Beep
"Whats that?..."
Beep
"That sound... its like..."
Alex awoke abruptly with a gasp as if he had been underwater, the faint sound that caught his attention ending just as suddenly. The Coy found himself in a somewhat familiar setting, tables and chairs scattered around a large open plan room, a large window stretching the length of an entire wall and a larger table positioned in the centre of the room. A circular table designated for 6 mammals. Looking down to check himself he found that he was in his detective gear, his waistcoat/combats combo and his pistol strapped to his side.
"Wha... Where am I?" he muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes in disbelief at his situation. "Wait... the restaurant?..."
"Yeah dude! You musta got hella drunk to pass out like that!" a voice echoed around the room void of other souls.
Alex lifted his head in shock at the sudden appearance of another mammal. The voice sounded omniscient but... familiar. "B...Bixby?"
"B...B...Bingo... Why are you stuttering? It's unlike you to be caught off guard like that" Bixby was sitting cross legged in the centre of the table, his arm folded into his chest all the while wearing his signature know-it-all smart ass grin.
"Bixby where are w-..." Alex tried to establish his situation further when a flash of pain caught him by surprise. He flinched in pain and held his paw to his temple.
BIXBY WAIT!
Those 2 words flooded his every thought for a solid 5 seconds before receding back into silence. Alex opened his eyes to have another look around. Much to his horror. The tranquil restaurant floor was soaked in blood and glass. The large window was smashed into thousands of pieces and scattered across the interior. Tables and chairs were over turned and riddled with bullet holes. However the most shocking find was the numerous bodies strewn across the floor. Innocent victims of a massacre. No. Perpetrators.
"Who are you?!" Alex turned back to Bixby, still sitting on the table with a devious smile on his face.
"What do you mean? I'm Bixby" the Hare replied, his expression not changing in the slightest.
"Bixby wouldn't make fun of someone with a speech impediment, even as a joke... Who are you" Alex reasoned, surprising the impostor with his deductive reasoning.
"Huh... very good pup, usually takes longer to catch on. As for who I am?" the individual said as his form started to grow a little taller, his fur grew a little darker and longer and his ears began to shrink into themselves. His eyes changed from a pale blue to emerald green. Before Alex could comprehend what was happening the mystery mammal had morphed into the exact likeness of Officer Lucy Benson. Scarlet dress and all.
"I am who ever you want me to be... I am Bixby, I am Lucy, Howlett, Tristan, Bogo, Earth, God, Death... I am everything. And right now I am here to tell you that your time has not yet come..."
Alex, still in shock at this figure suddenly morphing species and gender, stood from his chair slowly and began to walk around the table, keeping his eyes on the figure of the female Lynx at all times.
"God? Death? And what do you want with me?" he asked, bracing himself for the answer, for whatever it was it cannot be good.
The figure began to grow once more, changing into the form of a Jackal wearing a long brown coat. His face however was a little messed up, a bullet hole tore through his cheek and a second one just above his left eye still leaking a thick red ooze onto the table below him.
Alex stopped in his tracks and looked away from the mammal at the centre of the table. He knew full well who this one was supposed to be... His first kill. The Coy took a shallow breath, choosing his words carefully before speaking. "It was him or us, I have no regrets..."
"Oh, I know you don't. Death is a fact of life, it was his time, he made a stupid mistake and looked out from behind cover as you shot. I am not here to condemn you, as I said before, it is not your time. There is still more you need to accomplish in life. I wont collect you until it is your time."
Beep
The sound started again, catching Alex's attention once more. The Coyote looked towards the exit of the establishment, out into the darkness of the night.
"So, tell me... why are you trying to torture me?" Alex asked inquisitively as the night sky outside began to glow an ominous red and orange tint. "I can only assume this reality is all in my head, the room being the last room I was in, my freshest memory. Lucy wearing her red dress... the Jackal... The restaurant... everything is relatively new..." Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "...So what happened after this? Outside is on fire... did I die?"
