Chapter 10 – The Name is Savage

(32 Years before the events of Zootopia The Movie)

And now Reynard was planning an attack on the territory of that very same wolf. The wolf who he now learned was his uncle through marriage as well as the molester of his wife and her tormentor in the sex club. As if he didn't already have enough reasons to hate this wolf who he had wished dead long before any of this information came to light. They had always butted heads at every meeting of the court. Isengrim was notorious for not only condoning, but encouraging all the things Reynard fought against. He promoted child slavery, sex slaves, child prostitution and horrible abuses of so many innocents in his territory. The worst thieves, cutpurses, thugs, murders and rapists all knew they could go to his district and have freedom to abuse the population all they wanted. Isengrim continued the horrible management of his boss before him and the one before that. It seemed that each boss decided to pick the very worst lieutenants and successors. Well this was one operation he did not regret at all. It was the biggest by far and the most complicated. But he had the most time of any of the operations to get this one right as he had several weeks to plan every detail. Reynard did not want to risk the possibility that Isengrim would know he was coming in advance and prepare to ambush him. This was the one operation that needed to go well.

The reunion of Aza and her parents had gone well after she finally heard the entire story. His normally incredibly strong brave wife had turned into a big pile of jelly hugging her long lost parents and all three sobbed together for quite awhile. Finally Aza was able to tell the story of what had happened to her and more sobbing followed. At least the part when he saved her, rescued her and romanced her all seemed to meet with everyone's approval. Aza then described her life at Maupertuis and the birth of her kits. She and Reynard gave the couple a tour of the estate and they finally came to a large playroom where four rambunctious kits all played while being watched very closely by one of their nursemaids, a vixen named Tabatha.

Aza let her mother and father slowly enter the room and introduced the four to their long lost grandparents. The kits wanted to know how that got lost and Aza answered that they had been misplaced just like the kids misplaced toys from time to time, but that they would make sure they didn't get lost again. The kits all brightened very much meeting their new grandparents and instantly dragged them into their play room to play games with them. Even Reynard had a hard time holding back the tears seeing two parents who had thought they had lost their daughter forever only to discover her again and four beautiful grandkits on top of that. He left them to enjoy their time together and silently headed back to work to finish preparing for this huge operation. He told his steward before he left the estate that Aza's parents were welcome at the residence as long as they wished, and to make a permanent guest room available for them. He hoped the addition of her parents would make up at least a little bit for inadvertently driving his sister and her new family away.

It was now time to take his stab at his now one true enemy. But he had to keep the reason for the mission fist and foremost as the top priority. It was not about revenge, but about saving as many of the lost souls stolen from their families, their innocence destroyed, as he could. He couldn't give them their time and innocence back, but hopefully he could give them a chance at a future worth living.

He left with his security detail to visit his kids at their new operation in a warehouse that had been donated by a councilmammal he had saved a year ago. This warehouse was located just south of Big Dune. The visit went without incident, and Red talked to all his kids meeting each one and then addressing them in groups based on their age range. After he was done he told those in charge, his now fully grown kids from his Docks district operation, that he would be staying overnight to discuss issues and expansion plans with them. While these things were important, it was not the real reason for his visit. Late that night after midnight he checked his watch and knew that right now a flotilla of boats were heading for the docks all around the Sahara Square manned mostly by friendly mercenaries aligned with his cause, and his medical staff, former kids and gang members for security on all boats. He was keeping the number of his actual people stepping onto the foreign district soil to a minimum. Their presence would violate his agreement with the court, but technically the mercenaries were not against the policies of The King. Since each group was technically not under his control and authority, and were autonomous, he was not liable for their actions. It just happened that he fully controlled the mammals giving them their orders.

He was informed by his spy master Felix that they had successfully landed and secured the docks, and groups were now moving into positions all around the district using the vehicles that had already been left in place in advance. Coal and his two top lieutenants, a lion named Rath and a scary vicious tigress named Sheba, were on secure two way communication devices with each different team leader. Felix had all these secure communication devices specially developed for use by Reynard's gang and they would be the lifeline to communicate and direct all operations from this central location. His personal bodyguard Alexei, the massive Amur Tiger, spent his time keeping his eyes and full senses watching the dark for any potential dangers ready to pounce at the first sign of trouble.

