And now, the Docks denouement. For the first chapter of the new year, we finish the Narwhalter arc.
Chapter 32: She Who Laughs Last
Sahara Square
New Mexicow
26 Years Ago
The Sahara Square sub-district of New Mexicow had a long history of being perpetually festive and carefree. Visiting the area, even just passing through, was often described as going to a party. It wasn't uncommon for many of those "just passing through" to spontaneously park somewhere and join in on the festivities, their worries forgotten.
This also gave New Mexicow one of the highest rates of parking tickets in all of Zootopia.
But anyone who really knew this place knew that there was a lot more to it than fun and fiestas. Every district had a darker side; some were just more visible than others. And the shadow the harsh sun cast on New Mexicow was dark indeed, given that it also served as the main base of operations for the Sahara Square crime lord: Sandcat Serena. The feline femme may have been known for actually being pretty dang nice as far as crime lords went, but that didn't mean she was harmless, nor that her criminal actions wouldn't have an effect on the locals.
Huddled up in an alleyway, easily drowned out by the bright and colorful surroundings even in the middle of the night, one six-year-old hyena cub knew that all too well. She didn't know how long it had been since she'd lost her parents to some drive-by shooting between gang members. It was long enough to miss having a home to be sure, but those scary "Social Services" guys might still be there, and even back then, Carla Hyenandez was too stubborn for her own good.
Luckily, her kind were natural scavengers. "A half-eaten Bug Burga? Score!" Digging through the trash for scraps was hardly beneath her, especially when it was the only way she was getting fed now. It was either that or find some roadkill on a highway somewhere, but that would be pretty dangerous. And gross. And morally questionable. Making treasure out of another mammal's trash suited her just fine.
"Hey, whatcha got there?"
Carla froze, her mouth still stuffed with the second-paw meal. There was a rat looking up at her curiously, roughly her age and wearing a purple, striped t-shirt. She was soon joined by several others, all just as interested.
Naturally, Carla's first reaction after swallowing was, "You can't have any."
"Do we look like alley rats to you?" the first one asked, a bit rudely. Truthfully, they looked just as festive as anyone else who lived here, in contrast to Carla herself, whose clothing had become dirty and faded from overuse. Not that she'd admit it.
The rat was suddenly smacked over the head by a blunt object. "Ow!" she squeaked, rubbing the back of her head as the iron ladle was pulled away.
"I apologize for my daughter," said an older rat in a sundress, clearly the group's leader. Or...mother? By the bags she was carrying in her free paw, she must have been taking them all on a shopping trip. Lucky them. "We spotted you sitting here by yourself and we couldn't just pass you by."
"Why not? I don't need any help," she snapped back.
"I didn't say you d-"
"I can make it on my own! Don't need you. Don't need...parents. I'll be fine."
"I...didn't say you did..." She only looked more concerned now, something Carla's six-year-old mind didn't understand. Was she not clear enough that she didn't need help? Maybe if she yelled it louder.
Before she could, the rat matriarch had shuffled over to her side and tugged on her ankle. "What is your name, dear?"
"It's...Carla," she answered hesitantly, caught off-guard.
"Me llamo Elizabeth. Would you like to stay with us tonight, Carla? We were just going home to have dinner. You look like you could use some."
"Didn't I just say-?" The growl of her stomach betrayed her at the thought of a full meal, even a full meal prepared by rodents. "Would I even fit?""Well...no," she admitted. "We'd have to bring the food out to you. But we have a big front lawn for you to sleep on! And if I sew a bunch of old blankets together, I can make a new one for you! Does that sound okay?"
"Y-Yeah...gracias," Carla said uncertainly. But really, her mind was made up as soon as the prospect of free food was mentioned. "Just don't get used to me, okay? I'll stay for one night and then I'm going!"
"Of course." Elizabeth smiled knowingly. "I wouldn't expect anything more."
Carla managed a smile herself.
Then it turned into a chuckle.
Then a fit of laughter.
And then full-blown hysterics.
Elizabeth and the rest of the Rodentriguez's looked on in confusion. "Um...no, this is the part where you just nod a bit and follow us home in brooding silence. You don't laugh for the first time until a few days in. It's a really big moment actually."
Despite her words, Carla kept laughing anyway, falling to the floor of the alley and rolling back and forth helplessly.
"You're doing it wrong!" Priscilla yelled. "Come on, I want to at least get to the scene where I begrudgingly bring you food and then we start bonding over our shared interests in Lucha Libre!"
"IKNOHOHOHOHOW! BUTICAHAHAHAHAN'T STOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!"
The world around them started to fade away, collapsing into nothingness. The Rodentriguez's soon disappeared, as did the alleyway and the rest of New Mexicow. Until all that was left was Carla herself, curled up in a ball and laughing endlessly.
The world of the past fell way to the present, a present that found a much older Carla in the same position, still laughing herself comatose, only alone and on a cold metal floor. With what little rational thought she could still muster, she bitterly realized that even the dignity of having her life flash before her eyes would be denied to her. After all, there was very little dignity in being literally tickled to death.
She was normally quite proud of her naturally strong lung capacity, finding it useful in swearing boisterously at opponents or screaming battle cries, but now it was just prolonging her suffering. Were she not a hyena, she would have suffocated a while ago, and maybe that would've been for the best. I mean, who's really going to miss me anywahahahahay! AT LEAST LET ME ANGST! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
And yet, it all came to an end in an instant...
The deadly tickles, not her life.
Carla let out a choked gasp, desperately trying to take in oxygen again. Her fur was matted and sweaty, her eyes were soaked with tears, and her lungs burned like Harvey had lit them on fire, but...she was alive. Or she was dead and the Belfry was even closer to Hell than she imagined.
No...it couldn't be Hell. Because standing before her now was an angel.
Priscilla slapped her. "Found you, idiota!"
She barely even registered it, her bleary eyes blinking slowly. "Mi…..cora…..zon…"
The rat looked up at the skunk beside her, who had evidently been her mode of transport here because she wasn't in her wheelchair. "I deactivated those boots, so you should be able to get them off now. I need to have a heart-to-heart with mi corazon here."
Harvey nodded and headed down to Carla's feet, yanking at one of the Hoot Boots until it popped off. "Pyew! What a stink stink stink!"
Carla was sadly still too weak to comment on that.
"Pay attention!" Priscilla slapped her again. "I can't believe you betrayed us, left us behind again, and then almost died on us! What were you thinking?!" It was around this point that the rest of the familia started filing in, which only laid the guilt on even thicker.
"Lo….sien…."
"Yeah, yeah, lo siento, whatever."
"Shouldn't you be a little more sympathetic, dear?" Elizabeth asked gently.
"Forget it! Do you have any idea how worried sick I was about this ingrate?!" She grabbed hold of Carla's whiskers and pulled her muzzle down to the floor, so she could bury herself in it. "What was I going to do if...you got yourself killed, and in such an embarrassing fashion?! Don't y-you know I need you, e-estupida?! If I still h-had functional legs, I'd u-use them...t-to kick your ass!" She tried to keep yelling at her further, but broke down completely into sobs around the third insult. "Dios mio, you smell so baaaaaad…"
"Mmmm," Harvey agreed, plugging his nose as he pulled off the other boot and tossed both aside.
Carla finally got enough breath back to form full sentences, and her tears were no longer laughter-induced. "Then...you're willing to take me back?"
Priscilla wiped away her own tears and smiled warmly, which contrasted heavily with her words. "Damn right, I'm taking you back. I'm dragging you back if I have to. You're not escaping your responsibilities that easily, missy."
"Fair enough, heh-ow, still hurts to laugh. So what do those 'responsibilities' entail then?"
