AN: Last chapter got 6 review again. Hopefully this one will get more. I'm pretty certain you lot will enjoy it.
Melior. I was making a hot fuzz reference.
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Chapter 38:
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23.00 hours. Zootopia central hospital.
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"Evening Ramsay, graveyard shift again?" A nurse said as she left the building. Ramsay, dressed in his uniform, just nodded as he walked the other way.
"As usual…"
The nurse waved back, and was then gone from sight as Ramsay entered in and turned down a familiar corridor. Away from the murmuring and noises of the A&E department, which from a cursory glance Ramsay could see was filled up as usual. He weaved through crowds of other nurses and doctors going the other way, his pace quickening, until he turned and entered the main briefing room.
"Nurse Jack!"
"Mr Roam… Sorry I'm late sir," the mule quietly replied, his head hung low as he avoided looking at the head nurse, a particularly impatient Buffalo who had a hatred of tardiness.
"Sorry doesn't excuse yourself!" he growled back, before slowly marching up to Ramsay, his nostrils flaring.
"Yes sir…"
"And as a nurse, people RELY ON YOU!"
"… yes sir…"
"You know what I do to tardy nurses?"
Ramsay looked up, tugging his shirt collar nervously. "I… Sir, it was only a few minutes…"
"Which means you won't be docked a paygrade for now…"
"Thank you, sir."
"However, I have got half a mind of putting you on pad changing duties… Give me ONE reason why I shouldn't."
Ramsay gulped, before speaking. "We all know that this is peak time for Preds, particularly pensioners from the nocturnal district, to come up via the elevators. At the same time, it's a Friday night so we'll be getting plenty of drunks getting injured. A and E is already full, and big drunk Prey and old infirm Preds do not mix well. Pad changing can wait, but dishing out the correct stocks of medicines and treatments can't…"
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"Patient first focus, I see," the head nurse replied, mulling over the words as he said them. "Very well, but consider yourself lucky! You understand?"
"Yes sir!"
"And DON'T be late again! Or else!"
"Trust me sir," Ramsay replied. "If I ever turn up late again, you can put me on collar duty for a week."
The head nurse paused, looking at Ramsey as if he couldn't quite believe what he'd just heard, before shrugging and accepting it. "Fine, but I'll hold you to account for that. And don't blame me if your mental health goes on the fritz…" And at that the head nurse turned away, shuddering as he thought about all that entailed. Ramsay meanwhile turned, and began making his way to his station.
Through corridors.
Upstairs.
Waiting in lifts and falling in line with rows of other nurses and doctors, weaving through the great complex.
He headed towards his station, though he just took a round-about path to visit some sites on the way.
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"If you're wondering, TT," Ramsey whispered when they were finally alone, "Collar duty is fitting collars to young cubs, as well as replacing old or broken ones and taking them off to do check-ups… If you're in a little clinic, you have it few and far between, enough for you to believe all the 'just to be safe' crap. But if you're taking away a dozen peoples freedom an hour, or giving them a little taste of it just to claw it back moments later… You're either a Pred hating monster, or you need one hell of a stiff drink afterwards…"
"Sounds rough," came a soft whisper from inside the mule's uniform, before there was a wiggle and a brown head emerged. "Though I was actually planning on commenting on what would have been a rather annoying impediment to our plans."
"Pad changing duty certainly would put a spanner in the works," Ramsey replied.
"Yup, after all that planning, certainly would be a crap way for all this to end…"
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Ramsay' eyelids just lowered, and an annoyed frown appeared on his face. "How long were you…"
"Ever since he said Pad duty," Tattletail interrupted, before giving an evil little snicker. "I'd make a joke about that head nurse too, but his parents already have it covered."
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"Can you explain that one?"
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"His name was Mr Roam," Tattletail stated. "You called him that, didn't you?"
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"Yes, I still don't…"
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"And he's a Buffalo."
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"A Buffalo called Roam?" Ramsay asked. "I don't see where you're going with this."
"Seriously!?" Tattletail replied incredulously, "Buffalo… Roam… Where the Buffalo Roam!"
"… No…" the mule replied, with a shrug added in after. "You've lost me. And a lost nurse coming up, so back in you go!"
Before Tattletail could protest, a hoof came down on him from above and pushed him back down into the pocket he was stowed away in. As he was hidden away from view, Ramsay carefully neatened up his uniform and looked up at the confused looking Impala up ahead, just as he spotted him coming.
"Hey, can you direct me to Preydiatrics…"
"Down two flights of stairs, there should be some toilets, the signs will direct you from there," Ramsey effortlessly replied.
"Thanks…" the nurse replied, before pausing as he looked at Ramsay. "Are you…"
"A mule! Yes! Half Donkey, half Horse. Nothing to see here!" Ramsey immediately replied, rattling out the words as fast as he could.
"… Cool," the impala muttered, before he turned to walk off to his station.
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"It's safe," Ramsay said after a dozen seconds or so.
"Preydiatrics…," Tattletail immediately started. "Tell me you can't see the animal pun in that!? What is it with this city and animal puns?"
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"It's not an animal pun," Ramsey carefully explained. "It's for predation wounds. Bite marks. Claws marks…"
"Ouch…"
"Trust me, it's the best place to work in this hospital," the mule said reassuringly. "Politicians put it in decades ago, one of those old flash policies to win a few extra votes, and touching it is a major vote looser, even if they get less than one patient a day…"
"Sounds like a good gig," the little Rodent commented.
