DISCLAIMER: I was sitting at my computer, happily typing away, just finishing my new draft of my bid to own Zootopia when a guy in a red and yellow metal armor set came in and said they needed my computer to track something called an "infinity rock" or something. Then he took my computer and blasted a hole in my ceiling instead of using the front door. So not only do I still not own Zootopia, but now I have a ceiling repair to make.

Special thanks to the best editor in the world, TheoreticallyEva! Have you seen her latest oneshot?


Doug had been trying to get into the traffic camera system using a few other accounts he knew, all of which seemed to be blocked, when he looked out the window and noticed the city utilities truck and fire truck parked in the roadway about half a block up.

"How long has that been there?"

At his question, his Texas longhorn colleague looked up from browsing the news sites, and glanced out the window. "I'm not sure. Maybe five minutes or so? Wasn't there when I went to check on the other members we have housed here. What are they doing?"

The fire mammals were hooking up a trio of hoses they'd laid out to a hydrant on the sidewalk. There weren't any fires nearby, though. Nothing had gone out over the scanner to that effect. Oddly, the radio had been somewhat silent. As they watched, the fire mammals completed the connections and opened the hydrant valve, allowing gallons of water to shoot through the hoses and eventually out into the gutter and down the sewer drain on the other side of the road.

Doug scrutinized the scene. "It looks like they're flushing the water system. The quickest way to do that is through fire hydrants. It was standard procedure back when I worked for the city."

"But the fire truck?"

The ram shrugged. "They might be helping. Their pumpers can increase the flow if need be."

Hornby scoffed. "So instead of protecting the city, they're wasting mammal resources. Typical. I guess in their mind restoring water is more important than dealing with the filth in the city. Kind of odd, though, that they blocked the whole road. Why not just one lane and pipe it down to that storm drain there?" The bovine pointed to a grate closer to them on the same side of the street as the hydrant.

The ram squinted, then shook his head. "I don't know. Sometimes crews decide they want the whole street for whatever reason. I'm kind of curious to know what they're doing on the other side. I can see someone or something moving around through the truck's cab windows."

"You aren't thinking of going out there and looking, are you?" Hornby regarded the smaller mammal carefully.

"Heck, no. The fire mammals see my face, maybe one of them's connected to the police, and suddenly, they'll be all over this place. No way. Whatever they're doing, it's not important. We can find out later."


Judy carefully steered the cruiser through the streets of the Meadowlands, packed in the middle of the tight convoy of police cruisers heading to their target warehouse. Bogo had sent the fire department and the city utilities crew on ahead of them to get set up, and had only ordered his mammals to move once he'd gotten word from the fire crew that they were all set up.

They took the direct route to the Meadowlands, since it was short and the likelihood of someone being able to tip the media off was low. Most of the buildings along the road into the mostly abandoned subdivisions were small shops and services that had decided to stay closed for the day, and there weren't any residences to worry about at all.

As the convoy neared the unnamed subdivision, they slowed down and turned down an alleyway, shielded by the large city utilities truck and a fire engine. Judy could only hope that the ruse worked, or else they might have even more surprises waiting for them, none of them pleasant.

The alleyway was so narrow they could only crawl along, inches from the cruiser in front of them, and some of the larger cruisers ended up leaving a bit of paint on the walls on either side. After the third time Rhinowitz traded paint with the bricks, Nick let out a snort. "You'd think that a senior officer could drive better. Do all rhinos drive that bad?"

"Are you saying that bunny drivers aren't all that bad, Slick?"

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far, Carrots. I've been in the car with you driving for most of the last few months. I don't think anyone's as crazy a driver as you are." The fox winked at his partner to let her know that he was kidding. Judy had one of the highest marks in the academy driving courses, even from the beginning.

Of course, Judy couldn't help but point out that fact. "Hey, I seem to recall that your scores in the driving courses weren't as good as mine."

"That's because the instructors were all gazing at me instead of grading my driving, Fluff."

Judy couldn't help but giggle at that. "I don't know about that, Slick. Seems to me you had trouble with the driving simulators before even getting behind the wheel of the training cruisers. Major Friedkin told me about singlepawedly wiping out a chicken farm."

