Heroes of Zootopia

by DragonMan1997

Picking up after the events of "Whiplash" the former vigilante Whiplash is joined by an ensemble of superheroes known as the Empire. They are followed by officers Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps as an ancient enemy threatens to destroy not only Zootopia, but all mammal life as we know it.

7. Chapter 7

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 7 "Hungry Like The Wolf"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Nick stared at the blacked out windows. "Gee, must be some super secret complex."

"Nick!" Judy snapped in a hushed voice.

"What, fluff? Scared of the big bad G-Mammals?" Nick clicked his tongue and saluted to the grizzly bear and camel who were both clad in black suits, white shirts, black ties, ear pieces, and sunglasses not too different from his own pair. The lenses of their glasses seemed almost as dark as the windows which Nick continued to stare out of. He thought maybe he'd see something. Something familiar. A speck, a dot of heat, that was the sun. Though it's light couldn't be see, at least it could be felt. "So, we're going north then?"

The grizzly quietly snarled.

"Nick!" Judy jabbed him in the side.

"Relax carrot cake. I'm just stating a fact. We're going north." Nick knew this fact based on what he could remember from his brief stint with the junior ranger scouts. The sun rose in the east and set in the west. It was still morning, and the sun's heat was on the passenger's side of the limousine, his side. He hoped that he remembered the direction of the sun right, otherwise he'd face embarrassment down the road. Up, actually, he thought to himself. Regardless, he felt confident in this gamble of a fact. He thought of himself as the gambler every now and then.

Judy, however was no gambler. She kept her proverbial trap shut in the face of the agents that sat across from her and Nick. She had been seasoned with a more substantial respect for authority than her partner.

The limo came to a stop. Some exchange between the driver and outside lead to a muffled buzz followed by the mechanical groans of metal, pistons, and motors. The driver rolled his window back up, an equally noisy action.

Nick casually tapped on the glass of his window. Bulletproof. He could tell by the sound, it reminded him of glass windows separating tellers from the outside world, only this stuff was stronger. Bank glass wasn't good enough for these guys. Placing his ear again the glass, Nick could hear a subtle roar that had been muffled by the protective cage of the government limousine. So this is where my taxpayer dollars go. Nick half smirked, pretty cool.

At last, the vehicle came to a halt after circling a quarter of the way.

The doors swung open, flooding Judy and Nick with morning light. Holding a paw up, Judy was quickly able to discern the building towering above them. It's shape was familiar along with the waterfall roaring around them. It had been so long since she'd seen the place, but it's impact on her life remained in tact through the years. "Cliffside?"

Nick felt uncomfortable beneath the shadow of the structure whose dark history confirmed his partner's conclusion. "Yep."

"I thought you'd recognize the place." Both Nick and Judy set their sights on the old jack rabbit who stood with his paws behind his back and his chest puffed out in some strange fashion. "I told them you might, but you know, standard procedure."

Judy recognized the voice of the jack rabbit, but she couldn't quite place it. "Have we met before?"

The jack rabbit smiled as he straightened his blue tie. "The name's Savage, Jack Savage."

Nick weakly laughed. "You wouldn't happen to know a Frank Savage, would you?"

"Hm." Jack's lips curled as he cleared his throat. "Now that's a name I've not heard in a long, long time."

Nick tilted his head. "Wait, no." The fox narrowed his gaze on Jack. "Phil? My old neighbor?"

Jack cleared his throat again, this time to change his voice. "Hehehe, ya always was my favorite, Nicky Boy." Both Nick and Judy lost control of their sagging jaws at the sound of the wiley hyena from the FBI that they had met so long ago. "Whut? Y'all thought I'd died a sumthin'?" Jack cleared his voice once more and grumbled a bit. "My goodness, I had forgotten the strain that voice came with. Yes, it's me. Frank is actually my middle name. One of them at least."

"What are these forms for again?" Judy looked over the twenty three pages of legal jargon she had signed her name to.

Jack accepted Nick's signed copy as well as Judy's. "Legalities. Such and such stuff, saying that you won't disclose the names, faces, and or identities of any person, body, etcetera, etcetera." Jack handed the paperwork off to another animal before leading the two officers into the main conference room. "Though, some of them you know already."

Judy and Nick both froze at the sight of the group gathered around the table.

