(AN: Hello Fellow readers. SirRedFox here posting a new installment of "The Long Hustle Vol. 2." First off, if you're reading this, YOU'RE AWESOME! And, thank you.
What better way to start of the new year, but with a new chapter. There will be at least four more chapters to be posted soon.
So enjoy this new chapter of "The Long Hustle: Vol. 2, The Empire & The Emperor." And please, fill free to leave a review or comment. Thank you.)
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Sink:
Nick felt sick to his stomach. He looks over at the massacre of the aardwolf. Its throat gaping open. Shere Khan wiping his claws clean of blood. A pair of headlights approaches from a distance and comes to a slow stop in front of them. The car had a slick black finish. The driver door opens and out steps a leopard. The leopard wears a slick black suit and smile to match. On his feet he wears black boots, military issue from the looks of them. Though, the oddest item on the leopard, a pair of black shades that seem to fit tightly around his head. Making a smooth walk to where they are, tail swaying back and forth, never losing that smile of his.
Shere Khan finishes wiping his metal claws clean. He looks up at the leopard then back down at his claws.
"Mr. Sabor," Shere Khan says. "Good of you to join us tonight."
"Always at your disposal, Mr. Khan." Sabor places one leopard paw just below the center of his chest, and one behind his back. He does a curtesy type bow towards the large tiger.
"Nicholas, I would like for you to meet Sabor. Like all the mammals that work for me, Mr. Sabor posess a unique set of skills" Khan said.
"How do you do?" Nick extend his hand for Sabor to shake.
Sabor stares at the hand. He ignores and walks up behind Vicky who stares at the dead body in awe. Like the sight of blood and death amuses her. Standing directly behind her, he leans down and whispers something into Vicky's ear. The smile on her face wideneds. Whatever he whispered into her ear, Nick was sure he didn't want to know.
"Love the view from up here" Sabor said. "Can see all of Zootopia from up here."
"Nicholas, you will be assisting Mr. Sabor tonight" Khan said. "Vicky, you will be driving us back home."
Vicky puts on a sarcastic pouty face, but she complies. Nick digs in his pockets for the keys to the car. Grabbing them and pulling them out of his pocket, he extends his hand toward Vicky to take the keys. Vicky takes ahold of the keys but pulls herself in closer to Nick. Her snout close to his cheek, so she can sniff him. Nick can't help but close his eyes and take a big gulp of air. She pulls away, keys in hand, and makes her way to the car. She gives a quick look and smiles at Sabor.
"Now you're just torturing me love" Sabor says.
Shere Khan, Bagheera, and Vicky make their way to the car. Shere Khan and Bagheera take to the back seat, while Vicky slides herself into the driver's seat.
Sabor takes his time and examines Nick from head to toe. examining Nick as if he was to be chopped up and made into chowder. His smile never wavers.
"So, you're the new guy?" Sabor said.
"Yeah, that's me" Nick said.
"Tell me, have you ever done this before? disposing of a body I mean."
"No, sorry. Must of skipped that lesson growing up. Besides, don't know how useful I'll be with just one arm."
Nick lifts up his left arm that was incased in a cast. He hated the damn thing. It was bulky, bumping into anything in its proximity, and itched to high heaven. Nick was glad that the cast would be coming off in a week. The only mammal to write something on his cast was Vicky. She heavly insisted with force, hurting him, that she make some mark on his cast. He only wished that the writing be the opposite of something so vulgar and sadistic. It read: Fuck Pet. Guess that was the cutiesy nickname she had for him.
"It's not as hard as you would think. Like tending to a garden. Takes a little bit of work and care" Sabor said.
From his suit jacket, Sabor pulls out a pair of gardening sheers. The handles were made of red rubber. The blade shinned sharp in the light. The gardening sheers fit perfectly into the palm of the leopard's hand.
"And a good pair of sheers to help get the job done," he says. "Now, grab his hands so I can do a bit of trimming."
