AN: Eyyo! Finally got this chapter done. Sorry it's been so long... So, so much work. It won't get better, but I'm still going as fast as I can. Hopefully I'll get to go faster later.
Anyways, I'm loving Volume 5 so far. Oscar's a pretty cool character, I think, and he'll be even cooler as time goes on. And the Spring Maiden seems like a really cool idea. I can't wait to see how everything with her plays out – like is this just a phase of rebellion or is she unwilling to help people?
To all of us in America, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a nice few days. To everyone not in America... Have a good Thursday.
Well, better respond now:
To gamelover41592: I'm glad it started great! And of course I kept the Night Howlers, they're a big part of the story, even if I'm changing it up a bit.
To LightJakRises: Thanks. I hope this is good, too.
Anyways, have fun with this chapter!
Chapter 11: Angry Furries
"Nick!" Judy hissed angrily.
"Yang..." Jaune muttered in disappointment.
The fox and golden bunny didn't listen to their partners, instead opting to continue poking and prodding the tiny sphere of fluff that was protruding from the head of Judy's friend. A sheep by the name of Deputy Mayor Bellwether. "So fluffy!" Yang whispered above the deputy mayor's head, grinning and nodding at Nick.
"I know, right! They don't usually let me get this close!" came Nick's reply as he squeezed the fuzzy ball between his index finger and thumb. He let go and flicked it with his middle finger, giggling under his breath as it jiggled.
Judy hissed at her partner in crime, commanding him to stop: "You can't just touch a sheep's wool!"
"It's like cotton candy!" Yang muttered in awe. Jaune slapped his face with his hand and shook his head.
"So, you need footage from last night for the station at Vine and Tujunga?" Bellwether asked. She began to turn, and Nick and Yang jumped back, terrified that she would notice what they'd been doing. It didn't seem that she had, as she just turned to Judy and ignored the two animals nearly slamming into the nearby shelves of documents. "I'm happy to help. Us little guys need to stick together, right?" The sheep laughed and shook her head before returning to the computer in front of her. "Let's see... Let's see... Oh, here we go! Traffic cams for the whole city!" Bellwether began to click through the screens. "Oh, this is so exciting! I – I never get to do anything this important!"
Judy raised a confused eyebrow. "But you're the Assistant Mayor of Zootopia!"
"Shouldn't you be really involved in everything?" Jaune echoed in confusion.
Bellwether laughed at that idea, a noise that sounded good natured despite the bitter edge to it. "Oh, I'm more of a glorified secretary." She waved her hand dismissively and began to twiddle her thumbs. "I think Mayor Lionheart just wanted the sheep vote... Oh, but he did give me this nice mug!" There was that bitter edge again.
Jaune turned to look at where she was gesturing and he grimaced. Bitter was well deserved. It was a mug that read, "World's Greatest Dad!" Though the 'Dad' was scribbled out with red with the words Assistant Mayor hastily scrawled above. Bellwether forced a smile and said, "Feels... good to be appreciated."
"Well, we appreciate everything you're doing," Jaune assured her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a lopsided smile. She smiled appreciatively, though it looked somewhat strained.
She looked ready to respond, but was cut off when a commanding, angry voice came through her phone. "Smellwether!"
Her eyes fell for a half second before she forced her smile back onto her face and nodded at everyone in turn. "Oh, that's just a fun little nickname he has for me... I tried calling him Lion-fart once... did not go over well."
"Smellwether! I don't have all day!"
She sighed and jumped up. "I better go!" she said, still forcing a smile, and turned to run out of the filing cabinet that made up her office. "Let me know what you find!" Then she opened the door and was gone.
"Guy sounds like a jerk," Yang growled at the phone. She crossed her arms and shook her head.
Jaune glared at the phone and nodded, "Yeah, I'm not a fan either."
"True, but we have bigger problems than Woolie's mean boss," Nick said. He motioned for Judy to get in the seat and begin looking through the footage from the Vine and Tujunga trolley station. The rabbit nodded and hopped into the seat to begin the long process of moving backwards until she could find what happened to the panther, Manchas. She frowned and leaned forward towards the screen, studying it intently.
Everyone had been quiet for some time, waiting for Judy to find anything that might help them when Nick decided to finally ask the question. "So, where are you from?" Jaune and Yang flinched and looked at each other nervously. The fox had turned his head slightly from the screen and grinned evilly upon seeing them so uncomfortable. "Oh, so it's a big secret that you obviously aren't from the city? Not this city, at least." He stood up straight and turned around to study the two. "But I can't tell anything other than that, and usually I'm pretty good about it. I had Carrots down in two seconds, but you two..?" He shrugged in defeat.
"You thought I was from Podunk, not Bunny Burrow," Judy pointed out while continuing to look at the computer. "So you were wrong."
"Semantics. They're basically the same," Nick said dismissively. He pointed at Yang and Jaune, ignoring Judy, who had turned away from the screen now and was politely explaining to her partner and their two allies that Podunk and Bunny Burrow were very different. Bunny Burrow grew carrots, while Podunk focused mainly on the harvesting of corn, for one. "So, how about it? Where are you two from?"
