Ch. 26: Finale Part 1: Plan of Attack
Okay…that could have gone better... However, I decided to push the incident out of my mind for now and focused on driving back to Mr. Big's mansion instead. It's not my first time seeing something like that but it's still not easy to be in a room where seven people were coldly murdering each other. And then… I looked over to Judy who looked like she was currently on another planet, gazed glued to the window. I don't even need to read her to tell how much this is affecting her. On our way back, I pulled my phone out and make a call to a certain female fox.
'Swift, I pray you're there right now,' I auto-dialed Swift's number and waited for a response back. After a few seconds, I finally heard her voice.
"Hey Nick."
"Hey Swift," I greeted her. "You and Harris needs to come by to Mr. Big's mansion right now! Judy and I have something important to give to you guys!"
"But today is my day off!" Swift complained, before I grinned in response.
"So you can go out on a date with Harris or something?" I slyly asked. Swift didn't respond back to my remark for a few seconds, as I grinned even wider in response. "Congratulations on snagging yourself a boyfriend."
"Just tell me why you call me or I'll hang up," Swift tried to sound demanding, but she sounded more fluster instead.
"Fair enough, Swift," I chuckled, before I calmed myself down and responded back. "Carrots and I found a lot of evidence in Niccolo's car. In fact, we're going to drive it back to Mr. Big's mansion right now."
"You didn't steal it, did you?" Swift asked me suspiciously.
"Me? Steal? Of course not," Swift was right, but she didn't need to know that and Niccolo wouldn't need it anymore, since he would be sleeping with the worms soon. "Anyway, we have enough evidence that will take down the five gangs in one fell swoop."
"What kind of evidence?" Swift now sounded curious.
"We got everything to pin them down, Swift. We have pictures, flash drives, documents...the whole shebang," I replied and I got nothing but silence from Swift. "Hello?"
"...That's amazing, Nick! We finally have something that they can use against them!" she was clearly ecstatic by my answer. "Say, may I speak with Judy? I want to thank her too."
I cringed when Swift brought up Carrots' name, as I nervously glanced at her; she was still sitting right next to me, doing nothing but staring outside with a thousand yard stare, clearly traumatized by her actions.
"Judy is...busy for the moment," I halfheartedly answered.
"With what?" Swift sounded confused by my response.
"She's... on the lookout. Can't have someone ramming into us again," Yeah she'll definitely buy that. I'd buy that.
"If you say so then," Swift accepted my answer. "Anyway, I'll get Harris and we'll be at Mr. Big's mansion before you know it."
"We'll see you two then," I appreciated Swift's help, before we both hung up.
I glanced at Carrots again and as much as I wanted to look at her more, I need to focus my attention on getting us back to Mr. Big's mansion. Whenever we did have a few brief stops in traffic, I would look back to see what was going on with her; not only was she in the same exact position, but I could only hear her muttering out "It's all my fault" or "I killed him".
'Don't worry, I'll help you out when we get back,' I was becoming more and more worried for Judy's well-being.
We continued to drive for a few more minutes, before finally arriving back at Mr. Big's mansion, much to my relief. As we pulled up to the mansion, though, several polar bears popped out of nowhere, all armed to the teeth and aimed their firearms at us, ready to shoot.
"Whoa there, everyone! It's just us!" I quickly exited the driver's side of the car with both paws raised up, revealing myself to them, as the polar bears stand down and lowered their firearms. I looked over my shoulder and saw Judy still in the same position she was in since we left; it was like that she wasn't even aware of what was happening around her right now.
"If you guys are gonna come back, come back in the car you left in," one of the polar bears apologized, before he approached me with a concerned look. "Where's Icemin?"
I looked away from him for a moment, unsure what to say, before I faced him and ready to answer his question. After all, he and the others deserved to know the truth.
"Shit went downhill when negotiation with Niccolo broke down. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Icemin...didn't make it out."
The polar bears gasped in shock once I told them of Icemin's fate, as they all bow their heads down mournfully, showing proper respect for Mr. Big's fallen right hand bear.
'Looks like you'll live on in their memories, Icemin,' I sadly thought. "You might want to send some people to clean up the mess, before someone finds the bodies."
"Don't worry, Nick. We'll take care of it and we'll make sure Icemin gets a proper burial when this is all over."
"That's good," I smiled a bit, before I made my way to the passenger's side, opening it for Carrots to come out. "Alright, Judy, we're here now."
