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The Fire Triangle—A Zootopia Fanfiction

Part One:

Fuel

Chapter 4 – The Wizard of Chaos
(Continued…Pt. 6)

Something shot up out of the hole behind Judy's Uncle, spewing earth in all direction; it was big, bigger than he was. In spite of everything, Judy was unable to stifle her amazement.

"What the…? Is that another rabbit?"

Whatever it was, it came down with both feet on the back of her uncle's neck, driving him face first into the ground, before leaping away again. Terry shook it off immediately and then wheeled to face his new adversary.

"Leave her alone!" Jack La Peigne gave as much of snarl as was possible for a rabbit, and then moved his leg back, taking up a Hop-Ki-Do stance. It felt pitifully inadequate against an animal gone savage, but his skills were all he had right now.

That and the fact that no one here right now knew the effects of Nighthowler poisoning better than he did.

Terry moved to the right; Jack feinted left and then moved with him. It would confuse the other rabbit if he behaved erratically; for a few seconds only, but that precious sliver of time might make all the difference in the world.

"I don't have to beat him," The big bunny reminded himself, "Only keep him occupied until…oh crackers, here he comes!"

Jack held his ground as the crazed bunny charged flat-out. At the last instant he dove to the right, kicking out with his legs and catching Terry in the ribs, driving him into a sideways sprawl. That was the key, he knew; never try to meet a more powerful enemy head on; duck, feint, and go for a flank attack.

"If you attempt to stop a runaway wagon by standing before it, you will only succeed in being crushed," Master Dae had once explained to him, "Yet with only a light push from your shoulder, you may deflect it sideways, perhaps even cause it to topple."

Terry jumped back onto his feet; Jack did the same. For a moment they circled one another like a pair of gladiators in the arena, both of them down on all fours. When Terry bared his incisors and hissed, Jack immediately mirrored the gesture; the one thing that brings out the wariness in an animal darted with Nighthowler is being confronted by another animal gone savage.

Then Judy's uncle charged again, but Jack was ready for him; he turned and ran for the cell phone tower, leaping up with all his strength. Grabbing for a cross-bar, he swung himself upwards like a gymnast. A half second later he felt the gantry shudder as the crazed bunny crash into it. (That was the other thing about animals on Nighthowler; run and they will chase you—and you'll be the only thing on their minds.)

Jack leaped backward off the tower, tumbling over and coming down squarely on his adversary's back. And then using him for a springboard, he jumped off again, landing on the ground in a tuck and roll, and coming up in a four point stance, facing the savage bunny.

But Terry just lay there, making noises like the creaking of wood timbers.

Immediately, Jack La Peigne's ear went up and he felt his nose twitching.

"What the…? I didn't hit him that hard. Why is he…? HE'S FAKING IT!"

The thought came just in the nick of time; at that instant Terry turned and attacked.

Jack jumped backwards, parrying with a forearm; the snapping jaws missed him by a bare whisker. Terry hissed and lunged again; Jack spun to the right and brought his elbow down on the top of the crazed rabbit's head; he hardly seemed to feel it. Instead he spun sideways, lashing out with his feet…and this time he connected, catching Jack squarely in the center of his chest, heaving him up and backwards by a good six feet. Somehow, the big bunny managed to land upright, inhaling deeply to replace the air in his lungs.

Even at this moment a part of couldn't help but feel a growing sense of wonder.

"He's learning!" the big bunny thought to himself. "Even in a state of full savagery, he's able to learn from his mistakes."

"The ears!" A female voice cried from behind him, breaking his chain of thought, "Go for the base of the ear!"

Jack nearly gave himself a face pawlm,

"Of course, ring his bell; why didn't I think of that!"

But there was no time to think of much of anything, because Terry Haredigg was coming straight at him once again. Jack dived to the side, but this time the crazed bunny adjusted for it and swerved at the last second.

It didn't work; he wasn't the only rabbit here learning to anticipate his opponent's tactics. Jack flattened onto his back and kicked upwards, heaving his opponent up and over and dropping him onto his back. It was a Hail Mary move; when he rolled over again, he was facing away from the savage bunny.

No time to turn and face his adversary, Jack took off at a four footed run with Terry right behind him. It didn't matter, not as long as the crazed rabbit continued to focus on him instead of…

"That's it, chase me; forget about her."

He ran for the fence, leaped up and bounced off, kicking out with his legs; the blow missed Terry's ear but caught him in the shoulder; it had about as much effect as a basketball on concrete. Jack hit the ground, leaped for the tower, caromed off the side, and leaped again. No time to throw another kick, but Terry missed him with those teeth again. He hit the ground running and went for the fence, scooting up and along the surface like motorcyclist riding the wall of death. He jumped down, onto his forepaws and kicked out with both legs, this time missing completely.

