Here's Chapter 2! Enjoy!

Special thanks to YFWE for beta reading.

II

Aftermath

The news of Ace's postgame incident did not reach any important ears until Wednesday morning. Many of the mammals who regularly followed the league's activity awoke to the headline of 'Royals Rookie Suffers Injury Hours After Elimination' or something of the like. While the team's elimination just before the event helped to mitigate the oncoming chaos, it didn't stop the story from becoming one of the top headlines for the day, since there were no games scheduled.

Upon hearing the news, league staff members and players were furious. A good fraction of the players, especially the ones whose teams were still in the playoff race, feared that the league may take extreme action as a response to the attack.

That morning, some of the officials, coaches, managers, and owners were invited to the ZHL headquarters in Tundratown for an impromptu meeting to discuss the course of the league in the coming weeks.

"We can't do it. The guys on the outside don't want it," argued Gerard Pine, the wolf coach of the Meadowlands-based Cavaliers. "We already denied everyone a playoffs past the first round last year. To cancel it again after just one Night Howler attack that affects a single player is a betrayal to both the fans and the players."

While many of the present mammals were tired of sitting through this heated discussion, some of them persisted; they were not afraid to challenge Pine's argument. "If these attacks continue, then what do you do?" asked Royals owner Theo Judson, a leopard. "Maybe it's easy for you to say that we should continue, but Tuesday night is a case concerning my players and their wellbeing. Wolfburne was attacked on his commute between his arena and his home. If our players can't walk a few blocks without the risk of an incident, then clearly something needs to change in terms of how we're handling the safety of our players."

There was silence for a few seconds. It was a matter between siding with the league and siding with the players. Cancelling the playoffs would serve the league, as it would not have to take any risks regarding another Night Howlers scandal. But doing so would put the league at risk, considering the possible backlash from players and fans.

A polar bear, league commissioner Kit Marbury, spoke up. "Alex, have you spoken with Wolfburne yet?"

Alexander Buck shook his head. "I reckon he isn't doing that great, though," he said. "From what they're saying, I'm not exactly sure if he'll be good to start next season. But from what I know about him after spending an entire season with him, he would have said no."

"It's only one attack," added Rick Roscoe, raccoon owner of the Downtown-based Rangers. "Last year it took almost 10 of them until we decided it was enough. I say we should continue and then act accordingly."

"Yes, but none of last year's attacks resulted in long-term injury. Now, first incident in an entire year, and a rookie almost loses his leg!" said Judson.

"That's enough," interrupted Marbury. "If it makes you happy, Theo, then we can monitor the players more closely if we end up voting to continue. If anyone has any other ideas, pitch in now."

Silence. Although it was obvious that a few of them wished to continue arguing, especially Judson and Pine, they kept their mouths shut.

"All right, then," said Marbury. "Just cast your vote before you leave. We'll meet here again after the first round is over to discuss where we're going, based off how this ends up."

At roll call Wednesday morning, Bogo gave Judy and Nick the information as promised. There were the profiles of every mammal who was directly affected by Tuesday night's Night Howler attack; each one came with a photo, the species, name, occupation, height, weight, and any additional information. For most of them, the last box specified two things: whether they were a savage or a target of a savage, and where they were found.

Judy's first instinct was to compare those involved in this attack with those involved in last year's case. When Judy came across a reindeer on the list of savages, however, it became apparent that her initial thoughts were incorrect.

One of the victim profiles was of the wolf they saw that night. Nick held it up and exchanged glances with Judy before opening it.

"Ace Wolfburne, 20 years old, hockey player living on Flurry Street in Tundratown. Five-and-a-half-feet tall," said Nick. "This is really our guy?"

Judy sorted through the profiles of the ones who had gone savage last night in Tundratown. She singled out the two jaguars in the pile, attempting to match the wolf with his attacker from last night.

Based on location found, she managed to find the savage mammal: a male jaguar. His name was Tom Pavar, a 31-year-old truck driver residing in the lower Rainforest District. Why he was in Tundratown at the time was unimportant, though Nick could infer why, based on his occupation.

"Yes. There's our match," said Judy.

Bogo had sent a different squad to investigate at the sites in Tundratown. Judy's goal was to find any connections between Wolfburne, Pavar, and the culprit, even if the two victims had gotten involved by pure coincidence.

She wondered if Wolfburne's involvement and subsequent injury had been planned—meaning he was a target—or if it was just a side effect of a grander scheme. While she leaned toward the latter just because of how far the exchange was from the main attack scene, she didn't rule out the possibility that he was a target.

"Thing is, it's only been, what, ten hours since the attack," said Nick. "We won't be able to contact any of the victims from last night. Not for a while; hopefully later today, if we're lucky."

"So you're saying we should wait?"

Nick shrugged. "I guess so."

Ace thought of nothing as he stared at the white ceiling in the room. He couldn't do anything, of course. His right leg was immobile, and his left wasn't feeling too great either, although he could somewhat move it within the little amount of space it had.

