"Just what in the name of Minos is that?" Bogo said, as he looked at the video that the enforcers and his two officers had brought. He looked very intently at the face of the strange creature that appeared on the screen.

"According to Wilde's contact, it is the Bigfoot." Emilia said, as she stood in a chair with her uncle sitting next to her, while the two officers stood in another. Bogo snorted at this.

"If that's Bigfoot, than I am the Minotaur." Bogo said, "I mean, look at it. It could be a mask."

"It doesn't quite look like a mask." Judy said, as she had seen the video herself, and it didn't really looked like some kind of mask. It was dark and kind of hard to have a clear view, but it was clear enough for them to be sure that the mammal in the video was not wearing a mask.

"Well, I know that it cannot be the Bigfoot." Bogo said, but them he stopped, as if thinking on something. He then turned his gaze to the enforcers, "It cannot be the Bigfoot, right?"

"Bigfoot is just a legend." Marceli said; he was tapping on the machine that he had. Bogo felt a bit angry that the fox was doing that while they were talking, but Marceli made it clear that he too needed to pass information to the Association to update them on their situation. "I'm not sure of what it is, but I assure you is not Bigfoot."

"Well that's a relief." Nick said, "But so, just who and what is the ugly guy in the camera?"

"Could be a mage." Emilia said, "He could be a user of lycanthropy."

This really caught the attention of the cops present on the room.

"Wait, did you said, 'lycanthropy'?" Judy said, as the prospect suddenly had her worried.

"As in, getting cursed by the bite of another lycanthrope?" Nick asked, "Turning into a savage monster during the full moon? Losing your mind while you grow and your teeth and claws become sharper and you crave for the taste of mammal flesh even if you are a prey?"

"That is ridiculous!" Bogo said, looking at Marceli, who still typed on his machine. "There are no such things as lycanthropes!"

"Hmm, with dues respect, sir." Nick said, "You did said the same thing about magic some months ago."

Bogo looked at Nick, and it was a gaze that would have made other mammals cower, but not that sly fox. The buffalo soon was snorting as he looked down.

Sometimes he hated when Wilde was right.

"Oh, yeah. Lycanthropy is a thing." Emilia said, "But, it is not really like what they show on your television series and on your books."

"Lycanthropy is the process of awakening something primitive in your body." Marceli explained, as he continued to type on the machine. "It is something that brings forth the more primitive and savage parts of your species, sometimes even of the ancestors of your species, using it to make yourself more savage."

He finished typing, and he turned his look at the mammals on the room. "You change to become closer to what your ancestors were in a distant past. Bigger. Stronger. Faster. More in tune with primitive instincts. Basically, you could call it a regression to a more primitive state. This, of course, might also mean that you become far more aggressive."

The cops all looked with interest at the enforcer, who them was concluding:

"It can be achieved through magecraft, but it is not something easy. This kind of transformation is extremely taxing, both physically and mentally. The mind suffers from being forced into a more primitive state, and physical transformations of any kind put the body under an immense amount of strain." He said, "As a matter of fact, the transformation itself tends to be painful, and it is said that overuse of the ability by someone inexperienced could put one's sanity in danger or even reduce their lifespan. It is not the kind of thing that you would do on a whim."

The mammals around nodded, and they all took in this information.

"Anyway." The black tod said, "This is relevant information, as well as the rest of the ones that we acquired today."

"Yeah, it sure seems like it." Bogo said, and he reflected on all that they told him. It was a whole lot of information that they had collected by talking to their contacts. Most of it came from the enforcers, but there was also some significant information that they acquired from someone that Wilde knew.

Of course, none of them shared the identities of their contacts. The enforcers for they were mages and didn't wanted to be identified, while Wilde said that his contact (who could one day become a good informant, according to the fox) wanted to have their name off the records.

"So, how will this information help?" Bogo asked, looking at the mammals, "I mean, they obviously give new directions to the investigation, but how helpful are they, actually?"

"Very." Marceli said to the buffalo. "Knowing that they interfered with the ley line tells us that they were using a powerful magecraft, and that is not the kind of thing that they could have done in a day, which means that they have been preparing. The fact that it is confirmed the presence of the panther in Sahara Central had been at the place for a few days shows that he has been studying the area, telling us that he has been in the city for a while, which means he probably found a place to stay. The fact that they had been bringing their golems through the Canal District let us know that they truly planned to stay here for a while, to the point they were possibly mounting a workshop in there, something I seriously doubt that the clans have gave permission for. Not the mention the information Wilde's contact gave."

"And don't forget the information on Blackwall." Emilia chimmed in, "We know that the guy was in the city for a while, probably preparing to make business with the MTC. He could be a source of information on their plans."

"That if he is still in the city." Marceli said in answer, "It is likely that he has left already."

Nick nodded at this. That indeed seemed like the most probable.

"Either way, this lead in particular is not as promising as the other ones. We'll keep it in second plan and focus on the others." Marceli said, and the cops in there agreed with him.

"And, what about Hon- I mean, Nick's contact's other information?" Judy asked, causing them to look at her, "The one about the Manechester? Is it relevant?"

"Maybe... or maybe not." Marceli said, "It was before this situation, and it might not be related at all."

"Yeah, but about the creature in the figure and the two supposed mages that are now living there..." Judy said, and Marceli shook his head.

"It might be totally unrelated to this situation. Still, I guess it wouldn't hurt to look into it later on."

"Well, we should give them a call, to let them know what is happening, and maybe to mark an interview with the mages in there." Judy said, and this time it was Bogo that shook his head.

"It might not be the best idea, Hopps." The buffalo said, causing the bunny to look at them, "If we ask their help on something, it is very likely that they might at least not be fully cooperative."

"Huh, why not?" Judy asked, looking at him.

"You really don't know much of Zootopia's recent political activity, have you?" Nick asked, and Judy looked at him, with a raised eyebrow.

"Hopps, the Manechester family is famous for their work as an independent law enforcement and security company, one that is quite successful." Bogo said to the bunny. "It was founded around sixty years ago, and it has made a name for itself as one of the best in the market. Of course, they have many times worked in conjunction with the ZPD in some important cases, but many times they have worked more on their own, there were even times when their work and the ZPD ended up interfering with each other."

