Disclaimer: I don't own the characters nor the rights for Vivo, those rights are owned by Sony and Netflix and a few others. I DO own a few characters in this fic, though.

A song of the heart

It took a minute of working and scurrying before Vivo and the others were already making a break for the nearest exit as they didn't want to waste a moment more trapped in wherever this was.

They were determined to run and hurry to safety and the animals accompanying them were no different as they were hot on the humans' trail. Vivo, himself, was glad that everyone was safe and untied and could now get out of there without being seen; all they needed to do was sneak passed the remaining guards to reach the exit and hope like mad that they can all reach that concert and contest in time to perform and hopefully find their spots beneath the stage-lit spotlights.

The joy within the male Kinkajou was immeasurable!

He turned to say something to Marie….only to find that she wasn't there to receive his compliment.

That joy was extinguished right then and there…

His smile of relief dropped like a stone sinking in water, his eyes widened in their sockets, his heart sunk from his chest to his stomach until it fell through the floor while he looked around, surveying his surroundings and then found that someone was, indeed, missing. His tail dropped to the ground and his heart skipped a beat when he realised exactly who was absent…

"Marie…?" He called loudly but his only response was silence.

His pulse picked up as alarm bells rang in his head —something was very wrong here!

Vivo kept searching the area around him but there was no sign of the female Kinkajou anywhere!

"Marie! Marie!? MARIE, WHERE ARE YOU!?" He cried.

Vivo's gaze scanned the area around him in a full circle before he finally concluded —much to his horror— that Marie had vanished!

Instead of falling through the floor again, Vivo's heart decided to leap high into his throat whilst continuing to pound away without even stopping for even a microsecond. He was legitimately worried that he'd go into cardiac arrest if it didn't stop but his racing heart was the least of his worries right now as he tried to recall when he last had Marie in his sights. He knew that he was preoccupied with getting everyone, human and animal, out of here but he felt terrible that he didn't keep an eye on the one creature he should have.

When did he lose track of her?

How could he lose track of her?

Without really even thinking about it, Vivo zipped straight over to the main person who saw Marie last.

"Nick!" He cried, pure panic lacing his tone as it took every fibre in his being not to yell. "When did you last see Marie!?"

The blue jay had taken to perching on top of his owner's shoulder (Nico was preoccupied with quietly muttering plans with the others) and, while he looked dismissive at first, he couldn't help but cock what could be called an eyebrow on a bird at the hat and bandanna clad Kinkajou with a perplexed frown present on his little gray beak. The instant Marie's name was mentioned, however, his brows both furrowed and a look what could be classified as concern marred itself on his little birdie facial features.

"I don't know, Novato naranja enfermizo! I didn't even see that she was gone!" The blue jay replied.

Vivo couldn't help the glare that made itself known on his little honey bear face when he heard that nickname and his face bunched up while his little pink nose wrinkled up in subdued annoyance and fury. He didn't have time for this! This wasn't a situation in which time could be wasted, Marie needed to be found before she got hurt as she wasn't familiar with this place! She could get lost easily! He wanted to facepalm himself so hard but fought the urge to do so, instead he decided to rephrase his inquiry.

"Okay, okay, okay." He said in a surprisingly calmer tone "Can you give me an estimate as to when you last saw her?"

Nick could answer that one a little easier.

"I suppose it was five minutes ago or so."

Vivo's temper and agitation began to simmer when he found that he was now getting somewhere in regards to where Marie had went —he needed to find out more and fast! The more time passed, the more time it would probably take to even look for her and get out in time before rich man Rico Avaro came back and all their freedom is short-lived. Not to mention that Marie would probably be caged too and Vivo refused to let her go through the trauma of being caged for the second time in her life since she was a baby when she lost her family…

That couldn't happen!

It just couldn't!

Nick continued to use his owner's shoulder as a perch as he rubbed his nonexistent chin with a wing tip as he muttered something, more to himself than to Vivo, and it was his next words that made everything make sense all of a sudden —like a final puzzle piece clicking into place. Heck, his words even carried a rather unintentionally ominous undertone beneath it like an undercurrent in some strong and wild ocean waves.

"…She kept muttering something about some flower, I think she lost the one she wore or something, and then she was gone."

Vivo froze.

Marie was mentioning….a flower….?

There was only one thing that could mean:

Her flower probably dropped off her head at some point and, as her flower was very important to her, then that must have meant that she….