Carrots, however, didn't respond to a single word I said, remaining as motionless as she had been since we left the Meadowlands. She didn't even seem fully aware of what was going on around her.
'Pull yourself together, Judy. I can't do this by myself,' I sighed and proceeded to carry her out bridal style and ready to take her back to the mansion, but not before I stopped and turned my attention to one of the polar bears.
"Swift and Harris will come by over here to collect the evidence," I motioned my head to Niccolo's car. "Can you make me a copy of the floor plans and the address in the folder."
"Thanks for giving us the heads up," one of them thanked me. "I have someone get right on it."
As soon as I said this, though, a single car drove over to Mr. Big's mansion and pulled over a few inches away behind us; before we knew it, Swift and Harris exited out of the car and made their way towards Judy and I.
"We got here as fast as we could, Nick," Swift apologized.
"And what happened to Judy? She looks traumatized," Harris noticed the horrified look coming out of Carrot's face.
I paused for a moment, before I looked back at them, as I took a deep breath, ready to tell them the whole story. I trusted them to not tell anyone and they deserved to know what happened at the Meadowlands.
"Niccolo Duval, the underboss of the Flood, invited us to a warehouse at the Meadowlands for a meeting and apparently, he wanted us to help him to take out the five bosses that were plotting against Mr. Big. Things took a shitty turn, however, when Judy accused him of trying to kill Mr. Big and soon, we were in a shootout and everyone dropped like flies, leaving me, Carrots and Niccolo left standing. He went after us, intending to kill us, before Judy shot him at close range and...killed him."
Swift and Harris were shocked upon hearing the whole story and Carrots, who remained silent up to this point, finally broke down, as I put her down on the ground and gave her some space.
"This is all my fault! I got Icemin killed because of my selfishness and I took another person's life!" Judy continued to cry in sorrow for her actions, while Swift, Harris and I stared at her with sympathy and concern.
"Judy, is there anything we-" was all Swift could say, before I cut her off.
"I think it's best if I be alone with Judy," I insisted. "Also, the evidence is being copied right now so when it's done I want you two to bring it back to ZPD as soon as possible, but call us later if something important comes up."
"Got it," Swift understood.
"We'll make sure to bring them back to the station," Harris understood as well.
They both went inside to grab the evidence before heading back to ZPD while I stayed right beside Judy, who was in the midst of her breakdown, crying over her own actions.
'Don't worry, Judy, I'm here for you,' I didn't want to see her like this anymore, so I wrapped my arms around Carrots and soon, she stopped crying and looked at me in surprise. I could feel her body trembling a bit, but I could tell that she was starting to calm down.
"Are you alright now?" I asked, as I wrapped my arms tightly around her.
"It's not much, but I appreciate the hug," Judy admitted, before looking down in shame. "I still can't believe that I killed Niccolo. Not only that, but the image of him on the ground, blood flowing out of him... I don't think I'll ever forget it..."
"No matter what you think in that situation, you did what you have to do," I assured her.
"What do you mean?" Carrots looked at me in confusion.
"Niccolo attacked us, not the other way around. It doesn't make you a murderer, Judy. It makes you a hero," I explained, as she continued to look at me. "You shot Niccolo to protect us. We probably wouldn't have made it out of there if you hadn't take the shot. Besides, Niccolo brought it upon himself when he pulled his gun and if he hadn't been stopped, he could have gone after Fru Fru, her husband and even their daughter, just for being related to Mr. Big."
"He should have served jail time for his crime instead," Carrots begged to differ.
"You're right, Judy. He should have served time, but you did what you have to do in the heat of the moment. We were in a gunfight where I lost my gun and you were about to be shot at. How was he going to be stopped?" I argued. "Plus, there was no way we could have talked Niccolo down after he was accused for attempting to murder Mr. Big. He made it clear that he had no intention of allowing any one of us to leave the warehouse alive."
For what felt like the longest time, Judy remained silent and simply stared at me. Eventually, she hugged me, tightening her arms around me. I smiled and hugged her back in return.
"Thank you for listening to me, Nick."
"You're welcome, Carrots. No matter what happens, I'll be there for you."
After I was certain that Judy was feeling much better, we both let go of our hug and I pulled my phone out, ready to call Swift. But before I got the chance, we suddenly heard Fru Fru crying loudly, as she burst out of the mansion in tears, with James right besides her, carrying their daughter. We can tell that something bad just happened and we have to find out why.
"Fru Fru, what happened?" Judy asked her with concern, as her friend wiped away a few tears, before responding back.
