Merry Christmas, you're getting another update that's not a drabble! It's not an update that has anything to do WITH Christmas though, not unless you extend the "spirit of giving" to beatdowns. Because there's plenty of that here.
Chapter 31: Swimming in the Ocean, Causing a Commotion
The Docks
The Not-Sea Bottom
5: 00 AM
"You know, I think Carrots normally wakes up around this time. Crazy, right?"
Frantic clicking.
"Mr. Narwhalter suggests you save the small talk until after we've escaped."
"Then Mr. Narwhalter clearly doesn't know me as well as he thought."
Nick was still riding atop the large crime lord's back as they swam furiously through the waters beneath the Nexus. The aquatic structures loomed all around them like a forest of metallic trees, which would've been kind of pretty to look at if not for the fact that they were effectively birds trying to maneuver around those trees. Nick suddenly understood why they were so known for being angry.
"Remind me again why you needed to come along," Dolphonics said himself. "You could've stayed behind and escaped with the rest of your friends."
"Well, A, the look on my dad's face was hilarious."
"Okay, granted."
"And B, I'm coming along to ensure you make it out of this. Dad's got a really bad habit of killing crime lords and I'm trying to help him break it. Which I guess makes this an intervention?"
Narwhalter snorted and whistled.
"Mr. Narwhalter would like to know what you think you can do to help. You don't even have fins."
A loud rumbling vibrated through the water. Nick looked back, seeing a large horde of black submersibles now converging in on them. And the trails of their torpedoes fast approaching.
"Let's find out. Evasive maneuvers!" Nick shouted, and Narwhalter instantly swerved to the side to avoid the first volley. The torpedoes hit the sandy bottom around them, kicking up a concealing cloud. Nick nearly shut his eyes out of instinct until he remembered the helmet protecting him. A few of the submersible pilots either succumbed to said instincts or just couldn't see through the sand and some muffled crashes sounded behind them. Regardless, the local sandscaping services were going to need to do some cleanup later.
Most of them made it through though, and as they passed under a billboard advertising "Barney's Barnacle Removal", a second volley of torpedoes followed after them.
"Somersault!" Narwhalter proceeded to loop straight up, letting the torpedoes pass below them, then swimming back down through the billboard's archway again. This put him directly in the path to collide with one of the submersibles, which was very unlucky.
For the poor schmuck who got in his way. With an annoyed grunt, Narwhalter swung his mighty tusk into the side of the vehicle, sending it spinning out of control to collide with another, destroying both in a visually-appealing explosion of bubbles.
...It was possible none of these mammals were surviving.
The next volley came as they entered some coral reefs, blasting away the pristine invertebrates above them. Nick was dismayed as his father's madness now extended to environmental destruction, especially as those disjointed pieces of coral started raining down on them.
"Do a Barrel Roll!" Nick yelled, and Narwhalter spun to deflect the coral away. "Phew! Told you I could help!"
Narwhalter bucked his head slightly and clicked him off.
"Mr. Narwhalter points out that he did all of those maneuvers of his own volition and it would have actually been easier without you screaming in his earholes." Another click. "He also adds that it's called an Aileron Roll, Star Clutz."
They exited the reef and were just passing over the local fish spa and dentistry when the submersibles started to close in again, this time coming at them from every angle. Their torpedoes were primed and ready.
A low, resigned hum vibrated Nick in his seat.
"And now, Mr. Narwhalter believes we may, in fact, be screwed."
"Whoa, wait, hold on!" a voice from one of the aquatic death machines suddenly shouted. "Don't shoot! We might hit the boss's son!"
"Oi, you're right, mate! Hold your fire!"
Nick smiled nervously, not feeling terribly smug about this. "See? That's how I'm going to help."
He heard a snarky whistle. It was the only way Nick could describe the sound.
"Yes, Mr. Narwhalter is very grateful that they stopped shooting on the fourth attempt, said very sarcastically. Nevertheless, your potential use as a living shield is acknowledged and shall be utilized."
"Well, that's not exactly what I was going for, but-WHOA!"
Nick rocked in his seat, falling onto the back of Narwhalter's tusk as the marine crime lord was suddenly jolted, letting out a scream of pain. He saw a flash of red in the water, following it to its source: a harpoon sticking out of Narwhalter's tail.
"Mr. Narwhalter is stunned by how quickly you failed at your one use."
Nick almost gave a retort that he was fairly certain wouldn't require an interpreter, but found both himself and his ride being pulled boldly up to the surface by the harpoon's chain. Dolphonics had no choice but to follow.
From the depths emerged, to no one's surprise, the Fine-Jailed Fox Mk. II.
The Sea Train
5: 06 AM
"Come on, all aboard! Let's get out of here!" Bogo ordered, quickly ushering his subordinates onto the disappointedly-mundane train.
"But we don't even know how to drive this thing!" Jimmy replied, not hesitating to board regardless.
"Don't worry, I've driven trains before," Judy reassured him.
"You mean you've crashed trains before," Bogo reminded.
"We were being chased by sheep!" Judy was already heading for the engine room. "I should be able to handle it much better without any interference."
"Makes sense to me," Jimmy said, nodding. "One question though."
"Yes?"
"Compared to the sheep, how do five disgruntled assassins rank as 'interference'?"
"What?!"
"That bad, huh?"
Bogo swore at the sight of the Discards charging into the station after them, heading straight for the train. "Starts the engines, Hopps! NOW!"
"R-Right!" Judy cleared the three train cars separating them from the engine controls in less than three seconds and hopped into the driver's seat. Like most other seats in Zootopia, it was too big for her, but the layout more-or-less resembled what she and Nick had dealt with back in that subway. She was no longer upset about it being too normal for the city's standards. "Alright...let's work some magic."
Back at the rear car, Bogo attempted to barricade the new passengers from entering, but Drummond Rane leapt forward and kicked him square in the chest, clearing the way instantly. "I'm getting sick of all this underwater nonsense," the wallabie grumbled. "Let's just kill these runts and get outta here." He pointed at Wallace. "'Cept him. He gets to live."
"Yay! Sorry, Jimmy."
"I don't, like, think so!" Crystal said, as she and her sisters surrounded Drummond threateningly.
"Yeah! Anyone who hurts our Jimmy-Wimmy is getting a bammy-whammy!" Opal cried.
"I don't remember belonging to you..." the fox said meekly.
"You so do, cutie!" Pearl insisted, pointing at his face still covered in kisses. "We even left our stamps of ownership."
"Gah!" Jimmy attempted to scrub them off, forgetting he was wearing a helmet and only making an annoying squeaking noise.
"Well, we can all agree on killing the bunny and buffalo, right?" asked Piper, fingers clenching around her instrument case. "This day has been more of a letdown than one of Sanchez's concerts and I need something good to come out of it."
"You're welcome to try," Bogo challenged, cracking his hooved knuckles and regretting wasting his tranq gun on Reynard. Though he was inclined to expect a similar result if he still had it anyway.
