Angel had gone for a run when she had gotten home. All the information about her dad was swimming through her head. She needed somewhere to her own thoughts. The only place she could do that was when she was running or swimming. Unlike her parents, who both enjoyed swimming more than running, Angel enjoyed running more. Angel had a talent for it that was only rivaled by her brother, Richard. She was 3 hundredths of a second slower than him, but her mile rivaled that of most Cheetahs. Actually, 98% of adult cheetahs. Her mile was 4 minutes 17 seconds. Her goal was to beat Benjamin's top mile, which was 3 minutes 48 seconds. She sighed. She had reached the park. She was three miles away, but no more than 15 minutes away. She walked into the entrance of the park. It had trails all throughout the park, and it was a square mile, so she had room to run. She sighed she pulled out her earbuds and put them in. She listened to Gazelle. She was retired now, but she loved her as a child. Then, her music changed to her ringtone and she felt her phone buzz. It was her father. She declined the call. She didn't want to talk to him right now. She began to run again. She ran for 20 minutes. She lapped the park 3 times before she stopped. She saw a short, dark and light grey fox sitting on a bench. She sighed.
"The hell are you doing here?" Angel asked.
"Dad's worried about you," Richard said.
"Don't care," Angel said, starting up again. Next thing she knew, Richard was jogging at her side. There, she could see him better. He had his father's build. The only thing different was his coloration. He had his mother's colors.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Not in the mood," Judy said. Her music changed to her ringtone and her phone buzzed again. She angrily sighed and pulled out her phone. It was her mother. She sighed. It wasn't who she was expecting.
"Hello?" Angel asked.
"I'm so sorry. Angel. Come home," she heard her mom say.
"I can explain. I'm sorry," she heard her dad say in the background.
"Nick! Get the fuck out!" Angel's mom yelled.
"I'm good. I don't want to be around him," Angel replied.
"Abigail. Please," Her mom say. Angel hadn't heard her birth name in 8 years. News spread fast between her teachers that she went by Angel and dreaded it when somebody called her something else. "I'll get your father out for a while."
"Okay. Be home in 15," Angel said. She hung up. Richard smiled the signature "Wilde smile", which was similar to her father's smirk. He bared his buck teeth and canines. That was the one thing every Wilde child had in common.
"C'mon Richey," Angel said, smirking. "Race you home."
"K, Abi. Your on. The usual bet?" Richard said. Richard hated the nickname her mother gave him, but he didn't dare call Angel 'Abigail'. He thought Angel was going to kill him last time he said it, 8 years ago.
"Nah. Let's put some real money on this," Angel said, pulling out a wad of cash from her wallet. "That's 200. Can you match?"
"Hell yeah, I can," Richard said. He pulled out his wallet. All of his money was crumpled, unlike Angel's clean, crisp 20s. But it was all there. They counted their money in front of each other.
"Where's the finish line? Elevator or front doors?" Richard asked.
"Let's say, kitchen counter," Angel said. They shook hands and jogged out of the park. They waited at the stoplight. "When the walk symbol appears. Not the red light. Understand?"
"Yeah," she heard Richard say. Angel sighed. She could take the main road all the way down, or she could take the small roads. She decided on the small roads, because there were many large buildings on this road and it was 4:58. The walk symbol appeared just as it became 5:00. Angel ran across and turned the corner. There were no cars yet. She jaywalked across to the other side. She turned around and saw her brother get caught in the crowd filing out of an office building. She ran the back roads all the way there. She had 4 stoplights, while her brother only had 1. But she felt confident. And luck seemed to be on her side. Every crosswalk was already going. She got to the final crossing point and she saw her brother down the road waiting for his. Theirs changed at the same time, but Angel had more to run. She got in the lobby to see the elevator doors closing. She bursted into the stairway and sprinted up the stairs. She had 84 floors to go. She took them in massive bounds. She also let her momentum carry her into the walls and she put up her feet and springed off of the walls. She prayed the elevator had to make a lot of stops. She reached the top and her lungs were burning. She put in her key to the door and came running in. She skidded into the kitchen and saw a grey flash before it flew out of her view.
