"In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate." - Isaac Asimov
12:30 P.M
Desperate times can call for desperate measures.
Neither Nick nor Judy truly wanted to give in to Ratsputin's whims. After the rat had left the office, leaving the two officers all by themselves, they both immediately took to forming their game plan to take him down.
Ratsputin had them both in a figurative choke-hold, subject to the rat's blackmail. They saw only one way to win: Honoring the rat's wishes, and playing as the pawns in his own game... At least for the moment. A plan would have to be developed on the fly. They didn't know what Ratsputin intended on doing with the documents, but they had a feeling that they would be finding out soon enough.
When Mayor Lyncoln finally arrived, there was sparse talk and chit-chat: The few words uttered from one mammal to the other being that of instructions and ideas, with the aforementioned bob-cat telling the two tiny officers about how she expected the evidence to go straight to the ZPD, where it would be safe from any sort of harm and abuse.
The mayor led them both to an old and dusty room, situated on the far corner of the building. Within, they descended a narrow staircase to an even deeper depth, of which led them to another chamber, this one much more sparse, spacious, and free of clutter, with concrete walls surrounding them and dim lights hanging and flickering overhead.
Wooden tables and cabinets were pushed to the sides and corners of the room, hugging the walls and allowing for a nice and spacious sort of walk-way to cut through the very center of the room from one side to another, leading all the way over to a very large safe, of which was fastened tight and secure against the corresponding wall behind it.
Mayor Lyncoln fiddled around with the combination for a few brief seconds, all the while keeping her back to the two officers so as to keep them from seeing the code.
With a satisfying hiss of metal popping open from years worth of silent solitude, the door to the safe swung open, revealing the inside and the contents lying within.
A small, simple laptop. Two vanilla-colored folders choked almost to the point of bursting with various papers and other documents. One, single collar, tucked away at the back.
"So, this is the thing capable of changing history itself, huh?" Nick muttered lowly, pointing towards the device within the safe. "Seems kinda anticlimactic, if you ask me..."
"Well not only is no one asking you, but you aren't expected to think, either: Your only purpose here is to take the documents directly to the ZPD." Lyncoln chided firmly.
"Yeah, we will..." Nick lied, avoiding eye contact with the stern bobcat. "We will..."
The two officers then took the evidence, which they secured in a sizable, unmarked and pure-black briefcase, and then promptly left the building...
However, their final destination was the last place that either officer sought to go: The lair of the blackmailer, Grygorri Ratsputin.
1:02 P.M
After receiving an anonymous text via the fox's mobile device, he and his mate then made way for the rendezvous point, where the text had claimed a chauffeur, sent by Ratsputin himself, would ferry them to the rat's private Tundra-Town estate, which was situated on the far side of the aforementioned district, cold and all alone by itself.
It took them nearly a half-hour to arrive at their destination: The building itself was archaic in appearance, but sleek and well-fortified, expressing years of intricate care.
Promptly entering the building after departing from their vehicle, the bunny and fox descended deep into the depths of the estate, eventually finding their esteemed host, Ratsputin himself, lounging calmly in a cozy little living room. The aforementioned rat seated upon a plush and rather delicate purple-colored chair, his cane leaning against the arm-rest.
In front of him stood a small glass-coated coffee table, where several empty beverage containers and other scotch bottles formed from glass were perched, shining like crystals.
"I would offer you a drink, but it's very rare, and expensive." Grygorri stated calmly as he took a small sip. "Though please, do have a seat... We have much to discuss."
Neither Nick nor Judy seated themselves, instead choosing to stand next to one another, and as far away from the rat as possible.
"No? Suit yourselves." Ratsputin muttered, leaning forward in his own chair. "To business, then... Do you have the documents?"
Without speaking, the fox lifted up the briefcase, displaying it to the rat, who smiled wide and stood from his chair.
"Give it here!" He demanded.
"Not so fast." Nick grumbled. "You have to swear that you'll keep your word for us... That you'll never tell anyone about what's happened, and what happens here."
The fox swallowed. If this inkling of a plan of his to beat the rat was to work, then he had to ensure he had his trust. Ratsputin just exhaled through his nostrils.
"I swear by my very own name; you'll be leaving this property with your secrets and lives intact, but forever changed. I will tell not a soul. You have the word of Ratsputin."
Nodding in approval, Nick stepped forward and handed the briefcase to the rat, whom then set it down upon the nearby coffee table before opening it and staring inside at the papers, folders, laptop, and single prototype shock collar, all of which were tagged and marked officially with notes and other bits of information to behold.
"Ah, still intact after all these years gathering dust." Ratsputin stated reverently, examining the collar in his bony paws. "It took me many months to create this."
"What are you going to do with them?" Judy suddenly piped out from behind her husband, effectively earning the attention of the rat and fox respectively.
"I beg your pardon?" Grygorri questioned.
"Tell us what you plan to use them for... You owe us that, at the very least. Tell us."
Ratsputin's expression fashioned itself into the likes of a disturbing smile. He stood up, all the while maintaining eye contact between himself and the rabbit before him.
"Very well. To be frank, this whole operation has been in planning for years, at this point. Sure, some things changed to fit the times, like your own interventions into the Night-Howler case, and my own... Sudden, unexpected sickness. Regardless, I kept working to ensure that the project was completed: My design was to be the pinnacle of bodily-suppressant and behavior-adjustment technology, used solely for the purpose of complete control over the predator population, all directed over by Mayor Bellwether herself."
He momentarily faltered, tutting softly to himself before resuming his explanation;
"You two, however, completely ruined all the plans that Bellwether and I had for the city. Now, I simply wish to use these documents as a tool of leverage against city-hall."
"Blackmail, you mean." Nick grumbled, to which Ratsputin shrugged. He calmly stated;
"The government and its policies are a reflection of our own fears. Society is a fickle thing, advancing slowly, yet changing inevitably... Sometimes, it just needs a little push!"
"Not in the right direction, apparently." Judy mumbled to herself.
"No kidding." Nick agreed. "But what if we were to just leave right now, and take these documents with us?"
"Easy answer: I'd completely ruin your will to live." Ratsputin replied.
"Is that so?" The fox mused, causing Ratsputin to bark a slight laugh and jab a finger towards him before growling aloud;
"The information I have on you is exactly where it needs to be. Much like society, all it needs is a little push in the right direction, for your world to come crashing down on you."
The fox sighed, and massaged his aching temples: He had no ideas on how to get him and his mate out of this situation. Not this time. Not a single one.
"Oh, if only my wife could see this! So many years of careful contemplation and consideration... This device will rewrite history itself!"
