The Phoenix Rises

by fifthapocalypserider

It wasn't the end. It was only the start. Bellwether was only a figurehead, led by a patient mammal, ready to strike at any time. And he stroke, by the time no one at the ZPD was prepaired for it. But the ZPD got help from the most unexpected side. Was it enough to prevent the mammal from taking control of Zootopia? (rated M for later chapters)

21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Every single mammal sitting around the big, glass table was not in a good mood. In fact every single one of them was enraged. About half an hour passed since all the crime bosses of Zootopia got there and nobody said a single word. They only gave each other some angry glares, but that was it.

Their security felt really uneasy. They all more or less knew each other, since their bosses more or less worked together since the five conference. And the mood of their bosses foreshadowed only one thing. Violence.

When the masked animal called for another meeting nobody expected it right here, in Prey Rights Council main building, almost in the heart of Zootopia. The conference room itself was rather nice for most of them, in a typical modernist style. Every single one of them could call service to order some food, drinks or anything reasonable to ask for, but none of them did it yet.

The door opened. All the animals, the skunk, the shrew and the buck turned to the animal who just entered the room.

"Well Perry, you are late." Rick hissed, glaring at the wisent

The drug lord looked at his watch, unimpressed by the death glares all the other animals gave him "You are wrong. I am on time, you came to early." he walked towards the closest chair "Besides, if I am late why there is no masked animal?"

He sat on a chair, challenging the other bosses with his sight. They stared at each other until the wisent spoke again:

"Where's the fuckwit?" he asked, frowning

"The hyena was not invited." they all heard from the opposite side of the door Perry walked in

They were a little surprised when they saw another animal than the first one walked in. They were masked too, but they could tell they was not the first one.

"Now, let's get to business. My boss called you here becaus-"

"Just before you continue. Our pay's increased." the buck spoke up, with everyone nodding

"How much?"

"Very much. You offered one million dollar per a mammal shot with your new-"

"It was f-"

"DON'T YOU CUT ME OFF!" the buck yelled, red on his face "It'll be ten million per a mammal shot."

"I'll discuss this wit-"

"No, you won't. The pay will be like this, or we quit and the ZPD will recieve an annonymous call." this time Mr. Big cut in the middle of the sentece "Or I may just ice you right now, it won't make much of a difference to me, nor to any animal in this room, I assure you."

"We may also test that." the wisent said, pulling out one night howler pellet "I was wondering how it works."

"Now, let's get to business." Harry finished, leaning on the chair

The masked mammal remained silent for a while and then spoke:

"Our plan is simple. Using those pellets." he raised one, holding in his paw "We will make the Phoenix fall."

After those words there was silence. Undisturbed silence. The skunk broke it first.

"Do you actually think we didn't try to defat the Phoenix ourselves? It's almost impossible. With your help or not, it ain't going to happen."

"Those pellets turn every kind of animal savage. Same as the old ones. Both predators and prey. But this one is stronger. Bellwether used the ones that just turned animals savage, this will make them more ferocious. More blood thirsty."

"Did you add even more drugs than she did?" the wisent asked

"Exactly. With this the Nocturnal district will turn into a war zone. When the Phoenix will be sorting out the mess you will take them over."

"With a scenario like that... It is achievable..." Rick muttered, thinking about it

The masked mammal was about to answer, but he was interrupted by a laugh. A slow and sarcastic laugh, coming from the door everyone beside him came in.

Everyone turned their faces there. They saw a lynx, walking inside the room. Four animals - two snow leopards, a cougar and a cheetah followed him, all of them clapping slowly.

"Hee he he. Ha ha. This was a bad joke." he said, stopping near the table

"Who the fuck are you?" Rick asked, slightly annyoed by the interruption

"You should care more about stinking arse over there!" the cougar scoffed, grinning mockingly

"As much as I'm going to beat you up after this for that I need to agree." the lynx said with closed eyes "Harry is a snitch." he added, opening them

"Serious claim for someone with four hitmammals. And that size." Harry snarled, showing his teeth

"They could beat all of your bodyguards with tied paws." the lynx ascertained "Oh wait, I could do that with one leg. Back to the topic, watch this." he threw a smartphone to the masked animal

He took the phone to a console in a wall, connected it with a USB cable and hit play.

A few screens exserted out of the table, showing a wolf and a skunk in a dirty alley. It was raining and there probably was a fire behind the camera, as the scene was illuminated with warm orange light. The wolf had his face contorted with pain and anger, aiming a pistol at the skunk and pressing a wound on his belly, while the smaller animal was lying on the ground with his face in the mud.

