Chapter 4:

.

Pushing it out and open, Nick took a breath of fresh air in as he stepped outside. Making sure the hatch he'd come out of was closed behind him, he took stock of where he was. Up above him, the great canopy of the tree grew wide and tall, rustling with a thick blanket of leaves. Great, stout and tall branches went up, like columns of a cathedral, to hold up the living roof above. He'd emerged into the crux of the tallest and greatest of these, where the main trunk itself finally let itself split asunder on its way up.

The bark was thick and knobby, thankfully giving Nick lots of places to hold onto, though he had to be a little careful with his foot paws. Despite a sharply cut drainage ditch, the area was still a natural sink, and moss and slime grew around it. Holding his breath, making sure his claws were dug in, Nick slowly but carefully began making his way down.

"Keep it easy Wilde," he told himself. He'd certainly had trickier climbs up and down during his police academy training, though the falls had been far less and the safety padding far more. After all, unlike grey foxes, he wasn't exactly built for climbing trees.

However, he always valued being adaptable, and he was making good progress.

"Evening," Mr Fox said, as he climbed up past him.

"Evening," Nick replied, as he passed down. There were two massive branches next to him, and if he shimmied over to the other side using them, maybe he could…

"-Wait, what?!"

"Mind if we sit?" Mr Fox said casually, as he gestured to the two branches.

"I… -Yes!" Nick barked out, suddenly confused. Hauling himself up onto the larger of the branches, he shimmied over as Mr Fox practically jumped up and settled down next to him. "Convenient, correct?"

Deciding to just roll with it for a second or so, Nick relaxed. "I may be enjoying the topiary, yes. Is that why you're out here?"

"Well, this was more of a debating exercise," he said casually, smiling as Nick gave a confused tilt of his head. "Let me rewind for a second," he continued, two paws chopping in front of him, before swooshing to the side.

.

.

A few minutes ago

The argument inside the new nursery had carried on before moving down to the master bedroom, where it was getting ever more heated, Mr Fox casually throwing out new ideas for additions, extensions and alterations, Badger getting more irritated as he tried to shoot them down.

"I don't know why you're so concerned about my family getting a little more space?" he asked casually.

"I'm worried because I can see your bank account and, unlike you, my mind isn't too full of vapid thoughts to not appreciate things as they are!"

"I just hear a bit of envy. If you like this house so much, why don't you buy it? Or make your own?"

"Ha, you really think I'd want to live somewhere like this," Badger scoffed, gesturing around. Mr Fox felt like he'd been slapped in the face, both with confusion from Badger's objection to the house and the insult that came with it.

"Now hang on here, you can't say that you don't like this house after all the times you've waxed on about it like an architecture critic, or a critic of architecture."

"Pah," Badger scoffed. "You do realise that there's a difference between appreciating a building and wanting to live in it? I appreciate the Sistine chapel. It doesn't mean I want to cook my breakfast with the papalcy stove they use to send the smoke signals."

"And what exactly wrong with my house?"

"The fact that I have four kits, and my current Sett in the nocturnal district has six bedrooms, two lounges, and doesn't need winter heating. Unlike your place, where I'd do my knee in everyday going up that health hazard of a staircase to get anywhere; I like everything on a single floor, thanks."

"Well, I quite happen to enjoy the exercise," Mr Fox countered.

Badger crossed his arms and shook his head. "Really. I've still yet to hear one advantage of this place over my sett."

"Hmm, let me think. It's prettier, naturally expands, is organic, stylish, and has easier egress in case of emergencies."

"Easier emergency egress? Stop pulling my leg, Foxy. Show me."

"Very well, I shall," Mr Fox said, nodding, before he immediately opened the window and climbed out.

.

.

Back in the present, Mr Fox crossed his arms. "And that was how I showed him."

Nick, sitting next to him, relaxed, letting a smile grow on his face. "Did you show him?" he said, "yes, yes you did."

"So, you're finally warming up to this?" Mr Fox asked, a warm smile growing on his muzzle.

"Maybe I am a little now," Nick said with a shrug, looking around. The view was great, after all, and getting to talk with the others had been fun. Things hadn't gone crazy wrong though, so that was nice. Then again… "Any luck?"

"Well, Hopps and Badger are out. She's too focused on doing the right thing…"

"-As I said," Nick pointed out.

"As you said, while Badger turns out to have no taste in living arrangements! Kylie also ruled out Kris and Skye."

"Jack wouldn't be bothered enough to do it," Nick added, before sighing. "And I'm pretty sure that Ash wouldn't either."

