So I hope all of my readers are doing okay during these frankly difficult times, I had to take an unplanned week delay in updating this story, and there may be more coming. I don't know. But for now we do have another chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who followed, favorited and reviewed the story, now let's get going/

Chapter 18: Team Leader

The desert is a tricky environment, even in the relatively controlled context of Zootopia. A location that is blistering hot in the day is chilling cold in the night. It was for that reason that the desert regions of Zootopia were often sparsely populated after the sunset, and that was why Kodi Jones had gone there for some privacy. Even though he was on his fourth alternate world it was still bizarre hearing about his death. The local mammals were understandably drained from recounting the night of TNTiger's attack and had skimmed through the aftermath. The various mammals who helped in the attack were under arrest for terrorism and a massive funeral was held for one of Team Ceartais' founders.

Honestly? I was done with that story too, can't imagine how Mom, Dad and Sasha are dealing with this. Kodi sighed, This city's a mess.

Don't sugarcoat things, Kiara's advice echoed in Kodi's head.

No, it's a crisis and most mammals don't even know it! One mad and grieving mammal has control over who knows how much of the city, there's a total of ten mammals left to resist and we don't even have the element of surprise this time. Ryan's probably already picked Clara's mind clean for information about us. We've got no cure, no plan, no way to get back up, we…

"Kodi?" A voice called from behind. Kodi has shrunk the portal he'd used but kept it open so the others could figure out where he was. A quick twist of the wrist and the portal widened, allowing Robyn to step through. "What are you doing out here?"

"Just thinking really, needed some fresh air after...that," Kodi responded without facing his friend.

"Yeah I get that," Robyn agreed, "but there's some good news; Fuli is gonna be okay."

Kodi nodded, "I'm sure Ronan is relieved."

"He is," Robyn confirmed as she stepped up to Kodi's side, "but we're still pretty far up shit creek."

"You can say that again, I'm as lost as they are," Kodi admitted. "Even my magic can't protect me from Ryan's steelblood."

"And if he gets you it's all over," Robyn stated.

"And I didn't see any of our hosts suggesting any new plans since we showed up," Kodi concluded.

"Funny you mention that," Robyn said, "I found out something interesting when I was talking with this Hannah."

"And that is?"

"Their Ceartais doesn't have a dedicated leader like ours and Ronan's do. They did stuff based on group votes," Robyn shrugged, "kinda makes sense they haven't had much luck on their own; over half their team is gone."

"So they don't have a leader," Kodi realized.

"Yup, and our leaders are either hunkered over their girlfriend, got left behind in Reginald's world...or are running off to think in the desert."

She's talking about…, "Well, looks like only one of those is easily fixed," Kodi admitted.

"You've got my vote," Robyn said calmly.

I certainly wouldn't vote for you now. "What changed?"

"Circumstances," Robyn shrugged.

"You know what I'm…" Kodi turned to face Robyn.

"You wouldn't be my first choice to lead the team," Robyn interrupted, "that's still Luna, but she's not here and you are who the team voted in."

Kodi though, she voted for me at first, but I lost that.

Failure is the greatest teacher if you're willing to learn from it, this time it was Victoria's words that Kodi remembered. He drew himself up straight and looked back out at the cityscape. "Well, as far as I can see there are three main problems we have to deal with; Ryan himself, his steelblood and the powered mammals under its control."

Robyn nodded, "Our hosts were trying to sneak their way to Ryan's new base earlier, but they got caught way before they reached it."

"Going straight for Ryan is out of the question," Kodi realized, "he's got too much power over too much of the city."

"And we've got no hope of overpowering every mammal under his control with our numbers," Robyn huffed.

"So that leaves dealing with the steelblood itself, finding a cure I mean," Kodi said.

Robyn sighed, "It's not even brainwashing like with the Drowned, he's basically turned these mammals into part machines and then hijacked them!" Robyn paused in contemplation, "Do you think we could hack them back?"

"My wand doesn't work on steelblood, remember Marian and Olivia testing that back when we started out? And trying to go for Ryan's base just presents the same problems as going for him."

"Damn it!" Robyn screamed, "It can't end like this, us being here has to change something."

The desperation faded into silence as neither of the two came up with anything more to say. Robyn, honestly might not get a better time. "Robyn, I know this isn't the best time but I don't like our odds, can we...try and clear the air?"

Robyn looked at him aghast for a few moments, but reconsidered her retort and turned away, "Yeah, try, I'd like to get at least a little closure in case things go south."

Okay, got the chance, need to pick the words carefully here. "Back in the garage, if I had admitted...that is to say, if I hadn't been so stubborn about Alice being safe when we set our trap, how would things have gone different?" Damn it Jones! This is no time to stumble over words.