"Of course, the managers know this so put you on collar duty the day after," Ramsey clarified, "and having to take a faulty collar off a poor, screaming pup only to put a new one back on after… Totally not worth it."
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"Thanks for the levity," Tattletail said quietly, taking the time to peek himself out from Ramsey's pocket again. "Now, back to our societies fixation with pun names… I'll ignore your one…"
"My one?"
"Yes, your one Mr Jack, and head straight to the murky world of celebrities, particularly music, where EVERYONE has a pun name."
"Not everyone," Ramsey replied, "what about Matt Stevens?"
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"…Who?"
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"You know, the one who converted to Islamb and changed his name…"
"Who?" Tattletail asked again. "And shall I bring up how an entire religion name is an animal pun."
"Well, you could," Ramsay said, shrugging. "But still, Matt Stevens… whose song 'Father and Son' was used in the final scene of Guardians of the Galaxy two by the way…"
"Isn't that the space film with the Racoon who was abducted from earth and now calls himself Starlord, the resurrected slash bio-engineered hairless ape called Rocket and the latter's talking tree monster… friend… thing?" Tattle asked, to which Ramsay nodded.
"It is, it also isn't an animal pun, is it? In any case, Matt Stevens isn't one either?"
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"It's not," Tattletail conceded. "But it's cancelled out by the whole Islamb business…"
"Then there's Steppen Bruce."
"You mean the guy who did born to be wild? I'd say the song…"
"Deaf Leonard, famous for 'pour some sugar on me'. The Regales, aka the ones who release Hotel Califurnia. And, if you remember the song 'Fireflies' which was on the radio years back, released by Towel city. Then there's the song 'sex on fire', released by the very non-animal pun named Kings of Neon…"
"Okay," Tattletail conceded. "I admit…"
"Cage the Elegance…"
"No rest for the wicked," the now annoyed rodent muttered.
"The manageable's…"
"Who?!"
"The ones who did house of the rising sun."
"Never heard of them."
"They're in the Rock and Roll hall of fame! Anyway, no animal pun there. Also, the Two Mens… The Two Mens league…"
"OKAY! You WIN!" Tattletail wailed, his paws out and clutching the air as Ramsey just looked down at him, smirking.
"Thank you. Anyway, we're here." Ramsey announced, as he halted just in front of a large door. Through windows built in the side, both mammals could spot racks of computers at work, their lights on and fans humming.
"Thanks." Tattletail said, as he scurried out of the inside pocket and dropped down to the floor with a thud. Looking around, Ramsey discretely leant to one side and pressed down on the handle, pushing the door slightly ajar and letting his Water vole companion enter. "Easy parts over," he commented, before Ramsay closed the door and marched off to his station, now knowing that there was no turning back.
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23.10. Elkway road.
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"I presume Kozlov has fulfilled his side of the operation?"
"The Don Kozlov has arranged it, da." Raymond agreed, as he flicked his indicator up and turned off the main road and towards a large multi-storey carpark that rose up against the side of the hospital. Riding shotgun next to him was Nick, the fox rattling his claws against the leather as he stayed his nerves. Despite his planning, effort and confidence, he (and no other sane person) couldn't help but be worried now that zero hour was upon him.
"Remember, we don't begin drilling until we get the text for Tattletail. We don't want to leave a heap of evidence, and then find out the whole plan is bust."
"Raymond is not impatient moron." The huge polar bear muttered, as the refrigerated limo began climbing the tight carpark ramp. Around and around, past filled up car decks until they halted at a set of large warning signs, stating that the upper floors were closed.
"Better word would be reserved," Nick said, as he hopped out of the limo and moved the signs out of the way. He watched the limo continue forward past him, before placing the signs back and following. Raymond had already parked the car by a large concrete wall, where a stubborn piece of graffiti marked their drilling site. His pursuit of coolness suspended for this night only, Nick ran across the empty parking lot, his pads pounding against the hard top. Even so, by the time he reached Raymond the bear was already out, and unloading a heavy set of industrial drills, a bucket of cooling water and bolt cutters, ready for the next stage.
"Now, we wait."
"Yes, Raymond," Nick managed to say between his deep, strained pants. "Now we wait."
"Let us hope, for no distractions…."
"Let us hope," Nick replied. "Anyway, what's the worst spanner fate could throw in our works?"
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23.15. ZPD precinct 1.
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Deep in the ZPD Judy was nursing a pot of coffee, her third for the night as she carried on with her work. Scanning through the jam cams, she had a large notebook out, alongside her diary, and was filtering through information and documents, trying to gleam something, anything about the mysterious Nicholas Vulpes.
Throughout it all, she couldn't help glance back to the picture of Woolly's 'conspiracy board', before looking back to her own. "What did he see that I didn't," she mused, before she looked back to her latest tit-bit of information. A report from thirteen years ago, about a fox who was acting 'savage' on the subway. While it had been brushed off as just another Pred hater, a few witnesses had commented about how the foxes collar seem to not be working.
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"Still nothing…" the bunny slurred, as she pushed away the report and turned back to her diary. Holding a pen in her hand, she doodled slightly in the margin but didn't have the heart to write another entry. "Nothing much to write about…"
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Ping….
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"Well, let's see where our favourite limo is now…"
With the discovery of Woolly's picture of Mr Vulpes, and Bogo's permission, Judy had been able to do a search on the limo that the Fox had been seen in on that night, one that was worryingly run by a key member of the polar bear mafia. Setting up a tracking program had been easy, but nothing had come up from it until now.
