The three boys managed to slip past Mrs. Twombly, who was getting ready for her power nap, giving them a good ten to fifteen minutes to find the key before she woke, and made their way into the park.

"Okay, I think the best way to do this is if we all split up," Russell suggested. "Vinnie will search the left side, Sunil the right, and I the center."

"Wait, what if I wanna search the center?" Vinnie challenged.

"Then I guess it's too bad because I said so and I'm in charge."

"Who made you in charge?"

"I did, that's who!"

"Guys, this is not the time in which to argue!" Sunil shouted, putting a halt to his friends' bickering. "I do not want to have to be out here for longer than I have to, so let's just find that key already!"

"Uh, right," they both stammered in unison.

The three pets split up to search their assigned regions. They knew this will most likely be a long and even dangerous mission, but they had to save the girls at all costs. They had to bring them home.

"This is just too cliché; it's starting to get really irritating," Russell snorted as he trekked along the grass next to the sidewalk; he really disliked the feeling of the dry cement under his paws. "Anyhow, where is that key?"

"What key? For a door or something?"

The hedgehog stopped and looked up to find the source of the voice, and he found it hanging halfway out of a hole in a tree. "Oh. Hi, Shivers. Haven't seen you in a while."

"Hiddy-ho to you, too, Russell!" the squirrel smiled as he hopped down next to the pet. "Where's Blythe? And Pepper? And what key were you looking for?"

Russell's smile faded immediately and he looked down, feeling as though an entire tsunami of depression crashed down on him. "Well... The thing is..."

"Lookie lookie what we got here," a new voice, a scratchy male's hissed from above.

Russell and Shivers looked up and saw three more squirrels in the tree; one was gray, the other was red-brown, and the last was pitch black. They all had patchy, raggedy fur.

"Bruce! Fang! R.K.! I told you to stay outta my tree!" Shivers snapped. He took a step back when they landed right in front of him, nearly landing on top of him.

"I don't recall you being the boss of us, Squeakers!" the gray squirrel hissed.

"My name is Shivers!"

"You still look like a tiny little squeak!" The black one slammed his tail into the little squirrel, knocking him to the ground and landing in front of Russell.

"Shivers! Are you okay? Who are these guys? he asked as he helped his friend up.

"I'm fine," Shivers growled. "And those three punks are Bruce, Fang, and R.K. - Road Kill for short."

"Road Kill?"

"Yeah, got a problem wi' that?" the red-brown squirrel snarled, launching himself into the hedgehog's face and making him flinch.

"Who is this chump anyway?" the black one - Fang - growled as he walked over to Russell. "Looks like a porcupine!"

"I'm a hedgehog, thank you."

"Well, maybe we say you're a porcupine!"

"Well, maybe I say I'm a hedgehog!"

"Okay! It was... nice... seeing you again, but we really gotta get going!" Shivers suddenly piped in, stepping in between the two angry animals.

"Oh, no, stay, we insist," Bruce grinned deviously. "Well, you can get outta here, ya little squeak." He rushed forward and shoved Shivers back down.

"Would you knock it off already?!" Russell snapped.

"Like you could do anything, pathetic little shrimp!" R.K. snarled.

"Takes one to know one."

"Say that again!"

All right, look, I don't want any trouble."

"I do!" In a flash, the red-brown squirrel slammed a fist into the side of Russell's face, making him stumble back with a cry of pain.

"Russell!" Shivers gasped.

The hedgehog began to feel a liquid trickle down the side of his lips and wiped it off, noticing the back of his paw was now stained red, and glared at R.K., who just smiled at his smugly.

Finally, Russell muttered, "I don't have time for you... I have to find that key." He rudely turned his back to the squirrels and stomped away.

Shivers quickly climbed to his feet and ran to catch up with his friend. "Oh, yeah. What key?"

Russell stopped and heaved a sigh before turning to the squirrel. "The girls have been kidnapped."

"What?"

"A letter found at the incident of the crime said we needed to find a gray key for a safe. Vinnie and Sunil are also searching for it."

"You mean this key?" Bruce suddenly growled. Russell and Shivers turned and saw the gray squirrel holding a medium-sized key in his paws.

"Y-Yeah, th-that's it!" the hedgehog gasped.

"Well, it looks like you're out of luck, because there is no way I'm just gonna give it to you."

"Are you kidding me? My friends have been kidnapped!"

"Just give him the key, Bruce!" Shivers growled in Russell's defense.

"You stay outta this, Squeakers!" The gray squirrel shoved his way past the hedgehog to stare face-to-face at Shivers. "This doesn't concern you. Besides, it's probably too late anyway. Whether or not I hand over this key, those prissy little girls are as good as dead!"

The next thing that happened took everyone - even himself - by surprise; Russell launched himself at Bruce and began slamming fists into the sides of his head, reaching for the key as he did so. "Give me that key!"

"Get the nut offa me!" Bruce shoved his attacker off his back with his tail, but he was soon tackled to the ground by Shivers.

"I have had to deal with countless weeks of bullying from you punks!" he roared. "Now I'm gonna teach you squeaks a lesson!" He widened his jaws and crunched them together on his shoulder, sending his buckteeth into the fur and through the skin.

Russell quickly climbed to his feet, but before he could move a muscle, Fang and R.K. tackled him and pinned him to the ground.

"This'll teach ya!" R.K. snarled before slamming a fist into his nose. Russell shouted in pain and struggled to get up, but Fang had a strong grip on him. R.K. launched another fist into the face, followed by a stomp in the stomach, making him squeak and groan.

