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A loud clang. A bright flash. The light above had been switched on, and with it, brought him back to reality.

Am I really awake? He groggily thought to himself, his eyes still closed. While the rest of his body didn't appear to have woken up yet, his eyelids seemed to obey his mental commands, or at least his instincts. The lone lamp in the room was situated just above him, its menacing light now reeking havoc on his tightly shut eyes as many that have just awoken from a deep sleep can attest to.

A new thought now crossed his mind. He'd open his eyes in horror & shock, but the stinging light would force them back shut. How...how did I get to sleep? He tried to think back to some time, any time before now, but nothing came to mind. Who was he? What is going on? Why can't I remember anything? Everything still felt hazy. He still couldn't feel his limbs. Maybe if I got up...

That question answered itself with the rustling of chain. There was something around his neck, holding his neck in place, his head stuck having to stare at that blinding light. Willing himself to regain control & feeling of the rest of his extremities, he tried to move his arms & legs, but they too were met with the same cold indifferent metal restraining their movement. Instinct took over and he screamed as loud as he could, but his sounds were muffled by a gag in his muzzle he didn't notice until now. Panic set in, his breathing growing heavy, the shock of his situation fully waking him up. He began struggling at his binds, trying to find any way out, but all that he could do was stay latched to his current position and stare at that light.

What's happening to me!?

"You're...awake?"

He stopped squirming, the astonished voice of someone else behind him having caught his attention, leaving him frozen in place.

"That shouldn't be possible. You were given enough tranquilizers to sedate someone twice your size."

A muffled "Who are you & what have you done to me!?" came from his muzzle.

Seemingly ignoring his pleas, the newcomer spoke again. "No matter. You'll get knocked out again shortly."

Muted screams again came from the captive. With it, a renewed effort to break his binds.

"Quiet scum!" the speaker's hand came quickly into his sight and slapped his cheek, his calls relenting for the moment.

That odd hand, it's something brown, I think...

"That's better. I suppose you're wondering why you're here, but I'm sure you know that by now."

He tried his best to shake his head and said a muffled "No."

"Hmmm is that so?" his captor said with a more sadistic tone. "Well, let me remind you."

A sharp jab went straight to his chest, a fist connecting to fragile bone. He didn't get a chance to recover before another blow landed. The pain was intense, leaving him gasping for air. Oh how I'd love to have the numbness that the tranquilizers gave me before.

"That's for calling my kind evil heartless bastards."

After being attacked, I'd probably call him that, but why would I do so before?

"And this is for calling me the next Hitler."

A swift kick to the groin would have left any male curled up on the ground in excruciating pain, but he didn't have that luxury. His restraints could only give so much from his body reacting to that hit, tears filling up his eyes from that unbearable pain, his cries successfully dampened by that terrible gag.

"Silence slave!" his attacker yelled, moving toward his victim's side & grasped his neck, making an already difficult time breathing even tougher.

"I can kill you now, but then you wouldn't be much help to me then, would you?" He made his prisoner shake his head as much as his chained collar would allow. "Exactly," he said slyly. His captor let go of him and began to pace around the room. "The time for that will come, but for now, you're gonna help me."

Help you? You just said you're gonna kill me!

"I'm sure you wondering why you'd do that for me, but there's no reason for that. I can't just assassinate you, too suspicious. For all I know, your disappearance now could be throwing up some red flags for some. Can't even try to make an "accident" happen. Hell, took you long enough to even consider putting down your emergency button. No, I've got a plan for you that'll get rid of you cleanly and solve all my problems."

The speaker sounded like he was somewhere behind his head now. The pressing of buttons saw the table he was bound to come to life. The captive slowly felt his head dip down, his feet now facing upwards. At least I'm away from that accursed light, he thought to himself, trying to find any way to calm his thumping heart. I need to find a way out of here fast. The blood was already starting to rush to his head. Although he knew it was a futile effort, he once again tried to pull against the restraints.

