Here we go with some more hero work. And hey, just because it ain't the big stuff, doesn't mean he ain't a hero.


"Hey, hey wake up," an intruding voice whispered. The cub, still half asleep, grumbled and turned on his side away from the high-pitched noise that was interrupting his sleep.

Judy stared at his ears, smiling deviously. She went and grabbed a pipe cleaner from a drawer in the kitchen and snuck back to the slumbering kitten. Using the pipe cleaner, she lightly stroked the inside of his ear. It began to flick again and again.

"Carrots-" She turned to her husband, waving at him to be quiet. He realized what she was doing and, sticking his tongue through his teeth with glee, pulled up the camera app on his phone and switched to video. After he indicated that he was recording, she tickled his ear again. His paw waved at the object before falling back into place. Judy wracked in silent giggles and Nick could tell with his night vision that her skin was turning red from holding it in. She then tickled his nose. Danny bolted upright in surprise, opening his eyes and looking at the two. In the span of about a second and a half, his nose wrinkled and he shook his head rapidly as he sneezed hard. Then he did it again. And again. Judy and Nick had lost it long before the third sneeze.

He wiped his dark purple, upside-down triangle of a nose. "Aw yeah," he slurred sarcastically. "Very funny." He snatched the pipe cleaner from her paw, causing her to look up at him, her laughter paused in a wide smile. He grinned, his fur standing on end. "Let's see how you like it!"

"Oh! Nick! Run!" she laughed as the two turned to run from the panther, who leapt out of bed onto the wall opposite the room before they reached the door, which he webbed and closed. He turned on the light and dropped to the floor, holding the pipe cleaner menacingly. He kept his eyes on Judy.

"Well, better you than me," said Nick, before Danny pounced on her with a playful yowl. He held her down as she loudly protested and squirmed. Danny began lightly tickling the inside of her ear, making her giggle uncontrollably. Oh, Nick had to get this on video.

"Tee-tee-tee-tee-tee-tee-tee-tee," he tittered as he wiggled the fuzzy pipe cleaner back and forth on and around the edges of her ear.

"Aaaaah!" she squealed. "Ah eh hee-hee, hee-hee! Help- Nick! Help! Hee hee... agh! Danny! Stop!" She giggled, to which the tod just shook his head slowly with a smirk as he recorded the scene in front of him. This would be a beloved memory for years to come.

Once Danny was done tormenting Judy, they told him that the reason they'd woken him up was to take him to the precinct with them in case there were any cases he could help with. They all slid in the car and took off.

"Am I ever gonna start school?" he asked.

"Once we get all this legal stuff taken care of and make you a Wilde thang," answered Nick, "then absolutely."

"Can't wait for that. I'm gonna study the heck out of chemistry."

"Heh! First you have to learn math, physics, English-"

"English? What language am I speaking now?"

"No, no," said Judy, "that's like, reading and rhetoric and learning to write."

"But..."

"Look, you'll find out once you start it. As for chemistry, well, you most likely won't start studying that until college."

"Aw! That's all I wanna study!"

"Don't worry. School flies by real quick. You'll be splitting atoms in no time."

"Ouch..." Judy and Nick chuckled at that. They pulled into the station's parking lot and walked through the front door. There was...

"Hey there, Danny! How's our favorite panther this morning?" Judy and Nick went on toward the bullpen while Danny stayed behind to talk to the cheetah.

"What's up, Ben? I guess it's Take Your Panther to Work Day. So here I am."

"Are you thinking of showing everyone how it's done in the gym again?"

"Mmmmmmaybe... But the chief said that if there are any calls, that I was allowed to assist?"

"Really?"

"Is... that a problem?"

"Well, it's a little... unorthodox."

"Unortho-what now?"

"It's not usually how internship works around here. Hold on." He pushed a button on his intercom. "Chief?"

"Yes, Clawhauser? Make it quick; I'm about to head down for assignments."

"Danny said you were allowing him to... take part in 911 emergencies?"

