Chapter 45

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.

"Now hold on a sec," the large horse huffed, pointing his hoof down at Jack and Skye. "You two…?"

"Yes," Jack said, "we do know him."

Staring up and scratching his head, Oates looked around the police waiting room they were in. Eddie had brought the bunny and fox to the Precinct 3 station where the koala had been brought after being found the night before, and the horse, who turned out to be the one assigned to his case according to the sheep, was waiting there too. The large equid just looked at the hare who's undercover act had helped solved their last case and shook his head. "Well I never."

"Contrived, is it not?" Jack mused.

"Yeah," Eddie said, walking by their side. "I guess. I mean, you really like to use that word a lot with Buster. Especially when he's suggesting plot ideas and all sorts."

"Don't remind me," Jack said, rolling his eyes and huffing. "I want to be glad he's not-disappeared anymore, so, until he reminds me why he irritated me so much, maybe you could not help him there."

"Sure," the sheep shrugged. "After all, I like it on the few occasions when you really get along."

Oates kept his eyes on Jack for a second or two. "So, you had a lot of personal disagreements with this koala, right?"

"Right," Jack said, groaning. "Do you want the list?"

There was a slight pause before the horse brought out his phone out and turned it on, Jack opened his mouth to speak, only for a slight cough from Skye to cut in. "-Anyway, is he okay, can we see the guy?"

"Well," Oates said, glancing at the vixen. "The little guy seems fine enough. Heck, he was almost too busy apologizing for causing a fuss for us to bring us in. Says he's quite fine and wants to go home, and all that."

"Hmmm," Skye mused, stroking her chin. "Could we see him then?"

"Well," the horse huffed. "I guess that's why you're here. C'mon," he began leading them back into the precinct, this way and that, before opening up an interview room. "So Mr Moon, still wanting to not cause a fuss?"

Jack looked on, pausing and blinking. There he was alright, still in his blue suit and red bow tie, as if nothing had happened these past weeks or so when he was gone. Turning his head, he looked up at the police detective and smiled. "No, not at all," he said, happy as could be. "I'm just wondering when I can go back to my theatre, back to my friends, back to making people happy. Like Jack! Hi there, how have things been going in my time away. Still running your play?"

Jack moved his mouth to speak, only for Eddie to slip on past. "No, due to a bunch of legal issues and complexities he couldn't run it anymore after you were gone and so everything's been kinda shut down since. Which is a shame as it's our most profitable performance since, well, forever!"

"Uh, hu," Jack said smiling. That paused though as he saw the koala frown.

"That's a shame then. I know how much it meant to you. But if I get out we can get her back and going again, isn't that right!"

The hare paused before smiling. "You know what?" he said, as he moved over to one of the chairs, pulling it out and sitting across from him. "You're right. I've had a fun side hustle in the meantime, but it's coming to a close and…" He shrugged. "Hey, more time with my magnum opus, am I right."

"Exactly," the koala cheered. "And I must say, I'm curious at whatever fun side hustle you go in the meantime was? What would keep a mammal like you occupied when your plays weren't running."

Jack paused for a second before shrugging. "Oh, just some basic secret agenting," he smirked, sitting back in his chair, arms behind his head.

There was a pause, the koala blinking. "Okay then, now that's certainly exciting. What kind of secret agenting was it?"

Jack paused, blinking, unable to not notice the slight smirk on Oates' face. Clearing his throat, the hare clarified his unexpected adherence to the truth with a simple deception. "I was being sarcastic, Buster."

Oates burst out into an almost ass like hawying at that, the koala looking around confused. "I mean, I know I'm not that familiar with secret agent roles, but a 'sarcastic'? That's a new one on me, don't know why it's that funny, it might be really important… Uh, Mr Horse, I…" He trailed off at the laughter, suddenly looking very nervous. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…"

Jack paused, ears going down. Sure, he had considerable disagreements in the past with this mammal. He'd been an endless source of frustration. But something was really niggling at him, telling him that something just wasn't right. After briefly wondering if he should, he cleared his throat and moved to ask him if everything was okay, only for Eddie to beat him to it.

"Are you okay right now Buster, you look really non-composed."

"It's just…" he said, his voice quivering. "All this fuss, all this mess, I didn't want to cause that. I didn't! And all over me, I, I…" He began to start breathing faster and faster, Oates' ears pricking up as he moved towards the door.

"Okay, let me just get you a little baggie…"

"Oh please don't!" Buster gasped, cringing into himself.

