Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 1 "Come Together"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

C:\ (Alt-B) June 3, 2026 :: 5663-1028-1605

Dawn Bellwether, codename: Knockout, adjusted her glasses as she walked through the darkness of the expansive tunnel. "Alright. We're almost there. Just a couple hundred feet more to go."

The white sheep's pleasant voice betrayed the other half of her personality. She may look small. But, don't let that fool you. She was a force to be reckoned with. Her taming collar and orange jumpsuit branded her as a criminal. That, she was. Past the green gateways to her soul, there was a burning hatred for predators. She hated them all. Tried to The rifle that was slung over her back testified of her marksmanship through the endless notches that had been carved into its barrel. She led her team member with her tracking computer in hand.

"It's about time." Peter Hogbop, codename: TNT, silently grunted as he carried a huge duffle bag over his shoulder by Dawn's side.

The boar gnawed on the end of a match that hung from the corner of his mouth. His left tusk was overgrown, curling inward. It made him look intimidating, especially with the hair on his head and chin that had been dyed red. Truth to be told, he was harmless. That was if you weren't within range of one of his explosives. Imagine, if but for a moment, staring at a land mine you just stepped on and being faced with the fact that that very device was hand made by the most proficient demolitions expert in world. He's not terribly famous for a reason, his arsenal works.

Aside from a green jean jacket with torn off sleeves and a pair of khaki cargos, he wore no other clothes with the exception of the standard issue communication watch that was identical to Dawn Bellweather's. "We have literally been walking for hours."

Dawn scowled at him. "Could've passed the time by talking."

"Hold up lamb chop," TNT protested, "talking and socializing, that's more your thing. As for me? I just like to blow stuff up." This was the truth. Lucky for him, his occupation ran parallel with his hobby.

Dawn couldn't believe that. "Seriously? Nothing else?"

TNT hummed in thought. "Uh, yeah. Churros. I like churros." This was also the truth.

"Great." Dawn stopped as something toppled out of Peter's duffle bag. "Peter, you dropped your, uh," she stuttered at the sight of the red stick of, "dynamite."

TNT looked down and grabbed the stick and nonchalantly tucked it back in his bag. "Oh, thanks."

Dawn grew more nervous at the rattling sounds in the duffle bag. "Hey uh, what else do you got in there?"

"Oh you know," TNT dug through the bag as they walked, "black powder, nitroglycerin, notepads, fuses, wicks, glue, and uh, paper clips. Big ones. You know, just some office supplies."

Their radio watches flickered to life. "Hey, cut the chatter you two."

Dawn held the button on her watch. "Sorry. We're almost there. How's it going on your end, Whiplash?"

Above ground, a thunderous storm masked the land. The only light that shone through the darkness was a grey cement complex lit by fluorescent light and surrounded by a chain link fence with barbed wire. Guards could be seen walking in the rain under the cover of black trench coats and wide brimmed hats. Some brandished their security batons, ready for any intruders that came their way.

One guard halted at the sound of rustling in the bushes. Peering through the fence into the darkness was fruitless. And, seeing nothing out the ordinary, he continued his patrol. Little did he know, there was someone staring back at him through the darkness.

"I'm just outside the perimeter." The wolf known as Adam Wolff, codename: Whiplash, dashed across the black landscape around the fence. "Heading for the main gate. Crystal should be taking care of the guards there. You need to hurry up. Our timing needs to be just right."

Whiplash watched from behind a tree.

Two guards stood side by side at the main gate. Two wolves. Gary and Larry had been working at the complex nearly a week. It was their first decent job since their time working for former Mayor Lionheart. Of course, when the mayor got arrested that day, so were they. It wasn't for too long, but it was still long enough to make life miserable.

"Pay day's this week," the grey wolf said very matter o' factly.

"It sure is Larry." The white wolf, Gary, wasn't paying attention to Larry. He was focused. Despite the rain, he was determined to make sure no visible animal made it past him. After the humiliating incident with the chain of howling, he wasn't ready to lose another job.

