Hybrid Conundrum

Chapter 10

The Reason to Serve

Part 2

Late night wasn't completely safe on the Isara's block, but it was only marginally more dangerous than where Nick and Judy lived if one was cautious while out after dark. A good lock on the door and windows kept most threats at bay as well. So the sight of a police car parked on the street was far from unusual. After a quick scan of the aera the leopard and his dingo cohorts slipped inside.

The lynx behind the desk stood saying. "Guy's, it's kind of-"

The guard froze his eyes wide with fear as one of the dingos pulled a pistol from above his tail. "Quiet, short tail." The Dingo in a red jersey ordered.

The other dingo wearing a dark gray "Mor Mony" shirt jumped the counter and pushed the lynx away from the computer.

The leopard in a red track suit stepped up to the counter and said. "So, bro, why don't you make this easy and just give me your license and pretend we were never here." The guard's greenish yellow eyes trembled as he glared at the leopard then the dingo as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He tossed it on the counter counter. The leopard complimented the smaller cat on being smart and photographed the guards ID.

The dingo at the computer called out. "I got it." He pushed past the lynx. His companions followed, telling the guard to be smart so they don't have to pay a visit to him later.

The lynx took a breath, sat down and picked up his phone. He sent a simple text to a new contact. He hoped it got there in time.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Leo yawned as quietly as a massive lion could. He rubbed his eyes and tried to relax back into the couch. It was hard because he was worried his weight might snap the small sized piece of furniture. He used a gentle claw to unmute the TV, it wasn't much different with how he had it low anyway. Leo had been on the phone with his wife to pass the time and keep awake, however now she had finally gone to bed and the big male lion wished he could too. Unfortunately for him, it was Grif's turn to sleep, something that was probably hard to do in a broken bed. The bear had snapped the guest bed just by laying in it. Hence why Leo was being so careful.

Isara and Juniper were asleep in the master bedroom. Safe and sound, just the way they should be. Then the lion's phone beeped, he checked it and his eyes flew wide. "Three mammals all armed coming now." The lion stood up and was about to get Griff, but the bear was already coming.

The door thumped hard as someone pounded on it. "Open up, this is the police. We got to talk to ya about your son." Leo smirked, these guys were smart, just not smart enough.

The pounding and the order came again waking Juniper. The hybrid kit started to cry as her protectors neared the threat. Leo's trained ear heard the three planning on kicking the door open.

With Griff in the living room, Leo yanked the front door open. The three thugs were stunned, but the lion wasn't. Months of having to take the riskiest of chances without hesitation against monsters of the most hideous nature in the least assumable of forms had taught him.

Act or die.

The massive lion pounced, slamming the leopard and the gray clad dingo to the floor. He balanced his weight so as not to crush them as he hooked the last dingo's leg with his tail, the dog was flipped on his back before he knew what happened. With Grif the bear soon pinning him down and cuffing him.

The leopard growled as iron clamped around his wrist. "You dumbasses, you don't know what you're in for."

Isara poked her head out of the bedroom while holding the whimpering kit. "Everything alright?"

"No." growled the leopard while Leo corrected him. Grif called for backup before all three suspects had been thoroughly searched.

Leo took a deep breath and said. "I guess I'll call the sergeant."

"Better you than me." Isara said, sounding so much like Nick, it was scary. The grandmother yawned and carried Juniper back to bed.

"Well it's not us that really have to worry." Griff said, looking up from the three paw cuffed mammals. "I'm more worried about these idiots."

It was meant as a joke but after telling the bunny, who released a loud string of expletives, the two officers weren't so sure how on the money they might have been.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Nick and Judy arrived at his mother's home with the other personnel called to the scene. No one questioned when the pair rushed to their baby's side. Only to be shooed away by Isara. However the ferals could not be stopped from watching Juniper sleep for a good couple minutes. Both parents gave the hybrid a kiss on the cheek. Making the little one coo.

They then headed down to get back to work.

