Robin took a deep breath as he steadied himself. Despite all he had done to prepare Nick, Judy, and himself, he couldn't help but be shaking with anticipation. He was, he knew, going to meet Frost, face to face, for the first time. They would get enough information on Phraxus to put the group behind bars for a long time. And, of course, he could get his car back.

And that was all well and good, except that there was a constant tickling in the back of his mind about tonight. Something about it was setting him on a permanent edge, and he was becoming paranoid.

King's voice interrupted his thoughts, making the fox shake his head and ask him for a repeat. "We're here," the panther said, nodding to the neon sign not far from where they had parked. The name of the bar, "Moonlit Rose", was glowing purple, a similarly bright green flower stem leading to the red outline of a neon rose.

The bar (though more of a club, in reality) was a fairly popular one, and always kept clean. Among all of the places to go for a drink in the city, this was among those you went to if you didn't mind spending a little extra cash. The building was large, a total of three stories, and brightly lit. Music faintly thumped from inside, and the silhouettes of dancing or conversing mammals were able to made out from outside. A grizzly bear stood beside a sheep at the entrance, both finely dressed in suits and idly gazing over each mammal that entered. They, of course, stopped each one and did a brief patting-down after an ID check, before letting (most) patrons in. Those who were clearly too drunk to mean any good, or who refused to be pat down, weren't allowed to enter, among others.

"Alright, Nick. Let's go." Robin slowly opened up the door and jumped out, stuffing his paws into his pockets and hiking up the collar on his coat as he walked to the entrance. Nick stepped up beside him, and Robin cast a swift glance over him: the older reynard had donned a simple suit, khaki pants with a white v-neck shirt under a black casual button-up, sleeves rolled up. Robin was wearing something far more his style: Black cargo pants, tucked into his boots of course, with a simple navy blue shirt beneath his unique knee-length pleather vest. Two belts ran around the midsection, above the pockets, and the zipper that held it closed only ran from his waist to his mid-chest. Both had a small earpiece, a four-way call running for Judy and King to communicate with them.

"You don't look fit for a club," Nick commented. "More like a biker gang."

"And you look like you just left the office in a rush to sneak some drinking before coming home to the missus," Robin replied. "Neither of us scream 'clubbers', but they'll let us in."

"I dunno yo, you both dumb enough to be a club in my book," King snickered. It was a half-assed attempt at an insult, but it helped ease Robin's nerves.

"Don't make me come back there," Robin said in response.

"Come on," Judy's voice sounded in Robin's earpiece, her voice clearly trying to suppress a chuckle. "You can pass for clubbers. Better than I could, at least."

"Clubbers. I forgot that was even a word," Nick muttered. Robin grunted in amusement, before stopping before the sheep and bear bouncers.

"ID?" the bear grumled, the sheep leaning down to examine them as both foxes lifted their wallets and flashed their respective identification.

"Alright. We gotta pat you two down, though," The sheep said, his voice sounding as if he hadn't had a drink in quite some time. Both foxes nodded and shifted their feet apart, lifting their arms up to be pat down. Robin's ear flicked as the sheep brushed against where his baton usually sat, the lack of weight there bringing his anxiety back.

The sheep took a step back and let in a deep breath before nodding. "You're good to go," he said, waving the mammals in. Robin nodded a thanks as Nick muttered the same, both mammals entering the club.

Robin hadn't been to a club in a long time, and it had always caught him off guard when he entered one. Nick seemed to be right at home, however. He slid into a smooth expression that spoke of experience in this environment, the fox easily brushing past larger mammals as he led Robin towards the bar. The smaller fox kept his paws in his pockets as he trailed after Nick, careful to keep his tail from being stepped on by the larger patrons, most of whom weren't entirely sober. Once they reached the bar, Nick jumped up to a seat, ordering something as Robin joined him.

"So, what's the full plan?" Nick asked, leaning over. Robin drew out his phone, checking for messages.

