Hey everyone, I'm back and what happened with this chapter!? You'll probably notice this thing is almost twice as long as a normal chapter and that's...largely to do with a certain something you'll see halfway through the chapter. Regardless I hope everyone enjoys the look back at where it all went wrong in this world. Thank you so much to everyone who favorited, reviewed and followed the story. Now here we go!.
Chapter 16: Countdown
3 Months ago
The moments before tragedy strikes seem the same as any other.
The Wilde and Savage families always got together for dinner on Sunday evenings, it was a great way to unwind after a stressful week. They rotated hosting duty between Nick and Judy's apartment, Jack and Skye's home, Luna and Alice's penthouse and Marian's home in the Sharwood district. To make up for the fact that they didn't host, Ryan Wilde and Hannah Savage would always arrive early to help Marian prepare dinner whenever it was her turn. On this day it was the Wilde's turn to host and the nine mammal gathering was going swimmingly.
Deputy Mayor Judy Wilde brought the final item on the menu out; a homemade blueberry pie and set it on the table. While most of the group turned to Nick, who was greedily eyeing his favorite dessert, Ryan caught Alice looking down at her plate with a happy but confused look on her face.
"What's wrong Alice? Nervous about your next dance show?" He teased Alice's hero name to get her attention.
Alice was startled to have been caught in her moment of contemplation, but quickly recovered, "It's nothing really, it's just...even after a few years I'm still not used to...all of this," she waved at the gathered mammals and her empty plate. "I...never thought I'd see the things I've dreamed about come true."
"You've earned it sweetie," Judy said proudly, "your dreams didn't come true just because you tried hard, but because you were smart enough to put that effort in where it counted."
Luna took her wife's hand in her own, "You would know all about that wouldn't you Mom? How long have you and Dawn been setting the stage for powered mammal teams to return?"
"Longer than most knew, that's for sure," MCB Director Skye Savage smiled, "and thank goodness she didn't bring them back all willy nilly."
"Okay okay Wildes," Nick gestured to the pie still on the table, "let's not get so caught up in past lessons that we forget the most important one of all; don't let the pie go uneaten." His joke got a good laugh and successfully ended the line of discussion for most, but Ryan had one last thing to say.
"Well speaking for myself and any mammal who may never get what we dream of, don't take what you have for granted Alice. You worked so hard for it, I'd hate to see you lose any of it."
Alice smiled at her step brother in return, "It's a promise Ryan, now, bon appetit."
000
"Kodi! Can you stop making out with your girlfriend long enough to get ready to go?" Sasha Jones called through the closed door.
There was some scrambling on the other side before the door was shoved open and Kodi Jones came through. He and Clara Bloom were dressed up to attend an art exhibition that Sasha's camerawork was featured in. "Sorry hehe, thought we had more time."
Sasha rolled her eyes, "Honestly," she looked past her brother and met Clara's gaze, "I thought you were the reasonable one."
Clara chuckled, "Oh I usually am but I've been so giddy ever since," Clara stopped talking and held up her hand, her engagement ring glistening in the brightly lit room.
Sasha's annoyance faded quickly as she remembered the happy news her brother had delivered mere days before. "Okay lovebirds, just keep your paws off each other during the show okay."
"Indeed, this is your sister's big night," Gazelle stated as she joined the three, the retired pop-star looking radiant in a one piece red dress.
"And we need to get going," Wade called from the front door. The four mammals answered the call and soon they were on their way. The three younger mammals were seated in the back with Kodi in the middle of his sister and fiance.
Sasha turned to her brother, "Hey, sorry I got snippy with you earlier."
"What? No Sasha it's fine, really," Kodi reassured.
"It's just, this has been a big thing I've been working towards for a while and then you go and drop the big news less then a week beforehand," Sasha explained.
"You felt overshadowed," Clara realized.
"I know it's stupid and I tried to rein it in but…" Sasha started.
"I'm sorry Sasha," Kodi looked down guiltily, "I actually was thinking of that, but after this one talk I had with Clara I just couldn't hold it in anymore."
"Oh, and what was this lovely talk?" Gazelle asked from up front.
Kodi looked around awkwardly for a few moments before explaining, "There's something only I and one other mammal know, they didn't say I had to keep it a secret but to be careful who I told. That was a few years ago. Anyway one thing led to another and Clara kind of caught on, sort of. It was when I realized I trusted her enough to know this little secret that I knew I wanted to marry her." Kodi blushed heavily as he finished his story.
"D'aww, that's so sweet," Sasha cooed. "You trust her that much?"
"Completely," Kodi said firmly.
"Feelings mutual," Clara smiled.
"Well we won't pry any further," Wade reassured, "but we are so happy for the both of you." Gazelle nodded in agreement.
"Thanks Mom, Dad."
000
"Anything else?" Nala Priderock, the chief of police of precinct one asked over her phone.
"Nope, we'll be waiting Mom," Lieutenant Kiara Priderock answered.
"Then I'll be home soon," Nala said before hanging up. Her daughter had just finished relaying everyone's dinner orders. They were getting takeout because none of them were particularly gifted chiefs. Kiara walked back into her parent's living room and saw her father deep in conversation with her brother Kion and his girlfriend Jasiri.
"I'm just saying we're two for three on lion superheroes having fire powers and you aren't actually a powered mammal Kion," Simba said jokingly.
"It is a rather odd coincidence I will admit," Jasiri agreed.
