Those last few days had been truly crazy.
Well, the whole year has been pretty crazy, all things considered. Those last few days, however, have been on a special type of crazy for the mammals of the ZPD.
From the attack on New Den Mall that prompted all of them to act on the rescue of everyone, to the attack on Precinct one that sent many of their fellow officers to the hospital.
Yeah, those last few days had been crazy for all of the ZPD. For Bogo, in particular, who was now partnered with the enforcers in order to get to the bottom of everything that had been happening on the city that month.
So, basically, on the last days, Bogo has been on fights with mages, has been denied proper answers by the enforcers as he drove them around the city, has found out shocking information about a certain cheetah he knew, all of that while worrying about the status of said cheetah in a house full of nasty horses and currently under the attack of mysterious mage forces.
Bogo really could use a break.
However, the work of a police officer was just like that, one thing after the other with no right to breaks. Bogo had been doing this for a little over twenty years, and he had pretty much developed his own way to deal with it: deal with things one at a time. Even though it was not always possible.
Still, Bogo continued trying to focus on one thing at a time when it came to doing his job. Like on that morning, when he focused on giving out the assignments to all of the officers who came back to work.
Bogo could feel glad that the officers who were affect by the attack had all recovered with no visible effects, but he reminded them to remain vigilant and try contacting the enforcers if they felt anything strange. Luckily, Wilde was not there to make any jokes about this, and neither did Fanghanel said or did anything to cause the others to laugh and Bogo to feel exasperated.
Actually, Bogo had the impression that Fanghanel seemed eerily quiet lately...
Bah, it was probably just some problem at home, it couldn't be that serious if he was still coming to work as normal.
Once that was done, Bogo decided to take some time for himself. The enforcers were late that day and, while Bogo disliked tardiness, he was actually quite glad that he had some time for himself without Mieczyslaw's niece on her hyper attitude wanting them to continue investigating everything.
Seriously, that vixen was like a mix of Wilde's irreverent attitude with Hopps' overly eager behavior. It was a terrible combination when it was not Wilde and Hopps themselves in there working together and correcting each other's behaviors and flaws.
It was tiring, honestly.
Bogo nearly felt like admiring Mieczyslaw for keeping up with his niece twenty-four seven during the course of their mission.
It also served to remember Bogo how hard to deal with the probies could be...
Bogo was actually using this chance to serve himself a cup of coffee. He needed that, if this day would be anything like the previous ones. Just when he was about to take a sip from his coffee, he felt something vibrating inside of his pocket, what made him stop midway and look down.
Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he saw that he had a new message.
O. Wilde: Hey, Buffalo-Butt! Did you finished giving the assignments already?
Bogo snorted. He still got beamed with Hopps sometimes, for having given his private extension to Wilde without his permission. The amount of messages he got from Wilde with jokes and other unimportant things nearly took the memory of his phone. He had to give Wilde a stern warning not to use his personal extension unless it related to work or was truly very important.
What do you want, Wilde? Bogo tipped on his phone. If it is something stupid then I'll be blocking you, like I should have done right after Hopps gave you my number.
O. Wilde: No, its not stupid.
O. Wilde: Actually, I think it is rather important.
O. Wilde: You will probably want to hear it.
Bogo looked at the series of messages, and he decided to bite.
Alright, what is it?
Indeed, it was something important, like Wilde had said, as the fox informed him, through messages, that Sheppard had somehow managed to break free from the dungeons and then attacked both Chandler Manechester and Clawhauser, before being chase away by the others.
Bogo was tense upon reading that, but also relieved when the fox tipped that both Clawhauser and Manechester were unharmed from the experience, albeit a bit shaken. Bogo answered that he would emit an alert for Sheppard, and told Wilde to keep his eyes open and to make sure the security is reinforce in case Sheppard decided to come back.
O. Wilde: Will do, Chief. But, I'm not sure the guy will want to come back after what happened. Oh, and we found out who was Bigfoot.
Bogo looked at the screen of his phone.
Bigfoot?
O. Wilde: The mammal who has been going around vandalizing the property.
O. Wilde: The guy broke into the green house when Sheppard was attacking Benji, and he was actually the one who scared the dog the most.
Bogo looked at the screen.
Did he tried to attack Clawhauser too? The vandal?
O. Wilde: No, didn't seemed like he wanted to fight any of us.
Do you have him under custody?
There was a pause after Bogo typed this answer, and some messages appeared on the screen showing that Wilde was typing. He was taking long to answer, as if he was typing and then erasing what he typed to try and type again.
Wilde?
After this, Wilde finally answered.
O. Wilde: Well, we had the guy here in the house during the night, but... he left.
What? Bogo typed to the fox. He has escaped?
O. Wilde: Escaped, no!
O. Wilde: He just went out for breakfast. Said he'd come back later.
Bogo had an annoyed expression.
Wilde, now is not the time for jokes.
O. Wilde: I'm serious, sir. He did said he would come back when he was ready to leave. His mother even said that she looked forward to him coming back.
Okay, now Wilde was going too far.
Wilde, did you even really found out the suspect?
O. Wilde: Sure did sir. Wanna try guessing who it is?
Bogo was starting to lose his patience with the fox.
Wilde...
O. Wilde: Angus Manechester
Bogo paused, staring at the screen of his phone for a few seconds, before he snorted and fought back the urge to smash it.
This ain't funny, Wilde.
O. Wilde: I'm serious, sir. Angus Manechester was the guy sneaking around the mansion.
Oh, really? Bogo typed to the fox. So, his ghost came back to vandalize Adrian's house because he was mad at being kicked out?
O. Wilde: Well, you can certainly say he was mad at his dad. He was using a magic wolfskin to turn himself into a monster and lurk around the house.
Bogo was now really losing his patience.
Cut that out, Wilde! I told you it is not funny!
O. Wilde: I'm serious, sir!
O. Wilde: Angus is back and he is out on the city right now to have breakfast.
O. Wilde: Oh, and he is a mage now. He gained magic circuits from being hit by a lightning. He can fire water drops as if they were bullets.
Bogo was practically fuming as he looked at his phone, now trying with all he had not to squeeze it so hard it would break the screen.
Even Wilde should know when something was not the kind of thing you make jokes about. However, it seemed that the fox felt like making some joke about a subject like Adrian's disowned son.
The same son that, five years ago, was nothing more than a problem to Bogo and a menace to Zootopia as whole with his entitle and sociopathic behavior. He even went as far as to attack Bogo with a bottle and nearly end up getting him blind from one eye.
Even remembering that horse left a bad taste on Bogo's mouth.
Time to end this now. Bogo put his coffee down and started typing on his cellphone with both hooves.
Wilde, it is way too early for this kind of thing! Even if it wasn't, this is not the kind of thing you must joke about. Angus Manechester is dead and, as much as I don't like speaking ill of the deceased, I still say good riddance! He was a sociopathic, spoiled piece of crap who destroyed the lives of several mammals simply because they disagreed with him or even for fun, and he nearly left me blind from one eye! He is gone and buried! Now we have other matters to deal with, so I appreciate if you stop joking around with this kind of thing and focus on doing your job!
Bogo pressed "send", and then sighed as he lowered his phone. That should do it.
He picked up his coffee again and, just as he did, another message arrived on his phone.
Bogo groaned as he rolled his eyes. He once more looked at the screen of his phone, at the same time that he started drinking his coffee.
His eyes widened, and he nearly choked on his coffee as he saw what the new message was.
It was a photo. Benjamin on one side, wearing his form fitting demon costume, Chandler Manechester on the other with the clothes he had been using for the gathering and, between the two of them, with one arm around each one and wearing only a furry loincloth, was no other than Angus Manechester.
Bogo retched as he recovered from nearly having breathed in his coffee, and looked at the photo.
This one there could be no other than Angus. The same fur color, the same blue eyes, and even the same arrogant grin on his muzzle.
And this photo was definitely not from five years or even three years ago. This photo was recent.
