Benjamin opened his eyes to see the world tilted almost completely on its side. He soon realized why when he felt a pain in his neck. He lifted his throbbing head from his shoulder and tried to remember what had happened to him. There had been an ambush in the hospital bathroom. A van waiting in a small parking lot. Then that traitor, Carlos, shutting off his one chance of escape…
And now Benjamin was sitting in a dining room. Was he back in the Casel estate? Were they responsible for this? That terrible thought was quashed when he realized that this dining room was different. It was opulent, but not to the same extent as the Casels' dining room. Three brass candelabras illuminated the room with candlelight. The windows however were a lot smaller. He saw a wide field of snow and overgrown grass outside, a line of trees, what looked like a chain link fence, and beyond, the distant Zootopia skyline. He looked around and saw he was the only one sitting at the table.
Where were the kidnappers? The cheetah tried to get up, but found himself held to the chair by some kind of cord tying his paws to the wooden backrest. His bruised ribs ached from the lack of painkillers. When the door at the other end of the room opened, Benjamin flinched with sudden terror…
Thank goodness. The elk who looked into the room wasn't Vercus. He spotted the feline and disappeared again. A few seconds later, a middle-aged filly in a dark green pantsuit and frameless eyeglasses entered the room and smiled at him.
"Welcome to Fauna Manor."
It was a strained smile, and as the horse came closer Benjamin noticed bags under her eyes. "Hello. Um, excuse me, but who are you?"
"Dr. Arianna Fauna." Fauna held out a hoof. With his paws tied behind his back, Benjamin stared befuddled at the gesture. Fauna blinked, chuckled humorlessly and retracted the hoof. "Forgive me. I haven't been sleeping very well of late."
"Apology accepted." With his heart beating at a fast but steady rate, Benjamin couldn't think of any other way to respond. "Am I the only one you've kidnapped?"
Fauna appeared bemused by the question. "You were the only mammal not yet sent to a safe house. The only one we could get to."
So Bogo, Alec and the others were safe. That made Benjamin feel a little better. Just a little. "So, Fauna Manor, right? Lovely place."
Fauna looked wistful as she gazed around the room. "It was built around the same time as the Casels' mansion. But then the Wool Street Crash of twenty-nine ruined the family, and we were forced to abandon the estate. When Vercus returned to the city a year or so ago, he bought the estate to use for Veltro's headquarters. Now that he is no longer in charge, the estate is mine." She smirked. "Just as it always should have been."
"Fauna… you must be from one of the other founding families."
"The last of the direct line, to be precise." With a dark look in her eyes Fauna sat down a couple of seats to the left of Benjamin. "Not unlike that close-knit bunch of gluttons hoarding all the publicity."
"You mean the Casels?"
"Who else?" Fauna spat. "I've been meaning to thank you for indirectly ruining Mr. Casel's chances of retaking the city. Thank you."
"… You're welcome. But I still want to know why you've brought me here."
Fauna tilted her head. "I thought that was obvious."
"Are you the fake Nishimura working with Vercus?"
"Hell, no. I'm the new leader of Veltro. You've heard of us."
Benjamin gulped. "V-Veltro? Yes. Yes, I have."
"Then you'll understand why it's in your best interest to cooperate with me."
Benjamin scowled, incredulous. "You're kidding, right?"
Fauna wiped away a glob of melted wax that had dripped on the table's surface. "I wouldn't refuse too quickly if I were you."
Benjamin cringed at the edge of threat in her tone. "Look, you're gonna need to do a little explaining before I make a decision. You haven't even told me why I've been kidnapped yet."
Fauna tapped her hoof on the shiny wood for a good long while before she answered. "Fine. It'll be a while before 'Nishimura' comes back, anyway."
Benjamin's heart skipped a beat. The mastermind of this whole Nighthowler madness was coming here? Before he could dwell on this bit of news, Fauna started speaking again.
"The hard truth is, I need your help. I thought getting rid of Vercus would secure my own seat of power, but now I've got a real live Hound of the Casels breathing down my neck, and he has at least one Nightfall bomb left. The only way to stop Vercus is to draw him out."
Benjamin gulped. "With me as bait."
Fauna nodded. "Precisely."
The cheetah slumped in his chair. "Why me?"
"Didn't I just tell-"
"That's not what I meant! Why is Vercus obsessed with me?! Why can't he just leave me alone?! Why could he have just stayed away?!" Benjamin grew angrier with each question. It was so unfair. Why did everyone have to suffer because he'd tried to help a friend in need? Why couldn't Elgen and Selke have listened to him when they had the chance? Would the power-hungry horse who'd had him abducted even answer his questions?
