Chapter 11

Some time had past and all Nick could see at the time was darkness. No light and no sound until finally his eyes began to flutter and he groaned as he began to regain consciousness. His vision was quite blurry and he saw multiple Bart's looking over him along with a muffled voice calling out to him.

Eventually the voice became clearer as his vision started to become less and less fuzzy.

"Nick! Nick, can you hear me?" Bart questioned, loudly as Nick's vision of him realigned. "Nick!"

Nick groaned loudly in response. "Kid… could you not yell so loud? Sheesh, now even you sound like my landlord…" he said as he sat up.

"Cool, your alive." Bart remarked, relieved.

"Great… Ugh… how long was I out?" The fox asked, dizzy.

"Uh… about an hour." Bart answered.

"Oh, now I remember!" Nick said, an angry look appearing on his face as it all came back to him. "Those jerks took Carrots…"

"Ya, and I stayed with you to make sure you were ok, so… your welcome." Bart noted as he helped Nick up, but the fox quickly swatted his hand away once he got back on his feet.

"Enough! Your crummy aiming skills just got my partner caught by the bad guys!" Nick scolded him.

"When did this become my fault!?" Bart questioned.

"Kid, this is your fault! Judy got captured because of you and your lousy aiming skills!" Nick yelled.

"It was an accident! I missed Come on, give me a break!" Bart said.

"An accident!? You just stood there like a deer in the headlights and let her knock you away so that she could take the hit!" Nick reminded him.

"I would have gotten out of the way!" Bart defended.

"Yeah… and then you wouldn't have shot me with a dart!" Nick pointed out as he held up said tranquilizing dart.

Bart shrugged. "Hey, we reap what we sow, am I right?"

"No, you are not right. You used that tranq gun even though we specifically told you that you couldn't!" Nick stated.

"I thought it would help!"

"Well, it sure helped them!"

"You're dart wasn't exactly effective either!

"At least it would have hit him and not have missed by a freaking mile! And now, my partner's a captive of the bad guys because of your poor aiming skills, which you failed to mention, plus your great desire to not let anyone help you."

"What does that mean?" Bart questioned.

"It means that you're scared about letting people get close to you, so you act like a jerk." Nick stated.

"Have you looked a mirror lately?" Bart countered.

"At least I can admit it!" Nick defended.

"As well as you can when it comes to admitting your feelings for Judy?" Bart teased. "I doubt it."

"Ugh, don't you ever take anything seriously?" Nick questioned in disbelief. "I swear kid, you are just as bad as the guys who are chasing us."

"What was that!?" Bart demanded.

"Did I stutter? I don't think so. But if you'd like I got a megaphone, maybe then I'll get through that overly thick skull of yours." Nick said with a mixed amount of anger and sarcasm in his voice that caused the human to grab him by the collar and pull him closer. He looked like he was ready to pummel Nick that very second.

"Hey, you a got a problem fur ball?" Bart accused.

"A problem? Yeah, I got a problem; it's standing right of me wearing red and too much hair jell!" Nick shot back.

"Hey, don't act you know me or think your better then me! I heard you guys talking, heard you were a con artist once." Bart reminded.

"Fine, I was a con, I scammed people, but at least I got my act together, became a part of something bigger, unlike you." Nick countered. Frustrated, the human pushed Nick back and released his grip on him.

"Maybe I like being what I am." Bart stated.

"Oh please, if I hated doing what I did, I'm sure you do to." Nick scoffed. "Believe me, I do know you kid, I know because I used to be a lot like you and believe it or not I believe you can be better then what are now."

Bart raised a brow in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yes, really! And you can't just do and take whatever you want. Actions have consequences kid, and that's how folks get hurt, like Judy for example." Nick stated.

"Now you sound just like her." Bart pointed out.

"And you sound an awful like me." The fox countered before he realized something. "Huh, so this is what it's like to deal with me… I'd hate having to deal with me…"

"Feeling's mutual." Bart quipped.

"See? There it is! That need to make everyone feel miserable just to feel good about yourself! That's exactly what I did." Nick declared.

"Sounds like you still do." Bart pointed out.

Nick shrugged in defeat. "Old habits die hard," he admitted. "But it's not to late for you kid."

"Really?" Bart remarked, doubtfully.

"Yes. I look at you, and I see every bad decision I ever made." Nick told him. "Looking at you, I remember how lousy I was before I met Carrots… and believe it or not I actually want to pay her back for that and I think that involves making sure you don't turn into me. But that's beginning to look like a lost cause because you got her captured!?"

Nick turned away with a huff while the human let his words slowly sink into his head. His expression quickly became filled with guilt and sadness when he realized the severity of the situation and how badly he had messed up by getting Judy captured. He also remembered how Judy was to him, filling him with even more guilt, his fists shook as he struggled to contain his sadness but eventually he let it go with a sigh.