"Yeah, the old Manechester grandpapa was a guy who thought that he should do the job that the police could not." Nick said, "Some even said that he used to go around the city beating up criminals, like he was a vigilante or something."

"There were tensions between the family and the ZPD." Bogo continued, and Judy looked back at him, "And these tensions have gotten a bit worse a few years ago after certain... circumstances..."

Bogo was a bit vague at it, and Judy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. After a few moments, Bogo was speaking again:

"Still, I think that we really should call the Manechester manor and let them know that there is a hidden camera at their yard." The buffalo said, "I'll have Deermond call them as soon as possible to give them the warning."

The ones around nodded, however, Judy said something:

"By the way, sir?" She asked, and Bogo looked at him, "We haven't seen Clawhauser in the front desk... is he okay?"

Bogo looked at her for a few moments.

"Yes, Hopps. He is fine." Bogo said, to her, "Clawhauser is currently on health leave for the next three days. As per his mother's request."

The mammals on the room looked at the buffalo.

"She came to talk to me soon after you all left, and she told me that it would be better if her son took a few days off work to be sure that he would be fully recovered." He spoke, looking around, "Of course, under normal conditions I would not agree with it, since it looked like Clawhauser could work perfectly, but... his mother can be pretty convincing."

"She must be, if she managed to convince you." Nick said, the buffalo only looked back at him, and he seemed that he wanted to say something back at the fox. However, the buffalo chose the best option at the moment: to ignore the fox and move on.

"So, this leads to how we will proceed with the investigation now. Do any of you have anything else to pursue?" Bogo asked, and Judy was about to answer to him, when suddenly her phone started ringing.

She barely thought as she pulled it from her pocket, and she let out a small groan.

"Oh, cheese and crackers." She said under her breath, and the others looked at her.

"Your neighbors again?" Nick asked, and Judy nodded.

"Yeah, they have been calling for a while now." She said, and the others looked at her with interest.

"Ever since yesterday they have been asking me to investigate the website that Bucky has been looking at." She said to the ones around. "The one that 'turned him into a mage'. And they want me to convince the enforcers to look into it as well."

"The guys are still pretty freaked out about that." Nick said.

"One cannot turn into a mage." Marceli said, "If anything, this 'Bucky' was born a mage and never realized it until yesterday."

"Yeah, but you gotta admit it is strange." Emilia said to her uncle, "I mean, from what I heard it seems that the guy learned actual magecraft from the internet, and that is not common. You know how we are in keeping secrets, if our teachings really ended up online..."

"I admit it's unsettling." Marceli said, "And that it could be important, but right now we have to focus on the case of the mall, and this means that we don't have time to look into this. We'll focus on doing our job and we will-", Marceli was saying, but he was interrupt as the machine started working by itself.

Marceli now had his full attention to the machine as it worked, punching line after line into the scroll in there.

"So, what does the HQ says?" Nick asked, but Marceli seemingly ignored him. The black tod had his attention turned completely to the machine and to the words that were being write in there.

The machine worked for around two minutes, and Marceli continued to look at it as it wrote a sizable number of lines. After it was done, Marceli was in silence for around another minute, causing everyone to look at him, before he spoke:

"Change in plans." He said, turning to the bunny, "We should go see your neighbor."

This caused everyone to look surprised at him.

"We should?" Judy asked, and she looked at black tod.

"Why the sudden change?" Nick asked, and the question was clear in the eyes of the other officers around.

"The Association has a direction for the investigation." The black tod said, tapping the scroll that had been print in there with words from the Association. "They want the mages who were present on the mall to be questioned. This, of course, includes that neighbor of yours."

"Oh... wait, this means my mother will be questioned as well?" Judy asked.

"And mine too?" Nick asked, and Marceli looked back at both of them.

"You have their addresses here in Zootopia, right?" He asked simply, and this was enough answer to the two, who shared a look among themselves, while Emilia looked at the scroll with the message, and she whistled.

"Wow, Aaron himself gave the order." She said, "The thing is really serious."

"Yes, indeed." Marceli said, "Although he probably only did it because the clans have insisted for this to be done."

The ones around looked at them, and Nick was the one who felt inclined to ask:

"This 'Aaron', is he some influent guy among the enforcers?"

"Aaron Mieczyslaw." Marceli said, looking at the cops. "He has an elevated ranking in the enforcers. He would be the equivalent to a police chief among us." He said, looking straight at Bogo.

"Wait, Mieczyslaw?" Judy asked, and she knew that it was the same name of the foxes.

"Aaron is our cousin." Emilia said, and the cops all looked at them.

"Wow... the enforcers are certainly ahead of other police departments around." Nick said, "I mean, hiring so many foxes, and making one a chief? Man."

"Oh, no." Emilia quickly said, "Aaron is not a fox, he is a wolf."

This, of course, granted a few confused looks.

"Wait, but didn't you just said he is your cousin?" Judy said, and Emilia confirmed.

"Yes, he is."

She looked at her for a few moments, and then it occurred to her that maybe they were a mixed family. She heard of these many times, and they weren't that rare.

"Oh... sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Emilia asked.

"For being... you know... for not considering that foxes and wolves could be relatives... I mean... I just... I-is he a relative by mother or father's side?" She said, clearly trying to diverge from what she thought to be a social indiscreetness. However, this only caused Emilia to look at her confused. Luckily, Marceli was in there, and he seemed to know better what to say.

"There are two Mieczyslaw families." The black tod said, causing the eyes on the room to turn to him. "There are the fox Mieczyslaw, and the wolf, Mieczyslaw."

"Oh..." Judy said, looking at him, and so did the others. Bogo, on his end, had a particular look of interest to what the black tod was saying.

"Despite both families being of different species, we consider ourselves as the single clan, composed by two different families. We study the same branch of magecraft, we share of many of the same beliefs and views, and we even refer to each other as 'cousin'." The black tod explained, "Still, the two families focus on different things, for while the wolf Mieczyslaw are more focused on keeping order, often becoming enforcers, the fox Mieczyslaw are more worried on travelling the world and collecting old artifacts."