"For one, you learning from your mistakes so we never have to go through this again." She gripped her whiskers tighter, menacingly. "So...what have we learned today?"
"Never trust a crime lord?"
"WRONG!" She lifted Carla's chin up and slammed it painfully into the floor. The rest of the familia winced. "You should've known that in the first place! Try again!"
"Reality TV has really gone downhill?"
"WRONG!" She did it again, hard enough to make Carla's vision go back to blurry. "Everyone knows that! Try again!"
"Uh…"
"Come on, say it! You know what it is!
"Uh…"
She slammed her again. "DEVELOP YOUR CHARACTER, DAMMIT!"
"Alright, alright!" she yelled, sighing in resignation. She muttered something incomprehensible into the floor.
"Louder."
"...I can't do everything by myself and I should rely on the support of my friends and family when I need it."
She slammed her again.
"Which is often!"
Priscilla nodded, finally releasing her. The others cheered, possibly for that reason. "Good. Then maybe there's hope for you yet."
A very sore Carla groaned as she tried to regain her bearings for the second time in five minutes. "So...what now?"
"Well...to start…"
Priscilla yanked on her muzzle again, now just to align the hyena's lips with her own. Carla let out a soft purr and closed her eyes, relaxing into the kiss she never thought she'd receive again. They both started to moan.
Elizabeth saw where this was going and wisely started ushering her children back out of the room. Harvey was less on top of things, and he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um...should I-?"
"GET LOST!" they both yelled.
"Okay okay okay!" He dashed off as well, giving the reunited lucha lovers their privacy.
They gladly resumed, taking tongue-wrestling as seriously as any other kind.
"Ha! Gotcha!" Priscilla grappled Carla's tongue out of her mouth and pinned it to the floor. "Uno, dos, tres! I win!"
The Docks
Some Secluded Beach
6: 09 AM
Despite Piers Narwhalter's reputation of secrecy, the beach wasn't actually secluded at first. Even this early in the morning, with the sun just starting to come up, there were a few mammals hanging about and enjoying the serene atmosphere.
An atmosphere that was quickly destroyed when a long, sharp tusk burst out of the water, and then a bleeding cetacean flopped onto shore. Even so, the onlookers didn't leave until Narwhalter politely advised them to go home and spend time with their loved ones instead. Which just so happened to translate to a series of loud, war-like bellows in marine speech. Before Dolphonics could even bother interpreting for him, the beach was theirs alone. "My word, are surface mammals normally so paranoid that we're going to harm them?" the dolphin asked.
"Yeah, not even touching that one," Nick said, hopping down onto the shore. "Ahh, nothing like sand between the toes to cap off a morning like this. Dad's all washed up and Narwhalter is safe and sound!"
"Actually, that may not be entirely true." Dolphonics looked over to the harpoon still lodged in the crime lord's tail. "Mr. Narwhalter's tail is his primary method of locomotion. If we don't get it treated, he's going to have a difficult time getting out of the city. Frankly, it's a small miracle he made it this far with how much pain he must be in."
"Then asking if he wanted to do a victory lap might have been a little insensitive?"
Narwhalter groaned.
"Mr. Narwhalter confirms that he is in excruciating agony, but that it is still not as big of a pain as you are."
"So I've been told. Then who do we call to come help him? 911 or Greenpeace?" Nick had to duck as Narwhalter's tusk swung over his head. "Well, he's not that injured!"
"Mr. Narwhalter refuses to be treated by anyone up here. None can be trusted."
"What's the risk? He was okay with dying last I checked."
"There are fates worse than death."
"Okaaaaaay, Ominous Omar! What do you suggest then?"
Narwhalter gave a few clicks in reply.
"Mr. Narwhalter wishes to take his chances and hope for the best."
"After all that?!" Nick shook his head. "Nuh uh, I'll treat him myself if I have to. Basic first-aid was a requirement back at the police academy."
"I see. And does basic first-aid cover how to safely remove a harpoon from a beached narwhal? With your bare paws?"
"…I'll figure something out." Nick started to shuffle towards the injured tail.
"Ah, then perhaps you might be the one to kill Mr. Narwhalter after all. He had believed that to be a mere 10.5% chance."
"You still think I might...is the .5 really necessary?"
"Not anymore. I'd say that percentage has just risen drastically."
"He'll be fine!" Nick insisted, sitting himself down in front of Narwhalter's wound. His bleeding, festering wound that looked really unsafe to mess with. "Uh…"
*SPLASH!*
"Hey Piers, I got some help for ya!" shouted Captain Smokey, waving a bag of medical supplies around from atop his boat from atop Bella.
"Oh thank god," Nick muttered. "I mean, uh, oh big cod! Good to see you again!"
"Hmph. I feel as if I should take offense to zat, but given ze circumstances, I will let eet pass," the whale replied as Smokey hopped down to the beach and hobbled over to the harpoon wound.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Nick asked, suddenly concerned if this grizzled prankster was really the best mammal to trust here.
"Better than you, boy. Remember who treated Bella's back when it was injured?"
"Yes. And I remember who injured it in the first place."
"Just move!"
Good enough for me. Nick moved, content that if something horrible did happen, at least it wouldn't be his fault.
"So where have you been anyway?" he asked Bella instead. "Don't wanna offend you with that either, but we really could've used your help back there."
Bella didn't miss a beat. "I was circling ze perimeter and ensuring zat all of Narwhalter's crew made it to safety. Zen I went back to keep all of zose awful subs from attacking him during zat silly sword fight. Perhaps you thought zey were all just sitting around and waiting?"
Nick didn't enjoy sand between the toes as much with his foot in his mouth. "...Oh. Well done, then. You did good, Bella."
She grinned, which looked extremely threatening on the face of a whale. "I know."
The soft thud of metal hitting sand caught their attention, and Nick turned to see that Smokey had successfully removed the harpoon and bandaged up Narwhalter's tail. For a little aquatic troll, he had to admit he worked fast. "There ya go, Piers! Good as new! You should be able to flee for your life as far as you want now!"
Narwhalter nodded in appreciation and asked a clicking question.
"No, Bella and I are going to stay in Zootopia actually. I know the risks, but this is our home and we're not willing to leave it behind. Not for anything."
"Zat's right," Bella affirmed. "We will hide away if we have to, but we will not leave!"
Nick looked between them, frowning skeptically.
"As you wish," Dolphonics said. "But don't expect us to keep in touch. When the shit hits the fan, we won't be swimming towards the blades." He and Narwhalter were already pulling back into the water, preparing to depart.
"Hey, hold on a sec!"
They stopped as Nick waded into the water after them. "I think you owe me an explanation. You and your posse have been as foreboding as can be without actually telling me anything. It's a little impressive really. So be honest here, whatever it is that you're so afraid of...it has nothing to do with my father, does it?"
They all hesitated to answer, but with a firm nod from Narwhalter, Dolphinics finally did. "...No, Mr. Wilde. It does not."
"And…?"
"And...I'm sorry. It's not that we don't want to tell you, really. But with all the stress you're already under, we don't think you're able to handle that right now. Stronger minds than yours have been driven mad by this knowledge." Narwhalter looked away. "And if you're going to stop Count Reynard for good, you'll need all the peace of mind you can get."
Peace of mind was not something Nick was feeling right now. "But you can't just leave it at that! If you don't tell me now, then when?! I might never see you again!"
In response, Narwhalter spoke for an unnervingly long time.
"So now you want us to stay, Mr. Narwhalter bitterly remarks. He asks why you think we stuck around so long in the first place. We would've fled a long time ago if not for our attachment to this city, small chunk of it this may be. We would've rather died here than leave it behind, but honestly, I believe most of us were just waiting for an excuse to jump ship. An excuse that you gave us, Mr. Wilde."
"..."