"See, I knew you would be useful," Judy said to herself, as she brought up a picture of the limo on Elkway road, navigating around the camera's until she got a good glance at the passenger side window. Zooming in, a grin grew on her face as she made out a familiar fox's face. Pressing the spacebar and looking on, Judy held her breath as she watched the car turn off into a car park, spiralling up several ramps before pausing. "What are you…" she began, only to stop as the limo continued its climb, onto what looked like a closed off level, its lights all blacked out.
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"And Oates said this would be pointless," Judy said, smirking at herself. Leaning over to her diary, she wrote three words 'Bagging a Fox', before circling them and jumping off her seat. Immediately she reached for her radio, clicking it on and reporting back to the chief dispatch officer.
"This is junior detective Hopps, over. Going to investigate a possible lead, may have to call backup at a later time. Please notify all officers around Elkway road."
"Over…" barked the mammal on the other side, as Judy quickly threw on her clothes and her utility belt. She silently cursed to herself for forgetting to buy some new Fox-rep, while also misplacing her dart gun. Even so, she grabbed her tazer, did a quick equipment check before she began marching out to the garage.
"You were lucky twice Mr Vulpes," she said out loud. "But for me, third time is the charm."
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23.20. Zootopia central hospital, security centre.
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In the towers of wiring and computers, handling the security system for the hospital, a Water vole was busy at work. Scurrying around the perimeter of the units, he went from ethernet cable to ethernet cable, careful to cut each one.
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His ears twitched as a harsh error bleep came from the access terminal at the centre of the room, alarmed that one of the electronic tendrils that connected it to the rest of the hospital had been severed. Tattletail initially hadn't give the interconnected nature of the system any piece of mind, instead planning on the traditional infect and leave approach. A concerned talk from one of the mules, he could not remember whether it was Stanley and Neville, had raised the issue that an infection would likely spread from here and corrupt vital data filed and other critical information.
Tattletail was a much too carefree mammal to ever want the potential of causing the deaths of innocents to be a result of his activities, so a simple round with a trusty pair of scissors was added to his plans. Coming up to the final cable, he slid the scissors around the plastic casing and, with a flick of a switch, watched as it came down and sliced through it, exposing ends wires of copper inside that were as thick as the claws on his little finger. A quick survey around to confirm the amputation was complete, and he darted off towards a central console. Leads connecting it to the surrounding hard drives spilled out from it like braids of hair, and he scurried up one to the mouse pad, where he set his eyes on its resident input device.
"No… I still don't get that fetish," he muttered to himself, as he bent down to place two paws on the medium to large mammal scaled mouse, which was large enough to come up to his knees. A quick shove, and the work station was bathed in light as the nearby computer monitor. Looking up, he sighed with relief as he spotted it loading straight up to the central screen.
"No need to mess around with passwords again…" he said, as he marched over to the nearby computer, clawing into the plastic rib-work of its front as he climbed upwards to a usb port. He looked down at the keyboard, unable to smile with the satisfaction that it wouldn't hinder him this time, before he unslung a USB drive that he'd had slung over his shoulder like a rifle and pushed it in…
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"Oh come on!" he cursed, as he pulled the drive out, flipped it around and tried to push it in again, only to curse some more as it stubbornly refuse. "Of course…" he muttered, as he pulled it out, flipped it back into its original position and this time slid it in.
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Jumping back down onto the table, he grabbed the mouse and strained as he lifted it up from the ground, the laser pointer on its base up in sky. Waddling carefully, he managed to move it to the other side on the mousepad before his fingers gave way, losing their purchase on the slippery plastic and letting it slide to the floor.
"Why don't I make a remote mouse thing as part of my USB drive?"
His rhetorical question remained unanswered, as he pushed the mouse so that the cursor hovered over the pop-up that had appeared. A few good downward kicks on the left button, and the USB drive file appeared, two run-me programs and a huge file of images present. Some more manoeuvring, and the first was open, a quick run screen appearing and disappearing, all the confirmation needed for the rodent to know that the system well and truly was isolated.
Back to the mouse he went, pushing it slightly so it aligned with the second program.
His finger raised in the air and twirling, he brought it down and gave the mouse two prim little clicks.
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And he smiled in glee as a new screen of computer code appeared, flickering up as it ran. All around him, hundreds of hard drives began whirring as past security footage was burned off, orders to record the current feed were deleted, and a massive selection of pornography took its place. Looking back to the folder, Tattletail's mouth piqued as he went back to the mouse, pushing the cursor so that it hovered over the file.
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Ping…
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In a flash, the second run-me program vanished like the first, its work complete. Tattletail looked up at the file, down again, back up and down again before shaking his head. "Not the time, too risky," he told himself, as he walked over to his drive, jumped up, and pulled it out of the computer, landing on his back in an ungainly fashion.
Out of one of his trouser pockets he brought a large cell-phone, as large in his paws as a larger mammal's smart phone, but able to do little more than send calls and text. "The sooner they finally work out how to shrink those down the better," was all he could say, as he typed in a pre-arranged code and pressed send.
Glancing around, checking everything was clear, he pulled out a little gun, fired a hook at the ceiling before shooting up towards a waiting air vent.
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23.30. Zootopia central hospital. Storage room B12.
"Evening," Ramsey said, as he moved into the store room. All around him were the vast racks of medicines that were often dispensed to the various departments of the building.
"Gather up some penicillin," the rooms other occupant, a rather tubby tapir ordered. "We've got ten patients recovering from minor operations who the ward managers want to discharge to free up some space."
