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Putting the Looney in the Tunes

Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Meeper

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Bugs Bunny walked with a jaunty lilt to his step, whistling a tune as he bobbed along. His grey ears picked up and down, his cheeks and chin white, a rabbit's typical buck teeth protruding, though Bugs did not consider them his defining feature. The city rose tall around him, skyscrapers reaching for the heavens, though they would never break through, lights all around in all directions, the kind of city that didn't sleep. He wouldn't have minded if it was Vegas, a great game and a gamble for people like him, but, alas, it was not. Though he should put in for some vacation time and get himself over to use his, ahem, "special skills" for a little more than secret missions... There wasn't any harm in taking a bit more fun for himself, after all!

As he naturally was, he went naked, though that was quite common for critters like him, even if it was looked just a little down on when entering the big city. He popped behind an old phone booth, of course no longer used except for in cheesy movies, and jumped out again, not breaking his stride, in a long, flowing red dress and wig, sweeping along the ground behind him. Blonde hair puffed out in a long wig, though the red lipstick and soft eyeshade, the orange-shaded glow of sunset before it slipped behind the horizon, painted him easily as a woman.

Or not. Bugs Bunny was whoever they wanted to be, however they wanted to be, smiling and winking with a flirtatious yet coy brush of their fingers over their lips as a wolf-whistle cut through the air.

"Why, thank you!"

Bugs didn't keep the dress on for long, however, swapping back to his usual nude attire, confident that his grey fur would cover everything that was needed. Not that exposing more than a critter was comfortable with was not the norm, but a bunny had to do what a bunny had to do! The praise made his ears stand up straight, but Bugs knew that he was the best of the best, even if no one else around him, not even a single itty-bitty soul, would know that he was really a secret agent.

That was just one more thing that Bugs would keep to himself, hm?

"Gee whizz!"

He laughed and popped up on a lamppost, spinning around it as if he was on a Broadway show, hanging off it with his hand popped up over his eyes. Shading his eyes in such a fashion did not help, so he pulled a telescope from nowhere, peering through it with one eye, the other closed. Clearly having spotted what he wanted, he grinned widely and threw the telescope back over his shoulder, never to be seen again. What exactly he had seen through the telescope was anyone's guess, but his stomach growled, hungry and needing somewhere to put his feet up, for at least a little while.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, yup, yup, yup - all as I expected! Bugs Bunny, you've done it again! Did you really expect anything else?"

He grinned at his self-praise and compliment, jumping to the side and into a suit, his ears smoothed back from his head and hanging as if they were hair and he was a different person entirely to Bugs Bunny.

"Why, yes, sir, I do think you have done a fine job indeed," Bugs said, pretending that he was someone else, someone very important, even if he deserved every bit of the praise. "Soon, all shall be complete and you can return home."

He spun out of the suit, which disappeared into thin air, and became just Bugs Bunny again, himself.

"Aw, gee, shucks, that's so kind of you! And, yeah, I do deserve to be home, yes! And get me some good, old-fashioned rest, yessiree!

Jumping between characters was par for the course for Bugs, though others on the street did, occasionally, give him a second look. It was not normal, per se, but it was not entirely abnormal either, as long as he was not causing trouble or harm to anyone. Things like that just went down a little easier in the bigger cities, though he was not averse at all to a more rural climate, cavorting through the hills and such things. It was just the bunny way of life, after all, and singing merrily was just one of the many things that he enjoyed (along with avoiding the chaos of Elmer Fudd...).

He strutted down the street, his chest puffed out with pride for a job well done, though his headquarters were in the next city along. He could have hitched a ride, perhaps playing the part of a damsel in distress, or even taken a car, but he was no thief and, really, where was the fun in that? Things would be better for him if he could stay on the down-low and remain discreet as he made his way back to headquarters. There and only there, back at home, would he finally be able to relax. Not that Bugs, quite honestly, appeared at all on alert as they walked...

"Hmm..."

He practically pranced up to the doors of the club, glitzy and glamorous, though it was the kind of place that had an element of the seedy to it. Even though it had big neon signs and lights outside, it was still grubby around the door, for people didn't need to clean such things to get patrons inside, the smoke and grime of the city colouring the wall a darker shade of grey than it needed to be. Some of the peeling paint suggested that it used to be a very dark blue, but that must have been a very long time ago indeed.

"That should do it!" He said, snapping his fingers. "Food...and a little light entertainment."

Strutting under the sign, which read, "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Free entry for rabbits!", he snapped his fingers once more at the bouncer, who stepped aside without a question. There was no queue, though Bugs wouldn't have seen anything untoward about that, especially considering that it was not a prime-time night, not a weekend day. Yet there were people within the club itself, Bugs stepping through the hallway and into the main room, set up with lots of round tables and a big stage, though he only took a moment to note the smaller stages set on either side of the room.

"Gee, must do some big shows around here. This place sure didn't look this big from the front, nope!"

But he was in the right kind of place, other people sitting around, some men in groups, some alone and there were even couples too, though no women alone. It was moderately populated, though the bar staff were by no means going to struggle to serve anyone that night, nowhere near run off their feet.

Food and a little soft entertainment was just what he needed as he seated himself comfortably, a waiter snapping right over to him to take his order. Bugs leaned onto the table, casting his eyes around, for the light in there was dim and the atmosphere a little smoky, wafts of smoke curling around patrons that were still partaking of cigarettes and the finer pleasures in life. The inside of the club didn't show any touch of the dilapidation of the outside, though that could have been the low lighting. At least the chair was comfortable enough as Bugs rapped on the hard wood of the table approvingly, putting his ear to it as if he was checking for something.

"Yup, yup, all looks in good order!"

But he was only amusing himself, playing the part of the goof while his intelligence lay a hair's breadth (or perhaps a "hare's breadth") below the surface, which was one of the many reasons that his opponents tended to underestimate him. After all, Bugs didn't see at all why he couldn't be light-hearted and see the fun in life, even if he was serious at other times. More accurately, the seriousness that he held close was kept hidden, all so he could enjoy himself and lure his enemies into a truly false sense of security. Quite beautiful way to go about his life, even if he was to say so himself!

The stage became populated as he sat back in his chair, not minding that others were smoking in there. The faint aroma of smoke, flavoured in some cases where their chosen substances, tickled his nostrils and he inhaled lightly, as if Bugs was savouring it too. There was a mix of people in there, more women than he had originally spotted as his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. Partial lighting was one of the worst kinds for most creatures like him, somewhere between animal and human and not caring for labels either way.

There was nothing lewd, of course not, for it was not that kind of club, not when it could be found on the high street, though music pumped through the club, flooding the air with a rich, deep atmosphere. It was as if the music itself was curling through him and serenading him directly, a singer front and foremost on the stage, crooning about love and long-lost romance. She did not interest Bugs directly, but his eyes drifted to the backup singers at her back, moving back and forth under blue light, giving the whole stage an eerie atmosphere.

The crowd clapped as that performance came to an end, though the rest of the club appeared to have been more captivated by her, admittedly, heart-wrenching song than Bugs had - but perhaps it was something that he needed to be really in the moment to appreciate. He preferred opera himself, if he was honest, but doubted that he'd get into an opera at that kind of hour - much less one that served food!

As another act, brighter with bouncier music with a driving beat that made him want to jiggle his foot in the air, took to the main stage, his food turned up right on cue. The waiter placed it delicately before him with a silver tone serving cover over the top and whipped it off with a flourish to reveal a tower of steaming, crisp, fresh carrots, all nestled together so that they looked like the Eiffel tower. His eyebrows shot up, delighted that the waiter and chef had been able to concoct his order to his exact specifications. And they were nowhere near France!

"Eh, very nice!"

Giving the waiter a thumbs-up as he clicked his tongue approvingly against the roof of his mouth, he flipped a coin his way. Although it was a single coin, it was the biggest tip that waiter would receive that night, for there was more value in some things than met the eye: a single gold coin that had been scooped up on a heist some time back. There were more than a few perks to his line of work, after all, and it was not as if anyone was going to miss a mere handful of them from where he'd gotten them from...

He devoured the carrots delicately, though the bunny could not help how ravenous he was after walking so far. Carrots were hardly filling enough sustenance with his level of physical work, but, really, what else was Bugs to do? They were his favourite and sometimes that was just what he wanted. The bright, bubbly dancers were replaced by more singers, clapping their hands and stomping their feet, almost enough to get the crowd up on their feet, though the alcohol that others had consumed had left them weary and comfortable, their stomachs full and their wallets emptying. Of course, Bugs had avoided any liquor, not wanting to dull his senses when he was still on a mission, still on alert, casually scanning his surroundings in case anyone was to come by. There were heavy curtains and drapes lining the walls too and there was no telling just what rooms lay backstage, whether he had been followed or whether someone was waiting in the wings. It was not his usual scene, that was true, but it was very unlikely that anyone that meant him harm would find him in there. Without obvious clothes or pockets or anything like that too, he was far from a theft target for anyone with half a brain.

Something dark, shadowy with a splash of white, caught his eye and Bugs Bunny watched as a feline unlike any of the others moved between the tables, though she was not carrying a tray like the other waiters, nor did she seem part of their group. A cat with most of her body clad in sleek, shiny black fur with a white lower half of her face and front, the purity of it stretching down her body. In a long, flowing red dress that spilt down into a train but afforded her plenty of flexibility of movement with a slit up both legs, she moved as if in a dream, though she was the one creating the dreams of so many men, and women, in the room.

She didn't need clothes, however, to accentuate her soft sexuality as she swung her hips lightly, though not too much. There was a line, after all, between sensual and lewd and that was not a line that Penelope Cat at all wanted to cross. Unless she chose to, of course. Her voice was something that she kept close to her, choosing to remain quiet most of the time, but the smooth sway of her body as she moved to a slower tune called eyes to every curve of her body, from her bare shoulders down to the curve of her hips and lower still.

Bugs watched her closely, though the rabbit did not know who she was, only that she was the most interesting act so far. He couldn't help noticing that the others in the club seemed to stop what they were doing too, even the wait staff pausing to watch while Bugs nibbled halfway through a carrot and tossed it aside. It was as if no one there could take their eyes off her, she was that spellbinding, showing a sliver of leg and then taking it away again. Her arms moved up over her head, calling in inspiration from dances from the eastern countries, and he tipped forward slightly in his seat, nose twitching.

She wasn't quite his type...and yet she was everything of his type, whiskers quivering as he smiled faintly, more than enjoying the show. The beat sped up and her dancing matched it, hips swaying more urgently, oddly becoming increasingly sexual and driving even though, of course, she was easily fully clothed. Her face had softened into an expression of utter euphoria, but, to be frank, there was not a soul in the entire club besides Bugs Bunny who was watching her face and not any part of the rest of her body. Her tail, oddly enough for a feline, had a white stripe up it too, though it wasn't quite the same pure white as her chest, where the white fur there plunged into the neckline of her crimson dress.

Maybe coming into this club wasn't such a hare-brained idea, after all!

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"Ah, I see you are dining alone tonight... Perhaps I may join you, mon ami?"

