(AN/ Hey folks it's Garouge with another chapter of star of ceartais, a big thank you to Alex B and Alana who both wrote parts of this chapter, also big shout out to the SOC development team who always help me out...)
Chapter 11- Love and Pain.
Alana Clearwater had been through an odd twenty four hours to say the least, yesterday morning she had been held at gunpoint and had all the relief centre's meds robbed, then that evening the prescription drugs were returned my an urban legend; Spitfire. Alana honestly believed that the mech was the work of some crazy conspiracy theorist's imagination but she saw the robotic vigilante with her own eyes. As she sat down in her office at the Sherwood community centre she wished that today would be relatively normal, she was about to start checking the order forms for more bottled water when a soft knocking at the door halted her "Come in." she replied.
The door opened to reveal someone she definitely did not expect, there stood Nick Wilde dressed in a gaudy red Hawaiian shirt with black pants and his aviator sunglasses on "You must be Alana." He greeted, walking in casually.
Alana immediately stood up and babbled "C-captain Wilde?" hardly believing the mammal that had inspired her so much was standing in front of her desk.
"Folks only call me that when I'm uniform, when I'm like this just call me Nick." Nick charmed taking off his aviators.
Alana walked around her desk to Nick and extended her hoof to the shorter mammal "It's so nice to meet you."
Nick shook Alana's hoof and smiled "Likewise, I just had a quick look at the relief centre, very impressive."
"Well everyone who works here was inspired by what you did the night of the wave, including me." Alana replied, hoping that she didn't sound too much like a fangirl. "It took a lot of courage to use your voice, a cowardly cop would've used a gun but not you."
"I didn't feel very brave that night," Nick confessed "to be honest I was terrified, not of the quake or anything but I had just left my daughter in the hospital fighting septicaemia, I was scared that I'd never see her again."
"You're talking about Robyn? She's a great kid, so are her friends." Alana complimented.
"Actually Robyn is the reason I came to see you today." Nick bridged.
"Oh?" Alana sounded.
"The thing is I've got a job offer, Robyn and Hannah said that you would be the perfect mammal for the role." Nick teased.
"What's the job?" Alana asked, having no clue as to what this job might be.
"Assistant mayor of Zootopia." Nick answered.
Alana's face dropped as she replied with disbelief "Say what now?"
"I'm running for mayor of Zootopia and I need a running mate, I need a community leader who takes no shit from anyone, and from what I've heard about you that's exactly what you are." Nick convinced.
"You're joking right?" Alana half laughed.
"Alana you set up a relief centre and a wave town without any government help, mammals look to you for leadership already, you stand for what you believe in and you always do what's right…I'd say that's great assistant mayor material." Nick wrangled.
"But I'm only 25, that's too young. I have zero experience in politics and the Sherwood relief centre needs me." Alana made excuses, discouraging herself.
"Think how many mammals we could help all over Zootopia not just Sherwood if we were in city hall. Listen I wasn't sure about going for this job either but my wife convinced me I could do it, she believes in me and I want to be a mammal worthy of that belief." Nick confided, leaning on Alana's desk "And who cares about your age or experience? You've got heart kid and right now that's what this city needs."
"This…this is a lot to think about, can I get back to you on it?" Alana requested, her mind muddled.
"Of course." Nick empathised, producing a business card and placing it on Alana's desk "there's my card, if you could ring me before Monday morning that would be great. Oh and please keep quiet about me running for mayor, it's not public knowledge yet."
"Sure." Alana agreed with a nod, watching Nick leave the office. Alana looked at the ZPD contact card Nick had left and sighed, this was going to be a tough choice.
That night, Alana arrived home still thinking about Nick's offer. The young doe walked into her apartment, whom she shared with her boyfriend, Baylee, a mountain lion. She set her purse and keys on the entry table and rubbed her temples as she walked down the hall into the kitchen.
There Baylee was there to greet her. "Hey babe, how was your day? Anything exciting happen?"
"Oh god, you have no idea." She said as she went up to give him a kiss, then walked into the living room and plopped on the couch. "You'll never never guess who came to visit me today."
"I'm coming to a blank here. Who was it?" Baylee responded without looking up as he finished making their dinner.
"Nick Wilde. He… offered me a job…" Alana answered.
"No way! Like as in THE Captain Wilde? What kind of job did he offer you?" This grabbed his attention.
