Lawrence Ramsbottom sat at his control panel and wanted to cry. He thought he'd have a fairly easy time of it working for the city after he graduated. For the first couple years, it'd been great! Easy work maintaining the power grid and monitoring any surges or failures. The hardest part had been during a couple larger storms, but not a huge deal. Easy, steady employment and a city pension in twenty years. Then, a few months ago, the anomalies had started. Random surges and outages started happening haphazardly around the city. Seemingly spontaneous, they always occurred right around his shift ending and he'd had to log a lot of overtime thanks to the policy of "shit happens on your watch, you stay until it's fixed" that his manager enforced.

The trouble was that there was no fixing these issues most of the time. They appeared and vanished all on their own. His boss didn't see it that way, however, and now little Larry Ramsbottom was seriously up shit's creek. He was under investigation for fraudulent overtime, despite the logs and records the system kept of the events, for one thing. He was also so agonizingly close to suspension after being unable to fix any of these issues that he may as well just quit and save himself the indignity of termination. However, Karma, for whatever reason, decided he needed one last good kick in the teeth.

Thirteen minutes to the end of his shift, the entire city grid went haywire just as the director of Mammal Resources, his supervisor and manager, as well as the director of Planning and two members of the City Council were coming through on the tail end of their annual tour. It was the largest anomaly he'd seen to date.

It started small, but quickly escalated. Within a few minutes the city looked like it was having a light switch rave. Every light was cascading, blinking or otherwise freaking out. The boulevards in Tundratown were in full yule-display mode, Sahara Square was doing a district-wide imitation of Awards Night for the Theater Guild, there was enough lighting in the Alpine District to land a jumbo jet safely on a mountaintop and the docks looked like something from a Noir style film. The rest of the Districts were equally chaotic.

Larry had tried to get a handle on it, as did his superiors and anyone else they could get a hold of. There was nothing for it, though. The monitoring system was crying. Every dial on the board was waving back and forth like it was saying goodbye to him and just to add to the madness, the usage and balancing software showed everything in the green. The city power grid lost its fuzzy little mind long enough for the whole department to go into full blown panic and then, just like magic, it stopped.

The grid rebalanced, the fail-safe protocols took the excesses and shunted them to the browned-out areas, and less than two minutes later the city was back to rights. You could have heard a pin drop. Larry looked around. The control room was full of very scared, very confused and highly upset mammals in various stages of wondering "what the buttery blue fuck just happened?"

There were hours of diagnostics ahead of them. The whole system would need to be gone over with a fine-toothed comb and some kind of answer would need to be found. Larry knew there wouldn't be one. There never was, but that wasn't his concern. Either he was going to be fired in a moment, or they'd see that it wasn't his fault and he wasn't lying, leaving him very much out of the hot water. Larry took out a coin and sent it end over end through the air as he waited for anyone to speak.

Judy fled through the wires at the speed of lightning. If she were visible to the eye, one would say she looked excited, anticipatory; possibly expectant. To anyone else that would have been a bizarre expression considering what pursued her. To her, it was about fucking time!

She was being chased through the wires. The hunter on her trail was a huge, hungry, powerful presence; the stuff of legends and the horror stories of her childhood regarding predators. She was being hunted, but she was leading her pursuer a merry chase, partly because she was a little nervous about what would happen to her once he caught her, but mostly because she wanted a little revenge.

Patience had been the byword of many, many weeks.

Patience.

Patience.

Patience.

Judy was sick to death of the word, the act, the idea. All of it. She'd been patiently working her way towards something part consciously, part unwittingly, and now all the pretense and supposition, uncertainty and self-delusion were over. She wanted him and he damn sure wanted her. Now, he had to catch her and she was going to make her fox work for it.

Judy sprinted.

