Chapter 18
.
.
He was flying.
Kozlov hated it when he was flying.
Vision fixed, eyes bolted wide open, the track laid.
Fire in the mountains and dust in the sky, limbs stretching out as the clouds skimmed over his head. Somehow the bear realised that it wasn't at night, there wasn't a plane up ahead, it wasn't that time.
Only for him to feel his limbs stretch pull as he swooped up, spinning and letting the ground take the place of the sky, the open blue sky laid out below like a lake.
A fresh fish there for the kill, as he dove in like an osprey.
Whatever it was, it was huge, ugly, bolted together with spinning rotors and bulging gas bags, all scarred and burned, debris still raining down.
He hit it below the tail and began tearing through the void inside, feeble insignificant creatures fleeing at his sight. A few poxy little cannons brushed against him like snowflakes, as he began tearing and ripping, biting through the metal like a cleaver and ripping out everything in his path as if he were a savage tearing into a whale carcass. Gantries, corridors, stocks of ammunition, ripped up beds and ripped up mammals, thrown behind him as everything began to tilt and crumble.
The world fell back and he charged up, smashing through walls, breaking into a vast room at the front and clutching the first creature he saw with his feet, holding him and the floor up as the rest of the craft sloughed off around them.
And then it was just the sky, just him, just the victim, blubbering and crying for mercy, various liquids leaking from his body.
Pointless words, insignificant words, an inferior mammal.
He was informed of his status and then dropped, gravity taking him.
And then the world tilted, green filled the sky once more, and the tumbling red dot got smaller and smaller until something billowed out of it, trying to get larger. And then straight towards it again he went, claws opening up.
"Hu!?"
Kozlov blinked.
Walls of ice, dim lighting, the feeling of safety.
Like a bunker.
Beneath the ground.
Secure.
Standing up, wobbling on his legs, he began to walk only to pause, a retch crawling up his throat and only just rammed back down.
He patted his chest, feeling the odd little lump hanging off his neck, and grimaced.
"You are more vindictive than before," he spoke, into the air.
The refreshingly cool walls seemed to absorb it, and he rested his head against the ice.
Refreshing.
Familiar.
Real.
"You play with shadows now," he spoke, letting a snarl grow on his muzzle, and then morphing it in a smile. "Is now all you can do."
A small sense of bravado about him, he closed his eyes and breathed in and out.
…
"I know you are in there…"
"And now I am in here!" came a shout, Kozlov getting broken off as Vasiliy came in and stuffed a smoked fish in his friend's maw. "Food from my crazy large larder in my crazy big secret snow bunker."
Kozlov gave it a chew a few times before pulling the now halved item out. "Any news?" he asked.
Vasiliy nodded. "All over news! Big bear bash in blizzard."
"Any news about them coming here," Kozlov pressed. "Or that rat?"
"Oh that guy you talked about!? No! But I guess he be very mad now."
Kozlov nodded. "Very," he said quietly, giving a shiver.
"So," he said, pausing down and poking the thing. "What is story behind this, and why rat want it?"
For a second Kozlov paused, before shrugging and sitting down. "I guess we have all the time in the world here," he said, looking around. He clutched at his chest for a second, looking up into a corner, before opening his paws up. "I guess, funny enough, it started with a radio…"
.
.
"ZPD Precinct 3 have stated that the vehicular incidents taking place last night are being treated as a single event, and will be…"
A paw slammed down, and with a static fizz the radio changed.
"Yeah, the world's flat! And Murana Wolford is the dark flame wolf!" A chorus of laughter rang out, cut short by another paw slam.
"Chryssie Hound's solo work doesn't get nearly enough…"
Paw slam.
"Baby I'm-a howlin' for youuuu…"
Finally, the paw stopped its descent, instead just moving along to the Racc Key's tune.
Not that the radio managed to carry on playing, this time just cutting to silence.
…
"Seriously? Nothing?"
…
"Duke, get the heck up now you mangy pipe cleaner!"
Duke Weaselton slowly gave a look up at the irritated mustelid staring down at him. And then, he slowly dropped his head back and stared up at the ceiling again.
And then his landlord grabbed him by the shoulders and began pulling him out of his room, finally getting him to speak. "Heya, heya, heya! Wathca think ya doin'!?"
