A/N I don't own Osmosis Jones, or its characters; they are owned by Warner Bros. The rest, I DO own.

Treefreak4: I think everyone's that way: they enjoy leaving cliffhangers in their stories, yet are upset with cliffhangers. I know I get that way myself. hopefully this won't be too big of a cliffhanger.

Guest: No, it is not.

arielcchocolategirl: Not sure what you called it, due to the symbols XD But I think we can all agree.

Alu in Chains: (15)Some people are like that, I suppose. They'll do something unexpected, whether we expected it or not. Yep, they're great friends to lean on :) I guess he just thought a single punch sufficed XD

(16)I don't claim to be correct, but it's just how I think it to be. I figured they wouldn't be, especially when she hid her secret for over 20 years.

(17)Yeah, it's the second time. This time, she's gonna do it. I liked writing it :3 I can too, though it can be hard to imagine his voice; he has kind of a hard voice to remember just right. But I myself must remember every little detail XD

(18)There's a pic of her, Almira, and Dander on my DA account. Yeah, she loves Almira :)

(19)I think she has a place as the third most hated character in this fic, just after Megan and Jason, though I think Meg's in the lead.

(20)Me too XD

(21)I don't think a lot of people did either. Maybe someday...

(22)XD I think everyone loved that part XD Maybe there was a hidden camera crew catching every little detail ;3 I think EVERYONE was waiting for Thrax and Anna to admit their feelings to each other. And I HAD to balance out the good with the bad ;)

(23)Not only does she have good friends to lean on, but she's also one herself. Thanks :) I think it was a nice touch too.

(24) I couldn't think of anything unique, so I decided to do something small. Evidently, it was good :) A tiny spoiler: I think the drugs do their job, but wear off after a certain amount of time. They need to keep giving her the drug in order for her to be that way. So, there's still a flicker of hope ;)

Chapter 25

If Thrax had been upset before, it didn't compare to how he felt after the DVD. It not only confirmed what the animal drugs were for, and who kidnapped Almira and why, but now she was drugged, and evidently was being controlled as a mindless, killing machine.

He had spent several hours, after the DVD ended, in his apartment. Since Ozzy's apartment was next door, they were able to hear the virus's angry, curse-filled yells. Finally, he came back into Ozzy's apartment, brushed his dreadlocks back, and sighed, "I'm cool…I'm fine…but I'm still pissed."

"You're not the only one, Red." Ozzy nodded. "Now's the time to extinguish those colds with our own pill."

Drix cocked his arm cannon right after. "No, this guy only wants me." Thrax shook his head. "An' I agree; this is personal."

"It's personal for all of us, Thrax." Drix said. "Almira's not just your pet, she's our pet too. She's family."

"Drix, I'm goin' alone. If you an' Jones wanna come along for backup, fine. I don't care. I'm gonna get Almira back."

"I'm going too." Annabelle said.

"Whoa-ho, no, you're not." Thrax exclaimed, shaking his head.

"What?! Is it because I'm a she-cell?" She challenged, crossing her arms.

"Wha-no! It ain't nothin' like that."

"I agree with Thrax," Drix said. "This is too dangerous for you, Annabelle. It's not because of your gender. We're trained professionals,"

"Well, he an' I are, at least." Ozzy spoke up, jerking his thumb at Drix.

"Hey!" Thrax snapped.

"The point is no one wants to see you hurt," Drix continued, ignoring the argument. "This is very dangerous, for all of us."

Annabelle's expression softened as she nodded, "Okay, I understand. I hope you get Almira back, and back to her senses." She turned and left the apartment.

"Think she's mad?" Thrax asked.

"I sensed a little anger, yeah." Ozzy nodded. "But she'll get over it.

About an hour later, Ozzy, Drix, and Thrax drove down to the big right toe. Soon, they came upon an abandoned apartment that looked as though it had seen better days. "Think this is their hideout?" Ozzy asked as everyone stepped out of the car.