Robyn looked surprised by the opening question but answered promptly, "To be honest Kodi, I don't think things would've gone that much better. Talking with my brothers…" Robyn looked up at the stars and smiled, "and there's a sentence I never thought I'd get to say. Talking with them after I beat Reginald, they realized that they were feeding into the misery the world dealt them...and I'm no different." The fiery hybrid deflated and her posture slackened, "Everything I held against you and the others, I still stand by it, but the way I was, I probably would've found a way to stay mad even if all of you apologized for all of it."

"Why?" Kodi asked, having not expected this from Robyn.

"Because it's easier to hold onto anger then to start trusting," Robyn sighed, "no matter how righteous that anger is. Ronan stayed mad because he felt obligated, Reginald because he never got any resolution, and me because...because I'm scared of trusting you guys again."

"Robyn," Kodi had not expected her to be the one getting introspective.

Robyn's face hardened, "Don't get any ideas, I'm still furious about this whole mess, why'd you ask that question anyway?"

"Just trying to get a gauge," Kodi sighed, "cause I'm done making excuses. And before you say that me losing to Slash has nothing to do with it, you're right, but it put things in perspective for me."

"And what would that be?" Robyn asked with curiosity.

"I was...I am afraid of failing, I put so much effort into trying to be better and still screwing up after all of that?" Kodi shook his head, "I just wanted one thing about what we did to be okay but, but there's really nothing to defend." Kodi turned to face Robyn and knelt down so they were on eye level. "Robyn, we got results, but we did it in just about the most unnecessarily risky way we could've, while going being our friend's and teammate's backs and we treated them, treated you like crap afterwards. I'm sorry, for all of…" Kodi's apology was cut off when Robyn threw her arms around him in a tight hug, a little too tight. "Crushing me!" Kodi weezed.

""Still mad," Robyn barbed, but her grip did loosen to comfortable levels. Kodi returned the hug and the two old friends held each other close. The wounds hadn't healed, but the gap had been bridged and, for two mammals worried that may never have happened, it was enough for now. The two eventually sat down at each other's sides and enjoyed the view of Zootopia at night.

"Hard to believe it's only been a little over a month since this whole mess started," Kodi sighed, "It's felt like forever."

"Time flies when you're having a good time, I guess the opposite is also true," Robyn agreed.

"It's felt overwhelming at times."

"We're just normal mammals underneath all the powers Kodi," Robyn remarked. "I can jump high, hit hard, heal from anything and push anything outta my body that shouldn't be there, but I'm just a funny box underneath all that. And you can fly, open portals, do any number of magic tricks and hack all sorts of tech but you're...are you okay?" Robyn paused her speech when she saw Kodi looking slack jawed out in the distance.

"That's it," Kodi mumbled.

"What?"

"I know how we can fight back!" Kodi cheered as he suddenly stood up.

"Wait really!?" Robyn followed his lead. Kodi re-enlarged his portal and raced back towards the others. "Hey wait up, what's this plan of your's?" Robyn called after the grinning wolf. A brief explanation and a moment to process later had Robyn grinning too.

000

"So Kodi's the biggest problem?" Luna asked for confirmation.

"He is," Clara responded, "flight, portals, who knows how many magic tricks." The two heroines were seated at a conference table across from Kion. Ryan sat at the head of the table and Vizor of the PMFR rounded out the meeting.

"Kodi," Kion sighed, "the multiverse has a twisted sense of humor."

"You're certain the other mammals to arrive with you offer no significant threat," Vizor asked. The wolf's real name was Bruno Akaku; lacking the flashy powers of many of his fellow heroes, the gray wolf relied heavily on combat pragmatism. He did not want to underestimate their opponents.

"They aren't harmless," Clara clarified, "but strong healers are something we can handle easily enough."

"What are they like?" Luna asked softly. It was plain as day that Luna wanted to know more about her cross dimensional siblings. Ryan also paid a bit more attention; the hybrid had been typing away at a tablet for most of the meeting.

Clara smiled lightly and decided to give some added detail, "Well I know Robyn the best. She's fiery, has a bit of a temper, but she cares a lot about her friends and family and is the most heroic mammal on the team. Unless she's really emotionally compromised you'd never catch her doing anything morally questionable." Clara's smile faded as she reflected on the emotionally compromised state Robyn had been in mere days ago. "Anyway she's very acrobatic when fighting, and takes advantage of the jumping as often as the strength."

"An anime ninja, just like I thought," Ryan snarked. Silence followed that and Ryan groaned. Programming my drones to give me undivided attention whenever I speak might not have been the best idea. "And, what about the others?"

Clara resumed her explanation, "Ah, yes. I don't know Ronan or Reginald as well of course, but Ronan's very dry and polite, he wanted to be a cop like his parents before he became Sergeant Red, he mostly fights with a tranq pistol like Bullet. I got the sense that he likes holding back as much as possible. Reginald, he's a brute, all force and no strategy. He feels like a ball of unresolved anger issues."

"I see," Vizor nodded, "while I agree we shouldn't underestimate them, they all seem to be manageable enough."

