Chapter 3: The Hunt Begins
Returning to the precinct proved to be difficult for Nick and Judy as their busted up squad-car gave up somewhere near Striped Square. The engine coughed and wheezed before finally emitting a loud bang and expiring, with the tail-pipe letting loose a big, black cloud of smoke.
After making a wise-crack involving released gas (Judy face palming in response) Nick immediately called an old friend of his with a towing-truck. The owner of the truck, a beaver with cap that seemed to have been chewed on, stared and blinked at them as Nick asked him to tow it to the station, later wondering aloud if a car-graveyard wasn't more appropriate.
Sitting in the twisted and shot up heap as it got pulled by the tow-truck, the rabbit and the fox stepped out as it got placed in the ZPD parking house. Thanking the beaver and heading for the lobby, a wave of foreboding dread began to wash over Judy.
"Sweet cheese and crackers", she mumbled as she nervously ran her paws over her ears. "Bogo will have our heads mounted on the walls of his office for this…!"
The bunny felt her partner's palm on her shoulder. Looking back, she saw his reassuring smile.
"C'mon Carrots, why don't you chill? I bet if you crank up that sweet and earthy bunny-charm of yours, not even old iron-hide will have the heart to be cruel to ya." Nick said, giving Judy a sly wink.
Judy glanced at the fox with an annoyed look as they got closer to the main-entrance.
"If you're asking me to act all cutesy to get out of trouble, you're barking up the wrong tree bud," Judy said as she pushed the door to the lobby inward.
As they entered the precinct, the surprised officers were greeted with applause from their colleges, which made Nick grin as he waved his hands in the air as if he had just won a Gold medal in the Olympics; Judy just rolled her eyes at how much her partner was hamming it.
They were being greeted, both teasingly and congratulatory (officer Wolford for instance, who was holding a couple of oranges and light-haertedly asked them if they would like some more C-vitamin), as they approached the main-desk where they were met with Benjamin Clawhauser's wide smile, which parted and closed with a high frequency as the fat cheetah was busy scarfing down a fresh donut.
"And here they are! Our two hero-officers, who stopped the dangerous bandits and even saved a little child!" He exclaimed merrily and squished his plump cheeks together.
"Oh come on Clawhauser, we were just doing our job. It's nothing to be amazed by." Judy muttered, doing her best to sound modest. On the inside she was proud, but in all honesty, it felt a little early to feel celebratory when she considered the poor shot banker, who if not dead by now was probably still fighting for his life in some emergency room.
"Speaking of which," Nick spoke up, "Does chief buffalo-head know we're here yet or-"
"HOPPS! WILDE!" Bogo's voice thundered from the second floor, interrupting Nick and making him and Judy stiffen. They both looked up and spotted the police-chief, staring down at them with wide, furious eyes and his flat teeth clenched so tightly that you'd think they would pop out like overheated popcorn at any given second. "MY OFFICE! NOW!" He yelled at the top of his lungs and then went back to his office, slamming the door shut.
The precinct had gone quiet, aside from a few whispers among the officers. Even some of the booked in perps seemed to be glad that their names weren't Wilde and Hopps right now.
Clawhauser gulped heavily.
"Ummm… It would seem he wants to see you both," he said. "Y-You two should head over, doesn't sound like he's in a good mood."
The two unlucky officers stared at each other in silence, Judy biting her lip and Nick rubbing the back of his head as they headed up the stairs to their chief's office.
"Still not up for using your bunny-charm, Carrots?"
"Even if I did, I don't think it would help at this point Nick."
"Figures… So… Made a will yet?." Nick asked, flashing a coy grin as Judy opened the door and both stepped inside.