"Tsk tsk tsk. We'll need to keep you still for this," the captor said. "Don't worry, this'll only sting a little."

A press of a button. A moment later, he was howling in pain. The collar around his neck delivering a powerful shock, nearly knocking him out again. No thoughts of escape could come to mind, and even if he had any, his limbs were all but useless now, uncontrollably twitching within their cuffs.

"I'm surprised you're still conscious. You're tougher than I expected." He finally crept into his sight. If only my eyes could stay open, I could get a good look at you. Straining through the fuzziness that the shocks delivered, he could see though that his captor was some dark colored pants. Nothing good knowing that is. "Still, not even tough guys can overcome what I've got in store for you."

He felt jabs at his neck. He wanted to scream, but he felt an odd coolness race along his body. Calming, so calming...

"These tranquilizers will ensure you won't escape from this procedure and to make sure you don't wake up for a long time." Those strange paws grabbed his head again. "I'm sure you'll like it once you do come back." After giving his slowly fading captive a loving pat of his cheeks, he began walking back to the shadows of the room, a large tail trailing the last thing his prisoner saw before it disappeared in the darkness.

More button pushes. The floor in front of him opened up, a large mirror slowly rose up. "I think you should be able to see your final moments of imperfection, don't you?" One last button press started a loud clanging above him. Something being lowered. His heart started racing again. What did he mean by imperfection? What was he gonna do? He looked back at the mirror, and with all his strength, he kept his eyes open. The sight before him was startling. The reflection showed something canid looking back, naked & strapped to a table. Even with the light shining upon him, he couldn't tell anything much that would set him apart from anyone. The only that he could see about him was the golden eyes that stared back at him, full of fear, yet slowly losing a battle with consciousness.

His attention turned to the ceiling. A cold sensation was slowly falling down from his feet. He tried to move them, but the combination of the sedatives and whatever was now clinging to his body left them immobile. He wanted to scream, but the energy was zapped from him, replaced by that eerie calm, the urge to sleep, to just close his eyes and let whatever was happening happen.

That cool sensation soon made its way up his legs, down to the rest of his body. With no energy and no options, the captive had no other choice than to accept his fate. After all, he said that I would like it afterwards. Maybe he has a point. This all feels...right. This must be for the best...

No! It can't be. I'm here against my will. He said he'd kill me when he'd be done with me. He's trying to trick me. I need to stay strong. Those words held little weight. The substance that was slowly covering him was already upon his chest, his hands and on the tail he hadn't felt at all.

I can't stop this from happening. The time will come when I can do something. Escape will come...once I sleep...

The ooze reached his neck, slowly covering his muzzle.

No! He's gonna cover my maw with this gag still on. That's gonna kill me in moments.

He did his best to take in as many breaths as he could before the ooze covered his nose.

This...this smells of rubber. What is he doing!?

He closed his eyes more out of instinct than sleepiness as the rubbery goo swept over them.

It's over. All that's left now is to let go, to sleep. To escape, my only escape...

The goo reached the tip of his ears, finally covering him in a rubbery prison of his own form. It was truly over.

The faint roar of ferocious laughter was followed by some final words, the last thing he would hear.

"Good riddance lutraphobe."

*********

The gentle beeping of a heart monitor soon reached his ears. Consciousness was slowly returning to him. He was in a hospital, that much was apparent, but he didn't want to his eyes to check. Just laying in bed was all he wanted to do, but a thought soon entered his mind.

"How did I get here?" a hoarse voice whispered.

Opening his eyes, he saw that he was right. He was alone inside some sterile hospital room. The window blinds were partially open, the slats of light shinning through filling the room with an eerie yellow glow. Some old television was vaulted up on the wall in front of him. A beige curtain hanging off of rails was bunched up near the side of his bed near some of the machines that were keeping close watch of all his vital signs.

He directed his focus back to himself & his bed. A few buttons were clustered together on panels on either side of him. One large red button saying "Nurse" was especially alluring. Lifting up a webbed paw, he reached over to press it, but hesitated.