Larry let his baton swing from his wrist while his paws rested in his pockets, shielded them from the rain. He rolled his eyes at Gary, who had his baton ready for a beat down. "Whatza matter which you?"

"Nuthin's the mattah." Gary kept his eyes forward. He got a little distracted by the rain hitting the driveway in front of him. Patterns seem to appear in the rain drops. He shook his head when he thought he saw footprints. Just your eyes messin' with ya, he thought. Gary tried refocusing his eyes forward again. His confidence in his vigilance was suddenly shattered when something pat his rear. His eyes boggled as he stared angrily at Larry who had begun to whistle. "Ah-hem!"

Larry groaned. "What? A guy can't whistle ta pass the time?"

Whistle?! Gary calmed himself down. He's just clowning around, at least that's what he told himself. "Never mind."

Larry shook his head. "Whatever." He was looking the other way along the fence when he suddenly froze like a statue. A strange sensation traveled down his tail like it was being stroked or pet. Larry wrinkled his nose and grit his teeth as he looked over at Gary. "My door don't swing that way."

Gary looked astonished at Larry, "What?!"

"You heard me." Larry stepped a bit away.

Gary forced his head forward. Concentrate dummy, do your job! It hadn't been a few seconds even when he felt a paw slowly slide across his rear and up his back. Darnit! Gary stood still. He's messin' with you, boy. Keep it together. He'll stop clowning when he sees it doesn't get to ya. In a moment, Gary snapped. That moment was when he felt warm air blow into his ear. "That's it!"

"Wha-?" Larry was cut off when Gary tackled him to the ground. Grasshoppers for brains, Larry shouted it his mind. He dropped his baton as he wrestled Gary underneath him.

"Why won't you stop?!" Gary quietly growled as Larry pinned him down.

"Shut-up. I'm tired of putting up with this."

Gary's eyes grew for a moment when he stared over Larry's shoulder. "Larry?"

"You shut up when I'm talking to you." Larry got his face up in Gary's to make a point.

"Larry!"

"What?!"

"Behind you!"

Larry barely registered the floating baton before it whacked him across the head. He collapsed with a heavy thud on top of Gary.

Gary couldn't cry for help with Larry's body pressing his face against the driveway. "Mayfftheluty." Looking up, he couldn't believe it when he saw the raindrops hitting the outline of something, an animal. It was there and at the same time it wasn't.

A voluptuous feminine laugh broke the silence. "Aw, aren't you boys just the cutest."

Gary grimaced and squirmed desperately as he felt his feet being tickled. A subtle whistle, and a sharp pain struck his neck. A swirl of colors entered his eyes before they became heavy and collapsed. He passed out.

Whiplash lowered his semiauto tranquilizer pistol and holstered it. As the targeting display lowered from the gold lenses of his navy and crimson mask, he waited for the spotlight to pass before approaching the gate. As he stepped out, the rest of his suit was visible in the low-light. It was the same shade of blue as his mask with similarly red straps that had been sewn into the suit. On his chest was a white W insignia that had faded somewhat, and hanging from his belt was a coiled up white whip. "Crystal, you're supposed to take out the guards, not play with them."

The invisible panther would have been shrugging her shoulders if you could see them. "You lot are boring enough as it is. I have to find my fun somewhere."

Whiplash moved over to the gate. He grabbed the handle and stopped at the sight of the keypad. "They must have upgraded this recently. It wasn't on the schematics."

"I've got it darling, Crystal is here to save the day." Crystal waved a scrap of paper triumphantly. "The grey one must not have been good at memorizing passcodes."

Whiplash took the paper and punched in the code. "P0B-112." The gate clicked and the keypad turned from red to green. "You know it just occurred to me."

Crystal brushed past Whiplash so he knew she was through the gate. "What?"

"You don't have a code name." Whiplash said flatly as he carefully closed the gate and re-engaged the lock.

"Darling, I'm invisible. Even if someone had my full name, they wouldn't have a face to match it up with." They made it to the cover of an awning where Crystal shook off the collective rainwater.