"Well… he's running for mayor and he needs an assistant mayor. He came in today to ask me if I could run for office with him." Alana said.
This caused a reaction. Baylee started choking on his homemade minestrone soup that he was taste testing.
Alana stood up from the couch, walking towards Baylee, "Oh my god are you ok?!" Baylee through his coughs just nodded his head. "Ok, Babe just breathe through your nose." He did so and the coughing finally subsided after about a minute.
Baylee cleared his throat to talk, "Wow, sorry about that. I just was NOT expecting that, Holy crap."
"I know right?" Alana answered back as she was pouring herself and Baylee a glass of wine," I don't know what I should do Baylee. I mean… I can't run a city! I'm only 25." She said as she put her hoofs on the counter.
Baylee simply said, "You can do it."
She looked at him curiously, "What makes you say that?"
"Alana, you started your own interior design and architecture firm at 23. You ran that place better than anyone who had 10 years on you. You were so good at it"
Alana pondered this for a moment remembering how her dreams that had washed away with the tsunami, but quickly brought herself out of the state of mind. She couldn't go down that dark hole. Alana then sighed, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Baylee then continued, "And then you created a relief centre from nothing to help mammals when the city wouldn't. You helped build shelters and you make sure they have food to eat everyday. You have what it takes. You have the leadership, the experience, and the drive to help those in need."
Alana smiled and gave a light punch to her boyfriend's arm, "Stop it, you're gonna turn me soft."
Baylee laughed and continued, "I'm serious though," his blue eyes then met with her brown eyes, " Alana, I know you can do this. You'd change lives. That's something you've always been good is a once in a lifetime chance. Just take it. "
She definitely thought about this. The more she talked to Baylee, the more confident she felt. "Thank you," she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Talking to you has made me more sure about my decision. I don't know what I would do without you."
Baylee then leaned in for a kiss, "You probably die."
"Probably." She said smiling. Baylee was always the only who could bring out the sweet side of her, that most mammals could never see. "I'm going to call Nick Wilde in the morning and tell him I'm in!" Alana exclaimed.
Baylee laughed loudly while picking her up and spun her around. He stopped but didn't put her down, "You're going to be amazing."
000
It was Sunday morning and Kion had waiting outside the Priderock family home for a while, he was watching the front door from a nearby bus stop with the hood of his jacket up, his parents left the house around 10am like they did most Sundays for grocery shopping, a well of anger bubbled as he looked at his parents and their forlorn faces. With them now gone he was able to quickly head inside and grab his personal belongings before bolting out of there as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't want to risk any interaction at all with his parents so he packed with hasre. Now, with a carry case full of LPs, a suitcase and a backpack, he was walking inside the building Jasiri had told him the address of earlier. The building was made of bricks, like most buildings in the area, but this brick seemed to be cleaner, as if the building was newer, or was just better taken care of. Heading inside the main door, he came to a small room with a glass door on the other end of the room, and several metal boxes on the wall with buttons, speakers and name tags. Looking over the tags, Kion found one that said 'Jasiri Outlander' and pressed the button on the same box. After a few seconds of ringing, her enchanting voice came through "Hello?"
"Hi, it's me, Kion" the Lion replied, trying his best to sound casual despite feeling nervous.
"Ah, Kion!" She said happily "come right up"
There was a loud beep and the glass door clicked as it unlocked. Kion quickly threw it open and walked up some stairs to Jasiri's apartment. Knocking on the door, Kion couldn't help but enjoy it as the door opened and revealed Jasiri's smiling face. "Hey!" she beamed.
"Hey Jasiri" Kion gave a jittery grin.
"Welcome to casa de Jasiri" the hyena said gesturing to the surrounding room. Kion examined the area, The apartment entrance appeared to go into the living room. There was a couch in the middle of the room, and a TV on the opposite wall that the door was on. To the left of the door was a countertop, and on the other side was the kitchen. There was also 3 hallways leading out of the room in different directions.
"Let me give you the tour" Jasiri said, guiding her new roommate "This is the living room, over there is the kitchen" She gestured down one of the halls. "That's the pantry, and where the washing machine and dryer are" she then lead Kion down another hallway with a door on either side. "That's my room." she said pointing to a door on the left. Then she opened the door on the right. "And this is the bathroom."
