Homecoming
Zootopia, the city where anyone can be anything, regardless if you were a predator or prey. It was the birthplace for many well known mammals in the entire country, featuring some of the best lawyers, politicians, police officers, even the occasional music artist or entertainer. Unfortunately, the city also brew some of the countries, perhaps the entire world's, most sinister criminals, from local street gangs to big mafia crime families. But there was one thing the city had unexpectedly brewed since its existence: an assassin in the form of a fox.
And now that the fox had been mentioned, Matt's eyes were shot wide open in pure, unexpected shock. His mouth was slightly hanging open as soon as he heard the location, a location he never thought he would hear again, or at least not anytime soon…
"Say that again?" Matt asked with a calm tone, but with a mixture of pure, unexpected shock as well.
"The radical factions of the enemy clans, along with some of our own who sided with them have fled to Zootopia. And with the way things are looking right now, it appears they starting to spread their Neo-Shogunate ideals across the country starting with Zootopia", Thrandeer answered on the other end of the line right before the fox tilts his head back, face-palming before quietly uttering an obscenity from his mouth and leaning his head back forward. A heavy sigh escapes his muzzle and began shaking his head a few times.
"Look, Thrandeer, I don't even know if I can go through with the mission", Matt began, hesitation filling his voice and surprising the bunny in front of him. Never before did she see her new lover hesitate from a mission like this, especially after hearing about the location. "What if-"
"Matt, listen to me!", Thrandeer quickly interrupted, albeit with a calm tone in his voice. "I understand your hesitation on the matter now that I mentioned the name of the location. But you've told me once before you were born and raised in Zootopia for over nine years of your life. Therefore, because you bear a lot of knowledge of the city, you are the only one qualified to partake in this mission", the deer continued, a gleam of surprise forming on the rabbit's face upon hearing about the fox having coming from Zootopia himself. "We mustn't allow them to spread the Neo-Shogunate ideals across the entire nation, lest the country should fall under their tyrannical rule".
"But Thrandeer, I-" Matt began, but a pair of hand-paws cupping his cheeks stopped the fox from continuing, his eyes looking directly at his lover's own set.
"Matt", Jenny began calmly with a slight hint of seriousness in his tone. "I may not know much about your life, but Thrandeer makes a good point", she claimed much to his and Thrandeer's surprise. "You were born in Zootopia and had lived there for nine years. Is that true?" she asked, the fox nodding gently towards her once. "Then you have the best chance in completing this mission", she continued.
"But Jen, I…" Matt began before turning his head towards the right a bit and closing his eyes, his hand-paws grasping hers and lowering them from his cheeks.
"Matt… look at me" Jenny asked, leaning closer towards her lover and placing her hand-paws back on his cheeks. His eyes remain closed while the rabbit turns his head directly to hers. "Open your eyes", the bunny gently told the fox, his eyes slowly opening and gazing directly towards her sapphire blue pair. "What's wrong?" the rabbit asked, her voice filled with sincere concern for her lover. Everything was silent for a good twenty seconds before a sigh escapes his muzzle.
"I can't…" Matt began, closing his eyes and slowly shaking his head. "I can't let any of my brothers know I'm alive… not like this" the fox answered, his tone bearing a mixture of calm and reluctance. Jenny now starts looking at him with a surprised look on her face again, not expecting that particular answer to come out of his mouth. She honestly never knew he had any brothers in his family, nor had he mentioned having any. The rabbit wanted to pry more on the matter, but now was not the time. Right now, she needed to focus on him, and to help him focus on the mission at hand.
"Matt, I understand going back to the city you were born and raised for nearly half of your life isn't the easiest thing to do, but I don't want the enemy clans and the traitors to spread the Neo-Shogunate's evil across the country", Jenny began, attempting to speak with a soothing, understanding tone as best she could. "But can you at least listen to whatever Thrandeer has to say, and take the mission if its at all possible…" she continued with a similar tone, yet bore a calmly pleading look onto her face. "Please…for me", the bunny pleaded, her nose touching the fox's own gently, the vulpine closing his eyes for and letting out a calm sigh. He nods a couple times quickly and reopens them shortly after.
"Alright", Matt replied softly, but enough for Jenny to hear easily thanks to her sensitive hearing. She gently kisses his lips before the fox turns his attention towards his phone, now bearing a more serious look on his face. "Thrandeer, what do you need?" the fox asked with a calm voice.
"I need you to depart from New Otsu via bullet train tomorrow in order to get to Zootopia. When you get there, I want you to investigate the workings of the enemy clans along with those of the rogue Ishin-Mirkwood clan members", Thrandeer answered over the phone. "Rumor has it that their base of operations is located somewhere within the northeastern part of the Savanna Central District. As much as I want them dead, just focus on trying to get information from those clans and report your findings to me via text message. Refrain from killing them until after they've revealed enough information", the buck continued. "I will arrange a temporary safe house for you in the outskirts of Tundratown".
"I understand", Matt replied with a nod. "What time will I need to depart tomorrow?" he asked.
"At dawn", Thrandeer answered. "So go on ahead and get some sleep, Matt. You'll need it", and with that, the buck hangs up from the other line. Matt shrugs softly before placing his phone back on top of the coffee table, laying back against the futon shortly after with his left hand-paw covering his eyes.
"Damn… I did not expect this to happen", Matt spoke softly before moving his left hand-paw behind his pillow. He began closing his eyes to try and get some sleep, but feeling the rabbit's right hand-paw gently caressing his left cheek stopped that from happening.
"Don't worry, Matt. I'm sure it'll be alright", Jenny replied gently, the fox's gaze shifting towards her and his right hand-paw moving to the back of her head, stroking her silky smooth hair by brushing his fingers through the luscious strands of hair.
"You know, you bunnies sure have a way of calming us foxes down, especially in times of need", Matt commented with a soft, genuine smile on his face.
"Do I know that?" Jenny playfully asked with a grin forming on her face. "Yes, yes I do", she added with a light giggle, her arms wrapping around his neck and gently planting a kiss on his left cheek just above the scar. "Lets get some sleep as Thrandeer suggested. You'll need it for tomorrow", the bunny suggested while she was resting her head on the tuft of his neck, her eyes slowly closing and beginning to drift off into a necessary sleep. But there was one more thing she had coursing her mind that she needed to ask him. "Matt, do you want me to go to Zootopia with you?" the bunny asked, her eyes still closed and resting on his neck tuft just above his collarbone.
"As much as I would like that, I think it'd be best if you stayed here with Tomoe and lent her a helping hand-paw around the house. Besides… I don't want any harm to come to you whatsoever", Matt replied with a soft tone. He begins closing eyes, but couldn't help but wonder about the events that could happen tomorrow. But at least feeling the rabbit's hand-paws brushing the neck tuft felt soothing for him, especially after hearing the mission. Regardless of the circumstances, the fox shuts his eyes and soon drifts off into a much needed sleep.
New Otsu Train Station, Dawn
Dawn has come rather quickly upon the town of New Otsu, with rain continuing to pour down upon the rural town excessively. Fortunately, however, though heavy as it was, it wasn't as heavy as it was the day before. Regardless of the weather conditions, roughly a few dozen mammals were either sitting under the pavilion near the tracks or were standing in line getting their tickets. One group had already brought a ticket for one of their own members, particularly Matt Wilde himself.
Matt and Jenny had woke up roughly an hour prior to getting to the station in order to help get the fox packed and ready to go for his mission in Zootopia. After having packed some of his toiletries along with several pairs of clothes, Matt, Jenny, and Tomoe left the house and met with Thrandeer at the station. Much to Matt's relief, the buck was still alive and well, though already knew the clan leader was still somewhat upset about losing most of he clan (even if he didn't show it). But regardless of that matter, it was still good to hear from the clan leader along with seeing him face to face.
Regardless of the pleasantries, they were not here to catch up on things since Matt and Jenny left Kawasabus, at least for the most part. Thrandeer was in his usual attire, consisting of a dark gray tight fitting shirt, dark tan hakama pants, and dark brown open toe boots. A black hoodie was worn over his shirt to help cover his torso, the hood having been custom made with holes for his antlers to fit through easily. A pair of black samurai bracers covered his forearms and the back of his hand-paws, with loopholes wrapped around his fingers to keep the back hand-paw piece secured on his hand-paws. For precaution purposes, a long, twenty eight inch samurai katana and a short, sixteen inch wakizashi were attached onto the left side of his waist, both of which were securely strapped onto his cloth belt.