A notice went off on Ryan's tablet, "Ah, my guests have arrived." As he stood up from the table he looked back at the assembled mammals, "Continue without me," he waved his hand. As he reached the door to step out he paused and looked back, "On second thought, all of you can be drones for now." The four mammals instantly stood up with blank expressions on their faces, Ryan left them that way as he headed to the main lobby.

The building he'd taken over as his new headquarters was the Zootopia Powered Mammals Research Laboratory, or of PMR Labs for short. It was a massive circular building with a wide open test field in the middle. While primarily concerned with the study and understanding of floridium powered mammals, the lab was also where most of Zootopia's resources on dimensional research were located. The idea was that dimensional travel always seemed to be linked to powered mammals of some variety. Ryan's tablet displayed a message from Marian stating that his guests were waiting for him at the testing field. Ryan quickly made his way to meet Mayor Dawn Bellwether, MCB director Skye Savage, Chief of Precinct One Nala Priderock, and Bellwether's bodyguard Felicia Otterton. The otter was in her late twenties and could generate a powerful wall of energy that deflected incoming attacks back at their targets.

"Ryan, so good to see you back on your feet," Dawn greeted as she approached.

"Good to see you too Mrs. Bellwether."

Felicia stayed ahead of Dawn and held up a halting hand as Ryan came close, Dawn brushed past her guard and hugged her friend's son. "No need to be so paranoid Felicia, Ryan's an old friend."

"No no, she's doing her job," Ryan teased.

"Ryan's correct," Skye agreed, "though he really is harmless."

Felicia crossed her arms, "You have to admit the circumstances are very peculiar."

"Yes," Nala spoke up, "that is why we're here, but I'm certain Ryan can explain it."

"Indeed I can, follow me to the command center," Ryan beckoned, "I'll explain on the way." Ryan did as promised, revealing that the explosion in Sahara Square earlier in the day was caused by powered mammals from another dimension, and that one was captured and being cooperative.

"Well I hope you can wrap this up quickly, the city is understandably afraid of anything involving an explosion these days," Dawn lamented.

As they stepped into the elevator Skye spoke up, "We're away from prying eyes now."

While the rest of the group simply looked confused by Skye's statement, Ryan smiled, "All four of you can be drones now." A few gasps went out as words were interrupted by a complete mental takeover. The most powerful positions in Zootopia all under my control without any of the effort they normally require, doing things the way they tell you too is so overrated. "Priderock, Savage, how many of your mammals have yet to be turned into drones?"

"Everyone working at MCB HQ has been injected," Skye announced.

"There's still cops in a few smaller precincts that haven't been injected yet, but everyone in the major ones is ready and waiting," Nala added.

"Excellent, we're going to need those mammals. Wake up Director," Ryan called.

Skye shook her head for a moment before looking over at the three drones, "I don't like this."

"Butttt?"

"It's necessary, powered mammals are too dangerous to be left to their own devices," Skye sighed, "a safety measure is needed. I just wish we didn't have to be so secretive about it."

"I do too, but you know that mammals would place innocent lives in danger if it meant holding onto their own selfish morality," Ryan argued.

"You're right of course, let's hope there's a day when these measures are seen as acceptable in the name of safety," Skye said dejectedly.

"Hannah opposing this still got you upset?"

"How is a mother not disappointed by their daughter failing to see reason? But it doesn't matter, if they've received reinforcements then it's more important than ever that we bring them in," Skye steeled her voice.

The elevator dinged, "And we're here!" Ryan announced, "Now then, Mayor, Proderock. PMR Labs is going to need complete access to all security systems in the city, we need on the spot rapid responses to counter someone who can create portals."

000

"You want us to reverse engineer Robyn's steelblood!?" Clara asked after Kodi excitedly explained his idea to the assembled mammals in the underground bunker.

"Think about it, our only viable route is to target Ryan's infection steelblood itself. Going right for him is impossible right now, and trying to go after the mammals he's taken over one by one won't work either," Kodi ruled out other options, "but if we can find a cure, defang his biggest advantage, we can actually fight back."

"And if anything's going to be able to overpower his steelblood it's mine," Robyn explained, "you've all seen how it gets anything that shouldn't be in my body out of it right? I bet none of the four of us have been sick since we got that injection?"

"But that in itself presents the biggest problem with your idea Kodi," Bella spoke up, "the fact that Ryan and the three of you heal and reject foregien objects from your body so rapidly has made actually studying your steelblood in a lab nigh impossible. Especially since any of it removed for too long dies."

"We can push the probing further than we've ever pushed it before," Hannah countered.

"It's certainly worth the effort," Ronan added, "you said Ryan sacrificed the adapt and survive directive for his more dedicated purpose. Our healing could easily overwhelm something as single purpose as that."

"We are being against the clock," Rani said, "Ryan is growing stronger with each new day, our task only grows stepper the longer we wait."

