Author Note: Hey again all, I'm finally back with another chapter post! Told you I wasn't going anywhere! The time between posts will probably be closer to this from here on out, but hey, we're getting pretty close to the end so hopefully, it'll be worth the wait. In any case, you guys have been waiting longer than usual for this one, so here you go, enjoy!
"So what are you gonna do?"
"Hmm?"
"Once we're off this island, what are you gonna do?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Whatever's in that vault Dante and Cackler are looking for has gotta be worth a fortune, right? That'll make for one hell of a payday."
"You seriously think we'll be getting off this island with any of that loot?"
"Bru, this is the blimming find of a lifetime. An entire city's worth of treasure that up until now was thought to be a freaking legend. Do you know how much collectors will pay for the kind of shit we'll be hauling in? Even if we just snag a few and as our 'finder's fee', it'll still be enough to set us up for life."
Ugh, are those idiots still going at it?
Nick was really starting to lose his patience. His and Judy's attempt to reach the central temple had been having...somewhat mixed results. Getting into a firefight was out of the question, so they'd been trying to find a more subtle approach, looking for any gaps in Coastline's defences, but it seemed like every damn path was being watched.
This road had initially shown some promise, only for the two of them to wind up nearly stumbling into this patrol. They only barely managed to dive into the nearest building before they could be noticed, but the only hiding spot within reach was a very tight opening within the rubble.
Now they were just stuck in an uncomfortably tight hole while they waited out the two mercenaries, a caracal and a grey wooled ram. They were safe for now, but the Coastline soldiers were standing right outside, leaving any movement whatsoever out of the question. Even worse, the damn morons decided that this would the perfect moment to sit around talking instead of doing their actual job and...patrolling. Normally Nick would've considered undutiful Coastline mercs a good thing, but not if it meant he and the bunny were just stuck in this damn hole practically crushing each other.
"Cheese and crackers, what is taking them so long?" Judy whispered. "I can barely breathe with your tail up in my face like this."
"Believe me, I'd move it if I could, Fluff," Nick whispered back. "Just hold on a little bit longer. They gotta get around to doing some actual patrolling sooner or later, right?"
Gods, please it be sooner…
"A 'finder's fee', seriously?" The caracal questioned skeptically. "You're out of your blimming mind, you haven't forgotten who we're working for, right? If the bosses find out we're skimping off the top, they'll flay both of us and make belts from our freaking hides!"
"They're going to be blasting their way in with explosives, mam. That's going leave a big mess to sort through," the ram insisted. "They'll have no way of knowing if a few pieces go missing."
"Explosives? Where the hell did you hear that? Nobody ever said anything about blasting open the vault."
"They haven't said anything, but I've seen it. There's a stockpile of the stuff set up at some old fountain a few blocks over. What else do you think they'd be using it for?" the prey mammal argued. "So come on, tell me, if this job pays out and we all make enough money to do whatever the hell we want, what would you do?"
"Fine," the feline sighed, rolling his eyes as he thought about the question. "'If'- and big 'if', mind you- I had the money...I'd head straight for the Angkor Islands and just party every day. Buddy of mine said booze and females there are outta this world."
The ungulate just scoffed at that. "No blimmin' imagination…"
"Oh yeah? And what would you do?"
"Gonna get a place in Zootopia," the ram answered. "I'm thinking something in Tundratown would do nicely."
"Tundratown? Okay, now I know you're out of your mind."
"What?" the sheep asked defensively.
"You have any idea how cold that place is? They blast it non-stop with what's basically a giant-ass freezer. We've been working in nothing but savannas and jungles our whole blimmin' lives, you wouldn't last a day in a place like that. When was the last time you even let your wool fill out?"
"I can let it fill out some," the ram snapped. "And if that ain't enough, I'll...just...get some fur coats or something to wear. I'll have the cash to spare."
"Right, the only Southern Savanna ram in Tundratown wrapped up in a bunch of fur coats," the predator rolled his eyes. "You'll look like a damn moron. Only a domkop like you would ever come up with something that stupid."
"You know what-" the ungulate started, angrily raising a hoof to the feline. But then he decided better, just shaking his head and abandoning the argument. "Forget it, let's just get going…"
"Why'd you even bring it up?"
