This mission was never going to be an easy one.
All of the ones who walked into the mall knew it from the start. That was why they were sure to be prepare.
Rescuing groups of mammals that were being keep as hostages on a mall, which was full with a large number of hostiles, was not an easy task. Both by mage and non-mage standards. Everyone in there knew that. The cops knew that. The enforcers knew that. Agent Lapinsky knew that. Even Zillah Ferron knew that, and yet she insisted in coming.
Clearing the first floor actually was surprisingly fast, having taken between twenty and thirty minutes. They were able to destroy all of the golems and subdue all of the hostile mammals. All the hostages were rescue and securely moved to the roof, to be remove via the ceiling.
They were very thankful for Meerkovitz, whom was on his strategic position, keeping an eye for everything that could happen; he was a very good sentry. They were also thankful for Lapinsky, who had the blueprints on his holographic device and helped them with the radios so communication would be possible. However, one thing they were the more thankful for was Zillah Ferron, once it almost seemed that the ferret was able to see the future, for she was able to tell them about anything up ahead that they were not previously aware of.
Some even started to wonder if the ferret actually could see the future.
Once they were all sure that the first floor had been clear, they moved to the next one. They were carrying on with the plan of clearing the mall floor by floor. Now they were on the eleventh floor, and clearing it was just as hard as it was to clear the previous one, and they knew that there were still other ten floors after this one.
They probably took between fifteen and twenty minutes to clear this floor, and it was a bit harder, once there were more groups of golems and controlled mammals. The mammals that were being control were either darted or somehow made to break out of their controlled state. For that, they counted with Emilia, who was able to coat them on her magic flames to make their controlled state vanish, causing them to act as if they just woke up from a dream.
"I could probably do that as well." Lapinsky said, "Unfortunately, I didn't specialized on psychodynamics, I would not be able to undermine the mental influence that is being used on them. It seems to be something quite strong to make them act in such a way."
Everyone understood this well enough to know that this meant that they were could not count with his help to free the mammals from their state. They could rely only on Emilia to do that job and help these poor victims to regain their sanity.
Of course, there was also the problem of the golems, which was one that all of the ones on the group could help with.
Lapinsky could destroy some with his plasma guns. Marceli was able to approach them like a shadow and pierce their chests and heads with his dagger. Emilia was able to just run to them and break them apart with nothing more than her fists and feet, making her look like one of these super strong individuals of the martial arts movies who could shatter boulders with kung fu moves. Even Zillah was able to help, as she could use a lighter to produce flames and generate sparks that flew through the air and hit the golems. They were able to cause some damage, but they mostly just distracted the golems so the others could finish them off.
Going like this, they were able to rescue the groups of mammals kept as hostages. Among them, the last group contained some mammals that had cameras and other equipment with them. It was clear that they were reporters.
Most of these guys just wanted to leave, however, some of them, quite surprisingly, wanted to stay with the group.
Among them, was Mark Bisson.
"This is a story that needs to be covered!" The seven foot tall, slender, grey furred, black horned, yellow eyed and nicely dressed bison said. "When this is all over, the mammals will want to know how it was done! You have to let us come with you!"
None of the members of the group had any patient for that. Bogo was sure to make it clear to the bison that they were not taking anyone with them, and that they were supposed to go back and enter the helicopter to get down as soon as they could. He also told him that, if he truly wanted it, he could cover it from the entrance and maybe share his experiences, but that he should not hope for any of them to give him an interview when this was all over.
Soon, the last group of hostages was moving away, while the rescue group moved to the nearest stairs, aiming to go to the next floor.
However, as they moved, they failed to notice that Bisson, his camera mammal, and some other reporters of the group, managed to stay behind, and were now starting to follow them from behind.
These guys really were willing to do anything for a story, that much was for sure.
As they moved, everyone was getting ready for what they would face on the next floor. Among them, was Nick, who was reloading his own gun with more darts and silently talking to himself, wondering just why he was at that place, risking his life to get that stupid ewe back...
The sheep was definitely a cruel and manipulative individual, actually fitting near perfectly in many of the things that he had ever heard his friend Honey say about sheep in general. She attempted to turn him into a savage and use him to murder Judy.
The thought of what could have happened if they had not switched the pellet by the blueberry, or if Bellwether had somehow figured out what they did and switched it back by a pellet of Night Howler still scared Nick down to his very core.
He would not say it aloud, but it was the truth. He held no care at all for that ewe, and he would not be risking his tail to save her if he knew that these guys planned to end her. He could not say it aloud for his work as a cop and for his partner, but he would gladly let these golems and the crazed mammals maul the ewe if they asked him.
This, of course, made Nick wonder why he was risking going in there to rescue the ewe.
Of course, he only needed to think for a second to come to the answer.
It was not for her.
It was for all of the other mammals stranded on that mall, who were only shopping or doing their thing before being catch up in all of this mess.
It was for Benjamin, who was so positive all of the time and was someone who immediately accepted Nick as soon as meeting him, something that the fox found to be rare in his life.
It was for Eliot, who was a kind wolf, although his antics could be somehow annoying at some points, and in others they could just be plain stalking. It was also for his wife, who was along with him in there, and who he was surely doing his best to defend in any way he could.
It was for the Hoppses, who were all in the middle of this mess, along with everyone else. These bunnies had nothing to do with this whole thing and Nick couldn't simply leave them to their own luck.
