The Beginning
A brown coyote, a blue roadrunner, a brown Tasmanian, a black duck, and a blonde-furred female bunny got into the back of a police car, grumbling. Ace Bunny was shoved in after them, but not without trying to break away a couple times. There was silence as Police Officer Grant – an aging, chubby man – started the car, and drove off into the night.
"So," He said nastily, "Since none of you know each other, allow me to introduce you. Tech E. Coyote, owner of Tech Enterprises. Very famous; very rich. Arrested for illegal experiments." The yellow-furred female bunny, who was sitting next to the brown coyote, heard him growl.
'I would have heard that growl no matter where I was sitting...'She thought grimly. Grant continued, ignoring the canine's growl.
"Rev Runner. Stealing plans and designs that weren't yours. You were proven guilty in court, so you're guilty here." Grant flashed them a cold smile. Lexi noticed the human's middle teeth were missing. Rev mumbled something as Grant carried on;
"Lexi Bunny, college student. Arrested for starting a fire in her school." If Lexi hadn't been so mad, she would have noticed Ace – who was sitting on her other side – go a bit pale. He hated fire. But lexi was too mad to notice. It wasn't her fault! Some jer had pulled the fire alarm as a joke, and she had fallen to the floor, screaming, because of how loud it was. Sure, it had always been loud, but this was different. It was ear-splitting. On the way to the floor, a bright pink blast of energy had come from her ears, and had started a fire.
"Danger Duck. Arrested for stalking Misty Breeze, and attacking his boss." Grant carried on. Duck didn't say anything. Misty Breeze was, well, Misty Breeze. And he didn't really "attack" his boss. The guy had gotten on Duck's last nerve, and he'd punched him.
"Slam Tasmanian, famous wrestler. Arrested for illegal moves and illegal gambling." Grant paused as he grinned, an unnatural one. He had finally gotten to the one person he had waited years to catch.
"Ace. Bunny." He said slowly, relishing the moment, cruel delight in his voice, "Oh yes, I've been looking for you for years. Arrested for stealing who knows how much, and for starting the fire that killed Tom and Ella Bunny."
"I didn't kill dem!" Lexi scooted away from Ace, accidentally bumping against Tech. The coyote flinched slightly, but otherwise didn't react. It wasn't Ace's sudden outburst that had frightened her, nor what the five others had just found out. No, it was that his eyes were now glowing yellow. Grant stopped the car. They had arrived at their destination. But instead of letting them out, he turned around to glare at the grey bunny.
"'I didn't kill them!'" Grant mocked. Ace's eyes had gone back to their natural color, but he still glowered at the man, "Listen to me, you little street rat." Grant slapped Ace, "Who do you think is going to believe you over me?" The human turned and got out of the car as more officers came over. One of the newcomers opened the door, and Grant hauled Ace out. The others followed, each escorted by a human to the bulky, grey building.
The six anthros were put into a cell and told to stay there. As if they could do anything else; the door was locked. Ace stood in the corner of the cell that face the wall. To the others, it seemed he just wanted to be left alone. But it wasn't that. From the corner, Ace could see everything, nothing could sneak up o him, and he could scan the room for a way out. Unbeknownst to the buck, Tech was doing something similar.
Years of being bullied and tormented by his peers during his school years had led Tech to becoming quite the natural – and subtle – observer. The coyote had immediately seen the six needles on the tray on the table outside the cell. He knew what was in those needles; something illegal for humans, but not animals. In the eyes of most humans, that was exactly what anthros were, if not worse. It was only a suspicion (which did nothing to comfort the coyote, as his suspicions were often correct) that they would be "put down"; killed like animals. Vermin. The liquid in the needles would do just that.
So right now, both he and ace were looking for a way out. There wasn't much to work with, though. Just a toilet in the corner and a lumpy piece of fabric on a slab of metal in the wall. Tech looked at Ace for a moment, and saw the bunny's sapphire eyes light up, though his face wore a reluctant expression. He had figured out the same thing Tech had, but the bunny seemed to have a plan.
Ace looked at the bars, his face scrunched up in concentration. His eyes glowed yellow, and a bright light shot from them. The others watched in shock as Ace moved the laser beam along the bars, most of them melting away completely. Once he was done, his eyes returned to their normal color. He didn't react to the fact that all of his cell mates were now gaping at him in disbelief and amazement. The buck stepped out of the cell and looked back at the others expectantly.
"Well, are ya coming?" He game them a small, rare smile. Tech grinned slightly, surprised that Ace had offered them to travel with him, but he stepped out of the cell, the others following. All of them figured Ace would have more experience than any of them put together. They crept along the hallway, Ace in the lead with Tech and Lexi right beside him.
"Stop!" Lexi said suddenly. Her ears were being filled with what sounded like soft static, but once it faded slightly, she could hear voices, "I can hear Grant. He's coming. We have to go or knock him out."
Rev's eyes – without the roadrunner noticing – glowed red as he searched for another way out of the building; quickly mapping out the way in his mind without having to move from where she stood.
"There's-a-back-door." He said quickly, his eyes fading back to their normal green color.
"Excellent, let's go that way." Tech said, and the group started to turn around. Ace, however, stayed rooted to the spot. They all looked back at him.
"Knocking Grant out would hive us more time. Besides, I need ta get something...back." He placed his hand on his belt, feeling strange not having his sword there, "Ya guys can go dat way, I'll knock him out and grab what I need, den meet up wit ya." Without waiting for an answer, Ace ran down the hallway.
They heard a surprised yelp, a punching noise, and a groan. Ace came back a moment later, his sword in hand. It hadn't been hard to find it; it had been on Grant's desk when Ace had knocked him unconscious. The five others hadn't even left the building yet when he joined them again. They slipped through the back door and into a dark alley.
"C'mon, I know a good place ta hide, at least for a little while. It hasn't been used for years, so dey won't know." Ace said, and no one noticed the lone tear that slid down his cheek before he wiped it away.
"Give us a sec," Lexi said, and she and the four others held a brief conference, "So, should we trust him?" She whispered.
"I'm not sure. He doesn't seem to be a bad guy, just misunderstood." Tech added.
"No." Duck said bluntly, "Didn't you hear what Grant said? He killed two people!"
"Yea, Grant said that, but...look, he elaborated on all of our 'crimes'. If we're going to survive, we'd do it better in a group, and so far he's pretty qualified. He knows some martial arts, and has a weapon which, if we had to, could be used for hunting." Lexi said, trying to make it seem like Ace was worthy. She knew he would help them.
"You can't just forget that he practically murdered someone, though!" Duck insisted, and by trying to make his point, raised his voice, which was a mistake.
"I didn't kill dem." Ace said simply, "I would do anydin ta get dem back."
"Oh yea?" Duck said skeptically, turning around to look at him, "Why is that?"
"Dey were my parents." Ace said softly. "Dey were my parents." He said, raising his voice and turning around so that his back was to the others, "I was eight when it happened." He took out his sword and pushed the blade into the ground, "Dis is all I have left of dem."
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know man." Duck said, stuttering. He knew he'd really messed up this time.
"It's okay. I'm used to it." Ace sighed, "So, are ya guys coming?"
They nodded, and followed the bunny, wondering where was the place they would be living in for the next few weeks, and how they would survive.