Chapter 8: Big Pharma
Standing among the other skyscrapers that made up the concrete jungle that surrounded Savannah Square, Jakes BioPharma was readily identifiable thanks to the symbol emblazoned onto the building near the top, which resembled a pair of Js positioned back to back, colored black with gold trim. The tower stood fifty stories tall, casting a long shadow across the surrounding city thanks to the midmorning sun.
At the base of the tower, Nick, Howard and Rocket stood outside of the skyscraper's main entrance, above which was the same double J symbol. The trio stood side by side, looking up at the tower with various expressions of wariness.
"So, we doing this or what?" Rocket questioned as he lowered his gaze and looked at the others.
"Yeah," Nick answered with a nod as he turned his attention towards the entrance, "Let's do this."
Together, the trio walked side by side towards the doors.
"Remember, I'm the only one with any authority here, so let me do the talking," Nick instructed.
"If you do all the talking, we won't get any of the answers we need," Howard commented with a dismissive snort.
"I'm serious," Nick said as he gave Howard a pointed look.
"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Rocket sighed as he rolled his eyes, "We're right behind you, copper."
Opening the doors, the trio stepped into the atrium, a large open room that seemed to occupy most of the building's first floor. The floor of the atrium was made up of black squares inlaid with gold. Directly across from the doors was a large receptionist's desk, while the walls behind it contained a bank of elevators.
Walking up to the front desk, the trio found a ewe sitting on the other side, dressed in an expensive looking, black and gold skirt suit. Her attention was completely focused on the computer screen in front of her, leading to the trio awkwardly standing in front of her unacknowledged for a few moments. Realizing the sheep hadn't noticed their presence, Nick loudly cleared his voice, causing her to look up at him, her eyes behind a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles.
"Can I help you?" the sheep inquired.
"Yeah, I'm Officer Nick Wilde, ZPD," Nick replied, flashing a smile as he spoke, "My associates and I were hoping to talk with Mr. Munroe Potamus."
"Do you have an appointment?" the sheep questioned with an arched eyebrow.
"Uh, no," Nick replied with a grimace.
"Mr. Potamus is a very busy man," the sheep responded with an annoyed sigh, "He doesn't have the time to meet with someone who just wandered in from off the street."
"Even for a member of the ZPD?" Nick inquired as he flashed his badge.
"Especially for you," the sheep answered as she gave Nick a withering look before turning her attention back to her computer.
Howard looked like he was about to say something, but stopped as Nick held up his paw to silence the duck.
"Look," Nick began to say, pouring on the charm as he glanced at the nameplate that sat on the desk in front of the sheep, "Dorothy….Dottie, can I call you Dottie?"
The sheep, Dottie, gave Nick another withering look but made no argument.
"Look, Dottie," Nick continued as he leaned lackidasily against her desk, "I'm just trying to do my job. My boss back at the station, he's a slave driver, and he's been riding me to investigate a lead. I'm sure you know what it's like when your boss just won't get off your back, right?"
"Look, I sympathize," Dottie sighed, "But my sympathy isn't going to open up Mr. Potamus' schedule."
"Well, that's just the thing," Nick explained, "Seeing Potamus, well that would get me brownie points, but I'm actually here to talk to someone who works for him."
As Dottie looked at Nick in confusion, the fox reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph that showed a zoomed in image of Bertrand Bopper and showed it to the sheep.
"Do you know this guy?" Nick inquired.
Reaching up, Dottie took the picture with one hand while adjusting her glasses with the other as she looked at it.
"Oh," Dottie said, her expression turning grim, "Him."
"So you know him?" Nick inquired with a questioning eyebrow.
"Yeah, he's Mr. Potamus' new bodyguard or something," Dottie replied as she handed Nick back the picture, "He's got a real attitude problem, if you ask me."
"What makes you say that?" Nick inquired as he took the picture and put it back in his pocket.
"He's always harassing everyone underneath Mr. Potamus," Dottie explained, her expression turning into a mixture of annoyance and pensiveness, "He's always puffing out his chest and putting on this tough act. Well, maybe it's not an act."
"What do you mean by that?" Nick pressed gently as he pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and started writing down what Dottie was telling him.
"Well, I heard from Phyllis, who works in accounting up on Mr. Potamus' floor," Dottie explained as she leaned closer to Nick, prompting the fox to lean in as well, "She says that she heard bragging about working in the military. She said that he was talking about how many people he's killed. She even said he mentioned something about having a gun! A real firearm!"
"You see, and that's precisely what we're here about," Nick replied with a friendly smile as he continued to jot things down in his notebook, "We've heard some….concerning things about this individual, and we were just looking to get to the bottom of it all."
"You don't think he actually has a gun, do you?" Dottie questioned, her eyes going wide at the thought.