However, more than anything else, it was for Judy. For that bunny with an amazing sense of justice that Nick had come to admire and that inspired him to turn his life around and be more than just a street hustler. For that bunny that was able to see past his stereotypes and to see a part of him that he only showed to those who were the closest to him. The bunny who saved him from a meaningless life and gave him a new purpose and direction in his existence.
It was for her.
As for everyone else, of course.
"Something on your mind, Officer Wilde?"
Marceli's voice made Nick snap out of his thoughts, as he looked at the black tod. The two foxes were walking forward, with the rest of the group coming behind them. They both were doing their best to pay attention to all that was happening, so they would be able to warn the rest of the group of it came to it.
Nick had gotten distracted for a moment, but now he was on his full attention again. It was good that he was able to think on things and then swift to full attention on what was around him. Another one of the skills that he developed for his survival within the streets of Zootopia.
"Oh, just thinking on how we are risking our lives to save Bellwether, among many other mammals." Nick said to the fox, keeping his eyes around as they both walked side by side. Nick was tactical in this, keeping his weapon ready as he looked around. Marceli was much more relaxed, as he paying any less attention to what was going on around him than Nick.
"It is a bit strange that one of the mammals that we are trying to rescue is one that would throw both of us under a bus if she could." Nick said to her, "Some might even think if it would be worth it, or if we could save everyone else and only leave her behind."
"We can't." Marceli said firmly to him. "Bellwether is part of our work. As a matter of fact, she was our original mission. We need to recover her and carry on with the job."
Nick looked at him, and he said, sounding quite admired:
"Wow, you truly are a good soldier, aren't you?"
"I follow orders." The mage said to the other tod. "I am a loyal Enforcer, and as such, I must fulfill the roles given to me."
"Kind of like in the police, huh?" Nick asked him, "We are all taught to do our job and to be professional all the time. Of course, not all of us actually do it. I bet that not everyone on the enforcer-squad is quite a goody-two-shoes about things like you are, right?"
"That... Is actually correct." Marceli said, reflecting on all that the fox was saying, and on how correct he was. Nick was actually able to sympathize with the black tod, and he couldn't help but think on how similar his behavior was to Judy's, who was such a goody-two-shoes herself. The only difference is that the tod was far more serious about his duties, while Judy was more outgoing.
"Yeah... Still, it doesn't changes the fact that the ewe would probably laugh if she saw us being taken and mauled." Nick said, and Marceli looked back at him.
"I'm not so sure of that." The black tod said, causing the other tod to look at him.
"A part of Krystin's job is to send us reports on all that happens, including his personal observations on Dawn Bellwether and her behavior." The black tod said to Nick, as they both continued to walk. "Now, I cannot give you details, but recently, on his reports, he said that the ewe was... changing her behavior. That she was being far more receptive and friendly towards him."
Nick looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Really?" Nick asked, "Well, maybe she managed to convince him..."
"Excuse me?" Marceli asked him, and Nick knew that he had to choose his words more carefully, for he was talking about a relative to the enforcer, someone in whom he probably trusted a lot.
"Oh, nothing! Nothing." The fox said, and he continued:
"Is just... I think that Krystin and the ewe have become a bit closer, haven't they?"
Marceli looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I mean, that was the impression that I had back on the car." Nick said, wanting to avoid any misunderstanding that could come. "He did seemed to be quite protective of her, and she seemed to be a bit attached to him."
Marceli looked at the red tod very intently, as if he was trying to see through him.
"Are you saying that Krystin's judgement might have become biased?" The tone that the black fox used was careful, and he looked intently at the fox, as if he was telling him to be careful with his next words. Nick took this at heart, and he simply shrugged.
"I'm just saying that it seems that he really cares about that ewe." Nick said, "If his tail is of any indication."
Marceli looked at him once more, and he would have questioned him on what he meant. However, Nick was distract by a voice coming from his radio.
"Wilde! Eyes up! Something is going your way!" Meerkovitz's voice came through the earpiece that he had on his helmet, and the fox immediately was on guard, pointing his gun forward.
"Where is it?" Nick asked, activating his own radio to be able to transmit his words.
"Right up a head." The meerkat's voice came once more through the radio. "Around fifty meters and approaching fast."
"Is it a golem? Or is it another mammal?" Nick asked, as he continued to point his gun forward. Marceli was by his side, and he also was getting ready, his dagger was hold on his paw, while his cloak was already starting to get out of focus, as if getting ready to allow him to turn into a shadow again.
"Well, it's definitely not a golem... I guess is one of them... wait a minute." The voice was coming, but it suddenly stopped.
"What the... by the Great Sentinel!"
"What? What is it?" Nick asked, not having like the tone of what Meerkovitz had just said, as it did sounded a lot like trouble.
"W-Wilde." The meerkat said, "There is... There is a ghost going towards you!"
A WHAT now? Nick thought, as he was pretty sure that he had heard it wrong. However, he still kept on guard, especially when he saw something coming his way, as he now had visual on what Meerkovitz had warned him about.
And he now was sure that he had not misunderstood what the meerkat said.
