AN: I am absolutely sorry for how delayed this chapter has been. First I was hit by a serious case of writer's block. Second I was sick for a few days. And third my laptop made me more aware that it is on its last legs. I am no longer sick, but I still am having a bit of a stall on progress with the next few chapters. This may continue to delay them. And I was finally able to order a new laptop to replace my current one. So as I transition to a new computer and get everything running on it, it may prevent me from working on this story. I hate to delay chapters, but I may have to release the next few later than I wish as I wait for my new laptop, get it set up, and I can get over this writer's block.
Chapter Sixteen
Now You Don't
Jack brought the motorcycle to a crawl as he moved to the side of the street. There was very little traffic and almost no pedestrians. This wasn't the best part of town. Most of the business here had closed up a while ago. No apartments had passed inspections. It was a literal ghost town section of Zootopia. One that Mayor Malay was trying to reverse and revitalize by getting rid of the industrial sector that dominated this part of the waterfront. The buildings were showing signs of neglect and disrepair. They weren't on the brink of collapse, but if nothing was done soon they might very well be.
Nick held onto the seat of the cycle, Jack being too small for him to get a proper grip for stability. Jack's plan didn't raise any alarms. He cloaked the cycle to make it look just like any other. It no longer looked like it came out of a science fiction or fantasy novel. Nick dismounted first; he lost his ground but quickly regained his footing. Jack lowered himself to the ground and then waved his hand and the cycle returned to its normal state. It then exploded outwards into each of its individual shards. They evaporated into the air and returned to the Nexus. It had already shrunk significantly, it was below his elbow.
Nick looked to the rabbit, "So how are we going to get in."
"We'll cloak as well," Jack answered charging up the Nexus again.
"We're going to look like wolves?" Nick guessed what Jack was planning.
"It would be easier for us to be invisible then to cloak like that."
Nick cocked his head to the side, "You mean invisible, invisible?"
"You don't believe me?" Jack asked.
"I'll believe it when I see," Nick stopped himself and tapped his chin before correcting, "or don't see it really."
Jack gave a chuckle, "You'll not see."
The white rabbit waved his arms in an arch over his head. As his arms descended he began to vanish from thin air from his ears downward. His head followed, next his arms, torso, and lastly legs and feet. Nick nodded, "I guess that will work."
"Now you," Jack's voice sounded out.
Nick looked to himself, but didn't see any visible change. He looked up after a few seconds and he could see Jack once again. Nick raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure you made yourself invisible?"
"Yes," Jack said.
Ness chimed in, "There are two fields of invisibility present. One over Jack, the other over you Nick. I was able to manipulate them so you two can see each other, but no one can either of you two."
"I'll take your word for it then," Nick answered back.
They had pulled down the street right before Pacific Ave, Marvin Gardens. Seeing it fit to not be spotted before they were rendered invisible. Jack looked to Nick, "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
Jack took lead, heading down a nearby alley that crossed to Pacific Ave. Nick followed right behind, "So they can't see us, but what about hear us?"
"I could add a muffle aspect to the invisibility," Ness chimed in.
Jack and Nick entered onto Pacific, where they stopped. Jack looked to the watch, "How much drain is their currently on the Nexus?"
"Invisibility for two bodies, both small, with the current reserves of power put us at a stable condition for about two and a half hours. After that the Nexus would not be very functional. A muffle would reduce the time by about fifty minutes."
"An hour and a half to do the job." Nick confirmed.
"Give or take on rough calculations," Ness added.
"Anyway to increase that time?" Jack asked.
"If I shut down background processes we might get some extra time." Ness answered.
"Can you?" Jack requested.
"Yes," Ness spoke, "But I will note that the chief process taking place in the background is my calculations on getting you a jump home."
"Shut it down for now," Jack said without a pause.
Nick looked to the rabbit, "Are you sure you want to, I think an hour is good enough."
"Better safe than sorry," Jack said looking to the fox. He looked back to the Nexus, "Shut them down Ness."
"And the muffle?" Ness asked.
