Aloha one and all. Now I know it's been a while but life both personal and the world in general has been a lot recently. I've been staring at a half finished chapter for ages now and just not been able to finish it. Well, eventually enough is enough (and to be honest I'm not sure why I never thought of it sooner) but here is everything I've managed so far, I know its not near my ususal length but you'll just have to make do. Also if you haven't noticed I have got a bit of a spark back with a gravity falls fic so hopefully I can keep the writing train running past that. Anyway, enjoy.
Te Videre
Chapter 30
The first thing that came back to him was pain.
A dull ache in his muscles.
A sharp throbbing in his muzzle.
A jagged pressure around his wrists.
With a groan, Mathew Caspian forced his eyes open and glanced around blearily. He was in a room he didn't recognise, it was mostly empty and full of shadows, the indistinct outlines of what looked like storage crates lurked in the gloom. The tiger was sat on the floor up against one of the walls with his arms held above his head.
Straining to tilt his head back, Mathew could just about make out the handcuffs chained to a bolt nailed into the wall.
That explains the pain in my wrists.
Struggling as best he could, the tiger tried to shuffle from side to side, attempting to get a better view of where he was trapped. Twas all in vain as the position of his arms reduced his manoeuvrability, Mathew could see what looked like a desk when he slid a bit to the left but that was it.
As his wits started to return to him with increasing speed, Mathew could feel the panic and fear taking hold of him.
Ok, calm down. Yes, we are in a royally fucked up situation. Now think, how did we end up here?
With a shuddering breath, the tiger shut his eyes and thought back to the last things he could remember.
Mathew Caspian was nicely buzzed as he approached the alleys behind Connor's Arms. Despite all the drinks mammals had been buying him this evening, Mathew knew better than to deal with the gang behind Dusk while heavily inebriated.
Though he wasn't on the wonder drug at this moment in time, he'd used all his supply earlier that day during the bank robbery, Mathew was pumped with confidence from his evening spreading the tale of his deeds. He strolled into the shadow drenched alleys like he owned them, like he owned the night itself, there wasn't anything out there that was worse than him.
As he reached the meeting spot a figure stepped out of the darkness and beckoned him closer. As the tiger drew closer, he could see they were an impala. Mathew frowned for a moment; they weren't the sort of mammal he'd been expecting to see, not because they were a prey but because they didn't give off the intimidating aura a mammal had when they were using, or were a regular user of, Dusk.
"Mathew Caspian?" asked the impala.
"Yes, and who are you?" growled Mathew in reply.
"Not what you were expecting huh?" the impala chuckled "Don't worry about it, I'm just a middle-mammal."
Mathew Caspian raised an eyebrow in question.
"The ones who want to see you don't just show themselves you know" said the impala with a stretch, he'd been waiting here a while "They contacted my gang to pick you up, I'm supposed to lead you to another location where they'll be waiting for you."
"Well, I'm here now" said Mathew checking his phone for the time "lead the way, I don't want to make these guys wait."
"Ha, no you don't" laughed the impala as they set off down an alley towards the waterfront and gestured for Mathew to follow "So what was it like? You know, taking Dusk?"
"That stuff is crazy" began Mathew as he followed along "it's like all your senses are turned up to eleven, just living and breathing is ecstasy, it's like you're finally awake! I felt like I could do anything, beat anyone, and I could. It's not like some other drugs that get you high and you feel like you can climb mountains with your bare paws, on Dusk you really ca…"
There was whistling, like a strong breeze, from up above them as a clump of liquid night seemed to drop from the shadows. The first thing the two unsuspecting mammals knew was when a great force crashed down on top of them.
Before Mathew could comprehend what was happening, he felt another force on his back, this time lifting him, and then the world began to turn before his eyes. As the scenery tumbled about in his sight Mathew managed to make out the impala smash into a wall and lie still. He also caught a glimpse of the cause of all this.
A figure in black, the shadows seemed to stick to them, blurring the sight of them.
Then Mathew saw sky and floor and sky again before he hit the ground and rolled.
From behind him the tiger heard, or rather felt, a deep bestial growling that set him trembling. That sound was beyond anything Dusk had done when he had taken it and Mathew very much wished he had some more of the drug at this moment.
There wasn't time to think clearly. What was happening? This mammal was clearly on Dusk but why were they attacking him? If he'd annoyed the gang that distributed Dusk, why did they go through all this hassle to get him?
None of those questions appeared in Mathew's head as he scrambled to his feet and shot off down the alleyway. All he knew was that he had to get away from here, while he wasn't as in touch with his instincts as he was on Dusk, they were still screaming DANGER at him right now.
He didn't turn to look behind, that would have slowed him down, the tiger just kept running. He nearly tripped as he rounded the corner, ahead he could see the open street again, surely when he was visible out in the open, he would be safe.