"...That's partially true. Send him up to me."

"Will do, sir. He said he wants to talk to you. Fourth floor, hall on the right, third door on your left."

He nodded. "I remember." He leaped to the second floor, then the third, then the fourth, leaving an awestruck Ben staring. He found the door and knocked.

"Come in." Opening the door, he saw the buffalo with glasses on, reading a sheet of paper. "Close the door." He did, somewhat nervously. "Come, sit down."

He jumped up in the chair and sat down, adjusting the height of the chair, which he needed his web to reach. The chair ascended until he could see over the desk, surprising the chief.

"Huh. Neither of your parents could reach the lever on their own. They always had to work together to reach the stupid thing," he ended with a chuckle. Danny shrugged, unable to keep some haughtiness from showing. "Now, I saw the news story about your actions in stopping those criminals. I have to admit that I was greatly appreciative. An emergency like that is stressful whether we're able to stop them or not." Danny nodded with a smile. "However, you have to understand, son, that police work is a federal job. You are technically a minor and therefore are not allowed, technically, to do police work." He wilted at hearing that. "Now, I am willing to give you specific jobs, which may be referred to as a volunteer. It would allow you to have some freedom to assist in police work more easily without requiring credentials. What we would do is send you on patrols... assisting with muggings, burglaries, the like..."

Danny was surprised to hear this. He was actually expecting a lot less freedom than this.

"Now, hopefully, they laid down the rules for you to follow, yes?"

"They did."

"Good. They filled out the necessary paperwork yesterday. You're good to go."

"Really? That's it?"

"We need mammals like you to step up, especially someone with your gifts." He reached in his drawer and lifted out a small device. He wiped it off with a cleaning wipe, checked the battery and gave it to him. "This is a police radio. Listen for any trouble. And give it to Nick or Judy once you're done for the day. Perhaps you can give some help when it's needed. Or if you see a mugging or burglary in progress, stop the criminal. However, be sure to keep your distance. If you see a gun, do not, I repeat, do not engage. Call for help immediately."

"Thank you, sir," he said before putting the device in his ear.

"Now..." the chief walked over to the map and grabbed a few pins, pushing them in to create a large square "...stay in this area." He lay his hoof in the center of the square. "Wilson Avenue, SunnyAcre Lane, Canoe Road, and Lakewood Boulevard - do not go past these roads." He nodded. "Remember, Danny, you are an intern. You are not an officer. You break any of the rules we've laid down, we have every reason to take away this privilege."

He nodded again. "Yes, sir."

"Splendid. Come and join us in the bullpen."

...

"Hey, kid." He turned and saw Wolfard walking toward him. "Saw what you did on tv. Have to say it was pretty amazing."

"Heh, yeah, it was great. I never thought I would be working for the other side."

"Glad to have you on this side. I'd rather not meet you in a dark alley." He winked and patted him on the back. "Come on. Briefing's about to start."

Danny stuck his head inside. A couple dozen officers were in the room. A wooden podium was at the front, almost like a pulpit in a church. He looked for... ah, there they were. Nick and Judy's chairs were higher than the rest. They were joined together into one piece and had something like a stepstool on the side of it. He saw a chair beside theirs and jumped up on top of it. Well, it seemed this chair was too low to sit. He'd have to stand.

"Hey, Danny, take my chair; I'll stand," said Nick, beginning to get out of his chair.

"No, no, I'm fine. I don't mind standing."

"I gotta shed all this extra belly off at some point, y'know."

"So that's your exercise regimen?"

"Pretty much."

The chief walked in the room and everyone, including Nick and Judy, began hooting and pounding the table. Danny joined in a moment later.