"Gotta wait for him to tell me where he is. Since it's... 2049, he should be getting around to me soon." Robin replied. "For now, we play the waiting game."

"Didn't I tell you to stop with the military time?" King asked, barely audible over the sounds of the club.

"Come make me," Robin shot back, ordering a whiskey sour.

~ óÓÒò ~

Judy stared at the entrance to the Moonlit Rose fretfully. She knew that Nick and Robin would have things covered, but it did little to ease her tensions. She realized, this must be how Nick felt the other night, when she had run off to the abandoned library to help Robin.

She looked around King's car in an attempt to relax. It was nice, kept very clean, with black leather seats. The dials and buttons for the radio were lit up dimly, for various radio stations, controlling the temperature, and surprisingly, for seat warmers. Her eyes turned to the small backpack in the back seat.

"If anything happens, grab the backpack and bring it to me," Robin said. "I'll need it."

Hopefully, nothing would happen to make either fox need the rabbit to come running into the club.

"Oh shit," King muttered, catching the rabbit's attention. His voice was filled with dread as he sat up in his seat, and Judy turned to see what he was commenting on.

A line of black vehicles, a pickup and three SUVs, drove into the lot and parked near the front of the building. The driver of the first vehicle, the pickup, got out and walked over to the bouncers out front. The lion spoke to them for a brief moment, before drawing out a sheet of paper and holding it up. Both mammals out front, with clear reluctance, nodded and waved them on, the small convoy driving around to the back of the building.

"I mean, that could just be nothing," Judy said in an attempt to stay optimistic, though she felt otherwise.

"I still don't trust it,"

"Nick, Robin, you there?" she asked.

"Ye- We're he-" Nick replied, his voice cutting in and out over the sound of the music. "Whaddya -eed?"

"Listen, there's a bunch of black cars that drove around the building," Judy said. "I don't promise it's them, but be on your guard, okay?"

"Wha- -'s that, Ho- - ong?" Robin asked.

"Nick? Robin?" Judy asked, frowning as she tapped the earpiece. The signal for their call began to fade in and out. The rabbit frowned. "I really don't like this," she said.

"I know," King said. "If all goes to hell one of us can jump in there and save their asses."

"If all goes to hell," Judy said. "We'll need to figure out a new plan."

"Why do you think we have the call going?" King asked.

"But if the call doesn't work, like right now, then what?" Judy replied. She placed a paw under her chin as she thought things over, her foot tapping furiously at air. "This was a hasty plan," she admitted. "I guess we'll have to see how this plays out."

~ óÓÒò ~

Nick tapped at his earpiece lightly. "Carrots?" he asked, only to be met with faint static and distorted voices. He looked to Robin, who gave a heavy frown and sipped at his sour, Nick folded his ears back in worry as he drank from his mudslide. Robin opened his mouth to speak when he suddenly froze and looked down at his phone. He held the screen up to Nick a moment later, letting him read the text.

"I c ur here. Good. Flw the White Rabbit."

"White rabbit, white rabbit, got it," Nick said, spinning in his seat to look around the club. Robin did the same, idly taking sips of his whiskey sour as he did so.

The dance floor was crowded with all sorts of mammals, in all sorts of dress. Between the different styles the members wore, and the flashing lights, it was difficult to pick out any particular color. Nick and Robin strained from their spot, looking across the floor, keeping their eyes focused down low to try and see a smaller mammal. Nick felt eyes burning into him from his right, and when he turned to look, he saw a white rabbit in a shimmering azure dress staring at him with hazel eyes from the stairs that led up to the second level. Nick bumped Robin's arm and nodded, and when the rabbit locked eyes with the two, she gave a subtle nod and began to ascend.

Robin turned and set some cash on the counter for the drinks they had ordered as Nick jumped down and began to make his way over to the stairs. Robin followed swiftly after, and Nick was able to tell he was right behind him as he ascended to the next level.

