Five minutes.
That was what it took for Judy and Nick to gather their best available officers around the table, with the blueprints of the mall laid before them as they all planned their next move.
"So, each one of these markings shows a place where they are. The circles are the hostages, and the 'x's are the enemy groups." Bogo explained to these who had just came in, "As you can see, there are a number of hostage groups on each floor, and they are surrounded by hostiles. That not to mention the unknown amount of hostiles that are circulating across the malls in small groups."
"It is not going to be easy." Marceli said, as he leaned over the table to look. "They are all over the place and if they catch up what we are doing this could mean problem for both the hostages and ourselves. We will have to approach very carefully."
"Yeah, we already know that." McChill said, "Now, how do we get in?"
"Can't go through the doors." The black tod said, "I checked then earlier, and as I expected, there are barriers around them. They make it harder to force the entrances open, and I also suspect that they will let the responsible know if we try to force them open."
"So, we go through the windows?" Delgato asked, and the fox shook his head again.
"It would call too much attention, not to mention how hard it would be to get up there."
"He's got a point." Agent Lapinsky said, as the bunny stood around the table too. Well, actually he was standing on the table, as he looked at the blueprints.
"So, we basically still can't get in?" McHorn asked, as he looked around, and the fox soon was answering him.
"Yes, we can." The fox said to him, "If we go through the roof."
"Well thought." Lapinsky said to him as he looked to where the fox pointed. "There is a staff access through the roof that is very likely not under watch. We can use it to enter the mall and have inner access."
"Where does that access leads?"
"To a side room that leads straight to the movie theater, right above the twelfth floor." The bunny answered, and many of them looked among themselves as they reflected upon the plan.
"I still don't get how the building can have more than ten floors." McHorn said as he looked at the blueprints. "I mean, looking at the building it looks way smaller than that."
"That is because the New Den Plaza was build using special technology of the Technocracy." The bunny explained, looking at the rhino. "The building was built with a special system of dimensional distortion, allowing it to connect to a compact dimension where the internal area of the building was actually constructed."
There were blank stares from most mammals around the table.
"He is talking about a space of imaginary numbers." Marceli spoke, catching everyone's attention. The fox then put himself to explain:
"The actual mall is divided in two parts: the outside and the inside. The outside of the mall exists here, in the physical world, where we can see a building that only had seven floors." The black tod said, as everyone looked at him, "The inside, however, exists in a pocket that is in another world, another plane of existence, if you prefer. This other plane, which we call a 'space of imaginary numbers', exists completely separated from the main physical plane. However, they managed to connect the two dimensions in a way that was able to build the two parts of the mall in them. So, while the outside of the mall only has seven floors, the inside of the mall exists in a separate space and, because of this, it could be built as something much bigger than the actual building."
The fox explained to all of them, and then he looked at the blueprints, which made it clear just how big the mall truly was on the inside.
"The actual New Den Plaza exists inside the space of imaginary numbers." The fox concluded, "The building is just a vessel that connects it to this world."
"Ohhhhh." Some of the ones around the table said, as it now started to make sense to them... kinda.
"That is... quite fancy, but it is correct in the base." Lapinsky confirmed, and he and the mage locked eyes, but only for a moment, before the bunny took his turn to talk:
"The actual space of the mall is indeed much bigger than the outside. While the outside of the mall takes up to one block of physical space, the inside stretches for an equivalent to ten blocks." The bunny said, and this caused a lot of surprised, even shocked, expressions from the other mammals. "Also, while the building only has seven floors, the inside of the mall houses twelve floors. Thirteen if you count the movie theater, and not counting the underground parking lots."
"The thing is practically another district!" Delgato said as he looked at the bunny.
"Indeed, it is something quite admirable." Lapinsky said, looking around. "However, it was something that was quite hard to do. You see, creating these pocket dimensions is quite hard, and it involves many processes that are still not available to the common public, which do not have Quantic Circuits or the methods related to them. There is also the fact that it was never done before, not on the scale of a whole building. We were only able to achieve such thing thanks to the convenient environmental factors."
"Environmental... factors?" Someone around asked, and it was Marceli who answered.
"He is talking about the fact that they built the outside of the mall right above a ley line."
Someone around was about to ask what was a ley line, however, Chief Bogo called the attention back to subject:
"We are divagating here!"
With this, the attention was once more back on the plan to save the hostages from danger. It was soon decide that going in through the roof was maybe their best bet, once the other entrances were a no-go.
"Do we have to climb all the way up there?" Emilia asked, "I'm not very good at climbing."
Some mammals looked at her and shared looked among themselves.
"Actually, we were thinking on using the helicopters." Judy said, the vixen looked at her, and then she looked a bit bashful for what she had said.
"Mages..." Lapinsky said in a low voice, and Judy was one of the few who caught what he said, but she choose not to bring attention to it.
Now was just not the time.
"So, it seems that it is decided, huh?" Nick asked, and Bogo nodded.
"The guys from Precinct 5 are already sending some helicopters in here, and we already have special equipment in here." The buffalo said, "We will be using special assault equipment to enter."
"There are a lot of hostiles from the twelfth floor down." Marceli said, "Not to mention the many groups of hostages that need to be saved. So, since we will be going in by the entrance on the roof, I think that the best plan would be to star up and go clearing the mall floor by floor."
Everyone agreed with that, as they all agreed that it was possibly the best course of action that they could have at the moment. This way they ensured the security of each floor before they moved on to the next. This way, they were sure to keep the hostages and themselves at a minimum risk, as they would be able to take care of one floor at a time.
