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With all the lights around her, it was hard for Cindy to follow the bright flash that was coming from the tiny device the paramedic held in front of her face. But she slowly moved her eyes to the left and right when need be. The other paramedic was busy examining the scars around her body, especially the three ones on her back that nearly cut Cindy to the bone. Her neck was red and bruised after being choked so hard, and Cindy already knew part of her face was swollen from being punched by the skunk's powerful fists.

"I need you to lift your arms now, okay? I'm going to take your shirt off," said the paramedic in front of her.

Cindy wasn't listening. She was looking over at Welton as he was being treated for his wounds as well. Somewhere not far off, a couple of rhinos were grunting with much effort as they hauled the deceased skunk's body around in a body bag.

"Miss Wellers?"

Cindy blinked and looked at the paramedic again. "Right...my shirt."

Cindy raised her arms and winced a few times as the paramedic removed the shirt. While the two of them were busy taking care of Cindy, Welton was wincing and grunting whenever his paramedics put alcohol or peroxide on his wounds. But the bear had a thick hide, so his wounds weren't as serious as Cindy's. Welton would've been a lot better if two detectives he knew weren't standing beside Cindy asking her way too many questions as the paramedics treated her.

"So this skunk thing, it just attacked the two of you out of the blue?" asked the young detective.

Cindy didn't answer. She looked straight ahead with a blank stare, disregarding the various red and blue lights flashing on the street.

"Miss Wellers?"

"She's still in shock, Detective. Could you two please do this another time?" asked the first paramedic.

"We'd love to," started Detective Laften, "but there's an oversized skunk beast being hauled to the morgue right now, and this woman and her bear are the only two who know why."

Welton got out of the back of the ambulance he was sitting inside, worrying the fox who was treating him.

"Sir? You still need--"

"I'm fine," Welton snapped.

Cindy still didn't answer the detectives. She didn't feel like revealing any information that could incriminate her and Welton.

"From the looks of your wounds, it was self-defense. It's not like either of you will be going to jail for this. And you told me before you had a license to carry a gun, so you're covered there too. But why exactly were you two in some dark alley with this beast?"

"It doesn't matter why," snarled Welton when he got close to the detectives.

The two detectives turned around and saw the wounded bear standing a few feet away from them. They backed away and stood near the ambulance so they could face both of them.

"The anthro you two got into a fight with is dead. We can't just sit here and ignore the details behind it," said the younger detective.

"The skunk tried to kill us. We killed him first, but not before it beat the shit out of us and almost fucking ripped us to shreds! Now get the fuck out of here and leave Cindy alone!"

Eddie Laften flared his nostrils and blinked, disregarding what he said. Even though he was trying to hide it, the bear was shaking and grasping his right side where the skunk's claws had lacerated him.

"We understand if you're upset--"

"Upset? Upset about what? The fact that I just killed someone? The fact that my partner and I almost fucking died?!"

"Welton, calm down," Cindy said quietly.

"No! Too much shit has been happening the last few days for you two to be hasslin' us like this! Did either of you even bother to look at that skunk?! Do you have any idea how large..."

The pain got to Welton. He grunted and took a few breaths before he stopped talking and stood beside the ambulance, grasping his stomach wounds as his heart started to beat faster. The younger detective looked up at his partner and blinked.

"He's got a point, Eddie."

Eddie looked down at his partner with a scowl, as if he was about to blurt out for him to shut up.

"Well, he does. That skunk couldn't have been less than nine feet tall, ten even. None of the skunks we've ever encountered looked as monstrous as that thing--even on steroids, they can't get that big. It was like this...some--"

"Wereskunk," Cindy blurted out.

Eddie had to force himself not to snicker. "A-a what?"

Cindy looked up at the detectives. "Like...a werewolf. But a skunk instead."

Eddie huffed. "Okay, we're gonna have to take you two to the station for further questioning."

"What the hell for?!" shouted Welton.

"All we know right now is that a skunk's dead and you two are responsible. It's standard procedure; you two should understand."

Cindy nodded. "Fine then."

The paramedic treating Cindy grumbled. "At least let us patch them up first in the ambulance. Last thing we need is either of them bleeding to death."

The paramedic didn't continue, because he knew he'd say something slanderous about the cops that might end with him losing his job. So the detectives agreed, while Welton snarled at the humans.

"This is fucking bullshit," he growled.

"Don't worry about it...we're fine now, Welton. That's all that matters," said Cindy.

Welton thought about saying something else, but he physically didn't have the energy to blurt out something snarky or condescending. Besides, he could tell by Cindy's face that the woman was anything but fine.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The shark in military clothing paced back and forth, growling as the gills on his neck kept moving slowly. He leaned against the wall and snorted as he looked at the scruffy African wild dog who was desperately trying to face the shark bravely.

