Funny thing about this chapter and the last two; pre-editing they were all exactly the same word count; 3,637. After however, they're all different. I tried to keep them similar.
Disclaimer: Zootopia and all scenes, characters, scenarios, settings, etc are owned by Disney. Sonic and all scenes, characters, scenarios, settings, etc are owned by Sega.
"What are they doing..." Skye whispered, looking through her binoculars. She blinked in frustration as she watched Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps go straight into the lion's den known as Jack Savage's place, and then come back out no worse for wear a mere half hour later.
She had set up on a small tall apartment building a block away. Despite her usual fears of her white fur giving her away, even if they looked up they wouldn't be able to see her seeing as how her fur was soaking wet from being in the Rainforest District...and the sky was grey. She sighed, and reminded herself again how she got into this mess. She was a mechanic, not a spy or a hacker. A mechanic. She worked on machines, not with them. She didn't even understand half the mumbo-jumbo that Mr. Big kept spouting at her.
He kept saying, "Just keep an eye on them a little longer Ms. Lanmarck. We need to know what they're doing, where they're going, and who they're investigating. Keep it up, Ms. Lanmarck, and your debt will be repaid enough soon."
Skye rolled her eyes, 'Of course he'd say that. He's been telling me that since the beginning.' Her 'debt' had, to her, long since been repaid, ever since she was forced to join the Zootopian Zenomites to effectively gauge their strength. Just lucky for her that they didn't question her motives, or legitimately anything about her. Took a look, saw a fox and boom! Instant membership. Assholes.
She drafted another quick message to Big's contact; a polar bear named Kevin. Not a nice guy, but on the other hand he was about as fair as could be. "N & J headed to Savage's place, they're still looking around," she said, making sure that she could still see them as they skulked around the alleyway they were in. Her phone went off a second later as he contacted her.
"Savage? The bunny rabbit?" Kevin responded in the usual polar bearian accent.
"Yes Kevin, the bunny rabbit. The one with weird marks on his cheeks that was part of GUN a few years back. You know, the one that everyone was sure had died?"
"I'm not going to ask how you know that."
"Good, you shouldn't. I don't know what he has to do with them though...hey, I've been watching them for a while now, what's stopping me from making contact with them again?"
"How you go about assignment is up to you. I care not. Mr. Big and I care only for the information."
"Gotcha. So nothing, then. By the way, Kevin, the second cylinder's backfiring on your van, I can hear it over the phone. It's got a squeak to it that doesn't sound good. You should take it to a mechanic. I know a good one."
"Hush Ms. Skye. We bears are excellent mech-" the line went dead as Skye heard an explosion in the background. She winced; it sounded like the whole engine backfired. Well, not her problem. She looked back at the red fox and grey bunny, now staring perfectly up at her. They waved.
She waved back, as her phone vibrated with a new text message. Grinning, she checked it, 'Know any good mechanics aside from yourself?'. From Kevin. Of course it was. 'Try Beary's in Sahara.' she texted back, even as she ran back down the building. It was time to catch up with some friends. 'Yeah,' she thought to herself, 'I'm no good at this whole 'spying' thing.'
"Hey, Carrots, not to alarm you or anything but we're being watched."
"By Skye, I know. She's not very good at hiding. Think we should let her know we see her? I wonder how long she was there."
"Couldn't have been much longer after we got here. You keep an eye on Savage, I'll try to hear what she's saying," Nick said. The vixen was across the street, and several stories up, but Nick's hearing was pretty good itself.
"I think she's talking with her boss..." Nick said, trying faintly to make out the words. He looked down at Judy, with her radar-like ears also pointed up that direction, except she was mouthing along with it.
"It's not a big deal to their boss if she comes down to report on us," Judy said, keeping her eyes locked on Savage's place.
"Yeah, Big's like that with his field agents. I feel lucky, I've only had to do two. Finnick's had five," Nick said, now waiting for Skye to look down to wave to her.
"One of these days Nick, you're going to tell me what you were up to during those days."
"I'd rather not, Fluff. Bogo knows, but I ain't telling."
"I'll get it from him then."
They waved up at Skye once they realized that she was looking down at them. She waved back, even as she winced away from her phone as it sounded like there was an explosion in the background. She popped out of view a few seconds later.
"Wait for her or continue?" Judy asked.
Nick shrugged, "I'd prefer to wait. Better to use the buddy system than to go alone. What is it that Wolford always says? 'Never split the party'?"
"Sounds like it, yeah. You know, I never realized he was big into those RP games until two months ago."
"Really? I thought it was obvious, I had him pegged the moment I saw him."
