Chapter 21: Director's Cut
Council of Five chamber….Private Residence. Some time later.
The chamber had seen a few changes since its last use; first and foremost the 5 chair table was replaced with a proper conference table and 12 chairs, and the drab and old styling was replaced with a more modern business style.
A camel was ushered through the doors and peered into the chamber, namely at the figure sitting at the head of the table.
"Ah, Samir, I hope the safe house wasn't too uncomfortable," said the figure.
"Being out of the country during this whole thing seemed to be a safer bet, no harm no foul," Samir replied.
"Come, come sit." Said the figure.
Samir came over and sat at the seat to figure's left.
"So how are you Sidney?" he asked.
"Doing better, being shot really makes you think about one's mortality." he quipped.
"So what am I doing here?" the camel asked.
"Well I have a proposal for you, but we need to wait as we have others to work with, they should be here soon."
Almost on cue, a door to the side opens, and out walks a lioness, heavily augmented.
"Ah Nala, fully recovered I take it?" Asked Sidney
Nala took her seat at the table two down from Sidney's right.
"My body may have recovered, but my honor won't be satisfied until I bathe my blades in that rabbit's blood."
"Ooo, cut me off a lucky rabbit's foot while you at it." Sid joked sinisterly.
The door in front of them opened again, and three figures were ushered into the room. They each took a seat down near the middle of the table, two of them were arguing.
"Look, I have stood for a lot of things, but I can't believe you would have me work with her," said a lion pointing at a nearby sheep.
"Oh shut it, I'm not exactly thrilled to be working with you either." replied the sheep.
"Whatever, Smellwether." Said the lion
"Lionfart!" retorted the sheep.
"Children!" said Sidney trying to get their attention.
"You can always go back to prison…" he offered.
Leodore Lionhart and Dawn Bellwether went silent, the nearby Nutria spoke up.
"Sidney unlike these useless two, I actually have a city government to run, is this important?" he asked.
"Of course Mayor Deveraux, I wouldn't dare waste the time of the Mayor of Zootopia; I have a proposal to discuss with everyone here."
"And what would that be?" the Nutria asked.
"I am proposing the creation of a new group, unlike the previous council of five who operated on a more, oligarchic system of entitlement and elitism, intimidation and fear. I propose a group that will function more like a corporation, in the sense that each of us will be equal owners in this new…world order."
"Well is this everybody?" asked the Mayor pointing to these missing seats.
"The remaining five seats will be filled in the due course of time."
"Five, you mean six." Replied the Mayor confused.
"No he means five." said a voice from the shadows.
Samir raised an eyebrow at the voice.
"Sidney is offering you something that you could only dare to dream of in your pathetic previous lives. This group would attain real power. You would have real control." Said the voice.
The figure paced forward, his every other step clicking against the hardwood floor.
"And what is this group to be called?" asked the Mayor.
The figure pulled out the chair next to Sidney and sat down, looking at the group.
"The Majestic Twelve." answered the voice.
"What in the hell?" whispered Lionhart.
"How are you here?!" he shouted.
Bellwether looked down the table and went wide-eyed when she saw the figure.
"What?! Impossible!" she shouted.
Sidney looked at the pair "My, my, former mayors, you look as though you've seen a ghost."
"A ghost?! No, I may not remember names but I remember faces, especially of mammals who help ruin me!" exclaimed Lionhart
"And me!" added Bellwether.
"I believe you have me confused with someone else." Said the familier voice.
"I don't think so, I know who you are Nicholas Wilde" said Bellwether.
The figure stood up and leaned into the light, it was a fox, red and orange but darker as if a shadowy aura existed around him, black suit, sharp edges, and deep burgundy eyes.
"As I said, you have me confused with someone else." Said the Fox.
"My name…is Piberius…."
Sidney looked at Samir
"Bet they didn't see that one coming, Did they Samir?" he asked with a sly grin and mirthful chuckle.
Samir held his paws together, arching them.
"No Sidney, I would say not."
Some time later…. After the meeting.
Piberius stood in a chamber elsewhere in the residence, a cold room with mirrors around the edges and a singular cryo pod at its center. Sidney came in to see to talk to his newly minted and trusted aid.
"So do you think they will agree?" asked Piberius.
"They are smart enough to recognize a good thing." Replied Sidney.
"What is this place anyway?"
"It's something of Jarod's that I discovered." Replied the fox.
The two paced forward and the fox scrapped the frost that had formed over the glass.
"He painstakingly took measures to keep this mammal alive."
"Do we know who it is?" inquired Sidney
"No, and I'm wondering what we should do with it. Terminate? Get rid of the evidence?" he suggested.
"No, this room says to me, that whoever this mammal is, Jarod went to great lengths to preserve them. I'm not one to turn down a potential trump card." Explained the weasel.
"So keep it online?"
"Yes, something tells me she may come in handy."
The two turn to leave, leaving the cryo pod, and closing the door. The lights in the room go off leaving the blue glow of the coolant systems to preserve the occupant. Inside the glass, sleeping in stasis is a white rabbit, white as the driven snow, and the name on the status panel reads: "Ellison, Lily".