Chapter Three: Officer Nick Wilde Returns

A/N: By the time you get to the end of this chapter, things are going to start really 'booming' along quickly. Most of this story is taking place in one day. I told you there wasn't gonna be too much fluff. It's almost all action and suspense from the end of this chapter onward.

BTW, it's another long one because I wanted to end on a big cliffhanger. So get some coffee and use the "Meanwhile…" parts to take a break if you wish. I do that for you, the reader, and for me when I'm proofreading.

For the first time in over two months, Nick had his badge back in his paws. He couldn't believe it. He rubbed over it with his thumb. "My badge," he said softly. He looked over at Fangmeyer. "So… I'm reinstated?"

"Unofficially and temporarily for now," Fangmeyer replied. "But if it goes well, Bogo's willing to bring you back on."

Nick begrudgingly gave the badge back to Fangmeyer. "Oh, sure. If I do a good job, I might get a cookie! I thought for a moment he had some regrets in firing me. Well, I'm doing just fine Now! He can shove it!"

"Nick, please! Forget Bogo! Wolford needs you! I need you!"

"Well, I don't need the ZPD!" Nick shouted. "You guys didn't fight for me when I was let go! Why should I fight for you?!"

Judy was furious. "Hey! Did you forget that I'm part of 'you guys'?! Wolford did fight for you. So did I! A lot! But that was different! You broke the law! Wolford is being framed!"

"Really? Because the evidence suggests otherwise. I wish Bogo had my back like this two months ago."

Judy went to argue some more, but a voice came up from behind. "Oh, wah! Wah! Wah!" said Finnick who was climbing up the arm of the couch chair. "My chief doesn't wike me! I got fired and ended up owning my own business that I love! Poor wittle me!"

Nick argued back. "I'm sick of being the nice guy who has everyone's back when they don't have mine!"

"Tough sh$#! Take it from someone who's always had more pride than brains. Pride ain't gonna get you anywhere! I know you, Nick. Even when you were hustlin' with me, you'd always help out the less fortunate. This ain't about you. It ain't about Wolford or the ZPD either. It's about bringin' down the mafia and helpin' out those poor kids, wherever they are! Not to sound like somethin' out of a cheesy movie, but the city needs you."

"... Damnit. That was a good pep-talk," Nick snatched his badge back. "Okay, I'm in! Good thing I haven't bought a new wallet. Still fits."

"You guys got a nice house," Fangmeyer said.

"Thanks. Finnick's 'Baby Fox' money helped pay for the expansion."

"Where's this girl that I hear can make a double of herself?"

Nick was surprised. "Carrots! You told her about that?!"

"Wolford told me," Fangmeyer replied.

"Well, you're a cop so I suppose it's safe. She's upstairs. The kids are trying to make her a superhero costume. Carrots? Greg figured out that she can make more than two of her."

Judy was surprised. "Are you serious?!"

Greg opened the door from his room. "Introducing the newest superhero… Multiplex!" Greg gave a "ta-da" pose, but Bandit refused to come out. "C'mon out!"

"I look stupid!" Bandit said. "

"You look awesome! Now, 'cmon!"

Bandit was blushing as she came down in a shiny, purple outfit with a matching eye mask.

Nick gushed. "Aww! You look adorable!"

"Shut up! Who's the tiger?"

"That's Rachel!" Greg replied. "Or Ron."

The tiger corrected him. "I'm officer Fangmeyer! I'm a friend of your parents. Wolford told me about your power."

"Everyone's starting to know! Before, it was just my uncle!"

"Is he really your uncle?" Judy asked.

"That's none of your business."

"It IS my business! I'm trying to find the lost children! I'm trying to find your little brother!"

Bandit was furious. "Are you nosing in on my business?! If I wanted to tell you about that, I would have! I thought I could trust you!"

"Trust goes two ways, Bandit! How can I help you if you don't help me?! Help me save Charlie!"

"His name is 'Smokey'! My uncle gave him that name and my name too and I trust him a lot more than I trust you right now!" She stormed back into Greg's room and slammed the door.

Fangmeyer was disappointed. "Aww! I didn't get to see her split into multiples!"

