For a city in the dark, Acmetropolis still buzzed with some activity. The skyscrapers and buildings illuminated in the night with some vehicles coursing on the roads. Despite being less active at night than during the day, the noise polluted the air. The quietest place in Acemtropolis had to be in the park. The only thing that could be heard there was the rustling of the leaves in the trees and echoes of foot steps from an anthromorphic roadrunner. The bird delved into the front pocket of his dark blue jeans and pulled out a mobile phone, glancing at the time. 10.38pm.

"Damn!" He puffed. "I'm going to be late!" He sped up into a light jog from his power-walking.

"This is one of those times when I need Rev's speed. Then I wouldn't be so late." He thought to himself as he ignored the hooting from the owls. The roadrunner carried on jogging until he heard another set of footsteps behind him. He kept going regardless until he saw three figures blocking his path. Undeterred by them, he planned to go around them until they marched towards him. The roadrunner skidded to a stop and spun around only to find another two figures approaching him from behind. The bird frantically spun his head around, desperately searching for a way out as the gang closed in on him. Once they stepped into the light from the park lamps, their hoods kept their faces in the dark.

"You must be that Rip guy she was talking about." The leader in the blue hoodie grinned menacingly.

In desperation, Rip hoped he inherited the speed genes from his parents and charged towards the leader in hopes of knocking him over. Another boy in a black hood stepped forward and whammed his fist into Rip's stomach. The roadrunner flew all too easily due to his skinny figure and crashed in a heap on the floor. As Rip groaned and looked up, the five hooded figures loomed over him.

"Now let's see if we can clip the wings on this bird," the leader chuckled.

"And in our top news today, a twenty-two year old woman is being held trial for man-slaughter of a man who attempted to sexually assault her." The television announced. "For legal reasons, she her identity cannot be revealed but the police was called at Forne Street at quadrant six, after she told them that she thought she killed a man. She told them that he grabbed her from behind and tried to sexually assault her before she pushed him out onto the road where he was ran over by a truck. If she is found guilty today, she could serve a sentence of up to fifteen years."

"It's about time someone like her is bought to justice." Duck said as he watched the news from the purple couch.

"But that man tried to rape her, Duck," Lexi frowned behind the sofa Duck sat on.

"Sure the guy got what he deserved but you can't overlook the fact that she killed him."

"She tried to push him away so he wouldn't attack her. How was she supposed to know that a truck was going to hit him?"

"Well maybe if she pushed him away on the pavement instead of the road, maybe he wouldn't have gotten killed."

"Yeah, like she had the time to look around where she was before pushing him while he was attacking her."

"Look, all I'm saying is she shouldn't have resorted to pushing him out onto the road."

"Well maybe she might have saved another woman or girl like herself from being raped by a pervert like him. She protected herself from harm."

Meanwhile, Tech tried blocked the shouting from the living room as he sipped his mug of coffee. He was reading the same story about the manslaughter from the holographic newspaper. In his mind, he debated which verdict the woman deserved. He considered all the reasons as to why she should be found guilty or not, but he knew that this sort of debate bought up a lot more questions for every answer he gave. The coyote took another gulp from his mug when he heard Ace pass him.

"Hey Tech," The rabbit stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Anything interestin' happen today?"

Tech switched off the holographic newspaper player and turned to the leader.

"Apart from the story about that woman standing trial for the manslaughter of a guy who tried to attack her, there's nothing worth talking about."

"Oh yeah," Ace sighed gravely. "Dat man should never have attacked her like dat. She didn't deserve to be assaulted."

"So you think she shouldn't be guilty?" Tech raised his eyebrows. He knew Ace had some strong opinions on many subjects but he thought of him as having a balanced opinion.

"I just think women shouldn't be treated like objects regardless of how they're portrayed." Ace said. "But hopefully, the jury will see that and not label her as a killer."

"I suppose," Tech finished his mug off until they both heard the hissing of the door opening.

"Welcome back Rev Runner," A smooth yet mechanical female voice said as the roadrunner dragged his feet into the living room, with a sub-dued expression on his face.

"Hey Rev. Where have you been?" Ace asked. Rev snapped out of his gloomy state and glance at the rabbit and coyote staring at him.

"Oh. Nowhere in particular." He smiled. "I just thought I'd take a walk and get some fresh air. I'm just going to rest in my room… if that's okay."

"Of course," Ace nodded as Rev gave another weak smile before ambling down the hallway and vanishing into his bedroom.