The pair went back into the living room and then proceeded down the final hallway, which only contained one door. "And This is your room" Jasiri opened the door to reveal a room with a bed, a nightstand and another door that Kion assumed was a closet. The lion entered the room and set his bags down on the bed. It was a similar size to his room back home and all the furniture and bed linen looked brand new.
"I'll give you some time to get settled, I have to go meet with a tenant upstairs." Jasiri said, looking at her watch.
"Meet with a tenant?" Kion asked, sounding puzzled.
"Yeah, I'm the landlady of this complex." Jasiri answered, sounding a tad prideful.
"You're the landlady?" Kion said, surprised by the fact someone so young could own a single property let alone an entire building.
"Yep, but don't expect any discounts" she turned to leave the room, but stopped at the door, turned around, and gave Kion a sly look. "…yet" She let free a hyena laugh before leaving the room.
Kion couldn't describe the look she gave him, her mouth and eyes were open slightly and the look seemed to display slyness and cunning. Kion couldn't really pin down what the look meant, so he just decided to call it 'The Jasiri look'. But what the lion did know was that he definitely liked it when she gave him that look. I'm going to enjoy living here he thought, briefly forgetting the pain of why he left home.
000
It was eight am on Monday morning Judy strolled into the mammalcide investigation offices of Precinct 1 to find her detectives assembled, as well as Major Crimes Bureau agents from the local field office. She could see one of the detectives still trying to set up the power point presentation, she figured it would be a few minutes. "Hey stranger." A friendly voice said behind her.
Judy turned around to see the two familiar faces of Jack and Skye Savage, Jack was in his trademark black suit, tie and white shirt combo while Skye was in claret blazer with a matching skirt. "How's being chief treating you?" Jack smiled.
Judy hugged Jack before also hugging Skye "Stressful as ever." Judy joked "I haven't seen you two in weeks, have things been crazy at the MCB too?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," Skye grimaced "our evidence locker was destroyed in the wave, so all those investigations have gone down the drain."
"And I've been leading a task force trying to round up escape prisoners from the state pens." Jack informed "Add the fact that we've been focused on Hannah so much, it's just been a nightmare at the moment."
"But Hannah's coping with her blindness really well." Judy tried to put it brightly.
"I don't know how she's being so calm about everything, if it was me I'd be depressed one second and freaking out the next." Skye confided, her voice as blue as her eyes.
"It's because she has you two," Judy tried to cheer her old friends up "you've supported so much through everything, that's why she doesn't worry."
"I guess," Jack smiled, scratching the back of his head "but some of the credit should go to Robyn, she's been with Hannah all the way through this."
"Hannah looked so happy when she came back from Pride," Skye said with a dreamy tone "she's fallen for Robyn hard."
"Who would've thought that our daughters would be a couple one day?" Judy giggled, remembering the joy on Robyn's face when she had returned home from Pride.
"I had a feeling." Jack shrugged.
"What?" Judy and Skye asked the buck bunny in unison.
"Back before Hannah came out I saw the way she looked at Robyn, I could tell she was in love." Jack revealed, sounding positive.
"And how did you know it was a look of love?" Skye asked, sounding doubtful.
"Because it's the same look you give me right before you say 'I love you'." Jack played with a smooth smile.
Skye crouched a little and gifted a peck on her husband's cheek before saying "After all these years you still know how to make me swoon."
"Excuse me chief," A white stallion detective by the name of Maximus Corona alerted "we're ready to start the briefing."
"Thanks Maximus." Judy replied with a nod, she walked to the side of the projector screen along with Jack and Skye. Judy signalled Maximus to start the power point, an image of both the ZPD and MCB insignias appeared on the screen "Ladies and gentlmammals, today marks the launch of a joint investigation between the ZPD and MCB to help solve the string of murders that have struck the city since the wave." Judy began
"Now we're going to have to work as a team to solve this," Skye continued "so that means we're going to leave that petty feds and cops rivalry crap at home, when you're on the clock you fully support everyone on this investigation and if anyone is caught breeching this rule you'll answer to either me or Chief Wilde."
"Ok, so we've got a total of fourteen murdered mammals found all over Zootopia," Jack interjected, at that moment a map of Zootopia came up on screen with fourteen red crosses "both prey and predator, all killed by having their heads' submerged in water. We are classing this as a serial killer case, so we need to find this sick bastard before any more mammals wind up dead."
"There is no apparent links between the victims, there seems to be no targeting of specific genders, sexuality, species, faith or class. This killer is selecting mammals at random." Judy told the crowd of determined detectives and agents, the power point then showed an image of fourteen different portraits of mammals, taken when they were still alive.