Nick leaned into Judy "I'm not gonna say 'I told you so', buuuut…"

"Shut your mouth, Slick."

Bandit slumped herself down on Greg's bed. The other children were around her. Joseph put his arm around her. "What ees wrong, my darling?"

"Your stupid mom is here and she's been investigating.m-"

Joseph quickly took his arm off Bandit. "Momma ees home?! I yave not seen her in two days! Come Penny! Mamma! Mamma!"

They all ran out of the room and Greg was about to follow, but he stopped. He looked back at Bandit. "Y'know, if one of my brothers and sisters were missing, I'd want everyone I could get my paws on to help me find them. I'd never stop."

"You don't understand! I'm not supposed to go to the cops! It's… It's complicated."

Greg left, leaving Bandit by herself. The girl snapped her fingers and a duplicate appeared. "He's not wrong, y'know?"

"Shut up, Dupe."

"Don't tell me to shut up! I'm you! We need help!"

"We can multiply a whole bunch now! We just need enough money to duplicate that we can give to the mob and get our baby brother back!"

"They're bad guys! It'll never be enough!"

Just then, her old flip phone rang. Both of them had the same phone in each pocket. "GASP! It's him! I'll get it!" said Bandit. "Hey, unc! Are you out of prison?!"

"Just got out, sweetheart! Where are you?!"

"I'm under police protection with this nice family."

"Oh no! Not 'da cops!"

"It's cool! Everything's fine. They've been wonderful to me."

"Are 'dey rich?"

"I think so."

"Good! Take as much as you can and sneak outta 'dere tonight!"

"But… they're helping!"

"Trust me. Cops are never any help."

"Well, anyway, I found out I can make more copies of myself! A lot of them!"

"Really?"

"We maxed out at sixty in the backyard."

"WOAH! With you bein' able to duplicate what you touch too, we can pay off Mr. Big and get Smokey back!"

"I know, right?! I'll steal a briefcase or some bag while I'm here and see if they have a locked safe. I can crack the cheap ones. Greg's got a red backpack in his closet. I'll take that and load it up."

"Great! I'll see ya tonight! I miss you so much, Sweetie!"

"I miss you too! Love you. Bye!"

She hung up and looked at her duplicate. "We're going home! We're going home!" She hugged herself and danced around.

What she didn't know is that on the other side of the door was Greg. His big, bunny ears heard every word of the conversation. He was furious. "She's nothing but a thief! I'll fix her!"

Meanwhile…

All the kids were hugging Judy. "We meessed you so much!" Joseph cried.

"Don't go no more!" Penny shouted.

"Guys! I'm sorry! Sometimes this job takes up a lot of my time!"

"Vill eet be thees bad eef you're sheriff?" Joseph asked.

"If I'm the sheriff, I'll be in the office a lot and less on patrol, so it'll be easier to visit me."

"That ees good to hear."

"By the way Nick, how are my poll numbers?"

Nick didn't look happy. "Sadly, Jacaus' mud-slinging techniques have been a little too good. You're behind him right now with just days to go."

"SIGH! And I have to take all my time solving this case so I can't campaign in Bunnyburrow. What a mess. I'm going to spend some time with the kids on the couch and on my laptop searching laboratories around the area that are under investigation. You and Fangmeyer hatch out a plan."

"Okay Carrots. SIGH! Back on the beat and we're still working separately."

Nick and Fangmeyer went into the kitchen. "So what do you got for me?"

"Bogo tells me you know practically everyone in the city."

"True. Back when I was a hustler, I made a lot of connections."

"The good news about that is that everyone sees you as morally grey."

"I like to see myself as 'morally teal'."

"Anyway, Wolford was arrested because communications to the mob came from his computer and no other scents were around the PC except some cheap cologne. After his arrest, several officers went quickly back to the men's locker room. Almost always, they shower BEFORE the meeting. Snarlov came out with freshly-washed fur with some kind of berry shampoo. I think he's trying to hide the scent he had before."

"It makes sense. Did they check for fur fibers on the keyboard?"

"Good question. Maybe I'll head back to HQ and analyze Wolfrod's computer myself."

"... I should befriend Snarlov. Is he upset with Bogo too?"