The horse paused, before shrugging. "Okay then, I won't."

Jack looked at him, wondering what he was playing at, until his sensitive ears picked up a very distinct slowing down of koala breaths. He turned back to see Buster recovering out of his worry-pit at a healthy pace.

Skye voiced what they were all thinking. "I guess you really didn't want to cause a fuss, didn't you?"

"Oh no, no," he said. "So please, can I go now?"

Oates looked at him slowly, then down at the others. "Is this guy… normally like this?"

"I think that's a loaded term, but generally he looks pretty hunky dory," Eddie smiled. "I'm just happy to have my friend back!"

"Yes," the koala said, sighing with relief. "And I'm just happy to be back, after… whatever it was that happened. But I promise you, I genuinely don't remember a thing! And I really don't want to cause a fuss, and…"

"Hang on a second," Jack said, his nose beginning to twitch. "Say, I've been thinking of a new play."

"Oh that's nice."

"And I've got this great script," he carried on, paws moving about in the air as he talked. "With gripping action. Dark character moments. ANGST! SO MUCH ANGST! And did I mention how dark and tense and thrilling it is and… Well, I've been working on a script and this wooly guy…" He nudged in Eddie's direction, the sheep tilting his head slightly. "This ol' fella, he said straight, 'oh Buster will have plenty of ideas about changing that! Make it fun for all the family'. And he insisted you read it and make all these edits I'd hate, but I mean, that's how we've always run, isn't it?"

There was a pause, Buster looking down and scratching his head. "I mean, yeah…" He chuckled. "That sounds like me. But really, all that bother, all those back and forths, insisting on this and that. And after your complete creative freedom on that last play worked out so well, I mean it'll be so much simpler for me just to be hands off and cut all that out. Wouldn't you like that?"

Jack paused before smiling. "Yeah, absolutely, glad you could come around." There was a pause. "You know, I was actually talking with Judith recently…"

The expression on the koala dropped by several ice ages. "Oh, right?"

"She was actually wanting to send a message to 'that handsome horse detective' she'd seen about," he turned to Oates. "Mind if I talk to you about something?"

"I…" he began, pausing as he saw the very worried expression on the koala's face. "Okay then." And with that, he waved the hare out, closing the door. "Okay," the horse said. "What's his history with Hopps?"

"Huh," the hare asked, before shaking his head. "Oh no, different Judith. I mean, I don't think Judy is a Judith… -Unless her parents are mad of course."

"Naturally," the horse agreed. "So, this Judith…"

Jack shook his head. "It was just an excuse to get us out here."

"Oh… So what, she the jilted ex, or…"

"Bank manager," Jack stressed, one paw up and fingers pinched together.

"Ah," the horse smiled. "So, why are you out here…"

"Because he just agreed to give me total creative freedom on one of my plays!"

There was a pause, the horse blinking. "Am I giving you something and you poking your eyes up into my mouth right now, or am I missin…"

"I know him! And THAT," he said, pointing into the interview room. "Is either not the real Buster Moon, or something really cussed up has happened to him while he's been gone!"

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"Ah, sunlight," the koala smiled, looking up into the sky. "Fresh air. Today is a nice day." He closed his eyes before pulling out one of the eucalyptus drops he'd purchased and flicking it into his mouth. He closed his mouth and chewed, savouring the taste, before offering the packet to Jack and Skye.

The pair declined, the small marsupial looking a bit upset for a second before shaking it off.

"You know," Jack began, stepping up to him. "I'd be really curious to know where you were these last few days. You look so happy! It must be fun, and it would do me a real dose of good to experience the same thing."

Their walk slowed down, Buster looking back at Jack, his fingers starting to fidget with themselves.

The hare cocked his ears, ready, while sifting his shirt around just a little. Making sure that the wire he was wearing was all well and ready to pick up whatever he might speak about, now that he was no longer in such a high pressure environment.

Further back, Oates was in an unmarked car, listening in and waiting to see what else might be revealed. Sure, the idea that he might spill the beans now was quite laughable in his mind, but then again the hare had been quite insistand on giving it a try. And the mad rabbit had a history of pulling off the impossible, or rather the highly improbable before, so nothing lost in trying.

Buster Moon was silent for a second before trembling. "I remember… It's hard, hard to say… But…"

Jack leant forward. "Don't worry," he said, taking a paw and patting down on it. "To quote famous radio psychiatrist Frasier Maim, I'm listening."