"Hey, those chickens were in my way. They were obviously in cahoots with the criminals!"

That got a laugh from the doe, just as Bogo's cruiser at the lead of the pack cleared the alleyway and made a hard left back onto the roadway. "Chickens in cahoots with a criminal? You expect me to believe that, Nick?"

"Absolutely, 100%."

"I have the sneaking suspicion the Major didn't believe that for a second." Judy turned their own cruiser back on to the roadway and followed Bogo as the convoy began to split up and head to their own individual rendezvous.

"No, she didn't. She even told me I was dead because an angry chicken farmer came after me with a shotgun." Nick glowered at the dash as though it were somehow responsible for the mishap.

They pulled to a stop behind Bogo's cruiser, in front of a pair of empty lots, a large open field with a fence on the other side of the road. The warehouse was about a block away, so they'd be approaching on foot from here. Judy secured the cruiser, then quickly hopped out, looping around to the trunk, where Nick was already standing. They both took a moment to check over each other's armour before making sure their weapons were loaded and ready, each with a few spare clips of ammunition and tranquilizer rounds rated for different sized mammals, though they took extra large rounds. If they had a run-in with a dozen elephants, shooting darts that would be small for a fox wouldn't help matters.

Judy holstered her lethal while keeping her dart gun with an elephant round in her paw. The lethal was rated to incapacitate a mammal as large as a tiger, or, with a little bit of luck, a mammal Bogo's size, but against anything bigger, it didn't have the stopping power. Nick's was a little bigger, but it still didn't have the necessary punch.

They made their way to the back of the chief's cruiser, where the scant few other mammals that would be hitting the front door were already standing. Bogo himself hung up a conference call he'd been having with all of the other team leaders. He turned to the officers under his immediate command.

"It's time. Follow my lead, watch each other's backs, and above all, make sure each one of us comes home safely tonight." As if out of a movie, he cocked his own lethal weapon. "Let's go."


Rivers nodded to his partner and both alighted from their cruiser, a complement of officers from Precinct Six following suit behind them. "Jacobsen, Harcourt, Rawlins, you three back Longtooth up. Go secure Aiden Hogsmeed." The antelope, hyena, and warthog nodded and split off. Rivers then gestured to the other three. "Thessius, Prangley, Pawson, with me. We're going to the C-Suite to visit McStripeson."

"Oh, joy. The one time I get to go to the opulent penthouse suite of a skyrise, and it's to arrest the mammal that works there." Arnie Pawson glowered.

"That's about right, Officer Pawson. No drinks or free complimentary warm towels today. Just in, arrest, and out. You might even get to go home to your female friend early," Rivers quipped.

Pawson glared at his elk superior but didn't say anything, instead falling in behind the line of mammals now marching towards the skyscraper's main entrance. A quick visit with building security, and they had their elevator access passes and were on two of the express elevators to the Furston skylobby. The mongoose Furston receptionist was understandably nervous when a group of eight armed police officers suddenly marched inside. She was about to ask what they needed when she noticed that four of them were entering the executive elevator. "Sirs! You can't use that without an escort!"

The elk, whose title as a detective was spelled out on the shield he wore clipped to his suit pocket, turned to give her a quizzical eye. "Ma'am, this is police business, so I strongly suggest you not interfere." The door closed in her face, leaving her to deal with the remainder of the officers who were watching the lioness in the group as though waiting for orders.

The receptionist ran back to her desk and looked at her company directory, then picked up the phone. "I'll call our chief of security down for you," she said as she started to dial.

In a flash, the lioness had leapt over the desk and slammed her paw down on the hang-up button, cutting the phone connection before it had even rung. The officer—another detective—glared at her. "No phone calls. Has Mr. Hogsmeed signed in for the day?"

The mongoose nodded, not wanting the intensity of the detective's expression turned her way. "He's on the 84th floor. I don't know exactly which office, though. I'm not allowed up there. You'll have to ask around."

The lioness nodded. "That's fine. Harcourt, Rawlins, with me. Jacobsen, you stay down here. Keep an eye on things. Radio channel 68."

The antelope gave a crisp nod. "You got it, detective."

The lioness turned to the receptionist. "And you, any calls come in, for anyone, forward them to voicemail until we're done here."

