Chapter Thirty Three- Terror Unveiled
Captain Frederick Jonas Manson looked to the SAS soldiers stacked up beside him for a second before breaching the door.
There was a significant change in humidity, and an ominous purple shade of ultraviolet light shone on them as the soldiers poured into the room.
The classical music was blaring now, but as Manson cleared the right side of the room, he stopped.
The whole room was filled with Night Howlers.
The room was giant, most likely reserved to be a gymnasium if the building were finished. But now, tall steel shelves lined up in rows holding a vast plethora of dangerous blue plants, all underneath a series of UV tube lights.
Improvised pipework traveled between shelves and provided irrigation, leaking onto the concrete floor, as shown by puddles just below them.
Along the left wall, several windows provided a warm natural light, yet the room was still covered in a luminous purple hue.
Hanging on the northern wall, was a large television monitor with multiple wires and electronics hooked up to it.
Frederick stood there for a minute, looking at what he was seeing, "holy shit . . ." he turned to the SAS and SWAT behind him.
"What the fuck?" Officer Wilde murmured as the fox also stood there, "Night Howlers . . ." Fangmeyer added in astonishment.
Nick huffed amusedly, "yeah, no shit."
He looked at the two officers and then at the SAS, "Somebody turn that damn music off! And get a damn camera, we need pictures, now!" he ordered as the soldiers cleared the room.
As a wolf came over with a camera and began taking pictures, he grabbed his radio and held it to his mouth.
"Adrian. We have a problem."
"What is it Price?" Bogo asked from the other end, and Manson looked at the wolf.
"Send those photos to Checkpoint One and Central Command." he ordered as they nodded.
"We're sending you photos now . . ."
"What the fuck . . ." He heard his friend curse.
"Do you not think he's planning something now, Adrian?" Manson said as Bogo's statement from earlier was proven wrong.
"No . . . This turns suspected into confirmed." Bogo replied.
"What the hell do you think he'd be doing with all of this?" Nick asked beside him.
Though before Manson could answer, he was interrupted, "Well, officers . . ." A voice spoke.
Everyone's attention was directed toward the monitor on the other side of the room, as it lit up to reveal none other than Rouen Fyodorov.
"If you asked . . . Perhaps I could tell you . . ."
The SAS and SWAT looked at the screen, guns raised as the black cat looked back at them, though it seemed he was clearly surprised, only for a second.
"Rouen Fyodorov." Nick said with audible hatred.
The black cat smiled "oh, where are my manners? Of course it's me" he said smugly.
"But . . . Nobody said the likes of the Special Air Service was involved in this raid . . . It seems I missed quite the welcoming party"
Manson stepped forward, "I wouldn't call this a welcoming party, Fyodorov." He said with a sneer.
The panther sat back "oh, why so angry, Captain?" he asked mockingly, "well I don't smile whenever I see a terrorist." He said back.
"You forgot to add murderous raving psychopath-"
"Oh Nicholas, you're too kind . . ." the panther responded with a smile.
"Shut the hell up! What the hell is all of this?!" Fangmeyer snapped, raising his gun at the monitor.
"Oh please! Don't get too trigger happy officer Fangmeyer, that's what I'm here to tell you" the black cat said.
"Don't you want to hear the reveal of my grand convoluted and audacious plan?" he added with smugness that seemed potent.
"Wouldn't that be a bit too cliche?" Nick asked.
"Well yes, obviously . . . But I can see why all villains do it . . . I really must tell you because it's so brilliant" Rouen insisted.
"Plus . . . I think all of you would want to hear it as well, don't you?" the cat said, looking at the SAS teams.
"Go on . . . We're all ears." Manson responded.
"What the hell is with all of these Night Howlers? Fangmeyer asked before Manson could get a chance, "and what the fuck was in those inhalers the cheetah and wolf had?" Nick added.
Manson watched the black cat as he sat there "not what I was expecting first . . ."
"Just answer the damn question!"
"Easy officer Wilde, anyone would think you're in a rush" he said mockingly.
"Just fucking answer it!" Wilde shouted, Manson shot him a look as the panther spoke.
"Fine . . ." The cat said with a dismissive wave of his paw.
"In small doses . . . Midnicampum holicithias- that's the scientific term-"
"We know!" Fangmeyer shouted again.
After a short pause, the panther grumbled.
"As I was saying . . ." he then picked up his tone, "in small doses of a lesser concentrated formula, an inhalant will cause its user to revert to a slight primal state, without inducing savage feralism . . . It works wonders on the body and mind . . ."
"What do you mean?" Fang asked.
"That if it's altered correctly, it can make you into a damn super soldier . . ." Manson deduced, as Fyodorov looked at him and made a series of cupped claps.