It was way better than being in another place and risking being cornered between two different floors full of hostiles.
"It seems that we will be able to carry on with this plan with a good chance of success." The bunny agent said to them.
"Yeah, not to mention that it will help us keep the hostages safe while they evacuate through the helicopters." Nick added, "I mean, there seems to be a lot of them, and it will take a while for the helicopters to get them in and out of the place in safety, if they make a few trips."
"Wilde is right." McHorn agreed. "It is not common to have so many hostages in a situation like that, and we can't take them by the lower floors if they are still filled with hostiles. The best bet would be to let them out through the helicopters on the roof once the upper floors have already been clear."
"Sounds like the safest way." McChill admitted, as he was actually showing that he could support this plan.
"Yeah, but, aren't we forgetting something?" Emilia said, as she looked at the other guys, who now looked back at her. "It is not only the mammals who are being kept hostage. It is also the mammals who are clearly being controlled to act as minions."
Everyone looked among themselves as they took in what the vixen just said.
She was right. There was a number of mammals behaving very strangely on the mall, and they were helping the golems to keep the hostages.
The enforcers themselves already confirmed that these mammals were under the effect of some kind of "mental interference" that made them behave like that. They were not truly responsible for their own actions, but rather more victims of the whole situation.
"Luckily we will be using darts." Nick said, and some nodded at him.
"Yeah, while others might prefer to use lethal weapons or to turn the mammals into bombs." McChill said, as he looked at the two enforcers, who merely glared back at him.
"Excuse me; didn't you forgot how we stopped all of these mammals without truly harming them?" The vixen said, as she pulled out her dagger. "I can easily do that again to the mammals inside the mall. Just a swipe and the mental interference will be completely nullified without a single scratch to their bodies."
"In truth, Emilia is capable of easily rescuing these mammals." Marceli confirmed, and everyone looked at him. "And only because I can use the Hagalaz rune to make anything explode, even living beings, I have no intention of doing that to innocents. I'm not this kind of mammal."
There was a very intense expression on his face as he spoke that. This was enough for everyone to realize how serious the fox was. Some of them even recoiled under his gaze.
"As for the golems, don't worry." The vixen said, "I can use reinforcement to make my body strong enough to break them, and Uncle Marcel can also send them to space with his skills."
Everyone looked at the vixen, who looked like she was awfully confident and happy in a situation like that. Marceli himself only sighed and shook his head slowly.
Why are the recruits always like that? She reminds me so much of myself during my first mission... Dammit.
"Yes, I'm sure that your skills will be precious for the team." Lapinsky said, looking at the two enforcers. "Just as my own skills."
Everyone looked at him.
"This is a subject that is of a direct interest of the Technocratic Union." The bunny said to them, "I have to be sure to accompany the situation to the best of my skills. This also means going on the mall with you."
He looked around at all of the mammals present, and he smiled. "You didn't expect me to just sit out and let you guys do all the fun stuff, right?" He said in an impish tone, which surprised some of the ones present on the table, as they looked at the small bunny who showed to have some guts on him.
"Are we really going to take this bunny?" McChill asked, Judy was among the ones who looked at him, and she didn't had a very friendly look at this comment.
"I'm going." The bunny on suit said, looking at the bear dead in the eye. "And that's not up for discussion."
The way he spoke and the look on his eyes were almost as if he was daring McChill to try and say otherwise. It was so intense that the big polar bear was actually force to look down.
This surprised some of the presents, once they knew that someone like McChill would not look away easily. There were few that could make him do that, among them Chief Bogo and Hopps. It seemed that now they could include agent Lapinsky on that list.
"Well, it seems like the suited guy is going." Nick said, and everyone was agreeing with him, including Bogo.
"As long as he does not causes problem." The buffalo said, now really not in the mood for any discussion."
"I won't." The bunny assured. "I can fend for myself, and you will see that I can also be helpful to anything you might face."
"Yeah, whatever." Bogo said to him. "So, the enforcers and the 'agent' are both coming. The rest of the group will be form by our officers. We will have special assault equipment for this mission and special tranquilizer rifles. Hopps and Wilde will be using special guns with darts in them. They will be mostly in charge of recognizance and on approaching without being seen."
"Good to know we can use our size and natural skills in service of law and order, sir." Nick said as he saluted the chief. Judy was by his side on the chair, and she looked determined.
Meerkovits, the meerkat, was also in there. He had arrived as someone who had been call for this mission, apparently, because of how well he did with the mission of the bursting of the illegal fighting rings. He was a bit nervous for being part of this mission, but it seemed that Nick had once more succeeded in making him feel more confident.
"Meerkovitz, you will be using a sniper rifle with darts, like on your last mission. You will be in charge of surveillance." Bogo said, and the meerkat nodded at him, already knowing that this was going to be like the mission before, and that his job would be to cover the others.
Okay, it will be just like back then, just as with the warehouse. You did well there! You can do it! Man, I still prefer working as transit guard...
"The rest of the group will be armed with standard dart guns, safe for McHorn, Delgato, Jackson and Myself, who will be handling the rifles.
"Big guys with big guns. Go figures." Nick said with a smile, but them, he remembered just what the Chief had just said.
"Wait, what?"
It was not up for discussion. Bogo had been in charge of Bellwether, just like Nick, and she escaped under his watch. He was going in there to help retrieve her.
As the group got ready, they all reassured each other and themselves, telling that everything was going to go fine.
At least, that was what most of them actually wanted to believe.
Now, while the enforcers merely put on some hoods, and the agent seemed that he was merely getting ready to go in the way he was now, the cops were putting on some heavy combat equipment.