Jaune was not exactly the best at lying in a believable manner. His last real attempt at trying to craft a falsehood had resulted in an absolutely unbelievable statement – that he was a highly trained student of a Huntsman Academy worthy of being accepted into Beacon. Of course, it had turned out well enough. Ish. Now he actually was a highly trained warrior worthy of having gone to Beacon! Still, Yang decided, it was probably best not to let him come up with the cover story for where they were actually from. She opened her mouth before Jaune's stammering could turn into an elaborate and insane lie. So, stick with... 'the truth.' "Forest Vale originally. We've been more like vagrants recently, though."
Nick studied her face for a while. "Never been there before," he finally said, unsure if she was telling the truth. "Is it nice?"
Yang, not missing a beat, responded, "I liked it. Lots of trees, a few good nightclubs. There was this bull that made some trouble. My mom and friends took him down."
"Oh, so you know some cops back home?" Judy asked, looking over her shoulder at them.
"Deputies," Yang corrected.
Nick stared at her for a moment more before glancing over at Jaune's nervous face. Yang cut in, "Unfortunately he doesn't like talking about home. This girl he loved... The bull's friend killed her," she cut in, defending her friend.
Nick's eyes widened. "Oh, I, uh -" he stuffed his hands in his pocket and glanced at the floor. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to – Never mind." He turned sullenly away.
"He means we're sorry for your loss," Judy noted simply. Jaune nodded solemnly before glancing over at Yang, who smiled softly to comfort him.
He cleared his throat and gestured at the computer. "Uh, is – is that what we're looking for?"
Judy, Nick, and Yang all turned back to the computer, just in time to see wolves moving in reverse – moving Manchas, in a net, away from a van, placing him on the ground, then walking backwards towards the van again and aiming a net gun at the panther. The net flew into the gun and Manchas stood up, at which point the wolves jumped backwards into the van. "It is!" Judy hit play to stop the rewinding.
The wolves jumped out of the van, fluidly raising their net guns towards the Panther as he slowly woke up amidst the still unconscious group of Yang, Jaune, Judy, and Nick. The panther growled and began to lower itself to jump towards the wolves and claw them to death, and leap it did. Only for the net to surround him and send him flying backwards, skidding to a stop just before falling off the ledge of the gondola station. The wolves ran forward and grabbed hold of the net, lugging the panther within – still snarling – to the van and tossing him in. "Ugh, timber wolves. I bet one's going to howl," Nick muttered dryly. He was rewarded when one, and then the other, began to howl at the sky. "See? What'd I tell ya? What is it with wolves and howling?" The howling continued until Yang began to stir in her sleep, at which point they shut up and jumped into the van to drive away.
Judy laughed in triumph. "Howling! Night Howlers! Manchas said something about Night Howlers and here they are!" she said, gesturing at the screen. "Timberwolves!"
The group watched the van drive away and jumped to the next camera in their path. The van drove in and zoomed out to the next, and they jumped to that camera. This went on for a few moments until the van drove into a tunnel and the group jumped to the camera on the other side of the tunnel and waited for the car to come out. They waited almost a minute before Judy's eyes widened. "Th-the van!? It just disappeared!?"
Nick frowned and put a hand on the chin of his snout. "Maybe... Eh, move, Carrots. Come on," he said, edging the chair she was sitting in out of the way. He leaned down and began to cycle backwards. "Now, if I were going to do something illegal that I didn't want anyone to see – which I never have," he said, glancing at Judy when she raised an eyebrow at him. "I'd use this access tunnel and... Ha!" He clicked another button and the van reappeared on a winding road.
Jaune smiled. "Good job, Nick," he said, placing a hand on the fox's shoulder.
Nick grinned. "I don't do anything except good jobs," he said with a shrug.
"Redwood."
Nick looked over at Judy and rolled his eyes. He scoffed, "Will you let that go, I never actually lied."
S M H S
The four warily glared around the corner of the road at the veritable army of incredibly well dressed wolves that patrolled the bridge leading over the swirling ocean and onto the island upon which the asylum loomed into the stormy sky. "Night Howlers..." Judy murmured as quietly as possible.
Jaune frowned. Something about this felt off, like they were missing something really important. He glanced over at Yang and saw that she had a similar concerned frown on her face. "This feels... wrong," he muttered to the blonde brawler.
"You're telling me," she said, surging to full height behind the corner and crossing her arms. It wasn't very tall as she was now, though she somehow remained intimidating and serious despite this with her lilac eyes a cool amethyst right at that moment.
"Do you guys think it's a trap?" Nick asked, his eyes flashing between them and then the asylum. A frown curled onto his face. "But how would they know we were coming?"
"No, it doesn't feel like a trap," Yang explained, shaking her head as she did. She stopped glared at the ground.
"It's just... who's behind these mammals going crazy? And why do it?" Jaune wondered aloud. "If it's to cause havoc, why lock up Manchas? And if they just want to kidnap animals, these predator mammals aren't the ones you'd want to go crazy."
"It could be mob ties," Judy said simply. "Manchas and Otterton both worked for Mr. Big."
"Maybe... but then why do none of the wolves have any weapons? If it was about a mob, they'd be expecting some kind of retaliation, wouldn't they? And where are the Heartless?" Jaune supplied. He glanced at Yang, who shrugged, the back at Nick and Judy. He shrugged as well and continued, "I don't know. It just feels like we're missing something, and that makes me nervous."
"It even makes me worried, and I'm not a nervous puppy like him," Yang explained, jabbing her thumb at her partner.
