The sun rose. The first rays of the morning peeked through the window, illuminating the only flower that rested on a cup with water on it.
Suddenly, a piercing sound of an alarm from a cellphone rang into the bedroom. Followed by the groan of a big feline who tossed on his bed, and blindly tried to reach for his phone, failing since his eyes were still closed, glued shut after a night of heavy sleep.
Luckily, for him, someone else picked the phone and hit the snooze button on the alarm app, causing the piercing sound to stop.
The puma, whose ears were hurting from the sharp beeping of his phone, let out a sigh of relieve, before he finally opened his eyes and allowed them to adjust to the luminosity, so he could see the mammal who had turned the alarm off and was standing now before him.
Huh... now looking at naked animals is like looking at naked people... Alex though as the image of Linda came into view. She was naked as the day she was born (although she was not born with horns), and, to Alex, this was a familiar sight. This was the only reason why the puma was not embarrassed by seeing a naked lady before him.
And was the same reason why he was not embarrassed of being naked before her.
"Morning, handsome." Linda said, a smile on her face as she bent over, leaning over the bed and kissing Alex on the lips. Alex let out a purr as he kissed her back. The memories of last night still fresh on his mind, like a beautiful, pleasurable dream that he relived after going to sleep after the deed was done.
He could remember her soft skin and fur under his fingers. How soft her lips felt. How tender her flesh was against his own...
Alex purring grew louder, as he deepened the kiss. Linda had to pull back.
"Easy there, cougar." She said to him, "I'd love to go again, but we gotta get ready for work."
Alex felt a little dismayed after hearing this. After nearly a week practically avoiding physical contact with his girlfriend, the mammal who just recovered the ability to be intimate with her wanted nothing more than to make up for the lost time.
"We really don't have time?" The cougar whined, and the gazelle said:
"No, we don't."
"Not even for a quick one?" Alex said to her, "You know I can make it in five minutes if I want to... even though I can last thirty." Alex added the last part quickly, as his instinctual male pride told him not to ruin his own image before the girl he was dating. Linda could only chuckle as she looked at him.
"Oh, you silly kitty." Linda said, leaning over once more, and planting a kiss on his forehead. "We will have plenty of time for that later. Right now, we really gotta get ready for work."
"She is right, you know?" came a voice from the other end of the wall. "You guys don't want to lose your jobs!"
"Oh, come on! Let them have a good time in the morning! We have every now and then!"
"Yeah, on Sundays when you don't need to work at the bar! Today is a weekday! They need to go to work! And so do you, by the way! Why are you still only on your underwear? And when did you bought that one!? Did you used the money I told you to save to fix the radio!?"
"Oh, shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
"I forget how thin those walls are..." Alex said, and then, he realized it. He and Linda looked at each other, before they both blushed.
They were pretty loud last night. Especially when Alex started growling...
"Maybe we could go to a motel tonight..." Linda said, "But, about that later. Now we have to take a bath. I'll go first, if you don't mind." She said as she picked her towel and wrapped around her body, before walking to the door.
"We can bath together." Alex said, making Linda stop and turn to look at him with her hoof still on the doorknob. "You know, to save time so we can arrive at home early. We can also save water this way. You know, I rub your back, and you help me with that spot I can't reach?"
She smiled at him.
"Nice try, lover boy. I'll be back in ten minutes." She said, before opening the door and walking out in the hallway, before closing it behind her. Alex looked at the door, and he had a smirk of his own on his muzzle.
"It was a good try." Pronk said from the other side of the wall.
"Yeah, you try it nearly every day."
"And you fall for it half of the time."
"Shut up."
"No, you shut up!"
Soon, the two mammals are on their way out to work. Along with Pronk himself. They tried to make conversation with him, like they did on the previous days, but once more Pronk was brief with them.
He was not openly hostile like he was during the first time they spoke, but he was still not the friendliest of guys. Still, it was nice to have a word with him before he would go to take the subway to go to his workplace. Some bar on another part of the city. Meanwhile, Alex and Linda walked to their own workplace on the pet shop.
As they walked, Alex could not help but be all flirty with Linda, as he was still feeling frisky after their little party last night. Linda, on her own, was feeling frisky herself, but she was too much more elegant than her boyfriend to be openly flirty. However, she did shook her hips with a bit more emphasis when she was walking in front of him.
Man, she knew how to drive him crazy!
Alex was so focus on her that he completely failed to notice the news on a paper someone was readying right by their side as they passed. A new that both him and Linda should have really noticed while they continued their way.