"Yes, I suppose that's all you can really say to that, isn't it? Still...you have a point. We are grateful for your help and it would be cruel not to help you in return. Come closer."
As Nick stepped uneasily forward, the dolphin gestured to him to tilt his head down. "What I'm about to tell you is an extremely dangerous piece of information, so I'm going to need you to not repeat it out loud in surprise."
"Repeat it out loud in surprise? Why would I do that?"
His bespectacled eyes narrowed at him.
"Okay, sorry! I can't really turn the smartass off," Nick said sheepishly. "Lay it on me."
Dolphonics begrudgingly agreed, leaning in and whispering into Nick's ear.
The fox wasn't sure what he was expecting to hear, but he expected to be left horrified, not exceedingly confused. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"You don't know? Good. Then at least you can be trusted."
"What is that supposed to mean?!"
"It means you need to listen carefully," Dolphonics said. "You've met the VanDals, right?" Nick opened his mouth. "Rhetorical question. Mr. Narwhalter knows all, remember? Go see the VanDals, any of them, it doesn't matter which, and tell them what I just told you. Use the exact same wording and make sure you are alone! No matter what, don't let anyone but them hear this! Especially not your cop friends! Understand?"
The dolphin's uncharacteristic seriousness was enough to invoke the same in Nick. "I understand. I'll deliver this...message...to them. I promise."
"That's the best we can hope for," Dolphonics replied. "Do what you will, but good luck, Mr. Wilde."
Narwhalter clicked.
"And Mr. Narwhalter says thank you. Said genuinely."
Still pretty confused and a bit frightened, but content that at least he'd gotten something out of this, Nick waved to the crime lord and his interpreter as they swam away into the sunrise. "Going...going...going...gone! And they're safe!"
"You were still expecting Reynard to kill them somehow, weren't you?" Smokey asked.
"Kinda, yeah."
"That's what ya get for underestimating the Codfather!" the seal laughed. "Anyway, Bella and I are gonna head home as well. It's been a long day and it's only just started."
Nick yawned. "Ugh. I hear you. Haven't even had any coffee yet."
"Come on then, I'll buy you a cup," he offered. Bella lowered herself down into the water, allowing him to hop back onto the S.S. Blowhole, where he waved Nick aboard. "It's the least you deserve after all you've done."
"Thanks," Nick replied, "but I should probably get back to my friends. And the VanDals apparently."
"Bah! We'll take you to them ourselves! Just gonna hit the Snarlbucks on the way!"
"Thanks, but-"
"Make it two coffees!"
"Make it six and you've got a deal."
"Fine! Deal!"
Still got it. Grinning, Nick wasted no more time hopping aboard.
The Nocturnal District
The Belfry
6: 17 AM
"Oh, so that's what time it is."
"Yep," Priscilla said, putting her tiny phone away as she sat on her mate's shoulder. "Glad I could clear that up for you."
Carla stretched out, feeling good to move her legs again after being curled up helplessly on the floor for the past...forty minutes apparently. Hyena lung capacity was incredible indeed. "Something else I've been meaning to ask. How did you all find me anyway? We don't have to restrict our siblings' internet privileges again, do we?"
"No, nothing like that. It's actually kind of a funny story. See, it started with some piñatas…"
"No more! Please! Ow!" Irvin "The Devil" Devin cried as he was smacked again. The rope he was suspended upside-down from swung the tazzy to and fro as the next blindfolded rat took a swing at him.
"We don't know where the hyena is! Honest! Not the face!" Michael Vole insisted, his request denied shortly thereafter.
"Do we get our candy yet?" one of the siblings asked.
"That depends," Elizabeth coldly replied. "How much harder can you swing?"
"Wait! They're telling the truth!" another voice suddenly announced. Many rodent heads turned and many blindfolds lifted as a much larger figure crawled under the ring with them.
"You!" Priscilla snapped, wheeling herself towards him. "You're another of Sanchez's goons!"
"I was," Gomez replied, the injured matador looking almost as bruised as the commentators. "But El Jefe is no more, and I refuse to turn my back on his memory like so many others. I have nowhere else to go, so I wish to help you find the former La Mala Perra."
"But why?" Elizabeth asked skeptically. "Carla hated Sanchez too, you know. Perhaps more than any of us."
"I know. And yet...she chose not to end his life when she had the chance. After everything he has put her through, that took an incredible amount of self-restraint on her part. I...appreciated that. Even if it amounted to nothing in the end, it is a favor I wish to return."
"Then you know where she is?" Priscilla asked, looking hopeful. And potentially murderous if that hope was for nothing.
He nodded wearily. "Jefe told me about a favorite show of his…"
"So you're telling me that, in a way...Sandcat Sanchez saved my life?" Carla asked. "I'm not sure how to feel about that."
"Feel however you want. Point is, you're free now. I'm just happy to have you back."
"Fair enough. So what happened to those two commentators after you let them go?"
Priscilla's eyes slowly widened. "I knew we forgot something."
"Friends! Over here!" shouted a very enthusiastic bunny as they returned to the ring.
But not as enthusiastic as Carla was the second she saw him. "Mierda! Is that Jack Savage?!"
"Oh boy…" Priscilla groaned.
Carla started frantically searching herself. "Where did I leave it? Damn, it wasn't in my jacket, was it? There it is!" Relieved, she pulled her crumpled wrestling mask out of her t-shirt and shook it off a bit before approaching the rabbit. "H-Hey, Mr. Savage. Big fan. Can you sign my mask?"
"Carla, stop, this is embarrassing," Priscilla pleaded, planting her head in her paws. The rest of the Rodentriguez family smirked and giggled to themselves at the sight.
"Certainly, my dear!" The rabbit grinned as he took the mask and reached into his pocket. "Except for the tragic fact that I don't seem to have a pen on me. Hard luck, I'm afraid."
"You brought a grappling hook, but not a pen?" Kyle asked. "I'm fine, by the way. Thanks for the concern."
"What?! This is unacceptable!" Carla roared. She pointed sharply at her familia. "Did anyone bring a pen?! Even just to stab someone with!"
The Rodentriguez's searched through their pockets, to no avail.
While Carla was busy having a small meltdown, Harvey sidled over to the raccoon's side. "So I see you got that thing thing thing off."
"At least someone noticed," Kyle replied, looking down at the iron device formerly fitted around his head. "I was messing around with the bat's controls and managed to unlock it."
"Couldn't you have just as easily killed yourself?"
"Probably." He lightly kicked at the headgear, which instantly snapped shut with a loud crunching noise. "Ah, so that's how it would've happened. What about you? Aren't you still wearing the tame collar that will electrocute you if you submerge it?"
"I dunno."
"...Maybe you should find out before you take a bath?"
"Bath bath bath?"
"Nevermind. Oh, and here." He pulled out a pen and tossed it over to Carla, who was currently tearing apart the ring in the vain hope that one got lodged in there somehow.
"YES!" She didn't even seem to realize where the object had come from, perhaps assuming the writing utensil fairy delivered it out of pity. All that mattered was her rushing right back to Jack Savage and passing the treasured object off to him.
"Perfect!" the rabbit said, as if it were another one of his gadgets. "And to whom shall I sign this out to?"
"Carla Hyenandez," she said politely.
"Alright then…...finished." He handed the mask back to her, now with extra writing added to it.
To my very loud fan, Carla Hyenandez
From, Savage
She looked confused for a moment, until she turned the mask over.
Jack Savage
To the mutual shame of her entire family, Carla actually squeed in delight.
Elizabeth couldn't help but smile though, looking up at the raccoon. "So you're really connected with Jack Savage?"