Kiara chuckled, her father was referring to Pyre, the new lioness member of the PMFR, or Powered Mammals First Responders unit. They were a hero team focused more on directly assisting police, firefighters and hospital crews then hero work like Ceartais. Pyre was only the second lion superhero the world over if you were in the know that Roar's powers were actually tech based.
"Well Mr. Pyroar was certainly happy to have someone else take up the mantle, he was posting on social media about it a while back," Kion said. Mr. Pyroar had been a member of the first ever superhero team; the Mad Mammal Carnival, and Pyre's hero name was a direct nod to him. Even though Pyroar was his actual name and his hero name had been Litleo.
"I just wish mammals didn't attach entire species' reputations to their heroes," Jasiri lamented, "It's all luck with that stuff."
"It's disappointing but not unsurprising," Simba sighed, "but it is better nowadays than it was back when I was younger," Simba pointed out.
"But it got really bad for lions after Lionheart was exposed back in 16," Kiara reflected, "anti predator sentiment already and then the mayor starts turning powered mammals savage, it wasn't a good time to be a lion."
"I was too young to really get the worst of it," Kion said, and Jasiri nodded in agreement.
"Well that's certainly true, thank goodness those minority support groups remembered that predators needed support too," Simba picked up his soda can and lifted in toast fashion, "to Dawn and Judy."
"Dawn and Judy," the others echoed.
Kiara smirked, "And to Mom coming straight home from the restaurant and not stopping to do help one of her cops when they don't need it." The others laughed at the chief of police's bad habit.
000
"Annnd, done!" Olivia Gusteau cheered as she punched the last few keys she needed, "with this you'll be able to fully integrate with the current Spitfire mechs Bella."
"I will do the name proud Miss Gusteau," Bella replied, "I am glad that you are retiring before your body sustains any more damage."
"I...I can't even joke about that at this point," Olivia sighed as she unplugged her USB stick. The head was connected to a wire that was on a circle pulley system attached to Olivia's mechanical left leg. The head itself was stored in the upper leg. As Olivia stood up she saw her reflection in the computer screen. She was wearing a midriff bearing sleeveless shirt and a pair of black panties, with no one except Bella in the Bunker she felt no need for modesty, but it left a full view of how much of her body was simply gone.
Olivia's right leg had been severed below the knee when the team took down the powered mammal trafficker Rattigen. It had been a sobering experience to be taken out so easily in the battle against her parent's murderer. The entire left side of her body had been scared during a devastating crash a year and half ago, leaving her left arm crushed at the elbow, her left leg was a prosthetic below the hip, and her left eye and eardrum were both mechanical. Olivia ran her remaining flesh hand over the largest scar on her face, it mirrored the scar that her husband Blake had.
Blake, I won't make you worry anymore. While nothing bad had happened since her wedding three months ago, Olivia found she wasn't able to go on patrol with the same fearlessness she'd had when she started. So a week ago she'd made her decision to leave the team. The others were disappointed but understanding, and she gave an advanced notice so she didn't drop it out of the blue. Once she was finished modifying the suits so Bella could pilot them she was officially retired.
"It'll take a few hours to download but after that you're ready to fly Bella," Olivia stated. "Just need to start the process."
Whether it was punching buttons, talking with the family, driving through traffic or having dinner, the members of Team Ceartais and their families were living their not normal but happy lives, and that would last for a few more seconds.
KABOOM!
The various mammals, of Ceartais and throughout all of central Zootopia, stopped what they were doing as the sound of a massive explosion thundered through the city. Those close enough to ground zero saw that, in the middle of Savanna Central, a large hotel complex had had it's roof blown off. The entire top floor of the building was in flames and mammals were already fleeing the lower floors.
The Wilde and Savage families had heard the explosion and Hannah had quickly directed the group to the correct window. The smoke pillar was easily visible. Jack raced over to the TV to get news updates. The familiar voice of Fabienne Growley gave the group live updates as the disaster unfolded. First responders were already on the way over to assist mammals but it was unclear if the building could be saved. Alice was the first to suggest foul play as the explosion didn't look like it was caused by any kind of internal failing.
Luna suddenly heard her phone give off a buzz, she'd personalized it so that each of her friends had a unique sound when they texted her. This particular buzz was for Olivia. She quickly read out the text, "Check social media or the news, it's Pinkerton, Bella's sending the stars to pick everyone up. We've got to hurry!"
Luna wasted no time getting Tweeter open while Nick just looked confused. "Pinkerton? Who is this mammal?"
"That explosive dummy," Hannah said with disdain.
Nick's eyes widened, "You don't mean?"
"She does," Luna announced as she flipped her phone around so everyone could see the video. The display image showed a large feline male in a ridiculously bad costume topped off with a tin foil hat.
"TNTiger," Skye spat, "what is he doing out of the mental ward?" That question was put on hold as Luna hit play.
"Mammals of Zootopia! Once again you have the great pleasure of being graced by the greatest villain this world has ever seen; TNTiger! I trust you're all enjoying the new light I've given Savanna Central, after such a long absence I felt the need to reestablish my unrivaled destructive powers! But fear not, the upper floors of that building were deserted due to renovations, but the other locations that I've rigged are not so sparsely populated. Such as the one right down the street from the first explosion. I will give Team Ceartais half an hour to arrive and meet me in person for our final face off. If any cops, agents or other powered mammals try to intervene then I will set off the other explosives I've set up throughout the city. To prove my point: an additional explosive will go off at the medium mammals ice skating rink in Tundra Town at 6:45, and an additional bomb will be denoted every five minutes they aren't right in front of me. That is the start of your timer Ceartais, don't be late!" He finished off his long monologue with a cackling laugh.