"Wife? You're married?" Judy squeaked aloud.
Judging by the rat's darkened expression, it didn't take the rabbit more than a few milliseconds to realize that she had asked the wrong question at the wrong time.
"Was. She is no longer with us, unfortunately..." Ratsputin corrected. "Taken from this earth by one of the most malignant illnesses the mammalian race has ever seen."
"Cancer, you mean?" The bunny added softly.
"Yes, cancer. She lived a good life, in the end. Oh, I'm just so glad that I've managed to come this far all on my own, even with the same factors..."
Ratsputin trailed off, his eyes glazing over and spacing out onto nothing in particular.
Something struck a chord within Nick. A sudden moment of realization dawned on him, and as he watched the rat turn his back towards the two officers, the fox couldn't help but stare at his torso, wondering where it was, and how long he had had it growing within him. Nick muttered quietly to himself, and stated the bitter truth to the entire room;
"You have cancer too, don't you?"
Silence, of which was only broken when Ratsputin closed his eyes shut and inhaled slowly through his nostrils, and brought down the scotch glass from his lips. His long and whip-like tail, which near-constantly slithered and lashed around as if it had a sentient mind of its own, had turned as still as a statue, and as the rat exhaled from between his pointed teeth and opened his obsidian-colored eyes, even from behind him, both Nick and Judy respectively could sense his somber disposition and tone.
After taking in another lungful of air, the rat near whispered to the room;
"The knowledge of death changes everything. You see, if I were to tell you the exact date and time of your own death... It would shatter your world completely."
Ratsputin turned around slowly, looking over his shoulder and locking eyes with Nick. For the first time since meeting him, the fox saw true pain laced within the rat's corneas.
"Can you imagine what it feels like to have someone sit you down... And tell you that you're dying? The gravity of that... That the clock is ticking for you... Oh, yes. Most mammals don't have to worry about counting their days, but for mammals like me, well... Let's just say it really makes you want to break out the bucket-list."
Nick wheezed a sort of half-laugh half-sigh from between his teeth, pinching at his brow all the while.
"You use cancer as an excuse for what you do? As an excuse to extort innocent mammals for your own sick games?" The fox mused, his expression laced with disbelief.
Grygorri just shook his head.
"No. The cancer isn't what started me and my work. It's just an... Influencing factor. Something that helped give me motivation to finish my life's work, and get these documents back to their proper owner: Myself. Pity me if you want. I care not if you do. The only thing I desire is to show this world just how powerful a little rat can be."
That statement sunk in for a few seconds. "But why blackmail other mammals? Why make them suffer?" The rabbit asked.
"Life is cruel." Ratsputin growled. "I'm merely chasing presented opportunities. If I have to walk on others to achieve my own goals, then I will pave as many roads with their hopes and dreams as I have to. This is survival of the fittest, officer, and I've come out on top."
The rabbit raised her finger as though about to retort, but no words came out of her mouth. Instead, she just closed her eyes and sighed before turning to her partner.
"Nick," Judy mumbled, earning the fox's attention. "Let's just leave. He has what he wants."
"Leave? Why, this party is just getting started, Judith!" Ratsputin cried out. "You two best stick around for the main event: It'll make things so much easier for the ZPD."
"What do you mean?" Nick growled.
"This little get-together of ours wouldn't be complete without all of your officer friends though, would it? We'll get the whole family here if we have to! Haha!"
"You're not making any sense right now. Stop talking in riddles!" The fox muttered, causing the rat to snicker once more before responding.
"Where are my manners? To answer your previous question, the ZPD will be arriving here to arrest you any minute now, I reckon, lured by that tracking device you brought."
"Tracking device?" Judy choked aloud.
The rat leaned forward and hissed to the officers in front of him;
"Oh, did I not tell you about it? Hm... Silly me... Must've slipped my mind! But yes, that laptop there has a tracking device in it, and I'm willing to bet that Mayor Lyncoln would be quite surprised to see it registering here, instead of at the ZPD Head-Quarters, where she was, no doubt, expecting you two to take it in the first place. In fact, she'd probably send out a team of police officers, your fellow colleagues and associates no less, out to arrest you for trying to sell state-secrets to me, and defying her orders. Quite serious."
"You..." Nick breathed heavily. "What?"
Ratsputin smiled wide, showing off his beady, pointed rows of teeth.
"News flash: I tricked you into practically arresting yourselves." He taunted aloud.
Grygorri sputtered a few dry laughs before clearing his throat audibly and recomposing himself: proper.
"Speaking of news, you two will both be heavily featured tomorrow, trying to sell state-secrets to me." Ratsputin mocked.
The rat then made a series of fast-paced tsk tsk tsk noises from his puckered lips as he readjusted his neck-tie and eyed Nick and Judy with a look of disappointment and pity.
"Let's go outside, shall we?" He offered calmly, placing his cane back onto the ground and stepping forward, walking directly between the fox and bunny, separating them both.
With twin faces petrified into expressions of shock and disbelief, the two of them could only breath and stare as they listened to Ratsputin call out from the behind of them;
"I can't wait to see you arrested!"
As Ratsputin strolled off to the nearby door, bound for the outside front porch Nick couldn't help but stare solemnly at the floor beneath his feet: He'd been played. Ratsputin had been planning this moment for every step of the way, and now, there was no way out. Slowly turning to Judy, he locked eyes with her, and came to the sudden realization that this was it. This was the very end of it all: They'd lose their jobs, their entire lives, and would be shunned and disgraced, thrown in jail for the rest of their miserable lives.
"Busted." Judy muttered broodingly.
The fox looked in the direction that Ratsputin had walked off, and saw the very tip of the rat's long and flesh-colored tail disappear behind the corner of a nearby wall.
All because of him... Nick thought to himself.
With Nick and Judy out of the way, there would be no one to stand in Ratsputin's way. He'd have the entire city government, and all of its power and influence in the palm of his own hand, and would be able to not just influence, but completely control the council's decisions over the city, all because of a few sheets of paper and a rusty old collar.
He was right: It was the perfect power play.
"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers... This is it..." He heard Judy murmur from behind him. "He won... It's over.." She sniffed audibly. "We're going to jail, Nick..."
Gritting his teeth together, the fox turned around and stared down at Judy before grabbing her by the shoulders and speaking very carefully;
"He may have tricked us, but this isn't over just yet, Carrots... I think I have an idea... An idea to make Ratsputin's own hustle backfire on him, and to get us out of this nasty pickle. Do you remember that one time that we hustled Dawn Bellwether, back in the natural history museum? With the blueberries, and the dart-gun, and all the acting?"
"Yeah, I remember..." The bunny sniffled, wiping a tear away from her eye. "What about it?"