As soon as he made the statement, the doors closed behind the Discards and the Sea Train rocked to life, making them all sway a little. There was a slight hissing noise as the water inside the cabin was drained out through an interior filtering system, the room around them was pressurized for travel, and then it finally began to move. It soon left the station and took them out into the depths, riding a long rail that would eventually lead back to the surface. The cops and assassins spent that entire time staring each other down, barely even acknowledging the changing scenery.
Judy rushed out seconds later. "Okay, I think we're heading back to the surface now!" She took one look at the Discards and groaned. "And we couldn't get there quickly enough."
"It's good to see you too, darling," Piper hissed, popping open her instrument case. "Now I can finish what I started and bring an end to your pitiful performance!" Smiling wickedly, she reached into the case and started feeling around.
Her smile slowly faded second-by-second as this went on, until she was left with a deceptively neutral expression. "Ah yes, I seem to have forgotten my recent budget cuts. My personal orchestra isn't what it used to be. But I still have this!" She pulled out a single instrument, a long, wooden pipe with noticeable bloodstains. "How poetic! My first instrument of murder shall also be my last!"
"What does that one do?" Judy asked, firmly on-guard after their last encounter. "Shoot darts? Pop blades out of the sides? Actually play music?"
"Nope! I'm just gonna hit you with it!" Twirling the pipe like a staff, the cheetah let out a harmonic battle cry and charged, jumping from seat to seat to get at her.
Bogo tried to intervene, but was once again kicked back by Drummond, hitting the door between cars with a thud and noticeably denting it. "This space is too confined for my liking, but that also means you will not escape me, Chief of Weaklings!"
Left by himself in the middle of the car, Jimmy was quickly surrounded, once again, by the Vixens. "Neither will you," Opal purred, the sisters wrapping their arms around him. Their helmets made soft clunks as they tapped together.
Well, at least they can't kiss me anymore. Though maybe that wouldn't be so bad...oh no, they're corrupting me!
The Nocturnal District
The Belfry
It's Time to Stop
"Think we're going the right way way way?" Harvey asked, still sprinting on all-fours down the hall.
The raccoon atop him struggled to keep his balance. "We're definitely going the way Sang wants us to go," he said, watching a wall open up in front of them and a giant glowing arrow point them into it. "Jury's still out on if it's the 'right' way."
"What are those those those again?"
"Hmm? Ah, right. That's when a court case is viewed by a bunch of randomly-selected citizens who decide the outcome."
"Oh yeah. Before my time."
"Mine too," Kyle admitted. "Even when I was a kit, we were already moving on to the modern system, much to my dad's consternation. Frankly, that bat should consider herself lucky she still got a jury."
"You read up up up on her case?"
"Mmm. Again, before my time, but the Sangs used to be pretty prominent in our community. That murder was a big deal back then. If what Carla said is true, then it seems Lucy was the victim of a false conviction. Had I been a prosecutor then, maybe I could have done something about it." He paused, then shook his head. "No, probably not. The evidence was rather stacked against her. I don't think even I could have prevented it."
Kyle tapped his walking cane lightly. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. The only kind of justice she's getting now is the kind that will be dished out by our capable paws. So let's take her down and bring her in."
"Wow, you actually sounded pretty hardcore there!"
"Really? Ugh, I'm turning into my father."
Another wall opened up and they finally reached their apparent destination: a large room with a wrestling ring in the center. Held above it now was a transparent glass box through which they could clearly see Lucy Sang tapping a microphone. "That's right! You've just gone around in one giant circle! What do you think of that, huh?"
"I think we're missing some context!" Kyle yelled back. "Neither of us have been here before!"
"You...oh right, you haven't. Well, if Carla were here, I bet she'd appreciate this!" Lucy grinned and held up her remote. "But she's too busy laughing her head off at the moment, hopefully literally. Have a look!"
A monitor lowered nearby and turned on, showing Carla still right where they left her and still writhing with agonizing laughter. "HAHAIHAHAHAHAHATEHEEHEEHAHAHAEVERYTHING!"
It turned off. "If you wanna put a stop to that, the only way is by stepping into my ring and fighting for it!"
"Fighting you for it, or…?"
"What do you think?" A part of the floor opened up, the same part that once lifted the savage Fangs and Boomer into the ring, but now lifted Grunt instead. The elephant cracked the closest thing he had to knuckles and glared at them through the glass eyes of his mask.
"Told you," Kyle said to his ride as he dismounted. "So we beat your stooge, we get the remote?"
"That's about the size of it! But between you and me, my money's on him. You guys are like mice in comparison, and Grunt's above the stereotype of being afraid of those. Right, Martina?"
"Yes. He shows no fear of me, even though I am very frightening," the monotone mouse replied. She had apparently been in the box the whole time, yet had gone unnoticed due to being more akin to a doll than a living creature.
"Enough of this!" Kyle hobbled into the ring, Harvey right behind him. "We're wasting time here! Just start already!"
"Oh good, you're finally learning. Then the Belfry is proud to present: Two Miscreant Mammals vs. Grunt vs. the Belfry!"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Lucy tapped a few buttons on her control console and the raccoon swiftly found out. Much like that last corridor they had fled through with Carla, an entire ensemble of deathtraps began to emerge from all corners of the ring itself, completely surrounding and trapping them inside.
Klye wasn't particularly confident about this to begin with. He was even less so now.
"So…" Harvey said slowly, "did you wanna dish out the justice first, or should I I I?"
The Docks
REALLY Not the Sea Bottom
5: 26 AM
Like a fish on the end of a line, Piers Narwhalter was being slowly but surely pulled up towards his captor, Nick and Dolphonics along with him. The harpoon lodged in the narwhal's tail made it both difficult to free him and potentially very dangerous should he struggle too hard against it. Narwhalter accidentally killing himself seemed like exactly the kind of thing his father would approve of.
Though it wasn't actually him reeling. "Come on, Radar! Bring him in! That catch is going right over my fireplace!" Reynard's voice sounded out. "Totally gonna get a fishing photo posing with him too."
"Can it, geezer! I'm reeling as fast as I can here!" Finnick yelled back.
"Any ideas?" Nick asked the flailing crime lord. "To be honest, if I knew that every one of your guys was just gonna leave you to fend for yourself, I might have rephrased my deal. Could really use a Bellus ex machina right now."
Narwhalter let out a few strained clicks in response.
"Mr. Narwhalter admits that he may have trained them to do exactly that in the event of an emergency," said Dolphonics. "The logic being that if we were to ever be in such a situation, we were most likely compromised from the inside and are best off not trusting each other."
He looked back as they were pulled steadily away from the rest of the fleet and towards the much larger submarine. "On the subject of trust, how much do you trust your father not to lose patience and simply launch another torpedo, having proven your inability to be a functional shield?"
"About as much as I trust Finnick not to blow me up out of spite."
"I see. Well, that being the case, I believe Mr. Narwhalter and I have both come to the same conclusion."
"What's that?"