He couldn't finish the thought and his legs moved before his mind could.

He pivoted on his feet, whirling right around and he darted straight out the door they came from.

"Vivo? Vivo! Where're you going!? VIVO! PLEASE COME BACK!"

He could hear Gabi and the others call out to him desperately but he ignored them and just kept running, his eyes hardening with every step he took. He was resolute yet he was also lost in a fog created by his own mind which had become an askew mess of irrational thoughts and fears.

As he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, his breathing began to not only increase but deepen too! His breaths were beginning to transition from simple and soft to hard and ragged the faster his legs worked and his chest heaved in and out with each and every running step —the deeper and harder his breaths became, the more the tears threatened to prick at his eyeballs. Sobs throbbed from his throat as he huffed and puffed as fast as his lungs could inflate or deflate, they even started to burn due to the scampering he had been doing.

He couldn't let Marie get hurt.

The mere though made that prickling behind his eyes intensify.

The sobs started to intermingle with his breathless pants while he glared determinedly at the never-ending path in front of him, the path ahead just seemed to stretch further and further away from him the more he ran and it caused him naught but extra agitation. His eyes stung a bit as the tears kept threatening to make his eyeballs water but he kept pushing them back by blinking multiple times and hardening his eyes over and over again.

His heart was pounding and it wasn't just from the running —he knew it…he wanted to deny it to himself, deny that there was no way he could have feelings for someone he only knew for a week…but there was something inside of him making his pulse stir.

That something intermingled with the mere thought of being without Marie.

He couldn't imagine living anymore without seeing her enchanting pale blue/gray eyes, her lithe yet sharp voice, her compassion, her smarts about surviving on the cold streets…he couldn't imagine a life without seeing her in it. For the moment, he pushed those thoughts back since this wasn't the time to get sentimental —he needed to find Marie and her flower.

His legs kept working in spite of the pain in his muscles due to how much running he had done throughout the week.

"….Y-Y-You are not Vivo…a-are you….?"

Vivo skidded to an abrupt halt and his ears flicked a bit when that sound reached his ears, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

He could hear the fearful quiver in her voice, it sounded so…unnatural.

It was a sound so alarming that made him hurry and he picked up the pace of his four-legged dash. He could feel the muscles in his arms begin to stretch and ache painfully protest as he forced them to move in order to continue his rush to his destination. His eyes were wide and he couldn't blink them anymore as they refused to even try and blink.

Vivo scampered to get to his destination, his lungs felt as though they were set on fire and had officially deflated like a pair of balloons.

He could hardly breathe but he ignored it, Marie was in trouble…he could feel it.

He had to save her!

The male Kinkajou ran to an open doorway and immediately peered in to find a sight that made the blood pumping through his veins slow to a crawl and then freeze into icy dread.

He saw a suit-clad woman, the very same woman who Gabi and him met back in Florida.

She had clearly appeared from behind Marie as she had picked her up from behind by the back of the neck, scruffing her in a way that shouldn't hurt, but it did alarm the blind Kinkajou as she gave a squeak of surprise at being lifted off the floor. Marie reacted accordingly and proceeded to bite down hard on the hand that was holding her by the skin and fur on the back of her neck.

Vivo watched in horror as the woman gave an angry cry of pain from having been bitten by the female honey bear and, probably out of instinct alone, she tossed the female honey bear at the wall where she hit the wall hard and tumbled to the ground, suddenly seeming lifeless.

Vivo couldn't believe what he just saw as he watched her to see any signs of life.

Marie's chest didn't move.

She didn't even move an inch.

The only sounds Vivo could hear were the sounds of his own heart beating and the breaths that slipped through his fangs as he rushed straight over towards her.

This whole scenario didn't even feel real while his mind tried to make sense of the situation while his eyes began to sting and the back of them started to prickle with that sensation of oncoming tears —his mind was a mess of irrational thoughts and his ears started to ring in a monotonous high pitched note.

His legs started to move without his brain telling them to and he raced straight towards her.

A soft gasp shot from his throat when he saw her, laying amidst some large empty crates.

Marie was limp and unconscious, her body bruised and her right arm obviously broken.

Vivo couldn't breathe, his lungs felt restricted.

A cluster of memories shot through his mind like bolts of lightning, appearing as visions.

"No!" The female Kinkajou cried aloud "No, no, no, no, no-!"

