There wasn't anything extraordinary about the casino that night. It wasn't like one of those resort casinos you'd find in Sahara across the pond, immaculately clean and desperately attempting to masquerade as a place for family-friendly fun. No, it was just about the opposite; that is, to say, it was more like one of those Sahara casinos in the 80s. Opulent, sure, and well-maintained, hell, it even had huge chandeliers in the lounge area, but it left a thick layer of grime on your soul just walking in the place.

It was dimly lit, which may have had to do with the fact that half the staff and clientele were nocturnal. The lounge area was packed; about four feet from the bar, there was a table of four antelope socialites—probably from Zootopia, bloody tourists—snorting cocaine, and in the most obnoxious way possible, might I add. Giggling and yelling at the top of their lungs in lieu of a quiet conversation, which is how a proper mammal does their cocaine here. Not, uh—not that I'd know anything about that. I wanted to give them a proper tutting, but their rhino bodyguards were visibly armed.

I walked into the lounge and went straight for the bar. The room went dead silent as everyone stared at me for a second, then went back to their drinks. I hopped into the oversized chair, eventually settling to such sit on the (massive) bar itself, and got the barman's attention. He was a black bear, which normally would spook a rabbit such as myself, but in my line of work I've dealt with worse.

"An' just wot is a wee thing like yerself doing here?" he demanded. Here we go, I thought.

"Oh, just having a drink or two."

He moved in really close, staring me down. "Are ye? Because it looks as though ye're gettin' yer filth on me bar!"

"I'm—well, that's not really fair, see, I'm perfectly clean, and...I mean, chaps like me usually sit directly on the, uh, bar, when there's not any...you know, appropriate seating around. I—It's really common, I, I mean, you do look like you're an experienced barkeep, surely you see this a lot, right?"

"We don't see a lot o' yer kind 'round here," he growled. The other patrons were starting to stare at the scene, which he noticed. "I don' wanna scare off me patrons. Boss'll kill me. Just behave yerself, bunny," he whispered with venom.

He backed away to normal. "So, what'll it be?" he asked in an overly cheerful voice.

"M—martini. Shaken, not stirred."

"Right away."

I smiled. Handled it like a pro, Savage. After at least ten minutes, he came over and poured the gin and vermouth into a martini glass right in front of me, making sure to look me right in the eyes as he stirred it for a good thirty seconds before walking off.

"Um, sir, I—I'm sorry, I asked for it shaken, not—"

"Bugger off!"

I frowned. I would not be leaving a five-star review. But for now, booze is booze, so I decided to sip away in the meantime. After a few minutes passed, an arctic wolf came up and sat next to me.

"75," she instructed the barman, who nodded and promptly returned with a golden cocktail. Bastard.

"Sorry to be late, Savage," she said quietly, without looking at me.

"It happens, Howlton," I responded in turn. "The target's still in the casino, right?"

"Well...no. He left early before our teams could get into place."

"Son of a bitch! Do we at least know where he went?"

"We do. But we've got a small problem, a...well, a complication."

"Just what we need. What's happened?"

She sighed. "They found Timothy and Mikhail dead two hours ago."

My eyes widened. "WHAT?"

"HQ says their cover must've been blown. The target's on to us."

"Damn. A-are we aborting the mission?"

"That's just it. Last transmission we got from Mikhail said that the target just made a deal to sell three Scorpion missiles with biological warheads to an unknown buyer."

"We can't abort the mission now, then...any other information?"

"We have reason to suspect that the buyer is overseas."

"There's only one place overseas that'd be worth hitting..." It hit me. Zootopia. My eyes widened at the thought of what someone could do with that kind of firepower over there.

"Exactly. That's not the full story, though—"

"Well!" a loud voice behind us boomed. We turned around to see three angry-looking polar bears walking up behind us. "Jack Savage, the Queen's finest agent, in the flesh!"

"And you must be working for the fellow we're looking for?" I mused.

"A spy and a comedian!" the middle one roared. "This is going to be a fun one..."

The five of us all drew our guns at the same time. The other patrons screamed and fled, some hiding under tables.

"Ye bastards take yer shite outside, yer scarin—" he began, only for the polar bears to drop him in a hail of gunfire mixed with a sickening crimson mist. It was a miracle I didn't piss myself in fear as the two of us took the chance to dive behind the bar and began returning fire. The three bears kicked over some tables to use as cover.

