(AN/ ok folks I ain't going to lie this chapter is going to divide people, so yeah you may hate me by the end of the chapter...Yikes. Oh FYI a NSFW and very M version chapter of this chapter including NSFW art of a scene in this chapter will be available on my tu,blr; crewefox, just search NSFW content. Ok without further ado let's get cracking with this chapter...)
Chapter 25- Temptation
Ronin returned to her apartment a mere thirty minutes after she withdrew her katana from Scarlet's stomach, her entire body felt drained from the battle at the Rose Thorn, but her tiredness wasn't the thing that was bothering her the most. Ronin had wanted to teach Scarlet a small lesson in humility, there were so many points in her fight that she could've stopped but she hadn't. The assassin kept on needlessly torturing the teen and she knew the reason why; Rojek. When the silver fox had told her that Andraste was his girlfriend it hurt, she felt like she wanted to scream with rage and cry her eyes out at the same time but she couldn't, she had a job to do. So when Scarlet got in her way she unleashed her pent up rage on her and now she was starting to deeply regret it.
Ronin removed her weapons, mask and goggles in her bedroom before heading into the bathroom for a shower, all the while her mind was still focused on what she did to Scarlet. Painful memories of her youth began to surface as she envisioned her fight with Scarlet, she had been treated cruelly in the past and was beginning to think of herself as the same kind of monster who had put her through hell as child. Sure she was killer, but she killed the wicked, the corrupt and fellow killers, Scarlet was none of those things, she was a vigilante yet Ronin rained down on her like the wrath of god. The rabbit looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and no longer saw the killer Ronin but the forlorn face of Alice Kirabito, she sighed and began to undress for her shower, soon enough she was completely naked and once again she was looking at herself in the mirror.
Alice's golden eyes fell onto the scars that dominated most of her body and thought how each of these injuries taught her a lesson but the worst scars were in her mind, she hated the mammals that had scared her mentally but now she had done the same to Scarlet. "You're a monster." She said to her reflection, causing a tear to roll down her cheek. "You're a monster!" She repeated a little louder before punching the mirror with such force it cracked as she bellowed "You're a fucking monster!"
000
It had been a hollow victory at the Rose Thorn for Team Ceartais, Kodi and Hannah had managed to get Robyn to Bella by which time most of her injuries had healed but she was silently crying as Kodi drove to rendezvous with the rest of the team. Robyn was in no fit state to talk so Hannah and Kodi had to explain what had happened at the Rose Thorn, Luna had tried to comfort her little sister but all Robyn wanted to do was go home. Luna convinced the others to leave the debrief until tomorrow, Kodi had driven Hannah and Robyn back their homes before heading back to his place. He parked Bella in the usual hiding place, in a disused garage that had now been fitted with high tech security systems thanks to Olivia, before sneaking into the mansion grounds and going to the one window he always sneaked through, the game room. Despite the name, the game room was rarely used for playing games anymore, it was more of a chill out room for Kodi and Sasha. Kodi opened the unlocked window and quietly climbed through to find his sister on the sofa, munching on a cookie and watching a show on Netflix. "Hey." Sasha greeted brightly while she paused the show.
"Hey," Kodi smiled back, still in his Mage gear "it's nearly 3am what are you still doing up?"
"A new season of the show I like got released today, so I'm binging it." Sasha answered, chewing on a chocolate chip cookie. "How was your patrol?"
"Ugh, don't ask." Kodi groaned, flopping down onto the sofa.
"That bad?" Sasha asked, wiping away some cookie crumbs off the camera hung around her neck.
"Worse, we saved the day but two cops were killed by the Drowned tonight and Robyn got her ass handed to her by a bad guy." Kodi explained in a glum tone, grabbing a cookie from the plate on the coffee table.
"Someone was able to beat Robyn?" Sasha voiced her disbelief "It must've been a huge mammal, right?"
"Nope it was a bunny with a samurai sword." Kodi revealed "Ronin is one rabbit I wouldn't want to fight."
"Oh god, poor Robyn." Sasha sympathised.
"On a happier note I kicked all kinds of ass tonight, I swear this city can't handle my awesomeness." Kodi bragged before taking a bite of his cookie.
Sasha chuckled slightly before saying "You're still my dorky big brother even if you are a superhero."
