Big thanks to MrShurukan for the massive improvements of this chapter.

Zootopia – Springtime Circumstances

Chapter 55 – The rules are Simple (POV Chief Bogo)

I was hoping it wouldn´t be in the media this much, but apparently it was the only hot topic on the news today. I had received several calls from the hospital already because the reporters wouldn´t stop blocking the entrance. I even had to send a few officers there to calm down the situation a little.

But the hype about it went on nevertheless. I´ve had calls from the Hopps family, I had Miss Wilde on the phone and I even was called by the Mayor a couple of times.

There was no news from the clan though. Nick and Judy kept me updated regularly, but they didn´t notice anything strange until now. They told me about their guess earlier, which was that the clan is waiting for an official confirmation of their deaths and wouldn´t do anything before that, but I really wanted to avoid that step, because that would be very difficult to explain afterwards.

Those two undoubtedly were brilliant detectives, but once more, we had a lot of trouble today. I really hoped all that was worth it.

Normal POV

"Boss!" one of the armoured rams spoke up suddenly, "It´s been four hours already! When do we start?"

The impatience grew bigger slowly but surely. The guns were loaded, the blades where sharpened and they all were ready to jump onto the trucks and set off. It felt like they had been waiting for an eternity already.

"I´m still not quite convinced" Bellweather told them, not at all getting out of his calm for now, "We need to make sure the ZPD is at their weakest. We wait for the confirmation of their deaths, that´s when we´re going to attack" he explained.

"But what if they survive the Ricin poisoning?"
"Nobody ever survived that dose before, not even those godforsaken polar-bears. And they are just a little bunny and a fox in the end. And for a bunny and a fox they´ve caused more than enough trouble already."

"Yeah, but now the ZPD really is distracted. They won´t expect an attack at all…the media is talking about nothing else, they even sent officers to the hospital…" Bellweather junior agreed with his colleague, "That might be our best chance, actually…"

"That´s a good point…you´re right, probably…" the Boss told him in all seriousness after considering it carefully once again, "…and even if they´re still alive, they are in no condition to stop us…"

"Exactly" his eldest son agreed, "And the ZPD really is helpless without those two. We´ve never had any problems with them before, that´s why never had any trouble for so many years…"

He kept listening to the words of his son and nodded in agreement. The longer he listened, the more convinced he became.

"We should get moving" the big ram finally decided, "no matter if they are alive or not, they won´t stop us anymore."

"So…we´re going now?" one of the wolves asked.

"Explosives ready? Did you check the batteries of the trigger?" the ram asked into the hall where nearly twenty of his men impatiently waited for it to begin already.

"Confirmed, Boss. Everything works just as planned. We only have to activate the transmitter on the bomb after we place it."

"Very well then. Everybody armoured and loaded?"

They all rattled with their gear to affirm his question.

"Alright. It´s showtime now! Move your lazy bones, we´re going to renovate the city-centre a little! We´re going to take care of this once and for all now."

POV Charlie (Agent C4)

I´ve rarely met somebody in my life who was as energetic as those two. It was just so fascinating to look at, because most of the other agents we worked with usually just calmly waited for something to happen in a situation like this, but they rather began working out at the fitness facility after I gave them a quick tour through the agency. Jack was not really pleased when I told him about it, but nothing had happened until now anyway. There wasn´t a lot he could do to stop them.

But then, about an hour later, something happened all over sudden. The Clan left their main-operating-base with eight cars at once and all headed in the same direction.

"That´s what we´ve been waiting for" Jack told us distinctively, "Get Wilde and Hopps here! We need to focus on them now!"

I nodded understandingly and went on my way to the gym once again. When I arrived there, Nick was doing pull-ups and Judy motivated him very actively. She was hanging on the crossbar as well, only that she used both of her arms to pull herself up, while the red fox just used his left one for that matter. I couldn´t even imagine how one could get onto that level of fitness, but he obviously had reached it. No wonder he threw me right across the room like that.