"And the muffle." Jack confirmed.
"Very well."
Jack watched as the Nexus blinked and the waves of energy lessened till they were almost nonexistent. The screen flashed white. Jack and Nick could feel their fur stand on edge as the air was charged with electricity. The feel passed and Ness spoke up, "Muffle successful, time till Nexus reaches low energy levels is just over two hours."
"Then let's not waste a second," Nick advised.
Nodding in agreement the two invisible mammals checked the street and crossed. The other side was bordered off by a chain-link fence with barbed wire topping it. Jack lifted up the Nexus and channeled energy into the palm of his hand. He felt the heat as it began to glow red. He waved his hand in an arc in front of the fence. The metal followed the action of the Nexus and turned red, white, and then fell to the ground as molten steel. The section not heated fell. Nick looked to Jack, "Remind me to never shake your hand."
Jack gave a half laugh as he waved his hand. The red fading away as smoke rose from the cooling device. He gingerly stepped through the hole, Nick next. The fox asked, "Do we have to worry about someone finding the hole?"
"They can find it, but not us," Jack said as he walked down the alley between two of the large industrial buildings. Most likely for storage of cargo or equipment to be shipped for jobs. Nick followed right behind. Ness spoke up, "Take a left it will be the second building down towards the end of the dock. Under two hours."
Nick and Jack made their way Ness directed, sticking close to the buildings. Even if they were invisible and undetectable by sound they still did not want to walk right in the middle of the wharf. The area was completely devoid of activity. There were no signs that anyone had been there in a good amount of time. There were a few boxes and crates that littered area. Showing signs of decay being exposed to the elements and the salted waters of Zootopia Sound.
They passed the first structure and were nearing the building Ness designated. They came to a stop when they spotted movement up ahead. They stood still as they saw a timber wolf walk amongst the crates in front of their destination. Jack noticed that a few of the crates by the wolf were newer. They looked to have not stood more than a few days on the wharf. Nick spoke, "Sentry?"
"More than likely." Jack answered, "Let's try and find a side entrance."
Nick nodded in agreement as the two made their way in the gap between the two buildings. The walls were identical, pale tan bricks. Weathered and worn, exposure to the elements with perhaps years of neglect. Along the wall there were several classic industrial styled windows, all of them closed. The glass was cracked and broken in on a few of the small frames, but not big enough for either of them to make an entrance. Nick asked, "Anyway we can get in."
Jack's eyes canvassed the entire wall, yet could not find any hint of a passage. He looked to the Nexus, "Any suggestions Ness?"
"Teleportation, but that might make a bit of a showy entrance."
"So too would busting in the wall or a window," Nick added.
"True." Ness agreed.
"Any silent options?" Jack asked.
"I can think of one," Ness answered but remained silent.
"And that is?" Jack asked expecting him to explain.
"It involves phasing threw the wall."
"Like a ghost?" Nick asked.
"Basically," Ness confirmed, "You can become intangible and be able to pass through the wall as if it was air."
"Would that cause a serious drain of energy?" Jack worried.
"With everything still active it might." Ness gave the best answer he could muster.
"We'll have to deal with what we are dealt," Nick gave his answer.
"Very well," Jack agreed, "When you are ready Ness."
"Preparing Intangibility."
Jack and Nick stood still as they waited for the new effect to take hold. After a few seconds Jack saw him beginning to fade. It wasn't like when he became invisible. He saw his fur fade as if he was becoming transparent. He looked to Nick and the fox was undergoing the same process as well. Nick was looking wide eyed at his paw, which he could see the wall through slightly. Nick looked to Jack to see that he was in the same state. It was as if someone partially erased the two of them to the point they were like frosted glass. Ness spoke up, "Intangibility stable, drain is increased, if you would please go through the wall the drain can be reduced."
