Episode 12 – Rabbit Season
It was a rather lazy day for Judy and Nick.
They had gotten a day off, and, of course, it was very casual. Even more than usual considering their new status. At this point, Judy was barely comfortable with Nick walking around the apartment in his sleepwear. It was still awkward, but slightly less so. Judy, however, still preferred to wear her casual clothes on casual days.
As she usually did on days off, she decided to sleep in. Her bed was like heaven on days like this, a pillowy soft place for her to escape from everything. It was nice and silent, only the sounds of the outside world going on around her.
Sometimes it could get annoying, especially with her rabbit hearing, but she always had a decent sleep. Unfortunately, this sleep would be quickly interrupted by a loud ringing.
She sprang up from her bed, and grasped for the phone on the side of her bed. She looked at the caller ID, it was her parents. She answered it.
Outside of her bedroom, Nick sat on the couch, watching TV and eating a bowl of blueberries. As a fox, his hearing was still pretty good, and he could hear the rabbit talking from inside her room.
"You're what? Today!? RIGHT NOW!?"
She burst out of her room screaming. She glared the fox, dressed in his undergarments and about to eat a blueberry, and pointed towards him dramatically. He dropped the blueberry into the bowl without breaking eye contact with her.
"What did I do now?" He asked.
"Shower!" She yelled. "Get dressed! NOW!"
The fox knew her tone. It was the "Not messing around" tone she usually only put on during serious events. He knew that it was probably best to follow her orders, and rushed to the bathroom.
Judy looked at herself. She wasn't exactly any better dressed, OR clean! She rushed into her room to gather clothes. Minutes later, Nick ran out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, and dashed into his own room to get dressed. Judy quickly ran out afterwards, going into the bathroom with her jeans and pink flannel top under her arm.
Nick exited his room in his usual green shirt, tie and grey pants. He sat back on the couch, and waited for Judy to exit the show. It was a remarkably short time, maybe about a minute after he had sat down, until she slammed the door open, dressed in her casual clothes. She ran over to the fox, and pulled him up off the seat.
She eyed him up and down. She shook her head, and patted off his clothes, and straightened his tie to a near chokehold. "Better." She said cheerfully, pulling Nick towards the door against his will. "C'mon, we don't have much time!"
"Until what?"
"Until my parents get here!"
They walked into the train station.
"So, no swearing, no rude comments, no shuffling, no snapping…"
She had been blabbing off rules the entire car ride. All kinds of rules about what not to do around her parents, like "no inappropriate jokes" or "no nicknames", stuff that, to him, basically meant "stay quiet".
They continued walking through the station, and got to the main plaza. "No passing gas, no baring claws…"
"Fluff…"
"No tail swishing, no making fun of carrots…"
"Carrots."
"No mumbling, no-"
"JUDY!" He snapped.
"Don't interrupt me!" She yelled back at him. "That was like, the third rule I said."
"Actually, it was the seventy eighth rule." He stated. "And I… I get it." He said, sounding a bit drained. "You want me to make a good first impression on your parents. But why don't you just let me be… me?"
She glared at him. "Alright, so I'm not exactly prime boyfriend material." He admitted. "But you love me for who I am, right? So why don't you let them see how I really am?"
She sighed. "I'm just really worried." She said. "I haven't told them much about you, I haven't even told them we're dating."
"Why not?"
"For one, I don't feel like they expected me to date a fox when I was little." She started.
"Makes sense, I suppose." He said, thinking back to seeing her being attacked by Gideon Grey during their time travel escapades.
"And for second…" She paused and rolled her paw. "It's just kind of awkward."
He nodded. Another reasonable reason.
"But I suppose I don't have much of a choice but to tell them now." She sighed. "They should be here soon."
As if on que, the large train sped into the station, and grinded to a halt in front of them. The door slid open, a wave of mammals flooding out. The two had to dodge out of the way of way of the larger ones, but kept their eyes out for the two rabbits.
"See them anywhere?" Judy asked, stepping out of the way of an absent-minded rhino.
"Nope, not yet." Nick replied, dodging out of the way of an elephant texting on his phone. He then spotted two grey furred creatures, the very last two to step off the train. "Oh wait, I think I see them!"
The animals soon cleared, leaving two rabbits standing there. "I told you to dress in something more casual." The female rabbit said to her husband, who was dressed in rather dirty overalls and an undershirt.
"These are casual!" He said back. "There's nothing more casual than overalls!"
She rolled her eyes at him, before turning to Nick and Judy "Oh, there she is!"
They ran over to Judy, both giving her a big hug at the same time, nearly crushing her. She felt the air go back into her lungs as they let go.
Her father rubbed the top of her head, he was still slightly taller than her. "How's my lil' officer doing?" He asked playfully.
"Pretty good, actually!" She responded, pushing his hand away. "Hey, have you two met Nick yet?" She motioned for Nick to come over, which he did.
"I believe we met at the hospital." He stated, shaking her father's hand. "Don't worry, I'm not usually so dour."
"It was a bad situation to first meet." Her mother admitted. "But, hopefully, we can get to know you better over the day."
"The day?" Nick asked, confused. "Why are you guys here?"
"Well, we wanted to check up on how Judy was doing after the… incident." Bonnie explained. "But your father decided to make it into a bit of a trip."
"Hey now," Stu said. "We haven't had a chance to visit the big city in years, might as well make it worth our money!" He crossed his arms and sighed. "You know, those train tickets are completely ridiculous!"
"Aren't they only fifteen dollars?" Nick said.
"Back in my day, we could go from Bunnyburrow to Zootopia and back in under five bucks!" He yelled, stamping his foot.
"He's over-exaggerating."
"I swear, the economy's going right down the toilet."
"He's not over-exaggerating there." Nick joked.
"Anyway," Judy said, trying to stop her father from ranting. "Why don't we, say, go get something to eat, and we can discuss what we're going to do for the rest of the day there?"
"That is a wonderful idea, Judy!" Bonnie complimented.
"That's my girl, always a forward thinker!" Stu said proudly, hitting her in the shoulder. "Where should we go?"
"I know a pretty good diner." Nick suggested. "Great vegetable salads."
"Sounds like a plan!" Stu said, the two rabbits starting to walk off. Nick and Judy trailed behind them a bit, to have a private conversation.
"They sure think highly of you, huh?" Nick said.
Judy nodded. "I'd find it hard to not be proud, honestly." She stated. "Having supportive parents really helped, I think."
Nick sniffed. "I bet."
"Apparently, some of my other siblings are trying to branch out and do their own things as well." Judy continued, missing Nick's previous comment. "Lawyers, firefighters, lots of helpful jobs."
"Following in your over-sized rabbit steps, huh?" Nick joked, receiving a sharp nudge to the side. "Well, no other Hopps will be able to claim the title of first rabbit super hero."
Judy chuckled, and then rubbed her wrist. "I feel like something's missing."
"You mean the Zoolizers we forgot to bring because of you rushing?"
"Oh."
"It's alright." Nick assured. "I'm sure nothing bad will happen."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Judy said, relaxing a bit.
"Hey!" They two looked up from their conversation. Judy's parents were much farther ahead of them than they thought. "I thought you two were supposed to be quick!"
"Sorry!" Judy yelled to her father. The two rushed back up to them.
"What did you want to see me for, Yogostein?"
He slammed his spear against the floor, the roof of an apartment building, and walked towards the fox yokai. "I need your help for my next plan." He stated.
"Shouldn't you be asking Yabaiba for help?" Kyuemon slyly asked. "He is your partner, after all."
"Please, I wouldn't trust Yabaiba to do anything." Yogostein laughed. "Doesn't mean I trust you, but you're at least more competent."
"Such high praise." Kyuemon said sarcastically. "So, what is this plan?"
"I call it 'Operation: Kill Two Birds with One Bullet'." He stated. "It's a way to get the Zoorangers out of the way, as well as cause some chaos."
"Interesting." Kyuemon said flatly. "What exactly does that entail?"
"What it entails is you using that special disguise ability of yours to spy on them." Yogostein explained. "My monster will track you, and shoot up the place they go to."
"What monster, exactly?"
Yogostein quickly pulled out what looked like a small, flintlock pistol, as well as a gear. "This one!" He declared, jabbing the gear into the side of the gun.