"I´m very sorry to interrupt you little show-offs, but we need to get going…" I told them with an amused chuckle, "They left their hideout with a lot of cars and manpower."
"Good timing" Nick panted, after he had pulled himself up one last time. Then he let himself fall down from the crossbar and caught Judy with his arms, who did the same a second later, "…we were done with our warm-up anyway…" he added jokingly.

"Any clues where they could be heading?" Judy asked, while they followed me back towards Jack´s office quickly.

"They´re heading into the city" I told them, "That´s all I can tell you right now…"

Normal POV

Benjamin Clawhauser hadn´t had an easy day today. Acting like he was concerned about Nick and Judy was hard work in the first place, but on top of that the media people where running around everywhere. There wasn´t a minute of silence today. But it was the same story for all the other officers in the ZPD. They just couldn´t give an answer to the question everybody asked.

Although Officers Wilde and Hopps have been transported to the hospital a few hours ago already, the central park around the ZPD entrance was still pretty crowded. A few of the reporters had begun covering the waiting time with doing interviews with normal citizens who wanted to share their opinions. To Benjamin it also had something rather peaceful in a weird way.

But then the gloomy mood suddenly got interrupted by an appalling racket. People outside in the park started running away in fear and everybody turned their attention towards them immediately. Several black vans and pick-up trucks arrived in front of the ZPD building, used their loud horns to scare the people away and didn't even slow down until they arrived at the entrance of the building. One of the vans crashed right through one of the big glass panels and continued its way into the main hall of the ZPD building. Most of the people moved out of the Lobby right away. It was pure chaos.

Officer Clawhauser immediately knew what this was, but he barely had time to warn anybody.

"Chief! We´re under attack!" he yelled into his radio quickly, but then his fear shut him up completely. They took over the place way faster than he expected.

Four cars were inside the lobby already and twelve armoured rams and wolves got out of them. Two more cars stood outside the building and secured the entrance from anybody who would try to get into the building.

"Stay right where you are big guy!" one of the Wolves yelled at the big cheetah while pointing a big dart-rifle at him, "Paws where I can see them!"

Benjamin did what he was told to. Neither did he have any weaponry in reach, nor did he want to encounter that sword which the wolf had in the sheath on his back.

While the other armed mammals rushed the whole building into every direction, two of them were busy moving a big wooden crate off the back of their pick-up truck and carried it over towards the reception. It really looked heavy by the amount of effort it took them to move it, and when they finally had it in position, Clawhausers heart stopped beating for a second.

When they opened the top of the crate with a crowbar, it revealed a massive construct of wires, packages of plastic explosives and some sort of timer on top of it. They brought a giant bomb into the city-centre.

It all went so much faster than expected. Half a minute later two of the rams brought Chief Bogo from his office down the stairs. He had surrendered as well and held his hooves above his head as they pointed their guns at him. They harshly pushed him behind Clawhauser´s desk as well and went on their way again.

"Quite inconvenient when there is nobody who´s immune to tranquilizer darts on your side anymore, isn´t it?" the wolf grinned in a very provoking way.

"Sadly, scum like you don´t play it fair and rather poison their biggest threads like little girls!" the Chief returned aggressively.

"Those clowns won´t bother us anymore" the wolf told him shamelessly and with an ugly grin, "They caused enough trouble already."
"You better pay them the respect they deserve" the Chief told him hatefully, but that didn´t impress him too much either.

"Come on, shut up, buffalo!" he told him, "Maybe your colleagues in Tundratown are clever and you´ll survive."

"So that´s what all this is about" Bogo sighed, "I could have guessed it."

"Yeah, but now you´re just helpless little bitches sitting on a bomb" the wolf clarified, "So, no funny business, Officer, because it would be your last one."

POV Rachel Fitch

They finally did it. I already thought I would have to spend the rest of my days in this stupid prison, but today, finally, all the doors were unlocked all over sudden. Not just my cell, or another single one, every door-lock snapped open at the same time. That was not normal here.

