Wakko was explaining how to tell if something was useful enough to take. Dot was listening so intently that she didn't register a familiar tingling sensation. Wakko suddenly went silent.

"Why'ja stop, Wak?" asked Dot. Wakko fell backwards, sliding a bit on the ice. "Whoa!" Dot pulled herself out of the hat, scowling. "What's the big idea?" Her annoyance turned to concern when Wakko only laid there, unresponsive.

Acting quickly, she reached into the hat and pulled out a crème cake. Her alarm increased when Wakko barely reacted to the treat she'd shoved in his mouth. Normally, the middle Warner was good at managing his hypoglycemia; always having snacks on hand and communicating any symptoms. This was the most unresponsive she'd ever seen him. Not knowing what else to do, Dot puppeted his jaw to make him chew and massaged his throat to make him swallow.

There was no change, however, and Dot was about to call for Yakko, when she noticed the bad ink was once again bubbling off her body. It had begun bubbling while she was in the hat. Did some of the bubbles burst onto Wakko's head?

Anxious, she looked to her brother who, to her relief, had opened his eyes. "Your blood sugar was fine, wasn't it?" She asked with a wince. Wakko moved his eyeballs up, then down. Interpreting that to mean 'yes', Dot apologized. "I'm sorry, Wakko. I didn't think this could happen." She sighed, glowering at the bubbles. "It's almost gone, I know it. As for you, I promise it will wear off soon. Let's go get Yakko."

She started to push her brother in the direction Yakko had gone, intending to use him as a sled, when her nose caught a familiar scent. Sniffing the tunnel's frigid air, she glanced down at Wakko and explained. "I… I smell angels, Wakko." Her brother's eyes were rapidly shifting left-right, left-right, left-right. "I know they aren't really angels, but I can smell them. I can still smell ADAM!" She took another whiff. "And I smell a bunch of 'angels' in this tunnel." That was easier for her to say than what they were: corpses.

The Warner sister knew that there was nothing suspicious about there being unharvested bodies in the tunnel, in fact, it was only logical. However, Dot found herself desperately wracking her brain for an excuse to turn back.

The tunnel entrance was directly behind them, the smart thing to do would be to slide Wakko out of here and hide in the walls until he recovers. No, we need to tell Yakko what happened, what's he gonna think when he can't find us? He may worry, but it won't be for long. Are we really okay, with putting him through that just because we don't want to backtrack? Not really, but we have to get Wakko to safety, Yakko will understand. And if he doesn't, then that will teach him not to wander off on his own. We just don't want him to know it was our fault. No, that's not true, we couldn't help it, I didn't know it would happen! You just don't want to admit you're a scared little baby, who's too scared to see a few dead bodies.

"SO WHAT?" Dot clamped her hand over her mouth as the thought escaped out loud. Wakko seemed distracted, and Dot realized they could hear Yakko's yakking coming from deep within the tunnel. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but she could tell he was deliberately projecting his voice.

She glanced down at Wakko. "Is it a good idea to be projecting like that?" Wakko's eyes shifted side to side. He had regained control of some of his facial muscles and he looked troubled. "W-well, I-think-he's-signaling-us-to-head-back!" She spoke very fast, "I'm-sure-he'll-be-right-behind-us, let's go!" Not waiting to see Wakko's reaction, she pushed her brother back toward the entrance, hopping on his belly. Her sleigh ride jerked to a halt before they had traveled a few inches. Dot somersaulted forward and when she looked back-

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" she whisper-shouted, seeing Wakko had gotten his tongue stuck to the ice. With a jackhammer sound effect coming out of her mouth, she instinctively reached for their hammerspace only to come up short. "Stupid slimy ink! Stupid stinky doctors!" She continued to bemoan the reasons for their problems, her rant periodically punctuated by sound effects covering up profanity.

"Screw it!" Grabbing Wakko, she pulled as hard as she could. But Dot wasn't able to pull as far as she'd hoped; apparently the bad ink also hampered a toon's natural elasticity. Dot was about to try again when Wakko grunted as loud as he could, his expression pained and pleading. She huffed in exasperation. "You got any better ideas?" Wakko's eyes looked up and stayed there.