"What time is it?" Judy asked, having left her phone charging in the kitchen.
"6:44," Marian answered, already heading to the door, "we need to move!"
"It just went off," Luna announced, "we're on the clock."
"Ceartais get to the stars. Jack and I will mobilize the MCB to track down the bombs. Judy, call Dawn and have her give us unrestricted access to all security systems in the city, and Nick...uh, eat the pie," Skye fired off order.
Alice suddenly jumped onto the table and used a knife to cut the pie into nine pieces, "Eat and run!" She yelled, grabbing a piece for herself and racing to the door, the others followed suit, leaving only Nick and Judy behind in the apartment.
000
"Is this secure?" Wade asked as he pulled into a mostly empty parking lot.
"Bella! mess with the security cams and let me know if anyone is around," Kodi said aloud, "yes it's secure."
Clara opened her door and let Kodi out as one of Bella's cars drove up next to them. She looked fearfully over to the smoke billowing in the sky but put on a brave face for Kodi, "Go save the city hero." She then pulled him into a quick but passionate kiss before stepping to the side.
"Go get him bro!" Sasha called.
"Be careful Mijo!" Gazelle called in worry.
Kodi flashed his family a smile and a thumbs up before getting into the car. The stars, as Bella's group of cars were called, were designed to quickly transport the members of Team Ceartais to any location throughout the city without needing to make the sometimes lengthy trip to the Bunker. To that end they were driven by Bella and each contained the costumes of the various members so they could get changed in route. Kodi wasted no time ditching his fancy clothing and swapping to the simply but iconic attire he wore as the Mage.
"How are we on time Bella?" Kodi asked as he slipped on his HUD mask.
"It is 6:53 Mage," Bella informed, "a police cruiser is clearing the traffic in front of us."
"Good, we've gotta move fast. Did that nutcase set off another bomb?"
"Yes, at a shipyard in the Canal District."
"Damn it," Kodi swore, "How far away is everyone?"
"You are the furthest out, and we have about three minutes to go." As promised, another bomb went off at 6:55, this time at a park in Happytown. The Mage anxiously awaited his own arrival when Bella announced, "We are here."
Mage was out the door before the car had completely stopped. He raced past the police cruiser and started analysing the building with his HUD. He immediately saw several bombs throughout the upper building, as well as some sort of control unit TNTiger himself was carrying. There were also some random pieces of tech scattered at his feet. "Maid, are you getting all of this," Mage asked the team's tech support.
"I am Mage, but I don't dare try and hack any of this. I can't do it all at once and he probably has some sort of failsafe to make the bombs go off if I try," Marian called back. She had taken a seperate star vehicle back to the Bunker.
Mage joined his team at the base of the building, "Tell me there's a plan."
Olivia grinned inside her Spitfire mech, "Yup, take a look at Ruby." Mage did as instructed and immediately had a grin to match.
000
TNTiger heard the heroes approach his location in the lobby area of the top floor. The hotel had a luxury suit for the richest of guests and he'd set up his shop there. The 15 minute mark passed and although he knew that Ceartais was almost upon him he still set off another bomb to punish the group for whatever time they'd taken to plan. This time he chose a bomb on the roof of a bank in Sahara Square. Setting up his master plan had not been easy, and had required a lot of networking. Fortunately for him Ceartais was not short on enemies.
Now shining heroes, your own victories will fuel my greatest triumph. General Bombardier, I am your successor and tonight I will prove it! The maniac tiger had one last moment to himself before the doors opened and the seven mammals of Ceartais marched into the room.
Spitfire spoke up immediately, "Alright Pinkerton, we're here and you haven't made any other demands. What do you want?"
TNTiger was fuming, "It's TNTiger you bucket of scrap iron, you will not speak to the greatest villain of all time with his unworthy civilian name!"
"Alright then," Andraste smarmed, "what do you want Pinkerton?"
"Gah, you will regret your arrogance soon archer, for tonight I will get what I've so desired; the death of Team Ceartais!" The tiger held out his arms in a victory pose.
The team was surprised to say the least. Bullet spoke up first, "You set all of this up just for another shot at killing us?"
"Of course! My hero, the great General Bombardier, was the one to bring down the Mad Mammal Carnival. Now, just as he brought down the first ever hero team, I will do the same to the first modern hero team!"
Mage tilted his head, "Bombardier could make inanimate stuff exploud on contact, you make bombs in your basement."
"GENERAL Bombardier you…" TNTiger's scream was cut off as he saw something descend on him in the corner of his eye.
"Dynamic entrance!" Ruby Rose shouted as he fell towards TNTiger from the ceiling. He quickly kicked the tablet TNTiger was holding with one leg and kicked the tiger himself with the other. The Ruby standing with the group was a training mech wearing a back up costume. The real Ruby had slipped in through one of the windows with the help of some MCB agents while the rest of the team kept him talking. Andraste raced forward and caught the tablet while Ruby landed on the floor. Not giving his enemy a moment to recover, he leaped up to deliver a fierce uppercut, "Rose sprout!" The tiger rolled away and faced away from the heroes. After a moment's pause he turned back and hurled a grenade at the approaching Blade Dancer. She easily phased through it and Spitfire trapped the explosive in a metal pod, where it detonated harmlessly. Dancer had her sword at TNTiger's throat before the second had passed. Roar secured the tiger's arms and Mage joined Andraste in examining the tablet. "You're a second rate knockoff in a fourth rate costume tiger!" Ruby taunted.
