Chapter 49

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Little John looked at Conway, a paw pointing out at him. "Wolves. Wolves were the first, I mean they and a lot of preds had it easier in many ways than the prey. Crops struggled to grow in this part of the world, but the rivers were full of fish. And so, a large pack of wolves formed a militia. They went out into the woods. From what I heard there was a pretty bad battle, they picked up the scent trail and pursued the caribou herd on and off for weeks. Through bright days and freezing nights, up from the lush forest floor into the snow covered mountain plains and back down again. Howls in the night as they tried to stop them escaping, shots fired and field surgery to keep it together. On and on it went, in some cases the two sides clashing and battles ripping through the woods as the caribou leaders ignored the call to surrender and tried to break through. Clear a path for the women and children following. All as they were steered away from the villages, herded around in loops to areas they'd already grazed… Not that they were kept in the same place long enough to get fully fed. On and on it went, though pounding rain and freezing snow and terror filled chaos as they thought they saw Sovanochi just… watching. All as they got weaker, tired, their meagre strength sapped to their very bones. Until all they could do was surrender and be marched back into town."

"Yeah!" Shenzi cheered. "Just like us. That's what we're doing right here! Putting the world to right. Going after the stinkin' prey and…"

"-You know, they didn't kill them or treat them wrong or anything," Little John stammered out, eyes suddenly wide. He took a second or so to calm down before carrying on, even if still a bit hurried. "They acted not out of rage. Not out of some blind sense of revenge. They went out there to protect the weak, protect those who needed help. Not to slaughter the bad mammals, to bring them to justice. And do you know what, these caribou weren't bad mammals. They were starving mammals. Poverty stricken, homeless, trying to remember how to survive in this world and failing. And yeah, many of them were given prison sentences, or rather trucked out to these looted villages and made to repair the damage they'd done. And the wolves went with them, my brother flew into a few villages where they were overseeing the work. Or rather, helping them. Using their paws where the caribou struggled, learning their names, looking out for them. And in the end, they helped these mammals find new jobs. They taught them new skills. There was…" He scratched his head a little before clicking his claws. "There was this one ship that had washed ashore and was just rusting away, outside a mostly abandoned fishing village. Some of the wolves lived there, and so to give these mammals, many of whom were women with young calves a home, they volunteered to let them move in with them."

The bear looked around, eyes wandering over all the crowd but laying on the badger and hyena. "They didn't act as the conquerors of the prey. They didn't act like they needed to be kept separate, or were inferior. These wolves, struggling as they were, took these ex-bandits in and made them their neighbours. And they talked, and tried to make sure they had something to do." His eyes lingered on the cacomistle. "A way to earn their keep, fairly, honestly, permanently. In the end, as all these villages had gone from a bunch of big buildings with a central power plant burning coal to keep them warm, to just the odd set out houses burning wood… They worked out that they could rip apart that old ship, use the metal to build wood burners that could get twice the heat out of half the wood. And heat the water. And fill the room up with far less smoke and soot. But of course they needed tools to do that, and some parts like fireproof glass they couldn't get. Thankfully, my brother was there flying in. And then flying out again. He was soon trading out these wood burning stoves, returning the money back to the wolves who gave these caribou their fair share. Just like they did when they started building little water turbines, so these villages could get reliable power again. He'd even fly the crews out to the villages and then, a month later on his next round, fly them back after a job well done."

"Still too dangerous to go by road then?" the badger chuckled.

"I… Yes it was, but not for long," Little John said, giving a quick glance at Conway. "While those wolves were being true alphas, for all species not just their own, lots of smaller preds, sables and foxes and that kind, helped to guard the supply trucks. And at first it was very much just attacking any squirrels that tried anything, which just led to these desperate squirrels trying something back. And I mean, you had squirrel sized guns in the paws of some of those who'd once been in the army, so…" He gave a wave of his paws. "But, but…" He turned down to Alice. "Foxes. Cunning little creatures, right?" he said, a smile growing on his face.

The swift fox vixen looked up, a jerky shrug thrown back at him. "Yeah, no cuss we are, for now at least."

"Weeeellllll," Little John carried on, the word pulled out before his voice caught up again. "The ones doing this quickly noticed that there were a few sets of weeks when no squirrel, none, whatsoever, attacked. At all. And after talking with some squirrels in the towns, they quickly worked out why. Pine nuts."

