Faustian bargains.

.

.

"Kazar Longhorn?"

There was a long silence, the wildebeest staying his tongue as Detective Oates stared him down. The mammal who'd led his own army against the ZPD just stood there, stewing in his defeat or simmering with rage.

From behind the two-way mirror, Judy and the rest of her cohort looked on.

It had been a long day for them, with both the raid on the mammals' compound and dealing with all those caught. With most still lingering in custody, the Chief wanted to strike on their leader while the iron was still white hot.

So there he sat, chained and cuffed, the great cape buffalo and his officers looking on in anticipation, invisible to him.

…

"That is my name," he said.

Simmering anger, most definitely.

Across from him, Oates nodded and carried on. "Multiple priors for small petty crime, with one small sentence served. Noted for activity in street gangs, and a loud voice calling for formations of vigilante groups during the nighthowler crisis. Led protests before and after Bellwether's fall, claiming that it was a pred conspiracy that framed her. Continued campaigning after her fall, though things petered out. Quiet for the last year, though I do believe that we found out what you were working on during that time."

"Objection." It was his lawyer speaking out, a bespectacled gemsbok who seemed even more inexpressive than his client had been. "I don't see what my client's past life has to do with this. He…"

From behind the window, the group of mammals looked on. Nick and Judy, Catano and Basil, and Bogo at the back. The bunny looked up at her partner. "Any idea what that lawyer is feeling?" she asked. She knew that he had to act in his client's best interests, but still…

"Oh, that's the 'I shoud've been an accountant' look if I've ever seen it," Nick replied.

"Good," Catano piped up. "If more mammals could see him for what he is…" She trailed off, implying her statement, just as the charges proper were read out.

"-Breaking of firearm laws, attempted murder of police officers, terrorism, multiple violations of the nighthowler act." The horse pause and stood up, looming over his prey. While not especially involved in the case, he was a talented interviewer, and his size meant he could play a bad cop to their beast of a perp. "If you were trying to be worse than Dawn Bellwether…"

He glanced away, and Oates pounced.

"Oh, is that anger? Admiration? Guilt…"

Kazar turned forwards, his teeth grinding, his chest rising and falling with deep breath after deep breath…

And he turned to his lawyer.

On the other side there was a creak as Bogo walked up, glancing down at Basil. "Nothing yet."

"Indeed, indeed," the mouse mused. "Shall we try the good cop now?"

"Think it'll do anything?"

"He's a mammal backed into a corner! Defeated! No reason to talk with us. But give him a sliver of hope, the chance of being free again in the future, and we might just crack him!"

Kazar and his lawyer finished talking, both turning to Oates. "My client's political leanings are his personal business, and even if true I'd rather you don't imply things from them…"

Snorting with derision, the great horse gave the suspect an excrement eating grin. "Firstly, I'm going to imply what I like…"

The crew behind the mirror looked on as he gave his verbal lashing, eyes and ears pricked for anything. At least until Catano spoke, looking down at Basil.

"He doesn't deserve it."

Basil paused, looking up at her. "I presume that's in regard to a plea deal, or so forth."

She nodded, before speaking frankly, turning back to look at him. "His paws were dirty. Filthy… Only a fool would deny it. He shouldn't get any mercy for what he did, what he wanted to do…" She trailed off, her face hardening. "If you're in with bad stuff, you should be called out on it all and given the full force of the law." She paused, her tail flicking this way and that a little. "At least Oates is giving him every ounce of painful honesty he deserves in the meantime."

"You are a crook and a monster," Oates tiraded on, spittle flowing from his mouth as he shouted. "Supporting hatred against preds even after the truth about the savage crisis was revealed…"

"Understandable, emotional," Basil said, holding his finger up to the big cat as he explained. "But there's always the bigger picture!"

"-and when you were surrounded, you chose to try to murder members of the ZPD in a bloody last stand, all while trying to poison our city. Fun thing though, while we had many injuries there were no casualties. You offered a tough drill for us, nothing more. Even your nighthowler gas was a failure. Had the heat got up, it would break apart the chemicals that caused the effect."

"Well," Bogo commented, "we'll know for next time." A call to the city lab had cleared that up, much to his relief. He'd not had the time to risk contacting them before the raid, having to charge in. But he knew for next time, and felt better about today.

