Animaniacs 1. A Not So Normal Evening

_Beginning of my first multi-chapter fic! Yay! I already have the completed story on my computer, so updates won't take too long. I'm estimating about a week between chapters, to give people time to read and review. The "T" rating is for mild language, and it gets a bit darker in later chapters. _

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own __Animaniacs__. The rights belong to their respectful owners. This story is purely for entertainment purposes only. Plus, I'm scared of lawyers. O.O_

Break Down

Yakko sighed as he lugged a _way_ overstuffed bag of groceries across the sprawling Warner Bros. movie lot. _If Wakko didn't eat so damn much... _Yakko thought to himself, wishing his arms hadn't been drawn so scrawny. The white spot that was his face was turning a light shade of red from the strain of the bag. Both sets of paws hurt and his black fur was drenched in sweat. He let out a breath of relief when he came to the water tower he and his siblings, Wakko and Dot, had lived in for quite some time. They'd been locked up in there for being too zany. When they'd finally gotten out, they somehow managed to get a show called _Animaniacs_. Sadly, it had been cancelled by some stupid big-headed executive, but Plotz continued to let them live in the water tower, as long as they didn't make too much ruckus.

"I could start the biggest rucks ever, and Plotz still wouldn't notice," Yakko muttered. The studio seemed to think of them as just some toons living on the set, and nothing more. Scratchy and Hello Nurse were the only humans who ever visited them anymore. They occasionally got visits from other toons, but once a toon's show was cancelled, and that same big-headed exec had cancelled most of their friends shows, they usually left the lot for good and got other jobs. The new toons were really weird and didn't seem to like the Warners very much. Thus, the Warner family was pretty much on their own, with Yakko taking most of the responsibilities. He really hated that. He was used to being the authoritative figure in their family, they had no parents and he was the oldest, but the stress was too much to deal with sometimes. Wakko and Dot could be somewhat responsible, but they were still pretty young. He finally managed to climb up the steps to the top of the water tower without dropping anything.

"Note to self: Install escalator for tower." Yakko pants, and then enters.

"Yay, you're back!" Dot exclaims.

"What 'da bring for dinner?" Wakko asks.

"Food." Yakko replies, starting to put everything away. _Oh, thanks so much for helping me with these groceries, you wonderful siblings of mine! _Yakko sarcastically thinks to himself. He seems to do all the work around here. If, God forbid, something were to happen to him, he doesn't know how well his sibs would manage. And that kinda scares him.

"What kind of food?" Wakko asks again.

"It doesn't really matter, 'cause you'll eat anything. But, for Dot's sake, it's pizza."

"Yay! Pizza!" Dot exclaims.

"Faboo!" Wakko yells in excitement, then attempts to swallow the pizza whole.

"Wait, _wait_," Yakko says, putting his hands up in a "stop" gesture and putting himself between the pizza and Wakko's black hole of a mouth. "You need to let myself and Dot get some food before you eat it all. Not to mention, it's still frozen." Wakko gave a light whine of protest, then walked, defeated, back to the couch, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Yakko sighed as he got ready to put the pizza in the oven.

Wakko and Dot sat on the couch and turned on the TV. Immediately, a celebrity news channel came on, which Dot seemed pleased with. Wakko, however, made a noise of disgust, then quickly took the remote and changed the channel to one of those shows were people submit videos of themselves, or others, falling down, be stupid, or other weird things.

"Hey!" Dot exclaimed before stealing back the remote. "I was watching that!"

"Well, I was watching that!" Wakko exclaimed, grabbing for the remote. _They're fighting...again!_

"Both of you, stop fighting, right now!" Yakko snapped, cause the two bickering siblings to look at him in shock. Yakko had shocked himself as well. He rarely yelled at them, even when he probably should. But, this was not one of those times.

"I'm sorry," He quickly apologized. "But, you either compromise, or the TV stays off." His sibs got the message, so Yakko went back to making dinner. He turned and kneeled to face the oven, but found that the buttons were gone. He put his white gloved, four fingered hand to where the buttons should be, but he couldn't feel them. "Huh? HUH?" He exclaimed, pressing all over the oven, trying to find the buttons. He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear it. When he opened his eyes, sure enough, the buttons were there.

"That's a relief," Yakko muttered and he worked on setting the preheat function.

"What's a relief?" Yakko turned at the sound of Dot's voice to see her standing over him, her hands on her pink-skirted hips.

"What do you mean?" Yakko tried to avoid the question. It didn't work.

"You were freaking out over here a minute ago, so I came to make sure everything was okay."

"Oh, that!" Yakko thought for a moment. It's a good thing words, and twisting said words, was his specialty. "The oven didn't seem to be working at first, so I got worried. But, it's fine now!" Yakko grinned, hopping Dot would buy it.

"Well, okay then," Dot said, seeming to believe him. She walked off, and Yakko let out a sigh of relief.

_I'm tired and stressed. That's the only reason I thought the buttons were gone. That's it. _


	2. The White Room

_Chapter 2 everyone! :D Sorry if it's a little short, but I already have the story written and I'm just going with where I think the most logical breaks are. Slight cliff-hanger ending for this one, fair warning! Then again, you may not think so. XD Please R&R, and a big thank you to everyone who's reveiwed so far! I didn't think people would like it this much! :D_

**Disclaimer is on the first chapter.**

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><p>When the pizza was cooked, Yakko put the amount he and Dot would eat on plates. Then, he put the rest of the pizza on a plate that he knew Wakko could eat without getting sick, do to Wakko's tendency of eating plates and silverware, and just about everything else. When he brought the food out, Dot took her plate and began eating in a civilized manner. Wakko swallowed the pizza, and the plate, whole.<p>

"I'm still hungry," All three Warner siblings said in unison, Yakko and Dot mocking what Wakko says all the time. Wakko makes a noise of protest, but it's unheard over the sound of Yakko and Dot's laughter. _I haven't laughed this hard since the show was cancelled._ Yakko dismisses the thought, then picks up his pizza slices, keeping them out of Wakko's reach.