"Look, I'm really sorry, is that what you wanna hear first? Or maybe even me admitting that… I'm stupid and cowardly while you were brave, smart and… an all around better guy then I am?" Bart questioned, with some reluctance.

"Well… it's a start." Nick admitted, begrudgingly.

"Good, because you were right… I was stupid and a coward… I got Judy caught and… well she's been nothing but nice to me ever since we met and I… heh, I guess I took it for granted…" Bart said, shamefully.

"Ya think?" Nick remarked, flatly and annoyed.

"But I want to make it right! Really, Nick. I didn't mean for this to happen…" Bart insisted.

"Neither of us did." Nick stated.

"Listen dude, we can't change the past, I mean no one can…" Bart reasoned. "But we can change the future, and Judy might not have a future if we just continue sitting here."

"That's true…" Nick muttered, slowly.

"Look Nick, we both know we don't like each other and we also know we'd probably try to kill the other in their sleep…" Bart said. "And by the way, that thought did cross my mind…"

"Is that right?" Nick remarked, deadpan as he raised a brow.

"But I decided against, since I don't like tight spaces." The human added.

"Good to know." The fox said, sarcastically.

"My point is…" Bart resumed speaking, sounding annoyed at first. "That if we're gonna rescue Judy, we have to work together. Now usually I'd avoid situations like this since I prefer doing thing on my own but in this case I have to make an exception. Are we agreed?"

The fox turned and began to think hard about it, then he noticed something that caught his eye; Judy's carrot pen, the one she used to blackmail him two years ago and let him keep for over a week, he guessed that she dropped it during the commotion and as he picked it up he gazed at sadly as he remembered her. The former con artist glanced at the kid, scanned him up and down and could tell by his face that he really was sorry and wanted to make it right.

Nick sighed, upon making up his mind. "Your right, and we'd better hurry, I mean who knows what those guys could be doing to her!? She could be… alive or dead or…"

The human put a hand on his shoulder to console him before he could say any more, his usual slick and calm façade was beginning to crack and Bart could see it.

"Relax, we're getting back, ok?" Bart assured him. "I promise."

Nick sighed as he calmed down. "Ok… any ideas?"

"Well… they've already said where they are, so that saves us the trouble of finding them." Bart noted.

"Yeah, but only because they want me to bring you to give to them and they're using Judy as a bargaining chip." Nick reminded.

"Right. So… I say we give 'em what they want." Bart declared.

"What!? You want me to give you up to them?" Nick asked in surprise.

"Heck no! But if they see you with me they'll think your giving me up, but once we're inside their supposed secret base…" Bart began.

"We'll use it as a chance to rescue Carrots." The former con artist finished. "Good idea, kid."

"Hey, I'm full of them." The human shrugged, proudly before Nick gave him a flat look and a raised brow. "Most of the time…"

"Right…" Nick sighed.

"So, how are we getting there?" Bart asked. "We got no car."

"Relax, I know a guy." Nick smiled.

Some time later, after Nick called a friend of his, the two of them were right where Pigg and Pierce told them to meet them at; the old town park, only by the time they got their Bart looked like he had just gotten off the Space Mountain ride while Nick casually followed him.

Bart continued to pant heavily as he walked ahead. "That ride was terrible! Where'd your buddy Flash learn to drive, Wilde!?" he questioned.

Nick followed him close by. "What? It's not my fault he likes to go fast."

"Well… last time I checked; sloths were slow." Bart pointed out, with an edge. "But he was driving so fast I lost my lunch… twice!"

"Hey, you got most of it out the window… and onto a poor armadillo…" Nick noted, slowly. "But hey, we made it."

"Great…" Bart said, sluggishly.

"Anyways…" Nick began before turning and walking back to the three toed sloth inside the red sports car, known as Flash. "Flash, Flash, hundred-yard dash! Thanks a lot for ride."

"No… problem… buddy…" Flash said, slowly.

"And now you my friend will be getting no speeding tickets for a year, guarantee." Nick told him.

"Thanks… a… lot… Nick." Flash smiled before slowly rolling up his window. "Ciao."

Once the window was all rolled up the sloth stepped on the pedal and zoomed off down the street at approximately 115 mph.

"I swear that guy does that to aggravate folks." Bart stated, sourly.

"Keep telling yourself that, champ." Nick smirked as they began to walk toward the park. "By the way, don't tell Carrots about the no parking ticket thing, won't go so well for her, you know what I mean?"

"Whatever…" Bart sighed.

"You nervous?" The fox inquired.

"Heck, no! You?" The human questioned.

"Nope."

"Aren't you ever?"

"Well… if I feel like they're getting to me, I just think of my happy place."

"Which is?"

"I'd tell you… but then you might show up, and why would I want that?"

"Har, har." Bart laughed, sarcastically. "Now… where exactly are we supposed to wait for them in the park?"

