Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.
The Fire Triangle—A Zootopia Fanfiction
Part One:
Fuel
Chapter 4 – The Wizard of Chaos
(Continued…Pt. 5)
Judy winced as she felt something slap across the crook of her elbow. The stinging pain and surprise made her yelp and nearly lose her grip on the ladder. When she regained her grasp, she saw that a length of steel cable was draped across her right forearm.
"Wha…? Where did that come from?"
She shook her arm, trying to rid herself of the offending strand. It bounced once, jiggled once, and then began to slide off her arm.
Judy had almost shed the length of wire when her ears shot up and turned backwards; harsh, heavy breathing was coming up behind her, less than three feet away. She felt her guts turn to water; there was no escape and no place to run. If only she had something to… wait a minute, she DID!
Still holding onto Nick's tail with her teeth, she hooked her elbow through a ladder rung, grabbed the piece of cable, and swung out hard. There was no time to adjust her aim; she simply lashed out blindly. The wired smacked against her uncle's forearm, removing a stripe of fur, but otherwise causing no damage.
"Aim for the ear, the EAR!" her inner voice screamed. Judy raised her arm a second time, but then another voice rose in dissent. This was her uncle, her own flesh and blood; if he fell from this height he would never survive. Yes, he'd gone savage, but was that his fault? It wasn't as if…
Terry bared his incisors and lunged…and the decision was made for her; Judy swung again and connected with the base of the crazed bunny's right ear. He screamed, tried to reach for the side of his head…and fell.
He dropped a good twenty feet before he was able to latch onto to the ladder again. Apparently uninjured he shook his head dazedly for a second, but Judy knew the disorientation wouldn't last for…
She was jostled suddenly as Nick Wilde's foot came down on top of her shoulder; he too was losing his hold on the ladder. Judy looked up and saw that little Cotton had her arms wrapped around his throat in a panicky chokehold. Thinking fast, she grabbed on to the ladder with both paws, let Nick's tail fall from her mouth and summoned up her best impression of her mother in high dudgeon.
"Cotton Miranda Hopps, you let go of that fox's neck this instant!"
The little bunny immediately slackened her grip; an Uncle gone savage might be a terrible thing, but it was nothing compared to having your mom call you by your full name—in that tone of voice.
"Don't lose that cable, Carrots!" Nick's voice was a half-choked wheeze.
Judy mostly ignored him, by now she'd guessed what he'd brought it for and had no intention of letting it fall…and there was another concern at the moment.
"Climb, Nick! He's already starting to recover!"
She took his tail in her mouth again and felt him begin to pull upward. Without thinking she put her left foot down on a rung and put pressure on it, realizing too late what she had done.
There was no pain, and her leg was able to straighten out completely; better late than never.
For the next few moments, they ascended without speaking, the silence punctuated only by an occasional whimper from little Cotton.
After many long moments Nick pulled to an abrupt halt.
"We're there, Carrots. Give me the cable."
Judy tried to pass it upwards, but it was too far to reach; the fox's paw remained a tantalizing ten inches out of range. Mentally crossing her fingers, she spoke to Cotton again, "Sweetie, I need you to take this and pass it up to Nick; don't let go of it, whatever you do." As an afterthought she added, "And don't look down."
Cotton was starting to cry, but she managed take hold of the cable while averting her eyes from everything below. Judy on the other paw, wasn't able to keep herself from looking down and when she did she saw that Uncle Terry was once more coming up after them, only this time he was further away than she'd expected. They could make it—if Nick's plan would work, and unbeknownst to her it had just come up against a major snag, literally!
The problem was that the turnbuckle holding the guy line to the tower was actually much longer than it had appeared from ground level, extending outwards from the frame by a good three feet. And the buckle was anything but a smooth surface; bumps, notches, crannies, and a foot-long spur of wired jutting out from the loop at the end. In order to reach the bare wire, Nick would be required to lean out and away from the ladder…a long way out.