She stopped dead in her tracks when she apparently heard something from behind her. She didn't turn around but she did hop forwards to try and touch the wall in front of her in a frantic manner, her ears had drooped and she looked around to try and discern what or where the noise was coming from.

It sounded like one of those shaking instruments —kind of like a baby's rattle or…or a maraca.

Little did she know was that Vivo had somehow produced both of his maracas from somewhere behind his back and started to shake them in a musical rhythm.

Vivo remembered when he was a baby and too frightened to go anywhere near Andrés after he saved him from becoming a midday snack for a pack of hungry dogs. He was tiny and terrified as the elderly human was in his home and beckoned the tiny babe to come over and climb into his hand. He recalled being reluctant at first but, when he clambered on to the man's shoulder, Andrés produced a maraca out of nowhere and shook it in front of his face, urging his tiny hands to grab it and shake it.

Since he saw this as a similar situation, Vivo decided to use the same tactic.

He continued to shake his two maracas in a non-specific rhythm to try and entice her to come forwards.

"I…I, erm, figured you'd like this." Vivo explained whilst starting to shake his hips while sliding his feet in a dance.

The frightened mammal started to visibly relax a tad as she not only let her posture grow less and less stiff by the second. Those unique eyes of hers also started to return to their normal size, instead of the petrified pinpricks that they were just moments before. She stared at Vivo with naught but confusion and apprehension, her lips pulled into a small frown.

Vivo ended his dance with a twirl and a light tip of his hat when he remembered something.

"Oh! Right!" Vivo reached up and removed his hat so he could gingerly grab the flower that had been hiding beneath "I think this belongs to you."

The female Kinkajou hesitated before she made a slow yet cautious approach, as if unsure, and her face lit up when she seemed to recognise it. Her mysterious eyes lit up like fireworks in the pitch black sky and she wore a smile that could have split her cheeks apart and she looked absolutely thrilled.

"Th-Thank you! I never thought I'd get to hold this ever again! Where did you-"

Vivo gave the flower to the female and shuffled a foot along the ground sheepishly, evading her eyes.

"I found it where you dropped it while trying to not get hit by a moving car,"

A very awkward silence brewed between the two Kinkajous —the pair didn't know what exactly to say to one another but Vivo was mostly enchanted by this lady Kinkajou's beauty. He had never seen something or someone so beautiful in his entire life and he couldn't help but let a smile blossom upon his face.

Before he could comprehend anything more, the female decided to break the silence by introducing herself.

"My name is Marie…what's yours?"

Vivo responded with a gentlemanly bow as he tipped his hat politely to her.

"I'm Vivo."

Vivo and Marie both finished their humming and exhaled through their nostrils respectively, both smiling down at the egg and basking in the silence of the nighttime forest atmosphere around them. The only sounds around now was the gentle wind blowing and the odd cricket chirping.

He turned to face Marie as he finally spoke, awestruck.

"That was…..wow…."

Marie giggled and smiled back.

"You weren't bad yourself."

Then the male musical Kinkajou found himself beginning to gaze into Marie's eyes as he was immediately enchanted by them and he couldn't even try to look away.

Those cloudy pale blue pools shimmered and shined in the moonlight being cast down on them from above, they were like deep pools of water that never rippled but shined like starlight on its reflective surface.

Vivo felt his heart race with anticipation and his breath hitched in his throat while he tried his best to force air into his own lungs to keep himself breathing in spite of the intense beauty literally staring him right in the eye. His lovestruck smile didn't waver or falter in the slightest as he just kept staring into those eyes of hers which were as deep as the ocean.

Marie apparently felt him staring.

"….What?"

Vivo's tongue was rendered into a piece of blubber inside his mouth and he found it difficult to find his ability to speak, until he finally mustered the words he wanted to utter. He swallowed the knotted marble of anxiety that had formed in his own throat and found his voice.

"I…I…I hope you don't mind me saying so, but yours are the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen."

Marie's own eyes widened, surprised.

"R-R-Really?" She asked. "Do…Do you really mean that?"

Vivo nodded.

"I've never been more honest."

Vivo let go of Marie's paw and shuffled on the spot in mild discomfort.

"I, erm, uhh, ahem…." He cleared his throat awkwardly and offered her both a helpless shrug of his shoulders and a crooked smile. "I'm…sorry about what happened tonight."

