Jim glared at the angry and sweaty jackal before him as he panted heavily and demanded more air and rest. The two had been throwing fists at each other madly in the alley behind the hospital, and no one else had caught on to their activities.

Luke wiped a trickle of blood from his lower lip, watching the bandicoot pant over and over. "You had enough yet, James?"

Jim looked up at his enemy and almost immediately launched out at him, sending both men to the ground in a frenzy.

"Come on, this way . . . ," Eric demanded, leading the young Morgan throughout the unsafe halls of the research facility. He had to get out of that place, and find that stupid elevator again! Kael was still motionless in his arms as Morgan would often look up to see how she was doing. There wasn't much time, though. The trio had to get out of that facility before someone noticed them or Monroe called his guards. Eric couldn't handle being caught. He had Kael in his arms, so he was unable to shoot his gun. Plus, if he had been captured, both kids would be back in the lab in no time.

Turning the corner sharply, he bumped into a lighter figure, holding his breath for a moment in order to hear the crying words 'intruder' or 'thief'. None of those words came, though. He examined the man before him in shock, and the man seemed to be doing the same. He had light brown fur and sloppy mahogany hair that almost touched his elbows. His curious green eyes shifted from Morgan to Kael, instantly recognizing them, "Monroe was experimenting on them . . . Where are you taking them?"

"Look, I am a cop . . . I just need to get these kids out of here . . Once they're away from here, you may take me, but you shall never touch them again . ."

The man stared at Eric for a second then realized what he was doing, "You'll need me to get out of here alive . . ."

"How can I trust you?"

"I never liked my job or my boss . . I work for Monroe . . Name's Weasel."

"Okay . . , Weasel . . Now how do I get out of here?"

Weasel turned around towards another hallway in order to lead the lost cop, "This way . ."

It didn't take long to find the elevator after that. Once in it, Weasel pushed the button for ground floor and the doors closed. Silence engulfed them at that time, watching and waiting on the numbers to lower on the elevator screen. Eric's heart raced, feeling like the elevator was taking a little over an hour to descend. With the ding of the bell, the doors finally parted, and they made their way out into the hall and over to the outside doors.

"Weasel? What are you doing?" a woman's voice alarmed them, stopping them in their tracks. Weasel quickly turned with a smug, little smirk, quickly thinking up of something to allow the cop and the kids out. "Why, Miss Brown . . . How's it going?"

"Everything's fine here, Weasel, but what's going on?"

"Oh, Doctor Monroe wanted me to escort this guy back to his vehicle . . . The kids, well, he was tired of experimenting on them, and he already got what he wanted out of them . ."

"Okay, if you say so, Weasel . . . If you're caught in a lie, though . . . It's not me that's going to be in trouble, and I suggest you know the consequences . . ?

"Yes, ma'am, I sure do. I'll be back in a second once I finish my objective . ."

With a false smile, Weasel quickly opened the doors for Eric and Morgan and went out with them. When Eric had reached his car and gotten both kids inside, he turned back to Weasel, "Thank you for your help . . And sorry if I get you into trouble . ."

"Ahh . . It's okay . . .I'm sure the doctor will make up something else for me to do . . . And no problem. Just get the girl some help . . . She'll be alright."

"Thank you," Eric thanked again, getting into the driver's seat and starting up the car. Weasel let out a heavy sigh after the cop had left, knowing what punishment he had to face when he was caught . . . . .

-------------------------------------
Throwing another fist into the bandicoot's face was enough to weaken Jim more than ever. Never before had he taken so many fists to the face, and it had made him numb and exhausted. Luke had the upperhand, sitting on top of him in order to keep him restrained and still. The fight had been a rough one, lasting around six or seven minutes, but it was brutal. Both men had a few bloody scrapes on them while bruises were definitely clear all over. A blurred vision took over Jim's eyes, making it to where it was harder for him to see. The next thing he knew, he heard a car door slam and a man yelling out his name as Luke up and ran off. The fight was definitely over, but Jim couldn't place the man who was standing over him. He was just an orange and black blur to him.

"Jim? Are you alright?" the voice questioned. That voice was so familiar, but Jim was already beginning to lose conscious . . . . .

"So . . . . , what are your plans for tonight, beautiful?"

"Working behind this desk, Weasel. You know that if Monroe finds out your flirting with me and not doing what your supposed to do right now, you could really be in for it . . ."

"Who said he will find out, Miss Brown?"

"Cheryl. You can call me Cheryl."

"Ahhh . . . , we finally get a first name, now, don't we?"

The man took the woman's hand and kissed it lightly with a smile; she just blushed with a cute smile, "Why does Monroe call you Weasel? Is that really your name?"

"Well, I am a weasel . . . ," he grinned, ". . . but you can call me Jon if you'd like . ."

He began to get close to her in a romantic way while she did the same, but the roaring sound of the intercom interrupted their thoughts. "Miss Brown!"

Cheryl panicked a bit from the angry voice that boomed, "Y-yes, Doctor Monroe?

"Where is that little Weasel at?!"

"H-he's right here, Doctor . . . "

"I want to see him, right away! And Miss Brown . . ."

"Yes?"

"Did three bandicoots leave this facility today? A man and two children . . . ?"