"What species."
"No awkward ones," the Tapir said, and Ramsey thought he felt him linger on that bit, his eyes linger on the 'awkward one' who'd just walked into the room. "Most are size L2, though we have two M1's"
Ramsey just nodded and turned away, shaking his head at what could have been his own paranoia in action just then. He was used to it, and he didn't really care. It was much more welcome than if he'd dropped a reference to a certain Artic Shrew, and a number of large loans, that was for sure. Looking through the vials of medicine and racks of tablets, he picked up eight large packets of antibiotic, the doses large enough for very large mammals like Hippo's, Rhino's, some draft horses and Polar bears. The only things larger were Elephants and Giraffe's, who comprised most of the 'awkward ones' that they usually dealt with. Then came the ones for the smaller medium mammals, which could be bunnies or some of the smaller Fox species. It was never a perfect fit, but it did its job, and Ramsey was just glad that he only had to deal with six main size classes, with the four segregated small ones mainly dealt with my Little Rodentia central. To a big mammal like him, an SS1 and SS4 could easily be mixed up, but given the sizes involved giving an Etruscan shrew medicine meant for a Guinea pig would be like giving a Bunny medicine for a Bison.
"Sooner rather than later," the Tapir huffed, and Ramsay dutifully responded, delivering the pills. As he did so, he felt the rumble of his phone buzzing. As the tapir took the pills, Ramsay opened his phone up, glanced at the text and then closed it. Patting the small box of laxatives in his coat, he smiled and faced his workmate.
"I was thinking of getting a coffee, want one?"
"Thought you'd never ask…"
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23.45. Alexander Lemming memorial carpark.
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"Nikolai! Water, now!"
"Right away Raymond," Nick replied, grabbing a jerrycan of water from the back of the limo and carrying it forward. The text from Tattletail had come through less than ten minutes ago, and already Raymond had been busy drilling holes in a circle around the graffiti mark. The huge drill he carried glowed red hot from its work, while the water in the bucket was now warm. Emptying it out, Nick poured the cooling water into it as Raymond lowered the drill, the metal hissing and spitting like a furious cat.
"Bit more, then I think it time for final push," Raymond commented, with Nick nodding in agreement.
"I'll attach the tow rope to the limo then?"
"Da!" the bear replied as he lifted up the drill, placed it against the concrete wall and began drilling once more. Nick, meanwhile, hurried on back to the limo, retrieving a thick steel cable from the back. Hitching it around a reinforced tow-point at the back, he grabbed the other end around his shoulder and ran it back to Raymond, just as the bear finished drilling his final hole.
"Da! Is nice," he said, as he weaved the hooked end through one hole and then retrieved it through another on the opposite side of the circle. Hooking it tight, he waved to Nick and they both retreated to the Limo.
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Raymond fire up the engine, turned the wheel around, and moved forward. The mood inside was tense, thick enough to be cut with a knife, and as the car jolted to a halt, the cable behind it pulling tight, it only got tenser.
"Cross fingers Nikolai! Here we go!"
The roar of the engine rose, the whole vehicle straining and creaking as the driver took his foot off the clutch. The rev-meter red lining, there was a squeal as the wheels began to skid.
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THUD!
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Raymond and Nick were jolted back into the seats as the limo charged forwards, the former quickly slamming his foot on the brakes to stop them flying off the edge of the car park. Nick looked up at him, too nervous to speak, as he slowly turned the limo around to face their hole…
"It's… open…" Nick said, with a sigh of relief as he saw the missing chunk of wall, and the silvery metal of the ventilation duct behind it. "Pull us right up, Ray. Tattletail should be here any time now."
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By the time they arrived back by the wall, sparks were already flying out of it. As Raymond parked the car, Nick got up and casually walked to the wall, leaning against it and holding his paw up as if he were inspecting his claws, all in time for the sparks to stop and the clatter of metal to ring out.
"I do not see Nick in front of me… While I am glad he hasn't brought a swivel chair to do the old, 'I meet you at least' thing, I assume he's standing to the side trying to look cool."
"No, Tattletail," Nick replied as he stood up and walked in front of the rodent, "I was standing to the side being cool."
"Raymond?" the Water Vole asked. "Sit rep?"
The polar bear poked his head out of the limo and just shrugged. "I guess Nikolai was cool. Sort of."
Nick let a smug grin grow across his muzzle as he turned to face Tattletail. "Deal with it, T.T…"
The water vole just scowled. "Can I have a second opinion? Anyone?"
"I'd say I'm also dapper, but that would be downgrading it from a fact."
Tattletail just rolled his eyes and turned away, rapping his foot claws against the ventilation tube as Nick retrieved a perfectly scaled mini-van from the limo. He placed it down in the vent next to Tattletail, and threw him the keys.
"How far is it?"
"Not far," the rodent replied. "Should be able to carry your list in one van load, so twenty-minute round trip max.
"Okay," Nick replied with a wave. "Hurry back."
"I will."
There was a click of a key, and the whirr of an electric motor, before Tattletail set off down the ducts and out of view.
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00.00 hours. Elkway road.
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Judy carefully parked up her car, remembering from her meter maid experience back at the start of her career to pay a hefty figure into the nearest meter.
"If I were mayor… I'd allow you to put as much as you wanted in, then refund any leftovers at the end," she said, sighing as another quarter was placed into the slot, bringing it up to the maximum. Looking up, shot spotted the multi-storey carpark where Nicholas Tuc Vulpes was up to something, and her eyes narrowed with determination.