He realized that they layout of the club was strange and slightly impractical; the first floor was an open club and bar, while the second floor featured a significantly smaller bar and several booths walled off with distorted glass. A disco ball that reflected the lights around the room lazily spun in the center. One corner was dedicated to dancers on a small, square space, and the wall of the oppsite side was a balcony overlooking the first floor. There was a set of fire escape doors tucked away in the furthest corner, and in the middle of the back wall was a door locked with a keycard lock – clearly a VIP or Employee's Only area, and Nick suspected it went to the third floor.

The rabbit glanced over her shoulder at the foxes as she made her way to a corner booth, this one darker than the others. Nick looked back as Robin tapped his shoulder, making him pause. "Wait here," he said. "If it's a trap, there's no sense in us both getting caught in it." Nick nodded and paused, looking around to observe their surroundings. The second floor was less occupied than the first, and at that, most of the mammals he could see were sitting in booths and talking, rather than dancing. The colors up here, he noticed, were also much more soothing than the flashing lights of below, being lighter shades of blues, purples, and yellows.

Nick stood at the railing overlooking the bottom floor, watching the mammals below. It was nothing special, the usual club fare, though he did see a well-dressed lion walking up to the bar and having a lengthy discussion with the hippo bartender. A minute or two passed as they talked, until the hippo nodded and walked out of the fox's view. As he waited for the bartender's return, there was a crackle of static in his ear, and a distorted voice he could identify as Judy's coming through.

"- ick, can you h- me?"

"Carrots?" he asked.

"Oh, go- -d. Lis- -en, y- -wo need to hur-" Judy sounded distressed, but it was difficult to make everything out exactly. Between the static and the noise from the club, it easily could've been his imagination or the distortion.

"Judy, I can't understand you," Nick said, placing a finger on the earpiece in an attempt to hear her better. "Robin's meeting his friend right now, we should be out soon."

More static, and what Nick thought was King saying something.

Shaking his head, the fox turned around to go get Robin, to tell him to hurry up, only to see the other fox walking towards him already. "Nick," he said, "Come here. I think you'll want to see this." With that, he turned around and began to walk towards the booth from before. Nick followed, stuffing his paws into his pockets as he looked around.

When he got into the booth, he wasn't sure what he should've expected. The booth was sized for, of course, medium-sized mammals. The white rabbit was stood by the entrance, holding onto a glass of water with both paws. Up close, Nick could see that she had a slight gash on the underside of one cheek, and that her right paw was missing a fingertip or two.

In the booth itself, seated to face the entrance, was a black-furred wolf in jeans and a unique hoodie – the left arm was silver, compared to the rest, which was also black. Mismatched eyes of red and green – Nick assumed they were contacts, given how bright they were – stared at him from under the hood. Much as Nick and Robin's stomachs and chins were cream-colored, the wolf's was similarly pale, though the border between the fur colors was dyed a red that matched his eye.

"So this is the famous Nick Wilde?" the wolf asked.

Nick did a small nod, chuckling. "Famous? I knew I had a following but I didn't think I was on Judy's level yet. You are?"

The wolf chuckled, a low rumble that was audible over the music, as he leaned forward. "Arctic Brightwater, formerly deceased CEO of Brightwater Industries." The wolf held out a paw for Nick to shake, which the fox did after a moment.

"Formerly deceased, as in you were dead. As far as I know, we don't have revival technology, and you don't look like a zombie to me. Care to explian?" Nick asked.

"I'll keep this short: When you have a ton of money, and need to disappear, it's surprisingly easy. But that's not what we're all here for. What we are here for, is this." Arctic held up a small set of dog tags, one of which was slightly larger than the other. "This has all the information I had on Phraxus. Get it to the ZPD."

He slid the dog tags over the table, where Robin snatched them up and inspected them. The larger of the two dog tags was actually a USB. Nick looked at Arctic, frowning. While it wasn't illegal to fake one's own death, it involved so many borderline things that it was almost impossible to do so without breaking several laws. Knowing that Arctic was alive was something he'd have to file away in his mind to deal with at a later date.

