Nothing was going according to plan. After everything that had just happened, that was the one thing that Bellwether was certain of. Staring off into the distance as the three of them made their way down the street, she hoped in her head that they would reach their destination quicker without complications. But she knew inside that it only be a short period of time before something occurred unexpectedly. Letting out a deep sigh, she got all of her bustling thoughts collected and all in a row. Startling her from her thinking, she detected a close-sounding vibration followed by a slight dinging sound. Bellwether quickly came to her senses and realized that the sounds were coming from her own communicator. Turning the screen on, she saw a notification indicating that she received a message from Gloria. What could this be? She swiped the notification bubble and the menu loaded up. What appeared was a message that was a lot longer than what she would normally receive:
Is everything okay? Hoping it is after what I heard. Saw what happened at that hotel and I'm sorry that your trek isn't going that well, never said those pendants would be perfect. Anyhow, what you need to do now is make your way out of the downtown area and over to where the boat docks are. When you get there, there'll be a small tour vendor called "Floats Your Boat". Ask the man that works there for the guided tour and add into it that I sent you. Trust me, he'll understand exactly what you're saying. While I might not like too many people, the guy that runs that boat is someone I can trust. He's helped me in the past when it came to getting from place to place. If you go to the vendor, I assure you that it's a quicker way to get to my place without any problems. Hope everything goes well, stay safe! And by the way, regarding some things about the pendants, I promise that I'll explain it to you when you get here.
Clicking the communicator into sleep mode, Bellwether looked at her two minions with an urge to get to their destination. The three of them proceeded in the direction that the navigator told them to go. Within a brief amount of time, they no longer found themselves downtown. They now found themselves in an area that was near the water. To the left of them, many vendors were offering guided boat tours across the Canal District to other destinations. On the other side, they could see several brightly-colored shops (preferably referred to as tourist traps) all selling trinkets and souvenirs. However, both in front of them and behind them were large amounts of visitors all making their way down the walkway. While it wasn't a gigantic crowd (like those of the busier areas in Zootopia), it was still a bit too busy for Bellwether. There was almost nothing they could do but keep an insanely low profile and walk casually with the crowd.
Eventually they came across what looked like a way to possibly escape the crowds and reassess everything. It appeared to be a sort of lookout area, in which one could walk out to get better views of the water. Lucky enough for them, there was barely anyone occupying this area. There was the occasional tourist or photographer, but they all appeared to be at different spots and not at the very edge of the observance area. Bellwether knew immediately that this is where they would go, and hopefully that this would be somewhere they wouldn't be disturbed.
The trio made their way over to the very edge of the area, casually looking at the scenery in an attempt to look like nothing more than unsuspecting tourists. The sky was clearer than ever, glistening and casting its brightness upon the reflection the water. The water and everything within it was completely at peace, with the occasional boat passing by and causing ripples in the distance. It was a pretty and picturesque little scene, but now was not the time to just sit around and lazily observe. Right now, Bellwether needed to let Doug and Jesse in on the next steps that, if all goes according to plan, would lead them directly to Gloria without any trouble.
Leaning her head up, she got one last glimpse of the shimmering views of the water. It was funny to her that when you were taking on another form for disguise, you seemed to see everything just a little bit differently. It was as if you got a completely different set of eyes, and were taking things from an entirely different perspective. Turning around to face Doug and Jesse, she let out a deep breath and took a seat on a small black bench that was conveniently behind them.
"So what's the plan, boss?" Doug asked, ending the moment of silence.
"We're taking a shortcut," Bellwether started to reply, keeping her voice down to prevent any possible suspicion. Loading the message back up that Gloria sent, she showed Doug and Jesse the name of the boat vendor they needed to search for. "We have to get to this guy, and when we do we'll get a quick route straight to Gloria."
Doug and Jesse both nodded politely in agreement. The three of them made their way back to where most of the action was. Walking back down to the where out of the boats were set up, they began to scope the scene for any sign of Floats Your Boat. All of the vendors were practicallly at their capacity, lines of all different sizes patiently waiting for their opportunity to get on the next tour. They continued onward without seeing anything that matched what Gloria was talking about. As they were reaching the very end of the vendor area, they finally came across what they were looking for. Only a short distance from where they were stood a small establishment with two boats resting behind it. While all of the other admission stands were decorated with bright colors, this one appeared to just be decked in a simple but bland shade of white. Above the stand was a plain sign that was printed in black letters that read Floats Your Boat. No doubt that this was the establishment that Gloria was talking about.