Matt's clothing was partially similar to what Thrandeer had wore on him, but with some distinctions. For instance, he also wore a black hoodie with a dark gray tight fitting shirt underneath the jacket. Like Thrandeer, a pair of black samurai bracers covered his muscular forearms and the back of his hand-paws. But the pants he wore along with the color of his open toe boots were where the distinctions were made. His cargo pants were of a solid black color much like the color of his open toe boots, the leg openings having been tucked into them. Both his long katana and short wakizashi were securely strapped onto his silver studded belt, the katana bearing a twenty six inch long blade and the wakizashi bearing a sixteen inch blade. Lastly, a pair of black leather gloves cover his hand-paw to its entirety.
Both Jenny and Tomoe weren't dressed for combat like the two males were, since they honestly had no reason to. Tomoe's clothing consists of a purple kimono with a dark blue ribbon wrapped around her waist. A pair of black open toe shoes on her feet-paws in a comfortable manner, with enough room to let her toes wiggle if needed. Jenny's clothing, on the other hand, was much different from Tomoe's, her clothing consisting of a black tight fitting hoodie with a purple T-shirt underneath, black skinny jeans, and a pair of black and white Chuck Taylor's covering her feet-paws.
Minutes after Matt had got his ticket, the fox notices the bullet train beginning to approach the station rapidly, standing up and grabbing a hold of a large duffel bag he brought with him and strapping it onto his right side. He began towards the train that had arrived, but was stopped by a pair of arms suddenly wrap around his waist tightly halfway there. The fox looks back and noticing it was the bunny who began hugging him tightly, a few chuckles escaping his muzzle before turning around and wrapping his arms around her own body.
"It's gonna be lonely without you home", Jenny said softly to her lover, looking up at his jade green eyes with her sapphire blue pair. Matt couldn't help but chuckle and began stroking the back of her head.
"Don't worry, Jen. I'll only be gone til Wednesday at the latest", Matt replied with a reassuring voice, his eyes closing and planting a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be home before you know it", he reassured again with a gentle tone, his eyes reopening and looking down towards the bunny. Using her right arm to gently wipe her wetting eyes, she looks back up to him with her brows pointing upward.
"I know… but still", Jenny added with a soft sniffle, the fox gently grinning softly and pulling her back into the hug. He knew he had to get on, but another moment with his rabbit lover wouldn't hurt. His right hand-paw continues to brush the back of her head before pulling her head towards his chest, resting his right cheek on top of her head and even hearing a couple quiet sobs escape her muzzle.
"You bunnies, so emotional", Matt thought to himself and continuing to comfort his bunny for as long as he could. Roughly twenty seconds later, however, he moves his head off of hers and plants a tender kiss on his girlfriend's lips, a kiss that lasted for another ten seconds before pulling away from her embrace. His right arm secures his duffel bag and began turning around, but the rabbit reaches inside of her jacket and grabs the sheathed dagger she owned and hands it to him, the blade being as long as his forearms.
"Here, take this at least, just in case", Jenny suggested, the fox looking at her curiously and unsure of whether or not to take. "Please… for me", she pleaded softly, her eyes looking up at his pleadingly. The fox usually could resist such requests, but with eyes as precious as hers, how could he? The fox closes his eyes and nods, taking the dagger gently and placing it inside the right inner pocket of his hoodie.
"Alright, I gotta get going, Jen", Matt said to the bunny calmly, but bore a soft smile on his muzzle. "I'll call you when I get to Zootopia, Okay?" he added, the rabbit nodding a few times before the fox turns around and began walking away. But after taking a few steps, he stops and reaches inside of his left pocket and grabs a piece of paper from it, handing it to Thrandeer and causing the buck to form a curious expression as a response. "Here, take this", the fox said to the buck, which the deer gently took it in a curious fashion, his eyes gazing at the piece of paper before opening it. "I talked with Jenny and aunt Tomoe about this before we left. Now I'm giving you Jenny and Tomoe's contact information just in case", he finished, the clan leader nodding with understanding and placing the piece of paper inside of his right inner jacket pocket.
"I understand", Thrandeer replied calmly right as the fox starts running towards the bullet train, turning around and looking back at the trio right after he enters the back passenger car.
"I'll come back soon! I promise!" Matt exclaimed before shifting his gaze directly towards his lover. "I love you, Jenny!" he exclaimed, the two automatic sliding doors beginning to close slowly.
"I love you too, Matt!", Jenny exclaimed in response right before the automatic doors shut, the fox running towards the back of the back-most passenger car and entering the room inside.
The now occupied passenger room itself was mostly covered with a strong, glass window, which took shape of the pointed portion of the bullet train. With the way that it looked, it looked almost like an observatory for the back, a great spot for passengers who happened to enjoy sight seeing during train rides. And honestly, this was the perfect spot for him to be in right now, as the train began departing slowly from the station. The fox watches the trio waving at him and waves back for a few seconds before they disappear almost with a blink of an eye. With the station now behind him, he takes a seat on the passenger couch in a train of thought, particularly wondering on how to avoid being seen by his bothers, Nick and Terrance. Speaking of which…
"Now that I'm on my way to Zootopia, might as well go ahead and put on my muzzle mask", Matt thought to himself calmly before grabbing the black cloth face mask and pulling it over his muzzle, covering it to its entirety. Fortunately, the fabric was thin enough for him to breathe through the material without any difficulty, and thick enough to conceal all potentially recognizable features on his face. His phone suddenly goes off and grabs it from his phone case, noticing a text message having come from Thrandeer himself. The fox opens it and slightly smirked at what it read.
"So it seems you and Jenny actually took your relationship to the next step, huh. You sly fox. ;)", and as soon as Matt read Thrandeer's text message, he chuckles lightly and replies to the message before putting his phone back into his phone case.
"Heh, I gotta feeling he's gonna live up to rubbing it on me", Matt thought with a hearty chuckle. However, he loses his smirk and starts growing a serious expression on his face, his brows furrowing slightly enough to prove the sternness of his expression. "But on a more serious note, however, I have to try and steer clear from running into my brothers. Otherwise, not only will my identity be compromised, but I may end up putting my older siblings at risk", he continued his train of thought in his head, not wanting to think about the possibility of his brothers being killed by any of the enemy clans or those of the Ishin-Mirkwood who have gone rogue. "If I am to successfully complete this mission, I have to remain in the shadows and leave no evidence of my presence there", and with that, the fox finishes his train of thought and leans back against the sofa, watching the trees of various types passing by in a blurred motion. From here on out, his assignment in Zootopia has begun…
New Otsu Woods, roughly a few minutes later
Out of all places to get the heaviest amount of rain in New Otsu would be the New Otsu Woods roughly a ten miles north of Tomoe's residence. Rain kept rapidly falling onto the early soils and vegetation like bullets being fired from a Gatling gun. But while the sound of rain hitting the soil occupied the area, that wasn't the only sound that was heard. Because despite the raindrops hitting the ground hard, the sound of footsteps running along a path can also be heard as well.
Iizuka was currently rushing along the pathway as fast as he could, his katana and wakizashi both attached to the left side of his body. His attire consisted of a midnight blue kimono shirt along with a pair of black samurai bracers covering his forearms and the back of his hand-paws, upon which were mostly covered with the sleeves of his shirt. A pair of khaki hakama pants cover his legs through their entirety, with his shirt being tucked into them securely. Over his pants and his shirt was a straw jacket of sort along with a takuhatsugasa straw hat, more or less used to keep the rain off of his body.
The tanuki reaches a three way junction along the pathway, he himself having come from one of them. The other two either lead straight or to the right. He began looking at both directions for a moment before looking behind him with a keen pair of eyes, narrowing them slightly and surveying the area around him. Why he was doing this, nobody knew but himself. The examiner of executions quickly turns to the right and starts sprinting towards his destination, oblivious to the fact a huge, heavily built bear had been following him in the shadows.
