Chapter 66
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AN: Might be unable to do post a oneshot next Friday, we'll see.
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The rats glare bore down at the screen, teeth gnashing as he looked at the bruised up polar bear facing him. "You had one, petty, simple task… AND A WHOLE ARMY TO DO IT WITH!"
"And you have guns," Osip snarled back, his face blackened by bruises, soot and burns. "Why not give us guns, so we can SHOOT KUNG FU MAMMALS WHO ATTACK US WITH ROCKET ARTILLERY!"
"Oh I don't know," Rattigan hissed back, pausing as a giant feline thumb and forefinger came down to massage his shoulders, his spine shivering with a glimmer of relief from the action. "How about you actually act like mobsters and do something! Is this what Mr Big had to work with, hmmm? A bunch of useless, idiotic…"
"Well at least Mr Big treat us with respect!"
Rattigan stared back at the screen, his eyes slowly turning up to Felicity, the pallas cat meeting his look. "Dearest," he began. "After their colossal screw up. After their unmitigated failure. After, from what our reports suggest, a certain Inspector Carmelita Fox got to that bear…" She barely suppressed a hiss hearing that name. "-After our one chance, after what we have been hunting for all this time has gotten into the paws of a mammal, more than any, who will keep this from us and deny us what we need… How much respect do you think that clumsy, idiotic, alcoholic, brutish tub of lard could possibly ever deserve…"
"-Is just stupid necklace!" Osip roared back. "You tell me, is it worth fortune? Is it worth billions? This thing Kozlov had all this time. That my mammals betray him for…"
"-You do not have the slightest idea of its value," Rattigan hissed. "Buried at Noah's mountain for thousands of years, taken by the Tsar's and their relatives and one despicable, thieving, loathsome RAT! Lost, found again, experimented with, vanished…"
"So what, worth one million, two?"
"-In my paws it is invaluable!" Rattigan yelled, slamming his fist on the small laptop screen. His scream echoed out in the massive black hall, bouncing back against the cold metal walls and returning to the rodent, eyes half bulging out as he bared his teeth.
"It does not pay our rent," Osip snorted. "You promise us wealth… Your fox friend, he promise us wealth…"
The rat's eyes went wide, the emotions draining from his body and leaving a cold, lingering, rage. Loxy had been talking to them behind his back!
"He explain the plan," Osip carried on. "'Project Chaos. I like plan. I like it very much. And I think, we don't need you for it, do we?"
"You'll pay," Rattigan said coldly. "You will pay more than you can ever imagine when I get my paws on…"
"-What, mystic magical necklace?" Osip asked, paws out wide. "Well, whoops, not in your paws anymore. So, no problem."
"Don't you dare," Rattigan began, "Don't you…"
The screen went black and he froze there, silent.
Still…
"Where are my minions…" he whispered out.
"I'll…"
"I want them here, now," he said, voice void of any emotion.
Felicity nodded, turning and starting to move away. All as the rat began to move back to his screen, opening it up again, looking through his scanning system for any useful news or…
He paused, eyes fixed on a report from the Rainforest District. An attack on a ZPD cruiser, witness reports of… Panda and polar bears escaping out of it?
He immediately went back to the call and dialled in a certain mammal's number. He should have known he was going to betray him sooner or later. They all did. Even Petey… Faint crack lines grew from where his claws dug in. That goat, after so long, through thick and thin, after knowing…
With a flash the screen turned on, the familiar vulpine figure looking back from whichever hideyhole he was in at the moment. "Loxy?"
"Ah," the red furred mammal said. "I have good news and bad news."
"Go on…"
"Though they successfully spotted the bomb truck, one of the secondary traps caught them. I'd wager if your former comrade was in two of the three trucks, he's a goner."
"Two of the three?" Rattigan asked.
"The third, despite our best efforts…"
"Got away," he filled in, standing up, muzzle rivening with rage. "So you failed, again. Just like those bears. Honestly, I can see why you two get along so much. Failures. Pathetic, useless, failures! And now, you go behind my back, you try and recruit them from me to go ahead with Project Chaos…"
"-So you admit you never planned to go ahead with it," Loxy spoke, staring back into the camera.