Without warning, the bespectacled dolphin darted forward and rammed hard into Nick's side, hard enough to send the fox tumbling off into the water. "H-Hey!" Nick called out. "What are you doing?!"
Narwhalter whistled back as he was quickly pulled out of his reach.
"Mr. Narwhalter appreciates your efforts, Nicholas Wilde. Thanks to you, the rest of our society is now safely out of Reynard's grasp. However, he knows it is his destiny to perish today and he wishes to go down fighting. You...will complicate that. Farewell," Dolphonics interpreted for what he clearly expected to be the last time.
For crying out loud, NOW you decide to listen to the original pitch?
Futile as it may be, Nick started swimming as fast as he could after the pair.
The Fine-Jailed Fox Mk. II and its captive continued to rise further and further upwards until finally, they breached the surface.
The sun was just starting to rise over the Docks, casting a dim orange glow upon the water. As the harpoon's chain finally reached its end and pulled Narwhalter partially above the surface, the top hatch of the submarine opened and out popped Count Reynard, grinning like the sly predator he was. "Well, well, so we've finally reached the end of the proverbial road. With your death, I'll finally be ready to...uh...ready to...whoa."
Reynard groaned and put his only available paw to his helmeted head. "What's going on? I feel...ugh."
Finnick too seemed to feel pretty "ugh" as he slowly crawled out behind him. "You came up too fast. You're supposed to acclimate to the change in pressure or some shit."
"Oh, for fox sake! I am hating everything about the water right now!" Reynard slowly reoriented himself as he stumbled down towards the nose of the sub, towards Narwhalter. "Seriously, I don't even really care that you turned down my proposal because I never wanted Nicholas living here anyway. But now I'm gonna kill you just because you're being a massive pain in my ass!"
Narwhalter let out a challenging buzz and whistle.
"Mr. Narwhalter expresses his desire to redefine that term in the most literal fashion possible."
"Oh, he does, does he?" Reynard scowled and held out his paw behind him. "Cane."
"Are you sure?" Finnick asked. "You're down your good arm and even loopier than usual."
"Radar, sometimes a father's gotta do what a father's gotta do. And in this case, a father's gotta stab an overgrown carp to death and pose comedically with his corpse."
"If you say so."
Finnick tossed Reynard's cane into his left paw, the older fox using his teeth to pull off its casing and reveal the thin sword underneath. He took another step towards Narwhalter in acceptance of his challenge, taking a second only to swear loudly to himself. "Dammit, I should've kept the pirate costume! What did I do with that again?"
"Threw it in the water."
Reynard screamed in rage, pointing his sword at Narwhalter. "I'll kill you AND the water!"
Narwhalter bellowed back and charged forward, swinging his tusk towards Reynard as the fox swung to slice him open with it. Both weapons clashed with each other, the two crime lords glaring viciously at each other amidst the rising sun.
And also amidst the rising son. You...are not...going down...that easily.
The Sea Train
5: 11 AM
Judy reflected, in the brief moment she had before Piper swung for her head, that her initial train ride into Zootopia had been far preferable to this.
The bunny backed away to dodge the attack and, seeing that her maneuverability was a bit limited in this confined space, jumped up onto the back of one of the train seats to get some higher ground. Piper seemed to have the same idea, and was already standing on the opposing seat across from her. Judy resisted the urge to call her a "copycat", which made her miss Nick a little.
Piper's disproportionately-long instrument swept at her, spinning, twirling, and stabbing in Piper's usual technique of style over substance. Nevertheless, it was effective, forcing Judy to awkwardly pivot back and forth on the thin balance beam of a seat cushion and leaving her no room to fight back. So it was only a matter of time before the train gave a lurch under them and caught her off-balance long enough for Piper to land a blow to her gut.
Judy was flung back onto the seat behind her, while Piper quickly leapt to occupy the one she had been standing on. She had no time to get back up, and quickly rolled off of the seat entirely before the pipe came down on her head. Piper jumped to that spot too, raising her weapon again to stab it at the bunny below her.
Except she no longer was below her. Both the seat and the floor under it were completely bunny-free.
She was confused only until Judy sprung up behind her, having crawled under the seat, and kicked her hard in the backside. Piper let out a surprised yowl and fell forward, smacking her chin on the back of yet another seat. Judy bounced off of her back again and grabbed onto the overhead compartment right above her, paw clasping the latch.
"Oh please, we're the only ones on this train," Piper challenged, struggling to pull herself up. "No way is there any luggage in there."
Judy opened the compartment. Indeed, there was no luggage inside.
There was, however, about five boxes of miscellaneous junk evidently on its way to Narwhalter. Including soup cans, circuit boards, bendy straws, and those little plastic things on the ends of shoelaces. All of the above and more came crashing down on top of the cheetah, burying her between the seats.
Jimmy watched all of this happen from another seat nearby. "Looks like she just had a trainwreck performance."
A chorus of giggles erupted from the Vixens, still holding him tight. "You are so funny!" Pearl cooed, nuzzling his helmet.
"Like, where did you learn to be such a comedic genius?" asked Crystal.
"Er...mainly from Nick? I guess?" He wasn't even trying to make a joke. In fact, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing now at all. He felt a little bad for sitting here and being snuggled while his friends fought for their lives, but by doing so, he was also keeping three of their five adversaries occupied and out of the conflict. In a way, that meant he was the most useful member of the team right now.
"Inteeeeeresting," Opal said in a painfully exaggerated fashion. "And who made you such a cutie patootie?"
"That would be… my mom?"
"D'AWWWWWWWWW!"
"So, we were thinking," said Pearl, dragging a manicured claw slowly down his chest, "that maybe when this is all said and done, we could take you out for a nice bite to eat."
"It's a trap!"
"I dunno, maybe?" he answered, just trying to be polite. "You're gonna have to stop hurting my friends though."
"Hmm?" The Vixens all quirked their heads and looked up at once, as if forgetting that they weren't the only ones on this train.
"Ooooooh, right! I, like, forgot we weren't the only ones on this train!"
"It literally slipped my mind too!"
"Get out! That is so what happened to me!"
It became slightly harder to ignore when Chief Bogo was punched into the seat behind them.
The Vixens did anyway. "Hey, like, what's the deal with the doll? Does it do any tricks?"
"Well, I had a dream where it went on a killing spree."
Somehow, that warranted another "D'AWWWWW!"
Drummond Rane leapt onto the seat, landing on top of Bogo and pinning him against the window. "End of the line, bovine." He pulled back his fist and threw a punch at his head.
Bogo ducked out of the way just in time, letting Drummond's fist slam into the window instead. The glass surface cracked loudly.
That sound got the attention of everyone on the train instantly.
"Whoa!" Bogo yelled.
"Are you crazy?!" Judy shouted from atop a seat.
"What are you doing, you idiot?!" Piper poked her head out of the jumbled heap of boxes just to chime in.
Drummond looked immensely confused. "Smashing the buffalo's head into a fine paste?"
"You're going to smash us all if you put a hole in this thing!"
"...I don't follow."