Katagai had been following the tanuki for at least several minutes now under the behest of Thrandeer himself. Earlier that week, the clan leader had told him to follow a few people listed under a list Thrandeer thought were suspicious of being the traitor. Fortunately for most of them, they had been clean the entire time due to having dealt with business and, in one case, having come forth to tell him about their own dealings. Now only Iizuka and a couple of others remained on that list, and based on how the tanuki was moving, it seemed he might've been the one the clan had been looking for. But in all honesty, there was only one way to find out in order to be sure.
Soon enough, the tanuki had arrived to his destination and grabs a hold of the sliding shoji door, taking one more glance around the area before opening the small, one room temple. Inside the temple, three other mammals were waiting on the inside of the temple itself. Two of the three, one a cougar and the other a black and white Siberian husky, were dressed in what seems to be a modern take on a ninja outfit, the top consisting a long sleeve tight fitting black shirt with a sleeveless dark gray kimono shirt worn on top of it, with gray samurai bracers covering their forearms and back of their hand-paws. The husky bore a large ax similarly proportioned with the musculature to his body, while the cougar, who wasn't as muscular as his comrade, only bore a katana on him. Both of their hair color was black and tied back, with the exception of the cougar's bangs being brushed to the sides of his head.
As for the leader himself, he was sitting on a two foot tall altar between a pair of long floor lamps, which dimly illuminated the room enough to where it only brought light to the area around them. The leader was an orange Siberian tiger bearing long, brushed back gray colored hair along with a mustache and goatee on his muzzle. His attire was strongly identical to the others, with the exception of not wearing a black long sleeve shirt under the gray sleeveless kimono shirt. In fact, his strongly built arms and parts of his chest were exposed because of the fact he wasn't wearing one. A statue of some sort, possibly a Buddha, can be seen behind the leader. But on the wall behind the statue, a couple sheets of paper were attached on the left and right sides of the statue, with Japanese writing being written on the sheets of paper.
Upon entering the one room temple, the tanuki glares at the three of them calmly before kneeling down on the straw mat provided for him.
"Its a pleasure to see you three again", Iizuka greeted the trio before shifting his gaze at the husky. "Sumita", he greeted the husky, who nods back before the tanuki turns to the cougar on the right. "Nakajo", he greeted the cougar before shifting his attention at the tiger. "Tatsumi", the tanuki greeted the leader, with the tiger nodding at him in a similar manner.
"What news do you bring, Iizuka?" Tatsumi asked calmly with a stern expression on his face. Unaware to them, however, Katagai manages to arrive and quietly steps onto the wooden porch, sneaking near the wooden wall close to the shoji doors and gazing in the conspirator's direction, despite not being able to see the group from outside.
"Thrandeer's eluded me, but the fox is still under my control. He can be yours…" Iizuka began, a slight, sinister grin forming on his face. "For a… small price, that is", the tanuki continued, a soft gasp coming from Katagai, whom began furrowing his eyes upon hearing this. And from there, he immediately realizes who the traitor was.
"I should've known…" Katagai scowled lowly, his volume being quiet enough to prevent the conspirators from hearing him. He was tempted to send Thrandeer a text, but in order to confirm his suspicions, he needed to wait until he had received more Intel on the matter.
"The fire has vanished from his eyes. His skills are diminishing everyday", Iizuka explained with a soft smirk on his muzzle. "With the right preparations, he'll easy prey", the tanuki concluded. But shortly after the tanuki finished, the tiger grunts softly and shifts his eyes at the wall where Katagai had been standing behind, having sensed his presence just now. Nakajo raises his left arm up and clutches a switch on his left samurai bracer with his right hand-paw, two spiked needles shooting directly from the bracer and towards Katagai's direction. They pierce through the wall before getting stuck on the walls. Although they missed the intended target, that was enough to give the bear a nasty shock and let him know one thing.
"Damn, they know I'm here", Katagai thought quickly shortly before beginning to sprint away from the scene. "I have to tell Thrandeer about this before-" that was all he could thing before something grabs a hold of his head, the large, metallic hand-paw lifting him up slightly and began applying a deadly amount of pressure enough to cause an unimaginable amount of pain against his skull. the five dagger-like fingers press against his skull tightly to the point where it was slicing through the furred flesh, blood starting to drip from the wounds before Katagai starts screaming with incomprehensible, agonizing pain. He tried to flea with all of his might, but to no avail. Then 'SPLICH'! His skull suddenly cracks open like a nut getting cracked open with a nut cracker. The unknown assailant drops the freshly deceased bear onto the ground before fleeing the scene, a soft scowl escaping the tanuki's mouth.
"Pitiful…" Iizuka said with closed eyes, only to reopen them sternly and shifting his gaze at the leader of the group. "Others may be close behind, so we have to act quickly", the tanuki calmly added, the tiger giving him a grunted nod with understanding. "Enishi", he called, the tiger's eyes turning to his right and gazing at the wall behind him, with Enishi stepping forth into the light.
Enishi was an orange and cream colored fox much like Matt and Tomoe, standing roughly around four feet four inches in height, with white, spiky hair covering a good portion of his head. Unlike Matt and Tomoe, however, his eyes were of a sapphire blue color bearing an icy cold look to them. He was about the age of forty, but barely looks twenty five thanks to plenty of exercise and a healthy diet. His body was well toned and somewhat muscular, enough to show he had enough skill in combat. His attire consisted of a dark blue, tight fitting tank top that was enough to show some of the muscle definition on his torso, a pair of similarly colored samurai bracers, a pair of orange, Chinese style pants with blue stripes running down the sides of his legs, and dark blue open toe boots. Lastly, a pair of small, round sunglasses were worn on his face as if to give the fox his trademarked look. His eyes narrow directly at the tanuki and places his hand-paws inside his pockets.
"What is it?" Enishi asked with a calmly stern tone.
"Tomorrow… prepare our bait", Iizuka began before forming a sinister grin on his muzzle. "She'll be glad to see you", he concluded, the fox nodding in response before turning around and heading out the back door, the shoji door opening and closing a few seconds later. The examiner of execution's attention now draws towards the leader in front of him. "Oh, there's one more thing I want to mention to you".
"And that is?" Tatsumi asked, cocking a curious brow towards the tanuki.
"I received Intel from one of the Ishin-Mirkwood clan members an hour ago regarding information on the assassin's whereabouts", Iizuka began. "It appears he is heading towards Zootopia via bullet train as we speak. And due to the train's fast speed along with a good number of stops along the way, he should reach the city of his birth within the next four hours at the most", the tanuki added, the tiger giving him a nod before turning his gaze towards the other ninjas. He nods at them dismissively, both Nakajo and Sumita nodding back and walking out of the shrine through the front door. Shortly after, Tatsumi stands up from his spot and turns towards the entrance, the tanuki doing the same and beginning to walk directly towards the back entrance. He stops halfway there and turns back to the leader. "And what are your plans, Tatsumi?" he asked.
"You needn't worry about that, Iizuka", Tatsumi answered calmly despite the stern look on his face. "However, I must leave New Otsu and offer my services elsewhere. That I will tell you", he finished, opening the shoji door and exiting the temple, closing the sliding door behind him before departing from the place. Iizuka turns to the rear entrance and heads towards its direction, shutting off the lights on the way and closing the door behind him. With the meeting concluded, the conspirators continue about with their business, with the body of Katagai remaining and his head continuing to bleed the bloody contents onto the earthly soil.
Savanna Central Station, Zootopia, four hours later
It isn't surprising that the many of the Train Stations in Zootopia would be at its busiest during the start of thanksgiving week, the busiest being in the Savanna Central Station. Many mammals from the smallest of prey to the biggest of predators began walking walking about the station, both arrivals and departures alike. Whether its coming to see family in the city or leaving Zootopia to visit their relatives in other parts of the country, that was their business, and their business alone. But for one particular case, a certain fox was here for business purposes.
Speaking of a certain fox, the bullet train Matt had rode to get to Zootopia had just arrived to the station, managing to get here four hours after his departure. Although going nearly about a hundred fifty to two hundred miles an hour, the train he rode had to stop at numerous stops to pick up passengers or drop some of them off. And now that the train came to the end of its line, the automatic doors open and the mammals occupying the passenger cars walk out of them and onto the platform. The last mammal who leaves the passenger cars was none other than the same fox who had left Zootopia with his mother over eight years ago, the same day his mother had died.