"Dispatch, Officer Hopps, over…" she called into her radio, her ears rising as she heard the voice from the other side.
"Officer Hopps, this is dispatch. Just a warning, slight issue with the planned changing of the shifts. My replacement hasn't arrived, and I may be required to excuse myself from this position in the not too distant future."
"Understood, go ahead dispatch. Will approach position in the meantime. Over."
"Over…"
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00.05 hours. Zootopia central hospital. Storage room B12.
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"Yes, one weeks' worth of Amlodipine for a lion." Ramsey said, moving the drugs over to the waiting porter. "Over to Doctor Stripes… He's in the walk-in clinic, isn't he?"
"Yeh," the junior replied. "Saw him looking after this really fritzy lion, looked like he'd been earning himself a good number of shocks and decided to come to us to patch it up! I know we're not supposed to discriminate, but people with such cheek should get a few delays at least, don't you think?"
Ramsey just looked at the medicine in question, remembering his training, and gulping at the implication. "I think that kind of judgement is best left to us professionals" he replied, before pushing the medicine into the porter's arms and shooing him on his way. Finally left in privacy, he shook his head at the whole sorry affair. As always, a part of him gnawed away, telling him that he was failing in his duty as a medic.
"Never mind," he said to himself. "Soon you'll be able to help away as much as you like, and none of this hypocrisy forced upon you". Still though, some part of him knew that he'd be fleeing, and the suffering would still be going on regardless. "Too late to get out of you hole now though, isn't it Ramsey?"
With that, the mule grabbed out a piece of paper in his paws and walked over to the stocks. A vial here. A batch of tablets there. Slowly slipping the required items into spare drawer and hiding them away. Going down, his eyes rested on one last final item. It was written in bold red letters, twice as thick as the black biro everywhere else and circled for emphasis. He couldn't help but feel a grim sense of dread as he looked at it. Moving to the back of the store, he fished around and brought out the requested item
"Distemper shots," he read out loud, before placing it with the rest. His job so far complete, he reclined back on his chair, his eyes resting for a second on an unassuming cup of half-drunk coffee, before they rose up to a vent. A soft smile grew across his muzzle as he felt his phone vibrate.
"It's clear!" he shouted, as he moved over to the door and locked it.
Bang… Bang…
One of the grills vibrated, and Ramsey got up, screwdriver in hand, to begin opening it. A quick twist of the four screws, and the grill fell, revealing Tattletail behind.
"So that's how you mono-hoofed guys can hold things like screwdrivers!" he commented, as Ramsey bent down and gathered up as many of the drugs as he could, rapidly placing them into the grill.
"Not the time," Ramsay muttered, as he brought up a second batch and then a third. "Someone could come at any time. Let me just get everything in there, screw that thing up, and leave you to it!
"Fair enough," the water vole muttered in response. "But still, it's so patently obvious it's ludicrous that I didn't just realise it before!"
"To be fair I get that a lot," Ramsey muttered in agreement, as he pushed the last load into the vent space and then reached for the grate, pushing the screws in and loosely tightening them with his hoofs. "And compared to having no fine digit movement and an inability to grasp things, it's a piece of cake dealing with a few mammals kicking themselves for their own stupidity."
"Wiser words were never spoken," Tattletail agreed, as he watched Ramsay pick up a screwdriver and fully fasten the bolts from the other side. Looking up, he saw the bolts being tightened back to their original state, before his eyes settled on both the stolen goods and the van he would have to put them in. "My first retirement years wasted playing Tetris, time to prove yourself useful!"
And at that, he got to work.
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00.05 hours. Alexander Lemming memorial carpark.
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As Judy reached the closed level, she reached for her radio. Turning it on, she rose it up to her mouth before speaking in a hushed breath. "Officer Hopps. Over."
"This is dispatch. Over." Came a new voice, different to the previous one she'd been in contact with. Judy silently acknowledge this, before sneaking over to the nearby door and pushing it open. Peeking out into the murky darkness of the parking deck, she focussed on the pair of bright headlights nearby, coming from a still idling car. Leaning out further, her eyes widened as she spotted the open wound in the building behind.
"What in the…" she muttered, before sneaking back behind cover and raising her radio. "Hopps, over. Two suspects have been spotted, undertaking highly suspicious activity. I will confront, over."
"Hopps, the supervisor stated that he put nearby officers on high alert. Do you want me to call assistance?"
"I'm good thanks," Judy replied. "Though if I radio for support, send immediately. Over."
"Over."
Steeling her nerves, holstering her radio and pulling out her Taser, Judy took a deep breath before leaving the safety of the staircase and stepping out into the open. Her back bending as he hunkered down low, she stalked towards the bear and Mr Vulpes, the soft wind in her face, before she stood out in the open.
"Mr Vulpes!" she called, catching both predators attention. "You're certainly an interesting character, aren't you?"
Nick gulped, his eyes on the threatening weapon, before he looked up at Judy, his famous smirk returning to his face. "Glad you could agree."
"Cut the crap!" the bunny shouted. "First you assault a goat, then you kidnap orphans, and now… What even are you doing!?"
"Occam's razer suggests I'm hanging around a closed parking lot with a friend," he calmly replied, his voice still dripping with charisma. "Nothing more, nothing less."
"And that big hole!?" Judy accused.