The conversation dragged on slightly longer, Arctic conforming he was Frost (as if there was doubt at this point) and that he had known about Phraxus before his fake death. He tipped off Robin while he was on Outback Island, leading to the fox starting to use what connections he had to fight them after he'd made a game plan. Arctic also explained that the rabbit, Chloe, was someone he'd helped rescue from Phraxus early on, and the two were good friends now.

"You've probably got a lot of questions about me faking my death," Arctic said. "I'll be glad to answer them. After you deal with Phraxus."

Nick groaned internally. This was a complete repeat of Robin when they first met. "Not again," he muttered.

"He did the same thing?" Arctic asked, looking at the taller fox. Nick nodded, and Robin offered a nervous shrug, his ears laying down against his head. "I'm not surprised. Except I'm entirely serious about it, no joking."

"Right, well," Robin said, turning away. "We've got what we need. Where's my car?"

"In a parking garage around the corner," Arctic said. "Sorry that I had to borrow it."

"You paid for her upgrades," Robin said. "It's fine."

Both foxes began to walk out of the booth, this meeting seemingly over despite its unanswered questions. Robin slid the dog tags around his neck, laughing once at the size of it on him – the tags themselves went to the center of his body. Arctic began to follow the group out, and the white rabbit stepped beside him.

Nick tapped on his earpiece. "Carrots? We're done here." There was absolute silence, though, and it became apparent the call had ended.

The moment they exited the booth, Nick realized something was off. The music was fainter, and a fair amount of mammals had cleared the floor they were on. It could have been that they just left, but a quick glance to the lower level from where he stood showed fewer mammals as well – not that he could see much, but it was enough to set the fox on edge. Robin was clearly nervous now as well, as was Arctic and the rabbit.

"Anyone else get a sudden bad feeling?" Arctic asked. Chloe grunted an affirmation.

"Yeah... I think we should go," Nick said, walking for the stairs. A sound coming from the far end of the room, from the other side of the fire exit, stopped him, however. It sounded like... Grunting?

He should've kept going, should've left the building with Robin and Arctic and the rabbit in tow. But instead, he wandered back to the group, stopping beside Robin. The group glanced to one another, completely confused, as the sounds stopped. But when Robin's eyes widened and he stepped back, everything went to hell.

~ óÓÒò ~

Esmerelda shivered as she lay prone on the concrete floor. She cursed not having brought a blanket – of course, she hadn't anticipated being in the same position for over two hours, either. But she was a sniper, and a sniper needed patience. Cold and heat couldn't get to her when she had a job to do.

Fangs had given her instructions to ambush the Moonlit Rose with one of the more eccentric members of their organization – one of the few prey members, a hare named Abraham with a passion for fire.

She was to keep watch through the windows and tell Abraham when to ambush the meeting. With the resources their leader had, Fangs had learned about 'Frost' meeting up with 'Dust', and decided to send out a team once more to stop them.

Of course, this wasn't a small team. Three SUVs, a pickup, all loaded with members ready to blow away any opposition were sent around the back of the club to set up. An ambassador of sorts, a well-dressed lion, was to go to the club's manager and explain to him that if he didn't go along with what was going to happen, that his assets would be... Reposessed. No camera footage would exist of the incident, most club members that were sober enough to know what was happening had been asked to leave. The rest were slowly being funneled out of the building. The guards were being told to head on home, that the club was closing early, and that new night shift members had arrived – of course, it was all a lie. And, if she had to be honest, a pretty hard one to convince some members of.

But, Fangs always got his way, and soon enough the building began to look emptier and emptier. Es kept an eye on it all from her vantage point two blocks away, on the roof of a two-story library. Her vantage point let her see into the booth that those damned foxes were going to – perfect. She couldn't see who was inside, but she knew for a fact that a white rabbit was already inside. The fox they wanted dead most was standing on the left side, and she could see him make a motion of putting something on. Shortly after, he and the others left the booth, revealing the final member to be a wolf in a black hoodie.

