Paw in Paw

by Mister Smail

It has been a year to the day since Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde first met, and the two have grown ever closer as each day has passed... though they are still on a 'friend' basses, Nick thinks that - with some gentile prodding - it's about time they became something more. But when the city falls into chaos, will the strength they lend each other be enough for them to survive?

92. Gentle Paws

Chapter Ninety-Two
Gentle Paws

A metal fence of gray bars sat idle in the basement of the Zootopia Police Department. The iron was dense and unmoving, old and rusted with age and use. The concrete which surrounded on the walls and floor was cracked in several places — long, narrow fissures which ran for several feet — and yet the structure was as sound and immobile as the foundation of the Zootopia Central Bank. On one side of the fence of thick metal stood a small wooden table and two chairs — empty. Beyond them was a clear piece of glass which stared into a smaller room, and a thick, windowless door that led into it prohibitively.

The door was magnetically locked; on the wall by the window within the room was the alarm button that sealed it. With this button existed a metal chair, occupied day and night by a watchmammle. The watchmammle rested there quietly, his job currently made very easy by the fact he had but one detainee to watch over — a somewhat aging hound, with gnarled, black fur and a missing eye, who seemed to be more interested in endlessly muttering to himself than escaping.

In the corridors outside however, the mood was less peaceful. Two dozen officers — half in ZPD blue, the others in 'ZZ' gray — with the latter officers, those of the 'Zoophon Zeroaries', being notably more armored, prouder-postured and larger-muscled than the standard officers of the PD. Between them walked a slow line of various species of people — pawcuffed to one another with their paws behind their backs; the criminals picked up from the raid on Erkin Electrics and on the ship intercepted just outside the city docks.

The last of the criminals were marched into the back in the last of the daunting, domineering ZZ vans, the gold trim running along the tops of the shining black containers that glinted in the light of the basking sun. Director Evie Wright stood with her hooves clasped behind her back, the red deer's body held upright and conceited as she watched the last of the 'scum' being escorted forcibly inside.

She turned away with a prompt twist of her heels as the last large door was pushed shut, nodding to the highest-ranking ZZ officer and giving orders that they should begin their journey back to Blackheath immediately. She marched past the patently alert officers and towards the prison to check for any criminals somehow left behind.

Wright paced by the interrogation rooms, the large, metal doors tall over her, as well as past one particular door which had the large ear of a fennec pushed up against it, yet that door was left unopened and unnoticed.

She continued through, made her way down the staircase into the cells, nodded to the wolf stood guard at the door and looked in upon the figure of Black Shuck inside. A thin smile grew across her lips. "Open the door, Officer Howlitz," she ordered; the wolf complying without thought.

Wright proudly sneaked in, her gaze focused on the shaggy figure of the dog as he lay upon his back on a bunk, his eyes closed and his arms defensively in front of his chest. The deer smiled to herself at his state — at his imprisonment at her discretion. "Enjoyed your stay last night, Mister Black?"

The hound glanced across the doe, his expression turning to an impassive stare. With a grunt, he got off the bunk. "How 'bout letting me out of these 'ere bars, young Missie? You knows I ain't no criminal."

Miss Wright smiled thinly, her smile oddly predatory for a prey. "I'm afraid that's not possible at this present point in time. It's nothing personal," she stated. "But any person who winds up on the wrong side of these bars, for whatever reason, is scum."

The dog's leering grin faded, his paw raising as he leaned against the metal bars. "If these bars weren't 'ere, young Missie, I'd be givin' you a right hiding for sayin' that to me."

"So it reacts to insults, does it? I never thought such simple goading would work on you."

"I don't normally. Only when it's a vane, stuck-up cow what's doing the insulting. The tables... they have a habit of turning on people, ye know. Just be weary you don't end up eatin' those words."

"For whatever reason," she repeated, edging closer to bars and doing her best to ignore his odorous breath while she made her point, "you end up on the wrong side of these bars... you are scum."

"What you come here for, anyway? You really so sick in the 'ead as to want to come down here an' poke fun at 'n innocent bystander locked up without cause?"

"Innocent?" she jeered with a snicker. "The mammle who set two people on fire and stabbed a third in the neck with a knife?"

"So you've come here t' try trip me up into sayin' something I'll regret, aye? Well, if you think I'm so easily 'tripped up' by likes oh you, you can look elsewhyse, Missie."

"Perhaps I've come down here simply the release you," she replied in her dry, elegant tones. "If you'll just give me a little information on how the good Chief Bogo handled y—"

"Fook off ya cur, ah heard the tone of voice you spoken to that Chief fellah with. I know you hate his guts an I ain't being a part oh your... screwing up his paperwork an his life, picking holes in all his... bah."