He sighed, having clearly gotten this numerous times. "Yes. Let's just say he's a friend of my family's. We've known him for a while. He's even tried to get us into his movies, but while my dad would make a good B-list villain, he refused to have anything to do with it." His whiskers twitched. "As any mammal with the slightest sense of dignity would."
"So what kind of role were you wanting again?" Jack asked, jotting down ideas onto a notepad.
"Was thinking maybe a B-list villain," Carla replied eagerly, hanging on his every word. "But not overtly so from the outset. Maybe with the good guys at first, and then revealed to be some sinister double agent later."
"Interesting. How much later? If you wait too long, you risk making the character too sympathetic when the time comes. Then they sort of cease to be a villain at all."
"Hmmm...good point...then how about…?"
Priscilla looked right at Kyle and mouthed two words:
Stop. This.
Kyle cleared his throat and raised a paw. "Okay, if we're finished with that nonsense, I'd like to point out that we've been doing nothing but trying to escape this place the whole time and yet we're still just standing here. Perhaps we should leave, preferably before that big elephant fellow wakes up." He gestured to the unconscious Grunt nearby.
"He's right," Carla said firmly. "We need to get moving so we can all get back home to our loved ones. Our long struggle ends now."
It was as if the past three minutes had never happened. And as far as Carla was concerned (and willing to enforce), they hadn't.
The group made their way out of the ring room and into the tunnels, following after Jack Savage and the Rodentriguez's as they were the ones who knew the way out. The rats moreso, in spite of Jack's wife repeatedly yelling directions into his earpiece. No one really questioned why he had an earpiece either, assuming it just came with being such an eccentric actor. Kyle, the only one who knew otherwise, kept the group's attention elsewhere. "Quite a labyrinth the Felidae Infernum had down here. And all for one deranged bat and her cohorts to take over and squat in it."
The rocky tunnels that surrounded them were decorated with curtains and banners of Lucy's design, natural pathways turned into a constant reminder of the "show" she had run down here for far too long. Even on their way out of it, the sight still pissed Carla off.
"A tragic waste of real estate," Jack agreed. "Still, pretty impressive as far as villain lairs go, and I've seen plenty in my day."
Carla was about to tell him more when she tugged on her collar. "Damn, is it just me, or is it getting hotter down here? Like I need any more reason to leave."
"Don't you live in the desert?" Kyle asked.
"Doesn't mean I like it there. Still a paradise compared to this place though."
St. Spoopy's Cathedral
6: 31 AM
"Case in point!"
A few minutes later, they were exiting through the same cathedral that Jack and the rats had entered from, closing up the entrance to the Belfry behind them. Carla's second look at the Nocturnal District was far less impressive than the first. In the moment it took her to pan around, she witnessed a mugging, an armed robbery, a carjacking, and a vehicular homicide by that same car. "Wow, this place is a shithole. No wonder Sang felt at home here."
"Home is where the heart heart heart is." Harvey smiled wistfully, looking almost nostalgic.
"I must express my surprise that your rodent family was able to get through here okay," Jack said, posing with his grappling hook. "If only I had known they were ahead of me, I could have provided ample support."
"Doubt it," Priscilla said bluntly. Even back in her chair, she didn't seem very concerned about defending herself.
"Hey, something just occurred to me," Carla said. "What if there were still others trapped in Sang's sick game? Should we go back?"
"That shouldn't be necessary," Kyle assured. "When I opened all the doors to this place, it should have freed any other prisoners as well. They might get a little lost on the way out, but it's still a big improvement over being stuck in there."
Carla nodded along until she suddenly froze up. "Wait...you mean everyone trapped in there has been set loose?"
"Yeah? Is that a problem?"
From far behind them, but rapidly growing closer, Carla could hear growls and the frantic beating of footsteps. "TAKE COVER!"
The Rodentriguez's didn't need to duck at all, but Carla, Harvey, and Kyle, after forcing an oblivious Jack's head down, did. Two figures dashed up the staircase behind them, charged across the floor, and leapt over their heads, into the street.
Roar roar ("Freedom at last!")
Stomp hop roar ("Let's find us some brekkie!")
Fangs and Boomer were struck by a car seconds later. Completely unphased, the savage Outbackers sprung back up and pursued the offending vehicle down the street, barking and screaming at it in equal measure.
Carla decided she wouldn't miss them. "Huh. I'd say 'call the cops', but those two are frankly the least of this district's problems."
"It's in a sorry state to be sure," Jack said grimly. "Though I am curious as to why they didn't attack us. I had the exact number of moves planned out to take them down too. A shame."
"That's...a good question actually," Kyle admitted. "You'd think they'd sink their teeth into the first thing they saw at this point."
"Obviously didn't wanna get whupped again," Carla concluded. Unlike Jack, she at least had the (recorded) evidence to back up her claims.
It was Elizabeth who made the connection. "Did they seem like they were in a hurry to you? I normally don't see mammals run that fast unless they're late for school."
"Now that you mention it…" Carla sniffed the air. "Why do I smell smoke?"
"Don't look at me me me!" Harvey said defensively. "Even I know it's not a good time time time for a fire!"
"But you did light one, right?" Kyle pressed. "Back in that sordid museum challenge."
"Well...yeah."
"But Sang put that out," argued Carla "...Right?"
"...She was probably going to…"
"...But we did kinda distract her…"
They thought back to that fire they had left burning in the museum. They had closed up the room behind them, but conceivably, it still could have escaped. After which, it would have ignited whatever was around, the curtains and other decorations that Sang had spent too much time and money on, then spread along the walls in a chain reaction. And if that domino effect happened to lead to the same hallway they had just passed through, then...
The group turned around as the cathedral burst into flames behind them. They wouldn't be going back even if they wanted to.
Carla nodded slowly. "Well...hope the fire department here is more reliable than the police."
The Docks
Sea Train Station (Surface)
6: 23 AM
When the train finally came to a stop, what emerged were three very dizzy, very nauseated officers. "Ugggh…" Judy groaned. "I want to throw up...but the best available spot would be really rude to the marine mammals."
"What about your helmet?" Jimmy suggested, leaning up against the door for support.
"If it weren't transparent, maybe."
"At least it's finally over," Bogo said, even he struggling to stand.
"Not yet. Not until we find Nick." Judy replied, forcing herself to stand up straight. "He might need our help."
"Last we saw him, he was 20,000 leagues not under the sea. I don't think we can."
"Hey guys, make it out okay?"
"And theeeeere he is."
Nick had gotten himself through the secret passage into this place remarkably fast. He pulled himself out of the water behind them and up onto the surface of the warehouse floor, shaking himself off. Most of the water naturally landed on Bogo. Nick stood back up, wielding a waterproof cup of Snarlbucks that he cracked open and took a sip from. "So that's what the Sea Train looks like, huh? A little disappointing."
"I thought the same, but riding it is a different story," said Judy. "I'm just glad you made it back."
"You better not be looking this smug only to tell us you failed to protect Narwhalter," Bogo warned.
"Au contraire, Chief. I am happy to confirm that the last crime lord in the red is also the least dead." Bogo didn't look convinced. "He's alive and safe, yes."
"Awesome!" Jimmy cheered. "Then we really won this time!"
"Flawless victory!"
"Where is he?" Bogo asked.
"I don't know. You think a guy that secretive was gonna tell me where he put his vacation home?"
"Not Narwhalter." He narrowed his eyes. "Reynard."
"Oh right." He took another sip, a long sip, while he stalled for a response. "Don't know that either. We kinda just left him floating in the water somewhere."
"Then the madmammal who currently controls more than half of the Zootopian criminal underworld is not only still at large, but now has no further targets we can easily follow him to."
"Hey, come on, don't be such a pessimist!" Judy scolded, gently, because he was still her superior.