"If they had just gotten the one, tiny, incalculably important thing that I need," the rat screamed. "Then oh yes, I'd have let you play your plan out. But no, you couldn't do that, could you. Or rather, being the conniving vulpine you are, you thought you could get one better than me, huh? You thought you could take what was mine from me!" Loxy blinked, head tilting ever so slightly to the side, but he remained silent. "But I'll tell you this," the rat said, bringing a finger up and pointing it at the face on his screen. "It really is a worthless piece of metal if you don't know what it is, if you don't know how to use it. So you may think you're sitting high and pretty, having blown up that police cruiser to get it, but trust me. I will pry it from your paws one way or another!"
"Try all you want," Loxy said back. "I don't have it."
"Get off!" the rat snarled. "Who else would…" And with that he froze, smiling. "One moment."
Disconnecting the call, he began to work through another. A hidden line, a secretive contact. It began routing its way through and…
It flashed to life again, the one eyed wolf staring back at him, despicably smug. He'd dyed his fur white, again, wearing a long black hooded cloak and currently picking his teeth with one of his two metal sickle swords. Rattigan couldn't help but say something. "You've worn that stupid costume before."
Shrugging, the wolf pulled the tip of the sickle out of his teeth and began whistling a set of long, hollow creepy notes. The rat looked on, whiskers twitching side to side for a second or two until, finally, the wolf finished and looked over. "Yeah, but I don't think it had quite the impact back then. Thought maybe second time would be the charm, might…"
"Yes, yes," the rat said, just about maintaining a facade of civility. "Anyway, I was…" He froze as the wolf held up the little copper pendant and put it back in his pocket.
"Yeah," he said, shrugging. "We won. Bye."
And the screen went blank.
…
"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
His scream echoed around the charging hall, filling every cold metal nook and cranny until his voice went hoarse, every last whiff of breath drawn out from him. The rat could only collapse, panting in and out, fist gripped so tight the skin was starting to break. He caught his reflection in the screen and punched it, punched it again, scrabbled and assaulted and did his best to wreck it. Small cracks, then spiderwebs, then huge swathes of iridescent black staining welled up like cuts and bruises from where he hit, on and on and on, all as the sound of long footfalls filled the hall.
He didn't notice the two big cats, but he did notice the smaller one as she came over him and held her paw up and over his shoulders, wrapping them around as he drew in ragged breaths and huffed out spittle filled ones over and over.
…
"Even… Even if it's over…" She began, only for him to glare back at her.
"It is not over," he snarled. "It is never over. I swear to you, they will pay. They will all pay, each and every last one of those incompetent, betraying, snivelling little…"
A high pitch snivelling sound broke the air, Rattigan looking up to see a small figure flap its way down, circling and finally coming to a stop just out of choking reach.
Unfortunately.
"What?" the rat asked coldly, pausing as the incomprehensible little fleabag rambled and ranted on about what he'd seen while hiding out at that stupid temple, where had he been of any use he would have…
"What?" Rattigan asked again, only this time quietly. And as he listened, a smile began to grow on his face, and as it reached his conclusion he began to laugh with joy.
"There's still a…" Felicity began, as he turned to her.
"Oh, a small one. A very small one," he said, paws coming together and working over each other. "One last chance, one last chance to snatch what we need before it's snatched away from us. Oooooh, I love it when karma plays a paw. And my only regret is I don't get to see the looks on their faces when they find out. Still, we need to do this now, tonight, and chances are they'll still come at us with force. We need a distract.,. -ion."
He leapt forward and began typing on his computer, a call coming through and then returning. He couldn't see anything of the room his fox lackey had been in, at least nothing near the centre given his assault on his screen. But still, he could see the tips of vulpine ears bent down off to one corner and hear that something was off. "Ah, Loxy," he smiled.
"Do you want some good news?"
Rattigan paused. "From the tone of your voice, it seems you've suffered some misfortune. So please, go ahead."
"-Petey betraying you was a fake out, a plant, misinformation…"
"Oh, so he didn't betray me," he mused. "Glad to see some mammals still have standards. Or rather had."
"-He's still in Precinct One," the fox clarified.