Peter Hogbop, they knew as the rampaging boar with explosives that nearly killed them both. He merely clicked his tongue, and half saluted. "Evening, officers. No hard feelings I hope."

Adam and Lily Wolff were perhaps the only smiling faces. The wolf and snow leopard both waved weakly.

Dawn Bellwether scowled with the corners of her mouth so low, Judy could see her spit in the imaginary prison spatoon in her head.

Neither recognized the floating kepi, button up, and cut off shorts. Though the sight was more than unnerving for Judy, Nick just smirked like it was yet again another day at the office. Raising a finger he went down the line. "Almost killed us, almost arrested you, used you to try to arrest him, arrested you after you almost killed us," Nick hummed as he came to the floating set of clothes, "I think it's transparent that we don't know you, really hoping you're not someone we've inconvenienced in the past, otherwise this would be really uncomfortable."

Jack laughed as he walked up to the table, his paw stretched out. "Fifty dollars, Crystal."

"Twenty five." Crystal produced a five and a twenty which appeared to float into Jack's paw. "He made an invisible joke. I thought you said this guy had taste."

Adam elbowed Peter. "If you please?" The boar groaned as he fished out a bunch of crumpled bills. "Five, ten, twenty, thirty. Thanks." The wolf handed the cash to his wife. "Lunch money."

Nick pursed his lips as he slowly stuck his paw out to Judy. "Twenty bucks."

Judy backed away from her partner as she looked him up and down. "For what?"

"Darn." Nick snapped his fingers. "It was going around, I thought it'd work." He laughed as judy slapped his paw away.

Crystal hummed as she handed Jack the other twenty five dollars. "So, these are the official officers we're to coordinate with?"

Judy's ears went up. "Coordinate?"

"Ah," Jack smiled, "Old Bogy doesn't tell you much. Typical Bogo."

Nick and Judy both looked at each other, confused. Judy finally piped up. "Bogo's Retired. It's Chief Tigre now."

"Oh." Jack's ears dropped as his head darted to Adam. "Mr. Wolff, you'll take it from here." That was a command, not a request. Jack departed from the conference room, leaving behind a very confused wolf at the helm.

Adam stood up as if to be cordial. His eyes wandered to where his upper had just stood, bewildered by his urgent departure. "Alright. I guess we'll just proceed without Agent Savage." He gestured to empty seats around the table. "Please, sit."

Nick and Judy both cautiously say down closer to each other than anyone else around the table. Nick nervously mimicked the boar's earlier actions by clicking his tongue and saluting. Judy struggled to smile at Bellwether who flared at her with absolute disgust and hatred. Nick graciously took the two files Peter handed him. He passed one of them to Judy.

"So," Judy began, "what exactly is this?"

"You've been selected as the coordinating officers for the cooperation treaty instigated by Mayor Swinton as written under section A of article 113."

"Wow," Judy reread the same paragraph over and over again, "you're going to be assisting the police?"

"Some of us. We'll be pretty split between government missions and aiding the general public." Adam explained. "However, we need to recruit a few more helping hands so we don't take on two fronts."

Judy remembered some gibberish he heard from a preaching donkey about how Ye cannot serve two masters! She joked to herself, even if it was a bit lame, Ye cannot fight both fronts! "So, that's our first order of business then. Rounding up more 'supers' as it were."

"Wait a minute." Nick pointed at Lily. "I get why your hubby is here, but why are you here?" Lily drew a glowing circle on the desk. Raising it and rotating it so Nick could see, she twirled her finger inside it which sent a gust of wind at the fox. Nick puckered his mouth and raised his brows. "Okay, then."

"So, these recruits." Judy spoke again, "did you have any ideas?"

Adam opened up his file and gestured to Nick and Judy's. "It's all in there."

Nick hummed as he flipped through the pages. "Please tell me you have some hairless bipedal missing link, because, not gonna lie, that would be awe-," Nick stopped at the one he instantly recognized, "oh brother. This guy? The Moth? Seriously?"

"Nick," Judy cut him off, "he's strung up some of the most high profile drug traffickers in Zootopia. He alone has allowed the police to recover literal tons of the night howler drug."

"You have a point, fluff." Nick set the folder down. "But do we have to call him the Moth? He sounds like a character out of some comic book nerd's bad fanfiction of a good one."

"I resent that remark." Peter chimed in.