The three criminals were already separated in different squad cars. The leopard noticed that a few cops jumped out of the way of something. Suddenly the car shuttered. As he blinked and looked around, the door snapped open with a metallic ping. In the growing light of the morning sun stood two small shadows, their eyes aglow with a deathly light.

The leopard's eyes adjusted, so he could see the fox and bunny. They looked furious, ready to tear him apart at any second. A low rumbling growl rolled from the bunny's throat as she stepped up into the car then onto the seat to be eye level with the leader of the suspects that just tried to harm her daughter.

Nick was tall enough to stand on the floorboard and looked the cat in the eyes. The feline glanced around and noticed the other cops were looking away.

They wouldn't, would they?

Before the implications of it all could really set in a growl, a territorial beastly growl pulled him back to the bunny. She shook from ear to tail as her paw reached for the cat's head slowly, like there was a war inside her head whether she should rip his throat out, tear off his head or beat him to a bloodied pulp, either way their was murder in her purple eyes.

Nick put a paw on Judy's and gently pushed it down. "Normally we would play all kinds of games with you." He said through clenched teeth. He held his partner as tears appeared in her eyes. "But it's taking every bit of willpower we have not ripping you apart." He heard the howl of his savage self telling him to do just that.

"Now talk." Judy shook out of the fox's grasp.

The leopard was shaking more than the bunny was. He knew they wouldn't get away with hurting him. He also knew that if he said anything less than what they wanted, they wouldn't care what the laws said.

A few minutes later Nick and Judy stood with Leo, Grif and sergeant Higgins. The parents had calmed down, something Higgins commented on, the ferals ignored it as Judy gave out orders which boiled down to "thanks for coming so fast now get back to work." Save for half a dozen officers. Grif and Leo headed back up, fine with staying on watch, while the rest would back up Nick and Judy as they hit the target. They had already requested a warrant, and it was being processed as they spoke.

Nick and Judy jumped into their cruiser and the bunny plugged the address into the computer. "You know, they might have abandoned the place already." Nick said as he followed the map.

"Why do you say that?"

"Carrots, if they are as organized as they act... then the moment these guys didn't check in, they started cutting the places connected to those bozos loose." Nick answered grimly.

"Then you should drive fast."

Nick did just that, pushing the car as hard as he dared in the early morning traffic. Some city mammals were bad drivers, but add in waking up with probably too little sleep, varying levels of night vision and size made it fairly dicey at the best of time. Thankfully Nick and the ZPD were trained for this and seeing the four police cars made some cars get out of the way.

The sky was turning blue as the cops crept into the low inner city housing. It was not only on the wrong tracks, but 'down river' of it. Plenty of mammals here were just living life one paycheck at a time. With some luck, a few could move away to better places, more at least tried to send off their kits to better lives.

Very few stayed here by choice.

It was easy to hide what you were doing in a neighborhood where most mammals were too busy to care what their neighbors looked like, let alone what they were doing. Though no one would miss those cops turning into the cul-de-sac, cherries and berries flashing. One deer spun on his hoof and walked right back inside his home.

Across the street from the frightened deer was a more run down midsize mammal two bedroom one bath home. With chipped walls and a boarded up window. The perfect place to "break some bitches" before throwing them on the streets, or so the leopard had told them.

Nick and Judy were first out-of their car. Followed closely by a llama officer with the green bean bag shotgun. An ibex officer met them at the front gate with a riot shield, behind him was a thick-armed badger with a single rookie stripe and the battering ram. She was the only cop wearing boots.

As the five officers approached the door, a familiar tiger joined them, he was checking his Armadillo Lite 15 as he spied his sergeant from his time on her special task force. "Hey serg just like old times, huh?" This was the first chance he had to speak with her and Nick that night.

"Let's hope not, Mario." Judy replied with a slight smirk growing on her muzzle.

Nick looked from the nervous badger to the tiger. "She your boot?"