"Damn it," Angel explained.
"What's wrong? Did I get the wrong toppings. I thought you liked them," Judy said. Angel's eyes widened. She turned to the figure and saw her mother eating a slice of pizza.
Judy squinted at her daughter. "How much?"
"200. We grounded?" Angel asked. Judy laughed.
"Grounded? You guys are old enough to make your own choices. Atta Girl," Judy said, giving Angel a high five. Angel grabbed a slice of pizza and sat down with her mother. She took a few bites as she heard the elevator doors open. She gave Richard the 'Wilde smile' when he walked in.
"Hey, sis. So," Richard started.
"She told me. Pay up," Judy said through a full mouth. Richard sighed and pulled out a hundred dollars and handed Angel it. "All of it."
"Whatever she said to you is a lie. You can't honestly think I would agree to that much," Richard said.
"Angel. Tell me the truth. Did you bet $200?" Judy said.
"I'll let him tell you," Angel said. She pulled out a carrot pen and played it back.
"Nah. Let's put some real money on this," Angel said. There was a pause. "That's 200. Can you match?"
"Hell yeah, I can." Richard said, with the recording ending.
"It's called a hustle, sweetheart," Angel said, pointing the pen at her brother. "Boom." Judy choked on her piece of pizza, she was laughing so hard. Angel did the heimlich maneuver on her.
"You got hustled, bud. Welcome to the club," Nick said walking in. Angel went very quiet.
"Nick! What did I tell you?!" Judy asked very angrily.
"I love you are fighting my fights, but don't here. It won't work," Nick said. "Angel, I ask for 30 minutes. Please," Nick pleaded.
"Okay. Now I need to know," Richard said.
"Not now," all three said. "Run along," Nick added. Richard left the kitchen. "Come along," Nick said. Taking the other way out of the kitchen. Angel followed. Nick and her went out to the staircase that Angel came in 10 minutes earlier. He instead climbed the stairs up to a locked door. Nick pulled out a key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock. It turned and clicked. Nick opened the door and walked onto the roof. Nick slid an old mattress from under some cardboard boxes and a tarp. He laid it out onto the gravelly rooftop. He plopped down onto his back on it and invited Angel to lay next to him. Angel joined her father.
"Look. I want you to know. I didn't always want to keep this a secret from you. I never got the courage to tell you guys. Remember that feeling you felt when you asked Andrew to the girls ask boys dance?" Nick asked. "Now multiply that feeling by 5. That's how I felt every time I got close to telling you guys. You worried about him not feeling the way you felt for him. I felt like not only would you not like me, but you would be scared of me. I want you to know that Angel."
"Thanks. Please don't try to bring my boyfriend into this, though, Dad." Angel replied. Nick chuckled.
"Okay, sweety. I'll try. But honestly, I think you couldn't have made a better choice," Nic said.
"And Dad," Angel said.
"Hmm?" Nick replied.
"You don't need to hide the arm from me. It doesn't scare me. It's really badass. Just wanted you to know," Angel replied, smiling.
"Anything I need to know, sweet pea?" Nick asked.
"I slept with Andrew," Angel said.
"YOU WHAT?!" Nick exclaimed. "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?! YOU ARE SO GROUNDED!"
"Calm down, calm down. It's a prank, and a test," Angel said.
"Jesus. Tell me your mother isn't in on this," Nick said. Angel laughed.
"She was the one who suggested it." Angel replied.
"Damn. I was hoping your mother would forgive me for me spiking her coffee," Nick said.
"She literally had to go to the bathroom so bad. There was only one woman's bathroom that wasn't being cleaned, dad. What did you expect?" Angel asked.