Nick went over to the dead body, walking around till he was at the head. Though no smell of decay, flies had started swarming the dead body. Nick grabbed the aardwolf's hands and held them up so Sabor could cut the fingers off one by one. The gardening sheers made a creek and a snap sound, slicing through the aardwolf's fingers. Nick observe as the shinny sheer blade slice into the finger and then snap through the bone and cartilage. Creek, snap. Creek, snap. Creek, snap. Nick was thankful for no blood after each creek and snap. Though that was mainly due to fact that almost all of the aardwolf's blood spilled out when Shere Khan slashed his throat open. It wasn't long before Sabor had himself a full pair of aardwolf fingers and the blade to the gardening sheers became stained with blood. He stands up and takes in a breath, as if he had just done hard labor.
"There is a tarp in the trunk. Go get it. We'll need to wrap the body in it" he said.
Pulling out a plastic bag, he drops the fingers one at a time into the plastic concealment. Nick did as he was told, going to the car's trunk and retrieving the large plastic tarp. He unwravelled the tarp right next to the body. Sabor was finishing putting the fingers in the plastic bag and zipping it closed. Nick simply views him.
"Souvenirs" Nick said as a joke with a half smile.
"Just being extra precautions" he said. "We'll dump the body in the rainforest district, but I'll dispose of the fingers some other way. In case some mammal happens to find the body, wont be able to identify them. Though shame really that he didn't have any next of kin. We could probably mail them off and deliver them. Might bring them some comfort." Nick could not imagine such a gift bring in sort of comfort. "Or have them piss themselves" Sabor laughs.
Nick pats down the aardwolf. Sabor asks what he was doing, but Nick ignored him. He continued to pat down the dead body till, yes, a lump in the aardwolf's front pocket. Nick, reaching in and digging out a brown wallet.
"Here we are" Nick said. "Don't want any cop to find this."
"Good thinking" Sabor said with a grin. "See, you're already getting the hang of this. Soon you will be dumping bodies on your very own."
On my very own, Nick thought. How many bodies are there that need disposing of on a daily average?
"Hey, there's a couple of hundred bucks in here" Nick said. "We can split it, fifthy fifthy. What do you say?"
"Keep it" Sabor said. "Take it as payment for your participation in this job. Pocket the money then go toss the wallet into the garbage bin. Hopefully no bum will fish it out."
Nick did as Sabor said. He put the few hundred dollars in his own pocket and went to toss the wallet in the trash. Tossing it in the wallet lands softly on a heap of garbage. It will be picked up by the dump mammals when morning comes and be crushed.
They roll the dead aardwolf on to the tarp, then roll the tarp up. Sabor zip-ties the both ends closed. They carry the body to car trunk. They have a bit of a difficult time with Nick's one arm, but they manage to move the body into the trunk. Nick heaves to catch his breath.
"Here you drive." Sabor said, tossing the car keys to Nick who just manages to catch them with his good hand.
"You sure you want me driving your car?" Nick said. He left's up his broken arm.
"Who said it was my car?" Sabor said. "Don't worry. I'll tell you exactly where to go."
For most of the trip the car ride was silent, except for the occasional direction from Sabor. They were almost to the rainforest district.
"So," Sabor started up. "What do you think of her?"
"Think of who?" Nick said a bit puzzled by the question.
"Come on, you know. You and her. Vicky, the foxy vixen."
"Oh, no, there is nothing there at all." Nick said.
"Don't be like that. The way she looks at you. She wants you, bad. The more you put her off, the more excited she will be when you finally cave in."
"I would have figured you and her had something going on?" Nick said.
"We do," Sabor said. "Oh we have our fun. In and out of the bed," he chuckles at this. "This one time we were tasked with taking out these two junkie no-bodies. Just two junkies that thought they could get away by printing money, stupid of them to do. I remember them on their knees, begging so pathetically. They already knew they were dead, so why not go out strong and brave, instead of like a couple of pussies. But that's not important, I let Vicky take lead. It only took two swipes with that sword of her's to kill the two junkies. Loped their heads off, and when you lope some poor mammals head off you tend to get a little messy. Most females would go into shock if they got that much blood on them, but not Vicky. No, it made her excited. We spent that night together, and she wanted we to take her as she was, still covered in blood. She's a pure savage, like me."
