The attack came quickly. Wakko jumped out of the way in time. A large bucket of something was flung his way. As he jumped over it, he prepared to counterattack. He brought out his trusty mallet and lunged for the deranged toon.
Duu sidestepped and kicked Wakko down. The Warner tumbled across the ground. He didn't give up. He got off the ground, mallet in his hand once more. He advanced quickly towards Duu, swinging his mallet like mad. The look in his eyes would make anyone with a wish to live to run the other direction.
But not Duu. He stood there, smirking in amusement. He watched as the little guy came towards him. He barely moved. He was letting him get closer. He was amused that Wakko thought he stood a chance against him. How foolish. Oh how quickly he will learn.
Duu raised his hand and used his telekinesis again. This time, unlike the other times, it wasn't to freeze Wakko. Instead, it was to slow him down just enough for him to get a move in on him. Duu waited for the right time, and just as Wakko was about to bring the mallet down on him, Duu chucked his knee upward, hitting Wakko square in the stomach.
Wakko bellowed in pain as he crumpled to the ground. His mallet fell beside him. Duu walked up and took it from him. Wakko raised a hand to stop him. Duu stopped him by stomping on his hand, pushing it against the hard floor. Wakko flinched and hissed in pain.
"My dear boy." Duu twirled the mallet in his hands using his powers. "You are in over your head here. Had you really thought you stood a chance. That is sad. Tragic." With a flick of the wrist, Duu threw the mallet away. He stared down at the boy. "I will reward you with a special treat. You will be the last to die."
Wakko watched as Duu began to walk towards Yakko. A pencil was pulled out of Duu's pocket. The evil lookalike drew closer as Yakko pulled against the cuffs to get free. Wakko climbed up to his feet, trembling the whole time. He pulled himself to where his mallet had fallen.
"Struggle all you want. It will make no difference." He smiled as Yakko flinched with the pencil close to his face. "I love pencils, don't you? Such lovely tools of creation. We all owe our lives to the pencil. But as the pencil creates, it can destroy." A finger tip touched the eraser. "Many toons are murdered before they are even born. Such irony, and perhaps fate, that your live will end with a pencil as well."
Yakko did his best not to look scared. He couldn't stop his shaking, but on his face, he wore a mask of bravery. His teeth bared, he subconsciously wished it would be enough to drive Duu away. Oh how easy that would have been.
His eyes glanced down at the pencil. It was being pulled back, ever so slowly. Duu must want to draw this out for as long as possible. Go figure. He expected nothing less for him.
"So that is why you chose the pencil as your weapon." Yakko muttered under his breath. All the while, his top lip remained curled up. "Even though it is such a weak weapon. Not very efficient at killing. It is symbolic to you, isn't it?"
Duu paused, staring at Yakko. "Of life and death, yes. A pencil was your beginning, Yakko." He leaned in closer and his next words came out in a harsh whisper. "It will be your ending."
With a sharp pull, Yakko suddenly found his left leg free from the clamps. Yakko was not going down without a fight. He stared at the pencil wide eyed as he pulled his leg back and struck at Duu. His foot caught him in his head.
Duu's head whipped to the side from the shere force. Spit sprayed from his jaws due to the sudden kick. He took a step to the side to regain his balance. A hand gingerly touched his cheek. It was a tad sore and he thought he could taste the iron flavor of blood.
Yakko felt his heart pound like drums as Duu gave him a look of pure hatred and icy evil. The eyes blazed yellow again and he swore he could see sparkling from them. Duu's calm composure was giving way to one of emotion and impulse.
"No one...does that to me..." His voice came as hisses through his teeth. He brought his hand down on Yakko's chest and dug his claws into it. As the boy screamed, he said, "Do you want to go for round two?"
The memory suddenly first and foremost in his mind, Yakko screamed, "No!"
The side of Dew's face was suddenly smashed by a large wooden mallet. A couple of pointed teeth flew from his mouth and hit with tiny clangs on the ground. The Warner lookalike collapsed onto his side, the voice enough to send him into a daze.
Duu managed to raise his head up in time to see Wakko's furious look and the sight of the mallet again. For the first time, Duu showed some expression of fear as the mallet hit against his face again, breaking his nose and blood staining his mouth. He hit against a lever before falling unconscious.
Wakko dropped his mallet and raced to Yakko. He fumbled with the clamps, or cuffs, it was hard to tell what they were. He eventually managed to free one of Yakko's arms. He went down to free Yakko's other leg.
As Yakko freed his other arm, he looked up and gasped in horror at what he saw. "Dot!"
Wakko looked up and his ears instantly drooped as terrifying realization set in. The lever that Duu was knocked up against was the one controlling the cage Dot was in. Now it was being lowered at a steady rate.
He began to run towards the large vat, but he was yanked back by Yakko. "No, I will go after Dot. You stay here. I won't be long!" Wakko could only watch as his older brother ran over to the vat of Thinner to save their sister.
Wakko watched on as Yakko began to climb up shelves, unsteady and wobbly, to get closer to Dot. He was moving as fast as he could without tripping or falling. Wakko's heart froze when Yakko almost fell into the vat himself. He sighed in relief when Yakko managed to grab a chain-like cord that went up to the cage. He squeezed his fists tightly and prayed.
He barely had time to register a shadow casting over him. He barely had time to turn his head as something was tossed at him at high speed. His own mallet used against him, he almost didn't get out of the way in time. He stared at his mallet, now stuck in the platform that Yakko was hooked to just a few moments ago.
