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Description
The pounding of music could be heard far off, the flashing lights illuminating some owls, bats, and even some bug anthros flying overhead. Even higher up, some of the more rough anthros were looking for stragglers to swoop down on to harass or rob.
But Virgil didn’t care about any of that.

“O….. trol moving cl… our position. You m…”

Virgil sighed, beating her fist against the side of the helmet.
She was currently crouched on the fire escape of a building across the street from where the street trap Derek had opened supposedly was. Virgil would have activated her night vision… if the occasional car’s headlights didn’t blind her whenever they drove by.
And on top of that, her helmet’s onboard radio seemed to be experiencing trouble.

“Kelly, more radio problems. Can you please repeat that?” Virgil asked.

“Again? Seriously, take that thing to Radio Hut or something.” Kelly sighed.
“I said, one patrol car is moving on your position. You might want to hurry up before it gets here.”

“I know, I know.” Virgil sighed.
“But… you don’t think it’s the sort of trap that can reach out and grab you… do you?”

Silence for a few moments on the other end.
“… are you seriously scared of a photobooth.”

“It’s not a photobooth!” Virgil protested.
“And yes.”

“Just do that shocky thing you were talking about to get out.” Kelly pointed out.

Virgil could use the multi tool… but she wondered if it would be able to interface with the trap from the inside.
“Alright, alright. Just… keep watch. I’m going in.”
Virgil spread her wings through the newly made holes in the back of the suit. It had been tough making them, but well worth it. Virgil could now fly while wearing her suit.
She pushed off the fire escape, sailing down into the alleyway as she pulled her multi tool from her belt.

“… um… Kelly? There’s a problem.” Virgil said as she looked around just to make sure.

“Fuck.” Was Kelly’s simple response to this new problem.
“What’s wrong?”

“… there’s no trap in here.” Virgil said.
Though she looked all around hoping her statement could be confirmed as faulty, it did her no good. There was indeed no sign of anything that could be a trap. She gave a few of the trashcans a scan with the multi tool just to make sure, but it wasn’t registering any interfaceable electronic devices.

“Are you sure this is the right alleyway?” Kelly asked from her rooftop, looking down at the map Virgil had left her.

“You’re the one with the map, not me!”

“Hey, you gave it to me only ten minutes ago. But yeah, this looks like the place.”

Virgil realized what must have happened.
“… then they must have moved it.” She sighed in defeat.
“And we don’t have time to search the whole district for it!”

“Look, just calm down Vi.” Kelly assured.
“That Derek guy knows how to locate them. If we don’t get it tonight, we’ll get it some other time. For now, let’s just focus on the others.”

“But what if they moved them all!?” Virgil brought up.
“And what if they already have some anthros caught in them!?”

Virgil was in a panicked rage. What if this whole night was a bust, and there was nothing they could do?

“Vi, come on. Pull yourself together. Derek will find them. And even if they do get some anthros, at least you’ll stop them from getting any more. You already saved a lot. But you can’t save em all. Let’s do what we can.”

Virgil took a deep breath, calming her nerves. She couldn’t lose her cool out in the city like this. Funny how Kelly was being the voice of reason here.

“And by that, I mean let’s wreck some patrol cars if we can’t find any traps.”

Virgil recanted that earlier thought.
“We’ll see. The most I’ll do is use the mul… my gauntlet on them.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Kelly chirped.
“Now come on, let’s at least look into those other traps.”

Virgil took one last look around.
“... alright. Let’s go.” She muttered, making to walk out of the alleyway. But as she stepped forward, she felt some resistance on her left boot.
”Ugh… of course. Why not step in some gum? I’m a savior cyborg warriors to anthros, and I stepped in gum.”
She leaned against the wall, lifting the underside of her boot up. But what was stuck there wasn’t gum.
“What the…?” She muttered.
It was some silky, white film. Virgil drew her gloved finger along the boot, scraping it off. She felt it between her fingers some before tossing it aside. The feel of it was definitely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it…

“It’s here!”

Virgil let out a small yelp as Kelly’s voice blasted over the radio.
“Holy shit Kel, not so loud!” Virgil exclaimed. She really needed to figure out how to adjust the volume on the helmet…
“What’s here?”

“The trap! They didn’t move this one! Wait… where are you?”

“Still in the alleyway!” Virgil shouted.

“... damn you’re slow.” Kelly criticized.
“Get a move on. That patrol I saw is probably going to be right on top of you.”

