Zootopia: Project Paradox

by SR2Turoka-1

In the not so distant future humanity finds itself under the tyrannical oppression of a globally reaching organization known as Vanguard. Enter one Nate Roberts a resistance fighter born in the age before Vanguard. On a mission into a research facility where things go terribly wrong Nate finds himself taken to a new world. Crossover with Warframe. Oc x Oc and wildehopps.

7. Desperate Bids

Chapter 6: Desperate Bids

(A/N: Hello my fellow readers and writers. What can I say other than I am sorry…so very sorry for not updating in three years. I feel ashamed by it as I have been wanting to finish this story and be proud of the fact that I have accomplished writing a full, complete fanfiction. However, numerous issues with this story, my personal life, and many other factors related to the source material for this story come into play.

You may be wondering "source material?" Isn't this a Zootopia fanfic, how hard can it be to write?" Well, its not just Zootopia. I am now at the critical juncture in the story where I find myself at a crossroad. On the one path, I can keep writing this as purely an original Zootopia fanfic, which I can do. On the other path however, I wanted to see if I can incorporate what has steadily been another source material that I have been hinting at in the story so far.

You might be wondering what this other source material is…well, it happens to be a video game, which is free to play that some of you may know for various reasons, and others may not. Ever hear of a video game called Warframe? Well, that game is going to start being introduced into the story, a story which is unfortunately going to be a crossover between Zootopia and Warframe. Those of you that know the game are probably thinking, "How can I do this?" Well, the fact that I have 4.5k views on the story so far, 30 favorites, 51 follows and 30 reviews, all but one positive, must give you some sense that I know how to write a story at least halfway decent.

Now, as of writing this, I won't know if any of you will be mad at this surprise revelation as believe me, I have been stressing out over doing this crossover. I am willing to take a gamble and see how people will react to this story. Regardless if I make some people upset, I'm going to finish this story completely, with updates at least on a monthly basis from here on out. I hope no one gets mad at either me disappearing for three years, my decision to crossover this story with Warframe, or even my fact that I wasn't total transparent on it, but looking back at my previous authors note, I was hinting at a big surprise over and over and over.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I look forwards to seeing your feedback. Keep in mind for all the trolls out there, I will completely disregard your input and not let it affect me. That is not to say that I will flag anybody showing negative feedback as a troll, rather I will take reasonable feedback into consideration. People looking to get off on a simple response of me towards you just so you can get attention will be ignored. Anyways, with the longest authors not ever on record out of the way, on with the story.)

(Nick's perspective; 9:30 a.m.; Nick's Apartment)

A loud electronic beeping filled the air of my apartment as I was laying asleep in my full-size bed. My eyes shot open as the noise had woken me up. I emitted an audible groan as I propped myself up at a 45-degree angle with my paws on the bed behind me. I gazed around my apartment for a second, taking in my surroundings.

My street clothes that I wore home from the precinct yesterday were thrown lazily on the floor as I remembered that I came home absolutely drained. I hadn't even bothered to put my dishes away from dinner yesterday, which were sitting on by the T.V. area of the apartment on the coffee table. I groaned as I rubbed my eyes. I then looked over to my left and saw the alarm clock making the racket still. I put my paw over the 'off' button, silencing the shrieking device. I got out of bed and walked, still a little groggy, to the small refrigerator in my kitchen. I opened the stainless-steel refrigerator, the rush of cold air meeting my body. I took notice of what I was looking for, a cool pitcher of caffeinated black iced tea. As I was pouring the fluid into a clear glass in my paw, I heard a gentle knocking on my front door.

Who the hell could that be at this time I thought to myself? I set the glass on the counter with a soft *clink* noise.

I then walked over towards the door and then shouted, "who is it?"

I waited for a few seconds before I heard, "It's your friendly neighborhood crack dealer."

Wait a minute, I recognized that voice I thought. I then said, "Carrots?"

I then heard the same voice then say, "Who else would it be Nicky." I heard a chuckle after this remark.

I took the chain off the door and unlocked the lock on the knob. Opening it, I saw my favorite rabbit standing there, dressed in her police outfit. She was looking down at her phone.

I then said, "ha ha, you know only my mother calls me Nicky, nobody else can." Then I gazed at her and looked her up and down, "And why are you dressed in your police outfit? We don't work today."

She then started saying, "No, I know we don't have wo…"

She then stopped talking as she looked up at me, staring wide eyed at me. She had a slightly shocked look, which then quickly feel into an enamored look. I soon started to return her gaze with confusion, looking side to side nervously before I then said, "Uh, earth to Officer Hopps, you were saying?"

She then shook her head and quickly looked around as she said, "I had no idea you would answer the door like that." She then looked away, clearly blushing as she played with her right ear, which had fallen behind her back and she had pulled infont of her over her shoulder as she played with it.

