Paws of the Obsessed.
"Did the package arrive undamaged?"
The shadowy figure was impatient; it was not used to losing control of a situation as routine as this. This had been meticulously planned; the snitch inside the council had given them a detailed list of every mammal that could possibly threaten the plan. But somehow the estate security had managed to respond much quicker than anticipated. The only thing that saved the plan was the speedboat leaving immediately upon the package being loaded aboard.
"Yes, Alpha Seven" responded the mammal maintaining communications. "We've received reports that the vessel delivering the package was neither detected nor traced. Should the crew receive a fiscal reward?"
"Give them the standard. And pass on my congratulations."
This was another proverbial feather in his cap... and made him look that much better among his fellow peers in the Dark Council of the Twelve.
When she awoke from whatever it was they used to put her to sleep, the first thing she noticed was the soft breeze blowing across her body. Upon further investigation she noticed it also was the minimum amount of clothing on her body; this was NOT her normal choice in clothes... or to put it more accurately, lingerie. She didn't have to wear anything specific for Nick; he apparently was happy whatever she chose to wear. She decided many months ago to reward him with something that both would enjoy: a one-piece body-hugging lace teddy in black. Sometimes she would wear it under her uniform and they would go to their new apartment during lunch break for some fun. Today obviously she couldn't wear it due to the trial.
Whatever this was, it was multi-piece and obviously meant for someone who didn't know what normal females really wanted. This... was meant for a male who wanted eye candy, not whatever was comfortable for the female. Still... she moved around the room; twisting and turning to get a feel about this outfit. It felt... feminine and yet dirty; parts of it glided gracefully across her fur, accentuating her curves in ways she never thought possible. Other parts of the outfit hugged her body in a strange but stimulating manner.
This outfit was an interesting combination of leather and lace... and she would have to get one for Nick to ogle her in. Assuming, of course, whatever she will be going through didn't mar the image of this get-up. "I could really drive Nick wild in this outfit" she murmured softly to herself. She quietly chuckled to herself; the mental image of her fox being open-eyed looking at her greatly pleased her.
She felt something... unexpected, and was none too pleased to discover she must have triggered her heat. But... this wasn't due for another week, how could she be so aroused? She did a quick assessment of her condition, well... as best she could. Dr. Otterton and Bearinton had taught her some tricks she could use to assess her condition if she thought her heat cycle might be starting earlier than normal. It wasn't fool-proof, but reasonably accurate to gauge within a couple days. According to it, she was now entering her heat cycle. But... how?
"Ah... she is awake at last." A strange male's voice said from behind her. Turning around suddenly only served to send stimulating sensations through her body... something she decided to refrain from doing, after the sensations died down.
Standing in the doorway was the male rabbit she knew all too well. The one who refused to accept No for an answer... on multiple occasions. The one who succeeded in assaulting her at the pool. Even now her body remembered the feeling of him. She used to have nightmares about it; but something about this outfit only brought her... strange stimulating feelings. On either side of him were two male panthers; bodyguards, obviously.
"Mr. Jacob Bufford Longears! So you are behind all this!" Judy had to refrain from leaping across the room to punch him; by now she had deduced whatever it was about this outfit was not normal.
"Yes... I deserve only the best Doe money can buy. But you... you would not accept your destiny. It was quite difficult, you know... to resist touching as I put that outfit on you."
Deserve the best Doe money can buy? Judy would have laughed straight in his face, except somehow deep down inside her she knew it would be a mistake. Perhaps it was something she had read while studying towards her goal of becoming a Detective... something about how this rabbit talked that gave off warning bells in her mind. She decided he was dangerous, and it would be best not to provoke him... at least not until she had more information to form a proper theory, and by extension... an escape plan.
She snapped back to reality. He had been rambling on:"... It's the chemicals impregnated in the fabric; it makes a doe... shall we say lethargic. I can't allow you to go Rambo on me, now can I? So once the appropriate time has elapsed, we'll remove that outfit... which I will enjoy very much. You'll have to take a shower... or go for a swim; either way is fine with me. Just as long as the residue is removed from your fur, then we can begin the marathon."
Marathon? That didn't sound good. She now was beginning to notice something else was occurring with her body.
"Marathon?" She asked, purposely in an inquiring tone.
"Yes, you know; a long run for a specified amount of time. I want to enjoy seeing those wonderful legs and abs working as you run. Here's something to properly motivate you." He walked over to a window and pulled back the curtains. Next he pressed a button on something in the cuff of his shirt. The device on the outside of the window folded back, exposing the view of the outside world.
A sun soaked beach full of perfectly-manicured sand and gentle waves breaking upon it. "Do as I ask and this can be yours to enjoy daily. Refuse and... well, you'll find out soon enough. Come. It's time to get that off you... unless you want to absorb more of that chemical. You'll be very sick and near motionless; which allows me to freely roam all over that wonderful toned body. Choice is yours."
He had put on gloves and was removing the outfit... slowly. The manner he was doing so made her skin crawl. Judy decided to see how much information he would divulge about what led up to the poolside assault incident. "Mr. Longears, there's something that's bothered me for a while. You must have been quite determined to get me to that swimming pool, especially after so many rejections. Why was it so important?"
"Because I want the most perfect doe available, and with my Family's wealth... I can. All I needed was a plan, and working in my own medical research clinic enabled me to get access to the records of every doe in Zootopia. Once I found you and many others... it was just a matter of planning. Amazingly the same plan worked every time: provide something for free, let the doe enjoy the free item, then lure doe to place where we meet. At this point each doe was abducted in a different manner. Public Swimming Pool #5 was supposed to be your abduction spot. I sent the free ticket which I paid the mayor's staff to give to you... inviting you and a friend to that rarely-used Public Swimming Pool #5. Then renting that limo, the one with that panther driver you like so much; having him gave the impression that nothing was wrong. Then there was the little cub; I paid him to knock on your door so I knew you were getting ready. He didn't know... but the little teddy bear he gave you had a spy camera and Wi-Fi transmitter. I saw and heard everything; too bad you already had showered and gotten dressed. Finally the door-mammal was paid very well to ensure you and your guest was allowed at the pool without harassment and as much drink and munchies you wanted. He called me when he had you two relaxing poolside. After that all I needed was to catch you at the proper place. Then as we were fulfilling our destiny... you had to break lose and prematurely end it. You were in the very early stages of your heat cycle, you know?"
Judy didn't know which was worse: his entitled attitude or his fiscal means to get whatever he wanted. She had been formulating a plan; she needed him to continue his ranting just long enough so she could identify her escape route, or at least get her out of this room so she could lead him on a wild game of hide and seek. She only hoped that the chemicals flowing through her veins wouldn't interrupt her strategic motions around corners. She also needed her mind sharp and very focused... something she hoped he didn't inject a chemical to minimize it.
"Mr. Longears... what the hell kind of chemical did you use? It can't be solely from what you put on this... corset."
"Ah... sharp mind as well. You are correct, not only did I have to knock you unconscious, but your body is quite active when stressed. Such as when you've been abducted. So I had to inject you with a mild sedative. While you were completely limp, I took the liberty of taking a few selfies of you in various poses. I really am looking forward to viewing the movies of us as we fulfill our destiny."
A cold shudder ran down Judy's back. Destiny? He couldn't mean... all of this can't possibly be leading up to...
"Yes... you are the next doe who will have the privilege of bearing me kits."
There had to be another unknown chemical he had injected into her. She was feeling quite strange; an urge to jump this male had started to burn. She searched her memory... yes, that was it. Petunia Springs. This young pregnant doe had told her what to expect... when the urge started to assert itself. Whatever this chemical was, it certainly was intended to magnify this effect.
Bonnie and Jackie were sleeping by medical-induced means. Doctor Otterton was grateful the Council made their medical facility available for his use; its staff was quite competent. Dr. Bearinton meanwhile had gathered Nick and the two fathers into a separate room, getting them to talk about what they wanted done, using his skills to keep them calm. Councilor Floyd was communicating with Chief Vaulter, getting an update.
Councilor Elizabeth was keeping the three females, whom she knew as being judges assigned to keep an eye on the Council, updated on what was going on. She allowed the snow leopard, who was the senior, to place a call to her superiors letting them know all three were ok. Judy Proudmore thanked the elder doe for keeping their position secret. She assured the doe they weren't here to influence the trial; rather to use it as an indoctrination course on exactly what and why it was necessary.
About an hour after this whole mess started, Colonel Kohle entered the room and informed everyone that the news media had been removed off the estate but allowed to keep within a specified distance from the front entrance. He was moving everyone to a more comfortable room in the VIP suite in the Guest Quarters, itself a separate building just a short distance from the Court and Trial Building. Team Bravo had set-up a small teleconference system that would allow them to talk with their family. Currently they were testing with the small electronics board; a twin to the one Officer Elliot Fanghanel had been using on the Hopps farm.
Once everyone had been moved into the VIP Suit and settled in, the colonel allowed the technician to fire up the equipment. "Ok... we are ready. Stu, John... the floor is all yours" Agent Rogers muttered, keeping her eyes on her equipment.
The large screen showed the living room of the Hopps main burrow. Several elder foxes and rabbits were sitting or standing, all facing the camera. A shiny surface just happened to show a reflection of Ralph Hopps, who was operating the camera. Elliot could be seen somewhat off to one side.
Pops-pop, as elder of the burrow, started the conference off. "Stu, John, Nick, here's what we know from the local news station. Chief Bogo was observed driving away from the estate at a higher than normal speed. He stopped at an improvised helo landing area shortly afterwards and flown back to ZPD Precinct One. Since then the local police and sheriff have been a beehive of activity. This is getting the local population worried, and you know how rabbits get when they are worried. Can you tell us anything to calm the burrow?"
"Unfortunately not." John said, glancing at Stu.
"Albert... Judy's been abducted." Stu paused long enough for the group to regain their composure. "Apparently someone used an old mechanism the council uses as control just in case someone attempts to rescue a mammal being on trial. Long story short: they succeeded in getting away." He paused again to let the group grasp what he just told them.
Nathan Keen, Jackie's father, spoke next. "How's Jackie? Is Arnold there? And perhaps I already know what Audrey's doing."
At that moment the door opened and Arnold Wilde walked in, his escort turning around and left the room. "Ah... good. Everyone's here. Audrey is madder than a wet hen; I figured it was best letting her stay at the Communication Room. At least she's among those of her own rank."
"Good to know, Arnold. That's one lose canon which is effectively corralled." John said. "Bonnie and Jackie have been sedated; Dr. Otterton wanted them to be resting. Both he and his wife are helping the normal staff here keep an eye on them."
Opal Hopps ears twitched. "Nick, how are you doing? Have you had dinner? A full belly helps calm the nerves."
Nick smiled a little bit. Of all Judy's elders, this one seemed to be on a mission; one to fatten him up. "I'm ok, grandma. Not hungry right now, worried about Judy... that's all."
"Nonsense... you get something into you, right now. Don't make me come up there!"
Everyone on both sides of the camera chuckled. "I'd do it right now, Nick. She just might crawl right through the camera." Ralph had said this obviously from behind the camera.
Marcus Wilde's zphone beeped, and after checking the message displayed he waved to everyone. "Sorry guys, Audrey's called a Department-head meeting. So I gotta go. If opsec allows, I'll pass what I can to you." He kissed his wife, Cindy, and left quickly.
Tiffany Jumper leaned forward "Is there anything we can do for Bonnie and Jackie?"
"Keeping our kits corralled is a big help, but maybe bring up a pot of vegetable stew. Oh... and one of something called Shepherd's Pie; our predator members could use something less vegetable" Stu muttered.
"That's not so" John slapped Stu. Unfortunately for him Tiffany already promised to send one of each up.
At that moment Gideon Grey poked his head into the camera frame. "Hey guys, anything I can do for you?"
"Hey Gideon, sure thing. How about 3-small pies; one of Bonnie's favorite, one of Jackie's, and one of Nick's. Then we'll take 4-normal size; you pick. Put everything on the Hopp's Farm tab." Stu said. Before Gideon could respond, Wayne Jumper handed him a fistful of bills.
Albert Hopps waved his paws. "All right, let's wrap this call up. We'll get the items we promised you up there asap. Besides that... we'll also do a little bit of investigating ourselves. I have a private investigator friend who owes me some time. Let's see if he can track down those unknown abductors. I'm sure everyone here has a trick or two up their sleeve. Anything for Judy and Nick. Bye for now." The screen went blank momentarily until a logo of the Council of Elders appeared onscreen.
The Chancellor and Matron had called an emergency meeting; all councilors who were part of the trial were required to be there. Any who were within a specified distance were required to be there. The Grand Council Hall was at near full capacity; every elder knew it must be about the recent case... the two Zootopia police officers.
"Good. Let's get started." The Matron turned on the projector and clicked on a thumbnail. A schematic of the Court of Matrons appeared. "This afternoon, the Accused, Judy Hopps, was abducted from beneath our feet. The abductors used our own system against us." A stick figure of a rabbit appeared and was shown moving down and along a tunnel. It traced the suspected path Judy went.
"We know Miss Hopps fell through the trap door in the floor, as it was designed to do. She fell into the pool below, which safely broke her fall. We suspect the net mechanism removed her and placed her into a cage; which originally was meant to contain her until the situation in courtroom was resolved. The cage and Miss Hopps are missing."
She turned off the projector. "As you all are aware, this next section of the trial does not require Miss Hopps participation. However, without her physical presence... it could be argued that the family and friends would be giving testimony while under undue stress. In our entire recorded history, only once has this council proceeded with only one of the living Accused missing. The outrage at the Guilty verdict and the ensuing riot forced our Predecessors to change how all future trials of missing mammal are done, namely to postpone until return of said mammal. Since then there have been only a pawful of trials with a missing Accused; of these only one has the mammal returned. This is the only case where the trial immediately ended; one of the Accused agreed to permanently end the relationship. The remaining four ended when the mammal was found dead."
The Chancellor stepped forward. "This trial is hereby on hold until we are informed of the condition of Miss Hopps. Should she be returned to us, we will restart only upon doctor's authorization. If the remaining Accused declares his agreement to permanently end the relationship, as per our bylaws... this trial will end immediately without prejudice towards him. Should Miss Hopps be found dead, this trial will immediately end and allow the remaining Accused to leave without prejudice towards him."
After all the councilors were excused and departed the estate to return to their burrows, three mammals entered the room. Neither the Chancellor nor the Matron was surprised. "Greetings Judge Arthur Dent! Judge Edward Matheus! Judge Arnold Ramson! To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"How goes the search for Miss Hopps?" Judge Dent asked.