Marie couldn't see the mild embarrassment on his face but she could hear the hint of shame present in his voice. She turned to face Vivo (or, at least turned in the direction in where she heard his voice) and replied in a voice mixed with sarcasm and kindness —an odd but strangely warm voice that made the male Kinkajou become weak at the knees.

"That's okay. I actually…kinda enjoyed it, with the exception of the 'kidnapping me against my will' part."

That would explain why she's so reluctant instead of her usual relaxed self so if she came in here willingly then it must be supremely important.

"C'mon…" Vivo encouraged. "Lemme see that sweet lil' face of yours?"

He spoke to her a kind smile playing on his little kinkajou lips as he stooped down and dropped to his knees, standing on them to make sure he was more on eye level with her.

There was a smidge of a playful note in his voice as he extended his arm and raised his paw as if gesturing her to come out from under the bed. She felt flattered that he thought she was adorable and she couldn't help but smile a tiny bit at the playfulness present behind the other Kinkajou's words. She would even be blushing if it were possible. She couldn't hide the uncertain yet timid glimmer shine within her unseeing eyes as she anxiously crawled with her muscles moving as though they were coated in a thick layer of rust.

Marie reluctantly dragged herself from beneath the bed, not that she could tell it was a bed to begin with, and was soon revealed in the warm light of the room.

Vivo's smile widened and his eyes lidded a bit to soften his gaze even further.

"There you are…"

Then he caught side of the seriousness written plainly across Marie's expression and his smile fell a bit as he was reminded that there was an element of seriousness behind this visit; it was time to get to the meat of this problem and, for some reason, he wasn't keen on doing so.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"There's something I have to tell you!" Marie exclaimed, still puffing and huffing breathlessly.

"I, uhhh….I saw how much you seemed to like music at the time and figured the noise of some percussion would help."

Marie smiled gently and sincerely at the male Kinkajou's thoughtfulness and compassion, her cool yet damp cheeks suddenly raising to a blazingly hot feverish pitch. She admired Vivo's ability to try and act as gentlemanly as possible while trying to accommodate her and her…limitations, despite all he had just learnt about her. She even didn't know that cute fuzzy mammals like her could blush thus she was proved wrong about this, it appeared, alas it was not a smile meant to last since her gaze drifted from towards the direction of Vivo's voice and down to the countertop of the table that they were perched atop of.

She suddenly looked sad…and was growing sadder by the second.

Marie removed her flower from her head and held it in her hands, glancing down at it. There was a nostalgic gleam shining in her clouded pale blue/gray eyes and she methodically traced a finger along the edges of one of its fine and velvet petals.

"This…This flower was given to me by my mamá. My flower and a song are the only reminders I have from my family..."

He came to a realisation then.

The realisation that hit him then was so blinding, so overwhelming that he felt himself unsteady on his feet while all those memories coming back in full impact as well as the realisation of what was going on was as forceful as a ton of bricks falling on top of him, it almost was enough to knock him off his feet.

The male kinkajou could no longer deny it, he had a crush on her.

No.

This was more than a crush.

The dam of tears finally broke and they gushed right out of the ocular structures of his eyeballs and cascaded down his cheeks in little waterfalls. The tears of sadness and anger pricked at the corners of his eyes, thus making them sting even more. To keep them from stinging anymore, he closed them but the tears didn't stop flowing out from his tightly-shut eyelids.

"Marie! Oh, Marie! Wake up! Please wake up!" He loudly pleaded through sobs.

The male Kinkajou chanted her name over and over again and took her delicately into his arms, cradling her tightly but gingerly against his fuzzy chest. He hugged her neck, however he was very careful not to hurt her further, as tears streamed from his eyes and dripped down onto her furry forehead.

"Marie. It's going to be alright...I'm here, I'm here..." The volume of his voice dwindled from a shout to a pathetic whisper that was laced with soft whimpering and sniffles.

"Wake up, Marie…please wake up!" Vivo squeezed her tight against his chest fur.

But then his ear fluttered when he heard something.

"Hurts..."

Small flames of hope flickered and then ignited to life within Vivo's bloodshot eyes as they blinked while he recognised that voice. He pulled himself away a bit while he quickly looked back down at Marie, whose face started to twitch with life as she clearly tried to open her eyes. Her nose twitched and her ears wiggled as she tried to force herself to regain consciousness.

"Huh? M-Marie?" He asked as tears still proceeded to drip off of his face.

"It hurts..." Marie muttered, repeating what she said a moment ago but adding to it.