Es reached over to the radio beside her, silently groaning at how stiff her body now was. "Heads up," she said into the device. "The bigger fox has something around his neck. Could be what we're looking for."

The radio responded with many voices telling her that they'd heard. She watched on as the police fox walked towards the stairs, then paused, before returning to the group. She angled her rifle slightly higher, an idea forming in her mind as she grinned. Her sights rested on the top of the disco ball, which sat over the group.

~ óÓÒò ~

King kept his eyes glued to the club, the fur on the back of his neck raising. Many mammals had been leaving the club as of late, and some of those he saw dressed as guards were among them. The panther's tail twitched behind him as his right paw instinctively traveled to the holster on his side. In it sat his pride and joy – a white revolver with a golden dragon winding around the barrel, its open mouth facing the end. It always amused him when he had to use it – the dragon breathed fire and spat bullets at his foes. Of course, he had little ammo to use – bullets were hard to come by legitimately, and .50 calibre rounds even more so.

Yet, even if it was empty, it gave him comfort. Most mammals stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of the weapon.

Judy undid her seatbelt a moment before King was going to tell her to – something was too off. The call had wound up dead, and so the rabbit discarded her earpiece to the dashboard. She held the small backpack with one paw beside her, the other on the door handle, ready to spring from the car. When the mammals out front were drawn inside, and replaced by two others – one of whom they both recognized as the lion from the convoy – they had had enough.

"Something's wrong," Judy said.

"I know," King replied.

"I should go in there," Judy muttered. King scrunched up his nose. The anxiety coming off the doe was making the air thick to him; he could tell she was worried about Nick with what was happening. The twitch of her nose was visible in the reflection from his window, matching his tail.

"Those guards kicked almost everyone out, what makes you think they'll let you in?" King said.

Judy was silent for a minute, before turning to him. "You're right, shoot..." Her foot began to thump against the seat, her brow furrowing as she tried to think of something. "We can't charge in there. Is there anything else we can do?"

King opened his mouth to respond, when one of the glass windows to the second floor shattered.

~ óÓÒò ~

Robin took a step back, bumping into Nick and making him stumble back with him. This was what wound up saving the two at that instant, as the disco ball let out a snap as glass shattered to their left, the large orb falling and slamming into the ground hard enough to leave cracks around it. The side of it actually scratched Robin's nose, making him yelp and jump back, the entire group following him. "We need to go," he said.

The fire door drowned him out, however, as it let out the horrid sound of metal pushing against metal and a massive bang as it went flying several feet into the room, before falling down with a heavy thud. The faint music gave way to a heavy thudding of drums and a grating guitar rift as what seemed like a hare stepped into the room, clad in what seemed like armor, a motorcycle helmet on his head. On both this, and the flamethrower the hare carried, were the faded paint jobs of a fierce looking shark.

Nick was the one who spoke during the brief pause. "What the fuck is with this guy?"

The hare shouted in an accented response, "It's called a theme song, laddie!" before leveling the flamethrower and letting loose, the music flaring up again. Flames scorched the air by the group, who all jumped back. "Hot, hot!" Nick shouted, turning to run to the stairs. He fell backwards immediately after reaching them, scrambling back to the center of the room as gunfire erupted from below.

"Arctic, door!" Robin shouted, pointing to the VIP door. The wolf nodded and ran to it, going through his pockets. Chloe threw her glass at the hare, but it bounced off him. The thudding of footsteps downstairs, and more gunfire from the fire escape, caused the three to hide behind the disco ball.

"Got it!" Arctic yelled, pushing through the VIP door and motioning for the group to follow. Without hesitation, Chloe sprinted to it, the hare's flamethrower not moving from its position as he burned at the disco ball, slowly moving forward. Nick was next, jumping to the side and rolling before throwing himself through the threshold. He turned to watch as Robin dove to the side, flames hot on his tail as he rolled and raced to the group. The smell of burning carpet and fur filled the stairwell as Arctic slammed the door, Chloe leading the way up.