"Only started. GSD, ZPD, the local police and sheriff are out looking. Many volunteers are as well, once word of Zootopia's favorite rabbit officer was abducted." The Chancellor said. "Your three mammals are doing just fine; they insisted on remaining with the families of the Accused. All are currently under guard in the VIP Suit. Currently Chief Bogo, Director Judi Dench, Colonel Kohl, and Mr. Big are there as well; the Families insisting they be allowed."
Judge Ramson snickered. "I wonder how those last four are getting along? Not exactly a group I'd expect to be in same room."
The Matron sighed. "Better than we expected. Guess they were previously together at the Hopps farm and made a pact. Either way, this council doesn't care as long as everyone behaves themselves. I assume you would like to go and see your charges?"
Judge Matheus waved her question aside. "No; Judge Proudmore informed us their cover story was still intact; she doesn't want neither family know they are being observed by judges from the new Circuit Court of Bunny Burrow. Since we are well-known, our presence would blow their cover. She says the families are content knowing that minor members from the Zootopia Justice system are observing the trial. Our prediction that this would give them a sense of fair play while giving our newest inductees indoctrination into your system... is working out better than expected."
The Chancellor grinned. "Well, let's not waste time dilly-dallying. Care to join us for a cup of evening tea?"
Judge Dent smiled. "Yes, of course. I've heard rave reviews of tea served at the estate. Always wanted to try some myself."
The next day Judy had refused to eat, but Mr. Longears had experienced this many times. That college professor... she tried. The Olympic gymnast... she tried too. The military pilot... she lasted the longest, but her constant yammering same words over as if she was a prisoner of war; he was forced to sedate her just to have peace and quiet. Miss Zootopia... she was the easiest; so overly concerned about maintaining her figure. The Playbunny 2018... she was same as Miss Zootopia; never resisted. The farmer's daughter proved to be tough, even enjoyable wresting around... but after a while he forced her to eat. The inner-city gang member bunny was next toughest to force to eat; he had to sedate her 'cause she wouldn't shut up saying something about *my boys gonna find you and end you*. Then there was that one quiet doe, the secretary; she would rarely speak but when she did it was a short phrase: "Mr. Big will find you. I pity your soul."
All the other Doe's... he had a total of 50 in all now counting Judy... would break-down somewhere between a few days to a few hours.
Jacob had Judy in full-body restraint; the kind that violent prisoners were forced to wear as they were walked from the prison van to courtroom and back. Judy was now in Detective mode; she had been doing the online classes for a few months now, soon she would meet the minimum academic requirements before the mammals in that department would even start thinking about her.
The Buck was giving her the grand tour of what he said could be hers if she signed papers and swore an oath. Judy knew mammals like this rarely kept their part of the written agreement; but you were expected to uphold your end. She was getting annoyed by his voice; however the impressive amount of ancient artifacts caused her to listen as he told stories about them. These were his family's belongings. While most served as advisors to whatever rich or powerful mammal could afford their services, including the Council of Elders, a select few went into other professions. This ring he was showing her now; it was an assassin's ring. She definitely wanted to learn more about it.
But he moved on to the outside, and both were loaded onto a carriage. It was strange seeing a horse pulling it; but she remembered that only those mammals who were very low in IQ were reduced to menial jobs like this. This one seemed very happy with his feed bag full of oats. She felt quite sorry and empathetic towards this lost soul. The slow plodding movement of the carriage was reminiscent of a similar carriage ride Nick once took her on, except the horse pulling that one also gave a running story on the various placed they passed. The wolf who was his partner merely collected the money and kept the customers calm.
After a ride of an hour they arrived at a very secluded part of this estate. She could only guess this was the reason for this trip... and considering the grandiose story Mr. Longears was telling, it wouldn't be that far to guess his family spent quite a bit of money buying this land many centuries ago.
"Ah, we're here at last" Jacob said. He assisted her down off the carriage and in through a door that a groundskeeper just opened. He was a middle age buck, and from the looks he was giving Judy... he definitely knew what was inside. She was led through several rooms and down a few hallways, descending into what she knew was a burrow, albeit one whose layout she wasn't familiar with.
They finally stopped at a heavily fortified door. Judy knew this wasn't from the original construction; it was clearly quite modern in material and fabrication, and complete with an electronic access system. His two guards stood nearby as Jacob placed his paw on a lighted pad and his left eye looking into an optical retinal scanner. His other paw was placed in what Judy could only guess was an experimental bio-scanner. After standing still for what seemed like forever, but actually was a minute... the door clicked open.
"It doesn't give any warning; either you match with 99% accuracy the files stored in the memory banks, or you don't. Those that don't are killed instantly."
"Why are you telling me this?" Judy asked.
"Because my dear... like the others, you will find a way out of your restraints. I simply decided long ago not to fight it. It's much more fun watching so-called professional rescuers attempt to break it. You does' are all the same; call for help and I let you see them arrive. You get to watch them die, and I get to see your spirits get crushed. After a while, you succumb to my inevitable plan."
"I'm much more resourceful than your average doe" Judy snarled.
"I'm counting on it. This used to be a prototype burrow; as you most likely surmised by now, it is centuries old. It was to be the long-term shelter for the city's government should our most deadly enemy attack. Back then it was an almost decade cycle; every ten year the hordes would wash over this area and raze it to the ground. Only the Council of Elders Estate appeared immune; probably because it has a choke point leading up to it. Anyway... my ancestors got a copy of the blueprints and specs; and after making some modifications they built this place. Walls move, corridors suddenly change directions, floors drop... all to confuse intruders. We didn't merely kill them all; we captured their females and let the males die in all manner of different ways. I'm certain you will discover them... and I'll enjoy watching you as you do so."
"City? Hordes?" Judy asked.
Mr. Longears sighed. "Oh that's right... schools outside the Outback Isles don't bother teaching the old history anymore. Now that the great city of Zootopia has the strength to repel the hordes from Svalbear and Lupusdon, the need for the average citizen to practice basic survival skills is practically non-existent. This might explain why they no longer teach about the original purpose of this island. Well... that's to my benefit."
Judy wanted to wipe that smug look off his face; but when he escorted her into the now opened room... her heart nearly stopped.
They were standing on a platform which obviously was suspended about 15-feet above the floor below. As she surveyed the dozens of rooms with only the ceiling open but obviously covered by a barrier, it became obvious what this was. A nursery.
Judy walked along the entire length of the platform; she looked down into each room, seeing each occupant in various stages of raising kits, or pregnancy, or between litters. As she surveyed the rooms, one thing started to bother her; where were the toddlers? With this many females, there had to be quite a few kits old enough to be romping around and making noises. But in here the only kits making any sound where the ones obviously less than a month old. Judy was getting a very bad feeling.
One of the does' spotted her. "Run! Save yourself! Don't let him... *Uhg*" She collapsed onto the floor, convulsing. Judy saw something that appeared to be a collar; she also saw the smug look on his face from the corner of her eye.
"Like your new home? I have only one rule, and if you break it... you will be placed in one of those cubicles. In there you only hear your fellow does'; never see them. My rule is simple: do EXACTLY what I tell you, when I tell you. Obey it and you are allowed to live outside this room. Do I make myself clear?"
Judy turned and looked directly into his eyes; feigning a neutral tone: "Why all this?"
"I suppose hiding my Family's secret no longer matters." The buck seemed uneasy with his next words. "Our males suffer from an unknown condition... no one knows why we have problems. To bear kits, we have to eat an herbal remedy or take medication. It is embarrassing, really; and being mocked by many does', well, there are ways to get even with them, have them come crawling to me to beg for relief..." This must have jogged a memory, because he trailed off talking and seemed to be enjoying a particularly pleasant one... at least to himself.
"Where was I? Oh yes... we've tried many other remedies. Even medical science hasn't figured the mystery. Ah... but I'm boring you with my family history. I really thought you needed to know; since our kits should be informed of both our health and family health histories."
Judy was thinking a very mean thought, something about *Take the hint Mother Nature is telling you: it's the end of your Lineage.* But she knew the reason he wouldn't do that... this rabbit was too proud and as he already said: he had the means to fulfill his desires. This made him a dangerous foe; one she would have to be crafty and deceptive to get out of this mess. Good thing she had a fox as a partner... their relationship prepared her to be crafty.
Suddenly he was standing before her; his demeanor changed completely. "Let's test what's more important to you: your pride or these females. On you belly; on all fours. Now."
Judy stood there for a few seconds, looking down into a few of the rooms; she looked into the eyes of one of the does' who without a sound mouthed the word: help. She closed her eyes and the pledge she gave back at the Academy came back to her: "I am a police officer; pledged to defend the weak and uphold the laws I am sworn to uphold. My reward is the safety of those I protect and the praise of my fellow officers who teach and protect me as we do our duty." Reluctantly she did as the buck demanded. He reached down and pulled her muzzle to one side, looking into her eyes.
"Last time I had to nearly overdose on the herbal form of Viagra; but it was worth it. To counter the weakness that comes with uneven blood flow going throughout my body, I had to take a strong stimulant pill. It worked just long enough for me to make my deposit but not long enough for me to grab my Taser and immobilize you before its effect wore off... and you overpowered me. Too bad my seed didn't plant itself. But you are here now and we have all the time in the world."
Judy was doing her best to hide her disgust towards this rabbit; everything about him was enough to make her skin crawl. At this moment she would have greatly preferred Jonny; her classmate with buckteeth and coke-bottle glasses with the grace of a crippled gazelle. Strangely enough, he was now working at ZASA and quite happy; he sometimes sent Judy a postcard thanking her for not being mean to him and always encouraging him to try to make the world a better place. She smiled at this memory, but she knew if this was what it took to keep herself free... then she would be in the best position to help these poor captives. Their lives now rested on her; she had to subjugate herself in order to help the helpless.
This was one of the lessons forcibly drilled into her at Camp Billy. Female officers had certain advantages in a hostage situation, as male officers had advantages in many other situations. She needed to buy time; time for her rescuers to find her and therefore find these captives. She wasn't sure who would get here first; each had their own methods and tactics.
"Please don't fight; just get here" she whispered to herself.
Mayor Lionheart was nearly at his wits' end. Instead of coming together and using their various abilities towards a common goal, each group was acting like cubs. ZPD blamed the Estate security for not having all corridors actively watched. Estate security blamed GSD for not getting the computer systems fixed so the cameras in the tunnel Judy was taken through could be operational. GSD blamed ZPD for interfering with Estate security during the mad hunt for Judy. Apparently nobody blamed Mr. Big's crew... probably because they only knew of the four polar bears that seemed to stay reasonably close to him.
"FOCUS!" The lion roared.
The Artic Shrew merely raised his eyebrow, as if to silently say *You talk'n to me?* The Cape Buffalo was incredulous. The Middle-age rabbit simply looked at the lion as if he didn't matter. And the old Scottish Terrier simply waved the lion off.
A Segway entered the room followed by the Chancellor and Matron. "I see the impromptu security meeting is going well." Director Judi Dench stopped beside her right-paw mammal.
Chancellor Marcus Fleetfoot chuckled. "Looks like maybe we should have given a little more guidance."
Matron Miriam Cloverson tapped her foot. "Gentlemammals, may I state the obvious? Miss Hopps survival depends on us working TOGETHER!"
Colonel Kohle cleared his throat. "They knew exactly when to strike. We had just informed the communication center that the security cameras and system was taken off-line for replacing several parts. Obviously they waited until we had removed them and then they struck. By the time we put these items back in and booted-up... they were gone. We do however know which direction they went by the bow waves left behind; they used a speedboat."
"Did you once tell us that you would place a guard with a radio just in case something like this happened?" the Matron asked.
"We did. Guard Robert Hopson was assigned. We had issued him a new radio recently." Chief Vaulter replied.
Mr. Big kept his reaction muffled, but this news didn't make him comfortable. He motioned for his bodyguard and best friend Koslov to bend down for a private conversation. "Pass the word for this Hopson to be identified. If it was him down there, that means he has been double-crossing us."
"Consider him fish food, Boss."
Colonel Kohle had been listening in to this conversation. So a guard had been on their payroll. This was information that could be useful down the road. But right now he needed to focus on the task to find the ZPD officer.
Chief Bogo was scratching his chin. "ZPD has helos covering the area, and the officers here with me are out assisting the Council Security in sweeping the area. Sheriff Ben Springs has his deputies combing the area, as are the local police."
Mr. Big motioned to be heard. "I have my forces investigating the area for clues. We will pass what we discover to all here. I will have what I control outside this estate looking as well."
Judy was strapped on a cold hard metal surface. She didn't need to look around; this was a medical science room. It may have once served a legitimate function for processing organic samples from any of the hospitals around Zootopia, maybe it still does... but today it obviously was reserved for a singular purpose; identifying when Judy was in full heat.
Yesterday she was forced to see where the captives were being held. She was also forced to endure him many times; she was certain this was payback for the failure at Public Swimming Pool #5. Apparently what Jacob Longears said was true; his member wouldn't naturally perform. What annoyed her most was this buck was unimaginative; he knew only one position... but he did have a keen eye for feminine lingerie. He had her change outfits many times; most she would never in a million years be caught dead in. She decided to keep her favorite style secret; least he decide to make it his sole use. This would soil it forever; and she would have to discover something else that would be Nick's playtoy. The corset she wore the first day here showed promise; so she decided to see about wearing that one again... but not here.
Meanwhile back in this medical room, Jacob Longears was pouring over the results of the latest batch of tests he ran. She now knew he was an accomplished chemist; obviously worked for Zootopia General Hospital or maybe for the Zootopia Health Commission. At least until he was charged with and sent to jail for assaulting her at Swimming Pool #5; this most likely got all his contracts terminated. There were an impressive number of medical bottles lining the counter and shelves. She wondered if Dr. Otterton had the same, or if he was more careful to keep them behind closed cupboard doors where his patients couldn't see them.
"Well... unlucky me. You are on downward end of your cycle. Oh, you are fertile at this moment; but there isn't enough time to inject the fertility drugs into your body. I want as many kits as possible, hence the injections. My family's legacy must be restored, and does' with your potential and drive must be a part of it. I must prepare the chemicals and calculate when each injection must be done."
Injection? That didn't sound good at all.
"Ummm... injection?"
"Oh... curious and smart. I appreciate that combination!" The rabbit held out his tablet. "I once was studying to become a nurse, hoping to work my way up to doctor or surgeon or maybe even a researcher. It was to find a cure for this condition affecting my Family. Well, long story short... it seems schools and companies did not seem interested in helping. I suppose this condition only affected a very limited number of mammals; specifically... my Family. Roughly fifty males at any given time. That's spread out to the whole Family Tree; the cousins out to the 8th generation. It seems that most males born never do procreate, never have kits of their own. Males born to our does' are infected with this condition as well."
