Chapter 4: A plan and the Revenant
"Sooooo any ideas?" Savannah queried Delta. The painted dog was a former member of the ZPD and had friends in the old SWAT, as such he a basic knowledge of firearms. The two canines where hidden away in the corner of the bar on a busy Friday night and were joined by Trisha and Echo the busy bar making it easy to conduct their clandestine work.
The painted dog inspected the photos taken in Mr Smiths hotel room. "This is a lot of hardware" He commented with concern before continuing. "These all seem to be military weapons. That's an AK-47 of some kind, that's an MP5 and that looks like a FN MAG if I had to guess."
"Wonder why Mr Smith is packing so much fire power?" The maned wolf wondered.
"Maybe Bellwether is trying to upgrade TUSK and this guy's a possible arms dealer?" Trisha threw in. T.U.S.K (Tactical Urban Specialists Kilo) had replaced SWAT when Bellwether came to office. It was made up exclusively of her loyalist's and was little more than her personal gang used to terrorise the mayors opponents.
It was a plausible idea but Echo quickly shot it down "But why keep them in his hotel room? Why not at precinct 1 or Glacier hills?" The old military base was home to the Zootopia national guard and was one of the most secure places in Zootopia. "Something's not right"
Savannah however didn't see much reason to be worried. "Maybe he doesn't trust Bellwether to keep them safe. I know I wouldn't" She joked. "and in any case he's just a business mammal."
"Is he though?" Echo worried out loud.
"So he has a load of guns, doesn't mean he knows how to use them." The maned wolf reasoned.
"Savannah..." Echo sighed. "There's a lot we don't know about this guy."
"She's right" Delta reinforced "I searched in our records and only one Benjamin Smith comes up and he's dead."
"Really?" Echo sounded even more nervous.
Delta talked around a mouthful of beer "Mmmhmm, drink driving according to the file"
"Black market dealer maybe?" Trisha threw in again.
Echo responded in an exacerbated tone "Your not making me any less worried Trisha"
However the brown bunny soothed "Echo he's still wearing a shock collar. Who ever this guy is I'm sure Savannah can handle him, especially when he's being electrocuted" It was true. Shock collars were mandatory for all predators in the city and would activate in the case the wearer's heart beat went over a certain rate. The jolt would be capable of stopping anyone savage and in the rare case the normal shock wasn't enough a second was enough to render the individual unconscious.
While Savannah understood the focus on the mystery wolf it wasn't the main reason for her visit. The small gang had been planning something big for quite sometime. Dawn Bellwether was up for re-election this year and as such she needed money for her campaign. Money that Savannah felt could be better spent elsewhere. "Anyway we still all set for the big job?"
As much as Echo hated to admit it the wolf and his secrets could wait but there was only a limited window to stop Bellwethers campaign. Echo produced a memory stick from her pocket and passed it to the maned wolf. "A little present from Giuseppe. It will hack into the banks main frame giving you full access."
"Great!" The young thief squealed as her tail wagged uncontrollably. "Its like Christmas." pocketing the small device.
"Santa gives you state of the art hacking tools?" Trisha snarked.
"Yeh. He also gave me a tall, handsome and well built brunette one year." Savannah responded in an almost dream like state remembering the now absent maned wolf with a brown mane.
"lucky. All I got was Delta"
"Hey!"
Trisha turned and answered sweetly "Love you honey" The painted dog just grumbled into his beer as everyone else shared a laugh. It was all in good fun of course. Trisha and Delta were often affectionate to the point of nausea a point driven home as the brown bunny nuzzled into the canines neck ruff, planting small kisses as she went.
Taking in the scene Savannah found herself growing somewhat jealous. She was always so busy with 'work' that such affection was absent from her life. When Delta gave in to the doe's affections, turning and granting a soft kiss to his beloved, nuzzling his nose against hers, Savannah decided to leave before it got any worse. Forcing out a strained laugh "Well before these two get down and dirty. I had best get going. Got a lot to prepare."
"Aww. Don't be jealous Savannah. There's room for one more" Trisha flirted while batting her eye lashes while Delta's eyes went wide in shock.
The maned wolf slipped out of the booth and give a goodbye hug to Echo while chuckling "I'll see you all on Thursday".
