Chapter 13: Fox Away!

Nick paced back and forth in his cell, unable to feel even the slightest smudge of peace at the moment.

It had been roughly ten minutes since Bogo himself had told him that Judy had disappeared without a trace. After a few intense moments of panic and ranting and begging the buffalo to let him out, his boss simply assured him that all the necessary steps had been taken and that every available officer was currently out looking for her.

This did diddlysquat to calm the incarcerated vulpine though.

"I'm her partner! I have more right than anyone to try and find her!" His yelling voice echoed through the cellblock.

"As I've told you Wilde, I can't let you out," Bogo replied. "You're still facing serious charges, and you know that letting you out before any of them are debunked would violate some serious protocols. Both of us would be in hot water up to our ears if I let that happen."

Nick's grip on the bars between him and the buffalo tightened.

"But I know her better than anyone, I need to help!"

"Then do so from where you are. Giro and Spray - I mean Rayleigh, are going to come and ask you some questions; tell them all you know about Judy, and they will hop to it," Bogo said, and just before he left, he added: "Don't worry, we'll find her."

After that the poor fox had been left alone in his cell, worrying himself nearly to the grave when imagining what might have happened to her. His best bet was on the ocelot, this so-called Saint.

But she couldn't have made her way across town from the safe house and taken down Judy so easily, not after hearing what damage she had taken… She would have to be a bloody machine to accomplish that, so it must've been someone else involved.

Wandering around his cell and wondering internally who could get that close to Judy and simply take her, Nick suddenly stopped and realized that worrying sick wasn't going to solve anything. He had to get out of there and find Judy on his own, not because he didn't trust his fellow officers, but because there were places where only someone with his connections could get some useful answers. Turning around, Nick's eyes locked onto his food tray, flashing a sly grin as a plan started to form in his head.

Soon enough the two officers Giro and Rayleigh, who were a deer and a camel respectively, entered the cellblock and moved towards Nick's cell. To their great surprise they could see Nick kneeling beside his toilet seat and giving of hurling noises.

"You okay there, Wilde?" Camille Rayleigh asked nervously. The camel was a known germophobe throughout the station, and was famously nicknamed "Sprayleigh" on account of him always carrying a spray of disinfectant spray in his pocket.

"No…" Nick replied with a shaky tone. "Somebody ought to look at the expiration date on that lasagna…!"

"Jeez, maybe we ought to fetch a nurse or something." Giro mumbled as Rayleigh pulled the keycard swiped it, opening the cell door with a click. Nick stood up and turned around, wiping his mouth and looking at them with bloodshot eyes.

Rayleigh's lip curdled as he saw a tiny fragment of a carrot nestled into the fur below the foxes lip. As he and Giro walked, the camel tried to keep his distance from Nick.

"No, I need to tell you all that I know. Besides, I think it's alright now," Nick said and walked between them, only to suddenly put his paw over his mouth and bulging his cheeks. He grabbed the terrified Rayleigh by the uniform and turned to face him, letting out an audible and very convincing gagging sound. "Guess not…!"

The camel shrieked in disgust and pushed the fox away from him. That's when Nick made his move, darting out off the cell, turning, slamming the door shut and then using a very familiar looking keycard to shut the door right in the faces of the shocked officers.

Rayleigh looked down in disbelief at his hoofed hand; he had been holding the keycard the entire time, how come he hadn't noticed when it was taken from him?!

"WILDE!" Giro yelled and banged at the bars. "YOU'LL BE IN FOR A SHIT-STORM OF TROUBLE IF YOU WON'T LET US OUT IMMEDIATELY!"

"Nothing personal guys, but I'm not about to play sitting duck while my partner's in trouble." Nick said, placing the card in his back pocket.

Rushing out of the cellblock, Nick stopped on his way to the nearest fire-exit to sneak into the janitor's closet and grab a pair of work overalls (which luckily enough fit him) and a mop in order to add to the disguise. Walking quickly with the mop flung over his shoulder and a pulled down cap, several officers passed him without giving him too much attention, something he believed had something to do with his comparatively diminutive stature.

"Nick?"

Nick froze in his steps and looked up. It was Clawhauser.

"What are you doing?" The large cheetah asked in a low voice while throwing a cautious look over his shoulder. "You shouldn't be here! This will just make the situation worse, besides, y-you know we all want to find Judy!"

"I know C, but Carrots needs me. Besides, I can go and ask questions at places where you guys can't." Nick whispered and looked his friend right in the eye. His grip around the mop tightened. "Are you going to try and stop me?"

Clawhauser stared at the fox before giving off a soft sigh.