"I suppose I shouldn't say they didn't try. Tests were done and they did find an anomaly, but they couldn't determine why. So they chalked it up to bad genetics and bid me farewell. I went to one specialist after another, each one finding something similar but nothing concrete. So after a while I decided with my own medical knowledge and having the most obvious tests already done, I could do no worse than getting creative and running my own tests. It also didn't help that word spread throughout the medical research community not to help the wealthy rabbit with a permanent erectile dysfunction."
"As a result, my Family has the reputation of being cursed. Can you imagine what that does to a young Longears? So our adults take extreme measures to marry-off our does'; most fail but those who do successfully get married... by time their husbands discover his sons are infected with my Family's condition it was too late. Our goals were complete: another generation in this world. Our adults carefully keep track of all males the further new blood enters the Family via marrying into other Families. As I already said, to date 8th generations removed from our original still has this condition. This is an enigma wrapped inside a puzzle. This is why I have taken it upon myself to discover a cure. Sad to say... I'm not having much luck."
"Mr. Longears..."
"Jacob. Please call by my first name."
"Ok, Jacob... why are you telling me this?"
"Because my dear, where are you going to go? Who are you going to tell? Don't you remember what I said yesterday? I have means to eliminate any rescue attempt; and I enjoy watching the focus of their efforts see them as they are killed. No my dear Judy, talking helps me stay sane. It also helps you to bond with me."
Judy was thinking something more... like bonding his head with a solid object; but something caught her attention and was giving her ideas. She was looking at his computer tablet in a manner she hoped he wasn't getting suspicious. Most of it was gibberish to her, but the picture of a litter of sickly kits clearly wasn't good. Whatever he was doing, something in her gut told her his meddling was the cause. She wondered if this was what happened to the kits, what was the effect on the mothers? She shuddered at the possibilities.
Her primary goal was to escape; her secondary goal was to release the captive does' down in that room. Her third goal almost didn't matter... she wanted this buck dead, if nothing else than to remove a malicious mammal who had the means and skills to be a serious threat to society.
But for now she had to play his game, she had to keep free so she would in position to act once her help arrived. She would have to endure his antics and try to win his confidence; she was hoping that soon he would allow her to roam certain areas. Obviously he would have her under escort, but there was that ring she wanted to see again' something about it told her it could be useful in the next few days. In the meantime she would have to endure his ridiculously small maleness. But more importantly, it meant he was content. And as long as he was satisfied, it meant the longer he would allow her to remain free and mobile. That was all she needed to search for a way to call for help.
She was snapped out of her thoughts by a sharp pain in her arm. She noticed he removed a syringe and was wiping the area with a cotton ball. "Oh don't mind me. You obviously were too occupied looking at the data on the tablet, so I took advantage and took a small blood sample. It's necessary to calculate dosage of the fertility drugs."
"I need to be doing SOMETHING!"
"Here." Chief Bogo tossed Nick a metal ball. "When you can see your reflection perfectly come back and I'll have something else for you."
"This isn't what I meant, chief."
"You can do that while using the computer provided for you by Agent Rogers. I believe she enabled it to connect to the city's traffic camera system. You should be able to review current, anytime today, and anytime within the last 30-days. Use it to search for how those mammals got here and how they eluded our searches. If you fail to bring to me a report, a verifiable report, showing what I just asked you... then I want a report on how many hippopotamus's wearing string bikinis, where they were wearing them, and what color the bikinis was. Fail to bring me either of these which I asked for... then I want your badge."
Jackie gasped. "Chief Bogo! That isn't a fireable offense! Judy needs him on the job searching for her!"
The ZPD chief merely smiled. "Then I am sure his parents will properly motivate him. Both of you have been given permission to sit next to him. It was either that or pay for satellite Tv services. If I know both of you, you'll make certain Officer Wilde is doing his job. Mr. and Mrs. Hopps may join you three if they want."
"Bonnie, you hear that? We can look over Nickolas's shoulder and search for Judy's abductors" Jackie said as she was trying to pull Bonnie out of her seat.
Bonnie's eyes were still red from crying, but she reluctantly got up and wondered to where Nick was sitting. Then she did something unexpected; she sat on the fox's lap and laid her head on his shoulder. "Her scent is still on your shirt, Nickolas" she said softly.
"Yes it is, Bonnie. Do you want my tail wrapped around you?"
"For a little bit, makes me feel connected to her somehow." Nick put his tail around her as he usually did for Judy. His parents stood on either side and did their best to comfort the grieving doe. Stu joined them and knelt down to hug his wife.
"So... who's controlling the mouse?" John asked.
Mr. Big was holding a meeting with Chief Vaulter and Agent Rogers. Koslov, Kevin and Raymond were his witnesses, and Agent Rogers was the neutral party; but as far as the chief knew she was his witness. Evidence was presented to the chief; evidence that showed a certain guard had been working not only for him, but the Dark Underground. The chief took all this in stride, considering he could have blown his stack. Maybe it was the impressive number of mammals in the room, maybe it was the gall it took to actually infiltrate the estate, or maybe it was the shear bravery for such a small mammal to come face-to-face and tell them this.
"Mr. Big" the rabbit said calmly, "Thank you for giving me this information. From what I know about your organization, which is less than I wish I should have, you do not normally let such information out. Either you must trust me, or you have already taken care of the situation already."
"Chief Vaulter, as long as you work on behalf of the Godmother, I will show you respect in return. The guard in question has not been touched. It is not my way to allow another to dispense justice when it concerns a member of my family, which Miss Hopps is a part of. Because this guard has been working for my competitor, and I know they have given him precautions against discovery... this is why I am forced to seek your help."
Chief Vaulter was visibly impressed. Crime bosses are not known to ask for help. For this one to do so, it must mean another crime boss of equal strength is involved. "Mr. Big, there is no need to use any of my underlings to get information. As of this moment, I am granting you direct access to my personal official work phone. We'll have the GSD team configure it so only your calls appear different from others. Now... let me call-in this guard."
Mr. Big had anticipated this. Agent Rogers was slipped a piece of paper asking her if she could arrange one of the estate security's cell phones to be programmed with a code that allows only specific mammals to be identified. It was suggested this could be useful for the upcoming search operations for Judy. When Chief Vaulter asked her to modify his work phone, it took her merely a few moments to make the required modifications. The chief was quite impressed; but Agent Rogers told him this was temporary, she was having the technicians fabricate new hardware that would allow programmability and better features. One of them used to work for a major computer manufacturer, Macincarrot; the other for a phone company, PB&J.
Nick was getting impatient. Sure, he knew the regulations and reasoning why partners were not allowed to be involved with searches for their partners and family members. Judy, being both at least from a dating perspective, certainly qualified as both. At this moment both his and Judy's parents were moving the screen from one camera view to another, occasionally requiring him to change the time frame. They could have easily done these themselves, but he was certain they wanted to keep him involved or at least keep him preoccupied.
It had been hours and nothing unusual seemed to appear on any security cameras throughout the city of Zootopia and its surrounding areas. Unless you count the shoe sale going on at Alberta's Ladies Apparel; this proved a brief respite to improve both mother's moral for a few minutes. It was the section showing female undergarments that got the approval of the elder bucks and tod to spend a few extra minutes watching this store. Perhaps it was this that persuaded the wives to cut short their window shopping for shoes.
Stu asked them to stop for a moment; something about that one boat was not right. It was not the normal type he knew that would go that far out on the open water; this type was usually pulling skiers or parasailers or other semi-fast paced activities for vacationers. Once Nick set the camera a few minutes earlier in time, the box on deck was a dead give-away this was Judy's abductors. But this one... it disappeared in open ocean in the direction of the Outback Isles.
These pictures were from the new series of cameras that the Zootopia Corps of Engineers installed recently. Bunny Burrow, being the home of Zootopia's favorite rabbit officer, was seen as important so the cost to install was justified. Besides, one never knew if an abduction attempt would be made. If only they knew how prophetic that would become.
Nick was able to give a report to Chief Bogo surprisingly quick; he even included in his report the number of how many hippopotamus's wearing string bikinis, where they were wearing them, and what color the bikinis was. Even the metal ball was polished perfectly, as the chief had requested.
Guard Robert Kowalski was suspicious. He was being denied permission to leave the estate, so he thanked the guards and the ZPD officers at the front gate and returned to his barracks room. He removed the special box and punched in the code; after making sure the mechanism inside was working, he pushed it down the laundry chute. Then he left his room and headed to the long-forgotten hidden door; the one carefully hidden by its creators centuries ago in the rarely used shower room. He pressed the access mechanisms in the proper sequence, and waited for the staircase to reveal itself. He headed down the stairs, knowing at a certain point the closing mechanism would activate and the room would be restored to original condition.
Once he arrived at the bottom, he opened the door to his workspace. This so happened to be the room where the crane machinery would remove all who fell into the pool, and deposit them into cages. He opened the carefully hidden panel and entered the codes. Once the countdown began, he closed the panel, then opened his desk and removed his folders containing documents that could incriminate him. He put them into the industrial shredder and once completed, the remains were placed into the incinerator and burned completely. For good measure he put water in and stirred the ashes, making sure nothing remained except a black liquid.
Once satisfied, he put on his coat and left the room. "Guard Kowalski... stay where you are." He slowly turned around, and was not surprised. Team Bravo was looking back at him, beside them was a few of his fellow guards. Before them was his cohort, Guard Robert Hopson, was in cuffs and muzzled. And most conspicuous were a couple polar bears, one which held an arctic shrew in its paw.
"Kowalski, I paid you handsomely for nothing more than to keep me apprised of those goings-on here at the estate. Unlike the Dark Underground, I don't lavish gifts and favors beyond the mammal whom services I require. Ancient writings show this only leads to greed; of which you are latest example of. I would normally handle mammals such as yourself by my own means... but you know where the Godmother has been taken. Perhaps not exact location, but certainly the name of organization. Give this to me now, and you'll be spared other punishment."
"Mr. Big, it was you who was a fool. As a member of the Dark Underground, I am under the protection of the Dark Council itself; should anything prevent me from appearing before them shortly, you will be singled out. Now, step aside good mammals. Anything that could have incriminated me has been removed."
"Like this?" Agent Walker held up a few folders; they looked remarkably like the ones he had just burned.
"Or this?" Agent Rogers held up the box, the very one he tossed down the laundry chute.
"Thank you for leading us to this ancient staircase." Agent Savage muttered. "It will now be used by restricted personnel in specific emergencies. I'm certain now that we know what such staircases look like; we'll be able to identify others. Perhaps the legends are true; this place does have secret paths and hidden rooms."
"Mr. Kowalski, as you can see, I don't have to lift a paw against you. These fine gentlemammals will do my work for me."
Suddenly the guard felt a large paw wrap around his neck; and a large fingernail between his teeth. He was effectively prevented from crushing the cyanide capsule carefully hidden in a tooth.
"Remove the suspect to the holding cell." Chief Vaulter muttered. "Inform medical we have a patient who needs a full body scan."
Keven and Raymond Coldpaw reluctantly released the rabbit into the custody of the estate security; but not before Mr. Big was satisfied it couldn't escape and a retainer placed in his mouth. The remainder of the afternoon was going through the files and other evidence, seeing just how much the rabbit had given his handler. They did discover where Judy was being taken; an obscure estate hidden on an unmarked island somewhere in the Outback Islands.
While everyone appeared to be busy and preoccupied, Agent Rogers handed Chief Vaulter and Mr. Big two cell phones. She briefly explained their functions and limitations. She stressed these were prototypes; having just recently being requested to develop. She wanted them back as soon as Judy was found; they would need to analyze and any shortcomings corrected. She would return them once she was satisfied they would work properly.
Judy was not feeling well. The chemical this idiotic rabbit was using was playing havoc with her body. If she wasn't strapped to this table, she would have had him cuffed and stuffed; assuming she could have gotten past the bodyguards. She was working on a plan for that, but at the moment she had to keep a level head. After all, there were all those does' trapped in that hell-hole called a nursery.
No matter how many times and different ways she tried to explain the chemicals he was using was adversely affecting rabbits, her words fell on deaf ears. This rabbit was convinced his manuals were correct. Manuals... she would have Zootopia Health Commission take a look at these manuals. She was starting to suspect something was wrong with them; considering how long this rabbit was using them and how many failures he was having... someone must have tampered with them. But that was a mystery best left for a later time; for now she needed to focus...
...And puke. She barely had enough slack in her restraints to move her body so the mess would mostly go over the edge of the table.
"*Sigh* Again. Always at this stage in my tests."
"Perhaps you should buy a clue; it's the chemical. Stupid rabbit."
"Now Now... what did we agree to?"
"Not killing you. I'm seriously having second thoughts about that."
"Well, it's a good thing you are in restraints. Here, let me clean that up. This is why I have that can of air freshener in here." He proceeded to clean up the mess and after a couple minutes had everything back to normal, even sprayed the air. The two guards looked like they were appreciative.
He must have been planning this next act. He dismissed the guards to stand outside the door. He went over to a drawer and brought out the biggest syringe she ever saw, not counting those used for larger mammals. As he was filling it with something, she caught a quick glimpse of the label on the bottle: PDE5-inhibitor. Before she could comprehend what it was about, he injected it into himself. The effect was almost immediate and impressive; he now appeared normal... for a rabbit. It didn't compare to Nick, which caused her to giggle.
"Oh? Oh! That's right! You have been with a fox; and since they are larger mammals than rabbits... well, let's just say no rabbit can compare. Except maybe the Thumper Family; the bucks in that family is said to be well-endowed. Even in families with a jackrabbit in the family tree doesn't compare to those bucks. Well... waste not, want not."
Judy strove to put this out of her mind. It certainly was a far cry from his previous times. But in the end, she was relieved that she was still in the safe zone. Even with the added time... her ovaries would not release in time for her to become pregnant; unless this rabbit had ulterior methods.
"Ah... I see that beautiful mind of yours is working! You must be wondering why I am doing this. Answer: I always do this before actually starting the ovary stimulation. This merely is for my physical enjoyment. I can't compete with a fox. But alas, I cannot maintain this. Too bad for you."
He stayed for a few seconds more, mostly to enjoy the warmth of her body. Then he slid off the table, clearly not quite feeling his usual energy.
*So the extra blood required for that must tax the body* Judy thought to herself. She could use this to her advantage; it gave her other options for the ring and creating her escape route.
Councilor Miriam was uneasy today. Up until Judy was abducted, she had a quiet confidence that this ZPD officer would prevail. Miriam also wanted this bunny as the newest member of the council; she was certain the potential within this young doe matched the greatest of all the Matron of Proceedings this council ever had. But it would be of no use if she couldn't be recovered.