Nick reached into his utility belt, and pulled out the only item that he had brought with him: The one single thing that Ratsputin didn't know about. He stated aloud;
"Think your acting skills are as good as they used to be, fluff-butt?"
1:27 P.M
"Wait, Ratsputin! Hold up!"
The bunny's request held fast in the rat's ears; He halted in his tracks, but didn't bother looking back.
"What is it, girl?" Grygorri questioned irritably.
Now, the rat stood just a few short yards away from the front door, standing calmly and straight, his small stature overshadowed by a towering bookcase, filled to the brim with hard-back novels and other pieces of literature, including some ancient looking scrolls, and strangely enough, sand-colored rocks and other artifacts with mysterious symbols etched into them: With a sudden jolt of realization, Judy and her mate realized that the symbols carved into the stones were the very same as the ones upon the scaly back of their old enemy, Shahaz the Stinger, whom had had ancient hieroglyphics and other markings engraved into the living scales across his body.
Judy forced herself not to get distracted: She needed Ratsputin's full attention.
"You played us, didn't you? How does this blackmail thing of yours work, though?" She questioned.
From behind, her sensitive ears detected Nick approaching from the same way that she had, his soft foot-steps enticing slight creaking noises from the wooden floor.
Meanwhile, Grygorri had glanced at her from over his shoulder, his smoldering black eyes narrowing in hostility as he turned around and fully faced her.
"You rabbits are all so naive, aren't you?" Ratsputin grumbled before sighing audibly. "Fine then. If you will, step forward, Judith."
"Wha-what?" She stammered briefly.
"You heard me. Step forward." The rat demanded. "Allow me to explain to you just exactly how leverage works." He stated darkly.
Wincing in uneasiness, Judy slowly walked over to Ratsputin, closing the distance between the two of them until they were only standing a few short feet apart.
"Closer now." Grygorri requested quietly, to which the female rabbit obeyed, taking a single step forward. "Closer." The rat repeated.
Judy inched even closer, the gap between them now no more than a few feet in length.
"Lean forward." Ratsputin instructed.
"I-I don't... Do I... What? Lean forward?" The bunny stuttered in genuine bewilderment.
"That's right. Lean forward." The rat responded.
Swallowing hard, Judy did as she was told, and bent over slightly, leaning forward until her ears were down and level with Ratsputin's chin.
"Good. Now, may I... Pull on your ears?" Grygorri asked softly.
"What? I-I don't see how this is-" Judy started, but was interrupted when the rat growled once again;
"May I pull on your ears?"
"No! They're very sensitive, you jerk! You c-can't just-"
"Carrots..." Nick cut her off firmly, his tone deadly calm. "Just..." He swallowed. "Just do what he says."
Sighing, Judy nodded her head in a silent agreement with her husband. If their plan was going to work, then she needed to play dumb with this rat. It was a necessary evil. Leaning down to Ratsputin's diminutive height, Judy allowed him to reach out with one of his paws and grip her left ear. He smiled, tightening his paw.
"You see, blackmail works like this..."
Ratsputin then squeezed Judy's ears within his grip, digging his clawed fingertips into the soft insides of her skin, enticing stings of pain that caused her to wince in discomfort. It was irritating, but his grip was thankfully weak, and not enough to really hurt her. Besides, Judy had no intention of showing any weakness around this slimeball.
"I know who you two have worked with, hurt, and gotten killed." The rat claimed, administering a disapproving glance toward Nick.
He squeezed harder, narrowing his eyes as he continued his explanation;
"From there, I know how to find people who hate you, which trust me, shouldn't be that difficult." The rat chuckled gently beneath his breath. "I know where they sleep, what they do, and why. I use them as sources to build my profiles by paying them off. I could phone them, right now, and tear your whole life down, piece by piece. And I will..."
Ratsputin clenched his grip even harder, though Judy
"Unless you let me pull your ears." The rat concluded, finally releasing his hold on Judy's ears, allowing her to step away warily. "That's how blackmail works."
Stepping forward and putting his paws on Judy's shoulders, Nick pulled her back and positioned her behind him, as far away from the rat as he could manage.
"But answer me this, rat..." The fox demanded. "What's going to happen to us? H-how did you make all this work out, in the end?"
Nick silently cursed at himself for making his previous statement so blunt and obvious: He needed more information from Ratsputin, since his actions and words against Judy moments earlier simply weren't enough to prove him as guilty of masterminding this whole entire plan of his, ranging from the shock collar documents to cold, hard blackmail.
Thankfully, however, the rat reacted the way that Nick hoped he would.
Ratsputin smiled coyly, a sort of half-smirk growing upon the edges of his face as he stared down the fox before him. He then spoke aloud, his tone firm and unwavering;
"You two are a rather curious lot, aren't you now? That's the best thing about you foxes: Always sticking your noses in places where they don't belong."
The rat spread his bony hands out in front of him, and his crooked grin twisted even wider in excitement, showing off the roots of his beady teeth and gums.
"It's all just one big game of chess: I played you all like the pawns that you are! Is it not obvious? Tricking you both into doing my dirty work was as easy as it was for me to threaten that lumbering buffoon of a mammal that you so identify as chief, into sending you after me in the first place! The game is over! This is checkmate, Nicholas! I win!"
The fox simply adorned himself with his favored half-lidded smirk.
"Are you sure about that?" He mused wily, causing the rat's own expression of confidence to momentarily falter.
"Beyond certain! You've lost! Once the ZPD arrives, they'll cart you two off to jail where you will rot! And I... I will make this city bleed!" Grygorri cried out in anger.
"I dunno about that one, buddy..." Nick stated coyly as he eyed Judy. "What do you think, Carrots?"
The female rabbit stepped a bit forward and smiled wide, her expression devious and confident. With her ears raised high and erect with pride, she locked eyes with Ratsputin.
"I'd call it a hustle, sweetheart." Judy concluded.
She then pulled out her right paw from behind her back, and fingered the plastic, carrot-shaped recording device before pressing down on the replay button.
The harsh and brutal voice of Grygorri Ratsputin filled the silence of the room;
"It's all just one big game of chess: I played you all like the pawns that you are! Is it not obvious? Tricking you both into doing my dirty work was as easy as it was for me to threaten that lumbering buffoon of a mammal that you so identify as chief, into sending you after me in the first place! The game is over! This is checkmate, Nicholas! I win!"
Judy clicked down on the pen, effectively ending the recording, to which a stunned Ratsputin unintentionally dropped his cane in shock, the lengthy object slipping from his grasp and toppling over to the wooden floor below, falling over and landing on its side before rolling away and finally coming to a halt just a few paces away.