As soon as he recovered, his coffee now spread over the ground as Bogo had spat it out and dropped the cup, Bogo requested a MuzzleTime with Wilde. Soon, the fox was answering.
"Wilde!" Bogo said, still winded from the coffee event. "What is the hell is happening!?"
"It is like I said, sir." Nick told the buffalo. "Angus is back."
Bogo looked at the fox. He had hoped that the fox would say to him that the photo he just received was photoshopped, or that the horse on the photo was just some guy who looked a lot like Angus Manechester. However, this seemed not to be the case at all. Wilde was way too serious to it be one of his jokes.
Bogo felt a pit forming on his stomach as he felt the truth sinking in.
"So... it's true?" Bogo asked him, and the fox only nodded.
"Chief?" Said a voice from outside, and a familiar yellow spotted head popped from the corner of the screen. Nick himself looked over his shoulder to see the newcomer, and Bogo immeidatelly paid attention to it.
"Clawhauser! Are you okay? I heard you were attacked."
"Yeah, me and Chandler both were." Ben said to the buffalo through Nick's screen. "But we are both fine. Angus saved us from Sheppard."
Hearing that from Clawhauser's mouth had way more impact than hearing it from Wilde's. This was what it took for it to finally sink in for good.
"So it is true..." Bogo said, and then looked back at his phone.
"Tell me exactly what happened last night."
Soon, Wilde and Clawhauser were giving him a through description of all that had happened on the previous night, and of the events that led to that photo.
They spoke of how "The Hound", also known as "Bigfoot", was no other than Angus, who was changing himself into a monster with the help of a cursed wolfskin. After changing back, he went to meet the others with them.
What came next was an emotional reunion with his mother and a "not so emotional" reunion with his father and grandfather. In this, Angus explained to them where he had been on the last five years, as well as give the guests a briefing on with had happened on the weeks previous to his "voluntary leave from Zootopia".
He basically explained how he stalked Clawhauser, saw him interacting with other mages, and then Ben got him to sign a magic contract that forced him to keep his mouth shut about magecraft.
Bogo was able to get the overall idea of how those "geis" worked, and on how Ben had one placed on Angus, as well as himself.
"But his end of the geis has pretty much be rendered null, now that everyone knows about magecraft." Ben said, and Bogo nodded, telling them to "go on".
They also gave him an abridged version of how Angus explained how he "became a mage".
So, not only that sociopath of a horse is back, but he has magic powers now? Was all Bogo could think as he heard them explain. Great. Just great!
"I was surprised when I saw it too, sir." Clawhauser said, "I never imagined that Angus could be a mage."
"Yeah, guess we were all surprised about this." Nick said, "As if the guy was not scary enough before."
And, they finished the explanation on how Angus told them about the real motive that Adrian kicked him out, and then how his mother insisted for him to stay at the house in place of going somewhere out, and got in a fight with her husband over it.
"It really seemed that she would have a fight if he protested." Nick said, "So much for the happy marriage, huh?"
"So, that's basically it." The fox concluded. "We got the guy who was stalking and vandalizing the house. Well, 'caught' is a little of a stretch, once his mother was kinda clear that she would come down on us hard if we tried to do anything to 'her dear calf'. Angus seemed to like it, but we already knew he was a momma's boy..."
Wilde was still going, but Bogo was barely hearing. He had only been half-listening after a certain point. After Wilde and Clawhauser had tell him one specific piece of information that was part of their report.
"He kissed Ben..." Bogo said to himself, feeling a strange, but familiar, feeling rising inside of him.
"Chief?" Wilde's voice called him back, and he looked back at the screen. However, his eyes were not focus on Wilde, but on the cheetah who was looking over the fox's shoulder at the screen.
"Clawhauser, did he really kissed you?" Bogo asked as he looked at the cheetah. Ben looked to the side.
"H-he did, sir." The cheetah confirmed. "It caught me off guard... I slapped him."
Hope you used your claws. Bogo wanted to say, but refrained from doing so. Instead, he asked some important questions to the two.
"Where is Angus now?" Bogo asked to them, "Is he still at the mansion?"
"No sir." Wilde said, "He went out just twenty minutes ago, but said he was going to come back."
"I saw him when he was leaving." Clawhauser said to the Chief. "He said he was going to have breakfast on the Cheval Ardent. He even invited me to tag along, but I refused. He was insistent, though..."
"Probably wanting to score some with you, huh?" Nick asked the cheetah, Bogo's hoof tensed and squeezed his phone hard as he heard the fox's words. In part, it was because he knew that Wilde was absolutely right. Manechester only invited someone else to eat when he wanted something out of them. In fact, before leaving Zootopia, he was famous for using this little trick when he was trying to "score a new conquest". The horse had always been a player.
The Cheval Ardent. Bogo thought, he remembered that place. He remembered way too well...
"I have to go. Both of you keep watch and be careful." Bogo said to the two, and he didn't even waited for their reply before ending the MuzzleTime call and going his way.
Bogo was on his way across the station again. However, he was not going to his office this time.
He was on his way to the front lobby, and Deermond noticed his presence there.
"Oh, Chief!" The deer said to the buffalo. "The enforcers already arrived! They went to your office. Said they had to send a new report back to the Mages' Association. They are probably waiting for-"
"Tell them to wait." Bogo said to the deer, not even turning to look at him as he walked straight to the exit. "I have to go to a five star restaurant."
Deermond blinked, looking at Bogo's departing form. He had the chance to take a good look at Bogo's expression while the buffalo was leaving...
"Oh, boy..." the stag said to himself. "Someone is in trouble..."
"Someone is in trouble..." Nick said as he looked at his phone. "Let's hope it is not either of us..."
He looked at the cheetah standing by his side as he said that. They both had been looking at the fox's phone since Bogo hung up on them. The way that the buffalo did it, combined with the expression he had on his face, certainly made the two have the feeling that the buffalo had something very serious on his mind.
Perhaps he is angry for knowing that Angus is alive and in town. Nick thought to himself. I mean, it was never a secret that the golden boy of the Manechester family and the chief of Precinct 1 never looked eye-to-eye.
While Nick thought about this, Benjamin had much more ominous thoughts on his head. He had already seem that same look on Chief Bogo's eyes. And it had been five years ago.
And he still remembered the events that followed him seeing that look on the buffalo's eyes...
Soon, both of them got distracted when a butler came to inform then that breakfast was ready, and that everyone was waiting on the table.
While they appreciated being distracted of the anger they saw on Bogo's face before he hung up on them ominously, they certainly didn't felt like the arrival for breakfast was welcome.
There was a lot of tension on that table.
Starting with Adrian and his wife.
Carolyn and Adrian were not looking eye to eye. Actually, they seemed like they were purposefully avoiding looking at each other during the course of the entire breakfast. They even went as far as to sit on complete opposite sides of the table as everyone else was eating.
Adrian was with his head down and focused on the food, not trying to talk to anyone or look at anyone. He seemed like he wanted to focus only on his food and forget about everything else. Some assumed that he was still shake by everything that happened last night.
"Guess having his dead son come back from the dead only to tell everyone what a piece of garbage he is don't do wonders to someone's mood." Nick whispered to the mammal sitting by his side, and this caused Judy to look at him. She could, however, agree with Nick on what he was saying. Adrian was an extremely bigoted and petty for disowning a son for the reason he did.
Carolyn, on her end, didn't seemed to be in a much better mood than her husband. She had a glass of wine sitting by her side, and was having her glass refueled every few minutes. At this rate, the bottle would be empty before everyone else was done with breakfast. She wasn't even trying to hide it, and she just chugged more and more wine without caring people looking at her and what they could be thinking.
She probably could not notice them, as she was too busy glaring at Ben, as if she was hoping he would suddenly explode like an overinflated balloon.