"What about direct lines? Or mammals that use the company directory? I don't have control over that!"

"That's fine, just nothin' through you." The lioness headed for the elevator, the car already having been called by her colleague. The three officers boarded the elevator and disappeared, and the mongoose turned to her new companion.

"What's going on here?" she asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"'Fraid I can't tell you, ma'am." The officer took up a position next to her desk and the phone, with a good view of the elevators.

"Is Mr. Hogsmeed in trouble?" She didn't know the mammal personally but was still curious. The police officer didn't say a word, so she shrugged and pulled up Zoogle on her computer, looking for any news that wasn't a rehash of yesterday.


Rivers emerged onto the C-suite floor, the same one he and Longtooth had visited a short time ago, only this time, he wasn't here for just a visit. He drew his weapon, offing the safety and holding it at ready. Leaving Officer Thessius at the elevator, the elk followed the mental map Marian Wilde had given him. Thankfully, she hadn't left out any of the details, and her instructions took her right to McStripeson's office door.

As they approached, a haggard-looking wombat popped out from an alcove next to the executive assistant's desk. "Can I help you? Mr. McStripeson is—hey! You can't go in there! Mr. McStripeson is in a meeting!"

The elk and his fellow officers ignored the complaints of the marsupial and pushed through the large faux-wood door into the opulent office beyond. Their target stood next to the floor-to-ceiling windows, talking with the company's CEO and the mammal Rivers recognized as Graham Ellismaw, the executive to whom he'd spoken last time he was here.

"What's the meaning of this? Detective Rivers?" Mr. Ellismaw looked equal parts concerned and angry. No doubt having someone barge into one's colleague's office was not a common occurrence.

"No one move. James McStripeson, I'm placing you under arrest," Rivers said as he lowered his pistol slightly, though a movement from the zebra caught his eye and he immediately brought it back up. "Don't do it, McStripeson."

The zebra gave a derisive snort and crossed his arms, having been reaching for the phone on his desk. "OK, I'll bite. On what charges?"

River's expression remained neutral as he approached the three mammals. "Aiding and abetting terrorism, money laundering, embezzlement, and development and use of biological weapons."

"Embezzlement?" That was the CEO's voice. "Surely you are not suggesting from this company?"

"Sorry, sir, but I can't discuss an active case. I'd suggest you two leave, though. This doesn't concern you two," the detective said, indicating the CEO and Ellismaw. George Prangley and Arnie Pawson moved to usher the two extra mammals out of the room.

As they were doing so, the zebra crossed his arms and stared defiantly at the ZPD detective. "In case you aren't aware, there's a crisis in the city, and Furston is being called on to provide the antidote for yesterday's… disaster. To top it all off, my personal assistant deserted yesterday and hasn't returned our calls. This really isn't a good time."

Rivers almost laughed. "Oh, but this is the perfect time, Mr. McStripeson. I have to say, you seem to think we don't know anything about your activities. We know exactly who you are and what you've been up to. So, I'd suggest you shut up, since you still have that right. Officer Pawson?" The cheetah had returned to the detective's side. "Cuff him."

The cheetah officer grinned. "With pleasure, sir." He moved to the zebra. "Hooves behind your head. Sir." The last word dripped sarcasm.

"You know my lawyers will just make fools out of you, right?"

That got Rivers laughing. "Doubtful. Seriously. Shut up. You're in enough trouble as it is."

Pawson yanked the zebra's left hoof down and snapped his pawcuffs around it before doing the same thing to the right, though he might have overtightened that one, given the grunt and wince from the striped equine, and both officers pretended not to notice.

"All right. You're coming with us, so I hope you've got your affairs squared away, since you won't have the chance to anymore."

The zebra grinned. "But I still get my phone call."

That got a laugh out of both of the ZPD members present, before Rivers calmed and looked the ivory tower equine straight in the eye. "That's just a myth perpetuated by the film industry. We aren't actually required to provide you with any phone calls. We might be nice enough to let you have one, or two, but that's entirely up to us."

The elk gestured to the rookie officer, who gave the former Furston chief operating officer a shove toward the door. "Move your ass," Arnie Pawson said coldly.

"Well, that's no way to talk to your betters, filth."