"Heh, yes, this is your sub-conscious. How perceptive you are" The Jackal smiled back at the Officer, his dead eyes fixated on Alex as he leapt off the table and over to the Coy. "But don't worry, you will know soon enough"
Beep
The Jackal was now standing within a foot of Alex as he was still staring towards the door of the French establishment. "Are you ready to face reality?"
"Yes"
- 5:05pm, July 30th, Savanna Central Hospital -
2 days had passed since the bombings. The city was still in total shock at the sudden and unpredictable violence not 48 hours prior. Chiefs Bogo and Rockford had given a personal statement at a press conference, assuring the public was safe from further attacks and that this was an isolated incident... How wrong they were.
Despite the unrest amongst the ranks, the majority of the ZPD had gathered at the conference to pay their respects to those lost in the bombings.
Savanna Central Hospital houses most of those caught up in the attacks. Ranging from minor injuries to life threatening conditions, all staff of the hospital were on paw to take up the slack, to help all that they could, as best as they could. The ZPD officers that were caught up in the incident were all receiving treatment and round the clock armed guard, for reasons that only the upper staff of the ZPD knew about.
In room 1116, one of these officers resided. An officer that was considered high risk in both medical treatment and safeguarding from further retaliation. An officer that was about to have the shock of his life.
Officer Alexander Hunter lay helpless in a hospital bed, the room dimly lit and the walls barren of stimulus. A faint beep could be heard from one of the machines the young canine was hooked up to, his heart rate monitor. In one corner was an arm chair designed for a medium sized mammal, which at this moment in time was currently occupied by an unknown presence.
Suddenly, after 2 days of unconsciousness, Alex began to stir from his slumber.
"Mmmm... ugh... Where?..." He said as he slowly and carefully raised himself up in the bed. A sudden pain shot up the canine's side which caused him to winch and move a little slower. He took a moment to gather himself before having a look around the room, allowing some time for his eyes to get used to the low light levels in the room. Once he could see relatively clearly, he noticed the mysterious figure sitting on the chair in the corner. "Who... Who's there?"
"Hmm? Oh, Officer Hunter, your awake!" An English voice shouted up, a set of long ears shot up against the backdrop of the closed blinds. "How are you feeling?"
"Uhh, a little sore to be honest... I'm sorry but who are you?" He replied, trying to figure out for himself the identity of the other mammal.
"Oh, sorry, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Special Agent Jack Savage, it's a pleasure to meet you Officer Hunter!"
"Special Agent... And why are you here?... And, where am I?"
"What do you remember?" Jack asked Alex as he stood up on the chair and slowly turned the dimmer switch on the light, showering the room in a growing luminescence.
"Last thing I..." Alex began as he had a few flashbacks of the gunfight. Every shot vivid in his mind, every pop of his 1911 causing the canines paw to flinch a little, enough for the Jackrabbit to notice.
"Seems you remember enough huh... May I call you Alex?" Jack asked, getting an almost immediate reply in the form of a simple nod. "There's no easy way to explain this but to simply drop it like it is. It seems the rookies of the ZPD this year were targeted in a mass terrorist attack aimed at the Police Department. Motives as of yet are unknown."
"Wait... What do you mean the Rookies? Which?" Alex butted in immediately as Jack finished his sentence.
"All of them I'm afraid... All 12 officers that were assigned to Zootopia this Summer had been targeted... I'm afraid only 3 have survived..." Agent Savaged dropped the bombshell, so to speak. A revelation that Alex was clearly not prepared for...
"All of... LUCY? BIXBY?"
"… Are safe, for the time being, a little banged up but alive. They are being guarded as we speak, nothing will happen to them"
Alex eased up, feeling as if a huge pressure had been lifted off his chest. His best friends had survived the attacks. But still, the young canine couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness that 9 others had lost their lives. 9 mammals that he had grown attached to over the past number of months as they trained together, ate together, studied together... graduated together.
"Max, Amelia, Niles, Billy, David, Wallace, Chester, Pauline, Anna... There all gone?"
"I'm afraid so, Alex. The 9 rookies, along with 17 other Officers that were either assigned to them or in the general vicinity of them. From what I gather the only difference was in the case of the Team. You, Bixby and Howlett were targeted by a full team of assassins followed by a car bomb... Unusual, but it makes me think you three were a priority target" Jack concluded his hypothesis.