"I said, forget it!" the ram snapped as he started walking. "Come on, we'd better get back to the damn patrol. I mean, gods forbid you ever do something to upset the bosses, right?"
"Whatever, mam…" The caracal shrugged dismissively as he followed his partner.
Once they were finally out of earshot, Nick pulled himself out from beneath the gap in the rubble and stretched out his limbs, feeling his joints pop.
"Finally," he groaned. "Was wondering if those idiots were ever going to leave."
"You're telling me," Judy said as she started stretching. "Between being flattened in that hole and nearly suffocated by your fur for the last 10 minutes, I was about to lose my mind. And what the heck is that smell, anyway? Do you put cologne in your fur or something?"
"You are vastly overestimating the strength of any cologne I could ever afford if you think it'd have lasted through all the shit we've been through since we got here," Nick chuckled, giving the rabbit a wink. "No, that's just good old-fashioned fox musk. You can go ahead and just admit how much you love it, it's not like you'd be fooling anyone."
"Save the desperate flirting until we're out of this mess, Slick," Judy sighed. "We're still no closer to finding a way into that temple."
"No kidding…" Nick grumbled. "There's too many Coastline idiots and they've got all the approaches covered. There's no way we'll make it inside at this rate, not without getting into a shootout with half the mammals on the island.
"Even trying to take them out quietly would be too risky. If a single shot went off, we'd be done for. Unless…" Judy's foot began tapping rapidly as she thoughtfully stroked an ear. "Wait a minute, didn't one of them mention they were using explosives?"
"Yeah...they did," Nick nodded, his brow raising in interest. "And an explosive going off in the city would probably attract a lot of attention...They said something about it being stored by an old fountain, right?"
"Right." Judy pointed at a nearby roof. "Think you can boost me up? The mercs said it was close by, so I might be able to see it from up there."
"Sure thing, Fluff. One fox express to the roof coming right up." Nick knelt down next to the wall and cupped his paws. The rabbit wasted no time charging forward and springing off the paws as the fox thrust upward, launching her high enough to reach the roof and clamber over.
"See anything up there?"
"Just give me a sec," the doe responded, her ears poking out from over the roof's edge. "There, just a few blocks to the south." She leaped back down and headed in that direction. "Come on, this way."
They carefully made their way through the ruins, stepping through hollowed out shells of old overgrown buildings and over piles of rubble and shattered stone. All the while, they kept a watchful eye lest any enemies get the jump on them, be it Coastline or something else...
It didn't take long for them to find the actual fountain in the center of a ruined city square. Knowing that there would be guards nearby, the two of them looked for cover. Spotting a collapsed column that would be suitable enough, they quickly crouched down behind it.
"Hold tight, I'm going to take a look." Nick poked his head out from behind the pillar to get a better look at the fountain. It was certainly large, sporting a tall spout at the center consisting of four mammals holding their hooves and paws upward as if they were accepting a gift from above. The white marble made it almost shine in the sunlight, but the base was heavily chipped and cracked with several gaping breaches. Any water that fountain had once held was long gone by now.
The Coastline mercenaries themselves had set up a small post right next to the fountain. Several of them were standing on guard while the rest were bent over a folding table, conversing with each other as they stared at something on the table, although Nick couldn't tell what. Close by and piled right on the fountain's cracked base were several stacks of C4.
"What do you see?"
"See the bombs," Nick answered. "And they're right next to the damn mercs." He was suddenly startled by a pair of black-tipped ears brushing against his muzzle as the bunny stuck her head out to get a better look.
"What are they doing?"
"Don't know," Nick pushed Judy's ears down and narrowed his gaze, noticing that the mercenaries over at the table were dressed differently than the others. A variety of distinct tools and surveying equipment were hanging off their belts and pants, suggesting that Coastline had actually brought along something other than just soldiers. "Looks like they've got some sort of engineers...or…whatever passes for an engineer in Coastline, anyways," he snickered. "Probably the only ones that can count past ten."
"Gee thanks, Nick," Judy groaned with a roll of her eyes. "Super helpful."
"What? They're probably trying to figure out a way to blast through to the vault without blowing themselves up. Seems pretty straightforward."
"Then why would they be out here in the city instead of in the temple with Dante and Cackler?" Judy questioned. "That's where they think the vault is, right?"