"Yes, Doctor . . ."

"You listen to me . . . . NEVER let anyone leave this facility without MY permission unless they are one of the other doctors working here! Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Doctor . . . I understand. And Weasel's on his way . ."

"Good . . ."

With that, the intercom went dead as Weasel and Cheryl exchanged glances. Weasel gave her a weak smile, forcing his legs to move him away towards the elevators.

-------------------

"Kael? Are you okay? Kael?"

The voice echoed throughout her head, feeling dizzy and drained of her power. What had happened, and was she still in the cold, cruel labs of that facility? No, she couldn't have been. If she had been, it would've been freezing in the room. She opened her blue eyes, seeing two people standing above her. One, she recognized as Morgan, but the other, she didn't know. He was a tall man with jet black hair and a small goatee. He smiled at her, placing a hand on her forehead, "You are one lucky girl . . ."

"What happened? Where am I?"

"You're at the hospital, and far away from that facility . . ."

She rested her head against the pillow, shifting her eyes over to Morgan, "Morgan . . . . , W-what am I, now . . . ?"

He cocked an eyebrow, "What . . . . do you mean?"

Eric looked over at him, "Morgan . . . ."

The boy glanced up at his stepfather, and then understood when he motioned towards his tail and back to Kael. Morgan turned back to her, choking on what to say and how to explain, "K-kael . . . . I don't know . . . I don't know what I am or what Monroe made you in to . . . I'm sorry . . ."

"Kael, all that matters is that you're all right . . . Who knows how many people make it and don't make it out of that facility?"

The girl sighed. He was right: who knew how many people could free themselves from that place. Plus, she was finally free after several years! She can run freely! She can do whatever she pleases! She's free!

----------------

"Geez . . . I feel like I got hit by a truck . . ."

Jim placed a hand on his forehead, hoping to calm his pounding headache. He was covered in dark bruises with most of them on his face. Arms wrapped around him, and he opened his eyes to see the smaller figure, "Ray . . . , I'm okay. I'm okay. Just took a few hits . . . That's all."

She pulled away from him to examine him up and down as he lay on the bed, "Jim, a few hits? What did Luke do to you?"

"Nothing serious . . I'm alive, aren't I?"

She just breathed deeply. He was okay for sure. His joking was returning, and that said a lot about how he felt. "I'm just glad you're okay . ."

"Hmm . . . How's the arm?"

She glared down at her cast and nodded, "It'll be fine . . . ."

"What about Remy? Where is he?"

"He's fine. Mom's watching over him. He was sound asleep when I left him with her."

"I'm gonna hurt that jackal the next time I see him . . . . Where did Jesse go?"

"She left shortly after you and Luke went off to fight. She didn't have any nerve to stick around."

" . . . . . So . . . . . , when can I get out of this place . . ?"

"Once the doctor sees that you're healed . . . and well."

"Stupid doctor . . . . I'm fine."

"Sure, you are, Jim . . . Sure, you are . . ."

-------------

"D-doctor Monroe?"

Weasel opened the door to the lab, peering inside for any sign of life. No one was in sight. The doctor was probably in his office waiting for his assistant to enter. The weasel gulped, making his way to the back of the lab where a large, wooden door was. This door led into Monroe's office. He turned the doorknob, feeling warm air as he opened the door just a crack. "Doctor Monroe?"

"Come in, Weasel . . . ."

He obeyed, opening the door wider so that he could move on in, and closed it behind him when he was. "You wanted to see me . . . ?"

The red chair behind the nice, oak desk turned around to show Monroe's angry face. His hazel eyes met Weasel's green, forcing Weasel to cower inside. "Weasel . . . . , you had something to do with those bandicoots escaping, didn't you?"

"Yes, Doctor, I did . . ."

"You make me angry, Weasel . . . . And if I keep seeing you flirt with Miss Brown on that camera . . . . . , you will be my next guinea pig! I will make sure that you get the worst experimenting under this roof until you slowly die away!"

Weasel put his head down in defeat, feeling more afraid of his boss every second. "I'm sorry, Doctor . . . ."

"No apologies, Weasel . . . . . Do you want to make me happy?"

"Yes, Doctor . . ."

"I want you to do me a favor . . . . . ," he stood to his feet, snatching something off his desk and throwing it towards his assistant, "Track down those bandicoots . . . . , especially the girl. Go unseen and watch every little thing they do and watch every place they go . . . Do NOT fail me, Weasel, or else . . . Well, you know. Leave my sight . ."

"Yes, Doctor Monroe . ."

Once he was gone, Monroe sighed. His assistant was really beginning to tick him off. He was too much of a softie and flirting more than working.

"Ah!"

He glared down at his hands that appeared normal, but something was wrong. They felt like they had been stabbed! Nothing was visible, though. On second thought, he injected that thick liquid in him. Yes, that was it. It was beginning to kick in! He began to laugh in an evil way; his pointy teeth showing.

Before Weasel was even out the lab door, he turned at the sound of something crashing from the office. "Doctor Monroe?!"

He rushed back to the office, slamming the door open to reveal the doctor on his hands and knees with some extra features. Weasel's jaw dropped as his eyes widened, "Doctor Monroe?! What did you do to yourself?!"

END