"Kicking you out."
"You can't do that Gus!"
The ferret yanked him out of his room and onto the landing, before turning and hauling him towards the stairs. "Yeah I can."
Duke yanked back. "I ain't leavin'! This is my place fair and square."
"This place is mine," Gus spat back. "Alpine hotel inspired atrium and room access and all. And if you're livin' here, I expect my rent!"
"I paid for three years," Duke grumbled.
"But not this month or the month before," Gus said, jabbing a finger into the weasel's chest. "So unless you're gonna pay up now, out."
Duke closed his eyes and shook his head. "I been busy, okay…"
"Busy? You ain't been doing nothing! Just sitting in your room, or sitting outside, just staring. No hustles…"
"I ain't in the mood."
"You ain't in the entire room Duke," Gus said, stomping his foot.
The weasel crossed his paws. "I paid you even when I was stuck in the big house, or I paid you back after that. Why can't you give a fellow weasel a break!?"
"Because you being stuck in there makes sense. You being in here acting you're in there doesn't! And it definitely don't pay the bills!"
"You don't have any," Duke hissed. "You own this elephants closet, you buy stupid fake gold plated watches…" He jabbed his finger at Gus' gaudiest model. "You ain't struggling, and right here I am."
"And right here I can get a bunch more money renting out to mammals who'll actually pay."
Duke threw up his paws, waving them around to the empty rooms around him.
"Maybe with you gone I'll actually try and get some students in, like this place was designed for!"
"What, this four mile from the nearest 'higher learning institution' speculators disaster?" Duke snorted. "Your own words there, Mr Alpine inspired. We both know, unlike the id-jet that came up with this plan, that no sane mustelid would want to rent a place like this all the way out here."
"Oh, then what about that fox, fennec and opossum that came around! Yeah, didn't tell you about that before, huh!"
"Fox, fennec…" Duke trailed off. "When…"
"Couple of months ago," Gus snorted, crossing his arms as he expected the stupid weasel in front of him to ask 'and you heard nothing back, right?'
Instead, the weasel just looked even more… blank.
Gus snorted. "Okay, here's a deal. Three days, I want at least half the months rent, and I want to see you getting out of this stupid 'funk' thing or whatever. You've had months to mope and do nothing." He spun around and shoved Duke down towards the stairs. "Consider me your motivational officer. Now get off that tail and start paying my rent!"
Duke gave a look back, a slight tick on his mouth forming, but with a huff he skulked off, to and then down the access stairs, across the ground floor landing, and then out the door.
Out onto the large elephant sized landing access he went, looking back and snorting at the little part of the megafauna sized maisonette that some owner thought would be better used as a small mammal house rather than a place under the stairs to store… stuff.
He shook his head as he walked away, honestly, it probably was a good idea, for the first elephant. Do it up as fancy student accommodation, make lots of glitzy photos, dupe some stupid investor that this had real potential as a money spinner, ripping off those spoiled braniacs who got into Zoo-U, and sell the lease for a small killing. Then move out, with the new owners of the big place having a teeny tiny little inconvenience under the stairs, and that rube who bought the thing left to realise that every rhino and their mother had the same idea, with more than enough living a lot, lot, closer to where the clientele actually wanted to live.
It was a perfect little hustle, honestly.
The kind he'd used to respect, or used to hiss out at.
Now he just huffed and, walking over to the elephant sized stairs, or rather the small ribbons of infilled ramps for buggies and stuff, he leant back down on it and huffed.
.
…
"This place looks even more confusing in person…"
Duke slowly looked up, spotting a red figure walking up.
"And I mean, not like rich mammals architecture 'I'm gonna put in lots of wacky angles so people know I've got a lot of money to burn confusing.' Just… Why…"
"It gets more confusing when-ya learn some elephant closets at the top are subdivided into smaller mammal houses," Duke muttered.
"Well, honestly that's not the most confusing. Though of course then you have to decide if it's mammals being greedy with a lack of regulations and controls, and just expecting small guys like you to be okay living in afterthoughts… Or if it's being open and trying to make sure that at least small guys can find cheap housing, and just saddling the big guys with overinflated wage-slave for life chaining for-profit housing. Honestly, I'm thinking it's the last one. Show that if you throw out all regulation and just let the rich and those that own stuff do what they want, it can make affordable housing. Mostly. And so most mammals let them be, and they have fun making the real big bucks squeezing the little and by that I mean physically big guys."