The fact that none of his officers really suffered helped. Had he lost any of them because of his 'wrong' call…

Well, he didn't like to think much about that.

He did have feelings though. "I know the practicalities," he said, glancing down at Basil, before looking over at Catano. "But I want the whole library thrown at him."

Nick smiled. "I may have a good supply of extra bricks that you could sneak into there while throwing."

"-And you will rot in jail forever. The most secure cell, the strictest routine, the harshest environment." There was a pause from Oates, a well manufactured sadistic smile growing on his face. "Of course, with so many very aggressive mammals there, all with nothing to lose and a hatred of anyone involved with the purple stuff?" The horse trailed off, relaxing back in a smile that Nick would give eleven smugs out of ten.

"Right," Basil said, pouncing to their shared microphone. "Enter the good cop."

There was a slight cough to Oates' left as Dave Dawson spoke out. "I do believe though that there might be a little chance for us to work together. You might be feeling worried now, what with all that's going on and never being free again… But! With a little help in finding out who was helping you, and…"

"-If I did this, who says I needed help?" Kazar asked, leaning forwards.

Back in the observation room, everyone was on tenterhooks. "He's prideful," Judy stated. "I think…"

"Excellent observation, Fluff," Nick teased.

"But we can use that? Can't we? Or will it make it harder?"

"Whatever, whatever, we'll push through!" Basil said.

"Well," Dave calmly explained. "You'd need an intelligent mammal to help you find the right formula, to set up the manufacturing machines, to help organise the complex logistics of gathering the plants themselves…"

"Or I might have done that myself," he said with a shrug. "I am not to be underestimated."

"But presuming you did have help… A supplier, a sympathiser, maybe a secret assistant on the old howler plot. If you were to lead us to them, we could happily take years off your sentence. Down from life to thirty to forty years, maybe less!"

"Speak for yourself," Catano muttered. Judy noticed Bogo looking at her with sympathy, while Basil snapped back to her.

"Punishment isn't the aim of this. If we can get the truth, that's far more important," he said proudly, as Kazar waved off Dave's offer. The mouse on their side of the glass spotted it, but returned to the cheetah. "Once he's caught like this, he's out of the game whatever happens, but if there's still mammals like him out there…" He paused, before grabbing the microphone again. "Try leading with how the original plotters are doing in jail?"

Judy couldn't help but recognise Dave's eyeroll as the same one her father gave on the many occasions where her mother reminded him of something that he'd said he'd do but not gotten around to yet. The mouse shook it off though and looked forward with the exact homely look that had won him the title of 'good cop' for this interview in the first place.

"-If there's more like him out there," Basil continued, returning to Catano. "Then I'm more than happy to extend an olive branch to find them!"

She nodded. "I get that," she sighed. "But bad or disgusting mammals like that should be given the full works. I just want justice."

"And I want the truth," the mouse replied.

"Well," Judy said, her fists clenching. "I want both, and if we work hard enough, we can get them."

There was a chuckle from Nick, as he looked at her. "Well, we have a Judy, so we've got a good shot at it."

She nodded, before pausing. "And you? What do you want?"

He shook his head. "It's not about what we want, it's about what we get," he said, turning back to the interview, Dave talking on.

"They're often in isolation, you know, given so many mammals in there who want to end them. You may be able to defend yourself now, but what about your twilight years? If you help us, you might be able to enjoy them free and in peace, rather than having to look over your shoulder everywhere you go."

…

A dark look graced his face, one of his ears flickering, before he spoke.

"May I ask when we can get on to discussing important things, like my bail?"

Behind the glass both Catano and Judy's mouths dropped to the floor in shock.

"Seriously!?" the cheetah gasped, as Judy shook her head to regain her senses.

And her professionalism.

"If he thinks he's getting bail, then he should really check his charges."

"Seriously!?" Catano gasped again. "He… He… -Seriously!"

"Super seriously," Nick added, a slight simmer to his voice as he looked on. The others joined in, as Oates loomed over him.

"Ignoring the mob you led, the obvious flight risk you present, your attempted murder of a bunch of officers with highly illegal firearms, let us look at your holding of illegal refined nighthowlers. Now, are you aware of the nighthowler act?"