"Wakko, I thought we established that up then down meant yes… oh! You mean the hat!" She grabbed hold of the hat to look inside. "But I would have noticed if you kept ice picks in here," she muttered. Rifling through the hat, her hand brushed by a cylindrical shape. "Waaaaait a minute." She retrieved a thermos which – sure enough – held steaming-hot coffee. "This'll do the trick."

The Warner Sister began to tip the thermos forward when she caught Wakko's terrified expression. "What's wrong?" she gasped, "Is someone here?" She looked around but didn't see anyone. Wakko shook his eyes no, eyed the thermos, then his tongue, then shifted his eyes left-right again.

Dot was about to throw the coffee down in frustration when her brother eyed the coffee, then the ice, then looked up-down.

"Ohhhh… uh, I knew that." Dot giggled sheepishly. She totally hadn't been about to pour boiling hot coffee all over her immobile brother's tongue, really!

She poured the coffee to melt the ice around the tongue; once freed, she placed the tongue in Wakko's mouth and closed it firmly. Immediately, she could hear a muffled scream of pain from her brother. Opening his jaw again, she placed his tongue behind his teeth this time. "My bad," she muttered. Silver lining, she thought to herself, he knows better than to ever fake sick with me. It'll only bring him a world of pain. "Okay, take two!" With that, she hopped onto Wakko's belly and began to slide out of the frozen tunnel.

Dot had forgotten about the stairs. They ended up bumping down them. When they reached the bottom, Dot groaned and rubbed her backside. What kind of capitalist utopia doesn't have plush carpet? A lousy one, that's what!

Wakko, meanwhile, had landed on his face. When Dot raised her brother's head, he was glaring at her. Chuckling in response, she smiled her most endearing smile and said in a cutesy voice, "I'm sworry brother dear! Pwease, pretty pwease, forgive me?" She batted her eyelashes.

He just rolled his eyes and Dot flicked his nose. "Whatever, let's get in the hole." It was a strenuous process to pull a dead-weight Wakko into the vents all by herself. It took several minutes of heaving and hauling, and it didn't help that the entrance to the vent was five feet above the ground. Soon only his legs and tail were sticking out of the vent. "Phew," she gasped as she pulled the rest of the middle Warner inside, "glad that's done. Now we'll just wait here for-"

Wakko was suddenly being pulled out of the vent by his tail. Dot fought to pull him back, but she was overcome when she was grabbed too. Next thing she knew, she was being dangled by her tail. She flailed and hissed. "HEY! PUT US DOWN! YOU UGLY OLE…" Dot's angry rant trailed off as she caught an eyeful of her captor.

Beneath a dark pageboy haircut was a face riddled with scars. Some scars came from fights and others from botched cosmetic surgeries. Her sloppily applied makeup was doing nothing to conceal the scars and the discolored patches of skin all over her body. The right eye was blank, as though someone had taken an eraser to the iris and pupil. What once must have been an expensive and glamorous green dress was torn to shreds and stained with blood. Her arms and legs sported various untreated wounds that were bleeding and putrefying.

The lady splicer seethed at Dot. "Yaaa… thiiiiiinkkk… you caaannn… caaaaalll meeeee… UuuUgggGGGGlllLLLYYyyY!" The lady's screeching voice sounded like nails on chalkboard.

She began to violently shake Dot, gripping her by the throat. "Yah little BIIIIITCH! I'm PREEEETTTTIER THAN YOU! YA HEEEEEAAAAARRRRR MEEEEEE!"

"Heeeeyyy," a male voice whined, "this one's dead!" This remark caused the shaking to stop. Once her brain stopped bouncing around inside her skull, Dot could see Wakko dangling limply in the grasp of a male splicer. She could tell Wakko wasn't really dead, but he seemed fine with letting the splicer think so.

"It's not even a girl!" Dot flinched when the man threw Wakko hard against the wall in disgust. The splicer turned in her direction. He had various bandages wrapped around his head and eye. The other eye was sunken like a meteor crater and one side of his mouth was sagging, exposing his rotting teeth and gums. His nose was swollen and crooked, like a broken nose set incorrectly. The dark pinstripe suit he wore was cover in blood splatters. He also sported multiple bandages that were well overdue for a change.