"Little houses don't cost much, and anyone can squeeze em' in anywhere" Duke said, huffing. "Big houses do, and they're a pain to fit in. It's simple."
"Well I can see that," the mammal said, sitting down next to the weasel. He looked over at him and paused. Another red fox. Noticeably tall for one, somewhat lacking in the normal brown extremities, just more red and white and nothing in between. But there was something about his voice. "But I mean, big mammals are poor because of this, and just 'because it is' is a lousy excuse. There are people in charge whose job it is to do something, but they're not doing it."
Duke sat up, trying to get a read on him. He could swear he'd seen him before. "Well, that stuff's expensive, money makes the world go round, etcetera etcetera…"
"But there is the money out there to do it," the fox said, pointing up at the large gleaming skyscrapers, off in the centre of the city. "Not that they'd ever spend it helping mammals. Especially poor ones."
Duke snorted, a smile flashing on his face. "Yeah, don't I know it."
"But you know what's really crazy? Mammals could vote to force them too, but they don't. I've never understood why so many mammals act against their… or rather those they literally have the most in common with's, interest."
Duke shook his head. "Mammals are jerks foxxy." He pointed at himself. "Me especially. At least when I was shucking in the bucks from unsuspecting rubes, I at least made them feel they were winnin' something. That they were the wise guys. But now, I swear that everyone's just turning crap, and they enjoy hurting other people. So much so, they're happy to hurt 'emselves too. I mean, take my landlord up there."
"Moot point, but go on."
"I'm the only one who's ever filled one of his dirt cheap spare rooms. I pay ma bills, mostly. Only I got stuck in a funk recently…" He scratched his head. "Really just, don't have the heart in anything anymore. And so, a few late bills, and he wants to throw me out. And he knows he ain't gonna get anyone else in to rent that place. I might recover, I might get back inta makin' some dough… But no, it's not about helping him, it's about punishing those below him."
The fox nodded. "Honestly, I can't not agree with you there."
Duke nodded, leaning forward. "Do you want to hear how I first knew, and I mean really first knew just how screwed up everything was. How much mammals like stompin' down? Well, it was something I heard from the next school over in my neighbourhood. I was still just pushin' through the grades, not really getting it, having to deal with so much other stuff those teachers who didn't care or looked down on us just didn't get. But anyways, I heard this big mammal from that school, and he had an actual chance at a sports scholarship or something, he saved someone's life. Threw them outta the way of a car, but took the hit instead." He mimed one paw hitting the other, and made a cracking sound.
"Ouch," the fox said, rubbing one of his arms
"You get the picture?" Duke asked. "Anyhow, he was super popular and chose to run as class president. And do you want to know what he did, with the few token powers they gave him. Or rather, what he wanted to do? You see, that school happened to have an exclusive 'these kits are better than you' club."
The fox blinked. "Seriously?"
Duke nodded. "Yeah. The few lucky kits who didn't have hell in their home lives, and brought inta that crap about studying up, and most of them were teachers pets or even teachers kids… Gettin' the grades and behaving to some crazy standards, they got to go to this super exclusive club room or whatever, for those who'd 'earned it'. And they got to brag about it and lord it over us, all while us regular joes, stuck in the rut, hadda make do with a fallin apart school and what not."
The fox blinked, only to shake his head, cradling it in his paws. "Okay, I knew school sucks anyway, but that… Don't they even get how dystopian that is? Socially engineering your school to train the most successful to think they're deserving elites and can and should look down on the less fortunate."
"Oh brother," Duke snorted, "it gets way worse… Those 'better than us' immediately started a counter campaign to bring him down. I mean literally bribing certain other popular guys and gals to swing the vote away, or for others to stand down. They even engineered a scandal where they made it seem he supported the most hated sports team in the area! And they succeeded, he lost! And I realised right there and then just how bunk'd out the entire system is."
"I can't blame you," the fox said, looking away with mild disgust. "I mean, it took me a while to learn just how much the rich would avoid helping the poor, but would actively jump at helping their fellow rich, temporarily financially disadvantaged or not. But now they've dropped all pretence and are, or rather were however long ago, drilling you guys with classism in schools!"