"Great food source," the badger said, only for a slightly irritated look to come over him. "The trouble is, all you can get these days are Korean pine nuts. -The tree that is, most are harvested in China. Whenever I find someone selling Whitebark or Coulter pine nuts…" He gave a chuckle. "Well, that's the credit card used up."

"I don't think it matters that…" Little John began, only for Duke to cut over him.

"Nah, personal choice. You do you, Mr North American diet only."

"And all the better for it," he said, patting his stomach as Little John carried on.

"Anyway, during that time, those squirrels were busy picking away and filling up their stores. And so, clever foxes being clever foxes, they… Well okay, they rented these trucks out first, booked in all the deliveries they could for that timeframe, and made an absolute harassment free killing on it. Which left their former bosses a bit miffed, and swearing they wouldn't fall for that trick again given that it left them with a long empty summer season. So, next year, they tried the same trick themselves and, what do you know, they were picked apart faster than a salmon carcass thrown into a den of hungry bears."

"Wait, wait," Alice cut in. "What gives?"

"Ah," Little John said, "the squirrels clocked what the foxes did the first time, so rather than starting their harvesting at the beginning of the season, they did it a little later. And got a great haul from all the underdefended trucks."

"Tchhh," the vixen scoffed. "Squirrels may be jerks, but they're not that smart." She looked up at the bear, paws crossing. "You sure us foxes didn't tip them off, so next time we'd be back in control and make a real killing."

The bear blinked. First once. Then twice. "No… No they didn't…" he shook his head. "But I'll tell you what they did do! They worked out that the amount of time the squirrels spent harvesting those nuts was a fraction of the time they were in season. Just a bit at the start, then as much as they could in the end. After all, no point harvesting what you couldn't eat. Or what would go rancid in your stores…"

"Couldn't they freeze them?" the badger asked.

"No electricity," Little John said.

The wheelchair bound mustelid blinked. "Isn't this Siberia we're talking about? I'd have…"

"Ah, well, too much time between the end of the season and start of the snow," Little John waved off. "But, but, pine nuts are light, fairly expensive, and you have a bunch of squirrels sitting around all day with nothing to do but loot, while they could be selling these nuts. If only someone were there to buy them. Export them. Now, my brother, he could export plenty of these. Some flights back to Cape Suzette, his entire plane would be full of them. But the foxes, they didn't just strike up a deal with the squirrels to buy them. They made it known that they'd only buy the nuts along roads which had had no squirrel lootings, nothing. Not one. You behave, then when they were coming along they'd happily load up on them and… -Okay, take an extortionate cut for them. Those few foxes took home most of what my brother bought the nuts for, leaving the minority for a whole ton of squirrels to try and share between them…"

"Eh, they're small," Shenzi waved off. "Don't need much money."

"Well, one day I hope they chose to stick up for themselves," Little John said, pushing in some enthusiasm. "Negotiated a fair price. You know, maybe even have a go at cutting out the middle mammal. -After all," he said, forestalling Alice as she was about to say something. "That sneaky fox stereotype and all its nastiness comes from somewhere. Sure, they were making more money than they were banditting, heck the way I heard it those who tried to still bandit, especially on other squirrel tribes land, were getting beaten up for it. But a few generations down the line, if nothing improved for the squirrels while the foxes are making it good… Well, prey can get angry. Prey can get envious. Prey can have a fair point. And I'd much rather the foxes be happy to talk, come up with a fair arrangement, the squirrels standing up for themselves in a civilized manner or having a shot at being clever themselves, cutting out the middle mammal, than things getting… Well, you know, don't you? Nasty."

"Or they could learn their…" Alice began, only for the badger to cut her off.

"No, no, he has a point," he said. "Yes, it was the foxes who built that. It was the foxes who brought wealth to them and all… If it weren't for them, they'd still be a bunch of poverty stricken bandits. But he's not saying for some big bunch of prey to come in and take what they created, steal the foxes wealth and earnings. He's saying 'hey, if the squirrels up their game, fair enough.' And you know what, fair enough." He chuckled a little. "I mean, you're foxes. If anyone can up their game twice as much…"

The swift fox gave an irritated grumble, as Little John cut in.

