Night passed, and morning came without too much of a hassle. Gloria--having departed from Bruce's tent--approached Carlos, who was who was sitting in the empty camp's center and chewing on a piece of bread.

"Hey," Gloria called. "Where's Thomas?"

"He's sleep in his tent," Carlos answered. "What about Bruce? Where's he?"

"He was gone when I woke up. So I assume... back down there."

Carlos shook his head in dismay. "What exactly is down there, anyway?"

Gloria shrugged. "Beats me... Oh, and one more thing."

"Hm?"

"He said to check the closet hole."

"Why? He thinks they're in the closet?"

"Yes."

"...I see. I'll look into that when Thomas wakes up."

"Alright. I'm going in there to see him."

"Thomas?"

"Who else?" She turned to her right, and headed towards Thomas' tent.

Thomas awoke in a strange land. He did not know where he was; all around him was a horizon seperated in red above and whitish grey below.

"Where am I?" Thomas said to himself. "I thought I was in Melissa's house. What is this place?"

Suddenly, a loud voice spoke up, one that seemed to be coming from outside of his small world. "Thomas, GO!!"

As soon as he heard this, the world began to open, and a bright light appeared in front of him as he was seemingly sucked out of this strange dimension.

Seconds later, Thomas found himself standing on the ground. He looked around. He seemed to be in an arena of sorts. There were hundreds of cheering people in the stands. Thomas looked behind him, and saw a giant teenaged boy. He found himself overcome with shock and fear.

"What is this?"

"Oh!" A loud voice said. "Brian has sent out Thomas, which is the smallest Pokemon ever recorded! They never exceed three inches, though this one looks smaller! What kind of plan does Brian have with this little guy?"

This voice's comment mystified and astounded Thomas. He knew that he was not a Pokemon. He was a human. Just where was he? Determined to find the answer to this, Thomas turned to his "trainer" to ask him about this situation.

"Where am I?" Thomas asked, but he was stunned when all he heard was parts of his name. Like many Pokemon, he could only say his name.

Brian smiled down on him. "Don't worry. I know you're scared. After all, this entire match, and me winning the championship, depends on you. So don't let me down!" He gave him a thumbs-up.

Thomas sighed. He turned around and looked across the arena. Further away, on the other side of this arena, Thomas could see a young female, clutching a PokeBall in her hand.

"And what Pokemon will Lindsay send out to challenge Brian's Thomas?" The announcer said.

"Go, Melissa!" Lindsay threw the PokeBall, which opened and shot out a beam of light from within. Thomas's heart sank as the light materialized into Melissa. Though unlike him, Melissa was not a mere 2 inches tall, but a towering 5-foot-7-inches. He could see her give both him and his trainer a menacing grin.

"Oh my, folks!" The announcer said with great enthusiam. "Lindsay has sent out Melissa, who is said to have the most savage behavior out of all Pokemon! Can Thomas prevail against his giant adversary?"

'No...' Thomas was frozen in fear. 'How can I defeat her...?'

A referee walked to the center of the battlefield. "Both Pokemon come over here."

Melissa, withou hesitation, walked to the center. Thomas was too afraid to move.

"Go on," Brian said. "Remember all of that training we did? You can do it!" He smiled at Thomas.

Thomas gulped as he began to make his way towards the center. As he walked closer, he found Melissa becoming much larger than he had originally thought. Could he beat her? What kind of attacks would she use? Then again, what kind of attacks does he have? He hoped that he had some kind of powerful, impressive attack to make up for his diminutive size.

"So, little man. Are you ready to die?" Melissa said, also speaking with bits of her name, though Thomas could understand what she said.

The referee backed away from the battlefield, and raised his right hand into the air. "Begin!"

A bell rung out, and the match was underway. Thomas immediately began to run away from Melissa.

"Melissa!" Lindsay called out. "Chase him down and use Stomp!"

Melissa began to run after Thomas. Since he was so small, and her so large she caught up to him in no time. She raised her foot above him, and began to drop it down with great force.

"Thomas!" Brian called. "Agility!"

'Agility? Thank god...' Thomas thought to himself as he began to run 5 times faster. He was able to avoid Melissa's stomp, which created a cloud of dust as it hit the ground.