"Yep, can you believe it." Mario replied. As they formed up behind the shield, Mario and Nick exchanging fist bumps. "Me a TO. Hey, maybe I'll turn her into the next Judy Hopps." He whispered as they stacked up on the door.

"I was never a boot, Mario." Judy replied, thinking about how she was never given the traditional hazing and training most officer's got. Not because she was some perfect cop right from the get go, but because she was never meant to make it as one.

She wasn't mad, traditions only change when someone forces them too.

"Ready?" Judy asked quietly, the seriousness in the bunny's voice told everyone it was time to work.

The rookie slammed the ram into the door, the thin neglected wood splintered as the door slammed opened. The badger jumped back as the ibex officer pushed in his shield up to give them cover as they made entirely. He covered the right side of the room with his tranq pistol. The llama with the shotgun covered the left. Nick and Judy slipped in front of the three, while Mario scanned the hallway before them.

The entryway was in the middle open area that should have been a living/dining room combo. There wasn't much but a couch, a little coffee table, a couple dirty mattresses on the floor and a TV still tuned to the music channel. "Dang" Judy growled, seeing the drinks and blankets left strewn about.

"Just like old times." Mario grumbled as his Boot joined them, her tranq in her large paws.

While the tiger explained what the rookie should be doing, the group moved forward looking into the kitchen, Nick commented. "How does this keep happening?"

"Keep moving." Judy ordered.

The ibex kept his shield up as he pushed for the hallway, Judy, Nick and Mario behind him. The llama with a shotgun backed up by the rookie badger slipped into the kitchen. It was cleaner than the officers would have expected, meaning everything wasn't moldy. Again it looked like mammals had just dropped what they were doing and left, leaving the lights on and food half cooked. They at least turned the stove top off.

The hallway was bare, if you didn't include the claw marks. They were the same basic old tan as the rest of the house, with brown carpet. Both bedrooms were opposite the kitchen, and there was a side door to the porch near the end of the hall next to the bathroom. Nick scanned the first bedroom as the stack passed, it was empty, like the rest of the rooms. Though he could smell more mammals were just here, they had left more than just scent markers. Clothes lay abandoned where they had been dropped because whatever the owner had to transport them could not fit them.

Judy moved to the next room, where she saw her worst fear. A red Vixen tied to the bed. "I need-." The feral bunny felt a tight string pull across her shin. In the split second she had, Judy followed the string to a self high on the wall to the right of the door. Where a jar had fallen from.

Inside was a military grade flash bang grenade.

Judy's paw snapped out and caught the jar by the bottom. "Incoming." She yelled as the back door shattered from a shotgun blast. The pellets dug into the ibex's shield as he and the rookie returned fire. Both moved through the door they came through for better cover. The polycarbonate could only take so much.

Mario fired a few bursts from his rifle as he took cover at the sliding door to the kitchen where. "Can't see anything out there. Too dark." The sun was not high enough to light the yard and with the lights on in the kitchen the cops may as well be staring at a black sheet.

"Crossing." Judy yells as she ran low to the ground, barely a blur to most mammals. She leapt up onto the counter top and ducked behind the wall. While looking into the backyard, she clicked on the outside lights.

A deer froze in the light, holding a shotgun. His cougar companion was quicker on the uptake and flipped the wooden patio table over, thinking it would protect them. Before the third of the group could snap the deer out of his daze. The jar with the flash bang slammed into the ground between them all let the grenade go off. Everything became white and claws on a chalkboard. Judy led the rush to cuff the gangbangers while Mario and his boot covered them.

Nick meanwhile, still in the hallway, turned to the room Judy had seen the vixen in. As he moved toward it, the door to the bathroom opened, a wolf with shards of glass in his fur stepped to the hall. They both forze as they processed what they saw. Nick could see the military grade submachine gun in the wolf's paws and the broken window he had wiggled through.

The thug was just a few feet away from Nick. The feral fox took a few quick steps forward and grabbed the wolf's weapon and forced it down. "Drop it." He ordered.

