I'm not entirely happy with this section, but I'm posting it now, least I never get around to posting it.
"We lost them." The smartly dressed cat grumbled.
"What?" The even more sharply dressed fox flinched in response.
"According to this, they were seen getting off the train, but there was a problem with the crowds and they were lost track of."
Agent Anlef sat back in dismay, then typed in for further additional details. Nick saw her look. "What happened?"
"They made it to the city, but we lost coverage."
"Oh Glob. So that means she could be anywhere and in any situation." He fumed around the room, flailing his arms. "Unless she tries to contact the ZPD or someone. 'Nicole' is keeping her 'phone off otherwise."
"We do know she rented a car. But we don't have an in with the rental service to track her." Anlef grumped. "Since she doesn't know we are here, leave her a message as Steve to Nicole, mention that you are in town at the Standard. Simple as that."
Nick made a face. "Then we wait?"
Anlef shrugged. Then she suddenly remembered, "And at some point we need to make an appointment with our clients for that contract."
Nick needed a second to shift gears, "Oh, that's right. The cover is still a thing." Nick was suppose to be Steve Konnick, a salesbeast for a heavy equipment company and had some real sales contracts to pass on.
"Is there anything we can DO, while we wait?" Nick had been increasingly anxious to act and the idea of Judy now being incommunicado with a city full of murderous secret agents wasn't helping. "Can we. At least, go down for something to eat?"
"Not a great idea." Anlef frowned, "As a Zootopian Fox, you are likely to get some unwanted attention."
"The local pred/prey social dynamic is a bit more complicated then back in Zootopia. The company would normally send some big salesbeast, pred or prey, and no one would bat an eye." Anlef grumped with that just a bit, "Of course, a female secretary is just invisible, regardless of species."
"But a fox. You think your reputation back home was less that stellar, we had to convince the client that you were a legitimate representative, though something of a token."
"Really?"
"Yes." Anlef was more visibly annoyed. "Then, if the hotel is under surveillance, it would not do to have you out and about too much. You have got a good cover, but you are also the famous fox back in Zootopia."
Nick groaned, "So I could already be blown?"
"Do not know."
Nick growled. "So, we lost Judy, and my status is iffy, and your friends don't yet have a handle on some kind of spy nest here."
"Pretty much. As you know, the hotel does have a good in room menu though."
Agonizing hours later, a 'phone call on 'Steve's' 'phone. "Hello, Steve Konnick here."
"Hi. Nicole, here. Heard you were in town." It was Judy!
"Yeah, company business and all. You doing alright?"
"No probs. Lost my way once I got here. Been just driving around seeing the sights."
"So I heard. Running up that expense account. Any chance of us getting together, say a late lunch?" Nick looked to Anlef for a suggestion. She held up a local sights directory map.
"Name it."
"How about you pick us up at the - ah - Boulevard Park, at the city center. In half an hour or so?"
"See you there."
"That was simple enough." Nick sighed in relief. "So, what happens next?"
"We meet Hopps, confirm what we can, then arrange for her to head back to Zootopia." Anlef explained flatly. "Then the two of us finish up the contract business and we go back as well."
"Kind of anti-climatic."
"Yes. No one dies. The two of you get a safe run through of your identities. We do not get the PDR agents, though we do have images for them now, at least. And they do not appear to be any the wiser." Anlef began pounding text on her 'phone. After a few moments, she seems satisfied with the results and they are off.
After Anlef mentioning that they may already be under surveillance, Nick can't help but look around the hotel lobby for possible agents. The Concierge? The Barista? The old Wombat with the newspaper, who reads newspapers anymore? Of course he's too slick for anyone to notice his paranoid glances.
Anlef let out a very uncharacteristic laugh, almost musical in contrast to her normally husking speech. "Steve, you could not be any more unsubtle if you tried."
"Thank you ever so, my dear Ms. Itamak." And he feigned a pout as they left the building.
For once, Rain City was not living up to its name, and there was only dark, menacing clouds to go with the waning light of the afternoon. The locals, used to more miserable conditions, were not keen pedestrians, and instead there was a sea of busy traffic.
As Nick had been an urban fox all his life, this city center was rather different. Zootopia center was bright and airy, with plenty of space between the various buildings to keep an open feel to even the densest urban areas. Here, between the large evergreens that were interspersed among the densely set and drably dark buildings, the effect was looming, even oppressive to his sensibilities. That, and he was no fan of 'the wild', and this had all the feel of the unchecked green and all that untidy business that a city boy was so unfamiliar with.