"Ah, good for him then."
"-The point is, they worked out how Napoleon was getting our information!"
The rat blinked. "Ah, Basil finally clocked on to it then, did he?"
"Yes, he did," came the voice of the pig, joining in on another screen. "I've got to one of the safehouses, but my entire operation is compromised. Thanks to you! You demanding we take Petey out! You getting that mouse back on our case! Oooh, if it weren't for his want to do a detective 'I worked it all out' speech before siccing his forces on me, I wouldn't have had a chance to…"
"But you did, you're here," Rattigan said. "So, I think the word you're looking for is thankyou."
A cold silence filled the air. "We're done," the pig finally said.
"Don't feel too bad," Loxy grumbled. "He already chose to do that. After their wild kung-fu goose chase the bears are on our side now."
"And thanks to my quick thinking," Napoleon began, "we have everything we need to spark off Project Chaos. Without you."
"Do you now," Rattingan began, working with the trackpad to move the screen to somewhere where he could… He paused, seeing the item that the pig had in his trotter and smiling. "Ah, still connected is it?"
"Yes, and with this and what we've got at ZNN…" Loxy began.
"Ah, ah, ah… But what about me, what about what I can do. Right now. Because here's the thing," he said, acting as cordially as he could. "You're right. Project Chaos, it's now or never."
…
"What do you even have to offer?" Napoleon spat.
A snarl grew across Rattigan's face but he shook it away, fingers threading in front of him once more. "My dear friends, given the rather shocking performance of those bears these last few times… I'd rather think you'd be interested in what I have to offer. Guns. Lots and lots of guns."
The two on the other side of the screen paused, looking at each other for a second.
"-And," he said," smiling. "The offer to be the face of your little revolution. My only demand is that we are quick. Very, very, very, quick."
The two looked at each other before nodding. "Do you have anywhere you can make that video we talked about?" Loxy asked.
"I'll get on it immediately," Rattigan said. "Oh," he tapped on his keyboard and sent an email. "Those are where the weapons caches are."
"Good. Napoleon, organise the troops. I'll be over there as fast as I can to play my part."
"Indeed," the pig said. "I can't think of a better time. It's now or never. And Rattigan?"
"Yes?" he asked.
"You will get your fair share. And then god forbid we'll never see you again."
The screen went blank and the rat stood up. "I'll get more than my fair share alright." He glared up at Fidget. "Get back into monitoring position. We might be too late to stop them coming in. In that case, run in and try and snatch it before they make off. Understood?"
He made a few noises in agreement and flew off. "I'll personally target them when the time is right," the rat said, smiling. "I've even procured a few terrible little machines to give those meddlers a send off I think any survivors will never forget. And if things go well, I might even let those two in on the job. -As for you two," he pointed at the tiger and lion. "After all your failures, I am going to arm you to the teeth. When Project Chaos fully ignites, get what that damn marsupial, and damn vixen, cheated from us! -Oh, and if you see anything pretty and valuable on the way… You might as well."
They nodded, racing off, all as Felicity opened her paw and let him jump on. "I never thought I was going to have to rely on those two and their concept, however much I appreciated it for its wickedness," the rat muttered.
She nodded. "It all comes down to tonight then."
"Indeed it does."
"Well," she smiled. "Ready to play the hero for once?"
He looked up, a smile growing on his face. "For once, my love, I think I am. Lights, camera, action! Project Chaos is here."
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"Judy…"
…
"Judy, come on, wake up…"
A thin line of light slowly grew, the bunny's eyes widening to reveal a blurred russet face looking down at her, his ears twitching up as she blinked.
"Nick…" She whispered, before she was swung up, face planted into torn up blue fabric and musky cream fur. A paw behind the back of her head, holding her tight, she heard Nick take a choking inhale of breath in and shudder, his breath hitching.
And then she was released, manoeuvred against a cold metal wall, his paws keeping her upright. "Sorry… Standard recovery procedure," he muttered, keeping her body stretched out and airways clear. "No room for hugging, not that I don't want…" His teeth were grit and as her eyes focussed she saw him looking away. "Why did you come back you dumb bunny."