“You’re a horrible lookout.” Virgil grumbled as she spread her wings, taking flight into the night sky, the mysterious material in the alleyway now out of mind…

~~~~~

Kelly was sitting on the ledge of an office building when Virgil finally caught up with her.

“About time. I was almost reduced to eating a mosquito out of boredom.” Kelly said.

But Virgil wasn’t having any of her sarcasm.
“You were supposed to be my lookout.” Virgil snapped.
“Why the hell did you leave me back there?”

“I THOUGHT you were right behind me. Give me a break.” Kelly said, rolling her eyes.
“I’d probably have done a better job keeping up with you if I was bringing up the rear though.”

Virgil, not in the mood to deal with this, peered over the edge of the building.

“The water station.” Kelly said.

Virgil directed her attention downwards, looking for what Kelly was referring to. Sure enough, built into the wall of a grocery store, there was a station for filling up large water bottles to keep in the house.
Virgil casually slipped the multi tool from her belt, pointing it at the machine before pressing the interface button. But she was unfortunately too far away to interface.

“Alright. I’ll fly down and destroy it. You keep watch from up here again. And DON’T leave me like you did before.” Virgil said, preparing to fly down to the trap.

“Might want to wait a bit.” Kelly said nonchalantly.
“It’s not Packers, but there is a Blumberg PD car in one of the alleyways. And as far as they’re concerned, you’re a gal who broke a bunch of unstable anthro delinquents from a perfectly legal facility.”

Virgil looked back to the street, trying to see the car Kelly was talking about…
And sure enough, there it was. Lights off in an alleyway further down sat a black and white police cruiser. And as luck would have it, the front of the car was angled in the general direction of the water station.

“Weeeeell… great.” Virgil sighed, slumping down to the ground.
“This is turning out to be one hell of a night.”

“Those are the best kinds of nights.” Kelly chuckled, sitting next to Virgil, giving her a pat on the back.
“But I bet you’ll be able to look back on this night and laugh.”

“Or cringe.” Virgil said with a roll of her eyes, reaching up and removing her helmet, her blue hair spilling out behind her. She caught Kelly’s eyes looking her over.
“Please, no pervy comments.”

“Oh, come on.” Kelly said with a roll of her eyes.
“I can hold back on it if I want to.”

“Then why don’t you? I mean… I’d have thought you wouldn’t want to uphold the basic lesbian stereotype of being incredibly horny all the time and hitting on every girl around.” Virgil said.

“And what makes you think that?” Kelly chuckled halfheartedly.
“Maybe I like the stereotype? I mean, stereotypes are a thing for a reason. Because they’re mostly true.”

Virgil opened her mouth to answer… but couldn’t think of one.
“Well… I guess I just assumed maybe you didn’t like them.” Virgil admitted sheepishly.

“Well you’re wrong. Maybe I used to hate them, but I thought “Hey, everyone else is upholding it. Why the hell should I try so hard to be monogamous when no one else fucking wants to?””

Virgil as taken back by this statement, and Kelly looked a little surprised she’d let that out of her mouth.
“Ahem… so yeah. Why bother?”

Virgil was starting to get a hunch as to what had Kelly so riled up about what Virgil had said. She rose up a little, looking over the ledge of the building into the alleyway to see if the car was still there… which it was.

“Well, looks like we have some time to kill.” Virgil said, sitting back down again.
“Funny. You’ve been living with me for several weeks now, and I still know next to nothing about you.”

“What’s there to know?” Kelly scoffed.
“I’m super gay. I’m good looking. I’ve got a flat chest. And I’m one hell of a thrill seeker. Anything else you want to know?”

“Yes, actually.” Virgil said.
“There’s got to be more to you than that. Like… your brother. What’s he like?”

A small smile graced Kelly’s beak.
“He’s cool.” She answered plainly, saying nothing more on the subject.

“Ok, I got it.” Virgil nodded.
“Anything else? What’s he like? Where does he live? How’s your relationship with him?”

“If you’re looking for a boyfriend, he’s not open. He’s engaged.” Kelly said plainly. Her expression soured at that statement.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m not really looking either.” Virgil said, thinking of her talk with Telokey earlier.
“But you do have a good relationship with him, right?”

“Hell yeah.” Kelly smiled.
“Guy is super supportive. He was the first person I came out to. Helped spring on my parents. I lived with him before I got on my feet with a job. He helped me out when I lost my job. And moved my stuff into storage when I got nabbed by the fuzz for pickpocketing.”

Virgil couldn’t help but admire how Kelly looked up to her brother.
“How did your parents handle you coming out?” She asked.

Kelly shrugged.
“Eh. Acted like they could go either way, honestly.” She said.
“Didn’t stop them from trying to set me up with the sons of some family friends. Haven’t spoken with em in a while. I don’t think they even know about me getting shut in Gaunts. And I’d like to keep it that way.”

“I… can understand that.” Virgil nodded. If she still had parents, she most certainly wouldn’t have confided with them that she had led a jailbreak on a super secure torture facility masquerading as a correction center.
“Besides your brother and your parents, do you have any other family?”

Kelly’s eyes narrowed at this question.
“... no. No one else.” She said plainly.