The wolf snarled and yanked his weapon up, trying to either throw Nick away or bring his weapon to bear. The fox was too light to stop the wolf. So he growled, "I gave you an order." yanking the weapon from his paws. The wolf hadn't given up yet and pounced. Bowling Nick over, putting him on his back.

Not that it was a problem for Nick. Before the wolf could really try anything, the fox put both back paws on the wolf's chest and launched him up into the ceiling. Nick rolled out from under the falling thug. With the wind knocked out of the suspect, he was even easier for Nick to cuff.

"Watch them and someone grab a first aid kit." Judy yelled as she dashed into the bedroom. The bunny jumped up on the bed, saying. "We're here to help, Kaitlyn." Judy pressed two fingers to the vixen's neck. "Come on, talk to me." Judy's already racing pulse rose as she felt Kaitlyn's fall.

The motherly vixen did not look good. Her clothes were dirty and wrinkled like she had been wearing them for three days, fur was matted and dull, and even seemed to be starting to fall out. Her blue eyes were open, vacant and crusty. Judy could almost see the light leaving them. Her nose was runny and bile stuck to her lips. The pathetic sight was made all the more horrifying by the shallow, barely perceivable breathing and slight twitching of the vixen.

"Where's that kit?!" Judy growled before calling for paramedics, again.

Nick ripped the ties from the vixen's wrists. He then gently rolled her on her side to allow her to expel anything that might be blocking her airway. Mario and his rookie came running in the room with the first aid kit. The bunny yanked it open, determined to not lose Kaitlyn. She tossed the Narcam, an anti overdose medicine, too Nick. The fox opened the little bottle and sprayed it in the vixen's crusty nose.

Kaitlyn barely reacted, making Judy growl angrily, "starting chest compressions." The bunny rolled Kaitlyn on her back again.

"I got it." Mario said, taking Judy's place. His massive paws made the job easier. A tense few seconds pass with nothing but Mario's counting and the creaking of the bed.

Then Kaitlyn gasped, the light returned to her eyes, and she convulsed. Thankfully not from a seizure. She threw up right on Mario's arm before could turn her away. A moment later, the vixen started to cry, and her rescuers comforted her, even Mario. Who said it was all part of the job when Kaitlyn calmed enough to apologize, which was the second thing she did after thanking them. Narcam was amazing like that, but she wasn't out of the woods yet. She would be taken to the hospital for real treatment, and too much to her relief be reunited with her sons.

The paramedics soon arrived and took over caring for Kaitlyn. Nick and Judy however had something important to do. The partners approached the thugs even cuffed and sitting on the curb they dwarfed the officers. However, Judy had the presence and authority of a mammal four times her size, and with Nick, sticking to the shadows, letting the fire in his eyes do the job of ten officers, they had nothing to worry about. It was a play on good cop bad cop, the pair referred to as beast and beastlier.

"Where are the girls?" With that single question from the bunny, the thugs almost cried that they didn't know. Also that they just got here half an hour ago to set the trap. They insisted that they knew nothing, they didn't even know who Kaitlyn was.

The deer even started to cry as Judy pulled him down to her level by his shirt. His eyes told the bunny they were telling the truth, 'they knew nothing.' She released the deer and sighed as she turned away. This gang was smart, these guys were expendable grunts. Worth less than the weapons they were given by their betters.

As Judy began to stew about coming up on a dead in, Nick tapped her shoulder. He nodded to a black Tundratown Limo sitting at the corner, a comfortable distance away from the group of cops. "You think that's for us?" Judy asked.

"I'd put my paycheck on it." Nick replied, flicking out his mirror shades and donning them.

"That's not saying much, I get your paycheck anyway." Judy replied, with a sigh. "Let's go." as they headed toward the large vehicle. She took a moment to radio about taking a personal break.

A familiar black panther in a black tux, large shades and a surgical mask stepped out of the driver's seat. He rounded the car to open the back door for the officers. He noticed Judy's raised eyebrow and answered her unasked question. "Don't want to be on camera if I can help it, ma'am."