"...And Thomas manages to barely avoid becoming a PokePancake!" The announcer said. "What a great move on Brian's part!"

"Now, Double Team!" Brian ordered.

Thomas then found several illusionary copies of himself appearing all around Melissa. She looked around at each one, in confusion.

"Oh! What is this?" The announcer said. "There seems to be a dozen Thomas now! Could this be a clever plan to make up for its size?"

"One of them have to be the real one!" Lindsay said. "Stomp each one of them!"

Melissa raised her foot, and stomped down on the Thomas directly in front of her. She then lifted her foot. There was nothing there. It was a fake. She then turned to the one behind her, and stomped it as well. Another fake. Growing frustrated, she began to stomp each one, until one was left. However just as she was about at crush this last remaining Thomas...

"Agility!"

Thomas sped away from her descending foot and ran behind her. He hoped that all he knew were not speed techniques.

"Now!" Brian said. "Jump and use Tackle!"

'Tackle?! Are you kidding me?! What good is Tackle going to do me?!' Thomas sighed as he lept into the air towards the giant Melissa. However, his heart sank as she turned around and saw him charging towards her.

"Mega Kick!" Lindsay ordered.

She swung her right leg around, and ended Thomas's attack as her foot collided with his small body. The force of the kick sent him flying half-way across the arena. As he flew, he looked at Melissa, who was now charging after him with great speed. Soon, perhaps even miraculously, she was upon him, running after him even as he was still airborne.

"Arm Thrust!" Lindsay ordered.

Melissa drew her open right palm back, and thrust it onto Thomas, and slamming him into the ground. She then withdrew her hand, revealing a barely conscious Thomas, twitching as he laid at the feet of her adversary.

"No, Thomas!" Brian called out. "Get up!"

"And Thomas is down!" The announcer said. "Could this be the end of Brian's championship run?"

"Finish him!" Lindsay said. "Stomp!"

Melissa gave Thomas a sadistic grin as she lifted her foot, and began to drop it down on Thomas.

Time seemed to slow. Thomas could hear the calls of his trainer. He could hear the crowd cheering louder than before. Though all he could focus on was Melissa's black sole descending onto him. Soon, it was upon his body, crushing him into the ground. The last thing he heard was his trainer yelling out in anguish and despair before he blacked out.

~~~

Thomas shot up from his bed. He looked around, and found that he was back in his tent. It was just a dream, a strange dream, but a dream nonetheless.

Thomas sighed. "...Why didn't I at least know Hyper Beam? I could have at least done some decent damage to her..."

He pulled on his black sneakers, and after tying the laces, stood up and began to walk out of his tent. However, as he opened the flap leading out, he bumped into Gloria, who was entering his tent at the same time.

"Gloria," Thomas said, pulling back from her a little. "I didn't expect you to come here."

"Yeah," Gloria responded. "Carlos said that you was asleep, but I guess you just woke up."

"Yep. I had a weird dream, too."

"About what?"

"...Pokemon." Thomas chuckled sheepishly.

Gloria shook her head and gave him a pitiful look. "What are you, six?"

"Whatever. Did you need me for something?"

Gloria stared at him for a few seconds, before answering his question. "It can wait. Carlos might need you, though."

"Oh..." Thomas walked past her--walking out of his tent and leaving her inside--and headed towards Carlos at the camp center.

Carlos looked up at him as he was finishing the bread that he had in hand. "You're up, I see."

"Yeah," Thomas said. "What did you need me for?"

"Well," Carlos started, "Bruce apparently thinks that the others were captured by Melissa."

"Are you serious?"

"That's what Gloria told me, at least. So, here's what we're going to do..."

~~~

Shawn sat against the glass, staring at a box that Melissa had placed inside that morning. It was a tissue box, most likely the one that had been on her desk all of this time. One of its ends had been cut open, and covered with a kind of cloth that was glued to the top of the box. A "privacy box," as she put it; perhaps intending it to be used for them to relieve themselves inside.

"'Privacy,' huh?" Shawn said to himself. "Not much privacy we can get, considering that anyone and go in as they please."

He watched as a male pulled a female into the box. No doubt as to what was about to go on in there. There was also no doubt that there would be much more in the coming days. Most if it unwillingly on the female's part. Without Bruce, the males felt that they now had more dominion over the females. After all, even without Bruce, Joshua, Ray, Thomas and Carlos, there were still more males than females.

