Even Bogo needed some time to recharge his energies when he was working.
He would work non-stop if he could. However, in the end of the day, Bogo was still just a mammal and, as any mammal, he got tired and hungry. He needed to make stops to rest and eat. He could stall things with snacks and with a lot of strong coffee. However, in the end, he still needed breaks, even for the sake of his mental health.
Bogo was on one of those breaks now, thinking on the clues and breakthroughs that they were doing on the case. They learnt several new things since the previous day. Both about the case and about other things. What he learned about Benjamin had gotten to him, as it made him understand better the cheetah's reasons to decide to quit being a mage.
During this, Bogo also found his mind wandering to how the cheetah was probably doing on that mansion, and wishing that he were at the station instead. Bogo did wished to have the cheetah closer, and away from that family of toxic horses.
However, as he recalled what happened into the station just two nights prior, Bogo was actually glad that Ben had not been at the station. He didn't liked the idea of those guys attacking Ben and sending him to the hospital along the rest of the officers and staff of the night shift.
Due to this, Bogo had to work with his staff to compensate by rearranging the officers into different shifts until the staff had been dismissed from the hospital (what should happen in one more day or so [at least that much of good news]). This made things a bit more complicated, for it meant that he had to do management of the personnel along with the work he was doing along with the enforcers.
And he still didn't had a chance to confront Mieczyslaw about that subject.
I wonder if I'll ever have a chance to ask… Bogo thought to himself, but his thoughts were take from the matter by the familiar sound of his cellphone ringing.
Now, who could be calling him at a time like that?
He was surprised for hearing Adrian Manechester on the other end, talking to him.
In the past few weeks, he and that horse had been talking to each other more than they ever had in the past five years, since the incident. They avoided any unnecessary contact, what actually made no difference on either of their lives, once they were never friends or anything. Hardly even acquaintances.
However, at that moment, they had a thing connecting them. The same thing that connected Bogo to that family five years ago: Benjamin Clawhauser.
Bogo was soon asking Adrian what he wanted, as he had no patience to play or make any kind of games. Luckily, the horse was like that as well, and he said to Bogo what he wanted to say at once.
They had captured the mage who attacked the guests.
Well, those were good news.
Bogo did tensed when they said that the mage had been capture when he tried to attack Clawhauser and Deerbrook.
"Is Officer Clawhauser okay?" Bogo immediately asked, and Adrian was soon answering:
"Yes, Clawhauser is alright." The horse said and, it could be Bogo's impression, but the horse didn't seemed happy that the cheetah was not hurt at all. "As a matter of fact, he was the one who immobilized the canine and held him while Deerbrook went inside to inform us that the dog was under custody."
"With the help of the other officers and of other present mages, it was easy to take the dog under custody." Adrian connected, and Bogo nodded.
"That's good." Bogo said, "Tell Hopps and the others to keep close eye on him. I'll be sending someone to get the dog and bring him to the station."
"There is no need for that, Chief Bogo."
Bogo stopped as he heard the horse said that.
"Excuse me?"
"We have everything under control in here." Adrian continued, "There is no need for you or anyone of the ZPD to get involved."
Bogo tensed as he heard that.
"Do you still want to keep the ZPD away to protect your reputation?" Bogo asked, his voice straining with barely contained anger. "Are you serious?"
"The mage has been captured." Adrian said, his voice very serious, "He is currently detained and incapable of using magecraft or doing anything to harm anyone present. We'll keep him under close watch for the rest of the gathering, and your officers will be taking him to you once they leave. Very discreetly, of course."
"Will you stop acting as if you are still running for mayor!?" Bogo demanded, starting to get fed up with the horse. "You don't have to keep trying to impress everyone!"
"I am not trying to impress anyone, Chief Bogo." Adrian said, still unshaken. "I'm simply saying that there is no need for the ZPD to get involved. Not when the perpetrator has been successfully captured and is under our custody and incapable of causing trouble."
"Oh, yeah?" Bogo asked, "What if he escapes?"
"He won't." Adrian said simply. "We made sure of it. We took all the necessary precautions. I can assure you that this mage will no longer cause us any problem."
"You have no way of assuring that." Bogo said. "You don't have experience with dealing with mages!"
Neither of us have.
"I have someone on my household who does." Adrian said with confidence. "Luckily, they were able to ensure the safe containment of the invading mage. He is under watch, and currently being questioned by my security team."
Bogo groaned.
"You stupid prideful horse..." Bogo said under his breath, something that the horse barely heard.
"Excuse me?"
"You are a pain in the tail, you know that Adrian?" Bogo said, dropping all the honorifics and just speaking his mind to the horse.
"If you don't want the ZPD to go in there, at least let the enforcers go in there." Bogo said, "I'll talk to them on the subject and one of them will be going there to check on that mage."
"There is no need for that." Adrian was quick to say, and he did said in a very incisive tune. "Like I said, we have everything under control. The mage has been captured, incapacitated and is being interrogated by my team."
"This is another thing." Bogo said to the horse. "How can your team interrogate the suspect? That should be done by the competent authorities."
"My security team have been trained as members of the Beastar Corps." Adrian said, with the confidence of who thought that this argument could win any discussion. "They have full training to deal with this kind of thing, and I assure you they will have the suspect talking in no time. As I said, everything is under control. So, there is no need for the ZPD, or the enforcers, to come to my home and disrupt my son's celebration or the peace of spirit of the guests."
Bogo wanted to protest, and he was about to, when the horse continued:
"After all, it would be very bad if the ZPD came invading my house with no need, don't you thing? There could be... repercussions."
Bogo stopped, and his pupils dilated as he heard that.
"Was that a threat?" Bogo said, "Did you seriously just threatened me, you son of a... Hello? Hello!?"
Nothing.
Adrian had just hang up on him.
Bogo needed all of his willpower to not smash his phone to pieces at the gal of that stupid horse.
Bogo immediately dialed at Adrian's phone using his phone's memory.
The number you called is not available.
He blocked him!
That stupid horse blocked him!
Bogo let out some loud curses that no one heard from inside his soundproof office. He then called into another number that he had on his contacts.
"Pick up. Pick up. Pick up." Bogo said, and soon, he heard someone answer on the other end.
"Chief?" Judy asked on the other end.
"Hopps!" Bogo immediately said, "Adrian Manechester just spoke to me about a suspect being apprehended."
There were a few moments of silence, after which the bunny on the other end was speaking:
"Oh, so he did informed you about this." Judy said, "Good. I was worried that he would not tell you, by the way he spoke."
"Believe me, Hopps. There is nothing good about the way he gave me the information." Bogo said, still quite angry by the way that the horse practically tried to intimidate him into doing things the way he wanted him to.
"Is that the Chief?" Another voice came from the other end of the phone, and Bogo immediately recognized it as Wilde's. "Hey boss! Did you heard the news? We have a mage under custody now."
"Yeah, I heard about it." Bogo said, "Just like I heard that Adrian still refuses to let the ZPD getting involved."
There was a silence on the other end.
"Oh, so Manechester really said that to you?" Hopps asked.
"He sure did." Bogo said. "And he hung up on me before I could tell him where to put his phone."
"Smart of him." The fox on the other end said.
"Wilde, not now." Bogo said loud enough for the fox to hear. "I can't believe that idiot is still acting like that. Is Yahya even agreeing with this?"
"Adrian used some arguments to convince his father." Hopps said on the other end. "He said something about 'the ones being attacked having been able to fend for themselves', and about 'the threat having been dealt with'. Yahya didn't seemed happy about it, but it seems that he went along with what his son said. But he is making sure that the suspect is properly secured."
Bogo snorted.
Yahya was a reasonable guy. Bogo hated to admit, but the dark horse was far more responsible and reasonable than his son. Still, sometimes he just went along with what Adrian wanted, even if it was something completely stupid. Yahya still protected his family, it seemed.