"What about forensic evidence?" Maximus spoke up.
"Well the MCB has had no real luck on the forensic side," Skye answered truthfully "but luckily precinct 1 has a genius in this field; Basil Dawson, will you please take over?"
Soon enough a slim brown mouse in his early fifties emerged on top of the projector the power point was coming from "Good morning everyone," Basil announced, making sure his voice was loud enough for the bigger mammals to hear "and let me just start by saying this; we are not dealing with a single killer."
There was a shared gasp among all in the room including Judy, Skye and Jack. All of them flabbergasted by the revelation "How could you know that? You've only had the MCB case files a few hours?" Jack asked, sounding bewildered.
"Well my old friend prepared to be amazed," Basil grinned up at the rabbit "there were multiple factors that lead me to this conclusion; the times of death, the species of each victim but what sealed the deal was the rope."
"The rope?" Judy questioned, her nose scrunching up.
"You see every victim had been found with their hands tied around their back, the only difference is how the knot of the rope was tied." Basil unveiled, jumping off the projector onto the laptop controlling the power point and tapping his foot on the return button for the next slide showing the three wrists of dead mammals bound by rope. "Victim A was a 36 year old female rhino, her wrists were tied together by a relatively simple stopper knot, but please note the slight tears in the rope which indicate the rope was handled by a mammal with sharp claws."
"So we're looking for a predator perpetrator?" Skye asked, sounding unsure due to Basil's nature of explaining things.
"Not quite," Basil smiled, he enjoyed showing off his intellect "Victim B is a 42 year old male stoat, as we can see he is ensnared in a what appears to be a midshipman's hitch knot, a common rope knot in the sport of sailing, also there are no claws marks on this rope meaning that is very unlikely that a predator handled this rope."
"That's still circumstantial, the murderer could know many different knots." Judy critiqued, looking at the case from all possible angles.
"True," Basil accepted with a smirk "but the evidence that sealed the deal for me was Victim C, a 19 year old male camel, this poor fellow's wrists were secured using a Dutch Marine bowline knot, a knot that is most favoured by left handed mammals."
There was a murmur of excitement and realisation at these words, no one was more amazed than Jack Savage "The first two victims were restrained using right handed knots." Jack marvelled at Basil's deduction "So we're dealing with a duo of killers."
"If only Jack," Basil sighed, his face actually showing concern "in my personal opinion you've got a brood of serial killers in our fair city."
000
It was a quarter to three on a Monday afternoon in the Bunker, in the armoury Robin senior and Marian were prepping their induction exercise for the new recruits while in the small kitchen by the bunk room Oliva was sat on the kitchen counter staring at her idle smartphone with an irritated face, her tail swishing causing her tail piercing to clack against the marble worktop "Stupid rat." She grumbled.
"Who's a stupid rat?" Luna asked, appearing in the doorway.
"Eeeeeeeeeh!" Olivia screeched in shock at her best friend's sudden appearance.
"Chill, it's just me." Luna laughed at the mouse's reaction "What's got you so worked up?"
"Nothing." Olivia replied, lying through her front teeth.
"So why are you looking at your phone like some lovesick high schooler?" Luna taunted, her brush wagging with mischief.
"It's dumb." Olivia tried to bury the subject.
"Dumb can be interesting." Luna played "Come on tell me, we've always told each other stuff."
"You're throwing down the nostalgia card, seriously?" Oliva tried to guilt trip…and failed.
"Tell me." Luna reiterated.
"Fine but don't get mad at me," Olivia warned "I did something speciest on Saturday morning."
"Ugh, again?" Luna reacted with a disapproving tone "Let me guess it was a Rat?"
"Yeah remember that Jerboa I hooked up with at the club? Well I snuck out of his place and went to get a coffee, I left my phone in the coffee shop and this Rat chases after me to give me my phone back." Olivia explained, sounding guilty.
"What did you do?" Luna asked, sounding critical.
"I thought he was trying to mug me so I kicked him in the nuts." Olivia answered, still feeling awful about what she did.
"Oh for the love of…" Luna began but calmed herself "so what happened next?"
"I managed to persuade Blake, that's his name by the way, to let me buy him breakfast to say sorry." Olivia answered "We started talking and he seemed like a really down earth kind of guy, he said he forgave me and I can't believe I'm saying this but he's kinda' sexy."