A bottle behind me exploded as a stray bullet struck it. I looked at Howlton, who seemed to be contemplating our next move.

"Any ideas, star soldier?" she asked.

"Hey, don't look at me. I was expecting a clean, quiet apprehension."

"Well, your expectations never seem to conform to reality, Jack. Now, what's the plan?"

"I'm going to sneak around to flank them. Give me some cover fire."

"You're gonna have to be fast, neither of us has a lot of ammo. I can't cover you for long."

"Do we ever?" I smiled. "Okay, on three."

1...2...3. She started firing at them as I fled from the bar and moved to the left side of the room, giving me a perfect shot at all three of them. I wildly fired my gun at them until I was out of ammo.

The room went dead silent. I looked at them. They were somehow unscathed, and now I was effectively unarmed. I think I saw one of the coked out antelopes that was directly across the room from me, in my line of fire, that I'd mentioned earlier; she was clutching her stomach...well, crap. I mean...one of the bastard polar bears must've shot her while I was attacking them! How despicable! Surely that's what happened. No, I'm sure it's what happened. Me hitting a bystander and not the actual target with seven shots? That's...well, ludicrous. I didn't hit an unintended target. I don't hit the wrong mammal, no, no...I had to steel my resolve.

In any case, they are looked at me for a good five seconds and began laughing before pointing their guns at me, spouting some nonsense about me pissing myself earlier and how it was glaringly obvious (which it wasn't, no such thing happened). I froze, not out of fear, but because it, well, it isn't sporting to take cover. Best to die like a gentleman, yes?

I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable, only to hear an extremely loud crashing sound. I opened my eyes to see the polar bears crushed by a massive chandelier. Evidently my barrage had struck the chain suspending it, weakening it enough to cause a collapse.

I walked over to the site of the crash, and kicked their guns away as they groaned in pain.

"I'm sure you were looking forward to killing us. You must be crushed." They groaned even louder. I think I heard Howlton sighing too. Poor thing probably wanted the takedown for herself. The wounded antelope began crying.

"Howlton, call HQ—and get a bloody ambulance. These bastards shot that poor girl for no good reason!"

"You shot her!" one of the wounded bears yelped in exasperation. "You had your eyes closed the entire time you were fir—"

"Nonsense, I won't listen to your desperate rationalizations."

"We didn't even notice the—"

"Shut up, criminal! Howlton! What's HQ say?"

"They're sending a team now," she said, emerging from the bar, "and they're sending ambulances. That was excellent thinking, using the chandelier for a non-lethal takedown so we can interrogate them later."

"Oh, stop it, it wasn't that special—"

"Are you kidding me?!" the same bear shouted. "He only hit the damn thing with blind luck! Literally, BLIND luck! He wasn't looking at us or even aiming! And it wasn't a non-lethal takedown! Boris is half dead!" He started sobbing.

"Well, you shouldn't have gone into crime. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Like...well, this chandelier, for one." He groaned louder.

Two hours later, Mammal Intelligence 6 HQ

"Splendid work back there, you two," the Commander, a rather stern lion, said. "You turned an assassination attempt into our first concrete links to Nikolai since he skipped town."

"Just another day on the job, sir," I replied. "How...uh, how's that antelope doing?"

"Coked out of her mind, but alive," he stated matter-of-factly. "Nikolai's gang is just vicious, shooting that poor girl like that. And they're too scared to admit it, they kept insisting that you shot her, Jack. Imagine that!"

I chuckled nervously. "Heh, now that's just...well, ludicrous." Howlton and the Commander gave me a funny look as I cleared my throat before leaning back in my chair. "Aaaanyway..."

The Commander cleared his throat as well.

"Yes. Well, then...our latest intelligence shows us that Nikolai's most likely halfway across the ocean by now, en route to Zootopia, which, as you know, is far larger than anything on this side of the pond. And naturally, it's a juicier target for the kind of person that'd be buying biological weapons from a polar bear on the other side of the world—juicier to the tune of five million dead with optimal placement of the missiles, and that's just in the first 24 hours."

"Who's the buyer?" Howlton asked.