The fact that the horse wanted to be sure of being in control of things could be a factor on that decision of going along with Adrian, of course. Yahya was a control freak, and it would be harder for him to be fully in control of the ZPD got involved.
Darn both of them!
"So, since you two are telling me this, I don't need to ask if you two knew beforehoof that Adrian pretended not to involve the ZPD, even after what happened." Bogo concluded, and the answer soon came from the other end of the phone.
"We protested about this decision, sir." Hopps said. "We argued that, since there was another attack, then perhaps it would be better to call for backup, but Adrian Manechester was adamant about it. We tried to press, but this caused him to become... hostile."
"Hostile?" Bogo asked, and there was a hesitation on the other end of the phone. This told Bogo all that he needed to know.
"He threatened you, didn't he?" Bogo asked, sure that Adrian had probably threatened his officers. After all, the bastard already had the gal to threaten him.
"Well, he didn't threatened us in the traditional sense." Wilde said, as he was hearing the conversation along with his partner. "But, he made a very strong allusion to 'repercussions' if the ZPD was involved needlessly. And he also implied that we could end up losing our badges as a result of those repercussions."
Bogo let out a curse under his breath.
"And, do the other guests know about the attack?" Bogo asked, "Do they know about the mage?"
"No, they don't." Judy said, "After we apprehended the suspect, we brought him back very subtly, as per Adrian's request."
"He said he didn't wanted the other guests to get scared or to be in danger." Nick said.
"We had no idea that he wanted to keep everything in secret as well." Judy said, "As soon as we had the suspect secured, he said that we were not to let anyone else find out about the attack and about the mage under custody."
"Yeah, that sounds like him." Bogo said, and soon he was asking:
"And is his team questioning the suspect?"
"They started at it right after we brought him in." Judy said, "They said that they had priority once it was their jurisdiction. What seems quite strange for a security team to say."
"They are workers of the Beastar Corps." Bogo said to the bunny. "They are basically cops for hire. They have the same training as us. But they are not as tied to regulations as we are."
"And since this is the house of their bosses, they technically are right to have priority." Nick said, what prompted Bogo to say:
"And, are you there right now?" Bogo asked, "I mean, you should be accompanying the questioning."
"We intended to." Judy said, "But that was when Adrian called us to the side and told us that we better not talk about this to the guests."
"We were just about to go back in there when you called us." Nick said, and Bogo nodded as he heard all that those two said.
"So, no one other than you and Adrian's personnel knows about this." Bogo concluded.
"Deerbrook knows. He was with Clawhauser when they were attacked outside." Judy said, and Bogo felt himself cringing a little at the mention of Ben's ex-fiancé being alone together with him. "Clawhauser's siblings are also aware of this, since they went with us to apprehend the suspect. Other than that, no one knows."
"Effie Manechester might be let in to this later on, though." Nick said, and Bogo was about to say something, when there was a knock on his door.
The door opened, and a vixen's head peeked from the other side.
"Hey, Chief Bogo?" Emilia said as she looked at the buffalo, who wondered how that small vixen managed to open the door that was so big. "Uncle Marcel found a thing that may lead us somewhere. He wants you to come along."
Bogo looked at her for a few seconds, before he sighed.
"Okay then..." Bogo said, half in determination, half in defeat, "Hopps, Wilde. You two continue the way you are doing. Make sure to oversee the questioning, and to try and questioning the suspect yourselves if you have the chance. And double check their security. This guy tried to attack Clawhauser twice already, don't let him have the chance to try it a third time."
"Yes, sir."
"Okie Dokie, Chief."
And with this, Bogo ended his call, and the vixen looked at him.
"Something wrong?" Emilia asked him as he walked to the door. "You look grumpy. I mean, more than usual."
"Let's get going." Bogo said, as he walked to the door and stepped outside.
Judy sighed as the call ended. She was then just staring at her phone for a long moment.
"Well, you heard the boss." Nick said, looking at his partner. She continued to look at her phone, though. And it was clear by her expression that she was displeased.
"Carrots, let it go." Nick said to her, and Judy shook her head.
"This just doesn't seem right, Nick." Judy said, looking at her partner. "Why is Adrian so reluctant into calling the ZPD? Why does he wants to be sure that everything is under control?"
"Because he is a Manechester?" Nick said to her. Judy continued to look at him. Nick sighed.
"Judy, believe me, I am not very happy with this either." Nick admitted, "But it seems that that's how it's going to be."
"But we are officers of the ZPD!"
"And they are guys with so much money and power that they can call someone on the City Hall and get both of us in problem. Maybe Chief Bogo as well." Nick reasoned, looking at her. Judy then looked down again. After a few moments, Nick placed a single paw on her shoulder.
"Let's just do what Buffalo-Butt said, and continue doing our job." Nick said to her. "We won't give that guy a chance to try and attack Benji, or anyone, again. Okay?"
Judy reflected on it, and she knew that Nick was right.
In no way she was going to accept that dog to escape and try harming Benjamin once more, or trying to harm someone else on the house.
"Okay." Judy said, taping his cheeks, as a way of steeling herself. "Let's do this."
Soon, the two were walking to the door that led to the dungeons, where the dog was now being keep.
Like they explained to Bogo, none of the guests saw them taking the dog in there. That was an advantage of the house being so big, as they were able to move around while avoiding the guests. The only ones who saw them were the servants, and they all knew that they were not to say anything simply by the way that Adrian looked at them on their way. They didn't even asked any questions, and it did looked like some of them wanted to.
Going down the stairs, Nick and Judy walked through the dungeons.
"Hello again." Chuckles said to them as they passed through the cell where he remained held. "How things going back at HQ?"
"Well, Buffalo-Butt sounds like he is ready to kill someone, and I am glad it's not me." Nick said, meanwhile Judy ignored the wolverine and continued walking forward, with Nick walking by her side.
"Tell the guys that I would like some fried chicken on my next meal." Chuckles said to them as they went their way.
Judy continued too focused on the subject. This was serious and she could not afford to get distracted now.
She could worry about Chuckles later.
They walked past the rows of cells, some of them with chains hanging from the walls or the ceiling, and walked in direction to a metal door that was on the far end.
Once they arrived, Judy gave a strong jump to reach out for the heavy metal knocker and, with an effort of her limbs, slammed it hard into the door. It produced a loud, metallic sound that echoed into the entire dungeons.
As Judy jumped back to the ground, another metallic sound came from the other side of the door, as it was unlock from the inside.
As it unlocked, a bull looked at the two of them. He then looked up at the empty dungeons.
"Where is the boss?"
"I don't know. Maybe giving the next excuse to his son and his guests?" Nick said, and the bull merely continued to look at him, before Judy said:
"Mr. Manechester said that we had full freedom to take part in the investigation, what includes questioning suspects." The bunny looked up at the bull. "Can we go inside, please?"
The bull looked at the two for a few moments, before he allowed them inside.
As Judy and Nick walked inside, they saw the inside of the place where they were conducting the question.
Well, actually they saw an anteroom/office. On the other end, there was another door, which led to the other room where they questioned the suspect. The mammals of the room were sitting on the chairs and looking at the screen of the television of the place.
Two of those five mammals looked at the fox and bunny. Legoshi even waved at them as they walked in, while the hybrid sitting by his side continued to look at the screen.
Nick and Judy approached.
"So, anything interesting going on?" Nick asked, as he and Judy looked at the TV, and one of the two guards looking at it said:
"Carl and John are still playing the 'bad cop, worse cop' routine. But he still isn't budging."
On the television, it was possible to see the image of a familiar Germanein shepherd dog sitting on a chair. He looked calm, as he sat in there with his paws cuffed on the back of the chair, a leather collar around his neck, and two burly guards, one on each side of his face.
"You window of opportunity is really closing now, fleabag." One of the guards, a rhino with a scar on his face said. "If you don't start talking very soon, then you are going to a very bad place."
The dog seemed unmoved by the angry words of the rhino, just as he was by the way that he and the other guard were violating his personal space. Actually, he had a calm smile on his face.