"I agree," Clara nodded at Rani, "we need to seize any opportunity we're presented."

Alice turned to face Robyn, "It will be extremely painful, we lack the ability to put you under so you'd be awake for the whole ordeal."

Robyn took a step forward, "Son, mother and sister waiting for me in another dimension, wife and father waiting for all of us back home. I've been caught in an oil fire, stabbed pretty much everywhere that can be stabbed, electrocuted, nearly crushed, and had my jaw melted off. I'm the Undying Scarlet, I'll live." The fire in Robyn's eyes and the steel in her voice shut any remaining opposition up, almost any.

"Yeah you'll live, cause you ain't doing this," Reginald stepped forward, "I am."

"What?" Robyn gasped, "Reginald…"

"No listen Robyn, after all the shit I put you and your team through this is something I should be doing. If you can do all that shit and still be standing, then so can I. I'm pretty sure we heal as well as each other." No one had a good counter argument.

"Alright then," Kodi declared, "let's carve open a hybrid and see how they work!"

Alice has not been kidding when she said the process would be painful, and long. It took the mammals in the bunker five hours to create their prototype steelblood vaccine. Reginald wasn't being experimented on the whole time, but it felt even longer to him.

The tempestuous hybrid had stripped down to his pants and was strapped down to the operating table. Kodi's binding scarf bound his arms to the side, while restraints strong enough to hold an elephant were needed to hold his legs down. He was given a rubber ball gag to keep him from biting his tongue. They did what they could, but a decent part of the operation would depend on Reginald's ability to hold still. To that end Robyn sat at the head of the table and rested Reginald's head in her lap, whatever comfort she could provide she did. It wasn't like she was much use during lab experiments anyway.

The others all had their roles to play as well. Bella was effectively running the operation, being the only one with the mechanical know how. Clara was her main assistant; though it was not her field of study the wolf could still follow orders and could get the gist of most things. Alice was on hand to help with actually cutting Reginald open for studying his steelblood and trying to replicate it. The former assassin knew how to cause pain and made the process as painless for the poor hybrid as she could. Ronan was on hand to run and grab any supplies in the immediate area, and to keep an eye on Fuli while they waited for her to wake. Kodi and Hannah acted as security and occasionally snuck into the city to get supplies using Kodi's portals. Hannah's pulse made it impossible to catch them off guard. Rani took the task of providing any refreshments the group needed, the lioness was quite adept in the kitchen and produced filling but relatively mess free foods.

Reginald did his best to power through the pain. He kept his eyes shut the whole time and focused on resting his head in Robyn's lap, trying to meditate through the ordeal. It was excruciating because his body would heal off the damage, meaning it had to be inflicted many times. Reginald never moved from his position, even when offered a break or food was presented; he knew if he got up he wouldn't get back down. This was tested during one particularly memorable interruption.

"Fuli's gone!" Ronan shouted as he returned from the kitchen. Everyone turned to see an empty table where the cheetah had been resting.

"No she's still there," Hannah said off handedly. She assumed Ronan had looked at the wrong bed.

"She's not here!" Ronan insisted.

Ronan was rushing to the beds, but Kodi got there first. He looked surprised at first but quickly let out an amused chuckle, "I think I figured out Fuli's power."

As Ronan arrived at Fuli's bedside he saw that the sheet covering her lower body was still elevated. Reaching out to where he knew it should be, Ronan grabbed Fuli's hand. He felt it, but he was still holding nothing. "She's invisible," he realized.

"That's certainly useful," Alice grinned.

"Yeah Ronan, your girlfriend won big," Hannah smirked.

Robyn was about to comment but then felt Reginald squirm in her lap, "Can we get back on task, Reginald's still tied down here!" Some hasty apologies later the group was back on task.

Despite Alice's best efforts, the process was still long and painful for Reginald. When Bella gave the command to release him the hybrid simply slumped down. Robyn carried her brother away from the laboratory and into the lounge area. The large room had several sizable sofas and chairs, including one particularly large L shaped sofa around a table. Robyn made her way to the beds along the walls, but as she lay Reginald down he moaned, "Don't...don't put me back there."

He thinks he's going back to the lab table, Robyn realized. She carried him over to the coaches and placed him sitting up. Seeing him about to topple over, Robyn sat next to him and rested his head on her shoulder. Kodi, Bella, you had better make all of this worth it!

000

One thing that Chime's teammates had learned was that the lynx was almost always in a mood about something, though how much of one varied. Ever since TNTiger's attack and Mage's sacrifice that mood had usually been dour or upset.

She blames herself, Orca noted as the two patrolled the shoreline of the Rainforest District in the late morning hours, there's no way she could've bound Slipper any better then she did but she still blames herself, that fight with Rani certainly didn't help matters. None of the others were there for it, but a serious argument between the two had led to the young lioness leaving the team, Esso said she wasn't even sure how it happened. The others decided to give the two some space and reach out…

Eventually.