Terry Haredigg had better luck; when he hit the ground, his jaws found the big bunny's left ankle. Wrapping his teeth tightly around it he began to shake his enemy violently back and forth, like a wolf cub with a rag. All around the fence line a chorus of screams erupted; Judy was screaming too.

But this was where Jack's martial arts training came in. Instead of trying to fight the motion he went with it, turning it to his own advantage. On the fourth backswing, he lashed out with a hammer-fist, using the momentum of the shaking to add extra power to the blow.

It worked; he connected hard with the base of Terry's left ear. Stunned and stupefied, the crazed rabbit released him, turning in a circle once again. Jack shook his head, trying to recover. He too was in a daze.

"Have to clear my head, have to get it together before he does. How's the ankle…still good? All right MOVE!"

Fast…but not fast enough. He and Terry leaped up at the exact same moment. Jack swung with his foot in a wheel kick, aiming for the other bunny's ear.

Terry swiped with his arm and parried the blow—in the exact same way Jack had deflected his jaws when the savage bunny tried to bite him. The move caught the big rabbit completely by surprise, but it wasn't nearly as big a surprise as what happened next; Terry fired off a nearly perfect copy of the wheel-kick Jack had just thrown.

But unlike his enemy, he didn't miss; his right foot slammed like a freight-train into the side of the big rabbit's head…right below the ear. A thousand cymbals seemed to crash inside of Jack's cranium and his field of vision became a fun-house mirror; the ground beneath his feet was turning to jelly. He could feel himself dropping like a chopped down tree. And then his slow fall turned hard and fast, and he was crashing into the ground with a weight on top of him. He blinked, tried to see; all that was visible was a pair of gnashing yellow incisors, closing in relentlessly on his throat…closer…closer…only millimeters away.

All at once the weight on top of him seemed to shudder. He heard a whining sound and felt the load shuddered again…and then it abruptly went limp.

Jack let himself lay like that for a few seconds, and then with a supreme effort, he pushed the weight up and off of him and rolled out from under it.

Terry Haredigg was lying flat on his face with a tranquilizer dart embedded in his shoulder and a second one in the small of his back.

Clutching at his throat and coughing, Jack looked towards the fence-line where Gully and Racius were standing, keeping the unconscious bunny covered with their dart rifles. He looked at Terry again, and then made a motion for them to stand down. This rabbit wasn't going anywhere, not for a while at least.

He heard a chinking noise and turned to see a pine marten and a ring-tailed cat in fluorescent vests, unlocking the gate to the cell tower yard. As soon as it opened, the wolverines were the first animals through. (Actually they were only ones through; unconscious or not, no one else wanted to be in close quarters with a bunny that had just gone savage.)

"Sir are you…?" Gully started to say, and the big bunny tetchily waved him off, pointing first at Terry Haredigg and then at Nick and Judy.

"Never mind me; get him secured…and get them down from there."

"Yes sir." The wolverines answered, and hurried quickly to obey.

Nick Wilde smelled him before he saw him, and when he did, he felt his hackles rising up, it was another wolverine. But then he heard a voice, "Hang on folks, we're getting you down," followed by a swaying motion and a soft rasping sound; someone was cutting through the hose Nick felt the coils begin to slowly loosen their grip—and then they let go all at once, dropping him to the ground in an untidy heap. He got up quickly and began to brush himself off. Behind him, he heard #28's pump engine cough and sputter to a stop

"Are you all right?" he heard Judy asking. He turned quickly in her direction.

"Yeah, I'm all right Car…"

But she wasn't talking to him; she was hurrying in the direction of the big rabbit massaging the side of his head. He saw her coming and smiled wearily.

"I'm all right Judy." Jack La Peigne told her, waving a weak paw, "A little shaken up, but I'm okay."

She stopped in her tracks. How the heck did he know who she…?

"Judy, JUDY!"

She turned just as her mother and father came rushing through the gate. Before she had time to react or even to think, she was swept up in their arms and they were hugging her tight.

"Oh Judy," he mother was starting to cry, "Oh Judy." She just kept repeating it over and over

"I'm all right, Mama." She said, patting her mother's back and trying not to start crying herself, "I'm all right." (This was the first time since middle school she had called her mother, 'mama'.) Her father only held her, barely able to stave off the waterworks.

Then his gaze shifted and he let go of his daughter.

"What about you Nick, are you all right?" he asked. The red fox had just arrived on the scene.

"Yeah, I'm okay Stu," he answered—warily. There was something about this bunny's demeanor that was putting his instincts on high alert. He sounded clipped, almost formal.

Then Judy's parents moved their attention to the big rabbit she'd been speaking to a moment before. Now their faces were all warmth and gratitude…and Nick was beginning to understand exactly what that 'something' was.