Bugs glanced up, though he was unsurprised to see a skunk there, though one that was ever so faintly familiar to him. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled and he watched the skunk carefully, but Pepe Le Pew's face remained neutral, pleasant, calm. He didn't want to show too much, of course, considering why he was there, though the attention that his beloved was getting up on stage was rather a bit much for him that night. Penelope Cat, with that in mind, only ever performed on stage for an audience that was not him when they needed to reel in someone who had gone far beyond their station.

In short, other eyes were only ever upon her, from her choosing, of course, when they were on a job together. And Pepe Le Pew had a very important job to complete indeed with the tricky rabbit...

"Hm... Sure, I guess, why not?"

Bugs gave a non-committal shrug, but the skunk was already pulling out a chair to seat himself near Bugs, though not directly across the table. The rabbit leaned back in his chair, chewing on another carrot as if it was tougher than it was, working his teeth through it and swallowing delicious chunks. The skunk's expression twitched in distaste, evidently a refined fellow with a taste for the finer things in life. It was all in the way that he held himself, even if that was not something that Bugs needed to comment on, at least not yet. Those cards he would hold close until the moment where they were needed...

Other patrons of the club made faces and, even though they wanted to continue watching the hypnotic dance of Penelope Cat, the musk of the skunk was too much for them to take. It simply wasn't something conducive to a pleasant evening environment and even the waiters gave them space, retreating to the back with mutters about the lack of tips when Pepe Le Pew's soft reek sent their customers packing. Little did they know that the skunk had already made sure to pay off the owners of the club itself, the staff well-compensated for the night, even if Pepe Le Pew needed the place to himself.

No eyes on them, no casual recordings, the staff let go for the night. That was the only reason that Penelope's dance needed to go on for as long as it did, the feline somehow transforming her long dress into a shorter one, one that cut daringly high over her thighs, revealing more than Pepe Le Pew, even then, was comfortable with others seeing.

Or others seeing when it was one like Bugs, one that stared at his beloved, his sweetheart, his cherie with such avid, rapt attention. Of course, there were other dancers, the singers adding to the ambience in the background, but it was Penelope Cat who commanded the attention, Bugs' eyes fixed on her.

If Bugs had not been as focused on the cat dancer as he was, however, he might have noticed that everyone else in the club had left, though the rabbit was by no means the first (nor the last) to fall under her spell. It was why Penelope and Pepe Le Pew worked as well together as they did.

"You seem to enjoy this particular, ah, dancer," Pepe Le Pew said, his voice moderately accented, though he had to concentrate to not allow more of his French accent to slip through, distaste for Bugs lingering under the surface. "She is quite fine, no?"

Bugs didn't tear his eyes away from her, though he did stiffen a little. If the alarm bells were ringing in his head, however, they were crammed into a dank, dark, dusty room right at the back, right up where Bugs honestly didn't have to pay any attention to them at all. As the sewn-in jewels on Penelope's dress sparkled under a more direct light, he blinked, partly dazzled.

But the question... Hm. That was something that he had to answer, conscious of the skunk's presence at the same table, leaning onto it with his elbows, even if he did not cup his black and white face in his hands.

"Yeah, she's quite something, isn't she?" Bugs said, blinking, looking away, but only briefly. "What's up, doc, you don't like her? What's up with you?"

There was an aura in the air, something pulsating, something dark, something that Bugs should have picked up on earlier. And yet the skunk's musk affected him too, even if he was not particularly averse, not anymore, to strong smells like that. The rest of the club could not have said the same, but that was not Pepe Le Pew's problem, not as Bugs closed his lips, waiting on a response. The urge to tap his foot drummed at the back of his mind, tension crackling in the air.

Something was wrong. And, still, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Smoothly, Pepe Le Pew spread his hands apart, a smile on his lips that did not reach his eyes.

"Oh, mon ami," he said softly, "I was merely commenting on your attention to her, how your eyes never leave her form, not even for a moment. She is most captivating and yet perhaps she is not one that one, a rabbit, should covet."

Bugs' eyes narrowed slightly.

"Who are you, anyway?" Bugs asked, though there was little politeness in his tone. "You seem like the sort that comes here a lot."

He left the implications of that hanging in the air, the skunk's smile unwavering.

"Oh, I intend to keep an eye on my prize, of course," Pepe Le Pew said. "Especially when that is something that perhaps you should be doing also, Bugs Bunny. Your attention has slipped while you are engaged in the crude act of eyeing up what belongs to me."

Bugs jerked back, though he was slow, too slow, his attention wavering under Penelope's spell. The aura of the club had done a number on him and there was no way for him to swiftly ease out of it, the skunk's tail lifting at the moment of realisation.

With a puff and a hiss of expulsion, the air filled with a deeper smog, though it was not at all unpleasant, not like Pepe Le Pew's natural stink, though he would have merely considered his stinky musk an aroma, like a fine Eau de Toilette for men, being as familiar with it as he was. Even though skunks had very sensitive noses, it was not something that bothered them at all. Even Penelope had come to love it, his dear, dear sweetheart!

Bugs Bunny coughed and shoved his chair back, but it was already far, far too late for that, the smog of Pepe Le Pew's musk wrapping around him, dragging him down, heavy and thick, though only as he inhaled it. It may not have reeked, but it made his eyelids heavier and heavier, even the act of half standing up wearing him out.

"What... Oh, dang it!"

Bugs swayed, trying not to yawn, though he had never thought that knockout gas would have been as potent on him as it was, not after all the training he had had in building up his resistance to it. It had always seemed like a very silly way, at least to him, for someone to be bested, and yet the rabbit simply could not stop the heaviness from falling over him, as if he was being weighed down and pinned down under a blanket that had more weight to it than his body did.

"Ah, I see that you have uncovered the secret of my musk," Pepe Le Pew said, still seated casually at the table, studying his nails as if it was merely an everyday occurrence for him. "With the use of certain chemicals, far beyond your comprehension, so I shall not bore you with the details, Bugs Bunny, I have modified my musk to produce the world's strongest knockout gas. Quite clever, do you not agree?"

He smiled as Bugs swayed, fighting it with all his might, but the skunk was patient, willing to wait. He had expected the bunny to be knocked out near enough instantly from it, but he was not going to let how impressed he was by Bugs holding on for so long sway him at all. He had a job to do, after all, and even though it was a mere jab at Bugs, a gentleman's jibe, to imply that he was lacking in intelligence, Pepe Le Pew had no illusions as to who he was up against. He wasn't taking any chances, not as he released a second blast of the gas from his tail, the thick, sweltering aroma closing in around Bugs as he tried to cough and cover his mouth, though the rabbit's ears drooped more and more.

No... Bugs thought, steeling himself, drawing on his training with all his might, fighting it off, his chest straining, burning, all with the aching need to breathe, needing it desperately. I cannot give in... Not to him!

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Not to anyone, in fact, though Bugs was more frustrated with himself for slipping there, even if things could have slipped by anyone. He was not to know that it was Pepe Le Pew, another agent working, most often, for rival bosses and companies, who was waiting in store for him, though he did wonder, vaguely, if Pepe Le Pew had orchestrated it somehow for Bugs to enter that very club. Coincidences, however, were common in their world, so even that would not have been all that far of a stretch.

Yet he was sleepy, so very sleepy, dragged down and down and down, as if his body was too heavy for the earthly plane. He grunted, unable to stop himself from breathing, not able to hold his breath for a single moment longer as his lungs greedily and fruitlessly grasped at lungful after lungful of breath. All the while, that sweet yet musty musk wound into his nostrils and down his windpipe, visibly inhaled as if it was smoke, only being sent back into his body rather than out of it, sucked in noisily with every hasty breath.

"Ah, yes, quite beautiful when a plan goes off, without a hitch, as you say," Pepe Le Pew said, a grin stretching his lips, increasingly confident in his position. "And what a wonderful job mon cherie did in distracting you... No one else can call a crowd like her and no one can clear the room like myself!"

Bugs would have had something snarky to say about that if he wasn't so tired, the white of the tablecloth on the round table coming closer and closer to him, no longer able to hold himself up. His hands braced on it, arms trembling, even as the skunk laughed and mocked him further. If only the pompous agent didn't do it in such an elegant, refined tone...

"Ah, such a shame, oh, what a shame," Pepe Le Pew said, genuinely sounding as if it was a shame, that something very terrible indeed had happened. "To fall so quickly, Bugs Bunny. But it is to one such as I, only I!"

He was not one to brag, even if one had to take stock, of course, of their triumphs from time to time - or else one would only be looking at their failures, no? Pepe Le Pew watched as Bugs fell closer and closer to sleep, his arms buckling, slumping down to the table halfway, lips pulling wide in a yawn that he could not suppress. Fog clouded his mind, swirling around, leaving him trying to grasp at a thought even as it ran away from him, wagging its finger right back at Bugs and taunting him. Thoughts were tricky like that at the best of times, but he'd always been able to chase them down, snatching them out of thin air.

"Go to sleep, Bugs, you don't have to worry about your mission anymore," Pepe Le Pew soothed, though nothing was soothing about it. "It's no longer your mission. Ah, my love, you looked so beautiful up there! Come here, I wish to hold you!"

That had to be Penelope Cat returning from the stage, though Bugs was not in the present moment enough to do or say anything about that. The bunny had a feeling that a snarky comment was right there, balanced somewhere on the tip of his tongue, yet he didn't have the energy to pull it up. His eyes were almost completely closed and there was no bounce to his bunny tail either, ears drooping, limbs weak. Going to sleep seemed like a good idea, the best idea that he could come up with at that time, even if he knew that nothing good would come if he succumbed.

Sometimes knowing that didn't help, however. How was he to fight, after all, against a knockout gas as potent as the one that Pepe Le Pew exuded? Maybe he would have to try to bottle some of it, depending on how he got through things, later, after...

He couldn't finish that thought, however, the notion gone as soon as it had appeared, legs weak, bowing, slumping, falling.

Yet Bugs knew that Pepe Le Pew and Penelope Cat were not going to get away with it, not even as he finally succumbed to the knockout gas, how it sweetly infiltrated his nostrils, working its way into his lungs, his bloodstream. Without even trying to hold his breath, he took one last breath while semi-conscious, eyes closing, his chin resting on the table while his body hung down to the ground, somewhat on his knees, at an odd angle - the kind that one only really saw in cartoons.

"Go to sleep, Bugs Bunny. The stars are calling you!"

Yet Pepe Le Pew and Penelope were far happier than Bugs as Pepe Le Pew planted a kiss on the cat's cheek, one that she only rolled her eyes at faintly that time. Over the course of her relationship with the overly charming, overly forward - really, overly everything - skunk, she had come to appreciate him more, though their bond was one that only they could say. His clinginess and public displays of affection, however, were more than something that Penelope Cat could do without.

They watched with soft smiles, confident in their ability as a team to best him, though they didn't have to do anything as Bugs, slowly, slid to the floor, off in dreamland.

"Ah, I do hope he has sweet dreams!" Pepe Le Pew said, clasping his hands. "Oh, he was not to know, no, not to know. But there is no one to best us, mon cherie, ah!"

He kissed her fervently, passionately, though the cat only struggled briefly, half-heartedly. It was all something that she had gone through many times before with him and it was better, at least, for Penelope Cat when there was no one else around. She still, of course, shared a bed with Pepe Le Pew, closer to him than anyone else. It was not for shyness, after all, that Penelope did not speak around others, only from a desire to keep it for herself, and for him, as sparsely as words served her.

