AN: I didn't notice this last chapter, but we're over 100K.

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Also, I initially uploaded this chapter last week by mistake. If any of you are feeling deja-vu, that is why. You may have missed the real previous chapter, and want to catch up with it first.

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Finally, for those interested, I'll be resuming the updating of Embers of the Past tomorrow. So, if you've been thinking bout reading it, now's the time to read the first two chapters and get caught up.

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Chapter 21

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A claw gently pulled back on the card, lifting it up from the one behind. Its base held firmly by Nick's other paw, it bent up and down, flexing as its holder thought. His eyes narrow, one of his fangs pinching the outside of his lower lip as if he hadn't grown out of it being his snaggletooth many years before.

A swish of his tail, and he spoke.

"Got any eights…"

A head shot up from below, level with Nick's own as it rested on his top bunk. Damien, twitching up his face and squinting his right eye, looked on at his bunkmate in all his smug glory. He silently brought up his cards and pulled out three cards, handing them over. Nick's smile grew as he combined them with a card from his paw, flashing the entire set forwards just to prove he wasn't cheating, before placing it down next to the other stacks of four.

Damien sat down again, and spoke. "Got any queens up there?"

"Ooooh, bad luck I'm afraid," Nick replied, earning an annoyed grunt from below. "But look on the bright side, you might catch a big juicy swordfish this time…"

"Yeh, yeh matey," the other fox grunted, as he stepped over and pulled a card off of the pile on the floor.

Looking on intently, spotting a slight rise in Damien's untagged ear, Nick spoke out. "Joker, mayhaps?"

"HOW!" Damien shouted, ignoring the light flick coming from his collar as he stood up, pulling out the card for Nick to see.

He took the card, combined it with his own joker, and placed it down. "I'll admit that you had a tell on that one. Your ear rose slightly, so it was going to be something unusual."

"And the other times, how do you do it? Any two's?"

"Trade secret, and go fish."

Damien groaned, pulling another card from the pile.

"Seriously though," he carried on, "you're taking too little time to think these through. You need to have some strategy to this. How about some nine's?"

"Ha! None," Damien called out, as Nick drooped himself over the bunk and retrieved another card. "Fours?"

"Go fish," Nick replied, "and it's impossible to not have to go-fish all the time. Is it? The important thing is to remember what has come before and what can come next. Any two's?"

Damien paused, midway through bringing up his card, and groaned. He picked out two cards from his hand, along with the one he was carrying, and sent them up. Nick smiled as he placed them with his set. The fox below thought for a second, before speaking. "Queens?"

"Nope!" Nick happily replied, rolling his eyes and shaking his head in disappointment. "Kings?"

"Go fish yourself matey."

"My pleasure."

"Seriously though, can we play something else afterwards?" Damien complained. "This is boring with two mammals, one's who's a freak at this. An' we're still stuck in here for a few more hours…"

"You're just jealous," Nick joked, giving a soft hmmm as he looked at his new card. Peeking out from below, Damien furrowed his brow as Nick combined it with three cards from his own paw and placed them with the rest of his sets.

"What was that?"

"Why would I tell you," Nick said, shrugging. "Bad idea to let go of your strategic advantage. Want to do snap afterwards? Sixes?"

"No idea. Get that. No. Yes," came the reply, along with a card being sent up. "Nines?"

A paw came down with two cards, and Damien pumped his fist at the site. Combining it with two from his hand, he placed them down, alone and proud on his bed.

"So, you're not completely useless I see," came a smug tease from above.

"Stop being a jerk, Wilde."

"Ah, you know you love me."

"Not really," Damien growled, pushing his legs up into the underside of Nick's bunk. Hitting the metal, the fox above shifted slightly but not much happened, causing him to smirk slightly.

"Says the fox who said, and I quote, I'd die for you."

"I'm dying anyway, an' I like the idea of being useful you know," he muttered. "Sticking it in the eye of those prey twats, and protecting someone who stuck it in the eyes of all of them… Nothing really changes, but it seems cool."

"Odd motivation there."

"Not really," Damien sighed. "Thought it would be cool to off my brother and get away with it, you know?"

Nick paused for a second. "No, I don't."

"Eeeeeeh," the other fox huffed. "That brother was a real jerk. Came home drunk constantly. Yanked on our tails. Sleeping around a lot when he had a girlfriend… Any idiot who thinks us foxes mate for life never met that waste of space…"

"So, what did he do to tip you over?" Nick asked, turning down to face the fox below.

"Nothing, really."

"Seriously?" he asked again, pausing and looking on, both confused and a bit fascinated in a certain morbid way. "No abuse. Nothing nasty? Nothing?"

Damien shrugged. "I just got tired of him prancing about, thought I'd clean things up. Dad doesn't treat me like I exist anymore, but it was the same with the bad brother. Mother is dead, I don't think she cares. My other brother says he has mixed feelings…"

"Do you regret doing it?" Nick asked.