Silence filled the room once again.
In that brief moment of quietude and tranquility, Nick took the time to eye over Ratsputin's expression, which now stood as a far cry to his previous look and tone of confidence and pride: Now, his face was morphed into that of shock, bewilderment, disbelief, and anger, his marble-black eyes peeled back wide and his jaws clattering together slightly.
Out of the blue, Ratsputin suddenly hissed out loud;
"This changes nothing."
The rat then leaned over to his left and grabbed the bookshelf by the sides, pushing against it and causing it to quickly lean forward and topple over, directly towards the fox.
"Look out!" A shrill voice exclaimed from behind just moments before Nick felt a hard shove administered against his back, right between his shoulder-blades, causing him to fly forward and trip over his very own two feet, falling over and landing on Ratsputin's tail, which squirmed irritably in pain and discomfort beneath the fox's sudden weight.
When Nick looked back up and toward the carnage, his eyes widened at the sight of the bookshelf, which had toppled over and pinned Judy beneath it. She had pushed him out of the way, sparing him, but sacrificing herself in the process of doing so, for she had repositioned herself directly in the line of the bookshelf's path. Her upper body and head were sticking out from beneath, and she groaned in pain, pointing to something behind Nick, who turned around in an attempt to follow her gaze.
The fox looked behind him just in time to see the balled top of Ratsputin's cane smash into his nose, enticing a cringe-worthy crunching sound and causing Nick to reel back.
As he was momentarily blinded from the pain and surprise, Nick's other senses honed in on a terrifying sound that was all too familiar to him: Metal against metal, and sharp...
The sword... His memories of the restroom at city hall reminded him.
Nick forced himself to open his eyes as he stumbled away from the rat, tripping over his own two feet. He watched Ratsputin as he unsheathed the hidden blade from within his cane, and toss the scabbard behind him. The fox knew that he had to get away: He had to get Ratsputin away from Judy, who was lying defenseless and completely vulnerable on the ground just a few short feet away, pinned beneath the weight of the collapsed bookshelf.
The fox lunged down and swiped the carrot-pen recorder off the ground before stuffing it into his utility belt: Ratsputin wanted the device, not him or Judy, he then realized.
Keeping his eyes on the advancing rat as he backed away quickly, the fox baited Grygorri into following him deeper into the house. From behind him, Nick could hear Ratsputin as he clambered around and over the ruins of the bookshelf and stomp down the hall-way that he had slipped through just mere moments earlier, intent on claiming the recording device for himself.
"The pen!" Ratsputin roared from somewhere behind. "Hand it over!"
The fox was tempted to say something witty like No, or Make me, but instead kept himself without words as he ran off.
Nick continued quickly through the house, sparing occasional glances back, from which he would spot the rat's twisted shadow as it crept along the walls, creeping over the corners that he passed through again and again, eventually leading him into a spacious, circular room, with a high ceiling and marble tiles lining the floor beneath his feet.
The walls surrounding his new environment were decorated with assorted paintings, green-colored chalkboards lined with hundreds of mathematical equations, bits and pieces of what looked like ancient armor, and a few decorative swords here and there. Nick whirled around and stared down the door that he had barged through just moments earlier, and spotted Ratsputin as he marched through the door-frame, pacing directly towards Nick before stopping some few yards away.
Ratsputin pointed his glimmering saber at the fox in front of him, twisting it around as if imagining the blade piercing through his heart.
"We've played a long game, you and I, and you've done far better than expected. Alas, it is time I was rid of you. I'll kill you and your rabbit friend, and then destroy that infernal recording device! When the ZPD arrives, I will claim that it was simply self defense! After all, with your recorder gone, whose word will they believe: Yours, or mine?"
"They won't believe you, especially standing over a dead body!" Nick shouted back, his eyes trained carefully upon his opponent.
"Please, I've persuaded entire corporations to lend me their will." Ratsputin boasted. "The ZPD will be a trivial matter, at best! Funny what money and connections can buy for you, hm? Though, since your fellow officers still have some time before they arrive, let's have some fun with this, shall we? How about one final game?"
Grygorri reached over to the decorative sword hanging from the wall just a few feet away from him. Pulling it from the pins that held it to its frame, the rat then tossed the blade, hilt first, toward Nick, who caught it clumsily between his two paws before shakily pointing it at Ratsputin, who inched ever closer to his foxy opponent.
"To be sporting, you can even use that saber for yourself! It may be for decorative purposes, but you should still be able to muster a few good deflections with it!" He yelled.
"Are you sure we can't just talk this out over more scotch?" Nick offered nervously.
The rat quickly sucked in a lungful of air, and with his torso facing sideways from Nick, put one foot in front of the other and rapidly closed the distance between them. Nick yelped as the rat lunged at him with the blade, and ducked with no time to spare. Grygorri's saber sliced off a small tuft of orange fur from the top of his head.
Scampering away from Ratsputin, the fox put a few good feet between him and his opponent before turning around and locking eyes with the rat, who chuckled softly to himself before extending his stance and thrusting his sword arm towards Nick's torso. The fox reacted on pure instinct alone, and threw up his own blade just in time to deflect Ratsputin's strike, causing the rat's blade to veer off to the left and swipe through empty air.
In that brief moment, Nick realized that he had the advantage: He had just parried Ratsputin's attack, leaving him exposed.
The fox could have ended it right then and there. All he had to do was lift his blade up a few inches and slash the rat's throat, which itself was wide open and exposed to virtually any sort of counter-strike. The idea crossed Nick's mind, but he hesitated for just a moment too late. He couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't kill Ratsputin. Seizing the opportunity for himself, the rat put his foot forward and socked the fox directly in the snout with his clenched fist before hurriedly retreating a few yards away. Reeling back in pain, Nick clutched at his nose and instantly felt the warm feeling of blood between his fingers.
"Ha! Excellent parry, Nicholas!" Grygorri called out from a few yards away. "But sadly, you missed your chance to end it all! Poor decision, if I might say so myself!"
Nick inhaled steadily in an attempt to refuel his burning lungs. He stepped back cautiously and pointed his sword toward the rat, analyzing his stance. If there was one thing Nick was good at, it was reading situations. Ratsputin may have had some sword-swinging skills, but he was less than half Nick's size. If Nick could just get past that blade, he could punt the rat across the room. Without any further hesitation, Ratsputin rushed forward and struck out at Nick, but unlike last time, the fox was ready for the rat's attack.