With Matt Wilde stepping foot upon the familiar landscape, the fox grabs a pair of shades from his left inner pocket and quickly putting them on. Although one of the reasons for putting them on was to shield his eyes from the bright lights, his eyes bearing nocturnal vision masking his eyes not necessarily from the lights, but to prevent any mammals he knew from potentially recognizing him via looking at his eyes. Thankfully with the use of the black, cloth muzzle mask, much of his features were hidden well and hardly distinguishable to the eye.
Now that he was in the city, the fox walks towards the escalator and takes a step on one of the large steps, waiting patiently for the escalating set of stairs to take him to the upper level of the station. He makes it up there roughly within twenty seconds before walking out of the station exit, passing by numerous mammals along the way and ignoring the glances from other mammals. Although his ears caught many of the conversations claiming him to be suspicious or some slick fox, a few of the conversations he had heard regarded him bearing a pair of swords on his left cheek. Fortunately, he makes it out of the station and began walking directly towards some of the buildings within the long distance. With him out of the station, now it was time to track down the radical factions of the enemy clans along with the rouge traitors.
Continuing to pass by many of the mammals as he did, though at a calmly casual pace to avoid suspicion from the others, he walks along the bridge connecting to the two fields. He occasionally survey the area to ensure nobody else was following him since his departure from the station only a minute ago. He gazes at the multi-screen sky scraper with logos such as 'Herd', 'Warren', and 'Konia!' attached to the top parts of the building. It began displaying random advertisements for various products for what he could tell, some of which he was familiar with himself. But in all honesty, he didn't care about any of that.
He soon arrives to the crosswalk and jogs right across the street towards the north-eastern direction, fast enough to avoid the oncoming traffic, but slow enough to keep the suspicion to a minimal. His eyes catch an alley roughly a hundred yard and walks directly at its location, using the alternate paths as a way to avoid being seen from as many of the mammals as possible. It might delay his arrival to the suspected sight, but it could be the other way around. Who knows?
A loud, thunderous 'BOOM' goes off in the cloudy skies above all of the sudden, following the heavily pouring of rain hitting the heavily populated metropolis. The fox shrugs heavily as soon as this began happening, forcing him to quicken his pace along the alleyways as fast as he could. His facial expression was as stern as ever, despite having being covered by the cloth muzzle mask along with the large hood of his hoodie. His jacket may have helped keep him dry for the most part, but it didn't do much good with the other parts of his body. Plus it didn't seem the rain was gonna be letting up anytime soon.
Several minutes after dashing through the random pathways, he exits the alley and notices a trolley cart passing by along the tracks, the colors mostly being red with bits of black and gold added to the mix. The interior of the trolley seemed to be carrying roughly a dozen large passengers, both predator and prey alike, inside, its destination heading towards the northeastern part of the district. Now how convenient was that for him! Matt quickly sprints towards the trolley and jumps onto the back of it, luckily managing to avoid getting seen by the passengers and the operator alike. As an additional bonus, he's able to ride without having to get soaked any further than he already was, thanks to the back of the vintage trolley. He lays back against the wall of the trolley and sets his duffel bag next to his right, retaining his grip on the thick strap securely throughout the duration of the ride.
Roughly twenty minutes after he got onto the trolley did he arrive to the suspected area of the district, placing the bag behind his back before stepping off of the moving cart unnoticeably and rushing towards another alleyway in the distance. He immediately recognized the neighborhood he was in, the buildings being large, several story tall row houses lined up against each other horizontally. And this wasn't just any ordinary neighborhood. No, it was the one he grew up in since his birth up til the age of nine. He surveys the surroundings carefully while running along the alleyway he ran into. The fox makes it to the end of the trail before suddenly hiding behind the green dumpster on the left, his eyes peering to the right near the park where Little Rodentia lies. But what caught his eye wasn't on the park itself, but for who was currently right across the street.
Roughly three-fourths of a block away from Matt's position across the street stood a twenty-five year old fox, who was inside of the back of a van bearing various shades and colors of red and orange. The fox inside of the van was of a slender built and bearing the exact same fur colors and green eyes like his. Unlike Matt where he had long hair, the other fox didn't grow any hair or at least kept it short enough to where it blended in with the natural length of his fur. His nose was a dark purple color, which interestingly split complemented with his light green Hawaiian shirt he wore. A dark indigo necktie with red-and-blue stripes was wrapped around his neck under the collar. Lastly, his legs were covered in a pair of brownish-gray, possibly khaki pants.
He briefly moves his gaze from the other fox and notices a large number of lemmings in black and white business suits lined up near the van. At first, he cocks a curious brow towards the laid back looking fox across the street. But as he continues to gaze directly at the other vulpine, who was selling paw shaped popsicles to the lemmings, his eyes widen slightly upon recognizing who it was. How could he not recognize the fox, especially since he bore identical fur colors and eyes much like him.
"Shit…" Matt cursed softly with a growl. "Out of all the mammals, why did I have to run into my older brother, Nick? Especially since he's in the middle of a scam", he asked himself following a shrug before grabbing the top part of his hood and pulling it to the front, shielding more of his facial features along with his long bangs. His eyes remain focused on the van and began to examine it quickly, noticing a sign saying 'Pawpsicles' and '$2'written in red, along with 'organic' written in green underneath the logo. His gaze shifts towards the left and notices another dark alley across the street, which was roughly the same distance away from Matt as the distance from him and the van Nick occupied. Now that he thought about it more, an idea starts coming into the assassin's mind. "Then again, since he's busy with selling his Pawpsicles to the lemmings, I think I might be able to get to the alleyway without my brother spotting me", he thought following a soft grin forming on his mask covered muzzle.
With this idea now in mind, the fox places his hand-paws inside of his hoodie pockets and began walking across the street, the hood covering a good portion of any recognizable features that his shades or muzzle mask couldn't cover. He walks across the street directly towards the dark alley he spotted, albeit quickly to avoid getting seen by his own brother. He makes it to the other side of the road and enters the dark alleyway, unaware that a pair of green eyes had briefly spotted Matt's tail right as he entered the alley.
The moment he entered the alley was when the fox began to walk at a slightly faster pace, yet continues to retain his calm gesture while occasionally glancing around the other parts of the area. His bushy tail was already soaked, much like his clothes. But in all honestly, he didn't care, do long he doesn't suffer anymore delays in his mission. Speaking of his mission, the fox hears his phone going off and grabs it out of his phone case, discovering he had just received a text from Thrandeer himself. He opens the text and began reading what the message had read.
"I have received word a few moments agofrom one of our own regarding the whereabouts of the enemy clans and rogue traitors. The meeting is taking place inside the Savanna Heights ApartmentComplex tonight at nine thirty. A contact will meet you a couple blocks away from the complex", the text read. "Remember, only gather the information they speak about and email it to me upon returning. Do not kill them until I give out the order. I have already arranged a safe house for you in the woods a few miles from the Snowcastle Way Station in Tundratown. Go get yourself settled there in the meantime", and with the end of the message, the fox shrugs upon hearing about this.
If he was informed about this sooner, he could've taken a train from the Inner Loop line and got off at Tundratown, then take a train at the Crevasse Station to get to the Snowcastle Way Station. Fortunately for him, not only did he know exactly where the meeting was located, but he also knew there the next train station was located, which happened to be Peak St Station. On foot, it would take him at least forty give minutes to get to the said station. He wouldn't be in no rush whatsoever… that is if it wasn't pouring heavily outside. To his luck, however, he spots a cab nearby and whistles loud enough to grab the driver's attention, securing his hold on his bag and rushing towards the large vehicle up ahead. Opening the back drivers side passenger's door and placing his duffel bag inside, the fox quickly steps into the car and closes the door
"Good day, lad! Where can I take you, today?" The taxi driver, a black, gray, and white furred wolf, asked, bearing an accent strongly identical to a Scottish accent.
"Peak St Train Station, please", Matt answered with a monotone tone of voice.
"You got it!" the taxi driver replied professionally before pressing on the gas, the taxi driving off towards the fox's destination in the midst of the heavy rain.
