Bogo glared at the overnight reports, trying to mentally make them change to more pleasant news. The remnants of Mr. Big's organisation were dead, most riddled with bullets, while the shrew himself had been dropped in to his own ice grave. In another world, perhaps Bogo would have been glad for the most powerful crime boss in the city to no longer be an issue.
In this world however, Bogo was angry that he'd lost his main source of income.
He and Big had worked out an arrangement years ago on his appointment to chief. For a small stipend, Bogo would keep the police not loyal to him away from the organised crime scene in the city, and do his best to take care of any uncooperative mammals. In return, Big gave him a cut of the profits from his various drugs and prostitution rackets. Perhaps kept the ZBI off the shrew's case, help evidence disappear. It had worked for the best part of two decades, with only Dawn Bellwether being part of the deal as well. The poor deluded sheep had let her politics get in the way of profit however, the night howler incident showing just how far gone she was. After Hopps and Wilde had brought her in and her prison sentence assured, it didn't take long for Bogo and Big to arrange a prison riot, resulting in her accidental death.
Funny how a sheep can fall on a shiv several times while in solitary confinement.
He sighed, grabbing a drink from the liquor cabinet in his desk and pouring a generous amount of Jackalope Daniels. He didn't give a damn that it was 9am, he needed a drink now. He glanced at the reports again while remembering Dawn, convinced that was where his judgement had failed him.
When Hopps and Wilde found out about Dawn's death they were the only officers who gave a damn. Ironic really, considering they had personal grudges against her. They pursued the case fervently, even doing so in their own time when Bogo had declared it officially closed. And they had gotten close to the truth. Too close for comfort. They'd gotten so close that Bogo had to have Clawhauser murdered to stop him spilling the precinct's dirty little secrets and revealing just how deep the corruption in the ZPD went.
Maybe if you hadn't treated him as nothing but your favourite fuck-toy, he'd still be around to help you relieve this stress, he mused and took another sip. A noise outside made him glance out his window, seeing the crane from yesterday returning to the street. He was annoyed by that. The damn thing had parked outside his recent every day for the last two weeks, and not once had he seen it used for any maintenance work on the roads or buildings around the precinct. Still it was a minor nuisance, nothing more.
Glancing back to the reports, his mind returning to Clawhauser made the bull rage for a few seconds. Unfortunatelty, the fat bastard had a backup of his files, and had them sent to Wilde and Hopps via courier. By the time Big had informed Bogo of this, the two had fled to Bunnyburrow, feeling the city was no longer safe. They'd stayed at the Hopps family farm, taking Wilde's mother and his best friend Finnick with them, hoping to be safe surrounded by hundreds of bunnies.
Unfortunately, they had not expected Bogo to go as far as he did to keep them quiet. In the dead of night, a week after their departure, Big and Bogo had dispatched a group of mammals after them. It was comprised of their biggest, toughest, most loyal subordinates.
They were 99% successful.
Taken by surprise, the mammals in the Hopps warren were no match for the mix of rhinos, elephants, polar bears, wolves and so forth. Some were shot to death, and they were considered lucky. Others were clawed or trampled, kits crying as their older siblings tried to protect them. Hell, the Hopps patriarch Stu had even managed to take down a couple of mamals with his shotgun. But it was for nought.
Inspecting the carnage in the night, the squad searched, only to find no sign of the two mammals they had to make absolutely sure were dead. As it had turned out, the two heathens had snuck away for some alone time, apparently falling asleep in the woods near the farm after their debauchery. Awoken by the far-off noise, they were too late to die by their family's side.
So they snapped.
Bogo shuddered and took another drink. Somehow, Hopps and Wilde managed to sneak back to the farm withouit being noticed, take the discarded weapons of the mammals Stu had killed…and fired up the combine harvester.
Receiving a report from the few survivors had astonished Bogo. They told how Hopps possessed by an unholy rage, simply drove the lumbering vehicle towards them, not paying heed to any of the bullets that struck the cab, scarring her ears and body. Wilde meanwhile had perched on top of the roaring machine, taking carefully aimed shots. Not a single mammal died by his bullets, but that was not his intention. Whereas Hopps had gone full on incoherent rage, Wilde had gone completely cold an emotionless, taking shots at mammals legs, leaving them unable to run from the whirling blades of his lover.
By the time they had finished, the machine was so covered in blood, guts and bone it simply ground to a halt. A handful of mammals had survived the assault and managed to make it back to the city to warn the chief. He'd immediately set to covering his tracks and making sure all evidence of the massacre pointed straight to Wilde and Hopps, setting the world against them.