Later on, after Dot went to bed, Yakko was getting himself ready. He goes to the living room area of their water tower to see Wakko still mixing music on his computer. He was really good at making electronic music with the software he downloaded.

"You turning in?" Yakko asked.

"To what?" Wakko replied, smiling at their old joke. Yakko chuckled slightly. "To really answer your question, not yet. I'm really close to finishing this song!"

"Okay, see you in the morning." Yakko replies. He heads to the bed room where Dot's already asleep on her bunk. He crawled into the lowest bunk, got comfy, then closed his eyes.

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><p>Yakko found himself in a pure white room. "Hello?" He called out, but all he heard was his echo. "HELLO!" He yelled again, this time expressing more fear. He hated being alone, not knowing where his siblings were. "Wakko? Dot?" He called, but no answer beyond his echo again. Yakko started running, in a panic. The white room seemed to go on forever in whatever direction he ran. He saw no windows, no door, no way out.<p>

He let out a scream of pure terror; the rancor of his despair was evident. He was lost, alone, and he had no idea where his siblings were, and if they were okay. Were they worried about him, were they hurt, were they dead? When that thought crossed his mind, he started crying. If something happened to them while here was here, lost and alone, he wouldn't know how to go on.

"WAKKO! DOT!" He screamed their names over and over again through tears. He knew something had to have happened to them while he was here, he just knew it! He couldn't take this anymore; he needed to get out of here. But he was frozen, he couldn't move. "No..." He started muttering. "NO!"

"Yakko." The voice was a whisper, so soft he couldn't tell who said it. Yakko looked up. "Hello?" He called out.

"Yakko?" A question and the voice was obviously Wakko's.

"Wakko!" Yakko cried, his tears of fear turning into tears of joy.

"Yakko!" Dot's voice this time, full of worry.

"Dot! I'm okay!" Yakko yells back. He gets up, expecting to see his siblings, but he was alone. He starts looking around quickly. "Wakko? Dot?" He had just heard them; they had been in his reach. Where were they?

"Yakko! Yakko!" He hears them calling again, from behind them.

"Sibs!" He yells in joy turning around, but instead of his siblings, he sees a big black shadow swallowing up everything. It had a grotesque face, with sinister looking eyes. Worse of all, his siblings voices were coming from it.

"Yakko! YAKKO!" Their voice were filled with pain, and the shadow was coming closer, a devilish grin on his face as he approached Yakko.

"NO!"


	3. Aftermath

_Chapter 3! :D Adding in some sibling drama, cause that's what happens when you have siblings. Especially when one is horribly sleep deprived. Oh, boy...  
><em>_And BTW, this is NOT a deathfic! I've been getting a couple of reviews of people who seem to be worried about this. Don't worry, I prefer my Warner sib's alive. However, I, in the words of my current English teacher, will "thow the character's a problem and watch them squirm ." ;)_

**Disclaimer on chapter 1.**

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><p>"Yakko, Yakko!"<p>

"Wake up, Yakko!"

Yakko opened his eyes. He was back in his bed, in the water tower, and surrounded by the worried looks on his sibling's faces. _It was a dream. _Yakko sighed in relief. He didn't think he was ever this happy to see his siblings in his life. _It was all just a dream._

"Yakko, are you okay?" Wakko asked, his accent becoming thicker due to worry.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Yakko said dismissively. "Go back to sleep."

"It was kinda hard to sleep when you were screaming bloody murder," Dot said. Yakko was caught off guard. _I was screaming? _

Dot looked at him with her "cute eyes". "You wanna talk about it?" She asked. Yakko really didn't want to, but he had trouble resisting Dot when she gave him that look. Most people did. Yakko looked toward Wakko with a pleading look in his eyes. Wakko understood.

"He doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to," Wakko said, putting his arm around Dot. Dot opened her mouth to protest, but Wakko gave her a look. She closed her mouth, but the look on her face said that she wasn't going to let this go.

"Sorry for waking you guys, and for the scare," Yakko said. "Now, go to bed you guys."

Wakko and Dot nodded tiredly, now accepting their need for sleep now that they were sure that Yakko was okay. They crawled into their respective bunks, and soon, Wakko was snoring as usual and Dot was sleeping peacefully. But Yakko's sleep was restless, because he was afraid that if he fell asleep, he'd have that horrible nightmare again.

Yakko awoke the next day groggier than usual. "Damn nightmare," Yakko muttered under his breath as he put on his way to big brown pants, using a black belt to keep them up. Yakko smiled lightly, because it had been Steven who'd given him the suggestion of a belt, plus given him his first belt, which he happed to be wearing.

"Good morning, Yakko!" Wakko said when he saw his brothers back, his head bent down in concentration as he buckled his belt. Wakko adjusted his backwards, red baseball cap on his head.

"Good morning, Wakko," Yakko said as he finished putting his belt on. He turned around expecting his blue-shirted younger brother, but he wasn't there. "Wakko? Are you hiding?"

"I'm right in front of you!" Wakko said, standing in front of his older brother, but Yakko didn't seem to see him. Wakko watched, slightly freaked out, as he watched his brother's eyes get wider and he started looking around wildly.

"Where are you? Wakko!" Despite what Wakko had said, all he saw was the open closet door. "Wakko! This isn't funny anymore!"

"YAKKO!" Wakko screamed, half out of fear, the other half trying to snap his brother out of it. Luckily, it worked. Yakko stopped looking around, closed his eyes while shaking his head, then opened them again. Yakko sighed in relief as he saw his younger brother in front of him.

"Wakko! Where were you?" Yakko asked, slightly annoyed. Wakko cocked an eyebrow.

"I was right here the whole time," Wakko replies, dead serious. Yakko has a look of shock, then a look of "Oh, crap", then a fake look of calmness Wakko knew Yakko was using to trick him into thinking nothing was wrong.

"I must be tired from last night," Yakko says, giving a slightly forced, embarrassed laugh. "I'm not fully awake apparently."