Jaune just shook his head.
"Doesn't matter," Judy stated. Jaune and Yang turned to her in surprise. "It doesn't matter what's waiting for us."
"We need to head over no matter what," Nick said, agreeing with her unspoken words.
"We know. Just... be careful," Jaune said before summoning the Keyblade to his hand again. He hefted it up onto his shoulder and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Okay, ready when you are."
Yang's gauntlets unfolded along her arms and her red eyes glowed with excitement in the dark of night. "Oh, hell yeah."
"We should probably sneak in, Yang," Judy said, causing the brawler's eyes to turn lilac and annoyed.
"Really? We have to do that?" she asked sadly. She kicked the ground and her gauntlets retracted. "I wanted a fight..."
Jaune raised his paw. Everyone turned slowly towards him and he sighed. "I, uh... I might have a plan."
Five minutes later, the group was standing together just past the corner. None of the timber wolves were looking their way, as of yet, but it was only a matter of time. "I really hope this works," Jaune muttered to himself. He took a deep breath.
"Come on, Jaune, if there's anything you're good at it's coming up with plans," Yang pointed out from right behind him.
He smiled and looked back at her. "Thanks, Yang, that -"
"And if you mess up, I get to punch something!"
Jaune frowned. "Always looking on the bright side," he muttered, annoyed. He shook his head. "Let's go." He charged forward. He had to keep an eye on the timber wolves that were guarding the complex if this plan was going to work, and his timing had to be perfect. He began to move forward, dashing on all fours to increase his speed. The pads on his palms made his steps almost silent. Rain began to fall and the quiet pattering his hands and feet made against the pavement became completely hidden. One of the wolves began to turn towards them.
"Jaune, what are you waiting for?" Yang hissed as quietly as she could. Being Yang... it was a bit louder than she had meant. The wolf began to turn faster.
"Yang..." Jaune hissed under his breath. He threw his head back and slid to a stop. Then he howled and the wolf stopped in his tracks. The timber wolf threw his head back and began to howl as well.
The wolves behind him glanced their way, hands shooting up in confusion before they, too, threw their heads back and howled at the top of their lungs. Yang grinned. "That should do it," she said. She began to walk past Jaune but stopped when she noticed he wasn't done howling. "Uh, Jaune. Jaune!"
He was snapped out of the howl and stumbled, slamming his face into the ground. "Ugh? What?" he wondered as he spat out dirty water from his mouth.
"Dogs," she muttered before helping him to his feet so the four of them could run across the bridge.
"You okay there, Pupper?" Nick asked Jaune as they hit the midway point of the bridge.
Another nickname? Jaune thought to himself before shaking his head. "I'm fine," he mumbled in annoyance.
"Don't bark at me," Nick joked, smirking.
"Nick. Stop," Judy whispered as she dashed past and around the still howling timber wolves at the front door of the asylum. She pulled the door open and dashed in, quickly followed by Yang. Jaune arrived next and held it open for Nick before he too dashed into the echoing darkness of the building.
The Keyblade appeared in his hand a moment later, casting a dim glow for a few feet that gave the group some idea of where they were going. There was a collective groan as they caught sight of the long hallway in front of them, a dozen doors on both sides, a corner to another hallway halfway down, and an open stairwell at the end. "We're going to have to check all these rooms," Judy whispered, a tinge of horror running through her voice.
Nick grimaced. "And... And every floor."
Yang started to jokingly cry.
"Well, we better get started," Jaune muttered. He gestured at the doors on the right. "Yang and I'll take that side, you guys do the other side and then we'll spread out from there."
"And we're going to go get the other group if we find the missing mammals," Judy insisted. "Right here."
Yang was quick to add, "Or if there's Heartless. You'll need our help."
Nick nodded. "Duh," he agreed with a nod.
Jaune sighed and looked at the first door. "Well, the sooner we start..."
Judy groaned as well. "... The sooner we find the missing mammals."
The four groaned again at the sheer size of the task in front of them, then finally got to work. They pulled open the first doors on either side, revealing...
Empty, dilapidated rooms that hadn't been in use for decades. "We're going to have to check every room..." Nick said, tears in his voice.
"Yup," Yang muttered. "We are." The four moved on silently to the next rooms, knowing it would be a very long night.
S M H S
"The fourth floor?" Judy asked, her voice overwhelmed with exhaustion as she and the others met up at the top of the stairwell leading up to the fifth story. She yawned and rubbed her eyes in pained annoyance. "Did you guys find anything, because Nick and I didn't."
Jaune was dragging Yang, who was acting as melodramatic as ever, with him on one of his shoulders. "I'm dead from boredom!" Yang whimpered. Jaune came to a stop and unceremoniously dropped her. Yang stifled a yelp and fell, her face slamming into the ground.
"No. We didn't find anything," Jaune said while he stretched his shoulder and groaned. "Sorry that we're so late. She made me search the second half of our side by myself."
"Bored..." came Yang's voice, muffled by the ground and her hair.
"Carrots stopped zipping from door to door on that floor too," Nick said, jabbing his thumb towards his rabbit companion, who scowled at him in turn.
"And you stood behind me a few steps and used me as a shield because, 'I'm a cop,'" Judy said. "And that is fair, but don't get on me for acting a little more cautiously, Nick, when I was the first one through every door."
"Eh," Nick shrugged, not feeling guilty in the slightest.