"I-I don't know what happened, Reilcuf," said the dog. "They, uh, they must've fought him off."

The shark growled, barring his teeth. "Doesn't matter what happened. He's dead, and those two private investigators are still alive!"

"We-we can fix that. We just need to keep following Cindy and her partner--she, uh, she's got this CI we've been following too. We just need a little more time, and then we can fix all of it."

Reilcuf shook his head and smirked. "Fix? Hehehe, 'fix' he says! That makes me laugh!"

The shark slowly walked towards the African wild dog, causing him to back up against the wall. Reilcuf stood so close to the dog that he could almost feel the shark's body pressing up against his. The panting wild dog looked up at Reilcuf and blinked, moments before the shark grabbed him by the throat and started to squeeze.

"Our goal isn't to 'fix' anything! Don't you get it? Why fix trash when you can simply buy a newer, better piece of equipment! We're rebuilding, Fenkar!"

"I'm sorry," said the canine with a strained voice. "You're right; we're rebuilding. My-my mistake."

Reilcuf grinned widely and let go of the dog. "And the first step to rebuilding is demolishing! You understand that, yes?"

The African wild dog rubbed his throat a few times before he blinked and slowly nodded. "Yes...I do."

Reilcuf patted the beast's right shoulder. "Good! Now then, tell Reegar to kill the family."

Fenkar's eyes grew wide. "B-but, Reilcuf! I thought--"

"Terry failed his mission. Besides, those private investigators killed him anyway. We have no need for his family. Get rid of 'em."

"We've already killed enough people as it is. If we murder--"

"By the time I've set my plans into motion, no one's gonna notice or care about one missing family. So tell Reegar to kill them!"

Fenkar didn't see the point arguing with the stubborn shark anymore. He sighed deeply. "Yes, sir."

The African wild dog took out his cell phone and dialed Reegar's number. Reegar was several miles away, standing inside a spacious home located in a cul-de-sac away from the city. The rhino was leaning against a wall in one of the bedrooms, breathing quietly as he looked at the three human beings who were tied up with tape covering their mouths and sitting on the floor wearing their pajamas. Two of them were children resting beside the bed, their faces wet with tears, and the third was their mother, whose wrists were sore and red after trying to break through her restraints. Reegar blinked once he heard his cell phone ring. He took a silenced pistol out of his pants pocket and pointed it at the family with one hand. Then he took his cell phone out his other pocket and held it up to his ear with another hand.

"Yeah?"

"It's me. We don't need 'em anymore."

The rhino nodded his head gently. "Got it."

Reegar hung up his phone and slid it back into his pocket. A mere two seconds later, he pointed the gun at the woman's daughter and shot her in the head. By the time the mother started shrieking in a muffled voice, her son's brains were sprayed all over the bed sheets. Reegar watched as the woman started crying again, pleading for her life even with her hands tied. And then everything went silent once Reegar pulled the trigger one final time.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

By the time Welton and Cindy were released, it was almost noon the next day. The two creatures stepped outside into a joyous, sunny environment where everything still seemed normal on the streets. The duo limped as they walked down the steps of the police station, their bodies covered in gauze or other types of bandages. Cindy looked to her left and saw dozens of people walking or running down the street. Anthros eating sandwich wraps, human teenagers skateboarding, a few businessmen and women carrying briefcases or talking loudly on their cell phones. She looked to her right and saw the same thing, people casually walking, running, or standing around on the sidewalk without a care in the world. The vehicles in the middle of the road rushed by them, spewing acrid fumes from the exhaust pipes as the drivers hurried to whatever destination they planned on reaching. Cindy kept staring at all the vehicles, people, and buildings around her until Welton finally snapped her out of her trance.

"C'mon, let's go," he said.

The young woman blinked and rubbed her forehead. They started to walk to their left, ignoring all the pedestrians and roaring vehicles that were speeding past them. Welton took a few breaths before he looked down at his partner and cleared his throat.

"I didn't say anything. I mean, I know how it works. They put you in a chair, play nice, start screaming in your face, play nice again, offer you a jar of honey, all that bullshit. Fuckin' stereotypical assholes. Just because I'm a bear doesn't mean everything I eat has to be honey or some type of fish."

"And just because you're a bear doesn't mean you'll reject a jar of honey if it's offered to you."

Welton paused and glanced away. "So what if I ate it?" he grumbled.

Welton sighed afterwards and looked down at Cindy again. She wasn't in shock anymore, but the bear could tell that something about her had changed ever since last night. She actually looked worried, as opposed to being the headstrong woman she was a few days ago when she broke into Krazzer Labs.