Eventually, it was always eventually whenever Orca thought about it. Before Orca could think of it any further her thoughts were interrupted by Chime.

"Sorry I was snippy with you earlier Regi, that explosion over in Sahara with Ceartais has me on edge," Chime said in a, for her, soft tone.

"I understand Chime," Orca empathized her hero name, "we're all a bit on edge these days.

"Yeah but, it's weird," Chime tried to rationalize, "this past month I've felt like I'm always on edge, like I can't not be ready."

"Orca and Chime, a fire has broken out at the north Rainforest District pier, you two are closer than anyone else!" Vizor's voice called over their radios.

"Well that'll come in handy now, hop on!" Orca called as she jumped into the water. Chime did just that and Orca sped along the coast towards the pier. Chime, on the mare's back, saw the smoke rising from a distance. The duo made landfall and Orca wasted no time forming a spray of water to douse the fire. Chime noticed that the building on fire looked fairly old and walked over to a yard worker who was nearby.

"How did this happen?" Chime asked.

"No idea ma'm, that old wearhouse was set to be demolished soon anyway, so everyone was more concerned with evacuating the area."

"Good call, maybe some impatient bastard wanted to speed things up," Chime joked as Orca finished drenching the flames.

"Sea mammals have done dumber things when drun...Gah!" The tiger slumped to the ground and Chime felt something impact her chest a moment later. She looked up and saw Bullet standing aways down the dock; her twin pistols aimed at Chime and the worker. "Bullet? The hell is wrong with you!?" Wait, how am I not knocked out.

Be a drone.

Chime's mind went blank in one moment, in the next she was charging her sonic scream and aimed straight at Bullet. The blind gunslinger dodged in the nick of time.

"Shit!" Bullet swore, "they're immune to tranqs, Ryan must've done something to them!"

"I noticed!" Sergeant Red called. His own gun had failed to effect Orca, so he was closing the distance to knock the mare out up close. Orca suddenly held both hands out and Red froze in place. Ordinarily Orca would never use her water control abilities on the water in another mammal's body; she viewed it as violating them in a way. But as a drone she went for the most effective method, and that meant holding her foe still while she pulled a sphere of water from the ocean and reformed it around them. Red desperately tried desperately to escape his watery prison, but his own body was rebelling against him.

The wide open areas in the pier gave Bullet no cover or places to hide from Chime's sonic scream, and she was quickly losing ground. Chime suddenly cut off her attack and dove to her left, leaving Bullet trapped between her and a steel wall. Chime let out her wail and Bullet prepared for the worst, but a ring or orange suddenly opened in front of her and Chime saw her own back through the portal. She never got the chance to process that information as her own sonic scream hit her in the back and she was flung forward. The portal closed and Bullet dodged the incoming lynx, leaving the controlled heroine to slam into the wall. Chime fell to the ground unconscious.

Near the water's edge, Orca was almost done with Red when she heard a voice call, "Is this your card?" Orca turned and saw a grey wolf in a long coat hurl a card at her, before she could react to the new attack a demonic hand shot out of the card and ensnared Orca. Being a drone, Orca didn't scream as she was sealed away. The water fell away from Red and he gasped for air. Bullet made her way over to the two while Pyre scooped up Chime.

"We ran into some complications but that worked out alright," Mage smirked as he held up his demon prison card. Pyre had set a strategically placed fire to lure the PMFR members in, wherein Bullet and Sergeant Red would knock them out. Mage was on standby in case anything went wrong, which it had. "You okay Sergeant?"

Red didn't respond with words, but flashed a quick thumbs up while he caught his breath.

"Then let's get out of here before Ryan gets wise," Kodi maintained his grin, "time to see if Bella pulled off a miracle."

000

"What do you mean they disappeared!?" Ryan shouted at Marian when he, Clara and Luna arrived at the command center.

"I mean exactly what it sounds like, Orca and Chime have disappeared off of our sensors, their steelblood isn't sending a signal anymore," Marian replied calmly.

"What happened exactly?" Clara asked evenly, hoping to keep forward momentum.

Marian nodded and signaled one of her subordinates to display some security footage. "Pyre drew them in with a fire. Bullet and Sergeant Red attempted to tranq the two but Ryan's syrume prevented that, they turned the tables but…" Marian trailed off and let the footage speak for itself. The group winced as Chime was thrown into a wall by her own scream and the Wildes gasped at seeing Mage's demon card in action.

"That's just creepy," Luna shivered, "you were right Sirius, words don't do that thing justice."

"Yes well uh," Ryan tried to remain collected, "none of us wanting to learn where that card takes you aside, what happened next."

Marian looked relieved at the out, "We lost Orca's signal when she was sealed, but regained it when it started coming from Tundra Town." Marian pointed at the screen, the signals started coming from different places around the city at roughly minute intervals for a few minutes before the signal was lost altogether. "Needless to say they also disabled their radios."