Ben shied away from her glares. It were not only her eyes on him. Ben could also sense the vibrations coming from her. He could feel them on his own prana. He could not pick up the precise thoughts she was having in relation to him, he was trying not to, but he could pick up all of the rage and hostility on her thoughts as she looked straight at him. They were oppressive and intimidating. Like a whispering on his ears that made it hard for him to focus on anything else, because he knew the whispers were mean words and even threats directed at him personally.
It was nearly as if Carolyn was making that on purpose.
Due to her focus on Ben, Carolyn failed to notice the glares that Marcy was giving her. The hybrid could not feel thoughts with the same facility as her half-siblings, but she could read other mammals well enough. She could see how Ben's tension and shivering matched the hostility that Carolyn showed as she glared at him.
She really wished to go there and smack that woman on the head to get her to stop that. Or, at least, to get her to shift her focus to Marcy herself and give some relief to Ben. However, she felt like doing so would create even more tension on that breakfast table, and there was tension enough on the table as it was.
As she thought that, she cast a glance to her side. She had sat herself right by the side of Euphemia and her husband Charles, and they were both in silence as they ate. Euphemia had the same composed expression and posture she had nearly all the time. However, she was only putting a front right now.
Marcy knew that because she had just happened to overhear Euphemia's talk with her husband right before breakfast.
Euphemia was with her husband, who had just came back from another "business meeting" on the city, which led him to stay out all night. Euphemia talked to him, and it soon devolved into a quiet, but quite fierce, discussion between husband and wife. One where each one seemed to have something to say to the other. Although, from the point Marcy was standing as she heard their conversation, she could tell that Euphemia's arguments were way better than Charlie's.
She wasn't even asking him to stop with those "business meetings", only for him to be "a bit more subtle" with them, as to avoid having other people suspecting. Charlie seemed to take it as a personal criticism, and he proceeded to start verbally attacking Euphemia. Her answers were glacial to him, as she seemed not to be sway by his big talking in the slightest.
That is, until Charlie started to mention "her beloved kitten".
That seemed to hit Euphemia, and then, after a few more words to her, Charlie departed. He didn't saw Marcy, but Marcy could see the arrogant, shit-eating grin the horse had on his face, as if he was proud of having intimidated his wife into silence. Immediately, Marcy went into the room, to check on Euphemia.
She found Euphemia looking down and seeming deeply troubled. It was ease to see the strife on her face. However, as soon as she realized that Marcy was there, all of the strife went away, and her expression became as compose as always, and she reassured Marcy that she was okay, and there was nothing for her to worry about.
That mare really knew how to have a good grip on herself. Marcy had to give her points for that. Still, it was obvious that there was still a tension between her and her husband.
However, the tension between the Manechesters was not the only one on the table.
Gazelle had a grumpy expression during breakfast, and Tyson, by her side, seemed worried.
On the previous night, she got her hooves on her cellphone and checked on the internet what people were saying about the boys. She needed to see it, after what Angus had told her that everyone was saying about them.
Tyson tried to dissuade her from it, but she forced the tiger to give her phone back so she could see it for herself.
It was even worse than what Angus had described.
People were really accusing them of having been the responsible for the Darkest Hour. They were talking bad about them on every single forum that there was about them and about Gazelle herself online. Heck, some mammals had even created new forums online only to bash them!
They were even making plans to murder them! They were discussing ideas and plans to kill them without being caught and without them having the chance to defend themselves!
And their MuzzleBook accounts...
They, like Gazelle, never made their accounts private, and they were just blowing up with all kinds of nasty commentaries. People were calling them monsters and murderers, saying that they deserve to die, and that they should kill themselves to make up for all the deaths they caused.
Gazelle didn't even wanted to imagine the messages they were receiving in private...
As soon as she saw the dimension of what was happening to her friends, she did what any popstar on that same situation would do: made a video and posted it online.
With Tyson holding her phone and recording her, Gazelle spoke to all of the mammals who could hear her, telling them how it was absurd that people could even think that the boys would ever do something like that. She knew them for years, and she knew that they were innocent. They were good people, and had nothing to do with that disaster, and they didn't deserved to be bashed like that for something they had no fault in. She finished telling everyone to leave them alone. As soon as they were done recording, Gazelle just posted the video as it was and, just like that, Gazelle's thirty minutes rant about the innocence and good character of her dancers was online.
After this, Gazelle didn't looked at her phone for the rest of the night. Only on the following morning she would look at her phone again.
And she saw that her own MuzzleBook account was blowing up with messages and commentaries.
They called her an idiot for believing he words of those tigers and for believing on their innocence, pleading with her to open her eyes, and even pointing out to the fact that they could be using magecraft to control her to believe on their innocence. They called her a lowlife for covering up for them just to protect their image and, consequently, her own. They called her a traitor for "siding with the mages" rather than "being with her own people". Some even called her a sinner for "loving those warlocks".
Gazelle was not sway by that.
It was not so different from back during the time of the Night Howler Scare, when everyone started attacking her tigers online for being predators and, when she defended them, started to attack her as well, saying things like that she was "a filthy predator apologist", or that she "wanted to be eaten". They basically were saying that she was an idiot and a traitor for defending those predators, putting herself and many others in danger by only being near them, instead of having them put into cages "as they should".
It was just like now that they are saying that she should get rid of them.
Well, Gazelle had expected this reaction from the people. She was use to be target of criticism and haters by now. People seemed to love attacking celebrities.
Tyson was more upset about it than her, as he had knew this was going to happen. He could take it when people attacked him. He and his brothers could take care of themselves, their uncle made sure to make them all tough. However, he could not stand when people started attacking Maria.
This only added to the general feeling of discomfort and tension on the breakfast, all of it triggered by the sudden return of Angus to that house. Everyone who was sitting on the table could feel the tension.
Well, almost everyone.
Josh and Melor, who had arrived on the place together, seemed not to be affect by the tension on the table on the slightest.
The hybrid sat by the side of his wolf friend, still clueless, while the cheetah sat right by his side. They were both busy looking at each other, and looking like they couldn't get enough of the other. Both of them actually seemed to be the only ones on the table who were on a good mood.
"We had a very pleasant night." Josh said happily to anyone who asked, to what Melor would only smirk and look back at him. As they looked at each other, they would make silence flirts with the other, like licking their lips or licking a fork in a rather sensual way. This did made a few mammals quite uncomfortable.
It didn't took a rocket scientist to know what had happened between the two on the previous night. It was certainly not a mystery to the servants, as the rumors had spread on how two maidens had seem they both walk out of Josh's bedroom, making out sloppily as if they were a pair of horny teenagers.
Their seeming lack of knowledge or interest on the tension on the breakfast table made a few people glare at them. Among them was Yahya, who was looking very intently on the horned hybrid, as well as on his clueless wolf partner...
All in all, the tension on the table was so thick you could carve out a piece of it with a knife and eat it alongside your buttered bread.
Most awkward breakfast ever, much? Nick thought to himself as he focused on his own food and tried to ignore the fact that a lot of people on the table seemed like they were ready to kill someone.
Maybe I should have gone after Angus. Just to get away from this awkwardness. Nick thought to himself, until he remembered Bogo...
This was Chief Bogo's first time setting foot on that place in five years.
The place was actually not much different from what Bogo remembered, both inside and out. It was pretty much the same five-star establishment that it was when Bogo first went in five years ago, on the last time he ever saw Angus Manechester.
He could remember it like it was yesterday...
Five years ago...
It was not my first time in a fancy restaurant. However, this was my first time on the le Cheval Ardent. When it came to top places to eat in Savannah Central, this one was what you could consider the top of the top.
A single meal here still costs almost half my salary.
I never went on a place like that, not even invited by someone else. However, on that day, I was going there all by myself. Not to eat, mind you, but to try and save Ben.
Benjamin Clawhauser had been nothing but trouble when he first joined.