An Unknown Alley, two blocks from the Savanna Heights Apartment Complex, 9:15 pm
Everything was silent outside of the apartment complex, not a single mammal being seen on the property whatsoever. But roughly a couple blocks away from the complex, a mammal was inhaling a cigarette and exhaling the smoke though his mouth a couple seconds after inhaling the smoke. A lone, 1 foot nine inch tall (not counting the ears), twenty year old fennec fox was the one smoking the cigarette outside of the complex, his body leaning back against the front of his sports car. The color of his fur was of a sandy color, with his ears, forearms, and forelegs being of a brown color. A blood red Mohawk can be seen on the fennec's head, which slowly fades to black at the tips of the spiky hair. Similarly, a goatee was seen on his chin, bearing the exact same colors as his Mohawk. His icy blue eyes shine brightly in the darkness of night, the only thing that can be noticed on the fennec rather easily.
The garments he wore practically matched the style of his hair and goatee in a unique way. For instance, while he wore a black shirt with the sleeves torn off, along with the Anarchy Symbol written in crimson red, the pants were tucked inside of a pair of midnight gray hakama pants. Several holes can be seen on his hakama pants, but were fortunately covered with a pair of tight fitting long john pants underneath. Black open toe boots were worn over his feet-paws while a pair of black samurai bracers covered his forearms and the back of his hand-paws, with silver spikes being attached around the bracers to give a more menacing look to them. Finally, a fairly long katana and a short wakizashi was attached on the left side of his pants, the wakizashi bearing about a foot long and the other being about eighteen inches in length.
He had arrived to the complex about fifteen minutes ago under the behest of Thrandeer himself, the location where the suspected meeting would take place between the enemy clans and the rough Ishin-Mirkwood traitors. But he wasn't there to ambush them (at least not yet anyways). No, he was waiting for the fox many called Battousai the Animal Slayer, particularly Matt Wilde. Now that he's been mentioned, the fennec turns to the left and notices a figure approaching his direction. At first, he places his left hand-paw on the sheath of his katana and flicks the sword upward, the exposed portion of his weapon faintly reflecting the streetlights noticeably. But as soon as he recognized the mammal being a fox, and literally a well built one at that, the fennec sheaths his sword and began looking at him with a calm, monotonically glare.
Matt had just arrived to the suspected location via foot from the train station, having needing to take one in order to get to the Savanna Central District. The articles of clothing, the torso at least, was the exact same clothing he wore when he had arrived, albeit having been washed and dried after having rained earlier and leaving his shades at home. As for his bottoms, that was an entirely different story. Instead, he wore a midnight black pair of cargo pants with a white fox skull with angel wings sewn on the front part of his right thigh. Like always, the leg openings of his pants were safely tucked into his black open toe boots. With his long katana and short wakizashi equipped on the fox, he was ready for business, beginning with his jade green eyes fixing themselves towards icy blue.
"So you must be the infamous Battousai Thrandeer told me about over the phone, are you not?" the fennec asked with a monotonic tone of voice, an apparent English accent apparent in his voice.
"Yes, though please call me Matt, if you could", Matt replied with an identical tone, grabbing a hold of his own hood with his right hand-paw and his muzzle mask with his left, pulling them both down to reveal his own face. "And you must be the contact Thrandeer told me about, am I right?"
"Yes", the fennec replied with a nod. "The name's Brian, by the way. Its a pleasure to meet your acquaintance", Brian added, grabbing the butt of the cigarette with his right index and middle fingers respectively, pulling it off of his mouth and flicking the ashes off of the burnt end of the cigarette. He drops it to the ground and stomps on it with his right foot-paw, twisting his foot a couple times shortly before shifting his attention towards Matt. "Alright, Matt. The complex is only a couple blocks from here. We'll be leaving the van here and going to the place on foot. That way the cops or any of the suspected clans won't find anything suspicious on us", he explained, turning towards the alley behind him and walking along the dark corridors of the alley. "I'll explain further once we get to the complex", the fennec finished, the fox giving him a soft nod before placing both his hood and muzzle mask back on.
"Understood", Matt replied shortly before following him into the darkness of the alleyway, their destination set upon the apartment complex.
Ten minutes after they had departed from the meeting location, the two vulpine males arrive to the alleyway behind the apartment complex, both of them stopping several feet from a ladder leading to the top of the building. The apartment complex was roughly eight stories high and bore an appearance similar to a four star hotel to a certain extent. The colors of the walls were a sandy brown color with the exception of the frames of the windows, which they themselves were a lighter sandy brown color. Lights can be seen from the windows of some of the rooms on the upper floors, which was enough to lighten the alleyway to where they can see better. Then again, since both of them bore nocturnal vision, it honestly wasn't necessarily needed to see. Brian turns towards the assassin and places his right hand-paw inside of his pocket, with his left grabbing the top portion of his katana's sheath.
"Alright, we're here", Brian began, his head moving directly towards the ladder and looking right up at the top of it, which was eight stories high. "Their room will be inside of the penthouse on the top floor. You will be climbing onto the roof and looking over the glass windows above the penthouse roof. I will be patrolling the alley and keeping a close eye on things", the fennec added while moving his gaze from the top of the ladder to the left, looking down at the street leading to the entrance of the complex. His eyes gaze back at the assassin before turning to the right. "Alright, get to it, Battousai", the smaller fox finished before rushing towards the same pathway he came from, with the fox nodding at the fennec and running to the ladder.
With the assignment finally beginning, with just a few short minutes to get to the top, the assassin grabs one of the ladder steps and began climbing to the top of the roof. The climb up the fire escape route took at least a good couple of minutes, but the fox soon manages to get up to the top and walks quietly towards the floor window on the roof, completely oblivious to the fact a van bearing the various shades of red and orange had arrived to the apartment complex parking lot.
Savanna Heights Apartment Complex, eighth floor
All but the sounds of footsteps occupy the hallway on the eighth floor complex, the source of he noise coming from a group of three mammals approaching the door to the penthouse. The three mammals were all predators respectively, consisting a gray fox, an Ethiopian wolf bearing the various shades and tints of brown and cream fur, and a clouded leopard bearing dark gray or ochreous ground color largely obliterated by black and dark dusky-gray blotched pattern. Although of different species, all three of them bore extremely identical clothing to associate their affiliation to the Ishin-Mirkwood clan prior to going rogue. Their clothes consist of a black tight fitting athletic shirt with the long sleeves rolled up to their relatively built forearms along with a pair of olive green cargo pants, with the leg openings tucked into their black open toe combat boots. A pair of black samurai bracers were worn over their forearms and back of their hand-paws, fitting tightly, but snugly around the forearm for a comfortable feel. Lastly, each of them bore a long katana and a short wakizashi attached on the left sides of their belts, which was proportionate to their species' size.
The wolf grabs a key card from his left pants pocket and pulls it out right as the trio arrive to the entrance of the door, the lupine swiping the card through the card reader and placing the card back into his pocket. A soft 'click' noise goes off half a second later and allowing the trio to enter the apartment penthouse. And inside of the apartment, the trio gaze towards the Ishin-Rivendell and the Orimaku clans respectively, both groups having nine members each. The Ishin-Rivendell clan wore silver colored, loose fitting kimono shirts our tight fitting athletic shirts along with dark gray hakama or cargo pants to signify their affiliation. The Orimaku clan wore brown or cerulean blue colored shirts, either loose fitting kimono shirts or tight fitting athletic ones, along with a pair of midnight black/blue colored hakama or cargo pants to signify their affiliation. What the two clans had in common were that they all wore black samurai bracers along with black open toe boots. And like all other clan members or modern day samurai, they were all equipped with a long katana and short wakizashi proportionately sized with their species' size.
"Ah, good evening, gents! You're right on time", the Ishin-Rivendell clan leader, Tashio Yakima, a wolf with black, gray, and white fur greeted with a stern grin on his face. The three rough Ishin-Mirkwood clan members enter the room and close the door behind them, muting the outsiders from the conversation that was to begin soon. "It wasn't easy sneaking away from the watchful eyes of both the Ishin-Mirkwood clan and the Neo-Shogunate armies, wasn't it?"
"It wasn't, but at least we managed to escape without any bodily harm, no less", the Ishin-Mirkwood gray fox replied monotonically following a soft grin forming on his muzzle. "So what do you need, Tashio?"