"Yeah, yeah, but I mean… I mean…" He paused, looking around before shrugging. "Sure, yes, you said it better than I could myself," he said, relaxing a little. "But the point is…"

"To be an alpha isn't just about your strength," the badger cut in, nodding along. "We're the top predators," he said, gesturing around and the mostly nodding group. "We're the strongest, the proudest, those who understand what it's like to think for ourselves, to go out there, to fight against the world for our survival and win! And damn yeah, we deserve respect for what we are. What we are is good. Noble. True. But the prey don't see this. They don't understand. They can't. Because where are we for them!" He moved his wheelchair around a little, pointing right at Little John. "Right there, you talked about true alphas. Getting the respect they deserve, but earning it. Showing these prey, lured into this false sense that they can do without us, not just that they can't. But how much better it is with us. Going out there, protecting the weak, building bridges, keeping the peace."

"Making sure that mammals have a fair chance to earn a living, a safe place to survive for themselves, knowing that it means being the bigger mammal. You know, a big strong bear like me," he said, pointing back. "Who just uses his strength and nothing but his strength to just push down. That's… A big damn scary bear. Heck, dammit, I knew what being at the receiving end was like growing up a short runt when I was little. Being beaten and knocked down by big damn scary bears. I didn't respect them, I was scared of them, hated them, hated them as much as I hated myself for not being one of them." He let a sigh in and out. "All I'd think about was how, if I got big, then I'd rip them down and give it twice as good as I got. Now I don't know about you but I feel that's about as far away from 'respect' as you can get. But if there was one of us there to protect the weak, use their strength for that. Whooo, boy, now that predator I would respect! Strength isn't enough on its own. It needs to be tempered with patience, humility, honour, control…"

"Used to build what they need," the badger said, "lead them on. To be an alpha among alpha's. To…"

"-Yeah, to spend our time helping worthless prey!" Alice spat, breaking the mood. The swift fox vixen gave a venomous scowl over the whole group."Where was all that about them breaking the contract. About cheating on us, piling down on us, screwing over us and taking our kits." She thrust a paw at herself. "And you're saying we spend our time… WHAT!? Giving our hard earned cash to the stupid grazers!?"

"Sheep don't need help," Meister said. "Sheep need judgement, punishment, we need…"

"To get in control to do that," the badger said. "Now yes, the contract between pred and prey has been broken. You'll probably say the sheep worked quietly behind our backs to do it. So? Let's reforge it. Remind these prey of what we can do. The good we can do. Remind them why abandoning the contract, just throwing it away, is only going to end in disaster. For them, as much as us."

"We are all different," the cacomistle agreed. "I am pred, we are pred, they are prey, that is a good thing. We show them that…"

"Yes," the badger agreed, as Conway spoke up.

"A pack leader," he said… "Is a leader. And there are tons of wolf stories about bad wolf leaders. Those who are weak, cowardly, don't keep discipline. And those who are monsters…" He paused a little. "Just use force and beat on others and they all, they all, get torn apart by their own pack in the end." He scoffed a little. "Maybe that applies to predator and prey too."

"You know, that's what…" Little John began, before pausing for a second. "That's what I was trying to surmise all along, you know."

"Huh?" the wolf asked.

"To explain my point. Just like I was able to wrap up your issues in a few sentences, you wrapped up mine. An alpha who is just aggression and force and anger, who does nothing to give back, does not last long, and it's always those under him who get fed up and rip him apart."

"Yeah, I did," Conway smiled, thumping his chest a little. All as Meister cut in.

"Okay, but how does that deal with the prey attacking us? Outsourcing their morality onto us," he said, pointing at the badger. "Wrecking our lives, our livelihoods, like the fishing industry," he said, pointing at the sea otter, who'd largely remained quiet through all of this.

He paused a little, thinking. "I mean, I don't know many prey. Maybe if I know more, they know me, they don't see me as this other. So if they start hurting our industry…"

"Or we build it up," the badger said. "Make it so that it's just as important for them as it is for us."

The otter blinked a little. "I mean, what? Are you going to have prey eating clam, fish, sea urchin…"

"Sea urchin…?" Shenzi asked. "That's… all spikes. How do you…"

"The roe and milt are delicious, you should really try them," the otter said.

The hyena blinked. "Roe? Milt?"

"Yeah, the egg sacs from the females and…" He chuckled. "Well, the sacks from the…"

"Oh no, keep that to yourself!"