"Okay..." Wakko says then quickly walks off.

Yakko walks to the bathroom and takes a good, long look at himself. _That's the second time in as many days. _"What's wrong with me?" Yakko asks his reflection, as though it would answer his question. He shakes his head. _I'm just tired, that's all._

He heads to the kitchen. Wakko and Dot are whispering quickly, heads together, but the immediately stop talking and act like nothing's going on when they noticed Yakko. _Okay, Wakko obviously told Dot about what went down earlier._ Yakko went to pour himself some cereal and some milk, then sat down at the table and started eating.

"So, how'd ya sleep?" Dot asked, in an attempt to make conversation. She realized she asked the wrong question when she saw Yakko's dark, tired face. She remembered last night. "Sorry, forgot," She says, making a sheepish face. Yakko went back to his breakfast.

"How'd you sleep after the nightmare?" Wakko asked, and got the same dark look Dot got. "Not very well, apparently," Yakko's stare got darker. "Okay, okay!" Wakko said defensively, raising his arms in a look of surrender. Yakko, again, went back to his breakfast.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Dot asked, and got the darkest look yet. Dot cowered slightly. "Sorry..." She muttered.

"Sorry?" Yakko yelled, and both siblings reeled back in shock. "Can't you tell that I don't want to talk about it? Especially with two siblings who talk about me behind my back!" He was on his feet at this point

"We're sorry!" Dot said, nearly about to cry.

"We're just worried about you that's all!" Wakko said.

"Well then, tell me to my face! What are you all so_ flipping_ worried about!"

"Well, what happened a few minutes ago, first off! Plus, Dot told me about your little panic over the oven last night! And don't forget that freaky nightmare," Wakko replied, also getting to his feet. Yakko shot a look at Dot after the second sentence, then looked back at Wakko.

"I'm tried, and I'm stressed! It's not easy being only 12-years old and taking care of your 9 and 7-year-old siblings without parents! You should try it sometime!"

Dot suddenly burst into tears and ran from the table. Yakko's words sinked in and a feeling of guilt swept over him. "Dot," He called after and tried to get to her, to apologize. Wakko held him back.

"I'll handle this. You go take a walk, calm down some. Both of you can talk when you get back," Wakko said. Yakko was surprised at Wakko's sudden maturity and that fact that he was right. He needed to calm down.

"I suppose your right. I won't be too long," Yakko said, giving a light wave.

"Wakko," Wakko reacted to his name and turned around to see his brother half out the door. "I'm sorry," Yakko said, with an apologetic smile.

"It's okay, bro," Wakko replied, smiling. Yakko grinned as he left the tower.


	4. Walking and Talking

_Chapter 4! Dear reader, have you heard of a term called a "breather episode"? It's a term used to describe an episode from a television show that usually comes before or after a huge, plot heavy episode. It's a little lighter and fluffier than normal, to give the audience a "breather". This is kinda what this chapter is. It gets a lot darker next chapter, fair warning! But for now, enjoy the sibling fluff! :)_

**I think that you know where the disclaimer is at this point. ;)**

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><p>Yakko walked down the water tower steps and started walking round the Warner movie lot. He didn't really recognize anyone anymore, because there were a bunch of new shows and movies with actors and toons he didn't know. He did wave hi to Scratchy, who ran off soon after he passed. Yakko rolled his eyes. Despite the way Scratchy acted sometimes, he really did care about the Warners.<p>

Walking and thinking did calm him down. He didn't really think about anything in particular, but he did keep going back all the weird things happing to him. _I'm tired, that's all. I'll get to bed early tonight and get a full night's sleep. Then I'll feel better. _

"Helloooo Nurse!" Yakko swooned, out of habit, when the studio nurse walked by. She smiled and waved, causing Yakko to get lost in a love sick daze for a little while.

When he snapped out of it, he continued his walk. He noted he got weird looks from others who _did_ know who he was. It was weird to see a Warner out by themselves, not even doing anything zany, and even weirder to see the most talkative Warner silent. He saw Plotz give him a suspicious look when he walked by, which wasn't all that off. _No matter what I, or my siblings, are doing, he always expects the worst. _

He realized that an hour had passed by, and Wakko might be getting worried by now. Possibly Dot too; it depended on if she was still mad at him.

He got back to the tower, to find that the door handle was gone. _Not again!_ He shook his head and closed his eyes; that had seemed to do the trick the last few times. But not this time.

"No!" he cried, slightly exasperated. He knocked, not up to finding another way in. He heard Wakko tell Dot that he'd get the door. Wakko's look of curiosity changed to one of questioning when he saw Yakko there.

"Why didn't you just open the door? You know we keep it unlocked."

Yakko decided to...He hated the word lying, especially when it came to his sibs. So, he called it "twisting his words" instead.

"I'm really tired," Yakko said and tried to look tired.

"You just went on a walk."

"I ran some. And it's a big lot." Yakko quickly replied. Wakko shrugged, and let him in. He saw Dot sitting on the couch, watching TV. She looked at Yakko, then huffed and went back to her show. Yakko sat down next to her. Dot turned away.

"Hey, I'm really sorry, younger sis," Yakko said. Dot just gave another dissatisfied huff. Yakko sighed, and looked toward Wakko, who gave him a "You problem, dude" look. Yakko took a deep breath, and turned back to Dot.

"I feel really bad about what I said, and I wish I could take it back, because I know I wouldn't be acting this way if I had gotten some more sleep-"

"So, Wakko and I aren't burdens?" Dot inturupted her brother's explanation, and looked at him in a way Yakko could only describe as a mix of wonder and fear.

"When did I say you and Wakko where burdens?" Yakko was shocked. He didn't recall saying anything _that_ bad.

"You were talking about how hard it is for you to take care of me and Wakko, and you don't have Mom or Dad to help, and how stressed and tired you were! And it kinda sounded like you wished that we could take care of ourselves so you wouldn't have any more stress..." She drifted off, looking at the floor.