"Bunnies first," Nick waved to the wall for Jack to go. The white rabbit rolled his eyes and walked to the solid structure. He reached his hand out. Rather than come to a stop on the wall it did fall through as if it wasn't there. Pinpricks coated his entire arm, as if coarse sand was rolling over every inch of it under his skin. He gave a sigh, closed his eyes, and crossed the threshold. The feeling of sand filled his entire body and then vanished. He shook himself a few times to rid the feeling. He looked to see the inside of the building he was just standing outside.
He was still intangible as he looked to the area around him. A raised platform enclosed the perimeter of the single long room. The lights were dimmed not allowing him to see the other end cloaked in darkness. The floor in the middle was untouched concrete. The warehouse was practically void of any containment. There were a few remaining boxes, most of them opened and their contents removed. In the center of the room sat two cars, one was the one he saw at the clearing. It was the one that traveled here. They both sat in front of the garage door exit. Most likely where the sentry was outside standing. There were two occupants of the room. One was a wolf, the other a black bear. They were standing next to the cars.
Jack sensed Nick behind him. Nick spoke up, "I'm not doing that again."
Jack looked to the vulpine who was rubbing his arms to remove the sense of sand. He watched as Nick began to become opaque again. He looked to himself to see his arms were returning to normal. Ness spoke, "Tangibility restored, we have less than an hour and a half."
Jack remained on the outskirts of the room on the metal platform. He stepped towards a large box and looked to the two other occupants. The bear and wolf were dressed similarly, jeans and plain red t-shirts. The bear was smoking a cigarette. The wolf was looking at his phone. The bear tapped the ash of the nearly gone fag. The lights in a small enclose off to the left turned off, it looked to be an old office. Emerging from the makeshift room was a hippopotamus, dressed the same. The hippo stashed a cellphone in his pocket as he approached the two, "Just talked to the director."
Nick scooted closer to the bunny. Jack raised one of his ears to single out the conversation better. The bear dropped his cigarette, smashing it under his foot, "What are our orders?"
The wolf stowed his phone away as the hippo closed the distance, "The guys at the Palm are almost done. They should be going in under an hour," the hippo checked a wristwatch. He looked back to the two, "We are to head to him and prep the place before he heads off to Sebastian."
"I'll get Duke," the wolf said. He rushed to the side and exited a door to the front. The bear looked to the hippo, "Anything else?"
"Nope. Just that."
The two wolves entered the building. Not wasting a second they entered the two cars. The metal door rose up with aged gears. It faltered slightly in its ascent, but continued till it was up. Jack looked to Nick, "This may be our only chance at figuring out what they are doing."
"What were you planning on doing?"
The first car started up and exited, the hippo was driving with the first wolf. In the other car was the bear and Duke. Jack rushed forward, sensing what to do Ness dropped the invisibility and muffle. Crystal armor coated every inch of Jack's body. A pulse of energy rocketed Jack off the platform, the metal denting in his wake. He aimed his feet right at the window of the car as it went to exit. The wolf turned to see the flying rabbit. The passenger window caved in, a shower of glass wrapped Jack as his feet impacted the face of the wolf. A pulse of energy erupted from the suit and punched the wolf into the bear. As Jack hit the wolf again another pulse blasted the two of them out of the car, taking the driver's door with them.
The two bodies fell to the ground, the door of the car tumbled towards the dark end of the room. Jack slammed himself into the ground, grinding to a halt. Grooves were etched into the concrete by his legs and arms. He looked up to see Nick rushing towards him, "Are you insane!"
Jack retracted the suit of armor to just to his arms and legs, "Now we can chase them."
"You didn't answer my question," Nick stated as he reached the car. He reached in and engaged the emergency brake. The car remained idle as the vulpine looked to the rabbit, "Why did you do that?"
"They were going to get away," Jack gestured to the two unconscious forms behind him, "I only took one car out."
"That means the other one is going to report that they've been found out."
"Not if we stop them."
Nick looked to the car, "Car chase?"
"Most likely."
Nick looked back to Jack, "Can you guarantee that no one will be harmed."
"Besides the other two?"
"Jack." Nick sternly voiced his name.
Jack sighed, "Yes, we are losing them Nick."
"Fine," Nick jumped into the driver's seat, "I drive this thing, it's too big for you."