The mumbled comment was quiet enough that only the feline overheard. "I'd say that the only thing you're better than are slugs, but then I'd be insulting slugs. So, don't make me insult slugs. Move your ass." Arnie gave another shove towards the door.


In another part of the Furston building, Nolwazi Longtooth emerged from the elevator into the financial heart of the company. Not much different from any other part of an office, if she was perfectly honest. A few mammals gave her odd looks, and more than one look was one of distrust, but they all went on their way without greeting her at all.

That was until a familiar pig walked out of a side office. At first, the pig was engrossed in the papers in his hooves. Then he looked up. The grin on his snout vanished in a second to a look initially of confusion, then horror. Before Longtooth could even say a word, the pig had thrown the papers at her and took off in the direction of the emergency staircase.

"Hey, wait!" Longtooth burst through the fluttering papers, further scattering them and making even more of a mess. "Aiden Hogsmeed, stop!" She pirouetted around a mammal pushing a filing cart into her path. "Stop, sir!"

Hogsmeed burst into the emergency stairwell, glanced up at the floors above, then bolted downward, taking the medium mammal steps two and three at a time and using the bannister for balance. The lioness detective was only seconds behind him, slamming through the door and immediately turning down the stairs.

Despite the circumstances, Longtooth decided to risk a radio call. "Jacobsen! Suspect on the run, headin' down the southeast emergency stairwell! Passin' the 80th floor, in pursuit!" The lioness prayed he'd find the correct stairwell in time, since the skylobby was on the 76th floor of the building. 'Damn, that pig can move,' she thought as she turned on the landing a floor above her suspect and started down the next flight of stairs.

For three more floors, Longtooth raced after the pig, praying that her backup had gotten the message. Just as the suspect reached the 76th floor, the door burst open, the antelope in question timing his entrance such that the pig had no time to react. Hogsmeed ran right into the antelope's long outstretched arm, clotheslining himself and hanging in the air for the briefest of moments before crashing down on the hard concrete floor, flat on his back and winded.

Longtooth quickly descended the remaining floor. Walking up to the downed pig, with Jacobsen attempting to roll him over and cuff him, she crouched down and stared into his hate-filled eyes. "Now that wasn't a very smart thin' to do, was it, Mr. Hogsmeed? You didn't even stop to say hi or offer us a cup of coffee." She stood just as Harcourt joined her, Officer Rawlins having stayed behind to keep an eye on everything in the finance department. "You're under arrest, by the way."

Hogsmeed began struggling even harder, and Longtooth had to grab his arms and hold them tight while Jacobsen kept trying to turn him over on his stomach and Harcourt grabbed his legs. Despite several orders to stop resisting, Hogsmeed continued to struggle, redoubling his efforts once Jacobsen got the cuff on the pig's right hoof. At one point, he got his left rear hoof free and kicked Harcourt in the stomach, clearly aiming for something else. Harcourt let out a grunt, and the three finally wrestled the other cuff on the pig's left forehoof. Then they turned him back over and pulled him into a sitting position, patting him down and removing his phone, wallet, keys, ID card, and a bunch of coins from his pockets in the process.

The pig glared defiantly at his captors. "You got nothing on me!"

At that, the lioness detective let out a short laugh. "We have plenty on you. Embezzlement, terrorism, accomplice to murder. Oh, and resistin' arrest. Thanks for the run, by the way. I needed my daily workout. It's nice when I get it on the job and don't have to worry about doin' it later."

The pig spat at her, hitting her on the nose.

"… And now we can add assaultin' an officer to your sheet. Maybe you should quit while you're ahead." Longtooth pulled a hanky out of her pocket and wiped her muzzle off.

"I'm not telling you nothing!"

"Oh, so, you'll tell us everythin'? That's great. We'd love to hear what you have to say. But not here. You're coming with us. Jacobsen, Harcourt, let's get him downstairs into the van." Longtooth and her two backup officers hauled the resisting pig to his hooves and dragged him out through the skylobby to the elevators, the receptionist and a few other Furston employees gaping.

The ride down was accompanied by a few attempts by the pig to reach the elevator panel. Longtooth could only guess at the reason, since even if he stopped the car, he'd still be trapped in a metal box with three police officers.