Jaune and Yang stifled laughter at their new friend's nonchalant response. "Thanks, guys," Judy muttered, shaking her head. She turned to the closest door and rubbed her eyes again. "Okay. Let's just check this out." She reached forward and slowly opened the door.
Jaune immediately felt that this was the right room. Darkness began to waft out of the room, a contamination that could only be felt in truth by the Keyblade Wielder as he stood beyond the doorway. He could practically smell it as it crawled towards them. Jaune took a half step back. "What's wrong?" Yang asked, the only one of their group to notice, as Judy and Nick were standing in front of them. She grabbed his wrist to keep his arm from masking his face. "Jaune. What?"
"Yang, that room is all Darkness," Jaune explained, a pained look on his face. "It smells like... like sunlight being smothered."
"Then this is the room," Yang muttered. Jaune nodded, acknowledging that she was right. She threw her hands down forcefully, activating Ember Celica and summoning a dully glowing flame to her palms. Then she raised them to the ready in front of her. "We'll head in first."
Judy and Nick glanced back at her from the half-opened door and saw her flaming fists. "Well, if you insist," Nick said. He grabbed Judy by the arm and pulled her out of the way.
Judy hissed angrily, "Hey!"
"Her fists are on fire!" Nick hissed back, "And Jaune looks like he saw a monster, Carrots."
"This is the room," Jaune explained quietly before walking in with Yang. The Keyblade appeared in his grasp once more and using this, he and Yang illuminated the pitch black of the room they had just entered. The oppressive Darkness was forced back by the Keyblade and the Light of the fire. The Darkness of the room was permeated even further by the sudden appearance of otherworldly, terrifying eyes that floated and glowed in the shadows, ancient hunger filling them. The primal eyes of predators, 30 eyes total, "This is... is definitely the room."
The group approached the nearest set of eyes, the door swinging quietly shut behind them so that the only light was that of the Keyblade and Yang's fire. The eyes moved slowly backwards, deeper into the shadows of the glass walled cage that was holding it back. "Uh, hello –?" Judy began as she walked forward, her phone coming up to record everything going on around them. The entire group yelped in surprise and leaped backwards when the bright orange and black body of a tiger slammed into the glass. They scrabbled backwards even after the tiger bounced off of the barrier and crashed into the ground of its cell. It rolled and scrabbled wildly to its feet before baring its fangs and hissing at the four wide eyed, scared heroes.
Judy jumped to her feet and swirled the camera around to another cell, turning the light on her phone on as she did. Manchas appeared in a cell, prowling up and down the length of the glass walled room, both eyes shining hungrily. She turned to the next, catching sight of a cheetah, then to another and another. "... thirteen, fourteen... Fifteen!" She found a tiny otter and rushed towards it, getting close to the glass and followed close by the others. She leaned in close. "Mister Otterton! Mister Otterton, are you okay?"
The otter cocked its head to the side and chittered. Then hissed and bounded into the shadows of its cell. "This is all of them," Judy said after a moment of silence staring after the otter, curled up in the corner and still hissing at their group. She stared back at him sadly for a moment, then turned to the others. "Okay, we have all the evidence we need. We need to get -"
Yang and Jaune's eyes snapped to the door when the noise of the door opening shot through the room, the two warriors' large ears catching the noise that Judy and Nick, their animal hearing damaged by the noise of city life, couldn't catch. Yang grabbed them by the shoulders and dragged them into the nearest empty cell, Jaune jumping in with them and sliding the door nearly shut behind them. "What was that for?" Nick asked, only for Jaune and Yang to cover his mouth and motion for him to shut up. They pointed at the door, now halfway open, and the fox's jaw clenched. He got the point now. The four got low to the ground peered into the main portion of the room through the glass. Judy raised her phone to record what was about to happen.
"I want answers!" a deep, familiar voice snapped as it barged through the door, bringing light back into the room. The door slammed into the wall fully and stayed open, magnets locking it in place. The giant lion was frustrated, anger clearly showing on his impatient features as he uncrossed his arms and fidgeted with the tie of his well made suit before throwing his hands down.
The figure beside him waddled into the room, a badger maybe a third of his height . "Mayor Lionheart, please," she said begged him to calm down, looking up from her clipboard and placing a pen in the pocket of her labcoat. She stopped when he did, deferential. "We're doing everything we can!"
Lionheart – the mayor, Jaune remembered from their time with the sheep – scoffed. "Really?" He shook his head and gestured at the animals lining the walls, one hand on his hip and the hair of his mane beginning to rise in further agitation. He took a deep breath before he continued to speak and his voice became more even. "Because I got a dozen and a half animals here who have gone off the rails crazy and you can't tell me why." He gestured at the badger and snarled, the agitation drifting back despite his efforts. "Now, I'd call that awfully far from 'doing everything.'"
"Sir..." The badger sighed. She glanced over at the cell containing Manchas, who growled threateningly, then looked back at Mayor Lionheart. "... it may be time to consider their biology."
The Lion's eyes widened and he jabbed a finger in the badger's face. "What!? What do you mean by 'biology!?'"
Just as agitated by what she was suggesting, the badger's voice began to rise. "The only animals going savage are predators!" she exclaimed worriedly. She gestured at the room surrounding them with her clipboard. "We cannot keep it a secret. We need to come forward!"
