Again and again Katie's fist came down. She cared not how many times her fists indented into the hard floors or metallic shelves. She paid no attention to the various objects laying on the ground, which could easily trip her. And she didn't even hear the shouts and cheers coming from the Animaniacs witnessing this.
All her eyes and mind were focused on was the little monster who hurt Wakko. She had lost her temper before. But this time, it was justified. She never felt so enraged in her life. She watched as the now pitiful Duu kept running from her, whining like a lost puppy, as she continued to attack him.
"Hold still so I can smash you!" Katie roared.
The deep rumble in her voice was enough to scare Duu out of his mind. If the shere size wasn't enough, her voice sounded like it was going to snake out of her mouth and strangle him. Duu needed to get away from her. He needed to get her out of the way.
As he dodged another attack, he looked to the side and saw something that made him gasp in horror. Yakko and Dot were running towards the pool of Thinner laying on the ground. But it wasn't to commit suicide, which he would have preferred. It was to drop his original animation cel in it. He wasn't going to let that happen. He couldn't let it happen. No, not after all he had accomplished.
When Duu moved to the side, Katie made a mistep and she tripped. It wouldn't keep her down for long, but it would be enough. Duu didn't need much time. Just a few seconds. Only a few seconds.
"I'm not letting you do that!" Duu grabbed Yakko, who was holding the animation cel, and dragged him over. The sharp yank caused Yakko to drop the cel on the ground. Duu looped an arm around Yakko's arms and pinned them behind his back. Duu grinned as he pulled out his trademark pencil. "Are you ready to die, Yakko?"
Dot ran over to where the animation cel was dropped. She picked it up in her hand. She looked up at Duu, her eyes wide as she saw Duu raise the pencil to her brother's neck. She looked over to Katie. She wouldn't be able to reach him in time. Thinking fast, Dot grabbed a rock and tossed it at Duu.
Duu winced as the rock hit him on the side of his face. The pain was nothing more than a mere annoyance, but it did make him almost drop his pencil. He looked down and scowled at Dot. So the little brat decided to fight back. Finally. He was growing a little bored of her being a mere damsel.
Dot picked up another rock. "Let my brother go!" She tossed the rock at Duu. She felt a sense of satisfaction as she managed to hit Duu again.
"Do you really think you can stop me?" With a wave of his hand, Duu pushed over a shelf onto Katie, incapacitating her longer to buy more time. He put the pencil's tip against Yakko's neck. "Pencils...such masters of creation...and destruction, don't you think, Dottie?"
At that, Dot's eyes widened and her teeth slowly began to grind. Her body started to shake in anger. Duu looked at her, confused. He was wondering if he had made a big mistake. He looked down at Yakko. The drooping ears confirmed his hunch.
"You shouldn't have done that." Yakko shook his head.
"Don't...ever...call...me...Dottie!" Dot shrieked. With a burst of anger, she threw the animation cell behind her. She stormed over, preparing to tear Duu a new one. She stopped when she heard a glump sound behind her.
It didn't take long for her, Yakko, and Duu to realize what happened. The animation cel fell into the Thinner laying on the ground. Already it was eating away at the cel.
Duu screamed horrifically as he dropped Yakko to the ground. He fell to the ground as a black smoke began to radiate off his body. He tried to stop screaming, but he was unable to close his mouth. The sounds kept coming out, and they intensified as the cel continued to be destroyed by the Thinner.
Yakko and Dot watched in disgust and terror as Duu's body started to practically melt away. His screams become more and more pitiful. It was almost hard not to feel sorry for the guy. He collapsed on his knees, holding onto his head, whimpering and shaking.
No begging. No pleading. Just trembling and crying. The pain wracked through his body. It was the worst pain he would ever feel. The sight deeply disturbed Yakko and Dot and they had to force themselves to look away.
Duu forced himself onto his knees. He stared at the two. He wanted to make them pay. In his pained mind, rage and anger still boiled. He began to pull himself over towards them. He only got a couple inches closer before his body fell apart. In a sickening splash, Duu's melted body spread across the ground. Then it dried and turned into ash.
Even after this horror show had ended, Dot and Yakko couldn't bring themselves to look that the smelly burnt mess. Their arms wrapped around each other, they shook in fear at what happened. Dot had forgotten all about her hatred towards Duu and now her mind was flooed by Duu's screams of agony. Yakko felt the same away.
Yakko barely registered the police coming in to clear the mess. He didn't pay attention to the hazmat team who came in to clean up the Thinner spilled on the ground. He didn't notice the ER folks coming in to make sure those injured were fine. And he didn't give much thought to Plotz who had come over and put a hand on him and Dot and was trying to ask them if they were okay.
All Yakko could see was Duu's body.
He was confused by the feelings he felt. Why should he feel sorry for him? This guy had tortured him, done things to him. He tried to kill his siblings for crying out loud. Yakko had every reason to hate him. He had every reason to feel he got what he deserved.
So why couldn't he let go of this feeling of regret? The only thing Yakko could think of to rationalize his feeling sorry for the monster...was that maybe there was more to him.
He kept thinking this even on the way back to the tower. When he finally found his voice, he had spoken to Plotz about Duu. The name instantly rung a bell. Plotz explained that, just like they had thought, Duu was the product of a would-be rival company who were trying to cash in on the Warners' success. Duu was created for the sole purpose of 'stealing the show', but when the scheme was figured out, he was...taken care of. Plotz didn't go into detail.