"Kodi's portals," Clara said, 'we can have all the rapid response we want but those things are just unpredictable."

"Good to know we're putting all of the Mayor's, the ZPD's and the MCB's resources to good use," Ryan barbed, mostly at himself.

"How did they block the signal? There aren't too many areas where the signal naturally wouldn't reach us and all of them are being monitored right?" Luna asked Marian.

"We are, and they aren't there. But it stands to reason that they have some kind of hideout if they've avoided us this long," Marian explained.

"Either way we aren't going to be able to catch Kodi and the others unless he makes a big mistake," Clara spoke up,"we need to lure him out."

"And you'd be the perfect bait?" Ryan guessed.

"He'd do anything to save me," Clara reasoned.

Ryan looked a bit angry at first, but quickly turned away, "Yes, he would."

000

Sirius floated above the PMR Labs, mentally preparing herself for the task of capturing Kodi. It was ironic; their first mission together had involved him trying to save her and now she was trying to bring him in. Kodi, please see reason on this.

"Sirius!" A voice called out. She looked down and saw Miss Fantabulous standing on the roof. "We're almost ready to head out, you sure you're ready?"

"I'm sure, I'm not looking forward to this but...Ryan's got the right of it, and the sooner this is over with the better," Sirius put some steel into her voice.

"You poor thing," Miss Fantabulous muttered.

"It's okay," Sirius misunderstood, "but thank you for caring."

Before either of the two could speak again they heard Marian over the radio, "We have a visual on Mage, Chime and Orca!"

"What!?" Multiple voices shouted at once.

"It's true," Ryan stated, "the two PMFR members appear to be unconscious and...Mage is just floating over them."

"Where are they?" Vizor asked.

"Savanna Central, top of...wait, what's he doing?' Ryan asked.

"It looks like a clock," Marian answered. Indeed, Mage had just placed a digital clock in Orca's lap, and it started counting down from five minutes. Marian went tense, "What's he planning?"

"I don't know but that clock's not going to get the chance to run out. Everyone scramble to Mage's position," Ryan shouted.

It quickly became clear how well thought out Mage's choice of battlefield was. It was far enough away from the lab that some heroes would have trouble reaching it quickly, the tall building prevented Roar and Miss Fantabulous from easily accessing it. Vizor confirmed that Bullet was hiding inside the building; her pulse gave Mage a very advanced warning system. The height also meant it was very risky to stun the Mage since he could easily fall over the ledges. Sirius kept all of that in mind as she flew towards the building from above. Kodi, what are you planning?

"Sirius," Ryan called over her radio, "security footage just spotted someone leaving a hiding space in the building next to Mage, it was brief, but we saw a red hood and a mask."

"It's Reginald," Sirius said with confidence.

"I agree," Ryan said, "try and get Kodi talking as long as you can, the others need time to catch up."

"Will do," Sirius agreed as she closed the distance. She didn't fly as fast as she could've, better to stall for time, but before the clock had reached two minutes she was within walking distance of her boyfriend.

Try and keep him talking. "You certainly know how to pick a spot with a great view Kodi, though I didn't think we'd be going on a date in costumes this soon," Clara teased lightly.

"You know perfectly well why we're in costumes Clara, or am I talking directly to you Ryan?" Mage spoke in full serious mode.

Sirius heard a sharp inhale of breath on her radio, but stayed focused, "Not in the mood for banter hun? Oh well." Sirius took a serious face of her own, "What are you hoping to accomplish here Kodi?"

"Save you of course," the Mage said bluntly.

"Like how you saved me from Doom? Oh right, I didn't need saving then and I don't need it now. But you Mister Jones certainly do," Sirius pointed directly at him.

"And what self serving manifesto is Ryan pushing out of your mouth?" Mage almost sounded disinterested.

Sirius's eyes narrowed, "It's the truth, just like in this world, all of our problems right now could've been avoided if we'd had a capable mastermind helping to guide us! Luna would never have fallen into bad habits, Alice and the others, but especially you, would've never gone with such an obviously flawed plan and we wouldn't be falling apart right now. You and Robyn would still be friends!"

"Robyn and I are friends, friends who aren't afraid to look back and see where they failed before and learn from it," Mage said with confidence, "and yeah, I've made mistakes, but stumbling and getting back up is part of getting better, and that's something Clara understood...and that you don't Ryan."

Sirius snarled don't, "Don't talk to me like I'm not here!"

"My girlfriend isn't here, and I have no interest in talking with a puppet, so why don't you come out Ryan?' Mage challenged.

Be a drone, but stay airborne. Sirius's body went stiff. In the command center Ryan got in a pre prepared chair and slipped on a special helmet and gave the signal to Sirius's steelblood. It started sending more advanced info back as the helmet linked Ryan's thoughts directly to the network he'd created. Now Ryan could see what his drone was seeing and direct it on the spot, his steelblood would also simulate any sounds and feelings his drone experienced while he was piloting them. It was as close to actually being there as he could get. If nothing else he would stall for more time. Sirius's body loosened up a little and her expression became slightly sad.