The atmosphere inside Bogo's office was tense to say the least. In fact, it was so damn thick you could probably cut it with a knife and then serve it as the blue plate special. Eyeing the two officers as they sat down, the buffalo didn't say a word at first. He stood up and began to pace from one side of his office to the other, before stopping behind his desk, pulling out a box and taking up an i-pad. Dragging his finger across the screen, a videoclip began to play which showed footage of Nick and Judy's squad-car crashing trough several fruit courts. Bogo seemed to try and vaporize the two with his gaze.
"Now, care to explain your little demolition derby?" He finally asked, leaning across the desk and holding the i-pad in front of them.
While Judy was close to sweating bullets, Nick seemed to have composed himself enough to try and play it cool, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms across his chest and resting his right leg over the other.
"Well, the criminals were getting away, so I decided to use a little shortcut to help us catch up with them. And for your information, sir, I'm willing to bet one or two of those fruit-sellers didn't even have a license to sell there." The fox stated calmly.
Bogo stared at the fox, and then coughed as he glanced down at the i-pad, which was now showing the car being fired at and spinning out of control before smashing into the flower shop. But before he could say anything, both Judy and Nick said in union: "Gatling gun".
"Gatling gun?" The buffalo repeated, a twitching motion appearing in the corner of his eye. Dropping the pad on the desk, the buffalo threw his arms out and yelled angrily. "GATLING GUN?! Who uses a gatling gun in van?!"
"… I dunno," Nick said and shrugged. "Texans?"
Bogo slammed his fists against the desk, leaning closer and almost beginning to growl at the two in a threatening manner. Judy was close to wishing she could fall trough the floor, but Nick impressively kept his cool.
"Now listen here you two. You are both lucky that the leader behind this heist was a scumbag that we've been trying to nail for a really long time. If it wasn't for that, plus the fact that you saved that kid's life, I would have you thrown out of here with your heads first! Considering how much you two have already cost this city with your carelessness, any sane chief would have already fired you."
"With all due respect sir," Judy began in a careful tone, "those robbers had stolen about six million dollars in cash. We may have wrecked a couple things these last months, but hardly anything that would go for that amount. And we've always caught the bad guys in those situations…"
Bogo's stern eyes rested on Judy for a moment, Nick looking back and forth with certain fascination, his cocky expression fading. Finally, the buffalo exhaled.
"All I am telling you, is to stay out of this kind of trouble for while, for as long as you can." He said and leaned back in his chair, one hoof folded over the other. "Ever since the new mayor was elected, he's been on me continuously in regards to you. You might be fine cops, but you still cause the city-council a lot of headaches, and I assume you already know what the media is saying about you two."
Judy and Nick shared a look which said the exact same thing: "Everything between the earth and the sky." Pretty much nothing in regards to them hadn't been covered or stated since that first, disastrous press-conference. While most outlets still hailed them as the heroes who brought those kidnapped and brainwashed predators home to their families and brought a massive conspiracy to light, a sizable portion of people had found it appropriate to criticize and deride them, from everything between Judy's apparent speciest opinions to Nick being included in the police-force despite being a confirmed ex-con artist. While those were a given, there were also the completely fictional statements and accusations that raged online, some of them claiming that they were in fact agents of an even bigger conspiracy, or even entire websites dedicated to the rumor that they were lovers.
Nick had in his curiosity checked one of these websites out, only to regret it almost immediately, as they were full of vile, photoshopped pictures that depicted the two engaged in activities that were nearly impossible to un-see.
Nick glanced at Judy and wondered if she had seen one of those websites. He didn't really like thinking about that, kind of like how an older brother doesn't like imagining what kind of adult entertainment his teenaged little sister might be viewing when nobody else is around.
"It may have been a while since the Night-Howler incident, but the citizens are still nervous about those who governs this city, especially considering the acts of the two previous mayors." Bogo noted. "They're looking into everybody's closets, searching every inch for skeletons. That's why we, the city's protectors, must keep our noses clean. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir." Judy replied and nodded.
"Clear as crystal, chief." Nick added and gave a little salute.