They'd be able to tell me what is going on...but do I really wanna know right now. It's not like I'm in the best state to know. I just woke up after all.

Moving his paw away from that button, he decided to see what was on television. "Not like there's anything good on anyways," he murmured. He needed anything to distract him from his current situation.

Reaching over to the other panel, he turned on the television. Flipping through the channels only confirmed his statement. Some bad cartoons, unwatchable reality shows, news channels talking about some missing guy, sports matches from ages ago and some movie about something he didn't particularly care about. "Yeah, nothing good at all," he said before pushing the TV off button on his bed panel.

"Maybe I should call the nurse and see if I can get some explanations," he muttered to himself. Again, his paw wandered back over the call button, yet hesitated pressing it once more. C'mon, I need to know. All I have to do is push that button. Why am I holding myself back?

A pair of knocks on the door turned his attention away from his internal dilemma. The door swung open slowly, a brown head peering in. "Ah, you're awake," a gruff voice called to him. Opening the door completely revealed the visitor. A rather large otter dressed in his military best slowly entered his room. His eyes gave out a look of care and experience. Although he was surely on the latter side of life, the strength his body exuded couldn't be ignored. A good 7 feet tall and a build that those half his age craved. Still, with that smile lighting up the room, it didn't feel like he would have any need to use his power.

"Good ta see yur outta that nasty coma Omar," his visitor said as he approached his side.

"Omar?" A twinge of confusion and disgust lined his weakened voice. That can't be my name, can it?

"Oh, sorry. Ya like ta be called Monte, right?" the military otter said.

"Yeah, that sounds, I dunno, better." Monte said, his voice quickly returning.

"Good then. Wanted ta see if ya could at least remember yur name. Doctors did say ya mighta gotten sum nasty amnesia from what happened."

"Wait, you know what happened to me?" disbelief came from the bedridden one. He didn't think some obviously high ranking military brass would take any interest in his condition.

"Well, I'm not sure how much I should tell ya. Doctors might hava fit if they saw me telling ya too much right now. Might send ya right back inna coma!" he said with a chuckle.

Monte's heart sank. Didn't look like he was gonna get the answers he wanted right away after all. "You...you can't tell me anything?"

The otter stroked his chin. "Well, I suppose I could tell ya a few things. You'd learn 'em sooner o' later, just say I said nuthin' when the doctor comes in, got it?"

A smile came across his muzzle. "Yeah, of course!" Any excitement he wanted to say that with seemed lost in a sudden rush of lethargy.

"Seems you're not that awake yet. Maybe I should..." he motioned to the door, seemingly ready to leave as quickly has he came.

"No, please. Stay," Monte reached for him halfheartedly. "I wanna know anything you can tell me."

"Alright," he whispered. "Just know that I'll tell ya only what I can, so don't go asking for more until the doctors can get a good look at ya. If ya fall asleep on me, I ain't repeatin' anything, so listen up."

He cleared his throat loudly enough to wake up the patient. "Yur name is Omar Monterey. Apparently ya like to go by Monte. Anyways, you were doing some off road driving or something on my base, illegally mind ya, and you had a..." He paused. "A small crash. Don't know how long you'd been there, but had I not been setting up a planned exercise in that area that day, ya'd be dead. Found ya in a real bad shape. Got ya back to the base hospital real quick & they've been fixin' ya up ever since."

"How long have I been out?" Monte asked. None of that seemed to ring any bells. His amnesia appeared to be really serious.

"It's been about a week."

The heart monitor started beeping rapidly. "A week!?" he said with hushed anger, trying to pull himself up.

"Whoa sailor, calm down," the military otter said, clutching the dazed otter's paw. "That's pretty normal for what ya went through."

The fellow otter's hand touch felt very calming. "Okay, okay. You're right." Taking a few breaths, Monte calmed back down and readjusted himself hin his bed. "What did I go through exactly?"