Let's face it, you don't want to die, do you?

They heard Rodriguez's voice, slightly distorted. The quality of the video was not good at all, but it was not about quality, but rather what was in the video.

The skunk did not answer, preferring to hold the wound on his leg.

I have two options now. Or to destroy them and take some land myself and leave a shit ton of it to the others or to secure my flank and give the meadowland to someone and do not care about the rest.

The wolf said, leaning on the brick wall.

What... What do you want from me? Just fucking finish it.

The skunk replied, turning on his back.

All the animals in the room, except the felines and the skunk was shocked. It definitely was Harry. Not only they heard his voice, but he also had a unmistakable mark on his face. It was clearly visible on the video, even with his face covered in mud.

They know you there. You will take this phone, go there and take over, but you have to do it before I get there.

The wolf said, throwing a phone to the skunk.

Why before you get there?

The smaller animal asked, grabbing the device.

Because if you won't be fast enough I will kill them all. Your infuence there is small, but there are experienced animals there. You'll have to take care of it yourself.

You're not gonna help me?

I still have a lot of animals to take care of.

The wolf replied, looking down at his wound.

Fuck me... And how am I supposed to get there not bleeding out?

The skunk asked sarcastically, moving towards the wall.

Chertovski molokosos... I'll have someone sent.

"I believe this is enough." the lynx said

Harry rapidly got up, pulled out a pistol and aimed at mr. Big.

"Nobody fucking moves!" he shouted, looking around like a paranoid cat on crack

"I'll have to support that." Koslov snarled, glaring at the skunk

"Are you that surprised of his reaction? Jacob is crying in hell right now..." the lynx said, shaking his head with disbelief

"Shut the fuck up!" the skunk said, his gun still aimed at the shrew

"Nobody? Really? Why is he still alive? Hello? Has it really come to th-"

The skunk cut the sentence in half with his scream. He fell on his knees, with one of the tendons in his leg cut off. He was about to fire his gun at the shrew, with tears in his eyes, but Koslov was faster. He yanked the gun off the animal's paw and aimed it at him. Meanwhile Rick, who stood behind the black-white furred mammal dug the already bloodied box opener straight into the skunk's neck.

The black-furred animal fell on the floor, with crimson blood gushing out of the wound.

Rick kicked the skunk.

"You were going to sell us when he'd be ready, huh?" he kicked the animal yet again "Fuck you!"

He walked away and sat in his seat.

"So who the fuck are you and what do you want?" he asked the lynx

"I am... Someone you need, but do not realize that." the feline begun, walking around the table "I am the one that watches from the shadows, the one that observes and strikes when it's the best. I am a silent assasin, who can chase his prey across the seven seas. I am the fifth horseanimal of apocalypse. I am chaos."

"Very poetic, but doesn't explain anything." the wisent stated, watching as the lynx slowly walked behind Rick and Koslov

"I show animals the truth, even painful one. And then show them a way. I can turn a city to chaos with a few gallons of gas, a fistful of chaos and a couple guns."

"Is this why you are here?" the masked animal asked

"You can as well remove this mask." the feline replied "Nobody here knows you, except me and I. Don't. Care." he turned to the bosses again and continued "You agree with him that you can beat the Phoenix with the animals you have. A bunch of inexperienced, ignorant idiots, who fight for you only because you force them to do it. By having their balls in an iron vice."

"We know this. But there are no valuable lives in the usual shitholes we take them from." Perry said

"There are." the lynx replied "You think where do all Rodriguez's animals come from?"

"Now that's some grade A bullshit right there." the buck said "If you say he dragged out animals like Heinrich fucking Klauemann then I would have had an army of super-soldiers!"

"And how the fuck would you train them?" the feline asked, turning to the buck "How would you see that pearl in a sea of animal shit? You'd never do. Your only combat experience is long gone. You may have bitten and clawed your way to the top with your cute little teeth, but now the only fight you'd win would be a fistfight in a bar. Rodriguez on the other paw... He can see through animals better than I ever did. He can fish an animal up in Happytown and make him a Rambo. He finds animals with spirit, gives them hope and ensures their absolute loyalty."

"Great." the buck said "Give us more reasons not to listen to that guy." he added, with every single word quite literally dripling with sarcasm "That is the reason you came here? To discourage and insult us? Congratu-fucking-lations. You managed to do it. Now, if this is all, fuck off!"

"This is not all." the lynx replied

"Then hurry the fuck up."

"I believe I showed you how bad your hitanimals are when it comes to fighting."