"Were there any other casualties?" Alex asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer.
"… 78 Civilians were caught up in the attacks, 16 lost their lives. When the bomb went off beside you and Bixby, the building opposite suffered massive structural damage... It collapsed, killing 8... The ZFD are still pulling mammals out of the rubble."
A single tear rolled down Alex's cheek. He couldn't bring himself to look the Jackrabbit in the eye, in the back of his mind he was partly responsible for the death and destruction that had just occurred.
"Don't you dare... Alex don't you dare feel guilty, I can see it in your eyes. If you want to feel angry, feel anger towards the perpetrators. If you want to feel sad, do it after you make the City safe for the remaining mammals. If you want to make amends, do it by picking up your gun and badge and making a difference!" Jack had had enough of mammals in this situation before, firmly believing that tough love was the best way forward. Just how he was raised and look how he turned out.
"YEAH, STOP CRYING, I'M TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!"
Alex's spirits suddenly picked up. He sat up in his bed, disregarding the pain coming from his wounded body and began scanning the room for the jackass he knew that it came from.
"Oh yeah!" Jack said as he sprung from his seat in the corner and over to a dividing curtain to the left of Alex's bed. As he reached it, the rabbit slid it open, revealing the purposefully scrunched up and goofy looking face of a very familiar Hare.
"I'm afraid doctors couldn't fix my charming good looks, what do you think, be honest, do I look sexy?"
"Still as ugly as every Bixby!" Alex smiled for the first time since he woke up, tears still running down his face but in this instance, they were for the best. The joy of seeing his childhood friend alive and kicking almost brought his to a full-blown cry.
"HA still better looking that you pup, these hospital gowns don't do my figure justice anyway. Even Tristan is bored of me" Bixby said as he pointed over to a sleeping Coyote, spread length ways across a double sofa against the far wall. Tristan was wearing the same suit he had worn to the restaurant, albeit a little torn up from the blast and bloody from the Jackals he took down. Also, a set of cuffs, fastened to his front side.
"Uh... why is my brother under arrest?" Alex couldn't help but to ask.
"Funny story... when I got out of surgery, he demanded to see me immediately but the doctors refused, stating that I needed time to recover. He might have... flipped a little and assaulted 4 Police officers before Howlett grabbed him. They aren't pressing charges but requested that he wore the cuffs 'just in case' haha. Still doesn't beat what Charon did when he heard about the attacks on the team. He tracked down the bomb maker, beat him to a bloody pulp and hung him up by his tail outside the front entrance to Precinct 1, completely unseen by any of the officers. the mammal was half dead by the time they managed to get him down."
"I can imagine, he wanted to help us didn't he? Perhaps a little extreme tho... How are you feeling anyway?" Alex smiled while asking. Knowing full well that if his own body was anything to go by then Bixby must be in serious pain.
"I'm uh, not too bad I guess. Little banged up but alive!"
"Bixby..."
"Fine... I was standing closer to the explosion than you were. I have burns to my back, multiple penetration wounds, heh kinky... uh shrapnel still imbedded in my left leg, 5 broken ribs and a concussion. I believe that's all. I'm more worried about you tho..." Bixby exclaimed, holding his head low and his ears lower.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked, knowing he had wounds but they weren't anything he couldn't handle.
"You haven't been told about your injuries yet, have you?" Bixby asked, looking over to Agent Savage. "Alex, your heart stopped on the operating table for 2 minutes... you were dead..."
The Coyote's eyes widened as he looked over at Savage, who was sitting back on his chair letting the two friends get reacquainted. "That explains the dream..." he muttered to himself.
"What dream?" Bixby asked, overhearing the canine talking to himself.
"Nothing, it doesn't matter"
"Huh... Okay, well the worst wound was the one to your side. A large piece of metal shot from the car and into your side, it took 2 hours to remove it before you bled out, that's when you went into cardiac arrest. A few other lacerations, several broken ribs, oh by the way I landed on you, few scrapes and bruises and a severe concussion"
"Wait, what do you mean you landed on me?! and where exactly Is Lucy anyway?"