Lashing out with his blade, Ratsputin pierced a hole in the fox's blue police uniform, just barely missing his torso as it scraped by his ribcage. Thankfully, Nick had stumbled away just in time. Sparing no time to waste, Grygorri once again jabbed his sword at Nick, who raised his own blade in an attempt to deflect it. Instead of hearing the clanging of metal on metal, the fox instead watched as his smaller opponent feinted - Pulling back his saber and tricking Nick into positioning his own away from his torso.
Ratsputin side-stepped quickly, whirling around and performing a 360 degree turn, his whip-like tail slapping Nick across the muzzle as he repositioned himself to the fox's right. With his eyes still stinging from the rat's previous tail attack, the fox just barely managed to block Grygorri's sudden riposte. Growling aloud, Nick used his superior brute strength to his advantage, and pushed against his opponent, forcing the rat to disembark and scuttle a few feet back, distancing himself from the fox.
Taking the moment to catch his breath, Nick decided to scan over his opponent some more.
Grygorri, too, was panting heavily, his aged body no doubt far more tired out than Nick was, despite the superior slew of fencing skills that the rat possessed. Ratsputin snarled beneath his breath, and gripped the side of his cloak with his free paw before pulling it up to his face, obscuring the majority of his body, save for his marble-black eyes and messy, flame-like hair.
The rat inched forward slowly, hiding both his body and his blade behind the silky drapes of his cloak. Not content with letting his opponent mess with him, the fox darted forward and jabbed his blade into Grygorri's cloak. Instead of feeling and hearing the impact of metal on flesh, Nick stumbled forward clumsily, his blade, despite having pierced through Ratsputin's cape, not striking its desired target.
Ratsputin then suddenly threw his free arm forward, causing his oil-black cape to wrap around Nick's face, blinding him. The rat pushed him to the floor, causing him to drop his saber. Quickly tearing the cape from his face, the fox was surprised to see his opponent pacing around in a circle, swishing his blade around through empty air as if he were bored.
"Come on now, Nicholas." Grygorri chided. "You can rest all you want when you're dead! Get up!"
Gritting as teeth together as he hauled himself to his feet, Nick eyed his opponent with a look of loathing. The rat had shed his cape, which was now lying in a rumpled heap. Now, Ratsputin's archaic court-suit and vest were exposed, revealing the back of the material, which much like the front, was adorned with golden cog and gear-like designs, formed into structured patterns across the fabric.
Nick stepped forward and closed the distance between himself and Ratsputin, all the while swiping his blade towards the rat, not necessarily aiming for anything in particular, but rather just hoping to strike something in an attempt to end this crazy fight. Grygorri threw up his own blade, and as Nick had anticipated, easily blocked his attack, the ringing noise of metal on metal filling the room.
Nick tried leaning forward and elbowing his opponent, but Ratsputin apparently had other plans: The rat ducked beneath the fox's arm and whirled around to get behind him, where the fox was completely defenseless and exposed. Grygorri could have ended it right then and there with a single, swift strike to Nick's spine, but instead, he struck the fox across the bottom with the flat of his blade, causing him to yip out loud and jump in stinging pain and surprise, nearly dropping his blade as his paws flew to his backside.
From behind, Nick could hear Ratsputin laughing near-hysterically at his pain and suffering. The fox carefully turned around and refocused his attention upon his smaller-sized opponent, who was once again swishing his blade around through empty air, swiping at nothing in particular, his sharp sword cutting audibly through the emptiness.
First, Ratsputin had blinded him with the cape, and now, he simply chose to thwack him with the flat of his own blade: The rat was just toying with him at this point.
That thought made Nick mad.
Here he was, fighting with Ratsputin, whom had the intention on killing him, apparently, and yet still, the rat chose instead to play with him; Testing his temper, hitting him with the flat of his blade, blinding him with the cloak and missing out on the opportunity to kill him while he was apprehended. All of it drove Nick's temper to new heights.
Recognizing the fact that he needed to take the situation into his own paws, Nick both mentally and physically steeled himself to go on the offensive. Quickly pacing forward, the fox swiped his blade out at Grygorri: Clearly, the rat hadn't expected his opponent to be so suddenly aggressive, and thus was rather slow to block the fox's strike. Taking advantage of Ratsputin's momentary apprehension, Nick arced his sword over his shoulder as he stepped forward and closed even more distance between himself and the rat.
Swiping his own saber towards Ratsputin's face, Nick laughed aloud as he watched it slice just below the rat's chin, effectively cutting off the curled tip of his prickly beard.
"Haha!" The fox laughed as he backed away quickly, all the while keeping his sword pointed towards his opponent. "About time someone trimmed that nasty thing!"
Ratsputin was clearly not amused, as he growled broodingly before raising his snarl to a yell and stepping forward, lunging out at the fox in front of him.
Throughout their little sword-fight, Nick had slowly begun to get the hand of things, so to speak: He was a very quick learner, and had even taken some minor fencing classes back in high school, all those years ago (his mother had wanted him to pick up a hobby other than vandalism, at the time), thus giving him a decent amount of skill to use for his own advantages. As Grygorri put his right foot forward and slashed out with his lengthy blade, the fox saw the action coming from a mile away, and managed to near-expertly parry the rat's strike and push against him, forcing Ratsputin to go on the defensive. Gritting his sharp teeth in frustration, Nick swung again and again and again, his mind adopting a sort of clock-work rhythm to correspond with his bodily actions.
Lunge, block, strike, parry, thrust, deflect, riposte, and reposition: Over and over until Ratsputin was nearly backed up against the nearby wall behind him.
The fox poked and prodded, swung and slashed, swiped and sliced, yet every single strike that he performed was easily blocked by the rat, despite his more defensive outings, at the moment.
As Nick jabbed forward, aiming his blade towards Ratsputin's body, the rat swung his own blade forward, the very tip of his saber jamming into the fox's handle. With a single flick of his wrist, Grygorri completely disarmed Nick, causing his sword to fly off from his paw and clatter to the ground below. The rat then lunged forward; leaping up and kneeing the fox in the gut, causing him to bend over and his vision to double.
Nick fell to his knees next to Ratsputin, who himself stepped back before administering a hard kick to the fox's chest, audibly knocking the wind out of him as he toppled over to the ground, landing hard on his back and sputtering a few coughs. When the fox's vision cleared, his eyes crossed as they locked onto the pointed and gleaming tip of Ratsputin's sword, which was hovering directly between his eyes.
Neither mammal uttered a single word for nearly ten full seconds, silence encasing them both.
"Do it, then." The fox growled slowly.
Grygorri twisted his head around slightly and smiled, all the while eyeing Nick with a sense of seeming disappointment and humor at the same time. The rat slowly wrung his bony wrist, causing the tip of the blade to turn in a circle and the fox's eyes to cross once again. Ratsputin chuckled softly beneath his breath, and then pulled his sword arm back before driving his sword forward, aiming directly for Nick's heart.
