A.N. Okay, here's the next chapter. The first chapter was mostly just setting up this story. But anyway, please read and review, and have fun.
Chief Bogo was hating paper with a passion right now. Another form, another signature, and every one of these papers would need for him to deal with them personally. He groaned as the stretched his tired hoofs, even modern day scientists didn't understand how mammals with hooves had gained opposable thumbs, but to him, it was just how the world worked. Prey and predator lived side by side, rabbits could become cops, and he had thumbs. It was a place where anything could happen indeed.
He looked at his mug and noted that it was empty. With a groan as he stood up and stretched, he picked up his mug and walked down towards the break room, intending to get a new cup of coffee. "Chief!" he turned to see Officer Hopps racing towards him, a small fennec fox racing after her, his little legs only able to carry him so fast. The fox tripped and skidded a few meters before standing back up and chasing after Hopps.
"What is is Hopps?" Bogo said tiredly as she stopped in front of him. The small fox soon after stopped next to her and hunched over, panting for breath. "And you are still on medical leave."
"Chief," the bunny said. "You need to see this." She lifted a bag of blue flowers.
Immediately the chief had his attention on her. He took the bag from her. "Are these…?"
"Nighthowlers," Hopps replied.
"Where did you get these?" Bogo asked worriedly. This was a huge amount. They were dried too, so they were probably still potent.
"An idiot," Finnick gasped. "By the name of Duke Weaselton," another gasp. "Came to me," he straightened. "He came with that bag and was worried." He took a deep breath. "He was worried because he was given a call." He coughed. "He was told to pick up a package for someone, he didn't know who, and bring it somewhere."
"And?" Bogo pressed.
"He looked inside, saw several bags of these fucking flowers," Finnick answered. "He locked them in his apartment, and brought me this bag. Bunny co- I mean, Officer Hopps heard him and we made him take us to his apartment to get the others."
"Where are they?" Bogo asked.
"That's the problem," Finnick answered. "His apartment was broken into, and the box taken. That bag is the only one we have, and the box probably had at least nine more. We have the box that they came in, but we don't know where the rest of them are." He breathed out and stretched.
"I'll talk to the other precincts," Bogo stated calmly. "But where's this Duke you were talking about?"
"He HATES cops," Finnick snarled. "He bolted while we were driving. Just dropped out the back somehow. You'll probably have to arrest him to get him to even come close to a cop."
"Noted," Bogo replied before turning to Judy. "While this is worrying, I cannot call you in until you are off medical leave. And this does NOT mean go behind my back to follow this. You leave it to on duty officers right now, finish up your medical leave, and you'll be back on the force in a few days."
"Chief," Judy said.
"No, Hopps," Bogo said firmly. "You are one of our best officers, and I will not have you injured and out for longer because you couldn't wait a week." He sighed. "And as luck would have it, that is also when the graduation is for the police academy, so if you want to do something, prepare a speech for then. I'm sure at least one new officer will be glad to see you." He gave her a soft smile. "But thanks for bringing this in." He quickly replaced the smile with his usual scowl. "Now get back home, and don't do anything stupid."
Judy gave a half smile and walked out with Finnick trailing behind her. "How were you winded in the run from your van to here?"
"You're twice the size of me," Finnick grumbled. "And my legs are much shorter than yours. You try running with little legs like mine and see if you can get anywhere."
"Yeah? Like with your van?" Judy asked with a smirk.
"Do you know how expensive it was to get the pedal extensions?!" Finnick yelled. "It cost me a fortune!"
The two walked back toward the Van where Judy said goodbye to Finnick and began to walk down the street towards the police academy.
Rick had begun to join Nick at mealtimes and the two found themselves forging a strong friendship, he had at least some of the comedic talent of his brother, and Nick was a never ending source of wisecracks that got all but the most stoic of people smiling.
"Hey, Rick," the two turned to see a rhino standing there with his arms crossed. "Why're you sitting here with this fox?" He asked.
"You mean Nick?" Rick asked.
"Yeah," the Rhino answered. "The fox."
"My name is Nick," Nick cut in. "I'd prefer you used it, but if not, there are plenty of other names that aren't just focused on my species."
The rhino ignored him. "Look Rick, I'm tryin' to help you out. Others have got it out for the fox, and while I don't really care one way or the other, I figured I should warn you that if you're hangin' around him, you're gonna get caught up in it too."
"So?" Rick asked. "We're training to become officers. And what do we do? We uphold the law. But how can I hope to uphold the law, if I'm too cowardly to stand up for a fellow officer."