Nick was really not sure of what that thing was, but it indeed looked like a ghost. The translucent figure had a canine head with hollow eyes that looked at him, and a body that looked as if it was cover by a long mantle. It looked to be a whitish, grayish coloration, and its body shifted as it floated above the ground, looking translucent, then material, and then going nearly invisible as it moved.
The figure was gliding across the air very slowly as he looked like it was floating in their direction, as if it had no weight at all. Its hollow eyes focused on the two foxes as it approached.
"Nick, you..." A voice came from behind, as Judy had caught up with them, and she too was now seeing the same thing as the two foxes. "Sweet cheese and crackers!" The bunny whispered. "What is that thing!?"
"Oh, you see it too?" Nick whispered back at her, as the ghost continued to approach them. "Good, I thought that I was losing it."
"It is an apparition." Marceli said to the both of them, as more mammals of their group were coming right behind them. "Keep your eyes open."
The figure approached them, floating in a terrifyingly way that did remembered them a lot of a horror movie, when the ghost is approaching the victims before jumping at them. Marceli's dagger had a glow to it, as the black tod send magic energy through the blade.
However, the "apparition", as Marceli called it, seemed not to want to attack them, as it approached very carefully, as if not to frighten them. As it came closer, they could hear a sound in the air. It was low, but it was there, as if it was a whisper.
The whisper was coming from the ghost, the mammals hearing it could tell that much. It was hard to understand, but as the entity became closer to them, it became clearer, and they could understand better what it was saying.
"Danger..." The whispering said, talking to all of them. "Danger ahead... Look out... keep watch..."
They all looked at the ghost, which whispered to them even though it seemingly didn't had a mouth on its canine muzzle.
"Danger?" Marceli said, looking intently at the ghost, and he rose his paw, as if he was trying to touch at the entity.
"I GOT IT!" A voice suddenly came from behind, startling all of the mammals, as a red and pink blur passed by them.
It was Emilia, with her dagger already ready and covered in flames of the color of the aurora. The vixen didn't waited for a single second as she moved her blade in a swift motion, slicing through the ghost and causing the same flames that were on her blade to spread to the ghost.
"Emilia! Wait!" Marceli said, but it was too late, for the vixen made another movement with her dagger, now slicing through the torso of the apparition.
Now it burned in aurora flames, not letting out a single sound as it burned in the air, completely vanishing in a matter of seconds.
"And that's how it's done!" Emilia said proudly, as the apparition burned away completely, leaving nothing behind. "That was a close one, wasn't it?" She asked with a smile, but she only saw the surprised faces of the cops and the slightly annoyed face of her uncle.
"What?" She asked, and Marceli was the one who spoke to her:
"Emilia, remember that talk we had about using our heads and thinking before charging?" The black tod said to her, and she looked back at him.
"Well, yeah, but there isn't always time for that." She said to her uncle, as if she was defending herself. "I mean, that apparition looked like it was almost over you guys, and you were doing nothing."
"It was trying to communicate with us!" Marceli said, sounding a bit impatient with his niece, and this surprised the vixen, who looked back at them.
"Yeah, it seemed like it was trying to say something." Nick confirmed, and so did Judy. "It was speaking kind of like these ghosts do in horror stories. Sayings things like 'dander ahead' and 'look out'."
"Really?" Emilia said, "Did it said anything else?"
"Well, it didn't had time, because them you set it on fire." Nick said; Marceli also looked at his niece.
"Yes. You dispelled the apparition before I had the chance of getting more information about it."
Now Emilia did smiled a bit sheepishly, as she looked as if she realized that she just made something not very smart. However, little could be done to remediate the situation now.
Marceli sighed.
"It seemed that it was trying to give us some kind of warning." Judy said, and Marceli nodded.
"Yes, I had the exact same impression." The black tod said, looking at the place where the entity had been. "Just what was an apparition doing in here? And what was it trying to warn us about?"
"I don't know, maybe it was left by someone who died in here?" Emilia offered, and this caused the cops to look at her in surprise. Meanwhile, Marceli only shook his head.
"An apparition like that would not appear in such a way." He said, "It was refined, capable of communication. I think it was a familiar for a mage."
"Well, in that case, could it be from the guys who took the place?"
"Why would they send something to give us a warning?" Judy inquired, her mind still trying to take a grip on all that was being said, but still being able to work objectively in the middle of a mission. "It was telling us to keep watch, as if it wanted us not to fall in some short of trap."
"Maybe the guys want to confuse us?" The vixen offered, "I mean; it makes no sense that the guys would want to help us move through the mall without getting into trouble."
"Unless it didn't belonged to these mages." Marceli said, and this caused everyone to look at him.
"Hey there." Someone said; they turned to look at one of the approaching members of their party. It was McChill, and he looked at all of them with impatience as he saw that they were not moving.
"Did you guys stopped to have a conversation? We are in the middle of a pretty big rescue mission in here!"
He really sounded annoyed as he spoke that, and he was being hostile and rude as usual. However, it was possible to notice that most of his annoyance was direct towards the foxes, and these only looked back at him. Judy too was giving him a glare, as she was able to notice that he was almost purposely aiming his hostility towards the foxes.
However, they soon were realizing that they really were holding back the group, as they had stopped to discuss what was happening, and the rest of the group was coming behind them.
"Something wrong?" Bogo asked, approaching next to McChill. "Did something happened?"