"Hey, it might be hard sometimes," Yakko said, putting a comforting arm around his sister. "But I will always love you and Wakko and I never regret or get annoyed about having to take care of you guys. Would I like to help out a little more, sure! But, you're not a burden." He turned to Wakko. "Neither of you. You're my family,"

"Group hug!" Dot cried, and, despite some protest from the boys, they had one. "Ya know what," Dot said when they broke apart. "Why don't Wakko and I help you with dinner tonight?"

"And, we'll do the entire cleanup, so you can go to bed early and get some sleep!" Wakko added, and Dot nodded in approval. Yakko felt like crying both tears of joy and releif.

After dinner, which did go by a lot faster with his siblings help, Yakko, out of force of habit, went to go clean up.

"Wait!" Wakko called to his brother. "Dot and I are cleaning up, remember?" Yakko, rembering the words spoken earlier this evening, nodded, then said his good nights and collapsed on his bed. _Finally! A good night's sleep..._

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><p><em>Okay, I know I don't do endnote's often, but I wanted to tell you guys something. I'm working on another fanfic, this time putting more focus on Dot. Why? Because I havn't writen about her yet! It's still a work in progress, and I'm not going to publish it until this one is done. It's not a direct squel, but it will call back to this fic some. Meaning, spoliers. I'm think it'll be longer than this one, as well. I'm going to reserve endnote's on this fic for updates on the one I'm currently writing. See you all next week! :D<em>


	5. Demonic Nightmares

_Chapter 5! This story going to be a bit longer than I thought...XD Like I've mentioned earlier, everything's already typed out, I'm just giving about week between updates to give people time to read and review. Also, this is where the "T" rating comes into play, so fair warning! Expecially considering that I kinda scared myself writing this chapter! XD_

**You should know where the disclaimer is.**

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><p>The dream started off normally. The Warners were causing Ralph trouble as usual and were running amuck. The three siblings ran into an unused set, locked the door, and started laughing about their prank. Yakko hit the lights, and found themselves in a set that looked like a kindergarten classroom. It looked slightly familiar...<p>

"Yum, yum, doodley doot doot!"

"Ah, crap," Yakko muttered, recognizing the voice, which helped him remember the set. _But, I though they took it down after Baloney's show was, fortunately, cancelled. _

"Hello, my special friends!" The big, orange, polyester dinosaur said, and the three Warners screamed. Baloney, as stupidly naïve as he was, ignored them. "Isn't today a super, special, fun diddly dum day!"

Yakko screamed, but stopped when he realized he was alone; even Baloney was suddenly gone. _Well, I'm glad to see him go, but where are Wakko and Dot?_ "Sibs?" He called out.

"YAKKO!" Yakko's eyes widened at the sound of his scared siblings screams. He started running toward the sound of their voices, who kept calling his name. When they stopped screaming, Yakko ran faster.

_No, NO! I've got to find them!_

He ran to the other end of the set warehouse, when he found them.

"No! Wakko, Dot! NO!" Yakko screamed, seeing his sibling's bond together and gagged. He ran to their sides, and checked the pluses. "They're alive," Yakko said, his voice shaking. "They're just unconscious, and I can wake them up! I just need to get them out of here!"

"You're not getting out of here that easily, no sir deedle dee dee!" Yakko screamed at the sight of Baloney, but he was worse. He had a reddish glow to his eyes and a much more demonic look to him in general.

_Whoa, Baloney needs an exorcism._ Despite the humorous thought, Yakko was freaked out. Baloney started laughing evilly, and fire came out of his mouth.

"Heh, heh, the fire's new," Yakko said, trying to relieve the tension. Normal Baloney was pretty scary, but this was Baloney from Hell. Baloney grinned evilly, pushed Yakko away from his siblings, who woke up, and stared shaking in fright. Dot was starting to cry, and Wakko was getting close. Yakko felt tears of his own start. Baloney inhaled deeply.

"NO!" Yakko cried, tears falling, as Baloney set his family on fire with one breath. Yakko could do nothing to stop their shrieks of terror and pain, but they eventually stopped. Yakko started sobbing. Baloney turned toward the grieving Warner.

"You next!" Baloney growled, all the stupidity gone from his voice, and it was about two octaves deeper. _I don't care. Life's nothing without Wakko and Dot. Just let it be quick._ Yakko thought as Baloney inhaled, ready to end the eldest Warners life.

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><p>Yakko sat up in bed suddenly, panting hard. He looked at the clock, which digitally shined 7:00 AM. So he had slept the whole night; it just was one big nightmare. Physically, he was well rested, but he was still very tired mentally.<p>

_Damn that nightmare! It was worse than the one last night!_

Yakko got out of bed, hoping that if he got himself up and moving, he could wake up some more, and forget about that horrid dream. He looked at their tri-level bunk bed. Wakko was snoring, as usual, but Dot was, apparently, awake.

Yakko got dressed and got to the kitchen. Sure enough, Dot was there, fixing herself some breakfast. _I'm not going to say anything._ Yakko walked in and Dot smiled when she saw him.

"Did ya sleep well?" She asked, a slight look of concern on her face.

"Yep! I feel ten times better!" _I'm not lying; I'm twisting my words so she won't worry. It's...different. Right? _

"Good, I'm glad to hear that!" Dot said, and Yakko let out a quiet sigh of relief. Evidently, he didn't scream bloody murder tonight, even though he dreamt it. He went to go get cereal, to find it was gone.

_I got a good night's sleep! I thought this would be over!_ He shook his head and, sure enough, there it was. He got it, acting like nothing had happened, but Dot didn't notice. She was too busy reading the paper.

"Good morning, sibs!" Wakko called as he walked in.

"Good morning!" Yakko and Dot called back at the same time.

"No nightmares tonight, Yakko?" Wakko asked. Yakko stopped mid chew, as Wakko and Dot looked at him curiously. _It's twisting words, not lying!_

"Nope!" Yakko said confidently. He saw his siblings exhale in relief.

"Glad to hear it, bro!" Wakko said, and made himself some breakfast.