I must confess, I was not sure what to think about that feline entering my force. He passed all of his exams and graduated on the academy with flying colors, especially on the shooting range. Major Friedkin said he was one of the best shooters she ever saw. However, the fact that he looked so unfit made me doubt if he would be a good cop to have on the field. I could very easily see him getting winded while trying to pursue a criminal and allowing them to escape...
However, I did welcomed him like I did with any other officer on my force. Well, maybe I started a bit slow with him, giving him parking duty and seeing how he would fare. If he proved not to be as unfit as he seemed, I would consider giving him more serious assignments.
However, right on his first week, he already proved to be more than I bargained for.
He somehow became buddies with a Manechester!
It was Chandler, the younger one. Apparently, he was living on the same apartment, and the two have been spending time together. And it seemed they quickly becoming the best friends in the world.
Now, I wanted to warm him about it. I wanted to tell him to keep clear from the Manechester family, since they were problem. However, it was his personal life. It had nothing to do with me. I was not his father or anything. If he wanted to get himself involved with the wrong type of mammal, then it was his choice. Let him learn the hard way.
And let Angus Manechester ruin his life?
That single question was like an armor-piercing round that hit me right where it counted. For Chandler Manechester was not the problem here. That boy was actually nice. The real problem was that textbook sociopath he had for an older brother.
A brother whose favorite pastime seemed to be systematically ruin the lives of everyone who approached his siblings that he personally didn't approved of. And there was no way he would be approving of Benjamin. I mean, Ben was not rich or influent. He was just a common guy who worked for minimum wage on the police.
Angus was as elitist as his stupid mother. No way he would ever approve of someone like Clawhauser. The cheetah would become a target as soon as Angus caught wind he had made friends with his little brother.
So, going against his normal behavior, I decided to start talking with the cheetah.
It was not something I usually did, having a conversation with one of my subordinates. However, I needed to make sure he understood what problem he would be getting into if he got involved with those horses.
I didn't told him right on. I could not. However, I strongly implied to him how troublesome it was to be relate to a family like the Manechester. Benjamin listened to me, and he told me he would be careful, but that he would still talk to Chandler, since he was his neighbor, and they were quickly becoming friends.
That cheetah was just so innocent and positive... this made me feel worried about him.
He would be a sitting duck if Angus ever decided to make him his target.
However, as time passed, and nothing bad happened, I started to relax. Perhaps he listened to my advice and decided it was better not get involved with those horses. This made me relieved, as it meant one less mammal would end up adding to the list of victims of Angus Manechester.
However, several days after this conversation, I walked into the parking lot to go back home only to find Angus and Clawhawser on the parking lot. They were fighting.
Well, you could not really call it a fight, once the cheetah was not reacting. However, he did looked like he was trying to free himself from the horse, who was holding his wrist pretty hard with his hoof, and he had an angry expression on his face.
Now, there was no way I could ignore someone being attack like that. Especially one of my own officers. So, I rushed there.
Angus really seemed mad, and he was saying something to Benjamin as he held him, while the Cheetah still trying to free himself from the grip of the stronger mammal.
"Hey!" I cried out before I realized I was speaking, and Angus looked my way. He finally let go of the cheetah, who stepped away from him quickly, holding his arm
Angus fled the scene very quickly. He could have his family's name and money to protect him, but even he knew he would not be able to simply walk away from assaulting an officer. So, his smarter move was, of course, walk away fast before I could arrest him.
I could have chased after him (and in hindsight I should've) had I not been so worried about Clawhauser.
He didn't seemed harmed, save for the bruise on his wrist where Angus grabbed him. However, he was visibly shook. He kept repeating that he "didn't do it".
Had Angus accused him of something?
It would not be the first time.
I could still remember a fact one year prior. His sister, Euphemia, brought a friend to introduce to the family. She was a friend from university, and she was not as well off as her. In fact, she was a scholarship student. Her family, namely her mother and Angus, didn't really liked Euphemia making friends with "some poor charity student".
On the following day, something was noticed missing from the house. One of the pieces of Adrian's art collection. And to whom Angus immediately pointed his finger if not to Euphemia's friend.
What happened after could only be describe as a circus. The poor girl was persecuted by the Manechester and by everyone who had ties with them. She was called a thief and bullied in university. She even lost her scholarship and was expel. She was in tears and broken by the time she left Zootopia to go back to her hometown, and no one ever heard from her again.
On the day following her departure, the "stolen" item was found again, as it had apparently been misplace by some of the servants.
"Oh, I guess it wasn't her who stole it... my bad." Angus said on the matter, with the most infuriating smirk I ever saw on a horse's face.
Was he trying to pull something like that again? Was he accusing Clawhauser of having stolen something from his house to ruin him as he did to that poor girl? He was certainly the kind who would do something like that.
I tried to make Clawhauser talk, but he was too nervous. I needed to help him get into the cab and ride with him home. Only when we were on the front of his building, he had recovered enough that he said to me it was okay, and that he could go to his apartment on his own. I insisted on going with him (I wasn't really sure why, at the time), but he said that it was okay.
Looking back, he probably didn't wanted to risk me meeting his giant two-headed snake.
I kept an eye on him on the next days, seeing if Angus would come back to try and pull something on him, or if he would come to the station to try and accuse the cheetah of something. However, I knew that I could not keep an eye on him all the time, so I had another chat with him, and asked him to tell me if Angus ever came to talk to him again.
From there on, I started having regular talks with Clawhauser, to be sure he was okay
Some of other officers started looking at me weird, as they never saw me showing so much interest in a rookie. However, I didn't minded it too much. I needed to be sure that Angus would not try to bring any harm to Benjamin.
Benjamin told me, days later, that Angus talked to him again. However, this time, he was much more polite, according to Ben, and they both actually had a civilized chat. I asked for details about what this chat was, but he got evasive, and only gave me half-answers. This was more than a little strange.
Could Angus be threatening him to keep silent?
I started keeping an even closer eye on Ben after this, and talking to him each time I had a chance.
As it turned out, I was not the only one who was showing interest on the cheetah. Angus Manechester also seemed to be finding something on the cheetah that he considered worth of his time.
Ben spent more time with Chandler than with Angus, but Angus was showing an increasing interest on Ben. As he was apparently meeting him "randomly" on the street at a suspicious frequency, had come to visit on his apartment a number of times now, and he had even asked for his phone number and started messaging him!
At one point, he was seeing Ben nearly three times a week.
What was going on? Why was Angus Manechester showing this cheetah so much interest? Why was he spending so much time with him when he was not an elite like the horse thought himself to be? Why was he being nice to him?
All of that was out of character of the Angus Manechester I knew. It was enough to make me think he was definitely up to something.
Then, it came the day.
I was never keen on MuzzleBook. I didn't really saw much purpose on social medias, when messages on the phone could do the job nicely. I was not the kind of guy who would leave likes on some commentaries and leave comments on someone's pictures. I never saw a point on having an account.
However, I started one because of Ben's influence. And I followed him.
It was how I saw a picture he had posted less than ten minutes before.
"Eating on the Cheval Ardent. The food here is sooooooooo good! :heart: :heart: :smiling cheetah izooji:" Said the commentary of the photo Ben posted. A selfie of himself on the famous restaurant, with a half-eaten plate before him. And, who was sitting just across the table was no other than Angus Manechester himself!
Something was seriously wrong there.
Clawhauser didn't made enough to eat there. And, with Angus sitting right there with him, all I could think about was that the horse had invited him to eat on the restaurant.
Now, all of Angus behavior was out of character until now. But still, meeting him on the street, going to his apartment, even getting his number and texting with him, all of that was one thing.
But the Cheval Ardent? That was Angus favorite restaurant on the entire city, and everyone knew that. Everyone knew he always went there. Everyone knew that this was a place where you were almost certain to find him. Everyone on that place knew him, as everyone from his social circle went to the place.
There was no way Angus, being the arrogant, entitled, elitist bastard he was, would be seen dead on a place like that on the company of someone of the "lower classes".
Unless he was plotting something.