"And you'll always be my number one fan." Kodi grinned at the antelope. "Right I best get changed." The wolf said getting up from the sofa and heading to the small bathroom attached to the game room, his parents never used this bathroom and he always hid one of his uniforms and a spare set of PJs behind a loose ceiling panel. Kodi emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later dressed in white t shirt and black shorts that he used as sleepwear.
"Ok, I'm going to hit the hay, don't stay up all night watching that show." Kodi yawned.
"Not a chance, I still have six more episodes to go." Sasha dismissed with a smile.
Kodi just shook his head and made his way to the door, but when he opened it he found two familiar figures waiting for him; his parents Gazelle and Wade. "Oh, hey." Kodi said quickly, caught off guard by their sudden appearance "Why are you hanging outside the game room?" his voice strained from nerves, Sasha also shared her brother's worried expression.
"Waiting for you, actually." Wade revealed, his arms folded across his chest "We know you snuck out."
Kodi felt a little relief at his dad's answer, the trickster could spin this situation "Ok, yeah you caught me, I was at a party and I just got back in." Kodi fibbed, faking a guilty look.
"So let me guess, there were pretty she-wolves at this party?" Gazelle queried with a critical tone.
"Uh, yeah, there were one or two I guess." Kodi continued to lie, feeling the pressure from his mom's stare.
Gazelle reached into the pocket of the dressing gown she was wearing and produced her phone "Tell me did those girls look like this?" she asked while holding her phone inches from Kodi's face, on the screen was an Instagram photo of the Mage flanked by two she-wolves who were each kissing one of the vigilante's cheeks; it was the photo that was taken while he was staking out the Rose Thorn a few nights ago.
Kodi felt his mouth go dry as he tried to come up with a lie but his brain had stalled, he just stood there with a stupid look on his muzzle.
Gazelle lowered her phone and sighed "We need to talk mijo."
Sasha who looked guilty as well, got up from the sofa and tried to make her way past her parents "I'll leave you alone." She mumbled.
Wade put a paw on the girl's shoulder to halt her "Oh no you don't, we need to talk to you to, Miss Ojos." Wade informed.
"…oh no." Sasha uttered, glancing at Kodi who looked more scared now.
Wade and Gazelle guided their kids back to the sofa, the naturally skittish Sasha had latched onto her brother for comfort while their parents turned off the TV and stood in front of the pair of guilty looking siblings. "Ok, are you two The Mage and Miss Ojos, yes or no?" Wade asked bluntly.
"Yes." Sasha answered quietly.
"…Yeah." Kodi replied in a defeated tone "I can't believe that picture caught me out."
"That wasn't the only thing," Gazelle corrected "we've been noticing you sneaking out recently, we put it down to you going after girls but I didn't expect this."
"So what now?" Kodi asked, bracing himself for the worst.
"Nothing." Wade answered.
Both Jones siblings shared a perplexed expression before simultaneously saying "What?"
"We're not going to stop you." Gazelle confirmed.
"You've lost me." Kodi spoke, his tone matching his puzzled face.
"When we first figured out who you were, we were going to stop you, I was even tempted to call the cops on you." Wade admitted.
"But then the more we looked into what The Mage and the rest of Ceartais were doing for the city our eyes were opened, you've saved so many lives and you bring hope to the city." Gazelle revealed "Plus when I saw the 'Offical' team Ceartais pictures I recognised the style and connected the dots and found Miss Ojos."
"So I can keep being taking photos of the team?" Sasha asked with hope.
"As long as you aren't in any danger, it's ok." Wade clarified.
"We saw the news tonight, was it true you fought the Drowned in the Canal district?" Gazelle quizzed.
"Yeah, they were trying to kill Chief Wilde but we stopped them." Kodi answered "So are you guys really ok with me doing this?"
"Look we're not going to lie, we're scared as hell that you'll get hurt. But we know the moment we try and stop you someone will die because you weren't there to save them." Wade replied "You're a hero Kodi, we're so proud of you."
"You spend your nights helping mammals all across Zootopia, how could we not be proud?" Gazelle smiled softly at her son, hardly believing that the little wolf cub she had adopted had grown into a real hero.
"Wow," Kodi smiled back "thanks you guys."
"But if you're going to continue to be a hero we need to know everything." Wade stipulated.
"We won't ask you to snitch on the others' identities, even though a couple of them are obvious, but we want to know how this all started." Gazelle clarified.
