AN:
To MYTHICBOY (guest): if you're referring to how Vex and Pamela weren't a couple in the previous stories featuring them, I always intended for them to be a couple, I just never got around to it there.
It was around the late afternoon by the time Vex, Judy, and Nick arrived in Tundratown, specifically at the Tundratown Limo Service. Fortunately, the service was just about to close when the group got there, giving them time to talk to the security officer about their findings.
"Excuse me sir!" Judy said to the guard, a bored looking wolverine.
"I'm not interested in your cookies, mam," the guard droned in a monotone voice.
"I'm an officer of the ZPD, actually," Judy responded.
Vex came into the conversation by showing the wolverine the license plate number. "We're looking for a limo with this plate as part of our investigation. Can you help us."
The wolverine peered at the plate number, his eyes growing wide as he recognized the number. "Oh no, you do not want to mess with the owner of that car," the guard said in a panic.
"Sir, this is for an investigation," Judy repeated.
"Look bunny, I don't know if you haven't heard, but Mr. Big has been on high alert lately, so if know what's good for you, then scram!" the wolverine shouted, slamming down the window and putting up a 'CLOSED' sign.
"Well great, now we can't go investigate the car," Judy said, crossing her arms and tapping her feet on the ground.
"It's probably for the best," Nick said, smiling with a nervous grin. "Besides, Mr. Big is the most feared crime boss in Tundratown, so crossing him would be a bad idea."
The two were interrupted by the sound of something falling on the other side of the fence. Turning, they found Vex walking into the lot searching for the limo.
"Vex! What are you doing?" Judy questioned.
"Finding the limo, duh," the bat replied.
"Well, I think I've done enough, so I'm just gonna take that recording and go," Nick said, holding out a hand.
Judy sighed and pulled out the pen, only to throw it over the fence.
"Hey!" Nick shouted. "First, you throw like a bunny. Second, you're a very sore loser."
Nick then hopped onto the fence and climbed over, landing in the snow on the other side. He was surprised when Judy appeared next to him (having dug under the fence) holding the pen.
"You know, I think that I just saw a shifty low-life climbing the fence, which gives me probable cause to investigate," Judy said with a grin.
The fox sighed and followed the bunny, catching up with Vex as he found the right limo and was investigating the inside.
"Guys, you'll want to see this," the bat shouted to his companions.
The two ran up to look inside the limo, and were shocked to see the back of the car ruined, with scratches in the interior. The only evidence that they could find was Otterton's wallet.
"Carrots, if your otter was here, he had a very bad day," Nick commented on the situation.
Vex pocketed the wallet and jumped out of the car. "I'll make a call to HQ to tell them about what we've found."
The bat stepped a distance away from the limo and called up HQ, giving Clawhauser the details on the case to relay to the Chief. When he turned around, he saw another limo driving off, with Judy and Nick nowhere to be seen.
"Well, that's not good," Vex said aloud. He dialed another number on his phone, putting it up to his ear. "Hey Rocket? I need you to come pick me up near Tundratown Limo Service. And bring those schematics you have. We have a shrew to meet."
[***]
By the time Rocket came to pick up Vex, it was getting late into the night. The two made their way to Mr. Big's mansion in the high-end neighborhoods of Tundratown. The raccoon pulled up to the front gate, pushing the button on the call box to ring in.
"Who is this?" came the voice from the box, thick with a Russian accent.
"This is Vespertilio. We're here to see Big," Vex answered.
"Big is not seeing anyone at this time," the voice said.
"It's about his driver that had an 'incident' a few weeks back," the bat said.
After a moment of silence, the gates opened, letting the two onto the mansion grounds. When Rocket and Vex entered, they were lead into the ballroom by Big's polar bear guards, where a wedding party was being held for Mr. Big's daughter, Fru-Fru. Nick and Judy, were also there, eating really tiny cake with the crime boss himself.
"Oh, I am so glad that you guys are okay," Vex exhaled.
"Well it turns out that Carrots here saved Big's daughter the other day," Nick explained, "which means that we didn't meet an icy death."
"Ah, Agent Vespertilio," Mr. Big greeted. "Did you come to celebrate my daughter's wedding?"
"I came to make sure my partners were alright," the bat replied.
"You know Mr. Big?" Nick asked.
Vex nodded. "He's on the list of important people under protection of Interpol. While he is involved in some… less than savory dealings, his influence on Zootopia is significant enough to keep him around."
"We all have to let lesser evils happen for the greater good of everyone," Big said. "Now then, I believe that you are here about Emmitt, no?" The shrew took a drink from his cup. "Otterton is my florist. He's like a part of the family. He had something important he wanted to discuss. That's why I sent that car to pick him up. But he never arrived."
"Because he was attacked," Judy said.
"No, he attacked," Big corrected.
"It makes sense," Vex said. "The claw marks in the limo were about the size of an otters, and he was the only mammal in the car besides the driver."
"But why would a florist go crazy like that?" Rocket asked.
"Yeah, he's a sweet little otter," Judy said.
"My child. We may be evolved, but deep down, we are still animals." Big said. Giving a clap, one of the polar bears came over to the group and handed Judy a slip of paper. "You wanna find Otterton, talk to the driver of the car. His name is Manchas. Lives in the Rainforest District. Only he can tell you more."
"Thank you, Mr. Big," the bunny said.
"It's nothing, my child. Find Otterton, and you will have my gratitude," the crime boss replied.
As they turned to leave, Rocket gave a blueprint to one of the bears. "Give this to your 'friends'. I'll be hearing back on payment."
The bear nodded, and the raccoon ran to join up with the others.
"What was that all about?" Nick asked.
"Just getting my inventions to the right market," Rocket said.
[***]
Arriving in the Rainforest District, the group of four arrived at Manchas' house. Vex let Nick and Judy do the questioning while he caught up with his friend.
"How's the car been doing?" the bat asked.
"She's never been better," Rocket replied, patting the side of the jeep. "I got her all tuned to excel on any terrain. Plus, I got a few of my toys in the back." Jumping into the trunk space, the raccoon pulled out a cannon-like weapon that was almost double his size. "This beautiful piece of machinery can stun a full-grown elephant at full charge. Of course, for testing purposes, I have a limiter set to only stun things around the size of a big cat."
As Vex looked over the eclectic stunner in impressment, his ears twitched as he heard nearby rustling. "Just a sec, Rocket," the bat said.
Opening his mouth, Vex sent out a sonic screech, letting his echolocation kick in to see if anyone else was around. The image in his mind he got from the sound was an animal, around the medium size class, in the upper parts of Manchas' house.
"Whose up there?" the bat asked.
Before he could go up there and investigate, there was a commotion from the front of the house, and soon Nick and Judy were running back towards the raccoon and bat with Manchas growling from within the house.
"There's something wrong with Manchas," Judy said.
Suddenly, the panther burst out of his house on all fours, catching the group in his slitted gaze and charging at them. He didn't go far, however, as Rocket took it upon himself to use his electric stunner to… well, stun Manchas into unconsciousness.
"Oh… yeah," the raccoon sighed, hugging his gun and blowing smoke from the tip.
"What even was up with him?" Vex questioned.
"He went savage," Judy said, poking the panther in the face to make sure he was unconscious.
"Let's get him in the car and over to ZPD before he wakes up," Vex ordered, pulling out his phone to make a call. "Chief Bogo? We may have just found a major lead on the missing mammals case. I don't think they went missing; I think they went savage."
Author's Note
The investigation furthers as Manchas didn't disappear or get captured, but instead he's been taken in by ZPD. How will this affect the investigation? Only time will tell.
