Chapter 2
Fangmeyer, Nick, and Judy exited out of the hole. The three were confused and a bit scared. What they thought was going to a standard mammal hunt was turning into a case with incidents that they couldn't explain. A scent trail that smelled of a blend of a wolf and some unknown species, a bed that disappears, a scent trail that appears out of nowhere, and a mammal who disappears into thin air. Fangmeyer had opened the backpack and found the evidence bag empty. The trio that had gone down in the hole began to panic a bit.
"What's wrong?" Delgato asked when he saw his colleagues in a state of distress.
"Something very unnatural is happening down there and it's causing us to panic!" Nick replied.
Delgato looked at Nick wide eyed. They knew for a fact very little effected the fox officer. The last time he had shown emotion was when Judy had been shot.
"We need to call the Chief and seal off this area." Judy said.
The rabbit's heart was racing faster than usual and she was still trying to process what she has seen down in the hole.
"Dispatch this Officer Delgato."
"Dispatch." Clawhauser was on the radio.
"We need a team to seal off the stadium parking lot and we need the Chief. Fangmeyer, Wilde, and Hopps found something that is causing them distress."
"Put Wilde on the radio." Chief Bogo replied having listening in on radio traffic.
"Wilde here, Chief there is something very unnatural happening underneath the parking lot. We found an intricate network of hallways, rooms, and large spaces like it's a building right under the parking lot. A really old building. There were occurrences that defy logic that I can't explain in words, but we have video."
"Guys you need to see this." Judy yelled out.
While Nick was on the radio with the Chief, Judy had transferred the pictures from the camera to a laptop. She had been scanning through the photos when she came across the photo where Fangmeyer stated where the unique scent started. She had taken a picture of them tracking the scent. In the background was an arch with what looked like a very thin curtain hanging from it. When the other officers came over she looked at Nick and Fangmeyer.
"Did you notice the arch in the room where the scent started." She said showing them the picture.
"No it was an empty room. I would have noticed that arch." Fangmeyer replied.
"All of us would have." Nick added. Hitting the button on the radio. "Chief this getting place underground is getting stranger and stranger."
"I'm on my way."
In an hour the whole stadium and parking lot was sealed off. In that time Judy transferred all video and photos to the laptop to show the Chief. Nick and Judy were shaken to the core that there was something going on that defied all logic and the world they knew. They were drawn out their thoughts when the Chief called them.
"Wilde, Hopps, Delgato, and Fangmeyer show me what you have."
Judy handed the laptop to the Chief while the others waited to hear the Chief's response. Through most of the photos and video the Chief remained silent but grunted on occasion. When he finished he closed the laptop. The cape buffalo took off his glasses and pinched his nose.
"This could go to hell in a paw basket."
"Sir?" Judy asked.
"I need to go down there myself before I make the call Wilde and Hopps you are with me; the rest wait here. Hopps, bring the camera."
Sometime later the trio stood in the large room that had an invisible arch. The Chief approached the middle of the room.
"Hopps get the camera ready."
The rabbit recorded the Chief approach the middle of the room with his paws in front of him. After a few tense seconds the Bogo came to a complete stop. The big mammal pushed but there was no give.
"Am I touching the object Hopps?"
Looking at the tiny screen on the camera where the arch was visible, Judy could see that the Chief was nowhere close to the object.
"Sorry sir, no."
Stepping away from the invisible barrier, the cape buffalo headed back to the fox and rabbit.
"I have made my decision but I rather not say it more than once." Bogo said.
The fox and rabbit could only think of what the Chief might say. They weren't tense as they had been when they had discovered things were what had seemed. The trip back to the surface seemed to take less time. When they reached the surface, the Chief called over the other officers. He brought them into a close huddle.
"From this moment you forget what you saw down there. I'm going to have the hole filled in and sealed. You don't talk about it and destroy anything related to what you have seen here. This is above what we are capable of handling and I don't want the government in my city. The last time they came through it took years to recover. Do you understand?"
The officers stood straighter, but Judy was confused and decided to speak.
"Sir, we can't just forget…."
"You will! Do I make myself clear!"
Not wanting to get on the Chief's bad side again she meekly said. "Yes, sir."
"Now you all are still assigned tracking down that thing that came out of the hole."
With that Bogo headed back to his car and drove off. The four officers were speechless. All of them were thinking of why the Chief wanted to cover up something like this. Nick was the first to speak.
"All we have left to do is look through camera footage. Any other leads just died right down that hole."
"Let's just go back to the station and salvage what we can and follow orders." Delgato said dejectedly.
A few minutes later they piled back into the squad car and drove back in silence. What they didn't know is it would take weeks before any sign of the wolf like mammal appear.
During the trip to the station Judy sat in her seat a bit confused. When the chief had mentioned the government coming back to the city she had been confused. She didn't remember anytime the government got involved in Zootopia. She decided to ask her coworkers.
"What did Bogo mean when he mentioned the government?"