The two cops and two enforcers shared looks among themselves, and Marceli was the one who said:
"Maybe. Tell everyone to stay sharp and to keep their eyes open for anything." The black tod said, right before he turned around and continued to walk.
Bogo shared a look with McChill. While the buffalo was more willing to follow the direction that the black tod had given, McChill still didn't quite liked having a fox bossing him around.
The group received warnings to double their attention, and to be careful while approaching. Even Meerkovitz, who was surveying the area ahead of them from his strategically placed point, received instructions to pay even more attention and to warn then of anything that could be on their way or coming their way.
The group continued to move ahead, as all of them were now ready for pretty much anything that could come their way.
The ones who had heard the specter talking to them couldn't help but feel as if the entity was trying to truly warn them about danger ahead.
This thought remained with them as they cautiously continued to move ahead.
"Are you sure you are okay?" Eliot asked to his wife, sounding very worried as he checked on her. "You sure you are not hurt or anything?"
"Yes, Eliot, I'm fine." Chloe reassured him.
"But... back then, you looked in so much pain."
"It was the backlash from having a familiar destroyed." Chloe reassured him, "It is a result of the connection between mage and familiar, sometimes we feel a burst of pain as the familiar is eliminated. But it is nothing serious, I'm okay."
As her husband checked on her, the rest of the room was paying attention to the image being projected on the mist. They all looked at the group that was still moving forward, after the vixen had destroyed the specter that Chloe had sent to them to help.
"Emilia..." Krys said, as he once more witnessed just how impulsive his cousin was.
"Wow, she surely goes for break, doesn't she?" Jason mentioned, as he and his family all watched what had just unfolded. Along with everyone else.
"She attacked without thinking twice." Said someone on the group, a donkey. "Well, guess you can expect that from a pred."
Most of the ones present on the room looked at him, and he shrugged.
"What, you all know that it is truth. Chompers really are aggressive by nature; it is in their DNA. That is why it is so hard for them to live in society."
Now, this caused some glares and angry replies from the presents. However, the donkey remained indifferent to all of their hostility.
"I'm just saying the truth." The donkey said, "Predators are impulsive and aggressive by nature. They might even be able to live among society, but of course, it is only a matter of time before they hurt someone. Ain't that right, Dawn?" He said with a smile, referring to Bellwether by name.
Of course, he was one of her supporters. This surely explained his talk and his attitude. The donkey looked like he was fully on her side in what come to speciest opinions.
The ewe turned her head from the image to look at the donkey. Some were expecting her to agree with him, or at least thank him for supporting her.
However, her gaze was hard and hostile towards him.
"Shut up." She said coldly, and this surprised the donkey and some of the ones who were around.
The ewe merely ignored them and focused her attention on the image that was being show.
"The specter was destroyed before it could give them a proper warning." Dawn said.
"Yes." Krys confirmed. "But at least, it was able to give part of the warning, so now they are more careful.
"Yeah, but still..." Dawn said, and she moved her hoof over the circle, causing the image to shift as it shifted between cameras. They passed by a few, before landing in one that they had landed into some minutes before.
It was another group of hostages; this one with golems and controlled mammals gathered around the group of hostages. However, there were two mammals in there that neither looked like hostages nor like they were controlled, as they were also watching over the group of hostages.
One was a horse with a black mane and brown fur wearing long jeans pants and a black jacket with red suits of cards printed in it. The other one was a tall tiger with shorts, a shirt, and he was carrying a big hammer with a head that looked like it was a rectangular block of concrete.
These two were identify as mages by some of the presents. Some of them recognized the horse from previous videos online, while some of the mages present confirmed that the tiger was a mage. In particular, Lana Bellwether was sure when confirming that the tiger was a mage, and that he was rather dangerous, especially when he was mad.
Tyson too looked very intently at that image, especially when he saw another tiger that was being keep as a hostage in there.
"Dios mio! That's Tyrell!" Gazelle said as the image was zoomed and they could give a good look at the tiger that they were keeping. He was bound, but not by ropes, but instead it looked like they had somehow cuffed him with loops of solid rock. There was also something on his mouth; it seemed pure raw rock, which somehow was mold to fit into his jaw, effectively acting as a muzzle.
Tyson flinched for seeing his brother as a prisoner, and with this kind of bounds, he knew that Tyrell would probably not be able to fight or free himself. Especially if the other tiger was threatening him and the other hostages if Tyrell tried anything. That was surely something that was not above him...
Now, fighting golems and controlled mammals was one thing. However, fighting other mages was another matter entirely, especially if these mages were powerful, Lana confirmed these two to be.
If they were to clash with these guys, the group was bound to have some difficulty, and the mages present in the room knew that. If they walked on them without being ready, they could see themselves overwhelmed, especially if these mages turned on the hostages and used them as an advantage.
According to Lana, these two could actually do it.
They could not contact the group to warn them of the problem, they could run into the group of mages at some point on their path for the security station where they were, and they would be unprepared.
That was when Chloe offered to use one of her specters to go and give them a warning.
The idea was that he specter would warn them that they were mages up ahead. Not only that, but the entity could also act as they scout and guide, allowing them to approach and to know when the group of mages was near, so they would be able to approach the best way they could.
However, they didn't expected that one of them would just downright destroy the specter before it could even warn them properly of what was ahead.
"If they go into these two unprepared they will be in trouble." Dawn said as she looked at the image.