It flew out of his hand, and swiftly transformed into a Banki Beast. The new monster had a large minigun gun on its back, its face distended from its main body, silver in color, with a pointed chin and a black mustache. Its head overall resembled the trigger of a gun. Its arms had two large, red gun like protrusions poking from them, and two tubes on its sides, each carrying something.
"KA-POW!" It yelled, dancing around. "Trigger Banki, at yer service!"
"You certainly come up with…" Kyuemon paused and looked at the monster. "Interesting creations."
"The Banki Beast's designs aren't important right now!" Yogostein yelled, trying to hide himself feeling insulted. "This plan depends on you, Kyuemon, so get to transforming!"
Kyuemon sighed, and in a burst of dark energy, was replaced by a much smaller, yellow fox. "Alright, so I just follow them?" He asked, voice completely different.
"Hold on," Yogostein said, pulling out a small, circular device, golden and with a large red button in the center. "You'll need this." He stated, handing it to the fox, who stuffed it in his pants pocket. "It's a tracker, Trigger Banki will be able to figure out where you are if you hit the button." He continued. "But only press it when you find a place that's optimal for chaos, alright?"
Kyuemon rolled his eyes. "Fine."
He snapped his fingers, and disappeared into a burst of dark energy. Yogostein turned to the gun monster, who was staring up at something. "What are you doing?"
"I'm tryina find a bird!" He explained. "I need ta shoot somethin'!"
"A test, hmm?" Yogostein muttered to himself. He tore a chunk out of the roof they were standing on with his bare hands. "Test it on this!"
The gun monster examined the rock for a second, before Yogostein chucked it off into the distance. Trigger Banki followed it precisely for a few seconds, before firing a single shot from his arm. In the distance, they could see something explode into a blast of dirt.
Trigger Banki leaped up and clacked his metallic heels. "I still goddit!"
Yogostein turned to the gun monster and nodded. "Still the best sniper in Gaiark, I see." He complimented. "Now, when this goes off," He pulled out an object like the one he gave Kyuemon, and slapped it onto the monster arm. "You will follow its signal, and destroy everything in the location!"
The monster gave a salute, and leaped off.
The four sat in the booth of a familiar diner. It was the same place Nick and Judy had been to a few weeks ago, before the magnet ninja monster attacked. This conversation was going to be a lot more awkward than the last, Judy could tell that already.
Her parents had both ordered salads, Nick, who wasn't entirely hungry, ordered an insect burger, while Judy just ordered a coffee.
"So," Bonnie started, pulling out a brochure. "I was thinking we could start out by going to the national history museum." She flipped the brochure open, and passed it to her daughter. "You know, somewhere more cultural."
"Well, I was thinkin' we could go to central park." Stu suggested. "Get a bit more active, y'know?"
"Those both sound like great ideas." Judy said, handing the brochure back.
"I know the perfect place to go first, actually." Nick interjected. "The art museum, just the place for a mind to expand its horizons."
"Ooh, that sounds wonderful!" Bonnie said.
"I dunno…" Stu sighed.
"C'mon, dad." Judy said. "We'll have time to go to central park later, you should try something different!"
"Well, if everyone else wants to go… Ah, what the heck!" He slapped the table. "Art museum it is!"
They started to eat their meals. Judy started thumping her foot, incredibly nervous about what she wanted to tell them. No, she needed to tell them, it was important, she had to tell them.
"Mom, dad, I have something important I need to tell you."
They stopped eating, and looked at her. She turned to Nick, who nodded. She took a deep breath, and said it.
"Mom, dad, me and Nick are-"
Or, at least, tried to.
"Oh, hey guys!"
Judy quickly turned to look at who had interrupted her. It was Kyle, standing next to their table, tail wagging.
"Hey Kyle." Nick greeted. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was getting something eat here." He stated. "And then I saw you guys here, so I wanted to say hello!"
He turned to the two other rabbits at the booth. "Are you Judy's parents?"
"Indeed we are!" Stu said. "And you are…?"
He shook their paws, one at a time. "I'm Kyle, Kyle Izanami." He introduced. "I'm an acquaintance of your daughter."
"By acquaintance, he means that we see each other every now and often while patrolling." Explained Nick. "He's a nice guy, don't worry."
"I heard you mention something about the art museum?" Kyle asked. "I was actually going to head over there too, so I guess we'll see each other again later."
"Yeah, I guess so." Judy said.
Kyle gave a nervous wave, and then walked off.
"He seems like a nice fox." Stu said. "How'd you meet him?"
"Apparently he's one of our biggest fans." Nick explained. "Showed up at our house one day to get some autographs."
"He's a super nice kit." Judy assured. "Just kind of… awkward."
"He's a 'fan'?" Bonnie questioned. "Police officers can have fans?"
"He was inspired by us, so I'd consider that a fan." Judy continued.
"Maybe you should open a fan club!" Stu suggested.
"I don't think we're popular enough to get a fan club." Judy stated flatly.
In a few minutes, everyone was done eating. "I suppose we should head to the museum now." Stu said, getting up. "It'll probably be open soon, and we have a lot of stuff do to today!"
"Thank you for suggesting we go there first, Nick." Bonnie thanked, shaking his paw from across the table.
"No problem!" Nick replied. "I know a lot about the city, it'd be a pleasure to show you two around."
"Yeah, you seem like a really nice guy when you're not depressed." Stu complimented.
"Or when I'm-" The fox received a sharp elbow to his side before he could finish.
"Let's just go." Judy said.
"Wow, it's a lot bigger than it is in pictures." Stu said, staring up at the large statue.
It was a bronze rhino, sitting down, with his hand to his chin. "The Thinker, 1880." Nick started, reading from a plaque on the side of the pedestal the statue was sat on. "Carved by Auguste Rodint, they say he carved it in only three years."
"Why'd it take him so long?" Bonnie asked.
"He was a mouse."
"That's pretty impressive for how big it is." Judy stated.
"What's that over there?" Stu asked, looking over at another statue.
They walked up to it. It was marble statue of a lion, preparing to throw a terrified sheep. "The Sheepthrower of Myram." Nick said.
"Who carved it?" Bonnie asked, confused and a bit frightened.
"No one knows," Nick explained. "But he must've really hated sheep."
"Have the sheep be Bellwether, and I'd be alright with it." Judy joked.
Nick chuckled. "That's a bit rude, don't you think?"
"She's tried to kill us three times."
The moved on to a painting, a stylized picture of a bat on a bridge, screaming. "The Screech, by Edvard Muttch." Nick started.
"Why's he screaming?" Stu asked. "Did he see something scary?"
Nick shrugged. "I think he's just calling a friend."
They walked off. "You know, this has been fun so far." Stu said. "I'm glad we decided to come here. So much culture!"
"I know, look at that one over there!" Bonnie pointed over to a painting of a can of soup. "That painting must have so much meaning to it!"
"Or the guy who painted it just liked soup a lot." Nick joked, Judy's parents laughing in response. "It wasn't that funny." He muttered.
They continued for a while, admiring nearly every piece of work the place had on display, including things like the Furry Night, a carving of Aphrodente, and the Zootopian Gothic.
Finally, they closed in on one of the last things in the museum, the main attraction, if you will.
Behind red bars, hung one of the most famous paintings in the world, the Mona Lepus. It depicted a gorgeous brown rabbit, a slight smile on her face. "The Mona Lepus." Nick started. "1819, painted by Leonyardo da Vinci. Said to be one of the most beautiful portraits ever made."
They admired it for a solid minute, Judy's father taking a picture of it with his phone, before they started to walk off. Nick turned around as he walked away, noticing Judy still staring at it.
"That's enough admiring for now, Carrots." He said, walking over to her.
"She really is beautiful." She muttered.
Nick looked back up at the painting, and shrugged. "Eh, I've seen better." Judy rolled her eyes, and lightly jabbed the fox in the side. He gave her a small chuckle, as they walked off.
Judy paused however, looking across the hall to see a familiar yellow fox wandering around the gallery. She pulled Nick back by his shirt. "Is that Kyle?"
He turned and looked at the fox. "Yeah, looks like it." He said. "I don't know many other people that would wear yellow and purple."
"Hey, Kyle!" She yelled over, waving to him.
The fox turned, and rushed over to them. "See?" He started, sounding a bit out of breath. "Told you we'd see each other here again!"