"Well, Dottie, the likelihood of that is very small," Nick answered before he gave the sheep a small shrug, "But it's in the best interest of everyone that we check it out, just to be sure."
"I mean, I don't think Mr. Potamus or any of the other execs would mind if you checked up on this," Dottie mused aloud, "After all, you're just looking out for our safety, right?"
"Protect and serve," Nick replied as he tapped his badge, "Says it right there."
"Alright, why don't you go on up, officer," Dottie said as she gave Nick a meaningful smile, "You'll find Mr. Potamus' office on the twentieth floor. And thank you."
"Just doing my job, Dottie," Nick explained as he put away his notepad and pen while signalling to Howard and Rocket, "You have a good day now."
With that, the trio walked around the desk and quickly made their way into a waiting elevator. Pushing the button for the twentieth floor, Nick grinned in smug satisfaction as the doors dinged close.
"You know, I had heard you were slick, Wilde," Rocket spoke up with a chuckle, "But that? That was impressive."
"That's nothing," Howard replied with an amused snort, "I once saw Nick sell a winter coat to a polar bear."
"Hey, that was a nice coat," Nick argued as the elevator dinged and the doors opened, "Anyone would have wanted it."
Before them now was a long hallway with the same design as the first floor atrium. Numerous doors branched off the hall, while at the end of it, opposite the elevator, was another secretary desk, behind which sat a young female gazelle dressed in stylish business wear. Behind her was a glass wall through which the group could see a large, well appointed office.
Stepping out of the elevator, the trio made their way down the hall towards the desk, the secretary looking up from her work and arching a confused eyebrow at the three of them as they approached.
"Can I help you?" she questioned once they had reached her desk.
"Hi, yeah, we're just here to see your boss," Nick replied with a friendly smile as he pointed towards the office behind her.
"Mr. Potamus is in a meeting right now," the secretary replied, her expression confused, "Do you have an appointment?"
"Nah, but it's fine," Nick replied with a dismissive wave of his hand as he walked right past the secretary's desk, "It will only take a minute."
"Wait, you can't just-" the secretary began to argue, but by that point, Nick had already reached the door to the office and pushed through it, Howard and Rocket following along behind him.
Beyond the door was a spacious office, the floor covered in a plush carpet depicting gold and black geometric designs, and two of the walls paneled in rich dark wood, while the wall directly across from the door was dominated by a single, large window that looked out onto the Zootopia skyline. At the center of the room was a glass coffee table flanked by a pair of overstuffed couches. To the left side of the door, a combination bookcase and display case sat against the wall, holding numerous books, framed pictures and various other items. On the wall to the right of the door hung a massive television flanked by a pair of potted, decorative ferns. Directly across from the door, sitting before the massive window, was an ornate, wooden desk appropriately sized for a pachyderm, upon which sat a phone, a keyboard and monitor, and various other office supplies and knicknacks.
Sitting in a large chair behind the desk was a hippo dressed in a tailored business suit. As the trio entered, the hippo looked up at them and narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"What is the meaning of this?" the hippo questioned with a deep, annoyed voice, "Who are you people? I'm in the middle of an important call!"
"What's going on down there, Potamus?" a gruff voice asked through the speaker of the phone sitting on the hippo's desk.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Jakes," the hippo apologized as he glanced down at the phone, "Three strangers just barged into my office!"
"Remind me again why you sweet talked us past the secretary downstairs, but we just bulled our way in here?" Howard muttered to Nick.
"What?" the voice on the phone questioned, "I'm calling security to your office now!"
"No need, sir," Potamus replied as he leaned down and pushed a hidden button on his desk, "My bodyguard will handle it."
"That's why," Nick whispered in reply, still wearing his sly grin.
A moment later, a warthog with a purple mohawk stepped into the office from the door behind Nick, Howard and Rocket. He was dressed in a blue jean jacket with the sleeves torn off, along with a white tanktop and black jeans. A pair of dark sunglasses obscured his vision and a gold hoop dangled from his nose.
"What seems to be the problem, Mr…." the warthog began to say but trailed off as he spotted Rocket, "Well, I'll be damned."
"Been a long time, Bebop," Rocket said with a grin.
"Not long enough, ya stinkin' trash panda," the warthog, Bebop, replied with a contemptuous snort, "And here I was hopin' yous was dead in a gutter somewhere."
"What is this?" Potamus demanded, his tone confused, "Do you know this mammal, Bertrand?"
"Yeah, me and Rocco here served together way back when," Bebop explained with a dangerous grin before he tilted his head to look at Howard and Nick, "Not too sure bout his friends though."
"Officer Nick Wilde, ZPD," Nick said as he pulled out his badge and showed it to Bebop, "I was hoping we could ask you some questions."
"Obviously, I've got a soft spot for my fellow pigs," Bebop replied with a snort of amusement, "But I still ain't talkin' to no cop."