"You've got the hots for a rat?" Luna asked with a arched eyebrow.
"I know right?" Olivia agreed with Luna's scepticism "Anyway I gave him my number but the dumb rat hasn't messaged me yet."
A massive grin grew on Luna's face as she cooed "Aww Olivia."
"What's with that stupid grin?" Olivia questioned, having a suspicion of what her friend was thinking.
"You like him!" Luna sang.
"No, absolutely not!" Olivia denied "Wanting to hook up with someone is vastly different to liking someone."
"Is that so, so why don't you just go out and find another handsome rat?" Luna smirked.
"Well…I…uh, well I need to make it up to Blake for the whole kicking him in the junk thing." Olivia gave a terrible excuse.
"Ah yes, sex is the perfect way to say sorry." Luna replied with sarcasm "Face it Olivia, you want him for more than a little bit of nookie."
"As if," Olivia lied "relationships aren't for me, I'm too busy to have a boyfriend, plus it would be annoying having one."
"Oh yeah it's such a pain being having such a caring, devoted and loving boyfriend like Aleks." Luna continued piling on the sarcasm.
"You know what I mean, I'm not like you, I'm not like my Dads either…maybe I'm just not a long term relationship kind of mammal." Olivia replied sounding sheepish.
"Listen at my Mom and Dad's wedding I remember my Grandpa Stu making a speech and he said something that stuck with me 'Love is a constant force of life, through the good, the bad and the everyday there is always love.'." Luna quoted.
"Nice words but how does that relate to my situation?" Olivia asked.
"That love is a force of nature and no one can escape it, including a little cynic like you." Luna smiled.
"Ugh even that's too sickly sweet even for me." Olivia dismissed.
"Olivia, Luna come down to armoury, the new recruits are here." Marian's voice came over the loud speaker.
A minute later Luna walked into the armoury with Olivia on her shoulder; Robin senior and Marian were stood beside the glass cases showcasing old uniforms while Robyn, Hannah, Kodi and Kion were in front them lined up like soldiers. The recruits were dressed in sports gear except Kion who was shirtless and wearing what looked to be black swim shorts. "Why have I got to wear these?" Kion asked, feeling self conscious.
"I invented those little beauties you're wearing," Olivia informed "they stretch to adapt to your size when you transform, so you don't give everyone a free strip show."
"Oh, thanks." Kion replied, still embarrassed by the fact his friends had seen in nude.
"Ok before we get started Luna wants to say a few words." Robin senior said, looking to his eldest granddaughter.
Luna was silent as she walked over to the largest glass case containing green camo body armour for a large mammal and a boa staff, she took a breath before saying "This was the armour of Little John, a mammal who was killed trying to do the right thing."
"What?" Robyn gasped "Little John died of a heart attack." The teen remembered being at the funeral for the old family friend.
"According to the coroner we bribed yes, but in truth he was murdered by a heartless criminal." Luna revealed, her voice tinged with grief "I want you to look at this armour and think about what you are getting into, you could die on the streets, if you ever feel like this is too much don't be afraid to take a break or quit, don't let this life take over your everyday one."
"Lu…" Robyn sympathised, seeing the hurt in her sister's amber eyes and knowing that there was more to this story.
"Right," Luna changed the subject, shaking off the sadness "it's time for your codenames and personas."
"Don't we pick our own codenames?" Kodi asked.
"What like Krafty Kodi is going to work?" Hannah snorted.
"These codenames represent your personalities and the persona of the mammal who will bring justice to the city." Robin senior answered "Remember that both criminals and honest citizens will know you by these, so own these names and make them yours."
"All right so what's mine?" Robyn asked sounding hyped.
Robyn senior approached his youngest grandchild put a paw on her shoulder and spoke "Your power makes you immortal, you can be shot, stabbed and slammed into the ground and get up to keep fighting despite being covered in blood, the name I chose for you represents the blood you will give to help this city; you are The Undying Scarlet…or just Scarlet for short."
"The Undying Scarlet," Robyn repeated with her eyes shining brightly "I love it! Oh man I sound like a hero out of a kung fu movie."
Olivia then cut in "Kodi."
"Yeah?" The young wolf replied.
"I came up with your persona, I did some research on you and found out you've got skills in street magic." Olivia informed with a smile.
"Guilty as charged." Kodi replied with a flash of his canines.