They could even have noticed it when they passed by two other newspaper stands on their way to their job. However, they were still too focus on each other to pay attention to it. However, they did noticed what was happening in front of the pet shop when they arrived.
"What's going on?" Linda asked as she and Alex stopped to see the crowd that has formed in front of their workplace. There should be at least forty mammals all gathered around the front of the store. And that was only counting the mammals around the same size as Linda and Alex, once they started counting the smaller ones, they realized that there were even more.
They were all of different species, but they all looked like they were writing for something, with the ones closest to the crowd looking like they were trying to peek inside.
"What are they all doing here?" Alex asked, looking at all of those mammals gathered in front of the pet shop, and he then noticed that some of them had cameras, both photographic and of video.
"Pst!" Said a voice "Pst! Alex! Linda! Pst!"
They both looked at the person who spoke, and they looked to the side to see the face of a familiar sheep.
"Sheppard?" Alex asked, "What is happening?"
"Shh!" The sheep said to them, before gesturing them both to come closer and to "don't let them see you". With this, the two followed the sheep.
They entered the alley by the side of the store after him, and walked to the back, with a door that was the back entrance of the pet shop, the place through which they took out the trash, including the molded feathers and skins of the pets and the used tissues of caring for the animals.
Once they were inside, Sheppard let out a sigh of relief, and the two meta mammals, once more, asked the sheep what was going.
"Why are all of those people up the front?" Alex asked, "The store is having some kind of sale today or something?"
Sheppard turned to the two.
"They are here because of you two."
Alex and Linda blinked, looking at each other.
"Do any of you read the Inquiring Gazelle?" The sheep asked, and it soon became obvious that neither of them even knew what that was. "Well, it is a newspaper. Not a big one. Actually, they are kind of mediocre. But, this morning they came up with something interesting." He explained to the two, picking up a newspaper and showing it to them. "Take a read."
They only needed to take one look at the newspaper to know what it was all about.
They were on the front page!
A picture of Alex and Linda, the cougar shooting a bolt of lightning from his paw, both of them still wearing their uniform of the petshop. Over it, the headlines read: META MAMMALS FIGHT AT THE PROPERTY OF KUMA AKIRA.
"Oh, dear god..." Linda said, as Alex picked the newspaper from the sheep's hooves and started reading it himself. It basically spoke of how they fought another meta mammal into the property of that panda with the help of two cops. And it had more photos inside.
"We are all the way from pages two to seven!" Alex said as he flipped through the pages, which caught shots of himself, of Linda, and even from that bull from yesterday. All of the photos actually had rather impressive closes of them, as they even caught the moment when Linda used her telekinesis to toss the bull, and the moment after he exploded, leaving the whole mansion in flames.
"Yes, you are." Sheppard said to the two of them. "And they managed to identify our uniforms, so they figured out you two are working here. They started appearing early in the morning. At first, it were just some curious guys, but them the reporters started showing up.
"They think we were investigating Kuma's criminal activity?" Linda asked, as she read the lines that were on the middle, which seemed to raise the possibility that the two of them had been in disguise in order to investigate the activities of the local Yakuza leader. Quite sensationalist, to be honest.
"You mean all those guys out there are here just to see us?" Alex asked, and the sheep confirmed that they, indeed, were.
"Which is why I thought I should keep you guys from falling into their clutches. Those reporters in particular seem rather vicious, flocking around and hoovering over the place like vultures..."
Speaking of which...
"They are back here!" Said someone, startling the three mammals, they looked to see a gerbil looking at the three of them. How did that small guy could scream so loud?
"Back here, guys! They are both here!"
"Oh, crap!" Alex could say, before more mammals started coming through the back door and forcing their way into the place. Before he knew it, both him and Linda were being swarmed by the mammals, some of them were forcing mics on their way and snapping pictures.
"Mr. Hunter! A word, please!"
"Mr. Hunter, would you give a statement about yesterday's events?"
"When have you started working on this establishment?"
"Wait!" Alex said, feeling more than a little overwhelming by all of those mammals around him at once. Linda was not much better. "Wait, wait!"
"Miss, you would give us your name?"
"Were you in there to apprehend Kuma Akira for his activities as a yakuza?" A leopard asked the two. "Were you two going to deliver him to justice?"
"What? No!" Alex said, "We were just there to deliver him his peacock!"
"So you're saying there is no criminal activity at all in Kuma Akira's business?" The leopard asked.