Reynard was told that the slave master Jack had identified had been tracked to a dwelling near his headquarters. One group took and subdued the slave master and others in the building while another team broke into his office and took any information they could find concerning the slaves and their possible locations. They were currently in the process of convincing this Fredo that it was in his best interests to tell them everything they wanted to know, but apparently he kept insisting, "Do you have any idea who I am? Any idea who my boss is?" Reynard had a pretty good idea who his boss was and unfortunately the limited amount of things he could do to the urial without starting a war. It appeared he was going to have to depend on the information Jack Savage had provided as well as anything they could quickly locate from the search of the slaver's main office.

All teams were now in place outside their breach targets and were waiting on the go order. Reynard asked Felix if they had eyes on Jack and if they had a team ready to extract him. Felix let him know they had eyes on Jack, but there was a problem extracting him. The weasel had just received a call from the little bunny and was currently in contact with him. Reynard asked how long until they could extract him, but Felix was unsure and couldn't get details. The fox was frustrated. Things were already going wrong, but that was to be expected. But the timetable could not be adjusted and he gave the go order to his lieutenants who relayed his message to all team leaders. At that moment ten teams all went into action.

Two groups entered the sex clubs, one south of Cactus Grove and one across the district on the southern end just north of Delta Rd. The plan was to have each team take out one of the outlier locations and then both move to take the two central clubs after clearing the outer locations. By clearing the central locations last they would be in place to help any other teams needing assistance if they finished early.

Two other teams enter two prostitution dens with the goal of clearing them out completely as they could not afford to leave any witnesses. The word was Isengrim used a large number of minors at his clubs, and so it was important to take anyone found at these locations and sort the minors, non-minors, employees and patrons later.

Four smaller teams then began making hits on all known locations of child slaves quietly breaking in and removing any found. One team was dedicated to raiding slave holding pens and went into the first one removing any slaves and employees found.

The final team was dedicated to extracting their agents including Jack Savage, but apparently they were having a problem at the moment with something. Felix had talked to Jack for a bit and then was talking to his other contacts trying to find out what the delay was retrieving the bunny. Fifteen minutes later Jack called them.

Reynard got on the radio with Jack to see how he was doing, "Ja… Grey Wonder… Grandpa here… the parties going on and we miss you. Hang on and we will come get you. We don't want you to miss any of the fun."

From the other end Reynard heard a very tired frustrated bunny respond, "It's okay Grandpa. Make sure all the kids get to the party fir… argggh…" And then the device went dead. Felix tried to get him back but shook his head.

Now what? Reynard directed the group with the slave boss to go ahead and send all the captured subjects back with a couple of agents and send anyone else to immediately go assist the extraction team. Well he had never expected this to all go smoothly.

Jack had been looked over by their doctor after his body got a desperately needed rest that lasted through much of the day. The doctor was a middle-aged opossum with an irascible temperament named Dr. Guntard. He spent his time feeling the bunny all over and asking him where it hurt. Jack was honest with the doctor, but just stressed all the pain a lot more than he was feeling which had been lessened with the pills Mini had given him. The doctor informed Grenz that it seemed nothing was broken, but the small bunny had sustained massive bruising over most of his body, and it would take several days of healing for him to be able to walk and hop normally. He gave the bobcat a bunch of pills to give Jack over the next several days every six hours or so with food if possible to help with the pain and swelling.

The bobcat left Jack in the room and came back with some vegetables and water for the bunny to eat and gave him two of the pills to take with his meal. Unfortunately Jack couldn't fake taking the pills and hold them for later as the bobcat was watching him to make sure he chewed and swallowed them with the meal. So he swallowed them down and hoped they were not anything harmful, but it didn't make sense for the doctor to give him anything harmful as Jack was their well paid for investment.

Grenz ordered him to spend the rest of the afternoon resting, and told him he would introduce him to some of the other slaves that evening. Jack liked that idea and hoped Mini, Razer and the others were able to locate him that night. There was really not much he could do except follow his orders and rest, so he crawled back into bed and fell asleep.

Grenz came back that evening and picked him up and took him to a large dining room full of about thirty kids of all different species, sexes and ages. While most of the kids were male, there were a few females mostly of younger ages. The ages seemed to range from kids as young as he was to almost adult. Because there were no chairs high enough to allow Jack to eat at the table, the bobcat just put him down on top of the table at the end where most of the smaller kids were gathered and gave him two more pills and watched him eat and swallow them with the water and cabbage and salad.