Clearing her throat, the deer tried to recover his 'trust', "It's simply a matter of finding out what really happened! How many guards were posted to watch over the harbor after the first shipment arrived and left?"

"Not answering."

"And did they remain there for a minimum of twenty-four hours before being dismissed, or were they instructed to leave before—"

"Said I'm not answering. Guh-bye. You're leavin' now."

"Black... Mister Black, I'm only trying to do my job. If the officers guarding the harbor were dismissed from service before the minimum requirement of... oh damn you." Sighing, the doe turned and paced from the room, the officer waiting on the other side of the glass window pulling the door open for her, and shortly engaging in conversation with her, his voice stuttering a little as he spoke.

"Ehm, Miss... Director Wright, I couldn't help overhearing about the officers guarding the harbor, but... well... I mean, I'm not going to get Bogo into trouble, am I?"

Trying to hide the glint in her eyes, Evie tried to make her smile look as natural and friendly as possible. "Of course not, we just want to find out exactly how well he's done. What do you think you can help me with?"

"Just, ehm... I'm one of the people who works on the radios. I'm on dispatch, take over from Clawhauser when he's not there. And, eh... yes, the officers Bogo originally posted to watch over the harbor were recalled before twenty-four hours. Eh, they were recalled just a few hours after being posted there, actually."

"I see."

"But... but it was completely necessary! He needed them for the raid on Erkin, it wasn't anything to do with—"

"Oh absolutely, absolutely, it's completely understandable. Anything... else you might want to mention?"

"Well there was, kinda, Claw— Like I said, I'm sure, I'm sure he has his reasons— but like, whatever, because, Clawhauser... he was in after hours last night. I saw him looking at some paperwork, three boxes of them."

"He had three boxes, and he was 'looking'?" Wright repeated doubtfully.

"Well... well, hem, 'taking', more like."

Evie Wright nodded slowly, her hoof touching upon her brass and ruby necklace. "That's perfectly understandable for him to do. Do... you know what files he 'borrowed'?"

"No. No, Director Wright. But I can find out!"

A pleasant smile crossed the red deer's face. "Why don't we go up to Storage right now. You have a little root around and find what's not there, and I'll make you a nice hot cup of lavender tea?"

"Heh, heh-he, lavender tea. Oh, you're serio... yeah, sure, I'll try it."

Politely, gracefully the deer gestured up to the staircase which led up to the main part of the ZPD HQ, Officer Howlitz making his way — an unsure satisfaction having taken him as they walked, while the sense of wrongness in his mind had been overruled by his trust in his superiors.

...

Judy was still to wake from her passing into unconsciousness. 'A temporary repercussion instigated by the increased heart rate the mentioning of the previous night's attack caused.' Or so Flo had diagnosed.

Bonnie sat silently beside the bed of the rabbit; Nick standing against the far wall, his back resting against the cool material that lined the physical barriers, while he watched Judy and her mother, and, selfish though he knew it to be, wishing neither her nor Billy were there, so it could be him waiting beside her sleeping figure, rather than they.

Especially rather than Billy, who seemed to be regularly taking time out of his busy schedule, of watching his sister, to sneer over his shoulder towards the fox, watching him, checking over him, as though making sure that Nick wasn't getting any closer or planning on doing anything 'foxy'. Nick didn't acknowledge the repeated non-verbal offenses, didn't allow himself to sneer or growl, just gazed past him to look towards Judy — silently getting more and more agitated with Billy's obtusely fueled mistrust of him with every glance made. Eventually though, his growing irritation broke.

"What?" Nick mouthed as the rabbit repeated the offense, overacting his movement in an outward display of his frustration. Billy just grimaced, his ears lowering an inch as he turned to his mother, his paw going for hers — Nick rolling his eyes, his own ears falling behind his head at Billy's attitude.

Least Nick had him figured out. A mister-strong mammle with a prejudice-fueled-fear of predators, who was too stupid to let himself realize his faults. Usually harmless if one stayed out of his way, but damn impossible to reason with if not. All the while it looked like Nick was as much in his way as it was earthly possible.

The door pushed open softly as the figure of Nurse Flo slipped inside, turning at the sleeping figure of the rabbit as she came to check on her condition. She stepped past the fox — her ear twitching towards him, beginning a polite nod. Nick smiled back, this simple sign of courteous awareness alone being as refreshing and relieving to the fox like a breath of heavenly air.

"Has she shown any signs of awareness?" Flo inquired.