"Yes. I mean, no! I mean... I don't know! I never even heard about the guy until yesterday!"
"Were you there to deal with the meta mammal, then?" Asked a female deer reporter. "You knew he was going to attack that area? Have you been previously informed?"
"No, we weren't." Linda said, "We were just there to deliver Aki, we had no idea anything would happen."
"So it was just a coincidence that you two were there?" Asked a lamma, and then a beaver came forward and said:
"Yesterday makes the third event involving a meta mammal in the span of a month. Fourth, if the events of the mall are included. Should the population be worried about this? Should we expect more events with meta mammals?"
"Well..." Alex said, as he didn't knew how to answer that. He knew that there could still be more of Stoat's guys out there.
As well as his own friends...
"Do you think that some kind of new law should be approved?" A bunny asked, "A new legislation to regulate the activities of meta mammals?"
"There could be more attacks on the future?"
"Why up until today the events with meta mammals seem to be focusing only in Zootopia?"
"Meta mammals are somehow gathering him?"
"Are meta mammals attracted by others like them?"
"Do they have an innate knowledge of the position of other mammals with special powers?"
"Can you feel the presence of other mammals with special powers?"
All of those questions and more came all at once, to the point where Alex and Linda didn't even had time to actually answer to any of them. All they could do was try and make sense of what was happening, as the reporters around them were nearly on a frenzy.
Then, a loud bleat cut through their voices, as everyone turned to see a sheep swinging a baseball bat above his head like a mad man as he bleated like he lost his mind.
"This is a workplace!" Lambert said to all of the reporters. "You are disrupting my business! Get out now before I call the police!"
"But we just want to-" one of the reporters tried to say, but Lambert was having none of that.
"O-U-T! OUT!"
That, along with the way that the sheep was swinging the bat, was enough to chase all of the reporters out, save for a gerbil who seemed a little bit confused, but who squeaked and ran away like mad once the sheep was standing (quite literally) right above him. Once they were all out, Lambert closed the door and locked it, letting out a sigh as he relaxed.
"Thanks for that." Alex said to him, after all three of them recovered from that literal media frenzy.
"Hey, I gotta look out for my employees, right?" The sheep said to the puma and gazelle. "Now, what about you two take a breather and then change in your work clothes? We got a lot of stuff to do today."
Alex and Linda were only glad to do so. As soon as they recovered, they were changing into their workplace uniforms, and then they were off to work.
However, it proved not to be the easiest task. The reporters were once more back to the front of the store, and looking at them through the glass doors. As soon as they had Alex or Linda on their field of vision, they would point their cameras at them and start recording and flashing, while the reporters tried to mouth to them for them to come outside and have a word with them.
Alex and Linda knew that today would be a long day...
The day hardly started, and Jeff was already in trouble.
"Yes, I know I'm late, and I'm terribly sorry." Jeff said to his supervisor at work as he was quickly getting dressed as he held the phone to one of his big ears. He was now on his way to putting a clean pair of pants, in place of the ones he spent the entire previous night wearing. "I'm terribly sorry. I'll be arriving there in around twenty minutes. Maybe twenty-two and thirty seconds. And I'll do all the tasks I need to... Yes. Yes, I'll have the documents ready for the reunion at ten, you don't have to worry about that. I'll have it done in fifteen minutes... Yes, fifteen minutes. What, you think I can't? Well, I'm certainly going to surprise you. Well, see you in a bit."
With this, Jeff hang up the phone, and then he proceeded to put a shirt, his blazer and his tie. He was glad that he had time to bathe before the phone rang. No way he would go to the office before taking a bath.
When he was a human, he would not actually bother. After all, it was not as if humans went around sniffing each other, that was just rude. It was also rude around that world. However, we were talking about a world where pretty much everyone had a nose far more sensitive than that of a human. A nose that could easily pick up the scent of a sweaty armpit, or of a stinking shirt.
Or of chemical products.
That would be much more awkward.
Before going, Jeffrey took his time to pick up everything he had been using all night on the previous night. The bickers, the tubes, the decanters, all of the things that he had to use on the long and exhaustive process he had to perform to be able to produce more of his precious product.
Honestly, with all those things there, the place now looked more like a drug lab than an actual kitchen. However, instead of producing heroin or something else to sell on the streets, Jeffrey was producing his material for his own personal use.
However, he knew he would be in just as much of a complicated situation if people caught on the materials on his kitchen.