Not everyone had to understand that.

"Well done, Penelope!" Pepe Le Pew gushed as he squeezed her to him, the feline scrambling and jumping out of his arms - and her dress! - at the same time. "Ah, what a jest he played! No matter - we shall have our mission complete and be out of here in no time at all!"

Penelope nodded, not at all bothered by being naked. Nothing that she would have wanted hidden was on show anyway, the white fluff of her chest more than enough to cover the defined curve of her breasts. Her feminine shape, standing on two legs like others that they were familiar with, could not be denied, only further enhanced by her natural figure, the sleekness of her coat showing her off to her best effect.

With the club empty, however, Pepe Le Pew and Penelope could go to work on frisking Bugs down from head to toe, pulling out a pocket watch, a carrot, an iron and all manner of totally normal things before they found the box. Just where they were getting them from, being that the bunny was not wearing any clothes, was a mystery that only the weird and wonderful laws governing their universe could solve.

"Aha!"

Pepe Le Pew held the small, black box that Bugs had retrieved triumphantly high and Penelope Cat smiled, clasping her hands together. Perhaps that meant that their mission was finished. The skunk's tail waved back and forth in his excitement, though it was something that he quickly bundled back up and shoved under wraps. It was just more difficult for him, of course, to contain himself when he was around Penelope, his sweetheart, the light and love of his life.

"This... This is what we are looking for!"

With the black box held between two hands, Pepe Le Pew posed triumphantly, languishing in the moment of his victory, letting the pulse of it envelop him. Oh, it could have been considered rude to stand on the face of his opponent, but he was with Penelope - and she had seen him both at his best and his worst!

He stood tall and proud with the box in two hands, held out before him over his head as if in offering, glee painted across his face. His foot pressed softly into the rabbit's cheek from where he had slumped, his lower half on its side while his torso had twisted around so that the rabbit was lying on his back: a most uncomfortable position. Yet Pepe Le Pew was not at all concerned about that as he wriggled his toes back and forth, the rabbit's facial fur tickling his foot, triumph set in the flex of his light, functional muscle.

It was a position of power, especially so, as the skunk stepped back, only to drag Bugs Bunny a little further away from the table so that he could lay the rabbit flat out on his back. The bunny, however, was fast asleep, completely knocked out, as he was laid out with his legs straight and arms by his sides. All the better for Pepe Le Pew to do yet another victory pose!

"Ah, how the mighty have risen! Though, mon cherie, it was our teamwork that allowed us to rise - oui!"

He slipped more and more into French, though she still understood him easily, as he posed with his foot facing across Bugs Bunny's stomach, wriggling it back and forth so that the heel put a little more weight down into the softness of his belly. Despite Bugs' skill, Pepe Le Pew could not feel much muscle there, but that was not something that he was going to worry himself about, no, not at all, not when he was taking his victory poses. It was good to feel strong, to feel powerful, his arms held above him, fists clenched, flexing his biceps on either side of his head.

He grinned as Penelope clapped, though there was a pink blush in her cheeks that roused other, far more amorous feelings in the skunk, bearing down a little more. The rabbit's limbs twitched and jerked lightly as he squashed his foot down into Bugs' stomach, though Pepe Le Pew did not press down hard enough to hurt him. It was a query in their world, after all, as to whether anyone could be hurt there... But that was not something of his concern.

As he flexed for Penelope, he grinned and, finally, posed with his foot pointing up Bugs' chest, so that his toes faced the rabbit's chin while the heel of his foot pointed back down the length of Bugs' body, towards his legs. He leaned forward as if in a light lunge, the box in one hand as he blew a seductive kiss to Penelope, the image of love, though it was a wonder that a heart did not appear around him as he cast his love-addled eyes over his partner. Bugs' chest was firmer than his stomach, though he still felt as if he was very lightly built, strangely so, for they had expected someone stronger. That said, he had barely been around Bugs in the past and not for a very long time, for their paths had admittedly never crossed as friends.

But he was an enemy, and a felled one at that, right then and there as Pepe Le Pew posed again, not moving his foot from Bugs' chest as the light, soft fur of the rabbit's narrow chest tickled the underside of his foot. Finally, Pepe Le Pew held the box high over his head with a victory grin plastered across his face, a little too smug with himself, leaning heavily down onto the rabbit's chest. It would not hurt him, Pepe Le Pew reasoned, as he became a little more acquainted with the rabbit's physiology, though the moment gave him everything that he needed and more.

"If you have not tried eet, do not knock eet!"

Penelope covered her mouth to hide her giggles, softening a little more to Pepe Le Pew as he spoke lines that had come out early in their rather unusual courtship. Rather, the skunk had declared himself to be "her lover" and that had been that. He had not even seen it as pursuing her relentlessly, only that they were together, though she had come around to his sweet talking, softness and kindness in time.

"Penelope - mon cherie! You should take a turn too!"

She blushed and shook her head, holding up her paws, though it was frequent that her partner had her "get in on the action", as he said, as always, with a heavy accent and suggestive twitch of his eyebrows. Of course, he wasn't going to let her get away with not joining him, though her eyes had been on him as he flexed and posed for her. Oh, she always knew when he was trying to impress her, though Pepe Le Pew should have known that their relationship went far beyond such physical displays.

Still, she more gently copied him, taking up her first pose just as he had with her foot on the bunny's face. The cat caught his teeth at first and had to adjust her position, her foot laying across his cheek with her toes over the flatter bridge of his nose, though she did not press down too hard, for fear of cutting off his ability to breathe. When it came to missions, the rough stuff was very much not her forte, though she did not think that they had been ordered to harm Bugs Bunny in any way, which was fortunate.

She made a face and wrinkled her pretty nose delicately, tail waving back and forth, as she teased her foot back and forth over his face. It was only a slide of an inch or two, but it fascinated her to be in a position of power, something that came and went in her life. It was good to press down, however, even if she was careful of Bugs' airway. Even his fur was soft, though she had not expected that, posing with a flutter of her eyelashes, her hands clasped to her chest as if she was desperately in love with Pepe Le Pew and trying to show him that.

With her, however, it came out as demure even as he smiled and clapped for her, shouting at her how good she was, how strong she was, even whistling sweetly at her. He was her biggest cheerleader as she pulled her arms in close to her hips, clasping her hands again, swinging her hips back and forth and her tail too, though the pose made her show off the light muscle in her arms and shoulders, bending forward a little so that she tipped forward at the waist. Her legs were pressed sweetly together, however, with little space where she stepped up with one foot onto Bugs' face.

That one pose was not enough for her, however, copying her partner as she moved down to his stomach, just like Pepe Le Pew. The rabbit's soft stomach surprised her, yet it was so soft and pliable, at least in comparison to his face, that she felt more confident pressing down. For her next pose, she copied one that Pepe Le Pew had done, her arms flexed briefly out on either side of her, showing off the muscle that she had too, the quiet power in her that was not often brought, publicly, to the surface. In their line of work, of course, there had to be some level of physical fitness, able to take on and complete missions - not only to the best of one's ability but as it was their job.

But the focus of Pepe Le Pew was on her form, her figure, the curves of her body, how strong she was even while still maintaining a graceful figure. She was herself, entirely so, and he couldn't help becoming aroused as he watched her firm muscle move under her fur, the plump, delectable round of her buttocks, like a fresh peach, ripe and plucked from the branch. The skunk shivered, enjoying the show very much so as she spread out her arms on either side of her, elbows lightly bent so that her arms were not perfectly straight, her palms facing up.

"Oh, mon cherie..." He breathed. "You are divine! Somezing amazing is about you tonight!"

The cat blushed a little, but it was not all that much of a difference to how he normally acted. She was a little self-conscious, that was true, but her distraction meant that she pressed down a little harder into Bugs' stomach without realising it, her arms still raised. Nothing about her and her body was hidden from Pepe Le Pew, of course, but he still hungrily devoured her with his eyes, looking down her belly, the smoothness of it. Yet there was a power hidden behind his lover, oh, yes, something that could not be restrained so easily.

Copying Pepe Le Pew's third and final pose, Penelope Cat shifted to Bugs' chest, though she placed her foot directly across his stomach. In shifting her weight, her foot twisted more at a slight angle, but that didn't matter at all as she rocked her foot from side to side, feeling how his soft fur compressed under her sole. Her toes wriggled, pressing down, teasing and toying, though the real delight for Pepe Le Pew, of course, was in her pose, the cat flexing her muscles proudly for him, showing off for the skunk.

"Oh, Penelope!"

He clasped his hands to his chest, falling back with hearts in his eyes, his heart pounding wildly. Yet the skunk was back up and on his feet in a moment, not willing to miss a single moment of her posing, one arm up and flexed to show off her bicep, then putting her hands back behind her head, crossing them so that each hand touched the opposite shoulder. It was a pose that had the effect of drawing his eyes down her body from the flexing muscle of her arms to her chest, the rise of fluffy fur there and the shape of her body. He groaned, spellbound by her, as much so as he had been the very first time he'd laid eyes upon her.

Down to the curve of her hips, the strong muscle in her thighs. Even with one foot raise, balanced on Bugs Bunny's chest to pose, the muscle was evident through her sleek, black fur, her tail lifted, not leaving anything to Pepe Le Pew's imagination. Where was the point in that, after all, when they had been together for as long as they had?

He let out a cry, simply unable to help himself. In the breath of a moment, a single heartbeat, he had crossed what little distance there was between them, scooping up Penelope Cat in his arms, straight up off Bugs' body! Oh, but he didn't care, couldn't care, not as he peppered her face in adoring kisses, hugging her tightly to him, so much so that the middle of her body compressed, squashing in softly under the sheer force of his hug.

"Oh, mon cherie! You are the most wonderful, my lover, oui, oui, oui!"

Penelope squeaked and tried to push him away, though there was nothing that could get the skunk off her when he was in an amorous mood, though that was something that the cat was more than used to by that point in their relationship. Considering that he always had his hands on her, one way or another, it was a wonder that he had been able to hold back for as long as he had around others. Not so secretly, she liked it, though it hadn't always been that was she squirmed and wriggled against his crushingly tight, loving hold.

"The most glorious beauty, oui, in all the world! Oh, my darling, you make me feel like a young skunk all over again! If only I could truly sweep you off your feet - right now! - and have you lead me back to our boudoir..."

Of course, however, Penelope knew that they still had a job to do and that was not something that they could put off any longer, as much as Pepe Le Pew may have wanted to take her off to the bedroom. She shivered and pushed him away with a firm hand on his head, pointing to Bugs with a decisive nod.

"Ah, my love, of course, of course, you are right..." He sighed heavily, though the skunk knew, at the very least, at least he still got to be with her, despite their moment being a little rudely cut short. "Oui, we must complete our mission..."

The box that Pepe Le Pew had originally been holding had fallen on the floor, though they had put their backs to him as they conferred, mainly with Pepe Le Pew talking while Penelope made sure that her partner stayed on the right track.