As Savannah stepped out into the cool evening air a slight chill ran through her. The temperature in this district was always cooler than else where in the city as many of the tunnels led out to the open sea. Cold winds from of the coast would therefore come barrelling down them and into the large space of the nocturnal district. Though the cooler temperature was only one reason she shivered.
For some reason the young maned wolf just couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. As if the cold gaze of a killer was stalking her. Looking to her left then her right Savannah didn't see anyone out of place, just the normal mammals out for an evening on the town or stumbling home. Yet the feeling remained.
Looking forward Savannah gazed upon the alleys opposite the bar. They were unlit and presented nothing but a dark imposing void. The thief had walked past those allies dozens of times before without a second thought. Now though the darkness seemed to be trying to crawl out and envelop her. Unnerved Savannah pulled away, snuggled into her hoodie and hurried back towards one of her hideouts.
From those same alley's a pair of intense golden eyes watched the maned wolf hurry away. Taking one final look at the bar she had left, making a mental note of the entrance, before turning around and heading back into darkness.
Lighting a fresh cigarette the wolf was heading back to his hotel and began to ruminate on what he now knew. It didn't surprise him to have found his target down here. She was a wanted criminal after all and as such this was the safest place in the city for her. It also gave her access to a great number of contacts for any number of items she might need.
At first he'd put her success down to the uselessness of T.U.S.K however her visit to his hotel room had shown him otherwise. But she had made a critical mistake when breaking into his room. After finding her bug and camera, expertly placed he noted, the wolf now had a picture of the phantoms unmasked face and now he also knew an establishment she frequented. It was now only a matter of time before he had a name.
He hadn't come down here looking for her. Instead the wolf had been looking for some way of dealing with the infernal collar fastened around his neck. He had simply spotted the familiar face of the maned wolf as she walked down the street. It had been luck that the wolf had spotted her but on occasion lady luck did smile on him.
The wolf's thoughts were interrupted as a tell tail cackling came from within the darkness. "Hyenas" his gravelly voice grumbled.
6 of said mammals confidently strode out from the void, 3 in front of and 3 behind the wolf. They were dressed in matching black biker jackets, ripped shirts and jeans while brandishing a weapon of some short. Crowbars, bats and tire irons all made an appearance.
"Well well. Someone's lost" The only female in the group giggled. Her fur was a greyish purple with a messy, unkept black mane running up the back of her neck and head where it draped over her face in 5 prominent bangs. He could tell she was the leader judging how the other members allowed her to do the talking while hanging back and looking intimidating. Or at least trying to. A baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire was resting over her shoulders.
Typical street thugs the wolf thought. "Something you need?" Taking another drag from his cigarette.
"You could say that." She hummed while circling the wolf, inspecting him from head to foot. "I'm Shenzi and what brings you here handsome?" Her attempt at flirting made the wolf feel unwell though that could have just been the near overwhelming smell of alcohol on the hyena's breath.
"Passing through" came his simple answer.
Another member of the gang cackled. "Didn't anyone tell you not to 'pass through' dark alleys" The irritating giggling continued.
"How about this, you give us that nice jacket of yours and your wallet and we'll let you go on your way." Shenzi finished her loop around him before stopping uncomfortably close. Placing a paw on the his chest she spoke again. "Unless, you have some other ideas on payment" before slowly dragging her paw down his abs.
The wolf had to repress the urge to gag. "Or you let me pass and I forget you lot ever existed" It may have been a while since he'd had any action but that didn't mean he was that desperate.
"You seem new around here so let me explain how this works handsome. When you enter the giggling canines turf you pay us"
The giggling canines? What a stupid fucking name his internal monologue mocked. "Funny I thought this neighbourhood belonged to the NVF." the wolf smirked.
The flirty expression Shenzi had been wearing dropped to one of an irritated nature, this was clearly not the first time someone had pointed this out. Before she could speak however another member of the gang shouted "Fuck this guy Shenzi! Lets just kick this piece of shits tail back up is ass!" The others all laughed and cheered in agreement beginning to step forward.