"That's what this is about?" Potamus questioned as he glared at Nick while rising to his feet, "You barge into my office so that you can interrogate my bodyguard!?"
"It will only take a few minutes, sir, I assure you," Nick said, attempting to placate the hippo, "We'll be out of your hair after that."
Potamus let out a frustrated sigh before he turned his attention back to the phone on his desk.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I believe I'm going to have to call you back," Potamus explained with a resigned tone.
Receiving no reply, Potamus furrowed his brow and looked at the telephone, only to discover that the line had gone dead. Confusion passed over Potamus' features for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention to the occupants of his office.
"Look, pal, all we're trying to do is clear some things up," Nick said to Bebop.
"I don't care if yer offerin' me a chance to win a million dollars, I ain't talkin to ya," Bebop replied dismissively.
"Look, let's just cut the crap," Rocket interjected with an angry growl, "Are you the one that offed that weasel the other day?"
"Wow, did ya really think I'd just come out and admit to somethin' like that?" Bebop questioned with a snort of contempt, "Ye're even dumber than I remember, Rocco."
Rocket growled at the insult and moved to charge at Bebop but was prevented as Howard stepped in front of him.
"What my colleague here is trying to say is that we have evidence connecting you to a murder," Howard explained as he glanced between Rocket and Bebop, "We have it on good authority that you illegally purchased a firearm that was later used to murder Duke Weaselton."
"Never took that walrus to be a snitch," Bebop commented with another snort, "Guess I'll have to have a chat with him about it."
"Are you making threats, Mr. Bopper?" Nick questioned as he eyed Bebop carefully.
"No way, just thinkin' out loud, is all," Bepot replied before he turned his head towards Howard, "Say, what's yer role in all this, bird?"
"Wait a minute, I remember you now," Potamus spoke up as he pointed an accusatory finger at Nick, "You're the private investigator I hired to follow Patricia! This is the thanks I get for bringing you my business!? You come with the police and-and mercenaries to harass me in my own office!?"
"Wait, ya hired a private eye to follow yer own daughter?" Bebop inquired as he turned to look at Potamus with an incredulous expression, "That's kind of creepy, don't ya think?"
"Patricia is my stepdaughter," Potamus clarified, "But after I caught wind of her hanging around with that rhino neerdowell, I needed to keep tabs on her, maybe even find some leverage to get him away from her. Luckily, the brute took care of that himself when he got arrested."
"Aw, that's kind of rude, Daddy," a new voice said from the office door, "I think you owe Rocky an apology."
Turning their attention towards the door, the others found a pair of new mammals entering the office. One was a male rhinoceros, dressed in a black leather vest over a white t-shirt that looked like it had had it's sleeves ripped off, along with a pair of ripped, blue jeans, with a bike chain hanging from his belt and a red bandanna on his head. The image of a bull's skull was tattooed on his right arm while the name "Rocky" was stitched onto his vest over his heart.
Along with him was a young female hippopotamus, dressed in a black leather jacket over a white blouse and dark grey pleated skirt with a bright pink purse slung over her shoulder. She also wore a number of bracelets on her wrists, and her face was decorated with a thick layer of makeup.
"Oh, we doin' this, huh?" Bebop asked, a look of mild surprise as he watched the two mammals enter the room.
"Yeah," the hippo girl replied with a sigh, "He said we might as well take care of this all now."
"Patricia?" Potamus questioned in confusion, "W-What are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know, just spending time with my boyfriend," the girl, Patricia, replied with a shrug of her shoulders, "He just got out on bail you know."
"Bail?" Nick questioned as he looked at the rhino in shock, "This is Rocky Steadherd! He assaulted three police officers!"
"Oh, you must be the police officer who's been snooping about!" Patricia replied excitedly as she pointed at Nick while Rocky shot him a savage grin, "Anyway, all I can say is Mr. Jakes knows how to pull strings."
"Jakes had this….brute pulled out of lock-up?" Potamus asked, his confusion palpable, "Why!?"
"Well, he really appreciated the test run Rocky here did for Primal," Patricia explained as she smiled up at the rhino, "Mr. Jakes always appreciates people who do good work. Speaking of which."
Patricia trailed off as she reached into her purse and fumbled around for something. After a moment, she whipped a tranq gun out of her pocketbook and fired it at Potamus. The dart lodged itself in Potamus' neck, prompting him to grab at it while stumbling back from his desk, knocking over his chair, a look of alarm on his face.
"Drop it!" Nick ordered as he drew his own dart gun and leveled it at Patricia, prompting Howard to draw his as well, pointing it at Rocky. Bebop moved to do something, but was stopped as Rocket grabbed the warthog's arm with one hand and pressed the barrel of one of his handguns into Bebop's stomach.