Virgil knew that it was best to not press further on that subject. She again peared over the ledge. The car STILL hadn’t moved. Surely this street wouldn’t be too interesting at this time to stay there like it was? They must be on break or something. The late night donut shop nearby explained a lot now that she thought about it…

“So… have you ever had a girlfriend before?” Virgil asked nonchalantly as she kept watch on the car, looking for some sign of movement to tell her whether the people inside were actually on alert.

“Have you ever had a boyfriend before?” Kelly retorted, dodging Virgil’s question.

“Yes, as a matter of fact. I dated this nice rat in middle school and my first year of high school. Then I dated an eagle guy for about a year before we decided to break it off.” Virgil answered.

“High school romances don’t really count, Vi.” Kelly chuckled.
“Come on. Don’t you bullshit me that you haven’t dated since then.”

“I haven’t.” Virgil said, opting to not tell Kelly about Telokey right yet.

“No college guys or anything!? No way!” Kelly said, looking up at Virgil incredulously.

“I haven’t gone to college yet.” Virgil continued.
“My parents left me pretty well off when they died. Not to mention their business is still making a profit, and a small percentage of that goes to me. I might never have to work again.”

“... you did not tell me you were loaded.” Kelly said, wide eyed.
“Why the hell are you living in that dingy old apartment!?”

“Because,” Virgil continued.
“I don’t want to draw any unwanted attention to myself. Besides, the apartment was big enough for me before I had a roadrunner move in.”

“... fair enough.” Kelly shrugged.

“Besides, I… HEY! Don’t shift the topic off me! I asked you a question.” Virgil said, realizing she’d been bamboozled.

“Who says I had to answer it?” Kelly asked, crossing her arms.

“I do. Especially after I just spilled my whole love life to you.”

“It was a small spill…” Kelly muttered, rolling her eyes.
“Fine. Yes, I had a girlfriend. Met her when I moved here. She was a really hot cougar girl named Tristi.”

“I didn’t know you were into older women…?” Virgil said, tilting her head.

“ANTHRO cougar, Vi!” Kelly corrected.
“But yeah, she was great in bed…”

“Let’s not open that can. Please.” Virgil begged.
“What happened between you two if she was so great?”

Kelly tried to chuckle to play off the hurt.
“Turns out she was seeing someone else behind my back. And after I’d been so loyal to her. So I said, to hell with it. If she’s not gonna settle, why should I?”

Virgil looked sadly at Kelly. She’d known a lot of people who hadn’t dealt well with breakups during her time in high school. Some of them swore off dating. Some switched teams. Some had turned to more shady activities. And here was Kelly, who’d decided a serious relationship wasn’t for her.

“Ouch…” She said.
“I’m… sorry to hear that.”

“Eh, I’m over it.” Kelly shrugged.
“Think you could hook hook me up with one of the girls from your belly dancing class now that you’re feeling sorry for me?”

That got a mild chuckle out of Virgil.
“Sorry, but I don’t think any of them swing that way.” She said, patting Kelly on the back.
“But seriously… don’t give up. There’s someone out there for you.”

“And in the meantime, I’ll have fun until they come along.” Kelly winked.

“Yeah, but…”

Before Virgil could finish her thought, the sound of a car engine revving up caused her to glance over the building ledge. Clearly the police were done with their stakeout/break, as they drove off to a more lively area.

“Well, looks like you’re freed up. Do your thing, angel roo.” Kelly chuckled.

Virgil flinched at the name. It brought back bad memories of something she’d read…
“Uh, right. Wait here.”
Virgil picked her helmet back up, pulling it back on over her head as she spread her wings, throwing herself off the building and gliding down to the street. It wasn’t exactly far from club street, but far enough that there were no open businesses or street traffic. Virgil was alone.

”Please work… please…” Virgil thought to herself as she pulled the multi tool from her belt, the LED screen lighting up as she pressed the sync button. A cell phone was one thing, but a sophisticated machine designed to ensnare only anthros before luring in Gaunts goons to cart them off to some hellish torture?
“Oh thank God…” Virgil sighed in relief as the drop down menu showed up on screen, displaying the options available to her.
That was the thing about the multi tool. It was ridiculously vague as to what each option did. Right now, her options were run function, open, lock, disable, overload, signal, and some gibberish of code she didn’t understand. She looked between disable and overload. Overload definitely sounded more devastating to the machine than disable. She just hoped choosing it wouldn’t engulf her in a fiery explosion.
After taking a few steps back, Virgil selected overload before hitting confirm…
And let out a yelp as several small pops sounded from the machine, the glass display cracking before smoke rose from the machine.

“... that works.” She said, raising the multi tool to try and re-sync it. But it wouldn’t re-sync. The machine was dead.
“Kelly, I got it.” Virgil said jubilantly into her radio.
“The trap is dead.”

“Don’t know how you did it without touching it with your glove…” Kelly said suspiciously, having watched the whole thing from the rooftop.
“But I’d get a move on. I bet Packers will get a notification one of their traps just unfollowed them.”

“Yeah, good call.” Virgil nodded, clipping the tool back to her belt before taking flight.
“I’ll follow from the air. Lead the way to the last trap.”

Kelly gave the map she had a quick look, orienting herself properly.
“Alright then. Follow me.” Kelly said before folding it away, beginning to sprint and leap across the rooftops as Virgil soared behind.

But Kelly was right. Their efforts would not go unnoticed…