Yakko stared at his cereal, trying not to feel guilty. _I don't have to tell them if I don't want to. And I shouldn't worry them. I need to be the responsible one in this house, and I shouldn't have to burden my baby sibs with my troubles. Besides, this will all pass soon. _

Yakko would soon learn that he was wrong. Things were about to get much worse.

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><p><em>Ooo, ominous ending! XD On to my other fic news, the title! I'm calling it <span>Finding My Way<span>, and it's already longer than this one! There probably won't be many other update's- don't want to spoil anything- but if I finish it before I get all of Break Down uploaded, I'll let you know!  
>Also, next week's update is going to be on Sunday, due to the fact that at this time next week, I'll be out of town on a church retreat. Meaning, chapter six will be a day late! I'm sorry! XD Things will get back to normall for chapter seven, I promise! :)<br>_


	6. Late Nights

_Chapter 6! Another breather/sibling fluff chapter. And that means the next chapter's dark. *evil chuckle* Oh, and I'm guessing this story will be 9 chapters long. Sorry if that's kinda long! XD And, if you're wondering why this chapter is a day late, check the endnote to chapter five! And, I'm sorry! XD_

**Do I have to say it?**

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><p>Yakko spent the next few weeks hiding his "blanks", which is what he was calling it when it seemed like something right in front of him was missing. He was also hiding the nightmares, which was getting harder because they were getting worse. All of them involved Wakko and Dot going missing, getting hurt, or being killed in some way. This made him very upset mentally, and he was getting scared of going to sleep, which he believed was causing the blanks.<p>

"It's a vicious cycle," Yakko muttered to himself, as he paced the water tower early one morning. His sibs were sleeping, and they went to bed thinking that Yakko was also. He'd been faking going to bed early the past four days, and he'd been using 'early to bed, early to rise' as an excuse as to why he was up first. "I don't want to worry anyone. It'll pass soon. It'll pass soon..."

Yakko had been saying that a lot recently. The more days passed by, the more it seemed like a hopeless delusion.

"Because I need more delusions." Yakko muttered to himself. Suddenly, a shadow crawled across the wall, growing vicious eyes, and a merciless growl. Yakko backed up, and prepared his mallet, determend to not let that thing get his siblings.

"Yakko?" Dot's voice snapped Yakko back to his sences. Her shadow looked like Dot, cute as ever, not like some blood thirsty beast. One look at Dot's worried expression and Yakko knew that with his mallet held over his head, and his tired, scared eyes, that he knew he probably didn't look very good. Yakko put the mallet back into his pocket.

"I thought you didn't like ruining your 'cutie sleep'?" Yakko asked.

"I needed to use the bathroom. And, I only hate it when _other_ people ruin my cutie sleep. If I wake up naturally, its okay," Dot explained and Yakko rolled his eyes. "I thought I heard your voice. Why are you up?"

"Couldn't sleep." Yakko didn't want to mention that this wasn't the first time.

"Like all the other nights?"

Yakko's eyes widened as he heard his sister spill his secret. "How did you know?"

"Wakko and I figured it out. It's easy to tell when you don't get sleep. We were going to talk to you about it in the morning."

Yakko sighed. How did he think he could hide this forever?

"Is it the nightmares?" Dot asked, not pushing anything, but Yakko knew she was holding back. Maybe because it was 2:30 in the morning, and he was keeping Dot from her "cutie sleep", which could be problematic, Yakko decided to be truthful, at least somewhat.

"Yeah, it's the nightmares."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

"Write this down! Yakko, the never-shuts-up Yakko, doesn't want to talk about something!" Yakko gave a light chuckle at her joke.

"Okay, okay," Yakko muttered, tickling her in revenge, making her giggle. "Very funny. Now, got get some sleep,"

"Only if you will," Dot's tone made it obvious that she wasn't going to budge. _I'm starting to intrude on her "cutie sleep". Might as well cave._

"Fine," Despite his tone, Yakko couldn't wait to crawl back into bed. He was asleep as soon as he hit the pillow.

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><p><em>Not other fic news, but I just wanted to say this: THANK YOU ALL so much for all of your support! I honestly never expected this story to be so well-liked! All the reviews and people adding this story, as well as myself, to alert lists and favorite lists to helps me keep going and makes me excited to publish new chapters! I'd hug each and every one of you, but that's not possible, so please take my vitual hug instead! *Hugs* :) Again, thank you all, and see you on Saturday! :D<em>


	7. His Worst Fear

_Chapter 7! Another slightly longer chapter and another one were the "T" rating applies more. The newspaper part was in a different typeface on Microsoft Word, but it sadly doesn't work on FanFic. :( Thus, the newspaper part will now and forever be_ **bold**. _Enjoy! :)  
>Also, sorry if you own a Toyota Tundra. It was the first car that popped into my mind while typing this! XD<em>

**You know where it is.**

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><p>The dream started with Yakko standing in the living room. He turned around, and he saw Wakko and Dot kneeling next to each other, their backs to him.<p>

"Hey, sibs!" He says, and walks over to where they're kneeling, and are surprised to see that they're crying.

"Sibs?" He asks, concern growing, but they don't even hear him. Dot suddenly starts sobbing into Wakko's shoulder.

"I miss him, Wakko!" She chokes out through her sobs.

"Me too, sis. Me too," Wakko mutters, tears silently falling from his face.

It occurs to Yakko that they're talking about him.

"I'm right here guys!" Yakko yells, but they still don't move. Yakko's eyes catch the newspaper on the kitchen table, lying unopened. He goes over to it hoping it'll shed some light on what's going on. His eyes widen as he reads the headline:

**Tragic Hit-and-Run Kills Toon**

**Yakko Warner co-stared with his siblings on _Animaniacs_**

Yakko couldn't believe his eyes. He was _dead! _He realized at that moment that he was actually a ghost, and he was holding a ghostly copy of the paper; the actual paper was still lying on the table, undisturbed. He kept reading.