Would he make some kind of scene at the restaurant? Where those sycophants of his' on standby by the corners waiting for his signal to do something to completely humiliate Benjamin? Where they armed with their cellphones to record whatever it was they planed to do with the poor cheetah and post it all over online to make him Zootopia's joke?
There were many possibilities and, knowing Angus like I did, I knew that there were many more of them that maybe I could not even begin to imagine.
And that I certainly didn't wanted to see come to pass. Not with that cheetah.
I think I was on autopilot just minutes after seeing that post. I was opening the door of my cruiser before I was thinking if I should use it to go there. I was driving in direction to that restaurant before I could even consider if going there was a good idea. I even turned out the sirens to be able to get there as fast as I could. I was on the front of the restaurant on less than ten minutes.
I even went inside before even considering what I would even do once I was in.
On any other situation, I would have stopped for a moment to admire the French-like design of the interior, all in deep shades of red and violet, with some softer shades of pink. However, even if I did, I would not care very much about it. I was never keen on art.
I scanned the tables, until I eventually saw both of them. They were sitting on a table with a llama by the side, playing the fiddle for the both of them. They seemed to be eating the desert, as there was a whole red cake on the table, with slices on plates before the two. However, they had stopped eating, as they were now looking at each other. Angus was saying something to the cheetah.
He had a serious expression on his face, and so did Ben, as the horse leaned over the table to talk to him. His hoof was holding the cheetah's paw. He was leaning forward more and more, his muzzle approaching Clawhauser's...
Once more, I think I was on auto pilot, I didn't realized I was walking on their direction until I arrived at the table and spoke, just as Angus' mouth was less than an inch away from Clawhauser's.
They both seemed surprised for seeing me there. Angus, on his end, seemed annoyed that I was there. He didn't liked me, as much as I didn't liked him. He told me to beat it, as they were having a lunch.
"Really? Well, I didn't had lunch yet. Let me join you."
To this day, I don't know what possessed me to say that and to pick up a chair from a nearby table and use it to sit on the table alongside with them. I do remember the murderous glare Angus gave me, while Benjamin seemed to shrink, as he was taking knowledge of how awkward that moment was.
He knew that Angus and I hated each other's guts. So did most of the other mammals on that restaurant. That was probably why a lot of them were moving to tables that were further away from us, as if they were getting out of a bomb's blast radius.
If Angus really had some accomplices waiting to come into action when he ordered, they had pretty much gave up and ran away with their tails between their legs at that point (either they were canines or not). Still, I decided to stay there. I even ordered some of those appetizers to the waiter, and then I talked to the two.
Most of it was just conversation. Benjamin barely said anything, as he seemed intimidated by the sudden atmosphere. It were mostly the horse and me talking, and mostly to each other.
I demanded to know what game was he trying to play. He said that I should mind my own business, as usual. However, I could not, not when he was trying to get close to one of my new recruits. I demanded him to tell me what he wanted with Benjamin, to what Angus, to my honest surprise, said that they were friends.
"You don't have friends, Manechester. You have sycophants who take part on your little plots and cling on to you like ticks, and I don't see Clawhauser as one of them."
Angus really seemed like he didn't liked what I said, and he had a few choice words of his own to tell me, and I answered with some of my own chosen words, all the while Ben shrunk more and more on his chair.
I think neither of us realized how loud we were getting, until the moment the manager himself came to see us and ask both of us to either stop it or leave.
"I know Ben better than you ever will." Angus said to me. For some reason, that hit me. I didn't knew why, but it hit me. Especially when Angus spoke it with that, with that arrogant smile of his' that I hated like few other things on the world.
I wanted to say something back. Something that would hit him. Something that would wipe that stupid smile out of his muzzle for good.
Perhaps it was low of me to speak about his family.
Now, I'll spare you the details, but I basically told him how much of a spoiled brat he was, as he relied on money that was not his own, but his family's, and how he never earned any of it himself. I pointed out how he was the one of his siblings who caused the most problems, and how Adrian had to go out of his way several times to clear things out for him and get him out of trouble. How he was such a problem that his mother became a drunk only to deal with the stress of having her "precious little foal" being basically a delinquent. I even pointed out the rumors going around on how Yahya had been considering removing him from succession on the Beastar Corps in case he didn't changed his behavior.
"Tell me, Angus, how does it feels to be the shame of the Manechester family?" I said that, with a smirk of my own, as I saw that there was not even a shadow of a smile on Angus' face.
Only anger.
Then I saw the expensive bottle of wine that was lying on the table coming in direction to my face.
I didn't had any time to react. I heard the sound of the bottle breaking. I felt a sharp pain on the side of my face as I fell to the floor. I heard people around gasping, and a woman crying out. I also heard someone calling my name, I would later learn it was Clawhauser.
I was still confused. My fur was soaked on wine, and so was my jacket. However, there was something else soaking my fur. Something other than wine. Something warm.
I could still hear the commotion around me. Did someone let out a neigh? A pained one? And now there was someone calling my name.
I could not open my right eye. I could feel a sharp pain right above it that kept me from opening it. However, my left eye was fine. I could open and see who was calling my name. It was Clawhauser, with a worried expression on his face as he looked at me.
I looked around, and saw that the entire restaurant was looking at us. And I saw Angus on the ground. He was groaning and twitching.
For a moment, I wondered what had happened, and even thought that I had somehow done it to him. Until I saw the Taser on Clawhauser's paw, and realized that he was the one responsible for the horse currently writhing on the ground.
I would be in there for a while more, until I recovered enough to put a pair of cuffs on that horse for attacking me with a bottle and then shoving him on the back of my cruiser. Only then, I would comply to Clawhauser's request and go see a doctor. By now, it was both wine and blood staining my work clothes.
Bogo ran a hooved finger over the near-imperceptible scar above his right eye. It felt like it tingled only from being on that place again. It has been five years, but the memories of that day were still engrave on his mind. As well as the memories of what came after.
Rumors spreading about Angus' attack on Bogo. Adrian losing the elections by a landslide when his victory seemed certain before the event happened. And, on the end of it all, Angus left Zootopia.
Officially, Angus had been disowned by his father for having ashamed the family by attacking a public figure such as Bogo. However, Bogo knew that this was not the only reason. Not when Clawhauser explained to him how Angus had been flirting with him, and that he had been trying to get Ben to date him.
The Manechesters had their own opinions on interspecies romance. Adrian, in particular, was very against it. So much that he planned to, if elected, work to make it illegal, as well as same-gender marriages, if the word of some of the members of his electoral team was to be believe. Some of his talks about "the importance of traditional family values" certainly gave the impression that he was not in favor of "alternative families".
Having his own son trying to get a predator to get to bed with him? And a male one? That certainly seemed something that would make Adrian want to kick him out of home and never have him come back. More than making him lose the elections.
Angus certainly got his pettiness from his father.
However, Bogo could not help but think how the hell Angus Manechester ended up becoming infatuated with a predator, considering the type of upbringing he had from his bigot mother and father. Both who did, of course, blamed everything on Benjamin, as if he was some sort of mastermind who planned all of this out for some nefarious reason.
Benjamin received a lot of harassing messages from both Adrian and Carolyn after the event, which caused him great distress.
However, the worse of all that, the worse part of it all was a single message that Clawhauser got on his phone. A message from Angus, which he shared with Bogo:
I'll come back for you one day.
That, combined with the threatening messages he was getting from the Manechesters, caused Bogo to reassign Ben to the front desk duty. The safest position one could have on the force, as they would be surrounded by other cops day and night. Bogo was sure that none of them would ever be able to touch Ben as long as he remained on the front desk.
Not Adrian. Not Carolyn. And, definitely, not Angus.
That became even more certain when he heard about Angus' death. It made certain that the horse would never make good of his promise to come back for Ben. Not when he was somewhere deep on the ocean rotting, or on the stomach of a shark.
But that was not the case at all.