"Good." Bogo said, standing up and turning to look out through the window which was behind him. "Now, I want a full report about this and it better be fully detailed. Now, out of my office before I hear about some other mayhem you've caused."
As both Judy and Nick went towards the door, Judy was suddenly stopped by the chief calling her name. Looking back, she saw Bogo looking over his shoulder and giving her something that seemed to be a smile or least an attempt at it.
"The banker is gonna make it. And good job at saving that kid. It was reckless, but very top-notch police-work." He said.
"T-Thank you sir, I try my best…Sir." She said, smiling back and giving him a salute. Bogo turned to stare out of the window again as she left.
Closing the door behind her, the bunny exhaled and turned to see Nick leaning against the wall next to her.
"Teachers pet as always I see" He said with a smirk, crouching before Judy and poking her nose.
"H-Hey! Least I'm trying to be more professional about it." She said, furrowing her eyebrows at Nick while wiggling her nose from the poke. "Besides, I should be applauding you for keeping your cool."
Nick then stood up, followed by an idle shrug the fox turned around and then began going down the stairs with Judy following really quickly after him.
"It just comes with the territory Carrots. I've dealt with guys like Bogo before. It's all about not letting them sense your fear." The fox replied casually, then looked around as he whispered to Judy. "And between you and me, I was close to fainting myself."
Blinking several times, Judy let out a faint giggle which then grew into a much softer laugh.
Looking at the laughing bunny, Nick felt a familiar warmth rush through him, which seemed to transpire whenever he saw this girl smile or laugh… And yet all this could have been gone if Judy's plan had failed today.
In fact, as that had happened, Nick had felt a frightful void fill up his heart, while his mind had pictured every potential, horrible outcome like a collage of his deepest fears.
But all of those had turned out to be "what ifs", and this was the present. Now, his partner was alive and well, the two sharing a very good laugh and as things were alright. Then, an idea popped into Nick's head, and he stuck his paw inside his uniform.
"Heeeeey Carrots, how about you do the paperwork." He started, instantly getting a glare from Judy, which was instantly smoothed into a surprised look as Nick had taken out and presented her with a single red rose, which he had taken up from within their mangled car and saved on his person. "… While I'll do you a favor and take ya out for lunch, since you did a heroic deed today."
Accepting the rose and rubbing her chin in thought, Judy then tapped her foot a little and smiled as she extended her free hand to Nick.
Seeing this as her way of saying 'yes', the fox answered her smile with his own and shook her little paw.
"But it better not be like that place in the Tropic zone." She said, pulling her hand back as Nick raised an eyebrow.
"And what pray tell was wrong with that little Chinese restaurant, hmmm?" He asked, as they approached Clawhausers desk, the cheetah presenting them with the necessary paperwork. "They served us some really good soup."
"Nick, that place was a front for a meth-lab…" Judy said as she placed the rose on the desk and started signing some documents for a replacement squad car. "Half the customers were on drugs!"
"Yes, but the soup was still good." Nick said innocently, which earning him another groan from the rabbit. Patting her on the back, the fox then tickled under her chin with his fluffy tail, surprising her and making her nearly drop her pen. "Oh relax Carrots, I know of a nice little café in Sahara Square that serves some really good meals. You'll love it~"
"Alright, alright, I'll buy it." Judy said and grabbed the keys for their new car as Clawhauser handed them to her. She then tossed them to Nick, who by reflex catches them in his paw. "But if the food is crap, you'll be filling up that report yourself." The bunny took up the rose again, sniffing it and smiling peacefully. "I'm just gonna put this in some water. You bring the car around in the meantime. Drive carefully."
Nick watched her go with a faint smile, and as he turned, he saw Clawhauser looking at him with sly sort of look. For some reason, it made him feel embarrassed.
"… What?" He wondered.
"Nothing." The cheetah mumbled and turned to file more paperwork, a knowing smile still present on his face.