It was one of her species' specialties. Hard, fast straight-aways mixed with sudden changes in direction. It had served her and her species through the dark times before sentience and assured that enough of them survived being hunted long enough to breed, thereby ensuring the survival of the species. It was an ironic twist that, now, the very mammal she would have fled from in fear, she now baited using the same tricks for exactly the opposite point that led her species to such prodigious numbers. The irony was not lost on Judy as she left the wires in the middle of an abandoned office building and fled down the hall on foot.

Her pursuer was hot on her heels.

Judy ducked into an office and dove into the nearest wall socket, feeling him pounding along behind her at every step. She was exhilarated. Flying along, she wracked her brain for any way to extend their game. She also wanted a small chance to regain her breath. Making a sudden direction change at a transformer, she left the wires again and jogged onto an open pathway by the river.

Dozens of mammals were out; families, couples and solo mammals out for exercise or enjoying the day in the riverside park. They thought nothing of the rabbit that jogged quickly past, grinning like a loon. Even if they did notice the pheromone trail she left in her wake, she was a bunny. The stereotype was enough for them to dismiss her as a non-event. A randy rabbit on her way to her boyfriend's place was hardly of note. However, in dismissing her they missed the form that slipped along in her wake.

Realizing what she was about, Nick played along at first; chasing through the electrical grid, hungrily eager to end their playing, but it quickly became apparent that this was no small game to her. Each time he got a scent of her, the pheromones were stronger. This was not just to teach him a lesson or tease him. This was the beginning; the appetizer. He grinned as he realized how close she had paid attention at the club when they had gone. She was playing, yes, but this was something else.

For them, this was foreplay.

She baited and led him at first, but two could play the game. She could lead and misdirect, while he could anticipate and adapt. There was also the fact that he was much more experienced at magic. Her talent lay in the wires and electricity, but he had far more tricks up his sleeve. As soon as they were in the park, he slipped into the shadows and ghosted along. He made sure she saw him behind and beside her as she trotted along, then appeared in front of her; flowing along the ground in a space-eating lope.

Judy's smile became a maniacal grin as she made a sharp turn and dodged into a corner shop. She was sparks and giggling a moment before he followed her, bathing in her scent as he moved.

Time meant something different in the wires. Everything happened at the speed of lightning, so every dodge, roll, evasion, fake out and sudden turn happened in fractions of seconds, while outside the wires time somehow seemed to move faster. In the wires it was a dead heat; outside, a game of shadows and evasion. Judy had never felt more alive. They flew along, hiding for instants in breakers, leaping from pole to pole and racing through the city. Then they were playing predator and prey; her dodging and leaping as she ran, while he danced through the shadows.

Judy knew they were playing havoc with the city's power, but she didn't care overmuch. Arcing through the air for the briefest moment, she noticed that she was near the university campus. The party that was going on to their light show would have been a must-attend when she was in school. Now, she just grinned a little wider and hared off, trying to stay ahead of the fox that chased her.

Eventually, Judy started tiring. The city was in chaos and she was done waiting. She flowed out of the lighting fixture in her room and was immediately pinned to the wall by a pair of red paws.

His breath was rough and hot in her ears as he rumbled, "Got you."

Judy smiled demurely, hooked her leg behind his and dropped him on his back.

"No. I've got you."

Nick flowed into the wood of the floor and pounced on her from the door frame, "You sure about that?"

"You have got to teach me that trick."

"There's plenty of time for that, later."

"Oh, gods, yes!"

Their lips met as they fought for dominance. He was larger, heavier and had plenty of tricks, but Judy was trained. Anytime he got the drop on her, she reversed it. Any pin he got, she broke. They battled between kisses, each spending time on top and pinned to the floor, or walls, before Judy conceded.

They were both panting and trembling and done waiting.

Nick spoke first. "Last chance, Carrots. You sure you don't want to wait for our first date?"

"Our first date was knocking over a building. Now, shut up and take me to bed."

Nick needed no further prompting. He scooped her into his arms, only to find her legs and arms locked around him at the waist and neck. The few steps to the bed were clumsy and distracted as she took her liberty to nuzzle, nibble and stroke at his throat and collarbone. It was only a few seconds, but as soon as her paws touched the mattress, he was done. Tendrils of air pulled from the cutting wind of Tundratown pooled in his paw, and with a stroke down one side of his body, shredded his clothes. The remains of his clothing were blasted off him by the aftershock of the spell.