"Well...that's just the conundrum. We don't exactly know who it is. There are reports of who the buyer may be connected to: predator supremacist groups, prey supremacist groups, mammalian purity groups, good old-fashioned criminals with vendettas, crooked politicians—"

"So what you're saying is, we haven't got a single damned clue," she interrupted.

"No, we have a lot of clues," the Commander quipped. "Too many. And only one of them can be accurate, by definition. It's better than the alternative."

"You're saying that anyone could be the buyer."

"We—"

"That's exactly like saying we don't have any clue who. If we didn't have a single lead, then of course any potential terrorist group could be a suspect."

"Howlton, I didn't get to where I am by feeding crappy intel to my agents, you know."

"I'm just saying," she sighed. "What do you think, Savage?"

"Who, me? I think that we need to investigate all possible leads immediately. I doubt the kind of guy who's out buying biological weapons is going to sit on them for a while."

"He's got a point," Howlton responded.

"Precisely. We're in touch with our overseas counterparts, and...well, Savage, they asked for a favor..."

My eyes widened. "No. Absolutely not."

"They requested you by name."

"They're fans? I can send them an autograph."

"They need you."

"I promised myself a long time ago, I wasn't going back over there."

"It's been twenty-two years, Jack..."

"It could have been yesterday. I remember it so vividly..."

"Millions could die, Jack."

"Howlton's perfectly qualified."

"We need her investigating leads here, Agent. They need you."

"I can't do that, sir, please."

"If Nikolai's buyer puts his plan into action, and you don't do a thing to stop it, the blood's on your hands, Jack, the blood of millions. Far more so than John's ever was—"

"God damn you!" I shouted angrily. "Just who the bloody hell do you think you are?"

"I'm your commanding officer, Jack, that's who the bloody hell I am, and I'm telling you, this agency needs you overseas. Our counterparts need you overseas, and so help me, God, you'll go overseas!" he roared in reply. "You—you—Howlton, if you would be so kind?"

"I—yes, sir," she quietly squeaked out, a bit terrified, as she made a hasty exit.

The commander took a deep breath. And then, another.

"Mr. Savage, you're a fantastic asset to this agency, as I'm sure you're well aware."

"I'm nothing special, sir."

"You're one of our finest field operatives, if not the finest."

"That's very kind of you, sir."

"I understand your hesitation. I understand that in your many, many years of esteemed service to this agency, and to mammalkind at large, you've lost only one partner in the line of duty. And I understand that it was your first mission, which took you overseas to the exact place I'm asking you to go to now. Were the need not dire, I would gladly ask another."

"I see, sir."

"Millions of lives are at stake. If the buyer of those weapons were to detonate them in the city itself, the carnage would be...unimaginable."

"You're absolutely right about that, sir."

"And the buyer knows that very, very well. So he knows that, at the very least, he can kill millions in a month or so. If that's not his plan, then we must only assume something more sinister is ongoing."

"Indeed, sir." I sighed, knowing that this was unavoidable. "I...I suppose I can pull myself together, sir."

"I know you've got a lot of unresolved trauma regarding that place."

"I cut my teeth in that city. I'd never killed a mammal before. I'd never seen a mammal get killed before."

"Maybe you'll have a chance to...to find his family, or something? Get closure somehow?"

I hung my head. "Sir, I think I'm inclined to get in, do what I must, and get out. But I appreciate that."

"Of course, Savage, of course. Best not to open old wounds."

"Any more so than they already have been," I sighed. "I'll go, sir."

"Excellent. I'm hoping to have you there before morning; I hope you're fine with a red-eye flight...?"

"Hardly the most objectionable thing about this mission in my eyes, sir."

"Right. Right, well, the ZPD and ZIA will be aware of your presence. As to how much help they'll be providing—overt help, that is—remains in the air. They don't want too many rank-and-file coppers hearing anything. Given the recent, ah...turmoil over there regarding predator-prey relations, the city's authorities want to avoid a mass panic. A foreign agent's presence being necessary would, naturally, cause a panic."

"So it's a solo mission, then?"

"Unless you're assigned companions, then yes."

"Good. I don't want them losing anyone else on my behalf."

"I...Jack, I swear, if this wasn't absolutely necessary..."