He gave a smile, one that Buster shared for a second, before backing off, hard. Palms on his temples, back buckling down, eyes shut. "Wolf…"

"Yes," Jack began. "Frasier Maim is a…"

"That wolf," he groaned. "That wolf, in that place, I…"

Jack remained a firm visage as the koala looked up and… "No, why was I saying wolf?" he asked. "It was a rat. A rat and a cat. A rat and a cat, they took me. With all those other predators helping. And prey, it was a poor part of town." He was breathing in and out, faster and faster. "And purple flowers, so many purple flowers. Growing under the lights, I…"

He closed his eyes and, legs trembling, settled onto the ground. "It's okay," Jack said. "It's okay."

"I just remember… Being carried around, and escaping… At night. Down these concrete stairs, it was a ghastly place, twisting stairs going down and trash on these walkways and these huge, huge underground parking places and…"

"I know," Jack said. "It all was a blur. Flashing past, going around, too busy escaping until you woke up somewhere safe. Somewhere safe."

"Yes," the koala whimpered. "And then… Then the ZPD picked me up. I was on my way to Precinct One, I think. Yes, Precinct One." His face grew firm as he stood up, patting Jack on his shoulder. "Thank you. Thank you for being there, you and your wonderful mate." He held his chin up. "But now, now… I need to write this wrong. Those…" His voice grew grim. "Those must have been Nighthowlers they were growing, weren't they. We have to stop them. Stop them before they hurt any more mammals, or… RIGHT!" He threw a finger up in the air. "I HAVE to report this."

And with that, he began marching straight towards a bus stop.

Jack followed, only for Skye to pause. "The Precinct was that way," she said, pointing back to where they'd come. Indeed, peaking over her shoulder, she was certain she could still see a tiny part of the structure off in the distance.

"Oh no," Buster said, "this is far too important for a small Precinct like that. It's one or none!"

"I mean, they've got the same level of detectives and everything there," she began.

"Yes," he sighed, turning towards her, palms out. "But if I go there they'll just have to record everything and then send the information to Precinct One, or have Precinct One mammals going back and forth, and documents flying and it would just be a horrible, horrible fuss that I just don't want to cause. So it'll be far easier if we got to Precinct One." He smiled, turning back to the road, waiting for the bus.

"But if time is of the essence," Skye began, only to be cut off.

"No," Buster said, an edge to his voice. "I insist. Precinct One. Easier for everyone, far less of a fuss."

She moved to speak, only for a look from Jack to quieten her down. And so they waited quietly for their bus.

"Well I never," Oates slowly mused, sitting back in his vehicle and rubbing his chin. "Shoulda' guessed this megamaniac of a mega mouse would set up in a big trash fire place like that."

"Big trash fire place like what?" came a voice from the side, as he looked over. Seeing as Jack Savage was the one who thought he could pluck and talk some additional information from the wayward koala, and would be pulling his vix along for the ride, a certain 'best friend' was left as a spare wheat straw at the end of the bushel as it were. Fortunately, he'd suggested that, given his closeness to the subject, he could ride along and listen to the recording, acting as a 'Cinereus consultant' as it were. Oates was less convinced, but felt there was no real harm in an additional viewpoint, which was why Eddie the sheep was now sitting next to him.

The horse turned to the mammal and shrugged. "Big ugly concrete buildings, cracked walkways through the sky, poor part of town with giant underground parking?" He shrugged. "That's Happytown Heights right there," he said, narrowing his eyes to see if he could spot any of the tops of the large towers across the skyline, to little success.

"I mean, that's a bit forward with your hypothesis," the sheep pondered.

"Well then, show us your hand."

"Well okay," Eddie shrugged, lifting it up. "I tend to call 'em…"

"-I mean tell me your alternative."

"The Sakkin community housing ziggurats over in the rainforest."

"...Okay, fair point," the detective noted. "And before you say it, I guess you can also count in whatever those commie blocks in Tundratown are called too. Pretty much all the districts have a trash heap zone with a few architecture awards rusting on a plaque somewhere, so we need to work out which one. Then send in the troops and get that bigger varmint out of there before he can hurt the smaller varmints around him and the odd innocent mammal like your koala friend." He paused, pulling up the radio and speaking in. "Okay 'special agent'," he began. "Let's see if we can narrow down a district here."

Jack let out a set of quiet non-committal right-right-rights, that onlookers would brush off as him just coming to some conclusion in an internal monologue, before setting out on his probing once more.

All while Oates sat back, scratching under his chin.

"-You know, you're making a big assumption it is this big rat fella," Eddie mused.