"You were correct." Nick chuckled. "Kinda weird we decided to go to the same place on the same day, huh?"
"Complete coincidence." Kyle said. "It's like I'm connected to you guys for some reason."
"Well, we have places to be." Judy said. "Nice seeing you again! Again." The two walked off.
As they walked away, Kyle pulled out a round object, and pressed the red button in the middle. "Hopefully we won't be seeing each other ever again." He growled under his breath. He looked around, making sure nobody was there, and vanished into darkness.
"So, how will you be paying for your pass, sir?"
"Uh…" He patted his legs. No pockets. "I don't seem to have my wallet on me…" He didn't have a wallet, either. "So, I guess I'll just pay with…" He pointed both of the guns on his arms at the receptionist, who raised her paws to the air. "These puppies right here!"
He pointed one of the guns towards the entrance bar, and fired, completely eviscerating it. He turned back to the receptionist, who was shaking with fear. "If ya move an inch, I'll blast yer durn organic head off!" He told her. She remained still as he kept his guns aimed on her, and moved into the museum.
He looked around. Just had to find those two. All these damn organics looked so similar, how could they tell any of them apart? What did a rabbit look like again? Was it big, was it small, how could he know, he didn't get a briefing!
"Hmm, maybe if I cause a ruckus, they'll come a runnin'!" He said to himself. He hit his face, causing it to pull back like a trigger. The massive cannon on his back began to fire rapidly. He spread the fire around the building, statues being destroyed and paintings being wrecked as he shot.
He laughed as the organics in the building ran out of the building. "Now, jus' gotta wait for the varmints!"
"What in the world is going on out there!?" Stu yelled. They were in the side section of the museum, and were spared from the monster's first attack.
"I don't know, dear, it sounded like… gunshots?" Bonnie replied.
"Gunshots!?" He yelled. "I thought guns were banned from the city ages ago!"
"They were." Judy said, before she and Nick sprinted to the main hall.
They peeked around the corner, seeing the stange gun monster just kind of… standing there. "Oh great, one of those robot bozos again." Nick quietly complained.
"One of what again?" A voice behind them whispered. They turned around in surprise to see Judy's parents.
"You two need to get out of here." Judy said. "Like, right now."
"Why?" Bonnie asked, sounding worried. "What's happening."
"You hear about the monster attacks?" Nick asked. They nodded in response, it was something all over the news. "Alright, we're in the middle of one of those, and you need to get out of here!"
They gulped, and quickly scampered for the door, passing by the monster, who only barely payed attention to them.
The two stepped out, standing up to the monster. "So, I'm guessin' y'all're the Zoorangers?" It asked, motioning towards them.
"We are." Nick said sternly. "And you're going down, lock stock, and barrel!"
"ZOO ON!"
They slapped their wrists.
And then they slapped them again.
Judy cringed and Nick stood there, dumbfounded.
"Wazzat…" The monster started, sounding confused. "Wazzat pose'ta do somethin'?"
"You know, when I say something about the Zoolizers," nNick started. "Never listen to me, alright?"
"I wasn't planning to." Judy responded.
The two scattered, making a break for the door. Nick took the monster's right side, while Judy took the left. They nearly made it when the monster quickly raised its arms, and blasted the ground in front of them, knocking them back.
"So, you furgot yer tramsformationalizers." He mocked at them as they struggled on the ground. "That just makes y'all varmints easier to take out!" It laughed, aiming its guns towards them.
Judy quickly rolled up, and performed a flying kick into the monster's face, knocking it down. She flipped off the monster, and landed. "Who are you calling a varmint, punk?" She yelled.
The monster raised its arm, and fired at the rabbit, who dodged out of the way. He fired at her rapidly, but she ran circles around him until she was directly behind him.
"Hey, get back here!" He yelled, shuffling around as fast as he could. "I can't shoot ya when ya ain't infronta me!"
"Sorry, I don't think I will." She mocked, keeping behind the monster as it shuffled around.
"Judy! Hurry up!" Nick yelled over from the doors. While the monster was distracted, he had snuck around and gotten to the door.
Judy immediately dashed towards the exit. "See you later, sheriff!" She yelled back to the monster.
"H-hey!" The monster yelled, trying to get up. It only managed to get partway up before it fell onto its side. "Waita second! I can't get up!"
Before leaving the building, Judy turned around, and blew a raspberry at the monster.
"You durn rascally rabbit!"
She ran out the door, and down the museum's steps. "It might take him a bit to get up." She stated.
"That's enough time to get out of here." Nick continued. "Your parents are already at the cruiser."
She nodded, and the two ran towards the cruiser. A few seconds later, the monster stepped through the door, looking around the parking lot to try and find them. "Guh, where'd they go!?" it groaned. He stamped his feet against the ground. "CONSARN IT! They got away!"
"I SWEAR!" It yelled into the empty parking lot. "I'M GUNNA GETCHA, YOU DURN RABBIT!"
"Why are we stopping here?" Bonnie asked as they walked into the apartment.
"We have… things, that we need to get." Judy badly excused. "For the history museum."
"Yeah, yeah." Nick followed up. "Very, very important things."
The two bunnies looked at each other.
Nick rushed over to the table, and snatched his Zoolizer off it, clipping it to his wrist. "Alright, I got mine." He said aloud, trying to see if Judy had found hers yet.
"I CAN'T FIND IT!" She yelled from her room, panicking.
He rolled his eyes. "That's what you get for rushing!" He shook his head, and sat down at the couch.
"So, that's an interesting device you got there." Stu said, walking up to him. "You were wearing it before, what exactly is it?"
"It's a, uh…" He wiggled his digits awkwardly. "An alarm."
"Why do you wear an alarm on your wrist?" Bonnie asked as she looked around the apartment.
"It reminds me when I have to do… things."
Stu looked at him oddly. He wasn't entirely helping his case, he could tell.
"So, this is where you two live?" Bonnie asked, still looking around the apartment.
"Yeah." Nick stated. "Is there something wrong with it?"
"Well, it's…" She paused for a second, trying to find a word that wasn't insulting. "… Quaint."
"She means it's a dump." Stu said, arms crossed. Bonnie facepawed in response. "I have no idea how anyone could live here."
"I lived under a bridge for five years"
They both looked at him, baffled by what the fox had just said.
He sighed. "I guess Judy never really told you about me, huh?" He chuckled. "Makes sense, I'm not exactly the kind of animal you'd probably want your daughter living with. Or, I wasn't, anyway."
"She mentions you a lot when we call her." Bonnie said. "But she never really tells us anything."
"How did you two meet, anyway?" Stu asked, sitting down next to him.
"Well, first things first, I was a criminal for most of my life, but that all changed when I walked into an ice cream store…"
He told them a cliff notes version of the first time they met, and the first case they solved, forgetting not to leave out how much of an asshole he had been, but conveniently leaving out the parts where Judy looked bad.
"You're daughter's really amazing." He sighed. "I'm proud to have her as a friend."
"She's been very secretive with us since she moved here." Stu stated.
"I suppose that's just her growing up." Bonnie continued. "We really just want to show her how proud we are."
"You guys are really good parents, y'know?" Nick told them. "I wish mine were like you."
"Oh, what were your parents like?" Bonnie asked. "Do they still live in the city?"
"That's…" He paused and gulped. "That's not something I want to talk about."
Judy's bedroom door slammed open. "FOUND IT!" She yelled, raising her arm to the air, Zoolizer attached. "LET'S GO!" She zoomed out of the apartment, the other three mammals trailing behind her.
"HOW COULD YOU LOSE TO THEM!?"
He smacked the monster in the side with his spear, knocking it into the side of a dumpster. "They couldn't even transform!" Yogostein continued to yell. "Do you have any idea how difficult it was to find a real gun?! You're WORTHLESS!"
"It was the rabbit!" The gun monster yelled, trying to get up. "She tricked me!"
"YOU STILL GOT TRICKED BY A RABBIT!"
He slammed his spear against the ground, the force of the slam knocking everything in the alley up into the air. "Muh-Master Yogostein!" Trigger Banki crawled across the ground, terrified of the robot towering above him. "I promise! I'll get dat durn rabbit next time, jus' gimme a chance!"