"Everyone has some small beef with Bogo in some way. Usually minor. You don't get to the top by making friends."

"Heh-Heh! 'Beef'."

"... What?"

"He's a buffalo."

"Concentrate!"

"So here's my plan. I befriend him. Find out what he knows. Act like I hate Bogo's guts more than anyone. See if he reacts to that. Tell him Mr. Big does more for this city than Bogo. from there, he'll either tell me to go to hell or try to recruit me."

"Do you think it'll work?"

"Fangs, if this was a role-playing game, my charm level would be maxed out. I could sell ice to polar bears."

"Well, it sounds like the start of a really good plan, let's fine-tune it. Say! How are you about getting a fake tattoo under your fur?"

"Will it hurt?"

"Well, the needle will be... Sharpie! Heh-Heh!"

"Hunh?"

"It's a form of ink marker."

"Oh. Nice to know I'm not the only cop who makes terrible jokes."

Meanwhile...

Judy was sitting on the couch, laptop in her lap along with Joseph and Penny leaning against her. They were sleeping away as she was looking up different laboratories. "Wait a minute…. 'Chemiracles Pharmaceuticals '. They've been under several investigations. Hmmm.. This place is only three blocks from the park where they found Sugar and her dead mother in a hollowed tree. What if they're related?"

Judy started to Zoogle 'Zootopia park dead sugar glider'. When she was interrupted by Greg. "Mom! Mom!"

"Oh. hi, Sweetie! Is Bandit still upset?"

"She's a thief!"

"I know. She's a pickpocket. That's how she's been surviving on the streets. I want to have a talk with her so-called 'uncle' when I see him. We need to change her life around."

"She's gonna try to steal from us!"

"Don't assume the worst in people! I believe that deep-down, everyone has a good side."

"No! She's bad! She said that…"

"That's enough, Greg."

"But Mooom!"

"Knock it off, Greg! Mommy's trying to solve this case and it's very important! If you're going to fuss, go play outside!"

Greg walked away angry and mumbling. Judy went back to her computer. An article finally emerged. "Dead sugar glider found in a tree with a joey," Judy read the article a bit further.

The Sugar Glider had nothing identifying herself outside of a white coat she was wearing.

No one has come looking for her and the surviving joey seems to have no next of kin outside of her departed mother. A later autopsy showed that she had died of malnourishment.

"A white coat," Judy said out loud. "Like a lab coat! What if she worked for Chemiracles?! What if she found out something terrible and ran for her life along with her daughter?! I'd say maybe Sugar was experimented on, but she has no powers. She doesn't even have gliders. She's disabled. What happened, Sugar's mother? Why were you protecting her with your life?"

Judy then realized something else. "Wait! If she died in Zootopia, why did sister Stacy have Sugar?! Why was she sent to the Bunnyburrow orphanage instead of Zootopia's?! Someone wanted her far away."

Judy started typing away again in Zoogle. "Sugar Glider. Chemiracles." Nothing. She then looked under "Zoogle Images" and found one image that finally gave her the result she was looking for. It was a staff photo, and upfront and to the right was indeed a sugar glider, smiling away. Lab coat and all. She lined it up with photos from the article in which her body was found. Judy's bunny ears practically shot to the roof. "That's her! That's Sugar's biological mom!" She kept looking on Zoogle and Chemiracles official site, but could not find any trace of her name. "I HAVE to find out what she knew! I'll print up the picture and head down there myself!"

Just then, Bandit came down the stairs. "Hey, Judy. I'm sorry I blew up back there. My uncle's back home and I was wondering…"

"I think your brother is at Chemiracles Pharmaceuticals."

"What?! No! The mafia has…"

"I think they kidnapped you and did experiments on you as well!"

"I don't know who kidnapped me. All I know is that I woke up back home on the couch. My memory of that time is fuzzy."

"Sugar's mother worked there! She found something out. Something so terrifying that she ran away and hid until she starved to death. But what?!"

"You're not even listening! I'm not even supposed to have the police involved. The mafia has my brother! They are blackmailing me and my uncle to get him back! I can duplicate enough money now! I just need a stack of cash. Do you guys have any money?"