"What'd you tell them?"

"Everything," Cindy said.

Welton stopped walking and huffed. "Are you serious?"

"We didn't do anything! I told them about Krazzer Labs, the murders and the chemicals that were stolen and why we were following that man and why we broke into the labs..."

Cindy stuttered and sighed, realizing she was babbling. Welton swore quietly before rubbing his nose.

"And did they believe you?"

"Of course not. A man transforming into a wereskunk? They think I'm crazy now."

Welton took out his cell phone and checked to see what time it was. "They had us in there all night. For all we know, whoever's doing all this struck again or transformed another human being."

"And we killed our only lead. And we certainly can't get any help from Krazzer Labs."

Welton huffed and slammed a paw against his forehead, suddenly feeling very tired and agitated. The bear winced as he brushed past a few stitched-up lacerations on his face before he lowered his arm and shook his head.

"So where do we go from here?"

Cindy looked across the street and saw a vendor selling hot dogs out of his cart. She couldn't smell the hot dogs from where she stood, but she knew it had been a while since she had a decent meal, and the snacks they offered her during questioning weren't filling.

"We eat, get some rest. After what happened last night, we're better off staying home until we get our energy back."

Welton shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

Cindy and Welton walked over to a stoplight and waited for the "Don't Walk" sign to change so they could cross the street. Once it switched itself to say "Walk," the bear and human being headed down the middle of the road until they got to the other side of the street. Cindy and Welton sidled their way around the pedestrians before they arrived at the hot dog cart. The vendor was a corpulent, but thankfully hygienic dark brown boar who had an apron and tiny cap squeezed onto his head and stomach. The moment the swine noticed Cindy, he snorted and smiled.

"Well now, if it ain't Cindy Wellers! How you doin'?"

Cindy forced herself to smile, but she didn't lie to the boar. "I've been better. Surprised you even know who I am."

The boar laughed as he started to prepare a hot dog for her. "Course I do! Saw you on TV a few times and read about you a lot in the papers. Hehe, when d'you get a new partner? Never figured you'd pair yourself up with a Teddy bear!"

"I am not a Teddy bear," Welton growled.

The boar snickered as he finished Cindy's hot dog and handed it to her. "Aww, don't be that way! You're all big and cuddly and poofy like one!"

"Just give me the damn hot dog."

The boar frowned. "Ooh, you're a grumpy ole bear, ain't cha?"

The boar prepared Welton's hot dog as well, putting several condiments on it since he figured someone his size would eat it all regardless of whether or not he liked it. Welton snatched the hot dog from the boar and started to chomp into it noisily. Cindy dug into her pants pocket and pulled out her wallet, fishing out a few dollar bills to give to the boar.

"Thanks."

"No, thank you!" the boar replied.

The duo walked away from the boar vendor and proceeded to eat their hot dogs in silence, chewing noisily on the beef, bread and condiments. Welton, unsurprisingly, finished eating his hot dog in no time at all and tossed the wrapper he was holding the hot dog on in a nearby garbage can. The bear looked up ahead and could see that the train station wasn't far away.

"I gotta tell ya Cind, I'm really getting tired of people calling me--"

"TEDDY BEAR!"

Welton snarled and turned around. He was about to open his mouth to scream when he saw a small child yanking on his mother's clothing, giggling and pointing at Welton.

"Look, Mom! There's Teddy bears too! There's doggies and kitties, and now bearsies too! Can we go say hi to him? Please, Mom? Please, Dad?"

The boy's father looked down at his son and blinked. "I'm sure he doesn't want to be bothered--"

The child didn't listen. He rushed over to Welton and stood in front of the grizzly bear. He looked up at Welton and waved to him, smiling widely.

"Hi, Teddy bear!"

Welton didn't know what to say or do at first. He just stammered and looked confused. He flicked his eyes over at Cindy, wondering if she would give him quick tips on how to talk to children. The boy's parents quickly rushed towards their son and started to apologize to the ursine.

"We're sorry. Apparently our son still hasn't learned not to talk to strangers," said the boy's father sternly.

Welton looked down at the child and blinked. He figured the least he could do was play along. "What are you talking about? I'm no stranger. I'm a Teddy bear!"

Cindy didn't intervene. She just leaned against a wall and kept watching the spectacle unfold. Welton smiled as the child laughed at him. He crouched down so he was at the child's eye level.

"See, guys? I told you they were real! I told you they could talk!"

Welton giggled. "That's right! Everyone says seeing is believing. Well, here I am!"

The boy's father was about to pull his son backwards, but his mother grabbed his father's arm and shook her head.

"So you've never seen us before?" asked Welton.

The boy shook his head. "Uh-uh. We don't live around kitty-cats or horsies or Teddy bears. I only see 'em on TV."