"With a few exceptions." Emilia said, "Like Uncle Marcel and me." She was rather proud as she spoke that, and the cops processed what the enforcers had just told them. Bogo in particular, looked to be a bit deep in thought as he processed what the black tod said.

So... there are wolves who use the same magecraft as this fox.

"Now that is quite an interesting family." Nick said, "What, did you became associated by marriage or something?"

"The two clans are descendant of the same individual." Marceli said simply, "But, this is not relevant now, we must go on and proceed to interrogate the mages of the place. Starting with Bucky."

With this said, the enforcers and the two cops were jumping out of the chairs, and they were now heading to the door. Bogo looked like he was having a mental debate as he watched them go to the door. As they were halfway to it, the buffalo got up from his chair.

"Wait!" He said, a bit loudly, surprising the four others, who looked back at him with surprised expressions or, on Marceli's case, a raised eyebrow.

"Mieczyslaw." Bogo said, after recomposing himself, and he was looking at the black tod. "Before you go, I'd like to talk to you a bit."

"Yes?" He said, and the buffalo added:

"In private."

There was a silence on the room, and Marceli looked at the buffalo with a raised eyebrow, before he nodded. He told the others to go ahead; he would catch with them soon. Emilia was a bit hesitant, but she eventually agreed to go with the cops while he uncle had a quick talk with the ZPD Chief.

As they left the room and closed the door, Marceli was now alone with Bogo.

"So, what is it you want to talk about, Chief Bogo?" Marceli asked, going straight to the point, "By your expression, I'd say it is something serious."

Bogo looked at him, evaluating and immediately knowing that the fox already knew there was something that the buffalo wanted. However, Bogo knew better than to be too blunt, and he decided to ease things in first.

"So, your clan has a wolf side, huh?" Bogo said, "That's... interesting."

"I assume it is." Marceli said, looking him with smart eyes, "Although, I don't really consider it interesting enough for you to want to talk about it with me in particular."

Bogo looked at him, and he continued:

"And, these wolves use the same type of magecraft as you do." Bogo said, and he was not asking, but confirming what the fox himself said just minutes ago. "So, I assume that you learned much of your magecraft from them, right?"

"Well, that is how it is usually done between mages." The black tod confirmed, looking up at the buffalo. "The teachings are made within the family, as we want to make sure that our secrets will not be stolen. All that I know, I learned from the rest of my clan."

"I see..." Bogo said, "Including that little exploding trick?"

Marceli visibly tensed at this, and that was something that did not went unnoticed by Bogo.

"That... was something I came up with on my own." The fox said, and Bogo noticed something strange on the way that the fox said that. This made him suspicious, and he decided to continue:

"Really?" Bogo said, "You don't learned it up from someone else? Maybe a wolf of your clan?" Bogo said, "Maybe you got inspired by someone else to come up with it..."

"What are you getting at?" Marceli said, looking at him. Bogo said nothing, as he only looked back at the fox.

"Even a kit can tell that you are up to something." Marceli said to him, "Let's not play these kinds of games, Chief Bogo. It is beneath both of us. If there is anything you want to say or to ask, just look at me in the eye and say it."

Bogo looked at the fox. It was obvious that the fox was not in the mood for games, and he had a point, playing games and trying to go around the subject to reach something like the politicians often did was something he considered to be beneath himself. The vulpine obviously was too smart for these games, and he saw right through Bogo from the beginning. Bogo took this in consideration and, after a while, he decided to finally say it:

"It was over thirty years ago." He said to the fox, "In a forest near an upstate house."

Marceli looked at the buffalo, with a raised eyebrow.

"A calf was visiting an uncle who had a house upstate, and he liked to explore the deep woods." Bogo said, "One night, he wandered deeper than before in the woods, and he met something unusual in this. He sees a bunch of mammals in the woods, performing some kind of ritual. They don't notice that he is in there, and he doesn't wants to call their attention, so he remains hidden."

Marceli looks at him more intently as he speaks, and his expression is becoming more serious.

"That was when a group of mammals come in, making them stop the ritual, and identifying themselves as enforcers." Bogo continued, and he saw as the expression of the fox became darker and darker. "At their lead, is a wolf wearing a fedora and with a creepy smirk on his muzzle."

Now the look that the fox was giving him was hard, almost hostile, and he said, slowly:

"What have you seen there, Bogo?"

The fox was purposely dropping the Chief, and it was obvious that he knew what the buffalo was talking about. Bogo himself felt a bit confused by the words of the fox, but only for a second, before he realized that the fox thought that Bogo was talking of something he saw himself, rather than something that his brother told him.

Bogo decided to play along with it.

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Bogo said, avoiding telling a direct lie but effectively going around the truth. "Enforcers stopping a ritual in the woods, when all of sudden the wolf starts doing something to everyone in there, including the enforcers. He placed his paws in them and a few seconds later, they exploded. The wolf is laughing while he makes them explode, and the calf stays hidden, watching it all happen from his hiding spot, and he even sees when one of the daggers of the enforcers land on the ground near his hiding point."

The fox's expression continued to become heavier, and Bogo had the impression that the fox was clenching his fists.

"After it is over, and the wolf is gone, the calf finally comes out of where he was hiding and ran back to his uncle's house. Years have passed, but the calf never forgot what he saw on the woods that night." Bogo said, Marceli looked up at him, and Bogo looked back at the almost-ferocious look that the fox was giving him.

"Over the last months, the calf got some answers to what he saw." The buffalo said, "He now knows better about magecraft. He knows what enforcers are. He knows that the enforcers were there because these mammals were probably doing something against their laws... but, there is still one thing that the calf didn't understood yet."

Bogo looked deep into Marceli's eyes.

"What was that all about?"

There was silence, and the fox looked back at him with a fierce expression on his face.

"Bogo..."

"Why did the wolf killed everyone?" Bogo asked, looking at the fox. "He was a traitor to the enforcers? Did he went insane? Was he following some kind of plan?"

"Bogo..." Marceli said again.