As they left the garage in their new car, a black mustang parked on the other side of the street was lying in wait for them. When the police car was at a good distance, it drove off and began tailing them.
The drive was quite lengthy, but police-car eventually pulled over by a café called "The Arabian Night". As Nick stepped out, he went around to the passenger-seat and opened the door for Judy like a classic gentleman, the rabbit giving the fox an amused look.
The mustang pulled over to the opposite side of the street, it's window rolling down a bit. Sitting inside was Sally, as she lowered her black shades and eyed the café. Giving a faint smirk, she then pulled out her cellphone and began writing a text message.
When that was done and the message had been sent, the ocelot stepped out of the car, grabbed a guitar case from the trunk and started to walk towards a tall apartment building.
Once inside it, she hurried towards the elevator and pushed the button. The doors soon opened and she stepped in when suddenly a voice called out for her.
"Oh dear, please hold that door." An elderly voice said, as Sally saw an elderly female aardvark approaching the elevator. Stretching out a paw and keeping the elevator-door from closing, the aardvark walked and gave a grateful smile. "Oh thank you dear, I'm sorry for being a nuisance."
"Oh, it's not a problem". The ocelot replied and stepped aside to give the old woman more room and allowing for her to press the needed floor button.
"Mmmm…Which floor for you, dear?" The old woman asked, looking at her and adjusting her glasses.
"Top floor, please." The Ocelot replied, giving her a small smile. The aardvark nodded as she pressed two buttons.
As the doors closed and the elevator began to go up, the Ocelot hummed and looked at her wrist watch, while the old lady would look at her in a curious fashion, her eyes going from the guitar case and up to her suit, which had a greyish blue color with matching pants, and was worn over a dark-grey shirt with a black collar that was unbuttoned, which together with a black tie that was white on top made it look like she was wearing a priest-collar. On the front of her suit were also a silver pendant in the shape of a eight-pointed star with a golden chain attached which lead into the suit's interior.
Looking back, the Ocelot tilted her head a little, wondering why the old woman was staring at her.
"Is something the matter?" The ocelot asked, making the aardvark look away.
"O-Oh, nothing dear. J-Just not every day you see a young girl like yourself wearing a suit… And such a fine one at that. Mmm… A-are you one of those alternative performers or something?" She asked, pointing at the guitar case. "I mean… Mm… I'm not really up to speed with modern music and stuff… Mmm… Sorry, didn't mean to offend you."
The ocelot looked down at the guitar-case with a confused look and then let out a light laughter. She shook her head gently and waved her hand at the old woman.
"None taken, please don't worry. I prefer classic rock." The ocelot replied, getting a sweet smile from the elderly.
"You got a gig in town?" She asked.
The ocelot glanced to her side and shrugged.
"You could say that…"
As the elevator door beeped, the old woman began to step outside as she then turned to the Ocelot and waved to her in a friendly manner.
"So long dear, and do keep yourself safe. It's quite rare to meet such well-mannered young people these days."
"Same for you, бабушка (grandmother). Be safe yourself and don't overstrain your heart." The ocelot replied as the doors, but noticed a very surprised looked from the old woman.
Once the elevator arrived to the top floor, the Ocelot made her way towards the door which lead to the rooftop. Carefully picking the lock with her claw, she then stepped up a couple of stairs and made it out into the open, the hot sun and light breeze speaking of pitch-perfect summer day. Approaching the needed spot, she removed the coat of her suit, folding it and placing it on the ground. After loosening her tie, she laid down the guitar case and opened it.
Inside it was the parts of a medium sized VSS Vintorez automatic sniper rifle. Carefully gliding her paws across them, she then started assembling her little toy. Placing the clip into the rifle, she then pulled out her phone and a pair of earphones, slipping them on and picking a random song from her collection.