"Gladly," he said, before looking around. "Honestly, it's delicious. Come on, would any of you want to try any…"

He was met by a round of unconvinced looks as Duke spoke out. "You know, I've eaten a lot worse in my time… Just need to get past my distaste for things with five fold symmetry, you know what I'm saying?" he said, as the otter let out a laugh.

"I should try you on deepfried starfish after that."

"Ehhhh…" the weasel mumbled, taking some amusement in the concerned looks of some of the others. "I suppose if it's helping out the coral reefs…"

"Oh no, that starfish is poisonous," the otter waved off. "And lives in hot water. Leave it to the even more poisonous sea snails. But I mean, the urchins eat all the kelp forests, so…"

"Maybe that's how you make the prey like it," the cacomistle said, the otter turning to him, a confused look on his face.

"Huh?"

"Sell them kelp you harvest, get them liking it, and then say the urchins will eat it."

"Or just talk about saving the kelp forest," the badger said. "There you go, they want to help the environment, put out media and stuff about how the kelp forests and fishes are being made homeless by the emotionless nasty sea urchins." He clapped his paws together and shook them excitedly. "I'm liking this, I'm liking this. Ha, all those prey, thinking they were the moral ones. Well, let's beat them at their own game!"

"That's the spirit!" Little John yelled, as Meister cut in.

"But… But we should be holding ourselves up! Not helping them! Not helping the sheep!"

"And don't you think that the other prey are also in line for being sheepified?" Duke asked, walking over. "Heck, I've met plenty of sheep and most of them can think for themselves. I bet you it's only a few Hellwether wannabes after full sheepification. And knowing that? Yeah, just imagine the look on their faces when most of their own species all line and side up with us, not them?"

"I don't like this," Meister said, crossing his paws.

"Neither do I," Alice said. "So what, we're now just 'feeding the homeless.'" She mocked.

There was a pause, before Conway spoke up. "Why not?"

"Huh?" the vixen blinked.

"Yeah. I know plenty of homeless encampments," the badger said. "If we go out there, feed them. Clean them up. Guide them into housing. We support them, and they'll then support us! Predator and Prey, rebuilding their lives."

"Bring them into our pack," Conway agreed. "Loyal packmates. Grateful. Loyal. Pred and Prey, each doing what they do best."

"Like what? Making wool sweaters?" the bobcat scoffed.

"Why not?" the badger said, turning to Conway. "Along with us making traditional felt ware. And of course, we'd give them suitable food. From their geographical point of origin."

"I mean," Little John said, "if you can find that."

"It's more expensive," the badger said, guiding his chair over and picking up his laptop. "But if we get a list of them, bulk order…" He grimaced a little before his eyes widened. "If we make extra into free meals. Get the word out, show mammals how much better it is. Then they might start ordering from us. We'd be like those wolves, those foxes, your brother." He looked up and smiled as Duke came forward, laughing.

"Hey you could buy out the farms, cut out the middle mammal."

"Why not? Maybe find some jobs there for these mammals," he said, typing along. Only for the laptop to be snatched from him, Alice standing there, an angry look in her eyes.

"What the cuss are we doing?" she hissed. "We're… This isn't what we're supposed to be stinking doing. We're waiting for our instructions! Aren't we? To attack our enemy. We should be waiting here, waiting to learn what next, who to whack out and…"

"And what, just waiting for that?" Duke cut in. "Remember what you all said about that other weasel. The nocturnal school guy? The mustelid representation group guy? That loser. Oooh, all talk no bite. Just sitting around complaining. Well, you know what, maybe that's why I wasn't so keen on all this before. Because you were just sitting down here, waiting for those drops from a guy who wouldn't even tell you their name or speak in plain English. But now…" He turned around and looked at them. "We're doing something. We're doing something big."

"Heck yeah," Little John said, a bunch of others agreeing.

"And I mean, this alpha here," the badger said, gesturing at the laptop and the message drops. "What would he most prefer? Us having done nothing? Or us building something, so that when this final fight comes, we have strength. We have respect. So that when the struggle comes, we, pred and prey, have the best chance we can get at winning!"

An even louder cheer rang out, though from Duke and Little John it was subdued somewhat, the pair glancing at each other.