Mathew could hear running from behind, far faster than anything he could manage, and he put on one last spurt of speed to reach the end of the alleyway.
The sound of running changed briefly as the number of footsteps increased… and then there was silence.
Just as Mathew Caspian thought he might be alright, that he might be able to get away, what felt like a freight train rocketed into his back and knocked him to the floor.
Fighting against the pain Mathew reached out with an arm to try and pull himself further away from his assailant.
Then he felt them grab the back of his head…
And that was all he could remember.
"Well shit" croaked Mathew, his throat was rather dry "and the day had been going so well..."
At the sound of his voice there was a rustling and a clinking from the other side of a crate to Mathew's left. The tiger twisted his arms as much as possible so that he could lean forwards and try to see what was there. His arms did not enjoy this and there was screaming and fire in his joints, but just before he reached his limit and sank back against the wall again, he could make out a pair of hooves moving feebly.
With a shuddering sigh Mathew rested his head against the wall.
So they got that impala too…
The faint rustling happened again. Mathew's ears twitched; now that he stopped to pay attention, he noticed that while the clinking had come from the mammal to his left, the rustling had not. In fact, it sounded like it was right in front of him but there was nothing there but shadows.
Staring a little harder into the darkness, Mathew almost thought he could make something out, was that an arm? A leg? The longer he stared the more he thought he could see; a cold sweat began to form on his forehead. But then his vision went even further, the figure he thought he could make out began to melt, the shadows curling and twining about.
Mathew shook his head vigorously and when he looked again the patch of shadows was just that, an ordinary darkness.
The tiger closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. After a few deep breaths Mathew opened his eyes again.
And screamed.
That thing was crouched in front of him, watching as silently as it had appeared. Chest pumping like a pair of billows, Mathew tried to stay in control of himself. He forced himself to look at what, or rather who, it was that had abducted him.
They were feline, he could make out a fairly distinctive tail, but that was all he could make out. They were too big for some of the smaller species, but the wrong build for the larger species like lions or tigers.
Their outfit, which he'd thought was simply black to begin with, was dotted with hundreds of serrated rings of subtle shadings. The pattern covered the mask as well, completely hiding any view of their face, though Mathew thought he could see flashes of red from within the mask every so often.
"What do- What do you want with me?" Mathew swallowed to wet his dry throat and asked the figure.
The figure in black stood and walked a short way to the right, to the desk Mathew had just about spotted earlier, and seemed to gather something lying on it.
"Look, I don't know why you're doing this, or what I did to wrong you but-" the figure returned and began to approach Mathew, who struggled to shuffle away "Y-You shouldn't mess with us, the gang behind us is- Urk!"
The figure ignored Mathew's words and their paws moved before the tiger could react. Mathew did however react to the sharp sting in his throat, below his jaw, and the numbing coldness that rapidly began to spread. The tiger's eyes widened as he saw the syringe in the figure's grasp, the now empty syringe.
"No, no, you don't get to be useful" said the figure, their voice was low and coarse, like ground glass and gravel "If I have a use for you, if you have value, then I'll have to restrain myself… and I will not be doing that today…"
As if to prove a point they reached down with both arms and grasped hold of one of Mathew's legs near the knee. Their arms jerked and twisted, Mathew felt a pop and then a searing pain. A dull moan of anguish escaped the tiger's mouth as his tongue flopped about uselessly. You could see the panic and despair in Mathew's eyes as he stared down at his leg that was sticking out at completely the wrong angle from the knee down.
And then with another wrench and splitting pain, Mathew's leg was back where it should be, it looked as good as new. Only the burning agony running up his leg told Mathew that what just happened had been real.
"Don't worry, it was just dislocated" growled the abductor, stepping back and crouching to stay near eye level with Mathew "if you're lucky it won't have trapped a nerve when I put it back."
The figure stared impassively as the tiger tried to speak but all that came out of their mouth was a burbled groan.
"You were a little fish swimming just below the surface, looking up at all those closer to the light and feeling oh so superior. But here in Zootopia there are much bigger fish that swim far deeper in the gloom. And with your vision you can barely make out those just a little further into the darkness, let alone the ones you should be scared about crossing without even realising."
After rocking back and forth on their feet for a moment, the figure stepped forwards once more, this time reaching for one of the tiger's arms. There was clanging and moaning as Mathew tried to get away, fearing what those paws could do to him, but he was chained up tightly and with his leg now injured he could move even less.
"I'll tell you what, I'll give you some advice" said the figure over the unintelligible cries of pain as they dislocated and then fixed the tiger's elbow "Since you obviously won't last long without it."
The figure stood and walked back over to the desk where they'd first picked up the syringe, leaving the tiger to whimper in pain as Mathew struggled not to move his injured leg or arm. A few minutes later the figure reappeared before Mathew, the pain and his situation were grinding away at his sanity, making it hard for him to focus.