The bobcat then told him, "They'll take care of ya now Death Wish. Just listen to ole Betta and Gert and you'll be okay. They know what to do with ya. Just don't be so clever and you'll do good."

Jack watched Grenz walk over and talk to an old female red wolf and saw him give her a bottle of the pills the doctor had given the bobcat earlier. He whispered to her for a minute and they both looked over in his direction. Jack pretended to be looking down at his food so they wouldn't see him staring. The bobcat then exited the front of the building where they had entered.

On the way inside Jack had noticed they had guards stationed outside the front and the building was in an enclosed alcove with all exits guarded. Essentially he was trapped in a fortress, but the good thing was he had found a bunch of other kids which buoyed his spirits. He was accomplishing more objectives of his mission! It was then he noticed the other kids nearby all looking at him.

A small female skunk about his same age spoke to him first, "Hi… I'm Daisy."

Jack looked at her and the other smaller kids glumly and answered, "I'm Death Wish."

A very young male deer laughed, "Good name. You musta made tha mistake of gettin' thar 'tention."

A young moose of around eight grinned at the others and nodded, "Yep. Looking at how beat up ya are you musta met some of the Busta Boys."

Jack looked at them curiously, "Busta Boys?"

A very cute young female leopard grinned at him explaining, "Those are tha kids who they use to knock sense into any kids with umph… you know... energy or ask questions. Names Silvey by the way. Who did that to you?"

Jack looked at her acting very dejected and anguished, "Frankie, Barker, Chucker and Wilson."

A very young groundhog made a disgusted face, "Bah! Those guys are the worst. They broke one little girl's arm and busted this fox kits muzzle and broke two of his teeth. You're lucky to be alive with how 'lil you are." He thought about something and leaned across the table and grasped Jack's paw, "Grover. Please ta meet ya Death Wish."

All the other kids at the table continued grumbling about the group that had mistreated Jack so badly. A little female squirrel named Frizzy told how they would grab her by her tail and throw her. A male antelope named Dobbs described how they sat on him until he broke both his arms and was in a cast for a month. The discussions about all the horrible things they had done went on for quite awhile until Jack had some questions for the group.

He looked around at them all curiously asking, "When I was out with those guys, we went all over the place visiting houses and businesses with kids. What are all you guys doing here instead?"

Daisy had the answer to this, "Oh we are those that haven't been sold yet. They send us on different group jobs. We sometimes have to make things. Sometimes we clean up stuff. Whatever jobs that have for us to do."

Jack stared down at the table sadly, "I miss my mom."

Grover reached over and pet the sad bunny, "Yeah… we all miss our past lives… but we are your family now. Cheer up Death Wish."

Jack looked in each of the eyes of the other kids wondering with faint hope, "Is there any escape?"

Silvey shook her head no, "Not unless you want to suffer at the paws of those that make Frankie and those guys seem sweet and lovin'. The sooner you accept you are here forever the better."

Jack put out a test inquiry to the group, "There is no one to help us… you know… out there?"

The young deer answered, "Nah… not in this district at least. Maybe somewhere else. Oh I'm Bucky by the way."

Jack looked around wondering hopefully, "What about these guys I heard of called Red's kids?"

Grover snorted his drink and the other kids laughed at this, "Those guys got it good. But no… they can't help us trapped here. Hopin' for stuff like that is a waste o time."

The kids spent their time letting Jack know the rules, who to trust and who not to. The younger kids were then put to work assembling dozens of parts to build toys. The smaller kids like Jack with tiny paws were used to attach the smaller parts and they would attach them and pass them down the line to the next kid until it was made and placed in a box. They did this for hours until all the parts were used up and then they were given another project involving small electronics.

Jack had no idea how late it was and wondered how he was going to find out when it was time to make his call. He was so tired from the endless work that he realized that there was a clock on the wall in the corner showing it was almost half past 11 pm.