"Not a lot," Bonnie replied, "she mumbled some things a few times. But she hasn't opened her eyes."

The door slid open a second time, the fox sidestepping away from it with a start as it blew sideways, the frame of the Chief filling inside; Wolfard followed behind a moment later.

"Nurse Flo," the Chief began, "I— I realize I may be asking a lot here, but... Hopps is currently the only person I can talk to, who has information on what happened that night. We have suppositions and a report on the situation by one of my senior officers, but nothing concrete. I have to talk to her about it; I have to talk to her about it soon."

"You're asking me to pump her with stimulants so you can talk to her...?"

"I'm just asking when you think the right moment will be."

"You're asking her to relive quite possible the most traumatic experience in her life. There is no 'right moment'."

"It's... of course, something I don't want to do, but Snarlov's been in touch; they're in the final stages of organizing a raid against the attacker's current supposed position. Any information she can give us on him will be of use."

"I understand, Chief. However, I am not willing to give her any stimulants to increase her awareness. The extra strain on her body really isn't what she needs right now."

"Do what you can, Flo, I trust your judgment."

Pacing around to the other side of the bed from Bonnie and Billy, Flo knelt down to Judy's head height, coughing her throat before stating the rabbit's name in a soft-though-clear tone, "Judy. Judy."

Judy's eyes pulled open with great delay. Her gaze misted upon the figure of the hare sat beside her, but she had learnt that rapid movements, especially with her head, were unwise.

"Judy," Flo repeated, "Chief Bogo is here to ask you some questions about what you remember of last night. It's very important..." Rose trailed off from her speech, her brow raising with interest as the rabbit's expression toughened, while her eyes opened further in alertness. A sense of respect for the crushed rabbit grew in the hare's mind, even a small smile germinated, as she sat back and watched the gray doe drag her strength and awareness up from the faint resources inside of her.

"I'm okay," she breathed slowly, her eyes portraying her physical and mental fatigue, but her head inclining in careful dedication to look Bogo in the eye. "Any help I can be, any at all, I want to help."

Bogo sighed, pulling over a chair to where Bonnie and Billy were sitting and doing so himself — close enough to the two of them so that they had to lean away from his size... eventually leading to both of them moving away from the Chief's internally smirking form.

"You two should see if Flo can find you something to eat," he drew, not turning to the two. "It's been a long day, I'm sure you'd like refreshments."

Bonnie opened her mouth to protest at this vaguely subtle way the Chief was utilizing to ask her and Billy to leave. Fortunately, Wolfard had picked up on the finer point Bogo was making, and walked between the rabbits and his Chief, pulling the door open and gesturing for them to use it. The motherly doe frowned a little, fully aware that the Chief was just trying to kick her out — but also aware this knowledge wouldn't help her in the end; that he'd have her leave the room one way or another before discussing the case with Judy.

Flo did the same silently, motioning to pull the door behind her as she followed Billy and Bonnie. She paused in the doorway and glanced to the wolf by the exit, holding his gaze for just a moment, a small smile upon her face that disappeared as she moved away, with the door closing behind her brown-tipped teardrop tail of fluff.

"Now," Bogo began, the room absent of the unnecessary complications; just him, Nick and Wolfard waiting quietly for the rabbit's information, "if you feel comfortable, Officer Hopps, I'd like you to talk to me about what precisely happened last night at the harbour."

"Alright. Alright, I'll..." Judy closed her eyes for a few, brief moments, steadying her breaths and aligning her thoughts. Nick moved over to her and lowered himself down into the chair opposite her bed from Bogo, reaching out gingerly and slipping his auburn paw into hers.

The rabbit paused in her thoughts, her eyes snapping open as she looked at that what was touching her. Her mind relaxed, and she got to stare at her feet, the large lumps hidden beneath the bleached sheets. "I was... out. I was with Jack, on the way home, or to his place, or something. Your call came through, we responded..."

Silently, Wolfard sat himself in an empty chair at the far end of the room, listening wordlessly to the accounting of last night's undertakings, but trying to stay quiet and out of the way as much as possible.

"The docks, the city docks. Jack opened up this 'thing' in his radio, like an infrared sensor thing… but it could see through walls and metal crates and stuff, I remember that. We tried to call you, there were people there, quite a lot, and... and this big ship, the type Nick told me about yesterday," she added, giving the fox's paw a squeeze. "The type he figured out they were using to transport drugs. It looked like they were pretty much ready to go. We got in contact with you, couldn't get an answer though."

"We were held up by an armed assailant who attacked the reception— sent to us with the express purpose of delaying us from providing backup," Bogo clarified.