"Is that so?" The dog said, looking at the rhino. "Well, comparing to what my life had been in the last months, that actually sounds like a nice vacation."
He rhino looked back at him, before looking at the hippo.
"Is he testing us?"
"Seems like that." The hippo said to him, before saying to the dog:
"I think you don't understand the position you are into right now." He moved the chair, now making the dog now be facing him. "You are on a dungeon, far away from anyone's eyes and ears, in the company of two guys with histories of violence and with very short temper. Of course, that would probably not scare a mage, but take in consideration that with this around your neck... " The hippo ran a finger over the leather collar around the dog's neck. "You don't have any magecraft at all."
"Where did you guys got that thing, anyway?" Nick asked Horne and Ogami, referring to the collar.
"Legoshi did it with an old collar he found on one of the cells." Horne said. "All he had to do was focus for two hours, carve some runes on it with his claws and voila! Magecraft-suppressing collar."
"Are they that easy to do?" Judy asked, looking at the wolf.
"Well..." Legoshi said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It is just an improvised thing. The ones that the enforcers use are better, and their suppressing effect is more consistent. That one will probably lose its effects in a few hours, but it works for now."
"Certainly works well enough for what we are doing here." Horne said, patting the wolf on the shoulder.
They turned their attention back to the television, but soon, they looked away from it as the sound door being knock. The bull went to open the door once more, and soon, four other mammals were walking inside.
Adrian was the first walking inside, followed by Benjamin. Then it came Josh, who now wore a pair of long pants, but was still shirtless.
Originally, both of Ben's siblings and Gabe had been with them when they brought the dog to the dungeons. However, as soon as Adrian told them that the ZPD would not be involve, they all went outside of the dungeons, while the rest of the mammals took the dog deeper for questioning.
Adrian then proceeded to talk to Nick and Judy to make it clear that he was not allowing them to call Bogo. Right before he proceeded to take Ben and his siblings at another part, and Judy and Nick heard him giving Ben's siblings and ex-fiancé to "not worry too much and find things to pass their time" before he moved out of sight.
Apparently, the horse was trying to convince them to leave and not be involved into this. It also seemed that he was trying to convince them not to breathe a word about this to anyone else in the mansion.
"To avoid unnecessary worry", was what the horse said to them as they were moving away from the two cops.
It even seemed that he was trying to convince Ben to "take the day to relax" as well.
It seemed that the horse was really trying to get as little mammals involved in this as possible.
Which was why they were relieved for seeing Ben returning, with Josh tagging along.
"Oh, boss!" The guards said, standing at attention at the dark horse, who ignored them.
"How is the suspect going?" Yahya asked, expecting anyone on the room to answer him. Soon, the dark horse was being fill in of the details of how the suspect was properly secure, and how the collar around his neck made him incapable of using magecraft. This seemed good for the horse.
Yahya seemed satisfied with the suspect apprehended and secured. So much that he didn't minded Adrian's insistence into keeping what was happening a secret from the rest of the guests. However, Yahya made it clear he would be part of it, once this matter directly mattered to him, since it was his own house.
As for Josh...
"Josh has some experience in questioning." Ben said, "Maybe he will be able to help us."
Adrian had opposed to it, claiming that Josh had nothing to do with that. However, Yahya saw no problem, as he knew that the two cheetahs both had some experience in police work (or the mage equivalent to that), and so their presence could be advantageous. Especially since they were dealing with a criminal mage in there. An enforcer could really be useful in a moment like that.
Soon, they were all looking at the television that showed the feed of what was happening on the other room.
"You really are in disadvantage in here, doggy." The hippo said, placing a finger straight into the dog's chest. The canine continued to look at him with indifference. "You are tied to a chair, without magecraft, and in our paws. So, you better start talking soon, otherwise we will have to get pretty rough with you."
The hippo showed him his fists as he said that, and the dog showed no reaction.
"They are not actually going to do it, are they?" Judy asked.
"Perhaps not." Yahya said very casually. That answer worried Judy.
"Just tell us who are you and why are you doing this." The rhino said, "Do this, and my friend here will go easy on you."
The dog looked at the two for a moment, before he sighed.
"Well, you two look like you are serious." The dog said, looking at the two. "And you already caught me. Sooo, I guess I can tell you some things."
Everyone looked intently at the camera, all of them wanting to hear what the dog was going to say.
"So, what do you want to know?" The dog asked, and the hippo and rhino shared a look, before the horned animal spoke:
"First of all, who the heck are you?"
The dog smirked.
"The name is Sheppard."
"Sheppard..." Josh said, as he reflected on it. "Pryce Sheppard."
The mammals on the room turned away from the television, and looked at him.
"You know him?" Judy asked, and Josh shrugged.
"Only by name." The muscular cheetah said, "I heard he is one of the best freelancers around. They say he is nearly as good as Marcy. But he definitely doesn't have her righteousness."
"I see..." Yahya said, still looking at the television, but also looking at Josh thanks to his wide vision range. "So, he is dangerous?"
"If you get on the way of what he wants, yes." Josh said, looking at him. "The Association has been keeping tabs on him for a while. The guy did some pretty nasty things. There is no sealing designation for him, but they have a fifteen-year-long cell reserved for the guy in Terrain Tartarus."
Okay, so it was confirmed that the guy was an wanted criminal.
The questioning continued on the other room, and they still accompanied him through television.
"You were paid to come here?" The hippo said, looking at him.
"I am a freelancer." The dog said. "My hirer offered me a good deal to do this, so I accepted the job."
"And your 'hirer' would be...?" The rhino asked, to what the dog smiled.
"A guy who values his privacy." The dog said, and the two looked at him. "You guys may have caught me, but I'm not giving you the name of my hirer. I am famous for protecting the privacy of who hires me. If I started telling their names, it would be bad for my reputation."
"Oh, yeah?" the hippo said, looking at the dog. "Having your tail kicked by two mundanes would do damage to your reputation? It would surely do damage to your body!"
"What, think I haven't been beaten up before?" The dog asked him, the smile never leaving his muzzle. "Believe me, it will not be a new experience to me. Actually, the last guy who's beaten me up was an elephant, and he was a boxer. Compared to him, your punches would feel like someone is hitting me with a fluffy pillow."
The hippo still looked at him with anger. The rhino placed a paw on his shoulder and made the hippo step back, while the rhino stepped forward and now talked to the dog:
"Okay, so that is it?" The rhino said, looking at the dog, "Someone just comes to you and offers you money to come here and start harassing the Manechester family? What, does this guy has a grudge against the Manechesters?"
The dog looked at him, for the first time showing something other than smug confidence on his face.
There is a slight confusion on his face.
"Harass the Manechester?" The dog asked, looking at the rhino with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, harassing them." the rhino said, looking at him. "I mean, that is why you've been stalking the house, painting words on the walls, breaking into the house to pee on the carpet. Unless there was some other purpose to doing that."
"What's with dogs and peeing on things, anyway?" The hippo asked, coming forward. "Do you guys have small bladders or what?"
"Okay, what are you two talking about?" The dog asked, looking at them.
"About you going around the house and doing all of those things to leave the Manechesters nervous. Just like they paid you to do." The hippo said, once more jamming a finger into the dog's chest.
"Okay, I think I should let you know that I don't like being poked, and that I can still bite if you anger me." The dog said, looking at the hippo, and his voice letting it clear that he didn't liked having a finger jabbing his chest. The hippo growled at him, and for a moment, it nearly seemed that he would go for the dog, but the rhino pushed him back with a paw on the shoulder.
"Okay, you have already admitted that you came here under someone's employment." The rhino said, "I have to say, I got to admire your persistence. Keeping it up for weeks like you've been doing. This guy must be giving you a really good payment."
"Weeks?" The dog said, looking at him. "Okay, I really don't know what you're talking about. I arrived in Zootopia a few days ago."
The two pachyderms looked at him, before sharing a look between themselves.