Nick just feigned innocence, his paw raised to his heart as he swooned. "Is the police fascism of this day and age so great that a private citizen cannot stand by a hole, minding his own business? You understand this is an assault on everyone's right to stand by holes. I mean, even you could be standing by a hole, appreciating it's…"
"OH, COME OFF IT!" Judy screamed. "You were targeted by Woolly, meaning you have to be up to something!"
"In your mind, yes." Nick replied with a shrug. "I'm sure you'd think the same thing about any fox you'd meet."
"HOW DARE YOU!" Judy seethed, holding her Taser up as she marched forward. "I've helped a Fox before you know? A vicious childhood bully who swallowed his pride and asked me for help. SO I CAN'T BE SPECIESIST! Unlike you, who thinks that I'm persecuting you just because I'm a Bunny and you're a Fox!"
"What about I, Raymond?" The third mammal asked. His question remained unanswered, as Nick retorted.
"I probably am. Being a member of a species persecuted for centuries probably has given me a fair bit of speciesism. However, I am willing to accept I have it. You though, you are the good guy. No way you can be anything other than perfect."
"I wasn't," Judy muttered, "but I improved. I learned, and now I'm the good guy, just as you said. And I am going to have to take you in."
"For what," Nick asked with a shrug, "hurting your feelings?"
"Probable cause," Judy replied, gesturing to the hole in the wall. "There's still dust around here, this was recent, and given how much of it is on your bear friend I'm pretty confident that he cut it. That's vandalism for a start. Maybe you should just admit to what you did now, and make this easy for yourself…"
Nick piqued his muzzle and looked up to Raymond, before turning back to Judy. "I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, my friends need me. My people need me. And most importantly, my family need me. I'd be happy to turn up tomorrow though."
Judy just huffed with disgust. "Your people? What are you, one of those Pred supremacists, the ones stirring up all these recent protests."
"Sweetheart," Nick retorted. "I think you'll just find that's ordinary mammals who don't want to live their life wearing a life ruining torture device acting upon the news that the proof they never had to wear them was being buried!"
"If those things are true, then I'm sure we'll see…" Judy began to say, before Nick interrupted her with a loud 'AT-AT-AT…' and a raised paw.
"As for Pred supremacist?" Nick said slowly, mulling over the words. "I think you'll find I'm a Pred equalist at heart."
"Preds are equal," Judy retorted, only to back off as Nick burst into a fit of laughter.
"PA-HA-HA… OH RAYMOND! YOU HEAR THAT? We're not second-class citizens, forced to wear a handicap or something… Oh thanks for informing me miss bunny-wabbit."
"MY NAME IS JUNIOR DETECTIVE JUDY HOPPS," Judy screamed, "And you are coming with me you extremists!"
Nick just shook his head and raised a finger in clarification. "Separatist… I think that's probably more appropriate than equalists.
"Terrorists…"
"Freedom fight dear…"
"I am just mob goon for hire…"
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"Turn around," Judy ordered, "paws on your heads, and I will cuff you."
.
The two just stood still, with Nick shaking his head.
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"Three…" Judy warned.
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Nick just looked at Raymond and winked.
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"Two…"
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Raymond nodded in return.
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"One…"
"NOW!"
Judy recoiled back as Raymond and Nick charged at her. In an instant, a surge of adrenaline kicked in and, raising her weapon, she took aim at the larger, more dangerous target, and fired.
Fwooosh…. BUZZZZZZ…..
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the huge Ursine screamed, falling to his knees as the Taser current surged through his body, burning wherever it went. Raymond's eyes were welded shut, his teeth gritted, as Judy held her weapon up and continued firing. A quick glance to her right, and she leapt up, planting her feet onto the underside of Nick's muzzle in a brutal kick that sent the Fox tumbling the other way, dazed from the impact. She couldn't help but grin in satisfaction at finally getting one up over the irritating fox, but that feeling was wiped out as she felt herself being catapulted forward. Turning back to face Raymond, her eyes opened in shock as she saw that he'd grasped the Taser wires in his paws and was pulling them towards her, trying to tear the weapon out of her very paws.
.
She would NOT let that happen. Her grip doubled, even as the force increased and increased.
.
Before she could register what was happening, her feet left the floor and she sailed up in an arc, before being swung down onto the hard-concrete floor with a sickening thud. She screamed in pain as her tail took the brunt of the impact, the shock loosening her grip just as Raymond, still shaking from the ongoing shocks, pulled back. The Taser flew from her hands in straight into Raymond's paws. In a simple movement, he closed and released them, the tortured sound of snapping plastic coming from within. Judy could only look on with shock as the broken fragments of her weapon fell to the floor.
"Wha… Wha?" she said flabbergasted, as Raymond rose to his full height and stared daggers at her.
"Shooting Raymond with Taser, even one for lion, is very, very dumb move," he growled, before his voice turned into a full-on roar. "Because NOW I AM MAD!" Raymond pounced, Judy barely skipping out of the way of his paws. Landing into a combat roll, she righted herself just in time to see Raymond turn to face her, ready for a second charge. Her gaze dropped down to Raymond's collar, still shining green despite all the previous action.
.
It finally clicked.
.
"Your collars," she said, her voice laced with a sudden primeval dread. "They're…"
"KAPUTSKI!" Raymond yelled, his muzzle widening into a sadistic grin.
"I told you we were equalists, sweetheart!"
Judy turned to the side and gulped as she spotted Nick, coming in from another angle, every hair on his body standing tall and his long, sharp claws raised out for the battle. Her body was trembling.
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She scanned her surroundings, trying to find any advantage in the surrounding parking area.
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She focussed on the Limo, and her paw rested on the radio attached to her belt.