"All right, good morning, everyone. Quiet down." He set down a folder on the podium. "No new items on the docket this morning. The same for everyone, all patrol. Wildes, you have been on persoanl leave for a few days, so I will..." he opened the folder "...fill you in. Assignments. Officers Snarlov, Higgins, Trunkaby, your team takes Tundratown." The polar bear, hippo, and elephant got up and received their case file. "Grizzoli, Delgato, Fangmeyer, there has been an upsurge of assaults near and around the border of Sahara Square and Downtown. You will continue patrolling that specific area." A white wolf, a lion, and a tiger took their file and left. "Wildes, you will patrol Savannah Central, especially the northern aspect where incidents have been the most concentrated." Nick and Judy got up, prompting Danny to stand. Nick grabbed the file and left the room, leaving Bogo to continue giving assignments.

"Wolfard, Rhinowitz, McHorn..."

"Ok, let's see what we got here," said Nick. He took a seat in the driver seat of the cruiser. He always enjoyed driving on his own. Not that he didn't enjoy being with Judy, but he liked having time to himself. "See, look here," he said to Danny. He pointed at the pictogram of the district they were heading for. The northern part of the district was highlighted. "If you reach Wilson, SunnyAcre..."

"Yeah, he showed me the map."

"All right, well... take this," he said, pulling out the map and giving it to Danny, who folded it up. Nick snapped his fingers at him, grabbing his attention. "Don't go outside that area. We're allowing you to help, but on the ZPD's terms, got it, and because you have experience with this." Danny nodded. "Danny, promise me you'll do what we say."

He hesitated, steeling his resolve. All he wanted was to help. He nodded.

"Ok. Go on."

Eagerly, Danny opened the door and left, running off. Judy began to pull out, but then Danny suddenly remembered...

He ran after Nick's cruiser before it reached the end of the parking lot. He rolled his window down. "Whatcha need?"

"How do I turn this thing on?" He pointed to the radio in his ear.

"There's a switch." Danny took it out and looked for it.

"Oh. I got it!" He flipped the switch. A red light appeared, and he heard chatter coming through. There was a button on the side that he figured allowed him to speak to everyone.

"Oh! And Danny? Your call sign is T-147. Mine and Judy's is T-137."

"T-147, got it!" He inserted the device into his ear again.

"...A-631, roger, I'm on my way to Tundratown; you all good there?"

He pressed the button. "Can you all hear me?"

"What's your call sign? Over." It was a female voice he wasn't familiar with.

"T-147."

"T-147, we hear you loud and clear. Say, 'Over,' when you're finished speaking. Over."

"Gotcha. Sorry... uh, over."

"Ha, s'all right, kid, you're new; you'll get the hang of it. Now, don't get too chatty; we need this channel to communicate during patrol. Over."

"Yes, ma'am. Over."

"Ha! Like this kid already. Over."

"All right, I'm good to go! See ya later! Over."

"Be careful! Over." said Judy over the radio as he leaped and began swinging.

"I still don't know about this..." said Judy on her and Nick's private channel.

"He was going to keep doing it anyway, Carrots. He needed an outlet. And this is the best way we can keep an eye on him."

"I guess I just can't help but worry."

"Yeah. You're his mom; it's your job to worry." She snorted with a smile.


"Woooo! Woo-hoo!" Danny cried as he arced downward, slinging a web far ahead of him and swinging widely, gliding close toward the sidewalk. Mammals were watching him in amazement, taking out their phones and filming him. It felt good to actually be admired. For the first time, he was happy to be unique. Powerful. He listened through his radio, focusing on Nick and Judy's updates as they patrolled uptown Savannah Central. He also kept his eye open for any activity.

It suddenly occurred to him that he was just swinging around. Also, he couldn't monitor all of the area at once. He swung toward a wall and stuck to it.

"Hey Judy, Nick. Over."

"Danny, say, 'Private Channel, T-137.'"

"Private Channel T-137," he repeated.

A female electronic voice said, "Private channel open. Nicholas and Judy Wilde."

"Everything ok?"

"I'm fine. But I was wondering, how do I know where a crime will happen? Over."

"Well, we keep an eye open for any trouble and wait for dispatch to alert us. Oh, and uh, ha, you don't need to say 'over' on a private channel. That's just for when there're two dozen other officers on the line."