Angus was alive. And he was back in Zootopia, just like he promised on that message five years ago.
That was why Bogo was there, on Angus' favorite place on Zootopia, so he could find the horse himself.
As for what he would do once he found him... well, Bogo had not thought that far ahead, but he knew that he needed to find that horse. The horse had already found Ben, so Bogo felt like he was a bit too late, but he could still do something.
Like on the last time he was there five years ago, Bogo scanned the place, paying little mind to the art or the style of the place among all of the shades of red, purple and pink, and he simply focused on finding the familiar face of the horse he despised.
It was only a matter of time before he found him. He was sitting on one of the tables, eating from a hay and celery salad from the breakfast buffet, wearing a white shirt and a pair of long social black pants. He seemed to be enjoying his meal.
It had been five years, but there was just no way Bogo would ever mistake the face of that horse. He grew sick of looking of that stupid mug every time he was investigating some case related to that stupid arrogant rich boy who thought he could use his family's money and influence to get away with murder. If anything, Bogo had hoped to never have to see that face again or, that next time he saw it, to see it behind bars and finally looking defeated.
But, there he was, happily eating his meal as if there was nothing on the world to worry about. Just like five years ago.
That alone was enough to infuriate Bogo, for some reason.
Okay, you found him. Now what? Bogo thought to himself, not realizing that he was already marching in direction to the horse.
Many of the people of the restaurant, who were already whispering to each other as they looked at the horse and recognized him, now looked positively worried when they saw yet another face they recognized walking in direction to the table.
The horse, on his end, seemed unaware of what was happening. He even had his eyes closed as he continued to eat the leaves and hay on his plate. That has always been his favorite dish when it came for breakfast. It had a good flavor but was not overwhelming, and it went down smoothly and didn't overloaded his stomach. Really the perfect breakfast to start off a new day.
"Good morning, Bogo." Angus suddenly said as he finished chewing another forkful of food, before he turned his head to look at the mammal standing beside his table. Bogo, on his end, looked at him with the angry expression that many people on Zootopia already considered his "normal" expression, Angus included.
Five years ago, when they last meet on that restaurant, Angus was certainly not happy for the buffalo being there, and tried to make him leave. However, things seemed to be different this time around.
"Came to join me?" Angus asked, smirking at the buffalo. "Well, you came right on time. I was just celebrating my return to the city. Come on, join me for breakfast. My treat. You have to try the hay, it is divine."
Someone might confuse those words as friendly. However, who knew Angus enough, like Bogo, could say very well when his "kindness" was lace with condescendence and arrogance. The fact that he was openly being like that with Bogo only served to make the buffalo's blood boil even more.
Still, for some reason, Bogo took a seat out on the table. Perhaps it was just so he could face the horse at eye-level? They were nearly the same height, after all, but Bogo was bigger (much to his mental security).
A waiter came. The female cheetah was feeling a little intimidated by the two in there. She had just been told about the two by an older colleague, and it made her nervous to be around the two. What if they started a fight?
However, Angus was polite to her, and asked for some apple and strawberry ice cream for his desert. Bogo, on his end, asked for nothing.
"Five years ago, the whole staff was prey." Angus said as he looked at the departing waiter. "Now they hire predators too. I wonder if that's why dad stopped coming..."
Angus then finally looked at Bogo, as if he decided to acknowledge his existence at last. Bogo, on his end, continued to look at him with contempt.
Angus chuckled.
"Now that is a look I missed." Angus said to the buffalo. "I'm serious. I missed this whole city. Even those 'I-hope-you-die' glares of yours. Although, I can say that they were among the things I missed the less on my time away."
"Then maybe you should not have come back." Bogo said to him coldly, and the horse looked at him with amusement.
"My, oh my. What a great deal of hostility, Chief Bobo."
Bogo snorted as he heard that nickname that Angus had, so fondly, gave to him literally on the first time they ever talked to each other. The stupid horse was disrespectful with him from the very beginning.
"It might be me, but you seem crankier than usual. Had a rough week?" Angus asked him, with feigned interest and worry. "Well, you are not the only one, I can assure you that. It seems that the world has been going crazy lately."
"And you know a whole lot about it." Bogo said back to him. "Don't you?"
Angus looked at the buffalo for a few moments.
"You already know, don't you?" Angus asked. Bogo said nothing about it. He didn't needed to.
"Was it Ben who told you?" Angus asked, "Or was it the bunny? Or maybe the fox?"
Once more, Bogo didn't answered. His silence was all of the answer that Angus needed. The horse turned his attention away from the buffalo, and to the glass jar on the table, still filled with water.
Angus leaned over the table, resting an arm on the table, while his other hoof hoovered over the water jar. He spun a single hooved finger over the water, which started to move inside of the jar.
"Okay, here is your ice... cream... sir?" The cheetah waitress said as she came back with a bowl of ice cream, only to stop dead on her tracks as she saw what was happening.
She and everyone around looked in shock and amazement as the water floated out of the jar, moving up in the air in a spiraling stream that followed the movements of Angus' finger. The horse, seemingly oblivious to the reactions of the ones around him, moved his arm in a wide motion, making the entire stream of water move out in the air, moving around like a whip.
This caused some of the ones around to cry out in surprise. Some of them even got up from their tables and started moving away. Some of them actually made a break for the exit.
Angus, on his end, didn't seemed to notice, or he didn't cared. He only continued what he was doing. He continued to play around with the water, controlling it with the movements of his finger. The jug now laid empty on the table, all of the water now moving as a stream in the air, which then formed a perfect circle in the air. The ring of water continued to move as Angus spun his finger.
"Cool, ain't it?" Angus asked, as the ring continued to flow above their heads. "It is just basic psychokinesis. Basic elemental magecraft to control the matter of a specific element. Still, it took me nearly a month to get it right. But, I think I'm getting the hang of it."
As he said that, Angus flicked his hooved fingers. This caused the ring of water to twist, wrapping over itself and forming an "8", until it split into two separate rings. Those rings then condensed into solid balls of water, which started to spin around each other like two comets, following the movements of Angus's flickering fingers.
Most of the mammals close to them have now either moved away to a farther table or left the premises. Those who stayed were staring at the water dancing on the air under Angus' command. This included the cheetah with the ice cream bowl on a plate, which Angus finally noticed, and beckoned her to come put it on the table.
"Delicious." Angus said as he ate a spoonful of the ice cream. "Still the best one in the city. I'll give you a thirty percent tip, sweetheart." Angus winked at her as he said that, and the cheetah, visibly uncomfortable, moved away, still looking over her shoulder to see the horse making the water dance as he delighted himself with his fancy ice cream.
"You flirt with waitresses now?" Bogo asked, looking at the horse as he continued to eat. "The guy who once said that 'anyone who has to serve others to survive is not good enough for him'?"
"Oh, you remember that?" Angus said, taking yet another spoonful of his ice cream, and allowing the apple and strawberry-flavored cream to melt into his tongue. "Yeah, I did said that, years ago. But that's past."
"You seemed pretty serious when you said that." Bogo said to him, and the horse chuckled.
"Well, I had a lot of life-changing experiences ever since." Angus said to Bogo, "I kind of re-evaluated a lot of things in my life. Like my old beliefs. I decided that judging others based on their profession is not very fair. I mean, there are a lot of more valid ways to measure someone's value."
"Oh, yeah?" Bogo said, and Angus looked back at him.
"Yeah." He said, with a knowing smirk. A condescending and arrogant smirk. The same kind of smirk that Bogo still hated to his very core, and that he wanted to wipe off Angus' muzzle however possible.
"Just one of the many things I learned on the past five years." Angus said, "Just like I learned to do little tricks like this..."
As he spoke that, the masses of water he was controlling changed. They turned into fishes. They were very crude, sketchy fishes, looking like they were made by a calf using Play-Doe. Those fishes continued chasing one after the other, following the gestures the horse's fingers
"I'm not Michelangelion, but I definitely got talent." The horse said, talking about how his fish looked. "I never imagined I would ever be able to do something like that. I mean, in one of my dreams maybe. I always tended to have the weirdest dreams. But, to actually do it in real life..."