"Let Nick and Fangmeyer deal with the Big family. Right now, I'm very close to finding the other children!"

"They're only concerned with getting that wolf freed! I don't care about the other children! I only care about Smokey!"

"How selfish can you be?! If I find these children, there's a good chance I'll find your brother too!"

Tears were in Bandit's eyes. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you! You only care about your job!" She ran off upstairs.

Moments earlier…

When Bandit left Greg's room, he sneaked back in. "I'll get her!" he said to himself. "I'm gonna catch her red-pawed!"

His closet door was open and he noticed some things were taken out of his backpack, but he saw his sugar glider costume was still inside.

Greg hid the costume away after using it to jump off the roof and glide for a long period, including through traffic, which almost gave poor Nick a heart attack. Vivian made the costume too well. She made two costumes for Greg and Penny because Sugar was feeling very sad and lonely. You see, a sugar glider can get very depressed if there's none of her kind around. (See "Small Mammals, Big Changes" for the full story.)

"I'll surprise her!" he said to himself. "She'll think Sugar suddenly became huge and it'll scare her! I'll wait until she's loaded the backpack and then go… 'Boo!' " He pulled out the costume over his own clothes and put it on himself. He noticed it was heavy in the chest area where the pouch was. "What the?... Sugar! There you are! Joseph was supposed to be watching you! You wanna hang with me for a bit?"

He put himself at the bottom of the backpack. "Boy! Is she in for a surprise! Mmmm… This is nice and cozy… like a blanket… like… Zzzzzzzz." The little bunny had fallen asleep in the backpack.

Meanwhile…

Nick and Fangmeyer were on their way out as they approached Judy. "We're heading out, Fluff. We got a plan. I talked to Clawhauser and Snarlov tends to hit the 'Loose Fang' bar over on Flock street for lunch. Meanwhile, Fangmeyer is going to examine Wolford's computer for any fur fibers that are not his."

"I'm going to investigate Chemiracle Pharmaceuticals," Judy replied. "They are the most likely link to the missing children. I believe Sugar's mother worked there before. She escaped from there and hid to protect Sugar!"

"Sounds dangerous, Fluff. Be careful."

"You know me."

"Exactly, that's why I'm asking you to be careful! As you said, these cases may be related. Maybe Mr. Big is giving the lab piles of cash to make superpowered henchmen?"

"I shudder to think. You head on out and I'll tell Vivian to make sure and watch the kids."

Meanwhile...

While Judy and Nick were getting ready to leave, Bandit was sneaking around the house. She sneaked into the basement where Finnick's art studio is. She admired the pool table and the large painting of Vivian Wilde as Venus. "Woah! Naked grandma."

She searched the drawers until she came upon some packages. "Jackpot!" There was a gift-wrapped package that said "Happy first-date Anniversary?!" She opened the gift that wasn't for her. "Ooh, nice! A pearl necklace! I can score a few bucks with this! What's this? 'To my sweetheart. I hope this becomes your second-favorite pearl necklace.' I don't get it." She dumped the necklace into the backpack on top of the sleeping Greg. Then, she saw it. "A safe!"

She split into two and put her ears on the side of the box. "Let's see if what my uncle taught me pays off." She slowly moved the dials and listened for the loud click. Once, twice, three times. Then, it opened to reveal a briefcase. "YES! Yesyesyesyes!" She looked inside and only found one stack of hundred dollar bills inside. "Dangit! That's okay. I can duplicate it!" She gently put the briefcase in the backpack and quickly got back to the basement door, making sure to wait until the coast was clear to exit.

As she was about to go upstairs, Judy called to her. "Oh, hey! Bandit!"

Bandit quickly shoved the backpack under the stairs. Fortunately for her, Greg is a heavy sleeper. "H-Hi Judy!"

"Please understand, Bandit. The more I find out about you, the close I am to solving this case."

"I know. I know. I'm sorry. I kinda overreacted. I still think the mob has my brother, but… you might be right too.

"I'm almost sure it's this lab! I have my sister, Helga emailing me a fake press badge to print while she's hacking their system to schedule me in."

"Can't she hack into their database and find the list of children?"