"Got ya." Judy replied as she and Nick climbed in the back of the limo. The ice blue interior was warmer than normal. Mostly due to the pair of polar bears sitting on either side of a short maned. The polar bears, who Nick and Judy both knew well, were as nicely dressed as the first time they met. The lion wore a simple tracksuit, and he did not look happy in the slightest. Somewhere between furious and terrified. Across from the three was a lioness with a young cub in her arms and another older one beside her, all were dressed like they had been in bed. Another polar bear sat beside them.

The three polar bears were trying to hide how uneasy they felt. Even some hardened criminals still had a line they didn't like to even touch.

"Morning." Nick greeted the lion before giving the lioness a nod. He then turned his full attention to the drink cart. He maintained his bemused smirk, even though he was far from happy.

While Nick was as nonchalant as can be. Judy hid nothing, however, that didn't mean she wouldn't use this situation. "Nobody's happy with all this."

"Then why the fu-" The lion caught his tongue and looked up at his son. The five-year-old had no idea what was going on. The gang member looked away. "You should have left my family out of this business, cop!"

Judy looked up at the bears then the family, while the mother could just as likely be innocent as she could be guilty, the cubs had nothing to do with any part of this whole affair. The bunny motioned around the car. "This business is between you and their employer. This stop never happened, unless you give it a reason to have."

The lion growled, then the lioness took a breath. "DeShawn, please. For your cubs, don't do something stupid. The bunny might be the only way we're getting out of this."

DeShawn growled then snorted as he glared at Judy then at Nick when the fox turned to look at him. "Damn it. If you can keep my family safe, I'll tell you what you want."

Judy looked up at Raymond the bear. "You heard him." The bear nodded easily, agreeing to something they were going to do anyway. The lion sighed and dismissively motioned for Judy to talk. "Where did you all send Josephine Roterfuchs?"

"Oh my god." The lioness exclaimed disgusted, before turning her attention to her offspring.

"I didn't have anything to do with that." DeShawn said more for his wife than anyone. "I'm more on the product side than personnel." Judy's ears dropped behind her back while Nick pulled his ear back sighed. "But I do think I know where they sent her."

A genuine smile grew on Judy's muzzle as the lion told them everything he knew. Afterwards both cops smiled when the "anonymous" driver told them why this lion and his family were picked up in particular. He was about to be made quite the offer.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The sun was kissing the water of Savannah Central's most tertiary dock. A small cargo freighter bobbed up and down in the gentle surf. It was loaded and fueled ready to head out. Most of the crew knew nothing of the contents of the many boxes stacked on board, other than it was best not to know about them.

The captain, a cape Buffalo, stepped onto the bridge. He snorted and grumbled annoyed. "What's the delay?"

An elk shrugged as he almost laid on the helm. "No idea. The harbor master said something about a wreck blocking the channel or something.

The captain looked out into the harbor. He picked up his binoculars and gazed over the bay. "What are they talking about, there ain't a wreck out there, hell there ain't even another ship."

"Why aren't we on the way?" A tiger asked from the door to the bridge. Where most of the crew wore simple jumpsuits or coveralls with a life jacket when on deck. This tiger wore loose jeans and a tank top. "We got places to be."

"Harbor master said something about... a wreck in the channel." The Buffalo sighed. "But I don't see nuten." The tiger grumbled as he walked over to the window.

"What's up, Ca'n?" The elk helmsmamnal asked.

The cap buffalo turned to answer when a muffled thump thump thump distracted the bridge crew. They looked up like they could see through the roof of the ship to see what it was. The captain caught a glimpse of several dozen mammals in black uniforms moving to the gangplank. As the Buffalo leaned closer to the window to see if he could see any markings on the armed mammals, ropes dropped from above. A moment later, half a dozen TUSK officers led by Nick and Judy dropped on the walkway around the bridge.