She then waited, her tail wagging to the melodic rhythm of Rolling Stags "Gimme Shelter". She adjusted the scope, getting a clear view of her targets as they sat around a table near the window of the cafe, chatting and enjoying their lunch without a care in the world. The ocelot focused the little cross inside the scope on the rabbit, who looked like she was telling the fox something fun, and for the hired gun was set to the lyrics sung by Mick Jaguar:
"Oh a storm is threatening,
my very life today.
I don't get some shelter,
oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away.
War children, it's just a shot away.
It's just a shot away."
It wouldn't take long before the pawns made their move.
-
Now, some of you are probably wondering where that text-message went. Going back a couple of minutes before the ocelot had sent it to a run-down apartment somewhere in Sahara Square, we would find the answer in the form of Jamie Leerdon, Jackie the golden jackal's younger brother.
Jamie was the second in command of one of the Sahara Square gangs, this one "originally" named the Oasis Jackals, mainly because their HQ were located in the old and abandoned Oasis Water park. Out of the two brothers, Jamie was an even bigger wild card, with the therm maniac feeling a lot more appropriate when describing him. Nicknamed Jamie Van Gogh, rumors circled among the rivaling gangs and spoke of how he enjoyed cutting off the ears of his opponents and would then wear them around his neck as a twisted necklace, believing it to be good voodoo. However, he really loved and looked up to his older brother, with the ambition to make him proud in any way he could.
The golden jackal was roughly 29 years old, medium built, with various printed tattoos covering the fur of his body, wore several earrings. and like his brother he had plated fangs, which in his case were silver instead of gold. Also unlike his brother, he wasn't scream-addict. Jackie had in fact pushed him not to touch the stuff, knowing that Jamie were unpredictable enough as he was.
At that moment, Jamie was sitting leaned back on an old beaten up couch, swallowing big gulps of malt-whisky while watching the news on a small television. The rest of the gang was sitting around a table in the kitchen, where they had recently been playing a game of poker, which they had interrupted as soon as the news of Jackie's arrest had reached them.
News anchors Peter Moosebridge and Fabianne Growley (an attractive snow leopard that Jamie had a lustful liking to) were reporting the failed bank robbery and his brother's capture. Gritting his teeth in anger as he saw footage of Jackie being kicked by the bunny-cop being played , the jackal threw his half-finished bottle at the television screen and shattered it, making it spew out a storm of white sparks. Jumping off the couch, he looked at the rest of the gang, his mad eyes bloodshot and his hands clenching and unclenching at a rapid frequency.
"Who the hell do those cops think they are?!" He yelled, and then started to pace around. "They think they can arrest my bro?! The fuck they do! I'm gonna burn this whole damn city down! I'm gonna eviscerate every fucking cop in this fucking city! I'm gonna drink their blood!"
The rest of the gang looked at each other; all wondering who should speak up first. When Jamie was getting like this and his brother wasn't around to calm him down, it usually meant two things: One, uttering a single word could mean a trip to the emergency room, and two, he was crazy enough to try and follow up with his plan, and if he tried, it would mean that soon enough they would have the entire SWAT-team, or worse, the National Guard banging on their door!
Someone had to bite the bullet in order to stop that from happening, and as by tradition, it was always the new guy who had to do it. In this case it was a young gazelle, who coughed a few times to get a hold of Jamie's attention.
"Ummm… Boss… Maybe you should calm down and ya know… Just chill a bit, because… Mmm…"
But before he could finish his train of thought, he was interrupted. Not wasting time, Jamie ran over the couch, jumped onto the small table in the kitchen, pulled out a gun from his back-pocket and then pressed it against the poor gazelle's nose, who's face was now sweating more sweat than a rainforest had rain in it.
"Don't you dare giving me advice you sniveling shit-stain! You see this gun?! This gun resembles my fucking dick!" He yelled with spit landing on the poor kid's face who was visibly shaking now. "And unless you start saying something helpful in the next few seconds, I'm gonna bang it against your head and make you swallow it's load!"
The gazelle trembled, seeming too frightened to say anything.