His eyes glowed red, piercing through the monster's mechanical soul. They stopped, and he sighed. "One more chance!" Yogostein stated. "But if you fail…"
His spear started glowing, and he swiped it towards the monster, firing a blast of energy. The energy flew above the monster, barely missing it as it flew into a trash can behind him. There was a loud explosion.
Trigger Banki turned around to see the trash can, which was now reduced to a black stain on the wall. "Gulp!"
"…You'll end up less than scrap metal!" He slammed his spear again, and disappeared in a burst of smoke.
The robot stumbled up, and wiped off some dust from his legs. "This ain't kaboomin' good!" He yelled, absolutely terrified. "I bettur get this next one right, or I won't even be reused as a water gun!"
He leaped up to a nearby building, and tapped the device stuck to him. "That fox guy better pull through!"
They stepped into the museum. It was dark, but colorful, lights shining through each of the exhibits. It was massive, hundreds of things to see and do.
"You sure this is an okay idea, Judy?" Nick asked, a bit worried about the monster. "What if that squirt gun guy shows up again?"
"It's fiiiine." She assured. "We've got the Zoolizers, we can handle him easily." In all honesty, she was very concerned about another monster attack. Less concerned about them, and more worried about her parents.
They weren't ready for another attack, something seriously bad could happen to them. She didn't want that to happen, but she didn't want to send them off. They were her parents. It was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, it was awful.
"Let's just check out some of the exhibits." She said
The four of them walked up to a large glass container, which housed a grey tomb. Strange details adorned it, specifically a strange lock with what looked like three slots. "What in the world is this?" Stu asked, staring at the tomb quizzically.
Judy walked over to a plaque on the side of the case, and started to read it. "A mysterious tomb found underneath the city. No one is sure how to open it, but it is rumored there is vast treasure inside."
"Sounds like prime robbery material, if you ask me." Nick stated.
"It's probably a replica, they wouldn't put something like this in the middle of the museum." Judy replied.
"Watch, we'll hear it in the news in a few weeks." Nick stated. "Trust me, I know how this kind of stuff works."
They continued through the museum, looking at exhibits as they did. After a while, Judy suddenly noticed someone familiar wandering around the museum. "Oh my god, is that Kyle again." She asked flatly.
Nick turned to the yellow fox, who was staring intently at the tomb. "Coincidences keep happening, huh?"
"You two keep looking." Judy said turning to her parents. "We have someone to talk to in private." They nodded, and headed off into the museum.
The two walked over to Kyle, who was still staring at the tomb. Nick placed his paw on his shoulder, causing him to yelp in surprise. "Oh, hey, what are you guys doing here?" He asked nervously.
"We should be asking you that." Judy said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, this is kind of coming off creepy." Nick told him. "It's very… stalker-ish."
"I'm so sorry!" He apologized, bowing down. "I don't know why this keeps happening, seriously!" He turned back to the tomb. "I heard about this tomb thing, and I wanted to check it out." He leaned in closer to it, squinting. "I feel like I've seen this somewhere before…"
"Alright." Judy sighed. "If you say it's just a coincidence, then we'll take your word on it."
They walked away, and left the fox behind. "Coincidences, ha." He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the transmitter device. He gripped it in his paw, and then looked at the tomb. "This tomb definitely seems interesting." He whispered. "I'll need to make a note of it." He pressed the button, and vanished into darkness.
They two walked, unaware at what had just happened. They passed by an exhibit, showing what looked like colonial times. Specifically, a scene of a dingo bandit attempting to steal a bison's cart.
The only thing missing was the gun in the bandit's hand.
"Did they just not have a prop gun?" Judy asked. Nick shrugged.
"It wouldn't have been a prop gun." A familiar voice next to them spoke.
They turned, and faced Officer Fangmeyer, accompanied by Officer Trunkaby. "Hey Hopps, hey Wilde!" Trunkaby greeted.
"What are you guys doing here?" Nick asked.
"Investigating a robbery." Fangmeyer explained.
"What was stolen?" Judy asked. "I would've expected it to be that tomb."
"It's a very odd case." Trunkaby said. "The only thing that got stolen was the gun in this display."
"And like I said, it wouldn't have been a prop gun." Fangmeyer continued. "It's an actual ancient gun, it probably doesn't work anymore, but it's still alarming."
"So, wait, only the gun was stolen?" Judy asked. "Why wouldn't they take anything else?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out." Trunkaby said. She tapped at the glass with her trunk. "When we got here, the glass was completely wrecked, and the only evidence were footprints in the display."
"They must've been wearing boots." Fangmeyer stated. "Big, ugly, blocky footprints, nothing like any mammal I've seen."
Thoughts raced through her head. A specific theft, the strange footprints, the fact that they were attacked by a gun monster. It made sense now.
"What if I told you both I could get the gun back by the end of the day?"
"I wouldn't believe you." Fangmeyer replied.
"Well, I probably will." She said. "C'mon Nick, we have to-" She turned around, Nick had vanished.
"Nick?"
He had wandered off halfway through the conversation. A specific exhibit caught his eye. Something that spoke to him. Something that inspired him when he was little.
The Founders of Zootopia exhibit.
As a kit, the founders and their morals had inspired him to be what he wanted, a Ranger Scout. That went well, he thought to himself sarcastically. For years, he had resented their ideal of "Anyone being anything", but he had reconsidered after the last three years.
The exhibit had statues of the three founders on display, each of them in a pose as they stood atop what looked like a mountain. Not historically accurate.
He pressed a button next to the display, which caused it to light up, and a narrator to begin speaking.
"The Founders of Zootopia, three of the bravest souls who ever lived. They made a massive pilgrimage across the continent to find a place where mammals of all kinds could join together."
A red spotlight shined on one of them, an antelope. "The founders consisted of Elliot Stamper, noted navigator and bird enthusiast." A second, blue light shone on the second founder, a wolf. "Herman Trufield, sailor and survivalist."
A final, yellow light shone on the figure in the middle, a large, boisterous looking lion. "And finally, the leader of this expedition, Terrance Manning, who is considered one of the bravest historical figures."
"A buncha blowhards, more like it." Nick said to himself.
"These three found the plot of land that Zootopia was built on, inspired by the massive Mt. Animalia. In its bathing shadow, they declared that if a mountain could form on a flat plateau, then this was a place where anyone could be anything." The narrator finished.
Maybe he shouldn't have reconsidered, these guy's kind of seemed like jerks. Ugh, there was his cynicism talking again.
Suddenly, something big slammed into him.
"Oh, sorry sir." Said the mammal, a large bison dressed in a janitor's uniform.
He looked up at the bison, he seemed familiar. "Bullhorn?" He said. "Is that you?"
The bison looked down at the fox. "Wilde?" He said. "Never thought I'd see you again."
"Yeah, haven't seen you since the… incident." He stumbled as he tried not to bring it up. "I thought you and the gang were in prison?"
"You heard that from Clawbick, didn't you?" He rolled his eyes. "Me and Ariana have been out volunteering, Clawbick doesn't know. Don't tell him either."
"Wouldn't dream of it, Bullhorn."
"Don't call me that." He said sternly. "It's just Henry."
"Trying to distance yourself, huh?" Nick replied. "Makes sense if you're trying to make a new life."
"That's what you did, isn't it?" Henry asked. "I hear you're a cop now, that's a real one-eighty."
"I suppose. But it's been going well, y'know?" He sighed. "It feels a lot better to do… good things, as cheesy as that sounds."
"I've been working as a janitor here for a while." Henry started. "I get it, it does feel nice to actually help, instead of…" He clutched his broom and shivered.
"It's alright, we were kids, and…" Nick gulped. "Yeah, that was years ago, everyone changes as they get older, just look at me."
"Anyone can be anything, I suppose."
Suddenly, there was the sound of glass breaking. A lot of glass breaking.
Nick gulped. "I have to go, something's come up." He excused. Henry raised his brow as the fox ran off.
Bonnie and Stu walked into a large, rounded room of the museum, exhibits lining the walls. The only source of light was the sun beaming through a massive glass ceiling.
"Do you think it's alright we left Judy and Nick behind?" Bonnie asked, worriedly.
"They're adults, they can do what they want." Stu replied. "Maybe its best if we look around on our own."
She sighed. "It's just… strange."
"How? We have over a hundred kids, tons of them have already grown up!" Stu said.
"But…" She gulped. "None of them were so distant."