"Who the hell brings a flamethrower to an ambush?" Robin asked, looking to Nick as he hauled himself to his feet.

"Someone who thinks they're hot stuff?" Nick asked in response, making Robin shake his head with a grin as they began running up the stairwell. The group was only half a story up before banging started on the door below. Arctic overtook Chloe as they reached the top, the wolf pushing into the VIP lounge. The rest caught up and looked around immediately for an exit.

The lounge was, as expected, exotic. A bar, open round tables, a counter to one side with a dozen large flatscreen TVs on the wall above it. One corner, beside the bar, had a dip in the floor, where comfortable-looking chairs overlooked both the outside and the floors below. On any other night, this would be a great place to rest.

The window to the outside shattered, Arctic crying out as he clutched a shoulder, blood seeping into his clothes. Robin cursed as Nick moved to a table, grabbing its base and throwing it to the floor, facing the window. "Get him to cover!" Nick shouted, Chloe jumping behind the bar to search for something. Robin ran back to the door at the top of the steps and slammed it shut, the electronic lock holding it in place as a crash sounded from below. Another sniper round hit the wall next to the fox's head, making him dive behind a nearby chair.

"We need a way out!" Nick shouted, pressing down on Arctic's shoulder.

"Is there a helipad on top?" Robin asked.

Arctic groaned, but spoke. "No, the roof access is below us. Fire escape?"

Nick looked over at the fire escape, mouth gaping open slightly as it began to shake, as was the other VIP door. "I think that's out of the equation," he said.

The clinking of glass brought their attention to the bar, where Chloe was waving them over. Robin got up and, after ducking just below another shot, sprinted behind the bar. "Bingo!" he shouted.

"What did you find?" Nick asked, getting up and puhsing over another table to face the VIP door, before moving a third to block the fire exit.

"Dumbwaiter!" Robin shouted. "It might even be big enough for Arctic – come on!"

Arctic groaned and rolled over, Nick running over and lifting under his injured shoulder as the wolf held it with his good arm. Together, they dragged him to the bar and around it, where Chloe was sitting inside a large dumbwaiter built into the lower portion of the wall. It was large, just smaller than a keg would be, but large enough. Arctic turned around and pressed himself into the dumbwaiter, Robin shutting the hatch. "Here's hoping it's safe," he said, before pressing the button to lower them down.

The doors around the room began to shake, and Robin poked his head over the bar, wincing as a bottle of vodka shattered from another bullet. "You'd think an ex-SWAT sniper's aim would be better," he said, looking at Nick.

"Just be glad hers isn't," Nick replied. The door to the fire escape groaned and a part of it sounded like it bent, clear shouts coming from the other side. "This is insane!" the fox shouted. "How did they replace all the guards?"

"Hell if I know!" Robin said. "I gave up figuring out how they do things!"

A small ding drew their attention back to the dumbwaiter as the hatch opened up, the walls and floor showing crimson from where Arctic had bled. Nick and Robin looked at each other, silently questioning if everything was alright, but the sound of a door slamming open made them throw caution to the wind as they ran inside, Robin hitting the button to lower the device as Nick threw the hatch closed.

Shouts filled the air above them as the dumbwaiter descended, letting both foxes breathe a sigh of relief. "This is insane," Nick repeated.

"Scale of hustles to Night Howlers, how insane?" Robin asked.

"Depends on the hustle," Nick replied, offering a faint chuckle. When the dumbwaiter stopped, though, he fell silent, a panicked expression taking over his muzzle. "Oh no," he said. "Oh no, no, no!" The two could hear faint voices above, muffled by the top of the dumbwaiter.

"I think they're in here!"

"So get em up here!"

"Working on it, don't be so damn pushy!"

"That's it, we're dead," Nick said, pacing in his small space. "I'm dead, you're dead, we're all dead. Great!"