"You all know why we are here tonight, especially you Ishin-Mirkwood rogues", Tashio replied, crossing his arms as his, along with the eyes of the others, remain fixed upon the Ishin-Mirkwood rogues. "But", he began, turning his attention back towards his clan along with the Orimaku clans respectively. "For those who do not know, allow me to explain everything", the Ishin-Rivendell leader continued calmly, placing his hand-paws behind his back and walking directly towards the middle of the room. "Every single one of us have fled Kawasabus under the one common factor we all share: to spread the Neo-Shogunate's influence across the country. And in order for all of this to work according to plan, we must begin spreading our ideals in the most progressive city to date".
"Zootopia, in other words", the Ishin-Mirkwood clouded leopard said with slightly narrow eyes.
"Yes", Tashio replied. "After all, in a city where everyone can be anything, this would be the best place to start. Of course, we'll start spreading our Neo-Shogunate ideals within the underground first before we come out into the open. By the time we do, no one will be able to oppose our rule, and we will be able to spread our influence across the entire nation", the Ishin-Rivendell clan leader continued, his grin becoming more sinister by the second. "Oh, how I can taste the sweet victory on my lips, crushing all clans and other radicals who oppose us with every military faction the government has to offer us!" he concluded before one of the Orimaku clan members, a male ocelot particularly, stands up from his seat and shifts his eyes towards the Ishin-Rivendell clan leader.
"We all can, leader, but there's just one problem", the ocelot began with a growl in his voice.
"I'm well aware of our problem, and I was just about to get to that", Tashio replied calmly and fixes his eyes directly towards everyone else in the room. "While we may be able to spread our influence in the underground with ease, spreading it into the open is another story", the wolf continued following a soft snarl. "So long as the Battousai remains alive, along with the other radicals, clans, and extremists aligned with him, our plans will no doubt shatter like glass in an instant", the clan leader continued, some of the attendees becoming a bit rowdy during the talk.
Unaware to the occupants inside of the apartment, Matt Wilde had been keeping a close eye on them from one of the ceiling windows. Although the window's muffed much of the dialogue, his keen hearing managed to make up most of whatever the Ishin-Rivendell clan leader had said. Moving away from the window as he did, the fox quietly steps onto the eighth floor room and leans back against the brick wall, texting Thrandeer and giving him the update on everything he had heard. Pressing the send button on the touch screen, now he waits for further orders from the Ishin-Mirkwood clan leader before doing anything else. He turns his head to the left and closes his eyes, focusing his ears closely on the conversation inside.
"However, while the clans and extremists rebelling against the Neo-Shogunate can still potentially prove to be a problem, we mustn't focus on them for the time being", Tashio began. "We must focus our attention on the Battousai along with the other key figures before we can eliminate the other rebel clans. If we can kill the assassin before he can eliminate our armies-".
"Then without a doubt the rebellion will die", the Orimaku clan leader, a brown horse with long, brushed back, raven black hair, interrupted.
"Precisely", Tashio replied with a soft, sinister grin on his face, yet was soon replaced with a frown within a matter of seconds. "However, I advise you to refrain from interrupting me while I'm speaking, Takeshi", the wolf continued with a calmly monotone voice. One of the other Orimaku clan members attempted to stand up after hearing the response, but the clan leader of his faction raises his right arm up and prevents him from standing. The member looks at the clan leader curiously following an understanding, albeit disdainful nod, sitting back down at his spot and setting his eyes upon the Ishin-Rivendell clan leader. Another member of the same clan raises his right hand-paw up and catches the attention of the clan leader. "Yes?"
"After the Battousai's dead, what are we to do about the Ishin-Mirkwood scum who remain in Kawasabus", the Orimaku clan member asked.
"We will deal with them and the other extremists once we're done with the Battousai", Tashio answered before turning from him and gazing at the other clan members. "Now that we know what must be done, does anyone have any suggestions on what or how we can deal with this menace?" the Ishin-Rivendell clan leader asked monotonically, completely oblivious to the fact their target was just outside the window where the fire escape was. Speaking of which, the fox's phone starts vibrating and pulls it out of his phone case, unlocking it by sliding his thumb horizontally across the touch screen. He discovers a text message coming from Thrandeer and opens the message, giving a small nod upon seeing the contents it read.
"I gave an order to Brian several minutes ago to reposition himself on the eighth floor", the text message from Thrandeer read. "I just received a text message from him telling me he has just reached the eight floor. Once he ambushes the meeting from the front door, attack from the fire escape window", and with the end of the message, the fox places his phone back into his phone case before focusing his attention back to the conversation on the inside of the apartment.
But instead of hearing the chattering voices of the occupants inside, he faintly heard the sound of someone knocking on the front door. One of the Ishin-Mirkwood rogues walks at the door and began to unlock it, unaware that Brian was the one knocking on the front door. Oh, how the irony began to play out in Matt's mind, a soft smirk admittedly forming on his face. He may not be thrilled about killing them, but he couldn't help but be thrilled about the irony of the whole thing. The Ethiopian wolf twists the doorknob slowly and began opening it in a similar pace.
"Hey, can't you read the fucking-" unfortunately, the Ishin-Mirkwood wolf couldn't finished what he was trying to say after feeling Brian's blade piercing through his chin right through the forehead, the blade piercing right through the upper part of the back of his skull. This action alone was enough to startle all of the occupants inside of the room. Brian pulls his blade out of the victim's skull and jumps back a bit, the wolf's corpse falling onto the ground with a loud 'THUD' and spraying the bloody contents onto the ground. Most of the occupants quickly draw their swords and glare directly at the punk dressed fennec, who was gazing back at them with a sinister grin on his face.
"I got a phone call from my boss a few minutes ago telling me about a pest problem on the eighth floor penthouse", Brian began, his smirk widening and his eyes narrowing at the large group. He raises his bloodied sword upward and twists the handle ninety degrees to the right, the sharp end of the blade pointing directly towards the others. "And it looks like I came to the right place", the fennec finished sinisterly right before darting into the room and began attacking the other occupants inside.
Everybody immediately engaged in battle by rushing towards the fennec and attempting to kill him by either thrusting their blades, performing horizontal, vertical, or even diagonal sweeps at their assailant. Well, almost everybody fought back.… One of them, particularly a wild cat, instantly cowered and began rushing towards the fire exit, hoping to flee from battle and the fennec's wrath. Oh how that poor mammal had no idea he was about to pay the ultimate price for his actions. Because the instant he opens the fire escape window, a katana with a twenty six inch blade pierces right through his skull, the blood splattering from both the entrance and exit of the fatal wound respectively. The blade didn't stay pierced through his skull, however, the owner of the weapon pulling the blade upward and cutting through the skull like butter. With the corpse of the Orimaku clan member dropping to the ground, the others turn to face the assassin standing right outside the fire escape window, the fox's sinister green eyes glaring directly towards his enemies.
"Shit! Its the Battousai!" an Ishin-Rivendell clan member growled with unexpected surprise, with the fox retaining the same stern look on his face while entering the apartment. Some of the clan members, Ishin-Rivendell and Orimaku alike, quickly turn towards the fox with their blades drawn at him.
"Aw, you guys miss me?" Matt cooed darkly with a soft smirk on his muzzle before frowning directly at the enemy and rogue clans. And before anyone else could reply, the fox suddenly starts dashing towards the Neo-Shogunate clans and began slashing and hacking each of them one by one, blood beginning to splatter across the room. Hell, the way Matt was killing them practically bathed the entire room in blood, the blood splattering onto the walls like a Jackson Pollock painting.
Brian also had his fair share of the killing spree as well, having already killed seven of the twenty one occupants inside of the apartment penthouse. His sights turn towards the two remaining Ishin-Mirkwood traitors and suddenly butchers them with the use of his katana, slicing their torsos diagonally in half, their severed bodies dropping onto the ground and staining the wooden floor with their blood. Unknown to the fennec, Tashio had raised his sword and attempted to perform a vertical sweep against the fennec as an attempt to slice the small fox in half. But Matt's blade piercing right through the wolf's skull stopped him dead on his tracks, the Ishin-Rivendell clan leader dropping his blade shortly before the Battousai pulls his own blade out of his victim's head. The leader drops onto the ground with a loud 'THUD' within half a second.