The male splicer started to stalk toward them, "Jane. Give'er to me!" His nasal voice was demanding, his leering gaze fixed on Dot. "I wanna hold 'er!"

Jane moved Dot out of his reach. "Finders keepers, Toby!" She hissed at him. "Besides, you got your own! If ya killed it, that's your problem, not mine!"

"I TOLD YOU, WOMAN! IT AIN'T EVEN A GIRL!" Toby hollered, brandishing a bloodstained hook. "I DESERVE HAFFA DAT JUICE! NOW GIVE IT HERE, BEFORE I MAKE YA GIVE ME ALL OF IT!"

Jane just sneered at her companion. "It wasn't me wot said there were two lil' ones," she waved her hook in a taunting manner. "Dat was you. Maybe if ya'd kept it to yaself, you'd be getting a piece of this," Jane shook Dot for emphasis, "but noooo. You thought if ya told me about 'em, I might give you the time of day." She gave an ugly laugh. "As if I'd waste my time with a loser like you!"

"YOU!" Toby sputtered, "YOU STUPID SKANK! YOU THINK YOU CAN LAUGH AT ME? YOU THINK YOU'RE SOMETHING SPECIAL? I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT I'M WORTH!"

As the argument become violent, Dot had gone catatonic in Jane's hold. She was rattled and dizzy from all the shaking and Jane's grip around her neck made it difficult to breathe or focus. Dot wondered if she should bother informing them that she no longer produced ADAM. After mulling it over, Dot concluded there was no point in saying anything because even if they believed her claim, her situation would not improve. It wasn't long before all the fighting attracted other splicers to the scene. In the midst of blacking out Dot could barely catch what was being said.

"Where's my share?"

"…promised you'd share, Jane!"

"…you're nuttin but a dime-a-dozen chorus girl!"

"…ooh, he's so soft!"

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM!"

That comment grabbed her attention, and she witnessed a new male splicer seizing her brother. He was cradling Wakko in his arms, weeping and blubbering like a child. The female splicer that he pushed aside remained on the floor, pouting.

"I'm sorry, Rover. I didn't wanna do it! Pa made me do it! Said I had to be a man, but I didn't wanna… I'm sorry!" The splicer hugged Wakko to his chest and sobbed. The scene was pathetic and pitiful and Dot couldn't help her own eyes welling with tears.

The wailing stopped when a thrown hook struck the crying splicer in the neck, completely removing his head.

"Finally," Jane muttered, "thought he'd never shut up!"

Time stopped for Dot. The delusional splicer crying over what he thought was his dead dog had given her a strong sense of déjà vu. Deep within her mind, a repressed memory reignited. The light glowed dim as an ember, but it was bright enough to make out the faint images of a crying child, a heartless order, hands around her neck-

She roared like a lion and bit down on Jane's hand. She bit down until she heard a crunch beneath her teeth. Jane, howling in pain, threw Dot to the floor. The toon girl made a beeline into Wakko's hat.

She could hear the other splicers berating and attacking Jane for losing the walking ADAM factory. The toon girl shuddered at each sound of steel striking flesh. Jane's protests grew less and less coherent, ending with a squishing sound shortly followed by several wet plops. Dot covered her mouth with her hand as she willed herself not to puke.

"Where'd the little rat run off to? You see her, Lloyd?"

"I saw her run under the hat."

Dot hardly registered what the man said when a gross-looking hand reached into the hat. She dodged the grubby fingers, but in doing so, revealed to the others that the man could fit his entire arm into the hat. The hunting party all gathered in close as Lloyd groped around for her, pulling out Wakko's snacks in the process.

"I'll get her out! And we can all share the ADAM together!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever, Lloyd, just hurry up!" A female voiced whined as another piped up, "I need it!"

"I'm trying! She won't stay still!"

"I'll make her come out!" Dot suddenly heard the cracking of fire. Uh oh! Think fast, Dot!

Unfortunately, Wakko never kept things like mouse traps in his hat, but maybe... Searching about her, Dot's hands landed on a familiar item. A-ha! Perfect!

