#37 Be Our Guest – Beauty and the Beast
*bzzz* *bzzzz* *bzzzzz*
The phone buzzed from the table beside the bed. Nick, still under the blanket, reached out for the buzzing device and tapped on it's illuminated screen. "…hello?" Who the heck calls so late in the nig-
"Help! Pl- Please she's gonna ki- kill me you have to- no no please don't NOO-" the phone cut off just after that. The fox, now awake and on edge, panicked as he quickly glanced at the phone just to see that the call had disconnected. A message soon came in, in it contained an address.
"Judy…JUDY!" he slammed his paw on the comatose rabbit beside him, she jumped at his sudden yelling.
"It's still too early Nick, go back to sleep."
"Judy, they're going to kill Vivi." The doe shot up as she processed what her partner just said.
"…what?"
"She called earlier, we need to get to her, we need to go now-"
"Don't you think we should tell Bogo? This can potentially ruin tomorrow's task!"
"Judy, someone is going to DIE,' he deadpanned, "the longer we wait, the lesser the odds of her surviving this, Judy we need to go right n-"
"NICK!" she grabbed the frantic fox by the shoulders and tugged him towards her, "Nick, this is exactly what they wanted: you panicking and running off alone to save that Vixen."
"That's why I'm not going alone," he looked straight into Judy's eyes, but unfortunately, it lacked the glow that it usually emitted. "Judy…" She let the fox go as he took a step back in disbelief. "No…"
"Nick, we can't do this by ourselves, we need reinforcements," she reasoned, but that didn't stop the fox from pacing back towards the door. "Nick, don't you remember what happened the last time!? Don't you remember how you almost DIED!?" she shouted at the fox. He grunted.
"The last time…" the painful memory creeped through his mind, "you were going to kill the bunny anyways… I get to get even…" The vixen's sinister voice whispered as the memories became clearer. He sighed as he slouched in defeat. "All the more I need to be alone," he twisted the knob and made a dash for the car.
"NICK!" she ran out to stop him but her legs could only take her that far. "C'mon, c'mon!" she held her phone against her ear as she made a call to the ZPD, "what's taking so long!?" she yelled in frustration as the silhouette of the car vanished into the distance.
…
…
"C'mon…C'mon… ANSWER!" Nick screamed into his phone, but it failed to make it through to the vixen's number. He took a sharp turn to the left and sped into the highway, fortunately there weren't many cars on the road this late into the night to obstruct him from speeding. He took a look at his phone again, this time to check the address that he was given, that's in the Meadowlands, he thought, and sighed at how far it was from where he is.
A red light stopped him as he brought the car to a halt. "C'mon…" he tapped lightly on the gas pedal, then drove through the red light; he had no time to lose. He came to yet another red light, but unlike the previous junction, a few cars actually drove by this time, so he had no choice but to stop, again. "Damn it!" he scolded, but there was nothing he could do.
His gaze slowly shifted to his phone again, he stared at its blank screen and the realisation that he was alone hit him harder than he expected. He picked up the device and switched it on. Judy… he swiped pass her number as he remembers the reason he left her out of this, Shell? He tapped on his number and waited for it to go through, but to no avail, useless wolf… Finally, he conceded and dialled Bogo. "Sir, I'm going in, I'll send the address soon." He said into the speaker; the voicemail was his only hope of not having to face this alone. The lights soon turned green as he tossed his phone to the chair beside him and continued his race to the vixen in distress. The rest of the journey was a smooth one, but the fox still felt helpless, two words rang through his mind as he dug his claws into the steering wheel: too late.
…
…
"It's been half an hour sir, he hasn't answered my calls or my texts! Heck I don't even know where he is!" the doe, visibly annoyed, ranted to the buffalo as he stepped from her side ad made his way to Fangmeyer, one of the many wolf officers in the precinct. He whispered into the wolf's ear before nodding and letting him take off through the exit.
"Like I said Hopps, wait here while we locate Wilde."
"Sir, with all due respect, my partner's life is at risk. I need to be there with him," she retorted.
"Hopps, do as I say and wait here," he said sternly, a finger pointing at the office's ground.
"Nick needs me!"
"HE NEEDS YOU TO BE AWAY FROM THOSE CRIMINALS!" the chief screamed at the top of his lungs, but that failed to waver the bunny.