"Let's get these bombs deactivated, Maid we've got Bella interfacing with this tablet," Andraste called.
"Sure thing, simple set up really, the bombs are designed to explode all at once if any of them are breached from an unknown force, but this master control can deactivate them all safely...wait, what is this!" Maid suddenly sounded horrified, "the tablet just sent a signal to all the bombs, they don't recognize it as a friendly anymore!"
"But how?" Andraste demanded, "there's dozens of them!"
Mage looked around and noticed something he hadn't seen with his HUD before; there was a simple piece of machinery hidden under the rug TNTiger had been standing on. It hadn't stood out amongst the other bits of tech when viewed through mage's HUD. The wolf yanked the rug up to reveal a small square panel in the middle.
"A pressure plate!" Spitfire shouted.
"What is the meaning of this tiger!?" Blade Dancer pushed the tip of her sword closer.
"Be, cough, hold the, cough, final piece," TNTiger gagged on something before opening his mouth right at Blade Dancer and revealing a gas grenade going off, one he'd shoved in his mouth when his back was turned to the group. The bunny's reflexes weren't fast enough to dodge the sudden plume of green gas and her left arm was clipped.
"AAHHH!" The bunny cried as she fell to the ground.
"Dancer!" Andraste ran to her wife's side and yanked the glove off of her afflicted hand. The sight nearly made the veteran surgeon puke. Blade Dancer's skin was scabbing and rotting at the same time, it was just her hand for now but the burning rot was already spreading up her arm.
"The mighty swords bunny falls to the power rot!" TNTiger cheered, "it reacts with the floridium in your body and kills you from the inside!"
Roar gripped the maniac's arms tightly, "How do you stop it?" The rot was already halfway to the bunny's elbow.
"You can't!" TNTiger cheered, "the powered mammal hit with it is doomed to an agonizing death!"
"Not, GAH, yet!" Blade Dancer seethed. The bunny grabbed her sword off the ground and, in one clean motion, sliced her arm off above the elbow. She screamed in agony once more, but the rot had been separated from the rest of her body. Andraste had realized what her wife was going to do and wasted no time lighting a signal flare arrow to cauterize the wound.
For once TNTiger was stunned silent, but he shook his head and was back in the moment, "Your tenacity may have saved you bunny, but the other powered mammals in this city will not be so lucky!"
That statement got everyone's attention, "Some of those bombs are loaded with more of that gas aren't they?" Spitfire asked, her voice modifier hiding her horror. Blade Dancer's severed arm already looked like burnt meat on charred bone.
"And the horrible truth dawns on the unsuspecting heroes, you'll find them on the tablet Mage," TNTiger pointed out.
The Mage looked at the tablet, which was showing a top down map of Zootopia indicating where all the bombs were located. Pushing aside the terror of seeing 76 bombs still active, he saw that several of the dots were green in color. "There's 15 of them!" Tapping one of the dots, Mage saw a timer counting down at 40 minutes, "This things been counting down since he sent the message!"
"We need to move now!" Spitfire shouted, "Maid, get in touch with director Savage and Camelot, we'll need all the help we can get."
"It's worse than that, ever since the tablet disconnected one bomb has been going off every half a minute!" Maid reported.
"Ruby, stay here and direct everyone, Andraste get Blade Dancer to a hospital, the rest of you get to the stars and get to a bomb. Bella, get the back up mech's to deliver disabler disks." The heroes did as they were told and soon only Ruby Rose was left with the bound TNTiger.
"Your efforts are for naught heroes ," TNTiger called, "tonight I fulfill my destiny."
Ruby gave TNTiger an odd look, "You could've set off the bombs and the gas and no one would've seen it coming, but you called us here and put them on a timer. You really don't care about whether the bombs go off or not, you just want us dead."
"I am to be the greatest villain Zootopia, no, the world had seen since General Bombardier, but you star bastards threw me in that insufferable mental hospital for YEARS instead. I spent all that time planning my revenge, and tonight I reap my efforts!"
000
39 minutes. 15 bombs remain.
Ruby, Maid and Bella started directing the various mammals to the locations of the bombs. Every bomb squad in the city was scrambled and directed to the nearest explosive. Skye set up a dedicated radio line to tell the crews to get to a safe distance at thirty second intervals. Unfortunately the Bunker was short on disarm disks to mess with the electronics of the bombs, only twenty were in stock. With only five spares they couldn't risk sending them in until the area had been secured, nor could any be spared for the regular bombs. As such, the two backup Spitfire mechs were piloted by Bella and would hold the disks until they were ready.
38 minutes. 15 bombs remain.
Spitfire had the biggest plate of targets she needed to deal with, as she was going to sweep the coast and take care of all the bombs near the water. That was eight bombs in total. The inland wind would do well to carry the gas all over the city. As she descended on her first target at the far end of Tundra Town, her scanner detected a single heat signature coming from near the bomb. She flew in and identified the target as Gluestick; a minor villain bunny from out in the burrows who could create sticky goo. Ryan had caught him a few holiday seasons ago, but his sentence had been light since he was only a thief. Spitfire didn't spare the question of why he'd decided to team up with TNTiger any though, she just fired a single tranq dart and downed him. "Bomb area secured, everyone be careful. He's got mammals guarding the bombs."
37 minutes. 14 bombs remain.
"Tell me what's happening Jack!" Nick pleaded. He and his wife were still in the apartment watching the crises unfold.