Kodi looked up at his parents and felt like the luckiest wolf on the planet, his parents were proud of him and that filled his heart with a warmth he was not expecting. But being the natural showman that he was he was going to have to recall the tale of how he became The Mage with his own signature flair, he cleared his throat before opening with "It all began when I started to volunteer at the Sherwood Relief Centre.."
000
The morning came and Luna awoke in Aleks' arms, both of them were exhausted from the night's events and had fallen asleep rather quickly. She sneaked out of the sleeping Aleks' embrace and slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom, when she came back into the bedroom she saw her phone's light flashing, indicating she had a text message. Luna scooped up her phone and opened the message 'Lu, can you come round? I need you.' The text was from Robyn, it was rare that the hybrid would reach out but after what happened last night Luna figured that her sister must be feeling very down. She quickly got dressed, kissed the slumbering Aleks and left a note for him before leaving for the Wilde family home.
She arrived at her parent's apartment twenty minutes later, she used her spare key to let herself in and found Hannah in the kitchen making some hot chocolate. "She called you too, huh?" Luna asked, skipping the greetings.
"I came over anyway, I was worried." Hannah revealed, turning to face Luna.
"So…how is she?" Luna asked, her worry clear to hear in her voice.
"She's been crying all morning." Hannah answered, her own voice sorrowful "I've never known her to be this upset, she hardly ever cries."
"Thanks for being here, she's lucky to have you." Luna appreciated.
"I haven't been able to do much," Hannah lamented "all I've done is hug her and tried to get her to talk."
"Believe me sometimes a hug off the person you love the most is all you need." Luna encouraged.
Hannah poured out the hot chocolate into three mugs before handing two of them to Luna "I thought that some hot chocolate might cheer her up, she's in her room." The striped hybrid informed.
"You're not joining us?" Luna wondered.
"I think you're the only one who can get through to her, I'll be right out here." Hannah explained before taking a swig of her own beverage.
Luna then made her way down the hall and found Robyn's door slightly ajar, she entered through the doorway to see Robyn dressed in her pyjamas and sat on her bed staring at her heavily damaged uniform that she had laid out on the floor. "Hey Robbie." Luna greeted in a soft voice.
Robyn raised her head to look at her sister, her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from crying, they were still watery and look ready burst with more tears at any given second "Lu." Robyn spoke, her voice gravely from her constant crying.
This image broke Luna's heart, she set the hot chocolates down on the Robyn's desk before rushing over to her baby sister and wrapping her in a tight hug "Oh Robbie." Luna sighed as she held the teen close.
Robyn hugged back while mumbling "I screwed up so much Luna."
"You got beat, it happens sometimes." Luna assured, stroking the fur atop of Robyn's fur.
"Not just that," Robyn cut in "you warned me about getting angry and look what happened."
"Have you still got that anger?" Luna asked in apprehensive voice.
"No…I just feel sad." Robyn spoke, letting go of Luna and going back to staring at her uniform.
"And why do you feel sad?" Luna queried.
"You know why." Robyn replied, her bottom lip quivering and her nose twitching.
"I want to hear you say it." Luna willed.
"…Because it hurt, because Ronin beat me so easily, because I was stupid and didn't listen to everyone, because Hannah got hurt, because I lost and because Ronin was right; I'm just cosplaying as a hero." Robyn vented, her navy blue eyes crying once again.
"You and I both know that's bullshit, you're a hero. You've saved so many mammals and put crooks behind bars, you're the definition of a super hero." Luna parried.
"Look at that!" Robyn snapped, pointing at her uniform "What's so super about me? A mammal smaller than me with no powers didn't just beat me, she destroyed me with barely any effort."
"Robbie that little maniac has probably been killing mammals since she was a kid, you shouldn't keep focusing on this defeat." Luna countered.
"But…" Robyn sniffed, her crying getting more intense "What if I go out on patrol and I lose again? What if someone gets hurt?"
Luna let out a heavy sigh before saying "You know why she said all those things to you, right? To get in your head, to psyche you out, she wants you to doubt yourself and it looks like she's winning."
"Lu?" Robyn mumbled.
"So are you going to let her win? Because if you keep on crying and doubting that you're one of the bravest mammals in Zootopia that's what you're doing." Luna stated "You're Robbie Heather Wilde, you don't buckle at the first sign of pressure, when you get punched you punch back ten times harder and you're not a cry baby."
Robyn was still crying but a smile had managed to grow on her face, she hugged her sister again and Luna could instantly feel the tension in the teen starting to evaporate. Luna silently hugged her back while in her mind she was already planning to bring Ronin down. Ronin had crossed the line and Luna was going to break her before handing her over to the cops but the vixen knew that she may need the help of her ruthless dark side.