…

"No."

"Then let me educate you," Oates scolded. "After the first crisis, and with the reasonable expectation that natural howlers would still be in use as pest control, it was decided to clamp down on anyone caught with refined ones." He paused, giving the prisoner a dark look. "After all, their only real use is as bioweapons. So, if one was to be found with some, it's safe to assume that you're a bioterrorist."

The lawyer coughed and spoke up. "May I remind you that my client is to be considered innocent until proven guilty, and is deserving of due process as a right."

"Indeed," Oates noted. "But under the act we get to hold him for four weeks until having to formally press charges, due to his connection to the refined plants. Then, we have the right to hold you without bail until your trial, up to six months. While this is going on, we are instructed to hold you in the securest facilities. Aka, a full on maximum security prison, the type where your little sheep friends are not having a good time."

…

Kazar was silent. Inside the observation room the various mammals looked at each other.

"I mean, it's not like he was going to get bail anyway," Judy said.

"I can only think of one sort of mammal with a greater flight risk than him," Nick chimed in.

"Which is?" Basil asked, curious.

Nick let a proud little victory smile grow over his muzzle as he looked down at the mouse. "It's quite elementary, my dear… -Bats."

A collection of groans made their way around the room, as Judy lightly punched Nick in the shoulder.

"Ouch. Fox abuse."

She smiled at him, before glancing back into the room. Kazar had chosen to be silent, and was keeping his lips tight. "I mean, he'd definitely try and run. Maybe we could offer him bail if he helps, but make sure to track him after?"

Catano's face lit up. "So we get him slammed up for the rest of his life, and get the truth!" She looked down at Basil as she said the last bit, before looking at the bunny.

"Brilliant!" she said, "Well done!"

A happy smile escaped her professional demeanour, flashing over her muzzle before she got it back under control. She was a professional police officer after all (but she did feel damn good!). Her arms crossed, she looked on proudly. "Well I said we can get both!"

"Indeed," Bogo said, "if he plays ball. We'd also have to check with the DA, just to confirm we can pull this hustle. His, 'alleged', sympathies aside, I'm pretty certain he'd allow us to do this despite the Nighthowler act. Indeed, for our perp, its tough rules could act as an extra motive.

The bunny smiled. "I happen to quite like this law," she said as they turned forwards. Basil instructed Dave, who laid out the offer…

…

And got nothing.

Basil then asked about a few more things, such as where he'd got the guns from. They'd noticed that many of them had a section angle grinded off, as if to remove something from it. Could it be related to the dealer? A signature or symbol he put on what he sold?

Again, nothing.

"Or he stays silent," Bogo groaned, "which makes everything much harder."

"Okay," Judy said. "But we have to be able to make him speak. But how, what with, there has to be something we can say. There's always a way…"

"Or we could gauge his reactions to certain things," Basil chimed up. "Read his body, not his words, and we could get a good deal of information despite his silent demeanour."

Nick nodded. "Shall we compare notes?"

Basil looked at him competitively, eager to get his own back for earlier. "Well there's the slight tic's whenever…"

"-We mention the original plot," Nick finished off.

Paws on his suit, the mouse detective stood up taller, more cocksure. "The sign of irritance at their capture…"

"-Or treatment, showing he…"

"-Really quite admires them to some degree!" The mouse finished off. He walked over to the window and stared at him. "If we rub it in so much, he might start lashing out, or at least react in ways that we can infer info from." He paused, thinking. "We just need someone or something that can be indescribably irritating, bonus points if it's specific to him…"

He thought for a second, before being broken off by Nick. "Yooo-hooo!" Turning, he saw both Nick and Judy with crap eating grins plastered on their faces, waving at him.

"Kazar," he said, looking back in. "You, my not so good sir, are totally, royally and utterly screwed!"

.

He stayed silent as the pair sauntered in, replacing the two detectives who they'd been dealing with previously. Nick in particular flaunted in, languishing on his chair and shooting the prisoner a long look. "Bad day, huh?"

He remained silent.

