FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A/N: Zippy the Roadrunner is owned by Twilight Heart/Roxxas. I would have mentioned this last chapter but he only showed up at the end so I didn't wish to spoil.

Chapter 16: Eruption

Truth Bear hovered over the forest as Love Heart pulled up in the cloud car. "We need to scour the woods: Truth I need you to keep an eye up here, Confidence I need you to fly over the treetops and keep your ears open for anything, Independent Bear and I will search on the ground. If you find anything then call immediately."

Truth nodded, "Right. Here," He reached into tummy symbol and pulled out four walkie-talkies each with a green grid screen. "Tenderheart told me to take these. Emergency radios with GPS. They'll let us stay in contact with and track each other."

"Good idea," Love Heart grabbed the offered radio as Truth passed out the other two to Confidence and Indy."

"Got it," Confidence undid her seatbelt and floated out of her seat as she attached the radio to her right hand then flew down to the top of the treeline as Love Heart dove the car down to the forest floor.

The car dissolved as Love Heart and Indy stepped out. "Indy can you sense anything?"

Indy shook his head, "No. If they were here then they've been gone too long to leave any psychic echoes."

"We're searching the old-fashioned way then, let's go!" Love Heart immediate set out to scour the forest floor in one direction as Indy went another.

Five minutes passed before Confidence's voice came through the radio. "Love Heart, Love Heart can you hear me? Over."

Love Heart pressed the call button, "This is Love Heart, do you hear anything? Over."

"That's just it...I can't hear anything. Except for you two there's nothing in the forest, no birds, no squirrels, no animals of any kind." Confidence turned in place, "It's eerie...Over."

"Right, whatever got them," Love Heart shook his head, "No I can't think about that. Keep your ears open. Over." Confidence Heart was right, the silence was eerie and Love Heart shuddered as he continued his search.

Ten minutes later Indy's voice came over the intercom, "Love Heart, I found something," Indy dug a small syringe-like dart out of a tree; it had red feathers and as he shook it he heard some liquid still inside, "It looks like a tranquilizer dart and there's still something inside of it. Over."

"A tranquilizer dart..." Love Heart thought for a moment then pressed the call button, "Can you bag it safely? Over."

"I can," Indy conjured a small cork from his tummy symbol that he stuck on the tip of the dart then a small bag that he stuck put the now corked dart in before he stuck it in his coat pocket, "It's done. Over."

"Alright, keep searching. Over." Love Heart lowered the radio then looked around, "Hmm?" There was something through the trees. He approached cautiously then stopped and spoke into his radio, "I found a building," he looked down and saw that the ground was covered in footprints and tire tracks, "It looks like it was abandoned a while ago, there's footprints and tire tracks leading away from it." Love Heart tried to push the steel double doors open only for it to be stuck fast, "But the door's still locked. Over."

"What kind of building is it? Over." Indy asked.

"Can't say. There's no windows and it looks like there's a keypad next to the door." Love Heart tried to push the buttons on the door but there was no response, "No response. I'm going to try and force the door open. Over."

"Wait, are you sure that's a good idea? Over." Love Heart ignored Indy's voice as he conjured his swords and charged them up with electricity. With a cry he slashed down at the sides of the double doors then across the top, his swords penetrated the steel easily and all he needed to do was to push the doors out of their frame.

He dissolved one of his swords and picked up the radio, "It's open. Indy can you get to my location? I'm going to call Tenderheart and give him an update. Over."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Over." Indy said.

"Love Heart, it's Truth Bear. I found tire tracks leading out of the forest towards a highway. It looks like they headed south. Over."

"Right. Truth, Confidence, follow the highway until you're at the edge of our radio range, try to see if there are any off-road tracks in that direction and ask anyone who lives along the highway if they saw something like a convoy of trucks pass that way. Call in if you find anything. Over."

Love Heart listened to the acknowledgements as he dug his cell phone out of his tummy symbol then dialed the control center. "Hello, Tenderheart? It's Love Heart."

"Love Heart? Have you found anything?"

