Chapter 13

"To Benjamin Clawhauser." McHorn raised his glass of wine at the head of the meeting room table. "May his memory be cherished by all."

"What's that?" Judy pointed to the urn behind the rhino. McHorn and his wife turned to look at the urn for a second.

"An urn. The ashes of Kingzoo's founders, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong. Snow leopards. Anyway..." He raised his glass once more. "To Clawhauser!" He swallowed the contents in a huge gulp.

Judy, Nick, and Wanda did their best to copy him in synch. The rhinos personally invited the former agents for a toast to their lost comrade and discuss any leftover positions. Still, neither Judy nor Nick was leaping for the offer. Benny was more than their comrade; he was also their friend, their funny, donut-loving, sweet cheetah.

"Agent Bogo is tending Gazelle's wounds," McHorn told the couple. "Did you know she was an orphan?"

Nick nodded. They grew well-acquainted with both the cheetah and gazelle after months of training and missions.

"Once the house of wolves is safe to access, we will recover his body."

"There's another thing." Wanda spoke up for the first time. "About your drinks..." She revealed a remote and pressed its shiny red button.

Judy and Nick suddenly began holding their throats and convulsing wildly. "A simple tasteless poison," McHorn explained proudly, eyeing the pair smugly. "So sorry for the rough and tough way to go, but you see, we have a party to go to."

"A sort of get-together," Wanda added. "For the 'exceptions' among the scum of the world. We feel so honored that Dawn invited us."

"And once we're done with you, we'll either convince Bogo and Gazelle to join Bellwether or kill them, too!"

"W-What?!" Judy almost hacked up a lung, and her face began to turn crimson. She and her husband had fallen out of their seats and were now squirming on the carpeted floor.

"You didn't think Bellwether excluded rhinos, did you?" McHorn stroked his wife's cheek lovingly and showed the other couple their IDs that Bellwether had made for cult members. "Now if you excuse us..."

"Well..." Nick abruptly stood up and brushed himself off. Judy stood up, too. "Well, actually, we hope you'll excuse us."

Both rhinos visibly paled. "B-Bu-But the poison... You should've been dead by now -"

"Ooh right!" Judy cringed mockingly. "See you shouldn't try to trick criminals."

"But your efforts were marvelous," Nick complimented with a sly grin. "Only, you turned away at a very bad time..."

"So we drank your drinks as you drank ours. I mean we are just a dumb bunny and sly fox..."

"But we make a pretty hot scheming duo," Nick bragged, pulling Judy close. "Don't you think?"

"Whatever you just did, your efforts were in vain." Wanda nodded and smirked cruelly at the fox and rabbit.

"That's right, you urchins! It's our word against yours!"

"Actually..." Judy whipped out her carrot pen and pressed its button. "And once we're done with you, we'll either convince Bogo and Gazelle to join Bellwether or kill them, too!"

"It's your word against yours."

Nick glanced at his watch. "And since your body masses are obviously bigger than ours, that particular poison should start working about..."

"You FREAKS!" McHorn yelled angrily as he lunged for them, but Nick just tripped him with his tail.

Judy smiled sweetly at the rhinos as they began to turn red. "It's called a hustle, sweethearts."

"...Now."

The rhinos gasped and struggled for several seconds until their bodies hit the floor unforgivably and they turned their icy glares on Judy and Nick.

"You sons of bitches!" Wanda rasped before coughing violently. "Bellwether will rise... You can't win... Not now, not ever..."

Nick just glared back at her as Judy shook her head in pity. "We'd rather fail and die, morally upright, then mindlessly follow Bellwether."

McHorn lifted his chin at Nick as proudly as he could. "I never liked you... you loud-mouthed fox..." Then, they fell dead, while Judy and Nick grimly stared at them.

"Yeah, well, the feeling was mutual after you told me to shoot my wife."

xxx

Nick and Judy's eyes popped as Gazelle leapt off of her bed and aimed her gun at them.

"Just our luck," Nick whispered to his wife. "We try to save the day and visit a friend whose healed and we get the gun." He then turned to Gazelle, who eyed them both suspiciously. "So is this the traditional greeting for... ex potential recruits?"

"Gazelle." Judy gulped pretty loudly. The gazelle still kept her eyes and the gun trained on them. "How's your side?"

"It's fine," Gazelle answered unemotionally. "What do you two want? We thought you'd only stay for Benny's toast." Her honey brown eyes softened a measure as she uttered the name.

Both fox and rabbit stared at her with sympathy. They knew that look. She loved Benny. She must have truly realized that once she lost him.

"Gazelle?" Judy cautiously stepped closer to Gazelle and patted one of her legs. "We're sorry about what happened, but that's why we're here. We want to help. No, we have to because we have new information."

"What information?" Bogo quietly entered Gazelle's new room. He had come in to check on the gazelle. He could not help but notice how none of the agents jumped or seemed at all surprised by his approach.

They have learned so much.

Bogo noticed Gazelle's gun. "Agent Gazelle, lower your weapon. Mr. and Mrs. McHorn are dead, and I presume these two troublemakers have a reason for this...?"

Judy and Nick showed Bogo the rhinos' IDs, played back the carrot pen's recording, and filled in the details.

"...So basically we're all screwed unless we can make these IDs useful," Nick concluded.

"The party is tonight, they said? Hmm... " Bogo paused to think. "I have uncovered some more of Bellwether's plan. The party will be in a huge cave, but only the invited can go inside."

"And with the IDs we can do that," Gazelle guessed. "Right? I mean, since there are no photos, it'll be simple."

"Yep," Nick agreed. "Once someone's in, we can hack Bellwether's system and effectively stop her from eliminating pretty much anyone and everyone. The blueberries have turned so popular..."

"Yes, but these someones, since we have two IDs, Wilde, need to be favorable. Harmless animals. Animals that Bellwether coddles and favors... a prey animal or two... who are married..." Bogo's head turned towards Judy and Nick. "Maybe... rabbits?"

Nick groaned and hung his head as Judy and Gazelle giggled. They were in for quite the makeover.