"How exactly?" the buck asked

"Well, breaking into your hideouts was easy. It went faster than the population counter in Bunnyburrow and pretending to be one of your high ranked members was even easier. With that done I took some of your hitanimals, attacked Rodriguez's house and then the banquet. You all know how it happened. All of them are sniffing the dirt from the other side now."

"So it was YOU! Wait until I get my paws on you, motherfu-" the buck hissed, with murder in his eyes

"Ohh, you'd rather not." the feline replied, pulling out a remote detonator.

As he activated it something beeped inside the table. The wisent, the bears and the shrew opened their eyes wide, so wide that the lynx could see the white of the shrew's eye.

"Ironic. You wanted to chop me to pieces, you'll blow to pieces. But to be honest blowing is what bunnies do very good..." the lynx said, looking at the buck

"I'm a buck you piece of shit. And I don't care if this is real, I swear to god, I'll fucking go for your throat."

"You usually stop plastic and now it's going to stop you. What a twist. Although this is Semtex, not another Karen."

"That's it, motherfucker!"

Rick jumped at the feline, with murder in his eyes. He was ready to rip and tear, but the lynx was faster. He grabbed him by the throat and choked the prey, his face expression as neutral as it was a few seconds ago. Buck's claws made a few cuts and blood begun to weep from the wounds but the buck slowly decreased his pace and stopped, grabbing the forearm of the lynx.

"Now, when the tantrum is over." the feline continued "You realize how bad they are. But I've just shown you what I can do." he easened the grip just for a bit, so the buck could take an abrubt breath but then clenched his paw again, cutting off the air "I played this buck." he shook the animal "I know what to do to make this city set aflame. And that's what's needed to bring the Phoenix down. All I need is your animals, resources and time."

"What about the minors?" the wisent asked, unimpressed by the whole situation

"I'll need them too. The most will die, but I care as much as you all do." he easened his grip again and clenched his paw again after a second "You think that you can take down the Phoenix all by yourself." he turned to the masked animal "That is stupid itself. But you did the unthinkable and assumed that the ZPD won't react."

"Why would they?" the masked animal asked "We would be attacking a common enemy."

The lynx sighed "Do they know what the Phoenix holds? They have no access to the results of the Five Conference."

The masked animal did not reply. The feline turned away from him and easened his grip for a second, only to clench his paw right after that.

"You see, to defat the Phoenix you need to crush the ZPD first. Their safehouses and properties on the surface are extremely well guarded. If you tried to assault them you would have to do it fast, which is basically impossible. Why? Because of the ZPD. A few minutes and they will be on your arse, biting out whatever that's left." he easened the grip and clenched it after a second "What you need to do is not to cause chaos down there in the Nocturnal District. After one hour of your actions they will know what you are doing and just barricade themselves in thier hideout. And if that happens no one will poke them out. Not with the chaos. And with your resources."

"Rodriguez would do it." Koslov said

"Are you fucking Baba Yaga? No? Neither am I, so shut the fuck up." the cougar said

"You just told us what to do. You do realize we could just eliminate you after this conversation?" Mr. Big said to the lynx

The feline frowned and shook the detonator in his paw.

"You won't do it yourselves. You have no idea how to bring a city to its knees. You know how to make a mammal do it, but I know how to make animals kill each other." he turned to the masked animal yet again "And you inform your boss what he planned will be achieved."

"But why would you do that? It's not profitable for you."

"You have no idea what's profitable for me." the lynx replied

He easened his grip and kissed the buck, who tried to break free. As the feline was finished he threw the buck back on his seat and went out of the room, with the other felines following him.

ooooooooooooooo

The building next to Prey Rights Council's building was under construction for a while. Walls, floors and stairs were there already, the only thing left to do being the finishing, like painting or other stuff like that.

"We need to call in the big guns." the first fox said, turning to his brother

They hid inside, watching the meeting with the binoculars and CCTV cameras.

Daniel frowned "But why would we do that?"

"Imagine all of them dead now. Nothing to fear later." Peter responded

"This is a reason." the second fox agreed and pulled out his phone

He quickly dialed a number and waited for the animal he was calling to pick up. His surprise was quite big when he did not connect.

"What the hell... He always has this phone on." Daniel said, dialing the same number yet again

"This is concerning." Peter said as the line went dead yet again

"What are the odds he's with his wife now?" Daniel hissed, dialing the same number the third time

"Third's time the charm. We won't reach him now." Peter stated, leaning against the wall

His brother called the fourth time though, with the same result. Rodriguez did not answer the phone, with the reason quite simple. It was turned off as he worked out.