"I got that." Jack jumped into the passenger seat. He channeled energy into the car. The loose door flew off the ground and back to the vehicle. It reattached perfectly. The broken glass was fixed. Crystals grew from the pedals bringing them into Nick's range. Jack looked to the fox, "Better?"
"Yes." Nick disengaged the emergency and drove out onto the wharf. Towards the end they could still see the other car. Nick pressed on the gas to catch up. The car turned to exit onto the main street. Nick followed the action, and continued in pace with the car. It seemed that they did not know that Jack and Nick had taken the car. As they got to a red light intersection Nick kept his distance from the stopped car. Jack watched as the passenger wolf brought up a phone. After a few seconds he looked back at the two of them. He dropped the phone and barked at the hippo. The light was still red when the car burst into the intersection earning a honk from a car they cut off. Nick pressed on the accelerator, the chase was on.
The car made a quick right, which Nick mirrored. The hippo hopped over abandoned railroad tracks that crossed the road. Trying to escape the fleeing car made a hairpin left. Nick narrowly missed the maneuver, banging into a parked car. They were already losing distance as he brought it back up to speed. Jack focused on the side of the car and repaired the damages. He looked to the fleeing car as it turned yet again. Jack spoke, "Ness can you track with the CCTVs?"
"Yes sir." Ness chimed in. On the right side of the windshield the Nexus projected a GPS of the streets. A yellow dot was in the center, them. A red flashing dot was quickly added ahead of them. The road the hippo just went down was a dead end; at the very end were more railroad tracks. Nick made the turn. Jack watched as the fleeing car jumped the curb and bumped across the empty tracks. Nick pressed down further as they made a left. An overpass was just ahead. They made the jump across the tracks, no trains were in sight. Nick turned left. There was more traffic amongst these streets. They couldn't let them get away.
They followed the car as it made another right, going under the overpass. There was no entrance to the highway where they were. No easy escape for them. Jack asked as they exited the shadow of the highway, "Do you think you can get close to them?"
"If I can get the speed," Nick glanced at Jack, "Why?"
"I got a plan." Jack answer channeling energy from the Nexus to recreate the suit of crystal armor.
The hippo was not taking any turns. Nick pressed the accelerator to the floor to clear the distance. Seeing his chance Jack released the energy, he began to fade as he became intangible again. He leapt off the seat and phased through the windshield. He faded into existence as he slammed down on the back of the fleeing car. The trunk caved in under his powerful landing. The wolf looked back, he reach down and produced a gun. Jack jumped onto the roof of the car as the back window burst into a shower of glass. Nick still kept chase as the car swerved right and left feverishly trying the shake Jack off.
The rabbit hopped foot by foot to the front as more bullets were shot through the roof of the car. He jumped up and came down on the front of the car. The wolf looked at the rabbit as he fired again. Three bullets punctured the windshield, but harmlessly bounced off the armor. Jack reached forward and punched through the broken windshield. He grabbed the steering wheel from the hippo. He tried to pull it to the left. The far stronger hippo fought. Jack sent a bolt of electricity into the wheel. The hippo was sent recoiling. The hippo let go of the wheel and the car veered to the left. It jumped the curb, taking out a fire hydrant. It knocked into a telephone pole, snapping its base. The wires snapped and electricity arched as the car crashed into the side of a building. The car came to a stop in the rubble. Nick came to a halt right in front of the carnage. He jumped out of the car, "Savage!"
He stood on the side as pedestrians began to converge on the scene. Nick saw a few of them take out their phones. Some called the police; others began to take pictures and videos to post online. A blast of energy sent everyone scattering. The stopped car moved on screeching tires and onto the sidewalk. Jack, still adorned in the full suit of armor, strode to the side of the car. He grabbed the driver's door and ripped it right off. The slack form of the hippo came out. A sizable piece of the broken telephone pole pierced the chest of the mammal. Blood was flowing forth and staining the red shirt redder. Jack looked to the passenger of the car. The wolf groaned in pain. He had a few cuts on his face. Jack jumped onto the front of the car. The wolf snapped to attention when the car jumped to the hard landing. Jack commanded, "Who are you working for!"