A moment later, Lloyd gleefully shouted that he 'got something' and pulled his arm out, only to be perplexed when all he had in his hand was a giant tire. The others looked as dumbfounded as one would expect from anyone witnessing a person pull a full-size vehicle tire out of a baseball cap.

Dot sprang up out of the hat, shouting "Surprise!" She grabbed hold of the tire and slammed it down over the splicers, trapping them within while completely disregarding the normal spatial limitations of doing so. Picking up Wakko's hat, she looked over her shoulder. "Good luck working off that spare tire," she mocked. Dot then dashed over to Wakko, who had regained some more mobility. "C'mon," she urged while helping Wakko to his feet, "let's bounce!"

Wakko suddenly began to snarl, muzzle vibrating, and Dot whirled around to see the four furious splicers stalking toward them, the tire having been ripped to shreds in seconds. I didn't think they'd escape that fast, she thought with dismay as she stood behind Wakko to hold him upright. Her brother was wielding the pipe of the decapitated splicer, swinging it menacingly at the approaching party.

One splicer struck Wakko in the stomach with her club, sending the toons flying into the wall. Dot rushed to get them both back on their feet when she saw, to her horror, that part of Wakko's jacket appeared as if it had been burned away. Terror surged through her when she realized what that meant.

Dot never felt more helpless in her life; surrounded by deranged junkies, the vent was too far to reach. Where's Yakko? I want Yakko! I wanna go home! I wanna go home right now! Please, somebody, help us! Yakko!? Nurse Jack!? ANYBODY?!

Toby stood over them, his turpentine-coated hook gleaning menacingly in the light. With a demented grin plastered across his face, the man slowly raised his weapon in preparation to strike. Aghast, Dot let out a scream.

A roaring whale call answered back!

"MISTER BUBBLES! HELP!"

BOOM

CRUNCH

Salvation came crashing down from above, landing directly on one of the splicer's heads. His visor was a blazing red. The splicers shrieked and cursed their misfortune.

"OH SHIT! GO'WAY! GO AWAY!"

"NO FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR!"

"I AIN'T SCARED! I EARNED IT!"

Dot couldn't look away, however much she wanted to, as Mister Bubbles mercilessly eviscerated every last splicer in front of it.

The sole female splicer wisely tried to flee, but she didn't get far. The Bouncer slammed his harpoon into the floor, the resulting tremors tripping the fleeing splicer, who then received a giant, gaping hole in her belly. Mister B then charged the next splicer and when he pulled the harpoon out of the man's stomach, the splicer was ripped clean in two. Toby, meanwhile, had tried to escape to the ceiling, but that didn't help him. Mister Bubbles yanked Toby down and pinned his face to the wall with the massive harpoon. Wakko covered his sister's eyes as the Big Daddy spun the weapon and Toby was ripped to pieces, his body parts flying all over the place.

Dot could hear the screams long after they stopped.

Mister Bubbles was not done. The metal monster went about purposely stomping on the heads of the dead, shattering skulls and spilling brains. Once he was finally satisfied the threat had been eliminated, the Big Daddy trudged over to the children.

The younger Warners became very tense as the long strides came to a stop in front of them. Dot had turned white as a sheet, and now Wakko was holding her up.

The siblings held each other tightly as the Bouncer reached forward… and patted their heads. Its visor had shifted from a violent red to a gentle green and its groans became strangely soothing.

The toons gave the protector shaky smiles and Wakko lifted his arm to point to a vent. Happily obliging, Mister Bubbles gathered them in his arms and gently deposited them into the hole in the wall.

At last, they were safe in the vent. Once Mister B's footsteps faded into the distance, Dot let herself cry in Wakko's arms.

LINE BREAK

Yakko had remained silent as he listened to the account. When Dot finished, he squeezed them both tight. "I'm sorry, sibs. This was all my fault."

The little ones started to protest, but he insisted. "I was an idiot for assuming the tunnel was clear. I should have hurried back to you when I realized it wasn't." He shook his head, "I never should have left you guys alone in the first place."

Wakko raised a hand to speak, but Dot spoke over him. "So, you were trying to signal us to leave?"

Yakko rubbed the back of his head. "A-actually, Finnegan was still alive. I was trying to distract him, to keep him from finding you."

Yakko then told them his side of the story; admittedly a less morbid tale, relatively speaking.