The old red wolf came and introduced herself as Gert and gave Jack two of the pills the doctor had prescribed to him earlier. She gave him some crackers and some water to help swallow everything. Once she was satisfied he had swallowed the pills, she picked him up and instructed the kids to follow her down a hall in the back which then led to a tunnel and some locked doors at the end which she unlocked. She then escorted all the young kids into some cells. She sent the girls into one room and sent part of the boys into one cell and then put Jack, Grover and Bucky into the other room. She lay Jack down on the smallest thin mattress and closed the door and slid a metal bar locking it in place.

Jack then realized he had a problem as he had no idea when to try to call for support. Even if he did know what time to call, he had no idea where he was. He could only hope the tracker he was carrying would let his friends know where he was located. First things first, he needed to find out what time it was so he whispered, "Any of you guys have a watch or anything?"

The lights in the facility went out except for a faint light they could see coming from under the door.

Grover whispered back, "Death Wish, why do ya need ta know what time it tis? They'll just come get us in the morn' when it's time."

Jack needed an excuse and decided to go with a sympathy one to fit his small broken stature, "It's… it's just comforting is all… everything is controlled. I keep waking in the night from nightmares and it would be nice to know what time it is ya know."

Bucky seemed to understand, "Yeah… I get ya… used to have nightmares for several weeks when I first got here. I wish I could help though. But they search us regularly."

Grover had an idea, "I think Silvey might have a hidden device with a clock."

Jack wondered, "How do I talk to her?"

Grover pointed to the wall on the opposite side, "She sleeps against that wall. With your hearing you might be able to hear her voice."

Bucky and Grover helped to drag the bunny and his bed against the opposite wall and moved his bedding to a different area. Jack tapped on the wall a few times. A few seconds later he heard the same pattern on the other side tap back.

Jack then cupped his paws to his mouth and spoke pressed against the wall, "Silvey, It's Death Wish. Can you tell me the time?"

He listened carefully to the wall and heard a faint voice, "Death Wish… I can barely hear you… what did you need?"

Jack cupped his paws and yelled louder into the wall, "Time!"

He then listened awhile and heard her say, "Eleven fifty."

Jack cupped his paws and yelled into the wall, "Thanks."

Jack didn't know if he could keep Silvey telling him the time for the next seventy minutes, but he had one idea. He thought of a way to at least keep her awake.

Jack cupped his paws and yelled into the wall, "Please tell me about yourself. I can hear you. Bunny ears."

He then listened and heard Silvey tell Jack about her life. How she grew up in the Rainforest District and about her parents and siblings. She told him of her life before coming to the hellhole that was the slave pens and what she used to do for fun. Every once in awhile she would ask him a question just to check if Jack was still listening and he would yell back to her. This continued quite a long while, but he could tell she was tiring and he would ask her for a time check. She told him 12:30am. Just thirty more minutes to freedom. Oh Jack hoped it was just thirty minutes. But he began to worry that they would not find him. He didn't know if he was underground or not. He looked around, but didn't see any mice or rats, but then again it was dark and he was a bunny so his eyesight was quite poor in the dark.

He reached into his pouch under his fur and pulled out his knife and the receiver. The blade and the metal and plastic rectangle felt so reassuring. They told him he was not really a slave but a secret agent. He thought he could handle being a slave again, but it brought back painful memories. He thought he was an invincible unflappable secret agent. But his first mission had taught him one thing. He was vulnerable. He was just what all the kids at The Warehouse teased him about. He was just a baby bunny. As Jack listened to Silvey talk, he thought of how much confidence he had when he first came here. He thought he was just going to charm the boss and convince him to tell Jack all his secrets and make him his second in charge. Instead he was played a fool and given to these Busta Boys to be tortured and used as a play toy. The slave boss didn't even give him the courtesy of giving him a real mission. He was in way over his head, and his ego and drive had landed him into this first mission that he was not prepared to handle. He just prayed they could find him. He didn't know if he could survive one more day in this hellhole. But if they didn't get him out tonight, he may not get out for a long time to come, if ever. It was then he felt cold chills as he realized he was sweating and it was evaporating causing him to shiver.

I don't hear anything! Jack then realized his mind had wandered off and he no longer heard Silvey talking. He frantically put his paws to the wall and yelled, "Silvey! Silvey! You still there?" He didn't hear anything. He began to pound on the wall.

In the dark a voice whispered, "Death Wish… quit making all that noise. Go to sleep."

But he continued to pound and shout at the wall in desperation. Finally he heard a faint voice from the other side say, "Death Wish… it's late… I'm tired."