"A lot. There were people here but they must have left after Anger Heart and Guidance Heart got here. Truth found vehicle tracks leading to a highway so I sent him and Confidence to see if they can track them. Indy found what sounds like a tranquilizer dart and I found an abandoned building." Love Heart looked into the darkness of the building.

"What's in it?" Tenderheart asked

"I'm going to find out once Indy rendezvous with me, but on that note I need a camera so we can get some pictures of anything we find in here. Can you send someone down with one?"

"Alright. I think Darien's free so I'll send him with a digital camera."

"Thanks. I hear Indy so I gotta go now," Love Heart snapped his phone shut and stowed it in his tummy symbol as Independent Bear came running up.

Indy slowed to a stop in front of the building and stared up at it, "What is this place?"

"That's what we're going to find out. Wait out here for Darien, he's coming with a camera." Love Heart held up his sword as his unicorn star glowed and a ball of light appeared on the tip of his sword. He nodded to Indy then stepped into the building.

There was little to be found in the first few rooms save for the fact that the inner walls had been torn out and all the wiring had been stripped, leaving the insulation intact, and silhouettes on the ground and walls where large objects had once sat; even the outer door's keypad wasn't connected to anything. Every other doorway in the building was either ajar or not even locked and Love Heart was able to force the few closed doors open with his glowing sword.

On the one side of a door Love Heart found two large cages, one old an disused and one still with some feathers stuck to the ground. "Did they leave in a hurry?" Love Heart held his glowing sword closer to the cage when he heard a scream of terror from behind him. Love Heart turned and almost ran back the way he came.

Darien had felt uneasy the entire trip down to earth, though that didn't stop him from grumbling. He still wasn't very familiar with the controls of a Cloud Car but he managed to land safely in the forest. As soon as Darien stepped out of car he felt his tail frizz out. Something about this place made him instantly on guard, but what? He checked the car's GPS and headed in the direction Indy and Love Heart's signals were coming from with the camera Tenderheart had given him in hand.

Darien froze in place as soon as he saw the building; he didn't even notice Indy approach him and ask for the camera. Darien let out a cry of terror, dropped the camera then turned and ran as fast as he could. Love Heart emerged a moment later as Indy picked up the camera.

"What happened?" Love Heart just caught a glimpse of Darien fleeing into the forest.

"No idea," Indy stood up with the camera in hand, "he just started screaming and ran off."

Love Heart's face hardened, "I'll go after him. Take some pictures inside that place," Love Heart picked up a rock and used the same spell to turn it into a light source that he handed to Indy. Indy nodded then went inside as Love Heart took off after Darien.

Darien ran. Fear drove him to run without heed to his surroundings until he slipped in a mud puddle and landed face-first on the forest floor. His whole body hurt, not just from the impact but long forgotten phantom pains that suddenly crept up all over his body. He heard feet pound the ground behind him as he tried to stand up and in a panic he rolled over and instinctually slashed at the target's face with his claws, which he almost forgot he had.

Love Heart let out a cry of pain as Darien's claws raked across his face and he staggered back with his left hand over the cuts. Darien just stared at the green bear, he'd done it again and with another leader no less, not to mention Brave Heart's best friend (if what he'd heard and seen was accurate). "Oh shit! Love Heart I-" Love Heart held up his right hand to silence him.

"Just a sec, ugg cat claws hurt," Love Heart's hand and forehead star glowed for a moment then he relaxed and pulled his hand away from his face, "Is there a mark?"

Darien blinked then stared. There wasn't a single scratch on Love Heat's face, except for a small spot of blood on his cheek. "There's some blood on your cheek," he pointed.

"Thanks," Love Heart's forehead glowed again and his hand became damp, which he used to wipe the blood from his face.

"How did you do that?" Darien was still staring as Love Heart offered a hand.

"Unicorn magic, I'm half unicorn." Love Heart's expression became steely, "I'll explain myself after you tell me what the hell that was about."

Darien accepted Love Heart's hand and the bear pulled him up with surprising ease. "I know this place. I don't like to talk about it."

Love Heart folded his arms and glared severely at Darien, "If you know anything about this place then I need to know, now!"