**Yesterday afternoon, Yakko Warner, who was in the popular Warner Bros. cartoon _Animaniacs_, was killed in a hit-and-run accident as he was crossing the street, bringing home groceries. Witnesses say a black Toyota Tundra ran a red light and hit the eldest Warner brother as he was legally crossing 3rd street at a cross walk. Police have plates for the Tundra, and are looking for the car and its driver on charges of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident, among others. Multiple people tried to warn the toon, but the realization came too late.**

**"He just flew through the air and landed on the pavement. There was no chance he'd survive," Said Bridgett Murray, who worked at the drug store on the corner. "It's a shame. My kids really liked his cartoon, as did I. It's just a darn shame. **

**Police and medics declared him dead on-scene and informed the younger Warners, Wakko and Dot, who also stared in _Animaniacs_, of their older brothers passing. Both toons declined comment. Warner Bros. released this press statement yesterday evening:**

**"We are deeply shocked at the tragic passing of Yakko Warner. He was a bright, comedic toon and we were planning on bringing back the Warner brothers (and sister) for a new project. It's unfair his young life was tragically cut short, and we give our deepest sympathies to his siblings. Yakko will be missed."**

Yakko watched as time suddenly sped up in front of him. His funeral; so many people had showed up: His sibs, other toons that they had worked with and known, Scratchy, Hello Nurse, fans of the show (this was obviously a public funeral), even Plotz had come, and _he_ was crying.

Then, back to the water tower. He watched his siblings grieve and, to Yakko's horror, struggle to survive. Wakko and Dot were getting skinnier, especially Wakko, who was giving his sister his food when they were short.

Finally, Plotz walked in one day and, seeing the horrible living conditions, called child services. Despite promises that Wakko and Dot would stay together, Yakko watched as the system separated them. Yakko could do nothing as dark shadow men tried to pull apart his grief-stricken siblings, who were desperately clinging to each other, not wanting to lose one more person they loved.

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><p>"NO!" Yakko screamed as he sat up in bed. <em>My biggest fear...<em>Yakko gasped for breath, trying to calm down, and discovered that he was crying. He let the tears dampen his fur. This was the worst dream yet. Despite how horrifying it would be if his siblings died, if something were to happen to him and he would no longer be able to care for his siblings and that lead to Wakko and Dot being separated...That was his biggest fear.

"Yakko!" Dot cried and she and Wakko ran into the bed room, worried due to their brother's screams. Yakko, slightly dazed, got out of bed and walked over to his sibs and gave them the biggest hug, tears still falling.

"Y-y-Yakko?" Wakko stuttered out, confused.

"Shhhh..." Yakko muttered, working to remind himself that it was only a dream; it was only a dream...

"Was it a nightmare?" Dot asked when she sensed the Yakko was calm enough to answer. Yakko nodded, still too freaked out to talk.

"Let's go eat some breakfast," Wakko said as he and Dot helped Yakko up.

_A__h, Wakko. In your mind, everything can be solved with food. _

After calming down with breakfast, Wakko brought up "the question."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Yakko," Dot said, exasperated. "You need to talk to someone about this. Me, Wakko, Scratchy, anyone! It's not good to bottle it all up!"

"It'll pass. And, I honestly don't feel like reliving it," Yakko muttered, and that's when Wakko and Dot realized this was no ordinary nightmare.

"Can't you at least talk to us about the other nightmares?" Wakko pleaded.

"Or the 'blanks'?" Dot added.

Yakko blinked in surprise. "How did you know about those?"

"I heard you talking to yourself about them one time. With the situations we've witnessed, it wasn't that hard to figure out."

Yakko looked down, caught in a dilemma. _I have to tell them now; they've got me backed into a corner. And maybe they're right; talking may help me feel better._ He turned to face his siblings.

Wakko and Dot watched as Yakko's eyes widened in horror as he backed away from the table. They weren't expecting the question that came out of his mouth.

"Who are you?"


	8. Break Down

_Chapter 8! Ready for the climactic moment, everyone? Also, rating applies here, so you can't say I didn't warn ya! This is a little bit longer than normal. To be honest, it was about half this length when I first wrote it. I added more because I felt like it was just too short. Thus, details, so enjoy those. Next chapter is the last, sadly. :(_

**Do I even have to say it?**

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><p>"What are you talking about?" Wakko said, not believing the words Yakko had just spoken. "It's us, Wakko and Dot!"<p>

"No, you're not," Yakko said, in a voice that seemed to scream "I'm not sane!" Both Wakko and Dot could practically hear his mentality snap. "I would recognize my siblings, and neither of you are them!"

"Yakko-"Dot stared, but was cut off by Yakko's gasp of realization.

It all made sense to him now.

"You took them!" Yakko yelled, pointing toward the strangers in his kitchen. He couldn't describe them, they were all shadowy looking, but he knew, despite what they were saying, that they took Wakko and Dot. "I looked away for one minute, and you took them while I was distracted! Where are they? WHERE ARE THEY?"

All Yakko knew is that these, these...whatever they were, they took his siblings and he wanted them back.

Wakko and Dot were too in shock to answer. But before they could, Yakko ran from the water tower and sped down the lot.

_Where did they go? And, more importantly, were the Hell am I?_

What Yakko thought was the movie lot was some wacked up place he didn't recognize. Everything was dark, sketchy, and an enigma to Yakko. Voices were warped like the first time Wakko tried auto tuning on his software and you couldn't understand anything, it was so robotic.

More shadowy people that Yakko felt like he should recognize, but didn't, stopped and watched him run by. Some called out in their robotic voices, but it was all white noise. The only thing that mattered right now was finding Wakko and Dot, and punishing whoever took them.

He came to a shack that looked like Ralph's guard post gone Goth, next to stone walls with barbed wire running across the top. Luckily, the guard post was empty. Yakko ran out, and into the streets of the city, which looked nothing like the Burbank that Yakko expected.

The whole town had taken on the dark, shadowy tone. There were more shadow people, all talking in their crazy voices at once. Most didn't seem to notice the confused, scared toon. Some people did, and attempted to calm him down by talking to him, but it sounded like gibberish to Yakko.