Yet they had already made an error as the rabbit blinked slowly, not opening his eyes even as his eyelashes fluttered, on the edge of wakefulness. He groaned, slowly, so slowly, clawing his way back to reality, to the waking world. Jeez, it was as if he'd been hit over the head with a sledgehammer - and a comically large one that he would keep handy in his back pocket at that! Bugs tried not to be too loud, Pepe Le Pew's voice coming into focus, as if he was squinting, trying to see, even if it was only his ears moving, perking up slowly, walking back up the floor as if they were legs from where they had been splayed flat out.

Slowly, he unpeeled his head and neck from the floor, the room around him, table legs and chairs, coming into focus, though the duo that had knocked him out didn't seem able to agree on things. Bugs' nose twitched, pushing his way back out through the foggy, dulling effects of the knockout gas, all to come back to his reality, his world. For they may have knocked him out once, but Bugs most certainly was not out of it yet!

"Right..." He said lowly, barely even raising his voice loud enough for him to hear it aloud. "Let's set things back on the right scales, hm?"

Before him, Pepe Le Pew squeezed Penelope one last time, even though she groaned and pushed him away, not saying anything to stop him, but not succeeding in what she was doing anyway. He shook his head, stars bursting above his head, rolling up his sleeves, though he wasn't wearing anything, so all he did for a moment was roll up the fur of his arms, exposing the skin beneath.

No skunk was going to get the better of agent Bugs Bunny, no sirree!

His head was not quite clear yet, but Bugs Bunny could not tell for how long their argument and fuss would go on for, leaping into the air with nary a cry to launch a full double kick, both of his large feet together, at Pepe Le Pew's back. The skunk cried out, his back bowing and stomach pushing out away from Bugs as the kick hit, head flying back - but he wasn't able to react in time. It was unfortunate for him that he was still trying amorously to cuddle Penelope to him, for she was thrown forward too from the force of her lover slamming into her.

He cried out again, a strangled gasp, though couldn't stop himself from bowling Penelope Cat over as they sprawled on the ground, winded and lost for what had happened. Yet the skunk was never one to miss an opportunity as he ended up on all fours on top of Penelope, softly raising his eyebrows and bringing her hand to his lips for a kiss that was, admittedly, breathless.

"Ah, mon cherie, love will always leave me on top, oui?"

Penelope flinched, but her eyes weren't on the skunk but behind him, nodding and pointing, though, even then, she didn't want to use her quiet voice. Yet the one that Pepe didn't want to see when he looked around was most certainly not Bugs, who shook his head and smoothed his ears back, once more the picture of quietly suave grace and ease. He moved as if the kick hadn't taken anything out of him, stretching out his arms before him as he linked his fingers and cracked his knuckles.

"Do your pick-up lines get better?" Bugs joked. "Because I think you're scraping the bottom of the barrel there, doc. I mean, oof, even your lady is trying to run away from them!"

That had his attention, Pepe bristling as he leapt to his feet, winded but recovering swiftly. Flinging his arm out to the side, he stopped Penelope Cat from joining him.

"My love - stand back! I shall fight this hare like a true soldier of France!"

Penelope raised an eyebrow and looked to the heavens, but there was no god there to answer her silent prayer of being rescued from her dramatic partner. He was always like that, though rubbing her hand down her face, dragging it so that her features distorted briefly, didn't help her either.

"Aw, doc, you think that this is going to be a fair fight?" Bugs said, a subtle glint in his eye. "I mean, I already shook off your knockout gas. Has anyone done that before? Was no trouble at all for me, 'ey!"

"No! But, next time, I shall remember that my enemy is as slippery as a serpent, though lacking in the intelligence of such," Pepe Le Pew said, him and the rabbit circling one another. "That shall not happen a second time, hare..."

"I don't know what you're doing talking all here about this intelligence," Bugs counted. "Not when you should know it's Bugs Bunny! Nothing to do with a hare or a hair or an heir, doc!"

The slip of calling others "doc" came back naturally to him, though Bugs' mind was elsewhere, focusing on the form of his opponent.

Whereas Pepe Le Pew did not have a fencing sabre to hand, his fighting style of Savate had been previously described as "fencing with the fists and feet", of which he was proud. He needed no such tools to defend himself and go on the offensive, not as he closed the space between him and bugs with a flurry of attacks. From a shin sweep to a roundhouse kick, he forced the bunny rapidly onto the defensive, though Bugs was quick too, retaliating with a low block to stop him and pushing forward into a crescent kick sweeping his foot up and around. It would have slammed into the skunk's jaw if he had not dodged backwards in time, though the fight otherwise was fairly even-handed. Of course, Pepe could not possibly see an outcome where he was the loser, already contemplating the many ways that he would make love to Penelope Cat after their mission was over, celebrating their triumph.

Unlike many, he could concentrate on more than one thing at once, his mind slipping between the moment and fantasies of victory,

"Ah, I see you are a student of Taekwondo," he said, a grin stretching his lips. "But that shall not bring me to your feet - no!"

His accent grew stronger as he became more excited by the fight, blood running hot and ready for it. Bugs tested his opponent with a straight jab, though he wasn't really trying to make contact, only toying with the skunk as he pulled his hand back sharply for another attack. The skunk dodged a back fist followed by an uppercut, Bugs making the most of his training, even if he was still testing out the skunk's abilities, but was impressed to find the bunny on an even standing with him. Though it was not as if Pepe Le Pew had unleashed the true force of Savate, after all!

Bugs grinned, though didn't expect a blow to his chest, as Pepe stood on one leg, his arm behind him to balance while his left foot slammed forward in a straight kick.

"See the power of the coupe de pied de figure - ahahaha!"

Bugs toppled backwards, hands clasped, a flower sprouting from between them as if he had been laid out in the ground, though there was no grave to be dug for him that day. For the rabbit sprung up again with his trademark cheesy grin, even if he was secretly enjoying having an opponent who matched up with him, all at long last.

"Ah, that's a shame, doc, didn't seem to do much," Bugs said, shrugging as Pepe's fist flew right past his head, though it was a shade too close to his ear for comfort, even if he did not show his discomfort openly. "Because I've practised, you know. And Savate is only a rescued technique from the back alleys of France!"

"How dare you!"

Pepe Le Pew spluttered, curses streaming through in French, though they fought too fervently for him to press the verbal attack. Hot anger spread through him - ah, but it was a dangerous kind of anger. That kind of emotion was something that he had spent years pinning down, as a soldier, ensuring that it never coloured his perception on the battlefield.

One bunny was not going to change that for him, not even as he forced Bugs to take cover behind a table and pursued him around, flipping a chair one way to block Bugs Bunny's escape and feinting with a low, fast kick to his shin. However, feinting was a time-honoured tradition of Savate and the kick morphed into a roundhouse that sank into Bugs' stomach, sending him flying backwards.

"Oof!"

Not even Bugs could stop the cry from escaping his lips as he was winded, flying backwards and crashing into another table, taking down the chairs with him as the wood broke in two and he tumbled. Somehow, he ended up tangled in the white tablecloth and rose, miraculously, with it spilling from him in a designer, ancient Greek-inspired, dress. The folds of cloth shimmered in the low light and especially Penelope was spellbound for a moment, for that was not the sort of thing that she often saw. Pepe Le Pew was less impressed, leaping up onto a table for a height advantage, forcing bugs to leap out of the dress through the neck hole, leaving it suspended in the shape of a body for a moment before crumpling to the carpet.

The skunk, however, tired of the back and forth, wanting purely to take Penelope back home so that they may spend their time enjoying more delicious, delectable activities. There was no sense in punching the grapes, after all, when they could be sipping on the wine. Let the commoners below them fight it out!

And he would end it, lifting his tail for another musk attack. It was not something that he commonly used when he was fighting an opponent one on one, though hasty times called for stronger measures, most certainly. At least his muscles were warmed up nicely for more strenuous moves when they were needed, kicks his preferred means of attack but there were far more complex moves that he could chain together into an attack that no opponent would ever be able to fend off!

Bugs cursed softly under his breath, but it was partly as he didn't want to breathe any of that in! The reek of the skunk as it was proved tricky to bear, but Bugs was professional enough not to get caught up in it, for such smells often came with the job and the territory and were not to be helped. Yet the musk attack was a sickly sweet scent with something earthen, like the dirt under trees after a fresh rainfall, tangled through it. It was neither unpleasant nor pleasant, but had him reeling nonetheless.

"Aha! Take that!"

Pepe Le Pew grinned as he turned his tail to Bugs and launched his first attack, a spray of potent musk flying towards the bunny. Bugs ducked and dodged, falling forward into a full-body roll before springing back up to his feet once more. The skunk was relentless, however, crying out triumphantly as he put Bugs on the defensive, forced to dodge musk attack after attack, though the sprays of the more potent, knockout, gas were quicker to dissipate into the air. That was something, at the very least, that Bugs could use to his advantage, dodging, hiding behind a table as swathes of the skunk's knockout gas poured over the top of it.

His cheeks puffed out, eyes rolling back and ears drooping, as he held his breath, nearly fading. He couldn't hold his breath forever and yet Pepe, understandably, for they were opponents, was relentless in his pursuit.

"Ah, mon ami," he said, though his heavy French tones were far from soothing. "You've got to come out at some point, no? Make it easier on all of us, how you say... So, we can all...go home?"

If Bugs was caught by him, however, he was not going home anytime soon, which was something that the rabbit quite wanted to avoid. He'd rather be heading to the bigger city, one of the major ones of the country, back to headquarters and then his own base, dropping off the box and completing his mission. Yet Bugs Bunny had not come as far as he had in the world of spies and agents from giving up, no way.

His eyes snapped open, ears springing up tall, resolve clenched in his fist. Pepe Le Pew was close.

Enough!

_ _

Bugs leapt up, poised on the edge of a table that had fallen on its side, lunging for the skunk before he could react. The rabbit moved as if he blinked through the air, disappearing from one spot and reappearing, seemingly from nowhere, in another. His foot slapped up directly into Pepe Le Pew's face, not under his chin but full-on across his snout and cheeks, knocking him back, the skunk falling backwards in slow motion.

Stars danced above the fallen Pepe's head, spinning in circles, his tongue out and crosses over his eyes. Bugs grinned and chewed on a carrot that, like with most things that he wielded, had appeared out of nowhere (really, where was he hiding all his things?), strutting forward with a more confident bob in his step.

"Ah, and that's how a bunny does it," he mocked lightly, though that was not the sort of thing that Bugs spared many words on, or else he would have been there all day. "I must say, however, you -"

Yet Bugs had underestimated the skunk ever so slightly as Pepe rolled onto his front, tail up, unleashing his knockout gas directly at Bugs' face. There was no way that the bunny could have avoided it, swaying back and forth with dizzying squiggles dancing above his head, rotating and rotating around his head, though he focused on staying awake, even if he could only stagger away.

Stay awake, stay awake, stay awake!

_ _

"Ah, your kind are too easy to fool!"

Bugs coughed, dropping to all fours, tired and sluggish, though not knocked out. Pepe Le Pew's lips twitched in discomfort, Penelope trying to catch his attention and tell him something (after all, she didn't want to stay on the side lines forever). Bugs struggled, head ringing and spinning, wondering if his ears were even still attached, for all he could hear was the dullness of his own heartbeat, pounding desperately.