The splatters from Crystal rolled right off Whiplash's hydrophobic suit. "I see." He looked through the glass of the main entrance. The guards hadn't noticed them yet.

"Hmm," Crystal watched Whiplash as he set to work at the main door's keypad. "So tell me, out of curiosity, do you ever put on that suit for wifey. Or, is it the other way around?"

Whiplash sighed in annoyance as he hooked up the external hacking device that had been specifically designed for the twelve digit lock. "Do you ever stop talking?"

Crystal crossed her arms if you could see it. "Do you ever stop listening?"

Whiplash was almost finished running the program. "I don't listen, my ears just put up with your loud breathing." He froze. "Quiet." He dove behind a pillar as quietly as possible as a guard flashed his light at the door.

The guards inside nodded to the other guard when they saw his light. When the exchange was over, they went back to business. The guards inside went back to their card game, and the guard outside continued his patrol between the complex's front entrances.

Crystal had stood still the whole time with a paw on her hip as if to say, ya done yet? "Admit it. You entertain our conversations because you find my personality captivating and mysterious."

Whiplash went back to the device on the door. "I can see right through you." The little device glowed blue with the password. "Really?"

"What is it?"

Whiplash shook his head. "The password is 'bean burritos'." He unplugged the device and typed in the password. A sweet click signaled that the door had been unlocked. "Do your thing."

Crystal hummed with delight as she slipped inside.

"What's goin' on up there, KO?" The end of the match between TNT's teeth had rounded out a bit. He was unpacking a few items from his duffel bag and setting them up in the place they needed to be.

"They're at the front door. Crystal is at it again." It took dawn all of ten seconds to hack into the security cameras. She watched it all as it unfolded.

TNT laughed as he finished wiring up his explosives. "What is it this time?"

Dawn snorted. "She's sticking a card up the one guard's sleeve to make it look like he's cheating." She scoffed at the two guards who were now visibly arguing. They'd be too distracted to notice the invisible panther that would knock them out. Then again, who would notice something like that?

TNT fished in his bag for a detonator. "Didn't she pull that one on the Koniak mission?"

Dawn shrugged her shoulders as she watched the live feed of the two guards. One was passed out on the floor while the other looked stupidly around, trying to figure out what happened. "I don't know. I don't pay attention to what she does on missions. She's just my counselor."

TNT laughed at that notion inside. To think, someone like Crystal, a counselor. "Were you two a thing or something?"

A vein bulged on Dawn's forehead as her fist tightened. "Why does everyone ask that?"

TNT went stoic as he saw the vein on Dawn's forehead. It reminded him of who she was and why she was dangerous. That vein was like the bloody hourglass on a black widow. The widow maker that is, TNT thought. "Pay it no min'. I was just trying to make conversation."

"Conversation?" The vein on Dawn's forehead leveled.

TNT felt like he had a near death experience once the vein was gone. "I know you aren't exactly happy with the fact that you have to work with predators." That was an understatement. This was the same sheep who had attempted to turn the prey population against predators by using fear tactics in a devious scheme to take control of the city and use her power of influence to destroy the lives of predators. She despised predators.

"And you think just because you're one of the two others that aren't preds, that I'm supposed to warm up to you?" Dawn set down her compact and swung her rifle around. "The only thing we have in common is stupid code names." She angrily broke down the rifle, checked all its components, and reassembled it with precision and speed that came from intense practice over the years. Holding a release button and pulling back the slide, she released a J shaped cartridge full of green orbs. Seeing that all was well through the transparent side, Dawn hooked the cartridge back into the rifle and pulled the slide back the slide an inch before it snapped forward, loading the first orb.

TNT elected to keep his mouth shut.

"I'm a genius! A mastermind who would have had control over Zootopia if it wasn't for that stupid rabbit, and her stupid fox!" The vein returned to Dawn's forehead. "You're just a dumb as bricks hooligan who blows up stuff! An insignificant, pathetic excuse f-" Her breathing escalated as her arms started to expand.