"I'll say I was on my lunch break and didn't see you, but please, do find Judy and bring her back safely… The area around the fire-escape is crowded, but you can get out through the impound lot."

Giving him a nod, Nick then left and hurried toward the suggested location. Arriving at the impound lot, Nick looked around. If he were going to find Judy, getting a set of wheels would make things considerably easier. Looking around, the fox's gaze stopped at a familiar-looking sports car and a smile started to spread across his muzzle.

"Flash-Flash, hundred yard dash, you never let me down~" Nick murmured as he made his way towards the vehicle. Popping up one of his claws, he fumbled with the lock until he heard a soft click. "What do you know? Still got it."

Climbing inside, Nick popped the dashboard open and fiddled with the wires until the engine came to life with a roar. Putting the pedal to the metal, he then sped out of the impound lot. Looking at himself in the rearview mirror, Nick pondered that he couldn't go around the city dressed like this or he might just stick out too much. But since he couldn't go back to his old place, and going to his mom was out of the question, he instead decided to go to his old backup place, where he always used to go when the heat was on his old hustling days.

The place in question was located near the harbor, in the shadow of large, trafficked bridge. It was an old amusement park that had been locked down and left to gather dust since the late 60's, called Wild Times.

Parking the car near the entrance, Nick stepped out and looked up. A very old, rust-riddled sign depicting a smiling kit with a thumbs up was located at the locked and chained gate, where big letters that had once spelled the park's full name within a black speech-bubble had fallen off or become stolen.

A strange sense of nostalgia washed over him, as he recalled the time when had tried to gather enough money to buy the park and clean it up, re-name it Wilde Times and make a real establishment out of it.

However, something always came between him and that ambition, so he simply gave up on it to focus on smaller and safer jobs. Back in his hustling days Nick would come here with Finnick and stash various kinds of merchandize, or just get drunk and bring some girls, testing their sense of adventure by going third base atop the Roar-A-Coaster.

Getting through the gate with relative ease, Nick approached an old looking trailer. He opened the door, which to his surprise came off its hinges. Putting the door aside, the fox stepped inside the trailer, where everything seemed like it had been frozen in time since the last time he was there. He saw an old mattress with it's stuffing leaking out, a writing-desk with a broken mirror, boxes of bootleg items which he had never ended up selling, and a large wardrobe. Sighing a little, Nick went over to the closet. He soon replaced the janitor clothes with a white shirt, a black tie and an old gray jacket complete with matching gray pants. Not bothering to adjust the tie, Nick then dug trough his jacket's right pocket and produced a small notebook from it; just what he was looking for. He quickly browsed trough it until he found the needed name. Placing the notebook back in his pocket, he ten went over to a flea-bitten old carpet in the corner of the trailer. Pulling it away, he then kneeled down and removed a loose section of the floor.

He smiled triumphantly; his hidden treasure had not been disturbed.

About an hour later, Nick was sitting in Flash's car with the window rolled down, carefully studying the house before his eyes.

It was a fairly worn-looking house, it's unkempt lawn littered with street looking thug types, with the rising sun it was almost giving it a strange Michael Bay feeling, only thing that was missing was a chopper flying in slow motion over the house, maybe some police sirens in the distance. Stepping out, Nick made his way toward the house. It didn't take long before he found his path blocked by a panda with a tank top and a pair of big, tattoo-patterned arms.

"I'm here to see Midnight," Nick muttered. The panda studied him with a skeptical look before turning around and escorting the fox inside.

Inside, Nick saw more of the same gang members, most of them drinking, smoking weed or playing video games, a lot of them doing so while having their free hands down some lady-friend's blouse.

Making his way up to the second floor, Nick then entered a fairly large room and then spotted the lemur that he had come for.

He looked like he was roughly in his forties, wearing a dented top hat and a very old coat and leaning back in a large and comfy chair. There were other thugs in the room whom were all busy doing their own things on both sides of the lemur.

Spotting Nick, Midnight flashed a crooked smile as he gestured for Nick to come closer.

"Nick, hail up. What brings a bagowire like I-yah to ma' gully? You have nerve to bring I-yah rasshole to ma' big yard" Midnight said as Nick came up to him. "I-man heard I-yah be workin' for the whole Babylon system mon."

"Tch, just trying to become a better person, Midnight, not that I'd expect you to understand." Nick said, his eyes narrowing a little bit. "Listen, I came here for a favor. A friend of mine has gone missing, and I know you got your ears in all corners of this town."

The lemur smirked and adjusted his top hat. Nick's ear flickered as he heard some of the thugs moving in the background and the door behind him getting locked.