"Was the wolf close to you?" Bogo asked very bluntly. This immediately got a reaction of the fox, who now visibly flinched, and he looked at the buffalo with a dire expression on his face.

"Was he a member of your clan?" Bogo asked him.

"Do not speak things you don't know about." Marceli said, his voice was dangerously low, and all of his physiognomy let the message that he was getting ready to charge and fight. Bogo took this hostility as a sign that the fox indeed knew about something, and that it was a very personal matter for him.

"It is always bad when a fellow officer betrays you." Bogo said, "Even more when they are from your own family."

The fox said nothing, but continued to look at the buffalo, and it now looked like he was fighting the urge to leap at the buffalo's neck.

"Have you ever mentioned about this to anyone?" He asked, and it was clear that he was making an effort to calm himself, although everything from his tune to his posture still denote aggressiveness, or at least some anger-based hostility.

"What if I did?" Bogo said, not letting himself be intimidated. He was not the kind of mammal who backed away from a challenge, and this included the one that was coming from that fox.

They looked at each other for a while, before the fox said:

"You should forget what you saw."

"As if it was easy to forget something like that." Bogo said, remembering all that Tim had told him since that night when they finally reconciled. Tim had never been able to forget what he saw, and it haunted him for decades on end.

"You should try." Marceli said to him, rather bluntly, "I know I have been trying to."

"Oh, it must be so hard." Bogo said, as he was starting not to like the tune of the fox, and neither the way that he was talking to him. Bogo didn't liked this kind of thing, he had problem enough dealing with it from politicians.

"You think it was not?" Marceli said, and his tune was low, almost as if it was a threat to the buffalo. "Don't you think that I had been struggling to try to leave that behind and to move on with my life after that? That I didn't spent years trying to move on? He was my idol, dammit!"

"So this makes it harder than to a calf who witnessed mammals dying like that!?" Bogo asked to him, as this conversation was escalating. "Do you think that a calf who witnessed such things would have it easier to forget it than someone who admired the wolf who did that and who was told about it by some of his peers later on? Was it that bad when they told you that your idol had murdered his companions?"

"No one had to tell me anything!" Marceli shouted back at the buffalo, "I was there!"

There was a silence after this outburst from the fox. Both mammals looked at each other, and Bogo couldn't help but look in surprise at the fox who was nearly fuming.

"This conversation is over." Marceli said, turning around and walking to the door, Bogo tried to call him, but the fox was incisive in his answer:

"This has nothing to do with this case." The black tod said, "The event of that forest was years ago, and it has no connections to the events that we are currently investigating." The tod looked over his shoulder, straight at the buffalo.

"Just let it go, Chief Bogo." He said, and he walked off, closing the door behind himself.

Bogo was left alone in that room, as he processed all that had just happened.

Marceli managed to catch up with the others as they were on their way to the cruiser, and Emilia did noticed that there was something with the black tod.

"Uncle Marcel?" She asked, causing him to look at her. "Is something wrong?"

The black fox looked back at his niece, who was looking at him with a worried expression.

He took a deep breath, and he said:

"It's okay... we have work to do. Let's go."

"I'm saying that we should try to call Hopps again!"

"To ask her to come here and bring the enforcers with her only because you are asking?"

"To investigate this thing! I mean, it is the kind of thing that is worth of their attention, right?"

"Don't you think that they might already be busy enough with what happened at the mall yesterday?"

"Well, maybe they could spare some time!"

"They have other duties!"

"Yeah, but maybe they would come if we asked!"

"What, think that they will agree only because you are a mage now? Amazing how fast you got full of yourself!"

"Oh, shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, YOU shut up!"

With each 'shut up', there was a banging on the wall, as the screaming seemed to get louder and louder.

However, it was interrupt when someone knocked at the door. Immediately, one of the mammals who were screaming marched to the door (stomped, actually), and swung it open.

"What!?" Bucky said as he looked at who it was. The first mammal that he saw in there was jackal, who visibly flinched at the screaming kudu. Bucky was about to ask who he was and what he wanted, when he looked further down and he noticed the presence of four familiar mammals coming with the jackal.

"Hey there." Nick said to the kudu, and Judy was by his side. With them, were the mammals who Pronk immediately recognize from the mall. The enforcers. They were without the hoods that they used back then but there was no way of mistaking the mammals who helped save his and his husband's lives.

"Oh... Hey there." Bucky said, and he immediately turned back to inside. "Pronk! Guess who is at the door!"

The mammals on the door shared a look, I particular the enforcers, who were wondering why the kudu was being so loud in such an enclosed space.

"It's just how they are." Judy said to them, and the enforcers weren't sure of what to do of this. Still, they knew that they didn't had much time for this.

They were soon allow into the apartment, which was rather small for all of the mammals in there. It was pretty much the same as Judy's apartment, with a single bed and with a closet on the side. There was also a table in there, which served both for the meals and for them to read and to use the single laptop that they had.

"So, is this the laptop you used?" Marceli asked to the kudu, who answer positively.

"It sure is." Bucky confirmed, "All of the lessons I had were on this computer."

Marceli looked at the device, and he looked at Jackalson. With a head gesture in direction to the computer, the jackal was soon going for the computer, opening it and starting to look into the things in there.

"Uhh, you are not going to go through my browser history, are you?" Bucky asked, "Because if you do, most of these websites came to me as spams or because I landed in them by accident."

"Yeah, right." Pronk said, "Is that why you receive notifications from these websites nearly every day when there is new material posted?"

"Hey!" Bucky said, turning to him and whispering, "Could you please be discrete! We are having visits!"

"Yeah, but it is truth that you go to these websites frequently! You even put on some of their videos for us to watch together!"

"But this is very personal! We shouldn't talk about it in front of the visits!"

"Oh, so now you are ashamed of them? I remember that just two nights ago-"

"Ah gah pah! Shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up"

"So, Mr. Oryx-Antlerson." Marceli said, wanting to break the tension that was clearly building up between the couple.

"Hm?" Both the kudu and oryx looked at the fox, as it was obvious that both of them were Mr. Oryx-Antlerson. Judy as the one who narrowed it down.