~~~~~

“I’m telling ya, baby. She was wearing some commando armor, and she busted in and got us all out.” The wolf brayed to the black furred bat sitting next to him.

“I don’t care if some hallucination of a Space Trek alien warrior saved you. I’m just glad you’re back.” She said, hugging the wolf.

The wolf couldn’t get his savior out of his mind though. Granted he had only seen her tail and ears… but that had been enough. He was enamored. He liked a strong girl after all.
Not as much as he loved his girlfriend though.

The two had been celebrating his escape from the Gaunts facility for the past two weeks. He’d been in there nearly three months… and she’d waited for him. The wolf knew he’d picked a keeper.
The two were currently just relaxing in a small park on one of the benches, the creak of a swing set behind them the only thing breaking the silence. The wolf had gone through so much in that hellhole, some things best left unspoken, but he knew that someday, his testimony would get the people responsible for his treatment locked up where the sun didn’t shine. All the anthros that had escaped were grateful to Virgil for what she’d done. They’d been given a second chance at life.
As the bat rested her head on the wolf’s furry shoulder, he did the same on her head. He wouldn’t admit it… but he’d been terrified during his time there. They had been so close to breaking his will…
But through the whippings, and the brainwashing, and the horrid mind games of Ivan Ex, the wolf had managed to hold onto one thought to keep him going. What he had waiting for him outside the walls of that place.
He just wanted this moment to last forev…

The two of them were jolted up by a blood curdling scream that filled the air, lasting about three seconds. And then… it stopped.
Both the wolf and the bat’s hearts were pounding as they looked around. It had sounded like someone had just been murdered.

“… the fuck was that?” The wolf exclaimed, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted anxiously.
The bat was equally freaked out, her ears twitching as she tried to pinpoint the sound.

“… e-excuse me…”
The two nearly jumped out of their fur at the soft voice that spoke up behind them. They both turned around, the wolf even flipping out a knife, to see…
An anthro.
It was hard to tell what species she was. The low light couple with her black fur made it hard to disintguish any visible features, but the two lovers could easily see the red eyes looking at them.
“I… I need your help with s-something…”

Upon seeing who the speaker was, the two relaxed… a little. After all, this girl looked about no more than fourteen or fifteen. She couldn’t possibly be a threat.
“Did you make that scream?” The bat asked, still a bit shaken. After all, her sense of hearing was the strongest out of everyone present, and it had really blasted her.
“… no. That was my friend. She’s really angry right now because I didn’t want to do what she said…” The odd anthro whimpered.

The wolf bristled angrily. Someone was getting mad at this adorable little… was she a rabbit? A short eared rabbit? No, not that…

“You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. You’re your own person after all.” The wolf lectured.
“Come on, what’s your friend want you to do?”

“… hurt someone. Hurt someone that hurt her dad…” The anthro answered, growing more pathetic by the second.
The wolf and bat shared a look to one another. This was starting to sound like a murder revenge scheme.

“Listen… what’s your name?” The wolf asked.

“… Hestra. My name’s Hestra…” She answered.

“Ok, Hestra. And what’s your friend’s name?” The wolf asked.
“Because if she wants you to hurt someone, then you just need to walk away. There’s no sense in getting involved with stuff that doesn’t concern…”

“Hestra.” The anthro answered.
This threw the bat and wolf for a loop.

“I’m… sorry?” The bat asked.
“You already told us your name.”

“… you asked for my friend’s name. H-her name is Hestra…” The anthro answered, looking down at the ground.

The bat and wolf looked at each other. Ok… so both of them had the same name. Either this anthro was crazy, or it was a heck of a coincidence.

“Alright. Hestra, seriously. Ditch your friend. She sounds like nothing but trouble.” The wolf said. Though his voice was sounding a little shaky. This was some paranormal activity shit going on right here... they were on a playground for crying out loud!

“I can’t. She never leaves me alone, and she’s shouting at me to kill the person who hurt her dad, and I don’t want to but I want her to stop…”
Tears were forming in Hestra’s eyes.

“Hey… hey. Don’t cry.” The wolf said, moving closer to her, kneeling down in front of Hestra, extending a comforting arm for her.
Big mistake on his part.

As the wolf reached out to comfort Hestra… she struck.
Grabbing his wrist, she then jabbed her elbow into the wolf’s own elbow. There was a crack, and the wolf’s elbow was now bending the entirely wrong way.

“AAAAAARGH!” He cried out in pain, falling backwards as he cradled his broken arm. Hestra was on him in a flash, pressing a chloroform soaked rag to his face.

“Get off him!” The bat girl shouted, tackling Hestra. Or at least, she tried to.
Reacting faster than any normal anthro might be able to, Hestra twisted her body out of the way, the bat crashing to the ground beside her. All she’d done was make herself a threat.
Hestra pulled a knife from her belt, advancing on the bat, crying all the while. He orders were to capture the wolf. The bat was an unnecessary detail and an obstacle. She had to die.

The wolf, though half passed out from his exposure to the knockout drug, saw the knife clutched in Hestra’s hands.

“No! Lllllleave her allonnne!” He slurred, struggling to get up. But the drug was already in his system, slowing him down significantly.

But the wolf’s shouting seemed to have some effect. Hestra slowed down, the grip on her knife slackening… before she put it away.

“Please…” The bat whimpered.
“Don’t kill m”
Before the bat could finish, Hestra leaned down, grabbed her head in both hands, and twisted. There was a crack, and the bat lay still.
The wolf stared dumbfounded at the still body of his girlfriend. Had this anthro just…

Hestra turned on her heel, striding back towards the wolf. Still, tears were streaming down her face as she resumed her deed. The rag was pressed back over the wolf’s mouth, and no amount of fighting could get Hestra off him. Not with one arm.
“... sorry… so sorry…”
That’s what the wolf heard before he finally passed out.
Hestra stood up, pushing a finger against her throat.
“... I got him. He’s out…” She answered quietly.
“... what? The traps? But I thought you only wanted me to… what? Who? Oh… sorry sir. Yes, I’ll find out who’s doing it. Y-yes sir… I’ll kill them. Unless it's her. Then I'll bring her to you."