I scrunched my muzzle in confusion as I then looked down, only to realize that I was shirtless. I must have not had the energy to put on a shirt before I went to bed. It was now my turn to look embarrassed as I then thought Thank the lamb above that I had sweatpants on at least.

I then got a mischievous grin on my face as I leaned myself up against the doorway, a smile on my muzzle, then saying, "Oh, that's so sweet, the bunny likes what she sees."

Judy then, while still trying to avoid looking at me topless, then said defensively, "No I don't!" She then looked at me panicked and shook her paws in front of her rapidly saying, "No, I mean I do. I mean not like that. I mean…it…uh…it..looks nice. I mean you look good today. No, I mean…" She looked the most panicked and flustered I have ever seen her yet, off job of course.

I then thought Woah, does she like me?

I then quickly said, "Woah, calm it down fluff. Breathe, I was only messing with you."

She then stared at me wide eyed and said with embarrassment on her face, "Oh, how could I be so dense? You must think of me as just some horny young female."

I now felt bad for her and put my right paw on her shoulder, dropping down a little to her height. I then said, "No, I don't. I didn't realize that such an innocent remark would upset you like that. I'm sorry Carrots."

I stood back up as we said nothing for a few moments as we were avoiding each other's gazes. I then broke the silence saying, "So what brings you here to the other side of Savanna Central?"

She then looked up at me and said, "Well, I was wondering if you were ready yet to come see if we can find that cheetah family with the evidence of our strange visitor." She then looked down and chuckled as she said, "But I can see that you uh, might need a few minutes." She said that last part with a hushed tone and a smirk.

I then said, "Yeah, might want to change into something a little less, revealing." I then turned around, then looked over my shoulder as I said, "You want to come in?"

She again looked flustered, but not quite like before as she then said, "Now?! Um, don't you still have to change?"

I then smirked and said, "I'll change in the bathroom, fluff. I don't want you standing in the corridor like that." I then motioned inside over my head towards the apartment and said, "Come, make yourself at home."

We then stepped into my place, Judy closing the door behind her. I then walk over to my brown dresser and pulled out a drawer containing my own police uniform. I turned to the bathroom and began walking towards the door as I then said, "Be with ya in a jiff, Carrots."

I walked inside and shut the door behind me. Due to my natural night vision, I could find the switch for the bathroom light fixture. I flipped it and immediately began to change. I then shouted through the door, "So where does this family live?"

Judy then returned with her own reply of, "I did my research. They live in Sahara Square, 321 Dune Street in an apartment unit. Unit 41."

I was putting on the pants for my uniform as I then said, "Do they know we are coming?"

She then scoffed and said, "No, I thought we'd leave a note on their door. Of course I told them we are coming."

I rolled me eyes at her sarcasm. I was now putting on my shirt as I asked, "Carrots, you eat before you came here?"

She then replied after a moment of silence, "I grabbed a quick breakfast at Dax's Bagels and Sandwiches. Just right down the street from my place."

I was finally putting on my tie as I then said, "They any good?"

She then laughed and said, "Are they any good he says. They have the best bagels on three blocks. I like their blueberry ones for a simple reason."

I was finished dressing, with my sweatpants I hand, I looked in the mirror as I admired how cool I looked in this cop getup.

I then said, "Being?"

She then replied with enthusiasm, "Get this…they buy from my family farm."

I opened the door and stepped back into the apartment as I then said, "Really?"

She then said, "Yep."

I walked over towards my bed and threw my sweatpants on the unmade bed. I then looked at Judy and said, "Ready and able, officer fluff."

She then smiled at me and said, "Well come on, we have a case to solve."

We walked out of my apartment as I looked the door behind me as best as I could. I really need to get a deadbolt instead of this stupid chain I thought. As we walked out away from the door, I couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, there might be something that she feels for me.

(Unknown perspective, 3 p.m., underwater at the wrecked starship)

"Transference signal is a go Koris. Prep the Landing Craft" I said to my ship cephalon.

I was sitting in the transference pod in the Void energy chamber onboard what I was recently told was our now crashed ship, the Ja'keen battlecruiser Parthax. The Void energy chamber was a large room that had 15 transference pods that were all arranged in a circle around a central structure. That central structure was a Void Conduit, a single tall pillar like object bathed in beautiful white light. From the pillar, several long coiled white, ethereal tendrils that connected the pillar to each the pods, supplying it with Void energy trapped from the source.

I leaned back against the cold metallic finish of the chair that was part of the pod that surrounded me as I tried to wrap my head around what the Admiral had told me.

The dissidents of the Ja'keen may have survived the Devo weapon. This was not certain as we were not able to get our autonomous survey drones up and running as the A.I. that controlled the drones was currently offline, along with many other parts of the crashed ship. The traitors that betrayed the saviors, betrayed the Tenno cause, were still missing. They had eluded our search for them when we were active during the war, and it was currently unknown what had happened to them.

When I find her, that snake of a traitor, I will ram an Opticor right up her ass I thought angrily, clenching my fists in the chair.

