!"
"Oh really? Where?" Pinky looked around.
Brain pointed at the paper. Pinky looked down. "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
"I think so Brain." Pinky scratched his head thoughtfully. "But how can a newspaper beat the crap out of Yakko?"
Brain's ears lowered. "Pinky, how you are still alive amazes me..."
"So what are we waiting for?" Slappy slammed her fist into her palm. "Let's go crack some nuts!"
"Zit's not that zimple." Scratchensniff said. "We cannot get a location of zis guy. And if he iz really a..ghost...it's going to be much harder to track him down." He looked at each of the Animaniacs standing with him. "Doez anyone here know how to deal with ghosts?" When no one answered, he sighed. "I didn't zink zo..."
Pinky walked onto the newspaper. He stared down at the man's picture. Unlike the others, his had no name. He put his hand under his chin and stared at the picture thoughtfully. With one eye, he focused. Something about this man seemed familiar.
Then it hit him. With a loud 'ah hah' and a snap of his fingers, Pinky figured it out.
"I know who this guy is!" Pinky exclaimed.
"You do?!" Yakko asked. He scooped Pink up in a hand and held him close. "Who is it?! Tell me!"
Pinky was a little nervous thanks to Yakko's yelling. He stumbled over his words. "Well...I...um..." Yakko squeezed him in his hand. "Zoink! What did you do that for?"
Yakko sighed and loosened his grip. "I'm sorry, Pinky. I just...can you please tell us who this guy is? Please? He's been hunting me down ever since..."
Pinky nodded his head. "Oh all right then!" He looked at the picture again and pondered for a few more seconds. "Ah yes, I remember now. That is the same guy who tried to take over the Warner studios but was shut down."
Brain blinked and he looked down at the picture. Realization washed across his face. "By jove, you're right Pinky!"
"What are you talking about?" Dot asked.
Scratchensniff answered this question. "Zis man, we never learned of hiz name, but he wanted to buy zee studios. He had planned on getting rid of all the toons and make this a strict live action movie company."
"Yes, but when he was booted out, he swore he would be back." Brain continued. "And come back he did, where he pestered everyone until you three," He eyed the Warner siblings, "drove him off."
"And now he's back and he's taking his frustration out on me." Yakko couldn't help but shake his head. "How mature."
Dot and Wakko looked at their brother as he said this. If they didn't know better, they'd think he'd gotten over his fear already. But they knew that would be too good to be true. There was a slight shiver to his voice. He was putting on a brave face for everyone. They understood he was being strong for them. They just wished he'd understand that he doesn't always have to take the mantle as the 'responsible one'.
"We need to decide what we must do." Brain said.
"Agreed." Scratchensniff said. "Clearly zis man...whatever he iz, he won't stop at Yakko." He looked at the other toons present. "You're all in danger too."
Yakko's eyes widened. He didn't want to think of what this guy would do to his brother and sister after he was gone. He'd be completely helpless to stop him if he were gone. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to planning everyone!"
Deciding what to do next would be hard. They all knew that. Organizing a search party might not be possible. Plotz, under pressure from the authorities, had to forbid any 'vigilante group' from 'tampering with evidence.' He ordered the toons to return back home. The only ones resistant to do their own thing were Slappy, Skippy, Pinky, and Brain. Scratchensniff joined because he also wanted to help. And of course, Wakko and Dot wanted to help too. Yakko was their brother after all.
They knew they had to go about this carefully. They couldn't do anything to tip off the authorities. They had to make it as casual as possible. The sooner they confronted this guy, the better. They agreed they needed a way to trick him into revealing himself to the authorities, that way it looked like the Animaniacs played no part in it.
As they huddled around, discussing what to do, they weren't aware that they were being watched.
sss
"I'm telling you for the last time, I don't know where this guy lives." Yakko said for what he thought was the eleventh time. Turning away from his curious siblings, he went into the kitchen to grab a glass of milk.
Dot and Wakko, however, weren't convinced.
"Yakko, I know thinking of the place scares you so much..." Dot said.
"But you have to tell us where this place is." Wakko continued.
Yakko slammed the milk carton on the table. White droplets spilled over. "I told you I don't know!" He cringed back at the sound of his own voice. He looked at his siblings. Their expressions made him feel awful. "A-a-ah...I'm sorry you guys."
"We're sorry too." Wakko said, lowering his head.
"We were being a little too hard on you. We should have believed you when you said you didnt know." Dot rubbed her arm. "I guess we were just..so determined to fix this that we...I...we are sorry."
Yakko smiled at them. "It's okay, you too. I understand why you did what you did." He walked up to them and lowered himself to their level. "You're just trying to protect me. I appreciate that. Really." He pulled the two into a tight hug. "I love you guys."
"We love you too." Dot whispered as she and Wakko returned the hug.
As they pulled away, Yakko continued to stare at them. His smile soon faded into a serious frown. He took in a deep breath. "And...well...you two are right. I...I do remember some stuff." Dot and Wakko looked at him expectantly. "I must have been knocked out. I don't know where the building was...but I remember what it looked like. I wish I didn't."
Seeing her brother flinch at the memory, Dot wrapped her arms around his arm and pulled him close. "We are here for you, Yakko. You can do this. You're the bravest guy I know!"
Yakko smiled at her. "Thanks sis."
Wakko grabbed onto his other arm. "You can talk to us. It won't be so painful because we will be here to support you all the way, bro."
"Aww thanks." Yakko nuzzled Wakko on the cheek. "That...really means a lot." A tear formed in his eye, and the siblings knew it wasn't from sadness.
Encouraged by his siblings' words, Yakko explained to them where he was taken to. He did his best not to leave out any details. It was hard to talk about. Just thinking about it made him feel like he was experiencing it all over again. A few times he stopped, but he was encouraged to continue by a gentle nudge from his siblings.
He told them his best guess was it was a warehouse of some kind, but that it didn't look very familiar. He deduced it was a good ways from the studios. It was unlikely this man, er, ghost, would be stupid enough to take Yakko somewhere close by to torture him.
He recalled the warehouse was made of strong material. The walls were thick and sound proof. His screams echoed off the walls. He remembered the ghost's taunts that no one would ever hear him, no matter how loud he screamed. Yakko shivered at the memory. He had never felt so helpless in his life.
The most vivid thing he could remember was a platform of some kind, attached to what he thought was a small mechanical crane. He was tied flat against its surface and elevated above the ground. The warehouse had a lot of rope; some of it was used to tie his mouth shut.
"He...he muzzled you?" Wakko whined. "That's awful..."
Yakko nodded his head slowly. "He made it so tight..."
"Yakko..." Dot tapped a finger against her cheek. "Do you remember anything particular about this rope? What was it made of?"
Yakko folded his arms. "Well it was strong, and hard. Like metal, but not."
"Nylon?" Dot asked.
Yakko said, "Yeah, I think it was nylon."
Wakko looked at Yakko and Dot. "Isn't there only a few places around here that make nylon rope?"
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Yakko said, "You know, you are right." He pointed a finger upwards as a thought came to his mind. "We can write down a list of locations and narrow them down." He pulled out a map and laid it flat. "If we split up, it'll be less conspicuous. We can check each place that makes nylon and see if it matches my description."
"And once we find the place," Dot clenched her fists at her sides. "We can finally make that guy pay for what he did to you." Her brothers nodded in silent agreement.