"Let him up!" Shivers shouted as he leaped off of Bruce, who grabbed his tail before he could get anywhere. Tossing the key aside, he began punching and biting, forcing the little squirrel to cry in agony.

Fang wrapped his tail around Russell's neck and began to strangle him. The hedgehog struggled to gasp for air as his thrashing intensified, and his face began to turn pale.

"Get ready, this hit's gonna be smashing!" R.K. grinned as he reared back for a punch aimed for Russell's nose. The hedgehog, still choking and gasping for much needed air, shut his eyes tightly, preparing himself for the ultimate blow.

"Get away from our friends, you brutes!"

Russell's eyes shot open when he hear and recognized Vinnie's voice. R.K.'s weight was flung off when the gecko tackled him to the ground. The tail wrapped around his neck slid out of grip and the hedgehog gasped and hacked. He closed his eyes out of exhaustion and could tell it was Sunil who pulled Fang off by the sounds of furious hisses and yowls.

"Get... the... key..." he managed to rasp as he panted and coughed.

Sunil heard the beaten pet and threw Fang off to the side before running towards the gray key laying on the grass.

Unfortunately, Bruce heard as well and, abandoning his fight against Shivers, launched himself at Sunil and dug his teeth into his shoulder blade.

Letting out a wail, the mongoose whipped his head around and dug his own sharp teen into the squirrel's neck, hard enough for temporary paralyzation, but not to cause death.

Bruce went limp and Sunil used this opportunity to fling him over his shoulder and off to the side. He reached out and grabbed the key, then quickly tossed it over his head when Bruce leaped at him.

As the mongoose was tackled to the ground, Shivers leaped up and caught the key. R.K. ran towards him and he tossed it over his head.

Vinnie pushed Fang away and readied to catch it, but the black squirrel shoved him away and caught it. As soon as it touched his paws, however, Russell had rolled into a ball and slammed into him, sending the key flying.

Sunil jumped and grabbed the key in his mouth, then took off with Bruce hot on his heels. That is until Shivers pounced on him, giving Sunil the perfect chance to get away.

"Sunil!" Russell called as he wrestled Fang. "Unlock the safe! We'll be there soon!"

"Good luck!" the mongoose muffled around the key before taking off again.

Sunil kept running. He never stopped, he never slowed down, and he never looked behind him. He just kept pushing himself onward until it hurt and more.

Just when he thought his little mongoose heart couldn't take the pressure anymore, he caught sight of Littlest Pet Shop. Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, the magician gave one more launch towards the shop, zooming like a blue blur across the street and just barely managing to avoid coming in contact with an incoming car.

Sunil finally slowed down as he approached the entrance to the shop and allowed the key to slip out of his jaws. Out of sheer exhaustion, the mongoose collapsed on his bell, and he hunched his back and dug his tiny claws into the sidewalk as he vomited.

Finally managing to pull himself together, he grabbed the key in his jaws again and stumbled towards the door. He trotted through the shop, thankful to hear Mrs. Twombly's soft snoring in the other room, and entered the daycare center. After gulping down several mouthfuls of water to stay hydrated, he leaped into the dumbwaiter and pulled himself up into Blythe's room.

When Sunil leaped out of the dumbwaiter, he gasped and his eyes bulged out so far they almost popped out of his head.

"The safe is gone!" he wailed. "Where is it? It-It was right here!" Sunil pounced on the spot the safe was formerly on. "Ohh! I can't believe this! This is all my fault, even though I know it isn't, but still! What am I going to tell Vinnie and Russell? I lost the safe!"

The mongoose's eyes blinked open and he chuckled in embarrassment. "Oh, right, Russell pushed it over there."

He walked over to the safe, now resting in the corner, and tried to fit the key in the slot.

But it wouldn't go in.

"What the-?" the mongoose gasped as he looked at the key. He tried fitting it upside down, but it still wouldn't fit. "Uh-oh... Not good..."

"Sunil! Suniiil!"

His ears twitched at the sound of Vinnie's voice from outside. He leaped over the broken glass and looked down to see Vinnie and Russell. "Up here! Where's Shivers?"

"He stayed behind; we finally knocked some sense into those three squirrels," Russell answered, cupping his paws at the sides of his mouth to propel his voice. "Did you open the safe?"

"No! The key won't fit!"

"What?"

"Come up here and see for yourself!"

"This is impossible! Why won't it fit?" Russell yelled in frustration as he tried fitting the key in the lock. He tossed it aside. "It's no good, it won't fit!"

"How do we rescue the girls now?" Vinnie panicked as the hedgehog stomped over to the note.

"We probably missed something important while reading the note," the organizer mused as he scanned it again.

"It says right there: 'You must search the park for a gray key, then open the safe under Blythe's bed.'"

A silence drifted over the area, which was eventually broken by the hedgehog. "I wonder..."

"What?" the gecko blinked.

"Well... it doesn't necessarily say we have to use the key to open the safe."

"Well, isn't it obvious?"

"Maybe a little too obvious..." Russell looked up from the paper and looked at Sunil. "Sunil, try opening the safe."

The mongoose nodded before pulling on the lever...

And the door swung open.

"Are you kidding me!" Vinnie roared, throwing his arms out "The safe was open the whole time? We went through all that fighting and jazz for nothing!"

"It'll be a good idea to keep that key, though. Just in case," Russell stated as he walked towards the safe.

...Which was empty.

"Oh, come on!"

A/N: Yeah, here's where things REALLY get interesting! A fighting scene, a good amount of comic relief, and cliffhangers! Doesn't get better than this! XD