Description
The pounding of music could be heard far off, the flashing lights illuminating some owls, bats, and even some bug anthros flying overhead. Even higher up, some of the more rough anthros were looking for stragglers to swoop down on to harass or rob.
But Virgil didn’t care about any of that.

“O….. trol moving cl… our position. You m…”

Virgil sighed, beating her fist against the side of the helmet.
She was currently crouched on the fire escape of a building across the street from where the street trap Derek had opened supposedly was. Virgil would have activated her night vision… if the occasional car’s headlights didn’t blind her whenever they drove by.
And on top of that, her helmet’s onboard radio seemed to be experiencing trouble.

“Kelly, more radio problems. Can you please repeat that?” Virgil asked.

“Again? Seriously, take that thing to Radio Hut or something.” Kelly sighed.
“I said, one patrol car is moving on your position. You might want to hurry up before it gets here.”

“I know, I know.” Virgil sighed.
“But… you don’t think it’s the sort of trap that can reach out and grab you… do you?”

Silence for a few moments on the other end.
“… are you seriously scared of a photobooth.”

“It’s not a photobooth!” Virgil protested.
“And yes.”

“Just do that shocky thing you were talking about to get out.” Kelly pointed out.

Virgil could use the multi tool… but she wondered if it would be able to interface with the trap from the inside.
“Alright, alright. Just… keep watch. I’m going in.”
Virgil spread her wings through the newly made holes in the back of the suit. It had been tough making them, but well worth it. Virgil could now fly while wearing her suit.
She pushed off the fire escape, sailing down into the alleyway as she pulled her multi tool from her belt.

“… um… Kelly? There’s a problem.” Virgil said as she looked around just to make sure.

“Fuck.” Was Kelly’s simple response to this new problem.
“What’s wrong?”

“… there’s no trap in here.” Virgil said.
Though she looked all around hoping her statement could be confirmed as faulty, it did her no good. There was indeed no sign of anything that could be a trap. She gave a few of the trashcans a scan with the multi tool just to make sure, but it wasn’t registering any interfaceable electronic devices.

“Are you sure this is the right alleyway?” Kelly asked from her rooftop, looking down at the map Virgil had left her.

“You’re the one with the map, not me!”

“Hey, you gave it to me only ten minutes ago. But yeah, this looks like the place.”

Virgil realized what must have happened.
“… then they must have moved it.” She sighed in defeat.
“And we don’t have time to search the whole district for it!”

“Look, just calm down Vi.” Kelly assured.
“That Derek guy knows how to locate them. If we don’t get it tonight, we’ll get it some other time. For now, let’s just focus on the others.”

“But what if they moved them all!?” Virgil brought up.
“And what if they already have some anthros caught in them!?”

Virgil was in a panicked rage. What if this whole night was a bust, and there was nothing they could do?

“Vi, come on. Pull yourself together. Derek will find them. And even if they do get some anthros, at least you’ll stop them from getting any more. You already saved a lot. But you can’t save em all. Let’s do what we can.”

Virgil took a deep breath, calming her nerves. She couldn’t lose her cool out in the city like this. Funny how Kelly was being the voice of reason here.

“And by that, I mean let’s wreck some patrol cars if we can’t find any traps.”

Virgil recanted that earlier thought.
“We’ll see. The most I’ll do is use the mul… my gauntlet on them.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Kelly chirped.
“Now come on, let’s at least look into those other traps.”

Virgil took one last look around.
“... alright. Let’s go.” She muttered, making to walk out of the alleyway. But as she stepped forward, she felt some resistance on her left boot.
”Ugh… of course. Why not step in some gum? I’m a savior cyborg warriors to anthros, and I stepped in gum.”
She leaned against the wall, lifting the underside of her boot up. But what was stuck there wasn’t gum.
“What the…?” She muttered.
It was some silky, white film. Virgil drew her gloved finger along the boot, scraping it off. She felt it between her fingers some before tossing it aside. The feel of it was definitely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it…

“It’s here!”

Virgil let out a small yelp as Kelly’s voice blasted over the radio.
“Holy shit Kel, not so loud!” Virgil exclaimed. She really needed to figure out how to adjust the volume on the helmet…
“What’s here?”

“The trap! They didn’t move this one! Wait… where are you?”

“Still in the alleyway!” Virgil shouted.

“... damn you’re slow.” Kelly criticized.
“Get a move on. That patrol I saw is probably going to be right on top of you.”