He sighed. "It had to happen eventually, Bonnie." He looked at her. "We can't keep everything the same forever."
They hugged, Bonnie starting to cry. "Let's just enjoy our time with her while it lasts."
Meanwhile, far above the museum, on top of a nearby skyscraper, Trigger Banki was looking into the museum room from above. He had a scope over his eye, letting his view extended directly through the glass ceiling.
He watched the two rabbits. Was one of those the one he was after, or was it the ones who ran past him before? He couldn't tell any of these organics apart, but even if it wasn't, he'd be seeing her soon enough.
"H'alrighty!" He let out, aiming one of his gun arms at the rabbit. "Firing shot!"
The bullet flew, crashing through the museum's ceiling as the deafening sound of glass breaking surrounded the two bunnies. An explosion, and the two were flung to the ground, unconscious, completely unaware of what had just happened.
The monster leaped through the hole it had created, landing on the ground with a loud thud. Tons of organics ran in panic as it closed in on the two knocked out rabbits. He examined them. "Kay, definitely not the right rabbit." He said. "But she should be here soon!"
As if on que, he turned to the entrance of the room, seeing the fox and rabbit run in. They stopped in shock at the scene.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PARENTS!?" Judy yelled at the monster, terrified, confused, and utterly angry.
"Bait!" It lied. "I knew you two'd come runnin'!"
"I'm not entirely sure you realized how big of a mistake you made." Nick said flatly, crossing his arms.
Judy was absolutely tense with anger. Her paws clenched, her teeth gritted. This was the angriest she had ever been in her life.
"I'M GOING TO SCRAP YOU DOWN INTO A BUCKET!" She yelled.
"Okay, Carrots, I think you need to-"
She violently shoved the fox to the ground, and stomped towards the monster. Nick felt his head hit the ground, and sat up, rubbing it. "Judy?" He whispered. He had never seen her like this. He had a horrible sense of dread creeping up his spine as he watched the rabbit raise her arm.
She slapped the button on the Zoolizer, and instead of the usual blue flash, there was a shock of pure black electricity. She struggled for a second as she began to transform... only, it didn't look right.
She let out a monstrous roar, a mouth appearing on her helmet.
"Oh no."
"Wuh-what in tarnation is goin' on here!?" The monster let out, stepping back from the transformed rabbit.
"Oh, nothing much." It said in a snide voice. "I'm just going to tear you, limb from limb, and tear your entrails out and wrap you in a nice coat of your own insides."
"I don't have organs."
The monstrous rabbit's glowing blue eyes pierced through the robot. "Well," It started laughing. "That makes it more interesting, doesn't it?"
The rabbit dashed forward. The Banki Beast quickly fired at it, but Savage dodged out of the way of each shot, in a disturbingly elegant fashion. It stopped inches from the monster. The monster stumbled back a bit.
"Don't get any closer!" It yelled. "WATER MAGNUM!"
It aimed its arms at the rabbit beast, and fired quick streams of water onto it. The now soaked Savage simply raised its arms up in confusion.
"What was that!?" It asked angrily. "Is that the best you've got!?"
The monster seemed surprised that the water burst hadn't worked. "It worked on th' Go-Ongers…" it muttered to itself. He quickly followed by smacking his own face, causing it to push inwards. The large gun on the monster's back began to rotate and fire, aimed directly at Savage.
The rabbit monster somehow managed to outrun the flurry of bullets, a trail of bullets leading behind it as it circled around the museum room. Savage quickly zigged and zagged, leaping as soon as it was close to the robot and kicking it in the face.
Trigger Banki stumbled backwards again, watching as the rabbit let out an awful laugh. "You're still gonna have to do better!"
"Looks like I'm gunna hafta resort t' my secret weapon!" Trigger Banki pushed the plungers on its legs downwards. The tubes on his hips suddenly started shooting out large yellow missiles, absolutely tons of them.
They flew around the room, leaving thick smoke trails behind them, nearly clouding the room. Savage watched at the missiles, and scratched its chin. Quickly, all the missiles started homing in on the rabbit, who gave a smirk.
With lightning fast reflexes, Savage began plucking the missiles out of the air as they approached him. It tossed each one out of the way, the missiles crashing and exploding all around the room. As the last two missiles flew towards the rabbit, they were grabbed, and tossed into the robot's face.
It flew back, and into a wall, collapsing onto its side. Savage stretched its arms, and creeped towards the cowering monster. Claws extended from its paws, and the rabbit began tearing into the robot, cleaving metal off with every strike.
Savage then noticed something on the monster's arm, a round device. "Ohh, what's this?" Savage asked, tearing it off the monster's arm, complete with a chunk of its metallic skin.
"Hey, don't touch that!" The gun robot yelled, trying to get up, only for Savage to push him back to the ground while admiring the device.
"Sounds important." Savage glared at it for a second, still holding the monster down effortlessly. In a quick motion, Savage threw the chunk of metal away. "Whoopsie!"
The chunk landed next to Nick, who was still on the ground. He crawled over to it, and examined it.
"Anyway, time to finish you off, squirt." Savage growled. The paw on the monster suddenly had its claws extend, digging into the monster's skin. It tried not to yell in pain as they dug deeper. "Enjoying it, huh?"
"Stop this, Savage!" A familiar voice cried.
Everyone turned to look at ZooSilver, who had walked through the entrance, blade drawn. "Let her go." Silver demanded, pointing his blade towards the rabbit.
"Oh, if it isn't the glamrock." Savage mocked, releasing his grip from the monster. "If you want me to leave this rabbit, you'll have to put up a better fight than this loser here."
The Banki Beast moaned in response.
"I don't want to fight you." Silver stated. "But if I must…" Silver dragged their paw across the guard, causing it to spin around.
"SHINE SHINE MOON"
The blade shined with blue energy, and Silver swung it at the beastly rabbit. A lash of energy extended from the sword, thwipping around like a whip, Silver cracked it across the ground, and then attempted to strike Savage.
As the whip lashed towards it, the rabbit reached out and slashed the energy whip, destroying it in one fell swoop.
"C'mon glitterboy, I know you're better than that!" Savage said, starting to laugh. "Or, maybe you aren't. Maybe I'm too good for you."
"It's gotten stronger…" Silver muttered. "I might have to go all out."
Silver rushed forward, and struck the rabbit with their blade, only for Savage to catch it in its paws. The blade was throw up, and the rabbit kicked the silver ranger in the stomach. Silver stumbled back, but quickly returned an attack, striking the rabbit with the sword.
As the two continued to exchange blows, Trigger Banki rose up and watched. He pulled out two handfuls of nuts and bolts. "UGUTZ! Distract 'em!" He threw the nuts and bolts, which scattered around the room. They rose into the air, and formed into an army of Ugutz.
The two looked around at the sudden army. Savage chuckled. "This makes things more interesting, doesn't it?"
Silver quickly spun the guard around again. "HOT HOT SUN" They swung the sword around, slicing a few Ugutz in half.
"They won't distract me from taking you out." Silver stated.
"Well, they won't distract me either!"
Savage quickly leaped onto the shoulder of a nearby Ugutz. It tried to get the rabbit off, but Savage quickly plucked off its head, and threw it towards the ranger. Silver quickly slashed the head in half as Savage hopped over to another one, this time tearing off one of its arms, the one that carried the club-like weapon.
Savage leaped off the robot, and rushed towards Silver, swinging the arm like a weapon. The club and blade clashed several times, before Savage pulled the arm back, and socked the ranger in the gut with it, knocking him backwards.
While this was happening, Nick was trying to peel the device off of the chunk of metal. It seemed to be magnetically attached, so he was running one of his claws through it to find the weak spot. After a few rather painful minutes, he managed to demagnetize it, and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Alright, enough sitting around." He said to himself. He slammed the button on the Zoolizer, and transformed into ZooRed. Hea leaped into the army of robots, launching off the shoulders of one of them.
He pulled out the Vickscannon while in midair, and fired a blast at the rabbit before it could strike again. The rabbit flew back into the crowd of Ugutz, dropping its armed arm weapon, and turning back into Judy. Red landed next to the silver warrior.
"Thank you, Red." Silver said.
"Well, if you hadn't distracted her, I wouldn't have been able to do that." He replied back. "It's a teamwork thing, I guess."
