Author's Note
This chapter switches POV s pretty often, this is so that each scene has similarly timed climaxes, or at least that was the point. Hope you enjoy the read!
The police cruiser stormed down the street, obviously having no second thoughts about the destination. The wolf driving, Alex, had been waiting for this for quite the time now: eyebrows slanted, steering wheel gripped tight, and just a slight frown upon his face. Nick took the passenger seat, leaving Ivan and Judy to the back. The bunny looked down in regret. Usually she had determination, eager to do whatever necessary, but this time was different. This time they were going against the odds. Judy looked over to Ivan, who, just like her, laid his fire arms down near their feet, aimed up against the edge of the seat. Ivan was holding a picture that flashed in the sun light. It was a picture of small two cubs. Judy smiled as the sunlight reflected off of Ivan's gray fur. He had noticed this, and reacted without words, handing Judy the picture. She looked closely at the picture, they were so adorable, she thought.
"They are with their mother right now, away from danger." Ivan said quietly, not wanting to spark conversation with the other two in the vehicle. Judy didn't respond, only holding her smile, handing the picture back. The car swerved into a small desolate side road off the edge of Zootopia, passing between two old brick buildings. Behind laid a large wide open pavement, and giant garage doors on both the left and right sides. Straight ahead was the sea, dropping off from the end of the concrete. Not a noise was heard other than the engine of the police cruiser. The silence only aroused their suspicions even more. Alex slowly drifted the car into a parking space across from the garage he planned on entering.
"Okay guys, let's get out there and make a difference." Alex said in an obviously joking, cheerful voice, only getting a smile from Nick in return. Ivan grabbed his shotgun and M4, his side arm already on him. Alex did the same, leaving his helmet in the car. He could after all, dodge a bullet. Judy only had a pistol with her, since the ZPD didn't have shotguns in her size. Nick had a pistol and an M4 slung over his back, which was still rather large for him. "Nick, Judy, you two take the door on the left." Alex motioned to the metal door on the left side of the large garage door. The wolf then motioned for Ivan to follow him, the two of them taking to the door on the right.
Alex took the door knob into his paw with painstaking care, not wanting to make even the slightest noise. Both him and Judy looked across the large gap between the door doors, silently indicating that both doors were unsurprisingly locked. Lock picking was in Ivan s skill set however, and he rolled his eyes before taking the knob from Alex.
"You keep those on you?" Alex asked as Ivan messed with his tension wrench. Ivan ignored the questioned and a light click was heard. Nick and Judy leaned on the railing at the top of the two concrete stairs that lead to their door as Ivan marched his way over. After another few silent and unsatisfying moments, Ivan returned with Alex to their door.
"Never know when it'll come in handy." Ivan breathed as Alex grasped the doorknob once again. Judy did the same, the two of them looking over at one another, nodding their readiness. Both doors opened at once, all four of them entering in quick succession.
"Above us, on the catwalk." Alex whispered to Ivan as they took their place behind a large metal container with a large tarp thrown over it. The fox and the bunny found their place next to a fork lift, using it as cover, better safe than sorry. "A lot of them." He gritted his teeth, clutching his M4 against his chest. The lights sparked to life, the whole garage covered in their glory. The catwalks ran along the walls, with one bridge across the middle of the whole garage. Sheet metal was plastered against parts of the railings to provide cover. Armed mammals were scattered across the center, ready to provide suppressive fire.
"Wish I had a nose like that." Ivan smiled as bullets smacked the concrete on both sides of the metal container.
"I bet I'd make a good police dog." Alex chuckled in return, raising his voice to beat the bullets being fired from the catwalk, making Ivan raise an eyebrow.
"What?" Ivan questioned, basically yelling at this point.
"Nothing." Alex sighed, knowing full well that he and only he knew what he was talking about. Ivan shook the subject and quickly peeked out from behind the container, pulling back instantly to avoid getting shot. "What'd you see?"
"Not enough time." Ivan said, ready to peek back out. Alex grabbed his shoulder and held him in place.