He crooked an elbow through a ladder rung, the same way Judy had earlier, stretching out over the empty space as far as he dared. It was no use; the end of the turnbuckle was still beyond his reach, by only a few inches, but it might as well have been a hundred miles for all the good it did. He pulled himself back in again, unhooked his elbow and tried to lean out further, this time holding on to the ladder with only his paw; that was another no go, he felt himself slipping almost immediately and nearly lost the cable when he grabbed for the ladder again.
Behind him he heard Judy's sharp voice.
"Nick, whatever you're going to do, make it fast; he's coming!"
Nick looped his elbow through the rung again and leaned away from the mast. This would either work or it wouldn't.
He swung his arm, throwing the cable over the top of the guy wire.
"Cotton, grab my belt, Judy grab my legs, and both of you hang on tight."
He felt two sets of paws take hold of him, and then he took a deep breath. He would have to jump away from the tower and grab the other end of the cable before he fell…and before any one of a zillion things that could go wrong did go wrong; could he grab the cable on the fly without losing his grip? And even if he made it, could he maintain his hold while carrying that much extra weight…and what the heck, would his idea even work? He still didn't…
"NICK!"
Judy's scream and the sudden stench of savagery in his nostrils were all the motivation the red fox needed. He leaped out into space, grabbing for the other end of the cable. He felt his paw catch, start to slip, and then it held.
But then nothing else happened; instead of sliding away down the wire, Nick stayed right where he was, dangling uselessly in mid-air with Judy and Cotton hanging onto him like Quasimodo on a church bell.
And he didn't know how much longer he could hold on.
Nick smelled something behind him, the horrid odor of savagery again; if Cotton started to panic now...
Judy's Uncle leaned outwards with snapping jaws; his quarry was too far out for him to reach. He grabbed the ladder in both paws and kicked out backwards; no, good, his target was still out of range. That was what finally pulled his pin; with a high scream of frustration, the savage bunny grabbed the turnbuckle and began to shake it violently. Nick felt himself jouncing, heard little Cotton starting to scream again as they swayed crazily back and forth more than ten stories up in the air.
But then….they were moving, the tower receding away behind them as Terry Haredigg bade farewell with another scream of rage. His temper tantrum had unwittingly jump-started the makeshift zip-line, and now Nick, Judy and little Cotton were sailing away down to safety—if the wire would continue to hold their weight, (Nick couldn't help reminding himself.)
It would; but not without a price to pay; as the three of them started to pick up speed, the line began to sag a little…and then it began to sag even more. Judy's eyes went wide as she saw that their trajectory was too low to clear the razor ribbon on top of the fence. If they hit it moving at this velocity, there would be other ribbons added to the mix…bloody ones!
And she was the only one who could see what was coming.
"Nick!" she shouted, "When I give the word, swing your body upwards, high as you can."
The fox said nothing, did nothing; Judy had no idea if he'd even heard her, but there was no time to repeat her warning because here was the fence and the razor-wire, practically right in front of them.
"Now!" she screamed, and felt Nick Wilde curling himself tightly upwards, tucking his legs into a red-furred ball. Judy tried to help, swinging her feet up and attempting to push his tail out of harm's way. Something sharp and metallic dug into her shoulder, but then it was gone, leaving only a small rip in the fabric.
And then they were past the fence and out over the festival grounds. From ten feet below Nick could hear the sound of applause and cheering. Then a voice called out, 'jump!' and the cry quickly became a chorus.
It was all academic; he couldn't have held on for another second anyway. He let go of the cable, trusting that the animals below would be as good as their word.
They were; a dozen paws and hooves caught hold of Nick as he fell; he might just as well have dropped onto a trampoline. In a heartbeat he was on his feet again, and saw that Judy and Cotton had also landed safely.
Just then, a frantic voice called from inside the crowd, "Cotton! COTTON!" and he saw Bonnie Hopps pushing her way through.
The little bunny saw her and cried out, "Mommy!" and then she went rushing headlong into her mother's arms.
Bonnie swept her up off the ground, hugging her tight and rocking her back and forth for a moment, and then she reached out and touched her daughter's nose.
"NOW do you see why you shouldn't wander off like that?" she said, and then held Cotton even more tightly. She caught sight of Nick and he saw her mouthing the words, 'Thank you."
"What the heck is she thanking me for?" the red fox wondered, "I'm the one who got us into that mess."