Darien was startled by Love Heart's demeanor and he glared back, his ears flattened against his head, his tails swished and he raised his lips to show off his teeth, "I don't have to tell you anything!"

The two of the just glared at each other for a full minute, then Love Heart relaxed and his eyes softened, "Darien, Anger Heart and Guidance Heart went missing here, for all I know they could be dead. If you have any idea what could have happened to them then I need to know, please..."

Darien tried to keep up his fierce gaze but sighed and relented. "Before I was 'recruited' into this family I was a prisoner in a laboratory where they did...things to me," Darien shuddered, "Experiments I don't want to talk about. This still smells like the same place so if your friends are missing then they were probably taken away."

Love Heart put a hand on Darien's shoulder and he flinched away, "Thank you. But that place was abandoned, recently too. Once Indy finishes taking pictures we're going to head back home, OK?"

"OK. Just...don't ask me to come back here." Darien held his arms.

Love Heart nodded then heard his radio go off, "Love Heart, it's Confidence Heart. We followed the road to a truck stop near an intersection a few kilometers down the road. They said they saw a large convoy head east from here about an hour ago. Should we follow them? Over."

"Follow as far as you can but don't put yourselves in any danger. Indy's taking pictures of the place we found so we'll head back when he's done. Over." Love Heart said.

"Love Heart, this is Indy. I finished, not a lot to take pictures of though. I'm heading back to Care-a-Lot. Over."

"Alright. Confidence, Truth, head back before you get out of range, understand? Over."

"Understood. Over." Truth's voice closed out the conversation.

Love Heart turned back to Darien, "Are you alright to head back alone?"

Darien shook his head, "No."

"Alright," Love Heart spoke into the radio again. "Indy I need you to come pick up Darien and take him home. I'll stay down here until Confidence and Truth head back. Over."

"OK. I'm coming. Over."

OoOoO

Anger Heart's head throbbed, in fact his whole body ached. He coughed, his throat was dry as he felt the cold steel floor pressed against the side of his body. He slowly pushed himself onto his knees and looked around then saw Guidance Heart lying on the floor nearby. "Guidance!" His own aches forgotten, Anger Heart shot to his feet and ran to her, only to smack into an invisible hard flat surface. "Ow."

"I guess I should have said something about that, sorry." Anger Heart turned around and saw the Care Bear bird sitting on the floor some distance away. He waved a wing at him but winced slightly, "Hi."

"Umm hi. Who are you? Wait, where are we?!" Anger Heart turned to get a better look at the room. He, Guidance Heart and the bird were in a large hardened plastic cell that took up half the room and each of them sere separated by a large clear wall made of the same hardened plastic the wall was made of, which gave them each about two by two by two meters of living space.

"They call me Zippy, I'm a roadrunner. Well," he scratched his chin with a wing, "one of them just yelled 'get back here zippy!' when I managed to escape the first time but it's the closest thing to a name I've got. As for where we are, I don't know the real name I just know it's a lab where they test animals like us for some reason. What about you? Why do you have three tails?" Zippy pointed at Anger Heart's rear.

Anger Heart looked behind him, just to make sure he still had all three tails, "I'm a kitsune."

"Kit-su-what?"

"Kitsune. Magical multi-tailed fox. My name's Anger Heart Fox and," he turned back to Guidance Heart and pressed a hand against the plastic wall, "Her name's Guidance Heart Raccoon."

"What's with the weird names?" Zippy stood up and walked up to the dividing plastic wall in his cell.

"We're Care Bear Magi, part of a group called the Care Bear Family that help humans to share their feelings and face their fears and a whole bunch of other stuff. We live up in the clouds," Anger Heart pointed at the ceiling.

Zippy cocked his head to one side, "How many darts did they hit you with?"

Anger Heart rolled his eyes, "I thought the same thing but trust me it's real." He leaned up against the wall, "How long have you been here?"

"All my life and they've been experimenting on me since I hatched. Until I got away the first time. I managed to avoid them for two year but then I got careless and the recaptured me last month. I managed to trick them and escape when they opened my cage to move me but then I ran into you, panicked, and ran right back into their sights. They've been doing stuff to me with caffeine, injections, strange drinks and other things I can't really describe. I need to keep drinking the stuff now." Zippy sighed.