"Reception? Claw, i-is he—"

"He's fine, Hopps, carry on," Bogo reassured her newly arisen trepidation, which managed to be sliced to a stop, the strangulation upon her heart withdrawing for now.

"Well… like I said, ughm… we didn't get an answer and it looked like they were getting ready to leave, so we decided we'd better do something about it. Jack had this device, ughh… in the back of his car, a tracking device launcher. He said we could sneak in there and attach it to the boat so it could be followed. We got out and climbed inside, climbed over the fence. He... eh, we… we climbed up somewhere, then, I think, went and walked around some— some other places."

"Hopps," Bogo encouraged in tones soft and calm, "we need to know where you were and where you went as much as we can for the investigation. Can you be any more specific?"

"Chief, it— it all looked the same, th— just crates and crates everywhere, red crates, blue crates, stacks of crates..."

With a thin chuckle, the fox jested, "So you two had a crate time..."

Bogo glanced with a warning gaze at Nick, while Judy did so with confusion amidst her gawk of tiredness. Moments passed, the fox's small smile slowly weakened — aware even before he'd made the comment it could've gone badly. However, to his relief, the rabbit's frown twitched, and a slow, tired huff of laughter escaped her.

"Jerk," she muttered, pinching the fox's finger between her small beige claws, making him hiss and jolt his paw back in pain. "Stupid, foxy jerk."

"I know, Hoppsie, I know. Now come on, tell the Chief what happened next."

"We circled around, taking the cover of the crates. Ehhh, we were jumped at one time by somebody, erhm… was a dog I think, we took them out. We then made around to where the boat was and... and then there was t-this— this roar, this h-howl from somewhere behind us. T-the..." Judy reasserted herself, her confidence fading as the memory of that creature came closer to her mind. "The people, they turned, turned and saw it hiding and watching them. We pulled our guns, Jack shot a round or two I think, we started backing away a-an... and—"

His voice quiet, his tone steady, the Chief aided the faltering rabbit, "And then he appeared?"

Licking her lips with a wince of her lavenders, her head nodded slowly as she tried to keep her emotions in check. Then, she continued, "He was behind us, just there behind us. He grabbed Jack, threw him away. I turned to him, his..." her paw raised to her face, covering her eyes as the impression of his shriveled voids entered her mind. "H-his, ughm, h-his eyes, it, it was like looking into the, the f… face of... th-the face of death… I couldn't think, couldn't breathe, just... couldn't stop looking at his e-eyes, just..." her body tightened on itself as all the comfort around her crashed and tried to pressure onto her from all sides, the vulnerability from those moments in time getting to her, thus, making her shiver without the ability of control over herself…

Until that familiar and lovely voice broke the misty curtain, "They say the eyes are the window into the soul, right, Carrots?"

Judy looked sadly around to her lover and squeezed his paw, which managed to drain away the trembles of the terror. "By the look of it, I'm not sure he had one."

"To do what he tried to do to you, Judy... no, it didn't," Nick hissed with animosity and incandescence that somehow managed to even surprise Judy.

"Miss H..." Bogo cleared his throat in interjection to the rise of tempers and plummeting of emotions. "Judy, I... as much as I know this is upsetting for all of us, we really do need to know about your movements during the moments that led to your attack."

"I understand, Chief, I understand. Well, ehg... the 'attacker', I think one of the other felons distracted him. Jack and I, we fled, back the way we came, nearly got away… but, h-he caught us before we could… threw me off guard. I told Jack to go, he stayed though. Guess I would've been dead and... a-and dead by now if he had," she stopped for a moment to ruminate upon Jack's reluctance to do the smart thing prey mammals were supposed to do in such instinctive situations of life and decay. A new knot formed in her stomach due to her appreciation to his determination and sacrifice that she'd never forget about.

"We… we ran back to the clearing, the gang members were gone and the boat, it was leaving por— ugh…" she groaned as a shrilling throb wobbled her head, yet the resistance of wills drove her to spitefully continue without letting anyone interrupt her.

"I pulled the track device and was about to take the shot, then t-the... then 'he' appeared and started throw-thr-ow…" her words stumbled as her tongue became unresponsive for a moment, but she tried again, " throwing pipes at us. Jack threw me down, missed getting my spine broken by one of them thanks to him. He fired off more shots at the wolf… I think one hit him, or s-something— and—"

"Yes, Judy, we found a sample of blood which we analyzed and discovered to be from the wolf," Bogo included.