"Oh no," Alice said. "I came here to kick prey tail, not feed them. And I'll be waiting for my call up like a good predator! Now, if anyone like that is here and ready, follow me. We'll make sure to get our mammals ready, and on that day we'll be ready to win the victory. Not you. If you're even on the right side at all…"

She stood up, walking back, and for a second she was alone. Then, with a huff, Meister joined her. "I came here to fight the sheep," he said, before turning and pointing harshly at Little John. "You got anti-sheep! You got this. But you won't get me!" And with that, he turned, leaving with Alice, one last comment muttered out. "And don't expect me to save you when the sheep have you by the throat."

The door rattled, the group was quiet, and the badger rubbed his head. "Ack, they were good mammals."

"Well," Duke said, breaking the silence. "They can do them. We do us. We're not enemies, right? Just… Predators! Working on our solutions in our own ways. The more the merrier!"

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "I guess. Anyway, let's see what we can do."

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A short while later, the various predators in the group were busy debating and in some cases going out to buy equipment, Little John and Duke spared some time alone, to talk in private. "So," the weasel said, smiling. "Progress?"

The bear shrugged, scratching the side of his chin. "Well, I certainly suppose…"

"Ah, c'mon," Duke cut in, pausing. "I know this wasn't truly what'ya had in mind. That thing about the wolves going out with their frontier justice… Was it real, or improv'd on the spot…"

"Kind of," Little John said. "There were little mentions I heard of a wolf tribe going up and bringing back in a roving band of caribou, or squirrels selling pine nuts via foxes to him. -I admit, my sympathy was always with the squirrels trying to organise for a fairer price for their goods, my brother working with them to cut out the foxes and their obscene profits from the picture…"

Duke just cupped his paws around his mouth. "Booo!"

Little John chuckled. "Hey, if they wanted to play super free market when it was good for them, my brother and the squirrels get to play that too. You live by that rulebook, you die by it."

"You know, I wish Alice was still here. To hear that. So I could see her tantrum."

Little John barked out a laugh before leaning against a wall and sighing. "You know, being truthful? Everywhere Robin and I went, we saw poor mammals struggling needlessly. All while they worked and suffered and other mammals got filthy rich off their backs. In plain sight. All pointless, all just able to be stopped right now, if only for the false divisions these mammals wanted to keep being divided by instead. My story back then wasn't supposed to end like it did. It was supposed to be how mammals: Pred, Prey, big, small, religious or not all joined together to work together to make sure mammals didn't go without. How they'd turn on the petty tyrants, be they corrupt landlords or cussin' air pirates, and working together to try and rebuild a government, even if just a village or town one, that cared for them. That looked out for them. By the people, for the people, that fought for them and their best interests. That had no qualms about taking most of a rich guys money if it meant no more hunger, well stocked schools, good free hospitals… The things you should expect in a modern civilization. But these mammals? Well, I saw them losing attention and so I just jury-rigged something on the fly to get to the end."

"And you know what?" Duke said. "I think it was a pretty swell end."

Little John smiled. "Well thanks… Though come on, you have to admit it was real corny. 'Alpha of alpha's.' 'Be the real preds'."

"Hey, they like being preds. And you got them to realise that they could do that, and the good stuff!"

"Yeah," Little John agreed. "But… I just don't quite get it. They want to get the good stuff, create a better world, great! But they want to do it in the hardest way possible, screw the easy way which is 'just there…'" He mimed off into the distance before shaking his head and shrugging. "They don't care about social fairness or equality or anything, they care about doing it for themselves… Their way." He chuckled. "Reminds me of all those who'd turn down our help as 'charity' or…"

"They want to create something new," Duke cut in, smirking. "Not stealing what someone else ade?"

"Well," the large bear mused. "I suppose… Though is it stealing if it's already stolen?"

"Yes," Duke deadpanned. "It's been made very clear to me by numerous lawyers and several lost years in the joint."

"You know what I mean," Little John waved off. "But hey, you're right. Look at the bright side. At least we've got them doing something good! Something that isn't going and killing anyone too! Yet… So that's a plus!"

"Yup," the weasel smiled. "Going out, feeding the homeless, all that jam. That's your thing, right."

"I suppose," he said, paw out and wavering. "Just the whole… We're still preds, they're still prey, wait for our 'alpha' thing. It feels just…"

"Corny, you just said. Maybe you'll always feel that, maybe just like they felt about your whole 'let's all move past that stuff', stuff. Am I right?'"