"Yeah," Duke agreed. "It's literally nineteen-eighty four! And not just that, the literal book in a book authors notes from nineteen-eighty four, saying what's really going on and how this super hell is just the elites making sure those just below them will never ever get control. Even though it super-sucks for them too. But it's worth it to keep those below below, and of course both sides double this down to the vast majority that never had any power or wealth or control, and should never have."
"Good book," the fox nodded.
"Used to read it a lot until it was taken off the corrections approved reading list," Duke huffed, rolling his eyes.
"But even before that, I saw it. I felt, -was made to feel, like a madmammal for seeing the truth. But that doesn't change the facts about that school, and them training the next set of hoof stompers. The way I heard they looked down. Even saying 'oh, make ya own club.' No, that's not the point. The point is we were sick n' tired of being looked down on. And ya know, I, and those in that school, woulda been fine if those 'elite' students, probably all now doing boring middle-manager jobs and thinkin' they're the most important mammal in the company and they can get to bully those under them, had at least volunteered to help!" Duke stood up, beginning to wave his paws in the air. "If they'd a been stinkin' humble about it for once in their life! Just once! Willing to not act like they're this cut above, and better than us, and we're scum they can look down their noses at! But no, never gonna happen."
He slouched down and kicked his heel.
"The teachers at my school were super up and talkin' about this elite club idea after that. 'Raise the standards', they say. 'Aspiration' they say. But you know what? I do a lot of readin' when I'm in the joint, includin' these dry reports about all kinda stuff. And at one point I read this one about which school systems do best, and it's over in Finland." Duke looked the fox dead in the eye. "No different streams, no different special schools, just everyone equal. That's literally the best most proven recipe for liftin' up mammals grades. But instead, our teachers want to do the opposite. Why?"
He sat back down, huffing. "Because the grades aren't the point. The cruelty is the point. And the training of those 'above' us to keep us 'below' down. I mean, I knew everythin' was bunk, the game was stacked, before… But Mam, if that didn't drive it home."
He was met with a nod. "Society always finds ways to surprise me with how much the rich hate the poor," the red fox said. "So, what did you do?"
"Pfffff… I'm weak, pathetic, a hopeless crook with no friends for good reasons. I can be honest about that," Duke said. "I knew when I was young that the game was rigged. So I decided to heck with it, I ain't gonna play. And that's how I became a crook. I ain't lyin', I'm weak, but I can accept it… 'Cept when I suddenly can't…"
"This funk then," the fox said.
"Yeah…" Duke agreed, drawing in and letting out a breath. "Just gonna say, heard about all that stuff about the anonymous vulpine or whatchever…"
"Very well."
"Well turns out I met him the day before, and the entire ZPD became convinced it was me. All out of spite at being showed up, and whatever. And hearing that? Hearing that mammals think I was such a crook I'd sink that low… And I mean, that's below hell doing that thing to that kit. Well, I was weak before, but now I ain't even got the heart to be that."
"I'm sorry they thought that way of you," the fox said. "But, I suppose I can help."
Duke raised an eyebrow. "How?"
"Maybe it won't be in the public eye. But I could offer you a chance at… Shall we call it, redemption."
Duke stood up, backing away. "We've met before."
"We have."
"You said you were a spy fox, or…"
"Not my most creative or best executed disguises," he confessed.
"And after that I was met by this orange goat asking the same thing, and after blowing him off his lion and tiger mobster friends paid me a visit."
"Well, the goat isn't an issue anymore," the fox said smiling. "We delivered him to the ZPD, packaged for their convenience."
Duke stared at him. "And the other two?"
"Only met the one, but I like to think I scared him."
"Probably with some screwy disguise," Duke snarked. "So what is it this time?"
He shrugged. "Honestly, I spent the last month trying to think up how I'd come across to you today, only for my partner in arms to slap me around the head and come straight out with it, no pretences or whatever, just me in the fur."
"So…" Duke said, tapping his foot.
"Let's just say that where those less well off are politically or financially oppressed, I aimed to redistribute a bit of society's wealth to them from those who have illicitly or abusively hoarded it. Or just think that as they were born or got lucky, that makes them good and deserving mammals who can look down on others. Like your lot."