000
Jasiri Outlander was feeling chipper as she made her way downstairs to Alice's apartment, the spotted hyena was excited for her girls' day out with her new friend. She rapped her knuckles upon the door and sang "Alice, you ready?"
A few seconds later the door opened and Jasiri saw a vision of Alice she had not expected to see; the white fur rabbit looked like she had crying, she was wearing an oversized t shirt with no pants on and had a half eaten tub of 'Carrot Cake Flavour' ice cream in one paw and a spoon in the other "Sorry Jasiri, I don't feel like leaving my place today." She said a tired and timid voice.
Jasiri glanced into the apartment to see a soppy romantic anime on the TV and an empty tub of ice cream on the coffee table. Jasiri added up all the clues and said in a sympathetic voice "Oh bunny baby, what happened?"
"Take a wild guess." Alice replied, taking another spoonful of ice cream before walking back to her sofa, where a pillow and duvet cover lay.
"It can't be that bad can it?" Jasiri queried, walking in and closing the door behind her.
"Yes it can, my dream girl has a boyfriend." Alice answered, trying her best not to cry. She crashed onto the sofa and into her nest of self-pity
"Oh Alice." Jasiri spoke gently, taking a seat beside her friend. "I'm so sorry, how did you find out?"
"I ran into her boyfriend last night and he is a world class bastard." Alice told "Then I was an absolute monster and lashed out at my crush's sister."
"Ok that's a lot to unpack," Jasiri mused "ok let's clear something up what's your crush's name?"
Alice knew she couldn't say the name 'Andraste' so she nicknamed her "Andi, her name is Andi."
"Aw that's a cute name," Jasiri commented before getting back on topic "so how did the conversation go down?"
"Well he knew who I was and knew that I was attracted to Andi, he took the fact that he was with her and rubbed it in my face." Alice revealed, sounding solemn.
"What an asshole." Jasiri scorned "So what happened with Andi's sister?"
"Her sister hasn't liked me since we first met, the little brat pushed my buttons and I said some real awful things to her, but she didn't deserve it I was just angry." Alice danced around the truth.
"You messed up, we've all done it, just apologise to her the next time you see her." Jasiri advised.
"Don't you get it? There isn't going to be a next time, how can I ever face Andi again after last night?" Alice began to sob.
"Hey, hey, it's going to be alright." Jasiri soothed, opening her arms to invite the bunny into a hug, which Alice instantly accepted, as Jasiri hugged Alice she realised something "Wait a sec, you and Andi have kissed right?"
"…Yeah, why?" Alice sniffled.
Jasiri pulled back from the hug and asked "And there's a connection between you two, right? Like you're both similar?"
"Oui." Alice nodded, wondering where Jasiri was going with this.
"And you said her boyfriend was a smug bastard who belittled you?" Jasiri probed.
Alice gave another nod to confirm while wiping away her tears.
"So do you really think Andi is suited with that dickhead? Because if she's a lot like you, I can't picture her being with a guy like that. And there is also the fact that she kissed you." Jasiri pointed out.
"You're saying I shouldn't give up on her?" Alice asked, sounding dubious.
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Jasiri grinned "Just stick around, be your naturally awesome self and then she'll start to see that she should be with you and not that jerk."
"You really think that could work?" Alice asked, her voice getting a little brighter.
"Who knows? Maybe it will, maybe it won't but all you can do is try. It's better than being sad, eating ice cream and watching trashy anime." Jasiri replied, motioning to the TV which currently showed two characters kissing passionately while cherry blossoms swirling around them.
"My choice in anime is not trashy." Alice pouted.
"Yeah deny it all you want girl, but it's the truth." Jasiri reacted "Anyway if you ever want to get Andi to see how sexy you are we need to get you some new duds. So how about that girls' day out?"
Alice smiled before getting up from the sofa "I'll go get changed." She said happily as she dashed off to her bedroom but just before she went into the hallway she turned to Jasiri and said sincerely "Merci."
"Anytime, girl." Jasiri gave a smile of solidarity.