Time seemed to slow down, if not stop entirely.
In that single moment of true awareness, the fox could make out nearly every single sensory detail around him, ranging from the cruel and maniacal grin twisting across Ratsputin's face, to the piercing sound of his blade cutting through the air, right towards Nick's beating heart. But another sound pierced the air with a sharp whish.
Moments before the Ratsputin's saber skewered Nick directly through the heart, a shiny object soared from the left of him, striking the rat's head and causing him to fumble and fall off of Nick, tripping to the side.
"Gah!" The rat sputtered in pain as the glass bottle exploded into pieces across his head, drenching his messy hair and clothes in scotch. "What the...?"
Ratsputin turned around just in time for a smaller glass to strike him directly in the chest, causing him to stumble slightly and nearly drop his sword. The rat shook his head in frustration, throwing bits of glass shards around him as the tiny pieces escaped from his hair. Nick swiveled his own head in the direction from which the bottle had soared, and smiled wide at the sight of his mate, Judy, clutching a single glass beverage container in each paw. Clearly, she must've recovered from her previous bout of unconsciousness, only to search for Nick, but apparently not before arming herself with the rat's rather impressive collection of scotch and other expensive glass beverages.
"You deluded rabbit!" Ratsputin roared, pointing his blade at Judy from across the space between the two of them. "That scotch is over fifty years old!"
Judy didn't bother giving a response, instead choosing to reply simply by throwing another glass bottle at him. This time however, the rat was prepared, and swung his blade forward, striking the item and causing it to explode into tiny pieces before it managed to hit him. The bunny wasn't impressed and chucked her second glass at him, for which Ratsputin repeated his previous action, slicing the bottle before it hit his face, yet simultaneously causing the shower of glass to blind him immediately afterwards.
With Grygorri distracted, Judy ran forward and swiftly helped her husband to his feet, pulling him up until their noses nearly touched.
The defiant shouts of the rat, however, ruined the moment. "You just don't know when to give up!" He growled.
"Right back at ya, Razzy!" Nick retorted, causing his foe to snarl beneath his breath. "You can't take us both! Just drop your weapon!"
"Surrender? To the likes of you?" Ratsputin chuckled dryly before twirling his sword around. "Never!"
"Don't do this!" Judy demanded, her tone practically pleading.
"You're in no position to be making any threats! No weapons, no plan, and no hope!" The rat stamped his foot forward. "Our game ends here, fox!"
Ratsputin resumed his favored fencing stance, his facial expression no longer that of glee or excitement, but instead a look of frustration.
Both Nick and Judy lowered their stances, prepared to go down fighting if they had to. Tension filled the air around all three mammals, and silence encompassed the room.
Suddenly, the stillness of the room was broken as a piercing and robotic-sounding wail shook the ear-drums of every mammal in the residence: A police siren, very close by, at that. Nick watched with satisfaction as Grygorri dawned a look of sudden realization and bewilderment, his facial expression morphing into that of disbelief and frustration.
"No... No! They c-can't be here now! T-this is too early! Much too early!" The rat stammered.
"I guess your little calculation was wrong, huh? Tough luck." Nick stated. "Again, just drop your weapon right now, and come clean: We don't want any more trouble!"
The siren was now just below them, and the red and blue lights from multiple police cruisers, at least five in total, were shining through the nearby windows. Ratsputin panted heavily in anger, his thin lips pulled back so far that his gums were exposed along with his rows of pointed teeth. His fists were clenched tightly, and his arms were shaking with rage, but out of it all, nothing displayed more malice than his black eyes: Narrowed and dilated to minute pin-pricks, his corneas searing with an almost unbelievable amount of hate.
Grygorri dipped low in a sort of mock bow, and hissed lowly;
"By your leave, officers!"
Ratsputin then sneered at the two tiny officers one last time before turning tail and running off deeper into depths of the house, not even bothering to look back a single time.
"Oh no you don't!" Judy cried out, breaking into a sprint and chasing right after him.
"Carrots, wait!" Nick ordered, but it was far too late, for his wife had already darted off in the direction that Ratsputin had fled, intent on capturing him.
The fox ran after his mate, who was already well ahead of him, sprinting down the long and winding halls, spacious, yet seemingly cramped at the same time. Judy happened to spot the very tip of Ratsputin's long and fleshy tail slip behind the corner to her left on the far end of the hall-way. Smiling to herself, the rabbit immediately made way for the spot where she had last seen the rat.
From behind, she heard Nick call out to her in warning, his voice cracking slightly;
"Judy, NO!"
The use of her true name faltered her, but it was far too late, for when she turned the corner, her eyes widened in fear at the sight of Ratsputin standing before her, his right arm pulled back with his sword clutched tightly in his grip. He swung forward toward her, his blade swishing straight for Judy's neck. With her lightning fast instincts, the rabbit instantly ducked down and fell to the floor, landing hard on her back, yet causing the rat to slash his sword and miss, instead planting it nearly up to its hilt in the wall where Judy had been standing just moments before.
Realizing that she was in the perfect position to do so, the bunny shot her powerful legs forward and kicked Ratsputin square in the stomach, causing the rat to bend over around her feet like a folding chair, coughing a single dry wheeze as her toes plowed into his gut. He dropped to his knees and gagged, but near instantaneously tried to turn around and scamper away on all fours. Gasping aloud, Judy lunged forward and grabbed the only thing that she could manage; His long and fleshy tail, which whipped around irritably in her grip, thrashing back and forth and almost slipping away from her, but still she held fast.
"Stop in the name of the law!" The rabbit yelled, tripping over her own feet as she tugged on the rat's tail, pulling him back a few inches.
Grygorri uttered a terrifying and throaty growl before lunging over and grabbing his sword, pulling it from the wall and slashing downwards: The rat's blade sliced clean through his own tail, severing it near the very end, just before the spot where Judy gripped it in her own paws. Yelping in surprise, the bunny backed away and stared down at the wriggling mass of flesh writhing around in her paws, blood spurting from the point where Grygorri had severed it from his body.
Nick wasn't sure what was more scary: If Ratsputin had been aiming for Judy, and had simply missed, or if he had cut off his own tail on purpose.
Meanwhile, Ratsputin himself had roared in pain and agony before stumbling forward and falling to the ground. He coughed horribly as he hauled himself to his feet and wearily stepped forward, clearly nauseous from his own self-inflicted wound. The rat trudged off and vanished behind another corner, the only sign of his departure being a sticky trail of blood that had been dripping behind him from his tail while he had fled, plotting out and marking his route of escape.