Duke's eyes narrowed. "Do you want to get sent away for yer entire life or murdered by all the cops in the city, as that's how ya do it."
He snorted. "Well, we tend to find that targeting those who got their stuff illicitly, or are just plain jerks about it, helps build sympathy and chip through the warped and messed up set of morals most people hold. In no small part to the usual suspects' propaganda."
"Make them think there's some kind of justice, or…"
"Yeah, yeah, but even then, this stupid just world falacy so many seem to be stuck in," the fox carried on. "I mean, if you're rich I can get it. But the poor who are trapped in…" He shook his head, and laughed. "You get some going around, not only thinking that these super rich like Elon Musk-ox and Tadano are the good guys, but fanboying about them as if they've working together in secret to write the world's wrongs or something."
"Yeah," Duke snorted. "Like how the idiot DA thought that banker wolf was the dark flame watchacall it... Or something like that. Guess they just want dumb happy stories to keep them thinking the world ain't as crap as it really is."
The fox gave a fun little chuckle, not unnoticed by Duke, and shrugged. "Well, they'll do that with their stories, won't they? Honestly, I've always assumed that if we ever get well known and popular, those who can will try and make sure that we're merely fighting some temporary bad ruler, and just fighting to bring back the good old status quo. Defeat the evil usurper and bring back the real, good king. After which we'll retire and things will be normal as before. Because you can't have mammals going around getting inspired by someone who asks why we even need kings and lords and all that in the first place and how much fairer and kinder the world would be without them, can we?"
"Nope, nope, nope," Duke said. "So…" He trailed off, looking at the sky. "Huh… I never thought I'd become an anarcho-communist."
The fox snorted. "Ah, no trust me. We're not one of those. One of my followers once was and…" He shook his head and looked up in the air, paws out wide as an exasperated sigh came out of his mouth.
"So, you're one of em' species justice warriors instead…"
"Oh god no, I'm not one of those weird mammals," he shook his head vigorously, even looking embarrassed. "You know what you said about the other school setting everyone against each other, so they'd be fighting enough so that those in top could stay in top? Well… honestly, that's the only explanation I can think of. I mean, pretty much all of their issues would vanish anyway if we tackled the root cause! Which is what I want to do. But then I find myself being pulled into my views on interspecies rights, or how I'm going to combat 'sheep ideology', and how me not being radical just means I'm an enemy and 'just as bad'."
Duke nodded. "Ah, I know this time! You're like that wolf you sometimes see around the city, who whistles 'Oh Christmas tree' everywhere and then jumps up and yells 'Power to the People', and like one baby mouse over in a corner calls back."
"Except that I actually make a difference," he said, before looking down. "And right now, I and the rest of my team are way over our heads."
"Going around robbing rich people," Duke shrugged. "Colour me surprised. Is Elon Musk-Ox planning to fire you into space, or is Tadano aiming to upload your brains into one of his computers running an AM emulator. Or has Lady Lang just sent her boys to run you over."
"Ah, not quite…" he said. "You see, we have a slight presence on the dark web, staking out legitimate bad guys, to focus our efforts on. As I said, it makes things politically… easier… We actually find more success targeting actual crooks. Turns out we weren't even the first to do this. Apparently before us you had 'The Cooper gang' or whatever. I was super excited to meet them, only to first learn they'd disbanded, and then learn they literally just hoarded whatever loot they took in a vault on some random island. Which to me makes them just as bad as the normal 'looking down' rich. I mean, at least spend gratuitously, spread that money out in the economy. Trickle down may be a scam, but at least try. Pay lip service. But no. Dragon. Hoard. Mountain." He looked away distastefully for a second, before carrying on, voice quieter and darker.
"Anyway, a while back we encountered another fox. A scammer, confidence trickster, I swear this mammal could convince others the sky was falling in and sell them million dollar protective umbrellas. And as if to rub it in, for a bit he began posing as my likeness…" A snarl emerged on his muzzle. "And so we naturally decided that his wealth could be put to better use alleviating poverty. So we began digging, chasing. Eventually though, we realised he was in this city, planning something big with some other really nasty crooks. At first we thought it involved night howlers, that's why I first tried to contact you, and we kind of helped to bring that down. I actually got really close to grabbing the guy then, but situations prevented me from doing anything. Great disguise, wrong time. But, we also discovered they were trying to capitalise on the whole anonymous vulpine thing, and, through a long distant contact of my one ursine equal, that they were trying to take delivery of something. A black box."