"…he told you something didn't he? He kept something from me…"
The chief exhaled as he calmed down, "he's doing it for you Hopps, and we're sending tropes to his location. He'll be fine as long as you stay put!" he pointed at her again, emphasising his words so that it sinks in.
"Fine," she scoffed, agitated that she can't be of any help. As soon as the cape buffalo left the office, the bunny hopped off her seat and reached for the file that was on the chief's desk. She flipped through it, and much to her relief, it was the case file for Vivi and the gang. Convenient… she thought with a smug, but that soon faded as she took note of the sticky note that dropped out from the file: on it an address leading to the Meadowlands. That's my best bet… she snapped a photo of the information and left for her cruiser, the one she and Nick shares, I saw it in his eyes… she stepped into the car and twisted the keys, the fear, the paranoia, the pain… and just like that she sped into the streets, I have to make sure he's okay…
…
…
"Hello." A bar swooped over Nick's head as he barely dodges it, his training soon kicked in as he brushed his opponent's feet off the ground, effectively making him fall and drop the weapon. "Ouch…" the coyote whimpered as the red fox picked up the baton.
"That's kind of rude, I just got here," Nick said nonchalantly, his suave tone masking his trembling.
"We've only started," the coyote said before another canine came running from the shadows. The fox managed to disarm her as well, and soon after another came, then another, and before long he was up against five other canines.
"Where… where's Vivi?" he said between breaths, the canines seemed a little confused, but a voice came from behind them, grabbing their attention before they could think further.
"She's dead," it said, its tone cold and heartless.
"I'm sorry, what?" Jaja, the tanuki who was part of the team who attacked Nick, said in confusion.
"Details are not important," the grey fox placed a mask over her muzzle before reaching for a spray can on her belt and spraying its contents at the crowd. Nick held his breath as the other canines collapsed to the ground. He clasped his paws against his muzzle in an attempt to prevent himself from inhaling the gas, but he was already beginning to feel drowsy. "Good that you're not knocked out yet," she said as she stepped closer to the fox, "means you'll be more than ready for what comes next…" his vision blurred as he gave in to the gas.
…
…
"WHAT!?" a yell came from the burly chief, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'NOT HERE'!?" he yelled at his officers. They searched the entire area, but all they could find were five bodies lying on the ground, fortunately they still had a heartbeat and were sent to the hospital immediately after they were found. "Search again, we're not leaving until we have any other info on Wilde's whereabouts, and for goodness sake you are wolves! Aren't you supposed to be good trackers!?" he dismissed them with a glare as they scurried back to hunt for clues. "That idiot, wasting my time with wrong addresses…" he got his phone and dialled the fox, but there was no answer.
From a distance away, a silhouette of a rabbit remained hidden in the bushes. Where are you… she thought, then her phone buzzed in her pocket. She reached in and took a look. Her worst fears have come true: they've contacted her. They've got him, Bogo needs to know… but she stopped herself before she could step out into the light, they'd kill him if they knew we had backup… she hesitated, then remembered that they had tried it once before, and they'll almost certainly do it again. Rats! She got the paper from her pocket and scribbled a note on it: the same puzzle that they offered her on Nick's location and an explicit comment to not intervene until she said they could through the walkie talkies. After that she intentionally made a loud rustling sound before hopping out of the bush and making a dash to her vehicle, all the while making sure that at least one officer had caught her doing so; someone was probably watching her, so walking up to Bogo would have landed with Nick being dead.
There wasn't much time left, so she drove off without giving much thought about the puzzle. She looked at the message once again and gave it a thought…
Come follow me, I've got a score to settle,
Amongst mammals of plastic and metal.
.
Where they display past mysteries,
Where you'll go down in history.
.
Where you thought it all would end,
Where for me it only began…
She had a rough idea of where the place was, and that added to the dread she felt, she knew what was coming for her, she knew what was going to happen.
Once again, you'll relive your past,
But this time, a little more real than the last…
…
…
"Nick!" she exclaimed softly, the scene was all too familiar, with him tied to a chair under a spotlight, but something was different… he had something around his neck.
Lifeless emerald looked into her purple hues.
"Run."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
AAAAA sorry for a filler like thingy again, I just started uni and it's kinda taking a toll on me :s
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm giving it my all now since I've gained access to this website again! Hope you have a great week! :D