"Oh. Right. How often do you see something happen?"

"Mm, more often than usual these days, but maybe, like, between ten and fifteen times a day on average."

"Wow, I thought it would be a lot more."

"Ha! You've been watching too many action movies."

"Nick, my life is an action movie."

"Touche. Well, are you bored?"

"No, not really. Just wasn't really sure how it worked."

"Keep your eyes open and be ready in case something does happen."

"Ok."

"You need anything else?"

"Nope!"

"Say, 'End private channel.'"

"Uh, Nick, you think it would be all right if I took a break in a little while and went to visit Wes? If he's not busy?"

"Sure, just make sure you let everyone know before you do. And he shouldn't be busy today because of the holidays."

"Ok. Thanks, Nick. End private channel." There was a beep and all the other channels came back online.

"...at night these days. There should be more night patrols. Over."

"Ain't that the truth? Mugging is much easier when it's dark. Over."

"I should know, I used to do that. Over," said Danny as he swung.

"Oh, yeah, that's right! We got the best working for the good guys now, how about that? Over." Wolfard. "I got a problem here. I'm checking it out... over."

"Keep us posted. Over."

"Will do. Over." A few seconds passed. "Ah, false alarm. Over."

"Copy. Over."

Danny groaned as he swung. He'd lied a bit when he said that he wasn't bored. He wanted something to happen. As bad as it was, he wanted there to be trouble. Then, he could swoop in and save the day, like he was supposed to. Little did he know, a certain leopard was about to provide a perfect opportunity.


A few hours had passed before he decided to take his break. He was surprised to find the time to be only eleven in the morning. "Hey, everyone, I'm taking a break. Is that all right? Over."

"Yeah, that's fine. Let us know when you're back. Over."

He swung to the courthouse, ignoring the reprising sense of dread that came when he visited this building. He wasn't required to be in court today; he'd be fine.

He walked in and went to Wes's office. He hesitated before knocking on the door, wondering if he was too busy. Ah, he'd tell him if he was. He knocked.

"It's open." Danny slowly opened the door. Wes appeared to be reading and annotating a long document. He looked up. "Hey, Cowboy, what's up, buddy?"

"Hey, Wes. If, uh, if you're too busy, I can come back later."

He waved. "Nah, I ain't too busy for a client and friend. And... today really isn't that busy, to be honest. You need to talk about something, or just wanted to stop by?" He gestured at the chair in front of his desk, which he took.

"Yeah, I... I guess I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate how you've defended me."

"Oh, it's my pleasure." He nodded.

"When you said that I had done those things, I thought the case was over right there."

"Heh, yeah, sorry I didn't tell you. I needed the jury to see your reaction. It, uh... it showed them you're not some hardhearted scumbag."

Danny snickered. "Well, thanks for that. I guess I'm a scumbag but I'm not hardhearted." They both laughed.

"Nah, I think you're a pretty great kid. What - By the way, what's that in your ear?" He leaned to the side to get a better look. Danny turned his head to show him. "Is it a BlueFang earbud?"

"No, it's a radio. I'm volunteering as a patrol mammal for the ZPD." Weston's eyes widened. "Don't worry, they set rules to keep me from doing anything stupid."

"Ok, good. I didn't know they did anything like that."

"Apparently they do. Or, they do now, at least." He shrugged.

"Well, you just be careful, a'right?"

"Right, right."

"Oh, did you hear the news?"

"What news?"

"So you haven't." He gestured in a small wave. "Ah, I'll let Gazelle tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"The news Gazelle will tell you."

"Ugh, you're not gonna tell me. Great, now you got my curiosity piqued. I'm a cat! Curiosity isn't good for cats!"

"Hey, hey, you'll be fine. Just take some Peptis Bidmole." They laughed.

"Hey, Wes?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, shoot."

"What made you decide to become a lawyer?"