Nick then began to look around for something. "Hmm… there's got me some kind… I don't know… special thing that leads to a secret base or something…"

"Like a hidden lever or button?" Bart asked.

"Yeah, like that." Nick nodded as he kept looking.

"But it's a park." Bart pointed out.

"An old park. Place hasn't been used in years, practically condemned to become a parking lot, which we could really use by the way, so chances of some bad guy using it as a secret base isn't too far of a stretch." Nick reasoned.

"Huh, cliché much?" Bart remarked, amused.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Nick agreed as he felt around a tree and then a rock right below it. "Ok… there's gotta be some kind of lever around here or a button… we just gotta find something that looks suspicious…"

As he said all this Bart looked around as well before being distracted by a little flower on the ground. He bent down and grabbed it between two fingers but as he began pulling it out he heard a certain click that surprised him.

He and Nick then heard the sound of something mechanical and moving beneath them, the ground shook a little and suddenly the ground in front of Bart lowered itself and a stairway slowly extended out of it. They both looked down and saw that the staircase led down to a concrete floor with a metal door at the very end.

"Or… we can just go down these stairs." Nick said, slowly.

The two of them quickly proceeded downward and went to the door. Nick twisted the knob but it didn't budge, not one bit.

"Rats! Locked!" he said, annoyed. "Now how are we gonna get in?"

Bart smirked as he got an idea. "Let me try something, go back up the stairs and get out of sight, I got this," he assured him as he stepped forward, he turned to Nick, who was giving him a confused and doubtful look. "Just trust me on this, ok?"

Nick looked into his eyes and saw how serious he was before sighing. "Fine…"

Bart gave him a nod of appreciation and walked closer to the door while Nick went back up the steps. The human then stood right next to the door, extended his arm and knocked on the door and sure enough, a weasel goon opened the door to answer it. Since the door was blocking Bart from sight the weasel couldn't see him at the time.

"Yeah?" he asked before Bart promptly slammed the door shut and in his face. He then went over to the front of the door, twisted the knob and opened it right up again, just as Nick approached. They took a peek and saw no one there.

Bart gestured to the open door. "After you," he offered.

Nick then proceeded ahead with his new human partner following him close by. The two proceeded down a long metal hallway as quietly as they could, Nick kept his tranquilizer ready while Bart glanced left and right, looking for any sign of the Mouser thugs. For a long while, things were quiet, which made them even more nervous. The human quickly went ahead and looked around an upcoming corner; no one there.

"Hmm, this place certain has a 'secret base' vibe." Bart observed, smirking as he went around it alongside Nick.

"Just be quiet… this part requires stealth." Nick whispered as he crept ahead, quietly.

"Have you forgotten who your with?" Bart pointed out. "If there's say… a key card to open a door that need's snagging I'll get it for ya, honest."

Nick sighed. "Fine…" he said before Bart held out a arm, making him stop.

"And look, there's one right there, attached to that really big bear." Bart observed as he pointed to the right hallway where a large and scary looking bear wearing leather was currently standing in front of a vending machine.

The fox's face fell flat. "Oh. That figures…"

The human glanced at a door in the middle of the left hallway and then at the bear. "He probably has the key for that door, I'll get it," he said as he prepared to sneak toward him before Nick stopped him.

"Are you insane?" Nick questioned in a hushed but stressed tone.

"Sure am." Bart smirked. "Now watch and learn, fox.

Bart moved on ahead toward the bear, while Nick looked a little nervous. "I'm going to die here… I'm gonna totally die here…" he muttered to himself.

The human boy crept as quietly as he could towards the large bear guard while keeping himself low and not breathing much. Once he was behind the bear he moved his hand slowly towards the key card while Nick bit his claws rapidly with a worried look.

Bart froze though when the bear grunted and scratched himself then resumed moving his hand closer once he stopped, but he soon froze again when the bear started to turn around, forcing Bart to turn also, so that he was still behind the bear.

In one quick motion, Bart swiped the key card from the bear's belt and mimicked his movement as he turned back to his original position. The young thief then started to tip toe backwards towards Nick and finally allowed himself to breath.

"See? Told ya I'd get it." Bart smirked while handing the card to Nick.

"Ok, good. Now be careful." Nick advised as he snuck ahead down the hall and past the bear. "On the other side of that door their could be a bunch of nasty looking guys…"

"Like what? More pigs and elephant's?" Bart quipped, once they reached the door.

"I was thinking more like… lions." Nick stated, seriously.

"Lions?"

"Yes! Plus tigers and bears!"

"Oh my, scary… not."

"This is not a joke. This is serious police stuff." Nick stated, firmly before he realized what he said. "Great… now I do sound like Carrots…"

"Told ya." Bart smirked. "By the way, why don't you ever call her by her real name?"