There was a little known secret held only among the Matrons of every council worldwide. There was a selection among them to determine who would become Supreme Matron; one who would mentor all the others, be available at a moment's notice to provide guidance and counsel. This elder doe would in effect become The Matron. Therefore competition was fierce among those who wanted this position of power. In her first years as Matron, Miriam didn't care to compete. But when she saw the shear greed in those who were competing, she decided it wouldn't be in the best interest of their organization for these types to become the figurehead. Judy would go a long way towards providing her proof that she, Miriam Cloverson, was the best doe to assume the position.
Judy was walking around the archival room. It took her quite a few days to earn just enough trust from this insane rabbit to earn this walking with no restraints. Of course Mr. Longears was no fool; she was injected with a mild sedative to ensure her reaction would be greatly weakened... and she was being escorted by those two bodyguards. She knew she wasn't being granted this much freedom just out of the kindness of his heart; it was all a game of minds. She feigned submissiveness while calculating the rhythms of how his staff operated. He feigned pleasantness while observing how she was scouting out his place.
She had to admit to herself; she was starting to enjoy the challenge of the competition. Who would make the critical error first? Would it be her? Chances were high that it would be her; playing the submissive doe was not who she really was. Even with the added motivation of all those captive does, the strain was starting to show.
But he was making little mistakes as well. Her excellent hearing would occasionally pick up his murmuring something to himself; clearly he was expecting someone to show up. Maybe a rescue party out looking for her? She could only hope they brought the cavalry along with them... and the Marines. Judy had a soft spot in her heart for the few and the proud.
This got her to thinking about her one true love. "Nick, whatever you do, don't come here alone. Promise me you'll bring the entire Zootopian military with you" she muttered softly to no one in particular. She blew a kiss to someone invisible.
Her lady parts were starting to become sore. She was starting to suspect that this was why the other does' finally rebelled; certainly a few of them must have done as she did: feigned submissiveness, but they didn't have an ace up their sleeve. She was grateful that he finally brought her purse to her; it contained a slightly used tube of medicine to relieve the soreness. Thankfully it was mislabeled to conceal its true purpose; she didn't want her very young siblings nor her coworkers to know what it truly was. Her coworkers would have the stereotype of rabbits reinforced in their minds, and her siblings would ask never-ending questions. Both of which she could do without.
She found the ancient ring, the one he identified as an assassin's ring. She gave it only a cursorily glance, not wanting to alert the escorts this was something she was very interested in. She made a mental note where in this room it was, and then a short distance later she noticed some old containers in another display case. These were labeled as assassin's supplies. There was a good chance these were completely useless, but still they might give her an idea how she could use the ring.
As she walked around the room, she was getting more ideas from the old artifacts on display here and there. "Agent Savage would have a field day with this place" she thought to herself. From a reflection on the display case in front of her, she noticed her escorts had sat down and were talking to someone via their cufflinks. The item inside the display case was a mannequin with a very attractive female's garb draped on it. Putting the behavior of her escorts and the item in the display case before her, Judy made an assumption; the escorts must be thinking she was admiring the robe.
"Well, only one way to find out if they are paying attention" Judy thought.
Janice Rosenberg was barely holding her mind together. She had just lost her first litter; to a kit they suddenly died in their sleep a week ago. She wasn't certain what she did wrong; she had been working at a preschool and was taking night school classes to earn enough credits to get into medical school. She was striving to go as far as she could, but her family simply didn't have the finances to send her. It would be too easy to blame her father, but she knew it was the obsessive protection money the local crime lords enforced viciously.
At the moment she was thinking about the events that brought her here.
She had received a mysterious email inviting her to come to Zootopia Community College and apply for a scholarship. When she arrived she was met by this rabbit, the very one which brought her to this god-forsaken place. But at that time he presented himself as philanthropist; one who identifies mammals that show great potential but lack the means to afford education necessary to achieve it. She accepted his gift, and for a few months everything went fine; her grades were very high, her part-time job earning enough to live on, and bucks were paying her attention. Life was good. Then she met her hero: Officer Judy Hopps. Judy had come to the college and spoke about making the world a better place, specifically... how she was doing just that. Janice still has Judy's signature on the program card for the event.
Then the day came that she now wishes she had never picked up the phone. Mr. Longears called to meet with her; he wanted to review her grades to determine if he should go ahead and fund next semester. When she arrived, everything was going along just peachy; he liked her grades, the guidance counselor sitting next to them spoke highly of her next series of classes, the investment broker next to him assured him this young doe had all the marks of a very secure risk. He agreed to fund her next semester only on one condition; she accompany him to his estate. She agreed and as they say... the rest is history. They had dinner and the carrot wine was a bit strong; enough to put her to sleep. When she awoke, her clothes were gone and she was dressed in something belonging to harlots. Slapping that rabbit and making a mad dash out the door only ended in the paws of two strong mammals. Shortly thereafter she was brought to this... he called it a prototype burrow; all the entrapped does here called it Hell.
At this moment she was in that damn medical room; same one he had put her in shortly after she had slapped him. She remembered all those tests; the ones he did to verify her progress of her heat. Every day he brought her here, and each day was same tests. Except for that last day; the chemical he injected her with, it did something to drive her urges wild. She remembered the feeling; her mind was clouded and focused on one thing only... bucks. Only later when the chemical wore off did she regret what happened. As her pregnancy progressed, she promised herself that this would be the last she would give that rabbit. When her kits were born, she cared for them as she was taught back at the Good Meadows Daycare. She didn't understand why they were sickly, but she put extra effort into caring for them. The morning she awoke and discovered they had died in their sleep, she cried her eyes out.
It was the voice of a doe next door who eventually calmed her down; the one who through hours of talking, joined in by numerous others, that helped convince her all of this was never her fault.
When she saw her hero, Judy Hopps, appear when the door opened... all she could think of was to warn her. She didn't know if Judy understood what she was attempting to do; the shock collar had knocked her unconscious.
Janice wished she could forget the last few months, wished this was nothing more than a very bad dream; and a malicious one at that.
The door opened quicker than she ever remembered it; and when her mind finally comprehended what she saw, she screamed and beamed with delight. Her heroine, Judy Hopps, was standing before her. It took some time to convince the young doe to calm down.
"Quiet, please! You'll give my location away. I managed to ditch my escorts only a few seconds ago, they are now most likely looking for me."
"Oh, sorry. I'm Janice Rosenberg. Why are you not in the room with the rest of us?"
"I'm Judy Hopps; a ZPD officer and I have been abducted just like you. So far I have managed to convince that rabbit to keep me out of there, but it's just a matter of time before he tires and just throws me in. Meanwhile I'll do everything I can to help all of you as well as look for a reliable method to call for help. Staying out of that room greatly increases not only my own survival, but every doe in that room. Now... keep quiet and when those two doofus search this room, try not to speak."
Judy found a can of scent neutralizer and sprayed the room. She placed it where she found it, and then jumped into a cupboard. No sooner than she closed the door, the two male panther bodyguards entered the room. They were not happy when they discovered the neutralizer in the air. They paid only a cursory glance at the bunny still in restraints on the table, and then proceeded to search all the cabinets, and when they didn't find anything, they left the room. About a couple minutes later Judy opened the cabinet which was searched about a minute ago.
"These have an opening in the top. Normally cabinetmakers put a piece of drywall on the top inside; sometimes they forget to secure it. I was betting it was so this time. Now listen carefully; I will try my best to remain free for as long as I can. The longer I am free, the higher my chances to be rescued. The longer I am free, the better my chances to help all those does trapped in that room."
"Judy," Janice said softly, but with a hint of concern, "there's a radio communication not too far from here. You should use it to ask for help."
Judy shook her head. "Something about what Mr. Longears said made my ears perk up. He said he allowed any doe who escaped their bonds to use it. He said he enjoyed watching the rescuers get trapped and then let the does watch these mammals die. Something tells me that station is not what it appears to be. No... I'll find another method to seek help."
"Judy, do you have any idea why these kits die so young?"
Judy felt a pang of pain in her heart. "Your litter died not too long ago, am I correct?"
Janice could only shake her affirmative, all the while trying not to cry.
"It's the chemical he is using to induce as many eggs from your ovaries. In my training to become a Detective, I asked my medical counselor, Dr. Otterton, about this chemical. He revealed that this one has minimal effect on other mammals, but it is quite toxic to rabbits; it causes deformities to unborn kits. As you already are aware, such kits have a very limited lifespan."
The young doe was obviously trying very hard not to cry, but tears were flowing down her cheeks. Judy reached over and held the young mother; knowing if she failed to get help soon, THIS would be her fate. Judy was now more determined to succeed than she ever was. She had to remember this room was where she hid that ring; it would come quite handy when the time was right. She just needed something that affected males.
Agent Savage was casually glancing at his iMac, trying anything to keep his mind off the reality that he was on a speedboat tracking down where Officer Wilde's photos showed a similar one had traveled. Agent Walker had her doubts about the fox, but ultimately it was his call... and Savage made it clear the fox would tag along with them. She made it plain she wouldn't hesitate to wing him should he go Rambo.
The polar bear merely looked at him; amused that such an accomplished rabbit couldn't handle traveling on open water. To him, this was going back to his roots; back to the days when his ancestors did this to hunt seals and other oceanlife. He was following Mr. Big's orders; his team would contact the other crime lord's personnel, while this rabbit's team would talk with the local law enforcement. He wasn't certain if it was wise to bring that fox along; but as the Godmother's consort, he had certain privileges. Perhaps having two types of law enforcement with them could be beneficial, assuming the fox could keep a cool head.
Nick was impatient; he was barely keeping it together. It took all his craftiness to convince the Hare agent that he would be more of an asset out in the field than stuffed in a room with his grieving mother-in-law. He grinned; thinking of Bonnie Hopps as already being his relative was a soothing balm. His own mother had a great relationship with the country bunny; they enjoyed going shopping if only to look but not purchase anything. Sometimes Judy and her friends, Chloe Fanghanel, Officer Lillian Lioness, and Officer Emma Quickpaw would accompany them. Those ladies were quite the chatterbox when they got going... especially about shoes.
"Land ho!" The lookout exclaimed. Every mammal took a quick look in the direction the lookout pointed towards. Good. Pretty much where the map said it was. Agent Walker was reviewing her mission briefing the colonel gave everyone, including those polar bears and that dumb fox. He gave names of all known law enforcement agencies and personnel that GSD knew about. The rodent, called Mr. Big, gave the name of the crime boss whose territory she controlled; the Outback Isles. She? Well... it was nice that her fellow females were on top of the local power structure.
"Agent Rogers, anything?" Walker asked.
"This camera system appears to be from salvage; I found one that I've identified as being from a group Zootopia Corps of Engineers replaced last year. Thank goodness it still retains its original software configuration; hacking into its software was not a problem. I now can watch mostly where you guys go. Not every camera has remote control; I need to trace where the server farm is."
"One thing at a time. Raymond, you have that device?" Savage asked.
"You remember our code? Fail to immediately return here when it's given... your fate will be sealed."
"I'll take that as a yes" Nick said. "Lead the way, boss."
The three groups split up, each going to their assigned destination. Agent Savage was not certain it was wise to allow those two otters to go with Walker and Rogers. Walker reassured him it was best to have some of Mr. Big's crew with them just in case they ran into some of the local crime boss's mammals. Kevin and Raymond's group would talk to the local crime boss. He and Nick on the other paw would handle the local law enforcement.
The local crime boss was an arctic fox by the name of Josephine Wintersprite. It would be best if they didn't have to deal with her. Like Mr. Big, she preferred animals from icy regions as her underlings; arctic fox, arctic hares, arctic wolves, both grizzly and polar bears. Like most females who were in positions of power, she felt she had to do everything more vicious. Thankfully Mr. Big knew the one thing she coveted which usually earned someone an audience with her... before she had them beheaded: chocolate. This was why Keven was carrying a tightly sealed box, in it was a note from Mr. Big requesting assistance in locating as he put it *a member of my family*.
At dusk all groups had safely returned to the boat.
"Ok here's what I have" Agent Savage said. "Local sheriff knows nothing about our missing school teacher. He did say there have been occasional groups of mercenaries claiming to be on a rescue mission, but they never came back. He said they always headed in this direction." He pointed on a map.
"Ms. Wintersprite was not happy about her friend, Mr. Longears, being spoken of in a negative manner." Keven was holding his paw in an unusual manner. "But when we showed our proof, she agreed to help, but only if we bring her both undeniable proof and Mr. Longears himself."
"We have complete access to their video achieve." Agent Rogers said. "It took some persuasion to gain the technician's cooperation."
"What she means is she had to jump his bones." Agent Walker said with a mischievous grin.
"That's not what happened." Rogers said with a huff. "He made a proposal, I made a counter proposal. Walker here made THAT suggestion."
Walker had a smirk on her face. "He clearly was sending you some vibes. Are you sure you weren't enjoying yourself ?"
Rogers face was nearly bright as a tomato. "We got what was needed. That is all that matters."
"He should have no impediments with his job tomorrow... except maybe memories of a very pleasant afternoon." Walker said with a sly smile.
Agent Savage was going to say something but stopped when he saw the death glare Walker shot in his direction.
"While you all were getting cozy with the locals, I talked to one myself; specifically the bar owner who I just happen to know from way back." Nick said. "He congratulated me on becoming a police officer, which I had to reassure him I wasn't here to cash in his debt. Seems he is a big fan of Judy. So when I confirmed that rumors both of us were being tried by the Council of Elders, he and his crew were more than happy to help."
"When did you do this?" Savage said, now clearly interested.
"I slipped out while you were talking to the sheriff." Nick replied. "His crew maintains the electronics in this part of the Outback Isles; they were paid a few years ago to install radio towers and transmission stations. At first they thought it was primarily to support safer navigation for the fishermen and Coast Guard. Nope. But it did eventually get used for that... as a means for hiding its true purpose."
Nick took a swig of a tropical drink he was holding and nobody had noticed earlier. "They were paid for by one Mr. Jacob Bufford Longears. They soon discovered the real reason; these were to lead any mammals trying to find his estate on a long and winding pathway. As long as this crew kept the towers properly maintained, they were paid a pretty decent amount of money. If they didn't... they were fish food. Apparently the local crime boss was using these towers for her own operations. Long story short... I have the location of Mr. Longears estate."
"Why didn't you say that first?" Agent Walker asked.
"Because it blends everything you guys have said so far. Local law enforcement is clueless about the real purpose of the towers, local crime boss is protective of our bastard rabbit abductor, and we have an inside mammal who is willing to warn us should something go wrong." Nick paused. "We also have a wee little problem. These towers have anti-air and anti-ship protection. Anything not previously approved get shot out of the air or sunk. My guy can approve our travel... but for a price."
"Do I want to know what it is? Since you obviously couldn't do so by your own means?" Agent Savage said.