His hands began to shake, and his head was pounding. He let out a shrill scream of terror and confusion, which got almost all of the shadow people's attention. More started coming to Yakko, which threw him off more. They seemed to mean well, but Yakko didn't trust anyone. Everyone was a suspect; nobody was innocent of Wakko and Dot's disappearance. Right now, Yakko was completly alone.

"WAKKO! DOT!" Yakko screamed in a panic, running off away from the crowd. It felt like his nightmares were coming to life. He kept screaming their names and running through the streets of this strange city that was supposed to be familiar, ignoring the shadow peoples stares as he screamed like a maniac.

He began to here police and ambulance sirens in the distance. Despite the fact his mind and the world around him was complete and utter chaos, Yakko somehow knew those sirens where after him. However, his mind made it seem like they were bad and not to be trusted. Yakko ran harder.

_Is my mind playing tricks on me, or is that Wakko and Dot in the distance?_ As he ran closer, he saw their outlines. Dot's flower clip and skirt; Wakko's hat and his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"Wakko, Dot!" Yakko cried in joy. He sprinted toward his siblings, knowing everything was going to be okay now. They were going to go back home, and this horrible nightmare would be over. Well, once they figured out what happened to Burbank. But, they were Warners, they'd figure it out. And they'd set it right, with some fun along the way. Just like it used to be.

When he got to where he saw his siblings, they suddenly just disappeared into smoke right in front of him. He just ran right through the spots where they had been standing.

"What..." He muttered, becoming more confused. Then, it hit him. His siblings were gone again, taken from right under his nose.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" He muttered over and over again, sitting down on the ground, his hands on his head. His world was turning upside down and inside out and all other kinds of directions, and he had no way to steady himself. He shook his head, trying to snap out of it, but he knew that wasn't going to work.

Suddenly, it hit him that he wasn't making any progress just sitting here, wallowing in self-pity. He needed to get back up, and find his siblings. "No more fooling around Yakko," He muttered to himself, standing up. "It's time to find you siblings."

He was about ready to run off again when, suddenly, someone, or something, grabbed him.

"NO! Let go of me! Wakko! Dot!" Yakko struggled to free himself from his kidnapper, who was whispering something to him, but it only sounded like two rusty saws being rubbed together on their sharp sides. Frankly, it was anything but calming. He again heard sirens, only it was like someone was playing the noise through speakers cranked up to eleven.

These noises, the fear of being kidnapped in a strange place, and the worry for his siblings caused Yakko to start crying. It was a pathetic, snotty nose, five-year-old cry. He was scared and alone and he felt like shit, which was a weird thought to have when you're crying like a kindergartener.

He kept fight the kidnappers hold, though, and at one point, his foot made contact with the kidnappers stomach. He heard a familiar male, German-accented voice yelp in pain, and for a split second, everything made sense. But, that sensation pasted as quickly as it had come, leaving Yakko more confused than ever. He finally relaxed his muscles, going limp in the man's arms, after he felt a jolt of pain shoot up his leg. The man had somehow managed to keep hold of him despite his fighting.

He felt himself being placed onto a soft bed of some kind. This relaxed him enough to sleep, and he knew there would be no nightmares, because he was currently in the middle of one.

* * *

><p><em>BTW, I'm taking a short no-fanfic writing hiatus because I'm in the middle of tech week for the school musical. (If you're not familar with theater terms, tech week is the final week of rehersals leading up to opening night.) This story is already finished, so the final chapter <strong>will<strong> be up on time, but, due to this and a bad case of writers block, my next story will be a bit later than I originally planned. Sorry for the wait, but I hope it'll be worth it! See you next week!_


	9. Answers

_Chapter 9 and the final chapter! It's also the longest, so I apologize for having a lot to read. It just didn't make any sense to split it up! Also, there might be a mild artistic license when it comes to this chapter regarding the treatment stuff The again, I did make the disorder up, so I guess I have a right to use it! :) (Confused? It'll make more sense when you read!)  
>Thank you for reading, whether you've been here from the start, came in later, or waited until it was complete. Also, I'm terrible at conclusions-always have been-so this may not be so good. Or, maybe I'm being modest. I'm not sure! XD Anyway, enjoy! :D<em>

**It's the final chapter. If you wanted to sue me by now, you would have. But, you can't sue me over my OC! *Insert evil laugh***

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><p>"It's called Toon's Major Depressive Episode." A strange, yet kindly male voice.<p>

"English, Doc," Dot's voice. Yakko struggled to open his eyes, but the drugs were too relaxing. _Wake up, damn it! I want to know where I am! And why isn't Dot flirting with that guy?_

"It's a special mental disorder only toons can get. It happens when a toon, especially one like Yakko, who was drawn to be zany, suddenly becomes serious. Something has caused them to stop being as crazy as they used to, and their toon brains can't take the sudden change in demeanor. In Yakko's case, it was suddenly taking on lots of responsibilities and trying to be more of a parental figure in your lives.

"Whatever the cause is, it causes toons to go through a mental break down. Humans can get a version called a Major Depressive Episode, only they get them for different reasons. The symptoms and what a toon goes through also differ from the human version. So, they threw the word "toon" in front of the toon's version, to help differentiate it for people studying psychology," The doctor explained, rambling slightly.

"So, what are the symptoms?" Wakko asked.

"Well, manly hallucinations. Seeing things that aren't there,"

"Or thinking something or someone right in front of you is missing?" Dot asked, obviously inquiring about Yakko "blanks".

"Yes, that would fall under hallucinations. Also, nightmares, which you've informed me about. They'll become cranky, tired, and irritable, and, also because of the nightmares, they have trouble sleeping. This, without treatment, lead up to the snap in mentality, which you witnessed yesterday. They don't recognize their surroundings and it leads them into a panic. Often times, their worst fears will be exploted though these symptoms, mainly in nightmares and the final snap in mentality"

"There's a cure, right?" Dot asked, her voice full of worry.