"Probably want to keep the explosives out of the way until they're ready to use 'em," Nick suggested.
"Maybe," Judy pondered. "Either way, it's the guards watching them and the C4 that are going to be a problem…"
"Yeah...going to be tricky to reach those charges," Nick answered crouching back behind the column. "Not impossible though."
"That fountain looked pretty worn down, though," the rabbit noted.
"Worn down? How does that…" Nick started, confused at why that was even relevant. "Whatever, doesn't matter. Here's what we're gonna do." He poked his head back out again to get a better look. "We can't just slip in and grab that C4, not without them noticing. So I'm thinking one of us should draw them out."
He pointed towards a building on the opposite end of the city square. "I'll circle around and make some noise over on that end, bound to be some rubble or something that'll make a nice loud crash if I knock 'em loose. That should get most of them running and the rest distracted enough. That's when you slip in, grab the C4, and then we'll meet up a couple streets over once I've lost them. Oh and be sure to grab a detonator too, otherwise the charge will be useless."
The treasure hunter took a deep breath as he readied himself. "Whatever you do, stay focused and move quietly, we only get one shot at this and if we screw up, well...I'd prefer to go down fighting, at least that way, that smug asshole Dante won't get the pleasure of being able to rub his victory in our faces before he kills us. Anyways, ready Carrots?" He looked over at the rabbit only to find an empty space.
"...Carrots?"
He glanced back at the path they had taken. "Carrots?" Not seeing her, he glanced over at the mercenaries, seeing none of them had moved from their positions. "Where the hell did she go?"
"Hey."
Turning to the voice, Nick nearly jumped at the sight of the rabbit back and crouched down as if she'd never even moved. "Shit, what the hell, Carrots? Where did you go?"
"Yeah…your plan for the bombs was sounding way too complicated and...stupid, so I decided to just go and grab it for you." She held out a pack of C4 in one paw and a weird looking detonator in the other.
The fox stared in bewilderment at the bunny. "How...how did you?" He peered back over at the mercenaries, still in the same spot and seemingly unaware that anything was amiss. "I didn't even see you move-" He stopped as he noticed the disturbed soil right next to the stack of C4 and a recently dug hole at the base of the fountain along with a shift in some of the marble stone that made up the fountain's cracked base.
"A foundation that weak can be burrowed through pretty easily if you know what you're doing," Judy stated, sporting a cocky smirk. "And we bunnies make for pretty good burrowers."
"No kidding…" Nick uttered as he limply plucked the C4 and detonator out of the reporter's paws. The bunny was...frankly quite incredible. Even after everything that'd happened, she was still finding new ways to astound him. But then again, they'd only known each other for a week, which meant she probably had a lot more surprises...
"Uhh...time for that other part of your plan, Slick?"
"Hmm?" Nick shook his head as he was snapped out of his stupor. "Right, the whole diversion thing. Follow me, then." Checking one last time to make sure none of the mercenaries would notice them, he carefully crept back into the street with Judy. "Saw something a bit earlier that should do the trick."
"You've gotta be kidding me…"
"As tempting as it is to mess with you, Carrots, I'm dead serious this time."
"This?" Judy nearly shouted in disbelief, pointing up at the statue. "This is your idea of a good diversion? Blowing up a priceless relic of this city's history?!"
As the fox and rabbit had made their way into the city, they had passed through what they guessed was probably the desert district. The area was full of sand that sure as hell didn't get there on its own, and the dark shade of sandstone was likely meant to simulate warmer living conditions. They hadn't given the district or its temple much thought when they first passed through, but then, that was before they needed a good diversion.
Like the other district temples, it was made from marble and had an accompanying statue of whatever ancient god had held lordship over the deserts. Despite how tall the statue stood, it was one of the few that hadn't fared so well over the years. It had suffered heavy damage, with a full arm and part of a foot missing. The monument depicted some sort of canid from what Nick could tell, probably a jackal if he were to make an educated guess- and it was just what they needed, current bunny objections notwithstanding.
"It's weak enough that a single charge will do the trick and big enough that when it goes down, every single Coastline merc in the city is going to notice," Nick said. "It's exactly what we need."
