Hey guys! Just a heads up that due to work and other commitments, I won't have as much time to write the story as I used to, so updates will probably take longer. Hope you guys can bear with me on this, and thank you for following me so far. Now, continuing on with the next chapter…


With Eli in tow, they walked to and rode the elevator up to the final floor of the building. The elevator doors opened to reveal what appeared to be a lounge of sorts, possibly a waiting room judging by the reception desk in the middle of the room, with a female caracal mammaling the desk. She looked up at the pair as they approached her.

"Go right on in Ma'am, Mr. Khan is expecting you." She smiled, already having been informed of their arrival. Anya nodded and led Eli past her towards the very ornate and impressively large double doors at the other end of the room. The doors were guarded by two large and sturdy looking tiger security guards. Aside from staring at Eli, the guards didn't present any hindrance to the two, opening the doors to allow them to enter the room and closing them again once they were inside.

On the other side of the doors seemed to be an entirely different place. It didn't look like they were any longer inside an office building. In fact, it almost didn't look like they were inside the city at all! The gigantic 'room' seemed to be completely enveloped in tropical foliage of all sorts, giving the appearance of a jungle. Various trees, bushes, vines, flowers and other plants lined the sides and center of the room, as well as creating a bit of a canopy above, with only the matching green marble floor visible in the clear areas and a different colored split marble path going around either side of the central vegetation. Anya led Eli further into the room on one of the paths. Eli could hear the singing of various exotic birds around him and spotted some of them resting in the trees or flying between them. It was quite the 'trek' through the jungle to the other end of the room that featured a much larger clearing, the centerpiece of which was a large desk with an office chair behind it. The chair was facing away from the desk towards a massive window behind, with curtains covering much of it except for a little bit at the center that allowed enough sunlight in to highlight the chair, desk and surrounding area. The large back of the chair made it impossible to tell who was sitting on it, or if even anyone was sitting on it at all.

"Mr. Khan? Mr. Eli Hopps is here to see you." Anya spoke up as they approached the desk. After a moment, the chair turned around to reveal its occupant, a well-dressed and well-built tiger. Noticeably, he was well groomed and was wearing a fine suit of very expensive material, no doubt custom made by a highly skilled tailor as well. He carried a stoic, no-nonsense expression that Eli felt didn't change much regardless of what his emotions were. It reminded him a lot of the one his father often donned, minus the sly smirk. One look was enough for Eli to tell this particular mammal commanded the utmost respect, demanded unwavering loyalty, and held no tolerance for mistakes or failures. His assumptions were further solidified when the tiger spoke to him in a deep, English-accented voice that radiated power, authority, class and flair all at the same time.

"Ah, Mr. Hopps, we meet at last. I must say, it is quite intriguing to come face to face with the first human to grace the doorsteps of Zootopia." He greeted with what barely amounted to a smile, standing up and offering his large paw for Eli to shake, which he did.

"Is that still news? Its been a long time since then." Eli joked, to which the tiger offered a light chuckle.

"Yes, quite. But its nonetheless still an achievement, however small. Do have yourself a seat, dear boy."

"So, about this job you're offering me…" Eli began.

"Getting right down to business, I see. Very good. But first, tell me: are you familiar with the legend of Robin Hood?"

"The famous fox that stole from the rich and gave to the poor? Sure. My dad used to idolize the guy when he was a kit. What about him?"

"What do you think about him?"

Eli pondered before answering. "Well, I guess what he did was kind of noble. Even though he himself stole, he only stole from the rich and then gave to the poor instead of keeping it for himself." Shere Khan smiled upon hearing that.

"Precisely how I feel about him. Which brings me to the question: What if you had the opportunity to be Robin Hood?"

"I'm… I'm not sure I follow…" Eli responded with a quizzical expression.

"Well you see, for the longest time now, I've had a fascination with crime and its causes, and I've discovered that most of the major crimes occur at the top, among the elites, and yet either no one notices, or they're unable to stop it. To that end, I've started a little 'side business' that puts the skills of specially talented individuals such as yourself to good use. A small band of 'Robin Hoods' so to speak, in an effort to combat this scourge."

Eli took a moment to process this, not quite believing what was being asked of him.

"So… you're saying you've hired a few thieves to steal for you, and you want me to be a part of it?" Shere Khan cringed at that.

"Heavens no! You describe it so crudely. Its more accurately the retrieval of objects that were already stolen in order to return them to their rightful owners. And that isn't our only trade. Among other things, we also conduct surveillance of potential suspects, making sure they are staying within legal limits."

"And if they aren't? Do you take any action against them?"