"So, Bucky, the enforcers need to ask you a few questions."

"Oh, about the website?" Bucky asked, and the mammals shared looks between themselves.

"Yes, among other things." Marceli said, and soon he was saying:

"Now, let's start from the beginning."

So, they started by asking him basic questions about the website, to which the kudu asked to the best of his skills. He started taking the lessons of the website six years ago. It first came into his attention through an e-mail that he received that had a link that sent him right into the website, and he had been receiving similar e-mails at a weekly basis, each one of them with links to the website and to the next lessons."

"I thought it was just some meditation thing." Bucky said to them. "How was I supposed to know that they were teaching me magic?"

"Magecraft." Marceli said to him, correcting the kudu, "So, you have been receiving the lessons from the website for the last six years, can you describe these lessons, if possible?"

"Oh, sure." Bucky said, "You see, the first thing they taught me was how to find the inner image that would help me bring my soul energy to the surface." The antelope said to them, "Basically they gave me a series of exercises that would help me find the right mental image that would help me focus. It took a few days, but I managed to figure out the image: a bunch of lightbulbs inside my body lighting up, starting with my heart and spreading out."

Marceli nodded, and so did Emilia.

"So, this is the image that you found? The one that allowed you to perform the rest of the exercises?"

"Yeah, the very same." Bucky confirmed, "As soon as I found it, they said that I could use it to continue my lessons."

"Why don't really get it." Pronk said; he had been silent until now, "I mean, how imagining yourself as a Christmas tree has to do with magecraft?"

"It is his activation image." Emilia said.

"My what?" Bucky asked, looking at the vixen, and Marceli was the one who soon was speaking:

"Magic circuits need to be activated to perform magecraft." The black tod said, "In order to activate the magic circuits, it is needed a mental command. This is what we call an activation image; a mental image that we learn to associate with our magic circuits. It basically works like a trigger that induces the circuits to activate so magecraft can be performed."

"Oh..." The ones in the room took in the information, and Bucky said:

"So, to be able to make magecraft mages have to imagine their bodies filled with lightbulbs?"

"Oh, no." Emilia said, "That is your activation image. You see, the image varies from mage to mage. For example, mine is a glowing liquid flowing through my veins."

"An activation image is something universal among mages, but it is something personal to each mage." Marceli spoke, "Usually it has to do with the mage's personality, but it is frequently something of symbolic value or something impacting."

"In the website, they told me that this image represented my soul energy activating and spreading across all of my body." Bucky said, and Marceli nodded, saying that it indeed sounded like something that could be attributed symbolic value in what it came to magic circuits and their functions.

"The activation image is something that all mages know to be necessary to use their magecraft." Marceli said, "It is the most basic thing that you need to keep your circuits open and realize the exchange of magical energy between yourself and the environment."

"Basically you mentalize it every time you want to do magecraft." Emilia said, "Of course, being able to think about it while you are calm and being able to bring it up in the middle of combat are very different things."

"The website taught me to be able to mentalize it when under stress." Bucky said, "They would put some annoying background sound and even give me some physical exercise so I would learn to keep the image in my head in any situation."

"Yeah, that's a way to do it." Emilia said, and Marceli nodded at her, as it truly seemed that Bucky had learned this lesson well, as he was told to have been able to use his magic circuits in combat situation, something that a mere amateur would find very difficult to do.

So, Bucky was asked to explain the rest of the lessons of the website, and the kudu proceeded to give them the descriptions of the lessons that he was given in there. About how they taught him to send his life energy to specific parts of his body, to project it outwards from his own being, to use it to restore himself and even to influence the minds of others.

The four mammals listened to it very closely, with the enforcers looking closely at the kudu while Judy took some notes on what she was hearing.

"I thought it was mostly just positive thinking." Bucky admitted, "I mean; I had no idea that they were actually teaching me how to do magecraft!"

Marceli nodded, and so did Emilia.

"Yes, I see..." Marceli said, seemingly to himself, before he turned his gaze to the kudu, "All that you described are the basic fundamentals, the basic knowledge that all mages are supposed to know to be truly initiated in thaumaturgy."

"It is like knowing what they teach in elementary school." Emilia chimed in, "It is the basic that you have to know so you are not completely inexperienced. You know, kind of learning how to sum and subtract, how to make division, how to speak properly, this kind of thing."

"So, it was basically kindergarten teaching for mages?" Pronk asked, and this caused Bucky to look at him before looking back at the mages. He too had a similar question, and the enforcers were soon answering.

"It is the basic for any mage to know." Marceli spoke, "If you don't know at least that, you have no chance in the actual mage world. Of course, it is mostly theory at this stage, but it can be applied in the form of the most basic things that mages can do, like reinforcement, mental interference and healing magecraft."

"And they have been teaching me this for the last six years?" Bucky asked, and Marceli looked back at him:

"The minimum to learn the basic fundamentals is five."

Bucky was in silence after this, as he seemed to be looking for something else to say in answer to this.

"So, it is confirmed that it was a mage who hosted that website, right?" Nick asked, and Marceli nodded.

"Indeed, this is a method that is highly unusual for any mage to use." The black tod said, "But yes, definitely, the ones who managed the website definitely used it as a form of passing down thaumaturgical teachings."

"And they would just leave it for anyone to see?" Bucky asked, "I mean, wasn't being secret kind of a thing for mages? The first e-mail came to me far before the magecraft started being revealed."

"That's precisely the point, Mr. Oryx-Antlerson." Marceli said, looking at the kudu. This caused Bucky to look back at him with a confused expression.

"The e-mail came to you." The black tod said, "As in, it was not available for anyone to see online, but was something that was given to you specifically."

Bucky blinked, and he looked at the fox.

"Wait... are you saying that the guys of the website made it just to teach me magecraft?" Bucky asked, sounding really surprised at this prospect, but even more as Marceli said:

"That is exactly what it seems right now."

The two antelopes and the two cops on the room took in the news that the enforcer had just given to them, and they were reflecting on it as for all that it could mean.

