Chapter 9: A Family Tradition


Happy Flashback Friday and the tulips are blooming on the farm this lovely evening, so its time for another chapter of The Greatest Zootopian Hero! Things are really getting exciting in our story as the rescue continues.

So the symbol on the super suit is not a carrot like Judy suggested. The show's creator Stephen J. Cannell once said that the chest symbol was inspired by a pair of square-handled scissors that he kept on his desk. When he was discussing what kind of symbol that the costume should have on it with the costume's designer, the designer picked up the scissors and suggested that was the answer. The symbol also resembles the Chinese character for "center". I still think it looks like a carrot with wings.

It's time to sit back and enjoy a nice soft drink while you read tonight's exciting chapter. I would recommend a nice tall glass of New Coke…yeah, I remember that in 1985 they tried to tell us that "the best just got better..!" but it didn't. Me, I think I would prefer a nice glass of TAB on ice which is another Coca Cola product that they no longer make. I wonder if Pepsi had these kinds of problems? Oh right, they once had Aspen and Apple Slice!


Officer Judy Hopps looked up in confusion at the tiger in the torn police uniform. "What do you mean by getting savage?" she asked. "Isn't that what you said they did to those poor caged mammals?"

Former police officer Richard Fangmeyer looked down at her and although he appeared worn out, there was determination and anger in his eyes. "I meant Agent Jack Savage, he growled. "He and his partner were our contact that night, we didn't make it but Wolford did escape." Looking over at Nick, he shook his head and added, "I can see that Wolford made it to her…the alien in time."

"How do you know about the aliens?" Judy asked in surprise.

"Some of your questions can be answered behind that door," Fangmeyer replied. "Doctor Madge Honey Badger was in contact with the alien before she was kitnapped."

The door was massive and made from heavy steel plate, the handle had no keyhole but there was a digital key box on the wall. "You're up Slick!" Judy called to Nick. "Let's see if you can punch your way inside."

"That'll be a waste of time," a voice spoke from the crowd of mammals behind her and she saw a raccoon in orange prison garb shoving his way towards her. He had one of those collars around his neck, which was surrounded by charred and burnt fur. "No matter how strong your pal is the only thing his pounding will do is to bring down the building on top of us before it gives way and the same thing will happen if he tries to put a hole in the wall."

As the raccoon approached the key box, he ran a paw along its sides as he looked it over. "No picking this lock," he sighed. "It requires a rental scan and I'm sure none of our pals over there are authorized."

Judy looked over at the still unconscious guards, who had been stripped of their weapons and gear and unceremoniously dumped into one of the locked cells. Several of the freed mammals had barricaded the door to the hallway. She looked back and saw that the raccoon was peering closer at the lock. "Hey fox, can you pull this out of the wall?" he asked with a grin.

Nick walked over to the box and grabbed it with his paws. "Do you want it all the way out?" he asked and when the raccoon nodded, he gave it a yank and ripped it out of the wall.

The raccoon quickly grabbed the wires and looked them over before finding the set he wanted and touching two wires together, the door clicked open. "There we go!" he announced.

"Runnel, I'd hate to think what you could have accomplished with your life if you had applied those talents to something besides burglary!" Fangmeyer dryly stated as he shook his head at the grinning raccoon.

The ringtailed bandit replied with a smile and a shrug. "Some of us are just beyond redemption Stripes," he replied.

Inside they found a laboratory that appeared to have been ransacked. Chemicals dumped into the drains, equipment tossed around or broken, and the groaning body of a one armed badger wearing a white lab coat pawcuffed to a table. "They're gone and they took my research with them," the badger said as she tried to sit up. "All my prototypes and blueprints too."

The rabbit ran over to the handcuffed badger, the doctor looked exhausted and had scars from being beaten. "They took your prototypes and blueprints for what?" Judy asked. "Just what were you making?"

"Weapons, I was making weapons for them," the doctor cried. "They made me make weapons to use to round up all us predators. I didn't have a choice….my pups!"

"Mommy!" a small female badger pup, who looked no more than ten, cried out as she ran to the doctor. "Mommy!"

"Amelia!" she sighed. "You're safe, thank the gods you're safe. Where's your brother?"

"Max is with the others barricading the door," the pup sniffled. "He said hurry before they zap us all with the collars."

The raccoon had joined them and started looking the pawcuffs over, then he jammed his claw into the lock and within moments had picked it. He tossed them over to the tiger. "I told you I have magic claws," he laughed. "Those are just standard issued police cuffs, piece of cake."

"We never could keep you in pawcuffs Jake," the tiger sighed.