"He threw a big barrel at us, knocked Jack off guard, sprinted at us and kicked the gun away. We tried to get him to respond, we didn't get any reaction though. I doubt he could really hear us. He... w-we started fighting, us against him, and ermm... Jack, he managed to s-slash one of his eyes with his claws. Then... then he threw me off him, went for Jack, was about to kill him, w-when... oh, Chief! The track device, the launcher for the tracking gun! I shot him with it, in the back, it should still—"

"And I, the ZPD and the rest of Zootopia thank you that you did, Judy," Bogo said, smiling in hidden warmth. "I already have officers converging on his current suspected location, in direct response to the signal the tracking device you fired has given us."

Her fear, her feeling of trauma shifting in her mind, it actually resulted in a grin breaking upon the rabbit's face. "I shot him with that tracking device, he, erhm… dropped Jack. He... he came s-sprinting for me though, after that," she added, her grin already fading like the dying light of an extinguished candle.

"He kicked me, winded me, sent me falling down into the river. I... I was soaking and cold and heavy, I could barely move… I managed to climb back up, I saw... I saw Jack being held up by the wolf and h-he..." all those emotions and sensations that her body and mind had to go through then, they all came flooding back with every image she went back on, every sound, every flare of injury, every haunt of primeval consternation…

"Judy?" Nick soothed, his paw taking hers that very instant of dissonance.

"Jack had his gun, but the wolf, he grabbed it and... and something, it just-went wrong because it backfired and hurt Jack. Then the wolf g-grabbed him, picked him up, strangled h-him and just... just slashed across his chest, cut him open, so..." flinching, her bloodshot lilacs shut tight, "so much pain, so much blood over J-Jack... he came for me, I had a tranquillizer dart in my pocket. I stabbed him with it and it did... it did nothing. It was after that he… he ju-just... killed Jack... that he turned to me, started beating me, kicking me, his claws and teeth and—"

"Not dead."

Judy paused, her voice falling silent as her low brow furrowed and her head turned to her Chief the minutest amount, her lowered lids raising to the red-veined orbs beneath. "What?"

"Jack. Not dead. Just damn comatose."

"He… he's—" Alertness pulling through the rabbit's mind, her eyes widening with realization dawning, she moved to pull herself up, the fox beside her hurrying to restrain her a moment too late to prevent the hot hiss of agony which lightened down her spine. Her face tightened with a wincing sigh, with a mask of frustration than actual pain. "He's… here?"

"Yes, Hopps. In the Intensive Care Ward."

"He could've ran. Should've… gh—"

Bogo sighed. "Perhaps. It would've ensured his survival. But, then, would've ensured your demise too. As it stands… we can't say, we don't know either way. But you both currently being alive, to whatever degree you are, and under the best medical care this city… the country can provide…."

The Chief trailed off, looking over Judy's head at the bare wall. "Flo told me that he made it back by… well, the thinnest of razor's edges. Another couple of minutes, and he would've been dead before he'd got to the hospital."

Sadness took the hold of her appearance, and the Chief was quick to bring that up, "Don't beat yourself up over what Jack did for you. You both paid the price for fighting against that wolf. You distracted him, you kept Jack alive at risk to your own life just as much as Jack risked his life for you."

Gazing up at the figure of her Chief, the emotional strain overtook her; her paw tightened around the paw of her lover… the fox's presence a comfort of great stability. She steadied herself, his musky scent in the air, the sound of his breathing reassuring her as she reminded herself that the information she had in her head was of vital importance to capturing the monster who had put her in this state. Also, it was about making sure the delinquencies of the delinquents, she and Jack had fought so hard to stop, were brought to justice, and that their sacrifice was not for nothing.

"I... I crawled away while he was dealing with Jack, while he was, arghh... I crawled into the empty warehouse place. I don't even remember thinking, don't remember what it did, I just... 'see it' like a... like a horror movie playing, ughhm… in my mind, except I know it's me and m-my body getting torn and... I broke his jaw though," she added in a lowered pitch, while her lilacs closed with tremor, yet a sick smile twisted her lips.

"I grabbed a hammer and broke that f-f… f-fucker's jaw right open. Didn't... didn't stop him, though. I don't know why he stopped when he did. I just remember darkness after that, darkness fading into nothing. A distant echo of sirens maybe, a vague sense of Nick's scent perhaps..." Judy shook her head, her expression carefully blank as she tried to distance herself from her thoughts.

"That's… huh, all I've got."

Bogo sat silently beside the rabbit, his head hung as he waited for a long, patient moment. When he judged enough time had passed for her to recover some of her strength, he saw fit to try to give her and Nick just a shade of privacy. "Hopps," he said at length, "I cannot give you praise enough for your strength. You have been invaluable as ever, to the city and the ZPD."