"Uuurrrrggghhhh..."

Bugs groaned, Pepe standing over him, though Pepe Le Pew wasn't about to let him get away without launching another knockout gas attack. He cried out, striking out with his hand and taking up a fencer's stance, one hand out in front of him and the right foot that was further back at a right angle to his body, his musk streaming towards the rabbit.

Yet, to his surprise, Bugs rolled away a moment before the gas flooded the spot where he had been on all fours, pressing back the attack before Pepe could unleash another dose of potent musk. His foot slammed up in an easy cross kick, straight up into the skunk's stomach where he was knocked back, the wind taken out of him as he staggered.

"Oof!"

"Ah, how's that for fighting?" Bugs said, smoothing his ears back down the back of his head like hair, the fuzziness of the gas in his system fading away as he got deep breaths of clean air, even though it was not particularly fresh in the club. "You can't resort to dirty tricks with me, not that easily!"

Before the skunk could recover his breath, though his eyes were bright with his next attack already, he followed up swiftly with a chop with the side of his hand to the back of Pepe's neck. There was a nerve there, something finer than merely going about all that they were doing with crude force, one that when struck would knock out an opponent.

And Pepe Le Pew was no different, eyes half-closing, groaning as he fell limp the moment Bugs' hand connected with the back of his neck. He wavered, even though his legs would not hold him up, falling forward in slow motion, a straight, dead weight, arms held loosely at his sides, until his face smacked into the hard floor, a ripple shuddering down his body and up his tail. Strangely enough, his tail remained straight up in the air, pointing towards the ceiling, though there was no risk of another musk attack.

That time, Bugs could be confident that the skunk was knocked out.

However, Penelope Cat was not one to be trifled with either, rushing to her lover's aid as she attacked Bugs from behind, as silently as always. Bugs cried out as she revealed her Jiu-Jitsu aptitude, a fighting style that was most often compromised of throws, though she seemed to blend in other martial arts techniques too, a flexible fighter.

Bugs squirmed away as she grabbed his arm, going for a single arm throw that would have tipped him back over her shoulder as she ducked to use leverage against him, but the cat was not holding back, her face determined as her tail stuck out behind her for balance, her foot slamming into his shin.

"Agh!"

Bugs couldn't help crying out, though his respect for the cat undoubtedly grew in that moment as she followed up on her attack, closing the distance, ensuring that Bugs didn't have a single moment in which to breathe. She varied her fighting style, though couldn't get in close enough for a throw, no matter how quick she was, punches and jabs and kicks keeping him at arm's length from her. Bugs, of course, dodged every one, as skilled of a fighter as she was. Penelope couldn't help, after all, being distracted by her partner being down. That was her weakness more than any attack, whoever the attack was played out.

She swept her leg to the side of him, aiming for his hip and a sensitive nerve, but didn't make contact, not as Bugs grabbed her foot and flipped her backwards, head over tail. Penelope clenched her jaw, exhaling into a back flip, though landed safely on her feet. Bugs laughed.

"Eh, I guess it's true what they say then, about cats always landing on their feet!"

That wasn't something that Penelope had to worry about, however, trying to find an opening in Bugs' defence. And yet the infuriating rabbit dodged every one of her blows, merely stepping to the side, out of reach, his ears even managing to block her strike at one point! When she tried to get hold of him to grapple and throw, the rabbit bounced away, light on his toes, as if it was no trouble at all to him.

Yet Bugs couldn't dance circles around her forever as he struck both her shins at once, leaping in the air for a double strike kick, that left her silently crying out, lips parted. She crumpled, toppling to the ground in a hard heap, the thud almost making Bugs feel sorry for her. Yet he was not the sort of agent that would show sympathy twice, not when Pepe Le Pew had already caught him off-guard that first time. He would not make that mistake again.

Knocked on her back from the fall, Penelope kicked her legs out in an elevator sweep, taking Bugs' legs out from under him, though he struggled, while down, to get his arms around her in a sleeper hold. His arms closed around her head and neck, bearing down on either side, closing off her windpipe. Alas, the slippery, conniving feline was far too twisty for him, wriggling herself free as Bugs followed up, dodging another kick.

"Eh, you're not as quick as your partner, are you?" He said, an eyebrow raised, filing his nails as if he had all the time in the world. "But that fighting style's got my interest, I'll give you that."

Penelope didn't react to that, though her whiskers quivered with worry for Pepe Le Pew, still down and quiet on the floor. Her brow furrowed, focusing harder than she ever had before, but he tried to grapple with her, the two of them twisting, falling to the ground as he struggled to get his legs around her neck for a scissor hold. He couldn't get his foot down on the instep of the other in time, however, admiring her style, even though it was merely her feline wiles that got her out of it. Not that that was, ultimately, going to be any trouble at all for him, of course.

Pinning her on her front, he used his greater height, though it was not much, he managed to wrangle her into a Boston Crab hold, the feline scrabbling at the floor, on her chest and arm while she fought to raise her head. He bent her left leg over her back, facing her tail, his knee bearing down into her lower back just to put more pressure on her, though the cat did not even yowl out loud. Just how quiet was she?

Alas, the cat wrenched herself to the side, using her tail against Bugs as she flipped it up in his face. Of course, a musk attack of knockout gas was not something that he had to concern himself with when it came to Penelope, but Bugs had to be aware that there were other ways for him to be knocked out, from chloroform to canned knockout gas and different types of holds. His preferred ones were those that pressed down on the artery, a carotid hold, though it was perfectly safe when performed to his level of skill, as they always were.

Again, he wrestled, grappling, pushing his fingers into her face in a dirty strike, though Penelope showed her teeth, tail lashing. The cat was hardly put off at all by the Boston Crab hold he had put her in, though she gasped as Bugs' arms went around her neck and half across her upper chest, dragging her to his chest, her back to his chest, in a sleeper hold. Standing up tall, Bugs dragged her legs off the floor as she kicked and squirmed, though her eyes bulged comically in panic.

"There you go," Bugs soothed. "All be over soon. Won't hurt ya though, I'm not like that. Go to sleep, kitty-cat!"

Her eyes blazed. Kitty-cat? She was no kitten! The agent bared her teeth as she slammed her elbow back into his stomach, forcing the rabbit to drop her with a grunt.

"Ugh!"

Bugs recovered swiftly, dusting off his thighs and stomach, though a surprising amount of dust, comically, rose from his fur. Yet his moment of self-indulgence left him vulnerable to Penelope pressing in close, behind him and knocking him in the back of the knees to take him down to his knees. It was a better position for her, as she grappled her arms around his neck, putting pressure on either side to bear down on his blood flow, though it was not by mere strength but technique that one applied a sleeper hold.

Coughing and fighting, Bugs fought the sleeper hold for every second, the cat's arms tight around him, pressing down. The constriction on his neck increased, Penelope squeezing him with more force than he thought a cat could exude, much less a woman, though he had learned long ago that gender was not something that dictated anyone's strength or fighting style, not in the slightest. Clawing at her, he grabbed at her arms and pinched, reaching for her face but not quite being able to reach, for he could have dug his fingers into the sensitive flesh there, forcing her to drop him. She couldn't use his weight against him, which was one thing, though there was another player there to contend with too.

Pepe Le Pew woke slowly, grunting, groaning, one hand to his head.

"Unnff... Bugs Bunny..."

Struggling to come back to his senses after the chop to the back of his neck had knocked him out, Pepe Le Pew stood, one hand clenched into a fist. And yet what should he see there other than his beloved putting Bugs in a sleeper hold! His eyes swelled into bright, red, pulsating hearts, keeping time with the beat of his own rapidly bounding heartrate, his hands clutched together, his need filling his body with lust. Oh, and there was nothing like it, that prickling tingle of romance and heat, how his body ached for her, only her. The concentration on Penelope's face was simply divine, something that he would keep in mind until the very end of his days, the power in her, his sweetheart!

Lust swirled down to his loins, the skunk levitating into the air, even if he didn't seem to be aware of it. With his hands clasped, he moaned out his delight at seeing Penelope in her prime - and lunged for her! After all, what skunk in their right mind would have been able to stop themselves from practically throwing themselves at such a wonderful woman?

"Penelopeeeee! My sweet!"

Penelope blinked, looking up, though the rabbit had been on the brink of passing out. Though she didn't have a chance to react, not knowing whether to hold onto Bugs or to spring away, before Pepe Le Pew clasped her tightly to him. She grunted as Pepe clung to her, lavishing attention on her, her entire body pressed up against his so that there was not a single inch of spare space between their bodies. He smooched her face repeatedly as the feline squirmed, fighting his hold with all her might.

Bugs coughed, down on all fours, though he was not out, swiftly regaining full consciousness, even though he had been on the edge of going under. It would not have been the end for him, of course, but it would have been another obstacle for him to overcome, most definitely. And that was something that he could do without! He was tired of them, both of them, and would have much preferred to get on his way, perhaps a little sleep too before carrying on to the bigger city and headquarters.

Penelope fought Pepe Le Pew's overly loving, amorous embrace (goodness, he was even grinding on her!) as Bugs tossed a carrot in the air, bouncing it in his palm and then back up again.

"Time to knock out the lovebirds!"

Bugs grinned, launching the carrot at them as if it was a weapon, though they didn't consider it to be that. Penelope blinked at it, though the skunk didn't even seem to notice, too busy kissing her full on, lip locking, to care.

Ah, but that was his undoing, his attention on her when it should have been on Bugs Bunny, the carrot whirring subtly. The feline tried to yowl and pull away, fighting even harder, but there was nowhere for either of them to go as the carrot cracked open down the middle, revealing a hissing rush of knockout gas. Coloured in bright blue, it swept around them, sinking into their lungs as they inhaled before they had a chance to react, Pepe Le Pew not even realising what was happening. Bugs rolled his eyes. The skunk would have had a better chance if he had come alone, surely, but that wasn't something that he was going to say to him.

Pepe Le Pew was still kissing Penelope Cat passionately, smothering her in so much attention that it was no wonder that she wanted to get away from him, even as they sank to the ground. Penelope had no choice about it, caught in the skunk's arms, but she was going down, one way or another, whether she liked it or not, down and down and down to the carpet, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. She didn't have as much practice as Bugs had in fighting off knockout gas, for it was not as if it was something that Pepe used on her, yawning as the sleeping gas took hold of her.

It was easy for her to let go, to give up her hold on the waking world, her throat feeling soft, loose, as if every breath came more and more easily. But it was not down to the cat how she fell prey to the knockout gas, heavier and heavier in her lover's arms until she couldn't hold on any longer.

Pepe Le Pew's words of love and kisses came more and more slowly as he slumped over Penelope, though, in his mind, they were merely getting amorous in the bedroom.

"Oh, mon cherie," he moaned. "What a beautiful night to lay with you... Ohhh..."

And yet he was unprepared for the gas, even as he realised, too late, what was happening, tired eyes fixing on Bugs as the bunny chewed on a carrot, out of range of the gas and waiting it out. The rabbit was the last thing that the skunk saw as the dragging, heavy influence of the knockout gas went to work on him, pulling him under into sleep as he collapsed on top of Penelope. He only hoped, he thought before the gas pulled him completely under, that he was not too heavy for his dear, dear lover.