"Thank you." Bonnie said, sniffling, "Thank you for saving my daughter's life." All around the yard was a hubbub of agreement; more and more animals were coming through the gate now, including (finally!) a pair of Sheriff's deputies, Mac Cannon and a bull elk.

Jack only nodded tiredly again…but then someone touched him on the elbow, a raccoon in a paramedic's uniform. He immediately waved a pawlm.

"Never mind me, take care of her first." He said, pointing through the fence in the direction of Laura Clawson, still laid out beside the Furizon van. The raccoon looked and nodded quickly; however bad it was for Jack, it was obviously worse for her. He and his partner quickly departed.

"Who are you Mister?" another voice asked, and he turned to see Stu Hopps regarding him with his nose twitching.

"My name's La Peigne, Jack La Peigne," the big bunny told him. He didn't offer Stu his paw; not out of any sense of snobbery but because other bunnies had a habit of pulling away whenever he did that.

Stu blinked, his ears went up, and his nose began to twitch faster.

"Jack…La Peigne? Little Jack La Peigne…'Doc' George La Peigne's boy?"

Jack felt his ears standing up as well. Someone had not only (at last) recognized his name…they'd remembered his father, too.

Now he offered Stu a paw, and the other bunny quickly took it.

"Yes, that's me," Jack told him, and then his nose began to twitch. Why was Bonnie Hopps shaking her head and muttering to herself?

"Doc La Peigne's son…you're Doc La Peigne's boy; sweet cheez n' crackers. What goes around really does come around."

The big bunny eyed her curiously.

"Uh, ma'am…I'm not sure I…"

By way of explanation, Judy's mother rolled up her sleeve, revealing a spoon-sized divot in her upper arm.

"My name is Bonnie Haredigg Hopps Mr. La Peigne." she said, and then pointed to the rabbit being strapped down to a gurney while the wolverine Racius kept watch, "And that bunny over there is my brother Terry."

Jack's lower jaw fell earthward.

"Wait a minute, that's Terry Haredigg over there? The same Terry Haredigg who…?"

"The same bunny your father cured, the first time he went savage," Stu Hopps finished for him.

The big rabbit could only shake his head in amazement, genuine not faked. Of all the animals that could have gotten that Nighthowler pellet; Bonnie Hopps was right, things did have a way of coming full circle. But then he felt his eyes narrowing. If that was true, then here might be an opportunity here; only one way to find out though…and he needed to be the one to ask the question.

"What…could have happened to him?" he queried, pointing over at Judy's uncle, with just the right note of unease and confusion in his voice.

"Pretty obvious ain't it?" said a crotchety voice whom Jack instantly recognized as the armadillo who'd attended to Laura Clawson earlier. He looked directly at Bonnie, "Your brother had himself a flashback , that's the only thing that I think could of happened."

There were murmurs of agreement from the animals gathered around, including Jack La Peigne…but inside, the big bunny was whooping, "Yes!"

That was when Judy Hopps snapped her fingers.

"Wa-a-a-i-t a minute; now I remember where else I heard your name before; you're also the head of LPN Pharmaceuticals, am I right?"

Jack just nodded and Judy's father gave her an odd look.

"Well yeah, that's the sponsor of this year's Carrot Days, Jude, but how's that figure into anything?

Judy grabbed his arm, excitedly.

"Dad, that's also the company that developed the Nighthowler antidote!"

This revelation changed everything; Stu's face instantly became that of a supplicant in the presence of a saint, and then it was Bonnie who was grabbing Jack's arm.

"Please, can you help my brother?"

The big bunny looked over at the sedated form of Terry Haredigg, being rolled towards the gate on a gurney, attended by two paramedics.

"Not yet, give it a few seconds before you answer. All right, now."

He patted her paw and smiled.

"Of course, I can." He said, and then pulled out his cell phone, "Give me just a second."

Bonnie nodded and let go of him while he dialed.

"Doctor? This is La Peigne." he said, forgoing any preamble, "Listen, I need you to drop everything and get yourself out to the helipad ASAP. No, never mind about that, we have another animal gone savage on our paws. Yes that's right. In Bunnyburrows; I need you out here with a supply of Morn…of the Nighthowler antidote right away."

He said this while looking at Gully, who gazed back curiously for a second and then looked away. Jack could almost hear his thoughts. What did they need HER for…and why the heck did she need to bring along extra Morningmew? They had plenty of the stuff, right here already. One quick shot and Terry Haredigg would be good as new.

"Because I don't want any of these animals here to KNOW that!" Jack answered the wolverine silently. And then to his cell phone he said, "It's different this time than two years ago, Doctor. I'll fill you in once you're airborne. Right now, you need to get out here immediately." He disconnected without waiting for an answer and then studied the cell-phone for a second; his last two statements had been 100% truthful.