"You're talking about destroying a piece of history, it's insane!" the rabbit objected. "Let's just set the C4 off in the middle of the street or something. The blast should be enough to draw Coastline's attention. What you're suggesting is complete overkill."
"No, it's not." Nick disagreed. "Take this from someone who has, admittedly, blown up way more shit in his life than he probably ever should've. A single blast is nothing to these guys. It'll probably, at the very most, draw a patrol, maybe two if we're lucky. If we're going to make a diversion big enough to give us a shot at the temple and Finn, then we gotta go big and we gotta go loud."
The fox pointed firmly at the statue. "This is our only way in that doesn't involve taking on every last mercenary in the damn city. You need to get your head into the game, Fluff. These guys are playing for keeps, and if we're to have any chance of pulling this off, then we've got to as well."
Judy looked at the statue, the conflict raging within clear as day. She had come on this expedition in the first place to learn and discover, to uncover the lost and forgotten history of mammalkind. She sure as hell hadn't expected so much of it to end up breaking or blowing up while she was here. But she also was a cop, or rather...used to be a cop, it just wasn't in her to let a mammal in need perish, especially not for the sake of a statue. "You're certain there isn't another way?" she finally asked, her eyes locked onto the treasure hunter's with intent.
"Not with what we're up against," Nick answered. "So what's it going to be? Save some dumb old statue that's probably gonna collapse on its own in a few years? Or save that grumpy old yet inexplicably charming bastard we came here for?"
The rabbit shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "We take down the statue."
"Thank the gods," Nick sighed in relief. "Would've really been awkward if you said 'no' seeing as I was going to do it either way." He took the charge and attached it to the back of the statue's leg, the blast would be more than enough to cause the entire thing to fall over, assuming it didn't just shatter completely given how fragile it looked at this point. Glancing back, he saw the bunny glaring darkly at him. "What? I told you we had no other options, I wasn't going to let your disapproval stop me from doing whatever it took to save Finn."
"You are seriously overdue for another kick to the face," the rabbit said as she turned around and started heading towards the city center. "We'll need a good vantage point that isn't too close, right? I think I saw something we could use over this way."
As Nick finished setting the charge and followed her, he felt another chill that he quickly shrugged off. At this point, he wasn't sure if it was that same strange sensation he had been feeling earlier, or if he was just dreading the prospect of yet another bunny kick.
Really hoping nothing comes of either of those...
"Yeah, this'll work," Nick said, perched on the building rooftop. It wasn't so close to the central temple that they'd have to worry about being seen and it was also high enough to give a good view of the surrounding area. They'd have no trouble keeping track of the mercenaries once they set off their little surprise. "Bit more of a climb than I was expecting."
"What? You wanted a good vantage point. This is a good vantage point."
"I did...I did." Nick blinked, not quite sure how to respond. "It's just...that...we're going to need to move pretty fast once we set this off. I mean that statue won't keep them distracted forever, right?" He leaned over, staring at the cracked and overgrown street down below. "But… I guess we can just use the grappling hook to scale down. Should be nice and quick... assuming we don't break anything."
"You were the one who said this whole trip has been nothing but gambles," the doe pointed out. "What's one more?"
"Can't argue with that logic…" The treasure hunter reached for the detonator and armed it. "We'll only have a small window to get to the temple once we set this thing off, so we gotta move as soon as the way is clear. You ready?"
"Nick…"
"Right, right, don't waste time asking questions I already know the answer to. Straight to blowing shit up, then." He flicked the switch down and activated the detonator, crouching down alongside the bunny as he braced himself for the explosion.
But nothing happened…
"Hmm?" He hit the switch on the detonator again.
Still nothing…
"Uhhh…"
"What are you doing? Blow it already!"
"I'm trying, Carrots." Nick growled frustratedly, flicking the switch again. "The stupid thing won't take."
"Please tell me you didn't screw up when you set the bomb."
"Don't question my bomb setting skills, I am exceptionally skilled at blowing shit up," the fox snapped back. "It's Coastline's fault with their stupid, weird-ass detonators. I mean look at this backwards-ass thing, the switch flips both ways. I knew those 'engineers' of theirs were idiots, I mean what kind of morons use a detonator like thi-"
*KA-BOOM!*
Nick flinched at the sound of the blast and crumbling stone. Looking up from the detonator, he witnessed the statue of the ancient desert god break apart and collapse. As the rubble crashed against the ground, a massive cloud of dust was thrown high into the air.