The lion nodded and gestured at her with his hand. "Huh... Great idea. Tell the public," he began, voice quiet but mocking. He placed a hand on his chin. "Hmm... And how do you think they're going to feel about their mayor..." he gestured at himself and his mane rose to full as adrenaline and anger spiked through his body, then roared out, "... WHO IS A LION!? I'll be ruined!"
The badger, to her credit, didn't cave. "Well, what does Chief Bogo say?" she asked with a sigh.
"Wow, we're lucky they're saying everything you'd need to build a case in one night, huh, Judy?" Yang whispered so only the group could hear what she had said.
"Chief Bogo doesn't know," the lion said, jabbing his finger into the badger's shoulder. He bared his teeth and continued to speak through them. "And we are going to keep it that way."
It was at that moment that something incredibly unlucky happened. Jaune and Yang really should have expected this to happen now. The entire room went deathly silent as Yang's Scroll in her pocket lit up and began to belt out the lyrics to her favorite song. Yang yelped and violently reached down to her hip to try and pull her Scroll from her pocket, but by then it was far too late. The mayor and his doctor turned towards the cell with wide, horrified eyes as the back of Yang's head slammed into the glass and she slammed her index finger against the screen over and over again in an attempt to silence it. "Shut up shut up shut up!" she was hissing until, finally, her finger touched the large red bar that said 'Dismiss' on the alarm. She sighed in relief. "I got it."
"Who's there!?" the lion snapped, baring his teeth.
"Yep. You kept them from noticing us," Jaune muttered under his breath at the woman. "You got it." Yang just glared back at him.
"I'm going to – Agh!" The mayor fell to his knees, hands slamming into the ground. Jaune felt a shudder run down his spine when the shadows in the room condensed around the lion and black fire began to flow from his mane. Lionheart's eyes became manic and savage. Hungry. Jaune grit his teeth and tore the glass door open, summoning the Keyblade and jumping in front of the badger just as Lionheart turned, toothy jaws wide open and charged with black fire, towards the doctor. Magical metal collided with teeth and the Dark Fire spell exploded against the Keyblade's teeth.
"How did he move that fast?"
Nick glanced at Judy. "Coming from a bunny..."
"You guys get out of here and go get Bogo!" Yang commanded, stuffing the Scroll back in her pocket. She vaulted into the room and summoned a flame spell to the heels of her feet, the flickering energy casting an angry glow throughout the small room. Her feet collided with Lionheart's head and he was thrown off of the Keyblade wielder, slamming into the wall. The animals within shrieked, roared, and hissed at the lion, but it ignored them. Yang flipped midair and landed beside Jaune. She nodded towards the badger behind them. "And get Stripes out of here."
"But you guys -" Judy was cut off when the lion's eyes focused on her and he leaped again. Judy's eyes slammed shut on instinct as she prepared for death. She hit the ground and saw, out of the corner of her eye, that Nick had shoved her out of the way. "NICK!"
"We'll be fine!" Jaune shouted, appearing in front of Nick and taking the blow with the Keyblade again. "Go!"
Judy and Nick didn't have to hear that again. They dashed for the doctor. "What's going on!?" the badger snapped.
"Don't badger us with questions!" Nick snapped, dragging her out of the room.
"Heheheha..."
"Yang! Helping is better than laughing at bad jokes!" Jaune snapped at his partner.
"Ha ha... Cause she's a badger..." Yang muttered to herself. She sighed and shook her head then turned towards the raging lion. "Fine, I'm coming." Flame came back to her fists and she charged forward, delivering a massive blow against the lion's toothy jaw. His head snapped to the side and he swirled with the momentum to glare at the two, looking no worse for the wear. In fact, the flames that Yang had used against him had, instead of hurting him, seemed to have been absorbed into the flaming aura he was exhuding.
"So. I Burn?" Jaune asked beside her.
Yang narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"
"Nothing. It just seems a little... on the nose, Hot-head," Jaune mocked, his voice slightly more confident than usual.
"Jaune, Helping is better than laughing at your own bad jokes," Yang growled, summoning flames to her fists again and jumping towards the lion growling at them. The flame covered fist slammed into the front of the tiger's mouth and Yang could hear the satisfying noise of teeth shattering against the metal of her fingers. She grinned and grabbed the lion by his mane before turning away from the door and throwing him towards the windowless wall. She jumped into the air and tossed a few fireballs at him for good measure until she hit the ground next to Jaune. "Oh, look, didn't need any."
"You sure about that?" Jaune asked, motioning with his head at the lion, who stood up without a single injury.
"What the – I shattered his teeth!" Yang shouted.
"Worry later!" Jaune hurriedly shouted, shoving her to the side and diving after her as a ball of black, explosive flames shot from the roaring jaws of the lion. The black energy flew over their heads and crashed into the wall, instantly incinerating an entire section of the wall with the doorway in it. "For now, I think the answer, Yang, is going with less flames."
"But... But... I Burn..." she said sadly.
"Just do it!" he shouted as another sphere of black fire began to condense in the lion's maw. "Uh... Uh... Blizzareflect!" He shouted when the flames rocketed towards them. Hexagons of thick ice began to spring into being in front of them, forming a solid wall in front of them that glowed bright with Light energy. The black sphere crashed into the wall and rebounded just as it finished forming. There was a hiss as the heated air of the fire spell was supercooled and a solid chunk of ice flew directly back at the lion. It roared, a massive noise that shook the room and let the monster catch the ice in its jaws, eventually shattering it. The resulting explosion of ice coated the lion in frost and it flinched in pain.