"I know, sir. What else should I know?"

"One last thing. We're...well, we're in touch with ZPD and ZIA. We're not in touch with the actual higher echelons of government there. Too much procedural garbage to attend to in such a case, and the ZPD and ZIA heads both agreed that this needs to be solved quickly and quietly. We're going to crack through as much red tape as we can, but until that's finished with..."

"I'm not just solo, I'm off the radar and I'm unofficial. Given my past with Nikolai, if I'm caught by the Mammalian Bureau of Investigation, or some other agency that we're not already working with, my escapades will be written off as a rogue agent's pursuit of a personal vendetta. Total plausible deniability for MI6 and all complicit organizations."

"I..."

"I've got to be blunt here, sir, this is about the worst bloody thing you've done to me," I laughed. He was lucky in that moment to be a lion, otherwise I might've just killed him right there. I'm only half kidding.

"You've got the ZPD and ZIA gunning for you—the higher-ups, of course. They'll keep you out of trouble as much as they're able to. Not to mention any of our double agents in the MBI."

"Why don't you just call the MBI right now and we can just eliminate a good deal of potential problems from the get-go?"

"The MBI and MI6 aren't nearly as friendly as we once were. After that one minor incident we had seven years back, they see us almost as an enemy. The commissioner's almost convinced we're out to sabotage their security services for the sake of a future conflict."

"Between us and Old Mammalia? Paranoid bugger, we've been allies since...how long's it been? 150 years at least!"

"Exactly. But I'm afraid that's what we're dealing with."

I sighed. "Always some bizarre complication. Anything else?"

"Nothing else. We'll keep in touch with you, and we'll make sure you're in contact with our allies in the relevant organizations."

"Excellent. Then I should be off."

"Yes, that would be ideal. You'll be departing from the agency's airstrip at 2200."

"Very good, sir."

"Go home, pack a few things. Your gear will be on the aircraft, and you'll be going immediately to meet with the ZPD chief and ZIA commandant. And...Jack?"

"Sir?"

"Good luck."

"Thank you, sir." I walked out of the office. Howlton was there, waiting for me.

"I...I wish I could accompany you," she stammered.

"I wish you could, too." We both laughed nervously. "How long have we been working together, Sarah?"

"Five years, I think."

"And now on the biggest case I've ever seen, one of the biggest MI6 has EVER seen..."

"And the commander's got me mopping up leads on the street, and star agent Savage goes to the big city to stop the arms traff—"

"You're welcome to convince him to switch us out," I laughed.

"Jack...I'm a little worried, I can't lie."

"It's not that dangerous, it just seems—"

"What if you get into trouble?"

"I'll talk my way out."

She chuckled. "When you talk your way out of a situation on the job, you're a nervous wreck. It'd be cute if it didn't almost get you killed so—"

"Cute?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Not cute, just...I dunno. Endearing."

"That's better."

"You know what I mean, though."

"Then I'll shoot my way out."

"You're not exactly a crack shot, Jack."

I gave a defeated sigh. "What are you saying, Sarah?"

"I just...I'm worried. I don't know. I have a really bad feeling about this. I do the shooting and the talking, you do the planning and the fighting. That's how it's supposed to be. They almost never split us up like this."

I looked to the ground. "I don't much like the idea of it, myself. But..."

"I know. Just, for God's sake, be careful. Please, Jack."

"I will. You too, Sarah." She pulled me in for a hug, and we just held onto each other for a bit, before nervously breaking it off. I laughed like a hyena, my nerves were off the charts. She followed suit; the tension in the room was so thick you could've cut open the air. "I—I'll make sure to give you a call sometime soon. To let you know I'm safe."

"Thanks, I—you know how I worry."

"Yeah," I smiled. "Good luck, partner."

"You too, partner."

How long has it been since you worked overseas, Jack?

Who knows? Who cares?

Every time you come here, you screw up.

And the stakes haven't been this high in forever.

He didn't die. He was killed. You killed him.

It was an accident, we all know the stakes—

He had a son, Jack. A wife and a son. I wonder if they're dead now too...

The first lives I ruined. Not the last, by any measure.

Starved to death, maybe, no breadwinner, and back when prey like that was really hated...

Howlton was right. I'm not the one-rabbit army they all say I am.