Shawn sighed. "Rape, rape, and more rape. This is yet another way how this place is going to be worse for the girls."

Dawson walked up to him. "Looking at that box, huh?"

"Yeah," Shawn answered. "Just thinking about what's going to go on in there."

"Really? I was thinking the same thing. I hope no one interrupts us."

"'Us?'"

"Yeah. You know..."

"...You and Jenna?"

Dawson nodded. "Yep."

"Knowing these people, they won't give you the privacy you want. Which is ironic, considering its intended purpose."

"Ehh... I guess you're right." Dawson paused for a few seconds. "So, what do you think Thomas and the others are doing?"

"I don't know," Shawn answered. "They're probably going to be on their own, unless we can somehow escape. ...Again."

"I wouldn't count on that. I suppose that we just have to make the best of this while we can."

"Even if we can be killed at any time?"

"Well, at least we'll be out of here." Dawson turned around. "Oh, Jenna!" He said in a very flirtatious tone before running towards her.

Shawn watched him run off in pursuit of the young brunette. "Acting like that, he's almost like the rest of them."

~~~

Thomas and Carlos have arrived at the closet's hole, flashlights in hand. Carlos grabbed the loose end of a long piece of string, which was tied to a stump of wood near the hole. It was the same string that he had climbed up when he had first arrived.

"So," Thomas said, "what are we going to do?"

"I'm going to slide down there," Carlos responded. "I'm going to see if the others are in there."

Thomas peered down onto the hole, shining the flashlight downward. "Isn't this string supposed to lead to the cage or whatever I was in?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe it's because it's dark, or because these glasses are still a bit blurry to me, but I don't see the cage."

"What?!" Carlos rushed to the hole, still holding the string, and peered down. "Unbelievable... Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, she actually moved it?! Oh, this is just perfect!"

"What now?" Thomas asked.

Carlos crossed his arms, and began to think to himself. "I don't have a choice..."

"A choice for what?"

"I'm going to go down there anyway. Otherwise, we won't be sure if they're down there or not."

"How long are you going to be down there?"

"Not too long, hopefully." Carlos jumped into the hole, holding onto the string. "As soon as I spot them, I'm coming right back up."

"Alright." Thomas watched as Carlos slid down the string. He peered deep into the hole, and watched Carlos seemingly disappear in the darkness. He could barely see the light from his flashlight.

~~~

Carlos landed on a shelf at the end of the string. Indeed, the cage that was there before was now gone. The room was somewhat dark, barely lit by a dim lightbulb. Due to its size compared to the rest of the room, his flashlight would not serve him any purpose. Yet, he kept it switched on.

He walked along the shelf, looking outward and toward the floor. He could make out the other cages, and, although he could bare see them, the people inside. Where had the cage been moved? How would he be able to contact his companions if he did find it?

He shined his flashlight towards the cages, hoping that the light would reach them, and that, if they were in one of the cages, they'd give him some kind of notification.

~~~

The Refugees had noticed a spot of light shining off in the distance, and began to talk amongst themselves as to what or who that light belonged to.

"Hey, what's that?"

"Hm? What's what?"

"That. That light over there."

"Where?"

"Right there, stupid!"

"Oh, now I see it. ...Don't call me stupid, stupid!"

"Do you think it's Bruce?"

"You mean he came to rescue us?! Awesome!"

With this possibly in mind, the Refugees' overall mood seemed to become brighter.

Shawn listened to the increasingly loud commotion around him, and let out a sigh. "Even so, how the hell would Bruce even rescue us? They're getting a bit ahead of themselves."

~~~

"Hey, Carlos!" Thomas called out from above. "You see them yet?"

Carlos looked up towards the hole. "I hear some talking from over there. It started when I shined my light in that direction."

"You think it's them?"

"Only one way to find out." Carlos turned back towards the cages, and inhaled deeply. "HEY!!! YOU RECOGNIZE MY VOICE?! IF SO, SAY WHO I AM!!!"

~~~

The enthusiam of the Refugees rose. Though it was not Bruce, they recognized the mystery man's accent. There was no doubt as to who this person was.

"CARLOS!!!" Several of them yelled out.

They started to rush to the side of the cage facing where the light was shining from.