"Nick," she moaned, her tongue feeling slow and swollen in her mouth. Not quite co-operating. "I…"
"Now we're both…" He hissed. "It could have just been me, it could…"
"You'd have done…" she muttered out, reaching for his paw and holding it tight. "The same… For…"
"Well I'm a dumb fox," he sniffed, glancing at her. "I have an excuse."
They held themselves in silence for a second or two, Judy's awareness of her surroundings growing by the second. Not that there was much to take in. A cold metal room, the walls made out of large panels riveted together. Above them, a single bare lightbulb hung, slowly swaying as they seemingly travelled.
It seemed to be some kind of vehicle. There was a soft vibration in the walls. Yet, turning her ears around and scanning, Judy couldn't pick up the tell-tale sound of a running engine.
She slowly tested her fingers, her toes, stretching her mouth around. With one awkward motion she jerked herself forward, one step then two then, arms out wide, she held onto Nick and he held back.
They didn't say anything.
They silently held each other as the minutes ticked by until finally, after who knew how long, a single jolt rocked wherever or whatever they were in.
Outside orders were barked, heavy metal slams were heard, mammals plodding along. Judy could make out the voices through the walls of strangers… And friends.
Nick though frowned, ears up and struggling before going back as a large set of stomps moved passed.
"Kozlov…" Judy whispered.
Nick's eyes went wide, the fox turning to her. "What…" He frowned, paws over his eyes. "I… How many did they get? I thought we got them all out, I thought."
"You did Nick," she cut in, turning away. "But they called us, they…"
"No," he hissed, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Please…"
He trailed off as she looked at him, her big purple eyes misting over. "He… He told us to meet up… Fifteen minutes after…" She looked down, gritting her teeth. "We got in harbour patrol, bats to follow, we thought we could…"
"Instead you got hustled," he hissed, looking around again. He tore himself away from her, marching over to what looked like a hatch and slamming his paw against it, a dull metal ring echoing out.
"We couldn't just…" Judy began, only to pause as she saw something grow over him. His furs were standing on end, his ears down, a shiver was in his body as he turned around.
"No…" He said, shaking his head and turning back to her. "No, please, you didn't give them…"
"No," Judy cut in. "We didn't. We…"
The door was slammed open, a familiar looking wolf peering in with his one good eye. "Ah, just in time," he said, leaning down and waving a claw. "Out you come."
Nick turned to Judy and, together, they walked out. The fox couldn't help but sniff at him as he nudged them along, an eyebrow rising up. "Fur dye… And fur dye remover…"
"Yeah," he shrugged. "While you were out I got in a costume, trolled old Ratty, then returned to my natural fantastic self."
Nick looked up at him, an ear perking. "Wait, so you're not with Rattigan?"
"Ha, no," the wolf snorted before leaning down. "Ever heard of ELSA…" He sniggered, looking over at Judy. "Spelt L-S-A."
The red fox looked on, thinking for a second. "You… Arms dealers, right? That's who…"
The wolf perked an eyebrow. "Who?"
Nick just shook his head. "I'm not going to say."
They both paused as they reached a set of steps, forced up it and out into a large hanger like hall, lit by bright glaring lights. Nick was immediately hit with the smell of salt water and, looking around, he realised he'd stepped out of some kind of submarine, currently held within a moon pool, the water flowing at a brisk pace around them.
"I wouldn't jump in if I were you," the wolf said, crossing his arms. "Supposedly, we've finally been given orders from corporate to change port and sail away, so… Lots of cold ocean out there, if you get out from under the ship in time… And if you don't get chopped up by the propellers." A corner of his mouth pulled down and back in a classic oooh-nasty expression.
Nick, blinking, looking around the massive white painted steel cavern around him, complete with a moving gantry crane and various strange bits of mining equipment or who knew what, pinched himself. Hard.
"Ah, sorry buddy," the wolf said, leaning in and fussing the fox's head. "Tough luck. This ain't a dream. Now march."
He waved them on towards a gangplank, the group making their way down onto a small quay like area. Already the others were standing there, paws on their heads, various wolves with guns aiming at them. Carm glanced up at them, her eyes focussed on Nick. "Are you okay?"