"$60,000... or $40,000 including the girls from Madam Marline's Professional Escorts."
Agent Walker was busting her gut laughing. "Do you guys know what Madam Marline charges for a private show? $60,000! That's only for the bare-bones crew. Double that to get the required number of females you need."
"Do I even want to know how you know this?" Nick asked.
"Undercover ops a few years back. For a price I can teach you a few things guaranteed to drive your bunny wild." Walker winked at Nick.
"No thank you. I'm quite happy with our current methods. Besides, Judy usually discovers these new things. With 275 siblings, most of who are over 16, she certainly has the intelligence gathering net."
"Enough! Let's see what Mr. Big and Colonel Kohle has to say before we proceed." Savage growled.
Director Wilde was in an unusual snippy mood today. It was made more so when she opened her office door to find Mayor Lionheart, Director Dench, Director Damyer, Judge Dent, Commander Warmpaw, Chief Bogo and his wife, and the parents of Judy and Nick.
"We heard a rumor you have been in a sour mood lately" the mayor said. "Little birdie said you've been growling at your staff."
"What are THEY doing here? Security violation!" Audrey snapped.
"Yup... stress overload" the elder beaver muttered. "Perhaps I should order bedrest?"
"You can shove that bed where..."
"MOTHER!" John and Jackie said simultaneously.
"I didn't finish it."
"Good thing, too. I would hate to take you in for assault. And misuse of furniture." Bogo said with a gleam in his eyes. His wife slapped his arm.
"I would have upheld it. Furniture has feelings, too." Judge Dent said with a grin.
"It's a figure of speech!" Audrey nearly yelled.
"I dunno. I've seen lots of things that barely register as sentient. That bed just might qualify." Commander Warmpaw said as she looked at her nails.
"Audrey," Bonnie said as she stepped forward and took the vixen's paw. "We know you love Judy as if she was your very own cub. Judy loves you, too. I think you are feeling just as anxious as the rest of us, maybe more so since your department doesn't have a direct active part in finding her. But perhaps there is a solution."
The elder fox looked quizzed at the rabbit.
Director Dench spoke up. "We've traced the speedboat to the Outback Isles. GSD sent Team Bravo and members of Mr. Big's personnel there to gather data. Nick had a source up there who gave us the location where Judy was assumedly taken."
"Why is Nick up there?" Audrey asked.
"Agent Savage made a judgement call. Questionable, but it paid off. We are currently requesting aid from the military." The mouse said.
"Is there no one that fox doesn't know?" Audrey asked semi-bewildered.
"He doesn't my unborn grandcubs" Commander Warmpaw paid.
"Good one!" Director Damyer said.
Bonnie held up her paw until everyone stopped talking. "Does your department have regular dealings in the Outback Isles?"
"Of course. Let me get one on my agents to get what information we have."
Everyone decided to talk about various things while waiting for the information to be gathered. The bed happened to come up frequently, much to Audrey's chagrin.
It took some talking, but Judy wormed her way into the good graces of that insane rabbit. Her story was simple; when she noticed that dress in the display case, she went looking for more. The guards found her trying on a couple ancient robes a few minutes after she had gone missing. Since she was already feeling groggy, it seemed ok to try on a few of these outfits. They were her size after all. She was certain he wasn't buying her story; but since the two bodyguards admitted they had not searched this room before they found her here, he only has his suspicions. She would NOT be able to use this excuse again; the game of minds between Mr. Longears and Judy continues on.
Janice was first to call Mr. Longears insane; it fit, so Judy re-labeled him as such. It was bad enough to forcibly impregnate a doe against her will; it was quite another to do so with many does', and this repeatedly. If there were any doubts about what this chemical did to rabbits, they were thoroughly vanquished after hearing these stories. She also had a newfound respect for the council; they might have a sex fetish as Nick labeled them, but they didn't force it onto others... at least not physically.
Judy had discovered a way into the burrow without being detected. Well, without being stopped; she was certain this insane rabbit already knew about this flaw. He must be allowing it as a control mechanism, a way to funnel escaping does' to a spot he wanted them to go towards. She had a recorder pen; same shape as her usual one, except this one had extended memory and longer battery life. She had recognized these were the Top of the Line model. This one she found in a box full of them, in one of the rooms Mr. Longears obviously was using as an office. Using it, she recorded the names of every doe here; as well as where and when they were abducted and approximately how many kits and litters they had since being here. It took every ounce of willpower to maintain her composure. She also was motivated by something else; document these crimes so this rabbit could properly be prosecuted and justice given to these does'. She couldn't restore time or the kits born and died... but she could see them returned to their loved ones. She discovered she liked this recorder pen so much she hid a couple more with the ring she was planning on using. She also left one, after using the built-in copy feature, with Janice so if she couldn't return, at least one of them would have evidence of these crimes.
He was now taking her with him on his daily trips into the Nursery. Every time she went in there she hoped the does' would not blow her cover. She couldn't blame them if they did; seeing a fellow doe enter and leave as she pleased certainly would grate on anyone's nerves. Thankfully they didn't.
It must be the nightly trips she made with medicine and creature comforts they asked for that must have assured their cooperation. The medicine normally was easy to hide such as: packet of Quickie-fix pain reliever, ointment for sore nipples after kits nursed, and chocolate. As any female can tell you... chocolate are both comfort food and essential for maintaining happiness. Judy had to apologize for not being able to find any sweetened chocolate, but these does' waved her concerns away.
On one of her trips back to her room, Judy found a semi-decomposed body; apparently the poor soul tried to escape when wounded, only to be trapped while hiding. This was a medic; and Judy relieved it of the medical pack. After putting as much of its contents into plastic bags, she hid it in a pool where the odor it absorbed from the decomposing body would be effectively masked. Afterwards she snuck into the medical room and searched the books on information how to neutralize dead body odor. Once she found it, she mixed the chemicals and used a towel to clean her whole body. Then she hid this bottle above the cabinet along with the other things up there.
There was two items she took back to her room: a satellite capable phone and a sealed package labeled suspect knock-out. The phone she would need time to remember the frequency she once used to contact ZPD Precinct One; the sealed package would certainly have what she needed to use on the ring.
The group meeting today in the conference room at the Zootopia Heath Commission consisted of Mayor Lionheart, Director Dench, Director Damyer, Judge Dent, Commander Warmpaw, Chief Bogo and his wife, the parents of Judy and Nick, Mr. Big... and the Chancellor and Matron with their staff.
"Here's what we have so far" Audrey said as she pointed to the map. "Locations where we think there's radio towers. Nickolas reported these were recently installed; purposes were to force rescue teams to travel around a bit therefore not knowing their final destination. He has a former associate whose team installed and maintains these towers. It was this source that gave him the location Judy is being held at. Only we have a problem; these towers are heavily protected."
"Why don't you bypass them and go straight to the site?" Queried Mr. Big.
"Because some of these towers surround the site. These towers were meant to not only lead any rescuers astray to the East; they also do so to the West. This means whatever direction we go, the anti-ship and anti-air weapons can hit us."
"How about a submarine?"
Everyone turned back to the door. Standing there was a male cheetah in a technician's uniform. He stepped into the room and looked at the map. "Hmmm... standard layout. Let's see what the *All Knowing Eye* says." He took out a thumb drive and passed it to Audrey. She pressed a few buttons and the far wall opened to reveal a large Tv screen. She inserted the drive into a laptop computer and turned it towards the technician so he could enter the appropriate commands. A few seconds later the screen lit up showing a view of the planet from space. A few keystrokes later and the view changed position and zoomed-in showing the entire Outback Isles.
"Let's see that one" Colonel Kohle said pointing to a random area. The screen zoomed-in and clearly showed a landscape. Dots peppered the area and white clouds drifted slowly by. A second later a screen on far left appeared with data scrolling upwards.
"Hmmm... standard low-cost missile systems. Easy pickings." The technician muttered. He changed from location to location; each showed the same defense system. But things changed when the towers closest to the suspected abductor's location were brought up. Clearly these were of the most recent design and built. Colonel Kohle was obviously impressed.
"Well bucks and does, let's take a look at the main base" he said. The technician entered a few more keystrokes and the view changed once more. If Audrey didn't know any better, she could have sworn she was looking at the Council of Elder's estate. A few more keystrokes and the screen changed to a red hue; a red line moved across the screen in two different directions. A few seconds later the screen returned to normal. Additional data scrolled on the screen.
"Nice beaches. A hidden underground complex... looks like a burrow. Same missile systems."
"So... a submarine can get us undetected to the complex. A commando unit can get ashore and disable enough of the missile batteries to allow rescue helos to get in. Oh... guess we should disable a few of those missile batteries along the way in. I can get a team assembled, including Team Bravo... but where do we get the submarine?"
The technician cocked his head and grinned. "We received a message from the Pentagon a short while ago. They have authorized a submarine to take our team wherever we need to go. They requested a list of targets we need suppressed soon as possible. Once all things are finalized, we need to send this to them asap, including rendezvous point. Multiple if we need."
Mayor Lionheart coughed. "Mission is a go. Director Dench, get your people and the coordinates ready soon as possible. Technician, please send this soon as possible."
The meeting adjourned and every mammal went to get their part of this mission ready. The parents of Judy and Nick walked with the Chancellor and Matron around the Flower Garden. There they shared a fruit salad and ice cold glass of herbal tea. Soon they watched the teams depart on their various assignments.
The submarine captain was going over the map with Agent Savage's team. It was going to take a bit longer to get there because he had to stop just long enough for the Special Forces teams to go ashore at each of the radio transmitter stations to plant explosives in the power generator plant. This would blind the defenders just long enough for the surface ships to come within range and destroy the missiles. An added bonus... it would prevent transmitting information about the attack back to the estate.
Time could be saved if they simply went straight to the estate and evacuated Judy and whatever mammals was thought to be in that underground anomaly thought to be a burrow. But this submarine was to assist the Special Forces as they neutralized each tower before it could continue towards the end goal. There it was to drop off the team, wait around to determine if more captives were there, and then depart on their normal patrol of the region. The surface ships following behind would conduct mop-up operations and coordinate any necessary evacuations.
"We will drop off your teams here... here... and here" the captain pointed to the spots on the map. "We'll remain here long enough to maintain radio contact until the fleet arrives. Good luck, Good hunting. Now go get ready." Team Bravo, Mr. Big's crew, and the Special Forces departed to the airlock. A light above the door would tell them when they were to depart on their part of the mission. First out would be the Special Forces, followed by Team Bravo then Mr. Big's crew.
Nick was annoyed when he was refused permission to go ashore. Agent Savage had explained a dozen times already; when the defenses were knocked out and the figurative coast is clear, only then could he leave the submarine. The only consolation he had was Mr. Big and Koslov were waiting with him. "Godmother's consort, relax. You are to remain with me when we are ashore. Don't you worry... where we go there will be plenty of action for you. Let the others ferret out the defenders. Keep your eye on the bigger picture; in this manner you will see what really needs to be done and direct our friends accordingly."
Kevin and Raymond Coldpaw had gone ahead with their group and radioed back that they were proceeding to the main complex. Sounds of gunfire and explosions were clearly heard in the background. This required Kevin to report that the Special Forces were heavily engaged but holding their own with the estate defenders. He recommended that the damn fleet hurry up and get here or everyone may be overrun.
"You see what I am looking at?"
"You mean that horse with the stupid grin plastered on its face and pulling a wagon?" Agent Savage said.
"Ummm, no... but thanks for noticing him. Look slightly to its right... see that door?" Agent Walker thought: as big as it was, how could anyone miss it?
"Oh, yes... it is hard not to miss something that big. Zac... go check it out. And no, for the second time... you can't ride the horse."
"Party pooper" came the response. "Going in."
The feline's lithe form soon moved through the doorway and disappeared inside. Short but steady reports followed. Savage was following his progress by looking at his zphone, Zac was transmitting his helmet camera via wireless. Agent Rogers had hacked into the computer system and found a port they could use which shouldn't trip any alarms... but nothing was foolproof. Zac's camera was showing many corridors and large rooms, clearly this had many levels and he was following the hallway with the least amount of dust on the floor. A few minutes later he came upon a large steel security door that obviously didn't belong with its surroundings. Not only was it a recent model, but clearly it was recently installed; certainly within the previous two months. But the main door frame clearly showed signs of modifications, hinting at the door being upgraded a few times over the years. Agent Golden moved his helmet from side to side, showing an optical scanner made obviously for a rabbit's head; and a paw scanner nearby.
"Whatever's on the other side must be valuable to go through this amount of security. What do you want to do, boss?"
"Hang tight. We all are coming to your location." A few minutes later the entire team was standing before the door. Agent Rogers had already connected her laptop to a connection port and was studying its operating system. A short while later a green light glowed above the door and it slowly opened outwards. What they found on the other side was not the riches one would expect.
The platform they were walking on stretched into the distance and was suspended approximately 15 feet above the floor. On either side of this, were many rooms; and in each room a singular rabbit. does'... from the looks of it. Some had kits they were nursing or sleeping with. Others the females showing various degrees of pregnancy, and a few others no kits at all. Agent Savage pressed his external communications button.
"Savage to Grey Duck; we found something. Sending video now."
The captain of the submarine was a harden veteran of many wars, but this was not what he expected. He quickly got on a secure satellite communications link and uploaded the video to his superiors. This simple rescue operation just turned into a humanitarian crisis.
Director Ben Damyer and Director Audrey Wilde were busy sending orders to their underlings. Neither of them anticipated this, but neither were they surprised. The computer had done an auto facial recognition of several of the does' and the positive confirmation solved many missing mammal cases. Unfortunately all females were of breeding age, all of very successful careers and some were of celebrity status or high-ranking members of Zootopian society.
GSD had quickly placed a security lockdown on all electronic communications at Zootopia General Hospital; the Zootopia Health Commission didn't require such precautions, as they were trained in Operational Security. This was news best left to the eyes and ears of those trained to handle such a crisis.
Commander Camella Warmpaw entered the room. "We are ready to send MERT soon as you give the word, Director."
Audrey and Ben simultaneously nodded their heads. "Is the first wave of Triage ready?" Ben asked.
"Yes, Director. Already loaded and aircraft prepared for immediate take-off."
"It's a go. Better run catch your plane, Commander." Audrey said as she waved the canine bye.
A few minutes later Ben and Audrey watched the secure video feed coming from the nearest military airfield as one after another C-130 took off.
"Satellite shows the estate having its own airfield, albeit just barely long enough for these planes. Thankfully there's a couple stretches of road long enough." Audrey told Ben as the last of the planes disappeared from sight.
"Good. Now shall we break the news to Bogo?" Director Damyer asked.
"We should let him know this is still in the early stages. The main complex is still being searched. My money is on Judy being somewhere inside being her typical pain-in-the-arse self."