"Pretty sure?"

"Make it beautifully sure then," Nick said, ballparking it.

"And how much exactly is that."

"Ninety-six percent, I guess?"

"You guess, well I'd agree… Though maybe ninety-five…" he lead on.

…

"No, ninety-six," Nick restated.

"And why's that?"

"What's the opposite of beautiful?"

"Ugly?"

"No, trashy."

"Okay then, where does this intriguing logic train go next?"

Nick turned to Mr Fox with a smug look on his muzzle, before raising an eyebrow. "What number is the reverse of ninety-six?"

"Hmmm," Mr Fox hummed appreciatively, nodding in understanding. "The trashiest number."

"Yup," Nick agreed smiling, "though I know how we could make it a certainty. The whole triple digit shebang."

Mr Fox nodded. "Sounds like an excellent course of action then," he said, before crossing his arms. "You see, this is why I like you. Maybe if you'd have planned this all, we'd have our wayward gift by now."

"Well we would," Nick said smugly. "As everyone would have searched for it."

"But then everyone would have known it was gone," Mr Fox pointed out. "Not very cunning for an exceptionally cunning fox as yourself."

Nick paused, not quite sure what to think of the compliment. On one paw, wasn't it awfully close to being called sneaky or sly, things with bad connotations which he wanted to get away from? On the other…

…

You know what? Being cunning wasn't bad! Cuss yeah, he was cunning, and he knew it!

"Well, maybe it's not the most 'cunning' thing in the world," Nick explained, relaxing back and flashing Mr Fox a cunning look. "But unlike others, I'm happy to lose a little face in the name of the mission."

"I think you mean compromise yourself," Mr Fox parried back. The two foxes' eyes met, and each gave the other a knowing and excited look.

"Well, how would you do it?" Nick pondered out loud. "Say for instance, an operation in which, while keeping within the bounds of the law, you had to make a large quantity of money via the manufacture and selling of frozen paw shaped goods."

"So, how would I hawk quote-unquote Paw-Pops?"

"-Pawpsicles."

"Well, I'd first arrange a scan of the supplies and competition. Who exactly sells the best paw pops? What goes into them? I'd presume it is most likely a syrupy concoction which is frozen on site and molded. Hence forth, I'd procure a bulk quantity of such ingredients…"

"Wholesale pricing it?" Nick asked, shaking his head.

"And what do you do, pay full retail price?" Foxy enquired.

"I get others to pay the full retail price, using a clever act and social manipulation. There's a big difference there."

Mr Fox shrugged it off. "Moving on, once manufactured in my freezers…"

"-Which require energy and a fixed capital cost."

"Seeing as I already own them, it happens to only be marginal."

"More than freezing them in Tundra Town."

"And the fuel cost for getting to Tundra Town is?"

Nick paused, stymied by that one for a second or two, before he shook his head clear. "Less than the investment costs of new freezers for myself, so let's call that section a draw," he replied with a proud smile. "Though my Pawpsicles would still cost less to make, and once I sell them for two bucks a pop, I come out on top!"

Mr fox raised an eyebrow. "Two bucks a pop?"

"Well, you'll find that bankers, rodents, and rodent bankers are looser with their money," Nick explained.

…

"-Just two a pop? Is that really the limit of your ambitions?"

"I…" Nick began, suddenly confused. "Two a pop was pushing it as is."

"And unambitious. I can sell them for at least twenty!"

"No you can't."

"Or maybe far more."

"And I enjoy howling at the moon," Nick said, before looking away and shrugging. "But if you think you can sell them for more…"

"Step one of selling your Paw Pops for more," Mr Fox began. "Find a highly limited clientele with a large quantity of disposable income. Step two, push them into a situation where they're more than happy to sell their goods. I for one would pick a convention of arctic or Tundratown business mammals, who are often exceptionally rich and have a strong disliking of hot weather. I would then ensure that any major conference of theirs that is coming up is held at the Grand Palm or somewhere else in Sahara Square. Tundra Town has few major conference centres, and sweet-talking the organisers with the potential for networking and entertainment opportunities should swing it further. If it doesn't, we can still salvage that as we enter step two. Using some simple print outs, maybe some swiped ID cards, we infiltrate in and make adjustments to the conference thermostats. Given ample time, we can retreat, enter in with our goods and begin the sales pitch just as the mammals begin to get hot under the collar. Seeking cool relief more than a good deal, they pay our inflated price until we begin to run low, or at least say we begin to run low. At this stage, after a bit of encouragement, we have several of the mammals annoyed and facing off against each other, the perfect formula for an emotion led bidding war for what's left. In doing so, we make an exceptional profit on our Paw Pops and, in doing so, I win this little exercise. Thank you, applause welcome."