"Let me try." Alex jumped up, his eyes topping the container for only a split second. "Every other section of the railing has sheet metal, each section has one mammal, so eight plus the four on the back catwalks against the wall." Ivan nodded, acknowledging this. "HEY!" Alex shouted across the garage to nick and Judy. "I'll distract them!"
Alex dove out from the container, flinging himself off the small concrete ledge to the garage door ramp. Alex slid to the left, a couple bullets whizzing past him. He noticed a pattern almost immediately. While half of them fired off their ammunition, the other half was reloading, only to wait for the the other group to finish their rounds. Alex spun around, swiftly jerking his arms and legs around, the closest bullet to hitting him grazed his fur. He knew at any moment if he lost focus a stray bullet could hit him in the head, killing him instantly.
Alex smiled to himself as one of Dr. Harris s soldiers helmet got impaled by a bullet, making him stumble to the side, falling over another. Judy fired from the fork lift s cover, while Nick pushed up to a couple small wooden boxes, giving him a closer shot. Ivan jumped off the metal container and flung himself onto the catwalk. Instantly dispatching the two mammals straight ahead with his M4. One soldier jumped up from the railing, only to collapse as his helmet got pelted by bullets from all four ends. Alex was now participating in the fun, as no mammals were left standing to take them down, the rest were hiding behind the sheet metal in pain. Ivan made his way to the center catwalk, where moaning could be heard. Ivan tossed one of the soldiers over the railing, a crunch heard as his back slammed into the concrete below. As Ivan cleared up the catwalk, Alex, Judy, and Nick made their way towards the back of the garage.
"There has to be more." Nick said mostly to himself as they found a large arrangement of boxes, cars, and trucks in the back.
"Look around." Alex instructed, the three of them splitting up to quicken the search for something of interest.
...
Sorry, back to reading my mind, it's going to be a pretty bumpy road in that aspect.
I traveled along the back of the right wall of the garage, working my way around a few boxes and cars, a few nice ones at that, is that a Lambo? Bet Dr. Harris had these soldiers take turns polishing it every two hours.
I found another door hidden behind a large stack of boxes, waiting patiently to be opened. I twisted the knob, it wasn't locked. I stepped through the door into the darkness, I couldn't smell anyone other than my friends who were still searching behind me.
"Go tell them you found a door, Alex." I said to myself quietly. My mind objected to this at the same time, telling me to be a lone wolf, and if I ran into trouble, be the hero. My feet began pulling me forward into the darkness of the doorway. My eyes slowly adjusted to the light, allowing me to take in my surroundings. It was another storage garage, except there was a small room extruding from the side, a window across the front of it. I swung my M4 over my back, knowing anyone I ran into with an gun wouldn't be able to shoot me anyways.
I made my way past an assortment of cars and boxes, similar to the back of the previous garage, but less cluttered. I stalked over to the side of the small side room and found the door. I slowly creaked the door open and stepped inside, there was no one in the room other than myself, a computer on a desk and a filing cabinet was all that was there. I ran my paw along the bottom of the monitor and found the buttons. The screen turned on, but it was a mess of icons and files, so I figured I'd save it for later. I turned off the monitor and left, closing the door behind me. I followed along the wall and came across another entrance, a generic metal door.
The word door was beginning to get repetitive for me. I swung it open and squinted my eyes as light poured in. I left the door cracked as I stepped outside. Barely ten feet in front of me was a ledge that dropped into water, the pavement running left and right seemingly infinitely, spanning across all the garage backs. A couple dozen yards down was some nice wooden docks for boats, but non were present. I smelled another mammal, a wolf. I gritted my teeth as a wolf exited the back of another garage, turning to face me. He was armored head to toe, including a visor equipped helmet.
I quickly drew my side arm, during a round off in less than half a second. My target threw his paw up, blocking his face. The bullet fell to the floor, smashed from the impact. The wolf s paw had a thin metal glove around it, excluding the fingers.
"Nice shot." He taunted, pulling out his own pistol. Does he think he can shoot me? The pistol clanked to the floor, the opposing wolf moving their paws to their helmet, which they tossed to the ground, falling over the ledge into the sea.