Duke tilted his head. "What? Like from a plane."
The fox nodded still, only for his ears to go back and a shiver run down his spine. "We intercepted it," he said, looking away. "And what I heard… I don't know what it is. All I know is it's dangerous, scary, and they're interested. And we are out of our depth, and if we have any hope of getting through this, we need help."
Duke blinked. "Wait, and you're coming to me?"
"Honestly we've been saved by far weirder," he said, looking down. "Now, this may not be thumbing up something against the rigged game, or striking a balance, or even uniting mammals into pursuing their common interests and realise that no, Elon Musk-ox and Tadano aren't benevolent geniuses who are gonna save the world and actually care about them … But it is something good, truly good, not even a chance of others attaching moral ambiguity." He stood up, and looked over to the towers of Happytown heights in the distance. "That fox I mentioned, through the dark net we've heard he's up to something in there. What? I don't know." He looked down. "All I want is some eyes on the ground, some local advice. And for you?" He smiled, confidently. "Well, a chance at redemption, a chance at something now… And to be on the receiving end of some redistribution efforts."
Duke nodded, before pinching himself.
His brow furrowed and he looked up. "Now here's the thing, fox. Even if I like the idea… If these guys aren't a danger to anyone else, then what's this great moral point of yours? And if they are… Well, they're dangerous! I don't want to be in danger!"
"And the decision is entirely yours," the fox said, walking down. "I just wanted to offer you the chance."
And so he left, walking down and away from the weasel
He didn't look back.
He didn't turn his head.
He just carried on down the comparatively hill sized slope, knowing it was a long shot anyhow and that other mammals choice on whether to join in his crusade or not.
It was a long known irony to him that, having such egalitarian motives himself, only an elite few believed in it enough to truly dedicate their lives to it.
He guessed that this Duke fellow was one of them as he got to the bottom of the stairs and turned to head…
"-Wait!"
He looked up to see Duke scurrying down to meet him. The weasel almost looked irritated that he'd drawn this attention to himself, before shaking it off. "Dammit… I suppose I do want to change. So fine. But yeah, just looking around, investigation. Nuthin', an' no smart-aleck comments here, criminal. You got me?'"
"Let us deal with the dangerous stuff," the fox said, pausing as he looked at his phone. "You may have heard of some stuff on the news recently, and two of us three are busy making a little investigation there ourselves."
"What, that bear thing?" Duke asked, before shaking his head. "Well, if it's the T-T mafia, to heck with em. Though, were Mister Big still active, I'd expect this to end with me being held over the icing pit while Flopsy the copsy and her fox toy watched again."
The fox blinked. "Wait, that bunny and fox officer were involved in…"
"I don't know how," Duke said. "I guess she's just chummy with his daughter, seeing as Big said she's gonna bit 'lil Judy's' godmother or whatever. But one moment I was not tellin' them where the ram who hired me to steal nighthowlers was stayin' given their 'look down the nose' attitude, an' next thing I know she got two goombears to show up and threaten me with icy death until I confessed!"
The fox looked on, slackjawed. "I… I mean I thought the police tend towards corruption, but this? The 'heroes of Zootopia' actively tortured you, and then everyone just covered it up."
"Yup," Duke said, beginning to walk alongside him. "I bet they'd actually laugh at it too. Ha, look at the dumb weasel, yadda yadda..."
The fox shook his head. "Of course they would, just world, you're one of the bad ones. Let's all laugh at the torture, and as it works it's good!"
"And when reading things up in the joint, I learnt that torture doesn't work anyhow!"
The fox sighed. "Are they just giving out 'cruelty is the point awards' now or what?" And with that, off he and Duke went.
.
.
"What is this? Police cruelty? I am honest bear!"
Nick looked to Judy, Judy looked to Nick, and they both looked back at the large polar bear sitting in the chair. "Yeeeaaaahhhh…" The fox rolled off. "An honest bear. You see bud, can I call you bud?"
His eyes narrowed. "No."