"I don't know. A peaceful solution?" Nick asked. "And what was that a test over?"
"If you meant what you said about not going ballistic," Angel replied. Nick sighed.
"Let's go. I'm kind of pissed," Nick said.
"At me?" Angel asked.
"Not you," Nick said. He locked the door to the roof and walked into the penthouse. "Not cool, Judy! So not cool!" He yelled. He heard laughing from the living room. He and Angel walked into the living room to find Judy, Richard, Scarlet and Lucy all playing The Call of War: Blackrats 3. They were playing split screen on the living room TV. Judy had paused the game. They were all laughing so hard. "What the hell?"
"Did you set up the camera?" Judy asked in between laughing fits. Angel tossed Scarlet a camera. She made sure to crop off the parts on both ends, first though. She didn't want her to see anything her dad didn't want to explain yet.
"You sly fox," Nick said.
"I'm going to go take this off the camera," Scarlet said.
"I'm going to go pack," Lucy said.
"Well. You guys want in? It's zomrats. It'll be like old times," Judy said.
"Sure," Nick said.
"What round are you guys on?" Angel asked.
"72 on Hard," Richard replied. Nick and Angel traded after 5 minutes. Nick liked a supportive build while Angel liked an offensive build. The group played for two hours. Around round 150, Angel ran out of ammo and the left flank fell. Judy went to help and the center fell. They all fell back to Nick's flank, but they got surrounded and got destroyed. Then, Nick and Judy walked up to their room, Angel to her room and Richard to his. They all got on their computers, put on their mics, and played Payout 2, a game Nick and Judy didn't like the younger kids playing. They all did heists and missions with each other. To Judy, it felt good to be on the other side of the law. She was a big fan of the game. She was the squad leader and ammo carrier. Nick was the sniper and healer. Angel was the assassin and jammer. Richard was the tank and demolition guy. They each had their favorite heist as well. Angel liked 'The Train', where you rob a train. Richard liked doing 'Furington Breakout', where they had to free a fellow robber. Nick liked 'Firecommencers', a mission where you had to destroy a gang's weapons and burn their money. Judy liked the 'Massive Bank', where you robbed the oldest bank in Zootopia. They went with 'Firecommencers', 'Massive Bank' and 'Furington Breakout'. They played all the missions on Single Down, the hardest difficulty. Nick was the highest level of the group and the richest. He was generation 5 level 100 and he had $1 trillion. He always spent the money to start the missions and get the bonuses, but he wasn't the boss. Judy was by far the lowest level and the poorest, but she was the smartest of the group. She was not originally the leader, but her ability to see 5 minutes ahead managed to be a big help. And Nick soon promoted her to leader. Nick was good at memorizing the patterns of police he saw, but Judy knew the cop's abilities, stats, what to hit him with, where to hit him, etc. She also memorized what police units would come and when.
"Dad. I need cover," Richard said.
"I've got you bud," Nick said.
"How are the bags coming, Angel?" Judy asked.
"I need some help. Mom, what if you fall back and help with bags and Dad and Richard move up?" Angel asked. "I can't get this done in 4 minutes. There are too many."
"If you can bring them to me, I can drop them in the elevator. Nick, fall back to the back wall. Richard, take the main lobby," Judy said.
"I'm getting eaten alive down here. Can you help?" Richard asked. "Oh crap. I'm downed. I would love your help if you can."
"Mom, cover me. I need 10 seconds. Think you can do that?" Angel said.
"No, let me. I'm the healer. I also have more armor than you, Angel," Nick said. He slid behind cover and began to revive Richard. A tank walked in front of him.
"Oh shit. I can't shoot him. I need help," Nick said. The enemy was staring down at Nick as he reloaded his heavy machinegun. Nick continued to revive Richard. If Richard went into custody, he wouldn't come out. He had killed too many civilians. Suddenly, the massive enemy turned around and received several shots to the face. He didn't go down, but his protective face mask flew off. Nick revived Richard and put one in the enemy's face. He dropped like a stone. Then he saw. Angel had been put into custody.