The dumbwaiter jolted, halting the older fox. Robin looked around, opening his mouth to say something, before the dumbwaiter began to fall like a brick to the bottom. Whatever the foxes cried out was drowned by a crash that sent the two to the ground.

"Aw great, now look what you've done!"

"It takes time to do things, you shouldn'ta rushed me!"

The shouts from above grew fainter as the group walked away. The hatch to the dumbwaiter rose up, revealing an alarmed Chloe as she peered inside, motioning for the two foxes to hurry and exit. Both dropped to the floor outside and looked around – they were in a storage area, barrels and boxes of liqours and non-perishable foods stacked against the walls. Arctic leaned by a doorway on the far side, panting as he held his shoulder. "Outside... Exit..." He panted, motioning to the doorway with his head.

"Come on, then!" Robin said, sprinting up the steps. He threw open the door at the top, letting in moonlight as Nick and the others followed. At the top, they found several vehicles parked – a large semi for a liqour company, three black SUVs, and a black pickup. A lone wolf leaned against the side of the first SUV smoking a cigarette, an uzi resting on the hood. Chloe charged past the group, towards the wolf, and leaped up just as he looked at her. His eyes widened in shock as her fist collided with his jaw, spinning him around and making him fall to the ground, where he went still save the rise and fall of his chest.

"Nick, see if any of these will start," Robin said, pointing to the cars as he climbed onto the SUV and grabbed the uzi. It was basic, a folding stock of rounded, bent metal and a suppressor on the end, the large magazine jutting out from the hilt.

Nick jumped to the pickup and tried the door – much to his surprise, it was unlocked. He jumped into the driver's seat and began looking around for keys, checking the usual places. The third place he looked, under the sun visor, held his prize. Nick grinned and started the vehicle. "Every time," he muttered. "Hey, everyone! Get in!"

The passenger side door opened up as Arctic forced himself inside, Chloe jumping over him and into the back seat, along with Robin. "Get us out of here!" The taller reynard demanded, Nick looking down at the pedals.

"Need a minute," the fox said, adjusting the seat and pedals so he could reach the gas and see ahead.. "They don't make these things one size fits all." Once he was in position, Nick stepped on the gas, tearing it out of the back of the club and around the building. The parking lot was almost empty, save several cars, including King's. Judy was stood outside of it, staring at the club's now-burning interior in horror, before Nick pulled up to them. "We got what we need, but there's a problem!" he said. King leaned over from his side and rolled down the window.

"What's up?" he asked, glancing between them and the bar.

Robin leaned up from the back seat. "We have wounded. King, can you get Frost to a hospital?"

"You know I can, get him in here," the panther said, exiting his vehicle and walking to the passenger side, opening the door and helping Arctic to his car. "But listen, you bleed on my seats, we goin' have problems," he told the wolf. Chloe jumped out after Arctic, climbing into King's car with him as the panther shot the group a curious look.

"She's his friend, she's good," Robin said.

King took a deep breath. "If you say so," he said, getting into his car. "Now get outta here, ZPD needs what you got!"

"On it!" Nick said, Judy now jumping into the passenger seat and shutting the door. Nick stepped on the gas and went the opposite direction of King just as gunfire peppered the windows, cracking them.

"Think we're in the clear?" Robin asked as Nick turned onto the freeway. Gunfire spat from behind them, shattering one of the back windows as a response.

"What happened in there?" Judy shouted. Nick sped up, weaving through nightly traffic.

"Some hare thought he was so hot he had to show off, made the guards mad and they opened fire," Nick said.

"Nick, I'm being serious!" Judy replied angrily.

"So am I!" Nick responded, grinning. This was cut off as one of the SUVs from the club began to gain on them, a cougar leaning out of the passenger side window and firing at the pickup. "Robin, tell them to knock it the hell off!" Nick shouted.