Mr. Jacob Bufford Longears did not like what he was seeing on the security screen. This was not the usual rescue attempt his guards were used to dealing with; this was military. Judging by the small fleet which had arrived moments ago, it was a safe bet his operation was over. At least here on this island.
"Evacuate the premises. Leave the captives and proceed to your assigned transportation." He entered a command into the computer; the silent countdown started and his screen went blank.
"Time enough for me to become a daddy again. This one I will take with me." He mused to himself. He was still strangely sore from this morning's attempt with Judy. The anti-irritation cream was working just fine. By now she should have recovered from the escape attempt, and the drug he injected her with earlier should be working, and the pain-in-the-arse doe should be going wild; her willpower effectively broken. He always enjoyed these moments when he finally won the battle of wills.
"Got her!" Agent Rogers nearly screamed. "Sending her location to you now."
Agent Savage had left his team to coordinate the incoming planes with the location of these captives. One doe in particular, Janice Rosenberg, had given them a carrot recorder Judy left with her just in case she never returned. It contained the names and stories each doe spoke into it; now it had been uploaded to his superiors for proper notification of their next of kin. Now he was with Officer Wilde and Mr. Big sitting on a bench near a swimming pool. Nick had found the alcohol and was busy mixing drinks for everyone; minimal alcohol because they were still on duty.
"We have the information. Thank you. My boys are heading there now." Mr. Big cut the connection and then looked up at Nick. "I suppose there isn't any way I can convince you to stay here?"
"No sir, but if it makes you feel better, I'll go with Agent Savage and the two cuddles: Kevin and Raymond."
The bears were none too pleased at being called cuddles. THAT was something more deserving for a grizzly... as in teddy. But Mr. Big agreed and the impromptu team departed. Following the directions proved difficult, so they requested Agent Rogers to send them a schematic of the building. She sighed and complied; she even sent over a small program that showed them as a *dot* with the map moving in real-time. Soon they arrived at their destination and burst into the room.
Nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. On the bed was a pair of underwear that, when Nick smelled them, were confirmed to belong to Judy. The pheromones being given off them were affecting every male in the room, including the bears.
"Perhaps we should move on to the next room. Jack, could you take Raymond and go do a quick search of this floor? Keven and I will stay here and see if she left a clue. Besides the undies."
Jack nodded and both he and Raymond left the room. Nick put the underwear in his shirt pocket. "If there's any mammal that should have these, it should be me."
A few minutes later after coming up with nothing, Keven motioned Nick. "Someone's coming."
"Hide in the bathroom!" Nick said to the bear as he looked around for a place for himself to hide. The mammal clearly was coming closer... and was humming a love song. That gave him an idea. He pulled out the underwear and put them on... over his trousers, as time was of the essence. The quizzed look the bear gave him said it all: Nick was losing it.
"Hide! Her scent should cover mine. When he pulls the covers off me, grab him." Nick got under the covers and knelt down on his belly. Keven had the door slightly opened; ready to pounce once the mammal entered the room. This room just happened to be off on the left-paw side, and centered on the bed. Assuming the mammal paused at that spot, getting out and grabbing it should be a piece of cake. He had seen the list of rabbits that had been identified. One in particular stood out: Miss Melissa Leporidae... Mr. Big's personal secretary.
He really liked that rabbit; she always treated him very nice, and encouraged him after he was chided for an error by Mr. Big. She always strove to bring out the best in all of Mr. Big's employees, even going as far as to share with him that all of the things he was going through was to improve him as a valued member of the organization. She was a cheerleader, mentor, and personal trainer all in one rabbit. For her to be here suffering, he would be her agent of vengeance.
During the night Judy found a suitable compound to coat the ring; a normally-used sedative. It was readily available, so she used it. The compound she found in the dead medic's bag turned out to have been damaged by gunfire; a tiny hole-prick in its container allowed the contents to leak out. She had found another ring during her nightly trips to the nursery, and now prepared to use them.
Earlier that morning when the insane rabbit attempted to impregnate her... she used both rings and jabbed his legs. He howled and then recoiled in pain. She quickly got off the bed and tripped. But he was apparently just as quick; he stabbed her with several syringes he had hidden within reach. But with her hormones going wild, the effect of these didn't register soon enough; she leaped out of the room and scampered down the hallway. Mr. Longears was in no condition to give chase, seeing how his Family Jewels were in a mild throbbing pain. So he called his bodyguards via radio and authorized her capture and put into the nursery along with the others... if she resisted.
A few minutes later he was informed that she was found unconscious on the first floor. They had picked her up and returned her back to his quarters, this time making sure the door was locked. At that moment the alarms sounded and minutes later it was confirmed their complex was under assault. Checking the mainframe computer gave him the answer: the nearest radio towers were offline due to power failure. After assessing the situation, he gave the evacuation orders and set the self-destruct feature built-in to this prototype burrow. But he himself had one last thing to do; ensure another litter of his would become a reality. This was worth being within seconds of being late for his personal VTOL jet to take off. He would take Judy along with him.
Unbeknownst to him, Agent Savage and Raymond had broken into the room and freed Judy. While attempting to remove her from the room, she was trying to be quite frisky with every male in the room. Jack noticed a cage nearby, and so Raymond put the bunny into it. Well, it was better than explaining to Nick and Mr. Big why the Godmother was making strange seductive eyes at him.
Colonel Kohl was with the Admiral responsible for coordinating the operations. Planes were arriving and offloading troops and supplies quickly as possible. When a reasonably secure and safe landing zone was established, the medivac team's plane was authorized to land. A field hospital was quickly established and doctors from all of Zootopia's hospitals, including military, were brought in.
Dr. Otterton and his wife, Dr. Rosco, Dr. Allison, Dr. Frankinmyrl, and many others. Even Dr. Bearinton was brought in with a few other psychiatrists to work with those traumatized by their ordeal. A great many nurses and orderlies were here as well, working in a beehive of activity that only those who previously been in either a wartime M*A*S*H unit or similar Triage understood what was happening. Overall, things were going quite well. Mr. Big was quite happy to be reunited with his secretary, Miss Melissa Leporidae... but equally sorry for the litter of kits she lost. She was a non-married doe; and therefore wasn't certain if any buck would want her now. Dr. Bearinton assured her that she was over-thinking things: she still had everything any Buck would want: brains, a body which had full-adult curves, a support system that included Zootopia's most prominent citizens... and his own expert care for her well-being. If what he had been told about the chemicals, she would be back to full health soon enough. He had just found out she had developed a close friendship with Judy; this was something he could use to provide proper psychological care for both of them. She knew Judy was here; just hadn't seen her since last evening. It was starting to worry her, and all the other does.
Colonel Kohle walked over and gave the Good News to Mr. Big; Judy had been found alive, somewhat neurotic... or was it erotic the radio said? Either way she was being brought here soon as possible.
Judy hugged Jack as soon as he cut her restraints. She was beyond words; probably because she was having a difficult time comprehending GSD and Mr. Big's mammals actually working together without killing each other.
At the moment she was wearing a black lace corset with garter belt and nylons... and the chemicals coursing through her bloodstream was making her feel quite unlike herself; beyond frisky, beyond what she ever felt when she and Nick were having adult relations. Her abductor had said its sole purpose was to maximize her release of eggs from her ovaries. She also knew it was to break down her final resistance to him. At the moment the chemicals was making her really feeling the need. She noticed a bear near her.
"Hey big buck; do you think you have what it takes to satisfy me? Let's find out." She leaped towards him, but he caught her in midair. Raymond was starting to show his distress at the bunny wiggling in his paws, obviously trying to get closer to him. Agent Savage pointed to the large container nearby.
Judy was annoyed. She was put back into the very cage that was used to bring her here weeks ago. "Really? You don't know what you're missing, big buck! I can still reach you through these bars."
"Go head. But all you're gonna find is females. But with someone in your heighten sexual condition, it might be worth a romp in the proverbial sack." the panther said next to her. Judy looked around. She was right; all she could see was females near to her cage.
"Judy! It's good to see you again!" Agent Rogers said as she pretended to hug the bunny through the bars. "Agent Walker is just up ahead. Time to go."
He was finally ready; and sorry he had to take such drastic measures to get his dream doe ready to copulate. He knew her heat cycle had just peaked; it was now that she was at the right time to conceive his first litter of kits... err, her first litter. He was feeling especially giddy today; as he was on every doe that he was first buck to impregnate them. It was just a certain... satisfaction knowing her first litter was yours. If females ever felt this way, he hoped these does' agreed with him.
He had to remember to pay the Dark Underground their fee for bringing the latest doe; she was the daughter of a Zootopia city councilmember. She was smart, athletic, and whose body certainly rivaled Judy Hopps. He hoped the two wouldn't fight over him... but alas, great mammals were certainly worth it.
He sighed. It was a constant nagging him; why were every kit born to him so sickly? The doctor who told him it was his generic material that was flawed, well... he was now at the bottom of the bay and resting comfortably with the fishes. The books he had in his research library reassured him he was using the non-lethal chemicals. Therefore he was certain the cause was simply stress and the poor prison food he ate; this caused by the ZPD bunny officer who wrongly accused him and thus caused the injustice that put him behind bars. She was now his... and soon would bear him many litters of strong healthy kits. His family dynasty was about to be reborn.
He entered the room and slapped the body which was covered by the silk sheet. Strange... Judy's butt felt... different. He had developed a fondness for the round yet firmness of it. It also made everything he did with her so much better, at least for him. Oh well... waste not want not. He closed his eyes, swiftly removed the silk sheet and puckered his lips... But what happened next defied his expectations. A large paw grasped his neck and squeezed just hard enough to make breathing difficult. The voice that spoke was definitely NOT feminine.
"I've a message from Mr. Big... he is not happy what you did to the godmother; or his personal secretary."
Before he could respond, the world went dark for Mr. Jacob Bufford Longears.
Agent Rogers was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Colonel... which do you want first: the good news or the bad news?"
The Colonel and the Admiral froze. "Ummm... how about the bad first?"
"Air traffic is having a tougher time than usual in operations."
Both the Colonel and Admiral breathed a sigh of relief. "And the good news?"
She put on her evil grin. "The self-destruct has been neutralized."
"Self-destruct?!" Both mammals said simultaneously.
Agent Rogers simply loved getting one-up on the old codger. He acted like the father she wish she had, and she greatly appreciated him for it. She also tended to act like a rebellious brat at times.
"This is a prototype burrow; it was built back in the days of the old Outback Isles Empire. Its purpose was to be the long-term shelter for government officials when the hordes came. Computer records show this one in particular was deemed insufficient as it was directly in the path which the hordes from Svalbear and Lupusdon used when they did their once-per-decade raids throughout the Outback Isles. I've accessed confidential files; this one was built by the Ancestors of the Longears family. While inadequate for government use, it was perfect for theirs. Modifications of the original blueprints show traps and other various devious methods were built-in to the layout, all towards a singular purpose; kill the males, capture the females. Apparently the Longears family has a history of experimentation on living mammals."
The Admiral whistled; Colonel Kohle was speechless. Agent Rogers grinned. Mr. Big, who had just been brought over shortly before the explanation, stared and simply hummed. "Impressive. They would have made excellent members of my organization."
Judy was resting somewhat comfortably in the bed in a semi-private room at Zootopia-Plainsburrow Hospital. It was the closest one to Bunny Burrow, and hence closest to the Council's Estate. She was unconscious when she was brought in, having succumbed to the chemicals injected into her body; this was a week or so ago. Today she was awake and feeling back to normal, as she had been for three days. She was waiting for something she requested to be delivered; an item she really wanted badly. She needed to reconnect with Nick; and this would also burn up the residual feelings that insane rabbit's chemicals still lingered inside her. Or was it ghost feelings? Either way, her fox had what she needed to banish them.
Once she described what Mr. Longears forced her to do, the specialists were able to figure out why he wanted each step. Basically each exercise in combination with the chemical injected at a specific time of her heat cycle... was meant to force her ovaries to release an egg immediately. The medical scientists determined that these eggs were not only semi-mature, but once fertilized, were doomed to live a shortened life once fully formed and birthed. The buck never knew he was killing his own kits!
Once she told the Zootopia Health Commission about the manuals that insane rabbit was using and how he insisted they were correct, specialists were sent to study these manuals. They were also made into electronic copies and sent to the original publisher for verification. It didn't take long before the specialists and the publisher to verify that these manuals had been tampered with; the alterations intentionally being misleading... as if someone intentionally wanted to prevent a cure for the Longears condition from being discovered.
Saddest part was the captive does'... they were forced to watch their young die in their arms within a month from birth. Like all mothers... they had nursed their young, cleaned their young, and gently wrapped them in a burial shroud made from the sheet she used to keep them warm. Some did this only once, others twice... but thankfully only very few did it three times or more.
One doe was identified as being the first to suffer this mistreatment: Jessica Lapin. Her relatives told authorities she and Jacob Longears were kithood sweethearts. But as fate would have it, she fell in love with another buck and had moved far away. Jacob was nearly inconsolable; for a while it seemed he had accepted it. When his relatives learned of his decision to search for a cure to the Family Curse, it seemed he finally had something to take his mind off his lost love. They never knew how wrong they were... and neither would Jessica until she met Jacob at a diner. She accepted a drink for old times' sake... and would wake up someplace she didn't know and wearing something she didn't own. Over the next couple years she would go through The Treatment no less than 4-times. She was holding her 6th litter when the burrow was raided by medical authorities; neither she nor her kits were responsive when gently shaken. The Coroner's Report speculated she died from a broken heart, watching her kits die from whatever had killed all the others.
Judy didn't know if there was a place in Hell for mammals who did this to their young... or on the young of others... but if there was, she desperately wanted it reserved for Mr. Jacob Bufford Longears.
Judy had been debriefed by many different federal and local law enforcement agencies. They were particularly interested in why she never tried to use the communication equipment clearly left out in the open to relay the coordinates of this ancient experimental facility. This made Judy quite upset. Did they purposely remain ignorant? Did their own investigation teams find the bodies of the deceased bucks who had tried to save their does? Surely the bodies of literally untold number of dead kits were proof of this insane rabbits' abilities?
She told them her reason why many times, in as many different ways as possible: if Mr. Jacob Bufford Longears were cleaver enough to have outsmarted professional rescue teams, and if he clearly had the fiscal means to buy the latest security devices, and if he demonstrated the skill necessary to abduct females from every strata of society without being detected... surely he was cleaver enough to have all his electronic systems monitored. Even as she suspected... each message would be relayed through the Internet before being openly broadcasted from a mobile transmitter.