"So, someone else has been harassing the Manechesters and you came in here to change the shift?" The rhino said, looking at him.
"Look, you guys seem to be quite serious about me harassing the Manechesters, but I'm afraid I'll have to burst your bubble." The dog said, looking at the two of them. "I have nothing to do with the Manechesters. Neither does my hirer."
"Will you quit lying!?" The hippo said, so loud that Judy, who was looking at the television, jumped back. "Seriously, it gets on my nerves when the perps keep on telling lie after lie!"
"I haven't old a single lie ever since you two started this little show of yours." The dog said, not impressed by the show the hippo was putting on, as he didn't wavered even for a second. "I came in here because I have been hired to do so. But my hiring has nothing to do with the Manechester family. I don't know any of them, and I haven't been paid for anything regarding them. And I don't know anything about something that has been happening with them weeks ago. I told you, I've only been in this city for a few days."
The two shared a look, and so did a few of the mammals who were present on the room.
"Think he's telling the truth?" Nick asked to the mammals around.
"He seems to be." Yahya said, and Nick looked at him with a cocked head.
"He haven't wavered when saying that." Yahya said, "He acts as if he is sure he is saying the truth. He may be being honest."
"Or he is a good liar." Josh said, as he continued to look.
"Okay, if you did not came in here because of the Manechester family." The rhino said, looking at him. "Then what is your business here?"
He dog looked at him, before he said:
"If you want to know so much, then ask that fat cheetah." He said, looking at the two pachyderms. "He acts like he has no idea, but I am sure that he knows why I am here. What I want..." He said, and he then looked straight at the camera.
"Don't you, Clawhauser?"
The mammals looking at the TV all turned their eyes to the cheetah. Ben, meanwhile, looked around as he noticed all of those eyes on him.
"What?" Ben said, "I have no idea what he wants!"
"Okay, what is your game?" The hippo demanded, looking at the dog, and actually grabbing him by the shirt. "Look, I am done with this, and you are really getting on my last nerves right now!"
"And I'm not even trying." The dog said with a smirk. The hippo looked at him, before reaching for his back pocket, and pulling out a long knife.
"You know, you actually look like you have a nice pelt." The hippo said, moving the knife very close to the dog's face. "I think it would make a really nice rug for my bathroom. What do you think, Carl?"
"Okay, that definitely is not standard questioning technique." Judy said, pointing at the TV while looking at Yahya. Yahya didn't even turned his head to look at the bunny, as he simply said:
"The Beastar Corps is not a standard private police organization."
Judy looked at him.
"The ends justify the means, right?" Nick said, looking at the horse, who didn't answered. Nick's question just hung in the air, left unanswered.
"Do you know that there are guys out there who buy mammal pelts?" The hippo said, still passing the knife very close to the dog's face. "In some countries it is even legal. They use them to make leather articles, rugs, clothes, even as decoration for the walls. Of course, there is not a great demand for dog pelt, but I am sure that someone would want to buy yours. As long as I keep it somewhat intact."
"Is that serious?" Josh asked, looking at the television.
"Is just a mind game." Yahya said, "A way of getting into his head and confusing him."
"I mean, do you think this little theater is going to work?" Josh clarified, gesturing to the TV, which now showed the hippo describing to the dog how exactly he would skin him. The dog seemed completely unmoved. He was actually smirking.
"This kind of thing doesn't works on a hardened freelancer." Josh pointed out.
"All mammals can be intimidated." Yahya said, "Fear always works."
Judy flinched as she heard that, remembering of the time when she heard those same exact words from a certain ewe's mouth. She looked at the horse.
"Maybe, but you won't be able to cause fear on him like that." Josh said, "Believe me, from the stories I heard, Sheppard is too good a freelancer to be intimidated like that."
"Maybe they could try intimidating him a bit more." Adrian offered, "They can use the false roulette."
"False roulette?" Nick asked, looking at the horse.
"Another technique we often use." Yahya said, seeming unmoved by all that was happening. "It is like Zuussian roulette, but instead of an actual bullet, the gun is left completely empty. The person doesn't knows that there is no bullet, and is persuaded to think that they can be shot with the next pull of the trigger. We do it until they get so scared that they talk."
"That's barbaric!" Judy said, looking at the horse.
"It often works." Yahya said.
"It won't work with Sheppard." Josh said, looking at the horse. "I'm telling you, those mind games won't work with him. You need a different approach."
"You mean, trying a more empathic approach?" Yahya said, "I used that strategy a few times, but I'm not so good on trying to sympathize with someone, not when I see them as criminals."
"Look, I think those kinds of things won't work on him." Josh said, "But, I know something that may work."
Yahya this time turned to face him.
"Let me go in there." Josh said, "I'll have him talk."
"Really?" Yahya said, looking at him.
"Absolutely not!" Adrian immediately said, making the others look at him.
"Why not?" Nick asked.
"Yes, Adrian." Yahya said, looking at his son. "Why not?"
"Because... he is not qualified!" Adrian said, gesturing to the cheetah. "I mean, he is not a cop, nor he is a member of the Beastar Corps."
"I am an enforcer." Josh said.
"Well, you are not part of our team!" Adrian said, "This means that you are not qualified to go in there and talk to our suspect!"
"Wait." Judy said, looking at Adrian. "Does this means that we are not qualified to talk to your suspect?"
Adrian looked at her, but before he could answer:
"And this means we are qualified to talk to the suspect?" Melon said, gesturing to himself and Legoshi. "Great! In that case, I'll be going inside to see if I can convince him." He was about to get up, when Adrian stopped him.
"You are not going to that room!" He said, pointing a hooved finger at the hybrid. "Neither of you are! You pair of incompetent idiots! You allowed for yet someone else to invade the property without being detected!"
"Ah!" Melon said, raising a finger at the horse. "We noticed him coming. Legoshi's bugs noticed someone coming through the bounded field and we rushed to tell security. That's why you guys were ready for him when the deer came telling about the guy attacking him and the fat cat."
"And once again it did nothing to stop an invasion of my property!" Adrian said, looking at the two. "Honestly, I am getting fed up with your uselessness!"
Legoshi whimpered.
"Anyway, I think I should take a shot at talking with the guy." Josh insisted, looking at Adrian and Yahya. "I am pretty sure that I'll have more success than those two bozos you sent in there." He once more gestured to the TV, which now was showing the hippo pointing the knife to between the shepherd's legs.
Adrian looked like he was ready to protest about it as well, but Benjamin was the one to cut in this time:
"Josh has a lot of experience as an enforcer." He said, making the eyes on the room to turn to him. "He has made missions around the world, and helped catch some really dangerous mages. If he says he can get the dog to talk, then I am sure that he can. If you guys give him a chance to try."
Adrian looked very intently at Ben, before turning his gaze at Josh. He even looked at his own father, so see what he thought of that idea. Yahya noticed that, and he shrugged.
"Well, I assume a mage would know best how to make another mage talk." Yahya said, and it was clear that this was not what Adrian had been expecting to hear from his father. He looked back at the two cheetahs, before saying:
"Fine, he can question the suspect."
"Thank you." Josh said, walking past the two horses and going in direction to the door.
"But, just for the record." Adrian said, causing Josh to stop and turn to look at him. "How exactly do you plan to make him talk, if I may ask?"
Josh smirked, and placed a paw inside the pocket of his pants.
"With this." He said, as he pulled out a pink object from there.
It was...
"A cigar?" Legoshi said, looking at the pink-colored cigar that the muscular, shirtless cheetah was now showing.
"What, you're going to burn him?" Melon asked. "Will that make him talk?"
Ben was looking very intently at what his brother was showing.
"A pink cigar..."
Suddenly, Benjamin's eyes widened.
"Wait a minute!" He said, looking at his brother. "Josh, i-is that on your paw..."
Josh only looked back at his brother, smiling, and nodded slowly.