He huffed, and someone came knocking at the door. Normally, he would get up himself to answer it, but that wasn't possible.

It opened before he could respond, and in the doorway stood Coach Buck. It was a pleasant surprise to see a familiar face after an entire night of being cared for by strangers. The attendant pushed a button next to the bed, allowing Ace to sit up.

Neither of them knew exactly how to start. Ace was staring at his current coach after sustaining an elimination and an injury within less than two hours' worth of time.

Buck, on the other side, had really only needed to address his rookie during practices and games, and only to bring up a point about Ace's play. He had predicted Ace's position based on those conversations.

Coach Buck took a seat after a few seconds of silence. "May we have a moment?" he asked the attendant, and she exited the room.

It was quiet for a bit longer before Buck spoke again. "Does it hurt?"

"Yes," said Ace. He didn't know how else to answer the question, nor why his coach even asked it in the first place. "X-ray photos are over there." He pointed at a mess of laminated papers sitting face down on the desk next to his coach.

Buck picked up the papers. "I see," he said. "I've had to deal with a lot of player injuries in my career. This isn't the worst thing I've ever seen."

"What's the news saying about me?"

"Never mind the news."

"Just tell me."

Buck sighed. "Well, in my opinion, they've gone a bit off the deep end freaking out over all this. The league called a meeting to see if we wanted to call off the rest of the tournament."

The last sentence alarmed Ace. "Did they do it?"

"I don't know. But I voted no on your behalf."

"Hopefully the others did too."

"Not our owner. He cares too much to keep this tournament going. It's not that his reasoning is flawed, it's just that it's not what you guys want. You guys, the players."

Ace did the best impression of a shrug that he could do within the confines of the bed. It turned out to be nothing more than a very slight movement of the shoulders; anyone who wasn't watching closely wouldn't have noticed.

He wished he had more space to move around, although he saw why he couldn't. If he tried to adjust his position on the bed, then there was a chance that he could disrupt something in his leg, which would result in greater pain and a longer hospital stay. As much as he wanted to try adjusting himself, he didn't.

"Well, at least it's the offseason," said Ace.

"For us," added Buck.

"You don't suppose this is…" Ace gulped, "possibly career-ending, do you?"

"What?" Hearing the question shocked Buck. "Oh, no, no, no, no. I told you, I've coached players who suffered injuries worse than this before, and they were up and running within a few months. I think that this could only be career ending if, and hear me out, if something just goes horribly wrong in recovery."

Ace didn't know how to feel about his coach's response. It wasn't exactly a question he wanted to ask on his first day, but he felt it was necessary. Now that he knew he would be able to play again, he was eager to get through the offseason, but also nervous about the slim chance that he might not fully recover.

"What about the other things? Surgery, therapy, all that fun stuff?"

"Now, that's not my question to answer," said Buck. "Ask the doc if it really concerns you."

Ace nodded. It was one of the few gestures he could make, since his head wasn't as restrained as the rest of his body.

"Just stay strong. You'll make it through this and you'll be back on the ice in no time, if that's what you want." Buck checked his phone for the time—it was almost an hour past noon. "But I'd best be going now. Sorry I had to make it so brief, but I'll try to stay longer if I could in the future."

The wolf sighed. "Okay."

Bogo had decided to keep the duo preoccupied by sending them to patrol around south Tundratown, where the attacks occurred. They remained there for several hours, coming upon the crime scene on Crevasse Street once.

It was a square between two roads, containing several benches and a tree in the middle. Five-story buildings suited for large mammals surrounded the area. After observing the crime scene for a few seconds, Nick noticed a blood splatter on one of the benches; a fight must have broken out as a result of a mammal's savagery.

But it wasn't their area to investigate. As Bogo had told them, a crew had already been dispatched to collect evidence on the site. That would explain why there was nothing interesting to find on the crime scene—everything had already been taken, and further analysis of the evidence was already underway.

The next hour was mostly uneventful. Both of them were aware that they were just waiting for the opportunity to reach one of the two victims they saw last night.

They came to the café on Flurry Street where Pavar assaulted Wolfburne, but found nothing of importance. The place was open, so any traces either they or Wolfburne might have left had been cleaned out. A small section outside was marked with tape, from the exit to the pole Judy used to cuff the jaguar.

They already knew that this wasn't where it had started, but they had been informed that this was the farthest from the attack point any of the savage mammals had gone.

Nothing was happening; perhaps it was time to move back toward the crime scene, so that no one could stir up any trouble over there. There, they planned, they would wait until Clawhauser would call them back.

So they waited back at the square. It became dull very quickly; Nick was easily distracted, spending most of the time looking for ways to entertain himself. "So, I figure that the wolf is being held less than a couple miles from here," he said.

"Has to be," said Judy. "How badly did that jaguar hurt him?"

Nick answered curtly. "Bad."

"Terrible bad, or just bad?"

"Look-away-if-you're-squeamish type bad. Did you see how he went down that second time?"