TNT tensed up as he pulled out a rectangular box with a big red trigger. He held it up, squaring his arm so that Dawn could see it in the air, out of her reach. Adrenaline and fear coursed through his veins. "We all got one. Don't make me use mine."

Dawn looked in the corner of her eye. The light from her taming collar was almost red. She took deep breaths and watched as it faded back to green. "Got it," she whispered as her breathing gradually steadied. She knew what happened if she stepped out of line. She remembered the paralyzing pain. The vein shrank away again, but not completely.

TNT said no more as he tucked the device back into its holster. He held down the button on his watch and whispered, "Whiplash, you almost above us?"

The watch buzzed. "Almost. Why'd you check in early? Something happen?"

TNT looked away from Dawn. "Another W-23 averted."

The short silence from Whiplash echoed the grim understanding shared with TNT. "Copy that."

TNT held down the button on his watch again. "Say, what exactly is this thing we're confiscating?"

Whiplash followed the hallways as he had memorized them. Thankfully, most of the guards had been posted outside, and the security cameras were down for repairs and upgrade. "It's called the Scroll of DovaLaika. Supposedly it grants wishes and desires to those who write their names in it."

Crystal chimed in, "Sounds like fun."

"Except everyone who's reportedly written their names in the scroll in the past two weeks is dead."

"Less fun."

Whiplash turned the corner, and pulled back. There was two guards in front of the door he needed to get through. Reaching into his glove, he pulled out one of the rocks he had collected from outside. He tossed it further down his own hallway to lure out the guards. One took the bait as he marched around the corner to investigate. The moment he was in the open, Whiplash drew his tranquilizer and darted him.

The second Guard came running and tripped over the invisible foot that Crystal had stuck out. "Whoops."

Whiplash darted the second guard and rounded the corner. He held down the button on his watch. "Alright we're outside the door."

TNT hunkered down behind an acceptable dirt wall with Dawn. "One for the money," he checked his wires which ran to the carefully placed explosives on the other side of the dirt wall. "Two for the show," he giddily squealed as he turned the key to his detonator. "Ready or not, here we go!" He flipped the ignition switch.

The explosion ripped a vertical hole upward as a shockwave of dust billowed through the tunnel, covering TNT and Dawn.

TNT clenched his eyes shut. He could smell and taste a bit of the dust in his snout. "Ohh," he sniffed the air. His ears twitched as they rang. He relished the after smell of the explosion. Peeking around the wall, a wide grin spread across his face as he admired his handiwork. "If only I could have seen it." But I felt it in my soul! "Ha ha ha!" TNT's face beamed at the sight of the fluorescent light at the top of the tunnel he had forged. "Beautiful."

Dawn coughed and gagged at the dust that was in her mouth and eyes. "You call this beauty?"

TNT pointed up. "It would have taken maybe a week to dig this perfectly cylindrical hole by hand. My perfectly engineered directional excavation mine displaced the earth above with the precision of a god." TNT felt as a tear began to well up in his eye. If the bomb had been his child, this would be equivalent to a father's pride sweeping through him. "This, is holy land now."

"Yeah," Dawn grumbled, "hole-y land."

TNT opened up his duffel bag again, this time pulling out two full body harnesses. He tossed the smaller one to Dawn. After strapping in, he threw on a set of bandoliers that criss crossed over his chest. The center brass buckle was engraved with his codename. The bandoliers held various specialty grenades and devices. And of course, there were a few spare sticks of dynamite. The last items he pulled from the bag was a couple of grappling hooks. Taking one in each arm, he spun them around before throwing them up through the hole.

The two strapped in and began their ascent. The climb wasn't too difficult for either of them. Once at the top, they peeked over the edge of the top. TNT's explosive certainly did a number on the room. They were both surprised when a slow knock came from the door.

"Huh?" Dawn squinted through her glasses at the door.

The steel door suddenly began to creak as it slowly fell forward off of it's hinges. Standing in the doorway was Whiplash.

Crystal made her presence known. "Do you think they heard us?"

"Yes." Whiplash approached the hole and helped TNT up. "We need to get moving, now."