Judy gagged painfully and threw the rat's severed tail away from her. The wriggling chunk of flesh landed on the carpet floor a few feet away from her, writhing around for a few more seconds before going still and dying at last. Just moments later, Nick reared around the corner behind Judy. He quickly took in the sight of the entire scene before helping his mate to his feet.
"Nick! H-he's getting away! We have to catch up!" Judy exclaimed.
"Right! Come on!" The fox agreed, pulling Judy along by her hand as he paced forward.
At first, Nick wasn't sure how the two of them would manage to find the rat in this sprawling maze of a house, but it didn't take the fox long to notice the slight trail of blood that was splattered onto the floor, perfectly tracing the route of Ratsputin's escape. The two officers followed the trail of blood through the house like breadcrumbs in a forest, eventually finding themselves at the front porch of the house, where they both spotted Ratsputin standing outside and glaring at the line of police cruisers that had surrounded the property.
Grygorri looked back and eyed Nick and Judy as they approached from behind. Between them and the police cruisers, he was completely surrounded.
"We got him!" The rabbit exclaimed.
From afar, one of the police officers, a tiger, pointed his dart-gun toward the rat. "ZPD! DROP THE WEAPON, NOW!"
Ratsputin slightly lifted up his blade, eyeing it with a sense of reverence. He looked back and forth between the row of cruisers and his sword.
"I SAID DROP THE WEAPON! NOW!" The officer called once again from behind his car.
With obsidian eyes glazed over, Ratsputin turned the blade over in his wrist and gripped it with both of his paws, holding the saber as if it were a sort of walking stick. Nick saw a mixture of determination and fear building up in the rat's eyes as he raised his sword out in front of him and pointed the sharpened tip towards his body.
Nick realized too late what Ratsputin was prepared to do. He shouted out to the rat from afar;
"DON'T DO IT!"
Milliseconds after he had shouted his order, Nick watched in horror as Ratsputin drove the blade through his stomach with his own paws. The rat fell over onto his side, the sword still pierced through his body. Coughing several times beforehand, trying to keep himself from gagging, the fox stumbled over to Ratsputin. He trudged over to the rat's side and stood before his head, which was resting on the ground.. All the while, more blood oozed profusely from the rat's wounds, pooling onto the ground and soaking into his fine clothing, dyeing the black fabric a deep shade of red.
"You moron." The fox murmured bitterly, staring in awe at the rat lying before him. Nick had never been good at weaving words in tragic situations. "Why did you do it?"
Ratsputin coughed horribly, causing more blood to spray from his maw and paint the ground crimson. The rat managed a raspy breath before muttering slowly;
"I-I knew t-that it would come t-to this, in the end... I-I would... I would rather die, than let you mongrels exploit my knowledge!"
Nick shook his head from side to side in disbelief. It seemed that Ratsputin would rather die than be interrogated and go to prison. He'd slipped away clean from countless hearings and trials before due to wealth, coercion, and connections, but now, with the evidence insurmountably stacked against him, he chose the coward's way out.
"Your knowledge?" He growled. "You mean the knowledge you've gathered for the sole purpose of creating a blackmailing racket?"
The rat chuckled wheezily, causing a few sparse droplets of blood to leak from between his teeth.
"It's all a m-matter of p-perspective, Nicholas. There is no single path through life that's right and fair, and d-does no harm. Do you truly think that the citizens of Zootopia, myself included, have no cause? No right to feel betrayed, for the city government's... Lies? You should know b-b-better than this... D-dedicated as you are... To upholding the law. I wanted my documents back... Because I wanted the power to make a difference... The power to control City-Hall. My motives are of m-my own, and I-I see them as just. Think on that the n-next time you think that your work alone befits the g-greater good! Your enemy would b-beg to differ, and would not be... Without cause."
Nick chuckled dryly. He couldn't believe that this guy was trying to monologue while dying on the ground. The fox was almost surprised at how calm they both seemed.
"Maybe you are right." Nick murmured. "But that doesn't excuse your crimes and actions. Not one bit. You're not the victim here, Ratsputin."
Grygorri breathed in slowly. He then curled up a bit and placed his paws on the hilt of the sword that was implanted in his stomach. Nick cringed as he watched the rat rip the sword from his gut, pulling it out delicately and causing another wave of blood to pour from his body, pooling on the ground around him. The fox thought that that kinda stuff was only possible in movies, but one thing was for certain, now: With all that blood loss, there was no coming back from this. Not for Ratsputin.
"Take it..." Ratsputin requested, pushing the sword's hilt against Nick's paws. "Take... Good c-care of it. Keep it away... From the devil. He... Will be coming for it."
Nick grasped the rat's blade in his grip, causing Ratsputin to let go and drop his arm back to the ground.
There was too much to take in. Why did Ratsputin want Nick to have his sword? Who was this devil that he was referring to, and what did they want with it?
"Why?" Was all that the fox managed through his wavering voice.
The dying rat looked Nick directly in the eyes and wheezed his coming words with a bitter tone;
"I will not weep and wonder what might have b-been. I have lied, cheated, threatened, and c-clawed my way to the top, all for a purpose that you could never hope to understand. But I'm no villain... I'm just an old rat with d-distasteful hobbies."
Ratsputin chuckled dryly, causing a small stream of blood to dribble out from the corner of his mouth. He smiled slightly, as though he were amused.
"I should have killed you when I had the chance."
The rat's face slacked, his smile fading, and his head lolled to the side, going limp. A small breath of air escaped from his lungs, and he ceased to move or speak.
Grygorri Ratsputin was dead at last.
Checkmate.
12:34 A.M
One loss after another, yet in the end, all things led back to the very hearth of what they both knew and loved.
Nick and Judy were both subject to the petulant demands of the emergency response team: Draped in shock blankets and forced to rest as they watched the responders zip up the black body-bag that contained Ratsputin's corpse, and cart it off the scene of the crime, gone from sight and mind. All the while, the fox held on tightly to the rat's sword, his last gift before his departure from this world.
For many hours to come, the ZPD picked through the depths of Ratsputin's estate, discovering all sorts of different archives and other materials that the rat must've used for blackmailing his enemies. Nick was quite shocked, yet at the same time, not very surprised to come across a single folder titled with his own name, of which one of the other officers had given to him not too long after they had unearthed the hidden basement, buried deep beneath the grounds of the estate itself.