"I love this." Anlef sighed.
"The looming doom of all the green?" Nick responded.
"More the climate. Zootopia's base climate is a bit warm for my taste. Tough to have a poofy coat and snuggly sweater or overcoat when it is blood warm out."
"Snuggly?" Nick was incredulous, "Next you'll tell me you like cuddling up before a warm fire with a hot drink and a good book?"
"What would you picture my preferred condition to be?"
"I dunno, a dank dungeon, a bank of computer monitors off to one side, a torture rack on another, and you whiling away the hours, stripping down and reassembling machine guns while blindfolded, while doing sit-ups or some such."
She laughed again, and Nick smiled. When she wasn't pure business, she had an air of melancholy about her, and he felt some small achievement in getting her up as he could.
He continued, "But I do get you about the climate. Hopps rags me constantly about my - "
Anlef gave him a sharp elbow jab. "So much for staying in character." She hissed. "Goofy chatter is one thing, specific names is totally another."
"Cheese! You guys are paranoid." Nick hissed back, "But I can see your - "
And the next moment, he was on the ground, an explosion of pain through his body. Then he was in a van or something, and was recovering enough to realize that he'd been electro-shot.
Judy had circled the boulevard area a couple times, rather early and anxious to link up with Wilde. Traffic was heavy but moved along well enough and the rental was an agile sporty compact, so she was feeling particularly good about the situation. And right on time, there was Nick, she'd recognize that walk anywhere, with someone, could it be that Agent they'd dealt with before?
Then a van pulled up behind them, side door opened, the pair dropped, stunned? Shot? And figures, rabbits, scooped Nick up and were off. Just that quick.
One part of her mind screamed in visceral dismay, but the part that was driving the car and planned the next second's tactical action punched the thing up to a screeching halt besides the fallen cat. Nearly as fast as the mystery rabbits had before, she had Anlef stuffing into the passenger seat and was off after the van that was only leisurely leaving the scene.
Was there separate surveillance on Nick when he was grabbed, and if so, did they see her pick up Anlef? The Van wasn't attempting to be dramatic; did they not expect any potential witness to report this? Or did they not suspect they were being followed? Or where they setting her up for a trap?
Judy dug out 'Nicole's' 'phone and called Bogo.
"Hopps?"
"Chief, I'm in Rain City. The PDR agents just stunned Nick and Anlef and grabbed Nick. I'm in a rental car in loose pursuit. Don't know what you can do, but needed to tell someone. I've got Anlef with me, but she isn't up yet."
"Cheese, Hopps! I'll pass this on; see if we can get you in contact with local assets. You okay?"
"I'm fine. I'll keep the 'phone on for any further communication. Hopps out."
Judy punched Anlef to see if it would rouse her.
"Ouch! What happened?" Anlef shuddered as she got her wits about her.
"PDR agents zapped you and took Nick. They are in that dark van about a block ahead of us."
"Wait a minute." Anlef fumbled around a moment and found her 'phone and began typing in. After a moment, "Okay, we can back off a bit on our tail, there is a long range surveillance on the vehicle."
"Really? Okay then." And Judy began to almost breath regular again. "You okay?"
"That really hurt. Bet they used a larger class stunner on me." She was still shivering a bit. "You sure about the PDR agents?"
"Not a hundred percent. Only saw the ones who picked Nick up, but the same type of guys as the ones on the train." Judy clashed her teeth in angry frustration. "Oh, and I just called Bogo about this, so you might want to call him back." And she held out her 'phone.
Anlef dialed the number and spoke in an unfamiliar language, just a few short sentences. Then hung up. "Bogo is not originally from Zootopia, and I happen to know his homeland's language. A bit of practice for me and some nostalgia for him."
"You've known him a long time?"
"And in circumstances that I can not talk about." She let herself smile just a bit. "But back to business. I'm told there is a possible destination, but we will have to follow and wait to be sure." She shuddered again and shook herself out again. "That stunner, ugh. There is a back up team coming to help us, but they are like a half hour behind. So when they do go to ground, we will have to just sit back and wait."
Judy was not happy about that.
"So, I'll have to guess that this isn't the ride to Hiramm's Construction? 'Cause if it is, we ought to go back to the hotel to get the sales contracts."
'Steve Konnick' was trying to figure out exactly what just happened to him, and when in doubt make a joke of it. Or as much as can be done recovering from a massive stunning and now rolling around in the floor of a van, zip-tied to within an inch of his life.