"Ah... That's better!"

Bugs grinned, straightening a bowtie that had suddenly appeared around his neck, prim and proper, as if he was about to head off to a formal event, even though the rest of him, as so very often, was naked. He didn't need clothes, except when he wanted to wear them for a special reason, after all. But a little bowtie, yes, that was more formal, and just what he wanted to take a moment to, well...

...gloat.

"Ah, what would they think of you now, Pepe Le Pew, the agent who was supposed to drag me back, hm?"

Bugs Bunny spread his arms wide, though it was only a shame, at least for him, that there were no cameras to capture his moment of victory. Usually, he was so focused on the job at hand that he didn't get a chance like that, preferring to be in and out quickly, but there was time there and an opportunity with no one else around to take his pride to the next level. The rabbit did not doubt at all in his mind that that was exactly what Pepe Le Pew had done with him when he had been knocked out anyway.

"Hear that, gassy?" Bugs said, cupping a hand, which swelled as if to better funnel sound into his ear. "They're cheering for me! Just for me!"

In Bugs' mind's eye, there was a crowd there, the club filled to the brim with people, humans and creatures like them, all hollering and cheering and stamping their feet for him. In his imagination, camera flashes went off and Bugs grinned widely, showing off his large rabbit teeth proudly, putting a foot up on Pepe's chest.

"Bugs, you're so great!"

"Bugs Bunny, can I get your autograph?"

"Can I get a picture of you?"

"He's done it again, folks!"

Bugs took his time, spreading his arms out wide as he posed for the imaginary crowd, everyone wanting his picture, his autograph, a victory pose that befitted him in the best of ways. He smiled genially to them, acting as if it was no trouble at all for him to best the skunk and the cat, though it had not, by any means, been the most gruelling fight that he'd ever been in.

His foot rested at an angle across the skunk's chest, though Pepe's fur was ruffled from the fight and not at all as pleasant to rest on as someone might have expected. That was a shame and he changed his position to stand with his right foot over Pepe's face, smooshing his cheek to the side, pressing into the softness of it. He had even fuller cheeks than the rabbit, but Bugs supposed that's what he got for being hopelessly and wantonly in love all the time.

"Eh, what's up, doc?"

Bugs greeted his imagined crowd with a smile, puffing up his arms into a flex as his muscles popped up. They were not enough like that, not as he posed with his foot on Pepe's face, and he imagined how the crowd would react to him flexing, his muscles blowing up to proportions that had never been seen on his body before - but only on his top half. It was as if he had gained a bodybuilder's physique on the top half of his body overnight, raising his arms out to either side of his body and bending his fists back towards his head in a simple flex. With arms as big as they were, to be fair, there weren't too many other poses that would have suited him.

"Three cheers for Bugs!"

"Bugs is the best!"

"He felled Pepe Le Pew without any trouble at all!"

"Yes, I really am the best, aren't I?" Bugs said proudly, kissing his bicep, though his muscles were quick to deflate, his mind bouncing away to something else. "But the skunk has been skunk'd! 'Ey, now, is that even a word? Who's got a dictionary around here?"

He grinned as he changed to his final pose, at least for the moment, posing with his left foot on Pepe's stomach. The skunk, admittedly, was all muscle down there, despite his apparently soft exterior: that had to be all fur then. But he was scuffed up and scruffy from the fight and not at his best, not as Bugs bounced his foot up and down with a smile, nose twitching madly. It was amusing to him how the skunk's limbs twitched a bit with every rougher push of his foot, Bugs not worried at all about hurting him. For his victory pose, he put his thumb to his lips and blew it up - quite literally.

Puff...puff...puff...puff...

_ _

With every puff of air, his hand and fingers swelled into a giant hand, twice the size of his body, until he was satisfied and posed for the crowd with a giant thumbs-up, exulting in the cheers washing over him.

There was Penelope too, of course, though he was a little more considerate with her, choosing to start with her face. First, he dragged her off and away from the skunk, untangling their limbs from where they were pressed together, laying them both out on their backs, side by side. Then and only then did he press down on her face with his foot across it, giggling as her whiskers tickled his sole softly. It was demeaning, yes, to have someone stand on them, but he chanced that there was a hint of her perfume on him when he'd woken up the first time from the knockout gas. It was only right that he paid her back in kind.

"Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!"

The crowd chanted his name as he took a bow for his pose, his right foot on Penelope's face, toes twitching as he tried not to react too much to the tickling influence of her whiskers. His toes wriggled and curled down around the side of her face, pressing a little more comfortably against her cheek.

He put a hand to his face, suave and controlled, gently cupping his chin with one finger pointing towards his cheek with the others curled under his chin, thumb pointing towards them. It was the sort of gesture that one might make when they were thinking, but Bugs leaned forward slightly more heavily, putting more weight on Penelope than before, his ears pricked and an eyebrow raised. Oh, he knew that he was the best, but it was good to hear the cheers of his made-up crowd too, how they almost rang in his ears right then and there.

"Yes, yes, don't hold the applause, you know it's what I'm here for."

Bugs smiled, taking up his final pose on her stomach, putting his left foot directly across her soft belly with confidence and pride in all that he had accomplished. He flexed again, showing off his muscles, settling for his right arm being curled, muscles moderately popped up, though not inflated as before, and his left arm pointing straight out. He looked down the length of his left arm as if he saw something that wasn't there, the picture of pride and confidence, leaning back slightly as his legs bent at the knee, putting more weight back onto his right foot.

"Bugs, he's the best! Bugs, he's our guy! Bugs, he beat Pepe Le Pew!"

"Yes, yes, I did, I did."

Bugs grinned, stepping off Penelope's stomach, now that he had had his fun. The crowd disappeared, as real to him as the chairs and the tables were in the club to begin with, popping, one by one, out of mental existence.

"Well, shucks. Time to get on with the job then."

But Bugs knew what he was there to do, pulling out a canister of truth gas from his invisible pocket. He shook it lightly, pricking his ear.

"Ah, shoot..."

Unfortunately for him, the truth gas was empty! He must have used the last of it on Wile - Wile E. Coyote. That was a shame. That meant that he would have to have a new plan, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Hah! And he'd already done that pose too!

Grabbing Pepe and Penelope one at a time, he dragged them to the stage while they were knocked out, tying them up with rope that, as usual, he had on him. It was so good that he didn't need to wear clothes or carry anything that he didn't want to when keeping things around! He did like his spy gear though, when he was on the sort of job that it suited. It wasn't as if he could see with night vision goggles when he wasn't wearing them, after all!

The stage, thankfully, was high enough that their hands could be tied back against it, above their heads, leaving their bodies bare and vulnerable, though Bugs only spared a subtle appreciative look for their forms. They were fit, he'd been able to feel that both when he'd been posing on them and when he had been dragging them to the stage, though the bunny could not resist pausing, running his hands over their shoulders, down their sides, whistling softly.

"Guess all that spy work does make a fit body, huh?" Bugs commented. "But you will never have the strength of a rabbit kick, 'ey, doc?"

Some things, after all, came with one's species and that could not be changed, ensuring that the ropes were well tied off around the poles, making quite sure that they couldn't escape. Even if they woke up again, he didn't want any trouble. They had already made that mistake with him and if there was one thing that Bugs knew it was to learn from the mistakes of others as much as he could learn from his own.

With their hands above, they were vulnerable, though Bugs' knots were good enough that they would not suffer any sores or rubs from it. For good measure, he tied both of their ankles, respectively, together, lashing the length of their legs together so that they were forced, even while unconscious, to keep their legs out straight in front of them. Slumped back against the stage, Pepe Le Pew's jaw fell slack, a sleeping bubble rising and falling from his nose, snoring faintly.

"Hm... Now, what to do, what to do...about that stink?"

Tying them up was one thing, but Pepe Le Pew's musk attack, no, he didn't at all want to have to deal with that again.

"Hey... What's that they said about this place?" He mused, casting his mind back to the sign outside as a thought bubble, picturing the outside of the club and the signs around the door, appeared above his head. "Didn't they say...that they did really good...soup?"

The thought bubbled popped, sparkling as it faded away, Bugs grinning and practically sprinting off to the kitchen. For him, it didn't take much energy at all, though he found what he wanted in a giant pot with a handle on either side, at the rim, cool after the kitchen staff had left but all that he needed.

If there was one thing that everyone said to dull a skunk's stink, it was tomato soup!

Well, maybe soup was a bit much, but it smelled like they had used the really good tomatoes in it, which Bugs hoped would help with the higher level of acidic content. It was all that he had to hand as he doused the skunk in it, pouring the red swathe of liquid all over him, from head to toe, making sure to give his tail a good coating. He even lifted Pepe's tail with his foot, making sure that he got as much tomato soup as he could on the underside too, soaking into his fur and leaving the skunk with a red tint all over.

"There!" Bugs grinned, tossing the pot back over his shoulder, red droplets trickling from it, and dusting off his hands. "That'll do it!"

And not a moment too soon as first Pepe Le Pew's eyelids fluttered and then Penelope Cat's, slowly coming back to wakefulness. Bugs had thought that they would be out of it for longer, but they were quite well-known agents, so it made sense too that they would have some resistance even to how he had knocked them out.

Penelope whimpered as she came back around, but it was only a breathy little whimper, blinking the room into focus with Bugs Bunny standing over her. The rabbit shook his head disapprovingly at her, his arms crossed over his chest as he tapped his foot.

"Now, now, now," he tutted, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Maybe the cat should have spent more time chasing mice, because you're sure not going to catch a rabbit."

Pepe grunted, trying to say something to defend the honour of his partner, but he couldn't get the words out, not at all. He moved his jaw up and down, opening and closing his mouth, yet it would take him a little while longer before his barely together words were strung into coherent sentences.

"Now..." Bugs leaned in close, looking between Penelope and Pepe, one eyebrow raised. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. It's your choice. Who hired you? Why are you after me?"

Pepe clamped his jaw shut as Penelope quailed against the stage, tugging fruitlessly at her bonds. There was no way they were going to give up anything without a fight, though torture was not something that they had experience being on the receiving end of. Never had Pepe Le Pew allowed his beloved to be captured like that, his heart wrenching for her.

Oh, how he had failed her!

"Not talking, huh?"

Bugs shook his head.

"Tell me, or I'll make it veeerrry difficult for you."

Of course, that didn't get him anything, not even as Bugs strutted back and forth, his hands behind his back, ears pricked, attentive to everything. He cut quite the imposing figure above them, looming as they sat down on the ground, glaring at him, though Pepe tried to scoot just a little bit closer to Penelope. It didn't get him much closer, however, for Bug Bunny had tied them up too efficiently and tightly for that, even if it did not stop him from trying.

"What are you looking for? Is it this little number?"

Bugs brandished the little black box with a flourish.

"Why do you want this? What agency are you from?"

Pepe tilted his chin up defiantly. The skunk didn't say anything, tail twitching, though Bugs only grinned and let him try to shoot his musk. With the tomato dousing him, his ability to do so had been effectively disabled, the skunk twisting back and forth, trying to work out why he couldn't do what had always come so naturally to him.

"Ah... Not a talker, really, huh? And you can't shoot your musk either, such a shame, such a shame..."