"Exactly that. The inhalant unlocks the part of the brain that our evolution has repressed since the stone age. It will make you a near unstoppable force, it makes you become more focused, improves senses, stamina and endurance, increased strength, it reduces pain receptors . . . Effectively enhancing your physical condition far more than any performance enhancing drug can do, albeit only momentarily . . . Though the frequency of the inhalant will amplify its effects" the panther explained thoroughly.
"I'm sure you have put two and two together now like Officer Price has already" he finished, looking at Manson.
The grizzly laughed, "it didn't do that cheetah of yours any favors when I drove a knife through his throat." He said with a sneer.
"All the same . . . I'm betting he didn't go down easy, did he?" the panther chuckled.
"Well it doesn't matter, he was a coward and he still lost." Manson replied.
"You need this many Night Howlers to make this What? . . . Super soldier serum?" Fang asked.
"Oh not, not at all! It takes very little formula to make the inhalant," the panther said almost amusedly.
"Then what the hell is the rest of it for?" Nick asked.
"Changing the world . . ." Rouen finished with a sickeningly sinister smile.
Manson sneered at the panther on the screen, beginning to put two and two together immediately.
"Change the world? With what? This serum?" Fang asked.
"Oh no, it's quite simple really," the cat explained, "see all of this . . . This is the serum you encountered a some three years ago-"
"Which we now have a fast working antidote for" Fang interjected confidently.
"Well I'm well aware of that" the panther said with a laugh ". . . so I had to get . . . Creative, and that, is where the difference lies . . ." He said, his smile growing wider.
"You see, rather than distill the serum into a liquid, I managed to refine it into a gaseous state, while still retaining its effects . . . Only that gas is much more transferable- only a couple hundred inhaled molecules are enough to induce complete savagery, but its effects will only be temporary, depending on the species of mammal affected and the amount of gas inhaled . . ." The panther explained, his smile growing wider and wider.
Manson stayed silent as he watched, his paw slowly reaching down towards his gas mask.
"How much of this gas have you made?" Nick questioned.
"Enough . . ."
"To do what exactly? Hold the city at ransom?" Fang questioned further.
"No . . . ha! Why on earth would I do that!? There'd be no point in it!" The panther said laughing, "nobody would learn anything then . . . So of course I'm going to use it and release it into the city."
By now the panther's arrogance was radiating off of the monitor, every question they asked made the rest of them feel less at ease, all except for Manson . . . He was too busy thinking and listening.
"Release it how?" Nick spoke.
"Well, I certainly had my options . . ." The cat responded "disperse using the sewage systems, the underground rail lines . . . Or even go adventurous and use this city's bloody climate control systems against it . . . But, I decided on something a bit more explosive . . . It's far more theatrical"
"More bomb attacks?" Fang growled.
"It would've been all so simple: the concentrated Night Howlers would be released around the city from small, simultaneous explosions, several in each district . . . Resulting in total coverage throughout the city" Rouen paused, his tone suddenly becoming aggressive.
"But of course I had you bloody cops on my case, and ruining my plan . . . So I fell to my contingency plan instead . . . which became a reality today"
"What's your damn contingency plan?" Manson suddenly asked, it made Rouen smile sinisterly before he spoke.
"Simple, one big bomb, one big explosion, one big gas cloud."
"You're going all in . . ." Manson muttered.
"If you say so," Rouen quipped.
"How can you be so sure that it will even cover the whole city?" Fangmeyer pressed.
"Well . . ." Rouen's smile became wider "that's where mother nature herself decided to lend me an ever so helpful claw"
As if on cue, a quiet rumble emanated from the outside of the building at that very moment, the low pitched sound penetrated the windows . . . The far off call of thunder forced the realization right in front of their faces.
"The storm . . ." Manson said just as Nick said the same thing.
"I couldn't've asked for better weather could I?" the panther continued mockingly, "the cyclonic nature of the storm will disperse the gas all around the city . . . It might not be total coverage but it will be enough. As we all know, nature is quite unpredictable"
"You'll turn the whole damn city savage . . . You son of a bitch!" Manson shouted as Nick gasped.
The panther laughed "of course, because we all know the serum works on all mammals, not just predators . . ."
"You're a predator supremacist, that doesn't make sense" Fang snapped.
"Me? A predator supremacist?! Ha!" Rouen laughed, "I only let predators into my organization because only they have natural killing talent- prey don't . . . Only predators have the guts to do what needs to be done . . . With a few exceptions of course . . . Plus, I had to make an image for myself, the arms dealing, the kidnappings, killings, they were all just for show . . . For the media to slander me with and keep you all distracted from what I was really doing: preparing for this."
"Why the hell are you doing this?" Manson asked.
"Ah, the inevitable question . . ." Rouen said with an acknowledging nod.
"You see . . . This place, this whole bloody city, and the country around it . . . Is an enigma . . . A perfect symbolism to everything wrong with this world." The panther's voice was firm and strict; the SWAT and SAS teams continued to listen as he explained.