Suddenly, the horse pulled something out of his pocket. It looked like an old model of cellphone, and the horse looked like he was answering to it.
After a few moments, the horse hung up, and turned to the tiger.
They were speaking over something, and Dawn approached the image. Some even tried to do lip reading, but it was hard, and the image itself had no sound.
However, soon after, the tiger turned to the group, and he seemed like he was barking orders to the golems and the controlled mammals, this somehow reinforced the idea that these two were in control.
"What are they doing now?" Someone on the group asked, and soon, the hostages were force to stand up and to move. The group was moving.
"Are they going somewhere?" Someone asked, and all of them continued to look.
The group of mammals moved out of the sight of that camera, forcing Dawn to switch to another one. That was, until they moved out of the range of that camera too, and she had to switch again.
She had to switch the cameras to see where they were moving the hostages to...
"Where are they taking them?" Bonnie asked, Krys looked at where they were going, and suddenly, something occurred to him.
"Dawn, where is the rescue group now?" He asked, and the ewe soon was switching up the images to be able to find the rescue group.
Soon they were on sight of the camera, and their location confirmed by the ewe.
She blinked, and suddenly, she realized what Krys was probably thinking.
Switching between the group with the hostages, and the rescue group, she was soon able to confirm what the fox seemed to fear that was going to happen.
"They are going to the other group." The fox concluded, and this caused everybody to get apprehensive on the implications of that.
"Seriously?"
"Are they going to intercept the rescue group?"
"Sweet cheese and crackers! Judy is among them!" Stu said, somehow confirming something obvious, while his wife looked very apprehensive as she looked at the image, and at the mages that were going to meet her daughter.
"They don't know that the mages are coming their way!" Harry suddenly said.
"Yeah, but they are on their guard!" Benjamin said, "I mean, they are all ready!"
"Not for these two." Jade said, as the female kangaroo looked at the image that was developing. "When these guys truly want to start something... things will get really ugly really fast."
"Some of them might end up dead." Lana said somberly, not really measuring her words as she caused only more worry to the group.
Well, to most of the group.
"Well, let's hope that they surely start with the foxes, right?" The donkey said, still being a first class ass.
"Didn't I just told you to shut up?" Dawn Bellwether said once more, and this time her tone was definitely more aggressive, what caught the donkey off guard.
Why was she being so hostile? He was on her side!
However, the attention was all focus on the images that were showing, and the knowledge that the two groups would be meeting in minutes was something that kept everyone on their toes, as they dreaded what was going to happen once they did.
"Chloe, maybe you can send another specter! Maybe more than one!" Clawhauser said, but the female thylacine only shook her head.
"It would have worked before if they could approach without being noticed, but it seems that now they know that they are aware of the location of the rescue party." The thylacine said, looking at the image. "And I cannot use them to fight if they are too far from me, I'd have to go in there to help."
"No way, it is too dangerous!" Eliot said, still being very protective about his mate.
"Well, someone has to go!" Bonnie said, and soon everyone was agreeing with her. Someone needed to go, not to warn the group of danger, but to give them support.
"I'll be going." Tyson said, but Gazelle was soon trying to talk him out of going, but the tiger was adamant.
"I have to go." The tiger said to her, calming her down as she was getting nervous. "I have to."
"I'll go with you." Lana said, getting some looks form the other mammals of the room.
"What? I have to help somehow." The ewe said, smiling around, and some shared looks among themselves.
"I'll go as well." Benjamin said, "I mean, I'm a cop, it is my job."
The cheetah was about to walk to them, but he was stopped when something landed on his shoulder. The cheetah looked over to see the two pairs of red eyes looking back at him.
"You are out of practice." One of the heads of the talking snake said, as it was using the tip of his tail to hold on Ben's shoulder. "The-sss-se guys-sss would give you trouble."
"I have to go!" Benjamin said, "They need me!"
"Sss-so do the ones-sss in this-sss room." The other head said, and Benjamin took a minute to reflect on it.
He looked around at the room full of mammals, most of them were looking at him (or at his snake), and among them, were the bunnies that were Judy's relatives.
Ben wanted to help, but he still felt like he needed to be there for them. Also, he knew that Zass and Slizz were right. He was out of practice, and if he went into battle with skilled mages he would probably only get himself killed. Ben was force to agree with them.
"We will go on your place." The other head said, and this caused Ben to look at them surprised.
"Come on, don't be sss-so sss-surprised." The other head spoke. "After all, we are your familiar, it is-sss our job to do your biding."
Ben looked at them for a few moments, and he saw that they were serious. After a few moments, he said:
"Thanks, guys."
"Don't mention it." One head said, and the other one immediately said:
"Sss-serious-sss-ly, don't mention it. We are only doing that sss-so you will not be bawling on our earholes becau-sss-se your little cop friends-sss all died."
Some shared looks as they witnessed the strange talk that was happening between the cheetah and the giant two-headed snake. Some of them were still trying to take a grip that this was really happening.
"Okay, it is-sss decided." The snake said, slithering forward and looking at the tiger and ewe, "We'll be going with you."
The tiger and ewe shared a look among themselves.
"I'll go as well." Krystin said, causing all eyes to turn to him.
"What?" Dawn asked, looking at him. He looked back at her.