Nick looked on, his mouth hanging open slightly, before he shrugged and rolled with it, clapping his paws a little. "You know, if we combine our powers…"

"Integrate your reduced manufacturing costs with my heightened sales earnings!"

"Then all the world will be our Pawpsicle," Nick proclaimed.

Mr Fox nodded. "I can drink to that," he said, before handing over a bottle of cider. Nick looked at it, only to pause.

"Where did you get this from?"

"Kylie gave it to me," he said, gesturing up with a paw. Nick followed it, looking up to see the opossum up above him, hanging from the next branch up by his tail.

"Hi," he said, waving a little with his free paw, the other holding his drink.

Nick gave a shrug and pulled up his cider, taking a sip before choking a bit. "Oh my…"

Mr Fox gave him a proud look as he took his own swig.

"That's… Good stuff…"

"I know," Mr Fox replied, smiling. "I have a specialist supplier for this stuff, and it's the best you can get. Burns down the throat, fires up your stomach…"

"Clears the sinuses too," Nick said, smiling as he pulled up his bottle again. This time he was ready, and he took a good swig of the molten gold before looking out over the city. "But yeah… We're sly foxes, but different sly foxes. I'm also afraid to say that my Pawpsicle days are over."

"And maybe your Paw Pop days have just begun?" Mr Fox said, wiggling his eyebrows as he took another drink.

"Nah," Nick replied, shrugging. "Problem one, I'm a cop now. I want to be this new mammal, and maybe I can still by sly, but if I am then it's being sly for justice! Problem two, Paw Pops are a terrible name."

"You'll come around to them…"

"No, I won't."

"Regardless," Mr Fox mused. "It seems that you and I may have missed out on working together, scheming and plotting, in the big leagues at least." There was a pause and a smile. "We could have been quite the team."

"That we could have," Nick replied, taking another mouthful. "Though we still have our little mission tonight."

"That we do," he said. "And your little thing with Ash, which we got conveniently sidetracked from a while ago."

"Oh, that," Nick said. "Do you know what Ash has in his locked cabinet?"

"No."

"Well, there's something with a very slight scent of Kris' father in there," he explained. "I don't think it's the present, it smells far too weak, but it's the only lead we have."

"So…" Mr Fox mused. "My son could be behind this or he might not be. Regardless, the one way to find out would involve a quick pick of the lock, an examination of the internal contents of the cupboard, and then the sealing of it up again with him none the wiser. We either find the missing gift or absolve my son. Thankfully I'm already halfway up to his room, so I'll finish my drink and be on my way."

Nick nodded at first, before pausing, his ears drooping down. Settling his bottle down, he looked to Mr Fox. "You actually think Ash did it?"

Putting his down, he turned to face Nick. "No. As you said, a ninety-five…"

"-Ninety-six…"

"-Ninety-five percent chance that he's clear is in my heart. But that gives me a five-percent chance of quickly saving the day with no harm done."

"I…" Nick began, trying to find the words. Instead he sighed, nudged himself up to Mr Fox, put a paw on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. "You care for your son, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"So why are you going to break his trust?" he asked, sighing. "I mean, we all sort of did it to everyone by doing this mission, but we weren't harming anyone. I may have come closer when I did the sniff check. But breaking into your son's private cabinet? Even on the slightest chance that he might be our thief, even though we both agree he wouldn't really be?"

"But he won't know."

There was a clearing of a voice from above, and the pair looked up at Kylie. "A tree falling in the forest still makes a sound. Physics…" he said, before trailing off, a confused yet philosophical look on his face.

"Kylie, are you having flashbacks?" Mr Fox panicked, standing up on the branch and holding the cider up, below the opossum's nose. "Sniff, mam. Sniff, and pull yourself back to the present. Follow the cider, and get away from the 'chili'!"

"Just contemplating," he said quietly, as Nick cleared his throat.

"I think he was trying to say that it doesn't matter if Ash learns or not. You're still breaking his trust." There was a pause, and a sigh. "After all that's happened, is that the type of father you really want to be?"

Mr Fox stood there, frozen for a second or two, before nodding. "You're right," he admitted. "But what should we do instead? How do we do this?"

"Maybe you admit there's a problem," Nick said, before smiling. "I mean, it's pretty ironic if all your attempts to save face just cover it in egg."