"Okay champ," Nick followed on. "Now, I bet you're a very honest bear. Maybe even the most honest. And great news, we're not questioning that." He threw his paws forward and cocked a smile. "We're questioning why you and a whole bunch of your pals turned Tundra Town downtown into the Tuesday night bumper car bash!?"
The bear silently looked back. "Was accident."
Judy cleared her throat. "You're saying that two dozen cars accidentally piled up into a narrow one-way alley?"
He shrugged. "Size restriction not advertised."
"And before that," Nick counted off, "you were smashing and crashing on the Permafrost Primary."
"Problem at Junction nine."
"What problem?" Judy grilled.
He snorted. "Have you seen it. No lines. No lines! And when there are lines, guess what?"
"What?"
"Snow."
"What?" Judy asked, as Nick cut in to her side
"It's rain that freezes and settles like powder on the ground, but that's not important right now." He began typing into his phone as he turned to the bear. "Now, I'd be lying if I haven't hit a complex junction where all the very complex lines telling you where to go have been lost to time, and then made a lot of drivers very angry as I try and fail to figure out where the right place to go is. And, I'd be lying if a bunch of snow lying on the road wouldn't make that confusing situation far, far worse. But…" And with that, he laid the phone on the floor, zooming in and out of the road in question. "I don't think this place was one of those places. Do you?"
He began to open his mouth, only for Judy to throw a bunch of photos of the site on the table.
The bear looked at it.
Judy looked back.
The bear cleared his throat.
Judy lifted a single eyebrow.
"I had disagreement, with old friend," he tried to wave off.
"You and a lot of mammals," Nick pressed. "Culminating in the crossing of the Deerlaware, the monarchist fanfiction version." And with that he threw down the pictures of the broken up lake, various large black cars poking out of the icy surface. "So, Mr Honest bear, let's make this easy."
"Because we don't want to make it hard," Judy pressed. "Dangerous driving charges, attempted bodily harm, reckless behavior. We've got a lot of things we can make stick.
He looked on, awkwardly. "Well, was just small disagreement."
"About?" Nick pressed.
"With one old mammal, part of group…" He looked away again, trying to avoid eye contact.
Nick leant forward. "Worried his friends might beat you up if you tell?"
Closing his eyes, he began scratching his claws on the table. "I do not talk to cops," he said, leaning down and glaring at them. "I am bear of honour!"
"I heard that's the latest new must-have behind bars," Judy said, crossing her paws. "So I guess it would serve you well."
"It serves us well to serve those loyal to us, not those who turn their backs!" he spat, focussing on the bunny. She leant back, blinking for a second, before leaning forward.
"Loyal like any of the other bears we brought in?" she asked.
He remained silent.
"All it takes is for one to talk, one of the many also facing DUI's" she said, crossing her paws. "Would you be able to work out who?"
His face trembled a little, between a roar and a bark and a grimace. Finally, looking away, he scratched his head. "One of my former brothers stole something. We only wanted it back."
"Stole what?" Nick asked.
"It was sentimental, bit of jewellery, nothing more. Nothing more."
Pausing, Nick and Judy looked at each other, the bunnies' nose twitching. She turned back and began talking.
All while, behind a two way mirror, Carmelita watched, slowly chewing the nib of her pen. Some more hemming and hawing continued, Nick and Judy slowly working their way in, and checking that it was all being recorded she left them to their interview.
There were plenty others to observe.
Five different interviews, all with different bears who'd been taken in by the local precinct for a massive automobile anarchy that had gone on the night before. The local branch had been all over it with a vengeance, and that was before she, Nick and Judy had come in.
No smoke without a fire, and right now it seemed that things were linking back to the bear. She grit her teeth. Whatever side he was on, whatever he was playing at…
If the worst case scenario was what she feared it might be, not putting her paw down and making Judy take her straight to him could probably be the worst decision of her life.
'Well, isn't someone to blame for not telling them all that?'
She hissed and almost snapped at where the figment of her imagination would have been. Tail frizzed up, she even got a few odd looks, but wiped them from her mind as she walked on. If keeping these mammals safe while working with her was getting in the way of keeping everyone else safe?
Maybe collaboration was a foolish mistake in this matter.
Something she was learning too late.
Still, at least at this arms length a lot of useful information was finally coming together.