"Well, I'm suddenly in a spy movie I swear I've seen before, so unless I get the submarine sports car thingy then no."
"-He's okay," Judy clarified.
"Until they kill us that is," Nick hissed, jumping onto the motherships' quay, his ears pulled back. "-I mean, I…" He trailed off as he looked between their eyes before turning away, gaze lingering on the floor. "Thanks for the attempt though, it's… It's good to know you lot care about me that much."
"-Awww," the wolf said, stepping up next to them. "He really does care. And, in the best case scenario, the boss might let some of you go!"
The members of the group looked up to him, confused. "Wait," Judy cut in. "But, we know your secrets, we…"
"-I mean," he said, levelling his gun down at the bunny, her eyes going wide at the sight. She stumbled back, only to freeze as she realised she was dangerously close to the moon pool. A look of panic struck terror was plastered on her face, only to fade as her lupine captor chuckled. "-If you really wanna go, I'm happy to oblige. Still, a very stupid death if you ask me. Now get with the rest of them, why don't you?"
He waved her over, the bunny joining Nick and Carmelita as the interpol fox cop levelled her gaze at him. "So I guess you think you're so immune to the law that you can tell us everything and get away with it, Sí?"
"Yeah, pretty much, pretty" he drawled. "And, if I know you right, you should have all the more reason to guess how and why?" Her ears went askew a little as the wolf turned to the rest of them. "And I mean, hey! The boss is likely to be generous, you were all a great help." And with that he fished his paw into his pocket, holding out a very familiar looking item.
Nick's eyes went wide and he turned to her. "YOU TOLD ME…" he screamed, grabbing at her shoulders and shaking her before throwing her away, turning to the wolf and levelling his gaze at him. "Listen…" he began.
"Nick, please," Judy begged, paws out.
He snapped to her. "Shut up!" Gaze back on the chuckling wolf, he held out his paws. "Listen, I'm sure you know what that is, just like he," he pointed at Kozlov. "Told us what it is, and… Okay, canid to canid, this idea that there was an ancient demon owl with beef against a random raccoon family, and the power of a god or whatever… -I know, it's stupid, it's a dumb kits' story or something… But I've heard from some very convincing sources that this Clockwerk thing is real and, trust me here, bad news. Very, bad, news…" Slowly, surely, the fox walked closer to the wolf, head cast down and paws clasped in front of him. "So, do you really think you can control him? Do you really think, if you bring him back, you can make him do your bidding? Is that it? Because the largest nation on earth couldn't do it, it took a miracle of nature or something to bring him down, and if you think, with however cool and spy-y you are, you can hope to control what you're planning to unleash on the world, then I beg of you… Listen to us…"
Nick looked up, going down on his knees. "Please, just this once, just this…" In a snap he pounced, leaping straight up at the paw clasping the item, his own clasped together and shooting out as if returning a volleyball shot. The wolf pulled his fist back in and kicked out with a knee, straight into Nick's chest. With a dull ooph the vulpine was punted back into the group, landing in the paws of Po but not ready to quit. "Listen…" he hacked. "-To me!"
Instead the wolf just thrust the item back into a trouser pocket and barked out an order. "YOU LISTEN TO ME!" Nick froze for a second, the mammal then carrying on in a much calmer tone. "Okay, Cop Fox, respects for that. Punt it out of my paw and into the ocean depths. Which wouldn't necessarily be any problem for us. I mean, fox…" He gestured around at the equipment, smiling. "We're good at picking up stuff from the sea floor. I mean, most of the time it's from sunken nuclear submarines, buuttt…" He chuckled, glancing down at the fox. "And you know what, I'm not even mad. I respect what ya doing, I'm not even gonna tell the boss. You might walk out of here yet."
Nick just growled, before turning to Carmelita. "You saw that thing in the… -Whatever it is... Twice! Do something!"
She nodded, turning to the wolf. "Señor Lobo, it is true, you cannot hope to control Clockwerk…"
"And who said anything about controlling him?" the wolf smirked.
It was Kozlov who broke the following silence. "So, those Jorin and I took down in the mountains of Pakistan were not last who worship him, Da?"