Nick just stared at the boar with an uncertainty of how to respond. "How many Whiplash comics do you own. All twenty three of the original issues? Mint condition? And I bet you play Beasts and Battlefields."

"So what!" Peter hollered.

Adam looked at Peter and Nick. "That's enough, from both of you." He looked at just Peter. "B&B?"

"Yeah." Peter grumbled with his arms crossed.

"We'll talk later." Clearing his throat, Adam went back to the matter at hand. "Anyways."

Judy studied the other files in the folder. "The ghost vigilante is at the top of your to do list?."

"Yes," Lily went on, "the ghost has been more so a concern than an interest. He doesn't like cops and has openly attacked them. Sightings of him have been increasing."

Judy passively glanced over the creature and the quickster. "It could take most of our efforts to catch him then. So, why don't we go after the Moth, and if he's willing, he could help us take on the ghost."

"I have no direct objection to that idea." Adam closed his folder. "You seem to know enough about him. Any propositions as where to start looking for him?"

Nick smirked. "Actually, yes. Judy. Is Wolford still doing that undercover trade at the docks?"

"That's right!" Judy lit up. "The Moth is bound to get involved or at least watch to make sure nothing bad happens."

Adam smiled as he looked to Lily. "Are you up for this one?"

Lily grabbed his paw. "You still need to get better." Still holding her husband's paw she looked at Nick and Judy, a subtle uneasiness in her eyes as she had never been on a mission before. But that was a fact unknown to Judy or Nick. "Looks like we'll be working together again."

A peculiar soft laughter filled the doorway. "Just like, how you say, old times? Da. Except, they von't be trying to arrest your love. Niet." The figure had her hooves tucked away in the side pocket's of the yellow stitch black motorcycle jacket she wore. "I apologise for my lateness." Her heavy accent rolled out in a strange tone of indifference. The boar looked around the table and stopped once she saw Peter. "I vas caught in traffic."

Adam stood up to meet the boar. "Agent Einswine. Better late than never."

"Einswine? As in Penelope Einswine?" Nick smiled as he turned in his chair to face the boar. "Still wrecking Challengers?"

"Deshovka Nicolai! They let garbage like you in place like this?" Penelope met Nick with an odd handshake.

Judy looked back and forth between the two of them. "You two know each other?"

"I know everyone." Nick stated. "Including the film industry's finest stunt driver. But, agent?"

"Da. I drive cars for movie stars who can't drive vhen government does not need me." She half muttered and laughed something incoherent. "So, ve are going to catch recruits. Yes?"

It was nearly midnight as the moon cast its glow over the maze of shipping containers that were stacked high near the edges of clear water that now had been glazed with darkness, marred only by the reflection of the moon and what little stars could be seen through the city's light pollution. A number of jaguars and rams dressed in white wife-beaters and flowery island themed shirts rested against the sides of blacked out cars with fake plates.

One of the jaguars sniffed the air. "Smell that?"

"You're imagining things." Their leader, a cheetah in a suit, the only one in a suit, flicked the last bit of his cigar to the ground before kicking it away. He sniffed the air himself, feeling foolish. "Smells like dead fish and piss. Fish piss." A noise alerted his attention. It was just the creaking of the shipping containers. Getting anxious, he popped the trunk of one of the cars to reveal the cloudy blue merchandise. Everything was still in order.

It hadn't been long after the arrest of the former mayor that Night Howler hit the market. It was harmless in smaller doses, some brave soul had figured that out. Liquid soon turned to powder that was to say "watered down" so it didn't make you go savage.

The boss cheetah smiled at all the little packages that had been tightly wrapped in plastic. He closed the trunk and checked his watch. It was analogue, in military time. He never trusted those smartwatches. The government, he figured, was watching him. The time read 23:19. "Eleven twenty."

"Is this deal goin' down or what boss?"

The cheetah sucked on what was left of the cigar's taste in his mouth. "We sho-."

PLINK! PLINK! PLINK!

Three canisters hit the ground which erupted with red gasses that spewed everywhere, consuming the cars and their owners. The cheetah coughed momentarily as he hit the ground. Screaming filled his ears as he looked around for his men. The cheetah felt himself drifting in and out as invisible hot needles pulsated in his brain. He heard a banging. Behind him. Turning the cheetah cowered at the green door that shook violently before his eyes. "No!" He cried. "It's not real!"

