IMPORTANT PLEASE READ!: ok so I forgot to put this in the last chapter but Ruby was supposed to tell Penny specifically to go to Oswald and Ortensia's house because you know SUBTLE FORSHADOWING. So ya, that is all.

Wow. Well that took longer than expected. Sorry for the late update guys but I was literally breaking my head over this chapter! But you know YAY it's here like finally (if you haven't noticed by now I'm not so awesome about updating :P). It's that if I'm going to post something I'd rather take forever and have it at least be you know moderately awesome than rush and have turn out like French sewage (which like all sewage I assume is quite nasty). So ya, I'll try and update as much as I can but I don't want this to get in the way of the actual book I'm trying to write (which is significantly more difficult…trust me O.O) don't worry I'll still update as much as I can just you know for now, enjoy! Oh and also *drum roll*….

SHOUTOUTS! (YAY! I finally have enough reviews to do this, THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH YOU ARE ALL AWESOME! XD)

Jacob Poke (Guest): so glad you're liking the fic! Glad you like me using the Doc as my main villain so far, I always thought he was a wasted potential. And yes quite a few challenges definitely await our heroes in the chapters to come!

Naynayshine: THANK YOU! XD (don't think I've ever gotten that many follows or favorites in one go from anybody!)

MandyTranscend: Wow. Frist let me just thank you from post like, the longest review I've ever gotten! Thanks for the feedback I'll try my best to keep Penny's hysterics to a minimum (Ruby will be getting rescued next chapter so it shouldn't be much of a problem for long), let me know anything else you're thinking I'm all for constructive criticism (I kind of want to be a writer when I grow up so ya know, don't hold back!) Anyway, I really appreciate that well, you appreciate and like my story, thanks! ;)

Gremlin Hyperion (Guest): Gald you're liking my little story! About Prescott, I really like him to like as a character and he will be making some appearances here (more so once Ruby gets rescued) but he doesn't really have a major role in this fic. HOWEVER I am currently coming up with another fic in which he will be the star of so just hand tight ;)

She was screaming again. Ortensia rushed down the hall with Markus trailing close behind.

"Mommy what's going on?" Ortensia looked down to see one of her bunny children clasped tightly to the hem of her skirt with a few others in tow, all the commotion must have woken them up…again.

"Everything's all right sweet hearts," She assured them while gently removing them from her skirt. "Just go on back to bed for mommy ok?"

"But…but we wanna help!" They whined their ears perking up "What's wrong with her?" One of them inquired tentatively.

"Nothing sweetie, nothing, just bad dreams is all… not anything mommy can't handle. Now, can you all please go back to bed? Because right now that would be very helpful."

"Ok…" they resigned as they reluctantly made their way back to their designated rooms.

Ortensia let out a sigh as she watched them go and then began heading towards the distraught kitten's quarters once more. She went turning the cool wooden knob and peeked her head in tentatively through the white wooden frame to reveal young Penny sitting upright in bed looking thoroughly terrified, adorably small clumps of wrinkled blanket curled up in the young toon's trembling hands.

"Oh, sweetheart…" Ortensia breathed upon entering her motherly instincts kicking into full gear as she immediately rushed to the troubled kitten's side. "Everything's alright sweetie shhhhhhh sh sh it's me Penny it's ok, its Ortensia remember? Shhhhhhh sh, don't cry everything's going to be alright…shhhhhh, just a bad dream that's all…"

"Oh and uh Markus, I'm here too…" the gremlin stated lamely at temporary loss as the more experienced of the two continued to consul the young kitten. As she bent over to wipe away the tears from Penny's cheeks Markus noticed the dark circles beginning to shadow beneath the motherly cat's eyes… "Hey uh, how about I take over for awhile?" He suggested tentatively hoping to allow the wife of Wasteland's great and powerful leader to acquire some much needed rest. Ortensia turned her attention over to him and smiled weakly.

"That's alright Markus I've got her…"

"C'mon Mrs.'O I can take it from here," He pressed "She'd already pretty calmed down, I'll just stay a bit to make sure she stays that way."

"Well if you're sure…" Ortensia began as she placed exhausted kitten's head back down on the pillow.

"I'll be fine! Go get some sleep. Oswald and Mickey should be back any day now and we'll have to be ready to go meet them over at Dark Beauty Castle." He assured her. But, at the mention of her husband's return Markus couldn't help but notice a dark look cloud over the cat's usually cheerful eyes.

"Right, of course they will…" Ortensia replied more to herself, as if she had already felt the room. As she went to close the door Markus wondered if her concern for Penny was the only thing keeping her up at night.