"Yeah, that's my job!" Nick added. "You can replace Carla, but not me. You're not nearly witty enough."
Bogo sighed. "No, you're right. About the case, I mean. This was still a win for us and we need to treat it as such. And after that, we get back to work."
"Sounds good to me!" the fox said cheerfully.
"Glad you think so. Then…" Bogo trailed off into a yawn. Like a contagion, this spread to Judy, then Jimmy, then Jimmy again through Wallace, and ending back at Bogo. Nick wasn't affected, having been so thoroughly caffeinated that he likely wouldn't sleep until noon at the soonest. "Then we celebrate this win by going home. Any objections?"
Nick raised a paw. "Actually…"
"Of course it's you! What?!"
"Actually, I need to ask a favor. I'd like to head back to the station and talk with the VanDals again."
Bogo raised an eyebrow. "Why? I thought we got everything we could out of them."
"Yeah, but I kinda have a new piece of information to run by them. From Narwhalter."
"A new lead? Well, I guess that is important…"
"Except I need to talk to them alone."
Bogo frowned.
"With nobody watching us."
Bogo scowled.
"And I can't repeat what I tell them."
"Why the hell should I allow that?"
"I know it's a little fishy, but-"
"Okay, stop!" Bogo raised his hoof firmly. "I'll allow it. I'm too tired to deal with anymore puns right now."
"But I wasn't trying to make a-"
"Whatever. I'll call the station and get you your raccoon time. Just shut up." Bogo turned away, calling back to Precinct 1.
First Narwhalter and now Chief Buffalo Butt? Have I discovered a hidden new power?
"So you really managed to escape from your dad?" Judy asked. "That's pretty impressive, considering all the firepower he was packing. How did you do it?"
By having no idea how to control a submarine. "Oh, you know, natural vulpine cunning. Not even Reynard can outfox me."
"Coooooool!" Jimmy grinned ecstatically, eating it right up. Nick told himself that this didn't count as lying to him as long as it was the little white variety. Jimmy being a little white fox, that made perfect sense to him.
"Then if Narwhalter is really safe, Reynard's big murder plot is foiled. Things were pretty dicey for a while, but it looks like it all worked out in the end," Judy said, satisfied.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE VANDALS ARE GONE?!"
Nick winced. "Oh Carrots, what did I tell you about tempting fate?"
A very nervous Officer Wolford could be heard over the chief's radio. "W-Well, sir, Simon VanDal was released from custody about an hour ago. Karen left with him, and now they're both gone."
"How is that possible?!" the bovine seethed. "How does that lunatic hold an entire precinct hostage, incapacitate my officers, and then walk free not even a day later?!"
"The VanDals...had very good connections, sir. They brought in some lawyers too, but I think they were just there to distract us. They were quite distracting…"
There was a loud crunch, the sound of Bogo's radio being crushed mercilessly in his rage-fueled grasp. "Hope your private meeting wasn't that important, Wilde," he said, deceptively calm. "Because it just got canceled."
Nick couldn't help but picture his head in place of that radio. "I noticed."
The Nocturnal District
St. Spoopy's Cremation
6: 38 AM
Thankfully, the fire department was indeed more reliable. The sinister building was only half burned to the ground when the blaring fire engine arrived.
"Everyone! In position! Quickly!" a gruff voice shouted. Several firefighters, mostly made up of badgers, moles, raccoons, and other nocturnal life, rushed out. They connected their hoses to a fire hydrant and started to douse the building, seemingly oblivious to the multitude of mammals who had to rush out of the way.
"At least they're dedicated to their jobs," Carla sputtered, shaking her fur out.
"That's partially because of me me me," said Harvey, somewhere between proud and ashamed of that fact.
"So you really grew up here then?" And I thought MY childhood was rough.
"Well…"
"Harvey?!"
One voice cut through all the others, even above the orders of the firefighters, the roaring blaze, or the general loudness of Carla and her familia. One of those firefighters was staring away from the burning building, and directly at the small skunk in a fire helmet.
She was a tall, thin water deer, her distinctive long canines an unfavorable reminder to most of them, but Harvey didn't seem to care, staring right back. "...Big Sis?"
The deer's mole partner, seeing what she was looking at, gave her an approving nod. She released the grip on her hose immediately and rushed over, hefting the skunk up and pulling him into a tight hug. "Where have you been?! I was so worried!"
"That's kind of a long story," he replied, hugging her back. "You...you were really worried about me? I thought you didn't want me anymore…"
"Harvey, no, of course I do. I was only trying to help you. Aw, and you even kept the helmet I gave you…"
Their tear-filled hug was interrupted when the deer spotted Elizabeth on her shoulder. "Sorry to intrude," the rat matriarch said, "but I feel I can relate to this. The hole left by a wayward child is a vast one. Especially when that child is several times your size."
Carla looked away guiltily.
"Indeed." The deer sniffled. "Sorry, I should have introduced myself to your friends, Harvey." Still holding the skunk up, she gave a slight bow towards the rest of the group. "My name is Elise Chorda. I'm Harvey's adoptive sister."
"I think the 'adoptive' part kind of went without saying," Kyle pointed out.
"Now, now, it's always important to have all the available information at paw," Jack countered. "This could be vital data in a later mission."
"That's so true!" Carla agreed, swooning a little.
Priscilla pointed her wedding ring at the rabbit threateningly. "Back off, Savage. I know you bed a different girl in every movie, but you're not getting mine."
"I cannot apologize for my naturally alluring charms. It comes with being an international mammal of mystery." He struck a dramatic pose, staring wistfully into the distance. The blazing fire behind him actually added to the effect. "Wanted by many. But my heart grows more distant. Will I find true love?"
His earpiece crackled. "Yes, and she wants you to focus for once!"
Elise giggled. "Your friends are funny, Harvey. I'm glad you found such a good bunch."
"Actually, most of us just met him," one of the miscellaneous rats said.
Another shushed him. "I don't think we're supposed to talk."
"So what's the story between you two?" Elizabeth asked curiously. "It couldn't have been easy to adopt a skunk."
"It couldn't have been easy to adopt a hyena." Elise smirked back, having pieced that together quickly. "But no, it wasn't. Especially not at first." She scritched Harvey under the chin, the skunk nuzzling into her like he really was just a kit again. "He lost his real parents to a fire at a young age, and I was called in to help put it out. No one else wanted him and I lived alone; what else could I do but take him in?"
"Like I said...I can relate."
"But what I didn't realize at the time was the...fascination...Harvey had developed," Elise continued. "His earliest memory was watching his childhood home burn down, and his parents with it. He sees them only through the fire...and he wanted to see them as often as possible." Despite his trauma being shared, Harvey was seemingly oblivious, smiling contently in his Big Sis's arms as she kept stroking him. "I tried to stop him, so many times, knowing that sooner or later it was going to get him in serious trouble. And then it finally happened. He set fire to the worst possible place he could, and this district is still suffering for it."
It didn't take Carla long to guess where. Whether she wanted to or not, she still remembered everything Sang had told her. "Vladzotz?" she asked softly. "He's the reason there's no crime lord down here?"
Elise nodded. "Please keep that under wraps. There are mammals who wouldn't take kindly to learning he is responsible for so much misery."
"Poor little stinkball…" Harvey was indeed in a very ball-like shape right now. "That when you stuck him in the nuthouse?"
"Carla!" Elizabeth scolded. "Be more delicate, please."
"I don't really do delicate. You should know, mom."
"I did," Elise confirmed. "I felt terrible about it every day, but I had no choice. He needed help, and clearly I wasn't enough. I kept checking back in with him, but one day...he just disappeared, along with his doctor."
"Reynard," Carla concluded. "Or Sang. Or both. Damn, that explains a lot."