But it was real enough to sent him crawling away in terror. The door followed along with the voice of his wretched father. "Eloise! Where's that son of a-" The door began to crack, light spilling through as the banging continued relentlessly.

"No!" The cheetah tried to run, but it broke through. Towering over him was the charred face of his father whose fur sizzled with black smoke. Behind him, the doorway had been filled with roaring flames and the screams of the cheetah's sister. "No."

"Look what you did boy. Look what you did!" The blackened corpse of the cheetah's father spewed fire as his mouth stretched around it's own head. "Help!" The paws of of the cheetah's sister and mother clawed desperately trying to escape the monster devouring them.

"No!" The cheetah stood up. "You're not real!"

The image evaporated in the red smoke, leaving behind something else. "Maybe it's not," the figure approached, "but I am."

The cheetah cowered at the red eyes of the thing that had grabbed his throat. It grabbed his throat! It was real! "Please! Have mercy!"

"Mercy?" The thing smiled a devilish smile filled with angler teeth. His voice was electric with static and muffled sandpaper, "Did you show Ivy mercy?"

"Who?" The cheetah pleaded as the thing's red eyes burrowed deeper into his soul.

"The child you sold Night Howler to." It dropped the cheetah and turned to the cars. Popping each trunk open he tossed canisters in before shutting them. White smoke burned the contents of the trunk as the red eyed thing came back to the cheetah who reached for his switchblade. "Selling to children is low, even for a degenerate like you."

"Hey man." The cheetah stood up. "It's just business." He flicked out his knife and charged the thing head on. "AH!" It had its paw wrapped around his hand. Blue fire pulsed through his fingers into the cheetah who now wept as his body went limp from the shock that pulsated through him. His vision became more warped as the thing's mouth grew bigger with its eyes. Big Red Eyes. Now it was upon him, roaring in his face. "What are you?"

"And the shepard beheld the seer, the teller of darkness, the bearer of tragedy and mis fortune. Behold that dark creature of revelation, the MOTH cometh."

The cheetah blacked out.

From a distance Nick Wilde put down his binoculars as he grabbed at his coffee. "Well there's something you don't see every day."

"Officer Wilde, what do you see?" His walkie buzzed on his belt.

"Phoenix, I can only imagine what our jaguar friend is seeing in all that crazy gas, but I can see our guy is wearing a gas mask."

Closer to the scene of action, Lily Wolff, the Phoenix was making her way over the shipping container maze. "I got eyes on him." She jumped. "Okay, chemin de la lumière." Light swelled out from each step she took in the air. Focusing on her eyes, she sifted through the spectrums of light until she found what she was looking for. She could see the outline of the Moth's body as he tied up the still screaming henchmen. A whiff of something got to Lily. The gas! Her magic wasn't blocking it!

"Lily." The Phoenix knew the voice. How, but, she was gone. "Lily, why did you kill me." Her friend, Kit Fawkes, who had been the Raven, that villain, who devastated Zootopia. She turned and saw the stretched out body of the fox who had almost been the end to the world. "Why did you throw me away! For him!?" The fox's arms fell off, spewing blue night howler serum everywhere. The phoenix misplaced her step and was now falling. She fell hard enough to dent the thin roof of one of the cars. Thankfully she cushioned the landing with a quick magic burst. "Lily! I'll kill them for what you did to me!" The Phoenix nearly screamed when she saw the bodies, her husband, her son, her daughter, all splayed out on the ground, dead. No, Lily cast out the images. She could see the Moth getting away. "No, épuration."

The red gas parted and a gas masked mammal stared back at the Phoenix. The eyes of his mask really did glow red. The black rubber mask had two hoses that traveled on both sides to filters mounted on the back of his vest which clearly said RIOT. Of course, he ran.

The Phoenix groaned as she ran after him. Getting close, she saw how big he really was. Tail, it was a wolf's. "The Moth is a wolf!" The Phoenix huffed into her earpiece.

"Keep on him. We're coming in."

The Phoenix kept up her pace as she chased the Moth into the shipping container maze. Closer than before, she could see he really was tall, even for a wolf. There was an opening, there in the distance, was a black motorcycle. The bigger they are…

The Phoenix stopped and thrust out her paws. "Mur!"

The moth smacked to a stop as he bounced off an ethereal brick wall that vanished the moment he hit the ground.