"Let me begin by saying that I'm sorry about the fight you and the others got caught in when you arrived, I never wanted that," Ryan spoke with Sirius's voice, "Is Fuli Duma okay?"

"She's fine," the Mage said quickly, cutting out the reprogrammed version of his girlfriend and talking right to Ryan strangely made things easier. "Your concern would ring less hollow if it weren't coming from the mind wiped drone you turned my girlfriend into."

"It doesn't need to stay that way permanently," Ryan said through Sirius, "just until the security measures are all in effect, but this can't be done half assed."

"A security measure that turns who knows how many mammals into choiceless drones, where does this stop Ryan? Or have you not thought that far ahead?" the Mage asked.

"Zootopia for now, I know It's impractical for just me to go any further." Sirius started to slowly advance on the Mage, "But I don't want to do it all alone, there's so many worlds out there, so many pointless tragedies, I want all of you to be able to help your worlds too."

"Like how you didn't come to this obvious trap aione? Like how it's impractical that a sudden electronic damper field is going to hide Andraste trying to snipe me?" The Mage easily intercepted the steelblood arrow fired on him with a card, sending the parasitic device to the roof below. Ryan wasted no time and shot forward, jabbing the Mage in the lower neck with a steelblood syringe of his own.

"This is for the better you'll see," Ryan carefully held Kodi so Sirius would catch him when he went blank during the takeover. Ryan's pain sensors picked up a sudden prick in Sirius's arm. A quick look confirmed that the Mage had stuck a syringe of his own in Sirius's upper arm.

"Why don't you look closer?" Mage taunted, drawing Ryan's gaze down to his neck again. The distinctive white liquid of steelblood was leaking back out of the small hole Ryan had made.

Ryan panicked, "How!?"

"The cure," Mage boasted. He correctly predicted that Ryan would try to escape so sent his binding scarf to ensnare Sirius's wrists. The wolf struggled for a moment before a crackle of energy escaped her hands, but the aim was poor and the blast sailed harmlessly into the sky. Ryan's vision was starting to get blurry so he opted for a desperate move. He charged up all the energy in Sirius's body and prepared to release it in one big burst. The signal was getting so weak that he barely saw the orange ring of a portal fly past his field of view, and only a glimpse of the Undying Scarlet as her staff flew forward and knocked Sirius out.

"You've lost Sirius's signal!" Ryan heard Marian call. He quickly rerouted his view to look through another of his drones; Andraste. He didn't dare try to take full control; the pause it would cause would definitely cost him the fight, but he could still provide on the spot instructions. He finished integrating with Andraste's steelblood and was immediately assaulted with The Crimson Banshee's wail. It did nothing to bother Andraste as she easily dodged the subsequent jumping attack.

Luna! Draw him further down, Miss Fantabulous is almost here! He commanded. Reginald's a brute according to Clara, he should be easy to fool. As the two combatants locked eyes, Ryan looked at the supposed fury in those vivid...violet eyes? That's not...it's Ronan! Both Ryan and Andraste realized they'd been duped by a simple costume swap just as Ronan used the distraction to draw his pistol which had been attached to his back and concealed by Crimson's cloak. He fired. Dodge it! Andraste desperately fell backwards to dodge and hit the ground. Not a moment later there was a sword pointed at Andraste's throat.

"You are immune to tranquilizers if I'm correct, but not this!" The energy field flared to life around the sword and with one clean swipe, Ryan was evicted from a second of his drones. In the heat of the moment, he'd forgotten about the tranq immunity shot's he'd given to his drones.

This time he made no attempt to integrate with another drone, he ripped the helmet off and watched events play out, trying to form a plan. Roar had caught the Mage off guard from down below with a blasting roar, though the distance prevented it from being any more than a knockback. When Roar attempted to pounce up at the flying wolf, the Mage flung a portal at him and sent the giant lion crashing into Miss Fantabulous, who was almost upon Ronan and Blade Dancer. Ryan watched, unable to do anything as a flurry of orange rings resulted in the Mage, Ronan, Blade Dancer, Bullet, Orca, Chime and Andraste disappearing.

He'd lost.

000

"I AM GOING TO PIN THAT HYBRID CREEP TO A WALL AND BLAST HIM WITH THE ENTIRE NICKELBACK DISCOGRAPHY IN MY SONIC YELL!" Esso hollered as she was brought up to speed on what had happened.

Rani smiled before turning to Bella, "She is back, it is working."

"So far," Bella agreed, "but their minds were not heavily altered by Ryan's steelblood, Miss Bloom and Mrs Wilde will be the real test." Bella turned to look at the tables where the wolf and fox were laid, Kodi and Alice faithfully at their sides.