Many places in Zootopia were open 24/7, mostly for the nocturnal animals. They, of course could go to the Nocturnal District, but that meant loss of customers.

The gym was empty as the wolf trained in the dim light, coming from the reception. He did not go easy on himself. 150 pounds were his bare minimum. After he is done a few stretching exercises and he could call it a day.

But that plan changed as another animal walked inside. Danila grinned as the red fox stopped, realizing who he just walked into.

The wolf put down the barbell and stretched his back.

"You have a habit of running into dangerous animals, Nicholas." Danila said "At least this one doesn't want to bite a chunk of your ass off."

"You're the last person I wanted to see ever again, Danila." the fox replied, heading towards the section of the gym that was his size

"At least you're honest." the wolf replied, stretching his arms "You up for a little sparring match?"

"Why? I don't want to lose half my teeth and end up in a hospital." Nick stopped in the doorframe "You'll beat me up in a matter of seconds."

"I want to see how much you remembered. No pressure though. If you don't want to do it, that's fine." Danila replied

"If you achieve your greatest speed I won't stand a chance. Also, everyone else will have a nice scene."

"If you are talking about Savage's eyes, their activities here are minimal. Besides, I won't do it, because as you said you stand no chance against me. Nobody does." the wolf stated the fact

"Vincent?" Nick replied, recalling the lynx's skills

"He may. You could too, but you disagreed." Danila agreed

"And my mind hasn't changed."

"That's a shame. You would be almost unbeatable."

"Won't I need training to get to your level?"

"You could, but the serum doesn't work that way. You know... I've trained a lot of kits. Many of them bigger than you. Stronger than you. Smarter than you. But none of them had your spirit. So, are you up for a little fight?"

"Ah, screw it. Just don't be too hard on me."

"You got it."

The wolf led the fox to another room, with much more space. There were two rings there, one for animals slightly bigger than the wolf and the another one for smaller animals, like foxes. Danila entered the bigger one, not even looking at the gloves. He took off his hoodie, only leaving the short sports pants.

All three rings went from Danila's fingers to a box he put in his pocket. The wolf turned around, the medallion, vial and the golden orthodox cross moving along with him.

Nick followed him in, stretching right after that. The wolf waited for him and when the smaller canine was finished he dashed forward without any warning, adding the momentum of the jump to his arm rapidly straightening, creating a force that could easily end the fight.

If only it hit. The fox sinply took a step to the side, avoiding the joules that were coming at him.

The wolf reacted with his elbow, sending it towards the fox as soon as he moved away.

Nick did not go backwards that time. Daila himself taught him to overcome his instincts, telling him to go back and avoid the fight. He clearly remembered when the wolf explained how it was the first step to losing the fight. If the fox retreated all the time he soon would have found himslef with a knife in his throat, or a survival shovel deep in his guts.

That was why Nick stood his ground, redirecting the elbow upwards, counter-attacking right after that. His fist shot forward, aiming for the solar plexus.

But it met nothing as the wolf gently took a step back.

Nick did not let the chance go. He attacked two more times, a straight right to the face, followed by a uppercut to the side, where the kidney was.

Both hits did not meet their destinations, as Danila used his forearm to block the straight hit and simply took a step to the side when the uppercut came for his kidney.

Nick forgot how quick Danila could be. His hits felt like they took years to travel through time, when the wolf has already reacted and dealt with them halfway, faster than anyone who had not seen that could imagine.

The fox barely dodged the wolf's fist, aimed at his maw. He failed to regain balance as he landed after the jump, almost gaing on the ground.

Danila catched him in the last moment though and pulled him so the fox stood again.

Nick leaned down, putting his hands on his knees as he breathed heavily. Danila was a hard opponent, but he did not expect he'd put up a fight like that. The smaller canine was out of breath, gasping as the wolf simply walked in front of him, cracking his knuckles.

"You throw yourself at the enemy too hard. Ease up. Keep your balance. Remember, if you fall the fight is pretty much over." Danila said

"Okay..." Nick nodded and straightened "Let's continue."

The wolf jumped at the fox, like he wanted to do an up knee mid-air. Nick did not expect that, but he would not just stand there and get his face destryoed. The fox jumped to the side and landed bending his knees, ready for Danila to continue his attacks.

The wolf landed, bending his knees. Nick used the opportunity, attacking as he made a step forward, still with Danila's comment in mind.

The wolf tested that, dodging Nick's attacks instead of parrying them. The fox did not lose his balance, keeping the attacks steady and fast.

The wolf decided to test something else, taking the fox's uppercut on his forearm and making a straight right. Nick positively surprised him, pushing the fist away instead of going back.