He would have to answer many difficult questions.
That was why the mouse made sure to clean everything as best as he could. With bleach and other cleaning products to clean the stain and with air freshener all over the place to cover the smell of the chemicals he spent the night working with.
That thing was so strong that Jeff, with all his genius, wondered how did mammals actually bought that crap. However, for his goals it was perfect. That strong "rainforest dew" scent would cover up the smell of the chemicals. No way even a wolf would be able to catch a whiff of the chemicals hidden beneath it. They would probably choke on the air freshener from trying to so hard before they did.
And, of course, Jeff had to hide everything. Luckily, he had prepared the needed places to hide his chemistry material. Old apartments like that tended to have holes on the walls and loose boards. Perfect hiding places.
All of his material fit in there perfectly. And the big bottled vial of dark liquid that was the fruit of Jeff's night of sleepless labor was hid underneath Jeff's bed, where it could be easily reach for. Good thing too, because the one injection Jeffrey gave himself before proceeding to go to work was the last one of his previous batch. He was glad that he was able to replenish his stash right on time. Good thing, because increasing the time between doses was proving to be a real challenge for the mouse.
But this new batch he just finished would be lasting at least three more months. Like the one that Jeffrey did back home before he ended up on this new world of talking animals that nearly seemed like a Disney animation. He was still glad that the emergency stock he always carried with himself came there with him, otherwise he would have been screwed.
And now he had more ready and, since he lived on a miniature city made for rodents around his size, Jeffrey didn't had to worry about his friends finding out. Well, at least he had an extra sense of safety.
A sense that was immediately follow by guilt. Guilt for hiding this from his friends, who knew and trusted him. However, he knew that he needed to.
Well, he took way too long. He needed to go now if he wanted to arrive at work in time.
With everything stashed away in safety, and a single syringe of his homebrewed substance safely stashed inside his pocket, for emergencies, Jeffrey was on his way to work.
He barely opened the front door of his shabby hotel, when a figure walked in front of him, standing on his way.
The mammal in question was around nine inches tall, meaning he towered over Jeff, being over twice as tall as the mouse. He had similar features as a rodent himself, but they were sharper, with brown-colored fur and a single red eye that looked back at Jeff, with the other one being covered in an eyepatch. The rattus norvegicus stood before Jeff, wearing the same red shirt, black jacket and long white pants he was on the first time Jeffrey saw him. He was even wearing the same golden chains of last time, in spite of the green shade they were making the brown fur around his neck turn.
"Oh, hey Toothpick." Jeff said to the rat, who smiled at him.
"Smalls." He said, his voice sounding raspy, certainly a result of the many years he obviously spent smoking tobacco. Jeff could assume it by the yellowing of his teeth, as well as by the strong scent that Toothpick had on his breath. Not to mention the many other signs someone like Jeff could see on him that easily denoted him as a heavy smoker.
"I cannot talk now, I have to go take a train." Jeff said, trying to walk around him, only for the rat to step on his path.
"It's been a week, Smalls." Toothpick said to the mouse. "A week and a day."
"Right, thanks for reminding me." Jeff said, "I won't forget."
Once more, the mouse tried to step around the rat, only for the bigger rodent to step on his way, blocking his path.
"The money, Smalls." Toothpick said to the mouse. "We want our payment."
Jeff looked at him. He knew full well what the rat was talking about.
Jeff could be a genius like few others on the world (both his original world and this one). However, even geniuses had their limits. You needed money to make things happen.
Jeffrey needed money to be able to fabricate his precious supply. He needed money to be able to make what he needed to be able to continue functioning normally. And, unfortunately, his request for a forward payment by the company he was currently employed was swiftly denied, and Jeff was too smart to press his luck by trying to ask again. Just like he was smart enough to know that, due to his lack of credentials and references due to not being native to that universe, he could not simply go into a bank for a loan.
So, the only solution Jeff had was to look to borrow money from some... less reputable sources. Luckily, Little Rodentia, like every good big city, had at least one place where one could get such things.
Officially, Little Rodentia was under the command of Mr. Big, who founded it decades ago to create a proper home for his fellow rodents. However, like a plover picking the scraps from the meal of a crocodile's mouth, some smaller criminals found a way to thrive amidst the city Mr. Big created.
Such was the example of the dubious loan shark that Jeff found around that same area of the small city. The guy who gladly gave him the money he asked for in cash, with a rather high interest rate, and warned Jeff of the consequences if he failed to pay. He was pretty good painting a graphic image...