"Oh sweet goodness..." Benjamin said, looking at his brother with wide eyes, his paws over his mouth and... a blush on his face?
"Wait, what is going on?" Judy asked, looking in between the twins. "What is he going to do with that cigar?"
It was clear that everyone on that room had very much the same question. Josh only smiled at all of them.
"Just enjoy the show." Josh finally said, as he opened the door.
"... of course, it was the first time I did a neutering myself." The hippo finished, twisting the dagger a little bit, as he pointed it at the dog's crotch. "I am pretty sure I can do it right this time."
The dog didn't reacted, and only continued to look at the hippo with an amused smile, as if he was finding all of it to be quite entertaining.
The rhino was about to step up and say something, when the sound of the door opening made them all look, in time to see a shirtless muscular cheetah walk inside, with a big smile on his face.
"Hey there!" Josh said, walking in as if he owned the place. "Not interrupting anything, am I? Anyway, you two can leave now, I'll be taking from here."
"What?" The rhino said, looking at the cheetah.
"Who the heck are you?" The hippo said, looking at the cheetah as he raised from the position he was into.
"Like I said, I am taking over now." Josh said, looking at the two. "I mean, not that you guys were not doing a good job until now, but I kind of want to take a shot at this guy. So, if you guys could leave us alone. Or you can stay and watch. I don't mind a little audience."
The two shared a look.
They were not expecting this, but they both assumed that it was maybe part of a new strategy. They decided to do as the muscular feline instructed, both walked out of the room. Josh was still smiling as he slammed the door behind them, and turned to look at the dog.
"Hello there." Josh said.
"Sup." The dog said back to him. "So, it is your turn to threaten me now? What, will you say that you will claw my eyes out if I don't talk?"
Josh didn't answered, and just walked to the dog, until he was standing right in front of him. Josh leaned forward, and cocked his head to the sides, as if he was evaluating the dog.
"Not bad..." The cheetah said, "Nice face. Definitely my type."
The dog looked back to him, with a raised eyebrow.
"Thanks?" He said, looking at the newcomer cheetah. Josh continued to look at him, and then showed the pink cigar.
"Mind if I smoke?" He asked, and the dog shrugged.
"You're the one in charge."
Josh smirked, and pulled a match from his pants. He stroke it on the dog's chin, and used it to light the pink cigar.
Josh took slow, deliberate drags of the cigar, as he let the flames light up the tip of it the cigar.
By the time the cigar was properly lit, Josh tossed the match aside. It went out before it even hit the ground, and the cheetah dragged on the cigar as hard as he could. Slow and deliberate.
After a few seconds, he removed the cigar from his lips, and looked straight in the eyes of the dog. Before he blew smoke right on his face.
The dog frowned as that happened, his eyes widening as his sensitive nose caught up the smell of the smoke, and he immediately started coughing up.
"Good grief..." The dog said in between coughs. Josh stepped back, looking at the canine.
"Not a smoker?" Josh asked him, as the dog recovered.
"It's not that..." He said, coughing one final time. "What brand of cigar is that? Smells like armpit!"
"Oh, this?" Josh asked, looking at the pink cigar. "This is a special brand. You won't find it in any regular place."
"Thank God for that." The dog said, and Josh looked at him.
"So, you're Pryce Sheppard." Josh said, looking at the dog with crossed arms, the cigar still producing smoke as it was held on his fingers. "I heard a lot about you."
"Really?" The dog said, looking at the cheetah. "Well, you know my name, but I don't know yours. Don't seen very fair, does it?"
Josh looked as if he had suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, of course! Where are my manners?" Josh said, looking at the dog with a smile.
"My name is Joshua Clawhauser. Of the Clawhauser clan. Everyone calls me Josh."
The dog looked intently at the cheetah.
"Wait, Clawhauser?" The dog asked, leaning over as much as his bonds on the chair allowed him. "You are Clawhauser?"
"Sure am." Josh said, looking at the dog. "And you have been very nasty to my brother, I'm afraid."
The dog continued to look at him for a few seconds. Then, comprehension spread over his features. He started laughing.
"Something funny?" Josh asked, looking at the dog, who looked back at him.
"So it was you." The dog said, looking at the muscular cheetah, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I went after the wrong cheetah." The dog said, as if he found it funny. "Damn, I am such a bonehead."
Josh looked at him for a few seconds, before shrugging. "If you are saying, then it may be truth."
Josh just stood in there, taking another drag of his cigar. He then leaned forward, and once more blew the smoke on the dog, who coughed once more upon smelling that nauseating smoke.
"Do you have to do this?" The dog asked, looking at the cheetah, who looked back at him.
"Well." Josh said, leaning back. "You tried to murder my brother, not once but twice, so... yeah, I think I do."
The dog looked back at him for a few moments, and the cheetah turned his back to him.
He remains with his back turned to the dog for a few moments, before he started to move.
Up and down.
On the other room, the two securities joined the other mammals looking at the TV, wanting to see what the cheetah intended on doing with the dog to get him to talk.
They saw the initial confrontation, and how he blew smoke on the dog's face two times, now they were seeing him move up and down with his back turned to him.
"Is he... doing squats?"
The dog looked at the cheetah with a raised eyebrow, as he continued to make squats with his back turned on him. This went on for nearly twenty seconds, before the dog asked:
"What are you doing?"
"Exercising." Josh said, continuing to squat and not even looking back to look at the dog. "How do you think I keep myself in shape?"
The dog continued to look at him with a raised eyebrow, as the cheetah continued to have his back turned to him and do squats. For a moment, it even seemed that the cheetah had forgotten that the dog was in there.
After nearly two minutes of doing that, he stopped and turned back at the dog. He took another drag of his cigar, and blew the smoke right on the dog's face, annoying the dog even more.
He dog looked at the cheetah after coughing, and they both looked intently at each other's face's, before the cheetah started to squat again, this time facing the chair, and looking in the dog's eyes as he went up and down before him.
"I know you." The dog said, looking at the face of the cheetah who was going up and down, never breaking eye contact. "I heard about you. Joshua Clawhauser, of the Berserker Squad."
"Yeah, I have a certain fame." Josh admitted, still doing his squats.
"I saw your face once in India." The dog said, looking at the cheetah. "It was near the Tigah Mahal. You were running around without pants and on a straightjacket."
"Oh, that!" Josh said, stopping doing squats for a moment. "I remember that weekend! We were investigating a case of someone who was using magecraft to commit terrorist attacks on civilians. We even stopped to visit Daas' family... he said he'd neuter me if I ever came near his sisters again."
"Was that before or after you caused that accident on the freeway?"
"Before." Josh said, looking at him, and going back to his squats. "But after we blew up that building. But we did caught the guys we were chasing before they could blow up Tigah Mahal. I don't remember seeing you there, though..."
"I was taking care of a business." The dog said, the dog said. "I was actually wearing a disguise for that. No wonder you don't remember me, but I certainly remember you. Not every day I see a cheetah running around on a jockstrap."
"Yeah..." Josh said, looking at him. "Did you liked it?"
"What?" The dog asked, looking at the cheetah, who took another drag of his cigar, and blew the smoke on the dog's face again. This time the dog didn't coughed.
"Back then, when you saw me only on my underwear..." Josh said, looking at him close. "Did you liked what you saw?"
There was silence between the two, before Josh spoke:
"Do you find me attractive?"
The dog looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, come on." The cheetah said. "I am an attractive guy. Nothing wrong with a guy admitting that another one is attractive. For example, I think you are attractive." He said, reaching out and running a paw over the dog's face. "You are definitely my type. Now, before we do anything, I need to know if I am your type, if you get me."
Everyone who was watching the TV got the cheetah. The way he smiled seductively at the dog left little space for doubt.
"Is he serious?" One of the guards said, as everyone continued to look at the screen and see the development of what was happening on the other room.
"Maybe it's an alternative questioning technique..." Another guard offered, and everyone continued to look intently at the screen.