The relief within Vivo was indescribable.

"Marie! Oh thank goodness, you scared me half to death!"

"Ow!"

Vivo squeezed her tight, expressing his relief whilst also eliciting a squeak of pain from the female Kinkajou —it was after hearing her cry out that he immediately pulled her away from his chest but kept handling her with the most gentle embrace he could manage right now.

"Ah! Sorry! Are you alright? Does your arm hurt?"

Marie nodded.

"Why? Does it look bad?"

Vivo couldn't bring himself to answer that question.

It did look bad —really bad!

Her arm was bent at a horrible angle around the connecting joint of her wrist and her tiny fingers were twisted in every direction possible. Under her peach orange fur was beginning to have a blue/purple tinge due to the large amount of bruising already beginning to take place and it looked really excruciatingly painful.

Vivo couldn't help but grimace at the sight.

He was relieved that she was alive and all but this broken arm needed medical attention and he knew that she would not enjoy a single second of being seen by a vet. The thought made him cringe but he ignored it the best he could as he placed a supportive paw upon her shoulder and pulled her close to him —he tried to accommodate her wounded arm in the process as she gave a confused moan but relaxed when she felt her head lay itself against his fuzzy chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"Just…just don't worry about it right now, Marie." He said with a tone bolstered by false confidence.

Marie didn't buy that, her arm felt awful and it sounded pretty bad from the fact that he was trying to make her ignore it. How could she ignore it? From the sounds of things, he was making it sound like her arm was about to drop off. The briefest of panicked thoughts of that actually being the case dashed through her brain before she forced the ridiculous notion out again —she knew full well that her arm wasn't about to drop off and she wasn't going to even entertain such an idea.

Vivo set Marie down so she was sitting in front of him and spoke in a gentle tone of voice.

"Marie, this is going to hurt but I need you to bare with me for a minute."

Marie didn't even bother with asking what he was going to do but the fear shining in her unseeing eyes didn't dissipate in the slightest, if anything, her eyes dilated and shrunk into little pinpricks of terror but she exhaled through a trembly breath to try and steady herself.

Vivo, too, exhaled as he untied his own bandanna from his own neck, removing it.

Then he reached forwards and tied the neckerchief around her neck but not in its regular fashion —more like some sort of loose cloth. After he made a little loop in the material that was his bandanna, he gently grabbed Marie's injured arm and pulled it into the cloth loop so the arm could be better cradled and supported. He couldn't help but cringe as she let out a cry of pain and the guilt was nibbling away at him like a mouse nibbling at some block of cheese.

"Shhh…" He shushed her both soothingly and encouragingly "Tough it out a bit longer, I'm almost done!"

Marie nodded though big fat tears were rolling down her cheeks at this point.

Now he felt as though that same guilt was drilling its way right through his heart.

That was when he finally remembered that there was a scary woman nearby who wore a freaky yet disinterested scowl upon her face and, in accordance to this, the male Kinkajou readjusted how his hat sat atop his head before he started scrunching his face up in an attempt to try and look as terrifying as possible, his eyes narrowed and his fangs bared.

He never imagined himself doing this —trying to intimidate a human being— while the only time he came close was when he and Gabi were about to deliver Marta's song and he was hiding in her bag, some security guards tried to stop them and he had to growl at them whilst trying to look non-threatening.

He was a singer, not a fighter.

The woman didn't seem the slightest bit intimidated, however, and just glared at him with indifference despite the sunglasses shielding her eyes and the glare behind them. She just placed one hand on her hip and bent down to pick Vivo up by the back of his neck when some invisible force swatted her hand, smacking it hard, and he was saved from being dropped to the ground which was fortunate due to the fact that he wasn't a cat and didn't land on his feet.

The second Vivo could, he scuttled back a bit whilst still remaining positioned in front of Marie.

Then he looked up and realised that the invisible force was none other than Gabi.

She had taken to defensively standing in front of Vivo, shaking like a maraca and clearly scared.

Vivo felt panic and worry grip his insides when he saw the twelve-year-old trying to save both him and Marie and he wanted to tell her off for getting caught up and not running to safety with her mother, Esteban and the others —but he knew that just doing so would result in a series of squeaks and chittery noises. His ears fell and his eyes widened into dinner plates while his heart jumped high into his throat once more, his body shaking just like hers was.

"Move aside, kid." The woman ordered, sounding cold and impersonal.

