Power Struggle – Savage Seas

Chief Bogo and Judy accompanied Jack as he walked through City Hall. The chief looked ill at ease, and his discomfort spread to the rest of the group. They passed by several mammals sauntering about with sour expressions. Security especially caught their attention.

"Chief?" called Judy. "These mammals. Do they look familiar to you at all?"

"No."

"I didn't think so," mumbled Jack. The shifty behavior of the guards was unsettling. He noticed the nervous twitching of their hands and darting eye movement. He made sure they stood close together as they continued through the halls with their brown speckled tile floors and copper lights. Hoping for civility, they nodded and greeted the unfamiliars as they passed. And to small relief, the strange guards nodded back with similar politeness. But the eyes that burned holes in their backs couldn't be ignored by Jack.

Still, he had his leverage. There was no longer a barrier between him and Big or Bellwether now that he had the approval of the Mayor. He would seize any and all evidence from them. And they would be tried as war criminals off of Zootopia's shore away from corrupt mobs. Jason and Sedgewick would be delivered the villains dead or alive kicking and screaming.

"I'm worried about Nick being by himself," said Judy.

"He isn't alone. McHorn and Fangmeyer are keeping watch as he works on his testimony. My home is guarded. And they'll have a good view of the area with the scopes on the rifles."

"Who can you trust if not trained SWAT?" boasted Chief Bogo. "They're exceptional officers."

"That's not really what I meant," said Judy as she huddled closer to Jack. They turned a final corner to the hall leading to Mayor Lionheart's office. Inside, Jack hoped to find Bellwether.

"Care to elaborate?"

"It doesn't look like Nick has many friends. Even if we did this right, what happens to him when it's all over?"

"He goes on like the rest of us," said Bogo.

"He's lost everything. It isn't so easy to just 'go on' after what he's been through. His business is ruined, he lost his best friend and his reputation is now so broken from being in and out of prison that he'll probably never get a legitimate job again."

"Judy, we'll work on that when we get to it," said Jack, biting back the annoyance in his voice. Wasn't there enough to focus on at this moment?

They finally stopped in front of the Mayor's office. The polish of the floors in the hall had long since dulled. Used papers and other garbage littered the space around them.
Jack's ears twitched to the noises coming from behind the door.

"You hear that?" Judy stepped closer.

"Like a whirring noise?" she asked. The hare and rabbit duo exchanged a glance. Then they shared one with Bogo as he stood behind them with a slight bend to his posture; a long-lasting effect from the damage sustained during the attack at police headquarters. Jack knocked twice and waited. The weight of the mammal's steps as it approached the door sounded heavy. With a snap, the door was pulled open.

Bright greenish-brown eyes narrowed down on the trio from a tall and slender black feline standing by the threshold. Behind him, a torn up folder sat on a table next to a peculiar silver canister. A shredder was working overtime and filled the room with the smell of its overheating motor. File drawers stood open and hung precariously on the edges of their slots. It only took Jack and Judy a second to say the name,

"Manchas." Jack held up a warrant to the cat,

"Don't move. Detective Jack Savage. This office is under search and seiz-"

"Argh!" Manchas slapped Jack's hand away and forced the door, battling the resistance of Jack and Judy on the other side. They struggled to rebound from his swift attack and found themselves shut out.

'Come on! Together!" Bogo leaned forward and rammed his weight into the door. The impact was just enough to get the doors hinges squealing in pain. Bogo grunted his own cry of discomfort.

"Chief!" Judy stood by Bogo, carefully monitoring him as he sat down with a grunt.

"I'm no use," he whined. But with the door weakened, Jack took a turn and forced it down with a straight kick. He caught a glimpse of Manchas diving out the window then turned to Judy and Bogo,

"Protect each other and turn this office inside out! I'm going after Manchas."

"Alright!" said Judy. Without looking back, Jack leapt into the light and held onto the walls of the window as he perched and looked down below. The grass field of the Mayor's garden lay before him. The bright sun illuminated the colors of the flora that decorated the space. But as he carefully scaled down the security fence that hugged the window, the feeling of being on enemy territory in what was once his home base left him disgusted. More guards strolled across the grounds in alien uniform. It's not lost yet. It will be reclaimed!

Jack kicked off the gate from a safe enough distance and dashed across the garden. "Manchas, stop!" The cat stumbled as he reached the towering protective bars on the other end. He leapt up the spiked fence, daring to brave the points as he climbed the steel spears and froze by the top. He looked back and snarled. Jack saw it too; from his pocket slipped the canister. Curious, he headed for the bush where the canister fell. Two armed guards blocked his path just as he was closing the distance.

