Blackness...

That's all there was, for a time.

Blackness, and silence.

Then a blinding light filled the area, illuminating it. Yakko's eyes shut tightly, trying to handle the intense light.

He screamed, and woke up.

He panted heavily. It took him a few minutes to calm down. He felt his heart beating against his chest. His head felt whoozy. Just what had happened? The last thing he could remember was grabbing some soda, then everything after that was a blur.

He took the time to look around the room. Whatever feeling of relief he had before washed away like a waterfall. He shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't be back here, could he? It must all be some kind of horrible dream. He had a nightmare about this. Yes, it was just a nightmare.

He was in the same building as before. Everything about it looked the same. Except this tme, he could make out a small sign. The top word was crossed out with black marker, but underneath it, he could see the word 'BANK' on it.

So he had been right. No time to boast about that now, he thought. He tried to get up, only to find his arms and legs were bound. No, they were shackled against the flat platform this time, as if his kidnapper was worried he would escape.

He saw movement in the corner of his eye. The swirling mass of blackness moved about in front of him. It twirled around him menacingly, opening up a 'mouth' with sharp points and giving a fake roar before moving away from him. Yakko watched as the 'pool' rose from the ground to form a figure.

Yakko narrowed his eyes. "Well ain't this a surprise. Mr. Wizard."

The man smirked back at him. "My name is Duu."

Despite his predicament, Yakko couldn't help but giggle. "Duu? As in Doo-Doo? I think you outta invest in some diapers, Doo-Doo!"

Yakko's amusement was cut short when he felt the hand grip his throat. The fingers tightened around his neck and squeezed hard. Yakko gacked and struggled to breathe. Duu held his hand there until Yakko nearly passed out from lack of oxygen.

Moving away and turning his back to him, Duu said, "I think you and I both know I intend to finish you off this time." His hands were folded behind his back. He gave Yakko a sideways glance. "Do you understand this, Yakko?"

Yakko almost made a witty retort, but stopped himself after reminding himself of his situation. "It doesn't surprise me at all."

Duu smiled. He drew closer to the boy. Yakko tried to be brave. He tried not to show the satisfation of fear to this man, or thing, or whatever he was. He felt his back pressing againt the board even harder than before. Despite trying to control himself, his breathing and heart rate quickened.

Duu absolutely enjoyed this. He could smell the fear radiating off the boy. He wasn't fooling anyone. He reached down and played with one of Yakko's ears. Yakko growled softly, clearly not enjoying this.

"You and I are more alike than you know." Duu said casually.

Yakko's response to this was pulling his lips back and snarling at Duu. "We are nothing alike..." He said in a soft hiss under his breath.

"Of course you would say that. You are blissfully unaware of the truth." Duu said. He gave a sharp yank on Yakko's ear, causing a cry of pain to emit from his mouth. "Tell me, do you have any idea why I chose you?"

Yakko hissed in pain as his ear was finally let go. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean, how come, out of you three, I chose to hunt you down specifically?" Duu asked with a knowing smile.

Come to think of it, Yakko had no idea why he was the only one targeted. He initially thought it was just bad luck. He had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But from the way Duu was talking, there was another reason. One he couldn't place his finger on.

Not knowing why was scaring him. Did Duu have more sinister plans than he had known? Was he not going to stop at killing him? What was he going to do to his siblings? These thoughts raced through his mind like a hurricane.

Yakko couldn't make himself talk. He slowly shook his head.

"I thought not." Duu grinned, showing off his slightly pointed teeth.

He moved away from Yakko towards the back of the large room. Yakko could hear the rustling and clanks of stuff being moved around, shuffled, and dropped on the ground. Yakko could feel his heart starting to race when the man approached him with what looked like a large suitcase. Yakko's imagination started to get the best of him as he imagined what was inside.

Duu opened up the briefcase. Yakko flinched and looked away, expecting something poisonous to shoot out of it. When nothing happened, he opened up one wary eye. He was surprised. Inside the briefcase was just a stack of paperwork.

"Just looks like a bunch of papers to me." Yakko raised an eyebrow. "What does this have to do with me?"

"Everything." Duu grinned as he picked up the papers. He thumbed through it until he got to a certain page. "According to this, the Warner Movie Studios belong to the Warner Brothers..er...siblings I should say."

Yakko raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that? Because I am certain someone else owned the studios before me and my sibs were even created."

Duu looked at him with gleaming eyes. "Ah, so you don't know your own little secret. Well here's a little shocker for ya. The Warner Studios are yours. Not anyone else's; yours." Yakko gasped at this revelation. "And you are my ticket in gaining control of the studios."

Yakko hissed at him, his fur standing on end. "Why do you want control of this particular studios? Why can't you go find another one? Don't you have something better to do, ya two-bit ghost?!"

Duu struck him across the face for that comment. Yakko stared at him with wide eyes. "I am no ghost. I am merely...borrowing this corpse of a body."

Ignoring the stinging on his cheek, Yakko said, "Whaddya talking about?"