"You got scooped up by Dr. Prick as well, I assume." I snorted. I knew this wolf, from a long time ago, of course. His name was Felix, but you already know this because of my flashback.
"Yeah, he's a great guy as long as you don't betray him." Felix poked fun at either Ivan or I, or both. Now that I really studied Felix, he was a few inches taller than me, and definitely hit the gym more. "You're just a wolf in a police uniform, take that off and what are you?" His rhetorical question made me think for no more than a second.
"Something we have in common, actually." I paused, Felix snorted, clearly unamused.
"What May that be?" He cooed, puckering his lips.
"A victim." I felt confident with that answer, we both suffered. Felix began pacing towards me, I had a few seconds to relax, as he was a few dozen feet away. He swung a kick at me, but I was quick to slide back. I threw a hook, which he pushed down with a paw before elbowing me in the chest, forcing me back. I threw a leg up in an attempt to take out one of his, but he grabbed it instead. He pushed my leg back, taking me to the ground with it. I rolled off my back onto my knees as quick as possible, but Felix managed to firmly grasp the back of my uniform, pulled me off the ground and over his head. I slammed into the ground, my back and neck taking most the heat. The pain was getting to me as Felix stepped above me. I gritted my teeth, my last form of aggression as a boot smashed into my snout, taking my mind into lala land.
...
As Alex and Judy fanned out, I was left doing the same. I kept my pistol drawn as I made my way to the left side of the back. This garage was made for industry storage, so it's a mystery as to how Dr. Harris got a hold of it. After a bit of exploration I found a door. I pulled my arm up to the door knob, which rested a little below my head. I walk inside, leaving the door open for light, as the place was rather dark.
It wasn't impossible to see, but it was still obnoxiously dark, even for a fox. I gently pushed my paw out in front of me and touched something, another fork lift. The darkness was interrupted by bright yellowish light as a rain of bullets boomed off. I quickly fell to my knees behind the fork lift. Another catwalk above was responsible for carrying another prick. I peeked out from the other side of my cover and fired a few pistol rounds. The soldier ducked behind the sheet metal railings, the bullets clanking against it with little penetration. I retrieved my rifle from my back. He didn't stand a chance.
"I'm going to give you a chance to lie down your firearm." I warned loud enough for the soldier to hear, but after a few moments I knew he wasn't going to respond. I peeked through the driver s seat of the fork lift, giving me a clear shot at the catwalk. My gun blasted off a few rounds, and sent the mammal over the other end of the rails as a result, smashing through a wooden box, the sound booming across the whole garage. "Next rounds are on me." I taunted the either dead or unconscious soldier. The darkness evaporated as the lights turned on, revealing all the whole garage. There were cars scattered around, is that a Ferrari? Not to mention all the boxes. I kept my place behind the fork lift, afraid of being spotted, as I was alone at the moment.
I carefully moved my head up, keeping my ears down to conceal myself. A giant stepped across the center of the garage, a bear according to proportions, the ridiculous amount of clothing and armor made it hard to tell. Is that a minigun? Never seen one, but never wanted to, especially in this context.
"Don't be a coward! Thought that badge meant something?" The bear shouted, their voice sounded familiar. He was right, the badge does mean something, but standing out from the fork lift is the equivalent of suicide. The sound of metal clanking grabbed my attention, there was another soldier on the catwalk, using the height advantage to search for me. The mammal dove over the edge of the railing in an instant, rolling to the opposite side of the forklift. Well being dead can't be so bad, right?
"Poor fox." The deep, but feminine voice cooed from the other side. "Wait your turn, Kevin." So that's who the bear is. I remember him quite well. The fork lift shook slightly, making me grip my M4, watching both my left and right sides equally. The soldier flipped in front of me from above, katana in hand. What the hell. I fell to my side as the sword slices across the yellow paint of the forklift. The barrel of my M4 raised to meet her helmet, but was quickly swatted aside by her boot. I quickly rolled up to my legs, creating a small distance of safety. The ninja soldier or whatever slid a paw forward, granting her swing an extended reach. I stumbled back as the katana missed my snout by a couple inches.