The bear looked down. "Are you sure there's no tassie devil in there, 'cause you're being a real advocate for some stuff right now," he said, a slight smile on his mouth.

"Heheh," Duke cheered, walking up and patting the big bear on the leg. "Is that casual speciesism I hear? Welcome back to the club."

With a roll of his eyes he huffed out. "I suppose getting them involved, getting them to know more prey, seeing what the lack of support does will help in the long run. I mean, what was it they say in writing class? Show don't tell? And I guess we've now done just that. Shown them how to be better mammals, rather than just lecturing them on how they're trash and need to improve."

"Odd how that didn't work."

"I guess," Little John nodded. "Or, on the other paw, given that they're still following Loxy, we might have just given them a way to raise a much bigger scarier force than we ever imagined. Yup, we've just started the cult."

"Hey, we'll work on that," Duke said. "A little here, little there, and as you said, the rubes will be meeting other mammals and… Well, maybe they won't change. Chances are they won't ever be the kind of mammal you super-duper want them to be. But, treat them with respect and who knows. They could be the best version of the mammals on the other side of this big divide of yours they could be. Hmmmm, that counts for something, right?"

"I suppose," the bear said. "It's just gonna be a lot of work to get them to fully drop Loxy, and with everything else going on right now…" He threw his paws down. "How are we going to deal with the prey groups roped into Loxy's lies."

"One step at a time," Duke said, "one step at a time. And who knows, if these guys are going out, helping prey building bridges, maybe some of them will meet those guys. I dunno, I…"

They were broken off as Conway sped in. "Hey, you know the laundromat down on the terrace?"

A bunch of heads turned to meet him, Shenzi scoffing. "No, it's always closed when I want to use it."

"The family is nocturnal," the cacomistle said.

"-Well," Conway carried on. "I guess that explains why there's a few prey mammals going down there beating up the place and…"

"Screw them attacking us," she yelled, marching forward. "Okay guys, they think they can screw over us preds, time to show us what real alphas can do to them!"

A round of cheering went out, as Little John, jerking to attention, stepped out in front of them. "Okay, I… Yeah, let's do it. But like those wolves in the story. The real alphas of alphas. We surround them. We make them know they're caught. And that if they hand themselves in to us, we won't call the cops." He thrust a finger down. "Instead, we'll make sure they look the predators they hurt in the eye and then fix the mess they caused. Learn the meaning of good work, and that we're good mammals, and deserve their cussing respect."

"I…" the hyena blinked, before shaking her head. "Yeah, like the real alphas of alphas."

A cheer went out as Little John led them on, giving one last glare at Duke. The weasel just shrugged, before giving a cuss eating grin, a wink and a thumbs up as off he went, the door closing behind him.

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Across the city, a different door was opening up, a tired Judy stepping into a familiar flower shop. She waited behind the counter, the pig behind it softly trying to explain to the guinea pig in front of her that, despite his agreement of it being non-harmful and long enjoyed part of his species' traditional cuisine, coca flowers were not allowed in Zootopia. The small rodent was less impressed, and started off in a rant in what Judy assumed was… Whatever the native language of Reino Del Sol was… Incan? Or did it have a different name?

Judy just shook her head, instead just wandering over to a corner of the store, paws working over each other slightly as they tried to push out the stress she was feeling. Carmelita had gone over to the museum for a quick talk, before reporting that she was going over to the mental hospital to talk with Buster about his disappearance and the potential involvement of Petey the goat and the two lions. The feedback had been… Interesting. He was very non-conclusive, apparently still requesting that he be taken back to Precinct One to report on certain stuff or letting loose rough mentions of Rattigan and/or the bear, Kozlov, in a certain location.

That had perked Judy's ears up, especially when Carmelita had said she thought she knew where the bear was and was going off to the Rainforest District to look at it. Meanwhile, Basil, Dave, Nick and her had gone over and over the timelines, the possibilities, trying to recount every single detail, every single occasion that might have led to the bad guys being able to set the agenda as they had.

A slight look up at a bunch of flowers had Judy's ears going down, her nose twitching a little.

Trying to play these mammals at their own game, a game where they didn't know the rules, didn't know the players. Nick was all for it, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Gamble it out, yet she?

It was ironic, she realised. Here she was, Little Miss Try Everything, worried about getting egg all over her face. What was the worst trying this could do?