"That's unfortunate. I'm guessing you live in a place where the people around you think we're all mean and nasty?"

"Uh-huh. But I think it's stupid. You're not mean at all!"

Everyone seemed to pause for a moment. Cindy was still eating her hot dog, Welton and the child were still smiling at each other, and his parents were still watching him chat with the bear, hoping he didn't try to harm him.

"So, uh, you got anything you'd like to ask me?"

The young boy suddenly backed away and plugged his nose. "Eww, you got bad breath, Teddy bear! How come you don't brush your teeth?"

Welton frowned. Cindy started snickering uncontrollably as she finished off her hot dog. The bear glared at her evilly and she suddenly stopped laughing. Welton chuckled meekly as he scratched the back of his head and answered.

"Uh, well, Teddy bears like me, and doggies and all the animals you see--we aren't very fond of brushing out teeth. Plus bears like me eat fish and meat all the time. So why bother brushing my teeth? My breath's gonna stink every morning when I wake up regardless."

"I know! It's like cleaning my room! What's the point if it's gonna get all dirty next week?"

The boy's father rubbed his forehead. "I think that's enough talking for now. Come along, son. We still have a few errands to run."

"Bu-but wait! Can't I ask him one more question?"

The mother blinked. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

The boy's father rolled his eyes. "I already know what he's gonna ask..."

The boy giggled as he looked at Welton. "Can I hug you? If you really are a Teddy bear, you must be soft and cuddly like one!"

Welton didn't say anything. He almost gasped and stared at the young human being with wide eyes. His mood suddenly changed, and the bear felt like the boy just asked him what the meaning of life was. He kept staring at the child until the boy's father started to become irritated.

"That's enough. We have to go now."

"No, it's all right." Welton giggled and smiled. "Of course you can hug me."

"YAY!!"

The child practically glomped Welton, rushing up to him and jumping just as the bear began to stand. Welton opened up his arms and embraced the child, wrapping his arms around his back. The child's parents were worried at first, but they settled down once they noticed that Welton wasn't doing anything harmful. The child tried to wrap his tiny arms around Welton too, but his body and belly were too big. He buried his head in the beast's abdomen, giggling as he felt Welton's brown fur brushing against his neck and light brown hair.

"So warm and snuggly," the kid mumbled.

Welton didn't say anything back. He just kept clutching the child for a while until his parents realized they hugged long enough.

"I think that's good. You can let go now, son," said his mother.

The child let go of Welton and dropped to the ground. He backed away from the ursine and waved at him.

"Bye, Teddy bear!"

Welton smiled and waved back.

"Bye."

Just as the family began to walk away from Welton, the child saw a skunk walking past them and giggled.

"Hey, look, a skunk! Hi, skunky!"

"Uh, now honey? I think that's a creature you don't want to hug," warned his mother.

Welton and Cindy watched as the boy chased after the skunk and his parents chased after their son. Cindy tossed her hot dog wrapper inside a nearby trash bin and placed a hand on Welton's shoulder.

"Now what were you saying about getting tired of being called a Teddy bear? ...Welton?"

Welton wasn't smiling anymore. He was frowning and looked depressed. He quickly turned away and started walking down the sidewalk, breathing heavily as he looked down. Cindy walked beside him as Welton let out a soft moan and kept blinking several times. The bear suddenly slowed down, looking like he was having difficulty walking. When Welton finally lifted his head, Cindy frowned too and could see that he was teary-eyed. She saw a tear run down Welton's right cheek before she heard him moan again. The grizzly bear hastily walked into a deserted alleyway and stood beside a dumpster, hoping no one would see him. He held a paw up to his mouth, his back turned to the rest of the pedestrians. Cindy slowly walked into the alley and saw the grizzly bear with his back facing her.

"Welton?" she called out again.

Welton started shaking, his eyes shut as more tears ran down his face. He let out muffled sobs and whimpers, trying his hardest to stay silent so no one would see what was happening to him. But when Cindy was standing directly behind him, she quickly began to understand. Welton opened his eyes and put his paws on his head, gritting his teeth as he sniffled a few times. Eventually, it became too much for him. Welton let out a wail that sounded like he was dying and screaming for help. The ursine sniffled and sobbed as more tears started to run down his face. When Welton finally turned around, Cindy could see that his face was a wreck and that he was in pain. Before she could say anything else, Welton grabbed her and tightly wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry!" he shouted in-between his sobs.

Cindy still didn't know what to say, but being so close to the bear while he was acting this way was making her teary-eyed as well. She slowly wrapped her arms around the bear's mass and hugged him too.

"I'm sorry! I'm...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."