The air hung quietly for a second or two, before Mr Fox nodded. "Very well then," he said, shrugging. "We'll come clean with everyone, after finishing the drinks."

Nick nodded and smiled. "I can raise a glass to that," he said.

"So can I," Mr Fox agreed, before turning to Kris. "You still need a drink as we haven't given you one yet, as we've only just realized you were here. More importantly, why are you here?"

All three existing pairs of eyes were suddenly fixed on the new arrival, who shrugged. "I was spying on you."

Nick looked at him and smirked. "No points for guessing the next question."

Mr Fox nodded and turned to his nephew. "Let's start the rewind then."

.

.

"If a tree falls in a wood with nobody in it to hear, does it still make a sound?"

"Isn't the answer to that intentionally ambiguous?"

"Ambiguous as far as the basic laws of physics are, which they aren't."

"So, I'm guessing noise then."

"Yes," Kris said, smiling. "Maybe we could talk about this more later. It's very interesting."

"Yes, it is," Kylie agreed, before slipping away. Kris went the other way, quickly getting back to Mrs Fox, who was sitting down.

"Auntie, Kylie is acting odd," he said, watching her face immediately souring a little.

"As I suspected," she said. "Kylie acting odd means Freddy is up to something, and Freddy's been gone a while so I suspected he was up to something. Thanks for confirming all my suspicions."

"You're welcome," he said. "Do you want me to find out what he's up to?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yes please, and thanks for always being so thoughtful."

He nodded and immediately got to work. He sneaked up, trying to listen in on the discussions going on in the nursery, but having to retreat down as mammals moved about. He thought he heard someone in the Ash's room, so he went up there, quickly deducing that the empty place was only empty now thanks to the trap door in the roof. Looking out, he observed the group as they talked, before slipping down to meet them.

.

.

Finishing his retelling, Kris looked up at the group. "So, you're trying to find a missing present?"

Mr Fox held back for a second or two before nodding. "Yes. I'm afraid to say that…" He trailed off, flubbing about with his fingers for a bit, before Nick cut in front of him.

"Now, is a present missing? Yes, yes it is. Is it your father's? I'm afraid so."

Kris blinked a few times from the news, before his ears dipped down. "That isn't good then," he said, his voice slightly worried. "I can understand why you were acting all secret then."

Mr Fox nodded. "Indeed. Coincidentally, any new ideas or insights?"

"No," Kris said, shaking his head.

"Right then," Mr Fox grumbled, before moving on to the next waiting mammal. "And what about you Ash? Any ideas?"

"No," Ash said.

"Right. And when did you get here?"

"Just now."

"And why are you here?"

The teenage kit threw his paws up in the air and gestured around. "All the cool mammals are here! You're telling me that I can't have in?"

"No, of course not," Mr Fox replied, bending forwards to lead Ash on into the centre of the group. "I'm telling you that you can have in. I'm also telling you that, in our attempts to identify and investigate the vanishing of your uncles present, we may have lightly suspected you and Kris and secretly investigated you."

"Okay then," he said, shrugging it off before sitting down. "So, what now? Are we just sitting here and drinking cider?"

Mr Fox paused, looked at Nick who gave him and nod, and then looked around at the assembled mammals. "I think that a nice cider drink, preparing ourselves before we admit our complete and total defeat, could be a very good idea. Kylie?"

"Yup," he chirped, bringing out some new bottles. They were passed around as the mammals in question settled down, lounging in the branches as they began drinking. The evening was warm, though the occasional gust of wind sent a slight chill through their fur, and they looked on as the sun set. The glowing lights of downtown and the rainforest were spread out, as the rest of the sky was painted a darkening orange by the setting sun. The odd bird called about here and there, and everyone relaxed.

"Say, son…" Mr Fox asked, looking over to Ash. "What is in your cabinet?"

Finishing his drink, the younger fox looked around a little. "It's… -Why do you want to know?" he asked, going all defensive.

"It's just that while sniffing, Nick smelt a bit of Kris' father in there."

"Oh!" he exclaimed, before relaxing. "He gave me this limited edition of Whitecape. It's that. It's definitely that."

"Yes," Kris agreed. "I remembered Dad buying it."

"Do you know what's in your father's present to my wife?" Mr Fox asked.

"I'm pretty certain, but not entirely sure… -But he wanted me to keep it secret regardless."

"To secrets then," Nick toasted, bringing up his drink. All took a swig, savoring it.

…

"The comic isn't secret."

Lazily, everyone turned to Ash, who shrugged.

"Unless you don't want spoilers."