Anger Heart gave Zippy an incredulous look, "You're awfully calm about all of this."

"Well I don't see the point in panicking, that and I'm still kinda tired and sore. I need some coffee soon," Zippy shuddered slightly.

Anger Heart heard a groan behind him and turned to see Guidance Heart get up. She shook her head then looked through the glass to her cellmates. "Anger Heart and...who are you?"

Zippy waved, "Name's Zippy. Nice to meet you."

Guidance waved back, "Hello Zippy. Where are we?"

"In a lab, hold on I'm going to get us out of here." Anger Heart dug into his tummy symbol.

Zippy flinched, "Yowch! What are you doing?" He saw Anger Heart pull out his cell phone, "Whoa. Where do I get one of those?"

"Just wait a day and you'll have one," Anger Heart dialed Love Heart's number and held up the phone, but there was no sound. "What?" Anger Heart looked at the phone's screen, "No bars. Shit!" He almost threw the cell phone down in anger.

"Well what do you expect. I can't have my test subjects calling for help, now can I. It's lucky I designed these cells to be variable in size or I wouldn't have room for two surprise test subject."

All three of them turned to see a short man approaching them. He had green skin, yellow eyes with large grey bags to the sides, short black hair that ended in a prominent widow's peak, short fangs and hands whose fingers ended in short claws. He was dressed in a black suit with a cape that was blue on the outside, red on the inside and fastened with a red bat-shaped clip around his neck. He spoke in a crackling raspy voice. "Welcome to your new home. I am Doctor Fright, your new proprietor." He turned to Zippy, "Ahh and you. Don't think you can slip away again, I've put extra care into your cell, all of yours in fact, and I will take care of you."

"Take care of this!" Anger Heart conjured a pair of sai and attacked the wall with both weapons, which didn't even put a scratch in it.

"Oh but I will. With the funding I received I've managed to create the perfect prison of fear," Dr. Fright cackled, "Unbreakable yet transparent so I may watch all the effects my tests have on you."

Anger Heart let his sai dissipate, "Let's test that!" Anger Heart conjured a pair of fireballs on his hands and shot his hands forwards. The stream of fire barely had a moment to strike the wall before an alarm sounded and four tiles opened in the ceiling that sprayed an excess of water all over the cell. Anger Heart spluttered as his flames were put out and he fell into the suddenly growing puddle in his cell.

"I wouldn't try that again." Dr. Fright patted the cell wall, "Barely warm, and besides there's no drain in that cell, at least not unless I want there to be." Dr. Fright pulled out a remote with a single large red button and pressed it. A small drain opened in Anger Heart's cell and the water quickly drained, "I control your fate. You can only talk through those," He pointed up at the ceiling of their cells where a microphone and speaker had been stuck, "And you can only breathe because I allow it." He pointed his remote to the back of Anger Heart's cell and all three prisoners saw that there were two vents along the back of each of their cells. He snickered then pressed the button again. "I would advise that you don't talk much, because I just cut off your air supply."

It didn't take long for Anger Heart, Guidance Heart and Zippy to start feeling short of breath as the air in their cells became hot and oppressive. "I think you've learned enough." Another press of the button and they all felt the airflow resume, which cooled the cells almost immediately. "So you see, I hold your lives in my hands and with just a press of a button I can decide if you live or die. Don't get too comfortable because it's time for your experiments. AS for you, I can't let one of my test subjects die just yet." He pressed the button again and a panel in the back of Zippy's cell lifted up to reveal a small test tube full of coffee, "Drink up, I'll start your tests soon. As for you two," Dr. Fright turned to Anger Heart and Guidance Heart as Zippy limped back to the food door and down the small tip in an instant. "I think I'll start your tests right away, since you're so eager to get out," another press of the button and there was a hissing noise from the back of Anger Heart's cell, "My own special knockout gas. It took so many test subjects to perfect without and you'll feel it's full force soon, especially in that confined space." He pressed the button again and the door behind him opened as the floor slid backwards with him on it, but it was too fast and he waved his hands frantically before being launched off as it came to a stop and the door shut behind him.