That was all he could say. Whenever he wasn't screaming or stating "I'm sorry," he was busy sniffling, whimpering, or sobbing as he hugged Cindy. Cindy didn't say anything to him. She didn't try to pry away from the hug. She knew he needed to let it out. So the duo hugged each other in the middle of the alley, disregarding the noisy city life that was going on all around them. Nothing else seemed to matter. All they cared about was keeping each other safe from now on. The woman wasn't sure how long they hugged. Two minutes turned into five, and it seemed like Cindy's shoe prints and Welton's paw prints would be permanently imprinted into the ground. Shortly after Welton started to settle down, the bear sniffled and whimpered. He finally removed his arms and let Cindy go. The bear wiped his nose with his arm and rubbed some of the tears off his face, trying to straighten himself up. He panted a few times before he sniffled again.

"I...I-I need to go home. I need some time alone," he said, his voice cracking slightly.

Cindy wiped her face too. She didn't cry nearly as hard as Welton, but her face was still a bit wet.

"No."

"Cindy, please."

"After what just happened now? You can't keep going through this by yourself."

"I'll be okay," Welton said, nodding and sniffling. "I'm serious...I'm okay now. I just...I need time to think. I need to be alone right now. Please."

"Welton--"

"I'll call you later tonight. I promise. We'll talk more then, okay?"

Cindy knew better than to argue with the bear, especially when he was acting like this. "...All right then."

Welton sniffled and nodded. "Thank you."

The bear stormed out of the alley and walked down the street. Cindy, however, was left standing there, still trying to understand what just happened to him.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Welton's breakdown. Her failed attempt at infiltrating Krazzer Labs' servers. Being attacked by a beastly skunk. Being questioned for over five hours. It was all too much for Cindy. The moment she got back home, she walked into her bedroom, took her shoes off, and threw herself on her mattress. There was no need to do anything else; her body did the rest. One minute, she was looking up at her ceiling. The next she was groaning and wincing, the wounds she received agitating her back again. Cindy slowly sat up, moving her body carefully so she wouldn't exacerbate any scars or wounds. She glanced outside the window and noticed that the sun was setting, as opposed to how it was several hours ago, shining brightly down on the city. As Cindy sat on the bed, she heard her cell phone vibrating on top of her nightstand and sighed. She reached over and grasped it, hoping a sober Welton was on the other line. But the caller ID only read "Gomez" in large white letters. She answered the call anyway.

"Hello?"

"I need you to meet me in Kerchen Park, right under the bridge. You know, that arch-shaped one made of stone?"

"Right now?"

"Yes, now."

"Why didn't you just come to my apartment?"

"Don't ask questions. Just get here as soon as possible. I'll wait for you."

"But--"

Gomez hung up. Cindy looked at her phone and muttered "shit" to herself. She really felt like sleeping for another hour or two, but the sun was nearly down. After what happened last night, she didn't feel like traveling anywhere in the middle of the night anymore, so Cindy got out of bed and put on fresh clothes. It took her longer to get dressed since she had to be careful not to reopen any of her wounds, but she still managed to put on a pair of white pants and a purple polo shirt. Once Cindy left her apartment complex and put more gas in her car, she headed straight for the park as the sun continued to set. Cindy felt exposed this time around. Before she had her gun on her, but after the skunk attack, it was taken by the police and stored within one of the evidence lockers at the station. So Cindy walked around the park quickly, moving away from anyone that looked even remotely suspicious. Over by the deciduous trees, a man and his daughter were having a paddle ball contest. The same homeless man Cindy saw the other night was sleeping on the same bench, only this time he had an empty bottle of whisky dangling from his right hand.

Cindy almost ran into a colorful, shirtless hyena who reeked of sweat. Cindy glanced at the creature as he walked along the sidewalk, shaking his tail and bobbing his head, singing to himself as he listened to music on his iPod. She couldn't help but stare at the hyena; the fur on his scalp was sticking up and dyed red to look like a funky Mohawk; the fur around the rest of his body was dyed blue and purple; his tail was completely yellow, and the spots on his body were light green. Cindy watched the hyena dance away before she shook her head and went back to seeking out Gomez. Luckily, she spotted the mouse with ease standing under the arch bridge he mentioned over the phone. She walked over to where the mouse was standing and hid in the shadows beside him.

"Jesus, Cind...the fuck happened to you?"

Cindy paused for a moment before answering. "It's been a very long, rough night. I'll explain it later."

"You sure? You look like--"

"Just tell me why we're here. You sounded frantic over the phone."

Cindy observed the mouse. His forehead was moist with sweat and he was wearing his red hoody and a pair of jeans. The mouse looked to his left and right before he stepped further into the shadows and gestured for Cindy to come closer.