"Only if we feel the need to. In most cases its enough to gather incriminating evidence and leak it to the authorities."

"Speaking of which, don't you run into any troubles with the police? I highly doubt they'd approve of such vigilantism."

"We keep our operations highly covert and never leave behind any evidence that could be traced back to us. The police remain unaware of our involvement."

"Hmm… and you're basically doing all this to tackle crime? Uh, no offense sir, but as noble as your work sounds, I could do the same thing if I joined the ZPD. And I have a good chance of doing so as my parents are well known ZPD officers."

"Yes, you could do that… and then spend most of your career giving out parking tickets, arresting the occasional street thugs, hooligans, hustlers and lowlife criminal scum, aaaaand helping an elderly mammal or two cross the street while you're at it. And depending on if you're lucky or not, you may or may not receive a promotion before your career ends. My dear boy, you have no idea of the state of the ZPD, do you?"

"My parents tell me its doing very well, and they're keeping the crime rate in the city low."

"Of course they would say that, they are police officers after all. But let me tell you, the actual situation of the police force is… quite sad, really. The Mayor doesn't invest as much funds as he should to the police, which has resulted in quite a few issues. Recruitment is at an all-time low and shows no signs of increasing anytime soon. Because of this, promotions tend to be extremely rare as the force has a greater need for regular officers than sergeants, lieutenants and captains. Most of the criminals they catch usually have no major significance to the crime rate in Zootopia, and they are powerless to go after the real criminals who matter. On top of that, they are ill equipped to handle more serious situations which are starting to increase in frequency, in part also hindered by the fact that they require the city's permission and warrants if they are to do anything. As professional as the police force is, their actions are still limited by the law. We, on the other paw, are able to investigate locations and conduct operations where the police cannot."

Eli thought about what the tiger had said. By the way he spoke, he seemed to know a lot about the police, and it didn't look like he was lying. But then… were his parents lying to him? Why would they lie? Did they think he would think less of them? No, it can't be. More than likely they weren't aware of this themselves.

"How would you know so much about what goes on with the police?" he asked. Shere Khan merely chuckled at that.

"In the business world, information is power, and I make sure I stay informed as much as possible, else I wouldn't have gotten this far."

"Okay, so even if all that were true, then why me? I don't have the kind of experience you're looking for."

"On the contrary, you possess certain skills that we lack. The rest we can easily train you."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about."

The tiger opened up his laptop and turned the screen around towards Eli. A video was playing on the screen showing a zoomed-in shot of what he realized was himself scaling the sides of buildings, running and jumping across rooftops and otherwise navigating the city above street level. Judging from his path and movements he realized this was from about two weeks ago and seemed to have been filmed by someone standing on another rooftop further away using a professional video camera.

"H-how did you get this?!" Eli asked with wide eyes. He had always tried his best not to be spotted while doing this. The tiger merely smirked.

"My informants are always on the search for unique skilled individuals, and you'd be surprised how much of a sharp eye they have. This is merely video evidence they gave of one of your 'excursions'. They've been observing you for quite a while now. I must say, this is highly remarkable. I never realized you humans could be so… agile, dexterous, and capable of such feats." He marveled while watching the video, glancing back at Eli to catch the worried expression on the man's face.

"Oh come now, your 'activity' was bound to catch someone's eye sooner or later. Be glad that it was me and not, say, the police, or your parents. You don't need to worry. Your secret is safe with me. But imagine for a moment, using these extraordinary skills for a good cause. Imagine your handiwork indirectly bringing relief and joy to the less fortunate. I'm willing to offer you that kind of work. Help us teach a lesson to the real criminals who illegitimately live off the spoils of the lesser mammals, and we'll pay you handsomely for it as well."

Eli was conflicted. Something seemed off about this whole thing, like he was venturing into unknown territory. This wasn't some ordinary job that he was expecting to get, it seemed to involve a greater amount of risk. Yet somehow, the thought of that thrilled him. The fact that he'd be able to use his skills and get paid for it and help other mammals out in the process sounded pretty good. And of course, he didn't have many options in the job department anyways and needed a source of income. It was either this or the police force, and Eli wasn't exactly looking forward to spending a year in police academy just to give out parking tickets. Who knows, if Mr. Khan was right, then Eli's actions might have a bigger impact on crime than the police would.

"Alright. I guess you can count me in." This brought a smile to the tiger's muzzle.

"Splendid! But before we go any further, I must ask you to swear to secrecy regarding anything and everything you see, hear or do from now on. I cannot stress how much I loathe traitors and leaks and there will be serious consequences for those who betray me. And believe me when I tell you, I do eventually find out if someone has betrayed me. And they always find their end at the tips of my claws. Do I make myself clear?" Khan emphasized in a more darker, threatening tone, unsheathing his dangerously sharpened claws into the wood of his desk and carving grooves in it as he dragged them down.