Fortunately enough for him, the sound of a phone vibrating and a signal playing "It's a small world after all" saved his skin, as Jamie pushed the kid back in the chair he had been sitting as he reached into his pocket and produced his cellphone.
Raising his eyebrow, the jackal saw that it was a text message from an unknown number, with the text reading:
"If you want those who arrested your brother. They are currently dining in "Arabians Nights" on the Corner of Camel Toe and left. If you hurry, you can still catch them ;3" Attached to the text was a file which Jamie opened. It was a photo which depicted both that insufferable bunny-cop and her equally insufferable fox-partner, walking into said cafe with their backs against whoever had taken it.
Blinking several times, Jamie then pocketed the phone as he jumped off the table and cocked his pistol. He glared at the gang members who all looked eagerly curios as to why their boss had suddenly stopped from murdering the young gazelle.
"Okay you motherfuckers, get you asses to the jeep. It seems we're going out hunting!" He said and grinned evilly.
The gang speedily gathered their weapons and rushed outside, where a jeep with a false plate was waiting for them underneath an old, dis-repaired water slide.
Seven members went in the back, one took his place behind the wheel and Jamie himself sat beside the driver, tapping his foot impatiently and smiling from ear to ear. The car quickly took off trough the remains of the park and out into the sandy dunes surrounding it; once it got to the main highway it began speeding towards the ill-fated cafe.
At the same time, Nick was taking a sip of his steaming cup of java, while Judy was eating a delightful cucumber-raita with an intrigued facial expression; despite being named Arabian Nights, the cafe served mainly Indian food, which she was grateful for as it offered her plenty of vegetarian alternatives.
Nick lowered his cup and looked at her with an amused look. One thing that he noticed about her when she ate was how her cheeks would puff, making it ridiculously unfair when it came to trying to ignore her inherent adorability.
"I told you they had good food." Nick said while munching on a fry from his own plate of spicy-fries with cheese and jalapeño-topping. With his mouth full he nodded in the general direction of the other customers, which were unusually few for this time of the day. "And look, not even a single junkie to be seen."
Judy held up her finger, chewing and swallowing her food properly before answering.
"Okay, I'll admit you picked a good one this time. And a good thing too, after this day it really hit the spot." She said and drank some of her own coffee. "But something keeps bugging me…"
Nick raised an eyebrow.
"The fact that I actually bought you lunch? Appearances can be deceiving: I can be a nice guy from time to time Carrots."
Judy waved away his comment with her paw.
"Not that. It's about the crooks we arrested today. I talked to Fangmeyer, and she said that most of them were small-timers. Besides the jackal, they were a bunch of hoodlums really."
"Yeah? So?"
"So, who gives a couple of street-thugs a gatling-gun?" Judy asked and threw her arms out. "Sounds more like something that rebels or a terrorist-group might get their hands on."
"Maybe." Nick noted. He didn't like to talk about work when he was eating, but he couldn't deny that she was on to something. "Bank-robbers these days aren't' as dramatic as in the days of Puppy Face Nelson. Most of them can steal twice the amount these guys were taking by just using a computer. One could of course assume that they were desperate or just plain crazy… That Jackie-guy certainly fit the bill."
"Appearances can be deceiving." Judy repeated before taking another spoon of her raita. Rather than eating it immediately, she paused and looked at it with a thoughtful look. "… I got a call from my parents the other day."
Nick blinked at the sudden change of topic.
"Really? And what did they have to say?"
"They're gonna come and visit me next weekend." She said and put the spoon down on her plate. She crossed her hands and looked up at Nick. "They finally got some time off from the farm and also got uncle Oswald and aunt Hortencia to babysit. They've been dying to see where I live, where I work, everything for a long time."
"Gonna give them a tour of your apartment?" Nick asked and smirked. "The whole five centimeters of it?"
Judy's eyes narrowed as the fox gave off a little laugh.