A heavy bulletproof vest. Some armor on the arms and legs, and a helmet on the head. They were also carrying guns that were heavier and more potent than the ones that they usually carried on their everyday jobs.
Some of them complained about the equipment, like Nick, who said that the thing was heavy and hot, and that the helmet pressed his ears against his skull. It was his first time using the equipment ever since he joined the ZPD.
Judy had similar feelings of discomfort, but she did not voice them, instead just diligently putting the equipment and getting ready for the mission. It was not much different from the equipment that she used on the night of the bursting of the illegal fights, before the whole process that led to the revealing of magecraft to the world.
It was only a few months ago, but looking back it seemed that it was so long...
As the groups finished getting themselves prepared, it was right on time, for the helicopters had just arrived, and they were making a lot of noise and wind.
"Wow... So this is a helicopter." Emilia said, as she looked in wonder at the big aircrafts. "I've only seen them on television. They are even bigger than I thought!" She said in amazement as she looked at the big vehicles. Marceli was soon by her side, remembering her that they needed to focus on her mission.
With this, the mammals entered on the helicopters and were taken to the mall through the air.
The travel was relatively short, but in this time, the ones inside of the mall had time to reflect on what they were doing.
It was a time that they used to reflect on the whole situation and to convince themselves that this was what they needed to do, that if they wanted to rescue everyone who was on the mall. Some of them still had doubts, and they persistent even with all of the planning that they just did, and they did their best to quench these insecurities.
Of course, some of them were showing a lot more calm then the rest of them, some were actually looking like they were having fun. It was the case of Emilia, who looked outside, actually liking what she was experiencing, as she had never rode a helicopter before. She seemed almost like a kit doing something really cool for the very first time, in the opinion of some.
Among them, was Marceli, who looked at his niece, before he sighed and looked away, repassing the plan on his head one more time. Immediately after, Emilia's ears both got up, as she saw something on the side of the helicopter.
"Uncle Marcel!" Emilia was soon screaming, as she tried to get over the sound of the blades of the helicopter. "Uncle Marcel! Look!"
The black tod soon was looking, and his ears too shot up.
"Hey, friends!" The black fox said to the others who were on the room with them. Nick, Judy, Bogo, McChill and agent Lapinsky all looked at the fox, who was gesturing to the side of the helicopter.
Soon, they all approached the side, and they could look at what they were seeing.
"What the!?"
Flying by the side of the helicopter, was a big bird, the kind that some would mistake by a predatory bid, the kind that was forbidden in Zootopia, due to the danger of it feeding on mammals. This creature flew by the side of the helicopter, and it seemed that it was going to the same direction.
Now, the bird alone would have been interesting on its own, if it was not the added fact that it had a mammal ridding on its back.
The ferret was holding tight to the back of the bird, holding on to the feathers of the creature, which continued to fly. The ferret was even venturing to look at the helicopter, allowing the ones who were in there to look back at her.
Most of them recognized her almost immediately.
Zillah Ferron waved at the mammals at the helicopter, before he bird flapped its wings, taking her ahead of them as they moved in direction to the roof of the mall.
Cory was the first one to arrive, as the big bird landed on the roof gently, and Zillah was soon getting down from his back.
The helicopters started to arrive soon after, and they were still with their blades spinning rapidly as the mammals on them jumped down. As they did, they were already gathering. However, they were soon becoming aware of the presence of another mammal in there.
"What are you doing here?" Bogo was the first one to ask, and the ferret had to scream to get over the sound of the spinning blades.
"I'm here to help!"
"Help how, exactly?" McChill asked, as he also approached, and soon, others were approaching her, and they all looked interested on what the ferret had to say.
"I know some of what you might face on the way!" The ferret said to all of them, looking up at the cops. "I can help you guys navigate inside and not be caught."
"This is an official mission!" Bogo said back to her, "You are not really authorized to be here!"
"I just want to help, okay!?" The ferret practically yelled back at him. "I'll be out of your way, and if you ask me, at any moment, I'll turn back and leave. But I'm pretty sure I can help you guys! Let me come! Please!"
Bogo looked at her for a few moments, before turning his gaze to the enforcers.
Both of them looked back at him, and Marceli only shrugged.
Bogo groaned.
"We don't have time for this!" He said, and he looked at the ferret. "If you get on our way, you will be coming back to the roof and staying here until we are done!"
"That is more than fair!" Zillah agreed, and soon, she was entering the mall, along with the rest of the group.
Getting inside was rather easy, as the door of the roof led them directly to what seemed to be a "staff room" that led them to the movie theater through a side door.
The movie theater was no small thing, as it proved to be as much of a thing as the mall itself. It seemed that the space of an entire block only for a place where they would be able to see movies, and there were many rooms with many seats on them.
The place really looked to be a state of art Movie Theater, just as it had been promise.
However, no one of the group had really time to pay attention to the fact, for they had to focus their attention on the fact that there were mammals on the mall that needed rescuing. So, their first priority was to find a way of getting down.
Luckily, there were no hostiles there. No crazed mammals or armed golems.
It was quiet.
Too quiet, in the opinion of some.
However, they soon found out some problem as they finally found the stairs that would lead them down.
There were two golems in there; apparently, they were on guard in case anyone tried to go to the upper floor of the movies. Consequently, they were paying attention to the area where they were, but not up, as they seemed not to expect someone to come from up on their direction.
"Two golems, down ahead." Nick said in a low voice to the mammals that were coming near him, and all of them stopped and looked.
All of them were standing on the escalators, which were not working, so they were able to approach silently and stop to look at the two golems. They looked like big cats in appearance and they were carrying with big clubs made of rock.