For Bellwether's standards, this vendor was running at a pretty low quality. But if this was what Gloria trusted to get them to her, then it was exactly what they all needed to do. Retracting the full-body cringe that the plainness of the stand sent her, she proceeded closer to ask what she was instructed to. Much to her dismay, however, there was a big line that were waiting to sign up for their tours. It didn't make sense to her, she thought for sure there wouldn't be any hold-up getting on here.
After a brief moment of waiting with impatience, the line started to die down a little bit. Both of the boats that were originally sitting on their stands in preparation were in the water, navigating their way out before taking an abrupt left turn. But fortunately for them a third boat was approaching, stopping right up at the dock where they enter and exit. A small amount of people got off that boat and walked off, now was the chance for Bellwether and her minions to score their own personal boat ride. She could only count two or three people behind them at the moment, and now they were the next to approach the vendor for admissions. Bellwether pantomimed for Jesse to step forward and ask the worker what Gloria said to, also giving him an expression that to him read "Don't screw anything up".
"So what can I do for y'all this afternoon?" asked the older but friendly-looking worker.
"The tour for three," Jesse replied. He was doing as much as he possibly could to not sound conspicuous. The worker turned around to grab some sort of brochure but was interrupted when Jesse started to speak again. "Uh, Gloria sent us here."
He didn't expect those words to do much, but much to his surprise they did. The worker stopped what he was doing and immediately flicked the sign that said he was open to closed. The three tourists that were waiting behind them were beginning to look a little confused, curious as to why the stand just abruptly stopped running. Getting off from his seat and out from the stand, he walked over to the dock and gestured for Jesse to come forward. Bellwether and Doug both immediately followed after them, heading down closer to where the small power boat sat idle in the water. A silver guarding rail was closed tightly behind them, checked twice to reassure that there was no way anyone was trying to get across. It was indeed some strange behavior, but there was no doubt that the trio hasn't already seen some strange things so far. The worker (who they now needed to refer to as their captain) got inside the boat and did a quick inspection over everything.
"So y'all gettin' in 'ere or what?" he said. With those words the three of them got on board, taking their loads of on some seats near the stern of the boat. Now relaxed on the cushioned seats, they started to get comfortable as they were getting ready to head out. Jesse, however, was not as comfortable as the rest of them. While he wasn't hydrophobic by any means, he was a little nervous when his eyes dotted towards the small notice sticker that showed them what to do in an emergency. But Bellwether told him to dismiss any of those possibilities, because the captain of the boat said they've never had to use those life jackets since they started.
Eventually the captain insured that everything was in good condition, and within a few minutes they were off. Starting off at a slow pace before steadily picking up speed. In the middle of the water they were now in, there came a division in paths that was naturally created by some tree growth. While Bellwether watched all the normal boat tours take the left when they reached here, they instead did the exact opposite and took the alternate path. Now it began to look like a nature preserve on both sides, offering the trio with views of pure and unadulterated serenity.
Once they went further down this watery path, Bellwether had good faith that she could put her mind at ease for a short time. Becoming more relaxed inside the seat she occupied, she began to shut off all of her thoughts and simply take in the scenery. It easier said than done, but it didn't kill her to relax for just a few minutes before getting back into action.
The views were becoming more and more picturesque as the boat took a steady right turn among the naturally-formed pathway. It was beginning to look like something out of a photograph, and yet Bellwether was seeing it in the flesh. A short amount of time passed and the boat made another right turn. Soon the boat found itself no longer in that pretty little scene of nature. Now the only thing that they could really look at was the water, encumbassing them on both of their sides. Far out in the distance, something started come closer into their view. Yards and yards away stood a piece of land, and on it rested what appeared to be some sort of gated estate or large home. The estate was gated on all sides, two floors and judging by the overall size was a large amount of square footage. Bellwether knew immediately who was the occupant of that glorious place, it was none other than Gloria herself. Doug and Jesse looked at each other with much enthusiasm, what they had been impatiently anticipating was finally coming up.