"But... wait." Bucky said, causing the eyes on the room to turn to me. "You mean that these guys just sent to me a link to a website that they prepared and they hoped that I would just follow what they said and learn what it was saying in there?" Bucky asked, "I mean, that is kind of a wild bet, right? They could not be sure that I would be following the website at all."

"Yes, they could." Said Jackalson, making everyone look at him. He had been working on Bucky's laptop for a while now, and he seemed as if he had found something in there.

The jackal looked at the kudu.

"You never really thought about checking the camera, did you?" The canine asked, and this caused the antlered mammal to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Camera? What camera?"

"This one." Jackalson said, as he turned the computer in his direction and pointed at a small circle that the laptop had on the lid, right above the screen. Bucky blinked as he looked at it, and then it hit him:

"Wait, that is a camera!?"

He sounded genuinely surprised, even shocked, as he spoke that. Jackalson looked back at him.

"Didn't know, did you?" He asked, "Well, can't blame you, many don't really know, or they know but end up forgetting it after a few hours. Well, the guy who was managing the website certainly knew it, and they also knew how to hack into the camera to make it work and send feed to them in real time."

Bucky blinked, and his mind processed what the jackal had just said.

"T-t-they were using it to spy on me!?"

This was particularly loud, and it actually hurt Judy's sensitive ears a bit. Jackalson looked at the kudu in surprise, but soon he was saying:

"W-well, yeah. Kind off." The jackal was then typing a few things in the computer, and the monitor soon was showing some data.

"I checked on your computer, and it seemed that the camera of your computer started working and to transmit image in real time at certain times."

"Which times!?" Bucky said, as he seemed to be quite worried with what someone could have seen him doing on that computer.

"Well, it seems to vary somehow." The jackal said, "But, it seems that the more consistent time seems to be between five and six at the afternoon."

Bucky looked at him a blank expression for a few moments.

"That's the time I used to take the classes. Right after my afternoon nap." The kudu said, then Marceli spoke:

"They watched you while you were having the classes." The black tod said, causing everyone's eyes to turn to him, "It make sense, after all, if they were going through too much trouble to give you these teachings, of course they would want to make sure that you would effectively learn all of them, and it meant supervising you and watching your progress."

Marceli then turned to the jackal. "Any chance you could track the ones who were receiving the video?"

"No can do." Jackalson said, "These guys knew what they were doing, they covered all of their digital footprints and now there is no evidence to follow on the digital level."

"And they have taken down the website, so you can't track that as well." Bucky said, and he was scratching the back of his head.

"Just who would want that much to teach Bucky how to do magecraft?" Pronk asked, and everyone silently agreed that this was a good question.

"It was someone who knew that he could." Marceli said, "Whoever it was, knew that Bucky had magic circuits and that he would be able to perform thaumaturgy, otherwise this would have been a very bold move for nothing. They needed to be absolutely sure that Bucky would be able to perform what they would teach him."

"What, so they knew him?" Nick asked, and Bucky looked at the fox.

"But I didn't even knew I was a mage!"

"What means that they knew you better than yourself." Marceli said, and these words were follow by a very heavy silence.

Everyone in the room seemed to be taking in what Marceli had just spoke, and what it could mean. Bucky, in particular, looked like he was deep in thought on this, as if he was trying to find the answer to what he was learning just now.

"Maybe they knew someone from his family." Judy offered, "I mean; magic circuits are passed down lineages, right? Maybe someone from Bucky's family tree was a mage in the past and the guys knew it."

"That is actually a good theory." Marceli said, "But they would need to be completely sure that Bucky was a descendant from a mage, and even that would not assure that he would be born with magic circuits." The tod said, and he seemed to be in thought.

"They would need more to be sure..."

Everyone looked at him.

"But... who are they!?" Bucky said, "Who are these guys!? How do they know so much about my life!? What do they want with me!?"

Marceli looked at the kudu.

"I don't know... but this did have me curious." He said, and he continued to look at him. "Back in the mall, some said that you had some objects with you of thaumaturgical nature."

"What? Oh, yeah!" Bucky said, suddenly remembering those, "The water whip and the hot-n'-cold gloves! They are around here!" He said, and he fumbled across the drawers on the closet, and pulled out the cylinder and the gloves, giving them for the fox to give a look.

"They came through the mail yesterday morning. There was no return address." Bucky said, as the fox analyzed the items that he now had in paw. "It were them, weren't they? The same guys of the website. They sent it to me right?"

"These are well made." Marceli said, looking at the objects that had an artistic flair to them, as they actually rather beautiful. The black tod looked at the triangle patterns that were present both in the cylinder and in the gloves. He couldn't help but think that he had seen it somewhere before...

"So, you got them both yesterday and you already knew how to use them?" Emilia asked, looking at the kudu, "That's really impressive."

"W-well, I did went mostly on instinct." Bucky said, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, he is good with a whip though." Pronk said, "You learned that from me during our private time, didn't you?" He asked his husband with a smile.

"Pronk!" Bucky said, turning to his husband. "Be a little more indiscrete, will you!?"

"Well, you certainly used them well, from what we heard." Emilia said to him, "And, how did you found out that they were mystic codes?"

"That they were what?" Bucky asked, looking at the vixen.

"Mystic codes." Marceli said, "Is the correct nomenclature to objects that perform thaumaturgical functions, like these." He showed the gloves and the cylinder as he spoke that.

"Yeah, basically any magical item is called a 'mystic code'." Jackalson said, "It's the official mage jargon."

"Oh." Bucky said, nodding in understanding.

"So, back to the question." Emilia said, causing the kudu to look at her once again, "How did you figured out that these were mystic codes? Did you send magical energy into them by accident and found out what they could do?"

"Oh, actually, it was thanks to that guy on the phone."

"Huh?"

Soon all eyes were on Bucky, and he was explaining to them what happened to him at the mall, how he figured out he was a mage and that he could do magecraft from the guy that was on his phone and told him things.

"The guy spoke to me as if he knew me. It was kind of creepy." Bucky said, and the ones around had been listening intently to his explanation.

"Bucky, this is a very important information!" Judy said, looking at her neighbor. "You should have started with that!"

"Sorry, I got distracted!" The kudu immediately said, and the bunny took notes on what he just spoke, as it was something important.