"Heheheh" Kevin laughed as I scrambled backwards, I tried raising my M4 again but was disarmed by a spinning kick. Now defenseless, I sprinted away, sliding over the hood of the Ferrari. I turned my head to see her do a front flip over it, she's also faster than me. Funny thing is, I have no clue what she even is, she isn't much bigger than me, and her amass of clothing and the helmet make it impossible to tell, even the proportions couldn't tell me.
I ended up at the corner of the garage, trying to backtrack meant a sword through my chest, I turned around, gasping for air as a boot slammed into my gut, knocking me onto my back. The sheet thin blade soared downwards. My feet flew high over my head as I rolled backwards. The sword slammed into the smooth concrete floor as I stabilized myself into one knee, my side arm swiped mid roll. I fired round after round into the helmet and vest, stopping with only one round left. The ninja girl fell to the ground, her helmet clanking as it rammed the ground. The spinning of Kevin's minigun erupted, forcing me to dive behind the Ferrari. The car shook as the bullets took turns throwing punches at the opposite side.
"That car won't last forever!" Kevin shouted with glee. It was only a matter of time before I had to make a run to the next car, which was about a ten foot gap. A dent sprung out next to me. I pressed my body forward, using the little momentum to sprint from the car. My entirety was exposed as I crossed the firing range. A burning sensation covered my body at the halfway point, and my legs gave out. I rolled into my back, my tongue out, panting. The lights were drown out by Kevin's shadow as he approached me. The polar bear slowly lowered down to one knee by my side, pulling out a pistol of his own. "We have ye a chance." He repeated the phrase from the hospital. The barrel planted itself above my eyes on my forehead. "Goodbye, Nick." My paw grasped at the pistol, but it was of no effect, I wasn't strong enough. The blast made my ears ring, darkness pouring into my eyes.
...
I looked over the catwalk rails, the variety of boxes and vehicles taking their places across the back of the garage. I saw Alex exiting a door on to back right, alone. The bunny, Judy, was alone as well, searching the center of the storage area. The fox wasn't present either, which surprised me. Judy and him usually seemed rather close. I flung my weight over the railing, my legs pounding into the ground below, bending to compensate for the fall.
"Anything of interest?" I extended my voice so that she could hear, as she was a few dozen feet away.
"No, have you seen the other two morons?" She asked, closing the distance between us.
"They are searching elsewhere, I supposed, so it's just us two." I shrugged my shoulders. Would she feel safe with me, alone?
"Oh." Her voice intertwined with disappointment. A faint gunshot echoed around the room, then a few more, making me jump only slightly, I was used to it, but it disturbed the quiet atmosphere. Judy and I both readied our weapons, ready to source out the sound. Alex and Nick were both gone, after all. Our investigation was ended before it began, as the large metal garage door that rested between where we entered cranked its way upwards, sunlight pouring in through the slowly increasing gap. The sunlight was definitely brighter than the garage, making my eyes instinctively squint. A large figure stood in the center of the opening, towering even an elephant. Sunlight shined off the metal, it must be some sort of machine. Two giant legs extruded from the metal ball in the center, alongside two arms. A robot?
"Ivan!" That voice, it angered me. The spherical container in the center opened to reveal Dr. Harris, who rested behind a protective glass cover on the front. The panda seated over an assortment of buttons and switches. "Where've you been? I missed you." He smiled, leaning on his elbows over his control panel.
"Go to hell." I responded rather quietly, taking no interest in overly sarcastic small talk. Dr. Harris s enormous metallic arms extended forward, the giant fingers pushing out, signaling towards us
"This is exactly what I wanted, all of me, against all of you." He sighed, sounding relieved. The two doors which we entered in opened, a few armed mammals entering the building.
"I got the robot, you keep the soldiers off me." I instructed quietly and quickly. Judy nodded as I finished. "Has he proposed yet?" I said with the most serious tone I could muster.
"What?" Judy whispered as loud as a whisper could go.