Silver shook their head. "Let's just finish off these grinders."
Red nodded, and blasted a few more of the robots away with his cannon. Silver followed by switching to Eclipse Mode, and slicing a number of the bots to ribbons. This continued for a bit, until eventually they were all cleared out.
Nick untransformed, and looked around. "Great, the gun nut got away." He groaned. He turned around, seeing that Silver had suddenly vanished. "Never a goodbye with that guy, huh?"
He ran up to the unconscious Judy, and shook her. She slowly opened her eyes. "What happened?" She weakly asked.
"Savage happened."
She closed her eyes again, and took a deep breath. Then, they burst open again. "My parents!" She got up, and ran over to them. They were still unconscious, and slightly burned. She felt their pulse, and sighed in relief. They were, at least for now, alive, and that's all she could've hoped for.
"We need to get them to a hospital."
She thumped her foot rapidly as she sat in the waiting room.
"Do you really have to do that?" Nick asked.
"Let's see, I'm under a lot of stress, and terrified out of my mind." She sarcastically replied. "Yes, I do have to."
"Whatever helps you not start screaming, I suppose."
The door opened, causing them both to look at the doctor who entered. A familiar looking wolf. As she entered the room, her expression drooped. "Oh, you again."
Nick put on a fake grin. "Coincidence of coincidences, am I right?"
"Do you know her?" Judy asked, a bit confused.
"I was your doctor when you were put into a coma a few weeks ago." The wolf stated. "Dr. Furnandez." She turned to Nick with a skeptical glare. "And I suppose you're still her not-boyfriend?"
"Well, funny story…"
"WHO CARES!?" Judy blurted out, startling both of them. "Are my parents alright!?"
"Oh, yes, they're alright." Furnandez said, clearing her throat. "They're still unconscious, but they should live. You can go see them if you…" The rabbit dashed from her seat at incredible speeds, nearly knocking the wolf off her feet.
"Bunnies, am I right?" Nick said, walking up to the doctor. "So emotional."
"So, you two are dating?"
She rushed down the hall, and into her parent's room. They laid in two separate beds, completely motionless, and covered in seared fur. The only sign they were alive was the ECG's beeping. Tears started to roll down her face as she approached the beds.
"This is all my fault." She whispered to herself, the tears starting to come out faster. "I should have just told them to go home, that it was too dangerous…" She planted her head on her father's bed, and started weeping in full. "I just wanted them to have a good time! I just wanted to spend time with them… I wanted to tell them…"
She clenched her paws, and slammed them against the bed, raising her head, tears still flowing. "I'm going to beat that monster, and get you two out of here. I promise."
After a few more minutes of grieving, she stomped out of the room, completely determined.
"…And that's how I managed to swindle the owner of that car dealership out of his favorite potted plant."
"Why are you still talking to me?" Furnandez questioned.
"You know, that's what my therapist said during our first meeting." Nick said, seemingly oblivious.
She groaned loudly.
The bunny dashed down the hallway, and grabbed the fox by the arm, pulling him away from the incredibly annoyed doctor.
"Whoa, not so hard, Fluff." He said, unlocking the rabbit's grip from his arm. "Where're we going?"
"We need to think up a plan." She said. "So, we're heading back home to come up with something. I just… don't know what."
The fox gave a smirk. "Well, I think I might have something for that."
The monster fell to the ground, clutching the chunk of metal that had been torn from its arm. "Master Yogostein's gunna kill me!" It yelled in despair.
"You have one last chance, Trigger Banki." A calm voice sounded from the other side of the alley. He turned to see Kyuemon strolling down.
"Kyuemon?" The gun beast said, standing up. "Did Yogostein send ya?"
"No." He stated. "I came here of my own volition. I see potential in you that Yogostein couldn't."
The Banki Beast looked at the fox yokai in confusion, before he pulled out a small red object. The fox tossed it directly into the monster's hat-like upper head.
Red electricity shocked through the monster, causing its body to change. Its arms melted, and reformed into two large miniguns, similar to the one on its head. Said head retracted in, removing the distended face permanently. Its face also started to change, the mustache design growing bigger and going off its face.
The hat part grew larger, and the symbol of the Chaos Bade appeared on it. The rocket tubes on its side flipped around and up, and then multiplied by two in a triangular shape, turning into shoulder mounted rocket launchers. It grew a bit bulkier, its already boot like feet gaining gear shaped heel spurs.
"CHAOS TRIGGER BANKI, KAPOWEE!" It yelled. "Now THIS is how a sharpshooter should look!" It started laughing.
"I'm glad you enjoy it." Kyuemon stated flatly. "Let's just hope you can actually make use of it."
"Oh, hang on a sec…" The monster placed a minigun arm to its chin. "How'm I 'sposed to find the varmints without the tracker?"
"I watched the fox pick it up in the museum." Kyuemon explained. He pulled out the transmitter device, and tossed it to the monster, who couldn't catch it with his new gun arms.
Kyuemon groaned, and picked up the device, slapping it onto the side of the monster's head. "If you hit the button on this, it will cause the receiver to emit a sound. Follow that noise."
"Got it, hoss!" Trigger Banki saluted.
"Don't call me that." Kyuemon said, before disappearing in a burst of darkness.
"Hmm, time t' test if this thing works!" He hit the button, and a sound began ringing in his mechanical head, pointing him towards the direction of the receiver. He let out a laugh.
"Time t' hunt some rabbits!"
"So, what do you think this thing is?" She asked, eyeing the strange device in her paws.
"I have no idea." Nick said. "But considering it was attached to the monster, and how it reacted when you…" He paused and gulped, noticing the rabbit's somewhat angry expression at what he had just said. "When SAVAGE, tore it off him, I'd say it was pretty important."
The rabbit squinted angrily at the fox.
"It was a mistake, alright?" He excused. "I know that whatever that thing isn't you."
She sighed, and continued. "So, it was attached to the monster, right?" She said, placing the device on the ground. "It could be some sort of…"
Out of nowhere, the object began rapidly beeping, startling the two and nearly knocking Nick off his chair. He quickly recovered, and cooped the object underneath his paws. "Alright, so it does that!" He yelled over the high-pitched beeping.
"What if it's some sort of tracking device?" Judy asked loudly, still pulling her ears down.
"That would explain why the monster was following us everywhere!" Nick responded, shortly before the tracking device stopped beeping.
"So, as long as we have this," Judy stated, letting go of her ears. "We're in danger of being attacked again."
"Want me to just get rid of it?" The fox asked, scooping it up in his paw.
"No!" Judy let out. "No, this is good! We can use this."
"We can use it to get our hides shot up." Nick said, obvious skepticism in his voice. "C'mon Carrots, having something lead the villains directly to your base is a bad idea!"
"Well, then we better get moving!" Judy said, sticking the device in her pocket hopping out of her seat.
The fox, although confused, hopped down from his seat as well, and followed the rabbit as they rushed out of the apartment.
"What are we doing!?" He asked as they skittered down the stairs.
"You ever see those old cartoons from the 50s?" She asked as they clattered to the bottom floor and ran for the door.
"I guess?" The fox replied as they ran out the door. "But what does that have to do with beating the monster?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Judy said, as they stopped at the cruiser. "We're setting up a trap!"
Trigger Banki had been chasing the signal all over the city. It had been moving all over the place and he could just never catch up. Until now. It had finally stopped in the middle of central park.
He stepped into the park, looking around with his scope. "They gots ta be 'round here somewheres…" He then spotted them, the fox and the rabbit, just standing around near a lake. "Ah ha! Time to finish those varmints!"
He ran up to a hill overlooking them, and took aim with all three of his miniguns. He fired round after round at the two, tearing them up into pieces. After a few seconds of extra shooting to make sure, he stopped, and admired how he had reduced the two to smithereens.
"KABOOM!" He let out, jumping up and clicking his heels. "I got 'em good, now it's time to…" He took a second look. Something was off about this.
He ran down the hill, and up to the remains. Getting a better look at them, they weren't real. It was stuffed animal parts littered across the ground. "What in tarnation is-"
Something suddenly struck him in the back, knocking the Banki Beast into the air. He splashed into the water, and flailed around, turning around to see the Zoorangers, both carrying smoking guns.
"YOU!" The monster yelled, pointing towards them.
"I can't believe that actually worked." Red said, baffled.