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"WE CAN'T LET HER CALL BACKUP!" Nick yelled. Raymond lunged again, and Judy leapt forward. Her hindlegs catapulted her into a combat roll, and the whole world turned into a blur. She spotted a great mass of white fur sailing above her, before she shot out from under it. Tumbling onto her side, she was hammered by a set of bumps as she bounced across the hardtop, before she slid underneath the Limo.
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"Oh…. God…" Judy managed to say, between her thick pants. Quickly scanning around, and checking all was clear, she reached for her radio, just as the protective roof over her head lifted up. A look over her shoulder, and Judy spotted Raymond lifting the entire back end of the vehicle up.
.
As she looked forward, a red dart was already lunging after her, her radio torn out of her paws. Reflexes taking action, her legs kicked back away from it, launching her backwards away from the danger. It was only as she saw the giant white legs either side of her that she realised that she'd jumped from the frying pan and into the fire.
Before he could do anything, Judy leapt back onto her two feet, crouched down as she wound up the energy in them and then launched herself upwards. Her ears down, the crown of her head impacted right between the bears legs and he screamed with pain.
"ARRGGHHHHHHH!"
Judy's head screamed.
Her entire world spun from side to side.
But she was determined to press the advantaged. Before he could recover, Judy was behind him, running away then charging forwards, before leaping up with all the force of her legs and run-up behind her. Her legs out, she aimed for the back of one of his knees and put one hundred and ten percent into the kick.
She recoiled back, swinging around so that the soles of her feet touched the ground and she slid to a halt. Looking up, she saw Raymond collapse onto the knee that she'd buckled, one of his paws out to support him, and his muzzle vulnerable. She smiled a determined smile, and charged.
She kicked down, and flew once more with her feet in front of her.
They hit Raymond's jaw, a brutal cross between a sideswipe and an upper cut, and she bounced off to the sound of shattering enamel and the groaning of a defeated mammal.
She backflipped, landing solidly on her feet, Raymond collapsing muzzle first into the ground in front of her.
"Hard part over!" She yelled, her whole body on edge with adrenalin. "Your turn now Mr…." Her voice trailed off as she saw Nick.
The Fox was on all fours, her radio in his teeth. He was tearing and biting at it like a savage mammal, and with one last crunch it shattered into a hundred useless fragments. He shook his head, and its entrails flailed out from his maw like disembowelled remains of prey. Feeling its destruction, he flicked his head and threw it out to one side, before turning to look at Judy and growling.
"I see your true nature finally made an appearance," Judy said through her shakes. "Your savage instincts have taken over. You're nothing more than a beast now, aren't you! Can you even understand this, under all that bloodlust? Are you regretting not wearing your collar? Understanding, finally, how it's for your own good?"
"Oh no, Judy," Nick replied, his breaths deep and rhythmic as he stood back onto his hind legs. "I'm perfectly sane thank you. Always have been and always will be. Sorry I had to use my teeth back there, best way to destroy that pesky radio of yours, you see? I know that for a squeamish little dumb bunny like…"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Judy yelled, as she charged forward.
Nick gulped, shifted his body up into a fighting position, his paws out in front of him with his claws at the ready. Judy leapt, and his tensed legs jumped, pushing him out of her path while his paws sliced down to meet her. To cut her… If needed, to kill…
.
He was too slow.
.
Judy's legged slammed into his shoulder, and a brutal snap followed.
"ARGGGHHH!" Nick screamed, clutching his dislocated shoulder as he spun to the floor, shaking as he tried to recover.
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Judy just looked over at them, her surge of adrenalin still strong and her whole body shaking. Taking a quick gulp, feeling her scorched dry throat receiving some caressing relief, she looked over at the defeated mammals and smiled.
She grabbed her paw cuffs and spun them around, just wishing to take a few seconds to savour the great victory.
.
.
"I enjoyed your plum buster on Raymond you know?"
"WHAT!? WHO'S THERE!?" Judy yelled, as the sudden new voice, despite its high and almost innocent tone, rang out menacingly.
"But you could go further you know? I've previously inserted myself into about half a dozen animals who've tried to squish me. Now, it's a bit icky… actually very icky… but when your inside of someone and biting them, it really rains on their parade…"
"I ORDER YOU TO SHOW YOURSELF! NOW!"
"Sadly, you're too small… well, maybe not. It would be a dreadful squeeze though. And, to keep this all P.G. I'd have to take care which route I chose. The middle way in this case does have some major implications that I wouldn't like to be burdened with…"
"IN THE NAME OF THE LAW! COME OUT NOW!"
.
"Okay, fine, Top of the Limo."
Judy looked up, and her mouth almost hit the floor with confusion as she saw no-one there.
.
She heard a soft whirr, one of her ears rising, and then her right shin exploded in agony. Judy yelled as the world spun, before being silenced as her head slammed against the floor, biting her tongue in the process.
"Wha… Tha…." She muttered, before she felt a brutal slam hit her stomach, winding her. Looking down, her eyes widened in surprise as she spotted a small van impacted into her, the driver obscured by the windows.
"Gweat… A leest weezel…" she muttered through her lisp.
"Well," came the voice from inside. "At least you didn't call me Ratty…" And then Judy had to doubletake as she spotted a water vole, all decked out in heist gear, stepping out of it.
"You're… Pwey…!?"
"Yes, a rare thing that." Tattletail said with a shrug. "A prey mammal on the right side of history."