Koris then appeared in front of my field of view as his floating hologram, a circle with three triangles floating above it in a 180-degree arc. Koris then said as the shapes in his hologram flickered with his words as he spoke, "Craft is prepped for the operation, do we have plan for how we will carry this out Operator?"

I then looked over towards the Landing Craft door where a humanoid mold was formed in the door, a part of the landing craft that my Warframe was secured into during flight. I gazed over there to see that my Volt Prime Warframe was already prepped and waiting in the mold of the landing craft. The humanoid figure clad in black and golden armor, a symbol of an empire long passed, had electricity formed by Void energy already arcing between the conductor plates attached to its upper arms and head. My Volt Prime was a simple frame with no cosmetic changes, as some Tenno prefer to do by attaching extra armor, sigils, or other changes.

I then said to Koris, "We do what the Admiral wanted us to do. We recon the area, determine the state of the dissidents, locate any evidence of the traitor's possible demise, and try to locate the source of this presence that the Ja'keen were feeling." I then took a deep breath as I then let out in a drawn out sigh and said, "And we have no idea on what we will find, but I know Volt Prime and myself can handle it."

I then closed my eyes and felt myself relax as the pod, used to help control the raw, volatile void energy that always coursed through my body, had started the first of its two primary functions. This pod was part sensory deprivation to help take away the pain of the Void energy, as well as part relay. The relay part of the setup would allow me to temporarily transfer part of my consciousness into the Warframe, giving me control of the shell of this weapon platform.

I then began the transference process as my vision faded to white, only to then fade back into existence, this time from the perspective of my Warframe. I gazed around the poorly lit room, part of me emotionally attached to the vessel and our Saviors that we housed within as this was my home during the last Ja'keen-proto origin conflict. I then quickly accessed the Warframe's on board loadout system to review my weapons that I was taking into the fray. On my back, I had my Braton Prime, an Orokin-era assault rifle with a 60 round magazine and decorated in glorious golden accents and white and black painting. I also was carrying my Hikou Prime throwing stars on my hips, these three sided throwing stars were silent as the vacuum of space, barely making any noise as they cut through the air. They were however able to pierce even heavy armor due to its puncturing capabilities. In total on the two packs, I had 60 stars. I then had the Orthos Prime polearm, another Orokin-era weapon that had a sharp blade on both ends of the weapon. It was again clad in golden accents and white and black paint. This was my melee weapon for the mission.

To back me up on this mission, I decided to bring my Kavat, a cat-like quadruped, named Ozoc. I had already had him loaded in the landing craft in a separate compartment. He was a Smeeta breed of Kavat and was cunning at deception and was also renowned for bestowing various buffs to its owner through its own synergy to the Void energy that the Tenno used. He was a beautiful cyan and white Kavat, and his claws could rend through tough armor and shred flesh.

I then looked up in the air to ask Koris to deploy the Landing Craft. Since Warframes were incapable of speech, I had to communicate with Koris through the transference connection, something that he was tapped into.

I then said to Koris, "Koris, deploy the Landing Craft."

Suddenly, I heard a winding up whirr as the engines of the landing craft started. This was going to be an underwater take off, which as expected, I then heard the loud noise of kinetic barriers deployed on the outside of the craft that enables a landing craft to leave the vessel dock, but doesn't let a vacuum, or in this case, water, from getting in. The craft detached from the ship as the chamber with the mold I was sunk into rotated to bring me into the landing craft interior, which was just big enough to hold my frame in place.

I just wonder if any of the proto humans were still alive, I thought.

(11:30 a.m.; Sahara Square; dune street; Judy's perspective)

"Carrots, so what's your theory on this strange creature" asked my partner Nick as we drove through Sahara Square?

The A/C in the car was cranked up to max as the thermal wall that made Sahara Square as hot as it was during the day was baking the district. I personally hated this part of the city. Sure, it was beautiful, but it was just too darn hot for me. My family farm was hot, but my farm didn't have giant heating coils the size of buildings.

Trying to keep my eyes on the road as I talked to Nick, I asked "Theory?"

Nick then said as he turned to look at me from originally staring out the car window, and he gestured as he said, "Oh come on Carrots, first this creature shows up in Zootopia. Need I mention that there is nothing in the zoological records of anything like it before. It makes a scene in front of some civies, breaks into the sewers with a weapon that it could have easily turned against us, and manages to fucking vanish and reappear before our eyes not only once but several times." He then scratched his right ear as he said causally, "I think its from outer space or something."

I chuckled and said, "Right Nick, and I'm the next in line for the throne of the Kingdom of Crazies." I then paused and said, "Okay, I will agree that this thing does look alien like, especially with its skin like thing that seems to cover its body. But I don't think its from space. Maybe more a place like…" I then paused as I said, "like…" I then began to think of something more logical than outer space, but to no avail. In then glanced to my right and saw that Nick was staring at me with a smug grin, already knowing what my answer was.