He shook it off and punched another number.

"Whitepaugh, this is La Peigne. I need you to scramble the executive helicopter and get it out to LPN Meadowland facility right away. Tell the pilot he's to pick up Dr. H at the helipad and bring her directly to…" He covered the phone and called out to the paramedics, who were just getting ready to load Terry Haredigg onto an ambulance, "Where are you taking him, County General?"

"Pawvidence Memorial," the sheep in charged called back.

Jack spoke into phone again. "…to Pawvidcnce Memorial Hospital in Bunnyburrows…excuse me for a second." He covered the phone again and spoke to the wolverine standing nearest to him. "Racius, I want you ride to the hospital with Haredigg. Go."

That brought an immediate protest from the EMT sheep.

"Sir, we can't allow…"

The big bunny cut him off with a wave of his paw

"If that rabbit on the gurney wakes up while you're still in route, you're GOING to want Racius with you." He rubbed his chest and added, "Trust me, I know."

The sheep looked at Terry for a second and then back at Jack, nodding reluctantly and motioning for the wolverine to join him. The big bunny nodded back and spoke into the phone again.

"We've had another savage incident…no, not a predator this time; another bunny." He looked at the animals gathered around him and added, "I don't know how it happened; that's why I want Doctor H. here. Get that chopper out to the Meadowlands and get her on board right away. La Peigne out."

Once again, he disconnected without bothering to sign off.

"Okay, I'll have some help here as soon as possible," He said, speaking to Bonnie and Stu. Judy's mother sniffled and patted his arm. "Bless you Mr. La Peigne." she said.

"Oh please, just call me Jack," he said, flashing that weary smile again, "I'm a hometown boy after all." He poked a thumb at the gate. "Now come on, let's all get out of here."

Everyone thought that was a splendid suggestion. But when they turn to move towards the exit, Jack winced and made a sound as soon as he put pressure on his leg. When he looked down he saw that the cuff of his pants was shredded. There appeared to be no blood, but his ankle had ballooned to nearly twice its normal size.

"Dangit," he grumbled, "he must have done more damage than I thought."

He had been speaking to no one in particular but Judy answered him anyway.

"Here, I'll help you." She said, reaching up and wrapping her arm around his waist.

"I'm fine, really." He said, trying to push her off. It was half-hearted effort at best, and she remained right where she was.

"Don't be silly, you saved my life; the least I can do is help you out of here." And to a passing deputy she said. "We're going to need another ambulance."

"I don't need a…" Jack started to say, but Judy immediately shushed him.

"None of that; you don't have to prove yourself to anyone here."

"I know that Hopps," the big bunny answered, annoyed in spite of himself, "What I meant was, I've got my own mammals to take care of me."

She lifted an ear and an eyebrow, "Really Jack, where are they?"

"Over at the campground," he answered, with a dry expression on his face, "or on their way back if we're lucky; some kind of brawl is what I heard."

"Oh," Judy suddenly felt more than a little contrite; that explained a lot of things. "How is it that you knew who I was?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"The bunny who cracked the Savage Predator case?" Jack La Peigne queried with an even more ironic smile, "I-I-I think I know who she is."

Judy felt something warm rising up in her cheeks and for some reason she was unable to meet the big bunny's gaze…until he grunted when his foot came down on a camera someone had dropped.

"Oops, hope I didn't break it." He said. Judy looked down and shook her head, "Don't worry about it, it was already broken."

Now it was Jack who was looking away; he'd been talking about his ankle, not the camera. He pointed to a nearby bench.

"Just set me down right there. I'll be fine until my animals get here, really."

"Oh-kay," she answered reluctantly and began to steer him towards it.

Following along in the wake of the crowd, Nick Wilde felt as if he was stranded on a raft in the middle of the ocean. No one was giving him dirty looks, or grateful looks—or looks of any kind. It was as if he had become the invisible fox. Everyone's attention was focused squarely on the big bunny Judy was helping and every face was practically glowing with adoration. What was his name, La Peigne, right? Everyone was ignoring him in favor of Jack La Peigne. It was all right, he could handle it; hadn't that big rabbit just saved his life? And Judy, he'd also saved her life, don't forget that. It was all right if she treated him like a hero. Heck, it was all right if everyone was treating him like a hero.

The squealing voice of a little girl bunny brought the red fox down to earth again. Cotton…Oh, thank goodness; by the sound of her voice she had managed to weather the storm. And now here she was, rushing towards him one more time.

Nick turned, just in time to see the little girl bunny scamper past without even looking—and bound straight into the arms of a thoroughly surprised Jack La Peigne.

Okay…THAT hurt.