Bugs smirked, spreading his hands out wide.

"The tomato soup, the juice of them, yes... That'll stop you, Pepe Le Pew. Oh, yes, I know who you are, though I never thought the likes of you would cross my path. Though you're not talking and you're making this even more difficult for yourself than it has to be. I have ways of making you talk."

Penelope gulped noisily, though Pepe crooned to her.

"Mon cherie, I will never let anything happen to you, please, please, don't you worry."

Yet that wasn't something that Pepe Le Pew had any say in, not even as he struggled, Bugs brandishing a giant...

...Feather?

Pepe blinked. That didn't make sense. Why would a feather be bad for them? Yet it was only the precursor to what Bugs had in mind for getting them to talk, cracking his knuckles and rolling up his sleeves, which was only the fur again on his arms. Penelope gulped and shook her head, though Pepe held his head up high.

"Whatever you do to us, you will never get us to talk!"

"Ohhhh, I think I've got you here, doc," Bugs said, sitting cross-legged before Pepe. "But don't worry, I'm not that kind of agent."

Whatever that meant was not something that Pepe was going to get out of Bugs, not as the rabbit's fingers, without any warning at all, danced across his feet. The skunk gaped and instinctively jerked away from Bugs, but the rabbit had his feet tied together so that he could tickle both at once, his expression neutral, as if it was all a normal day for him.

Yet such ticklish jitters could not be swallowed down as Pepe gulped and gasped and struggled to wrench away, even as Bugs held him. His chest heaved, trying to regain control of himself, yet the skunk could not stop his body from giving up on him, his whole body shaking as laughter took him.

"What? N-n-no!" He laughed, though there was no humour in the sound. "This is - hah! - highly - hah! - unorthodox-x-x!"

But Bugs didn't care about any of that, not as he did his best work, tickling the skunk's feet with ruthless intent. He worked his way between the toes, over the soft, fleshy pads of the toes, across the ball of the foot and down to the sole, leaving no spot untouched. A skilled tickler, he did not linger for too long on any single spot, making sure that he did not dull the sensitivity of any spot, even working around the skunk's ankles and making him more sensitive than he had been. The rabbit could even use the very tips of his claws, kind of like nails on a creature like him, to scrape over Pepe Le Pew's feet, rendering him helpless in fruitless tickles, jerking and wrenching at his restraints.

The skunk would not give in, however, not beg for mercy, not even as Penelope gasped and shrieked - soundlessly, of course. It was a sound that could still be heard, however, in one's mind, as she hurled her body back and forth to the limited scope that her restraints allowed, Bugs tickling one of her feet while he attacked Pepe Le Pew's.

"You could end it all now," he said, as cool and as calm as ever. "If you just talk. It's that easy."

Pepe Le Pew didn't think that he could honestly talk if he wanted to - but he was not about to submit to such a fool as Bugs Bunny, no! He would hold out, yes, wait until he came up with a cunning plan to get free, though nothing, at all, had come to mind... Not yet, anyway.

And it was hard to think about anything as his eyes, watering with tears, flicked back and forth between Bugs and Penelope, wanting to keep an eye on his assailant, but, oh... Oh, it was delightful how those shuddering ripples went through the cat, all in a way that he had never considered before. He'd never tickled her and, in that moment, he wondered why he had not considered it, why it had not been something that he had incorporated into their lovemaking.

Despite the heaving laughter, shrieks filling the air that were most unbecoming of him, Pepe didn't talk, but there was no room for words in-between bouts of laughter. Bugs Bunny didn't seem to want to spend too much time on Penelope Cat, which was almost disappointing to the skunk, considering everything, but he spent plenty of time and attention on Pepe.

"Eh, maybe the feather will get you to spill the beans," Bugs quipped, rolling his eyes. "I've got all night, doc, don't you worry about that."

Pepe didn't flinch, though he wanted to. No, he would not show weakness, none at all, not even as he wanted to. He grunted and hacked a laugh, twisting and arching his back, prey to his body at the moment when he most wanted to be in control of it. His cheeks were wet with tears, though the skunk did not at all remember crying - his eyes must have just been leaking through his laughter, even if there was no real humour in his cries at all.

It was wrong, so wrong, his ribs and lungs aching from laughing so hard, even his stomach contracting, abs tense. Muscles that Pepe did not usually consider ached fiercely as he twisted back and forth, the rabbit using the feather on his toes, delicately tickling each one in turn. Where the feather really came into its own, however, was between the toes of his feet, dragging back through between the toes with ticklish horror.

"AhahahahahahahahaHAH-AH!"

Pepe couldn't help himself, though he quailed to be put in such a position, cursing himself inwardly, fluently. Yet it was entirely out of his control, not even able to form a coherent thought, let alone any kind of words that should have slipped from his lips. He should have said something, anything, that could have gotten Bugs Bunny to stop, even for a moment, even if it was not true. It didn't have to be true, after all, for him to get at least something of a reprieve from the relentless tickling.

Dancing the feather over the ball of the skunk's foot, Bugs paid some attention to Penelope too, sliding his fingers between her toes to tickle the sensitive skin there as he had with Pepe and the feather. Penelope wrenched her body, chest pushing up as her back arched, drawing the eye down. Dimly, Bugs was aware of Pepe Le Pew's eyes on his partner, though that was hardly to be contested. Of course, he was watching her, not wanting her to come to harm. If he'd had a partner like that, Bugs would have been doing the same. Only, he was sure that he would never have gotten himself into such a sticky situation as what Pepe had...

The cat contorted a lot more than the skunk, fighting and thrashing, though perhaps it was her lighter weight and smaller surface area, when it came to her body, that helped her be more flexible and agile than him. It was not something for the rabbit to concern himself with, her tail lashing the air, so thick and full that, in its own way, it added to the ticklish effect. Even the fine, soft hairs of her tail flicked back against her head, making her feel as if there was even more tickling her than there actually was.

When the feather did not get Pepe Le Pew to talk, Bugs employed more daring tactics, drawing out a full feather duster and plastering both of the skunk's feet with it at the same time. That allowed the cat to relax, for a moment, chest heaving, trying to ignore the aches of her body the best she could.

Pepe, however, was not allowed any respite at all, not as he bucked and ground, his body aching in weird and wonderful ways. There was a heat there, a heat in him, sweating nervously from the sheer amount of physical exertion he was being put through, though it was as if none of his muscles were able to obey his will and whim anymore. His tail stuck out straight, like a lever, pushing his hips up from the ground, though Bugs merely lifted his legs, forcing him off-balance, crashing back to the floor with a solid thump.

"Ahahahahah - no!"

Bugs lifted one ear.

"Oh, are you ready to talk?"

He danced the feather duster, thick and full and completely oversized with white feathers, over Pepe's feet, focusing on the soles and the heels, which had perhaps not had quite as much attention in recent minutes as Bugs could have given them. He had all the time he needed, however, taking his time, even as the skunk shook his head, tears streaming down his face, soaking into his black and white fur.

"Oh, okay, still not ready."

Swapping to a vibrating pedicure tool, shaped like a shell with nodules that were meant to soothe the feet, Bugs turned it on. After so much stimulation, it would be too much for Pepe and he was right, using the pedicure tool, vibrating with a low buzz, in one hand as the skunk burst into raucous laughter, grunting and heaving, hardly able to breathe.

The skunk was forced to snatch what furtive breaths he could into his lungs between heaving bouts of laughter, though it was not enough, it was never enough. Not even as he blinked at Penelope through his vision, blurry with tears of forced laughter, Bugs using both hands so that he could tickle Penelope's feet too with the feather duster. He never used all his attention, however, on Penelope, though when Bugs did split his attention it gave the skunk half a moment in which to catch himself, even though it was not all that much time at all.

The vibrating tool was not enough as he upped the ante to a massage wand, long and used for "other" activities too, turning up the vibrations and pressing it hard to Pepe Le Pew's right foot. It was needed with how the skunk tried viciously to jerk away from him, though that was why Bugs had tied them up so tightly, not perturbed at all while he set up a feather roller for Penelope with his other hand. That was a small device, a spinning wheel fitted with feathers, spinning constantly so that feather after feather was dragged over the foot of the one being tortured for information.

She squealed, though it was a quiet one, breathless, grunting, heaving with laughter, clenching her jaw as she shook. Oh, it was too much, though just the start of Bugs Bunny turning more of his attention to her, something that the cat was very much against!

She tried not to react, but it was hard as she jerked and jostled, the feather roller getting the better of her. Though she very much did not like the look in Bugs' eye, as if he was seeing her as a better target than Pepe Le Pew, her heart hammering far too hard for any sense of comfort.

"Hm... Maybe the kitty-cat will sing for some cream?"

Bugs may not have been using quite the correct term there, but he was rather focused on his work, pausing on the skunk to turn his attention to the feline instead. Heaving for breath, Pepe Le Pew groaned, head hanging as he tried to regain his sense of self, though he didn't at all feel like himself. There was a heat in him, curling deep in his loins - oh! Not one that should ever have been present when around another that was not his beloved, but he couldn't deny how he'd been watching Penelope. Truthfully, she had been the subject of his focus while Bugs had swapped back and forth between tickling just him and both together.

It was arousing, yes, sending a rush of blood to all the right (and the wrong) places of his body, his expression smouldering. Oh, all he could think about was throwing Penelope into his bed and ravishing her!

But...if it was Bugs doing it to her, tickling her instead of Pepe touching her... The skunk gulped.

As Bugs moved to Penelope, since the skunk wasn't giving him anything right then that he could use, something in Pepe Le Pew's expression changed. Bugs paused, taking the feather and running it between the cat's toes as she heaved and gasped, chest juddering in ticklish resistance.

"Wait! Halt!"

Bugs paused, glancing at Pepe.

"Yes?"

The skunk looked down, sighing, his body deflating slightly.

"I will talk. I will not allow you to harm my beloved."

Bugs grinned.

"Pleasure doing business with you, doc. You couldn't stand to see her being tickled by me, huh?"

Pepe groaned.

"No, no... No, you do not understand. I... She is too beautiful, the way her body moves. I want to tickle her, her laughs, even the way she struggles... Penelope, my darling, I'm sorry, I hope you understand."

Penelope reeled, her jaw hanging, though she could not cross her arms in upset, for that was not what she had expected to hear from him at all! Just what did Pepe mean that he liked to see her struggling? Did that mean that he wanted to have her tied up like that? She didn't know, only scowled unprettily as red-hot heat coursed through her.

"Alright, doc. I'll let you out, afterwards, if you talk. Are you going to talk?"

"I swear!" Pepe said, sitting up as straight as he could, serious in the moment about ensuring that Bugs did not tickle Penelope and stimulate his particular kind of "need" even more. "On my honour... I shall!"

"Alright then," Bugs said. Tell me about your boss. Who are they? What's their name? What agency are they the head of, if any?"

Pepe sighed.

"I do not know, I am afraid. I don't know anything about them. All calls from them were from blocked numbers, burner phones. I did not speak directly from them, only their men. I do not even know their gender. It is just a job to me."

Bugs rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes, just a job. I don't care about that. What about where the money came from? How'd you get paid? Did you trace it?"