Gabi refused to move whilst still standing in front of both the hurt female Kinkajou as well as the scared male Kinkajou.

If the woman tried to get around the twelve-year-old in order to grab at the Kinkajou then the latter matched her step —still stubbornly refusing to let her get her hands on her best friend. The tension in the atmosphere thickened considerably when Rico Avaro had finally arrived in the room, probably alerted by the commotion going on in the room.

Gabi glared daggers at Rico Avaro upon seeing him, her face tight with distain.

"I…I won't let you hurt my best friend!" She cried.

Rico seemed to falter a bit in his stance, he even whisked his gaze off to the side to avoid her hate-filled eyes.

"Please…just step aside, kid." He muttered.

Gabi didn't care, though.

"No! I'm not letting you lay a finger on him or his girlfriend!" She yelled.

The purple-haired girl was unaware of the slight blush reddening Vivo's face as he fought the urge to correct her that they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. She kept her gaze aimed at the woman who seemed to grow angrier by the second while Rico Avaro seemed more and more regretful.

"I'm not asking again." Rico said, his voice growing a tad sterner "Move aside and give us the Kinkajou."

That was when Gabi delivered a blow way below the belt.

"IS THIS WHAT MARINA WOULD WANT!?"

The man stopped and looked down at her as if struck.

He probably hadn't even been asked this yet or even considered his deceased daughter's would-be-feelings regarding this entire situation. He faltered, a face of brief shock overcoming his facial features as he felt anger and rage at his daughter's name being brought into this matter…however, he knew full-well not to take any form of anger out on the young 12-year-old girl. He didn't flinch but the expression on his face grew hollow and slightly thoughtful…almost as if he were beginning to reconsider his actions.

Tears began to glisten within his eyes and he was clearly fighting with his own whirl-pooling emotions that crashed and bashed around like wild ocean waves during a storm.

The big and muscularly-imposing gentleman rubbed one arm anxiously as he mulled the question over within his head, trying not to show his inner-turmoil on the outside via his facial expression as he blinked back the tears as best as he could. He didn't even know what to say as he contemplated his next words

A tense silence brewed between both Gabi and Rico…until the woman shattered it by smashing her foot down on the ground and snatching Vivo up by the bandanna, seizing him.

Gabi didn't expect it and, apparently, neither did Rico!

"A..Agent Fawkes?" Rico asked, clearly confused "What are you doing? Stand down!"

The agent woman was clearly having none of that.

"No! We have worked so hard for this, we would be idiots if we gave up now when we are so close!"

Vivo and Marie looked at one another, the same thought running through their heads:

"RUN!"

Marie couldn't run on all fours with her arm in such a state and Vivo knew that so he decided to take initiative.

He quickly dropped down on all fours and slipped himself beneath the female Kinkajou, whom had fallen partially limp by now, and got into a position so he could carry Marie on his back; his heart was pounding and his mind was racing as his only thought consisted of running as fast as he could to evade this woman.

He ran as fast as his legs could allow once more…but carrying someone on his back was most definitely slowing him down, nevertheless he ignored it and kept on running, darting out from behind Gabi and skittering around the room with a lady dressed as a secret agent hot on his heels, his tail flying behind him as he ran, his eyes narrowed in determination.

As he ran around the room in circles and zig-zags and beelines in hopes of evading capture and reaching the open doorway, he suddenly remembered how he managed to pull off that sharp turn trick that Antonio had shown him right before leaving Florida and arriving to Las Vegas.

He made to run towards the door, the lady still chasing them both.

"What are you up to, Vivo?" Marie asked.

Vivo glanced over his shoulder to make eye contact with the passenger riding his back.

"Just trust me!"

Marie decided to do just that and kept silent.

Vivo stopped running and whirled around the corner while looking at the woman with a smug glare. He could hear a muttered low-growl under the woman's breath as she clearly was under the impression that she finally got the drop on them, she even started to hurriedly stalk towards them in a hastened manner with her glare still being concealed behind the sunglasses she wore.

Vivo thought to himself with a smirk.

"It's time I put an end this little sideshow!"

He skidded off to the side, digging all four of his paws into the ground to give himself a sharp U-turn the instant she got too close for his liking.

Vivo ducked out of the way, leaping out of dodge, with Marie still on her back.

He gave a triumphant "woo-hoo!" as he was beginning to gain the upper hand in this game of cat and mouse.

"When we get home, I am so gonna hug that kitten for this!" He exclaimed.