The rhino snorted. "He'll need to be able to stand up for himself."
"I can do that," Nick answered. "But then again, I think mammals are just worried. I mean, the first bunny cop? Then a fox cop? What's this world coming to?" He asked sarcastically. "I mean, heaven forbid that a fox should want to be a law abiding citizen. Why, it's the natural order of things! I mean, foxes are nothing but sneaky, and rhinos can't see what's two feet in front of them."
"Hey!" The rhino said. "I can see just fine, thank you."
"Then why is it hard to believe that I'm not just a low life, worthless, fox?" Nick asked. "It's just the specism that's thrown about these days." He went back to eating. "The reason that most foxes end up criminals? It's because they don't have any other option. Mammals won't hire them. If they score well in school, it's assumed they cheated. Even simple jobs like custodian aren't available to foxes, because it's assumed they'll steal."
"You talk like you know from experience," the rhino scoffed.
"No," Nick said. "I walked the fine line everyday, but I always stayed on the side of the law. That's why my hustles were always good. It was all legal, and if people didn't like it, it was still legal." He sighed. "But most foxes won't do that. They'll be forced to the crimes because they see no other option." He stood up. "So think about that." He walked away and as he passed through the door, Rick turned to the rhino.
"Look here, Wright," Rick said. "I thought you were a good mammal, but I guess if you can't understand a fox trying his best, maybe I was wrong." He quickly followed after Nick.
The rhino, Douglas Wright, thought about this and began to turn to leave, but then he saw a pair of wolves smirk at each other and follow through where the Nick and Rick had gone. He thought about his options, about what Rick had said, and made his choice.
Nick washed his paws in the sink as he mentally berated himself for losing his control. Don't let them see that they get to had always been his motto, but ever since he got here, it just got harder, but that might be because he'd have to work with these people someday.
"Nick, you in here?" He heard Rick call.
"Yeah," he answered. "Just washing up." He turned off the faucet and turned to see Rick walk in.
"Everything okay?" Rick asked.
"Yeah," Nick replied. "I've dealt with worse mammals before. It's fine." He began to dry his paws and soon after the two walked out. A pair of paws grabbed each of them and they found themselves in the hands of two wolves.
"Hello, Fox," the male spat. "Found a buddy? He's not gonna want to be your buddy for too long."
"This is just like high school," Nick muttered.
"Oh really?" The female asked with a sickly sweet smile. "Is it because they knew not to trust a fox?" Suddenly they were grabbed by two large gray hands, and were lifted up into the air. "Hey!" she shouted. "Put me down!"
"No," the mammal said, Nick recognised the Rhino from before. "Rick's right, if I'm not willing to stand up for a fellow officer, then I'm not deserving of a badge. I'll tell you this once. Leave them alone." He dropped them and they walked away, trying to salvage their damaged pride.
"Uh, thanks," Nick said. He idly scratched his head. Just a few minutes ago, this guy was saying he needed to tough it out, and now he was helping him.
"Just so you know," the rhino said. "I still don't trust you yet. But maybe that's because of prejudice. Either way, prove me wrong." He turned back towards the cafeteria.
"Thanks, Douglas," Rick called. "Well," he turned to Nick. "I guess things really are changing."
"What do you mean they won't come?" Rachel asked.
"They won't come!" Jackson answered harshly.
"They said we need to bring back something else first to justify pulling more people out here," Harrison continued.
"So what now?" Don called from up top.
"Get down here," Rachel said. She placed a small tracker on the floor and looked around. "We need to find something that'll be able to be transported without being damaged." She took a few steps in farther. "So those machines are out, but we can't just take the bones, that won't be enough." Her superior night vision allowed her to see much farther into the darkness, but it wouldn't help with complete darkness. She took another few steps, and saw her light glint off of something in the back. She continued forward and was greeted by a large container.
"Did you find something?" Jackson asked. He followed after her. "Woah." His larger light illuminated the whole container, revealing a metal structure that was easily as big as he was, possibly bigger.
"What is this?" Harrison asked. "And what's covering it?" He reached out and brushed the white substance on the front. "Shit! That's cold!" He cursed as he pulled back his paw.
"What?" Rachel asked. "That's impossible, we're in the middle of the desert!"
"I'm telling you, it's cold!" Harrison restated. "And if you don't believe me, you touch it!"