There was more silence in the car until, Sabor reaches into his suit jacket and comes out with a Sabertooth Carbon knife. The knife had a wooden grip, a metal shine to it, a circular grip at the top for one to insert their index finger into. He flipped the blade out. The sharp blade shined in the night's light. The blade was curved and looked like the fang of a Saber-tooth tiger that Nick saw once in a National Geo magazine. Where most knife blades point up and out, this blade pointed down and in ward. Sabor put his index finger through the circular grip at the top and gave the knife a few good twirls on his finger. With the point of the blade Sabor started digging out the gung under his claws.
"I know what you're thinking" Sabor said. "Why all of a sudden does he have this extremely beautiful, and extremely sharp knife out? Probably to admire the craftsmanship, which in its self is a beautiful knife. Or, has he pulled out this marvelous knife because the moment we reach our destination he's going swipe that blade across my throat and cause me to choke on my own blood? I mean, that's my job after all. Not just to clean up killed bodies, but to actually do the killing. And I love killing. Hell, that's why I went into the army. For my license to kill. Didn't matter if we were dealing with foreign friends or foes, if I knew I could get away with killing that's what I'd do. And my favorite way to kill was with this knife right here. See this knife is different than most other knives. Where most knives have a straight or curved blade for slicing, this knife's blade acts more like a hook. Once stabbed into a victim it grabs hold of them, and it pulls and slices deep into the flesh. But what it makes good quick work of, is slicing some poor mammals throat open. Probably thinking, 'is that what he's going to do? Slice my throat open?'"
Sabor twirls the knife then puts the curved blade up against Nicks throat. There is dead silence in the air till Sabor asks him what he's thinking. Nick never breaks his eyes away from the road. He can feel the cold steel pressing up against his neck, slowly digging in to him.
"I was thinking, 'nice knife. Does it come with a bottle opener?'"
Sabor slowly goes into a laughing fit. He removes the blade from Nick's throat, twirling it with his index finger. The slow trickle of blood runs down his neck from where the blade was pressed hard up against him. The black spotted leopard puts the knife away and tells Nick to take the right coming up.
Nick eases the car to a crawl. All around them looked like nothing but jungle. A sign read: Dangerous Ground Ahead. Sabor tells him to keep going, then stop.
"This is the spot" Sabor said.
They step out of the car. Nick was tense and was darting his eyes every which way, expecting something to appear. Nothing did.
"So, what exactly is here?" Nick said.
"A good place to dispose of the body."
"Here? The body will be totally exposed for anyone to stumble upon."
"Oh really. Why don't you take a few steps forward." Sabor said, more as a command rather than a request.
Nick was confused. He didn't know what Sabor was playing at, but Nick had no choice but to play along.
He took a few steps forward and stopped. Nothing. Nick turns to look at Sabor, who was egging him on with a wave of his hand. Nick rolled his eyes and obligated the leopard. He took a few steps, this time not stopping. Nick walked forward till it he stepped in what appeared to be some kind of hole. He stumbled forward as the earth seemed to swallow him whole. He didn't stop until the ground was up to his waist. Ground had a sliminess to it and that it was pressing tight around his body. His body, slowly, continue to sink into the ground. Keeping his arms raised above his head, he tries to turn to Sabor only to sink further down with each little movement.
"Geniune quicksand" Sabor said from behind him. "Swallows anything, and everything."
The sand was quickly making its way up to Nick's shoulders.
"That's all very fascinating, but I'd like to be out now" Nick said.
Sabor, with straight posture, walks over to the quicksand pit. He makes a curtsey bow and extends his hand outward, just out of Nick's reach. Nick tries grabbing at the reached out hand only for Sabor to pull back out of his reach. The quicksand reaches to his head. Nick points his snout straight up for air as his head becomes submerged.
Is this really how it all ends, Nick thought. No. It can't end now. Not when he's come so far.
Unable to see, something makes a tight grasp around his good arm. Nick was pulled from the earth, as if being reborn. He gasped for air and tossed to the side. Coughing and wheezing till he could breathe normally. Looking up at Sabor. He crouched down and padded off his leopard hands.