Anger Heart was already feeling the effects of the gas and he stumbled over to the wall that separated him and Guidance Heart. He tried to speak but only coughed as he pressed his hand up against her hand through the glass, then slid down to the floor as his eyes shut.

OoOoO

Bright Heart stood in the control center over a large map of the area surrounding the forest with the bagged dart and the freshly printed pictures from the digital camera plastered around it. Love Heart Bear, Confidence Heart Fennec, Independent Bear and Truth Bear all stood with him.

"We flew as far as we could and even flew up to check for distance but we didn't see any large convoys or trucks, at least none heading the right way." Truth traced his finger along the highway he and Confidence had flown down. "There aren't any large cities nearby so who knows how far they went."

"What about the dart?" Indy tapped the bag.

Bright Heart shook his head, "I checked but I couldn't get any leads. You can buy those in a lot of places and the sedative isn't anything unheard of."

Love Heart had his arms folded as he watched Truth trace the route then shook his head, "Even if that could help, there's no way to find out how far they got before they vanished off the face of the earth."

"Actually I can make a reasonable guess as to where they are." Bright Heart took a highlighter from a nearby drawer and began to fill in a section of the map. "Tenderheart said he tried calling Anger Heart an hour after he left but got a disconnected alert; even if Anger Heart was unconscious he would have gotten the phone to ring at least. Whoever took them wouldn't know known they had cell phones on them so they probably just tossed them in their vehicle without trying to isolate them, not to mention that area doesn't have much coverage from cell phone towers. Also, smart criminals tend to obey small laws like speed limits because those are easy to get caught for which can lead to the arrest and conviction of their actual crimes so there's only so far they could travel in an hour without drawing unnecessary attention to themselves." He capped the highlighter which showed a triangle that narrowed the farther it went along the highway, "This is a rough estimate but wherever they are should be within this area."

"Alright, let's say you're right, why wouldn't they go as far away as they could?" Confidence Heart tapped her foot in annoyance.

"Because of this, look," Indy pointed to the pictures he'd taken, "Other than the cages, silhouettes of that size mean they had large machines or a lot of parts to transport and it would take time to load and unload everything; the longer they travel the more likely their equipment could get damaged in transit, I think. Bright Heart's right, this is the most likely area to search."

Love Heart nodded, "Alright everyone, get some sleep and we'll pick up tomorrow morning. Don't argue," he gave Confidence a glance and she just sighed, "Being tired will only slow us down so we'll organize a search tomorrow."

"OK, fine," Confidence Heart relented.

Love Heart didn't leave the control center for a while. Darien was still sitting in the main hall, resting after his encounter in the forest. Love Heart approached him, "Are you feeling better."

Darien looked up, "As good as I ever do. How's your face, no scars?"

Love Heart traced his face where Darien had scratched him, "No. I didn't tell anyone, it was just bad luck that we ended up where you were held captive."

"Yeah, bad luck." Darien looked down at his lap.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Love Heart crouched to better look the sitting lion in the eyes.

Darien turned his eyes to glare at Love Heart, "Do you want to talk about Dusk Heart?"

Love Heart winced but stood up, "No. I understand. I'll listen if you want to talk."

Darien expected Love Heart to stick around to talk some more but the green bear stood up and left the Hall. Darien sighed, all he needed now was some sleep.

OoOoO

Anger Heart spluttered as he was dragged back to his cell, leaving a wet trail behind him. His body burned with pain so much that he didn't notice when the front wall of his cell lifted up to let the handlers toss him in and he hit the ground. He groaned and barely registered the door closing behind him.

He heard some pounding and looked up to see Guidance pounding the plastic wall. He finally sat up and heard what he was saying, "Anger Heart! What did they do to you?"

"They injected me with something that made me hurt all over then shoved a mask over my face and dumped me in a tank full of salt water. All I could feel is pain and I could barely move, it still hurts." Anger Heart crawled over to the wall and sat with his back up against the wall. He looked over at Zippy who was chugging from another polystyrene cup before he put it on the food tray in the back. Then he heard Dr. Fright's voice over the speakers.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself. Now rest and eat, it's time for the raccoon's turn."