Some quite hectic steps were to be heard, and the ones making these sounds weren´t dressed like police officers either.

"Listen up!" one of the rams yelled at us, "This is your lucky day! We´ve stormed the whole city-centre, and you´re all going to be free today if you follow our plan!"

I was not the only one who listened with great interest.

"…we have poisoned Wilde and Hopps with ricin and they won´t be here to mess things up for us anymore! We placed a bomb in the Lobby, we have hostages, and we´re going to blow up the whole fucking building if they won´t release every single prisoner in Tundratown!" he announced, "The only job you have to do is stopping any police officers from entering the building! We´re going to make a public announcement to the media people who will be waiting in front of the entrance, so show them what we´re on about! It´s really not that hard, so don't mess it up!"

"Yeah!" someone in the cell next to mine yelled in agreement and stepped out, "Fuck those guys! Let´s do it!"

He was not the only one who liked that idea. Soon later they all left their cells and went for the exit of the prison hallway. I left my awful little cell as well and followed them. When I arrived at the surveillance office, I saw another ram who was pointing his big dart rifle at Officers Wildeheart and Delgato. They both had their paws above their heads and looked at us with a combination of fear and pure horror.

"Get off your asses and move into the lobby" the ram yelled at them suddenly. After hesitating for a second, they both got of their chairs and followed the prisoners into the main hallway.

This was such an exciting turn of events. They did something against those annoying police officers, finally. They´ve caused nothing but trouble for me, and it was about time they finally got their payback for it.

When we arrived in the main lobby of the ZPD building, it looked way different than I remembered it. One of the glass panels from the entrance was completely shattered, four black cars stood inside the building and a few more rams with dart guns secured the place. I also noticed a few wolves who wore similar clothing and armoury, and then I spotted the bomb they were talking about.

The ram from earlier pushed Delgato and Wildeheart behind the counter of the reception, where they had taken Officer Clawhauser and Chief Bogo as their hostages already. This really was bigger than I thought initially. I found that all was very exciting right now. Finally, those assholes were suffering for what they did to me, but sadly, I didn´t have my phone right now to film all of this.

POV Nick

"Listen up!" the ram spoke into one of the many cameras that were being pointed at him. He was on live television and now presented something he held in his paws. It seemed to be a trigger for something, and just like in a fighter-jet, it had some sort of safety-cap above the switch, "This is not a joke! We´ve taken control over the whole ZPD department of the city-centre, and we have forty pounds of plastic explosives! Just the flick of a switch and that whole building will be gone! So, I advise you to not try any funny business!"

Just now I noticed that quite a lot of mammals in prison clothing were standing on the big square behind him. I noticed a few familiar faces among them as well, so there was no doubt that they had overpowered everybody who was on the dayshift and in the city-centre.

"The rules are simple" the ram continued, "You have half an hour to do it like your colleagues here did already and release all the prisoners who are in Tundratown right now. Set them free and your colleagues will live. That worked out quite well for you before, so why won´t you do it again? And this time there won´t be anyone to stop us. Be clever, or your colleagues will have the same fate as Wilde and Hopps…because those two…are history."

He took a quick look at the watch on his wrist, then he stared into the Camera one last time, "The clock is ticking!"

That was all he had to say. He took some distance from the cameras again and climbed onto one of the four black pick-up trucks which stood in front of the entrance.

"Shit" Jack cursed lowly, "How are we supposed to get in there? With all those prisoners they have about forty people who are against us!"

"Yeah…" I agreed while thinking, "…but we have the element of surprise, we have a fantastic sniper, a madly quick bunny and two more battle proven agents…" I summed it up, "That could work out for us if we time it right."

"Yes, but we can´t just rush the central park and hope for the best, can we?" he sighed.

That was just what I needed.

"That´s it! I have an idea!" I proclaimed, "We need to get that trigger! So, I say we distract them from inside somehow and a moment later we do the same thing in front of the entrance..."