Crystal raised a paw. "See, we're like, all pressurized now."
"And breaking that window would so cause a rapid change in the pressure."
"A bunch of water would come in all at once, and with all the weight on the outside, we would literally be crushed like a tin can. It's just science and junk."
Then they went back to cuddling Jimmy.
"Bah! How do you expect me to do my job if I have to hold back for this wussy train?" He reared back to jump mightily onto Bogo and crush him underfoot instead.
"No jumping either!" Piper said quickly. She pointed down the car. "Just… go sit unobtrusively over there."
Drummond grumbled as he got up, walked down the middle of the train car, and sat himself down in the back with his arms crossed. He looked down distastefully. "This train is so wussy it even has seatbelts. Pitiful!"
Judy was just getting back down when she happened to get a glimpse out the nearby window and see the track ahead.
The track that would very soon begin ascending to the surface. At a roughly 45 degree angle.
"Guys! You might want to fasten your seatbelts!"
Bogo rolled his eyes as he got back up from his seat. "As much as I appreciate your adherence to the law, Hopps, now is not the time."
"But…!"
The train hit the slope.
And then all hell broke loose.
The Nocturnal District
The Belfry - "Wrestling Ring"
Time to Reconsider One's Life Choices
Kyle VanDal was glad this was no longer being recorded, because these past few minutes had just been embarrassing. They were spent primarily running laps around the ring while Grunt lumbered after them, just slow enough to keep out of reach, but just fast enough to keep them moving.
And the balance would soon be tipped, as between the two of them, Harvey was far more capable of fleeing for dear life than the hobbled raccoon and he at least was wearing a helmet. Suddenly missing riding him around like a stinky steed, Kyle could only limp away from Grunt's furious swipes as quickly as he could manage. It was quite fortunate for him that most of the elephant's ire seemed to be focused on the skunk, which probably had something to do with the whole "shoving a stink bomb up his trunk" thing.
And now Grunt was using that trunk more effectively, whipping it at their heels as they fled.
"We need...a new...plan!" Kyle panted.
"We had a plan? I thought we were just wing wing winging it."
"This is getting repetitive," Lucy groaned. "What do you think, Martina? Should we spice this up a little?"
"I do not see how adding spices will improve this. Unless you wish to eat them, in which case I recommend paprika."
"You are adorable."
With a few more button presses, the exterior deathtraps around the ring started to become a lot more interior. Kyle stumbled around a saw blade that whizzed across the floor while Harvey nearly became the victim of another ironic death when a flamethrower torched the space in front of him, making him swerve to the side. By design, neither trap was still present when Grunt came charging through shortly thereafter, allowing him to finally catch up and swing his trunk into both of them at once.
Kyle and Harvey stumbled over each other and rolled into the center of the ring in a crumpled heap. The raccoon glared up at their "host". "Do you...not think...this is unfair enough?!"
"Hmm, let me think about that…"
A bed of spikes rose from the floor, encompassing the perimeter of the ring and limiting their movement space to a small square in the center. Where Grunt was now also standing.
"Nope! Now it's unfair enough!"
Realizing he had them trapped, Grunt glared down at the duo as they shakily rose again, and an idea sprung into his masked mind. He extended his trunk, and then slowly brought it down in a circular motion towards their feet. Reflexively, they both jumped over it, and so Grunt repeated the motion. Again and again, gradually getting faster.
"Ha! Good one, Grunt!"
"It's funny because it looks like they're just playing Jump Rope, but they'll actually get knocked into the spikes and die horribly if they miss."
"Thank you, Martina."
"You're welcome."
They had reached about twenty jumps by now, and counting. "I...did not...study...to earn...a law degree...just to...die...to a...children's game!" Kyle glared over at Harvey, who seemed to be having a lot more fun with this than he was, then up at the smug elephant, then further up at the glass box hanging above them.
And then Kyle came up with a plan. He wasn't particularly used to plans. For him, it was more of a case outline.
First, the opening statement.
He turned to Harvey. "Hey! You still...have...your scent can...right?"
"Yeah...but it's...not...going to...to to...work...on him."
"Just...do it...anyway!"
Harvey shrugged, whipping out his black scent can mid-jump and spraying its contents into Grunt's face. As expected, the crippling stench did nothing through his gas mask. However, the glass inserts that shielded his eyes were soon covered in liquid musk, effectively blinding him. Grunt's movements instantly became more erratic, his trunk lashing all over the place as he trumpeted in rage.
Then, the witness testimony.
"Good job pissing him off, guys!"
"Ah, was that their goal? Then I extend my congratulations as well."
"Gah! That just made this much much much harder!" Harvey panicked, jumping around frantically.
"Trust me! I know what I'm doing!" Kyle shouted. "Now grab on!"
As Grunt's trunk came swinging towards them again, both Kyle and Harvey managed to catch it around the midsection, hanging on tightly. Grunt naturally noticed the extra weight immediately and thrashed even harder, completely indiscriminate outside of now avoiding the floor entirely, afraid of accidentally goring his trunk on the spikes.
Followed by conclusive evidence.
While Harvey continued to stutter in panic, Kyle was awaiting his moment to shine. Now, he was actually kind of regretting that this wouldn't be recorded. If it worked, it would be the single most badass thing he had ever done. And if it didn't, then his attempt at heroics ended by gruesome tragedy would go unknown to anyone outside of this room.
He waited until Grunt's trunk was swinging in precisely the right direction, then let go.
"Wait, what is he doing?"
"He appears to be hurtling directly towards us at a high speed."
And finally…
"Objection!"
Kyle came crashing into the hanging command station, which was thankfully not made of strong enough glass to withstand the impact of a flying raccoon, barreling right into a shocked Lucy Sang and tackling her to the ground. The prosecutor didn't fully appreciate just how much he wanted to hurt this bat until he had his cane pressed against her throat and was snarling into her face.
"Fox Son already did this to Fox Dad," she choked out. "You're not special."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have missed that while I was busy being imprisoned against my will." He pressed down harder. "Now, I'll take that remote and...your mouse slave appears to be attacking me."
"Grr. Rarr. Stop hurting Lucy," Martina droned, ineffectually beating her tiny fists against his ankle.
"Yeah...she'll do that."
"I know what you did to her," he said dangerously. "How did you get ahold of that technology?"
"I'm just...full of surprises...like this!" She pulled the remote out of her catsuit and chucked it over Kyle's shoulder, through the hole he had just barged in through.
"...You being a sore loser? Somehow not surprising."
Kyle had no choice. He couldn't waste time threatening the bat any longer when their goalpost had just moved. But he still got a lot of pleasure out of lifting Lucy by the throat and throwing her as hard as he could out of the same hole.
The result was expected. The remote she had thrown was likely to either break against the floor or land in the spikes, but with Lucy free, she quickly grabbed it in her talons before that happened. "Yes! Still in control!"
"Wanna bet?" Kyle casually pinned Martina under his foot while he pressed a few buttons on the console. Several weapons of televised sadism surrounded Lucy in a heartbeat.