The woman gave a shout of frustration as proceeded to slide smack dab into a wall, and it wasn't clear until she pried herself away from said wall that she was getting annoyed with having to chase the pair of kinkajous —despite one being injured— and she appeared to grow more and more cross as the seconds ticked by, she even gave a cry of agitation as she kept right on slamming into walls and corners (albeit not with her face like the first time).

"Uuurgh!"

In the meantime, both Gabi and Rico had taken to watching the scene unfold with expressions of uncertainty…and slight amusement…alas it was a moment that just couldn't last any longer as Mr Avaro got over his amusement, grabbed Gabi by the shoulders to prevent her from interfering, and shouted to the woman as he decided to put an end to all this palaver.

"Agent Fawkes! Just grab the stupid creatures!"

"No!" Gabi cried, struggling to wrench herself out from Rico's hold on her with little to no success. "Don't!"

Upon hearing Gabi cry out, Vivo momentarily stopped skittering around to look over at her and investigate what was happening. His eyes widened when he saw the twelve-year-old girl trying to free herself as she looked down at him with the most helpless expression ever seen on any humans face with her brows knitted together and her lower lip threatened to tremble and quiver.

She didn't stop trying to get herself free, though, as she pushed forwards again and again to no avail.

"Gabi!" Vivo cried, eyes wide and full of worry.

Vivo was picked up by the back of his neck once again and Marie quickly let go the instant he was grabbed to avoid having an unpleasant fall and having her arm hurt more —the male Kinkajou was lifted into the air and quickly started to struggle to get the woman to release him. He flailed his arms, legs and tail around as he tried to squirm out of her grip. He even reached back to try and loosen her fingers from the loose skin stretching at the back of his neck.

"Vivo!" Marie cried. "Hang on!"

The blind Kinkajou got to standing on her back legs (her broken arm and the sling Vivo made for her made it impossible to run on all fours) and running up to the woman's feet and proceeded to lift the trouser sleeve and bit down hard on the woman's ankle.

The woman let out a cry of pain the instant the female Kinkajou's fangs punctured and then dug into the skin of her ankle region.

Vivo fell from her grasp and he hit the floor with a "thud" but it wasn't far enough to physically hurt him with the exception with one or two bruises and his hat tumbled off his head. He rectified this immediately by grabbing his little hat and placing it back on the top of his head where it belonged.

He dusted himself off quick before he went over to Marie, grabbing her good arm, and dragged her behind him as he ran back to Gabi for safety.

Gabi (meanwhile) somehow managed to wrench herself out from Rico's grip by this point and passed the two kinkajous.

She grabbed them off the floor and gathering them both into her arms as she dashed passed both Rico and the agent lady and made a break out the door. Marie gave a slight squeak of pain at being held so tight and the throbbing pain in her arm. The girl with purple hair could feel her hamstrings protest with each step as she hoped to outrun the two adults chasing her, her heart was pounding and several beads of sweat dripped down her face.

She couldn't help but feel nervous and fearful.

What would happen if they caught up?

What would they do to Vivo?

What would they do to the other girl Kinkajou?

Unbeknownst to her, however, her fear was beginning to spread to her best friend being cuddled in her arms.

Vivo couldn't help but begin shaking and trembling as the nerves began to set in, he wanted to keep being brave but the adrenaline rushing through his veins was beginning to die down and all he could do now was watch everything unfold while he was being cradled in the arms of Gabi alongside Marie, whom had clammed up for the second time since he had known her —the first being when she got kidnapped by accident by Dancarino.

It was hard to see Marie in such a state for the second time.

The two Kinkajous remained silent as Gabi kept running, her feet clomping away as she ran as fast as she could. The sweat was seeping through every pore in her body as she tried to conceal her anxiety and the extraneous effort this was taking as she began to hear footsteps behind her and gaining on her, followed by shouting voices with indiscernible words.

The more she ran, the further the end of the hallway seemed to stretch out in front of her and grew further and further away. Her heart was going at what felt like a thousand miles a minute and it even felt as though it were on the verge of exploding outright inside her chest but she didn't let that stop her, she had to keep running.

Icy cold dread set in when she finally reached the end of the hallway to find a dead end.

Her eyes widened into the size of dinner plates and her arms became dotted with goosebumps when the realisation sunk in that there was nowhere left to run; all she could do now was hold Vivo and his friend tightly and try her best to keep them both safe from whatever nefarious fate that Rico Avaro and his agent lady friend would subject them too whether it be being sold for money or something else.