"We can't all be hustlers in a previous life," Judy said simply. Nick nodded. It was an old time for him; practically a lifetime ago, even though it had only been a few years. He was glad to be out of it, always running from Big's goons, always trying to make a buck out of everything.
Skye made a quick appearance, running out of the apartment building she had been on top of. She stopped for a quick check on the street to make sure no one was coming, before running the rest of the way, her bag bouncing on her back. She had long slim jeans on, highlighting her legs, and a simple shirt. It seemed almost too casual, like she was planning on hanging out with friends versus trying to get a report on them.
"Hey you two," Skye whispered, out of breath as she slipped into the alleyway. Nick grinned as he saw Judy take a deep breath.
"Hey yourself! No notes, no messages, not even a sign on your door saying what's going on, and then a massive text dump and a simple 'hey'? Geez Skye...you're as bad as Nick and me," Judy grinned. Nick rolled his eyes.
"If I remember right Carrots, that was all you."
"I said sorry!"
"So what are you two doing?" Skye asked, trying to ignore their bickering. It was humorous, to her, the way they would 'fight' only to snark at each other more and more. She wondered if they were always like that or if it was just a show they put on.
"Keeping an eye on someone. Want to join, Ms. 'Mr. Big's Agent'?" Nick asked. Skye glared at him for a second half-heartedly, before shrugging and nodding.
"Right, so here's a plan. Nick and Skye, you two go around this alleyway, see if you can keep an eye on Savage. I'll go through the side and see if I can't find...something," Judy said, pointing around the corner. The two foxes nodded, and they shot off into the grey and brown.
Nick was hard to spot except for the blue of his uniform, and Skye was white. Judy sighed as she saw just how easily both of them were to spot. That was one thing they were going to have to change...at some point.
"They don't hide well, do they?" A voice came from behind her. She yelped and turned around to see nothing there. "That said, I think with a bit of training, they could do rather well." The same voice said, from another direction. It sounded rather deep, although it held no hostility. Judy turned, to see no one there either. She focused on her ears instead. "Goo-" the voice was cut off as Judy punched where the voice was coming from. She felt it connect with a warm yet hard body. Not a mammal then...maybe a reptile?
"Well, I see Tails wasn't kidding when he said for me to be careful. I'm not here to hurt you," the voice said, as what looked like a chameleon seemed to appear out of thin air. He changed a variety of colors, before settling on bright violet.
And Judy noticed that his hands had five fingers. "You are...?" she asked hesitantly, her hand aiming for her tranquilizer gun. She wasn't sure how well it would work on a reptile, but it put down mammals fairly quickly. Zootopia didn't have many reptiles, as she had heard about a forced exodus back when the city was still in it's primordial stage. Many of them still haven't forgiven the city.
"Espio. Espio the Chameleon," he said, bowing but never taking his eyes off the bunny. "And you are Judith Laverne Hopps, the red fox over there is Nicolas Piberius Wilde, and the arctic is Skye Median Lanmarck."
"What are you doing here." It wasn't a question.
"Just keeping an eye out. Tails asked for me to. He said that he didn't like the way so much crazy stuff happens to you, so he sent the ninja in."
"You're a ninja?" Judy asked disbelievingly. She probably shouldn't, as she had first hand proof that she couldn't detect this guy unless he spoke up, which means he was obviously excessively trained in stealth. And weren't ninjas supposed to be extremely stealthy?
"Could you find me before? Just keep going Hopps...I'll be around..." Espio said, smirking as he shimmered and wavered into nothingness again. Judy tried to focus, to find some outline, and instead found nothing. Excessively trained in stealth, check.
Judy sent off a quick email to Miles, but knowing that she couldn't really do anything about the odd chameleon now. Reptiles were extremely rare in Zootopia, with only being about fifteen, and ten of those were turtles in the Canal District! And there certainly were no chameleons! She shook her head, and tried to focus on what she needed to do. She was investigating Jack Savage. Espio, and the investigation on him, could wait a bit. She wasn't about to forget it anytime soon.
She rushed over to the dustbins outside Savage's Private Investigator office. She flattened her ears and got a quick look, making sure he was still there by looking through the first floor windows. They were slightly dirty, but still clean enough to show that he was there, hunched over his desk looking at something.
Judy wasn't sure what she would find, but as quietly as she could she opened up the dustbins, and suddenly got a face full of dust, ash, and her Gemfield sense went off faster than a lightbulb burns out during a power surge. The can was mostly empty; a few papers, a few paper bags with fast food remnants in them, and finally a brown sack. It was the sack that Judy went for first, surprised by its weight. It was definitely full of something, but it was still lighter than she would've expected.