"It's my dear old daddy, Judy. You see, he has been...kidnapped!"
"WHAT?!" we shouted at the same time, as we couldn't believe what Fru Fru had just said to us just now.
"It's the truth," Fru Fru sadly insisted, before lowering her head. "The driver who was supposed to take daddy to the hospital ended up betraying him and handed daddy over to one of the gangs."
"Oh goodie. More bullshit," I face palmed in disbelief. Now we had to help Mr. Big on top of pull off one of the biggest raids in the history of Zootopia. No fucking pressure.
"Where's the driver now?" a serious Judy asked.
"He went with daddy's attackers and I only found out about this because only one of daddy's bodyguards came back here alive," Fru Fru solemnly answered. This had to end. People are dropping like flies and here we are unable to do anything yet.
"Thank you for sharing this information with us," Judy appreciated Fru Fru's help.
"I'll call for some extra help," I assured her and auto-dialed Swift's number, before I received a response from her a few seconds later.
"Hey again, Nick. You sure like to blow up my phone lately," Swift snarked at me. I'm so proud.
"Hey Swift, I need you to look up something on the traffic cams."
"...Why?" Swift asked after a moment of hesitation.
"Long story short, Mr. Big was betrayed and kidnapped in broad daylight," I bluntly replied, as I could hear Swift sighed exasperatedly..
"Really?! Don't we have enough shit to do?!" Swift's voice came through the speaker full of frustration.
"I know the feeling."
"Anyway, I'll have Harris look up at any camera footage and find out what happened to Mr. Big and what became of him, his driver and his attackers."
"In the meantime, we'll figure out our next move, Swift."
"You and Judy better be careful out there. It'd be kind of a problem if you two ended up biting off more than you can chew."
"Don't worry, Swift. We'll do our best to stay safe," I assured her, before we both hung up.
"I take it that Swift we'll help us out in tracking down Mr. Big," Judy guessed.
"She'll try to find out what happened to him as best as she can," I informed Carrots, before I sighed. "Unfortunately, Mr. Big will have to wait since we don't know where he is, as we can't miss this kind of opportunity. We'll have to leave it to the police once they found out where he went."
"What are we supposed to do until then, Nick?"
"We'll need to make a plan in order to take out the five bosses, Judy."
"In that case, we'll need this," Judy then pulled out a folder and handed it to me, as I opened it up and inside was two weathered out map layouts; the first had on it appeared to be a series of abandoned apartments, which seemed be behind another building and the the only thing readable on the map layout was the address itself: 9391 Shade Avenue...which happened to be located in the Nocturnal District. Stunned, I examined the other map layout of a mansion and another connecting building very intently.
"Nocturnal District?" Judy looked at me confused.
"It's an underground district where it's night 24/7. It's underneath Central where we live and is generally considered a pretty lively place but where it's lively, means that it's got it's fair share of problems. Strangely, there are no big gangs in the Nocturnal District. Mostly small fry organizations." I explained quickly to Judy, who nodded. "Looks like Niccolo and the other four underbosses were about to use this to get their own bosses arrested and take over their leadership once their plan was a success," I commented.
"Not to mention that security would be tight if anyone found out about Niccolo's death. The meeting might even be called off altogether if they found out what happened to him," Carrots pointed this fact out.
"In that case, we'll have to prepare themselves for the inevitable," I stated.
"We'll probably need some tranquilizer darts too, provided that Swift and Harris would be willing to pick them up for us," Judy suggested.
"Works for me," I agreed and pulled my phone out and autodialed Swift's number again, before hearing Swift's voice after a few seconds. And she sounded kind of mad.
"Nick, I haven't found out what happened to Mr. Big yet. Stop calling me every five minutes."
"Sorry. Actually, I didn't call you up for that. Carrots and I are in dire need of some tranq darts."
"What the hell do you and Judy need tranquilizers for?" Swift wearily asked. It's hilarious to me that this girl thought of us as heroes to be idolized and we basically have done nothing but piss on that idea for her. I can only imagine Harris himself.
"Because you and Harris will be dealing with the five bosses, while we'll rescue Mr. Big," I calmly explained.
"...You got a point, Nick," Swift eventually accepted my reasons. "It does make things easier for both of us. We'll bring some darts to you guys once the coast is clear."
"Just make sure you find out where Mr. Big is located, so we can plan his rescue and hope that he'll still be alive by then," I reminded Swift. "Considering the state he's in now, we'll need to be very careful once we find him."