Rachel did so and immediately pulled her paw back. "You're right!" She circled the container slowly. She looked down below it and saw that it was not attached to the ground. "We're gonna take this," she said. She moved to the back and saw another black panel like on the outside door but it was lit up bright blue. Better not to touch it. "What's on top?" She asked.
Jackson lifted Harrison up, much to his anger, but the hare could see the top. "There's a small indent, but in the indent is some kind of circular… thing. It's glowing though. Don't know why." The hare was set gratefully down on his feet. "So what's the plan?"
"Can we get this to the helicopter?" Rachel asked.
Jackson looked at it from all angles before nodding. "I think so, but we'll need one of the twin's machines. Probably their big one for carrying things."
"Did they get it fixed?" Rachel asked.
"I think so," Jackson answered. "But I'm not the most technical of guys."
"I'll ask," Harrison said as he ran outside.
Rachel walked back to the front and looked at it. "What secrets do you hold?" She asked it. As expected, it didn't reply. She tried to wipe off what could only be frost, and was greeted by glass. The inside was frosted over too. She sighed disappointedly, but took notice how the front quickly frosted back over. It had definitely been cold, even though she hadn't touched it for long, her fingers already hurt from the cold. How cold though? It had quickly frosted back over after she wiped it off.
"We're ready to go!" Harrison called as he pulled in a machine. "Let's get this thing going!"
Bellwether giggled as she read another death threat. They were funny to read, especially because a good deal of them were simply copied from various movies. She tossed those letters to the side, not caring over them. She saw another addressed to her from John Doe.
Dawn,
I am your biggest fan. Your work was exemplary, using a method that was almost impossible for anyone to trace. It was just bad luck that the stupid cops found out. If I could make one suggestion, cut your losses next time. You can lose the battle, but win the war. But we are still at war, and we need our best general. You will be avenged.
-Nighthowler 5
She smiled and placed that letter with the others marked John Doe. It was so nice to be appreciated.
Nick had found his trouble with troublemakers gone overnight. With the intervention of Douglas, the wolves had left him alone, and many others simply ignored him. He was fine with that. The graduation would be coming up soon, and then, he'd be out of this hellhole they called training. Seriously, he could deal with the various obstacles, he'd been dealing with them most of his life, with his various lines of work. Sandstorm? Good place to lose anyone after you. Just burrow underneath and you'll be fine. Stuck in Tundra Town? Use your claws for extra footholds, and to beat the cold, use the snow to your advantage. If you burrowed inside there, you could make a rather warm shelter, provided you did it right. Rainforest district to slick? Use your claws and lower your center of gravity. Simple obstacles he could deal with.
The people? Not so much. They sucked. Well, most of them sucked. A few of them seemed nice enough, like Rick, or Douglas, and even a few others. It still didn't change the fact that there were assholes around.
"You excited for graduation?" Rick asked.
"Hell yeah," Nick replied. "I'll be actually a police officer, and I won't be dealing with bullies with an inferiority complex."
"I'm pretty sure you deal with that for life," Douglas said with a small smirk.
"Yeah," Nick admitted. "But it won't be high school."
"How was high school?" Douglas asked.
"Knowledge is a powerful tool," Nick answered. "Know enough people, and know what they don't want known, and your pretty protected. I had to learn quick. I was getting tired of dunks in the toilet bowl."
"Swirlies?" Rick asked with a wince.
"The one and only," Nick replied.
"I can see why you're comparing this to high school," Douglas said.
"The only difference between there and here is that we're gonna actually use what we learn," Nick chuckled.
"Amen to that!" Rick laughed. "So who's gonna be valedictorian? I heard you're up on the leaderboard for it."
"Me?" Nick asked. "Nah, couldn't be. I mean, who'd vote for a fox? They just assume I cheat."
"Well then today's your lucky day," the three turned to see the polar bear instructor, Major Friedkin walking towards them. "When I saw that bunny cop get Valedictorian, I thought I wouldn't see anything more unlikely." She smiled at Nick proudly. "But I'm proud to say I was wrong. This is the first time that a fox has been a cop, and what a cop you will be! Congratulations, Wilde, you've been chosen as Valedictorian."
She clapped him on the back, and Nick stumbled forward at the unexpected congrats though he laughed it off. "Tomorrow's the day," he laughed.
"Yup," she answered. "Now get to your bunks. You're expected to be up bright and early tomorrow, just like usual."
Scientists watched in awe as the container was brought in. It was amazing! It was colossal, and true to Rachel's word, the front was covered in a thin layer of frost. The top glowed with some unknown energy, but wasn't radioactive in anyway that they could detect.