In her haste to reach him, the Phoenix missed the small pistol the Moth had drawn.

POP!

She felt the projectile stick into her shoulder before she lost all control of her body. The Phoenix fell to the ground as electricity ravaged her muscles.

As the Moth stood up, he turned at a whistle that was followed by a red gloved fist. "Nobody, zapps my wife like that." Whiplash quickly cuffed the moth and rushed to the Phoenix. Extracting the taser projectile, he cradled her in his arms. "I got you."

"I thought you weren't coming." The Phoenix finally spat out. "You're supposed to be resting!"

Whiplash eased her up, slowly. "I'll always be there for you."

Screeching tires came to a halt as a black van drove up alongside Whiplash, the Phoenix, and the Moth. The doors popped open. "Aw! That vasn't much of a chase!"

"You'll get your chase someday." Nick waved to Judy who was now with three other officers, confiscating the bike and loading it up into another black van. "So, let's meet the Moth." Nick hesitantly approached the large wolf who groaned. One of the lenses in his mask had been cracked from the impact with the magical wall the Phoenix conjured up. Nick pretended it was actually from that stellar punch on Whiplash's behalf. He reached down and peeled off the rubber gas mask.

Behind the mask was dull gray fur that had lost its shine. The face was broken up by dirty white fur that framed faded green eyes that had flecks of brown, the discoloring that came with age and stress. Despite the wolf's rugged appearance, he smiled an almost charming toothy smile nonetheless. "Does anyone have any orange slices?"

Nick looked the wolf up and down. "Oh."

"Let me guess," Whiplash sighed as he helped the Phoenix up, "you know everyone?"

Nick looked over to his partner. "Judy, you'll want to see this."

The rabbit's ears fell down as she cast her gaze over the wolf. "Oh."

The wolf grimaced as he twisted the cuffs around his wrists. "Don't sound so excited to see me."

Nick groaned. "I know you wanted to catch the mammals responsible for you brother's death, but I never thought you'd go this far, Hunter."

The Phoenix limped over to Nick and Judy with Whiplash's help. "You know him."

Judy nodded. "Yeah. Just about every cop knows the Hunter family, especially Vernon."

Adam Wolff smiled at Vernon hunter who still rubbed his jaw. They sat in an interrogation room with white padded walls "It's curious that you would go parading around in a dead mammal's clothes. Stolen clothes at that." He fingered over the name patch. "Who's Wade?"

Vernon said nothing, verbally at least.

Adam threw the riot vest off to the side.

Vernon's gaze followed it.

Finally, Adam thought, getting somewhere. "I know who he was. The only officer that was actually killed during the attack from Novus Purificatio. Officer Hunter jumped in front of his partner to save her life. Now, the mammal responsible for his death was put in prison. Then he escaped. And as I understand it, he was beaten near to death by some rogue vigilante in a black hood wearing Officer Hunter's riot vest. The mammal swore that the ghost of wade hunter had come back from the grave to exact his revenge. I imagine there might be quite the resemblance between siblings to make that guy believe Officer Hunter crawled out of hell."

Vernon finally broke his line of sight with the vest and looked at Adam. "What do you want?"

"Personally," Adam shrugged, "I just wanted to know why you've still been fighting criminals when you already caught the one that killed your brother seven years ago?"

Vernon huffed with a twitching smile at the corner of his mouth. "I've only been good for two things in this world, fighting and scaring mammals." Vernon half smiled to show off his teeth that weren't entirely unimpressive to Adam, another wolf.

"You were going to be an architect," Adam fingered through a file with pictures and notes about Vernon. "You dropped out of college. Well, I didn't know architects were skilled at souping up V twin motorcycles so they could outrun even the best interceptors, or creating potent hallucinogens for that matter. And the wings we found loaded on your bike, impressive."

"I watch a lot of YouTube tutorials." Vernon smirked. "And, I know people."

Adam nodded. "Fair enough. Why do they call you the Moth."

Vernon sat up straight, making himself that much taller than Adam. "The moth is drawn to the light in the darkness, just as I have clung to the last beacons of hope in this cruel world. But, joy has always been out of my grasp. Hope, happiness, love, I learned that I could never have it. I guess they call me the moth because they know. All the evil hiding in the darkness stays away from the light, because they know. The Moth is there. Drawn to it, drawn to defend it." Vernon shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I read that in an article somewhere. I'm not smart enough to come up with this philosophical crap. I just scare the bejesus out of mammals on the wrong side of the law."