He yelled back cupping his paws, "Time!"

He heard from the other side, "It's late… go to sleep."

He cupped his paws and gave the wall a bang and yelled louder, "Time!"

After a fifteen seconds he heard, "Twelve fifty-two… now go to sleep!"

He cupped his paws and banged on the wall and yelled, "Can you stay awake for eight more minutes?"

He heard Silvey say, "What?"

He yelled cupping his paws, "Eight more minutes!"

He waited. He didn't hear anything and was about to start banging again when heard her say, "Fine. But you owe me."

He yelled back, "I will pay you back tonight hopefully. Tell me when it is One o'clock."

In the dark the same voice whispered in a grumpy annoyed tone, "Death Wish… shut the hell up."

From the other side of the wall he heard, "Okay. Whatcha gonna do for me?"

He yelled to her, "Free you."

From the wall he heard some laughing and then, "It's a good thing you're cute."

Jack smiled to himself. Maybe there is something good about being cute after all. He would have to remember to use it to his advantage. He needed to learn to use everything he had to make up for all his deficiencies. He was never going to be tall, strong and powerful. He would have to be agile, clever and sneaky. He would have to use his cuteness and innocent appearance to manipulate and be underestimated. But it also seemed helpful with making friends as well. And it seemed right now he could use all the friends he could get.

He was about to bang on the wall when he heard the words he had been waiting for, "One o'clock… now go to sleep or cute or not I'm gonna choke you."

Jack grinned and yelled to her, "Thanks love, paying you back now."

Jack thought he heard a "What?" from the other side of the wall but instead turned on the transmitter and stuffed the folded knife back into his pouch under his fur. Fortunately Felix had trained him to use the device in complete darkness so he found the switch to turn it on and the device came to life in his paws. He then turned it to channel 1456. He knew this was his channel. They had ten thousand channels programmed into the device just in case an enemy unit got a hold of one and tried to find their communication. They also kept it at 0000 in case it was discovered on him, and he was instructed to only change the channel at the designated time. He then sent the coded transmission speaking into the microphone, "Gray Wonder looking for a taxi."

He then repeated the code again. Finally he heard the beautiful silky voice of his instructor Felix, "Papa is here. How do you stand Gray Wonder?"

Jack replied back, "With eight extra passengers. Ready for pickup."

There was a long pause then he heard, "May be a delay on the taxi. Hang tight."

Then there was nothing for a couple minutes. Then something moved next to him and he almost dropped his receiver until he heard the voice of Grover whispering right next to him, "Death Wish… what's going on? Who are you talking to?"

Jack whispered back in a frustrated tone, "Help. Hang on… I have to find out more." He was not expecting a delay. He thought he would call for help and that would be the end of it. But now the tension was growing as he had no idea what was going on and it seemed his boss the weasel didn't either.

After five long painful minutes he finally heard life from the communications device, "Unexpected delay on the taxi. No ETA."

Jack knew that there were many operatives all over the area acting right now, but he had no idea where because he was only told about his mission. This was a precaution in case he was captured. Jack sat there with the communicator in his paw waiting. He wished he could hear anything, but no sound was coming. He knew that it was important to keep any communication to a minimum, but he was sorely tempted to call out again. Grover kept annoying him with questions and he kept trying to keep the little groundhog quiet.

Then he heard a tiny voice. He barely heard it, but once he got Grover to shut up he could make it out.

"Jack… can you hear me? Jack…. Mini here… say yes if you can."

It was Mini! They didn't abandon me! Jack said out loud softly, "I can hear you Mini. What's going on?"

Grover then began whispering, "Who ya talkin' ta now Death Wish?"

Jack grabbed on to the little groundhog and whispering in an irate voice, "Hush Grover… I need to hear. I will tell you in a couple minutes okay."

Jack turned his ears toward the direction he had heard the tiny sound focusing with all his might. Finally he faintly heard, "They barricaded the building. Someone inside your building put steel bars in place. The locks are no good. They can't get through. We think it is kids… slaves. We don't know why they would bar the door. Our people told them we were here for a rescue and they barred the doors. They don't want to use explosives to risk harming the kids. We will have to try and find another way in. Call Felix."

Jack didn't have to be told twice to call his boss Felix, "Gray Wonder looking for joy."