"I see some lights on the lower floors, so yeah, I think this is the place." Thrax nodded.

"A'right, then, what's the plan?"

"I already told you: I go in there, kick their asses, save Almira, get her back to her senses, an' we stroll on out."

"It might not be that simple, Thrax," Drix said. "I still think Ozzy and I should go with-"

"No! I already told you, I'm goin' in alone. It's me this germ wants, an' it's me he'll get."

"But we'll have the advantage in numbers-"

"He might too. Germs don't travel alone."

"Still-"

"Let 'im go."

Thrax and Drix turned in surprise to Ozzy. "He's been takin' down germs an' other viruses before you an' I met, Drixy. An' he started at a young age. I think he'll be fine."

Thrax nodded slightly at Ozzy in silent thanks. Drix finally sighed, "Oh, all right. Can you blame me for worrying about a dear friend? But Ozzy and I are staying out here in case you need assistance."

"Can't argue with that." Thrax shrugged.

"Good luck." The cold pill patted him on the shoulder.

Nodding, Thrax turned towards the apartment. "Yo, Thrax?"

He raised an eyebrow at the blood cell. "Watch yer back."

Chuckling once through his nose, Thrax smirked and nodded. Finally, he walked to and into the old apartment.

Inside, it was lit with a few miserable-looking lanterns. There was dust and cobwebs everywhere, and he could smell protoplasm, making his stomach turn slightly. He hoped the blood wasn't from Almira.

Taking a deep breath and sighing, Thrax moved onward, removing his chain from around his neck, and wrapping it around his wrist. Not only did he not want to be choked by it, but the strong chain was a useful weapon. When he felt the cool chains and round beads around his thin wrist, he felt some nostalgia from the old days, making him smile slightly.

A noise snapped him from his memories. He instinctively backed up against the wall, looking around for the source of the noise. He saw a shadow of a person—gender, he didn't know—sneaking around the corner. Scowling, Thrax tiptoed towards the shadow, planning on catching them by surprise. Raising his unlit burner claw, he slowly approached the stranger. He cursed inwardly when he realized there was a lantern behind him, casting a shadow on the opposite wall.

The stranger saw the shadow. Turning swiftly, they punched Thrax across the face twice, catching him by surprise, grabbed his raised arm, turned, and pulled him over their back and slamming him on the ground, making him grunt. "Thrax?" A familiar voice exclaimed.

Thrax couldn't see anything, save for spinning stars, and double-vision of the person who slammed him on the ground. "Wh-who…" He mumbled.

The person was dressed completely in what looked like black spandex, had a ski-mask on over their face, and had their pink hair in two ponytails. They had fingerless gloves, revealing black claws.

The person pulled off the mask, revealing a membrane-less female red blood cell with surprised dark blue eyes. "Thrax, is that you?"

He shook his head lightly, clearing away the stars and double-vision. "Annabelle?" He exclaimed, eyes widening. "What the hell are you doin' here?"

"Same as you, searching for Almira." She helped him to his feet. "Might wanna lower our voices, there are people here."

"I mean it, what are you doin' here? I thought I told you not to come!"

"Thrax, honey, you should know by now that no one can tell me what to do," She smiled, patting his cheek. "Not even you."

Thrax scowled still. "Annie, this place is dangerous. We don't know what these germs are capable of."

"I was able to handle you."

"I saw my shadow on the wall, and-"

"Didn't know you were that conceited." Annabelle smirked. She found that she loved to push Thrax's buttons.

"That wasn't what I," Thrax pinched the bridge of his flat nose, and sighed heavily. "All right, I give up. You wanna stay an' help? Fine. I guess two heads are better than one in the long run."

"What about four? Where are Ozzy and Drix?"

"Waitin' outside in case I—and now we—need backup. What is that you're wearin'?" He raised an eyebrow at her clothing.