There wasn't much he wouldn't give to record her expression at that very moment.
The Docks
Not the Sea Surface Either
5: 39 AM
Finnick decided pretty quickly that he was going to stay far out of this fight. He didn't particularly want to get gored, nor was he especially against Reynard getting gored, so it didn't take much thought. He just sat himself down on top of the sub and watched the carnage in front of him, admitting to himself that this was at least more interesting than prison.
It even provided the shivs!
"Your weapon's looking a little worn there, Tin Hat!" Reynard taunted, his sword clashing against Narwhalter's tusk and wearing it down just a little bit further. "Are you sure you're up for this?"
Narwhalter whistled aggressively, stabbing at his legs. Reynard jumped over it.
"Mr. Narwhalter insists that his tusk is just fine, although he boldly suggests an alternative in using it for a shish kebab."
"And you accuse us of wanting to cannibalize you?" Reynard blocked another swing, though the force made him stagger a little.
Narwhalter whistled even more aggressively, jabbing at him several more times and forcing Reynard to dance around him.
"Oh, I know you debunked that. I'm just screwing with you."
"Mr. Narwhalter explains that he debunked…" Dolphonics blinked his bespectacled eyes in puzzlement. "Wait, you understood that?"
"Of course! I spent three years studying marine tongue!" Reynard pushed back and swung down at Narwhalter's head. He submerged completely underwater to avoid it, then sprung back up to splash him out of spite.
"Why?" asked an incredulous Finnick.
Reynard coughed up water and took a few steps back, taking a small breather. "Boredom mostly. Didn't have much else to look after in Foxden. It's also really fun to swear in!" Reynard clicked his tongue in a crude imitation of marine life, then whistled twice.
Narwhalter gasped, splashing him again.
"There's no soap, but Mr. Narwhalter wishes for you to wash your mouth out regardless."
Reynard smirked, naturally responding by jumping back into the fray with another onslaught of slashes, stabs, and cetacean cuss words.
"Now, that is just uncalled for-!"
Narwhalter clicked and bellowed back.
"Sir! You don't need to sink to his-!"
Reynard's tonal whistle carried a tone of extreme rudeness.
"There is no need to bring anyone's mother into-!"
Narwhalter's response was too foul to even describe.
"Think of the children!"
"Please don't mention children!" Finnick yelled.
Reynard finally broke through with a strike that cut Narwhalter's face and splattered some blood in the water. "First blood! And my track record so far predicts I'll also have the last!"
Narwhalter didn't even reply. He just stabbed sharply at Reynard's right. He managed to dodge, but the tusk caught RJ's pull string and yanked him back. "This night just keeps getting better."
"Don't worry, little buddy, night's almost over," Reynard said reassuringly, patting RJ's head in support and comfort.
RJ stabbed his paw in response. "OW! Dammit!"
"Second blood," Finnick snarked.
"Mr. Narwhalter is deeply disturbed by your attachment to your plush toy."
"But he didn't say anything."
"He doesn't have to." Dolphonics shuddered. "Any sane mammal would be."
Finnick nodded.
Looking up at him from below the hatch, Nick marveled at himself for managing to sneak aboard this thing. Now to figure out what to do next. Maybe if he found his way to the control room, he could find a way to cut Narwhalter loose. He...wasn't sure how exactly. Or how submarines worked. Or even how he got here really. But he made it this far, so time to wing it!
There was an ominous click and the feel of cold metal against his skull. "Nice try, pal. Now turn around slowly."
Nick did just that, seeing a smug, suited panther holding him up.
He didn't stay smug for long. "S-Shit! The boss's son?!"
"Uh huh." Nick smiled. "I'll be taking that gun then. Come on now."
The panther hesitated to hand it over. Just as well, since he was sufficiently distracted enough for Nick to casually disarm him and pistol-whip the cat unconscious. "Ah, weaponized nepotism. Is there anything it can't do?"
Nick found his answer as soon as he stumbled upon the control room. There were a few more suited henchmammals inside, who all stared at him with a similar level of shock. He pointed the confiscated gun at them and waved it around vaguely, making a half-convincing show of knowing what he was doing. "Okay, everyone, here's the deal: I'm gonna need you to let Narwhalter off the hook."
They shared some nervous glances between each other. "Er, can't really do that, mate," a wombat replied.
"You'd have to pull that thing out manually," a dhole added.
"Of course. I knew that entirely." Nick quickly wracked his brain for a backup plan. "Then...start by closing the torpedo ports. Don't want you shooting him either."
"We wouldn't do that anyway," a confused coyote replied. "At this range, we'd hurt ourselves too."
"Do it anyway!"
He did it anyway. "Now what?"
Good question. "You know what, you guys are free to go, I'll take it from here." They didn't budge. "Come along now, shoo shoo."
Between his stolen weapon and the power of his father's influence, Nick soon had the control room all to himself. "Alright, now is there a manual anywhere? No? No manual? Well, don't really have time to figure out what everything does, so let's start with...this guy!" He immediately grabbed the nearest lever and yanked it back.
A low rumbling came from beneath his feet. "Huh. Kinda feels like I just launched the torpedoes. But that can't be right because I just closed the ports, so how would that work?"
He chuckled to himself at the absurdity up until a muffled explosion sounded, the whole submarine rocked violently, and Nick was thrown to the floor.
Then the alarms blared.
"Okay, the short answer is that it would not. Time to go!" He scrambled back up and scurried out of the room.
The Sea Train
5: 24 AM
The train thankfully remained on the rails. The intended struggle between good and evil, however, did not.
Cop and assassin alike were thrown screaming from wherever they were standing or sitting, tumbling down the now-sloping incline of the train car. Drummond Rane attempted to leave his seat and climb towards the front, but was held back by sheer centrifugal force, apparently the only force capable of slowing him down. Chief Bogo fell towards him, but caught himself on two opposite chairs, keeping himself from falling all the way to the back. The Vixens all rolled past him in a giant, furry ball, keeping Jimmy Frost firmly tucked between them. All of the above were then assailed by a large amount of boxes and junk, courtesy of the pile that had landed on Piper Piedmont, who also went flying towards the back.
The only one who remained exactly where they started was Judy Hopps, sitting in one of the frontmost seats with her seatbelt securely fastened.
Drummond grit his teeth as he slowly ascended, one large foot in front of the other. "I...will not...be beaten...by this wussy train!"
One by one, the avalanche of objects and mammals reached him. First, a few boxes flew at the wallaby, which Drummond caught and flung back up the train towards his hated adversary: the Precinct 1 police chief. "Turn and face me, you coward!"
Bogo, who could barely even move from his position holding on to the chairs, continued to show his back to him as he took a few blows to it. He grunted a little, but held strong.
Next came the ball of arctic foxes, screaming and giggling in equal measure. Drummond pulled his leg back and kicked the ball forward, rocketing it into Bogo as well. It exploded into four separate foxes at the impact, Jimmy managing to cling to his superior's back while the Vixens went flying past him. Pearl grabbed on to a seperate chair further up, Crystal flew all the way to the door leading to the next car, holding on to the handle, and Opal crashed straight into Piper, clinging for dear life to a stray seatbelt.