Meanwhile, at the edge of the crowd, Jack La Peigne, for once, was able to stand out in the open without attracting any undue attention. He was also able to see everything that was going on; his large size was coming in handy for change. Thank goodness Judy was all right. Only what the heck was everybody looking at the fox like that for? If that bushy-tailed fool hadn't locked the gate…!
He became aware of footsteps behind him and turned around to see Gully and Racius had just arrived. He sighed and folded his arms.
"This is not turning out to be one of my better mornings." He decided, and to the pair of wolverines he said, "Let me guess; you don't have your weapons, do you?"
"Sir," Gully started to protest, but the big bunny had already raised a paw.
"Yes, I know…I ordered you to drop everything and get over here right away; my bad."
The wolverines blinked and then gaped at one another. An admission like that from Jack La Peigne was like anyone else getting down on their knees and begging forgiveness with tears in their eyes.
"Yes, I did," the big bunny acknowledged, "but right now, I need you to go and retrieve those weapons and then get back here ASAP!" To illustrate why, he pointed towards the cell phone tower and the bunny rapidly descending the ladder attached to the gantry. It was all the explanation Gully and Racius needed, they were standing downwind from the relay-mast and even at this distance they could smell it; the animal descending the structure had gone savage.
Jack waved his paw to dismiss them but then a thought came out of nowhere.
"Trank darts only," he added, "No Morningmew."
"Yes sir." Gully answered smartly; he could tell that his boss was in no mood for any further disagreement. Nonetheless, there was one other issue to settle before he departed.
"Sir, do you still want us to be ready to activate if necessary?"
The big bunny frowned for a second. He didn't know why he had given the order for tranquilizer darts only—except that it had felt right. And Jack La Peigne hadn't come so far in life without learning to follow his instincts. But now what did they have to say about the wolverine's inquiry?
He had no idea, and so he took the middle course.
"Yes, but only as a last resort, and only on my express orders. Now get moving, both of you."
Gully responded with a quick salute, and then he and Racius were high-tailing it in the direction of the parking lot. Jack watched them go and then his eye fell on the prostrate form of Laura Clawson, lying on her back beside the Furizon van, with a small cluster of animals around her.
He went over, a few of the onlookers moved aside but most just stared at the big bunny; not surprising since almost all of them were smaller species.
"You got business here, Mister?" queried one of them, an old armadillo with a cranky, Latino accent. Jack took no offense; he already had pegged the animal the as physician of some kind, the no-nonsense type most likely, and probably retired. (When you're the son of a doctor yourself and also head of a Pharma company, such recognitions tend to come naturally.)
"Her name's Clawson, Laura Clawson; she works for me," the big rabbit explained.
The armadillo's manner changed instantly…from suspicion to outright hostility.
"You're the one brought in the extra security, right? Then where the heck are they?" Before Jack could answer or even start to bristle, another bunny beat him to it.
"They're over by the campground, Doc," he said. (Jack had been right), "some kind of big brawl is what I heard; they got all the Sheriff's deputies over there too."
Jack La Peigne felt his eyebrows and ears rise up. Why hadn't Gully said anything about…? Well he probably hadn't known either. In the meantime, the old armadillo remained unmoved.
"Well they better get back here before that…thing breaks outta his playpen again," He said, pointing towards the cell-phone tower
"I've got mammals on the way with trank-dart guns." Jack informed him brusquely. "Now how is my wolverine?" The first part wasn't precisely true but it had the effect of taking the edge off the armadillo's attitude. His manner became instantly cool and precise.
"Pretty sure she's got a concussion; won't know how bad till we get her x-rayed though." He looked at Jack as if expecting him to ask a stupid question.
He didn't ask it; of course this animal would have already called for an ambulance; his type never missed a detail. In fact the big bunny thought he could already hear the wail of a siren in the…
A collective gasp erupted from the crowd, and several animals turned to get out of there fast. Jack stood up quickly, knowing what had happened without looking.
Terry Haredigg was back at ground level.
Twenty five yards away, Nick Wilde already had a plan in the works.
"Yes! The tanks are full, Carrots." he said, sliding back down from the side of Old #28.