A few look-ins and updates were picking up some of the same things Nick and Judy had, if not more. And, picking up the notes, she was piecing it all together. Rattigan had hired Big's mooks, at first including Kozlov. Kozlov refused. Kozlov had something Rattigan wanted. Kozlov tried to trick the rat. Kozlov had managed to run, with help from another bear… "and a Walrus?" She shook that one off. "Probably a tall tale."
"Now they tell me…" came a bitter, chattering voice. Carmelita looked over to see a shivering hyena in thick winter gear trudge pass, followed by an arctic fox in some lighter clothes, stiff winter wear given his thinner summer coat, but seemingly keeping him warm and cozy.
"I mean it wasn't all that bad Carla," he smiled. "That one nice walrus wrestler gave us his clam chowder and you an autograph!" He licked his lips and patted his stomach, walking off with her.
A round of angry spanish grumbling about city wide ZPD redeployment SNACU's followed as the pair rounded a corner, leaving Carmelita standing there.
She shook her head and carried back off to Nick and Judy's interrogation which, as luck had it, was just wrapping up. Some things said, a lot of things not, but all of it matched up with what they'd learnt so far.
"At least we know what item they're after," Judy said, thinking aloud. "That necklace thing. And they're not the only ones. That wolf is out there too, and who knows how many others."
Carmelita didn't voice any complaint about how they, or rather she, might have been able to figure it out had they just met with Kozlov. But hindsight was twenty-twenty. So, what now?
'Well,' she imagined a male voice telling her. 'A very, very, very long explanation for a start, and…'
"We find the bear. We look at his home, we follow any tracks we can find," Carmelita spoke. "Even if it's not connected, his life is in danger."
Judy nodded. "So we bring him in for his own protection."
Nick nodded. "Catchphrase incoming."
"-As that's what we do at the ZPD."
Carmelita nodded. "At least now, we've got the paw up on 've made a mistake, we can now pounce on them. We're the one making the moves now!"
She led them out, through the main building, almost reaching the exit to the car park when a bobcat from reception ran up to them, panting for breath. "Call from Bogo!" he shouted. "He needs you to get in your car, and get down to the Savanna Central ferry terminal now."
The interpol vixen looked at him, a voice unavoidably playing in her head. 'Well, you did tempt it.' Carmelita paid it no mind. "Anything to do with a bear?"
He blinked. "No… He said that Precinct eight requested you for a new case, and he agreed…"
"Precinct eight?" Judy began, scratching her head. "What's gone on over…"
"-We've got a key lead we need to follow," Carmelita cut in. "That's more important right now."
"He said only you could deal with this," the feline said, turning to Nick and Judy.
Carmelita blocked him. "A mammal's life is in danger!"
He poked a claw out. "No other mammals have the experience they do," he said. "That's what Bogo said, direct, to me. That's why he wants you on this."
Carmelita sighed. "Right, then those two can go. I'll investigate the bear myself." She turned back to Nick and Judy. "Best of luck, and if you think of anything else, contact me."
And with that she began to march off, leaving Nick and Judy behind, both looking equally confused. "Uh, Carmelita?" Judy asked, starting off after her.
The interpol vixen turned on her heel, facing Judy with her brow in her paw. "If Bogo wants an inspector on this, tell him to send his detectives. But right now, I have a polar bear whose life is at risk, and every second wasted could be a second too late." She looked up. "As far as I see it, splitting up offers our best option."
Judy raised her paw, only to pull it down and nod. "Right," she mumbled, not sounding so convinced of herself. "I'll tell him. But in that case he might contact you and tell you to come along with us anyway."
"In that case I'll say the same things I did now," Carmelita said, definitely. She walked off at a brisk pace towards the motor pool, leaving the bunny and fox behind her.
"You know," Nick began. "I have a few questions. Number one. What on earth is going on over on Outback Island that only we have experience in?"
He looked at the bobcat, who scratched his head. "It's the anonymous vulpine case."
Both their eyes widened, but it was only a preview when compared to what came next.
"It's happening again."
.
.
.
AN: Thanks to the Zootopia Authors Association for some of the feedback on this chapter. And a lot of Kudos to Dobanochi, who provided one of the most unique interpretations of a certain popular furry character in his own fic, L'edgendary, which provided a lot of inspiration for my own (long planned) interpretation here.