"Hardy-har-har. But yes, that too. They've been curious to meet you too."
Nick stopped laughing and looked at Judy with wide eyes.
"Uh-oh, meeting a girl's parents?" He asked, starting to smile again. "My carefree bachelor-legs tells me to run far, far away…!"
"Ugh, be serious for a second." Judy said and face-palmed before looking up again. "No really, they would like to meet you. I mean I've mentioned you pretty much every time I've talked to them this year, so it's not that weird. You are my closest friend after all."
Nick crossed his arms and gave the bunny a more serious look, though with a playful little smirk still present in the corner of his mouth.
-"M-hm. Didn't you tell me once that they were kind of… Anxious, around my kind?"
Being the chatty and open creature that she was, Nick had often been told about her parents, who lived out in the countrysides of the Bunny Burrows. Her father Stu was a successful carrot-farmer (the therm being deceptive, as the farm had a lot more than just carrots) and her mother was a house-wife who took care of the younger half of their impressively large quantity of offspring. Besides being told of how nice and wonderful and sometimes nagging they could be, Judy had told Nick that they weren't of most "used" persuasion to predators. Especially not foxes, as they apparently possessed several fox-repelling articles, including a pepper-spray called Fox-Away.
"I also told you that it was before I moved to Zootopia." Judy noted. "They've opened their eyes, they even have a fine business-relationship with a fox right now as a matter in fact."
"I dunno…" Nick said with an uncertain voice, remembering that it had been them who had pushed Judy to bring fox-repellent equipment with her when she moved to the city.
"Please." Judy was now looking down at her plate, absent-mindedly stirring it's contents with her spoon. "They may not be skeptical of foxes anymore, but they're still kind of mixed when it comes to my job and the city in general. Especially dad… I know they're just worried about me, but they still think I'm incapable of taking care of myself." Judy said, giving him an imploring look. "With you backing me up, I think they would feel a little more assured, and not rant about staying out of trouble all the time."
"You staying out of trouble?" Nick snorted. "That would be like telling pandas to stop eating bamboo!" Judy glared at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Oh alright, I'll come and meet them. It might be fun." He added and placed another fry in his mouth. "Heck, why don't we just tell them we're engaged? That ought to make them wake up."
Judy's eyes grew big, and without a trace of warning she burst out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Nick looked at her in surprise, and a few of the other customers turned their heads to give her odd looks.
"No way!" She uttered, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. "Dad would have a stroke…!"
Nick's ears lowered, and he started to look down with a sort of beaten look.
"Heh… Well I am just a riot, ain't I?" He said, his voice strangely void. Judy stopped laughing, sensing the tone and looking at Nick with a curious look.
"What's the matter?"
"You didn't have to laugh that hard." Nick replied and avoided her gaze. "I wouldn't make a bad hubby you know."
Judy blinked, and then gave off an uncertain smile.
"Oh Nick, I wasn't saying that." She said re-assuredly. "It's just that-"
-"What?" Nick asked with a sudden edge in his voice. "Is there something fundamentally un-marriable about me?"
Judy opened and closed her mouth, not really sure of what to say.
"Uh…"
While this interesting conversation was taking place, a jeep arrived outside the café.
Seeing the parked police car, and also spotting the fox and the bunny talking through the window, Jamie grinned and prepared a silver-plated UZI as he told the others to get ready.
"I didn't mean anything bad." Judy tried to tell her partner. "I'm sure you'd make a good husband, but weren't you joking? Am I not supposed to laugh at a joke?"
"You never laugh at my jokes Judy." Nick replied and pointed accursedly at her. "But this was just hilarious. Can't you figure out why that rubs me the wrong way?"
Judy crossed her arms and fixed Nick with a hard look. She was starting to get angry now too.
"I could if I understood why you're getting so testy all of a sudden… Why don't you spell it out for me?"