The boat got closer and closer to Gloria's estate before finally coming to a stop at a convenient dock at the end of her land. While Gloria was not the one to have visitor without her overall approval, the dock worked out as a way to bring the guests in if they came to her by boat. The trio slowly exited their boat and stepped their way up onto the dock.
"Y'all have a nice day!" the captain cried out before taking off.
Bellwether looked back as the boat was revved up and noisily pulled away. She knew there had to be some kind of force watching over them, because making it this far without something bad happening was only the work of miracles. She had went through quite a lot to get here, but the complications could finally fade to gray. They now stood at the estate of none other than Gloria, and nothing could possibly stop them now.
Doug and Jesse stared at the tall, black gates that guarded the entire estate from any possible outsiders. They were still in awe at seeing this place with their own eyes, highly anticipating what was waiting for them on the inside. The three walked closer to the gates, pausing at what appeared to be some sort of intercom system on the left side of them. Bellwether pressed the system's button and was greeted by a deep buzzing sound. All of a sudden, a camera started to stretch out from the other side the gate. Doug and Jesse weren't even sure where it exactly was originally hiding, but it sure was clever in their minds. The camera looked down at Bellwether and her minions, followed by a familiar voice.
"Alright, who is this?" Gloria said through the other end of the intercom. The camera zoomed out a little further and slightly adjusted its lens. Apparently it wasn't recognizing them, but once it caught sight of the pendants around their necks it confirmed that they were trustworthy. The camera quickly reversed its motions and returned to its original position. The gates slowly opened up, welcoming the trio into what Gloria might have referred to as her personal domain.
Walking their ways up the paved walkway, they proceeded through what appeared to be a garden of some sort. It offered Gloria a splash of color to the outside of her estate, as well as give her another area to escape to for serenity. She always said to Bellwether that whenever life through nonsense at her, she would go to the gardens (that is if she wasn't working on any new form of advanced gadgetry). From under a space in between flower beds, a smaller and more compact popped up. It scoped them out as they approached the front door, blinking with a red light that indicated that their actions were probably being observed or recorded. The camera eventually popped back under into the flower bed, realizing that there was no potential sign of intruders or unwanted guests.
The three of them finally got to the front door of her estate, eager to discuss the next steps in putting their plans into action. Stepping onto the welcome mat, Bellwether was greeted by yet another security camera on her right. But this time it simply closed its lens up and shut down, presumably by Gloria cutting the power to prevent anymore confusion in the system. She proceeded to ring the doorbell out of courtesy, but was interrupted when Gloria's voice came through another intercom speaker.
"Don't worry 'bout the doorbell!" her voice rang out. "I know it's you, just come on in."
And with those words, the front door automatically opened itself, providing some sense of greeting into the estate. Stepping inside, the temperature went from that of the beating sun to the refreshingly cool feeling of the indoors. It was quite a relief to feel that, and it was also another relief to be able to remove the pendants from their necks. Knowing that there was literally no sign of danger, they took them off and all reverted back to their original forms. It felt so strange being something that weren't for such a long period of time, and while they were actually beginning to like it, it felt better to just be themselves.
As they proceeded forward from the hallway, they approached what appeared to be some of gigantic living room. Into their view came gorgeous furniture, a curved flat-screen television, a beautiful black piano, and a priceless crystal chandelier that was hanging above them and illuminating the entire room. On their left was a gorgeous-looking staircase that lead upwards to whatever awaited them on the top floor. Doug and Jesse were already flabbergasted, it was like looking into the house of someone on reality TV.
"Geez, how in the world could she possibly afford a place like this?" Doug asked awestruck.
"Yeah," Jesse said chiming in. "She must've had a big start-up or something."
If they're already worked up, just wait until they see the rest of the place, Bellwether thought. The faint yet audible clicking sound of hooves hitting floor came from above them, followed by an unusually welcoming voice.
"I see you guys made it here in one piece," Gloria called from somewhere out of their sight. "And Dawn, I also see that your minions can't get enough of my place."