"Gas bombs, very deadly ones," Jack said bluntly. "The team is already moving to take them out. We just directed Camelot to the two on Outback island. I've gotta go." Nick was left with a clearer picture but all that did was worry him more.
Judy's phone started ringing and Judy recognized the number, she put the phone on speaker and answered. The mammal on the other end spoke up before Judy could open her mouth, "I'm coming out of retirement, where's the nearest bomb?"
36 minutes, 13 bombs remain.
Mage was being driven to a bomb in Tundra Town, one of the most isolated of the bunch. MCB agents were also in route, but with the news that the bombs were guarded he was unsure how well that would go. The bomb wasn't terribly far from where his sister's show was being held, and though he didn't know where his family were now, he was determined to keep them safe.
35 minutes. 14 bombs remain.
Spitfire easily disposed of a group of mercenaries guarding her second target. She impatiently waited for the Bella piloted mech to descend with another disarm disk. They couldn't risk a stray assailant damaging the mech with so many bombs across the city, but having to wait for Bella to arrive every time chipped away at the clock.
34 minutes. 13 bombs remain.
Bullet had been driven to the bomb in Savanna Central's train station, the only one in the heart of the city. She'd raced into the large building and began searching when an electric field damper went up.
They knew we'd come, and we sent the worst mammal to get this bomb. Over time the foes Team Ceartais faced got wise to which tactic and pieces of equipment were effective against the group. Even though her ability to see with the pulse would be limited, Bullet pressed forward. She could still smell her way around, but that also told her that she wasn't alone. "You can come out, Slipper." Bullet called.
"I always wondered if you could sense me Bullet," a silky smooth voice coed, as a slender lady antelope stepped forward. A master thief with a power that made her immune to most tranquilizers, she brazenly operated during the day most of the time. "Figured you'd send one of the weaker ones here, and all the better if it was you." Bullet charged her opponent, knowing she'd need to brute force this one.
33 minutes, 13 bombs remain.
"Where are all these guards coming from?" Ruby asked aloud as he got an update from Bullet, "For that matter how did you of all mammals get your hands on this chemical?"
"You fool!" TNTiger mocked, "do you not realize how many enemies you've made over the years? I may have united everyone, but this has been a long time coming. You are dealing with more than just the greatest villain!"
"It won't be enough," Ruby stated with confidence.
31 minutes, 13 bombs remain.
The first of two bombs in Sahara Square was located near the massive wind turbines that could simulate desert winds. The obvious intent was to blow the gas far and wide. They were Roar's target and he leapt into the air and came down right in the midst of a group of hidden gun mammals. The massive lion wasted no time sending out his roar to blast half the group and simply beat down the other's. With so much at stack Roar was less concerned then usual with holding back. "First Sahara Square bomb secure, Bella, bring the disk down."
30 minutes, 12 bombs remain.
Spitfire's next bomb was located in a still busy pier area towards the border of Tundra Town and Sahara Square. This meant there was no one there to guard this bomb and Spitfire focused on getting the crowds away while Bella arrived no disable the bomb. Frequently having to slow down was messing with Olvia's focus and she struggled to take deep breaths to calm herself.
29 minutes. 11 bombs remain.
"You should, cough, get back out there mon amor," Alice weakly argued.
"Not a chance," Luna countered, her wife's head in her lap, "my job is to make sure you're okay." The two approached the building Luna worked at. A group of mammals who had signed contracts to not unmask any hero under their care would attend to Alice. Please pull through, Alice, Ryan, everyone.
28 minutes, 11 bombs remain.
"So even the famously acrobatic Bullet can't quite keep up with me? This ego boost has certainly been worth the effort," Slipper teased as she stayed just ahead of her opponent.
"What I can't keep up with is your logic. Why is a thief helping a maniac slaughter millions?" Bullet shouted.
"Tiger can succeed or fail for all I care, what I want is the thrill of the fight," Slipper mocked.
"You're okay with that many deaths?"
"You're trying to appeal to me on a moral ground?" Slipper sounded irritated that the fight had paused.
"No, I'm just distracting you!" Bullet smiled. Slipper barely had time to turn before a sonic shriek slammed into her and flung her against a wall. Bullet's backup was a young lynx dressed in a gold and black dress with puffy upper arms, four fake wings, and a small head piece that resembled a folded wing. She was Sabrina "Esso" Reese, aka Chime of the PMFR unit. Bullet wasted no time getting back on task, "Cuff her then help me find the bomb!"
"Your welcome blind bitch!" Chime called as she secured Slipped to a chair.
"We're in the middle of a...no, your right. Thank you," Bullet conceded.
"Nah, your right, crises first," Chime waved her hand. "I'll go down, you go up!"
27 minutes, 11 bombs remain.
"We just got word from Camelot, they've located the two bombs on Outback island and are engaging the opposition," Skye announced the the assembly guarding TNTiger, Ruby included. They'd moved the mastermind of the attack down the street and away from the burning building.
"Only nine left after they take those ones out, and the bomb teams are still taking out the regular explosives at a good rate," Ruby smirked under his mask at TNTiger, "Your scheme will fail."
"Not yet," TNTiger seethed with more low key venom then he normally displayed.
25 minutes, 11 bombs remain.
A pair of rhino villains, Rough and Rumble, were guarding the bomb at the Rainforest District's largest water plant.
"Who do you think we're gonna get?" Rough asked his brother.
"Don't care, they're alone, we make em bleed," Rumble snorted.
"You boys are awfully loud, I can hear you through the door," a loud feminane voice called. The doors were shoved open and a large hippopotamus was silhouetted in the frame.