"You were pushing it the wrong way, weren't you?" Judy asked, her arms folded as she fixed the fox with a disapproving glare.
The vulpine glanced down at the detonator. During his venting, he had pushed the switch in the other direction, evidently the correct one for setting off the bomb. "Well...d...don't look at me like that," he stammered, trying yet again to hide his embarrassment. "That's just bad design! I mean, come on, a detonator switch should only flip one way, these guys must've been going real cheap with their gear. Like I said, idiot engineers."
To be fair, it did make for a fairly poor detonator design. It still didn't seem to do much to sway the bunny though, given the unimpressed look still plastered on her face. Nick struggled to think of an appropriate excuse until he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye.
"Uhh...hey look!" Nick seized on the moment, pointing down at the streets where groups of mercenaries were rushing towards the site of the explosion. "They're on the move, the diversion worked! Guess that means we gotta make a break for it. No time to dwell any detonator mishaps, gotta get to that temple before they realize what we're up to, right? No more chatting, gotta go, go, go!" Nick didn't even give Judy a chance to respond as he blew past her, jamming his grappling hook into the roof and throwing the rope over the edge.
"You're so lucky Finn's on the chopping block, or I'd be having a field day with you right now," Judy grumbled as she made her way to the edge of the roof.
"Thank the gods for small miracles," Nick hurriedly responded as he dropped over the edge and began sliding down the rope. "Too bad, gonna have to wait till la-Ahhhhh! Rope burn, rope burn, rope burn!" the fox's retorts turning to pained whining as the friction of the rope burned his paws all the way down.
"Yeow, stupid rope. Having to rush this crap sucks!" he fussed as he blew on his paws in a vain attempt to soothe them, stepping out of the way as Judy landed in the same spot.
"Eek, eek, ow, ow," Judy winced as she tried brushing her paws against her legs in an equally vain attempt to soothe her own paws. "I mean, it still beats having to fight Coastline...but that rope burn seriously hurts. It feels like my paws are on fire."
"Yeah, well here's to hoping that rope burn is the worst thing to happen to us from here on out." Nick tugged the hook free of the building, gathering it and the rope back up and attaching them to his belt. "Now come on, we've got a temple to raid!" He quickly started moving through the vacant city streets towards the central temple.
As they approached the massive temple, they came across a partially collapsed archway crossing over one of the adjacent streets. Unwilling to just charge right in, they placed their backs against the archway wall and knelt down low. "Yeesh, I knew this place was big, but seeing it from this close, it's just insane. Looks like the city planners were playing favourites."
It may not have been the largest building in the city, but the temple still made for an imposing sight, standing at least 15 stories tall, if not more. It projected an aura that felt so different from everything else they had seen. Even the most majestic of the other sites they had been to had still felt abandoned, the entropic decay of time having thoroughly worn most of them down. This massive temple was by no means in pristine condition, having suffered its own share of wear and tear, but it still seemed in far better condition than anything else they had seen. In fact, it almost looked like it was still being inhabited, as ridiculous as that sounded.
And then there were the chills. That strange sense of unease and paranoia that had been keeping Nick on edge ever since they started up that path towards the city. He had been too focused on finding a way to reach this temple to pay it much attention before, but now that he was here, he realized that sensation had only gotten stronger the closer they got. If he didn't know better, he would've thought that the temple itself was the source.
Calm down, Nick. You're just on edge. You've got a small army between you and Gramps so of course you'd be tense...Shit, don't know how much better that is than just being paranoid.
"Nick, focus!" Judy snapped her fingers in front of the treasure hunter's face. "We don't have much time."
"Oh...right, right," Nick blinked. "Won't be much longer before those patrols come back. Let's see what we're dealing with then." Nick and Judy both peeked out from behind the archway to get a better look at the temple itself. There was a group of five armed mammals standing on guard halfway up the entrance stairway and another similarly sized group right at the main doorway itself.
"Great...looks like they've got the entrance covered," Judy said in a disappointed tone, her ears flopping against her back.
"Yeah, no surprises there," Nick nodded. "Would have to be on a whole other level of stupid to just leave the front door wide open. Still, with those patrols and perimeter guards gone, this is the best chance we're going to get at breaking in."