"You know, it's been a while since I had to deal with the nighthowler plot," Judy said, keeping tough and professional throughout it all. Nick couldn't help but notice that she was wearing her 'no more bullcrap' face. "I never wanted to deal with that kind of thing in the first place," she said, sighing. She took a breath in, rubbing the base of one of her ears and biting her bottom lip slightly, before carrying on. "I mean, I wanted to be a police officer, doing good, doing right, ever since I was a child. I'm happy to go all the way, give it my all, to do that, wherever it leads. I'm proud that I solved the first crisis, and tranq'd you to end number two…"

He took a deep breath in, his eyes widening, and both saw him shudder up.

"Ah, I see you don't like that," Nick said, before pointing his thumb at Judy. "I mean, she's no ordinary bunny," he said, before leaning forwards, staring up into his eyes. "But, she's still a bunny! And she beat you. She done beat you good."

He shuddered some more, to the point where his lawyer put a steadying paw on his shoulder. "Is there any reason for this?" he asked.

"Well," Judy said, looking at him. "I just want to inform your client that his horrible idea of prey supremacy, an idea I never wished to deal with or even imagined I'd deal with, is dead. Officer Wilde and I helped bring his idols like Dawn Bellwether to justice; now it's his turn. We've captured his base. His supplies are gone. His acomplices are either on the run or behind bars. I'm also wondering… -do you have any words for our ex-mayor?"

He closed his eyes, breathing in and out, before Nick spoke. "I mean, you two might be good penpals. Backing and forthing, venting over how you were both thwarted by a little bunny and a dirty dangerous fox."

His lips were moving, one going the other, which then slipped out and went on top again. Nick gave Judy a look. Their suspect was heating up under there.

"Anyway," Judy almost announced. "We just wanted to say hi."

"And point out how dumb your plan is!" Nick cheerily added. "I mean protecting prey by turning poor preds like me into savages. You know, your brain has to be pretty inferior to…"

He was cut off by a slam of hooves on the desk, before Kazar let out a deep chuckle. His lawyer moved in to warn him, to stay him, but the massive mammal turned to him and shook his head, the lawyer backing off.

More out of apathy than fear, Nick believed.

"Do you know what I think of Dawn Smellwether and her weak flock?" he asked, smiling slightly. "They were weak. Pathetic. Terrible little excuses for mammals, just like you two."

The pair were taken aback slightly, but Nick felt his teeth grit and pounced. "Oh yeah, and what are you, blockhead? You have even less excuse to be scared of us mammals so much smaller than you!"

"Pah, you think I'm scared," he countered. "No, I just look down on them like the other weak prey. Prey who like to run around in mindless flocks, pushing papers, or doing things for their security. All not seeing the truer things that there are."

"What?" Judy asked confused. "Fear? Power?"

"Yes…" He hissed. "Power. Dawn might have pulled those many little strings, but she wasn't a real mammal. She didn't wish to fight, or take a place at the top of the food chain." He paused, looking down on them like bugs. "Mammals were born in this world, to fight over it. To claim it as their own. The preds used force in the savages ages, and kept their place, even as prey upstarts wormed their way in, like a fig wasp entering the fruit to die!" He paused, huffing. "Those weasels in the howler plot used trickery to try and take the top of the chain. Not like the force that the real mammals who deserve it use!"

.

…

Nick looked to Judy, and Judy to Nick. "Yet," she began, "you still despise preds."

"Oh, you have to say things to get your supporters," he said, shrugging. "Surely you know that life's a scrabble, a war, and if a potential enemy is there, lying on its back, then there's no better time to go in for the kill! Those dimwitted idealogues would follow me anywhere. They deserved to be used and then thrown aside when no longer needed. I assure you I had dealings with preds too, in private of course. Good preds. Powerful ones. Dangerous ones."

"I might agree with you there, Blockhead," Nick said. "Bar the whole craziness thing. I mean woosh, first a mad Honey Badger and now you. We just can't catch a break, can we Fluff?"

Judy felt odd, winded slightly, as he finished, but she shook it off and pushed through, smiling. "Yet you're as much a pathetic, crazy, nasty mammal as Bellwether and her cronies ever were."

"No," he hissed. "I'm above them, above the smaller preds, above the megafauna and the apex predators. I am Kazar! I am the top of the food chain! It is my rightful place there, above this weak city, watching as it tears itself apart and smiling!"