"Now then, let's go to work" Sabor said.
Even covered in slime, Nick helped Sabor, collecting the aardwolf out of the trunk. The side step to the quicksand pit and with a heavy heav on three, they toss the aardwolf into the quicksand. They watch as the ground swallows the body.
Takes them a little less than an hour to return to Savanna Central. When Nick returns to his given apartment, he takes a nice long shower. Wanting to clean all of the slime that encased his body. The shower was warm and comforting. He still had to wrap his left arm in a trash bag.
Done showering, Nick checks the whole apartment, making sure he was alone and there was no lurking vixen fox to surprise him. Just as he liked it, empty. He turned on some music, something loud. Wanting to make sure no one could hear him. He laid out all his tools given to him by the ZBI. They weren't in bad condition after being plunged into the quicksand slime. Taking the chip from his pendant and plugging the chip into the phone and making a call. The phone rang three times before hearing Jack's voice on the other line.
"Jack, we need to meet" Nick whispers into the receiver.
It was late into the night. Nick was in the poor district of Savanna Central. He drove there not long after making contact with Jack. Parking the vehicle in an empty parking lot three blocks away from the rondayview point. Waiting anxiously outside an alleyway entrance. He's light on his feet pacing back and forth. Tapping his foot heavy and rapidly. He wore blue jeans, a sweat jacket, and a baseball cap; anything that makes his appearance unnoticeable. Every pair of headlights that pass him by, he would turn away from, just incase they belong to the wrong mammal.
He watches as one pair of headlights slowed down and turned into the alleyway. Nick recognized the large black government issued SUV. Checking that the coast was clear and headed down the alley, behind the SUV. Opening the back door, he slides right in and crouches down low so no one can see him.
"Were you followed?" Nick said to Jack and Skye who were sitting in the front seats. Skye in the driver's seat and Jack in the next seat beside her.
"No" said Skye. "What about you?"
"As far as I know, I'm in the clear."
"Now what's so important that you had to have us meet you" said Jack.
"Listen," Nick said. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of air. He let it out slowly to calm himself down. "You guys got to pull me out."
Skye and Jack both jerk their heads around to look at Nick, before turning to each other, and then back down at Nick. The expressions on their faces did not show that of anger or disbelief, but that of worry. The question though were they worried about Nick and his safety, or worried that their operation will come to an end if Nick is pulled out.
They started asking a million and one questions. What happened? Has your cover been blown? Are you hurt? Is your life in imminent danger? Where you able to obtain some hard evidence?
"You two have no idea how serious this is? Or how crazy these mammals are?" Nick said. "They are all psychos and sociopaths. This leopard that Khan has work for him nearly let me suffocate just because he wanted to. And Khan broke my arm." Nick lefts up his arm that was wrapped in a cast. "Oh, I'm fine by the way. Thanks for asking."
"Nick we can't pull you out." Skye said. She rubbed the temple of her forehead. She looked tired. Probably staying up late nights trying to make sense of this operation. "We don't have any solid evidence against this Khan fellow. And the hospital you tipped us off about went up in smoke, literally."
Nick laid his head on the black seat cushion in disbelief. Staring upward not wanting to make eye contact with Jack or Skye. It was exactly as the aardwolf had said. He did exactly what he told to do, what Shere Khan had told him to do. The more he thought about it the more angry he was becoming. He clenched his teeth and punched a balled up fist into the black cushion.
"Let me guess, your firestarter got away."
"Yes. We have a hunt on him. So-" Jack said before being cut off by Nick.
"So you stop looking." Nick tossed a plastic rectangle up front. Jack bent down grabbing the piece of plastic. It was some mammal's ID card.
"He's dead," Nick said. "Khan killed him. One swipe of his claws and the aardwolf was bleeding out of four large gashes in his throat before he knew it. And unless you can swim in sand you're not going to find the body. I only managed to grab his ID while helping dispose of the body."
Nick hears Jack swear under his breath. Once again, any hope is quickly snuffed out.