"It's a dangerous rat who we know runs with a sadistic cat," Oates said back. "Got any other usual suspects?"

"No…" he began, before tapping his hooflets on the dash. "Though I mean, Buster has, according to them, jilted a lot of stagehands in the past."

"Say wha…?" the horse asked, turning to him.

"I was saying he's been financially unable to pay stagehands and so forth in the past. Pretty consistently in fact. It was only after Jack got involved that he got a bare turnover enough to get away with paying the min to most of them."

The horse looked at him calmly. "Go on. What do you mean 'most of them'?"

"He was able to pay the others, and pretty much all those before him, with this thing he called 'experience'." Eddie carried on. "Said that while they didn't have hard money, the fact they worked here would pay them many times over when they applied to other jobs, seeing as they had the first leg up on the ladder or so forth."

"I take it they didn't see it that way."

"Ha, no," Eddie laughed, shaking his head. "They got very angry, which I can't help but think was a little ungrateful. Especially from this not very polite older khonorik actor who we think was the mammal behind the chicken heads on rune inscribed spikes that kept turning up around the place two summers ago. I don't know if it was meant to scare us or scare all these wannabe employees off, but either way it didn't work. Especially on the last part; every year more came."

"Did they now?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head. "New round of hopefuls at the drama schools and stuff, looking for side hustles and summer jobs. Buster said that they benefited the most from this special alternative payment."

Oates nodded, looking at the text to speech recorder on his work phone before inconspicuously sliding it away as the sheep sat next to him settled down for the wait.

…

"Wait," Eddie mused. "You don't think any of them could have been the one to kidnap Buster?"

Oates looked back at him, blinking. "You were the one who raised that general idea."

Eddie nodded. "Yeah, but I wanted to make it absolutely clear that that was what I was doing, since you didn't say it yourself. Poor miscommunication kills you know."

"I…" Oates began, having a slight fault at a logic-jump before brushing it aside. "Sure," he smiled, "sure."

"Hah," Eddie said. "Yeah, for all I knew you'd got confused and were going to charge my friend for wage theft or something silly like that when this was all over."

Oates let a sickly wide grin grow as he gestured back at himself. "Me! That? Ah, never."

"See, glad we could clear that up," Eddie said, leaning back again. "And yeah, so we had a lot of angry mammals whose last interactions with Buster were calling him rude words, accusing him of class warfare, and asking anyone if they had a spare guillotine. You know, general art school stuff. Maybe one of these guys decided to actually act on it." They carried on listening to some of Jack's probing and Buster's rambles, which if anything were suggesting he'd been carried around to all of these falling apart housing projects across the city districts, and a few new ones as yet undiscovered to the general public. "Or maybe it was the red pandas."

Oates turned to Eddie, holding a hoof up and letting his mouth hang open.

"I see you're confused," Eddie said.

"Well, yes. Are you going to say that red pandas are secretly evil and controlling the world? That's about the general way everything is going right about now."

"I… Woah, what if that is the case!"

The horse's eyes narrowed. "Well if it is then by the time the year is out the prison population across this city is going to be several orders of magnitude more adorable than before. But, baby steps here, so act like you're one hour old and just get the basics out for me please."

"Oh, right," the sheep agreed. "He accidentally insulted a group of five performing red pandas in the rudest way possible."

"... Don't leave me hanging, son."

"They didn't really speak English, and so he wanted to say 'Congratulations, after much thought on my end and extreme persistence on yours, I have decided to expand the number of slots in the final competition to give you a chance to perform.' He got a translation book, but mixed a few things up."

"Right," Oates said. "Any idea what he did say?"

"Uhhh… Something, something, your momma is so fat the only way she can get a date is by painting herself black and white."

The horse let out a chuckle. "Okay, okay, lemme remember that. Five red pandas… -Did any have a screaming death metal voice or anything?"

Eddie looked over. "That's a very odd question. Why would you ask that?"

"Yes or no please."

"I think it's highly unlikely."

"Thought so too," Oates agreed. "But I wanted to make sure. First Jack of all mammals happens to know the missing koala I've been looking for, and now…" He shrugged. "Everything seems to be all connected and contrived together, so I just wanna check it's not another one of these same mammals getting stuck in and involved in it."

"Yeah, I agree," Eddie nodded on. "Things really do seem overly weird. I mean, a rat supervillain suddenly turns up? One who we've never heard of before, but supposedly ruled Little Rodentia with a secret iron fist before going missing. And he has a cannibal cat as a lover and secretly has his paw in a whole bunch of this other stuff going on, like copycat Anonymous Vulpine cases…" The sheep shook his head. "I mean, that's really stretching it, am I right?"