"She tried. Its security is tighter than the pentagon. She's still not 100% sure she can get me on their schedule so I might have to wing it. The thing is Bandit, if I'm wrong, then it has to be the mob and I'll work with you to free him."

"Thanks, Judy. Sooo.. you'll be leaving soon?"

"As soon as I print the badge. I know a place in the city where I can have it laminated."

"Well, good luck! I'm gonna Ummm… take a nap upstairs."

"You can borrow my room if you want to. Nick always makes the bed before he leaves for work. I hope you have a good day here. Remember, do not leave this house!"

Bandit crossed her finger behind her back. "Oh, I won't."

Bandit peeked behind the door in Judy's room until she saw the bunny cop leave the house as a Zuber driver picked her up. "Sayonara, Wilde family!" Bandit then opened Judy's window. "Perfect! The roof's at a slant and there's a drainpipe I can slide down!"

She lifted up a window when she heard a voice at the door. "Bandeet, my darling! Vere are you going?!"

"Oh… Crap!" Bandit knew she was caught. "Joseph! Sweetie! I'm sorry. I can't stay any longer. My uncle is waiting for me."

"B-But you promised mama you'd stay!"

Bandit split into three and walked over to Joseph. She started flirting with him. The three surrounded him and started hugging him. "I know, you handsome jackal, but my uncle is all alone and he needs me. Please don't tell your grandparents I left. Hunh, Joey baby?"

"Well, I.." All three of them petted his head and kissed both sides of his face at the same time. Oh-ho, WOW! Okay! You have mine word as a man!"

"And a real man never breaks his promise, right?!"

"Right! O-Of course!"

"Then…" Bandit absorbed back into one, making Joseph drop to the floor. "Bye!"

"Vait! Make a dupleecate of me to protect you on thee way!"

"I can't duplicate living things or foods unless they have a lot of artificial chemicals. Surprisingly, I can duplicate most sweet cereals. Anyway, bye!"

Joseph watched as she escaped out the window. "She used me! But I vould gladly be used again! What a womans!"

Bandit quickly ran down the block and then caught a bus heading back into the city. She put the backpack on the floor. As the bus was going down the road, it hit a bump, waking up Greg. "Hunh? Wh-What's going on?!" He said quietly.

He moved the heavy items off of him and undid the zipper of the backpack. He saw Bandit looking out the window of the bus. "I'm on a bus!" he thought to himself. "Did she kidnap me?! Did she not see me in the backpack?!" Suddenly, Sugar let out a loud "PBBBBFFFTT!"

Bandit was sitting just behind the bus driver who heard the noise. "Geez, kid! Hold it in until you get home!"

"I didn't fart! Those who smelt it dealt it!"

"Sure kid, sure."

Greg petted Sugar's head to keep her quiet. He was relieved that Bandit didn't see him. "Oh, I'm in big, big trouble! I was just gonna surprise her and now I have no clue where I am! I gotta do something!" He felt around his pockets. "My flip-phone! I can't call mom or dad without her hearing. I know! I'll leave them a text and make sure my GPS is on so they can find me!" He then looked at the keypad. "There are three letters to every number! I'm a kindergartener! I can barely spell as-is! This is gonna take forever! How did people type like this ages ago?! This is dad's fault for not buying me a smartphone!"

Meanwhile…

Fangmeyer was back at the precinct and went up to the front desk. "Clawhauser. I need access to Wolford's office. It's important."

"No can do," said the fat cheetah. "That's a crime scene. Besides, if you break the tape, we'll have to replace it and we like to save as much of it as we can for Halloween decorations."

"Yea. Well… I'm on the case."

"You are?!"

She wasn't exactly assigned to look at Wolford's desk, but a little lie never hurt. "Sure! Ask Bogo."

"Go right ahead then. I'll tell them you're coming."

Fangmeyer walked over to Wolford's office and the officers that were blocking the scene allowed her inside. "Okay! I finally get to use my junior detective crime-busting kit."

The tiger put on some thick reading glasses for magnification and sprayed a solution that would help fur fibers stick out with a neon glow. "C'mon little fibers! Where are you?... Bingo!" She found a bright white strand of fur near the corner of the keyboard. "That's not Wolford's. His fur is grey and eggshell white and this is totally Oxford white!" She quickly whipped out a pair of tweezers and a plastic zip bag. Taking the tweezers, she nabbed the strand of fur and put it in the bag. "Better take this up to the lab for analysis."