"Well, I made a sacrifice. Hopefully not a big one," Angel said.
"There is a massive group of enemies running towards Nick and Richard," Judy said. Then, Richard peeked over his cover holding an RPG. He killed the entire group in one shot. Nick laughed.
"What group?" Richard asked.
"Alright. I've been negotiated for a trade of a hostage. Trade me," Angel said. Her character popped back into existence. She helped load the bags into the van. They successfully robbed the bank. Nick checked his watch. It was 10:34.
"So Nick, did we beat our record of those three missions?" Angel asked.
"What was our old record?" Nick asked.
"3 hours, 17 minutes," Judy said. Nick laughed.
"I think shaving 47 minutes off of our top time is a cause for celebration. Don't you guys?" Nick asked. Cheering came from the mics. Ten minutes later, Nick had a glass of scotch in his paw. Judy had a glass of wine. Angel and Richard both had white sparkling grape juice. They clinked their glasses. Scarlet and Lucy were both at a sleepover, and Jackson was at a another at his friends place. It was rare for the older kids and the adults to have the penthouse alone. Angel nudged her dad.
"Okay. Here it goes. Richard. Your sister and I were talking on the roof earlier. You have a right to know. I…" Nick started. "It's better if I show you." Nick squeezed his arm, twisted it, pushed it, and twisted again. His arm popped off. Richard went wide eyed.
"How'd it happen?" Richard asked.
"You know the shot I made before Angel was born," Nick asked. He nodded. "It happened just after that."
"Umm. Okay. Wow. That's pretty badass, you know," Richard said.
Nick spent the better part of the next 20 minutes explaining it.
"Hey, um Nick. I have a request for you. We don't have a sniper unit but we need one. Badly. You would be the head of it. You would scope out places for your people to take shots. The rifles are quite advanced, now. You can see where your squad member are looking with a line. The scopes are all electronic, but you can take off your electronic scope and replace it with a normal one in the case of an EMP. You wouldn't be an officer, you would be a civilian HOS," Judy asked. Nick turned his head. "That's head of squad."
"Ah. Well. Sure. I need a training range. 2000 yards. At least. I also need full rights to pick and decline anyone you send my way," Nick said.
"Sure. Deal," Judy said. Nick smiled and polished off his glass.
Nick hopped into the passenger seat of the cruiser. The drive to work was plain and uneventful. When Nick walked in, he noticed many changes. Nick walked into the mess hall and sat in the back corner. He hung his head low and tipped his hat over the top of his head. The officers filed in. He heard the chanting start and die down.
"Alright. Today, we have a few announcements. We have a new recruit today. Our second ever fox. Who cares?" Judy said. The fox nervously laughed.
"You know, Chief, you should be kinder to recruits. You remember how you and I both were." Nick said.
"Shut it, Wilde," Judy said. Many new officers stood and saluted to him. The older ones clapped.
"Told you guys I'd be back," Nick said. "But this time," Nick waved his prosthetic.
"I said Shut It, Wilde," Judy said sternly. Nick sat in the chair and put his feet up in an empty chair. "We have a new squad forming. Mr. Wilde."
"Ah, yes. The ERS stands for elite riflemammal squad. You all know about my famous shots that I made back 18 and a half years ago. I am going to lead a squad to assist in any necessary missions. Now, I am handing out some pieces of paper. Each has a number written in the top corner. Remember your number. Now, write your most accurate shot you have ever made and the make and model of the weapon. And put it in my hat. He passed it around and it filled up. He started reading numbers and saying if they can stay or not. "17, stay. 2, you are free to go. 14. Holy shit, 14. Stay. I need to talk to you," Nick said. Nick continued through the list. He had a half dozen mammals at his disposal.
"Now. Who said that they made a 2000 yard shot with a Zootopian Accuracy in the black?" The new recruit nervously stepped forward.