"What was that!?" Yang snapped.
"Less talky more fighty?" Jaune suggested just before the wall went down and the now injured – and much angrier – lion leaped physically towards them again. Jaune jumped to the side, letting Yang, grinning at the coming fight, deliver a savage uppercut to the lion. His mane moved wildly as he was thrown upwards and crashed into the ceiling, the paneling caving in and electric sparks flying out from destroyed wiring. Jaune rushed forward and readied his Keyblade at his hip. He jumped up and slashed at Lionheart as he began to fall from the ceiling, but the Darkness surrounding the predator shifted and Jaune was thrown away by the sudden appearance of a purple and black tiger leaping out of the lion's mane. Poison magic dripped from its claws and fangs and Jaune barely had enough time to stop his attack in order to keep himself safe. Still, he was thrown into one of the empty cells, crashing into a bed in a bundle of sheets.
"Jaune!" Yang shouted, but she looked up and raised her bracers to block Lionheart's clws from crashing into her. "You okay?"
"Fine, just – Agh!" Jaune tore out of the sheets, greeted by the yellow eyes and poison claws of the prowling Predator. The Keyblade swiped to the side, barely redirecting the Heartless' claws into the wall, giving Jaune time to roll off the bed and to his feet. The Predator rebounded off the wall, turning the corner and then leaping one more time in an attempt to gut Jaune. He was ready for the fight now, though, and was able to easily move past the attack. The teeth of the Keyblade slammed into the monster's face as he ducked. The creature flinched and soared over him, crashing face first into the side of the cell. A tiger roared in annoyance from the other side. "Sorry neighbor!" Jaune said with a joking smile.
The smile quickly disappeared when a wave of poison magic flew at him. "Great," he muttered. He raised the Keyblade defensively and blocked the attack, though he was still thrown backwards into the other wall, smoking lines of poison at either side.
"Could you be going any slower?" Yang asked, kneeing the lion in the chin. She sidestepped around him and grabbed hold of his midsection so she could suplex the possessed lion, use his body as a base to flip, and then toss the lion into the room. The Predator turned and got a lion to the face, the two landing in a heap in one corner. "Jaune, get out!"
"Right!" he shouted before jumping out. He turned and aimed his Keyblade at the room and summoned up a burst of energy in his haste. Darkness fizzled at the end of the Kingdom Key, mixed with Light, and several crystals of the twin energies flew in. They collided with the Predator, now free of Lionheart and rushing Jaune, and the resulting explosion filled the cell. Jaune hit the ground beside Yang and the brawler raised her fists above them to summon a Reflect wall that took the explosion and left them both completely unscathed. The same couldn't be said for Mayor Lionheart, now unconscious in his cell and heavily injured, as the two found out when they jumped up and peeked into the cell with wary eyes.
The two let go and hit the ground with a heavy thud. "Ugh..." Jaune groaned as he let his head hit the ground and his eyes shut. "So... just what the hell was that alarm about?"
"That?" Yang asked. She took her Scroll out and tossed it to him. It landed on his face.
"Ow!" he snapped. He groaned and lifted the Scroll, rubbing his long nose. "Ugh... What!? Two days until we're needed back home!? We need to get out of here!"
Yang groaned and dragged herself over to lay down and take her Scroll back. "The one day warning alarm hasn't gone off yet. We'll be fine," she groaned into her elbow. "That was harder than it should have been, even with your weird ice wall."
"I'm tired," Jaune agreed, draping one arm over his eyes. "So... so tired."
The two cast a glance at one another. Jaune, despite himself, couldn't help but grin. "This was a lot of fun."
"Right!?" Yang agreed with an excited laugh.
S M H S
Jaune and Yang stood in the rain outside of the asylum, watching as heavily armored police officers of various very large, very strong animal species used long poles with steel rope collars at the end to forcefully guide the savage mammals towards sixteen paddy wagons that idled on the bridge, ready to drive the animals to the hospital. Jaune frowned and hoped that this world would be able to help them, because he had no idea how this Darkness had taken root in such a powerful way. From what he'd seen with Manchas, it didn't take much for the Darkness to completely overtake the animals. He wondered briefly if Professor Ozpin might be able to help with all of this, then sighed. "You're worried about this world, aren't you?" Yang asked upon hearing the heavy noise. She reached up and patted the dog's back comfortingly. "Yeah, me too. They don't seem like they know how to fight things like this."
"No, and..." Jaune sighed and looked over at her. "We still don't know who was behind this."
"If anyone was," Yang pointed out, eliciting a surprised grunt from her partner. "I mean, I think there's something behind it, but..." The brawler shrugged. "It might just be Heartless being Heartless, Jaune. Sora said something like this happened to that Clayton guy, right?"
"... Yeah..." Jaune sounded unconvinced. Everything seemed too convenient; after all, only the predatory mammals had been targeted. It felt like there were only two options given that fact... and one of them was way worse. He'd rather think someone was behind all this than ever consider that some people were just more likely to be taken by the Darkness, that the predator mammals of Zootopia were born to be taken by it. "... Maybe..."