The stepping sound of hooves started to get closer and closer, until the shadow of a figure reflected into the halls. The owner of that shadow finally made its appearance around the upstairs hall and carefully down the staircase. Coming down to greet them was a black sheep dressed in what appeared to be premium-brand attire. While she may have had a small and deceivingly fragile appearance like Bellwether, she wore a look on her face that could only be defined as villainous. Smiling widely, Dawn was greeted with much excitement. While normally she tried to hide and disguise any large amounts of enthusiasm, Gloria could not contain any of it at the moment. It had been a long time since both of them saw each other face to face, but it felt to reunite after Dawn's big escape. They were for certain that there was something big planned, and there was nothing to try to get in their way.
Suddenly a drone flew out from where Gloria had appeared and began flying its way down the same direction towards the crew. Doug and Jesse looked at it with a little confusion, they were told that this place was chock-full of technology but they never expected to instantaneously be greeted by it. It stopped in front of Gloria and Bellwether.
"Smile!" Gloria said enthusiastically. Bellwether quickly conjured up the happiest look she could ever create before the flash came from the drone's camera. Gloria quickly after that opened her phone up and checked her photos, the picture clouded and was how she wanted it to look.
"W-what was that about?" Bellwether asked.
"We need some kind of photo to mark the day we strike back," Gloria replied followed by a small laugh. "Now, where was I?"
Doug got a closer look at the drone as it slowly lifted up further towards the ceilings and back to its original position. He could recognize its design naturally. It was not just any brand, it was a Phantom. Specifically, he recognized that the drone was a model called Spyglass, as it had the ability to get crystal-clear picture quality, Those things were expensive to buy in just about any electronics store around Zootopia, so she had to have spent a lot to get one. All he did was simply watch it fly back and listen to the buzzing sound of its small propellers, the sound of Gloria's voice woke him out of that technological trance.
"You like the drone?" Gloria said, surprised that he had taken so much interest in that one little gadget of hers. "Because if you're really that interested, I've got a couple more where that came from."
"Seriously?" he replied. "How did you get your hooves on something so amazing? Those things are on the market for-"
"You know the makers of that wonderful brand? Well you're looking at one of them!"
With those words, Doug's jaw practically dropped to the floor. It was astonishing enough to see the drone in person, and an entirely different to see its actual creator. He was wondering if she was just playing with him, but according to the look of pride in her face he knew she wasn't lying.
"Are you serious?" Doug asked, his voice a mix of total shock and enthusiasm.
"Yep, I'm being dead serious," she replied full of self-esteem. "How else do you think I was able to acquire everything you see here? Don't you realize that Phantom is one of the most successful companies of its kind here in Zootopia? Thanks to my great ideas for the drone designs, I was able to launch Phantom and later on live the greatest life I possibly could,"
"I didn't realize that-"
"Now wait just a minute!" Jesse chimed in, interrupting Doug. "If this here drone of yours was so successful, why aren't ya still workin' with 'em? Why'd ya all of a sudden turn to what your doin' now?"
"Well as much as I hated to do it," Gloria replied. "Phantom was getting a lot of success and a merger was making quite the offer. The time was right and the offer couldn't be refused, so I guess you could say I sold out the company. While I'm still remembered as the original maker, I made so much more off of that deal."
Jesse got another glimpse of all of the luxurious and materialistic goods that surrounded them. Yeah, he thought. No doubt at all that ya made more of that deal!
Gloria got a close look at the pendant that Dawn now had firmly in her hoof's grasp.
"I also see that you got the pendants," she remarked. "Aren't they just amazing, if I do say so myself?"
"Yeah, about that" Bellwether began to reply. "You owe me an explanation! You said these things change my from, am I right? So what the heck was with that other thing hidden in there?"
"Other thing? Oh yes, I know what you mean! You're talking about that blue button, aren't you?"
"Heck yes, I am! It shot some kind of beam out of it that I didn't want to. And on top of that, it hit one of the hotel workers and temporarily blinded him."
"So that's what went wrong at that hotel?"