"I'm leaving."

Cindy stammered for a moment. "Leaving? What do you mean, leaving?"

"Exactly what I said. I'm getting the hell outta Dodge. If I stay in this city for another week, hell, another day even, I'm dead."

"All right, slow down first. Did I miss something last night?"

Gomez let out a shuddering breath before he stuffed his paws in the pockets of his hoody. "I found out what the chemical was. The formula that got stolen from Krazzer Labs? It was EC-27."

"Which is?"

Gomez exhaled. "Do you know what gene-splicing is?"

"Kinda."

"Well, it's a little like that. Let's say you have a tomato, a head of lettuce, some cheese, and some grilled chicken. Chop up the tomatoes and lettuce, shred the cheese, cut the chicken into cubes, throw it all into a bowl, and what do you get?"

"A salad."

Gomez nodded. "Exactly. Only the 'salad' in question is a bloodthirsty beast."

"...So what are you saying, this formula can alter someone's DNA so drastically that it can turn a human being into an anthro?"

Gomez nodded again. "I asked around, talked to a bunch of my old coworkers. Got one of 'em drunk one night and he wound up telling me what the chemical was. I heard about it when I was working there, Cindy. I know what it does. I...they said it wouldn't work. We tried it on a few test subjects, but they died. They must've continued experimenting, figured out a way to improve it."

Cindy sighed with relief and almost smiled. "Gomez, this is perfect! We have enough information--"

"I'm not finished, and that's not why I'm leaving."

Cindy stared at Gomez again as the mouse stroked some of his whiskers and put his paws in his pockets again.

"You know about my connections to those gun runners back on Tarland Beach, right?"

"What about them?"

"Word on the street is that a bunch of anthros have been buying a bunch of bombs, weapons, anything they can get their paws or hands on. And from what I know, all these anthros used to be in the military or freelance as mercenaries."

Cindy's eyes grew wide. "Was one of them a shark?"

Gomez shrugged. "I don't know, Cindy...but some of them work for Krazzer Labs, or used to work for them."

Cindy leaned against the structure of the bridge. "Oh my God..."

"Think about it: employees from Krazzer Labs are dying. People are disappearing. An entire shipment of a chemical that can reconstruct a human being's DNA has been stolen. And I found out that a group of anthros are busy spending way too much money buying guns. Let's not get started on the fact that many of my contacts associated with Krazzer Labs are turning up dead, or they're missing and presumably left town."

Cindy blurted out the first thing that came to mind to convince Gomez to stay. "We can protect you."

"Bullshit. You're a private investigator, not the FBI."

"Then go to the cops. I-I'm sure the city--"

"You're not hearing me, Cindy. The _military_is involved--and if not the military, then the ex-military. And if that's the case, the government's probably involved. Cindy, think about it. If all these people are disappearing from the city and no one seems to notice or care, then--"

"--that means the cops know about it and are burying the information, keeping it from getting to the public. Jesus Christ, Gomez!"

Gomez shook his head. "I have to leave town. Tomorrow. I'd leave tonight but I still gotta get some things together, find the right passports, get some cash."

Cindy scoffed. "You're leaving a lot of shit on my doorstep here. I do appreciate you telling me all this, but like you said, I'm just a private investigator. And we know the cops are probably involved now. What am I supposed to do? Who am I supposed to relay this Intel to?"

"That temperamental Teddy bear known as your partner?"

"Okay, but who else? It's just hearsay, our word against someone else's."

Gomez dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a yellow notepad. "Here. Before I left, I wrote down a list of all my contacts and anyone I know who might be able to help you. Call them, e-mail them, meet them in person--I don't care. Just tell 'em that you know me, and they should be able to help you. Someone on that list must have evidence that can bust this whole thing wide open."

Cindy took the notepad and started to flip through the pages. "There's a lotta names and phone numbers up here."

"I know. But you and Welton will figure something out."

"We can't spend all our time--"

"I told you before, someone is following me! I think I even made the guy when I left your apartment! For all I know, there's a sniper in one of these buildings waiting for me to walk out into the open. And let's not forget all the enemies I've made in the past who still want my head on a silver platter. But you and Welton should be fine."

"Um..."

That was all she needed to say for the mouse to figure it out. Gomez frowned as he leaned against the stone structure, his ears and whiskers drooping.

"Someone tried to kill you. That's why you look so beat up."

"It was one of the test experiments. I saw him on the train; he was human at first, but then his hand turned into a paw. I followed him into an alley and...he wasn't human anymore. He was some skunk...thing. I don't know; like a wereskunk or something. Welton and I barely survived last night."

Gomez put his paws on his head and let out another shuddering breath as he shut his eyes. "Fuck. This is really happening, isn't it?"