As she was walking over to the lab, she saw Ms. Friedkin headed to the locker room. She smiled and waved. "Hi, Friedkin!"

Friedkin smiled and waved back. "Hey, Fangs! Just did a heavy workout and am taking a hot shower to relax. Later!"

"Later!" Fangmeyer continued to the lab.

Meanwhile…

Nick was about to enter the Loose Fang bar when his smartphone vibrated. "What the?!... It's from Greg! What kind of text is this?!" He went back around the alley to call Judy. "Hey, Carrots? You're not at that place yet, are you?"

"Almost. What's up?"

"I just got a text from Greg on his phone. I think he meant to text you and texted me instead. It says 'Mommy help! Stuck in backpack! Bandit is taking me somewhere. Sugar is with me. Follow my GPS. I told you so."

Judy was furious. "She left the house with him?!"

"I'm surprised he took the time to type 'I told you so' on one of those old number pads. Those take forever!"

"Great! Just great! I'll have to cancel the interview at the lab and delay my investigation to go pick up those three! You go follow your lead. I'll have to reschedule the appointment and hope it doesn't arouse any suspicion. I'm following Greg's GPS signal now. At least he's a smart kid that way. Guess I'm gonna meet Bandit's uncle."

"Sorry about that Fluff, now it's time for me to do what I do best. Hustle."

Nick entered the bar and noticed both Snarlov and his younger partner, Growlson a lion, were near the back of the bar. Nick thought of the ways for this to work. "Okay. I can't approach them. Instead, I need them to approach me. Step one, get to the center of the bar where they can see and hear me."

He found a stool in the middle of the bar. He slammed a twenty on the table "Two rum and Coo-Coo Cola! #$%in' Bogo!"

Snarlov and Growlson heard Nick's shout out Bogo's name and decided to approach him. "Hey, Nick! What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

Step two, tell half-truths to help make your story believable. "Oh, friggin' Bogo wants me back on the force for a big case. But I turned him down!"

"You turned him down?! Why?!"

Step three. Use your real feelings to be more believable. "Because I have pride, Snarlov! He never should have fired me when I knew Finnick was innocent the entire time!" One of Nick's drinks came and he downed it real fast. "If you ask me, he's hunting Mr. Big so hard because he's jealous of him!"

"Jealous?!"

"Look, the mob. Yes, it's bad, but they also use their power and influence in ways that help the city, especially when it comes to the economy. They are paws-deep in Little Rodentia and that place is boomin' financially. Then there are gambling cities like 'Lost Wages' which brings in a ton of cash."

Snarlov had a look of anger on his face. "You're one of them, aren't you?! One of the traitors!"

"... What?"

Snarlov punched Nick and knocked him to the floor. He then grabbed his arm and pulled back the fur. "I knew it! A snowflake tattoo!"

Nick was in a panic. "It's not what you think! It was done with a marker! You can see the ink stains on my fur!"

"Before I arrest you, I just wanna know why?!"

"I'm not the traitor! Bogo thinks you are! I'm undercover!"

"WHAT?! LIAR!"

"It's true! He put me back on the force to investigate you! Speaking of, can I see your arm?"

Snarlov gladly pulled his fur back revealing no tattoos anywhere. "There! See?! Just because I'm an arctic wolf doesn't mean I'd ever betray our precinct."

"Great. Just great. I'm put back on the force my mission's a bust."

"Why did he think it was me?"

"During the morning meeting, he mentioned cheap cologne. So he had Fangmeyer wait outside the men's locker room to see who smelled freshly showered after the meeting. She smelled that you were freshly washed."

"Fer crime's sake! I was late! I barely made it to the meeting on time! I was wearing my uniform from the day before and had to shower and put a fresh uniform on."

Nick leaned back against the bar. "Great. So what do I do now?!"

"Keep investigating. Growler and I will join you. Let's go straighten this out with the chief first."

"Sounds good. I gotta ask. Why a bar on your lunch break?"