The dog got what the cheetah meant as well, and he simply looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. That was when Josh stepped back and then started walking.
However, this was not mere walking. He was giving large steps, needing his knees and going all the way down before raising his body once more and giving another step.
Josh lunged around the dog, seeming as if he was exercising around him next.
"Okay, what kind of interrogation technique is that?" The dog asked. "Seriously, no one ever did this kind of thing before."
"Interrogation?" Josh asked, looking at the dog as he continued to lunge. "Who is interrogating anyone? I am just having a conversation with a cute guy while I exercise. People do that on the academy all the time."
The dog continued to look at the cheetah, who moved around him as he lunged.
"So, you prefer males or females?" Josh asked, "I prefer males, but I go for females when I feel on the mood. Which is why Daas no longer wants me near his sisters."
"You know, in any other situation, I would think that you were trying to hit on me." The dog said, looking at the cheetah, who continued to lunge around him. He stopped in the middle of a lunge, and turned his head to look straight at the dog's eyes.
"Who said I am not?" The cheetah said, smiling at him.
The dog looked back at him, and Josh took another drag of his cigar. And he blew more smoke into the dog's face. The dog didn't coughed, but he took a few gasping breaths, as if he as holding back a sneeze.
"Do you think I am attractive?" Josh asked, looking at him, and the dog twitched his nose.
"You know, I am starting to get a little stressed out with you." He dog said, looking at the cheetah for a few moments.
"I could find those two bozos from a few minutes ago funny, but you are just annoying."
"Oh, am I?" Josh said, "So you don't find me attractive?"
"No, I don't." The dog said. "I'm not into cats... and am straight."
"So are noodles." Josh said, "But that changes easily."
With this said, Josh went back into doing lounges, and made a few more laps around the dog by doing that.
"Do you mind stop doing that?" The dog said, looking at him. "You're starting to sweat."
"Oh, you can notice?" Josh asked, looking at the dog.
"I am a canine. I can smell most than most mammals." The dog said, "Especially when it comes from you felines."
"Oh, yes." Josh said, "Canines have very sensitive noses, while felines have very strong natural smells. Another reason why people in general think that they are polar opposites. But that doesn't means we can't get along."
"We definitely won't if you start smelling like sweat." The dog said, and Josh took his cigar to his mouth and dragged again.
"Okay, if you breathe smoke on me one more time I'll-"
Josh breathed smoke on him before he could finish. The dog stopped for a moment. His nose twitched as he sniffed that smoke, going silent for a while.
"Something wrong, Sheppard?" Josh asked, noticing how the dog stopped. "My cigar is so bad?"
"No..." The dog said, blinking. "Actually... this cigar is not so bad."
Josh smirked.
"Yeah, cigars are like that." The cheetah said. "Seem awful at first, but after a few drags you start feeling the allure. That's how you get hooked."
And Josh resumed doing lunges around the dog's chair.
"Just what is your brother doing?" Adrian asked to Benjamin, as he saw just what the muscular cheetah was doing on the other room through the TV. Benjamin didn't answered, and instead he only looked away.
"Did the smoke seemed different now?" Judy asked, looking at the television. "I had the impression that is looked different."
"That's gotta be the weirdest questioning I've ever seen." One of the guards said, to what another said:
"I kind of want to keep watching, just to see what happens next."
"You were right." Josh said, stopping to rest a bit after lounging. "I am really starting to sweat."
He rose his arm, and approached his pit from the dog's face.
"Do I smell yet?"
"Yes." The dog said, turning his head. However, in a few moments, he turned his head back at the armpit, and started sniffing it. However, after a few moments, he turned his head away again, as if he suddenly realized what he was doing.
Josh took another drag of his cigar, and he held the dog's chin with his paw, forcing him to face him, before he blew smoke right into his face.
The dog breathed in as the smoke was blow on his face. He blinked, and shook his head slightly.
"This... cigar is actually not bad." The dog said, his body swaying slightly. "I... kind of like it."
"Glad you do." Josh said, and looked at him. "So, do you think I'm attractive?"
The dog looked at his face, blinking.
"W-well. You're not ugly." The dog said, "D-did it got hotter in here?"
"It did?" Josh said, looking as if he was feeling the room. "Maybe it did... well, in that case, I guess I'll sweat a little more if I do this."
With this, Josh started to hop from leg to leg, nearly as if he was jogging. He did that while standing right before the dog, and at a rapid pace. He was panting slightly, and the dog continued to look at him.
After a few moments, the dog started panting.
"Y-you know..." The dog said, after nearly five minutes. "Sweaty cat is... actually... not as bad as I thought."
"Oh, really?" Josh said, stopping his "jogging" and looking at the dog. The canine was now panting a little bit. His tongue was out of his mouth as he panted. Josh's smirk widened, and he took his cigar to his mouth once more to take a long drag.
The dog continued to pant as he looked at the cheetah. He didn't even reacted for a few seconds when Josh blew another cloud of smoke on his face, other than huffing as if he wanted to breathe the smoke in.
"Damn, this is a good cigar!" The dog said, "W-where did you... g-g-g-get iiiiiiiiiiiit..."
The dog stammered, and his tongue now got even more out of his mouth, as his panting got deeper, sharper, more desperate. Josh placed a hand on his head.
"Am I attractive?" The cheetah asked. The dog looked at him for a few moments, and then he said:
"Y-yeah." He was still panting, and he was starting to droll.
"I-I never thought guys could be attractive but... you are... one tasty dish." His words were broke by the panting. Josh smiled at him, before he moved back, got down on the ground and started to do push-ups.
"What's going on?" One of the guards said, looking at the screen and not understanding that sudden change in mood from the dog.
"Man, that dog is horny." Melon said, causing some to look at him, and then back at the screen.
"No, this can't be." Adrian said, looking at the scene, but Yahya then said:
"Horne is right. That dog... is getting aroused."
As Yahya pointed that out, the ones who were watching who had not been aware of that yet now knew that the dog was truly getting turned on.
Judy was able to notice that after Yahya pointed that out, and she blushed as she realized that. However, she had also noticed another thing: that the smoke that Josh was blowing on the canine was changing.
It was becoming pinker.
"You know..." Josh said, as he had moved from doing pushups to doing sit-ups. "There are some things that I like to stablish when someone thinks I am attractive."
He looked at the dog as he continued to do his sit-ups, and the canine was panting as he looked at him.
"Y-you..." the dog said, "You smell nice."
"First there is mutual agreement." Josh proceeded, feeling sweat sprout from under his fur and run down his skin. "We both have to be in agreement of what is happening. If one disagrees, neither of the two will play."
"Then there is reciprocity." Josh continued. "You do something for me, and I do something for you in return. Don't expect me to do something for you in exchange for nothing. I won't expect you to give me something for free too."
"Finally, there is honesty." Josh continued, feeling his own fur cling to his body due to the amount of sweat he was having for exercising on that closed and hot room. "No relationship can survive if there is no honesty. Be it friendship, dating, or even a casual hook up, honesty between everyone is very important. That means no lying to the other mammal, and look to say the truth when they ask you a question. Lying can ruin even the best relationships. With no honesty, can be no trust. With no trust, there is just no way relationships of any kind can survive for long."
He finally stopped, he was not cover in a generous layer of sweat, and he looked at the dog, who was panting as he sniffed the air.
"Y-you smell so good..."
"Mutual agreement, reciprocity and honesty." Josh continued, getting up and walking to the dog.
"Those three things are what I expect from people who find me attractive, if there is to be anything happening." Josh continued, looking at the dog. "All of them are very important but, as of right now, the thing that interests me more from you is honesty. So, I am hoping that you will be honest when answering to some questions I have."
The dog looked at him.
"Q-questions?" The dog said, still panting.
"Yes, questions." Josh said, walking to the dog and sitting on his lap. "I have questions for you, and if you are honest with me... I'll reward you, as per reciprocity." He looked intently at him. "If we have a mutual agreement."