She gulped nervously when that agent lady caught sight of her and stormed over towards her, steam blowing from her ears and her face red with white hot rage that she was clearly trying to keep in and restrained. She couldn't stop shaking but that didn't stop her from trying to assure both the mammals she was holding.

"Uh, um…don't w-worry, guys, I'm n-n-not gonna let 'em get you!" She said, trying to sound brave but failing miserably thanks to the scared stuttering.

Vivo, in return, held on to her as tight as he possibly could but made sure not to dig his claws in to her arm as he didn't want to accidentally hurt her. He buried his face partially in the crook of her arm whilst also partially clinging on to a still-clammed-up Marie whom only slightly broke through her frozen statue phase enough to grab one of his arms in her non-injured paw.

The group of three looked back up and saw the woman continuing to advance towards Gabi in a threatening manner and the twelve-year-old, fearful, grabbed hold of both Vivo and Marie and held them close to her in a protective manner.

"Okay, little miss Hernández! This stupid little game ends now! Give us that rodent!" The woman demanded while angrily pointing at Vivo.

Gabi shook her head whilst glaring so hard it made her facial muscles ache with fearful tears welling up in her eyes. She wouldn't give Vivo up and she wouldn't give up on her new friend either and the adults could demand it of her until they were blue in the face! Vivo was her best friend and musical partner and the treasure of her late great uncle Andrés, she couldn't just give him up and especially not without a fight.

Then the lady turned a bit to see Rico and stared at him for a minute as if asking for permission for something without actually asking anything.

Rico, in response, nodded albeit with a saddened expression.

The woman came closer and reached out to snatch Vivo…when something happened.

BLAM!

Gabi was shocked at what was happening in front of her but also her fear evaporated into thin air.

It turned out that her mother had apparently popped up alongside the woman out of nowhere and then side-punched her in the face, knocking her out cold after tumbling to the ground in one blow. There was a ferocious fire blazing out of control in Rosa's eyes as she rolled her hand into the tightest fist ever recorded —veins were pulsating from her fist and everything! She grit her teeth and scowled with the dementedness of a demon.

Rosa glared fondly at her own clenched fist and smirked, admiring her handiwork.

"Ohhh…that felt great. I wanted to do that since I met her." She gave a sigh of contentment.

Rico immediately started to back away from the enraged mother but froze when he backed up into someone else who had somehow popped up behind him without him noticing until now. After looking back and over his shoulder, he found himself staring into the enraged face of none other than Esteban; this was shocking to Gabi as she had known her mum's boyfriend to be a big soft nerdy teddy bear in personality despite having the physique of a bodybuilder whom ate nails and concrete for breakfast.

The former rich man gulped nervously.

"Here's the rule. You hurt Gabi, you deal with me!" Esteban growled.

Rico hung his head while shaking like a leaf.

"P-P-P-Please…" He pleaded whilst dropping to his knees and clasping his hands together in a begging motion "…I was j-j-just doing this for my daughter, I d-didn't want to cause any harm! Honest!"

Esteban's furious expression melted a bit as he sympathised with this man a bit, he wanted to fulfil his late daughter's last wish…but that didn't absolve him of all that bad stuff he did to try and do it. If he and Gabi were in a similar situation then he would have done anything to try and make her wishes a reality but he'd do his best to cross the line at anything illegal.

"That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be punished, though."

Rico hung his head and sighed solemnly.

"I…I know it doesn't. Nothing justifies my actions."

"Hey! Over here, we got some guys!"

Everyone perked their heads up and saw a police officer standing behind them all.

It didn't take long for the rest of the police to arrive at the scene as some officers came and dragged Rico Avaro, the other people working in the facility and Agent Fawkes away in handcuffs and placed them under arrest while a bunch of EMT's came and looked everybody over to make sure nobody was injured after their harrowing ordeal —thankfully it was just getting to sunset so hopefully everyone was still in fine fettle to go to the Neon lights contest/concert later on in the night.

Vivo felt a huge measure of relief.

His limbs became limp and his head lay down as the adrenaline wore off completely and, before the male Kinkajou could even register anymore, everything went black as he passed out in Gabi's arms.

A/N: This story is almost over, everyone, I hope you are all enjoying this!

Stay tuned to find out what happens next!

-Chloemcg