"Make sure Mr. Big gets into a hospital as soon as you can," she advised me.
"We'll make sure of that, Swift. I promise."
"Thanks and I wish you guys the best of luck."
"Right, Swift. I appreciate that," we then hung up again, before Carrots and I looked at the map layout once again. We basically were committing it to memory for about fifteen minutes before we continued talking.
"They sure took their sweet time marking each room for this mansion," I noted. "They must have really wanted their plan to work."
"That's nothing compare to what I found. Take a good look at this area," Judy put her finger in the basement area, as I looked where she was pointing at, where it was labeled "Holding Room". "That can't be a good sign."
"Especially if that's where Mr. Big would be held at," I agreed and we both looked at each other for a moment, like we were thinking of the same thing, before my phone rang. I pulled it out from pocket and answered it. "Hello?"
"Hey Nick. We have enough darts for you guys to use to rescue Mr. Big. It wasn't an easy task, however, since we have to pretend everything was normal with our fellow officers, before we could get the darts out of the armory. We barely brought them into the back of my car before they could spot them. We couldn't get you the guns though."
"Thanks for helping us out, Swift and sorry about that as well. The tranquilizer guns should be at mine and Judy's apartments. I left a spare underneath a potted plant on the seventh floor next to a soda machine."
"Holy hell, Nick, you got a complex enough hiding spot?"
"You should know Judy's. It's on the roof underneath a piece of tape on the far side of the ventilation system," Swift started to chuckle. She seemed to think this was ridiculous of us to hide out keys in out of the way locations.
"What happened to just putting it under a welcome mat? Anyway, we know where Mr. Big is."
"Where?"
Having moved to Mr. Big's study once Swift and Harris arrived and gave us the tranquilizer guns and ammo, I showed them the layout of the mansion that Carrots and I managed to get from Niccolo. Realizing what we're talking about, all of us, including Fru Fru, went into Mr. Big's office, laying out the map layout of the area on the desk and studied them as intently as we could.
"There's no doubt that the meeting will be held in that place tonight as that is where Mr. Big has been taken," Harris commented.
"He will likely be held up in that room marked "Holding room"," said Swift.
"It'll probably be heavily guarded too, considering how infamous Mr. Big is. Also, charging into their base of operation is very risky too. We'll be putting Mr. Big's life in jeopardy," Harris explained.
"Don't forget about the entire police force that will be there will likely be in danger, but with the map layout, they can surround the area and the bosses won't have anywhere else to go," Judy added.
"We'll also have to make sure that all the exits are blocked up to prevent their escape as well," I stated. "We just need to save one exit for ourselves and it'll be the only way out for Mr. Big, once we made sure that he's safe and sound."
"And once we're out, Harris and Swift will "find" the entrance and have that surrounded too, while we make our getaway and bring Mr. Big to the hospital," Carrots concluded.
"By the time the police comes inside in full force, they won't realize that we've done them a big favor and removed the hostage," I mused.
"It sounds risky, but if it means getting daddy out safely, then I don't mind if this plan gets pulled off," Fru Fru approved the plan, despite her reservation.
"But there's one problem: you two will need a getaway vehicle," Swift pointed out.
"As acting boss, I will be happy to provide one," all of us were surprised by Fru Fru's suggestion. "Technically, I'm second in line to inherit the family, but Icemin was to take over until I was taught enough on how to run the business before I officially took over. But after what happened in the last several hours, I'm now in charge of daddy's organization as a whole."
"I can't argue with that," I simply said.
"Plus, we need all the help we can get," Judy agreed.
"Looks like we got everything planned out then," I concluded, before looking at Swift and Harris. "All you two need to do is rally the rest of the troops to arrest the bosses."
"We're currently having someone securing arrest warrants for all five bosses with the evidence that you two provided for us, so we should have them ready by then," Swift informed us, much to our satisfaction. "Thankfully, no one asked where it came from though I can't help but feel someone should have."
"We were lucky that we manage to bring it to you guys. Hopefully, this would put an end to the gang war once and for all," I spoke up. "They might not put a total stop to it, but at the very least, this will derail them in the long run for a very long time."
"Not to mention that some of the gang members would probably go into hiding once the five bosses are arrested," Judy pointed out. "That and Bogo would be pleased with the PR, especially if the police would be able to take down such high level criminals."
"Oh sure, I can just imagine the PR stiffie he's having right now," I deadpanned and rolled my eyes with disinterest.
"The police will be there as well and according to the documents, the meeting will be at 9 PM. Of course, it could go on much longer, so the best time to strike will be during the meeting. It'll be the last thing the bosses will ever expected to happen," Harris advised us. "We'll just have to follow the directions we're given and use this tunnel that leads from apartment building to the mansion a half mile away.
"Look at you, Harris! Planning a covert op like it's nothing!" Swift thanked him and tightly hugged him for his advice, as Harris blushed back, much to our amusement.
"Harris, you sly rabbit," I slyly remarked.
"Looks like you're up to bat," Judy chuckled. "But seriously, we need to get going. It's four o'clock right now and we need to get to the tunnel entrance."
"Um, I think I should drive this time," Harris tried to say but was cut off by Swift.
"Nah, I got this!"
Setting our plan set in motion, we all got into Swift's car and drove off to the Nocturnal District, as Swift drove to our destination like a speed demon, passing by a few cars and several stop signs along the way. Hell, she drove a few red lights and we nearly got crushed by a large truck. It was a miracle that we were able to make it out in one piece! I'm honest to god surprised that no cops pulled us over. That wouldn't be something I think Swift wants to happen.
'Where did this girl learn to drive?! And I thought Flash could drive like crazy! Swift is a real maniac on the wheel', I thought, clinging onto the seat for dear life.
Thankfully for us, though, we made our way down to what looked like a tunnel...the same tunnel that Carrots and I saw in the map layout. There was no doubt that this was the right place, as Swift drove up to to the tunnel until stopping in her tracks, just a mile away from the entrance.
"This is as far as we can drop you guys," Swift told us. "Once 9 PM rolls around, me, Harris and the rest of the police will be getting ready."
"Thanks, Swift. We appreciate it," I thanked her.
"We'll make our escape before they show up," Judy assured her.
"Just stay out of sight and stay safe out there," Swift warned us.
"And don't get caught too," Harris added.
"Thanks again for helping us" I thanked them, before Swift turned her car around and drove back to the station, while we got our tranquilizer guns out and made our way down to the tunnel. According to Niccolo's documents, the tunnel actually lead to the basement of the mansion, which was in a completely separate building a half-mile away. Not only that, but it was hardly guarded, which meant that no one would be protecting the place either.
"So this is it," I stated. "We'll be putting an end to this gang war once and for all."
"With Fru Fru organizing our getaway driver, we'll be out of here with Mr. Big in no time," Carrots felt confident.
"Let's make sure this rescue mission is a success then," we went straight into the tunnel and made our way to one of the nearest roofs of the abandoned apartments and waited for the next few hours. I pulled out my phone and saw that it was 8:30 by now, before we used our binoculars to see a few cars pulling up to the mansion; naturally, it was the bosses themselves, as well as their legions of muscle right beside them.
'Alright, this is now or never!' I thought, before I stopped myself and looked at the hard cast on my leg. 'Oh yeah, that's right. I still have this on. Maybe I should let Judy go ahead first.'
"Nick, what's wrong?" Judy asked, snapping myself out of my thoughts, before I sighed and answered her question.
"It's my lame leg, Carrots. Since I still have it in the hard cast, I don't wanna slow you down. You go ahead and I'll catch up."
"That sounds like a bad idea, Nick," Judy objected.
"I'll be right behind you. I just won't be as fast as you," I insisted, as Judy let out a big sigh.
"Alright Nick, I understand. Just make sure to keep your guard up," Judy then scouted up ahead, while I did my best to catch up with her as fast as I could, despite the hard cast on my leg. I also took the time to look at the tunnel myself: it was only about 6 feet tall and was clearly intended for a quick getaway. Something tells me that bribery was somehow involved.
"They really need to make a quick getaway if the city allowed this tunnel to exist," I remarked, as we continued to travel into the tunnel. For how long, we didn't know for sure, but we soon heard some faint voices from a distance, so we're certain that we're getting closer to the mansion.
"At least we're on the right track," I quietly said, before Judy shushed me and took cover from the corner, before motioning me to do the same. Taking a deep breath, I made my way towards Carrots, cringing from the pain coming from my hard cast; I barely made my way to her, but it took me a bit longer than it should have. "Alright Judy, what's going on?"
"Look around," Judy pointed to the corner; as soon as I looked at her direction, I saw two guards right next to it...as well as blocking our only entrance to the mansion, much to my dismay.
"We can make this work."