Dawn pulled herself up and drew her rifle, ready for any guards that might come. Noticing that the security pad next to where the door once stood was still in tact, an idea came to her head. She yanked the plastic off and fished through the onslaught of wires that popped out.

Alarmed voices grew in the distance as guards came running inside the building.

"KO, let's go!" Whiplash demanded as Crystal and TNT made their way down an adjacent hallway that branched off from the room.

"Get the scroll. I'll take care of the guards." Dawn began to glance between the empty doorway and the wires she was working on.

Whiplash didn't ask any questions; he knew that she could handle the guards whether it be with her rifle or the unfortunate way. He turned heel and made his way down the hallway where he was faced with the vault. On the other side was the scroll and goodness knows what else. "TNT, whatcha got for me?"

TNT pulled out a plastic wrapped pink blob. "This seems like a cupcake surprise kind of job." He began unwrapping the pink mass and stuck it on one side of the vault. He jammed a plug into the blob. "Against the wall!" Once the three sucked their bodies against the wall, TNT ignited the cupcake surprise.

Dawn heard the smaller blast as she worked at the security system. The guards were around the corner, trying to get through. But every time a guard attempted to take action, they were met by one of the green orbs from Dawn's gun. "Now!" As the guard jumped out, Dawn leveled her rifle with his chest. The green orb was sent hurtling by a gust of pressurized air. It popped against the guard's chest and erupted into a green mist that made his tongue roll out of his head before he passed out on the floor. "Back up!"

Dawn turned back to the security pad. She found the two wires she was looking for and connected them. In the hallways, armored barriers dropped down and blocked off the hallways. A smile dawned on her face as she lowered her rifle. This was a premature mistake.

"Gotchya!" A guard swung in from the other side and grabbed the barrel of Dawn's rifle. He yanked it away, sending Dawn tumbling somewhat to the edge of the hole. A number of guards stepped into the room. They had made it through somehow before the barriers dropped down.

The apparent leader, a lion, stepped forward towards Dawn. "Well looky what we have here. A sheep? Seriously. You're all idiots to have been scared of this one." He grabbed Dawn by the collar and held her over the hole. "Any bets as to whether this fuzzy little intruder will survive the fall?" The other guards started laughing as the lion flicked the wool on the top of her head.

Dawn's eyes narrowed sharply as the vein on her forehead popped out. Her voice slowly gargled out with anger, "You did not, just touch, my wool." Her brows furrowed as her face began to steam and contort.

The lion, freaked out, dropped her into the hole to most of the guards' surprise.

After the smoke cleared. TNT smiled. "Time for phase two." He pulled a green pill shaped object with square fins from his bandolier.

Crystal hissed at the object. "Is that really necessary?" Crystal knew all too well what it was. TNT had once tricked her into the bomb range and set off one close by. It sent her flying and nearly paralysed her. It was payback, no doubt, for the numerous pranks she had pulled on him. She could never prove he set her up, but she knew to expect more retaliation from TNT than just a can of spray paint. Crystal personally knew the power of the mini nuke.

TNT smirked at the fear in Crystal's voice. "The interior of the vault door should contain the explosion."

Now Whiplash was concerned. "Should? What do you mean should?"

Before anyone could stop him, TNT twisted the top so many clicks counter clockwise. "Ten seconds should be good." He dropped it into the door. "Better plug your ears and crouch for this one."

The lion guard stared down into the hole as Dawn's screams evolved into a roar.

Then there was quiet.

The guards shrank in fear as a hurtling orange and white mass burst through the whole and knocked them all back. They could only stare at the towering behemoth of pure muscle and rage that, only a second ago, was the little lamb known as Dawn Bellwether. A loud explosion in the background heightened the hatred in her eyes and her beastly visage. She appeared borderline savage.

The lion shrieked like a little girl as Knockout picked him up by the collar. Dawns voice was an octave lower but still recognizable. "Any bets as to how much I hate lions?"