"Nah… As I said before. He was a jerk. Had it coming. And I guess I have it too now." He paused there, looking down and rubbing his chest slightly, before turning back to his cards. "Your go."

"Uh… ones?"

"Go fi… fi…" Damien broke off as he said it, placing his cards down and standing up. Doubling over, he began coughing. It was loud, a vicious hacking that had him shaking about. Nick observed from above as he launched red tinted phlegm from his throat, before walking over to the sink and taking some drinks of water. He turned, stepping over to a shelf and picking up his bottle of lozenges, taking one and planting it in his mouth, sucking intently through a set of smaller coughs.

Looking on, Nick didn't notice the guards at the door until they knocked sharply. It was Ramched and Caprey.

"You! Wilde!" the former shouted. "You're going to be taken to the interview room. Get your stupid buzz tail over here now!"

Looking down briefly at his appendage, now covered in a frizzy layer of short fuzz, Nick turned to face them. "Can I brink my pain meds too, in-case…"

"I don't caaaa're," Caprey slur-bleated. "Get ready."

Nick did so, opening the container, fishing inside for a few seconds before bringing out a pill, which he threw into his mouth. He placed the bottle inside his sleeve and walked to the door, standing there silently as he was cuffed and shackled up, before being led on.

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"Any news on who wants to see me?" Nick asked, quickly receiving a shoulder in his gut for his question.

"I heard it's someone in government," the sheep to Nick's left said. "I hope they're hear to tell you that the death penalties back, and you're going to give it its first new job."

The fox's ears fell back slightly, before rebounding. "And I thought you wanted me to rot in here, so that you could beat me up all you want."

"Twenty, thirty, forty years…" Caprey began. "You'll be waiting in 'ere for a very long time. Once we get a real warden in, I can beat you all I like."

"One of us could be the warden in the future," Ramched added. "The things I could do. Rather than clipping those claws of yours, I could dig them out with a scalpel. I could use pliers to tear out your teeth one by one. Maybe pluck each piece of fur from your tail, one at a time."

"You're… you're certainly getting more inventive, aren't you? A step up from sending some goons in to drown me in the toilet."

"If it weren't for that stupid rhino protecting you, yer'd of died the way you deserve to, chomper scum!"

Nick looked hard into the goats eye, and spoke. "Whose fault was it that I was in with her, Caprey?"

"That would 'ave worked, were it not fer that whore chomper nurse," the goat cursed. "Yer'd of been crumpled up, living as 'er little bitch. Maybe she'd get rid of yer other ball? Tear out yer new baculum. But that mad monster in her stupid nurse uniform stopped that."

"We'll get her too," Ramched said, smiling as he saw Nick's collar go up to orange. "We'll pin her down, and rut her till she fries herself into a crisp. We'll record it, and play you her screams. If you only care about chomper lives, I want you to hear the one you extinguished."

Gulping, Nick looked down, the two guards remaining silent as Nick was led into an interview room and cuffed to the table. There was a pause for a bit, the two guards being asked to leave through their radio, before three figures stepped in.

The first was Judy Hopps, her presence bringing a smile to Nick's face. The second was chief Bogo. No response. But the fox's eyes widened as the third member of the group came in, Mayor Swinton.

"Ah, premiere Trotterski," Nick joked, as the pig sat down. Her eyelids half lidded, she looked at him for a second or two before speaking.

"Mr. Wilde."

It was quick and brief, as if the whole exercise was unpleasant and she wanted to get it over and done with.

There was a brief pause, before Nick replied. "That's correct. And if you're here to try and convince me to call my ultimatum off, that's not going to happen."

"Even if going ahead would cause the death of every pred who tried it?" Swinton asked.

"If that was the case, wouldn't it be flashing up and down on every news channel," the fox said back, moving to cross his arms only to have the action stopped by his chain. "Instead, you have silence. Which sort of makes me believe that I'm right. So that question isn't very useful, is it? By the end of this month, predators are going to have the right to their emotions back. It's your choice which way that happens."

"Being political I see," the mayor said, quickly cut off as Nick let out a barking laugh, his collar going orange as he did so.

"Says the mayor who chose to invoke certain legal clauses in order to make my trial less fair," he said, before he looked forwards and his voice became threatening. "All so she could make an example of me and be seen as a chomper stomper? Isn't that right?"

"Absolutely," she deadpanned back, causing Nick to pull back, eye's wide and blinking. "And I will admit that it has backfired on me completely. I'm here to admit defeat, given that you've checked me and provided only one exit. Once a set of roadblocks are out of the way, I intend to build a wall around Happytown and create a collar free zone, just like you suggested."

Nick's collar flicked red, shaking him slightly. Unflinching himself from the pain, he looked on at her, almost gawking.

…

"Yes, I'm serious," the mayor added, flashing her hoof up to stop any interruption. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"…Yeeeesss…." He said, very tensely. His head tilted to the side as he looked on, examining her for any tell or sign but only seeing a cold hard mask in return.