I then groaned and said, "Okay, I can't think of anything. Maybe space might not be, well, so farfetched."

I then added, "Plus, we don't just have this guy running around. I assume it's a guy anyways. We have another factor at play here."

Nick was now checking his phone for something I was unaware of, his digits manipulating the images and text on screen. He then said, "Chronos."

I then responded saying, "Right. What is Chronos exactly? A machine? A creature? Perhaps it's something as crazy as a split personality of this thing?"

Nick was still checking his phone as he said, "Right, except if made to believe what we had heard was correct, this Chronos could control time of all things."

I knew we were nearing our destination now as I started to pay attention to addresses. I then said, "Oh ignore that stuff Nick. Its just has to be that thing trying to mess with us."

I then said, "Oh, finally here we are. 321 Dune Street."

We pulled over to the side of the street to parallel park. I stopped the vehicle and turned off the engine of my private car, a brown coupe that had enough room for animals my size. Nick was a little bigger than me obviously, and as such he had a little harder time fitting.

Nick opened the car door; a rush of hot air filled the car. It reminded me more about why I didn't like this part of town. We got out and shut the two doors. I locked the car as we approached the apartment building. It was a 3-story apartment building of a sizable space and the outside was decorated with an adobe sandstone finish. We went inside through the front double doors. After a while of searching by going up and down the hallways, we eventually moved up to the second floor where apparently apartments 35 through 50 were. We found the right apartment as we walked towards the light tan door with the number '41' attached to the front of the door on a brass plate. I knocked on the door.

There was no response for a few moments until I heard somebody with a male voice yell, "I told you, we aren't interested in selling the camera, go away."

I scrunched my left eyebrow and Nick and I proceeded to give each other confused looks. They apparently get some strange visitors or something.

I then knocked again as I then shouted back, "ZPD, open up. We're here to ask a few questions about a creature you have proof of."

I then heard the shuffling of feet through the door and then noticed a shadow appear at gap between the door and the floor. I then heard a lock unlock and saw the handle turn. The door opened and on the other side stood a male Cheetah. He was dressed in grey pajamas. He looked annoyed that we were here. He then said, "Can I help you, Officers?"

I nodded and said, "Yes, my name is…"

The cheetah cut me off and said, "Really, your going to introduce yourself to me?"

I stared dumbstruck as I then said, "Uh…yeah?"

The cheetah rolled his eyes and said, "Lady, everyone knows who you and your partner are. Officer Judy Hopps and Nickolas Wilde, the Night Howler case heroes."

I sheepishly said, "Oh, right. Anyways, we were told that you have in your possession evidence of some strange creature that was captured earlier this week."

The Cheetah then said, "I may, I may not. What I will say is that like the last two people that were here, I'm not looking to sell my son's camera to some random person. It was his birthday gift from me to him."

Nick then added in saying, "Well, if your going to let us…" He then paused and gave a confused look at the cheetah saying, "You mean somebody actually tried to buy the camera off you? Who were they? Did they give you a name?"

The Cheetah then said, "Look as much as I would love to play 20 questions standing here in the hallway, why don't you come in. I don't want the neighbors thinking I broke the law or something."

I then said, "Thanks."

We were led inside the apartment, which was of decent size. We were in the entryway and made our way into what seemed to be the family room. These people had some nice furniture and seemed to be very organized people as there was not a spec of dirt or dust to be seen. We sat down in the family, Nick and I on a black couch and the cheetah on a black armchair.

The cheetah then said, "So, I have the camera in my son's bedroom. But before I get it, let me answer your partners question."

The Cheetah, who told us his name was Andrew Clawdenson, was approached earlier this morning outside when he went to go get the morning paper by two hooded mammals. They didn't say who they were or why they wanted the camera. They wanted to pay Andrew for the camera and after Jake said 'no' both mammals looked at each other and then back at Jake and one said, "You can't stop the truth…the truth about those who came before us." He then went on to say that he didn't feel threatened by the two individuals but was certainly curious as to what they meant by "those who came before us."

"Do you have any idea what they meant about that statement" asked Andrew with curiosity as he rubbed his chin, one of his ears twitching once?

Nick then said, "No, but it seems that there must be a group of mammals out there that are interested in the same creature we are. This case just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

I then crossed my right leg over my left as I then said, "We'll have to make a note of it, but can we see the video evidence before we go?"

Andrew then said, "Yeah, but I can't let you take the camera." He then stood up as he began to walk out of the room.

I then said to him, "No problem, I should be able to record the screen of the camera with my phone."

I then suddenly got a phone call. I reached into my right pocket and pulled out the ringing phone. I looked at the phone number on the screen. It was a call from work.

I answered the phone, "Hello, Officer Hopps."

The mammal on the other line said, "Officer Hopps this is detective Howlstein with the forensics department. I was told to contact you regarding evidence about the case your investigating."