Just at that moment, Detective Howlett walked into the room, making his presence known to all within the area. he shot a disapproving look towards Savage before walking over to the rookie's bedsides.
"Lucy is in the female section of this ward, they weren't allowed to house you three together despite my protests. Savage would have been more than enough to look after you all. And how are my two rooks doing this morning?" Jensen asked, bringing coffee to all four of the rooms occupants, setting one down on the table next to Tristan. "Lazy bugger"
"Thank you for the coffee, Detective" Savage said politely upon receiving a paper cup of pick-me-up juice.
"Yeah, yeah, are these two fighting fit yet? We have a rabbit to go after" Jenson fired back.
"I think I'm okay sir, but Bixby I'm not so sure about" Alex answered Howlett's question and directed attention towards the hare in the other bed.
"He's right sir, the burns on my back need some time to heal. I may be out of action for another week but give me my laptop and tablet and I can be useful in other places"
"Don't worry about it Bixby, you take time to heal up, tomorrow Hunter, Savage and I will meet with the Chiefs, give them the sit rep and determine how we move forward with this." Howlett was firm in his convictions but sympathetic to a fault in his friends well-being. he cared not for the job but rather that everyone made it through alive at the end. He wasn't about to push Bixby's body to the limit for his own selfish goals of capturing the Ghost. "For now, I want you two to rest up. I have checked in with Benson, she seems to be getting better every passing hour."
"What happened to Lucy?" Alex couldn't help but to speak out of term to his superior. Howlett was on duty at the moment but allowed it to slip in the present circumstances.
"Bens... Lucy was at the centre of an explosion..." Howlett revealed, his head lowering out of respect.
The moment he heard this Alex immediately started to undo the number of wires and tubes that ran into his body, ripping them out as if he didn't care about hurting himself.
"ALEX CALM DOWN!" Jay howled, loud enough for doctors and nurses down the hall to peek out of their respective rooms to see what the commotion was about.
Alex immediatly stopped what he was doing, not out of fear but rather out of respect for Howlett. He knew that if Lucy was in peril then the Wolf wouldn't prevent him from seeing her.
"She was attacked outside the apartment by what forensics have concluded was a small pack of Jackals not dissimilar to the ones that attacked us. The pathologist that examined the bodies concluded that they all died before the bomb went off which means my little Hellcat took down 5 Jackals all by herself. She only survived by quick thinking on her part. Lucy fashioned herself a shelter using the bodies of two of the canines. When we found her, she was laying underneath them, her claws buried deep into their backs, using them as a shield. I'm afraid she has some temporary hearing loss, as can be expected, dislocated jaw that's on the mend, dislocated ankle and some internal bleeding caused by a bullet to her lower left side just above her hip."
"I see... may I see her?" Alex asked, furious at the Jackals not for the restaurant but for laying a finger on his partner.
"Not yet Alex, visiting hours aren't for another hour, I'm only here to check up on my officers. And Savage here is your personal guard"
Jack waved from the corner. "Hello!"
"So for now... rest" Howlett commanded the two officers as he turned and exited the room, closing the door behind himself.
"Alex are you okay?" Bixby asked, concerned for his partner's mental state after such news.
"I need to see her Bix..." Alex said as he continued to remove his medical equipment from his body. "Huh, aren't you gonna try to stop me, Savage?"
"Call me Jack, and no, my task is to guard you so if you'd like a stroll then who am I to deny you, ey?" Jack replied as he turned and faced out the window, winking in the process.
"Heh, thanks Jack" Alex said as he stood for the first time in 2 days, his legs showing signs of weakness as his knees began to shake a little under his own weight.
Outside room 1116 it was relatively empty, visiting hours having the most traffic with staff and the general public but right now, right now was the perfect time for a spot of sneaking. Wearing nothing but his hospital gown, Alex slipped out of his room and closed the door silently behind himself. He made his way over to floor 11's main desk and proceeded to steal, well borrow, the patient rota to find out exactly what room Lucy was in. The Coy was in luck, Lucy was at the top of the list, room 1102, just at the far end of the current hallway.