Then again, for all her Trying she'd never been a gambler. Nu-uh, after all… It was Nick who'd come up with the blueberry swap plan. And yes, he'd tried to reassure Judy that she was one to gamble too. After all, she'd gambled everything on solving the Otterton case in forty-eight hours.

The bunny could only glumly joke that that wasn't her gambling, that was her leaping ahead with no plan, no ace up her sleeve.

And so he'd brought up how she planned to hustle him with his back taxes and saying he'd been earning money since he was twelve.

At which point she'd said that if he hadn't done that, she'd have just shown him his tax form anyway, along with pictures of his pawpsicle hustle, and said she was going to send him in for one motherload of an audit.

That hadn't been a gamble either.

Black and white, he'd noted. Not a shade of gray. And here she was, uncertain, and nervous. Just trying to take a break, browsing for some pick-me-ups. Paw out, she traced across the labelled jars of dried eating flowers or smelling leaves, seeing if there was anything that stood out to her. Her eyebrow raised slightly as she passed some jarred valerian root. She knew it was a good alternative for cats that weren't receptive to catnip, but foxes…?

She shook her head, why was she asking this? Nick certainly wasn't one who catnip had no effect on, though he'd not been in the mood to have anything from his plant for a while… Or so she assumed.

Too busy, or this, or that.

And even if some version of this worked for her, a bunny, this wasn't what she was looking for.

"Need any help?" the store owner asked, his previous customer walking out short-pawed, letting him trot over. "I'm not sure that has any effect on bunnies," he said. "In fact, from what I gather they don't like the smell and taste of it."

"I know one Cousin who said he ate some catnip," Judy commented. "No effect, but he really liked the taste, though buying it from the store is expensive."

"He could grow some in a herb garden."

"It also had him dashing for the toilet," the bunny remarked, glancing back at them, foot giving an impatient little tap on the ground.

The pig glanced down at it. "Oh, do you need to…"

Judy shook her head, glancing back at him and giving a little chuckle. "Oh no, no, nothing like that," she said, one of her ears going askew as she patted her stomach. "Just, I've been having some stress related…" She patted her paw a few times on her stomach before glancing back to the jars. "Just this damn tricky case we've been stuck going nowhere on, bad guys always three steps ahead."

"Can't say I know what that's like," he commented, walking up to her and scanning across the shelves. "Though wedding parties probably come close."

Judy gave a snort. "Probably far worse," she said, glancing over the selection. "Anyway, what I'd really need is something that gives me a mild energy boost," she said, counting on one paw. "Settles the stomach. And helps me stop worrying and focus. -Oh, and is tasty," she smiled.

"First three could have been so easy," he said, chuckling. "Then came the last one."

"Uhhhh," Judy said, rolling her eyes. "Talk about it. -And I'll need it fairly quick too, I'm on a break now, -though to be fair we're going so slowly I could probably say I took a long walk in the fresh air to try and mull it over."

"Right," the pig said, walking over and looking through his jars. "Now, If I…"

The sharp ringing of Judy's phone rang out, the bunnies ears shooting up. "Ah, hang on just a sec." Up it went, the bunny shying away for privacy. "Yes, Nick…"

His voice came over the other end, excited and practically spilling the news out. "We got the goat to confess!"

-Wait what?" Her eyes went wide. "You mean… The red one we got handed in…"

"No, the one who faints everywhere," he said. "That one exactly."

"-But how. We gave him the silent treatment, every threat we could level at him. Your guitar playing! Nothing would make that goat budge."

"Well, telling him that the koala he joey-napped had positively identified him and his co-conspirators from a lineup did."

"Ha, actually having a solid charge he couldn't wait or bluff…"

"He said he'd be willing to spill everything he could on Rattigan and co if he got witness protection, the whole works…"

Judy nodded. "So Carm got the little guy to…"

"Ha, no," Nick said from the other end. "But, with a few good guesses of what was going on that day and some gambling work, I sure as cuss made him think so!"

Judy blinked a few times, stepping back before coming in. "You Sly fox you."

"Guilty as charged, Officer."

"Uh-hu. Now what? Back to the station to talk."

"He wants to be moved to the securest place we've got…"

Judy thought for a few seconds. "Little Vostock."

"The one and only."

"Uh-hu, I'm not sure a bat could even make it over that moat before freezing."

"Yup, we're getting together a secured convoy to take him across."