"There are three things that you should be aware of if you live in Zootopia's underbelly" growled the figure as they counted on their digits "Three things to be aware and deathly afraid of. They are the displeasure of Mr. Big, the greed of…" the figure paused and tilted their masked head "Actually no, that group has disappeared over the last decade. Ah well, there are two things to be afraid of. The displeasure of Mr. Big, as I mentioned, and the attention of Broken Clockwork..."
The figure stepped in close one last time, Mathew barely had the energy left to struggle as the figure grabbed him by the jaw.
"And you, Mathew Caspian" said the figure softly, the mask inches from the tiger's face "You have my full and undivided attention. So tell me… what is it that you fear?"
Mathew Caspian didn't feel another sting in his neck because of the anaesthetic from earlier, but he did see another empty syringe held in the figures paw as they stepped back. His tongue lolled around as he tried to speak, the anxiety and fear evident in his eyes.
"Ah, but of course, you can't talk…" the figure's voice was as cold as ice as Mathew's eyes began to glaze over "Te Videre In Inferno"
Noctis Lacerda stared down at the tiger as the drug began to work its sinister effects. Mathew Caspian's head lolled about, his muscles twitching involuntarily, and mindless groaning escaped his mouth. The last thing Noct did was take a sample of the tiger's blood, if what Judy had said was correct then there was a lot he could learn from Mathew Caspian even if the tiger couldn't talk.
"Enjoy those nightmares" the panther spat as he turned and headed for the other captive in the room "by the time I hand you in to the police you'll be terrified of your own shadow."
Noct looked down at the impala who already had a very distant look in his eyes and his head was bobbing about gently.
"You look like you've stewed long enough" said Noct pulling out a third syringe filled with yet another type of drug and injecting it into the impala's neck.
The glazed look slowly faded from the impala's pupils though now they were very dilated and wandering about.
"Now that you've come back to yourself a bit" growled Noct as the impala focussed on his voice as much as they could "tell me… who are you?"
About half an hour later a shadowy figure slunk out of the safe house without anyone noticing. Not that anyone was around to do the noticing, this particular location had been chosen to be very out of the way, hidden in the trees where the canals became the rainforest.
It was late morning by now, nearing midday, and Rennie Lamane's mood was steadily dropping as the minutes ticked by. His claws tapped repeatedly on the back of the sofa he was reclining on, deep beneath the Blue Tide nightclub. He had requested to meet the tiger who had kicked up such a fuss in Zootopia, Mathew Caspian, first thing today. And yet so far Carlos and the tiger were nowhere to be seen.
It is unlike Carlos to simply be late Rennie reasoned as his claws began to drum more insistently Something has clearly gone wrong.
The lion was left to ponder with growing irritation for another half an hour before the black rabbit arrived, appearing like just another shadow from the patches of darkness scattered around the hidden drug den.
"So what exactly has happened today Carlos?" rumbled Rennie, he knew the rabbit well enough to be tolerant, any other mammal bringing such failure before him would have felt the lion's wrath.
"We've lost Gregor's gang and Mathew Caspian" stated Carlos curtly.
"How in the hell do you lose an entire gang?" Jeered some of the mammals in the shadows "Where'd you last see them Cottontail?"
"Oh we know exactly where they are" said Carlos icily, not turning away from his boss "all of them are currently locked up in the ZPD. The police raided their hideout first thing this morning, though it could hardly be called a raid."
"Meaning?" snorted Lamane, his claws now cutting strips out of the sofa.
"From the looks of it, Gregor's gang had already been neutralised by the time the police arrived on the scene."
SLASH!...
Rennie Lamane shredded the back of the sofa he was reclining on as an ugly expression appeared on his face.
"I want to know who did it" growled the lion slowly "and I want to know why they did it… and providing it doesn't turn out to be the Big family moving against us, I want the perpetrator here in front of me as soon as you answer those previous questions."
Carlos simply nodded and then vanished back into the shadows as silently as he had appeared.
"Hey Boss" called some wolves from the side of the room "How come you favour that Long-Ear so much? Cos he's been around the longest? If anyone else had brought you that news, you'd have torn them apart."
"Why do I value Carlos?" Lamane said softly as he glanced over at the wolves "There are several reasons. To start with, can any of you here do what he does, seek out knowledge like he does?"
As much as they didn't want to admit it, the silence from every mammal present was answer enough.
"But regardless of how skilled he is at his job" continued Lamane "he has something that you all need to earn, my trust. I have known and worked with Carlos for many, many years. I know how he functions, how reliable he is… But even that familiarity isn't the main reason I trust him" a cold smile spread across the lion's face that unnerved the other mammals present "When you save my life by ripping out the throat of another mammal with your teeth… Then I might favour you as much as one of Carlos' ears…"