Duu had already recovered from the blow. He slowly licked the fur off of his muzzle, tasting its saltiness. He had dropped down onto all fours already. Despite being two legged, being on all fours felt and looked almost natural for him.
Wakko, snarling, followed suit. It was unusual for any Warner to be on all fours like this. The only thing that could drive them to this point is extreme fear and anger, something they rarely experienced. Until now.
Puffed up tails swishing like cats, the two began to circle each other slowly. Their eyes locked onto each other. Their teeth flashed at one another. Duu, once in a while, would scrape the ground with his claws, almost mockingly and to scare Wakko. But despite having a lack of claws himself, Wakko didn't back down.
Duu was overly confident. While he knew Wakko would be faster than him, he believed that the kid was so small he could just kick him away and render him incapacitated until he took care of Yakko and Dot.
Then, finally, the two ran towards each other. In seconds, they clanged against each other and became a blur of black and white fur. Snarls and growls filled the room. They wrestled with each other, trying to pin the other down. Wakko winced as Duu scratched him. He compensated his lack of claws by kicking and punching whenever he had an opening.
Duu was amazed at how much of a fight Wakko was putting up. The little child wasn't giving up. With determination fueling him, he kept slamming himself against Duu. His teeth bit into his arms and legs. His feet and hands smashed against his ribs, chest, and stomach. All the while, he was enduring cuts and bites from Duu's much sharper weapons.
When the two broke apart, it was only Wakko who had blood on him. Duu looked like he was in better shape. But he was also not unscatched. Some dirt clung to his fur and he had a few scrapes here and there.
Panting, Duu said, "I never met someone with as much energy as you." His voice was filled with genuine surprise. Then it contorted into a dark smile. "Perhaps, before I kill you, I will extract information from you so that I may have boundless energy."
Wakko arched his back, some standing fur visible through holes on his ripped shirt. "Over my dead body..."
Duu laughed mockingly. "Whoa kinda dark for you. But if that's the way you wanna be..." He lifted up one of his front paws and it began to glow. The aura surrounded Wakko. "Don't worry, I'll be quick."
Wakko cried out in agony as the aura began to crush him. Duu was pulling his body hard, contorting it into an unnatural position. He felt his bones and muscles being pulled away from each other. He tried to break free from the grip, but it was useless. His eyes looked up towards Yakko as he was reaching Dot.
No, he couldn't be defeated. Not yet. He had to buy Yakko more time. He tried to fight against the aura gripping him. It was useless. Duu laughed mockingly as Wakko struggled as his body was twisted more and more. In a manner of seconds, it would snap.
Wakko never gave up. Just before his body would break, he gave another sharp yank. And to his surprise, he temporarily broke free of the hold on his arm. Duu was just as surprised by this and responded by gripping him tighter with his powers.
Encouraged, Wakko struggled more, yanking his arms hard. He felt a strange tingling sensation and the glow around him dissipated slowly. He thought, at first, that Duu had let him go. But judging from his expression, that clearly wasn't the case. So what was going on?
Wakko stared as the energy disappeared inside his body. The telekinetic energy seemed almost drawn to him. He was baffled, and scared. Was this some kind of trick by Duu? Were his insides now in danger of being twisted and broken?
Then it hit him. He understood what was going on. It was stupid. It was convuluted. He didn't understand how it made sense. Yet it was happening.
He was eating the energy.
"I guess I really do have a blackhole for a stomach." Wakko grinned before giving one more yank and breaking free. He ran towards Duu and lunged at him with his mallet, which he managed to pull out with a sharp yank. With a loud crunch, he struck him in the shoulder.
As this was going on, Yakko was hanging onto the metal beam that supported the cage. Dot was still out of danger, but the crane holding the cage up was getting dangerously close to the Thinner. He inched his way over, careful not to slip and fall into the stuff himself.
He grabbed onto the bars. He tried to get a footing, but he slipped. He screamed as he frantically grabbed onto the bars with his other hand. His feet were dangling so close to the Thinner he could feel its burning effects on his feet. He pulled his feet as far away from the approaching Thinner as he could.
He managed to pull himself up and dragged himself into the cage with Dot. He moved towards Dot in an instant. He put a hand on her face. She looked injured but not severely. He shook her gently and her eyes slowly opened.
"Y-Yakko? Where am I?" Dot sat up slowly. She looked around and realized she was in a cage. She felt them moving down. Why were they moving down? "What is going on?"
"No time to explain." Yakko answered tensely.
A glance over the edge told him they had to be quick. The cage had made touchdown on the Thinner. The bottom of the cage soon felt uncomfortable to stand on. Yakko gestured for his sister to climb onto his back. She slung her arms around his neck and held on tight. He made his way towards the cage bars. He had just one shot at this.
He squeezed through the bars. Praying his acrobatics will come through for him like they always did, he pressed his feet against the bars before making a lung to the edge of the vat. The force of slamming against the vat's walls caused Dot to lose her grip.
"Dot, no!" Yakko cried.
He felt a sharp yank on his tail. He looked down and was relieved that Dot managed to grab his tail before it was too late. He started to push himself upwards, trying to climb over the edge of the vat.
There was a loud crash above them. The two looked up.
"What was that?" Dot asked.
"I think someone just broke in..." Yakko said before his hands started to slip. He tightened his grip and managed to put a foot on the edge of the vat. "We're almost there. Just a little more..."