Alex slowly made his way down the corridor, his padded feet falling silently on the marble floor as he kept an eye out for nurses or other officers but alas, nothing. After just a minute he found himself outside the Lynx's room, wondering if he should knock first or ninja his way in. Finally deciding to knock just in case he found his partner in a compromising position, he proceeded to tap gently on the frosted glass window of the door. Glancing from left to right he kept a sharp ear out for anyone approaching from down the hallway. "I'm an idiot... she can't hear that" he whispered to himself as he opted for plan B. Carefully he turned the doorknob until the lock clicked open and the door loosened from the frame. The Coy slowly slid his way into the room and closed the door behind himself, keeping his eyes closed just in case she was changing and perhaps didn't want the added complication. "L-Lucy? Officer Benson?"
"Alex?! The hell?!" Lucy shouted across the room, a disapproving expression washing over her face.
An unknown party was also within the room, sitting next to the bed on a small stool. The mammal was another Lynx, male, similar in fur colour and pattern to Lucy but different. The Lynx had shining golden eyes surrounded with a thick pair of full frame glasses. He was of medium build but clearly well-toned, wearing a shirt that was perhaps a little too tight for him, skinny jeans and a pair of converse.
"Hey dude" was all the second Lynx could say in the situation.
"Um... hey, sorry to barge in like this. I uh, just wanted to see if you were okay Lu. I just heard about what happened...and..."
"Alex..." She sighed. "It's okay... but you should knock first"
"I... I did knock but I didn't think you would hear..." Alex said, still looking at the male Lynx, his heart sinking a little.
Lucy could see the tiny hint of depression hovering above the Coyote and decided to break the tension. "This is Merrick, He's a friend of mine from back home"
Merrick followed suit. "Just happened to be in Zootopia on business and heard of the attacks on Rookie Officers, rushed straight to the hospital and found out Lucy here had been attacked."
"And so you snuck into a Hospital out of visiting hours to see her?" Alex remarked with just a hint of jealousy (A lot of jealousy).
"Aaaand that's my que to leave, It's been good seeing you Lucy and I hope you get well soon!" Merrick said as he stood from his stool and flung a small satchel across his back while retrieving a pair of earphones from his pocket.
"Good seeing you too Mer, Have a safe trip home" Lucy smiled back at the Lynx as he brushed past Alex, still standing by the door in his gown.
As he passed Alex he whispered over to the canine. "Don't you dare let anything happen to her again" before popping his earphones in and walking out of the room, leaving Lucy and Alex alone in the semi-darkness.
Alex couldn't help but growl and bare his teeth at the seething words of the Lynx, nearly tempted to go after him but decided against it as he heard his name being called.
"Alex!" Lucy shouted, motioning him over with just a single finger and a cross look on her face. The same look a mother would give her child when they broke a vase.
The anger fizzled out almost immediately as he slowly made his way over to the Lynx's bedside and plonked himself down on the very same stool.
Lucy sighed, picking her words carefully to avoid any conflict. "Alex, I'm not mad that you invited yourself in but I am mad that you decided to sit on the stool"
Alex looked confused, tilting his head like the dog he is. "Wha?"
Lucy pulled up the blankets and invited him into the bed beside her. "Don't worry, I don't bite"
The Coyote didn't need to be told twice as he leapt off the stool and into the bed, completely disregarding his own injuries in favor of making sure he didn't hurt Lucy.
When they were both undercover Lucy wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. "Alex... When the bomb went off I thought I had lost you... I thought I was gonna die and that I wouldn't be able to spend any more time with you. It scared me..."
Alex, reciprocating the feelings, threw his own arms around her and pulled her in tight. "Don't worry, I promise I won't die if you don't, deal?"
Lucy pulled the Coy into a deep kiss before pulling back. "Deal"
"May I ask, who was the Lynx exactly?" Alex felt compelled to ask, fearing competition for Lu's affections.