There was a grunt from the side, as Judy walked over. "Ni… -Mr Wilde," she began, glancing up at the two mammals beside her. "I know it may seem hard to believe, but what you wrote in that ultimatum was correct. I was discussing this previously with the chief and mayor and we all agreed. The ZPD doesn't have nearly the capacity to deal with this full revolt, while bringing the army in with shoot to kill orders was considered far too brutal and risky when compared with your demands, by most mammals at least... They're taking the path you cleared out for them. They're literally doing what you predicted."

He looked at her and blinked a bit, before shaking his head to clear his mind. He closed his eyes, breathed in deep and, as he let it go, smiled wide. "Ahhh, the taste of victory and your enemies humble pie is nice in morning."

"Thanks for letting me know, given that I'm also about to receive it," the mayor said, before the chief stepped over.

"We have come to an agreement that certain things must be done before we let these collar free zones open," he said, the grin on Nick's face slowly disappearing as he did so. "The main one is the capture of your wolf friend, and the shut down of his nasty little cell. That's where you come in."

"Me?"

"Yes, you," Judy added, as she stepped up, carrying a piece of fabric. "This is a piece of your attacker's vehicle, from the driver's seat. It's been impounded at the ZPD for a while now, care to take a sniff?"

Nick did so several times, his eyes narrowing as he breathed it in. "Oh yeah, that's that punching bag."

"Indeed," the mayor added, "though your nose must be better than mine. I can't help but smell a whiff of my assistant when I try it, albeit with a load of other stuff on top."

Nick chuckled, shaking his head. "Who knows what your pet idiot gets up to in his free time…" He paused, turning back to the matter at hand and shrugged. "So, what? Do you want me to track him down?"

"We don't know yet," Bogo said. "The first thing we'll be planning is his capture, with your assistance. That could be via tracking or using you as bait. That will be decided soon."

"The entire operation is top secret. We four are the only ones who know," the mayor added in. "And if you co-operate, I promise that you will be rewarded."

"What with?" Nick enquired.

"A pardon," the mayor began, listing her points off of her fingers. "-for your crimes, your friend's crimes, as well as, dependant on the situation, a pardon, parole option, sentence reduction or, at the very least, general population reintegration for all those who broke the severest levels of the harmony act."

There was a beep and a buzz, Nick flinching down as he was shocked, before he stared, wide eyed, at the mayor.

"I know that your parents attempted to steal a collar keep some twenty-four years ago," she explained calmly. "Despite there being no evidence of malice behind their actions, they were automatically sentenced to life, with no visitation or parole rights. As well as scaling back the severity of punishments for such a felony, I would intend to pardon your parents, along with several others in a similar position."

An orange light hung over the room as Nick, looking down and a single a tear streaming from his eye, nodded. The mayor brought out a piece of paper and pushed it forwards. "There's a large clause about you not inciting any more civil unrest or mass criminality, I thought I'd put that in for insurance, though it doesn't stop you from campaigning. You could run for mayor as far as this is concerned. Sign on the dotted line."

Pulling it over, Nick scanned through the document before picking up his pen, writing his signature at the bottom as fast as he could.

"No smart comments, fox?" Bogo said out loud, both Swinton and Judy nodding as he said it.

He looked up and shook his head, silent, before turning back down and staring at the agreement.

"Nick," Judy began, "I understand that you may feel differently about this, given our history, but I'm looking forwards to working with you. And I will remember to give this wolf an extra dose of police brutality if I capture him."

"Leave some for me, Hopps," Bogo said, as the three mammals stood up.

Nick looked up at them as they took the document, the pill bottle in his sleeve clipping the table as he handed it over. He paused, and looked up at them. "Does the warden know?"

"We intend to inform him," the mayor replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Just, you may want to talk to him for a while. I have a hunch that something might come up."

They looked at him curiously, but left anyway. Leaving the room, Ramched and Caprey returned.

They hadn't heard what had happened inside, but they wanted to know.

Nick's route back to his cell block was long and slow and painful. Ribbing, stomping, verbal abuse, he put up with it until his escort gave up at getting information out of him. He was thrown into his cellblock, and made his way back to Damien. It was free time now, and a few preds mingled in the room, preparing a game of hearts.

Wordlessly, Nick slipped in, and several rounds passed by until there was a knock at the door. Turning around, they watched as Madge, a rhino guard escorting her, walked in. "Damien, I heard that your cough was worse today, is that true?"

"Yes nursey, got some blood coming up."

She nodded, and turned to Nick. "What about you?"

Nick smiled, and gave her a wink. "I may have to hand these back." He threw the bottle of pills at her, and she caught it deftly before leaving. "You know what you said about getting the timings a bit mixed up?" he said, looking at Damien.

"What about it?" he replied.

Nick shrugged. "You could say that about what's going to happen next. However, I think you guys will see it as a nice gift. An early kitmass present, if you will?"

"What's this about?" another predator asked, looking over.

"Oh," Nick replied. "You'll see. You'll see."