The red-haired police officer walked quietly down the street, not knowing he was being followed. He couldn't wait to get to his best friend, Dick Tracy's, house across town - the two usually hung out when they could, which hadn't been often recently. As the police officer ponder of what he and Dick would do upon his arrival, a second man slipped from the shadows. It was clear he wasn't planning on letting the young officer past, so Pat Patton turned to go back and take the long way around.

Then, he noticed his tail. "Oh, great," Pat sighed. 'So much for relaxing with Dick,' he thought to himself, taking a fighting stance. More figures came from the shadow. This wasn't good at all - for the men, that is. He smirked as one of the adversaries headed towards him. He aimed for the man's stomach, taking pleasure in the grunt as the man doubled over. His fist had found its mark. He turned as yet another man tried to grab him, kicking one man who was trying to sneak up behind him.

He aimed for the man's jaw, smirking at the crack his punch had produced. The man fell as another headed towards him. 'Last one,' he thought, raising his hand to block a blow. The two men continued to fight. Pat was so busy he did no see another man coming up from behind them. 'Wow,' he thought, dodging a blow to his stomach. 'This guy is almost as good as me!'

Pat threw a swift punch, to the man's temple, knocking him unconscious. He stiffened as a cloth was forced over his mouth and nose. 'What's going on?' Then, the scent on the cloth struck him, and he tried to pull the hand away from his face. The chloroform was already taking effect; the only thing he felt before blackness took over was his body hitting the ground.

Dick Tracy looked up from his book at the knock on the door. As he pulled it open, he started to tease his best friend for being late, but stopped. It was not Pat. It was Chief Brandon. "Chief, what is it?" he asked, putting down his book and nodding to him. "Is Patton here, Tracy?" Dick shook his head. "No, he was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. Why, what's wrong?"

"Kyle escaped three weeks ago." Tracy stiffened. Vernon Kyle had threatened his friend's life at least twice that he knew of. If he had escaped...

Dick shook his head, banishing the thought, for the moment. "Why did we not hear of this before?" he asked, grabbing his coat. Pat's absence, of course, could be totally unrelated to Kyle's escape - but Dick wasn't going to take any chances on his friend's life.

The chief stared at him, his mouth opening slightly in surprise. "Where are you going, Dick?"

"To find Pat. He could be in danger."

Pat Patton stirred from where he lay, his sight swimming as he sat up, rubbing his forehead. "Ow, my head," he muttered. "What did they do, kick me after drugging me? Ugh, I feel like crap..." He started to get up, then fell. He felt like something had run him over and then proceeded to beat him with a crowbar. The pounding in his head was just one of the reasons for his inability to move, however - the tight binding around his wrists and ankles dug into his skin, making it hard to move, let alone stand.

''Oh, just perfect!" He tried to free himself from his ropes, without any luck. He shook his head to clear it - or, at least, he tried to. All it seemed to do was make things much worse.

Then the door opened. Pat closed his eyes, half to fight back the nausea, half to trick whoever entered. 'If he thinks I'm still unconscious, I could try to take them down,' he thought, though he doubted he would be very successful. Suddenly, a painful kick to his stomach made his eyes fly open. His whole body stiffened. "Kyle!" he tried to make the word sound menacing, but it came out as a pained gasp. Kyle started to kick him again, and Pat tried to roll out of the way. He did not move fast enough. "Uggh!" He felt Kyle's foot dig into his side.

He bent his legs the best he could despite the ropes. Kyle tripped, and Pat moved in a kicking motion, rolling away at the same time. It was clear Kyle didn't see that coming. He pulled himself up, and headed for the officer again. Pat moved away as quickly as he could. Kyle aimed another kick for him, only hitting dirt. All the moving around was not doing anything to help the effects of the chloroform. He paused as he felt the nausea rise again. Kyle took a chance to kick him harder than before. Pat moved to try to trip him and move away again, but Kyle didn't give him the opening again, instead kicking him in the head, successfully knocking him out.

His last thought was 'Dick, help!'