"I might not be an enforcer, but I am an experienced mage." The fox said, and he turned to the group that was forming. "Besides, it is my family who is in there. So, I'm going as well."
"But Krys!" Bellwether said, rushing to his side and grabbing him by the wrist. "You can't go! It's dangerous!"
The fox stopped and looked back at her. So did many of the mammals who were present on that room. Many of them had raised eyebrows at the ewe.
Was she really worried about a predator?
"Dawn, I have to." He said, and the ewe continued to insist for him not to go, saying that it was "too dangerous".
However, the fox was not giving up on his idea, and he was willing to go to the end. He gently freed his wrist from her hooves, gently holding one of them with his paw.
"Don't worry, I don't plan to die here." He said to her, very gently. "I'll be back once I've saved everyone, I promise."
There was a long moment when the ewe and the fox locked eyes, before the ewe looked down. She looked as if she had just resigned to what the fox was saying, and the tod let go of her hooves and was now standing up.
Only on that moment, he was aware of the many eyes that were on them both.
Clearing his throat, the tod turned to the group of two mammals and a two-headed snake, which were all also looking at them. "Okay, with this settled, I think that we should be going, shouldn't we, my friends?"
It seemed that some of them wanted to make commentaries, however, they refrained from doing so, and neither of them discussed the tod coming with them. Soon, the door was being unlock, and the zombies that were standing guard in the front of the door would open passage, so the four (or five) individuals were able to pass.
"Be careful!" Dawn said as the group left, before the door closed, once more leaving the group alone in the room.
Bellwether still looked a bit upset that the fox was going, and this granted many to look strange at her. However, the ewe was soon recovering and turning her attention back to the circles and the image, and now she was looking into the cameras to keep watch on the group that just left, as well as into the other two groups.
"Is it just me, or she looked to be pretty worried about that fox?" Bucky whispered, and Pronk soon was answering.
"Maybe she made really good friends with him?"
"Maybe... but I don't know."
"What, you don't think that... Come on, she is the ewe who wanted to kill all predators."
"I'm just saying that she seemed very worried about him."
"Well, maybe she was also worried about her sister. You don't know. Besides, I would be worried too if you had decided to go with them as well! Good thing that you are a coward."
"Excuse me!? I just stayed behind because I wanted to be sure to protect you!"
"Yeah, whatever you need to say."
"Oh, shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
Some looked at the two antelopes, who were whispering at each other. However, they were whispering loud enough for the ones around to be able to hear their current bickering. This, of course, caused some to move away from them discreetly.
"So, you and Dawn, huh?" Lana asked, as she and the tod walked side by side. The fox was going ahead of them, hissing as they whipped their forked tongues in the air, picking up the smells. The tiger was on the end of the group, and he was looking serious as they all moved ahead.
"Excuse me?" The tod said, as he looked at the ewe, and she gave him an annoyed look.
"Oh, don't give me that. I have eyes, and I'm not stupid." Lana said to him, and she continued, "You don't have to worry though; I'm not like most Bellwethers. But you should really look out for them." She said, and the fox looked at her, before looking away.
Lana saw this, and she chuckled. They actually look cute. She thought, and the tod soon was moving a bit forward, as if he wanted to avoid more conversation.
Lana saw him move, and now she was left behind with the tiger, who was looking ahead as he walked right by her side, and he actually looked pretty serious about something.
"Something on your mind, kitty?" Lana said teasingly, and the tiger seemed like he had snapped out of something to look at her. It looked as if he had forgotten that she was in there and suddenly remembered.
They both locked eyes for a bit, and the tiger looked forward.
"It's... It's nothing." The tiger said, but he was not very convincing.
"Well, you surely looked to be bothered by this 'nothing'." The ewe said, "Would you like to maybe talk about it? I don't mind talking about 'nothing'."
There was a silence, as the tiger looked at her, and then, he sighed.
"The tiger." He said, "The one who was leading the group that was with the hostages. I know him."
Lana looked up at him, and the tiger continued:
"His name is Zane Tigereye, and he is-"
"You cousin." The ewe said, completing the thought before the tiger could. This, of course, surprised Tyson, who looked back at her with wide eyes.
"I kind of figured it out. Zane was always speaking of you and of your brothers." Lana explained to him. "He made it clear to us how hard it was to have you guys as his relatives. He wasn't exactly very keen on you guys. Besides, the way you reacted when you saw him in the image made it clear that you knew him."
Tyson looked at her for a few moments, processing what he just heard from that ewe.
"You know Zane?" of course, the ewe had spoken about how dangerous he was, but he imagined that she had only heard about him, or that she met him in one occasion or another. He didn't actually expected her to know him.
"I did." The ewe said, and she looked back at him. "That tiger and I have a history. I knew him from the time that he was just another orphan, not too long ago. But of course, that was before he changed and turned into a dangerous and treacherous viper." She spoke, and said nothing more.
Tyson continued to look at her, his eyebrow raised, as he was trying to make sense of what the ewe had just said.
The group continued to move forward, finding themselves facing more situations up ahead.
It seemed that the mammals that were under some form of control surpassed the golems in number, and they were quite numerous.
Indeed, they were starting to think that they were so numerous that they could pose a serious problem for the cops, who had brought limited amount of ammunition, and they would end up running out of darts.