"No way, Wilde. And where's your little race-traitor partner?"
"Oh, cheese! You guys think I'm Nick Wilde?" He tried to shift, offering his hip to one the grim looking bunnies. "Check my wallet, take my wallet if it helps whatever you're up to. I'm just some very junior salesbeast from Zootopia Heavy Industries. Have a sales contract for some earthmovers and stuff for Hiramm's."
'Steve' lay back down, slowly pounding his head on the van's floor. "I told them sending me here was going to be a mistake. But, no, we have to show everyone that we're getting progressive in our hiring, token fox for out-of-country and over-seas orders." He looked at the rabbits. Nope, they were not buying any bit of it.
"So they send me here and everyone gives me the stink eye for being a Zootopian Fox. And what's up with that?" He kept talking; it helped clear his head and kept him distracted from his circumstance. And they might just buy it if he kept it up long enough. "And getting confused with Wilde. Back in Zootopia that wasn't always a bad thing. A free drink for the hero and all that. The groupies were fun too."
He thumped his head on the floor again, "Then I found out he had a whole shopping list of enemies too. So, this isn't the my first snatching." 'Steve' sighed and went limp, looking at nothing in particular. "I just hope this won't involve permanent injuries?" His captors didn't look promising.
He then remembered, "What did you do to Addy? Oh, glob! She's not here, so did you zap her too and just leave her! Come on! She's just a secretary. True, she's the one who actually knows her job and mine." 'Steve' didn't have to fake concern and dismay over the cat's possible condition.
"Will you just shut up!" growled one of the captors and kicked him across the muzzle.
"owie." 'Steve' muttered in a petulant little cub voice.
"They appear to be going to an abandoned apartment complex at the edge of the city. According to intel, the area has been used by various criminal types as a body dump." Anlef read from her 'phone. Judy tried not to react, and was a bit heartened to see the sullen cat react to the news as well.
"Did you get along with Nick alright?"
"He is - a character." She almost smiled. "You are lucky to have him as a partner."
"I know. He can be so exasperating, yet I don't know what I'd do without him." Anlef detected the steel as well as the affection in that. They had it in the worst way for each other. She'd lost so much in her former life and had given up on any kind of personal recovery, but had just a touch of vicarious joy in the love she saw in others. Now if they could just get him back in one piece.
It did not take long to get to their destination. According to Anlef's information, Judy was able to keep several blocks back in order to not become obvious, increasingly important as they entered an abandoned multi-block apartment development. They parked the car some distance away, and Anlef indicated via her 'phone when sentries were not around.
"How do you do that?" Judy whispered.
"Have several drones aloft, officially for area security over specific sites. But also have long-range sensors that cover most of the city. I get encrypted texts from my support."
They approached one of the mid-rise apartment blocks. "This is the one that the van went into. There is power and IR up on the fifth floor."
Judy though it odd to be up in a building when it would seem more sensible to stay in the underground garage or basement. Until they got inside. The lower levels were full of garbage. Not just some leftovers of old squatter's camps or some such, but actual loads of garbage filling the ground floor and presumably any lower levels.
And the scale of it all was daunting. The building was designed for the biggest beasts, so everything was awkwardly over scale for even Anlef.
The stairways were an obstacle course, but clear enough to pass though.
The next floors were little better. The original occupants apparently simply abandoned the place, leaving junked furniture and random rubbish. Then squatters and scavengers had gone through and trashed what remained. But even that looked and smelled like years before, and now it was overlaid with wet decayed wallboard and crumbling concrete.
They were still a floor below and on the other side of the building when they heard the sounds.
Crunch!
"Owie! That hurt. Why would anyone Do that?" 'Steve' rather matter-of-factly complained to the Rabbit that had just crushed one of his digits. He was lashed to a chair with an excess of zip-ties, his arms tied down so the paws hung over the edge of the chair arms. The Rabbit had a section of iron pipe he had used to smash one finger and was considering the rest.
"The boss will be here in a few and suggested we soften you up a bit before."
"Ya know, I'd be more lucid at that if I wasn't in shock for the amount of pain you seem to be getting ready to inflict on me. Especially since I'm not the guy you're after!" 'Steve' shouted the last bit, more in exasperation.
Crunch! The sound echoed throughout the room, once a formal dinning area. Sized for very big mammals, it was like a sportball court to the small creatures.
