Chapter 10 - Hyena:
Author's Note:
Yeah, I know… sorry about not posting on Sunday. But… if it's any consolation… that's why I'm posting today! So, a little side note before I talk about the story. Today (March 14th) is the one year anniversary of my account. It's important, in my mind, so I wanted to do something for it. And the stars have aligned in my favor, granting me a snow day that I can use to write this entire chapter in a single night!
So here we go. Unfortunately I don't have any real questions in the reviews to address, so we can get started right away. So please, enjoy!
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Judy crossed her arms as she leaned back in her chair. Her paws were still shaking from the terror she had felt from nearly dying, but her expression only showed grim determination. After her run-in with what she found out were hyenas, though she had no idea what the hell a hyena even was, Nick had dragged her and everyone else back to the precinct.
It was strange seeing Bogo standing off to the side and Nick instead at the podium, clearing his throat before addressing the officers present. He had pulled the projector screen down and procured a projector as well as he waited for the officers to file in. This was an emergency announcement, everyone needed to hear this.
"Thank you all for coming," Nick started as the lights flicked off and the door shut. "Now, just a few hours ago, an elephant was discovered in Savannah Central impaled on six wooden stakes. I'm sure some of you have been wondering who is responsible for such an atrocity."
He paused to allow murmurs of agreement to seep throughout those gathered. "We have three bodies in the morgue that point the finger at a species known as spotted hyenas," he explained. "Now… for those of you who have yet to see the bodies, this is what spotted hyenas look like."
Bogo placed a few pictures on the projector, the screen showing the officers gathered the three deceased hyenas. Several of the officers cringed from the pictures, even Judy, who had witnessed their deaths. "Not pretty, I know," Nick sighed, though Bogo didn't remove the pictures. "I am absolutely positive, however, that this is the first time you have all seen this species. Well there's a reason for that, but we'll get there."
"Spotted hyenas are extremely dangerous and extremely violent. That is why none of you have even heard of such a species. Spotted hyena haven't 'officially' been seen in Zootopia for well over a hundred years, I believe. You won't find any mention of them in any history book, nor will you find any pictures of them anywhere," he continued. "From what I've heard, the entire species was exiled about a hundred years ago due to their continuous violent and uncivilized nature and their continued predation on the prey species of the city."
"Officer Wilde, I'm sure everyone is dying to know how you know all this," Bogo said, leaning against the back wall of the Bullpen. Even he didn't know any of this, so he was extremely curious as to why Wilde knew.
"I had a friend, before I was a cop, who had infiltrated the city and was living off the streets. I was one of the few mammals he ever had contact with, and he passed on lots of information about his species to me," Nick explained. "From what he's told me, there's a single clan of about eighty or so hyenas left and they live outside of the boundaries of the city in a big, run-down mansion."
Bogo clapped his hooves together. "Then we'll start there. I doubt that only three of these spotted hyenas would be able to take down an elephant, so there must be more. And if they do have a base of operations, that should be our first target," he growled. "McHorn, Francine, Delgato, and Fangmeyer, I want you to find that mansion and arrest everyone inside."
"Hold on, chief, it's not that simple," Nick interrupted the cape buffalo. "These mammals aren't under the jurisdiction of the ZPD. They have no names, no laws, and no records… you can't just barge into their home, even with a warrant, and arrest them all."
"Then what do you suggest, Wilde?" Bogo growled, crossing his arms.
"By all means, send a team to find that mansion… but I would recommend staying as far away from it as possible. Every single hyena in that building is trained as a mercenary from birth, it's the only thing they can do for money. The moment that team got too close, they'd be executed without warning," Nick sighed.
"Mercenaries?" Bogo raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, mercenaries. There's a good chance that's why there were hyenas in this city. And I would bet that there are still hyenas here in this city. Which means they have a target," the fox growled. "Both the badger and the elephant they are suspected of killing were John Does, I don't think that's a coincidence. I think that our next course of action should be to figure out who the hell those two were, that way we may be able to figure out who the hyenas are targeting, and maybe why."
"That seems like a fair assessment," Bogo nodded thoughtfully. "Very well, then. Hopps, Wilde, Wolfard, Summers, that will be your task. Dismissed."
"Hold on, I have something to say as well," Judy said, standing up in her chair. The chief gave her an exhausted look, but gestured towards her to proceed. "As many of you know, I found the bodies. But that isn't quite true, I found them while they were still alive. I watched them die."
She took a deep breath and continued before anyone could interrupt her. "There was another hyena, a fourth one. The three dead ones were going to attack me, but the fourth one appeared out of nowhere and killed the first three!" she explained. "I don't know why, but she spared my life and disappeared."