"I'm sorry…" Harvey finally said. Apparently, he hadn't been tuning out the conversation as much as they thought. "They tricked me, promised me that I could do good for the world."
"And?" Elise pressed.
"...And that I would have lots of things to burn."
"Thought so." She hugged him even tighter, as if unwilling to ever release him again. "We're going home, Harvey, and staying home." Before he could stop her, she pulled a pocket knife and cut the tame collar off of his neck with extreme prejudice. "Whatever help you need, we'll get through it together."
He rubbed his neck, bare for the first time in many years. "I...think I like that. Thank you, Big Sis!"
Even as Carla disregarded the conversation as a personal matter she had no business sticking her nose in, she couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of a single repeated word ever since the reunion. She looked back at the skunk, still smiling in contentment and more relaxed than she'd ever seen him. I think he's going to be just fine.
But the heartwarming moment had to end sooner or later...and it quickly segued into something horrifying.
"So what was he like growing up?" Elizabeth asked curiously.
"Oh, you should have seen him!" Elise laughed. "Always running around the house, digging into everything he could find. This one time, he buried himself in a pile of towels and ended up in the wash. He got so fluffy when he came out!"
"Big Sis! You don't have to share that!"
"And what about Carla?" the deer asked.
"Where to begin with that one! It took so long just to get her to stop stepping on her siblings. And every time she got too fired up, she'd put a new hole in the wall. Our neighbors thought we'd taken in a mental patient ourselves!"
"Mom! Stop!"
"Ha! At least you don't have to worry about startling her too much and stinking up the house! I had this pest problem once, and instead of calling a fumigator, I just set off an airhorn next to Harvey's ear while he was sleeping!"
"Big Sis! No!"
"And who needs to clean the tables with Carla around! I kept spotting her hovering over our dinner table while we were eating. Turns out, she was just waiting to scavenge our leftovers when we were done! She even ate some of the silverware!"
"Silencio! Por favor!"
"And then there's the time when he discovered that skunk musk was flammable! I walked into the living room to discover him giggling like a lunatic and making a flamethrower out of his rear!"
"Big Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!"
"She got into wrestling from a really young age, you know! Had this big stuffed animal collection, I'm talking wall-to-wall, and every single one of them she dressed up in masks made out of old tablecloths, then wrestled with them until their heads popped off!"
"Mooooooooooooooom!"
While adoptive daughter and brother were mutually mortified, the combined efforts of the firefighters managed to finally put out the cathedral. "That should take care of that," Elise said, coughing a bit from the residual smoke.
"Actually, not so much," Carla pointed out. "There's a whole thing down-mmph!"
She might've bitten the paw of anyone who dared try to cover her mouth, except that it was Jack Savage. "Shh. Don't tell anyone about the Belfry. We'll take care of the rest." Below them, Kyle nodded.
Carla only hesitated a second before she nodded back. It wasn't like she wanted to talk about it anyway. Sang had flown the coop and anything she had left behind, including her masked elephant thug, was pretty much forfeit. She had lost most everything except her own freedom...and that was only a matter of time once Carla tracked her down again. You know exactly how much effort I put into exacting revenge on Sanchez. You had better be afraid, puta.
As the firefighters began to pack it in again, doubtlessly having too much work down here to even bother sticking around, Elise started to leave with them. "Say goodbye to your friends, Harvey! Maybe we'll come visit them again sometime!"
"Baaaaaai!" The skunk waved. "Thank you you you-achoo!" He sniffled. "Sorry, I sneezed. I mean, thank you!"
"See ya, Harv." Carla waved back. "You have a family, so stop hanging onto your parents, you hear?"
"...I'll try." He kept waving until Elise took him onto the fire truck and they sped off again.
"I do so enjoy a happy ending," Jack said, hopping down from Carla's shoulder. "But I believe Kyle and I will be taking our leave as well. He's been away from his own parents for far too long already. We're still cleaning up the aftermath of his father attacking Precinct 1."
"He did what?!" Kyle yelled.
"Yes, there is much work to be done. Skye is being quite insistent we get a move on."
"We are so far behind schedule!" his earpiece blared. "But good to meet you all."
"H-Hold on!" Carla said quickly. "The ZPD's been looking for him for weeks. I need some kind of proof that he's been found. Such as...just the first thing that popped in my mind...a selfie?"
"With...me?" Kyle asked.
"Sure, you too."
"It's no problem at all, my dear," Jack agreed. "Gather' round, everyone! Say, 'Endless Sequels'!"
"Endless Sequels!"
The resulting photo featured Carla holding Jack under one arm and Kyle under the other, giving a thumbs-up with the former while the latter seemed to be in more of a chokehold. She was grinning like a big, spotty idiot.
"Excellent! We'll have this sent right to your precinct. That should put this case to bed." He now tucked Kyle under his arm himself. "But now I must go. For where there is a shadow in the dark, one mammal must be there to screw in a lightbulb. That's a quote from my next upcoming movie: 'Never Say You Only Live Once Again'."
"Oooh! What else?!"
"A spy never reveals too many secrets, dear Carla."
"Pretty sure a spy shouldn't reveal ANY."
"Details." He shot his grappling hook onto the roof of a nearby building and zipped away with the young raccoon.
They came back down a few blocks away to use the car Jack had driven here.
"He knows my name," Carla sighed happily.
"You told him your name," Priscilla growled.
"Right...sorry."
"It's alright." She grinned deceptively. "You're coming home too, and you'll have plenty of time to make up for all the shit you've pulled!"
"Actually…"
The grin faltered, one eye twitching. "Yes, Carla?"
"I...I have other responsibilities I need to fulfill first," she said hesitantly. "I need to go back to the ZPD and help finish this."
"But they'll arrest you on sight," Elizabeth argued.
"I know. But they probably have a warrant out for me anyway and I don't want you guys harboring a fugitive. I've caused enough trouble for you all."
Priscilla couldn't stay angry at that. "Damn it...I just got you back and now you're leaving us again? It's not fair…"
"It's legally fair. I did the crime and now I gotta do the time." Carla lifted her up, chair and all, planting a wet one on her nose that pretty much enveloped her entire face. "I'll be home as soon as I can, mi corazon. Wait for me."
"You better believe I will."
Carla set her back down and sprinted away on all-fours, heading back to the surface, and her friends.
"You think she has any idea where she's going?" Elizabeth asked.
"Given the roadmap of her own life so far, I'd say no."
Elizabeth pulled her eldest daughter into a hug. "Are you going to be alright?"
She shrugged. "Sure. I've waited for her long enough, what's a little bit longer? She's lucky she's worth it though."
"That's the spirit."
Savannah Central
Zootopia Police Department - Precinct 1
7: 24 AM
"Why did we come baaaaack?" Nick whined as they plodded through the front doors. "It's still not even my original working hours yet."
"Because I said so," Bogo replied bluntly. "Besides, I thought you wanted to come back here."
"That was before I found out there was no point to it. Now that I'm unemployed, I'd rather express my right to sleeping in."
"What do we do now, sir?" Judy asked, ignoring Nick's grumbling as usual. "Without the VanDals, we're pretty much up a creek for any leads on where Reynard could be hiding."
"To be fair, we haven't looked terribly hard yet," Bogo said. "He's been keeping us so busy these past couple days that there hasn't been time. If losing Narwhalter screwed him up as badly as you say though, we might finally have some breathing room to track him down."
"And the VanDals," Nick suggested. "Maybe we actually will try just calling them this time."
"And Carla too," Jimmy reminded them. "Even if she was kind of a backstabby jerkface."
"Honestly...not the worst insult I deserve."
Had Clawhauser been at his post yet, he probably would've pointed out the exhausted hyena who had entered behind them. Carla panted, staring silently at the surprised officers across the room. Finally, she managed a greeting. "Hola."