~~~

Carlos looked up towards the hole. He had a slight smile on his face, but knew that no one could see it. "It's them."

"So they were captured," Thomas said. "I wonder how."

"HOW DID YOU GUYS GET CAUGHT?!" Carlos yelled out towards where the noise was eminating from.

A voice from the cage yelled back. "THAT BASTARD RAY TRIED TO LEAD US OUT! ONCE HE GOT US OUTSIDE, WE WERE CAUGHT! RAY WAS TAKEN AWAY BY THE BITCH, AND WE HAVEN'T SEEN HIM SINCE!!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Thomas exclaimed. "What was he thinking?! He didn't even have Bruce's approval!"

"I know," Carlos said. "At this point, there's nothing we can do. Bruce only wanted us to see if they're here, and they are."

"So, what now?" Thomas asked.

"Didn't you just hear me? I've done what I can, so I'm coming back up." He turned back towards the cage. "HEY!! I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ELSE FOR YOU ALL RIGHT NOW, BUT I CAN TELL BRUCE ABOUT THIS!! HE'LL THINK OF SOMETHING!!"

"JUST DON'T LEAVE US HANGIN'!!" One male said amidst the moans of disappointment.

Carlos walked back to the string and grabbed it. "Okay. I'm coming back up." He then began to climb the string.

~~~

As Thomas watched Carlos ascend the string, he heard a strange sound. A sound similar to something being stretched. Whatever that sound was, it seemed that its source was being pulled apart by an ever increasing force.

"What is that?" Thomas shined his flashlight down the hole, and as he did so, something caught his eye. Near Thomas's end of the string, a portion was wearing away. The string looked like it had not been replaced at all after the many months it was used, and it seemed that now it was at its limit.

"Shit!" Thomas became apprehensive. "Carlos! Hurry up and get up here!"

"What?" Carlos said as he climbed. "I can only climb so fast. What's wrong?"

"The rope's giving away! Hurry up!"

"Shit, are you serious?!" The now frantic Carlos began to climb the string faster.

Thomas watched the worn portion of the string. It was well out of his reach, so he could not grab hold of it and pull up Carlos if the fabric broke apart. As Carlos climber higher, the fabrics keeping the string together began to unravel, until there were only two smaller fabrics still holding the entire string together--and keeping Carlos from falling down below. Carlos had barely passed the halfway point, before those two final tiny strands finally snapped. Thomas's heart sank as he witnessed Carlos plummet back to the shelf below, still clutching onto the string he had been climbing in his left hand. He heard a thud, and a simutaneous "Goddammit!".

"Carlos! Are you alright?!" Thomas yelled.

After a few seconds, he heard Carlos voice. "I'm fine."

"Dammit! What now?!"

"First off, calm down," Carlos said as he stood back up, regaining his calm composure. "There has to be another rope or something somewhere. Maybe Bruce has one. He did get the first one, after all."

Thomas exhaled after taking a deep breath. "Alright. I'm going back and ask Gloria about it."

"Fine. I'll be here. Well, there's not anywhere else I can go, is there?" Carlos let out a short laugh.

Thomas stood and ran away from the hole.

~~~

"SORRY, GUYS!! WE SEEMED TO HAVE HIT A SNAG, AND I'M GOING TO BE HERE FOR A WHILE!!!"

Sheryl heard the moans of the Refugees fill the small space of the closet.

"Oliver," She asked the man she was talking to before. "You know who that Carlos guy is?" .

"No idea," Oliver answered. "But it sounds like he took quite a fall."

"I know," Sheryl said. "And this Bruce... you think he could really break them out of here?"

"I doubt it. I mean, their cage is over here, and that hole they used is all the way over there. What is he going to do, drill another hole in the wall?"

"How did that hole get there, anyway?"

"Beats me."

Another male, an older man, spoke up. "I hope what's-her-name finds that guy and puts 'im in there with the rest o' 'em."

"Yeah," agreed a female. "They need to be taken down some more knotches."

The Homeless began talking amongst themselves, and laughing as well.

"Hey, everyone," the female said. "I've got a plan."