So that was it. Maybe that was why Yakko couldn't feel hatred towards the guy. He was, in a sense, a victim in his own right. Used for something he couldn't help. And because of that, he had grown jealous of the real Warners. Thus his actions.
That didn't mean Yakko would forgive him. What he did was unspeakable, unfathomable. There was no way he would let this go. A small part of him was glad that the ordeal was finally over. He was glad Duu was gone so he could finally get some rest.
Yet he couldn't help but wonder...
...what would have happened if he had been able to change Duu?
sss
Later that night, the two Warners sat at the table to eat some dinner. Usually, this was a happier, if not relaxing, time for them. Without Wakko, it felt empty. It was hard to eat without him. They had done it before, but the other times, he wasn't in mortal danger. With each bite, their stomachs clenched in pain as they thought of their injured brother.
They never thought they would miss the sound of Wakko's sunction stomach so much. Once in a while, they would glance at the empty space where Wakko would usually be. They couldn't bare to look at it for too long, and they'd force themselves to look away.
Dot said, "I miss him..."
"Me too, sis." Yakko looked at her sympathetically. He stared down at his half finished plate and pushed it away. "I'm not hungry."
Dot tried to take another bite, but set her fork down. "I can't eat knowing Wakko's in the hospital." She looked up at Yakko. "Do you think he will be okay?"
Yakko gave the best smile he could, yet the sadness remained in his eyes. "He will be fine. You heard the doctors. He just needs...some time."
"But his feet..."
Yakko pulled his sister into a hug. "Wakko will come home, I promise you." Dot didn't respond, just cried into his chest.
Earlier that day, they had paid a visit to their brother at the hospital. It took a little while to find him because of the bustling hospital. A lot of patients were going in and out that day.
When they found their brother, he was awake and seemed perky, but his responses were slow and sluggish. This was because of the loads of morphine they pumped into his body to nullify the pain as best as possible. Even in this seemingly drunken state, Wakko was happy to see his siblings, evident by his wagging tail and wide, goofy grin.
The doctor had come in a few minutes later to give them the rundown on Wakko's condition. No surprise, his feet were burned badly. They were wrapped up in bandages to protect them from the outside elements. His arms had burns on them as well as his hands, but they were more mild and manageable.
The doctor believed that Wakko would regain the use of his arms, more or less, by the next day, but his feet would be a different story. Due to the extent of the damage, Wakko would need to stay off his feet for a while. A time frame was not given. It all depended on how fast he would heal. The doctor told Yakko and Dot that they would have to change his bandages once a day and apply medication. It would sting, but Wakko's feet won't heal properly if this isn't done.
Yakko shuddered at the memory of those instructions. He hated the idea of doing something that might Wakko. But he knew he had to do it to help him. And he knew Dot would be willing to do it too, if it meant having Wakko back to his old self again.
One thing that didn't change about Wakko was his energetic personality. Yakko and Dot couldn't help but smile at this. Even with his feet severely burned and him losing the ability to walk for an unknown amount of time, he still found ways to keep himself happy.
Yakko looked up at the clock. It was getting late. "...come on, sis." Yakko said as he got out of the seat. "We need to get some rest before we pick up Wakko in the morning."
Dot climbed out of the seat and followed him slowly. As they settled down into bed, it was hard for them to sleep. They had never went to bed without Wakko before. It was uncomfortable, a little too quiet. Yakko felt the bed he shared with his little brother was too empty without him. Dot missed the sound of Wakko's snoring at night.
It took them hours before they finally were able to sleep. And the only thing that let them sleep was the knowledge their brother would be coming home with them.
sss
"Oh come on guys!" Wakko whined. "I wanna walk!"
Dot waved a scolding finger at him. "You know you can't do that!"
"But I'm fine! See?" Wakko tried to put one of his feet on the ground. He immediately recoiled the pain, but faked a smile. "See?" He forced himself to say. "I hardly felt a thing."
"Wakko..." Yakko said in a knowing tone of voice.
Wakko's ears drooped. "Okay, so it still hurts...I just don't like being stuck in this bed."
Yakko gave a weak smile. "Hey, you think we like it? You try switching places with me and try to see how easy it is giving help to use the bathroom."
"That's disgusting." Dot grimaced.
Wakko was laying flat on the bed. A special contraption had to be hooked up to his bed. It kept his feet leveled up off the bed. His feet were in so much pain that even laying them on something soft as a blanket would hurt him. The contraption was so bulky that it didn't give Yakko a lot of room to sleep, but he made do with it.
Wakko hadn't been happy one bit when he found out he'd be bed ridden until his feet got well again. The only time he would be taken off was to use the bathroom. Both Dot and Yakko had to lend a hand. It was, to say the least, embarrassing for Wakko to use the toilet in front of his siblings. Yakko jokingly suggested outfitting him with a diaper. He only made that suggestion once, because Wakko threw a shoe at him.
After a few minutes of silence, Dot crawled into the bed next to him. Yakko leaned against the wall on Wakko's other side, smiling down as Dot rested her head on Wakko's chest.
"You were really brave, Wakko." Dot said.
Wakko looked at her. "I was?" He sounded surprised.
"Really." Yakko playfully patted him on his hatless head. "Good job there, kiddo."
Wakko gave a smile. An overwhelming feeling of satisfaction filled up inside of him. Taking one more look at his siblings, he laid down to go to sleep. For the first time since he came home, he didn't like a freak, legs supported by a metallic thing.
He felt normal.