"Now, how we deal with this?" Someone on the behind asked, and the one who answered was Lapinsky.
The bunny said nothing, but reached inside of his suit, and pulled out what seemed to be two weapons.
These were not dart guns, that much was clear. However, they were also not regular firearms. They had a silvery coloration and a blue glowing trimming on them, making them look like something that had come out of some sci-fi show.
The bunny now was holding the guns, aiming them on the two golems at the bottom of the stairs.
As he pulled the triggers, the two guns glowed and produced a low humming. Then, each gun fired a blast of bluish-white plasma, which flew through the air with a sound worthy of a sci-fi movie, and hit the heads of the golem.
The heads exploded, and pieces of them flew everywhere. The headless bodies remained in place for a few moments, before they fell limply to the ground, unmoving and defeated. The automaton entities didn't even knew what hit them.
"So, let's get going?" Lapinsky asked as he now held both of his plasma guns, all under the wide eyes of the others that were around him. The bunny simply ignored them and kept walking. He was surprisingly silent, considering the metal shoes that he was wearing.
"Okay... we need to get some of these." Nick whispered to Judy, as they continued to look at the walking bunny in a suit, before the group proceeded to move.
They were able to move across the mall, as they proved to be able to move well across it, with the help of the directions that they memorized before going inside. Of course, the fact that Lapinsky had the blueprints on holographic images on his wrist device really helped, as the bunny was able to give them directions.
The group remained as close as they could to each other, for extra safety, and they were able to communicate via radio, thanks to Lapinsky, who had done something with their radios before they went inside.
"I cannot grant communication between outside and inside, for it seems to be too much interference." The bunny said to them, as he seemed to be making something with their equipment. "But, I can make sure that our radios will allow us to talk to each other as long as we are inside of the mall."
"If there is so much interference, then how come they called us from the inside?" McChill asked, looking at the bunny with suspicion.
"Because the security rooms have special secure lines that are able to resist interference." The bunny said, "With the amount of interference that is in this place, you need a very special line to be able to communicate with the outside. Whoever created this interference, knew exactly what they were doing."
This proved to be useful, as it allowed the group to keep on touch through radio, allowing them to move at a certain distance from each other and to keep on touch. It was particularly good for the case of Meerkovitz, who was coming through a strategically placed path so he would be able to watch and warm them of any problem. Of course, the fact that he was with a rifle with telescopic visor did helped a lot.
"Guys, look out!" The voice of the meerkat came from the radio, causing the group to stand where they were. "There are a few golems going on your direction. Five of them."
"Five golems coming our way." Delgato said to the group. In particular, he was saying it to the two enforcers, who were not using the same radio as they were.
The two foxes shared a look among themselves, and Marceli said:
"Wait here." He spoke, and he was soon walking forward, pulling his cloak over his head. Everyone looked as the fox started to walk forward and, as he did, something started to happen to him.
It was as if the fox was getting out of focus. Not only that, but it also seemed that his shape was darkening, becoming less focused and more immaterial.
Everyone blinked as it seemed that the fox had turned into a shadow that was just vaguely shape like a mammal, and that moved very fast over the ground, running across the place before it went into an area covered by darkness. As this shadow moved into the spot, it became completely still, and it blended so well that it was as if it had completely disappeared.
"Did you guys see that?" Delgato asked, as everyone looked at what the fox had just done. Emilia was also looking, and she had a confident smile on her face.
"Yeah, that is why he is known as The Black Shadow of the Association." The vixen said to them, but immediately, she looked at all of them and added:
"But don't call him that. He hates this nickname."
They remained where they were, looking as the group that Meerkovitz warned them about: five golems, all of them looking tough and all of them carrying weapons of stone.
The entities passed by the spot that Marceli was hiding, and they barely noticed him. The ones who had a good enough vision to be able to look at the place would be able to see the yellowish eyes of the tod as he looked at the golems.
The fox then, as fast and swift as a shadow, moved out of the place where he was hiding, and dashed indirection to the golems. He started with the one that was the closest to reach.
With a movement of his dagger, he sliced through the back of the golem's leg, causing it to fall into one knee. With a single fluid movement, the fox moved his dagger and pierced into the chest of the golem. Going all the way up to the hilt.
With this, the golem fell to the ground, and the fox continued to move after the golems, repeating the process with the next golem in, line. And the next.
However, as he moved to the fourth golem, it seemed that the two left catch up that there was something happening.
The golems turned around, however, at the same moment, Marceli made a sudden change in movement, and he was now rushing to another direction, out of the sight of the two golems.
As the stone entities stood there, looking at the remains of the fallen ones, the fox swiftly moved around them, silent as a ghost.
As they looked on the other side, Marceli jumped on the back of a golem, swinging himself with great skill. Soon, he was piercing the head of the golem on the temple with his blade. The golem did not made a sound as it fell to the ground.
Immediately, Marceli made a leap from the golem, and landed on the back of the last one. With his leap, and a swift movement, he buried his dagger all the way down on the back of the golems head. The golem twitched a little bit, as it let go of its weapon.
Soon, the golem landed face first on the ground, with Marceli still on its back.
After the golems have all fallen, the image of the fox becomes more material and less dark, as he once more can be freely identify as a fox. He pulls his hood from over his head and looks at the group of mammals, all who are looking at him with surprise.
Marceli simply sighs and turns to walk, and soon, the group is walking behind him.
"Man... that was quite scary." Someone on the group whispers, and the mammals continue to move about the mall.