There was a pause, the massive mammal smiling as he looked between the two officers. Nick couldn't help but look at the lawyer, who seemed not to care anymore, before looking back at Kazar.

"I'd just like you to know that,' he said.

Nick paused, before speaking. "So what, the howlers were a weapon? You use them to cause chaos, riots and such, while you take control of the city or whatever? Becoming the king of ashes."

…

He was silent, once more.

"You are a terrible mammal, you know that!" Judy scolded. "I mean… -You're crazy! Do you really think you could lead a mob and just, 'take' this city?

…

He was silent again.

The pair tried other questions or jibes or statements. Nothing worked, he was like a statue.

And, so, they left the room.

"Well," Nick said. "He's a well adjusted mammal."

Slumping forwards, Judy snorted, before shaking her head. "That's… -He's not as insidious as Dawn was," she said, mumbling off a bit at the end. "But that's about all he has going for him."

Nick nodded, as the pair went back into the observation room. The others were there, waiting for them. Catano spoke first.

"Is he trying for an insanity plea? He better not be!"

"I don't think it'd work," Bogo reassured her. "Either way, he'll be going away forever."

"Good," she replied, the various other mammals chiming in.

"So," Judy said, finding a chair and sitting down, slipping back in it as the tension wrapped around her blissfully released. "It's over. The howlers have been found…"

"He may have stockpiles somewhere," Bogo said, "but the threat has been neutralized — that's the main thing." There was even a faint smile from him. "We can tell the city. I'm sure that the public will find it easier to sleep at night now."

"Of course," Dave warned, "we still haven't found his chemist. If it was a prey supremacist, then they might try this whole palava again. They might have another facility!"

"The same could be said after the first plot," Bogo reasoned. "But we have his army, we have a good number of his howlers. We'll always have to remain vigilant, but I think the threat is nicely reduced."

"But still," Basil spoke up. "If we could get him to…"

"We won't be able to," Catano said, "even if we offer him things he really doesn't deserve."

…

"Unless," Basil mused, "-of course!"

"What?" Judy asked.

"Think of it this way, a prideful mammal like him. Getting someone on board to do the most important task in his plan. It'll be someone he trusts, someone he respects, someone far removed from the first plot. He spoke up as we were linking him with mammals he looks down on. So, what happens if we imply he's with some made up mammal far, far below that?"

Nick smiled. "You get him to boast about the truth!"

"We get a lead," Judy added.

"And all without selling out," Catano finished off.

Bogo looked at them and nodded, before pausing as his pager went off. "I need to go, but you lot can work something out," he said, before glancing at their captive. "I order you to make sure his gears are thoroughly grinded."

"Yes sir," they all saluted, before getting to work.

…

Soon they had a made up file for a made up chemist. They chose the thinnest, scraggliest, most pathetic looking sheep that they could (in reality it was a reference picture for some random schmuck called Remmy Cormo that had been gathering dust) and slapped on some weak qualifications from some poor universities. They gave him a weak, cowardly backstory, and presented him as an assistant to Doug Ramses.

The one that got away.

They looked on as Oates and Dave carried on, Kazar almost immediately laughing at it.

In the observation room, everyone held their breath. Had he seen through it, would he just stonewall them again?

"You really think that I'd follow such a snot-nosed, cowardly, pathetic, weakling excuse for a mammal like this?"

"He said follow, not work with," Basil whispered into his microphone, Dave nodding as he heard it. He stayed his ground though, mindful not to make Kazar aware of what they'd picked up.

"No," he hissed. "The one I work under, the one who leads me… Who raised me and my crusade from nothing..." He paused, before smiling an evil smile. "He speaks with ever such subtlety, but with charisma in his voice. Like a curved knife, sharpened to perfection, he can pull you on. You… You do not know what a real leader is. One who men, women and children will lay their lives down for. One who they can trust. One who can inspire such loyalty, wherever he goes, however much mammals try to defeat him." There was a pause. "When I first swore to him, he was returning from his greatest fall, with just a small bunch of followers. But I… I was in a gang that had once followed him. Who knew him for who he was. He came up to us, we with orders to end him, and he told his men to put down their weapons and let himself stand in front. Where he would be torn apart in seconds! And he smiled to his foes, and told all who wished to strike him down that there he stood. Not one of us did. That there was a leader, and we joined to his side, usurped those embarrassments we'd previously slaved under, and marched forwards."