“You’re a horrible lookout.” Virgil grumbled as she spread her wings, taking flight into the night sky, the mysterious material in the alleyway now out of mind…

~~~~~

Kelly was sitting on the ledge of an office building when Virgil finally caught up with her.

“About time. I was almost reduced to eating a mosquito out of boredom.” Kelly said.

But Virgil wasn’t having any of her sarcasm.
“You were supposed to be my lookout.” Virgil snapped.
“Why the hell did you leave me back there?”

“I THOUGHT you were right behind me. Give me a break.” Kelly said, rolling her eyes.
“I’d probably have done a better job keeping up with you if I was bringing up the rear though.”

Virgil, not in the mood to deal with this, peered over the edge of the building.

“The water station.” Kelly said.

Virgil directed her attention downwards, looking for what Kelly was referring to. Sure enough, built into the wall of a grocery store, there was a station for filling up large water bottles to keep in the house.
Virgil casually slipped the multi tool from her belt, pointing it at the machine before pressing the interface button. But she was unfortunately too far away to interface.

“Alright. I’ll fly down and destroy it. You keep watch from up here again. And DON’T leave me like you did before.” Virgil said, preparing to fly down to the trap.

“Might want to wait a bit.” Kelly said nonchalantly.
“It’s not Packers, but there is a Blumberg PD car in one of the alleyways. And as far as they’re concerned, you’re a gal who broke a bunch of unstable anthro delinquents from a perfectly legal facility.”

Virgil looked back to the street, trying to see the car Kelly was talking about…
And sure enough, there it was. Lights off in an alleyway further down sat a black and white police cruiser. And as luck would have it, the front of the car was angled in the general direction of the water station.

“Weeeeell… great.” Virgil sighed, slumping down to the ground.
“This is turning out to be one hell of a night.”

“Those are the best kinds of nights.” Kelly chuckled, sitting next to Virgil, giving her a pat on the back.
“But I bet you’ll be able to look back on this night and laugh.”

“Or cringe.” Virgil said with a roll of her eyes, reaching up and removing her helmet, her blue hair spilling out behind her. She caught Kelly’s eyes looking her over.
“Please, no pervy comments.”

“Oh, come on.” Kelly said with a roll of her eyes.
“I can hold back on it if I want to.”

“Then why don’t you? I mean… I’d have thought you wouldn’t want to uphold the basic lesbian stereotype of being incredibly horny all the time and hitting on every girl around.” Virgil said.

“And what makes you think that?” Kelly chuckled halfheartedly.
“Maybe I like the stereotype? I mean, stereotypes are a thing for a reason. Because they’re mostly true.”

Virgil opened her mouth to answer… but couldn’t think of one.
“Well… I guess I just assumed maybe you didn’t like them.” Virgil admitted sheepishly.

“Well you’re wrong. Maybe I used to hate them, but I thought “Hey, everyone else is upholding it. Why the hell should I try so hard to be monogamous when no one else fucking wants to?””

Virgil as taken back by this statement, and Kelly looked a little surprised she’d let that out of her mouth.
“Ahem… so yeah. Why bother?”

Virgil was starting to get a hunch as to what had Kelly so riled up about what Virgil had said. She rose up a little, looking over the ledge of the building into the alleyway to see if the car was still there… which it was.

“Well, looks like we have some time to kill.” Virgil said, sitting back down again.
“Funny. You’ve been living with me for several weeks now, and I still know next to nothing about you.”

“What’s there to know?” Kelly scoffed.
“I’m super gay. I’m good looking. I’ve got a flat chest. And I’m one hell of a thrill seeker. Anything else you want to know?”

“Yes, actually.” Virgil said.
“There’s got to be more to you than that. Like… your brother. What’s he like?”

A small smile graced Kelly’s beak.
“He’s cool.” She answered plainly, saying nothing more on the subject.

“Ok, I got it.” Virgil nodded.
“Anything else? What’s he like? Where does he live? How’s your relationship with him?”

“If you’re looking for a boyfriend, he’s not open. He’s engaged.” Kelly said plainly. Her expression soured at that statement.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m not really looking either.” Virgil said, thinking of her talk with Telokey earlier.
“But you do have a good relationship with him, right?”

“Hell yeah.” Kelly smiled.
“Guy is super supportive. He was the first person I came out to. Helped spring on my parents. I lived with him before I got on my feet with a job. He helped me out when I lost my job. And moved my stuff into storage when I got nabbed by the fuzz for pickpocketing.”

Virgil couldn’t help but admire how Kelly looked up to her brother.
“How did your parents handle you coming out?” She asked.

Kelly shrugged.
“Eh. Acted like they could go either way, honestly.” She said.
“Didn’t stop them from trying to set me up with the sons of some family friends. Haven’t spoken with em in a while. I don’t think they even know about me getting shut in Gaunts. And I’d like to keep it that way.”

“I… can understand that.” Virgil nodded. If she still had parents, she most certainly wouldn’t have confided with them that she had led a jailbreak on a super secure torture facility masquerading as a correction center.
“Besides your brother and your parents, do you have any other family?”

Kelly’s eyes narrowed at this question.
“... no. No one else.” She said plainly.