Nick's voices pierced the windows first, closely followed by Judy's commands as the officer's snarled. "paws where we can see them!" and "stay where you are!" The crew did just that, but the tiger however turned, ducked back into the hallway. Nick and Judy rushed through the door, growling like beasts. The other TUSK officers followed a heart beat later.

Judy was first through the door to the hallway, her striped down 5.7 submachine gun raised. Several shots rang out in the hallway, bullets bouncing off the wall above her head. Nick's luck and armor held as he ran into the path.

The partners returned fire. The sound of their weapons rattling off a hail of bullets made the bridge crew hit the deck and cover their heads. The tiger yelped as copper rounds tore through his shoulder. He jumped down the stairway he was using for cover and ran.

"Shots fired, suspect is a Siberian tiger, roughly eight feet tall. Blue jeans and tank top. Heading down the bridge main stairway." Judy yelled into her fussy mic. "Officers in pursuit watch your fire."

Nick meanwhile ordered two TUSK officers to follow him before he led the way to the stairway, one a fluffy black sheep with a clear face shield, the other a gray wolf with a gas mask. Judy was hot on their tails. Their booted paws thunder down the steps. Two stories down the hall opened to the deck of the tanker. Morning sun glared through the dark hall. Three armed officers stood by, one with a scoped rifle waved to signal they weren't a threat.

Nick hissed lightly in the sunlight as Judy called out. "Peter, did y'all get him."

"Nope, never saw him." The white wolf in black armor replied.

"Get high and scope out the place." Judy ordered the wolf snapped to his sergeant's order and dashed past them up to the bridge. Nick, Judy and their backup ran down the next flight of stairs into the bowls of the ship. Adrenaline coursed through Nick's system, he was in control, but he continuously saw Todd the savage in front of them all leading the way with his nose to the floor.

The hallway was lit by dim lights. The wolf and sheep into the fox, wondering how he knew they should stop. Judy bounced up beside the fox as he listened to the hallway. The doe added her ears as they listened to the quiet creek of the hull, and both nodded. "No one's there, so we're jumping out to cover." Nick informed the other too.

"On me." Judy whispered, holding up her left paw up with three fingers. The heart beat in between the drop of her fingers felt like an eternity.

When her last finger fell, she dashed around the corner in a blur. Nick was behind her in an instant. The natural cops were notably slower. Like the thunder to feral's lightning, they rounded the corner and rushed past Nick and Judy to take position in the cover behind some bulkheads on the side of the hall.

The dim hallway was quiet as before, just an old creaking ship with a few other natural sounds. Listening again, Nick and Judy could just make out voices in the distance.

Nick's keen eyes narrowed as he focused on bloody paw prints on the floor. The tiger had apparently been running on all fours. "Six doors on the right." Robin nodded beside his real self.

"You sure?" The wolf asked.

"Looks like he leaned on the door way before he went in." Nick whispered back, gaining another vigorous nod.

"Stack up, left side." Judy ordered, moving up and putting her left paw on the sheep's back. He started down the hallway, the bunny on his tail, Nick stepped up behind her and then the wolf brought up the rear.

The door Nick had pointed out was another short hallway that led to the hull passageway around the inner hold. The officer's radios didn't work this deep in the ship, so they were on their own for a time, other groups would join them soon. They moved cautiously, following the drips of blood. Till what felt like halfway down the ship from the office area between the holds, the tiger supported by a bull stepped out. "Police don't move." Judy yelled, bringing her boxy weapon to bear.

Seeing the tiger sill armed and the bull equally dangerous, Nick ordered. "Drop the guns." The sheep shifted to some cover on the far side of the wall as the criminals looked back at them.

Before more orders could be given, a wolf with a large rifle jumped into the hallway, already firing his weapon. The heavy rounds tore into the shoulder armor of the sheep, she screamed as some rounds found a gap. The sheep dropped to the floor as the other officers returned fire.