The wolf sniggered. "My mammals," he said, paw to his heart. "You have got us all wrong. But I'll let the boss give his little bit of monologuing. I know that there's a lot he wants to say. Especially to some of you." His eyes flicked between the three larger members of the group as he smiled. "I'll just have to see if I can make you guys remember at least some of what he said."
"-Buster Moon."
He froze, turning down to Carmelita. "Hmmm?" he asked, head tilting and a slight grin pulling up his face.
The vixen looked up at him, eyes narrowing. "Buster Moon, Sí?" she said again. "What happened to him. Taken. Returned. Confused, not knowing much of where he'd been, wanting to come to the highest Precinct and directing us to Kozlov at the kung fu temple… -Not that we took it seriously at first. That was your work."
He chuckled, paws coming out and clapping. "Oh, well done. Well done indeed, I see why you're Le Inspector here, huh."
She nodded. "And given that he gave conflicting information… Did Rattigan originally want you to do something with him? Only for you to… Sabotage it?"
His eyes widened with glee. "Oh, I like you," he chuckled. "Pretty much. That little eucalyptus muncher screwed up something or other for Ratty, so he, knowing one of the…" He chuckled. "'Services', we provide, requested that we make him into an asset for his current ongoing project. Stir up the social tension, get him to send a few crack squads on some wild goose chases around your ghettos. Stir up the locals as it were…" He waved his paw around. "Of course…"
"-You wanted what Rattigan secretly wanted, you knew this, so you set him up to actually lead us to Kozlov… So you could pick us up on the way out."
"Yeah, pretty much," the wolf nodded. "Oh, and by the way, you especially should have clocked what we're using by now."
The vixen nodded, a slight smirk on her face. "Your mind control, based on the Countessa's work, Sí?"
He nodded. "Yeah, and for those of you who are going to survive this, it'll let us drop you off at a beach somewhere nice and safe. Set up to forget us and give you and your squad a few tips at taking down that pest of a Rat too, seeing as he won't take this as a call to give up. But anyway, I think we've kept the main boss waiting long enough. He wants to see you in 'the Room of the Dragon's tail'. Scoot!"
He waved them on, the wolves surrounding them gesturing them onward. Between the bears, Nick, Carmelita and Judy walked. The fox todd's tail dragged along the floor as he looked up, eyes lingering on Kozlov. "He's taking this a lot better than I'd expect."
"Don't give up hope," Judy said, holding onto his arm.
He gave her a weary look, eyes turning up to Carmelita. "I'm sorry… Too. I know this…"
"Don't worry," she pressed. "We'll get through this. We…"
"-Have an ace up your sleeve?" the wolf asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Yeah, just to let you know, we figured out where the Countessa and Neyla went wrong with you, Miss Stubborn Brain." Her ears fell back as he chuckled, pausing and calling a halt. He gestured over to a metal door and, paws on the handle, hauled the lock open. With a grinding metal slide, the room beyond was revealed, a padded chair with various cuffs standing starkly in the middle. Hanging above it, like a looming storm cloud reaching to spark down, was a great web of wires, electrical equipment, cameras, screens, and other machinery. Paw up to halt them, he walked over and in, patting a small computer set up, a hard drive lying on top. "Do you know how many other mammals we've compromised? Beyond that dumb little nobody? Trust me, it's a lot, it's plenty. And many are in far higher positions than you want to know."
Nick and Judy, looking on confused, turned up to Carmelita, the vixen's face remaining unemotional. "You know, we actually asked the Countessa about you, about what Neyla was planning. Under the auspices of a legitimate research organisation concerned about the many potential mammal rights abuses this thing could be used for… As I'm sure you were lectured on by those soft on crimies. And I bet you think you are so safe right now. How long was it that they had you rigged up to that, huh? How long was it that that jealous tiger tried to render you down into a drooling maid of questionable competence… or was it continence? -Probably both. And you tanked it all, with just an understandable sprinkling of PTSD, ain't I right hon?"
The fur on her arms and head were starting to stand up, she took long drawn out breaths in and out, she kept her gaze fixed on him, only occasionally flicking down to the device.