Virgil knew that it was best to not press further on that subject. She again peared over the ledge. The car STILL hadn’t moved. Surely this street wouldn’t be too interesting at this time to stay there like it was? They must be on break or something. The late night donut shop nearby explained a lot now that she thought about it…

“So… have you ever had a girlfriend before?” Virgil asked nonchalantly as she kept watch on the car, looking for some sign of movement to tell her whether the people inside were actually on alert.

“Have you ever had a boyfriend before?” Kelly retorted, dodging Virgil’s question.

“Yes, as a matter of fact. I dated this nice rat in middle school and my first year of high school. Then I dated an eagle guy for about a year before we decided to break it off.” Virgil answered.

“High school romances don’t really count, Vi.” Kelly chuckled.
“Come on. Don’t you bullshit me that you haven’t dated since then.”

“I haven’t.” Virgil said, opting to not tell Kelly about Telokey right yet.

“No college guys or anything!? No way!” Kelly said, looking up at Virgil incredulously.

“I haven’t gone to college yet.” Virgil continued.
“My parents left me pretty well off when they died. Not to mention their business is still making a profit, and a small percentage of that goes to me. I might never have to work again.”

“... you did not tell me you were loaded.” Kelly said, wide eyed.
“Why the hell are you living in that dingy old apartment!?”

“Because,” Virgil continued.
“I don’t want to draw any unwanted attention to myself. Besides, the apartment was big enough for me before I had a roadrunner move in.”

“... fair enough.” Kelly shrugged.

“Besides, I… HEY! Don’t shift the topic off me! I asked you a question.” Virgil said, realizing she’d been bamboozled.

“Who says I had to answer it?” Kelly asked, crossing her arms.

“I do. Especially after I just spilled my whole love life to you.”

“It was a small spill…” Kelly muttered, rolling her eyes.
“Fine. Yes, I had a girlfriend. Met her when I moved here. She was a really hot cougar girl named Tristi.”

“I didn’t know you were into older women…?” Virgil said, tilting her head.

“ANTHRO cougar, Vi!” Kelly corrected.
“But yeah, she was great in bed…”

“Let’s not open that can. Please.” Virgil begged.
“What happened between you two if she was so great?”

Kelly tried to chuckle to play off the hurt.
“Turns out she was seeing someone else behind my back. And after I’d been so loyal to her. So I said, to hell with it. If she’s not gonna settle, why should I?”

Virgil looked sadly at Kelly. She’d known a lot of people who hadn’t dealt well with breakups during her time in high school. Some of them swore off dating. Some switched teams. Some had turned to more shady activities. And here was Kelly, who’d decided a serious relationship wasn’t for her.

“Ouch…” She said.
“I’m… sorry to hear that.”

“Eh, I’m over it.” Kelly shrugged.
“Think you could hook hook me up with one of the girls from your belly dancing class now that you’re feeling sorry for me?”

That got a mild chuckle out of Virgil.
“Sorry, but I don’t think any of them swing that way.” She said, patting Kelly on the back.
“But seriously… don’t give up. There’s someone out there for you.”

“And in the meantime, I’ll have fun until they come along.” Kelly winked.

“Yeah, but…”

Before Virgil could finish her thought, the sound of a car engine revving up caused her to glance over the building ledge. Clearly the police were done with their stakeout/break, as they drove off to a more lively area.

“Well, looks like you’re freed up. Do your thing, angel roo.” Kelly chuckled.

Virgil flinched at the name. It brought back bad memories of something she’d read…
“Uh, right. Wait here.”
Virgil picked her helmet back up, pulling it back on over her head as she spread her wings, throwing herself off the building and gliding down to the street. It wasn’t exactly far from club street, but far enough that there were no open businesses or street traffic. Virgil was alone.

”Please work… please…” Virgil thought to herself as she pulled the multi tool from her belt, the LED screen lighting up as she pressed the sync button. A cell phone was one thing, but a sophisticated machine designed to ensnare only anthros before luring in Gaunts goons to cart them off to some hellish torture?
“Oh thank God…” Virgil sighed in relief as the drop down menu showed up on screen, displaying the options available to her.
That was the thing about the multi tool. It was ridiculously vague as to what each option did. Right now, her options were run function, open, lock, disable, overload, signal, and some gibberish of code she didn’t understand. She looked between disable and overload. Overload definitely sounded more devastating to the machine than disable. She just hoped choosing it wouldn’t engulf her in a fiery explosion.
After taking a few steps back, Virgil selected overload before hitting confirm…
And let out a yelp as several small pops sounded from the machine, the glass display cracking before smoke rose from the machine.

“... that works.” She said, raising the multi tool to try and re-sync it. But it wouldn’t re-sync. The machine was dead.
“Kelly, I got it.” Virgil said jubilantly into her radio.
“The trap is dead.”

“Don’t know how you did it without touching it with your glove…” Kelly said suspiciously, having watched the whole thing from the rooftop.
“But I’d get a move on. I bet Packers will get a notification one of their traps just unfollowed them.”

“Yeah, good call.” Virgil nodded, clipping the tool back to her belt before taking flight.
“I’ll follow from the air. Lead the way to the last trap.”

Kelly gave the map she had a quick look, orienting herself properly.
“Alright then. Follow me.” Kelly said before folding it away, beginning to sprint and leap across the rooftops as Virgil soared behind.

But Kelly was right. Their efforts would not go unnoticed…