They all say you're the best, but you're a fraud.

I've been doing this since I was a young one. How long's it been? I'm pushing forty, not that you'd ever guess it, but—you'd think I could pick up some skills in all this time, with all I've done.

Twenty-two years ago, Jack.

Twenty-two years and I'm probably the lowest piece of crap in the whole division. A fraud.

You're going to watch this city burn for the sake of your pride.

But maybe I'm capable. Maybe I'm just unconventional.

Your luck has to run out eventually, Jack.

But not today.

The plane landed at the airport after a long and bumpy night flight across the ocean. I slept during the flight—barely. Mostly, I laid awake, watching the clock, watching the dark waters with trepidation as we passed by. As we approached the coast and the sun peeked over the horizon, I poured myself a stiff drink. Double measure of vodka; it wasn't a cure, more like a bandage. But by God, I needed a bandage. Five o'clock somewhere, hey, it's five o'clock here...five in the morning, what's the difference?

When we landed, I peered out the window to see a ZPD car by the tarmac, and a very large cape buffalo in uniform was there waiting. I sighed. This was all happening so fast.

Disembarking, I waved at him. At first, he looked at me incredulously, and waited a second, craning his neck so as to see if someone else would be disembarking. I sighed. After what felt like an awkward eternity, he came up to the ramp and shook my hand.

"You must be Agent Savage," he said. He didn't have much of an accent, funnily enough.

"Indeed, at your service, Officer..."

"Bogo. Chief Bogo."

"Oh, my mistake, sir. I didn't realize you'd be meeting me directly."

"Given the nature of this operation, I thought it best. Sending another officer to pick you up means they'd know too, then they tell their partner about having to chauffeur a rather peculiar fellow early in the morning, then it spreads around like wildfire."

"That's a good point." I looked around; for all the fear I felt regarding this city, all the anxiety and traumatic memories, I couldn't deny that it was beautiful. "Shall we?"

He opened the passenger door for me. "After you."

We entered the vehicle and set off. At first, the silence was a bit awkward; I couldn't decide whether or not I was surprised at his initial doubt. I know that species stereotyping was far from rare here, but I had been under the impression that things were getting better. Perhaps the idea that a rabbit could be a skilled operative was a bit much; I'd heard they had just now gotten around to letting us on the police force itself, much less such high positions.

"You seemed, ah...surprised at my, well...being me," I said.

"My apologies, Agent. I—well, I just was caught a bit off guard."

"They didn't tell you?"

"They didn't."

"And you didn't ask?"

"Well, no."

"Must not have been that important a detail, then." I could barely suppress a smirk. He looked at me for a second, a bit miffed. "Must not," he replied.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Well, we were supposed to meet with Chief Clawgrinder of the ZIA, but he had to leave town for an emergency meeting with the President and the head of the MBI. Something tells me it has something to do with this whole Nikolai situation. He's going to try and get as much influence over the case as he can from the MBI. Most likely, though, they'll end up 50/50, so you'll have to watch for MBI agents. Anyway, I'm going to show you your accommodations for the time being, and in the meantime, we'll discuss our first move."

"Sounds good to me. Have you got much intelligence?"

"Only what the men at MI6 sent us. We've got three mammals with links to this Nikolai fellow. Adam Furman, a badger whose rap sheet's a half mile long, and probably knows a bit about this buyer, he lives in some warehouse in Central. Then there's Hans Grisbar, a grizzly bear from overseas, like yourself. He's known to have links to some...interesting organizations. Usually found in nightclubs. Finally, there's one we only know as Borodin. Polar bear like Nikolai, probably his link to Zootopia. No idea where he'd be right now, working on it."

"Our top priority should be to find the buyer," I replied. "I'll take on Furman first."

"I can assign you support of some kind, I'll let you pick—"

"Absolutely not, sir. I appreciate it, but this is all very...cloak and dagger."

"The offer's open, in any case. I think you should consider it, as technically you're acting in an extrajudicial manner. Might help to have actual authority with you, I'll do all I can, but nothing's guaranteed."

"I'll give it some thought."

"Excellent. I'll arrange to have Furman's files delivered to your apartment, along with your luggage and all the equipment that was specified by your commander."

"Perfect. Thank you."