"Merrick is an old friend of mine from Kingston. Yes, we dated for a while if that's what you wanted to know but we split up on good terms and don't fancy getting back together with him. You have nothing to worry about from him."
"Worry about? I have no idea what you mean" Alex shyed away, visibly blushing under his fur.
"Oh, I think you know what I mean pup, I'm not ready to be your mate, but if you would have me I would very much like to be your girlfriend..."
Alex couldn't believe what he had just heard coming from his partner. The revelation excited him very much, as evident from his uncontrollable tail wagging.
"Wow, calm that thing down before you break something! So how about it, I know Coyotes mate for life but if you are willing to mix things up then I can break my rule of dating outside my species." Lucy said as she blushed through her grey fur. The temperature of the bed quickly getting out of control from the body heat.
"I would love that! Er I mean... Yeah that'd be cool I suppose" Alex trying to play it off cool, again being betrayed by his own emotions.
Lu let out a small giggle, she felt like she was a teenager again, asking her first boy out on a date.
The two lovebirds both decided to take it easy for the rest of the day, to enjoy each other's company and let their bodies heal up before the meeting tomorrow.
For their future together, they both need to be in peak condition.
- 9:20pm, July 30th, War's Compound -
Niki had been hiding out in the city for the past 45 hours, no sleep, no food, living in fear of every police siren and black SUV that passed by. His clothes dirty and his fur matted from crouching for long periods of time beside and even in dumpsters. He feared going back to the compound, feared what War would do to him if he found out that he was the only survivor and that he ran away from his mission like the coward he was.
But now that he was standing outside War's compound on the outskirts of the City he couldn't help but be brave. He knew that his mate was inside waiting for news of his return. Maybe he would get lucky and War wouldn't know about what happened? No, there is no way Niki would be that lucky. All he could do is enter the warehouse and face the consequences...
The Jackal punched in the code to the front entrance, pausing on the last digit as a teardrop landed on his paw. "Come on you coward, Addy is waiting for you..." He psyched himself up as he pressed the final key and the door swung open with a buzz. No turning back now.
Inside seemed like it had been deserted, the storage containers had been moved along with the other wooden pallets. The portable defences were removed and to all intents and purposes the warehouse looked like any other building. But one thing familiar still remained. The smell of blood and decay. Something had happened in his absence.
Rounding the corner into a smaller room he was halted in his tracks, frozen in place out of fear. Before him, in the small room was a crowd of about two dozen Jackals, all holding automatic rifles... with War himself standing in the centre of the room.
"Good evening Nikola, It's so good to see you again" War said, the ever so slight hint of anger in his voice. "Where has my lieutenant been the past two days?"
"Sorry sir, I got lost..." Niki said, his legs trembling in fear. If he had had a drink in the past 2 days then surely it would be all over the floor by now.
"Lost huh? But you have been in this city for a very long time now. I don't see how you could get lost" War said as he nodded towards two of the other guards who quickly walked over to Niki and grabbed him by the shoulders. "You see, I expect better from my army, I expect them to follow orders such as 'Kill a Target' or 'Return to base' but no. Here we have a Jackal that I spent good money on, one that I trusted not following orders... so what should I do?"
"Please sir... Give me a chance..." Niki muttered, now fully engulfed in tears, his knees all but given up on him as the guards held him up.
"Oh I forgive you, yeah... But you still need your punishment" The Rhino said as he stepped out of the way, revealing a sight that almost made Niki pass out. A sight that those of a weaker stomach couldn't watch.
On the wall directly behind War was a Jackal nailed naked to the wall by his paws and feet. A burlap sack placed over his head with blood visibly pouring through it. The Jackal had been cut up with sharp knives, as if he had been tortured. His knees had been destroyed with what looked like a heavy blunt object.
"Like what you see, Niki?" War said as he walked over to the small canine. "Can you guess who that is yet?"
Unfortunately, Niki knew exactly who it was. His naked body plain for all to see was one that Niki himself knew intimately. He knew every old scar, every blemish, every colour change in his fur.
"WELL?" War shouted as he produced a large blade from his armour and ran the edge of it up Niki's spine, being careful not to break the skin.