The fox held on while the cheetah was knocked off, becoming the next target to fall past Bogo and towards Drummond. "Don't even think about it, you big-!"
Drummond kicked her too, knocking her into Jimmy, into Bogo. This was the metaphorical straw to finally break the buffalo's back, and all three of them now fell back towards Drummond.
"Finally! Come and get me!" he taunted, already raising his fists.
"Officer Frost, permission to use you as ammunition?" Bogo asked mid-tumble.
"Y-You don't need my permission, sir," the fox said nervously.
"Damn right, I don't!" Grabbing Frost by the collar, Bogo caught himself on a chair just enough to turn himself around as he fell and threw him as hard as he could at the wallaby. Piper, whose extremely flexible spine allowed her to do that on her own, watched with some satisfaction as the little furry missile that could slammed into Drummond.
The added momentum proved enough to topple him off-balance and Drummond fell all the way to the back of the train, pressed against the rear door with Jimmy and Wallace.
"Are you my daddy?" the plushie asked.
Bogo and Piper were just able to grab onto rear seats before they met the same fate. Shortly thereafter, the entire Sea Train righted itself into a normal horizontal course again, putting all of them on the floor. All except Judy, having still not moved from her spot.
"Are we, like, on the surface now?" Crystal asked weakly.
"Not yet," Judy answered, checking outside. "We're still underwater, just higher up. It probably goes through stages so we don't ascend too quickly."
Piper's eyes widened. "Then...that's going to happen again?"
"Most likely, yes."
"Well then." The cheetah sprung back to her feet and started tearing down the car, heading right for her. "I'll just have to finish you quickly, darling!"
Given her running speed, Judy had little doubt she could make good on her threat. She frantically undid her seatbelt and raced through the door to the next car with Piper in pursuit.
"Hey! Wait up!" Bogo yelled, swearing to himself as he followed after them.
"Chief! Don't leave me alone with them!" Jimmy cried, doing the same.
"Don't leave us alone ever!" The Vixens were naturally quick to follow.
The last to catch up was Drummond Rane, who found his entrance into the next car suddenly barred as he struggled to open the door. "What?! Open up! Do you know who I am, door?!"
"I know who you are," said a deceptively-innocent Piper from the other side. "You're a muscle-headed menace who's interfered with my recital for the last time!" Still smiling, in a very catlike fashion, she slowly reached past the door, wrapping her paw around a big red lever on its side.
Drummond narrowed his beady eyes at her. "Don't."
"Good effort, darling, but I give that performance a solid two claws down. Farewell!"
She pulled the lever, detaching the rear car from the train just as Drummond roared in fury and punched through the window on his side. The result was not pretty.
"Should...we have stopped her from doing that?" Jimmy asked.
"Probably," Bogo admitted. "Not like I expect that to actually kill him anyway."
"Now where were we?" Piper asked, brandishing her pipe again. "Ah yes, I was in the middle of bludgeoning that heckling bunny to death!"
"I didn't heckle you!" Judy insisted. "I just implied that a lot of your instrument weapons seem kind of pointless and gimmicky when you could achieve the same result through more practical means."
"EVERYBODY'S A CRITIC!" she screamed, charging forward again.
Jimmy glanced out the window. "Oh hey, looks like we're about to head up again."
"Wait, wha-aggh!" The sudden ascent made Piper drop her pipe and then trip over it. She fell back and reached out to dig her claws into a seat cushion with one paw while grabbing hold of her weapon with the other. The rest of them were at least somewhat prepared for it this time, all quickly finding their own seats to buckle themselves into.
The Vixens were buckled around Jimmy. "This is so much fun!"
"Still...going...to kill you!" Piper growled, putting her pipe between her teeth and grabbing on to the seat with her other paw, then a clawed foot, pulling herself back up and pointing the pipe towards her intended prey.
"Can't you just wait until it stops again?" Judy asked, already reaching for her belt.
"I never wait until the end of a performance to demand my cut!" Piper yelled. "Which, come to think of it, may be why I can't find work in showbiz anymore. Well, food for thought." Piper then started pouncing from seat to seat, climbing towards her.
"If that's the way you want it," Judy muttered. She undid her belt just as Piper leapt for her, kicking the cat back and jumping away to another seat above them. They jumped back and forth like this a few more times, trading blows in mid-air.
"You can't beat me, darling! My claws are faster than your feet!"
"And your lip is faster than either!"
Jimmy glanced out the window again. "Oh hey, now we're going down."
"What?" Bogo asked in confusion. "Why would we be going back down? That doesn't make any sense."
Nevertheless, it was exactly what happened. The train reached the top of the track, then suddenly changed direction and roared back down into the depths. Judy and Piper were both caught off-guard and flung to the front of the train. In the commotion, Piper managed to get her pipe around Judy's neck and pull her close, choking her from behind. "Don't...worry, darling. Your name will go up in lights. At your funeral!"
"To hell with this." Bogo unfastened his seatbelt and threw himself from his seat, hurtling down the hall. Judy saw him coming and shifted her position just enough so that Bogo only crashed into Piper, gasping in relief as the pressure was removed from her throat.
Then the train righted itself again.
"Let's go, Hopps!" Bogo picked her up and trampled Piper underhoof as he brought her into the next car.
Piper growled and started to pull herself up, only to then be trampled by Jimmy, and then the Vixens as well. The musical assassin was only able to get back to her feet as the door was closed on her, the Vixens blowing a raspberry at her from the other side.
"No!" Piper screamed, banging on it desperately. "But I'm a star! Why?!"
"Honestly, we just don't, like, like you."
"You are literally the most annoying mammal we've ever met."
"And you are so not that talented!"
All at once, the three Vixens pulled the lever and the furious feline was detached as well, still ranting about how she was snubbed at some miscellaneous music award.
The cops were left panting in the third car as the Vixens rejoined them. "We don't have to keep doing this, do we?" Judy asked wearily.
"You guys are, like, cool with us."
"Especially this cutie." Pearl winked, wrapping herself around Jimmy's backside along with her siblings. He sighed.
"Then I'll hold off on arresting you for now," Bogo decided.
"I guess that calls for a victory toot-toot?" Judy asked jokingly.
"Whatever floats your train, Hopps. We can even do it together."
Judy headed into the train's engine, more excited about this than she had any right to be, followed by Bogo. Jimmy started to walk through the door, stopped, abruptly shoved the Vixens into the previous car, and then detached them.
"JIMMY-WIMMMMMY!" they cried, fading into the distance.
Judy and Bogo stared at the fox in open shock.
"I had to," Jimmy said, shivering. "I just had to."
"I wasn't ready for that level of commitment!"
"We'll...send someone down to help them," Bogo said slowly.
Judy reached for the horn. "Toot. Toot?"