"Dang right! There was some kind of fire drill goin' on that we had to take part in, so I'm tryin' to leave and guess what happens? The pendant falls off, I get recognized, and when I get up I fumble over the button and all of a sudden-"
The words were coming out of Bellwether's mouth so fast that she was completely unaware of accidentally setting off the button on the pendant a second time. Just like it did in the hotel, a turquoise-colored beam shot out, but this time it began to ricochet off of all the large walls of Gloria's estate. Doug and Jesse ducked for cover as the beam zoomed across the open space, bouncing off of Gloria's priceless belongings like the ball in a pinball machine. The beam nearly broke the top of several pieces of ceramic pottery that rested on a decorated black table, all before slowly running out of kinetic energy and dissipating. Gloria took a deep breath out, relieved that none of her priceless decorations were damaged by the beam. Bellwether started to have a guilty look upon her face. While Gloria would never hold a grudge if something was broke (as friendship was a lot more priceless than some decoration), it was still something she didn't wish to do at the moment.
"Look, I am so sorry." Bellwether quickly apologized. "That didn't mean to-"
"It's no big deal, it's not your fault that there's a beam in that pendant." Gloria said. "Anyway, I apologize for not pointing that out ahead of time. That blue button as you already found out is an engineered defense mechanism."
"Yeah, no kidding! Anyway can we get to the bottom of things?"
"Most certainly, I'd hate to drag things any further since there's already been a long enough wait. Now if you'd join me out back, we can get down to business."
Meanwhile...
Once again, Nick and Judy found themselves walking through the darkened halls to get to the entrance of headquarters. The descent down here was a lot more swift, unlike the last time where the elevator was having a complication on the way down. They were continuing to walk towards the hall at a hurried pace. Feeling totally excited for what was about to happen, she was making sure she got to the door as quick as her paws could carry her. As more excitement filled the two, she teleported her way over to where the massive door stood. Smiling widely, Judy proceeded to place a paw against the handle and open up the entrance. But suddenly...
Zip! Judy suddenly teleported twice. She stopped right in the middle of the hall before abruptly teleporting over to where she originally was, leaning against the entrance to catch her breath a second. What was thatshe wondered with a confused expression across her face. I didn't mean to teleport like that, so why did that just happened?
Nick snickered under his breath, thinking this was just intentionally another one of Judy's shenanigans. Only this time it wasn't, and she was a little confused as to why he took this a joke. "Woah" he said. "Looks like somebody's excited to get to work."
"No" she replied. "Honestly, I didn't mean to do that."
Judy just looked up at Nick still seeming a little confused, all he could do to reply was let out a little laugh. He was still under the impression that she was messing with him (as she had pulled her fair share of jokes before). But this time she needed him to take it seriously, because as impossible as it was, there was obviously something wrong with her powers.
"Nick, I'm being serious! It seemed like my power was glitching and somehow I managed to get here quicker than I thought. But what doesn't make any sense to me is that I wasn't thinking about where to teleport to, so why did that happen? I think there's something wrong with-"
Before she could finish her sentence, the teleportation started up again. This time Nick was actually able to see and understand what she meant. Zip! She was standing a couple inches behind him.
Zip! She was now standing on the far side of the hall where the elevator was. Zip! By this time, she right back where she started. Placing a paw against the entrance, she tried to catch her breath. It was understandable to teleport multiple times in action, but even that it didn't occur this abruptly. "Now you see what I mean?" she said. All Nick could do was nod politely, but he still had a couple questions.
"But how is that even possible?" he asked. "Your powers were just fine the other day, and it seemed to work normally when you teleported to my place. So why is it glitching all of a sudden?"
"I really can't answer that" she answered. "Like I said before, were heroes but we're far from perfect. Heck, even after having powers for so long, I'm not a master of them. After all, our superpowers didn't come with instructions. Not sure why this is happening, but-"
Zip!
It happened again! Within the matter of a few quick seconds, she ended up teleporting all over the hall again. Going backwards, right on Nick's side and back to leaning against the door. This was definitely something that she needed to figure out. After all, they were taking down Bellwether, and she couldn't have glitching superpowers when the time came to use them.
Bogo slowly opened up the door and greeted them. Unlike the last time they were over here, he appeared to be in much happier spirits than before. "Well guys," he said to them. "You two came by just in time to see what new intel we got. Follow me!"
Author's Note: It's been awhile since I've posted another chapter, but I'd like to offer my apologies for the delay. Writer's block is a royal pain, but now that I've combated it I'll be attempting to post a little more frequently. Anyway, that does for this chapter. It's not the best I could've done but hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter.