A/N: Hello all! Not gonna ramble on here much this time, other than the usual: Thank you all so much for reading! Seriously it really means a lot… Now grab the popcorn, get reading, and don't hesitate to tell me what you think! Enjoy! ;)
Chapter 25
'Road Rage – Part 1'
Nick needn't have worried…
…
Although Judy felt like she had been shot a second time as the pain from her earlier bullet wound coursed agonisingly through her nerves… she was so hyped up on adrenaline it only made Zootopia's craziest steadfast Bunny evermore determined.
Even at this speed as the car swerved wildly to face the wrong way, she forced her right paw down to the handbrake-
Before performing a perfect 180 degree handbrake turn…
And slammed her injured right leg back on the accelerator… this time not caring about her wound as it began to bleed again into her bandage.
Judy would brave the pain…
Nick still looked back down the 4 lane roadway with worry for her…
But seeing the graceful car control she exhibited, in an instant he knew she was still in the fight, whatever state she was in.
He knew she never gave up.
…
But he still couldn't help but worry about her as he looked back the direction the armoured rig was traveling, spotting an approaching overhead sign…
Nick didn't have to duck underneath it, he was small enough that the sign sailed easily over him, even on his elevated position on top of the trailer… but it was the quick glance at the information that he took notice of; the sign said several things, but the only thing he was looking for said:
SAVANNA CENTRAL 14
…
14 miles left.
…
And they were quickly running out of them… even if the truck had slowed down from its earlier nearing triple digit speed, Nick beginning to feel the chill of the rushing wind against him.
But the information from the road sign wasn't what kept his attention…
It was the Vixen the other end of the trailer wielding a baseball bat that was charging towards him.
As quickly as he could, Nick pulled the shotgun holstered with the carry strap from his back, aiming directly in front of him at the charging Vixen…
But Maisie was already on him: she swiftly swung her bat striking the barrel of Nick's shotgun away with enough force the weapon flew from his paws to fall from the truck onto the speeding roadway-
And a split second later, Nick felt the Vixen's blunt weapon strike the underside of his jaw, painfully knocking him back down to the roof of the shipping container trailer.
Nick cringed from the hit, moving his now empty paws to massage his jaw for a moment as he heard the Vixen shout behind to her brother;
"You wanna get in on this one Max?"
"Naa… not my type…" the other Fox remarked, observing the fracas, "Just don't fall in love with him while you beat him to death like the last one…"
"No promises…" Maisie smiled, "… He's kinda hot,"
"Thanks…" Nick mocked in response, acquiring the Vixen's attention, "… but come on, beating me up for a first date? That's just not cricket…"
"No… its baseball, cutie,"
"Except…" Nick pointed at her blunt weapon, "… you know that's a rounder's bat, right?"
Maisie scowled; "Doesn't matter…" and raised her bat, "I'm still gonna kill you with it!" and brought it straight down-
Nick rolled sideways onto his front, causing the Vixen's aluminium rounders bat to impact against the steel of the container with a metallic clang… and swiftly, Nick kicked her right leg from beneath her…
Maisie shifted her weight, using her large bushy tail to counterbalance and her brutal blunt weapon to push back off the container roof to prevent her from falling… but her brief stumble had given the cop time to rise to his feet.
Nick ducked as the Vixen suddenly swung the bat at his head, taking the advantage of her over slung attack to punch her directly in the muzzle…
Maisie staggered back, looking genuinely upset at Nick as her left paw moved to massage her snout;
"You'd hit a vixen!?"
"Only the psycho ones, hot-stuff," Nick teased.
Maisie made a snide smirk… before swiftly raising her weapon again-
With a mild snarl, she swung downwards, attempting to strike Nick directly on the top of his skull…
But he easily dodged it, moving to his right so as to stay near to the centre of their swaying duelling platform as the Vixen swung at him again…
Their melee continued as Maisie made several more lunges at him, Nick dodging every single one with surprising agility, until it eventually let him down verses the Vixen's constant blunt onslaught:
For once Maisie swung low, catching Nick off guard…
He still dodged it, the bat barely grazing his fur, but it easily knocked him off balance; Nick lost his footing, especially when Maisie attacked him again- this time slamming against his forehead with the knob on the base of the handle of her rounders bat.
Nick fell onto his side, swiftly recovering at the sight of a metal cylinder about to hit his head… he rolled away as Maisie brought her weapon straight down at him, only to instead collide against the steel with another metallic clang…
Almost spinning on the spot, Nick moved so as to kick her away, barely making her stagger with a feeble push of his foot paw… but it still gave him the necessary chance to return to his feet.
And their melee continued still; this time Nick would be prepared for any cunning strategies like that…
Every swing Maisie made of her rounders bat Nick efficiently dodged, further infuriating her, but every second Nick stayed fighting against her meant he was losing time that he couldn't afford, further infuriating him.
However, Max and Maisie excelled in fighting mammals bigger than them, whereas Nick didn't… but fighting mammals the same size played right to Nick's advantage.
After all of the melees he'd been in today… Nick finally had a fair fight…
Somewhat.
Maisie was certainly keeping Nick on his toes… both mentally as he tried to remember his SWAT paw-to-paw training, staggering himself again at how much of what he learned was actually being put to practice… and physically, as the uneven, unguarded trailer of the semi-truck rocked and swayed with the movement of the vehicle, definitely forcing him to keep his balance at every given moment.
As Nick and Maisie were duelling, Max was still hanging back from the fight at the other end of the trailer, ready to pounce on the Fox cop if he felt he needed to intervene for the sake of his sister, even though she was capable of holding her own and appeared to be winning. He was waiting in a crouched stance, which on first glimpse looked particularly feral: he was leaning forward, both feet and one paw on the floor and haunches coiled for the needed spring in his step. His sledgehammer-sized claw hammer was still holstered on his back in the shotgun sheath, but he had refrained bringing his P90 with him…
As easy as pulling a trigger is, there was no fun in it for him… which was the same reason he only used his hammer when he was angry.
He very really contemplated using it when the Fox laid another punch on his sister, and chose not to-
But he still decided to intervene…
Having taken the punch, Maisie had just swung her bat at Nick again… though this time he made a tactical decision against dodging it, and instead let it collide with his left side. He cringed a half-second from the pain of the impact before he made his move:
Nick clamped his arm over the aluminium cylinder, grabbing it firmly with his left armpit and moved his left paw to the handle, before he abruptly yanked it away from the Vixen's grasp whilst simultaneously pushing her backwards with his right paw…
Having not expecting such a move, this time Maisie fell down onto the uncomfortable steel of the trailer roof, Nick proceeding to stand over her triumphantly with her own weapon in his paws-
That was the moment Max intervened; he jumped right over his sister, diving directly into Nick's chest to knock him backwards, and landing hard against the trailer with the back of his head, making him drop the Vixen's weapon.
Maisie dived for her rounders bat before it fell off the edge, turning back to the fight as Max pinned Nick against the trailer, crouched on top of him with his foot across his neck…
Angered again at another bout of being constricted around his airway, Nick quickly made use of Max's blunder that he hadn't restrained his arms:
He clasped on the other Fox's leg with both paws, twisting Max's ankle enough so he made a grunt of pain as Nick forced him away, taking in a deep breath as the pressure was released from his neck.
Max fell down beside him on his left, staying there a little longer when Nick swung a long punch from his right paw towards Max's muzzle-
The growl gave it away…
Even through the sound of rushing wind, revving combustion engines and tyres rolling across the road, Nick heard the Vixen's snarl: he looked back in front of him as he lay on the trailer, raising both his legs to kick away the Vixen as she was about to bring her rounders bat down on him again… Nick's feet colliding directly with Masie's chest.
She staggered backwards, as Nick followed through with his momentum from his kick, managing to return to his feet and kicking forwards again at the enraged Vixen to knock Maisie back down…
But Max had re-found his own two feet… assaulting the Fox cop from behind with a kick to the back of his leg; it knocked Nick to one knee as Max caught him in a headlock.
Nick fought against it, tucking his chin and trying to pry the other Fox's arms away from his neck as he pushed backwards against him, now back on his two feet and travelling rearward to the end of the trailer and dodging more strikes from the Vixen as Masie attempted to crush and consequently miss Nick's feet every time he took a step back, her bat making more loud clangs of metal on metal.
Nick once more raised a single leg to kick the Vixen away…
But he still hadn't got out of Max's headlock-
The decreased speed of the armoured semi-truck had allowed Judy and Fang to catch up in their own armoured vehicle after their spinout…
But the remainder of the armed convoy had caught up also.
Whether they were out of bullets or just not shooting, the other vehicles began to converge around them on all sides, surrounding them and ramming their solid vehicle, knocking the Wolf and the Rabbit harshly inside the car.
"They're boxing us in…" Fang uttered.
"I can see that-" Judy replied, getting interrupted as several bullets started to strike at her driver door, forcing her to flinch back into her seat to avoid getting shot through her broken window.
It was coming from the other 18 wheeler of the convoy; the tanker truck. It had pulled up on their left side, matching their speed. A pack of wolves were riding on the trailer tank, four of them, completely exposed compared to the other vehicles of the convoy… but it also gave them a much better vantage point… now using it to their advantage to try and kill the Bunny driver of the commandeered LAPV.
Judy still recoiled in her seat, trying to control the car while trying desperately not to get shot (as she knew how much it hurt)…
In the rear seat… Fang took a chance:
With his rifle held firm, he barely popped his head out of the open roof hatch before he fired… striking the she-wolf with the assault rifle shooting at Judy's window as a single bullet clipped the top of her skull… it didn't kill her… but it did knock her backwards to fall off the opposite side of the tanker, smacking against the speeding roadway as she fell…
With no bullets directed at her for now, Judy clasped hard on the steering wheel, ramming against the side of the tanker trailer… and staying so close that the wheels of both the trailer and her armoured car were almost touching.
That moment, Fang made an impulse decision… thinking he could do better in this situation than staying in the armoured car;
"Try not to get shot… err, again…"
"Where are you going!?" Judy asked.
"On that tanker truck…" Fang revealed, "Just line up the hatch so I can jump it!"
Judy pressed the brake gently, glancing behind her to line up the roof hatch of the LAPV with the stern of the tanker trailer, and making the car behind them rear end their tougher vehicle and drop backwards on the roadway behind from the sudden jolt.
With the vehicle's lined up with the corresponding speed, Fang moved with lightning quick haste… climbing fully out of the LAPV's roof hatch and immediately making the jump across to the rear of the tanker truck, landing solidly with his feet on the extended rear bumper and clasping hard onto the ladder fixed to the huge fuel tank, now clinging on firmly, but incredibly vulnerable from the rear of the tanker rig;
"URGH!" Fang grunted as one bullet, likely a single 9mm struck his back…
Though the rear plate of his ballistic vest stopped the round, the impact still hurt, and other than that single bullet, the criminals had held fire as Fang had expected (and hoped for), not wanting to risk shooting the tanker full of highly flammable liquid…
However, as he climbed the rear ladder and peered over the top edge, it was obvious the pack of wolves on the tanker truck didn't have the same thought-
Fang immediately ducked down as he saw one of the wolves aim his AN-94 at him, firing straight afterwards with the bullets scarcely missing Fang's ears as he folded them back. He was pinned, and in the most awkward of places as well.
But he wasn't for long…
Observing him from the rear view mirror and from looking behind out her window, Judy made a move to help him:
Pulling away from the side of the tanker truck with a turn of the steering wheel, she rammed into one of the cars boxing her in away from her vehicle enough so she had a clear shot. She aimed her PPK pistol out her broken window at the wolf wielding the assault rifle keeping Fang pinned, and quickly pulled the trigger several times.
It was a flurried move… Judy scowled as only one of her bullets grazed the wolf's leg, she knew she was better than that…
But that was more than enough-
Having noticed her shot had landed, Fang tore up the ladder as fast as his limbs would take him, immediately engaging the wolf that previously had him pinned; the one Judy had shot.
The canine was currently kneeled down with his paw on his bleeding leg… but Fang didn't relent…
As he thought back to the earlier conversation all the way back in the church; Wolford had been right: these criminals didn't deserve any mercy:
He quickly grabbed the gun by the rail guard and yanked it from the other wolf before he even had a chance to fire… Fang slammed the rifle butt against the canine's muzzle, knocking him down before grasping the trigger himself and made sure he wasn't going to get back up again as he fired several rounds into his chest.
But there were still two more wolves to deal with-
Fang was swiftly tackled when the first wolf was already on him before he could prepare, the opposing canine kicked away the assault rifle in his paws… Fang inadvertently dropping the weapon as the wolf's foot knocked it away, disarming him-
And then snarled in anger as a knife was slashed across the side of his muzzle, the tip of the blade making a shallow cut from the edge of his right cheek to just behind his nose…
With a deliberate stagger backwards, Fang affirmed his balance on the shaky duelling platform, perfectly ready for the wolf's next lunge at him:
The canine thrust the knife at him directly, attempting the stab Fang directly in the gut… but that was as far as he got…
Fang shifted to his right, retaining his balance as he promptly grabbed the wolf's outstretched stabbing arm, yanking him towards himself before elbowing him in the throat.
As the wolf cringed from the hit, Fang jerked the knife from his grip, swiftly using it himself has he slashed at the cringing canines neck… grabbed hold of his shirt collar- almost instantly drenched in blood from the cut artery… and then Fang stabbed the knife twice more into the wolf's gut before twisting him around and throwing the bleeding canine off the side of the trailer-
And collided instantly against one of the highway's passing lampposts with a sickening thud…
Having dispatched that one, Fang looked ahead, seeing the dual shocked and angered expression of the last wolf-
Who still had his gun in his paws.
Fang reacted accordingly…
Before the other wolf had chance to raise his weapon, Fang had juggled the tactical knife in his right paw, holding it by the steel blade as he raised it and swiftly threw it at the other wolf, slicing into and embedding itself into the canine just below his left shoulder.
With a combination of the pain and impact as the knife gouged into his flesh, the other wolf fell backwards, dropping his rifle.
Fang charged at him to finish him off-
Completely shocked when the wolf with a knife through his shoulder kicked him away with both feet…
Fang landed hard onto his back, slightly dazed as he hit his head. He looked forward to see the wolf had risen to his feet but was crouched low as he suddenly pulled the knife from his shoulder with seemingly no affliction of pain.
Fang remained lying on his back to let the wolf reach him this time- barely a second had passed before the canine did charge towards him… so Fang swiftly returned the dropkick he had been given, striking the wolf in his chest.
It didn't knock him down, but it did make him wobble backwards, giving Fang all the time he needed:
He swiftly jumped to his two feet, his tail successfully keeping him balanced on the shaky tanker trailer before rushing forward to attack the other wolf…
By now he had recovered, seeing the White Wolf cop coming to attack him… He stabbed forwards, aiming directly at Fang's heart-
It was a pathetic manoeuvre… Fang easily countered it: moving to his left, the wolf's outstretched aim sailed past him where he simultaneously elbowed the canine in the armpit to weaken his arm, and yanked the knife from his loosened paw… Fang now had the blade- holding it backpawed, but refrained from using it yet.
While still clutching the knife, he swung his right paw round and punched the wolf directly in his knife wound beneath his left shoulder.
The wolf instantly buckled, falling off his feet and down to one knee with his left still raised- which Fang instantly and brutally stabbed the knife into, twisting the blade as he severed the canine's patella from his leg before swiftly dragging the knife out with its serrated edge cutting the flesh.
This time, the criminal canine was overcome with pain from the cruel stab and having his kneecap bone torn from his leg, he fell to his side as he grasped his blood fountaining knee…
But Fang quickly put him out of his misery, and ended him by stabbing the knife directly through the wolf's jugular… silencing his howls of pain.
Fang didn't waste any time as he dragged the knife from the dead wolf's neck, wiping it quickly against his cloths to get most of the blood off before placing it flat in his maw…. he would still most likely need it, but still wanted to keep his paws free as he proceeded to jump from the trailer to the truck cab…
While Nick and Fang were undoubtedly busy boarding the other vehicles… Judy was trying to keep the armed criminals from boarding hers.
She wasn't overly fond about taking the life of another mammal (nobody was) even if she knew she had already killed some before this exact moment… Judy knew it struck the very nature of herself, and the very reason she wanted to become a cop: to make the world a better place, and help other mammals… not kill them.
But after the things she'd seen these criminals- these terrorists, do… she was willing to make that sacrifice. In the long run, ridding the world of cold-hearted fanatics like these would make the world a better place… and so, Judy didn't hesitate pulling the trigger…
Too much was at stake.
Plus… she was the only prey animal in a battle against predators… she was only defending herself-
The cars surrounding her had backed off from ramming her stronger vehicle, but only so a couple of foolish criminals could try and board it.
Judy wasn't having any of that…
And she wasn't an idiot: the armoured car's doors were locked and the only way they could get to her was through her broken window or through the open roof hatch.
As one of the mammals from the adjacent vehicle started swinging a hammer to her passenger side window, Judy could see in the rear view mirror a caracal had climbed onto the small truck bed on the back of her car, attempting to climb into the canopy from the roof hatch…
But as soon as he was visible through the open slab of armour plating Judy turned in her seat and fired her pistol through it, the bullets striking the feline hard to kill him and fall off the side of the car-
That moment the hammer broke through her passenger side window… not breaking the glass, but leaving a big enough hole.
Before a gun barrel could be poked through to finish her off, Judy quickly reloaded her pistol before instantly firing several rounds through the hole that was made, cutting into the figure of the dingo on the other side of the shattered bullet-resistant glass-
Several sparks erupted from the exposed frame of her broken driver side window…
Judy had no wing mirror left to see, having been crushed from the altercation with the armoured semi-truck… but with a quick turn of her head she could just about see out the cracked side rear window there was an ocelot and grey fox on a motorbike unwisely attempting to make the gap between her armoured car and the tanker trailer. From their angle of fire, a couple of the bullets had ricocheted off her door into the huge cylindrical tanker trailer, now bleeding out a gentle stream of spilled petrol onto the speeding tarmac beneath them.
Ruthlessly, Judy turned the steering wheel to the left, slamming into the side of the tanker, and forcing the ocelot and grey fox's bike to collide against it, knocking the two of them from the vehicle and knocking the motorcycle itself down onto the road and underneath the rear wheels of the tanker trailer-
A small explosion erupted as the bike's engine and fuel tank was compressed beneath the heavy load, catching the tyres of the tanker rig on fire and inadvertently setting aflame both the small stream of leaking gasoline and the tankers rear fuel lines…
Judy looked back through her window to see the blaze, muttering her usual tame curse word to herself;
"Oh crackers…"
He gave himself a running start… Fang ran along the remaining length on top of the tanker trailer-
Easily jumping the gap between it and the cab, thumping against it as he landed, his knife still gripped in his jaws, carefully so as to not cut himself.
His thump against the metallic roof alerted the wolf driver inside, and oddly, the polar bear in the passenger seat…
But they didn't get chance to react before Fang made his move:
Dropping through the cabs sunroof, the Wolf cop kicked the polar bear directly in the head with all his weight twice over, appearing to knock the bear out cold before he landed in between them…
The wolf driver attempted to grab Fang by the neck-
But he didn't get there… Fang pushed the wolf's paw away, making him miss his mark before the cop grabbed the criminal by the ruff with his left paw… slammed his muzzle into the steering wheel, and retrieved the knife from his mouth to stab directly at the wolf driver's throat… piercing straight through his jugular with a splatter of blood against the seat.
Fang reclaimed the knife first before he leaned over to open the driver side door, and pushed the dead canine out of the vehicle onto the speeding roadway… now taking control of the tanker rig himself…
Although Fang had no idea how to drive a semi-truck, he assumed it couldn't be all that difficult as he put his feet on the pedals and paws on the steering wheel.
He looked in front a couple of lanes to the right, seeing Nick in a brawl against the Fox and Vixen duo on the container of the armoured semi-truck… sort of wishing he was there to help considering how much he wanted payback on the two vulpines. Though of course, he knew Nick wanted that payback too, and he appeared to be holding his own against them.
Fang changed his gaze, now looking back into the right side wing mirror; he didn't take much notice that the rear of the tanker he was driving was slightly ablaze and was focussed more on Judy's wellbeing, seeing the reverse image of her still inside the commandeered pickup LAPV… still surrounded by the rest of the armed convoy. She herself seemed to be holding her own despite the other large cars occasionally ramming into her and a couple of random audacious criminals trying to board her vehicle…
But she was still boxed in by the other vehicles-
With the tanker blocking her right side…
So Fang proceeded to change that.
With some slight pressure on the gas pedal, he forced the rig to accelerate… For two reasons: free Judy from the rest of the armed convoy, and catch up to the other rig to help Nick…
Judy instantly noticed the tanker truck's slight increase in speed, and assumed Fang had reached the controls successfully.
She refrained from accelerating along with it though, as that was the intention while her Wolf comrade was pressed on the accelerator, it was opening a gap on her left side to free her from the rest of the convoy surrounding her.
As the tanker rolled forward, Judy peered through her broken driver side window, coughing before holding her breath from the burning rubber and leaking petrol fumes and the subsequent blackened smoke that was following it…
And through the smoke she saw, the two fennec foxes in the modified dune buggy with the flamethrower pulling up along the left side of the tanker truck, evidently trying to catch up to the cab and torch it with Fang inside.
Judy wasn't going to let them get any further…
It didn't take much acceleration, but as Fang looked back in the right side wing mirror he could see the gap increasing…
And the flames getting bigger-
Suddenly, as Fang was focussed on driving the truck… it appeared the polar bear in the passenger seat had only been playing unconscious.
He swiftly roused, revealing a .44 magnum revolver and pointed it straight at the Wolf beside him-
Pointing the weapon was as far as he got…
Fang quickly grabbed the bears paw, clawing into it and prying away the handgun as a single missed shot rang out. The gun dropped into the foot well as Fang let the steering wheel go completely and swiftly made use of his knife: stabbing straight through the bear's paw and pinning it to the dashboard before promptly jolting his own sideways to break the handle off from the blade, trapping the bear's bloody paw in place against the dashboard of the lorry as the ursine roared in pain.
It was the polar bear's roar that actually caught his attention…
Roan looked out the right side window from the backseat of the armoured lorry cab to see the flat fronted semi-truck catching up to them-
And scowled as he saw the White Wolf in the driver's seat.
For a moment Roan admired the Wolf's tenacity, even after he'd turned the canine savage… it appeared he was coming back with a vengeance.
Which he was adamant to deny him:
Roan lifted up his Tar-21 assault rifle, armed with a fully loaded magazine, aiming out the window towards the White Wolf…
Fang noticed as he was scowling at the Panther… swiftly pulling the whining polar bear in front of him from his neck to use as a living shield as the feline in the opposing lorry pulled the trigger…
The bullets impacted the polar bear, turned his white fur red, killing him instantly with small splatters of blood and the sickening squelches of bullets cutting into flesh.
Fang ducked below the dashboard, inadvertently letting off the accelerator as he reached down to the foot well and picked up the dead polar bear's dropped revolver…
Roan held fire for a moment.
He knew his shots had missed the Wolf, but the slight drop in the tanker truck's speed gave him a chance to turn away and speak to Mitchell;
"Don't let him get in front of us," Roan ordered.
The Honey Badger driver looked to his left, eying the tanker rig two lanes over, before he turned his attention back to the expansive road ahead, changed up a gear, and pressed harder on the gas pedal…
The sudden burst of extra speed knocked all three of the fighting Foxes on the trailer off-balance…
Max still had Nick caught in a rear headlock, but as the truck had sped up, his grip slipped as he was forced to step backward. Nick instantly used this to his advantage; lifting his shoulders up to further loosen the other Fox's grip, Nick moved his right leg behind Max's before expertly freeing himself from the headlock by twisting around, tripping Max sideways and dragging his arm from around his neck and pulling the criminal Fox in front of him-
Almost making Maisie strike her own brother with her bat weapon as she swung it directly downwards to strike the Fox cop… stopping her swing just before she hit her brother's muzzle.
Maisie lifted her bat away from Max's mildly surprised face…
Just as Nick kicked him forwards, forcing him to tackle his own sister and knocking both of them down as Nick wobbled backwards, lifting his tail and tactically dropping to all fours for a second as the truck sped up further before returning to his two feet…
By now, the other two Foxes had recovered too… Nick was prepared when Maisie charged at him again-
But she caught him off guard as Nick was expecting to dodge another swung of her rounders bat; instead, this time she began her assault with a harsh kick, knocking Nick backwards as her foot collided with his chest before Maisie did swing her bat madly…
First she swung to Nick's head, second to his stomach, next to his chest, then another to his head… every single one of them Nick hurriedly dodged as he stepped backwards each time to avoid the Vixen's assault… but there was only so far he could keep stepping backwards. With each swing Maisie was pushing Nick further and further to the rear of the trailer…
But he wasn't so blind.
Before Maisie could push him back any further, Nick rolled to his right side as he ducked under another of the swings from the Vixen's blunt weapon, passing beside her as she was still mid-lunge-
Though for once Maisie swiftly countered Nick's dodge as she thrust the tip of the bat beside her to collide into his side, hitting him solidly and making him cringe… leaving Nick completely unprepared for the next swing of her weapon: striking the underside of his jaw.
Nick grunted as he wobbled backwards away from the Vixen-
Only for the other Fox to assault him from behind while he was defenceless…
As Nick staggered backwards towards him, Max stepped on his tail to shock him before kicking out the back of his left leg, effectively weakening his stance. With his tail pinned, Nick outstretched his left arm to balance himself… only for Max to swiftly grab it and pull behind him painfully, before tripping Nick's right leg as Max thrust a paw to the back of his neck…
In that moment, Max had practically turned Nick into his puppet, now shifting him to edge of the trailer to throw him off the truck onto the speeding roadway below…
Fang soon responded to the armoured semi's sudden acceleration, slamming down on the accelerator himself to regain the lost speed. As he retook control of the tanker rig, he sat back up in the driver seat before aiming the revolver he had picked up out the window round the dead polar bear-
He saw both the Honey Badger driver and the Panther gunner flinch from his shots as he fired off the full five rounds left in the cylinder… but they all missed, and now he was out of ammo, so dropped the firearm as it became useless.
He didn't take his eyes off them… Fang was too focussed on waiting for some form of retaliation… and trying to overtake the other semi-truck, he was completely unaware of the danger on his left side…
"ARGHRR!" Fang flinched angrily as a torrent of flame almost completely scorched him.
He ducked away further inside the cab as another searing column of bright orange fire entered his vehicle through the open driver window. He could just about see in the wing mirror: those two fennecs in the modified dune buggy, the one wielding the flamethrower yelling;
"BURN MOTHERFU*KER!"
Fang had no way out of this, part of the inside of the cab had already caught fire and his fur was already partly scorched as he patted it down, once again held back by flames like he had been near the start of the day back in the burning bar… he was beginning to grow a fear of those luminous flakes of orange-
But he didn't have to worry much longer…
Now the gap was big enough:
Judy swiftly turned the steering wheel, passing behind the burning petrol tanker, making use of the improvised blackened smoke screen to shield her movement till she was free from the rest of the armed convoy.
She continued the merge until she was in the inside lane, now pulling along the left side of the tanker truck-
Witnessing the flames erupting from the modified dune buggy ahead, scorching the truck cab where Fang was…
Judy quickly put an end to that.
With a quick change up in gear, she slammed her foot on the gas…
The short build-up of engine revs was the fennec's only warning- the one in the mounted rear seat with the flamethrower turned to face the noise, seeing the charging armoured car with the Bunny behind the steering wheel, eyes filled with violet fury-
His ears folded back in terror as he squeaked a subtle;
"ARRHHH!-"
Till the LAPV rammed into the rear of their tiny dune buggy… tearing through like it was made of craft paper.
Judy only looked ahead as the wreckage was crushed beneath the wheels of her vehicle… and drove on with that immovable expression of boundless determination on her face…
Still trying to hide the pain from her bleeding leg…
Roan had kept a solid eye on the opposing truck cab as he leaned over to grab Max's discarded M32 grenade launcher, proceeding to load three of his own high explosive 40mm grenades into the revolving drum.
On completion, the Panther swiftly returned to aim out the open side window-
Fang had noticed, and ducked low… still using the dead, bullet-riddled polar bear as a shield…
But Roan wasn't aiming at the cab-
The Panther pulled the trigger thrice, launching all three of the high explosive grenades to collide and explode against the gasoline filled tank…
The already bleeding stream of petrol ignited from the three explosions-
Instantly creating a much bigger, much hotter, much brighter and much louder burst of orange flames as the already burning rear compartment of fuel ruptured in a huge explosion.
Fang glanced in both wing mirrors of the cab, seeing clearly in the reflection the fiery inferno he was now driving: an even larger colossal speeding thermobaric explosion about to happen…
The shock from the outburst of heat and force from the sudden explosion knocked the three Foxes backwards…
It effectively freed Nick from Max's grip as they both, and Masie too, fell over onto the trailer roof-
Nick quickly lifted his elbow twice to smack down onto Max's muzzle as he landed partly on top of him, before rolling to his left to get away from him as the other Fox recoiled from the hit…
Nick found himself next to Maisie now, who swiftly swung her bat again-
Only for Nick catch it with both paws this time, using it as leverage to lift himself over and straddle the Vixen… it seemed to anger her more now that the Fox cop had her pinned as he sat over her lap-
But she became even angrier when Nick let his right paw off her blunt weapon and punched her in the side of her muzzle, forcing her head against the metal of the shipping container.
Nick was taken aback as Maisie reacted accordingly; forcing her left paw to his arm to stop another right hook to her face, she then jerked the bat out of Nick's left pawed grip by thrusting the blunt metal end forward lightly into his neck… that dazed the Fox cop as he coughed from the hit to his airway before Maisie swung her bat against the side of his head, knocking the Fox away from her.
Nick was instantly disoriented from the blow to his head as he fell to his side, even though the Vixen had not put her full strength into it…
Nevertheless, Nick wasn't so disoriented that he didn't see Masie attack him again-
He rolled sideways away from her as she swung her bat against him again, colliding against the roof of the trailer with another metallic clang…
Nick attempted to kick her away-
But having made that move already, Maisie wasn't falling for it again… and swiftly dodged his kick.
Leaving Nick still vulnerable on the container roof…
In the LAPV three lanes over, Judy looked at her right side wing mirror, seeing the blast off flames behind them…
Knowing Fang would obviously have to abandon the vehicle or die in one of the worst ways possible, Judy matched the speed of the burning tanker truck, keeping the open roof hatch level with the door of the flat fronted truck cab…
He glanced to his left: Judy had given him his escape route.
As the flames grew bigger behind him, Fang reached down into the foot well to lift the dead polar bear's heavy foot and plonked it on the accelerator, forcing more revs from the engine before he swung the driver side door open…
And jumped straight on top of the LAPV with a dull thud as he landed.
The tanker truck began to speed ahead now with its lifeless driver as Fang climbed back inside the armoured car with Judy…
Noticing the Wolf cop abandon the vehicle, leaving it with no driver to control it… Mitchell turned the steering wheel of the armoured rig, colliding against the side of burning tanker truck and knocking it against the highway's concrete centre divider-
Judy slammed on the brakes with a burst of tyre smoke as the tanker truck swerved in front of them, knocking her and Fang forwards in the car.
They didn't exchange any words as it was obvious the tanker could explode at any moment, and they needed to get past it… but as it had collided with the median strip barrier, it had only bounced back, swerving uncontrollably across all the available lanes as the armoured semi-truck smashed into it again, effectively playing a game of tennis with the burning tanker truck against the concrete divider…
And completely blocking the road ahead.
Judy needed to think of something, and think of it fast-
As the armoured semi rammed sideways into the tanker truck, the unpredictable swerves knocked around the three fighting Foxes on top of the trailer…
Maisie fell off balance as she stood over the Fox cop… both of them recoiling away from the heat of the rolling inferno and the ticking titanic thermobaric time bomb directly alongside them…
Nevertheless, Nick took Maisie's stagger to his advantage:
As fast as he could, he roused from the trailer roof to attack her, dodging another flurried swing of her rounders bat as he moved to her right side, grabbing the Vixen and throwing her downwards onto the trailer.
As he threw Maisie past him, Nick turned to face the other Fox…
Max launched a kick directly to his chest, but Nick stayed firm in his position… the two Foxes then engaging in a short parry of boxing punches… only interrupted as the truck swerved sideways again-
But Nick stayed firmer in his balance as he threw an uppercut to Max's jaw…
As the other Fox recoiled, Nick turned around to face the Vixen again.
Maisie growled furiously as she swung her bat- this time successfully clipping Nick's leg…
But before he fell, the truck swerved again, Nick managing to stay up right as he took the brunt.
Masie had staggered more, but still recovered as she swung her club again.
As Nick dodged it this time, he kicked the Vixen's forward stepped leg away… barely making her reel due to her rage filled frenzy, as she swung her bat hard into his side.
Nick cringed as a result, left vulnerable as he inadvertently turned away from her… opening himself up to an attack from the other Fox:
Max landed another kick at his chest, forcing him backwards before Maisie caught Nick with her aluminium rounders bat around his neck and forcing him over to the side of the truck…
As he looked forward, Nick could feel the scorching heat from the adjacent flames of the burning tanker truck as Max and Maisie tried to force him off the side.
Until-
Mitchell was now satisfied that, as an experienced truck driver, he knew the burning tanker rig was completely out of control…
Turning his attention back to the road ahead, he slammed hard on the accelerator of the armoured lorry, as well as changing up a gear before pressing a button on the dashboard that activated a nitrous injector into the rig's engine… giving it that much needed extra burst of speed to escape the ensuing explosion about to happen-
-The sudden jerk of acceleration from the truck put them off balance again…
Nick knowing this was now or never, do or die…
He pushed backwards with all his strength, twisting in the Vixen's grip as he forced her away and managed to free himself.
Nick didn't relent, he was mad enough himself now.
The criminals- these terrorists, didn't deserve any mercy.
Maisie made another flurried swing of her bat…
But Nick grabbed it this time… and as he did, he pulled it towards him, punching the Vixen directly in the muzzle… her nose now bleeding as Nick yanked the rounders bat from her weakened grip when she flinched.
With a mad roar Nick now swung the rounder's bat himself: using it as he would a police issue nightstick…
Although if this was standard takedown, Max and Maisie would have ground to sue for police brutality.
Max attempted to grab him from behind…
But Nick swiftly turned, swinging the bat against his assailant's side… then to his upper leg-
Nick turned around and struck Maisie cleanly in the head as she attempted to attack from behind to reclaim her weapon from him, knocking her away before turning back to Max…
Nick kicked him backwards before striking the bat against his head and finally to the underside of his jaw… knocking him down for now.
Nick turned behind him to face the Vixen-
Using her own weapon to smack her forward launched kick away, forcing her momentum against her to turn her back on him.
This time, Nick launched a forwards kick, making Maisie stagger almost to the end of the trailer…
Before she fell off the end, she swiftly turned to face her attacker... her expression shocked, her breathing panicked.
Nick could tell her fear was genuine… If he could have seen himself, he would be terrified too.
With desperation, Maisie attempted one last lunge at him-
Swiftly countered as Nick knocked her panicked punch away from him with the bat, fracturing her arm before finishing the Vixen with her own weapon, striking her twice in the chest as she had twisted from her punch…
Dazed from the hits, Maisie staggered backwards till she was in the worst place possible… now teetering over the edge at the rear of trailer, the rampant burning tanker truck almost directly behind.
She looked up… directly towards the Fox cop-
Before Nick uttered sarcastically;
"Batter up hot-stuff…"
Max looked up in shock to see his sister teetering over the edge, shouting in protest a distressed;
"NO!"
But was too late to save her…
Nick swung the bat to collide with the underside of Maisie's jaw, forcing her off the rear of the trailer, scarcely having time to let out a horrific scream before she hit the speeding roadway-
Just as the rampant tanker truck jack-knifed, overturned… and exploded.
…
Both Nick and Max instantly blinked and looked away as the expulsion of heat nearly dried out their eyes and the brightness nearly blinded them… the force of the blast itself pushing them both to fall backwards on the trailer roof with a thud as the fireball on the road behind grew exponentially bigger-
Fang blinked hard as the tanker truck exploded, falling back into his rear seat, but Judy only managed to squint… not taking at least one half open eye off the inferno ahead…
With the little space that was left before they ended up driving through it, Judy quickly merged into the outside lane, before turning sharply… using the full force and speed of the armoured car to smash through the central concrete divider of the highway to escape and bypass the enlarging fireball, and onto the opposite oncoming roadway-
Which was (fortunately) just as empty as the other…
Even after they had driven past, the petrol explosion grew larger with a thunderous roar as the ruptured tanker spilled its flammable contents across the roadway, the ensuing conflagration being so hot that it melted the tarmac, and blocked the entirety of the highway in burning petrol fumes as the expanding firestorm soared into the sky above in a huge mushroom shape…
Any mammal with a view looked on at the fireball as it burned further into the sky like a second sun, illuminating almost the entire city in an orange haze beneath the looming colourless clouds of the approaching storm, the delayed rumble of the explosion shaking anyone who saw it to their very core…
Contemplating what horror they had just witnessed.
And completely unaware of what was truly at stake.
…
Nick reopened his eyes as he looked back down the highway, seeing the fireball explosion getting slightly smaller as the armoured semi-truck ploughed onwards along the road…
He looked back in worry, as there was no sign of the armoured car with Judy and Fang inside following him… that was till he glanced at the opposite roadway, smirking as he could clearly see them both in the LAPV and keeping up with them.
Nick turned behind him, now staring at the other Fox left on the trailer.
Max wasn't paying attention to him, as he was gazing past to observe the fireball back down the motorway… his face was in shock at the notable absence of his sister, and at the horror of her brutal and fiery violent end at the paws of this Fox cop…
His expression quickly changed as he shifted his gaze to look at Nick, now turning to that of sheer hatred and ultimate rage as he stared daggers at him…
Nick could almost feel how much Max hated him… especially when he threw the dead Vixen's rounders bat away, the improvised weapon falling off the truck and onto the speeding roadway below.
…
Nick returned the expression of hatred as he and Max stared at each other.
…
One down.
…
One to go…