I then said, "Yeah, what you got?"

The detective then said, "Well we have finished our analysis of the alleyway where you first encountered the creature. We were unable to track down any witnesses other than the one who called the ZPD. We did however make two startling discoveries that might help your case."

He paused and then said, "First, we analyzed the dashcam and body cam footage and have determined the strange things the creature was able to do, like suspend your tranquilizer darts in midair, to be legitimate. So as far as that evidence is concerned, you are telling the truth in this case."

I then said loudly and defensively, "Detective, why would I lie and jeopardize my job? I could have told you it really happened!"

The detective then said in response, "Woah, calm down Hopps. Remember this case is also an investigation into the legitimacy of your claims and whether you were wasting department time and resources. I'm just doing my job."

I then rubbed my forehead frustratedly and said, "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry detective." I then sighed and said, "The second part?"

The detective then said, well we also noticed that the sewer grate at the scene you had chased the creature down into had been cut open by it, according to your body cams. We analyzed the grate and found no DNA on it. But here's the strange part. That grate was solid steel and it was cut with a sword. A SWORD of all things, Hopps." The detective then paused and said, "Not only were the cuts clean as in the grate offered no resistance, but there is no material in the world that sword can be made from to do that. According to our metal's expert on the forensics team, the sword would need to be made from some material that is not known to exist to make that type of cut."

I then said in shock, "Huh, space might not be far-fetched after all."

I heard a pause on the line and then the detective said, "What? You know what, never mind. Anyways, we are also investigating an event that occurred down by an alleyway in the rainforest district. During the night, a mammal was killed. But Judy, the way the mammal was killed makes me believe that it is linked to your case."

I then said, 'How so? How was it done?"

The detective then said, "Done?! Hopps, the alleyway was covered in blood stains and gore. We had only half a body to examine as it looked like the mammal, a rhino actually, well…it looked like his upper body just exploded."

I then shouted "Exploded!"

Nick was sitting on his end of the couch, now fully interested in my phone conversation. I couldn't blame him.

I quieted myself a bit and said, "With what?"

He then replied, "Hopps, if I knew, I'd tell you. But whatever it was would have to be something we haven't seen before. See how the two cases might be linked?"

I then sighed from the ever-growing complexity of the case as I said, "Okay, thank you detective. Anything else?"

He then said, "Not at the moment, I'll call you again if I find out more."

I then ended the conversation by saying "Alright, bye for now."

I hung up the phone and looked at Nick and said exasperated, "Nick…this case is just getting weirder and weirder."

I looked towards the doorway that went out of the room and into a hallway, waiting and wondering when Andrew would be back. My answer was immediately given to me as I saw him standing in the doorway, camera in paw. He then said, "What was that call all about?"

I replied, "Just some information about the case. So, you got the camera?"

Andrew said, "Yep."

He handed the camera to us and said, "Battery should be fully charged."

We found the video of our creature and recorded the footage on my phone. I then said to Andrew as I handed him the camera back, "Thank you for your time, we will look this over back at the station."

Andrew then replied saying, "Good, now would you kindly leave. I have to leave for work in 45 minutes."

This guy and his passive aggressiveness was starting to get on my nerves I thought.

We got up to leave the apartment and go to the station to review what we learned. As he shut the door behind us, I looked at Nick as we began to walk back to the car and I said, "I have a feeling that things are just going to keep getting weirder and weirder Nick."

Nick chuckled as he looked at me with a grin and said, "Carrots, when have things ever been simply for us?"

I elbowed him gently and said, "Touche, Officer Foxy"

He rolled his eyes at my response, but I knew what he told me was quite accurate.

Things have never been easy for us.

(Time jump to 9 p.m. that evening; Nate's perspective; in the warehouse)

I had just finished eating my second can of vegetable soup since getting the food, drinking from the open end of the can. I really wished that I had silverware or even plastic ware to eat with, but maybe I would be lucky and find some tonight on my expedition.

I ate as much of the contents as I could, eventually only solid vegetable matter being left. I then shook the can as I tried, and partly succeeded in getting the contents into my mouth.

I let out a small burp as I then took the empty can and threw it into a barrel that was next to where I was standing. I had found the barrel in a corner of the warehouse, which now served as my trash can.

At least I'm making the food last a while, for all that's worth I thought. Eating once a day really stretches things.

I then said, "Chronos, how's the condition of the suit looking?"

As I began scratching the back of my now exposed head as my head covering and visor were retracted, I then heard Chronos say, "Reactor is going strong, capacitors are at 100 percent, weapon systems in the green, and to top it all off, and a piece of really good news." He spoke these words with some enthusiasm in his voice, something that surprised me from an A.I.

Isn't that a shocker, something good for once? I could hardly believe what Chronos was telling me.

I then started walking over to pick up my backpack and slung it over my shoulders, I then said, "Lay it on me."