No... this rabbit clearly understood tactics. There was more to his plan. The computer system running the fake radio and communication system didn't just broadcast the exact words spoken into the microphone; it's artificial intelligence sorted through what was said and composed a different message... using the same voice as the mammal spoke. The rescuers would be instructed to go to a specific coordinates. There they would be sent on a pre-determined path; between each point requiring a change of direction over an island they would experience communication blackout. Each time being reassured by the voice that this was the same route she had been taken. This was purposeful; it prevented them from calling for or receiving help. This practically guaranteed the result of every rescue mission; death of every member.
She told them the words he told her back on that day... when she was shown the secret nursery: "I'm counting on it. Like the others, you will find a way out of your restraints. You will call for help and I will let you see them arrive. You get to watch them die, and I get to see your spirit get crushed. I simply decided long ago not to fight it. It's much more fun watching so-called professional rescuers attempt to break it."
What she didn't tell them... except to Dr. Bearinton, was this: that insane rabbit purposely left a message for Nick to find. It was his ace up his sleeve; the one thing he knew that breaks a does' resistance quicker than chemicals... watching the love of her life slowly dying in front of her. Judy was very thankful that Nick never did arrive at that island. He was supposed to suffer a fate worse than the previous bucks. Apparently... he committed an offense greater than anyone else: Nick stole Judy's heart... a predator that had the complete affection of a prey. And Judy willingly gave herself wholly to him.
But Nick was on that island, as Judy would find out later... and he never did find the message intended for him. Apparently Guard Robert Hopson failed to leave the note on the bed Nick and she shared at the Council's estate. It might have to do something with his being arrested for his part in covering-up Judy's abduction. But that insane rabbit never did find out... it was a good thing Nick's presence was never known, too.
In this, Mr. Jacob Bufford Longears shared the same attitude as the Council of Elders: Love between predator and prey must never be allowed. It was shared by most of Lapin Society as well. At least... up until recent times. In Judy's experience as she moved through Zootopia and the surrounding areas was this; most rabbits who heard of the Nighthowler case knew of her romance with *the fox who helped the bunny solve it.* In their eyes they were a perfect mach... but for themselves, dating a predator simply wasn't their cup of tea.
The mammals in the higher levels of government were not happy about the outcome of this rescue mission. Some grumbled about the use of military hardware and personnel, others thought the response was not enough. Perhaps what they were most unhappy about was not recovering the architect of these abductions: Mr. Jacob Bufford Longears.
When the teams went ashore, it quickly became a madhouse. The military commander was impressed at the ingenious method the weapons systems were hidden. But the Special Forces made quick work of them with assistance from warships offshore, and similar situations were encountered as they continued their sweep around the compound and the estate.
Team Bravo was called before the Zootopia City Council to explain why and how Mr. Longears could escape their grasp. Some speculated he was purposely let go, others said it was shear incompetence. As lead agent, Jack Savage presented evidence that the aircraft carrying Mr. Longears was unexpectedly shot down by a missile battery previously thought to have been knocked out of action. Wreckage recovered from the site contained a singular badly charred body.
Only those who were there knew what happened. Mr. Bigs' mammals had a promise to keep; and Team Bravo made certain the prisoner arrived at the local crime boss's establishment; Josephine Wintersprite. The arctic fox had gone over the data recovered at the estate and Judy's recording of the entrapped does'. These convinced the vixen that Mr. Longears had not only cheated her, but violated a business principle of hers: entrapment was ok as long as it was result of a failed business agreement. Kidnapping was only short-term to acquire ransom or other valuable item. Imprisonment was to be reserved for criminals and competitors. Innocents such as these does' deserved none of these; and as a female herself, Josephine's ire was raised. She would deal with this rabbit in her own manner. It would last well over many months; she might even borrow Mr. Big's ice bucket challenge.
Josephine Wintersprite had a deep respect for Judy; any mammal who beat the odds and formed new pathways for others to follow... this mammal earned her respect. If Judy wasn't Mr. Big's godmother to his granddaughter, Josephine would have made Judy godmother to one of her own grandcubs. Little did anyone know it was because of Judy that an alliance was formed between these two crime lords!
Judy was wearing something special today... well, she will be as soon as Mr. *Hey Carrots, ready for some action?* get to her room. Mr. Big had it secretly smuggled in at her request. He could figure out any number of things that were more practical... but his daughter Fru Fru instantly understood why Judy asked for these items.
After knocking on the door and waiting until Judy asked for the guest to identify him / her / themselves, and then waiting an additional amount of time until she gave the Ok to come in... Nick finally entered the room.
"Geez Carrots" the fox muttered, "I know the doctors are having you do lots of strange exercises at odd times, then they pump you full of chemicals until your body is bloated... but why is it only me who has to wait extra-long time to come into your room today?"
"Because, dumb fox," the petite bunny replied, "Today you are getting something special." Off she threw the bedsheets; revealing her complete body. She was standing holding up two pieces of lingerie; a corset in black complete with garter belt and nylon stockings... the other was their usual: a one-piece lace teddy in black. Nick stood momentarily dumbfounded; then he remembered what the doctors had said ten or so days ago: "When the tests show no more residue of those chemicals in her system, and her blood chemistry returns to normal... then she can resume normal sex with her chosen."
"Blueberry soda?" She asked as she sat down and sipped hot chocolate from a large mug, the two items were spread across her lap. As Nick took a large swig from his glass, she smelled the singular rose in the nearby vase. Then nibbled on the flower arrangement nearby; they were her favorite, a gift from Nick's parents earlier that morning. Once she finished, or she should say what Nick would finish, what she had planned... she would have to send a thank you card. Or maybe... inform them they would be grandparents soon... if her timing was correct. She was feeling confident this trial would not be the end of her.
Judy, noticing the look of finally understanding what these pieces of lingerie was subtly telling Nick, beckoned him to join her in bed. He carefully examined both choices, and then helped her don the corset; she was surprised when he picked her up and held her tightly against him. He moved his snout all around the lingerie, or at least where he could reach. Then he put her down and removed the corset and put it back on its hanger then hung it on the coat hook on the wall. Next he dressed her in their favorite teddy and did same thing. Judy was pleasantly pleased watching and feeling her fox trying to make up his mind which one he like best. He removed the teddy and put it on its hanger and placed it next to the corset.
"I love them both, Carrots. But today it's simply you and me." He dove on top of her, she was giggling as she moved her hips, making it difficult for him. She knew he enjoyed this; and he knew she enjoyed the feeling as he would travel through her fur, giving her a sensation equally pleasing. After a while she wondered if he was purposely missing. "Nick" she looked straight into his eyes. "Are you needing instructions?"
"No my little bunny. You need variety, so I'm not doing my usual."
"Now. Or I will take matters into my own paws."
"Your wish is my command, Carrots," the fox said as he positioned himself... and was rewarded by a very satisfied groan from his bunny. She rewarded him again by pulling his head down and rubbing her chin across his forehead, thus placing her scent on him. He in turn rubbed his cheek against hers, leaving his scent on her.
"Now, my love... you are doing exactly what pleases me." She then surprised him by turning herself around and lay on top of him. Both of them knew what she wanted, and after a few minutes of enjoying each other... she re-positioned herself and sat on his lap. When his knot formed, she leaned against him and let her breath fall upon his neck. They were now in mandatory cuddle time; Nick had made certain to grab the sheets before she sat on his lap, now they both were snugly wrapped as if sharing a single cocoon.
"Judy... that rabbit must have put you through hell" Nick said. "Sorry I wasn't there to do something about it."
"My love... you would have died. I saw what he did to a few bucks who had tried to rescue their chosen doe: he didn't kill them outright... he tortured them, maimed them, and barely fed them while watching their bodies slowly wither away. He forced them to watch their doe carry his kits, forced them to watch her birth them, care and feed them. And when the kits died because of that damn chemical... he forced them to listen to their cries of anguish. Those bucks who were unlucky enough to still be alive... he forced them to watch the whole thing over again."
Nick was nearly speechless. He opted to check his member; and smiled as Judy leaned back just a bit so she could see what he saw. "We look good; your red-cream fur is mixed well with my grey-white fur."
"Oh, yeah... right. I thought you were going to say something about me stabbing your belly" the fox said.
Judy stuck her tongue out at him. "Dumb fox. This is the kind of stabbing I only want from you." Her face turned sad and a bit sorrowful. "Nick... that insane rabbit... he only used the traditional position. I'm glad you always do this position first thing; you don't know how it makes me feel loved as I get to stare into your eyes. But I could do without your pretending to be a galloping horse."
"But Carrots," the fox said as he gently cradled his bunny as he leaned back, letting her lay against his belly, "how else am I to determine if my knot has expired?"
"Dumb fox," the now annoyed bunny muttered, "I will tell you when it has." She looked up into his eyes. "Or maybe I'll wait until I'm satisfied."
Nick feigned surprise. "Oh yeah... this petite, cute, little bunny in the prime of life and at full arousal... gonna let me know when she is satisfied."
Judy winked. "I didn't say when I would be... I said I'll let you know. By the way... that blue berry drink you just gulped down? It wasn't a Blue Berry in your blue berry soda... it's a male enhancer."
Nick looked a bit confused, then horrified. "Yup Nickie," Judy purred into his ear, "You are going to be long and strong for quite a while. I deserve this after going through hell."
Nurse Otterton had just finished putting an IV in Nick's arm; she was now assisting her husband in applying medication to the young couple's private areas. "Judy, now be honest with me; who brought in that illegal enjoyment soda you gave your sweetheart? You know he's gonna be out like a light for the next couple days?"
Judy refused to answer, as she had when Dr, Otterton asked, and Dr. Bearinton asked, and Nick's parents and Chief Bogo... she lost count who all asked her. At the moment her only concern in this world was being completely satisfied. "Nurse Otterton... just leave that on the table; I'll make sure Nick gets it applied regularly." She winked at her favorite nurse.
Petunia Springs coughed... and then entered the room. "Miss Hopps, glad to see you back among us mortals. Oh... that's a lovely teddy. Goes well with your fur. Nick damage it any?"
Judy snuggled closer to her fox. "Nope. But seems I damaged him a little." Both rabbits giggled.
Dr. Bearinton sighed. "I told someone they should have allowed this bunny juuuuust a little bit of nookie every now and then. But did they listen? Noooo! Now we gotta wait a whole week before they can restart the trial."
Petunia coughed. "Maybe. But I think it's a safe bet we'll be seeing these two love birds quite often."
The bear looked at the pregnant rabbit. "Know something we don't?"
Petunia looked at the bear and smiled. "Just a hunch. This rabbit is so lucky, I doubt the executioner's axe would slice through." She pointed to a couple lines on a report she was holding up. "I asked MERT to do a chemical analysis on her bloodwork. They told me there were so many different chemicals in her bloodstream; it was a miracle she survived. Only thing that makes sense is some must have neutralized each other. Either the crazed rabbit got his chemicals mixed up and he started giving her the wrong one... or someone had switched syringes. Great Mother Nature must have plans for this bunny."
Dr. Otterton and his wife held up the report for everyone to read. His wife gave a low whistle and then went over and hugged Judy. "Death spared you. There was a lethal dose in one of the shots he gave you. What did you do to piss him off ?"
Judy shrugged. "He got what he wanted... is it my fault his family jewels wouldn't function?" She was twirling something on her finger.
Nurse Otteron grabbed her paw and closely inspected the item on her finger. She gasped, handed the item to her husband who, after inspecting it himself... called for a technician to get the item. "Miss Hopps, this is an injection unit; assassins used these back when our civilization was still in its infancy. I bet once the residue is tested, we'll discover the chemical is a male suppressant. You wouldn't have positioned your knuckled in such a manner that this item made contact with Mr. Longears private parts?"
Judy didn't say a word, but merely smiled. She went back to cuddling in her fox's arms. She was patting her pocket; the one containing the other ring.
Dr. Otterton was grinning as he walked into the hospital room days later. "Judy, I've a surprise for you."
There just happen to be visitors in the room this afternoon. Nick, his parents, Judy's parents, a few of Judy's siblings, and both Councilor Jumpers. Judy was snuggled up as close to Nick as she possibly could, seeing as he finally regained consciousness after their Gift to Nick session.
"Doctor, don't keep us in suspense" Audrey Wilde muttered as she entered the room and promptly went over to hug Judy.
"We managed to find several of Mr. Longears relatives, both male and female. Since you stated in your debriefing his claims of erectile dysfunction was his primary driving force for finding a cure... it was decided to attempt to solve this riddle before another genius in that family decided to pick up where Mr. Jacob Bufford Longears failed. The Medical Evaluation and Response Team under Director Wilde's orders took samples and also did a complete health work-up of these individuals. Thus far the deep-body scans clearly show abnormality in the blood vessels leading to and going away from the male genitalia... it does not affect the gonads. No known disease or virus have been detected, neither have any unknown such been detected. We are doing a genetic search and study of their genome; since you claim it is passed on through their females, this seems a logical pathway."
"Doctor, I hear a *But* coming." Audrey said with a wry grin.
"Yes, there is. When we exhumed a recently deceased member of their family, we found something... interesting. In the body cavity where the bladder and other male organs were, we found a mass of darkened tissue... roughly the size of a golf ball. The coroner's notes and pictures clearly show only healthy tissue was previously in this spot. So we did a series of tests. What we found was a new type of fungi; the medical scientists and botanists are arguing over wither to leave it in the body or quarantine it."
Judy's face went pale. "Ummm doc, does this mean there's a possibility of it already been spread to others via sex?"
Dr. Otterton scratched his chin. "I'd say it's a possibility, but I'm ordering you and Nick for a new round of tests... as soon as we come up with the procedures and proper method to detect this. There's something more interesting, though. Once we discovered this fungus, we went to check on the blood valve; the one which controls when the penis fills and empties as well as the overall non-sexual flow of blood. It was completely destroyed in the exhumed body... but in a living relative it was unusually large. Further tests are being scheduled on as many male relatives as we can find. It looks promising; keep your fingers crossed."
Audrey was shaking her head. "Fungus. All this time... and it turns out to be a parasitic plant."
Dr. Otterton held up a paw. "Director, we aren't sure of that. I'll agree it appears to be the most promising lead. We would not have known if we didn't exhume a body. None of our normal tests and procedures indicated anything out of normal. As per Judy testimony; we found and asked all medical personnel who examined Mr. Longears, none of their tests shown anything out of the ordinary. This is a clear case of medical science being completely wrong. And if those tampered manuals are any indication of... someone clearly wanted this Family Dynasty to end permanently."
Nick had a big fat grin upon his face and trying not to chuckle. "Herbivores... plants getting revenge. Here everyone thinks bacteria and viruses were getting revenge on carnivores and omnivores."
Judy gave him a hard slap on his arm. "Dumb fox. Don't forget; you had sex with this bunny who MAY HAVE BEEN INFECTED with this fungus."