Weston pursed his lips, tapping the armrest of his chair. He seemed deep in thought. Danny turned down the volume of his radio so he could hear Wes more clearly. "I guess it started when I moved to Zootopia. I was eighteen, wasn't familiar with the place. And the economy wasn't doing too well at the time. I wanted - heh, for obvious reasons - I wanted to be a musician. Play country music, get a record deal. Y'know, the 'Murrican Dream,' as they called it back home in Texas. I was a very different gazelle back then. Heh, I was kind of your average trailer trash. Anyway, I got a job at this little restaurant called Chuck's Chirpers. Served mainly predators, most popular menu item was the cricket soup. I made quite a bit of money there, but I blew it on stupid stuff - video games, accessories... I smoked a lot, got drunk and went to parties at least twice a week. I sometimes shoplifted when times were hard. I was a mess.

Anyway, one week, this construction crew was working on the roofing of the townhouse I was staying in at the time. It was owned by a coworker who offered to let me stay there for, oh, I think five hundred dollars a month? It was a really good deal; rent in Zootopia was ridiculous at the time. One of the workers fell through the skylight into the kitchen onto the counter where there was a knife. He got stabbed, and the crew's foreman wanted to sue, but my coworker pinned it all on me." Wes swept his arm through the air: "So I got dragged to court. And... I was so cheated, Danny. The lawyer who defended this guy, he wasn't any lawyer; he was a liar. He put down all this ridiculous evidence that, apparently, just showed up. I ended up having to pay that guy nearly ten thousand dollars - more than I had at the time. But - here's the really hard part. I lost my job, was thrown out on the streets, fell into terrible debt. I thought about killing myself several times. Then one day, I was holding a sign asking for help. Some random guy walks up to me and offers to buy me some lunch. He did, and we talked for a while. The guy's name is Robert Harbinger, a grizzly bear. He paid off the rest of my debt, gave me a place to live, provided a shoulder to cry on... he even bought me this fedora." He tipped his hat. "And one day, he told me this story called the Gospel, what I told you the other day." Danny nodded, remembering. "And it transformed me. I couldn't stand drinking and partying anymore, I started trying to stop smoking - though that took a long time to quit. Robert gave me a Bible and I read it from cover to cover. One verse that caught my eye said, "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own paws, that he might have something to share with anyone in need.'

"Shoplifting was no longer an option. I found another decent job, but I still didn't have a good way to support myself indefinitely. I said to God, 'Where You will have me go, I'll go. Just give me the tools and resources to do it.' And one day, I was thinking of that incident that got me put in court, and I had this thought: 'I'm going to be a lawyer.' So, I applied for university here in Zootopia with a major in law and a minor in psychology, and wouldn't you know, I got nearly a full scholarship, made . And that told me I was in the right place. So, two years nonstop college, three years post-grad work and the BEAR exam... here I am, twelve years later."

He lifted his paws in a "ta-da" gesture. That was the story.

Danny looked down, wondering. "I can't imagine you... partying and drinking and all that stuff."

He let out a chuckling snort before opening his desk drawer and pulling out a small photo. "This... was me when I was eighteen."

Danny's jaw dropped at the image of Weston Goldfurr holding a bottle of booze in one paw, the other paw around the shoulder of some girl. His eyelids were drooping and there was slight motion blur over his mouth, indicating he was talking when this photo was taken. He shook his head, looking from Wes to the photo a few times.

"Incredible."

"Right?" he said, taking the photo back. "What about you, Dan? I already know about what happened with your dad and how you were nabbed by the police, but how'd you end up with the Wildes?"

"That's... actually a complicated story." So he told him the story of how he was an enforcer for Kenten, how he also had "side projects," as he referred to them. And he described the day that he headed back for dinner and found that all hell had broken loose in the complex, being caught by the police, Judy's efforts in reaching out to him...

"That's quite a story. I'm glad you came out the other side."

He looked at the clock on Wes's desk. "I better get back out there."

"Is everything all right?"

"Oh yeah, I was on break."

"Well, thanks for your visit," he said, standing up and walking to the door. "Always a pleasure."