The tiger and bull dove for cover as their comrade fell to the hail of fire. The bull yanked a triple barrel shotgun from his belt and fired one hoofed. Bird shot skipped off the metal around the officers. Judy jumped on her belly to not get hit as the wolf's armor held the scatter shot at bay even though he was knocked on his back.

Nick returned fire, the bull looked away, covering his head as the small rounds impacted his side. He barely felt the brass bee stings. Almost like a bullet sponge video game enemy, he ignored the damage and returned fire. Judy rolled to her left and leapt forward to take cover on a hull support. "Give me some cover." The wolf yelled as he slung his rifle and grabbed the sheep by the front of her vest in his jaws. The wolf stayed low, dragging the sheep while on all fours.

Judy opened fire from behind her cover while Nick did the same on the move, sprinting up to the doorway they came from. The bull covered his tiger boss with his body as they moved down the hall to duck behind a hull rib. The last rounds in Nick's magazine pinged off the metal as he ducked inside. Nick's glowing eyes scanned the small room, he dropped the magazine from his rifle as the far door opened. To Nick's enhanced senses, the badger in overalls carrying a massive pipe wrench moved quickly, not a blur but close.

"Shit!" Nick snarled as he pulled a magazine from his belt and rammed it home as the badger closed the distance. The feral cop pulled the charging handle of his rifle.

Too late...Clang!

Judy's submachine gun had a large magazine, but it wasn't bottomless. With a snap, the boxy weapon ran dry. As Judy ducked behind the hull rib, a loud shot rang out, followed by another that punched a hole in the steel beside Judy's cheek. She felt it flutter her fur before the shattered round clattered on the floor. "Big gun in the back!" Judy yelled, staying low as she popped a new magazine into her weapon. "Nick you okay?"

Nick's military rifle was destroyed by the feral badger's wild swing. The crumpled weapon clattered against the wall as the fox stepped in and slammed his fist into the iron jaw of the badger. That punch would have laid out most mammals, but this other feral even forced it to stop and glared at the officer.

Judy's questions of Nick's status was followed by more gunfire from the darkness, punching more holes through Judy's cover. She sank down low so not to get hit. Judy counted the shots from the big gun. After ten, she chanced it and with a growl, Judy jumped out to the center of the hall and fired at where she thought shots were coming from. Her poor night vision picked up something duck behind some boxes. "I think you got him." The wolf officer behind her called. "I got yo- watch out."

The shotgun of the bull boomed three times. Judy was already moving, she felt the bird shot dig into her Kevlar shoulder armor. She hissed as she spun. Then felt something slam into the black plate of her armor. The wind was crushed from her lungs as she trembled in the wall.

The badger laughed as blood dripped from her lips. "Not good enough!" Nick ducked under the back swipe of the steel like claws.

The fox smirked as the wrench came for his gut. "Neither are you." Nick caught it like he planned. Having given up nighthowler a long time ago, Nick wasn't quite as strong as a current user. However, he had much more control. The moment his paws grasped the wrench and the badger's arm, Nick jumped, pivoting over his foe. He planted his paws and yanked the badger off hers. She whizzed as she was slammed into the wall, the fox then punched her into the metal for good measure. "Been a while since I could be a cartoon character." Nick said as the badger fell and he jumped on her to finish the arrest.

Judy grunted as she leaned on the wall in cover. Her chest felt like it was on fire. The feral bunny shook as she pushed herself up. Taking a deep breath, she felt she was still in one piece. The trauma plate, thin by armor standards, had done its job stopping the pistol round. She came back to the moment as her backup called. "Reloading, the bull is still in cover."

"Show me your hooves." Judy said leaning out of cover, her weapon raised only her feral nature, having kept it in her paw. The bull just aimed his three barreled shotgun. The tiger was behind him reloading. Judy didn't hesitate, releasing a long, controlled burst of fire directly into the bull's side. He stumbled back as a few rounds finally found something to hurt. The wolf growled as he fired too.