"A-Addison..." He sobbed, barely able to catch a breath between grief-ridden heaves.
"Your god damn right it is!" He said as he kicked the small of the petite Jackals back, hard enough to propel him forward to with 15 feet of Addison's helpless body.
"N-Niki... Is that you?" The Jackal beneath the hood just about managed to spit out, along with a fair amount of his own blood.
"Oh Addy, I'm so sorry" Niki couldn't even bring himself to look up at his mate, knowing full well that it was his fault he was in this position in the first place.
War walked briskly over to the couple, feeling generous enough to let them have a final word together. Albeit a short one, for his patience was at its length. With one quick jerk he removed the hood from Addison's head, ripping out a few hairs with it.
Addison's body was bruised and battered, bloody from the past 24 hours of non-stop torture. Ever since Niki had failed to return to the compound with the rest of his team, War had concluded that they had failed in their mission and thus took his frustration out on the nearest mammal to him, three guesses as to who that might have been. A solid day of torture had left the young Jackal's body broken and unusable. Even if he was treated right now there wouldn't be much a hospital could do for him. Q brought it upon herself to slice up his body for a bit of practise, the poison of her blades being a slow acting one but ultimately brought death to whatever it cut.
"Niki... Don't you... Don't you dare blame yourself..." Addison tried his best to speak but his weakness clear in his voice. He was barely able to keep his head up on his own strength.
It was only when Niki mustered up the courage to look his mate in the eye to apologise once more that he noticed the one thing that finally broke his spirits. Q had removed his eyes and sewn then shut.
Niki fell to the floor once more, completely in shock, unable to speak as War walked up from behind and stood in front of the Jackal pinned to the wall. "It's amazing the amount of damage the body can take and still remain conscious. You could lose pints of blood, you could be beaten for hours with bats or hammers... hell you could lose your eyes and still long to open them once more. But inevitably all things must come to an end, wouldn't you agree Addison?
Addison knew that War was standing directly infront of him and so with his defiant last chance he gathered blood in his mouth and spat it back in the face of the rhino.
Obviously, War wasn't pleased with his lieutenant's latest act of betrayal. He wiped his mask and face down with a small piece of fabric handed to him by another Jackal, turned around to Niki's helpless form on the floor and picked him up by the fur on his head.
The Jackal let out a yelp as he was lifted into the air and pointed towards his mate. Forced to watch Addison's final moment. The worst kind of punishment he could think of.
"Open your eyes Nikola, before I remove your eyelids!" Holding Niki in one paw and the large knife in the other he forced Niki to open his blood-shot and puffy eyes.
Sensing his end, Addison summoned up all the strength he had left and put them into his three final words.
"I LOVE YO-…"
War plunged his knife into Addison's chest, a clean shot to the heart. The Jackal didn't even have the time to yelp out in pain as the light faded from his body, within seconds Addison's head hung low and his breathing stopped. He passed away with a smile on his face, he last thoughts of Niki, his mate.
Niki screamed out for his lost lover. A storm of emotion washed over his body as he was helpless to prevent his mates demise. All he could do was take in the details of his face, engraving his likeness to memory forever.
With one fluid motion War threw the limp body of Niki a few feet away towards the Jackal guards as he retrieved his knife from the deceased canine. "Take that trash from my sight, do whatever you like with him, just make sure it's painful."
- Roof of The Compound -
One party member that was not present in the crowd was the Ghost. War had told him to make himself scarce for the evening so he decided to get some rest on his favourite hiding spot, the rooftops.
He was all too aware that Addison was being interrogated but was unable and outgunned to man a rescue attempt or persuade War to spare him. All he could do was wait and hope that the two lovers survived their ordeal as he had gotten attached to the pair.
The Arctic rabbit lay prostrate on the highest point of the roof, his mask removed as he watched the sun set off in the distance, anticipating the bright neon lights of the City to be switched on any moment. A small tear began to trickle down his face before finding its way onto the metal roof.
As he lay there, he made the shape of a heart using his fingers and placed the shape over his own heart, smiling up towards the sky as another day set.