"Right," Judy agreed. "Don't want any polar bear mobs to get at him."

Nick chuckled a little. "While I strongly doubt their competence, you're right. Make sure we're not leaving any of this to chance."

"Right," she said, "see you back at the station." And with that she closed her phone and looked up at the pig. "-Sorry," she said, skipping out to the door. "Big case breakthrough… Need to…"

"No worries, great news," he cheered, as she paused at the door and raced back in.

"Might just have some of those," she said, pointing at a small baggie of sunflower petals.

The pig smiled, picking them up and throwing them at her. A quick flash of her card to pay and out she was jumping, running at a brisk pace down the road and back towards the main precinct.

It didn't take her long to get inside, flashing Clawhauser a quick wave before making her way into their office. Nick, Basil, Dave, Bogo and Oates were waiting there, the fox walking up to her and placing a paw on her shoulder. He gave her a long look and a cautious nod. "Well, we're the ones setting the agenda now," he said.

"We hope," Judy reminded him. She let out a sigh as Basil spoke up.

"Well, if it ends up a complete bust," the mouse, said pointing at himself.

"Hey, I made a bunch of those connections too," Nick said, threading his fingers through each other.

"Indeed," Bogo noted, looking around at each other and sighing. "I'm not going to lie, all this sounds very outlandish. But, given the stupidity of this case… It's the closest we've got to a plan. I'll be getting everything ready for the convoy. We need all of you in position and ready." He grit his teeth. "And let us hope," he said, eyes lingering down on the mice, on Nick, on Judy. "You're right."

He excused himself, Oates following out. "Well…" Judy said, sitting down on a seat. "Now we wait. Wait for Carm to get back, wait for…"

"-Are those?" Nick asked, suddenly spotting Judy's bag of sunflower petals.

The bunny just shrugged. "Hey, they're tasty," she said, slipping a few into her mouth. "Want some?"

"I'd rather not poison myself or something," he waved off, as the bunny offered the mice a few petals each.

"All the more for those of us who appreciate them," Basil said, Dave chuckling as he took another nibble.

"Very cheeky."

Judy gave a nervous laugh, pausing as she glanced at an empty seat. "So, what do you think Carm will say when she gets back?"

The question hung in the air awkwardly for a few seconds as Basil spoke up. "Hopefully that she is exceedingly impressed and raring to go."

"Uh-hu," Nick nodded, pausing. "Though I'm hoping she'll be happy enough finding her polar bear if he is where she thinks he is…

"-I mean…" Judy said. "Karate? What's that, some kind of euphemism."

"Or that kung fu temple up in the Rainforest District," Nick said, waving it off.

Judy paused, looking at him. "Wait, there actually is one? And you know about it?"

He looked up nodding. "I mean I guess you could classify it as one of those…"

"-And you didn't notice it when Oates mentioned it, and a bear?"

Nick blinked, before narrowing his eyes. "Oates said karate palace, not kung fu temple."

"And the difference is?"

"Ask a rabbi and an imam," Nick said, paws up. "Besides, he didn't mention polar bear, and that koala seemed to be completely out of the…" He paused, shaking his head.

Judy meanwhile was typing something into her phone before her eyes widened. "Okay, well I guess we'll ask…" The phone blinked to life, ringing before Judy answered. "Hi, Carm. -Wait, what? Where are… -Are you at the kung fu temple in the Rainforest District?"

Across the city, halted on a road in the middle of a tight mountain turnback, Carm was speaking on her phone. "On the way," she said hurriedly. "But there is a big problem! Get the reinforcements in and get over here, NOW!" She moved to put it down, only from a yell from Nick to snap her back to it. "Nick?" She frowned a little as she listened on. "I know it's gonna take a long time to get here! So get…" She blinked a little, nodding. "Sí, tell Bogo I'm authorising it. Heck, Interpol will pay for the fuel! Just get your tails over here yesterday!"

She pushed the phone down, following with her foot on the pedal, the car racing up the winding mountain road as fast as it could manage, starting to dodge the tumbling rocks and boulders beginning to fall down the slopes around her, her horn blaring as she swerved at the sight of a mammal caught in the avalanche with them. Back on the road, tunnel vision focused, she pulled the handbrake and drifted around a hairpin turn, her skills pushed to the limit as she rose up to the temple structure up above, clouds of smoke and flame rising from the courtyard in the centre.