"Oh, this? This was my last year's Halloween costume. I was a cat burglar, and I felt it would be a good disguise for today. The ski mask was my uncle's."

Thrax nodded. "If we're gonna do this, we need to be quiet an' vigilant."

"That's easier said than done for you. They probably know who you are." Annabelle curled her finger around her chin in thought before snapping her fingers. "I have an idea. Give me your chain."

Though confused, Thrax unwrapped his chain from around his wrist and handed it to her. She moved behind him, grabbed all six of his thick purple dreadlocks, and wrapped the chain around them in a low ponytail. "You look good in a ponytail." She remarked. Then, she pulled the ski mask over his face. He adjusted it so his eyes were exposed. "There we go," She nodded. "You'll be known as Xarth, with an X."

"Ain't that my name spelled an' pronounced backwards?"

"You once told me germs weren't the sharpest tacks in the box." She winked.

"True." He nodded.

"Anyway, you're Xarth, my bodyguard. As for me, I'm known as the Black Rabbit."

Thrax raised an eyebrow at the name. Then, a sly smile grew on his face under the black ski mask. "Kinda like yer childhood nickname?" Her blush confirmed it. "Why'd you get a nickname like that anyway?"

"Because like a rabbit, I appear to be a totally sweet, innocent person who wouldn't hurt an amoeba," She smiled sensually, stepping up to Thrax as he backed against the wall. "But the next minute," She suddenly grabbed his arm, and flipped him over her back like before. "The claws come out. See, like a rabbit, I may look harmless, but I can defend myself."

"Apparently." Thrax said, getting up and adjusting his mask. "Where'd you learn that?"

"Monkey see, monkey do. I watched Martha practicing her defensive moves when she was training for the Immunity. She and I figured it'd do me some good." She chuckled lightly, bending backwards. "I better not do that again, or I'll hurt myself. We ready?" She stood up straight and began walking towards a lit hallway.

"Hold it," Thrax grabbed her shoulder and turned her towards him. He pulled his triangular sunglasses out of his pocket, opened them, and placed them on Annabelle's nose. "Just in case." He winked. "They look good on you anyway."

Smiling, Annabelle once again faced the hallway. This time, Thrax stood up straight behind her, crossing his arms. He followed Annabelle down the hallway towards some talking, and animal growls every now and then. He glanced down at Annabelle, and noticed her clothing had a slight shine to it. "Is that spandex?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's kinda uncomfortable, as I think I gained a bit of weight since I last used it. But it'll do for now."

"It looks good." He leered, running his eyes up and down over her figure.

She scowled over her shoulder, making him chuckle.

A/N I took a break from writing because I got a review *coughkindabullyingreviewcough* about not using songs in fanfics. So, I did some renovating in my fanfics, as well as deleting about half of them (sorry, but I felt they had to go) As for the future, I'm gonna use the system I use now: when there's a song, I'll put it in parentheses so you can look it up. Sorry, don't blame me, blame the rules.

Anyway, like I said, I feel like I'm kinda rushing because I wanna start on my Bug's Life fanfic. I have a pic of my OC, but I'd like to ink it out and colorit before scanning. The only problem is the pen I usually use is running out, and I haven't been able to get a new one for over a week because we've been having crappy weather, including bad winds, frostbite-worthy weather, and tons of snow. At some point, we were snowed in for two days straight. But it's calming down, so I may be able to get a new pen, and get that pic on DA.

Anyway, it's kind of the old abandoned hideout routine. BTW, protoplasm is the equivalent of blood for cells/germs/viruses and such.

I had the image of Annie in a black suit, with two ponytails, and a mask for a while. Kinda like Catwoman or something. I decided it'd be a good disguise for helping Thrax save Almira. Evidently, Thrax likes it ;3

I also gave her an undercover name, the Black Rabbit. It's kinda cool :) Also, she's not fully trained in self-defense, she only knows how to punch, kick, and pull someone over her shoulder. As she said, she only learned from observation.