He pulled up a chair beside her bed and took a jab at comforting her, softly stroking back the fur atop her head, which she seemed to like as she immediately began purring in her sleep snuggling closer. As he looked down at the sleeping toon he allowed himself to wonder about her, Ostown's newest—and rather unexpected—visitor. He'd been thoroughly disturbed when he'd been called my his mentor—Gus— to help assess—or rather get more experience in doing so— the extent of Penny's injuries and come up with an alarming amount of thinner running through her bloodstream. Thankfully though they'd caught it just in time. However the thing that was really driving him crazy though was the fact that he knew her. It had been a little over a year ago over in…Bog Easy was it? He couldn't quite put his finger on it; he remembered seeing the small kitten after his heating-system-encounter with the other girl, Ruby…yes it was Ruby, he was quite sure that'd had been what the young kitten called her. He remembered the way her right ear flopped at the tip, folding over like a cute puppy dog. Her goofy, flabbergasted expression when Prescott had nearly choked him to death; he remembered the nervous smile she had offered afterwards, how exhausted she'd looked, and the sad way she almost seem suspicious when he had willingly offered to help. All he'd known was her name and yet, he'd been sad to watch her go. Alone, he thought, probably having to take care of Penny all by herself. The thought of Ruby on her own carrying all that responsibility without anyone to help angered the gremlin for some reason. A shiver ran down his spine as his mind wandered back to her current situation, all the things torturous things the Mad Doctor could be doing to her right now at this very moment…all the things he could have already done. Would the teenaged rabbit be the same when she returned—if at all—he wondered? Markus sighed, it wasn't like he would've been able to tell the difference anyway he'd only known her for all of ten minutes, but still the possible post affects of her induced trauma plagued his mind like, well, the plague. All he'd known was her name…and now all he knew was that he desperately needed her to make it.

(Yesterday)

She was screaming again or at least, someone was, she couldn't quite tell anymore. Whoever it was she wished they'd stop, it was getting kind of annoying. Her senses struggled to identify anything about her surroundings other than the fact that it was dark. The screaming had stopped, she felt her mouth close. Fire ran through her veins, it hurt. Slowly her mind began to grasp for some sort of consciousness, a dim light bulb hung from the ceiling flickering occasionally. What was she doing here again? The pieces began sluggishly falling back into place as her mind registered an unsettling chuckle emanating from a dark corner of the room. She heard voices, no, one voice, going on about…something—probably bad—at this point her brain was too fried to comprehend much of any of the syllables that were spouting out of his mouth to her seemingly at random and her body to exhausted to care. The worn teenaged test subject found herself catching key words here and there, something about the life being drained out of her…slowly, that sounded about right she thought to herself miserably. Suddenly she felt her senses jolt awake as they registered a single gloved finger brushing itself across her bruised cheek.

"…having the process preformed on her." She managed to catch, her body tensing at the mere thought.

"Little Penny is safe." She told herself, "That's all that matters." A single tear graced her paled features as she braced herself for another injection, a stifled whimper escaping her trembling lips. "Penny's safe, Penny safe…" She could feel the tips of their needles brushing at the pale exposed inside of her now complacent arms as they awaited the inevitable, "Penny's safe it was worth it, it was worth it, nothing else matters she's ok it was worth it…" barely recovered from the last time as blood still dripped down from her arms since the syringes last unpleasant piercing "Nothing else matters, nothing else she's safe, she's safe that's all that matters nothing else she's safe the hurt doesn't matter…" and then worst of all, the screaming had started again.

(A few gut-wrenching screams and agonizing injections later…)