Chronos then said, "I have managed to repair some of the systems and files stored in my databases. In the process of doing this, I managed to repair a program that controlled an offensive precept in the suit."

I adjusted the straps of the backpack as I then curiously said, "So what's this program control exactly?"

Chronos then replied, "A time stasis field."

I paused and stopped adjusting the straps for a moments I then confusedly said, "Um, care to elaborate on that one?"

Chronos then said, "Yes, you can aim your right hand at an object and fire off a projectile that, when it collides with said object, can envelope it in a time stasis bubble. This enables you to freeze an object or creature in place, while enabling you and the rest of the world to move normally."

I had finished adjusting the straps as I then walked over to one of the sets of windows that was at the front of the warehouse that overlooked the street. I peered carefully through the window to see if the coast was clear for me to leave the warehouse. As I looked through the window, I then said to Chronos, "Any more news?"

Chronos then said, "Yes, I repaired the program that controls the motion tracker HUD. You should now have full access to its capabilities, including mental commands."

I felt relieved knowing that I at least was able to retain another advantage that could help me with this situation. I was then stricken with panic as I then realized that Chronos was one step closer to possibly rebooting the part of him that remembered that he was Vanguard property. What would my helpful companion then do to me if he found out.

"Nate, you okay. Your pulse quickened and I am detecting signs of something troubling you" asked Chronos with concern?

I then replied, "I…" I then paused for a minute as I stepped away from the window, looking down now at the ground towards my own feet. I knew I couldn't tell Chronos what was really on my mind. I then said, "It's nothing. I'm fine."

Chronos paused for a minute and then replied, "Are you su…"

I then said in a rather unconvincing way, "Oh yeah, I'm good. No problems here…hehe."

I then heard a pause as I then walked over to the door next to the warehouse to begin the trip out into this strange world.

"Alright then" Chronos said plainly.

I then willed the motion tracker HUD to turn on in full view, which saw my current view of the door fade away to be replaced by an radially expanding view around my location of all moving objects and a three dimensional view of the area outside of the warehouse. I saw that a few cars were driving by, but nobody was immediately on the other side of the warehouse door around the sidewalk.

I pulled the door open part ways and then said, "Chronos, slow the time stream."

Sound around me died down to a long-distorted version of itself as I whipped open the door stepping out and quickly shutting it behind me. I saw that there were two cars in way across the street that were currently going at one mile an hour due to the time power I used. I took off across the street and ran around the vehicles and made my way towards the roof top where I had spotted that van.

Please let it be there. Please let it be there I thought in earnest hope.

I reached the other side and was about to duck into the same alley that I did last night, only to see that it was still cordoned off by police tape. There, however, were no police in sight. I hesitated for a second before realizing that I had to make my decision and make it quickly.

I then decided to dart into the alleyway. I hid near the dumpster from last night and said, "Chronos, free the time stream."

Time returned to normal as I really wished that eventually I wouldn't have to constantly keep telling Chronos what to do with time. Maybe he'll repair a program that will enable mental control of that or something.

I peeked out from the dumpster to see if there was anything in the alleyway that I should be aware of. My eyes darted right to left, up and down. I couldn't find anything immediate that seemed to pose a threat. I ran out from behind the dumpster and darted to the metal ladder that I used before. My footsteps made echoing noises as I traversed the dark alley, illuminated only buy sparse light for the two adjacent buildings.

I reached the ladder and began my accent up the metal attachment to the building. I was grunting slightly as I continued my accent. I reached the top and climbed onto the roof. Making my way over to the edge of the roof, I crouched down at the edge to see if I could find the van.

I had to look over several different areas where I thought it was last time, just in case it had moved to anywhere else.

No, no, no I thought in disbelief.

The van…was gone.

"Goddamn it" I shouted into the night air, probably a bit louder than I should have. I paced slightly back and forth, rubbing my hands over my face that itself was protected by my suits visor in frustration.

Okay think Nate, where else can I get the tools, get anything to help me build my base of operations up I thought.

"No get away from me" I heard a female voice scream in the night!

My head perked up and I looked towards where the sound could be coming from. I peered over the rooftop edge and saw what appeared to be something being dragged into an alley across the street. I only saw the objects shadow, but it looked like it was one of the animals that live in the city.

I was now curious and concerned.

Was somebody being mugged? Kidnapped I thought?

I knew I couldn't just let some woman be left to her fate. Beaten…raped…killed… I could and would never forgive myself for doing such a thing. I knew that my late parents would never forgive me if I didn't at least try to help.

I then said, "Chronos, slow the time stream."

I knew freezing time might not work as well as my capacitors would most likely run out of power before I could reach her.

I climbed down the ladder and ran towards the far side alley entrance. I popped out on a street I have never seen before. It was still in this jungle area of the city that the warehouse was it. Despite the situation, I have to say that I was still impressed by how this part of the city was built. It had a ground level with streets and buildings, and tall trees with other buildings, bridges, and what looked like elevated pedestrian walkways.