000
It was now official; The Drowned were classed as a terrorist group. Both the attacks at The Rose Thorn and on the ZPD convoy were now deemed as terror-related. Governor Krieger, a goat democrat who had funded Nick and Alana's election campaign, had travelled to Zootopia as soon as he heard of the attack. A press conference was held at city hall; there were statements from the Governor, Mayor Wilde, Chief Wilde, Commissioner Bogo, MCB Regional Director Savage and representatives from Homeland Security and the National Security Agency. There were promises of all law enforcement branches working tirelessly to bring down The Drowned fast but everyone was feeling a little scared. For Judy all she could think about were the three cops that were dead from the ambush, they were from a different precinct but it still hurt to lose brothers and sisters in blue, all of them had families and they were taken from life so cruelly and needlessly.
Judy had asked Nick, Skye and Jack for a private word after the press conference and as the four old friends walked up the stairs to Nick's office they bumped into Alana, who was respectfully dressed all in black out of respect for the lives lost. "You heading home?" Nick asked, in a slightly worried tone.
"Yeah, Baylee was friends with one of the cops who were killed, he isn't taking it well." Alana explained, the worry for her boyfriend's wellbeing was clear in her eyes.
"Oh sweet cheese and crackers, I'm so sorry Alana." Judy empathised.
Nick looked to his bodyguard and practically shadow, Ben and ordered "Bernard please make sure Alana gets home safely."
"But sir, I need to be here at city hall with you." Ben protested, now used to Nick getting his name wrong.
"I've got the chief of precinct 1 with me as well as two of the most experienced MCB agents ever, I think I'll be ok for the next half an hour." Nick assured.
Ben saw the fox's reasoning and complied with a curt "Yes sir." Before walking down the stairs with Alana.
The four friends then went into the office and Judy made a b line for the liquor cabinet "What's everyone drinking?" Judy asked, she was stressed and needed a drink, she figured everyone else would feel the same.
"Bourbon and ice please." Jack answered.
"Same for me." Skye replied.
"You know what I like fluff." Nick responded, leaning on his desk.
Judy poured the three other drinks first before taking the vodka bottle taking a good swig out of it before pouring some more in a glass which cause Nick to chuckle "Take it easy vodka witch."
Judy gave a sad smile and said "Those were the days, when all we had to worry about were the underworld trio, now we've got terrorists killing cops." Judy took all four glasses and passed them around, she raised her own and toasted "To the departed."
"To the departed." The others chorused before taking a sip of their drinks.
Nick let the scotch burn his throat before asking "So, what were you holding back at the press conference Skye? I've known you too long to know when you're keeping a secret."
Skye shook her head before saying to Jack "You said he'd figure it out."
"Nick's the best hustler I know, which is probably why he's a great mayor." Jack smiled before taking a sip of bourbon.
"So what's the story Skye?" Nick pressed.
"The attacks on the Rose Thorn and the ZPD officers, it looks like they were diversions." Skye said, her voice barely hiding her anger at the situation.
"Wait, what do you mean diversions?" Judy asked, stepping forward.
"While the ZPD were occupied with attacks the Phelps arms munitions storage facility was raided by The Drowned, they've now got enough weapons to start a small war." Skye explained.
"Jesus Christ," Nick cursed "so what kind of weapons are we talking about?"
"Guns, RPGs, mortars, land mines, assault vehicles, they picked the place clean." Jack listed "And that isn't the worse thing."
"What is?" Judy asked, dreading the answer.
"The MCB were transporting all the captured Drowned cultists to prison but the three buses and four escort vehicles just disappeared like that." Skye answered with a snap of her fingers. "It's clear that MCB had Drowned in it's ranks."
"Oh god…how many prisoners?" Judy had to ask.
"128." Skye revealed.
"And with the Drowned only having eighteen killed and thirty six captured in last night's attacks they are still up in rank." Jack added in a bitter tone.
"Now I know why you omitted it." Nick said to Skye with understanding.
"That makes what I'm going to say even tougher." Judy commented, taking a swig of vodka.
"Carrots?" Nick asked in a concerned voice.
"Last night at the Rose Thorn one of Rattigan's associates organised a video chat between me and him." Judy told.
"Wait, what!?" Skye barked.
"Since when was Rattigan back in Zootopia?!" Jack exclaimed.
"I got intel yesterday afternoon that he was at the Rose Thorn, I kept the raid on a need to know basis but someone is rotten on my team and informed Rattigan of the raid, the asshole even left me an autograph picture with the message 'Better luck next time' on it." Judy told "Anyway a mercenary hired by the professor gave a smartphone at the scene and basically held my officers hostage whilst I talked with Rattigan."