"Go." I left her side, ready to meet Dr. Harris at least a fourth of the way. The metal legs clanked against the ground, sending small shivers up my metal spine. I used one paw to tear my shirt off, dropping it to the floor. I heard gunshots firing off as a giant metal arm swung towards me. I dove over the low blow and landed next to Dr. Harris s legs, the robot ones of course. I slammed my fist into the metal with little effect. Another hook swung my way, this time I back flipped away, leaving me out of the robots reach.
"You may be able to dodge my swings, but my suit can surely out endure you. This thing doesn't tire out." Dr. Harris echoed from inside the suit, the voice intercom to the outside wasn't exactly the greatest. A few gunshots slammed into my chest, barely getting a reaction. "Aim for the head, IDIOTS!" The panda screeched as his robot stepped towards me. As I rolled away from another metallic fist, I saw Judy shoot a soldier in the back. That was amusing. She sprinted around a box where a soldier was peeking around the other side in search for her. The last soldier. Dr. Harris swung another unmeaningful punch, which I easily slid away from. The solder spun around and shot as Judy did, both of them falling in the process.
"JUDY!" I yelled, stretching my arm out as to catch her, even though she was across the garage. In a split second my body was flung through the air, my chest slamming off the railing of the catwalk, as Dr. Harris laughed in success. I flipped multiple times before smashing into a yellow Lamborghini. I moaned in pain, barely able to lift my head enough to see the giant cyborg stomping over to where Judy lied.
...
"You got lucky last time!" It was freshman year for the then young wolf, Alex. The teacher had left the room to retrieve something from the printer, and had put her trust in the students to be quiet and remain seated. Felix took this as his opportunity to belittle, or even hurt him. Felix had his paws over Alex's desk, standing on the opposite side, while Alex was seated. "You got lucky that your father was there!" Felix gritted his teeth. Alex knew what the wolf wanted, he didn't want to fight, but wanted to be seen as powerful or popular whichever one was a mystery to Alex, however. Alexander jumped up from his chair, knocking it over behind him. This startled Felix, but he retained his aggressive posture.
"At least I still have a father." Alex growled loud enough for the whole class to hear it. The whole world seemed to stop, the whole class in shock. Felix swung his fist towards Alex's snout. Alex's conscious remembered this moment quite well, but seeing it for another time opened his eyes a it more. As Alex swerved his head to the side, Felix s eyes began tearing up, swinging his fist his only mean of expressing his sorrow. Alex used this time to slam Felix in the jaw, knocking him to the floor, pushing back a few desks in the process.
The vision collapsed, and sixteen year old Alex found himself on the living room couch. Alex's father, Eugene paced into the room. Swiping the remote from the coffee table. The television screen faded to black, obviously to Alex's discomfort.
"I was watching that." He rolled his eyes, but the look on his father s face told him to let it go.
"I wanted to talk about something." Eugene cleared his throat. "I'm going to be working two jobs." He sighed.
"Okay?" Alex raised an eyebrow, his father has taken multiple jobs before, so he found it strange that he would make a big deal of it.
"This time it's different, I probably won't get to see you or Kyler much." Eugene looked down at the carpet.
"I'm sure we will live." Alex said, the TV screen flaring back to life as he set the remote down.
"Yeah." His father hesitated, only to leave the room with haste, scratching the back of his head. The room faded into the void.
Alex's present day self, in police uniform, was standing behind his past self, who was in a black suit. Eugene s coffin rested in the grave before them, their family gathered around to mourn. Alex's present day self saw a fox passing by.
"Sorry for your loss." The fox said gently to Alex's past self, who took no interest in this fox. Officer Howlard fell to his knees, his eyes widened in a mixture of so many emotions.
...
Judy, you can't leave her. Never. I slowly opened my eyes, one after the other. My head was pounding with excruciating pain, and I felt like dying was a worthy exchange. I lifted my head just enough to tell myself I wasn't dead. My elbows supported my arched back as I sat up. Kevin was a few paces away, his back facing me as he did whatever he did on the other side of that enormous body. My pistol was still in it s holster. I quietly stabilized myself on my legs, my brain yelling at me to sit back down. I slowly looked back, there was a bullet out of its casing, lying on the floor, stuck partially in the concrete floor.