"What can I say, those stuffed animals can be pretty realistic when you dress them up right."
"YOU RASCALLY RABBIT!" The monster practically screamed, getting up from the water. "YOU TRICKED ME!"
Blue smirked from beneath her helmet. "Ain't I a stinker?"
The Banki Beast growled in response. "I'll rip ya both t' RIBBONS!" He began firing at them, each hand aimed at a different Zooranger. Red leaped to the left, while Blue went right, the monster keeping its sights on them as it continued to fire at them, each arm tracking them down.
Blue circled around the edge of the lake, managing to outrun the bullets. She pulled out and twirled her blasters, and fired at the arm that was shooting at her. The monster flinched backwards, in pain, causing it to stop shooting from both arms. Red followed this up by blasting it in the side while it was distracted, knocking the monster back into the water.
It got back up, and leaped onto dry ground. "Why don't y'all try this on fer size!?" The rocket launchers on its shoulders began to fire a plethora of missiles, even more than before. They swirled and whipped through the air, clouding the skies, before every single one of them suddenly turned towards Blue.
"Wow, he's really got it out for you!" Red yelled from across the lake.
Blue glared at him, and then quickly began running for her life as the missiles began to rain down.
She managed to outrun most of them, the missiles crashing down into the grassy ground, leaving large chunks of barren, wasted land around the park. One missile nearly hit her, nearly knocking the rabbit to the ground and resulting in her hopping away on all fours.
"ARE YOU GOING TO HELP!?" She yelled to Red.
"I thought you were doing pretty well!" He replied. "But since you asked for it…"
He aimed the Vickscannon towards the cloud of missile, and fired several blasts, clearing large chunks of them with each shot.
Trigger Banki turned to the fox. "Don't get in th' way a this, fox!" He yelled. He aimed all three of his guns at the monster, and began to fire at him. The fox dodged out of the way, and turned into a run.
He pulled out his sword, and started to circle onto the monster. As he got close, he thrust the sword forward, causing it to detach and fly into the side of Banki Beast. The monster stopped shooting and stumbled backwards, before the fox tugged the sword back.
"So that's how ya wanna play, huh?" The monster said, turning to the fox and banging his long arms together. "I'll have ya know I'm not jus' good at shooting!"
He rushed to the fox, swinging his gun arms at him. Red blocked a few swipes with his blade, and returned them by jabbing the monster in the face. It stumbled back a bit, and then performed an overhead swing, the fox barely stepping out of the way as its arm hit the ground.
"So, what else are you good at?" Red joked, ducking under another sweep. "Because it can't be close combat."
The Banki growled, and started firing from his head gun, still swinging at the fox. "I'm pretty good at MIXIN' IT UP!"
The monster continued shooting and sweeping at the fox, making it a bit more difficult not just to dodge, but to land in hits as well. He dodged and leaped around as the monster kept close to him.
"INCOMING!"
The gunfire and swipes stopped as the two enemies looked over to see Blue running towards them, missiles still following her. She slid under the gun robot, and quickly leaped onto his back.
"Whatthe?" It let out, unable to reach the rabbit on his back. "Get offa me!"
"Red, get out of here!" She yelled to her partner, who quickly complied and ran away.
She braced for impact as the monster continued to try to reach her, unaware of the missiles headed directly for him. It was too late when he did notice, as missile after missile slammed into his face. As the last missile hit, the two flew through the air and crashed down.
The monster rolled across the ground awkwardly, while Blue turned her fall into a graceful roll that ended with her up on her feet.
"You… razzafrazzin'…" The monster mumbled as it got up. "I don't appreciate being made a joke of like this!"
"Well, I guess you need to rethink your life plan!" She joked.
The monster looked confused for a second, and then suddenly started growling. "Hey! That was another insult!" It yelled. "I'm gonna blast you right in the skull." He aimed his guns at her, and she braced herself.
There was a clicking noise.
"What!?" It yelled, trying to fire again. "I'm out of bullets!? That's impossible!"
He felt something touch the back of his body. "You really need to know how to conserve ammo." Red pulled the trigger, and blasted the monster away.
It flew over Blue's head, and crashed into the ground, struggling to get up. "I'm not done yet!" It said weakly, managing to get up.
"Wanna finish this?" Red asked, pulling out both his weapons.
"Actually, I'd like to try something a bit different." Blue responded, twirling both of her blasters. "How about we give this guy a taste of his own medicine?"
She tossed one of the guns up into the air, pulling out a blue ZooTag, and sticking it into the slot on the other gun. The gun she threw landed back in her hand, and she placed them together.
"Oh, I see." Red said, pulling out a red ZooTag and sticking it into the Vickscannon.
They pulled the triggers at the same time.
"CUTTING ON THROUGH!
SLICING THE SKY!
CHANBARA BAN!
RABBLASTERS!"
"BRING THE HEAT!
BURNING HEART!
BOOM BOOM!
VICKSCANNON!"
The Rabblasters fired first, their blade like laser shot slashing directly through the monster's face, causing it to yell out in pain. The Vickscannon fired just after, its fireball blast striking the monster in the face again, causing a massive explosion.
The Banki stumbled out of the explosion, crackling with electricity. "I'M NOT DONE YET!" It yelled, stepping forward. "I STILL HAVE THESE PUPPIES!"
He fired out a bunch of missiles towards the two unprepared rangers. However, a quick blur flashed in front of them, and the missiles had suddenly been cut to pieces.
"Sorry I'm late." Silver said, landing on the ground as the missiles collapsed.
"Always nice to see you, Silv." Blue said.
"'Silv'?" Red chuckled. "You're already giving him a nickname?"
"It's better than just calling him Silver."
Silver quickly dashed towards the monster, and performed three quick cuts. They stepped back, and the monster's weaponry fell to the ground. "Augh!" It yelled, looking at its stump hands. "What the!?"
"You two have the honors of finishing him off." Silver told them "I wouldn't want to interrupt this."
Silver quickly dashed away. Red rubbed his paws together. "Great, I thought of a perfect finishing catchphrase for this!" He said cheerfully.
He pulled out both weapons, and tossed them into the air. Blue rolled her eyes, and tossed her weapons up into the air as well, where they formed into the Zookaizer. The bazooka landed in their hands, and they aimed it at the now completely weakened monster.
"ANIMAL KINGDOM BLAST!"
The bazooka fired a massive laser at the monster, ripping right through it and causing it to burst into a massive explosion.
"Alright!" Red yelled, pumping his fist. "That was…"
"Oh no."
"ZOOTASTIC!"
She groaned.
From the explosion flew an antique gun, which Blue leaped up and caught in her paws. "Better return this to the museum!" She said as she landed.
"Gonna have to worry about that later, Carrots." Red said as the red object also left behind flew up into the air.
"You know, this giant monster stuff is really stressful." Blue admitted as the monster reappeared on the horizon. "Can't we just go back to them being dead for real after the first time?"
"It's probably some contractual thing." Red replied, causing the rabbit to give him an odd look.
She shook her head. "Whatever, let's just finish this guy off before he does any real harm."
They both pulled out their mecha ZooTags, and in a few seconds, ZooRobo was facing the gunslinging monster outside of the city.
"YEEEEE-HAW!" The monster let out, firing blasts into the air, before pointing towards the robot. "There's no way y'all can beat me now!"
"I bet you think you're a pretty hot gunslinger, right?" Blue asked the monster, getting its attention.
"'Pretty hot'? I'm the best sniper in Gaiark, and the best gunslinger in this whole dang world at this point!" It boasted.
ZooRobo lowered its head, and shook it. "I'm really sorry to say, but you aren't the best gunslinger in the world." Blue said, a bit mockingly.
The monster stomped forward. "Okay then, who's th' BEST gunslinger then?"
The rabbit let out a laugh. ZooRobo then pushed its head upwards, and then pointed at itself with its thumb.
The giant gun monster laughed. "You don't even have any guns; how could you possibly be the best gunslinger!?"
"Carrots, what are you-"
"Shh!" She said quietly. "I have a plan." She pulled out the ZooBison ZooTag, and plugged it into the console.
ZooBison appeared, and flipped into the air, forming armor and weapons for the robot.
"ZOOROBO, BISON MODE!"
"Huh, so y'do have guns." The monster said, a bit impressed. "But what's yer point?"