The main lobby was somewhat empty, so no one got to enjoy the spectacle of a pig being dragged out the front door by an antelope and a wolf, a lioness following close behind. They'd just finished loading the yelling, screaming mammal in the van when Rivers emerged, a zebra in tow.

Longtooth looked over at her partner and grinned. "Looks like you got lucky, too! He give you a workout?"

The elk shook his head. "Nope. He came peacefully. Though he assured me several times that he'd make sure he had my badge, job, wages, and a bunch of other things. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't want my firstborn."

Nolwazi Longtooth laughed. "Don't mention that in front of him, or he might actually demand it!" Rivers joined her in the laughter as he and his own officers mammalhandled the former Furston officer into the transport van to join his colleague.

Shutting the door behind the two caged mammals, Rivers let out a breath. "I heard your target gave you the runaround."

Longtooth frowned. "More like the run-down. Thought it'd be a great idea to try to escape down eighty-six flights of stairs. As if we wouldn't have someone waitin' to catch anyone runnin'. Ended up clotheslinin' himself on Jacobsen's arm."

Rivers laughed. "Too bad we don't have video footage of that. I'd pay to see it." He immediately sobered, though. "I wonder how the others are doing."


At that particular moment, McHorn pounded on the door of a rather non-descript Savannah Central home. He'd personally wanted to be part of Bogo's team, but the chief had already chosen, and the operation was in full swing.

"Just a minute," came the female voice from inside as he waited. A chime from his phone indicated that his partner, a sheriff from Bunnyburrow named Deerson, was in position at the back door.

He pounded on the door again. "Police, ma'am! Open up!"

Finally, the door unlocked and swung open, a rather overweight sow appearing in the entry. "I'm sorry I took so long. I'm the only one here to take care of the piglets. Can I help you today?"

McHorn looked at the other mammal. "We're here to speak with Thomas Hogsmeed. I assume you are Willow Hogsmeed?"

"I'm his wife, yes. What do you want with Tom?"

"Police business, ma'am. Can't say," the rhino grunted, crossing his arms.

"Well, he's at work today… surprisingly. He won't be back for another few hours."

McHorn's ears twitched and he could just make out whispering coming from inside the house. "Ma'am, are you sure you're alone?"

The sow's eyes flicked towards the kitchen, and she flinched. "Yes, of course. I'm sure that's just the piglets playing."

The relative calm was broken, though, when McHorn's phone went off, and he held up one hoof to the sow, answering the call from Detective Rivers. "McHorn, you at Thomas Hogsmeed's place yet? His brother's phone just rang with Thomas' home number!"

"Yeah, 10-4." He hung up.

"Ma'am, we know that Thomas is here. Things will go a lot easier, and probably less traumatizing for your children, if you just bring him to us."

The sow crossed her arms. "What are you going to do? Arrest him? He's done nothing wrong!"

Ryan McHorn shook his head. "Sorry, ma'am, but as I said, this is police business. Don't make me—" He didn't get any further. At that moment, his radio crackled to life.

"Zulu 256, got your suspect. Right around back here."

A ghost of a grin crossed the stoic rhino's muzzle. "You have a nice day, ma'am."

The rhino headed around behind the house to find Sheriff Deerson pulling on Hogsmeed's forehooves. The latter had attempted to climb out a bathroom window, but was now rethinking his decision, now trying to pull himself back inside.

McHorn took hold of the pig's forehooves himself. Together, the two police mammals pulled the pig the rest of the way through the window, catching him before he fell to the ground, then setting him down on his belly and cuffing him.

Immediately, the yelling started.

"Get your hooves off of me, fuzz! This is police brutality!"

McHorn raised an eyebrow. "Seems to me, you were stuck in the window, and we rescued you from it."

The sheriff next to him smirked, then took on a look of shock as the pig started bashing his head on the concrete ground, violently. The two officers quickly moved to restrain him and keep him from harming himself.

"I'm not required to inform you, but you are on video camera, so if you do try to use the police brutality defence, the footage will be submitted as evidence." McHorn's tone was even as he crossed his arms and stared at the belligerent mammal.

"Fine. What the hell are you harassing me for? I didn't do anything!"