"Well we still have the doctor," Jack said.
"Great," said Nick lifting his head up. "Make whatever deal she wants, get her confessed statement against Khan on anything that will hold up in a court of law, and then get me the HELL out."
"We're not going to just give her what she wants. We don't even know what she knows."
"Yes you can, and you will." Nick was becoming frustrated with this conversation and started baring his teeth at Skye and Jack.
"Nick," Skye said. There was softness in her voice and spoke in a gentle tone. "We need you to hang in there a bit longer. Everyone apart of this operation is counting on you. We're counting on you... Judy, is counting on you."
It was a low blow to Nick to bring Judy into this conversation. If there was one mammal Nick didn't want to let down, it was Judy. Nick's body went limp with defeat. Tears start swelling up in his eyes. He didn't turn to look at Skye or Jack, not wanting them to see such weakness. Nick wanted to ask about Judy, but he knew that they would just give a generic answer. Saying that she's fine and nothing else.
"Alright, I'll stay" Nick said with the sound of defeat in his voice.
They sat in silence for a minute, before Nick thought it safe to leave. He walked the three blocks back to his car. Once back and in his car he did not turn it on, instead he just sat there in silence. He burst into tears and cried hard where no one could see or hear him. He just as quickly wiped his eyes dry. Don't let them see that get to you, his mother's words rang in his head. Don't let them see that they get to you.
A week passes and the time for Nick's cast to come off has come. Shere Khan was able to locate another back alley doctor to remove his cast. It was a possum. Just from looking at him Nick can tell why Dr. Madge worked out of a hospital and why this filthy rodent operated in the alley behind some ramen joint in the Rainforest District. This skunk was clearly high on whatever he was supplying to his customers. Blisters around his lips suggested he was smoking something, probably Blue Sky. The fact he was able to remove Nick's cast without hurting him is nothing short of a miracle.
The possum struggled even to put on a white lab coat. Sticking his left arm in the right sleeve, making him confused and becoming disorientated. The collection of tools he used were dull and rusted. Nick eyes as the possum used a plaster saw to cut deep into the cast. Watching the saw make its way around his entire arm before being pulled apart in half. He took in the wonderment of being free from the cast. His arm smelled but he was happy just to be able to flex it the way he wanted. No more having to wrap a trash bag around it when taking a shower.
"There you go" the possum said. "Now for my payment."
Bagheera dug into his front jacket pocket and pulled out a small baggie filled with Blue Sky. The possum was at full attention. His tongue stuck out and was biting his own lip in anticipation. Bagheera tossed the bag to the skunk. His hands trembled with the baggie for a second before catching it with both hands.
"Enjoy" Bagherra said with irritation. He turned around to exit the alley and having nothing more to do with the back alley skunk. Nick gave the skunk a wink and a cheeky smile before following Bagheera.
The car was only a few feet away. Shere Khan sat in the back, deciding to stay in the car. Though he couldn't be seen with the windows being so dark, the window was rolled down an inch were thick smoke from one of Shere Khan's cigars crawled its way out of the cracked window. The smoke was thick and gray, and danced in the cool night air where it would disperse. Bagheera got into the back seat along with his brother, while Nick took to the driver's seat.
"Well I am just stoked" Nick said cheerfully, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "I got my cast off, it's a beautiful night, how about some chow? Something that's not ramen."
"We're need else where" Bagheera said. "Keep driving, we'll tell you where. It's not far from here."
Nick did as he was told and followed Bagheera's instructions. It wasn't long before Nick was pulling up to what looked like an abandoned warehouse. The cheery filling was gone and replaced with a tight knot in his stomach. To make things worse Bagheera grabbed a canister of gasoline out the back.
Old and worn out machinery laid spewed everywhere inside the warehouse. Kneeling in the very center was a beaver in an oil stained jumpsuit. His hands were smudged with greasy, dirt, and oil. In a lot of ways the beaver reminded him of Stu. Only longer front teeth, no ears, and a long and flat tail.