"Anyone with half a brain will tell you it's about revenge." Fauna procured a small flask and sipped from it. "That's very true with his feelings toward his former family and your boss. But with you on the other hand, I believe it's more complicated. Let me begin by telling you that Vercus is… was a malignant narcissist. When he was a Casel, he hid behind an idealized self-image that served to suppress his feelings of insecurity and vulnerability. To that end, he mercilessly sought out to crush anyone who in his own mind threatened his place as the favored son and heir to the Casel Corporation, especially Chief Bogo. He even went to far as to secretly abuse his own siblings in order to keep them from surpassing him. He irrationally tormented Alec more that the others, because of his prodigious talent in dessert making."
Benjamin bristled, remembering the frightened look on Alec's face when he had lied about his dislocated shoulder. "What about me?"
"From what Vercus told me during his sessions, everything started to go wrong when you, a police officer of all mammals, moved in next to Alec and befriended him. As part of his endeavor to keep Alec under his thumb, he kept his brother as isolated as possible, so imagine how he felt when you ignored his attempts to manipulate you into ending the relationship. As a psychiatrist, I am inclined to believe that deep down he feared you to an extent. His greatest fear during that time was that you would discover the truth about him and tear down everything he held dear." She smirked at Benjamin. "Those fears were well founded."
"I never intended to ruin his life, no matter how horrible he was." The feline insisted. How come Bogo was the only one who could see that?
"Try telling that to a narcissist." Fauna replied. "Anyway, you should by now have realized that Vercus had ulterior motives for inviting you to Gusteau's after your second meeting. He'd intended to discover any weaknesses he could use to get rid of you, but instead he attracted the suspicion of Chief Bogo, the one mammal he despised more than anybody. You already know how that ended."
"But why did he have to do such horrible things?" Benjamin demanded. "Why did he have to hurt Bogo? Why couldn't he have just used his wealth and influence to get me out of that apartment and away from Alec? Or had Alec moved himself?"
"Believe me, he tried." Fauna sneered. "When he tried to get Alec moved, his father saw it as a violation of their 'rite of passage' and forbid it. When he tried to have you evicted, his father saw such a scandalous act as a threat to his mayoral campaign and forbid it. He did everything he could to separate you and Alec, but Alec was so lonely and desperate for affection that he couldn't bring himself to sever ties with you. I suspect that in his own way, Alec had become obsessed with you himself."
Benjamin shook his head. It still sounded like nothing more than a sick revenge scheme. "Doctor, get to the point."
Fauna raised an eyebrow at his forceful attitude. "The point is, no matter what he did, Vercus couldn't get rid of you like he got rid of everyone else, and because he couldn't get rid of you, his feelings towards you began to change. Where most mammals see other people as good or evil, Vercus sees other people as true or false. Mammals who truly mean what they saw and do, and those who are putting on a mask. Being the kind of mammal that he is, Vercus saw practically every mammal as false, except, ironically for himself. But he tolerated their presence, so long as they gave him what he wanted. If they didn't, he got rid of them by any means necessary."
Benjamin thought it best not to point out that for someone who held a narcissist in contempt, Fauna seemed very fond of her own voice. "Like me?"
"Especially you. But you were a special case. He couldn't get rid of you, no matter how hard he tried. And because he couldn't get rid of you, for the first time in his life he was forced to face reality."
"Reality?"
"You weren't false. You were true."
Benjamin stared at her. Where was she going with this?
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that you aren't like the shallow moochers he surrounded himself with in his attempts to maintain his delusions of grandeur. You love Alec for Alec. You're one of a kind. You're the only one who can give Vercus what he really wants."
"L-love and affection?" Benjamin felt his skin begin to crawl.
Fauna chuckled. "It's safe to say that he wants you as a friend, and nothing more. After he realized the 'truth' about you and what he really wanted in life, Vercus changed his plans. He doesn't want to get rid of you anymore. He wants to steal you. In his current state of mind, he thinks possessing you will make up for everything he has been missing. But the traditional method of stalking you ended disastrously. He was cast out of the family and forced to flee Zootopia."
By now Benjamin's jaw had dropped. "He founded Veltro just so he could get to me? That's insane!"
Fauna shook his head. "No. He founded Veltro to take revenge on the mammals responsible for ruining his life and the city that had forgotten he'd ever existed, under the guise of a prey-supremacy movement. But after five years of exile his obsession with you had made him unstable. The purpose of my sessions with him was to make him let go of that obsession, to make him focus on Veltro's established goal to take over Zootopia with the use of Bellwether and her Nighthowler Serum."