Yang noticed his unsure frown. "Hey... You excited to tell Sora and everybody about OJ?"
Jaune felt a small smile grace his features. A problem they could actually do something about. "Yeah. I am. It'll be nice to help him out." His smile widened. "I'm glad you changed your mind about him."
Yang nodded and turned her attention back to the cops moving the savage animals. They were dragging a roaring, rampaging Lionheart down the road now. She still wasn't sure about OJ. She doubted she would be until they got him what he needed and he never came back. But she trusted Jaune and said she'd try to trust OJ. "We can probably talk to Professor Ozpin about a good way to help them. Maybe there's a Keyblade Wielder here that we haven't seen yet."
Jaune laughed. "When did you get so logical? I thought I was the plan guy and you were the punchy girl?" he pointed out.
"I can do both," Yang snapped, placing her fists on her hip and tapping her foot anxiously. She glanced down at it and the foot stopped moving. "Uh... sorry about that."
"Aw, all bunnies are dumb," Nick said, walking up with a, well, fox-like grin on his face. He nodded his head to the annoyed Judy standing next to him. "At least, if these two are a good example."
"Hardy har," Judy said with a glare at her partner. "And if I am a good example, foxes must be really dumb given how many times I've outsmarted you."
"Hey..." Nick said, glaring at her angrily before letting a smile come to his face. "Clever bunny."
"Dumb fox," Judy noted with a shrug.
Judy turned her attention back to Jaune and Yang. "So... are you guys going to come back to the station with us? I'm sure that Deputy Mayor Bellwether would love to thank you for helping rescue these animals."
"Still can't believe her boss kidnapped all these animals," Nick said, shaking his head and putting his hands in his pockets.
"Really?" Jaune inquired.
"Pfft... No. It sounds about right," Nick pointed out. "Especially the whole 'my image' thing he had going on."
"Yeah, we know of a couple people like that," Yang said, thinking of when Qrow told her about when he'd had to talk with all the Councils following Sora's defeat of the giant serpent at Haven Academy. "Doesn't mean he can't be helped or is a bad leader. They just need help." The lion roared and thrashed against the animals moving him. "A lot, in his case."
Jaune watched the lion go sadly. "I hope he gets it."
"We all do," Judy said, then she pointed at the two. "But you never answered my question! Are you two going to come back with us?"
Jaune and Yang glanced at one another. "I mean, we don't have a reason not -" Yang was cut off by the same guitar riff that had gotten them noticed by Mayor Lionheart just a few hours ago. Her eyes widened with excitement and she reached over to Jaune. "But we can't, we have to go!"
Jaune nodded and grinned. "Oh, yeah we do!" he shouted. He turned with Yang.
"W-where are you going? I – Hey! I was just trying to be nice! We still need your statements!" Judy shouted after the two warriors sprinting away. "What the – you're running towards a cliff and the ocean!" She took off after them.
"Carrots! Wait up!" Nick took off after her.
"Home, here we come!" Yang shouted, hand gripping Jaune's wrist tight. He let himself chase after her, an excited grin on his face. Until Yang jumped off of the cliff.
"Y-Yang? Yang!? YANG!" Jaune shouted in surprise as his feet came off the cliff. His instinct of terror stopped when he landed, hard, in the Gummi Ship's cockpit, sprawled out on the ground while Yang herself landed on her feet. The cockpit slammed shut above them and the ship turned on its side so they could look over at the bunny and fox that were staring up at them with dumbfounded, almost terrified looks plastered to their faces.
"Uh... Don't tell anyone about this!" He shouted, hoping they would be able to hear.
They nodded, still slack jawed, so they must have gotten the message.
"Bye guys! See ya soon!" Yang shouted, waving before grabbing onto the crontrols and sending the Gummi ship rocketing away.
"Carrots... What just happened?"
"I'm not going to even try understanding, Nick."
The fox laughed and shook his head. "Yeah... Yeah, I think that might be a good idea. Smart bunny."
Far above, the Gummi Ship flew so far away it could no longer be seen, leaving only a bright light shrinking down to create a momentary star that shined even through the clouds that hid the sky. Three pairs of eyes watched the ship go. Two pairs were those of the fox and rabbit that had just watched their new friends jump in a spaceship and fly off into the great unknown.
One pair was a gleaming, evil yellow filled with hunger older than the world that held it. Blue petals caught the rain and were covered in thin traces of water that led down to the tips of the petals and dripped off. It was a small creature, all things considered. Almost adorable, if it weren't so unnerving and evil. A blob of black at the center of a flower, yellow eyes at the center. It floated, looking like a bell and made a quiet howling noise as it moved. The creature moved in a circle, yellow pollen falling off of its body and landing softly on the building. Then, after another moment, the creature turned and flew away from the building as fast as it could, its travel disguised as howling of the windy storm. It left behind nothing but a small, blue flower growing from the roof of the asylum where no plant should be able to grow.
S M H S
Sora was laying back on the sand of the beach, just enjoying his time and the sun that beat down on him. It was calming, dozing off on the beach; it reminded him of growing up on Destiny Island, snoozing away as often as he could. The hot sand, the smell of salty sea air, and the breeze. Oh, this was the life. He stretched out as far as he could and took a deep breath.