At one point Dot eyed Yakko perplexed while Wakko just looked smug. "Yakko," began Dot, cocking her head, "why wouldn't he laugh? You're one of my top two funniest brothers!"

Wakko nodded emphatically, with 'I told you so' vibes emanating from his grin. The readings were so strong, Yakko had to blush. "Aw, t-thanks!"

For the next few minutes, they sat together quietly within the walls. Eventually, Wakko arose from his seat, saying, "we all need to be more careful." He put one hand on Dot's shoulder and took Yakko's hand with the other. Heaving a deep sigh, he clarified. "War is chaos, and not the fun kind. I poked one of those bubbles while Dot was asleep and it made my finger go numb, but I still didn't think to talk to Dot about that before inviting her to hide in my hat."

He shook his head before continuing. "The blame game is stupid, pointless, and unfun, so we won't be playing it. We each did what we thought was best."

Turning to his sister, he gave her a comforting hug. "The only thing I will say is, next time," he squished her cheeks in his hands as he spoke with emphasis, "never forget to look up."

I'm never gonna get used to Wakko sounding so serious, Dot thought, nodding. "D-did you look up, Wakko?"

"I was trying to," Wakko admitted.

Dot trembled violently. She vowed to never forget to check the ceilings again. "But you really aren't mad at me?"

"Nah," Wakko gave her ear a teasing pull, "but you owe me a new tire." Then Wakko turned to his brother. "As much as I want you to promise to never go off on your own again-"

"Of course, I prom-"

"NO."

Yakko and Dot gasped at the middle Warner, who hurried to explain. "It's because… we may have to break it. We don't know what could happen next and we might need to split up even if we don't want to." He looked with watery eyes at his siblings, pleading for them to understand. "We've always kept our promises and I don't want that to end because…"

"Okay, okay, I gotcha." Yakko pulled his brother close, Dot joining in shortly after. "I gotcha," he reassured, gently patting Wakko's back.

"Having said that," Yakko and Dot turned their heads at Wakko's suddenly clear voice. Wakko pulled out of the embrace to shake a finger at Yakko. "No more solo heroics! You wanna do something crazy? We do it together, and only together! Ya got that?"

Yakko and Dot laughed and agreed.

They sat quietly for a few more minutes before Dot asked what was on all their minds. "What're we gonna do now?" No one had an answer for her. Yakko was staring down at his hands, expression uncertain. Wakko was pacing back and forth, scratching his head. Dot took a deep breath, "I think... it would be best if I stay in here... for now." The words were difficult to choke out, but she couldn't risk endangering her brothers again. "At least, until... you know." Until the bad ink was gone, or until she felt brave enough to venture out again. Whichever came last.

"That's not a bad idea." Wakko admitted. Suddenly, a light bulb appeared above his hat, illuminating the area. He slapped a fist into his palm, "Hey Dot," he asked excitedly, "do you think you can guide us to Poseidon Plaza?" When the sister blinked at him in confusion, he elaborated. "You know, travel through the vents like the other Sisters do?"

Her eyes grew wide and, feeling curious, she crawled over to the Little Sister vent that led beyond the Atrium. The vent-way was very dark and foreboding, like a black hole leading to oblivion. However, Dot knew she had traveled those vents before, but could she do it again? How did she manage it in the first place?

Staring into the void, she took a deep inhale through her nose, and became overwhelmed. She could smell everything! Everything from Big Daddies and angels to smoke and seawater to alcohol and tobacco. Turning back to her brothers, she grinned. "I can!"

"Faboo! Lead the way!" Wakko exclaimed.

"Wait, now?"

"Why not? We can hide just as easily over there."

Yakko swallowed, his throat becoming dry. While he'd been prepared to travel to the Plaza earlier, now that it was time to go, all the dread and terror had returned to the surface. But he knew he had to stay strong for his siblings.

Lining up at the void in reverse birth order, each Warner took ahold of the tail in front of him.

Before heading into the dark pipes, Dot looked behind her. "I'll be using my nose to navigate, so, Wakko," she said sternly, "no belching."

"Heeeey!"

Yakko snorted. "So, am I allowed to belch, sis?"