The fennec nods once at him before turning around and preparing to fight against the rest of the occupants inside the room. But it seems the battle had ended much sooner than he realized, seeing the severed bodies of every occupant inside the room laying dead on the floor, Ishin-Rivendell and Orimaku alike. Though given the circumstances about having the Battousai here, it honestly wasn't surprising he would've ended up eliminating them swiftly. But one thing that did surprise the fennec was the ingenuity of his kills, the major factor being how clean the attacks were.
"Shit, man. I knew you were skilled, but I didn't think you were this deadly, pal", Brian commented with a slight chuckle while the four foot tall Battousai was grabbing a smooth rag from his left cargo pocket and using it to clean the blade with one, thorough swipe.
"Being an assassin for over three years and slaying nearly four hundred mammals will do that", Matt replied, placing the bloodied cloth back into his cargo pocket before the fennec grabs his own rag from the left hakama pants pocket and uses it to clean the blade with one, through stroke. With their weapons cleaned, both he and Matt sheath their weapons before examining the gruesome scene.
"Perhaps, but no point in sticking around for much longer. Don't need the cops barging in here and finding us at the bloodied scene", Brian bluntly said, shutting the front door and beginning to rush towards the fire escape route outside the penthouse window. But once he was at the window, he turns around and faces the assassin. "The door has a self locking mechanism installed. So pretty much nobody can enter the apartment unless they have a key card for the penthouse", the fennec explained. "Either way, this should help buy us some time to get the hell outta here before any of the cops show up. Now lets get the fuck outta here!", he finished and quickly turns around, rushing out of the window and down the metallic staircase leading to the ladder. Matt quickly follows suit and shuts the windows behind him, following the fennec down to the bottom of the dark alley with the intention of getting the fuck outta here, lest he bring unwanted attention upon himself.
Two minutes after the two fled from the bloody scene of the grisly assassinations did another pair of foxes just arrive to the staircase leading to the eighth floor, one of them being a short fennec fox and the other being a four foot tall red fox. The red fox was identified as Nick Wilde, the same fox Matt had identified shortly after Matt had nearly bumped into him earlier that day. His attire was practically the same as it was when the assassin saw him, with the exception of a cobalt blue hoodie covering his green Hawaiian button up shirt. As for the fennec fox, his identity was unknown. But one thing was for certain, however: both of them were carrying a large, wooden crate up to one of the apartments on the eighth floor.
The fennec fox, like Nick, was of a slender built, bearing an oval-shaped face and large ears, each nearly the size of his head. A large portion of his fur is a brownish-gold color, with the exception of his face, palms, paws and the soles of his feet being a sandy color. He also has a black nose, light brown eyes with a notable case of periorbital dark circles beneath them, along with equally dark eyelids. His attire consists of a black collared T-shirt with a red stripe and sliced diamond on the left side of it, with a barely noticeable white tank top being worn under the said shirt. A pair of olive colored shorts cover his thighs and ran down just a couple inches under his knees.
A couple minutes after reaching the staircase with a heavy crate in their possession, the two foxes reach the top of the stairs and thus making it to the eighth floor at long last. They would've gotten there sooner if they had taken the elevator and had a dolly to carry the crate, but unfortunately, the elevator had issues along with a dolly being unavailable for use. And now that they have, both of them begin walking towards the eighth floor penthouse with the heavy crate in arms, completely oblivious to the bloody deed that took place inside the room only minutes ago.
"Hey, Finnick, up the pace! I gotta be in bed in the next hour", Nick scolded the fennec fox with an annoyed tone, trying to increase the pace of his own walking despite how heavy the damn wooden crate was. Finnick growls in an annoyed tone and suddenly sets the end of the wooden crate he held onto the floor, marching directly towards his partner and decking him upside of the head. "Ow! What the hell was that for, pal?!"
"Maybe if you kept the fuckin' crate steady, then we probably would've been at the penthouse right about now!" Finnick growled angrily from Nick's rude comment. The red fox merely chuckles and shakes his head almost humorously, a scowl now escaping the fennec's muzzle almost immediately after hearing his soft laughter. "Hey, what's so god damn funny?!"
"Aw, does Finny need a big, strong guy to settle his nerves?" Nick cooed jokingly with a soft grin on his muzzle, his eyes playfully narrow and moving his brows up and down a couple times in a similar manner. Finnick growls and attempts to deck him again, but this time Nick was quick to dodge the blow before it could strike his face. "Whoa! Hey! Easy there, Finnick! I'm just fucking with you", the fox claimed with his hand-paws raised in front of him as an attempt to cool the fennec down somewhat. Fortunately, it seemed to have done worked (at least for the most part that is), much to his relief. "But seriously, want me to go grab a couple of mammals from the penthouse to lend a helping hand-paw?" he asked, placing his weary hand-paws inside of his pants pockets.
"Yeah, whatever", Finnick merely growled in annoyance and placing his right hand-paw on his forehead, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples in a circular motion.
With the fennec occupying himself by rubbing his own forehead as an attempt to calm down, Nick shifts his attention towards the penthouse entrance fifty yard away and began walking towards the closed door. Fifty yards soon became forty, then thirty, twenty, fifteen, and ten. And when he was only ten yards away did he catch a faint scent of iron filling the air around him, causing the fox to momentarily stop on his tracks and cock a curious brow at the smell. He wasn't sure what it was exactly, but whatever the smell was, it didn't smell quite right. Regardless, however, the fox shrugs it off and merely continues to progress towards the front door.
He reaches the front door within five seconds and pulls both of his hand-paws from his pockets, clenching the right and knocking on the door three times. No answer. He waited half a minute for a response before knocking on the door again, this time a bit harder than he did last time. Again, no answer. Were they not home, or perhaps sleeping, he wondered. Whatever the reason, he needed at least one or two mammals to help them carry the heavy crate inside. With a soft shrug, the fox tilts his head down and began reaching into his left pocket for something, and that's when he had made an interesting, unsettling discovery.
Apparently, a crimson colored liquid had stained a small portion of the dark brown wooden floor, the source of the liquid appearing to have come from inside of the penthouse. Now why was there some sort of liquid staining the floor like this, and having come from inside the apartment itself? Was it some sort of red wine, crimson rum, or perhaps something else? Whatever it was, he didn't know. But the thing that unsettled him the most about the discovery was the fact the metallic scent was much more apparent over here than it was ten yards behind him. Wait, could that crimson liquid be…?
He quickly dismisses the thought and pulls a spare key card for the penthouse he got while at the lobby roughly twenty minutes ago. The vulpine steps forward and began moving the card to the card reader, accidentally stepping on the faintly warm liquid before-wait! Faintly warm? That immediately caught his attention right on the spot. His eyes lower towards the small pool of the liquid and began examining it a bit closely. Metallic smell, crimson color? Could it be…?
Now he was really damn curious about what the hell this liquid was, and he needed to find out now! Because whatever it was, it was still fairly fresh. What exactly happened inside of the penthouse while he and Finnick were trying to get that crate up here?
The fox cautiously swipes the card through the card reader, although at a decent enough pace for the card reader to read his card. An apparent 'click' noise goes off to signal the door unlocking for the card's holder. Nick cautiously grabs a hold of the rod shaped doorknob and pulls it downward, his heart began beating hard, and his heart beat was surprisingly audible. With the knob pulled all the way down, he slowly backs away enough and began opening the door very slowly, unsure of what it was he was about to see.
"Excuse me! My buddy and I have this crate outside, and we could-" and that was all Nick managed to say right before his eyes shot wide open and his jaw drops. The scene he now bestowed upon was something he did NOT expect to see.
Inside the penthouse lay the bodies of twenty one mammals, ranging from the size of a fox to the size of a gazelle. But what really got the fox was the current condition of their corpses, many of them having their body parts literally severed off. Their blood had literally painted the entire room in heavy splatters, much to the point it looked like a Jackson Pollock painting. Now that he was seeing this, it all made sense! The true source of the metallic scented crimson he smelt was the blood of these mammals! And from how fairly warm it felt, he immediately figured this bloody deed happened sometime while they were trying to get the heavy ass wooden crate up to the eighth floor from the lobby. He found himself taking a few steps back before accidentally tripping onto the ground and landing on his ass. But he honestly didn't care. His heart was pounding in fear, his brows were pointing upward, and his breathing became ecstatic. And all while he appeared to be on the edge of having a panic attack, he was completely oblivious to hearing an annoyed growl coming an angrily approaching fennec behind him.