"Now, here's the thing I'm afraid. That Neyla gal did it all wrong. You can't just send the waves directly against someone. Like you did, you can just focus against it, meet it head on, and win. We struggled with that too, until…" His smile grew. "We worked out that the secret was to come in from the side. Come in with something that they wanted, that didn't sound too bad, good actually. A chink in the armour to worm the message through. Do you know how we did it for Buster Moon?" He chuckled. "He just 'didn't want to make a fuss.' He practically GAVE that one away, ha. And so, in the name of not wanting to make a fuss…"
His paws came out and he began counting off. "When in the presence of anyone allied with Rattigan, he called the species confused rodent what he wanted to be called and agreed with the plan to say the fella was hanging around in the poor places of the city, raising an army of trailer trash and council house associated vulpines for Le Revolution. When going around the city, he just wanted to get to Precinct One and didn't remember a thing. And, when there, he drew the ZPD right down to where our polar fella here was staying, so you'd come in and race after them. And now, when it's your turn, you want to bring that Rat to justice, right?"
Carmelita looked back at him, her face unreadable. "Anyone who breaks the law, will face justice."
He gazed at her and nodded. "Sure, sure, but you know Rattigan is a danger. And, knowing that, you'll come back in the middle of the town, remembering how agents hired by the guy took you deep underground. You'll relay everything you, or rather we, know about them. And us wolves and our boss and what we did here." He held two fingers to his mouth and blew them away with a flourish. "Poof, not a thing. Because Rattigan is a danger, and he needs to be taken in."
And with that he marched out, the mammals getting pushed on, again. Carmelita remained defiant. "Something will get through. We'll…"
"Trust me, we are masters at this. I am a master at this. Practice makes perfect after all. Nobody is safe, and we can puppet string anyone into being a loyal tool for the cause. After all," he smirked. "I know that quite personally."
There was a long silence as they carried on walking down the corridor before, finally, being herded into a large, austere looking room. At one end, high up, were a pair of shutters and, below, a large round pillar of metal rose up to roughly hip height for the bears.
It stood there like a sacrificial altar as the group were herded in, Po finally breaking the silence. "So wait, you're mind controlled yourself? You're a victim too?"
The wolf burst out laughing. "Victim?" he snorted, wiping his nose. "Ha, no. Trust me, I just give myself the occasional 'get the boss what he wants,' so everyone is reassured that I'm in check. It's a nice light one that pays the loyalty and allows for flexibility and mutual inclusivity…" He smiled, before bowing and closing the door on them. "But for now, I think the boss wants to fit some words in too. So, so long, and thanks for all the help."
Shutting and locking with a large bang, the room was only filled by the ongoing hum of the engines for a second or two before Nick spoke. "So, it's coming back. They're cultists, that Clockwerk thing is coming back."
"No, Nick," Judy said. "It's…"
"-Fluff," he cut in, giving her a glare. "I have, for lack of better words, heard a lot today. A lot I did not like to hear, a lot I usually wouldn't believe but…" He threw his paws up around him. "Well, here all of a sudden we are!" His voice, getting ever louder, echoed around. "And I like your optimism. Truly, I do. But right now, it's not coming off as endearing or cute or hopeful or anything…"
"-We're going to get out," Judy cut in. "He said so and…"
"And if he's not lying, big if, that doesn't matter as that eldritch horror is going to come back! What part of that don't you understand? If all of that is true, I don't care if it's Rattigan doing it for his own means or these guys out of a sense of duty, it does not matter as that thing will be back and probably very angry and…"
"-I don't think they're cultists," Carmelita cut in.
Nick paused, turning to her, one eyebrow rising. "Really?" he snarked. "How do you know?"
"-Something just doesn't add up," she said. "Something doesn't feel right. But the important thing is you stay calm…"
"-Stay calm she says…"
"Officer Wilde…" she hissed, paws clenching and up against her head. "-Y se preguntan porque quiero mantener todo en secreto. Have faith, have bravery, stand tall and ready. When the real Clockwerk had me as live bait in a gas chamber, help came. It can come again. We can help ourselves, we can…"
"Right, right," Nick said, throwing his arms up. After a second or two he calmed down, slightly. "I'd suppose I'd try and work out a way to make sure we carry a message through all of this, but I'm pretty sure this place is microphone and bugged and…"
"I know Nick, there's so much I want to tell you, but…"
The red fox tod paused, paws suddenly coming up and starting to gesture, sign, Judy following on and cocking an eyebrow. "I…" she said. "I know, but I don't know anywhere near the right number of signs for…"
"Didn't I teach you the alphabet once?" he asked.