"That hare attacked me. Do as Bellwether instructed," said Manchas. He leapt over the gate.

Jack raised his arms as the wolves approached. They were heavily armed and dressed in excessive armor. He watched their movements closely. They approached slowly. The wolf closest to Jack appeared nervous. His arms shook with slight untamed energy.

"Sir."

"We have our orders."

"I'm a member of the M.I.C. Whatever you were told is a lie."

"You don't employ us. I have a job to do."

"We all have jobs to do." Jack slowly backed up and turned, guiding the guards with his backward movements until he stood with his back to the bushes.

"We have to take you in and report to Bellwether. You're that striped rabbit. You fit the description of someone wanted for crimes against Zootopia. Big was fighting to stop you. He's a real leader."

"No..."

"Get on your knees, rabbit."

"This is a mistake."

"Kneel and go easy."

"He doesn't seem as dangerous as they say," said the wolf in the back. Jack remained with a stoic expression. As the wolf took a step forward, Jack bent down and slowly lowered a knee in surrender. He could clearly see the holster on the nearest guard. A round lump sticking off of the wolf's hip caught Jack's eye. And on that lump was a keyring hanging off the edge of it. With their guns getting closer and no other option, Jack ducked down and rolled halfway under the nearest wolf. He hooked a finger on the ring of the item attached to his holster and in a wrestling maneuver, rolled the wolf to the ground.

"Shit! Hey!"

"Don't shoot you'll hit me!" Jack positioned himself on the back of the wolf and violently tugged on the ring.

"No! Get back! Grenade!" The wolf in the rear turned, dropping his gun as he fled.

"Get it off me! Please!" Jack sat on the panicked wolf and yanked the live explosive from his holster, launching it into the air above the other wolf. A large billow of smoke blocked out the sun as the grenade detonated, sending shockwaves through the air and grass. Jack hit the cowering wolf on the back of his head, knocking him out. He used the heavy gas hovering in the garden to cover his movement, expecting the commotion to draw more attention.

"I don't believe it! You're something else," growled Manchas. He grunted with one last effort to reach for the canister from between the bars, but it remained out of his reach in the thick bushes. Jack dove toward them in search of the silver canister.

"Ow! Ow!" He yanked it free from the toothy vines that ensnared it and scaled the gate in pursuit as Manchas back-pedaled away and began running.

"Jack!" A panicked Judy called on the phone, "What was that explosion?"

"Me. Just keep digging. Take the whole room with you if you have to!"

"We're under attack in here. We called for help. Backup is coming."

"Fine, then stay safe."

"Where are you going?"

"Right now?" He rushed to figure that out. Where did Manchas plan to go? If he could keep on the cat's trail, it might just lead him to Bellwether. Wait...what was it that Nick told us about Manchas? Duke made the purchases and did the stealing. So Manchas...

"Judy!"

"What?"

"Does Manchas act as a relay between Big and Bellwether?"

"That's what Nick said. He does the transport for big, playing the role of the innocent limo driver."

"That's it! I'm going to the docks. One of them has to be there. Big, Bellwether. Doesn't matter. I'm heading to Sahara Docks now."

"If we can get out of here, We'll meet you."

"You will."

"I love you!" Even now, it surprised him to hear her say it.

"I love you too." He hung up the phone and shrugged off the sentimental phrase.

"You should join us!" said Manchas as he ran.

"I'll join you in the courtroom and see you caged!" They threaded through frightened pedestrians on the sidewalks, skidding cars on the streets and through narrow alleys near the canyons in Sahara Square. Manchas snarled as he saw Jack keeping pace.

"How do you keep up in that suit? You look like you're enjoying yourself." Perhaps it was just the thrill of the chase, but he couldn't deny a small smile stretching his face.

"I'm so close to ending all of this." Manchas slowed to a leisurely walk to conserve energy. He turned and continued moving, panting for breath,

"You really think it ends with a simple arrest?"

"You know nothing."

"Join us. The Family lives." Jack also slowed, winded from the chase.

"Mayor Lionheart is alive. Your assassination attempt failed."

"He lives? Liar."

"No," said Jack through a smile. "I don't lie. He lives. Bellwether has no authority. Big will lose everything. And all of you and the other freaks will follow. Arms up, Manchas!" Jack reached for cuffs on his waist then jumped back.

"No!" Manchas charged with a straight kick. Jack rolled on his heels, stumbling over a garbage bag in an alley.