Anger Heart tried to raise his voice to protest but he could barely keep himself awake as he saw his own food door open at the back of his cell.

Guidance Heart heard the hissing of gas from overhead and tried to hold her breath against it, but it proved fruitless as she eventually had to breathe deep and she was out like a light before she was dragged off for her own tests.

OoOoO

Four weeks.

Anger Heart and Guidance Heart had been missing for four weeks and the search was turning up nothing. After the first week of scouring the area Bright Heart had marked on the map, Love Heart had pulled back the search size to just two members of the family per day. Despite this everyone could see that he was desperate to learn something, anything, about what had happened to them.

Love Heart slumped back in the control center chair with a hand over his face. "Am I pushing too much, Brave Heart?"

Brave Heart leaned over from his chair and put a hand on Love Heart's shoulder, "In my honest opinion, no. You're doing everything you can to find them without going crazy, but I do think you're taking this too hard."

Love Heart sat forwards, "Two more disappeared under my watch and following my directions. I thought I'd learned how to be a more responsible leader but this is just like Flash Heart all over again."

"Now hold on there," Brave Heart spun Love Heart's chair around and looked the green bear in the eyes, "What happened with Flash Heart was you being reckless and charging off without a plan or a thought. This time wasn't like that: you made a plan, you waited for everyone to gather and you split up the duties in a responsible way, sending the two less-experienced members to where no one's life was in danger and taking the dangerous part for yourself. You didn't know what was waiting for them down there and saying you would have done things differently 'if you had known' isn't going to help anyone." Brave Heart took a deep breath, "believe me. We could keep searching like madmen but that would just tire everyone out. Take a deep breath and think about this."

Love Heart followed his advice and took a deep breath, "You're right, I just need to think." He turned back to the monitor and slumped, letting his eyes go out of focus.

Love Heart sat bolt upright, he wasn't sure how long he'd zoned out but something struck him, "Underground!"

"What?" Brave Heart turned to him.

"What if we can't find them because they're underground?" Love Heart got up and walked over to the map, "There's a few buildings in that area so what if one of the is just a cover for a new lab underground. It would be easy to keep taking supplies in there without seeming suspicious because businesses like that get shipments all the time and no one pays it any mind."

Brave Heart was at Love Heart's side in a moment, "That might be the case, but how do we go about searching for these places? We can't just barge into every place there and demand to see the 'secret underground base'."

Love Heart groaned, "I know, but what else is there? We've gone over everywhere else with a fine tooth comb."

"For now, you should sleep on it. I'll call Defender to finish your shift and you can make a plan." Brave Heart coaxed Love Heart towards the door.

"Right. I'm still going to call Confidence and let her know. Hopefully we can think of some sort of approach to this." Love Heart dug out his cell phone as he left the Hall of Hearts.

OoOoO

Anger Heart hadn't checked his phone in weeks, at least he thought it was weeks. Without a clock or the sun and moon to keep time he had lost track of how long they had been kept prisoner. Since he couldn't make a call from inside the lab he had shut off his cell phone to save battery power, hoping that somehow he could get outside and call for help, but that hope had dwindled to almost nothing.

During the tests he was always drugged or restrained and often blindfolded and the things they subjected him to only conjured of memories of pain. Dr. Fright was testing their limits and every time it got worse. Anger Heart had tried to escape several times, but ever time he tried to burn a hole in the wall the sprinklers came on and extinguished him or the air would get cut off when Dr. Fright had had enough.

Guidance Heart wasn't faring much better, especially because their radios had been cut off the previous week so they couldn't even talk to each other. She was literally begging to hear Anger Heart's voice again by the end, a request Dr. Fright had only give because the auditory isolation test was finished. She too had been subject to the same tests as Anger Heart, whether they were at different levels of intensity she wasn't sure, all she knew was that it was torture.