"A-Absolutely sir." Eli responded, a bit taken aback by the sudden menacing tone, though Khan seemed to recover from it fairly quickly.

"Good. Welcome to Vanguard then." He announced, much more pleased than before.

"Vanguard?" Eli asked, a bit puzzled.

"Yes, it's the 'side business' I mentioned earlier. While Khan Industries is my primary line of work, Vanguard is my personal contribution towards the betterment of Zootopia. Like the vanguard at the forefront of a mighty army, we will pave the way for the rise of a new, crime and corruption free Zootopia. Come, there is something I must show you." he explained, getting up from his seat and making his way back towards his office doors, his paws behind his back as he walked. Eli complied and followed close behind right alongside Anya. He joined the two in the elevator once again but this time noticed Anya somehow opened up a hidden panel containing previously hidden buttons indicating some basement floors, with Anya pressing the button for one of those floors. The ride down was silent, but thankfully short as can be for a hundred floors. The one they had stopped on looked very different from the rest of the building, and Eli felt like he had just entered a hallway of a military research facility. There were fewer mammals to be seen around as well, and most of them were wearing lab coats or technician type outfits. They all respectfully greeted their employer as they passed by.

"This place houses my research divisions, and additionally serves as the base for all Vanguard operations. We're currently going to the technical department although we also have a chemical and medical department. The medical department is a recent addition, but should soon enable Khan Industries to compete in the pharmaceutical market, rivaling or perhaps even exceeding Horizon Corporation, which is currently the largest pharmaceutical enterprise in the country." Khan explained as he led the way down the hallways, eventually coming to a set of double doors which opened into a very large warehouse-like structure. There seemed to be a hive of activity inside, accompanied by the noise associated with a workshop. Different mechanical and electrical devices, both familiar and unfamiliar to Eli, were being worked on by various mammals in different locations around the building.

"Ah, theres professor Meyer, the chief technician in charge of this research department." Khan gestured in the direction of an approaching fossa, wearing a lab coat over his clothes like many of the others. He greeted the CEO and Anya, then turned his attention towards the newcomer, his interest piqued as soon as he laid eyes on him.

"Professor, allow me to introduce our newest recruit, Mr. Eli Hopps. Mr. Hopps, the professor here will be the one to provide you with all the equipment you will need to carry out your work. Professor, you know what to do. I suggest you get started as soon as possible. Alas, I must take my leave, I have work to attend to. Anya and the professor will show you around. Now, if you will excuse me." Khan finished, then left for the elevator.

"So, Mr. Hopps, welcome to Vanguard. I'm sure Mr. Khan must have seen something very special in you to have recruited you, so it's a pleasure to have you on board." The fossa began.

"Thank you. And please, just call me Eli. So what happens now?"

"Well, we will have to prepare your outfit and equipment. However, because of your unique species, this will take some time. But you won't be sitting idle, for they will likely use the time to train you for your particular line of work. At the moment, I can give you a tour of our laboratory, if you will just follow me."

Both Eli and Anya accompanied the professor as he showed them around the laboratory and explained some of the projects they were working on. Eli's head was constantly on a swivel, the young man in awe of the entire lab and the work being done within as the professor led them around the entire lab, eventually reaching a more secluded looking section of the lab. It was only now that Eli had begun to see the true scope of Shere Khan's operations.

A sudden series of very loud bangs made him jump in shock. Looking in the direction of the source he spotted one of the scientists standing in a range of sorts with something similar to a tranquilizer gun in his paws and aiming the weapon downrange. Although instead of firing tranquilizer darts, this particular weapon emitted a flash of light and a loud bang, and, judging by how there was a hole in the target afterwards, it fired some other kind of solid projectile at seemingly lightning-fast speed. That sound however… it sparked a familiar feeling, like he had seen and heard it before, perhaps sometime much earlier in his life.

"What… what is that?" Eli uttered, still recovering from the shock of the sound.

"Oh that? It's the result of one of our longer running projects. Generally we're referring to it as a 'firearm' although since that particular model is a prototype, it doesn't have a proper designation yet."

"I… can't explain why but… I feel like I've seen this thing before somewhere."

"That would make sense, seeing as that device came from the same place you came from. Well not that one exactly, but it's certainly based on one that came from your world."