"You see, for thousands of millenia before Zootopia was even founded, you might remember from history class at school . . . Natural selection had been the law of this world, and you know what else? It is a law that should've never been tampered with. It prevents the world from falling into chaos, and the very notion of predator and prey living together in harmony breaks this law . . . Which I'm sure all of you know, some of you personally, has never been short of its troubles."
As someone his age, Manson knew these troubles better than most, he had seen it for decades, despite his lack of exposure to it due to his family's wealth and status. Yet he also saw it change, he saw it get better, the Predator Rights Movement, the international backlash from Zootopia's allies and enemies. He knew Rouen was full of shit.
"So, now with the advanced civilization we live in, where even the strongest country in the world was too ignorant and stupid to even properly 'coexist' with predators. Natural selection no longer plays a part . . . We've come so far into our evolution to the point where our own intelligence will be our downfall . . . Zootopia will soon fall under the weight of it's own influence."
That last sentence made Manson laugh out loud "you're full of shit. Fyodorov." he said with incredible resentment.
The big cat laughed back "oh am I?" he countered, "think about it . . . With an ever expanding population like this, there soon won't be enough resources to sustain us. Among the multitude of other problems that will occur is starvation . . . And as soon as that sets in, you know what will happen?" The panther asked.
"The government will round up all the predators before you can even utter the word: "Savage" . . . And then what will happen?"
Nobody responded for a moment, until Manson "you're still full of bullshit Fyodorov."
"Oh but contraire! Believe it or not, I'm doing what I'm doing to save this world before it destroys itself, and revert it back to how it should be. All the predators who stand by my side, all the predators you killed today, once normal mammals with dreams . . . Belittled by others . . . Like all of them, I am sick of being treated as a lesser mammal by those who think they're better than me . . . Especially by those insignificant prey animals that should fear and respect predators for what they are! They're superiors . . . When the Night Howler gas engulfs this city, it will be an interesting free-for-all" the panther monologued.
"You'll kill thousands!" Nick snarled.
"Oh no, not at all . . . millions will die as nature intends. But I won't have killed anyone" Rouen insisted with a devilish smile, "I'll be sitting back, watching as every Zootopian citizen rips each other apart" he said with a singsong voice.
"And when the blue mist dissipates, and the dust settles . . . Natural selection will have done its job, and only those worthy of a new world will remain standing . . ."
"And who's going to lead them, you?" Nick pressed.
"Unless someone better comes along-"
"All of this means nothing, the bomb isn't going to do shit if you detonate it here" Fang cut in.
"Well of course I'm not going to detonate it here, you fucking idiot." Rouen growled.
"Then where?"
"Where better? A place where at least three of this city's most important buildings are all in one place . . . City Hall, Grand Central Terminal . . ." He listed the next with a pure tone of distaste in his voice, "and Precinct One . . ."
"Central Square . . ." Nick muttered.
"Precisely" Rouen declared with a devilish chuckle.
"How exactly do you think you're gonna get there?" Fang grilled, "we have you surrounded"
"Well yes, I suppose . . ." The panther said looking up for a second, "but I've proven that the ZPD had underestimated me these past few days, and I will prove that further."
"Well, I wasn't aware the SAS was here, but I promise I can get around that, but I must ask you one question . . ."
Manson watched the panther smile widely "don't you think I've been talking for far too long?"
"I think I should let you have the first experience with this gas yourselves . . ." Rouen said as Manson saw a purple mist begin filling the room.
"Shit! Gas masks! Now!" The grizzly shouted at the SAS team as he began putting his gas mask on.
As all of the mammals were putting their gas masks on though, one of them was suddenly tackled to the ground by what looked like two foxes.
It was Nick. Without a gas mask he was already beginning to get weak, he watched the two foxes pull him out of the room without even bothering looking at the others as they continued putting their masks on.
"I do hope you don't mind me stealing Officer Wilde from you . . . Me and Madelyn are going to have so much fun killing him." Was the last thing Rouen said before the TV turned black.
They disappeared as Manson finally put his mask on "Fuck! Wilde!" he shouted but he looked at the ground and saw Officer Fangmeyer on the floor, knocked out and twitching.
It was either chase after the foxes and try to save Wilde, or stop Fengmeyer from going completely savage.
AN: I Liiiiiiive! I'm alive don't worry! I'm really darn sorry for keeping y'all waiting, a bunch of stuff was kind of thrown at me since the last time I posted, but I finally found the drive to write some more chapters! Speaking of, I hope y'all really liked this chapter, because it's the game changer, and the beginning of the end!
This was quite the chapter though, Rouen revealing his whole plan, followed by Nick being kidnapped and fangmeyer going savage! Trust me there's more to come, this story is slowly wrapping up . . . As long as I don't take almost a month to write the next few chapters, that is . . . I'm planning on trying to write more though. But if you want, reviews are really appreciated, I really wanna know what y'all think so far! But that's enough rambling from me, so until next time, caio.
A Laughing Wolf.