"Mood's kinda lost, Hopps."
Jimmy glanced back out the window. "Oh hey, we're coming up on a loop-de-loop."
"Now that is just ridi-"
They all screamed as they were thrown into the ceiling.
The Nocturnal District
The Belfry - "Wrestling Ring"
Time to Wrap Things Up
"Hey, you're right, this is kind of fun!" Kyle said, going to town on the control console. Thankfully, Lucy had marked this rather complex piece of machinery with labels like "Stabby Blade Things", "Swingy Hammer Things", and "Burny Burn Things".
Needless to say, the bat was somewhat regretting making it so user-friendly. Lucy squeaked in panic, flying every which way to avoid the multitude of traps now out for her blood. "H-Hey! What are you going to do if you end up killing me, huh?!" she asked, flying back to avoid a pair of snapping metal jaws that burst from the floor to ensnare her, then to the side as a row of blades sprang up from behind. "Prosecute yourself?!"
"That would require evidence of a crime," Kyle replied smoothly, deciding to try the firecrackers next and smiling as Lucy screamed. "But you cut the camera feed, barely anyone knows where this place even is, and I don't see any witnesses who would speak on your behalf."
"I didn't see see see anything," Harvey said innocently.
"I too could observe nothing about your grisly murder," Martina agreed from under Kyle's foot.
"..." Grunt replied.
Of course, Kyle had no intention of actually becoming a murderer himself. Caught or not, it went against everything he stood for. But Sang didn't need to know that, and he doubted her warped mind was capable of conceiving a mammal who wouldn't take their well-deserved revenge on someone when the opportunity arose.
That didn't mean he wasn't having a ball threatening her with her own gadgets though. He could still enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
"F-Fine! Be that way!" A slightly-charred Lucy weaved around a barrage of cartoonish boxing gloves that sprung out at her. "Grunt! Grab the skunk!"
Grunt had no problem obeying this command, reaching for Harvey instantly. The pyro scurried out of the way, only to trip over the elephant's outstretched trunk.
"Nice one! Now grab him! Grab h-ACK!" Off-focus, Lucy took one of those rubber punches to the backside, sending her to the floor as well.
She dropped the remote, which slid a few feet in front of her...and was now a few feet in front of Harvey as well. They spent a moment just staring at each other, then at the remote, then at each other again.
They reached for it at the same time, knocking it out of both their grips and making it slide further across the floor. Harvey got up on all-fours and Lucy took to the air again, both racing after it with Grunt soon joining in as well.
"Alright, odds aren't really with us anymore," Kyle noted, searching the console for anything that could help change that. The first thing he did was lower the spikes Lucy had set up around the ring, then clear the space of the other traps as well. Problem was, now there was little he could use against Lucy and Grunt that didn't risk harming his partner as well. "Hmm? What's this?" He adjusted his glasses as he looked down at a proximity alarm that suddenly appeared on the console. Someone outside the Belfry was trying to get in.
Well, if Sang had any more underlings, they'd probably be here already, so why not? He proceeded to open every door in the complex.
"I never liked you, Harv!" Lucy yelled, ramming at the skunk in their pursuit of that slippery little remote that kept sliding away from them. "You're the kind of psycho that makes psychos look like chumps!"
"And you're a jerky jerk jerk jerk face!" he countered, ramming her back while wishing he'd taken notes during Carla's ranting..
"I totally killed your doctor, by the way!" She rammed him again. "I know that was kinda implied, but I just wanted to spell it out for you because you're obviously not all there!"
"You...you what?!" He rammed her back, weakly. "How could could could y-AAAGH!" Harvey seized up with an electric shock, tripping over his limbs and falling to the floor.
"Finally!" Lucy swept ahead of him and snatched up the remote. Grunt's trunk wrapped around Harvey's neck and hefted him up while Lucy perched on the elephant's head. Several weapons immediately surrounded them, but Lucy just help up the remote smugly. "Come any closer there, Mr. Prosecutor, and I crush the remote, the skunk's windpipe, and your hopes!"
Kyle scowled, searching desperately for anything he could do.
"There's nothing you can do!" Lucy laughed. "I may not have designed most of this, but I know the mechanisms inside out and I'm happy to confirm that you're completely screwed! No chance, no way out, no-!"
"MATAR!"
Kyle acknowledged that she was pretty much asking for something like this when she started monologuing, but when he sensed an approaching intruder, he had to admit that he was expecting someone else. Still, the massive horde of rodents now swarming the elephant enmasse and assaulting him with tiny weapons seemed surprisingly effective.
"Oh no!" Lucy gasped as her ride started to thrash wildly. "Grunt isn't afraid of mice...but he's terrified of rats!"
Grunt let out a muffled scream of affirmation, dropping Harvey in his panic and stumbling back towards the edge of the ring. A few of the enraged Rodentriguez's made it all the way up the elephant's mask and started gunning for Lucy herself, chief among them Elizabeth and, rather impressively, Priscilla. "I'm gonna shove that remote straight up your ass, puta!"
"I-If you do that, you'll never be able to shut it off!" Lucy cried, dodging around Elizabeth's ladle.
"Sure I can! I'll just have to get creative!" Priscilla launched herself out of her chair at Lucy's face. Luckily for the bat, she flinched away and Priscilla only grabbed the remote out of her hand instead, flying over her shoulder and down to the floor.
"I've got got got ya!" Harvey yelled, diving and catching them both.
"Get that thing to Carla!" Elizabeth demanded, showing potential as a wrestler herself as she grappled Lucy by the throat.
"But-"
"NOW!" She pointed her ladle at him threateningly.
There were few mammals who could threaten a skunk without consequence.
There were far fewer who could talk back to Elizabeth Rodentriguez without consequence. "Yes, ma'am!" Harvey crawled under the ropes and took off back the way he came with Priscilla in tow.
"You mind being my new wheels for a while?" Priscilla asked, holding his ears like a pair of handlebars.
"N-No! Of course not! Why do do do you you you ask?"
Meanwhile, Grunt was still heading towards the edge of the ring himself, still swatting futilely at the many rats assailing him. All while Elizabeth had Lucy in a headlock and was savagely beating her over the head while screaming colorful swears that would make Carla herself blush.
Sadly, this beautiful combination could not last, for Grunt finally reached the ropes and tumbled over the side. To the rats, it was like a skyscraper collapsing under them, which did absolutely nothing to stop them from pummeling Grunt until he hit the floor with a tremendous thud. And they stopped there only because of the shock from the impact.
That same shock finally got a severely battered Lucy out from under the wrath of Elizabeth and her ladle. It was the first time in her life she had ever fled in mortal terror from a rodent instead of the other way around. "Okay, you know what?!"
She looked around at her surroundings. Grunt, now unconscious on the floor and a hundred or so rats clearly wishing they could fly right now. Martina, still trapped under Kyle, who was already looking for more weapons to turn on her. Harvey, already gone and going to save a hyena who probably wanted to kill her even more than anyone else in this room…
Un-freaking-believable. Her show, her hideout, her artwork, her...friends. All gone because of a bunch of hasbeens who wouldn't know good entertainment if it bit them in the throat and sucked them dry!