"Maybe we can track your phone and find out where the call came from." Judy said, "This way we can know who was calling you."

"But, how did they managed to call you?" Nick asked to the kudu, looking at him with crossed arms. "No phone or radio worked in and out of the mall with the thing that the dog did."

"I don't know. I just got the call." Bucky said, looking around, and he noticed the look that the two enforcers were giving him. Marceli had his eyebrow raised, while Emilia had a look that was more blatantly mistrusting.

"What? It's true!" Bucky said, not liking the way that the enforcers were looking at him.

"Really?" Emilia asked, "Well, you got admit that it is a bit suspicious." She spoke, and she turned to her uncle, "Maybe it was a good thing starting with him."

"Wait, 'starting with me'? What does that means? I thought you guys came because you were investigating the website."

He looked at them, and he saw Judy looking away, as if a bit ashamed, while the others only looked at him. This caused both Bucky and Pronk to become a bit worried with this.

"The Association is very worried about the events of the mall." Marceli said, after a few moments of silence. "We are investigating the events of yesterday, and one of the instructions of the Association was for us to question all of the mages that were present in the mall yesterday, and this includes you, Mr. Oryx-Antlerson."

Bucky looked at the four mammals, and so did Pronk.

"What, am I a suspect?" Bucky asked, sounding a bit outraged at this, but mostly surprised for this.

"Well, you gotta admit that the situation is strange." Emilia said, as she looked at the kudu with crossed arms. "I mean, you get mystic codes through the mail right on the day you are going to need them? You get a call on your phone when no one else could get any? Not to mention how convenient it is that the one who called you was the one who gave you the instructions on how to escape from there."

Bucky looked back at her as she looked at him, and she seemed to be seizing up his reactions to her words.

"Some would say it almost seems that you knew that something was going to happen..."

Nick and Judy looked at her with surprise, and so did the two antelopes.

"Wha... Do you think I had something to do with that attack!?" Bucky said, sounding really outraged for this, and he was not the only one.

"This is ridiculous!" Pronk immediately said, standing up and looking at the vixen. "Bucky wouldn't hurt a fly! He is a crazy mammal who screams nearly all the time, but he doesn't hurt others! When we have kinky sex he is always the one taking!"

Judy blushed as she heard that. It was not so unusual for them to speak about this kind of personal thing, and the fact that they screamed and that the walls were thin meant that Judy would often hear this kind of thing. Not to mention about the act itself...

Two years and they still caused Judy to blush so hard that she was afraid of her face igniting.

Judy bought some good earplugs for herself because of this kind of thing. It was either that or get flustered every time the talks went there and finding an excuse to get out of home while they were at it.

"Well, either way, the Association still wants Bucky to be questioned." Marceli said, and the kudu looked back at him.

"A-are you gonna take me in?"

"If we were, we would be putting a magic circuit suppressor on you." Emilia said to him, and Marceli soon was speaking again:

"We can do it right here. I assume it will be the more convenient for all of us, right?"

Some of the ones in there agreed with it. In the police, the questioning frequently happened in a special room on the station, but enforcers did things differently, Judy and Nick understood that. Bucky seemed relived for knowing that he was not going to be taken in.

Soon, the enforcers were asking some questions to the kudu, to which he answered the best he could.

Did he had some knowledge of what was going to happen on the mall that day?

No. If he had, he would not have gone there.

Did he had knowledge of any mages among his ancestors, and the possibility that he could possess magic circuits?

No way! It was a huge surprise for the kudu.

Had he recently been contact by someone who told him to go to the mall on the weeks prior to the event?

No, no one contacted him to suggest something like that.

Then why was he at the mall during the event?

Because he really wanted to see the new place and see if it was all that they said. He and Pronk both wanted.

Did he had ever seen any of these mammals on the days before the events of the mall? (They showed him photos and images Percy Colter and some other mammals that were present on the mall)

Never seen any of them before in his life.

These and more questions were ask. The kudu answered all of them the best he could, and he seemed to get more comfortable with the questions, even though at some point some of them almost seemed like accusations...

"Well, it seems that this is enough." Marceli said, as he seemed satisfied, "Thank you for your time. Please, remain in the city in case we need to ask you more questions."

Bucky nodded at them, and Judy just finished taking notes on the subject, and so did Jackalson, who was also taking notes on his own little agenda. With this, the five mammals were on their way out, leaving the two antelopes behind.

As soon as the door closed, they could already hear it:

"I told you they had more important things to do!"

"Hey, they still came, don't they? And they checked on my computer!"

"Yeah, but they came to see if you were taking part on the mall thing! I don't believe that they actually thought you had something to do with that, though! You don't have the nerve to crush a cockroach!"

"You saying I wouldn't be able to do something like that if I wanted!? I would be too chicken!?"

"Oh, so you mean you would do something like that!? Well, then you should call the enforcers back and tell them that!"

"Oh, shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, YOU shut up!"

The shouts of the two was still audible as they were near the stairs, but it vanished as they started to go down.

"These neighbors of yours are two pieces of work." Emilia said to Judy, and the bunny had no other choice but to agree. She had gotten used to them after over two years living next-door, but she knew very well that they still surprised the ones that were meeting them for the first time.

Some of them looked at them strange, and some wanted to keep distance form them if possible, for they screamed so much.

The Enforcers actually took it better than Judy had expected them to.

"Okay, I guess that this now means that we have to talk to the other mages, right?" Emilia said, looking at her uncle, and Marceli nodded.

"Yes, indeed." He said, "The one closest to here is Bonnie Hopps. She is staying in a hotel with some of her relatives, including her granddaughter."

Judy tensed a bit at this.

"From there, we can go see Sophie Wilde."

Now it was Nick's turn to get somewhat tense.

"These two seem to be subject of interest, once they are ex-mages related to the clans. One of them still lives in the city while the other was visiting for the first times after being away for many years." He said, and Emilia nodded, saying that it did made sense that they would be in attention.

However, the two cops still had some problem with that.

"Mr. Mieczyslaw?" Judy said, causing the fox to stop and look at her.