Danny thanked him for allowing him to stop by for a while before running out the door. He turned the volume back up. He had to-

"...cornered! Repeat, six officers cornered!" There was a noise in the background like a stampede accompanied by metallic clanks.

Danny's mind sharpened on full alert. Something was going on! He stopped to listen.

"He's reloading. Can you get an angle?"

"I can't see him! Where is he?!"

"He's in the lobby! I count six or seven hostages."

Danny depressed the button. "Where are you?"

Judy's voice came through. "Danny, you stay in Savannah Central."

"So they're not in this district?"

"No."

"Where are they?"

"Private Channel T-147."

"Hey!"

"Danny, listen to me. They have automatic firearms. Remember, you can't go anywhere near that."

"Judy, if they need help, then I can help!"

"You agreed!"

"I don't care! They need me!"

"That's it, you're not doing this again! Go home!"

He steeled himself. He had to. "End private channel."

"Dann-" Nick's voice cut off.

"Where are they!" he demanded loudly.


"How many rounds do they have!" Fangmeyer said, using her radio so everyone could hear her clearly. She crouched low, clutching her pistol close to her chest. She had tried to use a rearview mirror that had fallen off of the car she hid behind. She could make out two armored individuals, both with heavy-duty miniguns, one with a gun on the hostages inside the building. But they had noticed and tried to shoot her arm.

Two wolves, a lion, a tiger, and two rhinos. All trapped. They hid behind their cruisers, thankful the tires were shot out so the bullets couldn't graze under the car. All they could do was wait them out. But the cars were falling apart. Once they disintegrated, they would be sitting ducks. It was nonstop.

"Backup! Need backup!" McHorn had shouted into his radio for probably the fourth time.

"We're caught in traffic. Hold tight. We'll be there as soon as possible."

McHorn grunted and continued shouting into the radio.

"John," said Grizzoli. The gray wolf lifted his eyes to the white wolf, whose head leaned back against the car. He held out his paw for the wolf to hold. "You're a good friend," he said.

"You too," he said.

"Hey!" McHorn shouted. "Is that...?"

They looked up and were surprised to see...


Danny descended toward the street where the six officers were cowering. He ignored the radio chatter, some of it from an agitated bunny and a distressed fox. He turned it off to block it out. Suddenly, a loud, continuous metallic sound ripped through the atmosphere, stinging the cub's ears. Wolfard waved at him to stay out of the way. Not gonna happen, thought Danny, not when I can do something! He analyzed the area. He was out of the line of fire of the mammal shooting the... whatever kind of gun that was. They were robbing Zootopia Central Bank. Oh, poor Biggles. This was his bank.

Ok, he had to think this through, like a normal infiltration situation. Hostages? Yes, they said there were. So, what was he going to do?

Priorities? The officers. He had to get them out of there. How? The cars they were hiding behind were being shredded by the bullets... provide another barrier. He looked around. Ah! A semi-truck. With a trailer!

He ran over to the semi-truck and tore the hydraulic lines setting the brake in half. He tore open the driver's door and set the wheel straight before immobilizing it with web. He ran behind the truck and... puuuuuuuussssshhheeed... the thing. It wouldn't budge. He opened the back and threw out all of the crates within the trailer. He had to hurry. He tried again. Yes! It was much lighter! And it was thick! It was perfect. Staying behind the trailer, he was able to push it forward, approaching the line of fire. He pushed and pushed until he heard the pinging of bullets on metal. He looked at the officers, who were standing up and grinning at him.

"Yes!" yelled McHorn. "Come on!" McHorn instructed everyone to stay behind the tires as they got out of the line of fire. The rhino took hold of the trailer and helped Danny drag it back where it was before.

"Ok, now what?" asked Danny when he let the trailer go. Priority one, check. Next priority: the hostages.

"We have to try to negotiate with these guys, keep their attention off of the hostages. Danny - I can't believe we're doing this. Can you break into the building? Keep an eye on them, see if you can get anyone out?"