"We'll be fine, Gomez."

"Don't say 'we'll be fine'; that's what people say when things aren't fine."

"But we know what's going on now. We might not have the evidence yet, but we'll find it. It shouldn't take us more than a week before we find something we can use."

Gomez took a few deep breaths before he nodded. "Okay...all right. I'll leave town until this whole thing blows over."

"Welton and I will start calling and meeting your contacts."

"Good. I'm probably gonna dump my cell phone tomorrow. If you see a random number pop up on your phone, it's probably me."

"Got it."

The mouse and human being stared at each other for a while, listening to the wind blowing and a few people who were walking around or having fun in the park. Cindy slid the notepad in her pocket before asking the mouse a question.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Gomez wiggled his nose. "...Could you rub my ears again?"

Cindy rolled her eyes. "You're asking me to do that now?"

"Please?" he asked, wagging his tail. "You know how much I love it when you rub my ears. And, well, I might not get the chance to ask again for a while."

Cindy stared at the mouse, who was looking at her with his brown eyes wide and sad. His ears and whiskers were drooping again. All the mouse needed to do was stick out his bottom lip and he'd look like a dog begging for a treat. Cindy sighed.

"Turn around."

Gomez squeaked as he began to smile. After the rodent turned his back to Cindy, she raised her arms and started to massage the mouse's ears. Gomez shut his eyes with a wide smile on his face, growling and giggling like a pup, wagging his tail swiftly and hitting Cindy against her legs with it. She gently caressed his scalp too, scratching the fuzzy gray patch of fur before working her way back to his ears.

"God, that feels so good," he growled.

"Okay, that's enough," Cindy said, lowering her hands.

The mouse turned back around and faced Cindy, his tail no longer wagging so hard. "Thank you. So, um...suppose this is goodbye for now."

"You sure you don't need anything else?"

"No. It's better if I go on my own, and it's better if I don't tell you where I'm going; I'll only be putting you in more danger. Don't worry. I won't forget to call you."

"Okay. Stay safe!"

Gomez chuckled as he started to walk backwards. "Look who's talking. Last thing I need to hear on the news is how you got torn to shreds by some wereskunk!"

The mouse turned around and began to walk away, leaving Cindy alone beneath the stone bridge. She watched as the mouse disappeared from her line of sight, hoping that no one mysteriously appeared and killed him just as he was heading home. Cindy looked at the notepad Gomez handed off to her and flipped through some of the pages. She knew what she needed to do now.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was almost pitch black outside when Cindy knocked on Welton's apartment door. She looked around the hallways over and over again, panting and praying that no one had followed her all the way to the bear's home. She knocked on the door a second time, but stopped when she heard faint footsteps coming from the other side. Welton opened up the door, looking a lot better compared to how he was earlier, but still a bit down. Welton didn't tell her to come in; he just gestured her to do so before stepping out the way. The bear shut the door as Cindy stood in the living room.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Welton finally said.

"You were in a lot of pain. It...sometimes it's just better to let it out. Get it outta your system, y'know?"

"Sure," said Welton as he headed for the kitchen.

"Are you okay now? Gomez found something very useful that could help us, but if you're--"

"No," the bear snapped. "I told you, I needed time to think. But I'm fine now."

Cindy stared at the ursine as he sat down in his kitchen in front of his stained dining room table. She walked into the kitchen and joined him, surprised to see a trash bag lying beside a couple of cabinets near the fridge. She disregarded the trash bag for the moment and took out the notepad Gomez gave to her. Cindy placed the notepad on the table, making Welton shrug.

"So it's a bunch of names and numbers. How is this helpful?"

"I spoke to Gomez today."

Welton's ears wiggled as he leaned forward in his chair. "What'd he say?"

"He knows what the stolen formula is, something called EC-27. Gomez told me that when exposed, it scrambles the victim's DNA, turns them into monstrous, mindless creatures. He said that when the tests first began, all the victims died during the trials. Given what happened to us last night, we can assume that they perfected the chemical."

"That's great! That skunk who attacked us is evidence to prove what we found out is true then!"

"Not entirely. Technically, it's still hearsay. And since that skunk's dead, it's not like he'll be of much help to us until after the autopsy."

"What about Gomez? Can't we just take him in and let him spill his guts to the cops?"

"Gomez is gone. After I met with him today, he told me he's gonna skip town."

Welton stared at Cindy, his face contorting and looking like he was about to punch a hole into the wall.

"That fucking..."

Welton clenched a paw into a fist, but began to uncurl his fingers moments later. He let out a long breath and relaxed.

"Maybe that's for the best. Someone already tried to kill us; it's only a matter of time before they go after him too."