Mr Fox shrugged, looked over to Nick, who shrugged too. They turned back to Ash, who smiled.

"It's a standalone story about Whitecape, the savior hero, being swapped with black cape. Blackcape is Whitecape from a world where people like Bellwether won, and Predators are second-class citizens. So where Blackcape comes from, he's known as a terrorist, and Whitecape has to carry on fighting for the predators."

"How bad is this place?" Kylie asked.

"All the predators have to wear special wrist locks, which drug them to calm them down if they get too excited, and then cause illnesses and stuff as a side effect. If they don't wear them, they're shot."

"That sounds bad," Kylie noted.

"Nasty place," Mr Fox agreed, before turning to Nick, raising his bottle and flashing a wink. "Thanks for sorting that out for us."

"Hey, that's what we do… -well, what I did before I was at the ZPD," Nick said, smiling.

"And if you didn't fix them there, you'd probably fix them when they started the whole drug injection thing."

Nick paused, thinking. "I'm not sure. Besides, maybe it'd be you who does all that."

"Maybe, maybe," Mr Fox contemplated, a cunning fire beginning to roar in the black of his eyes. "What would you do?"

Taking another swig of his bottle, Nick gave him an odd look. "It may sound crazy, but right now all I can think of is giving Preds a nice little place where they can take those things off and be themselves, you know? A little escape from it all… Maybe I'm still not used to the whole change the world thing, but sticking a finger up behind the bad guys back? That's totally me."

"So, a safe haven, huh?" Mr Fox mused. "What kind would it be? I mean, you'd want to go big! Something like an underground secret city, an entire society living and stealing from them! Being free, under their noses, the entire time! Children playing and happy, bountiful food, and a high standard of underground living, all while those schmucks on the surface sit around in the rain waiting for something that'll never come."

Nick looked at him and shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't share your delusions of grandeur. I was only thinking of a fun-time pred-themed amusement park."

"Was that big fun time amusement park also a funding route and start point for a whole underground city of free preds?" Foxy asked. "Or maybe just a fun side-annex to the project?"

"No," Nick noted, "though, now that I think of it, it could be the start of some underground railroad."

"Maybe that's the right course then," Mr Fox pondered. "Get them all out and away from harm."

"That sounds good," Ash said from behind. "But what about taking on the bad guys?"

"Hey, maybe that's what Whitecape-slash-Blackcape will do," Nick said, smiling. "I do the fun park, your father does the underground city, and Whitecape, with his boy wonders by his side, does the revolution! I think we'd be one cuss of a team."

Mr Fox nodded. "That we would. The cunning foxes, loaded up with guts, spunk, and crazy gadgets like the carrot pen or my drugged blueberries. The…"

He was cut off by the sound of Nick hacking and coughing, choking on his drink. Pausing, he wiped his mouth before turning to Mr Fox, an aghast look on his face. "Your what blueberries?"

"Old trick of mine," he replied proudly. "Lacing a blueberry with a sleeping pill, using it as bait, and snoozing out any dangers." He smiled, giving a quick double whistle, a pair of tongue clicks and a wink.

Nick looked on, singularly unimpressed. "I am shocked, shocked I say! Excuse me a second, after hearing of that defilement to fine fruit, I may have to vacate the area." Tilting his muzzle up to an exaggerated high, he sauntered past the rest of the crowd, giving an aloof "Hmmmphh…" as he passed Mr Fox and grabbed the tree trunk, beginning to make his way down again. "I bid you adieu."

The other red fox rolled his eyes. "And to you too," he said, as he finished off his drink. He scanned around, looking at the others, before shrugging. "Let's go in and admit defeat boys," he said with a sigh. "We didn't find it."

"But I didn't even get a chance to search," Ash protested.

"Well maybe in five-ten minutes we admit defeat," Mr Fox replied, stepping up and walking over to the nearby nursery windows. He paused, and looked down. "Want to join in, Nick?"

Already too far down to climb up again, Nick looked up and shrugged. "If you apologize to the blueberries, sure."

"If you buy me a punnet, I shall."

Slowly making his way down, Nick smiled and looked back up. "You're not going to hustle me that easily."

Mr Fox peered over and gave a quick salute, before he and his posse retreated back into the trunk. Nick, his path already locked in, took a little longer to shimmy his way down. It didn't help that he was on the downhill side of the tree, so had another floor to go down.

A bit of shimmying though, and he let himself slide down the last stretch, landing on both feet. He smiled, brushed off his paws and then turned, staring right into the eyes of a very unhappy swift fox.

"Nick." Skye growled. "What was that?"