Nick could tell that the beaver was scared. He held a filthy stained red hat in his hands, which he continued rolling it up in a tight tight wad. He shivered in freight, kept his head pointed down, and tried not to show that he was crying. Shere Khan lit another one of his fat cigars. He inhaled a deep breath of tobacco smoke and exhaled it loudly. He turned his attention to the beaver quivering on his knees.
"Mr. Barnes," Shere Khan said. "Pleased to see you have waited for me."
"That note," Mr. Barnes said, fear in his voice as he termebialed. "The one you left the vixen fox with, was very clear what you would do if I didn't stay put." He sniffled.
"Yes it was." Khan walked over and crouched down to be eye level with the beaver. "Tell me Mr. Barnes, why have you decided to no longer make the deliveries I requested." Blowing a big puff of smoke into the beaver's face making him flinch. The beaver was afraid to look Shere Khan in the eye.
"Sir, p-p-please" cried the beaver. "I was only doing this as a way to pay off my debt to you. I've done that and more. I just want me and my family to be left alone. It gets harder and harder with every delivery I make. The police and state troopers are close to catching me."
"Tell me, who do you fear more? The police? or me?" Shere Khan said letting that last word linger in the air. Shere Khan made it seem like a trick question, one with dire consequences.
"Y-y-you Sir"
"As well as you should be." Shere Khan smiles. "I'm a mammal that gets what he wants. Vicky!" Shere Khan shouts.
From a back room comes Vicky, dragging out what seems to be a female beaver and small kit girl. The mother and the kit girl were both wailing in tears. Finding themselves in a strange place, not sure why they have been brought to this warehouse. Vicky, with a hard push, shoves them forward. Mr. Barnes looks on in horror.
"Oh God, no. Please no." Mr. Barnes started saying as if praying.
"Just the mother." Shere Khan said.
Bagherra, still holding the canister of gasoline, walks over claps a firm hand onto the mother's arm and pulled her away from the screaming kit. Vicky grabbed a clump of the kit beaver's hair in her hand and pulled the kit backward. The mother through her tears reassuring her child that everything was going to be okay. Nick stood there, breathing heavily and not sure what to do. Bagherra dragged the mother to the side and had her plop down on to a wooden chair. Bagherra unscrewed the canister cap and poured the flammable liquid onto the female beaver. Dossing her from head to toe.
Nick hated what he was witnessing, and had to do something fast. But what was there to do? Was Nick about to let a mammal suffer and die just to keep his identity safe. If he revealed himself now, with no backup or any help at all, he would be just as dead.
Khan huffed and puffed on his cigar, making the end glow amber red. He walked over to the drenched beaver. Mr. Barnes shouts and cries for them to stop grew louder.
"You're about to witness, Mr. Barnes, at just what I'm prepared to do, to get what I want."
Khan took one last good puff of his cigar, making the end glow bright. Clinched the cigar in his finger tips. About to flick the cigar on to the poor drenched beaver.
"Wait!" Shouted Nick.
Every mammal froze and stared at him. Nick took a hard gulp of air, trying to figure what his next move was. His palms were sweaty wiping them on his pant leg, and he hoped no mammal noticed. He was overwhelmed with fear, but that's not what he could show right now.
"Kill her, then you're going to have to kill all of them" he said with confidence in his voice.
"And why is that Nicholas?" Shere Khan said.
"Don't tell me I'm the only one that sees it?" Nick said, acting astounded. Stepping forward as if to speak privately with Shere Khan. "Kill her and you have no leverage over him."
"We still have the kit" Bagheera said, interrupting Nick.
"Trust me that's not enough. One look at this Beaver," he pointed at the beaver on his knees, "and I can tell you right now he's a runner. The moment we let him go, he's going to take his kit and run. Forcing us to not only hunt him down, but to also waste time finding a new driver."
Nick can tell that Shere Khan was thinking it over in his head. His eye brows were stern and he lowered the cigar. It felt like defusing a bomb. Cut the wrong wire and everything goes KABLOWY! Nick took the cigar from Khan's hands and gave it a big huff. He tried not to cough up the thick smoke in his lungs, but instead play it cool.