Oates shook his head. "No. That is the thing that's going on."

"Right…" he said, waving off. "It just seems very convenient that we didn't hear of him, then suddenly he's this crazy big bad…"

"Well maybe it's all y'alls fault for never really bothering with what was going on down in Little Rodentia."

"I'm just saying," Eddie began. "Most mammals who have heard of this guy from you are thinking, 'well that's a bit odd, where did he come from'. And 'really, a cannibal cat as a lover'."

"Well, when we get him in," Oates said, his voice hardening, "we'll show 'em."

Eddie shrugged. "Well, I mean more power to you if you do. There's a few artists I met previously and follow online, they tend to post stuff about how monospecies attraction is just a lie perpetrated by colonizing forces to oppress the wide diversity of those who can see love in any other sentient being, and they've been saying that the forces of the ZPD focussed on making up the rat with the cannibal cat thing as it was the ultimate demonisation of pred-prey relationships they could think of. Heck, they're even wondering if this guy is some whistleblower or someone who you guys are trying to shut down and poison before he gets his scoop out, which is why he went from a zero to an everything in no time."

The horse groaned, face going down and landing in his hand hooves, massaging his eyes for good measure.

"-I mean, I eighty-ninety percent believe you guys on this, but it makes you wonder," the sheep said. "And I don't think an open mind ever hurt anyone. And I think if you do capture him and everything you said did turn out to be true, it'll be fun to see how these mammals react. -I mean, they probably won't acknowledge anything, just post more stuff about how 'RAGE' is in their name and how rioting and violence are legitimate political strategies and advice for doing so… But still, it might be amusing."

Oates let out a sigh with relief. "Well, I suppose an open mind with things like those stagehands and red pandas might turn out to be useful in the future. Who knows?" He paused, ears perking up as he heard the bus pull up and the mammals step up. Moving his hooves around, he slowly started heading off in the car. Their wire was connected via an encrypted phone and satellite signal, so he didn't really have to do it, but he felt it best to get to Precinct One and settle down before the other three made it. "-While we're going, any other ideas you squeezed into that ten-to-fifteen percent."

"No…" he mused. "Apart from that brief mention of a wolf."

"Hmmm?"

"It's just an idea, but maybe during all this time Buster got talent scouted and took himself and a bunch of performers he knew to audition in another city and put on a performance under the financing of a massive big wolf media mogul. Naturally a whole bunch of things would happen, I'm sure Buster would base it around some famous album or artist, get everything up and running, and then need to work out the formality of asking for permission and royalties for the songs. As any sensible media mammal do, and to clarify that wasn't sarcasm."

…

"-To clarify that, a lot of mammals think it is for some reason so I just thought I'd get it out there that it isn't. -Oooh, and I could imagine the overbearing evil wolf's daughter slip herself into the performance, not that she wouldn't be incredibly talented and earn at least some of that role, but she'd have a few achilles heels that would result in a casting change, resulting in a miscommunication resulting in the angry overbearing wolf berating his daughter for embarrassing him and then deciding to do the level headed reasonable thing to do and kill Buster."

Oates broke into a coughing fit, not that it stopped the sheep.

"Of course Buster would respond by rounding up all his performers and choosing to put on the performance anyway, including with the daughter who decided to defect after coming to the conclusion that her father was very much a jerk and didn't have her interests, other than shopping financing, at heart. In which case the performance would have gone off without a hitch, even if Buster gained a few near death experiences resulting in a delayed unrecognized and untreated memory loss, the wolf was arrested and put away… And everyone had a happy ending and headed home, ready for their new performances, only for said untreated PTSD and delayed memory loss to then manifest and create the situation we're seeing right now."

…

"That all?" Oates finally asked.

Eddie shrugged. "I guess." He then smiled. "There, another thing for you to chase up."

The horse's ears went up. "...You aren't serious, right?"

"Oh, totally!"

"So wait, you know he went to…"

"No, not at all, never heard a thing, no clue whatsoever."

Oates lifted a hoof to his temple, leaning into it as they rolled on down the road. "And you're his best friend, financier, confidant, right?"

"Right!"

"And not only were you completely absent from this, he's the kind of mammal who wouldn't even mention it to you, his, uh, best friend."

The sheep smiled. "Yeah! Exactly. Now you're getting it."