"Gah!" Manchas lifted a metal trash lid on the can next to Jack and tossed it at him. Though he shielded himself with his arms, the weight of the lid was substantial and enough to slow Jack's rise to his feet. His elbows stung from the impact. He was slammed back down before he could recover and struggled against Manchas' assault. When the blows slowed, Jack spat at his face then met him with a headbutt.

"I said get down!" Although slower, the long legs of Manchas provided him with a good stance. The hare's charge was ineffective and he was tossed to the side.

"Unf! Damn it." Jack wiped a stale sweet sauce from his nose and pushed himself off of a lumpy glass filled garbage bag. The sharp edges were dulled by the thick plastic of the bag, but he could still feel the stinging in his paws, throbbing with his heart. He was alone in the alley. The bright wall of light on the other end drew his attention. Manchas was swallowed in it. Jack continued his pursuit to the other end of the alley and gazed at a body of water. He watched from the vantage point granted from the top of the hill that led down to the Sahara Docks. He followed Manchas with his eyes as he ran, noting his movement and the zig-zagging terrain leading to the water. He reached for his phone,

"Judy! I'm at the docks. Manchas is heading toward the water. In pursuit." He swiftly hung up, dashing down the slope and cutting his trip by taking risky falls from one elevated street to the ones below. Officers dotted the streets.

"Hey! Follow me!" he shouted. "M.I.C.! Suspect!" The horn of a small ship pressed Jack's sense of urgency. He sprinted with a final reserve of energy to a small parked boat. The vessel was from a smaller line of transport boats.

Two deer officers chased Jack on, jumping behind him to reach the ledge as the boat slowly pulled away from the dock. Panting and breathless, Manchas turned to face Jack.

"You're very annoying," he calmly said. "The canister. I need it. Now. You don't know what you're holding onto."

"Just more evidence," Jack taunted. The click of a pistol stopped him cold. Jack turned to face an officer pointing a gun at him.

"I can't let you do this," he shakily said. "Big paid my family good money. I owe him my loyalty."

"He bought you off too? He buys everybody." The rocking of the boat increased as it moved further from the docks and began to turn. The world spun behind the officers.

"He pays very well. I got twice what I would get working as a cop for a year. Things have been good for me."

"But look at what it costs you. Pointing a gun at a detective."

"It's too late," said the deer. But as he straightened his aim, the other officer rammed him down. The gun went off, sending a bullet harmlessly through the air. Jack ducked last moment when a swinging hook flew past and heard a meaty thud behind him as the hook struck the officers.

Manchas reached for Jack and missed, rewarded with an uppercut. He pulled the silver canister out of his pocket and unscrewed the cap.

"What are you doing?" Manchas warily asked. Jack said nothing. He pulled a smaller tube from the canister. A needle-tipped syringe. The liquid glowed a saturated blue in the light.

"Think of the power we can offer, Jack. We could control so much. You should join us. Big could use someone as athletic as you. You'd be a good hunter."

"Trying to seduce me into joining Big is only making me feel ill." Jack fought the urge to toss the needle off the boat. Then, a twisted thought occurred to him. He glanced back to see the two downed cops. One bleeding from the face profusely.

"Don't be so sure of yourself," said Manchas. "Join and be free of your rules. Big has everything you want." Jack clenched his fist around the syringe.

"Do you know what it's like to see the person you love flinch in fear as you approach her because of trauma? Or to have your entire family go missing?" Manchas only blinked in curiosity. "So much has happened because of you people. I have no more words for you." Jack violently plunged the needle into his right thigh.

"No! What are you doing?"

"Getting a taste of that 'power' you spoke of." Manchas watched with a skeptical eye as Jack tossed the syringe aside. The burning in Jack's leg crawled through his veins. His muscles tensed and his ears began to ring as if someone slapped them. A strange sensation of weightlessness swelled in his chest.

"Let's be civil about this," said Manchas with a hint of teasing in his voice. The colors around Jack appeared to brighten and sharpen. A pleasant electric buzz coursed through his veins.

"Civility no longer applies." Manchas shook his head and charged forward. His movements looked painfully slow to Jack. He missed the first swipe. The second left him on his knees as Jack caught his left paw and snapped a finger.

"Argh!" And without a second thought, Jack jammed two clawed fingers straight into the right eye of Manchas.

"Aah! You savage!" Blood sprayed upward from the wound as Manchas recoiled, scurrying backward on the floor of the boat. Jack wiped the blood and teary mucus on his fingers on his pants. The drug's influence was proving useful in pushing him to extremes he often rebelled against. The little voice that kept him from touching these levels of depravity have been muzzled and went unheard. It was invigorating. Intoxicating.