Judy turned around and hefted that fourth hyena's massive knife onto the table in front of her. The knife was nearly as large as she was and heavy, she was barely able to lift it. But as it clattered onto the table, she said, "She left this behind. Now, I don't know what was going on between this hyena and the other three, but she was interrogating them, asking who hired them."
"So… you're saying that they were hired to do this? So that must mean that they have a target and an employer, which at least means we have something tangible to charge them with," Bogo growled. "Anything else?"
"Yes," Judy nodded. "It is my belief that the fourth hyena is, for whatever reason, warring against her own species. I believe she may be willing to cooperate with us, if we can find her. If any of you spot a hyena with dark fur, wearing a trench coat with a white skull on it, do not attack her. Try and get her to talk without force."
"Very well, we'll keep that in mind," Bogo nodded, pushing off against the wall, and taking back his place at the podium. "With all that in mind, let's find and bring these hyenas to justice. Dismissed."
XXX
"Well… that was informative," Wolfard muttered. "At least we know what we're dealing with now."
"Yeah," Judy agreed. She and Nick followed Wolfard and Summers down to their little, closet office in the basement of the building.
"Welcome to our humble abode," the arctic wolf giggled as she and Wolfard stepped into the office and gestured for the smaller mammals to enter. "It's a little cramped."
"A little," Nick muttered as he and Judy entered the office, shutting the door behind them. The two desks took up most of the space in the room, even though they were pressed right up against the back wall.
Wolfard took a deep breath and collapsed into his chair. "So… I suppose we need to do some investigating," he said.
"Yeah… and I think I have the place to start," Judy growled, crossing her arms.
"Really?" the arctic wolf asked, plopping down into her own chair at her desk.
"I thought it was a bit weird that Bogo called everyone off their assignments to help block off Savannah Central… and then he told me that he had made it priority number one because the mayor was bugging him about it," Judy explained. "So… there's a good chance the mayor knows something about all this."
"Hmm… I suppose that makes sense. Do you really think he's going to talk, though?" Wolfard asked, leaning back in his chair.
"We'll make him talk. Lionheart's already had to deal with one scandal, he's not going to like the threat of another," Nick growled.
"Right, well, we'll leave that to you two, then," Wolfard nodded.
"Oh? What are you two going to do?" Judy asked, hoping that this wasn't some excuse for the two wolves to skimp out on their duties.
"Bogo usually assigns us in teams of two. Despite the fact that we're working together on this case, I think it might be best if we split up," Wolfard said. "I think that laptop we recovered from the badger's apartment is still relevant, it may contain clues as to what the hell is going on."
"I thought you weren't able to open it," Nick asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well… um… no, I can't," Wolfard admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I think I might know a few mammals who might. While you guys check to see what the mayor knows, Charlotte and I will take the laptop to a few professionals."
"That sounds like a plan," Judy nodded. "What about the elephant?"
"What about him?"
"No, I mean… in the badger's house, there was a hidden weapons room and a laptop, right? What did you find at the elephant's house?" Judy asked.
"We haven't found the elephant's home," Charlotte explained. "We don't have a name, we aren't getting back anything on print analysis, nor any record of any kind. We have no clue where he was living, what he was doing, or who he was."
"Right… well I think we should try and find that elephant's place too," Judy suggested. "Although there's no doubt in my mind that his death is connected to that badger's, I still want to see if he has that weapons room and maybe a laptop as well."
"Good thinking… Charlotte and I will look into that after we leave the laptop with my professional friends," Wolfard replied.
"So, meet back here before our shifts end?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, see you guys then. Hopefully, we'll find some useful info," Wolfard chuckled. "Maybe we can finish this case tonight."
"I certainly hope so," Judy chuckled. "Nick and I have another case that we're so close to finishing. But… I suppose this is more pressing. Especially if the mayor is involved."
XXX
I know, this should barely even qualify as a chapter. Just a lot of exposition here, not even really advancing the plot at all. Honestly, it's bad writing. But… I wanted to release something today, and this was something that I could type out and edit in just a few hours. We do learn a lot here, about the hyenas and about what's going on in general. Some of you who have already started to make a few connections, hopefully this helps make even more. And I think this chapter starts to make the story make sense, so that's good. But overall, there's not much to say.
Because this chapter was all just explanation and exposition, next chapter should actually advance the plot. But because of how short this chapter is (and considering that Spring Break starts next week) I should actually have another chapter out Saturday night as well! Two in one week! So… stay tuned for that!