After about thirty seconds the secret agent heard from his ultimate boss instead.

The voice on the communicator calmly said, "Ja… Grey Wonder… Grandpa here… the parties going on and we miss you. Hang on and we will come get you. We don't want you to miss any of the fun."

Jack smiled. Well at least everything else seems to be going on. Hopefully they can get all the slaves he located on the map Mini had drawn from his description.

The bunny answered, "It's okay Grandpa. Make sure all the kids get to the party fir… argggh…"

As he was on the phone with Reynard, there was a sliding sound and the door had opened up and something had grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground. Another powerful paw pulled the two-way radio out of his paw and then smashed it on the ground. He then heard a crunching sound as a large foot stomped on it repeatedly breaking it into a million tiny pieces.

After his eyes finally adjusted to the light, he saw he was being held in the air by Chucker. Frankie was holding Grover in a chokehold and Barker had Bucky in a headlock.

Frankie was glaring at Jack and yelled to Chucker, "Bring them… they said they wanted the bunny, but maybe these other two are in on it as well."

Bucky tried to speak up sleepily, "In on whaaaa… Umph!"

Barker punched the young deer in the stomach.

Frankie then barked out instructions angrily, "Chucker go check on the door and make sure it is holding. I'll take care of Death Wish. He really was well named."

Chucker dropped Jack into the skunks paws who promptly clasped the small bunny in a chokehold. The bear then headed out the door.

They could hear the voices of the other kids coming from the other cells asking what was happening. Frankie answered them with a loud, "Shut up! Another word and you won't be speaking again!"

The skunk then glared at the bunny spitting at him, "What is going on Death Wish? Why do these guys want you so bad? Who were you talking to?"

Jack pretended to indicate he couldn't speak clasping his throat. The skunk then threw the bunny into the corner and pushed himself into the corner as well pressing Jack against the wall. He screamed at the bunny, "Talk!"

Jack had been told what to do in this kind of situation. It was meant for the slavers, but in this moment these kids were acting in that capacity. He was to make sure the slavers knew he was valuable so they wouldn't hurt them. He calmly answered the skunk speaking in a very posh voice, "My name is not Death Wish. It is Randel Fluffston. My father is the richest bunny in Zootopia. I was just calling him so he knew where to get me. If you just give me to them, they will go away."

Jack's pronouncement shocked everyone in the room. After about a half minute Frankie decided to threaten the bunny, "So what will they do if I break your fluffy neck?"

Jack acted completely calm informing the skunk and the others apathetically, "Then you will die. Your friends will all die. Your slave boss will die. Every man he has working for him will die. The district boss will die."

Jack's complete calmness and blasé attitude left the skunk and elk completely speechless. His practiced delivery with complete certainty stunned them thoroughly.

Frankie backed away from the little bunny who was doing his best to stand upright and look regal. He then informed the two Busta Boys, "I am sure my father's men would make it worth your while if you were to rescue me and return me to them. They could pay you well and take you anywhere you wished to go."

Bucky then looked at Jack with wide eyes timidly asking, "Randel… could ya… could ya take me with ya?"

Grover then quickly piped up echoing the sentiment, "Yes… please Randel… could we come too?"

Jack looked at everyone magnanimously pronouncing, "I am sure my father would be pleased to take you all wherever you wished as a reward for my safe return."

Jack felt quite good. The ruse Felix had come up with seemed to be working. The spy master knew that what drove the hearts of slave masters was greed. They would not harm something that would be potentially so valuable. This would give them time to rescue him. And worst case scenario they could negotiate either a trade to the slavers for their captured compatriots or a ransom.

What Felix had not anticipated was the immature minds of these Busta Boys or thugs in training.

Frankie's thoughtful visage then became enraged and he snarled at the bunny, "You seek to trick us. As soon as we open the door, they will take you and give us nothing!"

Jack considered this and answered, "A thousand Zoot bucks is nothing for my father. I can ask them to slide it under the door for you. Would that make you happy?"

Frankie thought about this and countered, "What's to stop them from just taking it back once they have you?"

Jack answered him aloofly, "Open the door and run down the hall with the money if you wish. Once they have me they are not going to bother chasing you. But don't you wish to leave this place? If you stay with the money, the bosses in charge here will just take it from you."