"Okay, it seems that we are close to the first group of hostages." Lapinsky says to the group, his voice was somehow getting into the radio, even though he does not have a radio himself. "Everyone stay sharp."
"Are we sure that the hostages are this way?" McChill asked.
"That according to what the ones inside told us." Bogo said.
"Don't you mean, according to what Bellwether told us?" McChill said, "I still think that the ewe might have lied about a thing or two to lead us to a trap."
Truth was, some of them actually could agree with the polar bear, but they knew that the directions that they received from the ewe was the best they had now. So, they continued to follow these directions.
"Wait!" Zillah suddenly said, as she rushed to in front of the group. She is looking forward, and everyone is looking at her. Some notice that she had removed her glasses, and was now looking ahead with neon-green eyes.
"There is a trap ahead." The ferret said, and everyone looked at her.
"What?"
"What is she talking about?"
"There are two controlled mammals hidden in a place out of the sight of the cameras." The ferret said, as she continued to look straight ahead. "As soon as we try to pass, they will alert the ones watching the hostages, and then they will start being kill."
"How do you know that?" Emilia asked, and the vixen looked back at her with her neon-green eyes.
"I just know."
Of course, some of the group were not sure if they believed the ferret, however, Marceli decided to go forward and check, just to be sure. So, he once more turned into a shadow and moved silently forward.
"That is a neat trick that your uncle do." Nick whispered to Emilia, who answered:
"Yeah, it is something he learned on his own. But he doesn't like being famous only because of it. He says that it feeds the stereotypes about foxes..."
It took two minutes, but Marceli soon was approaching, removing his hood.
"Ferron was right." The tod said, "There were two mammals hidden in a corner, and they looked like they were waiting for something. They are no longer a problem, I took care of them."
"'Took care', you say?" McChill asked, "Like you took care of the golems back there?"
Everyone now looked at the fox, who looked coldly at the polar bear.
"They are unconscious, Officer McChill." The fox said to him, and it seemed to make most of the other mammals on the group relax.
Soon the group was moving once again, and they passed by the spot where Marceli found the mammals. They were two wolves, and they didn't had any significant wound on their bodies. They looked only to just have been knock out.
"They would have howled as soon as we passed." Zillah said to the group as they passed by the unconscious canines. "This would have alerted the group around the corner, and they would have started attacking the hostages."
"And how do you know that?" McChill asked to the ferret, with a raised eyebrow.
"The same way that I know that the hostiles that are keeping the hostages ahead are all mammals under mental interference, and that we will need to capture them without killing." The ferret said, and the mammals on the ground looked at her, as she placed her glasses back on her face.
Had her eyes changed color?
The group approached carefully, and soon, they had visual on the group of hostages and on the mammals that were watching them.
As Zillah had told them, the group was being guard by many mammals that had crazed looks on their eyes. They were carrying improvised weapons, but that looked like they could make some serious damage, especially if coupled with their sizes. Not to mention that some of them had claws and fangs, what would allow them to make some serious damage even without any of their improvised weapons.
The group planned a little bit on how to proceed, and soon, they were ready to approach the hostages.
Marceli was the one who moved ahead, and he managed to approach as a shadow.
As the blackened fox approached, he gently tapped on the back of their legs with the handle of his dagger, enough to call their attention.
"Rock n' roll?"
One by one, the mammals turned to look; trying to see what it was that had tapped on their legs. They saw nothing, as Marceli proved to be too fast for them to follow, especially now that he had his image shadowed like that.
As the mammals saw the ones keeping the hostages getting distracted, they were now seeing their chance to act, starting with the cops, who fired darts from their guns, hitting the hostiles.
One by one, the mammals dropped to the ground. As they did, Emilia also acted, as she rushed forward, passing by the mammals as they fell, and she was now on the other side of the group, among the mammals that were out of the range of the cops.
As she did, the blade of her dagger started to glow, and it formed flames with the coloration of the aurora on it. With wide movements, the flames jumped out of the blade and into the mammals that were on her reach.
Each mammal that got involved by the flames fell to the ground, but they did not screamed or expressed any pain, as the flames licked through their bodies but did not caused any form of damage.
As the flames cleared, the mammals were completely unharmed, and they looked around, seeming to be confused.
The whole thing lasted for around three minutes, with half of the mammals keeping the hostages now lying unconscious on the ground, while the other half looked as if they had suddenly become aware of where they were and what they had been doing.
Soon, the cops were approaching, checking on the ones that were still conscious.
The hostages were soon treat with the best of their capacities, as they were check on to see if they received wounds of any kind. Meanwhile, the ones who had been keeping them under siege were approach with care; especially by McChill, who still thought that they could attack, even though Emilia assured him that the mental interference on them had been nullify.
Soon, the group received instructions to come back by the same path that the cops had made, with two of their officers going there to ensure their safety.
As they went back, the group continued to move forwards, their weapons and skills ready for any more dangers that could come their way...
That security room was quite small for a group that big, still, they were able to move around it with certain comfort.
Well, they didn't really had a choice, for it was probably the only place where they would truly be safe until the rescue came to take them outside.
Meanwhile, the mammals were arranging themselves the best that they could. Bellwether was still in front of the image that she created, which allowed her to see through the cameras of the mall. She seemed to be focusing a lot of her attention on the image that she was creating, as it seemed that she was still trying to find a way out. Krys and Lana were by her sides, and they were discussing something with her as they all looked at the images. All that under the eyes of a part of the group. Of course, many of them just wanted to keep an eye on the images, as to see if there would be any changes, but a number of them were shooting dirty glares at the ewe, as if they were deeply bother by her presence. Some of them even thought that all that was happening at the mall was somehow her fault, but they refrained from saying anything.
