"How long will repairs to the typhoon take?" Toothdee asked Skye, the fox shoulder-deep into a small maintenance area inside the typhoon. The sounds of maintenance and machine tools were present throughout the whole ship.

"A few days at the least, likely longer." Skye said, exiting the maintenance area, "We sustained heavy damage in our battle with the Black Typhoon. I'm just glad we were able to get back to this US island."

"Same, luckily; we did get some technical teams sent out. So hopefully, we can get this ship fixed and rearmed fairly quickly."

"Skye," Retsuko said, coming up to the pair. "That armor panel you prioritized has been repaired, as has the damaged electrical components you prioritized. Oh, and Toothdee, we're 37% restocked when it comes to our bombs and missiles."

"Thank you, Retsuko."

The red panda left, looking over notes on a clipboard.

"I must say, Skye, your engineering skills really impress me."

"Thanks. I'm one of the most highly trained field agents in the ZIA. I've got Jack, myself, and other agents out of a jam more than once."

The fox grabbed some tools and went back into the maintenance area.

"I know we're on that list as well. Do you think I could convince you to stay on with Heroes after the war?"

"Hmmm... I'm not sure. I haven't thought about that much. I do like working for the ZIA, and they might have other missions for us after the war instead of working with you guys."

"Well, just know that there's always a place for you and Jack in Heroes."

"Thank you, I'm glad to hear it."

000

"Lion versus lion! Blade versus blade!" Laval said, taking up a defensive stance.

"This is where it all ends on this beach..." Kion said, readying his blade.

There was a pause, with only the feel of sand beneath the lion's feet, the gentle sound of the lapping of the waves on the shore, the occasional breezes blowing through their fur.

"YAAHHHHH!"

The lions roared and raced towards each other, blades colliding with a shower of sparks and the sound of metal clangs.

Blades clashed as the pair swung their blades and blocked incoming attacks. Both warriors were evenly matched and experts with their swords.

Laval kicked up some sand in Kion's face, blinding the young lion and placing him on the defensive as he rubbed his eyes.

Laval was quickly able to block his strikes with his enemy blinded and knock Kion on his back with a hard kick.

The downed lion looked up at his adversary, who was pointing a blade at his neck.

"I win! One point to me!" Laval said.

"Hey, using sand is cheating!" Kion said, getting up and washing his eyes with a bottle of water he set down on the sand.

"You have to be ready for anything!" Laval said, using his sword to cut a small tally mark in a palm tree nearby. He looked over the two sections of the chart cut into the tree, one side labeled L, the other labeled K. "We're even. You may be a little taller than me, but don't let that go to your head!"

"Point taken, say why are you and Eris roughly equivalent in height? I mean, wild lions and wild eagles aren't exactly the same in size."

"I mean, you could say the same thing for other species. Nick and Judy are roughly equivalent in height, much more so that their wild counterparts."

"Yeah... you've got a point..."

The pair of lions readied themselves for another battle, stretching and practicing their sword swings.

"We're also somewhat different in height, even though we're both adult lions."

"Yeah, maybe it's just natural differences since we're from different parts of the world. Chima has always been somewhat unique biology-wise."

"Why's that?"

"I'm not sure, it might have something to do with the chi, or maybe it's just natural circumstances. I'm not exactly a biologist, though."

"It kind of reminds me of how Komodo dragons are only found on one island in the world. I guess it's just a unique location that adds to the diversity mammals have."

"Sounds about right."

"Now then, where were we?" Kion said, taking up an offensive stance with his blade ready to strike.

"I was just about to beat you again!" Laval said, roaring a battle cry before charging forward.

000

"You know, I've said it before, but I'll repeat it. The food you have here is better than the food I had when I first moved to Zootopia!" Judy said, rummaging through the cabinets in the typhoon's kitchen. "Meat, veggies, snacks, sweets, this ship is so well stocked!"

"Well, a warrior needs essential vitamins and nutrients to keep themselves fit for combat," Alex said, sitting at a table and scrolling through something on his tablet. Nick sat across from him and enjoyed a Pawpsicle. "Not only that, but better quality food keeps morale up."

There was a ding, and Judy retrieved her "carrots for one" dish from the microwave before sitting down with Nick and Alex. She pulled the metal covering off the dish, revealing three plump and juicy carrots.

"Look at that! When I first came to Zootopia, I got one tiny shriveled-up carrot, not carrots that actually look like what's on the cover!"

The rabbit pointed to the picture on the dish's covering.

"Eh, I'm more of a burger kind of person," Nick said.

"You're always eating fast food like chips and take out. You really should eat better."

"Well, next time we can get takeout, I was thinking of... oh wait, Alex, we can still eat Chinese food, right?"

"Yeah, duh. In fact, the Chinese food you eat isn't even actual Chinese food. It's an American creation."

"Oh, totally fine to eat then."

"All this talk of food reminds me. JayJay told me that wolves actually need meat to survive. Some humans don't eat meat, but wolves can't do that."

"Ah, yeah, you're going to have to get used to some of the differences between species."

"Yeah," Judy said, her mouth full of carrot." For example, I didn't know that foxes bite to show affection, so it was a surprise when Nick first did that."

"And I didn't know that rabbits rub their chins on things to mark them, so I was rather confused when that first happened."

"Well... she did nibble on my ear," Alex said. "That definitely surprised me."

Nick and Judy chuckled a bit.

"Although... fair warning..." Judy said. "Not all mammals are very accepting of different species relationships."

"Yeah, I know. But do you think some jerks are going to scare me?"

The fox and bunny chuckled again.

"Nah, you two will be fine," Nick said.

000

"Our warship is gone!" Dark JayJay said. "We've lost. It's just the two of us now."

"I concur," Dark Alex replied as the pair walked down a dark hall in a Chinese facility.

"All we can do now is inflict as much damage as possible on our enemy." He said, "But I will be sending you to where this all started. One of the artificial islands in the South China Sea."

"We should never have set foot on that island. Look where we ended up. We should see about calling for aid."

"I agree, but we will make our enemies pay a hefty price in blood for all they have wrought on us. However, I need you to make sure the information about what we did at the start of this conflict stays secret."

"Ok, I can manage that."

"We have tried to keep this information hidden before. But now, you must dispose of anyone or anything that risks revealing the truth."

The dark wolf nodded and went to prepare.

"Oh, and one more thing..."

Dark JayJay paused for a moment and turned to her ally.

"Don't do anything rash unless you have to. Follow your objectives, but keep that data out of enemy hands, at all costs."