"Sweetheart…" Nick mumbled, taking hold of Judy's spare paw.
"So what did he have to say?" Skye questioned.
"He wanted to make an alliance." Judy answered with a look on her face that made it seem like the words scolded her tongue.
"What did he offer?" Jack quizzed.
"That he would take of The Drowned in return for the authorities looking the other way when it came to his business transactions." Judy elaborated "He said that we tolerated Mr. Big's enterprises for years so we should allow his."
"Big was different, he was an honourable shrew, even though he tried to 'Ice' me." Nick spoke before supping his whiskey.
"But he made so many arguments, he asked for one year, a whole year of the ZPD looking the other way while he flooded our streets with drugs in exchange for the end of The Drowned." Judy explained "I was tempted, but I said no."
"And what was his reaction?" Skye was itching to know.
"He was actually rather polite about it, which was creepy." Judy informed.
"You did the right thing, Judy." Jack replied, admiring how the police chief didn't submit.
"Jack's right, you stuck to your guns." Nick smiled at the love of his life.
"That isn't the difficult thing I had to say." Judy stated.
"Then what is it?" Skye asked, arching an eyebrow.
"As soon as I finished chatting with Rattigan three members of Team Ceartais showed up to help my officers fight The Drowned, the other members were helping the ambushed cops in Savannah central." Judy described.
"Yeah, we saw the news reports, so?" Jack shrugged.
"I think the city should deputise Team Ceartais." Judy proposed.
Skye choked on her bourbon and spluttered "Are you kidding me?"
"Carrots you can't be serious?" Nick asked with disbelief.
"Look every night they go out on the streets and help clean them up, they take care of the Razors, The Drowned and everyone in between, if we make them official allies we'll have an advantage over The Drowned." Judy reasoned.
"And the NSA and Homeland security isn't an advantage?" Nick countered.
"Oh come on Nick, the ZPD and MCB have been on The Drowned's tail for months and we've got zero results, what makes you think the guys from Washington can do any better?" Judy barbed.
"Judy we can't do this, is it even legal?" Skye declared.
"Yes; I've read up on local law and in times of crisis the mayor of Zootopia and figurehead in the police force can make mammals deputies to help bring about peace in the city. Well I'd say now we've got a hell of crisis." Judy commanded her point and stamped her foot in annoyance.
"The Undying Scarlet saved my life, Spitfire saved Luna. We know these are good mammals, maybe it isn't such a bad idea." Jack dissected.
"It's a slippery slope Jack, one day we have vigilantes the next day we have militias and some innocent mammal ends up getting killed by a trigger happy civilian." Skye argued.
"And you know how I feel about vigilantes," Nick said with distain "you saw what it did to my family, I never want a family to go through what I went through. If we give them legal immunity then only more will come."
"Nick look at the bigger picture, this whole thing is going to get worse before it gets better. We need these heroes' help." Jack tried to convince his best friend.
"…No. We know nothing about these guys, they dress up in costumes and fight crime in the middle of the night, there not exactly mentally stable." Nick stated his case "Until we know more about Ceartais we're going to rely on professionally trained law enforcement."
000
It was just after 2am and Ronin was sat on a gargoyle of an old church in Savannah central confirming with all her contractors that her services had been utilised on her smartphone; three assassinations with two of them made to luck like 'Accidents'. Ronin gave a small smile as she checked one of her many secret bank accounts and saw that the money had transferred successfully.
Satisfied with her night's work Ronin eyed the Outlander Apartments about half mile away and started descending the church tower and made her way across the rooftops and towards her home. As she ran over the rooftops she couldn't help but think of Jasiri; her landlady and more importantly her friend. Ronin thought about how Jasiri wouldn't take for no for answer that morning and convinced her to not let her sadness rule her and to not give up, her mind flickered images of Jasiri smiling at her throughout the day and all the fun times they had on their girl's day out, Jasiri was the first mammal in her life never to want to harm her or want something from her, the spotted hyena was just there to be a friend. It was truly a blissful feeling to have a friend, even though she'd have to say goodbye one day, sure right now there was a lot of work in Zootopia but at any second she could get a phone call luring her to a job worth hundreds of thousands on the other side of the globe. If that happened she would have to pack up in an instant and get out the city through not so legal means, normally this would not stoke fear in the rabbit but for the first time since she completed her training she was afraid of losing something dear; a friendship.