"Ow!" Nick said as he rubbed his arm. "You hit like a doe." He quickly grabbed Judy and held her in a tight bear hug. She settled for biting his neck and pulling out a tuff of fur.
"That was for being a doofus, dumb fox." She turned back to the doctor, "Doc, could it be I was mistaken about what killed the kits? Could this fungus have played a part?"
Director Wilde eyes widen. "If that is a possibility, then the bodies of those kits could be a biohazard!" She flipped open her zphone and dialed a number. Soon as the mammal answered, she spoke an alpha-numeric sentence and waited for confirmation; when the conversation ended she closed her zphone.
"Standard biohazard procedures are in place. Everyone in this room is restricted to this building until we have confirmation this fungus is contained; or at the minimum non-contagious. This applies to that Longears Estate."
A few hours later tests were finalized and everyone who may have come in contact with the does' or their dead kits, or been close to someone who had... were tested for the fungus. It was a relief that only direct bodily fluid from the nether regions could spread the fungus. It was also discovered that the fungus grew exponentially when exposed to the chemicals that the insane rabbit used. Therefore Judy was right about him killing his own kits; but wrong in how he unwittingly did it.
"It doesn't make any sense" Judy was still trying to understand. "Fungus should grow well in any warm moist place, especially a does'... errr, nether region. But inside a buck? There isn't a dead air space."
"You're wrong, Judy." Dr. Rosco put an X-ray of a males' anatomy up on the lighted stand. "See this? From this point to the tip of the penis is dead air space; certainly not as voluminous as a womb, but dead air nonetheless. The valve controlling blood flow is practically on the other side of this wall; all that is needed is a microscopic tear... and the fungus can pass through to attach itself onto the valve. The rough movement of the penis during sex certainly would cause such a tear. We suspect that the pulsation of the blood vessels attracts the fungus, or at very least provides some surface for the fungus to attach itself onto. Blood has the necessary nutrients for the fungus to grow; however, the body's own white blood cells are constantly attacking it. Thus it can't spread; but it can grow within the tissue itself. Many of the males of the Longear Family tested positive for unusual high white blood cell count. When we x-rayed their reproductive system, it was noticed something unusual in the body cavity. We put a micro-video camera inside and discovered something interesting: every one of them had blood seeping out through the walls of their penis. This certainly explains why they have flaccid boners. We removed some of the semi-coagulated blood and ran tests; they tested positive for the fungus."
"Ok, that explains the problems with the males' erection dysfunction. But why can't they squirt?" Judy asked.
Dr. Otterton spoke up. "We discovered the fungus had grown partially up the Vas Deferens. When we surgically collected semen samples, we noticed the fungus growing in the organ which collects the sperm cells. We did test and confirmed our suspicion. When the males finally do squirt, out comes semen and fungus mixture. This infects not only the doe, but any eggs that will become fertilized. Sorry for the gross mental image, Judy."
Judy was not only feeling grossed-out, but she had fallen to the floor and curled up into a ball. She puked her lunch, and now maybe breakfast wanted join lunch on the floor. Her mind was going into overtime; every time she closed her eyes, she saw a stream of green fluid coming out. She was brought back to reality when Nurse Otteron slapped her face a few times.
Judy blinked a few times, and then realized what the nurse did.
"Sorry, Judy. It was for your own good."
"Thank you, Clare. Apology not necessary."
Dr. Rosco handed Judy a large pink-ish pill. "Here. Take it with a full glass of water about one hour from now. But for now you drink this."
Judy recognized the thick pink liquid. "Pepto Bismul. Very funny, doctor."
"You are still feeling queasy; that pill is a very expensive drug. A prototype, actually." Dr. Rosco told the bunny. "It has demonstrated effectiveness in a laboratory, and in a couple of the doe from that nursery you saved."
At that moment the door opened, and a couple does' in wheelchairs were brought into the room. Janice Rosenberg and Melissa Leporidae were very happy to be with Judy once again. "Our heroine! It's good to be with you again!" They reached out and gave Judy a hug when they got close enough. Judy had by this time wiped and rinsed her mouth and drank the medicine the doctor gave her. This was not loss by the two doe and, taking a cue from the nurse to not say a thing, simply talked about something else.
"Janice, Melissa... how are you doing? Everything Ok?" Judy asked quizzed.
"Some days better than others, otherwise I'm fine." Janice wouldn't let go of Judy's paws. "I'm glad you came back to us often as you did."
"Doing great myself. Mr. Big has been incredibly supportive. By the way, godmother... we have a date with a certain little kit. Janice, you're welcome to come along." Melissa had one arm on Judy's shoulder and her head resting there as well.
"Thank you. Judy... Melissa and I asked Mr. Big for a favor. It seems that my old school wants me back, but I don't have the finances. Mr. Big has generously offered financing my continued education... but at a price: I'm to remain employed by his organization for the foreseeable future. Do you think I should accept his offer?"
Judy thought for a moment. "Perhaps. But let Melissa and me be there next time you talk with him. Maybe we can change the terms a bit."
"We can talk about that right now" a voice said from the doorway. Koslov put his boss down on the table next to Judy and the two does'. Mr. Big gave Judy the traditional kiss, and motioned for the other two to receive one as well. "Miss Janice, you misunderstood my offer. You see, the Big Family doctor, Dr. Harrinton, personal practice has reached a point he expanded his medical spaces but could use another nurse. I would like you to be it."
Janice was dumbfounded; Judy and Melissa were overjoyed, and congratulated her. "But I don't have my license."
The door opened and a middle age cougar with black fur entered the room. "My dear, I do not expect you to be proficient right away. I've read your transcripts; you were progressing nicely before... *it* happened. I have been reassured by none other than Dr. Bearinton himself that your psychological health will be in good paws. You three ladies," he pointed to Judy, Janice, and Melissa, "will be attending these together. Sorry Judy, but it looks like your twice monthly counseling will have to be reduced to once monthly. I'm sure that will break Officer Wilde's heart."
Judy scoffed. "Maybe I should bring him with me. Torture has more than one method." The does' all giggled at that, the males... not so much.
A soft cough was heard in the room. Everyone turned to look at Dr. Rosco. "Ladies, we wanted you to know this... the pink pill each of you were given will be taken at least twice daily. Results will be monitored daily as to the effectiveness in killing the fungus. All clothing and bedsheets will be washed in a solution specifically designed for anti-fungal effects. Please use only specified bathrooms for your defecating and showering needs. This is solely to control what surfaces any body fluids may come into contact. This is another reason why you are not allowed to go outside until you are cured."
The Chancellor and Matron were called to their office finally after several days. It had been a grueling few days; on one paw they dearly hoped the bunny would be found alive and well. But on the other paw it meant the trial would restart, possibly ending with the most likely verdict of Guilty. To be found alive only for them to kill her was almost too much for the elder rabbit to bear.
Standing outside their office were several mammals, many whom they instantly recognized; Chief Bogo, Director Dench, Colonel Kohle, Director Wilde, Mr. Big with Koslov, and their Chief of estate security Chief Vaulter. It was the small group they didn't recognize which was raising the hairs on their necks.
"Chief Vaulter, there better be a very good earth-ending reason why these mammals are here instead of waiting at the Front Gate."
"There is, Chancellor" the middle-age rabbit said. "As you can see, the group tasked with finding Miss Hopps has returned. If it were anyone other than these who asked me to bring these guests here I would have had the wait outside as per protocol. I think you will agree once you hear their story."
"Let's bring them to the Guest Conference Room. Have Cookie make up something for our guests to eat" the Matron said as she led the way.
Once everyone was in the room, Director Dench spoke up. "Chancellor, Matron... what these Good Mammals have to request is something I wholeheartedly urge you to accept. Without delay and without condition."
Mr. Big spoke next. "I concur. It was only recently that I had the pleasure of conducting negotiations with the leader of this group; we have found a common interest and have agreed to support each other by treaty. Without further delay, may I present to you... Ms. Josephine Wintersprite; Godfather of the Outback Isles Mafia."
It was confusing to hear of a female being referred to in the masculine term. Perhaps Godmother would be more accurate, but that term already was used for a different purpose.
The vixen stepped forward, and then held up a golden medallion by its ribbon. It was size of a saucer with silver and platinum used to highlight specific areas. On one side was the crest of the Council of Elders, on the other side was the crest of the Outback Isles Mafia. "Do you recognize this? It was struck Five hundred years ago; it represents the agreement our forefathers made to never attack each other and to come to each other's mutual aide. I am hereby calling-in the favor this agreement allows."
The Chancellor looked at his security chief. "I assume you looked into this claim and verified its authenticity?"
"It's genuine, Chancellor. Our copy of that medallion is somewhere in the Historical Storage facility, the technicians there already confirmed it is in their computer and hard-copy files. They are as we speak going to find it and bring it here."
The Matron shook her head. "Well... Godfather, my apologies for not being aware of our agreement. Let's sit down over there and hear what you have to say." she thought to herself *Why we didn't keep it on display in our offices is a mystery. Guess one of our former predecessors had a good reason.*
Josephine was not happy that no one in the Council was even remotely aware of this agreement. Her predecessors were honored to be associated with the powerful council of elders. In the past aid had been exchanged without question or regard to expense. What had happened a hundred years ago that silenced this council? This was the other reason she made this trip, her safety being assured by Mr. Big and these other mammals. Still, she had her own forces discretely following them.
Judy and her new friends, Janice Rosenberg and Melissa Leporidae, were out enjoying the afternoon sunshine. They could finally be out in normal places since they were now officially declared cured of that fungus infection. Nick undergoing final examination at this very moment; she had plans on exactly how they were going to spend this evening of freedom. The corset and teddy were already hung on their separate coat hooks waiting for them to enter the room.
The group had just turned around a corner of a building and nearly ran over Amy Cloverfield and Judy Proudmore. After apologizing profusely and being assured no harm was done, the three young females were invited to follow the two judicial employees to see what the hush-hush meeting was all about in the Guest Conference Room. When they got there, the guards seemed strangely alerted and talked to someone via radio.
About a minute later the Matron burst out of the room. "Judy! No time to explain... come. All of you!"
Inside the room was the usual suspects as Nick would call them; Bogo, Kohle, Dench, Mr. Big, security chief, and of course the leaders of the council. Mr. Big was seated next to a female arctic fox who was wearing an incredibly gorgeous outfit. Upon seeing Judy, Mr. Big cleared his throat and gently tapped on a crystal wine glass, letting its ringing tone silence the room.
The Matron had everyone follow her over to a spot just shy of the table. Mr. Big meanwhile had escorted the vixen around the table and facing this group.
The Matron started the introductions. "Ms. Josephine Wintersprite, may I present to you these wonderful ladies? This lady is Judy Proudmore, leader of the group we discussed a short while ago. She and this other lady, Miss Amy Cloverfield, work on behalf of the Zootopia Judicial system."
The vixen graciously greeted the two judges. "I've heard such nice things about your group. I hope nothing you do adversely affects the agreement we have with the council. My people have wondered why the council has remained quiet for so long. It is time we renewed our active participation with each other."
Judge Proudmore smiled while holding her protégée's paw, hoping the young doe would understand its silent hint to remain calm. She must have trained the young Doe well, because she expertly replied in similar fashion with a disarming smile.
Mr. Big continued the introductions. "Here we have two of the does' who were abducted by the mammal we talked about earlier. This is Miss Janice Rosenberg, she is returning to nursing school. And this is my personal secretary, Miss Melissa Leporidae."
Janice had folded her ears and spat out the words before anyone could clue her in not to say her next words. "Mammal? You dare call that glorified sea scum an intelligent being? That walking excuse for a..." She was cut off as a paw covered her mouth.
"Let her speak" the vixen commanded. "I want to know her thoughts. I want to hear first-paw what my former associate did behind my back. Others have told of his atrocities; let this one who experienced it say her words."
Janice was speechless for a moment. "Former associate? You knew what he did?"
The vixen folder her ears, but not submissively. "No. He hid these activities. Had I known or been able to detect what was going on, I would have put a stop to it long ago. I never stepped paw on that island. We never met there; he had another island equally impressive. Perhaps it was the ancient castle located there that deflected suspicion."
Another island? Colonel Kohle would have to send Team Bravo to go look for it quickly.
Janice's anger was deflated. "I'm sorry to be angry towards you. Please accept my apology."
"No apology necessary" the vixen said as she held the young doe in her paws. "Terrible thing was done to you; a mother should never lose her first litter. I promise you I will work with Mr. Big to find and end every secret project Mr. Jacob Bufford Longears has."
The Chancellor had joined them by now and made the last introduction. "And last is the mammal you traveled so far to meet. Ms. Josephine Wintersprite... I present to you Zootopia's first rabbit officer, hero of the Missing Mammals case, personification of Zootopia's motto: *any mammal can be anything*, and now hero of the Longears Abduction case. I present to you, Miss Judith Lavern Hopps."
Judy's face was growing redder as praise was heaped upon her. She held out her paw and gently grasped the other one the vixen was already holding out. "My... a hero who is modest and unassuming. I have heard many stories about you, Judith Lavern Hopps. You are quite the legend up in the Outback Isles. Come... sit with me. I want to hear more of your stories."
Judy didn't want to be taken away from her new friends, the look upon her face must have told Janice and Melissa she wanted to be with them. Melissa took the cue. "Excuse us, Ms. Josephine; would it be possible for us to join you?"
Mr. Big spoke before she had a chance. "I'll have chairs move to our table so the five of you can be with us. It would be unwise to induce stress in such survivors so soon when they are bonding like they are. Don't you agree, Ma'am?"
The vixen was clearly boxed in; she wanted time with Judy so she could offer her a position in her organization. So she settled with learning as much as she could about what these females went through.
At the end of the dinner, the vixen addressed everyone for the reason she was here.
"Council members, honored guests... Mr. Big and I have made a formal compact; in our organization it is every bit as binding as a treaty. Because of this, we have agreed to allow the architect of these abductions to be brought here to answer for these crimes. Mr. Jacob Bufford Longears shall be moved here only when I am satisfied that he will be held in a cell most appropriate for his crimes and he be served the justice he so richly deserves."
The Chancellor stood up. "We do not execute without a fair trial. Just how soon are you expecting this Justice?"
Josephine Wintersprite eyes were hardened. "I'll give you one week to make the courtroom and jury available. Fail... and I'll administer Justice as it should have been done. Giving you and your legal system," she was looking directly into Judy Proudmore's eyes, "was merely a courtesy. I recognize you, Judge Proudmore. Your reputation for fair and swift justice is legendary in the Outback Isles."
The vixen stood up, thanked her host and hostess... and then departed the room quickly. The front gate soon called, reporting that the vixen and her entourage had departed the estate.