Oh, how she would've loved to drain each and every one of them. But for now, Lucy Sang would settle for a small compromise.
She abruptly flew up to the glass box and kicked Kyle square in the jaw while he was distracted. The raccoon fell back while Lucy grabbed up Martina in her talons. "I'm leaving! So there! Ha!" She took off back through the hole, then out one of the many doors that had opened up.
"It's funny because you're acting like you won even though you lost."
"Thank you, Martina!"
"You're welcome."
Kyle propped himself up with his cane, staring off in that direction in annoyed disbelief as they disappeared from sight. "Did she seriously just get away after all that?"
"Nevermind her! Let's go save Carla!" Elizabeth declared.
The rest of the familia cheered in unison and they all rushed off, following after Harvey and Priscilla. This left Kyle alone with the literal elephant in the room.
Which he quickly realized was kind of a problem. "...I probably should have come up with a way to get back down. Hello? Is anyone still out there? I seem to be lacking a closing argument!"
There was a small whirring sound and then something caught onto the edge of the glass box.
It was the pronged tip of a grappling hook. He heard another whirring for a couple seconds, followed by a loud thud directly below him.
After a few more seconds, a grey bunny climbed inside, rubbing his head while giving a cocky grin. "Mission accomplished."
The Docks
Nothing to Sea Here
5: 50 AM
The sounds of metal against ivory had yet to cease. If anything, they were only getting more heated.
"I'm sick of the water! I'm sick of you!" Reynard raged. "And to be honest? I don't think I'm even going to take that fishing photo! Or mount you on my wall! No, your carcass is going straight into the oil refinery, mister!"
Narwhalter clicked.
"So you're going to have Mr. Narwhalter eaten? Mr. Narwhalter finds that an inspired idea that he's sure nobody saw coming."
"I understood him the first time!"
"I know."
Narwhalter shoved Reynard back and landed a hefty blow to his injured arm.
The fox screamed in agony, falling to one knee, but maintaining the strength to block a follow-up swing. "You...dental-challenged piece of crap. You are merely a stepping stone to my son's greatness!"
Narwhalter's lip curled into a sneer. His bellow sounded like a mocking laugh.
"Mr. Narwhalter replies curtly: And you are merely a pawn who thinks he is king."
Reynard snarled, but before he could reply, the entire submarine rocked violently, nearly knocking him over. "What's going on down there?! You better not be playing Twister again!"
"N-No sir!" a panicked coyote said, emerging from the hatch. "We gotta jump ship! This thing's gonna blow!"
Before he could clarify, the coyote was shoved aside by several more mammals scrambling for safety. They all leapt overboard and started swimming as fast as they could, some not even going towards shore.
The last to emerge was Nick, whose own look of panic faded as soon as he saw Reynard's. "Hey, Dad. Just blew up your sub. And guess what? If you ever make a Fine-Jailed Fox Mk. III, I'll sink that one too! See ya!" Nick too waved and jumped overboard before Reynard could stop him.
Finnick didn't even wait for him to land before he jumped too. "See ya!"
There was another violent shake, followed by a loud snapping of metal.
"Oh look, there goes the harpoon chain. Mr. Narwhalter says see ya!"
Reynard turned and gasped as the prominent tusk of his prize began to sink back into the water. That hated water. "No!" He charged forward, sharpened blade at his side. "I won't let you get away! My revenge must be complete!"
He leapt from the edge of the sub, raising the sword above his head and bringing it down towards the sinking whale's backside.
The explosion caught him inches from impact, rocketing Reynard far from his target. The fox twirled around a few times in mid-air, made a few frenzied gestures of indignation, then landed with an impressive splash. Dolphonics briefly raised a scorecard showing a perfect 10 before disappearing under the water.
As Reynard sank beneath the waves, he slowly opened his eyes from behind his helmet, looking around at the chaos that befell him.
The Fine-Jailed Fox Mk. II was no more, its pieces sinking slowly downward. He could see some of its scattered crew members sinking with it, trying desperately to swim back to the surface. Finnick was having the easiest time of it, given his lightweight stature. Again, not something he would ever admit to.
But he didn't see Nick.
Reynard searched around worriedly for any sign of his son, but once again, it was Nick who chose to make himself known. A few feet away, Nick came riding up beside him, once again on the back of Narwhalter. The crime lord still had a bloody harpoon sticking out of his tail as well as a few singes from the explosion, but he was still very much alive.
Nick stuck around just long enough to visibly rub that fact in, then took off into the depths once more. Far below, a few of the lingering submersibles he had commanded seemed to finally get the memo that they should start chasing him again and did just that. But Reynard had no faith in them to finish the job. Not if he couldn't.
He wearily reached out and grabbed his cane, floating next to him in the water. Maybe if he was quick enough, he could still get off one final shot, hit Narwhalter as he was fleeing and fatally injure him. It worked for Felix Senior, didn't it? Not the ironic, spiteful sort of permahuss he normally went for, but it would do in a pinch.
Reynard raised the cane, pointed it at the fleeing figure, and fired one swift bullet.
It missed completely. Mainly because water physics didn't let it reach even half of the intended distance before it came to a dead stop. Meanwhile, several torpedoes were fired at Narwhalter, a large rock spire came hurtling towards him, and a shark seemed to have picked up the scent of his blood in the water. Then the torpedoes blew up the spire, sending a chunk towards the shark and knocking it out.
Unimpeded, Narwhalter continued to swim away until he disappeared completely.
And then Reynard saw something else floating away from him. It was a simple list, with five names:
Bxx
Txxxxxxxxh
xxxg
xxxxxxz
Narwhalter
Reynard stared at the last name on the list.
The only one that had yet to be crossed off.
And, as was quickly becoming apparent, never would be.
He reached for the list, but it disintegrated before he could touch it, another casualty of the water.
I...I lost one? But that's not how this is supposed to go. That's...that's not fair…
Reynard's arm went slack and he sighed weakly, allowing himself to float limply back towards the surface.
Still one more chapter to go of the Narwhalter arc, but you can see why we wanted to get this one out for the holidays. Reynard's failure is the gift that keeps on giving! Surprised? Confused? Surfused? We bet, considering everyone and their grandmother thought Narwhalter was a goner. :P
Shoutout to the fine folks on the Zootopia Author's Association Discord server for helping to come up with some of the sights from the first scene with the underwater chase. The question was literally posed as "Billboards and services you would expect to see in an underwater marine mammal city. Go!" (I like posting questions about BtBW completely out-of-context. The reactions are fun.)
Before you cry foul over Lucy getting away here, remember that not only has she lost a lot in the process, but that there's still more story to go. In short, she got away because we're not done humiliating her yet. ;)
Sadly, not enough time to fit in the resolution with Carla and Priscilla, but that, and the rest of the delicious denouement will be coming...next year! And for once, that doesn't sound too bad!