The dog looked at the cheetah, who took the pink cigar to his mouth, and took the longest drag on it yet. Then, he blew up a cloud of pink smoke into the dog's face.
The dog gasped, as the cloud floated around his muzzle. Each breath he took sent more of the pink smoke into his lungs, until all of it had gone inside his mouth and nose.
The dog than started to let out gasping pants, squirming on the chair, as his body seemed to convulse. Josh remained sitting still on his lap, as the hips of the dog moved, as it trying to get him off the chair, and the dog opened his muzzle, and let out an unmistakable moan.
After a few moments, the dog opened his eyes, which were now glazed over and looking at the cheetah sitting on his lap.
"Y-you..." The dog said, looking at him. "You are... the most beautiful creature... I've ever seen."
Josh smiled at him.
"And my smell?" Josh asked, and the dog leaned forward, taking a single sniff of his sweaty body. This caused him to shudder violently, and let out a moaning sound from his throat.
"It's divine!" The dog said, before starting to sniff into the cheetah more.
"I've never felt such wonderful smell!" The dog said, "It is so deep! So rich! So... so... masculine!"
The dog continued to sniff at it, in a way not different from how an addict would sniff a substance. In fact, after a few moments, the dog put his tongue out, and he was approaching it of the cheetah's body, as if to lick him. However, before he could, Josh grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled his head back.
"Not so fast, big boy." Josh said, making the dog look him in the eyes.
"Mutual agreement, reciprocity and honesty, remember?" The cheetah said, looking at him. "Honesty first. Then the rest comes naturally."
The dog was panting, his chest moving visibly as he took deep breaths.
"Okay, first of all, you are Pryce Sheppard, aren't you?" Josh asked, and the dog nodded.
"Yes, yes!" The canine said, "Pryce Herdius Sheppard! That's me!"
Josh nodded, and then proceeded to ask another question:
"Okay, then. Three years ago, there was an event in Northern Roarope involving a clan of necromancers. One of their members had gone rogue and took over an entire village using a powerful mental interference." The cheetah said, "He did it to get all the bodies of their graveyard, and use them for his experiments. He did that with the help of three freelancers. Were you one of those freelancers?"
"Yes!" The dog said, panting as he looked at the cheetah. "Yes, I was! I was hire by that creepy zebra. He wanted more corpses to do those nasty experiments of his'! He hired me and two other guys to help him! I didn't did much, actually. He just hired me to keep watch and make sure no one would get on his way! I left after he got all the corpses he wanted! I have no idea what he did before, but I was definitely one of the guys he hired! I can tell you the names of the other two if you want!"
"No need, we already know." Josh said, looking at the dog. "Anyway, I am glad that you are really being honest. Have a little reward."
Josh let go of his head, and the dog looked at his chest, before diving forward, and licking on Josh's fur.
"That's it." Josh said, petting the head of the dog licking his chest. "You like it, right? Enjoy our reward. Oh! Easy there." Josh said, flinching as the tongue touched one of his nipples. After around thirty seconds, the pulled the dog's head away from his body. Sheppard tried to lick his chest, and started whining when he couldn't.
"That's enough for now." Josh said, "If you want a bit more, then you'll have to earn it with more honesty."
The dog continued to whimper. It was almost enough for make Josh feel pity for him. Until he remembered that dog tried to kill Ben.
"Now, for the next question."
The cheetah looked in the eyes of the dog, as he asked:
"Why did you attacked my brother?"
"Because I thought he was the one who had it!" The dog said without hesitation looking at the cheetah, who looked back at him:
"Had what?"
"The thing I was hired to get." The dog said, "I was hired to come in here and get a thing that someone on the mansion had. Someone named Clawhauser. I was told that Benjamin Clawhauser of the ZPD would be at the mansion, and I thought that he was the one who had it. So I went for him."
The dog looked at the cheetah, and he could see the coldness on his eyes.
"I'm sorry!" The dog immediately said. "I was just doing what I thought I should do! I had no idea that he had nothing to do with it! I had no idea there were two Clawhausers on the mansion! I'm sorry I attacked your brother! I truly am!"
There was silence as they looked at each other, and Josh said:
"I'm not sure if you really are sorry."
The dog whimpered.
"But... you definitely sound sincere." The muscular cheetah said, shifting his body slightly, and raising his arm high.
The dog didn't even needed an invitation.
He dove right in, and sniffed the sweaty armpit, before he stuck his tongue out and licked it, nearly drinking the sweat that was in it. He even started to rub his entire face into the pit, as if he wanted to bask his entire body into the musky smell of Josh's sweat.
Josh let the dog go at it, before pulling him back once more. The dog was panting heavily as he was pull out of the cheetah's armpit. His features were a mask of bliss, and the movements of his hips against Josh's were another indication that the dog was right on point. The canine was practically humping against him.
"Now, just one last question." Josh said, looking at the dog. "Can you tell me who was the one who hired you? Can you give me a description of the guy?"
"I can tell you his name." The dog said, looking at the cheetah. "He was not very keen on secrecy at all."
Josh looked at him, and smiled, turning his body and raising his other arm, presenting his other armpit to the dog.
"Tell me." Josh said, in a seductive voice. "And this is yours."
The dog looked pleased. He looked giddy. He looked drugged.
His nostrils flared, as he smelled that scent that made his fur stand on end and made his private parts tingle. It was enough to make him want more. To make him crave for more.
"Wilde..." The dog said, closing his eyes and leaning forward. "Cornelius Wilde, of the Wilde clan..."
The dog continued to lean forward, until his nose collided with something. However, it was not with the armpit, with the delicious smell in it.
"Hmm?" The dog opened his eyes, seeing that the cheetah had stopped his muzzle with his paw, and was holding it. The paw forced him away from the pit, and he was once more made to look into the eyes of the cheetah.
His expression was serious.
"Do you remember what I just said about honesty, Pryce?" Josh asked, calling the dog by his first name.
"What?" The dog asked, the cheetah then climbed out of his lap.
"W-wait. Wait. Where are you going?" The dog asked, starting to panic. Had he done something wrong?
"Away." The cheetah said, "I'm done with you now."
"What!? Why!?"
"Because you stopped being honest." Josh said, looking at him. "It is like I said, when there is no honesty, no relationship survives. Not even casual ones."
"But I am being honest!" The dog said, clearly panicked by the prospect of the cheetah leaving. "It was Cornelius Wilde who hired me!"
"That's not possible." Josh said, walking to him. "Cornelius Wilde is dead. He's been dead for months, and everyone knows that."
"I didn't knew!" The dog said, "I meant I heard that he was in that place when it happened, but I didn't knew he was dead!"
"So, his ghost came to see you?" Josh asked, the dog didn't answered.
"I'm leaving." Josh said, turning around to walk to the door.
"No! Please! Don't leave me!"
"Then start being honest again." Josh said, turning to him. "And right now." He said, taking a strong drag of his cigar, and then blowing more smoke at him.
This smoke was of a vibrant, nearly screaming, pink, and it moved on its own. It nearly seemed as if it was forcefully shoving itself into the dog's nostrils and mouth.
Once it had entered him, the dog's eyes shot open, and the dog let out a howl filled with desire and need.
"Ohhhh, goooo-o-o-o-o-o-od!" The dog said after the howl, and his tongue was out, drool leaking from his mouth as he panted as if he had just came out of the marathon. Josh looked at him with indifference.
"Who hired you?" Josh asked, looking at the dog, who looked back at him with a need that bordered into pure despair.
"C-C-Cornelius Wilde."
"Honesty, Pryce."
"I am being honest!" The dog said, "Look, this black fox with yellow eyes came to me, presented himself as Cornelius Wilde and said he had a job to me recovering the package of the MTC!" He said in despair, and Josh continued to look at me.
"He paid me the money upfront and told me to come to Zootopia to do the job, and recover the package of the MTC that the enforcers gave to Clawhuaser! That's all I know, I swear on my mother's grave!"