As TNT dizzily stood up, he stared at the hole that had banana peeled out a little. The rest of the door was still in tact. "Good steel, finally." He reached for the vault door's handle and laughed as it slid open. "Voila!" Looking down he could see the dust covered outline of Crystal. "Madam," he held the door open for Crystal, "after you."

Crystal was visibly shaking beneath the dust, wide eyed no doubt. "Are your ears ringing!?"

TNT shrugged. "I'm immune."

Whiplash pointed at the bionic ears of his mask. "Sound dampeners."

Crystal twitched as she stood up. "I really hate you!"

"I know," TNT nodded with a smirk, "but hey, it's been a blast."

Whiplash tapped both their shoulders. "Come on let's go." Looking up at the frame of the door, he could see that the bolts had been forced deep into their slots by the mini nuke.

Inside the vault, a guard stood armed with throwing knives between the digits of his paws. "Hiyah!" In two swift motions, the guard released a shower of knives at Whiplash.

Upon instinct, Whiplash spun to escape the direct force of the knives. Though his suit was supposedly stab resistant, he never took chances. The tactic worked for all the knives, save for the one that stuck in the back of his left shoulder. Ignoring the pain, Whiplash drew his whip from his belt. The tranquilizer wouldn't be fast enough to stop the guard who was already drawing more knives. The white whip glowed to life in Whiplash's grasp as he swung it over his head and forward. The whip stretched out and sparked as it wrapped around the guard's paws.

The guard howled as the stinging pain from the whip made his knives fall from his paws. He was then yanked forward and promptly decked right between the eyes by Whiplash.

TNT stepped through the vault's entrance. He stared at the passed out guard and then at Whiplash. "Looks like you got somethin' in your shoulder there."

Crystal joined them in the vault. "What happened?"

Whiplash studied the knife in his shoulder before electing to leave it in for now. "A sharp turn of events." It would bleed faster if he took it out. Any blood that seeped around the steel plug was absorbed by the suit.

Their attention turned to the pedestal in the center of the vault. On the pedestal lay a brass scroll tube adorned with runes and ornament symbols of an ancient civilization. A chain connected, what appeared to be, the cap with the rest of the shell.

TNT was about to step forward before he was stopped by Whiplash. "What? It's right there."

"I know. But, something seems wrong." Whiplash adjusted his mask to infrared mode. He was looking for something specific. "If there were any lasers, they're off." Then he spotted it. "Light sensors." He pointed up at the lights and then down at the censors in the floor."

Crystal shook of the dust and sighed. "I got this." They heard her walk over to the pedestal. "I'm over the lights." The scroll tube floated in the air as she picked it up. "Let's see if this is the real deal." The lid popped off as the tube flipped downward. A gold handle gently slid out along with yellowed parchment. It unrolled slightly. "It's the scroll alright." It slid back into its tube and was capped. "Now, how do I get out of here."

TNT muttered. "Walk back the way you came."

"No kidding," Crystal looked up at the lights. "The light passes right through me, but it won't pass through the scroll."

"I have an idea." Whiplash held up his whip.

Crystal gasped. "My my, we haven't even had our first date yet," she teased. Whiplash said nothing. "Fine." The scroll turned with Crystal as she stepped out a little farther so she was outside the sensors with the scroll just at the edge. "Ready." Whiplash flicked his whip forward. It gracefully wrapped around Crystal's invisible waist. "Oh, that tingles!"

"On three, we'll pull and you jump." Whiplash gestured for TNT to grab onto the whip.

TNT reluctantly replied. "Can't we just leave her?"

"One, two," three was a blur as Whiplash and TNT toppled backwards while the scroll flew with them in Crystal's grasp. A split second passed before a steel cage dropped straight down over the pedestal.

Crystal moaned as the glowing whip retreated from her waist and coiled itself up back onto Whiplash's belt. "Let's never do that again."

Whiplash breathed heavily as he checked his shoulder. Luckily he hadn't landed on the knife, but it still hurt enough to make him wince. "Agreed."