"I understand that you have your reasons for suspect them, as you just said; and that the Association told you to investigate the mages present on the mall, but..." She looked at him in the eyes, "Are these two really suspects?"

"They could be, right?" Emilia asked her, "I mean, didn't they hid their past as mages from you guys?" She looked at the two. "They could be hiding more things, right?"

Nick and Judy shared a look at this, and they had to admit that her reasoning held some foundation. However, they still both wanted to protest.

"Well, keeping secrets from your kit is one thing." Nick said, "Even sending your magical minions to spy on them is a thing, but they are very different from conspiring to take a mall full of hostages."

"Both Officer Wilde and I can attest that they would have no involvement in the events of the mall, and that they would have no reason for that." Judy said, sounding pretty convincing as she said that.

"Why?" He asked them, "Because they are your mothers?"

The black tod was very blunt when saying this and it caused both of the officers to recoil a little bit.

"Well, that is another thing." Judy said, "I mean, they are our mothers and... well, wouldn't that put some problem in us going along with you?"

"No, as long as you two remain professional." Marceli said, and he looked intently at the two. "I know that family is a very important thing, but you must remain objective in this." Marceli spoke to both of them, "I had the impression that you two were among the best officers, I was not wrong, was I?"

Judy and Nick said nothing, and Marceli took this as the answer for his question. Soon, they were resuming walking, and Judy and Nick no longer voice any problems with the situation. However, they had to admit that both of them were still uncomfortable for their mothers being treat like suspects.

"We'll just ask them questions for protocol." Marceli said as they walked out, "I don't think that any of them had anything to do with that, but the Association did recommended it because of the clans."

"These guys really are not happy for something like that having happening right beneath their snouts." Emilia said, "They want all possibilities to be covered, so they can know who they are going to punish for this."

"We might as well go question your mothers just so we can have this done with." Marceli finished, and the cops admitted that it was better this way. They preferred to just talk to their mothers and not have to bother them later on.

As they walked out, Judy's ear twitched, as she caught the sound of wings.

She froze in place, and she looked up.

"Cheese and crackers..." She said to herself. Nick was by her side, and he was the first to notice that something was wrong.

"Carrots?" He asked, stopping by her side. Judy looked at him, and gestured with her head, and the fox looked at her for a few seconds, before looking up and seeing him.

"Oh, right... it is back."

"Hey, you two." Emilia said, as she, her uncle and Jackalson noticed that the two had stopped, and were now looking back at the two cops.

Nick looked at them, and made a single gesture upwards.

The three looked at him for a moment, before they looked at where the fox was pointing, and they saw it: a raven perked in the powerlines, looking down at them.

"What's this?" Emilia asked, as she and the other two looked intently at the creature, which looked back at them, as well as the other cops.

"A familiar." Marceli said, looking at the crow, and it looked back at him with what seemed to be smart eyes.

Emilia looked at him, she then looked back at the crow, and then, as she looked at it, she said:

"Wait, ain't that the 'murderous crow' that the white wolf talked about?"

"The very same." It was Nick's answer, as he and Judy both walked to the enforcers and their secretary, and now the five of them were looking at the crow, which looked back at all of them with these red eyes.

"It is an interesting familiar." Marceli said, "Although it looks kind of... cheap."

The crow continued to look at them, and it seemed to be carefully evaluating each one of them. It was almost as if it was waiting to see what they would be doing next.

"Bet I can hit it from here." Emilia suddenly said as she pulled her dagger, and she was now reaching for runic pebbles to put on the hilt. "So, should I aim for the head or for one of the wings?"

"Don't you dare to do it!" Someone suddenly said, as the crow flapped its wings. This startled the mammals in there, for the one who spoke was the crow itself.

"It talks!" Judy exclaimed, looking at the crow, which flapped its wings at them, taking off and hoovering to their direction.

"Does it?" Marceli asked, and the crow landed in front of them, causing Nick and Judy both to take a step back, as well as Emilia, who seemed now even more inclined to fight, as she had her dagger ready. Jackalson was behind Emilia, as it he expected her to defend him in case the thing attacked. Marceli, however, remained impassive as he looked at the crow.

"Does this crow really talks?" Marceli asked, looking at the creature, "Or is the mage who controls it talking through its beak?"

The crow looked back at Marceli.

"Very clever, Mieczyslaw." The crow spoke, "You truly are as cunning as the foxes of your clan are said to be. I'm sure you make them proud."

Marceli looked back at the feathered creature, looking at it intently in the eyes, as if he expected to see the mage controlling it through them.

"Are you following us?" Marceli asked, and the crow looked back at him.

"Maybe..." The crow said, "But this is only something that you can expect by being in this city."

Marceli looked at the creature before him, and he sniffed a little bit.

"You are from the Höhle clan, aren't you?"

"Am I? Well, maybe I am!" The crow said, "How can you tell?"

"By the smell." The fox said, "Dead crows also smell bad. How long has this one been dead, three months?"

"Nearly five years." The creature cawed. "You can't tell, can you? I take good care of all of my babies."

"Oh, so you have more than one?" Marceli asked, "Well, that is interesting."

"I have many babies." The crow said, as the mage used it's beak to speak. "Maybe you could come visit me and I could present them to you."

"I'm on duty." Marceli said, "And I'd really like if we didn't had a dead crow flying above us as we go around the city. So, if you would be kind enough to leave us alone, I would be grateful."

The crow let out a sound that was somewhere between cawing and laughter.

"I'm not forced to leave you alone, not while you are our land!"

Marceli looked at the crow fiercely, which returned his gaze with its red eyes.

"But, since I'm feeling nice today, I guess I'll leave you be." The crow said, and it continued to look at the black fox, "You know, I kind of liked you. Hope we have the chance to meet in person before you leave."

With this, the crow flapped its wings and cawed as it took off to the sky, leaving the five mammals behind.

Marceli looked at the departing crow, before he turned his gaze to the four other mammals, who looked at the black tod.

"What the nuts?" Nick said, as he stared at the fox as if he grew a second tail.

"We better be going." Marceli said casually, and soon, they were all going back to the cruiser.