"Fine," the horse huffed, before pausing. "Apart from one thing. What's a khonorik?"

"Oh, just a mink polecat hybrid, about yea high, dark red fur with a white bib, smells of weird fi…"

"JESUS CHRIST LAMB OF GOD!" Oates yelled, turning down to the sheep. "BUSTER JILTED HIM!"

"Ah, you know him."

.

.

.

Meanwhile, on the bus, Jack kept himself quiet as Buster fidgeted next to him. "So, uh, why didn't you mention all this back at Precinct Three?"

Buster shook his head. "I… I didn't remember it back then. I'm sorry but I must have repressed that memory."

"Ah," Jack nodded, managing a small smile. "A classic trope if ever there was one."

"Huh?"

"Scriptwriting thing, my dear friend," the hare smiled, leaning over and patting Buster around the shoulders. "Scriptwriting thing. Want a key bit of information to only get sprung when it could cause maximum drama? Repress that memory, and then?"

"-I don't want to cause maximum drama."

Jack paused for a second before rolling his eyes, relaxing back into his seat. "Sure you don't Buster, sure you don't."

"No," the koala said, shaking his head. "I want to cause as little drama as possible. I just don't want mammals making a fuss."

Skye's ears perked up a little and she looked over, though not before Jack got in edgeways. "So," the hare mused. "You thought cutting and changing all my scripts back then was reducing the drama and all, right?"

It had been left as a fairly open ended question, but the reaction was certainly intense. Buster scratched his head, thinking back, before shivering, grimacing, then looking over to the confused hare with deep, sorrowful, guilt filled eyes. "I… I suppose I failed badly there," he said, taking Jack's paw and holding it. "I barged in, pushed myself all over your work, changing, cutting, adding new scenes. And after all you'd done before, I…" A grimace grew across his face before he sighed. "I really caused you an awful level of drama and stress and all that, didn't I? Jack… I'm sorry. I really, really, am. And I hope you can forgive me."

The hare looked back, one ear managing to remain upright and the other semaphoring down to the level so fast that it might have knocked out any mammal small and unfortunate enough to be standing in its way. On he looked, holding himself for a few seconds, before nodding. "We all make mistakes," he said, patting the koala on the back. "We know how to do things right now. All is forgiven!"

Buster smiled, looking back up. "Thank you Jack. And I think, from now on, I'll push forward and write my own drama free drama when I feel like it. Oh, none of that stress and fear and sadness. Instead it will be happy, joyous, bright and charming and full of fun for all the family. Wonder, and beauty, and…"

"No repressed memories?" Jack asked.

The koala managed a chuckle. "Ah, no. A bit dark for my liking. I think I'll use 'it's all a dream' reveals instead. After all, who doesn't love a good dream?"

The hare rolled his eyes, sitting back in his seat and letting the koala be. Or rather, letting Skye take over. "Uh, Buster?"

He blinked a little, looking over at her. "Oh, yes? And thanks for fixing that stage set again, you did do an excellent job."

The swift fox rubbed her chin, nodding. "Thanks. I'm just wondering, you seem very obsessed with not making a fuss. Why?"

"Why…" he began, before throwing his paws up in the air. "Just, because!"

"Because?"

"Because I don't want to," he said, his voice beginning to get a bit agitated. "I don't want to cause any unnecessary issues for anyone, or get them stressed out over doing any work, I just…" He began breathing more heavily. "I just want to keep things simple, get things done… You know, in the way that makes things the best for everyone, and… and…"

"And what way is that?" she asked.

"I… Well get to Precinct One and report all the important stuff, of course."

She nodded. "About being kidnapped, and the rat and cat."

"Uh-hu, in all those decrepit concrete flats and houses littered with rubbish with all those poor mean mammals who were happy to support those two bad guys as… As they're bad guys, I guess." He shook his head. "Uhhh, I just hope the ZPD can go in right away and clean them up all nice and simple. Put them away in a prison cell, where they belong and won't bother anyone. Lickety split."

"Right," Skye agreed, thinking for a second. "Including that wolf?"

"Huh?" he asked. "What wolf?"

"You know," she began, "right at the start, it was a mention about a wolf or something then started you remembering…"

"There wasn't a wolf," he said, voice stressed a little.