For a long moment, Josh looked into Sheppard's eyes.
Josh looked at him with coldness, while the dog looked back at him with desperation. After nearly ten seconds, Josh nodded.
"Yeah, I believe you."
The dog seemed relieved at this, until Josh said:
"Still, I'll be leaving. Got some things to do."
"NO!" The dog said, despairing as he heard that the cheetah would be leaving him.
"PLEASE! DON'T GO!"
Josh ignored him, and sighed, as he reached out for his back pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. The cheetah casually started to pass the tissue over his face to clear up his sweat.
"PLEASE! PLEASE! I'LL TELL YOU WHATEVER YOU WANT TO NOW! I'LL TELL YOU EVERY JOB I DID UNTIL TODAY! I'LL GIVE YOU THE NAME OF EVERYONE I WORKED FOR AND WITH! JUST DON'T GO!"
Josh ignored the dog's loud begging, and proceeded to use the tissue to dry the sweat on his armpits. He even pulled his pants and shoved the tissue to dry the sweat "down there", seemingly not even caring to whatever the dog was telling him.
"PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE! PLEASE! I NEED YOU! I NEED YOU! I NEED-"
The dog's begging was cut short when Josh threw the handkerchief he had just used to dry his own sweat right into the dog's face. The damp and musky tissue literally clung to the dog's muzzle, hanging from it, and being directly into the canine's nostrils.
The dog froze, his eyes widening. For a moment, he seemed as if he had actually froze in place. Then, after a few seconds, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, his whole body shuddering violently, nearly spasming, and he rose his face up to let out a howl so loud that it left Josh's ears ringing.
The dog continued to howl and to spasm for nearly thirty seconds. Each spasm made him squirm on the chair, and made his howl rise and lower in tune as they happened. After thirty second, the dog slumped into the chair.
He was breathing heavily, huffing into the musky tissue over his nose. Behind him, his tail wagged lazily, but with surprising speed.
"Nice meeting you." Josh said, "Call me."
And with this the cheetah left the dog in there, walking to the door and walking out.
Josh sighed after he closed the metal door, leaving the dog on the other room. He casually tapped the tip of his pink cigar on the wall, putting the blaze in it out, and he looked over.
The guards, the cops, the two mages, his own twin, and the two Manechesters were all looking at him. Josh knew that all of them had saw what happened through the feed of the camera. He knew because of the looks that they were giving him now. Stares that varied from shock and mortification to just plain revulsion. Horne looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What." Yahya said, looking at the muscular cheetah. He didn't looked as shocked or scandalized as his son, but he certainly didn't looked like he enjoyed the show. "Have we just witnessed?"
Josh looked at him, shrugging.
"A successful interrogation." He said, looking at the horse. "More successful than what those two clowns of yours have been doing."
"D-did the dog...?" Legoshi asked, pointing at the TV, and he was obviously blushing under his fur. "D-did he actually had a...?"
"Some of them do." Josh said very casually. "A side effect of these pretty things." He showed the leftover of the pink cigar to them.
"And what exactly is that?" Yahya was the one who asked, "And where did you got it?"
"Just a special mystic code." Josh said, "I make these myself, along with some others. Little something I learned from one of my mentors." He seemed proud of himself as he said that, and the others continued to stare at him.
"And... they make that..." Nick said, pointing at the screen, which showed the dog huffing deeply into the tissue on his muzzle, looking like he was still enjoying himself. "To mammals?"
"Pretty neat, huh?" Josh asked, "Those cigars are made with special aphrodisiac compounds mixed with my own essence. I breathe in the smoke, use my magecraft to combine and alter them inside my lungs and then breathe it out on the target. It goes into their target and in a few moments they get all hot for me. Do anything I ask for them, as long as I let them taste a little bit of me."
Josh seemed excessively proud of himself for those codes, and everyone looked at him, some with raised eyebrows.
"Your essence?" Yahya asked, and Josh clarified:
"My sweat. One of the main ingredients of those..." He showed the pink cigar "Is my own sweat."
Following this, Josh placed the entire leftover of the cigar into his mouth, chewed and then swallowed, before letting out a healthy belch. Everyone continued to stare at him, some with expressions of disgust.
"So, anyone has questions?" Josh asked, seeing how all eyes were still on him.
"I have hundreds." Nick admitted, and Yahya then said:
"My main questions regard what you often do with those when you are not using them for 'interrogation', and with whom you use them."
Josh looked at the horse, and it seemed that Josh had quickly caught on what the horse meant.
"What, you think I use them for personal gain?" Josh said, looking at the horse with a certain amusement.
"Do you?" The horse said, and Josh looked back at him.
"Don't worry, I don't go around using them to get laid." Josh said to the horse. "Luckily, I have enough natural charm, and decency, to not go around using them like that. I'd be in a lot of problem with the Association if I used them like that, anyway. They would take away my enforcer badge. I mostly use them to interrogation. As you just saw, after a few puffs of smoke, most are more willing to answers my questions honestly."
"I'll say." Melor said, looking at the dog on the television. "He seemed ready to admit he killed Houndini if that would get you to stay."
"Most are." Josh said, "Until they see that lying 'turns me off', and then they start being honest. The dog actually got honest pretty quickly, and he told me all he knew."
Silence followed those words, and some looking in between the cheetah and the dog at the screen. Some noticed that the cheetah seemed distracted.
"So... it seems that someone is pretending to be Cornelius Wilde." Josh said to himself, "Or Cornelius Wilde is actually alive. Either way, I think that this might be important, and the Wilde clan will surely want to hear about that."
Some of the mammals present looked between themselves. In particular, Nick and Judy were looking at each other, as they knew that Nick had a particular connection to it.
Nick was a Wilde. Not a mage like them, but a Wilde nonetheless. It was, technically, his family they were talking about.
"And, what do we know about Cornelius Wilde?" Yahya asked, keeping himself objective on the important topics.
"A mage who is kind of famous." Josh admitted to the horse. "Consider somewhat of a genius among mages. But many also think of him as a cuckoo. Obsessed with certain aspects of magecraft. Even his family thought the guy was way out there, and they all but cut ties with him. But, the guy really got to be known on the past months, since he disappeared along with the others."
"Others, what others?" Yahya asked, looking at the cheetah.
"You said he 'dissapeared'." Yahya insisted, "What was his last known location?"
Josh looked at the horse in silence. He then looked at all of the others who were still looking at him. After a few moments, Josh answered:
"Fangtropolis."
It was like a bomb was dropped. There was no cataclysmic reaction, but the reaction was still in there, on the eyes and faces of the ones who had just heard that. Some of them were already putting two and two together.
"Cornelius Wilde was one of the mages who took part on the ritual that caused the Darkest Hour." Josh just said, thinking it was best just to let them know at once.
More silence followed those words, as everyone took in what the muscular cheetah had just said.
"Yeah, you can understand why the guy suddenly became famous. Or infamous." Josh said to them. "If the guy is actually alive... well, the Association will surely going to want to have a word with him. Especially if he now is getting enough friends with the MTC to try and get their package from me."
"Wait." Judy said, finally speaking after having been only listening until now. She was still reeling from the embarrassment of what she witnessed through the camera, but she was still able to focus on the subject.
"You mean you actually have it?" Judy asked, "The package?"
"Sure have." Josh said, "The enforcers gave it to me a couple days ago, told me to take care of it while they investigated things. To make sure the MTC would not get their paws on it again. They were serious, and after I heard how they MTC arranged the attack of the mall, I decided to don't let it too far from me."
"Wait, you mean you brought it to the mansion?" Judy asked, looking at the cheetah. "The package is here?"
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Adrian said, finally breaking from his own silence and looking in between the bunny and the shirtless cheetah. "What package?"
"And who is the MTC? And what is their relation to New Den's event?" Yahya asked, looking at them as well.
Judy and Josh looked at each other. The cheetah sighed.
"Now I want to smoke for real..."