The tiger slumped against the wall as the bull half fell on him. The three officers ordered the tiger to toss his pistol away. He did with a grunt, then pulled his leg from under the bull. Judy approached while the wolf kept his weapon trained down the hall. He glanced at the sheep to see how they were doing, he shook a little as he held the wound.

Nick dragged the badger into the hall and left her beside the wolf with the rifle, while Judy moved past. Nick touched the wolf's neck and gently shook his head, feeling no pulse. As Judy moved past, the fox noticed the state of her armor. With Nick covering the sergeant with his sidearm, the wolf moved down the hall to check on the other shooter.

"Paws where I can see them." Judy growled with Ripley beside her. The tiger lifted his left paw, his right hurt too much to move now, or so it seemed. The moment Judy was in reach, while ordering him to turn around, he swung his bleeding arm attempting to swat the bunny away before bolting.

Big mistake.

Marion growled in the eternity long split second between Judy seeing the punch and stepping to the side. Grabbing his paw with her left and yanking hard. Judy's feral strength was enough to pull the attacking tiger into the wall face first.

"It's been a long night." Judy growled as she pushed the tiger's arms up along his back. "Now I have a few questions, and I don't want to ask them twice!" She snarled as she zip-cuffed his wrists together, Sara reminding her not to injure him.

A few minutes later the morning sun streamed into a crate illuminating many with tear streaked muzzles, others with eyes numb to the pain and those few who were simply reversed to their fate. The twenty or so females of all sizes and ages looked up at the officers framed by the sunlight like angels from on high. Relief flowed through the girls, the nightmare was finally over and pessimism was proven wrong. The victims were soon whisked away to the closest hospital and eventually to their families and renewed lives.

Among them was Josephine Roterfuchs, who Nick and Judy personally drove to her mother, after she was cleared by a doctor. Along the way, the teen vixen blamed herself for associating with mammals like that, even if for a short time. She cried about how all of this was her fault. Even as tired as they were, both Nick and Judy turned to parent mode and comforted her. Assured her that no matter the mistake she made, she didn't cause what happened to her and her mother.

Josephine's mother couldn't agree more. The mother of three was recovering nicely in her hospital bed with her two sons and now her daughter. Judy smiled from the doorway as Kaitlyn rubbed her oldest's back. She knew Josephine had done some bad things but had left that behind, so Kaitlyn was proud of her.

Judy smiled and slipped away as Kaitlyn explained that Jeremy's father was coming to get them all. She didn't need to know the whole story to enjoy this happy ending. The bunny still in her battered TUSK armor bounced down the stairs out front of the hospital. Nick was leaning on their car, munching on some fried tarantulas. He jealously watched the savage version of himself and Judy asleep on the hood of the car.

"All done?" The fox asked, turning to his partner.

"Well done." Judy answered with a smile. "This is why I do the job."

"Not traffic tickets and letting rich punks off with slaps on the wrist." Nick replied and tossed his trash in a can nearby before slipping around the front of the car to get in.

"Nope, I want to help make the world a better place. One mammal at a time."

As the pair opened their doors, Nick said. "Well, I think it's time to make one little kit's world better with two days straight of being with her parents."

As Judy was about to agree when they heard the anguished cry of a dirty and yet familiar ocelot stumbled toward them. He had every sign of drug abuse possible, from his hairless paws to his jittery movement. After a moment, they recognized him as one of the fighters that got away from a sting the other day.

He ran over to Judy and held up his cupped paws as he whined. "I've killed him, take me in. I'm a murderer. Lock me up and throw away the key."

"What?" Judy asked as she quickly cuffed him. "Who did you kill?"

"Jefferey, my best friend, the invisible fish." He looked at his paws like something was there.

Judy looked over at Nick. "We're going to give this to someone else."

"Peter's probably free." Nick replied as the pair shared a tired smile while they put the ocelot in the back of the car.

(BIG thanks to Spelter82 over on Ao3 for proof reading and editing)