Judy raked her paws over his bared chest, "Showoff." And bruised his lips with a kiss again, "Now, mine."

Nick shook his head and lifted her shirt, "An expensive trick. One your clothes don't deserve."

"Screw what they deserve. Give me mine."

"Yours?"

Judy none too gently dragged her fox onto the bed and pushed him onto his back. She shucked the rest of her clothes in a blink and straddled him, nuzzling roughly into his neck. "Mine."

Sliding up until she felt him rise against her, Judy wasted no time and impaled herself. Her mouth hung open until she flopped forward and her teeth found his chest. She bit hard enough to draw a pained gasp from her fox and felt him grow larger inside her. The combination of overwhelming sensations left her gasping and her mind blank. Blessedly, her body remembered and soon a rhythm as old as time began.

It was not kind or gentle, their first time together. That would come later. Their first night together was an expression of power and desire that had been years in the building. Judy's fists balled in her fox's fur as she rode him. In some small part of her mind, she knew that she hadn't taken all of him. She was overwhelmed with sensation and a fullness she had missed for a very long time. However, she was petite in the extreme next to him. The thought of more spurred her past the slow build and to a near-frenzy.

She quickly found herself riding him as though it were her last, slamming herself onto him again and again as the pleasure and hunger in her built. Nick began to meet her thrust for thrust and quickly Judy felt herself nearing the edge of her control. His paws landed on her hips, driving her down further onto him and that was all it took. Judy saw white as her first wrecking climax tore through her. Her blunt claws raked over his chest drawing pained groans from his throat, doing nothing to slow her pleasure or his enthusiasm. She was lost in sensation and, for once in her life, felt completely safe while totally vulnerable. The realization sparked another tidal wave of liquid pleasure.

It was some minutes later she came to her senses, lying on top of his heaving chest. She was very satisfied, but there was something wrong. He was still as taut as a piano wire and his breath was ragged and tense.

"Why did you stop?" Judy purred languidly.

"I wasn't about to finish with you in La-La Land."

Judy huffed out a laugh, which only made him squirm and cause his paws to twist in the sheet. She grinned evilly and squeezed down on him with all of her considerable core strength.

"What does it take to get you to cut loose?" she pondered out loud.

His answer was a snarl and Judy found herself on her back. She was held and lifted into position by his paws as he did precisely as she asked. There was no time for her to react before he was inside her again, deeper than ever and increasingly so with each thrust. The sensation stole her breath as she struggled to keep up with his new pace. She had to admit he fulfilled her request, though cutting loose would be an understatement.

He was practically savage.

Judy wanted to do more than lay there and take it, but quickly discovered she didn't need to try. His paws were a cage that held her in place as he threw himself into her with a desperate, wild abandon. In moments she gave up on anything but holding on, doing everything she could to encourage him. Unwilling to concede control fully, she hooked her legs over his hips and pulled herself into his hips, hard. He sank into her right to the knot, where he seemed to hesitate. Her paw snared the scruff at the back of his neck.

Pulling him down to her, she growled in his ear, "I know you're close. Now finish what you started. Claim me."

That was all the encouragement he needed. The last of whatever restraint he had was gone. Nick slammed their hips together, burying himself in his bunny right to the hilt. Then, it was pure animal instinct as he lost himself in her. She was his reality. All he felt were her legs on his hips and her paws gripping his neck and side and the perfect heat that held him, addicting him more with every moment. Her claws raking his ribs and the muffled scream from beneath him were the last straw.

He felt his knot swell inside her and as the pleasure blasted through him, all he could do was snarl, "Mine!"