The doctor stood up and began to rummage through a desk until she found a metallic prosthetic arm. Pressing a button, she pulled out a cord out and plugged the it into an electrical socket. "They may have made me make their weapons, but I built safety overrides into each of my creations," she grimly said. A panel slid open on the arm and she pressed a sequence of keys inside, immediately the collars went dark. "I've deactivated the shock collars, so everyone needs to take them off before they reactivate them."

Nick watched as the word filtered through the crowd and the mammals began removing their collars. The raccoon gingerly removed his, to reveal exposed and blistered skin underneath. Jake noticed the fox was looking at his mangled neck. "Yeah, they hurt when they go off!" the coon sighed. "I tried to escape twice and they zapped me really good both times after they caught me, tortured me with it. After the second escape, their leader Doug Ramsey threatened to use his formula on me and turn me savage. He said he always wanted to see a feral wolf tear a raccoon apart with its jaws."

"Speaking of Savage," Fangmeyer suddenly said as he looked around. "Where is Agent Savage?"

"Third door to the left," Doctor Honey Badger replied as she fiddled with her prosthetic limb, trying to slide it over the stump of her arm. The raccoon named Jake helped her slip it on and then attached the wires. The doctor held the still plugged in arm up and flexed its metal fingers. "Better, much better."

Nick and Fangmeyer walked up to the door, it was made from stout wood and was locked. "You want to open this door Jake?" the tiger called over to the raccoon.

But before the burglar could react, the fox splintered the door with a single punch. "I've always wanted to do that!" he snickered.

As they walked in, the room's lights automatically cut on. "It's about bloody time you got here!" a voice spoke from inside. They saw the long slender and very naked light grey with black stripes furred jackrabbit buck strapped against the wall, there were welts and cuts across his body where he had been tortured.

"Jack!" Fangmeyer cried out as he ran to release the agent from his binds, as Nick helped the hare stand.

There was a small gasp and Nick looked up to see Judy standing in the doorway, looking at the agent. She blushed and turned away. "We need to figure out how we can get out of here!" she snapped.

Jack gave a thin, almost ghost of a smile at the blushing rabbit as he hobbled over to the table where his clothes had been laid. Gingerly he pulled on his pants and then with even more care, he pulled on his torn white dress shirt over his wounds. "I've already worked out an escape plan," he announced and he put his tie on. "So Mr. Wilde, it's good to see that that costume actually worked as promised."

"Why me?" was all Nick could ask. "Why did you give me the suit?"

"When we found out about the suit from the alien, we first thought that Degato could wear it. After all, lions are considered somewhat regal, but we knew that with Mayor Lionheart being impeached it would look almost as if the lions were only trying to save one of their own," the agent answered. "Then we considered Wolford, playing off the old comic book series Super Wolf, but we wanted a predator without a pack or herd mentality. Besides the alien took a liking to Wolford, it seems she's partial to wolves and may have been in her biological version of…well, she was in heat and we kind of traded the poor boy to her for the suit."

"I don't understand, why a fox?" Nick replied. "We foxes aren't exactly held in high esteem."

"Exactly why we picked you," Jack continued with a smile as he lifted up his suit jacket. "Foxes are considered the most devious and cunning of all the predators, but you are also loners who don't form packs while still maintaining that canid trait of great loyalty to your friends. Add in the still well-known tales of a heroic fox named Robin Hood, an anti-hero who fought the establishment for the common mammal, both prey and predator."

"But why me and not some other red fox?" Nick pressed the hare, who was rummaging around for his belt.

"Simple Mister Nick Wilde, we've been watching you," the hare replied. "We saw how you've interacted with not only your friends, but others in the community. How you are slow to anger and although sarcastic sometimes, your are still respectful of others no matter what species." With a smile the agent pulled on his belt and walked over to a small safe, he pulled out a cord from the belt buckle and plugged it into the lock's electronic pad. There was a click and he opened the safe, removing a small hand gun and harness from inside.

Nick stood there with a perplexed look on his face as he watched the agent pull on his gun harness and then his jacket, the hare was a quite dashing looking figure now that he was dressed. Jack looked over at the fox and added, "Besides, Nick you're related to Robin Hood on your mother's side. We are counting that when it gets out that Robin Hood's great, great…well his great grandson generations removed is leading a revolt and that it will give not only your fellow predators, but also those prey mammals who feel helpless, enough hope to support our little rebellion."


Next Week: Run rabbit run! Our heroes attempt to escape.

Author's Note: Yeah, I had to work Jake Runnel, an original character from one of my other series of stories into this story. In that series, Jake and Nick are best friends. So check out all six of the entertaining stories, starting with:

Zootopia: A Raccoon's Redemption - The raccoon should not have punched the fox, but if he hadn't they would have never become friends. A story about a reformed crooked coon, a sly fox, and a cute bunny who are living in a big city. (Completed Rated M)