"Well I'm going to load you up with so much tech that you'll make every thug in the city think you're a master of magic, you'll be the ultimate street magician, you'll be; The Mage." Olivia announced.
"Oooh I like it." Kodi replied, already thinking it was better than Krafty Kodi.
"As for you Hannah your name was rather easy to come up with," Marian spoke to the striped hybrid "You move like a dancer even when you are firing a gun, you cut through the air with speed, accuracy and brutality. Bullet, that is going to be your name."
"Bullet? But I don't want to kill people." Hannah worried.
"Fear not, we're already working on some none lethal guns for you." Marian eased.
"Bullet, I think it suits me." Hannah commented with warmth.
"And me?" Kion spoke up.
"Yours was easy as well," Olivia grinned "the night you transformed I could hear you roar half a mile away, it was unlike anything I've ever heard and when criminals hear that sound they will quake in their boots as Roar approaches."
"Roar?" Kion repeated "It sounds…powerful."
"Exactly, you're going to be the strongest member of the team and your name reflects that." Olivia smiled.
"Well now that's taken care of shall we start with the first test?" Robin senior gave a devilish grin.
"Ooh this is going to be fun." Olivia chuckled.
"Yeah, I remember our first test, man I panicked like hell." Luna remembered.
"What's this test?" Robyn asked, sounding curious.
"It's a simple test to help us gauge how much training you need." Marian replied, going over to the melee weapon wall and taking two batons off the wall.
"Oh right, so it's a fitness test?" Kodi guessed.
"Not exactly." Robin senior was finding it hard not to laugh, as he retrieved a bow and a quiver of arrows from off the wall.
"Here are the rules," Luna said aloud "you will be given a five second head start and then Nana and Granddad are going to try and subdue you as fast as they can using force."
"What?" Robyn scoffed, thinking this was a joke.
Robin senior responded to the scoff by firing off an arrow in the blink of an eye, the arrow whistling between Robyn's long ears and embedding itself in the door frame of the armoury entrance. The recruits gave a collective gasp with Robyn feeling weak at the knees when she realised how close the arrow was to striking her skull. "You should be running." Marian advised with a devilish grin, twirling her batons.
The four friends looked at each other with shared panic "5." Luna called out. The four teens bolted for the door "4." They scrambled through the exit "3." They scattered in different directions "2." Robin senior got a fresh arrow ready. "1!" Marian charged through the door first with her husband close behind, she could spot Hannah heading for the bunk area.
"I'll take Hannah and Kion." Marian relayed to her husband before giving chase.
"Right." Robin sr. replied, noticing Kodi run up the spiral driveway towards the bunker entrance. "Trying to get the high ground eh?" he sniggered before firing a grapple arrow upwards it latched onto the level just above Kodi was running, Robin sr. pressed the button on his bow that let him zip upwards and by the time he reached the height Kodi was already there and looked terrified to see him.
"Crap." Kodi whined, before turning on his heel and trying to run away.
Robin sr let out a tut before firing an electro shock arrow into the wolf's back sending him crashing to the floor and him writhing in pain "That was too easy." Robin sr sighed, disappointed the larger canine hadn't even tried to fight back.
Back in the bunk area Hannah was well aware of the footsteps approaching and felt panic, so much so that she ran into a hallway with no exit apart from the one she entered through. Click, clack, click, clack…that sound reverberated on the walls, it was Marian knocking her batons on the concrete walls to freak the dancer out and it was working. Hannah put up her fists ready for a fight as she sensed Marian was only eight feet away. "Let's see your moves." Marian taunted before darting at Hannah with an overhead swing but she missed, then tried to follow up with a blow to the back but she missed again, for about ten seconds Hannah continued to dodge Marian's attacks with the grace of a ballerina until Marian spotted her chance she stomped on Hannah's tail causing her to wail and be distracted from the next strike; Marian hit one of her batons into Hannah's gut winding her and leaving her on the floor in defeat "Owwwwwwwww." Hannah hissed clutching her paws to her stomach.
"Not bad, you lasted longer than Luna did." Marian complimented before turning around in pursuit of Kion, but she didn't have to look far. As soon as she stepped back into the main atrium of the bunker Kion was there fully transformed and ready for a fight.
"Standing your ground? Brave but stupid." Marian barbed, looking up at the 13ft titan like lion.
"Bullets bounce off me, what do you think those little sticks can do?" Kion blustered, trying to be intimidating.