"Noooo-puh! The point is that Wakko's belches are always the smelliest."

Wakko beamed with pride. "Daww, baby sister, you flatter me! But you've had some nice belches too."

Dot released a scandalized gasp. "THAT is LIES and SLANDER!" She clutched her imaginary pearls in dismay.

"No need to sell yourself shorter than you already are!" He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. "They smelled of chocolates."

"Who are you to call me short! You only have 2 inches on me, barely!" Dot pouted. "Also, you're wrong!"

"Hmm, there was also that other belch you had after we had that garlicky spaghetti."

"THAT WAS YOU!"

He acknowledged that truth. "And I told you that you could never hope to top that," Wakko snickered, "so you grabbed a second helping and ate it as fast you could and- "

"SLAAAN-DARRR!"

Yakko felt all his tension fall away as he listened to his brother and sister bicker, just like old times. It filled him with such sweet nostalgia, he sniffled and wiped away a tear.

"Hey, Yakko! Hellooooo!"

Waking himself from his halcyon daze, Yakko addressed his siblings, "Uh, sorry, could you repeat that?"

Dot stood with her hands on her hips and Wakko held his hands behind his back. They were gazing at him with expectation. Dot impatiently answered him. "We're asking you to settle this!" Wakko nodded in agreement.

Naturally, Yakko did what any responsible big brother would do and escalated it. "Of coooourse, you've burped before, Dot! They weren't anything impressive, though." He relished the cries of dismay as the two wailed about how their own brother could betray their trust in such a way.

Alright, this has been fun, but now it's time to go. Yakko held up a hand, quieting the younger ones. Whipping out a pair of sunglasses, he donned them in one smooth motion. "Lead the way, seeing-eye-sis!"

Just like that, Dot took off like a racehorse, pulling her brothers deep into the darkness. She moved like a bloodhound on a hunt, with the boys focusing all their efforts on matching Dot's fast pace, gripping the tails like a lifeline.

The path was more convoluted than Wakko was expecting. They went up, down, left, and right, and Wakko would swear they even went upside-down at least once.

Once in a while, Dot would pause to sniff the air, as though she was getting her bearings. Wakko wished she could warn them before stopping. These pauses would only last a couple seconds before Dot shot off again.

This time, however, the pause lasted longer than usual. Dot took a long, deep sniff, before she spoke. "Back up, back up, back up!"

"Did ya miss yer turn, sister-mine?" responded Yakko.

"Less yakking, more backing!"

Wakko groaned. "Are we almost there? I'm hungry."

"SSSHHH, someone's coming!"

The three kids flattened themselves against the side of the vent. Straining their ears, they could hear a soft clanging and humming steadily growing louder as whatever it was approached their location.

"Hello?" a meek voice called out, "is somebody there?" In the darkness, they couldn't even see the girl's outline. While the Warners relaxed, the boys remained quiet as they didn't want to freak the kid out.

Dot thought she ought to be the one to speak up. "Hi, there. Don't mind us… er, me. Just passing through."

"Oh, excuse me." As the girl crawled past the flat boys, she called back, "sister?"

"Um? Yes, fellow sister?" Dot didn't know what to expect but was intrigued.

"Don't go back to the Garden."

Dot's eyes widened. "Ye-yeah, don't worry. I won't. You stay away from there too, kid, ya hear?"

"Yes, stay safe, sister." Like a ghost, the girl vanished into the darkness.

"That was weird," Dot remarked while the boys reinflated themselves.

"What did she mean by 'Garden'?" wondered Wakko.

Dot swallowed. "That's what we called the place we stayed at 'til it was time to gather." In other words, the Little Wonders Educational Facility – also known as the Little Sister Orphanage – where young girls would be implanted with the sea slug and conditioned to gather.

Then Yakko spoke up. "Her eyes weren't glowing!"

"Huh?"

"Wha'd'ya mean, glowing?" asked Dot.

"That means Jack has been busy! If we hurry, maybe we can see him!"

The thought of getting to see Jack in action sprung Dot into action. It wouldn't be much further; in a couple of minutes, they would arrive at the plaza. As they hurried along, there was only one thought on Dot's mind.

Was anybody ever gonna tell me that I had glowing eyes?