"Just... just, yeah," she said, her sweet voice soft and toneless. "Sir, it had to be said. There's no need to... to really thank me for it."

"Officer Leopold has already made a preliminary report of what he judged to have occurred from his findings. But there were several facts you have now brought to light as being otherwise to what he assumed. I... there are some minor details I would to ask you about. When you feel prepared to."

"I'm-I'm ready now," she breathed, the exhaustion across her face, within her voice and the slow shallowness of her breaths.

"Take some rest," the Chief reiterated. "I wanted to speak to Wilde about a few things first. The finer details of the report can wait until after that." Judy's reply didn't come — by the moving of her lips, it looked as though she had heard and tried to respond, but the faintness that came over her smoldered all ability to respond.

Bogo sighed understandingly, a thin smile overtaking his gruffness. "Good work, Officer," he breathed to himself. "Damn bravest officer on the force." He chuckled, his laughter dry and mostly lacking in humor. He stood from his place beside the rabbit's bed, nodding to the wolf and the fox, and leaving the room as he pulled his radio from his belt.

The door swung shut behind him, leaving the figures of Nick and Jim looking to one another in the quiet emotions that were lingering like a cloud throughout the room.

In the corridor outside, the Chief spoke, "Snarlov, report," he demanded.

"Posted out in Tundratown currently, Chief. Followed the tracking device's radio signal to here. Just relieved Jefferson from watching over it. Currently making towards destination."

"I've just spoken with Officer Hopps about her attack last night; the information she has on her attacker is limited but may be of some assist. Do you have any current intel on him?"

"I got the blood sample info back from that Terminal place you gave me the number of—"

"Terminal Four, Tchaikovsky, yes."

"He mentioned: foot taller than normal wolves, albino white, no markings, eh...violent, strong, fearless, resistant to tranquilization rounds and physical trauma..."

"You know more about him than we do, then," Bogo stated. "The resistance to tranquilization is a deadly one, we nearly lost us Jack and Judy because of that."

"Judy and who, Sir?"

The Chief grunted. He'd slipped up one too many times in the past few hours to like it. "Nothing," he grunted, "just be sure to take all precautions when dealing with him. And do not take your guard off him just because he's in the back of a van, this person will be very dangerous no matter where you put him!"

"I got that, Chief," Snarlov's voice came in reply, the quality of the sound bleeding from the cheap speaker of the police radio. "Thanks for the intel, we're now in visual range of the location Jefferson identified… making final preparations before the raid."

"You see the entrance?"

"No, Sir, it's a trapdoor. Probably buried two feet under snow… but I know where it is thanks to the blueprints. If it wasn't for the tracking signal leading us here, we could've been wandering around for hours looking for it in all this snow."

"Have you found any intel on the location itself?"

"Yes, Sir, a little. From the blueprints we've found it's just a simple basement, storage. Looks like the rest of the building was owned by a 3D design studio, they made short films and things; they used the basement to hold their rendering nest, the cold being ideal to keep them cool."

"EMT support?"

"En route as we speak, Sir."

"Exits? Entries?"

"It's all taken into consideration, Chief, don't worry. The majority of the hit will be on the back entrance. Jefferson's been standing guard, he's just warming up in the cruiser; I'll also station guards at the front of the building the basement's attached to."

"Have them close down the street," Bogo instructed. "There's no time to get the council to organize anything, but put a couple of road cones up on either end in case an armed hostile tries to exit through the front while you're raiding the back. Don't want any civilians getting in the way."

"Understood, Chief. Thanks for the advice."

"Something that should work in your favor, Snarlov: according to Judy, the wolf should have one dysfunctional eye and a broken jaw."

"Huh, he's not as dangerous as he could be then, I guess."

"Good luck, Snarlov. Contact me once you've apprehended the suspects."

In the cold, sharp air of Tundratown, Snarlov grinned. "Thank you, Chief. This won't take long." The polar bear clicked her police radio back into its holder, glancing behind her as the EMT van pulled to a stop close by, the paramedics within stepping out in preparation for anything that was to surely occur.

"Alright," she sighed, looking over the officers stood beside her, their light-blue uniforms covered with the large pieces of raid equipment they had changed out of after the raid on Erkin, just a matter of hours before. And now, they had to repeat the same process of shrouding their bodies with it on such short notice.

"We've got the green light from Bogo, EMT's just arrived. We strike on this position in thirty seconds. Make ready!"

The white of her muzzle, which glowed bright in the snowy environment around, disappeared behind the visor of a gas mask. The polar bear shrugged her armor into a comfortable position, tightening a couple of straps before grabbing up her shield from its resting place against the wall. "Unit Two, you reading?"