Adam smiled as he took down some notes. "There are some people in high places that like what you've been doing, drug busting and hogtying criminals. That sort of stuff looks good on this particular resume." He leaned back in his chair. "Why did you continue to help mammals for so long."

"You asked me that question already."

Adam shrugged. "I rephrased it for a reason. What's the real reason you've kept going?"

Vernon looked to his brother's swat vest again. Perhaps in his mind, the ghost of his brother really was with him. "Because I made a difference. And, I know that's what he always wanted to do. My brother always wanted to make a difference. He's not here to do that, so I chose to do it for him."

Adam pressed a button that released the magnetic shackles that held Vernon to the table. "Mr. Hunter, we are in need of animals in the line of your particular work. You've made quite the impact of the underworld and the blackmarket. It's an impact that cannot be ignored. We would like to facilitate you activities."

Vernon eyes shot up in realization. "You're offering me a job?"

"Surely you've heard the news, it's all over the internet and every channel on TV."

Vernon rubbed the back of his neck as he shrugged. "I read the paper, but haven't read it in a while."

Adam reached down and presented a newspaper to Vernon. "Go ahead."

Vernon rubbed his wrists before carefully accepting the paper, testing the waters. "Mayor Swinton Announces…" Vernon lost himself in the words. "Wait, seriously?" Adam nodded to him. "You want me to join this posse of yours?"

"Comes with pretty unique benefits that your local Bug Burga won't offer you." Adam tapped his fingers on the table as he fished around for more to say. "We can provide room and board, and our scientists here will even help you upgrade your equipment to enhance your work performance."

Vernon hummed as he thought about it. "Can I keep my brother's vest?"

It was one of the most sincere questions Adam had ever heard. It struck him deep as he recalled a very young version of himself, sifting through the ashes of his home to find what was left of his family's belongings, old and new. "I'll arrange for that."

Vernon didn't smile, but there was something else, a vote of confidence and respect radiated from his very face as he seemed to express adoration and mutual trust. He held his paw out to Adam. "Count me in."

Adam smiled as he remembered a similar moment between himself and Agent Jack Savage. "Vernon Hunter, welcome to the Empire." The wolves shook hands.

Dawn Bellwether was sulking about the building again. She heard some of the guards talking about the new recruit that had come around. Great, she thought, another pred. For the first time in a long time, the words of hate had soured. She couldn't believe it. Predators had and always would be her reason for suffering. Even if that were true, she was running out of faith in that department. How? It was a simple conclusion. It was too much energy to hate anyone. And then she remembered the bracelet. The boy. The one her father so adamantly ridiculed her about. The beads still echoed as they fell between the floorboards of her drifting memories that were beginning to die along with her father. He was dead now though, her father. He had been stopped by the Empire in his own personal attempt to revamp what she started. Another nighthowler attack in response to the Novus Purificatio uprising. Of course, it failed. It failed just like Novus Purificatio's plan to enslave prey animals. They both failed, though their objective's differed, their core existence was the same. Evil was always evil.

Had she become that? He destiney boud her to be a slave to the good. That was where she was different from the rest of the Empire. In her heart there was that irrational hate, that was failing. It was failing as evil always had.

Dawn recalled the boy, the one whose name escaped her, but whose eyes were so gentle. He's dead too… She squeaked at the door that had flung open and almost hit her. She scowled up at the buffoon who had almost smacked a door in her face. It was the wolf, the new recruit. Whoop-de-do! She was so ready to blow up in his face, so ready!

"Oh, pardon me miss. I'm sorry I almost got ya with the door."

Bellwether had gotten used to a way of being treated. MISS? No one had referred to her with even that amount of dignity as to call her Miss. It was alway IT or THING and the code name she hated. Knockout. KO. Another first in ten years also…

"You alright?" The wolf that towered over her at more than twice her height wasn't Adam. It was some new face.

Dawn had gotten used to other's fearing her, not the other way around. A flicker of doubt wondered if the other girl would be even as tall as this wolf. Alright? She tried to shout out something like, out of my way pred! But instead, "...uh."