The bunny paused, slowly signing out, Nick nodding along. The three bears had crowded around them, blocking out any potential for onlookers of hidden cameras to see.
Nick just nodded along before finally saying. "All good, now what's the plan?"
Judy began signing, the fox's eyebrow quirking. "-Okay…" he said, "I see what you're trying to say. Next bit."
She nodded, slowly carrying on, Nick leaning in closer and closer. "Yes…"
A metallic rattle shook them from their discussion, a new light cutting across and entering the room. Their illicit communication cut off, the group all turned to face the light now coming from the observation room, its metal shutter lifted up.
All replaced by a new silhouette, emerging from the white, a metallic claw-tip rattle coming out with each and every stride. Nick looked on, looked around, seeing Kozlov began to pant harder and harder. His own ears were folded back, and he turned to see The Panda King put a paw around Po for comfort, the younger panda at first trying to shrug it off but eventually letting it be.
All as an avian form began to emerge. Small head, tall neck, reversed legs carrying him forward one at a time. Nick's first thought was to the sentient secretary bird he'd seen once in that park… One of very few of her kind anywhere, but he shook his head.
No, this was something far worse.
"What are you?" he finally asked. "The son of this Clockwerk thing? The next generation?"
"No," the voice replied, haughty, dismissive, proud. And the figure revealed itself as something similar to what Nick had first thought, but so very, very different. Old, shrouded in an exoskeleton that screamed Clockwerk's talisman metal in his head, wearing the same cold and uncaring look he'd expect from that creature the others had talked about, if returned to the fur… Or rather feathers and flesh.
But at the end of the day, despite all that, despite what appeared to be its albinism, it was…
"-A peacock?" Po asked.
He turned and glared. "That's Lord Shen, Panda," he said, snarling the last word before smirking. And with that, he looked to the wolf by his side and reached out with his wings, catching the falling talisman with one and bringing it up, next to a second from his own person. "And I have waited a long time for this moment, to face off against the pests who have made my acquisition of this item so much more difficult than it had to be!"
"Wha…" Nick began, "we met you at Dr Silverfox's place one time, and it's not like he had it!"
"Don't be so foolish," Shen hissed. "The battle in the Tundratown tunnels, you…"
"The first we knew about that was when we went to investigate it," Carm cut in.
The peacock slowly looked over them as the wolf walked up. "Yeah, so with the interdepartmental rivalry thing… This isn't a whole two teams after you. These are literally just a bunch of clueless cops trying to stop Rattigan from getting it, who just happened to be holding it when…"
"So they know nothing? They're not the thorn in my side all this time. They're not the agents going after me for years!"
"Correct."
Shen looked between his second in command and his captives, back and forth a few times, before shaking his head, perking it up once at the end to give one final slight harumph.
"So be it, meaningless captives of no interest or value. Farewell." And with that, he turned, walking off.
Only for Carmelita to yell out. "Stop! We may not know about you, but I know about Clockwerk!"
They froze, turning back around as the vixen crossed her paws over her chest. "More than that, I was one of the two who killed him!"
"Oh, oh," he smiled, turning back to face them. "This, changes, everything. Well, I suppose I do owe you an explanation."
"Or maybe you should listen," Carmelita snarled. "If you think you can bring Clockwerk back, control him, or even expect a reward…"
"Ha!" the peacock snorted, a low growing laugh rising up from him. "No, no, no foxy. You are the one who needs to listen." He looked down at the items, then back at her. "I'm not here to summon that monster again. I'm here to make sure he never, ever, comes back."
The room was silent.
"-Hey," Po said, smiling. "We're on the same team! Cool!"
"-And then conquer China."
The panda blinked before looking back at the rest of them. "Oooohhhh, uhhh…"
Nick sighed. "Trust me, there's always something."