She looked inside, taking care to keep her face away from whatever it was. A white dust coated the inside, but her Gemfield sense was blaring full alarm, commanding her to find the source of the dust. She forced the feeling down, noticing that it was much easier now than it had been before.
She hoisted the sack, making sure that none of the white powder spilled anywhere, and continued looking through the can. Most mammals would be surprised by what someone could find by looking through the trash. And it was with the greatest of surprise that she found what looked like a simple note, written on old style rough paper, almost a parchment.
'Jack, feel free to take this and go. Kyuu has already found another location to bring to the surface in much higher quantities, and I must do the same. I thank you for allowing me to use your elevator.'
"Elevator? What?" Judy whispered, already committing the note to memory. This one note gave several leads; Jack Savage, again, this Kyuu mammal, and whoever wrote the note.
"Having fun searching through my trash like some kind of raccoon, Hopps?" Jack called out of his now-open window. Despite the amount of evidence she had found within, he didn't sound too worried. In fact, he sounded downright pleased, as if she was on the cusp of some big answer that would change the world as she knew it.
"Raccoon my tail. Care to explain any of this, Jack?" she asked out loud. She wasn't sure if the other bunny could see her or not, but she didn't particularly care either. Nick and Skye also came out to see what it is exactly that she had found, and why she was talking so loudly.
"Any of what, exactly?"
"Well alright then," Judy said, motioning for Nick to get one of his recorders out. He hurriedly did so, only pausing to try and understand what her hand signals were. "We have one bag of suspicious white powder, which I'm certain contained or does contain the drug known as Gemfield, a few suspicious receipts that don't have your handwriting at all on them, and a note."
"A...note?" His voice seemed surprised, as if he had known about everything else, but not that.
"A note. Would you care to hear it?"
"Y-Yes. Please," his voice slightly hitched. 'Well,' Judy thouht, 'that's one way to surprise him.'
"'Jack, feel free to take this and go. Kyuu has already found another location to bring to the surface in much higher quantities, and I must do the same. I thank you for allowing me to use your elevator.'" Judy quoted from memory. She grinned, proud that she hadn't needed to check the note at all.
"You're-You're joking. That means nothing, and the gangs around here put stuff in my trash all the time."
"Who is this Kyuu?" Judy asked suddenly. Jack was silent for several moments, and right before Judy was about to ask again he started.
"Kyuu is...a nickname. For a fox. I don't suppose Wilde knows anything about him?" Nick shook his head, and Judy repeated it. The longer they could go without telling Jack they were both out there, the better. "I didn't think so. Tick...you've already come this far. Might as well get the full story. What was that doing out there...come on in, both of you."
He opened the window the rest of the way, more than large enough for both Judy and Nick to pass through. Skye came in a second later, and Jack closed the window, only now noticing that Judy's tranqilizer gun was pointed at him. He seemingly ignored it, and turned to Skye.
"Haven't met you yet. Jack Savage, private investigator."
"Skye Lanmarck, mechanic."
"Well this seems a bit too big now...ticks...so before you shoot me, Hopps, I need to explain one thing, but it might be easier to simply show you."
"Show us what?" Nick asked. He was still recording everything.
"Six months ago, something happened here. I wasn't always a private investigator, I used to be a federal agent. Worked for GUN for a while, then was called back here when my investigations turned sour. Something changed in Zootopia. I didn't know what it was, but the effect soon became fairly obvious," Jack explained still at his desk, seeming as if he was reminiscing about times long gone by.
"For me to continue, you'll have to believe me when I say this; there are other beings out there that change the face of the world by their mere existence. I was on the team to investigate these known supernatural beings," Jack said.
"Dungbeetles!" Judy said, her paw turning the safety off. Dealing with Chaos was one thing, but the supernatural too? No matter how much Miles would say she shouldn't be prejudiced, there are some things that are too hard to take.
"Right, shouldn't have used that word. Chaotic, then? The Chaos Theory that came out a few years ago explained much of it, so instead of a 'Supernatural' element it was called a 'Chaotic' element. I'm still used to the old terms, comes from working there for years."
Seeing that neither Judy nor Nick made any move to try and ask, Jack continued, "A recent investigation of a known massive community suddenly turned up nothing. See, the Chaotics, certain non-Chaos-Touched mammals, rely on the energy for survival. I've heard plenty of rumors why, but nothing ever concrete. After a few months, ending about four months ago, we tracked them here. To Zootopia. Which didn't make sense, because there were no Chaotic leylines within the area, or at least there weren't...until six months ago.