The horse chuckled, and dug another spoonful of ice cream, popping it on his mouth and delighting himself with it, before he turned his attention back at the buffalo.
"This just proves you never know what is going to happen next."
"Oh, but I know." Bogo said, and he looked Angus dead in the eye as he looked at him.
"You will get your butt off that chair, walk out of this restaurant, get into a cab and get him to take you to the train station." Bogo said to the horse's face. "Once you're there, you will buy a ticket, get into a train and leave. I don't care where you go, as long as it is far away from Zootopia and from me."
And from Ben. Bogo added mentally, but he would not say it aloud, of course.
Angus, on his end, didn't seemed impressed at all. He merely looked back at Bogo with an expression that verged on boredom.
"Can I finish my ice cream first?"
Bogo snorted at this, and this actually caused Angus to chuckle again.
"I guess some things really do never change." Angus said, "Do they, my dear Bobo?"
"I swear, if you call me that one more time..."
"What?" Angus asked, now glaring at the buffalo. "What are you going to do? What can you possibly do to me?"
"A lot, now that you don't have your daddy covering your sorry tail."
"True, but you are overlooking one very important detail in here, buffalo." Angus said, and he leaned over the table, looking Bogo dead in the eye. "I don't need my stupid father to cover for me anymore. I'm way better than he could ever be."
"What? Because you are a mage now?" Bogo asked, to what Angus answered:
"Exactly. I have now more power than Adrian Manechester could ever dream of having. Power that all money on the world would never give him. Power that assures that you will never be able to lay a finger on me."
Angus seemed more arrogant than ever as he said that. Bogo was starting to lose his cool with him.
"The same power Ben has." Angus said, and he chuckled. "The kind of power that you can't possibly understand. Which is why you could never understand Ben. Why you still cannot understand him."
Angus said that in a very casual way.
"And this is probably why you only see him as a stupid fat bastard that only gets on your way."
"What?" Bogo asked, "What did you just said?"
"That you despise Ben." Angus said, now looking at Bogo deep in the eye. "You consider him a nuisance, and you want nothing more than to get him out of your horns for good and never see him again."
As Angus spoke that, the two water fishes moved, and now they were swimming after each other in front of Angus' face, as the horse continued to look into the eyes of the buffalo.
"You will call Benjamin." Angus said to the buffalo. "You will call him and fire him. You will tell him in very clear terms that he is fired, that you think he is annoying and pathetic, and that you hope to never see him again."
Angus spoke those words slowly and clearly to the buffalo, as if he wanted to be sure the message would be understood. Bogo, taken aback by the suddenness of those statements, could only stare at the eyes of the horse.
Then the strangest feeling came over him.
It was a feeling as if something had tried to grab him. Like something tried to grasp into his mind. However, whatever it was, was held back by some kind of barrier, which pushed this strange thing back without allowing it to touch Bogo, instead making it flow around him like water. It was hard to put into words, but it was as if some kind of liquid tried to find its way into his brain, but was instead forced to flow around and away from him by some kind of water-proof protection Bogo had.
The buffalo blinked, shaking his head.
What just happened?
"What... what was...?" Bogo said, before looking at the horse again. "What did you just do?"
Angus, on his end, seemed mildly surprised.
"This should have worked..." He said to himself, looking at the buffalo. That was when he noticed something on Bogo's uniform, on the lapel of his shirt.
"What is that?" He asked, looking intently at the object in there. "Chief Bogo wearing accessories?" He asked, as he looked at that small brooch, and soon, it became clear to him.
"Ohhh... the enforcers gave you that, didn't they?" He said a smile once more on his face, and that was when Bogo understood.
"You..." Bogo said, feeling his anger rising once more. Now to dangerous levels. "You just tried to brainwash me!" Bogo said accusingly, and the horse smirked.
"Well, I won't deny it."
"And to make me fire Ben!?" Bogo demanded, and the horse, his smile not wavering for a second, explained:
"I talked to predators on the past. Some of them like to engage in sportive hunting. Nothing illegal, just your average hunt for wild birds and lizards. Some of them told me of a very interesting method: wounding and waiting."
"You basically hurt your prey in a way and wait for the wound to make the prey weak, so they will be an easy target." Angus explained to the buffalo, nearly as if he was explaining it to a small child.
"Ben is very fond of his job as a police officer." Angus concluded. "And I thought that, maybe, losing it would make him really upset. Upset enough to make him be in desperate need for a shoulder to cry on. And that maybe it could be my shoulder."
The horse shrugged.
"Seemed worth a shot."
"You piece of garbage!" Bogo bellowed, slamming his hooves on the table and getting up on his feet, making the chair behind him fall. Everyone around jumped back, and some of them were ready to see a fight break out between the two. Angus, on his end, just looked at the buffalo with an expression of amusement.
"Oh, did I made you angry, Bobo?" Angus asked, his voice making it clear that he didn't considered Bogo a threat in the slightest. "What are you going to do about it now?"
There were a lot of things Bogo wanted to do. A lot of things he wanted to say to this horse he would do to him. However, he could not. Not with so many mammals around to serve as witnesses. So, instead:
"I'll tell you what I'm going to do... I'm going to take you under arrest."
"Really?" Angus said, his amusement not diminishing. "Under what charges? Angering you? I don't think a judge is going to take it as justification to put me in jail."
Bogo looked at him, and then he smirked.
"What about insurance fraud?" The buffalo asked, "You faked your death to collect the money of your life insurance. Wilde told me. Last time I checked, that was a federal crime. You can go to jail for it. Up to five years."
The buffalo had a satisfied smile as he said those words, as if he had waited his entire life to be able to say them to that horse.
"I could very well get you in jail."
Angus looked at the buffalo, and he scoffed.
"Do you really think you can?"
"I have an old friend who works on the FBI." The buffalo said to the horse. "They are the ones who handle federal crimes. He owes me a favor, and I have him in speed dial. I can just make one phone call and you will have an entire FBI team looking very close into you. I wonder what else they will find, and how many years that will add to your sentence..."
That was the moment when most perps would feel cornered. At least the ones who could perceive that Bogo now got them where he wanted. However, Angus was clearly not one of those.
"I think you didn't got me, Bobo." Angus said as he got up. As he did, the fishes merged into a single mass of water, which them flattened itself, until it was practically a disk of water. This dis was clearly moving, as it seemed that the water that formed it was spiraling at a very high speed.
"Do you..." Angus said, glaring at the buffalo. "Think you CAN!?"
With this, Angus made a sudden movement. The disk of water moved in accordance to the movements of his hoof. It moved against a pillar of granite. Many would expect the water to splash on it harmlessly. However, that was not what happened. The disk of water, with the water moving at high speed and compress in a way that put immense pressure on it, was able to slice through the granite pillar with the same ease a hot knife would cut through butter.
This left a huge mark on the pillar, as well as causing some debris to fly from it, as it had not been a clear cut. However, it was enough to get everyone to react. Everyone on the restaurant screamed and started running, as this seemed to be just what was needed for them to finally decide they have had enough. As everyone fled, Bogo reached for his dart gun and pointed it at the horse.
"Hold it right there!" Bogo said, screaming so his voice would be hear over the panicked screams of the fleeing patrons. Angus turned to look at him, the mass of water once more moving. Bogo had his eyes both on the horse and on that water, now that he knew it could actually be used as a weapon.
"Keep your hooves where I can see!"
Angus slowly turned to look at Bogo, and saw the buffalo pointing a dart gun on his direction.
"Put your hooves on the ground, slowly." Bogo commanded of him, and the horse looked at him for a few moments, before laughing.
"Oh, Bobo..." The horse said, "You are really a clown."