~~~~~

“I’m telling ya, baby. She was wearing some commando armor, and she busted in and got us all out.” The wolf brayed to the black furred bat sitting next to him.

“I don’t care if some hallucination of a Space Trek alien warrior saved you. I’m just glad you’re back.” She said, hugging the wolf.

The wolf couldn’t get his savior out of his mind though. Granted he had only seen her tail and ears… but that had been enough. He was enamored. He liked a strong girl after all.
Not as much as he loved his girlfriend though.

The two had been celebrating his escape from the Gaunts facility for the past two weeks. He’d been in there nearly three months… and she’d waited for him. The wolf knew he’d picked a keeper.
The two were currently just relaxing in a small park on one of the benches, the creak of a swing set behind them the only thing breaking the silence. The wolf had gone through so much in that hellhole, some things best left unspoken, but he knew that someday, his testimony would get the people responsible for his treatment locked up where the sun didn’t shine. All the anthros that had escaped were grateful to Virgil for what she’d done. They’d been given a second chance at life.
As the bat rested her head on the wolf’s furry shoulder, he did the same on her head. He wouldn’t admit it… but he’d been terrified during his time there. They had been so close to breaking his will…
But through the whippings, and the brainwashing, and the horrid mind games of Ivan Ex, the wolf had managed to hold onto one thought to keep him going. What he had waiting for him outside the walls of that place.
He just wanted this moment to last forev…

The two of them were jolted up by a blood curdling scream that filled the air, lasting about three seconds. And then… it stopped.
Both the wolf and the bat’s hearts were pounding as they looked around. It had sounded like someone had just been murdered.

“… the fuck was that?” The wolf exclaimed, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted anxiously.
The bat was equally freaked out, her ears twitching as she tried to pinpoint the sound.

“… e-excuse me…”
The two nearly jumped out of their fur at the soft voice that spoke up behind them. They both turned around, the wolf even flipping out a knife, to see…
An anthro.
It was hard to tell what species she was. The low light couple with her black fur made it hard to disintguish any visible features, but the two lovers could easily see the red eyes looking at them.
“I… I need your help with s-something…”

Upon seeing who the speaker was, the two relaxed… a little. After all, this girl looked about no more than fourteen or fifteen. She couldn’t possibly be a threat.
“Did you make that scream?” The bat asked, still a bit shaken. After all, her sense of hearing was the strongest out of everyone present, and it had really blasted her.
“… no. That was my friend. She’s really angry right now because I didn’t want to do what she said…” The odd anthro whimpered.

The wolf bristled angrily. Someone was getting mad at this adorable little… was she a rabbit? A short eared rabbit? No, not that…

“You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. You’re your own person after all.” The wolf lectured.
“Come on, what’s your friend want you to do?”

“… hurt someone. Hurt someone that hurt her dad…” The anthro answered, growing more pathetic by the second.
The wolf and bat shared a look to one another. This was starting to sound like a murder revenge scheme.

“Listen… what’s your name?” The wolf asked.

“… Hestra. My name’s Hestra…” She answered.

“Ok, Hestra. And what’s your friend’s name?” The wolf asked.
“Because if she wants you to hurt someone, then you just need to walk away. There’s no sense in getting involved with stuff that doesn’t concern…”

“Hestra.” The anthro answered.
This threw the bat and wolf for a loop.

“I’m… sorry?” The bat asked.
“You already told us your name.”

“… you asked for my friend’s name. H-her name is Hestra…” The anthro answered, looking down at the ground.

The bat and wolf looked at each other. Ok… so both of them had the same name. Either this anthro was crazy, or it was a heck of a coincidence.

“Alright. Hestra, seriously. Ditch your friend. She sounds like nothing but trouble.” The wolf said. Though his voice was sounding a little shaky. This was some paranormal activity shit going on right here... they were on a playground for crying out loud!

“I can’t. She never leaves me alone, and she’s shouting at me to kill the person who hurt her dad, and I don’t want to but I want her to stop…”
Tears were forming in Hestra’s eyes.

“Hey… hey. Don’t cry.” The wolf said, moving closer to her, kneeling down in front of Hestra, extending a comforting arm for her.
Big mistake on his part.

As the wolf reached out to comfort Hestra… she struck.
Grabbing his wrist, she then jabbed her elbow into the wolf’s own elbow. There was a crack, and the wolf’s elbow was now bending the entirely wrong way.

“AAAAAARGH!” He cried out in pain, falling backwards as he cradled his broken arm. Hestra was on him in a flash, pressing a chloroform soaked rag to his face.

“Get off him!” The bat girl shouted, tackling Hestra. Or at least, she tried to.
Reacting faster than any normal anthro might be able to, Hestra twisted her body out of the way, the bat crashing to the ground beside her. All she’d done was make herself a threat.
Hestra pulled a knife from her belt, advancing on the bat, crying all the while. He orders were to capture the wolf. The bat was an unnecessary detail and an obstacle. She had to die.

The wolf, though half passed out from his exposure to the knockout drug, saw the knife clutched in Hestra’s hands.

“No! Lllllleave her allonnne!” He slurred, struggling to get up. But the drug was already in his system, slowing him down significantly.

But the wolf’s shouting seemed to have some effect. Hestra slowed down, the grip on her knife slackening… before she put it away.

“Please…” The bat whimpered.
“Don’t kill m”
Before the bat could finish, Hestra leaned down, grabbed her head in both hands, and twisted. There was a crack, and the bat lay still.
The wolf stared dumbfounded at the still body of his girlfriend. Had this anthro just…

Hestra turned on her heel, striding back towards the wolf. Still, tears were streaming down her face as she resumed her deed. The rag was pressed back over the wolf’s mouth, and no amount of fighting could get Hestra off him. Not with one arm.
“... sorry… so sorry…”
That’s what the wolf heard before he finally passed out.
Hestra stood up, pushing a finger against her throat.
“... I got him. He’s out…” She answered quietly.
“... what? The traps? But I thought you only wanted me to… what? Who? Oh… sorry sir. Yes, I’ll find out who’s doing it. Y-yes sir… I’ll kill them. Unless it's her. Then I'll bring her to you."