"You really did find the motherload didn't you," a mongoose halfway asked. Rachel just smiled with pride and gave a thumbs up to the others who were on her team.
"I'd say we should get cracking on this, right?" Rachel asked.
"Sure thing," the mongoose said. "We just need to fill out the paperwork first. We'll be able to do this first thing tomorrow morning."
Rachel shivered in excitement and many of the others high fived as they went about, talking about getting drinks and whatnot. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. A big day indeed.
Judy stepped into her apartment and yawned. Today had been a normal boring day, but she had been ready the whole time for some kind of call from the chief. Honestly, was the lead she brought a dead end? It would be fine. Tomorrow she'd be back off medical leave and she'd be giving her speech at the graduation. Nick would be valedictorian! She smiled at the thought. She could only imagine his face as he found that out. It would have been priceless!
A ringing from her phone drew her attention. She looked at it to see a muzzletime call from her parents. She accepted the call with a smile and was greeted by the smiles of her parents. "Hey Jude the Dude," her dad said.
"Hey dad, hey mom," Judy said with a smile.
"So how's being back on the force?" Her dad asked.
"Oh, I'm not back yet, I'm still on medical leave. I'll be back on the force tomorrow," Judy explained. "It'll be just in time for the police academy graduation."
"The graduation of a certain fox?" Her mom asked with a smile.
"Yes," Judy answered. "It'll be Nick's graduation."
"Do you two have any special plans?" Her mom continued.
"No," Judy answered. "Why? He's my friend, but he probably has other things to do."
Her mom chuckled. "I just get the feeling that you two would like to do something special." She got a glint in her eye. "Like maybe a movie, or dinner?" She said in a suggestive voice.
"Mom!" Judy laughed.
"I'm kidding I'm kidding," her mother said.
"And that's a little weird," Judy said. "You're usually much more worried than this."
"That's probably because your cousin Harrison just called us and told us that he and his team found an artifact already," her dad explained. "He was ecstatic, and it kinda transferred to your mother."
"Stu!" her mother cried. "You're acting like I've been drinking or something! I can be excited for family."
Judy laughed at her parents antics. "So what'd he find?" She asked.
"He doesn't know," her mom answered. "He said that all they knew was that it was some kind of container and that the front was covered in frost in the middle of the desert! Frost, in the desert! Can you believe that?"
"That is amazing," Judy answered. "But why're you getting so worked up?"
"You remember I was a chemistry major before I settled down with your father, don't you?" Her mother asked. "It's amazing because something that can keep frozen under that much heat is unheard of! I don't know of any chemicals that can keep it frozen, though it's been awhile since I opened my old textbooks."
"I don't know what you just said," Judy laughed. "But it's still cool. Pun unintended."
"I can't believe you said that," her father groaned. "But it was an ICE try." He chuckled and ducked a swat over the head from Bonnie.
"Honestly, you two," she sighed.
"Mine was an accident," Judy defended.
Her mother gave her a deadpan stare before she sighed in defeat. "I guess Nick must be rubbing off on you. You're sense of humor has definitely changed." A shout sounded out from somewhere behind them and they turned towards the sound. "We better go take care of that. We love you honey." Her mother said.
"Love you too," Judy replied, and the call ended. Judy smiled and set her alarm for tomorrow.
Her phone began to ring again, just showing as a normal call. It was Ben. Judy smiled and answered. "Hey Ben," she said.
"Hi Judy," Ben answered. "So I know it's late, but I figured I should just call and make sure."
"Make sure of what?" Judy asked.
"You know you have a speech at the police graduation right?" He asked.
"Sweet cheese and crackers!" Judy shouted. On the other end Ben winced at the sudden volume. "Sorry, Ben."
"I'm guessing you didn't know then?" He asked.
"No, I just forgot," Judy muttered. "Look, I'm going to need to get on that, so I'm going to have to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow okay?"
"Oh that's fine," Ben answered. "Just don't stay up too late."
"Don't I know it," Judy replied. "Bye Ben."
"See you Judy!" Ben said as they finished the call. Judy sighed and moved to her desk. Tonight would be a long night.
Several mammals from the archaeology team walked into a bar, laughing and congratulating each other. The bar served prey and predators alike and was a well liked location for them. The mammals slid into two booths, Jackson taking up a whole half booth by himself. He was joined by Don and Rachel and they quickly ordered drinks. Harrison and the twins took another booth and they ordered drinks too.