Nick, Judy, and Jimmy all had no idea what to say in response. Bogo did. "You're under arrest."
Carla snorted. "Yeah...that's pretty much the welcome I expected."
"Where were you all this time?" Jimmy asked, actually getting a bit choked up. "You look like crap, and smell like it too!"
Nick sniffed a few times. "I think I recognize that brand. Ode de Pyro Nutcase?"
"Don't talk about Harvey like that," she snapped, but deflated quickly. "He's a good kit."
"But where…?" Jimmy's phone pinged.
As did the phones of everyone else.
Nick looked at his first, and clicked his tongue. "So you were hanging out with celebrity actor Jack Savage?"
Carla realized too late that when Jack said he was going to send the photo to the precinct, he apparently meant the entire precinct.
"Wait, is that Kyle VanDal?!" Judy gasped. "Where did you find him?!"
"I don't really want to talk about it," Carla said, stretching out from her long sprint. "And that's not just my right to remain silent, but take it however you will. Not that you have any reason to trust a word I say anymore."
"True," Bogo said. "Seriously, you're under arrest."
Judy took a hesitant step forward. "Carla...you really hurt us. All of us. And you're right; I'm not sure we can trust you anymore."
Carla's ears flattened.
Though it visibly pained him to do so, Jimmy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she's right. Even if you didn't kill Sanchez, you're still responsible for his death. And you played a part in the other murders too."
"And you cost me my job," Nick pointed out. "Surprisingly not a total detriment and I didn't exactly help my case there, but still."
"You're also kind of a grouch," Wallace added.
Carla shook her head. "Come on...is that it?"
"Excuse me?" Judy asked.
The hyena trembled with anger, but it wasn't for the reasons any of them thought. "Is that the best you can throw at me?! I pretty much spat on everything the ZPD stands for, threw you under the bus, and put you all in danger for the sake of my own petty revenge! You have to have more than that to hit me with! Hell, you can actually hit me if you want! My wife already did!"
Nick raised his paws. "Whooooa, TMI."
"Carla, you're right. Maybe you do deserve a lot harsher," Judy said, taking another step forward. "But...even though you broke the law and betrayed our trust...you're still our friend." She smiled slightly.
Carla perked up. Slowly, she smiled back.
"And you're still under arrest!" Bogo boomed. "Do I have to do this myself?!"
"Nah, don't worry about it." Carla started walking, straight past them. "I already know where Detention is. Down the hall to the left, right? I'll just see myself in."
Bogo huffed, a little annoyed at the breach in protocol, but satisfied enough at this hour. "Someone better follow her just to make sure."
Judy nodded, doing an about-face and heading after her.
A firm paw on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks. "Nick?"
"I'll handle this," the fox said. "You guys just focus on finding Reynard, alright?"
Without waiting for an answer, Nick left the room as well.
Detention Center
7: 32 AM
"Oh. It's you."
Surprisingly, that wasn't Carla. Barring his way into Carla's cell was, once again, Officer Swinton. The pig glowered at him, even nastier than usual. This was partially because her face was now covered in a series of swollen, purplish hives.
"Erm...did you get my gift basket?" he asked, trying not to bring it up. "Stuffed it with the best oat bars I could find."
"I'm allergic to oats."
"Well, that's...really unfortunate. Why did you eat them then?"
"Because I'm a pig."
"A pig that can't eat oats?"
"GET OUT!"
"Hold on. You can let him in," Carla's voice spoke through the metal door between them.
Swinton contemplated it. "Technically speaking, I don't have to listen to either of you. Buuuuut you seem to hate him almost as much as I do, so you have my permission to rip into him." She unlocked the door and waved Nick inside. "Have fun," she said spitefully, then slammed it behind him.
Carla barely acknowledged the fox at first. She sat on her cot, staring blankly at the wall opposite her. The silent resignation on her face was an expression he hadn't seen on her before. Along with most any expression that wasn't anger-related. But despite her impulsive behavior in the past, Nick had a feeling that he'd be waiting all day for her to make the first move. "Carla."
"Nick."
"Guess we're finally on a first-name basis with each other."
"Guess we are." She still wasn't looking at him. "Well? Are you here to gloat or chew me out? Or both? You've got the time."
"How about 'D, none of the above'? I just wanna talk."
"Hmm." After a moment, she moved over slightly and patted the spot next to her. "Then sit. Don't need to be uncomfortable for no reason."
He was uncomfortable and he had some pretty strong reasons, but he sat anyway.
They were both silent for some time, mutually staring at the wall and not at each other. Once again, Nick proved unable to hold out. "So you really found Kyle VanDal, huh?"
"Yep. Bet McHorn and Wolford are flipping their shit right about now."
"Probably. But I'm actually kind of looking to get in touch with him or his folks. Any idea where he went?"
She growled slightly. "None. Why don't you ask Jack Savage?"
"Yeah, I'll just go ahead and call Jack Savage. I'm not BFF's with the guy like you are apparently."
"I wish…"
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
With his only potential lead crushed in an instant, Nick quickly found himself out of a meaningful way to continue this conversation. "I hear you were adopted by rats. Sounds cheesy."
"Okay, if all you've got left is puns, you can leave right now."
Nick groaned. "Ugh, no, I just...I'm not sure what else to say."
"That's a first."
"Heh. Yeah, I suppose it is."
"I don't get where the confusion is though. I did some bad stuff, got caught for it, and now I'm here where I belong."
"Yeah, that's...exactly where the confusion is actually." He turned his head to face her, though she didn't return the gesture. "I always figured that when it came down to it, it'd be me in the cell and you walking free."
"Except that I wouldn't be caught dead visiting you."
"Well yeah. Kinda thought that went without saying."
After another moment, Carla sighed, shutting her eyes. "It wasn't the same for me though. Deep down...I always knew it would end up like this. Sooner or later, I was going to be found out for the fraud I was. All I really wanted was to accomplish what I needed to first. And I couldn't even manage that."
"No, I think you did." She sat up a bit in surprise. "I didn't exactly catch the full story, but you got your revenge, you got your silly sport back, you don't look too heartbroken, so you probably still have your mate, and hey, you've got us too." He shrugged. "So, you know, could be worse."
She didn't respond. Wondering if he should do more, Nick scooched a little closer and made a bold attempt to initiate a hug.
"Don't put your arms around me unless it's leading into a suplex."
He pulled back.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"No, it's fine. You kinda smell anyway."
"I mean...I'm sorry for all the grief I've put you through. It wasn't fair to you. All the threats, jabs, insults…"
"I'm a fox. You think I'm not used to it by now? You're not even the first one who's insulted me in a foreign language. Āng zāng de zuìfàn!"
Carla's fist slammed into the wall behind them, hard enough to rattle it a little. "Do you know how hard it is for me to apologize to you? So shut the hell up and let me."
And now he was getting Chief Bogo flashbacks. Nevertheless, he let her.
Carla finally looked at him now, for a few unnerving seconds, then turned away again with a grunt. "It's still hard. Not just to apologize, but to see you as anything other than your father's son. The resemblance is truly uncanny."
Ouch. That's like the opposite of an apology.
"But...there are a few key differences too."
I should hope so.
"For one, I actually want you to start talking again. That's a big difference."
"What are the others?"
She opened her mouth, but stopped herself. "I think you know by now. I'm not gonna stroke your ego that much."
"Yeah...I think I do," he agreed with a smile. "And I'm sorry too. For all the teasing and laughter-themed nicknames. Those were pretty dumb."
"They were. You kinda just dropped that after a while too."
"I couldn't think of any more and was hoping you wouldn't notice."
"I did."
"Damn."
They sat in silence again until, "Oh, to hell with it."