"Still too many to go through the front," Judy observed. "But, they're only watching the entrance, there's nobody guarding the perimeter."
"Yeah, you're right," Nick stroked his muzzle as he looked at the mostly deserted temple grounds. As he began to examine the intricate carvings and displays built into the temple wall, an idea started to form in his head. "I bet we could climb up the side of the wall. We'd probably be able to scale our way up and either drop in from the roof or find another opening."
"Ugh, more climbing..." the doe sighed. "But...if it's for Finn." She sounded annoyed at the idea, annoyed...but also determined.
"Yup...for Finn," Nick replied, the determination in his voice echoing Judy's own. "Okay then, best get moving before somebody sees us."
The two of them approached the temple from one of the unguarded sides and started making their way up the wall. Thanks to the temple's elaborate design and intricate carvings, there were plenty of edges and pawholds to grab onto without too much trouble. Within minutes, they were already more than half-way up the temple.
"Getting pretty close to the top, you alright, Fluff?" Nick called down as he steadied himself on a narrow ledge and leaped up to a pawhold too high to reach without jumping.
"Fine," Judy answered from just below. "Why do you ask?"
"Just that it took a bit of a leap to reach this next part," Nick explained, looking back down at the rabbit. "Need me to lend a paw? You might be too short for it."
"I scaled up solid ice walls back at the academy, I think I can handle a small jump," Judy responded, steadying herself on the same narrow ledge before springing up to the pawhold. "Just focus on finding us a way in, I don't like how exposed we are up here."
"Don't worry, we hardly stand out against the temple this high up," the fox assured. "If those Coastline morons suspect that diversion was ours, they'd probably assume any break-in attempt would be through the front door."
"See that's the thing, 'probably' doesn't really fill me with much confidence. It only takes one of them to look up, and then all the luck and quips in the world won't be able to help us."
"Alright, alright, fair point. Still, you don't want to be too tense. Stress really doesn't help with climbing, I find. More likely to make mistakes and wind up fa-" The fox's ears reflexively perked up as he made out the sound of mammal voices just above them. Fur standing on end and tail pressing instinctively against the side of the structure, he looked down at Judy and motioned for silence.
The rabbit obliged and stopped moving. She stared up at her partner, the look on her face silently asking what was happening.
"Coastline," Nick mouthed, jabbing his thumb upward. He angled his ears as he tried to get a better read of what the mammals were saying.
"One hell of a blimming view from up here, don't ya think?" One mammal asked.
"Maybe? I don't know, can't really take it in anymore since all I can think about now is how this is the fifth time you've asked me that damned question," a second mammal answered in an annoyed tone. "Seriously, mam, you bored or something?"
"Just trying to make conversation, eish. No need to be an ass about it."
"Oh 'conversation', is it? Here's a tip then, don't ask the same blimmin' question five times in a damn row."
"Fine," there was an awkwardly long silence before the mercenary spoke up again. "So...ever see anything like this before?" It seemed this mammal was of the opinion that if the atmosphere was going to be an awkward one, then it may as well be one with actual conversation.
Nick vaguely heard the sound of an annoyed sigh before the second mercenary answered. "Nah, raided some villages, overthrew a government or two, but nothing like this. This type of shit's way beyond my line of work." Evidently, the other merc felt the same way on the matter.
"Two," Nick mouthed, holding up a pair of fingers for the rabbit to see.
The rabbit nodded in understanding. "What do we do?" She mouthed.
Nick pointed at the doe, and then at himself, motioning for her to follow him carefully. He wasn't exactly sure how much of that she understood though. In retrospect, he probably should've made sure she understood sign language. He also probably should've learned the real thing instead of just inventing his own with Finn. There were a lot of things he probably should've done differently in hindsight...
Well, if she didn't get any of that and this goes to hell, at least we'll be dead before she can tear me a new one.
Nick carefully climbed up, pressing himself as close to the wall as possible as he tried to get closer to the mercs without giving himself away. Judy followed as they kept moving until they could finally see the two mammals in question, both oryxes standing on a small balcony with an overlook protruding from the temple. If not for the two mercenaries blocking the way and chatting up a storm, it'd be the perfect way in.