"Six months ago, there was a massive fluctuation in Chaos energy levels nearby, which must have created its own leyline in the city. What that means for normal folks, like you or me, is nothing. What it meant for the Chaotics...everything."
"How do we know you're not lying about these 'Chaotics'? I've never heard of them," Nick said flatly.
"You probably have, just didn't know it. Have you seen Inu Wasahara on ZNN? He's a Tanuki, a Chaotic. Shapeshifters, although they need a lot of energy for that, and Inu doesn't have that much. Tanuki's don't need much to survive, that's why they could live here even before the leyline creation."
"I've seen him once or twice. Seems like a normal raccoon to me, albeit a well-dressed one," Judy said, thinking about to the times when she watched the news channel. She never did watch much.
"Should I be taking offense to that, Carrots...?" Nick asked slyly. The glare from Judy simply making him grin. He always did enjoy pushing her buttons when it mattered. And he had a feeling that Jack was, somehow, telling the truth, however crazy it may be. He definitely seemed like he had no intention of hurting them.
"Possibly. However, other Chaotics, like jackalopes or kitsune, require much more energy, and can only live near a leyline. Now that one's popped up here, an extremely large one as far as my research indicates, several thousand of them have moved here within the past few months."
"I think the ZPD would notice if there suddenly a few thousand more mammals living here."
"They would, yes...which is why they don't. The Chaotics don't like bringing attention to themselves, so they hire out a few people, like myself, to host the path to their community. Some are built in the clouds, some inside the city, just well hidden..."
Jack went over to the desk and pushed a single button on the bottom of the desk, near the floor. Judy's gun followed him the entire way, ready to fire at a moments notice. A small picture of the moon on the wall suddenly flipped and the entire section of the wall rotated.
Now instead of a picture it had a set of two buttons, similar to an elevator. Up, the one that was pressed in, and down. "So this is going to surprise all of you, considering how secretive all this is. Although they forced my hand, so they shouldn't be surprised by these things," Jack said, moving over and pressing the down button. Nothing seemed to happen for a while. "Maybe you guys need to come closer? It's a four by six elevator, so we should all be within reach..." Jack muttered. They were well within the designated area.
Just as he was about to give up and kick the wall, suddenly the floor was no longer beneath him. Skye, who had a feeling something was about to happen, suddenly leaped to the floor. Nick stilled himself, ready for an attack of some kind.
Judy on the other hand...was screaming her exuberance.
They got used to the ride fairly quick, and it seemed to be heading down to the depths of the Earth far too rapidly than it had any right to, considering how long it took for it to get started. "It should be any moment now..." Jack said to himself, steeling himself for what was about to happen.
They broke through the veil of rock, and finally saw a magnificent cavern, far bigger than they thought. It had to be the size of Zootopia itself, spreading wider and taller than they thought possible. Stalactites taller than some of the skyscrapers held on, pointing downwards with a scale that no one was sure how big they were.
Tall pillars of metal seemed to be holding some parts of it up, and Nick and Judy realized that they were riding one of those pillars down to the ground. Buildings made out of carved red rock blanketed the surface, and there were even some made into the sides of the cavern.
"Welcome...to the Underground," Jack announced, arms held wide.
From: Judy Hopps
To: Miles Prower; Adrian Bogo
Subject: What...The...
Attc: Pictures
I...what. How is this even possible? Chief, Miles, do either of you know anything about what 'Chaotic's' are? By the way, Miles, did you send a chameleon named Espio to spy on us?
Signed, and kind of freaked out,
Judy Hopps
From: Miles Prower
To: Judy Hopps; Adrian Bogo
Subject: That's Incredible!
No seriously, that's amazing. I want to know how they did that. I want to know. Please tell me that you can tell me how. It always takes me weeks to do that kind of cave work! It looks semi-natural, but it also large portions of it seem like it was built that way.
Geez I wish I could do things like that...and uh...just ignore Espio. There's kind of a story to that. So I was talking with his boss, Vector (a crocodile, if it's important) and I mentioned how I wished I could keep an eye on you guys out there, considering how busy we are all over the place (seriously, I'm sending this from the only internet-accessible place in Holoska, because Sonic and I are heading to Chun-Nan next and that's twelve hours away) and uh...he must've mentioned that to Espio.
They're detectives. And harmless. Really. Just don't let him sing to you.
-Tails
From: Adrian Bogo
To: Judy Hopps; Nick Wilde
Subject: RE: What...The...
The next time you two decide to break reality, do it outside jurisdiction.
I really think that Bogo sums up the entire point to this story in that one line.
Until Next Time!