Zippy was at least hanging in there. He cooperated more than the two newcomers only because his caffeine addiction kept him from being able to deny their requests for very long. They fed him just enough to keep him up and active but in such small quantities now that if he went without for a day he could barely move. He watched the pitiful state of his two cellmates and kept looking for a chance to break free when his turn for tests came up, but to no avail as Dr. Fright took no chances and personally gassed each of them before every experiment. With the minimal resistance he'd developed for the gas all Zippy could be certain of was that they were two floors underground, having seen a stairway up during one of his more lucid moments while being carried back to his cell.

"I hope you're all enjoying yourselves." All three of them turned to see Dr. Fright in the room as he stood with his hands behind his back.

Anger Heart glared daggers at the vampire-man, his three tails swishing in anger, "What the hell do you want?"

Dr. Fright cackled, "Still full of fire I see. How unexpected." He turned to Guidance Heart then to Zippy, who both averted their gaze from him, then back to Anger Heart. "I wanted to ask how you came to have three tails. I must admit that it's a phenomenon I have never seen on either a real fox or any of your kind."

Anger Heart bared his teeth, "Go fuck yourself! That's how!"

"How unfortunate," he pulled out his remote and clicked it, "Once you test our new sedative I'll just cut them off and examine them myself."

"No!" Guidance Heart was up on her feet and pounding on her cell door as the knockout gas flooded into Anger Heart's cell, "Don't do it, please!"

"Your care for him sickens me and it will not change my decision." Dr. Fright waved off Guidance Heart's protests.

Guidance Heart felt something inside her snap as she conjured a ball of light in her hand, "Don't hurt him!"

Dr. Fright turned to Guidance Heart right as she fired off a bright flash of light right into his eyes.

"AAAUGH! My eyes!" Dr. Fright's hands shot to cover his face as bright lights flashed in his vision, "Since you insist, I won't harm him now," He pulled out his remote and clicked it to shut off the gas, "Instead you will test my new sedative," He clicked the button again which turned the gas on in Guidance's cell.

"No..." Anger Heart gasped, he was still barely conscious from the gas that he had breathed in before it was shut off.

A lab hand entered the room right as Guidance Heart collapsed to the floor. He looked at the blue raccoon, "Are you sure, Doctor, I mean that sedative stopped Andrew's heart when the lion turned it on him."

"That's why I'm going to test this, if it's as lethal to them as it is to humans then I'll need to dilute it more." Dr. Fright pressed the button and Guidance's cell slid open.

"No...don't hurt her." Anger Heart tried to crawl to the front of his cell but he could barely keep his eyes open as he watched her unconscious body was carried away.

Anger Heart was on his hands and knees for several minutes before he finally managed to catch his breath. He stood up, his eyes blazing. "No. I won't let them take her!" He gritted his teeth then looked up. He had memorized the where four tiles that hid the ceiling sprinklers were and he took a deep breath. He had wanted to wait another day but now he had no choice. He conjured four of his sai and hurled them at the tiles, where they stuck fast in the ceiling. Anger Heart turned to the front of his cell and focused aa much of his mana as he could into his right arm and created a jet of fire that shot out from his hand like a welding torch. He heard the tiles above him whirring as the sai stuck in the sides but he ignored them as he slammed his fire-covered fist into the door. At first the plastic just heated up but then he saw the reinforced plastic start to melt, he swept his hand around and carved a large circle out of the plastic then kicked it out and stepped out of his cell.

"What the heck?" Zippy stared at Anger Heart.

"Stand back!" Anger Heart turned to Zippy's cell and proceeded carve him an opening as well. "Watch the sides and follow me!"

Before they could move, the door slid open and two men with tranquilizer rifles appeared. Anger Heart rounded on the with his tummy symbol glowing, "CARE BEAR STARE!" He fired off a bright red beam of light at the two guards which hit them in the face. Both fell backwards, they're eyes wide with seeming wonder as Anger Heart grabbed their rifles and used the same jet of fire to warp the gun barrels beyond the point of usefulness. "Let's go!"

Zippy was barely able to keep up with Anger Heart as he charged around the corridors trying to find Guidance Heart. He panted and felt his eyes drooping then stopped by a room. The smell of coffee hit his nose. His gaze whipped around into the open door of the break room, stuck open by something someone had dropped in the door. "I'll catch up to you later!" Zippy shouted as he darted into the break room. Anger Heart didn't even notice.