"That was me, sir," he said.
"What's your name, rookie?" Nick asked.
"Wilde. Jason Wilde," the fox said.
"My resources say you are dead in a fire 17 years ago. How is this possible?" Nick said.
"Why were you researching me?" Wilde asked.
"Because you are my biological half brother. That's why," Nick said. "Anyways, you used a Zootopian Accuracy. Tough gun to come by. How'd you get it?"
"My-or our father gave it to me," Jason replied.
"Is it registered?" Nick asked.
"Yes," Jason replied.
"Good. You can use it if you want. Same goes for all of you. If your rifle is registered, you may use it. I want you all to meet me at this address in one hour," Nick said, slapping a piece of paper on the table. Nick walked out of the room.
Nick got a ride from Judy over to the range. It was in a deserted area of savanna central. The place had a main building, along with the range. Soon, everyone arrived.
"Good," Nick said, clapping his hands together. "Now. You are on the team if you pass."
"What are the payment differences, here, sir. Just curious," a female water buffalo said.
"What's your name? I swear I know you," Nick said.
"Christina Bogo," the buffalo replied. "You saved my life 18 years ago. From the bombing in the ZPD."
"Ah. Yes. I remember now," Nick said. "Delgato, I know you. Grizzoly, I know you. Ms.?" Nick started.
"Henrietta Lemur," a lemur replied.
"It's a pleasure," Nick said. "Well. Let's get started."
17 Weeks Later
Nick was briefing his squad on their training that day when his phone began to buzz. "It's the chief. Gotta take this." Nick answered his phone. "Wilde."
"I sent another down to you. She's cleared. She aced the academy in 12 weeks." Judy said. "She'll give you an access code."
"Okay. Wait until she gives me the access code. Understood. Bye," Nick said. "We are getting a new member. When she shows up, ask for the identification code. This is it. Don't let her in otherwise. I have to go grab more targets. They are a pain in the ass."
"Okay. Got you, boss," Henrietta said. Nick went out the door and went to the pickup. He hopped in and buckled up. The more he thought about it, the more he realized about her. Angel also cleared the academy in 12 weeks. Nick thought it would be Angel's friend Lily. They made their way through the academy together. Nick was told she was one hell of a shot.
"Thank you. Come again, the cashier said to Nick. Nick brought the targets out to the bed of the pickup. He drove off. He pulled into the parking lot of the range. He opened the door and called out to the team.
"Form up! I say we have a little shoot off with our new recruit. Where is Lily?"
"Precinct 5, boss. You got stuck with me," Angel said, sliding down the ladder to the second floor.
"Oh hell no. I'm not doing this with two family members. Nope," Nick said.
"Chief's word. That's what goes," Angel said.
"Alright. Squad, listen up. You may be the best at long range, but you have to be good in hand to hand. Angel, I win, you leave. You win, you stay. Be lucky. If you decline, I can pull a card in the agreement and you will be gone. Hand to hand," Nick said.
"Fine. You said hand to hand. Lose the steel reinforced prosthetic," Angel replied. Nick tossed Angel the knife on his belt.
"Fair?" Nick asked.
"Fair." Angel said.
"Fight." Nick said. Nick started offensive. He attempted a superman punch, but Angel easily dodged it. Nick turned it into the roll. He tried at Angel's feet. Angel knew he was teasing. She stomped on his tail as he rolled away. He yelped. Nick bared his teeth. He waited patiently for Angel to make a move. She aimed a punch at Nick, but he lazily blocked it and countered. Angel groaned. It was right in the stomach. Angel aimed another punch but aimed high intentionally. Nick grabbed it and began to flip her over his back. Angel kicked him in the back of the knees. She stood behind him and grabbed his arms and pinned them behind his back. She held the knife to his throat.
"Uncle," Nick said.
"That's what I thought, Dad," Angel said. "Who's next?"