"Oh for goodnezz zake…" Judy snarked, before recoiling as the vole leapt forwards, two fists leading, both of which landed straight into her eyes.
"AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!" she screamed, yelling as she clutched her throbbing eyes. Scrambling to her feet, she began racing around, before she felt herself impact something at knee height and fell forwards, landing painfully on her nose.
"Lemme guess? You trained so hard against guys bigger than you, you never tackled someone smaller."
"Come her you…!" the Bunny yelled as she managed to open her eyes, making out her attackers blurring figure and readying herself to deliver a knockout kick.
"Can't say I blame you. I did the same thing for a long time." He continued, before ducking low. Letting one of Judy's feet sail over him, he grabbed a toe and gave it a short yank backwards, sending Judy face first to the floor for a second time. "But the thing is, I am patently smaller. I barely come up over your knee!"
"WHEN I GET YOU, GOING OVER IT WILL BE THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES!" Judy yelled, as she backed off and scanned her surroundings. A flicker of light caught her eye, and she darted to her side. Over to a pile of drilling equipment, where she lunged straight for a discarded bit. Tattletail ground to a halt as Judy stood up, wielding her new weapon like a baseball bat. The vole thought for a second, glancing back to the limo and his comrades, before darting the other way.
"Oh Buckets…" he yelled. "Oh buckets! Oh Buckets! OH BUCKETS!"
"COME HERE SO I CAN ARREST YOU!" Judy yelled as she followed in pursuit, holding the drill high and ready to bring it sweeping down like a scythe. Tattletail, up in front, fished for an item on his back, held it up high and fired, sending a thin line of steel wire up to the roof. A click on another button on his device, and he felt himself surge up, his new climber making mincemeat of the journey.
"DON'T YOU GRAPPLING HOOK ME, SUNSHINE!" Judy yelled, swinging her club at him, but only glancing his tail. The vole just laughed with glee, as he went up to the roof. Then down again, just within Judy's jumping range. She leapt up, swinging her bat, only for Tattletail to sail just out of range again. He then dropped down, his tongue out, before going up once more to avoid another strike.
"I'll grapple hook as much as I like, Bunny Cop!"
Judy paused, before smirking. "The ZPD know I'm here. They'll realise something is up! Backup will arrive, and you'll still be here, hanging high and dry!"
"You know what," Tattletail said, taking his time and smirking as he did so. "You're right! Oh buckets…"
"Oh Buckets, indeedy…" Judy replied, only to be cut off by the slam of a bucket coming down over her. In less than a second, Raymond was on top of it, lifting his legs off the floor so that his whole weight was pressing it down.
"Clever…" he commented, as he was rocked by a jolt from the bucket beneath him. "Very… Clever…"
THUD… "LET ME OUT!" THUD… "I'M JUDY HOPPS, GROWN MAMMAL!" THUD…. "THIS IS DEGRADING TO ME ENTIRE SPECIES!
"Oh boo hoo!" Tattletail snarked back, as he released his grappling hook and dropped back down to the floor. "Hey Slick, how's it going."
.
"…OW…." Nick replied, after a few seconds. "She's dislocated my shoulder…"
"What about the goods?"
"I've put them in the limo. A quick glance in shows no damage, so you didn't screw up."
"God," Tattletail said, with a melodramatic swoon. "The idea of me ever messing up."
"My apologies. Now… we have a spare tranq in the car, don't we Raymond?"
.
"I am now frustrated I forgot about dat… In glove compartment."
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"Never mind, Tattletail, you get it." Nick ordered. "I'll get the drill. Let's tranq our bunny"
"Don't you dare-"
"Sorry," Nick replied with a shrug. "I'd use a piece of card or some plywood, but given that you're strong enough to bust my arm, I'd rather not risk anything."
"Besides," Tattletail said, as he jumped into the limo and retrieved the small gun. "We'd need to give you air holes anyway."
"Don't… Just stop… I'M WARNING YOU! YOU KNOW THESE GUYS HAVE BUST COLLARS, DON'T YOU?"
"You really think I care?" the vole asked, as he threw the gun over to Raymond as if he were doing an Olympic hammer throw. The bear caught it in one hand, while Nick approached with a drill "I was the person who stole these guys their first key! Over twenty-four years ago."
"Wait… what?" Judy asked, as Nick's drilled spun to life, quickly carving a long slit in the soft plastic.
"For good old Mr Khalid Ibn-Zerdain." Tattletail continued, before Nick continued.
"The craziest Todd you've ever met, the magnificent bastard…"
"Why does that name sound familiar?" Judy asked, as Nick took the gun from Raymond and trained it on the captive Bunny. "Who are you? And what's going to happen to me?"
"I am Nicholas Piberius Vulpes," Nick said, "Son of John Piberius Wilde and Marie-Anne Wilde…"
"Oh my god…"
"And… remember how you were worried about our collars being bust? Well, where we're going, we Preds don't need collars!"
Thwung….
The echo of the firing gun rang out for a few seconds, as the bucket shuffled and twitched for a bit before eventually stopping. Looking in, Nick saw Judy with a dart sticking out her rear. He looked up, and nodded at both Tattletail and Raymond.
"Pack everything up, including Miss Hopps! Put the bars of silver to repay the hospital in the vent, and let's get the hell out of here. I think it's time to relocate my shoulder and bring a certain nosey Bunny home with us!"
.
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AN: Bet you lot were looking forward to that. Anyway, in other news, due to EatCheeseeveryday's problems with fanfic, I'll be reuploading Cosa Nostra on my account, including a new chapter.