"I-yah right, I-man knowing somethin'. But, I-yah forgettin how I-yah stole some cheddar and high grade from ma' rude bwoy." Midnight said, shaking his head. "I-yah have to understand, I-man cannot forget such stuff, or ma'thug skulls won't respect me as a Don Dada, and I-man had to a lot to reach this level of Big Bout yah."

Looking over his shoulder, Nick noticed the thugs starting to loom over him in a threatening manner. He looked back at Midnight with an annoyed expression, who was busy tapping his little fingers together.

"Midnight, you're making a big mistake." Before Nick could finish the lemur raised his paw and shook his head.

"No sah, looks like ya already made ah big mistake yah-self. Oi, ya thug skulls teach this fox a lesson, an dun' be shy about quaff him." Midnight said, which made Nick sigh as the fox stood up and turned around.

"So, guess we're going to do this the hard way…" Nick muttered and calmly opened his jacket.

Judy let out groan as she began to awaken; her head was feeling two sizes too small for her brain, and the air she breathed felt hot and heavy like in a sauna. Then her ears twitched as she heard the low sound of someone singing.

"No wealth, no land

No silver, no gold

Nothing satisfy's me but your soul

I'm Death

I come to take the soul"

Coughing and smacking a bone-dry mouth, Judy slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a fairly small apartment, which seemed to be just slightly bigger than Judy's own place with two rooms.

There was a major lack of furniture, not counting the bed on which Judy had her foot handcuffed to. Also next to it stood a lone suitcase, a small coffee table with a wooden chair, along with two working fans and an air conditioner, which looked like it was twice as old as the bunny.

Judy's ears focused on the melody, which was coming from the second room. Soon enough a figure stepped into the room and the bunny's eyes went wide. Before her was the very same ocelot she fought in Honey's lab, the one who had injured all her fellow officers, and the one who had framed Nick, she was in the same room with her. Moving away according to instinct, Judy found herself painfully reminded of the fact that her foot was cuffed, and very tightly so.

Looking at this, the ocelot rolled her eyes as she approached her captive and sat a small tray on the table, along with a bottle of water, during which Judy could see how one of her arms were heavily bandaged.

"You may want to drink this. This heat is not going away any time soon," Alexis murmured before smiling at Judy. "Don't worry, the water isn't poisoned~"

Glaring at the ocelot, Judy still reached for the bottle, opened it and took a few deep gulps. As the cold water went through her body, the bunny began to cool down and relax. Putting the bottle back on the table, Judy looked back at Alexis, who still smiled at her in a friendly way.

Then, Judy remembered what had transpired before she had lost consciousness.

"Moony…! So he was your inside contact, wasn't he?"

At first Alexis looked like she had no idea what Judy was talking about, but then she got a look of realization and let out a little laugh.

"So that's what he's calling himself? Heh, he's not very creative with his names, but I guess if you're that good with disguises, it hardly matters what you call yourself."

"Where am I?" Judy then asked, not expecting a clear answer, though the heat was already an obvious giveaway.

"Sahara Square, that's all you're going to get~" The ocelot replied, crossing her palms together "As for what I, or rather we, are going to do to you, you'll just have to wait and see. Now… Any other questions before I leave?"

"Yeah…" Judy asked and scanned the ocelot with a suspicious look. "What do you have against me and Nick?"

"Nothing really… It's mostly business-related. I'm pretty sure that both uncle Kozlov and Mr. Big informed you about my profession," Alexis replied. "To be honest, I kind of увожаю (respect) you and your foxy partner. While I was in France I heard of you during the Night-howler incident. I found it impressive how you could come back from making such clumsy statements and then simply save the day. Quite an applaud worthy thing I must say."

"Getting compliments from a cold hearted psychopath is hardly flattering." Judy grumbled, which got a soft laugh from the ocelot.

"'Psychopath'…! I don't think I've earned that title. Real psychopaths gain pleasure from the horrible things they do, I on the other hand feel nothing."

"Could have fooled me with all murders you committed in some twisted fashion." Judy fired back as she pulled on the cuff on her foot. "I read your file, and all I can say is that you're splitting hairs. You're a textbook nut-job if I ever saw one!"

Looking at her in silence, Alexis smile dimmed a little.

"You know what the difference between you and me is?" She suddenly asked, making the bunny raise an eyebrow. Before she could give any snarky retort though, the ocelot suddenly pulled out a revolver from inside her suit. Spinning the chamber, she then pointed the gun at Judy, making the bunny's heart stop.

"You're scared of смерти (death)… You may act all tough, but you are still scared, because you feel that if you died, you would fail everyone and make everyone sad; Your friends, your co-workers, your family, your… precious fox. Plus, you also feel that you would regret being unable to fulfill your duty." Alexis explained softly, before pulling back the hammer of the gun and then aiming it at her temple. "Me on the other hand…."