"Oh boy..." Sheryl shook her head. She had a clue as to what her subordinates were scheming.

~~~

Thomas ran back to the campsite, and found Gloria sitting at the center. She turned towards him as he ran closer to her.

"Thomas, you're back," she said. "...Where's Carlos?"

Thomas stopped in front of her, and croutched down, catching his breath. "We found the others. They were captured, just as Bruce said."

Gloria's eyes widened. "Really? Dammit... But that doesn't really answer my question."

Thomas stood upright. "The rope snapped, and now he's trapped down there."

"What?!" This got her riled up.

"Yeah, and the worst part is that Melissa moved the cage, so he's stuck on top of an empty shelf, and we can't get the others."

"No..." Gloria covered her mouth with her right hand.

"Is there another string around here? If we can find one, we may have a chance at rescuing him."

Gloria stood up and looked around her. "Let's look in every one of these tents, and all around here. We have to find find something."

"Alright." The two then split, and began to search around the area.

~~~

Carlos sat against the wall. He had lost track of how long he was in the closet. It seemed like hours. No doubt that Melissa would be back any minute now, to check up on her "property."

"Hurry up, Thomas," Carlos muttered to himself. "Or else-"

Suddenly, Carlos heard the closet door opened. In that instant, he knew who would be coming inside. He laid flat on the surface of the shelf, and backed as far away from the edge as he possibly could, aligning himself against the wall. He watched as Melissa made her way inside, and addressed the tiny people. She then croutched down, out of his sight.

"Good afternoon, my precious collectables!" she said excitedly. "I bet you all didn't know it was afternoon out there, did you?" She let out a short laugh. "So, what's new here. How are you liking the "Privacy Box" I gave you all?"

Carlos could not hear the response, but whatever it was made her laugh again. "Well, not what I intended, but I'm sure you'll get used to it. Just no babies, alright? Maybe I should shrink you all some condoms." Another laugh. "Now, what about you all?"

Once again, Carlos could not hear what was being said by the captives, but what she was told this time seemed to make her curious. "Oh, really?"

Carlos watched as she stood back upright, and walked towards the shelf he lay hidden on. His heart began to race. Would he be discovered? What would become of him? He tried to make himself more flat on the surface, hoping that his size combined with the darkness would keep him hidden from Melissa's sight. He also hid the string behind him, as it would no doubt give her a clue as to where they had been hiding. He watched as she examined the shelf, squinting her eyes as they shifted from edge-to-edge, and her face drawing closer to the shelf. In that instant, Carlos believed that he had been found.

Melissa's face receded, and she turned around. "What are you talking about? There's no one here."

Carlos let out a deep sigh of relief. But who tried to out him? Was it his allies? Or was it the Homeless.

"Probably the Homeless," Carlos muttered to himself.

~~~

"Nothing," Gloria said as she returned to the center, meeting Thomas there. "What about you?"

"Same here," he said. "I didn't find anything."

"Damn. You'd think Bruce would have had a spare in his tent somewhere. I guess he's not as reliable as we thought. And he was already pretty damn unreliable."

"So, what now?" Thomas asked.

"You go back and tell Carlos that we don't have anything to get him with right now."

"'Right now'?"

"It's possible that Bruce may have something hidden away, but we have to wait for him to ask."

"I see... When will he be back?"

"A few days. ...Hopefully."

Thomas sighed. "Unreliable is right. I hope Carlos can hang on for that long."

He turned and ran back towards the hole. Upon reaching it minutes later, he peered inside, shining his flashlight down into it. He prepared to call out to Carlos, but before he could, he heard that all-to-familiar voice.

"What are you talking about? There's no one here."

Thomas's quickly backed away from the hole, breathing harder and his heart now beating faster. He took a deep breath, and slowly walked back to the hole, croutching on the floor and peeking inside.

There was no way that Melissa could see him where he was, but he did not want to do anything to risk giving away Carlos, as from her words, it seemed that she had not found him.

~~~

Melissa faced the glass cage containing the Homeless. "Don't lie to me anymore. Or you'll regret it."

"But it's the truth!" A male yelled out. "He said that his name was Carlos and everything!"

"'Carlos'?" Melissa began to think to herself. "Hmm... Come to think of it, I did bring in someone named Carlos before, but that was a while ago, and I don't remember seeing him when I recaptured the rest." She turned back to the Homeless. "You don't forget someone that good-looking. He was a fine piece of Latin goodness. Should I look again?"