"I do sometimes." The fox said.

"Not all the time though." The human pointed out.

Nick shrugged. "Don't know, but let's just say 'Carrots' is kind of my pet name for her, you know, sort of like a term of endearment and affection."

"Aha! So you do like her!" Bart accused, with a cheeky grin.

Nick groaned in annoyance. "No. I do not. As a friend; yes. As a girlfriend; no."

"So… she's available?" Bart inquired, suggestively.

"No… she's not!" Nick stuttered a bit. He quickly put the card in the scanner and the door opened right up for them. "Jeez kid, are you always this annoying or… did you have to practice in the mirror or something?"

Bart shrugged, nonchalantly. "I practiced in a mirror, why?"

"Never mind…" Nick sighed, rubbing in-between his eyes as they proceeded through the door and walked before suddenly Nick's ears perked up upon hearing something. "Hey! Incoming! Hide!"

He picked pressed the kid and himself up against a wall while two rhino thugs in leather began to walk past them down the other hallway. Both of them held their breath and stayed as quiet as they could as they waited for the rhino's to pass. They both sighed in relief as soon as the sound of the rhino's footsteps started to fade.

"That was close…" Nick breathed.

"Yeah… course we're probably gonna have to fight at some point." Bart pointed out as they proceeded ahead. "If they spot us, we have to make sure they don't call anyone else or we'll lose the element of surprise, savvy."

"Yeah, but until then… let's just try to avoid any physical violence at all cost, kay?" Nick offered. "Thank you.

"Well, just in case… you should probably let me handle the physical stuff, I mean… you're a slick guy when it comes to fighting… your useless." Bart told him, bluntly.

"Hey! I am not useless! I can totally handle myself in a fight." Nick said, defensively before he and Bart heard something howl at them.

"Well… here's your chance." Bart declared, looking up ahead of them.

The fox turned to what the kid was looking at and gasped softly when he saw an angry looking ram and wolf coming towards them.

"Intruders!" The wolf thug yelled.

"Get 'em!" The ram added.

"Don't worry, I got this!" Nick stated, putting up his fists and trying to look brave.

"But uh… one of those guys is a wolf, do you know what wolves do to foxes?" Bart pointed out.

"That was during the stone age, kid." Nick told him before the wolf thug growled and leaped toward them. The two of them yelped and quickly got out of the way while the wolf hit the floor face first and slid across it.

"Guess someone forgot to tell him." Bart remarked.

"And me!" The ram bellowed.

Nick turned, but before he could react the ram grabbed him, lifted him up while running and then slammed him into the ground.

"Nick!" Bart exclaimed before the wolf suddenly grabbed him by the collar and pulled him forward.

"Any last words?" he snarled.

"Yeah, take a breath mint, you need one." Bart snarked as he raised his leg and struck the wolf thug in the crotch, making him howl in pain and tip right over, freeing Bart. "And also… get those replaced."

At the same time, Nick was struggling to get the ram off of him and keep him from smacking him in the face but the more he pressed his paws into the ram the more they sank into his wool.

"Gah! It's too fluffy!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, too bad for you!" The ram sneered as he raised a hoof and prepared to strike the fox.

But before the ram could get the chance, Bart came out of nowhere and shoulder checked the big fluff ball, knocking him down. Soon after, the wolf, who had just recovered came rushing over but was knocked out as well upon getting elbowed in the face by Bart, who didn't even turn around.

The human then helped Nick back onto his feet.

"You ok?" Bart asked.

"Yeah, thanks for having my back by the way." Nick said, actually sounding grateful.

"For sure." The human nodded as they moved on ahead.

Down another hallway, a racoon was walking down while playing a video game in his paws before he was jump kicked into the wall next to him by Bart, who pinned him to it by grabbing his throat. Nick then got close to him and narrowed his eyes.

"Where's. The Bunny?" he questioned, in a low tone

"In… in… in the prison sector… two hallways to the left and the right… then left… honest!" The racoon squeaked, fearfully.

"Thanks man, now… goodnight." Bart said before he pulled him back and slammed him into the wall again, knocking him out. "Alright, now we know where Judy is."

"Yep, so far so good… though I doubt it'll last long…" Nick admitted.

"So we'd better get her and get out before these guys notice all the unconscious ones." Bart added.

"Yeah. By the way, we're probably gonna have to fight our way out, so we need to know where the exit is when that time comes…" Nick noted. "Just in case, you know?"

"Right! I'll go find us a way out, you go save your girlfriend. See you soon." Bart said with a nod as he turned and dashed away, leaving Nick flustered.

"W-What…? But she's not… she's not my girlfriend, kid!" Nick protested, flustered. The fox groaned in frustration and annoyance before turning and running in the direction of the prison sector, unknown to him a hidden camera had just popped out from a wall and zoomed in on him, it seemed to have been watching the two all this time.