…

"And here you are," Dave said.

Kazar shrugged, smiling a wicked smile as he traced his hoof across his mouth. Oates tried to talk to him after, but it was hopeless. He was silent.

Outside, Judy tapped her foot heavily on the floor, thinking. "Who is this mammal? What kind of one could inspire him? How dangerous is he?" She then looked up at Nick, who almost immediately acted in faux outraged.

"The notion that I'd know who this mammal is. I'm wounded, Fluff."

She smiled back. "So, you admit you don't know everyone?" She teased, causing his eyes to widen. He turned to Catano.

"I've officially been bamboozled by a bunny. How can I show my face in public again?"

The cheetah rolled her eyes and smiled, before leaving. Oates and Dave were exiting the interview room, the latter most likely in need of a ride. Just Nick, Judy and Basil were left in the room, the fox speaking out.

"For real though, I don't think that kind of thing happens in real life. I think he was lying. Either he's trying to scare us, or he's hamming it up for an insanity plea."

"Or he's trying to put us on the wrong trail," Judy mused, thinking. "But what if he wasn't? What if he was telling the truth? Or exaggerating it? This mammal does sound like he's a big threat, if he's really out there. I mean, he could have a majority of the nighthowlers produced."

Nick's ears lowered slightly, and he scratched the back of his head. Judy couldn't help but feel a guilty twinge at the sight. "Well, I hear the press is happy to say that the threat is gone. I guess mammals can sleep safe in their beds for a little bit at least."

Judy nodded, finding a fiery new resolve. They could make this right. She could make it right. "Even if he doesn't exist, there are probably those out there just as bad."

"Are there mammals out there who are nonetheless equally mean as our new dishonored guest?" Nick agreed. "Yes, yes there are."

"But we can beat them," she said. "Isn't that right Basil?"

...

Both the bunny and the fox turned to the mouse detective, only to pause as he just stood there. Rather than his usual exuberance, he was subdued. Thoughtful. Holding back. Nervous, even?

"Earth to Basil," Nick spoke, shaking him out of it.

"Ah, sorry, sorry," he said. "Just contemplating."

The fox nodded back in response, though he kept his eyes on the rodents lowered tail and ears. "About?"

He fumbled for a bit. "-About what you were saying, about mammals like the one you and he described…"

…

"You knew someone like that, didn't you?" Nick spoke.

The words echoed around the room, as Judy gazed down at the detective. "You do? Who was he? Is he still a threat, is he…?"

"He was the most inscrutable villain I have ever faced," Basil stated, looking up at them boldly. "A monster, a narcissist, one with no moral code, who would disgust many but inspire a few completely." His voice hung in the air, and he shook his head. "But it has been a long time since he last fled. I'm hoping my mind is just going to dark places here. In any case, he may be none the less equally mean, but I don't see Kazar bowing to a villain so… well, for a start, short."

The group was silent for a second or two, before Basil shook his head. "Either way, there is no evidence to link him to this. All we found was the link to Kazar's base of operations."

…

"And the thing Judy found," Nick said. Basil looked up curiously, while she jolted into action.

"Of course, I forgot…"

"Forgot what?" The mouse asked.

"When I came in this morning, I'd found something on the jam cams. It looked like a bat."

"A bat!?" he exclaimed. "What, where, when, how?"

"You forgot the why," Nick said. "Anyway, we can give you the timestamp. Let you look over it."

"That…" he began, before pausing. His ears went down, and his voice grew more tense. "That would certainly be useful."

The sound of the door opening rang out, and he turned to face it, expecting to see Dave and give him the news.

Instead, Bogo entered, and he looked at Judy, none too pleased. "Hopps, it is never a good sign when a bunch of polar bear mobsters enter the precinct and ask to see you."

"Huh?" She asked.

"Especially when led by a member of a well-known crime family." He paused. "A Mrs Fru-Fru Big wishes to see you. Apparently, it's urgent."

Judy paused, confused, turning to the others. Nick nodded, he'd help Basil out. Seeing that, Judy left, wondering what on earth all this was about.