But that was not the only thing she frightened to let go of, a certain vixen still played on her mind. Ronin knew it was foolish to dwell on, Andraste had a life and boyfriend outside of this mad world Ronin felt so at home in, she considered herself stupid for thinking that the red vixen would abandon her lover and normal life to slum it with a contract killer….and yet. That was annoying words replaying like a broken record in the bunny's mind 'And yet', Ronin knew Andraste was the same as her, that she was tainted by darkness and that a desire to break free of the chains of normality lay dormant within her. Ronin sensed these things when she first fought Andraste, the way she moved showed a censorship of her skills that indicated her holding back and then there was Andraste's eyes, those pools of amber appeared like a cage to the assassin, holding back her true self.
Ronin was thinking so much that she had even noticed her body 'Auto piloted' her to just one rooftop away from her apartment, she spied her second floor window and used a grappling hook to traverse the gap easily. She opened the window and climbed into her safe haven, where she was no longer Ronin but Alice. The white bunny placed her sword on the stand opposite her bed, she also removed her belts with her shuriken, smoke bombs and handgun and placed them on the dresser table, she also pulled down her skull mask and playfully threw her goggles on the post of her bed. Alice was half way to her wardrobe to retrieve her oversized t-shirt she slept in when she heard the window slam shut, she turned sharply to see the threatening silhouette of Andraste, with an tazer arrow drawn ready to knock out the bunny. "Andraste." Alice spoke, trying to calculate a strategy to both dodge the inevitable shot and grab a weapon.
"You know whenever I've found a lair of a foe, it's usually in cellar under a bar or a disused factory, sometimes there's a complex security system, armed guards. But for you just to have a normal one bedroom apartment, that's a surprise albeit a little disappointing." Andraste said in predatory manner, like a shark circling it's prey.
Alice knew if she was to stand a chance in this fight she'd have to coax the archer into firing first, dodge the arrow then while Andraste got another arrow from her quiver the assassin could at least grab her shuriken belt. "If you're going to just ridicule my home just shoot me, I'm in no mood for small talk."
"Trying to get me to start my attack, clever but predictable." Andraste saw right through the ruse.
Alice sighed at the fact she was caught out before replying "So are you just going to aim at me all night?"
Andraste gave a shrug and replied "Depends, I could just press my com and call for backup from my team and the ZPD causing you to strike first."
Alice was silent for a moment before letting out a chuckle "But you're not going to do that, you've hunted me on your own without your team mates, which means you want to take me on all by yourself."
"…You see right through me." Andraste gave a devilish smile.
"Just out of curiosity when did you start tracking me? I'm usually quite good at spotting someone tailing me." Alice queried.
"I found that body you left in the parking lot in the meadowlands, you were easy to follow after that, especially when you stopped at that church to check your phone." Andraste explained.
Alice cursed herself for being careless but also realised something "If you saw me at the church, why didn't you shoot me while I was distracted."
"Because I want this fight to be up close and personal," Andraste reasoned with vexation in her voice "I want to be close enough to hear your bones break and listen to you whimper pathetically."
Alice could see that Andraste's eyes were no longer clouded by restraint, her voice showed her confidence and her fire and a smile that showed both menace and enjoyment. Alice knew she should be intimidated but the fact was her heart was beating a little faster for another reason; she found this attractive. But the assassin shook off her yearning for the vigilante and responded smarmily with "Aww are you all mad because I was a little rough with your little sister?"
"A little rough!?" Andraste growled "You pinned her wrists with shuriken, slashed her across her chest, you shot her over and over, choked her with a garrotte wire then stabbed her in her stomach. How much rougher could you get!?"
"I could've chopped her head off or shot her in the head, you should be thanking me that you're not planning Scarlet's funeral." Alice countered "We both know that child needed a lesson in humility."
"That's what you call that? A lesson in humility? You traumatized my sister to teach her a lesson!?" Andraste snapped.
"That and I needed to blow off some steam." Alice added with a smirk. "The stupid girl should've listened when I told her to leave me be."
"Well I'm not going to leave you be, I'm going to make your hurt, make you cry and when I've finally broken you I'll hand you over to the police." Andraste simmered.
"…Fine but if we're going to fight can we please do it outside? My landlady and her boyfriend live in the apartment above mine and I don't want a stray shot hitting them." Alice requested.
Andraste started with a snigger but it grew into a mocking laugh "You're shitting with me? A cold blooded killer like you is worried about mammals getting hurt in the crossfire?"