Without warning, Carla grabbed Nick by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a hug. "There. Happy now?"
"Urk!" Being hugged by the hyena made Nick feel akin to a cardboard box in a trash compactor. "This isn't leading into a suplex, right?"
"Only if you tell anyone about it."
"That's fair."
She released him, leaving Nick gasping for breath. "I'll...take that as my cue to go. Good talk, Carla. Ow." He stood back up, stretching himself out. "I need to get home and lie down anyway, and not just because I think you may have cracked my spine."
He remembered what was wrong with that statement a second later. "Oh...right. I don't have one of those anymore."
"Actually, I'd say you've grown a pretty big one to come talk to me."
"I mean a home," he clarified. "Felix kind of burned my house to the ground."
"Oh. Well, that sucks." Carla looked away, even more than she had been for the bulk of this conversation. "You know...if you want...you could stay in my old room. Not like I'm going to be using it for a while."
Nick was almost afraid to ask. "Are you serious?"
"I mean...you'll need to get mi familia's permission first, and they might not like you either, and you might not survive the first night, but yeah. Unlike you, I don't joke about shit like that."
"I wasn't aware you joked at all."
"Then I guess you'll just need to get to know me better."
Now he was really afraid to ask. "Did...you just imply that I should come back to visit you more?"
"I know. The isolation must be getting to me already." Lest he think she was letting down her guard too much though, she had to add, "Do whatever you want though."
Two could play at that game. "I don't know...I could come back, but there's a slight problem with that."
Her head swiveled back towards him, a bit too quickly. "What is it?"
Nick crossed his arms and put on his best Carla impression. "I don't associate with los criminales."
Carla stared at him, her jaw hanging open slightly.
A moment later, she was in hysterics. "Ah ha! Ha ha ha! Ahahahahaha! GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
She broke down shortly afterwards, clutching her chest and coughing. "Ugh...damn, it still hurts. I really need to not laugh for a while."
"I agree," Nick said, stiff with shock. "That was terrifying. I'm sorry I wanted it."
Up on the Rooftop
8: 13 AM
Family reunions could always be a little uncomfortable, sometimes literally.
Not risking returning home at the moment, the VanDal trio was currently perched on the roof of a local department store and, after welding the service door shut, had set up an actual picnic on the hard surface. It was amazing what one could accomplish with a borrowed grappling hook and a carefully dropped payload from a stealth bomber. Picnic baskets on parachutes were just one of many fringe benefits of government work.
"Well, this is nice," Karen said, sitting cross-legged around the spread with the others. "Eating together again, as a family."
"You know what I was most looking forward to after being trapped in the Belfry for two weeks?" Kyle asked, biting into a PB&J. "Going home."
"We can go home," Karen assured him. "Just...not yet. We still need to put out all of the legal fires your father started before we can settle down again."
"We haven't been 'settled down' in years, but on that note…" He glared pointedly at Simon. "Want to explain what possessed you to make an armed assault on the ZPD? Do you have any idea how awkward that's going to be the next time I'm in court?"
The elder raccoon was back in his iconic aviator jacket, which had been just as hard to get out of ZPD custody as the rest of him, and hadn't yet touched the food. "You know that military maneuver where you jump from a high altitude to a distant target? Think that, but with conclusions."
"That's one way to put it," Karen grumbled, chomping at an apple. "Though you should mention the part where I had to shoot you in the back just to get you to knock it the hell off."
"I see," Kyle said. "And I can understand why you thought the way you did, but that was seriously risky, Dad. I mean, what did you even tell them?"
Karen looked at him too, curious about this as well.
"That you were investigating a 'ring of corruption' in the ZPD and that's why you were targeted."
Kyle frowned, twirling a plastic fork around in his claws. "That is...technically correct."
"The worst kind of correct. But the bunny bought it, that's all that matters." He still wasn't eating. "I'm just...very happy I was wrong. If it was actually our mutual friends, we might have never seen you again. Or wanted to."
Karen nodded grimly. "You've missed a lot, Kyle. Not just your father's stupid, reckless, boneheaded, idiotic rampage."
Simon chose to ignore that, not that it was really a choice. "There's a new crime lord in town. He hired that bat to abduct you and he's been going around killing off the competition. The others are all gone now."
Kyle nearly choked on a bread roll. "That can't be...even Narwhalter?"
"Actually, word through the grapevine is that Narwhalter escaped," Karen explained. "But as far as contacting him, he may as well be dead. We'll never find him."
"Great. We've spent so long just trying to get an audience with the guy, in vain, and now he just up and leaves. What a mess."
"This could work out for us actually," Simon said. "That new guy, Count Reynard he calls himself, doesn't like to keep his paws to himself. Whatever info Narwhalter has gathered, he probably didn't take it with him, which means it's only a matter of time before Reynard gets ahold of it instead."
"I get it," Karen said. "So we wait until Reynard clears out the Nexus, then pay a friendly visit to your old employer and pop that son-stealing son of a bitch between the eyes."
Simon sighed regretfully. "As much as I'd like to...and I mean I'd really like to...few things in life would give me greater pleasure...my god, just picturing it, wow...we can't kill Reynard. That would be quite possibly the worst thing that could happen right now."
"What do you...oh shit, you're right," Karen realized. "Just steal from him then?"
"Maybe. It won't be easy with the amount of mammalpower he's got now though. We're going to have to plan this very carefully." His stomach rumbled and he looked back down at the spread. "Well...no use planning on an empty stomach. Not like the ZPD fed me anything but annoyance." He sighted a particularly tasty-looking bug burrito and reached for it.
His phone rang.
The growing rage in Simon's features was almost palpable. "If this is somehow Reynard, I change my mind, we're killing him now."
"It could be important," Kyle suggested.
Simon pulled out his phone, his original, old-fashioned flip phone, checked the ID, and scoffed. "The ZPD. You did list me as your emergency contact, Karen. Yeah, I think I've dealt with them enough right now." He shut his phone off and slipped it back into his pocket.
"Hey, what's that over there?" his son asked.
Simon put the burrito down, resigned, and looked where Kyle was pointing. Squinting, he stood up and walked over to the edge of the building, pulling out his binoculars and looking closer.
Off in the distance, there was one hell of a construction project going on. Simon could vaguely see the many mechanics of the Lang Family moving parts in and out of a massive tent. What had originally been going on in a single warehouse had now expanded greatly, covering enough land that it could pass as its own sub-district, and all of it concealed from public view. "I know what that is. It's that 'HB Project' Reynard's been having the Langs work on ever since he inducted them."
"HB? What's that stand for?" asked Karen.
"Who even cares anymore?" Simon put the binoculars down, glaring at the sight even from a distance. "But whatever it is, it's big. This is exactly what I'm talking about. We need to plan."
"Right," Kyle agreed.
"Understood," Karen agreed as well. "Now eat your damn food before it gets cold."
"Honey-"
"Eat it!"
And so the Narwhalter arc ends with lots of reunions, general heartwarming stuff, some vaguely ominous crap, and a whole lot of Carla. Probably the most Carla there's ever going to be for the rest of the fic. That whole exchange between her and Nick was one of my personal favorite scenes ever despite it mainly being a long, awkward conversation about mostly nothing between two characters who really haven't been the best of friends up to this point. I still like it though.
Elise Chorda belongs to Mind Jack. There was some debate between us over what to make Harvey's "Big Sis" for a while, ranging from another skunk, to a cheetah, and finally a water deer. If you don't know what a water deer is, Google it and be amazed. It's a lot cooler than it sounds.
Next time will be the one and only intermission chapter between this and the final arc of Born to Be Wilde. In case intermissions bum you out, let's just say that it finally answers an obnoxiously long-running question.