"This is amazing!" Harrison laughed. "Who thought we'd find such a good find on our first opportunity?"
"I sure didn't," Jackson said over the others. "I also thought you'd be buried in sand, and I was right about that." He smiled good naturedly as the others laughed.
"Ah, go get smashed!" Harrison shot back. "You earned it with all the heavy lifting. I did put on a few pounds after all."
"Was that before or after you ate sand?" Don quipped. The others laughed and turned to their drinks.
Harrison noticed one of the twins looking thoughtful. "What're you thinking about?" He asked.
"Guess my name and I'll tell you," the weasel said. "You've yet to get me and my brother right."
"Uh…. was it…." Harrison thought hard. The twin's names were Kirk and Patrick, but he always mixed them up and they never let him live it down. "Kirk," he finally answered.
"Lucky guess," the weasel muttered. "Okay, but all things aside, it seems strange that we found that thing."
"How so?" Harrison asked as he took another drink.
"Think about it," the weasel said. The whole place was clean, and the door was sealed. I'd assume it was an airlock, but there was no vacuum when we opened it. So the sand never got in, but it was filled with air. Where was the dust? That place would have had to be kept completely clean for hundreds or thousands of years, why wasn't there any dust?"
"Who cares?" Harrison asked.
"I care," Kirk said sharply. "No dust means there was nothing going in or out. If nothing went in or out, why? And that's just the room! The container was covered in frost. The amount of power to keep it frozen would be enormous! How does it work? What was the little glowing thing at the top? That's the only thing I can think of that would power it, but it's so small!" He drained a whole mug after that sentence and slammed it down.
"Whoa dude, chill!" Harrison said as he raised his hands in surrender. "Patrick, help me out here!"
"It is strange, you have to admit," Patrick said, siding with his brother.
"Yeah, and what's inside it?" Kirk ranted. "I mean, for all we know, it could be a time machine!"
"Kirk, don't go nuts here, okay?" Harrison asked.
"I'm not a squirrel," he hissed. "I'm a weasel. We're known for being crafty, so why's it weird that I think this is a little to simple?"
"What's too simple?" Harrison asked. "It's not as if we're treasure hunting."
"The container takes huge amounts of power and we can't open it. There were bones in the room in various places. The room was completely sealed," Kirk listed. "What about that doesn't make you worried?"
"Worried about what?" Harrison asked.
"I give up!" Kirk threw up his paws in exasperation and walked to the bar to get another drink.
"Harrison," Patrick explained. "Have you ever watched horror movies?"
"A few, why?" Harrison asked.
"What happens when the group finds a random container in the center of a room where there's bones? Or when the room was sealed?" He asked.
"From what I've seen," Harrison answered. "They usually get killed, or release a… monster." He looked at Kirk who took his seat again. "Is that what you're worried about?"
"I think there's two reasons it could be sealed," Kirk said with a sigh. "One, it could be extremely valuable and whoever made the container wanted to keep it safe, or two," he took another drink. "They were keeping something inside that they never want to escape."
A loud laugh startled them all and they turned to see Don with a glass around his muzzle. "How in the world?"
"I think I win that bet," Jackson chuckled. Rachel handed him a five and smiled slightly, though she had lost money.
"Hey what happened to the other guy?" Kirk asked.
"What other guy?" Jackson asked.
"The enchilada or whatever," Kirk clarified.
"Enchilada?" Harrison asked. "Do you mean the echidna?"
"Same difference," the weasel scoffed.
"They're not even close!" Rachel laughed as Don pulled at the glass holding his muzzle. "And to answer your question, he was just our guide, remember? He didn't come back with us."
"Oh, okay," Kirk replied.
"What, not scared the box ate him?" Harrison joked.
Kirk scowled as he looked at Harrison, only half aware. "I'll stuff you in a box in a minute."
"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Harrison asked.
"Sure it is," Kirk replied as he downed another drink. He swayed slightly in his seat.
"Hey guys," Harrison laughed. "Kirk's drunk!" The others laughed. "How many did you have?"
"I lost track at three," Patrick muttered. "But maybe that's why he was so paranoid."
"That would explain things!" Harrison laughed. "The box of danger! Woooooo!" He said in a comical voice. The others laughed and Kirk reached for another drink only for it to be pulled away by his brother. The heckling continued as the others forgot what Kirk had been explaining before.
A.N. Okay! A little more backstory, but the next chapter will bring in the actual story. Well, at least start the storyline. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, and have a good day. Please review.