"Take me to Bellwether." He approached Manchas as he kneeled on the floor mewling. "Where is she?" When the cat refused to respond, Jack looked up toward the wheelhouse. Behind the glass, he faintly saw a shrew and sheep standing partially covered by the sun's light.

A hyena charged out onto the deck. Jack reached into his jacket pocket and rewarded the predator with a high voltage taser for the intrusion. Jack hurried inside, purposefully trampling over the fallen hyena as he did so. He searched for the staircase leading up to the wheelhouse.

"Come out! Now!" He pushed through the galley's door then turned back through the living quarters until he found a skinny door tucked between marked crates. The rumbling noise of the ship's motor grew louder as he neared. This must be it.

Jack's breath's shortened. The adrenaline rush forcing itself through his body was beginning to enter that stage of agitation that Dr. Cunninghamm talked about. With little time before he hit a low from the drugs side-effects, he yanked the door open and entered the tight spiraling staircase. Down must have led to the engine room, if the sounds were any giveaway. He made his way up the stairs and reached a small skinny hallway. At the end stood a white wooden door. He briskly walked up to it and listened to the panicked voices inside.

"Hold it closed!" said a male voice. Unfamiliar and neither Bellwether nor Big. The disappointment only enraged Jack further. And with all his natural strength amplified by the drug in his veins, he rammed his fist through the door, connecting with wood and flesh. The injured figure slammed backward over the controls before falling forward.

"Get back! Stay away!" shrieked a female. Jack forced the door open and stared at the female shrew holding a bloodstained and chipped wooden bat. Jack forced the bat away from her and lifted her by her shirt.

"What is your full name?" he shouted.

"Frieda Big! And you're going to get it!" It was encouraging to find someone so close to him. He looked at the strange shrew. Her long black hair draped down her face. She snarled, exposing her needle-thin teeth. Her pink fingers grasped onto Jack's arms as he held her up in his grasp.

"Where is your father?"

"I'm not talking!" Jack threw her down against a wall and turned his attention to the sheep slowly standing up in the opposite corner. Next to him, more vials of different colors stood on a broken crate, kept in the shade.

"This boat is loaded with explosive chemicals," warned the sheep. "Keep calm, we don't have to fight."

"I'm through with calm!" said Jack. Frieda attempted to push him. Jack swung her around, tossing her into the sheep. They tumbled in a mess of limbs over the vials, cracking the glass tubes. "Where is this boat going? Who are you? And what is happening? You will answer me. If I could right now, I'd have you all in cuffs."

"We're moving the materials to the rainforest docks," coughed the sheep. He wiped off a streak of blood from his snout and dusted wooden shrapnel from his shirt. "I'm Jesse." Jack stepped back an inch, allowing himself some safe space between himself and the ever-growing list of suspects in front of him.

"You're all complacent and accessories to major crimes. You're all going down one way or another," he growled. But he needed to regain composure. The drug had thrown him off balance. And he found himself spiraling into a rage. Frieda made one last charge and in Jack's frustration at her tenacity, slammed her hard on the ground, knocking her out. A bright flash behind him made him look back.

"What?" The wheelhouse was slowly being swallowed by a nascent flame. The sheep tried to run over Jack near the door. He crashed into Jack and they rolled on the ground.

"Where is Bellwether?"

"She is in the Rainforest. Figure out where yourself. This boat is going to melt down now anyway. You ruined everything." The sheep slipped from his grasp and fled down the stairs. The growing smoke was beginning to darken as the flame grew. Jack hurried to the extinguisher on a wall near the entrance to the wheelhouse. He pulled Frieda's unconscious body from the room and frantically battled the fire. When the flame was suppressed he looked out the ash laced window in front of him. Manchas had vanished from the deck. The battered officers huddled up motionlessly in a corner near the boat's edge. Their holsters were gone and blood pooled from new wounds.

"Manchas..." The world continued to spin as the boat steered itself through the waters. In the distance, perhaps ten minutes away, Jack stared at the Rainforest Docks. He searched the drawer under the throttle near the steering wheel and found a pair of binoculars. He leaned up onto the desk in front of him and focused the binoculars toward the docks.

Standing impatiently on the pier, staring with worried eyes toward the boat was Bellwether. Jack looked at the warped bend to the steering wheel. The edges were charred from the flames. The chemicals were smothered under the white foam from the fire extinguisher. The throttle to the boat looked like it suffered some damage as well. Jack tried to straighten the ship, but to his horror found the lever abnormally loose. He tried the wheel and couldn't adjust the tilt.

"No...it's going to crash into the docks!"