"WAIT DO-" Judy yelled as she realized what she was about to do, but was interrupted as the trigger got squeezed and nothing but a small click escaped the gun. Judy stared at the ocelot and blinked. The assassin hadn't even flinched.

"… Not so much… You know why? Because nobody will cry for me, nobody will miss me. In fact, I'd say there will be probably a lot of people who will be happy to know that a person like me will be gone." She purred, tapping the gun against her forehead. "And before you think this isn't loaded…" Spinning the chamber again, she then aimed at the air conditioner and fired, putting the damn thing out of its misery with a loud bang that prompted Judy to cover her over-sensitive ears.

Looking at Alexis, the bunny didn't know what to say. The ocelot was clearly deranged, though not in the aggressive, erratic way like the Leerdon brothers. This person was detached and focused, an animal that seemed to live up to the worst fears that any pre-conceptive prey might imagine when thinking of a predator, being both lethal and unfeeling.

Blowing away the smoke from the gun, Alexis then looked at her watch and gave off a whistle. "Seems like I can't play anymore right now." She then put the gun back inside her suit and grabbed her suitcase. "You will be given enough food and water to sustain yourself each day, though not very much… I am guessing that my employer does like the idea of starving you a little, just for the fun of it. That kind of petty sadism isn't my kind of thing though, so some other guys will watch you while I'm gone. Also, I'd advice you on not trying to escape. If that gunshot should tell you something, then it's that this is not the kind of surroundings where calling for help will be of any use. Besides, these are not nice people who will be watching you; they might just be waiting for an excuse to yank one of your feet off to keep as a good luck charm."

After saying this, the feline stood up and made her way towards the door.

"You really have no-one?" Judy asked all of a sudden, making Alexis stop and look back. The bunny officer tilted her head, almost resembling a small child who was looking for answers with an adult. "Nobody who'll miss you?"

Looking away, Alexis went trough her memory bank. The image of the caracal entered her mind, but she quickly pushed that thought away. He was in love with the persona she had created, not her.

Turning her head back, she flashed her usual sweet smile, which to Judy now began to resemble some weird mask.

"Nope. That's how I've lived, and that's how I'll die." She purred, though this to started to sound synthetic.

"That sounds so sad and lonely…" Judy said. The tone in her voice was now different from before, and so was her eyes, looking at the hired gun with a visible amount of sympathy. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Alexis eyes narrowed, and a flicker of intense animosity suddenly made itself known in her face. The ocelot did not care for this at all.

"Иди нахуй (go fuck yourself)… I never asked for your pity… I have no need for it!" The ocelot said, and she then opened the door and then slammed it really hard after herself, leaving Judy all alone.

"Jessum peace!" Midnight exclaimed as he looked at what Nick was holding in his paw. "Is that what I-man think it is?"

"It is," Nick said as he placed rectangle-shaped plastic box on the table. "Action 52, original package with only minor surface damages." Midnight gestured towards his thugs to back off, which they did, and then carefully grabbed the box. "The worst NES-game ever, but also, as you should know, one of the rarest and therefore most valuable," Nick continued as the lemur examined the old game, confirming every word which he had said.

"How did I-yah get a hold of this?"

"That's my little secret," the fox replied with a superior grin. "All you need to know is that there's more where that came from. I have in my possession at least a dozen different Chinese bootleg toys, seven limited edition cereal boxes of Lucky Chomps from the 70's and 80's, and a couple of rare VHS-copies of The Silent War. It may not be cocaine, but as you know, for your average collector these rare items are pretty much as precious as gold." Then, Nick pointed at the game in Midnight's fingers. "You may keep that one so that you can properly authenticate it. Heck, you can keep it as the first half of our agreement, cause if you help me, I'll give you the rest for free. Does this sound agreeable to you?"

"Yah man…W-Whatever I-yah wants, I-man will get it for ya frien'!" Midnight whispered holding the copy of Action 52 high in the air with a look of awe.

"Great, now, tell me did you hear anything about a grey bunny being spotted anywhere? Or a female ocelot wearing a suit?" Nick asked, his foot impatiently tapping under the table.

"Mmmm… No-sah man, I-man haven't heard of any bunny-gyal… However…" Midnight went silent as he rubbed his chin in thought. "I-man was told by one of me rude bwoy's how dis goodaz-ocelot and some funky rams threw some cheddar around and bought some of mi ol'crack houses in da gully. Didn't say what they were gonna with it, but as long as I-man got mi cheddar I-man didn't see no reason to snoop on their business."

"Really now?" Nick said with interest. "And where are these buildings?"