"Yes, sir," he nodded and ran around the building. He found a door and tried it. Locked. He elbowed it with a grunt, warping the metal. He did it again. And again. Now he was able to slip his fingers in through the cracks of the doorsill. He gripped the door and yanked hard, causing the door to make a loud banging noise. He tried again, and, grunting loudly, tore the door off of its hinges. He threw it away and ran in - coming face-to-face with two terror-stricken predators wielding... THOSE WERE MINGUNS!

"Shoot it!" one of them screamed.

Danny's whiskers twitched. He submitted to his instincts, jumping onto the ceiling as they began shooting. They tried to lift their guns to him, but he used a short web to perform a small swing onto the wall closer to them. At the same time, he webbed one of the gunmammals' feet and pulled him onto his back. He groaned in pain and alarm, the heavy gun knocking the wind from him. Danny webbed the other's face, causing him to shoot wildly. Danny focused on where the gun was veering. He barely managed to avoid being riddled, dodging with a yelp as the line of fire approached him. Adrenaline took over. His heart blasted against his chest. He webbed the gun, stopping the minigun's spinning immediately. The gun was rendered useless. The other tried to take aim again, but Danny was upon him. He kicked the gun away and knocked both of them senseless. He ripped the guns apart with his paws before webbing the perps to the wall and continuing onward.

He tried to navigate the large, cubicle-infested offices, attempting to recall the map that he and John had studied before they had infiltrated this building to steal from Biggles. Right is... the... ah! No, it's left! He broke open a door and saw the telltale windows broken by the robbers during their infiltration in a hallway at the side of the building. That was how they got in... There they are! Seeing a vent above him, he jumped and stuck to the ceiling. He pulled it off and threw it away before crawling inside toward the noise. He quietly crawled into the area where the robbers were, coming to another vent and looking through it. Below him were the robbers. Both wore black outfits and ski masks, but they were probably of the canidae family based on their height and elongated muzzles. And the guns they were using... these guys must have been filthy rich!

The robbers shouted something. It sounded like he said... "Go..." do something very, very disturbing, essentially.

Danny cringed. He shifted to see the hostages. One, two, three... seven hostages total. All bound with rope. Two perps.

What to do...?

Adrenaline was still pouring into him, sharpening his senses and making his heart pound in terror, even though he had yet to feel its full impact. He'd barely managed to get past those two guys without getting shot. This...

He couldn't do anything from his current position. He might get one of the hostages shot. If he tried something, and one of the hostages reacted to him... argh! This was heavy. The notion that one wrong move could get someone killed, he had NOT considered that! Maybe he shouldn't have come! Maybe Judy had a point to tell him to stay away.

He had saved those officers. And really, he was already pushing it by that point. Maybe that was all he could do? He nodded to himself, convinced he should back out now and let the officers take care of the rest.

He crawled back to the opening in the adjacent room, intent on leaving, until...

"If we see even a toenail o' one a' you (insert expletive), we gonna shoot someone!"

Danny turned. No choice. He had to do something!

He crept silently to the window separating this room from the next. The criminal with the gun on the hostages was holding the barrel to the head of a male goat guarding two other goats, a mother and son.

He put his back to the wall. One chance, that was all he had. One chance. It was quiet. No one made a sound. As quietly as he could, he tried turning the doorknob. Locked! Of course it was! The perps were about ten feet away from him. All he had to do was two things: keep the guns off the hostages and keep the guns off of himself. Simple. But still... one chance. He heard shouting from the other room. He looked through the window. The robbers were yelling, the one guarding the hostages lifting the goat by the horn and shoving the minigun's barrel into his temple. The goat hyperventilate and held his hooves up, his eyes squeezed shut. One twitch of the finger away from death... Behind him were the two other goats, probably his family, along with the rest of the hostages.

The source of the outburst? McHorn was stepping in the line of fire, trying... something. The first mammal fired, sending McHorn running.

Now's your chance! Take it!