Using the only option he had left the fox used his legs, delivering a kick that could finish that fight.

But the wolf went back and grabbed Nick's foot, pulling it towards himself.

The fox fell on his back, barely managing to lower the impact with his arm. The wolf stood right in front of him, towering the smaller canine.

"You see, you are very good. Name an officer in the ZPD, none of them would be able to defat you. But take Heinrich, for example. He'd beat the shit out of you. You fight well, but those who you can beat are not going to be your worst enemies. And this is the problem."

Nick stood up, witht the help of the wolf.

Danila frowned as he sniffed the air.

"Okay, look you have to sort things out with your partner." he stated

"Why?" the fox asked

"You know well about the neutralising agents. Even with them her scent is all over you." Danila replied

"I did not pass the initiation, so how the hell would I know? Besides, nobody except the ones that passed would know, so why would I care?"

"Because I've seen the looks she gave you. I've seen how you look at her. Get your shit together and tell her what you feel. It's that or you kicking yourself for the rest of your sorry life. You know the stereotypes about bunnies. Her parents are going to look for a date for her, she's 24 after all. If a bunny ain't married by that age they either are seen as dissidents, or their family shows their disappointment to them. Those are their traditions." Danila said that calmly, but with a tone that would not tolerate disagreeing

"Why do you care?" Nick asked, pretending not to care

But he did. He knew that of there was anyone that could read him like a book Danila surely was one if those animals. And if what he said about Judy was true that gave the fox a new goal, a goal he would fulfill in a matter of days.

Danila bit his tounge at the last second. He kept forgetting that he was supposed to dislike Wilde, even contempt the fox a little.

He did not want to see the fox depressed. He did not want to see him sad and angry at himself for the rest of his life. Plus he's made a promise after all. It was hard for him to overcome scaring off the fox, so how hard would be acknowledging his suicide?

"I had enough of your bullshit. Plus I'd hate seeing your mother break down, she is a good female." the wolf simply said, his face expression still

"Exactly what I needed to hear." Nick replied, going away from the ring

Danila watched as the fox walked away and sighed. What he had done was necessary, but the consequences were severe.

He put his shirt and hoodie on, took the bag with his suit and belongings and went for a jog.

He enjoyed today's weather. A little chilly, but it did not matter for him, as he could stand much lower temperature. He was a siberian wolf after all.

After an hour or so he finally got home, the guard letting him pass after a quick id papers' check.

Aurora hills was the upper class' apartment complex. Luxurious single-family houses, surrounding by colorful plants at all sides and a lake in the middle of the estate.

The wolf greeted some of his neighbours, passed by some playing kits and finally walked inside his home.

"Winston?" he called his valet with no response

Danila frowned and made sure his knife was easy to pull out.

"Ryan?" he called for his cook

No response again. Danila took out his gun.

"Adelaide?" he called the cleaner

The wolf slowly made it to the living room, right next to the hallway. He aimed his gun for the most dangerous places where armed animals could be, but there was nobody.

"Artyom?" he called for his brother

Silence. Danila went upstairs, sure that Diana was in the bedroom. But he was not sure if she was safe.

When he was upstairs, he turned right and stooped by their bedroom door. He opened them and dashed inside, his gun ready.

If he had to be honest with himself that was expectable. He knew how unpredictable Diana was in her heat.

His wife laid on their bed, only in her underwear, with a dirty smile and in a seductive pose.

"I called them off for a few days."

Danila let out a relieved sigh, put the gun down, flipping the safety off first and walked to his wife.

"I'm gonna have a heart attack because of you someday." he stated, looking at her hungrily

"Not today, though." she replied and pulled him into a kiss

He got on the top of her, on all fours, not breaking the kiss.

"Have you been working out?" she asked

"How can you tell?" he replied, caressing her cheek

"You are all sweaty."

"Yeah... How about we take this to the shower?"

"Shower sex? Haven't done that in a while, have we?"

"You're right." Danila agreed "Why don't you go and prepare while I get all of those clothes to the washing machine?"

"Come fast, big guy." Diana said and walked to the bathroom

Danila on the other paw undressed, leaving nothing but his underpants left and put all his clothes in the laundry room.

He got upstairs again and stopped right in front of the door, hearing the water running and Diana humming a song he could not recognize. With a smile on his face he entered the room.

A/N:

Exams out of window everyone! Those chapters will come out much more frequently!

If you are wondering what will haplen during the sunmer holidays I have good news for you - it's possible they will be posted two times a week.

I'm back to writing - you stay tuned.