"If you want to prove yourself as the best gunslinger, then why don't we have a duel?" Blue asked.
"A duel?" The monster questioned. "What kind?"
"A classic duel!" She said excitedly. "Five paces, a single shot, whoever drops dead first is the loser."
"Fluff, this is a really bad idea." Red told her bluntly.
"It's going to work, don't worry!"
The monster chuckled. "H'alrighty, a classic showdown!" It rubbed its gun arms together. "I'll have y'know, I'm a very good shot!"
"Perfect timing for this too." Red said, noticing that the sun was starting to set. "All we need now is…"
Suddenly, a western string started to play through the air. All three parties looked around to see where it was coming from.
"All we need is a soundtrack, yeah."
"Alright." Blue started. "Let's do this."
The two lined up in the middle of the open field, back to back. Two robotic giants, preparing for what would be a final showdown for one of them.
One pace.
Two paces.
Three paces.
Four paces.
"HA!"
The gun monster quickly turned around, and fired a single bullet from its head gun, attempting to catch ZooRobo off guard.
In response, ZooRobo quickly spun around, and blasted the bullet out of the sky. The monster stepped back, shocked.
ZooRobo wagged two of its fingers at the monster. "Looks like SOMEONE broke the rules!" Blue said in a sing-song tone.
"I was expecting him to do it earlier, honestly." Red admitted.
"We have ways of punishing people who break the rules around here!" Blue yelled, punching her palm.
"Uh, what're you gonna do?" The monster asked nervously, backing away a bit.
"Well, normally I'd just lock you away for the plethora of crimes you've committed…" She started. "But you're way too big for that, so, you're just going to get this instead.
ZooRobo placed the barrels of its guns together, a mass of golden energy building up at their tips.
"BISON RAMMING SHOT!"
They fired the energy, which formed into a large, glowing bull's head, and rammed right through the gun monster, causing it to spark and flail.
"All I wanted!" It started to yell. "Was a fistful of dollars!" With a final bad joke out of its system, the monster fell to the ground, and exploded.
ZooRobo spun its smoking guns around. "Nature, defended!" Blue said.
"Eh, I like mine better."
She helped her father out of his hospital bed. He groaned in pain as his feet hit the ground. "Ah, oh yeah, that still hurts a lot."
"I'm amazed at how fast you two recovered, honestly." Furnandez said. "By all accounts, you should be here for another month. Or dead, whichever came first."
"You're just a ray of sunshine, aren't you, doc?" Nick said sarcastically as he helped Bonnie across the room.
The two grabbed a pair of crutches each, and started hobbling down the hallway. "I am so sorry about today." Judy apologized.
"Why are you apologizing?" Stu asked. "It's not your fault that there was a sudden monster attack."
"Actually, it kind of is." Nick admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
The two older rabbits turned to them, stopping in their tracks. "What do you mean, Nick?" Bonnie asked.
"Well," Judy started, rubbing her arm and looking around nervously. "You know those super heroes that have been fighting those monsters?" She asked, a fake grin on her face.
"Yeah, those guys are all over the news!" Stu stated. "What about them?"
"Well, uh…" She took a deep breath. She needed to tell them for their own safety. "We're those super heroes."
They both stared at her, horrified. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Bonnie asked.
"And, and why are you doing that stuff in the first place?" Stu asked, sounding more worried than his wife.
"Oh, you know, chosen one kind of stuff." Nick halfheartedly explained.
"But, it's dangerous, and…"
"It's okay, dad!" Judy assured. "Nothing will happen to us. Just think of it as… an extension of our police duties!"
That didn't seem to make them feel better.
"Okay, basically I'm telling you this because…" She tried to look for the right words. "It's too dangerous, I don't want something to happen to you." She started to feel herself tear up a bit. "You almost died today, I don't want something like that on my paws, alright? So just… leave the city for a while, don't come back!"
There was a deafening silence through the hall, caused by Judy's rather emotional outburst.
Nick cleared his throat. "So, now might be a bad time to say this, but…" Judy looked up to him. What was he going to say?
"Me and your daughter are, officially…"
Oh no.
"A couple."
"NICK!" She yelled, embarrassed. "Now's not the time!"
To her surprise, she heard her parents sigh in relief.
"Oh, that's some weight off our shoulders at least." Bonnie admitted.
"Wait, what?" Judy asked, confused.
"Part of the reason we came here was to see what was really going on with you and Nick." Stu admitted. "It's nice to have some confirmation."
"You're not upset at me for having a predatory for a boyfriend?" She asked, surprised.
"Why would we be upset at you for that?" Bonnie asked, laughing a bit. "After all you've done, we can't really be upset at your life choices."
"Except the super hero thing." Stu admitted. "That's a bit iffy."
"But we'll take your judgement on it." Bonnie said. "We were going to head back home tonight anyway."
The four said their goodbyes, and Judy's parents walked off.
"That was something, huh?" Nick said, putting his hands in his pockets.
"I wanted to tell them." Judy muttered.
"What was that?"
"I wanted to tell them we were dating." She said louder, crossing her arms.
"You already did a shocking reveal, it's not fair for you to get both of them." Nick explained. "Also, hey, what did you think of my catchphrase?"
"It was awful." She said bluntly, causing the fox's ears to droop.
"You just don't get the majesty of it." He said.
"It's a pun, there's no majesty to that." She replied. "My catchphrase was better."
"Your catchphrase was boring and unmemorable." Nick said bluntly.
The two started walking down the hall, continuing to argue about who's catchphrase was better.
"See, I was going for something like Silver's catchphrase." Judy said as they exited. "Something cool, but memorable."
"How is mine not cool and memorable?" Nick asked, sounding insulted.
"It sounds like a bad movie trailer." She said. "See, if Silver…" She paused for a second. "Silver…"
"What about Silver?" Nick asked.
"I think we have a third suspect."
"What?" Nick said, confused. "About who Silver is? Who is it?"
"Kyle." She said. "Lupina, Wolford, and Kyle are the only ones that could possibly be ZooSilver!"
"That would explain why Kyle was following us around." Nick suggested. "He could've been watching out for us."
"Kyle definitely seems like the kind of person who would jump at the chance to be a super hero." Judy continued.
"They all seem likely, though." Nick said. "Who knows, we probably won't find out for a bit."
"Silver doesn't seem to want us to know his identity, so yeah, probably not."
Nick sniffed. "I wonder why that is?"
"Probably some personal reason."
Kyuemon strolled across the edge of the mountain. After a few minutes of walking he found what he was looking for. It was Long, standing on the side of the mountain, as he usually did at night.
"Hello there, Long." The yokai greeted.
"Kyuemon."
"About as social as usual, I see." The fox joked.
"Leave."
"Very well." Kyuemon said, starting to turn around. "I suppose I won't be able to tell you about what I learned about Savage."
He suddenly felt a warm hand on his shoulder. "What did you learn, fox?"
Kyuemon smacked Long's hand off, and turned back around. "I've learned how he works, and why you weren't able to summon him on your last mission."
"What's the reason?" Long asked, intrigued.
"You assumed Savage is something they want to use." Kyuemon stated. "But it's the exact opposite."
"Why would they not want to use the power Enter told me about?" Long questioned.
"What I saw was not either of them when Savage took over." Kyuemon continued. "It was something else, an out of control monster."
"You're telling me things I already know, fox." Long said, starting to get annoyed. "You know how to activate it, so tell me."
"You need to get to them emotionally." He replied. "Savage seems to be caused by stress and anger. You need to take advantage of them."
Long laughed. "That's something, at least." He said. "Thank you, Kyuemon."
"You are very welcome, Long." Kyuemon politely said. "But just because I helped you this once, doesn't mean I'll help you again.
"Don't worry." Long started, turning around. "I won't need you in my plan."
"Very well." Kyuemon said. "I'll take my leave now." He vanished into a burst of dark energy.
Long let out a loud laugh. "My plan." He said to himself.
"Oh, I'm planning something wonderful."
So am I, Long. So am I.
I have basically nothing much to say about this chapter right now, but enjoy the melodrama. Also, who else has seen Zubat? Just asking. This chapter was a good way to make some animal puns, and set up a few more plot things.
You guys have watched Let's Go Kamen Rider, right? Just making sure. Again.
Next time, IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!