"Loud and clear," came Delgerto's voice over the radio built into the visor.

"Get the public out of the way, put up cones, keep an eye out for hostiles. We're moving in twenty seconds."

"On it."

...

A white security camera turned itself towards the line of ZPD officers, its lens glinting in the light of the shining snow around. In the space beneath the earth, an albino creature growled. The figure stood beside him turned with a curious expression, following his gaze to the CCTV camera footage playing live upon a screen. The donkey's demeanor crashed, a chill taking him despite the insulated suit of heated air he was dressed in.

"Lord have mercy," he whispered, and in a flash hurried for his phone, yet unable to reach into his pocket due to the bulky suit which covered him fully. Hissing to himself in panic, he pulled his arms out of the sleeves of the constricting suit and felt for his pocket, quickly bringing his phone before his face in the small amount of space he had.

His finger pressed through a contacts list and hit the 'call' button. "Ah, Slvelt," the Lord's voice drooled in greeting, "I was just about—"

"Help me! Help-help, they come for Wulfey, they here, they here, outside, it's here!"

"One, don't shout, and two, don't you dare ever interrupt me… Now… who's there?"

"They are outside the street, dozen of this, armor, mean looking, is police for raid!"

The Lord sat into his chair, his voice falling to a mutter, "Damn the PD kept that quiet— Appleby! Appleby, get in here!"

The door was already gliding open as the first calling of his name was ringing out. "At your disposal, Sir."

"Wulf, it's Wulf and Slvelt, the PD are outside. They're about to raid the place!"

"Hmm. A most troubling conundrum indeed. I have heard nothing of any raid being planned on the part of Zootopia's local police force. Are you sure this information is correct?"

"It as correct as being kicked in shin," Slvelt shouted out over the speaker, "are officers on my cameras coming as we speak!"

"Well it is a mystery to me how in Zoophon the ZPD were able to find Wulf's location, but for now, Sir," he added tonelessly, "I suggest you terminate them, both of them. Wulf has been already been designed with a cut-off sw—"

"Appleby, Wulf is possibly our strongest asset, even including what our allies can provide us. He would be invaluable to us come Operation Chokehold, especially since the failure of Operation Mincemeat."

"Operation Mincemeat, which Wulf failed to achieve, Sir."

"The Operation you came up with, assuring me it would be an 'astounding success'."

The badger raised his chin towards his master. "I fear it shall be disadvantageous if we allow him to live."

"Nonsense, he'll escape them sooner or later, it's inevitable. It's not like he'll tell them anything."

"I was referring more towards what studying his physiology might reveal, Sir."

"Don't see it as worth the risk," the panther stated, his eye glinting a golden glimmer. "Sometimes, Appleby, the wrong mammle in the right place can make all the difference. And if Wulf can't be considered 'wrong' in every sense, then I'm a chipmunk."

The badger cleared his throat, such being the closest thing he ever got to a sign of irritation. He turned from his master and started pacing to the door, stating flatly as he glided away, "If it is your will, my Lord, then thy will is thy want."

The Lord's smile faded as Secretary Apple slipped from the room. A tone of insecurity played across his features for a brief moment, and then he got back to his computer screen and unmuted the mic, "Slvelt, your services have been most laudable to our cause, and you will be remembered in our history books fondly—"

"— Sir?"

"Wulf, 'dismiss' him."

The white figure's pale eyes turned upon the figure of the donkey. "Wulfey? Wulfey, you can't..." he backed away, his voice raising in terror and in flames of seeing the mammle, he thought of as a son, turn against him with not so much as a hint of concern. "Wulfey, my pup, don't... you can't! I fathered you, don— don't—"

"Yes, Slvelt, yes," the Lord grinned. "You're Wulf's father. But I, am his master. Now kill him!"

…

Above them, a team of armored officers swarmed on the entrance. Their movements swift and with wasteless efficiency, the officers involved sought for and found the handle to the entrance into the basement, wherein the white-furred evil prowled.

Two officers threw the trapdoor open, backing hurriedly away as four other officers came like a wall of riot shields before. The staircase was steep and dark.

"Part!" Snarlov's voice shouted, the shield wall splitting open as the large bear stepped between them, a large 'grenade launcher' looking-device over her shoulders which she levelled with the dark entranceway. "Make ready!" she shouted, the officers around her flicking a switch on their visors, as her finger tightened on the trigger.

There was a pressurized pop and a sudden rush of air, as a metal cylinder was launched from the large device across Snarlov's shoulder. The cylinder skittered across the floor at a rapid rate and bounced off an object somewhere inside. There was a sharp bang and a flash of brief light accompanying, then a high hissing sound which filled the below space in a matter of seconds, and started rising from the darkness beneath.