"Is that?"
"RUN!" Rumble screamed as the large hero charged the hopeless goons.
24 minutes, 10 bombs remain
Kiara Priderock was on guard duty for a bomb squad in Savanna Central, her partner, a swine named Anders, was keeping track of the time intervals so the team knew when to back off.
"Get away!" She shouted. The group took cover, expecting the moment to pass, but the bomb they'd been working on blew and the group were left with ringing ears.
Kiara recovered first and rallied her squad, "Shake it off, we've got to get to another one! HQ our bomb just blew, where's the next one.
Kiara's situation was happening all over the city as mammals raced to get the ludicrous number of explosives under control.
23 minutes. 10 bombs remaining.
Dawn Bellwether watched the city of Zootopia burn from multiple explosives, despite the efforts of the MCB, most of the half minute interval explosions had still gone off. The small ewe was in her office high above the downtown area, able to do nothing but think.
That's the downside of being in a world of powered mammals, you can do everything you want behind the scenes and legally, but when the crisis comes all you can do is watch and pray, I wish there was a way I could have more control over all of this but...but sometimes things are simply out of our hands.
22 minutes. 10 bombs remain.
The villain named Leap had been easy to deal with. The high jumping boar's strength was nothing on Spitfire and she secured another bomb sight. But she'd used up nearly half her time securing only half the targets, she was cutting it too close.
21 minutes. 9 bombs remain.
Mage arrived at his destination; an abandoned mansion near the cooling walls on Tundra Town. Like in Sahara Square, the proximity to the climate control was clearly meant to increase the gas' radius. More concerning to the Mage was the sounds of fighting he could hear from the inside. He raced past the parked MCB vehicles and into the open front door. His heart sank at the sigh. Four MCB agents were dead on the floor, while a fifth was being tortured by a familiar duo. Reirei and Goigoi, a jackal assassin duo known for their love of torture and each other.
"Oh come on!" Goigoi moaned, "we were hoping for Alice, instead we get the lamest one!"
"A job a job Goigoi," Reirei sighed. She hurled a grenade way over Mage's head. Mage jumped to the side but the grenade was an EMP. The blast took out Bella's car and most of Mage's tech gadgets, including his HUD mask and wand. "Now let's kill the scrub and get out of here."
No tech, no back up, almost no time. Mage drew a card into each hand and charged his opponents.
20 minutes, 9 bombs remain.
ZNN was doing it's best to keep up with the ongoing crises, and that news was being displayed on TV screens around the art exhibition the Jones were attending. They held hands and silently prayed for Kodi's safety, Clara included.
19 minutes, 9 bombs remain.
Chime ran through the lower levels of the deserted station, checking every room and blasting locked doors down. "Thank hell that Bellwether's law covers property damage during a crisis," she muttered in frustration. As she came to the control room she gasped in surprise. It wasn't the bomb, but the electronic damper. Chime raced past the device, standing between it and the control panels, and blasted the device with a sonic shriek. The sound waves safely pushed the explosion away from her and the controls. "Bullet, the field is down, you should be able to find the bomb now!"
17 minutes, 9 bombs remain.
Roar glared at the mammal guarding the second bomb he was after with complete irritation. Chester Hornsworth was a deer who could generate force fields that burned to touch. Another criminal who operated during the day to avoid Ceartais, Chester had a superiority complex and hated both the poor and predators.
"Yes, just stand there like the uncultured brute that you are. Nothing you can do will penetrate my field and this lovely gas will purge so many unseemly sights from this city," Chester mocked.
The group had held meetings on how to deal with powered mammals they hadn't encountered yet and Roar put one plan into motion. He charged forward and put his hands under the base of the shield. Fighting through the burning pain, Roar lifted the force field off the ground.
"Stop, stop at once you cur!" Chester shouted in panic. With every ounce of strength he had, Roar hurled the sphere into the air. Hornsworth managed to hold the shield all the way up and down, but the resulting bouncing made him too nauseous and he lost concentration. Roar was on the downed deer in an instant and pounded the snob in the face.
"Second bomb's secure, come on in Bella!" Roar sighed. Horrible burn marks were all over his hands and arms
16 minutes, 8 bombs remain.
Mage scurried is the steps of the mansion, both to put some distance between himself and his opponents and to try and find the bomb. He was losing. He beat them in size, strength and reach, but they were faster, had knives and there were two of them. As he reached the top he realized he had an opportunity, he jumped, turned and flung a card at Goigoi. The jackal dodged easily, but his wife had worse visibility and stumbled backwards.
They can only fight single file on the stairs! Mage held his position at the top, fending off Goigoi's knife slashes. Whenever he couldn't deflect, he sidestepped. Neither party was able to get an edge: Mage couldn't disarm his nimble foe but Goigoi couldn't land a hit. Still, Mage knew he had only bought some time, Reirei was circling around to another staircase.
If I get caught between them on the staircase I'm done. Mage was running out of options, so he settled for a desperation move. Goigoi made another stab forward that Mage dodged, but instead of countering he rushed forward and tackled the jackal right as Reirei reached the top of her stairs. Goigoi was slammed against the stairs as he and Mage tumbled down, with Mage getting one good kick in that sent Goigoi away from the base of the stairs. Mage recovered first, but was still unsteady. He saw Reirei had recovered from the surprise and was fast approaching the top of the stairs. If I fight her, Goigoi can recover and I'm trapped again. Mage realized he would never get another chance to take out one of the jackals and turned his back to Reirei. He rushed the still dazed Goigoi as fast as he could, not risking his chance on a bad throw, he shoved the tranq card right into the jackal's face. Goigoi went limp, and Mage tried to roll away, but Reirei's knife caught him in the side anyway.