Ruby moaned, barley conscious as the last round of syringes wrenched themselves painfully out from within the depths of her punctured flesh falling weakly onto floor as she was unclasped from her confinements, knees scrapping raw against the rigid concrete, again. She felt her blood rush downward suddenly as she was suspended up by chains against the wall, the tips of her feet barely brushing the filthy ground. An ugly ring of fresh and congealed blood caked her wrists where the restraints dug in probably made worse by her constant struggling proven by the dried dark red streaks leaking out from beneath her metal cuffs and running down the length of her arms. She wanted to reach her hand up to wipe something off her face, probably more blood. The Mad Doctor stuck a needle in and drew one last blood sample, slowly pulling back the plunger so as to savor her agony, she spat venomously—the only act of defiance she could muster—he backhanded her across the face, hard, she coughed up more blood. She began to wonder if she really could drown in it… "At this point it honestly doesn't seem like that bad an alternative…" She thought darkly to herself as the wet, hacking coughs convulsed her body knocking her shattered legs uncomfortably against the wall and irritating her restraints so that more blood poured down from her wrists as the chains noisily protested her defiance. While our hero attempted to exhume the rest of the thick blood currently taking quite a decent stab at drowning her unconventionally watered lungs our villain strode over to his malevolent workplace to analyze his latest painstakingly acquired sample. Ruby lifted her head up some as a quick alert sounded from one of her captor's computers. He gave her a threatening glare forcing her eyes and now hanging head back down to the blood splattered concrete before checking the screen himself. Revealed to him by the eerie bluish glow of the monitor a certain dynamic duo of long lost cartoon brothers could be seen entering the outskirts of Tomorrow City through one of Prescott's less than reliable projectors as of late. He slammed down his fist in protest and hit the shock button on Ruby's electrocution chip in venting his frustration. He couldn't help but find at least a small cruel pleasure in watching the pathetic waste wither in pain and listening to the sweet music of her hoarse agonized screams echoing off the hard unforgiving stone walls as his mind calculated a course of action. Finally she went limp, blood poured steadily from her mouth and nose or, it might've just been the blood from her nose dripping down to her lips and out her mouth. At this point there seemed no sure way to tell, it all tasted the same to her anyway. Her captor drummed his fingers meticulously along the scratched and dented metal worktable and a devilish grin began to crawl its way painstakingly across his face as a new and improved sinister plot began forming in his consciousness. "Let them come," He thought manically to himself, "Those fools don't know what they've signed up to rescue." He fumbled around for something on his desk. "YOU!" He shouted at a passing beetleworx, it halted, "I'm going to need a few more vials of our, extract." He requested savoring the last agonizing syllable. Her body was still shaking from her last dosage and she was drenched in a cold wet, she didn't think her body could handle much more. Ruby couldn't help but whimper in helpless fear as he proceeded to pull out another syringe, still red with her blood "We're moving ahead of schedule."

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"Y-YOU'RE LYING!" She screeched but unfortunately not loud enough to drown out the voices of dread tearing through her consciousness at a frighteningly fast pace. "She can't be, she can't be, she can't be!" Ruby chanted to herself, irrational denial taking over her ability to reason.

"Oh but she is." Her captor taunted gleefully. "Your pathetic little sister is dead." Ruby shut her eyes to block out the words out but he just wouldn't stop. "…and it's all your fault really, I mean honestly what kind of a pathetic excuse for a guardian are you? And so careless, in all truth it seemed like you were just begging to get her killed and out of your—"

"SHUT UP!" She shrieked crumbling horribly under his persecution. "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Taking care of Penny on her own had never been easy, she knew she wasn't the ideal candidate or the most experienced but, she was the only one there to do it and honestly the only person she trusted to. But one fatal mistake and they'd gotten trapped in this hellhole, she'd just about killed herself over it… literally she supposed taking in her surroundings. But she had gotten Penny out and that was all that mattered. The little willpower that still resided in her to fight her inhuman captor clung desperately to that single fact. Penny was safe so it was all worth it, all the pain didn't matter so long as it was her screams echoing across the halls, not Penny's. She felt each broken rib down the length of her stomach, that was what really hurt the most she thought while watching her own strange discolored blood seep down from her raw wrists, the arm of which one was attached to seemingly dislocated at the shoulder with a pain to rival that of her broken ribcage she realized now, moaning slightly as the muscles pulled dangerously. She lifted her hand up to assess the injuries of her skull which was currently experiencing a sensation similar to having a million tiny needles jammed inside her head, it came back red. She stared at it for a moment, "It can't all have been for nothing," The teenaged rabbit thought desperately to herself. "All…this" Ruby stared down at her red dripping palm, "…i-it couldn't…" the Doctor dropped it at her feet, her voice cracked. She cupped the tattered object in her shaky hands, tears of painful shock streaming down her bruised face. In her hands rested the once sweet and endearing bow of her—now late she realized—little sister. It was splattered with blood; Penny had been wearing it the day she escaped. "N-no…" in an instant she felt her heart shatter, she could feel the swarm of painfully gut-wrenching emotions tearing mercilessly away at her heart until she feared there'd be no pieces left to pick up. But no she told herself, she couldn't think that way she had to stay strong for, for….Oh that's right, she was dead. Ruby slowly felt the surreal horror sink—much like one would in quicksand—into the treacherous depths of her fleeting reality as a sudden anger overtook her, "Y-you, you…" Her fist clenched forcefully around the ribbon in her palm "SHE WAS SIX!" Ruby blurted out unsure of why that was the first thing to fly out of her mouth, besides the blood of course. But she could feel the undignified rage taking over, angry tears streaming down her cheeks as she screamed at the unfairness of the world that had taken her little sister from her. "SHE WAS SIX AND YOU KILLED HER!" The few scraps left of her raw bloody nails cut into her palms as she stood there shaking, whether out of pain or rage was up for debate. And he just stood there, and smiled.