The ZPD were already making down the steps inside, their visors adjusted to infrared lighting against the clouds of smoke now surrounding, and the gasmasks against the chemical irritants present in the gas. For their speed, they did not sacrifice safety, marching down the narrow corridor with a wall of plastic shields before them. They rounded the corner into a larger room, and marched past the figure of a body crumpled on the floor.

"Snarlov, look."

"I see it. Ignore it for now, no need to check for vitals. Not with his neck looking like that." She turned towards the door leading from the room, which was closed but marked by a pawprint of fresh crimson. "Focus on the fact that whoever did that is still in here. On me."

The officers formed up behind the polar bear, their shields locking into a solid barrier, Snarlov gave the nod to an officer stood pressed against the wall — a nod which was obeyed fearlessly. The officer's paw reached out to the door handle and pushed it open before he darted away.

The door creaked open a slow inch more… and then a cannonball of violence and muscle threw itself from inside. The shield wall buckled, the air cramped with ferocious growling. Dagger-sharp claws sliced across plastic shielding, his paws grabbing to tear them away. He kicked and pulled and mangled, too ferocious, too swift, too strong, an over-pressured ball of malice. He clawed through the line of shields and threw his weight into their line.

He broke through, his weight overcoming their combined strength, thus, he launched himself at a single officer, pinning him down to the floor, his claws raised; then… his body seized up in searing pain as his howl of malice ended, and the wolf tried to take a breath. He tore on at the visor, but his motion was distracted by more misery with his vision blurred by the chemicals upon it, his breaths seizing and haltering, his body convulsing as he fought against the coughing that the gas all around him was trying to induce.

He pushed himself from the figure lying unharmed beneath him, and bound for the door, but the officers around came upon him like a swarm of starving hornets, pressing down with their shields and bashing at his legs with their steel batons-relentless.

Wulf fought with strength unnatural. He threw four officers off his back like a rehearing horse throwing its rider. But the fortunes were turned against him, as every moment of breathing that acidic air siphoned more and more of his strength, his blindness, his still-dysfunctional jaw, the relentless pursuit of the police all around…

Snarlov stepped over the hunched figure of the wolf, locking her powerful legs in a tight squeeze around his waist. As the surrounding officers fought with all they had just to keep him from surging away, the brawny bear leaned on and locked her broad, unfeminine arms around his neck. She rolled onto her side, dragging the figure of the wolf down with her, while his legs pushed out to his side, which the assembled officers grabbed onto with all haste. Then, they pawcuffed literally everything small enough that they could.

By the time they were done, by the time they were out of pawcuffs, Wulf's tail, his paws, his arms and his legs were all chained to one another. His eyes closed and stained with the tears the gas had produced, the wolf carried on resisting, clawing and jolting his whole body as he tried to flee. But, at last, after several minutes of a dozen officers holding him down, and the burly arms of the polar bear around his neck, the effort and the danger paid off, and Wulf succumbed to an unconscious state.

Snarlov pulled herself out from around the white wolf's body, her breaths low and panted, helped up by the officers around her. She gawked down at the wolf's body, her eyes misted, her jaw hanging, wringing her paws together in the anxiety and bafflement of what she'd just put herself through.

"Get… get a muzzle on this thing," she stuttered, her confidence momentarily shattered of all capacity to show valor. "Get two muzzles, recuff his paws behind his back, put him in a straightjacket, just… just don't let that… that get up again!"

She backed slowly away from the restlessly unconscious wolf. Raising her paw to her face, she slipped off her gasmask, the air sufficiently clear to breathe. Then she fell back into an undersized-for-her chair, the armrests of which dug into her thighs in irritation, while it creaked loudly in defiance to the weight that was not meant to be. The complaints lowered tho, and she used that peace to wipe her exhausted brow, while she raised her radio to her lips.

"Ch— w… Chief, wh… uh", she sighed, her head drooping in fatigue, but then determination flashed through her like a jolt and she tried again.

"Chief, we g— aaagggh!" she yelled as the chair crashed underneath her in full disassembly of parts that scattered on the cold floor, a heap of armored polar bear now lying on her drained back, and groaning to the misfortune of the elements around her. The officers' attention was instantly drawn to the loud ruckus, and she only raised her head to meet all of their quizzical expressions.

Her arm pointed to the radio that had slipped out her massive paw in the fall, the words of order-tired accompanying, "Someone else tell Bogo we… got him. I'm done…"

---

Author's notes:

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