My legs began to move towards Kevin, and in a short moment I was sprinting full speed, I knew what could happen as I did this. My pistol was in my paw, I then remembered the problem, one bullet was left in the gun. Kevin whirled around just as I reached him, both of us armed with itty bitty pistols. I pounced off the floor, planting both legs on Kevin's stomach. I used my other free paw to grasp his helmet visit, flinging it up as I extended my legs out. As I flew backwards, the barrel of my pistol was aimed between my legs, the last round blasting out. The back of my head slammed to the ground, which hurt like a bitch. I heard the crash of the polar bear to the ground, and I did nothing but lie there. I slowly reached my paw up to my forehead, but yanked it back, shivering at the feeling.
"Hey Kevin, next round is on me." I said between deep breaths, no way he was alive, unless he is a super soldier like me. Eye for an eye right? Luckily he didn't shoot me in the eye, not sure that would heal. "Judy." I tried to yell, but my body wouldn't allow it.
My eyes opened instantly, my body reawakening. Being curb stomped definitely hurt. I sat up and climbed to my legs. Felix turned his body to face me, a devious smile plastered on his face.
"I'm sorry." I stretched my paws out. "I'm sorry about your father, and everything else." Hopefully that'd loosen him a little bit.
"You're saying that because you lost yours!" He gritted his teeth, taking a step closer to me.
"You're right, actually." I agreed with him, making him raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Because it showed me what it was like to lose someone so close." I spoke boldly, showing empathy for the wolf trying to kill me.
Felix let out a battle cry before charging me. I didn't want to do this, but I had no choice. Felix sprung into the air, his body sideways as a leg flew my way. I wrapped one paw around the leg, his other barely catching him. I drew my pistol and shot two rounds into his leg. You can't dodge something if you can't move. His scream was enough to tell me he wasn't going to be fighting anytime soon, it sounded like a pups. I pulled on his leg rather than pushing, allowing me to drop him on his back rather than his face. The big, fully grown wolf whimpered and clutched his leg against his chest, his tail between his legs.
"I'm sorry." I whispered as I knelt next to Felix s back side. His head turned towards the sky in order to face me, but my fist was swiftly delivered to his snout, knocking him unconscious. I used both paws to lift his body off the cold ground, the garage shadows didn't allow sunlight at this time of day. I placed his whole body over my shoulders, groaning as my legs straightened upwards, by no means was he a light weight. "I'm sure he was a good man." I directed to the drooling wolf on my back. For those of you who haven't figured it out already, I genuinely felt bad for this guy, and I'd love for you to stick around, but I'm sure something more interesting is going on elsewhere.
...
"I'll be sure to send them your regards, bunny." The giant hunk of metal dropped down. I couldn't move, I was shot in the leg. Maybe crawling would work, but I didn't have more than a second. I slammed my eyes shut just before the clanking of metal entered my ears. Fabric brushed against my ear, making me jump, my eyes springing open. Ivan towered over top of me, his back supporting his arms as they cradled the giant cylinder of metal. His legs were shaking, and his face was covered with pain. He couldn't hold him much longer.
"Judy " He gasped, his eyes sealed shut. "I can't hold him." His gritted teeth was just another signal that any second he could collapse. I placed a paw on his baggy pants, pulling myself upwards. My next paw landed grasped his arm s fur, the pain of holding Dr. Harris s arm drowning out anything else. My legs dangled off the floor as I moved both paws over his chest, hoping my body weight would be enough to move the crank. I wrapped one leg around his, adding some of the little strength I had. My injured leg began to slowly ache its way around Ivan's leg as well, the same one. I grunted as the crank slowly croaked around. Ivan's painful groans turned to growls, as I fell back to the floor he began fuming out a yell, definitely not a roar, but it was still pretty crazy. The metal hunk above Ivan slowly rose, the jaguar clearly satisfied with this, a smile growing across his face.
"Ivan!" I tried to warn him as the other giant mechanical arm slammed into his back, launching his straight into a military hummer, the side smashing inwards as he connected with it.
"Sorry about your friend, but he was once mine, you know." The panda s robot shrugged its shoulders, stepping back from standing almost right over me.