Adam Wolff stepped from behind the "newcomer" and gave a simple, authoritative glare down at Dawn. "Bellwether, this is our new recruit, Vernon Hunter.

"Vernon." She repeated. There was something odd about him that Dawn noticed. A familiarity. A flash in her brain saw something a strange image of the wolf, Vernon, holding his hand out to her. She was smiling in this little vision as he put on her glasses for her. Evil dies hard. "Just stay out of my way, pred." She scowled as she pushed passed the wolves. Dawn refrained from looking back. What was that? She pondered over the vision. Where had it come from? She suspected it was nothing more than a bored fantasy, a day dream of peculiar manifestation spawned from some subconscious machine like act. But, it had been real. A time it was, no, a when. It was a different when, maybe.

Dawn betrayed her instincts and turned to look over her shoulder. Vernon was staring her way.

Peter looked over the gas mask. "You make this?" The boar flicked the red lights in the lenses on and off. "It's pretty cool." He dropped the mask back into the corrugated plastic box with the rest of Vernon's possessions.

Vernon followed Peter closely as he looked at the key and key card he had been given. "HB put it together for me."

"Looks like good work. Maybe you should recommend her to Wolff and Savage." Peter turned down the next hall and clumsily opened a door."

Vernon laughed. "Heh, she's not exactly the type to trust government institutions."

Peter shrugged his shoulders. "In that case, let's keep her to ourselves in case anything goes south. Like an ace up your sleeve, ya dig?" The boar set the box down on one of the two desks that occupied the substantially sized room that also contained two beds and two dressers. The walls were white, the desks stainless steel. Though, the one side of the room seemed almost to have a brown tint around the walls and ceiling in the one desk's corner. "It's not much but a, it's free. My side's a bit cluttered. Just don't touch anything."

Vernon didn't even know if he should breath when he saw a chaotic mess of wires strung between several white masses. "Is that C-4?"

"Nah." The boar dismissively waved his arm as he sat down at the desk, the action causing the contraption to jump with Vernon's heart rate. "It's just play dough. It's just a mock up."

Vernon rested a little easier when he knew the bomb wasn't live. "Thanks for offering to share a room with me, roomie."

"Consider it saving your life from Crystal."

Vernon furrowed his brow as he thought. "The invisible one right? What's wrong with her room?"

Peter slowly turned with one brow cocked. "It's more like a cave, really. Just don't trust her. Adam, you can trust, and even his wife I imagine. Jack's alright, I don't understand him sometimes, but he's cool I guess. And whatever you do, stay out of Knockout's way."

"Knock-out," vernon asked.

Peter sighed as he held his hand above the ground at a certain height. "Little sheep, 'bout yea high. Has the look of I will cut you behind her glasses."

"Miss Bellwether?" Vernon folded his arms, almost amused. "Is she like a wooly assassin or something?"

Peter clicked his teeth as he thought about how to phrase it. "Let's just say that she can be a BIG problem sometimes. Oh, and carry this on you." The boar tossed Vernon a little black box.

Vernon felt sick as he handled the box. One of his digits feathered over the big red button, pulling away as thought it had become white hot. "What is this thing?"

"Knockout has a special taming collar. These activate it. You'll know if you need to use it or not." Peter pulled his out and displayed it. "We all have one just in case."

Vernon nodded as he clipped the box onto his pants. "You seem pretty scared of her."

"Ha!" Peter laughed as he rubbed two sparing wires together. "With good reason. She's evil, and she's only here because she doesn't want to be in jail."

Vernon said nothing more on the subject. He thought though. The mare that tried to take over the world, or at least rid it of predators. She looked familiar. But then again, Vernon had met plenty of sheep and no shortage of them that referred to him as a pred. Something else though. He thought about his real job, that he'd probably be leaving behind. Work at Bug Burgas was never glamorous. But, Vernon recalled something. Milkshake. Why was that significant. Puzzles. He grabbed at his brain. "Woah!" He saw something. It was like a sudden light in his brain. It hurt. He wondered where his phone was and remembered. No. It was in his box of stuff. But, it wasn't at the same time. Someone, she, playing with...

"You alright?" Peter lifted his magnification glasses and set down his soldering iron. "Uh. Nose."

Vernon brushed his nose and felt something wet. He pulled his paw away and half laughed to himself. "Blood." He tilted his head back. "Wow. I think it's been six years since I last had a nose bleed."