"The Nightfall prototype!" Benjamin blurted out.
Fauna seemed amused by his sudden epiphany. "I was making excellent progress, too. But then Officer Hopps resigned and subsequently exposed Bellwether's scheme. It was only supposed to be a minor setback. The serum was a success, and we were on our way to fully developing the Nightfall weapon. But then Vercus discovered why Hopps had resigned in the first place."
Benjamin's blood went cold. "Are you saying that-"
"Beforehand, Vercus had told Bellwether that under no circumstances was she to target you. But that stupid woman misunderstood. She'd thought he'd meant that you weren't to be turned savage, but he'd really meant that you were to be left alone period. When she had you demoted to Records, Vercus saw that as a betrayal and decided to fire the first Nightfall bomb at her appeal. Even worse, when he discovered that you were once again responsible for foiling his schemes, his obsession came back with a vengeance. Even his takeover of the city had become second priority."
"So you decided he needed to be replaced." Benjamin hissed with disgust, even as he reeled from everything she'd told him so far.
"Even you can't deny that the world would be better off without him, Clawhauser." Fauna scolded. "But yes. With extreme stress, he'd have died of heart failure in Gruff's secret bunker and no-one would be any the wiser. But we'd never suspected he'd use the Nighthowler serum to counter the Digoxin. And you've seen the result. A full-fledged homicidal lunatic with access to a WMD. He's killed Dupont, maimed Gruff, massacred dozens of my own men and torn his former family apart." She stood up, walked over to Benjamin, and loomed over him. "There are only three targets left now. You, Chief Bogo, and myself. And you are the only one he wants alive."
Benjamin stared at the table, speechless, as Fauna's phone buzzed and she read the screen. He twisted his paw until his could pinch his skin. This was madness. That Vercus was doing all this because he was fixated on one little fat cheetah was pure insanity. So why wouldn't he wake up?
"He's back." Fauna slapped the phone on the table and tilted Benjamin's chin so he was staring into her tired, hardened eyes. "This is your last chance, Clawhauser. Going along with the plan willingly will increase your chances of getting out in one piece. So will you help us or not?"
Benjamin hesitated. "I… I don't…"
"Something else I should mention about my sessions with Vercus." Fauna interrupted harshly. "Before we enacted our coup d'état, he mentioned that he'd been researching a variety of brainwashing techniques, only he wasn't talking about recruiting more mammals to our cause. He knows deep down that after what he'd done to Bogo you won't give your affection willingly, so once he's got you in his clutches he'll have something in the works to make you more… submissive."
Benjamin bit his lip, terrified. "Like what?"
"Cooperate and you'll never find out."
Fauna released his chin, making his head drop on his chest. With his gaze turned downward, Benjamin spotted something that made his pounding heart leap with hope. It was still there, on the belt loop. Bogo's gift.
Benjamin looked back up at the waiting Fauna. Tied to a chair, he was completely helpless. Untied, however, and he could try and buy some time.
"Ok. What do you want me to do?"
Fauna smiled, told him he'd made a wise decision, and walked out, closing the door behind her. Benjamin heard voices coming from the other side, but they were so muffled Benjamin wouldn't be able to tell who was speaking even if he knew the speaker.
"Did you find him?" A feminine sounding voice asked. Benjamin assumed it was Fauna.
"Not his location, unfortunately." Said a masculine voice. "But I have the information we need to contact him."
"Perfect. We'll make the demand and work out the plan for there. We'll need Clawhauser to speak so we can prove we have him."
"May I suggest taking him to a room where one could easily see through the windows? In his state of mind, hearing Clawhauser's voice may not be enough to convince him. Besides, I have a feeling he may be watching the house right now."
Benjamin glanced out the little windows and felt a chill run up his spine.
"We'll take him to the master bedroom's balcony. He's agreed to cooperate, so he shouldn't cause trouble."
"An excellent idea. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to check on the laboratory. We may need the antidotes if things go south." Footsteps faded into silence as the mammal walked away.
"Goyle, go get him."
The door opened. Benjamin was disappointed when he saw Fauna standing in the hallway outside, alone. The elk strode into the dining room, untied Benjamin and dragged him into the hallway by the arm. Benjamin began to get the impression that the entire mansion was made of wood. They followed Fauna down another hallway. Halfway down Benjamin spotted a large figure disappearing down a darkened set the stairs leading down to the basement. He was taken up two sets of stairs, down another hall, then into a large bedroom decorated in several shades of green. Fauna started dialing a number as she directed Goyle to take Benjamin through a set of light green curtains to the small balcony overlooking the overgrown grounds of the Fauna estate.