And Toothpick was there, of course, glaring at Jeff as if he wanted to bore holes into him with his gaze, and snarling at him with his yellowed teeth as soon as Jeff tried to talk to him. And now, there he was, standing on Jeff's way and preventing him from going to his work, to which he was already late.
"We want our money, Smalls." Toothpick said, "Mr. Sneaks is not one to take it nicely when people to pay him."
"Yes, I remember when he told me that." Jeffrey said, speaking truthfully to the rat. "Just like I remember that he told me that I had two weeks to pay back the money with the interest rate and everything. Two weeks, not just one week and a day. So, there is no need for you to glare at me like you're hoping me to spontaneously combust."
Jeffrey said that and then he decided to just go his way. He managed to pass between the rat's legs and go down the stairs with minimal effort. However, passing by Toothpick and losing him were two completely different things.
"Just wanted to make sure you remember your debt, Smalls." The rat said as he followed him. First down the stairs and then throughout the streets. No one gave much attention to a rat following a mouse close by. This kind of thing was not that uncommon on that part of Little Rodentia. Actually, a lot of them already knew Toothpick, as he was a familiar face around those parts.
"My job is to make sure that people who borrow money from us don't forget their debts." The rat spoke to the mouse, as he followed him so close that it was like he was trying to make his best impression of a shadow, while Jeff remained impassive. "To make sure they will remember to pay back on time, and the consequences if they don't."
"Well, you don't have to worry about me forgetting any of it. "Jeff sad to him, "I don't know about the other people who borrow money form you guys, but I can assure you that there will be no problem of me ever forgetting to pay you back. My memory is very good."
Jeff hoped that this would get the conversation done with, so he could go back to his work in peace. However, he was not expecting Toothpick to lean over and whisper on his ear:
"Even when you're injecting that stuff on your arm?"
This caused Jeff to pause. He stopped, but just for a moment, which was enough for Toothpick to continue, as the mouse resumed walking:
"I saw you piercing yourself on the alley after you left."
"You were following me?" Jeff asked, not turning around to look at him, but having a serious expression on his face.
"I wanted to have a little word to you after you disrespected me in front of the boss." Toothpick said, and Jeff knew what he meant by "a little word", and the Rat continued:
"That was when I saw you sitting against the wall, moaning like a poor little bitch while you injected whatever was on that syringed on yourself. Gotta say, I already saw a lot of the junk out there. Never tried, of course, but I've seen it. But that black stuff you were pumping in was something new. What is that?"
Jeff didn't answered, and he simply continued walking.
"What, nothing to say, you project of Ewestein?" Toothpick said, and Jeff could hear the smirk on his voice. "Did you know that Mr. Sneaks is really not a fan of junkies? They have a tendency to forget to pay their debts, and to be very disrespectful when we try to ask them to pay. They call him names, and make all excuses you can imagine. Not to mention that, a few years ago, a junkie stabbed his sister on the face. Left her with a nasty scar."
Jeff simply continued his way, with the rat following him close by. The rat was still talking low on his ear, as he didn't wanted everyone to hear what was the subject they were talking about. Jeff didn't wanted that either.
"So, excuse me if I decided to take extra measures to be sure we will get our money back, and prevent my boss from getting any unnecessary stress." The rat said to him, "I mean, if Mr. Sneaks finds out that you borrowed money from him only to buy junk to put on your veins..."
Jeff stopped, spinning on his mouse heels and now standing face to face with the rat, with a face so serious that it caught the rat completely off-guard, causing him to step back and recoil.
"I remember my debt very clearly." Jeff said to him, each word deliberated and calculated. "I won't be forgetting, and I'll be paying it by next week when I get my paycheck. You don't have to worry, and neither you have to follow me around like a vulture following a dying animal on the desert. I really have to go to work now so I can earn the paycheck that will be paying your money back. So, you want to take measures that will ensure you have your money? There is only one measure to follow right now..."
As Jeff spoke, he walked towards the rat, who stepped back as the smaller rodent advanced towards him with firm steps, and then said, with a voice that was just as firm:
"Leave. Me. Alone."
For a long moment, they only looked at each other, before the rat eventually said:
"You have our money ready on time, or I'll be coming with friends next."
Then, just like that, Toothpick turned away and left, leaving the mouse to look at him until he has gotten far enough.
Then Jeff sighed. It had been a while since he last had to puff his chest and play macho with someone like that.