"Nick," Judy was eyeing the Burrows' County FD's venerable pumper engine dubiously, "I don't think…"
"If you've got a better idea, I'll go with it," the red fox answered, not looking at her, instead running his paws over the dials and levers of the pump controls like a shopper at a Black Friday sale.
Judy Hopps didn't have a better idea—but that didn't mean this was a good one; she glanced over her shoulder. Her Uncle was pacing around the cell-phone tower yard. She saw him stop, crouch, lunge at the fence and bounce off. That was good for making another dozen spectators realize that this wasn't the best place to be.
Terry threw himself at the fence a second time; once more it held but Judy knew that it couldn't go on like this for much longer. Soon enough her uncle would spot the tunnel he'd made earlier, (or else he'd simply dig a new one.)
A tug on her arm brought her back to the moment.
"Carrots come on," Nick pulled at her elbow again, "I can't do this alone; help me out here."
Even with the two of them working together it seemed like an impossible task; the pumper's hoses were all geared towards larger species, as thick as logs and—it seemed to Judy—twice as heavy. And she had never hooked up one of these things before; how did it work again? Okay, you screwed it on, but how were you supposed to get the threads to line up? They tried it once, twice; both times the hose seated crookedly and refused to turn any further. On the third attempt it finally began to spin…but not freely. It felt to Judy as if they were working an anchor capstan—on a battleship!
Glancing to her right, Judy saw that her uncle had ceased his assault on the cell-phone tower fence and was stalking about the yard with his head sweeping from side to side. He'd find the hole again at any second…and like it or not, Nick's idea was the only game in town.
And that was assuming the fox could even get his plan to work; at the moment he was still trying to figure out how to start Old #28's water pump.
You got it going apparently by yanking on a pull cord, same as an old fashioned lawn mower. Unfortunately, the cord in this case was thick as a bell-rope and also longer than Nick was tall. It also came with a T-Handle the size of the average rake. The fox would need to take it in both paws and run with it…and Judy couldn't help him because someone would need to press the starter button at the same time.
Nick grabbed the handle and jumped down from the truck.
"Okay Carrots, get ready to fire it up."
Judy threw up her paws in exasperation; now he really wasn't thinking.
"Just a second; don't you think we should uncoil the hose and close the nozzle first?"
In other circumstances, that would have been for a face-pawlm and a 'D'ohhhh, right!' from the red fox; this time he was daunted for less than a second. That was not a good sign, not a good sign at all.
"Oh, yeah," he nodded, and then grabbed the hose and twisted the nozzle shut, "Help me Carrots," he said again.
Together, they unrolled the fire-hose along the ground; Judy couldn't help noticing that the canvas was speckled here and there with little frayed spots. On the other side of the fence meanwhile, her uncle was pawing the ground, looking for a place to dig another tunnel. That was good news on one front, but bad news on another. It would take him awhile to get under the fence that way, but they wouldn't know exactly where he was going to emerge, not until it happened.
"C'mon bunny." Nick yelled again, and the two of them hurried back to the fire-truck. While Judy pressed down on the starter button, Nick slung the handle across his back like a yoke.
"Okay, ready?"
"Just GO!" she yelled. A field goal's distance away, her uncle had abruptly ceased his digging and was looking up as if remembering something, (and she could guess what that something was.) She pressed down on the starter and Nick took off at a run. The pump engine coughed, choked once and then the starter cord recoiled again, dragging the red fox back through the grass and smacking him against the side of the fire truck. He was unhurt and Judy nearly said something choice, but then she saw that her uncle had spotted his original tunnel and was abandoning the new one post haste.
"Hurry Nick!"
She pressed the button and he ran with the starter handle again, this time giving it everything he had. The engine chuffed, growled cantankerously, and then thundered into life. At once the fire hose shot into semi-rigidity, sprouting pinhole leaks all along its length. Judy had been right; this was an older hose, probably kept only for show. She was starting to like her partner's idea less and less, but there was no time to raise an objection. Terry Haredigg had found his original bolt hole and was diving into it….while the few remaining spectators, turned and got out of there fast.