The huge rhino's eyebrows fully rose. "You can keep telling yourself that. We're arresting you for arson, murder, and terrorism."

The pig barked a laugh. "I don't got anything to do with that shit that went down yesterday. Prove it!"

McHorn shook his head. "Not my job to do. That's the detective's job. In the meantime, you're coming with us."

The rhino hoisted the pig up and frogmarched him around the side of the house and to the large ZPD cruiser sitting out front, opening the back door and pushing his detainee into the oversized back seat. He took a second to strap the mammal in and was just about to slam the door when he heard the sound of claws on a chalkboard.

"What are you doing to my husband?!"

McHorn sighed, and Deerson shook his head before the Bunnyburrow sheriff turned to the distraught sow and spoke. "My ZPD colleague is placing him under arrest, ma'am."

"You can't do that! He didn't do anything wrong!" She started pushing and shoving to get to the cruiser, but McHorn stood his ground.

"Ma'am. Please don't push us. We don't want to arrest you, too," Sheriff Deerson said as he pulled the sow aside. "Listen, ma'am, if your husband is innocent, he'll be out soon."

"I'm going to call your superiors! Don't worry, honey, you'll be back home in no time." The sow turned back to the house saying something about getting hold of her uncle or something.

Sheriff Deerson turned to the larger ZPD officer. "I think we'd better tell your chief to expect a call from a lawyer."

The huge rhino harrumphed and opened the driver's side door to a cacophony of yelling and banging from the mammal in the back seat. "Honestly, I think he's going to have a lot more than just one lawyer barking at him. Let's go."


Dade Walker and John Wood boarded the subway car at the Oasis Hotel station, though they had some difficulty, the car being fuller than usual because of the ban on vehicular driving. They ended up crammed in the aisle down the middle of the car after a group of hippos piled in behind them. Neither one could move, but that was the price to pay at that point.

Their plan was to take the Zootopia Loop train through Tundratown to Precipitation Street in the Rainforest District, the only station in that district still open, mainly to serve residents of the Meadowlands coming off the very shortened Rainforest line. Normally thirteen stops, the Rainforest line had been reduced to three with the evacuation and closure of the eponymous district and the Canals, and Precipitation Street was the transfer point.

Even the Zootopia Express had been cut off, the train ending in Prairie Den one hundred miles from the city before returning to its Deerbrooke county end-of-line. Word out in the sticks was that the economy was taking a huge hit already, with its primary method of sale and export of farm products and source of tourists on lockdown.

Walker grinned at that thought. The financial pressure would help them to… support the suggestions their councillor had to deal with the problems in the city, since the residents out there were mainly herbivorous. Maybe some… generous contributions to help them make it through the drought would buy some more.

Neither of the two elders noticed Officer Jake Steel, in plainclothes, who'd gotten on the train as well and now had a very close eye on them. They looked familiar.

He traveled this line daily on his way to his Sahara Square precinct, so he now he had a few minutes at least to formulate a plan. The first thing he did was check the email he'd received from the detectives in Precinct One about mammals for whom to watch. He flipped through the attached pictures before pausing on one. Bingo. John Wood. The beaver. A few more flips, and he'd identified the deer as Dade Walker. He was certain, having seen and read the email with the target's dossiers that morning. The deer's antler rack was almost identical to his driver's license photo, and the beaver had the same scar on his right cheek. They were wanted.

The hippo took a moment to check his watch, guessing he had only a minute or two to organize something before the next station, then sent a text message to one of his colleagues with the line and train car number, silently thanking the transit system for installing localized Wifi and cell service in all of its train cars. A couple seconds later, he got a response, saying that he'd have backup waiting at the Tundra Gate station, but it would be a few minutes.

Unfortunately for Steele, those were a few minutes too many, and the station came and went. Fortunately, the two mammals of interest didn't move, and the train continued onward. His buddy, Steve Higgins, confirmed that they'd be moving up the line to intercept at the next station.

The train passed under the climate wall and into Tundratown. The temperature in the car dropped noticeably, even underground, and the hippo was forced to control his shivers. There was a reason he tried to avoid the ice district.