Robin nodded and jumped out of the now-broken back window into the truck bed, the suppressed sounds of the uzi firing now audible. It didn't take long for the tires of the SUV to pop and send the vehicle careening to one side, crashing into the railing as the other two swerved to avoid the wreckage. Robin shifted his aim as Nick continued to step on the gas, hoping they could outrun their pursuers.

~ óÓÒò ~

Arctic looked around in his blurry state, doing his best to ignore the pain in his shoulder, and stay concious. Rap music filled the car as it pulled away from the club's parking lot, King saying something about a hospital. Chloe stood on Arctic's left leg and pressed against his wound to keep it from bleeding too much.

With his good arm, Arctic drew his phone from his pocket and opened up the messaging app. He went to the conversation he had with Robin – a whopping one message – and began to type in a new one.

He hoped what he put in was spelled right when he hit send, but his blurred vision made it difficult to even see the road ahead. "Chloe... Gotta tell you somethin'..."

The rabbit gave him a sharp glare he felt rather than saw, pressing against his wound even more, which caused him to groan in pain and wince. His vision began to fade as he tried forming words again, but all went black before he could tell if he'd said them or not.

~ óÓÒò ~

Robin fired at the second SUV until the bullets from the uzi stopped flying. He checked the gun and cursed, before ejecting the magazine and chucking it towards the vehicles behind him. It missed both and clattered uselessly to the ground, and then he began to remove the suppressor before hurling that as well. It hit the front of the second vehicle, making it swerve before continuing its pursuit.

The first SUV pulled up to the back of the pickup, and a silver fox leaned out the back window. The SUV pulled closer, letting the fox step onto the pickup's bed before Robin hurled the uzi itself at him, the fox leaning to avoid it as it crashed into the windshield of the black SUV. This sent it veering to the left, into the divider, but the silver fox had pushed himself forward enough to tackle Robin to the ground.

Robin brought up a foot and pushed on the other's abdomen, flipping him over and onto his back as the red reynard scrambled to his feet, almost falling right back down as the pickup turned around a car. "Hold it steady, dammit!" he shouted, turning to the front seats. Nick's response was lost as he looked back at the other fox, just in time to take a heavy blow to the face. Robin stumbled and crashed to the pickup bed, spent bullet casings clattering around as the other fox fell on top of him, paws grasping around Robin's neck and squeezing.

Robin grit his teeth and punched the other fox in the face, making him lose his grip enough for the red fox to breath. He rolled the two over, attempting to choke the silver fox now, before loosening his own grip as he took a knee to the side. Robin rolled over and clutched his side, the other fox walking over to him and grabbing his shirt collar. Robin grabbed the fox's wrist and pushed himself to his feet, the other rearing back his free fist for a punch that he avoided with a simple turn of the head. Robin took advantage of the missed attack by punching the silver fox in the side repeatedly, making the reynard gasp and let go.

Robin was about to continue his assault when he was sent to the floor by the pickup coming to a screeching halt. The pickup now sat parallel to a freight train as it tore past, coal and empty containers moving by at a modest speed, not quite at full force yet.

"The last SUV forced us off the freeway, and we can't go through a train!" Nick shouted. Robin was about to reply when the silver fox grabbed the dog tags around his neck and pulled, the red fox being hauled up into an awaiting fist. The loop the dog tags used snapped from the force, coming free in the silver fox's grip. He was about to continue attacking, before Judy jumped from the of the pickup and tackled him. The reynard rolled and used the force to slam Judy into the ground, making her let go, before scrambling to his feet.

Robin crawled to his knees as the silver fox stood on the side of the pickup next to the train, turning and giving him a mock salute before jumping and grabbing onto the ladder on the side of a container. Judy jumped at him, barely missing his feet just as he leaped, making her almost flip over the side of the pickup. "Dammit!" she yelled.

"Nick, follow that train! He has the tags!" Robin shouted, shaking his head to clear it as he regained his balance. "Judy, help him out!"

"What are you doing?" she asked, staring at him.

Robin stared at the train, planning his jump. "Getting those damn tags back."