"Ouch! Dang that stings!" Seeing that the Rabbit was disappointed with the level of reaction, 'Steve' asked, "Would you rather I scream? Desperately plead with you? Cry a bit? You don't seem very happy with the progress so far? But, yes, it hurts like the Dickens." He stopped and cocked his head in consideration. "I just thought, were does that come from? 'Like the Dickens'? Do you guys know?"
The Rabbits exchanged looks. There were three of them, the pair who grabbed 'Steve' and a third who had been an armed back up, just to be sure. All three had rather bland suits, not unlike the unflattering MIB style of the ZPD's detectives. Nick was ever so grateful that he didn't have to wear such.
"Just wondered." 'Steve' began to pant a bit, the pain really was terrible.
Rabbit with the pipe then ground it over 'Steve's' knuckles at the edge of the chair arm. At that he did cry out, though recovered enough to give him a merely very perturbed look for his effort.
A cell 'phone rang. One of the other rabbits answered. "Yeah, he's here. Still not talking."
"I'll have you know I've been talking nearly non-stop since I was mistakenly grabbed by these - bunnies." 'Steve' shouted to the 'phone. Then a small aside, "Are you guys actually okay with me referring to you as bunnies? If it is too casual or diminutive, Rabbits? You're not Hares, right? Always have a hard time with that."
Pipe-wielder suddenly lashed out and struck 'Steve's' forearm. The explosion of pain left him gasping. "No more smart mouth."
There was a sound, the elevator that had brought them up before was again running. Sensing an arrival, pipe-wielder returned to do more damage. A couple more smashed digits later and another Rabbit entered the room. The three straightened up. "He's sticking to his story about being some kind of salesbeast."
The boss, or leader, or whatever, wore a rather nice suit, charcoal pinstripe, and was accessorized as though he were stepping out for a night on the town, not supervising a torture/interrogation. Except for a particularly ugly tie.
While the boss took a closer look at 'Steve', he checked out the Rabbit. Catching his breath, "Nice suit. Shame about the tie. Some kind of signature?"
The boss almost smiled, then pulled out a photo transparency of Nicolas Wilde's face and viewed 'Steve' through it. After a moment, he straightened and announced, "This is him alright."
"I'm somewhat impressed. You Zootopians were likely on us all along, eh?"
"If I knew what you were talking about, I'd have a better answer."
"Yeah, foxes in counter-intelligence is smart, though too obvious to be out in public. Having Hopps as the front is a good move. Can't see her for intelligence work though."
"Are you talking about that ZPD cop, Judy Hopps? Thought she was suppose to be pretty sharp?"
"Yeah, right." He scoffed, "A country Doe? Maybe as a meter maid. But, any real law enforcement? She's just a token for appearances sake."
"So, how'd she do the Bellwether thing? Since I Am Not Nick Wilde, I wasn't there, but I thought she was the lead of the operation?"
"Well, since you are Nicolas P. Wilde, you tell us. The denouncement of preds was obviously her, but you were there to figure out that stage. Bellwether's further scheme was pretty gutsy, though the claim that she helped close it all down later is obviously fake. You must have broken the case and needed her for the PR image. Same with our current situation."
"Since I only came in a few minutes ago, what is our current situation?"
"I can only hope that she isn't a total race-traitor, so she's gone to ground, unless the ZIA or someone else has already gotten to her. But the suggestion she had any useful contribution to the last few days action is ridiculous."
The Boss glanced over to pipe-wielder. "So that means you're the likely brains of the operation. So any insights as to the whats and hows of your investigation would be most useful."
"Well, first, like I've said all along, I'm not Wilde. Second, that sounded awfully sexist."
The Boss gave a nod and there was another -crunch- and 'Steve' yipped in pain. "We know you're Wilde, and this is going to continue until we get some useful conversation out of you." He sneered, "And Does are only good for one thing, as you ought to know."
At that the Boss's tone got more overtly angry. "And how long have you been knotting her?"
'Steve' didn't need to fake the recoil of shock and disgust in that suggestion. "I'd never!" He bristled in rage.
All four rabbits picked up on the change of tone in his reaction, and something else. The Boss pulled out a handgun and his henchbeasts followed suit. The room had two entrances and there may have been something in the west hallway. One of the rabbits went to the east to cover that approach while another cautiously approached the west.
While all four rabbits had their ears up to catch any slight sound, the Boss also kept an eye on the Fox.