It had done nothing.
Since that incident almost three years ago, the two former officers had become nightmares to the criminal underworld. Hopps with her all-encompassing berserker rage, moving too fast for any mammal to hit in open combat and shrugging off any damage she received. Wilde meanwhile moved like a ghost through the firefight, picking off targets from afar at first, then drawing closer and switching close quarters firearms, never managing to get hit by more than a glancing blow. In contrasts to his partner's screams, he was silent, so silent it unnerved all those who faced him. The only time the two showed any other emotion was after the carnage, where they embraced each other.
Bogo's head was throbbing. Last night was their most daring assault yet, simply driving a car right into the Big compound and blasting it to hell. Even Fru Fru had been killed, attempting to defend her father from her former friends. It had done no good however, adding another death to the night's total.
Big's empire was gone, burned to the ground, and Bogo knew he was next. He'd need to pull all his loyal cops, the ones who owned him favours, the ones he had leverage on, all of them, to Precinct One as soon as possible.
Suddenly, his office door was thrown open. Officer Howlson ran in, his white fur stained with coffee he had been drinking before he burst in to the office. "What is it Howlson?" Bogo asked, not wanting to have to deal with whatever issues the officer had.
Instead of answering, Howlson quickly moved to Bogo's computer, bringing up the ZNN website and opening the live video feed. Bogo's face blanched as he saw Officer Wolford, one of his most loyal officers, crying into the camera.
"I say again, I along with the majority of the ZPD are complicit in the most heinous crimes…I've killed children, some merely months old, all because of this corrupt and broken city! Under the direct orders of Chief Bogo, several mammals including myself murdered the entire Hopps family as well as Mrs Vivian Wilde and Finnick Foxton. I haven't slept properly for three years! If I sleep more than a few hours at a time they come to me in my dreams, asking why I did this. I tried to drown them out, drugs, alcohol, more drugs, NOTHING WORKS. I can't take it anymore, but I'm too much of a fucking coward to kill myself. So, I do this one thing for you, Nick, Judy. I give you this gift, this confession and these files of evidence confirming my accusations in hope that you do me one favour. Kill me quickly."
"Are you sure?" another voice said sending chills through Bogo's spine, It was Wilde's. So cold, no resemblance to the joking officer he had met all those years ago.
"Yes, please! I can't do this, but if I kill myself my soul is damned, please grant me this!"
"Do you honestly think you're going anywhere but Hell after what you've done?" a female voice cut in. Wolford doubled over as if kicked in the gut from off screen. Then the familiar form of Judy Hopps came on screen. Her body was vastly different to how Bogo had last seen it in person, scarred but supremely muscled for a rabbit. Her body language showed her barely contained rage. She turned to the camera, and the eyes of purple that he remembered were nothing like those he saw now, despite the colour remaining the same, the anger they contained showed how hurt she was, how the world could burn and it would never satisfy he desire for vengeance.
"N…No…I know where I will be going. But at least as I spend eternity burning in Hell, I can take solace in one thing done right."
"You'll forgive me for not caring," Wilde said and walked into the frame. Like Judy his body was also supremely muscular for his species. The two had worked on making sure they were combat ready for taking on mammals over ten times their size. Bogo remembered seeing footage of the two teaming up to beat Francine Pennington to half to death with nothing but crowbars and unyielding determination. No mammal deserved that, but considering how many young bunnies she had trampled during the raid on the Hopps warren, Bogo reasoned Hopps and Wilde didn't care. It had been Francine who had killed Wilde's mother, strangling her to death with her trunk. Perhaps that's why Wilde took his sweet time with her, keeping the elephant alive for almost two hours of blunt force trauma. By the end of it Francine was begging to be put out of her misery.
Then Wilde broke out the acid.
Bogo would never forget the screams that continued for a further three hours until the elephant ruptured her vocal chords, not even allowing her that release for the last thirty minutes of her life.
"Please…take me out of my misery…" Wolford begged down on both knees. Wilde and Hopps turned to each other, before drawing their guns. The feed cut out just after the first rounds struck.
"FUCK!" Bogo shouted. No matter what the public thought of the duo, there was no way he'd survive the political fallout. They were doing this to force him to run, which he had no choice but to do. Immediately his desk phone started ringing as multiple lines started filling up, including the direct link with the mayor's office.
"We gotta get the fuck out of town Bogo!" Howlson cried, his nerve cracking.