Her head tilted. "No, Jack gave the catchphrase of a wolf psychiatrist who's on the radio a lot, and you said wolf…"

"Well I must have been mistaken," he groaned, burying his face into his paws. "And now I'm just confusing you all and making you stressed oh my… Or it… Or I must have seen a wolf among the whole crew helping that rat out!" he said, suddenly perking up and looking at her. "Yes, that's it, it was a wolf among the group, I can remember bits of him but it's… But it's really foggy, but I think he was nice. Helped me along, got me some entertainment, gave me food and stuff and… Yeah, he must have just been one of the ones working for them. Big and… No, not white, that must be a different wolf I'm imaging. White as crystal, I… Uh, why would I say that. No, this one was gray furred and…" He paused, his voice murmuring a little. "One eye."

Both Skye and Jack looked at him. "Wolf with one eye?"

Buster turned to them. "You know a wolf with one eye?"

"No," Skye said, Jack nodding along.

"We've heard a few things about troublesome wolves, but I don't know if any of them have one eye or not."

"Uh-hu," Buster said, "but yeah, the more I think back the more I can get a picture of him in my mind. He even… Even had this big spike of fur on his head, I wonder if he had a bit of hyena in there or…" He shook his head.

All as Jack and Skye silently looked at each other. The hare paused, holding up a paw to the fox, as he sauntered up to Buster. "So then, if that was what the wolf looked like, what did the real deal look like, huh?"

"The real…"

"You know, Rattigan and Felicity?" he asked. "The ones you really saw lots and lots of, far more than that wolf… Didn't you?"

"Well, I suppose… No, of course I did," he said, giving a shiver. "All mumbling and talking about their plans and stuff and…"

"Which were?" Skye blurted out.

"I… Something about targeting the children with Nighthowlers," he said. "The children of all the rich mammals, to pay them all back, or… And how it would test them, all those with unearned wealth while the poor mammals could run in and claim it all for themselves from the unworthy or… or…"

"Or?" Jack asked.

Buster shook his head. "It was mostly all rants and raves, and all these poor mammals cackling about how they were going to wreck the rich parts of the city."

"And he wanted you as part of this because?" the hare asked.

There was a long pause before the koala sighed. "I can't remember. I really wish I could. Maybe he never told me in the first place, other than…"

"Other than…"

"Saying I deserved it."

"For?" Skye asked.

"He said me not knowing just added to the punishment."

Skye winced back a bit, Jack glancing up at her for a second before turning back around to face his former boss. "And when, and by who, were you taken?" the hare asked.

"Taken? What do you mean by taken?"

There was a long pause, a little twitch, and Jack stared hard at Buster. "You know," he said, a smirk on his muzzle as he put on a remarkably good Liam Sheepson impersonation. "You don't know who they are, you don't know what they want, if they were looking for ransom money they certainly didn't ask for it. But they did have a very specific set of skills, ones acquired over a long criminal career, that made them a nightmare for people like you."

The koala stared at him, a finger rising up.

It stayed risen up.

It slowly lowered.

"Indulgences aside," Jack said. "The mammals who grabbed you off the street and took you to Rattigan in the first place. Who were they, why, when?"

"I don't remember."

"Huh?"

"I simply," Buster sighed. "Don't remember."

Jack nodded. "To you it was the most important day of your life. To them, it was Tuesday."

"Friday, actually." Skye said.

…

"Oh," Buster said, pausing. "I do remember that."

"Anything else?" Jack asked, leaning in.

The koala strained before sighing. "No. I'm sorry. I really am. I really, really, am."

"No faces, no names…"

"No nothing," he stressed. "I just remember being jostled around, and coming face to face with that giant mouse and his cat lover and… that was that."

There was a long pause, Buster looking down as Jack and Skye looked at each other. Both mouthing off something very odd about what he'd just said. Jack threw his paws up, Skye tilted her head, before she turned back to the small marsupial.

"Rattigan and that Pallas cat of his," she asked. "What did they look like?"

There was a pause, Buster thinking. "Well, like a giant mouse and a pallas cat."

"I mean, anything distinctive about them?"

"Rattigan was a very grand and impressive mouse."

"And not a rat?"

Buster looked on, confused. "Why would he be a rat?"

"It's in his name," Skye said.

"...Well I never, that is strange now you say it. But no, he most certainly was a very large mouse."

"And what colour?"

Buster strained himself with thought for a second or two before shrugging. "Mouse colour."

"So white, or black, or brown or grey or…"

"Just, the colour of a mouse," he stressed. "Just like Felicity was the colour of a pallas cat."

"Which is?"

"Pallas cat colour, obviously."

Both Jack and Skye looked at each other with equal concern. For the rest of the bus ride they probed and prodded, asking about other things about the pair. About how they talked, whether they had any mannerisms that stood out. Things Buster, who'd been subjected to their rantings and ravings and all, surely would have picked up on.