For his part, Nick had heard whatever it was too, and was just as intently trying to hear what was up. Unfortunately, his damn nose was also wondering, and began to conspicuously sniff. And the Boss saw that.
"She's here?"
There was an obvious scramble sound from further down the west hall as the henchrabbit approached and he rushed after it. And then a gunshot and yelp of fear.
"JUDY!" Nick screamed in response to that voice, and he writhed against his bonds. "Get out of here! They're all crazy dangerous! Don't worry about me!"
"Shut up!" The Boss hissed as he pistol-whipped Nick across the face. He knew the yelling was more to cover any noise than a plea to escape. There was a further bit of scamper and foot falls then - BOOM!
That was a much louder gunshot, and everyone froze in surprise. Throughout the building there were little trickle of shock dislodged debris sounds that faded to the small sad sounds of a dilapidated building.
One of the Rabbits ran to the side to get an angle on anyone in the hallway and was shot for his trouble before he could react. The Boss stood behind Nick and began firing into the entrance and the wall, to hit or at least intimidate the unseen shooter. He yelled for the henchbunny who had gone off to the east, and in that moment Anlef appeared.
She hesitated, with Nick in the way of a clear shot, but gambled that the Boss's gun was empty. But he had one shot left and he snapped it off then cowered behind Nick to reload.
Despite what one might see in movies, bullet hits don't knock their victims down or throw them across a room. But they do often cause their target to flinch or otherwise react. So it was that the Boss had a bit of his rear out where Anlef could shoot it, causing him to leap forward to expose his head and shoulders for her next shot.
She rushes forward, checking to see that both are down before checking on Nick.
"Judy?"
"She's fine!" Anlef snapped angrily.
"Miss me?"
"More than you will ever know. Idiot!"
She holsters her weapon, a low, middle of the back carry. She then begins to cut Nick loose.
"Dumb bunny broke cover. Ten more minutes and we would have had back up."
"Yeah, about that - wait, what?"
Then he saw the last rabbit, the one who had gone out of the east exit. He had them both covered with his weapon. "You forgot him?" Nick exclaimed in exaggerated dismay.
Before anyone could do anything more, there were two fast shots and the rabbit was down. Judy stood at the west entrance, holding a gun, presumably from Rabbit number one.
She entered the room, all tactical business, then as she stood over her victim, she shuddered. "Are there any more inside?" She was still alert, weapon ready and ears up, but she had to wipe tears away.
"There's just the one down in the garage and two on the roof, last I checked." Anlef reminded. She looked around among the odds and ends left by the agents. She found a roll of duct tape and quickly unrolled a section and wrapped around her middle over her blouse. It was only then did Nick and Judy realize she was bleeding.
"You're hit!?" Judy came over to her to help, but she was already done. "Not bad, just a slash across the belly. "But if I start to shock out, use my 'phone, text after coding 'A3' and you can keep in touch with the rest of the unit."
Anlef then examined the Rabbits, taking everything out of their pockets and into a bag left by the agents. She also took images, mostly close-ups of the faces. She offered a handgun to Nick, who held up his mangled right paw to emphasize, "Ya know, broken fingers." He had to let his left arm hang, as it was very broken.
Nick turned to Judy, "So, how long were your guys going to just sit there and watch me get mulched?"
"Anlef wanted back up."
"Yes." She hissed, pointing at her wound. "The last thing I wanted was a shoot out in street clothes."
Judy grimaced at her self, "Right. Sorry. This has all been too much." She checked Nick over. He was bleeding from his nose and mouth, his muzzle already beginning to swell for the several blows to it. His paws were a mess, not so bloody as unnaturally twisted and bent. She oh so gently touched the side of his face, "So sorry." She whispered.
"It's what we do for our partners at the ZPD." He responded weakly, the pain was beginning to take over, but he was determined to keep a level of wit about him. "Missed you, dumb bunny."
Anlef checked her 'phone again. "We are in luck. the roof top sentries are staying put. The guy on the ground has disappeared. Could be coming up." She looked around for anything else that might be useful. Not seeing anything, she took some final images of the over all scene.
"Hopps, you take point, we will be a bit behind to keep our noise from being too distracting."
Judy nodded. As shocking and frantic as the last few minutes had been, she was now all focus. Proceeding against a possibly armed threat, escorting wounded comrades; so much of her life was leading up to a moment like this. No dramatic fantasy, no action thrill, only the grim satisfaction that she had passed the test and was prepared to continue.