As the three made their way into the main room with the hole, they were met by the sight of Dawn who had returned to her normal size. "Sup preds." Her orange jumpsuit was now baggy on her as she sat on the back of an unconscious lion while she etched more notches into her rifle's barrel with a piece of debris. All around her were passed out guards.

Without speaking they all made their way down the hole.

Whiplash accepted a first aid tin from TNT as he plucked the knife out and tossed it in the dirt of the tunnel. "Take care of the tunnel will ya."

TNT gave a thumbs up as he stuck a new match in his mouth. "No problem."

Whiplash dumped the antiseptic into the wound before pressing gauze over it and wrapping his shoulder up. "Darn."

Dawn looked up a Whiplash. "What?"

"How am I supposed to explain this to Lily?" Whiplash sighed as he started down the tunnel.

Crystal and Dawn followed him while TNT readied a good old fashion bundle of dynamite with a four foot fuze.

Crystal chuckled at Whiplash's plight. "I still can't believe you've kept this a secret from her for ten years."

Whiplash shook his head. "It get's harder everyday." The wolf reached for the back of his neck and unzipped his mask, revealing his almost black fur and golden eyes. His ears were mere stumps as they had been cut down long ago.

Dawn snorted. "At least you have a family to go home to everyday."

Whiplash, Adam Wolff, looked down at Dawn with a sense of remorse in his heart. "What about your mother, did you ever get in touch with her?"

"Father probably won't let her." Dawn scowled at the memory of her retched father. "Can't be associating themselves with the family criminal. Not that he was on any moral high ground." She did a double take at Adam. "Why do you even care?"

Adam sighed again. "You're part of my team. I care about all of you. I thought you'd a learned that by now after ten years."

"Team?" Crystal laughed. "We barely see each other once or twice a month."

"That doesn't mean I don't care." Adam stated. "We all got our debts to pay. In our own ways. We wouldn't be doing missions still after ten years if none of us cared." Crystal said nothing. Dawn stared off into space, elsewhere. "This group, the Empire, still stands because we're needed."

None could argue with that. Despite what they'd all been through. They were still capable individuals whose help was needed. And maybe, that was all it took for them to keep going.

Adam was a former vigilante who chased down and silenced the ghosts of his past while stopping crime in the process. His activities weren't the most legal. But, his service to Project Empire led to the promise of complete dissolvement of the charges laid against him. He was driven to protect the family he had gained. His wife Lily the snow leopard, his son Daniel the deer, and his daughter Katherine the fox; they were the center of his universe.

Dawn was the infamous power hungry sheep who attempted to use fear to turn prey against predators. Because fear always works. She was poisoned by the very serum she had poisoned other animals with. Only this time, the serum had been amped up by an unholy madness of chemical engineering which left her with her new curse. Spontaneous muscle grown triggered by anger or pain was the new reality she lived with. She lent her service to Project Empire with the promise of a cure to her curse and a reduction to her prison sentence.

Crystal was a scientist who had manipulated her body's refraction index so that it neither absorbed or reflected light. The side effects included an altered brain chemistry and higher testosterone levels. She possessed a unique talent in extreme acrobatics from her time in a circus. After she was liberated from the circus's greedy owner, she was given a home in Project Empire and a lab to research a cure for her condition. Much like Dawn, she sought a cure.

TNT, Peter Hogbop, came running up to them. "Guys! The fuse is lit." As for Peter, aside from having his mind controlled and used to attack the Zootopia Police Department, he was just a guy who liked to blow things up. Project Empire gave him the freedom to explore his passion, which was utilized for the development of police and military utilities.

Dawn straightened her glasses as the four of them kept walking. "Should we check to make sure the hole actually collapses."

"It will," Peter said with confidence. "And besides," He slipped on a pair of Hay-Band shades, "cool mammals don't look at explosions."

The dynamite went off, with a little something extra. The hole was sealed, and the resulting wave of flames highlighted the outlines of each member of Project Empire. They operated from the abandoned cliffside asylum that had been repurposed as their headquarters. They were the new age heroes that defended the known world. And because Project Empire didn't really roll off the tongue, they were most often simply referred to as The Empire.