Vicky and Cameron were among the crowd of mammals, and while Vicky only wanted to stay on her place and wait for everything to be solve the best way possible, Cameron was still keen on recording all that he could with his camera. He was particularly interested on what Bellwether was doing, as it "looked so cool". The beagle still recorded all that was going on, while Vicky stood next to him, shaking her head as she knew that it would be hopeless to try and convince him to stop.
Officer Fanghanel was in a corner, talking to his wife about something. It was quite hard for anyone who would be listening to follow what he was saying, but it seemed that the wolf thought that it was important. However, who heard it would see that the subject seemed to make sense only for the wolf. Still, his wife seemed to do her best to pay attention to it and listen to her wolf.
It was possible to have talks between two mammals, even in a crowded space like that, if you two stood on a corner and were careful with the volume of their voices. Just like the Fanghanels were doing. And like another couple in there was also doing.
Bunnies had a very good hearing, and still, Bonnie and Stu were pretty sure that their children and their granddaughter would not really be able to catch up on them if they kept their volume on check.
"I can't believe that you hid it from me all of this time!" Stu said to his wife, while the female looked at her husband. "We have been married for almost thirty years!"
"Stu, is this really the moment for us to discuss something like that?" Bonnie said, looking at her husband, and still surprised that he wanted to discuss the fact that she didn't told him that she was a mage in the moment where they still needed to be rescued.
"I mean, it is a very important detail!" Stu said, looking at his wife. "It is the kind of thing that you tell the mammal that you plan to spend the rest of your life with! You know, stuff like, 'I enjoy sunsets', or 'I'm allergic to peanuts', or maybe 'I have magical powers'!"
Bonnie sighed as he massaged the bridge of her nose with her fingers. Of course, Stu would be reacting like this. After all, he was Stu. He could be quite dramatic over certain subjects, especially the ones that truly caught him by surprise.
Finding out that his wife was a mage was surely something that caught the bunny by surprise.
Bonnie knew that this would come; she had just expected them to be out of immediate danger before Stu wanted to discuss it.
Well, it seems that she had once more underestimated her husband's ability to freak out.
"Stu, is this really the moment to discuss something like that?" Bonnie asked him once more, exasperated. "We are inside of a mall full of golems and mammals that want to kill us!"
"Well, it is something really important!" The male bunny said back, "I mean; it is kind of an important thing that I should've know!"
"Well, you do now! So can we leave it at it and talk about it more when we are not in the middle of danger?" Bonnie said, and then, their ears picked up someone calling for them. It was Cotton.
"Later." Bonnie said, as she rushed in the meeting of her granddaughter, and Stu was hot on her heels.
Cotton was with her uncles and aunts, and she was still with the blindfold over her eyes. The bunny girl was missing her grandma and grandpa, so she called out for them. In no time, Bonnie was with her, and she was comforting the young bunny, telling her that everything was going to be okay.
Stu was also there, and he too wanted to comfort their granddaughter. However, his mind was still hooked on the fact that his wife was a mage and that he never knew anything.
"Did you ever used magecraft to do things at home?" Stu asked her, and Bonnie now was really feeling like smacking him in the upside of the head.
"Stu. Let. It. Go." Bonnie said to him.
"Well, sorry, I can't! I'm still trying to process the fact that you never told me you were a mage!
"Because I wanted to leave it all behind!" Bonnie said to him, looking him in the eye. "I gave up on magecraft years ago! Right after I left this city!"
"Yeah, but still... Wait, this city?" Stu asked, looking at the bunny. "You... you lived in this city?"
Bonnie looked at him, and she sighed, cursing herself for letting something like that to slip.
"Yes... during most of my life." The bunny confessed to her husband. "As a matter of fact, I was born here in Zootopia."
"Wha..." Stu said.
"Wait, I thought that you were born on Podunk, back on Deerbroke." Jason asked, as Bonnie turned to him and saw many eyes on her. She had forgotten that now they were close to their relatives, and she cursed herself once more for this.
"I... I lied about that." Bonnie admitted to her family. "I needed a new life after I gave up being a mage! Of course I didn't wanted to tell people where I really was from!"
"You... you lied to me?" Stu asked, looking at her.
"Man, now that is something." One of her children said, and Bonnie groaned, as she thought of how bad things were developing at the moment.
She knew that coming back to the city was a bad idea.
"Well, I'm sure learning a lot of new things about you today, Bonnie." Stu said, "I mean, if that is even your name."
"Of course it is!" Bonnie said to him. She looked at him for a few moments, before she added:
"Well, it is now."
"What do you mean by 'it is now'?" Stu asked, looking at her. The bunny sighed.
"When I left the city I wanted to leave all of my past behind." Bonnie explained to him. "So, when I moved to BunnyBurrow, I changed my name."
Everyone looked at her in shock, as they were all finding out a side of Bonnie that none of them never even dreamed that could exist. It was hard to believe that this mammal who they knew for so long could have a past that none of them even dreamed about.
"W-what was your name when you lived here?" Harry asked, as he looked at his mother with as much surprise as everyone else.
Bonnie looked at him, and at everyone who now had their eyes on here. Even Cotton, who was with a blindfold, was hearing what was happening, and it was obvious that she too was getting interested. However, Bonnie did not answered, as she only looked down.
However, someone else was willing to answer in her name.
"She was called Helga." Dawn Bellwether said. The bunnies were in the front line to see what the ewe was doing, and she was hearing what they were saying.
All eyes turned to the ewe, who looked over her shoulder to look at them.