"Hey! What's the big hold up, Nick! Why aren't you-" Finnick growled angrily, only for his angered expression to shift towards immediate shock. His furrowed eyes immediately shoot wide open, his mouth agape, and totally speechless to the bloody sight he now saw only a couple yards away. "Holy shit…! What the fuck happened here?!" he asked with a shocked tone of voice before darting directly inside of the penthouse, snapping Nick out of his trance and gazing directly at his friend after he had entered the apartment.
"Finnick! What the hell are you doing?!" Nick yelled quickly before suddenly standing up and darting into the apartment penthouse. And holy hell, was the bloody sight much worse than what he'd seen from the front doorstep. Much of the living room was literally drenched in blood along with pieces of the victims' vital organs added into the mix. The smell was just as horrific as the sight itself. No, scratch that! The smell was even worse than the gruesome scene, thanks to the two vulpine males having a strong sense of smell.
"Who could've done this shit…?" Finnick asked, his eyes gazing at the horrific sight and doing his best to ignore the grotesque scent filling the air.
"I don't know, buddy… but I don't think we should stick around here anymore", Nick replied quickly with a panicked tone. "Last thing we need is the cops to think of the wrong thing if they show up. Or worse, Mr. Big's goons!" he added, his eyes shifting left and right almost constantly, looking at all of the bodies in pure horror. "Speaking of Mr. Big… could his goons have anything to do with this?" the fox asked, the thought of his goons being the cause of this becoming rather frightening with obtaining skills such as this. And with how the times were going for him, whatever happened between Mr. Big and Nick did not seem pleasant.
"Does it look like I'm an expert at Forensics?!" Finnick snapped angrily. But despite his outburst, he couldn't help but examine the wounds on some of the bodies carefully. And after taking about half a minute to look over the wounds carefully, one thing was certain. "But honestly, I don't think Mr. Big's polar bears had anything to do with this. For one, these cuts are way too clean and precise to assume Mr. Big's goons involvement in this. And two, who the hell uses samurai swords to kill mammals nowadays", the fennec concluded with with a calm tone, his eyes fixing themselves upon his frightened partner.
"If it wasn't Mr. Big's goons, then who could've done this?" Nick asked with a panicked tone in his voice, though not as panicked as he was a few moments ago.
"I can't say on who the fucker behind these killings is", Finnick began. "But whoever was responsible for this seems to know what they're doing. Especially if they have a skill level of an extremely high caliber", he concluded, quickly getting back up onto his feet-paws and walking towards his partner. "C'mon, Nick, lets get the fuck outta here before anybody barges in and thinks we're the ones behind this mess", and with those words, Finnick quickly began darting out of the apartment penthouse and ran downstairs. Nick takes one last, short glance at the environment around the room before immediately departing from the place, wanting to rid himself of this abhorred place and of the grotesque scene that was now behind him.
Tundratown, 9:47 pm
The drive to Tundra, for the most part, has been silent throughout, neither one of them uttering a word except for Matt giving Brian directions to his safe house. Since they had fled the scene, Matt's scar had began bleeding shortly after the killings happened, prompting the fox to remove his muzzle mask in order to tend to the wound. Fortunately, Brian had lent him a rag to use to help cover the wound and attempt to stop the bleeding. Soon enough, the fennec manages to arrive to the drop off location near a trail leading to the woods and pulls the van over to the right side of the road, with the Battousai stepping out of the truck and turning his attention towards the fennec.
"Thanks for the ride, Brian", Matt said calmly to the fennec fox. "If I were you, I would try and get out of Zootopia as fast as possible, or lay low for a good while at the very least", the assassin suggested with the fennec merely chuckling towards the fox with a smirk on his face.
"Appreciate the concern, buddy, but this ol' fennec here can handle himself", Brian replied jokingly with a slight, amused grin on his muzzle. "Take care, Battousai", and with those departing words, he turns his attention towards the road and drives off into the distance.
With the fox now alone in the snowy weather, he turns towards the path behind him and began walking into the darkness of the woods. The only sound occupying the dark woods were the cawing of the nightly birds, the hooting of owls, and the cricking of crickets. The fox's left hand-paw grips his long katana securely and continues to walk along the snowy path, not caring if the snow was freezing his furred toes.
Several minutes pass relatively quick, and the one story safe house was not much father from his position. In fact, he can faintly see the wooden cabin roughly eight hundred meters from his position. His pace quickens only slightly, yet eagerly with the need to return to his temporary home. But a faint sound from behind causes his ears to flicker and his feet-paws to stop on their tracks, his eyes moving slowly to the left before slowly shifting to the right. Something didn't feel right at all. Had someone been following him, or was it just a bird? He turns his head to the left slightly and places his thumb on the guard of his katana and pushing the sword upward, a couple inches of his blade revealing itself to the darkness of the woods. The fox keeps his position where he is, and his eyes continues to examine the environment around him. After about a minute, the fox sheaths his sword and continues progressing towards the cabin up ahead.
After another five minutes of walking in the cold weather, the fox arrives to his front doorstep and grabs a key from underneath the welcome rug, sticking the key into the lock and twisting it ninety degrees to the left. He twists it back ninety degrees and pulls the key out before placing it inside of his left cargo pocket for safe keeping, opening the door and stepping into the house. He quickly closes the door and locks it, unaware that both a pair of blue and brown eyes had been watching him from a safe distance.
The instant he entered the house, he walks towards the antique couch and takes a seat on the left cushion. He pulls up his phone out of the case and slides his thumb horizontally across the screen, scrolling through his phone and pulling up Thrandeer's contact, pressing the app and the dial button on the touch screen. The vulpine places his phone on the right side of his ear and listens to the dial tone, soon hearing the other line picking up immediately.
"'Your pest problem has been taken care of, sir. Those who attended the meeting, including the Ishin-Rivendell leader, are no more", Matt said to the clan leader, his expression remaining monotonically calm as he spoke.
"Excellent, now we won't have to worry about them spreading their Neo-Shogunate ideals across the country and attempt to overthrow the government anytime soon", Thrandeer replied over the phone with similar tone.
"Right, though keep a close eye on things while I'm tending to business here", Matt began. "The Ishin-Rivendell, Orimaku, and the rouges betraying the Ishin-Mirkwood clan appear to be spreading their ideals in the underground before going out into the open. But apparently, the only way they can come out into the open-"
"Is for them to kill you in order to succeed", Thrandeer interrupted on the other line.
"Yes", Matt replied with a nod. "Along with the eradication of all the other clans and extremists aligned with us as well", the fox concluded, right before his ears perk upward, his eyes gazing towards his right and narrowing them slightly. "Katzuma, I'll call you back as soon as I can", he added before pressing the 'end call' button on his phone and places it inside of his phone case.
His eyes remain fixed upon the direction where he heard the suspicious noise and grabs a firm hold of his samurai katana by the handle, his left hand-paw grabbing the sheath before pulling the sword out of the sheath. With his blade drawn, the fox began walking towards the window in slow, calm steps. Had he been watched since he had been dropped off? And for what reason assuming this was the case? Either way, he was about to find out…
… or what would've been the case if something didn't stick him on the back of his neck, the fox's eyes widening upon feeling the object protruding the back of his neck. His eyes slightly widen upon realizing what he had been shot with.
"Shit! Tranquilizer dart", Matt thought in his mind and immediately turns around, his vision blurring in and out despite his best attempt to keep them focused. He prepares for battle against the intruders nonetheless, but before he could attempt to attack them, however, the fox suddenly collapses onto his right side and began breathing heavily. His strength was waning, but at least he had enough to slowly places his weapon inside of its sheath. His eyelids began to close, and his vision was blurring heavily. Somehow, he was able to make out the ones behind the unexpected ambush, his attackers appearing to be snow white polar bears formally dressed like they were in a mafia of some sort. Which crime family they served, he didn't know. The last thing he saw was two blurry figures surrounding his body and kneeling to his left and right respectively.
Then… everything fades to black….