Still, he knew that, if he didn't had the money in time, that little show of manliness would not save him, although he was pretty sure his combat skills would...
Jeff decided that it was best to just drop this and go back to work. He was already late enough.
As he walked in direction to the local miniature train station, Jeff couldn't help but think on how he was still capable of getting himself in such situations.
Even with all his genius, he just could not figure out the answer...
Those guys are everywhere! Linda thought as she rushed out of the pet shop's restroom.
She had just been surprise by a bunch of flashes coming from the small window while she was trying to pee. She had been caught off guard, and a sudden movement of her hoof had been enough to send the mammals holding cameras peeking through the window to fall all around, pushed back by the force of her telekinesis.
She finished what she went there to do as fast as possible and then rushed out of the restroom.
However, this only meant that she was, once more, on the clear sight of the cameras looking at her through the clear glass door and windows of the store, all of them pointing at her. Some cameras released flashes as they captured pictures of her, while others were recording her every move.
Some of the reporters out there were tapping on the glass while looking at her, gesturing and mouthing at her to "come out and talk to us". This made Linda feel like a fish in an aquarium.
Alex was not much better either. The puma was trying his best to focus on his work, but it proved to be a real challenge with all of those reporters out there ready to get an exclusive interview with him, being only stopped by Lambert's words regarding how the store was private property and how they should not go inside unless it was to by something or to bring their pets.
Surprisingly, some of them came inside with lizards and birds that they looked like they had picked from the street...
Still, the two mammals did their best to continue working, even with all of those reporters camping outside, not only making them feel watched but getting on the way of actual clients.
And the clients themselves were giving them attention.
Apparently the Inquiring Gazelle was not as meaningless as Lambert had told them. A number of their clients for the day apparently read it, and they knew that Alex and Linda worked there, and they both wanted to see them in person. Two of them even asked for Alex's autograph, what the puma actually gave to them, just to get them to either buy something or leave him alone.
And, of course, there were their own co-workers, who caught wind of this and were now casting glances at the two mammals. All of that only added to the awkwardness of the two mammals working there and trying to act as if they didn't had literally dozens of eyes on them.
If it was going to be like that from there on, then it would be a real challenge to keep working on that store.
However, something else would happen that day. Something that would change the course of their lives.
And it started with a limousine parking by the sidewalk, near the mass of reporters.
The reporters were all still focused on the store, trying to get shots of the meta mammals inside. However, their attention soon shifted as they noticed the big mammals who had just showed their faces coming out of the limo.
The mass of reporters was force to part, as two rhinos on black suits forced them to open space, while a third one walked into the store.
As that big animal made his way into the pet store, he soon became the center of attention. Including to Alex and Linda, who were currently feeding a pair of parrots as the rhino walked straight to them.
"Alex Hunter and Linda Thompson?" He asked in a gruffy voice.
Alex and Linda shared a look.
"Yes?"
"Please, come with me." The rhino said, and this, once more, caused the two to share a look.
"Why?"
"I need you two to come with me." He said, and then Alex asked:
"Okay, who the heck are you?"
"Eugene Rhinovert." The rhino said to the two. "Head of Mayor Amur's security team. I need you two to come with me. The Mayor is requesting your presence."
"What, the mayor?" Linda asked, and now she and Alex all of sudden had their interest peaked. "What does the mayor wants with us?"
"Everything will be explained once we are at City Hall." Rhinovert said, "Now, if you two would come with me, please."
Alex and Linda were still unsure, and that was when Lambert decided to appear, and now he wanted to know what was with the "penguin-costumed rhino". Linda and Alex were soon telling him that it was something to do with the mayor.
"Oh, really?" Lambert said, looking at the rhino. "And what does Mayor Amur wants with my employees?"
"That's an official matter." The rhino said, and then he once more asked Linda and Alex, as politely as possible, to come with him and his associated to the City Hall. He explained to them that it was important, and that he really needed to take the two to City Hall.
Lambert, after looking at the rhino for a few moments, turned to the two and asked them if they were willing to go with him.
Linda and Alex were not sure.
"Please, don't make me beg." The rhino said to the two, with the same gruff voice and serious expression. "Mayor Amur was very serious when he said how much he wanted you two to meet with her on city hall, and I don't want to have to show up without you two."
Linda looked at him, and then at Alex. Alex looked back at her, and then, against his own common sense, he decided to accept the mayor's invitation.
I mean, it did sounded to be something important, from the way the rhino spoke...