Just as he readied to let it out, he was surprise attacked by someone landing directly on his chest screaming "WHEEE!" He yelped and felt all the air rush out of his lungs from the surprise attack, arms and head jerking up. His eyes flew open and he smiled, even while he groaned and lowered his head to the sand. The weight on top of him rolled off and laid next to him, placing both hands behind her head. "What were you doing, Space Hobo?"
"Apparently getting attacked," Sora said as he rubbed his chest. He couldn't help but smile "Ow, Ruby."
"Pfft. You're fine," she said dismissively.
Sora grinned wider at her and responded, "Sure, physically. But emotionally?" His grin widened. "Ow."
Ruby looked over at him with the same pure smile she always had. "I'm not sorry."
"Monster," he said simply. His hand found hers and they smiled at each other, getting closer.
"Oh, no you don't." Their hands flew apart and Sora rolled away from Ruby as quickly as possible, mouthing 'Sorry' as he went. He got to his feet after a short distance and began to sprint away, only for a strong grip to grab onto his hood and lift him into the air. His legs swung wildly and uselessly just shy of the sandy ground for a while until he realized it was futile and he let his feet stop moving.
Sora turned and grinned sheepishly at the figure holding him, and nearly froze when he saw the fiery red eyes and angry scowl locked on to his face. A scruffy, short beard covered his chin and well styled, if slightly messy, black hair with gray at the temples covered his head. The man was dressed in a suit-like outfit with a tattered, red cape hanging from his shoulders and had a massive sword held in his left hand while Sora dangled from his right. "Um... H-hey, Qrow. What's up?"
Qrow narrowed his eyes. "You're gone for five months with my niece– without even asking me if it was okay for you to be around her for that long. Alone especially. You know I trust you, Keyboy. But I don't trust you with this... Remember all my threats? I'm thinking about following through..."
Sora's mouth dried up. "Um... Please, um... Please don't kill me?" Sora suggested as he continued to shrink under the old Hunstman's glare. "... Please?"
"I'm going to kill you." Qrow sighed and raised the sword threateningly. "I'll make it quick. Because I like you, even if you were alone with Ruby. For five months." Qrow was silent for a few seconds. "Never mind. I'm going slow."
"I-I-It was only a few weeks to us!" Sora shouted, desperate to save himself.
"... Still too long."
"Uncle Qrow!"
The sword disappeared and was sheathed on Qrow's back immediately as he turned to the source of the voice with a grin on his face. He didn't drop Sora, of course. If anything, his grip on the Keyblade Wielder's hood tightened. "Ruby! It's so good to see you. How was that vacation? You do anything fun? See any cool weapons? Kill any monsters? Enjoy yourself?" he asked with a grin on his face. It disappeared and his gaze turned to lock on Sora again. "Not too much, of course."
"No..." Sora whimpered.
"Put him down, Qrow," Winter commanded as she walked up beside Ruby. The platinum haired CEO placed one hand on her hip and glared at the old Huntsman. Her sword glinted in the light at her hip, hanging as it was from the belt of her suit styled combat outfit of white and blue. Her hair was in a bun, though a few messy strands strayed from it. A far cry from how she had been when Sora or Ruby had first met her. "Now."
"Not a chance, Ice Queen. I already offered to help you kill that Neptune kid for being around your sister for so long. I'm doing the same thing here."
Winter placed a hand on her hip and gestured at Qrow with her off hand. "I didn't ask you to help me kill him," Winter pointed out dryly.
Qrow scoffed indignantly at Winter and said, "I still offered."
The Schnee's blue eyes narrowed and she took a threatening step towards the Huntsman. "Qrow..." she growled.
Sora hit the ground with a quiet thud and looked up in surprise. Qrow had turned into his namesake animal and was flying away. Winter's eyes widened in anger. "You're... Running!? Qrow, come back here!" She took off after him. "Qrow, now!"
Sora and Ruby watched them go together, the crow screeching in surprise and fear as a small army of tiny Nevermores flew after him and began to attack. "So... it was nice to see Qrow again," Sora noted. He pushed himself to his feet and moved over next to Ruby; the two laced their fingers together without a thought. He looked over at her. "I can't wait till the others get here, too! They won't threaten to kill me, after all."
"Yeah. Qrow's a little..."
"Scary?" Sora suggested. The two looked at one another and began to laugh together.
Ruby shook her head and, through her laughter, said, "Yeah, that sounds right."
They looked up at the sky and leaned backwards together, just plopping down in the sand. "Ah... Now it's time to just..." Sora yawned. "Just chill."
Ruby yawned too and inched closer to him. "Yeah... Sounds good."
Sora leaned his cheek onto her hair and smiled contentedly.
"Oh, no you don't!" Sora's eyes flew open. Why did this always happen to him.
"Gotta go, Rubes!" he shouted, pushing away from her and sprinting off, a blonde ball of hair, flames, and rage following close behind.
"SORA! FIVE MONTHS WITH RUBY! ALONE! TOO LONG! KILL YOU!"
"Yang, you know it was only a few weeks to us!"
"... STILL TOO LONG!"
Ruby sat up and watched her sister chase Sora down the beach. "Should we help him?" Jaune asked as he walked up beside her.
"Eh... I really don't want to get in her way," Ruby muttered, a shiver of fear running down her spine.
"Yeah. She's scary," Jaune agreed with a grimace. He plopped down in the sand next to Ruby.
Ruby nodded and shuddered. "Yeah, that sounds right."