He's been in there for two hours, Tybalt glanced at the bottom right monitor again, one of the only two that were still on. The other was on the top left, the green tint clearly showing that bunny, as she searched her little cell in the pitch darkness. Why was Josh so interested in that fox, and not her? And why did the fox seem so willing to listen? What is going on right now?

He turned back to the first monitor, only to find the fox alone again, curled up in a ball with his back to the camera. Whatever they'd talked about, it had apparently been heavy. His ears perked up when he heard footsteps behind him, and he turned to see Josh walk in, tugging a loose T-shirt over his head.

"That went better than I expected," he smoothed out the shirt, an old logo one from a Purrvana concert they'd gone to in college. "Thought he'd try to kill me, or at least maim me."

Tybalt shook his head.

"Why'd you even bother to tell him any of that, anyway?" he asked. "And what was in that smoke you filled the rooms with after all the screwing was done?"

Josh shrugged, going over to the now empty chemistry table and sitting on it.

"It made them forget what they did," he started. "Like I said, I don't want them possibly feeling guilty. It also works like one of those 'morning after' pills."

Tybalt gawked at him.

"T-Then why hit them with that first batch of crap in the first place, if you're just gonna make it like nothing happened?!"

Josh leaned back on his paws, idly kicking his feet like a kit.

"I honestly couldn't tell you," he said at last. "For some reason, I just feel compelled to make them forget, to make them think they were just kidnapped and drugged, instead of…"

"Being forced to rut their friends?"

Josh winced, his ears going flat against his head.

"Yes, pretty much that. I don't even know what the hell made me do that to them in the first place," he dropped her face in his paws, pressing the heels of his palms to his eyes. "Just taking them would've been enough to at least start getting our message out there. Hell, we would've been able to do it without kidnapping anyone at all!"

Tybalt groaned. That spiel had gotten old the first time Josh had spat it out.

"Quit being such a pussy," he snapped at his friend. He got up and lumbered over to the rabbit-fox, crossing his arms and glaring down at the mammal. "You were completely onboard with the kidnapping when we first started doing this, but for some reason you've turned into a complete wuss about it."

The small room shook a bit when he dropped to his knees, his head still riding high above Josh's.

"I don't know where this sudden conscience of yours came from, but it's pissing me off," he tightened the hold on his arms when his paws twitched. "Besides, we already tried that softer shit and look where it got us: nowhere! Absolutely fucking nowhere!"

He watched Josh bite his lip, glance around nervously like he was trying to think of something, but he'd just used up his last chance.

"Fine, if that's how you're gonna be from now on, then I don't see any reason to keep going," he got back to his feet, his tone darkening as his eyes narrowed. "At least, not your way."

Judy squirmed out from the hole she'd dug beneath the door, collapsing against the opposite wall. It was just as dark as it had been in her room, but at least it was marginally cooler. The whole place seemed to have been built completely underground, which normally would've helped her feel right at home, but in this case, all it did was make her feel anxious and claustrophobic. And that was if she put it lightly. She didn't let herself relax for too long, though; she still had to find Nick, then they had to free all the kidnapped teens and arrest the perps. There was more than one, she was sure of it now.

How else could they have managed all this?

She shivered when a draft washed over her, her ears going stock straight as voices drifted to her.

"I don't know why I let you talk me into doing it your way," the voice was deep, angry and slightly graveled, like the mammal had a bad sore throat. "We'd be getting all kinds of attention if I had just killed all those kids like I wanted to!"

Fighting the urge to freeze, Judy dove back under the door, getting through just as she heard the massive mammal rounding the corner. She wasn't sure if he was prey or predator, but she wasn't about to take the chance of getting caught by his night vision.

"But no," he passed right in front of her door, his voice barely making it past the blood pounding through her head. "You had to be a big softie, 'kidnapping them's more than enough, we don't really have to hurt them'."

He scoffed, the door creaking as he pressed against it, scratching at something. "I'll just go out and find my own group, then I'll show you how to really get a message across."

He kept walking. Judy waited until his loud, lumbering footsteps had completely faded, slowly wriggling her way back through the hole, staying on all fours as she crept down the way the mammal had come. His scent was the thick, almost overwhelming musk of bear, but as familiar as it was, there was also something strange about it, like he was a species she'd never seen before. But she didn't exactly have time to think about it. She followed the scent trail, never leaving her crouch, until she came to the first open doorway she'd seen in this place. Her confusion spiked when she saw the wall of monitors, the square of vent openings arranged next to them, the fact only two of the screens weren't dark.

The first, she guessed, was connected to the cell she'd just escaped from, the green-tinted feed showing an empty room. The other, lying diagonally from hers, showed a single figure bathed in the same light, curled up in a tight ball with their back to the camera. But even off-colored, she'd know the mammal anywhere, her blood just about freezing in her veins when she saw the dark stain in the fur on the back of his head, uneven rivulets trailing down his neck to soak into the collar of his shirt.

Nick…

She stepped back from the wall, paws pressed to her mouth to hold back a terrified whimper. What had those mammals done to him? Was he even still alive? She had to find him!

Nick, she dug through her pockets, cursing herself when she came up empty. The one time I forget my phone at home…

Stomping her foot in frustration, she focused on his monitor again, her heart sinking further when she saw he still hadn't moved. The stain in his fur didn't seem to have changed, either, though, so at least he'd stopped bleeding. Swiping at the tears that threatened to spill, she tucked her fear away to deal with later, her back and ears straightening as she went into cop mode.

I'll find you, Nick, she promised silently, then slipped back into the dark hall. Please, just hold on!