"Don't even think about it, porkchop," Rocket growled.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy feeding that to you" Bebop growled as he remained still.
Patricia nonchalantly dropped the gun to the ground and raised her hands into the air, a smug smirk on her face.
"There, I dropped it," Patricia replied as she looked over and quirked an eyebrow at Nick, "Now what?"
"Un, Nick?" Howard said, turning his head to look at something.
"Get on your knees," Nick ordered as he gestured towards the ground with his gun.
"Ugh, I have a boyfriend, you know," Patricia mocked as she shot Nick a disgusted look.
"Nick?" Howard repeated, a note of trepidation entering his voice.
"Get on the ground!" Nick shouted, his agitation rising.
"Nick!" Howard shouted, panic leaking into his voice.
"What, Howard!?" Nick demanded as he finally turned his attention towards the duck before his eyes widened in shock as he looked at something past his friend.
On the other side of the office, Potamus was doing his best to brace himself against the back wall with one hand, using the other to yank the dart out of his neck and throw it to the floor. Potamus was breathing heavily and his muscles were starting to bulge underneath his clothing.
"What did you do to him?" Nick questioned as he turned his attention back towards Patricia, who still had her hands raised.
"This is all because you were looking for Primal, right?" Patricia questioned before nodding towards Potamus, "Well, there it is."
"I thought Primal was supposed to keep you in control?" Howard inquired, watching as Potamus growled in agitation before forming a fist with the hand he was using to support himself and slamming it against the wall with a resounding boom, causing cracks to spiderweb across the plaster, "Because he's not looking very in control right now."
"It does when taken in the proper dosage," Patricia explained, "But if you overdose on it, it's like Night Howlers on steroids."
With a grunt of anger, Potamus grabbed his suit and ripped it off his body, his thick, powerful muscles rippling as he threw the shredded clothing on the ground.
"Why did you do this?" Nick questioned in confusion, doing his best to keep his tranq gun trained on Patricia while glancing between her and Potamus, "Isn't he your Dad?"
"Stepdad," Patricia corrected with a roll of her eyes, "My third one, at that. Don't worry, I'm sure Mom will get over his death quickly enough. An inheritance is good for the mourning process."
"Death?" Nick repeated, staring at Patricia in shock.
"Well, yeah, like I said, overdose," Patricia explained with a roll of her eyes, "He must have panicked when he got found out as the mammal behind the Primal supply and took too much. Though the real shame is all those mammals he killed in his final, drug-fueled rampage. Including a distinguished member of the ZPD."
Nick's blood ran cold at not just what Patricia had said, but the utterly nonchalant way she had said it.
"What's wrong with you?" Nick questioned quietly.
"God, you sound like my first stepdad," Patricia replied with a dismissive snort, "I will say I'll miss this one the most. I wouldn't have gotten to meet Mr. Jakes and Rocky if it weren't for him forcing me to go to one of his work functions. Who knew pharmacology was so fun?"
"One problem with this whole plan, sweetheart," Rocket spoke up, giving Patricia a derisive look, "You're stuck in here with us!"
"You sure about that?" Patricia countered with a knowing look.
Before Rocket could say anything else, Bebop took advantage of the slight distraction and lashed out, slapping the raccoon's gun to one side with his hand. Rocket quickly pulled the trigger, but by that point, the barrel of the gun was already clear of Bebop's torso and the bullet smashed through the glass wall behind him, shattering one of the panes with a loud crash, causing the secretary outside to scream and flee her desk. Before Rocket could do anything, Bebop grabbed the raccoon's arm with his free hand before yanking hard, pulling Rocket off his feet. Then, spinning in a tight circle, Bebop hurled Rocket through the air, sending him crashing into Howard and sending both of them falling to the ground. At the same time, Rocky took advantage of the confusion and rushed Nick, blindsiding the fox with a kick. The force of the blow sent Nick flying across the office before slamming into the side of Potamus' desk with a loud wooden crack and collapsing to the ground.
"Well, this has been a fun chat," Patricia said as she made her way towards the door, Rocky and Bebop quickly falling in line with her while the others began picking themselves up off the ground, "But it looks like you have another appointment. Byeee."
Groaning in pain, Nick rose to his hands and knees, trying desperately to shake his head clear. As he did, he heard something heavy move nearby a moment before Potamus' desk suddenly lifted into the air. Raising his head to look, Nick's ears drooped in terror as he found Potamus towering over him, his eyes a blank, manic white and his desk held above his head, the computer that had been sitting on it tumbling off the side. Potamus glared down at the horrified fox for a moment letting out a beastial roar, his cavernous mouth opened as wide as it would go, as the sound reverberated in Nick's chest.
"I'm so dead," Nick muttered in terror.
A/N: Been awhile since I've gotten to update this story, but really happy with how it turned out! The plot thickens, with a bunch of action for next time! In the meantime, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!