Mage tumbled away and howled in pain, he flung a handful of taser cards to force Reirei away, but the jackal was now grinning and side stepped his throw, before closing in for the kill once more.
15 minutes, 8 bombs remain.
Spitfire was rushing at this point, she only had 14 minutes to deal with 4 bombs. Come on you damn rust bucket hurry up! The next bomb was in a wide open ship deck, and none of Spitfire's scanners detected any guards. Maybe he just spread himself thin? "Bella come on in." Spitfire remained alert as Bella approached the area. The mech was just over the water and near the ship when a small explosion was heard. A rocket soared through the air and exploded near Bella's mech, unleashing an EMP that sent the mech tumbling toward the sea.
"NO!" Spitfire shouted as she raced into the air to try and catch the mech. Her hasty reaction left her vulnerable, another rocket went off underneath her and damaged her thrusters. Spitfire was flung into the railings where she became entangled.
"As predictable as ever, I knew setting up in the middle of the seabound bombs would let me catch you at your most vulnerable Spitfire." The voice was blunt, controlled and deeply condescending.
Not him. Olivia shuddered inside her mech, desperately trying to get any of her weapons ready. Calmly walking towards her was the assassin known as Scar. A lion with a trademark wound over his eye and a reputation as one of the best in the world. He'd nearly defeated the team in their early days, and had only failed because Alice had intervened.
"I may stick around to finish what I'll start with you," Scar aimed a high power RPG right at the mech's chest and fired. Olivia braced herself for the end, only for a stream of water to smash into the oncoming rocket and detonate it early. Another stream came from behind Scar and blasted him forward. A massive column of water emerged from the sea and engulfed Scar, it smashed him against the huel of the ship several times and he blacked out.
Bella's damaged mech was lifted from the water and placed on deck by Spitfire's savior; Orca of the PMFR, aka Regina Lowell. A young mare with powerful water control abilities and known for her distinct black and white outfit. "Are you okay Spitfire?"
"Forget that, is the pod on that mech's back intact?" When Orca checked and confirmed it was, Spitfire explained, "Those are the disarm disks we're using to take out the bombs, but there's still three more on the coast and…'
"They're secured, Pyre, Wildhorn, Vizor and I took out the guards," Orca explained, "and Chime went to help Bullet."
Spitfire was silent for a moment, then she screamed, "Then why are you talking with me! Get the disks to the bombs! We're running out of time!"
"R-right!" Orca hurried off, leaving Spitfire to lament how she was of no more use to the team now.
14 minutes, 7 bombs remain.
"We've got word from Camelot, both bombs on Outback Island are disabled," Skye announced to her crowd.
"Word from the PMFR, they've secured all the locations on the coast!"
Ruby counted, "That means only two are left." He tried to sound confident, but he noticed he hadn't heard from Bullet or Mage in a while.
12 minutes, 5 bombs remain.
Pyre was still new to the PMFR but she already knew that being called into a combat scenario was atypical for the group, but they were all trained to fight in case they ever needed to. Her attention was drawn to an object approaching the warehouse she was guarding at fast speeds.
Orca sped past Pyre without a word, disabled the bomb and was off again, she was using her powers to propel herself forward faster then she'd ever gone before.
11 minutes, 4 bombs remain.
With the damper down at last, Bullet was able to find the bomb towards the very top of the station. "Area secure, Bella come on in." The mech flew through the front doors and up to Bullet's location. She was handed a disk and disambled the bomb. Both mammal and mech made their way towards the exit, but as Bella descended she was jumped by Slipper. The thief thrust some kind of device into Bella's back and the mech was suddenly overcome with electricity surges. Slipper jumped free and landed safely, but Bella's mech crashed.
"You ruined my challenge, I ruin yours," she smirked at Bullet's horrified expression. One of the antelope's horns had been chipped at the tip by Chime earlier and her smile was laced with venom. "Toddl...OH SHI…" she was cut off by Chime's scream hitting her once again.
"I cuffed her!" I swear I cuffed her," Chime panicked.
"You did," Bullet called, "But she's a master thief, she got out."
Chime looked at Bullet guiltily, "I hope that was the last one."
10 minutes, 3 bombs remain.
Wildhorn was a bit bothered that his girlfriend brushed past him without a word, but Orca was clearly in full concentration mode and nothing would stop her now. Another disk, another bomb down, and she was off to the last one, leaving Wildhorn to attend the group of guards he had bound in his power enhanced root.
9 minutes, 2 bombs remain.
"I wonder how long it will take for you to bleed out?" Reirei teased as she took another mock slash at the barely standing Mage.
"I'm not finished yet," Mage groaned as he tried to get in position for his last gamble.
"Oh but I do need to get Goigoi out of here so I'll need to cut this short," Reirei charged forward. Mage reached for the only tool he had left, his wand, and poked her in the eye. "Gah, little shit!" She swatted the wand to the ground and stomped on it. Mage's trademark tool was snapped in two.
"Should really keep an eye on your surroundings," Mage mocked, then turned and reached for the gun of one of the dead MCB agents.
"No!" Reirei screamed and rushed forward...stepping right onto the pile of taser cards Mage had stealthy dropped on the floor. Reirei let out a silent scream before dropping to the floor, still twitching. Mage walked over and placed a tranq card on her to be sure. Then he looked around, his HUD had come back online near the end of the fight, and it showed the bomb was on the second floor balcony. Mage scooped up the radio from a dead MCB agent and began the painful climb up the stairs.