"Bite me," The wolf barked back. He spat blood to the side.
"You will tell me what I want to know," Jack raised his arm. A ball of energy present in the appendage. The wolf leaned forward, "You'll have to kill me. I won't tell you a thing."
"Let's get some air," Jack stated as he closed the distance and grabbed the collar of the wolf's shirt. He released the energy and a ball of electricity formed around the two. It faded and there was no trace of the two of them. Everyone looked around to where the armored rabbit and wolf had gone.
High up in the sky Jack and the wolf exited the ball of electricity. They were not as high as Jack was when Ness did this to him. They were just under the clouds. Before they could begin to fall large crystal wings erupted from the back of Jack's suit. The wings were segmented, each crystal detailing a feather and limb, but none of them were connected. The two remained in the air. Jack held the wolf with both hands by the collar. The wolf kicked his legs in the empty air. He looked to Jack, slightly fearful. Jack spoke, "Who do you work for?"
The wolf didn't answer. Jack sighed, "The hard way then."
He let go. The wolf tried to grab the rabbit as he began to fall, but he swiped at the empty air as Jack floated backwards slightly. The wolf began to fall. Jack remained at his height, watching the plummeting canine. He waited a few second before he retraced the wings to his side and rocketed towards the wolf. He grabbed the back of his shirt and halted his fall. His wings flew open. He gave a flap of them as the wolf whimpered. Jack spoke again, "I may not be so generous next time." He paused, "So tell me who you work for."
"Sebastian! His name is Sebastian." The wolf spoke as fast as he could.
"What is Sebastian planning?"
The wolf looked to the blue crystal coated rabbit that was holding him from certain death, "To destroy Zootopia."
"How?"
The wolf didn't answer. Jack let go of him and let him fall again. The wolf screamed out, "He has a device!"
Jack had fallen pace with the wolf. He asked, "What device?"
Jack had yet to grab the wolf. The wolf pleaded out, "I don't know."
"Not good enough," Jack began to float away from the wolf.
"He calls it the Berserker."
Jack moved forward and grabbed the wolf by his tail. He yelped in pain as he yo-yoed slightly. The wolf danged in the air by his tail, he looked up to Jack. The bunny spread his wings and asked, "What does it do?"
"Makes animals go savage."
"How?"
"I don't know."
Jack lowered his grip on the wolf's tail to nearly the end. He yelped out, "I swear, I don't know he never told us how. We were just to build it!"
Jack asked a different question, "When is he going to use it?!"
The wolf didn't answer. Jack jostled the wolf in his grasp. He answered, "Today. Today!"
"When?" Jack stopped. He raised the wolf a bit.
"Soon, they are all set up at the Palm Hotel. They just had one last thing to get."
"What?"
The wolf smirked, "Just a little bunny."
Jack tossed the wolf up into the air and grabbed him by the collar as he fell back down. Jack pressed his face to the wolf's, "Who?!"
"Officer Judith Hopps."
…
The automatic door of the front entrance to Savanna Central Medical slid open. The camel nurse behind the front desk looked to the three mammals that strode into the room and walked towards her station. She was still the only nurse on duty at the moment. The group was made up of a wolf, a horse, and a pig. The wolf took lead and leaned on the counter. He looked to the side as the camel asked, "How can I help you three today?"
"We're here to see Judy Hopps, what is her room?"
"I'll need your IDs," the nurse said as she turned to her computer and checked up on the rabbit, "She is in room Three-Three-Eight."
She turned back to the three. She froze when she looked to what the wolf held between the two of them. It was not an ID, but a gun. A black pistol with a silencer attached to it. The wolf spoke, "Here's my identification."
He pulled the trigger and a single bullet went right into the camel's head. She fell to the ground dead. The wolf turned to his partners, "Room Three-Three-Eight."
The other two pulled out silenced guns and made their way for the elevator.