"They're innocent, please Andraste." Alice implored.
"No." Andraste responded bluntly.
"No? But if there's a chance they could get hurt…" Alice flapped.
"Then let's not use our weapons," Andraste replied, setting her bow down on the carpet "we'll do this the old fashioned way."
"A fist fight? Wait, no, they'll hear us!" Alice worried.
"So? You broke my sister's body and her spirit so I'm going to return the favour and not only break your body but your peaceful little life too." Andraste threatened, taking off her quiver and placing it carefully beside her bow.
"I thought you were honourable." Alice breathed.
"Honour went out the window when you hurt Scarlet, now it's personal." Andraste clarified, unbuckling her auto-grapple belt that also holstered her twin daggers and letting it fall to the floor.
Alice stopped herself from shouting at Andrate in anger and instead said quietly "I'll have to defeat you in silence then." Getting into a fighting stance.
"Fat chance of that." Andraste said smugly, then like a flash she threw her hat at Alice's face blinding her temporarily, Alice batted the hat out of the way only to find a golden gloved fist flying at her face, the punch struck her cheek and sent her staggering back and was followed by another two hard punches to the face.
Alice countered Andraste by stamping on the vixen's foot, then elbowed her in the gut, gave a let punch to her sternum before upper cutting the red fox's chin with her right. Andraste let out a yelp of pain but grabbed Alice by the scruff of her neck and threw her at the wall, the hitwoman was stunned just long enough for the archer to send her foot to her throat, keeping her out of arm's reach and choking her. Alice wasn't in the choke hold for long, she bit down with force on Andraste's foot triggering a canine howl of pain and a let off just enough pressure for Alice to push her back and sent her falling to the floor, the bunny went to jump on the vulpine but as soon as she was mid air Andraste shot her foot up and connected with Alice's abdomen, the rabbit fell beside Andraste groaning and winded.
Then they both realised they were within reaching distance of Luna's daggers, they shared a vicious stare for a second before both grabbing a dagger each, Alice was faster and was able to pin Andraste before putting to the blade to her throat but it didn't go unnoticed to the swordswoman that the vixen had also positioned her own dagger at Alice's throat. They were both panting, both filled with fury, they could feel the cold metal of the blades against their skin threatening to tear them from life yet they did not falter; both of them looked ready to kill each other. They stayed like that for about ten seconds, Alice was hoping her end would be quick when something strange happened; Andraste removed her dagger from Alice's throat and tossed it aside, all the while looking at her foe with the same inferno-like eyes. Alice was about to question what was going on when Andraste gently kissed the bunny on the lips.
The kiss stunned Alice, her mind unable to cope with the suddenness of the affection, she thought that it surely must be a trap and yet she pulled her blade away from the vixen's throat and let it fall onto the carpet as the two continued to kiss. The kiss became more heated as it went on, and a little more ferocious, Andraste would let a lust filled snarl emanate from her muzzle while Alice would pull back and impishly bite the vigilante's bottom lip in dominating manner. Andraste giggled darkly before using her strength to throw Alice onto the bed, but the bunny knew deep down that no attack was coming.
Andraste began to unlace her bodice while looking ravenously at Alice; the bunny was hungry for intimacy as well and was savouring the alluring striptease, but then it her, a horrible wave of doubt and guilt that caused her to blurt out "W-wait we can't!"
Andraste paws stopped untying the straps of her uniform and she playfully asked back "Why can't we?"
"Look, we're enemies, you hate me, remember? And you've got…well…a boyfriend." Alice rambled, hardly believing she was willingly ready to give up on sleeping with her crush.
Andraste saw the guilty look on the killer's face, took a step towards her, put a paw on her cheek and confided "The other me has a boyfriend, the other me has a normal life, goes to work and hangs out with her family and friends. But the real me, the one you're looking at right now is lonely, because I've never met someone like me, who knows what it's like to live in the shadows but that's until I met you; Ronin. So will you share tonight with me? We can worry about everything else tomorrow."
"Oui, and please call me Alice." She agreed, feeling an odd sense of safety "And who's under your mask."
Andraste reached up to her domino mask and removed it and threw it beside her bow and quiver "Just stick with Andraste."
Alice wasn't bothered by not knowing the vigilante's real name, all that she knew was that she wanted her. "Ok Andrate." Alice smiled feeling her whole face heat up.
(AN/ What did you folks think? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Review! I'm ready for a lot of hate. Please review and c ya soon...)