"I was not joking when I said you and I are alike." Duu said. He put the book on the ground. He went over to a couple of levers off to the side. "I have my own reasons for wanting control of your precious studio, Yakko. As the oldest, ownership goes to you. And you...are going to transfer it to me."

Yakko bared his teeth. "What makes you think I'd give the Warner Studios to a whack job like yourself?!"

"Because, dear little boy..." Duu pulled a lever. The sound of chains clanging could be heard. "I anticipated you being resistant, so I brought a little...motivation..."

Yakko's eyes filled with horror. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. There, hanging from the tall ceiling, was a small cage. Laying inside was the unconscious form of Dot, looking a little battered and bruised. Seeing his sister like this caused rage to fill Yakko's mind.

He stared daggers at Duu. He spoke with a restrained voice, teeth clenched tightly. "What did you do to her?!"

"She was most resistant, so I had to teach her a lesson. I...oh my look at me drawling like some generic villain." Duu paused for a moment at that statement. He shrugged it off. He moved his hand to the next lever. "This lever, if I pull it, will drop her down there."

Yakko could see there was some kind of vat positioned just underneat Dot. The substance was green in color and almost seemed to glow. He had never seen anything like it before. The stuff had a slimy consistancy and bubbled a few times like it was boiling, but no steam was rising out of it. The stuff gave off a weird small that he could not describe.

Although he never seen this stuff before, the sight of it caused him to bristle up instinctively. Something about it was giving him the heeby jeebies. Something just was not right about it. The sense of foreboding clung to him tightly and he could not let go.

"What is that stuff?" That was all he could manage to say before he lost his voice to fear. Fear of the unknown.

Duu was almost too happy to reply. "Like it? It's my own special brand...by special meaning I stole it." He moved his hand over to gesture towards the vat. "That, there, will be your grave." Yakko's ears folded back in response. "This substance has no true name. But I like to call it Thinner."

"Does it need to lose weight?" Yakko quipped. He cried out in pain when he was struck again.

"That sting you felt when I struck you is nothing compared to Thinner." Duu said in a low voice. "It is designed with the best paint thinners. It will eat away at your body until there is nothing left." The eldest Warner widened his eyes at that. "And your dear little sister will be one of its first victims I get to test it on."

"No!"

"No?"

"You can't do this!"

Duu was unfazed by the death glares he was getting from the conscious Warner. He simply waved a dismissing hand at him. "I had a feeling you'd be this way. Perhaps if I shake the cage a little...Hmm do you think she will fall?"

Yakko screamed in horror as the cage began to wobble. The bars were wide enough for Dot to squeeze through. The only thing that would keep her in was the Thinner below her. And as the cage tilted more and more, she began to slide closer to the edge. In her unconscious state, Yakko knew she couldn't hope to save herself. Tears streamed down his face as he realized the lengths Duu was willing to go to get what he wanted.

"Please let her go." Yakko whimpered. "What did..what did she ever do to you?"

"I'll let her go..." Duu said slowly. Then he moved quickly towards Yakko and grabbed him by the shoulders. "If you give your life up in the process!"

"C-Can't I just transfer ownership to..."

"No!" Duu growled. "The contract is perfectly clear! You are the owner of the Warner Studios until the day you die!"

"What's the point of striking a deal with me if you are just going to kill me?" Yakko said, his voice trembling in fear. He looked away.

Duu moved his hand towards Yakko's chin. He twisted it to force the boy's eyes upon him. "You have two choices, my boy. Either you relinquish ownership and accept death with dignity...or..." He pointed to Dot behind him. "You AND your sister will die, and I will be sure your little brother gets the same fate."

Yakko spoke in a trembling voice. "You..you wouldn't dare...you..."

"It's up to you. Would you rather you die and your siblings live, or do you want to die with them together?" Duu asked, staring coldy into the Warner's eyes.

Yakko couldn't believe this was happening. How could anyone be this cruel? What was this man? Why was he doing all this? Why was the control of the Warner Studios in particular that important? He tried to come up with a reason, but nothing made sense to him.

Tears traveled down his face. He couldn't see any way out of this. His usual methods wouldn't work here. The clamps squeezed his wrists and ankles tight, nearly cutting off bloodflow.

He felt so stupid for going in alone. He should have went with someone. No, he should have gone home. If he had just gone back to the water tower, none of this would have happened. It was his fault Dot was in danger. It would be on his head if something happened to her.

"Wh-Why...?" He said in a croaked voice. "Why are you doing this? Why?"

"Perhaps it's time to show you what I really am."

Yakko looked over in curiosity as the man approached him. Duu stopped a foot in front of him and held up a hand. He moved another hand towards it and pinched the tip of his pointer finger. Yakko sniffled and looked at the hand, confused. Then, Duu began to pull back. Much to the Warner's shock, the skin started to move upwards.

In seconds, the hand was off and was dropped to the floor, making a sound consistant of that with a heavy rubber glove. The man's real hand was on display before him. What Yakko saw made him do a double take.

"Wh-What...you're...you're a..."

Duu smiled evilly in response. "That's right..."

He moved in closer. He pressed a hand against Yakko's cheek almost too gently. Yakko just whimpered in response. His eyes held a look of disbelief.

"I am one of you."