"Well we all want a piece of Ryan," Hannah smiled as she stepped up to the furious lynx, "good to have you back Esso."

"Yeah, yeah," Esso seethed, "look I'm, sorry about…"

Hannah interrupted, "it's fine Esso, nothing he used you for is your fault."

"I almost wish it was," Regina muttered, "it would make all these memories easier to process." The mare had slipped off her Orca hood and looked a bit like a diver who'd just came back up from a dive.

"What do you remember?" Alice asked without looking away from Luna.

"It's...weird," Regina sighed, "Parts of my memories feel normal, except there's something a little off. Like you're remembering a fact for a test wrong. Then there's entire blotches of times I don't remember anything."

"The blotches are likely the times the steelblood took complete control of you," Clara reasoned, "are there any memories you do have that feel out of place?"

Esso spoke up first, "Did we get into a fight? Like a, what's the word, verbal one?" The question was directed at Rani.

The lioness shook her head, "There was no fight, you were being made a drone and were attacking me when I escaped."

"Ryan filled in the blanks," Ronan stated as he emerged from a changing room. He'd changed into a simple undershirt and pants and made his way back over to Fuli's bed. When he put his hand where he knew hers rested he felt nothing, a moment's panic and some quick reaching out revealed that there was a pillow underneath Fuli's blanket and the cheetah herself was gone. Ronan barely had a chance to process this when something grabbed him by the ankles and lifted him into the air. Ronan was upside down when his girlfriend's face faded into existence from seemingly nowhere.

"The amount of fun I am going to have with this power is scary Ronnie," Fuli said with a devious smile.

Ronan gave a happy smile in return, "I'm just relieved to see you smiling at all."

Fuli's grin softed to a more sweet expression, "Reginald told me you hardly left my side."

"As little as I could get away with," Ronan leaned in and kissed Fuli while still upside down. Fuli reciprocated the kiss for a few seconds before getting tired of having to hold her arms so high up. She tossed Ronan into the air and caught him right side up and resumed the kiss.

Esso grinned, "I like this Fuli, she'd be fun to hang around."

"Yes well," Hannah sighed, "that's three out of five patients recovering, but those two are the big question," she pointed at Clara and Luna. "You two got relatively light mind altering, with them it was way more extensive."

"So we don't know how they'll react when they…" Alice was interrupted by Sirius groaning, "wake up."

Sirius stirred from her sleep and groggily opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Kodi's concerned face looking down at her, then she looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. With little warning Sirius tried to roll out of her bed, but she was far too unbalanced and instead tumbled to the floor. Kodi caught her but soon found one of her palms was aimed square at his chest. Deathly silence filled the room, and aside from Hannah quietly aiming one of her tranq guns at Sirius, no one moved. Sirius looked completely lost and was constantly looking back and forth between her surroundings and Kodi. She became focused when Kodi gently put his hand around the hand aimed at him and guided it to his heart. "Take all the time you need Clara, there's no one in your head but you now."

Sirius's face went through a whole gauntlet of emotions very rapidly; denial, confusion, sadness, anger and fear. Tears fell down her cheeks as her face finally settled on grief, she leaned forward and planted her face on Kodi's shoulder. "He turned, he forced me to be something I'm...I feel violated."

"You're stronger then he is Clara, your memories, who you are, it'll beat out his nonsense with enough time," Kodi tried to reassure her. For a while the two wolves held their embrace and shut out everything around them, including Luna and Alice going through a similar process as themselves. When Sirius was ready to stand again, the two turned to face the still gathered mammals.

Kodi looked over the group of twelve mammals before him, the fourteen of them were all he had to save the city from Ryan's grasp and find a way to get all of them back home. Someone had to rise to the challenge. "Thank you, all of you, for helping me save Clara. Thank you Robyn for helping me realize where I'd gone wrong before, and thank you Reginald for going through so much to make this cure possible." Kodi closed his eyes and put on a more serious face, "But we're still far from winning this battle, we've only got a small amount of the cure left and not much means to produce more. What's worse, the cure only protects the body for a little over a day. We won today, yes, but we need to capitalize on this and quickly if we want to save this city, if we want to free everyone under Ryan's control, if we want to go home. Tonight we rest, we all need it, but tomorrow we take the fight to Ryan. It'll be tough, probably the hardest thing any of us have done so far, I'll be honest and say the odds aren't great, but all of us, Ceartais or Highshadow, do this because we want to help mammals. Not because it's easy, not for any reward, but because it's right!" Kodi was speaking at a higher volume now. "Tomorrow I'm doing what;s right! So are all of you with me!?" The leader of Team Ceartais received a resounding cheer from all in attendance.

AN: Aka: How Kodi Jones got his groove back. Our heroes finally get some strikes back at Ryan, but the battle is still far from won. How will all parties involved proceed from here?

Next Time: On the night before the final battle, everyone takes a moment to catch their breaths and we see how the worlds left behind are dealing with these bizarre circumstances.