"Oh Roar, you should never be scared of the weapon, you should fear the mammal wielding it." Marian bantered before throwing both batons at the giant's face, the sticks hit but didn't do any damage.
"See? You can't hurt me." Kion replied.
"Look down dear." Marian smirked.
Kion looked to the floor to see a gas grenade with it's pin missing, before Kion could react the grenade exploded and the sleeping gas enveloped Kion, who fell to the floor within three seconds. "All muscle, no brain." Marian laughed to herself.
Down in the gym level of the bunker Robin sr. was searching for Robyn, he knew she was in here, it was the only place he hadn't searched yet. With his bow drawn he entered the seemingly empty room and listened carefully for any movement…then he heard a scratch of a claw above him. Robin sr. looked up to the rafters to see Robyn hiding, he fired off a lethal arrow that pierced her leg "Arghhhh!" Robyn yelled as she fell back to the ground.
Robin sr got another arrow ready and aimed it at the girl "Didn't have you down as the hiding type."
"What the hell Grandad? You used a real arrow on me!?" Robyn griped, pulling the arrow out of calf with it healing up quickly.
"You're immortal, get over it." Robin sr. joked.
"Ok so you win." Robyn pouted, looking at her leg as the wound closed up.
"Not yet." Robin sr stated, aiming the bow once again at her.
"Whoa! Hold up! I give up!" Robyn protested with a scared voice, holding her paws up.
Robin senior fired off the arrow and it shot into Robyn's left paw causing her to scream in utter pain "SHIIIIIIIT!"
"A real criminal won't listen to your pleas, they won't give up until you are dead." Robin sr professed "If you think the pain you're feeling now is the worst you've ever felt well then you are in for a nasty surprise because it's only going to get worse when you're on the street, so if you can't handle it quit now!"
Robyn pulled the arrow out of her hand with tears in her navy eyes all the while soaking up her Grandfather's words, he wasn't just testing her skills he was testing her spirit too. Robyn threw the bloody arrow to the floor, looked her Granddad in the eye and growled "I'm not giving up!"
"Good." Robin sr smiled, offering his paw to help Robyn up which she took. This was going to be the toughest thing Robyn and her friends had experienced in their young lives.
000
Among the children of the Meadowlands a scary story had begun to circulate since the, a tale of a monster who roamed the neighbourhood at night and slept under a bridge damaged by the quake. There had been many dares given for kids to go and look for the monster at it's home under the bridge but as soon as anyone brave enough got a close a beastly bellow "GO AWAY!" was heard and they would flee in terror.
But today the monster had not been disturbed during it's slumber, when it rose from it's makeshift bed of old bedding clumped together it peeked outside to see the sun setting, the monster only left the bridge at night, it was easier to move unseen, to find food in dumpsters behind fast food restaurants. The Monster waited until the moon was shining before venturing out of it's hiding place, it stood just over twelve feet tall with it's entire form shrouded in rags so no one could see it's monstrous form that had scared so many. Moon's out, look for food now, keep away from roads, roads have mammals, mammals get scared…I don't want to scare them The monster thought as it made it's way down the riverbank, it didn't know how long it had been living under the bridge, but it knew it hadn't been long. The monster knew it used to be somebody, the monster knew it once had a name…but it couldn't remember it's name or anything about it's life before waking up on this riverbank. A gust of wind fluttered rubbish towards the monster with a newspaper hitting it in the face, the monster pulled the newspaper off it's face and looked at the Headline; Wilde and Clearwater in bid to lead City! And below the headline was a picture of sharp dressed middle aged fox and a mid twenties deer posing in front of city hall. "Wilde?" The monster muttered, feeling like it was familiar somehow. The Monster then read the start of the article; Nick Wilde has announced he is running for mayor of Zootopia with Sherwood community leader Alana Clearwater as his running mate. Wilde, a experienced SWAT Captain with the ZPD… The Monster froze when it read that last acronym "ZPD? I know what that is! Why do I know that?" The Monster asked itself, trying to remember "Did I work there?...No. But someone did…ARGH!" A shot of pain surged through the monster's skull causing it to fall to the ground, it hurt to remember but pain of not knowing who you were was much worse. "Who am I?" The monster wept, tears soaking the rags that covered it's face.
(AN/ Who is the monster? Will the recruits survive training? Will Nick and Alana be elected!? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!)