Zippy heard more shouts through the corridors as he found the coffee machine, which was still full. Zippy didn't bother to fill any cups, he just grabbed the pot and proceeded to guzzle it down in under a minute. "Finally!" He felt a wave of energy ripple through his body. He ran in place until his feet were a blur then curled his wingtips into fists that he pumped in the air. His eyes were wide and he was full of life! "Now let's get out of here!" He took off out of the break room, knocking a scientist down and somehow leaving a trail of dust in his wake. He took note of the stairwell that led up and out of the basement right next to the break room.

It was easy to follow Anger Heart's trail, damaged doors and slightly warped hallways led the way right to him. Zippy skidded to a stop outside an open door and peered in to see Anger Heart holding a scientist by his collar. Both stood next to an experiment table where Guidance Heart lay.

"What did you do to her!?" Anger Heart was almost screaming as he shook the terrified scientist.

The scientist gulped, "Experimental sedative. Last time someone was injected it stopped their heart."

Anger Heart dropped the scientist, who scrambled from the room, and walked over to where Guidance Heart lay on the table. He took her hand, "Guidance?" Her hand was warm but limp. She wasn't moving, he couldn't even see her breathing.

Zippy stepped aside to let the scientist escape the walked over to Anger Heart's side. He put a wing on the fox's shoulder, "What's wrong with her? Yow!" He flinched away and saw the small fire burning on the fox's shoulder.

"They killed her." Anger Heart set her hand down as his own hands balled into fists, "They killed her!" fires began to spring up all over his body. He turned to Zippy, "Can you get out of here." The roadrunner nodded, "Good." He pulled his cell phone out of his tummy symbol and turned it on, "Take Guidance Heart out of here then call the name 'Take Care Bear' on that phone and tell her to get down here."

Zippy darted over to Guidance Heart and lifted her up off the exam bed, she was lighter than he expected. "What are you going to do?"

Anger Heart growled, "Burn this place and everything in it to the ground!"

Zippy didn't need to hear any more and he took off without a second backwards glance.

Anger Heart felt the fire raging inside of him and he let it out, a cry of anguish and rage on his mouth as his whole body caught fire. The fire alarm sounded and the sprinklers set off, but the water just evaporated in mid air as Anger Heart was surrounded by a corona of fire and his tails streamed out behind him. He turned around as he heard someone enter the room.

Dr. Fright stood there with another scientist, both staring through the hot mist at the fiery kitsune who turned to face them. "You murdered her!"

"What is going on? Get security down here!" Dr. Fright yelled at the scientist, but the young woman just stared at the fox.

The fire around Anger Heart intensified and his feet left the floor. His eyes blazed, "You took away the thing I loved most in the world, and now I'll destroy everything you've ever built!" Three ghostly white fox tails appeared to either side of Anger Heart which made it seem as though he had nine and the fire surrounding him changed from dark red to bright blue.

"Oh shit! Run!" The scientist turned to run, but tripped as the metal floor of the room began to warp. Dr. Fright was faster on his feet and got out into the hallway, pressing a button on his remote to open a hidden panel to an escape elevator.

"Wait!" The scientist woman tried to get it, but the door closed which left her alone.

Anger Heart's rage built up as the blue fire formed a massive sphere surrounding him. The scientist screamed and ran as the heat intensified. Tears leaked from Anger Heart's eyes, "Guidance, I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you." He bared his teeth and clenched his teeth, "They will never hurt anyone else again! And for you I'll leave them with last words!" Anger Heart violently flung his arms and legs outwards and shouted at the top of his lungs as the sphere exploded outwards.

"HELLFIRE ERUPTION!"

Zippy sped up the stairs and out of the building as even the very air began to heat up. He ran past other scientists and workers, none of whom could even get a glimpse of him or the raccoon he carried as he burst through the fire escape door and out of the building into a wide open plain. He kept running as fast as he could with his passenger until he felt the ground shake. Zippy stopped and turned around to see the ground under the buildin heave for a moment before it was rent by a massive explosion as a brilliant pillar of bright blue flames erupted towards the sky.