"Yes!" The same voice yelled out.

"...Alright. But if I don't find anything, I'm killing you."

She then walked back to the shelf. This time, however she pulled her cell phone out from her pocket. She flipped it open, which caused the LCD screen to switch on. She used the immumination from its backlight to scan around the shelf. Sure enough, she found the man in question: Carlos. He looked up towards her, and she could make out a frightened expression on his face.

"Found you!" Melissa said as she used her free hand to grab the small man with her finger and thumb. "Thought you could hide from me? Good thing these guys had some sharp ears." She laughed as she flipped her cell phone closed and put it back in her pocket.

"Oh, you're as cute as ever!" She said as she held Carlos under the closet's lightbulb. "It'd be a shame to have to kill you, so stay alive for as long as you can, okay?" She brought him to her lips, and planted a kiss on his face. She then walked to the glass cages, and set him inside of the one with her reacquired prisoners.

"Now, where's this rope?" Melissa asked. "The one they say that you broke."

There was no response.

"You better answer me!" She yelled, her mood aggrivated. "Or I'll kill one of your friends!"

"O-over there..." Carlos answered, pointing towards the shelf.

Melissa walked back to the shelf, and pulled her phone back out of her pocket. She used its backlight to examine the shelf again, and found that very string against the wall. She grabbed it, and walked back to the cage. "Thank you." She smiled at them. "I'll be back later. I have to have a little talk with someone."

She waved at the small captives, before walking out of the closet. Indeed, she had a few questions to ask that person that she had in mind.

~~~

The Homeless celebrated the recapturing of yet another Refugee, and that they had played a part in outting his presence.

"We got them! We got them good!"

"That'll teach them to look down on us!"

Sheryl watched her companions rejoice at their success, before retiring back to her box.

"Where are you going, Sheryl?" Oliver asked.

"Melissa was right. I didn't know that it was the afternoon. I'm going to bed. I haven't slept in a while." She continued towards her box. "My biological clock is all messed up..." she said to herself.

The cheering of her subordinates did not seem to negatively affect her, as upon entering her cardboard box, she was asleep within minutes.

~~~

Carlos fell to his knees, as the other Refugees crowded around him.

"Dammit!" Dawson said in anger. "I can't believe those damn Homeless ratted you out like that!"

"Doesn't surprise me," Beatrix said. "They don't like us, and we don't like them. It's just how it is."

Carlos sighed. "What's worse," he said, "Thomas was supposed to be finding a spare rope to get me back up there. Now that I've been caught, it's just him and Gloria."

"What about Bruce?" Shawn asked.

"You know how he is," Carlos answered. "He came back yesterday, and was quite pissed when he found out that you all were gone. In fact, my little reconissance mission was his idea. But this morning, he was gone again."

"Damn... Ray really screwed us big time..." Dawson said. "I knew that following him was a bad idea."

The Refugees were silent for several seconds, before Jenna spoke up.

"Hey, what do you think she meant when she said that she was going to have a talk to 'someone'?" She asked.

"Hell if I know," a male said.

"But she suddenly came to that after she found the string," Jenna continued. "And who put the string there in the first place? Bruce."

"Yeah. What are you getting at?"

"Bruce was always away, and he told us to never go down to where he was, because it's 'too dangerous'. Do you catch my drift now?"

"Wait," Beatrix said. "Are you trying to say that Bruce could be working with Melissa?"

"It's possible."

Dawson laughed. "You're lucky that Ray isn't here. He would have slapped you for saying that."

"I've been through worse than a slap." Jenna shrugged her shoulders.

"Either way," Shawn said. "At this point, I think we should consider all possibilities. Maybe Bruce was right, and that it is too dangerous down there, and that he's still looking for a way out. On the other hand, if Jenna's theory is true... well, we're screwed."

~~~

Thomas slowly walked back to the campsite, with a melancholic expression on his face. Gloria, still sitting at the center, turned to see him returning.

"What's wrong?" she asked, noticing his facial expression.

"She got him," Thomas said, falling on his rear. "Melissa got Carlos."

Gloria gasped. "What?!"