Meeting her stare, Nick bit his lip. How was he gonna put this without making it sound weird or blown out of proportion? Remembering the press-conference, he let this temper cool down a little, licked his lips and started to talk with a calm, explanatory tone.
"Okay, lets imagine this scenario. What if we were-"
BANG
The gang-members had stepped out of their vehicle, weapons in plain sight and aiming at the fox and the bunny through the window.
Jamie had grinned wider, raising his UZI and preparing to shoot.
However, instead one of the members heads suddenly exploded, with fragments of brain and blood splattering across the pavement as he collapsed on the ground.
The other six were frozen with a mix of surprise and shock, before another one went down with the top of his scalp blown off.
Some woman screamed nearby, and civilians were either running away or ducking behind something.
Finally snapping out of their state of shock, Jamie looked around frantically, trying to see where the shots was coming from.
At the same time, Nick and Judy turned to look out the window, their expressions turning to shock as they saw two motionless bodies with most of their heads missing and five armed hostiles outside. They instantly flipped their table over to use for cover.
"FIND SOME FUCKING COVER YOU MORONS!" Jamie yelled as loud as he could, as he ran towards the jeep.
The remaining gang members followed his orders as best they could, two of them shooting wildly in a desperate attempt to see where the shooter was, but soon joining their fallen brothers. One managed to reach the jeep and got behind the driver's wheel, but after a single shot the interior of the car turned red with his mass of blood.
Now it was just four left, with Jamie pressing himself against the side of the van, as he saw two guys hiding behind another car nearby, and the young gazelle actually hiding behind a bug-hotdog cart.
Everything went quiet for moment, but as the one gazelle got up and tried to make a run for it, he dropped and yelled while holding his bleeding kneecap as another shot rang out and and finished him.
Now, Jamie actually found himself being scared. For the first time since he was little, the jackal actually feared for his life, and he didn't know what to do. Because usually it was his brother who saved him. Jackie had always been the one with the brains, while Jamie was the brawn.
"BOSS! BOSS! WHAT DO WE DO?!" One of the gang members, a Doberman, yelled at him in order to get his attention as he peeked over the hood of the car, but was instantly silenced as a bullet bored itself into his eye.
Now, it was just the two of them left, and Jamie felt even more at loss. He couldn't think of anything, because he was an idiot. The remaining gangmember was clearly losing his cool as he tried busting through the window of the car, but was swiftly taken down as his body was peppered with more shots.
Jamie was now alone. He was all alone with some sharpshooter. But, who was the sharpshooter?! Did the cops arrange for this ambush?! No…This wasn't their style at all. But who could be shooting then?!
Then, Jamies phone buzzed, indicating a text message. He cursed under his breath and pulled out the phone, showing another text from the unknown number from before. As he opened the message his eyes went wide.
"Thank you for your help, щенок. Теперь прощай (pup. Now goodbye)" The text said, when suddenly Jamie felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, spreading trough all the way out the front. His body started feeling weightless and limp, while red mist was starting to cover his eyes.
After that everything went silent, as both Judy and Nick peeked out from behind the flipped table, seeing the street littered with bodies. They slowly came out the café as Judy beheld the senseless slaughter.
Approaching one of the bodies, which with and extraordinary circumstance happened to be a golden jackal. She studied it carefully.
"Nick…Call the precinct, tell them to get over here. Bring the coroners and the forensics…" Judy whispered, trying to sound as calm as possible.
Nick nodded, pulled out his phone and started dialing the number. Meanwhile, Judy noticed a discarded phone next tot he body of the jackal. It was splattered with blood, and had a text message displayed on it, which made the bunny raise her eyebrow.
As this was happening, the ocelot had long left the rooftop and stepped out of the building through the fire-escape. Heading towards her rented car, she stopped and looked back as she pulled down her shades a little bit, looking in the direction of the crime-scene.
"And so it begins, зайчёнок (bunny)." She mumbled, as she then climbed into her car and drove off.