The street I was on, had buildings that had vines on them, and other tropical foliage. Some of the buildings were built in the bases of tall trees, a few on this block. Others looked like regular buildings with foliage growing over parts of them. There were no animals walking down the street, there were however a few cars of different makes and models it seemed. After I examined my surroundings, I rushed off down the sidewalk towards an intersection that I had to cross to get to the opposite side of a street, to then get to the alleyway I had noticed a potential woman get dragged into. I reached the intersection as fast as I could go, I was breathing moderately heavy by this point out of urgency and adrenaline. I ran across the crosswalk, climbing up and over a sedan that was nearly frozen in time in the exact space part of the crosswalk was. I leapt back to the ground and ran towards the alleyway.

Time was still slowed, so I felt safe that no one could see me.

I then asked Chronos, "What's the capacitor level?"

Chronos then responded saying, "50 percent."

I knew I was still good and able to keep a reserve of power for time manipulation.

I then ducked against the wall of the building, near a corner that led into the alleyway. I was panting somewhat now. I ejected a pistol from my right palm into my right hand, it expanded into its full size in my hand. I peeked into the alley and couldn't tell what was in it due to the darkness, the black shadowy oily darkness.

This darkness worked to my advantage too I had realized.

I ducked into the darkness and whispered, "Release the time stream Chronos."

Time returned to its normal audible level as I then activated my motion tracker. The alley came up in an overlaid orange view in my visor. My eyes darted left to right to see if there was movement. I then suddenly saw something move behind a dumpster; I was briefly able to see a part of its blue outline. It was at this point I had realized that my motion tracker lacked the ability it had just a few minutes ago to be able to see through objects in my environment to find motion. I was worried that there might be a bug in the program, or that something else was going on.

I then heard a woman whimpering as she said, "Please…don't kill me. Its all the money I have, just let me go."

I walked along the front edge of the dumpster, crouched up against it as I then heard a man say maliciously, "Oh sweetie, I don't want your money…I want you!"

I heard the woman begin to cry as she then said through grunts of what sounded like exertion, "Wha…what are you going to do to me?"

I was now at the edge of the dumpster towards the side where the noises and voices were coming from.

I then heard this male who clearly was up to no good, say, "Didn't you hear me whore…I want you, and I'm going to have my way with that sweet looking body of yours. But we can't have you fighting me, so have a little of this."

I peeked around the corner and saw a female animal that was some type of feline, being pinned down and her arms were restrained with some type of rope or cloth. There was a male animal, a wolf of some type crouched above her, a syringe in his hands, injecting something into her neck. I couldn't identify them completely due to the simulated motion overlay of the motion tracker view.

The woman started sobbing in panic and fear, knowing what was about to happen.

I growled slightly as I then whipped around to grab the guy and force him off her.

I then heard Chronos say, "Operator strength assist enabled"

I didn't know what that meant, but I knew I was about to find out. I grabbed the wolf by his throat and tried to pull him off her, but suddenly, he got whipped off the ground and flung through the air into the wall to my right with a loud whacking noise.

He yelped as he flew and grunting in pain as he impacted to the wall. He tumbled to the ground with another grunt and said, "Who the fuck…"

He looked up at me and must have seen me due to his natural night vision because he said, "Wha…what the fuck are you?"

I then aimed my pistol at him and said, "Leave that woman alone you disgusting cunt." I then aimed the gun at his head and said, "Or you have to answer to me, and you do not want to answer to me."

I then saw him pull out what looked like a knife from his pants. He flipped opened the blade of it, realizing now that it was a switchblade.

He then said, "Look at the freak interrupting my fun. We'll lets see if you bleed just THE SAME!"

The wolf yelled that last part as he lunged towards me with the knife. I quickly dodged away from the blade, leaning backwards to do so. I then did a back flip through the air and got some distance between me and him.

I then fired my pistol at him, a red ball of energy jettisoning itself out of the barrel of the gun.

He saw it coming and just barely ducked under it, the ball sailing overhead and hitting a brick wall, which surprisingly did nothing to it. I blinked in disbelief briefly as I then fired again. This ball hit the ground between his legs and did nothing again as well. He then ran towards me, switchblade pointed out towards me. I then grabbed my sword handle and readied it. I pulled it out and pressed the button, the blade forming into its solid blade form from the liquid it had been previously. I then ducked down and did a spin attack towards his legs.

I then heard the sickening sound of the blade tearing through his left leg as it cleaved it all the way off.

He flopped to the ground, screaming and holding his leg stump. I then swung at his head and decapitated him, his screaming stopping that moment.

I panted slightly from the adrenaline and the rush of combat. I retracted the blade of the sword and holstered the weapon, as well as retracting my pistol back into my palm. I then gazed over towards the woman that I had saved from her predicament. She laid unresponsive on the ground. I retracted my visor and head armor. I got down on my knees and kneeled next to her, putting my ear to her chest to see if she was still alive. I heard her heart beating, but it was an irregular heartbeat.