"I don't know about you Tech, but something's definitely wrong with Rev." Ace commented.

"I'll see if I can talk to him later on," Tech sighed. "He normally spills the beans when I ask him what's wrong."

"I'll leave that to you then," Ace said leaving Tech to put the mug in the sink. The coyote watched the leader walk towards his room and then turned back to Rev's bedroom door. For the past week, Rev had been feeling down even if he tried not to make it obvious. Rev has been known to be a terrible liar in front of the team and he wasn't very good at hiding the truth too. In fact, everything had been normal until Rev received that phone call. A week ago, he received a call that completely changed his mood. Since then, he'd been going out more often and coming back to the headquarters more sub-dued. He was a lot calmer but at the same time he wasn't any happier. This wasn't the Rev Runner Tech knew.

At dinner time, everyone but Rev ate their dinner and talked at the table. Rev didn't even attend dinner. When the other loonatics asked if he was coming, he rejected their offer without opening the door. Tech had to sit through dinner with a troubled mind. If Rev wasn't even going to eat at the table then something was definitely wrong. After all, the coyote knew one that Rev wouldn't eat if he was upset by something. He decided now was the time to talk to the bird.

After dinner had finished, Tech walked up to the roadrunner's bedroom door and tapped on it.

"Rev? Are you alright in there?" Tech waited for a response. After receiving nothing for a few seconds, he slid the door open himself and entered the bedroom. He could see the roadrunner on the bed hugging his knees. Tech wasn't even sure whether he could sense his presence as his back was turned. He must have known because his GPS would have sensed him straight away. The coyote slowly approached Rev.

"Hey, you okay?" Tech said sitting himself next to Rev on the bed.

The roadrunner glanced up to Tech for a moment before breaking eye contact again. Now the coyote started to get worried. This was the quietest Rev has ever been since they started working together. Tech's fingers curled on his knees.

"Rev, what's been going on with you? Lately you've been really down and… that's not like you." Tech said. Rev just buried his head into his arms which made Tech sigh.

"Okay, let me ask a different question. What was that phone call last week about? Can you tell me that?"

Rev lifted his head up and exhaled. His fingers curled on his arms. He knew he couldn't hide it from Tech anymore.

"It was… about Rip." He finally spoke.

"Your brother?"

"A week ago, my parents called me and said that Rip is in comatose in the hospital." Rev continued. "He was found beaten up in the park." Tech looked away.

"I… I'm sorry." He said flatly. "Has the police been called in yet?" Rev nodded his head.

"They have. And I gave them the name of the person who organised this."

"What?" Tech's eyebrows lifted. "You know who the culprit is?"

"I'm sure of it," Rev placed his feet back onto the floor. "It was Rip's ex-girl friend. I know she planned it. I saw the message on Rip's phone."

"What message?"

"There was a message from her saying that she wanted to meet him at her house and that going through the park would get him there quicker." Rev's clenched his hands into fists. "I know she hired some guys to do him in."

"Then has she been arrested?" Tech asked. Rev shook his head.

"No. And as long as she keeps denying it, she'll never be." His voice started to shake and started shouting. "She's always been like that though! She only liked Rip because he came from a rich family! So she got him to spend money on her without repaying him or offering to get him anything! And when she found that she had drained him dry, she just dumps him like he was a piece of trash! She's a spiteful witch that doesn't care for anyone else except for herself! She needs to be taught a lesson! I don't care who does it but she can't get away with what she's done to the family!"

When Rev finally stopped ranting, Tech sat there with his eyes wide open in shock. Never had he'd seen Rev so angry since Rip got possessed by the bio-tech creature. And even then it was tamer than what Rev was feeling now. The coyote could see some tears well up on the corner of the roadrunner's eyes.

"So, how is he today?" Tech asked. Rev looked down.

"He's doing well. Still in comatose though. Tech?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you not tell the others about this?" Rev mumbled. "I don't want them to be worried about me."

"I don't know Rev." Tech said. "I think they're already worried about you. I think you should just tell them what's going on."

Rev reluctantly stayed silent and coiled his hands on his knees.

"If you don't mind… I'd like to be alone please." He murmured.

Tech gave him a weak smile before striding towards the door and pausing.

"Well if you want to talk to me about anything, just ask okay?"

Rev nodded. The coyote slid the door open and exited from it. Tech only took a few steps before looking back at Rev's bedroom door. Giving one last sigh, Tech slid the door open to his lab. That would most likely put his mind off his troubles for a while.