Chapter Sixty
Zero Hour

~ F'r when the sands of time runneth dry... z'ro hour be upon thee ~

To the crack of steel hitting upon wood, the front door splintered inwards, and the quiet chatting of the staff of Erkin Electrics erupted into a cacophony of noise and shouting, as the officers of the ZPD charged in. Like smoke before the wind, the workers inside scattered before the wave of heavily armored officers, who surged towards them, forefronted by the great and menacing tower of Chief Bogo himself.

The building was avalanched with a torrent of shouting and noise, screams of 'police' and 'on the ground, now!' mixing with the cries of fear and anger, with the surprise and terror of the workers fleeing before them. The slowest few were leapt upon by the weighted mass of the front-most officers, who pinned to the ground a gray wolf and a boar before they even had the chance to run.

Deeper inside, the workers, who had remained in the main work room, turned with a start at the noise and yells behind them. One of them, a badger, ran to the foremammle trailer marked 'office', pulling open the door and yelling inside, "It's the police, they're here!"

"The key," the beaver snapped in panic, "where's the damn key!"

"The— the key to the weapons? But it was just in here?!"

"So where is it? I mean, no one's been here but me and those... ooh damn—" The large doors, which led down the corridor to the reception, burst open beside them, as the workers, who had been just leaving before the raid, fled back inside. The foremammle swore violently and fled from the office, running towards the back end of the workroom, with the other workers following behind, fleeing as the impenetrable wall of officers closed in behind them, sweeping them away like wheat before a harvester.

He reached the second exit from the building and pulled open the door to the alley, rushing into the darkness to escape. A second later, he skittered to a stop as he saw the dark, bulky shapes of an elephant and a rhino blocking his path. He tried to turn and flee back in, but the rest of the crowd pushed against him to escape, not yet spotting the police awaiting in the darkness outside; thus, forcing the beaver-foremammle into their patient hoofs.

Yelling out as the foremammle was grabbed by the burly officers, the other workers spotted Francine and Rhinowitz lurking in the darkness, and changed direction again, pulling the firedoor hurriedly shut behind them at the leering and advancing officers. They were now trapped inside with nowhere to go.

Officer Rhinowitz chuckled to Officer Francine, holding gruffly onto the now-cuffed figure of the foremammal, while the frantic shouts escaped from behind the shut firedoor.

Nearby, on a rusted staircase above them, a fox and rabbit stood in silence, their bodies hunched and their muscles tensed in both trepidation and preparation, should anyone try to get past them, waiting in edgy anticipation as they listened to the shouted descriptions of events blaring out of their radios.

"Go, go, go!" They heard someone shout.

"Get 'im Anderson."

"Put the wrench on the ground! I will taser you."

"Keep it tight," they heard Bogo order, "watch for weapons."

"I count twenty left," another called.

"Eighteen," corrected Bogo. "Someone, down that bloodhound."

"Watch his claws!"

"Grizzoli, take out his leg."

"He's down."

"Damn it, Francine," Wolfard yelped, "watch where you're stepping."

"Piss off, Wolfard. Stay the hell out of the way."

"Will you two stop arguing and focus!" shouted Bogo. "And close on that last one."

"Watch it now, that badger's a big one."

"Keep an eye out for— armed, he's armed!" A crack of gunfire ricocheted out and echoed across the city. Hopps and Wilde flinched and shared a bitter glance. The shouting continued.

"Wolfard's down! Wolfard's down!"

"You runt—" Snarlov bellowed before her voice rose into a roar, with the sounds of the probable assailant screaming into a frenzy of horror.

"Higgins," Bogo ordered, "call the EMTs. Jackson, get Wolfard out of here. Grizzoli, take charge of Snarlov and calm her down before she gets out of hoof. Hopps, Wilde, keep a sharp lookout for stragglers. We don't need anyone sneaking out of here. We need to get them all!" Hopps and Wilde's cautious expressions turning to one of preparation. Both officer braced themselves as they heard the notes of rapid footsteps approaching, from behind the door they were stood before.

With a grunt of effort, the door was kicked suddenly open, and a gray blur shot at them. The small straggler made to shove past the fox and rabbit — hardly even acknowledging they were there — until Hopps leapt after it and grabbed the figure by the wrist. "Stop," she order, as Nick hurried up behind her, "this is the police!" The tan straggler, in a gray hoody, turned with snarling teeth towards the rabbit. Seeing the face, she jolted back in surprise — distracted for only an instant — which the tan mammal used to free himself from her grasp, and slashed towards her with his claws at the ready. The rabbit reacted on instinct and caught both paws, holding them in grimace as they stretched to claw at her visored face in desperation.

The moment only lasted half a second, and then Wilde was at paw to help her, grabbing the smaller straggler from behind and kicking his legs out; thus, forcing him onto the ground. The person twisted around and bit savagely at the fox's leg; before, Judy closed in behind, snatched onto his arms and tore him away.

The tan straggler threw himself at her, toppling Judy backwards. The rabbit fell, so now the tan fox was above her, clawing and slashing at her face and neck. The momentum of the fall rolled her, and they fell, together, off the edge of the staircase. "Hopps!" Nick's scream echoed. There was free fall. The harness wire pulled tight with a loud snap. Nick froze in utter bewilderment. But then, after what felt like hours, Judy made herself heard.

"I... I'm still here," she called out.

The fox's frozen heart started beating again. His chest sagged as the tension was let out of him. "Thank god…" he muttered to himself, stepping towards the edge of the staircase and looking down. "You okay? He hurt you?"

"I'm fine, Nick," she said, hoarsely, while dangling on the tense wire. "The armor... I'm fine."

Reaching over the edge, the fox grabbed onto the wire and started heaving her up. "I take it our, ughm... our 'friend' is no more?"

"Actually," she said, unsurely, "he, heh..."

"Just stop with the chit-chat already," the tan straggler snapped. Nick's expression fell at the voice that he recognized instantly, yet he didn't allow himself to jump to immediate conclusions. "Alright, I... I surrender now. Just... just help me back up!" Leaning further over the edge to see, he noticed the gray-hooded straggler clinging literally for his life onto the rabbit's large foot, while dangling over the three-story drop that finished level on hard concrete.

"Well-well," Nick mocked, a smirk growing, "talk about a lucky rabbit's foot..." The small, hoodied straggler glared at him, his face swinging into the light with the alignment of eyes. Wilde's expression died at that very moment. He gawked down at him, dumbfounded. "What? No... F—"

"Mister Banes," the tan fox shot, "my name's Mister Banes!"

"No," Nick repeated, his voice no less confused, "wha—"

"My name's Mister-fucking-Banes, Nick! Just... just help me up— I said I surrender! Holy Vixen!"

Author's notes:

Hesitance jumps around your mind,

Grooms decision thus chosen blind.

Your thoughts most succulent of snack,

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So don't hide like a tiny shrew,

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