Shit, that cunt did something to her I thought.

I got up from my position but was still on my knees as I looked her over. I was now in a difficult situation. On the one hand, I couldn't just leave an unconscious woman in an alley for god knows what to happen to her. On the other, I couldn't exactly take her to a hospital or a police station due to…well, what I was to these animals.

I drew a deep breath and sighed slowly as I realized what I had to do. I decided to take her back to my base to watch over her. At least I could keep her safe and off the streets.

I stood up and grabbed her, lifting her up into my arms. She was a heavy, to which I then said, "Hey Chronos, a little help here?"

I then heard him say, "Operator strength assist enabled."

Her weight rapidly was no longer a problem as I picked her up and held her in my arms.

I then said to her, "Don't worry, I got ya. I'll keep you safe." I then said to myself, "God, please don't let me regret this."

(A few minutes later)

I had returned to my base of operations, my "damsel in distress" in tow. I had Chronos freeze the time stream to get back to my base of operations. I had walked the two of us back into my place and said, "Chronos, free the time stream."

Time returned to normal, which was then immediately followed by Chronos saying, "You know how risky it is to do what your doing Nate? She could reveal where our base of operations is…or worse."

I rolled my eyes and said, "I know Chronos, you've only been saying it the entire trip back here. Don't worry, I have a plan in mind."

Chronos then said, "That would be?"

I began walking over towards my makeshift bed and said, "I'm going to keep her restrained so she can't go anywhere. When, and if, she wakes up, then I'll talk to her and try to explain that I saved her from some sicko. I will try to gain her trust until I feel that she won't spill the beans on our location, and then eventually let her go."

Chronos then shouted, "Nate, the amount of problems with that plan are…"

I then cut him off and said, "You think I don't know that Chronos, but I do. I just couldn't leave her defenseless in that fucking alley. What would you do if you were in my position?"

Chronos then replied, "I wouldn't let my emotions get in the way of our survival."

I was beginning to get angry at my A.I. companion. The fact that he didn't seem to understand morality and was more so only bound by his programs was beginning to get in the way of what I found to be the right thing to do.

I rolled my eyes and said, "Well, we're doing it my way."

I set her down on the bed and looked her over.

She was a tiger, it was hard to guess her age as I didn't know if age here was counted like human years, or something like dog years. She wasn't a normal tiger but a white and black stripped tiger. She was slightly taller than me if I had a hazard to guess. She was wearing a pink V-neck blouse, that was a little dirty from her ordeal with that sick bastard. She seemed to have what looked like a little bit of a white bra showing around her V-neck blouse. She also had on dark blue jeans that again were disheveled. I noticed, like all the other animals here, that she was not wearing any shoes. As I was gazing at her form, I couldn't help but think at how so like man these animals were. They wore clothing, drove cars, worked, built buildings, pretty much everything that people did. I also couldn't help but notice that she sort of looked beautiful, you know, as far as an animal is concerned.

I kneeled and put my ear to her chest to check her heart rate…It was still irregular, which seemed bad.

As much as I didn't want to do it, I took what she had been tied up with, which was some piece of cloth. I hoped it would hold her to the bed as I tied her arms together, and then tied her to a busted part of the plywood making up the "Mattress" to form a knot.

I then sat down on the ground near her and then leaned back on my hands, my legs splayed out on the floor. I took a deep breath and let it out. I felt disgusted at what that bastard tried to do to her. I guess mankind being gone doesn't mean that the sickos are gone too.

I then laid down on the ground, it not being quite as cold or hard due to the suit. I was about to relax and met myself deal with my thoughts and try to come up with a new plan of action on where to get tools, as well as other supplies I need.

I then suddenly heard the loud blaring of a siren as it appeared to be approaching my position. I immediately jumped up and ran towards the window to see if I could see where the siren was coming from. I noticed a large amount of police vehicles, really big ones, possibly eight or nine, blazing down the road perpendicular to the road the warehouse was on as this road formed a T-intersection close enough to the warehouse that I could peer down the street.

Oh, fuck I thought. They must have found out where I live…but how?

I kept watching to the police vehicles blazing down the street to see what I should do. They came closer and closer. They reached the T-Intersection and turned left and began driving away from the warehouse.

The hell I said to myself.

Little did I know that things were about to get complicated…really complicated.

(A/N: There we have it my fellow readers and writers, I'm back baby. I'm back to at least finish this story as it is my most popular. I will try to work on the other ones too eventually. Like I said in the earlier authors note, expect updates monthly at the least. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the new direction this story is going. If I get an overwhelming amount of people looking to want to see the story not crossover with Warframe, I might change things. Anyways let me know how you feel about the chapter. The next one will be a lot more action packed than this one as Nate will finally have found a match for him and the suit he uses.)