"You don't deserve him." I panted, sitting up with my elbows as support. The metallic fist swung downwards, landing right next to me as I rolled to the side. Instead of sweeping the arm sideways to hit me, he lifted it back up slightly.
"I don't need him, my suit's strength surpasses his." He chuckled, lifting his arm up for another strike. A hummer slammed into the side of the robot, both scraping across the floor, flinging sparks out around them. Ivan bolted to my side, dropping to one knee.
"Are you okay?" He placed a paw around my back, pulling me up gently.
"I'll live." I sighed. Ivan smiled in return. He seemed so much different than at the cafe, let alone his apartment.
"I'm sure you will, Nicholas wouldn't be too happy if you didn't." He warned me, his words true, just said in a humorous manner. A metal arm appeared over the jaguar almost instantly, making my smile drop. Ivan slammed one arm against the bottom of the arm as it crashed down. I could see his fingers denting the armor. He lifted up his knelt leg and slowly stood up. His other paw slammed into the robotic arm as he turned the metal, one paw on one side, the other of the opposite.
"You seem quite fond of that strength of yours." Dr. Harris accused from his robotic suit.
"That's funny, I could say the same about you." Ivan said with little problem. His paws dug deeper into the arm as he bared his teeth. My ears flattened as Ivan stepped forward, two giant metal legs lifting from the ground. Dr. Harris yelled out as the sixteen foot monster flew over Ivan's head, his paws releasing from the dents in the arm. The metal suit smashed into the giant garage door that he first entered through, taking both it and itself to the ground. Trucks sat outside, surrounded by armed mammals, all labeled S.W.A.T. Every single one of the with their jaws agape.
...
I swung the metal door open that led to where we began, multiple cars and boxes left in perfect condition: others smashed into oblivion. I walked past Judy and Ivan without a word, instead making my way to the giant pile of scrap just outside. The S.W.A.T arrived just in time, obviously.
"Where is Anderson?" I asked a goat who had dropped his gun to the floor in awe.
"Over there." He shook his head quickly before pointing to a group of mammals.
"The tiger?" I raised an eyebrow.
"No the otter." He sighed, just beginning to get out of his trance. Anderson was an otter. Hmm.
"Sir, I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action." I looked down at him, still carrying Felix over my back. Watch him follow through, it's always better when the other mammal follows through.
"That won't be necessary." He sighed, looking up at me. I smiled, not because I won't be punished, but because of that damn reference. I turned around and looked at Ivan and Judy, who were joined by Nick. Is that a bullet wound? Holy shit. Ivan was no longer standing, but lied on the ground. Judy was on her hip, using one arm to sit up, and Nick was leaned against a box, looking exhausted. I missed when things were normal, when I wasn't scared that I could lose one of them in a second, partially including Ivan. I'll make sure they know that no matter what happens, I'll always stay by their side. Except for just now, because I left. "You love em, don t you?" I smiled, keeping my view on the garage.
"They're a pain in the ass." I answered. Probably not the answer he was expecting.
"I see that." Anderson joked.
"Who would've thought I'd love a pain in the ass." I laughed, turning to face the otter.
"I hope that's a joke, officer." He laughed back. It definitely was, I wasn't coming out or anything. The both of us remained mostly silent as Dr. Harris was torn from his robotic suit by a group of mammals.
"Bye, have an A-1 day." I whispered as the panda was hauled into the back of a S.W.A.T vehicle.
"Not sure why I haven't asked yet, but who the hell is that?" Anderson pointed to the wolf on my back. I kind of forgot he was there for a moment, surprisingly.
"He went to my elementary school." I smiled, "he also tried to kill me." I walked over to the officers taking away Dr. Harris. "Got another one for yah." I lied him down against the back of the van.
"Is he okay?" One guy asked.
"He's fine, two gun shots to the leg is nothing for him." I swatted my paw in his direction. A few S.W.A.T mammals were interacting with the trio in the garage, so I figured I'd make my way over there.