"We can call Max and Daniel to help us too" Judy added quickly, "Maybe they haven´t been taken hostages yet, I´m pretty sure the chief sent them on patrol while being on stand-by."

"Good point!" I agreed while pulling out my phone and starting the call right away. It didn´t take him long to pick up.

"Finally! Nick, Judy? Where are you?" Max asked us hectically.

"Are you two safe right now?" I asked back.

"Yes, we´re in the car-park behind the city-centre! Dan just logged into the security-cams on his phone! They´ve taken them hostage behind the reception, right next to the bomb! What are we going to do?!" he asked in total panic.

"Who is taken hostage?" I asked.

"They have Jenny!" he gasped in fear, "And also Clawhauser, Bogo and Delgato! They have chained them right next to the bomb, and there also are a few wolves and rams watching them with dart-guns!"

"Shit…" I sighed while thinking about it once more.

Just now we saw some live footage from above the central-park on TV, probably from a helicopter or something. There were a lot of people staring at the scene from a safe distance, most of them civilians and reporters. The armoured sheep and wolves in front of the entrance to the ZPD building were standing on the backs of their two pick-up trucks by now and all of the prisoners stood beside their cars to stop anyone who tried to get into the building.

"We need to get that trigger, that is our only chance…" I started to tell them my plan. I had Max and Daniel on speaker now so they could listen as well, "…Carrots, that is your part. Skye, I need you with that big rifle of yours on one of those roofs. Jack and Charlie, I suggest you get to the back of the ZPD building, join Max and Daniel and fight your way to the hostages. They know the house and can show you the way."

"But Nick!" Max stopped me, "They´re sitting on a bomb! We cannot risk their lives like that!"

"He´s got a point there" Jack agreed, "That´s very risky…"

"That´s why the timing has to be on point. The moment they notice you entering the building from behind them, we have to get the show started at the front" I explained, "I´m considering the size of that bomb too, they told us about forty pounds of plastic explosives" I reminded them.

"Yeah!" Charlie agreed with what I said, "That´s enough to ruin half the centre-park! They have to get away from that entrance, otherwise they´ll kill themselves as well!"

I pointed at him to support what I was on about.

"Also" Charlie pointed out, "I know that trigger we´ve seen him holding in his paws. That is just a transmitter in a plastic-casing with a switch and two batteries in it. That´s the cheapest self-build trash you can buy, basically. People use these for fireworks and stuff like that…"

"Are you sure about that, Charlie?" Skye wanted to know, "Why would they use something like that?"

"Bad planning, I guess? Those guys are drug and weapon dealers, not engineers."

"But they won´t just use a little button for a bomb like that, will they?" Jack asked. He just had found the security camera in the ZPD lobby and zoomed in on the bomb that lay on the ground right next to our colleagues.

"Well…they screwed a safety-cap above the switch" Charlie pointed out, and I was just about to mention that as well, "That seems to be the only safety they have. I don't see a timer on the bomb or something…"

Judy nodded in agreement.

"And how do you think Judy can get towards them without getting noticed?" Jack wanted to know, still very sceptical about it.

"With lots of smoke and showing off" I explained, "Leave that up to me."

"But Nick…" Max asked through the phone, "That´s still very risky…you know, our colleagues could lose their lives…we all could lose our lives!"

"I know…" I sighed, "But nobody guarantees you they won´t do it, if we set free all those other prisoners. This has to end, finally!"
"Nick…" he sighed.

"Max! I promise it to you: this will work out and you will safely hold her in your arms tonight. Those rams are cold hearted bastards, I´ve gotten to do with them way before I became a police officer. Those guys would probably blow up the city-centre anyways, just to set an example. Trust me, I wouldn´t do that either if we were sure that they keep their promise if we release the prisoners in Tundratown. We just have to fight for it one last time."

"…okay!" he agreed hesitantly, "Let´s do it!"

"We just got twenty minutes left by the way" Skye reminded us, "Now or never."