"Yes," The doctor said, and Wakko and Dot breathed a sigh of relief. So did Yakko, but he was still pretty out of it, so nobody heard it. "It's similar to the treatment of many mental disorders; a quick hospital stay to monitor their condition and map out a treatment plan, therapy, some medication during the beginning stages of treatment, and, most importantly, getting them to act the way they did before their breakdown."

"So, we'll get to play lots of pranks?" Asked Dot.

"And eat lots of candy?" Wakko cut in.

"And smash things with mallets?"

"And swoon at pretty girls?"

"Yes, yes," The doctor said, chuckling slightly. Yakko had been able to open his eyes enough to see the doctor, a guy in his late 30's with dirty blond hair wearing traditional doctor garb, sitting in a chair facing Yakko. He didn't see that Yakko was awake because he was looking at Wakko and Dot, who were sitting by his feet like children during story time. _Today kids, we'll read a book about how and why Yakko Warner went crazy!_

"Anything you kids did on a daily basis before Yakko went through his breakdown. The nice thing about this disorder is that once counseling gets to a certain point, you can take the toon of their medication. And soon you can stop counseling for good. This disorder isn't chronic."

"So, I won't have to be taking happy pills the rest of my life?" Yakko decided to let his siblings and doctor aware that he was awake.

"Yakko!" His siblings cried in unison and ran onto his bed, giving him a gigantic hug.

"Great to see you too guys...I'm...choking!" Yakko started sputtering. His siblings let go, giggling slightly. "Nice to know my near-death experience was amusing to you," Yakko said, but it was sarcastic, and soon all three Warner's were laughing like one wasn't mentally unstable and in a hospital. When they finally calmed down, and got one last hug in for good measure, the doctor walked over to the very happy family.

"Yakko, I'm Dr. Seth Holzer, and I'm your main doctor during your stay here. How much did you hear?"

"The name of what exactly my brand of mental instability is, a recap of the crap I went through the past few weeks, with the details missing, and how I'm going to get better," Yakko replied.

"Good, I don't have to repeat it. We'll keep you here two more days, not counting today or yesterday, to help you get your treatment started off right, and develop a therapy schedule with Dr. Scratchnsniff, who you'll still meet with. I think it'll be helpful for you to meet with your normal psychiatrist.

"And, you actually have to talk to him," Dr. Holzer said sternly, noting Yakko's expression. "I've looked at Dr. Scrachnsniff's notes and I know that _all_ of you aren't the most cooperative patients. Talking it out will be half of the full cure that you'll need, the other being returning to your toonish nature."

"So, what's the point of the happy pills?" Yakko asked.

"Please don't call them happy pills," Dr. Holzer said, slightly exasperated.

"To answer your question, the medication is going to act like a Band-Aid. It's going to help get your body used to the brain chemistry of a healthy mind while you work on doing it naturally, like a Band-Aid acting like an artificial skin while your body heals the damaged skin it's covering. When you take off a Band-Aid, the skin underneath will have been healed and can start acting like skin. When we take you off the medication, you'll be producing healthy brain chemicals on your own and it can start helping you act normally again."

"Ohh," The tree Warners say together.

"One more question," Yakko says, and everyone turns to Yakko, waiting for his question. "Who got me here? I don't really trust what I thought I was seeing and experiencing, considering I was in a complete mental meltdown at the time."

After about a minute of awkward silence, Dot spoke up first. "When you ran from your tower, Wakko and I called Scratchy and explained everything to him."

"He was kinda mad that we didn't tell him before," Wakko added. "But, he understood that you didn't feel like talking about it, and said that finding you would be the most important."

"That's when he saw you run out of the Warner Bros. lot and he followed you into town." Dot adds.

"He said it was freaky, seeing you completely mentally gone like that. He said you were screaming our names..." Wakko trails off.

"I remember that," Yakko comments. "I thought something had happened to you guys..."

Dr. Holzer contiues the story, because none of the Warners looked like talking. "You stopped, and, according to witnesses, it looked like something you were looking at just disapeared." Yakko nodded slightly at the sentance, remembering that moment. "You tried to regain your boundings, then began to run. That's when Dr. Scratchnsniff grabbed you. He'd instructed your siblings to call an ambulance to take you to the hospital, and it followed you and the doctor to where he finally got a hold of you. You were asleep as soon as we put you on the gurney. You suffered some minor injuries trying to fight off the Dr. Scrachnsniff's hold on you, so we put you on a painkiller to be safe, which is probably why you slept so late, plus the fact you're horribly sleep deprived from the nightmares."

"I didn't hurt Scratchy, did I?" Yakko asked, concerned about the sentence about how hard he had fought back Scratchy's hold.

"Aside from you accidentally kicking him in the gut, he's fine." Yakko felt a sense of guilt crawl up inside of him, and Wakko was trying not to laugh. Dot sent him a stern look. "He, along with quite a few other people, are worried about you. But, hospital policy says that, right now, only doctors and family are allowed to see you."

Yakko didn't mind. All he wanted right now was to get better, to be with his siblings, to apologize for his actions over the past few days, and, most importantly, to make up some of the lost time that this disorder took from him.

One year later, after many days of stressful therapy sessions with Scratchy, helping balance home responsibilities with Wakko and Dot so he didn't go through another break down, but also tried to avoid the same happening to them, fun times pranking like they used to during _Animaniacs_, and the joy of learning he was fully healthy again, Yakko couldn't help but smile as Ralph cased him and his siblings around the Warner lot. _All is right with the world._

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><p><em>Yay, happy endings! Well, maybe not. Once I finish up <span>Finding My Way<span>, I'll get that up and running, and you'll see. It takes place six months after the last paragraph. AKA, about a year and a half after most of the events of this story. Dot's perspective mainly, but I'm going to attempt my first time switching perspectives. I hope it works! So, I'll see you then, unless some random one-shots come up in the mean time! MusicGeek764 is out! :) _


End file.

Animaniacs, Drama, Family