Alan Redford, known as Redd by his peers, was a troublemaker, but a follower. He got himself into bad habits and he just couldn't stop. One day, he decided he'd impress his peers by keying a bunch of cars in a local garage's lot. As soon as the owner found him, he was dragged in by his shirt collar and put to work for vandalism, otherwise Torque, the owner of the establishment, would press charges. That's where he met Vick, a quiet bear four years his elder, who soon opened up to the young fox. By the time Redd's reparations were done, he decided to stick around, for Vick, who he was quickly falling for. They'd already hit it off by the next year, when Harley arrived.

One day, while Redd and Harleyu were taking a trip to pick up something out of state, they were held at gunpoint, and Redd would not back down. Being the reckless rebel, he refused to let all this work end, so the gun was drawn on him. Harley jumped in front of him and took the bullet, which ended his life, and scared the robber (turned killer) off. Redd was in a state of shock, and the next few hours were a blur. He regained his senses when he was back at the shop, and Vick was holding him tightly, crying.

Weeks passed, and, Redd grew cold unable to attend Harley's funeral, and worse, unable to continue to allow himself to love Vick if it meant he would die to protect him. He ended things as quickly as he could and ran, taking refuge at a bowling alley one state over. He was just a part time attendant, but at night he would practice, and when a scout came to observe a tournament he just happened to enter and place second in, he was drafted for a traveling team. This was it. He had a family again. And he would soon grow to be famous.

Years later, Torque, the owner of the garage back in Redd's hometown of Rockford IL, suffered from a heart attack, and Redd was ready to forget everything of the past and move on. But he couldn't, and he decided in that moment to ride all the way back home, 300 miles, to Vick, to tell him he was sorry, to rekindle the old flames, and to began anew.

Art By Nixi