That bit of information shocked him, but at the same time, jogged his memory as well. He remembered now, it was a pistol, a type of highly lethal weapon. He remembered seeing it on TV and other places as a kid before his arrival to Zootopia. He knew for a fact that this technology definitely didn't exist at the time of his arrival, so how did it get here now? He made his query known to the fossa.

"Thats a very interesting story actually. Some time back, a human was found on Mr. Khan's industrial property, having arrived in much the same way as you did. He appeared to be a soldier of some kind, and was in really bad shape, unconscious and injured to the brink of death. He carried on him some interesting pieces of equipment, including these weapons unlike anything we had seen before. We confiscated the items and were in the process of reverse-engineering them, and at the current schedule, we're mere days away from finishing a fully functional production model."

Eli frowned. He now remembered the details of these weapons, and they weren't fond memories. The introduction of such lethal weaponry to Zootopia might have drastic effects on the future of the city and the lives of the mammals within. In his mind, this couldn't possibly be a good idea.

"What does Mr. Khan intend to do with them?"

"Why, they'll be provided to the police… for a price of course."

"These things are very lethal. Isn't that a bit excessive for police use?"

"With the rise in severity of crimes, they're already searching for lethal solutions for otherwise difficult situations. Additionally, because of a few 'incidents' the ZPD felt that in some circumstances, tranquilizers weren't fast or powerful enough to take down a perpetrator in time before they could do harm. Initially they had requested research into 'venom darts', which was basically the same as regular darts but with a fast acting lethal compound instead, but even that didn't fit the bill. However once we demonstrated the 'firearm' prototype, they were very pleased with the results and asked us to produce a stock for their officers."

"I see. By the way, what happened to the man you found?"

"Oh don't worry, he was treated at the hospital and made a full recovery. However as a result of head injury, he was suffering from amnesia and didn't remember anything about his former life, including the fact that he was a soldier or had weapons with him. Mr. Khan eventually helped him integrate into Zootopian society, and last I heard he has a job and is living quite happily."

"Really? And what job would that be?"

"Oho, I'm afraid I can't tell you any more than I already have, the details are classified. For that matter, you'd also be wise not to reveal anything seen or heard here outside. Mr. Khan has eyes and ears everywhere, and he doesn't tolerate loose lips, but I'm sure he's already reminded you about that."

"Oh he definitely emphasised that point."

After finishing the remainder of the tour, the two left the professor to his work while Anya led Eli to meet his instructors. They stood at the entrance to what appeared to be some kind of exercise room, looking in to spot a leopard and a wolf sparring. They were both shirtless, only wearing a pair of pants comfortable enough for the task. The fight looked to be intense, with both parties gaining the upper paw one after the other, stopping when they spotted their visitors.

"Miss Purranova, what a pleasant surprise. And what brings such a gorgeous angel to descend from up on high all the way down to the lowly dark depths?" The leopard began in a tone that sounded a bit too intimate as he and his partner approached the pair. Anya didn't appear to be even the slightest bit amused by the overly friendly greeting.

"Unfortunately this 'angel' has to make sure all the lowlifes down here are doing their work so as not to face the wrath of 'god' up there." She pointed upwards, no doubt referring to Khan. Both of them grinned at that, their faces falling into a serious look only after they noticed Eli. They seemed to stare at him for a moment, obviously not expecting this particular species to be here.

"And who's your uh… 'friend' here?" The wolf finally asked.

"This is Eli Hopps, our newest recruit, and your responsibility to train from here onwards."

The pair examined Eli from head to toe once more.

"Huh, he doesn't look like much. What'd the boss see in him anyways?"

"Oh I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. But for now, show him the ropes. Mr. Khan wants him ready as soon as possible." She finished, leaving Eli in their care for the moment.

"Hmm, alright then."The leopard began as the two of them led the young man into the room they had been in. "First things first, I'm Ivan Kovacs, and this here is Robert Desola. We're Vanguard veterans, been working for Mr. Khan for a couple years now, and handle any new recruits, like you, so you'll be seeing us a lot for the next couple of months. Now I'm guessing you already have some skills useful to Mr. Khan, otherwise you wouldn't be here, but we'll teach you everything else you need to know, so let's take it one step at a time. Tell me, do you know how to fight?"

"Not really."

"Have you ever been in a fight?"

"Once, yeah…" Eli responded, the memory of his fight with Mason coming to mind.

"How'd that work out for you?"

"Honestly, I'm still wondering how I didn't end up in the morgue."

"Well then, we'll fix you right up. But first, let's see what you've got." Ivan stated, lifting his paws in combat stance.

"W-what? You mean… r-right now?"

"Absolutely. You heard what the lady said. Besides, I'm curious to see a human in action." The leopard grinned.

Eli gulped.