And Lambert himself spoke to the two:
"Hey, Amur is certainly a much better mayor than our two previous ones. If he is sending his guys to pick up you two in the middle of the day, it must be something really important. You guys should go."
They both shared a look after hearing this from the sheep. They were still a bit unsure, but they eventually made a decision.
It took a few minutes, but they eventually were making their way out of the store back on their regular clothes. As they did, flashes assaulted the two, as well as questions coming from all of the reporters trying to get to them, but they were keep at bay by the rhinos, who prevented them from getting any close. The rhino who talked to them on the store, in particular, was the one keeping the reporters the most at bay by growling and making a very angry face that seemed to put the fear of god on those news' vultures.
Eugene opened the door for them, allowing the two to make their way into the fancy car while the reporters continued to bombard them with questions and assault them with flashes, until the door finally closed, and the tinted windows separated them from the mass of reporters outside.
As they departed, some of the reporters tried to keep up with them. A cheetah with a camera was very keen on following the car for as long as possible.
Others, like a bunny with the classic "reporter look", the one who expect to see in old movies, was dialing on his phone and talking to his bosses.
"Alex Hunter and his gazelle friend just entered on a limo with Mayor Amur's security team, and they are on their way to the City Hall."
Everyone failed to notice that a car, which had been park just across the street from the pet store for a while, started to move and follow the limo. The wolf and tiger inside paying close attention to what was happening and following the car with the two meta mammals now inside.
This was their first time inside of a limo, and the two of them were a bit unsure of what to say to Rhinovert, who was in there with them, sitting on the bench directly opposite to theirs', with a serious expression as he looked at the two.
However, it seemed that he sensed that they were getting uncomfortable in there, as he soon was offering them some biscuits and some water from the inside of the limo.
"You even have a mini-fridge in here?" Linda asked, to what Rhinovert told him that was "the mayor's limo".
Since it seemed that Rhinovert was more amicable with the two, Alex took this chance to ask him what it was that the mayor wanted with the two of them. The rhino then just said:
"Look, it is a bit complicated. It is better if you hear this directly from Damian's mouth. He will tell you all the details before asking you two if you are in or not."
"If we are in what?" Alex asked and, once more, the rhino said to them that "Damian" would be the one explaining everything. Apparently, he was referring to the mayor himself.
The travel continued in silent, as they didn't knew what else to say. The silence was a bit uncomfortable. Soon, they were arriving on a big building near the center of the city. This was the city hall, and there was someone in there waiting for them.
Once more, Rhinovert had to get in between them and the news team of one of Zootopia's minor news channels. They were pretty insistence into getting to the two of them, but they are easily barred by the rhinos blocking their path, even though the giraffe with them managed to keep the camera on the two meta mammals by raising it above the rhinos heads easily.
Rhinovert urged the two to go inside rather quickly, and Alex even pulled his hoodie over his head as they both went there.
As they did, the car that has been following them long before the cheetah, totally winded, was left behind, stopped just on the other side of the street. The wolf on the passengers seat leaned over the tigress' lap to take a look on what was happening on the other side.
"Yep, they just went inside."
He said, and the tigress was soon on the phone, dialing a number on her contacts and talking to another mammal on the other end.
"Hey, Chief. I know you told my just to call you if it was important, but a thing just happened." She said on the phone. "Hunter and Thompson entered a limo, and now they just went inside City Hall."
She kept the phone close to her face for a few moments, hearing what Bogo's answer would be to this. It was, however, not what she was expecting, apparently.
"Wait, what?" She said, "Chief, did you knew they were going there already?"
A few more moments of hearing the Chief's answer from the other end of the phone, and then the tigress said something in surprise, which also surprised the wolf sitting on the car with her.
"What do you mean you are in City Hall too?"
It was their first time inside of Zootopia's city hall, and they couldn't help but notice how amazing it was on the inside, with the marble floor and the pillars. However, Rhinovert was sure to remind them that they had a meeting to attend, and told them that they could admire it another time.
The two followed him, and he guided then across a hallway, and then into another, and soon, they were walking in direction to a pair of double doors, with a figure standing before them, pacing from one side to the other.
"Chief Bogo?" Alex asked, as he and Linda approached and the buffalo looked on their direction.
"Oh, you're here." Bogo said to the two. He then looked at the rhino who came with the two of them. "Rhinovert."
"Chief Bogo." The rhino said to the buffalo, before looking at all of them as a whole. "Now, since you are all here, what about we all go inside?"