Chucker had come back and was filled in on the situation. He and Barker looked to Frankie to decide what to do.

The skunk considered his options, "Well we had a good thing going here. We were gonna get into Isengrim's operation in a couple years or take over for Wilson."

Jack answered apathetically, "I care not. Take the money and stay. Take the money and go. You could take it and go and then come back to join your boss and tell him they took you against your will. You could hide the money and return to them none the wiser."

The three of them all considered this shaking their heads affirmatively all agreeing this sounded like a good plan. Jack figured it would work and the three were about to go demand their money at the front door when there was a crash from down the hall. Chucker headed down to investigate and appeared a minute later grasped quite tightly in the arms of a puma dressed in black. While Chucker was a bear, he was only a fifteen year old bear and the puma was a powerful middle-aged grizzled veteran who could easily rip the bear apart. Behind the puma was a leopard and a fox also dressed in black. Each carried an assortment of knives, pawcuffs, dartguns and cloths.

All of a sudden the skunk grabbed Jack by the neck holding the bunny in front of him and pointed a knife at his throat.

Frankie then yelled out, "Come any closer and the bunny is dead!"

Everyone froze.

Frankie then glared at the puma, "Release the bear!"

The puma looked back and the fox nodded at him looking at something on his belt. The puma nodded and released the bear.

But the bear grabbed his back and yelled, "Ouch! Something stung me."

Frankie began to move backwards holding Jack by the throat with one arm, his other with a blade to the bunny's neck.

Then Jack heard a tiny voice he recognized. The voice was below him squeaking, "Stab him with your knife and jump. He won't follow."

Jack glanced down and saw what his little friends were up to. He slid the knife out from his pouch, opened the blade and promptly stabbed the skunk's arm that was grasping him around the neck.

The skunk instantly dropped Jack and screamed. As soon as Jack hit the ground, he leaped forward as the skunk grabbed for him. Even through all the pain and bruising with adrenaline pumping through his veins, he made an impossible leap through the air landing in the surprised arms of the leopard. The skunk fell flat on his face as he grabbed for Jack losing his balance because Mini and Razer had taken a bunch of cord and wrapped it around the two feet of the skunk.

At the same moment Jack leaped, Razer bit Barker in the ankle causing the elk to leap into the air screaming. The bear tried to move toward Bucky and Grover but collapsed to his knees looking woozy. The fox had instantly moved forward knocking the elk to the ground and the puma had his foot on the paw of Frankie quickly removing the knife and then pressing his knee to the skunk's back.

Quickly the skunk, elk and bear were all searched, and had restraints placed on their paws and gags placed on their mouths and were then led out. Jack instructed the leopard holding him to open the other cells and release his friends. Mini and Razer had climbed up the surprised leopard's legs and now sat in his arms with Jack. Six other mammals all dressed in black came from behind them and then four of them headed down the hallway performing a search to try and find any other kids or employees.

Jack was placed in a van with his eight friends as well as fifteen other kids that had been rescued from the other detention cells. They were informed there were more kids found and they would be going back in another van. The operation to completely clear the facility would take awhile, but they wanted to get as many moved out as possible.

Apparently Jack was told by Mini and Razer that it had taken awhile, but the team had been able to cut their way in through the roof. The Busta Boys would be placed in one of the groups with the employees for now until they determined what to do with them as they appeared to be a danger to the other kids. Jack was given a communications device and called Felix and Red to let them know he was fine and was heading back to the boats with a group of kids. Apparently his bosses were quite relieved he was safe and relatively unharmed. It was good to hear they cared quite a lot about his welfare. They told him they would meet up with him shortly.

The other kids were all looking at the bunny very confused as various scary mammals dressed in black would keep asking him questions and having talks with him on the strange communications devices. Also for some reason rats and mice wanted to talk to him. Once they were on their way heading to the eastern docks, a wide-eyed cute little leopard girl named Silvey stared at this bunny she thought she knew and had talked to most of the night. The bunny noticed her and hopped over and gave her a quick kiss on her surprised mouth telling her in a crisp accent, "Silvey love, I told you I would pay you back."

Silvey hesitantly asked this extraordinary bunny in a timid voice, "Death Wish, Randel, who… who are you?"

Jack coolly turned to her and gave her a slight nod and then smoothly informed her, "The name is Savage… Jack Savage."