7 minutes, 2 bombs remain.
Vizor watched as Orca stumbled her way onto dry land, she looked close to collapse. But the mission came first and he grabbed the pod containing the disks out of Orca's hands and ran to disable the last coastal bomb. "Last bomb on the coast disabled!" he reported over his radio. When the wolf leader of the PMFR returned to his teammate she had passed out from exhaustion. He quickly used his x-ray vision to check her vitals and that she was fine, "See Regina, you've always had this in you."
6 minutes, 1 bomb remains.
"Only one left, come on Mage," Ruby pleaded.
"I will not be denied my destiny!" TNTiger bellowed.
"We're trying to figure out what's going on over there," one agent shouted. Unknown to the gathered mammals, the hippo that had taken out the Rainforest District bomb was making her way over to the group, but she kept her distance for now so as to not be a distraction.
"Still no contact from Morson's squad?" Skye asked.
Then a radio crackled, "Can anyone, GAH, here me," a very weak voice called.
"Mage is that you!?" Skye demanded.
"Yeah, Reirei and Goigoi...they had EMP's, there's one of your mammals still alive over here...but we've got a problem. Can you patch the team in?"
"Maid, make it happen!" Skye shouted.
"Done!"
5 minutes, 1 bomb remains.
Mage was barely staying on his feet, he knew if he sat down now he'd pass out.
"Done!" Maid called, "the team can hear you now Mage!"
"Guys I...I beat Goigoi and Reirei but I'm losing a, a lot of blood here and, and this bomb is on a pressure plate, like Pinkerton was." Mage mumbled.
Spitfire responded, "They all were, to make sure we weren't out of the woods if we tried to move them."
"Just use your wand Mage," Ryan called, "It's the only one left and Maid was able to get this thing to tell the gas bombs and the regular ones apart!"
"Reirei, she broke my wand Ruby, I can't disable it."
4 minutes, 1 bomb remains.
Bullet gasped, "But all the Spitfire mechs have been taken out!" She looked over to the still disabled mech carrying the disarm disks. "Is there anything else that can fly?"
Vizor called out, "I have some disks left, but the PMFR chopper is all the way over in the Rainforest District coast."
"Camelot is all the way over in Outback Island," Skye reported.
"Then what can we do?" Ruby called in desperation.
"I'm going to die," Mage said plainly.
3 minutes, 1 bomb remains.
Maid was furiously typing away at her keyboard, trying to hack the control panel of the final bomb, "Don't talk that way Mage, I'm trying to hack it right now, just wait." The desperate tone of her voice made it clear she didn't think she'd make it in time.
"Maid, guys...I'm gonna push this thing off the plate," Mage explained, "the explosion will take the gas out."
"He's correct," TNTiger shouted with glee, "the gas needs to be released properly first, otherwise the explosion will just atomize it like everything else!"
"Shut him up!" Ruby demanded. "Mage don't do this, please just hold on, Maid is gonna solve this just please hang on."
"I'm so sorry...Ry...Ruby."
2 minutes, 1 bomb remains.
Mage wearily prepared for his final effort, "I'm not...going to gamble everyone this gas will fry, just on the, the chance I don't die. I love you guys, all of you, tell Blade Dancer for me when she...wakes, K' Andi?"
"I will," Andraste promised, tears welling in her eyes.
"Anyone, anyone got any miracles?" Mage pleaded.
"I'm sorry Mage," Roar cried.
"Don't be, big guy, or you Spitfire," Mage smiled.
"MAGE!" Spitfire cried on her end.
"Tell Clara I'm sorry, and that I tried to make my family proud." Mage started pushing on the heavy bomb, it took all his remaining strength but it gave way slowly.
1 minute, 1 bomb remains.
"Ruby, Bullet," Mage weezed out his final breaths, "You guys were the best friends a guy could want." It sounded like he was squeezing every last word into his breaths.
"NO NO NO NO NOOOO!" Ruby screamed.
"I'm sorry Ruby, especially about, about...that. Promise me you stop looking for…" The tablet registered the pressure plate had gone off.
0 minutes, no bombs remaining.
The tablet fell to the ground unnoticed as Ruby let out a wordless wail of grief, one that was echoed by his teammates across the city. Hannah slumped into a waiting chair and sobbed as Esso gently rubbed her back. Kion beat a nearby rock structure to oblivion. Luna hugged herself in the waiting room. Olivia was motionless and limp inside her cockpit. Ryan's long wail was punctuated by TNTiger.
"Not quite what I wanted, but one of the stars has fallen!"
Ryan turned and pounced towards the laughing tiger, but the large hippo made her presence known as she grabbed him out of the air and hugged him close. "It's not gonna bring him back little one, I'm so sorry."
'"Let me go! I'm gonna kill him!" Ryan screamed, but the hippo held firm as Skye darted TNTiger to shut him up. Ryan couldn't get free so all he could do was trash and cry, and he was still sobbing as the rest of the city learned that they were saved, and that one of it's greatest heroes had given his life to do it.
AN: You can blame the countdown gimmick for this chapter ballooning out of control, but I stuck with it. What'd you all think? This world's Kodi dies a hero, but we already know that things are going to go downhill fast from here on out. This is also our first extensive look at this crazy world.
Next time: Our heroes learn how powers in this world work, while Ryan shows off just how much control he has.