They all agreed, and Linda then looked at the buffalo.
"Why are you here?"
"Because this new little project concerns me as well." Bogo said rather drily, and Linda decided it was best to refrain from asking any more questions.
Soon, they were walking inside, and they were met with many eyes looking their direction as they walked into what seemed to be a meeting room. Among them, there was a figure who stood as soon as they walked inside.
"Ah, there they are!" Said the tiger warmly. This was the first time they both saw Mayor Amur. Linda actually thought that she had saw the guy in a poster, but this was her first time seeing him in person (was that even still a thing in a world full of talking mammals? Linda was still not sure...) and they were able to take a better look at him as they were invite to come closer. He didn't looked much different from other tigers they've seen so far, save from the fact that he had a hair on the front of his head that was like hair, in a cowlick curl over his forehead. He was wearing a suit that looked to be hideously expensive.
He was very welcoming of the two of them as they came forward, and he even offered them some tea and biscuits. In fact, he was being so friendly with the two that it actually made the two a bit awkward. His smile was not fake (or didn't seemed so) but the overfriendliness was a bit unsettling.
"Mayor." Bogo said, cutting the tiger when he was about to offer something else for the two. "I think it will be better if you inform Hunter and Thompson why they were both brought here from their workplace in the middle of the morning. I'm sure they both want to know."
"Oh, yes, of course." The tiger said, "My apologizes. Sometimes things just slip of my mind."
"It's okay, your honor." Linda said to the tiger, while Alex looked around the table, and saw how everyone was looking at them. There were varied looks from the mammals on the table as they looked their way. Some of them were whispering among each other, others looked with mild interest. Two of them looked their way with a wonder that was almost child-like. They all seemed to have some kind of interest as they looked on the way of the cougar and gazelle.
And some of that attention was not of the good kind.
Alex could catch the familiar looks of mistrust, fear, and even of contempt amidst the otherwise friendly looks coming from most of those mammals.
Soon, Mayor Amur was tackling the subject in hand (or paw). It was about the "meta mammal situation".
"Many people are nervous." The tiger told the two. "They are really worried about their safety in what it comes to the presence of mammals with special powers living among us. And, a worry for the citizens of Zootopia is a worry for the city's government."
Okay, now Linda and Alex were the ones who were staring to get worried about it. Amur seemed like he noticed their sudden tension, and he was quick to tranquilize the two.
"Don't worry." He said, "I know you two are trustworthy. At least, neither of you has given any reason for us to think otherwise."
"So far..." Someone on the table said in a low voice, but Alex was able to pick it up with his sensitive feline hearing, for he shot the mammal a glare, just at the same time as Amur did, for he had heard that too.
"However..." the tiger continued, "We already saw some proof that there are some meta mammals out there who could be a real danger for society."
"I'm referring to the rhino of the bank. The polar bear who attacked the Thaw and that we know to have committed at least one murder and, on a more recent note, on the bull from yesterday. I'm sure you both know very well what I'm talking about. After all, at least one of you was present on each one of those occasions."
Amur looked at the two as he said that.
"You both have done your part to help other mammals from those criminals, and for that you have my personal gratitude as the mayor."
They both were a bit awkward at this, and they both said it was okay. Then, the mayor continued to what he was saying:
"However, there is still the matter of meta mammals out there who might commit crimes with their powers. Invisible muggers who might assault and steal someone's belongings and robbers who can phase through walls stealing banks are the ones coming on the top of my head, but I'm sure there could be other types. I'm sure I'm not the only one worried about this kind of thing, and I'm sure it might get worse with time. That is why we need to do something."
Alex and Linda shared a look.
"What are you planning to do?" Alex asked, a part of him dreading the answer that the tiger could give. However, he was not expecting what the tiger said next.
"To have a new unity formed to deal specifically with those cases." Amur said, in all seriousness. "After all, I've always believed in the efficiency and importance of the law enforcement in our society. My own father was a cop, after all."
They looked at him, and then they looked at Bogo, who looked back at them.
"Wait for it" he said to them with his eyes, and then the tiger continued:
"Which is why you two are here." This caused the two of them to look at him. "I want to invite you two to be members of this new special task force working in direct association with the ZPD. You will be using your special powers to help our police investigate crimes associated with meta mammals, as well as apprehend any meta mammals who have committed crimes."
Silence followed those words, as Linda and Alex could just stare at the tiger, who smiled back at them.
"So, what do you say?"