"Hello? Vercus Casel?" She paused. "Oh, that's right. You're not a Casel anymore. Sorry about that." She listened for a good long while. The longer she listened, the more pronounced became the fear in her eyes. When she spoke up again, she was struggling to maintain her composure. "I had nothing to do with what happened in that bunker. Why would I? I'm the one who tried to help you. The one who helped you let go of this unhealthy obsession on yours… but I can see that we're not going to agree. Before you finish that threat, take a look at the master bedroom balcony. I know you're watching. Go on, take a look."
Benjamin bit his lip and tried to keep from shaking as he stared at the trees beyond the grounds. He saw nothing but bark, leaves and shadows.
"Now that you understand what's at stake you're going to shut up and listen to my threats." Fauna sounded bolder now. "I know you have one Nightfall bomb left. If you fire it at this mansion, or if you make any move on us of any kind, you can kiss any chance of having the one 'true' mammal goodbye. I can have Goyle toss Benjamin here over this balcony, or I can get my gun and put a bullet in his adorable face the first chance I get. Hell, I'll even throw him to the savages if you fire that weapon. Either way, you won't be taking him alive. Not unless you pay for him." The phone exploded with garbled obscenities and curses. Benjamin looked back into the bedroom to see that Fauna was smiling again as she waited for Vercus to stop. "I want the last Nightfall bomb, and the launcher. I want every weapon and explosive that you've accumulated since you rechristened yourself the Hound of the Casels. Bring it all to the front gate in half an hour. You do that, and the cheetah's yours. Do we have an agreement?" She looked at Benjamin. "Of course you can talk to him."
She walked up to Benjamin and handed him the phone. Benjamin took a deep breath and brought the phone to his ear. "Hi."
Vercus's voice was low and livid. "They're gonna kill you once they've got me. You know that, don't you?"
Benjamin gulped. "I know."
"You know I'm right. Even if you weren't a chomper, you've seen too much! Famous Dr. Fauna is perfect, a pure paragon, and you're the only one who can tell them different. There's no way she'll let you go. I'm the only hope you've got. Not even your Byronic Bogo can save you now. I don't know what you ever saw in him."
Benjamin bit his lip and thought of the key ring. You're wrong, Vercus.
"That prissy little quack doesn't know who she's messing with! I let her into my circle! I let her into my bed! And what does she do? Screw me over, that's what, that little trollop! And now she thinks she can just bait me into a trap like some backward pigeon? She's got another thing coming! She's going to die in that dollhouse, and she's going to die squealing like a hogtied piglet!" By now Benjamin had screwed his eyes shut, flinching under the vicious onslaught. The phone suddenly fell silent. Benjamin was about to give the phone back to Dr. Fauna when Vercus spoke again. "I'm not done!"
"Have you got it all out of your system, Vercus?" Benjamin asked.
"There's no use being patronizing, Benji. I have you already. Yokai's got his own agenda. In thirty minutes, you'd best be thankful I want you unspoiled. Be ready."
The line went dead. Fauna took the phone from Benjamin's shaking paw. "What did he say?"
Benjamin shivered. "He said you're going to regret using me against him. More or less."
Fauna scoffed at the forest beyond the grounds. "We shall see, won't we, Vercus?'
Judy burst into the bullpen like a little grey ball of pure energy. "Sir, I think I know where Ben is!"
Bogo, Nick and Yaxley looked up sharply, startled by her loud and sudden entrance. "Well don't just stand there, Hopps!" Bogo snapped.
"About a mile south east of the area where we lost the signal is the old Fauna estate!" Judy panted. "It's been abandoned since the Depression destroyed the Fauna family fortune, but someone called John Smith recently bought it! But I looked him up and there's no-one in the country with that name who's rich enough to do that!"
Nick nodded. "Sounds like a prime location for Veltro HQ."
"Good work, Officer Hopps. It'll take the ZBI an hour to get there, and it'll add thirty minutes on top of that to get ready for the raid. I'll call you in a few." Yaxley stood up and strode to the side door.
"We'll need some reinforcements before we go." Bogo said.
Yaxley stopped in his tracks. "We?" Bogo narrowed his eyes at him. "Chief, this is ZBI jurisdiction. There's no need for you to come along."
Bogo stepped forward. "You lost too many men raiding that cathedral, Agent Yaxley. You need us."
Yaxley glared at him. Bogo and his subordinates glared back. Then the yak grunted. "Fine. Let's saddle up."