"Can't tell ya that boyo. I don't really know either. Just know you'd be best for a doctor ta tell ya instead of me. Kinda knew that you'd probably be at a loss with your memory after that though."

Monte rubbed his head. "Yeah, everything does feel a bit fuzzy. I don't even remember that day to tell you the truth."

"Didn't think ya woulda. Needed to ask ya about that day, but with your memory gone, it ain't gonna do me any good asking stuff, so I'll let that slide."

"Thank you, uh...sir." Monte stopped his head rubbing and did his best to salute the military otter.

The gesture brought out a chuckle from the mustelid. "At ease soldier. Don't need ya doing that now. Get your rest."

He did as he was instructed. "Also, I should thank you for, uh, saving my life there."

"Don't mention it. Military is all about protecting & serving the people."

"Well, still, thank you."

An awkward silence filled the room. After several minutes, the elder otter spoke. "Well, I should get going. Have some matters to attend to."

"Thank you for coming," Monte said before a thought crossed his mind. "I'm sorry sir, but I've completely forgotten to ask for your name. I'd like to know the name of the one that saved me."

"Ah, thought ya woulda known that by now. That brain damage sure did a number on ya!" He guffawed. "I am..."

The opening of the door behind them caught their attention. In walked a young male fox in scrubs, clipboard in paw.

"Oh, s-sorry. I didn't know you were here General Cruz." He said nervously. "Y-you'll have t-to leave now. I need to do some...some checks on our patient. You understand." He spoke quickly, barely making eye contact with the otter.

"I understand," he said to the nurse. He turned back to the bed ridden otter. "Like I said, I'll be seeing ya later. Get well son." Shooting a smile at Monte, he walked out of the room & shut the door without another word.

Outside the hospital room, the general found someone eavesdropping. An otter in a doctor's coat was waiting for him. This otter certainly had seen his youth drain from him. A complete opposite of the military otter yet remarkably the same age, this shorter plump individual had white fur growing on his head. His calling had always been to medicine & health, yet he had seemingly foregone his own. The glasses that helped his brown eyes see showed a stern gaze directed right at his friend.

"Why did you called him son?" He said angrily. "That's only gonna confuse him."

General Cruz began walking down the hallway, pretending to ignore the doctor. "Oh relax Bruce. It's not like I mean it literally. It's one of them pet name things. Not like he'll remember it anyways. Didn't ya see how loopy he was?"

Bruce quickly followed the general. "That's exactly why you shouldn'ta done that! He's gonna think that true!"

"Then we'll just erase his memory like last time," the general said menacingly. "It seems to be the only thing that worked." His demeanor went quickly cool. "Have you already forgotten---".

"Oh quiet Ernest. Just because some things seemed to have gone awry doesn't---"

The general stopped walking and turned back, sneering at his friend. "Awry!? He woke up after you pumped 'im full a tranqs that made 'im more dead than alive. Had we not gotten brainwashing right, we'd all be dead by now."

He was riled up and Bruce knew it. The shouting would start soon and Ernest would surely start breaking things. Such a short temper for one of his position. How he made it so far without anyone noticing that is beyond me. The doctor wanted to say more, but he held his tongue. He had valid points after all.

There was silence between them for a few minutes. After a deep breath & a rub of his temples, the general spoke calmly. "Just make sure to get that report ready soon & gather the others. I need to know everything we're dealing with."

Bruce scampered off with a "Yes, sir" without looking back at the general. The general kept walking through the hospital, speaking to no one that acknowledged him, until he eventually wound up on the roof. The view of the ocean was good from the base hospital, especially during the sunset. The simple pleasure of just staring out to sea had never left the otter after all he'd been through. Nothing else mattered. It was just him and the world. Closing his eyes, he drew a deep breath, letting the cool sea air flow through his body. So calming, so calming...

As the sun dipped beyond the waves on the horizon, a faint whisper escaped his maw. "I will make my dream a reality."