Bogo pulled the trigger before he realized what he was doing. The dart flew out of the gun and hit Angus on the shoulder.
The horse looked at it, and he picked the dart, pulling it out of his arm and looking at it.
Too late now. Bogo thought. It is a fast-action tranquilizer. He will be out in fifteen seconds.
However, that was not what happened. Angus snorted, and then closed his eyes. His body shivered as he activated his magic circuits once more through the image of his heart bursting into flames and pumping fire into his veins.
Inside of his veins, the anesthetic, which was flowing following the beating of the horse's powerful heart, suddenly stopped on its tracks and started to move on the opposite direction. Back to the hole through which it came.
The foreign liquid spurted out of the small puncture made by the spike of the dart, and leaked down the horse's fur alongside a small amount of blood. It was now out of Angus' body, and it could do absolutely nothing to the horse.
Angus sighed, and simply looked back at Bogo, who was surprised for seeing that the horse has not fall unconscious.
"Nice try." Angus said to him, "But useless. Just like everything you might try doing to me, you mundane trash."
Bogo snorted.
"Oh, I'm trash, huh?" Bogo said, tossing his dart gun into the ground. "Why don't you come here and fight me like a man so I can show you who's trash between us?"
"Wanting to go into a fist fight?" Angus said, seeming amused. "Well, I', not even surprised. Can't have things your way so you try to use whatever means you can to hit others."
"Talking about yourself, Manechester?" Bogo asked, and the horse said:
"I'm talking about you, Chief Bogo. After all, the entire city knows what you are like. Especially when this temperament of yours start kicking in."
As Angus said that, he made the mass of water change once more. This time, it became a scowling effigy of a Cape buffalo. A mockery of Bogo himself.
"Everyone knows that, once you get mad, you toss your anger at the nearest person, independent of what they have done."
"I never did that!" Bogo said.
"Oh, really?" Angus asked, "Is that why you are famous among the ZPD for being 'the most inclined chief to fire subordinates without warning'?"
Bogo snorted, and the horse looked back at him.
"Everyone on this city knows how you are, Bogo. They all know you are a spiteful, vengeful mammal who uses his own prejudices and grudges as guidance to how to operate with everyone. Both your own your job and on your personal life."
"That's not true!"
"And now you deny it, like every crooked officer ever!" Angus said to him. "'I would never do such thing!', 'I'm an honest cop and a good mammal!', 'I never let my personal feelings get on the way of my job!', nyeh, nyeh, nyeh, nyeh!"
As Angus said those things, he made a "blah gesture" with his hoof. As he did, the water scowling Bogo effigy moved its own mouth, deepening its scowl even more as it moved closer to Bogo's face, forcing the buffalo to take a step back as the babbling head came too close to for comfort, before it retreated, once more being a formless water mass floating by the horse's side.
"Is that why you put Hopps on parking duty when she first joined?" Angus asked the buffalo. "When Lionheart told you she would be joining your team, you protested over it, saying that you would not have a bunny on your ranks only to serve as a figurehead. But when he insisted, then you decided to just place her on parking duty for the rest of her career just so she would be out of your tail, ain't that right?"
"And, when she decided to take a job looking for one of the missing mammals, what did you do?" Angus asked, "Did you congratulated her for her enthusiasm as you would have done with one of the bigger mammals who offered to deal with the case? No! You tried to fire her on the grounds of 'insubordination' only because she defied your wishes!"
Bogo was taken aback. Everyone knew that Hopps had been the one to crack the case of the missing mammals. They even knew she found them while looking specifically for Otterton. However, no one knew about the part when Bogo attempted to fire her. Not even the rest of his officers.
"H-how do you-"
"But you could not fire her, so you came up with a new idea." Angus said, "You set her up to fail. You gave her forty-eight hours to solve a case that you and all of your 'competent officers' could not crack in weeks, and gave her no access or support of any kind! No access to the system. No partner to help her out. Not even a dart gun! You simply sent her to try and crack the case with the condition she would resign if she failed. And you were rooting for her to fail. You wanted her to fail. You set her up to fail, and don't even try to deny it!"
Bogo wanted to deny. He wanted to say that this was not the case. He wanted to say that it was wrong and that he never hoped for Hopps to fail, let alone set her up like that. However, if he did, he knew he would be lying.
Bogo could not come up with an answer, and he looked down. Angus took advantage of it, and continued with his attack.
"And, on that same night, she did made a break through. She found a lead none of you idiots found, and she went for it, and ended up nearly getting herself killed by a savage panther. She risked herself and managed to save both her life and that of a civilian. And did you congratulated her for her courage?" Angus said, "No! You instead used this chance to call not only her but her entire kind cowards! Not the mention that, at the same time, you showed just how bigoted you really are when you refused to even hear Wilde's testimony, based on nothing more than his species! What a proud moment it must have been! Did you put it in your little journal?"
Bogo flinched as he heard that, and the horse continued.
"And now, to your personal life." Angus said, as he walked around Bogo. "About the brother you didn't wanted anyone to even know you had. The one who spent years trying to tell people about is meeting with a mage only to be call crazy, including his own brother. The brother you admired and loved as a calf, and that you wanted to patch things up so much you went to see him on that little shed he has on the Rainforest District. And how did that ended?"
Bogo didn't answered, and so Angus did:
"Everything was fine, you two were talking, until the moment your brother said one thing that you didn't liked hearing, and then you snapped back at him! You two started saying things to each other, and he pointed out how you practically sold him out and betrayed him! And you told him he was as insane as everyone always told him, and then walked out slamming at the door, threatening to come back with someone to put him on a straightjacket!"
Bogo flinched.
"And, of course, just a few days ago, when you were questioning a suspect, you decided to say something to upset him when he said one thing you didn't liked." Angus concluded. "Of course, since he threatened Ben, I can almost understand, but this does not changes the fact that you, the great Chief Bogo, decided that getting important information for your case was less important than saying something to hurt the suspect after he said one thing that made you mad! I bet you added that to your journal too, didn't you?"
"The great, proud and strong Chief Mansa Bogo." Angus concluded. "Best of the best, pride of the ZPD, a true example of Zootopia's finest."
He stopped by Bogo's side. The buffalo was looking down, feeling small as the horse pointed all of his previous flaws to him and made sure to rub them right on his snout. Then Angus leaned forward and said, right into his ear:
"You can't even go to a classy restaurant without letting your spite get the best of you."
Once more, Bogo flinched. Angus stepped back.
"And yet, for all of this spite-fueled bravado, in the end, you are a coward." Angus said, "You don't have resolve to do the things you really want to do."
Bogo looked at him.
"Why else would you never have made a move on Benjamin, even after working with him for five whole years?"
Bogo was about to say something about it.
"Or, maybe..." Angus said, "Not having even tried to stand up for him when Bellwether ordered him to be transferred to the boiler room to keep him out of sight?"
Once more, Bogo said nothing in return, as he had no answer for that. He immediately remembered the sad expression on the cheetah's face as he carried his things to the archives. Thinking about that sad expression still made Bogo's heart clench, and made him remember how much he wished to do something to keep him from being send there.
But he didn't.
"You are so keen and quick into acting against those who anger you." Angus said to the buffalo. "But, when it come for going for the things you truly want, you have no guts. That, Bobo, is the main difference between you and me. When I want something, I go for it with all I have."
"That is why that cheetah will be mine." Angus finally said, causing Bogo to look at him.
"To do with as I please."
With that said, Angus turned his attention to the water floating. He made it move close to his face, and he drank all of the water by sucking it into his mouth all at once. Following this, he fished a few hundred-zollar bills from his pocket, and placed them on the table, before walking away.
Bogo looked at him, wanting nothing more than to stop him somehow. However, he knew that he would not be able to.
His past experiences with mages told him that he would only get himself hurt if he tried. So, he only stood there and watched him leave, before looking down at his own hooved feet.
Like the poor, spiteful, prideful coward Angus said he was...