"Shut up shut up let me think for a second!" the buffalo shouted. OK, I need to grab one of my stashes of cash, get out of the country… He grabbed his keys and ran out the office door, Howlson right behind him. Several other mammals from the precinct had the same idea, massing towards the front entrance. Bogo made his way down the stairs and went to shove his way through.
That's when he heard the engine.
Dodging to the left just in time, Bogo watched in horror as a white elephant sized van crashed through the front of the precinct, running over several officers. Fangmeyer was unlucky enough to be dragged under the tyres, her scream cut short. The van bounced through the lobby, sending mammals flying and causing the front reception desk to disintegrate into splinters. The van continued forward past the steps leading to the higher floors before crashing into the rear wall and stopping dead.
Bogo surveyed the scene of carnage. Half the mammals who had been fleeing out the front door were either dead or too injured to move. The rest were stunned into silence, fear clouding their response.
"Don't just stand there you idiots! Open fire!" Bogo shouted, and several mammals went for their guns, including him. However, before they could bring them to bare the back doors of the van burst open. Bogo looked and bit down on the urge to scream.
Nick Wilde was standing in the back of the van, clad in black and with an M60 heavy machine gun in his paws. Judy Hopps stood to his side also in black, holding a long belt of ammunition for the weapon. On her back was the largest machete Bogo had ever seen such a small mammal wield, and a uzi submachine gun strapped to her hip
Before Bogo could utter the order to attack, Wilde opened fire.
The bullets tore through the air towards the largest group of officers. Rhinowitz caught the first volley, his tough hide no match for the power of the weapon. Delgato fell next, then Jackson and Grizolli. The worst part was that Wilde showed no reaction to their deaths, simply moving to the next as if cutting a lawn. It would have made Bogo feel so much better if he screamed.
Finally, the surviving police found some sense and ducked behind cover. Wilde kept up the fire regardless, sweeping the room and taking out a few more cops behind less than sturdy cover. Bogo managed to scramble behind a stone pillar to the side of the stairs, hunkering down as the bullets flew past. A full minute passed until the weapon ran out of ammunition, but not before claiming another three victims.
A scream of hatred and fury filled the hall as Bogo turned towards the van to see Hopps leap out, weapons drawn. As she did, Wilde swung a rifle he had stored on his back around to his front, took a classic aiming oppose, and began firing off single shots to support the rabbit. Judy made a beeline for the largest surviving mammal, the elephant Bob Trumpet. Seeing his predicament, Bob slammed his trunk down on the floor as she approached, but missed. A slash from her machete caused him to cry out in pain. Without wasting a second, she clambered up elephant's frame and brought her machete up. As Bob tried unsuccessfully to shake her off, the doe made a final leap, drawing her arm back and throwing her blade into his eye. The massive officer screamed in agony…which allowed Hopps to clamber down towards his mouth, pressed the SMG to the roof, and fire. Immediately Bob's head exploded in red viscera and pink brain matter. A moment later the body fell to the floor right on top of Officer Swinton, who had been trying to sneak up on Hopps. Her scream was cut short as Bob's body crushed her. Riding the mountain of a mammal to the ground, Hopps grabbed her machete before the impact and leapt skywards. The three remaining officers drew their weapons upwards ready to shoot her out of the air. In doing so they left themselves completely exposed to Wilde, who took the rifle and shot them down with a few quick bursts before Hopps landed.
The battle had taken less than two minutes, and the entirety of the onsite Precinct One officers were dead.
Bogo tried to hold his breath as he sighted on Wilde, believing him to be the biggest threat. However, Hopps sent off a burst of fire, causing him to duck behind cover. He went to move to the other side, but a burst from Wilde prevented him from doing so. He tried to move to that side again, thinking Wilde expected him to try the opposite side. He moved out ready to fire, only to be greeted by two powerful feet driving into his skull. He stumbled backwards under the impact from Hopps, who rebounded out of the way. Bogo had just enough time to gets his bearings before his right arm exploded in agony from a single shot from Wilde. The pain caused him to drop his gun just as he felt another piece of lead embed itself in his other arm. He managed to move it slightly, but was distracted just long enough for Hopps to step in, gun aimed right at his left knee. She fired and a five-round burst shattered the knee cap, causing him to finally collapse to the floor. He tried to move, but the pain was too great, his only fully functioning limb was his right leg.
That was until Hopps drove her machete into the knee.
Bogo cried out in agony, unable to move. He looked up and saw the eyes of Hopps glaring at him. She was silent, her expression telling him everything she felt. Hatred, burning, complete, unyielding hatred. A few seconds later Wilde padded over. His look wasn't one of hatred. It was a complete disregard for Bogo as a living creature. There was nothing there, no hatred, but no empathy either. He didn't look at Bogo, he looked through him.