"I killed her?" He replied, she could feel the accusation of his tone upon her.

"Oh Disney," she retaliated trying her best to sound annoyed, "not this crap again." Ruby regretted it almost the minute it came out of her mouth as she felt the Mad Doctor's cold dead hands at her throat.

"Yes this crap again," He whispered his voice dangerously low, "…because last time I checked this whole situation was the result of YOUR stupidity." He spat wickedly as he watched the fire drain from her eyes, along with some much needed oxygen. He tightened his grip and slammed her head into the back wall, she cried out in pain before he finally released his grip. Coughing she slid weakly to the floor, a small trail of blood following her head down the wall. She moaned uncomfortably as she massaged her neck, new bruises provoking the old around her throat.

"I-it…it's not my fault I couldn't have known, n-no one could have no one…" She told herself in a fevered race to keep the doctor's words from slicing her mind to ribbons. She winced as he grabbed her gruffly by the shoulder,

"Get down there you…" he muttered pushing her down a flight of stairs as she came precariously close to falling over her broken legs.

"I-I did the right thing; there was nothing else I could have done…" It seemed to get darker the further down they went. "I had no choice, I had no choice…" A dim, forbidding greenish glow illuminated their destination in an eerie arrangement of shifting darkness. The ground felt soft and warm beneath her feet, she meshed it through her toes tentatively, "Dirt?" She thought bizarrely to herself as the malleable compound sunk effortlessly beneath her feet. "A-are…" she paused hesitantly, "…are we underground?" Her captor said nothing, grabbing by the collar and dragging her to the middle of the room where he threw her face-down into the dirt as if in disgust.

"Pathetic." He spat repulsively, "Can't even protect her own sister." He smirked maliciously his feet pacing meticulously in front of her in even deliberate steps. She coughed up the dirt she'd had shoved in her mouth, spitting out the last bits as they got mushed on her tongue.

"I-I…" She croaked her voice hoarse and airways clogged dirt and dried blood. "I…D-DID EVERYTHING I COULD TO KEEP HER AWAY FROM YOU, Y-YOU…" She felt her voice trail off as she realized where this was going.

"Monster?" He finished for her venomously, "I think we've already established who the monster is here." Ruby felt her fists clench, tightening desperately as if her sanity were a tangible thing someone was trying to rip away from her. "You," He grabbed the chains around neck forcefully, "left her for dead, and now…she is." Ruby could feel the tears streaming down her smudged face, "I-it, it's not m-my f-faul…I-I…I'm n-not a, a…." but as he drew his hands back she couldn't help but notice her blood wasn't quite red anymore. She watched the murky green slide down her hands, "W-what am I?" Her thoughts were interrupted however by a rusty shovel landing precariously close to her being. He smiled at her,

"Dig." He breathed crossing his arms over his chest. She felt her breath hitch in her throat as she recognized the implications behind his statement.

"Y-y-you w-want me t-to…P-Penny's…" She clutched the red splattered ribbon tightly in her hands.

"No," He whispered leaning in close, "I want you to dig yours." Ruby felt blood drain from her face as a devilish, jack-o-lantern grin carved itself into the Doctor's orange shadowed face.

(Present day)

"Well, here goes nothing..." Mickey said, turning the cool metal beneath his gloved fingers…just before the door fell off its hinges, again.

"Seriously? Ok he's been pretty sloppy so far but this is just too easy…" Oswald mulled stepping through into the unkempt threshold.

The younger of the duo ran his hand across the rusted frame, "Someone should really get that fixed." Oswald raised an eyebrow, "What?" His older brother gave a sarcastic smirk.

"Yes Mickey because while the Doc is out busy torturing innocent children he is totally concerned with the safety of his front door in case anyone wants to drop by for a visit."

"Hey I'm just saying, and anyway you were the one who said it was sloppy."

"Wha- I meant… oh never mind just come on before we jinx our no security streak." The rabbit called now completely engulfed by the shadows casted off the walls as he made his way into the unkempt threshold. As they entered a sudden seriousness came over the two like an ominous cloud of mutual dread for what they might find…if they were too late as the darkness of the prison enveloped them. Oswald noticed Mickey's ears perk up, his following suit as they heard a clanging from behind the opposite wall. Oswald sighed, only in Wasteland could a rabbit get jinxed. The racket grew louder and the brotherly duo tensed, weapons drawn.

"Get ready…"

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