Luckily, Emilia Mieczyslaw was in there, and she was ready to do her part with little hesitation.
She would cover her dagger with flames at the color of the aurora, and swung it, sending these flames into the controlled mammals, who would soon be falling to the ground and squirm, before the flames cleared, revealing that they were confused and acting as if they just woke up from a dream.
"Are you sure you cannot give us any more information?" Bogo asked one of the mammals that had been free from the control, as the rest of the group saw if there was no one else approaching the group. "Anything at all? Try to focus."
"I'm trying!" The hippo said, looking at him and shaking his head. "B-but... it is all so... A-all I remember clearly is that wolf playing the guitar. He was so good at it. His music was so catchy. I couldn't have enough of it. I just went along and... and I... I... dear God, I actually did these things?"
It was no use, Bogo was soon convincing himself from that, as all of the mammals that had been free from control were behaving the same way. It was if someone had hacked into their brains and erased all evidence on their way out.
Sighing, Bogo turned to his officers, and ordered them to accompany these mammals to the nearest escalators and to help them up. There was no need to go with them all the way up to the roof, once the floors above had already been cleared, and they only needed to take them safely to a place they could move upwards themselves, and give them directions on how to get to the roof. The helicopters would be there, and they would have only to wait their turn to leave.
As three officers went with the group, the mammals stopped to wait for them to come back and to breathe a little, as they needed this time to gather themselves and to get ready to keep moving forward.
"This mission is surely proving to be quite a challenge." Bogo said as he sat down, looking over at his officers, and he heard someone saying:
"Missions can be like that sometimes."
The Cape buffalo looked, and he saw agent Lapinsky standing there next to him. The bunny looked up at the much bigger mammal, but it was as if he was looking at a mammal around the same size as himself. At least that was what Bogo could tell, from the way that the rabbit looked at him without showing any signs of being intimidated. That was something he was use to have from Hopps, who never showed any fear of him. It seemed that this bunny was about the same.
Now, if that was a good thing or a bad thing, it was still too soon to say.
As Bogo and Lapinsky had their reflections, Nick was standing next to the Enforcers, who were both recovering. Someone was looking at them.
Of course he would want to be near the other foxes. These pelts do love to form groups when it is convenient. McChill thought to himself as he saw Wilde going to talk with Mr. and Ms. Mieczyslaw. The polar bear grunted and focused his mind on something else, as he checked on his equipment, counting how many darts he still had left.
"Well, this mission is proving to be quite hard." The fox said to the other two, who looked back at the cop. "Even with you guys and 'agent Steel Boots' making most of the job, it is still a bit taxing."
"Really, you think?" Emilia said, looking at him. "I found it to be quite easy. I mean, it is not like we have to fight other mages."
"My niece has the custom of underestimating situations." Marceli said, looking at Nick. "She also is the kind who think that calm and peaceful situations are rather boring, and that danger and trouble are synonyms of fun and excitement." He was looking at her as he said that, and she shrugged as her uncle looked at her like that.
"Well, she surely does makes it seem easy with her magic flames." Nick said, and he looked at her dagger. "How do you even do that, by the way? Is it something that you do yourself, or is it something in the dagger?"
The two foxes looked at him, and Emilia looked at her uncle, almost as if she was asking for permission for something. The back tod sighed.
"Yeah, another thing about my niece is that she loves to talk. Sometimes about things that she really shouldn't." He said, and after a few moments, he made a gesture with his paw. It seemed that this was all the permission that the vixen needed.
"Well, it is a little bit of both, actually." The vixen said, as she brought her dagger up for the tod to look. As she did, she was putting her paw in the handle, and Nick realized that it was hollow. Better saying, it had small holes in the hilt, where small pebbles were place. The vixen removed each one of these pebbles, and Nick looked at them, realizing that there were symbols carved in them.
"Do you see the symbols here?" The vixen asked to him. "These are runes. You know what runes are, right?"
"Yeah, Carrots and I have done some research on it after you guys told us you were specialized in that." Nick said to the vixen. "We got that runes are like symbols that are both letters and words on their own, depending on the situation. We also read that in the old time the shamans used them to predict the future."
"Yeah, that is the most basic." The vixen said to him. "You see, runes are words of the old world, and as such, they have power on their own right. In the legends, the original runes are said to have been discovered by Odin himself, the king of the Norse gods. Each one of these letters are a representative of a fundamental aspect and force of the world, and such, these symbols hold an amazing power on their own. Now, the original runes have long been lost, but the runes still hold a power of their own."
As showed the pebbles with runes carved to the fox, showing how each rune is different from the other.
"Each rune has a different meaning, what means that it controls a different set of aspects in the world. Different runes produce different effects, and the runes can also be combined for new effects, with different combinations generating a myriad of different effects." The vixen said to him, and Nick looked as she pointed at the different runes on the three pebbles.
"This one is the thurisaz rune, it is attached to giants, and one of the forces that it represents is the power of the storm, the destructive power of natural forces. This one is the sowilo, the rune of the sun, which represents the power of the sun; it is a rune of fire." She explained. "And this last one is the ansuz; it represents the oneness and greatness of god, the pure force of order."