"Are you kiddin'? This place makes the best sliders. I don't drink on the job, Nick!"

Meanwhile…

"Kids!" Vivian shouted from the kitchen. "You're overdue for lunch! It's almost two!"

Joseph came in pulling Penny along with his paw. Vivian looked at the two. "Joe. Where's Greg at? Where's Bandit?"

"Who ees thees Bandit that you speak of?!"

"Joseph!"

"I yam not at liberty to say! Yi made a promise. And a man never breaks hees promeeseses...es."

"Then I guess you're not getting your lunch."

Joseph thought for a moment. "I only promised not to tell you or yampa. What eef I tell Penny and you overhear me?"

"Then you are not breaking your promise."

Joe looked at Penny. "Penny, don't tell Yamma and Yampa that Bandit escaped the house through the window een Mama's room. Also, she hugged and keessed me. Yi added that last part to brag."

Penny was confused, but she just shrugged her shoulders and said "Okay."

Vivian was upset. "Did Greg go with her? Because I haven't seen him around."

"Yi don't know. Yi only saw her and Greg's yackpack."

"She stole Greg's backpack?! …. Wait… Who?..." Vivian was looking outside as a mysterious van came to the front of the yard. "Joseph get Grandpa. Quick!"

Penny became worried. "Something wrong?!"

"I don't know."

Penny could normally smell Nick or Judy coming to the door and get really excited. But what she smelled terrified her. "Sniff! Sniff! Gamma! Bad guys!"

Finnick came out with his aluminum bat. "Joseph, go find Greg and Sugar and run to the backyard. Penny…" He handed Penny all four puppies which she had a hard time holding. "Take the puppies out the back door and hide until I give the all-clear. Understand?"

"I'm scared."

"I know. This could be a false alarm, but if it's not, I need you kids safe. Now, go!"

"As Penny and Joseph ran, Vivian looked out the window. "There's a fox with goggles on coming up the driveway."

"Maybe a relation?" Finnick asked.

"I don't recognize him. Oh, #$%!"

"What?!"

"A capybara in some weird suit with leather wrapped all over his face!"

"Viv, get out!"

"No! I'll fight for my puppies! Now there's a wolf coming out of the van!"

The fox pressed the device on his ear. "Ice Queen, this is Firefox. We are in position."

Another voice replied. "Acknowledged Firefox. Proceed."

"With pleasure." He gave the capybara an order. "Kaboom… Knock on the door."

"Heh!-Heh!-Heh! Kaboom!" Still 10 feet from the door, the capybara reared his arms back.

Vivian could see everything through the kitchen window. She grabbed a large knife from the dirty dishes and shoved her husband to the floor. "Finnick! Down!"

She shoved Finnick to the ground and went to duck herself when the capybara jutted his arms forward and a huge, concussive blast came out from him. It obliterated the front of the house. Vivian was knocked to the floor and fell on top of Finnick as some kitchen utensils and rubble fell on top of Vivian.

Vivian's ears were ringing as she moved the clutter off of her. Finnick quickly got up. "Viv! You okay?!"

She was disoriented. "I... What?!"

Firefox was the first to enter. "Forgive our trespass. My large friend here is 'Kaboom'. He's basically, a living bomb. My name…" A flame came up from his paw. "... Is Firefox. No relation to the browser. Our friend, Sniffer is coming along shortly. We only have one question before we kill you. Where's the girl?"

Meanwhile…

The girl in question had arrived at her home. A beaten-down basement below some sub-standard apartments. There was a small set of steps leading down to the entrance. She and her uncle had managed to make a cozy, if not wet home underneath the pipes. They didn't pay rent because her uncle fixed any pumping problems for the landlord and the space they occupied, he couldn't legally rent. She threw the backpack on the beat-up couch as she ran over to hug her uncle. Her caretaker. The man who had watched over her for the past 15 months and trained her on how to survive the streets.

"Bandit!" the uncle exclaimed. "I'm so happy to see you! Gimmie double hugs!"

Bandit split into three and hugged her uncle. "I can do better than that! How about triple hugs?!"

"You can multiply more?!"

"Some bunny kid made me realize I can do more than double."

"I really missed you, kid."

"I missed you too, uncle Duke."