He stepped in front of the door and kicked as hard as he could. It broke in half, but the noise of the gun prevented the perps from hearing it.

Hostages first.

He shot a web onto the guard's right side and pulled lightly, causing him to drop the goat and turn to the right with a startled yelp. The gun was off of the hostages. He webbed him again and yanked him backward, grabbing him and the gun and tearing both away from each other. The other gunmammal began to turn in alarm, the barrel's line of fire about to skewer the hostages. He webbed the perp's feet and pulled, putting him on his stomach.

Danny's legs flew out from under him. He landed on his back. The gunmammal who had been relieved of his gun pulled out a knife and tried to stab him. Danny caught his wrist easily and crushed it. He screamed, and the knife fell from his grasp. He knocked the guard out with a punch before kicking up. The other was already back on his feet! He pulled the trigger. Danny's whiskers twitched. He leaped in the air, feeling the rush of air from the supersonic lead pellets. He flipped over him and landed right behind him. He grabbed the circle of barrels as the wolf tried to turn around, stopping it cold, and squeezed them shut, warping the metal. He pushed the guy to the side while holding the gun, which he promptly ripped in half. He webbed the thugs and bound them together before throwing them outside with a loud, adrenaline-fueled grunt.

"Have a nice life in prison!" Danny spat at the criminals as he turned toward the hostages.

He untied each of them, and they all ran outside to find the police arresting the perps.

Standing still, a kind of dazed feeling began to rush onto him. It caused him to panic momentarily, but he thought it to be simple exhaustion. He went outside and sat down on a curb, watching as the hostages were looked over by the police. A few of them were eventually picked up in an ambulance.

He sat there, still dazed, not keeping track of time. The adrenaline boost had worn off, leaving him feeling...

"DANNY!" a voice cried out. Not fully registering the voice, he turned, seeing a blurry Judy running toward him. He was lucid enough to see tear marks lining her cheeks. She grabbed him by the shoulders but he barely felt it. Her voice sounded somewhat distant. "Why would you do that to me! Don't... Don't ever do that to me again, you hear me! You are never going on patrol again! And... Danny?! Danny, are you ok?"

Tears were beginning to fall from his eyes at the arrival of the bunny. He put his paw on his open muzzle, sobbing. He had not realized it until that point. But it was clear that the experience had rattled him. He had not considered the strain that jumping into this would cause, especially when he knew that one wrong move would be the end. Yeah, he needed to stick to little things.

"I'm sorry, Judy. I..." he sobbed "...I sh-should've listened to you." He leaned forward and covered his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, Danny," she said, putting her paws on his face and stroking his cheek. She kissed his forehead. "I'm not mad at you. I was scared. Because I've done this for a while now. I know how dangerous it is. I just want you to be safe. And..."

Suddenly, Wolfard walked by and patted Danny on the shoulder. "Cheer up, buddy. You saved these mammals' lives."

He continued sniffling, but Judy was at a loss... she looked around, seeing the armed robbers being cuffed, the shells of former cruisers being moved, the ruined miniguns confiscated...

He did all of this?

"I wanna go home now," he said, calming down but rubbing his head in weariness.

She nodded silently and pulled his head to her chest. How could she punish him for doing something so incredible, even if she worried about him? It was at that time that... ugh... the news showed up. She high-tailed him outta there before anyone noticed them. They would meet Nick back at the house.


"Hello?" the leopard asked with his mouth full. Preparing for what he was about to do meant he could eat whatever he wanted and not worry about anything. It was nice.

"Doug, those idiots you sent to ZC Bank, well, now they're being arrested."

"That's the plan."

"Wait, wait. Come again?"

"I have faith that where there's a serious crime, he'll be there to save the day."

"I... I'm not quite sure how that helps us."

"You'll see."


My, oh my, what is that leopard up to? Stay tuned to find out. Pretty soon, we're gonna start finding out just what the grand scheme is.

Subtle homage to Liar Liar, starring Jim Carrey, in this chapter.