Again with idiots more interested in shooting the breeze than actually doing their job. Does anybody ever do any actual work in this chickenshit outfit?
"There's an entrance up ahead," Nick whispered, turning to look down at the rabbit.
"Any way past them?" she whispered back.
Nick looked around for a viable option, but the balcony and the passage it was covering were too small. There was no way they'd be able to simply bypass the mercenaries. Still, trying to get past two guards who weren't really paying attention sure as hell beat trying to get past the ones down at ground level.
He looked back down at the reporter, pointing up and shaking his head, then pointing inwards, indicating they'd have to go through them.
"Then what now?" Judy whispered.
Nick motioned for her to follow and started slowly making his way up until he was just below the balcony, forming a strategy as he went. Or at least...a semblance of one…It was a good thing the antelopes were too focused on their own conversation to notice the two of them yet.
"The hell we even doing up here anyway?" One of the mercs was asking. "Rich Boy and Cackler've got everyone else tearing apart the tunnels underneath this place, seems like a waste of time having us wandering around all the way up here."
"Well, we ain't getting paid to think, just to shoot," the other oryx argued. "So shut up and keep your eyes open, you don't want to wind up like that poor bastard, Kloue."
"Wait, Kloue? What happened to him?"
"Didn't hear? Went missing a few hours ago. Galba and his boys finally found him and his patrol in the jungles outside the city. Or...what was left of 'em, anyway."
"The hell does that mean?"
"Found the poor bastard split wide open, waist to neck. Galba painted me one hell of a disturbing scene. And apparently his pals didn't fare much better."
More dead mercs? Sounds like that lion we found was one of the luckier ones...relatively speaking...
"Eish, never figured Wilde was so bloodthirsty," the other mercenary responded. Nick couldn't see it, but he imagined the oryx shuddering.
The other oryx chuckled at the remark.
"The hell you think is so funny about that?" he responded in an offended tone.
"Nothing, bru," the other merc chuckled again. "Just cute that you think that would be Wilde's work."
"Well he's the competition ain't he? Who the hell else could it be?"
"If you seriously think a fox could do that to a godsdamn hippo, then...well...it's a good thing you're only paid to shoot."
"Hey, screw you!"
"Ah, don't worry about it, mam. We can't all be geniuses."
As much as Nick would've loved to unpack the implications of what those two were talking about, it'd have to wait since Judy had finally managed to climb up next to him. Unsurprisingly, she seemed far more focused on the immediate task at paw, and honestly, he should've been as well. Mystery solving really was best saved for moments when they weren't at risk of getting shot in the face, plummeting to their deaths, or both.
Observing the oryxes, Nick saw that they were both carrying rifles, the left one gripping it in his hooves and the right one having it slung over his back. The fox poked Judy and flashed her signs of what he planned to do, waving and fluttering his paw as he made gestures he was hoping she would understand.
The blank look on her face suggested that she didn't.
Okay, should've seen that coming. Nick internally sighed. This is what I get for not bothering to learn the real thing.
"I'll take the left one," he quietly mouthed to the rabbit, pointing at himself and then at the mercenary directly above him. "You get the other." He pointed at her and then the other mercenary to emphasize the point.
The reporter seemed to understand this time, giving a nod and bracing herself, her paws gripping the ledges firmly and feet trembling as she seemingly prepared to leap upwards for a surprise attack.
"On my move," Nick whispered.
The fox took a deep breath as he readied himself and focused on his target. Prepared as he was ever going to be, he sprung into action, pulling himself up to the balcony's stone guardrail and grabbing the rifle in the mercenary's hooves, shoving it straight into the surprised mammal's face with a hard crack. The oryx's head snapped back in a daze and he began to let out a pained grunt, only for it to turn to a surprised yelp as Nick grabbed him and pulled as hard as he could, sending the mammal doubling over the guardrail and off the balcony.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the other oryx fumbled for the rifle on his back just as Judy pushed off the ledge and flew straight upward, plowing a fist into the mercenary's muzzle. Grabbing for one of the mammal's horns, the rabbit flipped herself behind him and grabbed his rifle strap. As the mercenary flailed and tried to shake her off, she planted her feet firmly into his back and pushed off hard, sending the mammal forward with enough force to break right through the guardrail and go flying off the balcony with a panicked scream.