"Let me go with him to make the drop offs" Nick said.
"And why would we do that?" Bagheera said.
"It's the reason I'm here, isn't it. The whole reason you let me join this little gang, to move certain 'products,'" He made air quotes when saying the word 'products,' "in and out without being detected or raise any suspension." He looks at all there faces. "I was able to sneak Blue Sky into the Jungle. So step aside and let me do what I do best, hustle."
Nick stuck the cigar into his mouth as to end his closing argument. He could tell that Shere Khan was thinking it over. His eyes darting from Nick, to his brother, then to the scared beavers. He straightens his posture and straightens his tie.
"Very well Nicholas" Shere Khan said. "How do you think we should proceed from here."
Nick turned his attention to Mr. Barnes, still kneeling on the floor. Nick walked over to him. He crouched down, just as Khan did, and stared into the terrified eyes of the beaver.
"Do you know who I am?" Nick said. The scared beaver shook his head no. "I'm your new manager. I'm going to be with you every time you have a shipment leaving or coming into Zootopia. You know longer have to worry about the cops or state troopers, just leave them to me. You do what do I say exactly as I say. Because you know what happens if you don't." Nick grabbed the back of the Barnes neck and brought him in close. "I won't be able to save you."
Nick took the lit cigar and extinguished it out on Barnes chest. Barnes gave a woeful cry in pain as the cigar burned through his flesh. With the cigar extinguished and now a bright burn mark on Barnes chest, Nick stood up a flicked the cigar bud into Barnes's face.
Nick walked with his head held high. Showing his confidence, when really there was cold sweat running down his brow as he exited out of the warehouse. Khan, Bagheera, and Vicky followed suit. Leaving the traumatized beaver family in the warehouse.
Outside, Nick reacted to a hard grip on his shoulder which turned him around to have Vicky be there right in his face. She wrapped her arms around Nick's neck and kissed him hard on the muzzle. Nick's eyes bulged and his body stiffened to Vicky's surprise kiss. A sudden coldness hit his stomach, only thinking how angry Judy would be if she saw this. Knowing Vicky and what she was, her sadist side was going crazy for him. And watching Nick hurt Barnes with the cigar, had gotten her hot and flustered. He pushed away from the psychotic vixen.
"When the two of you are done, I'd like to head home now" Khan said. He walked to the back of the small limo car. Reaching into his coat pocket to pull out another cigar. He clipped the head and the tail end of the cigar with two quick swipes from one of his metal claw.
The rest of them followed with Vicky in the lead. Bagheera stayed back with Nick. Again, Nick felt the firm grip on his shoulder and was turned around. This time he faced the barrel of a gun. Bagheera held the gun to Nick's temple.
"I don't know what kind of game you are playing at, but if you ever undermined my brother again it will be you that's dossed in gasoline" Bagheera said.
Nick was petrified. He didn't move a muscle or say a word. He stayed very still till Bagheera lowered his weapon. Even after the gun's barrel was out of his face, he just stood there. Nick observes as Bagheera joined his brother and Vicky in the back of the vehicle. He went around the car to the driver's side and got in. His nerves were finally catching up to him. His hands shaking so badly that it was hard to get the keys into the slot and start the ignition. The incident in the warehouse constantly replaying in his head. What could have almost happened, to what he did to make sure it didn't happen. The reoccurring thought made him want to puke more and more.
Cigarette, that's what he needed. He dug into his pocket to pull out the pack. His hands were to badly shaking, crumpling every cigarette he pulled out before they could touch his lips. He even had trouble striking a flame and lighting the damned thing, when finally, getting a cigarette between his lips.
He took in a big inhale. Breathing slowly as he let the nicotine tobacco calm his nerves. He started the car and dove off and out of sight.
.
(AN: Thank you for reading, and Thank you for reading this. Again, YOU'RE AWESOME! I hope you enjoyed this new installment, I do try leaving you, the reader, with wanting more.
In the next installment, the results are in on a very specific panda.
As I said before, please leave a commit on how you'd rather have future chapters come out, or a simple review letting me know what you think. Thank you!
- SirRedFox)