He wasn't sure which was worse.
"Say something you sick fucks!" he screamed, his only recourse left. "How the hell did you kill Wolford live and get here so quickly!?"
Nothing.
"Killing me won't get your families back! It's your own fault for sticking your damn noses where they didn't belong!" Bogo shouted. He knew it was cliché but he needed to do something.
Silence. Then surprisingly, the two mammals walked away back towards the door. A crowd had gathered outside seeing the carnage, and ran as they approached.
"What? You do all this and not even going to finish me off!? FUCKING COWARDS!" Bogo shouted, emboldened by their actions. He was going to live, and get these bastards.
This thought lasted all of twenty seconds as he saw both mammals return, dragging a steel cable with a hook on the end behind them. Bogo remembered the crane that had been outside every day for the last two weeks when the realisation hit that they'd be right outside the precinct almost all that time and he had no idea.
Then he noticed the cans of gasoline.
"No…no you sick bastards! If you're gonna kill me just do it! Anything but that!" Bogo screamed, fear finally taking full hold of him. They didn't listen. Together they looped his broken legs with the cable. It was here he noticed the strangest things. Even though they never spoke a single word, they seemed to be completely aware of each other's thoughts. He noticed Wilde briefly touch paws with Hopps as she reached the cable, the merest hint of emotion appearing on their faces.
"Please, Hopps, Wilde, don't do this…" he begged trying to use that brief window of emotion to his advantage. However, as quickly as it appeared it was gone, the two returning to the task at hand. The cable secured, they both took a gasoline can each and began pouring.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!? I CONFESS! I DID EVERYTHING WOLFORD SAID! IS THAT ENOUGH!?" Bogo howled, the last vestiges of his pride gone. He was begging like a child now, crying, howling in realisation he had mere minutes left to live, while trying not to swallow the gas. Wilde and Hopps finished emptying the cans, Wilde withdrew a small device from his pocket. He pressed something on it, and the cable became taut. Slowly dragging Bogo towards the entrance as the two silent mammals walked either side of him.
Few people got to see their own funeral march.
"PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NO!" he cried, but to no avail. He continued to howl and sob as he was dragged past his dead henchmammals, over broken glass that cut and then burned as the gasoline seeped into his wounds. He tried to struggle, but could barely move due to the pain and blood loss. Finally reaching the outside, he saw a large crowd had gathered now, including several police officers from other precincts.
"DO SOMETHING YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!" Bogo screamed at the police. They did nothing, either too scared of Hopps and Wilde, or equally as likely, they thought he deserved it.
"I'M SORRY, IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT!? I'M SORRY!" he screamed, dealing his final hand. Still no reaction from Hopps or Wilde as he was hoisted into the air by the cable. He got a good ten feet off the ground before Wilde pressed the device again, halting his ascent.
The crowd did nothing, simply watching in morbid curiosity. Some of the more attentive mammals with children realised what was about to happen, and quickly hurried their children away, but plenty were left to stare in horrified fascination.
Bogo stared at Hopps and Wilde one final time hoping to get through to them. No reaction, no twitch. Their only movements were to reach into their pockets and bring out two identical cigar lighters. The partners looked each other in the eyes and held hands. Without even looking at him deciding not to even acknowledge the buffalos pain, they activated their lighters…and threw them.
Bogo screamed as the fire killed him, the hellish noise echoing off the nearby buildings, sounding like a demon was being sent back to the hell whence he emerged from. Despite the fuel used the flames didn't consume his flesh completely, but enough that the smell of scorched flesh and hair would linger in the memories of the assembled crowd for the rest of their lives. After a few more seconds, his eyes popped as the liquid inside boiled.
Nick and Judy watched the grim scene in front of them, paw in paw. They listened as the flames died down, and when they had finished consuming Bogo, they turned and spied his charred corpse, swinging slightly in the breeze. They turned to each other, drowning out the rest of the world, the screams of the shocked mammals of the city, ignoring them multitude of questions thrown their way.
A single tear appeared on Nick's face, followed by Judy's. Then for the first time in three years, they let out all the grief, the loneliness, the guilt they felt for not being there for their families, collapsing in each other's arms, simultaneously using their lover for support and being the support for each other.
They began to mourn.
Notes:
This is what happens when I don't sleep for 38 hours due to recovering from surgery pain, and watch the Netflix Punisher trailer constantly. This is fucking garbage, but I'm still posting it because…well why the hell not?