"Holy shit," Nick gulped, grasping what was left of the now broken guardrail as he pulled himself onto the balcony, resisting the urge to look down at the plummeting mammals as he did. "That was one hell of a kick."
"I know, right," Judy beamed. "Sent him right through the railings. I guess I really don't know my own strength sometimes."
"Yeah," Nick started. "Or maybe, crazy idea, a several thousand year old guardrail might not be the most sturdy thing in the world."
"Hey, I'm strong!" Judy objected. "I'll have you know I knocked out a rhino once back at the academy."
"Ease up, Carrots, no need to get so defensive, it was still a cool move," Nick complimented, patting the bunny on the back. "Plus, with the broken guardrail, it'll look like they just fell. You know how it is, unstable old ruins, accidents are bound to happen."
"No kidding. I've probably been in more near-fatal accidents in the last week alone than the rest of my life combined, and that includes my time as a cop," Judy replied.
"All two days of it?"
"Nick!" the bunny glared.
"Right, sorry," Nick raised his paws defensively. "Can't help myself sometimes, I may actually have a chronic addiction to sticking my foot in my mouth. Please don't give me another ass whooping, it's a serious condition! Besides, it probably won't be long before Coastline notices and sends somebody to check out what happened."
"Alright, fine," Judy glowered. "You're safe...for now," she walked past the fox and through the balcony's arched opening.
"I mean...we are surrounded by mammals trying to kill us…" Nick pointed out as he followed her inside. He was expecting that his eyes would have to adjust to the darkness, but the inside was far better lit than he had expected.
"Where do we go from here?" Judy asked.
"Well, they said Cackler and Dante were down in the underground levels," Nick suggested. "So I'm guessing that's where Gramps will be as well."
"Along with a small army of Coastline mercenaries…" Judy said.
"Yeah...Not really looking forward to that part." As Nick looked around, he saw that the hall they entered had multiple doorways, each seeming to lead to a different passage. "Assuming we ever manage to figure out where the hell we're supposed to go."
As Nick scanned the walls, he looked closely at the symbols carved into them, most of which were in pretty good condition despite their age. Some he could tell were meant to depict aspects and elements of different ecosystems, from scorching deserts to lush jungle to rolling grasslands and even frozen tundra. Others seemed more abstract and difficult to discern, they were likely whatever ancient language this civilization used if Nick had to guess. He had learned his fair share of ancient scripts over the years and he could even see bits and pieces of other languages in some of the symbols, but not enough to really make sense of what they said.
"Over here," Judy called out, a flash of light briefly blinding the fox and disrupting his focus.
"Ack, watch it!" Nick cried out as he covered his eyes. "Nocturnal mammal over here!"
"Sorry!"
"Where did you get that, anyway?" he asked, eyes still squinting from the light.
"From that jeep you dropped off the waterfall," the bunny answered with a shrug. She then pointed towards the doorway she had been looking at. "But seriously, check this out."
Once his eyes finally stopped hurting, Nick peered into the passageway and saw that it was a long stairway leading downward. The walls on each side were lined with those strange symbols along with more of the mysterious flowers the mammals of Henosia seemed to hold in such high regard. There were also depictions of what the fox assumed were the mammals themselves, but he couldn't tell what kind. He couldn't even tell if they were meant to be prey or predator, the way they were carved almost made it look like they had aspects of both. As he glanced further down the stairway, he was surprised to find that he couldn't see the bottom. "Well, that certainly looks ominous."
"But it leads down," Judy pointed out. "That should be enough for us, right?"
"But we have no idea what's down there," Nick said. "Traps, a dead end, an entire army of Coastline, clowns, we could run into anything."
"If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it," Judy said. "Because right now, all we've got is 'stand around staring at passageways until Coastline finds and kills us.'"
Nick let out a sigh. This damn temple was way too big and he didn't like the idea of just picking a random passageway and walking, but it wasn't like he had any better ideas. Plus, this place was probably just as difficult for Coastline to navigate as it was for them, so at least they were on equal ground in that respect. "Alright, Fluff. Lead the way."
"Don't mind if I do," Judy smirked. Lighting up the stairway, she led the fox downwards, the two of them proceeding into the temple depths.