"Banzia!" the leader warned quieting the others. With order restored Shenzi turned her attention back to the wolf though this time all pretence of civility or seduction where gone. Her eyes were cold and unfeeling as she raised her bat under his chin. "last chance handsome. Or you'll be crawling out of here."
The wolf gave no sign of alarm instead calmly taking one last drag from his cigarette before dropping it to the cobbled floor. "My offer still stands"
Shenzi began to cackle once more "Your funeral. Ed, put this fucker in a hole" The largest of the gang stepped forward crowbar in paw. A hulking mass of muscle almost as tall as the wolf himself. His tongue lolled out the side of his muzzle, missing his eyebrows with uncontrolled laughter spilled from his mouth.
The wolf stood his ground. Waiting for his opponent to make the first move.
He didn't need to wait long.
Taking his crowbar into both his paws Ed raised the implement behind him. Then swung, aiming at the wolfs head.
The wolf easily ducked back away from the swing. He then fired his fist straight into the other mammals throat. The laughter of his opponent instantly stopped. Teeth and spit flew forth and Ed was forced flat onto his back unconscious. The rest of the gang stood silent for several moments, stunned into silence. The wolf straightened up, scanned the gang before him and waited.
"You FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Banzia screamed. The rest of the gang charged together. The first in striking range was to the wolf's 4 o'clock. His right foot shot out, hitting the hyena square in the gut. The force propelling him back into a dumpster.
Another assaulted from direct front, armed with a tire iron. The wolf ducked under the swing, forced his shoulder into the attackers waist then hurled him over his back. The airborne hyena landed on the head of another, knocking him out cold.
Banzia now came in from 10 o'clock. Rather than trying to use a weapon he instead went for a round house kick. Aiming straight for the wolf's jaw. Just before it connected however a paw shot up, grabbing Banzia by the ankle. The hyena had just enough time to realise what had happened. The larger canine effortlessly pulled Banzia off his feet. Then brought his secret weapon into play. Slamming his reinforced prosthetic foot down onto the hyena's hip.
Banzia howled in agony, his hip joint crushed by the impact. But he wasn't done yet.
The last two hyenas came from behind. The wolf grabbed Banzia by his crippled leg before spinning round. Using the immobile canine as an improvised flail, smashing the final two attackers straight across the face. Shattered teeth from all three flew across the alley. Both were rendered unconscious instantly along with the bloodied Banzia.
Satisfied the others were dealt with the wolf turned back toward Shenzi, the formerly confident gang leader a thing of the past. She stood there, bat in both paws and staring wide eyed. The smart thing to do would have been to run. But Shenzi did the exact opposite.
Similarly to the others she charged the wolf, bat raised behind her. The larger mammal almost rolled his eyes "Enough" he grumbled. Shenzi got to within striking range and let loose a powerful swing. With her eyes closed the Hyena felt her bat stop suddenly. Too suddenly.
Cracking her eyes open seeing to her terror that the wolf had grabbed the weapon, stopping is mid swing. Before Shenzi could react his free paw shot forward grabbing her by her choker. Yanking her muzzle forward as his forehead descended.
Unyielding bone met squishy cartilage and ploughed straight through. The wolf felt the tell tale crack as the hyenas muzzle gave way. "AHHH" Shenzi collapsed onto her back, coughing up teeth and blood.
Terror. That's what the larger canine saw in her eyes as he wiped the blood from his brow. Shenzi scrambled back against the wall that marked the limit of the alley. "I-I-I'd like to accept your offer" But the wolf was no longer interested in negotiation. Grasping the bat by the handle he slowly, menacingly walking towards his cowering prey. "P-p-please" She begged. "D-d-don't…"
The wolf placed the bat beneath her chin and forced her mouth shut. "Shut up" came his chilling voice. "As of right now you work for me and your job is incredibly simple. You will keep an eye on the 10-7 bar. I want to know who comes, who goes and at what times. I want to know when it opens, shuts. Anything and everything you can find out, and make sure you don't get spotted. Understand?."
Lowering the bat he allowed her to tremble "Y-yes". Satisfied with the response the wolf threw the bat away before strolling off towards the darkness leaving a bloody mess in his wake. Despite her fear Shenzi called after the wolf. "Who are you?"
The wolf stopped, looked over his shoulder and simply answered "Revenant"