And maybe he had, if they were as plain as a slice of bread.

But, as they got off the bus outside Precinct One, the koala making his way up to the main steps, they were left with the same nagging thoughts on their mind.

The rumble of an engine caught them off guard and they turned to see Detective Oates pull up next to them. "Well then," he sighed, rubbing his temple. "I think I'm gonna add that mystic springs place to our list of sites to check out."

Skye tilted her head hard. "Why there?"

"Let's just say there's a yak a little notorious for them illicit substances who runs the place," the horse grumbled. "And I think a few haybales of them somehow got into him." He pointed to Buster as he walked up into and entered the ZPD Precinct One lobby. Turning back though, the horse was a little confused to see the two looking less convinced. "Any better suggestions?"

"No, no…" Skye chuckled, paws going up. "Totally no crazy or out of there…" She was cut off by Jack, putting a paw to the tip of her muzzle, before turning to face Oates and letting his face darken. A glance to his left, a glance to his right, and he stroked his chin, giving the Detective a stern, serious, stoic look.

"Sir, are you aware of the term 'Manechurian Candidate?'"

The horse gave a scoff. "Really? Sure, brainwashing. And my name is Patty Hirsch." And with that he closed the window and drove off, though not before Eddie saying 'spoookkkyyyy…' in an 'appropriate' voice could be heard.

The jackrabbit and swift fox left behind turned to each other, the latter planting her fisted paws on her hips and raising an eyebrow. "I don't think the noir reveal was helpful."

Jack sighed. "Okay, fine… But I was nervous, okay. Wanted to just…" He rubbed his chin. "I don't know, felt appropriate."

"Fine," she said. "But not the time. Though I will say the Taken speech was cute."

"I couldn't help it," he said, before pausing, ears shooting up. "Hang on, how did you know…"

"Is it too little to believe that I've watched some movies in my life," she said, pointing back at herself before turning to the ZPD precinct, her ears folding back. "But seriously… He's hiding stuff and not hiding and…" Her foot messed with the ground. "Either he's in with something willingly, or as we're both wagering…"

"Unwillingly," Jack sighed, standing next to her. He grimaced. "Dammit, it is stupid, but Oxxam's razor…"

"I know," she hissed, rubbing her head. "And it's not like I can think of anything more likely. I mean, even if it was all staged, it was done so well to make him." She pointed over to the building, clicking her fingers.

"And wolves," Jack said. "Wolves after some form of AI thing, it doesn't make brainwashing seem too implausible now but… Why? What are they trying to do and why him!?" He threw his paws out before looking down, stomping a foot. "Argghhh! And here I was, thinking I'd had my fun, but no. I've got myself caught up in the crazy game and… and…"

"Jack?" Skye asked, looking over at him.

He looked back up, his ears falling down the back of his head. "It doesn't feel like a game anymore. And we're stuck in it out now and can't just get out, I… I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Skye asked.

"For getting you, us, into this thing. You were right at the beginning, about…"

"-About the fact that we weren't jumping into this, this thing had already jumped onto us," she said, holding him tight. "We didn't get caught in the game, the game caught us in it and…" Her lip trembled. "Well, I guess better to be a player than to be played. It's still the same…"

Jack nodded, looking down. "Yeah," he said. "It just… Feels so much more different now." He gave a laugh. "Dammit, I'm… scared…" He was glomped into hug by Skye before he could react.

"So was I," she said softly. "Through all of it."

A soft muffled 'I'm sorry,' came out from her chest fur, as she pulled back, the pair sharing a long, daunt-filled look. "I know I've got to fight this now," he said, holding her hand. "Will you still…"

"Of course."

A small but firm smile grew on his muzzle. "Thank you," he said, before turning on the spot, grabbing a new phone from his pocket, pressing a number and letting it ring. He stared forward, face hard and teeth gritted for a second as he breathed in and out, before he let a look of calm, content, confident control emerge. It picked up and he spoke. "Secret agent Jack Savage here. We have some very interesting developments."

Meanwhile, inside, Buster was looking up at a very concerned Benjamin Clawhauser, who was making sure he'd heard things right. "So, just to be clear, you were kidnapped by a polar bear now hiding out in a kung fu temple. Correct?"

Buster nodded. "Absolutely. That's exactly what I said, because it's what happened to me. I just don't know why everyone is questioning me so much. It's just so much unnecessary drama for everyone."