"There is some girl in there, not sure if she is alive, but you should check." I heard Nick as I walked into the building. The soldiers nodded and jogged towards the direction of Nick's finger. Can we just call them soldiers? It's a lot easier than using S.W.A.T members or whatever.
"Fellahs." I greeted the three of them. I was the only one standing, making them look up to me. "I say we celebrate tomorrow, and get some rest today." I placed my paws on my hips. "Besides, I haven't slept since the hospital." I joined them on the floor, resting my back against the same box as Nick.
"I won't object to that." Nick sat up and placed his elbows on his knees.
"OH MY GOD!" Judy shouted, using Ivan's legs as support to hold herself higher. Funny thing, there isn't much talk about how religion plays into Zootopia.
"Yeah." Nick sighed heavily, leaning back against the box.
"Bu...but how?" Judy stammered. A bullet to the skull must hurt like a bitch. That is of course if you live to feel the pain.
"Who knows." Nick pushed away from the box, using the extra room to lay back, using both arms as pillows.
"We need to take you to the hospital." She panicked, trying to stand up, only to fall back down.
"Id prefer the bar." Nick shrugged.
"This round is on me." I declared. "Just joking, you three all are going to the hospital." I lifted Judy up and cradled her in my arms. "As much as we came to hate them this past week." The four of us headed back towards all the SOLDIERS. There, that's perfect.
"Alexander Howlard." Anderson approached us. "A few mammals would like to have a word with you and your friends. That is, of course, after needed medical attention and rest." He explained, his eyes widening as he looked over at Nick.
"Yeah, lots of it." We all began to walk away.
"I did have the jurisdiction to let you on the premises." I stopped in place, turning my head just slightly, my back still facing him. "I just wanted to see if you would follow your heart." I gave a half smile to myself. "Go." He ordered.
"Yes sir." The four of us paced down the alley. I could drive us to the hospital, hell, I'm sure Nick could.
"Looks like we struck gold today, right Nick?" I asked with a sly smile. Nick s slight smile dropped, and he squinted up at me.
"Huh?" He scratched his head.
"Nothing." I sighed and looked forward as we met up with the ZPD s backup on the streets. It was a special occasion that I referenced the story itself.
"Does this mean I'm off the hook for my previous crimes?" Ivan asked, barely concerned. He knew not only us, but the ZPD would say yes to that.
"Yeah, but on one condition." I paused for a moment, building up a of suspense. "You have to hang out with me from time to time." I said in a haunting, threatening like voice.
"Can I hold Judy?" My mouth curved into a sly smile as I slowly turned to address Nick.
"Sure you're up for the task?" I said as I passed Judy carefully into Nick s arms. She rolled her eyes as I did so.
"I took on a ninja and got shot in the head, I think I'll do fine." He played along. Wait a ninja? That's awesome. Meanwhile I just had a fist fight.
"So Alex, what happened to you?" Judy asked, still cradled in Nick's arms.
"I realized a few things." I considered my words carefully. "Being a hero isn't doing what is right for you, it's doing what is right for everyone." As cheesy as that was, hurting mammals for the benefit of others, such as my mother. was by no means being a hero.
Putting yourself on the line for the benefit of others is what being a hero is, and we are protected by them everyday...
Author's Note
I wanted to thank you all for reading up to this point, and no it's not over. The end of this arc, however, has arrived.
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Notes on this chapter
1. this chapter is by far the longest of them all.
2. there are quotes pulled straight from a few other sources, such as the MCU or Deadpool.
3. Nick fighting the katana girl was probably my favorite part to write.
4. Ivan got his first POV.
5. I put katana girl in because Nick cowering away from Kevin seems too bland, and I made her a girl because there isn't enough of them.
6. Alex's knockout flashback was planned a while ago to be him dreaming about being a superhero, with his green suit and all, and a terrible tragedy called for him, waking him up.
7. Alex's references things he shouldn't know about, and knows it.
8. If you catch any weird typing errors, such as apostrophes being missing, it's because I typed most of this on my phone, and for some strange reason some of them were missing.
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ANYWAYS. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a lengthy review detailing your thoughts.
Let's play a little game. What is your favorite line from any of the chapters?