Judy shot him a glance, understanding what he meant. "Oh." She didn't think that Pavar had hurt him that badly; she thought the normal treatment from the bites was all that he would need. "I didn't see him. I was too busy holding down the jaguar."

Judy secretly hoped that they would be able to speak with Wolfburne first, since he was the one on the receiving end of the attack. When the call from Clawhauser came in, however, he stated that Pavar had been released after receiving the Night Howler antidote.

Figuring that they wouldn't be able to reach the wolf for a bit longer, they settled with what they had. Perhaps there was something he knew or saw that could lead them in the right direction.

The front of Pavar's residence was dark, even in the afternoon. Because he resided in the lower Rainforest District, little light managed to sift through the leaves, branches, and paths situated at higher levels of the district.

They knocked twice before the door opened. A jaguar stood there, breathing heavily and looking around for the one who knocked. It took a few seconds until he looked down to find the two smaller cops standing in front of him.

"I'm Officer Judy Hopps, and this is Officer Nick Wilde," said Judy, introducing herself and Nick. She had waited for the jaguar to spot them before she started speaking. "Are you Tom Pavar?"

"Yes," he answered. He seemed terrified, immediately backing off into his house with his paws raised defensively. He leaned against the open door, so as to be ready to close it whenever he needed. "What's this about?" he asked, his voice shaking. "What do you want?"

"Just some answers," said Nick. "I can tell you're not feeling so great about us being here, so I think it serves us both if you answer our questions so we can leave faster."

"No, no, that's not it," said the jaguar in an attempt to be courteous. "It's just… last night—"

Nick cut him off. "We know, we know. We were there."

The jaguar's eyes widened. "So… so you saw me? What I did? I didn't mean to—"

"We know," said Nick again, cutting him off for a second time. "May we come in, or you can step out for a moment?"

Pavar didn't speak for a few seconds. It was clear that he was still frightened, although no one could be certain as to what frightened him. Was he afraid of being detained, even though Nick had already established that he was not at fault? Was he afraid of getting involved with the case, fearing that his involvement would drive someone to target him?

He finally let his voice slide. "Okay," he croaked, stepping outside his house.

He shut the door behind himself. "I'm sorry," he said, having had a chance to calm down a little. "I usually don't interact with your type."

"Occupation or size?" asked Nick.

"The first."

Nick scoffed. "But uh… what did they tell you about last night?"

"That I just went savage and I hurt someone bad," said Pavar. "I couldn't believe them. Mammals don't go savage these days, save for last year. Didn't figure out it was the same thing as last year until I read the news. I read the name 'Wolfburne,' and then I knew they weren't lying."

"So you know who you hurt," said Judy.

Pavar nodded, somewhat nervously. "Wonder what he's thinking," he said, looking down. "I could have been the death of him."

"We'll get to him later and tell him you're sorry," said Nick. "But what about what happened before that? I'm assuming you don't remember attacking him, right?"

"Nothing."

"So what do you remember from last night, up until you were hit?"

"I was hauling stuff," explained Pavar. "Unloading boxes before I called it for the night, and then I heard some commotion in the square and… well, I looked and saw a fight broke out between two bears after it was quiet for a long time. Don't know exactly when I was hit, or anything after that."

"Did you see anything else?"

He shook his head. "From where I was standing, I couldn't really see the square that well. I was able to peek out for maybe three or four seconds, and when I saw one of them about to take a swing at the other, that's where my mind goes blank."

"What about the others around you?"

"Well, there was a fox on the site. Rufus Vaughn; we work for the same delivery company. I doubt he was targeted."

Judy and Nick exchanged glances. "Was there a Rufus Vaughn on the list this morning?" inquired Judy.

"No," said Nick, trying to map out the possibilities. He was a candidate for the list of suspects, since his name was not among those present when Bogo gave them the files. But it was also possible that he had just fled the scene sometime after the fight broke out, or he had taken shelter somewhere and left once the savages had dispersed. Either way, he was a witness, and that was the important part for now.

"Anything more?" asked Pavar.

Judy looked up at him. "No, that's all we need for now. Thank you for your time."

They parted from there. Pavar retreated back into the confines of his home with his head down, while Judy and Nick turned and headed back toward the car.

"Was that helpful or was that helpful?" asked Nick.

"Very," said Judy. "That was a lot more than I was expecting to get out of him, but I guess we'll take it."

"I'm not sure how fond I'm going to be of this Rufus Vaughn guy." Nick flicked a fallen leaf off his uniform. "Eh, we'll see."

"Well, at least we know of a witness we can reach," said Judy. "Tundratown or headquarters?"

Their seatbelts clicked, followed by the low rumble of the car engine as Judy started the car. A steady blast of cool air ruffled Nick's fur as he turned the dial to adjust the climate inside the vehicle. "I don't know, you're driving." He leaned back and threatened to place his legs on the dashboard, but lowered them after a sharp glare from Judy.

"Tundratown it is, then!" said Judy.

Nick scoffed, shaking his head. "Of course you would," he muttered.