"Now, what I do with my dagger is achieved through the combination of these three runes. sowilo creates the flames, thurisaz infuses it with the power of nature, and ansuz gives it the property to break down incantation." The vixen explained. "The ansuz is actually the more important of the runes, for it is the rune that brings order to chaos, and it has the power to dispel evil and the supernatural. It is this rune that takes away the deadly properties of the fire and makes it capable of dispelling magecraft, allowing it to end the mental interference on the mammals."
Nick listened very carefully, and he nodded, not wanting to interrupt the vixen.
"I use the dagger as a form of combining runes, by placing the pebbles with the runes in the hilt." She explained, and let Nick once more see the dagger with holes on the hilt. It looked to be something quite interesting. "I mean, I could do it without the dagger and the runic pebbles, but this way is way faster, much better to use in combat."
"Yeah, it surely seems like that." The tod said, looking at the runes and finding it to be interesting. "Hard to believe that you can do so much with letters."
"Words have power." The vixen said to him. "It was that way in the old days, and some of it has survived the passage of time. Now, the runes are not as powerful as they used to be in the time of the original runes, but they still hold power if you know how to use them. The same goes for other kinds of words."
"What, you mean, like 'bless you' and 'halleluiah'?" The tod asked, finding the concept to be an interesting one.
"More like the certain types of magecraft that are still around, like the Kabbalah that you guys use." She said, and Marceli looked at her as she spoke that, and so did Nick, with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm sorry... 'you guys'?" The red tod asked, and the vixen nodded.
"Yeah, you can ask your mother, after all, she used to be-" The vixen was about to say, but she was suddenly cut when her uncle said:
"I think this is enough for now." He spoke, and now was nudging his niece, as if to make her move. "We need to get ready for when the group starts moving again. We still have a mission, after all." The black tod said, and Nick looked at him, as he knew very well that he had just stopped her from saying something.
Something about Nick's mother.
However, the tod had not much time to think about it, for a few moments after, the mammals came back, and they were one more ready to move.
The group was once more moving across the mall, keeping very close to each other as they were all with their eyes and ears open for anything that could come.
Once more, some of them came to think that it was somehow too quiet.
They had not met as many roaming groups as in the previous two floors, and they soon were seeing that the place seemed to be a bit less under protection.
They passed by some broken pieces of golems on their way, and they even passed by an unconscious mammal on the ground, with two mammals who seemed to be controlled walking in a circle and chanting "rock n' roll" on some short of dance.
They were finding it to be somehow too easy as they moved.
"Is it just me or their security seems a bit lacking in this floor?" Nick said, as Judy and him were walking side by side, and the bunny had to agree with him, as it seemed that the floor didn't had the same level of protection as the rest of the floor.
They even went as far as to voice their worries to the other through radio, and while most of them didn't took it seriously, the enforcers agreed that it was somehow too easy. Bogo too felt that it was being far too easy in comparison with the previous two floors, and he ordered everyone to stay sharp.
They continued to move about, as carefully as they could, and keeping their eyes open for anything that could be coming their way. They met two groups of mammals and golems, and were able to take care of it easily.
They continued to move on the direction to the security room, when suddenly, Meerkovitz voice came through the radio:
"Guys! Heads up, there is a big group coming your way! Around forty individuals, most of it mammals but some golems among them." The meerkat said, sounding urgent as he spoke that.
The group then was starting to get ready to be able to approach.
"They are moving your way!" The meerkat said through the radio. "Crap! They are moving straight to you!"
"They know that we are here." Marceli said, once he was communicate of what Meerkovitz said on the radio. Some of the group agreed with him, and so, the group got really ready, with both enforcers having their daggers ready (just like Ferron, who had removed her glasses and was looking ahead), Lapinsky was getting his plasma guns ready, and the whole rest of the group was with their guns and rifles ready.
"There are hostages among them." The ferret said to the group, causing them to look at her. "They are guiding hostages to here. And there are two mages leading the group."
"Great." Marceli said as he heard that, and the group soon was moving again.
As they moved, they approached a bridge between two parts of the mall. There were some of them inside of the mall, serving as connection to the parts separated by great gaps. On the other side of the bridge, they could see a group approaching.
It should really have around forty individuals, just like the meerkat said to them. As the group approached, they noticed that there was a circle forming around the group on the inside, which consisted mostly of mammals that looked scared, while there were golems and crazed-looking mammals around them.
On the lead of the group were coming three mammals.
On the middle of them was a tiger, one that looked like he too was a hostage. That is, if you took in consideration that he was tied and muzzled with what seemed to be solid rock. He was walking as if he was being dragged; although neither of the other two had their paws on him.
Of course, it would be 'hooves', on the case of the horse that was walking by his side. One that could be recognize by some as Percy Colter, who had already had three meetings with the two cops that were on the lead, along with the enforcers and the agent.
However, he was not the only mammal in there that they recognized, as there was another tiger walking by the other side of the bound tiger. He was tall, muscled, and he was carrying a big hammer with himself. However, the most threatening thing about him was the fact that he was familiar to both Nick and Judy, whom had met him before and already knew that this mammal could be pretty aggressive when he wanted to.
"You gotta be kidding me." Nick said as the group approached. The mammals on the lead stopped, prompting the whole group to stop behind them, as they looked at the group that now was in front of them.
The tiger, in particular, was looking straight at the fox, whom he could still recognize despite the heavy equipment that he was using.
"Hello, Russet." Zane said to the fox, whom pointed a dart gun at him.