The claim, the knot, the guttural, primal expression of how much he wanted her; it was enough to send Judy over the edge one more time. Her claws raked his skin, her legs clenched to pull him closer and her teeth clamped onto his shoulder, barely muffling her cry. In the deep part of her mind that wasn't lost in her fox, she hoped he would understand. She couldn't speak, so she showed him in every action.

MINE!

Larry Ramsbottom sat in the central control center for the Habitat Authority and watched the city lose its mind; again. The three main habitat systems were running amok, all while every diagnostic came up dry and all the monitoring systems read green, without exception. The room was full of tense and confused mammals who had given up any hope of keeping their jobs as they struggled to bring the city infrastructure under some kind of control.

In Tundratown, the cold-weather plants went into overdrive for no reason anyone could fathom. Cyclones of snow heralded the start of the largest blizzard the city had ever seen and that was just the start of the problems. The excess of cold air was sweeping across the Alpine District and into the Rainforest District, leaving swaths of foliage coated in ice.

On top of that, a massive sandstorm kicked up in Sahara Square. The climate walls between the tundra and desert districts were currently festooned with an array of strange, frozen sand sculptures where the sandstorm and blizzard met. The Rainforest District was suffering a massive surge of water pressure, resulting in the water distribution system overloading and causing the ice to creep further with every minute.

Then, with no warning, the wind and snow plants dropped to below-average levels and the electrical grid went insane again. It was about then that resignation settled in. Everyone left in the Control Center ended up sitting wherever there was a space and there was silence in the room. The phones were left off the hook and the alarms were muted. Every board was green and completely out of control. They were all screwed.

"I'm coming to you live from Tundratown, by the climate wall." The newscaster's voice cut through the silence. "There's been no comment from the Habitat Authority or City Hall on the strange malfunction in the city's habitat control systems, or the havoc being caused due to the phenomenon."

The population of the room quietly groaned and prepared for the worst.

"However," the young lioness continued in an unexpectedly upbeat tone. "The casualty and damage reports that are coming in are shockingly minimal; a few injuries from panic and fender-benders being the worst of it. It's been a strange evening and there has been some concern expressed regarding the instabilities in the system, but…" The camera panned away to show the climate walls around the district. "As you can see, the view is simply out of this world."

The following montage covered most of the districts affected by the strange weather and the subsequent light show. Frozen trees and eclectically shaped sand piles reflected the lights, turning the city into a kaleidoscope of colored light and shadow. Tundratown was a winter wonderland, the rainforests were filigreed in glittering ice, and the deserts were littered with natural snow and sand sculptures.

It was beautiful.

"There are reports of block parties and local festivals popping up across the city where mammals are gathering to enjoy the otherworldly spectacle." The calm, sweetly feminine voice of the newscaster drifted through the room. "The largest concerns at the moment are the effects of the excess water runoff when the ice begins to melt. The residents of desert regions are advised to get to higher ground or stay in their homes and prepare in case of flooding. Some of the wetter districts won't be too affected, but we already have reports of significant overflow in the Docks District and Bayou, unrelated to the recent tidal event. City officials ask that the citizenry remain calm."

The camera panned back to the lioness in the thick jacket and pencil skirt as she stood, smiling at the camera. "That said, in this newscaster's opinion, this is a once in a lifetime phenomenon. Everyone, please use good sense and stay safe. Otherwise, put on your coat and enjoy the view. This is Elia Pride, back to you."

Larry waited for a moment, considering, before standing up and grabbing his jacket on the way to the door.

His boss called out to him, "Ramsbottom! Where are you going?"

"Sir, with all due respect, I've done everything I can. I'm nine hours past the end of my shift and we're all probably going to be fired in a minute. I'd rather end this miserable night enjoying the view, like the lady said. My walking papers can wait for morning."

The rest of the room stood, stunned at the audacious words.

A moment or two after Larry was out the door, a ferret from the air handler division followed him, then a rhino from planning and an ocelot from the logistics office. Ten minutes later, the room was empty and not a word had been spoken since the door closed behind the bighorn ram. Everyone was out, joining in the impromptu celebration of the city in its unexpected glory.