Judy just nodded in determination.

"Yes! She´s right! We need to get moving! Max, Dan, get ready for beating up some bad-guys, Jack and Charlie will join you in a minute!"
"Alright, Nick! I trust you, don´t let me down!"

"Have I ever?" I asked back with a motivating little chuckle.

"Come on, quit the small talk!" Jack interrupted us while grabbing his dart rifle, suddenly very convinced as well, "We´ve got work to do!"

Normal POV

Nick pressed the start button of the engine and reversed out of his parking spot. There were quite a lot of cool looking cars in the underground garage of the agency, but he and Judy easily had the most badass one here. Even Jack looked a little dumbfounded for a moment.

"Why do you have to drive right now, Nicky?" Judy asked him with a little chuckle, "I hope you have a good reason for this!"

He nodded with a little smile, "You´re quicker and nimbler than I" he explained then.

"But what does that matter in the car?"

"That´s the thing" he told her, "I´m gonna make a scene in the car while you´re flanking them. Who doesn´t like to watch an Idiot doing some donuts in a car like that?"

"And you think the smoke will distract them enough?"

"They won´t see a thing for a few moments, that should be easily enough for you to get behind them."

"Okay" she confessed with a confident little grin, "That´s some clever thinking, Mr. Fox."

Jack gave Skye a little kiss for the farewell, then she started her engine as well and chased after Nick and Judy. She had her sniper rifle hanging over her shoulders, wore her black armour over her white fur and surely looked like the greatest bad-ass of all time on her black sports-bike. Jack kept watching her disappear into the distance for another moment.

"Come on, stripes!" Charlie told him from the co-driver´s seat of his car, "Snap out of it, we need to get moving!"

The grey bunny with the horizontal black stripes got into his car as well and closed the driver´s door behind him.

"You can look at her later, okay?" he chuckled, "This is not the time for that."

"Yeah, yeah…" Jack sighed while selecting the drive-gear, "You´re right."

Then he stepped on the throttle and rushed out of the garage as well.

"Chief Bogo?" Jennifer whispered towards her boss fearfully, "Do you think they will really blow it up?"

He didn´t really know what to tell her right now. He never has been in this situation before either.

"I have no power in this anymore" he told her lowly, "That decision is up to the Chief in Tundratown and to the mayor now, I´m sorry, Jennifer."

"How many officers are still in this building?" she wanted to know.

Since her and Delgato were tied here as well, their capturers had found four more of her colleagues and brought them here as well.

"I guess it´s only us" Bogo sighed, "I hope the others were lucky enough to get out somehow…"

"But I they´re not gonna let go all the prisoners of Tundratown just to save our lives, are they?" she whispered with tears forming in her eyes.

The Chief took a very quick look around him, but the wolves with the dart-guns had already taken some distance from them.

"It´s not over yet" he then whispered with a confident little smile, "I still have an ace up my sleeves."

"But…but Nick and Judy have been poisoned…" she told him with sad eyes, "…they´re fighting for their own lives right now…"

"That´s what those idiots believe too" the Chief lowly told to all the colleagues who were in hearing range, "…but those two knew about the ricin and faked their deaths…"

"So…they never have been poisoned?" Jennifer asked in disbelief, and she nearly got a little too loud there. They obviously were happy about hearing it, Clawhauser was the only one who knew about it so far.

The Chief just shook his head with a little smile, "No, they´re just as powerful as

ever, and like always, I trust them to come up with something…"

"Wilde, Hopps?" Jack asked through his headset, "Are you ready? We just met up with Wolfheart and Fangmeyer!"

"The engine is warm and ready to run" I told him confidently.

"Alright. Skye?"

"My barrel is not warm yet, but at least my crosshair is in the right place."

"Very well!" Jack announced concentratedly, "We´ll get in there now! No time to lose!"

"Best of luck" Nick wished them, "See you in a minute!"

Next chapter comes tomorrow ;) Hope you enjoy it so far...