Judy heartily wished she could go with them, but instead took up a position on the firehose directly behind Nick, grabbing on tight with both paws and bracing her legs while the red fox tilted the nozzle in the direction of the tunnel entrance. The hose seemed to quiver and squirm in her grip like something alive…alive and wanting to break free.
"Nick, I don't…" she started to say, but at that instant her Uncle Terry came bursting out of the rabbit-hole. Nick immediately loosed a high pressure blast of water at the savage bunny. It drove him right back into the tunnel again, but he and Judy barely noticed. With the speed of a scrambling fighter jet, the two of them were catapulted ten feet into the air, propelled by the force of the water.
Nick grabbed for the nozzle control and nearly lost his grip on the hose; there was nothing he could do but hang on for dear life; ditto for Judy as the fire hose whipsawed through the air, drenching the animals below who had still remained.
The water-jet raked across the front of the Luckyfoot Farms Festival booth, caving in the front and reducing the produce to a jumble of mush. It swiped across the information booth, demolishing the roof and scattering the paperwork to the four winds. Changing directions, the discharge ripped a PA speaker clear off its mountings and destroyed the poster kiosk where Cotton Hopps had huddled only a short while before. And then it blew out the back wall of the T shirt stand. It seemed to be gathering strength with every passing second.
Gritting his teeth Nick fought his way along the hose, back to the nozzle. The shut off was still beyond his reach but if he could only…divert….the water….away from its path of destruction.
He took hold of the nozzle with both paws and directed it downward…and fox-screamed.
The hose shot up in a rainbow arc, headed straight towards the cell-phone relay tower, carrying him and Judy with it. With a strength born of desperation the red fox turned the nozzle slightly and the two of them went flying past the tower gantry, missing it by scant inches. But now they were sailing right towards the triple rows of razor ribbon again. Nick gripped the nozzle and turned it harder—and he and Judy shot off to the right. At once, the fire hose began to wrap itself around the cell-phone tower like the cord of a monstrous tether ball. Caught in the grip of the centrifugal force, the red fox was unable to keep control of the nozzle and it shifted in his paws. Instantly, the winding circle became a tight, whirling spiral. Dizzy and growing faint, Nick could feel the fire hose coiling around him like a canvas anaconda.
And then all at once, the water pressure ceased and they were falling; the hose had ruptured midway along its length. Nick saw the ground coming up fast. He shut his eyes, tried to say something to Jud …
His attempt was cut off at the source as he jerked to a sudden halt, the canvas tightening around him like a straight-jacket. He bounced once and then came down again, suspended above the ground in an inverted position. How high he was, the red fox had no idea, but it hardly mattered.
Saved again…or he was, but what about…?
"Judy," he croaked, "Carrots…"
"Nick," she answered from somewhere right beside him. Her voice was weak and wobbly but she sounded unhurt; he tried to turn his head to look, but it wouldn't move far enough, the bunny remained invisible. He shook his head as best he could; attempting to clear his thoughts.
All right they were hanging suspended about five feet off the ground, cocooned in the ribbons of the fire hose, in an upside-down position. It was like Manchas and the rain forest all over agai…
Then from beside him, Judy screamed and on the other side of the fence more screams followed.
Nick looked and realized that there were two major differences between now and two years ago.
First, fire hose is a lot tougher than jungle creepers; he and Judy were utterly trapped, powerless to escape.
Second, back then the savage mammal stalking them had been manacled to a light post.
No such luck this time; Judy's Uncle Terry remained completely free of restraint.
And he was just now emerging from the hole directly in front of them.
Nick began to squirm desperately, so did Judy, even though the both of them knew it was useless.
Terry Haredigg seemed to sense it as well, instead of charging in immediately, he began to stalk back and forth in front of them, the way he had done earlier with Cotton. It was almost as if he was attempting to savor the moment.
Then he pulled down into crouch and thumped his foot.
On the other side of the fence there were more screams. Judy recognized the voice of her mother. "Somebody do something!"
From beside her, she heard Nick's voice; it was almost like a sob.
"Oh Carrots, I'm so sorr…"
Before he could finish, her Uncle leaped to the attack.
Next update coming later this week.