He burned it when the others weren't looking: Using a cigarette lighter from officer Delgado, Nick reduced the evidence that the rat had on him to smoking cinders. The guilt was powerful, but he knew that this new life of his wasn't worth losing over the mistakes of his old one. From now on, the worst memories of his past were nothing but ash, and he would keep it that way for as long as he lived, instead focusing his efforts on bettering himself and the world around him, all with Judy Hopps proudly by his side.
Thinking back on the rat's final few words, Nick soon realized the reasoning and ambition behind Grygorri's sudden suicide: As he said, he would rather face death itself than at last be put behind bars, where the ZPD and the courts would undoubtedly and mercilessly pry the vast amount of information from his head. Instead, Ratsputin took his precious knowledge to his grave, bound in chains and gone forever.
The fox could only wonder at the consequences of such: Ratsputin was one of the most intelligent and calculating individuals that he had ever met in his entire life.
Countless opportunities and ideas were instantly ruined the moment that the sword had pierced the rat's body, effectively ending his life. Nick knew that despite it all, Ratsputin had taken his own life sooner than surrender the knowledge that he had collected over the years. Did that fact make him a coward, or something more? Nick didn't know.
What he did know, however, was what it meant for himself.
It seemed that in the end, Ratsputin's motivations were as cutting as his prized sword: He had felt as though the world had owed him something, perhaps in retribution for the pain that he himself had suffered through. The cancer really was nothing more than an influencing factor. Past it all, Ratsputin was just a bitter mammal biting back at the world that he felt hadn't given him a chance. A little old rat had gotten so much power, and had done so much damage with it. Nick found the irony of it all to be quite amusing.
Such thoughts and more, peppered his mind as he worked throughout the night.
Much of the evidence from the scene of the crime, including Ratsputin's physical collection of artifacts and other objects, was taken back to the ZPD Head-Quarters, where it was all tallied, marked, documented, and placed within the confines of the evidence archive. The shock-collar prototype and other documentations were also stored and stashed away, now safe, sound, and secure within the hands of the ZPD, where it would stay for all of time immemorial, never to be exploited again.
When all was said and done, Nick remembered all too well the final moments of his time at the archive, late that night. After hours upon hours of categorizing all of Ratsputin's belongings and other knick-knacks, the fox took the time to close the door to the aforementioned room, shadow enveloping all the work that he had accomplished that night.
However, one single item, the very last thing that he had registered, was also the very last thing that he saw before the room went dark: One silver-coated family locket.
With somber eyes, yet high hopes for the future and whatever came with it, good or bad, Nick closed the door shut, and walked away, his mind blank and clear of all things...
And he didn't once look back.
Hey everyone!
At last, the great game is finally over, and a new king has been crowned! Phew... That certainly took long enough. (Excuse the ultra long author's note, but I do encourage you to read it.)
This chapter took me entire moons to write, but boy, I am eternally pleased with the way that it turned out! I am certainly hoping that you all are too, of course! I had an absolute blast creating this new chapter for you all, and I would very much adore knowing whatcha think of it all in a nice review!
Yes, I'd love knowin' what you think on the chapter's plot, the interactions, dialogue, ending, descriptions, and your future hopes and thoughts! :)
Speaking of which, do keep in mind the fact that there is more to come, I assure you! Like I mentioned sometime before, I actually have at least the next two entire story arcs planned out, not even counting the bonus chapters and other additional creations! Yeah, we got a lot comin' here soon enough, my friends! I seriously cannot wait to reveal everything that I've got in store here at HQ, and what it means for the coming chapters of When Instinct Falls!
The first official chapter of the new story arc is currently planned for release sometime soon, of course, but not before the upcoming 5th bonus chapter, which will serve as the very final addition in the little mini-series we have between Vladzotz and Lucy, respectively. Once that's out of the way, we'll jump right into the 6th arc, where we'll come face to face with more city districts and exploration, new and interesting characters, and a fresh chunk of plot for all to enjoy!
And honestly; it's looking up to be my favorite one yet!
But as I said before and such, we still do have the next bonus chapter to get through first, of course! Expect it to arrive here soon enough, my friends! :)
That's pretty much all that I have for now, really. I thank you all so much for reading: It's been a wild ride thus far, and I can't wait for what's to come!
But for now, I need a nice break. I'm pretty sure my fingers are broken.
'Till next time...
Peace!
PS: Props to anyone who can catch all of the movie references in this latest chapter of ours! :P
PPS: I'd also like to clarify something about Ratsputin's motivations as a villain. Every proper villain needs a clear motivation to drive them and their work. Vladzotz was fueled by vengeance, Jack was a desperate and greedy individual being manipulated by higher powers, and Shahaz, well, he actually didn't have any aside from greed: He was supposed to be a "Big Bad Wannabe" kind of character, subverting the reader's expectations until the reveal of Vladzotz's return.
But what about Ratsputin? Well, as mentioned in this chapter's epilogue, he felt as though the world owed him something. He'd been an intelligent individual marred by overconfidence, bullied in his childhood, yet still ambitious enough to reach for a strong career goal, even if it was deemed unfit for his species. Like Judy! However, unlike Judy, he never succeeded in that goal: He never become the world's first rat news anchor. He grew bitter and cruel, and as he climbed the ranks of his chosen career (news) in other ways, becoming a CEO and shareholder instead of an anchor, he simultaneously honed his intelligence in the use of blackmail to bite back at the world that had denied him of his dream. He helped fund and support Bellwether's villainous plot (even though he had her busted out of prison just to have her killed to prevent her from blabbing) in the original movie (because he doesn't like predators), and when he realized that he could use the documents for the second phase of Bellwether's plan (instituting shock-collars in the predator population) to blackmail the city government, as they didn't want the public to know about them, he immediately set out to acquire them for himself. The cancer helped motivate him to do it quickly, too. His goals were to use the documents to show the world how powerful a little rat could be, because deep down, he figured that if no one would accept him for who he was, then he might as well show the city what it truly was, in turn. A true Napoleon-Complex, if there ever was one; and all because he never succeeded in his dreams.
As I write this now, I admit that I am disappointed that I didn't cover more of Ratsputin's history and desires, but the next (and final, I might add) two arcs and their antagonists, especially the last one, really show more than tell, that much I can promise you. They are among my favorites, and I hope you continue to read!
Ratsputin was meant to serve as the epitome of Nick and Judy's failures and flaws. So similar, yet so different, especially to Nick himself. He was the representation of their regrets and misgivings, and now that he's dead, that chapter has closed; with Nick and Judy all the more wiser because of it. Oh, and as for Nick and Judy, don't you worry - You'll be finding out what happens to them very soon, with their talk with Chief Bogo about what happened. Do keep on reading to find out!
Hope that helps clear some things up for you! Now, let's jump into the next chapter, shall we?