The train dramatically slowed, then stopped in the middle of the dark tunnel. "All transit patrons, our next stop is Glacier Falls, but we're delayed thanks to some line congestion. Rainbow Falls and Cloud Alley stations are now closed, and the end of line is Precipitation Street. Thank you for choosing Zootopia Transit Authority." The driver's voice seemed calm, and the hippo wondered whether it really was line congestion or if Higgins had called the ZTA to delay the train. Either one was a possibility.

Soon enough, the train lurched and continued its journey, and a text message came in.

"Backup in place, platform 3, Glacier Falls station. Driver instructed to hold the train at station until given clearance. Keep eye on suspects."

Steele tapped out a confirmation, then silently moved himself into a better position to confront the suspects. The subway slowed again, then pulled to a stop at the station platform. No less than six police officers, some from both Sahara Square and Tundratown, manned the doors to the car, verifying each mammal as they exited, though their targets still didn't move, at least until the deer tapped the beaver on one shoulder and pointed to Sergeant Higgins, whispering something.

Steel made his move, knowing that the car's onboard security cameras were recording the whole thing.

"Dade Walker? Dade, is that you? Man, it's been years! How've you been?"

The deer in question turned in surprise and eyed the plainclothes officer warily. "Do I know you?"

Steele continued the bluff. "You and I went through Customs enforcement training together! My God, it's been a while!" The officer lumbered up to the two mammals, the beaver still looking fit to bolt, and extended his arm for a hoofshake, one that was reciprocated by the deer.

"I've been well, though I don't remember you. Were you in the same class?"

Shit. How did Customs lay their classes out? "Nah. Same year, and we had a few classes together, but not all of them."

The deer's eyes narrowed, and Steele risked a glance at his colleagues, just boarding the car behind the two suspects, out of their field of view.

"That's funny. Because Customs classes were all one group. And I don't remember you. Who are you really?"

Sergeant Higgins was in position. Time to break the ruse. He pulled his badge out of his pocket.

"Officer Jake Steele. ZPD, not Customs. And you two are under arrest. Terrorism, mass murder, and generally being stupid enough to confirm who you were before you even knew who I am."

To give them credit, it didn't take them more than a second or two for reality to dawn on them. The two mammals turned to run, only to run smack into Higgins' large belly, stopping their attempt cold.

Higgins and Steele both wrestled the two wanted suspects to the ground and cuffed them, then had a smaller wolf officer search them both, pulling their cell phone and wallet and confirming identification. The two began with the usual "didn't do anything wrong" mantra as they were hustled out of the train car, up the stairs, and to the waiting police cruisers.

Walker's last words before Higgins shut the door on him was that he'd have Steele's badge for entrapment and deception, or something. The last word was cut off as Higgins slammed the door.

"Wow. What are the chances. Two of the big names in all this, caught riding the subway. Nice job, Jake."

"Thanks, Steve. You, too, for the backup. I owe you a beer after all this is done. Where you off to?"

"Gotta check on some addresses that the detectives hashed out for us. If any of these places have any of our suspects, we gotta take 'em down quick. Hope Bogo's group goes well with their target. Stay safe out there."

Steele gave Higgins a fist-bump. "You, too, man."


A/N

There's a lot to say in this author's note, but before I say anything else, please go over to Koraru-san's deviantart page and give her a hug. Maybe chip in a little money on her ko-fi page. She's the artist and author behind The Mark comic, a cornerstone of our fandom, along with many other short comics and artworks, and she recently had a horrible computer failure befall her that caused her to lose all her work in the last 4 years, including all of the latest chapter of the Mark. Show her how much this fandom cares.

To those who found my story through the feature on ZNN, Welcome! I'm glad to have you! Cookies are in the corner, and there's pop in the fridge!

I tried to portray the police takedowns in this chapter all slightly different (and altogether unique but completely legal). I know many were hoping that we'd see the final battle in this chapter, but I wanted to give that it's own to really let Bogo and crew flex their muscles...And to tease you guys a bit more. I'm an evil cougar.

No one caught any references in the last chapter! Can you catch any in this chapter? Hint: Mass Effect!

Coming up on March 6: Checkmate!

Questions? Critiques? Did Hulk smash your tablet while reading this chapter? Leave a comment!