"Her baptism name is Helga Höhle. Of the Höhle clan." The ewe said to them, "A famous clan of necromancers."
Bonnie gave a glare to the ewe, who had decided to talk about her family without her consent. The rest of her family took turns between looking at the ewe and at their matriarch. Meanwhile, what the ewe had said surely caught the attention of the group of mammal that was around and hearing everything.
"Of 'decro manners'?'" Someone of the group, for someone else to answer.
"Pretty sure she said 'necromancers'."
"What even is a 'necromancer'?"
"My cousin plays B&B, and necromancers are guys who raise zombies."
"Necromancers are guys who practice the thaumaturgical branch known as necromancy." Said Lana Bellwether, who was also hearing, and who heard enough to know that some wanted to have answers, and she was happy for giving it to them.
"Necromancy is a type of magecraft that revolves around controlling the remains of the dead. Corpses, if you prefer to be blunt." The older ewe concluded, and everyone looked at her, and many of them were still talking among themselves.
"Is that even legal?" Someone asked, and some of them could back up this question, including the Hoppses, who now were worried that their mother could have done something tht was against the mage laws.
"Yeah, necromancy is not illegal." Krys said to everyone. "It was well spread enough and used by enough important clans that it was not deemed to be illegal, but it is looked with mistrust by a lot of the modern mages."
"And, the guys spend their time raising the dead as their minions?" Someone else asked. "That is so freaky!"
"Sure, these zombies outside freak me out! Just like the giant snake!" Someone else said, and the two heads of the snake turned to look at the mammal, who recoiled immediately.
"Yeah, raising undead is the first thing everyone thinks when talking about necromancy." Dawn Bellwether said; she had now turned around to look at the group of bunnies. "But necromancy deals with more than that. For example, a part of it is taking corpses apart and then sewing them together to create abominations that look just like Foxenstein's monster." She spoke, and everyone looked at Bonnie as she spoke that.
"Also, necromancers scavenge corpses for their parts." The ewe said, looking at Bonnie. "They use pieces of corpses to create special objects and weapons of power that they can use. As you can see in the nice looking skull that our dear Helga has on her shotgun."
"Grandma..." Cotton said, and Bonnie pulled the young bunny even closer to herself as she stared daggers at the ewe, who looked back at her with ferocity.
"Yeah, I wonder who was that poor unfortunate mammal whose skull you used..." The ewe said, "I heard about your predilection for using bones to fabricate your weapons. The bullets you use, they are made of mammal fingers, aren't they?"
Bonnie said nothing, but she could notice that the mammals around her were getting increasingly uncomfortable, including her own family. She really wished that ewe would just stop talking.
"You know, I wonder how you get the material to make your mystic codes, now that the clan no longer supplies it to you, Helga."
"Don't call me that." Bonnie said to her, there was fire in her eyes as she looked at that ewe. "This is no longer my name. I renounced that name on the same day I renounced magecraft."
"Oh, really?" Dawn asked, looking at the bunny. "Well, for someone who renounced it, you still have a lot of skill in that. Either that or it is pretty common for bunnies to raise zombies as their minions."
Bonnie glared daggers at the ewe, and the two females almost looked like they could start a fight at any given moment, with the way things were escalating between the two of them. Everyone around could feel the tension that was building up in there, and many of them hoped that something would break it.
"So, I wonder what happens now." Dawn said to the bunny. "After this, will you go back to your home at BunnyBurrow and lock everything away? Pretend that this part of your life never existed? Or will you once more start acting like a proper mage?"
"I'm not a mage anymore."
"Well, common bunnies do not carry magic guns with them and neither raise the dead, do they?" Dawn taunted, and Bonnie continued to stare at the ewe.
"Just answer me one thing." The ewe said, and looking at the bunny dead in the eye. "Have you thought of continuing the tradition of using your dead children as raw material?"
Bonnie's eyes widened at that, right before they morphed into absolute fury.
"I mean, it is known that the Höhle clan often makes uses of the corpses of their own members as material to produce mystic codes." The ewe said, all under the wide eyes of the group of mammals who was hearing this. "You might have abandoned your clan, but you grew up as one of them, so it is only natural to assume that you do as they taught you. So, how many of your dead relatives have you already turned into magic objects?"
That was all that Bonnie could take, she immediately moved forward, nearly roaring at the ewe:
"Watch your mouth, you brat!"
"Or what!?" Dawn Bellwether shot back at her, looking at her eyes with the same ferocity of the bunny. "What will you do, necromancer!?"
There was a long and very tense moment, as the two females were staring daggers at each other. Everyone in the room seemed like they were holding their breath, just waiting to see what would unfold, and if they were really going to start a battle then and there.
The tension was so great that they could cut it with a knife.
Finally, Bonnie spoke:
"I'm no longer a necromancer." She was sure as she spoke that, and she looked dead at the eyes of the ewe. "I'm no longer a mage. I gave up on this for decades now."
The tone she used was low and sure, and it wanted to make it perfectly clear for the ewe that she really meant what she was saying.
The ewe, however, looked back at her with some hint of challenge still in her eyes.
"Yeah, for someone who is no longer a mage, you still show that you can do it like any mage can." The ewe said, looking at the bunny. "Giving up doesn't make you stop being a mage. It only makes you become a quitter."
"Dawn!" Krys said to her and everyone else traded looks. Bonnie glared at the ewe, but she said nothing. Instead, she only lowered her gaze, and the ewe took this as a sign that she had made her point.
"There is no such thing as an ex-mage." Dawn said, looking at the bunny, and then, she even gave a look at the cheetah that was standing by the side of his snake. Benjamin flinched with that look, and looked away.