Pepe's lips pressed together, heart pounding. If he couldn't give the rabbit anything, Bugs would tickle Penelope! And he didn't think that he could handle that, as much as he should have been in far greater control of himself...

"Yes, we tried... Well, they were cheques, yes, the account not linked to a name, an offshore account only. When we looked into it, it led to a dead end, a company that had been formed and broken just for a single payment."

Bugs' brow furrowed. Interesting, very interesting...

"Is anyone else coming after me?"

It was a simple question, but one that had a loaded answer. Pepe considered that, head tilted to the side. Penelope did everything within her power not to look at either of them.

"There is one agent, one that I have heard of..." He said, slowly, hesitantly, as if he was not sure of what he was even saying. "But I do not know their name. I think there would be one, yes, one capable, one above me."

That pained Pepe to say, but if Bugs was concerned about the next level up of agent, supposedly, coming after him, that was something that he could give the rabbit. All to stop him from tickling Penelope.

"And it is the box," Pepe added. "That is what they want. Your capture too. More than that, I do not know."

"Hmm..." Bugs considered that. "What do you know about the box?"

Pepe shrugged.

"That is none of my buziness," he said, lapsing briefly into a thicker accent, his nose in the air. "I do not press my employers into revealing such information!"

Bugs understood that, for it was his stance on things too. It was up to him whether he took on or turned down a job - and that was that. At least in that way, he could respect the skunk.

"Please," the skunk said, imploring Bugs, though it pained him to be in such a position. "Let me go, let my Penelope go."

Bugs gave him a look.

"Well, I would, doc, but I can't put others in danger. And you might come after me! So, no, that's not gonna happen, nope, nuh-uh."

Penelope gasped, Bugs' eyes sliding to her.

"You cannot stop the path of true love," Pepe said, lips pressing together, tail twitching back and forth uncomfortably. "You put on such a display before me and now this? You restrain me still from doing whatever I want with my love? I have every right!"

"Oh, do you now?" Bugs countered. "Then I have every right to knock you out with my foot too, don't I?"

The skunk's jaw dropped, lost for words, though that was hardly to be contested, considering that it was not something conventional, not something that was usually done. Pulling a blue can out from behind his back, as if it had merely been strapped there, within easy reach, Bugs shook it, something sloshing about inside.

He lifted his foot, easily demonstrating his balance and flexibility as he poured chloroform, from the can, onto the underside of his fuzzy foot. It seemed to have a thickening compound in it that allowed it to cling to his foot a little more, keeping the potency of it concentrated to a certain area, almost like a sort of gel. It still soaked into the fur of his fluffy foot and he smeared it over the top too, just for good measure. It wouldn't do, after all, not to do a good job.

Pepe struggled, but it was no trouble at all to Bugs to stand on one foot and smother Pepe's nose and mouth with his chloroformed right foot, pressing it over the skunk's nose and lips. From his position, he could not block off Pepe Le Pew's airflow entirely, forcing him to breathe in only chloroform, but it was most certainly going to do the trick either way. With the sickly sweet potency of that particular brand of chloroform too, Bugs had no worries at all.

Pepe Le Pew tried to struggle, tried to fight it, his cheeks puffing out as he held his breath, keeping the air in his cheeks and lungs for as long as possible. And yet it was a losing battle, because, eventually, he did have to breathe and it was not something that anyone, not even he, could fight off. He was as prey to mortality as the rest of the world, though it pained him to admit to that, eventually taking a harsh, snatched breath.

One breath of the overly sweet, cloying chloroform was enough for him, one breath becoming another and another. His senses wavered, as if the chloroform was sticking to the inside of his nose, his windpipe, his lungs. It got into every crevice of his respiratory system as he inhaled, eyelids drooping, his body, slowly but surely, sagging into the restraints that Bugs had him in.

"Nighty-night, Pepe Le Pew," Bugs mocked, though it was hard for it to be too humiliating, not with the light tone of Bugs' voice, all just a normal day in the office for the rabbit. "Maybe Penelope will be kinder to you than I was when she wakes up too."

Pepe tried to fight back a little harder at that. No! No, he couldn't let Penelope be knocked out too, oh no... And yet he didn't have the strength, not even then, to fight it, slipping down, his chest heaving, each breath coming a little more deeply, sucking it in, feeling as if there was less air than chloroform slipping into his lungs. It affected his system quickly, dulling his senses, his sense of hearing faded as he fell asleep, though it was a drawn-out process. It was as if Bugs wanted him to feel every second of it, the humiliation, the curling twists of heat in the pit of his stomach, and yet Pepe Le Pew was still aroused by Penelope. It couldn't be helped, surely, that he had been as turned on as he had been by her twists and her struggles, the sensual curves of her body...

If there was one way to be knocked out by chloroform, it was while he was thinking of Penelope, some part of Pepe too tired to fight it anymore, even if he knew that he should have been fighting it, always pushing back against another who sought to usurp him. Yet the moment for pushing back against Bugs had long passed as he struggled against half a yawn, finding that he didn't even have the energy for that.

All the while, the bunny stood there with a calm expression on his face, as if it was all perfectly normal, all fine, his foot rocking back and forth, finding a more comfortable position over the skunk's nose.

"Deep breaths... There ya go..."

Pepe slipped down, further and further, his limbs feeling heavier than ever, as if his entire body had become made of lead, was pulling him down to the ground. The overly sweet scent controlled his senses, though he couldn't see anything anymore with his eyes closed, even if he was not completely knocked out yet. His shoulders strained where he slumped forward, pulled back behind him and above his head with his restraints, but Pepe couldn't even fight against that.

Tired. He was so tired.

Wouldn't it be easier to let it all go? To fall asleep?

That, of course, was exactly what he was supposed to do, exhaling as his head hung forward, a heavy, dead weight in his bonds, though they would hold him fast until he was retrieved. By that time, however, Bugs would be long gone.

As the skunk's breaths came more and more slowly, Bugs smiled faintly, enjoying the process. It was all a part of the job, but getting one over on those that had sought to control him, well - it had a certain pleasure to it. The skunk wouldn't be able to bother Penelope for a while when he was under too, which was surely a benefit to her.

Finally, Pepe gave in, falling asleep, snoring faintly, though it was more the passage of his breath back and forth, the angle at which he was making his chest compress a little. It wasn't going to be a problem, except for the snoring rasp of breath, Bugs leaning in close to check that he was fully asleep, checking his pulse and, of course, checking his rate of breathing. He was nothing if not a professional.

Adding another dose of chloroform to his foot, he hopped back, still on the same leg, dosing it up for Penelope. The skunk snored while Penelope squeaked and withdrew, shaking her head, though Bugs' expression softened when he looked at her.

"Penelope Cat, are you ready to go to sleep?" He said, a softer edge to his tone. "It's time to slumber."

She looked up at him, her eyes shining, ever so slightly. That was strange... She'd never had someone that asked if she was ready for something, if she was okay with something, though she did understand that she didn't have a choice in the matter. It was good though, the soft look in his eye, how he waited for her to be ready for it.

"I can't risk an enemy agent following me, Penelope Cat," Bugs said, respectfully even as he moved his foot closer to her face. "I am confident that a refined feline such as yourself understands that."

She nodded, looking him up and down, his strong, fine form, how easily he balanced. Even in her position, she was ever so slightly (maybe a little more than that) attracted to him. He just looked so calm and confident in himself and sure of everything, it was more attractive than she could have ever imagined. And he cared about her too, at least a little, more than Pepe, even though they worked together and lived together and loved one another...

That, however, was something for Penelope to consider at another time.

She nodded, agreeing with him, tipping her head back obligingly. It meant that she could keep the bunny in her sights at all times as he placed his foot carefully over her face, completely covering her nose and her mouth, Penelope obliging.

It was better when someone was willing, Bugs thought, though he folded his toes over the top of her nose, ensuring that she got a full dose of chloroform. Such a potent drug and one that had so many good uses for him in his line of work, though the cat tipped forward a little, as if she was trying to get closer to him. Smearing a little of the chloroform into her fur, with the easing back and forth of his foot, he let her take deep breaths through her nose and her mouth, taking everything that he offered to her.

Penelope wasn't thinking straight, only looking up at the strong, powerful figure of the bunny above her, though there was not much in her mind. All she did was breathe slowly, deeply, taking it all in, knowing that it would, at least, offer her some relief for a little time. That was a good thing, the sweet scent, too much to be comfortable, curling into her nostrils and her mouth, tongue flickering around her mouth as if her sense of taste had been activated too.

She groaned soundlessly, chest juddering. Her tail twitched back against the stage, though was tucked down around her rump, not really noticeable to Bugs. She tried not to slump forward, though it was difficult not to, Bugs pressing his foot to her face a little harder, solely to keep her head up. She was thankful for that - oh, it had to show that he cared a little bit! That was something that she had to hold in mind, clinging onto as the urge to sleep overpowered her.

Her lips twitched, nostrils fluttering as she inhaled, again and again, her ears splaying softly out to the sides. There was no need, as a cat, for them to be pricked to attention anymore, not as slumber took her. As she was willing, not fighting Bugs Bunny, it took her far more swiftly than it had taken Pepe to fall asleep, breathing deeply, her chest rising and falling with every breath. It highlighted her breasts to Bugs, though they were still covered modestly with a thick layer of fur, his eyes roaming appreciatively over her, even though he would never do anything at all untoward towards a lady. Or a guy, for that matter.

As she fell asleep, completely under the influence of the chloroform and knocked out, Bugs stepped back, cleaning off his foot and tossing the rag, from the bar, that he had used aside.

"That's all in a day's work!" Bug said, nose twitching. "So, a lot is riding on this mission, it seems... But it's not going to be any trouble to me."

Truth be told, it had not been all that difficult for him to best them, even if he had been knocked out initially, though it was a lesson learned, at least for him. Brushing his fur back into place, he smiled, glad that he had gotten a meal and, in the end, some entertainment too.

Leaving them bound behind him and fast asleep, there was no chance of them coming after Bugs while he sauntered out of the club, unchallenged and on top of his game.

As always.

*

Back at the headquarters of Big Boss, they leaned back in their chair, oversized for even them, a drop of cigar ash dropping to their desk. They bit down on the cigar with ruthless force, chomping through it, hurling it away, the burning tip only the spark of their fury. It exploded in the blaze of a fireplace that was set roaring from that one cigar alone, though Big Boss did not care for it. They had plenty more cigars where that one came from, finer ones, more exotic ones, ones best befitting their station.

They took all that they desired and to have it taken from them... Well, to say the least of it, that greatly displeased them.

"If that skunk can't do it," they snarled, "then it's time to ensure there are no mistakes next time."

There was one agent, after all, above Pepe Le Pew, one that Pepe Le Pew himself had recommended and that Big Boss themselves. Grinning, they tapped a code into a keyboard on the wall, within reach of their chair, setting off the chain that would alert that particular agent. The details, of course, would be automatically sent to them. Big Boss' people had already taken care of the job description, after all, and it was not the sort of work that they at all had to concern themselves with.

They would make things utterly despicable for Bugs Bunny, yes, most certainly. But Big Boss would take much greater pleasure in seeing how that one played out, now that Pepe Le Pew had failed them.

Soon, Bugs Bunny would no longer be a problem...