Nick was the first to respond. "Ever heard of the Savage Nights incident?"
"No think I would have heard of it if it had been fairly recent."
"It was about sixty years ago not recent history but that incident is burned into every predator and why still today there is a fear of preds. The Night Howler case was close to being what had happened in that incident." Delgato replied.
"What happened?"
"You have to find out yourself."
Xxxxx
After Chelsey went home after a long debate over whether they should call the police which there had been no winner, Lucy went out again to search for Sirius. She realized it must look odd for a wolf to go around constantly sniffing. After several hours of trying to catch any scent of Sirius she gave up. The power of magic he held must allow him to cover his scent. She thought to herself. Going back to her house all she could think about was this strange mammal who had landed on her roof. She had sensed that he had not been totally truthful about how he came to be in her back yard. He had said that he came out of an arch, found his way to the surface and blind apparated. What she had seen on the TV said different.
Lucy was confused over this situation. The ZPD was looking for savage animal spotted at the stadium. That savage animal was in fact Sirius in his Grim form. When she had been about to call 911 hearing her mother in her ear telling her not to call, that it would be a bad idea confused her even more. And the power that Sirius could wield scared her a bit. When Lucy arrived back at her house she sat in the living room taking in Sirius' scent. Why am I so fixated on his scent and finding him? I barely knew him for six hours.
"Because he is good for you." Whispered her mother's voice.
Shit.
Xxxxx
I was on the run from the aurors in my world now the animal police are after me too. Sirius thought to himself. And now I have involved innocents by not leaving when I had my clothes. Sirius was walking around disillusioned with a scent masking charm. It was late morning and Sirius was walking around a suburban area. He has seen Chelsey and Lucy trying to follow him. He spent the next couple hours trying to put space between himself and Lucy's place. How am I going to live in this world? Sirius spied a relatively empty park and made his way to a tree to sit down.
One thing for sure is I'm going homeless again. He looked at his wand in his hands. If I lose this I will not be able to access my magic. I have lived so long with it that I don't know how to completely live without it. Lily, my sister in all but blood I should have listen to you more. The animagus sat there thinking and formulating plans. Keeping track of the animals in the park making sure none got too near. Well the police only know my animagus form and not what I really look like. It is too impractical to leave the city. I don't know what is out there. Need to stay here in Zootopia and learn what this world has to offer. Going to need a private space to work on what ideas I have.
Sirius got up and looked around. He could see a large city skyline in the distance and looked around. In the opposite direction of the city he saw some low hills. Taking in every detail he could see, he began to concentrate. With a pop, he landed on the hill he had been looking at. He then saw Zootopia in all its splendor. London has nothing on Zootopia, that city is a beauty. Going back to the task at hand, Sirius began to cast spells in all directions. It had been a long time since he cast this many spells at once. He placed all forms of muggle repelling spells hoping that they worked on the animals. Than the animagus began to work on his shelter. Taking his wand, he aimed at the Earth. Using his magic. He made a cave in the hillside. This would be his shelter while he explored Zootopia. For the next several hours came up with his way to disguise himself amongst the animal population.
Xxxxx
Judy sat in her cubicle looking at the computer screen. When the four officers had gotten back they knew that they had nothing to go on trying to track down the wolf-like mammal. With the mammal disappearing it left no trace of where it went. Clawhauser had fielded calls about from mammals claiming of seeing the mysterious mammal after the story had gone out but all had turned up false. The four officers had scrubbed through the traffic cams hoping to catch sight of the mammal but it proved fruitless. Judy was sitting in front of her computer trying to write a report of her failure to find the mammal and not mention what they had found under the stadium parking lot. The phone in her office began to ring and she picked it up.
"Hello."
"Officer Hopps report to my office now and grab your partner." The Chief said over the phone.
"Yes, sir."
The rabbit got out her seat and went to the cubicle next to hers but was met by her fox partner.
"I could hear the chief. Wonder what he has for us?"
At the Chief's office, they were met by Fangmeyer and Delgato. Fangmeyer knocked on the door.
"Enter."
The four officers entered the Chief's office. Inside the office stood a female wolf. Judy saw her eyes light up when Delgato enter the office. She questioned that look but the answer soon came when the female wolf came up to Delgato and planted at huge kiss on his muzzle. The office was silent after the exchange. Fangmeyer had the look of utter amazement on her face. Nick and Judy were shocked. Judy had wondered if there were other cross species couples. Nick had told her that he had seen some but mostly between like species. Delgato and the wolf were completely different species.
"Hey Chelsey what brings you here?" Delgato responded a bit red in the face and voice a little strained.
Realization dawned on the wolfs face.
"Sorry babe, was really happy to see yo…." Chelsey saw the other female wolf in the room. Her ears drooped. "Hey Debra."
"Sister."
Nick leaned down to whisper loudly in Judy's ear.
"This just got awkward."
"I believe we are way past that, let's get to the matter at hand. Chelsey Fangmeyer has a solid lead on our Unknown Mammal."