"There are quitters." The ewe continued, all under everyone else's eyes. "Mages who got so overwhelmed by the pressure that they throw in the towels and decided to abandon all that they and their ancestors worked so hard for."
Bonnie glared at the ewe as she said that, and Ben looked at the ground, looking dejected.
"They choose to give up and abandon everything, but deep down, they will always be mages." The ewe said, sounding as if she was ready to conclude. "The proof of it is that their skills never truly disappear."
Ben was looking really dejected as he looked at the ground, and his snake was right by his side.
"Can we eat her?" One of the heads whispered at the cheetah. "Plea-sss-se sss-say we can eat her."
"We never had ewe before. Sss-she looks-sss tas-sss-ty." The other head said, and it looked like they both were glaring at the ewe. However, it was not only hunger, but there was also a hint of anger in their eyes, if you were able to notice something like that.
Benjamin was like that, and he noticed that the snake was ready to attack Bellwether, and it only needed a permission to do so. Actually, the way they were looking, they could probably do so without permission.
Ben stopped then by gently touching their body with his paw, granting them to look at him. He shook his head "no", and the snakes got the message. Of course, they still glared daggers at the ewe, just like Bonnie was still doing so.
The ewe would truly be very dead if looks could kill.
However, Dawn didn't even noticed their gazes, as she only looked down. She had just made quite a harsh speech; however, who looked at her would have the impression that she didn't seemed happy about this speech, as she merely looked at the ground. Almost... sad.
They were so focus on her that they had nearly forgot of the images that were still showing on the magic mist.
At least, until Bucky said:
"Hey, there is someone on the camera!"
This caused everyone to immediately remember and look over to the mist, and this allowed them to see that there was, indeed, someone appearing on the mist.
Dawn Bellwether was quick to return to in front of the circles, and to move on them. In answer, it caused the camera to move and to zoom, focusing on the mammals that were appearing on the image.
Two of them were foxes, and they were wearing cloaks. They were immediately identify by most of the present mages as enforcers. Krys, in particular, identified them as his cousin and his uncle.
Of course these two would come. I never had a doubt. Krys thought, as he saw Marceli moving on the lead with a serious expression, while Emilia was coming right behind him with her dagger on her hand and looking at all sides, as if she was ready for anything that could come at her.
Next came more mammals that were wearing heavy tactical armor, and that were identify as the ZPD by nearly everyone. Among the mammals in there, right on the lead, it was possible to see a bunny and a fox, which were immediately recognize as Judy and Nick. It was obvious that they too wouldn't stay out of the action, especially when mammals they cared about where in trouble.
Among them, that was another one who was quickly recognize:
"Is that the Chief?" Eliot asked, as he looked at the image that was showing a buffalo on tactical armor, seemingly giving directions to the rest of the group.
Yes, it is! Benjamin immediately thought that as he saw the image of the familiar Cape buffalo on specialized tactical armor. The big helmet did not hide his impressive set of horns, and the heavy bulletproof vest and armor did not diminished the size of his muscles and the amount of power that he passed. If anything, these things only heightened the powerful impression that the bull let on.
Vicky was also looking, and she couldn't hide her surprise as she saw a familiar face among the mammals. Zillah Ferron was walking with them, wearing a simple top and a long coat with herself, and she looked as if she was ready for anything, along with the rest of the mammals.
"Wait, ain't that..." Cameron said.
"Yes, it is." Vicky said, as both fox and beagle looked at the image, the beagle still recording it on his camera.
There was even an unknown male bunny among the group, wearing a suit and wearing some strange-looking shoes on his feet. He looked to be as professional as the rest of them, and was carrying two weapons with himself.
"Why is that bunny carrying toy guns?" Someone who was looking asked as they saw the image.
"These are not toys." Lana said, as she looked at the image. "That guy definitely is a Technocrat... maybe an agent."
"What is an agent doing here?" Jade asked, as the kangaroo came close, and she looked at the image along with everyone else.
"Where is it?" Lana asked, and Dawn was checking on the circle that was giving her the information on the cameras, and she was soon saying:
"Twentieth floor, sector 62, West wing." The ewe said, as she got the precise information of the location of that camera.
"Two floors above us." Krys said, as she also looked at the image. "How many golems and controlled mammals there are between them and us?"
Immediately, Dawn put herself on shifting between the many cameras. She passed by many images of golems and mammals, both surrounding groups of hostages and patrolling the hallways.
"Many." Was all that the ewe said.
"They will have a hard time getting here." Jade said, "Even more if they plan to go all the way down."
"They can pull it off." Krys said to her. "Uncle Marcel and Emilia both can take care of this. If they do it right."
"And they have the ZPD with them!" Eliot said, "Combined these guys surely can take care of all of these wackos! We all will be safe in no time!"
Eliot was always an optimist, and those who knew him, like Chloe and Ben both, could tell that. However, they had to admit that the groups would face some difficulty.
The amount of golems and mammals under the influence of some mage was great, and the groups could very well fall into traps or unexpected encounters.
They were in for a lot of trouble to be able to rescue all of the hostages.
That was something that Ben truly knew, and that was why the cheetah was silently asking them all to be careful as they walked over the mall, and for all of them to arrive soon, and to arrive safe.
So, this concludes this chapter.
Also, I wanna tell you guys that this story has surpassed the mark of 1000 views! Thank you all for the support and for following this story. There is a lot more to come, so hope you guys are in for a ride.
Once more, I remember you: Eliot and Chloe Fanghanel belong to Koraru-san, from Deviantart.