"Gomez told me about 'them' as well, which is what makes this more complicated. He said that freelance mercenaries and people from the military have been buying guns and bombs recently. He doesn't know why, but guess who they're associated with?"

"Krazzer Labs."

Cindy nodded. "And so far, no one's been making many reports about people going missing. There's been way too much shit going on in this city, and besides the standard everyday crimes, no one's been making much fuss over it."

Welton was starting to figure it out. "You think the cops are involved too."

"More or less."

Welton and Cindy sat in silence, listening to a clock ticking in the background and the air conditioning unit humming gently. The bear reached forward and grabbed the notepad, skimming through some of the names and numbers to try and see if he knew any of them.

"Again, how is this helpful?"

"Those are all of Gomez's contacts. Most of 'em know something about Krazzer Labs or are connected to the company in some way, shape or form. There's nothing else we can really do now except call them and try to meet some of them in person, hope that they have physical evidence that could expose this entire thing without getting anyone else killed."

"We'd better get started soon then. Tomorrow morning would be best."

"I agree. We'll spend the rest of the night resting."

"Yeah."

Welton put the notepad down and exhaled as he rubbed his nose and forehead. Cindy could tell that the bear wasn't drunk, but he still didn't seem like his usual self. He wasn't blasting his vulgar, sarcastic quips at her or treating Gomez like a gnat that needed to be squashed. Cindy was about to get up and leave when she stared at trash bag over by the cabinets again and noticed it was filled with various bottles and cans.

"So what's in the trash bag?" she asked, getting up and walking towards the bag.

Welton waited for a very long time before he spread his paws across the table and replied, "All my alcohol."

Cindy paused and looked at Welton with wide eyes. "You're shittin' me."

"Nope...s'why I needed to go home earlier. S'why I wanted some time to myself. I found it all, poured it all down the drain, threw all the cans and bottles away."

"How do I know you didn't drink it all?"

Welton looked at his partner and scowled. There was no need to answer the question; Cindy knew by now that if he was that intoxicated, he wouldn't have been able to stand up, let alone open his front door. Still, Cindy needed to be sure. She went as far as observing the bag and looking through the translucent white plastic. She could just make out a few empty bottles and crushed beer cans, and whenever she moved the bag around, she only heard aluminum and glass bottles rattling. The woman looked at the bear again and stammered.

"You're really serious. Are you saying that you're quitting?"

The grizzly bear turned away. He stared down at the table as the clock ticked in the background and the air conditioning hummed a little longer. But then he turned his chair so he was facing her, and he rubbed his paws together slowly.

"When I saw that kid today, he...he was so happy, Cind. He was so energetic, so curious about this city. He didn't know anything about me, about you, about any of us. He's just some kid who's gonna grow old, live a happy life with his happy family, die happy, blah, blah, blah. I thought I envied people like him, but this kid..."

Welton shook his head. "He doesn't know anything. He doesn't know what's happened to us, what we've been through. There's a lot of people who don't know how cruel this city--this world for that matter--can be. And I don't want 'em to know. I don't want this city to break out into riots. I don't want humans and anthros to go to war with each other. And I sure as hell don't want some creatures like that wereskunk--or whatever the hell that thing was--to run amok killing good people like that child who hugged me. I want people like that child and his family to be safe, Cindy. I want them to spend the rest of their lives knowing they have something to smile about when they wake up every day."

Welton leaned back in his chair, causing it to creak. "You asked me last night what I'm fighting for. Well, there you go."

There was another long silence after Welton finished his speech. But it wasn't discomforting or foreboding. It was only a natural silence that neither creature wanted to break. Welton looked away from Cindy and scratched at the table with two claws, looking like he was trying to pick something out of the wood. That's when Cindy walked over to Welton and stood behind his chair, looking down at his head. She smiled and grabbed the back of his head, making the bear grunt.

"The hell are you doing?"

"You were whining the other day that I never give you enough of these."

The grizzly bear was about to open his mouth when he felt Cindy's hands all over the back of his ears and his head. Welton gradually smiled and closed his eyes, emitting a pleased growling noise from the back of his throat. Cindy giggled when she heard him growling and scratched his scalp, ruffling the patch of fur in-between his fuzzy brown ears.

"Hehe, you do have cute ears like a Teddy bear."

Welton giggled and leaned back in his chair, relaxing as his partner continued to soothe his scalp and ears. After another minute of ear rubbing, Cindy reached down and wrapped her arms around the bear's mass, hugging him behind the chair.

"Don't call me Teddy bear," Welton mumbled.

Cindy chuckled. "Then stop looking like one."

Welton didn't rise to the bait. He simply smirked as he shut his eyes and let Cindy embrace him, enjoying the moment before the partners went back to working on their case.